Interstellar Survival: Invasion

As of late, the Blue resistance was becoming more and more intense.
Just today, an unmanned haulage vehicle was detonated outside the school.
The massive explosion collapsed the school gate.
To avoid anything untoward from happening, I left school and returned home early.
While I was getting ready for dinner, Father returned.
He sat on the sofa and started sighing.

Curious, I asked, ”Father, what ’s going on? ”

”Sigh.
The Gliesens are up to something again. ” With a sigh, Father continued, ”The iron extraction activity on Blue is high, but the yield is low.
At first, the Gliesens thought that the low yield was due to depletion from excessive mining, resulting in a drop in the quality of the mines. ”  

”That should be the case.
From how much they have been mining, all the good mines should have been depleted already, ” I replied.

”Yeah.
Because of the depletion, the Gliesens have discovered many planets with our Hans telescopes.
They exhausted a large amount of energy visiting these planets, hoping to find one rich in iron, but not one of these planets was of use, ” said Father.

”What can they do? Just keep searching.
What ’s the big deal? There ’s still a lot of planets out there, ” I said.

”Recently, the Blue resistance is getting more and more active.
The league suspects that the mines on Blue are perfectly fine but that some of the mined iron has been instead supplied to the resistance, resulting in a drop of yield for the Gliesens. ”

”How does that relate to interstellar mining? ”

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

”According to the league, the resistance ’s brainwashing results in an increased amount of interstellar travel, causing a wastage of energy.
Thus, the league intends to send a batch of Bluelings to the mines outside the planet.
In short, they are separating the Bluelings and banishing them outside of Blue to slave away, ” said Father.

”Can ’t we choose not to go? ”

”If one refuses, one might lose one ’s job and income.
The entire family might starve to death, ” replied Father.

The more I listened, the more indignant I felt.
Looking at my distressed father, I felt bad as well.
Such injustice was not a recent affair.
However, there was nothing I could do about it.
I was long tired of such a life.
The combination of my longing for stellar exploration and the resistance ’s slogan of overthrowing the Gliesens with alien technology was causing me to become more and more restless.
I was itching to leave the planet and take a look at the wide universe.

After dinner, I went to visit my childhood friend, Zhang Bao ’er.
We had agreed to watch the latest propaganda video of the resistance together.
Zhang Bao ’er lived in a villa.
His father was the pilot commander of an interstellar transport ship, a middle-ranking officer in the army.
His position granted him a high income, and regardless of the era, the rich had always lived a good life.
Zhang Bao ’er had the attic of the villa all for himself.
That was the location of our gathering.

”Bao ’er, I ’m here. ”

”Canyue, come.
Let ’s get started, ” replied my good friend Zhang Bao ’er while lounging lazily on a sofa.

The propaganda video started playing on the screen:

The people of Blue are magnificent.
After 20 years of hardship, we have managed to grasp some Gliesen technology while working for them.

The Gliesens are still keeping their core technologies secret, so we have no way of obtaining those technologies for now.
However, Bluelings are now very familiar with the usage of morph-capable armors and the piloting of sublight speed spaceships.

But to win the war, we need energy.
Thus, the resistance greatly encourages all Bluelings to participate in interstellar exploration and mining, gathering sources and knowledge of energy in the process.

”Not this again.
It ’s the same catchphrase being repeated over and over.
It ’s getting boring watching this thing every single day, ” I complained.

”I agree, Canyue.
Here, let me show you something good, ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

He then played a different video on the screen.
It was a promotional video of the league, describing that apart from Blue, the league had also set up mining operations on Mars.

The video explained that Mercury would be the league ’s next target.
At present, the exploration teams had landed and built several bases of operations.
They were in the process of deploying Bluelings to work the newly established mines.
As a planet with a metallic core, Mercury was rich in metal.
In fact, the metallic core made up for about 3/4 of Mercury ’s mass.

”The working condition on Mercury is too vile.
The length of day and night is too long, and the temperature difference between the two is too big.
My father told me that the league is preparing to send Bluelings over there, ” I said.

”Yeah.
How hateful.
Such injustice is the biggest reason for the resistance to keep existing, ” said Zhang Bao ’er. 

The video continued: 

To solve the league ’s lack of resources, the interstellar fleet is planning to recruit a new batch of explorers.
We intend to explore more new planets to search for new sources of energy.

”Canyue, you ’ve always dreamed of exploring the universe, right? This is your chance! ” said Zhang Bao ’er.

I grew excited as well.
”But only the elites get to join the energy exploration teams.
I don ’t even have enough funds for the download of required knowledge. ”

”This is a secret, but for this recruitment, one must be 20 or above.
Also, one can first download the required knowledge and pay later with their salary.
Both of us meet the requirements.
It ’s getting boring wasting our days doing nothing here on Blue.
My father has already bribed the relevant officials.
He wants me to try joining. ”

”That ’s too good to be true.
Download first and pay later? ” I asked in astonishment.

”Yes.
Recently, several exploration teams have gone missing while exploring extreme environments.
Thus, the league needs to offer special benefits to attract more recruits, ” replied Zhang Bao ’er.

I punched Zhang Bao ’er in excitement, but in a wink, I was disheartened again.

”What is it this time? ” asked Zhang Bao ’er.

”With such generous benefits, the competition must be stiff.
I ’m afraid someone without any connection like me won ’t be able to secure a spot, ” I said.

”Leave it to me! I ’ll have my father grease some whee