Aspiring to Rival Heaven

As the airspeed rapidly increased, system warnings blared, signaling an approach to the disintegration speed. Feeling the aircraft shudder, Liu Jun did his best to accumulate more energy.

"Now!" He pulled back on the stick.

Liu Jun corrected his G-force, finding the control stick heavy and the aerodynamic surfaces feeling "locked." The elevators were jammed by the rapidly passing air, requiring a trim adjustment.

With the coordinated efforts of the canards and elevators in the Flying Shark's aerodynamic design, the nose of the diving aircraft slowly adjusted and then pitched up rapidly. Familiar system prompts sounded in Liu Jun's ears again:

[MAX G-FORCE! MAX G-FORCE!]

Blackness encroached on his vision. The G-force was pushing blood from his upper body into his legs, and the anti-G suit was working hard to push it back, preventing him from losing consciousness due to oxygen deprivation to the brain.

[MAX G-FORCE!]

[8G!]

[9G!]

The instantaneous G-force continued to climb. Liu Jun felt the blackness spreading across his vision. A normal pilot would have passed out by now, but with his enhancements, he could hold on a little longer.

Inside the AWACS, the combat crew commander watched the increasing G-forces, worried that Chang Kong might be rendered unconscious by the strain.

[10G?]

[11G?!]

Liu Jun felt the first signs of oxygen deprivation in his brain and immediately allocated skill points to [G-Force Tolerance]!

[G-Force Tolerance: LV2.5]

A mere 11G!

Though the skill only increased by 0.5, Liu Jun instantly felt his brain, on the verge of blacking out, clear up. At that moment, the aircraft's nose had rotated, and the blackness rapidly receded thanks to his reinforced physique. The world around him regained its color.

"11G?"

The commander, looking at the G-force data transmitted via the data link, wondered if his eyes were deceiving him. This Chang Kong was practically made of solid steel! He hadn't passed out from this?

With the nose pointed towards the Sky Pit, the throttle was pushed forward, and the two WS-10 engines roared to life.

The Flying Shark used its dive's potential energy, converting it into climbing speed and inertia, and began to ascend towards high altitude at an 18° angle of attack, consuming the energy it had accumulated.

Altitude 15,000

Altitude 16,000

Altitude 17,000

Reaching the J-15's maximum service ceiling, the inertia, however, did not disappear and continued to provide climbing speed.

Altitude 18,000

Altitude 19,000!

The J-15 broke through its service ceiling, approaching near space!

The air at this altitude was extremely thin, rendering the aerodynamic control surfaces almost useless, and the external temperature dropped rapidly.

Alarms sounded in Liu Jun's ears, warning him of engine power degradation, and the main screen of the avionics system also displayed an "Engine Down" warning.

[LOCK ON]

On the helmet-mounted display, a square appeared, indicating the general direction of the missile seeker's lock.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The weapon lock alert sounded, and Liu Jun pressed the launch button!

"Launch 2!"

A long missile launched from the rail, the solid-fuel rocket-powered PL-17 streaking towards the distance like lightning. Only after the missile had traveled some distance could the roar of its engine starting be heard, its sights set on the Sentinels around the Sky Pit!

After launch, the PL-17 linked with the KJ-3000 via the data link, rapidly approaching the Sky Pit under a combined guidance mode involving the BeiDou Navigation System, AWACS radar guidance, and inertial navigation.

"Red Fox-2 calling Red Fox-1, missile launched."

"Red Fox-1 received, missile attitude nominal, continuous tracking, commencing mission phase two, proceeding to air sector A-2."

The KJ-3000 monitored the PL-17A's status via the data link. Although the altitude difference with the Sky Pit was only a little over 1000 meters, the engagement had shifted from a "low-to-high engagement" to a "high-to-low engagement." This slight altitude advantage allowed the PL-17 to fully utilize gravity for acceleration.

Resulting in a faster terminal velocity and a longer engagement range!

Furthermore, before launch, the angle had been manually adjusted to put the missile into a "loft trajectory," further increasing its terminal velocity.

"Red Fox-2 understood!"

After launching the missile, Liu Jun, using the altitude advantage gained from the climb, prepared to return within the service ceiling and proceed to A-2—an air sector 100 nautical miles from the Sky Pit, a rather dangerous distance.

Inside the KJ-3000, the AWACS technicians stared intently at the PL-17.

[Time until passive radar seeker activation: ]

—

In the sky, a faint white line appeared against the blue canvas, streaking into the distance. The white line soon disappeared, but Liu Jun knew clearly that the launched missile had entered its inertial coasting phase, propelled by its rocket engine towards the target. The low air resistance at high altitude allowed the missile to fly both fast and far.

With the correct launch method, an increase in range of one-third, or even double, was not impossible.

The PL-17 (dual-pulse solid rocket motor) has a range of 300-400 kilometers.

Even without seeing the missile launch, the distance and altitude would allow early warning aircraft from other observing countries to roughly identify the missile's model. Even if they could identify the model, they could only watch helplessly, as they couldn't produce missiles with that kind of range.

East University's main missile models were few, with design specifications entirely aimed at other fourth-generation, fifth-generation fighters, and early warning aircraft.

This launch of the PL17 was a completely open display, no longer being kept under wraps.

This scene wasn't just being watched by East University's satellites; other capable countries were also observing East University's military action. The US, however, remained silent, strictly censoring all online news related to the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group. Reporters or individuals who wanted to report the truth either mysteriously disappeared, met with car accidents, or committed suicide by shooting themselves in the back.

To maintain the light of their beacon, the US spared no effort.

Hawaii, as the closest US territory to the Sky Pit, served as an important bridgehead. Military forces in the Pacific were concentrating here, and the US military's forward command post was naturally located here, presided over by a US Navy Vice Admiral.

"General! The carrier aircraft model has been identified as a J-15. A missile was launched one minute ago, one in number. Based on its altitude, speed, and distance, it's East University's latest missile model – the PL17!"

In the satellite spectral image, a pixel point continuously enlarged and was circled with a green box. Through constant system correction, a blurry J-15 shape eventually appeared, along with the missile's white launch trail, indicating its launch direction.

The General stared at the images and data sent back by the satellites and early warning aircraft, his expression growing serious. They had been talking about the threat of the PL17, and now that threat had truly arrived.

After the J-15 launched the missile, it continued to approach the Sky Pit. It was clear that East University didn't just want to launch a single missile and call it a day.

"Can they hit it?"

"Sir, it's not clear yet. According to the Carl Vinson's data, radar missiles are ineffective against alien civilizations."

Theoretically, the US had collected more data than East University, which was also an advantage.

"God bless, I hope they don't hit!"