Vol 3. Chapter 13: Negotiation or Invasion
Two aircraft soared above the Forest Kingdom Levresta, cruising at an altitude of approximately 25 kilometers.
Their speed exceeded 3,600 km/h—faster than Mach 3.
“Flight is stable. After completing aerial photography around the target river, we’ll turn around and begin precision surveying using the rangefinding laser.”
“Roger. Akane, Ichigo, I’m counting on you.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Understood.”
The LRF-1 Vulture units were operated via a dual-AI control system: a strategic AI for overall mission directives and a tactical AI for subsystem-specific control.
Due to their incredible speed, real-time remote control from a base was impractical. The aircraft needed to be kept in an extremely delicate equilibrium state, and even a sub-0.1-second delay could prove fatal.
Thus, a dedicated onboard tactical AI handled navigation and control.
That said, leaving the aircraft entirely autonomous would limit operational flexibility, so command input was still required at intervals.
For this operation, Ringo had delegated overall mission control to Akane and Ichigo. She determined they were perfectly capable of handling a single mission's command structure.
“Vulture 1 has completed aerial photography over Zone G8. Passing point. Initiating course change.”