From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 289 Outpost War (Part )
"buzz"

The plasma propulsion array spit out a burst of blue light, and the silver-white HCP pierced the dark starry sky, looking like a fleeting meteor from a distance.

"Drip drip!"

Three beeps sounded in the cockpit of GAX-A12 block 1 'Priest'.

Lieutenant Larry Scott of the 809th HCP Squadron of the Royal Navy of the Star Dragon Empire glanced at the multi-function display on the lower left.

His three-plane formation (a squadron under the squadron) had just passed the eighth checkpoint on the track. After automatic correction, the navigation system gave an 'economic route' to the ninth checkpoint.

Lieutenant Larry turned his head and looked at the right rear of the all-circle display. There was a light green inverted triangle logo there, and there was a similar logo on his left rear.

The words '80 kilometers' are marked on the sides of the two inverted triangle signs, which is the straight-line distance between the two signs and him.

Under the mapping of the on-board operating system, he simultaneously looked at the main monitor on the right rear of his head, and quickly captured the image of Lieutenant Larry's pupil locked area.

A small window suddenly popped up on Quan Zhou Tian's monitor, inside which was an image synthesized by another cleric - this was the integrated detection module integrated into the head's main monitor.

The captured cleric seemed to realize that his lead aircraft was looking at him. He raised his left robotic arm and waved it. A young voice also came from the team channel in the blue-green laser communication mode. .

"Venixing 1, what's the problem?"

This is Second Lieutenant Jeff, who is in the same squad as Lieutenant Larry. He is a young man who has just been assigned to the squadron. In layman's terms, he is a 'rookie'.

He is also one of his wingmen.

"It's okay, it's just that every time I see the originally elegant 'Priest' with these 'burdens' on his back, I feel like his 'coordinated beauty' has been desecrated."

The burden Lieutenant Larry refers to is the 'disposable conformal superconducting battery pack' mounted on the outside of the cleric's calf and on both sides of the plasma propulsion array on the back.

When conducting long-distance cruising missions away from the mothership such as CSP (Combat Space Patrol), these additional superconducting battery packs will be used to maintain the low-power operation of the airframe and main propulsion array.

As the 'Priest' who plans to replace the 'Zealots' batch by batch in the future and become one of the next generation general HCPs of the Star Dragon Empire, the 'Priest' continues to carry forward the exquisite and beautiful features of the empire's equipment.

If a zealot is a dismounted knight wearing heavy armor, then a cleric is a knight lord wearing tailor-made plate armor.

But these bloated battery packs obviously destroy this aesthetic to some extent.

Because the troops of Duke Hastings and Artesia had been on standby on the border of the empire before.

Therefore, part of the HCP squadrons in their fleet also replaced a group of 'priests' earlier than other units.

Although Larry's 809th Squadron is an HCP squadron attached to a reconnaissance unit, it unexpectedly caught the tail of the major change and used the new airframe in advance.

According to the above statement, it seems that this new model of HCP is being tested for its suitability for various long-distance reconnaissance missions.

"Hahaha, you are indeed an 'extreme aestheticist' as others in the team said."

"Commonly known as patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder."

Another deep, hoarse voice sounded on the team channel, and the owner of the voice was none other than Lieutenant Bob, another member of the team.

As the oldest people in the entire squadron, both Larry and Jeff were very curious as to why this pilot, who had not served for a short time, was still only a second lieutenant after so long.

"Tsk Venus No. 3, I think it's because of this mouth that you are still only a second lieutenant after all these years."

"Hmph, a second lieutenant is a second lieutenant. I wish they would kick me out of the army!"

Lieutenant Larry did not continue to answer because he knew that if he continued to talk, this middle-aged man who was nearly 50 years old would start to imagine the scene of returning to his hometown to torment his plantation again.

"Venus 1, do you think we will find something in this CSP mission?"

"Personally, I hope nothing is discovered."

Lieutenant Larry curled his lips. His 'rookie' wingman's voice was always so energetic, and his content was still so innocent.

However, he also understood why Lieutenant Jeff would ask such a question. After all, his reconnaissance team consisting of three reconnaissance ships had been conducting continuous reconnaissance in this area for more than ten days, but found nothing.

Currently, the Imperial Royal Navy's two battle groups, temporarily organized into A and B, are joining forces in this galaxy for 'back-to-back' rest.

A large number of reconnaissance detachments composed of 3 to 5 reconnaissance ships or modified frigates are scattered at a distance of 60 to 70 kilometers from the main force to perform peripheral reconnaissance and security missions.

Behind them, there are a large number of escort detachments patrolling back and forth in the warning circle, and are ready to support the reconnaissance detachment that detects abnormalities at any time.

Of course, Lieutenant Larry knew very well that if he really encountered the enemy, with the weak combat effectiveness of the "two or three kittens" of the reconnaissance team, 80% of them would not be able to support the escort detachment. So he prayed silently in his heart every day.

Pray that the reconnaissance team you belong to can detect the enemy's movements early and retreat smoothly.

At the same time, I also pray that my team's daily CSP mission will not encounter federal warships or HCPs sneaking over in the 'covert action mode'.

"Venixing 2 and 3, we went to the asteroid rubble belt in front to take a look, and then prepared to return. Be careful to keep a distance and avoid the rubble.
Especially you, rookie, I don't want to go back and write down the humiliating cause of death like 'impact with asteroid debris' in the death report of the team members. "

Lieutenant Larry said while looking at the marked asteroid rubble belt 15000 kilometers directly in front of the aircraft, which is also where the ninth checkpoint is located.

According to the straight-line distance and relative speed marked on the all-circle display, the Daystar team will enter the periphery of this gravel belt in less than 10 minutes.

"Venue Star 2 received!"

"Received on Daystar 3."

After hearing the replies from others in the team channel, Lieutenant Larry switched the working mode of the control operating system from 'cruise' to 'combat maneuver'.

In this mode, the pilot will have more thorough attitude control over the HCP, and can also use a maneuver called 'AMBAC' (Active Mass Balance Auto Control).

Using this maneuver, the pilot can quickly adjust the direction of the aircraft while maintaining the same heading and without using vector nozzles throughout the aircraft.

The three meteors quickly passed through this quiet space. After entering the periphery of the asteroid gravel belt, the three pilots switched the detection unit to close detection mode in accordance with combat regulations, and then activated the weapon unit.

The asteroid rubble belt greatly interferes with the body's detection unit, and the dense asteroid debris provides a natural bunker for the warships and HCPs hidden in it, which can be called an excellent hiding place.
It is also a rare and excellent ambush point in the universe.

Although the three members of the Morning Star team just now were a little distracted by the same CSP missions these days, they were still unambiguous when it was time to be vigilant.

"Huh? Something's wrong. Why haven't you captured the signal from the probe?"

Under the transparent visor of his driving helmet, Lieutenant Larry frowned and raised the HCP 57MM electromagnetic machine gun in his hand.

"Did the asteroid rubble belt interfere with the signal?" Lieutenant Jeff's voice immediately became nervous, but he still looked forward to a better possibility.

"No, no, it's so close. It's impossible not to detect it."

Lieutenant Larry was now completely alert, "Get ready to fight, we may have guests!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a 'light spot' flashed inside the asteroid rubble belt in front of him.

The next second, a blue-white beam of light hit the priest's torso, making the other two people in the team feel tense.

But the sudden electric arc quickly divided the blow, and countless broken metal particles were deflected to the surrounding asteroid rubble, leaving dark red burn marks.

“Fuck fuck fuck!!!”

Lieutenant Larry, who survived the disaster, almost subconsciously turned around and quickly hid behind a huge ice crystal in the blue light emitted by the plasma propulsion array.

Had it not been for the combat auxiliary AI, when Lieutenant Larry switched the control operating system to 'combat maneuver', it had simultaneously activated the deflection field and set it to 'automatic defense mode'.

At this moment, he and his body were interrupted by the heavy particle cannon.

"Encountered enemy attack! Send a warning to the mothership!"

Larry, who had finished raising the gun and setting up the shield, carefully used the grappling hooks on the soles of the mechanical feet and the carbon fiber ropes shot from the torso to temporarily fix the machine body on the ice crystal, and then gave the order through the team channel.

The other two machines of the Morning Star team also reacted when he was hit and hid behind other rubble. The two pilots were looking in his direction in shock.

After hearing the familiar voice on the team channel, Lieutenant Jeff finally breathed a sigh of relief, but he soon discovered another problem.

"Venus One, the other party has launched electronic suppression, and long-distance communications have been interfered with! The mothership cannot be contacted!"

"Flag flare! Quick! Fire the flare!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three red flares were fired by Lieutenant Jeff, and two orange lines of fire immediately chased out from the depths of the gravel belt and swept towards the location of the flares.

However, the asteroid rubble belt obviously affected the performance of the enemy pilots. After scanning several shuttles but failing to hit the target, the enemy pilots hiding deep in the asteroid belt also gave up on destroying the flares.

At this moment, Larry knew that the reconnaissance ship behind them must have discovered the flare they fired, but it was not yet known when support would arrive. Their team must first consider self-rescue.

(End of this chapter)