The Almighty Ring

“Good answer!” barked Jiang Fei.

It felt good seeing how his soldiers were completely on board with his plan to fight Aino. Preparations were quickly completed and Meteor was now soaring through the atmosphere and into space.

Their target location was the Alpha Sector, another planetary region within the Domini System. That was where the long, ongoing battle between the Trade Federation and the Valsalrian Army had been taking place all these years. Since Hyur was technically at the frontlines, traveling to the Alpha Sector would not take long.

By matching the frequency of the spatial interference created by the Trade Federation to block all unauthorized vessels from entering Hyur, 0541 warped Meteor away from Hyur. They soon arrived directly in the heart of the Alpha Sector.

“Captain, we have arrived at Kirk Outpost. It seems that our arrival has not yet caught the attention of our enemies,” reported 0541.

“Good, said Jiang Fei. He turned to Sarila and ordered, “Contact the outpost and report my arrival.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sarila obeyed and began hailing the people in the outpost.

Jiang Fei issued further orders, “Bison, tell all our men to be ready. As soon as Lockseed’s fleet arrives, we will join the war.”

“Yes, sir.”

Acknowledging the order, Bison headed out from the bridge to the main hull where all the soldiers were gathered.

Meteor had undergone major reconstruction. All weaponry systems, energy cannons, missile systems, even the main Hyper Mega Particle Beam Cannons had been detached from the ship.

Once a Hypercruiser, it had transformed into an Infantry Carrier Cruiser. In place of cannons, the ship was now equipped with more energy stabilizers and a larger teleportation pad. These modifications were made with Jiang Fei’s approval, to suit his new battle style.

Jiang Fei’s entire army was made up of infantry units. In the case of a space fight, his ship would not be of much use, or rather, his talent would not come into play. His true prowess, and that of his soldiers as well, could only be seen when they engaged in physical fights.

Jiang Fei had no need for his army to participate in space fights. In fact, he had no reason to participate in any space fights at all. This time, Lockseed’s forces would come in and take on the two fleets that were orbiting the Alpha Sector. Jiang Fei’s role was to land on the planet and destroy two fortresses and three planets.

In this advanced space-age, the winner of a battle was decided via space fights, with ships in space. Winning a war, on the other hand, required a more surgical method.

Winning a space fight was merely the first step. Once there were no ships that could stop them, soldiers would be deployed to a space fortress or planet. They would have to plunder every available resource, basically whatever that was important to the enemy, and reap the final reward.

Ships alone could not do much to a planet, unless destroying the entire planet was their goal in the first place. To truly conquer an enemy planet, a landing party was required.

This was where infantry soldiers shone, and where Jiang Fei could truly perform. Herein lies another kind of battle, in which those who had invested in ground units would emerge victorious. Technology-based defenses wouldn’t hold up against the brute strength of a well-trained, experienced ground unit.

Sarila returned and reported, “Fei, we are being hailed by the outpost.”

“Put it up on the screen.”

Sarila headed to the nearest console and started to patch the transmission through to the main screen in the bridge.

The face of a young man dressed in a military outfit appeared. He had a slightly deformed humanoid face, as if someone had squeezed his face sideways too hard, elongating it.

That being said, it looked deformed to Jiang Fei, but in the eyes of any other race, his face was completely normal. By now, perhaps even Jiang Fei had become accustomed to seeing the faces of beings from different planets.

“Sir Jiang Fei, I am Lieutenant K’loog, the Kirk Outpost Communication Officer. We have received your authorization code and acknowledge the arrival of Meteor and its assault team led by you. We will now guide you to your designated attack region,” said the young officer.

“Acknowledged,” replied Jiang Fei.

He appeared to be stoic but his heart was thumping with excitement. He was one step away from enacting his revenge on Aino!

The outpost sent over coordinates and a star map, as well as the designated area at which Jiang Fei was needed. Once the battle started, Jiang Fei would then initiate the landing sequence and attack Dirk Slone Fortress.

“0541, input the coordinates and start moving,” ordered Jiang Fei.

Since Meteor’s original ship crew had been literally expunged, 0541 now handled all ship operations, including navigation and helm control. In just a few minutes, 0541 had located their designated position on the map and immediately initiated a warp jump. The ship made the jump and came out of Hyperspace a few seconds later, arriving at their designated location.

“0541, initiate stealth mode. Disengage all power supply, sustain only life support systems and teleportation pad units,” said Jiang Fei.

Lockseed had indeed dispatched a fleet to assist Jiang Fei but they were too slow to follow. Jiang Fei was the only one currently present behind enemy lines. Right now, Meteor was nothing but a troop carrier.

He had 0541 turn off any machinery that could be detected by the enemy’s sensors. Their single, unarmed troop carrier would instantly become space debris if they drew too much attention to themselves. The only thing Jiang Fei could do now was wait.

“Compensating for gravity fluctuations and the ship’s position relativity. Captain, we are ready to teleport,” said 0541.

“Hold that order first but make sure we are all ready to go on my command.”

They were now just waiting for Lockseed’s reinforcement fleet to arrive. As soon as they reported in, Jiang Fei and his soldiers would immediately descend into Dirk Slone Fortress and begin their ground attack. The wait began, each second felt like a day for the soldiers who were eager to jump into battle.

After waiting for god knows how long, Sarila, the person who was in charge of communications, blared, “Fei! We are being hailed!”

“Patch it through!”

“Sir Jiang Fei! We are the Violet Fleet commanded by General Lockseed. We have just sunk an enemy fleet orbiting close to the center star. You are now clear to proceed with the ground attack. We will be providing aerial support during your attack. Rest assured that your ship will be well taken care of,” said a young officer.

Jiang Fei acknowledged the message, “Thank you. We will now initiate troop deployment.” Turning to Kaa’Ina, he ordered, “Tell Bison to prepare for battle!”

“0541, cue the teleportation sequence,” he added.

“Aye, Captain. Teleportation sequence commencing in three seconds,” replied 0541.

Jiang Fei turned on the ship-wide broadcast and spoke into the microphone, “Gentlemen, we are going down now.”

All the soldiers were ready and waiting in the extra-large teleportation pods. Three seconds later, 0541 engaged the teleportation device and sent everyone, including Jiang Fei, to the fortress’ hangar bay.

As soon as everyone safely teleported in, Jiang Fei laid down the first order, “Quickly get into formation!” He also muttered to himself, “Not bad. The Federation did their homework.”

Such an infiltration method was risky in its own way. Without information and proper coordination, the entire troop might have been separated, or worse, teleported straight into the enemy’s formation.

Being able to hand over important intelligence proved that the Federation had done everything they could to gather information. As such, they determined that Jiang Fei should teleport into the hangar bay, as it was huge enough to fit more than thrice the number of his soldiers.

“Bison, take the lead. I’ll handle the rear. Move out.”

“Yes sir,” replied Bison, as he proceeded to coordinate the entire army.

As long as they were under Jiang Fei’s banner, every soldier would receive Ultralisk meat to consume. Their powers were constantly growing, Bison included.

Like any other powerful fighter, Bison now craved a decent battle. He wanted to test his limits and break through new heights, to achieve his goal of obtaining a combat level of more than 10 million.