After some time when all three sides repaired their damaged ships, the Loyalists made a major move: the Empress' forces moved towards Thalassa Fortress.

Duke Dahl watched this development with a shudder and ordered his forces to assume a fully defensive posture. Admiral Weyrend couldn't help but feel suspicious at this unexpected turn of events. Shouldn't the Loyalists be focused on linking up?

"First you tell us to fight, now you want to not fight. What do you want, Admiral?" Marquis Knittlingen rebuked Weyrend, who for his part had to acknowledge this rebuke.

With no other choice, he fought Karl's fleet in Tarrasch Starzone. At first it seemed that the Loyalist fleets were ambushed and in disarray.

"Haha, this is what the commander was so afraid of?" The young nobles rashly charged, disregarding order or formation.

At which point the Loyalists dropped their guise, reformed formations, and blasted their carelessly advancing enemies effortlessly. This was the result of careful planning and training. "Don't advance too far! Withdraw!" Karl's orders flew as some of his ships began to thirst for blood and charge. Weyhern was forced to hurriedly recall his vanguard.

"I suppose this battle is boring for one as experienced as you, Marshal," Admiral Valentina said jokingly. "The enemy is little match for our forces, even outnumbered as we are. Now we only need to buy time until Her Majesty arrives."

"Don't let your confidence turn to arrogance, Admiral. But from the onset of the war I'm not too cautious of the Tollerwalds," Karl said. "They have a major weak point."

"Their commanders suck?"

"No. Weyhern might not be my equal, but he's close enough that I won't be able to overcome a 8:3 disadvantage, ceteris paribus. It's because there's no trust between the commander and the second-in-command, and between the senior and junior officers, and between the officers and soldiers. Everyone fights for their own glory and reasons. Without a unified will, a fleet is worthless."

Meanwhile, the Empress made a stunningly sharp turn. The Loyalists had spread misinformation about heading to Thalassa Fortress; they had, in fact, planned to rejoin the main fleet and ambush the Tollerwalds. The fleet that headed to Thalassa Fortress was a ragtag fleet of damaged and old ships, and even these were being pulled back.

"What is our commander doing? We must attack!" was the sentiment that burned in the Tollerwald nobles. Their thirst for glory was blinding all reason.

It was the Loyalists who seized the initiative as Weyhern reorganized his fleets; the First Fleet launched a devastating hit-and-run assault on the enemy's left wing, enraging the nobles and prompting a poorly planned counterattack.

This counterattack was rapidly beaten back by the combined Loyalist forces, inflicting more damage to the Tollerwalds. "Poor Weyhern. No commander should have to command a navy this disorganized," Karl commented. "Admiral Valentina, status of the vanguard?"

"Her Majesty the Empress' forces are around 40 minutes away," was the reply.

"Good. We'll attack."

The Loyalist fleets attacked again. But at this point Weyhern had managed to take control of his own forces, and put up a solid defense.

"New enemy reinforcements at our rear!"

"What?"

The Empress, grinning, led her fleets to attack the enemy rear. "Here I was, afraid there'd be nothing to fight once we get here. A tiger doesn't need to think twice about killing a cat; attack, and whatever enemy you see, blast them apart!"

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The order reinvigorated the Loyalist fleets, and they tore through the unprepared Tollerwald rear. "There's no choice. We must withdraw."

The majority of the noble forces seemed to agree–Marquis Knittlingen was the first to cowardly try and make a run for it, but so incompetent was his attempt that his ship was immediately sunk by Radbruch's Fifth Fleet and Scarnhorst's Sixth Fleet.

Weyhern's actual retreating attempt was praiseworthy; he successfully identified the weak link–the Fifth Fleet–and ran away after scattering it. In total, the Tollerwalds still lost a staggering 50 percent casualty rate. Marshal Karl was content to let them go. Mentally speaking, his soldiers were fresh, and morale was very high. Physically, however, they were exhausted.

Later on, with infighting, the Tollerwald fleet broke apart. Weyhern, with around 50,000 ships (somewhat) loyal to him, devised a cunning plan; circle through the territory of the Republic and take control of the Empire's rim worlds, forcing the Loyalists into a two-front war. The remainder of the Tollerwald fleet–many mercenaries–either returned to their base, surrendered, or simply disappeared.

As the Loyalists celebrated the destruction of yet another significant chunk of their enemy's forces, Weyhern made his way to Republican space ....

As elements of the Empire fought one another, one couldn't ignore the opinion of the other superpower, the Republic of New Stars. Though there were some who called for invasion–as this was the perfect moment–the scars of the horrible defeat at Ventii were still fresh. For now, the Republic was content to shore up its own defences and watch its enemy tear itself apart.

The Republic's Armada emphasized fleet action; for this reason, fleet commanders were afforded both a degree of independence and respect. They were allowed to provide inputs for their own fleet composition, for one; and to conduct their own exercises.

Battlefleet Chiyou and Battlefleet Isolde, both ordered to patrol the border, were conducting military exercises. Battlefleet Isolde was an example of the Republic's average fleet; it was comprised of 4000 battleships, 4000 cruisers, 2000 fast battleships, and 6000 smaller warships such as destroyers, torpedo boats, and gunships. Its ships were a mix of old and new.

"Sweat spent today saves tomorrow's blood," Admiral Tang once said. She viewed herself as a trainer for her two students.

For now, she gave command of 14000 "snake ships"–fast battleships–and destroyers to Abbas, her chief-of-staff. She was very frank. "I don't think you'll ever be a commander of large fleets, Abbas," she said. "They say a commander's true nature is revealed in their first battle. You're the fierce type; I'll mold you into Kadita's successor."

"You don't have to be so plain ...," Yue sighed. A good part of the exercises was pitting Abbas' offense against Yue's defense; the latter won, mostly, but the former had been able to nick off a win or two.

The two fleets were conducting yet another day of exercises when border patrols detected a large Imperial force crossing the border. This was Weyhern's fleet, but it would take a few more days for news to arrive.

Although Abbas was chief-of-staff, he was also informally filling the empty seat of vice commander, like Yue before him. For that, he commanded Quetzalcoatl, the ship that he captained in Ventii. His official aide came from the Capital.

When Abbas saw the shameless face of Alice Black, the lips of his mouth formed a cruel twist. "You know what you did, Lieutenant."

"It's Lieutenant Commander, Sir," Alice said sheepishly. It was hard to discern whether she was truly sheepish, or it was a shameless ruse.

"Sure. Congratulations for the promotion; what would I do without you in Ventii? Now go sort out my documents." Venom was dripping from Abbas' tongue.

With a weak salute, his aide left Abbas' presence.

"Is that bastard 'Admiral' Black trying to fuck with my fleet or what?"

This was Admiral Tang's nasty response when she, Yue, and Abbas convened together in Yue's flagship Cutrose–formally to discuss further exercises, informally to badmouth the new arrival.

Yue and Abbas shot a look at one another. "The roots of nepotism run deep, don't they?" Yue said pensively.

"Hmph. Fine. Battlefleet Chiyou isn't for the faint-hearted. She'll learn to adapt–or be pushed out," Admiral Tang said.

Abbas retired to Quetzalcoatl–there he was confronted by his own aide, Alice. "Commander, I want to apologize for my conduct in Ventii. I ... feared for my life."

"That much was obvious."

"My fa–Admiral Black intended to put me in Battlefleet Ouroboros. I asked to transfer here–to redeem my actions."

A glitter of cautious sympathy danced in Abbas' eyes. "Then see to it that you do, Lieutenant Commander."

The chance to redeem her name arrived almost immediately–the next day, hurried communications of imperial forces crossing the border arrived. The two battlefleets marched to intercept their foes.