The bridge, which had only just quieted down, stirred into commotion once more at the sudden signal.
Huai Shi quickly pushed open the door and entered—if the Solar Ship's internal framework had not prohibited all Source Matter leaps, he could have flashed over almost instantly.
"Where did the signal come from?"
He looked at the connection request on the screen.
"Ninety kilometers away, near an abandoned outpost."
Red Dragon reported, "We received a similar signal half an hour ago, but it was too weak and didn't match communication protocols, so it was classified as static. But the signal kept repeating. I imported it into the database using the Iron Legion's encrypted communication format and spent ages decoding it."
"Can we connect?" Huai Shi asked.
"Trying now."
Red Dragon muttered in confusion, "But with such a goddamn mess of responses, did these guys cobble their radio together with a Walking Titan's communications motherboard and a mess hall pot lid? Fuck, they actually did! I don't even know where they found vacuum tube components from forty years ago.
Wait, we're connected... You'd better hurry. I'm afraid their crappy radio will explode in another two minutes."
Though rather than calling it a connection, it would have been more accurate to say that they had completed an intrusion.
Using the Solar Ship's electronic warfare equipment, they hacked into and took over the other side's system. Only then could they tell... just how absurd a patchwork was required to make such a barely functional device.
And what an exorbitant price had been paid for such a tiny miracle.
At that moment, within the ruined outpost, beneath the Signal Tower on the verge of collapse, a machine assembled from who knew how many components was belching black smoke as it transmitted a message into the distance.