168: Chapter 168 The First Operations Meeting of the "Lingxiao"

The activation of the "star extermination" contingency plan and the shriek of global alarms were largely muffled by the thick hull of the soaring heavens and the vacuum of space. However, the heavy atmosphere within the bridge was more oppressive than any alarm. On the main screen, the left side continuously played the silent, looping final footage of the CR-7 observation station being instantaneously disintegrated by the Ripper's eerie "Void Beam"; on the right, two glaring red cursors—the piercer and the Ripper—hung like Damoclean swords over the star map, radiating a cold, ominous light.

Only one hour and eleven minutes remained until the estimated contact with the piercer.

There was no time for hesitation and no room for panic. After concluding a brief communication with Lin Mo, Long Zhantian immediately issued orders: "'Nuwa', summon all senior combat staff and core system heads for an emergency tactical meeting. Meeting objective: Re-evaluate the threat and adjust the 'plan'. I'm giving you thirty seconds to prepare; I need to see at least three tactical branch simulations based on the current situation."

"Command confirmed. Summoning meeting participants. Generating tactical simulation summaries..." Nuwa's response and execution were seamless.

Thirty seconds later, the holographic tactical meeting area at the rear of the bridge was activated. Long Zhantian's holographic image sat in the primary seat, while the Vice Captain, Chief of Weapons, navigation officer, Electronic Warfare Officer, Intelligence Officer (responsible for analyzing all data from the system), and Nuwa's core logic projection (a halo composed of flowing data) sat around the virtual round table. Everyone's expression was exceptionally solemn, and the air was filled with the faint glow of refreshing data streams.

"The meeting begins." Long Zhantian got straight to the point, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "You've all seen the situation. The enemy has gone from one to two, and a new type of attack pattern has appeared that we cannot understand. The underlying assumptions of the original 'plan' are partially invalid. Nuwa, report your simulation summaries first."

Nuwa's halo fluctuated slightly, and three dynamic tactical diagrams were immediately projected in the center of the round table, accompanied by concise textual descriptions:

[Option A: Hold Position and Wait, Prioritize Destroying the piercer.]

Summary: Ignore the potential threat of the Ripper and focus all efforts on intercepting and destroying the piercer as originally planned. Assumes the Ripper will not immediately intervene for some reason (such as energy consumption or the need to evaluate results).

Advantages: Clear objective, concentrated force, and the ability to fully execute the already practiced and mature 'plan' procedures.

Risks: If the Ripper intervenes early or simultaneously, our ship will be trapped in an absolute disadvantage of fighting on two fronts, with a high risk of being instantaneously destroyed by an 'unknown attack pattern'.

Success Rate (Nuwa's estimate): 42% (Based on the premise that the Ripper does not intervene).

[Option B: Proactive Evasion, Seek New Combat Opportunities.]

Summary: Abandon the original interception point and utilize the high maneuverability of the zhurong engine to make a large detour. Break away from the piercer's current course, observe the Ripper's movements, and attempt to lure both enemies to a battlefield more favorable to us (such as near an asteroid belt, where the complex environment can be utilized).

Advantages: Avoids engaging two unknown enemies simultaneously and buys more time for observation and preparation.

Risks: the piercer might turn to attack Earth or other vulnerable targets, causing unbearable losses and a blow to morale. More weaknesses may be exposed during the detour.

Success Rate: 31% (Based on successfully luring them and creating favorable conditions).

[Option C: Aggressive Probing, Divide and Conquer.]

Summary: Use partial firepower (such as long-range missiles or drones) to feint or delay the piercer. The main force, relying on shields and maneuverability, will risk a high-speed, short-duration thrust toward the Ripper. Attempt to use a full salvo from the Thunder Department main cannons and special jamming shells within a very short time to perform a 'diagnostic attack' at extreme range on the Ripper. This aims to obtain more critical data on its defense and attack patterns, or even attempt to heavily damage it, before turning back to deal with the piercer as the situation dictates.

Advantages: If critical data on the Ripper can be successfully obtained or effective damage dealt, the strategic value would be immense and could potentially change the entire course of the war.

Risks: Extremely high. There is a high probability of being heavily damaged or even destroyed by the Ripper's unknown attack during the approach. the piercer might also take the opportunity to close in and attack. This is a high-risk 'decapitation' style gamble.

Success Rate: 18%.

None of the three options looked easy. Even Option A, with the highest success rate, was built on the extremely fragile assumption that the Ripper would not immediately join the battle.

"Intelligence Officer, does the system mother-unit have any new analysis on the Ripper's behavioral patterns?" the Chief of Weapons asked first, his fingers unconsciously tapping the virtual table, a habit when he was thinking.

The Intelligence Officer immediately pulled up the data: "Based on all data before and after the destruction of CR-7, as well as the brief trajectory after the Ripper appeared, the system has provided a preliminary behavioral pattern conjecture: this unit may possess a higher level of autonomous decision-making or task priority. After destroying CR-7, it did not immediately advance toward Earth but instead performed low-intensity scans near Jupiter's orbit. It is suspected of gathering broader data on the internal Solar System or evaluating the effects of its first attack. The urgency of its direct threat to Earth may be slightly lower than that of the piercer, which is clearly executing a 'cleansing' mission. However... this is only a conjecture with a massive margin of error."

"In other words, there is a slim possibility for the assumption in Option A?" the Vice Captain mused.

"But even if there's only a 1% chance that the Ripper suddenly jumps over while we're engaging the piercer, we can't afford it." The Electronic Warfare Officer's voice was dry; he had just analyzed the data on the "Void Beam," and the results were despair-inducing. "That kind of attack... our force field shields can theoretically withstand known energy weapons and kinetic impacts, but against this 'disintegration' effect involving fundamental physical laws... the simulation results are all 'unknown' or 'collapse'. We don't even know if it has range limits, cooling times, or other weaknesses."

The navigation officer raised a key question: "If we choose Option B and evade the piercer, what is its most likely next target? Earth? The Mars base? Or..."

"The system's simulation shows that as a 'cleansing unit', the piercer's logical core is to eliminate 'obstacles' on its path and verify resistance levels. If our ship, the most obvious 'obstacle', disappears, it is highly likely to turn its target toward the Guanghan Palace base or Earth's near-orbit facilities, performing destructive tests with its kinetic impact or secondary batteries," Nuwa added.

Attacking the Moon Base or even Earth! No one could bear that consequence. The risks of Option B were equally immense.

The meeting fell into a brief silence. Every plan was full of unknowns and fatal risks. This wasn't ground combat where one could rely on terrain, intelligence, or even luck to maneuver. This was the empty expanse of space, an absolute collision of power, speed, and information. A single decision error could mean the destruction of the ship and its crew, or even a total strategic collapse.

Long Zhantian remained silent, quietly looking at the three options and listening to his subordinates' discussion. His brain was working at high speed, taking every detail, every possibility, and every ounce of pressure into consideration. He felt as if he were back on the ground commanding special operations, facing complex enemy situations and a rapidly changing battlefield, needing to make that one possibly correct decision in a flash.

Time ticked away second by second. The countdown had already dropped below one hour.

Finally, Long Zhantian looked up, his gaze as sharp as a blade, cutting through the stagnant air.

"All three options have their merits, but they also have unacceptable flaws." His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable decisiveness. "Nuwa, using Option A as the baseline framework, make the following corrections and additions—"

Everyone's eyes instantly focused on him.

"First, combat objective revision: We are no longer pursuing the 'complete destruction' of the piercer. The primary objective is changed to—while ensuring the core survival of the soaring heavens, do everything possible to obtain detailed combat data on the two reaper units, especially the Ripper. Specifically, its attack patterns, defensive weaknesses, energy signatures, and communication frequencies. Destroying the enemy ship is now a secondary objective."

"Second, tactical procedure revision: In the early stages of the engagement with the piercer, strictly follow the 'plan' for probing and interference. However, Nuwa must allocate at least 30% of computing power to closely monitor the Ripper's movements throughout, establishing its behavioral prediction model. Once a sign of the Ripper performing a spatial jump or high-speed approach toward the combat zone is detected, regardless of the battle situation with the piercer, our ship will immediately execute the 'High-Speed Extraction' contingency. We will maneuver with maximum acceleration toward the designated safe jump point (a specific area in the asteroid belt) and absolutely refuse to be drawn into a lingering fight."

"Third, data security revision: Initiate 'Seed Protocol' pre-loading. From now on, all combat data, including raw sensor data, Nuwa's real-time analysis, and ship status feedback, will be subjected to multiple redundant encryption and compression. It will be continuously streamed back to the system mother-unit and the Guanghan Palace base via quantum link with the highest priority. Ensure that even if our ship is instantaneously destroyed, critical data can be preserved to the greatest extent."

"Fourth, authorization revision: I authorize Nuwa, upon detecting the Ripper's intervention and if our ship's escape path is severely threatened, to autonomously judge and execute an 'Aggressive Probe' (the essence of Option C). This includes using all means, such as main cannon salvos and special jamming shells, to perform a round of 'data-collection attacks' at any cost, to provide even a sliver more of analytical basis for those in the rear."

After speaking, Long Zhantian looked around at everyone: "This is the new combat plan, codenamed 'hou yi-modified'. The core philosophy is: survival as the foundation, data above all, flexible adaptation, and no gambler-style all-in bets. In this first battle, we don't have to win, but we cannot leave the rear still knowing nothing about our enemy. Is that understood?"

A solemn silence filled the bridge. Long Zhantian's decision stripped away the initial romantic fantasies of "establishing dominance" or "total victory," returning to the cruelest and most pragmatic reality—using the risk of one ship and one group of people to exchange for the first-hand, and possibly bloodiest, "textbook" for the entire civilization to counter an unknown enemy.

"Understood!" everyone responded in unison, their eyes becoming firm once more. The goal was clear, even if the road ahead was more treacherous.

Nuwa's halo flashed rapidly, seemingly integrating the new commands with full effort: "'hou yi-modified' integration complete. Threat monitoring weights adjusted, data streaming protocol initiated, 'Seed Protocol' pre-loading finished. The comprehensive risk assessment for the new plan... is still above 70%, but the expected value of data acquisition has significantly increased."

"A risk higher than 70%..." Long Zhantian repeated softly, then straightened his back and cast his gaze toward the red dot on the main screen representing the piercer, which was getting closer and closer. "Then let's make that risk worthwhile. Everyone to your stations, prepare to engage the enemy."

"The first combat meeting of the soaring heavens is adjourned."

The virtual round table dissipated, and the holographic images of the crew returned to their respective combat stations. In the bridge, only the hum of operating instruments remained, along with the silent yet seemingly deafening countdown that continued to decrease.

"Time to contact with the piercer: fifty-seven minutes."