Chapter 106: The Dawn of Peace: Federation’s New Hero

“The war is over!”

The image of Federation President Friedrich was projected above every city and in every corner of the Orbital Ring Station circling Earth.

He spoke for half an hour, but in the end, summed it all up with those five words.

At that moment, all of humanity erupted in celebration.

Meanwhile, inside Hangar One of the Warstar Vellesharana, the flagship of the First Fleet—

All the fighter jets had already been moved out, leaving the vast space filled with over a thousand seats. Everyone gathered here today was, without exception, at least of major rank.

There were more than a hundred generals present as well.

This was a private ceremony to award medals and grant promotions following the war.

Even though the war had ended a month ago and Fleet Headquarters had already calculated everyone’s merits and given out most of the awards—

There were still a few people left, their recognition postponed until today.

Of course, it wasn’t because they had accomplished too little. In fact…

Everyone being honored today stood far above the rest in military merit, so their awards and promotions would be presented by the top brass in person.

Today’s gathering had been arranged just for that.

“Lin… Lin Yu, could you calm down a bit? I mean, it’s just a medal, isn’t it? Isn’t it a bit much to be this nervous?”

George’s legs trembled as he glanced at Lin Yu, who looked perfectly composed.

Unlike the thousand-odd seats in the main viewing area, more than a hundred seats had been arranged along the left side of the hangar.

These seats were set so that everyone could face the audience.

In the front row sat Lin Yu, George, Andrei, Bai Jun, and several others.

You could say almost a third of these seats belonged to people from the Sixth Fleet.

The rest were mostly from the First, Fourth, and Fifth Fleets. As for the Second and Third Fleets, together they mustered only five people in total.

To secure victory in the Jupiter campaign, the First Fleet’s newly appointed Lieutenant General Crester led two squadrons to face off against more than 2,000 Klein warships. The entire force was lost in action.

During the Nyx operation, the Fourth Fleet was tasked with learning the truth about the alien civilization. Only 27 warships survived the battle, and even Lieutenant General Volkov as well as the Warstar Petrov Glory fell there.

To ensure humanity’s final deployment, Fifth Fleet Commander Mu Qingxue personally led 57 warships as a rearguard.

In the end, only eight ships remained. In fact, if Lin Yu hadn’t arrived in time, Mu Qingxue would have almost certainly become the third fleet admiral to fall in this war.

Compared to that, the Second and Third Fleets performed rather routinely. They made neither major contributions nor spectacular feats.

“I’m not nervous. And George, could you stop shaking your foot?”

Lin Yu couldn’t help but give a wry smile as he glanced at George.

Who would’ve thought that George, known for his pride at the academy and hailing from the wealthy Campbell family in North America, would have this side to him?

It’s just a promotion ceremony. Isn’t this a little over the top…?

“N-nonsense! My leg isn’t shaking at all!”

“Alright, if you say it isn’t, then it isn’t.”

Lin Yu just shook his head and glanced over at the audience.

The first three rows were filled with generals—there were over 120 of them.

Behind them sat the field officers, numbering in the thousands.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the Federation Fleet is made up of just this many generals and officers. Many were still at Mars or in Earth’s sphere, especially those from Lunar Headquarters, who didn’t make the trip.

Plus, each fleet had to leave some people behind to keep things running. It’s not as if every officer above the rank of major could attend.

According to the official roster, there were 678 active generals and over ten thousand field-grade officers currently serving in the Federation Fleet.

About twenty minutes later—

The ceremony began, personally hosted by Mu Xingchen.

One by one, the hundred-plus men and women in Lin Yu’s section were called up.

Some received new ranks, some were awarded medals, and others got both.

George was promoted from captain to major, and was also presented with the Federation Fleet’s Second-Class Battle Medal.

Andrei even skipped a rank, going straight from warrant officer to lieutenant, along with a Second-Class Battle Medal of his own.

Soon after, Bai Jun, Meng Fei, Qin Qiong, and others took their turn on stage.

It all became clear to Lin Yu—everyone from the Zhulong had at least gotten a Second-Class Battle Medal, and as for their ranks…

Generally, they’d be promoted by one grade, but if someone started below officer rank—like Andrei—they’d likely be bumped up two levels.

That’s just how it worked.

An hour later, only Lin Yu remained.

At this point, everyone else had already gone up and received their honors.

Right then—

“There’s only one person left for today’s promotion ceremony. I’m sure you all know who it is.”

“Still, allow me to give a proper introduction.”

“In Federation Year 200, he graduated from the Command Department of Mars Advanced Military Academy, breaking every all-around record in history. He was granted the rare honor of being commissioned as a captain on graduation, serving as a battle operations officer aboard the Qiongxiao of the Fifth Fleet.”

“In Federation Year 201, the ‘Ignite Jupiter’ strategy he designed shaped our decisive battle. Thanks to him, we managed to reduce the Klein warships to a number we could barely manage.”

“That same year, the Fifth Fleet proposed forming a small special operations unit to outmaneuver our enemies in the approaching Asteroid Belt standoff, and he took command for the first time.”

“In the following year and seven months, he led multiple devastating attacks against the Klein fleet throughout the Asteroid Belt, including one in which he wiped out nearly a hundred enemy ships with zero losses. In another engagement, he destroyed a fleet deep within our territory and captured a key Klein commander.”

“He masterminded Operation Starfall, bringing down the Klein main force during the last phase of the asteroid standoff, then led a surprise attack on Europa, paving the way for us to retake both the belt and the Jupiter defense line.”

“Finally, during Fifth Fleet’s darkest hour, he arrived with the newly formed Sixth Experimental Fleet, rescued all surviving personnel, and lured the enemy armada into the final decisive battle at exactly the right place and time.”

“That’s right—he’s the former lieutenant colonel commander of the Fifth Fleet’s Fourth Special Operations Unit, and now the colonel of the Sixth Experimental Fleet.”

“He is also humanity’s greatest hero in this war.”

“At just twenty-one years old, Lin Yu!”

“And today, we will witness the youngest general in the Federation Fleet’s 203-year history!”

In that moment—

Over a thousand people in the hall turned their heads in unison, all looking toward Lin Yu.