A Tricky Mission

Outside the window, the cruiser was accelerating faster and faster.

Looking out the window at space, the surrounding environment appears visibly Twist.

"Ta-da!"

Another jolt followed; this was the third and most intense one of the day.

The jolt finally subsided a few seconds later.

"Did it collide with another asteroid?"

Inside the meeting room, most of the officers had already left.

The new task has been communicated to all departments.

The Landing Operations Department naturally needed to be prepared, and at this moment, they were taking all the soldiers to the fourth floor for simulated training, as well as pre-mission preparation and mobilization.

Major Thorn didn't rush to leave, but stayed with him in the main conference room.

"Captain Boren deliberately rammed into it."

"Some asteroids and small celestial bodies will not cause damage to the cruiser's hull."

"Compared to changing course, crashing directly into it consumes more energy, but it's more efficient and will get us to the mission point much faster."

"Stay here a while, you'll get used to it."

Recalling Captain Boren's personality, Lister instantly understood the warship's navigation situation.

Seeing that Major Thorn was in the mood to give an introduction, he immediately asked other questions.

"Major Thorn, how should we plan our operations for this mission?"

Lister was not afraid of one-on-one combat.

However, he truly had no experience when it came to commanding.

He didn't attend the command training in recruit camp, and instead focused his energy on improving his knowledge of secondary professions.

"Don't worry, it's just a resource planet being attacked by alien beasts. We probably won't need to intervene."

"At most, I'll go collect the bodies at the end and, incidentally, direct the soldiers to resupply the warships."

Major Thorn's nonchalant attitude puzzled Lister.

He had also read the mission details: the Arcane CX412 Resource Planet was under attack by a new mutated alien beast, and their cruiser's mission was to eliminate this new alien beast.

Logically, shouldn't a warship, with its 1500-strong crew, be the main force of its operations?

Even just to restrain them would be fine!

Why is it that for this kind of mission, they're just collecting corpses?

"With so many people in our department, don't we need to assign any combat roles?"

"No, in most cases you don't need to."

"What use are these ordinary sergeants in combat? They'd be better off firing one more shot with a neutron cannon."

Although Major Thorn's expression didn't show any contempt, his words still carried a hint of disdain for the lower-ranking soldiers.

"If we really send them into battle, the casualty rate will be too high, and it will also affect our chances of completing future missions."

"Unless absolutely necessary, like the special mission last time, soldiers will not be deployed for amphibious operations."

"Generally, in missions outside of the Federation Military District, these sergeants are not allowed to land and fight."

"So your main task is to protect them, and the mortality rate for each mission must be kept below 1%."

After a moment's thought, Lister understood the meaning of those words.

The A73 Cruiser belongs to the Arcane Army Group, which is essentially under the command of the Federation Military District.

On a daily basis, the Arcane Civilization will provide resources and carry out some tasks in the vicinity of their own civilization.

Essentially, their current mission was assigned by the Arcane Civilization, so the casualty rate must be controlled.

We can't keep the fleet dwindling in size as we maintain a regular presence.

If the Federation Military District needs to mobilize troops urgently and deploy them to combat, but no one is available, this would cause a major problem.

Having grasped these key points, Lister also gained a deeper understanding of the issues that Captain Boren and Lieutenant Commander Kali had just discussed in the command room.

It's no wonder the other side canceled Captain Boren's mission directly. The 27% mortality rate last time would have been a major accident on a regular warship, and the captain would probably have been dismissed.

Wait a minute, Lister suddenly thought of a question.

"Major Thorn, the previous minister didn't die in battle, did he?"

Upon hearing this, Major Thorn smiled.

"No."

"Is he still in our fleet?"

Sure enough! After such a major incident last time, how could someone not be criticized and dismissed? There always has to be a scapegoat.

Since Captain Boren, who had Lieutenant Colonel Kali's backing, was unharmed, the unlucky fellow, needless to say, was the former head of the Landing Operations Department.

"He's been demoted and reassigned. His poor command was indeed partly to blame for the last mission; otherwise, the mortality rate would have been at most 10%."

Major Thorn shook his head and said, his eyes turning to him again.

"Don't worry, these things won't happen to you."

"Why?"

The certainty in his tone puzzled even Lister himself, prompting him to ask a question.

"You were able to be directly promoted to captain and given a real position from recruit camp, so you must have some connections at the army group headquarters."

Could you please tell me which officer it is?

By the time the two finished talking, all the other officers in the meeting room had already left to attend to their other routine tasks.

Major Thorn became increasingly outspoken, asking him questions with a curious expression.

However, this put Lister in a somewhat difficult position.

It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about it, but rather that he genuinely didn't know any of the senior officers in the Arcane Army Group.

The one who actually put in a good word for him was Major Qi was still in recruit camp.

With this barrier between them, Lister could only remain silent.

Fortunately, Major Thorn smiled and nodded when he saw this, without pressing for details.

"If it's inconvenient, then forget it. You should get some rest first."

"When the mission begins, I'll walk you through the mission execution process."

After another half-day's journey, the cruiser arrived at the CX412 Resource Planet.

From the warship, it looked like a dark, crater-covered planet.

As they got closer, Lister, using his captain's authority, accessed various data and scan images of the planet.

The facilities there were very rudimentary, with most of the mining done by fixed machinery and a small portion by undocumented workers operating specialized machinery.

Notification: Particle imaging has been completed and distributed to all units.

Major Thorn had gone back to his dormitory to rest, but now he was back in the conference room on the third floor below.

Because I needed to take Lister with me, I did not go to the central command room.

At this moment, I am carefully examining the particle imaging information with him.

All federal citizens on the resource planet are dead, including undocumented immigrants; not a single person survives.

As for the mining equipment, most of it has also ceased operation.

Only countless giant black ants kept emerging from the various holes and pits on this resource planet.

According to information from the command center, the giant black ant is a recently mutated alien beast.

The evolution occurred because of their consumption of the planet's unique Obsidian Fu Stone.

Individual strength is around level six to eight, and combat power is generally level E.

"This is troublesome!"

Major Thorn's expression immediately turned serious, and he couldn't help but speak.

Before Lister could ask any further questions, a series of notices had already arrived.

"Radar Satellite Department has locked onto the coordinates of the dense area XXX; the Magnetic Pulse Cannon is ready."

"The Shipboard Artillery Department has completed neutron gun charging and is ready."

Notice: All personal communication signals have been blocked.

"Sizzle~ Sizzle~!"

A magnetic pulse sound swept past my ears, and a blue Magnetic Pulse Cannon shot straight toward the locked coordinates.

The pulse cannon exploded completely the instant it hit the ground.

The entire area, spanning hundreds of kilometers in diameter, was impacted, with massive electric arcs flashing continuously throughout the region.

The next moment, a purple arc of neutron cannon shot out.

It directly bombarded the entire control area of Magnetic Pulse Cannon.

Countless fragments of rock and dust, along with the Obsidian Fu Stone underground, began to annihilate, while simultaneously bombarding and extending inwards.

As countless giant black ants were being annihilated, the neutron cannon suddenly stopped.

It's not that there's a lack of energy; it's more like the power was deliberately cut off.

"Major Thorn, what is this?"

"We can't bombard it anymore; if we keep going, we'll destroy this resource planet."

"Moreover, these Obsidian Fu Stones will be gone after a few more shots. Without resources, there's no point in exterminating these beasts, and the mission won't be considered complete."

Sigh!

"I thought it was just a special kind of beast!"

"I never expected to encounter such a large-scale alien beast invasion mission with just 1000 military merit points."

"As expected, you can't just take on any mission; this should be a destroyer's mission."

Major Thorn's head was getting more and more throbbing as he spoke, and he then gave orders to all the officers in the Landing Operations Department.

"All personnel, issue the order: be ready for battle at any time!"

Lister understood immediately.

In other words, this kind of comprehensive extermination mission is not a good fit for their fleet, which is mainly designed for long-range strikes.

The Landing Operations Department, which had originally been just going through the motions, suddenly became the main force.

After all, apart from the areas where black ants are highly concentrated, other areas are scattered, and these resources cannot be bombarded indiscriminately.

So here's the problem: facing this dense swarm of giant black ants, even if the individual ants aren't particularly strong, given the limited amphibious warfare capabilities of their cruiser's crew, the casualty rate... is likely to cause serious problems.

The deaths of sergeants were not actually a concern for many officers, but the mortality rate affected future mission outcomes, which was their real headache.