Chapter 7: Imperial Wrath

March 3.

"General, you're doing the grave mistake of underestimating the Grand Admiral. You need to pull back to Boonta and wait for reinforcements to face him." Jaral said with a bit of impatience toward the man she was speaking with.

Iblis simply crossed his arms on his chest and replied with contempt. "I see why Mothma put you in charge, little girl. You and her know nothing about a real war. Do you think the Empire can be talked down?"

"I never said that." the woman replied, trying to keep her composure. "But rushing in blindly is the perfect recipe for a disaster, General. I'm just asking you to wait until we send reinforcements."

"How long will they take?!" Iblis exploded. "Right now we have an opportunity to liberate Kashyyyk, and the rest of the Mid Rim with it."

"Don't you understand? You're being led into a trap. For the sake of your men, you need to stop for a second and look around you."

Iblis just scoffed. "I've had enough of your half-measures, Jaral Bridger. If you want to wait until the Empire walks all over you, be my guest. But me and my men are going to actually do something. That will be all." and he closed the transmission.

Jaral wanted to punch something, but that wouldn't have been very Jedi-like and she didn't want to damage her father's ship, so she bit her lip and took a deep breath before heading out of the comm room, where Darvos was waiting for her.

"Having a bad time?" he asked with a bit of a joking tone to cheer her up.

Jaral, though, sighed and she was going to need something else entirely to get her mood up.

"The last thing I needed was a stubborn old Dewback who is likely leading a third of our fleet to the slaughter."

"Not a third, anymore." Darvos reminded. "Many of the captains who followed him got back in line after the conference, remember?"

"Iblis still has some capital ships with him. Just the kind we are short on."

Darvos didn't know how to reply to that, so he didn't.

Jaral sighed again. "How long until Ackbar arrives with his battle force?" she asked then.

Darvos checked his datapad, read the reports and inadvertently shook his head. "Three rotations, at best."

Jaral leaned on the table as the discomfort took her over. "I hope Iblis knows what he's doing."

"He does, I think…" Darvos replied. "problem is, Iulius knows what he's doing quite well." he added with a bit of resignation in his tone.

Jaral took a glimpse at him. Darvos was staring downward, toward the micro-cells of the holotable, as if they had the answer to his internal conflict.

She knew very well how badly Darvos wanted a chance to meet his brother peacefully. He had told her that, some nights, he dreamed about Atollon, and how close the Tanis had been to kill each other. That single thought was slowly eating Darvos on the inside.

Jaral wondered if Iulius had also planned this psychological effect on his brother when he sent Qathora to act as a double agent. Darvos had asked questions to her, some related strictly to Iulius, perhaps just so he could learn anything about the brother he didn't know anymore.

"Speaking of brothers…" she tried to divert Darvos' focus to help him. "do we have any news about mine?"

"Well, if everything goes as planned, they should reach the Trailing Sectors in two rotations. But right now, they're on radio silence."

"Ok. What about the prisoners they rescued on Kessel?"

"They've been all integrated into our forces as soldiers and agents. We also recovered some experienced officers that we lost during the battle of Columex."

"Good. Let's hope the rest of their mission goes just as smoothly."

"Ezra knows what he's doing." Darvos reassured her. "I doubt he would have been made a Knight, if he didn't."

Jaral made a faint chuckle. "You're right about that."

She then tapped into the Force bond to see if she could talk briefly with him, but found his side of the bond occupied, for now. Whatever Ezra was doing, he was deeply concentrated, so she decided to leave him do his things.

Still, she could certainly use hearing him reassuring her, right now. Then she remembered that it was her who sent her brother on the other side of the galaxy, but it was for a very important task that she didn't feel like delegating to anybody else. Cause he was the only one she trusted all the way.

Confident that Ezra was certainly giving everything for the mission, she found a bit of confidence back and decided it was time she got back to work.

"Ok, enough self-pitying. We need to think of a countermove." she declared. "Ask Colonel Undir and his staff to come down here."

Darvos did just that and the salarian officer, along with his two underlings and also Jordan showed up in the strategic room.

"How can we help, Admiral?" Undir asked cordially.

"I need your counsel, gentlemen. We know that Grand Admiral Tanis is preparing to strike our southern flank, and unfortunately, General Iblis refused to listen to reason. So we might find ourselves with a dangerous gap in the line."

"You don't trust General Iblis to win his campaign?" Lieutenant Matsui asked.

Jaral shook her head. "He might come out of there alive, but for how skilled he is, he's underestimating his opponent, which means he has already lost."

"I see." Undir said with a hand rubbing his chin. "If Iblis' fleet is destroyed, the Empire will probably take over Saleucami, then Junkfort Station would be defenseless."

"And from there, he could attack Jabiim from a far better position than last time." Jordan concluded.

"Precisely. Now, even if Iulius defeats Iblis too quickly, our fleet should still arrive in time to close the gap, but I was wondering if the Federation could launch an assault down the Perlimian Trade Route, perhaps retake Columex while the Grand Admiral is busy elsewhere." the woman suggested.

"Hmm…" murmured Undir, before speaking with his speedy tone. "An option worth considering. Lianna is possible candidate to become temporary capital of the New Republic and is probably its wealthiest member. It would be problematic if it stays on the frontline."

"We should propose it to Admiral Trebis and the Prince, but I think they'll listen." Lieutenant Trebis noted.

"The Constantinople is at your disposal, Grand Marshall." Jordan stated.

"Never doubted that. Though it should be 'Admiral' to you." Jaral quipped.

Jordan chuckled. "Right. Let's put you in contact with Edrix."

March 4.

Inside the system of Charros, the Admonitor sat in the middle of a formation of ships composed entirely of light cruisers, two carriers and some middle cruisers. Overall, every ship was of a smaller tonnage than the Admonitor.

Suddenly, the sensors on the bridge started beeping. "Grand Admiral. Rebel fleet coming out of hyperspace." the operator announced.

Iulius was staring out of the viewport with his hands behind his back.

He knew this wasn't going to be easy: Iblis might have put himself on a very disadvantageous position, but he was nonetheless one of the best tacticians of the Rebellion. His fleet had won previous engagements in which it seemed to have little chance of success.

Despite that, Iulius wasn't charging in blindly, either. Just like Thrawn taught him, he had spent the last few days studying every report he had on Iblis. Records of his previous battles against the Empire and the composition of his fleet. Iulius knew that he could do this.

'Trust in your abilities, Iulius Tanis, they are all that you need to achieve victory.' the words his mentor pronounced before his first battle over Lothal resonated in his mind.

Besides, he had to do this: the campaign he envisioned for the next weeks implied the destruction of Iblis' rampaging group, so he could focus on other targets.

As all of this passed his mind, the rebel ships appeared on the horizon. Two MC80 calamari cruisers, at least five Nebulon-B and a large number of frigates and light cruisers. But what Iulius cared for was the Dreadnought cruiser at the center of the formation: Iblis' flagship, the Peregrine.

"Sir, their flagship is calling us." Ciena reported from behind him.

Iulius made a simple nod and the woman used her datapad to pass the communication on the holo-projector in front of the Grand Admiral.

There, the image of the old Senator and military leader, with his pointy mustaches and trimmed beard, appeared. Iulius looked at him with a neutral face. Instead, Iblis seemed surprised.

"Grand Admiral Tanis?" he asked with suspicion in his tone.

"General Iblis." Iulius replied in a neutral tone.

"I was expecting a man of your reputation to be...much older."

"Looks can be deceiving, General. Still, I look forward to our confrontation." Iulius calmly stated.

Iblis huffed amused. "You are not even going to ask for my surrender?"

"Why waste my breath and our time for a question I already know the answer of?" the Grand Admiral replied with a half-grin. "Besides, I don't want your surrender, General. I want you to know failure. Utter defeat." he added as he made a slow step toward the hologram. "And that is I who deliver it upon your head."

The corellian general looked with a bit of disdain. "Seems like someone has to teach you a bit of humility," he stated before closing the transmission.

Almost immediately, just as Iulius predicted, Iblis sent his fighters in.

Right now, the rebels were aiming at the main space station around Charros IV, which was protected by some asteroid fields which gave a certain conformation to the battlefield, even in the void of space.

Particularly, the imperial fleet was protecting a bottleneck between the asteroids which would force the rebels to push into one direction, but also put the imperial forces somehow with their back against a wall. In fact, Vice-Admiral Sloane, who was commanding the 73rd fleet in this battle, was opposed to this idea, but Iulius had pulled his rank and forced her to act according to his plan.

Even though the 'bottleneck' spanned over a few hundred km, in the void of space it was still considered very short, considering the spacing that the ships had to keep in order not to collide against each other.

As the X-Wings and A-Wings sprinted forwards, Iulius gave order to deploy the TIE Fighters and Interceptors, then called the ship of Sloane. "Vice-Admiral, send your Lancers to support our fighters."

"Understood, Grand Admiral." the woman replied. Iulius could understand from her tone that she was still very doubtful about this whole setting for the battle.

All Iulius cared for, however, was that she followed the orders, which she did.

The Lancers and the TIEs moved forward to contest the control of the bottleneck. The support given by the frigates gave a cutting edge to the TIEs, with the fight going in their direction. Then the rebel ships ignored them and headed toward the Lancers, firing volley after volley against them. Such a move managed to damage one of them, but only caused heavy losses among the rebels.

This, though, was meant to distract the imperials from noticing that the rebels were also sending in their frigates and even some corvettes that could quickly get rid of the Lancers.

Of course, such distraction didn't work on Iulius, who promptly ordered his forces to pull back before the rebels could even the odds.

Then Iblis did exactly what Iulius expected: seeing the imperials retreat and the fleet simply standing around the space station, he ordered his ships to charge into the breach.

"Sir, should I order the missile cruiser to fire?" Ciena asked.

"Not yet, Commander. For now, let's meet them in combat. Reinforce our flanks and order Kyrell and his Phantoms to head toward the established coordinates."

The Lieutenant-Commander nodded and sent the orders with her datapad.

As ordered, most of the imperial formation moved on the flanks, leaving the Admonitor with just a feeble line of ships to defend her. The skies were lightened up by the turbolasers flying left and right, missiles and explosions that could be seen clearly in the void. As minutes passed and bolts were exchanged, though, it was clear that the rebels were suffering more losses.

Iulius then ordered the missile-launching cruiser to open fire. The ship set her warheads so they would explode in the middle of the rebel formation whether they hit something or not. This caused huge casualties among the rebel fighters and forced the vanguard to seek a close combat fight with the imperial line ships. This proved to be a disadvantage for them, as the imperial vessels were already positioned and could reroute the energy for the engines toward shields and weapons. They could also fire more accurately since they weren't moving. In the following chaos, three Nebulon-B and other assault frigates went down in flames or exploded when hit in their reactors.

"Sir," the radio operator, who had broken into the rebel frequencies, called. "the rebel cruisers are heading toward us. It seems like they want to try and take us down."

"Very well." Iulius said calmly, though he was rejoicing in his heart, because it was exactly what he expected from Iblis. "Contact the carriers, let's launch the Defender squadrons." he ordered to Ciena, who immediately relayed the order into the comlink.

From the hangar of the Admonitor and that of the two Ton-Falke carriers next to her, three squadrons of new TIE Defender, piloted by some of the best pilots of the Mid Rim imperial forces.

"Titan Squadron, target the engines of the cruisers in the front." Iulius ordered to his own group. "Harvester and Naiban Squadrons, get rid of all the annoyances."

"This is Titan Squadron, we're setting our attack run." the leader of the squadron replied, followed by his colleagues shortly after.

The Defenders fell upon the rebels with a speed and a firepower that they didn't think possible from imperial TIEs. The remaining X-Wings and A-Wings were quickly wiped out of the skies, and shortly after the Y-Wings were decimated as well. Titan Squadron was left almost undisturbed on their attack run on the MC80. First they hit it with a long salvo of ion torpedoes, which quickly disrupted the shields and also blocked the ship in its tracks, forcing the Peregrine to stop as well, as the MC80 was blocking her immediate path toward the enemy.

Seeing the rebels struggling, Iulius slightly turned his head toward Ciena. "Order Kyrell to disable the cloaking and signal Admiral Rainer."

Ciena barely nodded as she already sent the order.

"Colmas, bring us in." the Grand Admiral then ordered and the helmsman obeyed.

The Admonitor started to advance toward her wannabe assailant: the disabled MC80, which was being targeted by the proton torpedoes of the Defenders. In the skies, ships were falling on both sides, but most of them were undoubtedly rebels, whose moral was now crumbling.

Seeing their Grand Admiral charging into the fray, the imperials got emboldened and their ships started a counter-attack that devastated the rebel lines, advancing toward the Peregrine and the two cruisers protecting it. At the same time, outside of the asteroid field, the 81st fleet was coming in from behind Charros IV and now headed toward the bottleneck in order to completely surround the rebels.

"Sir, the first cruiser is in range." the weapon officer reported.

"Breach it with the proton beam, then focus all weapons on it." Iulius calmly ordered.

A moment later, the Admonitor unleashed hell on the Calamari cruiser. The proton beam cut through the armor of the rebel cruiser like butter. Then the turbolasers started to pour a rain of green bolts against the ship. Other imperial vessels, who had already eliminated their targets, now fired on the heavy cruiser as well.

Under that insane level of fire, it didn't take long before the MC80 was hit into several vital sections, suffering multiple explosions and soon going down in a blazing inferno. Only a handful of escape pods were detected leaving the ships, only to be destroyed by the Lancers.

"Well done, gentlemen." Iulius stated with a hint of pride toward his officers, who briefly cheered as they saw the enemy capital ship go down in flames. "Now let's get the Peregrine."

"Sir." the radio operator urgently called. "The rebel Dreadnought is retreating along with their survivors."

Iulius got suspicious. Iblis was notorious for prioritizing the destruction of the enemy over self-preservation. Was he really giving up just like that?

"Do you know why?" he calmly asked.

"I'm listening, sir, but I stopped hearing Iblis' voice for a while, now. Maybe he's dead."

Iulius hummed, a bit surprised by this twist. "Maybe not dead, but he might have been incapacitated. A pity. I was hoping to capture him."

"Admiral Rainer might still catch him, sir." Ciena tried to reassure him.

"Let's hope you're right, Lieutenant-Commander." he replied, though mathematics didn't seem on their side. "Order Vice-Admiral Sloane to press the attack."

The following minutes were nothing short of a massacre. Though the Peregrine, the second MC80 and a Nebulon-B managed to get away before it was too late and jump to hyperspace, most rebel ships were trapped into the sack and completely annihilated. This time, Iulius ordered to capture the escape pods and the rebels, but not for intel, because he already knew where Iblis' survivors were headed. In fact, he immediately called Rainer and Sloane.

"Admiral, head straight for Saleucami and be ready to greet the rebel survivors once they get back to their hideout. Vice-Admiral, you shall proceed on the Lesser Lantillian Route and reoccupy the main systems to support the Admiral."

"Understood, sir." Rainer replied before closing the transmission and getting to work.

"Yes, sir." Sloane said. "And allow me to apologize." she added with a straight face.

"For what, Vice-Admiral?" Iulius asked if but a bit surprised.

"Before today, I thought that you were just another case of nepotism." Sloane said bluntly. "But I'm glad you proved me wrong. You showed me a true masterpiece of military art, today."

"I appreciate the sincerity, Vice-Admiral. Now let's get back to work."

"Of course, sir." she replied while clacking a heel, then turned around and her hologram disappeared.

The Grand Admiral then turned around and was immediately greeted by a thunderous applause from everybody on the bridge. The crew clearly shared the remark Sloane just did.

Iulius started to walk slowly between the two pits, nodding to his loyal crew before halting in front of Nash.

"Lieutenant, set the course for the rendezvous with the 101st."

Nash retained his smile before making the salute. "Copy that, sir." he replied quite enthusiastically.

And as the Admonitor gathered his fighters beforeheading for the edge of the system, Iulius headed to his lodgings, followed by his loyal Togruta, who shared a smile with him.

March 5.

The Amerigo left hyperspace, finally leaving behind the last systems of Hutt Space. From there, she was going to travel to Bothawui, homeworld of the intrigue-skilled Bothans and, surprisingly enough, a world that the Empire left in a state of semi-neutrality throughout its existence, preferring to keep the aliens and their deep web of espionage on friendly terms, paying for its services whenever they needed them.

Thing was, the rebellion could pay for those services as well. And as it turned out, many bothan clans were not exactly fond of the Empire, instead they preferred to align toward the Coalition, not simply because they weren't openly xenophobic, but because the Bothans most likely felt the Coalition as a power too far from their territory to be an active threat to their borders.

Ezra knew this, and that's why he hoped to set a safe base for the Amerigo in the sector, from where it would be much easier to gather intel on the rebel cells in the region to decide where his battalion should intervene and where not.

Still, as he stared at the map, he felt the pressure of this mission now more than ever.

The day before, he had had one of his mental conversations with Jaral, and she revealed to him the disaster that just occurred on Charros and that Iblis was now under siege on Saleucami.

It was imperative that Ezra managed to draw away some of the Empire's attention from the Mid Rim. Iulius would certainly not fall for that, but the imperial command might have forced him to defend the Trailing Sectors as well, forcing him to disperse his forces. At least this was the greatest hope of Jaral and of the intelligence agency,

These were the thoughts in the Jedi's mind when he ordered the helmsman of the ship, a human male called Stanley, to set a course for Bothawui while he headed into the meditation chamber of the ship to pick his fellow Jedi.

He opened it, finding both Luke and the leader of the psionics on the ship: Master Saori Gozo. She was a Master of the Ordo Quaeris, whose powers were even stronger than Thabo's, who Ezra already considered quite impressive. This 52-years-old woman (though the slowly aging given by the genetic therapies made her look at least ten years younger) always exhibited a discipline and an absolute control over everything around her that really made the Jedi Knight feel some sort of reverence.

When the door slid open, Luke immediately turned his head and eyes in Ezra's direction, interrupting his meditation. Gozo, on the other hand, replied without distracting neither her mind nor body from her own exercise.

"Greetings, General." she said with a calm tone.

"Master Gozo." Ezra said while making instinctively a respectful bow, even though the woman's eyes were closed.

Then he turned toward the other Jedi in the room. "You're confronting methods, Luke?" he asked.

"Just like you suggested." Luke replied. "And Master Gozo's philosophy is fascinating."

"I only shared what I myself have been taught, young Skywalker." she replied with modesty. "Exploring the depths of your own mind is something my people have been doing for a long time."

"We appreciate you took your time to share such knowledge nonetheless, Master." Ezra said gratefully. The woman just made a simple nod before opening her almond-shaped eyes, which briefly glowed with the purple light that the psionics released when connecting with the Force, before they returned to their natural state.

Ezra walked next to Luke. "Come on, we're almost on Bothawui."

Luke stood up, eager to get back to work, and the two Jedi left the room while Gozo took her time.

"So, what are we going to do on the planet?" Luke asked as they walked to the hangar.

"We need to meet up with one of our agents on the surface. He will give us a star map of the sector with all the possible spots for a hideout. You and I will go in with the Falcon."

"Not with the Ghost?" Luke asked surprised.

"No. The Empire knows it too well. The Falcon, on the other hand, has only fought with the Rebellion for a short time, so I'm hoping the imperial spies won't recognize it right away while we look for our man." Ezra explained.

"So I should hide my lightsaber." Luke said before lighting up his new omni-tool and using it to dematerialize his weapon.

Ezra had already done it, so he simply commented. "Getting used to it?"

"Already done it." Luke replied with a smile. "This tool is very intuitive."

"Good. Just remember not to show it up on Bothawui or we'll have every imperial garrison on the planet looking for us."

"Didn't you say that Bothawui is a neutral planet?"

"It is. It's affiliated with the Empire, though, so there are some imperial troops to remind that to everybody, though the planet certainly enjoys a greater degree of autonomy than the rest of imperial territory."

As they concluded this part of the conversation, they entered the main hangar of the ship, the one with the fighters, both rebel and federal, lying around. In doing so, they crossed paths with Red Squadron, where the pilots were on high alert, since there was no telling whether an imperial fleet might cross the Amerigo or not.

The pilots were sitting around on dome folding chairs between two X-Wings, already wearing their suits and holding their helmets. But when they saw Ezra, the leader of the recomposed Red Squadron stood up and immediately called "Ten-hut!"

All the pilots immediately stood up at attention, turning toward the General while holding their helmets under their right arms.

"At ease, Lieutenant Darklighter." Ezra said calmly, allowing the pilots to relax their muscles.

"Ok, listen up." he then added, gaining the attention of his underlings. "Me and Luke are going to make contact with a rebel spy on Bothawui. I plan to go in and out without a fuss, but in case things go really badly, stand ready to intervene."

"You got it, sir." Biggs replied confidently, then turned toward his childhood friend. "Look at you, Luke. Going around as a Jedi." he quipped.

The young Padawan made a half-grin. "Yeah, it still feels a bit weird, but I'm catching up, I'd say."

"Well, when you're ready for some old-fashioned adrenaline in the cockpit, just blow a whistle." Biggs concluded with a light punch on Luke's shoulder and they both chuckled.

Ezra waited a couple seconds until Luke felt ready to go back to him and they headed for the secondary hangar of that level, where the Falcon and the Ghost had been given a dedicated space. In fact, both crews were making routine checks on their own freighters.

"Hey, look who came out to interact with us mortals." Zeb quipped when he saw them and waived a hand, earning the attention of everybody else, who then gathered around the Jedi.

"Look at you." Hera said with a hand on her hip. "It's almost like seeing another version of you and Kanan."

Ezra slightly shook his head. "That's impossible. Kanan was way better than me in the role of teacher." he peacefully commented before going ahead and repeating to the others what he just explained to Luke.

"Check the Falcon and let's go, Han." he invited at the end.

"Don't worry, General. The fastest ship of the Rebellion will bring you down safe and sound." Han replied quite theatrically, clearly aiming to upset Hera.

"I'm choosing it because it's still anonymous to the Empire." Ezra precised.

"And because it's the fastest. No need to hide it." Han said before walking toward his ship, leaving Hera to shake her head.

While Luke, Leia and Chewie all reached the freighter, Ezra walked toward Hera and whispered. "You know that doesn't hold a candle to the Ghost, right?" with a joking tone.

"Right…" Hera said with a quite serious voice. "but why do I have the feeling that you're trying to keep us out?"

The rest of the crew was left a bit surprised by that declaration.

"What are talking about?" Ezra asked, feigning ignorance.

Hera crossed her arms on her chest and gave him that annoyed look that Ezra used to fear all the time. But now he just sighed. "Look, I wasn't lying when I said that the Falcon is still relatively unknown to the Empire. They will expect me to come with you guys, not with them."

"They already don't expect us to show up in this part of the galaxy." Hera objected.

Realizing that circling around it would just be a waste of everybody's time, Ezra decided to be more direct. "All right, you want to know what I think? I think that you should've stayed in the Slice with Jaral, so you could visit Jacen regularly." he clearly stated.

Hera scoffed. "Jacen it's the exact reason why I'm here!" she replied, trying to keep her voice low.

Ezra, though, didn't have time to discuss, and he could feel that Hera wasn't entirely convinced of her words either.

"Listen." he sternly, but calmly, said. "Jacen will already be forced to grow up without a father. So I'm not going to put you at risk until it's absolutely necessary. Is that understood?"

Hera's expression clearly showed that it was hook, line and sinker. She lowered her head and sighed. "Yes, sir." she murmured.

Ezra put a hand on her shoulder to reconcile with her, though he knew that she understood his reasoning. Then he turned back to the job at hand.

"Kallus." he said as he pointed at the still surprised human. "We're gonna need your help down there. Gear up and follow me."

Kallus instinctively nodded. "Yes, General." and then went to grab his equipment with the diligence that always distinguished him.

After the former ISB agent was ready, Ezra accompanied him into the Falcon and had him accommodate around the Dejarik table with Luke, 3PO and R2 while the Knight entered into the cockpit.

"Take us in." he ordered.

Chewie roared one of his affirmatives.

"Yes, sir." Han said with a quip before lifting the Falcon and fly out of the hangar, heading toward the continental world beneath them.

"Vice-Admiral Sloane and her fleet reported the reconquest of Bimmisaari. Admiral Rainer has reached the orbit of Saleucami and is laying an ambush for the rebels." Ciena concluded with her report.

"Thank you, Lieutenant-Commander." Iulius said gratefully. "You can go." he said before turning his attention to his own datapad, but no sound of boots came.

Qathora, who was sitting on the desk with her legs crossed, tapped Iulius on the shoulder. He raised his gaze and noticed that Ciena was still there, hesitating to speak.

"Something else, Lieutenant-Commander?" he asked patiently.

"I...I have a question, if I may, sir." she said hesitantly.

Iulius was a bit surprised by that but replied in his neutral tone. "Go ahead, then."

"Remember when you told me that cornered men fight ten times harder?" she asked.

"Yes, I recall."

"Were you...thinking about that, when you planned the battle of yesterday? You put the fleet into a position with no escape for that reason?" she asked. A bit scared, but mostly admired.

Iulius calmly posed his datapad and reclined the back on his chair. "You know, Lieutenant. Working with a wise man, I learned that the key to elaborate a successful tactic is to know both your enemy and your subordinates. You must predict exactly what both of them are going to do."

Ciena pondered for a moment, then she realized. "You studied Iblis. You knew that he would not resist the chance of taking out a high-profile target like you are, right now."

"Yes. His pattern is clear. Iblis always targets key structures and high-ranking officers to disrupt our overall organization. That's why I had Qathora leak the intel that I was tracking him."

"You challenged him." Ciena understood.

"And he ran to me just like I hoped." Iulius noted if but with a pinch of gloating in his tone. "But that's not all. I knew that Iblis is a creative general. Had we fought on an open space, the outcome of the battle might have been much different. So I needed to limit his options."

"By putting us in an asteroid field. You lured him into a trap, and put our ships in a desperate situation so the men would fight more fiercely and efficiently." the woman said.

"Excellent, Lieutenant-Commander." Iulius congratulated with the keen understanding of his second-in-command. "The point was to give Iblis a wonderful occasion to kill the highest-ranking officer of the Imperial Navy, something that he proved unable to resist to, and putting him in a tactical situation where it would all come down to the discipline and morale of the crews."

Ciena couldn't hold back a soft murmur of astonishment.

"Finally, I had to choose the perfect subordinate for the job." Iulius added, letting his officer to contemplate.

Ciena quickly understood what he meant. "You mean Vice-Admiral Sloane?"

"Correct. Sloane is a soldier, as her career and background suggest. She was able to retain her composure even when the situation seemed uncertain and she kept her captains in line. Rainer, on the other hand, is but another politician. He would've broken the line in seconds."

"On the other hand, he would have been perfect for the flanking maneuver. It's something so simple, that all he had to do was to let his crews do their basic tasks."

"You pick up quickly, Lieutenant-Commander Ree." Iulius complimented.

"But sir, if that what you believe, why you sent Admiral Rainer to intercept the fleeing rebels? Wouldn't Vice-Admiral Sloane be the better choice?"

"Normally yes, Ree. However, always thanks to our Fulcrum friend here," he said while giving an amused gaze to Qathora, who was observing the dialogue with a bit of intrigue. "I know that the rebels were already planning to reinforce Saleucami. Their fleet will probably arrive tomorrow, if not today."

Ciena was still a bit confused. "So...why send him?"

"Because he's a coward." Iulius dryly replied, leaving Ciena even more dumbfounded. "And while dishonorable, this trait is perfect to save ships and men."

Now Ciena understood. "Oh...you think that, if the rebel fleet comes in time to rescue Iblis, Admiral Rainer will retreat without a fight?"

"Perhaps not without a fight, but he will not risk his life. Which means he will order a full retreat and rejoin with Sloane, even if he would never admit it. Right now, though, we are short on good officers, so we need to cut our material and human losses as much as we can."

"Woah…" Ciena murmured. "That is...impressive, sir. I never met an officer like you." she added with admiration.

Iulius made a half-smile, then straightened his back. "Okay, I think we should both get back to work, but I appreciate to see your progress, Lieutenant-Commander."

Ciena clacked her heel and made the salute. "It's an honor to serve with you, Grand Admiral!" she replied with an ill-concealed enthusiasm, then left the office.

"I'm not sure whether I should be impressed by your mastermind or by her naive enthusiasm." Qathora commented when she was left alone with her master.

"If I had ten officers with her enthusiasm, this war would be over in a month." Iulius remarked. "Alas, I need to do with what I have."

"That doesn't look to be a problem for you." she said before taking her holo-projector and taking a look at the news feed of the day.

It didn't take long for her to find something that picked her interest. "Well, would you look at this…" she commented before putting the projector on Iulius' nose, forcing him to look.

The Grand Admiral frowned at her, but she didn't care, so he looked at the news and quickly noticed that it was a reportage of the HoloNet from the battle of Charros. His name appeared in the subtitles, along with a praise. A bit intrigued, and mostly because he had to know how much he was being exposed to the public, Iulius tapped the hologram and the recording of the entire reportage started to play.