Chapter 238 - 238 – The Goal

After my colonists cleaned up the colony site and had breakfast, my colonists immediately started practicing fighting. Leva and Kat used their mechs to train in a place some distance away. Alice takes care of the plants first before finally joining Gwen to practice using firearms. Gwen used a sniper rifle, while Alice used a regular rifle. The rest of my colonists train with replica melee weapons.

Only one stayed where he was. Trevor stood near the house, not moving at all. He is doing battle by trying to hack the digital protection used by the group led by Ethan Pratt. It turned out that the group had a capable hacker. The digital security the group has created is insane, citing Trevor. Therefore, Trevor must mobilize all the potential of his hardware and software to do his own fighting.

Alice and Gwen also practiced some distance away to not stress the pets. Alice shot a rifle at a target in a tree. Gwen did the same, but on her knees, and peered through the scope at the shot. The mark he had to shoot at was far away compared to Alice's.

Fortunately, there was plenty of ammo as it was taken from the wrecked mechs and equipment scattered near the Acornhull. Even if it was all gone, Manu had practiced making it using the metal and gunpowder that Leva had mined.

The wind was blowing quite hard when Alice came to Gwen, still training. Gwen's skirt was suddenly pulled away by the wind, exposing her magnificent ass.

She really had no common sense as a lady.

"Hey, why aren't you wearing panties?" Alice stopped her steps when she saw that.

"You should have known. I'm not a fan of panties." Gwen showed absolutely no sign of fixing the skirt she was wearing. "Because I can't be naked all the time, I wear this skirt and don't wear panties so that the air circulation in my crotch is smooth. Actually, I'm confused. If you're already wearing a skirt, why should you wear panties? That defeats the purpose of the skirt itself."

Alice blinked her eyes. "Ah, now it's time for lunch."

Alice didn't really understand Gwen's nagging, but she preferred not to ask any further.

"Okay." Gwen got up from the ground, then moved under a shady tree with Alice. The day's menu was potato wedges and boiled vegetables, plus some jerky.

"Hey, Alice. Maybe this is my first experience of facing war... Well, I've experienced violence before, but this time I'm also required to attack. I have to shoot." Gwen sighed. "Have you ever fought before?"

"Of course, I have fought several wars to protect my tribe. The difference is, that time, I used an arrow instead of a gun like this." Alice answered, then bit into her jerky.

Gwen was silent for a moment. "How do you deal with all kinds of thoughts that bother you before doing it the first time?"

A small chuckle escaped Alice's mouth. "It's wrong for you to ask me that. Yes, I did face skirmishes a few times. Whether it's from fellow tribesmen or from the beasts that attacked our tribe, but until now, I couldn't shake off the fear and nervousness I was experiencing… I don't know about the others, but clearly, I can't do it."

"I see." Gwen nodded her head. She was about to say more, but her tablet rang.

"To all of you, sorry to interrupt your training. However, there is information that I need to convey immediately." Trevor explained. "I managed to hack one of the cameras of that organization's mech. I will now display the scene I managed to shoot."

The tablet screen then displays a view of several people sitting and eating their lunch. Looks like they're resting. In the group of seven, I found Ethan, three women, and three men. One of the men seemed to be typing something on his laptop while adjusting his glasses from time to time. They all wore dark green military uniforms.

"This is crazy, commander!" Almost bald and crooked-nosed, one of the men rose from his seat. "We will be dealing with people who only want to protect themselves! We have no valid reason to confront them! This is the umpteenth time, commander! And many of our friends are also victims! Wouldn't it be better if we cooperated with them!"

Ethan sighed. "I've told you many times, Dean. We will cooperate with them if they hand over their weapons to us. If we don't do that, they can kill us from behind. After that, we will bring some of them to train as part of us. Over time we will become big, and we can carry out our ideology well."

"And that is the weakness of your plan, Commander!" Dean snorted. "It's not that easy for us to take their weapons and people, then impose our ideology. Do we have the right to be the government of this planet?"

Ethan chuckled. "The beginning of the formation of the state was like that, right? One person or group of people decide to rule over other people. So, what's really different about that?"

"But, that doesn't mean..."

Dean suddenly stopped talking and fell with his head covered in blood. Only one member of the group jumped in surprise, namely the glasses wearer who was holding a laptop. The others just watched Dean with tense faces.

Still holding the smoking gun, Ethan massaged his forehead. "I'm sorry, guys. We have to lose one more comrade of ours and not to the enemy's attack this time. However, I have been very patient with Dean. He continues to question our ideology, and over time it will interfere with our noble mission."

"No problem, commander." One of the women stood and looked at Dean. "Just as the commander has said, we must do whatever it takes to achieve our noble goal."

"Let us take care of him." Several people there got up and carried Dean's body away from the place.

It's crazy and weird. Was the man named Dean not their friend? Why didn't anyone look sad or at least surprised apart from the man with the glasses?

"I-I see an oddity, commander." The bespectacled man, who had been stunned for a while, held his breath as he looked at the laptop again. "This ...."

"What is it?" Ethan rose to his feet.

The bespectacled man then looked at the camera. "Looks like they saw us."

"To what extent did they hear what we were talking about?"

"Just a moment, Commander." The bespectacled man sat down and started fiddling with his laptop again. "A few minutes ago... It probably started when Dean argued against you, commander."

"Isn't there anything else important?"

"That still needs investigation, commander. Now I'm still trying to cut their connection."

Ethan then walked to the camera and narrowed his eyes. "O, my friends. Sorry for showing a bad view just now. However, believe me, with what I say, I will make your life better, more organized. I can't say it will be achieved quickly, but rest assured that our government will make every effort to prosper you."

"I can close that camera connection any time now, commander." The bespectacled man told Ethan.

"A moment." Ethan hissed, then looked into the camera again. "So, join us."

Ethan turned and motioned for the bespectacled man. The man was typing something on his laptop again, and the video stopped.

"I don't know if this will help much or not." Trevor's voice came again from the tablet Gwen was holding. "But at least we can get to know who Ethan Pratt is a little better. Maybe it can be used as a negotiation material if possible?"

I think Ethan has closed all doors for a good discussion. The man seemed to already have an inviolable goal. It can be seen from his words and tone of voice.

"And don't forget, we get to know the number of their enemies," Tom replied.

"That's what the camera shot," Gwen responded. "We don't know if there's anything that wasn't seen in the video. It could be that someone is away, or the camera is not in the spotlight because they are keeping an eye on their surroundings."

"Anyone wants to share their views again?" Trevor's question was answered with a no from the other members. "Then we will finish this session. I'll continue my job of hacking into their system. Please continue your training."

The others said goodbye, and the lines of communication were cut off.

"Is that guy named Ethan..." Alice grimaced. "Ah, it's hard for me to explain without using rude words."

"Seems like his brain really isn't right." Gwen shrugged. She was about to continue, but when she saw Alice looking the other way with a gloomy face, she asked instead. "What is it?"

"In a few more days, there will probably be more bloodshed. I know this is different from the previous massacre." Alice sighed. "They will be the ones to attack first, but still… Ah, forget what I said."

Gwen smiled faintly.. "Believe me, I also feel what you feel. Why does blood always have to be spilled?"