Infinite Stream Metaverse

Chapter 773 Blade Squad

Early the next morning.

Caledar Military Academy, simulation room.

Fu Qinghai was already seated inside the simulation device.

Today we will begin group formation and combat drills.

After the conversation with the director of the political department, Fu Qinghai's studies at the Naval Academy were no longer just about accumulating enough credits to graduate early. He is now a formal student in the Space Flight and Air Combat Command Department of the Imperial Naval Academy and will also represent the academy in exchange visits.

This means that it's not enough for Fu Qinghai to be highly skilled himself; he also needs to bring his teammates along. Otherwise, they won't be able to compete with those established naval academies in some team competitions. This is much more complicated than simply racking up credits, and Fu Qinghai finds it troublesome just thinking about it.

"what……"

Fu Qinghai scratched the back of his head helplessly.

You really shouldn't make promises you can't keep.

Just a few days ago, Fu Qinghai was thinking: What does it matter to me how rubbish the TIE fighter jet is? Anyway, I'm not a TIE fighter jet pilot... Oh wow, now he's a pilot trainee, and he'll really be flying the TIE fighter jet into battle in the future.

Although the Navy certainly holds a higher status than the Army, to be fair, from a survival perspective, being a TIE fighter pilot is not as good as being a stormtrooper officer, because the Galactic Empire's ground military forces completely overwhelm the Rebel Alliance.

"You'll be my wingman."

Fu Qinghai turned to look at Elowen and spoke.

"no problem."

Elwin nodded and answered decisively.

"Two-person crew simulation combat, prepare to begin."

The instructor's voice came over the loudspeaker.

Fu Qinghai and Ailovin simultaneously picked up their helmets and put them on.

The simulator's canopy slowly descended.

"Aerial combat simulation, two-player, two-aircraft mode, AI difficulty: Hard, countdown: five, four, three, two..."

This time, they simulated an opponent.

That's the famous X-wing fighter jet.

……

"Smack! Bang!"

The scene before Fu Qinghai's eyes went black.

He experienced for the first time what it felt like to be shot down.

"laugh--"

The simulator's hatch slowly opened upwards.

Fu Qinghai looked at Elwin speechlessly.

Elowin lowered his head, not daring to turn and look at him.

"Don't you know what a wingman is?"

Fu Qinghai asked helplessly:
"Didn't you teach this in your air combat theory courses?"

"I've been taught that, I know."

Elwin answered quietly with his head down.

"Didn't we agree on this from the beginning? You would act as bait to lure that X-wing into chasing and getting on your tail, while I would find an attack position to shoot it down. Why did you deviate from our pre-arranged plan? Give me an explanation."

Fu Qinghai spread his hands and asked, puzzled.

“I saw an opportunity. Its shield energy was almost depleted. I thought I could shoot down that X-wing. I followed my instincts… Sorry, Aoyama.”

Elwin looked up and explained earnestly.

"But it turns out you were wrong."

Fu Qinghai looked at her expressionlessly.

Elwin lowered his head in frustration again.

Why does this woman act like this every time she flies a plane?

Fu Qinghai rubbed his hair helplessly.

She's usually very obedient and well-behaved in bed, changing positions however you want, and her moans are quite pleasant... But once she sits in the cockpit of a fighter jet, she seems like a completely different person, suddenly becoming domineering.

"Ivy."

Fu Qinghai said to her earnestly:

“You’re not a child anymore, right? I don’t want to say anything harsh to you, but if obeying the lead aircraft’s orders is too difficult for you, then I may need to consider finding a different partner. I don’t have that much time to waste here with you.”

"do not want!"

Elwin quickly raised his head and pleaded:
"Shall we try one more time?"

"it is good."

Fu Qinghai nodded and didn't say anything more.

He picked up the helmet in front of him again and put it on.

Elwin also picked up the helmet and put it on.

……

"As I said before, we'll use the Sachi scissor tactic, flying in a crisscross pattern to confuse its judgment and see which one it chooses to chase."

Fu Qinghai gave the order to Ailovin in a calm tone.

"clear."

Elowin answered firmly over the communication channel.

The two TIE fighters flying side by side suddenly tilted and crossed, flying away from each other. After a brief hesitation, the X-wing fighter chose to chase the TIE fighter piloted by Fu Qinghai, while Elwin flew around from the other side along the Sachs cross curve to directly attack the X-wing's flank.

"It's got its jaws on it!"

Elwin's excited voice reached my ears.

"It needs to deflect and get away."

Fu Qinghai made a prediction in advance:

"Maintain the bite with a strong turn."

"Ok."

Elwin readily agreed.

Sure enough, the X-wing fighter in front of her flipped its wings ninety degrees and began to make a sharp left turn in an attempt to get away. Elowin pulled up the control stick, and her TIE fighter climbed, rolled once, and quickly turned downwards, completing a classic high-speed maneuver, also known as a powerful turn.

Elowin executed her powerful turn maneuver beautifully. The TIE fighter continued to tail the X-wing fighter and reached a high dive position. The area of ​​the X-wing fighter in her aiming square suddenly increased, from the tail to the back. Elowin then decisively pulled the trigger.

The TIE fighters fired several rapid short bursts.

A burst of light erupted from the X-wing fighter's shield.

“I hit it!”

Elowin said through gritted teeth.

"It's my turn."

Fu Qinghai gave the order in a calm and steady tone.

After being hit, the X-wing quickly pulled up and climbed, disappearing from above Elwin's field of vision. After his successful strike, Elwin did not continue the pursuit but quickly disengaged, handing over the pursuit position to Fu Qinghai, who took over.

Fu Qinghai seamlessly transitioned into the pursuit position, his blast cannon aiming at the X-wing fighter and firing continuously. His firing angle was extremely precise, and a barrage of green beams rained down on the X-wing fighter, bursting into dazzling sparks.

The X-wing fighter in front suddenly slowed down.

Fu Qinghai keenly noticed that the speed at which the two were closing the distance had increased slightly. He immediately and decisively controlled the TIE fighter to complete an offensive barrel roll maneuver. The TIE fighter spun around the tail of the X-wing fighter like clothes in a washing machine, continuing to maintain its tail-biting attack posture.

The X-wing fighter realized that the two were too close, and quietly slowed down to allow the TIE fighter following behind to overtake it, thus achieving a role reversal and quickly reversing the offensive and defensive situation.

Fu Qinghai almost instantly realized its intention. Through a combination of rolling and pulling, he extended the flight trajectory with a 360-degree fixed-axis rotation, quickly converting speed kinetic energy into altitude potential energy. This not only prevented him from missing the attack window due to excessive speed, but also maintained continuous suppression of the enemy aircraft's tail hemisphere.

However, the only weapon of the standard TIE fighter is two blast cannons, and it has no missile launch capability. It is actually difficult to hit the opponent a few times while maintaining a tail chase, because the front and tail projection area of ​​the X-wing fighter is significantly smaller than the back and sides. Fu Qinghai chose to climb and then completed another round of dive-fire.

"Take my place!"

Fu Qinghai immediately shouted after firing his shot:
"Continue with the BZ tactic."

Elowen's fighter jets followed immediately.

Boom and Zoom (BZ) tactics involve taking advantage of high altitude to dive at high speed to attack the target, and then immediately using the speed advantage to climb and escape. The goal is not to maintain a continuous tail-tail suppression, but to strike and escape immediately.

The X-wing fighter has shields, while the TIE fighter does not. The X-wing fighter has four blast cannons and can launch missiles, while the TIE fighter only has two blast cannons and cannot launch missiles.

This disparity resulted in the X-wing fighter being able to be hit countless times while the TIE fighter could not be hit even once, despite Fu Qinghai and Elowen being a righteous two-on-one.

So he meticulously designed the scene before him:

The two TIE fighters were like two wolves chasing reindeer on the snowfield, taking turns using BZ tactics to attack. One would catch up, bite, and then run away, while the other would rush up, take a bite, and then retreat. After one fighter finished a round of dive-bombing, it would immediately break away, and the other fighter would seamlessly take over to continue tail-biting and suppressing the reindeer, constantly consuming the X-wing shield's energy and causing the reindeer's wounds to deepen and bleed continuously.

The X-wing fighter's four blast cannons cannot fire backwards. Also, the X-wing fighter's radar is mounted on the nose, so it cannot lock onto enemy aircraft behind it to launch missiles.

Thus, despite possessing superior firepower and a wider range of attack methods, the X-wing fighter was unable to find an opportunity to attack. The only advantage the TIE fighter had over the X-wing was its speed and maneuverability. Utilizing this limited advantage, the two TIE fighters took turns maneuvering against the X-wing, keeping it constantly on the defensive and unable to launch an attack.

Meanwhile, as this tactic continued to be implemented, the tacit understanding and proficiency between Fu Qinghai and Elowin deepened. The two began to have a telepathic connection, sometimes understanding each other's intentions without even speaking, as if a Pons bridging device had been connected between two simulation devices.

Finally, after round after round of attrition, the X-wing fighter's shield energy gradually dwindled. Perhaps due to the shield system consuming too much engine energy, its speed also slowed down significantly, making the chase easier.

Elwin completed another dive-fire attack, hitting the astronaut robot mounted on the back of the fighter jet, which exploded into several pieces and flew away. Fu Qinghai caught up and fired a round of rapid fire, this time hitting the engine cover directly.

The X-wing fighter turned into a bright flash.

"We won! We won... We won!"

Before the image in front of him disappeared, Elowin immediately took off his helmet and then eagerly pressed the hatch opening button. With a hiss of air release, the hatch slowly rose up, and Elowin excitedly lifted one of his long legs to flip out of the simulation equipment.

The hatch above Fu Qinghai's head was also opened.

He turned his head and saw the beautiful girl with long, straight black hair and bangs running towards him. A surge of excitement washed over her fair face, turning it completely red, even her ears turning a faint pink.

Fu Qinghai stepped out of the simulator.

Elowen threw herself into his arms, and Fu Qinghai caught her steadily without taking a step back. Elowen looked up at him, her eyes sparkling, and said in a deep voice:

"We did it! We're amazing..."

"Be mindful of the potential impact."

Fu Qinghai smiled and pointed behind her.

Elowin suddenly realized something and turned around to look at himself. He saw that all the students around him were looking at him, and the instructor walked over from the center of the simulation room with a mocking smile on his face.

Elwin was immediately embarrassed. He quickly pushed Fu Qinghai away, hurriedly straightened his pilot training uniform (which didn't need straightening), and then stood up straight in place.

The instructor ignored her and instead looked at Fu Qinghai:
"Then you can pick four people to form a team?"

The instructor asked in a polite, consultative tone.

"can."

Fu Qinghai nodded.

He knew what the instructor meant: selecting personnel to form a flight squadron was to deal with the delegation of cadets who had traveled from afar. The director of the political department had obviously informed him in advance and made it clear that Fu Qinghai was the pilot representative of the Naval Academy, with the instructors responsible for providing support.

"Then just tell me if there's anything you need to cooperate with."

The instructor patted Fu Qinghai on the shoulder and said.

After saying that, he turned around and walked back to the center of the simulation room.

Elowin looked at the instructor with some surprise, then turned to look at Fu Qinghai with a puzzled expression.

"I remember you only attended three classes, right?"

Eloven looked at Fu Qinghai strangely and said:

"When did you two become so close?"

Silly girl, is it a matter of how well you know each other? He's so familiar with you, why doesn't he treat you like his boss?
Fu Qinghai thought to himself.

"You'll know in a few days."

Fu Qinghai casually brushed it off.

With Elwin appointed as his wingman, the rest was relatively simple. The two-plane formation of one lead aircraft and one wingman is the most classic air combat formation. Other formations such as four-plane formation, six-plane formation, and ten-plane formation are simply "lead aircraft" becoming "leader group" and "wingman" becoming "wingman group," which are essentially extensions of the one-leader-one-wingman formation.

Unbeknownst to Elowin, before deciding to team up with her, Fu Qinghai had already watched some of her previous group combat videos, and these videos included recordings of internal communications.

Elowin's poor performance in team battles was mainly due to her skill level being far superior to that of her classmates, making it difficult for her teammates to follow her train of thought and understand her actions.

In addition, she was not a patient person. Elowin never took the initiative to guide her teammates. She would only use indifference to pressure them. Her contempt and disgust for her teammates' terrible skills only made her more reluctant to speak. As a result, the communication channel was very quiet and no one dared to speak.

Elwin was the most skilled cadet in the formation. Since she didn't speak, the other cadets didn't dare to give orders, so the entire flight formation was in complete chaos, with each member acting independently.

This is similar to a game that requires teamwork. If a professional player goes to a low-ranked, unskilled game and tries to smurf, his teammates obviously can't keep up with his skills, understanding, and strategy. If he doesn't take the initiative to lead his teammates, or if his teammates refuse to follow his instructions, they may still end up losing.

Objectively speaking, Elwin does have some personality issues: she is autocratic, arrogant, haughty, indifferent, and lacks patience. She is very talented, with amazing talent for an ordinary pilot who is not sensitive to the Force. However, her personality flaws destined her to become only an elite ace pilot, rather than an excellent air combat commander.

However, none of her problems were issues for Fu Qinghai. After several close and in-depth conversations, Fu Qinghai gradually realized that Ailovin was, at heart, a woman who both despised stupidity and admired strength. Faced with Fu Qinghai, who was superior to her in every way, Ailovin was actually very obedient and could execute any order he gave her without question—whether it was an order during air combat or an order in bed.

After that, Fu Qinghai stopped training with Elwin and instead sat alone in the simulation equipment, watching the training videos of the other sixty-odd students one by one from both first-person and observer perspectives. He was going to select four students with slightly higher talent to form a team, which would later represent the Calida Naval Academy in welcoming the academy's delegation.

…………

Calida, 6:20 AM.

The entire campus was still shrouded in a hazy tranquility.

Fu Qinghai and his five team members were already standing on the main road of the campus. Apart from Elowen, the other four were boys of different heights, weights, and skin colors.

"In a while, a delegation of students from the Coruscant Flight Academy and the Privsbelt IV Naval Academy will visit Calida for an exchange."

Fu Qinghai glanced at his five teammates and said:
"The Imperial Naval Academy has authorized me to form a flight squadron to welcome the delegation from afar, and you are my new teammates. In the coming period, in addition to your regular classes, you will also have some special training. I am the captain of this flight squadron and also the instructor who will lead your special training."

Upon hearing that they had been chosen to represent the Imperial Naval Academy against other military academies, a hint of pride appeared on the faces of the four boys, and they unconsciously puffed out their chests slightly.

"The content of this special training is very simple."

Fu Qinghai slowly began to speak:

"Follow me through a series of physical training exercises."

Physical training? All five trainees, including Elwin, looked puzzled when they heard these words.

“Qingshan… no, sir, I meant that we already have physical training courses in our original curriculum.”

A boy spoke up to remind him.

"not enough."

Fu Qinghai calmly shook his head and said:

"We won't stay in the simulator room forever; we'll be starting real-world operation soon. This physical training is preparation for that. I know you have a lot of questions, but I don't want to explain too much. If you're confident in my skills, then train with me diligently. If you can't keep up or don't want to continue the training, you can apply to withdraw at any time. I will never force you."

Fu Qinghai's strength was undeniable, and his words carried authority. None of the five trainees raised any objections, and they all obediently followed Fu Qinghai to begin this physical training.

Fu Qinghai's physical training was nothing special. He led five team members, starting with the most basic cardio training such as long-distance running, swimming, and rowing, and then adding strength training such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. Finally, there was resistance training with elastic bands specifically for the neck muscles.

Fu Qinghai had observed all the training courses and equipment at the Naval Academy. What was rather peculiar was that there were anti-vertigo training programs targeting vestibular system function and dexterity training programs targeting hand-eye coordination, but there were no large centrifuges or resistance breathing apparatuses commonly found in the air force academies of his previous life on Earth.

But it doesn't matter, the high gravity environment of Calida is actually the best auxiliary training equipment.

Because of limited time, Fu Qinghai set the training intensity to be relatively high. If he got injured, he would put him in the Bakta tank to soak until he recovered, and then continue training without stopping for a moment.

After Fu Qinghai's "devil training" began, the four boys soon began to groan and complain, but none of them suggested leaving the team. Besides the drive for honor and promotion, there was another very important reason - as the only girl in the team, Elowen gritted her teeth and persevered without uttering a sound throughout the entire process.

Although they still don't understand why Fu Qinghai led them through such rigorous physical and strength training, out of admiration for his personal abilities, the five trainees still persevered with meticulous effort, and their physical fitness improved to some extent in a short period of time.

……

A month later.

Caleda Military Academy, central helipad.

Rows of TIE fighter jets were fixed to special landing gear, and from a distance they looked like a row of black "H"s.

Fu Qinghai was the first to climb the gangway, ducked through the open hatch and entered the spherical cockpit, and the other five trainees followed suit, climbing the gangway and entering their respective fighter jets.

The trainees were all wrapped in pure black spacesuits, and as they started the engines, the cabin lights came on.

The cockpit environment of the simulator is exactly the same as that of a real fighter jet. Facing the familiar instrument panels and control consoles, the five trainees appeared both excited and serious.

"Buzz... Checking the communication channel."

Fu Qinghai's voice was affected by the electrical interference, making it sound low and slightly distorted, with a cold tone.

"Blade Squad, count off to me in turn."

"Blade II, in position."

Elwin's indifferent reply rang out first.

"Blade III, in position."

"Blade Four, ready."

……

After each team member had finished counting off.

Fu Qinghai issued his first order:
"Now, check your engine system, weapon system, navigation system, and sensor system in that order..."

"Blade II, inspection complete, everything normal."

"Blade No. 3, inspection complete, everything normal."

"Blade IV, inspection complete, everything normal."

……

After all subsystems have been confirmed to be free of abnormalities.

Fu Qinghai issued his second order.

This was also the most crucial order for him:
"Now, open the fighter jet system control interface, find the inertial compensator control option, manually modify the output power of the inertial compensator, and set it to... 75%."

All the trainees were stunned when they heard the instruction.

Intentionally reducing the output power of the inertia compensator?
They had never heard of such a request before.

That's why we're giving you special training.

A slight smile appeared on Fu Qinghai's lips.

"Blade Squad, get back to me once the setup is complete."

Fu Qinghai spoke in a calm tone.

While urging him on, his fingers were constantly swiping across the screen in front of him, adjusting the output power of the inertial compensator on his fighter jet.

He adjusted it to fifty percent.

…………

This chapter uses real-world aerial combat terms such as Satchel and High Yo-Yo maneuver. Most of these terms are derived from the names of the inventors during World War I and World War II. Logically, they shouldn't appear in the Star Wars universe. However, after reading the official Star Wars novel series, X-Wing, I found that the official novels use a lot of these real-world aerial combat terms in their descriptions. Since the official Star Wars team doesn't care about this bug, I don't care either.