"I'll take the lead attack!" A spirited female voice rang out over the fighter formation's comms channel.
"Alright. Valkyrie 04 will lead the first dive attack. Harrier 02 and Sabre 03, you'll serve as her wingmen." As the captain of this fighter formation, Falcon 01 immediately assigned their tasks. "Remember, don't get too close during the first attack. Destroying those buds is only a secondary objective. The main objective is to determine the effective range of those steel needles!"
"Roger!" Harrier 02 and Sabre 03 answered in unison.
Valkyrie 04 flew a fourth-generation fighter. Though the airframe model was relatively outdated, it was the only aircraft in the squadron equipped with eight autocannons. Compared with the fifth- and sixth-generation fighters, which came standard with only two autocannons or had eliminated them altogether, this fourth-generation fighter actually had the greatest firepower among them.
Harrier 02 and Sabre 03, meanwhile, both flew fifth-generation heavy fighters. Not only were they heavily armored, but they were also equipped with compact energy shield generators. If necessary, they could use their own aircraft as shields to block the steel needles for Valkyrie 04.
"Operation begins!"
Above the clouds, the three fighters immediately lowered their noses. Long trails of flame erupted from their vector-thruster nozzles as their blade-like wings instantly sliced through the lead-gray clouds and plunged into the curtain of rain below.
"Targets in visual range!" Valkyrie 04 pushed the control stick to one side, sending her fighter into a spiraling dive. At the same time, the auxiliary computer locked onto the preset targets and marked them on the windshield before her with bright red boxes.
"Six unopened 'buds' spotted!" Valkyrie 04 shouted over the comms. "02, 03, you take the two buds at three o'clock. The four at nine o'clock are mine!"
Before her words