“So this is the final battle,” Abbas remarked to the other fleet commanders in a final tactical meeting as the two opposing fleets moved into position, just outside Lephelia’s orbit. “At least it’ll be over soon.”

“Oh, it’ll be over soon, for sure,” Marshal Tang said with a grin. “I, for one, can’t wait to see Cadorna’s face when we finish him off. Anyhow, we have the overwhelming numerical and qualitative advantage. Therefore, our plan is to overwhelm the opposition with waves and waves of ships until they are worn down. First wave will be Yue and Cochrane. Second wave will be Anand. Third wave will be Zach and Koo. Repeat until the enemy has been exhausted. Then, Abbas and I will deliver the killing blow. Abbas, you’ll also make diversionary moves on the outskirts of the battle to drive unease to the enemy.”

Newly added to the lineup of fleet commanders were Vice Admiral Cochrane and Rear Admiral Zach. The latter was part of Abbas’ Battlefleet Tristan, but had caught Joint Headquarter’s eyes and promoted. The former was a former retired commodore who led guerrila forces in the backwater provinces.

At this point the Republic’s fleet has been massively reinforced, as previously neutral units, retired veterans, and reserve troops joined them. Republican forces tied up fighting rebel units elsewhere had also been freed as many rebels surrendered after Admiral Black’s defeat. In total the Armada could muster nearly one hundred and fifty thousand ships, against Cadorna’s mere twenty thousand.

As the battle was about to begin, the enemy arranged their fleets in a general defensive position. “Okay. Let’s start,” Marshal Tang declared. “First wave, advance!”

Vice Admirals Cochrane and Yue swept in from starboard and flank. “Lieutenant Commander Black, reporting for duty, Commander.” Alice’s hand was firm when she saluted. Abbas merely nodded; he was focused on the battle ahead. After half an hour, Yue and Cochrane withdrew.

When the second wave, consisting of Anand—who was a rock solid commander but lacked aggressiveness--, were stonewalled by an unexpectedly stubborn resistance, Abbas made visible movements as if he intended to encircle them. This triggered a panicked response, enabling Anand to break through. Aten’s fleet barely stabilized around headquarters.

As the second wave withdrew, Zach and Koo charged in. A devastating blow was made unto the enemy’s starboard, and as the third wave retreated, Marshal Tang gave the signal to the entire fleet that the coup de grace was to be executed.

With Battlefleet Chiyou at the head, the Republic’s fleets spread themselves out, forming a daunting circle around the enemy’s dwindling fleets. Terrible firepower poured forth from the cannons, decimating the enemy ships one after another. “Lieutenant Commander Black,” Abbas said. “Our fleet will attack the enemy from the northward and southward direction of the Z-axis, ambushing the enemy that intends to escape.”

“Roger that, Commander.”

Once the enemy flagship, with Admiral Cadorna in it, went down, any sense of cohesion dissolved. “It’s over,” Abbas remarked. “It’s really over ....” It was, by all accounts, a rather uneventful battle.

In the following month, the Armada took a more watchful stance as the civilian government restored order. Much of the Republic’s resources had been squandered away to fund the Aten government. It would be a long road for the Republic to restore its prosperity and economy, much less the Armada.

Marshal Popov was freed from his captivity, and resumed duty as Joint Headquarters Chief. Marshal Tang assumed the title of Supreme Commander of the Armada, the number two uniformed officer in the military. Both Abbas and Yue, as well as most of the personnel involved, received promotions; Abbas to Vice Admiral, Yue to full Admiral. Both were given a month’s leave.

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During this month, Abbas and Yue quietly married. It was a small celebration in Olkutchen, and the children of the orphanage all put on five kilograms of weight after eating all the cake.

“What should we do after this?” Abbas asked at the end of their honeymoon in Olkutchen. “Do you want to continue being in the fleet?”

“Maybe for a little while,” Yue says. “And then I’d like to retire early, and be an instructor or something.”

“That sounds like a good plan. I think I’ll retire early too, and join an exploration fleet,” Abbas says. “I want to see unexplored space.”

The end of the Atenian government!

This news sent ripples to the imperial leadership, though perhaps not such a great one. “It is well within our expectations,” Marshal Karl remarked towards his liege. “The Republic’s in a bad shape. It will take them decades to recover from this.”

“If they even recover,” the Empress replied. “At this point, we can negotiate with them for a peace treaty from a position of strength.”

“That is precisely so,” Marshal Karl said. The other great advisor, Spymaster Klaris, was strangely silent.

“Well then, are we prepared to end this pointless war?”

Unfortunately for the newlyweds, the Republic’s military could ill afford two of their fleet commanders disappearing for an extended period. Yue was summoned to Lephelia to help reorganize the fleets. Her organizational expertise, learnt meticulously from years of service as Battlefleet Chiyou’s chief-of-staff, was invaluable.

On the other hand, her husband was sent to patrol the frontier. The government was worried that, as the Republic’s military strength had likely reached its nadir in its centuries of existence, the Empire would take advantage. Marshal Tang was vehemently opposed, stating:

“He’s still rough. Give me five or six years to train him, and we’ll have the second ‘Unstoppable Lance’.”

The late Admiral Kadita held the moniker ‘Unstoppable Lance’, for her sharp, aggressive actions at Istoria. “It’s the Ministry of Defence’s order,” Marshal Popov said sharply. “And we have so few able commanders left.”

The Armada had been able to salvage many ships from Aten’s hands, but they obviously had to imprison Aten’s admirals. This meant that there were too few commanders and men for too many ships. While recruiting and training new military personnel were fairly doable, experienced and skilled fleet commanders didn’t sprout from trees.

One week into Abbas’ assignment in the frontier, a strange order came from Joint Headquarters. “An Atenian admiral under the name of Rear Admiral Tep with important data are fleeing into Imperial space, intending to trade that data for protection. His force strength is estimated at five thousand warships. The flagship is the Ketep. Chase them at all costs, even into Imperial space if necessary. Detain if possible, kill otherwise.

Set out immediately after receiving this order.”

“Five thousand warships? It’s hard to believe that many ships can slip through imperial surveillance,” Abbas said.

“I concur, Commander,” Alice, who brought the order, said. “This order is very strange.”

Out of eighteen thousand vessels under his command, he selected seven thousand for him to lead, splitting the rest to perform independent patrols. With these seven thousand vessels, Battlefleet Tristan raced into Imperial space.

For the past month, Empress Katharin had been finalizing the peace proposal that her government was about to send. The key points were the mutual recognizing of one another’s sovereignty, the creation of an arms-free zone controlled by both parties, end to all conflict, and return of prisoners of war from both sides.

She was fine-tuning the formal language of the proposal when peculiar news came to her, delivered by Scarnhorst. “A detachment of Republican warships, using evasive tactics, has infiltrated our borders. They seem to be looking for something, as they utterly avoid our patrol ships. There is no clear pattern to their movements otherwise.”

“Engage them in battle and capture the commander alive. We should interrogate them.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty. Marshal Karl has already ordered my Sixth Fleet to intercept, but he thought prudent to inform Your Majesty. Chance would have it that the enemy commander is one Vice Admiral Abbas al-Salem.”

“Abbas?” Katharin asked, raising her eyebrows. A particular mix of emotion swirled in her tongue. “I rescind that order. I will hunt him down myself.”

“... aye, Majesty.”