Of the five T2 Moose-class Heavy Interstellar Transport Ships he'd brought, in the end Zhao Chen assigned only two to carry these 50,000 dwarves; the remaining three he left standing by on the spot.
Over these three days the 50,000 dwarves had, whole families in tow — even hauling along the little store of belongings they had — boarded the T2 Moose one after another by unmanned cargo shuttle. In the T2 Moose's refitted cargo holds, three levels high, area by area had been partitioned into bunks. Beyond that, large communal hibernation pods had been specially prepared, for sleeping in groups; nowhere near as comfortable as the single-person pods Zhao Chen had used before, of course, but they'd serve at least for that final stretch of the journey to the Owl Dragon Star System.
Just now, at one cluster of five adjoining bunks—
A sack in her left hand, a case in her right, and on her back a pack fully three times her own height, Annie showed, in this moment, that all those meals she'd eaten hadn't been eaten for nothing. Her strength and stamina were genuinely prodigious.
"Heave-ho!" Annie set all these things in place, then looked at her mother and her five brothers and sisters. "You just rest here nice and easy — in a bit over half a month you'll reach the Owl Dragon domain. I haven't been there myself yet, but you trust Annie! The Commander won't lie to us. Once we get there, we'll never again live in hunger and fear."
"Big sister… aren't you coming with us?" Annie's second sister, who came up to Annie's head, looked at her, rather anxious.
Annie stroked the girl's head. "Nana, your big sister won't be there. You're the eldest child in the family now — look after Mom and the little ones. I'll be back soon."
Nana, who looked rather like Annie, nodded hard. "Rest easy, big sister — Nana will take good care of Mother and the little ones!"
Annie took several lollipops from her pocket and pressed them on her younger siblings, then pointed into that huge bundle. "At the very bottom of the pack I've put some food for you — you can eat it on the way. And this food — once you reach the Owl Dragon domain, you'll have the chance to eat it every day from then on!"
At the sight of the snacks in their big sister Annie's hands, the several little dwarves all broke into delighted expressions.
"Annie, you really have grown up." Her mother stroked Annie's head.
Annie split into a grin. "Mom, don't you worry. Annie has a job now — she can provide for you!"
Having seen off her mother and her brothers and sisters, Annie left the T2 Moose and returned to the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser.
After that, the T3 Blizzard escorted the two T2 Moose to the star gate. So long as they passed through the gate, left the Reef Star Region, and entered the territory of the Starlight Empire, the two T2 Moose would be safe.
Having sent the T2 Moose off, the T3 Blizzard once again returned to the space outside the dwarf planet. Zhao Chen sat in the captain's chair, looking at the planet before him, and at the traces of the starry battlefield there'd been no time to clean up. The affairs on the planet he'd already arranged; the transports he'd sent off; what came next was to await the arrival of the Fire Salamander fleet. As for ruling this system — all Zhao Chen need do was, in time, produce one handsome victory for the natives of those planets to see. After that, establishing his authority would be relatively easy.
"What we can do next is wait." Zhao Chen sat in the captain's chair, looking at the dwarf-inhabited planet behind him.
"Commander… Annie… Annie can repair the T3 Blizzard's hull armor!" Annie raised her hand just then.
Zhao Chen looked at Annie with some surprise — she was actually asking for work of her own accord.
"There's no interstellar industrial ship or starport equipment here," Zhao Chen said.
Annie said, "I had my father prepare some simple equipment for me; I can put on a spacesuit and go outside the hull, and repair the damaged hull armor. The pace is a bit slower, but the quality's absolutely no worse than with an industrial ship or a starport!"
"Won't that be too dangerous?" Zhao Chen looked at Annie.
Annie said firmly, "Work like this — back when I lived here, before I'd even come of age, I'd go with my father to repair the dwarf race's warships. There's no danger or difficulty to it. Commander, let me do it."
Come to think of it, it made sense. On a barren planet like this, even a starport was a rather extravagant thing to have; and the prices of all sorts of raw materials were far higher than back in the Starlight Empire. Whatever one could do oneself, one naturally did oneself. Looking at that rare, resolute expression on Annie's face, Zhao Chen in the end gave his leave. It seemed this child had grown up a little after seeing her own people.
"Um… Commander… I… I couldn't quite hold back on my meal allowance earlier, and bought some food and snacks for my little brothers and sisters… It's still three or five days to the end of the month… could you advance me a little? Otherwise Annie's… going to be going hungry…" Annie suddenly turned around and looked at Zhao Chen, all aggrieved.
Zhao Chen withdrew his earlier thought. Still a silly girl, this one.
"You'll eat with me for the time being." Zhao Chen waved a helpless hand.
"Thank you, Commander!" Annie bowed to Zhao Chen, then happily left the bridge and set off to do her work.
For the next week and more, one could see Annie in a spacesuit, tools in hand, patching and mending the damaged spots on the T3 Blizzard's hull outside. And at every mealtime she'd be the first to hurry to Zhao Chen's side, blinking her big, limpid eyes at him — like a little cat waiting to be fed.
Fire Salamander Clan Headquarters
The Fire Salamander clan directly controlled five systems, commanding 3,000 warships, and possessed five T3 warships besides; on the strength of this power, the Fire Salamander clan had become what could be called a second-rate power in the Reef Star Region — a mere step away from the first rank.
Who'd have thought that, just as one was nodding off, someone would hand over a pillow? On the third planet of that FY System he controlled — a system that had never yielded much of worth — a mineral vein had actually been discovered!
At first the dwarf race had proposed that they mine it themselves and sell it cheaply to the Fire Salamander clan. How could that be allowed? A mountain of gold this size — how could it be handed to those midgets? It had, of course, to be held firmly in his own grasp. He'd even felt it necessary to drive every last inhabitant off that planet — otherwise those creatures would surely pilfer his wealth! Which was how it had come to the driving-out of the dwarf race, and the war with them.
In the Fire Salamander chieftain's view, the dwarf race's paltry fleet had next to no combat strength. Sending one T3 Arkham and a fleet of 300 or 400 warships was more than enough to settle the dwarves' business. But never had he imagined he'd receive word that the T3 Arkham-class Medium Interstellar Battleship had fallen.