(Three Days Later, Outer Perimeter Of Planet Satoru, Caleb’s POV)

Since Leo decided that Veyr was to take one Cult unit with him to face the enemy...

After contemplating, Veyr decided to take Commander Anderson Silva and his unit with him, which also happened to include Caleb.

Caleb stood inside the pilot’s cabin of a Cult destroyer as the fleet advanced in formation behind General Sparrow’s flagship, while tension sat quietly beneath the disciplined calm he forced onto his face.

Through the forward viewing glass, his eyes remained fixed on the lead warship cutting through space ahead of them, as Sparrow’s vessel held the vanguard and shielded the rest of the formation from whatever might emerge first.

This was Caleb’s first true deployment beyond fortification duty, and although he had long imagined war as something glorious, the reality of marching toward battle aboard a warship made him feel more nervous than he cared to admit.

Because out here, he controlled nothing.

He did not have the ability to survive the vacuum of space, nor did he have anything to realistically contribute in this battle, as this was a fight for the air force only....

And yet, as a Lieutenant, remaining planetside had never truly been an option for him either, because while most of his assigned unit stayed below in support positions, command responsibility required him to be present in places where decisions might need to be made in real time.

’I just hope, our defensive shields don’t malfunction....’

Caleb prayed internally, sweat beads rolling down his spine, while externally he tried to project a face of confidence.

His presence onboard was not merely symbolic, as in fleet warfare morale traveled strangely through ranks, and soldiers often drew confidence simply from seeing an officer willing to share the same danger as themselves.

As although he himself felt nervous, the fact that he stood there was a huge morale booster for the air force.

"Nobody becomes a great soldier by letting only his men fight," Caleb muttered softly, as an old lesson from Leo surfaced in his mind with surprising clarity.

"If you want to lead warriors into death someday, then you first have to stand where death can reach you too," he added, as repeating it eased something inside him.

Leo had taught him to be brave from a young age.

And hence, now that it was time to put those words to practice, Caleb felt as though he could not shy away and disrespect his father’s teachings.

*Sigh*

A deep sigh escaped him, as he pressed a hand against the console beside him and tried to calm the pounding of his heart without letting the crew around him notice.

Fear was there.

He knew that.

Yet it was not the kind of fear that made him wish to run, but the kind that sharpened awareness and made every moment feel painfully real.

And as the fleet continued toward the coming battle beneath General Sparrow’s lead, Caleb found himself silently hoping for the same thing every first-time soldier hoped for.

That when war finally arrived—

He would be lucky enough to survive it.

—-------------

(Meanwhile, Yu Rulo’s POV)

Yu Rulo was not surprised to see an entire Cult fleet coming to intercept his advance, as against the twenty-five-thousand ships under his command, the enemy had committed roughly eight thousand vessels to contest their approach.

And strangely, that sight made him more confident rather than cautious, because seeing ordinary fleet resistance made the exaggerated rumors surrounding General Sparrow suddenly feel far less monstrous than they had in whispered retellings.

"So all those stories about one man wiping out an entire reinforcement fleet were just that... stories," Yu Rulo muttered, as he watched enemy formations hold position across the void before them.

In his mind, the earlier fleet must have faced a concealed formation or some battlefield deception misread in chaos, because he found it difficult to believe one warship had truly annihilated such a force alone.

Maybe stealth formations had been involved.

Maybe the earlier commanders panicked.

Maybe myth had grown where battlefield confusion once stood.

However, whatever the truth was, the fact remained that the enemy now stood plainly before him in numbers he could measure, and numbers were something Yu Rulo trusted far more than legends.

The Yu Clan held superiority here.

They held momentum.

And if brute attrition became necessary, then the Yu Clan had ships enough to grind this opposition down through sheer numbers alone.

"These mongrels won’t last a minute once we crash through them," he said coldly, as the fleet continued advancing in disciplined silence while weapons systems quietly moved toward readiness.

For a while, neither side fired.

Then the command hall emitted a sharp signal.

*Beep*

An incoming transmission.

One of the officers routed it through the bridge as a voice rang through the chamber, calm and almost amused despite the threat woven beneath it.

"Yu Clan fleet, this is your final warning, turn away now or be reduced to ash."

A Cult voice said, as a few officers stiffened at those words.

However, Yu Rulo did not.

He stepped forward himself and took the communicator, his voice carrying the weight of rank as he answered with open confidence.

"Who is this speaking on the other side, and which fool exactly thinks he can threaten the Patriarch of the Yu Clan?"

He asked, as a brief pause followed.

Then the reply came.

"This is General Sparrow..." the voice said lazily.

"But you can call me your father, because I vaguely remember spending a few spicy nights with your mother."

Veyr said, as several officers froze at that response.

Yu Rulo’s jaw tightened instantly, though through effort alone he refused to react to the insult the way lesser men might have.

This was an obvious ragebait, and he knew better than to fall for something so plain.

"Sparrow... so you are the mysterious general people keep talking about," Yu Rulo replied, his tone almost courteous now, though fury stirred beneath every word.

"Well, fortune smiles on you today, because you happen to be speaking to Yu Rulo himself, and I will offer you a kindness an evil cultist like you rarely receives."

He leaned toward the transmitter slightly.

"Surrender now, enter my custody, and I may allow the rest of your men to live after we seize their ships.....

Refuse, and I will erase your fleet in an instant."

He warned, as laughter answered him.

Unbridled laughter, as Veyr could not contain his emotions.

"All right then," Veyr replied.

"Let’s see who erases who."

He said, as the transmission died, and silence returned.

*Sigh*

Yu Rulo exhaled slowly as he reached into his robes and withdrew one of Yu Kiro’s aura orbs, its compressed radiance pulsing in his palm while even nearby officers instinctively stepped back from its pressure.

For the first time since departure, he allowed himself to feel the comfort of divine insurance.

Then he narrowed his eyes toward Sparrow’s flagship.

"How dare you insult my mother?

Let’s see how you survive this, you piece of shit!" he muttered, as he began funneling the orb’s destructive aura toward the enemy line, as he prepared to crush it at once.