Chapter 284: Orbit Airdrops Are Indeed Terrifying

Translator: End less Fantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Brother Lin, have you finished the report? I’m still waiting here.”

“It’s all done. The drop zone is 20 kilometers away from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, and the ground search and rescue troops are ready.”

“Good, I got it.”

Tang Rui put down the phone and said to the special forces team in front of him, “The approval is complete. Next, you will undergo your first orbital airdrop test. Any problems?”

“No.” Twelve people immediately answered loudly.

“Great, enter the orbital airdrop pod.”

After they went in, Han Shu was still a bit worried.

“Direct airdrop for the first time, no problem?”

“Don’t worry, it’s insured.”

Tang Rui was still confident about safety. Not to mention the equipment made by Red Lotus had no issues, nobody else could guarantee that.

But he dared to guarantee, the system had no problems.

So, instead of worrying about their safety, it’d be better to worry if they might vomit later.

They were special forces, the elite of the elit; that was for sure.

But with orbital airdrop, without training, who knows if there would be any other reactions.

However, according to Red Lotus’s test, even ordinary people sitting inside would at most feel uncomfortable, not having any physical problems due to gravitational acceleration.

This thing wouldn’t spin when landing, so there should be no problem.

At most, they might feel dizzy and want to vomit, but definitely no other issues.

Puff…

The hatch closed.

The members of the special forces team inside the cabin all sat in their seats, buckled up.

Red Lotus would explain the details of riding the orbital airdrop pod through the display in their helmets.

Tang Rui didn’t need to worry about that, nor was there a need for prior training.

The more high-tech the equipment, the more it required fool-proof operation, otherwise, it would affect actual combat.

If really going into battle and missing a person, the equipment would be useless, then what’s the point of fighting.

Buzz!

The SEG unit of the orbital airdrop pod started.

The floating orbital airdrop pod began to stand upright.

The seats inside also began to adjust their direction at this moment, ensuring that the chair backs faced the direction of vertical gravity.

In the next second, the four 20,000-newton electric propulsion engines at the bottom emitted blue light.

This time there was no Mach ring.

But even so, the speed of the orbital airdrop pod was very fast, much faster than the launch speed of a rocket.

And the special forces soldiers inside just felt a pushback, similar to that of a commercial airliner taking off.

Nothing uncomfortable—Tang Rui and Han Shu watched the orbital airdrop pod take off and then returned to the Blue Army Command Center, watching the orbital airdrop pod through satellite images.

“I’m Tang Rui, how do you feel now? Any physical discomfort?”

Tang Rui inquired about the condition of the special forces team.

“Report to Advisor Tang, we feel no discomfort, very good.” The team leader replied.

“Okay, report immediately if there’s any problem.”

“Understood.”

Soon, the orbital airdrop pod entered outer space.

The seats inside the cabin adjusted their direction again, with the chair backs turning towards the wall, allowing people to talk face-to-face.

“Now you can unbuckle your seat belts and experience weightlessness. Report any problems at any time.”

Tang Rui spoke again.

“Special forces team received.”

After everyone unbuckled their seat belts, they began to float in the cabin, instinctively using swimming motions to move, but soon realized swimming strokes were useless.

This experience was also very novel for them.

Special forces, so what?

Apart from astronauts, how many people have been to space?

Although they will have many opportunities to go to space in the future, this was still their first time and quite fresh.

While the special forces team was experiencing weightlessness in space.

The whole world was eyeing the orbital airdrop pod.

After all, this big thing flying out of Earth could be seen by a fool.

No optical stealth, and no radar wave absorbing coating—any country with a bit of strength could discover it.

But discovering it was one thing—no one could guess what it really was.

It didn’t look like a space shuttle, nor like a rocket. It couldn’t be a spaceship, right?

The design was too ugly.

A group of experts began to study and analyze its performance based on the appearance of the orbital airdrop pod.

Most people judged it to be a spaceship.

After all, considering human technology at the time, a few pipes put together could be called a spaceship.

But this orbital airdrop pod, even if designed for practicality and not so fancy, looked better than those pipe-assembled spaceships.

In a blink of an eye, ten minutes passed.

Tang Rui saw they had enough fun and had them return to their seats, buckle up, and prepare for the orbital airdrop test.

“Red Lotus, begin the orbital airdrop.”

“Okay, master.”

Under Red Lotus’s control, the orbital airdrop pod stopped the SEG unit and then accelerated from Earth’s orbit, directly plunging into the atmosphere.

When descending, the bottom faced downward.

But by then, the electric propulsion engine nozzles at the bottom were already wrapped in high-temperature-resistant alloy.

The reason for the bottom facing downward was mainly to generate a shock wave when passing through the atmosphere, and the large area of the bottom was specially designed to insulate and divert—like sitting on an air cushion.

The big screen in the space command center, with high-speed cameras, recorded the situation of the orbital airdrop pod returning to the atmosphere.

“This return is very stable, no deviation in the orbit, just don’t know how the inside is?”

“Definitely no problem, everything Tang brings out is good, this orbital airdrop pod makes our return capsule look like trash.”

“It’s not fair to say that, after all, there’s a difference in materials and equipment performance.

I’ve also seen the blueprints and parameters of the orbital airdrop pod, it’s like built with gold, we can’t afford to make that.”

“Okay, notify the ground search and rescue team to go, and bring the medical team, just in case.”

While they were talking, the orbital airdrop pod was already close to the ground, only 2000 meters from the surface.

At that moment, under Red Lotus’s control, the SEG unit started.

At the moment of activation, the orbital airdrop pod, like hitting a net, began to decelerate.

And this deceleration effect grew stronger and stronger.

The power of the SEG unit was not maximized at the beginning but gradually increased, otherwise, people couldn’t bear it.

When it reached 50 meters from the ground, the upright orbital airdrop pod began to level out and land.

Inside, the seats started moving again, this time all faces turned towards the original wall.

Click, click, click…

The wall in front of the seats opened, and the outside wind blew into the cabin.

Buzz!

When the wall in front of the special forces team opened upwards, the orbital airdrop pod had completely landed.

Snap!

The seat belts automatically popped open.

All members of the special forces team jumped out of the cabin at the same time.

“Red Lotus, calculate, starting from the company, how long does it take to perform an orbital airdrop at any location in the world?”

“Master, according to calculations, the farthest location is Antarctica, and the time required for an orbital airdrop is 21 minutes.”

“What about Pennsylvania Avenue in the USA?”

“11 minutes.”

Tang Rui was very satisfied after hearing this.

As for Han Shu who was next to him, that went without saying.

The effect of this orbital airdrop was better than he imagined.

Even countries with mid-course anti-missile capabilities couldn’t intercept the orbital airdrop pod.

In other words, the orbital airdrop is unstoppable.

Within 21 minutes, an elite combat team can be deployed anywhere in the world, with a fatal tactical strike capability.

“How do you feel?”

Tang Rui asked the members of the special forces team, to see how they felt after their first orbital airdrop.

“Report, we feel very good.”

“Good, then return to the orbital airdrop pod, prepare to return.”

“Understood.”

The special forces team, who had been conducting tactical cover training outside, began to orderly retreat into the orbital airdrop pod.

The cabin had returned to its original state by then.

The walls that opened earlier were all closed.

Even after careful inspection, gaps wouldn’t be found.

Click!

The hatch closed.

The orbital airdrop pod stood up again, preparing to take off.

As for the ground search and rescue team that was rushing over, they were still two kilometers away, but they could see the orbital airdrop pod.

But just as they sped up and rushed forward, the orbital airdrop pod took off like a rocket, shooting straight into the sky.

Screech…

The lead command vehicle hit the brakes, sticking their head out the window, looking bewildered at the orbital airdrop pod flying higher and higher.

What were they here for?

To rescue.

But the problem was, the people had already flown away, so whom were they rescuing?

“Ground search and rescue team calling command center.”

“Command center received, please speak.”

“Our rescue target has taken off again.”

“You guys come back.”

“Yes.”

The commander directly asked the driver to turn around and return to base.

Rescue?

They searched in vain.

They came out for a spin and did nothing.

It was very frustrating.

At this time, many people were feeling frustrated, even pained.

For example, the aerospace centers of various countries around the world.

They had seen the orbital airdrop pod land, thinking this flight was just a test.

Who would have thought, just a few minutes later, it returned.

What did that indicate?

It indicated the technology was mature.

It could be launched quickly into Earth’s orbit, descend rapidly, and then launch again.

All this without the need for complex maintenance.

It can be repeatedly re-entered into orbit.

This is no longer about validating technology, but a display of its maturity.

Such thoughts were from countries without spy satellites.

But those with spy satellites—countries that could still capture clear ground photos were in a frenzy at this moment.

If it were just a spaceship, they would have accepted it.

After all, domestically, they were the leaders in the field of aerospace, far surpassing America.

But the problem was, this thing was not a spaceship but a vehicle meant for combat.

Just as it landed, dozens of people jumped out.

Terrifying, wasn’t it?

It couldn’t be helped?

Meetings and research continued.

Tang Rui was unaware of this, he was communicating with a military bigwig.

The other party directly inquired if the orbital airdrop could be used in actual combat.

Just kidding.

When the special forces team departed, they took their weapons and equipment with them..