HIP 22580 Stellar System.
As tachyon messages streamed in, the once-quiet stellar system suddenly sprang to life.
The [Golden Crow] battleships and [Black Tortoise] frigates, which had been idling on escort duty, quickly swung into action.
As for the atmosphere aboard the warships...
That went without saying.
Inside the combat center of the 053C [Golden Crow] battleship.
After receiving orders from Kepler-452, the crew, who had been idle for over a year, completed their combat preparations as quickly as possible and returned to their stations.
"I thought this escort mission was going to be boring!"
"Yeah, exactly!"
"Who would've thought we'd get a show like this just as the mission was about to end!"
"Man! I was bored out of my skull. Finally, something different!"
"How many contribution points do you think we'll get for this operation?"
"Contribution points? Hard to say. They should calculate that based on how many warships we capture, right?"
As the crew chattered away, a loud shout came from the combat center's entrance.
"Shut the hell up, all of you!"
The noisy combat center instantly fell silent.
"...H-hello, Captain Fan!"
A crew member near the entrance cautiously saluted the newcomer.
"Mm!" Fan Ping nodded expressionlessly, then quickened his pace toward his command station.
Once seated, Fan Ping swept his gaze around the combat center.
After making sure everyone was looking at him, he cleared his throat and said gravely, "The objective of this operation is simple."
"Capture every Eugene warship without causing widespread casualties!"
"Let me make this clear up front."
"If anyone fires recklessly and wounds or cripples those Eugene people, affecting our final contribution point assessment..."
"You know what the consequences will be!"
"Captain! Don't worry! We know when to hold back!" a crew member nearby called out. "Just give us our combat