Chapter 214: Oskulos is Coming [Part 1]
Cillin walked to the entrance of the control room before turning around to look at everyone, “With my authority as the lieutenant commander of this squadron, I will transfer this starship’s control and this operation’s command to Eudy effective immediately.”
Although Hunters were not as strict as the army when it came to ranking, obedience was still expected during critical moments. It would’ve been a mess otherwise. That was why everyone would self-consciously obey the ‘commander’ with the highest authority during a critical situation.
Everyone was a little caught off guard when they heard Cillin’s declaration though.
Why had Cillin transferred over his power to Eudy at this time?
Since Cillin had transferred the command to Eudy, every member in the squadron was expected to obey Eudy’s orders for the remaining period of the operation. It was obvious that that starship chasing behind them was a threat at first glance.
“But LC…” Cary went over and tried to get to the bottom of this.
Cillin closed the control room’s door with a button wordlessly before Cary could catch up to him.
When Cary opened the door once more, Cillin was already riding inside the elevator heading towards the spaceplane parking zone.
Cillin looked at the starship behind them. He could sense that person on that starship.
It was inevitable that they would meet. He just didn’t think that Oskulos would appear so quickly.
It would appear that Mist or Merciless had cooperated with Oskulos and attracted part of the army’s attention. That was how Oskulos managed to shake off the army’s supervision and came looking for Cillin.
He chose a small spaceplane, brought a few energy ores with him, checked his equipment once quickly before piloting his chosen vehicle out of the starship.
Even though the small spaceplane might not have the deadly weaponry of a bigger spaceplane, its strength lay in its agility. Big spaceplanes attracted too much firepower and were difficult to control by one person only.
At the starship behind the Sixth B Squadron’s starship.
“He went out.”
The person who spoke was none other than the person Cillin and the gray cat were talking about earlier; they guy who brushed past Cillin back when he was traversing the prison passages. Next to him was the woman wielding a blue blade who almost killed Cillin back then.
Oskulos let out a small smile as he leisurely drank his wine while sitting on top of a recliner. He drained every drop of wine, stood up and walked out of the room immediately.
Not long after, a spaceplane departed from the starship and chased straight towards Cillin.
At the team’s starship.
Everyone in the control room saw Cillin piloting a spaceplane and leaving the starship. Tico and Eudy stared at the vehicle that was gradually moving further and further away from them worriedly and sighed.
“Hey, can anyone tell me what on earth is Cillin thinking? Also, who are those enemies behind us?” Cary was just about to blow his top.
“This is not the time to speak about such things,” Eudy turned back to look at the main control panel, “We absolutely mustn’t slow down, and we absolutely mustn’t descend at any nearby planets. Raise the energy shields and increase all thrusters to the max! We are retreating back to the base at top speed!”
Cillin had warned Eudy to never slow down or descend at any nearby planet in an attempt to fight those people. It would just be plain suicide. That was why Eudy had ordered the team to return at top speed. Any other choice would only result in their own destruction.
Cary grabbed Eudy’s collar and roared out, “Can you f*cking tell us the reason already?! Is it fun hiding things from all of us? F*ck!”
Eudy gave Cary an expressionless stare before he removed his hands and said, “I’m just performing the mission the LC has given to me, and that is to bring everyone back to the base safely.”
“F*ck that shit!”
Cary kicked the chair next to him violently. It crashed into the wall and broke into pieces.
Bang bang bang!
The attacks coming behind them were as fierce as ever. Although the energy shields were holding up, the starship still wobbled under the shots’ impact.
“F*ck! Who the hell are they? Do we have to run like this all the way back to our base?!”
Cary wasn’t the only person to have this thought, there were a lot others who thought the same too. How embarrassing would it be if people heard that members of the great Vanguard was openly thrashed, and the only thing they could do was run all the way back home without retaliating even once! It was just too stupid and cowardly to escape all the way back to the base with their tails between their legs!
When Eudy saw that everyone was slowly losing control of their emotions and being tempted to pilot a fighter or pick a fight at some place, he finally loosened his mouth a little. If he were to keep them too much in the dark then the opposite effect would happen instead.
“Can you guys take on either Mist or Merciless?” Eudy looked and Cary and everyone else.
Everyone in the control room fell silent when Eudy said this.
Could they take on either Mist or Merciless?
They couldn’t! They couldn’t take on any one of them!
They weren’t afraid of death, but they were afraid that their death would be worthless. Being brave didn’t mean plowing head first into certain suicide.
Eudy swept a glance across the board before he finally turned around, “Follow my earlier order and return at full speed!”
No one displayed any indignation this time as they consciously performed their respective responsibilities. The best aid they could provide the squad was to do their own things properly.
Cary made several deep breaths before he asked with bursting emotions that he barely suppressed, “Cillin…”
“Cillin has his own plans,” Eudy said nothing after that. He brought up the star chart and laid down orders to adjust their course from time to time.
Judging from how the enemy was pursuing after them, it was obvious that they had analyzed this whole region before. Eudy didn’t think that they could shake off the enemy behind them, so all he wanted was for the squad to return to the base safely. Cillin had told him that the enemy had known about the base since a while ago, and that they were the ones who sent the transformed humans to attack them. Even if they hadn’t flown out of the base and gone on a mission, these people would still have attacked the base. The reason the enemy hadn’t lobbed a bioweapon at them or used any explosives that could cause permanent destruction was all because they wanted to preserve that base.
There was one more thing that Eudy refrained to say when he was answering Cary’s question.
The title Star Rank Hunter Oskulos was too big of a morale blow to unveil. The name Mist and Merciless had caused enough pressure within the team already, and Eudy suspected that the revelation of Oskulos would have sent these people straight into negativity. That was why he had avoided the subject even when someone brought up their doubts regarding the enemies that had gone after Cillin’s spaceplane.
Eudy was seriously caught off guard when he heard Cillin’s thoughts on the matter. No one knew why someone at Oskulos’ level would lay his eyes on Cillin.
Cillin flew his spaceplane straight towards a planet of his own choosing. This planet was one of the two underripe rank B planets the Sixth B Squadron had found when they were searching for a planet to establish their base on at the beginning. Cillin had analysed the planet’s environment and living creatures, and he came to the conclusion that this planet was his biggest chances of survival.
Cillin had considered fighting Oskulos in space and taking him out with his spaceplane, but Oskulos was a bonafide Star Rank Hunter. Even excluding his experience, the tools and materials Oskulos possessed must be far better than Cillin’s. Although Cillin was using the special energy ores they found earlier, and they increased the defensive capabilities of his spaceplane’s shields by several levels, Oskulos’s energy shields couldn’t be too far behind even in the best case scenario. Moreover, Cillin’s chances of a reversal would only decrease once they flew out of Vanguard’s territory. That was why Cillin had chosen this planet decisively while he was plotting his flight course earlier.
If he could delay Oskulos long enough, the gray cat and the others would eventually show up to reinforce him. He would be saved if he could survive until that moment. After all, Oskulos was alone in this place.
