"How did you guys do that, and it's not like there's a big army around here." Alphonse stood up and looked around.
"Just the two of us." Said Edward pointing to Elina who was drugging Jan and telling Alphonse about the battle that had just taken place.
"Incredible, the use of pheromones and the deployment of the battle was key, she can be a really good frontline commander." Alphonse had always prided himself on being an excellent commander, and this battle was an eye-opener for him.
"Today was her first time in combat, she usually just stays in the lab working on weird stuff." Edward said as he pulled a piece of jerky out of his backpack and tore it open and handed it over.
The two began a heavenly conversation, talking about the decline of the Empire from the three year war, the Resistance on Dosas to the Free Federation, and the advancement of the battle on the ground to the deployment of warships in space.
The orange-red sun of Dosas rose over the horizon, and Edward handed the written letter to Alphonse.
"Alphonse, give my regards to Mother and Father." Edward shook his brother's hand.
"Take care of yourself brother, after talking all night, I think you have the big picture perfect for a commander." Alphonse looked dismayed as he looked at his gradually loosening hand.
"Come on, let's go, before we have the ability to close the starport in." Edward patted his brother on the shoulder.
Looking at Alphonse as he hopped onto the barely repaired Imperial troop carrier, he waved and said, "Goodbye! Alphonse Alec!"
His brother stuck his hand out of the car window and shouted, "Goodbye! Edward Alec!"
"Will we see each other again?" Elina asked.
"Definitely! It's such a proud thing to have such a wonderful brother." Edward watched Alphonse's driving further and further away car for a long time.
A wrecked Imperial troop carrier pulled up on the on-again, off-again road in the middle of the desert, and Alphonse stepped out of the car and opened the smoking hood in an attempt to make the car's heart hold out for a little while longer.
"Mmm...headache, Alphonse! Are we captured?" Jan's voice came through the car window.
"Jan, you woke up just in time." Alphonse walked over to the car door and handed Jan water through the window.
Jan took the water bottle and took a big gulp.
"Have we been attacked? What time is it? Where was this? How did we escape?" Jan rubbed his head and fired off a series of questions.
"We were attacked, it's 11:00 a.m. Imperial time, we're a thousand and fifty kilometers south of the starport, we weren't captured, they gave us this vehicle to leave on our own."
Alphonse patiently answered Jan's barrage of questions.
"How are you feeling? Get down here and do something to get this shuttle moving, we still have seven hours to go."
Alphonse opened the door and urged the newly awakened Jan to take a look at the condition of the engine.
Jan wandered over to where the shuttle engine was and took a look at it, reaching in and fiddling with something as he said, "It's broken like this, get some insulating tape, quick! If the plasma leaks out in this hellhole we'll have to walk a thousand kilometers!"
After half an hour of fiddling, the two men finally reconnected the broken wiring.
Jan put the hood back up and looked up to say something but choked on the sight in front of him.
Alphonse looked at Jan's surprised eyes and patted Jan's shoulder, "Half a car is better than walking, the other half is in the belly of a sandworm."
Jan circled the car three times before getting into the driver's side and turned to him, "Did we run into the main Resistance force?"
"No, there were only two of the enemy." Alphonse said with a yawn, the all night chat combined with five hours of driving had left him exhausted.
"You...you, this, how is this possible." He quickly changed his tone and pressed the start button on the car to begin his journey.
Alphonse told Jan about the battle deployment and combat process of how Edward wiped out the Aces.
"It's not a shame that Dosas Star was lost at all, the frontline commander's abilities are too far apart." Yang shook his head and said.
Dialina's photo was shaken upside down and buckled on the table.
"Why don't we just have the Maso in synchronized orbit blast Dosas."
"Blast it? What does the Empire want with a charred planet? If the Maso ship fires, isn't that giving the Free Federation an excuse to go to war?
Think about the entire war situation, the Empire's current strength won't make it easy for them to win even if they can defeat the Free Federation, but what about after that? Can you guarantee that another federation won't pop up?"
Alphonse was infuriated by Yang's short-sightedness and he turned his head away to get ready for bed.
Edward was sprawled out on the sand against the orange sun, sweat falling from his cheeks in drops.
"Elina wake up." He said into the intercom.
There was a murmur of voices on the caller, followed by Elina's panicked voice, "Where are the enemies?"
"There are no enemies, keep watch for me, I can't carry it anymore I'm getting dehydrated." Edward's words dripped with exhaustion.
"Come rest in the small fort, I'll keep watch." Elina's sweet, concern-filled voice spilled out of the intercom.
Within moments, Edward burrowed into the small fort and took a drink of the water Elina handed him.
That's when the communicator on the console went off, indicating an unknown source.
Elina gave him a look and he dropped the empty bottle in his hand, signaling Elina to get on it, and ran to get another bottle for himself.
"Elina, where's Edward?" General Barr's face appeared on the screen.
Edward stopped what he was doing to pour water on his head rushed to the screen and gave a military salute.
"Edward, the Silver Wolves have taken Apeida, there will be no pressure on your side, pull back, there is a new mission for you." General Barr said.
"Apeida taken down? So soon?" Edward thought it was a miracle that the Silver Wolves took Apeida with their strength.
"They surrendered on their own, you two did a very good job this time, anyway better come back first, there is an urgent mission." General Barr's communication was cut off just as his words left his mouth.
"Old General Barr is so good at hanging up comms, he's yet in green vigorous senility." He muttered sputtering as he stared at the comm that no longer had an image, behind him came Elina's silvery laughter.
At the location of the command post, Edward heard old General Barr's laughing voice coming out of the tent from a long distance away.
Edward walked into the tent and gave a military salute, shouting, "A19 Special Operators reporting for duty!"
Elina followed closely and entered, also giving a military salute shouting, "Your daughter has come to report for duty!"
General Barr waved his hand to interrupt his daughter's juggling behavior and said, "All sit down, there are no outsiders."
Brenda took the lead and drew out a chair to sit next to General Barr and said, "The Free Government of Dosas has decided to join the Free Federation, a decision that I'm sure doesn't surprise anyone.
But we asked the Free Federation about needing assistance with starships, and they agreed to it in one fell swoop, that's quite a surprise."
Edward asked Brenda, "What were their conditions?"
Brenda replied, "Their condition is for us to send troops to Esosu Star to assist the resistance over there to achieve greater results."
General Barr took over and said, "It's for us to take sides immediately, but the temptation they're offering of one starship, five cruisers, and three destroyers is simply too much to resist."
Edward analyzed, "If we just join and don't participate in the war, then surely we won't be able to gain a foothold in the interstellar status, we Dosas are too close to the starfield frontier.
If we join the war ... our own homeworld needs to be rebuilt, the ravages of three years of war, we desperately need to restore our own economy, joining or not joining the war is not a good decision."
"Yeah, that's why we reached an agreement with the Free Federation, we only need to send a hundred of our elites to the Esosu Star frontline to help them train their troops." General Barr lit his cigarette up.
"It's not that simple." Edward said as he rummaged through his body, finding a star map and placing it on the table and opening it.
He pointed to a red line on it and continued, "Look guys, this line is the West Star Bridge, which connects our Pars Starfield to the Empire's hinterland.
If the Free Federation wants to attack the Empire, or if the Empire wants to attack the Free Federation, they must pass through this star bridge, which is surrounded by complex spatial folds that are simply impossible to navigate.
If a detour is made, it would take at least four starfields, and the cost in time and energy consumption is more than the fleet can handle."
General Barr narrowed his eyes and said, "You mean the Federation is going to start attacking?"
Edward shook his head and said, "I don't think so."
He marked the star map a few times and pointed to a red dot, "This is the planetary fortress of Andre, which chokes this end of the star bridge.
The planet Esosu is only 0.4 light hours away, and the Free Federation is going to use Esosu as a jumping off point to attack Planetary Fortress Andrei.
The reason he's sending us a fleet is because he wants us to help the Free Federation hold the frontier of the Pars sector while they make their move."