After dinner, Eleanor Bonaparte had sat upright in a chair in the central square, resting with her eyes closed. When the sound of artillery fire reached her, she slowly opened her eyes, stood up, stretched, and took the helmet Major Dorset held out to her.
Already more than two meters tall in her powered armor, she looked down at Governor Yamadera, who had shrunk to one side, and gave him a dazzling smile. "Well then, I'm off, Your Excellency."
Governor Yamadera managed a strained smile. "I-I wish you victory and success in battle!"
He felt as though those words had used up the last of his strength and patience. As he watched her stride away, his smile and spirit promptly collapsed.
"Bah! I hope those reptiles take you out the moment you leave the city! No, better yet, let them capture you, and then do this and that, and that and this..." In an instant, the governor imagined one teraton's worth of resources, and his mood improved a little.
When he returned to the governor's mansion, his administrative secretary told him that a guest was already waiting in his office.
"Didn't I say I was going to rest and wouldn't see anyone? What are you doing? Can't you understand plain language?" Governor Yamadera berated his secretary.
"I think, Your Excellency, you'd be wise to see him." The senior bureaucrat, usually so deferential and humble, still wore a smile, but the pressure in his words made the governor shiver.
"I-I won't see him. What then?" Mr. Yamadera felt it was important to convey the backbone expected of a senior official.
"I insist, Your Excellency." The secretary was still smiling, but now there seemed to be a hint of menace in his words.
"Fine, fine, I'll see him..." The governor felt a little dejected.
The visitor wasn't human. His face was covered in brown fur, and to human eyes, it looked rather fierce and intimidating. He was a Katai merchant, and the governor remembered that his name was Chuck Brownstripe.
The Katai were a humanoid species, with thick fur, strong bodies, and natural claws and fangs. They really did give the impression of oversized cats that had taken human form. Of course, like big cats, they had the physical ability to tear an ordinary human apart with nothing but claws and teeth. They were also a renowned warrior species throughout the galaxy.
Besides, the Kaitai Kingdom was an ally—more accurately, a vassal—of the Empire. It also had a minor territorial dispute with the Commonwealth, so the state of their diplomatic relations was easy to imagine. But diplomatic relations were one thing. The two nations weren't at war, so that didn't stop people from doing business.
The Katai truly lived up to their reputation as warriors of the civilized galaxy. Even as a mere merchant, this one was so powerfully built that he looked capable of fighting powered armor barehanded. The short, chubby governor was at least a head shorter, and couldn't help feeling a little afraid. He glanced behind him to make sure his security detail was still there, then felt a little more at ease. He puffed out his chest, put on the airs of a governor, and asked with a stern expression, "What can I do for you, Mr. Brownstripe?"
"Did the commander set out with every soldier in the city? There's a million troops out there! Your Excellency, what are we supposed to do now? We need a clear answer from you!" The merchant looked troubled and was certainly putting on a humble front. This pleased the governor, whose heart Eleanor had just broken.
"There are more than two thousand foreign merchants and technical staff like us in Tulong Harbor! We came here to trade because we trusted the governor's office to keep us safe. But now this has happened. As an employee of the Royal Canaan Trading Company, I have to reassess the security rating of this colony, as well as its future commercial value."
Wait, this big furball worked for the Canaan Trading Company? Wasn't that an imperial royal enterprise?
The governor's first thought was that the merchant was using the royal name to throw his weight around. But on second thought, he realized that although the Kaitai Kingdom was a member of the Galactic Council and technically an independent nation, its kings had always addressed the Emperor of the Empire as "my father" and "my lord." They were even more submissive than the vassal states. As a result, the great noble houses of the Empire, including the Eight Elector Families, had quite a few Katai retainers.
So this fellow really could be an employee of a royal enterprise—or even a retainer of one of the electors!
"You guessed correctly. The two merchant ships I have docked at the commercial port belong to King Tamil."
It took Governor Yamadera nearly two seconds to process this. Then he leaped to his feet and shouted, "W-what exactly are you implying? Are you threatening me?"
"Not at all. I was just thinking that since your side seems to be having some difficulty protecting its residents and city, perhaps we should discuss requesting international assistance?" The Katai merchant grinned.
Meanwhile, Eleanor, helmet in hand, had reached the square by the gate, where she received the latest news.
"Oh, that big cat really went to the governor's mansion?"
"Yes." Major Sangga, commander of the Tulong garrison, nodded. "So, Commander, should we..."
He made a throat-slitting gesture, which immediately earned him a sharp rebuke from Eleanor. "What's that supposed to mean? Arrest him and kill him? And kill the thousand or so foreign merchants in Tulong, too?"
Major Sangga hurriedly smiled and shook his head. "N-no, how could I, ma'am? I meant, should we detain him for now?"
"Forget it. I'd quite like to see what those starving big cats are up to." Eleanor sneered and strode toward the soldiers assembled in the square. Five hundred assault troops, two thousand five hundred soldiers, and more than ten thousand militia had gathered here, except for the few who had to stay at their posts. Nearly a million residents were either at home or standing silently around the square, watching as the young woman in powered armor, helmet tucked under her arm, walked among them.
"Citizens of Tulong, citizens of the Commonwealth, I am Eleanor Bonaparte, acting commander of the New Jade Gate planetary defense forces. I have something to say to you."
"As everyone knows, the past week has been the hardest our colony has ever faced. The Sandfolk, whom we thought we had completely subdued, have gathered a million troops and laid siege to Tulong, the first city the Commonwealth established on this new world among the stars. People keep telling me they're just uncivilized natives who have yet to bathe in the light of civilization, and that even a million of them are nothing but a million pigs. Well, the battle the day before yesterday seemed to prove that."
"But I want to tell you this: everyone who refuses to yield and fights back deserves our respect! We did bring them civilization. We have every right to despise their ingratitude. We certainly have the right to kill every last one of them. But remember, anyone willing to take up arms to fight for the right to have a say deserves our respect. That's what Marshal Victory Li, the great father of the Commonwealth, taught us! We built our great nation with that same belief. When we face people who are just as determined as we are, shouldn't we at least show them some respect?"
"That's right. The Sandfolk gathered outside aren't beasts, savages, or rabble. They're heroes!"
Eleanor's words fired up a large part of the crowd, though quite a few people exchanged bewildered glances. They didn't understand why she was praising the enemy.
"What utter nonsense! I'll take her before the Defense Committee for this! That's right, I'll report her!" The governor raged helplessly in his office. He had felt humiliated by the treatment he'd received from the foreign dignitaries, so of course Eleanor's speech felt like another insult.
The Katai merchant had just left the governor's mansion and had also heard Eleanor's speech. He stopped to listen, but something didn't seem right. He fell into deep thought. His expression gradually darkened; it felt as though even his fluffy whiskers were caked with lollipops.
"But we still have to fight! We have to defeat them! We have to kill them! If you spot them beneath the walls, blast them with artillery! If they come into view, shoot them! If they appear beside you, hack them apart with power axes and swords! If they show up in the restroom, hold them under the water in the toilet until they drown! Only heroes can conquer heroes! To make the Sandfolk understand the Commonwealth's grand ideals and willingly become one of us, first we have to fight—we have to kill them! Killing the Sandfolk heroes outside is the perfect expression of our love for the Commonwealth!"
Wait, could a speech really twist around like that? How had this turned into some great national cause? The governor gaped in astonishment.
The Katai merchant, Chuck Brownstripe, was just as stunned. Looking at the ordinary citizens and militiamen around him, whose eyes were beginning to burn with fervor, he knew they'd been successfully brainwashed.
What an extraordinary power of persuasion... Wait, this way, even if she led her troops to slaughter all the million Sandfolk outside, she could still spin it as "a battle between heroes that neither side could avoid" and "the inevitable growing pains of civilization and racial integration"!
Most of those reptilian Sandfolk were simple-minded. They might actually buy it. Once the fighting was over, they probably wouldn't hate humanity that much, either.
Th-this woman was terrifying! She absolutely couldn't be allowed to live!
Whatever the Katai merchant thought, Eleanor continued her speech.
"Citizens, militia fighters, hold your posts! As long as you do your duty, you're fighting! Soldiers, follow me! Haven't you always been derided as useless grunts of the security force? So what? Hahahaha! Let me tell you, I'm a woman! My alma mater, Central Defense University, only started admitting women eight years ago, so I was among the very first generation of female students. I faced who knows how much prejudice and discrimination in the past! But so what? I still graduated at the top of my class and took the oath beneath the flag on everyone's behalf. Do you see? Practical results, battle records, achievements—those are the only way to prove yourselves! Every other so-called protest is nothing but empty bluster."
"Follow us to conquer the enemy, and you'll conquer the insults and slander others have heaped upon you! Follow me to conquer these heroes, and you'll become heroes yourselves! Then, lay the foundation for history!"
With that, Eleanor put on her helmet, snatched the battle flag from Major Sangga, engaged the wheels on her powered armor, and charged toward the city gates at the head of the troops!