A year later......

In a vast expanse of space near the borders of the New Roman Empire, a three-hundred-meter-long starcruiser painted with the Imperial Double-headed Eagle insignia is heading at an economic cruising speed of one hundredth of light. At this time, the cruiser did not consume any fuel and taxied at high speed in space entirely by inertia.

Captain Jiang Ziyue, the captain of the ship, hung in the air and wore a civilian dress for space combat — a pair of tights that tightly wrapped around his body, with socks, gloves and a hood. The clothes are made of composite materials, divided into two layers, with an intelligent control chip and an inflator, which can inflate the middle layer and put pressure on the body, which can effectively reduce the negative impact of weightlessness on human muscles. At the same time, the clothes are attached to the chest and abdomen and other vital parts of the body, light bulletproof fabric.

When he expertly slipped through the open back of his clothes and put his body and big bald head inside, the zipper on the back was automatically closed. He adjusted the various parts to make himself more comfortable, and fiddled with the large square mirror on the wall for a moment.

Actually, he doesn't have anything to dress up about. Serving in the Imperial Starfleet, except for a few high-ranking officers of the fleet, almost all the officers and men on duty have the same appearance: shaved heads, put on space combat civilian clothes, and like professional divers, only one face is exposed, that is, there are no diving goggles and oxygen cylinders.

The color of Jiang Ziyue's underwear is pure black, and a navy blue ribbon across his right shoulder is painted, indicating that he is a warship commander; The soft epaulettes on his right shoulder with three silver four-pointed stars indicate that he is a starfleet captain; The soft epaulettes on a black background on his left shoulder are a working identification badge with two motifs, a silver four-pointed star, and a golden steering wheel on the silver galactic disk surrounded by golden ears of wheat, indicating that he is a cruiser captain.

On the left breast of his civilian clothes were four rows of soft medals—imperial medals were made of precious metals and even precious stones, and for safety and convenience, they were worn in attendance and combat situations, and were replaced by soft medals of the same pattern—and the bottom two rows were battle medals for joining the battle in a campaign where more than ten ships were mobilized, and there were ten, indicating that the captain had participated in ten large-scale conflicts in Canada.

In the middle row are the Meritorious Service Medal and the Attendance Medal, five of which are more eye-catching: the Imperial Soldier's Outstanding Service Medal for the Silver Galaxy Gold Cross Rifle - indicating that he was promoted from the rank and file; Imperial Medal of Courage with a golden crossed dagger on a silver shield base - showing that he once commanded a battleship to defeat an enemy with absolute superiority.

There are only two medals in the top row: the Gold Caesar Medal, which represents the highest honor of the Imperial soldiers, the Golden Caesar Medal with a silhouette portrait of the Golden Galactic Bottom, which, like the Imperial Medal of Courage, is for his single-ship defeat of the invading fleet of thirteen warships of the Perseus Commonwealth in the Taiji Planetary Realm conflict a year ago; The other is the Golden Imperial Eagle Medal, which depicts a double-headed eagle holding the Milky Way and flying over a line of silver light, which is common to both military and civilian use, and is awarded to a person who has flown a spaceship or commanded a fleet across the border to fight and return safely.

The captain also has a shield on the right chest of his clothes, and the golden shield depicts a warrior stabbing his sword into the heart of an evil dragon, this warrior is the dragon-slaying Siegfried in the Middle High German epic "Song of the Nibelungen"; There is also an unfolded scroll under the shield with the inscription "Siegfried" in German handwriting. The military label underneath the ship's emblem bears two lines of official Imperial script: one line of Chinese characters "Feng Jiang Ziyue", and below the Chinese characters is his English name, "Veitvon Jiang".

Von Jiang Ziyue is his full name, and the reason for this strange mixture of Chinese and Western names is due to his parents and the social climate of the New Roman Empire.

His mother, Jiang Xiaoqi, was a pure Chinese, but his father, Wolfgang von Dorniersmark, was a German — a certain country was just a name for the population of the New Roman Empire according to the ancestral origin of citizens, when the traditional earth country had long since ceased to exist. His parents were ordinary citizens of the Empire.

But he doesn't look like a mixed-race person, but more like a pure Chinese man who grew up in the Chinese community - even in the interstellar age, Chinese immigrants still can't change the habit of living together, and the other ethnic group that likes to live together is the Jews, but there is no such thing as a "Jewish community" in society.

Since the official lingua franca of the Empire was only Chinese and English, the average Imperial citizen had two names, Chinese and English, such as "Ziyue" was his Chinese name and "Veit" was his English name. But his surname is "very promising".

Originally, the tradition of most Chinese was to follow the father's surname, but according to the provisions of the imperial marriage law, children are free to choose the surname of either of their parents as their own surname when they reach adulthood. Jiang Ziyue felt that he was completely Chinese when he became an adult, and if he still had his father's surname, it was very inconvenient to use the long-winded "Douniersmark" as his surname, so he changed his mother's surname "Jiang".

But when he entered the society, he found that the atmosphere of advocating nobility in the imperial society was very strong. The Imperial Senate, the Archons, and the Imperial Privy Council divided a large number of people who had made many meritorious contributions in the war for hegemony as the Imperial nobles.

Although most of these nobles only had glamorous titles and no actual privileges, they were admired and evolved into many who did not have a noble title and were keen to find their ancestral noble lineage in traditional Earthly societies. Gradually, it became a social atmosphere to yearn for aristocratic life, cultivate aristocratic temperament, and respect people with aristocratic ancestry from their ancestors.

And Feng Jiang Ziyue, who has always paid attention to reputation, is naturally not exempt from vulgarity.

Although the surname Jiang is one of the oldest surnames in China, and there have been many famous families in history, Jiang Ziyue could not find any evidence of his mother's ancestral noble ancestry. He had no choice but to get his father's Germanic aristocratic surname "Feng" and add it to the front of his name to become "Feng Jiang Ziyue" to show his noble blood.

At first, the imperial household administration officials refused to change his identity documents and household administration information because of his nondescript name, but he did not expect that Feng Jiang Ziyue would take the trouble to come to the theory with the "New Roman Empire Marriage and Tobacco Law" and his father's written authorization. The household administrator was so annoyed that he had to change it.

Situations like his are not uncommon in imperial society.

However, compared to the Perseus Commonwealth household magistrate who had to deal with a myriad of strange names for the pursuit of individuality, the Imperial household magistrate's job was much easier.

After finally "dressing" in front of the mirror, Captain Jiang Ziyue floated out of his bedroom and came to the passage, where he fastened the strap at the end of a pair of silver self-propelled poles hanging from the top of the passage at the door. In this way, he was hoisted in the passage by two self-propelled poles, and the soles of his feet were ten centimeters above the ground. Then he pressed a green button on the right pole, and the self-propelled pole activated, leading him to hover along the passage.

This was the main passage of the cruiser "Siegfried" of the new Roman Empire.

Self-propelled sticks, on the other hand, are mobility aids that are ubiquitous inside Imperial spaceships - they are actually sliders mounted on fixed rails with drive motors.

Nearly a thousand years ago, when humans were just able to fly out of the earth, the spacecraft they used were pitifully small, and the astronauts had very little room to move around in the ship, so they could easily "float" inside the spacecraft they wanted by adjusting their posture and using some grips in weightless space.

However, today's spacecraft are far from being comparable to the space vehicles of that time, not only equipped with antimatter engines, can do faster-than-light travel, but also have a large volume and volume. The only thing that remains constant is that there is still no gravity in space – human scientists still can't create the exact same artificial gravity as the Earth in old science fiction movies. The range of movement of the crew inside the spacecraft is very large, and it is very unrealistic to rely on the ancient and primitive "floating" alone, which is laborious and time-consuming.

So the engineers designed this self-propelled stick to help the crew move quickly inside the spacecraft. Due to the high level of automation, there are usually only three areas of movement for the crew in a spacecraft - the living quarters, the control room, and the propulsion room, and these three areas are usually connected by wide passages, and there is no internal space problem with the installation of self-propelled poles. There is a saying among the interstellar crew: "Feet on the ground, poles in the air." ”

The self-propelled poles in the "Siegfried" are not bad, they are all paired, and there is a belt to hold the body in place. Captain von Jiang Ziyue had previously served on smaller destroyers, which had very narrow passages, self-propelled poles, and often had no belts and could only be grasped by hand.

On some large old battleships, there were often comfortable and luxurious seats under the officer's self-propelled pole. However, on many of the Empire's newer battleships, this luxurious self-propelled stick system was often just a backup. Because these new warships are able to constantly roll along the longitudinal axis of the hull during space voyages, creating centrifugal force in the ship, so that the crew can enjoy a similar "gravity effect".

This design comes from the luxury cruise ships of the Empire, which consume more energy, are equipped with specialized control and propulsion systems, occupy more space, increase the cost of use, and have strict requirements for the layout and mass distribution inside and outside the ship. For small and medium-sized ships with only a few dozen or even a few crew members, it would be extremely flashy to add such a design as well.

Moreover, small and medium-sized spacecraft are small in size and have a small radius of rotation, and the acceleration and Coriolis force (Coriolisforce, an inertial force that causes rotational offset) when they rotate. ) produces very uncomfortable irritation to the inner ear of the person. Therefore, engaging in this kind of laborious and expensive rotation on small and medium-sized spaceships is more than worth the loss.

Unlike the Imperial fleet, the Perseus Federation's fleet did not have a self-propelled rod system, nor did it have a hull tumbling design. The federal government introduced the magnetic shoe standard, which means that the bottom of the ship's internal passage is covered with special plates, and the crew wears shoes with electromagnetic devices. When the spacecraft goes into space, the plates at the bottom of the channel are electrified, creating magnetism. At the same time, the electromagnetism of the crew's shoes is also activated, generating the magnetism of the relative poles, and the crew will be adsorbed to the ground, instead of floating into the air casually, and then they can walk around like they are on a planet.

The Federation claims that their magnetic shoes are not only extremely effective, but also inexpensive, and can be used on any class of ship. The federal government's Interstellar Standards Committee, in a question from the National Assembly and Parliament, said that the Imperial hull rollover design was too costly and produced a poor "gravitational effect", and that the self-propelled pole restricted the ship's internal passage, both of which severely affected the interior and exterior layout of the ship's cabin.

However, those who wear magnetic shoes generally believe that walking on the internal passage of the spaceship after activating the electromagnetic system feels like a layer of glue under the soles of the feet, and it is not always so natural to lift the feet.

There is also an informal narrative that some extremists in the federal government feel that the freedom of the crew is a symbol of autocracy and centralization, and should not be adopted by a free federation. Of course, this is a political slander against science and technology. According to this theory, magnetic shoes suck people to the ground, which is also a kind of clamping freedom.

However, whether it's a self-propelled pole, a hull flip, or a magnetic shoe, it's nothing more than the norm. Once the ship is damaged, the crew often has to rely on the ancient "drift". Therefore, all spacecraft passages and cabins still retain one or several rows of fixed-distance handlebars, grips, and seat belts in case of emergency.

The self-propelled pole took Captain von Jiang Ziyue and quickly taxied to the end of the passage, then turned to the right, the airtight door opened automatically, and the captain entered the bridge located in the center of the front of the hull. The bridge is just a traditional way of saying it, and the official name of this part of the design drawings is the Central Control Room.

When the officer on duty saw the captain coming in, he shouted, "The captain takes over the bridge." ”

When he reached a console in the middle of the rear of the bridge, Captain Feng Jiang Ziyue pressed the red button above the green button on the right self-propelled pole, and the self-propelled pole stopped. Then he quickly unbuckled his belt, leaned forward, and as if he had plunged into the water, he "swam" lightly to the seat behind his captain's console, sat down, and buckled the yellow hollow safety bar made of high-strength plastic at the top of the seat, so that his body was fixed to the leather seat and did not float into the air.

At this time, the self-propelled lever automatically deflected, slid to the back of Jiang Ziyue's seat, and was on standby at any time.

The captain's console is in the center of the rear of the bridge, and the two consoles in front of it are the first mate and the navigator officer, and in front of it are the four major consoles of early warning, fire control, communication, and damage management. In addition to the captain and first mate, three soldiers take turns operating each console.

These consoles control the entire highly automated cruiser operation. There is also a damage control team of eight officers and soldiers, a doctor and a cook. A total of twenty-seven people, including the captain, can make this more than 120,000-ton starcruiser operate efficiently.

"Debriefing." Von Jiang Ziyue asked his control team as he sideways checked the space combat suit fixed to the left side of the seat.

Once in faster-than-light voyage or with combat alerts activated, all crew members must wear these space combat suits with jets, light weapons and protective armor, and a life-sustaining system to reduce casualties in the event of a breakdown.

"Everything works." First Mate Lieutenant Joseph Dietrich, who was sitting in front of him to the left, reported, "We are cruising on the scheduled route and will arrive at the border patrol rendezvous in three days." ”

(For three days, or three Earth days, both the Perseus Commonwealth and the New Roman Empire used the Earth's metric units as their own standard of weights and measures.) ）

After hearing this, Feng Jiang Ziyue said with satisfaction: "Okay." Before leaving, I heard from the commander and staff at the Border Fleet Command that the Union was assembling a fleet near the 135th parallel. ”

Hearing him say this, Sergeant Tang Xingyun, an early warning sergeant on the far right of the front console, whispered to Sergeant Ralph Turk, a fire control sergeant next to him, "It looks like there is another war." ”

"Just hit it." Ralph Turk whispered in response to Tang Xingyun.

"I know you haven't taken a vacation for a long time, and this time it's a long time coming." Feng Jiang Ziyue said loudly to his subordinates, "But there is no way, we are soldiers." If we can have a general battle with the fleets of the Federation, maybe there will be no need for such a pointless battle. ”

"A decisive battle?" Second Lieutenant Omar Azaei, the navigator, sneered: "The leaders of the Frontier Fleet and the Central Fleet don't even dare to think about it. ”

At this moment, Tang Xingyun suddenly shouted: "An unknown ship was found, the azimuth was 270 degrees, the altitude was 70 degrees, and the distance was 270,000 kilometers!" ”

Obviously, the spacecraft had just finished traveling faster than light, otherwise the radar would not have been able to detect it. Because the speed of electromagnetic waves in the radar is completely incomparable.

Although humanity has entered a great era of faster-than-light travel, scientists and engineers are still unable to find ways to detect targets faster. The detection technology used by all spacecraft is still quite lagging behind, and its principle is still the same as that of centuries of radar.

The only improvements are the gravitational detection system, which uses gravitational fluctuations caused by faster-than-light travel to detect faster-than-light targets. But there is a serious problem, that is, the faster-than-light spacecraft detected by the detection system is time-lagged. Specifically, when a faster-than-light spaceship was spotted flying ahead, the actual position of that spacecraft had already shifted dramatically. This is because gravity travels at the speed of light, while the target is already moving faster than the speed of light.

"It's our ship!" Early Warning Sergeant Tang Xing then added, "The notification ship 'Hyacinth 101'. ”

"Looks like there's a new mission." Feng Jiang Ziyue said in a tone that was almost ridiculous.

Originally, they were tasked with carrying out routine patrols in the border interstellar space near the 135th parallel, but now the appearance of the notification ship indicates that new missions and battle reports will be delivered.

Although faster-than-light travel is already common, human scientists are still powerless to do anything about faster-than-light instant communication and faster-than-light warnings. Normally, spacecraft with a distance of more than 1,700 astronomical units (and nearly ten days to travel at the speed of light) would need to be transmitted by a faster-than-light spacecraft.

In an age that can easily span hundreds or even thousands of light-years, long-distance communications between planets and fleets rely on notification ships that are constantly traveling faster than light.

Not only interstellar communication, but also interstellar warfare has become very "traditional" - just like naval warfare in the era of the earth's sailing ships: after dispatching reconnaissance ships and outposts from all over the universe to detect the movement of the enemy fleet, the notification ship will immediately transmit the information to its own command headquarters through faster-than-light sailing, and the commander of the own side will mobilize the fleet to meet the battle according to the intelligence.

The cruiser Siegfried, like most patrol ships, cruised on a fixed fairway, so the notification ship could find it quickly. Now, at the distance of light seconds (short for the displacement of light in a vacuum, one second), the notification ship "Hyacinth 101" is transmitting encrypted information to "Siegfried" with a laser beam.

The computer-translated information is projected on the bridge via a three-dimensional stereoscopic imager. The bust of the commander of the Frontier Fleet, the commander of the Imperial Admiral Blake Karios, dressed in a gorgeous black vertical military uniform, immediately appeared in front of everyone. I saw him say in English:

"Captain von Jiang Ziyue, as soon as you receive the order, you command your cruiser to go to the planet 'Taiji' and find a man named Felix Bridgeman in the 'Taiji' Planetary Security Bureau. He is an agent of the Imperial Intelligence Service and is on an extremely important mission. You must arrive as soon as possible and follow his commands to assist him in his mission. The Senate and the Archons authorize you to take force action against those who stand in your way, depending on the situation. Complete. ”

As the voice falls, the stereoscopic image disappears.

"It seems that the vacation is even more unsettled." Tang Xingyun cried out in pain.

"The commander seems to mean that the fight is really going to begin." Azai stretched and said, hearing about the "force operation" made him a little excited.

Suddenly, Admiral Karios's stereoscopic image reappeared, and he pointed to the crew and said with a smile: "Don't complain, you are the closest battleship to the planet Taiji. In addition, double leave and triple bonus will be made up after the mission is completed. Then the image disappeared again.