45: Orbital Mystery and the Eye in Deep Space

"The distress signal came from orbit, not the surface of Mars?"

This news was like a boulder crashing into water, causing an uproar in the temporary Command Center of seagull one. If true, all previous assumptions would have to be scrapped!

The voyager never landed on Mars at all? Then where are they now? Are they alive or dead? What about this brutal battlefield? Could the distress signal really be a carefully designed trap?

Sun Zheng forced himself to stay calm. Panic and suspicion would not solve the problem; he needed concrete evidence.

"Adjust all detection equipment immediately and focus the scan on Mars' orbit and the near-Mars Asteroid Belt! Look for any ship wreckage, abnormal energy signals, or man-made structures!" Sun Zheng ordered. "At the same time, continue analyzing the raw data of the distress signal to see if we can find a more precise location!"

"Understood!"

The sensors of the entire fleet were aimed at the starry sky around Mars. This work was tedious and tested one's patience. Natural asteroids and dust were scattered across Mars' orbit, along with a large amount of space junk of unknown origin—possibly remnants of an ancient battlefield. Finding a useful signal in this noise was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Meanwhile, ground defense construction at Crimson Bulwark was still in full swing. Two prism towers and a patriot missile site had already been built, forming a preliminary regional air defense and anti-armor fire network. The fortress one battle fortress and reinforcing prism tanks patrolled the perimeter, vigilantly monitoring the direction of the interference zone. The Scrin forces seemed to be resting as well, not launching any immediate new attacks, leaving both sides in a delicate stalemate.

Sun Zheng handed over full authority for ground defense to Lieutenant Colonel Falcon, focusing his own energy on orbital reconnaissance. He entered the homeworld space again, trying to use the glimmer keystone's resonance to assist the search. When he concentrated his mind toward Mars' orbit, the keystone indeed transmitted an extremely weak resonance—more distant and ethereal than when sensing the overseer's crystal. The direction seemed to point near Mars' apogee orbit.

"Focus the search on the Mars apogee orbit area!" Sun Zheng issued the command, using the result of this intuition as an important reference.

After several hours of high-intensity scanning, an observer analyzing optical telescope data suddenly cried out:

"Commander! We have a discovery! Near the L5 Lagrange point in Mars' apogee orbit! An unnatural object has been detected!"

Sun Zheng immediately brought up a magnified image of that area. Against the empty background of the universe, a blurred, elongated shadow floated quietly. Because it was too far away and the light was dim, details could not be seen clearly, but its silhouette was definitely not that of an asteroid!

"Zoom in! Enhance the image!"

The image gradually became clearer after processing. It seemed to be... ship wreckage? The main structure was broken into two pieces, but the streamlined hull silhouette could roughly be seen. It was different from the Scrin or any known alien style; instead, it was closer to early human concepts of interstellar spacecraft! On the side of the wreckage, a faint, scorched emblem could be seen!

"Cross-reference the database! Find that emblem!" Sun Zheng's heart raced.

A few minutes later, the results made everyone gasp!

[Emblem match: 87%. Highly similar to the emblem released for Earth's early "deep space gate" project!]

"deep space gate! It's the voyager!" someone exclaimed!

They found it! The source of the distress signal really was the voyager! But it hadn't made an emergency landing; it had been destroyed in Mars' orbit! Only wreckage remained, floating in the cold universe!

"Scan the wreckage! Look for signs of life! Look for energy signals!" Sun Zheng ordered urgently.

High-precision sensors were aimed at the distant wreckage. The results were discouraging:

"No signs of life detected... The internal temperature of the wreckage is near absolute zero... The structure is severely damaged, and there are no active energy source signals..."

The voyager was already a dead ship. The crew members on board had likely all perished long ago.

Then who sent the distress signal? Could it have been sent by the ship's automatic distress beacon before it was destroyed? But the signal clearly mentioned "survivors" and an "emergency landing"!

"Commander, a new discovery!" another observer reported. "Multiple small, fast-moving objects have been found near the voyager wreckage! They seem to be patrolling?"

The screen magnified again, this time focusing on the airspace around the wreckage. Sure enough, several small units the size of trucks and shaped like metal beetles were flying around the wreckage at extremely high speeds. Their movement patterns showed clear signs of sentry patrolling!

"They're Scrin reconnaissance units!" Sun Zheng immediately recognized the style. The Scrin had not only destroyed the voyager but had also sent units to guard the wreckage! What were they looking for? Or were they preventing others from approaching?

The truth seemed to be getting clearer and more cruel: when the "deep space gate" expedition reached Mars' orbit, they were ambushed by the scrin capital ship fleet, and the voyager was destroyed. There might be very few survivors, or they might have all sacrificed themselves. The distress signal was likely sent by the last survivors in an escape pod or some isolated compartment, but the signal content might have been erroneous due to interference or haste, misreporting the orbit as a landing. Meanwhile, the Scrin occupied this airspace and established a forward base on the Olympus Mons battlefield on the surface.

Mars was already Scrin territory!

Sun Zheng felt a chill run up his spine. They weren't here for a rescue; they had stumbled into a dragon's den!

"Commander, what do we do now?" the adjutant's voice was filled with unease.

Sun Zheng looked at the lonely wreckage of his compatriots on the screen, guarded by the enemy, then looked at the Scrin-controlled area on the Martian surface. His gaze gradually sharpened.

The rescue operation had lost its original objective. But the battle had only just begun.

"Adjust task priorities." Sun Zheng's voice was cold and firm. "Phase one: Stabilize Crimson Bulwark and ensure a foothold on Mars. Phase two: Reconnoiter the Scrin ground base to find its weaknesses and purpose. Phase three: Seize the opportunity to capture the voyager wreckage, uncover the truth, and recover any key fragments that may exist!"

Since they were here, they couldn't return empty-handed. The Scrin wanted to occupy Mars? They'd have to answer to Sun Zheng and the iron torrent behind him!