great-warnovel Chapter 160 Gathering
Chapter 160 Gathering
On the ninth day after the Ark arrived in Aquitron, the Black Widow arrived.
The vector stood at the Crystal City assembly point, watching the external passages open layer by layer, with the hard shell emerging first.
His enormous insect-shaped silhouette passed through the entrance, his thick carapace gleaming darkly under the light, followed by a swarm of insect giants, silent, crowded, and dangerous, like a black tide surging from the ground.
The Crystal City guards tensed up, and the Knight of Law also moved forward half a step.
On the other side, the steel cable team simultaneously looked up.
The steel cable stood up, revealing its massive teeth. The slag turned around, the dart retracted its wings from above, the mud slowly shifted, and the howling tail blade gently grazed the ground.
Tong Tianxiao's voice immediately rang out: "Stop everything."
The steel cable looked at him: "We're just standing up."
The hard shell stopped in the center of the assembly point, and the red optical lens swept across the steel cable team, producing a dull friction sound.
Black Widow slowly emerged from behind the swarm of insects.
She didn't seem to be there to report for duty; she seemed to be there to tour the rather shabby venue that had been prepared for her. Her long, slender spider legs were tucked behind her, and her optical glasses held a lazy smile.
"I'm here," she said.
Vector glanced at the time: "Seven minutes late."
Black Widow smiled slightly: "Don't be so fussy."
BICk0 stood at the back and entered the line "Insectoid King Kong Temporary Access to Planetary Support War Dispatch System" into the file. She paused, then added another clause to the temporary security regulations.
Biting each other is prohibited.
A rumble popped its head in from the side: "Who's this for?"
Confused and speechless: "What do you think?"
Boom: "I think it has a wide range of applications."
The ninth day progressed amidst what could be described as a smooth or absurd gathering.
On the tenth day, the main calibration loop of the space bridge achieved low-frequency synchronization for the first time.
The fluorescent arc of light crawled along the broken ring frame, then suddenly stopped halfway through.
The jack was so angry that it popped out from under the outer guide rail, threw down the tools in its hand, and started cursing everything from the design concept of shockwaves to aesthetics.
After listening, Shockwave only said one thing: "Your subjective evaluation will not affect the data."
Tongtianxiao passed by, glanced at them indifferently, and frowned slightly.
The jack was drilled back under the guide rail: "I'll continue repairing."
On the eleventh day, the Jazz's low-power coded messages were interrupted for six hours, with no communication and no reply.
During those six hours, Yin Xiang remained expressionless, appearing extremely calm.
This, in turn, made the entire control area eerily quiet.
BICk0 processed files 20% faster than usual. Crystal Prism personally monitored the Crystal City relay. Shockwave ran the same set of coordinate models four times, and even the Steel Cable Squad didn't make a sound. Even Rumble and Confusion didn't put on a show. They would occasionally glance at her face.
In the seventh hour, the Jazz finally received a signal again.
Just a short sentence: "I'm here. The curator was nearby just now."
Yin Xiang stared at the line of text, instantly letting out a sigh of relief, and then said, "Continue."
The atmosphere in the main control area finally returned to normal.
By the twelfth day, the terrain intelligence of Aquitron was almost complete.
The internal routes provided by the Jazz, the outer structure of the Quintesson's Court, the areas where the Ark crew members might stay, and the curator's patrol routes, etc., were compiled into dozens of documents.
AZ added several highly mysterious sources of intelligence. Shockwave tested those paths by inserting them into the Space Bridge landing point model, while Jack marked all the parts that looked like they would send them into the wall or the Earth's core in red.
Aquitron was more troublesome than they had anticipated.
The courtroom will be the first battleground.
The problem is that it is connected to a large number of low-level pipes and underwater structures.
Aquitron's ocean area is far greater than that of most common habitable planets, and many passages are not built on the surface, but extend downwards along water bodies, deep platforms, and supporting layers.
There was an anomaly in the third set of ambient echoes transmitted from the jazz.
It is neither a five-sided strange facility nor a trace left by the Ark or the Retribution.
After a long analysis of the shockwave, the final conclusion was: "There is a possibility of indigenous life activity."
The Crystal City technical team immediately began analyzing and studying this anomaly, attempting to locate and decipher it.
Vector looked at the marked deep-sea area with a headache.
That's amazing! It seems there are still indigenous people in Aquitron.
Those five-faced monsters, every time you flip through the pages, they manage to create a new mess.
"We've added restrictions on engagement," she said. "Attacking suspected Indigenous people is prohibited unless it's an attack initiated and poses an immediate threat."
On the thirteenth day, the final deployment for the planetary support operation was determined.
The main light screen unfolded in front of the third space bridge, with all squad markers suspended in mid-air.
The vector was at the very front, Tongtianxiao was a step behind her, and AZ was in a darker position.
BICk0 remained at the Cybertronian control console. He had full access to the Judiciary Central, Space Bridge, Crystal City Relay, and Evacuation Port.
When she saw that her position was marked as "staying on the side," she didn't speak immediately.
The vector noticed and said softly, "The evacuation route is in your hands."
BICk0's finger paused for a moment.
The vector continued, its tone even more solemn: "We need you to back us up."
BICk0 was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Understood."
The home team is determined first.
Vector control, overall commander.
Tong Tianxiao, deputy commander, is responsible for the main tactical framework and on-site risk correction.
The Knights of Justice accompany the judges, protecting judicial authority and maintaining order in the courtroom.
The robotic dogs are responsible for close-range reconnaissance and counter-surprise attacks.
AZ enters with the main team, but has the authority to voluntarily leave the team.
Tong Tianxiao stared at the last line for three seconds: "Mobile disengagement authorization? This is very irregular."
Vector reference: "But he's suitable."
After a long pause, Tongtianxiao finally wrote his name in the authorization signature field.
"Limited to not undermining the overall objective."
The Ark rescue team consists of the Elite Guard, Thunder Rescue Team, Rumble, and Chaos.
They were responsible for locating the Ark's designated areas and restricted zones, pinpointing Ark crew members such as Alita, Arcee, Ambulance, and Ironhide, removing any possible restraints, blockades, or cognitive interference, and establishing temporary evacuation points.
The captain of the elite guard nodded in agreement after listening; this was indeed the most suitable position for them.
Rumble and Confusion were very pleased that they had finally been assigned a formal mission.
"Look!" Rumble said to Confusion, "We're the rescue team."
Confusion: "The premise is that you don't make the person you're rescuing dizzy."
Boom! Boom! "I'll control the volume!"
BICk0 silently changed their mission notes in the channel to: short-range jamming, communication assistance, and prohibition of unauthorized expansion of the operation area.
The heavy-armored suppression team consists of the Steel Cable Squad and temporarily drawn Decepticon grassroots combat forces.
The objective is to suppress the enemy on the ground, destroy their outer defenses, prevent them from encircling the main force from the outside, and, if necessary, breach the passage to the outer layer of the Inquisition.
Tongtianxiao specifically emphasized: "Suppression is not the same as destroying a planet."
Steel Cable: "We know."
Tong Tianxiao: "I need to confirm that you understand the difference between these two words."
Steel Cable: "They're all pretty much the same."
Tongtianxiao: "It's not almost the same."
Finally, the vector raised its hand to interrupt, and Tongtianxiao resisted the urge to continue explaining, his expression looking quite pained.
The swarm's underground squad is led by Black Widow, Hardshell, and Insect King Kong.
They breached the lower underground maintenance structure of Aquitron, destroyed the Quintesson facility nodes, blocked reinforcement routes, and interfered with the energy and control systems of the lower level of the Inquisition.
The vector looked at Black Widow: "You're in charge of keeping the swarm from crossing the line."
Black Widow tilted her head slightly, her eyes sparkling with curiosity through her optical glasses: "You trust me that much?"
"I don't believe it," said Vector. "The hard shell's operational boundaries, your pending status, and the entire record are all synchronized into the file."
Black Widow laughed and did not argue.
Hardshell only cares about one thing: "Can it tear apart facility nodes? The Quintesson defenses?"
"Yes. But remember, Autobots, Decepticons, and Native Americans cannot."
Hardshell gave a muffled reply, but obediently complied despite being somewhat unwilling.
The technical and channel teams are divided into two parts.
Aquitron's escort team consisted of Shockwave and Jack.
Shockwave is responsible for writing back spatial coordinates, jump point models, and the space bridge on-site; Jack is responsible for battlefield repair, temporary evacuation nodes, firepower blasts when necessary, and preventing Shockwave from doing anything too logical.
The jack looked at the shockwave: "Look! What a great description!"
Shockwave: "This description lacks technical and academic rigor. Its accuracy is less than 62 percent."
Jack: "...Remember, never speak like that on the battlefield."
The Cybertronian garrison consists of BICk0, the Crystal City technical department, the judicial central dispatch group, and some research personnel.
They maintained the third space bridge, prepared the evacuation route, and were prepared to reopen the bridge if necessary. They also documented the entire operation to ensure that the communication channels centered on the judicial center remained unbroken.
Crystal Prism stood beside the Crystal City relay station, calmly saying, "Crystal City will serve as the rear passage, but if you bring back the Quintessons, or if an unexpected crisis occurs on Cybertron's mainland, I will close the passage."
The vector gave her another look: "Received."
Black Widow chimed in casually from the side, "She's so realistic."
The last one is a covert support.
Jazz continued to remain hidden and disguised within Aquitron, responsible for receiving low-surveillance landing points and providing real-time updates on the courtroom proceedings and the status of the Ark and Retribution crew members.
This support force, by any normal military standard, is a chaotic mess, like a disaster.
But their current objective is to go to Aquitron to interrupt the Quintessons' trial, which is strangely fitting.
On the thirteenth day, the third space bridge finally completed its final calibration.
The main ring lights up completely for the first time.
Swirling light flowed along the repaired, reinforced, and temporarily welded structures, illuminating the faces of all the machines, and the vortex was fully formed.
It didn't explode; it's operating normally.
Shockwave looked at the landing point model on the master control data: "Theoretically, it's possible."
Vector: "I'm now allergic to the word 'theoretically'."
"There wasn't time for a full test jump," Shockwave said. "If we did test it, the coordinate stability window might be captured by the Quintessons, and the risk of exposing our landing point inside Aquitron would increase."
The jack wiped the grease off his hands and said, "To put it another way, the first time you drive it is the official first time."
The vector looked at the glowing space bridge.
From the very beginning, none of the support measures were entirely compliant or timely.
The Quintessons' bypassing Cybertronian justice to judge Optimus Prime was irregular, as was their bizarre rescue operation, not to mention the space bridge.
But they don't have a second chance to try and fail; they have to get it right the first time.
Before the end of the thirteenth day, the planetary support operation entered its final preparation stage.
On the fourteenth day, before the formal trial begins, they will open the bridge.