Today, Geneva was abuzz with gongs and drums, and firecrackers. Armed parades have always been UNSA's specialty; they enjoyed holding them even before leaving Earth.
First, it was to tell the common people, 'Your taxes and mined resources have been used to build powerful weapons, not embezzled.' Second, it was to recruit soldiers. With mighty warships, cutting-edge fighter jets, and a few female soldiers in stockings nearby, the Marine Corps would be fully staffed.
However, a vast fleet would undoubtedly instill confidence in the public, especially given that Earthlings, having been thoroughly defeated in the last battle, eagerly awaited the aerospace fleet.
It takes ten years to sharpen a sword and a hundred years to forge a powerful navy. Earthlings were fortunate; despite losing the war, the navy's essence was preserved. Veterans, having learned from the lessons of blood and tears, successfully trained a new generation of qualified successors, and now, they were enjoying their glory.
The Eclipse, the Tigris, the Roma, the Johannesburg—massive starships, named after Earth's great metropolises, slowly flew over the streets to the cheers of the crowd. For this fleet review, Earth's propaganda machine had been running at full throttle for six months. Media, military experts, and even the public held an incredibly confident attitude: 'Finally, we Earth have the capital to contend with Mars!'
Amidst the clamor, Archil Min Rheya silently carried his briefcase through the cordon set up by military police and arrived at the office building of the Geneva Orbital Defense System.
"Mechanical Department Engineer!" He held up his ID and passed the scan and security check under the gaze of the Marine at the entrance.
"Happy days!" The security officer greeted him with a smile.
"Yeah, it's really exciting. I even want to put on my uniform and stroll down the street. I'm sure girls would flock to me!" Rheya excitedly replied.
"Good idea, I'll try it after work!"
As soon as Rheya stepped into the elevator from the lobby, the smile on his face vanished without a trace.
"Stupid Earthlings!" The thought of having to work every day with a bunch of Earthling idiots whose heads were full of alcohol and beautiful women made Rheya want to explode on the spot. But he had to endure it, because he was the director of the Martian Military Intelligence Bureau.
Years ago, Admiral Salen Couch began his infiltration of Earth, including but not limited to bribery, assassination, coercion, and replacement.
When Earth was building its orbital defense system, Mars had considered stopping them, but at the time, Mars' military was exhausted from prolonged fighting and could only watch as Earth fortified its home with defense towers.
Since a frontal assault was not feasible, they resorted to covert operations. Mars dispatched a large number of spies, who posed as war orphans from the Earth-Mars War, grew up on Earth, and then lay dormant, waiting for the moment they would be activated. Rheya was one of them, though he had killed an Earth engineer and undergone plastic surgery to assume his identity, infiltrating Earth.
Years of living on Earth had made him feel alienated from everything Martian, but for him, the sea breeze from the Mediterranean was far less comforting than the sandstorms of the Martian canyons, because the latter symbolized home.
But today, he could finally completely shake off all of it.
As the clock struck eight, the atmosphere of the entire city instantly became explosive, as the flagship of the Earth fleet, the most powerful aircraft carrier, the Punisher, appeared over Geneva. As the flagship of the Earth fleet, the Punisher, though lacking powerful kinetic turrets, possessed enough close-in weapon systems to tear apart any approaching Martian destroyer. Furthermore, the Punisher also carried UNSA's ace special forces unit, SCAR Team One. Every member here was an elite, capable of combat on land, sea, and air, and could also command armies. Therefore, all Earthlings were proud of it.
This fleet review was also the Punisher's maiden voyage. Afterward, it would be deployed to the Earth-Moon defense line to counter the Martian fleet.
However, no one noticed that as the Punisher sailed over Lake Geneva, a ground-based AATIS orbital cannon suddenly rotated its barrel.
"Earth's most powerful warship? Let me see if Earth's most powerful shield can take down your Earth's most powerful spear!" Rheya sat in the command tower of the orbital defense system, smiling as he watched the AA gun steadily aim its barrel at the Punisher.
However, just as he was about to open fire, he suddenly heard on the channel that Admiral Rains, UNSA's supreme commander, was boarding the Punisher via a Raven transport ship.
As an intelligence officer, Rheya naturally knew which was more important: destroying a military's brain or destroying a warship. Therefore, he immediately changed his target.
"Bang!"
"Goodbye, Earth!" After confirming that Admiral Rains' transport ship was destroyed, Rheya immediately activated all nearby artillery, ordering them to attack the Earth fleet in the sky.
The still-flaunting Earth fleet never expected their proud orbital cannons to turn their muzzles on them. Warships were hit by surprise, then plunged towards the surface engulfed in flames. Simultaneously, Martian spies who had been lurking on Earth for a long time also erupted, first attacking police stations to seize control of armories and robots, then beginning to eliminate enemies in the orbital defense command. At the same time, Rheya also sent the successful raid code to Mars: "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
Upon receiving the signal, the Martian fleet immediately began its jump, with warships crossing the Earth-Moon defense line and appearing in Earth's high orbit. Now they were waiting for Rheya to take out the Earth fleet and then blow up the orbital cannons.
However, after waiting for less than half an hour in outer space, the Martian fleet not only received no good news from the ground but also discovered that the Earth fleet's Punisher, along with seven remaining warships and hundreds of Jackal fighters, had broken through the atmosphere and launched a counterattack against them. Simultaneously, the Earth Coast Guard, stationed at the high-orbit space station, also deployed all its fighters and patrol gunboats to support the Earth forces' counterattack.
"Where's Rheya? Didn't he say our raid today was just an armed parade?" The Martian Eighth Fleet's vanguard, caught in a pincer movement, was engaged in a fierce battle. Earthlings skillfully exploited their tactical advantages; high-speed Jackals, relying on their speed, outmaneuvered the pursuing Typhoons, delivering missile after missile into the vital points of Martian warships. Meanwhile, the Punisher, with its thick armor and powerful close-in weapon systems, stood in front of the Martian fleet, creating opportunities for its smaller destroyer escorts behind it. Azure beams and orange missile contrails marked the white-hot struggle that began as soon as the two sides engaged. But anyone with a discerning eye could see that without neutralizing Earth's orbital defense system, the Martian fleet would ultimately return defeated!
I suddenly remembered that after taking my junior college to undergraduate exam two years ago, I also had surgery. Now, after graduating from university, it's another surgery. Damn, it's like a cycle. My hand is swollen from the IV drip, and at night, while studying, my foot got scalded by boiling water. I hope it gets better tomorrow.