Free Web NovelChapter 1293: Chapter 49: Assessment
Akasa Fortress was still a scene of bustling activity.
Officers and soldiers in uniforms from different countries hurried back and forth; mighty battleships moved slowly one after another at the port.
The light of the constant star bathed the fortress, like a golden robe of twilight. The rapidly passing glass of a space train on the outer orbit of the fortress reflected that fiery red, flashing by.
Everything was just as it was in days past.
The only difference was that when people at the fortress met each other at the docks, in the fortress corridors, and in the recreation areas, they greeted each other with more anticipation in their eyes than usual.
Military God Hastings would personally visit Akasa Fortress. The Allied Command Center would welcome its highest commander.
This news was extremely thrilling for the alliance forces stationed at Akasa Fortress.
These people from different countries had a common identity—soldiers. Because of this war, they gathered here, trying to assemble all their strength to win the final victory for their countries.
And what tightly bound them together, what guided them unwaveringly, was the coming sight of the idol of all soldiers of this era—the generation’s Military God Hastings!
The war situation had entered its tensest period.
Sobel was advancing step by step in the Karsdon Star River, the war between Ryan Republic and Naga Federation had intensified due to Leefer’s aggressive attack, the countries in the west were slaughtering each other, and the Northern, Northeast, and Southwest Star Domains were also embroiled in flames of war, with all countries deploying their strongest forces in combat and contending.
Meanwhile, the Southeast Star Domain, whose situation had been most unpredictable in recent days, had unfolded a series of spectacles.
Douglas’s surprise attack on Blue Stone Star, Hanfrey Fleet’s ghostly passage through the Leray Central Channel, followed by its defeat in the Longbow Star System, left people astonished. Jiepeng General, Southeast Battle Zone’s chief commander, Mikami Yuto, as cunning as a fox, used Hanfrey Fleet to attract everyone’s attention, made an attack on Resk from the east while feigning interest in the west.
All these rapid changes left people barely able to blink or catch their breath!
Yet no matter how turbulent and changing the situation was, no matter whether the Fei Alliance was winning or losing on various fronts, as the main commander of the alliance forces, Hastings remained unusually inactive. No orders, no guiding analysis, not participating in any affairs of the command center... As though as the war reached its most critical and intense moment, it had nothing to do with him anymore.
No one understood what had really happened. All sorts of rumors spread widely.
Some said Hastings was terminally ill, some said Hastings had retired and let others take over, others said Hastings was gathering strength in silence, preparing for a fatal strike against Sobel...
For all the rumors, Hastings remained silent.
Even as some voices questioning him began to rise, even as some stirred the public to demand his resignation and accountability for the Fei Alliance’s current disadvantages after Leefer’s strong attack on Catalonia Star System, he didn’t have any reaction.
No one expected that just when the Binart Fleet was securing consecutive victories in the Karsdon Star River and the Feiyang Fleet was retreating step by step, Hastings disregarded the Karsdon War Situation and arrived at the Allied Command Center now focusing all energy and attention on the Southeast War Situation.
His appearance was not just a matter of personally coming here, but carried a deeper, worth contemplating and digesting significance.
The port’s space shield slowly opened. Dozens of mighty Feiyang battleships, arranged in neat formations, passed through the densely parked warships of various countries on both sides, heading towards Dock 1 of the fortress.
The people in the fortress stopped everything at hand, gathered by the portholes, watching these latest Feiyang battleships slowly pass before their eyes. That beautiful and sturdy ship body, that majestic bow, that imposing and domineering main cannon, that somewhat exaggerated but admirably awe-inspiring design...
Hastings, finally, had arrived!
*******************************************************************************
The room was furnished simply and warmly.
The abundance of wooden decorations and the soft leather wrapped around the walls made it hard to believe this was a cabin on a carrier.
At the desk, Hastings sat in a wheelchair, quietly reading the intelligence reports in his hands. Margaret stood beside him, gently supporting the high back of the wheelchair with one hand.
The warships moored in the port glided silently past outside the porthole, and the constant star’s light passed over the fortress’s massive round pipe-like body, casting a few rays into the room.
Hastings slowly put down the electronic folder in his hand, let out a deep sigh, and closed his eyes.
Margaret tenderly massaged his shoulders.
The torment of illness had made this great military god emaciated beyond recognition. The medical bay was completely ineffective for him now. Even the medical team composed of Feiyang’s most outstanding medical experts couldn’t determine when this military god would leave this world. If they had to say a time, it would be—at any moment.
However, despite enduring suffering that ordinary people would find unbearable, Hastings’s spirit remained strong. He had never failed; even when facing illness, there wasn’t a sign of pain or weariness on his face.
On the desk was the latest report on the Chucknaresk War. Li Hongwu successfully reached Canglang Star and managed to hold off Jiepeng Thunderbolt Super Fleet guarding Canglang Star, securing air supremacy over Canglang Star. Currently, four space carriers of the Allied Fleet are hovering above Canglang Star, with countless air-based fighters detaching from the carriers to form formations, making wave after wave of incursions into the atmosphere.
