"Fuck! It's so fast!"
Inside the spaceship, Houseman screamed in despair.
The black swarm of Swarm followed closely behind, closing the distance to the spaceship at an alarming rate.
Fowler gritted her teeth, her hand gripping the remote control switch for the ZX-7 Electromagnetic Pulse Bomb tightly. She had completed all the preparations for detonation; only the final step remained...
If they cannot escape, they may have to die heroically along with the bomb.
Brian's mind had shut out all external distractions; no matter how loudly Houseman shouted, he simply pretended not to hear.
In his hands, the European Space Agency's lunar spacecraft was like a top-of-the-line race car in Formula 1, speeding toward the Mutual Aid Society's lunar temporary base at its maximum speed.
The moon outside the window was flashing by, and the spaceship flew over craters one after another. The spaceship had fallen silent at some point. Houseman bit his lip, sweat beading on his forehead as he watched the Swarm approaching from behind. His heart was pounding so hard that almost every blood vessel in his body was throbbing with each beat.
Suddenly, he remembered something.
He quickly reached for the Mike near his mouth, the scene of Fowler describing the various function buttons replaying in his mind. He swiftly located the button for communicating with North America based on his memory:
"Hey, are you guys watching?"
Tell us, what should we do now?
"What weapons does the spaceship have? Like missiles or something... or does it have any other special jet acceleration modes...?"
"I... we're going to die!"
As Houseman uttered his last syllable in a cry, the spaceship was attacked by the swarm of Swarm. One of them lashed out with a whip-like attack from afar, but fortunately Brian was alert and managed to dodge it with an emergency maneuver at the last second.
However, the large movements also caused the spaceship to make a strange noise, as if it was about to be overwhelmed, and the violent shaking almost scared Houseman's heart out.
ground.
Director Hutchings remained silent for a long time after receiving the inquiry from space, until someone nudged him on the shoulder, at which point he finally opened his mouth and uttered a single word. "NO..."
"Your spaceship doesn't have those capabilities. Houseman, you should trust Brian now; he possesses superb flying skills..."
"Fuck!!!"
The only response to Hutchings was a furious curse from Houseman, along with a chubby middle finger held up in front of the camera.
" Brian, we can only rely on you now!" Houseman's face was covered in water, it was hard to tell whether it was tears of fear or cold sweat from excessive tension.
Brian still didn't respond. His breathing was rapid, and his eyes were completely vacant, as if he had opened a third eye in the back of his head and could see the movements of the Swarm behind him.
"Shut your stinking mouth!"
Fowler gritted his teeth, barely able to suppress his urge to curse.
The cabin suddenly became very quiet.
The sense of crisis, teetering on the brink of life and death, was like a cold, relentless river, washing over the three of them and chilling their hearts ever more.
In the command center on the North America ground, everyone was holding their breath for the three of them.
Even Chief Hutchings was no exception.
Although this mission was inherently a death sentence, the timing wouldn't be right if these three people died now!
oh!!!
A sudden commotion erupted in the hall.
Director Hutchings snapped out of his reverie, quickly put aside his thoughts, and somewhat awkwardly straightened his suit and tie before looking at the screen.
really.
Brian and his two teammates faced a second round of attacks.
Moreover, this round of attacks is even more ferocious than the last.
Brian dodged at an extremely dangerous angle, but this caused the spaceship to shake even more violently.
Based on the parameters displayed on the screen, the on-site technicians quickly made professional judgments:
"It's already on the verge of getting out of control!"
"If they can't shake off the Swarm by now, even if they dodge the next attack, they'll still end up crashing into the lunar surface..."
"No, I even think they'll completely lose control in just thirty seconds!"
Beep beep beep!
Inside the spaceship.
A piercing warning sound kept blaring in the three people's headphones, reminding them that the spaceship was nearing its limit.
Fat Houseman felt like he was riding a space-themed roller coaster, and that roller coaster was about to collapse!
He swore!
He could actually hear the creaking of the spaceship's hull through the headphones!
And those voices are getting louder and louder!
"Are we... are we going to die?"
"Mother!!"
"Put on your helmet!"
Fowler couldn't stand it any longer, and seizing the opportunity, he put the helmet over Houseman's head, slightly blocking out his voice.
Then, catching her breath, she quickly asked Brian:
"How's the situation?"
"This is very bad... Prepare for an impact..."
"I... can't possibly escape the pursuit of that thing behind me!"
"Unless someone can help us now."
"Who can help us?" Fowler's gaze turned toward their destination, the Mutual Aid Society's temporary base on the moon.
Now, the only ones who can save them are the people there.
Will they even acknowledge us?
Fowler questioned.
"How should I know?" Brian shook his head, once again maneuvering the spaceship to dodge the attack from behind. The spaceship remained firmly in his control, though they were getting closer and closer to the lunar surface.
For their spaceship now, even the moon's gravity is proving somewhat unbearable.
Once it drops in height, it can never be lifted up again.
If things continue like this, their only fate will be to fall onto the lunar surface and become the first manned spacecraft to make a hard landing on the moon.
The three of them will compete for the title of "the first human to die on the moon".
Just thinking about it makes me despair...
At that moment, Fowler suddenly thought of her son, and she was almost overwhelmed by a flashback of her life.
But just then, Houseman's incredibly annoying voice instantly snapped her back to reality:
"Look! The Mutual Aid Society's base launched a rocket at us!"
A bright light rose ahead, accelerating rapidly towards them...
Brian corrected Houseman's mistake a second later.
"No, that's not a rocket... that's a missile!"
"Missile?!"
Houseman was surprised.
Fowler immediately understood. "This is to help us intercept the Swarm."
"That's right!"
Brian was overjoyed. Although his hands trembled slightly, he operated the spaceship with unusual steadiness.
The missile's jet of fire was getting closer and closer.
Brian's focus also reached an unprecedented level.
"Now!!"
Brian pushed the control stick, and the spaceship's jet engines changed direction, propelling the spaceship to dodge and reveal the Swarm behind it.
boom!
An explosion occurred in space.
A flash of fire erupted behind the spaceship and quickly died down, while debris from the explosion sprayed in all directions, but none of it could match the speed of the spaceship piloted by Brian.
Looking back, Houseman could clearly see many pieces of debris tumbling and chasing after them.
The originally aggressive Swarm was slightly slowed down by the huge impact, and only after regrouping on the spot did they continue their pursuit.
This gave Brian a chance to catch his breath.
He quickly adjusted the spacecraft's attitude, rescuing it from the brink of chaos.
The three people inside the spaceship wore smiles of relief, as if they had been given a new lease on life.
Finally, it was the fat man Houseman, who had once again become afraid of death, who was the first to react. "We're not out of danger yet, Swarm is coming again!"
"I know."
Brian stopped smiling and was about to accelerate the spaceship again when he suddenly noticed a dazzling blue light behind him.
At the same time, the spacecraft's thermal protection system also joined the alarm, with red lights flashing wildly.
"What is that...?"
Brian turned around and found he couldn't see anything clearly. He then looked at the camera footage at the back of the spaceship, but it was just another blue light.
"Warn!"
"Outer casing overheating!"
The system's warning urged Brian to move away from the area where the temperature had suddenly risen sharply.
Fowler held the remote control for the electromagnetic bomb in her hand, but her eyes were fixed on the blue light behind her, the light striking the swarm of Swarm —a scene that seemed strangely familiar to her.
"You think... that might be plasma from Planetary Engine?"
" Planetary Engine?" Houseman glanced at the Planetary Engine in the distance but saw no sign of it starting.
"As you know, they possess Spacetime Tunnel technology... and hasn't it already happened once before?"
Brian then recalled the events.
The Mutual Aid Society had indeed used high-temperature plasma ejected from Planetary Engine to deal with Swarm before, and according to the results reported to various countries, the effect seemed to be quite good.
"That's certainly possible."
"But whatever it is, our most important thing right now is to get out of here!"
The Swarm stopped chasing them.
The spaceship sailed through a sea of blue light. Brian carefully piloted it and finally arrived above the lunar time base.
At this moment, a group of personnel wearing lunar spacesuits emerged from the base below and guided their descent via connected radio communications.
Until the spaceship landed.
A tremor and strange noise came from inside the cabin.
Houseman, like a giant slime, was completely slumped in his seat, his eyes vacant, utterly agitated. The other two were pushed aside by his massive size.
Fowler tapped Houseman's helmet, gesturing for him to put on his extravehicular activity (EVA) suit.
"We're about to land."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Houseman sprang up again.
Am I going to walk on the moon?!
Seeing the fat man instantly regain his energy, Brian shook his head in disbelief, silently put on his spacesuit, and prepared for landing.
"Hey--you guys... are you really going to land?"
The voice of Chief Hutchings came through the earpiece; he seemed a little bewildered.
"What I mean is, now that you've resolved the crisis, can't you continue with the mission?"
"You must understand, we only have one month left, and you bear an important mission..."
"Our mission to land on the moon was precisely to pave the way for the Mutual Aid Society and their astronauts, so I felt it was necessary for me to communicate with them."
Brian finished speaking calmly, hung up the communication, and looked outside the spaceship. A large number of staff members had already gathered around the spaceship.
Among these people are many astronauts from all over the world.
Brian remembered that, excluding the three of them, this place already housed all the active astronauts on Earth.
Everyone was smiling, waiting for them to disembark.
The atmosphere and visuals resemble a harmonious small town.
After confirming that the other two were ready to land, Brian pressed the button to open the hatch.
Fat Houseman was still contemplating whether to utter a classic quote as he exited the capsule when Fowler shoved him off, causing him to stumble twice before...
While adjusting his posture, he used too much force and jumped half a meter high on the spot.
Although the mass control of the lunar spacecraft failed, causing its mass and gravity to keep increasing, it is still lighter than Earth.
Houseman was helped to his feet by several staff members, and the next person to exit the capsule was Brian, followed by Fowler.
It was the first time any of the three had been to the moon, and they were inexplicably excited, feeling as if they were creating a great achievement that would be recorded in history...
This feeling persisted until they officially entered the base.
A full hundred astronauts were watching them...
These astronauts have been living in the temporary base for some time now, and the atmosphere is as harmonious as a class reunion in college, where they are three outsiders who unexpectedly stumbled in.
Fortunately, both Brian and Fowler were former astronauts. Although they had retired from active service, they still had some acquaintances from their past. Soon, some astronauts took the initiative to greet them, easing the awkwardness.
Astronauts from North America also stepped forward to welcome their three new partners.
Throughout the entire process, only Houseman remained completely unaffected by the atmosphere, constantly striking up conversations with astronauts from various countries. When the mood struck, he would even borrow paper and pens to get autographs or photos with them...
In contrast, Brian only greeted a few people he vaguely remembered before sitting down to rest by himself.
However, soon after, members of the Mutual Aid Society took Brian and Fowler away.
The two walked through the rest area and headed straight for the conference room.
As soon as Brian opened the door, he saw that the conference table inside was already full of people, with experts and scholars discussing something.
There was a brief silence after they entered, then the discussion resumed.
Zhang Tianyuan was also in the conference room.
He stood up to welcome Brian and Fowler and invited them to sit down.
"He's a big shot from the Mutual Aid Society..." Before sitting down, Fowler leaned close to Brian's ear and revealed Zhang Tianyuan's identity in detail.
Brian immediately took a deep breath.
One of their true purposes was to seize the lunar spaceship from the Mutual Aid Society, and now that they had suddenly encountered the Mutual Aid Society's leader, he couldn't help but be wary.
However, to Brian's surprise, the chairman, who looked to be about the same age as his son, did not show any aggressive attitude.
On the contrary, Zhang Tianyuan immediately praised them, "I have great respect for your courage and professionalism in facing the Swarm head-on and escaping from it."
Brian paused for a moment, then immediately replied, "Without your help, our spaceship alone would have had no chance of escaping the Swarm's flanking attack."
Fowler also agreed with this statement.
While Brian's driving skills are indeed superb, even the best skills cannot compensate for the limitations of the hardware.
Compared to the Swarm whose flight principles were unknown, their spaceship was more like a small cart from the agricultural era, and it was only a matter of time before it was overturned by the Swarm.
Zhang Tianyuan laughed:
"As far as I know, your mission to land on the moon was originally intended to pave the way for us?"
Brian remained silent, choosing not to answer the question.
Fowler looked a little embarrassed, her eyelids twitching slightly. "We did receive this mission."
But this isn't the only task...
Fowler wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, not revealing his true feelings.
Although everyone knows that the chairman certainly knows what he knows, it's still unbelievable that he would break the agreement first, send people to seize the lunar spaceship, and even have a Plan B: if the seizure fails, he'll let the astronauts die like heroes at the hands of the Swarm to gain sympathy...
It's so embarrassing to say it out loud.
Zhang Tianyuan did know this. Looking at the guilty Fowler, he said again, "I believe your mission had design flaws. You communicated with us too little, which was a major reason why you were in danger just now."
"If you had communicated with us before the operation, made simple modifications to your spaceship, and enhanced our electronic signature, then the Swarm would not have been able to attack you proactively."
Hearing this, Fowler was even more embarrassed, like a student who had done something wrong and was being scolded in front of her. If she weren't Black, her face would probably be red right now.
"Director, we are only responsible for carrying out the mission; we have no real influence over the bigwigs who set it up..."
Zhang Tianyuan said, "I'm not blaming you, but I think your actions should be better protected, at least your lives should be guaranteed."
"Here is a modification plan for the spaceship; you can take a look."
Zhang Tianyuan handed over a document.
Brian took it first, then Fowler.
The two looked down and examined it carefully.
The modification plan wasn't complicated, but it still greatly surprised Brian.
The proposal suggested adding a Spacetime Tunnel to their spacecraft so they could maintain communication with the outside world after penetrating deep into the moon, and also use the tunnel to escape quickly in an emergency.
Create a Spacetime Tunnel...
Is this something that Mutual Aid Society can accomplish so easily?
Brian looked up and was the first to nod. "I have no objection."
He still needs to go back to see his son, and now that he has another way out, why should he refuse?
Fowler sighed inwardly, knowing this plan would displease Chief Hutchings's side, but she shared Brian's thoughts; she also wanted to go back to see her son, so...
I agree.