Astrid stares at the letterhead with turquoise eyes, and at the header is a bald eagle with a trident and an olive branch, symbolizing Poseidon and Athena. The former is the armed organization of the Joint Conference, and the latter is the civilian organization of the Southern Gulf Base Circle. The red and blue pencils swirled around her fingertips, and despite the fact that war technology had advanced to the point where it was no longer necessary for officers to lie on the hood and draw maps, demarcate offensive routes, and wipe a handful of hair on their foreheads to express sadness or pride. She suddenly remembered her girlhood at West Point. After dinner, whenever she has time, she will spread along the boulevard, as the saying goes, if you don't move after eating, your butt will grow meat.

To tell the truth, military cadets are generally very handsome, and several of them are so handsome and charming that even Astrid has moved her heart, but the war, her classmates have become future colleagues, and she has no time to attend the funeral, so there should be no one to hold a party for the 70th and 80th anniversary of graduation. Besides, she didn't enjoy both physical and spiritual pleasures. She had always been a Viking pirate, not a noble lady. Even a noble lady would elope.

Her mind drifted back to the auditorium beside the boulevard, and in the dead of night she occasionally looked up at the famous generals in the history of human warfare, Hannibal Bacca's painting of the Alps, General Robert Lee...... She would carry a biography or a nameless wildflower that she picked at random, and give it to him if she thought the commander liked it. She made a special statistics, and Admiral MacArthur got the hearts of the most girls, not because of the general's record, mainly because the playboy is really handsome......

Speaking of this, Astrid blushed slightly, probably someone discovered her habits similar to that of a lone bobcat, so for a month in a row, the Texas cowboy in the next class also began to nominally respect the ancestors, until one day the cowboy loudly praised Marshal Grechko, and it happened that day Astrid was reading "World War III" written by General John Hackett, and then under the gaze of the generals, Astrid ran back to the dormitory for the first time.

Under the guidance of some kind of power, from a maiden to a woman, and then to Athena. She thought. "Major? What do you think of a tech officer? The bald staff officer on the opposite side asked her, and suddenly pulled her out of her memory, in order to hide the embarrassment of being bored and distracted just now, she immediately grimaced her face, clasped her hands, and said, "Technocrat? As long as you don't get in the way of the gun. ”

The staff officers snickered, and the ponytail on the side poked Astrid quietly, reminding: "The general wants to match the combat sappers and advance layer by layer, so as not to suffer meaningless casualties." ”

Earlier. Astrid sneered. But I still had to express my gratitude and said: "Head and tail attack, I will take my men, a group of combat engineers." It seemed that the long meeting was more than boring for her, and General Oland waved his hand impatiently, and said: "In this case, Major Conway has brought a group of combat engineers to assist, and a 100,000-ton whale has been stranded without fishermen to cut it. ”

"Adjournment."

Astrid looked at her watch, and the Arabic numerals, 11.38, were dancing on the electronic screen. At lunchtime, she bundled her strap. This is an AATS watch, which is a gift from Lieutenant General Williams. The crystallization of the X-W project is AATS, which is assembled in the quantum computing chip of the third-generation individual mecha to provide a full range of intelligent combat guidance, and is reduced to an active logic system after miniaturization. That is, AATS watches. After several days of recuperation, she was adjusting to the stress response of overload, and the Taros-X system within the framework of the exoskeleton had been well relieved of the vertigo caused by sudden fluctuations in mental power. However, the special enhancement of the first, second, and third orders is still difficult for her to easily grasp, especially the weaknesses of the second order, and the best prediction of the third order. Once the additional enhancement is activated, Astrid wields the Alloy Greatsword and takes down three equally equipped MechWarriors in less than a minute.

In order to avoid unnecessary path rotation, the three hands of the hour, minute and second are stationary, and the AATS watch must be operated like a normal electronic watch, except for the mecha chamber membrane or an immersive exoskeleton with neuronal contacts. Lovely design. Flick your index finger clockwise. The manufacture of AATS watches is time-consuming, requires the consumption of extremely large circuit components, with Poseidon's current industrial capacity, empty technical reserves and lack of liquidity, it is said that the only production line of watches to be put into production is in the refuge of Maine, but after all, it is too far away, communication has been interrupted for decades, and the scientific and technological development of the north and the south has drawn a strict line, the soft experiment in the south, the hard experiment in the north. All in all, the stock of AATS watches at the South Bay base is at most equipped with a special operations platoon.

It's time to surprise the boys. Astrid watched her special operators nest in the cafeteria entertainment area and watch pre-war comedies stupidly while drinking artificial coffee, so much so that she didn't get carried away until the company commander stood behind her for a long time without noticing.

"Sir......" The cold air rushed down the tail vertebrae Chong's head, and as soon as Sessions turned around, he was touched by Astrid in friendship: "Thirty minutes later, it's still like this, you swim back to the base." ”

The officer's cafeteria was naturally a serious South American coffee bean, and Astrid had just swallowed her first bite of the second movement of the Seventh Symphony, which she had just swallowed. "Is that okay?" The guy who doesn't have long eyes comes over and rubs his seat.

"Please." Astrid didn't raise her head, she scooped up the tomato and threw it away, she chewed and swallowed the brisket slowly, it didn't feel like a pre-war taste, nine times out of ten it was an ocean plesiosaur, next time she would just hunt the head dragon. She thought angrily. "Out of respect for going to sea together tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, we should have in-depth exchanges between us in advance." The thing that doesn't have long eyes opened its mouth and said.

"Where?" Astrid glanced at Major Conway of the Combat Engineer Regiment, the boy who might have a transvestite or some other unspeakable secret, and had a lock of hair dyed silver with dignity, and who did not know how the pig had escaped the picket of the military discipliner. However, with a wider figure, purer eye color, and a relatively round face, it is not easy to judge whether this is a pre-war person or a post-war person. The Major seemed to be able to read minds, saying, "My mother was born in 2030 and awakened in 2060, and my father was born in 2030, so I'm half-blooded. ”

"So, what does it have to do with me? You're disturbing my meal. Astrid's face was expressionless, she put down her spoon, pushed away the plate, clasped her hands together, and said, "If you want to discuss specific matters, you can say it at the regular meeting in the afternoon." ”

"Personally, I think it's more appropriate now, maybe you will fall asleep directly at the regular meeting." Major Conway mysteriously spread out his palms and crumpled up a ball of letterhead. "Looks like Valkyrie also had a nap, let me guess what you wrote?"

"Please." Astrid picked up her plate and left. "Hey!" Major Conway tugged at the corner of her uniform, and immediately, she flipped her wrist and clasped the man's hand: "Watch out for the tank, officer." The Major grinned in pain, and his pulse was suppressed. Astrid was still holding the plate in her other hand.

"They throw injustice and filth to the hermits, but my brother ......," Major Conwy pinched another letterhead with two fingers in his left hand, full of Astrid's delicate letters, a line of blue pencil and a line of red pencil. If you want to be a star, you have to shine on them without thinking about the old evils. Conway read, his eyes narrow, with some charm.

"Creator's Road, Nietzsche." He added. "Don't remember the old evils, sister." Astrid let go of her hand, and before leaving, she repeated it in German, raising her chin contemptuously, but Major Conway called out to her: "Your grandmother is Swede!" He replied in German, too.

"Meine Großmutter ist Norwegerin (my grandmother is Norwegian)" The glass table made the stainless steel plate slide slightly, and Astrid crossed her arms and said: "Sie haben die wahre Bedeutung meines Großvaters nicht gelernt."

The non-mainstream major was obviously not so easily discouraged, and said shyly: "I am a teacher, not a student. He understood, and Astrid was furious.

Astrid reflexively retrieved his large-brimmed hat, tucked it under his armpit, and flipped his forehead with his fingers together, "It's like I'm a hussar and not an armored cavalry." ”

"See you at the regular meeting! Female knight! ”

There was a hiccup, and Astrid was naturally in no mood to continue eating. "I'm going to get my gear in check, and I'm going to see my best before I go." Astrid commanded the team. Second Lieutenant Sessions replied tremblingly, "Equipped on board." ”

"Then move in, and if you can't get out, find that Jagur Vogus!" Astrid put on her military hat and threw down the hairy boys who had been beaten down one by one because they were not convinced.

The lunch break is very short, and it is not easy to maintain the daily operation of the base with the current manpower, and every civilian staff wears many hats, and the only purely administrative personnel is probably the general's staff committee, and even the high command has to participate in holiday labor. At least they got rid of the title of salary thief. Astrid changed the conference room and continued the meeting, and at short notice, the joint meeting held a regular meeting remotely.

Due to the different levels of authorization, there were far fewer attendees in the MIA than in the traditional conference room in the morning, and a flash of silver flashed, "Hallo ritter." Major Conway spoke in a broken Yankee accent, and Astrid glanced coldly at the idiots who were almost 100% likely to work together for up to several days. When she stepped into the remote conference hall, the idiot held her hands behind her back, and her expression was more serious than hers. Combat sappers? Is this mentally retarded willing to wear explosion-proof clothing? Astrid thought.

General Oland arrived on crutches, and when he saw that everyone was together, the general nodded slightly, and the blank conference hall popped up with a surrounder, and a holographic projection of the virtual conference table. A few minutes later, a projection of Lieutenant General Williams appeared at the second table of the conference table, followed by Major General Burke at Bucksdal Air Force Base, and Major General Sheerly at Fort Benning Ranger Headquarters. The generals are all white sideburns and old. Astrid winked at Lieutenant General Williams, who coughed and said, "While Admiral Tyran is on sick leave, I will assume the post of Chairman on Duty of the Joint Council, and if there is no objection, I will start the agenda of this regular meeting." ”

"The first, Detachment U of the Rapid Reaction Force, reported in the morning, they arrived at the Fort Kent refuge and engaged in a fierce exchange of fire with the local natives." With a swipe of his finger, a message flew out of the wheelchair's iPad screen and unfolded in a holographic projection.

The Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) was apparently a mother-in-law, and it took nearly a month for Unit U to reach the Fort Kent Shelter after a short break from the Fort Benning base and across thousands of kilometers in an all-terrain vehicle. Judging by the video of the exchange of fire that was transmitted, they exchanged fire with a well-armed company-sized infantryman. Not at all like the usual wasteland mob unorganized berserk assault, the opponent of the U detachment had a clear command, and even carried out a precise counter-assault after being suppressed, and even more surprisingly, it also had tactical drones, and in the end, the outnumbered U detachment was repelled by the fire of the enemy's heavy vehicles, and several people were killed and retreated to the assembly point in disarray.

"As I said, Unit U has just carried out Operation Shockwave, and according to the rotation system, they are in an incomplete combat state, which is really good now! Half of my Rangers are dead! All wounded! Operation Bastogne must be terminated! I'm going to send a rescue team to bring back Team U! Major General Xie Li of Fort Benning was so emotional that his face was sickly red, and the adjutant hurriedly handed over the pills and served the general with warm water.

After Major General Xie Li slowly turned around, Lieutenant General Williams said slowly: "I don't agree with the retreat. As soon as the words fell, the Ranger General was so angry that he knocked on his crutches. "Team Utah (U) is no longer in a position to continue its high-intensity engagement mission, and with the powers conferred by the Provisional Draft, I order Team U to end Operation Bastogne and instead monitor the movements of any personnel approaching or probing the Fort Kent military asylum, authorized to be codenamed 'Mountain Greenlight.'"

The Ranger General's face softened slightly, but the holographic projection scanned all the changes in the participants' expressions, and Major General Burke's cloudy eyes flashed with schadenfreude. After a slight pause, Lieutenant General Williams snapped out another document. The volley expanded into a three-dimensional model of the freighter, the target of the Pluto operation.

"The ship, called Lake Balaton, was originally affiliated with the pre-war White Ocean Star International Shipping Company, and then the War Commission purchased the 100,000-ton container ship and transferred it to the Marine and Hydrographic Bureau for ......," said the lieutenant general.

"There is a high probability that the freighter has been converted into an experimental vessel, note that Operation Pluto has added targets to identify possible freighter labs." The lieutenant general casually glanced at Astrid, who was not yet qualified to speak at the regular meeting, time was running out, and she had to adapt quickly to the new era. The old man thought

"Are the sources reliable?" General Oland asked, and Lieutenant General Williams spread his hands on his knees covered with blankets, and said calmly: "The news comes from the Northern Secret Service Group, according to the regulations, only the Co-Chairman and the Chairman on Duty have the right to know, and I can only tell everyone here that the news comes from within the New Jersey Empire, and has been double-corroborated by the Great Lakes Alliance." ”

Empire, Alliance. Astrid thought to the meticulous manner of Major Conway, who was standing beside her. No one thinks his non-mainstream silver hair is an eyesore?

"Young people." General Xie Li set his eyes on the two majors who were like golden boys and girls, the general had a rickety back, and physiologically speaking, he was already more than a hundred years old, Rao, General Benningburg was still the youngest of the generals in the room. "The world will soon be yours." The general said.

The projector is turned off and the regular meeting ends. All that's left is to coordinate the assault, and the work desk pops up in the military room, and Astrid clutches the red and blue pencils she just gets, striking back and forth in the profile of the freighter she has just gotten. "Paper!" She didn't like this kind of overly high-tech staff aid, in the cold and muddy Eastern Front, the army didn't carry so many salary thieves, and no matter how grand the war was, it would eventually fall to the mapping on the hood of the jeep. She could almost smell the blood of the people on the railroad to Mothros.

The staff officers brought a large stack of A4 blank paper, and she pulled one at random, briefly drew the approximate location of the freighter's laboratory, and then outlined the offensive route of the special combat team and the combat engineers. She bit the red pencil, and the blue pencil made a bun, and said: "I will personally lead people to break through from the upper deck, and no stealth camouflage can escape the hyperspectrometer, here, here." She leaned down, her fingertips touching the white paper in a few places. I didn't realize that the wind and discipline were opened. "The first and second meeting point, confirm that the attack channel is open, continue to cross until you control the power compartment, and then use the mecha to force through the laboratory gate......"

The plan was finalized, and it was already 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Astrid habitually went to the training ground, and her long war career had forged her body into a standard slender body, but the strength contained in this body was very formidable, and in one-on-one combat, Astrid never needed to be entangled for a long time, and in thirty seconds each, she knocked out three Mepott riot force members in a row. Armed to the fullest, she ran five kilometers around the playing field until her short white blonde hair was wet and occupied her temples.

After a cool shower, Astrid put on her major uniform, a dark green top and black breeches, the red trouser line indicated that she belonged to the Half Moon Bay base of the Poseidon headquarters. She suddenly remembered that the plan she had made in the afternoon seemed to have something to add, and she dried her hair, so much less trouble, and didn't even need a hairpin, she thought.

Strode into the military intelligence room, for dinner, there was no one in the military intelligence room, and the lights were dim. Only the painted red and blue three-dimensional model of the freighter was still spinning, and the red and blue pencils danced on Astrid's fingertips. "Central axis......" she propped her chin and stared at where the Marines were attacked. Suddenly, there was a cacophony noise, startling her, the voice-activated light was on, who else could it be, Major Conway sitting on the single sofa with his legs crossed, and the noise was coming from the concertina in his hand. The idiot also said "oh" by the way

a blue guy!? Major Conway has a blue trouser line, which means he is a member of the Navy. Astrid thought to herself, so she said, "What are you doing here?" ”

"Rest ......" the Major tilted his head to look at Astrid in military uniform, "Warten auf eine Lily Marlene, Ich schätze."

"Der Sound Ihrer Sachen ist wie eine Katze, die in Turin stirbt." Astrid closed her eyes speechlessly, sighing slightly, the blue light of the three-dimensional model of the drawing, which made her snow-white face appear capillaries due to its long dormancy.

"Seems like you know this thing." The Major cocked his accordion and didn't look at her. "It used to belong to Stephen Steele." Now he's seen it.

Astrid shook her shoulders to look at the idiot and said, "Do I need to know this?" ”

The Major smiled lowly, took the bourbon from the small table, poured a glass, took a sip, patted his accordion, and said, "You know what? If you want to find a guy to sleep with, you don't have to pretend to be like that......"

Astrid sighed as she propped up the projection table with one hand and the rotten wood could not be carved. "And then pretend you're particularly interested in this stupid freighter." After the major finished speaking, he drank dry. "You can just say, hey, let's."

Astrid couldn't help but laugh out loud, folded her arms on the projection table, and said with a contemptuous smile, "Of course I can say that, can't I?" She looked at Major Conway, who was particularly dazzling with a lock of silver forehead, and had a fight with the hippies of the sixties and seventies of the last century, and said: "But if I really want to find a man to vent my needs, why do I come all the way here and sleep with a hairy boy?" With that, she straightened up, put on her big-brimmed hat, and walked away.

"Deine Mutter ist Deutsche, aber dein Vater ist ein Bundesstaat (Your mother is German, but your father is a Commonwealth)" Major Conway said to his back, and Astrid stopped and didn't look back. "My father was German."

"Your father is a Commoner." Major Conway tossed the accordion back and forth, "You have mispronounced the accent when you say 'Turin,' and a proud and strict Germanic father would not allow his daughter to make such a lowly mistake. ”

"Thanks for the reminder." Astrid stepped along. But Major Conway cried out, "Hey, Astrid, hey, Astrid." The Major stood behind her with an accordion in one hand, blocking out the faint blue light.

"I just wanted to ask......" Astrid looked back at the half-sizen. It is easy to understand that, physiologically speaking, she was dormant when she was 26 years old, and now she is 86 years old, plus some deviations from the rotation of the earth, she is 87 years old.

"Are you a robot?" The Major reflexively sat on the projection table and said with the attitude of looking at artificial intelligence.

Astrid's expression grew playful, and Major Conway lost no time in squinting his eyes. It's finally an adult. She thought. She exhaled, turned around and turned back, and said in a commanding tone, "My room, thirty minutes." Immediately, the heels of her boots stepped on the expensive holographic imaging plate, and the "click" sounded like a Luger pistol fire.

The successful major sang: "If the person you love is not by your side, then love the person by your side." He played the accordion, and there was a pleasant "beep" in the military intelligence room. ”

"Love someone close to you." The Major threw his accordion and followed Astrid away.