Kal'tsit didn't quite understand.
She stared at the sky, unable to see the unidentified aircraft. When she lowered her head to look at the radar, she could make out only a tiny speck at the edge.
It was so small, yet Kal'tsit felt as though she were face-to-face with the most dangerous beast in the world. A chill ran through her.
"Are the beam weapons no good?"
"No. Beam weapons rely heavily on range. Once they exceed their limit, their power drops off rapidly, making them useless against an enemy at that altitude." Kal'tsit gripped the launcher, apparently having made up her mind. "Prepare to fire the decoy barrage."
A decoy barrage.
Heat decoys to attract the guided missiles. But Rhodes Island was a huge target; the enemy would probably launch a saturation strike...
No.
"Our opponent has already reached an altitude beyond anything reasonable. We can't assume its weapons are any more conventional. When facing an enemy like this, there's only one course of action."
Kal'tsit gritted her teeth.
"Make bold assumptions, but verify them carefully."
That was how humanity ought to face the unknown.
"When it fires, every weapon on Rhodes Island will fire as well. Any attack, no matter where it comes from, will face at least two or three rockets. We'll detonate the missiles before they hit. This isn't an attack. It's strategic defense."
Kal'tsit had made a wise decision.
They couldn't keep living on edge like this forever.
RPC-6626 rejected every request to open communications. After Rhodes Island had broadcast across every frequency, the second broadcast began. Perhaps seeing that they'd run out of options, the helicopter began firing missiles.
0.6 seconds later, Rhodes Island launched its weapons into the sky as well.
They formed a barrier of conventional weapons thirty meters overhead, four kilometers