234 Passed.
Shi Lang was about to say no when the communicator on his wrist shook and he received a message from General Knight. The council has agreed to his proposal and he smiled faintly before raising his head and replying to the question, “The general council agrees to the proposal. We have been discussing this since the first day of the new council.”
The speaker of the house was surprised but then he understood and nodded, he said, “The chair now calls for a vote. As General Shi Lang has suggested, the problem of manpower in the fleets must be solved quickly to ensure the safety of the territory. I hope that you all understand the gravity of the situation and will not shirk the responsibility. The voting will begin in thirty minutes.”
The people nodded and they began to discuss with each other. The process was fast, they really did not have time to waste. The follow-up recruitment was not going to be easy either. The federal government will have to appoint people to converse with the colonial territories and smoothen the relationships. Then it will follow with standard medical checks, training, integration, etc.
The process will consume at least a few months and until then, the Federation will have to be really careful with each and every military expansion they take on. This was something he would discuss with the secret divisions. They will have to pitch in during this time of change.
Half an hour passed before long and the speaker of the house said, “The voting for integration of the colonial natives in the federation main system will begin now. The members of the house please pass on the votes.”
The tables in front of the people were installed with a digital voting setup and the process was really quick and fair. The progress could be seen in a matter of seconds. The parliament had one hundred and ninety-five members, just equal to the number of countries when the federation was founded. To have a bill passed, half the votes were needed, but to have a bill put on hold, they only needed the president to raise his hand and say, “Veto.”
Hopefully, the old man will not screw with Shi Lang at this crucial juncture. The voting continued and it did not take more than five minutes for the process to finish. The speaker of the house did not have a nick for theatrics and simply said, “The total number of votes cast is one hundred and seventy-two, meaning that twenty-three abstained. The final result is forty-three nays and one hundred twenty-nine yays. The president also votes in favor. With this count, the integration bill is passed.”
The parliament echoed with claps, the process was initiated and now it will all fall in place automatically. Shi Lang smiled and then expressed his thanks for the understanding shown by the parliament members.
Following this, he closed the communication shortly after and sighed. Shi Lang leaned back in the chair to relax for a few moments. Then he gathered his bearings again and moved out of the room. The guards outside saluted him, and Shi Lang nodded.
He asked, “Where is Governor Matthews?”
The soldier replied, “Sir, the governor is in the training field. The assessment for the reserve of the first fleet has begun.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Lead the way.”
He was going to see what these people had in the arsenal. If they were not fit enough, he will not mind giving them a wake-up call. The soldier led him training field. Shi Lang was the only one with a black lapel that was covered with silver stars and his arrival attracted all the attention of the crowd. They all looked at him with respect and awe.
Matthews also noticed the change in the aura and how the soldiers all stood up in attention. Shi Lang had a way to command the crowd. He did not do anything special to gather this command. It was his innate aura about him. The unruly soldiers could all tell from his cold gaze, that he was not an easy person to deal with.
This show of strength was enough to make them all understand who was going to run the show now. Shi Lang came to stand near the Governer and watched the proceedings of the assessment. The task was simple, the soldiers will have to run a course and they were needed to run the entire course within a set time limit.
The selection was not so simple, during this set of time, they will be performing all the maneuvers that were important for a soldier to do. What was even more, this course was always changing and modifying itself. To make sure that the soldiers did not have an easy time during the assessment.
Shi Lang watched a few soldiers moving through the course and nodded from time to time. He could tell that these guys had all paid attention to their conditioning. Matthews said, “Sir, do you think these guys are good?”
He was making sure that the general was satisfied. Shi Lang nodded and said, “They are good, however, the real test for a soldier on the battlefield.”
Governor Matthews nodded and said, “Yes, indeed the real test is the battlefield.”
Shi Lang smiled and they kept watching the assessment go on. He said, “Governor, when will the soldiers be dispatched?”
Matthews thought for a bit and said, “Sir, it will take them a complete work session to get through the formalities, roughly twenty-four hours.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “I will have to leave ahead of time. There are a few things that I need to get done back at the federation. I can only leave the work here for you to complete.”
His tone was calm and the bearings were extraordinary. Matthew nodded and said, “I understand sir, I will be responsible. You can deal with other things with peace of mind.”
Shi Lang nodded and after a few more words, he headed back to his spaceship. Then he left mars and headed to the federation. He was going to ask the secret divisions to step up the game. It only took one space jump for the spaceship to reach the federal space docking station.
As the first general, the spaceship had a spaceport always reserved, after the docking was complete, Shi Lang took control of the small scout class ship and headed directly to the secret division, Shadow Executioners.
The scouting class spaceship was the fastest spaceship among Federal space vehicles. He entered the atmosphere of the planet and moved to the base. He did not violate any regulations of the secret divisions, his spaceship landed on the spaceport of the division after a lot of inquiries and then he was escorted back to the base in a special vehicle.
The captain of the escort team was none other than his old friend, Gamma, and the rest of the team was his own team as well. They all got inside the car and the driver, Stephan asked, “What wind blew you here, Ace.”
They all had the habit of calling him Ace, and Shi Lang did not want to stand in the ceremony with these people. He smiled and said, “Work.”
Gamma asked, “So strict?”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “How have you all been?”
They began to chat, but before long they arrived at the base of the secret division. Getting off the vehicle, Shi Lang said goodbye to his friends and stepped inside the town hall. The guards on duty gazed at his lapels and were shocked. They all saluted him as he went inside the town hall. Shi Lang came to the familiar unfamiliar door and wanted to knock when a calm voice sounded, “Come in.”
Shi Lang went inside the room, closed the door behind him, and saluted Archie Arkham. The lady also saluted him properly. Then the two of them exchanged a glance and chuckled. Archie Arkham asked, “What do you have for me?”
Shi Lang began to tell her about the approval of the bill from the parliament, and then they began to discuss the shortcomings and the obstacles they will have to overcome in order to gain trusted comrades.
Archie Arkham nodded and agreed with him but then she noticed the boy was not enthusiastic about the change he brought forward. Shi Lang said, “Boss, you know that I am more considered about the corruption and other aspects of the situation. If the ambassadors sent by the government did not work responsibly, it will be the death of this entire program. We cannot afford that at this moment, please think of something.”
Archie Arkham nodded and after deep thought, she said, “Do not worry, I will have each and every division member of the secret division council look after this. The program will not suffer. What about you? What do you wish to do? “
Shi Lang sighed and looking at the horizon out of the window he said, “I wish to take a few days of rest.”
The room echoed with chuckle again.