Chapter 146: Speed, Boarding, and the Captain

Eh… temporarily?

As the eldest son, and also the one who "understands" his father's thoughts best, Robert always felt that Sui Bian's recent words were a bit problematic.

Not for now, but what about later?

Robert was somewhat eager to try.

"Stay steady." Sui Bian reminded.

"I understand, Father." Robert immediately composed himself and agreed.

"Let's go, the DawnGuardian is waiting for us."

Yes.

After ending the conversation, the father-son party continued toward the end of the aerial corridor.

Actually, before Sui Bian took power, the Eastern Europe Manufacturing Plant was originally located in the western suburbs of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

However, not long after Sui Bian took power, he moved the plant to the mountainous region at the border of Belarus and Ukraine.

The main reason was exactly the "world situation" Robert had mentioned earlier.

Even though Umbrella secretly controlled all of Eastern Europe, Sui Bian still wouldn't let his guard down, building epoch-making vehicles in the Kyiv suburbs.

Especially the Azure Hawk-class heavy escort frigates in the shipyard.

The system mall had several times spawned cosmic-grade battleships, such as the Autumn Wind Mound and the Hesperian.

But back then Sui Bian was "poor," unable to spare tens of thousands of points for exchange, so he could only watch those battleships pass by.

To avoid experiencing that helpless anguish again, Sui Bian decided to rely on himself, using Umbrella's existing design plans to develop the space-air carrier.

From 1998 to 2000, the company poured a large amount of funds into this R&D.

After Sui Bian exchanged for the Wraith, Umbrella's exclusive space-air carrier, namely the Azure Hawk-class, took shape.

Thereafter, the Thor's Hammer Power Armor and its related technology completely laid the foundation for Umbrella's capability to build cosmic-grade battleships.

Coordinating with the Engineering Department's SCVs, Umbrella completed the first Azure Hawk-class in less than two years, on October 20, 2001.

And in January and February 2001, the Eastern Europe Manufacturing Plant began constructing the second and third Azure Hawk-class vessels in succession.

It was expected that the second and third would be completed in August and September 2002, at which point Umbrella would also have its own fleet…

The cosmic fleet within the Solar System.

According to data and theory, the Azure Hawk-class with four fusion engines, traveling at top speed, needs only four hours for a round trip between Earth and the Moon.

The average distance between Earth and the Moon is about 380,000 kilometers, making the round-trip distance 760,000 kilometers.

In other words, the Azure Hawk's speed in space is about 190,000 kilometers per hour, or 52.8 kilometers per second, which is far faster than the third cosmic speed of 16.7 kilometers per second.

Meanwhile, the average distance between Earth and Mars is 120 million kilometers.

At the Azure Hawk-class's top speed, it takes only 26 days to reach Mars.

So, within the Solar System, especially inside the asteroid belt, the Azure Hawk-class is sufficient.

Unfortunately, 52.8 kilometers per second, when placed in cosmic-grade units, is considered a snail's pace, far inferior to the fourth cosmic speed of 120 kilometers per second, and cannot even compare to the speed of light.

Moreover, even the speed of light is insufficient for interstellar exploration activities.

Thinking about this.

Sui Bian, accompanied by the OriginalBodies, arrived at the hall at the end of the aerial corridor and took the large elevator up to the shipyard above.

During the elevator's ascent, Sui Bian's gaze out the window remained unchanged; he did not overly worry about the speed issue.

Because jump drives and warp engines can enable human travel between stars.

In the system mall, any battleship worth tens of thousands of points possesses the corresponding engine technology.

And accumulating tens of thousands of points is merely a matter of a few years for Sui Bian; he and humanity can still wait that long.

As for interdimensional travel? Don't even think about it.

Ding!

Suddenly, the alert sound of the elevator doors opening made Sui Bian temporarily stop thinking about interstellar travel.

Those distances are still somewhat far off.

However, the recent world situation will indeed undergo some changes, preemptively resolving the liability of being a drag.

"Father." At that moment, seeing the elevator doors open, Robert couldn't help but remind.

Let's go.

Yes.

The party left the elevator.

After exiting the elevator, everyone proceeded straight out of the outer hall and arrived at the uppermost area of the shipyard.

The upper hull of the DawnGuardian is located at the far end of this area.

At this moment, several temporary passages erected by large mechanical arms connect the shipyard's upper level with the hull's upper level.

Staff wearing various uniforms, but all predominantly black, used the temporary passages with their luggage to board the DawnGuardian in an orderly manner.

At the far right edge of the temporary passage, ground crew drove transport vehicles to move the corresponding living supplies for the DawnGuardian.

Moreover, the MTF that should have been stationed outside Raccoon City, the Spear of Olympus in its entirety, also gathered in this area.

This is a peacetime assembly.

Nearly three thousand members of the Spear of Olympus, wearing white tops and dark green bottoms combat uniforms, carrying uniform-style military travel bags, boarded the ship in order by their squads.

The color scheme of the combat uniform is inherited from the predecessor of the Spear of Olympus, UBCS.

Even their TPS Power Armor paint scheme leans toward UBCS.

The current total number is 2,877 people, making it Umbrella's first regiment-level MTF, comprising 24 combat companies under its command.

The Spear of Olympus was founded with the purpose of handling large-scale anomalous events, or medium- to large-scale combat.

Furthermore, the HellParatroopers that branched out from it and expanded into two battalions also gathered in this area, boarding the ship by squad.

The HellParatrooper's long neck needs no further explanation.

Therefore, these two MTFs will serve as DawnGuardian's standing forces, deployed around the clock in near-Earth orbit, achieving true rapid strike capability.

?

Seeing Sui Bian approach with the OriginalBodies, the MTFs were first stunned, then upon reacting, they immediately lowered their travel packs and saluted, saying:

"Commander!"

"At ease." Sui Bian stood still and returned the salute.

The ten OriginalBodies behind him also performed the salute motion.

Immediately after, Sui Bian lowered his right hand, raised his voice, and said: "Continue boarding."

"Yes! Commander!" the MTFs shouted in response, and continued executing the boarding order.

Soon.

The father and son party passed through the crowd, using the temporary passage at the center, and finally entered the interior of DawnGuardian.

The ship's interior is fairly spacious, the lighting bright, unlike the narrowness of a traditional aircraft carrier.

Afterward, they proceeded straight to the upper forward section of the ship.

"Swish—"

Accompanied by the sound of the metal door opening, the father and son party finally reached their destination, the bridge of DawnGuardian.

They entered the bridge.

Crew members in light-gray uniforms sat at their respective control consoles, intently conducting final checks and adjustments.

The one standing at the center of the bridge saluted Sui Bian, who had just entered, saying: "I am Jacob Kaise, captain of the DawnGuardian; it is an honor to meet you, sir."

(End of chapter)