Chapter 15

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Chapter 15: What’s This? How Do We Deal With It? Big Bro, Help Me Out!

On the battlefield, besides reinforcements, the most unreliable thing is the battle plan. Achieving a battle plan that is 100% perfect is simply impossible. There will always be strange and messy issues that arise, especially when the plan involves a greater number of troops and more complex units working together. It’s like the battle script devised by Eceryville-fu and Sima Nasagi, despite being flawless, ultimately failed due to a wandering Skywing at ease. As they say, destiny accounts for three-tenths, effort seven-tenths, and the remaining ninety-tenths depend entirely on recklessness.

However, there are always those who fail to understand this truth in the world. For instance, arranging scripts for the enemy, and then planning scripts for one’s own people based on those scripts, leading to both sides beginning an impromptu performance, shouting about the world being unrealistic like Japan. Additionally, setting up with two fully staffed escort ships, a group of trained (more or less) naval officers and soldiers against a group of defectors who were farmers and technicians just an hour ago seems like a guaranteed success. Following which, they receive military honors, promotions, wealth, and even marry a rich noblewoman, thus reaching the peak of life.

Nevertheless, in this world, there always come challenges that test the acting skills of life’s impromptu performances. For example, when you think you are in a martial arts script, dressed in white, swift as the wind, wielding bricks to spill blood, suddenly a landing craft crashes in front of you, and a platoon of soldiers in green uniforms wearing large helmets leap out, roaring, "For Asuyan," and swiftly bring down their blades upon you.

Therefore, when two Type 075-1 class escort ships sandwiched the mini fleet commander in between, their feeling was somewhat like this, "What is this thing? It doesn’t look like a metal object, but it doesn’t feel like a primitive wooden shell either. The pure black absorptive coating on the surface looks like a style favored by certain pirates, but this shape resembling a spearhead blade is a bit… fashionable, isn’t it?"

This thing seems to be quite big, probably around 8000 tons, right? In fact, if we calculate by displacement, this type of frigate is 18000 tons when empty, and about 21000 tons when fully loaded. You can’t expect an alien without radar, accurate measurement equipment, or knowledge of finite elements to accurately judge the exact volume and tonnage of a complex structure just by its appearance.

Originally, 012 and 011 could have directly sent these two figures into space using non-luminous light spears at a distance of 60,000 kilometers. But the question is, are they here specifically to provoke the imperial people? Obviously not. In a sense, although internationally we generally call this "showing off muscles" or "military deterrence," it doesn’t seem completely wrong to say they are here to show off their ships. Speaking of which, it suddenly seems to understand why there is a unit called the "Navy SEALs" among Americans who like to flaunt their ships haphazardly after major constructions every day.

Showing off is also a kind of skill, especially showing off on the battlefield, can effectively boost morale, enhance the confidence of our own side’s victory, and strike a blow to the enemy’s combat will. Americans are naturally adept at this, boasting a high level of swagger, standing proudly alongside Blue Star. Constantly showing off, the rabbits in the "Strategic Swagger Theory" course have worked hard to accumulate valuable experience from the South China Sea monkeys.

For example, using a few thousand tons of fisheries enforcement vessel to crush a 200-ton fishing boat, and before entering space, developed to the point of using retired destroyers of tens of thousands of tons. Apart from not carrying missiles and ship guns, they have all the equipment to play a zero-distance spray game with a 150-ton small fishing boat. So, there is quite an art in how to show off with a big ship in front of a small boat.

For instance, at this moment, one must not hide slyly in a distance with dark hands, but appear where everyone can see, pull out a precious treasure that everyone can see, "Tracking and targeting completed, capacitor charged, ready to fire."

"Fire…… wait." The gunner put on an earphone and then pressed the confirmation button on the touch screen in front of him. "Boom!" A deafening blast rang through the earphone, after which the small boat-like craft instantly burst into flames, exploded, and shattered. "Hmm, this is the feeling."

Whether it’s a heavy laser or an electromagnetic gun, it feels particularly weak in space, not to mention the bodily and mentally shaking recoil, even the sound of the cannon is absent. What’s the damn difference compared to a watering hose? Rabbits used to big bangs playing as the soundtrack are always uncomfortable, so later they started preparing recorded audio to play synchronously in their earphones, just like playing joystick shooting games. Without vibration simulation, it always feels off.

The two imperial frigates only lasted about 2 seconds in total, with 1.5 seconds being the time the gunner wore earphones. As for the resistance army frigate fleeing quickly when facing the 075-1 frigate that came crashing down like a star destroyer in Star Wars, they had no choice but to stop. Let’s not even mention that they have run out of ammunition; even if they had some, they probably couldn’t do anything to these big ships. Well, actually, if they were hit, these frigates would be quite fragile, after all, their armor structures are designed against laser ablation materials, not kinetic energy projectiles.

(Laser ablation materials: fiber-reinforced plastic, aerogel, reinforced rubber, carbide ceramics, carbide woven fabric… Kinetic defense, as you can imagine, but to burn through with lasers, it probably takes several minutes.)

Until now, the huge supply ship and flagship 013 appeared nearby and solemnly signaled with light to "please both sides to remain restrained." However, due to coding issues, neither the rat nor the resistance army understood this light signal.

"Sister Cui, who are they?"

"I don’t know. Whatever their background is, we can only leave it to fate for now!" The female leader shook her light ponytail and pondered about any dissatisfied entities with the Empire who also had such abilities. However, no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t imagine which civilization could possess such great power. Perhaps the Republic of Nyannis was one, but their ships were not like this. In reality, the navy was not as strong as the Empire; they were more powerful in the army aspect.

"How do we dock this thing?" The guide boat circled the small ship named Emerald for a long time, but couldn’t find where to dock. "Are you silly? Bring it into the hangar, this thing is so small." The freighter of the Suqin-class Replenishment Ship which the hangar was for weighed over 500 tons, while the small boat was less than 300 tons. How troublesome could it be?

Indeed, it’s just a small spaceship, about a few dozen meters long and a dozen meters wide. After being hooked and pulled into the open hangar by the winch, the spaceship slowly closed into the belly of the ship like a dissected crucian carp. As the compressed air was reintroduced to restore the internal and external air pressure balance, a team of marines quickly emerged from the personnel channel, taking up advantageous positions.

In the outer space with a background temperature of 2K, the interior temperature of the spaceship would rapidly decrease to match the external temperature after opening the cabin. Even if preheated air was reintroduced, it would be difficult for the temperature to return to normal in a short time. The scene in movies where the cabin ruptures, and air rushes out frenziedly, even if sealed in time, the protagonist near the rupture would freeze stiff. If it took a little longer, they would become frozen instantly.

Therefore, the resistance army, familiar with the open hangar that required a long time for heating, cautiously peeked out after almost half an hour, curiously examining the equipment inside the cabin, which was entirely different from the Empire and any known civilizations. Starting with tools for traction and loading/unloading goods, compared to the Empire’s winch and manpower hoists with pulleys and iron chains, the overhead cranes and small gantry cranes painted in bright yellow on the ceiling emitted an air of "I’m not short of money" from inside out.

They may find it hard to understand the technical content inside, but they could still have a rough idea of how much such a large lump of premium steel was worth (‘Tangshan: 2 yuan per pound, with or without postage, 1.5 yuan, and a discount of 40% if you buy more’). Moreover, the large escort ship berthed nearby, with its thick metal armor, gave a strong sense of security, although its firepower seemed a bit weak. However, to fit an escort ship into the hangar, this ship must be huge!

Then came the bright lights, various earthy yellow and green vehicles (forklifts and tractors), and those big square steel containers, filled with precious goods inside (shipping containers). The soldiers in plain black clothes with black masks covering their faces were almost entirely ignored compared to these huge or luxurious equipment, making their equipment and presence seem weak.

In the protected room, the language experts, diplomats, and journalists were watching the alien creatures. The leader was a young woman with a bit of a youthful look on her face. She had slightly coarse pale hair tied in two low ponytails, and her cotton dress was simple and thin compared to others. She wore rough but fair feet pressed into wooden clogs, and had a pair of purple-black shiny daggers tied around her waist, showing signs of dried blood mixed with rust.

The most striking feature of these "people" was their slightly pointed ears on top of their heads, resembling a type of cat-like animal. Some of the female members even had some exquisite decorations on their ears, like the black flame-like earring on the right ear of the female leader, exuding a strange seductive allure.

"More than half are females, with only three adult males. Is it due to the long-standing conflicts causing a gender imbalance from too many male deaths, or is it because the leader is a female?"

"But those males… are a bit flashy."

If the cute cat ears on the girls represented a special charm, on the tall, burly men exuding a mixture of dockworker and mechanic scent, it was a mental shock, especially the bald male as the vice leader.

Standing nearly two meters tall, his streamlined muscles filled his linen shirt. His arms and thighs were unusually thick and powerful, with battle scars covering his rough bronzed skin. His predator-like eyes scanned the surroundings, every targeted warrior instinctively gripping their weapons, sensing a threat from their own kind. The quiet warriors also posed a considerable threat, evident by their tense muscles, slightly arched backs, as if ready to pounce like attacking beasts.

"Sister Cui, these people… are not easy to deal with. Their skills are definitely on par with the elite of the Imperial Guard of the Empire." The bald man whispered, unaware that in the highly sensitive audio system, the people sitting in the observation room could hear clearer than the person next to him. However, they spoke in the Nico dialect, of which only a fraction had been deciphered by humans from the official and imperial languages, making the various Nico dialects seem… as if a foreigner who had just learned Mandarin was standing in the streets of Guangdong Province, feeling their Chinese was probably fake.

"I understand. Stay vigilant, but do not act rashly." The female leader nodded, looking at the friendly human approaching with no ears, a tall stature, no tail, good skin, likely from a privileged family, perhaps a noble or senior bureaucrat. He didn’t seem very strong, but the man behind him, who carried no weapon or armor, exuded a stern presence, like those seasoned veterans of numerous battles. "Hello?" The other party greeted in a very stiff Nico language, the so-called "official Nico language" promoted after the Empire’s occupation.

"Who are you?" The female leader asked directly, "Friend or foe?"

"We are peaceful Earthlings, yes, peaceful." Even though this statement was a common declaration, after just defeating two Imperial guard ships, something didn’t feel quite right. "Hm~ peaceful~" the female leader remained silent.

"Um… because of misunderstandings and conflicts with the Empire, they waged an immoral undeclared war against our country. Currently, both nations are at war, so sinking enemy military ships is considered normal. As a peaceful nation and civilization, we never initiate wars or fear them…" The diplomat didn’t feel embarrassed at all, but the rehearsed phrases left the opposite side looking confused.

"Wait, you’re at war with the Empire?" After a moment of confusion, the female leader seized the key point. "Yes, they attacked one of our… leased territories."

Would it sound too childish if I said ‘farm’? So, switching to ‘territory’ and remembering it was just a temporary place leased by China, the slightly odd word ‘leased territory’ was used instead. "Tsk, looks like the Empire is in trouble." The female leader smiled. "So, what do you want from us?"

"In our country, there’s an old saying: ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ We also sympathize with your situation, having come from being a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country once under imperialistic occupation. We understand your feelings and circumstances…"

"So? There’s no unconditional love in this world. Helping us could indeed trouble the Empire, but with your strength, defeating them directly shouldn’t be too difficult, right? In other words, you don’t want to bear many casualties, using us as cannon fodder? Or are you just looking to change rulers for us, maybe they are gentler compared to the Empire?"

"…" girl, being blunt like this will leave you friendless, keep your cards close to your chest~

"Let’s be frank, we are not the only civilization on Earth, and our time in space hasn’t been long. Therefore, we need a friend, someone we can mutually support, and you are a good choice. However, your current situation is dire and cannot fulfill this role."

"So?"

"Now is not the time to talk, we can discuss the details later."

"Well, it seems like you guys are better than the Empire people." The female leader whispered, relieved. She acted tough because she didn’t have the confidence to resist, so she tried to figure out the other party’s intentions and limits in such a bold way.