Chapter 13

"There is going to be a camp wide address from the major about the battle in two hours. All the cadets should also be present there." Lieutenant Olfer, the senior instructor who was leading the cadets back from the war simulation exercise announced as soon as they gathered in the usual training hall.

"Yes sir!" The cadets who were standing in proper files despite the tired appearance and the torn and tattered clothes replied in unison. Regis and the other three cadets that stood with him were in rather good shape considering that they had completed all their missions in the first day itself and the second day was spent camping, but there were some who were in even better conditions, one of them being Carles Capellat, who stood almost unharmed.

Two hours later….

Camp Cerberus looked exceptionally lively as all the cadets, soldiers and officers gathered in the training hall. The military rules did not allow them to completely change the training hall into a venue for celebration, but it had still been customized to look more like a modest celebration hall.

"I really thought that it was my last battle when I saw the two Ruler class Asceptus coming out of their ships, but who would have thought that it took the Major only a few minutes to end both of them...dude just around five minutes."

"You should have seen how frightened those two elbowed sons of b*tches were when they saw the warships pulling out the guns. The one before me looked as if it had seen a ghost."

"I heard that all the ones above war-Chief level had survived the barrage from the canons with only minor injuries, but the Captains and the Lieutenants took care of them. Serves them right. Arrogant f*ckers."

....

.....

Regis heard all sorts of voices as the soldiers expressed the majestic sights as well the experiences that they had on the battlefield today.

"Silence!" One of the Captains moved on the hovering platform that had been raised from the ground just a few seconds ago. The entire hall immediately became noiseless. All the soldiers looked towards the platform with reverence.

Arbrit Klesen walked out of the door that connected his room to nearly all the public spaces of the camp and walked towards the elevated platform. He put his step in the air as there were no stairs to climb on, but his foot still stabilized in the air and he proceeded to raise his other foot, walking atop the invisible stairs.

'Silence!' On of the captain said, his voice reaching everyone without any external help. It wasn't that the voice was too loud, just the engineering. The training hall was designed such that anyone who was on this platform could just whisper some words and it would still be heard miles away as long as the speaker so wished it.

Klesen took his position at the centre of the platform and looked at the soldiers and cadets, most of whom were looking at him with awe and reverence. He wasn't someone who liked this type of events, but as the head of this camp, it was expected of him to ensure that the morale was high. A speech after an easy victory was also his obligation as the one who led the soldiers to the battlefield.

"Today, Camp Cerberus went to a war for the first time since its establishment, and I am glad to be standing before you and telling all our patriotic soldiers that we were not just victorious. We achieved a milestone that no one else has, ever since this war began eighteen years ago. We have wiped out every Asceptus from the face of this planet and doing so with the least losses in any battle ever."

"Yeahhh!" All the soldiers were exceptionally cheerful when Klesen said this. The cruel truth of this war was that Asceptus were much more technically advanced a race when compared to humans and added with their strong bodies and warring genes, the battle had always been an uphill one for the humans. Even in victory, it was the human side that faced more severe losses, that was until today…

"Although this is a victory, Camp Cerberus still has many more battles lying ahead of us, and those will be more fatal and against stronger enemies. But I ensure you that we will give our all. The dedication, valour and patriotism we showed today will repeat every time that we face the enemy, and I am sure that every time, it will be us who emerge victorious."

"Although we are based in an isolated planet inside the dusk zone, we never were, never are and never will be alone in this fight. The First General and the entire HQ will always stand with us and support us, not to mention, our families and friends and the entire human race as a whole."

"My soldiers! Celebrate the victory because you earned it today, but I still expect you to give your all tomorrow, the day after and the day after that and as long as humanity needs it."

"Yes sir!" Most of the soldiers were moved to tears as they cried out reverently while saluting their leaders on the stage in a perfect synchronization. Klesen walked down the stage and left the training hall as soon as his speech was over.

Klesen walked into his office and closed the door after himself. He walked towards the holoPC placed on his desk and took a deep breath. This time, he would be speaking in front of people who only spoke and understood the cold hard facts and had little regards for the lives lost or saved in this war.

He switched his holoPC on and pressed his hand on the screen. Immediately, the screen divided into five different screens that spread evenly around him.

"First General." Klesen got up from his seat and gave a military salute to one of the screens. The man whose face was projected on the screen nodded in acknowledgement. Klesen greeted the people in the other four screens with a simple nod.

"Major Arbrit Klesen. We have received the reports of the battle that took place on Cerberus, but we would like you to give us the most accurate report so that we can judge if the massive investments made in Camp Cerberus were worth it." One of the people from the remaining four screens spoke up.

"Minister Renmes, I have already submitted the detailed report to the HQ. The ones at your desks should be the same ones. I have nothing to add to those reports." Klesen said while maintaining a plain face.

Minister Renmes was not satisfied with the answer. Their empire was the biggest investor for the Cerberus project, so he wanted to exert their claim over this new human fortress, but Klesen's words refused to acknowledge it.

"The report also mentions that planetary level weapons were used during this battle. Are you blatantly ignoring the rules set by the Assembly of universal civilizations?" Minister Renmes asked.

"As an investor, I believe that you have received all the reports whenever any sort of test was held on Camp Cerberus. The only reason that we used planetary level weapons was because we were confident that we will be able to hide all traces of it. Camp Cerberus can detect and block all forms of tracking and monitoring activities. And we made sure to block all those before starting this operation." Klesen replied.

The minister was still distraught about the answer, but did not ask any further.

"How much damage has the planet taken? And what do you expect would be the repair prices for it, especially considering that you are in the dusk zone?" A senator from the oligarchy asked.

"The camp is able to recover most of the damages over time, but the maintenance checks need to be run to get the accurate statistics." Klesen faced the second screen and replied.

"Now that the battle is finished, we will run the checks starting tomorrow and the drafts will be sent to the headquarters."

The meeting went for some while and the politicians from the four galactic empires continued with their questions and proposals. At the end, the First general signalled the end of the meeting and the four delegates had to leave the meeting with partly dejected faces.

"You have done a good job. By the way, are your hands alright? I observed that you haven't moved your hands since the beginning of the meeting."

"It's nothing sir. Just that storing the power of a planetary level attack in my body turned out to be more difficult than I gave it credit for. I had to release a large amount of the energy through my hands. These injuries are the result of so much energy passing through my hands. It should get healed in a few days." Klesen replied.

"Alright. How is the status of your mystical element?"

"I am not there yet, but it shouldn't take me more than half a year." Klesen replied.

"Contact Oliver whenever you feel like you are ready for the advancement." The first general cut off the video on his end once he finished what he had to say.