Chapter 72

"I don't really care, I have no ties to this planet anymore, so the choice is yours," Erica said as she shrugged and spread her hands. (Think of shrug emoji)

Lily nodded her head in agreement with Erica as she maintained her eyes on the projected map.

"Alright then, let's do it! Let's get the fuck off this rock together!" Ajax said with a sharp look in his eyes. None of them have any family members on this planet, let alone anything of value here. They had nothing to worry about when leaving the planet.

Ajax's only concern was with leaving the Vanguard of Outcasts to fend for itself. But they had already reached a stable point and there was nothing left for him to do. He just sat around and waited for Monkey to transfer him his share of the profits every month.

Even if he left the planet, the money would still be wired to his account, the only difference would be where he would be spending it. If he stayed on the planet and led the Vanguard of Outcasts engaging in business and construction, then he would be bored to death. He didn't want such a simple life on the small border. If there was a bigger stage then he would have no choice but to go bigger and get on it.

"Well then, say no more!"

"Yay!"

Erica and Lily who were visually excited started to celebrate, the adventurous spirit within their hearts had been suppressed for far too long and it was finally freed.

"Alright, I'll get to selling everything right away," Al said as he took out his Vox and started swiping and tapping with a determined smile on his face. Ajax had seen this kind of determination and smile before when he was on the receiving end of Charles' revenge when he attempted to kill him.

Although Qianling Heavy Industries had been brought to its knees by the Ashlin Group in recent years, it was still one of the top enterprises that dove into the military-industrial sector of Bedrichi. So it went without saying that it was still worth hundreds of billions fo eddies.

And although their stock value has plummeted in the past few days and they are bleeding money with every second that passes, Qianling Heavy Industries still holds a considerable number of properties and luxury vehicles. All of these changed ownership to Al, the sole heir, when his parents died.

Since he was the only son of a very successful corporation, Al was also privy to a group fo people similar to him. He could easily contact them when in need of making quick money to cash out in the face of an emergency.

And no matter how much the properties and vehicles were worth before, Al decided to sell them all at a discounted price that was 20% to 30% lower than their original value. This meant that huge lumps of money were being transferred to his personal bank account every so often. 

Ajax chose not to idle around either, moving with Erica elsewhere to discuss the operation they would be pulling off and how they would go about it. Since they were going to get off this planet anyway, then why not attack with their mechs instead of sneaking in like they had originally considered.

The two Warlock-Level mechs that Al had ordered a while ago as a celebration of being promoted to the High Control level had finally arrived. They now had a total fo 3 Warlock-Level mechs and one Rakshasa-Level mecha. It wouldn't be too difficult to break through and get inside the Headquarters building of the Ashlin Group.

The only problem with this approach would be that the guard headquarters wasn't too far away from the Headquarters building of the Ashlin Group, meaning that they would definitely notice their entrance and would be able to get their jets up and running in less than 5 minutes to help out the Ashlin Group.

Killing Leonard would be like taking candy from a baby, but what came next was the tough part. How were they going to get rid of the guard team that would be hot on their tails in pursuit of them? In addition, the jets would be able to spot them and constantly give away their position, leaving them with nowhere to hide.

Just as Ajax and Erica were racking their brains on how to approach things, Lily who was next to him, climbed onto the coffee table and pointed to a specific part on the virtual map: "What will happen if we stop them from leaving the guard building?" Lily may be immature and still a child, but her proposition was enough to attract the attention of both Ajax and Erica.

"Hmm, yes, that could work. One group attacks the Ashlin Group headquarters while the other group intercepts the guards, not letting them leave their headquarters. If we do this, then we wouldn't have to be afraid of being chased since they wouldn't be able to give chase as they would have to bunker down for their own safety." Ajax instantly added the corresponding picture in his mind and stroked Lily's head.

"Are you actually taking that into consideration? If we attack the guard's headquarters then...." Erica said dumbfoundedly, as this approach could be seen as either suicide or extremely bold.

"No, that won't be enough." Ajax shook his head, "We don't have enough numbers to pull such a thing off, and we may not be able to keep the guard at bay... Get in contact with Monkey as soon as possible. We need him to send some men from the border. We will need at least 10 pilots who can skillfully fly Parallax-Level mechs."

"Are we taking them with us?" Erica frowned slightly, taking that many people to space all at once would be a tricky thing to pull off, especially if they wanted to sneak off the planet.

"No, the risk factor should be explained to them. They must know that they may even die in this. This will be a voluntary operation, no one will be forced to help us. The pilots will be provided with mechs by us. Before the mission is to start, they will each receive a payment of 300,000 eddies in their bank accounts."

"Once the mission is over, they can return to the border if they want to or they can leave and go elsewhere. We will not be responsible for the aftermath and they will be on their own. Remember not to mention the specifics of the mission and what will be done."

They were only four people, nowhere near enough to pull this kind of operation off safely. They needed a couple of extra sets of hands/helpers, and there wasn't a helper more reliable than one of those desperadoes at the border.

"Alright, I'll shake the tree and see what falls. I'll request for those interested to gather tomorrow." Erica nodded at Ajax's word. It wouldn't be too expensive to find ten pilots who would be willing to work for them when the pay would be so steep.

"Hey you guys, you should take a look at this," Al interrupted their conversation as he came over to them with Vox and a tablet in hand. He placed the tablet on the table and immediately a 3D hologram of a spaceship came up.

According to the data being displayed, this spaceship was called the Stingray. It was 61 meters long, 30 meters wide, and about 16 meters tall. It was a light frigate that consumed orange energy blocks.

The ship was painted a matte black and gray and it was sleek. Its rear was the widest and it tapered in a V shape towards the front. It had six 60-caliber laser cannons on both of its sides, four 125-caliber standard launchers at the bottom, and twelve small UAV control units on its top. It packed enough of a punch to fight against a heavy frigate, maybe even a light destroyer, and come out victorious.

"Holy shit, that's just....wow...." Ajax was at a loss for words for a second. "How much is this thing?" Ajax didn't know anything about spaceships, so he could only look at its exterior appearance and base his opinions on them. Erica and Lily didn't bother saying anything, hell they didn't even bother to read the data introduced.

"A one-time sale price of 600 million eddies. It comes with everything and even has all of its accessories. It was just retired from Proxima Centauri's fleet after serving for about 15 years with no real damage dealt to it. If we buy it now, they would be willing to expedite its transfer from the Proxima Centauri sector to Bedrichi in just three days." Al read off some of the information from his Vox as the tablet continued to show the ship.

*Whistle* Everyone gasped while Ajax just gave a whistle of bemusement. Al had just referred to the price tag of 600 million as if it was pocket change.

"Why buy a second-hand ship? Can we not buy a new one?" Lily asked as she turned her head 35 degrees to the left in confusion.

"Well, buying a brand new spaceship would mean having no accessories on it. Not to mention that it would also have to undergo a series of tests before it could be transported to us. We do not have the luxury of time at our disposal. And if we think about it, the Stingray is pretty much brand new since a decade and a half is nothing for a spaceship, especially one made for war. Plus we get it fully equipped and ready to use as soon as it's delivered to us. Not to mention, this frigate is one of the fastest ships available for now and the near future." Al explained a little bit.

Buying a spaceship, especially one geared for war, was no easy task and it was not something just anyone could do. There are formal procedures that are very cumbersome, and Al had to use a lot of the connections he and his parents had built for such an opportunity.

"And how did you be able to come up with all that money?" Ajax looked at the data of Stringray again.

"Well, I'm currently in the process of selling everything that can be sold. I currently have 400 million eddies in my account, and I should be able to get the additional 200 million eddies by tomorrow." Al explained.

"And which one of you knuckleheads will pilot the ship? Do either one of you know how to pilot a damn space war machine?" Erica asked abruptly.

"Oh..." Ajax and Al said simultaneously as they looked at each other. Piloting a spaceship was obviously not in their knowledge base and neither was it common knowledge that was privy to any random Tom, Dick, and Harry.

"Well..... the seller agreed to send over 2 commanders to pilot it and teach us how to pilot it. In the meantime of them training us, we just have to accommodate their food and lodging," Al said as he took a careful look at his Vox.

Ajax didn't waste much time thinking about that issue and scratched his chin: "That's not that important for now. The truly important question is how will we be able to get from the ground to the spaceship once the mission is over."

He currently knew of two ways to enter the spaceport from the ground. One was to go up using the space elevator and the other one was to fly himself up there with one of the jets. But one thing was for sure, he could not take the space elevator as he was wanted for the attempted murder of Charles Ashlin and the murder of his old boss Kent. He would be arrested the moment he showed his face to board the elevator now, one can only imagine how things would go down after executing their attack on the headquarters of the Ashlin Group.