Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 51: Operation to Seize the Ship Begins!

Two days later.

Mars Propylea Orbital Port, located in a synchronous watch orbit about 17,000 kilometers above the Martian equator, is situated precisely between the Martian mainland, the near-orbit defense zone, and the deep space route. It is one of the most important military and political dock nodes for the Covenant Army's homeland guard fleet.

The main body of this orbital port is a giant ring structure. The outer ring consists of heavy berths and cargo channels that form a circle. The central hub is topped with a golden dome and a control tower. Six main bridge arms extend from the center to the outer ring, like six steel ribs supporting the entire port in the Martian sky.

The Propiea Rail Port is divided into six regional modules: the main ring, the merchant shipping area, the military dock area, the quarantine area, the civilian maintenance area, and the lowering pier.

As is customary, the Guards Fleet has begun its routine maintenance procedures.

Eight Watchers-class frigates successively broke away from the formation and entered the military dock area along the dock guide light rail. The attitude thrusters on the outside of the hull reduced their power, the dock robotic arms fastened to the fixed points on the hull, and maintenance servos and inspection drones quickly attached to the hull to begin inspecting the ship's equipment and shipborne fire control system.

The remaining fleet did not all enter the port.

The Corona remains stationed in the Guardian orbit standby area outside the Propylene orbital port. Two heavy cruisers and four destroyers are dispersed around the carrier strike group, and sixteen patrol gunboats are arranged in a fan-shaped formation to cover the outer channel of the port. They have entered the routine alert status during the preparation period.

Further away, the Jingwei remained silent.

It was positioned in a shadowy channel with heavy communication noise outside the Propylene orbital port, neither too close nor too far, just enough to avoid active detection by the port and to quickly enter the satellite orbit in case of a sudden change in the situation. The stealth field generator pressed the entire silhouette of the ship into the background radiation, leaving only extremely low heat fluctuations on the hull.

Inside the Jingwei hangar, Zhang Qiming sat in the cockpit of the [Sky Chaser Type I SA].

He was wearing a black pilot suit, with all the interfaces on his chest and neck connected to the cockpit's neural links. His right hand held a control orb that floated in the center of the control panel. The psycho-frame lit up layer by layer along both sides of the seat, and fine mechanical circuits extended from the cockpit walls to the core of the machine.

[Tianqu Type I SA | Pre-start check in progress.]

[Driver's identity confirmed: Zhang Qiming.]

[Driving suit neural interface: Connected.]

[Psychic Frame Synchronization Rate: 42%→57%→73%→82%!]

[Chiseiro's combat support module: In progress.]

[Machine Soul Assembly Module: [Mengji], Activate.]

The lights in the cockpit dimmed.

Zhang Qiming could sense that something silent was attaching itself to the edge of his consciousness along the framework of his mental perception.

That wasn't an ordinary machine AI; it was more like a beast lurking in a crevice, claws retracted, breathing heavily, waiting for its prey to come within range.

[Machine Soul Response: Active.]

[Mech Spirit's Emotion Assessment: Joyful!]

Kaul's image popped up at the other end of the cockpit.

"The Skydrive Type I has been fully debugged, the mental sensing frame is stable, and Mengji's machine soul is responding very well, even showing some eagerness to try."

He paused for a moment, then looked up at Zhang Qiming.

"This thing seems to really like you."

Zhang Qiming smiled. He had just used [Soothing the Machine Soul] and [Tune the Machine Soul] to give Meng Ji a full set of machine soul health care, so the guy's machine soul was naturally very pleased.

Moreover, Mengji was a machine soul that he synthesized based on the "Machine Soul Encyclopedia: Machine Body Chapter" from his previous life. If we really consider the creation relationship, he is at least half a father to it. How can a son not be close to his father?

In the Stellaris mecha system, the distinction between super mecha and real mecha is very clear.

The steel skeletons of the Super Series are full of fantasy. Take the 72 Solomon machine developed by Mars Future as an example. Its skeleton structure completely deviates from conventional engineering logic.

In addition, super-class mechs can also be equipped with rare, exclusive mech spirits. These special mech spirits not only significantly enhance the mech's basic attributes but also grant the mech unique exclusive abilities and special operating mechanisms.

Mengji is one of the very few beast-shaped Mechs that fit the framework of stealth, interception, and ambush. Its name is taken from the record of a beast that is good at ambushing in the ancient Terran Seas: "There is a beast that looks like a leopard, but has white markings on its body. It is called Mengji. It is good at ambushing, and its cry is its own call."

Mengji possesses five machine soul traits: [Silent Outline], [Low Hum Advance], [Hunter's Track Concealment], [Ambush Calibration], and [Beast Lurk].

The five characteristics combined give the machine extremely strong stealth, detection and suppression, propulsion and noise reduction, and ambush correction capabilities.

Ordinary fire control radars and airborne sensors have difficulty capturing the outline of an aircraft carrying a Mengji, and even more difficulty in achieving a stable lock-on in the first instance.

At this moment, Meng Ji's Q-version robot spirit projection appeared on the other side of the cockpit.

It resembled a miniature white leopard, with fine patterns on its forehead. Its four paws rested on the faint light projected by the psycho-frame, and with a gentle flick of its tail, it affectionately rubbed against the back of Zhang Qiming's hand.

"Mengji~ Mengji~"

Its call is just like its name.

Zhang Qiming raised his index finger, which was covered by mechanical force, and rubbed Mengji's head. Mengji immediately squinted his eyes comfortably, his little tail swayed faster, and the synchronization rate on the mental sensing frame jumped up a little.

He rubbed Mengji's head for a while, then looked up at Kaul's image.

"After controlling the Corona in the South China Sea, the original plan was to use carrier strike groups and patrol gunboats to control the spaceport. However, the orbital SAs at the spaceport are not to be underestimated. There are always people who organize the orbital SAs to take off to counterattack. Therefore, I will be responsible for suppressing these local defense units to avoid any unexpected situations."

He lightly pressed his finger on the control sphere, and the outer defense zone of the Propylene Orbital Port immediately unfolded in the cockpit projection. The military dock area, SA standby bay, patrol drone flight path and near-orbit blockade artillery positions lit up in turn—these were all target points he would eliminate later.

"What's the situation in the South China Sea right now?"

Kaul glanced at the data transmitted back to the control panel, his tone becoming more serious than before.

"Saint Sophia, Ares, and Chiseiro are all ready."

"Once the action signal is activated, I will control the Soul of the Crimson Crown together with them. At that time, Ares and Chisei will also be able to access the shipboard control chain and redundant communication ports. We will then control all SA strike groups on the aircraft carrier."

"Our secret forces have also entered the target sections—the communications rooms and engine rooms of two heavy cruisers, and the bridge guards and ordnance control nodes of four destroyers. We have people in all of them now."

Kaul raised his hand and lit up the markers of all six main escort ships, with pale gold access lines extending from their bridges, engine rooms, and communications rooms all the way to the Truth Investigation Committee's temporary monitoring interface.

"As soon as Zhang Nanhai makes a move, the heavy cruisers and destroyers will enter a state of nuclear lock-on at the same time. Her people will take over key sections, delaying the ship's reaction time and preventing them from firing on the Corona at the first opportunity."

Zhang Qiming nodded, his gaze falling on the mark of the "Corona Erythros".

"Notify the South China Sea region to begin operations!"