Prelude to battle

At the same time that Zen and the rest of the Evanescence crew were on the way to planet Gader for their next adventure, a small scale space battle was happening around a small sized yellow planet between the Empire and the Dominion.

"Admiral, the I.N.S. Royal and the I.N.S. Phoenix have both been completely destroyed!" A young bespectacled crew member that sat behind one of the holographic monitors reported.

"Order both the I.N.S. Dragon and Tiger to flank around towards the left side to cover over for the now weakened area!" The tall man in a neat uniform with many medals upon his chest says while surveying the battle scene before him.

Without saying anything, the man immediately goes to communications screen to send out the Admirals orders.

The Admiral frowns while looking at the strategic holographic map that shows the current positions and movements of all ships on the battlefield; enemy and ally alike.

If one were to look closer that would see that the red slightly outnumbers the blue and has the advantage.

"If we lose this frontier, it will open up multiple core worlds for the Dominion to invade and even the major Commercial planet of Gader will be in their crosshairs." The frowning Admiral mumbles to himself trying to find a solution to pushing the enemy back.

"Sir, another two ships lost on the right flank! The enemy has three Fortress class ships heading straight for us!" The bespectacled young man all of sudden stands up while shouting out the current predicament.

"Damnit, how did an enemy fleet of this size slip past the vanguard fleets!" The Admiral slams his fist onto the table next to him while lamenting his current situation.

"What is your orders, Admiral?" The young man asked.

"Which ship is currently the fastest and in the best condition?" The Admiral who suddenly seems to come up with something asked a question.

The young man quickly looked at the data of the surviving ships before replying to the Admiral.

"Sir, the I.N.S. Scoundrel is the fastest and has had barely any damage done onto it!"

"Send the order for it to retreat into the core worlds at full speed to warn of the impending attack and our fall at the Northern defense line. Then send the order for all other ships to do everything to cover their escape!" The Admiral orders.

The strategic map soon changes as it shows one blue ship moving extremely fast to the rear of the other blue ships and away from the battle. At the same time the other blue ships all move in a defensive line that prevents the enemy to move past them.

The red on the map soon catch on to what the Imperial navy is planning to do and moves quickly in an attempt to intercept but is stopped by the line of blue on the strategic map.

"No matter what, don't let the enemy get past this point! Use the ship itself if you have too to stop them!" The Admiral orders while preparing himself for death.

If one was to look aboard the bridge of the I.N.S. Scoundrel, they would notice all the crew members were saluting in the direction of the rest of the Imperial fleet that is holding the enemy while they escape.

"Alright let's get a move on! We will not let their sacrifice be in vain! We need to get this information back to the Empire as soon as possible!" The captain of the ship says to inspire and order his crew.

The captain look back one last time only to see that most of the Imperial ships have been destroyed and only the Admirals ship is left.

Back on the Admirals ship, while they are being fired upon and about to be destroyed. All of the ships crew including the Admiral are singing the national anthem.

"........., All hail the Empire, long live the Emperor!" Was the last words everyone got out before they perished in the explosion of the ship leaving no survivors.