XVIII. Sailing
"Well, impressive, isn't it? In the first actual battle, with a half-hung banshee fighter, these two people shot down a total of three Hellcats, and they had no losses at all, especially this Ruisen, two of which were all from his hands, I think some of your veterans may not be able to withstand it. The middle-aged man, dressed in a neat white colonel's uniform, snapped the clip and handed him to a captain officer in black uniform standing in front of him.
"Yes, Captain, the newcomers sent this time are indeed much stronger than the previous batches, the previous few in the first battle only knew that they were nervous, and they didn't know where to put their hands and feet, and they were the first to be shot down in the air battle, not to mention that they could shoot down enemy planes, and my squadron was using them."
"Captain Clark, they'll be handed over to you, get them and the pilots who have been transferred to you from other ships as soon as possible, and let them get acquainted with the Columbus as soon as possible, and we're about to set sail."
"Go? Where to? ”
"Go for a ride." The captain looked at the captain's puzzled gaze and slowly explained, "Just take a ride in the Corcoran system, focusing on this meteorite belt near the three space hopping points of JP2, JP5, and JP6. ”
The captain kind of understood, "It has something to do with the attack on the Sagittarius." ”
"That's right, or why do you think your squadron will make up for the shortage of men and fighters? We just went through the Battle of Henison Meat Grinder, and we suffered heavy losses, and your Thunderbird squadron, I remember, only five people left, less than half of the establishment, and the other starfighter squadrons in the fleet are not much better, and everyone can't wait for reinforcements from the rear. This Risen was originally scheduled to be sent to your squadron, which is not surprising, but Schneier was originally assigned to the USS Empire space carrier, and the others were also veteran pilots of the starfighter squadron assigned to other ships, and now they are temporarily gathered in order to better cooperate with the Columbus to investigate this attack. ”
"What about our mission?"
"The mission is simple, investigate this attack and find out what new space jumps may exist."
"What? Does the Corcoran system still have space hopping points? The captain was surprised, he knew what that meant, if there was still a space jump point that was not discovered and controlled by the Federation, then once the war started, the Imperial Army would be very passive, because no one knew if a fleet would suddenly appear in their rear, and if this situation did occur, whether this fleet was to cut off the logistical supply of the Imperial Army or join the battle before and after the battle, it would be a disaster for the Imperial Fleet.
"It's just a possibility. To be honest, this attack is not simple, the two space jump points connected to the Corcoran system and the Federation are under the close monitoring of the fleet, and the previous statement above is that even a mosquito can be detected flying over, this time it is okay, four Hellcats attacked our fleet, but we didn't find anything, this is simply a slap in the face of the Empire, if it weren't for the heroic performance of the two newcomers, they succeeded, how did they get through our monitoring network? And that's not all, the Hellcat is not equipped with a space jump engine, they must have come on other ships, where is it? Considering that the ships that can carry starfighters are at least destroyers or above, the fleet sent us to carry out this reconnaissance mission, using the characteristics of the Columbus's firepower, balanced protection, fast speed, and the ability to carry a squadron of starfighters to carefully search this area, remember, this is only a reconnaissance mission, our purpose is to find out the enemy and possible jump points, and try to avoid getting involved in the battle as a last resort. ”
"But, haven't we already surveyed this meteorite belt in detail? How can there be a jump point that has not been discovered? ”
"Remember a rare flare energy eruption from Corcoran's star two months ago? I'm not a technical researcher, and I don't know exactly what the cause and effect is, but the technical officers of the fleet believe that if there is a space jump point that we haven't found, it is very likely that it was caused by this eruption, and for the reason that it has not been detected by us, and considering the location of this attack, they believe that this possible hidden jump point is the most likely to be located in this meteorite belt, and only the dense distribution of meteorites, stardust and space garbage there can block the detection of our instruments. Do you understand? ”
"Understood, Captain, when are we going to set sail?"
"When the fleet temporarily sends the Columbus to assist our technical officers and some special equipment on board, it will set sail, I estimate it will be a few hours, so you should prepare as soon as possible, some areas within the meteorite belt will be inaccessible to the Columbus, and your fighter jets will be needed to escort the space shuttle to these areas."
"Yes, Captain."
----------------------------------------------
On the cruiser USS Columbus, two good friends chatted as they walked along the aisle.
"I really don't understand what's going on, but anyway, it's always nice that we can get on the same ship, isn't it? Hey, wake up, what are you thinking? Rissen. Connell held out his right hand and shook it in front of Risen Eyes, trying to wake up the friend who seemed a little absent-minded.
"Cut, I'm fine," Risen slapped his friend's dangling hand in front of him, "I'm just thinking, where are we going next?" Is it related to the attack? ”
"Where to go? You said you were going to sail? The friend who had some big nerves hurriedly asked.
"You pig brain, didn't you see it when you first got on the ship?" Risen wanted to knock his friend on the head, "They're busy hoisting Banshee fighters and other supplies and equipment on the ship for all kinds of necessary inspections, so what are they doing when they're not busy preparing for sailing?"
"Relax and relax, isn't it just sailing, what's so scary, it's better to run into a few more Hellcats, I can't wait to compete with them again, last time you were lucky, there were more enemy planes that found you, and if it were me, I could easily clean them up."
Looking at his friend with a stiff duck's mouth, Ruisen really had nothing to say, so he had to roll his eyes, which was considered an answer to his friend, anyway, it was not the first time he had encountered it.
"Hey, Risson, have you noticed any difference between this place and the Red Flag Base?" His friend didn't care, but came up and said a little mysteriously.
"It's different, of course it's different, that's the rear, here's the front line, there's a training base, and here's a fleet station, do you still need to ask?" Risen gave Schneier a strange look, does this still need to be asked?
"Alas, say I'm a pig brain, some people are actually pig brains, you have a missing tendon in your brain, don't you notice that there are many more beautiful girls here than in the Red Flag base? Compared to the Hongqi base, this place is like paradise. ”
"Really? Why didn't I feel it? ”
"You...... Elm pimples, incorrigible, I see your life coming to an end. Schneier muttered, deciding not to discuss the topic with the funny fellow anymore.
Risen smiled, even so, but Schneier's words still made him recall what he had seen since he arrived at the base, as Schneier said, there are indeed many more beautiful female officers and soldiers here than the Red Flag Base, they wear well-tailored sky-blue military uniforms, which bring out the beautiful curves of women, and walk gracefully, charming, and have a unique style.
Risen unconsciously moved in his heart, feeling a warm current slowly rising in his heart, and a desire to be close to and embrace these beautiful women surged in his mind, he had never felt this way before, maybe because he had seen fewer girls before. In fact, it's no wonder that he just reached the second year of high school, when he was in the budding stage of youth, the two old people died one after another, how could he have the heart to put this on it in grief? After that, he went to Heidelberg, where he was closed underground, not to mention girls, even females were rare to see, and when he came out of Heidelberg, he went to the Lodesian Barracks and the Freynok Institute of Expertise, and was busy with training and studying all day. After graduating, he happened to arrive at the Cardoso space station, which is famous for its forgotten corners, where the only few girls have long been famous, and the rest are all fierce yellow-faced aunts, which really makes Ruisen stay away. Finally, there is the Hongqi base, in that closed training base, there are no towns within a radius of 100 miles, and the trainees are tired and half-dead from flying all day long, how can they have extra energy and mood to think about women?
It's different here now, as the main fleet base, there may be more female crew members serving on a battleship than the entire Cardoso space station, and there is a whole fleet here, female soldiers can be seen everywhere, and they can also take a vacation to the surrounding colonial cities to rest and relax, which is much stronger than the closed Red Flag Base, no wonder Schneier feels that this place is like paradise.
"How? Ensign, are you still satisfied with the Columbus? A voice came from behind the two of them.
"Sir." Risen and Schneier stood up and saluted, and from behind them came their new commander, Captain Clark, the leader of the Thunderbirds squadron.
"Take a break, don't be so serious, how familiar are you with the battleship during this time?" The captain glanced at his new subordinate with interest.
"Fortunately, sir, this is my first time serving on an interstellar ship, and I just went to the hangar to familiarize myself with our new fighter." Risen replied respectfully.
"Oh? I've heard you've spent a lot of time there. ”
"This, it's just to mark the crash record on the fighter, and by the way, add some paint to our fighter." The two looked at each other embarrassedly and replied with a snort.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, now that the number of downs has been confirmed, you have the right to mark your own fighter, and you deserve it. As for the livery, Sergeant Schneier's talons are very powerful, not bad. But you, ensign, heard that you painted a tulip on the nose of the aircraft as a livery for your personal fighter? How did you choose to use a flower as a personal livery? Some.... Some ....." The captain's face was a little strange, and he still didn't say the word feminine.
Ressen's face was slightly hot, and he whispered, "Yes, sir, tulips are my favorite flower, and in the past, every year in late spring and early summer, the back garden of my grandparents' house was full of tulips of various colors. ”
Speaking of this, Risen couldn't help but feel a little gloomy in his heart, now every spring, there is no longer a beautiful scenery of tulips swaying gently in the wind.
"I see." The captain laughed with relief, "Whatever you want, as long as you like." ”
"Captain, are we going to sail soon?" Seeing that the captain was more easy-going, Schneier plucked up the courage to ask, and the commander of the company was replaced by a more cordial captain.
"That's right, I'm sure you've seen it, and this mission is to investigate your attack this time, and we may encounter the Federation again, boys, I'm looking forward to your performance." The captain patted them on the shoulder.
"Please rest assured that the captain will not disappoint the captain's expectations."