At last Zhao Chen looked at the roster, a great swath of it gone dark.
Only sixty-seven had truly come back.
And the bitterest of it was those who could already have gone home safe, and who had resolutely chosen to follow Zhao Chen into that first fight, and stayed there.
When he had finished the roll, Zhao Chen looked at them all. "This battle is over. Those above will give us leave of at least seven days. Rest well in that time. No few of you have also met the requirements for discharge. Any who wish to be discharged, put in your application to me. I will speak to those above for you."
With that, Zhao Chen went back to his single berth.
The moment he was inside, he threw himself on the bed.
And pressed a hand over his eyes.
People he knew had truly died on that battlefield.
Zhao Chen had supposed that, as a commander, he ought to be used to such things.
But feeling it in his own person, it truly was an agony.
Suppose it were those he knew in the Owl Dragon, killed on a battlefield.
What would that feel like?
He could not imagine it.
In that moment he wanted, beyond anything, to go back!
Back to the world that was truly his.
That world still faced a threat.
The threat of Order.
Zhao Chen had left them no little technology, but if he could not get back in time, when Order invaded in force, no one knew what might happen.
He could not accept any harm coming to his own people.
He had to go back!
He had to go back in the shortest possible time.
Zhao Chen sat bolt upright and opened the System interface.
But the interface seemed to be stuck.
Exactly as before, and with no prompt at all.
No missions, no new T6-grade technology, nothing whatever.
What on earth was wrong with this System!
Zhao Chen swung a furious fist, and it passed through the interface's phantom.
The interface faded away.
……
What followed had naturally nothing to do with Zhao Chen.
The fleets under the general completed the mission, and as the enemy's relief came up, left that universe by their special starships,
and returned to the Star Alliance's universe.
The success of this secret mission showed no immediate effect on the battlefield.
Which is understandable; anything at all takes time to develop.
By the estimates, the effect would show on the main battlefield within a month.
And that would be the Alliance's opening to take the small universe outright!
And as supreme commander of this secret operation,
this brigadier general of the Song family was richly rewarded at once.
Promoted outright to major general!
The youngest major general, they said!
Besides which, every petty officer and soldier of the fleets and ships in the operation received commendation and promotion in some degree.
Though there was one small episode in it.
Namely that when the high death benefits for the pilots killed in one covering action were reported up, the Star Alliance Council was stunned.
No few opposed the resolution at once.
But in the end, it is said, the Star Alliance Leader spoke himself, and indicated that part of it would be borne by the Song family's own enterprises.
Which was how the Council came to approve this 'special benefit'!
And that astonishing benefit became a thing that shook the whole Alliance's forces, and was envied by no few common soldiers.
They feared death; but to win their families so much after death was to die in a fitting place.
——————
The Eighteenth Squadron's ready room.
A week had passed since that secret operation.
After a week's rest, they had come out of their grief.
The seats that had stood empty now held new, young faces.
And those newcomers were greatly excited.
For they had joined the legendary Eighteenth Group!
Just so: the Eighteenth Group.
A group number added by special approval of the newly promoted major general himself.
And unlike other groups, this one's elite squadron is not the first in its order.
But the Eighteenth Squadron!
Besides it there were ten other squadrons.
And to be chosen into the Eighteenth Squadron within the Eighteenth Group was beyond doubt a great honor,
with the chance of seeing that legendary pilot besides.
For Zhao Chen had become a legend among pilots now.
The instant Zhao Chen walked into the ready room.
They all stood straight.
"Group Leader!"
Zhao Chen frowned slightly; the sound seemed to burst his eardrums.
He rubbed his ears and looked at them, the Eighteenth Squadron, and the ten other squadron leaders of the Eighteenth Group besides.
All waiting here.
This was Zhao Chen's first appearance before his subordinates in a week.
"How stand the arrangements in each squadron?" Zhao Chen looked at the ten leaders.
"Reporting, Group Leader, every squadron has received its replacements. Our Eighteenth Group now numbers three thousand three hundred and thirty-nine," the First Squadron's leader said, stepping forward.
He served as deputy group leader as well; that was his post.
Zhao Chen kept to his old habit: in short, hand off as much as possible to his subordinates.
And in a subordinate's eyes that is beyond doubt a superior's high regard.
So they worked as though their blood were up, overtime or not, busy or not, tired or not.
All of it the group leader's favor!
Which others never had the chance at!
Seeing them all so eager to grind, Zhao Chen found it rather flat, and could not help thinking of a certain little imp.
He wondered whether, with no one at her back, that one was slacking.
"In short, each squadron's affairs are yours. I have taught you what I have to teach. If anything goes wrong later, I will come to you," Zhao Chen said, pointing at the squadron leaders.
"Yes!" they answered together.
"Request a conference compartment. Then assemble everyone of the Eighteenth Group. I have something to announce," Zhao Chen said.
At the word "announce."
The old hands of the former Eighteenth Squadron were beside themselves, their eyes shining.
For they knew very well what announcing something now meant.
The bestowals from the battle, of course.
Someone edged up to Zhao Chen. "Squadron Leader, when does your own bestowal come? They say your merits this time were so great you'll be made a general outright! You'll have to stand us a round!"
Listening to these old brothers' teasing, Zhao Chen gave each of them a kick.
Then told them to get on with it, and quickly.