Choice

Knox Squad made a choice, but not everyone would make the same one. Knox and his team were just one of many Z-series robot piloting teams; there are always some who believe they can be heroes and turn the tide.

"Captain, what do we do now?" After hearing the assembly broadcast, almost the same question rang out in a cabin exactly the same one Knox and the others had been in when they woke up.

This was an inconspicuous ship among the many ordinary standard warships in the Komok fleet. However, it also carried several Z-Series Squad, and the one in the room was clearly one of them.

"What do you all think?" Just like Knox's choice, this Captain also wanted to hear everyone's opinions on this matter that concerned everyone's fate.

"I think it's better to go to the assembly point; after all, it's the captain's order."

"While as a soldier, one must obey orders from superiors, I believe the captain was likely under duress when issuing the order. Therefore, whether that order should be obeyed is debatable."

"But even if we don't comply, what can we do? We were already unable to fight the Zerg just now, and now, without command and information support from the bridge, it's even more impossible."

"But once we go, we'll truly have no other choice. Without weapons, we'll become lambs to the slaughter. I'd rather die fighting than be in that situation, like chickens and ducks, at the mercy of others."

"Perhaps the Zerg won't do anything to us?"

"Have you forgotten how ferocious the Zerg are, as described in the data?"

"But that's just propaganda from the Alliance. This is our first real encounter with the Zerg."

"I'd rather believe the Alliance's records than gamble on the Zerg's character. A race that uses beasts to fight—I seriously doubt they possess a true social structure. How could such barbaric beings even know what civilization is?"

"Are our mechanical warriors really that advanced? Those Z2s are just giant metal spiders. Does that mean we're inferior?"

"Hmph, machines and flesh are naturally different."

"You're hopeless. You actually dare to slander a race with advanced combat capabilities based on just a little bit of information."

This team clearly lacked a member like Gale— strong, rational, and able to control the situation. Right at the beginning, before anyone else had even spoken, two of the team members started arguing.

"Enough, stop wasting time on irrelevant topics. We don't have much time and need to make a decision quickly." Finally, someone couldn't stand it anymore and steered the conversation back on track.

"I think we can indeed hide. It's not that we don't trust the Zerg, nor that we don't trust the captain, but the Zerg can't possibly figure out how many of them are on board in a short time. In other words, they can't know our presence by the number of people."

"The captain and main engine room have a roster."

"If the other side is a more advanced, or even nearly as advanced, mechanical civilization, doing this would indeed be dangerous. After all, they could use many methods to obtain the data they want from our mainframes. But the Zerg are different. The other path may make them very powerful, but it may also mean they don't have this ability."

"That's just your guess. Perhaps the Zerg can infiltrate the mainframe in their own way. Or perhaps they can use those mind-controlling bugs from the movies to extract intelligence from the captain."

"That's just your guess..."

"Indeed, but the Zerg are experts in biological pathways after all; who knows if they even have that kind of thing?"

"Alright, anyway, we're just speculating. Lacking intelligence, we have to take a gamble. If we go to the assembly point, we'll lose all possibilities, but outside, even if we're useless, there's another possibility."

"How can we hide? We don't know where on the warship is absolutely safe. And those Zerg things can appear anywhere, completely undetectable to us. Once we're exposed, we'll be in danger."

"No, although we can't find those things, I do know that there is a place where they definitely don't exist."

"Where?"

"Far away, yet so close at hand!"

You mean?

"That's right, there's absolutely no one like them in this room."

"That's not necessarily true. Perhaps they're somewhere in the room, watching us. The reason they haven't attacked us is simply because we surrendered."

"Okay, nothing is absolute, but the possibility you mentioned is extremely small, almost zero. Think about it, after receiving the captain's broadcast, we exited the control room and opened the control pod. From the time we woke up until now, we can be certain that absolutely no Zerg units have entered this room."

Seeing the others nod in agreement, the team member continued, "Before this, we were still at war with the Zerg. If there had been Zerg in this room then, we would have been killed long ago. After all, when we're in control mode, we have no chance to fight back."

"However, there is still a possibility that the Zerg had entered this room before, but did not know what the control pod was, so they did not find us lying inside. When we got up, the truce had already begun, and they did not attack us."

"Okay, that's a possibility, but it's still extremely low. Now's the time for us to take a gamble. If we go to regroup, there's not enough time; we need to leave immediately. If we decide to explore more possibilities, then we can retreat back into the control room. We can even link to the Z robot to perform some operations; even if it's damaged, it won't affect us."

"Then let's vote." The Captain glanced at the timer; there was no more time for the team members to discuss, and a vote had to be taken now.

The vote was unexpected. A full Z-Series Squad, with twelve members, was elected. Perhaps it was due to distrust of the Zerg, or a desire to take more control, or simply a sense of heroism, seeking a chance to turn the tide.

Ultimately, the vote was 7 to 5, with the majority supporting staying in the room.

The Captain looked up at everyone, nodded, and without saying a word, lay back down in his control room. The hatch closed silently, and the room returned to quiet.

Thank you Jing (I don't recognize the word on the right, next to the word fish, on the right is a factory, and below it is ten thousand. I searched for a long time and couldn't find it...) 300 starting coins for the reward.