POV Chief Commander Reymon

I rejoiced as I noticed the loss of order in the enemy ranks. We can finally push them back and even win this battle if they stay disorganized for some more time. Three times I have been mere centimeters away from dying in this battle. It was my most challenging task by far, but we will succeed as it seems now.

"Left flank, go for a full engage, the right flank will cover your back, and we will make sure that no one breaks through!"

I ordered through the SDC (Short-Distance-Communicator).

First, the around thirty ships left of the second air unit, responsible for the left flank, accelerated and flew in a closed formation into the enemy lines, boring a hole through their already loose positional grid.

Ten enemy pilots instantly died, standing no chance against the joint attack. The left flank lost two ships when they were behind the enemy lines. Next on were unit three, the right flank. They did not kill as many, only three, though that was not their task anyway. They efficiently protected unit two from pursuers by killing those.

Our unexpected offensive attack left the already distressed enemies wholly crippled. As they were not even able to formulate a counter-attack, my unit was left redundant.

Seeing their crippled state, I decided it was best to go for an all-out attack, to kill them off entirely before they manage to regain their footing and make for an escape.

"Every unit, full onslaught."

I transmitted to everyone.

You could see pilots dying left and right, ships exploding where ever you looked.

I was chasing a pilot trying to escape, sadly for him, my second salve hit the back of his ship, instantly killing the inmate.

I flew back to the battlefield to see our overwhelming victory. I alone at least killed ten enemy ships. Through our onslaught, we suffered minimal casualties. The enemy got utterly wiped out. Not one was able to escape. Those who tried got mercilessly chased down.

"Fantastic job, everyone, back to the base. We have done our mission. I am sure we will all be rewarded handsomely for this amazing execution!"

What a fantastic day!

POV Chief General Rostov, Galactic Federation, in his flagship in the space in front of Orio.

I exhaled a deep breath I didn't even know I was holding.

All the tension my body was feeling released, which ended in me getting ecstatic. The most challenging part of this mission was a success. The rest just needs to be executed finely, and the Galactic Federation will have another planet under its protection.

Suddenly my phone rang.

(Yes, here exist phones. If you wonder why they are not used and instead SDC's are used, it's because those SDC's are on a frequency where the enemy can't eavesdrop on it[short distance after all]. That would be fatal—the same with holo communication. That's why phones are used only for private and non-military purposes.)

It was my friend Rick Peperstein. He is not serving in the army.

"Hello, Rick."

I accepted the call.

"Moin(Rick's dialect for hello), Michael."

I smiled; Rick's unique vocabulary, combined with his non-caring persona, always conjure a smile on my face.

"What are you calling me for? You know I'm in the middle of a mission, right?"

I asked.

"If you were in such a tense situation, you wouldn't have picked up your phone."

He answered with a knowing laugh.

"Indeed. You don't call for no reason, anyway."

"Correct, you know me too well. You see, I have just spotted this huge investment possibility. It's a recently discovered crystal mine on the planet Adria, and since you reside there, I figured you would be interested?"

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"Sure, but I will first have to see it with my own eyes. Not gonna spend my hard-earned money on some new crystal mine."

"Don't worry, buddy, it's a legit investment. In fact, my company is closely working together with them. I will send you some details regarding this opportunity."

"Let me guess; you are the main shareholder of this new mine?"

"That's true."

He said in a slightly awkward voice, like a child when it has been found out doing something wrong.

"Together, we could build the biggest crystal mine in all of Adria!"

He dreamed.

"You sure are a dreamer, as always. Anyways, once I have a break from all this warfare, we can meet up and discuss it in detail."

"That's just what I wanted. You surely won't be disappointed."

He promised.

"So see ya!"

He ended the call.

"Bye"

I noted in my calendar to meet up with Rick at some point before focusing back on what was on hand.

POV Chief Commander Reymon

"Awesome job. I'm sure there will be a huge bonus for your whole corps, as well as a lot of promotions, you included. It's a pleasure fighting with someone as cable as you, Chief Commander Reymon."

The Chief General complimented me.

I had to try hard not to grin from ear to ear.

"Thank you so much, sir."

I replayed with a modest smile.

"One last thing, please inform Chief Commander Bonanza that he should proceed with phase two, now that we managed to secure our base and even gained air superiority. It should make the ground mission a walk in the park."

"Will do, sir."

"You are released now."

"Thank you, sir."

I answered as the holo communication stopped.

Two minutes later, I found Chief Commander Kazuke talking with a young female engineer with long brown hair, below average height, and an alluring figure. They seemed to be engaged in not work-related chat, but I couldn't care less in my ecstatic mood.

Nico's(Chief Commander Bonanza) back was turned to me, so I went over to them and greeted my friend by giving him a firm hug around his neck.

At first, he visibly tensed up because of the unexpected pull around his neck, but when he spotted me to his left, he relaxed.

"Hey, buddy."

"Good to see you sound and well."

You never know If you will be able to see your brothers in arms again.

"Yes, my corps struck it big this time."

I told him with pride in my voice.

"Indeed, congratulations are in order. Have you already talked with the General?"

"Yes, that's also one of the reasons I have been searching for you. The General sends me to rely upon you a message. He says: Since we unexpectedly managed to conquer total air authority, we should proceed with step two, the conquest of the capital, as fast as possible before they recover from the shock and their reinforcements, which they surely requested, arrive."

"I already expected as much. I ordered my troops to prepare themselves. We are ready to march in fifteen minutes If needed. What about you, guys?"

"That's good to hear. My pilots just came down ten minutes ago. We need to assess the damage and reorganize. We will at least take another fifteen minutes. Theoretically, you could already start moving with your ground vehicles since we will be able to catch up to you before you encounter any notable resistance."

I concluded.

"That seems reasonable; it's settled then. We will move out in fifteen minutes. Good luck."

"Good luck."

This time we shook hands, and I went on my way to make my units siege ready and organize the transport of our whole army and equipment since we managed to proceed way faster with our plan than expected.