"Well?" the Admiral asked the general at the head of the Military Intelligence. "The EA's President went to survey what happened on Babushka. The Earthener Fleet, what is left after our victory at Atargatis, is going on with its vile attacks together with some allies such as Shundor, Procionis, Centauri, and Babel." "And Sea's pirate ships, dear uncle." Nuhrr interjected. He had been appointed weapon officer aboard the Bloody Dawn. "Don't tell me the obvious!" the Admiral shouted angrily. "I don't care about the EA's and other losers' offal, I want to know about Sea's fleet, for goodness' sake!" "Sea escorted Earth Force 1 to Babushka, but with only one ship, a large battleship, indeed. Neither other ships, nor... er... traitor Maurr showed." "The bastard didn't rise to the bait!" Nuhrr cursed. "Not everybody is a moron like you, cousin. You're so devoid of intellectual nuances to let Sea escape. Such a refined woman as the Great Matriarch couldn't have wanted less than a witty consort." Mihrr grinned. "Stop it, you two!" the Admiral roared. "Commander Vahur, any suggestions?" "Now everybody in the Galaxy knows we have the Great Cannon, we should attach directly to the heart of the enemy ..." "No one knows where is Sea's stronghold!" Mihrr exclaimed, "our intelligence is annoyingly incompetent!" "That's right, nobody knows where's Sea's sanctuary." the Admiral mumbled. "I'm not thinking about Sea's hideout, but about the Earth." "The Earth!" "Exactly, my Lord. Let me show you my plan." Vahur said. The admiral followed him to the great Planetarium hall. Vahur gave some orders and the technicians showed the Oort Cloud with the solar system inside. "I propose to line up our fleet on the edge of the Oort Cloud, my Lord. In that position we will be able to hit either the Earth and the planets of Sol's system or Proxima Centauri, the Earth's most powerful ally." "Do you suggest to deploy our fleet within an asteroid field after what happened off Shundor?" Nuhrr shouted. He was cultivating a strong aversion to Vahur. "No, prince. Outside of the Oort Cloud, in the open space where we can manoeuvre at will." The Planetarium technicians scrolled the Oort Cloud's data on the display: Oort Cloud predominantly formed by icy planetesimals that stick together forming celestial bodies like the comets crossing the Sun system. They can break apart during violent collisions or grow to the size of protoplanets and planets. The Oort Cloud is a spherical cloud of such bodies at nearly one light-year from the Earth and at 3 light years from Proxima Centauri. "As you can see, my Lord," Vahur addressed directly to the Admiral, "the Oort Cloud is the boundary of Sol's system, and the arrival of our fleet will be a threat and a challenge that both the Earth and Sea can't help but pick up. It has another advantage: it could be a great source of 'bullets' for our Big Cannon." "I can understand the very idea that our supercannon can hit the Earth itself will made the Earthlings to rush headlong into the fight. But Sea, why should he join the battle?" the Admiral was puzzled. "Like many of his staff, Sea is an Earthener and this gives us an emotional edge. Moreover the Earth isn't able to defend itself and will have to surrender unconditionally. Once the Galaxy is ours, who will trade with Sea? Who will provide the goods he needs? the technical support? alone and gunned for, he will not stand for long." "The Rogue fleet has been spotted off the Oort Cloud!" GOD said. "Farnese won't even grant you an e-bot, but will ask for your support." "Jay, we shall fight on the ground of their choice!" Eve said. "You were right, we lost the lead because of the pixies!" "Upper Hand is a whore, Eve, she grants her favours readily." JS replied. "We lost the initiative for lack of intelligence, no one knew about the supercannon." "What will we do?" "We'll fight! My way, of course." -- Thanks!