The technical team of the mysterious organization was currently hiding in an outer-ring civilization’s territory not far from the frontlines. This civilization had joined the Interstellar Technological Confederation less than two thousand years ago.
Originally, this location was remote, far from major shipping lanes, with the nearest star gate nearly three hundred light-years away and the closest Ji military outpost eighty light-years distant.
At the sa ti, it could still access the Confederation’s quantum network. With the mysterious organization’s ability to sowhat counter the Ji race, remaining hidden from the local inhabitants wasn’t a difficult task.
Having access to the network while being in such a remote location made it an excellent base site. Even if exposed, the nearest Ji fleet would take years or even decades to arrive, giving them ample ti to respond. As for the local forces, the mysterious organization didn’t consider them a threat.
However, all this changed with the appearance of the Swarm. This area had beco a hotspot, bustling with ships from various races. Not only had armies from different species been deployed here, but the Ji race had even constructed a star gate.
Thus, what was once an extrely secure secret base beca no longer safe. But this ti, the decision by the upper echelons of the mysterious organization was sowhat rushed, and the ti to gather personnel was insufficient. The tight schedule couldn’t allow them to relocate to a safer base.
This was why the technical team imdiately requested evacuation upon discovering that Lumina was reverse-tracking them. The surrounding area was now too unsafe, and there might be Ji patrols nearby.
The caution of the technical team was justified. Although they promptly disconnected the power and network, in the realm of programming, they were still far behind Lumina, the intelligent life form operating on its ho turf.
Just ten minutes after the technical team left, a spaceship that had just departed from this inconspicuous mineral planet was destroyed by an energy beam shot from the void. A few dozen seconds later, two Ji warships appeared beside the wreckage.
“It’s this one. We found so bodies, including two very famous engineers. I didn’t expect they had such identities.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. They should have known their ship couldn’t outrun us. Why make such a suicidal move?”
“Who knows? Maybe they never expected Lumina to find them.”
“Perhaps. But we still need to search that planet to see if we can find more clues about these rats.”
A large number of combat units were deployed to the ground by the two warships. However, the position provided by Lumina was already in shambles. Not only was it deserted, but the heavy equipnt that couldn’t be taken was also blown to pieces.
“Send down so engineering robots to see if anything can be repaired. Leave two teams to guard, and spread out the rest to see if there are other discoveries.”
“This looks like a long and boring task. But we can stay here at most thirty-one years before retreating.”
“Though this position is slightly dangerous, compared to the front lines, I prefer this mission.”
This mineral planet wasn’t particularly large and lacked an atmosphere. Searching the entire planet thoroughly with just two warships’ worth of troops wouldn’t be completed quickly.
The surface was manageable; the main issue was that the mysterious organization, like rats, typically set up their bases deep underground, significantly increasing the difficulty of the search.
However, destroying that previous mysterious organization spaceship was already an accomplishnt. Now, this subsequent search was entirely under their control. Given the current situation, staying here until the stellar shockwave arrived was the safest option.
—
“We didn’t expect the Ji to co so quickly. Luckily, we had a backup plan and didn’t evacuate directly.”
“But that decoy spaceship didn’t seem to fool the Ji.”
“That’s not necessarily true. I know the Ji well—they’re just staying here to bide their ti for their own self-preservation.”
“True. They don’t have a clear objective. In that case, shut down all radar instrunts to reduce the chance of detection. Then, except for leaving two people on duty, everyone else should enter hibernation.”
“But we can’t stay here forever. After all, the stellar shockwave will arrive in a few decades. What about our frontline comrades?”
“After this storm blows over, higher-ups will send soone to rescue us. As for our frontline allies, they’ll have to fend for themselves. We’ve done all we could.”
—
With the rear support team gone, the frontline hijacking team naturally wouldn’t fare well. Fortunately, during the brief period when the system was hijacked, they had already taken control of the cockpit.
“Hurry! We can’t hold on much longer.” The technical team had given advance notice to the frontline before evacuating. anwhile, the frontline team chose to destroy the automatic chanism of the tal door leading to the bridge and weld it shut.
On the bridge, those non-friendly personnel were restrained by a clever restraint device attached to the door, hoping to delay the Ji race from breaking into the cockpit.
Unfortunately, judging by the chanical soldiers continuously pounding on the door, the Ji race seed unconcerned about the hostages’ lives.
“Destroy the quantum communication device and release all EMP bombs!”
“Are you mad? This will cut off our communication with our allies! And the close-range EMP bombs might penetrate the cockpit armor, damaging the control systems!”
“We can’t worry about that now. We must sever the Ji race’s connection with those tal lumps on the ship! Although we’ve switched to manual operation, we can’t guarantee whether the Ji can remotely restart the autopilot system! If they do, we’re finished!”
“How could that happen? Haven’t we simulated this hundreds of tis? Under these circumstances, they can’t remotely take over the ship.”
“That was without Lumina’s intervention. Didn’t the support team say Lumina has already gotten involved in this!”
The deterrent power of Lumina was quite significant, and everyone felt a bit heavy-hearted.
“Execute the order! Our mission is to pass through that star gate! We’re going to turn this warship into scrap tal. Our speed is sufficient, and with inertia, we can charge into the star gate in one and a half minutes!”
“But if that happens, we won’t be able to adjust our course. If the warship gets knocked off course…”
“We have no other choice. The rest is up to fate.”
Squadron 0599, aside from the two ships that had collided and exited the formation earlier, had ten ships remaining. Suddenly, they released a large number of EMP bombs. The massive EMP bombs not only ford a pulse field around the ships, disrupting all communications and network signals, but so EMP bombs also exploded inside the ships.
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