Age of Cosmic Exploration

"Don’t worry. With the creator’s particle in place, it’s impossible for these signals to get through."

On the way to the war room, Zhang Heng told Yao Yuan. But Yao Yuan retorted with an argument that made his body go cold.

"About that, I’ve been thinking. The creator’s particle has its limitation too.

"First of all, even though the creator’s particle is said to be able to block all electrical signals, and it has indeed proven to do so by all our experiments, Zhang Heng, it couldn’t block one particular kind of signal."

Zhang Heng lurched in his step as he asked, "And what is that?"

"Electrical signals that come from the human body, like brain waves!"

Yao Yuan didn’t stop to wait for Zhang Heng. "This is the creator’s particle’s biggest weakness. Of course, we have to be thankful that this technology has such a weakness, or we would’ve all been dead from body shutdown when we came near the junkyard. However, this limitation has landed us in our current conundrum.

"When we were first attacked, I didn’t think so much of it, but after you told me about the alien’s origin, I came away with a nagging thought. How does this alien command so many monsters? If it’s like what you said, the alien exists as a form of central consciousness, then how could it manage the battlefield from so far away, bypassing the field of the creator’s particle?"

The more Yao Yuan thought about it, the more his face sunk. After some time, he continued, "Therefore, I came up with a hypothesis. If this alien on Moon 2 is mentally linked to each of the monsters, it is highly probable that this linkage is via something like a brain wave. Just like how our body motion is determined by a thought, the actions of these monsters are also controlled by the main body’s thoughts. Of course, for us, our brain and body are interconnected, but for the alien, its brain and units are completely separated. This may sound improbable, but it is definitely not impossible."

Zhang Heng’s expression also dimmed when he thought about what Yao Yuan said. "In other words, the alien on Moon 2 already knows about what’s happening here?" Zhang Heng asked carefully.

"I believe so... But we better test it out first."

Then they found themselves at the war room. Inside were seated all the Black Star Troopers, authorities from the 3 bodies, Guang Zhen, and the battalion commanders who had just returned from the surface.

Yao Yuan quickly got everyone updated on the bio lab’s development. Then he revealed his hypothesis to the room. He said, "Therefore, I suspect things are going to get harsh. The 7 battalions aboveground, you must keep the surface entrance protected. I’ll provide all the weapons and support you’ll need to make this happen," Yao Yuan ordered.

The battalion commanders stood up in unison, "Sir, yes, Sir!"

Yao Yuan then turned to the Black Star Troopers and scanned the members. "Xiao Niao, Qiu Qiu, Dan Dan, and Ying, I want the four of you to get into a Space Combat Jet Prototype 003 immediately to conduct a thorough scouting around this planet. After making sure the planet is safe, I need you to move into space. The distance covered I’ll leave it to your discretion, but stay away from Moon 2’s orbital range, because I fear there are anti-air measures. The scouting will last for 3 hours, and I’ll see you back at the Hope after the 3 hours.

"Ying will be the leader and Xiao Niao will be the sub-leader and temporary strategist. Now, it’s..." Yao Yuan looked at his watch. "3:27 PM. I want a detailed scouting report at 6:35 pm. Dismissed."

Ying saluted and left the room without a word. An excited Xiao Niao, Qiu Qiu, and Dan Dan moved to follow.

Yao Yuan then turned to Guang Zhen. "Ol’ Wong, I’ll leave the surface defense to you. If I’m not mistaken, we’ll be facing a grand assault soon. It’s hard to tell how many there will be, but should it come to a dire situation, I need you to secure the area until the Hope manages to lift into the air."

Guang Zhen saluted, but he added, "Reporting, Sir. The defense unit might be assaulted by monster air force, and if those flying monsters are shielded, we will suffer a great loss."

Yao Yuan responded immediately, "If they send an air force or a giant monsters appear in the sky, I’ll personally lead the troopers to intercept them!"

Guang Zhen continued, "Reporting, Sir. If there’re shielded long-ranged artillery monsters, the defense unit too will be cornered. Therefore I request 1 unit of Black Star Troopers to assist the defense unit as back up!"

Yao Yuan did some mental calculations. The Hope still had 120 plus healthy Black Star Troopers. Even though they had proven themselves to be incredibly powerful on land, their true prowess would be shown when they were behind the combat jet. 120 plus jets might be too few to stop the monster army that Yao Yuan predicted the alien would send through space, but...

"Fine. I’ll leave 9 troopers with you, so you must protect the temporary base until the Hope manages to lift up! I’ll give you full command over the defense unit! Should the base fall..." Yao Yuan let the threat linger.

"My head will come meet you in a box!" Guang Zhen replied seriously.

"I don’t want your head, I want you to defend the base with your life!" Yao Yuan scolded.

"Yes, Sir!"

Yao Yuan finally turned to the rest of the troopers. "Other than the 4 scouts and the 9 who will be tasked with assisting the surface defense unit, the rest of you are allowed to move freely, but only within the Hope’s fifth level. You’re not to reveal the battle plan to anyone else. Be prepared for combat orders. Dismissed!"

Even though the details weren’t leaked to the public, the Hope’s atmosphere was charged with tension. Other than preparation for warp, almost all other projects were stopped. The general public was asked to remain in their residences. The excavation team was requested to increase their speed. With both anti-gravitational units and electromagnetic shield in place to further the excavation progress, the Hope should be able to lift up into space within the next 72 hours.

At that time, 4 Space Combat Jet Prototype 003s flew into the planet’s sky.

The 4 jets were tailored for the Homo Evolutis, and each had a creator’s particle isolator. They controlled their speed to fly in a parallel group so that everyone remained within each other’s isolator range to maintain constant communication with one another.

Ying kept using his seeker power to alternately scan the air and the ground. Suddenly, a voice came from his communicator. "Ying, you actually don’t need to waste your power to observe the ground..."

After a short silence, Ying admitted, "You’re right. You don’t need the seeker’s power to see that."

Below them, an army of several million monsters was marching towards the temporary base like an undulating sea. It looked like they intended to cover the whole planet.

Xiao Niao’s voice came through. "Instead of observing the ground, let’s find out where’s the monsters’ base on this planet."

Ying asked in a surprised voice, "But how do we do that? Almost the whole planet’s surface is covered by the monsters, so it’ll take too much time. Let’s not forget we still need to scout around in space."

Xiao Niao continued matter-of-factly, "That’s totally par the course... After we scout through space, if we are to follow where the stream of monsters fall, I’m sure we’ll be able to locate their base!"

"...that’s true. Right, let’s also attack one or two monsters to test their offensive and defensive capabilities. This is all useful information."

Under Ying’s guidance, the 4 jets increased speed to fly beyond the planet.

Back at the base, there were only about 3 battalions-worth, or 1,500 soldiers, guarding the perimeter. This was because the defense was done in shifts. To preserve the soldiers’ stamina across what would be a drawn out battle, this was the best course of action. Of course, the shuttles couldn’t offer the same amount of comfort as the Hope, but they were on the battlefield, so it was already as good as it could possibly get.

9 troopers followed behind Guang Zhen as he surveyed the base. Guang Zhen had the intention to ask for all of the Black Star Troopers to stay, but he knew that the Hope had more of a disadvantage in space than on land.

Therefore, he only selected Zhang Heng, Ye Mu, and 7 Survivors who were also veterans as his choices.

Guang Zhen continued his patrol, but suddenly Zhang Heng sucked in an audible sigh. Guang Zhen turned around immediately, asking, "What’s wrong? Is there danger?"

Zhang Heng offered, "Yes, many dangers incoming!"

Guang Zhen took in a deep breath and then yelled into the communicator that was within the space armor, "This is your commander, Wong Guang Zhen. Initiate red alert! I repeat! This is your commander, Wong Guang Zhen. Initiate red alert!"

Flashing red lights appeared all over the base and an ear-splitting siren sounded as well.

The camp was on highest alert! Combat was expected to occur in the next several minutes!