POV Chief Commander Reymon, leader air corps, GF, Orio

"Everyone, the rest is over. We got new orders. The land corps will move out in fifteen minutes to siege the capital, and we are to assist them. I promised we would catch up to them in another fifteen minutes. Therefore I urge you to check your ships on functionality and send your respective Commander a report as fast as possible. After that, install anti-infantry weaponry and make yourself once again familiar with our siege tactics. This mission will be as easy as it can get in the military. Still, don't get careless. You saw what can happen when you get too cocky."

I transmitted through my SDC.

Five minutes later, I reached my ship. It got some black burn marks on its sides, originating from grazing shots, but it was still fully functional since nothing important lies beneath the sides, being built precisely this way solely because of this reason.

Its yellow collar mixed with some silver had seen better days, but it was fully functional for combat nevertheless.

I quickly went to our weaponry arsenal, searching for a Gatling gun-like weapon solely developed for anti-infantry purposes. This gun, or better described as a tower, will be attached to the bottom of the ship's front. It lacks significant damage output compared to the regular plasma cannons used in air-to-air combat. In return, it allows for several new options. The primary being that you can keep firing for some minutes straight up before the weapon needs to cool down, in contrast to the plasma cannons, which need to cool down after a salve consisting of six shoots.

As the firepower is just enough to kill infantry, it is possible to use it in populated areas. You don't have to fear destroying the whole area, as buildings will only get damaged superficially, while the infantry gets shredded easily. Also, civilian victims are reduced to a minimum.

Fifteen minutes later, I had installed the gun, as well as checked for disabilities. There were none.

I boarded the ship and prepared myself for another round of warfare, even if this should be an easy one.

"Reporting: First unit is fully ready to depart. Are you ready as well, unit two?"

"Yes, sir, we are." Commander Hylon answered.

"How about you, unit three?"

"Also ready, sir." Commander Merino responded.

"Chief Commander Bonanza, is everything packed and stored?"

"Yes, they are. One transport ship is currently still being boarded by our last squad. They will be finished in a minute. We can already start moving out." The

"Great, we will head out then. As you all know, this should be a one-sided slaughter feast, but don't get cocky—no need to risk your life in such a safe position."

In the vicinity, you could head hundreds of ships starting their engines; loud buzzing accompanied them as they went into the air in an orderly fashion. The small and agile hunter ships protectively fly around the bulkier, way bigger transport ships cable to transport 250 soldiers. Several transporters were also used to carry the equipment and the supplies.

Whenever this gigantic fleet passed over inhabited terrain like villages and cities, the people knew that something big would happen and things will fundamentally change for them.

After ten minutes of flying, we caught up to our ground corps. They are considerably smaller than our massive air fleet.

"Chief Commander Bonanza, as you have probably noticed, we are right above you. I already send out some scouts to figure out where it would be the safest to discharge troops. Once we have a clear picture of the enemy forces, we can coordinate our siege. Have you already talked with the Chief General?"

"That's great to hear. No, till now, I have not spoken with the Chief General. I will reach out to him now."

My friend answered.

POV Chief Commander Bonanza, Orio, GF

I am currently driving in a grey medium-sized war vehicle towards the capital of the planet Orio, Scaria. Its length of approximately six meters and two in width make it a force to be reckoned with. In the Galactic Federation, we call this type of vehicle Valiencia, named after the Ingenieur who invented and designed it. Its size and low armor lead to a low weight, which allows for considerably quick movement. It's excellent against infantry and operations under challenging environments, as is on this planet the case. The landscape of Orio often changes from one extreme to another. To all exempt ice, the climate on Orio always stays more or less spring-like. With me are three soldiers.

I press several times on the device in my Valiencia, starting a holo communication with Chief General Rostov.

Thirty seconds later, I could see a miniature version of the Chief General being transmitted out of the device.

"Greetings, Chief Commander Bonanza."

"Greetings, sir. Our whole army is currently on the move towards Scaria. Chief Commander Reymon and I wondered whether the plans had changed now that we have absolute air superiority."

"That indeed is the case. Since our air superiority will only be temporary, we discussed and adjusted the plans accordingly. We received a report that the enemy reinforcements will arrive in two days. As such, we should optimally be in complete control of this planet at the end of this day. We then have a day to organize our defense as well as the supply lines. Do you think this is possible, Chief Commander?"

"That seems like a challenging task, but I'm confident we will somehow manage. If we can't, I will inform you in time."

"That's good to hear, though I would advise you to achieve it since we just lost several battles on the east side, so our reinforcements are on the shorter end at the moment. I got informed that you would have to hold out for five days at Orio without reinforcements. I'm also not happy about this situation, but we can't do anything against it. The upper echelon has decided."

I exhaled as the gravity of the situation dawned on me. Sieging Scaria is easy. But doing it in one day and even fully secure it is another matter. We will be forced into riskier operations, which will most likely lead to more casualties.

"On another matter, you can tell your soldiers that everyone will be rewarded an extra 500 ducats. Those who performed will be rewarded even more extraordinarily."

The general added after my silence.

"That's great to hear."

At least some good news to report.

Five hundred ducats are indeed good news. An ordinary soldier's salary is 150 ducats, which enables a good life. That is, if you can survive fifteen years, which is the required amount of years served, you can retire.

"I will take my leave then, Chief General."

"Yes, please do so."

I pressed again on the device, and the image of the Chief General vanished.

I quickly took out a small black stone-like thing—my SCD.

"Chief Commander Bonanza here; I just received new instructions and insight from the Chief General. There is good and bad news. Let's start with the bad one. In short, we will have to secure Scaria today. Your respective superiors will inform you of the details. The good one is that every single one of us will receive 500 ducats as a bonus. Those that performed exceptionally will even get more generous rewards."

I transmitted to everyone in the vicinity.

"Rico, the Chief General informed me that we wouldn't get reinforcements for five days if we fail to conquer the city. The Galactic Empire managed to secure several victories over our military on the east front. We will only be supplied after the east."

I transmitted to my friend Chief Commander Reymon.

"That indeed is bad news. We will have to adjust the plan heavily for this to work. No walk in the park then."

He answered with a sight.

"How many years do you still need?"

He asked me.

"Need for what?"

"For retiring, of course!"

"Ah, eight years, I guess."

"Lucky bastard, I still need ten."

I grinned at that.

"Anyway, back to the topic. We will have to work out a whole new operation for this to work. Any news from the scouts?"

"Yes, indeed. They reported a minute ago. No enemy resistance in our way, but the city is heavily reinforced. They deployed a massive shield around their town as such air attacks are impossible without destroying the generator inside the city first."

"Even better would be if we could just deactivate it and use it ourselves afterward."

I pointed out.

"That indeed would be great. Our main problem is that there is only one way to get into the city, as it's a mountain fort. We have to figure a way out to get through there, without the majority of us dying."

He remarked.

"We will have to discuss this with the others; let's meet up and talk once we arrived in front of Scaria."

"That will be for the best."

He said, and I ended the transmission.

It's never easy.