As the hatch of Danner's Son's submerged launch platform slowly opened, the black Variable Fighter, fitted with a heavy armored backpack, blasted out four brilliant flames and shot into the sky. Under Xiao Ran's control, it accelerated at full force, broke the sound barrier, and swiftly pulled away from Danner's Son, soon vanishing beyond the horizon.
Inside the Variable Fighter's cockpit, Tessa's voice came through the comms, now calm and steady. "I'm sending you the coordinates of all three warheads. At your current speed, you'll intercept the first warhead in five minutes. After shooting it down, you must immediately turn and pursue the other two."
"There are only thirty minutes until the two warheads reach their intended targets. All of them must be intercepted while still on their trajectories, so we don't actually have thirty minutes to work with. The air-to-air missiles mounted on your fighter have a maximum range of eighty kilometers. Between twenty and sixty kilometers is the no-escape zone."
"At the same time, the missiles can't match the speed of the rockets carrying the warheads. Because of the altitude of those rockets, you can only intercept them once they begin descending. Pay close attention to your distance and make sure you stay safe."
"Understood." Xiao Ran nodded, pressed down slightly with his right hand, and stepped on the pedals, gradually increasing the Variable Fighter's speed. The two fighters following behind also accelerated and headed rapidly toward the first target.
The positions of all three missiles had appeared in the Variable Fighter's cockpit, with three moving trajectories displayed on the screen.
Once he confirmed the targets, Xiao Ran controlled the Variable Fighter into a steep climb. Although this Variable Fighter's performance was not enough to completely escape Earth's gravity, or rather, it did not possess the ability to