This was no longer a skirmish, but a full-scale offensive. Dozens of missiles crisscrossed each other, a dazzling display. Some even shut down their engines just before entering the enemy aircraft's line of sight, relying purely on inertia to reach their targets.
Ou Zhanpeng's fancy maneuvers left Xu Qing stunned.
In her perception, missiles were incredibly intelligent weapons. Once locked onto a target and launched, there was no need to manage them. Hitting was normal, missing was not unexpected.
Yet, Ou Zhanpeng's hands seemed to imbue the cold missiles with life, executing various offensive tactics with ease.
She couldn't help but fall into deep self-doubt: Was he uniquely outstanding, or was she uniquely a failure?
Ou Zhanpeng didn't expect this round of missiles to eliminate all the enemy aircraft. He continued to approach in his fighter jet, but remained just outside the enemy's firing range.
The Star Falcon was not equipped with a force field, and they were unsure of the enemy's exact firepower. Approaching recklessly could have dire consequences.
Caught between the pressure from the Star Falcon and the swarm of missiles, the three enemy aircraft struggled. In moments, they were hit by missiles and reduced to dust.
Xu Qing let out a long sigh, her body completely relaxing.
Her training was rigorous; ordinary individuals wouldn't dare approach her. However, she had never been on a battlefield. Facing a true life-and-death struggle, feeling tense was normal; not feeling tense would be strange.
But when she looked at Ou Zhanpeng, his expression remained solemn.
Curiosity piqued, she asked, "What's wrong? Aren't the enemy aircraft destroyed?"
Ou Zhanpeng gave a wry smile, "What are a few enemy aircraft? The problem is we've been targeted by the aliens!"
Xu Qing finally remembered the issue of the fighter jet's exposure and felt a wave of panic. "What do we do now?"
As the words left her mouth, her face flushed slightly.
In the past, she would never have uttered such a weak statement. But since when had she become accustomed to relying on the man beside her?
Ou Zhanpeng said without hesitation, "There must be something wrong with Phobos. You stay and guard, I'll go deal with the aliens!"
Xu Qing was immediately taken aback, then her eyebrows shot up. "Ou Zhanpeng, who do you look down on?"
Ou Zhanpeng looked confused. "What do you mean? I don't look down on you!"
"Then why should you go and I stay? If I go, you go too. If I stay, you stay too!"
Ou Zhanpeng felt a headache coming on. "I'm not looking down on you, it's just that we are different..."
"What's different?" Xu Qing retorted immediately. "Besides you and me, everyone here is an alien. I can't fly a plane, and what if more enemies come? Since nowhere is safe, why don't we go together? At least we'll have each other if we die."
Her voice grew softer as she spoke, from an aggressive tone to a quiet murmur.
Ou Zhanpeng was speechless.
As a man, his instinct was to shield Xu Qing. But he had overlooked that while she was a woman, she was also a soldier.
She could sacrifice, but she would not retreat.
She could die, but she would not cower.
Xu Qing grew anxious. "I'm not afraid, why are you hesitating?"
Ou Zhanpeng gave a wry smile. "It's precisely because you're not afraid that I'm hesitating!"
Xu Qing's eyes widened, her thoughts jumbled by his words. After a long moment, she managed to say, "Either we go together, or I go alone. You choose!"
With things reaching this point, what else could Ou Zhanpeng do? He gritted his teeth. "Then together!"
There was no time to delay. The two immediately began their preparations, donning their power armor and checking their weapons and equipment as quickly as possible.
Ou Zhanpeng found Xu Qing remarkably proficient, which eased his mind slightly.
He didn't need Xu Qing to coordinate in combat. As long as her skills were above the passing grade and she wasn't a liability, it would be enough.
With all preparations complete, Ou Zhanpeng didn't rush to leave. Instead, he first launched two small drones toward Phobos.
These two little devices were incredibly agile, flying around Phobos non-stop, scanning the satellite's surface repeatedly, layer by layer.
The fire control system simultaneously established a digital model of Phobos, with every suspicious location marked in red by the system.
The entire process was automated, requiring no intervention from either of them.
Based on previous observations, Ou Zhanpeng immediately locked onto several locations on the underside of the satellite. The weapon module ejected a missile, which circled to the satellite's underside and detonated, scattering several probes that embedded themselves into Phobos's surface.
With a few muffled thuds, the fighter jet fired, hitting the satellite's surface and creating several craters, from which plumes of dust dispersed.
Vibration data was transmitted back to the fighter jet. Through cross-referencing, the system quickly provided a general overview of the subsurface.
An underground tunnel appeared on the screen, its exit clearly visible. The deeper they went into the satellite, the more obscure the details became.
It was understandable; these were vibrations caused by a few small-caliber shells, and the resulting image was already quite precise.
"It's here!" Xu Qing pointed to a depression beneath Phobos.
"Get ready!" Ou Zhanpeng set the autopilot course and was the first to leave the cockpit.
The fighter jet, like a graceful seagull, paused gently as it approached Phobos. The two took the opportunity to float out of the cabin, activating the jetpacks on their backs, and flew towards the satellite one after another.
Moments later, they landed. The magnetic clasps on their waists automatically deployed, anchoring them to the satellite's surface.
Phobos had a diameter of only a little over twenty kilometers, and its gravity was negligible. Without the magnetic clasps, a slight push with their feet could detach them from the satellite and send them back into orbit around Mars.
Everything around them appeared normal. Ou Zhanpeng crouched down and gently brushed away the loose soil, revealing a metal hatch.
It looked familiar, very similar to the surface material of the shattered ship.
"This is it," Ou Zhanpeng said. He took out a packet of plastic explosive and securely attached it to the hatch. Standing up, he gave Xu Qing a signal, and they immediately moved away, flying to a safe distance to hide.
They didn't touch the satellite but hovered about a meter above the surface, barely noticing any change in the distance between their bodies and the satellite.
"Three, two, one, detonate!" Ou Zhanpeng counted down. Amidst the thunderous explosion, air gushed out of the hatch like a fountain. Smoke and dust billowed skyward, and the satellite's surface vibrated violently, quickly obscuring their vision.
"Go!" Ou Zhanpeng led the way, his figure quickly disappearing into the dust.
Xu Qing followed closely, guided by the data on her helmet, and found her way to the vicinity of the blown-open hatch.
The escaping air had cleared the dust from around the blast point. Ou Zhanpeng activated his positioning function. Light and shadow shifted on his helmet, and a red dot marked the breach.
The two felt a flash of shadow before their eyes as the circling drone, like a swallow returning to its nest, plunged into the hole.
"Up!" Ou Zhanpeng leaped forward, diving headfirst into the opening. Even while in mid-air, his rifle was already raised.
Xu Qing followed closely, her gaze fixed warily ahead.