The Spiders could not be brought along, of course. Ye Chong settled for taking 10 shooters with him. The students had no dimension keystones for their mechs, and could not follow Ye Chong with the machines outside. 200 of the mechs lifted off and went high up into the sky. The mechs had protection systems that shielded their pilots from the thin atmosphere at high altitudes. The students flew a few hundred kilometres above the ground. Mechs were hardly visible when they flew only dozens of meters above the ground. Even shooters in their fighters could not extend their parapsychic waves so far out.
These mechs were put in touch with Ye Chong through their comms. If Ye Chong was in danger, they would dive from the above surprise the enemy. These 200 mech pilots consisted of the best shooters in the stronghold. Many of them scored 95 or above in their sniper training, and some had even began to practice ultra-long distance sniping.