Age of Cosmic Exploration, 4

by Zhttty

  Yao Yuan nodded gravely. "Yes, that’s right. I know it’s hard to believe, but we’ve stumbled across so many impossibilities already, so why not this one?"

  A warfare specialist also pressed to speak. "Captain, if Zhang Heng’s dream is true and the alien main body is linked to its creations, then it will know about the presence of the alien plant. This means we have a war on our heels."

  Yao Yuan chuckled dispiritedly. "That’s right. The alien plant allows the alien to perform a super evolution. Furthermore, since our technology is also greater than the alien's, I doubt it would mind consuming us as well. Based on these 2 observations, there is simply no way it would leave us in peace. We have sacrificed many to get our hands on the technology inside the junkyard, but now we are the junkyard for that alien."

  Yao Yuan sighed but quickly collected himself. "In other words, war is imminent. I’ve gathered everyone here to hear the brightest minds on the Hope out. Is there anything we can do to exterminate the alien on Moon 2? Professor Ivan and Mitsuda, you’ve done many experiments on the aliens. On Planet Sahara, the alien plant was taken out by a common Earth plant virus; could the same be replicated here?"

  Ivan laughed sadly, but before he could speak, Saburo stood up. "Captain, since this is my expertise, the field of pathology, let me answer your question… Unfortunately, the same method will not work because this organism represents a perfect cell."

  Yao Yuan frowned. "There is no perfection in this world! It is impossible for an organism to be immune to every single virus and bacteria found across the cosmos. Something must be wrong with the experiments!"

  Saburo smiled despondently. "Captain, I too hope that the results of my experiments are wrong, but after hearing you describe Zhang Heng’s dream, I’m certain of the fact… that even though natural perfection might not exist, relative perfection is definitely possible.

  "There is a row of DNA inside this organism’s cell that is uncoded. When the organism comes into contact with an unknown virus or bacteria, the cell will code a previously discovered antibody. If the protein doesn’t work, the row of uncoded DNA will tweak the formula of the amino acids slightly. Even if the newly formed antibody still doesn’t work, the adjacent cells will receive the tried formula as some sort of a dying message. Utilizing a trial-and-error concept, it’ll eventually form a usable antibody.

  "This is why," Saburo lowered his head, "we are unable to completely kill this organism. Unless there is a supervirus that could infect all of the cells within a short period of time, nothing will work. A slow-working virus will allow the organism time to eventually code immunity against it. It is, as I’ve said, a perfect cell."

  Yao Yuan too was at a loss for words. They had run out of options. Both H-bomb and the Genesis would take too long, and the alien plant was of no use…

  Did they have no other choice but to warp out of there?

  Then a few soldiers rushed into the room and whispered into Yao Yuan’s ear. Yao Yuan nodded slightly before announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, our prediction is correct. About 5 minutes ago, a large army of alien monsters was found above the temporary base. There are more than a million of them."

  The room rustled in panic. It was so chaotic that no one was paying attention to Yao Yuan.

  Frustrated, Yao Yuan slammed his hand on the podium, sending the room into silence. Then he added, "But please don’t worry, because at least we have the technological upper hand. Furthermore, we have built a concrete base, so as long as we have enough energy and ammo, we should be fine. We’ve hunkered down around a small base, limiting our area of vulnerability, so their numbers advantage shouldn’t be that worrying.

  "Here are my orders: first, the experiment on the alien cells must continue. I believe firmly that there is no perfection in space. There must be a weakness to this alien, and I want the Academy to find it for me…

  "Secondly, the speed of excavation must increase. If necessary, I’ll allow the use of the Hope’s main cannon to help the excavation. As long as it won’t result in the Hope getting buried, I’ll allow any desperate measures…

  "Then, for the Barracks, we need a steady replenishment of ammo and explosives. Also, we need to have mechanics at the ready to repair any damages to the space combat jets…"

  Yao Yuan finished everything he wanted to say. After a pregnant pause, he looked at everyone gathered there. "Pray to your gods and ancestors for their blessings. Pray that this possible home planet will not be taken away from us…

  "I’m sorry, but if there is no other choice, I’ll have to warp. Yes, a possible home planet is very important, but the safety of the entire human civilization is even more important. Therefore, if you wish to breathe clean air freely under a blue sky again, devise a plan to get rid of these alien monsters!"

  When Yao Yuan was busy coordinating the military logistics, Ying’s team, who had been out for only half an hour, came back with harrowing news.

  "What! The giant organism on Moon 2 is detaching itself? It gave up on Moon 2 and is heading towards us now?"

  Yao Yuan was in utter disbelief, but he had to accept the truth after witnessing the pictures taken by the combat jets. The slice of alien that covered almost half of Moon 2 was curling off of the land. It was rolling into a sinewy meat ball, preparing to depart.

  Its destination was obvious…

  The main body intended to land directly on the planet to absorb the Hope entirely!

  "Not only that, on the way back, we stumbled across many space-surfing alien monsters… they could travel through space, and even though they were slow, clunky, and fragile compared to our combat jets…"

  Ying’s face fell, adding, "There are too many of them; it’s easily more than ten million!"

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  Chapter158 The ECS System!

  Yao Yuan scanned through the pictures brought back by Ying’s scouting team one more time. The alien main body that was previously spreading itself to cover Moon 2 was unfurling at record speed. As it layered upon itself, the 4 reactors showed signs of charging up. It was obvious that it was leaving Moon 2.

  Simultaneously, in the space between the planet and Moon 2, especially around Moon 2, was a dense crowd of flying monsters. The monsters had both giant fleshy wings and an opening on their back for a stream of corpuscular flux. It seemed like they had the ability of flight both in space and within the ozone.

  Captured in some of pictures was the combat between the space jet and the alien monsters. Like other aliens that they’d seen, the flying monsters were covered with an exoskeleton and looked grim and ferocious. While their bodies were only 8 to 9 meters tall, their wings extended to more than 20 meters wide. Their flight speed was unknown, but it was obvious that they were much slower than the space jets. The fact that they weren’t electromagnetically shielded also made them easy targets for the combat jets.

  The 4 space combat jets cut through the ranks of flying monsters easily. Due to time constraints though, they didn’t wander deep into the monster army.

  "This thing here is what worries me," Ying said while pointing at an oval-shaped meat blob that hid behind the frontline. "At the interval of about every 10,000 monsters, there will be one such blob. The thing is about several hundred meters long and I believe it has a similar purpose as those electromagnetic shield generating monsters. And if that’s true, the combat capability of our troopers will be greatly hindered."

  Looking at the images, Yao Yuan asked suddenly, "Was the ECS system activated? I notice that these are all pictures of close-ranged combat."

  Ying was taken aback. "Of course it was activated. That’s common space combat rules."

  "Is that so…"

  Yao Yuan stood up with joy. "Our minute technological advantage might tip this war to our favor! There’s still hope, Ying!"

  Very quickly, Yao Yuan gathered all of the Black Star Troopers at the S
pace Combat Jet Prototype 3s’ hangar. The combat jets were all ready. A space war was going to start.

  "…There’s no time to waste. Everyone here knows how much is at stake. If we fail, our families, friends, future generations, and the entire human civilization will end up as alien nutrients!"

  Yao Yuan stared down from his vantage point at the podium. 120 plus troopers stood at attention. Each was armed with standard trooper equipment, fitted space armor, Gaussian rifle, and a sawblade strapped to their waist.

  "Remember to activate your ECS system before entering combat. Based on our observation, our enemy doesn’t have access to this technology, so they will only realize our presence when we’re awfully near. Therefore, we’ll be depending on a guerrilla tactic for this battle. Hit hard and hit fast. The moment your target is struck, get out of its detection range! Rinse and repeat!

  "Let’s save humanity! Move out!"

  The ECS system was also known as the invisibility tech. Unlike Earth’s camouflage, the ECS enables actual invisibility by refracting the light source that enters one’s eyes. It was a 4th revolution technology.

  As mentioned above, invisibility didn’t mean actual disappearance. It was all light manipulation. One’s presence will still be exposed if scanned using powerful optical radar systems. Therefore, the ECS system had to be paired with creator’s particles. With creator’s particles blocking the radar system, the ECS system could provide substantial invisibility. This technology completely invalidated a warship’s main cannon, making skirmishes between mobile engines that much more important.

  This ECS system was also inherited from the junkyard. In fact, when the AI ambushed the Hope, it had used the ECS system to cloak the battleship piece!

  Since the alien didn’t know about the ECS system, this meant that it was open to ambushes from the Black Star Troopers. Similarly, after the Hope lifted up into space, it could activate its ECS system to escape detection. Furthermore, since the alien monsters had no ECS system, the Hope’s long-ranged weapons weren’t at all hampered!

  The Hope could provide a warship’s worth of long distance support! After a series of bad news, Yao Yuan was immensely relieved to finally hear some good news. After the Hope lifts into space, it will be easy to squish the meat blob into a meat pie!

  It was as Yao Yuan thought, even a small technological difference could mean life or death in space!

  Back at the base, Guang Zhen used his military-grade binoculars to scour the sky above them. Even the horizon was packed with a sea of monsters; there was not even any breathing room available. Other than the monster types that they had already encountered in their previous skirmish, there were a lot more weird-looking monsters.

  One of them crawled on 6 legs and had a tube-like extended neck. It had not a head but a pair of eyes that blinked at the end of its long neck. The monster was 5 to 6 meters tall and more than 10 meters long. It easily dwarfed the other monsters on the field. It was a cannon monster.

  Another monster was awashed in black. However, unlike other monsters that had shell-like exoskeletons, this monster’s black outer shell had a metallic sheen. Like a centipede, it was segmented and had appendages that extended underneath the many segments. At the forefront was a pair of pincers that surged with electricity. It was not tall, only several meters in height, but it was about 8 meters long. Its looks alone could inspire fear in one’s heart.

  Other notable monsters included the long-barrel-at-the-chest monsters that appeared in the previous battle. The long barrels could shoot Gaussian bullets, and compared to last time, there were a lot more of them this time.

  Similarly, the small foot soldiers and giant electromagnetic shield generating monsters also increased in numbers. Collectively, they gushed towards the base like a tsunami.

  Guang Zhen breathed in deeply. He hugged himself closely, saying to no one in particular, "This is so weird. Why they aren’t attacking? If I had known that it would be so complicated, I would have asked Yao Yuan for a Thinker…"

  "…Sorry, can’t help you there."

  Guang Zhen turned to see Ren Tao saunter lazily out of one of the transport shuttles. Even though there was a distance between them, thanks to the internal communicator within the space armor, the troopers were able to communicate with each other easily. The whole base was in the creator’s particle isolator’s range, so this line of communication wasn’t affected.

  Ren Tao dragged himself to stand beside Guang Zhen with reluctant steps. He surveyed the army of monsters that had them at a chokehold, observing. "Unfortunately, I’m still unfamiliar with how to pilot the combat jet, so Yao Yuan left me behind."

  Guang Zhen, though, rejoiced. "That works out just fine. To fully understand the complicated wartime state of affairs, we need a Thinker like yourself… So looking at all these, anything come to mind?"

  Ren Tao glanced sideways at Guang Zhen and shrugged. "I told you, I have no clue why they aren’t attacking… But if I have to guess, they are waiting for something."

  "Waiting for what?"

  The puzzle attracted not only Guang Zhen’s attention but also Zhang Heng’s, who stood beside him. Even the other troopers moved closer despite the fact that they were already in hearing range.

  "Who knows, maybe they’re waiting for the battle horn."

  Ren Tao, though, disappointed them with a non-serious answer. Right then, several combat jets flew up into space from the opening. The moment they hit open air, light waves twirled around them, eclipsing their presence, leaving only their smoke trails behind.

  At the same time, the line of alien monsters roared in response. Numerous monsters started charging towards them. The cannon monsters hunkered down for impact as bombs were lobbed into the sky one after another. It was clear that these were not Gaussian bombs, because the soldiers were able to follow their trajectory. They arced beautifully through the sky until…

  A series of explosions erupted several thousand meters around the base. The bombs were traditional explosive blast weapons!

  "I believe that qualifies as a battle horn," Ren Tao commented lightly.

  Guang Zhen had no time for his snide comments. He yelled, "Support battalion, prepare your weapons! Let some of the enemies through. 10 seconds later, bombard the horizon with a Gaussian carpet bombing!

  Let’s make these alien filths eat some shrapnel!"

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  Chapter159 Mankind’s First Space War!

  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.