Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or mentioned in this draft, and am not making any profit off of it.

This chapter is mostly dialogue, so if you want some more of the action found in the first chapters, you'll have to wait until chapter 4. I do appreciate your reviews, so please keep them coming.

Chapter 3

There was a knock at the advisor's door. "Enter."

It was the admiral. He looked as thought he was ready to burst: apologies were never his strong suit.

"Was there something you needed, admiral?" The admiral ducked his head and hid his eyes behind the brim of his cap. "Advisor, I need to apologize for my demeanor on the command deck. I was out of line."

"You need not apologize admiral. You were under considerable stress. And besides, I know you type."

"My type?"

"Do not take offense. I simply mean to say that you do not trust advisors. You feel that you, being a C.O., should not have to listen to advisors. You feel that you can handle any situation and you very well may be correct."

"Thank you advisor."

"Will there be anything else?"

"I was wondering how you know about Sturm. I have fought him once before, yet I can't help but feel that I have done so many more times than I think."

The advisor chuckled to himself. "Sturm is very effective at masking himself. His voice manipulator can take on any person. He can adjust his tactics from absolutely basic, to mind numbingly clever. However, when you understand a person's psychology, you can see their mind at work no matter how hard they try to conceal it."

"I see. Well, I should be going."

Just as the admiral was leaving, the young student was walking in. The advisor raised an eyebrow. "My, I seem to have quite a few visitors this evening. How may I be of service to you, Katrina?"

"How did you know that we could defeat them? How did you know how to destroy the battleships?

The advisor smiled at the young girl's amazement. "A Harrison class battleship is large, but very slow. The only tactical advantage to having them is their size. They are effective at intimidating your opposition. A Grenadier class battleship lacks the size, but has far more military capabilities."

"Why did you engage the ships? We could have out run the enemy and we were well out of firing range."

"Because he was watching."

"What?"

"There was a monitor station about ten kilometers outside the engagement zone. Sturm was taking video footage of the battle."

"Why, would he do that James?"

"He wanted to study Henson's tactics. He feels that Henson is a threat."

"But those were your tactics."

"Sturm does not know that. Nor will anyone else who sees the video."

Sonja was numb. She still couldn't fully understand what had happened. She just watched two battleships eliminate an entire sector fleet without losing a single lander, and did so without taking any serious damage. She began to break out into a cold sweat. She had finally found her new role model. She just needed to find who it was. She found a list of officers on the two battleships. She browsed through the names until she found a name that sounded about right: Admiral Henson. She was curious to find any advisors he may have had, in order to see if she could come in contact with them. They would likely know how to reach him. She began to download the video file and was preparing it to present before the commanders of the Allied Nations. There was a meeting in a few days, and she was excited to present the video to her fellow commanders. She began to furiously look for more information and videos featuring the genius of Admiral Henson.

"This meeting has now officially begun," Nell said in a loud clear voice. "I believe that Sonja has something that she wishes to share with us."

"Thank you Nell. I would like for you all to watch this video and tell me what you think of this commander." Sonja proceeded to play the video with the two battleships fighting the sector fleet. The entire room was filled with awe and amazement, especially when they saw the part where the battleships destroyed the submarines. Sonja couldn't help but see that Lash had a look on her face like she had seen this before. This didn't surprise Sonja; the file was in Black Hole archives. However, it went deeper than that. Lash seemed to have been there before. Sonja stopped her thought before they ran wild. Her excitement at having found this treasure must have been getting the better of her.

"That was a truly magnificent display of tactical prowess," Jess said. "What did you say his name was?"

"The Commanding Officer was listed as three-star Admiral William Henson. I looked to see if there were any advisors, and the list said that there was an advisor, but it didn't give a name." Lash scoffed. "Is there a problem?" Sonja asked.

"Have you seen any other videos with Admiral Henson? The guy is an egotistical moron. It's no wonder the advisor wasn't listed; that may draw attention away from him."

"Look at those tactics! Does that look like the work of an egotistical moron?"

Lash scoffed again. "Do you know anything about those ships? Let me educate you. Those battleships are Harrison class ships. They are huge, but nothing else. The submarines are a group of Balao class subs. These are state of the art, seventy-five years ago."

"What class?" Colin interrupted.

"Balao class."

"Playo class?"

"Bu-lay-oh"

"As I was saying," Lash continued, "the cruisers are a group of Hudson Class cruisers. The thought of them posing a threat to anyone is a joke."

"But didn't you see those tactics?"

"I have seen other encounters that Henson was in charge of, and he isn't worth the time it took to promote him."

"You say that as if you know him."

"You just go ahead and believe that he is the best you ever saw." Lash warned, "But don't come whining to me if you are bitterly disappointed."