Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 67 Commander of the 3rd Fleet, JOJO

Chapter 67 Commander of the Third Fleet JOJO

Mars Lagrange point, L5.

Located at a stable triangular point in the Mars orbital system, it orbits alongside Mars and guards the vital passageways for all routes into and out of the inner orbit.

The Third Fleet's home port is located here, with a giant orbital dock, military industrial core area, and asteroid mining belt laid out along an artificial gravity ring several kilometers in diameter, surrounded by layers of defense platforms and deep space early warning arrays.

For a planetary civilization like Mars, L4 and L5 are both the two eyes of Mars and two daggers stuck in deep space.

When the central government is strong enough, this place serves as a forward outpost protecting the homeland; once the central government loses power, this strategic enclave with self-sufficiency will inevitably become an unwieldy independent fleet.

The commander of the Third Fleet, Jonathan Josland, was known privately as J0JO by those who knew him.

Of course, this JOJO is not the same as that JOJO.

Jonathan is not a soldier who can be out of the shadows, nor does he like to strike some strange, thunderous pose. He is a very traditional soldier.

When the revolutionary war broke out on Mars, Jonathan was on the flagship of the L5 fleet base.

During those days, all the monitoring arrays of the Third Fleet were turned on at maximum power to keep a close eye on the war situation on Mars. At the same time, he also issued an order that the Third Fleet should maintain a state of combat readiness but not take the initiative to get involved.

He came from the pure naval system, rising from ensign to fleet commander, and was stationed for a long time at a deep space base like L5, far from the Martian mainland.

Spending a long time in outer space changes how he views Mars, especially when looking back at the red planet from deep space; he always feels a sense of distance that is hard to describe.

Every time JOJ0 leans against the porthole, looking out at the Milky Way stretching billions of light-years across, at those galaxies that humans will never be able to reach, and then looking back at the people fighting bloody battles on Mars, he only feels absurd and laughable.

What regime change, what sectarian rise and fall, what earth-shaking slogans—in the vast universe, they are not even a speck of dust.

Jonathan wanted to sail across the stars in a warship, not spend his life with a bunch of idiots who only knew how to fight amongst themselves, wasting his entire life on this tiny red planet.

He originally thought that this power reshuffle around Mars would take at least half a year to come to a conclusion, but the speed of change in Skydrive far exceeded his expectations.

Just three days after the Guards Fleet defected, the First Fleet sent a telegram pledging allegiance, and the Second Fleet followed suit, siding with Hagia Sophia.

With things having come to this point, Jonathan took the initiative to dial the encrypted line of the Skydrive Provisional Government, formally acknowledging the legitimacy of the Martian Provisional Government, and stating that the Third Fleet would be subject to the unified command of the new Naval Command.

He was never a blindly loyal diehard, nor would he gamble the lives of hundreds of thousands of crew members on a fallen theocracy. Discretion is the better part of valor; this is the simplest rule of survival in deep space.

After observing for this period of time, Jonathan had already formed a judgment in his mind. He had seen everything Zhang Qiming had done since taking office.

When he killed the Cardinal Council, he was swift and decisive. When he handed over power, he proceeded step by step without the slightest impatience. His first batch of decrees were not empty slogans; they were all concrete and effective.

Such skill and vision are far beyond what ordinary rebels can match.

What bothered him most was that this young man harbored an ambition that could not be contained within the entire planet Mars.

Mars is just his starting point, and the Fourth Fleet is merely the first obstacle he needs to overcome. Jonathan is almost certain that it won't be long before Zhang Qiming will be able to free up his resources to completely eliminate the hidden dangers in this outer navigation area.

Therefore, when the Supreme Command's red secret order appeared on the main screen of the bridge, Jonathan showed no surprise whatsoever.

The secret order slowly unfolded, revealing only one line of text.

The Supreme Commander requested a one-on-one encrypted video call with Third Fleet Commander Jonathan Josland.

Jonathan raised his hand to straighten his uniform collar, signaling to his adjutant to connect the line.

A few seconds later, the tactical map on the main screen converged into a black background with a red emblem, and Zhang Qiming's image appeared directly in front of the bridge. The young supreme commander sat behind his desk in the Olympus hub, the Martian situation map behind him slowly rotating.

Jonathan stood up and saluted the screen.

"Commander of the Third Fleet, Jonathan Josland, greets His Excellency the Supreme Commander."

Zhang Qiming nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Commander Josland, thank you for standing with the Skyward Government at this critical moment of change on Mars. The Third Fleet's attitude has reduced a lot of unnecessary bloodshed."

Jonathan lowered his hand and answered frankly: "The College of Cardinals is rotten to the core—in fact, based on my original judgment, I thought the opportunity for change on Mars would fall on His Excellency Saint Sophia, but now it seems that I was only half right."

After listening, Zhang Qiming's eyes lit up with a smile.

"Do you know why I've come to see you this time?"

Jonathan barely paused.

"Completely eliminate the Fourth Fleet as an external threat."

"Accurate."

Zhang Qiming raised his hand and opened the outer navigation area situation map. The Fourth Fleet's markings were divided into several groups in the L4 direction, with the escape faction, the die-hard faction, and the long-range signal lines for contacting Terra marked in different colors.

"In my capacity as Supreme Commander of the Provisional Government of Mars, I order the Third Fleet to immediately enter Level 1 combat readiness and, in accordance with the unified deployment of the Mars National Defense Naval Command, to cooperate with the First and Second Fleets to suppress the Fourth Fleet in the outer airspace."

Jonathan saluted again. "The Third Fleet obeys all orders from the Supreme Commander."

Zhang Qiming chuckled and said, "You agreed so readily?"

Jonathan: "Obeying orders is a soldier's duty."

Zhang Qiming looked at him and suddenly asked, "Then why didn't you listen to the orders of those who were trying to protect the Holy Cardinals?"

Jonathan did not dodge the question, saying, "Because they do not represent the Martian people, nor do they represent the Martian navy."

Wow, that's pretty smooth.

Zhang Qiming smiled, tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, and said to the smooth-talking JOJ0, "Since obeying orders is a soldier's duty, I now order you to return to Mars for an internal meeting. Would you agree?"

Jonathan: "————"

Holding meetings has always been a classic example of cunning and deliberate strategy, and many people throughout history have fallen victim to this tactic, such as a certain emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Zhang Qiming watched him remain silent for a moment, then his smile widened.

"I believe that once the Fourth Fleet issue is resolved, you will personally return to Mars to see me. I can assure you with my political credibility that you will return to the Third Fleet unscathed."

Jonathan stared at Zhang Qiming on the screen for a few seconds.

The young commander did not use flowery words to conceal his brilliance, nor did he pretend to fully trust the Third Fleet.

He made it very clear that after the Fourth Fleet issue was resolved, he himself would have to return to Mars to give a proper report to the new government.

Jonathan paused for a moment before finally asking the question that concerned him most.

"Supreme Commander, after dealing with the Fourth Fleet, will you take action against Terra?"

JOJ0 wants to know whether Zhang Qiming's military ambitions will stop at Mars, or continue to cross the old boundary between the two human home planets and start a real war for human unification.

Zhang Qiming looked at him, making no attempt to hide his ambition: "I need a unified human regime, and for this, I will personally sweep away all enemies who stand in my way."

Upon hearing this, Jonathan breathed a sigh of relief; he had finally heard the answer he most wanted to hear.

Jonathan saluted the screen again. "If that's the case, I will personally return to Mars to report to the Supreme Commander once the Fourth Fleet issue is resolved."

Zhang Qiming nodded.

"Then I'll wait for you at the Olympus Hub."

After the call ended, the main screen switched back to the outer navigation situation map. Jonathan stood still, his gaze falling on the splitting Fourth Fleet marker in the L4 direction, and then slowly spoke.

"Order the entire ship, Third Fleet, to be on high alert."