From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 768: We agreed to form a lifelong alliance?

As the commander of the team that is supporting De Bruyne, Deren is not in a good mood now.

He had finally passed a series of rigorous assessments and was promoted from a communications staff officer to the youngest light cruiser captain in the Atlas Group's combat fleet. His superiors and colleagues were all optimistic about his future.

This time, he was assigned to carry out a field mission, to come to the Karot galaxy to pick up a local industrial giant and escort him back to the Atlas Group headquarters.

Unexpectedly, after leaving the jump, this is the scene that appeared before my eyes.

The target ship was intercepted by a combat reconnaissance ship of the Renaissance Alliance. The very obvious damage on the upper deck also showed that the "Red Copper" had been attacked by the enemy.

Thinking about the things that his superiors had told him before he set sail that could not be made public for the time being, Deren finally understood why they had said that.

So he immediately ordered the launch of the HCP and heavy armored combat boats, and directly pressed forward in a vigilant posture. The six warships of the squadron also immediately pointed their beam axes over, ready to open fire at any time.

The blood-red HCP in the distance and another red combat boat approaching were marked as "purple high threat" units at his signal. If a conflict really occurred between the two sides, they would focus their fire on these two targets first.

Because Deren has recognized that these are the two most outstanding students of the Renaissance Alliance who came to Atlas for training.
However, although he was ready for battle, Deren still hoped to solve the problem through peaceful means. After all, no matter what, the Atlas Group and the Renaissance Alliance were still allies.

"Don't open fire on the enemy unless it's absolutely necessary." These were the original words of the commander before sailing.

So after the HCP and the combat boats surrounded them and the other side showed no intention of attacking, Deren quickly asked the communications staff to contact the other side.

"Commander Duriel, I hope you can give a reasonable explanation as to why you used force to intercept our ships."

"Major Deren, based on our review of the Alliance Audit Committee's investigation, we now suspect that Mr. De Bruyne may be connected to federal spies, so we would like to ask him to go back and investigate."

Commander Duriel of the Renaissance Alliance was a little flustered after seeing the Atlas ships, but he quickly calmed down and spoke in a very calm tone.

"As for the armed interception, it was mainly because Mr. De Bruyne still refused to stop the ship for inspection after we issued a warning, and instead accelerated his escape. We had no choice but to open fire to force him to stop."

Hearing Durrell's words, Deren's brows immediately frowned. He knew very well that Mr. De Bruyne was not a federal spy, otherwise the Atlas Group would not have waited for the Renaissance Alliance to discover it themselves before synchronizing the information.

After thinking for a moment, Deren finally decided to "use courtesy before force". For him, completing the task assigned by his superiors is the top priority at the moment.

"We at Atlas Group can vouch for Mr. De Bruyne. He is definitely not a federal spy. This must be a misunderstanding. Commander Duriel, please let us take him away."

"Oh, that won't do, Major Deren."

Duriel shook his head, and his tone sounded a bit provocative to Deren.

"Although we are allies, this does not mean that you can harbor a spy, nor does it mean that we, the Renaissance Alliance, must obey the orders of the Atlas Group. We are allies, not superiors and subordinates, right?"

"Good, good, it sounds like we are still oppressing you."

Deren was immediately amused by the other party's words. As a middle-level officer of the group, especially a fleet member who often went out to assist the Renaissance Alliance in combat, he knew very well how much help the Atlas Group provided to the Renaissance Alliance.

Not to mention sending troops directly to assist in combat, the interest-free loans, discounted equipment contracts, and ultra-low-cost infrastructure projects also helped the Renaissance Alliance train its initial elite troops.

The result now is alienation and distrust from the other party.

In fact, such thoughts and emotions do not only occur in Deren.

When the Renaissance Alliance made various actions that were contrary to the alliance relationship in the previous period of time, many people on the Atlas Group side had expressed grievances and dissatisfaction. In the eyes of some easily excited employees, this group was about to cultivate an ungrateful person.

But even so, the group never stopped helping the Renaissance Alliance, and Deren's leaders often advised and enlightened them, asking them not to distrust their allies because of these things.
Thinking of this, Deren couldn't help but take a deep breath to calm his agitated heart, and tried to make his tone sound calm.

"Commander Duriel, we are all family. The HCP pilots and combat boat pilots under you are even trainees I have trained before. The relationship between us is so close.
So I think we can communicate openly. I think you know very well that Mr. De Bruyne is not a federal spy. If you need an explanation, I will convey your demands verbatim. I believe the group intelligence center will find out the truth as quickly as possible and synchronize it with you.
Look, I have orders to follow, so could you please not make things difficult for me today?"

After listening to Deren's words, Duriel's expression did not change at all, he just said coldly: "Difficult? Then just don't do it."

"you!"

"Captain Deren, Captain Duriel, please stop arguing because of me!"

De Bruyne, who had been silent since being controlled, suddenly spoke up and interrupted the argument between the two.

Seeing that both sides were looking at him, a look of determination flashed across De Bruyne's face. He took a last look at his wife beside him, took a deep breath and said:
"Captain Duriel, I will go back with you for investigation. Commander Deren, please inform the colleagues who have been in contact with me about what happened today. They will know what to do."

De Bruyne then looked at Durril, and the expression on his face became extremely tough at this time.

"Captain Duriel, I am willing to cooperate with your investigation, but I have only one request. I hope my family can go to the Atlas Group."

"Do you think you are still qualified to bargain?" Durrell said disdainfully. In his opinion, De Bruyne was just making a fearless struggle.

"Don't go too far. What does his woman and child have to do with your bullshit spy investigation?"

Deren finally couldn't help it at this moment, and he threw the so-called "diplomatic etiquette" out of his mind. He never thought that the people of the Renaissance Alliance would become like this.

It made him feel both familiar and strange.

The reason for his unfamiliarity was that the style of this 'Captain Duriel' in front of him was completely different from those young people from the Renaissance Alliance he had met before. It was hard to imagine that they were from the same organization.

The reason why he was familiar was because his behavior was exactly the same as those bureaucrats Deren had met in the Federation before he joined the Atlas Group.

On the other hand, Duriel turned a blind eye to Deren's words. According to his experience and the information his superiors had given him, the Atlas Group was still trying to maintain a relatively friendly relationship with the Renaissance Alliance, so in many cases the other party would choose to give in.

"Who can say for sure? Perhaps these spies are hiding from detection by posing as women and children?"

Duriel said indifferently, then waved his hand and planned to let the marines take everyone away. But the next second, a sharp buzzing alarm sounded in the cockpit of the Red Copper, the combat reconnaissance ship of the Renaissance Alliance, and Johnny Riding and others.

They were locked onto the fire control radar!

Johnny Riding was horrified and subconsciously held his heavy shield in front of him. He looked at the Atlas units surrounding them. The other side had already aimed their weapons at them.
"If you are not afraid of causing a diplomatic incident, you should open fire!"

"You think I don't dare?!" Deren laughed in anger and shouted, "Attack team, destroy their HCP and combat boats. Marines, prepare to board!"

"Wait. You don't dare to do this. Don't you know what consequences this will cause?!"

"Of course he does, Commander Duriel."

Johnny Riding's voice suddenly sounded in the communication channel, and he controlled the machine to float directly between the two ships.

"Everyone, please listen to me, Coach Deren. I am Johnny! Please don't attack. We will hand De Bruyne's family over to you! I believe this is a misunderstanding. There is no need to make a fuss!"

"Who are you to make the decision?!" Durel said angrily. He was naturally very unhappy about someone suddenly taking over the command.

"Shut up, you ignorant idiot!"

Johnny Riding let out an angry roar. As an elite pilot who had shot down hundreds of enemy HCPs in battle, his momentum immediately intimidated Duriel.

"Boarding team, bring back Mr. De Bruyne and Duriel. This operation ends here."

The Marine team that boarded the freighter immediately carried out Johnny Riding's order without saying a word.

As for the reason, in addition to the fact that Johnny Riding's prestige in the Renaissance Alliance's combat forces was already quite high, the more important thing was that these grassroots soldiers did not have the awareness of dying with that crazy commander.

Moreover, in the eyes of most grassroots soldiers, the alliance between the Renaissance Alliance and the Atlas Group is as solid as diamond, so such a conflict should not occur.

Besides, wasn't the goal of this mission to bring De Bruyne back? Now that it has been achieved, why bother with his family?
So it didn't take long for the boarding team to bring De Bruyne and the madly cursing and struggling Duriel back to the assault cabin, then slowly detached from the "Red Copper" and began to return to their mother ship.

At the same time, Johnny Riding also controlled the body and came to the vicinity of the Atlas ship alone.

Soon, a point-to-point independent communication channel was established.

"Coach Deren, I..."

"It's okay, no need to say more." Deren finally showed a smile on his face. "I'm glad you didn't change anything, but if you do this, aren't you afraid of being bitten by that guy when you go back?"

"Huh~ Him?" Johnny Riding smiled and shook his head, "I'm not afraid of him, and it's not that easy to deal with me."

"Yo, your wings are hard?"

"hey-hey."

Looking at Johnny Riding's unchanging smile on the communication interface, Deren also smiled, and then his expression became serious.

"Revival Alliance. How did it become like this? Is today's situation a special case, or is it common?"

"Alas, I hope this is a special case, but there are indeed many problems within the alliance right now, and this is not the first time something like this has happened."

Johnny Riding said somewhat disappointedly, and then controlled the machine to fly towards the direction of the Renaissance Alliance reconnaissance ship.

"I'm leaving now, instructor! See you next time. By the way, please be sure to report everything Mr. De Bruyne said and what happened today in full."

"Don't worry, Atlas will not suffer such a loss~" Deren smiled, and then reminded: "You and Manfred, too, be careful. I can see that you two are different from others. Keep your original intentions and don't be affected by the external environment."

"I understand, instructor!"

Johnny Riding saluted and then cut off the communication.

Soon, the Renaissance Alliance's reconnaissance ship left, and after sending a transport boat to pick up De Bruyne's family and other crew members on the cargo ship, Deren also commanded the ship to prepare to leave.

At this time, the emergency briefing he had just edited had already been sent out in advance.

After settling De Bruyne's family and assuring them that Atlas Group would not easily abandon its business partners, Deren returned to the bridge.

And seeing him sitting in the captain's seat with his head propped up and a worried look on his face, the adjutant couldn't help but float over to his side.

"Major, wouldn't it be too much of a disrespect to them to just let them go? Besides, don't we have a mission to accomplish?"

Deren shrugged. "Of course I know we have a mission, but since Johnny has found a way to create the stairs, we should still follow them. After all, we can't completely break up with the Renaissance Alliance now. Have you forgotten what Colonel Randall said in the meeting before? Be patient for the sake of the overall situation. There will always be a chance to pay it back in the future.

Before setting sail, the squadron commander came to me and told me to try not to clash directly with the other side. If it really doesn't work, it's okay to take a step back. This shows that they have obviously anticipated these situations. "

"What about Mr. De Bruyne? Did they really let them take him back like this?"

"I think the higher-ups will get it back through other means, and my intuition is very accurate. I believe that the Renaissance Alliance will not be able to find out anything."

At this point, Deren couldn't help but sigh and sighed again.

"How did the Renaissance Alliance become like this? How can we form a lifelong alliance if it's this bad?"

(End of this chapter)