Twenty minutes later, after taking 7 elevators and 11 internal shuttle buses, under the leadership of Miyazawa, everyone finally arrived at the command center of the "Taimiao"---the Expedition Fleet Comprehensive Command Center.
After entering the command center, a familiar feeling came over me, as if I had returned to a long-lost home.
Once upon a time, Liu Hanyang, the technical commander-in-chief of the voyage fleet, spent hundreds of days and nights here, discussing and planning the future of the voyage fleet with Snate and Miyazawa, looking at his second home in the distant starry sky.
Returning here today, the past seems like a flash, which makes people have mixed feelings.
"Welcome home, Commander Liu!"
Snett said, strode forward to shake hands with Liu Hanyang, and then shook hands with Zhou Yun, Li Sujia and Xiao Hang one by one.
Finally, he turned his gaze to Liu Hanyang and said, "After all these years, you are still so young."
Liu Hanyang smiled calmly and asked, "Where is General Willy, deputy commander-in-chief of the fleet?"
The smile on Snet's face disappeared, and after a long sigh, he chose silence.
"General Willy...died while covering the retreat of the main fleet." Miyazawa whispered.
The air seemed to freeze instantly, and everyone's mood dropped to the extreme. They lowered their heads and looked serious.
Liu Hanyang's eyes turned to the porthole, looking at the extremely busy maintenance scene outside the window, as if asking with his eyes what happened to the voyage fleet.
"There are only these three starships left in the entire fleet." Snart sighed.
After a while, he looked at the misty clouds outside the porthole and said with a sad expression: "You must be wondering why we gave up going to the Lutan 726-6 star system and chose to hide here instead?"
Everyone raised their heads and looked at Snate with complex and expectant eyes...
If the only three starships left in the Voyage Fleet were the biggest doubt in their minds, then Snate's word "hidden" seemed to amplify the doubt, and seemed to explain the hardships and helplessness of the Voyage Fleet...
It turns out that since Liu Hanyang, as the commander-in-chief, together with Zhou Yun and Xiao Hang, led an advance team of 150 people to land on Barnard B (Fida Star) on 15 space vehicles, in the far earth orbit of Feida Star, The voyage fleet discovered a Tiber fleet carrying out the "Cosmic Vanguard" plan transmitted through the portal of time and space.
Just when the war was about to break out, an electromagnetic vortex released by Boltzmann's consciousness attacked the fleets of both sides. The attack caused heavy losses to the fleets of both sides, and also caused the electromagnetic signals in a large area of Fida to be blocked.
As a result, the connection between the expedition fleet and the advance team led by Liu Hanyang to land on Feida was completely interrupted.
In order to avoid its sharp edge and to preserve its strength, Snet urgently ordered the fleet to enter deep space. However, he never imagined that the entire planet Feida was surrounded by the territory of Boltzmann's consciousness, and the fleet was attacked by several electromagnetic vortices.
Even the Tiberian fleet that implemented the "Cosmic Vanguard" plan was attacked indiscriminately.
From then on, the voyage fleet had to deal with the attack of the electromagnetic vortex on the one hand, and on the other hand, it had to guard against the attack of the Tiberians. In desperation, it had no choice but to abandon Liu Hanyang's advance team and move towards the established target--Wolf 359 Advance to the star system.
During the journey, for safety reasons, the expedition fleet was always in a state of radio silence, but it was still besieged like a wolf pack by several Tiberian fleets executing the "Cosmic Vanguard" plan.
This siege lasted more than 1,000 days and nights.
After three years of pursuit, interception and escape, the Voyage Fleet paid a heavy price. Several cover fleets pounced on the constantly gathering Tiberian fleet like moths to a flame...
In order for the main fleet to escape safely, these cover fleets were either willing to act as bait to lure the main Tiber fleet into encirclement and suppression, or they rushed headlong into the pursuing Tiber fleet.
They used their blood and lives to save the three starships now hidden in the thick clouds of Wolf 359B.
As for why it is hidden
This is also a helpless move.
Compared with the Rutan 726-6 star system 1 light-year away, the natural environment of Wolf 359 is much harsher, but the former has long been targeted by the Tiber aliens and is not an ideal hiding place.
Moreover, the exhausted and scarred expeditionary fleet was in urgent need of rest.
The dense and violent clouds of Wolf 359B are actually safer. Its strong cyclone and violent lightning will shield the electromagnetic radiation generated by the voyage fleet itself, disappearing into the Tiber aliens' detectors like a mud cow entering the sea.
In the next more than a month, the maintenance work of the voyage fleet entered the fast lane. The main damaged parts of the three starships were basically repaired, and they began to take on the original appearance of the starships.
It has to be said that Snart's strategy is far-sighted and of practical significance. He gave up going to the Lutan 726-6 star system or landed on Wolf 359C to avoid becoming a living target of the Tiber aliens, and hid the voyage well. fleet.
In addition, choosing to be in the dense clouds of Wolf 359B can also hide the process and traces of the fleet repair, because the planet is too close to its parent star Wolf 359, causing it to be tidally locked, with one side always facing away from the parent star. .
Therefore, whenever the orbits of Wolf 359B and Wolf 359C become a straight line, the transport ship fleet of the Expedition Fleet will go to Wolf 359C or the nearby asteroid belt to collect the ore needed for repair.
During this process, the electromagnetic signals generated by the transport ship formation will be shielded by the strong tidal gravitational field and magnetic field between the planet and the parent star, making it difficult for the Tiberians to detect the signal of the transport formation.
After more than five months of rest, the safety of the expedition fleet strongly proves this point.
According to Snate's plan, the expedition fleet will return to the stars after completing repairs and rest to carry out the unfinished business of the "Mission Exploration" plan.
The strange thing is that a full three months have passed since the day Liu Hanyang and the others boarded the ship. The three starships of the voyage fleet have already been repaired, but the fleet shows no sign of setting sail.
Liu Hanyang speculated that Snart did this out of caution because it was impossible to determine whether one or several fleets of the Tiberians executing the "Cosmic Vanguard" plan were near Wolf 359.
Maybe they laid a dragnet and waited for the fleet to enter a death trap.
But Zhou Yun doesn't think so. She believes that for the Voyage Fleet with only three starships left, even a Tiber fleet executing the "Cosmic Vanguard" plan can easily wipe out the Voyage Fleet.
There was no need for them to lay nets or set up traps. Just one attack was enough to destroy the voyage fleet.
In the end, she concluded that the Tiberians had found no trace of the voyage fleet at all.
Just when everyone was speculating, Li Sujia provided a detail worth recalling and pondering, that is, Snate seemed to be particularly concerned about the age and current status of Liu Hanyang and Zhou Yun, especially their biological age and age in their 60s. There is a biological age of more than 40 years old and I am very interested.
"One more thing, think about it carefully." Li Sujia said.
The two of them looked at her doubtfully, a little confused...
"On the third day after we boarded the ship, when we were discussing what to do with the mecha XM1367, Xiao Hang handed it over to Liang Ruigang, the technical director of the mecha unit of the fleet."
"Wait, who is it? Liang Ruigang?" Liu Hanyang quickly interrupted.
"What's wrong? Hanyang?"
"Do you have a photo?"
Li Sujia pressed lightly on her arm, and a beam of light was projected in mid-air. A holographic picture appeared, with Liang Ruigang's photo and introduction.
Liu Hanyang stared at the holographic screen quietly, as if looking at an old friend reunited after a long separation, or a confidant he hadn't seen for many years.
