From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 549: There Are No Cowards in TF3
"The moon is really coming from this direction?!"

Randall stood up from the captain's seat of the Infinity and walked quickly to the front of the holographic projection platform.

The ship's controller, Serena, had already zoomed in on the three-dimensional star map to the celestial system consisting of Rubion V and its two satellites.

Right now, the Third Task Force and the Cargo Fleet are carrying out escort and aerospace transport fleet deployment operations in the medium and degree orbits of Rubion V.

The unidentified fleet just discovered is sliding out from the shadow of the second satellite, also known as the small moon "Venus II", and its current straight-line distance is 42 kilometers.

This is also because the Infinity has just upgraded its full-ship detection unit. Unless a conventional fleet releases a large number of probes and deploys a "fleet detection array", it is difficult to detect a fleet close to the satellite at this distance.

This kind of celestial structure with multiple satellites still has an impact on some conventional fleet detection methods, which is why some classic fleet surprise attacks often occur under similar celestial structures.

From the approximate trajectory of the other party detected by the Infinity, Selina speculated that the other party should be using the synchronous rotation of Penta Sagittarius to accelerate, and then wait for an opportunity to break away from the orbit of Penta Sagittarius and maneuver towards the position of the Third Task Force.

"Captain, based on my search of the large number of fleet combat records in the database, there is a 75% chance that the other side will launch a high-speed raid and decide on the next move based on the reconnaissance results of this round of raids!"

Selina stated her reasoning quickly and clearly in an intellectual, mature voice, characteristic of the new generation of carrier-based control personalities of the Atlas combat fleet.

In addition to conventional ship control, situational awareness, and electronic warfare capabilities, these more intelligent control personalities will also begin to make their own tactical suggestions or infer the current situation.

"High-speed raid. Oh, why didn't I think of deploying some probes in these 'high-risk blind spots' in advance?"

Randall covered his forehead with his hands in frustration at his obvious lack of experience in the arrangement. However, he had just fallen into a state of self-blame when he heard Selina's words of comfort:

"Captain, you don't need to blame yourself. After all, the fleet does not carry too many combat probes, and the small number of them that are available have already been consumed in previous battles. So even if you think of this tactical arrangement, we cannot implement it~"

Randall: “.”

Officer on duty: "Colonel, this control personality is quite good at talking."

"Selena, you have such a sweet mouth," Randall said speechlessly.

"You're welcome, Captain~"

Serena had a smile on her face and folded her hands in front of her, looking very graceful.

However, Randall did not have the time to argue with the shipboard controller. He immediately looked at the officer on duty beside him and said seriously:

"Go to the commander of the high-speed freight fleet. They don't have that much time to slowly deliver the goods. Either hurry up and deliver them all at once, or stop the operation and start running.

Our battle fleet will try to buy them some time, but judging from the current situation, we won’t be able to delay them for too long.”

The officer on duty nodded and turned away again.

In addition to lamenting that his luck seemed to be too bad, Randall was also glad that he listened to Guterres' advice and adjusted the previous fleet rest position, so that the working water and refrigerant of all ships of the Third Combined Fleet have been restored to more than 75% levels.

At least it can avoid the situation in the following battles where the warships of the fleet cannot dissipate heat in time, which will lead to a decrease in the frequency of shelling and the protection capability of the hull.

At the same time, as the large fleet behind the 'Venus II' continued to 'reveal its true appearance', the observation team of the 'Infinity' finally obtained more accurate intelligence information. "Report, the size of the unknown fleet currently detected is estimated to be close to two full fleets! From the current observation results, the opponent is changing track and adjusting the formation!"

"Received, continue to monitor,"

Randall quickly thought about the current situation. This fleet that suddenly appeared from behind the moon was basically certain to be the 17th and 18th Fleets of the Federal Navy.

Because the only two federal naval fleets that can suddenly appear here right now are.

After all, the coordinates of their escape jump and the timing they chose were too tricky, allowing the back of the moon to provide them with cover. Only the Federal Navy, which has a sufficiently complete collection of galaxy astronomical conditions, can achieve this.

Although Randall was still unsure as to why the Federation Fleet chose to jump to this potentially dangerous area of ​​the universe after losing contact with the galaxy's garrison fleet.

But he knew that the other party came for only one purpose, which was to target Atlas' fleet.
Thinking of this, Randall looked at a virtual screen near the captain's seat, which showed the estimated arrival time of the two unmanned fleets coming to support.

"07:42:52"

"07:42:51"

"07:42:50"

"07:42:49"

"Reinforcements won't arrive for nearly eight hours, so we can only rely on ourselves during this time."

Randall sighed helplessly. He never expected that the first few fleet battles he led his team to encounter would be so difficult, and each time they were a situation of "outnumbered against the larger force".

A battle between the Third Task Force and an entire galaxy garrison fleet had just ended. It hadn’t been long since the fleet’s rest and replenishment were complete, and a new battle was about to begin.

The enemy force they are fighting against has even doubled. Where can you ask Randall to go to seek justice?
Soon, the officer on duty returned to Randall:

"Colonel, the freight fleet has responded that the fleet has basically entered low-medium orbit.
If we want to escape the planet's gravity and accelerate to the 'jump speed' when fully loaded, it will take even longer than deploying all the aerospace transport fleets and retreating with a low load."

"Does this mean that we really have to cover them to complete the deployment of the fleet?"

"Yes, Colonel." The officer on duty looked serious. He obviously realized what kind of situation he would face next.

"call"

Randall took a deep breath of the air inside the ship that smelled of oxygen tablets, then slowly exhaled to calm himself down.

After a moment, he spoke in a calm but firm tone:
"Issue a full combat readiness order for the Third Task Force to immediately begin blocking the approaching fleet and cover the evacuation of the cargo fleet!"

Randall paused, something flashed through his mind, and after a moment he uttered the last sentence.

"Again, there are no cowards in our Third Task Force."

(End of this chapter)