Chapter 55 Challenge
Almost the next second, a huge arm stretched out from the cracked gap in the alloy wall. Its surface was covered with scattered flesh and blood and tiny arms that were still swinging. It looked like it had used some kind of force to remove countless corpses. The mutated limbs were spliced together in the same way, and then the monster's head followed the arms and appeared from the gap. The sense of oppression made everyone present hold their breath. Judging from the part of the monster's body that appeared , its size is no different from the mining spacecraft nearby, and they can't imagine how to kill this monster.
"This is...a thug!"
As soon as Li Mengyan saw the monster's head, she recognized its code name. Du Jin on the side naturally heard it, and he hurriedly asked Li Mengyan:
"Thug? Have you seen this necromorph Mengyan? Do you know its weaknesses?"
Li Mengyan nodded, then quickly recalled before replying:
"This is what I have seen from the federal special biological gene bank before. This is a mutant derived from the combination of necromorph genes and orangutan DNA, coupled with the catalysis of radiation. I have not dealt with it before. This mutant was also "met" through a biochemical isolation barrier before, but it was not that big at all at that time, no! This must be because the blood mark has further modified the genetic structure of this creature.
Its weakness lies in the exposed heart on its back. Its front and sides have armor thickness comparable to that of a mecha. It is immune to almost all kinetic energy weapons of conventional caliber, and even laser weapons, as long as it is not penetrated by extremely powerful lasers The weapon, with its own self-healing speed and size, is very difficult to kill, and I don't know if the blood seal will correct the shortcomings recorded in the file. After all, its research and what I have learned before There are two different looks. "
After listening to Li Mengyan's words, Du Jin looked at the somewhat shaken soldiers with some uneasiness. Let alone these soldiers, facing this large monster covered with white calcified "armor", relying on the light firepower weapons in his hands, he obviously hoped that it would not be the case. It was too big, but Du Jin knew very well that sitting still and waiting for death in this situation would be fatal. He would use everything available to deal with this monster.
"The first team fired to attract the attention of the necromorphs, the second team outflanked them from the sides and rear, and confirmed whether there were any obvious weak points behind them. The third team assisted the first team in attacking, and ensured that the first team retreated if necessary."
After a simple deployment, Du Jin also picked up the gun in his hand and entered the battle, and Li Mengyan immediately followed him. In fact, when Du Jin commanded Manuka's soldiers to prepare the formation, she originally wanted to Give Du Jin some "reminders" at the right time, but with Du Jin's arrangements, Li Mengyan discovered that Du Jin's talent and knowledge in deployment exceeded her imagination. This does not mean that Li Mengyan cannot think of other deployment methods and formations. , after all, her experience in the army for nearly ten years was not an exaggeration, but because she trusted Du Jin and Du Jin had no major misdeployment problems, Li Mengyan just stayed by his side quietly.
Because she knew very well that even though Du Jin looked very confident when he took over this task, no matter who it was, with dozens of lives in his hands, the pressure was definitely not small, and at this time, even if Du Jin There was some panic and fear in his heart, but he did not let these negative emotions disturb him. What made him even calmer was that the soldiers trained by McCas were indeed not average in terms of tactical literacy and willpower. In a very short period of time, Within a short period of time, they began to perform their respective tasks according to Du Jin's plan and grouping.
Several machine gunners who had been scattered at high places opened fire immediately. Although in accordance with Du Jin's "request", they only carried out targeted attacks on the monster's head and joints through burst fire, but after all, it was a machine gun, and it required Either it was electromagnetically accelerated kinetic energy large-caliber ammunition, or it was laser ammunition with extremely high power and penetration. The concentrated fire attack was naturally very effective. The monster seemed to feel the pain and stretched out his hands to protect it. His own head, but Du Jin on the side also immediately noticed the "thug"'s movements, and immediately focused the machine gun fire on the joints of his knees, while the "thug" naturally protected his legs with his hands.
But the "thug" didn't seem to be the "sluggish" general zombies. After several concentrated attacks from Du Jin, although the damage caused to it was not great, it also aroused its anger, and it directly pushed aside He grabbed the cargo hold of a mining ship, dragged it in front of him, and then used his brute force to directly push against the fuselage of the mining ship in the direction of Du Jin. Obviously, the person responsible for assisting The three fire support teams were unable to penetrate the fuselage of this mining ship with machine guns. After all, according to federal design standards, this type of mining ship can withstand the intensity of high-speed impact of small meteorites, which means that it wants to block some There are no problems with focusing fire from small arms.
After all, in the space age, unless the caliber or penetration power reaches a certain level, even machine guns or ordinary grenades have been classified as light weapons. Real medium-sized weapons are used to deal with attack armor and mobile fortresses. Yes, using it on people or creatures is a bit "fussy", which is why Manuka's team did not wear medium-sized weapons. On the one hand, it is unnecessary. After all, they will not leave the cabin to log on to enemy ships or other planets for ground armored combat. On the other hand, the federation is trying to prevent non-military units from using too much force and threatening the internal stability of the military group. Taken together, there are great restrictions on the weapons that Manuka can distribute and allow to be installed.
Du Jin also saw the "thugs" using the mining spaceship as a cover, and he immediately made his own guess:
"It seems this 'thug' has some intelligence."
But then he smiled slightly and whispered to himself again:
"It's a pity that the intelligence is not too high. If you want to push a spaceship of this size as a shield to clear the way, other spaceships on the road will inevitably become an obstacle to its progress. If it follows the gaps between the spaceships to avoid our firepower , and it’s indeed a bit troublesome.”
At this moment, Du Jin came to the second team and had detoured to the rear of the "thugs". He did not ask the team to open fire immediately, but asked them:
"There's no organ behind it, or anything different from the white calcified material on the surface."
The captain of the second team immediately responded:
"Yes, when we saw this monster, there was some kind of unknown organ with dark yellow liquid, and it was beating constantly, but there was also a calcified white substance on the front, but we could do it through the gap on the side. shooting."
Du Jin let out a long sigh of relief. He turned to look at Li Mengyan and nodded, indicating that it was basically consistent with what she said before. Li Mengyan's tense body seemed to relax a little, but Du Jin just had There is only a glimmer of hope of victory. Even if the weakness does exist, he has to think about how to attack effectively and when to attack. Otherwise, it is completely empty talk to eliminate the "thugs".
Du Jin originally wanted to injure the monster by detonating a nearby mining ship, but Li Mengyan's subsequent explanation ruined this idea. Space-age spacecraft no longer use solid fuel or liquid fuel, and those are already obsolete. Technology, according to Du Jin's current data, humans will initially transport the spacecraft from the ground to the blue star orbit. The total mass of the first stage is about 2,300 tons, of which fuel (liquid hydrogen + liquid oxygen) accounts for 2,160 tons. The total mass of the second stage is about 500 tons, of which fuel accounts for 456 tons. The total mass of the third stage is about 120 tons (just the shell and engine, excluding the spacecraft), of which fuel accounts for 110 tons.
Even now in the 21st century, there have been huge improvements in solid fuels, but the weight of the fuel itself cannot be ignored. On the other hand is the element of specific impulse. The key parameter to describe the efficiency of the propeller is specific impulse, which refers to the specific impulse per unit mass. The impulse that propellant can produce, for example, the specific impulse of liquid rocket thrusters is 2500~4500N·S/kg, and the specific impulse of solid rocket thrusters is 2000~3000N·S/kg.
Both liquid rocket thrusters and solid rocket thrusters use chemical fuels. The principle is to burn chemical fuels to produce high-temperature and high-pressure gases, and then use reaction force to push the rocket forward. What determines the thruster efficiency is the relative speed of the gas when it leaves the rocket. For For chemical fuel rockets, the combustion temperature can reach 3000~5000°C, and the thrust generated is very large, but the duration is short, and the fuel will be consumed quickly. This method is more than enough for launching satellites, but it is not suitable for interstellar navigation. , I’m afraid it’s a fantasy.
The mining ships in front of Du Jin all use ion propulsion. The principle is to ionize gas, and then eject the ions at high speed under the action of a strong electric field. The instantaneous temperature can reach 1 million degrees, and the efficiency is that of conventional chemical thrusters. Dozens of times. According to current scientific research progress, ion thrusters eject plasma and the thrust generated is not as good as conventional chemical thrusters. Ion thrusters can maintain thrust for a long time and ultimately accelerate the spacecraft to a very high speed. , the specific impulse is very high. , and what Du Jin can be sure of is that the world on the Blood Seal definitely has ion propulsion technology that is unmatched in this world. Even the controllable nuclear fusion that only exists in science fiction novels has probably been installed in actual navigation. middle.
After all, Du Jin briefly learned from Li Mengyan and McCas that what propelled the "Eden" to sail in space were four unknown energy reactors. Du Jin could hardly guess how much energy it would output. Only then can this giant space ship move, and the speed is not slow.
In short, even if these mining ships destroy the energy devices of their propulsion systems, they will not cause violent explosions. Du Jin has no choice but to rely on the most direct method to attack. After asking the second team to prepare a dispersed shooting formation, Du Jin Jin then ordered to fire, and several kinetic energy ammunition and lasers hit the "heart" filled with dark yellow liquid.
"Hooooo..."
The monster immediately let out a roar of pain, and then it directly grabbed the mining ship in its hand and threw it in the direction of the second team. Fortunately, Du Jin had anticipated this situation and allowed the six soldiers of the second team to After a round of shooting, he immediately ran towards the back of a mining spacecraft on the other side. The spacecraft that was thrown out almost flew past the feet of a soldier at the end of the second team. The soldier could feel it. The strong wind blowing behind him was not felt by the skin, but the huge pressure from the rapid passage of the spacecraft. The running soldier instantly lost his balance and fell to the ground, but his teammates did not give up on him. , the soldier closest to him immediately turned around and wanted to pull up his teammates.
Naturally, Du Jin would not be like the deliberately sensational clips in the movie, waiting for his soldiers to be killed before he would burst into incompetent rage and then fight back. After the "thug" threw the spaceship in front of him, Du Jin immediately asked the first and third teams to open fire immediately, in order to attract the monster's attention. The "thug"'s own not-so-high intelligence level also determined that it would not attack again if there was a frontal attack. He turned around, exposed the weak spot on his back, and chased the person who had just attacked him.
But what was beyond Du Jin's expectation was that when he looked at the thrown spaceship, when it approached the giant "transparent" glass of the hangar door, it was not blocked as he expected, but was directly blocked as if there was nothing. Entering the universe outside the ship, and following that, the entire giant "transparent" glass at the hangar exit began to blur, and a flashing red color appeared. This hundreds-meter-high hangar "glass" The red color made Du Jin's heart feel depressed for a moment. It wasn't that he had the so-called phobia of "giant objects", but the oppressive feeling of red did make him feel a little uncomfortable.
Li Mengyan looked at the flashing red of the particle barrier in the hangar and immediately said nervously:
"No, the hangar's blockade order has not been lifted. If a spacecraft passes through without authorization, an alarm will sound. Now the entire scientific research deck will enter emergency mode."
"Emergency mode?"
Du Jin seemed to have some bad premonition in his heart and immediately asked Li Mengyan, and she also said with a hint of fear:
"Alarms will sound throughout the research deck, which means that Necromorphs from other areas will be attracted to our area in large numbers."
Li Mengyan's words gave Du Jin a feeling of death for a moment. They couldn't even deal with the "thug" in front of them now. If some more zombies appeared to interfere, the end of the entire army would be annihilation. Du Jin didn't have time to think about anything else. He immediately raised his hand and asked "Xiao Ai":
"Xiao Ai, can you turn off the alarm in the hangar?"
Xiao Ai's voice also appeared in his mind:
"Doctor, Xiao Ai can do it, but the hangar's security program is independent. I can't cut off the operation of the security program through wireless means. Doctor can connect me to any terminal in the hangar control room. Xiao Ai is confident that he can re-seal the hangar’s security system in a very short period of time.”
After hearing Xiao Ai's reply, Du Jin didn't have much time to hesitate. He first ordered the first group and the second group to retreat, and the third group and the other two groups alternately covered and left the current position. He looked at Li Mengyan and used a very special A nervous and urgent voice asked Li Mengyan:
"Mengyan, where is the control room in the hangar?"
Li Mengyan did not ask Du Jin why he was looking for the control room, but immediately ran towards the discovery in the control room. Du Jin followed Li Mengyan with understanding and ran towards the control room of the hangar. He wanted to be in the control room as much as possible. Before the alarm attracts those necromorphs, re-seal the damn hangar security program. If possible, he also needs 'Xiao Ai' to apply for the spacecraft permission order from the hangar's command system, and take Macca Si and his party left here. According to the current situation, if they want to defeat the "thug", the price they pay will be very high, and other corpse mutants are very likely to "make up for it" after they have suffered heavy injuries.
.....................................
At this time, outside the "Eden", the Brown Bear III heavy armored transport ship had already approached the distance where it could be logged in. The place they originally wanted to log in was the bridge. After all, there was monitoring of the entire ship and the highest authority. Through There, Xiang Yuan is sure to find traces of Li Mengyan, of course, provided that his boss survives, which is what Xiang Yuan is most worried about.
"Captain Xiang, we found something on the hangar on the scientific research deck of the "Eden". Apparently, a spaceship with Mao's permission just flew out of the hangar, triggering the hangar's security protocol."
Just when Xiang Yuan was a little uneasy, a person in charge of battlefield intelligence collection on the crew opened the alloy door of the cab, came to Xiang Yuan's side and swiped the data on his wrist in his direction, and a holographic screen appeared from The armor information module on Xiang Yuan's wrist popped up, showing the hangar particle barrier that was still flashing red. Even a particle barrier of several hundred meters still looked very small against the backdrop of the entire "Eden". , but under the operation and capture of the collection system of the Brown Bear III heavy armored transport ship, Xiang Yuan clearly saw the strangeness of the barrier.
And then he noticed that the mining ship that flew out of the hangar did not turn on its engine, but began to drift aimlessly in the boundless space. In Xiang Yuan's view, the ship did not fly out by itself. , more like being thrown out by some kind of force.
"Something's wrong! Could it be the major?"
Xiang Yuan immediately realized that there was something fishy about the movement here. He did not let go of this breakthrough. He immediately stood up and came to the door of the cab and said to the crew inside:
"The situation has changed. The landing location has been changed to the hangar on the scientific research deck of the "Eden". There are survivors there. Prepare the weapon system of the Brown Bear III. Do not enter the hangar until then. Conduct force detection and observation. Carry out landing again and apply for artillery cover support from destroyers if necessary."
"receive!"
The crew of the Brown Bear III heavy armored transport ship had no reason not to accept Xiang Yuan's request. Naturally, the command authority of the crew had been transferred to the captain Xiang Yuan before performing the mission, and for those who entered "Iraqi" For the armed reconnaissance soldiers in the "Dian", they were only responsible for air security and retreat support. In front of this civilian mining ship without anti-ship weapons, it can be said that there is no danger at all, so the main pilot immediately ended The scheduled automatic route on the bridge was changed to manual operation to the entrance of the hangar.
At the same time, Li Mengyan had brought Du Jin to the control room. Du Jin immediately handed over Xiao Ai. At this time, there was only Li Mengyan around Du Jin. Du Jin had also confessed before that Li Mengyan was a completely obvious companion, "Xiao Ai." Then it appeared on the terminal on Du Jin's wrist without any scruples. Then according to Xiao Ai's instructions, he removed a small square from the side of the terminal on his wrist and sent it to the huge console panel. Du Jin originally thought he was going to Find some kind of interface to plug it in, but less than two seconds after he put down the small square, Xiao Ai said:
"Doctor, the processing is completed. The hangar's security program has been stopped. Xiao Ai has changed the underlying logic of the triggering program. Even if something passes through the particle barrier, the security system will not be turned on."
"So fast? Don't you need to connect to the console?"
Du Jin picked up the small square in surprise and asked. Xiao Ai's speed made him unable to believe his eyes. It's no joke how long it takes to crack a program. With a machine of this size, The security system equipped with the library is definitely not low in encryption, but Xiao Ai seemed to only spend two seconds, which made Du Jin unacceptable for a moment.
Xiao Ai's avatar felt the shock in Du Jin's words. Her little face seemed to be smiling proudly, and then she jumped happily and said:
"Xiao Ai used to think that the encryption level here was military grade or other systems that used physical isolation measures, but who knew it was just a low-end system protected by a junior artificial intelligence. Xiao Ai naturally unlocked it effortlessly. As for access, doctor, don’t you know? What Xiao Ai doesn’t need is a physical interface to access. As long as there is physical contact, Xiao Ai is confident to try it!”
At this moment, Du Jin had a new understanding of Xiao Ai's abilities, but at this time, he did not have time to digest what Xiao Ai said. Instead, he immediately left the control room to check the situation outside. That giant zombie was not He will wait for him to finish other things before starting to attack. If Manuka takes over the command again, then the formation he deployed will be chaotic again. This is not a problem of Manuka's command ability, but his overall planning decision. of.
When he and Li Mengyan came out of the control room, they found a sci-fi spaceship hovering outside the hangar.
"Uh, then?"
