Homo Sapiens

America.

Virginia.

Pentagon, Office 4C-956. The nameplate on the door read ”Space Systems Office,” but in reality, this was the headquarters of America’s National Reconnaissance Bureau, or NRO for short.

Major General Robert, the director who had just been drinking his coffee, was startled when a phone on his desk suddenly rang. (The director of the NRO is typically a general from the American Air Force.)

”Hello, what is it?”

”General, it’s an emergency. Please come to Monitoring Room 5 immediately.”

”Okay, I’m on my way.”

Robert quickly stood up, pushed open the door, and hurried to one of the monitoring rooms.

Inside the monitoring room, arrays of electronic equipment and computers filled the space, where over thirty staff members were busy at work.

The office supervisor, Arthur, pulled Robert over to one of the computers. ”General, just 67 seconds ago, an object launched from the central Longlang Mountain Range in Hongsawaddy and flew into outer space.”

”What?” Robert’s eyes widened. He quickly looked at the satellite monitoring data on the computer and confirmed there was indeed an object moving at a terrifying speed.

”Report! The monitored target has stopped in low Earth orbit at an altitude of 647 kilometers. It appears to be performing an orbital correction,” another staff member reported.

Robert couldn’t help but curse, ”Fuck... 163 seconds? An average speed of Mach 11?”

”...” Arthur was at a loss for words. He could only give orders. ”Continue monitoring. Also, redirect satellites for comprehensive surveillance of the central Longlang Mountain Range in Hongsawaddy.”

”Roger.”

Having calmed down slightly, Robert stared at the data on the screen, his expression grim. ”Damn it! How did they do that?”

Suddenly, a staff member from the electromagnetic signal monitoring team turned around and reported, ”General, the satellite is broadcasting an unencrypted signal.”

”Translate it,” Arthur ordered immediately.

”Okay.”

A moment later, the unencrypted electromagnetic signal from Hongsawaddy I was decoded.

[The Hongsawaddy Development Group hereby announces to the world: Our company successfully launched the Hongsawaddy I communications satellite at 11:21 AM on January 6, 2022. The satellite weighs 4.2 tons...]

[Hongsawaddy, adhering to the principle of peaceful development of outer space, will strive to contribute to humanity’s exploration of the cosmos. The future of humanity lies among the stars, and so does the future of Hongsawaddy...]

[Special Announcement: Our company will launch another satellite, a geological survey satellite codenamed ”Venus,” today at 2:20 PM. We urge all parties not to overreact...]

SLAP! Robert slammed the printed translation onto the desk.

’What the fuck! Don’t overreact?’

No one could possibly remain calm when faced with a craft flying at over ten times the speed of sound.

Just then, the door to the monitoring room was shoved open, and an old man in a general’s uniform walked in.

Robert immediately stood and saluted. ”General Alexander!”

”What’s the situation?” Alexander’s sharp gaze swept over everyone in the room.

Robert swallowed hard and quickly gave a concise report of the situation.

After hearing the report, Alexander frowned deeply. ”A launch vehicle with an average speed of over Mach 10?”

”No! It’s not a launch vehicle.” Arthur, who had a professional background as an aerospace engineer, shook his head and explained:

”The vehicle’s velocity was actually decreasing from the ground up to the Carmen line. It only began a secondary acceleration after breaking through it. That is definitely not a launch vehicle.”

Alexander’s brow furrowed. ”Then what is it? A shell?”

”Everyone, do you remember the old Barbados Cannon? I suspect Hongsawaddy is using a similar technology to launch its satellite,” Arthur pointed out.

Alexander looked at Robert. ”The Barbados Cannon from the joint project between the Air Force and Maple Country?”

Robert nodded. ”Yes. Back then, the Barbados Cannon was indeed capable of launching a payload of over one hundred kilograms into low Earth orbit.”

”Is that satellite really 4.2 tons?” Alexander’s expression grew even more grave.

Arthur shook his head. ”No, it’s more than 4.2 tons. Based on the dimensions we’ve monitored, it’s at least 6 tons. They probably didn’t include the weight of the onboard fuel.”

Hearing this figure, Alexander’s expression turned uglier.

As the head of the Pentagon, Alexander didn’t share the relatively naive, science-focused mindset of the aerospace geeks at NASA.

Instead, he was considering the threat Hongsawaddy’s space technology could pose to America if it were converted for military use. This kind of classic Cold War thinking was basically the mainstream view at the Pentagon.

Alexander thought for a moment. ”Robert, assemble a special team as soon as possible to evaluate Hongsawaddy’s aerospace technology and the potential threat it poses to our homeland.”

”Okay,” Robert nodded.

Under Robert’s command, the NRO quickly mobilized. They redirected a portion of their satellites to place the Longlang Mountain Range in Hongsawaddy under heavy surveillance, while also organizing specialists to conduct a detailed analysis of the Hongsawaddy I satellite and its launch technology.

「Elsewhere.」

「At Changi Base on Xing Island.」

Inside the headquarters of the Southeast Asian Black Ship, Tom had also learned that the Hongsawaddy Development Group had launched an artificial Earth satellite half an hour ago, thanks to the base’s radar and intelligence fed back from the homeland.

This development left Tom feeling that he had an incredibly thorny problem on his hands.

...

「At the same time.」

Major world powers, regional hegemons, and nations with relatively strong space programs all began to detect the satellite launched by the Hongsawaddy Development Group.

In East Asia, for example, both East Japan and South Korea detected the unencrypted broadcast from the Hongsawaddy I satellite.

As for a certain great eastern power, it went without saying; their large-scale radar arrays had detected Hongsawaddy I the moment it launched.

India, which had been paranoid lately, also detected it at the same time.

Following them were Russia, the European Union, Britain, and other powers. Kangaroo Country also detected a radar signal from the unidentified flying object.

Thanks to Hongsawaddy I’s unencrypted broadcast, every power in the world capable of receiving signals from outer space soon learned of the event.

「Western Shu Province.」

「Rongcheng.」

Inside a farmhouse restaurant in the suburbs.

The man with glasses read the internal bulletin in his hand, a sharp glint in his eyes. He looked up. ”Old Zhang, did your people not notice this project?”

The middle-aged man with a square face put down his teacup and shook his head. ”No. None of Hongsawaddy’s three major groups announced this project internally. Right now, their only public-facing space project is the launch vehicle program at the Hu Gang Base. That’s the only one our investigations could find.”

”Impressive. Truly impressive. That man is really something else.” The man with glasses was now taking Hongsawaddy very seriously.

Old Zhang knew exactly who the man with glasses was referring to. He rubbed his temples. ”According to the analysis from our aerospace department, this appears to be a project similar to the Barbados Cannon.”

”A 4.2-ton satellite... swapping the satellite for a warhead shouldn’t be too difficult, right?” the man with glasses speculated maliciously.

”It was always a cannon. Firing a warhead is its real purpose.” Old Zhang suddenly brought up another matter.

”Now I’m more and more suspicious that Hongsawaddy was the hidden hand behind the Assam incident.”

The man with glasses reacted instantly. ”Those giant 300-millimeter-caliber cannons?”

”Yes. After all, since the 1990s, the major powers have basically stopped developing artillery with calibers over 200 millimeters. It’s even less likely that Assam could have produced giant 300-millimeter cannons on its own.”

After hearing Old Zhang’s analysis, the man with glasses felt the same way.

A corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk. ”It seems the second satellite this afternoon is more than just a satellite!”