Alert Five

The bell rings. An unknown track off Tomakomai — high, fast, heading north toward the coast. You launch as a pair from Chitose Air Base.

The mission

This is not a mission where you shoot. Get out in front of him, come alongside, identify the aircraft, and tell him over the radio to change course. The mission is done when you have watched him comply and turn, and brought the flight home.

How it flows

1. Launch together. You on 36L, your number two beside you on 36R. You roll side by side and lift off together.
2. Burner climb to 7,500 m. Don’t chase him from behind — take a heading that puts you out in front of him.
3. Come alongside and identify him.
4. Call him on the guard frequency and tell him to turn.
5. Once he complies and turns south, join up, head back to Chitose and land side by side.

What it asks of you

You choose what to say

Your calls don’t make themselves. Open the comms menu with the V key and choose what to say, and the world answers. Every option is always there to press — what you say, and when, is up to you.

High and fast

He is high and fast, so every second you spend climbing is distance you lose. Settle in behind him and try to catch up, and you never get alongside. Climb toward where he is going, not where he is.

Up as a pair, down as a pair

On the way home you land side by side on the parallel runways. Your number two is coming down on the runway next to yours, so holding your own centreline is what keeps the spacing between you.

No Reply, in the same chapter, is this mission turned inside out: here the target is high and fast; there he is low and slow.

• Chitose Air Base