Chapter 25 Strategic Vision

Edward said, 'Actually that wasn't my plan at first, at first I was planning to try to trick my way into Andre's Star Fortress by using the same looks as Alphonse, plus the Imperial communication key that was seized from the Tyndall. But that wouldn't allow me to carry too many people even if I managed to get into the star fort, and the success rate would be very low." 'You didn't come up with Project Meteor while you were chatting with us, did you?" Elina asked. He scratched his head and said, 'Kinda, it came to me when you guys were talking about that what's-her-name ball that might have been thrown out of the galaxy." 'Earth, such a weird name for you to forget." Elina chuckled. 'Say, why is it called Earth, doesn't every solid planet have something like a ground?" The big battle was over and Edward's mood relaxed as he began to make small talk. Winchell spoke lightly, 'In that legend on our planet, our ancestors used to think that the earth was flat and the sky was semi-circular, like a hood over the earth when they first established their civilization. People lived on the earth, and the earth empowered them through their contact with the ground. At first, people called what was under their feet the earth and what was above their heads the sky. Then someone realized that the earth was round, and then someone realized that it was a ball, so they called it Earth." 'What a sloppy way to name it." Elina said with a smile. The time passed quickly as they chatted along the way, and the cruiser arrived at the signaling area, quickly spotting the Tilapia not far away, still tumbling and gliding off into the distance. At this time the Tilapia except for those holes in the body of the occasional electric sparks, even the bridge is no longer glowing, to see this scene Edward's heart into his throat. Tilapia ship is in a very bad state, after being hit by a piece of astral material about the same size as the ship's body, the already damaged functions are even worse. The damaged backup energy system was unable to withstand the load of the ecosystem, and the crew was basically waiting to die after ineffective repairs. 'Ugh, I can't believe that after three years of officer's school, I'm going to be killed in space not long after I'm officially in service." Jan said with a chagrined expression, his voice reaching Alphonse's helmet floating next to him through the communicator. Alphonse twisted his body and adjusted his position to avoid the debris that floated over and hit him, saying, 'Don't think about those useless things, save some oxygen." 'Senior, you graduated two years before me, and you've had some battle success in the past two years, why do you think we keep losing." Jan asked, his voice trembling and his spirit on the verge of collapse. 'Rigidity of thought is the main reason we lost this battle, the Fleet Commander-in-Chief didn't have many problems commanding in a normal battle, instead, the commanders of Andre's Star Fortress, which we thought was solid as gold, were too unimaginative." Alphonse said. 'Alas, yes, shooting a planet out as a cannonball which who would have thought." Jan said and sighed as he looked down at his multi-functional uniform that was starting a low battery alarm. Alphonse didn't bother with the whining words and closed his eyes quietly waiting for death to come. Not long after he felt a light shimmer beside him, he opened his eyes and looked that way, he saw Jan was removing the batteries from the body of a fellow soldier that had floated in, he laughed, 'What's the difference between dying five minutes early and dying five minutes late." Jan threw the dead battery in frustration, and the reaction force pushed him to start spinning in circles. He said, 'I'm not like you senior, you're an aristocrat, I'm not, and there are still two sisters at home to support, what will they do if I die? I can't afford to die." 'What about your parents?" Alphonse asked. Jan said lightly, 'Died in the rebellion in the Chepal star area, since then it's been me taking care of my two sisters, if not for the scholarships to attend the cadet school, who would want to go." The two were having a conversation when he suddenly felt his body slant and looked around to realize that it wasn't himself but the ruined cruiser that was shaking, and since they were in weightlessness, they couldn't feel the ship vibrate. 'What the hell, did we hit something?" Jan asked in alarm. 'It's possible it's some kind of debris that floated over." Alphonse said, trying to roll over and look towards the huge porthole in the bridge, failing in a couple of efforts. At that moment a burst of electrical sparks flashed off from above their heads and they both stared at the spot, only to see the sparks draw a circle, followed by a thumping and knocking sound, and in a matter of moments the rounded top panel flipped on its heel and drifted towards the bottom. The two men looked at each other at a loss for words, and Jan said suddenly, 'The Federation?" 'No way, the ship is so ruined it can't be repaired even if it's towed back, what are they doing with it?" Alphonse said. Jan continued, 'Star scavengers then." Alphonse recalled the often heard legend that there was a group of people who specialized in cruising around the battlefield, looking for some usable starship wreckage, and some survivors who fell into their hands could even be rescued, provided that the survivors would have to pay the so-called salvage fee. Alphonse felt his head spinning and said, 'Uh, that's not good, they won't let you go until they've stripped you clean." Then three men fishtailed in at the entrance to the cave, and Alphonse looked at the Federation uniforms on the men and brought his heart back into his throat. He saw the three men checking the bridge one by one, and soon reached him, and only when the visitors drifted closer did he see each other's faces and shouted out, 'Elina?!" Jan was filled with questions by this shout over the comm and asked, 'Elina? Who is it?" Alphonse spoke incoherently with the joy of the aftermath and the paralysis of oxygen deprivation, 'Elina, the one who drugged you at the time! Oh you don't know, you were passed out." He watched as Elina turned her head towards someone and waved, her lips opening and closing up and down as if she was shouting something, but the comms were not connected to the other person he couldn't hear them at all, and not long after a man drifted over, it was actually his brother Edward. Alphonse excitedly tried to reach out his hand in greeting, the weakness brought on by the lack of oxygen prevented him from making such a basic gesture. He watched as his brother brought his face up and pressed his mask against his own, and he heard his brother's faint call come through the vibrations of his mask. He grinned and grinned, followed by a blackout where he couldn't see anything. When he woke up again, he found himself lying in bed. Edward was sitting in a chair beside him, a book over his face as he huffed and puffed. He looked at his hands and realized that his right hand was wrapped in a bandage and hanging off his chest, he sat up with his left hand holding onto the railing, the slight sound woke Edward who was sleeping and the book fell to the floor with a scratch. 'Hey, just call me when you wake up." Edward helped his brother sit up and adjusted the pillow signaling him to lean back. 'Ugh, I thought I was dead, how did you find me brother?" Alphonse asked. Edward scratched his head awkwardly and said, 'We were on our way to Andre's Starfort for support when you slipped past us. I was in command of the bridge just in time to see you and tagged you guys, I forgot about it after the battle was over, sorry hahaha." Alphonse asked in surprise, 'You were in command on the Gunslinger? You were in command of the entire battle?" Edward waved his hand and said, 'No, no, no, I was just in charge of that part of Project Meteor, the part that raided your Andre Star Fortress." 'That's amazing, the plan was out of this world, completely out of this world." Alphonse said. Edward was unimpressed and said, 'Awesome for what, it wasn't even a dead giveaway that you could see it at a glance." Alphonse shook his head and said, 'It's useless to see it, there's no way to stop it, I've been worried for a long time that you'd use the Menil Star to attack, but I thought you'd have the fleet cooperate with it's attack, and I've typed up my report, no one's adopted it." 'That wasn't my original plan either, it was changed later." Edward thought for a moment and swallowed back his next words, he didn't want to talk about the details of that original plan, firstly because he was afraid of being disliked by his brother, and secondly because he thought that it might still be useful in the future. 'You've taken full control of the Star Fortress haven't you?" Alphonse asked. Edward thought for a moment and said, 'Yes, one of your captains provided all the encrypted communication keys, and our technicians cracked all the controls through those." 'Who?" Edward scratched his head, 'The captain of the Maso, an old man, what's his name I forget." Alphonse cocked his drowsy head and said, 'The Maso, that would be Admiral Wolrich wouldn't it, what a cunning old man, mouthing off about how the imperial officials are rotten up and down, he himself sold the empire out completely." Edward knew that it was inconvenient to answer from opposing camps, so he could only grin and giggle. Alphonse lowered his head and asked in a low voice, 'How much of the Empire's Grand Fleet is left?"