Dikla stood at his personal podium and looked at his neatly assembled compatriots below. "My dear compatriots of the Dion Empire, those partners who claimed they would join hands with us proved utterly unreliable. They were either captured or gave up halfway through and withdrew from the operation. But it does not matter. As noble people of the Dion Empire, we shall never feel fear or retreat. Do you still remember the noble glory of us Dion people?"
"Fear no one, retreat from no one! Heads may be severed, blood may be shed, but we will never become slaves of the enemy's defeated forces!" everyone in formation shouted in unison.
"That is right. Although we were defeated back then and lost Mars, we did not surrender to the enemy. We left Mars and came to the former Dagger Land of the Dion Empire, the Akdila Modified Meteorite. Why did we come here?"
"Restore the nation! Restore the nation! Restore the nation!" Everyone present shouted the same phrase three times.
"That's right. This is the birthplace of our Dion Empire. Having lost Mars, we shall use this place as our headquarters and seize back the Mars we lost!"
"Take it back! Take it back! Take it back!"
"Our compatriots living on Mars are now suffering in dire straits. There are also compatriots who live in the Skywing Empire, yet whose hearts remain with our Dion Empire. They risked their lives gathering intelligence and relaying it to us. Yet now, we have lost contact with them. Many of our forces went in and could not come out, though a small number managed to fight their way out. Those undercover comrades betrayed them!"
An uproar broke out among the crowd.
Dikla raised a hand, and everyone fell silent.
"I believe there are traitors