Thereafter came private talks, one after another, with the Holy Radiance Empire, the Starlight Empire, and Blanche of the Warhammer Interstellar Federal Kingdom.
For though this campaign was ended, there was a great deal to handle after a war.
The repair of damaged interstellar warships, for instance; the salvage of starship wrecks upon the field; the disposal of Hive Mothership carcasses; and the handling of the ground hive-race upon those planets — a great deal of it.
And though Zhao Chen need not lay hands upon much of it himself, it touched upon cooperation with the several allies, and wanted this mascot Zhao Chen to show his face.
By the time it was all handled, half a day had gone.
Zhao Chen threw himself upon the bed.
"At last I may sleep properly." Zhao Chen felt now that he wanted only to empty his head, to think of nothing and mind nothing.
The quarterly mission "Swarm Surge" enters its settling stage…
Zhao Chen, who had already shut his eyes, opened them sharply.
The quarterly mission!
Zhao Chen glanced at the time; it was now the last ten minutes of June.
And the hour of the mission's settling.
He did not know what estimate would be given him at the last.
Though he had beaten the great mass of the Hive Motherships, a small number were roving still, and these might well drag his score down.
But come what may, Zhao Chen had put so much into this mission.
If he were not given some good reward, Zhao Chen would not have it!
The quarterly mission "Swarm Surge" is settled.
"Swarm Surge": host's degree of completion rated SS+.
SS+?
A little short of SSS, it seemed.
Whether the marks were docked for his own fleet's losses, or for not having cleared away the hive fleets entire, there was no telling.
But there was no leisure to think of a thing already done.
Quarterly mission "Swarm Surge": issuing mission rewards.
Obtained: two T5 shop draw tickets and one T4 shop draw ticket.
Zhao Chen sat cross-legged upon the bed, rubbing his chin with his right hand.
"Two T5 draw tickets? That should be one for each S in the rating. And this T4 draw ticket should be the plus," Zhao Chen guessed.
And as he was thinking of these things.
Three tickets appeared before him.
The first two golden cards with five stars upon them; the last a white card with four.
And upon them floated a line of words.
Tap to use.
The hour of testing one's luck.
Zhao Chen drew a deep breath, and tapped first upon the T4 shop draw ticket.
This ticket began to spin quickly, and at the last burst apart like a firework.
Thereafter the holographic projection of an interstellar warship appeared before Zhao Chen.
And with it the System's prompt.
Congratulations: obtained the technical drawings of the T4 Star-Vault-Sentry-class Medium Interstellar Unmanned Guard Ship.
Zhao Chen's brows drew slightly together.
The name of this class was somewhat particular.
An interstellar unmanned guard ship?
He had never heard of such a thing.
Zhao Chen clicked the projection, and all the ship's data came up.
Zhao Chen looked it over, and might be said to have grasped where it stood.
First, by the name.
This is an unmanned interstellar warship, worked by the bridge's artificial intelligence.
Which, it must be said, touched upon one of the taboos of this universe.
High-order artificial intelligence!
A thing that can master a whole starship and make a wholly unmanned warship of it is beyond doubt to touch that forbidden ground.
But looking at the data it showed, it must be said…
It was exceedingly attractive.
First, the first advantage is plain: being unmanned, it wants no crew to train, and when the ship falls there are no later costs of treatment or of pensions.
Which saves a very great outlay.
Understand that of the cost of bringing a starship into fighting strength, no small part is bound up with the crew.
The second advantage is that this T4 Star-Vault-Sentry's build cost is exceedingly low!
So low that Zhao Chen could not believe it.
By way of comparison: among the T4 combat classes Zhao Chen already held, the cheapest to build is the T4 Paladin-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Escort, at 500 million star coins the hull.
And what is the build cost of this T4 Star-Vault-Sentry?
Ten million star coins!
Just so — 10 million star coins!
A price past belief.
The build cost of one T4 Paladin-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Escort would build fifty T4 Star-Vault-Sentries!
Though looking at its combat performance, one can understand why the cost is so low.
First, being unmanned, it does without every piece of equipment bound up with an interstellar crew's service: long-term life-support systems, quarters, gangways, a starship mess and the rest.
By which this warship reaches the utmost value for cost in its bulk, and saves a very great sum.
And second, its strategic standing.
It is no warship for expeditionary battle; as its name says.
It is an interstellar guard ship — the name tells it: its duty leans less to the soldier than to the interstellar policeman.
Its hull is very small, a fifth smaller in bulk than the T4 Paladin-class Heavy Interstellar Missile Escort.
Under a kilometer in length!
Which is very nearly the size of a T3-grade interstellar escort or destroyer.
But do not think little of this warship by its bulk, or you will assuredly pay for it.
Its comprehensive firepower output stands assuredly at T4 grade; only that the ordnance it can carry is small, so that it does not suit an expedition or a great campaign.
And it is fitted with weapons of many kinds: close-in guns, laser cannon, rapid-fire guns, pulse cannon, interstellar missiles.
And the most important point of all is that this class has no detailed specification of weapons laid down.
Every module of it may take different weapon equipment as the need requires.
It may be fitted wholly with interstellar missiles, or with several bow cannon, or with nothing but rapid-fire guns.
Of course, different manners of fitting make the build cost float somewhat.
But this gives the guard ship different possibilities, and room to be handled.
And most important of all: it costs but 10 million star coins the hull!
"At so low a price, and with so high a value for cost in fighting capacity. Then I may quite well deploy this guard ship throughout our important holdings!" Zhao Chen muttered in a small voice.
It was simply a starship cut to measure for his Owl Dragon Galactic Interstellar Group's commercial map.
As for that restriction upon artificial intelligence…
Zhao Chen had long since thrown it behind him.
What hour is this — who minds that?
And most important of all.
It costs but 10 million star coins the hull!
Ten million star coins builds a T4 interstellar warship — what more could one want!