The ship landed atop a large cliff overlooking the base. Despite their best efforts, discreetly taken as to not raise suspicion from the base, they had landed near a wandering patrol of Shenia.

Not only did the Shenia outnumber them, they also held an equipment advantage.

They wore the light armour granted to the scouts of the Shenia, armour a fair bit lighter than that worn by those in the attack on Sierra. Their weapons were also different, with the scouts wielding the long-ranged 'Ranger' rifles, weapons ideal for areas like a barren, desolate rock.

Inside the shuttle, a panic erupted among the group upon seeing the scouts.

"There's no way we'll get out of this!"

"How can we fight them?"

"Gus, you got something?" an Irish voice asked.

"Uhm, possibly?" Gus responded, in a tone also questioning himself.

"What does the Leadership stat actually do?"

*The effects of your 'Leadership' stats depend on which 'Legendary Leader' you have active.*

*Your 'Leadership' stat determines your ability to lead. Declare followers, and allow them to gain stats depending on the level of your 'Leadership' stat.*

'That actually makes a lot of sense.'

"Wait. Legendary leader? What's that?"

*The 'Legendary Leader' is {Redacted}*

"Redacted?"

"I knew they got your mind. What you mumbling about?" Connor asked him.

"I'll explain once we're safe. For now, just trust me. I led you all to the ships, didn't I?"

"How many followers can I declare?"

*The maximum number of followers a base leader can have is five.*

'So, five followers. Which means,' he thought as he looked around the ship, 'that one will be left out.'

"Connor, can you trust me?" Gus asked him.

"I believe I can," came the response.

"Okay. I declare you a follower."

*A follower has been added*

"A what?" Connor asked in surprise.

"Like I said, I'll explain later."

One follower declared, four more needed.

Recognising the need for a medic, Gus next declared Frank a follower. Third, he declared Klaus. Fourth, he declared Matty. The final follower he declared was Sofia, a woman from the Franks region of Europea who was specially trained in long ranged rifle usage.

*Follower limit reached*

*Reach 'Leadership' level 5 to increase maximum follower population.*

'Not to worry, I'll add Krista soon enough, too.'

With the choice made, Gus summoned his stats page.

*Strength [1]*

*Speed [1]*

*Stamina [1]*

*Leadership [2]*

*Defence & Durability [1]*

*Ranged [1]*

*Proficiency [1]*

*Followers [5]*

*UNLOCKED SKILLS*

*The Greatest Commander [1]*

He found there was a new option waiting for him. Upon opening it, he found stats of his newly declared followers along with a note from the system.

*Followers: People declared by the Leader to be under the Leader's command.*

*Note: Stats of the followers are a fraction of the stats of the Leader*

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

'Does that mean I'm ten times stronger than them?'

Their stats were categorised identically to his, with one difference. His followers had no 'Leadership' category.

'I guess that makes sense.'

"Okay!" Gus began. "Firstly, do we have any weapons on board?"

"Just these two standards," Matty responded.

"That's more than enough," Gus said with a smile.

Standards were what humans referred to the Shenia's main ranged weapon as. They had a standard range, so it was a fitting name.

"Frank, hang back in case something happens. Klaus, keep to the Pilot's bay. You should be able to help us from there. Matty, get the door. Connor, Krista, take the Standards. Sofia, wait for me to get you a Ranger."

With the plan decided, the hastily made team waited with perturbation, as the patrol team of Shenia approached across the barren area at a steady pace.

Upon reaching the vessel, the Shenia stood to attention outside the ship, as their leader, marked with grey symbols along their orange skin, approached the vessel. Forming a fist, it hammered on the retractable door of the ship.

"Everyone ready?" Gus quietly asked, looking around the room at his fellow soldiers.

'No, they're my followers now,' he thought to himself.

"Now! Matty, drop the door!"

The door collapsed in an instant, revealing the humans to the Shenia. Without giving them a chance to react, Gus grabbed the Shenia leader and yanked it inside, before striking it with the melee end of the Brute hybrid. As the door immediately sprang back up, the startled Shenia outside began firing on the ship with their kinetic weapons.

*Enemy killed: Shenia Alpus.*

*Reward: 3 Legendary points.*

Thanks to the overwhelming strength advantage humans held over the Shenia, the message quickly popped into Gus's head.

As soon as he acknowledged that the creature was dead, he tossed its Ranger to Sofia.

"Hey, this one's modified!" she called out with glee as she caught the rifle.

"How would you know that?" Frank asked her.

"Hey, sometimes you've gotta do what you have to on the battlefield," she responded with a shrug.

"So, what's the mod?" Matty asked enthusiastically.

'As an engineer, of course he'd be interested in that,' Gus thought to himself.

"Matty, get the door," Gus ordered.

"You can look at the god-damn thing later," Connor added.

"Right. Sorry."

"Three close. Six far." Klaus's voice rang nervously through the ship. He had remained in the Pilot's bay, due to Gus's order, so that he could utilise the mirrors and cameras around the ship to provide insight into the battle for his allies in the ship.

Thanks to this information, the group repositioned themselves to better prepare for the next exchange of fire.

Gus flipped the weapon he held, allowing it to be used in the short-ranged shotgun form.

'This isn't really a safe thing to use to hit things with, is it?' he thought, acknowledging the fact that the ammunition was stored at the head of the blunt weapon.

'Oh well. The Bru'uka are fine with it.'

"Door going down... now!" Matty said, before punching the button that controlled the door.

Gus instantly grabbed the nearest Shenia and pulled it close, ramming the barrel of the Brute into its stomach. He pulled the trigger, exploding the body of the alien and sending its innards flying out, to splatter all over the doorway of the ship. Gus released the body, and let it drop to the floor, taking care to seize the Ranger it carried. Without looking back, he called out to Matty and tossed the weapon back to him.

*Enemy killed: Shenia Soldier.*

*Reward: 1 Legendary point*

The other two Shenia that were holding close to the door also fell, thanks to precise shots from Connor and Krista.

In the distance, three Shenia dropped instantly from a trio of rapid shots from Sofia.

"That thing should not shoot that fast," muttered Frank.

"I know," Sofia said gleefully with a huge smile on her face. "I think I'm in love."

The darkness of the asteroid flashed to life, with the three remaining opening fire in return.

The remaining three dropped quickly shortly after, with Connor and Krista both claiming another and Matty claiming one.

As the sound of gunfire faded from the battle, a new message popped into Gus's head.

*Follower report:*

*Follower kills: [8]*

*Follower deaths: [0]*

*Rewards: None.*

"No rewards for them?"

*Note: Stats of the followers are a fraction of the stats of the Leader.*

*Rewards are granted for every [10] kills achieved by followers in a battle.*

"So it doesn't stack? Shame."

"No more Shenia. Good job, everyone." Klaus's voice rang out from the doorway to the pilot's bay.

"What now?" Krista asked, with an accent hailing from one of the Eastern Europea regions.

"We need to figure out where we are," Connor said.

"I think it's the Emerid system," Matty replied. "Which makes no sense, because there shouldn't be any Bloody Dawn here."

"The Emerid system?" Klaus asked with a look of horror on his face. "The mining system? That Emerid system?"

"That would be the one I'm talking about" Matty responded.

"They can't be here. They can't."

"Klaus, are you okay? Do you have family here or something?" Frank asked in a concerned tone.

Klaus shook his head. "It's the Emerid system," he emphasised. "Since we lost the Verish fields to the Bloody Dawn, it's our main place to get materials from. We lose this, and we might as well lose the war."

"Well, I guess that's your answer, Krista," Gus said. "We're going to go to the base and stop them."

"What? Have you seen that thing? And you want us to attack it?" Connor asked loudly.

"Yes. It's like Klaus said, this place is too valuable to us. We signed up to be soldiers, knowing we would probably die, but still willing to do any duty asked of us."

"He's right. You know he is." Sofia spoke in support of Gus. "We were as good as dead back in that cell, but we survived. We can survive this too, so don't be afraid to do your job."

"Okay, okay. I trust you. But how are we going to get down there?" Connor asked.

The base was located in a large valley, hidden out of sight by multiple grey peaks of the asteroid. In fact, it was so well concealed that the only thing that would give away it's presence was the large tower that stood in the centre. At the top of the tower lay the hangar, found just above the height of the surrounding cliffs so that ships could enter and leave with ease.

Originating from the very top of the large tower, from an antenna attached to the roof, an artificial field of air could be seen covering the base and the surrounding cliffs. The field did two things, provide a breathable, habitable space for carbon-based life, and provide artificial gravity over all of the land that fell under its domain.

"Matty, can you figure something out?" Gus asked him, turning the attention of the other's towards the engineer.

"Perhaps. I should be able to figure out something. But I'm gonna need a little while to scavenge things from this ship and to take a look outside. Is that alright?"

"That's fine," Gus assured him, "but be careful. They have to know we're here by now. While we wait, let me tell you a little about myself, and why some of you have heard me muttering like a madman," he told the others.