.

The black "color" painted phantom stealth starfighter floated quietly in an open space, the fighter's power system, the three ion engines, had long been completely shut down, the flashing red and green navigation lights that were usually used to prevent collisions during formation were also missing, the communication remained silent, the light in the cockpit was reduced to a minimum because most of the systems were dormant, it seemed a little dark, a little cold, and even the lights of the pilot's combat helmet were turned off, and the helmet was completely black, and it was impossible to tell who the pilot inside was......

All of this is for the sake of secrecy, the shadow force field on the surface of the body can make the Phantom fighter disappear from the enemy sensor screen, and the dull black "color" paint and the least illumination can increase the difficulty of the enemy's photodetector work, reduce its range of effect, and delay the time when the Phantom is detected by the enemy, which is what they need most at the moment.

Because, above their heads, the Imperial transport fleet and the escort fleet are slowly passing through, through the sensors, Resson can observe the enemy's huge space carriers and battleships, and can also see the keyhole and the large ticket Super Banshee starfighters performing the vigilance mission, there are four escort Super Banshees even flew close to a rather dangerous distance from their position at the moment, Resson didn't know how the others felt, but at that moment, although he still remained calm and motionless, but the string in his heart, In fact, it is so taut that it almost breaks.

Fortunately, the enemy planes did not continue to 'press' towards their position, otherwise, it would have been really difficult to guarantee that they would not be discovered by the Imperial fighters.

Risen let out a soft breath, and the four super-banshees quickly flew away. They didn't find anything unusual in the vicinity and came to inspect it, it was just a part of their normal patrol path, for this open airspace, the empire was still reassured, there was no rubble area and dust belt for rebel ships or warplanes to hide, it didn't even have a few pieces of wreckage and debris, the whole airspace was clear at a glance, even if the rebels were "approaching" from this direction. They can also detect it early with the help of keyholes. And prepare for the battle in advance. Nothing to worry about.

What should be worried is the large asteroid wreckage belt in front of the route and a thin cloud of interstellar dust in the upper left, countless battlefield experiences and bloody lessons with the rebels remind the commanders of the Imperial convoy to ignore them, and maybe the next person to appear on the missing and dead list will be them, the next ship to be delisted. It's the one under their feet.

To that end, a small team, four Banshee starfighters each, was sent out to inspect the places where the two Keyhole AWACS sensor arrays could not detect, and the Empire's attention was focused on the detection blind spots near the route ahead of them, from where they should emerge if there were rebels, and behind the route they had already passed. Relatively. Alert was also relaxed, with only four Super Banshees pulling to the left and right of the rear of the convoy.

"This is Tulip One, the enemy aircraft left. How are you all? Seeing the convoy drift away, Risen asked via an orientation short-range communication.

"It's okay, I was almost scared to death, I thought those guys really found something? Why are you doing so far away from the fleet? Schneier let out a long sigh, venting the tension in his heart.

"Please, it's just a routine patrol route, look at how nervous you are." Zhang Xiaojing sarcastically said disdainfully, but although she said so, in fact, her heart was far less casual than what her voice showed.

"Whoever is nervous, just those super banshees, they didn't find out that we counted them lucky, otherwise ......"

"Come on, don't blow it, once discovered, it's definitely us who are unlucky, but you can stay and cover our retreat, oh yes, who said you were almost scared to death just now?"

"I ..... I..... It's just a metaphor, just a bit of an exaggeration.....," Schneier retorted unconvinced.

"Hehe, really? What's the matter with that sigh just now? Why do I feel a sense of relief? ”

"Xiaojing." There seemed to be a hint of reproach in Lan Lan's soft voice.

"Okay, I know, just a little joke, besides, Lan Lan, this guy's nerves are not so fragile." Zhang Xiaojing snorted and said.

"It's still kidding, and it looks like it's okay." A smile appeared on Risen Ressen's face, his psychological quality was stable and calm, which was an important basis for him to pick people, although the other pilots took the initiative to ask for battle, although they were in good spirits, but they didn't feel very reassuring, after all, their experience was still less, "We have successfully passed the first level, and then we are waiting for Sonia's action, everyone get ready, once the attention of the empire is attracted by the decoy of enemy planes, we will set off." ”

"Understood."

The second phase of the operation began with the four Banshee fighters heading to the asteroid wreckage to reconnoiter the emergency warning signal, this signal, immediately like a hornet's nest, the Dignity space carrier immediately turned to red "color" alert, all the personnel flew to their positions, the order to take off urgently echoed in the ship over and over again, the pilots rushed to their fighters, and the Super Banshee who had been on standby in the "launch" channel rushed out of the mothership one after another......

"Rebel Lightning Starfighter, Position 10-6-4, 57000, ..... Fifty-five ..... The number of medium ..... continues to increase," an Imperial officer nervously reported.

When the final number of enemy aircraft was determined to be seventy-two, and no keyhole warning and control aircraft were found among them, everyone in the bridge of the USS Dignity couldn't help but quietly breathe a sigh of relief, the number of starfighters in the 43.4 fleet was more than twice that of the enemy, and with the support of keyhole and guardians, it should not be a problem to deal with this group of rebel fighters.

"Commander, the Licorne reconnaissance team that sounded the alarm has lost its signal, and the rebel fighters are rapidly 'closing' on us." Another Imperial officer glanced at the screen and reported. "Our escort alert aircraft have gone to intercept it."

It is not surprising that the losses of the Unicorn reconnaissance team have fallen into the trap of the rebels, the enemy is suddenly attacking, and they are more than the Unicorn team in terms of the number and quality of fighters, and they can survive, it is a strange thing.

Sending them was already mentally prepared for losses, and it was worth it to let the fleet get a critical warning at the cost of four old-fashioned banshees.

"Notify the search and rescue ship and pay attention to the automatic distress signal." The commander said lightly, his attention never taking his attention off the large screen in front of him that showed the situation on the battlefield.

"Tell them to speed up the sorties of fighter jets." He looked at it, frowned, and ordered dissatisfied, "Let our escort alerts speed forward and drag the rebel fighters." ”

"Yes, sir."

In the rear of the CB-232 convoy, although the detection range of the Mirage stealth fighter sensor has not yet covered the asteroid wreckage belt, so they can not see one lightning bolt after another rushing out of the wreckage belt, but they can roughly guess the progress of the operation from the movement of the Imperial transport fleet and the results of the interference of the Empire's Guardian aircraft from the less clear friendly communications.

"Prepare to start the Mirage Fighter Ion Engine." Risen commanded as he looked at the sensor screen.

Now the opportunity is indeed good, the Empire's escort alert fighters have all accelerated to intercept, including the original four Super Banshees, the chain eye early warning and control aircraft have also arrived in front of the fleet, closer to the battlefield, so as to better play the role of air combat command and control, and the rear of the entire transport fleet is basically empty.

But Risen decided to wait, the Imperial starfighters were still in the process of being dispatched, and if they got too close and were detected in advance, the Empire could draw some of their forces from the fighters that were being dispatched at any time to turn around against them, which would not take much time......

Time passed slowly, on the bridge of the USS Dignity.

"Commander, our fighters have all sorted."

"The rebel fighter group is turning around and retreating, and it seems that they are intending to disengage from us, sir, must they be unwilling to confront us head-on and want to order our fighters to pursue?"

"Well, pursuit?" The commander pondered for a moment, and then fell on the battlefield situation map, except for the group of red dots representing the enemy in front of him, there was no abnormality around, "What is the result of the Silver Sword Reconnaissance Team's reconnaissance of that cloud of interstellar dust?" ”

"No signs of rebel activity have been found."

"Alright, let them go after them." The commander vaguely felt that something was wrong, since these rebel fighters were unwilling to fight them, why did they rush out before?

Lure the enemy? He was suddenly startled, the surrounding situation was clear, only the situation inside the asteroid wreckage belt was still unknown, could there be some ambush or trap inside.

"Inform them not to leave the fleet too far in pursuit, without permission, and especially not allowed to approach the asteroid wreckage belt."

"Yes, Commander."

I have to say that this commander is still quite cautious and wise, but he is only half right.

At the rear of the CB-232 fleet, Risen commanded softly, "Start the ion engine, go, follow me." ”