Just as everyone was at their wits' end and preparing to hand in blank papers.
A voice, one no one had expected, rose timidly in the silent classroom.
"Um... Dean, sir, I... I have an idea, though it isn't fully thought out."
Everyone turned toward the voice and saw Eli, the most famous "Dead Last" in the entire academy, raising his hand and standing up, his face bright red.
Valerius scoffed, ready to watch him make a fool of himself.
Deputy Dean Ferrus Manus's mechanical eye turned toward Eli, its red light flickering once, as though searching his database for information on this nobody.
"Speak," he said.
"I think... we can win." Eli drew a deep breath, as though it took every ounce of strength he possessed.
"Oh?" For the first time, a trace of interest entered Ferrus Manus's voice.
"The Astartes of the advance fleet tend to be far too... aggressive in their combat style. According to chapter three, section two of the 'First-year Battle Loss Assessment Report of the Great Crusade (Draft),' released by the Departmento Munitorum, their haste to achieve results during their first few post-jump engagements caused the fuel-to-ammunition consumption ratio of their early Stormbird gunships to exceed the standard value by thirty-seven point five percent. That is a fatal flaw."
Eli's words began to flow smoothly, as though he had become a different person. He consulted no Dataslate, merely staring at the star map while countless torrents of data surged through his mind.
"So my plan is to abandon all heavy gunships and Dreadnoughts. We concentrate all the fuel and energy saved on three modified Gladius-class frigates, stripping out every nonessential weapons system and leaving only their void shields and engines."
"The first blockade is a xenos minefield. We don't need to clear the mines.