Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 643 - 171: Dive Attack (Part 2)

She immediately disengaged the locking hook of the left auxiliary fuel tank, jettisoning the burning tank, then swiftly adjusted the output of the two vector thrusters, struggling to maintain balance as she wobbled towards the cloud layer above.

Only at this moment did she have the time to check the status of the two wingmen.

"Harrier 02, signal lost."

"Saber 03, signal lost."

The cold text on the communicator screen sent a chill through her heart.

They had been careless after all... The energy beam cooling time of Chimera 17 was no longer what the previous data had described... Even after the last round when faced with a barrage of projectiles, the energy beam had only fired a few times before falling silent. Who could have expected that in less than five minutes, it would recharge completely and its power had only increased.

Was this a trap specifically set for them?

Valkyrie 04 looked down; she didn't see the wreckage of Harrier 02 and Saber 03. The power of the energy beam was terrifying. Her aircraft had suffered severe damage just by brushing past the beam, while Harrier 02 and Saber 03, hit directly by the beam...

She took a deep breath, then bit her lip hard, hoping the pain would keep her brain clear.

The cloud layer was within reach, but just as Valkyrie 04 was about to dive into it, the piercing lock-on warning blared once more, making her hair stand on end, her temples throbbed violently!

Gripping the joystick tightly, she prepared to replicate her earlier emergency evasion move. But just as the fighter completed a backward roll and was about to accelerate again, a disturbing moaning sound came from Vector Thruster No. 1, which then fell unresponsive.

The expression on Valkyrie 04's face froze, a fear of impending death tightly gripped her heart, and at that moment, she felt she had even forgotten how to breathe.

Vector Thruster No. 2 ignited normally, but the unequal thrust from both sides turned the entire fighter into something like a dart, flung violently outward. The enormous G-force from high-speed rotation filled Valkyrie 04's vision with crimson, and the intense pain from her eyes made it impossible to open them; her cheeks swelled as if they were on the verge of bursting, as if blood would spurt from her pores any second.

"Red-out."

Back when Valkyrie 04 was still a trainee pilot, she had heard her instructor talk about this dangerous term that was nearly synonymous with death for pilots... but it was her first time experiencing it firsthand.

She felt her brain in turmoil; scenes from the past flashed by like a lantern carousel, but she had already lost the ability to understand those images... The blood rushing to her head had robbed her of most of her cognitive ability, and vaguely, she seemed to hear the locking alarm go off for the third time.

At the brink of unconsciousness, Valkyrie 04 instinctively reached for the ejection device under her seat, mustering all her strength to pull the switch.

With a loud "bang," the cockpit canopy flew off, and the entire seat was launched out. Meanwhile, Valkyrie 04's consciousness plunged into complete darkness.

"Valkyrie 04 has ejected. Based on biometric data analysis, she likely experienced 'red-out' and is now unconscious," Harrier 01 listened to the AI's calm report, feeling as though he was plunged into an icehouse.

He certainly had considered the emergency response of the Chimera, but he also trusted the abilities of the pilots who fought alongside him... Yet now, in just one encounter, they had already lost three fighters and two pilots; the remaining pilot was likely in grave danger too.

In the images captured by the drone, Valkyrie 04, helmeted, slumped in the ejection seat, appeared unconscious—the parachute of the ejection seat had deployed, but based on the current descent trajectory, the landing spot of the ejection seat was directly above Chimera 17's massive cocoon.

Harrier 01 wanted desperately to give the order to rescue Valkyrie 04, but reason told him that doing so would be sending others to their deaths—he had witnesses the destruction of Harrier 02 and Saber 03 firsthand, where the massive energy beam engulfed two fighters almost instantaneously; the energy shields and heavy armor didn't even hold for half a second before they fizzled into sparks within the energy beam, and then completely melted away, leaving not even a piece of recognizable wreckage.

The residual force of the energy beam tore through the clouds, piercing the sky, illuminating the dreary clouds brightly. After about a second, the beam gradually weakened until it fully dissipated.

"Harrier 01, what should we do next?"

"Should we go to rescue Valkyrie 04? Her current fall... is very unfortunate indeed!"

"No! I have to save her!"

"Everyone stay quiet!" Harrier 01 shouted in the communication channel, "We can't save her!"

"Why not! I refuse to believe it!" an irate pilot shouted, "Even if I have to sacrifice my life, I will bring her back!"

"And then what? Are you expecting others to risk their lives to save you? Chimera 17's reflexes have exceeded our expectations; I even suspect it intentionally held back during the initial attack to lure us into a close-range confrontation under the guise of limited energy beam power!"

...

...

The ejection seat landed slowly, the cushioning airbags deployed, absorbing most of the impact; the emergency AI within the seat detected the pilot's condition and two syringes emerged from the seatback, injecting the contained medicine into the pilot.

The effects took hold quickly, and Valkyrie 04 let out a low moan, struggling to open her eyes.

"I'm still alive?" she murmured in surprise, looking around. However, relying solely on the dim light of the two signal lamps on the seat, her field of vision was disappointingly limited; she could barely see the ground not too far away... The ground, which didn't seem like rock or soil, resembled some sort of mineral crystal, exuding a glass-like texture.

"Did I fall into a crater left by a nuclear blast?" Valkyrie 04 laboriously lifted her wrist and glanced at the smart terminal integrated into her flight suit.

The smart terminal was completely dead, its screen pitch black.

Unable to determine her location or the radiation levels in the surrounding environment, she didn't dare to move rashly, resigning to sit quietly, awaiting an allied rescue.

If rescue would come at all.

Her chaotic thoughts gradually cleared, recalling the scenes before she lost consciousness... 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"The landing spot... it probably isn't far from Chimera 17... Trouble's ahead..."

"But why can't I see Chimera 17?"

If we set aside the supernatural characteristics of Chimera 17, this thing is practically a perfect landmark—tall enough, big enough, emitting a faint glow. If it were placed along the coastline, it would be a perfect lighthouse.

Even from several kilometers away, one should be able to see Chimera 17 standing on the wasteland with the naked eye, so why can't I see anything?

Could I have landed so far away?

Valkyrie 04 suddenly realized one thing... There didn't seem to be any raindrops falling on her.