There were six missiles launched all together. They were combination infra-red and laser-guided ECM rockets, and they were the kind that hurt when they hit. The best defense is a good offense, right?
I grabbed onto the console’s laser trigger. I would get to the antimissiles in a minute.
“Distance: eleven thousand…”
Yuri counted off the numbers. They were within range. Unlike most spaceships, it was easy for us to knock missiles out of the air.
I squeezed the trigger.
Pyapa! An orange fireball soared into the air. In the vast pinkish early morning sky the ball opened up in a huge spectacular display. The laser guidance systems were powerless against this giant fireball flower. Didn’t they know you can’t throw up second-rate potshots and expect to lay a scratch on a peerless fighter like the Taidoko-class Lovely Angel?
All together the six missiles broke apart into gas and scraps.
“Let’s forget going around!” I said to Yuri. “If this is the way they want it, let’s get down and mount a ground attack!”
“But we don’t know where we are trying to get to!” Yuri protested. “Without a scout, that is totally irresponsible!”
“Irresponsible, my ass!” I blurted out with force. “On an island this size, there is a technique in pulling off a blanket ground attack.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Game Genocide!”
“Agh!” Yuri slumped over the console.
In the meantime, Lovely Angel’s altitude was dropping, and we were drawing near Saint Dominas Isle. Again, from one corner of the island, missiles were launched. This time there were ten times as many rockets fired. These missiles were smaller, with multiple warheads. Whatever—nyaa! You are too slow!
Each missile split in five warheads, for a sum total of about three hundred warheads. They were steadily coming our way at about Mach five. Steadily didn’t mean slow. If I were to describe it in a sound, it would be something like Ka-swooosh!
“Dammit!”
I opened up the missile trigger. This would release the antimissile, and after doing so would mean we needed to get some distance. I flexed my pointer finger and squeezed the trigger. Not just once, but a second, then a third time. We had our own multiwarhead missiles. Designed to induce explosions, they initially took out about half of the incoming warheads.
“Keep your chin up!” Yuri suddenly called out. Let’s get ’em! I was thinking when at that moment, there was a shock and a boom. A five-G punch to the side. Lovely Angel had turned to avoid the warheads, but didn’t detect that one. Ooo… my chin hurts, my neck hurts.
The screen following the missiles had gone white. It was now a fierce battle of warhead vs. warhead. Even with these small warheads, the sheer number of them assembled meant that the total damage possible was enormous.
Gulp!
Once again, there was an ominous boom. Lovely Angel did another steep turn. This was bad. I wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe it just wasn’t my lucky day. It had only been a few minutes since daybreak, but I didn’t want it to start like this.
Around twenty of the warheads thrown off course turned and made a wide arc, and were coming back our way. They would have to be stopped with the laser. I lined up my numb chin and neck with the laser’s targeting sites, and I squeezed the trigger.
One by one the warheads were instantly blown to bits.
We were unavoidably forced to take a detour, and Lovely Angel found herself in the skies far above Saint Dominas Isle. If we tried to go straight onto the island, we could expect an even more vicious missile attack, but if we were to come at the island along the coastline, covered in foliage, we could have a better shot.
“Get back and drop altitude!” I said. “Really drop her down! Under five hundred meters—”
“You know you’re nuts, right?” Yuri had grown tired. “We’ll stall that low!”
“We can’t stall!” I pleaded to no one in particular. “We need to get above Mach five. Do whatever you can! We are low on missiles, so if I am going to do my Game Genocide, I’m going to need the help of a sonic boom.”
Yuri screamed, obviously not thrilled with my plan. I could understand that. During that recent job on Dangle and that space station that fell to the planet… with a sonic boom half the continent was destroyed and over 1.2 million lives were lost. It was natural to not want to hear a sonic boom ever again.
But hearing one and making one were two different things. And now, we needed to make one. With Lovely Angel’s mass, major damage wouldn’t be an issue. If we went off our flight path at that speed, we would just end up plowing a trench about one hundred meters long and five or six meters deep into the ground. At this point, I would have liked to have just sent the entire island to the bottom of the sea, but that wasn’t an option right now.
I brought up a view of the ocean on the screen. We were very close to the water. Close enough that if I could have stuck my hand out the hull, it would have gotten wet. This was some real low-altitude flying. Like this…
The surface of the sea began to divide. Literally it was like the ocean was being cut into two. Like Charlton Heston and the Red Sea. Getting closer to the island, the water was getting shallower, and this combined with our altitude was causing the water to split. In places you could almost see the sea floor. The tremendous force of a sonic boom. No sign of any missiles from the island since the multi-warhead attack. This was our big chance.
We reached the shore. Sand was blown into the air, the ground was flattened, and rock formations cracked. The dirt and sand thrown up under Lovely Angel’s hull made an effective smoke screen. Looking at an outside view screen, all I could see was an ochre clay color. I couldn’t make out any distinct objects.
In fact, I was sure we had just passed by the point where the missiles had launched from. The computer confirmed my suspicion of the location. At a glance, it looked like an ordinary cliff. As we passed, rocks and boulders tumbled down the side of the steep wall. Among the falling debris I could see the reflection of shiny metallic objects. The damage to the cliff was more than our sonic boom could muster, there had been another explosion. Bingo! Take that!
Lovely Angel traveled further inland. With a circumference of about thirty kilometers, this was a modest little island. At this speed, you could blink and miss it. We turned toward the giant crater in the island’s center. Below us was a green tropical rain forest on all sides. You could build a base or residence out here and no one would ever know.
Despite our maneuvering, a laser blast hit Lovely Angel in the belly, scorching her outer panels. A red light on the edge of the console began to flash, indicating hull damage. It was from an anti-aircraft laser cannon. Fortunately, the damage was minimal. However, there was no mistake they knew we were here. I wrapped my finger around the trigger once again. There were a considerable number of anti-aircraft laser cannons hidden in the tropical forest, and bright beams came randomly streaming from the greenery toward us. How do you fight a battle like this? The answer is Super Napalm.
I set the coordinates in all directions and punched the release button. Small bursts of napalm ejected to the input locations of the first laser cannon bunkers. From where we were, I was able to catch a glimpse of a few of the antiaircraft laser cannons. Each one turned to a mass of flame. Fireballs borne from the sky. They drew an arc in the air before falling. The primeval forest began to burn. They weren’t direct hits, but with no chance for fire extinguishing, the laser cannons soon were enveloped in raging flames. Of course, some of the napalm landed right on their targets.
I was alternating between blasting down missiles and dropping Super Napalm. Here and there surface-to-air missiles were taking flight at us, but I took care of them using the laser. I was looking forward to taking on an interceptor, but none had shown up. Overall it was a pretty weak welcome. Except for the lack of dogfights, this was exactly like a session of Game Genocide.
We came out over the south sea. I had just finished cleaning out the west half of the island. Over the ocean, I circled around, and moved north on course with the east side of the island. Plumes of black smoke rose from a number of places on the island. On the surface the power of the Super Napalm’s fire was clear.