Just Hodgkin
The peace advocates led by Kerimo were arrogant and wanted to use the rebels as pawns to ensure that the military's privileges would not decline, but they did not realize that they had already raised a tiger that would become a disaster.
Because interstellar pirates hijacked a starship, countless Alliance civilians doubted the authenticity of Lu Jun's battle record several years ago, and suspected that the war hawks had been making up lies, unknowingly becoming part of the driving force of public opinion.
The wealthy and powerful people who were threatened with death came together in fear and put pressure on each other to transfer the expeditionary force back to defend Leto.
The low-level logistical officers who delayed updating the equipment for the capital star garrison due to political differences, the garrison commander who had his own thoughts, disobeyed military orders, and deliberately did not dispatch enough people to support Leto, and ordinary people who betrayed the alliance for various reasons and became minions of the rebels...
Everyone's starting point and desire is a thread, which is finally woven into a huge net that covers the sky and the sun, engulfing the entire Leto and even the alliance.
Lu Fenghan suddenly remembered that the previous commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force had also lamented that a qualified commander could predict the impact of weather and environment, and calculate the gap in the strength of both sides, but could not predict and calculate the human heart. From this point of view, no one could be so wise as to make such a calculation, simply because the human heart was too fickle.
"Got it," Lu Fenghan said briefly, and asked, "Where's Climo?"
"He was controlled by General Nie. It is said that he had reached an agreement with the 'wise man' of the rebels in private. The Alliance handed over all the planets and mining stars outside York and would not send troops to recover them in a short time. Correspondingly, the rebels would not start a large-scale war in a short time."
Vincent couldn't help but squeeze out a sentence from between his teeth, "Idiot!"
Lu Fenghan's words were full of sarcasm: "He is a politician, and he has been exchanging interests all his life. The rebels are not dogs at his door. If you throw them a bone and ask them to squat and not move, they will really squat and not move obediently."
Vincent's numerous communicators were all beeping, so he didn't have much time to talk to Lu Fenghan in detail. He only asked at the end: "Commander, what are you doing now-"
"To Starport."
Immediately guessing where Lu Fenghan was going, Vincent seemed to wipe his face and said, "You go back first, I will definitely be there soon."
After the communication was cut off, the car was very quiet.
Chagall was trying to digest this series of news.
There were only a few words, but they made him feel particularly unreal.
One of the only three four-star generals in the Alliance betrayed the Alliance and opened the door to the rebels? Another dove general had secretly reached an agreement with the rebels
If someone had told him this before today, he would have laughed three times in derision.
Lu Fenghan didn't give him any extra time: "What's the next plan?"
Realizing that Lu Fenghan was talking to him, Chagall opened his mouth, not knowing how to address him, so he simply mumbled, "I... will start a large-scale war later, right?"
As he asked the question, his fingers pulled wrinkles out of the fabric of his trouser legs.
Lu Fenghan nodded: "Yes."
"I want to go home once, although I don't know if I can go back... or go back to school, and then I will join the army." Chagall said the first half of the sentence hesitantly, but he didn't think about the last few words for a second.
Lu Fenghan only reminded lightly: "It is very likely that you will die."
"I know the chance of death is still high," Chagall looked out the window, his face still young, "but the alliance has become like this, it seems that someone has to do something."
He was confused but determined. In his early twenties, he had a vague glimpse of his future and decided to move forward in big strides.
Lu Fenghan didn't say much, and asked again: "Where do you want to go?"
"Front line!" Thinking that the Alliance might be full of "front lines" now, Chagall added a few more words, "I want to go to the front line in the Southern Cross Region. I want to join the expeditionary force!"
Lu Fenghan pondered, then asked: "What's your personal terminal number?"
Chagall carefully reported a terminal number.
A few seconds later, his personal terminal notified him of a message. When he opened it, he saw that it was an internal recommendation letter signed by "Lu Fenghan".
Chagall gasped!
Although there had been speculations and the answer was obvious, nothing could compare to the intense emotions that surged when I actually saw this letter and these three words written in such a clear and precise way!
For a moment, Chagall's eyes almost glowed as he looked at Lu Fenghan.
After Chagall finished reading, Lu Fenghan spoke before he could speak: "We are not far from the First Military Academy. Get off the bus."
Chagall sat up straight in a second, put his hands on his thighs, his eyes bright and full of energy: "Yes!"
Lu Fenghan curled his lips and opened the car door.
After Chagall jumped out of the car, the black hovercraft continued to drive towards the star port. Lu Fenghan glanced at Qi Yan who was quickly operating something on the virtual screen, and his lips tightened.
He has many things going on in his mind at the same time.
How is Nie Huaiting's injury now, how long will it take for him to come out of the treatment cabin to take charge of the situation, will Krimo cause any more trouble, how is the space force fighting near Leto, the rebels have come all the way here from the front line, what is the situation on the front line now...
But all of this seemed to recede very far away in an instant, and was far less clear than the farewell that was right before our eyes.
Lu Fenghan recalled an idea he had had before, such as bringing Xiao Jiaoqi with him to the front line, but he would definitely not do that now.
He was not so conceited as to believe that "being beside oneself is the safest place". Even now, he wished that Qi Yan could stay a hundred thousand miles away from him, away from the war and danger, safe and sound, without any disturbance.
He also thought about a lot of things, such as whether Qi Yan would eat well without him, whether he would remember to wear slippers, whether he would remember to take an umbrella, whether he would be afraid of the bitterness when taking medicine, and whether there would be thunderstorms where he lived...
But when all the words came to my lips, I couldn't utter a single word.
It seems that once we say it, we will really separate immediately.
I had no choice but to drive towards the star port in silence, wanting to shrink the distance into an inch, while at the same time wishing that the road could be extended indefinitely.
The fighting was raging until the buildings of the Leto Star Port appeared in sight. Lu Fenghan turned the joystick and headed towards the underground entrance of the military star port on the other side.
Qi Yan looked away from his personal terminal. "I just received a message that the people who came to pick me up have arrived outside Leto. For safety reasons, they opened a deactivated jump point and are now on the other side of the jump channel."
Lu Fenghan responded briefly: "Yeah."
The people who came to pick up Qi Yan were very cautious. Leto was in chaos right now, and it was impossible to be sure whether someone in the crowd would be connected to the rebels. Therefore, the best way was to weaken Qi Yan's presence as much as possible. The weaker it was, the less attention it would attract, and the safer it would be.
This is the rational analysis, but Lu Fenghan felt a resistance.
He began to worry that the other party might not be careful enough, might not be able to take good care of Qi Yan, might—
In the end, he used reason to suppress these thoughts.
The black hovercraft went straight into the military starport from a secret path. Lu Fenghan opened the warehouse at the end, and a black miniature starship appeared in front of them.
The ship's hull is as black as night, with smooth lines.
After boarding the starship and throwing aside the box containing the source architecture of the central control system, Lu Fenghan turned on the driving system. During the less than half a minute warm-up period, he lowered his eyes and looked at Qi Yan who was sitting quietly beside him.
"Two years?"
Two words without a beginning or an end.
Qi Yan easily followed his thoughts and nodded: "Yes."
"According to the any-time, any-place, close protection requirement, the time I was away would not be counted toward the two-year time limit."
"Um."
Lu Fenghan pinched Qi Yan’s face.
He wanted to say, wait for me to come back to find you. By that time, the rebels will have been defeated and no more trouble will occur. You can continue to study in Turan or travel to Woz. You can go anywhere and do whatever you want. I will accompany you and protect you. You don't have to be afraid of anything.
But when he met Qi Yan Qingling's eyes, he still didn't say it.
The promise was too light and empty, he shouldn't have said such things at this time.
Lu Fenghan pinched Qi Yan's face very lightly, and after letting go, he placed his hand on the cold and hard metal joystick.
This temperature difference even makes me feel a sense of loss in my heart.
Heavy metal doors rose up one after another in front of me, and the route map appeared in my field of vision. An electronic voice announced: "Thruster preheating is complete, 7, 6... 3, 2, 1—"
The last metal door opened, and the miniature starship rushed straight up along the track, penetrating the atmosphere at an extremely fast speed, and everything on the ground shrank smaller and smaller.
During the bumpy ride, Lu Fenghan looked at Qi Yan again, reached out his hand and pinched his thin white earlobe.
Finally, he said, "Go back to the Lagoon Nebula and wait for me, okay?"
He didn't explain clearly what he wanted Qi Yan to wait for. He even felt that his request was unreasonable and excessive.
Why should he let Qi Yan wait for him when he didn't know how long the war would last, wasn't sure of the outcome, and wasn't even sure of his own life or death
Just based on that piece of contract
However, Qi Yan nodded without hesitation: "Okay."
He seemed to understand all the words and emotions that Lu Fenghan had not expressed.
The noise of the starship rising continuously filled his ears, but Lu Fenghan heard the word strangely clearly. Even the shape of Qi Yan's lips and the expression on his face at that moment could be completely reproduced in his memory.
He looked at the man deeply, his throat felt sore, and finally he smiled.
He thought, just based on this word.
Even if he was dying, he would take the scythe of death.
Just based on this word.
The moment they escaped the gravity of the capital star, there was silence in the ears of both of them. They and the miniature starship floated in the space like dust, inconspicuous.
Qi Yan's personal terminal emitted a long "beep" sound, and he was obviously relieved. He told Lu Fenghan: "The data core of 'Po Jun' has been successfully stripped. I will now transmit it to your personal terminal."
Lu Fenghan was stunned for once: "What?"
At the same time, the personal terminal on Lu Fenghan’s wrist lit up, displaying “Receiving progress: 1%”.
Qi Yan explained: "I will also protect you in my own way."
Giving you Po Jun is my way of protecting you.
After thinking for a while, Qi Yan reminded again: "You must take good care of it."
Lu Fenghan didn't quite understand why Pojun needed to be taken care of, but whatever Qiyan said was what he agreed to: "I will, don't worry."
At this time, a virtual screen rose up on the control panel of the micro starship. Three seconds later, the image of Nie Huaiting appeared. He was visibly weak. Without his military uniform, he looked no different from an ordinary old man in Leto.
Lu Fenghan quickly looked him over and asked, "Are you okay?"
Nie Huaiting sat beside the treatment cabin and waved his hands: "You won't die. Have you left the capital planet?"
"right."
"We have lost contact with the Southern Cross Region front line. The exact situation is unknown."
Lu Fenghan was not nervous: "With Erich here, it will be no problem to stabilize the situation for the time being. Even if he fails, I can reorganize it when I go back."
Nie Huaiting nodded, looking more like he wanted to talk to someone. After listening, he pondered for a moment and rarely instructed like an elder: "Be careful on the road."
Lu Fenghan agreed.
The micro starship avoided the battle zone and gradually moved away from Leto along a secret route that was not on the route map, heading towards the target jump point.
And that's when the accident happened.
A red alarm suddenly lit up on the radar monitor, indicating that a high-energy body was approaching rapidly! Lu Fenghan immediately opened the protective shield, and the next second, the entire starship shook.
Qi Yan held onto the chair to steady himself: "We are being followed?"
"The chance is very low. No one knows that I have the central control system. The starship I picked is completely random, one out of ten. It is unlikely to be tracked." Lu Fenghan spoke quickly, maneuvering the starship flexibly to avoid the second bomb. "This is not the rebels' way of fighting. This is interstellar pirates."
He speculated, "It must be an accident. The space pirates are like mad dogs and bite anyone they see. They may have passed by on their way to a mission, but when they saw us coming out of Leto, they wanted to take a bite."
As he spoke, the third and fourth bombs arrived in an instant. Lu Fenghan shouted in a low voice: "Sit tight!" As soon as he finished speaking, he controlled the micro starship to rotate in a 270-degree arc in space, avoiding the two attacks!
Two bombs exploded simultaneously in the distance, like flames suddenly lit up in the darkness, but apart from being dangerous, there was no beauty in it.
Seeing the two red bright spots displayed on the star map, Lu Fenghan did not linger in the battle, but drove towards the jump point at full speed.
The enemy is numerous and we are few, so if we insist on showing off our strength, we will suffer losses.
Unexpectedly, the two small ships seemed to be intrigued by this slippery miniature starship. They deviated from their original trajectory and followed closely.
Are these interstellar pirates so idle? Lu Fenghan cursed in his heart, but his face was as calm and composed as the deep sea. He quickly calculated the distance from this place to the jump point in his mind, glanced at the enemy starship that was following, and made a quick decision.
The micro starship suddenly braked while traveling at high speed, and then sank suddenly. The starship right behind it was unable to react in time and continued to move forward rapidly, about to slide over the micro starship.
In this thousandth of a second, Lu Fenghan pressed the launch button, and the small particle cannon was immediately in position, shooting vertically upwards and hitting the enemy starship!
The fire caused by the explosion reflected on the control panel. Lu Fenghan had no time to watch this "firework". He released the joystick and reduced the power system gear to the lowest gear. With the force field caused by the explosion of the small ship, he was pushed away at a strange angle like a leaf blown by the wind, thus avoiding the incoming artillery/bullets again.
Lu Fenghan raised his eyebrows: "How many shots did the other side fire?"
Qi Yan replied: "Five shots."
Lu Fenghan tapped the metal surface of the joystick with his fingertips: "It really cost them a lot of money."
After saying that, he suddenly opened the power system to the highest gear, pulled the joystick back hard, and the micro starship turned to the side like an arrow. At the same time, a cannon/bullet left the barrel and hit the enemy's power source directly!
"Hit it, let's go." Lu Fenghan controlled the miniature starship and flew through space like a peregrine falcon. He pointed to the bright spot marked on the star map and said, "This is the jump channel. Here are the coordinates of the person who is coming to pick you up. Then you can return to the Lagoon Nebula safely and wait for everything outside to calm down."
He said this, not sure whether it was to reassure Qi Yan or to reassure himself.
At this time, on Lu Fenghan's personal terminal, the transmission of the "Pojun" data core had reached 60%.
Looking at this number, Lu Fenghan felt a genuine sense of pleasure.
It's like the two of them still have a strong connection even if they are apart. Or, in other words, no matter what the situation is in the future, he will have a reason to come to your house - for example, "Po Jun" is not working properly, can you take a look
Such thoughts diluted his anxiety caused by separation.
The miniature starship approached the jump point and then merged into it like a bullet.
Lu Fenghan released the joystick and held Qi Yan's wrist. Realizing that his action was inappropriate, he pretended to speak naturally: "I remember that your personal terminal is not configured in your left hand."
He disguised his intention as checking the progress displayed on Qi Yan's personal terminal, but after saying that, he had no intention of letting go.
Qi Yan didn't struggle either.
There were messy lights and shadows on both sides of the jump channel, which made people dizzy and the squeezing feeling made people feel uncomfortable, but the two of them maintained this small movement and no one moved.
The time that was extended was always fleeting. The first second after leaving the jump point, Lu Fenghan activated the protective shield. But no matter how careful Lu Fenghan was, he did not expect that what was coming towards him was the aftermath of the explosion!
The entire miniature starship was lifted to one side like a floating boat in the waves. After observation, Lu Fenghan inferred that three Alliance starships and three Rebel starships were exchanging fire, and for some reason they accidentally entered this newly opened jump channel and came directly from Leto to this vicinity.
Just now, two medium-sized ships on the Alliance side exploded.
Lu Fenghan carefully avoided the battle circle and went straight to the coordination point.
At this time, in the battle circle, three enemy starships had surrounded the only remaining starship of the alliance. Just as the muzzles were warming up, the alliance starships suddenly maxed out their power systems and attacked the enemy starships with unstoppable force!
I saw flames rising wildly, the Alliance starship exploded, and all three starships were burned in the sea of fire!
After the explosion, the only remaining enemy starship quickly turned its guns around, without distinguishing between friend or foe, and aimed directly at Lu Fenghan and Qi Yan.
Lu Fenghan frowned.
Before he could react, a neutrino cannon had already hit him. Lu Fenghan dodged quickly, but the neutrino cannon had a very wide attack range, and even at full speed, the hull was still damaged.
Lu Fenghan pressed a button without hesitation.
A subtle sound was added to the alarm of "Hull Damaged". Qi Yan found himself fixed in his seat. He turned sharply towards Lu Fenghan: "What are you doing?"
Lu Fenghan didn't say anything.
At the same time, the medium-sized ship was venting its anger, and the second neutrino cannon approached again!
Still managed to avoid it narrowly, but the red light on the console indicating "hull damaged" became more and more glaring.
Qi Yan quickly understood. He faced Lu Fenghan’s tense profile, his fingers trembling.
Lu Fenghan knew that Qi Yan already understood.
Different from the situation before the jump.
The two starships they encountered before were small ships with small structures and light loads, and they were still able to fight. But the one in front of them was a medium-sized ship, and it was even equipped with a sufficient number of neutrino cannons.
He was in a state of being enraged and bloodthirsty again.
Even though Lu Fenghan had superb tactics and operational skills, he was still unable to compete due to the huge hardware gap.
Even the fact that he was able to dodge artillery attacks twice in a row was due to the life-and-death trials on the front line in the past decade.
Qi Yan's throat tightened, his heart rate accelerated, his eyes fixed on Lu Fenghan, and he almost trembled: "My supporters are on their way here-"
"boom-"
The alarms in the cabin sounded mixed together!
"The protective shield has been damaged and will be lifted in fifteen seconds, 15, 14, 13—"
"The ship's power system is damaged. Countdown 200 seconds. It will stop running soon. 199, 198, 197—"
"A heat source has been detected approaching! Please dodge!"
"The oxygen content in the cabin is rapidly decreasing, please pay attention!"
Lu Fenghan avoided the attack of the neutrino cannon again, but the entire starship was affected by the turbulent force field and was shaking as if it was about to disintegrate.
In the chaos, he reached out and pinched Qi Yan's pale face, his voice still as casual as usual: "It's too late."
Following the lines of Qi Yan's face, Lu Fenghan's hand stopped at his chin and gently lifted it up. Amid the sudden bumps and shrill alarms, he lowered his head, leaned over, and kissed Qi Yan on his lips.
Very cool, but soft.
Softer than he had ever imagined.
Lu Fenghan bit Qi Yan's lower lip very hard, thinking that she was a delicate girl who was afraid of pain, and restrained the aggressive nature in her nature, loosened her strength, and only bit for two seconds.
It was an extremely hasty kiss.
The moment he withdrew his hand, a transparent protective shield rose up, forming a tight escape hatch that protected Qi Yan.
Lu Fenghan ordered: "Inject oxygen into the escape pod."
Hearing these words, Qi Yan shook his head desperately, his eyes turned red, and tears rolled out of his eyes one after another, making them wet.
He stared at the man in front of him and kept saying, "Lu Fenghan, don't do this... You will die!"
But there are only lip movements, no sound.
With his palm pressed against the transparent protective shield, Qi Yan’s knuckles were so bloodless from the force, as if he had no feeling at all, his nails hit the nail grooves, and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably.
Lu Fenghan actually didn’t know what to say at this time.
It's not that he had never thought about dying in battle. The scenario he had imagined was that before he died, he would give instructions for the follow-up strategic arrangements so that the temporary commander who took over would not be too confused, and there would be nothing else to do after he had given instructions.
The beneficiary of his pension was left blank, he has no family, and the money will be used to support the dependents of military personnel in the future.
But the current situation was beyond his calculation.
The person in front of me seemed like an accident.
Through the transparent protective shield, he looked at Qi Yan, worried: "I'm sorry, I made the decision without your permission. If you can forget it, don't remember this memory."
Qi Yan bit her lower lip and shook her head vigorously. After a while, blood began to flow out from the place where Lu Fenghan had just kissed.
Blindingly red.
Lu Fenghan suppressed his heartache, looked at Qi Yan one last time, and ordered: "Disengage from the escape pod immediately."
Qi Yan's voice was so low and hoarse that he couldn't make any sound, but he still looked at him, half of his body sticking to the transparent protective shield, and shouted hoarsely:
"Lu Fenghan—"
"Lu Fenghan—"
An electronic voice sounded: "Disengagement procedure is ready!"
Lu Fenghan's eyes were focused and his voice was extremely gentle: "Be good, the people who pick you up will be here soon. Go back to the Lagoon Nebula and don't come out until the war is over."
"Lu Fenghan..."
"Yeah, I'm here."
"3-2-1-break away!"
The moment the escape pod was ejected, Lu Fenghan, driving the micro starship, turned sharply, and then attacked the enemy starship without hesitation.
Qi Yan was trapped in the escape pod, watching the miniature starship with a damaged hull moving away until it became a dark dot and could no longer be seen.
He clutched his collar, his fingers turning blue and cramped, sadness swept over him, making him turn pale and retch until his internal organs felt like they were twisting together and he was about to vomit blood.
Something in his heart was also torn away.
Due to the lack of oxygen in the cabin, Lu Fenghan's head began to feel heavy. He held his breathing, controlled the micro starship, and led the rebels' medium-sized ships closer to the jump point.
Before this, the thought of "I must let Qi Yan survive" was like a piece of iron stuck in his mind.
At this moment, he couldn't help thinking that Qi Yan would definitely blame him, but this was indeed the only thing he could do now.
There is only enough oxygen in the cabin for one person. If it lasts one second longer, both people will be at risk of suffocation.
The protective shield has been shattered and the starship's hull has been damaged. With just the slightest external force, the hull will completely lose its protective function, and both of them will be exposed to cosmic rays.
The situation happened suddenly and there was no time to wait for the person who was coming to pick up Qi Yan.
There is no way to save the situation.
He didn't regret it. No matter if Qi Yan blamed him or resented him in the future, he would not regret it.
Just pray to live.
Qi Yan is still young and has never seen anything. He looks lonely and cold, but he will be happy watching a fountain show and find it novel together with his peers. If you tie a bow on him with a bandage, he will be happy for a long time.
Although he appears to be very smart, he is actually confused on weekdays.
Besides, how could the person that Lu Fenghan was protecting die here
Quickly calculating the current distance of the escape pod in his mind, Lu Fenghan maneuvered the shaky miniature starship and plunged into the jump channel.
What followed were neutrino cannons and enemy starships.
A silent explosion.
The miniature starship turned into powder, and Lu Fenghan felt himself floating in the jump tunnel. Countless lights and shadows were reflected in his eyes, and he seemed to be in a strange state of dissociative consciousness.
He closed his eyes.
Pray that you are safe.
Thinking of this name, he realized that he didn't want to die like that after all, so he didn't approach the medium-sized ship and self-destruct, but crashed into here.
He had thought about his epitaph long ago, signed a pension, written a suicide note of no more than fifty words, thought about countless death scenes, and was even prepared to die for the alliance and sacrifice his life for the stars at any time.
But it’s different now.
He had someone he wanted to take good care of.
There is someone you can't bear to let go of even until the last second of your life.
At the same moment when his consciousness left, the personal terminal on Lu Fenghan's wrist lit up slightly, and the characters on it changed from "Receiving progress: 100%" to "Forced start."
January 7, 217 of the Star Calendar, the day the Alliance was founded.
Nie Huaiting, a four-star general of the Alliance, personally wrote a letter to his fellow countrymen in the Alliance.
“… The entire Fontaine No. 1 fortress was killed, the Leto garrison bled for a hundred miles, and the people were in panic, all because of the rebels hidden in our army, spreading rumors that the enemy is invincible, inciting public opinion, and stirring up people’s hearts. There are also short-sighted people who disregard the lives of their compatriots for their own interests and put the safety of the alliance in danger.
…
The enemy is not an invincible god, nor an invincible soldier. The stars are still there, the blood is still burning, we must march thousands of miles, fearless of death, in the name of victory, to comfort the dead, and to shake the stars!"