Chapter 23: Arc 2 Part 10

Author: 橘子

It’s so late T^T but better late then never~ The edits will come later. Edited-ish

By the way, the author named some creature iron clad beast/ armored beast. I gave it the pinyin name because Tiejia beast sounds cooler than armored beast. Happy reading!

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Qiao Chen’s restoration of the Z-801 finally entered the testing period. He asked the Special Ops team to see who was willing to lend a hand with this phase. Those who did were required to send over a data profile. Qiao Chen would be able to select the most suitable candidate after he received everyone’s data.

Nearly all the of the Special Ops team members submitted their profile. Qiao Chen noticed that the only person missing from the applicants was Henry, so he looked for him and asked, “Why haven’t you submitted your data profile?’

“I- you wouldn’t select me anyways, so I didn’t even bother to fill out the application.” Henry replied, downcast.

“How would you know if you haven’t even turned it in?” Qiao Chen asked.

“You’ve hated me ever since you were young, so of course you wouldn’t let me pilot the Z-801.” Henry uttered in a low voice. The usually bright-eyed and bushy-tailed kind of guy was much taller and imposing than Qiao Chen. However, he was presently oppressed by the past Qiao Chen.

“Work and private matters are kept separate. If you are the best candidate, then of course I wouldn’t snub you just because of things that happened in the past. Fill out the application and hand it in within two days. When you do, I’ll be able to compare everyone and select the candidate.” After Qiao Chen finished speaking, he turned back around to the lab and continued to work.

Henry submitted his application to Qiao Chen within the two day limit. However, before Qiao Chen was able to select the candidate, the third fleet received an important a.s.signment they needed to complete.

One week ago, a cosmic hurricane suddenly exploded outside of the empire’s territory. The storm was located 4 or 5 degrees southwest of the empire’s coordinates. Cosmic hurricanes were a regular occurrence in the universe. They ranged from small to big. The small storms were more like regular s.p.a.cial turbulence and didn’t really affect the planet. Larger storms, on the other hand, were able to rip through planets and could potentially destroy them.

Large hurricanes commonly developed on the edges of the empire’s border. Although the storm occurred far from the empire’s territory, bordering planets still kept their eyes on it- just in case. They had to prevent the storm from making its way to them if it suddenly changed directions.

Fortunately, even though the hurricane had been in blowing in full force for a week now, it hadn’t changed directions. There was a commotion, not because of the storm, but because of the small cl.u.s.ter of emergent planets weathered the storm. The empire detected an energy signal revealing a large ore deposit coming from one of the fledgling planets.

The energy signal’s strength indicated that there was an extensive amount of powerful and rare minerals on one of the planets in this cl.u.s.ter. They hadn’t noticed it before because stronger minerals had a self defense mechanism. These types of minerals emitted a magnetic field usually that even hid them from the most technologically advanced radars they had at hand. However, the cosmic storm damaged the magnetic field, so some of the energy signals leaked out.

Even though the cl.u.s.ter was relatively close to their empire, it was not located within their borders. If other countries discovered the minerals, then they would inevitably come in droves. So what the third fleet needed to do was find the mineral concentration on the cl.u.s.ter before any other countries detected the leaking energy signal. Then they needed to return with most, if not all, of the minerals from the deposit. However, the fifth fleet was also a.s.signed to complete the mission in addition to the third fleet. The two fleets were a part of the two strongest factions within the empire. These factions were in the midst of a fierce contention between one another. Therefore, it was impossible to only have one faction’s fleet carry out such an important a.s.signment. Since the third fleet won the triennial compet.i.tion, they were given the lead command for the mission. Vice Captain Canette commanded the fifth fleet to a.s.sist them.

While their wars.h.i.+ps navigated to the cl.u.s.ter of planets, they received information that the Tiejia beasts had arrived on the cl.u.s.ter before them. The Tiejia were a species of s.p.a.ce beasts whose diet consisted the exact minerals they were tasked to retrieve. So, it was expected that the cl.u.s.ter’s energy leak would attract Tiejia beasts. 

….

They had been fighting the Tiejia for several days now, but hadn’t forced them off the small planet or killed them yet, so they couldn’t search for the minerals. The beasts’ armors were extremely st.u.r.dy and required powerful, heavy artillery to even dent them.

“These Tiejias are such a pain. Regular gunfire isn’t strong enough to kill ’em but, but if we bring out the big guns then we’ll destroy the planet. Then on top of fighting that beast, we even have to find the enriched mineral vein. How troublesome.” Sodini complained.

“The Tiejia beasts are difficult to deal with. However, the levels of these beasts indicate that the mineral deposits here are very strong. They won’t be driven away from their food source so easily.” Vice Captain Kurit agreed. He also found the beasts quite troublesome. The difference between him and Sodini was that he believed that the bigger the challenge, the bigger the rewards.

“Captain, it looks like today’s a no go too. Should we continue with the a.s.sault?” Henry asked through the mech’s contact channel.

“Collection team, everyone return to base.” Auray commanded.

About 10 mechs were scattered around the planet. Once they heard the command, they immediately flew back to the wars.h.i.+p.

“Captain. The fifth fleet has been insistent with their request to use powerful cannons to attack the Tiejia.” Cade notified Captain Rouble.

This was the third time that the fifth fleet’s Vice Captain Canette made the request. The reason being, ‘if no one was able to get rid of the armored beasts soon, then the other countries would soon notice and rush over.’ But who didn’t know that already? However, if they used powerful cannon, then the planet would be blasted to smithereens. Even the mineral deposit could be destroyed.

Canette that impatient to find the vein before the leading team. If the third fleet hadn’t been the leading commanders for the mission, then the fifth fleet probably would have long used their stronger artillery to attack the beasts.

“Since they want to use their cannons so badly to solve their problem with the Tiejia, then let them do it.” Rouble said.

Cade worriedly said, “But captain- among all the planets in this cl.u.s.ter, this one is the one that is most likely to contain the enriched mineral vein. If it’s destroyed….”

Rouble lifted his hand up and interrupted, “Split the planet into two sections. Let their side choose which section they want. They can do with it what they will. If they find the vein, then they find it. However, if something goes wrong on their end, then the responsibility falls squarely on their shoulders. Give them the mission contract and have them agree to these terms.”

Over the course of any mission, if there were a group a.s.signment and one side of the division felt that the leading group had been doing a poor job, then they would be able to voice their lack of confidence. They could apply for a mission contract that would allow them to break off from the group and move on their own. If party in doubt did this, then they would have to bear all the consequences in case of failure. They were also subject to double the penalty.