008 San Francisco Incident (Part 2)

The briefing was finished quickly, because the Pentagon had not much information either. However, the impact of this intelligence was definitely significant. Colonel Harris sat by the desk, unable to control his trembling hands, his expression also unusually off-kilter. Commodore Connell, on the other hand, still seemed composed, but his slightly quickened breaths betrayed his emotions.

No one was unaffected.

"So, you're saying that our pilots are engaged with an alien war machine?"

The intelligence officer nodded, "We have reason to believe so. After all, the alien fleet just appeared, and then a UFO emerged shortly afterward. There must be a logical connection between the two."

The intelligence officer continued, "We are temporarily unable to determine the intentions of these extraterrestrial beings, but we can at least confirm that they want us to be aware of their presence."

Connell's eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "They deliberately chose to fly over a bustling city, drawing our attention through sightings? This behavior looks very much like provocation."

"Whatever it is, this is our chance to probe. We can enhance our understanding of extraterrestrials through their aircraft. If possible, we hope you could shoot down this flying machine and preserve its structure in a relatively intact condition. We could discover many things from it."

Colonel Harris almost lost it, "Open fire? This might be seen as an attack and an affront to them. We could be dragged into a war against an enemy we know nothing about!"

Commodore Connell turned to gaze intently at Harris and said firmly, "Intruding into the airspace of the United States itself is a provocation against the United States, and we have the right to dispose of them. If a war is indeed to start, I would rather learn as much as possible about our opponent, so let's get something from them."

——Cut Scene——

Countless San Franciscans were watching this earth-shattering pursuit unfold. The alien combat aircraft itself was only intercepted by US Air Force fighters after it was spotted. By now, the two parties had been flying in the sky for more than ten minutes, and nearly half of San Francisco's airspace had become their battlefield.

A satellite live broadcast van screeched to a halt by the roadside, its rear doors flung open, and within, the reporters and equipment poured out like special forces soldiers, rushing into action.

"Jim, point your camera at that flying saucer!" the female anchor with golden locks screamed. She could feel that after reporting this big news, she would undoubtedly become famous, perhaps even the station's leading lady.

The cameraman muttered, "That's not even a saucer at all."

Yet his hands hurriedly hoisted up the camera, focusing on the sky. Three aircraft were streaking across, flying low and fast. Moreover, with San Francisco's skyscrapers obstructing the view, capturing this aerial chase in its entirety was all the more challenging.

Another camera was already aimed at the anchorwoman Angelica, who only regretted not dressing more flamboyantly today, wearing that thousand-dollar Chanel dress. But now she had no time to worry about that. The cameraman signaled her, and she began to broadcast with a professional demeanor.

"...Back to the studio, Angelica here, bringing you a live broadcast from San Francisco. About forty minutes ago, a UFO was spotted flying high-speed over the vicinity of Oakland. Photos and videos of this unfamiliar aircraft, which does not belong to Earth, have been circulated on various social media platforms. The UFO, which descended onto Earth without any prior sign, is now engaged in a pursuit with the Air Force's F-22 Raptors above San Francisco, creating an astonishing spectacle. Here are the images we've captured on the scene."

The first footage captured two F-22s flying in tandem, one after the other. The photographer desperately zoomed in, managing to catch the leading alien combat aircraft. It was seen freely speeding, rolling, and circling in the sky, but no matter how hard the two trailing F-22s tried to keep up, they couldn't close the gap by even a fraction.

Not only reporters were watching, but crowds on the streets as well, along with drivers who jumped out of their vehicles to look up at the sky. At this point, the once bustling road was gridlocked; no one cared about what they were supposed to be doing any longer, they were all intently watching the chase unfolding in the sky.

Bai Zhongqi was in a campus not far from this street, and he was panicked; he didn't know what might happen below, nor did he know where to hide to be safe.

——Cut Scene——

"Gallant-1, take down the unidentified flying object, I repeat, take down the unidentified flying object!"

Frazer, upon hearing the order, couldn't help but exclaim, "The radar of the AIM-120 can't lock on, that thing doesn't have any heat signature, and Sidewinder missiles are ineffective against it. Are we really supposed to use cannons against this incredibly agile thing?"

From the control tower came the command, "Use all possible means, even if it means ramming it down, at all costs."

Frazer's wingman, Sean, cursed, "Damn it, this is right over the center of San Francisco, if we bring this thing down, who knows how many people will lose their lives."

There was a pause on the other side of the control tower, clearly someone had taken the communicator, and then a resolute voice came through: "This is Commodore Connell from Edwards Air Force Base, I'll repeat the order, Changren-1, Changren-2, your mission is to bring down the unidentified flying object by any means necessary, you don't have to consider anything else, over."

Frazer and Sean clearly didn't have the guts to defy their superiors. If it had to be cannons, then so be it. Frazer thought, although they couldn't get close to the UFO no matter what, the UFO seemed like a newbie in aerial combat. Despite frequently executing extreme maneuvers, its flight envelope could be terrifyingly strong, but the enemy wasn't using this superior flight performance to its advantage, and the F-22s were still able to find opportunities to shoot. A lot of times when it was behind the UFO, it seemed as if the UFO didn't mind at all being tailed by the F-22s.

The distance was a bit far, but still within the firing range of the Raptor's 20 mm cannon. Frazer began to adjust his breathing, ready to lock onto the target, ready to open fire on the enemy.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the mysterious aircraft performed another vertical roll, as if doing a 360-degree flip in place, ending up behind the two F-22s.

"Fuck, what is this!" Frazer yelled.

The famed Cobra maneuver is praised because after its flashy execution, it can directly position the aircraft behind the enemy's and launch a deadly strike. However, in actual operation, the Cobra maneuver and similar actions cause the aircraft to lose a lot of speed, putting the pilot at a disadvantage instead.

The maneuver of the mysterious aircraft was no longer as simple as a Cobra maneuver. This action was somewhat similar to the Frolov's Chakra executed by Frolov piloting the Su-37, but that was essentially a stunt move without much practical combat value, because at an angle of 110 degrees, the speed is only 93 kilometers per hour, leaving the aircraft extremely vulnerable at that sluggish pace. Yet, the mysterious aircraft managed to perform a sleek vertical roll behind the two F-22s without any loss of speed. Consequently, the Hunters became the hunted.

At this point, the two F-22s chose to split up, with Sean's wingman breaking away, while the mysterious flying object chose Frazer's lead aircraft to continue the pursuit.

Frazer desperately tried to shake them off; he clenched his teeth and opened the afterburners to maximum. His F-22 broke the sound barrier in a very short time, with the sonic boom cloud flashing on its fuselage—a spectacular sight.

But when Frazer looked back, he was horrified to find that the mysterious aircraft was still tightly on his tail, and the distance hadn't changed at all.

"The target is still behind me, I repeat, the target is still behind me, requesting support!"

Sean called out, "Changren-1, hang in there, I'm coming over!"

But it was entirely a heavyweight engagement. Normally the two-jet formation could employ many cooperative techniques to bring down an enemy aircraft, but the alien fighter, so agile it hardly seemed like an aircraft, gave Sean piloting the F-22 no chance to intervene. What was more infuriating was that the thing was radar-stealthy, so medium-range air-to-air missiles couldn't lock on. It didn't use jet engines for flight, so it naturally didn't generate thermal signals, making Sidewinder air-to-air missiles ineffective as well. Only cannons might pose a threat, at least that's what the Americans thought.

Frazer kept weaving left and right to avoid giving the enemy any firing window, but they didn't have a clue about the enemy's attack patterns, so his maneuvers were virtually futile resistance.

However, it seemed that the aircraft didn't really want to attack. Even though it had locked onto Frazer's tail, it didn't fire any weapons.

Just then, the aircraft actually began to get closer to Frazer's F-22, which had already exceeded Mach 1.5. This sent Frazer into a panic, but at this speed, any high-G maneuver would be dancing on the knife's edge, with horrific G-forces likely to claim Frazer's life before the enemy did.

The flying object ultimately flew on top of Frazer's head. Through the F-22's frameless integrated canopy, Frazer could clearly see the underside of the mysterious aircraft. It was slick, looking like a smooth metal plate, with not even a rivet or seam visible on the skin.

Frazer continued to struggle and maneuver, trying to shake them off, but no matter how he flew, the enemy still maintained its position right above him.

This scene was also clearly visible to people on the ground. An incredibly exciting aerial battle had at this moment turned into an utterly absurd spectacle. The mysterious flying object was riding on top of the F-22's head, with both aircraft continuously making various maneuvers, looking for all the world like a flying performance—thrilling and heart-stopping.