Chapter 30: The Return of the Fallen Ace Pilot

Bai Jun, rank: Major.

Currently serves as the primary helmsman of the Zhulong’s bridge crew.

Like Lin Yu, he’s a graduate of the First Federation Advanced Military Academy, though he finished eight years earlier.

That makes him Lin Yu’s senior.

Back in school, he was a top student, excelling at both fighter piloting and warship navigation—his talent was leagues above the rest.

After joining the fleet, it only took him three years to make Major.

Everyone saw a limitless future ahead.

But not long after his promotion, disaster struck.

He got caught piloting drunk.

On that day, Bai Jun made a critical mistake while maneuvering a warship out of the port and ended up crashing into a nearby docked frigate.

The result: the frigate was severely damaged, and his cruiser took a heavy hit as well.

That, plus the damage to the port and a slew of injuries.

What made things even worse—subsequent checks showed his blood alcohol way over the limit.

Thanks only to the Third Fleet Commander’s protection, he avoided a military tribunal, but he was stripped of all positions and sent to logistics.

From then on, he worked at the military port above Mars orbit.

For five years.

Five long years.

The once-famous ace pilot of the Third Fleet was now reduced to a humble port ground crew member.

Yet Bai Jun never gave up on himself.

He was barred from stepping on a warship again, but he spent every spare moment and every penny…

On simulators.

It was Andrei who recommended him to Lin Yu.

According to Andrei, he’d met Bai Jun by chance and was completely blown away by his flying skills.

After all, Andrei’s biggest passion is flying!

Were it not for being born into a military family that insisted he join the Command Department, he’d have gone with flight for sure—he would’ve become a fighter pilot or a ship’s helmsman.

That’s why Andrei’s flying is decent—on the simulator, he even beat the top flight student in his year.

It got so far the Flight Department Dean actually came to the Command Department trying to poach him.

That caused quite a stir.

Still, even someone like Andrei got utterly destroyed by Bai Jun in a simulation.

Curious, Andrei started digging into Bai Jun’s past.

He found no shortage of suspicious details about that old incident.

While they never did get to the bottom of it, odds are Bai Jun was framed.

So, the moment Andrei crawled out of the med pod, before Serena could come after him, he rushed to recommend Bai Jun to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu wasted no time tracking Bai Jun down.

They squared off in a holographic simulator challenge.

And the result…

Just like Bai Jun had won over Andrei back then, this time Lin Yu earned Bai Jun’s respect through battle.

And brought him onto his own team.

But getting him reinstated wouldn’t be easy.

After all, Bai Jun’s case had blown up back in the day, and the Federation Fleet’s military tribunal had barred him from ever boarding a warship again.

Making him Lin Yu’s go-to helmsman wasn’t a hurdle they could ignore.

Normally, there’d be no way around this.

Even Mu Qingxue pulling strings wouldn’t help.

But luck was on their side…

It’s wartime now—a fight for humanity’s survival. The Federation government has already ordered that anyone with related skills, if chosen by the fleet, must comply without exception.

So here’s what happened.

Lin Yu, a favorite of the Federation’s top trio, put in a request.

Mu Qingxue, now a fleet admiral, pushed it through.

Andrei’s previous investigation was also submitted along with it.

In the end, all three honored the request.

By the Federation government’s newly issued Special Act No. 71, Bai Jun was allowed to resume his rank as Major for the duration of the war, assigned to serve as chief helmsman of the Fourth Special Operations Unit in the Fifth Fleet.

What happens after the war…

That’s a problem for another day.

Who knows if there’ll even be an ‘after’?

——

With Bai Jun at the controls, the massive Zhulong moved like a nimble fighter jet.

Every maneuver stretched the limits, yet never crossed the threshold of safety.

You couldn’t help but wonder—was Bai Jun piloting a warship or a fighter?

How did he manage such surgical precision when undocking?

If Bai Jun heard this, he’d probably say—

“You call this precision? You should see Lin Yu work the controls—that’s true insanity!”

“Captain, Zhulong has completed undocking procedures!”

Three minutes later.

Zhulong was fully out of Fifth Fleet’s homeport.

Bai Jun reported in.

“Set course for the Asteroid Belt, maximum speed!”

“Aye, course locked in. Zhulong adjusting attitude… Attitude locked. Main engines online. Acceleration to full in seventy-five minutes!”

The attitude control engines around the hull powered down and retracted into the ship, while the four giant main engines at the stern glowed to life.

A monstrous thrust shoved the colossal ship forward.

According to the specs…

Thanks to its brand-new engine design and abundant energy supply…

Zhulong’s top speed could hit two hundred eighty kilometers a second—if you’re willing to burn out the engines, you can even push three hundred thirty.

Right now, Mars and the Asteroid Belt are about one hundred fifty million kilometers apart.

That’s roughly one astronomical unit.

At Zhulong’s current speed, factoring in acceleration and deceleration…

It should take about 152 hours—a little over six days.

No way around it; Mars is pretty far from the Belt right now.

When the distance is shortest, you can cut the time in half.

——

At this point, it’s just the Zhulong—other ships and crews will be a while catching up.

But Lin Yu isn’t about to waste time.

With Zhulong already underway, it’s time to start training.

En route…

Lin Yu and Qin Qiong put their heads together and planned out a whole battery of drills.

“Wait, you’re seriously gonna do this?”

Qin Qiong’s eyes went wide.

He looked completely stunned.

Just now, Lin Yu proposed a special project.

The idea: during training, Zhulong would be ‘ambushed’ by a Klein scout ship.

Other than the bridge crew, no one else would be told it’s a drill.

And the target of this exercise…

In other words…

The entire fleet would go live-fire.

And Lin Yu himself wanted to dress up as an alien.

That’s not exactly safe. If the 77th Fighter Squadron doesn’t know it’s him, they’d blow Lin Yu to bits.

“Relax. Since we’re faking a Klein incursion, we’ll bring out something they’ve never seen!”

“Remember those three prototypes from the Science Department?”

“Bai Jun, Andrei, and I will sortie in those things. You take over the ship—just keep the bombers grounded and don’t give the interceptors any missiles. Their electromagnetic rapid-fire cannons won’t scratch these machines!”

Hearing this,

Qin Qiong remembered.

Along with Zhulong, three brand-new prototype units were delivered for testing.

And the small electromagnetic rapid-fire cannons on interceptors really can’t punch through their armor.

So if, during the drill, they keep missiles away and don’t launch bombers…

It should all go smoothly.

“Alright, I’ll handle the arrangements!”

Qin Qiong nodded.