Age of Cosmic Exploration

Since ZERO decided to side with humanity... although siding with humanity was a rather optimistic way of looking at it, the Hope’s top officials had decided to start engineering AIs.

Even though many people still had reservations, like how would they balance the AI and stuff, since ZERO’s existence wasn’t yet common knowledge, they were persuaded by Yao Yuan’s charisma.

On the other hand, Yao Yuan too wasn’t completely faithful to ZERO’s promise. After all, leaving the fate of humanity to a non-human entity was a bit out there. No matter how much Xiao Niao was willing to vouch for ZERO, he couldn’t believe ZERO implicitly, since this involved more than one or two human beings but the whole of humanity.

This was why after Yao Yuan got ZERO’s answer, he purposely used his Anima power to tell Guang Zhen and Bo Li the following,

"No matter what, we have to have our own failsafe, the last defense against the AI. We have to depend on you for that, Bo Li. If possible, I need you to create a program that can suppress first-level AI as soon as possible. Other than that, I hope during the 011 year big upgrade, it includes an upgrade of the central mainframe as well...

"I only require you to make a simple valve, one that can allow us to manually shut down the central mainframe whenever needed. This would shut down the power of the Hope, allowing creator’s particle to sift through the Hope. This is one part of it, the other part is do not include any creator’s particle isolator functions in any AI creations. If they conduct a mutiny, we can use this method to shut them down.

"I’m telling you two this through the Anima power, so don’t voice this to any other people, because ZERO appears to have infiltrated the security system of the Hope. She can hear everything we say. Therefore, keep this information to yourselves."

After that conversation, Yao Yuan stopped dwelling on the AI issue. After all, it was inevitable. He had done everything he could, the rest was left in God’s hands.

Since the research on quantum programming had been completed and Wang Da Bing had been promoted to team leader, all the programming groups were combined into one to start on the new research, the research to design the AIs. It was two years until year 011, the end of all the proposed upgrades.

On the other hand, the research on the space combat jet still kept going. The three Prototype 011s were successfully created. They looked like upgraded versions of the Space Combat Jet Prototype 003. The cover was shinier and the shuttle looked longer and more streamlined.

These three Space Combat Jets had gone through the basic mobility and flying tests. Everything matched the statistics provided by the design paper. It had also gone through vigorous quality testing that ended one and a half months before Year 011. These three Prototype 011s were confirmed to be pilotable.

Yao Yuan volunteered to conduct the first dry run, but he was vehemently stopped by Guang Zhen. Finally, the opportunity was given to three veterans in the Black Star Troopers. They were best of the best and known for their coordination skills, they were the Black Star Kurosei, Xiao Niao, Qiu Qiu, and Dan Dan. Xiao Niao was a Thinker and his two friends were Perceptors. They would be handling the Prototype 011’s first test run.

Since the Prototype 011 was designed fully according to Bo Li’s designs, the quality wasn’t shorn off in any way. Due to the advancement in science, the Prototype 011 was fitted with mini electromagnetic technology which could record the pilot’s brainwaves in a matter of seconds. It made the control of the combat jet even better and more responsive.

To put it simply, if it was Yao Yuan who piloted this Space Combat Jet Prototype 011, it could provide greater numbers in terms of speed and agility than the Red Lightning. The jet increased or decreased in efficacy depending on the pilot. If it was piloted by a normal Homo Evolutis, then it could allow a speed manageable by Homo Evolutis. If the pilot was a Survivor, then the numbers would be lowered accordingly. It could be said that this new combat jet was an all-use space combat jet. It could be piloted by any man since the jet would shift accordingly depending on its pilot.

When Xiao Niao and his friends got into their individual cockpits, their bodies felt slightly paralyzed, like they were shot with a small voltage of electricity. After that, there was a sensation that the jets were created for them. Be it speed, agility, or controls, it was the best they could be. It felt wonderful.

This might be a small change, especially for those whose conceptualization of combat vehicles was still stuck on pre-space Earth. Since all the siege engines then were mass produced, no matter your size or height, sight or reaction speed, the engine you operated would be the same as everyone else as long as the engines were all created by the same factory.

Naturally, the power of these engines would be drastically different depending on the pilots. Under the best circumstance, the most power that one could provide was 70 percent, and that was already considered very good.

However, the Space Combat Jet Prototype 011, with its 4th revolution technology, could adjust itself according to its pilot. This ability alone made it stronger than Prototype 003!

The trio piloted the space combat jets around the wide expanse of space around the Hope. The more they stayed in the jet, the more excited they got. At the same time, all the statistics were sent back to the Hope to be studied by the Academy.

Yao Yuan said through the communicator, "Not bad. Your speed is already 10 percent faster than when you pilot the Prototype 003s. There is an improvement in agility as well. Now try out the weapons. In front of you are ten electromagnetic target boards of varying strengths. Try out your two railguns now."

After receiving the orders, the trio got into their assigned formation. Xiao Niao led the way as they charged towards the ten targets situated quite a distance away from them. It took them less than a few seconds to take down the weakest tenth, ninth, eighth... it wasn’t until the fifth target that they received some semblance of resistance. The fourth target held on one second longer than the one before it before cracking into pieces. Now only the last three targets remained. The last target was the biggest, almost twice the size of the space combat jets, and its electromagnetic shield was as strong as the Hope’s.

The trio had an implicit understanding of one another, and they wouldn’t have the time to communicate in an actual space war. With only three targets remaining, the trio swapped their weapons and a small Gaussian cannon appeared underneath each of the combat jets. The three combat jets swerved through the targets and the Gaussian cannons fired in sequence. The Hope saw a blast of light and the second and third shields were cracked. They focused fire on the last target, and just before it was going to break, the three of them stopped in unison and flew back into the wide space.

"Alright, the weapon system is perfect; the charging time for the cannons has dropped significantly. The firing rate is at least twice as fast as earlier. The damage is enough to face similar level combat jets... Then let’s try out the super weapon system!"

Yao Yuan was beyond excited when he saw this. This Prototype 011 was too good, a lot better than the Prototype 003. The mass produced jet was even better than the Red Lightning. If they had such a jet when they were facing the mother nest or the space merchants, perhaps the size of the Black Star Troopers would be bigger that it was now...

With Yao Yuan’s order, still with Xiao Niao leading, the three jets flew forward as a visible layer of electricity appeared around the jets’ bodies. The layer was slowly converted into plasma, and at the same time, Xiao Niao’s jet wings extended and cracked open, exposing the connecting wirings within.

The other two had one of the wings expanded and the other cracked open just like Xiao Niao’s. This happened in the blink of an eye, completely different from how it was portrayed in sci-fi, which looked like it took more than 10 seconds.

After that, the plasmatic layer on the cover of the three jets connected with each other, forming a powerful plasmatic field. It pulled the three jets close together...

Everyone on the Hope held their breaths as they watched this momentous event. When everyone’s eyes were at their widest, the field around the jets’ bodies disappeared and a long and flat large space combat jet appeared in space. After that, a long cannon barrel appeared from underneath the jet. The next second, the further and the most powerful electromagnetic shielded target was smashed into pieces...

Three jets combination! Gaussian electromagnetic rail cannon!

Space Combat Jet Prototype 011!