Chapter 33: Unexpected internal enemies
Translated by: Chua
Edited by: TN and Elkassar
Lieutenant Colonel Dundee had always looked rather dispirited, but now he was filled with vigor. Before Sheyan and Mogensha arrived, he was pacing back and forth in front of the tent with a huge expensive cigar in his mouth; its mild fumes spiralling up. It looked like their search operation had reaped ample rewards. Upon seeing the two, Dundee spat away his cigar as he warmly invited them over.
“Beautifully done! Lads, because of your mission’s success, the Blackthorn tribe has extracted the parasites from us. Come, let me introduce you, this is pilot Maylon. His bravery saved us, and god’s grace followed suit. After conducting a rescue search on the shuttle, we actually found him buried under tons of sand; but was miraculously surviving on the automatic lifve support system from the shuttle!”
Pilot Maylon was looking rather weak, currently lying down on a makeshift military stretcher. His face was white and his body frail, trying to flash an amiable smile towards Sheyan but ended up coughing weakly. Sheyan and Mogensha simultaneously offered him a humble bow. People who were facing death but still considerate of their comrades, were deserving of the utmost respect.
Following that, the two discourteously sat down for a meal with the soldiers. Cream of mushroom soup, complimented with meat and bread; along with the delicious turkey sandwich. Combining them, they at least ate 5 portions of a soldier, before they rubbed their stomachs in satisfaction and leaned against the nearby rock; squinting their eyes against the sun.
At this moment, Sergeant Tander who was operating a portable computer suddenly yelled out in joy, delivering the computer directly to his lieutenant colonel.
“We’re connected sir, but we need your higher authority verification code.”
Dundee nodded, his face stern as he hammered in his secret code. A notification appeared on the screen, prompting him to repeatedly authenticate with his relevant information. After a while, he then passed the computer over to pilot Maylon. Maylon similarly typed in his code, and even offered several words. It seemed like their superior required more verification. Not long later, Lieutenant Colonel Dundee probably received his instructions, as he nodded incessantly before terminating the connection.
Dundee pondered for a moment before raising his head, his face was riddled with mysteriousness.
“F***, those scum higher ups are expressing suspicions on our current status; because up till now, we are one of the rare group who were able to negotiate with arachnids and survive. They feel we are under the control of the Overmind. However to the homeland, this planet’s development rate is vastly lacking behind other colonial planets, they don’t even have a direct subsidiary base here. Even the link between the Steel Whip base is purely a partnership relationship. Hence, this is a rare opportunity for us, and they want the Blackthorn tribe to express their sincerity first.”
Pilot Maylon weakly asked.
“What sincerity?”
Dundee replied.
“Maylon you are a pilot, you should be very clear. Currently, beneath the golden flight channel to planet ‘P’, there are 6 Spore Colonies* installed by the arachnid. Any human aircraft that passess through will suffer from intense aggression. Coincidentally, the 6 Spore Colonies are situated 400km east of here. If the Blackthorn tribe is sincere in collaborating with us, then they should assist in destroying them; using it as proof. We will then freely gift 20 heavy siege tanks to aid the Blackthorn in defence.”
(TN:*Spore colonies are the anti air defence of the zerg, flinging seeking spores at hovercrafts. You can google it)
Consecutively, Sheyan and Mogensha received a notification:
“You received the side mission: Eradicating the Spore Colonies.”
“Mission difficulty: B+.”
“Mission content: Within 72 hours, destroy at least 1 Spore Colony.”
“Mission description: Every extra Spore Colony destroyed, you will receive additional rewards from the humans.”
“Do you wish to accept this mission, Yes / No?”
“If the mission ends in failure, penalty of 2 points of your highest basic attribute and 10 achievement points will be deducted.”
“You have to make your choice within 10 seconds.”
Seeing the mission difficulty, Sheyan and Mogensha’s eyes contracted in. It was a B+ difficulty! Up till date, this was the hardest difficulty that Sheyan had encountered! There wasn’t anything else comparable, moreover, failing the mission would incur such an appalling penalty! At this moment, Mogensha had started to slightly shake his head in rejection. Observing their current status, they had already reaped quite splendid benefits; they had risen their reputation to ‘Revered’ amongst the arachnids and their purchasing options were wide, they was no reason to take on such risk.
“B+ Difficulty mission…..the penalty for failure is indeed terribly high.” Sheyan was stumped, instead he called Jinkuang over and got him to accept it on his behalf. Then he spoke to Mogensha. “This is my own decision, it will indeed be a huge gamble. You should choose based on your own decision.”
Mogensha naturally slumped his shoulders helplessly as he chose to reject the mission; he was always a person who preferred stability. All formidable gunmen would always have relatively good patience, if not their brains would have gutted by opponents long ago. After rejecting, he felt a tremendous relief over him, as he couldn’t help glancing at Sheyan with pity. In his heart, he reckoned this Seaman’s flaw was his gambling nature. If he were to join a party in the future, he would definitely avoid that.
After accepting the mission, Sheyan instantly received a reputation boost from the human race, strangely his reputation also increased amongst the arachnids. Probably because the Blackthorn tribe would also reap certain benefits from the destruction of the Spore colonies. His reputation increasing simultaneously by 1500 points for both parties. Sheyan also received the privilege of mobilizing the Pebbles special force for two times, before he sat onto the ground and got lost in his thoughts.
After half an hour, Sheyan suddenly frowned.
“Do you recall before we arrived here, we passed through that bloody battlefield between two arachnid parties?”
Mogensha nodded.
“Yup, that’s the place we slayed the legendary creature ‘Scorching Mouth’.”
Sheyan shook his head.
“The great doubt lies in that.”
But as he finished his sentence, from far in the sky; several clumps of shadow flew out abruptly. The shadows were blur from this distance, but after Dundee used his binoculars, his face instantly changed.
“Not good! The Blackthorn tribe’s Overlord is being assaulted!”
Sheyan and the rest soon realized, those shadows were several Mutalisks (Spore Wyverns) wildly pursuing 5-6 Blackthorn Overlords. These Mutalisks were experts in the air, their physique was much smaller than the previous ones they encountered in space; yet their threat remained unwavering. With a chilling screech, they spat out lime green spores, even rebounding to others when they landed on their targets. Fortunately, the Overlords were quite spaced out amongst themselves, if not the spores would have dealt devastating effects.
Even though the Overlords were trying their best to flee, they weren’t like the former elite Overlord Shenxu, their speed was much slower. But once the Mother nest could evolve into a ‘II’ class base, then these Overlord’s speed would receive a gigantic boost! But before that, the Mutalisks were at least 3-4 times of their speed, naturally the Overlords couldn’t escape.
One by one, the Overlords exploded into mist of blood, ultimately leaving with 1 Overlord who succeeded in reaching the base. The Mutalisks were relentless, continue to breathe out attacks against it. But when these vile and vicious Mutalisks charged towards the last Overlord, a threatening string of gunshots pierced through the air! It was indeed the Pebbles special forces who couldn’t just watch as their allies were being slain; setting up a tiny ambush as these Mutalisks foolishly flew into their trap.
The searing bullet flames swivelled through the air. At present, no matter which Mutalisks, they all couldn’t be compared to those massive and overbearing ones in space that attacked the transport shuttles. Yet they were still huge 5-6 metres beasts, their wings spread out to a distance of 4-5 metres. The firepower of the Pebbles special forces was in no way inferior; in a flash, one of the Mutalisk was slain under the torrents of sharp metal. Yet this agitated the other Mutalisk, triggering them to disperse and targeted them instead.
But at this moment, a faint white glow enshrouded the bodies of the Pebbles special forces, along with a rejuvenated sigh! This was result of injecting their ‘Stimulants’, lifting their speeds instantly to the peak. They swiftly congregated together in a wide circle, as they fiercely fired in separate coordinate directions against the incoming onslaught of the Mutalisks. Such a formation looked similar to a blooming flower scattering its spores in all direction.
In a flash, two more Mutalisks were slain as they exploded into grotesque blood paste. Still, they possessed the fearless insanity of arachnids, frenziedly pressing on towards lieutenant colonel Dundee. Although Dundee had injected his ‘Stimulant’ which may have catapulted his speed above the Mutalisks, but still he had to retreat while releasing fire. This lowered his speed greatly, as several deadly lime spores simultaneously crashed down onto him. Several holes on his battle armour were instantly formed by the corroding lime spores.