The roar of the "Shadow" tearing through the night still faintly echoed over the base, but the air inside the control tower had already quieted down.
On the enormous screen, the segmented images resembled the nerve center of the battlefield's destiny:
Top left corner: Wide-area electronic situation map transmitted by the Galaxy Satellite Network. On the vast outline of the land, a green dot representing "Shadow" is rapidly ascending into deep northwest space along a carefully calculated, winding, and concealed route, identified by the signal "Sky Curtain-1".
Top right corner: Real-time status monitoring transmitted from the "Shadow"'s own sensors.
Dozens of colored curves moved smoothly: altitude, speed, engine parameters, engine temperature... operating within the green zone that represents a safe range.
Only a few temperature probes at the rear of the engine compartment showed readings that had quietly crossed the warning yellow line and were slowly but steadily climbing upwards.
Central main screen: A fusion of data from multiple ground-based long-range surveillance radars and passive listening stations.
At this moment, this airspace, which represents the northwestern gateway of the Republic, remains a suffocatingly empty space symbolizing "security."
Bottom right corner: Encrypted communication channel status display shows a stable satellite data link connection with "Shadow" with full signal strength.
Mingzhao sat upright in the control room, his back straight as a javelin, his gaze rapidly switching between several screens.
Her fingertips occasionally tapped on the keyboard to bring up more detailed sub-data views, or sent extremely brief heading fine-tuning commands to "Shadow".
Every operation is precise and efficient, without a single unnecessary movement; the person is like a precision instrument integrated into cold steel.
Zhang Meng, Jiang Feng, Su Xuan, and Wang Tiezhu stood solemnly behind her, holding their breath.
Only the faint hum of the equipment and the suppressed breathing of the crowd remained inside the control tower. Time seemed to stretch out, each second feeling incredibly heavy.
"high……!"
The fluctuations in the altitude reading device kept everyone on edge.
"Shadow" is approaching the edge of the stratosphere at an alarming speed. In the upper right corner of the screen, the slope of the temperature curve at the rear of the engine compartment is beginning to increase, and above the yellow line, a glaring orange-red area resembles a gradually spreading poisonous spot.
"Temperature in the 'quiet' zone: Point T3 exceeds the warning threshold, and the rate of temperature rise accelerates."
The technician in charge of monitoring sounded slightly tense.
Mingzhao's gaze darted quickly between the blank radar chart on the main screen and the temperature curve of "Shadow," without pausing.
"Continue climbing, maintain course. Target altitude: meters."
Her instructions were instantly transmitted to an altitude of 10,000 meters via an encrypted satellite data link.
"Understood! Maintain the climb rate!"
Old Zhao's calm reply rang out in the encrypted channel.
Inside the cockpit, his palms were slightly sweaty as he gripped the control stick, but his eyes were sharp as an eagle's as he stared intently at the 3D navigation chart drawn by Galaxy on the tactical screen.
The green dot representing "Shadow" is resolutely heading towards the designated ambush area along a safe route that avoids all known ground radar main lobe scanning directions.
Sudden!
On the central main screen, a faint, fast-moving red dot suddenly appeared on the edge of the long-range early warning radar in the northwest direction!
Immediately afterwards, a second, a third! The three lights, in close formation, brazenly entered the Republic's airspace identification zone from the direction of international waters at a despairing speed!
"Target spotted! Heading northwest! Altitude... over 1 meter! Speed... exceeding Mach 3.0!"
The radar operator's voice trembled with shock and disbelief, "Target confirmed: SR-71 'Blackbird'! Two escort aircraft, type identified... F-15C! Speed Mach 2.5! Altitude meters! They... they're coming in!"
The Falcon is here! Earlier than expected, faster, and with a more aggressive stance!
The SR-71, with its slender, jet-black fuselage, resembled the javelin of death. Surrounded by two F-15 Eagles, it cruised brazenly at the highest point of the Republic's airspace!
The control tower was instantly gripped by a chilling, suffocating feeling.
Wang Tiezhu's face turned deathly pale, while Su Xuan bit his lower lip tightly.
Zhang Meng clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug deep into her palms.
Jiang Feng's eyes were sharp as knives as he scanned all the screens, like a beast searching for its prey.
"Target's course is stable! Heading straight for the base area!"
The radar operator's voice was filled with anger, "They...they're coming for us!"
On the screen, three red dots representing the "Falcon" formation, like drops of ink in clear water, approached at high speed along an almost straight flight path, exuding naked aggression.
The green dot representing "Shadow" has now risen to a height of meters and is swooping in from the side and below, like a silent assassin, towards the front of the enemy's flight path!
"Distance to rendezvous point: estimated 8 minutes!" The tactical staff quickly calculated the rendezvous time and airspace coordinates of the two sides' flight paths.
All eyes were on Mingzhao.
Her profile, illuminated by the cold light of the screen, was sharply defined and serene.
Her gaze was fixed on the two clusters of lights about to converge on the situation map, her brain processing all the information at lightning speed, like an overclocked computer:
The differences in altitude and speed between enemy and friendly forces, relative positions, radar detection blind spots, the accuracy of Galaxy guidance, and the ever-increasing temperature of the "Shadow" aircraft...
"Activate the first phase of the 'Sky Curtain' contingency plan."
Mingzhao's voice broke the silence, clear, calm, and unquestionable.
"Shadow, execute final course correction! Target: Alpha-7. Altitude: meters. Speed: Maintain Mach 2.3. Shut down all active radiation sources, including transponders and navigation lights. Enter absolute silence stealth mode!"
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