Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
“… When doing this maneuver, you need to pay attention to your acceleration. Otherwise, you’ll lose speed and fall with a bang. Hey, what’s going on?” Instructor Weichi Song, who was explaining the operation precautions to Lin Mo and the others, suddenly frowned and turned his head to look at the runway not far away.
A jet fighter, which had completed its training of flying arcs around the base, was whistling toward Runway 2 and lowering its altitude. The base’s runways ran east-to-west and were about two kilometers long, and there were two commonly used runways. Lin Mo and the other new pilots and cadets at the training stage used Runway 2.
Lin Mo narrowed his eyes slightly and followed the gazes of the other cadets and Instructor Weichi Song. The L-15 Falcon Advanced Trainer was preparing to land, but its flight form was obviously not right.
Instructor Weichi’s expression changed, and he could not bother with anything else. He rushed toward the runway while shouting loudly and waving his hands at the aircraft. “Pull up, pull up! The speed is too slow! Quickly pull up!”
At almost the same time, at the communication terminal closest to the runway, Lieutenant Colonel Shen, who was instructing the cadets and observing, also noticed something amiss. He grabbed the communication device and shouted, issuing operation instructions.
But for some unknown reason, that L-15 Falcon Advanced Trainer in the wrong landing position did not pull up or eject in time but staggered and quickly lost speed. Then it crashed onto the runway under everyone’s eyes. Bang! With a loud explosion, a huge fireball appeared, thick black smoke rose, and countless pieces of broken metal and cement scattered into the air and then fell from the sky like rain.
“It crashed!” Lin Mo’s eyes widened. He was already mentally prepared for air crashes. Previously, in the other world, Air Riders would occasionally crash during training due to various reasons, and the flying beast mounts and rider would die simultaneously. But this was his first time witnessing the tragedy of an aerial weapon of this world crash, making his heart sting with piercing pain. This was the price of yearning for the sky. Whether they were Air Riders in the other world or jet fighter pilots in this world, crashing was their eternal pain. The higher you flew, the more miserable you fell, and the faster you flew, the fewer your body remained.
He and the others ran with all their might to the crash site. In the distance, people in the control tower, hangars, and dormitory area rushed to the place.
Aviation fuel had scattered everywhere and ignited a sea of flames. The runway was burnt black, and the huge black pillar of smoke rising into the sky looked like a black couplet hanging upright against the sky.
Lin Mo, who arrived first, ignited his very little remaining amount of battle aura decisively, using it to protect his body and eyes as much as possible. He rushed into the crash site that was blazing with flames, stopped his breathing, widened his eyes, and carefully searched for any human-like bodies.
“Lieutenant Colonel Shen, Lin Mo ran in!” Instructor Weichi, who in-charge of the new pilots, reported to Lieutenant Colonel Shen, who had just arrived. The wind blew the extremely high temperature at the scene, curling their hair and making them feel a burning, tingling sensation on the surface of their skin. Instructor Weichi could not believe that the pilot named Lin Mo dared to rush into the smoke without hesitation.
He truly had to acknowledge how brave Lin Mo was. Lieutenant Colonel Shen’s and Instructor Weichi’s hearts hung again.
From the base, emergency sirens suddenly sounded. The base’s ambulances and fire trucks rushed at full speed to the runway. The accident emergency regulations were immediately activated, and the entire base mobilized for this.
While Instructor Weichi and Lieutenant Colonel Shen were worried, the curtain of smoke suddenly separated. Lin Mo, who was black from all the smoke, came out carrying two dark humanoid objects. Lieutenant Colonel Shen’s heart immediately clutched. On this plane were Han Xingmin, a veteran pilot with over 1,500 hours of flight experience, and the cadet Wang Jun. Although Lin Mo had carried them out, they were clearly missing limbs. The sturdy anti-G suits were completely damaged and tattered. He could only hope that Lin Mo’s actions were fast enough and that the two of them survived the impact and high temperatures.
But even if they survived, they would probably have to bid farewell to flying. Lieutenant Colonel Shen’s heart felt exceptionally heavy. Crashes were no small matter. The other pilots and cadets who had rushed to the scene all showed sorrowful expressions. In just moments, the life and death of people they were familiar with were unknown.
The cost of training pilots was immense, especially jet fighter pilots. The training cost of an official fighter pilot will not be lower than that of the aircraft he flew. The time to build planes was much shorter than the time it took to train pilots. One turn on the manufacturing pipeline could produce an aircraft but not a pilot. When an accident happened, the pilot was supposed to eject to escape, rather saving the person over the plane.
“Lin Mo! Are you crazy?! Don’t you want your life?!” Instructor Weichi was stunned by Lin Mo’s crazy actions. Had Lin Mo not walked out from the smoke safely, he would have lost another pilot.
Lin Mo did not look at Instructor Weichi and Lieutenant Colonel Shen and gently placed the two lifeless pilots down. He placed his hands on their necks for a while before shaking his head. “One is dead. The other has a pulse!”
Lieutenant Colonel Shen and Instructor Weichi turned pale, their lips trembling, unable to speak. Although the base had casualties every year, especially high-risk military services, it was hard to accept every time a tragedy occurred.
Desperately stepping on the accelerator, a green military ambulance braked and created a nearly thirty-meter skid mark next to the crash site, almost dashing into the fire. The rear doors opened, and five military doctors donning white coats stumbled out, pulled the stretchers and equipment out, and rushed forward. They quickly put the two people Lin Mo rescued onto the stretchers and administered the adrenaline shots regardless of the consequences. The doctors on the spot measured their pulses. “One has no pulse. The other still does. Use the defibrillator! Forcefully stop the bleeding. Lift the stretcher and move immediately!”
In emergencies, all the rescued were carried out directly on stretchers. The pilots and cadets who had rushed over flocked sent the stretcher to the military ambulance with the utmost care.
The military pilots’ anti-G suits with very solid quality workmanship played a greater role than the battle aura protection inside the fire. Lin Mo was black from the smoke, and even though he said he was fine, everyone still pushed him into an ambulance.
As soon as the ambulances left, the fire trucks arrived. The grass surrounding the runway was burning uncontrollably. A few fire extinguishing bombs were thrown down, and then fire extinguishing foam was used to surround the fire site to control the remaining fire.
The base leaders would probably have headaches answering for this crash.
It was Lin Mo’s first time coming to the white and clean base public health center, but the others actually carried him in forcefully and pressed him onto a sickbed. Then a group of his comrades worked together to strip him naked, causing him to be so frightened that he hugged the sheets to cover his body and shouted in horror, “W-what are you thinking? Lei Dong, you are too ruthless, and you, Chen Haiqing, w-what are you hiding? I’ll recognize you even if you burn into ashes. You, Ye Xiaowei, Bai Fei, and the others are taking advantage of me. Now, get out and play among yourselves. Be careful, or I’ll pinch you to death!”
Everyone laughed. Seeing Lin Mo in distress on the bed was too funny. This fellow was usually very quiet and low-key, and it was rare to see him make a fool out of himself.
“We’re doing this for your good. What if you suffered injuries from charging into the fire like that? You’re an official fighter pilot. How can you get in a fighter if you have a scar? Do you plan on only flying transport planes in the future, or do you want to switch to flying helicopters instead?”
The doctors at the clinic were amazed. Lin Mo, who had rushed into the fire to save people, was unscathed apart from being completely black from being covered in smoke. There was not a single wound or blister on him. Instructor Weichi and Lieutenant Colonel Shen heaved sighs of relief simultaneously, thankful that they did not lose a third person.
…
Bang bang bang!
Crisp gunshots sounded at the shooting range on the base, just like the firecrackers children played with on the New Year.
Of course, the Air Force base had an army shooting range for the ground forces and not just for aircraft to bomb and fire at. After all, there was infantry guarding the base, and this shooting range was used in daily training. The target distance of one hundred meters was enough for pistol and rifle shooting training.
Despite being jet fighter pilots, they still needed guns for self-defense, mainly to deal with the accidental crashes in the wild. Thus, they needed a certain ability to use firearms.
Since the L-15 Falcon crashed during the return to the base, except for the necessary air patrols, all other training and flight missions were halted. The leaders and safety officers on the base were overwrought, and the mechanics were not spared. The base immediately conducted a large-scale safety inspection. The lights in the hangar were on all the time, and every aircraft had to undergo in-depth inspections. Even the engineers of the manufacturer rushed over to determine the cause of the accident by comparing the wreckage and the black box.