NFBE Chapter 50: Martian Fleet
Chapter 50: Martian Fleet
The synchronous watch orbit corresponding to the Olympus Mons hub above the Martian equator.
Located approximately 17,000 kilometers above the Martian surface, above the low Earth orbit and below the Demos Inner Passage, this location offers a commanding view of the three major Martian continents and allows for immediate takeover of near-orbit defense, orbital delivery, and ground suppression missions. Orbital ships are permanently stationed along this defense zone.
Zhang Nanhai was currently piloting a [Star Rider-β·Sea-Based Interceptor SA], rotating with the rapid interception squadron.
As a second-generation Mars-based aircraft, the Sea-based SA [Star Rider-β] is painted in dark red, with platinum emblems of the orbital ship force sprayed on its shoulder and chest armor. It is equipped with sea-based thrusters on its back for rapid maneuvering in space warfare, two beam daggers folded at its waist, and a light beam rifle locked to its right arm.
The second-generation aircraft is the latest model currently in service on Mars.
Currently, whether on Terra or Mars, the third-generation machines are still in the experimental stage because humanity has not yet mastered the technology for large-scale production and deployment of psycho-frames. Therefore, the third-generation machines are all experimental machines.
The number of third-generation fighter jets on Mars can be counted on one hand.
At this moment, in front of Zhang Nanhai, the flagship of the Persian Satellite, Corona, lies horizontally in its Mars synchronous orbit.
This Catadera-class heavy SA aircraft carrier and close air defense command ship is about 820 meters long and 190 meters wide, with an equivalent tonnage of 180,000 to 220,000 tons. Four SA catapult tracks are arranged in the middle of the hull, and the recovery gate and maintenance compartment are attached to the belly. The bridge is embedded in the forward upper armor belt, like a mobile sanctuary pressed down by a steel emblem.
The ship "Crimson Crown" is equipped with 48 sea-based SA (Safety Assault) systems, and is divided into a Guards Wing, an Assault Squadron, a Rapid Interception Squadron, and an Electronic Reconnaissance Squadron. It has complete shipboard maintenance, catapult, recovery, and relay command capabilities.
According to the rules of the Covenant Navy, only captain-level flight officers can serve as SA squadron leaders, and only majors and above are qualified to take over SA groups.
Zhang Nanhai recently pulled some strings and was promoted from lieutenant to captain.
At this moment, he led his rapid interception squadron into the ship through the starboard recovery gate of the "Crimson Crown".
The twelve dark red second-generation aircraft slowed down in sequence, their magnetic locks on the ground engaged in the deck, their sea-based propulsion packs on their backs were closed, and the hangar towing arms dragged the aircraft into the rotation area. The fast interception squadron that was originally stationed on the ship handed over its duty sequence according to procedure and moved to the rest and repair section.
[Shipborne control system connection in progress...]
[Target identified: Star Rider-β Sea-based Interceptor SA]
[Unit: Rapid Interception Squadron]
[Pilot: Zhang Nanhai | Rank: Captain | Position: Temporary Squadron Leader of Rapid Interception Squadron]
The flagship of the Imperial Guard, Corona, has received an application to join the rotation fleet.
[Transfer of control over the aircraft is underway...]
[Ejection Permission: Freeze]
[Weapon Safety: Locked On]
[The bridge control chain of the "Crimson Crown" has been confirmed complete.]
[Current Status: Unit has been stored | Control has been transferred | Awaiting rotation review]
Once the sea-based SA enters the ship, control must be temporarily transferred to the ship's control system.
The ship's energy, weapon safety, catapult authorization, and external communications must all be linked to the bridge command chain of the "Red Crown".
Even if the pilot is sitting in the cockpit, SA can only stay in the hangar as an iron statue if the captain and command don't give permission.
Previously, flagships like the Crimson Crown were commanded by at least a vice admiral-level captain. Now, the new captain only holds the rank of rear admiral, and is surrounded by representatives from the four major factions, observers from the Inquisition, and coordinating representatives from the Truth Investigation Committee. His actual command authority has been fragmented.
Therefore, the person currently in control of this carrier strike group is ostensibly the captain, but behind the scenes, it is a group of four factions intertwined.
No sooner had Zhang Nanhai completed the handover than the delegation of the Knights Templar came to him.
The other party was a lieutenant colonel with a silver sword insignia on his shoulder. His tone was relatively polite, but when he spoke, he still had that old-fashioned Deng accent.
"Captain Zhang, we've reviewed your resume. The Crimson Crown Palace needs someone like you right now. As long as you're willing to uphold the rules of the Templars, the position of major won't be far from you."
Zhang Nanhai raised his hand in salute and answered steadily.
"Lieutenant Colonel, I am an officer of the Covenant Forces. I will carry out orders wherever the fleet requires me."
The lieutenant colonel glanced at him, knowing that this was tantamount to not answering anything, but he didn't press him further. He simply patted him on the shoulder, said, "Young man, don't choose the wrong side," and then turned and left.
Subsequently, representatives from the other three major factions also approached Zhang Nanhai.
The Brotherhood of Forging hinted at him with SA maintenance quotas and machine upgrades, the Mind Choir tested his attitude with a loyalty review, and the Labor Commune tried to get closer to him by offering pilot subsidies, family resettlement, and logistical benefits.
Throughout the entire event, Zhang Nanhai only made polite remarks, neither clearly siding with any side nor offending any faction.
After these people left one by one, he returned to his officer's cabin, closed the door, and skillfully used his methods to block external eavesdropping. Then, he took out the [Soul-Soothing Sacred Oil Talisman] that Saint Sophia had given him in advance and affixed the fingernail-sized silver piece to the maintenance interface below the cabin terminal.
Yes, Zhang Nanhai is trying to appease the Crimson Crown Machine Soul.
The most troublesome aspects of ships have never been just their onboard AI and monitoring systems.
According to the Mechanicus, every warship that has served for many years possesses its own machine spirit.
Shipboard AI can be part of the ship's soul, but the ship's soul is not just an AI program. The ship's soul is a very mysterious entity, and at times, it can even directly affect the ship's physical characteristics.
The church will build a sanctuary on the ship, specifically for the servants and priests to pray and appease the ship's spirit; if the spirit is pleased, the ship's navigation error will decrease, fire control correction will be more stable, and the missile hit rate will be significantly improved.
Saint Sophia possesses the [Words of the Machine God]. Although she is not in the
The terminal in the cabin flashed twice, and the red inspection mark that originally belonged to the ship's internal control chain slowly dimmed. Then, a thin, almost non-existent gray communication line brushed past the edge of the
Zhang Nanhai wasted no time and immediately sent a contact request.
A few seconds later, the light screen lit up.
Zhang Qiming's projection appeared in the center of the cabin, and the background behind him was no longer the underground base, but a bridge.
Deep-space navigation parameters were displayed on the bridge control panel, and a patch of cold, dim starlight could be seen through the portholes. Several Sky Destroyer personnel were reporting data in hushed tones at their respective posts.
Beside Zhang Qiming, Belissau Kaul himself stood in front of the main engineering seat.
He wore a deep red mechanical priest's robe, with multiple gear-shaped emblems hanging on his chest. Half of his face was covered by a metal prosthetic, and several data cables hung down from his back. He looked like a mobile artificial altar draped in human skin.
Zhang Qiming is currently on the [Jingwei].
Zhang Nanhai: "I have led the rapid interception squadron into Crimson Crown, and the rotation handover is complete. The accompanying personnel are all Skydrivers, and now we await your next instructions."
Zhang Qiming nodded.
"very good."
He raised his hand and pulled a Mars near-orbit situation map between the two of them, with the markers for the Guards Fleet, the First Fleet, the Second Fleet, and the Third Fleet lighting up in turn.
"I have also made contact with the commander of the First Fleet—Dongfang Yao."
"The First Fleet has agreed to respond to the uprising at a critical moment. The Second Fleet will be under the command of Saint Sophia. After the uprising, we and Saint Sophia will be responsible for negotiating with the Third Fleet and try to keep it on the sidelines."
Zhang Nanhai looked at the situation map, his gaze lingering on the near-orbit defense zone where the "Crimson Corona" was located.
"Therefore, the key is still the orbital ship force."
"right."
Zhang Qiming nodded, his gaze lingering on the entire command chain of the orbital naval force, and said:
"Whoever controls Mars' orbit holds the Martian regime by the throat."
He raised his hand and touched the ship's markings on the "Crimson Crown," and the organization of the entire orbital ship force unfolded, with the icons of the flagship, heavy cruiser, destroyer, frigate, and patrol gunboat lighting up one by one.
"The Royal Guard Fleet is nominally a complete fleet, but the real command center is still the Crown of the Red Seas."
"The two heavy cruisers, four destroyers, and eight escorts all depend on the flagship's command chain for scheduling. As for the sixteen patrol gunboats, they are originally the outermost warning units of the carrier strike group, with their navigation, fire control authorization, and supply sequence all attached to the Corona.
Zhang Qiming swiped his finger down, and the icons of all sixteen patrol gunboats were framed.
"Once you take over the Crimson Crown, these sixteen patrol gunboats will be indirectly under our control. They can intercept small ships, blockade near-orbital waterways, and work with carrier strike groups to suppress the area around the dock."
Zhang Nanhai nodded, his gaze falling on the markings on the eight frigates.
Those eight ships are all [Watchtower-class frigates], the standard escort patrol ships of the Martian Covenant Army's home fleet. They are about 210 meters long, 42 meters wide at most, and have an equivalent displacement of 11,000 to 15,000 tons. They carry six to eight patrol drones and two small inspection boats.
This type of frigate has a medium-sized electromagnetic naval gun on its bow, a 16-cell vertical missile silo on its stern, close-in weapon electromagnetic guns and point-defense laser arrays on both sides, plus phased array radar and patrol fire control computer. It is best suited for escorting, blocking and finishing off ships in short-orbit channels.
Zhang Nanhai: "What should we do about the frigates?"
Zhang Qiming continued:
"It has been confirmed by St. Sophia that the Guardian Fleet will be heading to the Mars Guardian Orbital Dock for routine maintenance in a while. Eight frigates will enter the dock to inspect the shield generators, attitude thrusters, and shipboard maintenance systems. The crew members will also disembark in batches, and this window of opportunity is when we make our move."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and brought up images of the two types of ships.
The first image shows the [Sacred Edge-class heavy cruiser], the main heavy escort ship of the Martian Covenant's home fleet. It is about 520 meters long and has an equivalent displacement of 75,000 to 88,000 tons. The ship is equipped with heavy electromagnetic gun turrets, 96-cell vertical missile launchers, two medium-sized electromagnetic secondary gun arrays, and a close-in weapon network. It is equipped with four sea-based SAs. Its mission is to be the core of the fleet's area air defense, and it is responsible for acting as a close escort.
The second image shows the [Crossbow-class close-in defense destroyer], which is about 340 meters long and has an equivalent displacement of 32,000 to 38,000 tons. It is equipped with two sea-based SAs and its main armament consists of medium-sized electromagnetic gun turrets, 48-cell vertical missile silos, close-in electromagnetic guns on both sides, and high-energy point-to-light laser arrays. Its main responsibilities include escorting aircraft carriers, close-in air defense, anti-ship interception, and patrol suppression.
Zhang Nanhai stared at the six ship markings, his voice lowering slightly.
"If these two heavy cruisers and four destroyers are not brought under control, even if we capture the 'Crimson Crown' and the sixteen patrol gunboats, they will still catch up with us from the outside."
"The heavy cruisers' missile silos and electromagnetic guns are enough to tear through the carrier's shields, and the destroyers' close-in air defense firepower can suppress our SA catapult windows. In a real battle, even if we manage to take down the orbital ship force in the end, it will cripple the entire Guards fleet."
Zhang Qiming clicked on the other six ship icons, and several light gold permission lines appeared on them.
"Saint Sophia will handle it. Now that things have come to this point, there's no need for her to keep it hidden any longer."
"Her secret forces will be deployed in full during the fleet's maintenance period, entering the bridge guards, communications rooms, engine rooms, and ordnance control nodes of two heavy cruisers and four destroyers."
Looking at the pale gold permission lines, Zhang Nanhai quickly understood the overall strategy of this operation.
The personnel from Santa Sofia were tasked with suppressing the two [Saint-class heavy cruisers] and four [Cross-star close-in defense destroyers], prioritizing the severing of their bridge guards, communications rooms, engine rooms, and ordnance control nodes, so that these main escort ships would lose their independent counterattack capability as soon as possible.
Zhang Nanhai is responsible for taking over the carrier strike group inside the "Crimson Crown". Once the "Crimson Crown" is under control, the sixteen patrol gunboats attached to the outer layer of the carrier strike group will lose their original independent dispatch window.
As for the eight Watchtower-class frigates, they will be locked in their berths during dock maintenance and will not be able to form a combat formation immediately.
Once this plan is activated, the command chain of the Guards fleet will be severed in the middle, the flagship will be captured, the patrol gunboats will be turned around, the frigates will be locked in the dock, and the two heavy cruisers and four destroyers will be simultaneously suppressed by the people of Saint Sophia. The entire orbital ship force will be controlled by the Sky Destroyers in the shortest possible time.
Zhang Qiming's gaze shifted to the edge of the situation map.
There, the Jingwei satellite's signal remained silent, like a nail pressed into the shadow of its outer orbit.
"Karl and I will be in charge of overall coordination and handling of emergencies on the Jingwei. This operation absolutely cannot fail, and the Skyward cannot afford the consequences of a failed revolution."
"If the Royal Guard fails to capture the city, the Holy Cardinals will immediately launch a full-scale purge, and the First and Second Fleets will be forced to make statements in advance."
"Everything Skyward has done so far has been for the purpose of controlling the Guardian Fleet. Only with the Guardian Fleet in hand can Mars have a chance to be transformed. If we do not control the Guardian Fleet, all of Skyward's efforts over the years will be in vain."