The Almighty Ring

In just the span of a brief afternoon, the entire world was rattled by the presence of a higher power. Countless of alien drone attackers had descended from the sky, sent by an unknown force, to accomplish destruction, for unknown reasons.

After the alien drones were done with sinking the coalition naval fleet of America and Europe, they headed toward the land and even destroyed the others ships that weren’t even sortied. All the ships, both docked and in shore lines, were destroyed. Worst of all, even cargo ships, medium-size cruisers, civilian or not, were destroyed as well.

“Is this an alien invasion?”

“Lord almighty, protect us!”

“Where are they coming from?!”

“Are they weapons of China? Is this their form of retaliation?”

“Impossible! They are not from China! Why wouldn’t they have used it in any previous battle?”

After a heated argument between leaders of America and Europe, a conclusion was made. These drones were of unknown origins and affiliation but one thing was for sure, they were the enemy!

“We cannot just leave them be! Not after they had destroyed all our nautical assets! Dispatch the airforce! Launch all birds in the air and destroy these sons of b*tches!” the President of the United States of America decreed.

They headed down the chain of command and pilots all across the globe started to mobilize. They had been consolidating all of their assets back into the States but during the days when Jiang Fei was missing and both America and Europe attacked China, foreign bases had been established and activated. Soldiers were sent over to set up camp to secure a proper parameter to lock down China in case they tried to do anything to allied nations of America.

Amongst all fighter jets that were launched, there were the newest fighter jets that had only just been released. New, 7th Generation Blackbirds, capable of Mach 5.4 speeds, were launched to tackle the problem of the alien attack drones.

“Captain, the America-Europe alliance is mobilizing their aerial assault vehicle. Do you wish to destroy them as well?” 0541 prompted Jiang Fei as soon as the planes were only still being hauled to the takeoff track. Even though he noticed their every movement and knew about their trajectory, 0541 still required Jiang Fei’s verbal consent to actually attack them.

“Since they are playing this game, we should as well! Let’s wait for it first. Let them come! It wouldn’t be fun if they were shot down before they could even take off,” said Jiang Fei with a scoff. Because of the great disparity between technology, Jiang Fei had to let them take the lead; letting them actually send their fighter jets into the air before destroying them!

Jiang Fei had the absolute advantage then. In an absolutely stress-free situation, he wanted to play a little bit before finishing the war. In the end, he was still a child at heart.

“Captain, their planes are in the air. They are coming from South Asia, America, and Europe air force bases. Forty-eight bases and 754 fighter jets in total,” 0541 reported. Anything that was on Earth were exposed to Braveheart’s super-advanced radar system.

“Let them come closer. I’ll destroy them one at a time,” said Jiang Fei gleefully. He was enjoying himself.

“Aye, captain,” 0541 acknowledged. To prepare, 0541 had controlled all the drone units scattered all across China to face the oncoming fighter jets. He had them locked on first and awaited for Jiang Fei’s order to fire.

“Are they close?” Jiang Fei asked after a few minutes.

“Yes, captain. They are going to enter China’s airspace in just a few minutes,” 0541 replied.

“Alright then, time to hand out the welcome gifts! Remember, 0541. One. At. A. Time.”

“Aye, captain! One at a time!”

FWEEEEET!

An extremely high pitch sound was heard and a visible ray of light could be seen shooting toward an airborne fighter jet that was traveling at mach 5. A second later, that fighter jet exploded. No one knew how it happened and where the attack came from.

“Robertson, how did Derris get attacked?!” The squad leader prompted through the radio.

“Negative on enemy source, captain! Phase Sensors aren’t detecting any missiles locked-on! I think it has to be his engine, sir. Either that or one of his missiles got dislodged,” Robertson, the wingman of Derris, replied with cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

“Must be a technical error. Leave it be. There’s nothing we can do but pray for him now. Continue our trajectory! We’ll be dropping our packages soon! It’s time for some fireworks!” Moss, the captain of the squad gave his verdict and a last-minute pep talk. He wasn’t going to just give up the mission because of a single jet.

Just then, another fighter jet was destroyed, right after Moss had just given his pep talk. Like the previous fighter, the pilot had no idea where it came from and could not even pull out from the cockpit.

“Dammit! Fan out! Fan out! We are under attack, ladies! Did anyone have a twenty on the bogey?!” Moss yelled on the radio.

If a single fighter jet burst out and exploded on a mission, a technical error was only logical. But now, a second fighter jet had exploded, not two seconds later! If they weren’t under attack, their fighter jet engineer would be in for a bad day!

“General! What are your orders?!” Moss called the command center for advice as an unknown enemy was attacking them.

“Be advised, we are currently under attack by an unknown enemy. Robertson, Oxford, activate your radar system and track the enemy. All other units are to follow me and provide decoy for Robertson and Oxford!” Moss ordered his squad. Being a veteran of the air force, Moss was quick to react in this sort of situation. Even so, he had made a critical mistake. He had viewed the enemy the same as all other enemies he had faced during his years as a pilot. Protocol stated that radar systems were to be turned off during non-assault flights. Turning them on would not only allow one to track others but also expose one’s own unit to the enemy. It was always set to off unless a combat mission started. Before that, pilots must always rely on their own sight to spot enemies. Upon entering combat area or if their Phase Sensitive system was jammed, the squad would turn on one or two of the fighter’s radar systems and have all the other fighters perform a decoy maneuver to protect the fighter with its radar turned on. This was the common aerial combat strategy and it was only effective if the enemy used a similar aerial vehicle.

However, no matter what kind of strategy they used, in the eyes of Braveheart, they were all but glowing light bulbs in the dark. Leave their radar system off and they would still be easily detected by Braveheart’s superior radar system.

“Captain! There’s no reading on the radar!” Robertson reported. The sky was as clear as the calm water in the Dead Sea.

“How is that possible,” Moss muttered to himself and before he could even start thinking of another possibility, another fighter jet was destroyed.

“I have a bad feeling about–”

Before Robertson could finish his sentence, his fighter was destroyed.

“Dammit!” Moss roared. Moss had come to a conclusion. The enemy has air superiority. Perhaps even possessing fighter jets ten times more advanced than their current fighter jets! How else would they still be invisible to the radar system and have a locked-on on their fighters?

“Base! We are under attack! Base, please advise! Come in, base! Base?”

ZOOM!

Alas, before the commander center could respond to Moss’ call, his own fighter jet was attacked and destroyed. His radio transmission was being monitored by 0541, making him a priority target to be destroyed!