Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 933 Emergency Landing
The transport plane began to slow down. When it slowed down to a certain degree, the anti-gravity device installed inside the fuselage would be activated to stabilize the fuselage in mid-air. Compared with the crystal engine, the anti-gravity device produced much less noise and was more difficult to be detected by detection equipment.
But at the moment when the transport plane stopped in the air, a sharp spike as thick as a bowl pierced through the cabin without warning, piercing a mercenary and the spear squad soldier sitting opposite him.
"We've been discovered!" The captain of the Spear Squad shouted immediately, grabbed the assault rifle hanging on his chest, turned his head and shouted in the direction of the cockpit, "Hurry up and open the cabin and let us down!"
"No, the current altitude is 600 meters. The rappelling rope is only 150 meters long when it is fully extended. The remaining 400 meters is enough to smash a person into a pulp!" The pilot responded loudly, "I must rely on the anti-gravity device to quickly lower the altitude of the plane so that you can get down!"
"We were discovered the moment the anti-gravity device was turned on!" Soap also shouted, "This thing will kill us! Turn it off, and then we will rappel from a farther location!"
"We've been exposed anyway, so what difference does it make whether we turn it off or not? The plane is already in a hovering state. If we want to leave this place, we must restart the engine. Do you think we can escape?" The captain of the Spear Squad yelled at Soap.
"I'm going to make an emergency landing!" The pilot held the joystick tightly, his eyes fixed on the console. "The aircraft has been damaged. In addition to the cabin, the two crystal engines have also been penetrated. We have lost power."
Fortunately, the crystal engine was shut down during the gliding phase, otherwise the exploding engine alone would be enough to cause the entire transport plane to disintegrate in the air.
"At this altitude, is it possible to make an emergency landing?" Soap asked urgently, "If the enemy's next target is the anti-gravity device, we will be killed by the fall!"
Generally speaking, emergency landings of aircraft are forced to land by gliding, but now this "Amran-class" transport aircraft is completely suspended in the air like a helicopter. The propellers at the ends of the wings on both sides have stopped rotating, and it relies entirely on the anti-gravity device and the reverse thrust of the two compressed air nozzles at the bottom. If the anti-gravity device is destroyed, the reverse thrust of the compressed air jet alone will not be able to support the weight of the transport aircraft itself, and they will fall vertically from the air and hit the ground heavily.
"I think it's better to parachute!" The giraffe also said, "The transport plane is too big a target. If we continue to stay here, we will just be waiting for death! By then, the anti-gravity device will be destroyed, and we won't even have a chance to parachute!"
"We can't parachute!" The opinion of the Spear Squad leader was completely opposite to that of Giraffe and the others. "The enemy's accuracy is very high. The fact that they were able to accurately hit two crystal engines at this distance speaks volumes. The speed of parachuting is too slow. We'll be sitting ducks in the air. We can only make an emergency landing!"
But while the two groups were arguing, the pilot had already started the forced landing operation. Although he was also very nervous, with his hair on his forehead and back wet with sweat, his hands were unusually steady. With one hand he held the joystick and carefully adjusted the balance of the fuselage, while with the other hand he continuously reduced the air output of the reverse thrust nozzle and the power of the anti-gravity device, allowing the transport plane to descend vertically.
The altitude was constantly decreasing, but the cabin began to shake violently. Two more spikes pierced through the cabin. One spike nailed a relic hunter from the "Alligator Turtle Hunting Group" to his seat, and the other amputated a soldier's right leg.
Fortunately, the transport plane's anti-gravity device was not hit.
"Five hundred and fifty meters, five hundred meters... If any of you want to parachute, hurry up!" the pilot shouted without turning his head, "If you don't jump, I will activate the energy shield!"
This is a "high-end version" of the Amran-class transport aircraft equipped with a shield generator, but the energy shield has both advantages and disadvantages. Once turned on, the transport aircraft in the dark night sky will become like the brightest star in the sky, actively asking the enemy to focus fire on it.
The pilot was gambling that he could land the transport plane on the ground before the shield was broken - he didn't care whether there was a parachute or not. From a certain point of view, if someone really jumped out of the cabin at this time, it could help share the firepower of the transport plane, and for those who stayed on the plane, it would increase the chance of survival.
"We should have activated the shield long ago!" Soap gritted his teeth. Because of the violent shaking of the fuselage, everyone had to use seat belts to tie themselves tightly to their seats, unable to move. The feeling of not knowing when a spike would shoot out from behind and pierce through your body was simply maddening, and the wailing of the injured soldier pushed the tense atmosphere up several levels.
The fishy hot blood spurting out from the aorta at the broken leg splashed onto almost everyone in the cabin. Soap lowered his head to glance at the smartwatch on his wrist. The number on the dial representing his real-time heart rate had soared to 190 - you know, even when he was doing high-intensity training, his heart rate rarely reached this value.
With the help of several of his subordinates, the captain of the spear squad managed to stop the bleeding of the injured soldier. However, in just a few seconds, the blood loss had reached a fatal amount. The soldier's face became as pale as paper, and his groans and breathing began to become weaker and weaker.
There was no plasma on the transport plane, and hemostatics and stimulants were no longer able to save the patient. The captain of the Spear Squad sighed, pulled out his pistol, and pulled the trigger at his injured subordinate.
In this mission, they were simply unable to carry a seriously injured soldier who had lost the ability to move. Even if they could save the soldier, they could only abandon him on the transport plane to die.
There was no base or transit station nearby that could provide medical assistance, and the Ark three kilometers away had been captured by unknown creatures - at least the external structure had collapsed. Even if they could carry the wounded through the occupied area and find a medical cabin, the wounded would not be able to hold out until that time without plasma.
What Soap and Giraffe didn't know was that the wounded soldier who was killed by the captain of the Spear Squad himself was actually one of his most valued subordinates in the Spear Squad.
This soldier was selected by the captain of the Spear Squad right after he came out of the recruit camp and had been trained all the way to the present. The captain of the Spear Squad even decided recommend him to take over the position of captain after he retired. But now, a spear piercing through the cabin has put an end to this soldier's life.
"Can you start the crystal engine?" At this moment, the "Clown", who had been silent all the time, suddenly asked the driver.
"The crystal engine is already damaged. Forcing it to start is equivalent to detonating two crystal energy bombs. Do you want us to be killed?" The pilot, whose attention was all focused on controlling the transport plane, did not respond. Instead, the captain of the Spear Squad took over the conversation.
The transport plane was still descending, but the speed of descent was slowing down - in order to avoid the spears and prevent the plane from being locked, the pilot had to use jet gas to keep the plane moving irregularly horizontally, but this would make it more difficult to keep the plane stable. If they accidentally lost balance, the only thing waiting for them would be a crash.
"No, what I mean is, at the moment of restarting the crystal engine, open the safety lock and throw the engine out. The Amran-class transport aircraft is developed based on the modular design concept. In order to facilitate maintenance and avoid explosion accidents caused by engine failure, the engine at the end of the wing can be quickly removed." "The Joker" explained to everyone in the cabin at a very fast speed, "And the enemy obviously relies on energy reaction to lock the target. Two exploded damaged engines are much more conspicuous than anti-gravity devices. They can definitely help us attract a lot of firepower."
The captain of the Spear Squad was stunned. Although this operation sounded crazy, if you think about it carefully, it can indeed greatly increase the chances of a successful forced landing.
"Sure! But I need someone to help me master the timing of engine ignition and throwing!" said the driver.
"I'll do it." The "clown" who made this suggestion unbuckled his seat belt, pressed his body against the inner wall of the cabin, and moved towards the cockpit step by step.
The pilot of the transport plane also cooperated very well and stabilized the plane, allowing the "Joker" to enter the cockpit smoothly. The price of doing so was that the energy shield took several more spike attacks, and the saturation of the energy shield suddenly became precarious.
"The Joker" seemed to have come into contact with the Amran-class transport aircraft before. Before the pilot had time to tell him where the switches for controlling engine ignition and engine jettisoning were, he had already placed his hands on the corresponding buttons on the console.
"It looks like you have flown this kind of transport plane before." The pilot glanced at the "clown" out of the corner of his eye. "I won't say more. The lives of the people on this plane are in your hands... I have never tried the kind of operation you mentioned, so I can't give you any advice. Give me a signal when you are ready, and I will cooperate with you."
"Anytime." The Joker nodded.
"There is a two-second delay before the engine re-ignites. I will count down to five seconds. When I reach zero, I will control the fuselage to spin. At the moment of the spin, you will open the lock, disconnect all the connectors, and use inertia to throw the two engines out. As for the others, try to hold on to the handrails and rings to avoid being thrown out together."
"Understood." said the Joker.
"Five, four, three, two—"
Just as the driver shouted "two", about a quarter of a second later, the "Joker" pressed the engine ignition button, and a screen that had been dark lit up again, emitting a flashing red light.
"Warning! Engine damage detected! May explode at any time, please cancel the operation immediately!" The alarm sounded, and glaring red fonts appeared on the screen.
The "clown" kept his hand pressed firmly on the ignition button and did not move it away.
In this case, if you want to force ignition, you must hold down this button for a long time. If you release it, the engine's safety program will automatically terminate the ignition process. It is for this reason that you must wait until the ignition is successful to throw out the crystal engine... Otherwise, all that will be thrown out are two "duds" that cannot explode.
"One, Zero!"
As " Zero" was shouted, the cockpit directly turned the vector nozzles at the head and tail of the transport plane and increased the air output power. The entire transport plane completed a large tailswing in the air. As for the "Joker", he turned off the energy shield at this moment and opened the safety lock connecting the engine.
The two reignited crystal engines were thrown out along with the propellers, and the transport plane's energy shield opened again. The next second, they exploded into two gorgeous fireworks in mid-air.
"Everyone, pay attention! The explosion shock wave is coming!" The captain of the Spear Squad had not yet finished shouting this sentence when the fuselage that had just stabilized began to shake violently again, just like a canoe in a storm... It was not known whether it was due to the pilot's superb operating skills or because they were lucky enough that they were not overturned by this terrifying force.
"It works! The enemy's firepower has really been diverted!" Although Soap couldn't turn his head to look at the window on his side, he could still see the window on the opposite side. With the fire from the explosion of the crystal engine, he saw numerous spikes shooting at the two large fireworks, and the saturation of the transport plane's energy shield rose again.
With the cover of the "fireworks", the transport plane finally landed on the ground. Everyone hurriedly ran out dragging the equipment boxes. Even the pilot pulled out an FMG folding submachine gun from under his seat after turning off all the equipment on the plane that would release energy reactions.
But just when he wanted to get up from the driver's seat, he found that his legs were completely out of control - under the influence of a large amount of adrenaline, his whole body was shaking like a sieve, and even the submachine gun in his hand slipped to the ground.
"Are your legs weak?" The "clown" who had just walked out of the cockpit looked back, turned back, pulled the pilot up from his seat, and asked him to hold on to his body.
"I didn't feel it just now... but now that we're done... I realize that... my hands and feet... don't feel like my own anymore..." the driver said, "I can't even speak clearly..."
"That's normal. There's nothing shameful about it." The Joker picked up the submachine gun dropped by the pilot, and the two of them walked out of the plane together. "At least you performed well in the air just now."
"You...are you praising me?" The pilot tilted his head and stared at the clown. "Your tone...reminds me of the instructor when I first entered the aviation school...by the way, you were...also...a pilot?"
"I've never flown a plane." The Joker said in a very calm voice, "I'm just familiar enough with its structure."
