181 Courage.
Shi Lang and Amelia communicated with each other freely for a few minutes before Stevenson and the higher-ups all decided to hold a wartime meeting. The officers of the Neomon fleet were also called over to attend and discuss the plan.
Back in Bestia, when the notice of the war meeting was sent, Archie Arkham asked the other Terrans on the ground if they wished to jump in, they agreed with a smile. Within a few hours, the people had all gathered.
Shi Lang took a small ship and came to the command ship with Nexa. She was the princess of the allied emperor and she had the right to join the meeting. The other higher-ups also arrived at the command ship. There were two purposes of the meeting. One was to decide what they wanted to do with the third prince of the enemy.
This was the reason Shi Lang came over without a question. It was the time to fulfill the promise he had made to Cara.
…
The Command Ship was a behemoth. It was big enough to have a holding area and five conference rooms, all that could accommodate twenty officers at the same time and still have space left. At this moment, one of the conference rooms was being occupied.
Stevenson sat in the head position, with Nexa beside him on the right while the officers of the two forces sat facing each other. The fleets had ten generals or commanding officers among them. While the Terran officers were lower in rank, they were not weak in momentum.
Stevenson asked, “What do you think should be our next move?”
Archie Arkham said, “Arcadia will not attack us with their complete force at the risk of exposing their borders and the news of war will also not be allowed to go out of the empire. They would not want to be struck by some unknown force of the said surrounding empires.”
The people nodded, where she left, Nexa picked up, “The intel mentioned that Arcadian forces are commanded by the three princes of the empire. At this moment, those forces should be out moving in other directions to expand their borders. So, they should not be able to provide much support.”
Stevenson shook his head and said, “They might give up their fronts and come over to us, after all, rather than winning new territory it is more important to save the place you already have.”
The others nodded, and one of the neomonian officers spoke up, “Is it possible for us to attack them before they can take action?”
Stevenson shook his head, he said, “Ever since the universal extraterritorial life forms have been discovered, the Galactic Council has set proper rules of war engagement, we cannot march in without providing a notice ahead of an attack.”
Shi Lang was the only freshman in this meeting and as he heard these words, he was surprised. He did not know that there existed something like the Galactic Council. Stevenson said, “Well, we do not have to worry about the last face-off, after all, it was the Arcadian fleet that invaded us. But the future wars cannot be played like this.”
The people nodded, Shi Lang raised his head and Stevenson asked, “What is it, Ace?”
Shi Lang said, “We have destroyed their war battery, one third of the attack fleet is gone. The only thing that we need to do is to capture the capital, Arcadia. However, before that, I would like to make you all aware of something.”
Stevenson nodded and asked, “What is it?”
“The informant is an illegitimate child of the Arcadian Emperor, her skills and mind are good enough to help us turn over the war. Before I came to this battle, she had told me, that the capital of the empire, or the planet where the royal family resides, must turn into a mast graveyard. She alos took the time to tell me that if we failed, then she will hunt me down in the future. Yes, the simple solution is killing her.”
He paused and the people were surprised, they thought Shi lang will be siding with the informant but here he was, suggesting that they should kill the little girl, how cruel.
Shi Lang continued again when he saw the old man was about to say something. He said, “Or, we keep our promise, kill the royal family and have the young one take the throne. It will not be a war but a royal coup, it will not need to send out any war notice. The mission will be a secret.”
Stevenson fell in thought and asked, “What are you suggesting will not be achievable until you get some proper support from the frontal force.”
Shi Lang shook his head and said, “I will get you an answer that you will like, but the team will be put together with me. I want to select my own team.”
The few officers were surprised to see that this young man had the guts to speak bluntly in the meeting of the higher-ups, and what was even more, that neither the Commander of the secret divisions said anything, nor did the old man say anything.
Stevenson nodded and said, “I will give you three days, you will have to get me a result in that time. If you are unable to achieve the goal, then I will send the notice by the rules of the galactic council and the war will break out on the full scale. Till then the forces will begin to repair and heal. Do you understand?”
Shi Lang saluted and said, “Yes, Sir.”
Stevenson nodded and was about to continue and asked, “Do you still have something to say?”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Yes, I would like the permission to interrogate the third prince of Arcadia, also, he is on my death list.”
Stevenson nodded and said, “It was expected, you can take him. He is of no value.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Then I will take my leave, sir. I have a mission to prepare for.”
Although things did not go as he had planned earlier. he will still achieve the results he wanted. The first thing that he wanted was to make sure that the Federation was not invaded. The other thing was something that he had promised Cara. Also, from a political point of view, having that kid be the ruler will help them a lot.
She will prove to be a greater ally if she had power, however, he has already told the people that the girl was not a helpless teenager that will be at their beck and call. She will do what she wishes. This was why she was a dangerous enemy but a good friend.
With those thoughts in mind, Shi Lang walked out of the room. He spotted everyone from his team standing outside and said, “Come, I invite you all to check out a good thing.”
They were all skeptical, but it was still better to move around than sit in this flood of dog food. Shi Lang and Amelia would stare at each other and not take off eyes, as if they have met after a long time and could not fuck each other senseless.
The team moved around the ship and they came to the holding bay. They stood in front of the cell area where the third prince of Arcadia sat with a dejected expression on his face. The cell was made up of some sort of electric and magnetic fusion.
The prisoner saw a group of Terrans gazing at him from the outside, he sneered and with the face of the lion, he said, “Did you come here to look at what a defeated general looks like? Well, you have looked enough, I suggest that you leave.”
Shi Lang shook his head and said, “This is a Terran vessel and not your royal court where you can play all high and mighty. I used to think that you were a pissant creature who could not even show emotions to a child, but instead, you turned out to be even more shitty at military defense and strategizing. To think I thought of you as a worthy opponent.”
The third prince lost his temper and roared at Shi Lang. He said, “I demand you to take me out of here, if you do not have such guts, then get lost.”
Shi Lang smiled and said, “I was thinking about how to approach, you but did not expect you to come and help me like this. Thank you. When would you like to fight against me?”
The arcadian prince stood up from the ground and said, “Whenever you are ready.”
Shi Lang nodded and looked at the operator on the side, “Let me go inside the cell and remove his shackles.”
The operator was confused and said, “Sir, may I confirm it with the seniors.”
He was aware that this person was from the secret division because of the mask on his face, but he was not sure how to deal with this request. After a few seconds the operator got the confirmation and said, “Sir, you can go inside.”
Shi Lang nodded and handed his handgun to Amelia and even his knife was given away. He said, “Contact Cara, she would like to watch this.”
As Shi Lang stepped inside the cell, the Arcadian Prince said, “I acknowledge that you have courage.”
Shi Lang replied with his hand, saying, “Come on.”
The Arcadian prince roared and charged forward.