The countdown was about to hit zero.
Li Chenghe quickly pushed Zhang Weimin aside and immediately issued the cancellation order.
First, the J-20 squadron.
"Terminate attack order."
"Friendly forces."
Then, the aircraft on the ground that had not yet taken off.
"Cancel all combat readiness, aircraft return to hangar, pilots rest!"
"Everyone, you've worked hard!"
Not bad.
All combat preparations were canceled just before the countdown reached zero.
"Commander, this thing is difficult to control!"
"I'll land first, we'll chat on the ground later!"
"Oh, and let air traffic control know I'm landing!"
Seeing that the crisis was averted, Zhang Weimin finally let out a sigh of relief.
Now.
It wasn't the time for small talk or reminiscing. Everything would wait until they were safely back on the ground.
Anyone with even a little flight experience understood this.
While aircraft were relatively safe flying in the stratosphere, takeoff and landing were the most perilous moments.
Especially landing.
Numerous domestic and international accidents had occurred due to issues with wing flutter, structural integrity, or turbulence during landing, risks that could have been entirely avoided.
The risk level for ordinary civilian and military aircraft landings was already high.
Not to mention the Phantom power armor, which was being manually controlled at low altitude!
Well.
This was the consequence of Zhang Weimin not carefully reading the manual.
In fact.
If he had used the Phantom's "casual" mode, a completely傻瓜式 (shǎguāshì - idiot-proof) control system, there wouldn't have been so many problems.
Zhang Weimin, who treated the Phantom power armor like a fighter jet, probably had no idea that a "casual" mode existed!
...
After a brief communication.
Zhang Weimin, who was controlling the Phantom power armor with precise micro-manipulation, didn't have much time to chat with Lieutenant General Li Chenghe.
In the brief seconds of exchange, he only conveyed the most critical information.
At present.
Li Chenghe felt somewhat relieved.
Although he didn't know where this armor came from.
At least he knew that it was piloted by his old subordinate, Zhang Weimin, an ace pilot with over twenty years of fighter jet piloting experience. It posed no threat to the national security of Great Xia, and it was preparing to land at the air traffic control tower.
Well.
Lieutenant General Li Chenghe knew that the flying power armor piloted by Zhang Weimin was not a threat.
However, he had only issued orders allowing it to land and to cease attacks!
Other staff and military personnel were not aware of this.
Escorted by three J-20s in formation.
Zhang Weimin prepared to land.
The three pilots, completely unaware of the power armor's capabilities or the pilot's specific information, wobbled their wings from side to side.
This was a universally understood language among fighter jets.
In the absence of communication, this slight side-to-side wing wobble signaled the other party to prepare for landing.
...
A few minutes later.
Several ground runways at the airport had been cleared.
Presumably.
Air traffic control had confused the armor with a fighter jet, thinking it still needed to glide in for landing.
As the familiar air force base appeared in sight.
Zhang Weimin suddenly realized a problem.
How was this armor going to land?
It had no landing gear!
Was he supposed to just crash straight down?
He had previously followed the fighter jet landing procedure, raising the armor to an altitude of several thousand meters.
After lining up with the runway, he then rapidly descended!
Forget it.
He'd just dive straight down.
Damn it.
He had been too excited during the initial power armor flight simulation and hadn't read the manual carefully!
...
Air Force Base.
Both the air traffic control personnel and the ground crew stared intently at the sky.
Soon.
Accompanied by a massive sonic boom.
An armor, escorted by three J-20s, appeared in the sky.
My goodness.
They were accustomed to all sorts of fighter jets.
But this was the first time they had seen an armor that could fly alongside J-20s, and was roughly the size of a civilian propeller plane.
Wait.
Something was wrong.
How was the armor, which was about to land, leaving the fighter jets behind?
Its dive speed was too fast!
Personnel were instructed to evacuate and take shelter inside buildings.
Could it be.
That this armor was here to bomb the airport?
Or collide with the aircraft on the tarmac as an attack?
What kind of Kamikaze tactic was this?
Boom!
A huge crashing sound echoed.
Zhang Weimin, who treated the armor like a fighter jet and had no idea how to use the reverse thrust engines, crashed the Phantom power armor into the ground completely unprotected.
The massive shockwave.
Tore up the indicator lights, vegetation, and landscaping around the runway where the armor landed.
A spiderweb-like impact crater, nearly half a meter deep, appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Airport security forces, move out!"
"Surround this armor!"
"Lieutenant General Commander only permitted this armor to land, he did not specify its allegiance!"
"Based on its behavior of crashing into the ground, it seems hostile."
Following the order of the military officer in charge of the ground control tower.
An entire reinforced company of military airport security forces mobilized.
Four tracked armored vehicles.
Eight armored assault vehicles.
And heavily armed soldiers, completely surrounded the armor that had crashed into the spiderweb-like crater.
Hiss!
Upon detecting that it had successfully landed and completed its operation, the armor's auxiliary intelligent system automatically opened the cockpit hatch.
Revealing a disheveled Zhang Weimin within.
The ace pilot's current appearance was indeed not good.
The violent impact had left him dazed and his mind felt like mush.
Two streams of blood continued to flow profusely from his nose, smearing his entire face into a bloody mess.
Fortunately, it was the Phantom power armor produced by Huarong Industrial.
Benefiting from its powerful shock absorption.
Otherwise, falling from such a height.
Even if the armor remained intact, Zhang Weimin inside the cockpit would have been completely shaken into a paste, like a sardine can that had been opened and mashed.
Before Zhang Weimin could recover from the high-intensity shock.
Over a dozen dark gun muzzles were already aimed at his face.
"Huh?"
"It's a face from Great Xia!"
The security force commander responsible for "apprehending" the pilot looked on with curiosity.
Although Zhang Weimin was a colonel in the Air Force base, his rank promotion was easy, and he belonged to the Air Force combat units.
Therefore, it was normal for these security officers, who belonged to the Army, not to recognize him.
It wasn't until one of the fighter pilots, whose combat mission had been canceled, secretly squeezed forward, wanting to get a look at this unprecedented flying armor, that someone recognized him.
The person lying dazed in the armor's cockpit, with over a dozen Type 95 assault rifles pointed at him, wearing a civilian form-fitting suit, was their superior... Zhang Weimin!
What was going on?
Where did Colonel Zhang Weimin get this armor?
And why did he crash-land like a meteor from the sky?