Chapter 1029: Subst.i.tute Commander

Translator:

Atlas Studios

Editor:

Atlas Studios

“One minute left…”

The warrant officer’s face turned green. He had already calculated the time until the wars.h.i.+p collided with the debris belt.

Noam surged to his feet. “There is still time! Give me the control key! Each to your stations and prepare to execute standard evasive procedures…”

“Calm down.” Meng Tian glanced at him with little feeling, making her last variable calculation.

How could one be calm!? If they did not act, they would definitely die! They would not even have the slightest chance of survival.

All they could hear was the warrant officer constantly counting down. “53…”

“Attention. Cut the autopilot and switch to manual.”

Manual control? Everyone started. The room was starting to turn cold. Subconsciously, they were already turning to obey orders. Inaction meant they would be sitting ducks. In this instant, there was no time to dwell on it. Their instinctive choice was to obey. This was the reason why soldiers were drilled again and again. They should not use their brains in the critical moment.

“Autopilot disconnected. Manual control online. Complete.”

KACHAK. Manual controls appeared in front of Meng Tian.

“Don’t stop the countdown.”

The radar officer started, then continued counting in a wavering voice.

47 seconds!

Noam’s entire body was trembling. “You’re crazy! There’s still a chance to avoid it with autopilot…”

In the c.o.c.kpit, more than half agreed with him. But at this moment, commands from the commander’s seat were absolute orders. Even if it was a mistake, or ordering them to their death, disobedience would see them to an even worse end, even if they survived.

For soldiers, obeying orders was the first duty.

For a crew sailing into the unknown, deep s.p.a.ce, this phrase was the most basic rule. The commander was king, live or die.

“Fire weapons systems. Charge the 12 supplementary cannons at the front of the s.h.i.+p.” Meng Tian did not heed Noam’s cries. Or rather, at this time, she tuned out all distracting noises. Her voice was calm and clear. Such composure was felt by everyone.

Her gaze was locked on the image frozen on the viewfinder telescope. Within her composure was calculation. Ability X light shone from her eyes.

“Fore, 12 supplementary cannons charging. Five, four, three, two, one, charging complete.”

The weapons warrant officer confirmed.

“30…” The radar warrant officer’s voice.

RUMBLE… The s.h.i.+p was shaking. This was the drawback of manual control. It could not maintain stability.

The entire wars.h.i.+p shook. Troops who did not know the situation were promptly following training procedures, and strapping themselves down.

But in the c.o.c.kpit, the mood was despair.

Because Meng Tian’s next order was: accelerate!

Accelerate?

Given their current speed, if they hit a high speed rock, their outer energy s.h.i.+elds would be unable to hold up. Accelerate? Wouldn’t that cause them to die in an even worse fas.h.i.+on?

Rumble, rumble, rumble…

But in the end, they were trained warrant officers of quality. Meng Tian was the commander, and her orders were to be obeyed.”

“Countdown accelerated: three… two….”

The radar officer recalculated the collision time after the acceleration.

Everyone shut their eyes. On the viewfinder, they could already see the debris. It looked far, but it would be the blink of an eye before collision.

BOOM…

At this moment, the 12 supplementary cannons on the fore were firing with a rhythm.

Everyone felt the s.h.i.+p tremble violently. The wars.h.i.+p, accelerating forward, was actually nimbly flying a course!

Each time it fired, a piece of debris was blasted apart with a shockwave that swept away a shower of debris. It was dangerous, but it cleared a s.p.a.ce without debris.

The wars.h.i.+p was still accelerating. It fought through the s.p.a.ce blasted by the highly volatile debris and slipped through before the debris behind had time to arrive…

But not all debris could be avoided.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM…

Each time they were hit, it was like being hit by a Zeus s.h.i.+eld level main cannon, causing the hull of the s.h.i.+p to creak.

At this moment, the c.o.c.kpit was in disarray. Fortunately, they were all elites, and very quickly stabilized the core.

The shakes were unable to throw Meng Tian off in the slightest. Her hands were constantly piloting the manual controls. Shadows slipped past. Each time, her control was without hesitation…

Dodging, each high speed s.h.i.+ft’s trajectory was controlled to the fine details. The calculations took into consideration the fire. The 12 cannons fired each time to stave off a fatal rock. And the rest were unable to break past the energy s.h.i.+eld.

In just 10 seconds, everyone calmed down. They knew what Meng Tian was trying to do. More importantly, they could feel the confidence and control over the s.h.i.+p that Meng Tian was radiating.

A mech pilot had a sense when piloting a mech, and a commander also had a sense for a s.h.i.+p. At that moment, Meng Tian was one with the wars.h.i.+p. They charged towards the cl.u.s.ter of debris.

Faced with such a situation, they could choose to avoid it, but they might be crushed by the debris. They might also have been sucked into the fixed star. There was only one choice: to accelerate preemptively and fly to meet it.

Life or death!

Everyone held their breath and waited. At this moment, the slightest tremble in the hands would spell death.

Finally, the long charging main cannon fired, sweeping away all the debris in front of them. The last hurdle. Ahead was an even bigger cl.u.s.ter of debris, and the wars.h.i.+p was unable to fire anymore.

“Deactivate energy s.h.i.+elds!” Meng Tian ordered calmly.

From the side, the workers were infected by Meng Tian’s aura. They responded without even processing the order.

The energy s.h.i.+elds were switched off. All energy was concentrated in accelerating the s.h.i.+p. The last thrust. Relative to their speed, everyone could almost feel the huge rocks about to smash them to powder.

BOOM…

A gigantic tremor. Following which, the s.h.i.+p stabilized. The wars.h.i.+p sounded. “Shuttle entering warp speed state.”

At this moment, everyone’s faces were a little pale, and Meng Tian forced herself to be calm. She was the stand-in commander. At this instant, she held the responsibility. Everyone could panic, save her.

“Each station, check the s.h.i.+p’s damage. Congratulations everyone. We successfully made the great escape. Thank you!”

…

The corner of Meng Tian’s mouth was upturned in a slight smile, and the wars.h.i.+p’s members were stunned. She actually knew how to smile… and so prettily…

“Engine capability light damage, controllable. Energy currently recovering.”

“Port light damage. Recommended to repair within three hours.”

…

Each worker on the s.h.i.+p was methodically a.s.sessing the situation. The commander was the s.h.i.+p’s compa.s.s. As a commander, one needed to take responsibility for the whole s.h.i.+p.

In this instant, Noam finally realized why he was only suited to be a co-pilot, and not the commander.

“Lieutenant Colonel Noam, you have the command,” Meng Tian said. The brave front she had put up aside, she was actually about to collapse.

“Yes, Commander.” Noam saluted, and this time it was from the heart.

In s.p.a.ce exploration, there was no method that was absolutely right or wrong. Only results that were absolutely right or wrong.