Chapter 507: Spectre II
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Wounds!
The red-tailed beast's upper body was covered with many small wounds that were hard to see from afar without zooming in.
Upon closer inspection, Ye Chong found that the creatures all looked tired and spent.
Ye Chong was surprised. He pondered on their situation, then asked, "Is Shu here? Xi Qing?"
"Here, sir!"
"Here, sir!"
Shu and Xi Qing answered simultaneously through the comms.
"Take 500 mechs each and kill those red-tailed beasts. Remember! Take it slow and steady!"
"Yes sir!" The two of them acknowledged.
The two young men were doubtful. Before this, Sir Jay had never asked them to initiate an attack. After all, they held the disadvantage in outer space. This time, Sir Jay had even asked them to drag on the battle, which was contrary to their fast paced battles before.
Even though Sir Jay's orders sounded unusual, they believed that there must be some reason behind them.
1,000 mechs came out from their starship and silently creeped up to the red-tailed beasts. The 200 over red-tailed beasts were absorbed in watching something, oblivious to their ambushers.
It was when the 1,000 mechs completed their surround formation that the 200 creatures realized what they had fallen into.
Just when everyone expected a vicious battle to take place, the 200 creatures seemed to panic and tried to escape.
This was unusual, too unusual!
Xi Qing and Shu quickly noticed that something was different this time. Before, the red-tailed beasts they encountered would never give up without a fight. They had never seen a red-tailed beast flee from battle, much less an entire army of 200.
They began to understand what Sir Jay was thinking, but now was not the time to consider it further.
Xi Qing and Shu gave the same order, "Noose strategy!"
The noose strategy was designed by Sir Jay himself. Sir Jay had designed 13 strategies, and the noose strategy was the ninth. This was a typical strategy for when one had the advantage in numbers. It involved surrounding one's enemies, not engaging them directly, but slowly whittling down the enemies' stamina.
In past battles, Xi Qing and Shu had never used the noose strategy, since mechs could never keep up with the energy and strength of the red-tailed beasts.
While this was the first time they were using the noose strategy, they had no problem executing it. After all, they were by now familiar with all 13 strategies designed by Sir Jay.
The 1,000 mechs spread out wide, grouped in twos or threes. They blocked the red-tailed beasts, kept them surrounded and occupied. All the groups worked together, doing their parts, moving swiftly. They did not initiate attacks with the creatures, only stopping them from escaping. Like a noose, they wrapped around the enemy's neck, an inescapable death trap.
Soon, the noose strategy's effects became noticeable. Xi Qing and Shu also noticed by then what was wrong with the red-tailed beasts. It seemed the creatures had survived an intense battle, and were now exhausted from the fight. The 1,000 mech pilots may not have fully recovered, but they were more than enough to deal with these 200 exhausted red-tailed beasts.
After half an hour, none of the red-tailed beasts managed to escape. More importantly, they were able to catch 30 over red-tailed beasts alive. They had never had a live catch before.
Living red-tailed beasts would be invaluable for research purposes. This would allow the human side to find ways to eradicate these creatures. However, this was irrelevant to Ye Chong. He had no specialists on his end, and no effective way to contain these red-tailed beasts. In the end, he ordered for the 30 over red-tailed beasts to be killed as well.
With the 200 over red-tailed beasts dealt with, the tension in the fleet was relieved. It was bad news to encounter these creatures right after they escaped the dangers of the Calamitous Asteroid Belt.
Ye Chong considered the situation. The red-tailed beasts seemed to have survived an intense battle, and they were watching Spectre. What happened here? What were they fighting against? Humans? Or other organisms?
The red-tailed beasts must have ended the battle not too long ago. They were watching something, and what was that supposed to mean? Ye Chong went through the details he observed and tried to understand them.
From the degree of exhaustion they were experiencing, the other side must have given them a good fight. However, both sides were probably an even match, or the red-tailed beasts would have escaped long ago, and not stay behind and watch.
They were watching Planet Spectre.
What happened there? The dirt colored planet had dark brown streaks across it. There was hardly any greenery. From the looks of it, Ye Chong would have thought it was a barren planet, unsuitable for life. However, he also knew that there were all kinds of weird living things in this world. If this apparently barren planet harbored life, he would not be surprised.
He decided to investigate. He had a feeling that they would find something interesting.
This was not the kind of feeling that mentalists have, not their strong premonitions. Even so, Ye Chong could not ignore his gut feeling. He knew that whatever he felt was the result of his accumulated experience. There must be something that his conscious mind did not quite grasp, but understood somewhere deeper in his subconscious.
Xi Qing and Shu objected to Sir Jay's risky decision, but they were powerless against him. They could only be comforted by the fact that Sir Jay was an excellent mech pilot, and his mech was of no ordinary make. No matter what was down there, he should have no problem defending himself.
Ye Chong took Han Jia and flew towards Spectre. Shang was with him.
"Sigh, ain't no pretty ladies there, I don't understand why you insist to go!" Shang said disapprovingly, then added something that Ye Chong simply had no reply to, "Could it be that you're so deprived that you don't really care anymore? Err, doing it with an animal? Or it this some cross-cultural kind of love?"
Even with Ye Chong's solemnity, he could not help but rolled his eyes. He did not answer back, since he knew that Shang would only get more and more into it if he did.
Shang continued with mock earnestness, "Ye, you gotta control yourself, Bing Bing is waiting for you! Take it easy, take it easy now."
Ye Chong could not stand it anymore. "Shang, can you shut up?"
"Hehe, Ye, how about I share my divine ladies album with you? It's all the latest graphics! Actual size holographs, accurate measurements, best collection in town. I'll add on the latest Dragon Tiger Battle vid for free, what d'you think?"
Ye Chong ignored the mech.
"Alright alright, looks like I have to bring in the big ones. You'll definitely love 'em. Bing Bing, Feng Su, Lunatic Guan, or Qiu Man. Just tell me which one you want. Ye, I'm only offering since we're such old time friends," Shang continued to entice him.
Ye Chong was unmoved. He kept his eyes fixed on the holographic screen.
Shang sneered, "Ye, people shouldn't suppress their emotions, it's not healthy! Man's gotta do what he has to do. What's the use of having a big heart? To love them all of course -"
Abruptly, Shang's blabbering stopped.
Not knowing what he was up to know, Ye Chong remained silent.
After three minutes, the mech still did not say anything.
Five minutes later, it looked like Shang had simply disappeared. Ye Chong grew worried and asked, "Shang, what is it?"
It was 10 seconds later when Shang replied lazily, "Mu was saying, a man has to be strict to himself. Devotion is the best option."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ye Chong could not understand.
"I asked him that too," Shang continued listlessly.
The mech explained, "In the end, Mu said, 'It conserves energy.'"
Ye Chong did not quite understand that, but he nodded, "Yes, Mu's right." It did not matter what Mu really meant, but conserving energy was always a good thing. He did not muse further on the relationship between being devoted and conserving energy.
The two PSI's and one human pondered on a very human topic.
…
Spectre had a thick atmosphere, so Han Jia had to slow down during its descent. Shang had came out of its dimension keystone and flew alongside Han Jia.
Not knowing what was underneath, Ye Chong moved cautiously.
The two mechs descended rapidly.
"Fly straight ahead," Shang told Ye Chong. Shang's holographic scanning system was much better than Han Jia's after all.
Ye Chong followed his lead.
Mountain ranges sprawled across the ground below. Deep valleys separated the mountains. Han Jia and Shang flew along one of the mountain ranges.
"Ye, look!" Shang no longer sounded light-hearted. He was now in serious mode.
Han Jia's photon processor brought up a video feed.
It was a red-tailed beast! A dead one, it seemed. It was lying quietly on a rock. Its face was peaceful, and its dark crimson eyes looked back lifelessly.
Han Jia and Shang landed beside the body of the creature.
"Died not too long ago," Shang concluded. There was still some warmth in the body, but the skin had started growing loose.
Ye Chong quickly noticed something else. "Shang, over here!"
Han Jia leaped to a spot not far from the creature's body. There lay the remains of a damaged mech.