RTS System in the Apocalypse: New World

Raptor One left the runway first.

The fighter climbed above the western edge of the Airfield before turning north. Its landing gear disappeared beneath the fuselage while the engines carried it beyond the surrounding warehouses.

Raptor Two followed twenty seconds later.

Both aircraft continued gaining altitude until the Airfield became a collection of runways, pads, and structures beneath them.

The Main Base remained farther east, surrounded by the industrial areas already covered by the Physical Radar Facility.

”Flight Operations to Raptor One, Raptor Two. Establish four-kilometer trail formation.”

”Raptor One receives.”

”Raptor Two receives.”

Raptor One reduced speed while the second fighter closed the distance behind him. Their local Radar circles appeared across the shared map.

The outer sections overlapped once Raptor Two settled four kilometers behind the lead aircraft. The combined coverage stretched along the northern corridor.

Raptor One watched the formation stabilize.

”Comfortable back there, Raptor Two?”

”I can still see you, Raptor One.”

”That was not the question.”

”It was the answer.”

Raptor One smiled beneath his oxygen mask.

The aircraft crossed the remaining industrial land north of the Airfield. Warehouses and road networks passed beneath them, followed by the wider utility grounds where damaged transmission towers leaned over the abandoned routes.

The edge of the Physical Radar Facility’s coverage appeared ahead.

”Raptor One to Flight Operations. Approaching boundary.”

”Flight Operations receives. Maintain Corridor North One. Nuclear Power Station exclusion zone remains active. Ironford’s Hive remains observation only.”

”You don’t have to repeat that. We will resist every terrible temptation.”

Raptor Two entered afterward.

”Raptor Two copies the exclusions.”

”Report when you return to coverage,” Flight Operations said. ”Scheduled return window remains unchanged.”

”Try to keep the runway warm when we’re out there,” Raptor One answered.

Both aircraft crossed the boundary.

The larger Radar map disappeared several seconds later. Site Three, the Main Base, and every friendly position behind them faded from the display until only the two fighters remained.

Their local Radar circles continued overlapping.

The shared channel remained clear.

Raptor One activated the mission recorder.

”Raptor One sortie log. Northern attrition mission commencing. Raptor Two maintaining four-kilometer trail. Fixed Radar coverage lost.”

”Raptor Two sortie log active,” the second pilot reported. ”Still watching the Commander’s expensive aircraft fly ahead of me.”

”You are also flying one.”

”Mine is newer.”

Raptor One adjusted the northern route.

The Nuclear Power Station appeared farther east through the haze.

Its cooling towers rose above the utility compounds, unchanged since the first reconnaissance. Neither fighter approached the restricted airspace.

The route carried them west of the facility instead.

The aircraft crossed into Ironford District. Freight yards began filling the ground below.

Long warehouses stood beside rail lines and loading areas. Overturned cargo wagons blocked several tracks, while shipping containers had fallen across the service roads between the buildings. The river remained visible through the cranes farther north.

Raptor One’s Radar swept ahead.

Red markers appeared.

The first groups were scattered around the outer warehouses. Some occupied loading bays and damaged offices. Others wandered between the freight lines without forming anything large enough to justify a missile.

Raptor One continued.

”Initial contacts. Standard infected. No protected sites inside the corridor.”

”Received,” Raptor Two answered.

Raptor One’s marks entered the shared aircraft feed. Raptor Two received the tagged buildings and exposed lanes before reaching the terminal.

More markers appeared ahead of Raptor One.

Several hundred infected occupied a rail terminal where three overturned freight wagons had blocked the tracks. The wreckage forced the surrounding groups into the open loading lanes between the warehouse and the river.

One larger contact remained beneath a concrete loading canopy.

Raptor One shifted the optical feed toward it.

Only part of the body was visible between the support columns. Thick arms rested against the ground, while the upper back nearly reached the underside of the canopy.

”Large mutation beneath the eastern loading structure,” Raptor One reported. ”No clean missile angle.”

Raptor Two studied the shared location.

”I will reach the terminal in twenty-eight seconds.”

”Take your time. It seems comfortable.”

The larger contact remained beneath cover.

The infected around it had already begun reacting to Raptor One’s engines. Smaller groups moved into the loading lanes, following the sound across the yard even though the fighter had already passed above them.

Raptor One banked left.

He did not turn back toward the mutation.

The internal cannon opening shifted beneath the forward fuselage as the targeting system settled over the densest exposed lane.

”Beginning first ground pass.”

The 25mm cannon fired.

Its sound reached the ground after the rounds had already crossed the terminal.

Impacts moved through the infected gathered between the freight wagons and the warehouse, tearing open a long section of the concentration before continuing into the empty pavement behind them.

Raptor One released the trigger.

The fighter passed beyond the rail terminal and climbed.

Behind him, the surviving infected turned toward the departing aircraft. Others poured out from between the wagons and loading doors.

The larger contact moved.

It pushed away from the concrete columns and stepped into the open lane.

Raptor Two’s Radar acquired it.

”Your guest came outside, Raptor One,” Raptor Two said.

”I knew it would miss me.”

The second fighter lowered its nose slightly.

The targeting system separated the large contact from the movement surrounding it. No gray markers appeared within the strike area. The warehouse beside it had already suffered heavy structural damage, while the rail terminal held no marked facility Hans intended to preserve.

The mutation raised its head.

Its body resembled the Tanks already encountered farther south, though one shoulder had grown higher than the other and hardened tissue covered most of its chest. It turned toward the sound of Raptor Two’s approach.

The internal missile bay opened.

”Raptor Two. Precision weapon away.”

One air-to-ground missile dropped beneath the aircraft before its motor ignited.

The weapon crossed the remaining distance within seconds.

The Tank tried to return beneath the loading canopy.

It made two steps before the missile struck between its shoulders.

The explosion collapsed the upper body and drove what remained into the pavement.

Several infected around it disappeared under the same blast, while others were thrown across the freight lane and against the overturned wagons.

Raptor Two passed over the terminal before the smoke cleared.

”One large mutation eliminated.”

Raptor One remained several kilometers ahead.

”You took my target.”

”You knocked on its door.”

”I softened the surrounding area.”

”And then you left.”

”I was being generous.”

Raptor Two’s Radar swept the terminal again.

The large contact had disappeared. Smaller markers remained between the wagons, though their numbers had fallen sharply after the cannon pass and missile strike.

More infected began emerging from the surrounding warehouses.

The explosion had reached farther through the freight district than either fighter’s engines.

Raptor One’s next Radar sweep detected movement above the rooftops ahead.

One red contact rose from behind a storage building. Then another appeared beneath it.

Both continued climbing.

”Raptor Two.”

”I see them.”

The first creature cleared the warehouse roof and spread two uneven wings. The second followed from another building, beating its longer upper limbs against the air while its legs hung beneath its body.

Neither remained near the ground. They turned toward the trailing fighter.

Raptor One began banking back toward the corridor.

His interceptor system activated.

”Well,” he said. ”Something finally came up to meet us.”

The first flying infected continued toward Raptor Two.

Its wings moved harder as it climbed, though the distance between them barely changed. The second creature followed below it, using the warehouse roofs to gain altitude before entering the open air.

Raptor Two maintained his course.

”Both contacts are following me.”

”Keep them climbing.”

”I was planning to.”

Raptor One completed his turn several kilometers ahead. The fighter returned toward the corridor at a higher altitude, placing both infected between the two aircraft.

The interceptor system separated the contacts.

The first remained closer to Raptor Two. The second had begun turning toward Raptor One after detecting the fighter approaching from the north.

Neither creature attempted to return to the rooftops.

”Raptor One. Lock confirmed.”

The internal bay opened beneath the fuselage.

One interceptor missile dropped clear before accelerating toward the higher contact.

The flying infected tried to bank.

Its uneven wings carried the body sideways, though the movement came too late. The missile adjusted once and struck beneath the creature’s torso.

The explosion separated both wings from the body.

Pieces fell between the warehouses while the red marker disappeared from Raptor One’s Radar.

”One airborne contact eliminated.”

The second infected changed direction.

It descended toward the industrial buildings, folding its wings closer to its body as it tried to recover the cover beneath the fighter’s approach.

Raptor Two had already passed it.

He pulled upward and turned behind the creature, keeping the target inside his forward Radar while it lost altitude.

”Raptor Two. Interceptor away.”

The second missile crossed the space behind the infected.

The creature opened its wings again and attempted another turn around a storage tower. The missile followed it past the structure and detonated beside its left wing.

The body continued forward without control. It struck the upper section of the warehouse and disappeared through the roof.

”Second airborne contact eliminated,” Raptor Two reported.

Raptor One settled back into the northern corridor.

”You took another one.”

”You left it behind you.”

”I was giving you something to do, Raptor Two.”

”How considerate of you, Raptor One.”

Raptor Two returned to the trail position.

Their Radar circles overlapped again once the distance between them reached four kilometers. No additional contacts remained above the rooftops, though movement continued spreading through the freight yards beneath them.

The interceptor explosions had drawn more infected into the open.

Raptor One inspected the next group first.

Several hundred markers crowded around an elevated rail junction where collapsed wagons blocked two tracks and a concrete support had fallen across the service road. The infected pressed through the narrow spaces between them, leaving most of the concentration exposed.

A smaller special contact moved near the rear.

Its swollen upper body leaned forward while one arm dragged beside it. The other ended in a wider mass that shifted each time the creature moved.

”Possible Spitter behind the rail junction,” Raptor One reported. ”Large concentration ahead of it.”

”I have the rear contact.”

”Then I will take the crowd.”

Raptor One aligned with the blocked tracks.

The targeting system marked the center of the concentration where two streams of infected met between the fallen support and the overturned wagons.

His ground-missile bay opened.

”Raptor One. Missile away.”

The missile struck the rail junction.

The explosion passed through the compressed infected and threw several wagons farther off the tracks. The fallen concrete remained in place, keeping the surviving markers trapped around the same narrow approach.

Raptor One continued past the junction.

Raptor Two entered the area twenty seconds later.

The larger red marker had begun moving away from the blast. It crossed behind an empty maintenance building and exposed itself along a service road leading toward the river.

The second fighter acquired it immediately.

”Raptor Two. Missile away.”

The missile struck beside the creature before it reached the next building.

Its marker disappeared with several infected surrounding it.

As the smoke cleared, the two fighters continued with their circuit.