"I cannot wait any longer. What if the internal departments of the Federation make another mistake, sending all the people here to their deaths?" After thinking it through, Tian Xing Jian instructed [Antenna] to immediately contact Rashid. The next plan he would be executing would require his help.
Very soon, Rashid passed over a detailed intelligence report regarding the Empire’s central logistic base behind the enemy front lines before agreeing with the road Tian Xing Jian decided to take. He had also especially given reminders regarding several places where one must take note of.
It was usually the case when one had almost completed the journey, the final stretch to success would be the hardest part. If they were to lose their breath in this final stretch, then all of their previous hard work would be wasted. Tian Xing Jian replied with a request for Rashid to contact the forward command team’s highest commanding officer, Bernadotte, so as to reduce the possible interception of news regarding this team.
Even if Tian Xing Jian did not tell him, Rashid would have done it anyways. Ever since the matter regarding the fake orders, the forward command team had become even stricter; they started thoroughly checking through everyone’s profile and background from head to toe. Due to the questioning by the Supreme Headquarters and the President’s Office, the rescue mission for the escapees had increased to the highest possible grade. Two aviation battalions, three commando battalions, an aviation ground-based squadron Battle Mecha division, and a transport company had been assembled. In order to pacify the sentiments of the population, to drive the direction of the international public opinion on this war, and to give an answer to all frontline soldiers, this team of escapees had to be saved. Currently, the one facing the greatest pressure regarding this matter was none other than General Bernadotte. Every single piece of news regarding the escapees had been classified as top secret from now on, and anything regarding the rescue mission would require his very signature in order for the orders to be acknowledged. Those who dared to thwart this mission or personnel who neglected their duties regardless of their positions would all be deemed as traitors of the nation.
This piece of news made Tian Xing Jian heave a sigh of relief while simultaneously feel delighted over the fact that he was the cause of such a big commotion. He felt honored that the extremely high status figures in the Supreme Headquarters and the President’s Office had become interested in this case. At the same time, he took joy in the calamity Bernadotte was facing since he was the one who sent him to the front lines.
At 3 in the morning, Tian Xing Jian’s discussion with Rashid had finalized into an action plan. General Bernadotte himself had approved this plan before giving the orders for the related groups to take action.
Since their plan had gotten a full-fledged support from the forward command team, Tian Xing Jian completely gave up the previous idea of attacking the central logistic base for obtaining means of transport and resupplying their equipment. In the new plan, the attack against the central logistic base did not change; instead, the main reason behind their attack had changed. Since the terrain of this location was quite flat and was also an airport used for medium-sized transport ships, they could definitely evacuate the entire team within six minutes. As a result, this base continued to be their target of assault.
If they did not attack this place, there would be no way for any medium-sized transport ship to descend amidst the mountainous region. Instead, everyone would have to be evacuated one by one using an aerial platform, which would take too much time and would paint them as clear targets for their enemies. If the enemy targeted them with their missiles and fighter aircraft, then even if there were more fighter aircraft protecting the transport ship, it would still be futile in the end.
Having enough Battle Mechas to use their Assisted Propulsion System had been a persistent issue ever since they left the camps. Furthermore, there was no point in asking those infantry soldiers to use all their strength to jump, as they could not jump higher than a meter. In addition, there was the repulsion force released by the medium-sized transport ship whenever it was floating at a low point in air, which could instantly turn any soldier without Battle Mecha into meat paste.
On this day before 10 in the morning, there would be two Federation aviation battalions worth of fighter aircraft who would move westwards to open a passage towards the coordinate (1201, 2210) — the location of the enemy’s central logistic base behind the front lines. The region of 50 kilometers in radius around their target objective would be the areas for their aerial assault. Anything suspicious between these two points would be eliminated by the artillery team with the usage of guided missiles. The three battalions of commando would use this air passage to reach the base via airdrop. After occupying the base, they would have to defend that place from forces of up to a maximum of a division's worth of Battle Mechas for half an hour.
As for the escapees behind the enemy lines, they would start their journey at dawn, moving towards the east. Before 10 in the morning, they must reach the appointed location. Tian Xing Jian would be leading the five [Devil Tigers] and a section of Battle Mechas as the advance party, looking for opportunities to infiltrate the base while destroying any anti-air weaponry or anti-radar interference equipment so as to coordinate with the assault by the commandos.
The start of the entire operation would be hidden with a facade by the Federation’s assault from the air and the commandos attacking from behind the enemy lines. That excuse was meant for them to clear all ground threats to their aircraft. The middle phase of the operation would be reached when they controlled the region 50 kilometers in radius from their target objective alongside the occupation of their target objective. The final phase of the operation would happen when every single soldier had evacuated from the place within half an hour of time. The total period for the middle phase would last not more than two hours, so this would be a lightning-quick rescue mission.
There was only one single chance. If they failed, then the Federation would not be able to organize another operation to rescue them for a short period of time. Moreover, their objective — the escapees — would be revealed to the enemy, preventing them from having a second chance of escaping.
At 3:20 in the morning, Tian Xing Jian gave the orders for the entire team of Battle Mechas to start moving. During these few hours, the escapees would not have protection from the Battle Mechas. However, it was fortunate that this location had been marked as a search zone in the enemy’s Sky Network System. Before the truth of their deceptive signal is revealed, they would have no issues in staying there for an extended period of time.
Five [Devil Tigers] had been assigned to five soldiers from the special scouts section since operating a different type of Battle Mecha was included within their subject of training. Even though they had never before seen this specially-used Battle Mecha by the Myth Legion, its control system was quite similar to other Beast-Model Battle Mechas. Within half an hour, the movement of these [Devil Tigers] was no longer shaky. The five open warrior-class Pioneers had then been assigned to the five best ground-based Battle Mecha soldiers amongst the captives. They would proceed with Tian Xing Jian on their assault operation.
Moving eastwards out of the canyon, after the section of Battle Mecha had traveled for 15 kilometers, they finally reached a region with several small hills. The terrain in this region started becoming flatter. After another five kilometers, it would be the enemy’s central logistic base. After ordering the team to activate their stealth mode, Tian Xing Jian activated [Logic]’s All-Round Radar. From the Anti-Detection and Interference System installed throughout the entire base, he could see that this central logistic base was heavily fortified. His original expectation of looking forward for the air-to-ground assault to work its magic had become a delusion. Right now, he only wished that there were not too many defending soldiers in it.
The result from the scan of his All-Round Radar showed that the defense of this base was not really that dense. This truly made Tian Xing Jian sigh a breath of relief. Using the Particle Accumulator to clear off all sentries around the base, the section of Battle Mechas entered the base smoothly under his command.
This central logistic base was surrounded by mountain ranges and countless tunnels and bridges — it was a high grade exchange center. The roads to four medium-sized cities and a big-sized city intersected right in this location. Two of those cities had long fallen into the enemy’s hands, while the remaining three were heavily surrounded by soldiers of the Imperial Army.
From its geological location, this place was indeed a natural choice for building a central logistic base. Other than having the mountainous region in all four of its directions which provided it with natural protection, the traffic for supply transportation was very much convenient too. They could also send in supply via descending in with transport ships bigger than medium sizes. No wonder, it had been rebuilt by the enemy after they destroyed this base.
Tian Xing Jian ordered for the Federation Battle Mechas to remain within the forest. He decided to only bring the five [Devil Tigers] that had the capability of turning invisible to first destroy the Anti-Detection and Interference System. Before 10 am, he had to identify all the Anti-Detection and Interference System and then place a timed bomb at their location. Otherwise, when the time comes, the fighter aircraft in the air would not be able to start their assault of this location. Furthermore, the medium-sized transport ship would not be able to descend down in this location too, and the commandos’ airdrop location would be forced to a place 10 kilometers away, outside the region of that Anti-Detection and Interference System.
After allowing [Logic] to transform, the six [Devil Tigers] moved in their stealth mode to place timed bombs in the interference devices on the outside of the base. Subsequently after reaching the southern entrance of the base, they entered like bosses under the brightly lit search light.
The entrance to the base was actually an alloy-made sluice gate protected by an energy shield, and the surrounding walls were similarly made from the same alloy material protected by the same energy shield. A bluish hue could be seen glowing on the walls. It seemed that ever since Rashid assaulted the base, this location, which was quite important to the Empire, had buffed up their defenses. For the sake of defending against Battle Mechas, they had even paid the price of using an expensive alloy to build its walls. Furthermore, the energy consumption needed to maintain a steady energy shield would make anyone speechless.
The big gate to the base shone with spotlight as three [Divine Mecha 22s] and several other sentinels stood guard. Other than them, there were also several [Cerberus] medium-sized Battle Mechas patrolling the outer perimeter. This Battle Mecha was also a model made by the Empire and was famous for its long-ranged attacks; however, its defense and manoeuvrability capabilities could not surpass that of the Federation’s [Glory 15].
Six [Devil Tigers] walked out from the darkness like specters as they quietly appeared right in front of the sentinels of the base. These beast-style Battle Mechas which had been imprinted with the symbol of the Myth Legion were the most vicious representatives of the Imperial Army. Within the Imperial Army, nobody dared to disrespect the soldiers from the Myth Legion. After all, they represented the Gyaca Woods Empire’s royal family and were the most loyal guardians of royalty. Grim, brave, cruel, and powerful were the four words that they embodied.
Tian Xing Jian controlled his Battle Mecha and slowly moved towards the guard. He remained silent as he went towards the second lieutenant. Clearly, amongst these sentinels, this second lieutenant officer was of the highest rank.
The five special scouts that followed behind him were sweating profusely. The military power guarding this big gate wasn’t something the Federation soldiers controlling the [Devil Tigers] could deal with. Furthermore, as long as they fired once, all the enemies within the base would come rushing out within a single minute, tearing all these skilled Federation soldiers who could not fully control the [Devil Tiger] into pieces.
Tian Xing Jian, however, was not worried in the least. That book which he read — 《The Art of Lifelike Modelling》— had given him techniques which had been honed to perfection by this swindler. Additionally, during his previous discussion with Rashid, he had especially tried to understand the situation regarding the Gyaca Woods Empire and the Myth Legion.
Gyaca Woods Empire was rather strict in its hierarchical statuses. One of the reasons might be because this empire had an imperial regime, laying down the foundation for such strict treatment based on everyone’s statuses.
Within this multiracial and multi-religious nation, its highest ruling classes were the royal family, the nobles, the rich, the officials, and all who had great power and status. For the ordinary commoners, those of a similar ethnicity with the royal family would be given the highest status. This ethnicity came from none other than the first generation on this human-migrated planet. At that time when the Space Age had just started, only the rich and the powerful could afford to migrate. The very first human-migrated planet which these migrants reached was called Weibo Planet. Slowly, as the Space Age proceeded, the migrants on Weibo Planet started gathering together as it became an ethnic group which held great wealth and power.
Afterwards, as the 2nd generation migrants, 3rd generation migrants, and until the 50th generation migrants from Earth came over, this divide in statuses based on when they had migrated unknowingly developed, turning into different social groups and creating a gulf between the noble class and the peasant class.
However, even though the sequence of migration was an important standard to the reason of divide between the noble and the peasant, several ethnic group had jumped out of this social standard using their own strength, effort, and to a certain degree—luck. For instance, the 33rd generation of Ganari Planet’s ethnic group had become the current top 10 noble group all because of some great scientific and technological discoveries and the rich resources they had on the planet.
However long the civilization of mankind had existed would be however long wars would go on for. During wars, allies and enemies are made so frequently that it was akin to a simple, home-style meal at home. The division of the great nations following the Outer Space Exploration Age had led to the division and harmonizing of different people and redefined human societies as a whole. Several ancient ethnic groups had disappeared, while others became a nation purely composed of a single ethnic group. The majority of the nations, however, had a fusion of the different ethnic groups. In a nation with an imperial regime, those people with a similar ethnic group as the ruling family would become their ally. For as long as the human civilization existed, those important and powerful ethnic groups would most definitely become the upper class within the entire cosmos. As for the minority groups, the nations with poor economic development, or the planets filled with groups that migrated late, they had subsequently would become enslaved as the lower class of society.
The upper and lower class were not clearly divided in nations with a republican or democratic federal system. Even though some extreme congress parties would use this social divide as the reason for many arguments, the governance of the nation ensured that all people were treated equally. Although this seemed like a really good thing, it was only on the surface.
As for the imperial nations, there was an absolutely strict divide between the upper class and lower class. Their laws enforced this divide between the classes. What was the most unimaginable thing about the law would be the clause forbidding the marriage between someone from the upper class and someone from the lower class.
Other than this, there was a huge gulf in terms of their career, education, social contact, and many other aspects of life. Those of the lower class would not be allowed to do things that were considered as higher class, such as researching, taking a government position, becoming a doctor, lawyer, a teacher, or a senior military officer. They could only take on careers that were deemed as lowly and needed only the most fundamental level of education. This divide was so great that when a person from the lower class appear in the same social context as someone from the upper class, he had to salute and give way to the one from the upper class.
Thus, joining the army became the best decision for all teenagers from the supposed lower-class ethnic groups. Even though they could not become a senior military officer, as long as they retired with the position of a captain, they would be able to obtain a job that was more dignified, allowing them to live a life that was slightly better than the bulk of those from the lower class.
There were several vocations and divisions that forbade any people of lower-class from joining. Myth Legion was one of the most famous division. In the past hundred years, every soldier that joined the Myth Legion had to undergo an absolutely strict background check in order to ensure that they came from the same ethnic group—the so-called Weibo ethnic group the current royal family was from. This was the ethnic group that remained in the top three groups within all human civilization. Within this legion, there were absolutely no people from other ethnic groups. Even the several respected, upper-class ethnic groups within the Gyaca Woods Empire had been rejected.
The Imperial royal family was extremely perverted in their demand for pure blood in this legion. During the blood investigation of the soldiers, they would even trace the blood of all the relatives from up to six generations ago.
These [Devil Tigers] that were branded with the mark of the Myth Legion did not only represent the highest status within the entire Imperial Army, but it also operated with a strictly regulated military ranking system.
If the over 30 year-old second lieutenant in front of him was not someone from the lower class of the Gyaca Woods Empire, Tian Xing Jian was willing to dig out his own eyeballs. Amongst those from the upper class, there would certainly not be a single one who was still a second lieutenant above the age of 30.
Once a [Devil Tiger] stood silently in front of him, the lower-class second lieutenant, Ali, knew he had to do. The younger generation of the Weibo race had been creating quite a lot of issues in the recent years within the Empire. They absolutely discriminated against the existences of people from the lower class and had frequently beaten those of such class, assaulting their shops and had even caused trouble within the military. Thus, he would rather salute and greet him: “Respectable sir soldier, citizen from the Empire, Ali, greets you.” This was the archetypical social greeting they had to conduct even in the military.
Tian Xing Jian used the front claws of his [Devil Tiger] to return the salute before speaking in a cold and disdainful manner, “Second lieutenant, we are chasing after a group of fleeing prisoners-of-war. I hope you can cooperate.”
Ali was stunned for a moment before nodding, “We’ll be extremely delighted to do so. May I ask what you require us to do?”
Tian Xing Jian’s voice remained as cold as before. “Prepare energy. We’ll have to resupply in a moment. Right now, we want to enter the base and inspect the location to check if any prisoners had actually infiltrated this location. I don’t wish to send all of you to martial court because I had to travel more than a hundred kilometers from this base, only to find that it had been your mistake.”
The five special scouts behind him were becoming crazy after hearing what was said. The commander of the special forces would at most be a staff sergeant [1]. Using such a tone to talk to an officer with a rank higher than him, did it not mean that Fatty was trying to search for his own death by making fun of the enemy before openly fighting them?
The soldiers from the special scouts were mentally prepared for a sudden and violent attack when they suddenly heard a reply that made them all dumbfounded. The Imperial second lieutenant, Ali, said with a tone as if this was right, “I guess you are right, respectable sir soldier. We’ll immediately coordinate with your action. The required energy will be ready in ten minutes. You may enter the base now.”
All five of the [Devil Tigers]’ jaws had dropped from the scene…
Once Tian Xing Jian was about to enter the gates delightfully, bringing with him the few [Devil Tigers] who did not believe what just happened, a voice from the second lieutenant came. “Please wait a moment, sir soldier.”
Tian Xing Jian was forced to calm himself as he turned his Battle Mecha before walking back.
The second lieutenant had an awkward expression. “Look here…” He pointed to an electronic registrar.
“You should know… that this location requires you to register… with your name.”
[1] Remember that Fatty is currently in disguise, so his current rank isn’t that of a lieutenant.
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