Matt and I walked out to the northeast field, as 3 aircraft launched from the air base, Bej and his group. They started circling, waiting for my order to start. I gave the order, and they started the show as I started talking.

"Our main aircraft is the Model 13 multipurpose aircraft. It can be a combat aircraft, a bombing aircraft, a recon aircraft, or a support aircraft, depending on how it is configured for the mission. It has a maximum speed of 700 km/h, and can turn so fast that the pilot experiences accelerations equivalent to 6 times normal gravity. The plane can theoretically take 9 times gravity, but pilots can't take more than about 6 for more than a few seconds. It is propelled by a single 4-blade propeller and Number 20 engine running on 10-grade mana slush, with enough fuel capacity to travel 2500 km without stopping. The Model 13 has 4 flush hardpoints capable of carrying 300 pounds each and 3 extended hardpoints capable of carrying 600 pounds each, but the aircraft can only carry 2400 kg at once" I paused to let the 3 aircraft zoom overhead at near their maximum speeds, then continued.

"Each aircraft is also equipped with a pair of T17 thaumguns, capable of propelling a small 10 gram projectile at just over the speed of sound. Each thaumgun can fire 10 such projectiles per second, making it deadly to enemies."

The aircrafts swooped around again, then came the rumble of 6 thaumguns firing in perfect sync. The ground in the designated weapons demonstration area sprang up with hundreds of puffs of dust.

"The B35 light bomb is a small bomb designed to be carried in large quantities." One of the aircraft curved back to the weapons demonstration area, letting a small object fall. It erupted in a small blast of fire as the coal powder packed around the explosive core lit on fire.

"The B29, however, is much larger, and designed to take out a normal ship in a single shot." Another plane dropped a larger object, which exploded into a much larger fireball as it impacted. I smiled at the display of the power of our weapons. There was not much chance of the Americans having anything to compete with the B29. Even Sarroc could barely match it.

"Finally, our anti-dragon weapon, the R4. Dragon scales just shrug off thaumgun projectiles, and they just dodge slow-moving bombs. So, we created the R4. It launches off the carrier aircraft, and accelerates very rapidly to almost the speed of sound. It then impacts, and explodes after a small delay. The delay gives the armored tip of the rocket time to penetrate the armor of the dragon enough for the blast to punch through. The last aircraft launched its R4, and I watched eagerly as the rocket flew towards the already destroyed weapons demonstration area, buried itself in the ground, and threw a massive cloud of dirt in the air. The R4 was my favorite weapon, as it was easy, and effective to use, as well as being just plain fun. The sight of the object propelled by the cone of flame always gave me chills.

I looked at Commander Lewis to gauge his reaction. To my surprise, he was just nodding thoughtfully. The aircraft overhead did one last low pass, then banked hard to return to the base and land.

"That was very informative, Captain." Commander Lewis said. "I was not expecting how powerful your bombs were for their size. May I present our aircraft now?" I nodded.

"The only aircraft we brought," started Commander Lewis, "are F/A-18F Super Hornet multirole fighter aircraft. Like your Model 13, they can be outfitted for almost any mission. It has a maximum speed of approximately 2000 km/h, and is designed to be able to turn at accelerations of up to 7½ times normal gravity." He paused to read from a piece of paper, "it is propelled by a pair of F414-400 turbofan engines running on JP-4 fuel, with enough fuel to travel 2300 km with a light load. It can additionally attach external fuel tanks to increase its range at the cost of speed, payload capacity, and maneuverability. Each Super Hornet has 2 wingtip hardpoints, 6 underwing hardpoints and 3 under fuselage hardpoints, and is capable of carrying 8000 kg of payload total." Matt paused, and 3 Super Hornets raced across the sky. He smiled, then continued.

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"Each Super Hornet is equipped with a 20 mm M61 Vulcan rotary cannon, capable of firing 100 small projectiles per second at 3 times the speed of sound. Each aircraft only carries 400 rounds of ammunition, however, as the Vulcan is not designed to be the primary weapon."

He paused, then smiled apologetically, "I seem to have talked a bit fast. The Vulcan demonstration will be in a few seconds." After a small bit of uncomfortable silence, the Super Hornets appeared over a hill. They then each fired a one second burst, and by the time the sound had reached my ears the projectiles had already impacted the ground, releasing hundreds of small bursts of fire and dust. With some amazement, I noted that every single projectile had hit within 1 meter of each other.

"Each round," continued Matt, "is capable of punching through equivalent to your light plate mail, and then exploding in a blast of fire. We expect it to be incapable of penetrating dragon scales, but wyverns will be no trouble according to the descriptions we were provided. The only other weapon we will be demonstrating today is the 500 pound GBU-54/B LJDAM Mk 82. It is a large bomb that explodes a bit smaller than your B29 heavy bomb. It carries a laser guidance system, so it can aim itself towards a certain spot designated by an aircraft with a laser targeting pod."

I watched as a Super Hornet dropped a bomb from a higher altitude. It was obvious that the bomb was going to hit to the left of the weapons demonstration zone, but then it curved on its own to hit directly in the center of the zone. It exploded in a massive plume of dust and debris, but no fireball. Like Commander Lewis had said, it was a bit smaller than the B29, but the self aiming system was a game changer. My head was exploding with ideas of how to leverage the capability to its best potential.

Commander Lewis smiled at my reaction, and casually mentioned, "We also have 1000 pound and 2000 pound LJDAMs, which are twice and four times the power of that one, respectively. They too have the self-guiding ability."

I was shocked. I had assumed that the Americans had inferior weapons, but Matt's demonstrations had annihilated that idea.

"Almost all of our weapons use some sort of guidance system. There's a couple different types of system, but they all can maneuver to hit a target. We have the LJDAMS," he gestured to the plume of dust that was settling over the weapons area, "which are guided bombs. We also have Hellfire missiles, which are like your R4 but quite a bit smaller. Hellfires use the same guidance as the LJDAMs, laser guidance. They can be used to hit slow-moving targets such as wheeled siege weapons."

"Could a Hellfire take out a dragon?" I wondered.

"No. It does not have enough explosive power. It could definitely do a number on the wing of a dragon, but it can't kill it. Additionally, the Hellfire can't self aim fast enough to guarantee a hit. To kill a dragon, we need to break out the Sidewinders or AMRAAMs. The Sidewinder and AMRAAM are air-to-air missiles, designed to track and follow a target. Both of them can only penetrate the armor of a dragon because they travel at multiple times the speed of sound."

I could only shake my head in disbelief, "if we had your weapons, Sarroc would never have been able to invade."

"Well," the American officer smiled, "we're here now, so we can drive them off. In a week or two, a large naval force will be arriving, carrying land units and more air support. When they get here, Sarroc won't stand a chance."

I smiled back. Everything was going to be OK soon. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk about before we head back to the base?"

"Yes actually. Every single one of our aircraft has a radar. A radar is a machine which can detect and track aerial targets at ranges greater than what you can see."

"I'm sorry, but that sounds sort of unlikely," I started to protest, but he cut me off.

"Yesterday, we detected you and Bej from about 100 km away. We adjusted our course to head right to you."

"It still seems a little hard to believe."

"I completely understand. It does work, though. It has trouble detecting wood and cloth, but the metal of your engines shines like a beacon on radar. There's not much you can do to reduce your radar return, though, apart from using as little metal as possible."

"I see." It still sounded a little absurd, but I had no choice but to accept it.

"Also, the use of radars allows us to launch missiles from pretty far away. The Sidewinder missile has a range of about 35 km, and the AMRAAM has a maximum range of 180km."

"That," I paused, "sounds about in line with the other information you have provided." My tail swished back and forth anxiously.

The Super Hornets went back to the air base to land, and we followed. I quickly stopped by the General's office to drop off my report, and left before anyone could question my observations.