The Fallen Ark

The Imperial Combined Fleet's twelve squadrons advanced toward Aiur above the ecliptic plane in dense combat formations, a vast and magnificent sight. The tactic of concentrating capital ships to avoid dispersing one's forces and being defeated piecemeal remained just as applicable in the age of space as it had been in the age of ocean sail.

Each squadron in the combined fleet commanded several fully staffed or near-full naval squadrons, with more than a hundred capital ships. Their commanders were all renowned military leaders of the age, men like Horace Warfield, Matt Horner, and Alexei Stukov.

On the holographic three-dimensional display before Augustus, enemy markers in the direction of Aiur packed nearly half the screen so densely that there was hardly a gap between them. The blue triangular cursors representing Protoss forces stabbed into them like arrows.

Several clusters of green lights representing the Imperial fleet followed close behind. Red lights kept appearing from every direction—above, below, left, and right—like patches of red cloud, swiftly closing in before being destroyed or swallowed by the green clusters.

Long strings of numbers and special symbols on the display showed data including ranging lines, angles of contact, and projected trajectories for enemy Leviathan plasma projectiles. Even this had been simplified by a supercomputer; otherwise, no one could have processed so much information at once.

His flagship, the White Star, stood at the very forefront of the fleet's attack formation. To its left and right were the Pride of Augustgrad-class Royal Princess and Overlord. Fewer than twenty warships of this class had been built so far.

Seen from between those two ships, the vast battle fleet stretched endlessly outward to either side like a drawn bow. The flickering flashes of row upon row of gun batteries were clearly visible, joining into a blazing orange-red