Reboot the Galaxy

"The ship is now anchored. All crew members are requested to assemble in the assembly hall within ten minutes."

Di Yan opened the arched hatch and saw the team members walking hurriedly in the corridor outside, clearly eager to catch a glimpse of the alien world.

People gathered in the assembly hall. Li Guangyu and Han Qinghe exchanged a few words in hushed tones, and then Han Qinghe nodded and returned to the front cabin area.

The ten-minute meeting time limit was passed, but everyone arrived in just three minutes.

"Next, I'll introduce you to your direct superiors. Those who wanted to see the scenery won't have a chance today."

As Lieutenant Li finished speaking, a six- or seven-meter-wide crack appeared horizontally in the side bulkhead of the hall.

The gap widened until it connected to the corridor outside, where a group of people were already standing: six or seven neatly dressed officers and four researchers in white coats.

Li Guangyu went to greet him first. Among the officers, a man in his fifties or sixties shook hands with her. He had a kind face, and the rank on his shoulder showed that he was a major.

"Xiao Li, you've worked hard." The major's tone was exceptionally gentle.

"It's all what I should do." Li Guangyu smiled brightly, as if a child had completed a task assigned to her by an adult.

"Go and rest. Leave the rest to me and Shi Ming."

Li Guangyu nodded, turned back to take a few more glances at the line, his gaze lingering on Di Yan for a moment, before walking deeper into the corridor.

The team is now lined up inside the starship, facing the crowd outside across the docking port. A dividing line, transitioning from milky white to gray-black, separates the two groups clearly.

The major spoke slowly: "Gentlemen, you've all worked hard. Welcome to Planet Aiolos. Here, you will stake the future of humanity on the most arduous and dangerous missions."

"Is it really necessary to put such a big label on us right from the start?" He Xu muttered to himself.

"I am the chief commander of this J-220 aircraft under my feet. My name is Zhou Chong."

As he spoke, he reached out and patted the back of the tall man beside him. "This is Shi Ming, your sergeant major. You must obey his orders directly."

Shi Ming looked to be in his thirties, with sharp and determined eyes. After being introduced by Zhou Chong, he saluted the team.

"I have a lot of people under my command, especially on the battlefield. My orders are Xavier's orders, so you need to pay extra attention."

Shi Ming gritted his teeth, veins throbbing on his temples. "Apart from the battlefield, just listen to Captain Li. She's your direct superior."

Major Zhou Chong walked directly to the four researchers and began to introduce one of them, a fair-skinned Russian: "This is Maksim Yevgenyev, the head of the research group on this ship. He will find time in the next few days to explain some things you need to pay attention to."

Maxim bowed deeply to the team. The young man had flat lips, and a few light brown freckles were distributed on the bridge of his nose and under his eyelids.

"Hello everyone, I'm Maxim." His magnetic voice rang out. "First of all, I must remind you that if you're not wearing your individual combat suit, do not step out of the starship, or you'll turn into ice blocks in seconds."

His eyes darted restlessly from side to side, and he gave an embarrassed smile as he spoke.

"Everyone heard that, Maxim's opinion is very pertinent."

Zhou Chong didn't let the atmosphere become awkward. "I think you haven't had a chance to get your hands on a real single-soldier mech yet, so Shi Ming will guide you through the process of familiarizing yourself with it over the next few days. It's getting late, so everyone should go back to your cabins and rest."

The major waved to his men and left. Maxim, however, kept turning back, seemingly looking at something.

Shi Ming didn't follow them. Instead, he cleared his throat and gave his final instructions: "Meet here at six o'clock tomorrow morning. I'll show you the new mechs."

The team disbanded, and everyone returned to their dormitories. The cabin walls slowly grew back and closed.

"Would you dare to risk humanity's future on a mission?"

He Xu was still pondering that statement, "Isn't this treating us like saviors?"

"There are too few of us, only a few dozen people, to accomplish anything significant," Ahn Jae-in said.

"But it's not just us. Didn't you hear Shi Ming say that he has a lot of men under him?"

"But we're special," Di Yan said. "After all, they specifically brought us here from Earth."

"So does this mean our situation is more dangerous?" Ahn Jae-in frowned slightly, already lying back on the bed.

Di Yan nodded: "We'll do the things that the soldiers can't do normally. I think they must have run into some tough guys."

"This is really tough," He Xu sighed. "What kind of work is this that we have to do? Could it be that there are aliens on this planet? Or perhaps a moon of Jupiter?"

"Maybe it really is." Di Yan shrugged, opened his tablet, and planned to look for information about Planet Aiolos.

"It seems the Starfleet Force has been hiding everything from Earthlings."

Ahn Jae-in said earnestly, "Those scientists standing outside really make me feel like aliens exist. I think Di Yan is right."

"They're aliens!"

He Xu sat cross-legged on the bed, clapping his hands as he concluded, "The universe is actually very crowded, teeming with civilizations everywhere. This was mentioned in an old science fiction book."

"Everyone should take care to get some rest," Mpuent said gently. "We have to get up very early tomorrow."

Di Yan searched for a while but couldn't find any information about Planet Aiolos on the tablet, so he tossed it aside, rolled over, and slipped into the covers: "Let's go to sleep then."

……

3414年4月14日，6：03。

Aiolos, First Star Garrison Legion, Sixth Frontline Detachment, Eighth Squad, Assembly Hall.

Everyone had arrived, and after the 46 people had been counted off, Shi Ming stood at the front.

"Everyone, follow me." Without saying another word, he led the group directly to the back of the assembly hall and placed his hand on the white wall.

The wall slid to both sides, opening a door five or six meters wide, revealing a square room of about thirty square meters inside.

Actually, it was an elevator. After everyone got in, Shi Ming pressed the only button on the panel. The door closed and then opened again, and they had arrived.

"Come out, pick one you like."

Shi Ming stepped out of the elevator, turned around, opened his arms, and grinned at everyone.

Seeing the scene before him, Di Yan once again felt the same shock he had felt when he faced the deep well of M-28.

In front of the elevator is a horizontal walkway with only the ground floor. The walls on both sides have disappeared, replaced by a wide space that extends nearly 20 meters to both sides with a height of 6 meters.

The space was filled with rows of huge, dark machines, gleaming like new under the even lighting.

These are the latest mechs, a far cry from the rough, silver-gray creations from training.

The dark armor was cast from a completely different type of iron, with very small gaps between them, just enough not to affect the movement of the joints.

At the same time, their armor has doubled in number, and the more refined armor distribution supports more complex movements.

They remain five meters tall, each mech resting against a complex mechanical pillar that runs from the ground to the roof. The corresponding position on the pillar connects to the back of the mech, serving both to secure it and to replace some consumables.

At this moment, 48 mechs are fixed to 24 pillars in the hall, evenly distributed on both sides of the corridor, as if copied and pasted, neat and solemn.

The air was filled with the smell of machine oil, as well as the faint smell of rust that only comes from a large amount of machinery. All of this stimulated Di Yan's nerves, telling him that these mechs were giant grim reapers whose power should not be underestimated.

Unexpectedly, these enormous creatures were hidden right under their feet. In the blink of an eye, they had been sharing a starship with them for more than two months!

No wonder there's a ten-meter drop every time they enter or leave the starship; it turns out that all the space close to the ground is reserved for these mechs!

The crowd erupted in excitement, with some sprinting down the aisle to squeeze into the nearest mech. Soon after, the sound of the mech's chest cover sliding shut could be heard.

Shi Ming did not enter any of the 48 mechs, but instead walked towards the bow of the starship. At the end, there was a separate pillar connecting two dark mechs, which looked no different from the others.

However, these two mechs require captain privileges to operate, and their front covers were originally closed.

Shi Ming arrived in front of one of the mechs, checked the permission, and then slid down the front cover. He skillfully crawled inside, lay down on the tactile material layer to synchronize with the mech, and then the front cover closed.

Di Yan also entered the mecha, completed a series of procedures, and awaited further instructions.

The mech is currently locked in place, so even if Di Yan touches the tactile layer, the mech will not react.

Shi Ming's voice came through the headset: "Stop being so girly. Those of you who haven't gotten on the mechs yet, hurry up. There are still seven of you left."

"Mech synchronized, mech number: DX-12-1168. Hello Di Yan, please do not move and wait for the hatch to open."

The male Xavier's voice came through, and Di Yan felt a pang of longing for the female Xavier on Earth.

"Hmm," he replied indifferently.

"I have to remind you that from the first time you boarded the mech, this mech is bound to you. From now on, you can only pilot your own mech. Remember its location."

Just as Shi Ming was speaking, a crack tens of meters wide appeared in the middle of one wall of the spacious hall, and it kept widening, making the outside scene vaguely visible.

A slight vibration came from the mecha, and the connection between the back and the pillar broke. Di Yan felt as if a shackle had been loosened, and he raised his arm to move his fingers.

This mech felt much smoother than the old model he used during training, with significant improvements in both response speed and accuracy.

As the bulkhead slowly opened, Di Yan could clearly see the outside scenery.

As far as the eye can see, there is an endless expanse of yellow.

The sky was a dark orange-gray, as if a violent sandstorm had struck, casting an eerie hue over everything on the ground.

At the boundary between heaven and earth, nothing can be seen clearly, partly due to the dim lighting and partly due to the murky atmosphere.

The ground was bare, except for large areas of dark gray, slightly yellowish rocks covered with a thin layer of white film. There was no wind or sand, only boundless desolation.

With the bulkhead fully opened, each individual mech solemnly took its first step towards the alien planet.

This is the first time anyone has set foot on a planet other than Earth.

At this moment, everyone felt a special sense of ritual, as if they had been preparing for this moment since joining the Starship Force and undergoing more than two months of training.

The J-45 had come to a stop on the ground at some point, with its armored compartment less than two meters above the ground. For a five-meter-tall mech, this was as easy as walking down a staircase.

Outside, a forest of dark mechs stood, but without any reference points on this vast and unchanging landscape, these mechs no longer appeared enormous.

"Oh no, I can't see Jupiter." As soon as He Xu stepped onto the ground, he kept looking up at the sky, but after searching for a long time, all he could see was a grayish-yellow color like a sandstorm.

They are on the side of Jupiter that is turning away.

"Hmm, this thing isn't bad." Di Yan didn't respond much, but instead drew a cleaver from his waist and examined it carefully.

The machete is a full 1.4 meters long, a perfect length for the mecha to wield. Its streamlined blade and gleaming edge make it look exceptionally sharp.

"Heh, I prefer a gun to a knife." Ahn Jae-in held a heavy weapon in both hands.

This gun looks long and heavy; even the mech needs two hands to use it.

It was entirely black, resembling a large shotgun with a scope. The barrel was thick, over thirty centimeters long, and the walls were also very thick, making it look like a cannon.

"That's thick enough, what's it shooting at?"

He also took out his own and examined it repeatedly.

"I also found this." At this moment, Naohiko Tomura and Wasabi Isayama also came over. He pointed to the outside of his right forearm, where a thick gun barrel was protruding.

"Wow, Yuan Village, how did you manage to get that?" He Xu asked hurriedly.

Di Yan pondered for a while and found a buckle on the inside of his right forearm. He could simply press it down.

The barrel is concealed in the forearm and only pops out when needed.

"I see." Di Yan understood. The gun barrel was actually an electromagnetic catapult, which propelled the projectile through an electromagnetic track.

"Alright, quiet down." Shi Ming stepped forward, holding the "large shotgun" in both hands. "Don't rush to take this out and play with it, it's dangerous. Put it back in your backs."

Everyone did as instructed, and sure enough, most of the people had already taken it off their backs.

Shi Ming held up the "large shotgun" and began to explain: "This is called a 'plasma gun.' It fires plasma, so its official name is 'high-temperature plasma catapult.' The muzzle velocity can reach tens of kilometers per second, so don't fire at your teammates lightly."

The team members below started laughing, but Di Yan couldn't laugh.

"This gun needs to be charged and replenished with propellant, so it's usually kept on the back of the mech and only pulled out when needed."

Shi Ming demonstrated how to put the plasma gun back on his back and then take it off. "The plasma gun charges at a rate of about one shot per minute, with a maximum of twenty shots. Although theoretically you can fire one shot per minute, I suggest you wait twenty minutes before you do it, otherwise the gun will break quickly."

Some people laughed and made rough gestures at each other, and the teaching atmosphere became cheerful and lively for a moment.

"If you're curious about the power of this gun, I'll demonstrate it to you, like this." With that, Shi Ming immediately raised the gun and pulled the trigger at a two-meter-high rock in the distance.

After a brief charge, a beam of light rapidly detached from the muzzle, leaving a short, distorted, pale blue, high-temperature trail before striking the rock directly.

No sound came, but a burst of incandescent light suddenly erupted from the surface of the rock.

Almost simultaneously, half of the rock suddenly exploded, and fragments flew at high speed, with many rock fragments bearing traces of molten lava.

The audience was speechless; this was the power of the plasma gun.