Chapter 485: Ch
No! You must not, Mr. President. You must not agree to this," said a think tank member who was sitting there. His already pale face became even paler as he spoke.
"Who knows if the Celestial Void Empire fleet’s target isn’t the main star system of the Valen family, but the Bright Moon star system instead? And if we send our forces to another place and we are attacked here, what would happen? We must not let that happen. If the central star falls, that would mean the fall of the whole Republic."
"What are you saying?!" shouted another person belonging to the Valen family as he pointed his finger at the think tank member who had just spoken, his face flushed red.
"Do you know that doing this could mean the whole Republic losing its material reserves, which we might need now for the battle more than ever? Without a constant supply of materials and other necessary resources, how much longer can the government forces hold on against the attack of the Celestial Void Empire, even if they could?" he said while gritting his teeth.
"You all must think about that as well."
The people who were from the Valen family faction also rose up and began speaking in favor of the Valen family. Not because it benefited them personally, but because their interests lay in the safety of the Valen family’s stronghold and supply chain.
But they didn’t cross the line, for the safety of the Bright Moon star system was just as, if not more, important.
"Yes, yes, Mr. President, we must not let the Valen family fall at this moment.
Seeing how the Target family has been wiped out, we must think the other two families will likely suffer no different a fate as well, making the meaning more than clear that these Celestial Void Empire forces are here to eradicate us.
That makes it even more important for us to remain united and pull all our resources together to fight back."
"Yes," the Minister of Defense rose up and said. "And by that, we can guess that most of our subordinate Tier 2 powers have likely already been taken care of, or are in the process of being taken care of.
All this happened because we were in the dark and caught off guard by the humans of the Celestial Void Empire.
But that isn’t the case anymore, Mr. President. They are in the light now, and we know about them. That gives us more than a chance to battle it out fairly and even defeat them."
"Powerful they might be, but we have the home advantage, and we are on alert now. I don’t believe that if we throw everything that we have at them, they will still remain standing."
This debate about what to do, where to deploy, what not to do, where not to deploy, and whether to gather or split the fleets went on for a full ten excruciating minutes.
The room had almost torn itself apart as literal curses were hurled across it by almost everyone who spoke, causing arguments to flare and spreading even more panic throughout the entire room.
Some wanted to gather every fleet they could reach to the Bright Moon star system and create a strong defensive grid there.
Others wanted to split the forces and defend both the Bright Moon star system as well as the main star system belonging to the Valen family, which held most of the important resources that they would definitely need for weapon production and ammunition now that they were in a state of war.
While some others wanted to negotiate once with the Celestial Void Empire fleet and try to downplay the situation, these people were obviously shut down by the others even more fiercely. A few were simply paralyzed with fear after hearing what had happened to the Targer family, and since then they hadn’t spoken even once.
Most of them were family members of these three supreme families and were clearly in a state of panic, refusing to accept reality for what it was.
"EVERYONE, ENOUGH!"
Vance’s voice suddenly thundered across the room, making everyone instantly shut up and helping the room regain its calm for a moment, giving Vance the much-needed time to gather his thoughts together before he spoke.
"We will not be scattering like scared rodents, because that is not what we are. Just as the Minister of Defense said, we didn’t know before and thus were caught off guard against this attack. All the blame lies with the intelligence department that wasn’t able to detect it until the enemy was already inside our house."
"But it isn’t too late. We know now. And the enemy is in the light, not hidden in the darkness anymore. They are already deep within our boundaries, and I believe they no longer have any support at their back now that they have entered this far. Including our home-ground advantage, we have more than a sufficient chance of taking them down wherever they come."
"Now, General Lark, mobilize all the Central Government Elite Fleet as well as the defense fleets of the Bright Moon star system and the other satellite star systems immediately. Call the Radiant Armada back from the Radiant star system as well."
"Patriarch Valen, don’t worry. You won’t be left undefended. Go and prepare the Stargate to be activated at a moment’s notice if the enemy moves against your clan. You just need to hold them for a maximum of five minutes, and the whole armada within the Bright Moon Republic will be ready to jump across the systems to provide support."
"And if the opposite happens, I expect you to do the same."
Vance spoke all of it in one breath.
"Mr. President, we must not pull the Radiant Fleet away from the Radiant star system. What if those things from the wormhole come out? It would be disastrous," said a minister with immense panic on his face.
His words caused a few others to clamor in agreement as well.
"Please think again, Mr. President. We must not pull away the Radiant Fleet from the Radiant star system. Even if we win against the Celestial Void Empire, if those things are allowed to come out from the wormhole, that would mean the end of the whole Bright Moon Republic. Mr. President, please think again."
Hearing this, Vance’s face became red with rage as he felt these people were forcing him to take back his own words at this very moment.
"Shut up! Shut up, all of you!" he raged.
"Are you all idiots or what? If I don’t pull the Radiant Fleet now, then when would I pull them? When nothing of the Republic is left? When everything has already been ruined?"
"Don’t you realize that this is a situation just as dangerous as if those things came out of the wormhole within the Radiant star system? If we don’t pull our forces together at this moment, then we risk the collapse of the entire Republic."
"And it isn’t even confirmed that those things would come out at such a time at all."
"After we push those humans back, I’ll send the Radiant Fleet back to their position. But for now, they must be called back."
"But—" the minister tried to argue further.
This only caused Vance to frown even more.
"No buts," he said forcefully, making the minister go pale and swallow his words immediately.
"And even if something happens, and a beast wave does occur within the Radiant star system, at worst I’ll call upon the Star Empire for rescue. With their weight and power, we can still get through that tide."
"But these human forces—we must fight and defeat them now. This is a matter of survival for us, and we have no time to call for reinforcements immediately."
"Do you all understand that?"
"Yes, Mr. President."
They couldn’t help but nod their heads.
Vance hmphed and looked toward the general, who was still standing there looking unsure.
"What are you waiting here for, General?" Vance barked. "You have your orders. Get moving now and start organizing everything."
"And Patriarch Valen, you go as well and do the same thing."
"We have no time to waste."
"Yes, Mr. President."
With that, both of them walked out, followed by their subordinates, leaving the civilian officials alone in the meeting room with Vance.
"You all must monitor civilian matters immediately. Start the evacuation across the whole Bright Moon star system and all of its satellite systems at once. The people must be safeguarded now that these humans are coming after us like bloodhounds thirsty for blood."
"As can be seen from the complete and total destruction of the three supreme families of our Republic, even common people have now become targets, and that is something we must take precautionary action against," said Vance as he looked at everyone in the room.
"This is a war of ultimate extermination."
"Either we live, or they do."
"So make your preparations based on that."
"Now go! Get to your work immediately!"