Chapter 3

October 18, 2241: Terhali's Satisfaction, House Roglark's flagship

The Octurion-class battleship is the largest ship currently in service with the Centauri Navy. In any battle where they participate, they stand as mobile fortresses dealing fire and death in all directions. Such an elegant engine of destruction has not been seen since the last of the Dilgar Mishakur-class dreadnoughts was destroyed at Omelos. With the exception of the largest Minbari or Hyach vessels, no ships in possession of the younger races can stand against them in pitched battle. With the recent exception of Alecto's Pride, none have ever been lost in war (though to be fair, Alecto's Pride was outnumbered by more than four-to-one). There are less than forty in the fleet, most with the Imperial Guard. Twelve are owned by House fleets, though none have been purchased. Only as a gift from the Emperor himself can a House field an Octurion. House Trefara has Shalimar's Desire, House Jarno has Maera's Hunger, and House Roglark has Terhali's Satisfaction.

Lord Jentavus Roglark stood on the bridge of Terhali's Satisfaction gazing at the ever-changing scene of hyperspace. Though many found the miasma of swirling red and black disconcerting, Lord Roglark had always been fascinated by it. Having been in hyperspace quite frequently, he still never found it was the same twice. Like the supposed Ancient Gods of the Dilgar, it constantly remade itself again and again depending upon who viewed it.

Booted footsteps sounded behind him as one of the crew approached. The tell-tale ring of iron heels told him who it was. A slight clearing of the throat made Lord Roglark aware that his attention was being asked. Lord Roglark smiled as he turned saying, "Yes Captain?"

The man standing behind Lord Roglark was Captain Classion. He was Lord Roglark's Flag Captain and the nominal commander of Terhali's Satisfaction. Just a bit shorter and younger than Lord Roglark, he had served in the House Fleet all of his adult life. "My Lord," Classion said, "you ordered me to make you aware just before we reached the Kotac System".

"Thank-you Captain," Lord Roglark replied. "Contact all squadrons and have them launch the fighters. I want them jumping in together rather than launching in penny-packets once we arrive".

This was sound tactical doctrine, "Yes my Lord. Which squadron shall they form up on before jump?"

Lord Roglark thought for a moment then answered, "Groups C and D. They will jump in with the Vorchan hunting packs then deploy from there". He paused and continued, "Make sure the pilots understand I want them to keep those damned Frazi's off our flanks."

Captain Classion had taken out a small electronic datapad to make notes. "They have already been instructed but I will make sure the airwing Commander emphasizes the point again my Lord". He entered a note into the datapad then returned his attention to Lord Roglark, "Any further special instructions my Lord?"

Lord Roglark thought for a moment then said, "Make sure all captains understand I may change their jump points with very little notice as the battle unfolds. Have them put their best navigators on the jump engines. They must be nimble."

Classion notated this as his datapad broadcasted the information to all of the ships in the fleet including the Imperial units. "Anything else my Lord?"

"No, nothing more." He took a quick breath, "I shall address the fleet". Lord Roglark walked off the Admiral's Walk, that small veranda-like walkway over the main bridge that allowed an admiral some peace should he desire it. The conn officer spotted the Captain and Lord Roglark coming back to the bridge and shouted, "Admiral on the bridge!" The officer came out of the command chair, but knew from long experience that Lord Roglark would not sit in it until the battle was decided. He much preferred to stand rather than sit while men died.

Lord Roglark stood before the command chair and spoke to the communication officer, "Hail the fleet. Use a tight beam, ship-to-ship, voice only. No video. I don't want the Narn picking this up."

"Yes my Lord," the officer replied as he carried out his orders. It was a shame that Lord Roglark didn't use video; he looked quite impressive in his uniform before battle. His image would impress the troops. But, Lord Roglark always thought of the battle first, his ego second. He never underestimated his enemies, and his order for tight beam and video blackout was just one more example of this.

"Centauri soldatii!" Lord Roglark's voice boomed across the void of hyperspace. Many smiled at his use of the ancient word for warriors, soldatii. "Today we redress the Massacre of Quadrant 17. Before us lies the system of Kotac and the Narn Fleet's central repair and re-supply station." He paused as his words had a chance to sink in. Most of the men in the fleet had no idea where they were after they crossed the Narn border two days ago. "We are to destroy the Narn protective squadrons and smash the orbital stations." Lord Roglark continued, "I know what you are all thinking, and yes; once the ships and station are destroyed, our orders are to flatten the mining colony," Lord Roglark paused for dramatic effect then said, "And then we are to bombard the planet, utterly destroying any targets of military significance." Lord Roglark continued, "The Narn have overstepped their bounds this time soldatii! Though they were able to capitalize on Lord Tesu's ineptitude in Quadrant 17, the Narn will find no ineptitude here! You hold the blade I intend to break off in the Narn hide!" Lord Roglark stopped as a huge cheer erupted across the

comm system from every man's throat, his bridge crew included. Lord Roglark's war-ready grin spread across his face as he finished, "All squadrons the order is given! Forward into the Narn underbelly!"

Another deafening cheer rolled across the entire Centauri fleet. Before it was finished Lord Roglark spoke again to the communication officer, "Send the signal to the scouting units to jump." The officer tapped a keyed sequence and several of the scout ships jumped into realspace.

Captain Classion walked over to the communication station, "Receiving reports from the scouts my Lord," he paused while reading over the shoulder of the officer. "It looks like over forty flights of Frazi fighters; some from the planet, some from ships and the station."

Lord Roglark asked, "Warships?"

"Twenty-eight my Lord: four older heavy cruisers, two of the newer type. The bulk of their fleet is destroyers of various types with several local patrol boats." He smiled as he looked Lord Roglark in the eye, "Their pants seem to be down my Lord."

Lord Roglark returned the Captain's grin. "Jump in the Vorchan hunting groups and two destroyer squadrons. Have Assault Squadron spool up our mass drivers and start the jump clock for us Captain: thirty seconds on my mark…MARK!" Lord Roglark looked up at the tactical display of the battle underway in realspace. Although the display was not quite as sophisticated as the ones the Minbari used, it still would have made any Earth Force crew green with envy. In the corner of the screen the clock counted down to the moment they were to jump.

When the clock showed only ten seconds left, Lord Roglark turned to Captain Classion and spoke the ancient ritual formula, "Captain is my flagship ready?"

Captain Classion straightened to attention and completed the ritual, "Terhali's Satisfaction is fully at your command my Lord."

Lord Roglark nodded and turned his attention to the clock. As it ticked to zero he ordered, "Jump!"

The swirling pseudo-mists of hyperspace parted as Terhali's Satisfaction and the three battlecruisers in her squadron jumped into realspace. Directly ahead of them was the Narn battle station. Captain Classion spoke up, "All ships in Assault Squadron are jumped in my Lord. We are…" he glanced over at the tactical display, "…range 9.6 from the Narn battle station my Lord".

"Well done Captain, well done!" Captain Classion gave Lord Roglark a short tight bow. "Concentrate all fire from Assault Squadron on the station, mass drivers as well," Lord Roglark ordered. He felt the ship shudder as massive amounts of energy spat from her weapons. Particle beams, massive battle lasers, and ancient heavy matter cannons flashed in hues of blue, orange, and red. Last were the huge mass driver spheres, coruscating in blue-white fury as they spat out to travel down range so much slower than the energy weapons. Each solid projectile was propelled to a fraction of the speed of light before it crashed into the hapless station, tearing through bulkheads and armor like an over-excited lover ripping off his partner's undergarments.

Another cheer rose up like a thunderstorm across the Centauri fleet. "Now THAT is the kind of salvo that wins battles!" Lord Roglark thought. It was clear that most of the station's systems were knocked out and the remaining ones were guttering like a candle starved of oxygen.

Captain Classion addressed Lord Roglark, "Station is crippled my Lord. One more like that and it's finished." Lord Roglark didn't seem to hear, but the Captain knew better. Lord Roglark was immersed in the ebb and flow of the battle, absorbing all of the information coming in from the fleet, making assessments to give orders for the next few minutes.

Lord Roglark was watching the battle unfold. The Narn were fighting hard, but it was clear that they did not expect any attack this far behind the lines, and particularly one this large. "There are fewer ships here that I thought. It seems our ruse must have worked." Lord Roglark had made the location of his attack secret, and as part of the deception of where it was he had sent off scouting groups to two other important systems to 'drop in' and be seen. In theory it was supposed to draw away forces from here to support other places that were never in any danger of attack. The deception seemed to have worked better that expected.

Something on the screens caught his eye: the Narn cruiser group had separated too much from the trailing destroyer groups. His fighters and Vorchans were slowing the destroyers down, while the cruisers plowed on into his own destroyer groups. Lord Roglark barked out an order, "Captain order the carriers and escorts into the gap between the Narn cruisers and destroyers. They need to jump now!" He paused a moment and said, "Have Thunderer open the point, her navigator, Hasmian, is more skilled than the one on Stormcrow!" Captain mentally shook his head, as always astounded at his commander's memory. Fitness reports from the carrier group had come in two months ago yet Lord Roglark could remember in the heat of battle which navigator had scored higher in jump point accuracy. Classion was about to transmit the order when Lord Roglark leaned over the communications console and transmitted to Thunderer himself, "Thunderer Navigation, Terhali's actual here. Carrier group prepare to jump. Navigator Hasmian, vector to these coordinates and jump." Lord Roglark paused to listen to the response then said, "You need to be precise Hasmian. I know you can do it." Captain Classion watched the tactical display as a new jump point opened and the carrier group entered realspace. It was a perfect jump: they came in precisely between the Narn cruisers and the embattled Narn destroyers.

"Well done Hasmian!" Lord Roglark shouted. He could imagine the terror of the Narn crews as the Centauri carrier force split their fleet nicely. The embattled Narn cruisers were succumbing to fire from both front and rear. "There goes one now." Lord Roglark thought. One, no, now two of the Narn cruisers were going up, shedding armor and atmosphere in roughly equal rates. Both of the cruisers' drives flickered and went out. Though neither exploded, it was clear they would be useless for anything except salvage.

Terhali's Satisfaction lurched as the Narn station opened fire with its few remaining weapons. Even as the station fired, two of its ion cannon turrets overloaded, adding their small explosions to the already raging fires all across the shattered station. Captain Classion addressed Lord Roglark, "Weapons are recycled my Lord, except for the mass drivers." This was to be expected as the energy required to propel the mass spheres to their fraction of the speed of light took an inordinate amount of time to gather into the capacitors without seriously harming the ship's reactors.

"Salvo the weapons as soon as our cruisers are ready. Make sure we fire together and for effect," Lord Roglark replied to the Captain. The battlecruisers and Terhali's Satisfaction edged in closer to the station while turning to port so that they were also pointed toward the remaining Narn cruisers. All of the ships fired at the nearly the same instant, bathing the hapless Narn station in multi-colored destructive fire. Most of the superstructure caved inward as the station seemed to collapse in on itself. He heard another cheer come from the fleet after that hit on the station. "That's it! It's finished!" Lord Roglark thought exultantly. His thoughts were confirmed a moment later when the Captain said, "Narn station is beyond crippled my Lord. One more salvo with the mass drivers when they recycle and it may very well drift out of orbit into the planet."

"Well wouldn't that just be too bad." Lord Roglark replied. He could see that the Narn cruisers had given his destroyers a beating. There was even one Sullust-class going up right now. But even with that loss, the two destroyer groups, anchored by one Primus-class battlecruiser, were holding their own quite handily against the nominally more heavily armed Narn cruisers. It was the same old problem with the Narn ships: they just didn't have the range for their secondary gun batteries. It was a problem the Centauri had fixed centuries ago.

Lord Roglark saw that the main and secondary weapons on his battleship and his cruisers were ready to fire again, and at last the mass drivers were as well. Lord Roglark opened a channel to his squadron and said, "Change target! Main and secondary batteries target the Narn cruisers, mass drivers at the station. Let's try to finish this off as quickly as possible before their reinforcements arrive." Once again the Terhali's Satisfaction shuddered as all of her weapons fired. All of the multi-hued energy bolts and beams reached out and smashed into the Narn cruisers' rear, finishing off the other three still under power. One Narn cruiser was helpless as it floated adrift, its engines knocked out but still having power to fire and keep its life support functional.

What happened to the station was nothing less than spectacular: five mass driver spheres spat out from Lord Roglark's Assault group, all of them shattering into the station. Two even smashed in one side and crashed out of the other. The station seemed to crumple inward as much of the remaining interior structure disintegrated. All of the station's remaining lights went out, and indeed it seemed to drift out of orbit slightly. "Station has lost control of her orbital thrusters," Captain Classion reported, "It is drifting into the gravity well of the planet my Lord."

"Let it go Captain. We need to get into orbit around Kotac itself, then smash the mining base on the moon and destroy the remaining defense satellites before reinforcements arrive," Lord Roglark said. He turned to the communications officer and asked, "What report from the scout force we left in hyperspace? I want an ETA on any Narn reinforcements!"

The communication officer spoke into his pickup, and then listened to the reply from the scout ships still in hyperspace. He then spoke more loudly addressing Lord Roglark, "Scout ships report a group of Narn vessels closing on the beacon, ETA 83 seconds."

"Composition?" Lord Roglark asked.

"Scout force reports twelve vessels, four cruiser-sized, four destroyers or light cruisers, and four frigates or gunboats,". The communications officer listened again as the scout ships transmitted more information. "Scouts report they will be able to give exact ship classifications just before the Narn jump in."

"Not enough pouchlings, not near enough" Lord Roglark thought. Though the approaching Narn force was of decent size, it was no match for the fleet he had here, especially without the station or protective squadrons that were almost completely destroyed. Lord Roglark studied the tactical display and saw that even the massive Narn fighter group had been decimated to the last fighter by his own and the escort ships of the carrier force.

"We are in orbit around Kotac my Lord", Captain Classion said. "Shall I begin targeting the defensive satellites and mining base on the moon?"

Lord Roglark studied the tactical display for a moment more before replying, "Yes, put us into high orbit. Have the Carrier group, Vorchan hunting groups, Destroyer Squadrons Alpha and Beta, and the fighters in opposite high orbit from us. Let's stay in the gravity well in case we need to vector out in any direction. The Narn will not make it easy for us, so let's not make it easy for them."

As Classion bowed his head in acceptance of his orders, heagain was impressed with Lord Roglark's tactical genius. By having two groups in opposite orbit they could meet any threat from any direction. And by staying in the gravity well of the planet, they were able to use the planet itself to generate more

speed, or change direction very quickly if necessary.

Captain Classion turned back and addressed Lord Roglark, "Scout force reporting two G'Quan cruisers, two T'Loth cruisers, four of the new Var'Nic destroyers, and four old Thentus-class frigates jumping in beyond Kotac's moon in thirty seconds my Lord."

"At least there were none of those beastly Dag'Kars" Lord Roglark thought. The Narn Dag'Kar frigate could throw a prodigious amount of long range fusion bombs. Though the ship itself was rather slow, unwieldy, and fragile, it often did damage far out of proportion to its size. Lord Roglark snapped around, "No Narn scouts Captain?"

Classion spoke into the comm pickup and received a quick report, "No my Lord, the Narn force has no scouts with them," he continued after glancing at the tactical display, "No Narn scouts in-system either."

Lord Roglark shook his head at the Narn once again. Sometimes it seemed all one had to do was wave the purple and gold Imperial standard at them and over they came, like that large-horned Terran animal that chased red flags. And so it was here again, while vicious in battle the Narn often left their brains at home. With no Narn scouts either in-system or with the relief force, they would be helpless for up to a minute after jumping in while their sensors adjusted to realspace.

Lord Roglark turned to face Captain Classion. His vicious grin was wide enough to show his sharply pointed incisors "Make sure the gun crews understand to make the best use of the idiocy of the Narns. Ignore the moon and planet for now and hit the relief force while they can't fire back."

Both Centauri forces continued in high orbit around Kotac. Before they could intersect, three jump points opened just outside the orbit of the moon. Out of those jump points came the Narn reinforcements. Two of the new G'Quan and two of the antique T'Loth heavy cruisers jumped in from two jump points. They were accompanied by four of the older catamaran-hulled Thentus frigates, already almost a generation old. Last, all coming out of one point, were the new asymmetrical Var'Nic destroyers. The Var'Nic was a rather nasty ship: heavy long range guns, fast, maneuverable, and damned dangerous in packs. "But totally helpless for the next minute," Lord Roglark thought with a grim satisfaction. "Fire for effect when ready Captain."

Every Centauri ship that had guns in range fired in a blinding display as the hapless Narn vessels tried to evade the fusillade. It was all to no avail. For several seconds Lord Roglark had to look away as the brightness of the display overrode the auto-dimming features of the tactical screen. The Narn relief squadron was completely obscured by the vast amount of fire the Centauri ships vomited forth. Another vast cheering roar echoed across the ether from the crews on the Centauri ships.

When the glare reduced enough to look, Lord Roglark saw all of the frigates were listing badly, and the cruisers had fires on all decks. The damnable Var'Nics had taken heavy damage but were still in the fight. That would hopefully end as the remaining destroyer squadrons, the hunting packs of the Vorchans, and the remaining fighters came into range momentarily.

Lord Roglark addressed Captain Classion again, "Captain, please order the Ralcon to activate the jumpgate. I don't want the Narn using it for the next few minutes. Let's make them use their own jump engines if they want to join the party."

Asordered, the Ralcon opened the jumpgate tohyperspace, thereby preventing it from being used from hyperspace for the next ten minutes. Though one could never tell in a battle, Lord Roglark felt that was more than enough time to finish off this relief group of Narn. As for what came after that, well that was in the hands of Lady Fate.

Captain Classion took in another report, then spoke out loud, "My Lord, the scout force reports more Narn ships approaching. At least six more contacts, too far off for exact sizes. ETA seven minutes. Once the second group is here they have nothing even close." He paused then added in a more conversational tone, "After that we should be alone here for quite some time. Except for the Narn"

"Except for the Narn indeed," Lord Roglark thought. Once he was finished here there would be considerably less Narn on Kotac and its moon. But that was as it should be. They had killed over 200,000 in Quadrant 17, and that just could not be forgiven or forgotten.

Lord Roglark watched the battle. At this advanced stage none of his ships needed any explicit orders, at least until the next relief force arrived. He winced as one of his Centurion-class attack cruisers, the Vorenous, took a crushing salvo from the remaining Var'Nics. Though it didn't explode, all contact was lost and the sensors showed no life signs aboard. He felt her loss even if she wasn't technically one of his units; Vorenous had been loaned by the Imperial Guard for this assault. Even though the Guard was renowned for its iron discipline, they were just too eager to avenge the Massacre at Quadrant 17.

The loss of the Vorenous only steeled the resolve of the other Centauri vessels to wipe out the Narn even faster. Though the heavy ships of the fleet had orbited around Kotac enough to only have rear weapons to fire, the destroyer squadrons and Vorchan hunting packs now swarmed over the Narns. Though the remaining Narn ships fired heavily, they were completely overwhelmed. Lord Roglark noticed that even with their newest ships, the Narn just did not take advantage of more modern technology. They chose to pack more weapons onto the ship, and use large crews to offset the cost for more advanced sensors, computers, or targeting equipment. This lead to, over time, the Centauri often gaining the initiative by being able to fire first, (and at longer range for secondary weapons), canceling out much if not all the Narn weight of metal.

And here in this battle it was so again: a sharp commander could keep his fleet just out of the Narn's most effective ranges, hammering away with near impunity. Meanwhile the Narn tried valiantly to get his heavy and secondary weapons around into arc and range. When their heavy weapons did impact they were usually devastating as the Vorenous, (and now Lord Roglark could see the Altus as well) had learned.

Lord Roglark saw that his Assault group had orbited the planet complete. They were passing the drifting station even now, and Kotac's moon would soon come into range. Lord Roglark spoke, "Captain, please have the mass drivers begin the bombardment of the moon base as we pass." The other part of the fleet was passing around the heavy ships in opposite orbit. He saw one destroyer flashing signaling lights in the centuries old tap-code. Lord Roglark watched it for a moment, decoding the alternating long and short flashes into words. Once he had caught the gist of the message he laughed out loud. Many of the bridge crew looked up at the out-of-place laughter. "Captain Classion," Lord Roglark said chuckling, "my compliments to the captain of the Trestian. Please tell him that his gunnery crew may have the brivari they wonas my treat." The game had been played amongst ship gunnery crews for centuries: the crews from various ships bet against each other for the most kills, or combat damage inflicted. The winner collected the loser's liquor, usually fine Centauri brivari. "Also, have him let them know his crew is correct: the rules do say space stations or defsats are not allowed to be counted." He paused then added, "Or at least those were the rules we played by in my youth."

Classion stepped up to Lord Roglark, "You're letting the losers keep their liquor my Lord?" The question was mostly in jest. Though letting the losers off might lower morale among the better crews, both Captain Classion and Lord Roglark knew morale would be very high after such a one-sided victory.

Lord Roglark turned to the Captain, a smile in his voice and on his face, "There will be liquor all around tonight my friend." He looked up at the tactical display, watching the final death throes of the last Narn ship on the field. The last T'Loth had held on longer than its comrades but its end was inevitable. It exploded spectacularly right next to the still open jumpgate. Lord Roglark inwardly winced, hoping the jumpgate was undamaged. That was all the Republic needed: to be accused of damaging jumpgates. It was a nearly unforgivable crime between the spacefaring races. It was far less forgivable than what had happened here.

Lord Roglark looked at the one of the scanning officers, his eyebrow cocked. "No damage to the jumpgate my Lord," the officer replied to his questioning look.

Lord Roglark turned back to Captain Classion, "As I said, there will be liquor all around tonight Thendon." Lord Roglark used Captain Classion's given name. "And I hope you will have some of mine. I have been saving something special for a worthy occasion, and I think this is it."

Captain Thendon Classion bowed his head in acceptance. "Of course Jentavus, I would be honored and delighted." It was a standing rule throughout their almost forty year friendship that if Lord Roglark addressed him by his given name in a public setting, then the same was expected in return. "Something special you say?"

Lord Roglark smiled again, "Indeed. Something from Terra: a drink of victors and conquerors. A gift from my good friends in Earth Force when last I visited their homeworld. I first had some when I met with their Ambassador Sheridan and Commodore Doyle during the victory celebrations after the Dilgar War. It is…"

"Excuse me my Lord." the communications officer interrupted.

Lord Roglark stopped in mid-sentence with Classion, "Yes what is it?"

"I'm sorry my Lord, but the scout force is signaling again. The second Narn relief force is here." Lord Roglark's eyebrow went up as the officer took that as a sign to continue. "The force consists of three T'Loth cruisers and three T'Rakk frigates."

Captain Classion looked at Lord Roglark saying, "A rather underwhelming force if I may say so my Lord." He turned to the communications officer, "Are they jumping in or holding position?"

"Scouts report they are holding position trying to raise any allied units in the Kotac system." He paused while listening to the transmissions, "The moon base is screaming for them to jump in, but the planetary governor is warning them off." He listened for one more moment then continued, "The relief force is splitting up: one frigate is staying, the remaining ships are pulling out. They are going back the way they came. Scout Force Commander suggests that they are linking up with a larger force some time away."

"How far away?" Lord Roglark asked.

The officer was ready with the answer, "Thirteen hours, seven minutes my Lord."

Lord Roglark and Captain Classion turned to each other, and then broke out in wide smiles. "Captain, please signal the mass driver units to instead begin planetary bombardment. Hunting Groups fly high cover; Destroyer Groups demolish the moon base then move into position to assist with the planet." Another cheer went across the fleet as the signal went out. Lord Roglark gestured to a nearby yeoman who promptly scurried off into the Admiral's Walk.

The yeoman returned with a silver tray on which perched two balloon-shaped glasses and a long necked bottle of green glass. "Now as I was saying Thendon, this is a drink from Terra, a drink of victors and conquerors." He took the bottle and poured some for them both. Classion had never had this particular liquor, so he watched Lord Roglark for the proper etiquette. Lord Roglark cupped the balloon of the glass with his palm and sniffed the bouquet deeply, with Captain Classion following suit.

The liquor had a tantalizing, smoky aroma and a deep amber color. He sipped it experimentally, swirling it around his mouth. Unusual flavors jumped out at him, much like they always did when he sampled alien liquor. It reminded him subtly of brivari, yet complex in a very different way. After a second sip he decided he could very easily get used to it.

Lord Roglark watched the Captain decide he was enjoying his drink before commenting. "Sublime is it not?" Classion could only nod so deep was his appreciation. Lord Roglark continued, "It is made from a fruit grown only in one district, distilled, and set to age. This particular bottle is older than us both put together my friend."

Captain Classion savored another sip, "What is it called my Lord?"

"It is named cognac Thendon; a drink of victors and conquerors," Lord Roglark said.

Captain Classion raised his glass in salute and quietly said, "Then to you Jentavus. May you continue to be counted both among the victors and conquerors."

Lord Roglark allowed his gaze to drift out to the fleet as the first of the mass driver spheres began to fall on Kotac. Victors and conquerors indeed.

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