In a seemingly calm space somewhere in the Tilg galaxy, the gauze-like stardust near the jumping point was suddenly distorted and dispersed by the space slipstream brought about by large-scale hyperspace navigation to a degree visible to the naked eye.
Just ten minutes later, the Qien Empire fleet that jumped from the previous patrol galaxy appeared in the distorted space one after another. In addition to various old small and medium-sized warships, even the exteriors of capital ships are covered with mottled patterns and faded gold paint, silently telling the past glory of these large warships.
There are even many space bandit or gang symbols that have not been erased on the shells of some small battleships, revealing the fact that the naval soldiers of the Outer Rim Fleet occasionally drive Imperial battleships to do some "side jobs" after get off work. .
The commander of this imperial fleet, a Qien named Arak-Sara, was currently sitting on his own gorgeous throne in the bridge, rubbing the armrests of the seat with the light red scales on the outside of his palms. The gems are inlaid on it, and the face is full of impatience and resentment.
As the son of one of the top big families in the Outer Rim Council, the position of fleet commander is not so much based on his not-so-outstanding commanding talent, but rather on Arak's extraordinary political ability that helped him obtain this once-perhaps honorable position. But now it's just a job.
Ever since he became the commander of the Everlasting Fleet, Arak's attitude towards this job has been described as conscientious, and he often has to perform tasks under the instructions of the Outer Rim Council and senior family officials. Sometimes they escort the smuggling fleets of major families, and sometimes they rob smugglers who have neither paid the "tribute" nor have any background.
The fleet was almost used as a private army and he often lamented that his life was about to become as peaceful as the name of the fleet. But for the sake of the abundant financial resources, Arak worked hard. After all, this was related to whether he could live the same luxurious life as the outer ring councilors after retiring from the post of fleet commander.
But since the war between the Empire and the People's Alliance, the Outer Rim Council, which received the royal decree, had to throw him and his fleet to the commander-in-chief of the Outer Rim Defense Force, Inarim Zobagis, saying that in the future Until the end of the war, he must obey Commander Zobagis in order to increase the royal family's favor with the Outer Rim Council.
Originally, this was not a problem for Arak, who had a first-class political acumen, because as a native of the Outer Rim, Zobagis was very aware of the intertwined power of the major families in the Outer Rim in the army and navy, so the other party was very dignified and did not include him. He was transferred to the front line to confront the People's Alliance Fleet, which was gearing up, but he was assigned a simple escort mission.
You only need to escort the supply ships needed by Krohoka to the reach of the frontline fleet on time and in quantity, and your mission will be completed.
This is a task with almost no difficulty. Compared with escorting the supplies sent from the central industrial planet to the front line on a safe route, he believes that how to deduct a batch of supplies from them to serve as escort expenses is a more difficult problem.
As for whether the withholding of military supplies will cause him to be separated from his body? Arak was unfazed by this.
As the saying goes, the law does not punish the public. In his opinion, unless His Majesty the Emperor suddenly became insane and planned to kill all the Outer Ring Council from top to bottom, his life would never be threatened in any way.
Over the years, the phenomenon of empty pay, deducting military supplies, and defrauding military expenditures has formed a complete network of interests among the military in the outer ring. From the highest-level congressmen and generals to the lowest-level officers and soldiers, everyone can benefit from it, and the only ones who have to pay for it are the extremely rich and wealthy people in the inner and middle circles.
Is this a problem? Arak thinks not.
The outer ring serves as the first line of defense to defend Chiennia, the pearl of the empire. The gentlemen in the middle and inner rings want to prevent the flames of war from burning on themselves, so they can't think of any other way besides taking money.
This includes not only the salaries of soldiers and officers, military expenses for building new warships, etc., but also don’t his fellows who work hard guarding the border but receive no attention and are even nicknamed "the abandoned people of the empire" need a sum of money? Considerable mental damages?
Compared with the even worse "Great Drought" fleet and their fleet commander, Tanushi at least managed the fleet fairly well - since he became the commander of the Never-Peace Fleet, not only the phenomenon of depriving soldiers of their salaries has been In order to alleviate the problem, the act of privately dismantling warship parts and selling them on the black market is also expressly prohibited.
Unless there is a certificate issued by himself, no one can try to misappropriate even a screw on the battleship.
There was nothing they could do. They were different from the Inner Ring Fleet, which had first-class logistics, maintenance and storage conditions. The military expenditures that originally needed to be spent on warship maintenance were all divided up by major interest groups.
Being unable to lay golden eggs, I had no choice but to start from the warship itself and use this "alternative approach" to sell unnecessary parts and spare parts on the warship at high prices on the black market in exchange for sufficient maintenance costs to maintain the combat effectiveness of the fleet.
Again, compared to the Great Drought Fleet, which even dared to dismantle its naval guns for retail sale, the Never-Never-Peace Fleet he commanded was already one of the few fully-manned fleets in the Outer Rim.
It's a pity that Commander Zobagis' arm couldn't twist his thigh. After the Sun Flame Review Fleet and Royal Advisors from the inner ring arrived, he was assigned to work under that Imperial Viscount Siligosa. Not only did they lose their lucrative escort mission, they also had to risk their lives to fight against humanity's most elite assault fleet.
Arak glanced at the naval soldiers coming and going on the bridge, and felt a sense of annoyance for no reason in his heart - although he thought he had done a good job as the commander of the fleet, he knew better than anyone the true strength of the Never Ending Fleet.
Not only are most of the ships outdated and old models, but even the few new warships are frigates and destroyers of little use, and there is not even a single capable new cruiser.
His battleship "Arangero" is pretty good. At least in last month's inspection, its performance was not far worse than when it left the factory. However, the power of the propeller was less than 30% lower than when it was brand new, and the energy supply of the reactor There are also some trivial problems that can be repaired by lying in the dock for two days.
But the same cannot be said for several battleships of the same class in the fleet. The "Alamutson" lacks spare parts, and the energy output of the reactor fluctuates high and low, requiring careful maintenance and debugging. A large number of the veteran crew members of the "Alan Xinta" have just retired a while ago, and now the people on the ship are all newbies. The fact that they can fight with 80% of the strength of the veterans must be thanked to the god of drought and desert.
As for the "Arantarata" that was once regarded as the flagship of the fleet, it is now even more unbearable. Ever since she inexplicably suffered a serious internal explosion while docked in the star port, although it cannot be seen from the outside, the explosion inside the battleship The injuries that almost split the entire battleship in two are definitely no joke.
If it weren't for the purpose of concealing the secrets of the outer fleet from the royal advisors, this battleship should never have gone on the battlefield before it was overhauled.
Just as Arak silently took stock of the power in his hands, the gravity sensor on the front of the ship suddenly sounded an alarm. The piercing alarm told everyone on the bridge that it had discovered that a large fleet of the Human Federation was heading towards the galaxy. Quickly maneuvering at the jump point, it seems that he wants to leave the Tierg galaxy and head to the Zorn galaxy.
"Zorn Galaxy? Consultant Siligosa really has the real stuff!"
Arak, who realized that he might have caught a big fish, didn't think too much and directly reported the situation discovered by the detector. Siligosa, who was not far from the Tierge galaxy, was shocked, but he soon released the information. All possible orders to thwart the enemy.
"Looking at the size, this must be one of the several attack fleets of the People's Alliance... General Arak, hold them back at all costs! Sunshine Review and Great Drought are rushing to support as quickly as possible. !!”
