A full hundred warships waited outside the Cybrex Starhold in a standard square formation, gleaming in the sunlight, the star-speckled heavens reflected in their bright silver armor.
Twenty destroyers, sixty corvettes, and twenty torpedo ships.
Every ship in the Interstellar Human Military Junta's fleet was here. Unlike other empires, the Interstellar Human Military Junta had only this one main fleet. If it were wiped out, the Empire would be left without any defensive force.
Thus, even as every ship gathered for the great expedition, all the Empire's shipyards were building new vessels, ensuring that a serviceable force could be assembled quickly even if the main fleet were annihilated.
All the warships' crew members stood ready to depart. Everyone had been given enough time to say goodbye to their families.
There was a very real chance they would never return.
This expedition would span countless light-years, pass through dozens of star systems, and last at least several years within an alien empire far from home. No one could be certain they would survive.
All the crew members, including the captains and commanders at every level, stood on their bridges and listened to Xi Yan's rallying speech.
To protect their families and repay the Marshal's kindness and the Empire's protection, it was time to step forward and show their courage and strength as humans.
Even if it cost them their lives, they would not hesitate.
Xi Yan had worked from dawn until late at night, handing over all the tactics and formations he had developed with Beta over the past several days to Navy Minister Ning Zhiyuan, who would accompany the fleet into battle.
Xi Yan felt somewhat downhearted. The thought that these young lives, and his loyal general, might be lost on the battlefield saddened him.
But no matter what, someone