"Ryan!" Maughan's voice came through the communicator, tinged with a hint of seriousness. "Our mission is filled with uncertainties and risks. I've sent you some past security defense failure cases. You need to study them carefully and quickly grasp your responsibilities and key points to watch out for."
Maughan instructed Ryan, "The supply transport ship will arrive in near-Earth orbit in three hours. We will depart an hour early to survey the designated location."
Unlike mining drones, the Bluebird's design allows it to operate outside the atmosphere. However, Maughan didn't know that the seemingly new recruit, Ryan, actually had more experience than him. Ryan had faced fierce beast attacks on transport ships, engaged in brutal close-quarters combat with infiltrating Zerbeasts inside transport ships, and even experienced the complete destruction of a transport ship—forcing him and his comrades to survive in near-Earth orbit using only their spacecraft.
In the vast expanse of space, danger lurks everywhere, and anything can happen. Ryan knew that only by continuously improving his own strength could he seize that slim chance of survival when a crisis struck.
In Ryan's view, involving an inexperienced newcomer in near-Earth orbit defense seemed somewhat hasty. This task required extremely high standards, and only Carlos, Torres, Iron Bear, and Karim in the entire security team met the necessary chip processing power and physical fitness standards. If the standards were raised further, only Carlos and Torres, equipped with genuine H-level combat suits, would truly be capable of handling various dangers. Others either lacked sufficient chip processing power or the ability to escape and resolve crises in specific environments.
In these critical moments, Zerbeasts and other fierce creatures are merely minor nuisances, as their actions and attack intensity are generally small-scale. However, due to the lack of sufficient security personnel, selecting the elite from a limited pool of candidates is indeed a regrettable necessity.
After an hour of intense preparation, the six-member team, led by Maughan, flew into the sky in a triangular formation, like arrows leaving the bowstring. Along the way, Jane, Kazemi, Gabriel, and David left the team to handle their respective tasks. Eventually, only Maughan and Ryan remained. The two broke through the atmosphere one after the other, reaching the weightless near-Earth orbit. Four safety belts tightly secured Ryan to his seat.
On the screen in front of him, numerous meteors of varying sizes hurtled towards them at astonishing speeds. Astra had already taken over the Bluebird's computing and control permissions, maneuvering agilely among the countless passing meteors with smooth and precise movements.
This was the advantage of having an H5-level chip. In such complex environments, powerful chip processing capabilities could handle it with ease. Processing the flight trajectories of numerous meteors and the spacecraft's own speed required extremely high computational speed and capacity. Ordinary H3 chips would consume a lot of processing power when handling this information, making reactions sluggish when unexpected situations arose, much like old computer CPUs that slowed down with less memory.
Ample processing power and space allowed for more efficient computation. Ryan glanced at Astra's processing capacity—10 units per second, with only a third currently in use, about 3.3 units. This efficiency allowed the two-person team to navigate the meteor shower as smoothly as gliding on a tranquil lake.
The spacecraft's energy reserves were sufficient for 33 hours of continuous use. The remaining energy and processing space were more than enough to handle potential low-intensity encounters.
After navigating through the meteor belt for a while, the two Bluebird spacecraft soared like freed raptors, breaking free from the complex meteor ring and reaching the top of the meteor belt. As the environment changed, Astra's processing space quickly expanded, significantly enhancing its capabilities.
Ryan couldn't help but look back at the resource-rich planet. The vast meteor belt encircled it like a ring of mudslides, tightly wrapping around the massive, ochre-colored planet. This spectacular sight could captivate anyone witnessing it for the first time, evoking an indescribable sense of awe.
However, Ryan's glance back was merely to carefully observe the surroundings and confirm that no unusual situations were occurring. He remembered his tasks:
Reconnaissance of near-Earth orbit;Receiving the incoming supply transport ship;Providing escort for the small transport shuttles.
Upon reaching the designated rendezvous point, the next task was to ensure the surrounding environment was safe, eliminating the potential threats. The two Bluebird spacecraft, one on the left and one on the right, began patrolling the vast starfield. Their patrol range covered a spherical area with a diameter of 5,000 kilometers.
Three minutes later, three red dots gradually appeared in the depths of the starfield. Another minute passed… The number of red dots increased to dozens, behind which was a giant ship over a kilometer long, silently spewing blue flames as it approached at an astonishing speed.
The TerraNova supply transport ship… had finally arrived! Ryan's gaze immediately focused on this magnificent scene. The transport ship, over a kilometer long, had a deep color and resembled a giant flat transport rocket. Two light strips extended from the lower belly of the ship, and as it decelerated, the doors at the ends of the light strips slowly opened, releasing Bluebird patrol ships that began circling the supply transport ship, providing escort.
The main event had arrived, and the mission was about to begin! The members of TerraNova's security team responsible for escorting the supply transport ship appeared quite proud, not even bothering to greet Maughan and Ryan, seemingly indifferent to them.
It wasn't until the supply transport ship's engines reduced power by 90% that Ryan received a communication from the transport ship: "Near-Earth orbit adaptive navigation initiated. Number 28, Number 37, responsible for escorting Transport Shuttles One and Two."
As soon as the words were spoken, the massive ship's belly doors slowly opened, and two transport shuttles over 50 meters long slid out, intermittently spewing flames from their tails, adjusting their flight paths. Compared to the Bluebird, these transport shuttles had powerful engines and sturdy construction but were somewhat cumbersome in maneuverability.
"Ryan." "Proceed as planned." Maughan issued the command through the communicator. His Bluebird—Number 28—had already moved to the front of the two transport shuttles, beginning to form a formation. Ryan wasted no time, quickly adjusting his spacecraft to advance alongside Bluebird 28.
Maughan had already started the operation. "Begin calculating the safe route for the formation." "Beep!" "Route confirmed." "All formation members, confirm." Ryan received the shared route from Maughan. "Confirmed!" The transport shuttles also sent confirmation signals.
The rendezvous task seemed easy, but Ryan knew that the escort process was the most dangerous and unpredictable part. He could feel the tension rising. Of course, this wasn't the most critical moment yet. Empty transport shuttles wouldn't attract much attention, whether from fierce beasts, Zerbeasts, or space pirates… They wouldn't dare attack the base or the supply transport ship due to the high risk. They often struck when the transport shuttles were fully loaded on the return trip. The return journey was the critical moment.
During the mission, Ryan demonstrated his caution and ingenuity. As their Bluebird navigated the meteor belt, he silently released a swarm of drones. These drones, tiny as thumbs, quickly and agilely dispersed and attached themselves to nearby meteors. This deployment was so discreet and skillful that even the most vigilant observers wouldn't have noticed. Soon, a dozen split screens appeared on the side of the main screen, displaying real-time footage from the drones.
The drones were in place, providing Ryan with additional vision and intelligence, allowing him to monitor the surroundings more comprehensively and prepare for the upcoming actions.