1566, Cage for a Trapped Beast (Doom of the Second Systems Army - 9)
Mace Windu said in a deep voice, "Don't lose your nerve! We still hold an absolute advantage! No matter what methods Sefrans Tann used to conceal this fleet, its numbers are limited! Seize this opportunity, and we still have enough strength to destroy them! Have every system where we maintain garrisons intercept these ships as much as possible!"
Standing on the bridge of the fleet flagship, the Hunter Class Battlecruiser Endurance, Admiral Sopronos saw an entirely different picture.
On the wide-area holographic star map, hundreds of red points of light had appeared simultaneously across the territory of the Neutral Alliance, a horrifying sight. In contrast, there were only a scattered few blue points of light representing friendly fleets.
Though he understood that each blue point represented fleet strength far exceeding that of the red points, the sight was still terrifying.
Every system marked by a red point represented an attitude—those systems' attitude toward the Second Systems Army: hostility!
Without question, the Second Systems Army possessed forces far surpassing those of the Neutral Alliance and could have crushed them with ease. But they had refrained from doing so because they wanted to bring those planets under their control peacefully. Even if there was a measure of coercion, they could still establish control without resorting to open warfare.
But now, these red points revealed one fact: their strategy had failed completely!
From the moment they began hunting the Destruction, and later when they caught its trail, everyone—including Mace Windu—had believed that they were weaving a vast cage to trap that ferocious beast, the Destruction.
Yet now, judging from the situation displayed on the holographic star map, the ones trapped inside the cage were the Second Systems Army—they themselves!