"Hmph! They actually sent two rookies to handle the near-Earth orbit escort mission. I don't know what Carlos is thinking. If nothing goes wrong, fine, but if there's an incident, these two rookies won't be able to protect our transport shuttles."
In the command center of the supply transport ship, two tall men in neat uniforms and a slender woman stood side by side in front of a massive monitoring screen. Behind them, rows of busy staff were focused on analyzing various intelligence from near-Earth orbit.
The leading man was the captain of the supply transport ship, named Vicente Rojo Lluch, a high-ranking official of TerraNova. The screen in front of him displayed the profiles of all the escort personnel handed over from the base.
Six profiles were clearly presented:
Maughan, 26 years old, joined TerraNova less than a year and a half ago, Number 28;Gabriel Martin, 29 years old, joined TerraNova four years ago, Number 11;David Wilson, 30 years old, joined TerraNova four years ago, Number 12;Arsalan Kazemi, 35 years old, joined TerraNova eight years ago, Number 3;Ryan Yeager, 24 years old, joined TerraNova one month and seven days ago, Number 37;Jane Austen, 24 years old, joined TerraNova one month and seven days ago, Number 38.
To Vicente Rojo Lluch, apart from Gabriel Martin and David Wilson, the others seemed inexperienced. He believed that aside from Maughan, Gabriel, and David, the rest were either too inexperienced or too young, forming a makeshift team.
"If Carlos Edward continues like this, he'll be replaced by Benjamin Torres sooner or later."
Vicente Rojo Lluch was unaware that just a few days ago, Carlos had received commendation from his superiors.
Beside him, a man and a woman, the ship's vice-captains responsible for security and logistics, exchanged smiles and said, "Captain, Carlos isn't irresponsible. His trusted lieutenant Maughan is personally leading the team, showing the importance of this escort mission. This isn't a frontline starfield; the nearby dangers were cleared years ago. We don't need to worry too much."
"Indeed, Captain, look, you've got a few more gray hairs."
Carlos's habit of smuggling goods during the monthly transport missions indicated his close ties with the ship's higher-ups.
Captain Vicente Rojo Lluch shook his head helplessly and snorted, "When Carlos arrives, I need to have a good talk with him."
"Don't do that! Please don't do that, sir!"
"If Carlos brings a few cases of wine as an apology, should we accept?"
The two vice-captains teased the captain about his sore spot.
The three continued to monitor the progress of the escort mission.
The two Bluebirds escorted the transport shuttles into the atmosphere and then stopped nearby. The base logistics department's cargo was ready. Two long, wide conveyor belts were loading the packaged raw minerals into the transport shuttles one by one. The month's worth of accumulated raw minerals was vast. The transport shuttles made three trips but only completed a tenth of the loading task.
After hours of work, everyone felt mentally fatigued. Maughan yawned in the cockpit, wiped the tears from his eyes, and said to Ryan, "Escort missions are like this, repetitive and tedious. If you feel tired, drink something to refresh yourself."
He took out a bottle of strong liquor he had prepared in advance, took a quick sip, and then tightly screwed the cap back on. Ryan, on the other hand, chewed on an energy bar to replenish his energy.
Just as he was about to receive the fifth batch of transport shuttles returning to the supply transport ship, he noticed that the drones he had placed on the meteors almost simultaneously locked onto an unusual meteor. This larger meteor suddenly showed a significant rolling deviation. Among countless meteors, this anomaly was not surprising, but what truly caught the drones' attention was the appearance of a Lacertoclaweus.
It agilely jumped onto another meteor and then silently hid in the shadow of the meteor.
Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh…
A dozen Lacertoclaweus silently emerged from the massive meteor, laying a huge trap on their return path, ready to launch an ambush. However, these cunning creatures didn't know that their every move had been captured by the drones' cameras. The intelligent butler Astra missed no details, locking onto their positions.
"Lacertoclaweus detected! Elevate to Level 2 alert!" Astra issued the warning. The cabin flashed with emergency red lights. Ryan immediately felt invigorated. He had run out of the Lacertoclaweus pancreases he had obtained earlier and urgently needed to replenish them. Unexpectedly, more prey had come to him. This was a stroke of luck!
Ryan quickly packaged the surveillance data and sent it to Maughan.
"Oh my fucking god!" Maughan exclaimed in surprise. "You… You're our lucky star. We almost got caught off guard by the enemy."
Maughan was astonished by Ryan's discovery. Ryan suggested, "Should we handle this ourselves or call in our companions on the transport shuttles to share the spoils?"
The transport shuttles were also equipped with firepower systems, not to be underestimated.
"No need," Maughan said firmly. "The people on the transport ship haven't even greeted us yet, clearly not taking us seriously. We don't intend to share this easy credit with them."
This suited Ryan perfectly. He smiled and said, "You take the left, I'll take the right. We'll split the spoils."
"Alright, but maintain a safe distance!" Maughan agreed to the plan. A signal was sent, and the two simultaneously changed their flight paths.
This scene immediately caught the attention of the officials on the supply transport ship. Although the transport ship monitored all Bluebird and transport shuttle movements, and the staff were orderly observing the surroundings, they couldn't access the private communications between the Bluebirds or the intelligence gathered by the drones.
Due to their arrogance, the higher-ups on the supply transport ship hadn't effectively communicated with the security personnel below or intended to share intelligence comprehensively. This led to the monitoring center's chip system issuing an alert when the Bluebirds suddenly changed course. Everyone's faces showed surprise.
What happened?!
The two Bluebirds suddenly accelerated and deviated from their planned route. Their maneuverability and momentum were entirely different from their previous steady escort actions. Moreover… the fire control system had been activated!
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Lines of fire suddenly erupted in the meteor belt. Meteors shattered into pieces in the explosions. The cannon fire turned the previously calm meteor belt into a battlefield in an instant.
Captain Vicente Rojo Lluch and the other two were holding their coffee when they suddenly turned to the screen, where the scene had become filled with gunfire and explosions. They looked at each other in astonishment.
"Find out immediately! What happened?!"
Vicente Rojo Lluch's face turned exceptionally grim. The escort team was firing at close range, yet their command center had received no intelligence. The staff were sweating nervously.
Soon, the answer was revealed:
"It's Zerbeasts! Zerbeasts were lurking ahead of the escort team, avoiding our detection range."
"Report to the captain! The battle is over. Twelve Lacertoclaweus have been completely eliminated by the escort team. Numbers 28 and 37 are returning to the team."