On January 16, 833, the fleet group formed by the Ninth Fleet and the New Shenzhou Defense Fleet completed its final maintenance and resupply. Even the twelve old arsenal ships dragged out of the depths of Baiyujing's shipyards had been stuffed with the latest large fusion missiles and kinetic rounds. They looked ready to have their hulls hauled off for scrap the moment this battle was over.
According to Professor Jinov's "calculations," if the giant beast really could awaken, there should be signs of it within the next forty-eight hours.
So naturally, every officer and soldier went on full combat alert. Miss Theia and William Banner, along with a dozen carefully selected elite crew members, had already boarded New Shenzhou 2. The light-wing ship had even left the main force as planned and hidden behind the rings of the fourth planet in the Tianshu system.
...Nothing happened during the first twelve hours of full combat readiness.
Brigadier General Bazan couldn't help feeling that he and the unlucky people waiting for the other shoe to drop weren't all that different. Fortunately, they had probably anticipated this sort of situation from the start. Deng Zhengqing suggested that the fleet rotate its rest periods while maintaining its alert status. The old general readily took the young man's advice. That way, although the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers across the fleet had been on tenterhooks for a long time, they should still be able to hold out.
While the others rested, the old general showed more energy and stamina than most of the young men. He stayed on the bridge, watching the gas giant, while repeatedly reviewing everyone's combat readiness and looking for possible flaws in the tactical plan.
In the early hours of January 17, Brigadier General Bazan finally declared that