Shi Lang had just finished discussing things inside the conference room and the Deputy Generals had all provided their input and helped him with the strategies. Shi Lang may be a genius, but he was not yet experienced in leading the feet and that was why he actively sought out help from the Deputies.

He had told them the outline of plans and the older men helped him with the details, if something did not sit right, Shi Lang stepped forward to fill in the gap. The old people were all very enthusiastic about working with this sort of superior officer. Shi Lang always believed that a team should work as one body, and this same ideology was what he carried in the fleet.

After things were done, the maximum part of the fleet was asked to assemble in the training field, they all understood the sudden order was related to war. The troops stood in neat queues and rapt attention.

They were all standing with the superior officer in the front and the lower ranks in the back. Shi Lang was the only person standing on the podium and his eyes were like a sharp sword. He did not intend to give a conventional speech to the people. He needed the troops to have a fire in their heart when they go out on the battlefield. He was going to fight the chaotic Zergs with Order.

He gazed around him, the platform was the same place he had stepped over on his first day. The difference was that on the first day the whole fleet stood in front of him, but now they were willing to follow his lead.

He infused the spiritual energy in his throat and said, “All of you must have figured out that the war is imminent. Some of you must be eager, while some anxious. Do not deny it, having a little fear in your mind is normal, after all, you will be facing death.

But I will tell you, the key to surviving is to win. To win, you must slay the enemy. If your fear overwhelms you, not only will it kill you but also the comrades standing next to you.”

He paused, the soldiers all gazed at the men standing next to them and they realized that their actions do not only determine their lives but also the lives of their friends. This realization will make them decisive, the fundaments of the military instilled inside of them will hold back the hesitation, and step back from their responsibilities.

Shi Lang said, “Remember your training, follow the orders, and trust your superiors. Trust in the man walking beside you. Trust in yourself. Remember what those bastards did to your comrades. You all are the strongest wall standing between the safe livelihoods of our families back at home. Fight with all you have, fight till the last breath.

I get it, all these are just talks, that is why I will personally lead my team with you when we face off those reptiles in the ground battle. I will share the burden on your shoulders, will you share the burden on mine?”

“Yes General!”, echoed the voice throughout the training field. If the sparks were just warm when Shi Lang was giving the pep talk, they have become a fire through the dried woods after they heard Shi Lang leading his own team.

Shi Lang said, “Thank you. My teammates are going to be, Colonel Hayley, Colonel Jenkins, Colonel Amelia, and OB-One. You all will be given a brief of the tactics by your superior officers. Make sure to follow the commands, and you are free to improvise but do keep in touch with your commanders. Now, tell me, do you want to fight?”

His calm voice was like a roar to the soldiers, they all felt their blood flow escalate. They all said, “Yes General?”

Shi Lang nodded and said, “Go on, gear up. It is time to do some pest control. Let us show these walking reptiles that The Terran army is not made of clay. If they dared to look at our home, our people, and our dreams. We can and will pay them back in kind. We can not only defend, but also attack. We can not only hold them back but also trample over their heads must they try to raise it against us.

Hoorah!”

“Hoorah! Hoorah! Hoorah!”, the war cry erupted and drowned the tranquility of the surroundings. It was like a drummer beating the chests of the people. Shi Lang had raised the morale, and now he needed to lead them to victory.

…

Four people and one robot stood inside a locker room. The four people were dressed in white and black armor. Shi Lang was among one the people. He said, “OB-One, your task is to provide backup to anyone in the team who is facing imminent danger. In case, I cannot reach them, you will help. Understood?”

The puppet nodded and said, “Acknowledged Sire.”

Amelia asked, “Why did you choose to get down on the ground. Do you know that without you the chain of command will be hoax?”

Shi Lang chuckled and said, “I sit back in that glass cage and watch you all have fun, too shallow.”

Amelia kicked him in the shin. Hayley shook her head and said, “What about now? Who will be leading the fleet?”

Shi Lang smiled and said, “Until we have dealt with the ground forces, the Zergs cannot initiate the fleet battle, this was one of the conditions, and even if they tried to violate the rules, the fleet is ready, they will not suffer any casualty. Even the ground forces will not suffer any big troubles if they paid attention.”

Jenkins asked in a deep voice, “You love to pretend to be mysterious, right?”

Shi Lang smirked and said, “Let’s go get them, tiger.”

Jenkins felt a twitch on the corner of his mouth. He did not like this black-bellied Shi Lang. He said, “I will follow you only if you play seriously. Do you understand, I do not like you.”

Shi Lang put away his smile instantly, and said, “Very well then, I will not tolerate any mistake. Let’s go. Time to go.”

That said, they put up the helmets, and walked out of the dressing room. They were going to board the carrier ship on the spaceport and then land on a barren planet. Usually, if they were fighting on a barren planet where the atmosphere is non-existent, there will be a limit to what they could do, however, with the help of the puppets, in the past three days, Shi Lang and the technical department have developed arrays on the battle suits.

The people boarded the ship and they took off. A huge force, a total of three hundred thousand Terran troops and two hundred thousand puppets, will be facing the seven hundred thousand or more Zergs. However, at this moment, everyone was calm and silent. It was eery to have so many Terrans in a place yet they were all silent.

The ships were going to drop them on a planet designated for war. This place has been scouted and was just a ball of condensed dust. It had no factors that could give birth to life. The journey was fast, but the calm made it seem long. Shi Lang received a report that the ground was filled with a lot of enemies.

Shi Lang replied, “Do not think too much, these reptiles cannot act until the two envoys give them the signal. Also, someone ask Shashi to not disclose my location, if the enemy got the gist of it, the pressure will increase significantly.”

Shashi was the Terran representative in the parliament. He was a talker and Shi Lang did not want that big mouth of his to leak out anything. The operator passed the message to Deputy Sikar who revoked all communication privileges of Shashi, leaving him sullen.

…

Shi Lang and the troops disembarked from the ships. As soon as Shi Lang took the first step, he said, “Phase one, initiate.”

Then he pressed his pectoral guard plate slightly, inside which a spirit stone was fitted to power the arrays on the suits. These arrays would enable them to breathe with spiritual energy and also power up a gravity array inside the suit that enabled the people to move like they were back on a normal planet.

This was going to give them the edge. The other thing that came out to enhance their edge was a huge frontline of the puppets. The war was about to begin, there was no point in hiding the cards. The Zergs who found this was surprised, they had no knowledge of what the federal military was like. They did expect the hundred thousand huge Mechs but not these humanoid puppets.

Even the envoys who came to oversee the war progressions did not expect such a hand to be played. They both had to accept that the young general of the Federation was not a soft nut.