Ye Chong came out of the gaming booth, and found that Brent was the only other person left in the hall. Brent was staring fixedly at the holographic screen, not even noticing when Ye Chong came to his side.
The holographic screen showed the image of a white starship ahead of them. The white starship looked like two pure white crescents crossing each other, elegant and exquisite. Ye Chong knew almost nothing about starships, but felt that the design looked familiar, as though he had seen it before, but could not recall when.
It was like a massive, elegant beast, approaching their starship with apparent ease.
Everyone held their breaths, staring unblinkingly at the holographic screen.
Suddenly, something changed with the white starship on the holographic screen. Dozens of armour plates slid open, revealing numerous dark cavities. Just when everyone was confused, long cylinders extended from those cavities, a threatening sight!
"Laser cannons? A warship?" Brent, who always looked calm, now had a twisted expression! "How is this possible? A warship? Haven't the Five Galaxies forbidden their manufacturing? How can anyone still make warships?" Brent was getting repetitive.
On the other hand, Ye Chong was watching Brent in confusion, thinking, "Are they really that scary?"
Captain Hatik's commands reverberated throughout the entire starship. His voice was hoarse and low, unlike when he was with Ye Chong and Brent earlier. "Attention to all crew members! Attention to all crew members! All hands on deck! All hands on deck! Combatants, prepare for battle! Combatants, prepare for battle!"
The entire bridge was swarming with activity. While the threat before them was unprecedented, they were all experienced crew members and did not panic, but did their duties in an orderly manner.
"Captain, the enemy's deployed interference measures. Our signals are severely disrupted, we can't request for assistance from nearby planets!" The officer in charge of communications reported.
Captain Hatik wore a heavy expression. He was troubled by the report, but commanded in his deep voice, "Keep at it, don't stop trying!"
"Yes sir!"
"Quick! Come with me!" Brent ran ahead without explaining further!
Ye Chong responded quickly as he was told, and trailed behind Brent.
The two went straight to the room where Fred was. The man was staring at the white warship on his holographic screen, muttering to himself, "Ah, the world's heading towards chaos again!"
Brent noticed Shang, standing by the side, and saw the mech's missing arm. He frowned and asked, "Do you have a functioning mech?"
Ye Chong thought it over. Harmony of the Winter Aria was heavily damaged, and probably could do nothing in a battle. That left him with the F-58, but the F-58 was only a training mech, unfit for combat. Ye Chong shook his head reluctantly, "No!"
Brent grabbed hold of his Uncle Fred, who was still in a daze. "Uncle, do we still have any functioning mechs?"
Fred seemed to recover himself then. "Oh, we do, we do!" He went to a corner and groped about for a moment, and *Swish*, a door opened where the wall once was. After a round of identity authentication, the three entered the secret room.
Ye Chong was surprised, learning that the secret room had evaded even Mu's scans. It was truly incredible!
The secret room was not large, storing about 8 mechs in it, all unknown to Ye Chong. Their colours intertwined, and the twinkling metallic lustre made the room like a tiny, mesmerising world of metallic mechs.
Fred pointed towards the mechs and said, "These are all my proud creations, pick one!" He knew that in their desperate situation, if he was captured, these mechs would no longer be his. It would be better to use the mechs to bolster firepower, and increase his chances of survival.
Ye Chong may have seen his fair share of mechs, but these were all uniquely designed and confusing to him. For the moment, he was at a loss as to pick which one!
Brent noticed Ye Chong's quandary and asked, "What's your preferred type of mech? Close or long range?"
Ye Chong replied without hesitation, "Close range!"
Brent looked to Uncle Fred, who continued quickly, "This is the only close range mech!" He pointed towards a black, menacing mech. "Its design is inspired by an ancient totem from a remote tribal village! Its original form is one of the Gods of the tribe …"
The mech was undoubtedly the most attractive of all the other mechs. While it was not the most exquisite, its height was nearly twice that of any common mech, towering over the others. The design was also odd - 2 faces and 4 hands, where each hand held a weapon or a shield; one face was smiling pleasantly, another was staring furiously, full of intimidation! The joints, such as the elbows and knees, were wrapped with old-style armour plates, covered with barbs.
"A God? This is no God, this is a murder weapon in the mortal world!" This was Ye Chong's first impression of it, but that was also how he came to like the mech.
Ye Chong did not waste time listening to Fred's long winded explanation. He asked, "Where's the dimension keystone?"
Fred hit his own head and exclaimed, "Oh, how could I have forgotten about that, let me find it!" He began rummaging about the room. Brent could only look on helplessly, unsure if he should laugh or cry out loud.
Ye Chong did not mind them. He climbed onto the mech with bare hands like a mutant monkey, and slipped into the pilot's cabin. He put on the battle helmet and began to configure the initial settings.
Brent waited anxiously as Ye Chong did the initial configurations.
Suddenly, a dull thump was heard, and the entire starship shook slightly! Brent's expression twisted! The enemy had fired their cannons! Fred paled as well, but he maintained his calm composure and recovered from the shock, continuing his search for the mech's dimension keystone.
Ye Chong was fully focused, undistracted by anything around him!
Captain Hatik's hoarse voice was trembling faintly as he announced, "Fleet One combatants, attack!"
Brent could not wait for Ye Chong any further. He quickly switched on the secret room's holographic screen, and Fred, who had just found the keystone, was also diverted to the holographic display.
About a hundred mechs flew towards the white warship, a black swarm, like hornets leaving their nest. The mech pilots personally chosen by Captain Hatik's were all experienced combatants. Their formation and defense was solid.
The enemy seemed to realize the swarm, and directed some of the cannons towards it.
Ye Chong was finished with the initial configurations. He slipped out of the mech and asked Fred, "Have you found the keystone?"
Fred shifted his attention from the holographic screen to him, and handed over the dimension keystone to Ye Chong. "Here, this is it. Don't forget, the mech's name is Yu Di [1], which is also the name of the God! It's yours now, take care of it!" Fred spoke like a father placing his son in another's care, and he looked a little saddened.
"Yes!" Ye Chong nodded resolutely, and took Yu Di's dimension keystone from Fred.
"Are there backup energy cells?" Ye Chong asked.
"Oh, there!" Fred pointed towards a corner, thinking nothing of it. Ye Chong swiftly made for the energy cells and moved them into Yu Di. Energy cells were the driving force of all mechs, it would do no harm to have a few as backup!
Ye Chong moved the energy cells until he deemed them enough, and withdrew Yu Di into its alternate dimension.
The starship was occasionally shaking , Sabre's massive hull unable to evade any of the enemy's cannon attacks. Fortunately, its armor was as thick as the ship was massive, and its armor would not falter in the short term. However, if the situation continued, destruction was only a matter of time.
The warship's cannon attacks were not effective against the quick movements of the mechs, much like shooting mosquitoes with cannon balls. The warship's weapons were designed to increase their firepower and maximize damage on starships, but this required some compromise on the weapons' flexibility and accuracy, making them less effective against mechs.
However, the heavy round of cannonfire earlier still resulted in the loss of quite a few mechs. The mechs that were hit ended tragically. Most of them were vapourized instantly, and even those that were only slightly grazed exploded almost instantly. The pilots in the mechs stood no chance of surviving the attacks.
Brent's face was white as paper, witnessing a spectacle as cruel as it was for the very first time. Ye Chong, however, kept his cool demeanor, his expression unchanged, for the sight was not as impressive to him!
The enemy seemed to realize then that cannon fire was ineffective against the mechs!
The best weapon against mechs would be mechs! This was a widely circulated saying amongst mech pilots.
About thirty to forty white mechs flew out from the enemy's warship. Seeing the obvious advantage in numbers on his own side, Brent could not help but exhale in relief!
However, when Ye Chong could see the mechs more clearly, his calm composure was disrupted, and Ye Chong's expression twisted!
The MPA!
These white mechs were all the same model as the one that Johansson attacked that day. While he did not know its name, Ye Chong was certain that he did not remember it wrong! During his time on Blue Ocean, he was attacked a few times by the white mech for no apparent reason.
It was no wonder that Ye Chong felt that the white warship looked familiar. The ship's design was very similar to the strange looking gun that the white mechs held in their hands!
These people will not stand a chance! While the enemy was severely outnumbered, Ye Chong knew from the white mech's strength that their smaller squad had terrifying potential!
Ye Chong spoke without explaining his thought, "Come, let's back them up!"
Brent paused. "Do they still need backing up? We're twice in numbers!"
Ye Chong ignored him, and mentally reached for Shang, "We're backing them up!"
"I agree with your decision!" From his light tone, Ye Chong knew immediately that it was Mu!
Ye Chong was overjoyed. "Mu, it's you! I was expecting Shang!"
Mu explained calmly, "The threat level is too high. For safety reasons, Shang had asked for me!"
"Hmm, it's good to have you!" Ye Chong felt himself feeling calmer, and immediately rushed for the flight runways.
That was how Fred and Brent witnessed the extraordinary moment where the one-armed mech, inert since a few days ago, moved and trailed behind Ye Chong, following him closely.
Fred, who had been studying the mech for the past few days, could only look on in astonishment!
Translator's note:
[1] Yu Di: Translated from 鱼的, the name of the mech given to Ye Chong by Fred.