Of course, though this world was idealist, it was also materialist. But when all was said and done, it still had to be materialist. Whether or not some unseen force lent a hand, they still had to take care of the work right in front of them.
Now that they had made their decision, the Silent Vigil was naturally going to press on. In fact, their previous calls hadn't affected the battleship's progress at all.
As the Silent Vigil drew closer to Imperial territory, their communications with the outside world grew smoother, and all sorts of the latest news came pouring in like snowflakes.
On September 25, Imperial High Command released the latest news. After resisting for more than a month, New Chang'an had finally fallen. Lieutenant General Vofna Maimidar had sworn in the name of the Galactic Empire that she would guarantee the lives and private property of all New Chang'an's citizens and ensure humane treatment for the Earth soldiers. On that basis, the remaining five thousand Earth fighters, short on food and clothing, finally emerged from their bunkers and surrendered to the Empire.
Their military bases on the surface, along with the artillery batteries, had already been blasted to dust by Imperial orbital bombardment two weeks earlier.
However, the Imperial Army hadn't found Marshal Norm Parris, Minister of Military Orders. Some said he had died in an orbital strike, others that he had escaped New Chang'an, and still others that he was organizing guerrillas there. None of these accounts, however, had any decisive evidence to support them.
By this point, every Blue Star Commonwealth planet and star system with a population of more than five hundred million had fallen. The New Shenzhou sector had been welcoming immigrants in droves for the past few years, but even by September