"Quick! Quick! Quick! Don't just stand there gawking; get in your lines and move along."
"If you've lost family, don't stand there crying; move on first, and once you're registered we'll help you find them."
On either side of the walkway could be seen no few staff guiding the way, with a great many robots taking part as well.
And set before them now, plain to see, was a T6 Star-Sea Whale-class Super-Heavy Interstellar Transport!
But now the compartments of this interstellar transport, once packed with cargo, had been cut up into tier upon tier,
looking like a dense honeycomb.
Even so, every person was properly settled.
There were no proper seats, but everyone had at least room to sit, even to lie flat, and at each person's place some simple food and water had even been set ready.
The little beast-folk girl followed her family and sat in their appointed places.
She looked at a candy in the little package, happily tore off the wrapper, and put it in her mouth.
The sweetness of that moment made the tension of all that time before melt away a good deal at once.
Toward this journey that had come so suddenly, she felt no great resistance any more.
Very soon every place in their compartment was filled.
The hatch came down.
It looked very closed in, but there was none of the feeling of not being able to breathe.
At this point a system voice sounded in the compartment too.
"This is the T6 Star-Sea Whale No. 061. Our ship will carry you to the appointed star system's starport, where you can choose to be transferred to a habitable planet to live for a time, and be provided there with the most basic needs of life. If you have family or friends you wish to go to, you may apply then too, and the departments concerned will provide your travel expenses."
The notice concerned was repeated over and over in the compartment.
At the same time, introductions to some habitable planets appeared overhead as well.
The habitable planets arranged were far better in environment than the planet they had lived on before, and there were even jobs to go with them.
It greatly eased the strain on everyone's mind in the compartment; some had even begun to picture a fine life ahead.
For the Manticore System was not a developed star system to begin with, and even stood in the middle to lower ranks in its local star region.
And these habitable planets and conditions arranged were all above the average standard of living, so the great majority of them naturally had no objection.
This T6 Star-Sea Whale-class Super-Heavy Interstellar Transport · the bridge
The captain watched the compartments turn green one after another.
She said gravely to the deputy captain, "Check every compartment's life-support system once more. What we carried before was all cargo; this didn't matter. But this time what we're carrying is people! Fully a billion people! I won't allow any casualties aboard our starship. The medical teams concerned are all to be ready!"
The deputy captain promised with full assurance, "Let the captain rest easy; I've already checked all this several times. And in every compartment there's at least one of our crew posted, to make sure the people carried in every compartment reach the target starport safely and smoothly. There'll certainly be no problem at all!"
"And remember our task. Once we've finished evacuating people, we must go on carrying out logistics supply transport; when we leave the target starport to go and load supplies, all the passenger compartment equipment installed for the occasion is to be taken out. Not a scrap of time is to be wasted!" the captain stressed again.
"We have plans ready for all this work; there'll be no problem at all," the deputy captain said.
The captain glanced at the time, and at how things stood in every section. "As things look now, there are about ten minutes left before every compartment of ours finishes boarding. After that we get ready to set out. Have every department make ready to sail."
"Yes."
The captain watched every step tensely, not daring to let her guard down,
until everyone was aboard in every compartment, every compartment closed, and every corridor passage linking to the outside drawn back.
When all the interstellar transport ships and shuttles around had withdrawn to the safe zone,
this T6 Star-Sea Whale-class Super-Heavy Interstellar Transport started up again and sailed toward the star gate.
The captain took one last look toward the battlefield; there it was as though a natural chasm sealed the fires of war within that area, so that they would not touch other areas.
But that battlefield area was widening without pause.
And their task now was not only to carry those strategic supplies, but also to evacuate every one of the people in this star system as fast as they could.
……
The T6 Dragon Emperor Interstellar Command Ship · the bridge
"By the latest report, the evacuation in the three battlefield star systems is 50% complete, and the rest of the evacuation can be finished within fifteen hours. By then, in these three star systems, apart from combat personnel, there won't be a single civilian left within reach of the battlefields," Secretary-Officer Lilith reported this news to Zhao Chen.
"Besides the star systems where the fighting is, what about the neighboring star systems around them?" Zhao Chen asked.
"The neighboring star systems are being evacuated too, only somewhat less efficiently. We estimate that within sixty hours at the latest, the evacuation will be finished throughout the yellow battlefield alert zone we've marked out, apart from the Luoyang System. The Luoyang System is rather special, because of Luoyang City. But we've issued a war alert there too. All ordinary residents in the Luoyang System can choose to evacuate, or to live in the local planets' shelters, or to move into Luoyang City. If the fires of war reach the Luoyang System, everyone on the planets must be evacuated into Luoyang City. In our plans, Luoyang City must be held!" Secretary-Officer Lilith said.
Zhao Chen nodded.
Luoyang City was no little interstellar city; it was one of the pillars of the Owl Dragon Empire now,
an important interstellar hub and military hub.
Once Luoyang City was lost, it would be an enormous problem for all the fighting after.
"And the resettlement of the evacuated? By the reports gathered before, the people evacuated because of the war this time come to as many as 130 billion, from as many as thirty-five interstellar races with populations of a hundred million or more."
"We've arranged that properly; in truth we'd already set up, in some star systems, habitable places to settle residents evacuated in war. Never mind 130 billion; even a trillion could be settled without any problem at all. They'll have housing arranged at once, all their basic needs can be supplied, and some suitable work will be arranged for them too. We'll make sure every evacuee can get back to a normal order of life within three days," Secretary-Officer Lilith said.
For the Owl Dragon now it was not as before.
Before, in fighting a war, one had only to think of the fighting; winning was enough.
But this was the Owl Dragon Empire now, and there were far more sides to be thought of; fail to think one side through, and it might have bad effects over a wide area!
"Very soon the warships on every battlefield of ours will enter a stage of resupply. That will put very great pressure on the logistics supply lines. Can your side bear that pressure?" Zhao Chen looked at Lilith.
The logistics supply and transport lines were all in Lilith's charge.
Lilith said firmly, "Let Your Majesty rest easy; we can certainly keep all logistics supply running normally, and make sure the combat fleets' fighting isn't affected!"
The Owl Dragon Empire's defensive war · hour twenty-four
A day and a night had now passed since this war began; in the main, the great majority of the Owl Dragon Empire knew the Owl Dragon Empire was going through a great war now!
Yet another pack of invaders from another universe.
But the great majority felt their own lives were not touched in any way, and went on with their work step by step as usual, not in the least worried about any fires of war.
And at this point the Owl Dragon Empire's Military Department and the high command of the Sacred Elf legion fleet groups held their second military meeting.
Its content was chiefly whether anything needed changing after the past twenty-four hours of war, or whether there were any battlefield strategies to suggest.
In the main most of the content was unchanged from before.
But on some small points, some put forward views.
"By the fighting of the past twenty-four hours, after discussion between the Flame Elf Queen and me, it's been decided to change the original rotation strategy. First, on every battlefield, the Owl Dragon Empire legion fleet groups' rotation fighting time is changed from the original three hours to eight hours. And on the Sacred Elf legion fleet groups' side, it's changed to a rotation fighting time of four hours. But in the rotation of the fighting, the four stages alternate between the Owl Dragon and the Sacred Elves. For example, the first batch up is the Owl Dragon, the second the Sacred Elves, and only the third the Owl Dragon again. The whole rotation cycle is twenty-four combat hours," Zhao Chen said.
For every battlefield this was beyond doubt a great change.
The several marshals on the Owl Dragon Legion's side showed no change of expression at all, as though they had long known of it.
But the commanders on the Sacred Elf legion fleet groups' side wore every kind of expression.
One even slapped the table and stood up. "I object! Why is our fighting time four hours, and the Owl Dragon Empire legion fleets' eight? Is this looking down on our Sacred Elf legion fleet groups? It's true that, by the results so far, our record is worse than yours. But our Sacred Elf legion fleet groups don't fear death; we too can fight the Devourer Civilization's legion fleets to the very last. We need no such consideration!"
The faces of several other elf commanders did not look good either.
For this adjustment was beyond doubt a slap in their faces.
These people, who took pride in their standing as high elves, would naturally not allow a thing that wounded their honor to happen.
"Quiet, all of you." At this point the Flame Elf Queen spoke.
She shot a sudden glare at her own fleet group commanders.
"Didn't you hear? This was decided after the Owl Dragon Emperor and I discussed it together. It's something I agreed to as well. So your objection is void; the fighting to come goes by this!" the Flame Elf Queen said without ceremony.
Hearing their own Elf Queen say so, the several fleet group commanders wilted at once.
But one of the fleet group commanders still could not hold back, and asked the Flame Elf Queen, unwilling, "My Lady Elf Queen, why……"
"Shut up. If you have questions, ask after the meeting in a while! Don't disgrace me here in front of everyone." The Flame Elf Queen cut him off without ceremony, and only then did that fleet group commander shut his mouth and behave, though he sat there still looking unconvinced.
After that, the second wartime military meeting of the two countries ended for the time being.
Everyone's holograms dispersed.
And before the Flame Elf Queen there were still the holograms of several fleet group commanders,
every one of them looking as though they wanted to speak and held it back.
"I know every one of you has words bottled up. Isn't it just about what happened a moment ago? Why the Owl Dragon Empire's legion fleets rotate every eight hours, and we every four. Right?" The Flame Elf Queen's tone was very even now.
But the next second she pointed straight at this lot of fleet group commanders. "Why? Then you'd better ask yourselves. Before, back in our Empire, every one of you claimed you were ready to fight the Devourer Civilization's legion fleets to the death. And now? You bring me these combat figures and tell me you're ready to fight to the death? Is this how you've got ready for me!"
"How many warships have you? On every battlefield there are a million warships. They have a million warships too. A million each. Fine. You say they're fighting on home ground, they've just been through a war, they're rich in combat experience. All right. I gave you time to get used to the battlefield; I gave you the chance. But now! The loss ratio is still four to one! And theirs passed ten to one long ago! In twenty-four combat hours, they've lost fewer than twenty thousand warships in all. And us? We've lost forty thousand warships. And destroyed not even half as many of the enemy as they have! Why did they change the time? So that we won't lose too much! To spare our face. Now every one of you cares about face. If you care about face, go and win it back on the battlefield yourselves! When the loss ratio is back above eight to one, I'll go and ask more fighting time for you!" the Flame Elf Queen rebuked them in anger.
In truth this change had been discussed between Zhao Chen and her; the real reason was still to make it easier later to get the High Council to send more reinforcements.
But the Flame Elf Queen naturally could not say so openly.
So she simply took this chance to give this lot a proper dressing-down,
and let them learn what disgrace meant.
If it could make them improve themselves in the war, then this dressing-down of hers now would not have been wasted!