“Third Brother, let’s leave. I don’t want to be a pawn for some stupid commander!”

“We could pretend we had not received the transmission. Transmission failure is but common in space! That will be our excuse.”

…

Soldiers aside, even ship captains had begun to show their clear disobedience to Jiang Fei’s order.

Jiang Fei had heard enough. To be honest, he had not seen such a dishonorable fleet in the face of a crisis.

“I don’t want to hear any more excuses. I am here and I will have everyone obey my orders. Failure to obey me will be deemed as a violation. If you run, I will sentence you to be court-martialed. Do not test me.”

Soldiers disobeying orders were a common spectacle but ship captains disobeying the fleet command was another story. If things got out of hand, the entire fleet would not work as a unit. The Fifth Hybrid Fleet would then be as good as a headless chicken.

“What a prick! This commander is the worst!

“Why would someone even request to stay behind? Has he gone mad?”

“Confound it! Why must he drag us all with him if he wants to die?”

…

Jiang Fei’s stern warning had only made things worse. These men could not run away now and their hatred for Jiang Fei had only peaked.

“You lot are jumping into conclusion faster than a coward would jump into Hyperspace. I have gotten special permission from General Lockseed. In the event that the enemy forces prove to be too strong, we are allowed to leave the battlefield at any moment. That is, if I order it.”

Jiang Fei gave them hope. It was the kind that was just enough not to cause a riot.

“Tsk. He’s only pulling strings in the military force! Why would he request to stay behind and get such special treatment from the higher-ups? What if he disrupts the Ninth Fleet?”

“That’s not important. The important thing is he got special permission from General Lockseed! That proves something…”

“I don’t care what that proves. At least, we would not die in vain now…”

…

The soldiers were still not happy but at least they were calm enough to know that Jiang Fei was not going to send them all into a war that they were bound to lose. When the soldiers were no longer raging, their captains finally calmed down. That being said, no one was still in line with Jiang Fei’s targets. Not yet.

“Do you think I am an idiot?” Jiang Fei said after a long silence in the communications channel.

No one replied. Partly because no one had expected Jiang Fei to say something so daunting.

“I for one do not think that you guys are stupid enough to assume I would send the lot of you into a war that we could never win. Why would I have gone through all the trouble to request to remain behind and obtain permission from General Lockseed to leave anytime?” Jiang Fei’s words were direct. While many captains were startled, only a handful of smarter ones had managed to understand what Jiang Fei was getting at.

“Based on the intelligence I’ve gathered, the anomaly appearing in Alpha Sector is the appearance of enemies. Pay attention to what I am about to say here. These enemies are weak! They are as good as meteor fragments! What I did… what I did for the lot of you… is seize the opportunity to rake up achievements! Pick your enemies. This weak bunch of fools, or the main force later on?” Jiang Fei declared. It was instant. Everyone’s initial impression of him changed immediately.

“Why would those that could pull strings be stupid enough to die so soon? He’s right! He had already planned for this!”

“Brilliant! He knows the enemy and that is why he chooses to stay behind!

“If the enemy is indeed weak, this would be a great opportunity for us!”

“We’ll farm achievements, get ourselves a high enough rank, and when the main enemy forces arrive, we will no longer be soldiers. We will be commanders! We can let others do the dirty work!”

“What a cheat! This is truly cheating!”

“Cheat or not, he is helping us all! After this battle is over, we will all be promoted! In later wars, we could be generals! Even if we have to fight the enemies ourselves, we wouldn’t be facing them head-on!”

…

So were the thoughts of mercenaries of the Trade Federation. They chose the Trade Federation as their clients as they paid extremely well. That was their motivation. Extremely strict military rules were imposed. However, rules aside, these soldiers had not pledged their fealty to the Trade Federation but to money itself. There was no honor, no dying loyalty to the Trade Federation.

Unlike the Valsalrian Army, the Trade Federation rewarded its combatants with materialistic gains. The more you killed, the more achievements you raked, the better the reward would be. That being said, military laws were so strict that a menial rule breaker would find himself ending his employment with the Trade Federation. Other heavier actions, such as deserting the battlefield, committing friendly-fire, or disobeying a superior’s command, would have you pay with your life. The punishment would not stop there as it would be extended to the next of kin. All of your family’s assets would be confiscated and any living family member alive would be taken in as subjects as labor.

In exchange, if one were to perish honorably in war, the Trade Federation would compensate your next of kin handsomely. As long as a soldier never broke a single rule, one can only expect fair treatment from the military force. Hence, there had been a good track record of military men in the Trade Federation for not breaking any military rules. Not only would they be punished harshly if they did, they would also be dragging their family members down in facing the punishment.

What Jiang Fei had just declared could be considered as the best motivational speech for the Fifth Fleet. The enemies were weak and the rewards would be handsome. Not to mention the special permission to retreat at any given moment tentatively secured one’s survival. There was practically zero risk!

Now that everyone was greatly motivated, all the captains and soldiers of the Fifth Hybrid Fleet were ready to follow Jiang Fei’s next orders with a happy heart. This was the first time Jiang Fei had truly commanded them into war and he had already shown them great benefits.

“We hear and obey! Commander Jiang Fei! What are your orders?”

“Commander Jiang Fei, we await your command!”

“Ready and waiting, Commander Jiang Fei!”

…

Everyone’s tone and attitude changed to that of willing compliance. Those that had suggested ignoring his order were now figuratively wagging their tails at him.

“Good. Get into formation and get ready for Hyperspace jump to the Alpha Sector,” Jiang Fei ordered.

His intention now was to introduce mild challenges to new players. He did not want to lay down the hammer of the gods so soon, to kill new players in a single strike, or he would have called in Bison and the other infantry units. His first wave would be to suppress the area of activity for the new players, to place a boundary where players could roam around. In a way, he wanted to prevent players from making contact with forces outside of the Alpha Sector, to prevent them from “establishing an alliance” with them.

To give them a certain excitement in the game, Jiang Fei will now introduce weaker foes for new players to defeat in order to let them feel powerful or they would not want to continue playing this game.

“Do we have any drones?” Jiang Fei asked the captains of the ships.

“Vice-Commander speaking. The Fifth Hybrid Fleet is generally an infantry carrier. To protect the troops, we are equipped with more powerful drone fleets. As such, we have thirty-two Lightweight Stallion-Class Dronecarriers,” said the Vice-Commander of the Fifth Hybrid Fleet.

“Good. Start having the carriers start producing as many drones as you can. We will be expending them very quickly in a while,” Jiang Fei said. This was the first “wave” Jiang Fei will send to intercept the players. It was considered as a “reward” feast for them and in return, Jiang Fei planned to have them pay back in full!