United States Navy

The Navy is a branch of the United States military whose forces oppose the Air Force in a civil war shaped by a decisive technological imbalance. Its aircraft enter the battle around the dome, but their attacks do not bring safety to the prisoners on the ground, and one Navy jet crashes in flames with no survivors.

Position in the Civil War

The conflict is not an equal contest. Retro forces use silent, invisible energy bursts with destructive force comparable to rocket-propelled explosives, while the Navy lacks the Air Force’s technological advantage. The contrast makes the Navy’s airborne presence precarious: its crews must evade attacks from weapons they cannot match, and even staying aloft is uncertain.

Air Operations at the Dome

During the assault, four Navy jets appear over the mountains and each fires two missiles toward the dome. The strike is directed at the structure rather than at rescuing the prisoners caught in the attack. A Sounder among the Retro forces recognizes that the Navy is targeting the dome, briefly making the attack a sign of hope to the prisoners.

Losses and Consequences

The air battle’s danger reaches the prisoners directly when a Navy jet tumbles from the sky in flames and heads toward the field. Kent pushes Tori and the narrator away; they reach the nearest building and crouch against its wall before the aircraft hits at full throttle. The crash erupts in flames, debris, and burning jet fuel, and there are no survivors. The Navy’s intervention therefore carries two consequences at once: its missiles threaten the dome, while the destruction of one of its aircraft turns the battle into immediate danger for those below.