His voice regained the steadiness of a commander, but the exhaustion was impossible to hide.
"Withdraw two mother-class fleets."
The adjutant abruptly looked up.
"Two mother-class fleets?"
His tone was filled with disbelief.
"Commander, we are currently facing two joint fleets head-on..."
He paused.
"This is a situation where we're practically forced to use sub-level fleets as mother-class fleets!"
"If we withdraw two more mother-class fleets..."
He didn't finish the sentence.
But everyone understood.
The frontline battlefield would collapse.
Rockwell looked at him, his gaze terrifyingly calm.
"There's no time to hesitate."
His voice wasn't loud, but each word felt like a nail driven into the adjutant's heart.
"If the Pandora and Ares Fleets can't withdraw..."
"You and I will be waiting for a court-martial."
Rockwell's orders came one after another, striking everyone's hearts.
"Contact the Andumari Fleet."
He paused, his voice hoarse yet clear.
"Send a copy of the report on the S-22 Warp Point attack to Admiral Lucas Pierce."
"And then..."
He took a deep breath.
"Instruct him to withdraw two mother-class fleets and rush to reinforce the S-22 Warp Point immediately!"
The communications officer's fingers danced rapidly across the control console.
A few seconds later, he looked up.
"Sent!"
Rockwell nodded without pause and continued issuing orders.
"Request immediate reinforcements from the Command Headquarters!"
His voice suddenly rose.
"Tell them to dispatch reinforcements at once!"
"The Savannah Star System is already in imminent danger!"
After doing all this,
Rockwell let out a long sigh.
He turned and walked to the viewport.
The light from the star of the Savannah Star System, traveling across hundreds of millions of kilometers of void, gently bathed his face.
He closed his eyes.
His lips moved slightly.
Uttering a whisper so faint it was almost inaudible.
"May the Goddess of War protect us..."
Meanwhile.
In the commander's office at the Opal Star Sector Theater Command.
The air seemed to have frozen.
Bradley and Crawford stood motionless on one side of the desk.
Cold sweat was trickling down Crawford's nape along his spine, soaking the collar of his uniform.
His Adam's apple bobbed.
And Strauss sat behind the desk, clutching a piece of white paper.
The edges of the paper were deeply crumpled from his grip.
"Damn Federation..."
His voice was low, as if squeezed through clenched teeth.
"They moved really fast."
There were only a few lines on the paper.
[Urgent Reinforcements Request - Savannah Star System]
Our forces are besieged by three Federation Sequence Fleets.
Overwhelming enemy numbers, critical combat situation.
We implore the Command Headquarters to dispatch reinforcements immediately!
The Savannah Star System is in imminent danger!
Strauss stared at those lines for a long time.
Then he slammed the paper onto the desk.
Thwack!
The sound wasn't loud, but it was particularly jarring in the deathly silent office.
He abruptly stood up.
The chair slid back half a meter with a screeching friction sound.
He began pacing back and forth in front of the desk.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
Each step landed heavily, as if trying to stomp through the floor.
He kept muttering, his voice rising and falling, as if questioning, yet also as if talking to himself.
"How is this possible..."
"Four star systems, three Sequence Fleets..."
He abruptly halted his steps, turned around, and stared at Bradley.
"Where did the Federation pull three Sequence Fleets from?"
His voice suddenly rose sharply.
"Are they abandoning their other battlefronts?"
Bradley opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But Strauss didn't give him the chance.
He continued pacing back and forth, continuing to mutter.
"The news of the Stargate's destruction was clearly tightly sealed..."
"I even had the Pandora Fleet and the Ares Fleet launch fierce assaults on Shenxiu Fortress..."
He paused, a trace of unwillingness in his voice.
"To create the illusion that we were launching a major offensive!"
He stopped again, looking at Crawford.
"I also had the Himiel Fleet make a big show of providing support!"
"How dare they attempt a counter-encirclement against us?"
His chest heaved violently.
"Aren't they afraid the Himiel Fleet could be deployed through the Stargate to their rear?"
The office fell deathly silent.
Unless...
Strauss's footsteps suddenly stopped.
He stood motionless in the center of the office.
The muttering from his mouth also ceased.
The office was terrifyingly quiet.
Only the sound of his heavy breathing remained.
A few seconds later.
He slowly turned his head.
His gaze fell upon Bradley and Crawford.
There was something indescribable in that gaze.
Like suspicion.
And also like fear.
His voice sounded, hoarse and low.
"Could it be..."
He paused.
"...that there is a spy among our high command?"
Bradley and Crawford both froze simultaneously.
Looking into Strauss's eyes, a chill ran down their spines.
Spy. High command.
The implications of these two words combined were clear to everyone.
It meant all their plans might have been known to the Federation from the very beginning.
Right at that moment.
Bradley's voice broke the dead silence, not loud, but clear enough for everyone to hear.
"If we want to root out the traitor..."
He paused, his gaze settling on Strauss's face.
"...now is probably not a good time."
Strauss stared at him, saying nothing.
Bradley continued.
"The most urgent matter now is to figure out how to deal with those three Sequence Fleets in the Savannah Star System."
He walked over to the massive Star Chart on the wall, reached out, and tapped the location of the Savannah Star System.
"The Himiel Fleet is still warping to the Bushman Star System in batches."
His finger traced a line on the Star Chart, pointing towards the direction of the Savannah Star System.
"To complete the warp here, it will probably take..."
He paused, making an estimate:
"...two days."
Strauss's brow furrowed even tighter.
Two days.
And the battle situation in the Savannah Star System was deteriorating by the minute.
Who knew what the situation would be like two days from now.
Bradley turned around, looking at him.
"However..."
His voice lowered.
"...the Himiel Fleet alone cannot contend with three Sequence Fleets."
Strauss closed his eyes.
He knew Bradley was speaking the truth.
After a brief silence, Strauss slowly opened his eyes.
Those eyes no longer held the earlier frenzy, nor the paranoid fear.
Only an extreme, almost cold calm remained.
He spoke.
His voice was hoarse, yet each word was enunciated with a clarity that seemed etched into everyone's ears.
"Dispatch the garrison fleet from the Machu Picchu star system."
Bradley paused for a moment, quickly locating that system in his mind.
Machu Picchu.
A crucial rear node, garrisoned with over ten thousand starships.
Strauss continued.