Huang Quan patted Taschwe on the back, startling him as the latter quickly tucked a photograph into his chest.
"What are you shy about, your daughter? I really didn't expect you to have settled down," Huang Quan said with a laugh.
Feeling a bit dejected, Taschwe responded, "She's my daughter, but I haven't settled down."
Huang Quan was slightly surprised but quickly accepted the situation, saying,"You seduced so poor girl and ended up not taking responsibility, right?"
Taschwe nodded and then shook his head, adding, "It's complicated. Anyway, at least I have a reason to fight for Earth."
Huang Quan exclaid in surprise, "You've beco quite the noble one, haven't you?"
With a snort, Taschwe retorted, "And you, always eyeing a career and official positions, don't you have anyone you feel you need to protect?"
Crossing his arms, Huang Quan said, "I want to be a high-ranking official, so I'll need at least a hundred people under my command. Considering that the Star Alliance is now practically Earth's governnt, everyone on Earth might end up under . For the prestige of my future position, these people need to survive."
With a grimace, Taschwe punched Huang Quan lightly and said, "You can be so insincere, that's a skill in itself."
Just then, they heard the voice of Acting Captain Chi Jia, "Fellow crew mbers of the Richelieu, we are about to exit the warp bubble and complete our interstellar journey to the Y1692 galaxy. Please be prepared. Our observations from Earth of this galaxy have been very inadequate, and we cannot confirm if there are dangers, so stay alert. But let's be optimistic; perhaps we can discover sothing useful and even na a few celestial bodies here."
Enviously, Taschwe remarked, "Lucky bastard, the only one from his graduating class to beco a captain imdiately. Well, I'll listen to him; I'm heading to the hangar now, just in case they need ."
Smiling, Huang Quan said, "Then I'll head back to the bridge too. If I'm not at my post, the captain will have my head."
The Richelieu escort ship was clearly derived from the na of a renowned Gallic battleship. It was one of the Tai'a class frigates, much larger in size than the historical battleship it was nad after. Capable of Warp 7 speed, it possessed considerable firepower and was versatile for various missions, making it a very useful warship in the current Universe Army.
Travelling all the way from Earth to this unnad galaxy system was a novel experience for all the crew mbers. This was also the first long voyage for the soldiers of the Richelieu. Chi Jia was the acting Captain, and the Iridium Star Vice-Captain served both to correct and instruct him. Among the two hundred crew mbers, the vast majority were fresh graduates from the Star Alliance Military Academy and Universe Army Training Base, all from Earth. The ship also hosted nearly a hundred bionic human crew mbers, who in reality also served as training instructors.
The Richelieu escort ship exited the warp bubble and smoothly arrived at the galaxy system. Acting Captain Chi Jia imdiately gave an order to the navigation and science teams: "Begin observations of the stellar interiors to determine our situation."
This task wasn't too challenging. Given Iridium Star technology, even observing planets several light-years away was difficult, and observational errors were common in the universe. Therefore, upon entering the galaxy system and confirming they weren't unlucky enough to encounter any unknown forces or attacks, re-observing the galaxy was the first step.
The results ca quickly. The female officer in charge of the navigation team, Jun Jiushao, imdiately reported to Captain Chi Jia: "Captain, we have now identified seven planets in this galaxy system. From external observations, all seven are terrestrial planets, each with an atmosphere and oceans... Our initial assessnt is that all seven planets are habitable..."
Chi Jia's eyes widened in disbelief at what he heard; "Captain Jun, could you confirm that one more ti?"
Jun Jiushao did not argue with Chi Jia; instead, she silently went back and did her work again, then reported the sa result to Chi Jia.
While Chi Jia was still in disbelief, he received another ssage, this ti from the voice of Bai Zhongqi.
"Captain Chi Jia, it's clear we've discovered sothing. I now need you to deploy unmanned reconnaissance spacecraft to explore all these seven planets, gather reliable intelligence, and if necessary, conduct planetary landing observations," said Bai.
Chi Jia imdiately acknowledged; he would not defy an order from Bai Zhongqi. Although direct orders from the Iridium Star Chancellor seed inconsistent with the Universe Army's command chain and system, Chi Jia understood that if Bai Zhongqi wished to do this, he could directly command the unmanned reconnaissance spacecraft aboard the Richelieu to launch and execute the mission.
The Richelieu carried a total of eight unmanned reconnaissance spacecraft, part of a replaceable mission module that could be swapped out for fighter bays, rescue bays, cargo holds, or mine-laying bays. These small unmanned reconnaissance spacecraft had excellent capabilities and could even perform autonomous phase jumps, covering distances within 10 astronomical units. These spacecraft also served as mother ships for the Dragonfly Drones, which could be released once the planet was reached.
Huang Quan was struck speechless as he watched the live video captured by the Richelieu's telescope; "I can't guess about the other planets, but this one is definitely habitable, though it seems to have a greater landmass than water. Maybe there's an alien civilization there?"
Chi Jia was aware of such a possibility and said, "All departnts must be prepared. If there truly is an alien civilization on these planets, we might be regarded as invaders, and a battle could be inevitable."
Laughing, Huang Quan said, "Hey, if these really are seven Earth-like habitable planets, even if there are native civilizations, the Star Alliance will surely claim them by hook or by crook. This wealth is too great to resist."
Chi Jia glanced at him, knowing Huang Quan was right. The previous experience with the Erald Sea Star had been very satisfying for the Star Alliance; if they encountered seven more, and all in the sa galaxy, then the Star Alliance would definitely not give up. He felt that even if it ant warping principles to start a war to seize them, there would be those in the Star Alliance willing to do so.
Leaving the Iridium Star people aside, just the Earthlings—who had recently joined the Star Alliance—lacked confidence when facing the Teizene people. However, if another rich galaxy system within the Danlu Interstellar Cloud presented itself, they would surely urge the Star Alliance to seize it.
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