Chapter 334

Green skin…

Rog turned, lifted his left hand to lightly pinch his chin, right hand behind his back, his gaze fixed on the star map displayed on the central console, sinking into thought.

After the battle, they captured ten Tau pilots alive in the nearby forest; the rest were killed on sight.

If it weren't to gather intelligence, to better understand the Tau Empire, Rog would never have issued an order to take prisoners alive; after all, his father had told him to wipe out the scum completely.

And NuoWa, who was most skilled at spiritual-energy interrogation, after extracting useful information from the ten captives, immediately rushed to the Command Center to report to Rog, who was like her brother.

"Right." She then added: "The Tau seem to know nothing about spiritual energy; this is similar to the Sangheili, even stronger than them, as they can largely resist corruption from other dimensions."

However, this lot are typical bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong; although it cannot be completely written off, their ethnic tendency is indeed like that.

When they cannot defeat an opposing force, fleeing and showing weakness are normal, yet they are extremely keen on plundering planetary resources; if any faction or race is weaker than them, they will suffer slaughter and abuse at the hands of the Tau Empire until extermination.

Looking at this alone, they are not even worthy of comparison with the Sangheili."

By the end, NuoWa couldn't help but feel nauseous, her attitude toward the Tau having sunk to its lowest point.

Seeing this, Rog could also understand.

During spiritual-energy interrogation, NuoWa can directly perceive the captives' memories and past, and simultaneously sense the emotions and mental states corresponding to each memory and past.

Thus Rog nodded in agreement: "A race like the Sangheili is indeed worthy of humanity's sincere alliance."

Afterwards he adjusted the star map, locking onto the Tau Empire's home star system provided by NuoWa, and said: "Since we have already obtained sufficient starfield information, what exactly are the green-skinned orcs you mentioned?"

"They also don't know the origin of the orcs." NuoWa walked to face Rog, touched the star map with both hands, zoomed in, and locked onto the leftmost side of the Tau Empire's territory, saying:

"They only know the time of first contact with the orcs, which converts to over 130 Earth years ago; at that time, the orcs invaded a colonial planet on the fringe of their empire."

Initially, the Tau Empire could still suppress and completely defeat the orcs, but as time passed, they discovered that the orcs could not be eradicated completely; after a while they would resurge, as if they were "planted" organisms.

"Planted?" Rog frowned slightly.

"It might be a certain reproductive method of the orcs; I think it's similar to fungal spores." NuoWa, according to her understanding, continued: "If an orc is killed and the battlefield and the orc's corpse and blood are not promptly dealt with, then in no time dozens, even hundreds of orcs will sprout from the ground."

"This reproductive capacity is not inferior to any Zerg we know of." Rog's brows locked tightly.

"Not only is their reproductive capacity outstanding, but in terms of physical fitness and reaction speed, etc., they absolutely overwhelm the Tau; an even more terrifying point is that the orcs possess an extremely unconventional tech tree." NuoWa's tone grew slightly heavier:

"It's like a warship that looks patched together, could fall apart at any moment, yet in the hands of orcs it can move freely, even break free from planetary gravity's constraints, very strange."

"Of course..." NuoWa lightly brushed aside some bangs covering her eyes, then waved her hand and said: "Only by actually fighting the orcs and capturing a few alive to give to researchers for analysis can we obtain more information."

"Hmm." Rog expressed agreement with his little sister's words, then immediately adjusted the console, switching back to the prehistoric planet's reduced star map covered with red dots and yellow marks, and said:

"While waiting for Robert and Leon to arrive, the primary task now is to purge the Titanium people on the planet."

"All right, I also intend to take this opportunity to have a good talk with the newcomers and prepare to rest a bit."

"Go."

After the two finished their conversation, NuoWa turned and left the Command Center, while Rog compiled all the information he had extracted from NuoWa's interrogation and reported it to "Yuan"'s father on Earth.

As for the ten Titanium aircraft pilots, they were naturally sent to the base's research center for dissection and analysis, squeezing out every last bit of their value.

———————

…

Raccoon City.

Inside the top-floor office of the headquarters.

Green-skinned orcs?

"Hmm... This is also a problem."

Sui Bian, sitting behind his desk, watched the latest information sent back by his son and 'daughter', and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

At this moment, the reduced star map on his desk was a planar star map drafted by the Red and White Empresses based on NuoWa's interrogation results and the observation data from the space station before its fall.

The star map includes the Titanium Empire, whose domain is fairly vast, with a diameter of about 800 light-years, but compared to humanity occupying the entire Orion Arm, it is insignificant.

The outermost region on the 'right side', slightly toward the 'bottom', is precisely the prehistoric planet, while the outermost 'left side' and half of the territory have already fallen into the hands of the greenskins.

Moreover, among all the forces 'bordering' the Titanium Empire, there actually exists a Weiling tribe numbering no less than ten million.

Perhaps, like the Mal people, they fled from a degenerate race ten thousand years ago and chose a 'remote backwater' to 'peacefully farm'.

But this Weiling tribe has run quite far away.

After a moment's thought, Sui Bian gave Rog a reply, letting his son proceed according to the original plan, first purging the Titanium people on the prehistoric planet.

Robert and Leon likewise proceed as usual.

Leon has already led the Dark Angel Legion into the Rift Space, but Robert's side is still preparing, after all the main force of the expeditionary army is the Extreme Star Region.

Nevertheless, safety measures are still needed.

Immediately, his gaze never left the holographic screen, and he instructed the Red and White Empresses standing beside the desk: 'Notify Shengjilesi and Kelakesi to prepare their forces; if necessary, they also need to join the expeditionary force.'

'Yes (all right).' The two secretaries replied.

Since the war ten years ago, upon seeing that humanity had Sui Bian's protection, the myriad evil gods and hostile forces have felt dread and fear; therefore, as long as Sui Bian does not easily leave human territory, humanity will not fall into chaos.

His sons also consequently obtained a relative 'freedom to go out'.

And the green-skinned orcs are much harder to deal with than the Titanium.

In fact, wiping out the Titanium Empire might be overkill even for a single legion, given that a legion's Astate number over fifty thousand, and with auxiliary forces the scale reaches six million.

Another layer of meaning in Sui Bian's deployment of the expeditionary force's scale is 'killing a chicken to scare the monkeys', telling all ethnic forces what the consequence will be for provoking humanity.

But when encountering green-skinned orcs…

Their nature is different.

That group of 'living fungi' is downright more terrifying than the insect swarm, especially the 'Waaagh!' and 'I reckon'.

No matter how broken the things are, when mixed together, as long as they firmly believe, they can be regarded as 'divine weapons', as well as their extremely special 'Waaagh' stance.

How should Waaagh be explained…

Sui Bian also can't put it into words, but it can be classified as a special Spiritual Energy stance; the more greenskins gather, the stronger the Waaagh, making them ever stronger and eventually threatening the entire galaxy.

So first let Robert, Leon, and Rog probe the greenskins in battle, incidentally wiping out the Titanium Empire, and moreover the attitude of that Weiling tribe also needs to be checked.

After all, the Weilin tribe's individuals are of exceptionally high quality, and they also have considerable spiritual energy backing.

If the situation becomes dire, we can send Shengjilesi and Kelakesi to reinforce, and when that time comes, consuming spiritual energy to open a large‑scale transmission gate would not be too late; for now, we should first handle things according to standard procedure.

———————

…

Six hours later.

'Chirp—chirp!' The calls of birds welcoming the morning echoed all around the Space Gate base.

Starlight showered over the base's various buildings and facilities, as well as the entire forest; if not for the numerous wreckage scattered about and the traces of extinguished fires, no one would realize that a fierce battle had taken place here last night.

Looking down, the base had suffered little damage.

Ground transport vehicles streamed through the Space Gate, carrying containers of various colors and specifications, each loaded with different supplies, to the base.

As for the barracks on the east side of the base,

inside the women's changing room on the first floor,

At this moment the place was rather empty, but a few female soldiers who had finished their duty took off their combat uniforms, grabbed towels and toiletries, and headed together toward the bathroom.

Those who had participated in the night's combat now only wanted to wash away their fatigue with hot water, then return to their quarters for a good sleep.

In the corner of the left side of the changing room were NuoWa and Sara, who had just finished washing up and changed into a black and a white HES.

Having put on her HES and tied her red hair into a ponytail, Sara rose from the bench, then picked up her star‑light sword, which attached to her back, and asked NuoWa, who had likewise readied herself:

'Commander, do you mean you want me to join the Ghost operatives?'

'Yes.' NuoWa did not deny it; she also tied her gold hair into a ponytail, placed her left hand on her hip, leaned slightly against the locker, and continued:

'Exercising your spiritual‑energy talent in the Ghost operatives is the best and most correct choice, but I won't force you—how you decide is up to you.'

'…' Sara fell silent.

Not long ago, she learned that the company had a Ghost unit responsible for covertly inspecting government officials and military commanders of the colonies.

Any hint of a rebellion would be extinguished at its inception.

In fact, since the Ghost operatives were established, they have covertly handled 112 'rebellion' incidents, the vast majority of which involved officers stationed in remote colonies far from the Solar System.

Far from the political center, and being one of the supreme rulers of a planet, it is easy to be led astray by corrupt thoughts.

Also, a dozen or so cases were due to corruption and bewitchment by alien spaces, and at that time quantum communication technology did not yet exist, so contact between the colonies and Earth suffered long delays, making real‑time conversation extremely difficult.

In every case, the Ghost operatives ultimately caused the deaths to be recorded as accidental.

Only after quantum communication technology matured, vaccines were widely used, and the oversight of the red‑and‑white queens intensified did such rebellions gradually diminish.

Now, even if one were inclined, they lack the courage.

Who would dare to oppose the Astate, the OriginalBody, and Sui Bian, who can sway a planet's fate with a raised hand?

A moment of silence passed.

'No, commander.' Sara shook her head slightly and said, 'I still want to be a support soldier of the Wild Wolf Legion.'

'I understand.' NuoWa seemed to have already guessed the outcome; she stopped leaning against the locker, walked toward the changing‑room exit, and said to Sara, who was walking beside her:

'That HES set you're wearing was issued by the company; you don't need to return it. Once you officially become a support soldier, the company will also provide you with a corresponding technical team, but for now I will continue to guide you on how to use your spiritual energy and combat experience more proficiently—get ready.'

'Thank you, commander!'

'Mm.'

The two went to the armory, collected their respective weapons and gear, left the barracks, walked through the base, and finally arrived at an airfield on the east side.

Here were docked numerous assault craft that operate within the atmosphere and whose cabin specifications are exclusive to the Astate; at the same time, there were hundreds of Astate recruits equipped with white‑uncoated ceramosteel armor and holding bolt‑gun systems.

NuoWa led Sara to one of the assault craft, and together with two squads of six new recruits each, they boarded this assault craft whose side doors opened.

At that moment, the airfield ground crew were also performing final checks on all the assault craft; after confirming everything was correct, they gave thumbs‑up or 'OK' signs to the pilots seated in the cockpits.

After receiving the ground crew's signal and then the tower's clearance, the pilots lifted the assault craft off one by one, then adjusted their angle to head toward the sunrise.

More transport and attack aircraft squadrons also took off, joining the assault‑craft squadron carrying NuoWa and Sara to form an unprecedentedly large air fleet that departed the base.

'…'

With her legs dangling outside the hatch, Sara, seated on the left side of the cabin, admired the primeval forest at dawn; faintly, she could also see various animals running across the ground.

'All personnel, pay attention.' NuoWa's voice came over the headset comms:

'I am the supreme commander of Charlie Company, employee ID X018; you may address me directly as commander.'

'Next, the base will carry out a full‑scale purge of the planetary surface, completely eliminating those noseless Titur people; our first objective is an indigenous settlement, and according to real‑time satellite imagery, it appears to be gathering a Titur armored unit.'

As NuoWa spoke, her HES projected a small holographic screen in front of Sara's right eye, displaying the relevant information.

The target settlement was built by the planet's prehistoric natives who had entered agricultural and Bronze‑Age civilization.

These natives have a skeletal structure identical to humans, and their DNA similarity reaches 98%; therefore Umbrella has refrained from actively interfering with their civilizational development, granting them considerable freedom.

Now, however, we must intervene.

Just then, the air fleet scattered and flew toward different targets.

Sara's squadron continued eastward; soon they were flying low over the primeval forest, and before them lay a vast green plain.

Moreover, the plain teemed with countless herbivorous dinosaurs, and the most striking to her were herds of gentle, easy‑going long‑necked dinosaurs.

'Roar—!'

And the dinosaurs lifted their heads and roared, 'seeing off' the flight squadron as it disappeared from view.

(End of chapter)