The old general spoke as if he were making his final arrangements, and in truth, that was exactly what he was doing. Deng Zhengqing was no longer aboard the Dawnlight. He was aboard the Ranger-class cruiser Zhiyuan 015.
In fact, Brigadier General Bazan had begun making preparations right after their last failed attempt to smuggle Shengyuan out of Jijiang. He had dispersed his headquarters and staff across all the cruisers, ensuring that every large ship had a capable, respected officer aboard who could take command at any moment.
Lieutenant Colonel Deng Zhengqing was the youngest of them, and the one Bazan had the highest hopes for.
Afterward, the Dawnlight turned to meet the Imperial warships charging toward her. Though she was battered from stem to stern, she was still a powerful heavy cruiser, a copy of the Skyclear-class, the cruiser considered the most perfect ever built. Her countercharge even left the Imperial forces momentarily stunned.
Twelve minutes later, after sinking one Imperial destroyer and severely damaging another in a desperate counterattack, the Dawnlight was hit in her aft section and lost power.
Three minutes after that, a sublight missile fired by an Imperial Fierce Falcon-class destroyer pierced the Dawnlight's bridge dome. That was when all the surviving members of the commerce-raiding fleet lost contact with their commander.
The lead ship of the Dawnlight-class heavy cruisers went to her death with a flawless record and service history. She fell completely silent at 16:27 Galactic Standard Time.
This had happened on March 26, 834, by the Common Era calendar.
"So Brigadier General Bazan had actually been killed in action half a year ago?" Yu Lian had been prepared for the news, but he still couldn't help feeling a pang of sorrow.
Another veteran of the War of Independence—one Yu Lian respected and