253 Incursion.
Shi Lang sat in his chair looking at the faces of his teammates. He had decided to go ahead and deal with this shit once and for all. The zerg representative Jacuuba was the mastermind behind such notorious schemes to hinder the growth of the federation. Shi Lang did not want to let that creature alive anymore.
The old grievance he suffered during his vacation had given him the wake-up call, and he was going to count it all together. The team discussed and they sent Sparrow to answer on their behalf. Sparrow said, “Sir we would like to join you in the next mission.”
Shi Lang smiled and nodded, He replied, “You all have my thanks.”
Things were decided, and everything else was also planned to be executed. Shi Lang had spent a few weeks before they all agreed with this plan. The plan was a long chain of hits and attacks to be performed by them in a set period of time. One mistake and the whole team would vanish in a puff with their bodies either vaporized, consumed by the lizardmen, or become space debris.
So, they had to notify the parliament of such a huge undertaking. Shi Lang sighed and said, “I just hope they do not call me back to the federation after this.”
That was his worst nightmare in the past few weeks here, and now things have come out of illusion turning into reality. After the submission of the application and plan strategy to the general council, the old men called them back. Shi Lang even went out on a leg saying that if they tried to push him to do things that he did not like, then he will just become a renegade and kill whoever, he wishes.
In the entire federation, no one could come and defeat him, also, it stands to the fact that grounding him will allow the enemies in the shadows another chance. So, the general council held a meeting with the cabinet. The discussion lasted for a whole week and they decided to let the Ace Division carry out the strikes.
General Charlotte communicated with Shi Lang and asked him to come back to the federal space and change his equipment while at the same time, recruiting some backup troops in his unit. Shi Lang was hesitant but when the lady said, “A deck is made up of thirteen cards.”
He gave in. This was also a chance for him to go and see Amelia, although the two of them maintained an encrypted connection, they still needed to see each other. The Ace Division moved and they took the battleship for a ride back home.
In the past few months, the technology has been advanced and now the federation had perfected the loop jump formula, or as they called it before, the dual jump engine schematic. Shi Lang agreed to this proposal and they moved quickly. The ship arrived in space and the team came down on the planet with a scouting vessel.
Shi Lang landed directly in the compound of the parliament premise. When he got off the ship a lot of soldiers stood there looking at him and his team. In the past week, the team had furnished themselves with spirit suits. All painted in crimson red, with a number and spade printed on the shoulder with black paint. Another thing that made the people awe was the aura radiated from the whole team. Other than Shi Lang, every one of them was wearing a mask and visor, and other than their gender, which could be distinguished from the bumps and femininity of the suits, nothing was discerned.
Shi Lang walked straight to the office of the general council. None of the soldiers stopped his advance. When he arrived in front of the sealed room, all of the generals were standing there, they all saluted him and the shock in their eyes could not be hidden in the slightest. Shi Lang returned the gesture and turned his head to look at a person gazing at him from the side.
His cold face turned into a smiling one and the dreadful aura was dispelled. Shi Lang walked forward, and looking at Amelia, he said, “Congratulations on the promotion.”
Amelia smiled and said, “Thank you, Sir.”
Then the girl extended a holographic tablet to him and said, “Sign it, please.”
Shi Lang looked at the document and found that it was a transfer letter. Amelia was hired to work with him from now on. This girl gave up all the fame and ranks to be by his side. It would be a lie to say that he was not touched. He did not ask anything and directly signed the letter. Then he said, “Nine, take your colleague and familiarize yourself, I will deal with the council meeting first.”
Nine was Sparrow, she saluted Shi Lang and gestured for Amelia to follow her and the rest of the team. Meanwhile, Shi Lang went inside the meeting room and the place was sealed again. He asked, “So, what is the agenda this time?”
OB-One had given him a weekly report saying that everything was fine and the situation in the first fleet was stable, the bot has also told him about the growth in strength of the first fleet. So, the fleet was not something these people wanted to discuss.
A relatively young general asked, “Sir, I would like to ask you to help our fleets grow stronger as well.”
Shi Lang looked at him and asked, “What is going on? Are the fleets not strong?”
The person in charge of the alien race fleets said, “Sir, we are facing tense borders, sometimes we encounter probing vessels. In the past three months, we have detected thirty incursion attempts. One of them even took out two of our own.”
Shi Lang’s aura condensed, he did not know anything about these incursions. He asked in a calm voice, “When was the council going to inform me about this?”
General Charlotte replied, “We did not think it was that serious until we picked up a pattern when you contacted us about the komodain space.”
Shi Lang gazed at her and she said, “The incursion is like a contract with the galactic assassins. One of the allies sent in this the other day, when we asked you to come.”
A holographic tab displayed the information they had gathered. The contract was to locate the family of Shi Lang and the contract was a recon mission. Charlotte said, “Your family is safe, do not worry. However, we need to get stronger in order to counter such a force.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “OB-One will send you a list of the chemical structure of the things we classify as spirit herbs and all of the other things, however, you need to know that this mission was set up by that Jacuuba, I have almost died because of that coward once, and I will not risk anything again. Please raise the security around my family, and the key location in the federation. These incursions could as well be a cover to give us a big blow.”
The generals nodded and Shi Lang continued to discuss these things at great lengths. After the meeting was finished, he came out of the room and a soldier rushed to inform his team about the status of the meeting. Shi Lang took Amelia by hand and with the cordon of the might Ace Division, they left the premises in their scouting vessel.
However, whoever saw Shi Lang, was given a gag order, if the sighting was to be circulated, then it will be tagged as treason. They could not let the word out. Shi Lang could have put on the mask and visor but then things would have been complicated. The people who spotted Shi Lang were all transferred to the first division on paper and their salaries were increased. The council took a stick and carrot approach.
Shi Lang did not care about the people and they flew through space. The team had a new battleship. This thing was faster and stronger, and the technology was even more advanced. They were going to make a stop first at the base camp, get Amelia a suit, and then go ahead with the incursion.
…
After one hundred and sixty-eight hours the people, were inside the enemy territory, the secret behind the speed was their new vessel. It slipped through everything undetected.
The Allies had provided them with the better technology pieces which were then reverse engineered and optimised by the Terrain standards for mass production.
Shi Lang sat on the command deck and said, “Set a barren planet as a false base. We will operate from there.”
“Affirmative”, said Hawk as they controlled the ship.
Amelia said, “We can select a stray meteorite to set up the false base. This way we can avoid detection in a better way.”
Shi Lang smiled at her and said, “Finally, I can focus on killing. The alternative strategies are left to her.”