"Word is there have been corresponding attacks inside the space colony as well!"
"..."
Hearing the other party's words, Fred's heart tightened.
They had released this information—it seemed someone was trying to fish in troubled waters.
However, he never fought unprepared battles. As for the sudden appearance of these attackers, he was not without preparations.
After all, the possibility of someone taking advantage of the chaos had always been part of his plan.
Upon hearing Fred's words, everyone responded in an orderly and composed manner.
"What's the situation outside?"
Seeing Fred's still calm demeanor, the captain was momentarily taken aback. Although, in theory, he didn't need to report to Fred, facing Fred's unflappable composure made him feel as if he were reporting to a superior.
"..."
After a brief silence, with the alarm sounding increasingly urgent, the captain spoke hurriedly.
"This time, Blue Cosmos has one Drake-class ship and three specially modified transport vessels."
"Along with several Mistral-class ships."
Strictly speaking, he didn't necessarily need to inform Fred of this, as Fred's assigned task here was already complete.
According to Clyne's instructions, Fred could decide on subsequent matters independently.
But considering the abilities Fred had just displayed and his calm demeanor, Wolf decided to share the information anyway.
From a future perspective, Fred could very well rise to a high position at any time—it wouldn't hurt to show him some courtesy.
From a practical standpoint, Fred was so composed, and judging by how smoothly he had trapped Creuset, he seemed to have thought of everything. Sharing the details might even yield some constructive suggestions from him.
After all, while they had a response plan, plans were rigid, but people were adaptable.
They had anticipated who might attack, but not the exact scale of the assault.
It was impossible to account for every detail with a fixed plan.
As the architect of the plan, it would be best if Fred could make slight adjustments to the combat strategy based on the actual situation.
On the other end, hearing the captain's words, Fred's breath caught once more. At the same time, the captain's voice continued to come through.
"They're launching indiscriminate attacks on Mendel!"
As the captain spoke, those inside the port could feel intense vibrations through the connected docking bridges.
"Hold the ambush forces for now. I need to run some calculations."
Fred's expression remained unchanged as he spoke with a steadiness belying his age.
Simultaneously, he quickly strode toward the combat operations room outside the hangar.
"Understood... but—"
"Give me three minutes, and sync their flight paths to the computers in the operations room."
Understanding what the other meant, Fred cut straight to the point.
Delaying any longer would indeed be risky, and they had a mission to protect this place—they couldn't afford to wait too long.
"Alright!"
Captain Wolf let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Then, looking at the disconnected communication, the curiosity and inquiry in his eyes grew even more intense, mixed with a hint of surprise.
At that moment, Wolf's feelings were indeed quite complex.
He couldn't shake the feeling that not only had the recent operation, but even now, overall command had shifted to Fred.
Of course, Wolf had no objections at this point and said nothing.
On the contrary, Fred's composure undoubtedly served as a shot in the arm for him, and even for everyone on the ship.
Yet a sense of dissonance quickly rose in Wolf's heart.
This Captain felt that Fred seemed somewhat different from when they had first met.
If Fred had initially given him the impression of a refined and courteous researcher, now he came across as much more profound.
Confident yet restrained, and convincing.
"Captain? Mingyue is asking if we should take action?"
The communications crew member on the bridge turned and asked.
"Not for now. Have them stand by in the rear!"
The Captain replied without hesitation.
Although Fred appeared younger than him, his abilities were stronger—undoubtedly one of the top Coordinators. It was better to simply follow Fred's lead and save themselves the trouble.
Moreover, Fred himself was here with them. If they were to die, they would all die together. He didn't believe the young man had any desire to die.
"Understood."
Upon hearing this, the bridge crew exchanged relieved glances.
But no one said anything.
Whether Fred was reliable would depend on his performance three minutes from now.
Meanwhile, on the other side where Wolf was waiting, Alec was also worriedly looking at Fred, who had already flown into the operations room and was buried in calculations at the computer.
"Is everything alright?"
"We could head to the shelter at Mendel."
Alec whispered in persuasion.
Although he didn't want to disturb the other, they were facing a direct battlefield.
The scale of this confrontation could already be considered a small-scale skirmish.
As a former member of the Zala Faction, Alec had been excluded from the planning process, leaving him with only a partial understanding of the current plan.
"There shouldn't be any major issues."
Fred narrowed his eyes slightly as he observed the ballistic trajectories on the screen.
If possible, he would have preferred to slack off and focus on other matters, but they didn't hold an absolute advantage against the ambushing forces.
In that case, they had to find a way to regain the advantage elsewhere.
Besides, having come this far, it was even more impossible for him to retreat now.
Since he had taken down Creuset, he had to possess the ability and determination to replace him.
If he avoided this, what future could he possibly talk about?
"So, what is your plan...?"
Alec frowned deeply.
Under normal circumstances, he would have charged into battle against Blue Cosmos without a second thought, but now was different.
Fred was here.
This was the person he had to protect, and he couldn't afford any mistakes.
Moreover, the enemy ship was a Drake-class, and not the half-repaired Drake-class without missiles that Fred had pushed back earlier.
Even if their transport ship had a few more Close-in Weapon Systems than others, it wouldn't make much of a difference.
If the ambushing forces didn't intervene, they would only delay the inevitable defeat.
Not knowing Fred's intentions or why he hadn't deployed the ambushing forces only added to his anxiety.
"No need to be so tense."
Beneath his mask, Fred's lips curled slightly into a small smile, followed by a light chuckle as he reassured Alec.
His hands never paused as he simultaneously watched the predictive data on the screen before him.
"We can make it in time."
"And you don't know the specific firepower of our ambushing forces, do you?"
However, after saying this, Fred noticed Alec's evident curiosity but offered no further explanation, instead focusing all his attention on the calculations at hand.
As for Alec, seeing how serious Fred looked, he could only suppress his burning curiosity despite the countless questions swirling in his mind.