Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 1457: Chapter 9-6: Dance

Phoenix City’s Southeast Military Airport at Phoenix Mountain.

As the underground launching tunnel with a thirty-five-degree incline opened to the lingering emergency deployment signals at the airport tower, dozens of Chuckna ”Brawler” land-based fighter jets shot out like arrows leaving the bowstring, piercing straight into the sky. On the airport’s long runway, one heavy long-range bomber after another also took off in succession, roaring into the blue sky.

”The fighter jet group escort formation is complete,” the lead pilot Colonel Pan Fei glanced at the coordination system, and gave a thumbs-up to the command room on the communication screen, then switched the communication channel and shouted, ”The rear group has arrived, follow me, we’ll first rendezvous with those slowpokes.”

”Understood, Commander.”

The sound of pilots came through the communication channel.

Pan Fei toggled the control stick, and the fighter jet roared away toward the northwest. Several kilometers away, squads from various cities east of Phoenix City had already appeared amidst the clouds. Nearly five hundred fighter jets and over three hundred bombers formed a massive assembly, akin to a migrating flock of geese, densely covering the sky.

The Chuckna land-based air force 101st flying squadron led by Pan Fei was comprised of eight fighter jet squadrons and six long-range bomber squadrons, totaling fifty-six aircraft. Since they were stationed only three or four hundred kilometers from the front line in Phoenix City, they were the last squadron to take off.

The squadron’s fighter jets led the way, bobbing like kites in the wind, slowly ascending to match the group’s altitude and joining the formation. Pan Fei switched the communication channel, sent a signal to the lead aircraft in the group, and looked around.

As the fighter jets flew, the clouds above, like wisps of white smoke, trailed behind. The silhouettes of surrounding fighter jets flickered indistinctly; the deafening roar couldn’t be isolated by the cockpit cover. Down below, the ground appeared briefly through gaps in the clouds, then vanished again. Only the dazzling sun reflected in the lakes and ponds lingered on his retinas.

The group flew northwestward; attack coordinates transmitted from radar aircraft had already appeared in the command coordination system. Commands and responses echoed back and forth in the communication channel, while signal lights blinked on, and the massive bombers climbed higher. Moments later, thousands of missiles flashed with tail lights and streaked out from beneath these great birds’ wings.

Meanwhile, as radar alarms sounded, indicating encounters with enemy aircraft groups, half the bomber fleet, having completed their task, turned left and right like leaves swept by a gust of wind, falling far behind and veering back homewards.

”It’s our turn, boys,” came the familiar voice tinged with a Kunlun Star accent from the Ace pilot and fighter jet group commander Major General Li Ke in Pan Fei’s headset, ”Spread the formation, the first squadron in front, insert in order, the ones in the back don’t rush too fiercely. Let’s teach them a lesson. May our forefathers bless Chuckna.”

”Long live Chuckna...” The voices of the excited pilots in the communication channel sounded like participants at a party where beauties abound.

Hundreds of ”Brawler” fighter jets roared under the sunlight.

Just before Pan Fei donned his tactical helmet and activated the electronic fire control system of the protective goggles, he took one last look at the ground. To his surprise, he found that the green armored force newly arrived at Leifeng Star was rushing westward like a herd of beasts.

Their formation was spread wide, and their speed was extraordinary.

The mechas sprinting at full speed looked like leopards racing in unison. The undulating ground was like a mottled carpet swiftly retracting underneath them. Dense woods on either side were left far behind in an instant. Their speed was almost comparable to the fighter jets!

Ahead of them was already thick smoke and towering flames. Endless explosive light spheres engulfed the entire horizon. In the forest hills, Chuckna infantry in dark green uniforms and severely damaged Chuckna mechas feverishly resisted the tide-like assault of the Western Alliance armored forces.

The radar warning signals and combat deployment orders from the command system screamed and flashed incessantly.

Blood boiled at that moment.

”Follow me!” Pan Fei pulled down his goggles, decisively pushed the control stick, leading the wingman to meet the overwhelmingly dense enemy aircraft group.

As the fighter jets collided with the enemy group amidst a sky crisscrossed by missiles and energy cannons, stirring up a chaos of startled birds, he knew, below, that armored force was also roaring and crashing into the enemy amid the dust storm.

At that moment, they fought side by side!

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”Kill!”

A thunderous roar echoed through the sky like a bursting storm.

The Chuckna soldiers amidst the fierce battle suddenly noticed countless green mechas racing past them. These steel beasts charged, piercing the air with sharp howls, leaping over positions and pouncing on the mecha battle group being shredded on the front line.

”Reinforcements have arrived!”

”Bandit army, it’s the bandit army!”

Cheers erupted, and the already exhausted Chuckna soldiers felt their spirits fill as if something had suddenly surged into them, a rush of blood to their heads, prompting wild jumping, shouting, and cheering.

On the left flank, a unit of green mecha rushed out from the mountain hollows, charging into the midst of dozens of Jiepeng Mecha Group in the throes of acceleration. Meanwhile, on the right flank, another green mecha unit rushed directly down the hillside, sweeping forward, engulfing over a hundred Suss Ninth Generation Mecha besieging the Chuckna Mecha in an instant.

And to the left of the left flank, and the right of the right flank......

From a high vantage point, the twenty-kilometer-wide battle line was dotted with flashes of green figures everywhere.

These high-speed advancing armored groups paused not even for a moment, nor exchanged greetings with the front-line soldiers. They just emerged from the slopes behind, along small paths, pushing forward separately, bypassing the rear troops resting and panting, surging past the hills on the frontline brimming with artillery fire, and skimming over the fiercely battling Chuckna Mecha. Like torrential floods rushing through hundreds of sluice gates in a gigantic dam, with an unstoppable grand momentum, they roared into the enemy’s armored clusters.

Engage!

”Boom!” a violent explosion reverberated, spreading with the initial shrill of the blast. Immediately, countless energy cannon shots followed, echoing throughout the mountain range as the green mecha collectively opened fire.

On the battlefield below Half Cloud Ridge, within a circumference of over a hundred kilometers, the forests, muddy ground, grass slopes... echoed with the same intense sound. A small creek winding across the battlefield was marred like a serpent shredded by machine guns, with countless stones and water splashes thrown into the sky, scattering everywhere. The Western Alliance Armored Forces crisscrossing the field felt as though bitten by a swarm of piranhas, resulting in chaotic turmoil.

”Marach, look!” A mud-covered Chuckna Corporal excitedly grabbed his companion next to him, pointing toward a small hill opposite.

Dragged by his companion, Marach’s smoke-blackened face revealed only big white eyes and a mouthful of white teeth. He grimaced and shook, reluctantly tearing his gaze from the aerial dogfight above, only when the Corporal was about to lose his mind did he follow the trajectory of a Suss Fighter hit and smoking, heading toward the direction pointed out.

On the hillside, more than ten Suss [Madman] Mecha emerged from the woods. These mecha advanced rapidly, mud and grass thrown aside by their steel mechanical legs’ grip teeth. Several large trees were felled in their reckless charge.

Marach’s eyes widened, surrounded by eye whites. Amidst the flying dust, he saw two green mecha at the bottom of the slope, like arrows off the string, charging directly toward the Suss Mecha.

The Suss [Madman] Mecha were the stuff of infantry nightmares. Adhering to the rugged, simplistic, aesthetic-free design and industrial fabrication typical of Suss Army munitions, they possessed formidable destructive power. Their two Paris High-Density Energy Cannons could fire six hundred 110-mm caliber energy bullets per minute, alongside four slightly smaller caliber energy cannons boasting a rate of fire as high as six thousand rounds per minute.

The designer of these mecha was undeniably a fervent believer in firepower supremacy. He transformed this Single Soldier Mecha into a mobile fortress of firepower. Even compared to most medium-sized mecha, [Madman] did not yield in terms of firepower. More crucially, the mad designer did not compromise the fundamental close combat characteristic of Ninth Generation Mecha. The Madman’s close combat, daring to challenge even the pinnacle Feiyang Heavenly Punishment, showed no signs of inferiority.

In a range of merely two to three hundred meters, facing fifteen or sixteen [Madman] mecha, those two odd-looking green Fatty Mecha seemed to walk into their doom. Moreover, they attacked uphill from below. It wouldn’t take long before they were riddled by enemy fire, reduced to burning scrap metal!

The Suss Mecha opened fire. The ferocious barrage confirmed Marach’s fears. That firepower could no longer be termed as such; rather, it was a radiant, fiery whirlwind, enveloping the two green mecha in the blink of an eye.

The gunfire roared across the position, warriors wielded their meager fire forces desperately firing towards the opposite hillside.

Marach hastily grabbed a portable missile launcher, unable to set down its support before pressing the button. The enormous recoil of the vapor-trailing armor-piercing missile flipped the towering man, six foot two and weighing two hundred pounds, onto the ground.

As he fell, Marach saw the missile tracing a meandering path in the sky, plunging into a hillside populated by the Suss Mecha Group, and with a thunderous explosion, he was amazed to see two green figures surging up the hill amidst the flashes.

Boom! A Suss Mecha was transformed into a burning fireball. Subsequently, another Suss Mecha lost its legs, rolling down the hill. Before Marach could blink, he witnessed the third and fourth Suss Mecha being blown apart in explosions. Amidst this brutal carnage, two green figures were like reapers wielding their sickles.

Every Suss Mecha they neared met a fatal end, without exception.

The artillery on the position had already fallen silent, warriors stood in the trenches, gawking at the hillside ahead. Watching those two green mecha traverse through the Suss Mecha with stunning speed, observing the Suss Mecha’s bullets chasing after them tearing the ground behind. Watching them dismantle one Suss Mecha after another with incredible maneuvers and attack techniques.

These were not movements found in Mechanical Control Standards, nor were they the slow, methodical, slightly paused maneuvers typically seen among Mechanical Warriors.

These were dances, fluid as water, mass-murdering!

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