Chapter 94: Derelict s.p.a.ce Station
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Xia Fei drank two cups of tea and did a simple a.n.a.lysis of the mission briefing. Afterward, he began cleaning the library, while Qin Mang got up silently and went down the bas.e.m.e.nt. Pulling out a microcomputer from his pocket, he established a video-call with Ye Jingshan.
Ye Jingshan, who had been in the middle of handling some doc.u.ments, saw Qin Mang’s call and immediately got up, tidied up his uniform and hair, puffed out his chest, and a.s.sumed a solemn expression.
“Teacher, are you looking for me?” Ye Jingshan very respectfully bowed a full ninety degrees, which was as precise as a straightedge.
Qin Mang waved his hand off-handedly. “Jingshan, I’ve already told you for the umpteenth time that there’s no need to be so serious. I’ve always hated people who fake gravitas.”
“Yes, your student understands.” Ye Jingshan straightened back up, his head slightly nodding, showing a look of utmost respect for Qin Mang.
Qin Mang sighed. “Do you have something you’re hiding from me recently?”
Ye Jingshan was stunned as he quickly answered, “What made you say something like that, teacher?”
“Let’s start with Xia Fei.” Qin Mang found himself a chair and settled in it, folding his leg up into a figure of four. “A cadet of the training camp will only take on training exercises and a.s.sessment missions, but I’ve just learned that you gave Xia Fei a mission briefing, which is of the second tier. Just what’s going on here?”
“This…” Ye Jingshan hesitated. His head sank even lower as if a student admitting his wrongdoing.
“Your student can’t divulge anything on this.” Ye Jingshan had no choice but to answer thusly.
Qin Mang burst into laughter. “That’s fair. I’m already unemployed. There are some things I shouldn’t ask.”
Ye Jingshan’s face turned red and white, dithering. “Teacher, it is indeed of grave importance, and this student simply can’t say a word on it.”
Qin Ming narrowed his eyes at Ye Jingshan. “Jingshan, you’re the most outstanding student out of all my cadets, the most hardworking but also the dumbest. I’m not trying to admonish you, but you’re going to be exhausted living a life like that. Fine. I won’t make things difficult for you. I just wanted to inform you that I’ll be taking in Xia Fei.”
Ye Jingshan was immediately very anxious the moment he heard that. He grimaced as he spoke to Qin Mang. “Teacher, you ought to take in a student, and I’m happy for Xia Fei as well, but you aren’t planning to impart that thing to him, are you? That young man is far too flighty and isn’t exactly dependable.”
Qin Mang coldly harrumphed and knitted his eyebrows. “Forget about the fact that it hasn’t crossed my mind yet to impart that thing onto him, but even if I end up doing just that, so what? At least, he’s cunning enough and not foolish like a certain blockhead. Even if I hand it over to you, you won’t be able to protect it.”
Ye Jingshan somberly replied in a timorous voice, “Your criticism rings true, teacher.”
Qin Mang helplessly shrugged. “Why are you so rigid? Forget it; I’m not gonna waste my breath on you anymore. No matter what big secret you’re hiding, just make sure that not a hair on Xia Fei is harmed. Hmph.”
Turning off the screen, Qin Mang stayed in the bas.e.m.e.nt and thought about things for a little longer before he got up and made his way back up. Xia Fei was still busy cleaning and tidying the place, and it was a good thing his ability was speed, so it did not take him too long to dust the large library.
Qin Mang stared at Xia Fei for a while before he beckoned the young man over.
“Is the tea slightly too bland? I’ll help you make a fresh pot right away,” Xia Fei said with a smile.
Qin Mang shook his head. “Xia Fei, you seem to have improved your speed again.”
“Heh, yesterday when I was at that training center in the internal division, I accidentally got promoted, so I’m now at the Advanced Starbase rank.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Qin Mang laughed. “Promoting the speed ability isn’t an easy task. Looks like you’ve put in quite a lot of effort every day, and that’s good.
“Go bring no. 65894 here.”
Xia Fei jogged off and retrieved the book that Qin Mang had requested, placing it right onto the desk.
Qin Mang picked up the book and looked at it. The words ‘Emergency Guide for the Amarr 5 s.p.a.ce Station Outpost’ were printed on its cover.
“You’ll be going out on a mission to this model of the s.p.a.ce station. Scan it all into your computer; perhaps it can be of use to you.” Qin Mang handed the book to Xia Fei as he gave this advice.
Xia Fei smiled. “I’ve already downloaded a set of detailed information about Amarr 5, and it’s far more comprehensive than what this book contains.”
Qin Mang nodded. “Good. Making prior preparation is smart, but you oughta know that there is some information that can’t be made available on the interplanetary internet as it’s not for all to read with the information involving sensitive; this book here was especially distributed by Amarr, one of the four major manufacturing companies in the universe. It’s different from what you’ve downloaded online.”
Xia Fei was quite surprised. “There’s such a thing?”
Qin Mang used his fat hand to gesture at the library. “Every book stored in this library has value. Don’t blindly trust the interplanetary internet. You need to remember that if there’s something or some information that everyone in the Alliance can learn and can easily access, then it’s most definitely not anything good. Things that are of real value will always be kept secret.”
Xia Fei nodded heavily, glancing at the thousands upon thousands of books on the bookshelves from his peripheral view. ‘Things that are of real value… Perhaps I’ve made the right choice in working at this library.’
…
An Amarr Inquisitor-cla.s.s frigate took off from the Heaven Execution Training Camp’s north s.p.a.ceport and plunged deep into the starry s.p.a.ce. Its destination: GPP1796 derelict s.p.a.ce station.
The Inquisitor-cla.s.s frigate was bulkier in size than other frigates, and it was able to hold up to a hundred crew members, as well as some equipment and nourishment, and to fly in s.p.a.ce for a long time without interruption.
As the most elite team in the Union, Team 13 owned two specialized frigates, and the Inquisitor-cla.s.s was used for long-distance missions or ones that required plenty of equipment. The other s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p they had was a Mittal Rifter-cla.s.s, small and fast, used for emergency missions or pursuits.
Xia Fei went around the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p once and discovered that it had plenty of equipment placed on deck, a majority of which was high-energy consuming and high-powered. There was even a multi-functional armored vehicle parked on its cargo hold.
Thanks to the Inquisitor-cla.s.s’s immense capacity and size, not even one-third of the equipment on this s.h.i.+p could have fitted onboard Xia Fei’s Lunar Eclipse.
It was as the saying went: ‘Everything has its pros and cons.’ After this frigate had been fitted with everything, its mobility suffered as a result. According to Xia Fei’s calculations, comparing this s.h.i.+p to his Lunar Eclipse, fifteen minutes was all he would need to make this Inquisitor-cla.s.s frigate disappear into the cosmos.
After all, Lunar Eclipse had been retrofitted solely for the sake of combat, and in order for that to be possible, it lacked any non-essential equipment. Conversely, this s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p had been fitted for the purpose of accomplis.h.i.+ng a myriad of missions. It was huge and clumsy, a comprehensive repertoire of functions and equipment but lacking in top combat features.
As the wars.h.i.+p engaged in auto-pilot flight, Xiao Haili called Xia Fei and the others to the s.h.i.+p’s mess, ready to hold a meeting regarding their mission.
Because frigates did not have a lot of crew onboard, most did not have a dedicated conference room. As such, the s.h.i.+p’s mess had been given additional modifications, allowing people to dine, find entertainment, hold a meeting, and other such activities inside.
The mess was large and had facilities galore. It even had three comfortable, long sofas as well as several gaming systems for leisure use. In contrast, Lunar Eclipse was completely overshadowed in this aspect; in order to designate more of the s.h.i.+p’s s.p.a.ce for combat purposes, Lunar Eclipse’s mess comprised a square, metallic table and four chairs, totally spartan-like.
Queiroz had very attentively poured a cup of coffee for Moon Song. Ever since they came aboard the s.h.i.+p, the ever amorous Quieroz had been badgering Moon Song. There was no way of him knowing about her s.e.xual orientation being different from most girls, and that in order for him to gain her favor, he would have to be prepared to go through a s.e.x change.
Xiao Haili, Queiroz, and Bosingwa stood across Xia Fei and the others, all looking like mentors. Xiao Haili intentionally coughed twice before he unfurled the large projector screen in the mess. “Have all of you read the mission briefing?”
Everyone nodded. They were all very excited about being out on a mission for the first time, so they had naturally spent a lot of time and effort going over the mission briefing they were given.
Xiao Haili paused for a moment before he pointed at the image of the s.p.a.ce station, which was displayed on the screen. “This is our destination, GPP1796 s.p.a.ce Station. Several days ago, a transport s.h.i.+p pa.s.sed by this area, and their radar system inadvertently scanned the station, then noticed that a s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p had connected to it without an Alliance code. From its dimensions, we can tell that the size of the s.h.i.+p is a cross between a frigate and a destroyer.
“That’s why our mission this time is to conduct a routine search of that s.p.a.ce station, see if any illegal individual managed to infiltrate, and if needed, we can enter the s.p.a.ce station and do a search inside.
“This is a second-tier mission and can be considered as a low-level one, so we won’t be able to have any backup, and if we do end up needing it, it will take twelve hours before the nearest team can arrive to help. The moment something strange happens, we can only depend on ourselves to resolve the situation,” Xiao Haili informed them all with severity.
Queiroz chuckled. “Brother Hai, they are but novices; there’s no need to scare them. That bit about backup… This is just a routine inspection, so there’s no need to be afraid Moon Song; I’ll be with you.”
Xiao Haili stared at the cheeky Queiroz. “A mission is still a mission. There’s no difference if this is a tier-1 or tier-9 mission; we must deal with them with gravitas and aplomb. Okay, now is a good time to ask any question you might have, or else you may begin your leisure time.”
Beihai and Manjun asked several superficial questions, then the meeting adjourned with everyone entering leisure time.
Xia Fei made his way to his cabin and buried himself in reading the s.p.a.ce station information that Qin Mang had given him, then he proceeded to train his Sly Thrust and Breath Control techniques several times.
Xia Fei had only just ranked up not too long ago, and combat using a speed of 400m/s was completely different from attempting the same with a speed of 800m/s. He would have to do plenty of drills before he could adjust to the increase in his speed.
The sixteen hours of flight quickly went by. The inside of the wars.h.i.+p was lit with yellow indicator lights, indicating that they had arrived at their destination and could begin their inspection.
Xia Fei left his cabin and made his way to the bridge. Before he reached the door, he could already hear Bosingwa’s voice coming from the command room. “What’s going on? Why are the life support and gravity systems of this s.p.a.ce station all turned on despite being abandoned? Could there be people staying inside?”
Xiao Haili gave it some thought before giving out a booming command. “Orbit around the s.p.a.ce station at a six-hundred-mile distance with speed at twenty percent. Activate the bio-detector and begin to scan the place. Turn on the main weapons system and the deep-scanning radar system. Keep the energy s.h.i.+elds at fifty percent capacity and the s.h.i.+eld rechargers at the ready; lastly, have the maintenance drones on standby.”