"Speaking of which, this is our first time having dinner together."
In the airport restaurant of the Moore Chamber of Commerce, members of Team Z were sitting together, and various dishes, mainly Mexican cuisine, were spread out on the table.
When Sergeant Anton saw that everyone was not eating, he shouted: "Hey, it's rare for me to treat you. Why are you all so bored? Eat quickly, eat quickly!"
Sergeant Anton first took a piece of meat with his fork. Before he could put the meat into his mouth, Natasha asked, "Sergeant, is it appropriate for us to have dinner together now?"
"Why is it inappropriate? The Osiris is being refitted. Our mission is only training. It's time to relax."
"In the past few days, the RC army that we fought with before has been provoking outside the commercial port. But you asked us to do nothing, and now you are asking everyone to have a dinner together as if nothing happened?"
Lin Ao and Edward wanted to take the food, but when Natasha said this, they took their hands back in embarrassment. Edward said sarcastically with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade Natasha, if you want revenge, go alone? After all, didn't you attack without authorization last time?"
Natasha choked back: "Don't you know how many of us have died because of the RC gang? Don't you want revenge?!"
Seeing that there was going to be a quarrel, Anton had no choice but to cough and said: "Edward! I haven't forgotten the time you left the team without permission to go to Chicago. Natasha, there are some things you don't know about. The RC troops we have fought against these days They are clamoring outside because they want us to hand over the prisoner Francisco. If we hand over the prisoner, they will use him as a puppet to separate Mexico City and instigate the RC civil war, so we can't ignore them and they don't dare to do anything."
"Then there's no revenge?!" Natasha yelled.
Anton did not dare to scold Natasha because of his status, but when Natasha saw Sergeant Anton's eyes becoming stern, she turned her head to the side and said nothing.
Seeing that Natasha stopped talking, Edward said sarcastically: "Hey, sergeant, don't worry about it. Natasha's boyfriend died not long ago, and now she becomes impulsive when she thinks of revenge. We have to understand."
"Edward!" Lin Ao reminded him not to go too far, and Edward started eating like a normal person. Anton couldn't sit still and said dissatisfied: "Enough! I arranged this meal today in the hope that our team will be more united! But what did you do? Edward, you forgot the priest who was killed in New York ?"
Hearing Anton mention the priest, Edward widened his eyes and asked, "Why are you mentioning this?! Does it have anything to do with what we are talking about now?"
"Why not! Didn't you also want to avenge the priest at that time? Why are you making fun of others now?"
"I…"
Edward was speechless for a moment.
"Sorry Sergeant, thank you for lunch. But I wasn't feeling well and I went back to my room to rest."
Natasha stood up and left. Everyone present was stunned. Edward knew that he had gone too far, so he lowered his head and ate in embarrassment.
Lin Ao asked: "Sergeant Anton, how long will Natasha stay on the Osiris? She is the princess of the New Muscovy Principality (TPM). She won't always stay in our team, right?"
"I have talked with her about this, and she said she doesn't want to go back to TPM, but she doesn't know where to go. Before she changes her mind, she will fight with us against HER."
Anton sighed, and then said: "Lin Ao, Edward, you are all orphans, and you have nothing to do with other forces. But Natasha is different. She chose to leave TPM to stay with her family, and she needed a reason. She wanted to do it for The sacrificed crew members want to take revenge and also want to integrate into us. Edward, give Natasha her share after dinner and apologize by the way."
Edward didn't show any pretense this time and made an "OK" gesture.
…
Although there were not many employees left in the commercial port due to the war, after the arrival of the Osiris, more and more employees of the Moore Chamber of Commerce came to Earth on shuttles to join the work of renovating the Osiris. The enthusiasm surprised the crew.
The division of maintenance work is different. The crew of the Osiris is responsible for repairing the previously destroyed humanoid weapons and fighter jets. The people of the Moore Chamber of Commerce made a series of modifications to allow the Osiris to enter the universe, ranging from installing boosters on the hull to installing a buffer device on the deck that uses iron cables to knit the tires together. When the Osiris enters the universe, such a buffer device can prevent humanoid weapons from hitting the deck and causing unnecessary damage to the body when landing in a weightless state.
More than 20 days later, the modification of the Osiris was completed, and the already huge hull became even larger with six large boosters installed. At this time, everyone needs to drive this large and heavy ship to the launch pad, use special equipment to raise its bow to the sky, and then install it on the launch pad. This work was not easy. The heavy hull could not be lifted in one step. It took 3 days to complete this work.
There are only a few days before returning to the universe, and the crew members are very excited. Compared with the human mother earth, they are born in the universe and prefer the dark and silent universe. During their few months on Earth, they adapted to harsh natural phenomena such as storms, scorching heat, and thunder and lightning that they had never experienced on colonial satellites. They also witnessed great natural landscapes and human heritage. But no matter how magnificent the earth is, we still care about our relatives and friends in the universe.
The day before departure, all the crew members gathered in an empty shipping room in the commercial port. Captain Shepard stood up with the help of others and gave a speech before departure:
"Everyone, in 24 hours we will end our journey of exile on Earth! Thank you all for your dedication and sacrifice along the way. The Osiris is not a one-man ship. Without everyone's efforts, I can't imagine that one day we will You can still return to the universe!" After saying that, Shepard gave everyone a military salute, and everyone burst into applause.
He continued: "This journey to the earth is very difficult. At the beginning, we were like headless flies, taking one step at a time, and we have been here until now. From Europe to North America, we have saved many cities and civilians. This has given us I believe, and now I declare, our next step is to liberate our hometown - 'Mycenae'! Drive away the HER army there and those who betrayed our hometown!"
When Shepard said this, everyone present cheered.
"That's great! I've wanted to go back for a long time!"
"Go home! Drive away those robbers!"
Shepard stretched out his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then said: "This is not an easy task, and it is difficult to do it in one step. I don't know what means the cunning enemy will come up with to stop us! But that is all for the future, now In the first 24 hours, everyone will rest and work according to the assignments of their respective superiors, and make preparations before departure! The meeting is over."
Shepard was pushed away in a wheelchair after being exhausted. Unlike the others who were overjoyed, Lin Ao, who was born on Earth, became nervous instead. Although he received lessons in adapting to the cosmic environment during this period, as the departure time got closer, he became more and more uneasy.
"I am in the universe. What if Aragami makes a mistake in his operation and causes his body to lose balance? What if I am accidentally exposed to the universe environment and the air in the pilot suit leaks? What if I..."
"Lin Ao? Lin Ao?"
Lin Ao was thinking wildly and completely forgot that he was already in the restaurant and still preparing food. When the cook saw that he was distracted, she knocked a spoon on his plate, and Lin Ao came back to his senses.
"Oh, I'm sorry, please give me a fries and two burgers."
Fiona said unhappily: "Didn't you just eat the burger yesterday? Fried food is not good for health. If I were the head chef, I would take the burger off the menu!" After that, regardless of Lin Ao's agreement, He disagreed and poured a spoonful of mashed potatoes onto Lin Ao's plate. Lin Ao stuck out his tongue and went to find a seat to eat.
Seeing him like this, Sima Qian took the initiative to sit next to him and asked, "Hey, are you afraid of going to the universe?"
"No, no." Seeing that Sima Qian saw his difficulty, Lin Ao felt embarrassed.
"Don't hide it from me! I'm a reporter. In the early days of the war, I often interviewed soldiers who were going to space to fight HER. Most soldiers were afraid of the space environment."
"Aren't you...aren't you afraid? The universe is like the deep sea, cold, dead, and unknown. If you make a wrong step, there will be no equipment to sustain life, and people will not be able to survive for more than a few seconds in the universe."
Sima Qian said: "I understand what you are afraid of. But humans have colonized the universe for two hundred years. I dare not say it outside the earth circle. At least within the earth circle, even the cold universe has now become the home of mankind. You If you think about it in this direction, won’t you feel better?”
Facing Sima Qian's comfort, Lin Ao smiled bitterly.
"Hey, isn't this the big sister x the young lady?" Sergeant Bart and Miao Haosi deliberately joked when they saw the two people together again.
Sima Qian glared at them and said, "Don't be so serious. I'm here to enlighten Lin Ao. Lin Ao has 'cosmic phobia'!"
Miao Haosi yawned and said, "I thought something was wrong. This is very common, isn't it? It's okay!"
"Huh? How come it's okay? You cosmic people say it's easy!"
Bart and Miao Haosi looked at each other and said: "It's really nothing. You know, before we came to the earth, we were worried that the earth's gravity would kill us. You know, the gravity created in the colonial satellite where we grew up is not as strong as on the earth." , and our parents would scare us with thunders and tornadoes, saying that the earth's environment is very scary, and it is easy to be struck to death by lightning, buried in avalanches, and swept away by sea water. There are more ways to die than in the universe! Now think about it, but I just hope that we don’t want to travel to the earth, which is very expensive.”
"Go! I've been talking for a long time, but I can't help you at all!"
Sima Qian said that the two men were driven away. Perhaps it was the effect of empathy. Knowing that people in space were also afraid of the earth's environment, Lin Ao was not so afraid.
…
A few hours later, the Osiris entered the final preparations before departure, and all crew members were in place. Lin Ao also sat in a crowded row similar to a passenger plane and repeatedly checked whether the seat belt was fastened. He was looking forward to taking off as soon as possible, but now the entire hull was standing vertically, making it difficult for everyone to move. Just now, there was a person in the first few rows who almost fell down when he was sitting in his seat. Thanks to others, he was caught.
Sergeant Anton reminded: "Everyone, please check your seat belts. Don't fall to death before returning to the universe after staying on Earth for several months without being killed by gravity!"
Everyone burst into laughter, and then the radio sounded.
"The Osiris is about to take off, everyone, get ready."
Lin Ao took a deep breath. As the countdown on the radio ended, he heard a loud noise and felt a huge vibration in his body. The pressure was constantly exerted on Lin Ao's limbs and internal organs. If it weren't for the driving suit to reduce the burden, Lin Aoneng was tortured and vomited.
The Osiris took off. As the altitude continued to increase, Lin Ao felt that the resonance and shaking of the hull were getting bigger and bigger, and the temperature was getting colder.
"Has reached the stratosphere... mesosphere..."
During the entire takeoff, Lin Ao closed his eyes and endured. Suddenly he heard something touch his helmet. He opened his eyes and saw a French fries floating in front of him.
"Have you reached the universe yet?"
At this time, Osiris began to remove the external thrusters, which would automatically disintegrate and then be burned by the atmosphere. At the same time, the closed window slowly opened, and the scenery outside the window was no longer the green mountains and blue sky of the earth, but the pitch-black universe. Before Lin Ao could adapt to the scenery, a burst of bright light suddenly hit his eyes. Lin Ao hurriedly reached out to block it, and when he squinted, he saw that it was the sun's rays that appeared on the horizon.
"sun…"
Lin Ao said softly, and then he saw a spherical shadow and a hemispherical shadow also appear on the horizon, blocking part of the sunlight.
"It's the moon and the artificial earth...it turns out they look like this in the universe."
Lin Ao turned his head in the direction of the earth. Although he couldn't see anything because of his seat, he still muttered to himself:
"Goodbye, Earth."
