November 7, 2065, 4 AM.
The red planet loomed ahead, occupying half the sky like an enlarged full moon.
Ou Zhanpeng, fully geared, went over the checklist he had memorized time and again, meticulously inspecting every system of the fighter jet.
Beep beep—
A notification chimed, and a voice from the bridge drilled into his ears: "All hands, our ship is about to enter acceleration orbit. All departments prepare for combat!"
Ou Zhanpeng sent back a confirmation signal. The cabin hatch suddenly opened, and a somewhat familiar figure floated in. The hatch closed, and the person floated into the cockpit, sitting down and expertly fastening their seatbelt: "Bridge, Star隼 cabin sealed. Preparing for separation!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Ou Zhanpeng was stunned, unable to help but raise an eyebrow.
But this was not the time for words, so he could only suppress his questions.
Luo Tu's voice came over the radio: "Star隼, you may separate!"
"Star隼 received... What are we waiting for? Separate!" Xu Qing reminded him, tilting her head.
Ou Zhanpeng's face twitched. With a casual press, his fighter jet, towing its external pods, shuddered and detached from the warship. "Why is it you?"
"Why can't it be me?" Xu Qing's tone was exceptionally calm, like a quiet garden bathed in sunlight on a spring afternoon.
The fighter jet decelerated, while the Expedition continued forward. The underside of the ship appeared outside the viewport, continuously moving forward. Before long, the ship's rear thrusters came into view for both of them.
"All units report status!" a command from the radio interrupted Ou Zhanpeng's thoughts.
"No anomalies detected on the Martian surface!"
"No anomalies detected on Phobos!"
"No anomalies detected on Deimos!"
The prematurely launched satellites found nothing, and the forward-guiding drones also detected no abnormalities, as if everything were the same as before.
Except for the presence of several alien structures on the Martian surface.
"Weapon modules prepare for ejection... 3, 2, 1, detach!"
The Expedition's sides opened simultaneously, and two weapon modules were ejected together.
The warship had to maintain basic equilibrium. Ejecting from only one side would cause a shift in its center of gravity, hence the need for simultaneous ejection from both sides.
After leaving the ship, the rockets installed on the weapon modules ignited, adjusting their attitude and stabilizing their orbits.
A moment later, two more modules popped out.
A total of four, all standard 8x8, 64-cell vertical launch modules.
The so-called "cell" was simply a launch grid, a unit of measurement for weapon modules, but it didn't mean each module could only hold 64 missiles. While bulky heavy missiles could only fit one per cell, it was different for smaller missiles; it wasn't uncommon for a single cell to house four or even eight.
The warship continued forward, its altitude gradually decreasing. From above the fighter jet, it slowly moved to its front, then to its lower side.
The four modules remained by the ship's sides, escorting it.
Not long after, the warship passed over Phobos, and the rockets on two of the modules ignited again, sending them to Phobos and securing them firmly in place.
The other two modules continued to escort, their orbital altitudes continuing to descend.
The warship's speed increased, and the accompanying weapon modules gradually fell behind. Star隼 followed behind the weapon modules. The two watched the warship fly further and further away.
"It's not too late to regret it now," Ou Zhanpeng said out of the blue.
Xu Qing glanced at him but said nothing.
A new command came over the radio: "All units, prepare for engagement!"
Ou Zhanpeng's heart leaped.
His gaze sharpened; the warship was now right in front of him.
The Expedition's sides opened simultaneously, and he heard the voice from the bridge: "Target One data loaded!"
"Target Two data loaded!"
"Target Three data loaded!"
"Launch!"
The sound of missile launches was imperceptible, but several missiles simultaneously ejected from the Expedition's sides, as if the warship had suddenly sprouted a pair of wings.
After detaching from the warship, the missiles, trailing faint streaks, flew towards Mars, followed by a second wave, then a third!
Shortly after leaving the warship, the missiles had already split into three waves, heading for three alien bases.
At this moment, the alien bases finally reacted. The distinct triangular structures suddenly opened, and devices resembling old antennas pointed towards the sky.
Ou Zhanpeng was somewhat bewildered.
The alien species hadn't brought much equipment when they landed, and they had been on the planet for less than six months in total. Having established several bases was already astonishing; they had even secretly developed anti-aircraft weapons?
He had underestimated the capabilities of the alien species. If they were given a few more months, who knew what level these three bases would have reached!
The missiles continued to fly towards their targets, while the Expedition had already left the alien bases behind.
The warship's altitude continued to decrease, and its speed increased, almost to the point of being uncontrollable.
However, the Expedition did not simply fly away but launched another volley of missiles while it still had the chance.
If they didn't destroy the alien bases during the brief window of orbiting Mars, who knew what the outcome would be after the ship departed.
The first wave of missiles finally approached Mars. Still over a hundred kilometers away, the antennas on the ground suddenly opened fire. There was no light or special effects; the missiles flying at the forefront simply exploded without warning.
But the missiles heading for Mars were not clustered together. One-third were sent forward to probe, one-third maintained their position and followed, and one-third lagged slightly to provide support. The first ones destroyed were a small portion of the first wave of missiles.
The remaining missiles suddenly began to maneuver wildly and erratically, flying in arcs, forming a vast and intricate network of trajectories. While there seemed to be some underlying pattern, the pattern itself was impossible to discern.
The antennas' accuracy dropped drastically. Swarms of missiles penetrated the atmosphere and then plunged towards their respective targets.
Regardless of their size, each missile at this moment was a re-entering ballistic missile, traveling at speeds exceeding ten thousand meters per second!
This meant that from entry into the Martian atmosphere to impact with ground targets, only ten seconds elapsed.
The alien antennas intercepted desperately, destroying some missiles. However, more missiles successfully broke through the interception net. The first wave of missiles heavily impacted the Martian ground, burrowing deep underground and disappearing.
In less than two seconds, the second wave of missiles landed, while the third wave was still in the air.
But in that very instant, missiles from underground, ground, and sky detonated simultaneously. High-yield nuclear warheads exploded underground, on the ground, and in the sky, causing the crimson ground to shake violently. The mushroom clouds expanded outward at an unimaginable speed, eventually forming several massive, plump mushroom clouds.
The three-pronged, all-directional nuclear strike instantly annihilated the three major alien bases. Moments later, as the dust began to clear, several giant, vitrified craters were left on the Martian surface.
It was like a piece of fruit gnawed at by a mischievous child and then casually discarded.