Falling: How to Survive as a Cannon Fodder

HTSCF CH 048 Rebirth of the CP3

By the time rescue arrived, in the form of the First Army's battleship Mars and the Second Army's battleship Saturn, the champion of jinxing himself, Jun, was still fighting the Zergs, running purely on adrenaline and survival instincts. The moment Niall and Cyrus approached him, he attacked without deliberation, but was effortlessly subdued by them and collapsed into their arms, unconscious.

This entire 5-hour long battle had been broadcast for all of the Empire to observe. The third wave took longer to handle than the first two combined because Jun was running and fighting, his actions becoming slower over time. At least the world was considerate enough to not send a fourth wave while he was dealing with the third wave...

Since the battle persisted that long, if someone missed the beginning of the live broadcast, then they saw the middle or end. As for Niall and Cyrus, they only caught the first minute before jumping through several warp gates without authorization to reach planet X44, but everyone else was too dumbfounded to care. For the return trip, Niall and Cyrus didn't fight over which ship would bring Jun back, more concerned with his well-being.

Back at Capital Star, Jun slept for an entire day in the military academy's hospital. While he rested, the doctors did a physical assessment and discovered to their surprise that Jun's physique had risen from A grade to S grade! When the netizens learned of this, Jun's fame rose again and the decision the captain and vice-captain made was promptly brought into question.

Yet, when Jun woke up to learn that the captain and vice-captain were facing potential military discipline, he implored Niall and Cyrus to help him relay to the higher-ups that he believed their decision to be the right one. Though it was discriminatory against a "beta," they wouldn't have had to make such a decision if it weren't for his most tenacious suitor, Death. Not to mention he wasn't a real "beta."

Regardless, the captain and vice-captain were suspended for 60 days without pay as an example and a means to appease the dissatisfaction of the netizens. After being discharged from the hospital, the academy granted him two weeks of break from combat training, which included training missions, but he still had to attend his theoretical classes. General Atlas and General Albert requested time off, two weeks worth, for the first time in their military career, shocking everyone under their command to undergo an existential crisis.

That time was used to spend with Jun, helping him to recuperate while preparing for his impending heat period. Except, it never came. Even though his omega genes were active, maybe because he was a recessive omega, his heat periods seemed to be irregular.

"It'll be alright." Niall comforted Jun with a light kiss on the cheek.

"Sure..." As if Jun believed that. With his luck, his heat would probably occur at the most inconvenient moment, whenever that was.

Cyrus held Jun's hand and laid a kiss on top of his knuckles, thoughtful. Both he and Niall were generals stationed on opposing outskirts of the Empire's territory to patrol and be the first line of defense against large-scale Zerg attacks, making it difficult for them to return to Capital Star regularly. With the recent increase in the number of attacks, it was certain war would be heading their way soon.

For Jun's sake, perhaps it was best they didn't mark him until after things became more stable. Niall was thinking the same. This was all because of their selfishness—it was meaningless to accept anything other than a lifemate mark.

Another month passed and four months remained for the Main Mission. During the past month, Jun was "randomly selected" for two more similarly dangerous training missions, but he was better at handling them after the upgrade of his physique. Having this many training missions in such a short amount of time wasn't the result of his luck but that the military was short of people, the number of small fights with Zergs having increased yet again.