The video-network comm was fully established.
Two more video windows appeared; the people within them were, respectively, Chief Ted and General Charlotte — reported fallen in battle years ago.
"Greetings, all. I am Charlotte." Charlotte looked coldly at these revolutionary-army commanders before her.
"Only you few came?" Chief Ted, looking at the three revolutionary-army commanders, knit his brows slightly.
For before coming he'd notified seven revolutionary-army commanders in all.
This meant four more, for one reason or another, hadn't come — the chief reason, most likely, being that they were unwilling to.
"Chief Ted… these… these interstellar warships are…?" The Bull-Head commander gulped, looking at the dense, teeming interstellar warships on his starship radar.
The number had by now reached nearly 30,000.
And there were, besides, three suspected T4-grade interstellar warships!
The shock it dealt them was truly too great.
"These are all interstellar warships under Charlotte's command — 30,000 and more in all," Chief Ted said with some pride.
30,000 and more interstellar warships — even back when the White Tiger tribe still ranked among the twenty great tribes, it had never possessed so vast an interstellar fleet.
"Those three crimson-red interstellar warships are T4-grade interstellar warships?" the Pig-Head commander asked, scarcely daring to believe.
To this question, neither Charlotte nor Chief Ted made answer.
Charlotte cast a glance over the three: "Why haven't the other four revolutionary-army commanders come?"
The two revolutionary-army commanders were at a loss for words all at once.
It was the honest, plain-spoken Bull-Head commander who explained: "Those few revolutionary-army commanders… don't much trust your White Tiger clan. There's even a rumor that your White Tiger clan has already joined Warhammer's side. That this might be a trap… and so they all said they were unwilling to come."
Charlotte gave a cold snort: "A waste of time."
What Charlotte hated most now was anything that wasted time; her impression of those four revolutionary-army commanders dropped a notch straightaway.
"So — what in the world is the situation with you lot?" the Bull-Head commander asked again.
"There are some things I'm not at liberty to tell you just now. You need only know this: this Dragon-Tiger Legion fleet is under my, Charlotte's, full command. We've come back to take our revenge," Charlotte said coldly.
Dragon-Tiger Legion?
So they'd changed the name, too.
Though it did indeed match that dragon-and-tiger crest very well.
"Charlotte — though these 30,000 interstellar warships of yours make a grand array, and those three T4-grade interstellar warships are here besides — to want revenge is no simple matter." the Pig-Head commander said, meaning to dampen Charlotte's spirits a little.
Charlotte looked coldly at the Pig-Head commander: "So you'd sooner go on being a turtle with its head pulled in, living your days ducking and hiding east and west? If that's how it is, then you should never have come out to be a revolutionary in the first place — you should have stayed on your own little patch of turf, and let the noble beast-folk go on bleeding you dry, nice and obedient."
"You—!" The Pig-Head commander was somewhat riled.
But just at this moment, a message came through to Charlotte's end.
"My lord, this is a piece of intelligence our T3 Silver-Rat-class Light Interstellar Stealth Reconnaissance Ships have scouted out." The deputy captain drew close to Charlotte and said in a low voice.
Charlotte, heedless that she was still in comms with others, went straight to reading over the intelligence.
This discourteous act only riled the Pig-Head commander opposite the more.
"Foolish fellows." Charlotte suddenly spoke up.
"Charlotte — has something happened?" Chief Ted, sensing something, asked.
Within Charlotte's cold gaze there was a trace of killing intent: "Word just in. Of our revolutionary army, those four revolutionary-army leaders not present — one of them has betrayed us, and sold out the garrison sites of the other three. Now the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth's side has ordered the Golden Eagle Tribe, the Pig King Tribe, and the Giant Ape Tribe, among the twenty great tribes, to attack the three revolutionary-army garrisons respectively. The fighting is under way; each of these three Warhammer tribes commands five legion fleets — near 50,000 interstellar warships mobilized in all."
Hearing this news, the three commanders opposite froze all at once, their expressions turning from astonishment to terror.
"Who… who betrayed us!" the Bull-Head commander roared in fury.
"The chief of the Horned Wolf Tribe." Charlotte spoke the name.
Hearing this name, the three commanders were, of all things, not overly surprised.
"That fellow! He's been going on all along about making peace with Warhammer — I never dreamed he'd betray us now!"
"I saw early on that fellow's heart wasn't right. Had I known, I'd have snapped his neck outright at the last council."
"Then what do we do now? Near 50,000 interstellar warships… if I remember rightly, the legion fleets of those three leader-commanders, counting all their interstellar warships together, don't come to 10,000… and most of them are battered T2-grade interstellar warships, with no power to resist at all."
Toward this reality, the three commanders felt terror and despair.
"Charlotte…" Chief Ted looked toward his daughter, asking her opinion.
Not only because Charlotte was the supreme commander of this legion fleet, appointed by Commander Zhao Chen.
But because he knew full well his own daughter's gifts — that her capacity for military command was wholly above his own.
"The revolutionary army's own footing is already poor. If we lose more troops and generals besides, then it'll be very hard for us to build momentum in the short term. So we cannot stand by and watch those three revolutionary-army leader-commanders be lost," Charlotte said gravely.
This, in fact, bore on the efficiency of the task Charlotte was to carry out within the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth.
Though those three leader-commanders had no great combat power in themselves, and their fleets were all beaten remnants — their prestige remained.
And it was precisely their prestige Charlotte needed: to make them into banners in her own hand.
In this way, the actions that came next could proceed all the more smoothly.
"Pass my order — all legion fleets, enter second-tier combat readiness." Charlotte now gave the command to her own bridge.
"Hey, hey, hey — you mean to go to their rescue? There's simply no time. We can't possibly use a star gate. The battle-site is very far off; even normal sailing would take three days. Three days — by the time we got there, the leftovers would be long cold." the Pig-Head commander shook his head again and again.
"Who says there's no time?" Charlotte said with a cold smile.
"In a while — if your interstellar warships are willing, follow us. If you're not willing, go wherever you please."
With that, Charlotte cut the comm.
At the same time, she gave the order: "Command the T4 Lucent-class Interstellar Jump Ship, ship No. 06, to make ready to open a jump-gate; the target location is the coordinates furnished by the T3 Silver-Rat-class Light Interstellar Stealth Reconnaissance Ship."
"Understood!"