Aro’nh seemed barely able to keep his feet; for a moment it seemed as if only his stiff uniform kept him from collapsing. “Adar, I will file a formal complaint.”

“Your complaint will be dismissed. I have the Mage-Imperator’s blessing, as well as his charge to make the Solar Navy into a far superior fighting force.” The disgraced commander’s eyes blazed, but Kori’nh refused to back down. “You have served well during your career, Aro’nh, but you have ceased to learn. You have forgotten how to adapt, and that would be a grave danger to our Empire in the event of a conflict with an outside enemy. The Mage-Imperator has instructed me to heighten our state of preparedness.”

The Prime Designate’s son stood at attention, astounded at the turn of events. Adar Kori’nh was pleased that the young man did not preen or seem overly pleased with the promotion.

“Tal Zan’nh, you are now in command of a full cohort. Under your guidance, you will lead blue team’s complement of three hundred forty-three ships. Congratulations, young man.”

Aro’nh looked broken, as if he had aged another century in the past few moments. Tal Lorie’nh also looked surprised and intimidated, fearing the possibility of another exercise. Next time, he knew he would have to face off against Zan’nh, instead of having the innovative young officer as his greatest resource.

“Gather all the ships,” Kori’nh said, tired. “I wish to announce Tal Zan’nh’s promotion and proceed with the victory ceremonies as soon as possible. Perhaps the gas miners on Qronha 3 would like to see a show.”

88: GENERAL KURT LANYAN

88GENERAL KURT LANYAN

The first new warship in the EDF’s enhanced Juggernaut class sparkled in spacedock, surrounded by a festival of monitoring lights and sensors. The giant vessel hung completed in the construction yard, waiting to be formally launched.

The design and construction engineers were very proud of their work. Twelve more of the enormous vessels would be completed soon, the cornerstones of an improved fleet ready to fight the deep-core aliens.

General Kurt Lanyan and the Grid 1 liaison officer Admiral Stromo—who would captain the new ship on its maiden voyage—had arrived for the full ceremony with an honor guard of twenty combat-ready Remoras and a handful of carefully chosen news media representatives.

As far as Lanyan was concerned, all this spectacle got in the way of the efficient running of military operations, but Chairman Wenceslas disagreed. “Such things take little time but engender a great deal of public fervor and interplanetary support, General,” Wenceslas had insisted. “It is an investment in your long-term military capabilities. If you can make the public fall in love with you now, you won’t have problems later defending your actions—whatever they may be.”