After the war meeting, Shi Lang was given command of a team of five people. These people were all newly promoted captains and had good skills. In addition to this, Nexa was also assigned to his team. She was given the same uniform and visor mask, however, she was not given a codename.
The team was sitting in the spaceship, venturing through the space, headed to the battery. Nexa asked, “Will one team be able to take down a whole planet? That place is a factory, with thousands of miles of machinery and personnel.”
Shi Lang did not say anything but an officer said, “According to the intel, the majority of the battery is run by robots, give or take a seventy percent. We need to capture the mainframe, undetected, upload the counter software, and then program the bots to attack the personnel, one at a time. When this is done, the battery will be converted into a big bomb.”
Nexa asked, “What do you mean bomb, do you plan to destroy a whole planet.” she was agitated.
Shi Lang said, “It is a metaphor. That planet will help us with future weapon needs. Ajax, you all better not underestimate this mission. Do you understand?”
Ajax was the man talking to Nexa at the moment, he was told that their team leader was not a normal soldier. He was a genius, and thus they all respected him. After all, they have heard of his promotion to the card class.
Ajax replied, “Sir, Yes, Sir.”
Suddenly, the pilot said, “Captain, we are approaching the target.”
Shi Lang stood up and said, “Callus, Shade, ready for action.”
The two people stood up and nodded. Shi Lang said, “That vessel is going to be our ticket inside and outside that battery. Make sure you get what we need.”
The two men nodded and after saluting Shi Lang they moved to the entry and exit port. The young man said, “Godspeed.”
The rest of the terrans also said, “Godspeed.”
Callus and Shade secured the airlock and then came outside the ship. At this moment, the ship was at a halt. They could see a small mining vessel latched to a meteoroid. It did not seem to be working anymore.
Shade said, “Tick, is the ship aligned?”
Tick was the pilot and the navigation expert, she confirmed everything and said, “You are good to go.”
The two men outside the spaceship exchanged a glance and with a deep breath, they pushed themselves off the ship. The impact made a small impression on the surface of the ship. The two were moving through the space, to try and reach the mining vessel and then steal what they needed.
…
Shi Lang and the rest were not having an easy time. Tick said, “They are on course. Time of impact, thirty seconds.”
Shi Lang said, “Good. Wait for their go sign.”
Nexa asked, “Why are we attacking here?”
Shi Lang replied calmly, “The mining vessel on that meteoroid is something used by the Arcadian Battery to mine space rocks. Every vessel in that battery planet has a chip embedded in it, which is scanned by a network of satellites. Only then can we enter the atmosphere, otherwise, the defense system will fuck us over.”
…
Callous and Shade were moving through the space at a fast speed. They were wearing black spacesuits and were invisible to naked eyes. The camouflage mode of the suit was working fine as they were not making any movements. Space had no friction, remember.
The two people could see a crew of people outside the mining vessel. They were Callous spoke in the communicator, “Seven spotted, engaging in five seconds.”
Shade directly used his ability, before his body could land on the meteoroid, he teleported under the shadow of the mining vessel. This was the reason he was called Shade and hired by the secret division. He was invincible for night operations.
Callous was the opposite of his partner. He fired the front stabilizer on his suit before heavily landing on the meteoroid. The location was not far from the crew of miners. The people were alerted, they were all miners but they were soldiers as well, so they were aware that someone has attacked them.
One of the guys raised his hand and was about to hit the panic button when Shade appeared behind him and a sharp blade passed through the back of his neck. The knife had micro holes filled with neurotoxins. After the hilt was twisted slightly upon a confirmed stab, the poison will be released.
Shade did not waste time, he moved to deal with the next guy. Callous had also jumped forward to come closer and using his ability, stunned the guy in front of him after patting his shoulder. He moved to deal with the next one.
Shade took down two, and Callous held back two more. The other three looked at each other and then one of them rushed to the mining vessel, while the other two tried to stop the assailants. Callous moved forward and directly took down one of the guys while Shade stabbed the other.
The person in front of the vessel tried to open the hatch but for some reason, it did not work. Earlier when Shade had teleported below the vessel, he stuck a device on the vessel, which rendered all the electronic features useless for a few minutes, this device was a baby of Cara’s brain. She was a genius like Shi Lang or anyone had ever seen before. However, now that a person was left, he will not be killed due to Shi Lang’s command.
They needed a few answers before jumping in deep. Shade said to the communicator, “One fish on the hook Captain. You are clear to approach.”
Tick said, “Captain, we have the go sign.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Go ahead.”
The spaceship moved and by the time it had arrived near the meteoroid, Shade and Callous had taken off the spacesuits of the people, and the only survivor was held, hostage. When the people got down from the spaceship. Tick pressed a command button, which will enable the AI in the vessel to get back to the mothership of the secret division.
Shi Lang came and crouched in front of the person and using the sign language he was taught by Cara, he asked, “How much time do you have before your expedition comes to an end.”
The man replied, “An hour.”
Shi Lang nodded and asked, “What are the things we need to do in order to get in?”
The man replied, “You will need to swipe your identity cards. Sir, please do not kill me, I have a child at home. I am just a simple miner. I am not a soldier like these people.”
Shi Lang thought about it and nodded, he said, “Ajax, take him with us, collect the things he said we need to get through the security check. Tick, familiarize yourself with the controls of this vessel. Jill, you are to dispose of these Arcadians and take a few samples.”
Everyone was working except for Shi Lang and Nexa, only one of the team members was left standing. Shi Lang said, “Byte, you know your role, correct?”
The man nodded. Nexa asked, “What is his role?”
Shi Lang cast her a gaze and said, “You will know soon enough.”
Nexa nodded and asked, “Captain Ace, I have noticed that the people in your teams have their codenames based on their abilities, but I am not sure what is your ability, yet they call you Ace.”
Shi Lang said, “My name is not based on my ability but my deeds. Now if you have had enough of your research material can we focus on the task at hand?”
Nexa nodded and fell into thought, what were those thoughts, only god and she knew.
…
After an hour, eight people were occupying the vessel. This vessel had six drilling arms, and they were all semi-automatically controlled. This was done to save money on tech for the miners. The excuse was to secure employment and a future.
Tick said, “Captain, we are approaching.”
Shi Lang turned to look at the hostage and said, “Whatever happens, you will follow us.”
The hostage gulped when he saw this. Soon, the ship was scanned by an array of satellites. The whole planet below was covered with clouds. The systems on the vessel beeped and then the ship continued forward, without any problems, and everyone let go of a breath. They were really anxious, after all, they had no idea what could happen here and they were flying by the ear.
Shi Lang said, “Ready to commence operation Blank Round?”
The ship rang with a collective call, “Hoo-rah.”
The mining vessel slowly descended and Shi Lang made the hostage take command of the controls while he and his team prepared their gear to attack. The sun has set and it was already night when they landed on the spaceport.