Without even looking at them, Ryan turned to Echo and said, “Keep the line open.” He swiftly put on a headset, then walked over to Bill, grabbed him by the collar, and said coldly, “You’re not up to it.” With that, he let himself drop out of the plane.
Bill froze for a moment, watching as the fighter jet struggled against Echo’s interference, its guns firing wildly into the sky. Cecily was on board, and if Bill had gone instead, he knew he wouldn’t have the skill to dodge the gunfire or land on the wildly bucking plane. Ryan wasn’t underestimating him-he was just being brutally honest.
“Hurry up! We don’t have much time!” Echo shouted, her focus entirely on the task at hand.
She couldn’t afford to think about anything else. Time was running out, and if Tiger didn’t push the plane fast enough, all their efforts would be wasted. Her voice cut through the tension as she reminded them of the urgency.
Tiger clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and said in a low, firm voice, “Full alert.”
His hand pressed forward on the control stick, pushing the plane to full speed, diving down toward the target.
On Cecily’s plane, the windows opened, and guns were mounted, aimed straight at Ryan and his crew’s incoming aircraft.
Since they were now so close, they couldn’t risk using heavy artillery-any explosion could take out all the planes. So instead, they focused on careful, targeted shooting, which made it even more dangerous for Ryan and his team attempting to board.
Tiger, an expert pilot, kept his plane swaying from side to side in mid-air, calculating the shooting angles to help Ryan avoid the incoming bullets. He skillfully maneuvered, keeping the plane hovering right above Cecily’s aircraft.
Ryan gripped the lower part of the plane’s cargo door with one hand, trying to find the perfect spot to jump. But the plane’s swaying made it nearly impossible to lock in on a landing point, his body rocking with the movement.
Frustrated, Ryan growled, “Steady it!”
Bill, positioned at the rear exit, held his gun, returning fire at those aiming at Ryan from Cecily’s windows. Hearing Ryan’s command, he clenched his jaw and shouted back at Tiger, “Stop shaking it! Boss can’t get a clean jump!”
Tiger slammed his fist against the control panel. If he stopped the movement, Ryan would be an easy target. But continuing to shake meant Ryan couldn’t land his jump either.
“You’ve got twelve seconds left. Eleven, ten…” Echo’s cold, calm voice cut through the chaos, her hands flying over the keyboard.
All she could do was provide interference for as long as possible-after that, they were on their own.
Ryan, hearing her countdown, grew even angrier. “Get closer!” he barked, hooking one foot onto the cargo door and hanging upside down, glaring at Cecily’s plane below.
Both aircraft were swaying, and there was no way he could make the jump unless one of them steadied.
Tiger, hearing both Echo’s countdown and Ryan’s orders, inhaled deeply. He lifted his left hand off the flight control and quickly hit a button on the panel with his right. Instantly, the plane stopped shaking and dove straight toward Cecily’s aircraft.
Ryan, still hanging by his foot, had been waiting for that exact moment. As the planes closed the gap, the cold determination in his eyes was palpable. Gunfire rang out around him, bullets whizzing through the air as the two planes drew nearer.
In a split second-the only moment where the two planes were at their closest-Ryan leaped onto the back of Cecily’s plane. The aircraft shook violently, as the pilot of Cecily’s plane was clearly no amateur.
Ryan scrambled on top of the plane, but the intense shaking threw him off balance. The smooth surface offered no grip, and as the plane tilted slightly, Ryan’s body started to slip.
Watching from the rear cargo door, Bill’s heart leaped into his throat. Tiger, peering through the window, felt the same wave of panic.
Ryan was mid-air, about to fall off the plane. In a lightning-fast move, he shot out his hand and grabbed onto a horizontal bar beneath the plane. It was the only handhold on this model. With just one hand, he hoisted himself up, flipping his body to cling underneath the aircraft.
In an instant, he disappeared from sight, leaving the enemy aiming at him completely lost.
Bill and Tiger both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it.
Though it felt like a long moment, it all happened in the blink of an eye. The planes barely missed each other as Tiger pulled their aircraft into a steep dive before rapidly ascending again, racing toward the sky.
“Five seconds left… four…” Echo’s focus never wavered as she monitored the signal, announcing the countdown while Tiger pushed the engine to its limit, speeding the plane beyond the reach of the new fighter jets.
At the same time, Adolph, who had been in communication, also gave the command through the signal. “Retreat.”
In an instant, all the boarding planes turned and flew upwards, pulling away from the new fighter jets.
“One second… interference lifted,” Echo announced as her screen flickered. She leaned back in her chair, exhaling slowly as she looked up.
Suddenly, explosions erupted behind them. The fireworks-like bursts of fire lit up the sky, and Tiger closed his eyes for a brief moment, realizing that if they hadn’t acted fast enough, they could’ve been the ones blown to pieces in that deadly display.
As the explosions died down, Echo rubbed her ears and sat up. She noticed Bill, looking serious, staring at the monitor.
Raising an eyebrow, Echo asked, “Why are you still here? Weren’t you supposed to go down?”
She was sure Ryan had ordered Bill to jump before she managed to successfully disrupt the enemy.
Bill glanced at Echo’s confused expression, but instead of answering, he gestured toward the radar. Echo turned to look, still puzzled.
“What? There’s nothing there,” she said. All she could see on the screen was a plane and no sign of anyone.
“Boss is on it,” Tiger said sternly, keeping his eyes glued to the monitor.
Echo froze for a second, staring at the motionless screen, and then raised her thumb in admiration. “Of course, he’s the boss. That takes guts.”
She couldn’t hide her regret. She’d been so absorbed in her task that she missed Ryan’s daring move. A scene like that wasn’t something you got to see every day, and now she’d missed it.
Just as she spoke, the screen moved. Ryan’s figure appeared, and Echo’s jaw dropped in awe.
Seeing him now, dangling off the plane’s tail and climbing steadily along the body, left her speechless. No words of praise or astonishment could do justice to what she was witnessing.
On the screen, Ryan was climbing toward the cockpit, using both hands and feet. Meanwhile, the crew inside Cecily’s plane had their heads poking out of the windows, frantically searching for him. Their terrified expressions were clear as day to Echo and the others.
Ryan moved swiftly, hooking his feet onto a small indentation at the top of the plane’s nose. Then, hanging upside down, he reached out with lightning speed. Grabbing one of the heads sticking out of a window, he yanked with all his might. Before the guy even realized what was happening, Ryan had pulled him out of the plane and tossed him into the open sky.