Chapter 402: The Start
Chapter 402: Chapter 402: The Start
Supervisor Dikaya then walked to Deputy Legion Commander Basfa’s side and, smiling, said to everyone,
"Thank you, Deputy Legion Commander Basfa, for your guidance. Now, allow me to go over the specifics. The Kunpeng has already engaged its FTL drive, and we expect to arrive in orbit around Guangxiao Planet in 2 hours and 36 minutes. At that time, all ships will detach from the main vessel. The Kunpeng will land at Light Tower Base on Guangxiao Planet to load cargo. You will disperse to the other two sub-bases to load your own cargo. Specific mission details will be sent to you later. Just follow the instructions you’re given!"
"Also, the resources from Guangxiao Planet’s major mining zones have already been consolidated at the various bases. The quartermasters there will assign different cargo to your ships. There’s no need to fight over the type of cargo you’re assigned; all loads award the same amount of military merit. However, you must ensure the cargo’s safety. The minerals mined on Guangxiao Planet are extremely high-grade!"
"Yes, sir!"
Everyone responded in unison.
"Alright, get to your preparations!"
Deputy Legion Commander Basfa gave the order with a wave of his hand.
Upon hearing the command, everyone turned and left.
"Let’s go."
Luoxue then led Long Ming and the others away, heading for their small spaceship.
...
「Two hours later.」
Inside the cockpit of small spaceship T179.
Long Ming, Luoxue, and the others kept checking the time on their wristbands. They were about to arrive at Guangxiao Planet, and everyone was a little tense.
Just then, a notification sounded over the public communications channel.
"All ships, attention. The Kunpeng is about to exit FTL travel. Do not detach from the Kunpeng without authorization..."
"It’s starting."
Long Ming and the others took a deep breath.
Soon, the ship began to vibrate violently.
The Kunpeng, along with its many smaller ships, emerged from subspace, appearing in the vast, starry expanse.
A colossal, deep-red planet covered in massive red spots came into view.
In the space around this red giant, 2 Level 4 battleships, 5 Level 3 battleships, and a large number of starfighters were stationed.
"Whoa, this giant planet is huge!"
Long Ming said in amazement.
"One of the most bountiful planets in the Guangxiao Star Sea. The Third Expeditionary Army paid a heavy price to take it. If the enemy wasn’t counter-attacking and the front lines weren’t in crisis, we wouldn’t even be qualified to come here."
Luoxue explained to Long Ming.
"Mm."
Long Ming nodded.
Just then, another command came through the public channel.
"The Kunpeng’s docking clamps have been released. All ships, begin orderly detachment!"
Fu Fuqing immediately began maneuvering the small ship to slowly detach from the Kunpeng—a high-skill maneuver.
After all, with so many small ships detaching at once, a mistake could easily lead to a collision.
"Old Fu’s piloting skills are pretty good!"
Long Ming said with a complimentary smile as he watched Fu Fuqing pilot the ship.
"Hmph. I can fly ships much bigger than this one."
Fu Fuqing replied with a cold snort.
"I believe it," Long Ming nodded. "By the way, which base are we heading to?"
"We’re going to Tefu Base."
Fu Fuqing replied coolly.
"Okay."
Long Ming nodded.
Soon, all the small ships had completed their detachment.
The Kunpeng, along with a vast number of smaller transport ships, flew toward Guangxiao Planet.
As Long Ming’s small transport ship entered Guangxiao Planet’s atmosphere...
SHUDDER~
The entire ship began to shake violently.
GROAN~
The harsh sound of metal grinding and twisting could be heard continuously.
Long Ming was startled and turned his head to look at Luoxue.
"Is this ship alright?"
"Heh, don’t worry! This ship might be a bit old, but it’s not about to fall apart."
Luoxue said to Long Ming with a light laugh.
"That’s good."
Long Ming nodded slightly.
As their descent speed increased, the ship’s outer armor began to slowly turn red.
Alarms immediately began to blare.
Warning boxes popped up continuously on the control screen.
"Warning: Ship’s surface temperature rising rapidly."
"Warning: Life support system power output rising continuously."
"Warning! Cockpit temperature and pressure rising."
...
In an instant, the temperature throughout the cockpit began to rise.
The corner of Long Ming’s mouth twitched slightly. ’This doesn’t look fine at all.’
But Luoxue and the others were very calm. It seemed they were already used to this.
Soon, the ship cleared the atmospheric entry.
Fu Fuqing immediately took action at the controls.
"Reverse propulsion system engaged. Initiating deceleration."
The small ship began to slow down.
Long Ming looked down and saw an endless expanse of red land. And in the center of that land sat a colossal, triangular base constructed entirely of red metal.
Numerous docking areas were built around the outside of the base.
"That’s strange. If Tefu Base is this massive, wouldn’t Light Tower Base be even bigger? Guangxiao Planet was only conquered a short time ago. How did they build all this?"
Long Ming asked, curious.
"That’s something you wouldn’t know. These bases were already here before Guangxiao Planet was even fully conquered. They’re said to be remnants of the last civilization that was wiped out here."
Qian Wei explained to Long Ming meaningfully.
"You mean... that civilization lost the war?"
Long Ming’s brow furrowed instantly.
"Yes. Do you remember that red countdown?"
Qian Wei nodded and replied.
"I remember. Wait, are you saying...?"
Long Ming was shocked, looking at Qian Wei in astonishment.
"That’s right. Six months ago, it started."
Luoxue chimed in, her expression grave.
"No wonder."
Long Ming finally understood why he hadn’t seen that countdown.
Just then, a sweet voice suddenly came over their comms channel.
"Small spaceship T179, this is Tefu Base dispatcher 254. Please follow the virtual guide to your docking position."
"Small spaceship T179, received."
Fu Fuqing replied in a deep voice.
He then maneuvered the small ship to land according to the instructions.
THUMP~
With a jolt...
...the small ship landed successfully in the designated area.
"Let’s move out!"
Luoxue led Long Ming and the others out of the cockpit.
「A few moments later.」
The small ship’s cargo bay opened.
Luoxue led Long Ming and the others down.
Just then, a soldier in Gen-2 exoskeletal armor hurried over to Luoxue.
"Did you bring Harvesters?"
"We did."
"Quick, take your Harvesters to Warehouse 26. You’ll handle the paperwork and pick up your assigned cargo there."
"Got it."
Luoxue nodded.
Qian Wei, Jiang Heng, and the others quickly drove the Harvesters out of the ship one after another.
Long Ming followed them towards Warehouse 26.
The warehouse area at Tefu Base was divided into above-ground and below-ground sections. The surface warehouses were just a series of iron sheds storing relatively low-grade mineral resources. The underground storage, on the other hand, held high-grade materials, which were not assigned to them.
Soon, Long Ming and his team arrived at Warehouse 26. They saw many other teams arriving with their Harvesters.
At the entrance to the warehouse, a temporary registration point had been set up.
Two Star Alliance clerks were there, issuing pickup slips to the officers who arrived.
Only officers who received a pickup slip could take their Harvesters into the warehouse to retrieve their designated cargo.