Age of Cosmic Exploration, 4

by Zhttty

  The surprise quickly curtailed into high-spirited cheer. This meant that the defense unit had successfully completed their objective, which was to defend the base until the Hope lifted off.

  Equipped with an ECS system, as long as the Hope didn’t get close to the field around the mother nest, it was practically invisible to the alien monsters. Scarred by how easily the Hope had been intruded by the junkyard AI, Yao Yuan and all the authority agreed that the Hope needed upgrades and modifications.

  First was its defense. A giant reactor was specifically made to charge an electromagnetic shield around the Hope. Combined with the strategic placement of alien plant alloy, the Hope could withstand another spaceship’s continued fire for 5 minutes, and this included withstanding a shot from the enemy’s main cannon! This technology was as strong as the junkyard battleship’s.

  Then was its firepower. Around 60 cannons were added to the ship’s roof, and an additional 180 cannons were added to its sides. Not to be forgotten was the Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon. If back on Earth, one shot from this cannon could sink an island country.

  Lastly was its mobility.

  Sadly, mankind's 4th revolution technology was still unable to dissect the space warp technology. However, the Hope’s current particle flux engine was powerful enough to break the ozone layer without the use of anti-gravitational unit. Of course this was only a theoretical calculation put forth by the Academy. In reality, the Hope’s metallic structure might not be able to withstand the pressure, especially since the Hope had such a fragile design shape.

  In fact, the giant propeller used in the final plan was initially built for the Hope as an emergency acceleration device.

  More upgrades were still underway. The military wanted more weapons, the admins better defense, and the public enhanced mobility. Taking in everyone’s opinion, the Hope had become a high mobility, high damage, and high defense monstrosity.

  The people on the temporary base cheered because this meant that they were safe… as long as they stayed out of the Hope’s artillery range.

  The sound of combat pulled the defense unit back to the threat at hand. Most dropped their heavy artillery for lighter weapons, leaving the giant monsters for the Hope to handle. They clashed with the foot soldiers instead.

  Then, 10 seconds later…

  A spot in the sky started to twist upon itself like a mirage. An energy flux started to gather on the ground, creating a sand vortex about several hundred meters tall. This was the power of the Hope’s 600 cannons.

  With the collective power from 600 cannons, the Academy predicted it could even blow up the moon!

  Following an increased pressure in the air, the ground sunk to create a giant crater. It was as if the ground was hit by a big meteorite. The monsters caught in the fray, 300 giant ones included, were blasted into meat pies almost immediately. They were practically smothered into the floor!

  Then it was time for the Giant Gaussian Electromagnetic Cannon to shine. They were essentially a simpler version of the Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon. All 18 of them aimed at a stop 40 kilometers away from the base, the spot where the alien monsters landed. Electrical ions suffused the air as the cannons charged.

  This time the sand vortex was several thousand meters tall. The whole planet surface was literally covered by sand. The collective shot leveled an area that was several kilometers wide. If the previous shot was like a meteorite, this was a meteorite rain!

  The defense unit on the ground stumbled and fell. Thankfully, the turrets only shook but didn’t crumble. However, multiple cracks started appearing in and around the base. The 2 shots from the Hope had devastated the land’s geological structure. Luckily, the Academy predicted as much during combat briefing and had calculated the angle and power of the 2 shots using the central mainframe. The 2 shots were precisely calculated to demolish the enemy but leave the base intact.

  In less than a minute, the situation on the ground was overturned. The defense unit only needed to finish off a few stragglers. The Hope turned its attention to something else. The Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon was aimed upwards and not downwards. The planet probably couldn’t survive a shot from the cannon. It would not only destroy parts of the planet’s geological structure, it would create a catastrophe of an unimaginable scale. This was to be mankind’s future home planet, so they couldn’t harm it that way. The target of the cannon was the flying monsters and the transport-use meat blobs in the sky.

  The shot from the cannon broke the sound barrier, creating a zephyr as it surged through the sky. It essentially moved the planet’s stratosphere as it tore the ranks of flying enemy monsters apart. The monsters within the ozone, even when they were not directly hit, were shredded by the great torrents of air. Those in space were luckier; only those directly hit perished. This meant there were still quite a number of monsters in space.

  Bo Li oversaw the proceedings in central command. After some length she said, "The main cannon has been fired. If the Captain is still alive, he should be coming back soon. My order is to let the Hope lift up into space and set up a perimeter. Take down any monsters that appear in range. Initiate the final plan after a 30 second countdown…"

  "Captain’s orders…"

  The Hope floated gently into space following Bo Li’s order. The number advantage the alien had in space became a non-issue. They were all cannon fodder now.

  In the meantime, the countdown continued into the single digits, 5, 4, 3…

  Viewed from the Hope’s central command, a red lightning bolt was flashing through space, trailing sparks and explosions in its wake. The Hope’s defense cannon turned to aim at it when it flew towards the Hope. When it was within 10 kilometers of the Hope, the cannon turned elsewhere after recognizing the friendly signal that it gave off.

  "Fire!"

  With Bo Li’s command, a giant propeller shot out of the Hope. The red combat jet assumed command over it and the propeller took on a straight trajectory towards the mother nest!

  The war against the mother nest was reaching its end!

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  Chapter169 Despair!

  Yao Yuan had destroyed 3 reactors on the mother nest. When he went searching for the fourth, the mother nest had evolved. It had moved the last reactor deeper into its heart, and its oval shape slowly became rounded, encircling the last reactor.

  Yao Yuan’s weapon couldn’t pierce through such a thick layer of flesh. He only managed to create craters on the surface before they clumped back together. The flesh regenerated faster than Yao Yuan could shred through them.

  When Yao Yuan was figuring out a plan, he turned back to see a large crowd of monsters in the ozone around the hole where the Hope went through. He could see so far because his Seeker’s power was activated. He predicted correctly that the Hope had managed to lift off.

  "Yes, the Hope is the answer! The Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon could punch a hole through this thing!" Yao Yuan collected himself and turned Red Lightning back towards the Hope.

  Within several minutes, Yao Yuan was in the Hope’s general area. Their distance was almost similar to the distance between the Earth and the Moon. In other words, they were close enough that their ECS system could recognize and reveal each other.

  "Fire!"

  This was the first thing Yao Yuan heard when he crossed the threshold for communication. It was crisp and somewhat girlish; Yao Yuan recognized it as Bo Li’s voice. Right after, a giant propeller shot out of the Hope.

  The propeller was fitted with an internal device that allowed it to be remotely controlled by specific commands within a 100 meter radius. In other words, Yao Yuan or other troopers could control the trajectory of the propeller if they were close enough. This was the reason the plan could be executed. The technology allowed the propeller to be manually guided towards the mother nest. The
set up was perfect because Yao Yuan also needed to be close to the propeller to defend it.

  Yao Yuan saw the propeller dislodged from the Hope and he yelled anxiously, "The last polymerized reactor on the mother nest is still active. Use the Hope’s central computer to triangulate its location and give it a shot using the Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon. Its location is somewhere near the heart of the nest."

  With his orders given, Yao Yuan turned to follow the propeller. Thankfully, the propeller was just accelerating, so Yao Yuan caught up to it quick.

  "An emergency electromagnetic shield… It could withstand shots from weapon as strong as the Gaussian cannons for less than 5 seconds… It’s like it is made of paper."

  Yao Yuan grumbled when he read the details of the propeller that the Academy sent to the combat jet’s computer.

  However, he didn’t have the time to dally. The last reactor needed to be destroyed or the plan would fail!

  Under Yao Yuan’s order, the Hope started to prepare to launch a shot at the mother nest. Multiple coordinates and data were entered into the central mainframe to complete the necessary calculations. However…

  The mother started to disappear!

  No, not disappear!

  A mirage-like façade started to gloss over the mother nest’s surface. This was…

  The ECS system!

  "This is impossible! Why does the alien have access to the ECS system, and why is it only using it now?"

  Then realization dawned for Yao Yuan. He activated his Seeker’s power to scan the battlefield. The broken combat jet pieces that previously littered the area had all disappeared…

  The only conclusion was that the mother nest had absorbed them all. And it was evolving to create the ECS system for itself.

  Everyone inside the Hope who saw this unfold had their jaws to the floor. As bigger sections of the mother nest blinked out of their eyes, the calculation on the mainframe started to go haywire. Bo Li asked instantly, "Has the Supermagnetic Planet Annihilating Rail-Cannon finished charging?"

  The assistant came back from the shock and replied, "Yes, Captain. It finished charging about 10 seconds ago. We’re waiting for the triangulation to complete…"

  "We can’t afford to wait any longer. Fire it now using the last sets of coordinates we have," Bo Li ordered calmly.

  "But… Yes!" The assistant said into the communicator, "Captain’s order…"

  Then the Hope started to rotate until its main cannon was pointing at the mother nest that was still disappearing. After a surge in electricity, the cannon fired away, shaking the Hope. Everyone held their breaths as if the shot had also taken their breath away.

  The distance between the Hope and the mother nest was about 400,000 meters. In other words, the cannon shot needed about 30 seconds to reach the mother nest… This was the reason why long-distance combat wasn’t preferable in space.

  Once both parties had access to creator’s particle and ECS system, no matter how strong your long ranged weapons were, they would be useless if they couldn’t hit their target. Furthermore, the long distance that the ammo needed to travel gave one’s opponent ample time to move out of its way.

  This was why Yao Yuan had focused all of the Barracks’ development on high mobility combat jets. They were the real players in space combat.

  Therefore, when the mother nest started using the ECS system, mankind’s advantage was lost!

  In the next 30 seconds, everyone in the Hope’s central command waited with bated breath. Finally, the mother nest appeared out of its ECS status. Starting from the lower corner of its body, its fleshy body started to regain its shape.

  "Yes, we hit it!"

  Everyone cheered, but Bo Li and a few other people’s expressions were unsightly. As if verifying their fear, the mother nest started disappearing again.

  "We missed! The shot didn’t hit the last reactor!"

  Yao Yuan, who was out in the field, saw everything clearly. Despair swept through him. Now that the mother nest had complete control of its ECS system, the Hope’s main cannon had lost its use. Even though the nest only had 1 reactor left, it could create more through cellular fission. This meant…

  The plan had failed?!

  "No! We mustn’t give up. If the troopers continue firing at the mother nest, its ECS system will be disrupted enough to allow the Hope another shot, but…"

  Yao Yuan glanced at the propeller beside the Red Lightning. It was still flying towards the mother nest. According to its calculated speed, it would reach its target in the next few minutes. Yao Yuan wouldn’t dare to leave its side lest it got destroyed by the monsters.

  However, Yao Yuan's current location was too far away from the other troopers. His Anima power wasn’t strong enough to reach them from so far away. So how could he relay his plan to them?

  "Nian Xi Kong!"

  Yao Yuan submerged himself into the soul web. He concentrated and tried to feel out Xi Kong’s presence. After he spotted the light orb that represented Xi Kong, he formed a link with her and channeled his thoughts to her…

  Xi Kong was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees. Her parents were fidgeting outside in the living room. This was similar for many families on the Hope, because the civilians were asked to stay in their residences to wait for the war to pass. Suddenly, Xi Kong heard Yao Yuan’s voice in her mind.

  "Xi Kong, I need you!"

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  Chapter170 Singing for Victory!

  Other than Yao Yuan and Guang Zhen, Ying, Ebon, Liu Bai, Lee, Wa Luo, Fei Biao, Xiao Yan, Huai Shi, Zhang De, and Wang Hua were the only surviving Black Star Unit members. Other than Ying, who was a Seeker, the rest of them were all Perceptors.

  With their experience in the Black Star Unit, they were undoubtedly the strongest batch of Homo Evolutis. In both rankings for Black Star Troopers and space combat jet pilots, they occupied the highest placement.

  Right then, they were at the frontline, caught in a space battle with the alien monsters.

  Even though their combat gains weren’t as insane as Yao Yuan in Red Lightning, it was already scary enough, miles ahead of the other troopers. In other words, they were the core that kept the troopers running.

  However, they were also greatly exhausted.

  It had been more than 2 hours since the battle began. Even though piloting the combat jet didn’t require them to keep their superhuman power activated, combat with the monsters required their extended use. That coupled with the fatigue that came with piloting the jet, they had reached their limits. 2 hours were their threshold.

  "Damn it, Ying! The main cannon missed the last reactor and Ol’ Captain is not here because he has gone to intercept the propeller. What should we do now?"

  After Ying blew up a bunch of monsters, another jet surfed to his side and Liu Bai’s voice came over the communicator.

  "Keep on fighting…" Ying said matter-of-factly. "Until the retreat order comes, we must keep on fighting!"

  "I know that!" Liu Bai yelled. "But what’s the strategy?"

  "Then…"

  Before Ying could architect an answer, a sound wafted into his brain. It was a light, caressing humming. It seemed to communicate a message to him.

  "Attack the mother nest’s surface to temporarily disable its ECS system?" Liu Bai echoed the thought in Ying’s head.

  "So… you heard it too." Ying, after some length, added firmly, "Liu Bai, contact the remaining combat jets! Order them to focus fire on the mother nest’s surface!’

  "Roger!" Liu Bai replied. Before he left, he asked, "By the way, do you feel that…"

  "Yes, I do." Ying raised his hands to massage his temples. "I feel my body becoming lighter, like the melody is taking my lassitude away. It’s such a wonderful sound…"

  The sensation was not limited to Ying and Liu Bai. The remaining 89 pilots all felt an indiscernible seren
ity that chased away all their fatigue. Many others also picked up the threads of message that were embedded in the melody. Staying in their 3 members per team formation, they flew towards the mother nest.

  Yao Yuan, who was further away, felt the miraculous properties of the melody as well. He felt the melody reaching beyond his corporeal form. It was more than a simple transference of message, it felt like a communication between souls… Perhaps this was the true power of the Anima. She could not only communicate with anyone she wished within a certain radius across the barrier of time but also heal and reenergize the weary soul. Yao Yuan felt his previous despair melting away, and he was ready to take on the alien once more.

  He looked out the window of his jet and saw something that buoyed his heart even further.

  The previously organized monster army started to have its members stray from their formation. They tumbled out of their designated position like they were drunk. Some even turned on their allies, chewing and clawing at each other.

  Yao Yuan saw a meat blob that was torn from within. The monsters that it was transporting turned on it from within, and after it burst open, the monsters floated about suspended in space.

  "Right! The mother nest uses some kind of biological messages to make these essentially rabid monsters into an army. Xi Kong’s Anima power must have overridden it somehow… We had an ultimate weapon on our side all along, we just didn’t realize it! Yes, victory is possible!" Yao Yuan roared excitedly.

  This excitement was replicated by the 89 pilots. As the monsters were too busy attacking each other to pose any threat to the troopers, they started to strafe fire at the mother nest’s surface. It was shot by Gaussian cannons from every side.

  Under such focused fire, the mother nest’s ECS system started to lose its functionality. Due to the mechanism of the ECS system, it had to be attached to the surface, so under the carpet fire of 89 combat jets, parts of the ECS system underneath the mother nest’s fleshy surface was destroyed. It kept rebuilding them, but it didn’t take long for them to get taken down again.