Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM2 Depth4 (section)

===Part 5===

7 PM.

Sunset.

“Brat 04. Did this black market group really have to schedule their crime for dinner time?”

“Izanami. Deals like this are always done at busy times. Gathering in the dead of night would stand out more.”

Mikoto smiled bitterly as she answered from the CIC.

The operation had already begun.

200 Squadron, composed entirely of stealth fighters, was precise.

YF-22A and the three F-117As slipped into the 50km range of the radar dot representing the two ships.

They detected no radar waves from the enemy fighters.

Their approach had gone unnoticed.

“That’s stealth for you. They slipped past the perimeter defenses.”

Kobayashi sounded impressed, but this was only the first phase of the operation.

…Was this how these battles felt for Shokuhou?

Mikoto found it unbearable. Flying out there herself was so much better than sending other people to possible death.

“Brat 04 to Izanami. I have visual confirmation of the targets. The two tankers are stopped unnaturally close to each other.”

“That’s them,” said Shokuhou. “Begin your attack, 200 Squadron.”

“Sh-Shadow 01, attack authorization confirmed.”

The rapidly-moving dots of the F-117As overlapped the ships.

On site, the aerial bombs were probably piercing through the tanker’s armor and exploding within.

“Um…Shadow 01 to Izanami. Bombing of Suspicious Ship 1…complete.”

“Okay, Shadow 01,” said Shokuhou. “That’s phase one complete. There’s no need to finish them off. As long as the Imperial Armed Forces and Capital Defense Force suspect each other, we have what we want.”

“The Imperial interceptors will be coming now!” warned Mikoto. “Begin phase two!!”

The nearby fighters of course noticed when the ship they were meant to be guarding took damage and belched flames.

This was war until the stealth fighters made it back alive.

If they were shot down here, the entire operation was a bust.

And when it came to aircraft versus aircraft (even if they looked like girls), Mikoto knew more than Shokuhou.

“Izanami to 202 Squadron. You’re up. Confuse the enemy before they surround 200!!’

“Mama 01. We were just arriving.”

It was four against four.

Several dots clashed on the radar display. After the Tokiwadai F-15Cs and the Imperial F-16Cs passed each other head on, one of the F-16C dots winked out.

“Hi! Mama 02 to Izanami. I shot down one of those suntanned shorts girls.”

“Mama 01 to 02. You shouldn’t attack head on because the wreckage will hit you. It’s indecent.”

One must have launched an air-to-air missile as they passed by. Pretty good when the opening would have only been near instantaneous.

Between the leggings mama F-15Cs and the F-16Cs (who were probably some kind of girl here), the F-15s were stronger. The two had been designed to fight together as a combination of a high quality fighter and a low cost fighter (on Earth anyway), so that was the expected result.

(How could the Empire overturn this power balance?)

Mikoto quickly grasped the situation.

“Izanami to 202 Squadron. Focus on guarding the F-117As.”

“Yes, they are the world’s first stealth fighter, so they’re really only meant for ground attacks.” said Shokuhou.

“Just make sure they aren’t shot down!!”

“Mama 01 to Izanami. Roger thaaat!”

“Mama 04. My, my. But are they okay?”

“…”

Mikoto knew what she meant.

This was another problem.



YF-22A and the equivalent F-35B black sailor uniform.

And the possibly superior YF-23 black tube top bikini.



They could use their advanced stealth to vanish from radar and operate their thrust vectoring nozzles to circle sharply behind their enemy. If you lost sight of them for even a second, they would instantly get on your tail and lock on.

“Brat 04. I have visual on that black tube top bikini… I’ll deal with YF-23. Yes, as the F-22 that won the competition!!”

“Mama team, watch out for the unaccounted-for F-35B! And make sure our stupid stealth fighter doesn’t get too full of herself! If she tries anything suicidal, stop her even if it means ramming her!!”

In truth, it would be a close thing for YF-22A to defeat the YF-23.

It was 50/50.

And If the F-35B managed to sneak up behind her, she didn’t stand a chance.

That curly blonde twintails girl was only a passing acquaintance here, but Mikoto couldn’t force her into a hellish gamble with only a 50% chance of survival. That was like having her play Russian roulette with three rounds in the revolver.

(If she’s going to do this, she needs to work with the four F-15Cs to overwhelm the YF-23 with numbers. No, even that won’t be enough. That’s hardly safe!!)

Sending radar waves from multiple directions at once and compiling the data would reveal a stealth fighter on radar, but…

“We still aren’t seeing her most of the time.” Kobayashi clenched her teeth while staring at the radar display. “She keeps appearing and disappearing from radar, but I think we’re going to lose sight of the YF-23 like this! As soon as there’s an opening, she’ll strike!!”

“IFF!” shouted Mikoto in realization. “The YF-23 must be emitting an EM signal to keep her own side from attacking her. Without that, the F-35B or F-16Cs might accidentally lock onto her.”

“Oh, and if we can detect the IFF signal sent by the stealth fighter…”

“We can see the YF-23’s location!!”

Kobayashi hurriedly ran her finger along the console.

(This won’t last long. They’ll fix it once they notice!!)

“Izanami to all fighters. Begin a saturation attack on the YF-23!! You don’t have to wait until you’re right behind her. Just lock on and fire!!”

YF-22A, four F-15Cs, and three F-117As.

A total of eight fighters surrounded the YF-23 and launched two air-to-air missiles each. Pursued by a double digit amount of missiles, even that powerful fighter was forced frantically roll into a sharp turn.

Ordinarily, a missile fired anywhere except from behind was unlikely to hit.

And that was fine.

Even if it didn’t hit, the missile’s course was blocked off to the target. And when the target couldn’t escape there, it limited their available routes. Once she couldn’t escape in any other direction, they could launch another missile from directly behind the trapped YF-23 and destroy her.

Except…

“Brat 04. Attack failed!! That diamond woman shook free of all 16 missiles!! Right in front of me!!”

(She managed to escape all of that!?)

It was looking less and less like they could set up a one-on-one dogfight. This went beyond pure specs – Mikoto sensed piloting skill here. Attempting a head-on battle would only get them shot down.

Then Kobayashi’s eyes widened.

“The YF-23’s IFF has vanished? She must have caught on!! She’s back to pure stealth! We can’t see her!!”

(We still have options!!)

“Izanami to Brat 04. Work with the F-15Cs to drive the enemy to the northeast. Keep sending radar waves their way. Make sure you get at least two of their F-16Cs!!”

“Hm? But they’re less of a threat since they aren’t stealth-”

“Just do it!!”

The four F-15Cs acted before YF-22A did. The long-sleeve black leotard girl hurriedly followed after them.

They circled around to group the enemy together in a single direction and the inferior F-16s had no choice but to keep their distance. That meant three of the enemy fighters were turning in the same direction.

Even though the Tokiwadai side was guiding them to do so.

And Mikoto’s top priority was still the YF-23.

This was the result.

“Eh?”

First, Kobayashi expressed confusion.

“I’m still not seeing the YF-23 on radar, but its engine heat signal is gone too. And for some reason I’ve lost one of the fleeing F-16Cs too.”

“Brat 04 to Izanami. We were just chasing them away when they collided in midair.”

Mikoto smiled bitterly.

So it had worked.

“The YF-23 had at least switched off her IFF and fully vanished from radar. That meant not even the F-16Cs on her side could see her.”

Pure stealth was only really meant for lone long-range flights sneaking across national borders in order to pinpoint bomb enemy VIPs or facilities. In other words, assassination missions. It was more like a noose around the neck during a chaotic dogfight with plenty of enemies and allies.

Mikoto made a point of marking the coordinate on the map. That fighter would make an excellent addition to their forces if they collected her later.

Mikoto released a gentle sigh.

“Izanami to all fighters. That leaves two F-16Cs which are inferior to our four F-15Cs and one F-35B which is weaker than an F-22. We have the advantage in quantity and quality. Shoot them all down and then return once they aren’t capable of pursuing you. But don’t let your guard down to the very end. The F-117As aren’t suited for dogfighting, so let them get away first.”

“Shadow 03 to Izanami. U-um, Suspicious Ship 2 is still out there.”

“The suspicions we want aren’t going to spread without a witness making it back alive. Besides, we’re not here to kill.”

The Empire’s dual governments already hated each other.

If a black market deal for Frozen Fossils was attacked, they would initially suspect each other, but neither side would know how the information got out. If the Empire sufficiently underestimated Tokiwadai, they would suspect the other two world powers before them. They would suspect those world powers were backing a proxy war.

They would want to defeat the corruption within the Empire, cut all ties with the external force hiding behind that corruption, and bring their country back to normal. That sounded like a decent enough reason to begin a war.

“Anyway, Misaka-san,” said Shokuhou, sounding somehow displeased. “The stage is now set for a civil war within the Empire, but were you planning to support the Imperial Armed Forces or the Capital Defense Force?”

The Imperial Armed Forces or the Capital Defense Force?

Neither side could be called “the good guys”. This discussion was about which of the bad guys they wanted to win.

After some thought, Mikoto spoke up.

“We side with the Capital Defense Force and destroy the Imperial Armed Forces. It’s the only real choice.”

The Capital Defense Force crossed national borders and attacked other countries without permission from anyone, so they were of course dangerous.

But the Imperial Armed Forces had lied to Shokuhou and tried to capture her and they were the ones who had intentionally left the dam to break. Letting them win wouldn’t improve anything. The Imperial people would still be viewed as disposable. If anything, things would escalate without the Capital Defense Force to get in their way.

This was the best way to change things.

The Capital Defense Force was already uncontrollable, so there had to be more openings there to guide them to self-destruction.

(And if I’m right…)