Because Vex was returning to Earth, General O'Neil had to picket in the Operational Control Room twice in a row. From morning until noon, the atmosphere in the Operational Control Room was calm and peaceful. However, just before lunch Lt. Col. Julius approached General O'Neil with a hurried step.

"Sir, six Cloud Hawks are approaching from the east, flying straight here, and have just crossed the 600 km limit."

General O'Neil nodded slightly before asking, "How is our Super Hornet status?"

"Two are undergoing routine maintenance, the other two are on standby and ready to take-off, the last two are conducting a combat air patrol, their current position is 200 km in front of our guest."

"Connect me to the CAP flight leader."

"Sir."

Lt. Col. Julius immediately grabbed the receiver on General O'Neil's desk, after entering some frequency codes and making sure the connection was online, he then handed the receiver to General O'Neil.

"Sir, Major Duran is ready to receive your order."

With a small nod General O'Neil accepted the receiver, then said, "Major Duran this General O'Neil and I have a specific order for your CAP."

[We are listening, Sir.]

"Major, I heard you were a basketball player at the academy?"

[Yes Sir, an ace player for three years.]

"Then, you must know the main task of an ace player?"

[To destroy the opposition team's confidence by slaughtering their ace.]

"Good, now I want you to make sure, whoever sent six Cloud Hawk from the east, will lose their confidence as long as possible. Gather the data we need for the future aerial combat, then pass on my message."

[Consider it's done, Sir.]

"Thank you, Major." General O'Neil then calmly put down the receiver.

Currently, TF Amethyst had only received a small amount of the main weapon system, spare parts, and ammunition from the planned amount. Thus General O'Neil decided to play the tactic of appearing strong when weak. So the opposition would become more curious and cautious and give TF Amethyst more time to prepare.

'Hopefully everything goes as expected,' General O'Neil muttered under his breath.

- - - - -

Airspace 400 km east of Harley Quinn.

Two F/A-18E Super Hornets fly side by side at altitude of 20,000 feet. Both Super Hornets use white, gray, and a bit of black camouflage, and on its vertical tail there was a picture of a cute winged puppy embracing a pair of AIM-120C and AIM-9X as if hugging a baguette.

On the Super Hornet on the left, Major Duran turned to his wingman before opening communication.

"Dagger Two, how is your puppy?"

[Belly is full, claw and fang are sharp, eyes and nose are good, ready for the hunt without any additional drink.]

"Good, let's gain altitude and welcome our guests then."

[Randu]

The two Super Hornets then changed course to the east while climbing to an altitude of 30,000 feet.

Before joining ACG, Major Duran and most of his colleagues were former F-15 or F-16 drivers in the USAF. So when TF Amethyst canceled the acquisition of the two fighter jets and replaced them with F-18s, they were instantly disappointed.

In terms of radar, speed, range, altitude, fuel capacity, and the number of weapons it could carry, F-18 was far below F-15. Therefore, in the air superiority scenario, F-15 would prey on F-18 as a snack.

While in dogfights, the F-18 was less agile and nimble than the F-16.

So, was the F-18 a design flaw? The answer was no.

From the beginning, the F-18 was designed as a multi-role fighter. In short, the F-18 was a fighter jet with the character of good at everything but not great at anything.

TF Amethyst chose F-18 because of its multirole nature, plus the capability of the aircraft carrier it was born with. Thus, if one day TF Amethyst intends to launch an intercontinental operation, then preliminary operations such as establishing a forward airbase or providing a large convoy of heavy tankers could be skipped.

Simply by sending a carrier strike group with 20 units of F-18s and a serious bite deep into enemy territory could be launched almost in an instant, followed by a lightning retreat to avoid retaliation if needed.

Fortunately, the ACG fighter pilots slowly fell in love with F-18. During the pre-duty training, they wholeheartedly tried to understand and test the capabilities of the F-18 to a level that was beyond the limits on paper. As if they were following the phrase, 'New girlfriend, new discovery. So don't be so sad.'

One example was what Major Duran and his wingman did. The two cheerfully held a race by flying upside down at an altitude of 40 meters, at full speed.

When Colonel Patricia Cruz called the two and questioned their actions, Major Duran who was a Lieutenant Colonel at that time replied proudly, "Ma'am, this is Super Hornet data when flying upside down at full speed, at an altitude of 40 meters, where the pilot is under pressure losing four months of salary."

Colonel Patricia Cruz didn't know what to say and she could only demote Lieutenant Colonel Duran by one level, as well as remove him from the position of the Flying Puppies Squadron's commander.

Meanwhile, the data recorded by Major Duran was then sent to the US Navy along with other Super Hornet flight data for internal studies.

Major Duran was not too bothered by the punishment he received. Moreover, in an exercise with a USAF squadron, he managed to slaughter two F-16s in a 1 vs 2 dogfight scenario.

After that, he always cheerfully recited the motto 'It's not the truck, but the driver behind the wheel.'

While occasionally glancing at the radar screen, Major Duran vigilantly surveyed the vast, cloudless sky before him. Until finally, six black dots appeared in the distance.

"Tally ho! Dagger Two, do you see what I see."

[I see them.]

"Good! Prepare your recorder."

[Randu.]

Slowly and smoothly, Major Duran then lowered F-18's altitude and shifted its flight course to line up with the six incoming Riders.

- - - - -

Major Duran didn't bother whether the six Riders before him identified him as an enemy or not. One thing for sure was, he had an order to execute. Therefore, he calmly placed the M61 Vulcan crosshair towards the leading Rider, and at exactly 1 km away he gently squeezed the trigger.

B-Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

The M61 Vulcan's short burst tore apart the leading Rider and the Rider behind him precisely. The two of them then fell straight to the ground.

Then, Major Duran took his Super Hornet into a mountain range below, and as expected, the remaining four Riders chased after him furiously.

"Good, it seems they have some balls," Major Duran muttered as he glanced at the four Riders through the rearview mirror.

The chase between the cliff gaps was intense. Considering the Super Hornet couldn't fly at its top speed, while the four Cloud Hawks were able to fly with all their might and nimbly avoid crashing into the cliff.

As the path between the cliffs drew to a close, while a wide and deep valley appeared in the distance, Major Duran immediately made a small climb before rolling the Super Hornet so that the cockpit was facing downwards, then he dived sharply into the valley upside down.

One of the advantages of the Super Hornet was its fairly high climb rate. Therefore, if it dives in an upside-down position the dive rate would increase.

The sharp dive maneuver in an upside-down position was not just an act of showing off. It's an absolute must if Major Duran didn't want the Cloud Hawk's claws that were hunting him to tear his lovely Super Hornet.

Given that Cloud Hawk could sense airflow and adjust the shape of its wings to reduce air resistance. The ability that would make the Cloud Hawk speed in a dive maneuver increases several times compared to its top speed when flying in a flat line.

Noticing that the leading Cloud Hawk was rapidly approaching him, Major Duran immediately bank hard to the left. But the Cloud Hawks behind him easily followed him.

The four Cloud Hawks deftly spread their wings while turning their head and upper body, the combination of these movements resulted in a super sharp turn without reducing their flight speed in the slightest.

From a distance, it looks like the leading Cloud Hawk had almost cut the trajectory of the Super Hornet. But just before the Cloud Hawk's leading claw touched the Super Hornet's wing, Major Duran immediately climbed to the sky.

The high climb rate was one of the Super Hornet's good things, and this was where Major Duran demonstrated the superiority of man-made machines over muscles.

No matter how fast or hard the Cloud Hawk flapped its wings, the giant bird couldn't possibly beat a pair of engines which was able to push an airframe weighing more than 21 tons to speed of 1900 km/h.

From the rearview mirror, Major Duran observed the four Cloud Hawks that were getting left behind. Without wasting any time he then made a big clockwise turn, and when the four Cloud Hawks were at the 3 o'clock position, he released two AIM-9X Sidewinders.

The Advanced Super Hornet Block 4 which was acquired by TF Amethyst was equipped with an IRST (Infrared Search & Track) pod, which could be used as a passive sensor and enables the locking of heat-seeker missiles without the need to point the nose of the aircraft towards the target.

An advantage that was super useful in a within visual range (WVR) combat scenario.

Realizing that two fire spears were shooting towards them, the four Riders immediately dispersed in four different directions. However, two of them were still hit hard by Sidewinder. Swiftly, Major Duran then approached the third Rider from behind and finished him off using the M61 Vulcan.

'Well, please pass on the message from General O'Neil,' Major Duran muttered as he looked at the fourth Rider who was flying away.

Then, as if the air combat he had just done was just a breeze, Major Duran calmly radioed his wingman, "Dagger Two, do you get the data?"

[Top speed, agility, nose dive, turn rate, climb rate, Rider mentality, we got it all.]

"Good, let's Read The Book then."

[Randu.]

The two Super Hornets then changed their flight course and flew towards Harley Quinn side by side.

*****

Footnote:

Randu: Received AND Understood