Changkong Fighter

Chapter 292 Ascendant Test (4000 words)
Guam has a tropical monsoon climate with stable temperatures, but typhoons can be destructive and occur at irregular intervals.

Today, the weather in Guam is great. Sunlight shines through the clouds onto the azure sea, making the surface sparkle. Inside the hangar at the Guam military base, Liu Jun is holding his flight helmet and looking at his new fighter jet.

The special version, which is an upgrade from the previous J15T, has an additional slot in the cockpit for the "Ascension Mark". After the entire symbol is activated, it will radiate outwards. According to Rupa, this is the mark of an Ascended.

However, Liu Jun still needs to experience how to use this thing properly, and now he is preparing to cooperate with the maintenance personnel to conduct a final check on the flight.

After boarding the plane and entering the cabin, Liu Jun fastened his seatbelt, placed his right hand on the side bar, took out the [Ascendant Mark] he carried with him, and placed it in the module on the side, fitting perfectly like a diamond set into a base.

The J-15T's avionics system was powered on with a female voice announcing the start of the program.

The symbol lit up the moment it was powered on, and an invisible wave emanated from it.

"Major, everything is normal outside."

Two maintenance personnel inspected the fighter jet's external skin and various aerodynamic surfaces. After confirming that there were no problems, they turned their attention back to the landing gear, while Liu Jun focused his gaze on the instruments, watching the start-up status displayed on each instrument.

"The instruments are fine."

After confirming that all control surfaces were in good working order, Liu Jun inspected the J-15T. Compared to other J-15Ts, its nose was somewhat flat, indicating aerodynamic optimization. It looked as if the nose of a J-35 had been embedded into the J-15T.

"The servo motor is working properly!"

"INS is normal!"

"Atmospheric computer functioning normally!"

While the technicians checked the machine's condition, Liu Jun pondered his superiors' new mission: to test what would happen if contact with an extraterrestrial civilization occurred after the [Mark] was installed, in order to deepen their understanding of extraterrestrial civilizations.

After checking all the data and confirming that there were no problems, the trailer pulled the J15T out of the hangar. Along with Liu Jun, the Type 2 aircraft, which was used to send Rupa back, also drove out of the hangar. After simple maintenance, the Type 2 aircraft entered takeoff preparation under the reluctant gaze of the technicians.

Armed personnel set up a long cordon around the area, and fully armed soldiers turned their backs to the Type 2, creating a safe zone. However, the Type 2 was not completely invisible to satellites, and satellites in space would definitely see this extremely conspicuous Type 2.

From the perspective of strength and status, what difference does it make if I show it to you? I'm just putting it out there for you to see, perfectly legitimately.

After injecting the last tube of energy paste into its protective suit, Rupa had run out of food. Its condition had improved somewhat, though it still looked somewhat "sub-healthy".

No need for further explanation; after communicating with Liu Jun, Rupa fully understands his mission and what he needs to do upon returning.

Escorted by several security personnel, Rupa walked to the front of Type 2, opened the cockpit of Type 2 with his tentacles, and slowly opened a passage on the surface of the aircraft that reflected seven-colored light. Then Rupa looked in Liu Jun's direction and crawled into the aircraft. Then the hatch closed, and when the hatch closed, there was no gap visible on the surface, it was perfectly sealed.

Then, under Liu Jun's watchful eye, the Type 2's energy system was activated. As the "internal stress" was converted into flight power, the Type 2 slowly levitated, and then its altitude increased. As the Type 2 was activated, the interference source began to interfere with the communication and radar systems.

The 09 and 04 high-altitude aircraft around the airport were using electro-optical systems to lock onto the Type 2 aircraft. For safety reasons, the Type 2's laser weapons were removed, firstly for research purposes, and secondly to prevent Rupa from acting irrationally unless it turned into a "droplet".

It is now a harmless "civilian" aircraft, and it can be easily destroyed by 35mm and 25mm anti-aircraft guns.

Inside the cockpit, Rupa piloted the Type 2, hovering over the base without rushing to leave.

"What does it want to do?"

Air traffic controllers in the control tower were observing the Type 2 in the sky through binoculars; it was just circling and not moving away.

"I think I know what it's going to do."

Needless to say, Rupa was informing Liu Jun that it was waiting for him.

Liu Jun looked up at the Type 2 shining brightly in the sky above the base and said to the ground crew beside him, "I'll go and see this Octopus Brother off. It's not good for such a large interference source to stay in the sky."

"Understood, Major!"

Don't let Liu Jun's current rank of major fool you; his camouflage uniform, his high kill count, and his numerous medals make him a living "UR," and his words carry significant weight.

The trailer pulled the J15T onto the runway, adjusted its position, and then left.

"Airborne call, requesting takeoff!"

That being said, his gaze was actually fixed on the ground crew beside him, who was communicating with the control tower via landline. As the flag was waved, Liu Jun received takeoff clearance.

After taxiing on the runway, the J-15T took off.

Almost the instant Liu Jun took off, Rupa piloted Type 2 towards the wormhole over the Pacific Ocean, while Liu Jun adjusted his position and took over the wingman's role.

On the ground, the commander watched the two aircraft depart into the distance. This was a form of surveillance to prevent Rupa from making any unusual moves during the flight. Humans could not completely trust this alien octopus.

As Liu Jun moved further and further away from the base, Rupa maintained a steady flight, watching as Octopus Brother safely did as he had been told. Rupa then looked at the data in his helmet, where a new feature, shaped like a Wi-Fi connection, was displayed. Its purpose was to alert Liu Jun if there were any other Ascended Ones nearby. As for how they searched, it involved some technical black boxes.

There is a kind of quantum entanglement between the marks, which will alert Liu Jun as long as they are nearby. This can be regarded as another way to detect enemies besides the EODAS system.

I heard that tech experts are trying to decipher this "quantum entanglement." Even though Liu Jun doesn't know much about technology, he knows that quantum entanglement cannot be eavesdropped on, and any attempt to decipher it will result in "scrambled code."

The two aircraft flew further and further away, entering the outer defense line of Guam composed of naval Type 054A and Type 055 destroyers.

"Captain, targets detected, number 2, no anomalies."

The captain nodded. Their mission was also to track and monitor the aliens, and to eliminate them without hesitation if anything unusual happened.

"Continue tracking!" the captain said in a deep voice.

"Understood!" Not only the 055, but also the 054A and 054B are continuously tracking and monitoring the target in the sky, with the HQ-5 vertical launch system ready to launch and shoot it down at any time.

Rupa followed the pre-arranged plan perfectly and did not cause any trouble along the way. Liu Jun looked at the Type 2 beside him and used the onboard equipment to observe the static flight attitude of the Type 2.

They were very familiar with Type 2, but always on the battlefield. This time, they flew like comrades, ensuring that the alien spacecraft, which had been "repaired" by humans, would not malfunction.

When Liu Jun escorted the Rupa and flew out of the air defense identification zone near Guam, he looked up and saw a familiar black dot. Around him, J-16s and J-11Bs, which were also escorting him, appeared. Liu Jun suspected that there might be fifth-generation fighters beyond visual range.

At the Guam base, he saw glimpses of the J-20 and J-35. While these fifth-generation fighters are not well-suited to the current version, they are not without combat capabilities. Once equipped with the "Beast" (a type of weapon), they can also serve as PL-15 missile carriers. In any case, as long as the missiles are launched beyond visual range, RTB (Real-Time Bypass) can be achieved.

As for the rest? The J-20 doesn't have a cannon, so it can't engage in dogfights.

High in the sky, ginkgo leaves and other fighter jets silently watched the two aircraft. Further away, a search network consisting of a KJ-3000 AWACS aircraft and several WZ-9 and RFID-7 aircraft was conducting preliminary location of the alien spacecraft by using radio interference and radar clutter, based on the unique interference methods of extraterrestrial civilizations.

After positioning, saturation missile launches can often solve most problems within the BVR. It is precisely because of this initially updated combat system and strong industrial capacity that the University of Tokyo was able to hold Guam's defense line and form two island chain defense lines with the Ryukyu Islands to prevent infiltration by stealth aircraft from alien civilizations.

But this is already the limit. All that the University of Tokyo can do is protect itself. Other countries outside are beyond its capabilities. Who knows what powerful enemies are lurking behind these proxies?

As Liu Jun said, he had unknowingly left a considerable distance from Guam's air defense identification zone, surrounded by an endless sea and blue sky.

At this distance, Liu Jun's powerful eyesight allowed him to see the faint sinkhole in the distant sky, like a necklace hanging in the sky.

At this moment, Liu Jun received a laser communication. After the call was connected, the familiar voice of the eagle rang out: "Chang Kong, the surrounding situation is unclear. Stop advancing."

Eagle was somewhat worried about Liu Jun. He was next to a Type 2 and would be most affected. Moreover, his aircraft did not have a radar system. If another Type 2 got close to him, it would be very dangerous. This was not an exaggeration.

"clear."

Liu Jun was well aware of what Eagle was worried about: if he were to engage in battle with an alien civilization, it might lead to a small-scale conflict, with both sides continuously investing resources, ultimately turning into the most troublesome piecemeal tactic.

Liu Jun eased off the accelerator and pulled the lever to prepare for a turn, while Rupa continued driving the Type 2 forward, with Liu Jun watching it move ahead.

Suddenly, a notification sound rang in Liu Jun's ear, along with the entanglement reaction generated by the [Mark].

"Attention all aircraft, something is approaching!" Liu Jun reported the air situation to friendly forces via laser communication, and the KJ-3000 also detected the anomaly.

"Attention all units, at the 10 o'clock position, above, target quantity: 6, distance 80000, a target is approaching at subsonic speed."

As the most advanced early warning aircraft of the University of Tokyo, the limited number of KJ-3000 early warning aircraft have been deployed to the Okinawa base and the Guam frontline base.

There are only two KJ-3000 early warning aircraft on board the entire Guam aircraft, which together with the WZ-9 at the base form a "sky net" and are currently the most sophisticated early warning system in human history.

The combat support team inside the KJ-3000 aircraft, with the cooperation of the WZ9 and electronic reconnaissance missile, firmly locked onto the interference source that entered the search range. Judging from the intensity of the interference source, the target may be a Type 3 ship!

"Commander, should we launch an attack?" Eagle asked over the communications channel.

The combat support team commander looked at the location of the jamming source. At this distance, all the PL-15 missiles carried by the fighter jets could easily perform long-range BVR and strike the target first.

At this moment, the commanders in the combat support team were also somewhat undecided. As usual, whenever Dongda and the alien civilization were discovered, missiles would be launched to shoot them down or damage them. But this mission was to monitor Rupa.

If the two sides are fighting, Rupa's Type 2 doesn't have IFF recognition, making it easy to accidentally hit someone in the chaos.

"No, let's avoid them first. Our mission is not to fight them. We should at least wait for our spies to get there."

"clear."

Soldiers are duty-bound to obey orders. Since the commander forbade firing, each squad quickly moved to the 39th parallel in accordance with the commander's orders to avoid the contact line.

This allows you to create distance, and when you want to switch to an attacking position, you can quickly move into a ranged attack position.

The commander watched as each aircraft took off, looked up at the sky, connected to laser communication, and established a connection with Liu Jun using the drone as a relay.

"Chang Kong, are you confident?"

When Liu Jun heard the commander's words, he was being asked if he wanted to go forward and try the "upgrading ceremony." This was a task assigned by his superiors, instructing him to observe how extraterrestrial civilizations would react to the markings at an appropriate time.

"Have!"

"Be careful."

"understand!"

After receiving authorization from the commander, Liu Jun and Lupa moved 20 kilometers apart and approached the six large interference sources that were approaching face to face.

Through the shared data link of laser communication, he could determine the approximate location of six interference sources, while the iteratively updated laser search radar on the nose also detected several unnatural optical path distortions and displayed their locations in the form of boxes on the fully digital cockpit canopy.

With the weapon safety off, Liu Jun checked the fuel and mentally simulated how to avoid the enemy's attacks, launch a counterattack, and contain them if the two sides clashed, creating opportunities for his comrades.

It would be very difficult to sink a target suspected to be Type 3 using the air-to-air missiles mounted on the J-15T; only the large anti-ship missiles mounted on the ginkgo leaf could destroy it.

After formulating a battle plan in his mind, the two sides closed the distance to 40KM. At this distance, given the size of a Type 3, it was already possible to see each other. However, he did not find anything unusual in the direction of the "square mark", which meant that the other side had activated optical camouflage.

According to the "attack doctrine" of extraterrestrial civilizations, their favorite method is ambush, just like how the octopus hunts in nature. Using optical camouflage, they sneak up on unsuspecting targets, strike successfully, and then quickly retreat.

(End of this chapter)