111. The Nation Needs Its Pioneers

On the morning of the fifth day since the embargo was imposed, Rangga was on his private island when a communication notification from Earth finally appeared.

He immediately opened it.

The first message was from his family.

Rangga read it quickly. He barely paid attention to each sentence because his mind immediately focused on one thing: the situation in Garuda.

The situation was far worse than he had imagined.

The prices of various goods had increased. Several factories had halted part of their production. Many workers had been laid off. Panic buying was occurring in various regions, and riots had broken out in several cities.

Rangga let out a long breath.

“Damn...”

He then opened the message from the government.

It was longer, explaining the development of the embargo and its impact on trade, industry, and the distribution of goods throughout the country.

Rangga read it quickly.

By the time he reached the section explaining the series of economic consequences, his emotions had already begun to rise. He scrolled through the screen without really paying attention to the end of the message.

At almost the same time, the other Garuda Pioneers also received similar messages on their respective private islands.

Regional chat immediately became busy.

Andre: Damn.

Fajar: I just read the message from home.

Rian: Same.

Siska: Is it really that bad?

Andre: Really bad.

Fajar: My brother said the factory where he works is cutting production.

Rian: My dad said a lot of people are starting to get laid off too.

Andre: All because of them.

Fajar: They were the ones who shot me first.

Rian: I almost died too.

Andre then sent a much harsher message.

Andre: If I run into a Bald Eagle Pioneer again, I’m attacking them.

Fajar: I’m in.

Rian: Same.

Rangga, who had been reading the conversation, finally typed a message.

Rangga: I wanna teach them a lesson too.

Siska: Sir Rangga...

Rangga: They started it, Sis.

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Andre: Exactly... They shot at us, and our country is the one getting embargoed.

Fajar: We’re the victims, but we’re the ones being forced to deal with the consequences.

Rian: It makes no sense.

A few seconds later, Deri appeared in regional chat.

Deri: Do not attack anyone.

Andre: Major, they were the ones who attacked us first.

Deri: I know.

Fajar: Then what are we supposed to do?

Deri: Exercise restraint.

Andre: Until when?

Deri: Until our country stabilizes.

Andre immediately replied.

Andre: How is it supposed to stabilize? They’re the ones causing all this chaos.

Fajar: If we stay quiet, they’ll just get bolder.

Rian: We’ve already been attacked once. What if they come again?

Deri's position remained unchanged.

Deri: If you attack now, the problem will not stop with a single group of Pioneers.

Andre: What do you mean?

Deri: Bald Eagle has an alliance.

Deri: If you attack one of their Pioneers, they’ll have a reason to retaliate.

Fajar: But they’ve already retaliated with the embargo.

Deri: An embargo can still be dealt with, but a war is much harder to handle.

Rangga read the message with a frown.

Rangga: But are we really supposed to just sit here and do nothing?

Deri: I’m not saying to do nothing. I’m saying don’t take actions that will make the situation worse.

Andre: So we’re just supposed to accept it?

Deri: No. You’re misunderstanding our position. You were victims in the incident on Tropical Island. That is a fact.

Deri: You were shot first. You were attacked. You defended yourselves. But now the issue has become bigger than that incident, and our country is in chaos.

Deri: Factories are shutting down. Trade routes are disrupted. People are panicking. If we open another conflict in the Pioneer world, who will help deal with the situation on Earth?

Regional chat slowly began to quiet down, and Deri sent one more message.

Deri: You read the government’s message while you were emotional. Read it again.

Andre replied briefly.

Andre: Which part?

Deri: The very bottom. The government’s request.

Rangga reopened the message he had received earlier. This time, he read it slowly.

His eyes stopped at the final section.

There was an official request to all Garuda Pioneers to increase resource shipments from the Pioneer world to help sustain industry and meet the needs of the population for the duration of the embargo.

Rangga fell silent, then scrolled a little further.

Wood, coal, stone, metals, food supplies, and various materials that could be used to maintain production while also building local industrial facilities.

“Ah...”

Rangga finally realized it.

Rangga: Oh.

Siska: What is it, Sir?

Rangga: They’re asking us to send materials.

Andre: Huh?

Fajar: Seriously?

Rian: I didn’t read that far down either.

Andre immediately reopened his message, and a few moments later he replied.

Andre: ...Oh, yeah.

Fajar: There’s a request for supplies.

Rian: They want resources from here to keep the factories running?

Deri: Yes. And that’s our task now.

Rangga leaned back and sighed.

Now he was beginning to understand why Deri had been so adamantly opposed to the idea of attacking from the very beginning.

They might not be able to change Bald Eagle’s decisions in the Pioneer world, but they had something Garuda desperately needed.

Resources—and in quantities far greater than their country could obtain from Earth itself.

Rangga: So for now, we focus on sending materials.

Deri: Correct.

Rangga: Forget about revenge for now.

Deri: Not for now.

Deri: Don’t start a war.

Rangga nodded slightly, even though Deri could not see him.

Rangga: Okay.

Andre: I’m still pissed off.

Deri: So am I.

Andre: But fine. I’ll help.

Fajar: Me too.

Rian: Same here, then.

Siska: Where do we start?

Deri immediately laid out their priorities.

Deri: Only five Pioneers should focus on Vanadium, and don’t have everyone chasing Vanadium. Everyone else should focus on food, wood, coal, and metals.

Fajar: As much coal as possible?

Deri: Yes. Especially coal.

Rian: What kind of metals?

Deri: Iron, copper, tin, and other materials that can be used for industry.

Siska: Should we send food too?

Deri: Yes. As much as you can. We don’t know how long the embargo will last. So don’t think only about rare materials.

The conversation gradually changed direction.

Just a few minutes earlier, they had been discussing how to retaliate against the Bald Eagle Pioneers.

Now they were talking about resource locations, shipment capacity, and dividing up the workload.

Their anger had not disappeared.

Fajar still remembered the arrow that had pierced his arm. Andre still remembered the pain when an arrow struck his thigh. Rian had not forgotten how close he had come to losing his life.

But for the time being, they chose to do something far more useful.

Help Garuda survive.