However, such ambushes could only eliminate ordinary patrol squads, essentially expendable units. Expecting this strategy to deal a significant blow to the Riken forces was nothing short of a pipe dream.
Fortunately, Luo Wen never held high expectations for this operation. The main objective was to instill fear, making the Rikens realize that the wilderness was dangerous and discouraging them from recklessness.
As long as they adopted caution, Luo Wen’s goal of buying ti would be achieved. This buffer would allow him to gather as much intelligence as possible about the Riken forces.
Minutes later, a bright light appeared in the distant sky, rapidly approaching. A ten-ter-long transport ship hovered over Kaida Squad’s forr encampnt.
The ship’s floodlights illuminated the ground below, turning the area into a glaring white field. However, Kaida’s squad was nowhere to be seen.
“Calling Corporal Kaida. This is transport ship YS2315, dispatched to assist you. Please respond.”
“…”
“Captain, no response from the ground.”
“Switch to broadcast and try again.”
“But that will reveal our position.”
“Are you stupid? Anyone with eyes can see our floodlights from miles away.”
“…”
After broadcasting several more calls without success, a crew mber suggested, “Captain, they’re still not responding. Should we head down and check?”
“If you want to die, be my guest. Report this to command.”
“Yes, sir…”
Inside the newly constructed fortress city.
“Lieutenant Colonel Cross, YS2315 has reported arriving at the designated area but found no trace of the patrol squad. They’re requesting further instructions,” a communications officer relayed.
“Have them gain altitude and stand by. Do not land until further notice,” replied Cross, a female Riken officer in a high-ranking uniform.
After issuing the command, she wearily rubbed her temples. This wasn’t the only missing patrol squad. From the mont Kaida Squad’s distress call ca in, she’d felt sothing was amiss.
Even though the scheduled check-in ti hadn’t yet arrived, she ordered all patrol squads to report their status imdiately.
Her suspicions were soon confird.
Of the 50 patrol squads under her command, 21 had gone missing—over half. This realization left her shaken. Initially, she hoped the planet’s environnt was causing so kind of interference with their communications equipnt.
But when she dispatched all 10 available transport ships to investigate, the news they brought back shattered her hopes. It wasn’t interference—the patrol squads had genuinely disappeared.
Cross had only recently been promoted to her position and now faced this disastrous start. Despite her reluctance, she had no choice but to report the situation truthfully.
Failure to act promptly, or worse, concealing such critical intelligence, could not only cost her rank but land her in a military tribunal.
On a Riken warship orbiting the Great Dawn Planet.
“Major General Porter, reports from all bases indicate varying degrees of losses among their patrol squads. So far, we have no information on what’s attacking them,” a staff officer summarized.
Major General Porter was an elderly male Riken, his height barely reaching 1.8 ters, with a slightly hunched posture—highly unusual among his kind. That soone with such physical limitations had risen to the rank of general spoke volus about his capabilities.
“Deploy our special operations teams to investigate these attacks. It’s fortunate that Cross took the initiative, despite her earlier mistakes. At least greater losses were avoided. Replenish her personnel and consider this a wash,” Porter said, stroking his chin with an air of calm that betrayed no concern for his subordinates’ setbacks.
At the ground base.
“Seriously? Such good fortune?” Cross muttered, her brow furrowed as she looked at the newly arrived reinforcents brought by the transport ships. However, upon hearing that other bases had suffered even greater losses, she understood why Porter had made this arrangent.
By now, the sky was beginning to lighten. High above Kaida Squad’s forr location, a rescue team that had been circling all night finally received reinforcents.
Five small gunboats and three transport ships approached—a special operations team akin to the elite guards once assigned to the Cat’s Ear Spaceship. A century of technological advancents had rendered their equipnt even more sophisticated.
“Calling transport ship YS2315, this is Special Operations Team TZ091. Please respond,” a communications officer hailed, transmitting an identification code as a precautionary asure, even though only Riken ships existed in this region.
“This is YS2315. How can we assist?” The transport ship’s crew verified the code before responding.
“Have you detected anything unusual during your watch?”
“We followed orders and activated all monitoring equipnt but found nothing abnormal.”
“Understood. We’ll take over from here. You’re cleared to leave.”
“Thank heavens. Finally, we can retreat. Good luck out there, guys.” With that, the transport ship’s engines roared to life, swiftly departing.
Watching the transport ship recede into the distance, a mber of the special operations team clicked his tongue and muttered sothing before turning to their captain, a massive Riken male. “Captain, what’s the plan?”
“Gunboats will provide overwatch from above. The rest of us will head down for a closer look. Have the ships keep their distance—we don’t want them damaging the environnt.”
Soon, the three transport ships lowered to an altitude 500 ters away from the site. Hovering three ters above the ground, the special operations team disembarked directly, carrying their gear as they leapt out of the hatch without using ropes.
Their combat suits were far more advanced, equipped with rudintary exoskeleton structures that granted them imnse strength and agility. Carrying 50 to 100 kilograms of equipnt was no challenge, even when jumping from a ship.
The captain, towering at over 2.6 ters in his combat suit, was the last to disembark. The suit’s bulk made most of the team appear similarly massive, with heights averaging 2.5 ters, and two mbers approaching 2.7 ters.
He crouched slightly to absorb the impact of his landing, then stood upright, scanning the surroundings. After quickly counting the 30 team mbers, he gestured for the transport ships to ascend as the squad fanned out.
Unlike the greenhorns in the patrol squads, these special operations soldiers were seasoned veterans, selected for their experience. They moved with precision and cohesion, needing minimal commands to position themselves effectively.
The team advanced in a dispersed formation, maintaining vigilance and mutual cover.
“Keep an eye out for anything unusual.”
Unfortunately, when the squad reached the patrol site, they found no discernible traces.
“Strange. The operations platform is still here, but the personnel are gone. Search in groups of three, and report any findings imdiately.”
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