Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 134: First Captain Experience

Chapter 134: First Captain Experience

"Your Majesty, don't worry. I will do my best to rescue both of them," I promised.

"Both princes are in danger, especially Prince Arude, who was last seen in Goldsteel City. From our latest reports, the city has fallen and Prince Arude has gone missing. It will be very difficult to find him. I can only rely on you, Captain. The Kingdom of Akko and her citizens will remember this," said King Xido gratefully.

I repeated my promise to help before leaving with Assistant Xink at the docking bay where the battleship Spacetime was parked.

"Canyue, why did you call us the 7th Armored Division? Why not the first? Won't that sound much cooler?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"I honestly came up with the name randomly. I chose the '7th Armored Division' because it would sound like we are a much bigger unit than we are," I said.

I heard Domo grumble, "This is the consequence of being uneducated. Someone uneducated is naturally terrible at naming."

When we arrived at the docking bay, a group of fully armed soldiers was waiting for us, standing in two neat rows.

"Captain! All the crew members of Spacetime welcome you! I am the combat advisor assigned to the ship, Lin Feixue. I will be in charge of assisting you with commanding the battleship and the battles we find ourselves in," reported a young second lieutenant.

This was the first time I was addressed as captain, and this was also the first time I had my own crew. Thus, I was incredibly excited.

"Second lieutenant, where is our command center?" asked Zhang Bao'er, who couldn't hold back his excitement.

"The command center has been prepared. We can take off at any moment," said Lin Feixue.

We bid farewell to Xink, and I had Dondon and Domo pilot Fearless for now before the rest of us boarded Spacetime. Spacetime was one of the league's Poseidon-class battleships. The league's battleships were generally separated into three classes: Zeus warships, Poseidon cruisers, and Achilles destroyers.

Generally, a Poseidon cruiser came with 200 to 250 crew members. It had formidable firepower capable of destroying an entire moon, and it was also far more dexterous than a Zeus warship.

We arrived at Spacetime's command center shortly after. The captain's seat was located at the very front of the room, giving the entire ship a 360-degree view. When one sat in the seat, one would have a feeling that one was floating amid the boundless cosmos.

The two deputy captain seats were located slightly behind the captain's seat. There, the deputy captains could assist in commanding, observing, and transmitting the captain's orders. As the acting captain, I gained a slight understanding of what power meant when I sat in the captain's seat for the very first time. For some reason, when sitting in that seat, one would inevitably feel a powerful sense of honor and responsibility.

Done with immersing myself in the new sensation, I handed out orders to the crew. In accordance with our order, I would be the acting captain in Zhang Xingxing's absence, taking command of all operations in Spacetime. Both Kelly and Old Du acted as my deputies, helping me command the ship.

Lin Feixue, the combat advisor, was in charge of supervising the crew members and watching over the combat arrangements. Zhang Bao'er was assigned 10 crew members and was put in charge of Fearless. Dondon and Domo officially joined the Interstellar League's fleet as junior sergeants.

Wuzhou was also recruited as a junior sergeant and would temporarily stay in Spacetime and take charge of repair and maintenance. Most of them were happy with the arrangements, especially Zhang Bao'er who was given his own ship to captain for the very first time. He looked incredibly excited.

Domo was the only one who was rather resentful at being only a junior sergeant. He grumbled non-stop, claiming that nothing short of a general would be worthy of his talent and status.

After everyone received their tasks, the two ships of the 7th Armored Division took off and left the league's outer space military base. After taking off, I notified all the officials to gather in the command center to formulate an action plan.

"Our top priority is to rescue Captain Zhang Xingxing. I wish to draw a detailed plan for the mission," I said to the combat advisor.

"Our unit is 0.5 lightyears away from Sirius. I suggest we first head to the space region near Akko," suggested Old Du.

When I heard the word Sirius, I couldn't help but think about Blueflash, Toruk, and Plum. A deep memory of them had been left in me from the battle we had fought together, and I suddenly felt melancholic.

"Captain, Spacetime is equipped with the invisibility function that imperial ships have. Duke Yidon himself had approved the installation of the stealth materials," said Second Lieutenant Lin Feixue.

"What? This ship possesses the empire's invisibility function? That is incredible!" Zhang Bao'er exclaimed in excitement.

"Yes, and our ship is one of the few league ships capable of invisibility," said Lin Feixue.

Kelly said, "I suggest we go straight to Akko's space region before looking for an opportunity to sneak into Akko. Perhaps the league's attack on Lidu had caused the empire to send part of the Southstar Army to reinforce Lidu, which would give us an opportunity."

"You all make sense. In that case, let's not dally. Initiate wormhole travel immediately," I ordered.

Everyone moved to their posts while Zhang Bao'er remained for the wormhole travel.

I sat on the captain's seat and watched as a rotating transparent wormhole appeared ahead of the ship.

This was the very first time I looked at a wormhole from such a close distance. The constantly spinning transparent wormhole looked like a miniature Milky Way, mystical and beautiful.

Spacetime entered the wormhole. Seated in the captain's seat, I felt like the world around me was spinning as the wormhole folded time and space and mixed the two together, giving me the impression of a mixture of two dyes.

After roughly 10 minutes, the 7th Armored Division reached Akko's space region. After our previous experience, we had arrived even farther from Akko this time. That way, we could avoid being detected by the Southstar Army.

"Canyue, there is no fighter drone leading us at this time. I reckon we need to send out our mechanical probes if we want to go through the defensive perimeter to draw a feasible route," said Old Du.

I looked at Planet Akko, which looked like a table tennis ball from this distance, and agreed with Old Du's suggestion.

Five space probes were immediately launched before I commanded the ship to turn invisible. At the same time, I ordered Dondon to retreat one million kilometers away on Fearless and wait for further orders.

'Zhang Xingxing, no matter what, I'll rescue you this time!' I pledged to myself.

"Canyue, permission to lead Fearless to rescue Prince Arude at Goldsteel City? It will be more efficient for us to work separately," said Old Du.

"I disagree. I propose that we move together. Otherwise, the mission difficulty will only increase if some mishaps happen," said Kelly.

Lin Feixue, who had rich combat experience, also voiced his support for Kelly. Meanwhile, Zhang Bao'er stepped forth and supported Old Du. Both parties sank into a series of arguments.

"Captain, one of the probes has returned," reported Lin Feixue after 30 minutes.

"Display the results," I ordered.

Lin Feixue then played the recording on the screen. What we saw stunned all of us.

At least 90 percent of the Southstar Army in charge of encircling Akko had withdrawn, leaving only roughly 10 percent of their battleships. By expanding the area each ship watched, they were only able to maintain the encirclement with great difficulty.

"What's going on? Where are their battleships? Did they enter Akko, or did they go to reinforce Lidu?" asked Zhang Bao'er doubtfully.

"This probe has only returned with these. We can decide on what to do after the other probes return," suggested Lin Feixue.

"How long will the other probes take?" I asked.

"The probes in charge of scanning the planet will need another 60 minutes," said Lin Feixue.

"Canyue, their perimeter is very weak. We won't get another chance like this. I suggest we stop waiting and go through the perimeter with our invisibility. If they have actually landed, then things are probably very dangerous for Zhang Xingxing right now," said Zhang Bao'er.

I grew anxious as well, and I was ready to order for us to go immediately.

Kelly said, "Absolutely not. Emperor Fille is exceptionally crafty. The enemy army won't disappear for no reason, and they won't have 90 percent of their army land on a small planet like Akko. If the league decides to destroy the entire planet with their army, they won't be able to evacuate in time. Having so many battleships land is basically taboo for any commander. Nobody will commit such a mistake."

"We had just arrived from Sirius. If there were enemy reinforcements on Lidu, we would have received the news. Since we have not received any updates, the rest of their army must have landed on Akko. If we waste one hour waiting here, the captain might be gone," said Zhang Bao'er anxiously.

Zhang Bao'er's words caused me to feel more and more worried. If we waited an hour just for something to happen to the captain during that time, we would regret it forever.

Zhang Bao'er, unable to keep himself calm, volunteered and said, "Canyue, how about this? You guys wait here. I'll take Fearless and scout ahead while trying to carry out the rescue mission. We will stay in contact through the communication channel. You can be on standby to help us at any time."

At that point, I had already made a decision. I looked at Old Du and saw encouragement in his eyes.

"Spacetime will activate its invisibility and approach Akko at the fastest speed possible. Fearless will stay behind and be on standby," I ordered.

With the military command given, everyone stopped arguing. Lin Feixue commanded the pilots to activate the invisibility system and approach Akko at high speed. Spacetime took the risk and moved rapidly. In less than 30 minutes, we arrived right before the Southstar Army's defensive perimeter.

The defensive perimeter was exactly the same as what our probe had captured. There weren't many ships left, making it impossible for them to effectively seal the whole planet. We all stood up and looked out the window at Akko. An even more terrifying and shocking scene appeared before our eyes.