Infinite Stream Metaverse

Chapter 781 Sereno

Outer Ring Area, Sereno.

The Arquitenths-class light cruiser slowly landed on a wide platform in front of an Imperial military base.

The six members of the Blade Team had changed into standard black pilot spacesuits, each holding a helmet in one hand and their luggage in the other, as they walked down the landing slope toward the local military commander who had come to greet them.

An army colonel, dressed in a grey-green double-breasted belted coat, trousers, and riding boots, stood with his hands behind his back at the base entrance, his adjutant standing behind him. The colonel watched as six young men and women walked side-by-side down from the boarding gate; each one was a tall, handsome, energetic, and confident young soldier of the Empire. A satisfied smile crept onto his lips.

"Trainee Qingshan reporting for duty, sir."

Fu Qinghai approached the colonel, put down the huge metal box he was carrying in his right hand, raised his hand in salute, and said.

"Hello, Blade One."

The colonel responded with a smile.

He called out Fu Qinghai's name directly, looked up and sized up the tall, burly student in front of him, patted Fu Qinghai's arm, and said:
"I wasn't too happy that the higher-ups only assigned a mere six new pilots to our base, but on your way here, I heard from others that you are the best flight cadets at Calida Military Academy, and that your Blade Squad defeated cadet representatives from Coruscant Flight Academy and Privsbelt IV Naval Academy in a confrontation?"

"The quality of soldiers is more important than their quantity, sir."

Fu Qinghai replied with a smile.

This can be seen as a tacit acknowledgment of the colonel's praise.

"Hahaha, I love your confidence."

The colonel laughed heartily and pointed at him.

"I am Edmund Walpole, the commander of this military base. This is my adjutant, Lieutenant Eli Nelli. He will show you around the base and arrange your accommodations. You must be tired from your journey, so please put down your luggage and get some rest. I will arrange the mission tomorrow."

The colonel turned around, pointed to the young officer behind him, introduced him, and then gestured for the six men to disperse.

"Okay, sir."

Fu Qinghai raised his hand in salute again.

……

Fu Qinghai and the members of the Blade Squad followed Lieutenant Eli Nelli through the base's passageways.

They first arrived at the dormitory area, where each person was assigned a single room, a privilege reserved for junior officers. After putting down their luggage, the Blade Squad, accompanied by the colonel's adjutant, toured the entire military base, learning about the functions and uses of some of the internal areas, including the hangar, mess hall, training grounds, and conference rooms, before heading towards the base's outer perimeter wall.

The group walked along the wall. The military base was located on a hill on the outskirts of the city, and judging from its shape, it appeared to be an extinct volcano. The main body of the base was located inside the crater, and the surrounding terrain formed a natural defensive fortification. Perhaps they could also utilize the geothermal resources underground.

Walking along the edge of the base and looking into the distance, beyond the grassy and shrub-covered hillsides, you can see the city buildings and roads stretching into the distance at the foot of the mountain.

Have you been to the outer ring area before?

Walking along the earthen wall encased in steel armor, Eli Nelli turned to the Blade Squad members and asked.

All five team members shook their heads when they heard the question; they were all from the core area or the colony.

Only Fu Qinghai spoke calmly:

“I come from Eliadu, sir.”

"Ah, Eliadu, the industrial jewel of the outer ring, the most prosperous planet in the outer ring region. I heard that Governor Tarkin is also from Eliadu, so you and he are from the same hometown."

Eli Nelli nodded and said:

"Also, you don't need to call me 'commander' anymore, just call me 'Elijah'. You are all top students from Calida, and you will all be at least second lieutenants after graduation. Our ranks are equal."

“Okay, Eli.”

Fu Qinghai was the first to change his tune and respond.

“Eriadu is an exception. As far as I know, Eriadu is even more developed than many core planets. But this place is different. Sereno is a typical outer ring planet. Here… how should I put it, the situation in the outer ring is always very complicated, unlike the core or colony areas. I don’t know how long you will serve here, but I believe you will gradually feel this.”

Eli Nelli shrugged.

He then turned to face the Blade Team and casually asked a seemingly abrupt and unrelated question:
"By the way, do you know the full name of Count Dooku, the supreme leader of the Independent Galaxy Confederation?"

Fu Qinghai and his team members exchanged glances and realized that they really didn't know Count Dooku's full name.

"His name is Dooku Sereno."

Lieutenant Eli smiled and revealed the answer to the question.

Fu Qinghai and the others were stunned when they heard the name.

"That's right, it's the planet right beneath our feet."

Eli Nelli thoroughly enjoyed the surprise on everyone's faces, and explained to the six new pilots with a smile:
“According to the ancient records I found in the local archives of Sereno, the history of this family can be traced back to the legendary Sith Empire thousands of years ago. The Sereno family led the local people of the planet to resist the tyranny of the Sith Empire and were elected as their leaders. The planet was named after their family name. Count Dooku’s official title is actually ‘Count Sereno,’ which means that he is the ruler of this planet.”

"Oh……"

Everyone looked on with a sudden realization.

"So, in other words..."

Fu Qinghai then pressed on with further questions.

"Yes, this planet once belonged to the Independent System Confederation and was Count Dooku's hometown. Before the Independent System Confederation officially established Laxus as its capital, Sereno was once a political center of separatism. Count Dooku used this planet as a secret meeting place and plotted many conspiracies to split the Republic and the galaxy. Although the Sereno family is now... a piece of history, there are still some very stubborn separatist remnants on this planet—I guess that's why the Empire wants to establish a military base here."

Eli Nelli, with his hands behind his back, faced the crowd and began to speak. After his detailed explanation, the Blade Soldiers gained a better understanding of the planet they stood on.

Lieutenant Eli was thin and looked somewhat frail, but he seemed like a very approachable person and didn't put on airs with Fu Qinghai and the other new trainees.

According to Lieutenant Eli, Sereno is a mining planet in a very remote location with a sparse population and an underdeveloped economy. It is jointly ruled by several local noble families. If it weren't for the fact that it was once the hometown of Count Dooku, the Empire might not have established a military base here.

But as he said before, the situation in the outer ring area is complex. This military base has many responsibilities. In addition to cracking down on the remnants of separatist forces, it is also responsible for anti-smuggling, eliminating pirates, maintaining the security of trade routes, and most importantly, demonstrating the empire's presence in the outer ring.

Eli Nelli led them on a tour of the entire military base, giving them a brief overview of the local situation, before the Blade Team returned to the base.

…………

Before we knew it, three days had passed.

Colonel Edmund Walpole hasn't assigned any missions to the Blade Squad yet, citing the delayed arrival of a new batch of fighter jets. The Blade Squad members seem somewhat idle. Fu Qinghai, taking advantage of these three days of free time, thoroughly explored and learned about the Imperial military base.

Although Eli didn't take the Blade Squad to visit some of the more core and critical areas inside the military base, Fu Qinghai knew what was inside those areas.

The Empire's military bases are highly standardized, constructed according to the specific requirements of the "Standard Battalion-Level Garrison Theory," knowledge that Fu Qinghai had acquired through self-study in the relevant textbooks of the Department of Architectural Engineering at the Imperial Engineering Academy. Therefore, even though the lieutenant didn't take him to visit some of the core facilities deep within the base, and only gave him a brief tour of the surrounding environment, Fu Qinghai had a general idea of ​​the military base's defensive capabilities.

According to the summary in architectural engineering textbooks, Imperial military bases are mainly divided into four types: standard garrisons, naval garrisons, orbital garrisons, and harsh environment garrisons. Naval garrisons require the construction of anti-gravity platforms, orbital garrisons require the construction of orbital space stations, and harsh environment garrisons require the installation of additional life support systems. Sereno is a habitable planet with an atmosphere, so this military base belongs to the standard garrison category.

A standard military base typically has eight main floors and four or more secondary floors:

The first tier houses nuclear fusion generators, powering various systems within the base, including weapon systems, shield systems, and tractor beam systems. The second tier contains environmental maintenance equipment, a central control station, waste disposal facilities, and a waste treatment plant. The third tier primarily serves as a storage area, essentially a warehouse. The fourth tier comprises robotically operated industrial facilities, allowing the garrison to manufacture ammunition or spare parts using local materials as needed. In some cases, an additional tier is also included to accommodate larger military forces.

The main layer is the everyday area.

Typically, the first five main floors have the same layout, but some adjustments are made to suit the requirements of the local authorities. Facilities include detention centers, interrogation rooms, solitary confinement cells, and barracks for army soldiers, stormtroopers, and Imperial technicians. Each barracks section has a mess hall and sanitation facilities.

The sixth layer is the command layer. It includes sensor monitoring and control stations, communication arrays (including subspace transceivers, hyperspace transceivers, and holographic network receivers), a central control station for weapons and shields, officers' quarters, the New Vision Council office, the Security Bureau office, the Intelligence Bureau office, and so on.

The seventh and eighth levels are platforms for storing, maintaining, and facilitating the takeoff and landing of fighter jets and shuttles. All landing gear is protected by a powerful force field to prevent unauthorized landings.

The vehicle depot is not part of the eight main floors, but is located outside the main buildings of the base. All military vehicles, from flying motorcycles to AT-ATs, are stored and maintained in this area.

The internal structure of the imperial military base is complex.

The external defense facilities are equally complex.

The military base is surrounded by a high-voltage electric fence, commonly known as the "death fence," which carries enough current to disable any low-altitude hovercraft and kill any living creature it comes into contact with. Behind the electric fence are towers connected by passageways, each equipped with a high-powered blaster and patrolling assault teams, supplemented by floodlights, motion sensors, and security robots.

Between the main body of the base and its outer boundary lies a deliberately leveled open area, covered with sand and gravel, with no obstacles for attacking forces to hide or take cover. This area is known as the "Killing Field." It is riddled with landmines and guarded by detection robots and reconnaissance walkers. This area is not within the range of the deflection shield.

The main buildings of the base are usually constructed from a mixture of local materials, steel armor, and standard resistant soil. The walls are up to ten meters thick and are covered by both particle shields and ray shields, enabling them to withstand repeated direct hits from the main shipborne weapons.

The weapon system includes six quadruple turbo laser turrets, three twin turbo laser turrets, and a greater number of heavy blaster turrets. The blaster turrets are used to defend against ground and air attacks, while the turbo laser turrets are responsible for defending orbital space.

All of these designs are intended to give the Empire's military bases strong self-sufficiency and defense capabilities, especially those located in remote areas of the outer ring. Even if besieged by local resistance groups, they can hold out for at least a year without any support or supplies.

In fact, the Imperial military bases have largely achieved their original design goals. Throughout the Galactic Civil War, many Imperial warships were sunk by Rebel fighters, but very few Imperial military bases were breached by Rebel forces.

In general, if an Imperial military base is built exactly according to the design requirements of the "Standard Battalion Garrison Theory" without any compromise, even Primarchs like Roger Dorn or Peturabo, who are known for their expertise in building fortresses and strongholds, would find nothing wrong with it.

According to Fu Qinghai's secret observations and statistics, the total number of troops stationed at this imperial military base in Sereno is:

One battalion of stormtroopers, four battalions of Imperial Army soldiers, two battalions of Imperial technicians, and logistics personnel. In addition, some special personnel included: a political commissar in the New Vision Society office, a general intelligence officer in the Imperial Intelligence Bureau office, and fourteen agents in the Imperial Security Bureau office.

In terms of robots and vehicles: 2,000 robots, including industrial robots responsible for manufacturing and work robots performing other tasks. More than 60 various types of active-duty ground vehicles, including ten AT-ATs and ten AT-STs, with the remainder being wheeled tanks, flying motorcycles, and military land-based vessels.

On the naval front, the entire base currently only has the Blade Squad, which is severely understaffed.

Because of his own faction's stance, Fu Qinghai would unconsciously examine this imperial military base from the perspective of the attacker, looking for loopholes in the base's defenses and calculating how many troops he would need to take it down if he were to attack.
One Space Marine tactical squad is enough.

Fu Qinghai secretly drew a conclusion in his mind:

With acceptable casualties, a single Space Marine tactical squad is enough to breach this military base. Of course, if it were his all-new, all-different Space Marines, a tactical squad could breach the military base without taking any damage.

……

Inside a military base, in the officers' mess hall.

"This is a local specialty stew, which used to be food for miners on Sereno and has evolved into a famous dish."

Eli Nelli pointed to a lump of mush on his plate:
"It doesn't look very appealing, but it tastes alright."

"Okay, I'll get some to try later too."

Fu Qinghai put down his plate, sat down, and said.

Ever since he discovered that Lieutenant Eli seemed easy to talk to and get along with, Fu Qinghai began to consciously take the initiative to get closer to him, always sitting at the same table with him at meals, even ignoring his own girlfriend, Elowin.

"You seem to know a lot about Sereno."

Fu Qinghai said while eating:
"The soldiers in this base all come from other planets or even other rings, but they don't seem to know much about the place they're serving in, nor do they seem interested in learning about it. I really admire your extensive knowledge, Lieutenant. To be honest, I rarely see such a knowledgeable person."

He didn't forget to offer compliments even during casual conversation.

"Haha, you flatter me."

Eli Nelli scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly:
"To be honest, Colonel Edmund Walpole once criticized me, saying that I was more like a scholar than a soldier. But there's nothing I can do about it; that's just my personality. I always like to study random things, even if they have nothing to do with our mission."

"But I don't think so."

Fu Qinghai swallowed the food in his mouth and said:

"Knowledge is knowledge. There is no distinction between high and low, noble and base. No knowledge is messy or irrelevant. Soldiers should also have a wealth of knowledge. To be honest, I once wanted to apply to transfer to the Imperial Engineering College, simply because my interest in all kinds of knowledge surpassed my interest in piloting fighter jets."

"Really? Then we really are the same kind of people."

Lieutenant Eli raised his eyebrows in surprise upon hearing this.

"Colonel Edmund Walpole criticized you."

Fu Qinghai looked at Eli Nelli and asked curiously:

"But he still chose you as his adjutant."

"Maybe it's because I have a good memory, haha. I can memorize every single document issued by the New Vision Office, and I can remember the daily intelligence reports submitted to me by the Security Bureau and the Intelligence Bureau after reading them once... But my marksmanship is really terrible. I can't even hit a stationary target 20 meters away. Sometimes I don't even know what the point of my sidearm is."

Eli Nelli chuckled self-deprecatingly.

He criticizes you, but he needs you.

Fu Qinghai put down his cutlery and gave a serious summary.

"Haha, I hope so too. He always says I lack the military bearing. But he'll probably like you guys. I could tell he was quite happy the day you came. You fit the military bearing he's looking for."

Eli Nelli shrugged helplessly.

A casual chat with the superior brought them closer and they became a little more familiar with each other.

Sensing that their relationship was pretty much settled, Fu Qinghai pushed away his plate, wiped his mouth, and casually asked, without revealing anything:
"By the way, you mentioned before that you visited the local archives in Sereno? What kind of place is it?"

"Well, it's like a museum. Some of the things are supposedly antiques. The place was sealed off a long time ago. I just went in once because I was bored."

Eli Nelli thought for a moment before answering.

"Could you take me inside and have a look sometime?"

Fu Qinghai finally revealed his true purpose.

…………