Age of Cosmic Exploration

As 120 plus Space Combat Jet Prototype 003s zoomed into the sky, the heart of every single pilot was beating extraordinarily fast.

This wasn’t completely the fault of their nerves; it was partly caused by the increasing g-force. The g-force should have rendered these pilots dead as the combat jet prepared for lift off, but thanks to their restructured DNA, the Homo Evolutis managed to adapt to the electromagnetic growth field that neutralized the g-force.

3 combat jets formed an echelon. Basically, the members of each echelon had to know one another well from their training days. Of course, there were also newbies from the second batch of Homo Evolutis that had received minimal training. Their training was supposed to last for another 2 years before they could be sent into actual combat.

However, due to desperation, they had to be sent out.

Yao Yuan, though, had faith in them because the Homo Evolutis had a natural affinity for 3-D space combat. This affinity was normally hidden but would reveal itself when forced. That was why Yao Yuan wasn’t reluctant to ask them to go into war.

Nevertheless, to prevent unnecessary deaths of these valuable assets, Yao Yuan had given them a specific order: to not engage with a large group of monsters. The newbies were tasked with handling small clusters of monsters that had unfortunately strayed from the army. Instead of initiating guerilla tactics, they were asked to take care of the easy pickings.

Yao Yuan’s combat jet sped to an acceleration of 30 kilometers per second in a matter of 10 seconds, and his speed was still increasing.

According to the scientific knowledge of the 3rd revolution, g-force created from such acceleration could easily tear him apart, but the 4th revolution had brought along the electromagnetic growth field to nullify the large g-force. It made high-speed combat possible.

Yao Yuan had no time to chew over the scientific theories because before long, he found himself surrounded by the inky space. By then, Moon 2 had rotated to the other side of the planet, so Yao Yuan quickly steered his combat jet to the back of the planet.

"This is Yao Yuan. Everyone, activate your ECS systems, but stay on alert. Watch out for your own echelon members. We will come into contact with the monster army any time now!"

Yao Yuan used his Anima power to communicate with everyone.

The troopers arranged into their own separate echelons following Yao Yuan’s order. It was noticeable that most troopers found themselves at the back lines being led by the Black Star Unit because they were newbies whose main purpose in that battle was to provide support fire.

Then Moon 2 and an army of monsters appeared before their eyes. A giant swarm of flying monsters crowded around a ginormous meat ball as it floated away from Moon 2. The meat ball had a diameter of more than several thousand meters and was covered with a layer of sticky collagen. Using the particle flux that came out of its back, it floated lazily towards the Hope’s planet.

"...this is their carrier army? God damn, there are so many of them!"

This was the alien advantage that Yao Yuan was worried about, a staggering advantage in numbers! Unlike the Hope, who barely managed to scrounge up 5,000 combat personnel, the alien mother nest was able to continuously incubate monsters to add to its army’s numbers. Furthermore, these monsters could survive on only water and nutrients taken directly from the ground. They needn’t meat to survive. The nest also contained 4 polymerized reactors to provide it with sufficient energy to support such a large army.

"...Looks like we won’t be able to stop the alien’s main body even if we clear the alien monsters. They’re like cannon fodder..."

Yao Yuan’s heart sunk. Regardless, he steered the troopers into war. The least they could do was to shred the amount of monsters, easing the tension on Guang Zhen and hopefully able to stall time for the Hope to lift off.

The formation of one particular echelon was particularly close when compared to everyone else. They were Xiao Niao, Dan Dan, and Qiu Qiue.

"...Xiao Niao, this enemy is the Zerg, right? No matter how you look at it, they have an uncanny resemblance to the Zerg," Qiu Qiu asked through his communicator, since their close distance meant they were in each other’s isolator range.

Xiao Niao looked out his jet window and replied after a long time, "Yup, it’s the Zerg."

Dan Dan chimed in, "Then... what about that ZERO? Didn’t he say he will let us see the real Zerg with our own eyes? Do you think..."

Xiao Niao had gotten more introspective. He then nodded. "Yes, he did say that... But before we can get a clear handle of things, let’s keep this ZERO thing to ourselves."

His friends agreed without hesitation. Xiao Niao added, "It’s not that we’re purposely lying, but this whole situation is just too freaky. There are truly too many mysteries surrounding the Hope. Regardless, I’m sure this will play heavily into humanity’s future, so if possible, we need to get into a negotiation with ZERO without incurring his enmity."

Dan Dan asked, "What negotiation? Is this still about how you lost at Star Craft?"

"Of course not!" Xiao Niao scoffed jokingly in spite of himself. "We need to find out a few things from him. First, whether he can control the space warp exit. Second, how could he know we’ll run into a Zerg-like alien here, and lastly... what is his true identity?"

Suddenly, Yao Yuan’s voice appeared in their ears.

"Every trooper prepare for combat. Remember our plan. The veteran echelons will initiate the guerrilla tactics while others provide support fire.

"Entering combat in 5 seconds.

"3, 2, 1..."

With Yao Yuan leading, his comrades, Ying and Ebon, shot into a monster ensemble of about 2,000 in size. The monsters were spooked by the ambush. In between flashes of lightning and fire, Yao Yuan’s echelon broke through the enemy ranks. They had fired more than 100,000 Gaussian bullets!

This was the specialty of light Gaussian weaponry, they could fire rounds quickly and the bullets travelled fast. A normal Gaussian rifle could fire more than 10,000 bullets within a second, much less a Gaussian Gatling cannon.

The layer of monsters at the front was shredded into pieces, and the layer of monsters behind them also fell to the stray bullets. Even the giant meat ball was punctured with bullet wounds. When the remaining monsters realized that they were being attacked, Yao Yuan’s echelon was already miles away, hidden by the ECS system.

The assault continued. More echelons immersed into the guerrilla combat while other newbie troopers stood at about several thousand kilometers away, focusing their fire at the spots of carnage. Thankfully, their Gaussian bullets traveled so fast that the monsters were hit before they could even evade. The first skirmish ended up with more than 10,000 monsters being killed, more than 2 oval meat blob demolished, and with nary a scratch on the troopers.

"Wonderful! Keep this up! Let these monsters know they’ve messed with the wrong civilization!

"Spread into independent combat until the monsters in this area are cleared!"

Each echelon then scattered into individual combat.

Since they had the complete advantage with the ECS system, it was a one-sided massacre! Even the newbie troopers were getting excited as the amount of monsters they fell increased. They gradually got the hang of piloting the combat jets and their initial jitters peeled away...

However, Yao Yuan was assaulted with omens of danger. It didn’t spell immediate danger, but it felt like the alien would decipher and negate the ECS system soon. If that were to happen, the 120 troopers would in turn become easy pickings for the several-million-sized alien army.

"Hopefully the Hope will be able to reach space before then, or else..."

Yao Yuan didn’t have the intention to finish the thought. Instead, he threw himself into another fight, wiping out a meat blob and the monsters around it...

The war was boiling down, and mankind had the obvious advantage!