Book 10: Chapter 22: Encountering the Enemy

After Qin Lun and Alex ran to the mecha bay, they found the ship’s Ordnance Officers and ground crew were all in position. More than half of the Apostles with their partnered Gith Flight Officers had also arrived. Everyone’s face showed a little excitement and the tension before battle.

Different from the Faith, as an independent warship, the Advancing was compact; every inch of space was valuable. The Bingren Mecha couldn’t possibly have separate bays. All fifty Bingren Mecha stood in two rows, separated only by simple armored metal walls. The backs of the mecha were mounted directly onto short catapult rails.

The Advancing not only looked like an old Earth-century submarine but even its mecha launch method resembled those nuclear subs. Over fifty hatches on the midship hull opened upward. They would open in batches during launch, taking turns catapulting the Bingren Mecha into the void.

Of course, the catapults on an independent warship couldn’t jump through faster-than-light space; they were just high-load launchers, shooting the Bingren at high speed to regions about one or two hundred light-seconds away from the ship, placing them within the warship’s radar command range for combat.

Qin Lun nodded to Sherlock, a young Ordnance Officer looking quite excited. He grabbed the suspension bridge and slid down into the spherical cockpit, delivered inside the Bingren. After activating the mecha, he immediately linked up with the bridge.

Unlike the Faith, when an independent warship went into battle mode, all Flight Officers had to be at their stations inside their mecha, receiving enemy situation information. If a sortie was needed, they’d receive the Captain’s command to launch directly. If not, they’d wait quietly inside their mecha until the all-clear.

“Quiet… Robin, what’s the situation?” Qin Lun asked as soon as he entered his mecha, hearing chaotic questioning in the comm channel.

These voices all belonged to Apostles already inside their mecha. The Gith Flight Officers assigned to work with them, however, showed good discipline and didn’t speak out without orders.

Hearing Qin Lun’s voice, the other Apostles immediately realized something and quietened down. Apostles weren’t soldiers after all. They were used to brainstorming in small teams, so this behavior was understandable.

“The bio-radar readout isn’t very clear,” Robin’s soft voice sounded in his ear. “We only know about ten moving targets have appeared in the detection range. We can’t tell if they are hostile.”

“What does Fuyutsuki say?”

The three Apostles who needed to stay aboard the ship most of the time had all received brief training for their posts. Robin had received some captaincy training too. But at times like this, Fuyutsuki’s opinion was vital, as she was Captain Marx’s official deputy.

“Sir Qin Lun, I have two recommendations,” Fuyutsuki’s voice was calm and unruffled. As an experienced fleet deputy, this situation couldn’t stir her emotions. “First, send two squads to scout the detected targets. Second, hold position and wait for those targets to enter the momentum radar’s detection range.”

“Wait for them to enter momentum radar range?” Fuyutsuki’s words were a bit puzzling, but Qin Lun understood immediately. It turned out the Advancing itself hadn’t detected the enemy targets; Robin herself had.

The Advancing, as a bio-modified ship unlike other Gith warships, used clone samples from Robin, Sawa, and Bobby as its core, with Jannamer bio-tissue as material. These components allowed it to utilize the unique Apostle Skills of the three Apostles’ replacements. The bio-detection radar was one of these special parts.

Robin’s Apostle profession was Spirit Summoner. Most of her Apostle Skills couldn’t be used in this world. However, the powerful mental strength Spirit Summoners used to commune with spirits was carried over. Paired with this enhanced bio-radar, Robin’s detection range was two or three times farther than the Advancing’s own radar.

The importance of detection range in combat was obvious. This was the main reason Qin Lun had suggested Robin, Sawa, and Bobby stay aboard the ship. Of course, this new bio-equipment’s reliability was unproven.

Fuyutsuki’s first suggestion was the standard procedure for encountering the enemy. The second suggestion showed the beautiful lieutenant suspected Robin’s ability was unreliable. As a small independent ship, their resources were limited. Each sortie used a lot, so it was best avoided if possible.

Realizing this, Qin Lun’s face, however, darkened. He frowned and said, “Robin, Frank and my squad will go out to scout. Order the War Room to initiate sortie mode!”

Bang, bang, bang! About a dozen hatches above the Advancing slammed open. Ten Bingren streaked into space beside jets of launch fire, rapidly shrinking into tiny specks of light before vanishing into the cosmic void.

“Vera, Meri, Fiers, form a four-machine protection formation with me!” Alex’s calm voice came over the comm.

“Understood! Copy…” Cool, collected voices quickly replied.

Though the Apostles were captains of their respective crews, the airborne tactics were still directed by the Gith Flight Officers. Apostles could master flight maneuvers quickly, but that didn’t mean they had talent for commanding aerial combat.

With Qin Lun’s Seventeenth Fallen Angel as the core, the others swiftly formed a four-cornered formation around him like a solid cube. Frank’s team flew a distance behind on their right flank, providing cover.

This was a paired scout formation the Apostles devised during drills—Qin Lun’s detection skill paired with another powerful shield-type Apostle.

Qin Lun possessed Multieye Bramble Horn’s detection ability. Unlike Robin’s long-range, wide-area mental sensing via the bio-radar, his Multieye Bramble Horn operated closer but with greater sensitivity, perfect for mecha deployment.

Their team had two shield Apostles who were both main tank (MT) build types originally—one Second Order: Huobiao, the other Frank. Qin Lun chose Frank over the stronger Huobiao because he was confident he wouldn’t need shielding and wanted to give Frank experience.

If they really encountered enemies, it was likely other Apostle teams from the other two alliances, having chased them in. Their goal: defeat this Patroller Team to prove their strength and then try to poach members over to the Order Alliance.

Therefore, enemies wouldn’t go full lethal immediately. This made it a prime training opportunity, so Qin Lun wanted Frank to go first.

The two mecha groups flew for another dozen minutes after catapulting before finally seeing what Robin had detected. It was over a dozen large insects resembling bumblebees. Their wings shimmered with a crystal clear light, similar to the flaming thrust pushing the Bingren. Glittering, powder-like fluorescent specks trailed them in the Star Void.

“Alex, what is that?” Qin Lun transmitted the images via his view screen to the other members.

“Those are Insectoid Napathas!” Alex stiffened upon seeing the giant bugs, face turning grim. “Captain Robin was right, we need to warn the Advancing immediately! Sir, be very careful. These things are vicious.”

“These are Napathas? They don’t quite look like the projections…” Qin Lun raised an eyebrow. After learning the Insectoids were close by during that earlier drill, Captain Marx provided Apostles with materials to identify various Insectoid combat units on the battlefield.

Napathas, like the Black Crabs, were Insectoid scouts. However, Black Crabs were massive slow cruisers suitable for long-distance patrols. Napathas were agile patrol and scouting worker units. Still, it seemed Captain Marx’s intel was a bit outdated. Clearly, the Insectoids had undergone significant changes over the years.

Discovering an Insectoid scouting group at this distance confirmed Captain Marx’s earlier judgment: Planet X-352 did harbor an Insectoid base.

“Alex, would they be able to signal the planet’s Insectoids if they spot our Bingren?” Qin Lun asked cautiously.

“Unlikely, Sir. Insectoid bio-communications are short-range. These Napathas are quite far out. Standard analysis suggests they shouldn’t be able to signal the X-352 colony from this distance,” Alex stated decisively after brief thought.

“Sir, do you intend to eliminate this group of Napathas?” Vera suddenly asked. “Their maneuverability rivals our semi-bio-mecha. While their endurance is lower, they could definitely make it to X-352. Also, there are quite a few, and we only have two Full-Bio-Mechanisms. We might fail to get them all.”

“Heh, I recall the material mentioning Insectoids’ fierce, aggressive nature. If they subconsciously perceive the enemy as weak, they won’t flee!” Qin Lun’s eyes glinted; he smiled slightly. “We’ll offer them an illusion then. Make them think this is just a beautiful encounter with other cosmic drifters!”

“Sir, you intend to engage alone? That’s very dangerous…” Alex gasped, urgently trying to dissuade him.

“The Faith and Marx harbor great hopes for us Descendant Apostles, providing us such fine Bingren. If we can’t even handle a few Insectoid scouts, won’t we look terribly useless?”

Qin Lun’s smile remained. “It’s decided. Seems you haven’t witnessed the unique powers of us Descendant Apostles in the simulators yet. I’ll give you that lesson now!”

With that, his Seventeenth Fallen Angel suddenly surged forward from the formation, charging towards the eight Napathas floating oblivious in the distance.

During its swift, thunderous rush, the shoulder and back Jannamer bio-armor plating along his Seventeenth Fallen Angel suddenly expanded, bulging outward while its legs shortened and muscle mass thickened. Simultaneously, its already imposing lower jaw jutted forward slightly, its closed mouth snapping open to reveal a set of sharp, catlike fangs.

In an instant, the humanoid mecha transformed into a giant feline predator. Sleek, powerful muscles rippled across its frame like scurrying mice.

Even wilder was the mecha’s eyes flaring with predatory light during its transfiguration, its entire body shimmering with wavy shadows. Its form rapidly grew translucent. Within a few seconds, the massive feline utterly vanished from their radar screens, merging seamlessly with the dark void of space.

Qin Lun’s second Apostle replacement ability was finally revealed before his comrades: the Seventeenth Fallen Angel’s Beast Form—the Shadow Gale Panther!