"A ceasefire!" shouted a station operator. "The government is ordering us to cease all attacks!"

An uneasy silence filled the bridge of the Hyperion as Marshal Yang Wenli stared tensely at the ship's monitors. They showed the Imperial flagship Brünhild locked on to by the weapons of multiple Alliance ships in the vanguard, it's escorts having been already stripped away from it's side by the previous volley of missiles and neutron beams. Statistically, the ship was doomed. It was impossible for any ship to survive the amount of concentrated firepower trained on it as it now was. It would take only one word from Yang for the ship to be annihilated like so many others that already had fallen in this battle. This however wasn't any other ship, aboard it was the target of the entire Alliance operation, Duke Reinhard von Lohengramm, the leader of the invading Imperial forces himself.

"Marshal!" shouted Vice Admiral von Schönkopf, leader of the Rosen Ritter Brigade and long time supporter of the Yang Fleet. Von Schönkopf had attempted several times in the past to provoke Yang to take actions outside the lines of official duty in Yang's position as a Free Planets Alliance officer. Now it appeared to Yang he was about to do so again, but Yang cut him off by holding up a hand.

"This is something I have to do own my own, Defense Commander." Yang said stiffly while keeping his arm raised and his eyes focused on the ship's screen. At first Von Schönkopf looked at Yang with a pained expression, thinking Yang was about to give up on total victory to bow to the corrupt Alliance government that's self interested actions had only hindered Yang's efforts to preserve the democratic nation against the forces of the Empire up to this point. Von Schönkopf must have gradually seen something different in Yang this time however, as his mouth broke into a self gratifying smirk as he watched Yang's forehead break into a sweat, as he stood with his arm still raised.

"All ships, open fire. Destroy the Brünhild." Yang finally ordered with an uneasy drop of his hand.

The order was clearly half-hearted but it was given all the same. Yang slumped down into the command chair and pulled his beret over his eyes, adverting his sight from what was about to unfold. Multiple beams of light pierced the elegant white hull of the Brünhild tearing gaping holes into it. A few seconds later it was rocked by a secondary explosion as one of it's fusion cores erupted, concealing the ship in a pure white ball of flame.

"Target destroyed!" shouted a sensor operator. "We did it!"

Cheers promulgated through the soldiers and lesser officers manning the stations but they were soon silenced by an agitated Von Schönkopf, "It's too early for cheers! Confirm no escape pods or shuttles made it out! All will be lost if Lohengramm manages to escape the battle zone!"

Normally this action might be viewed as Von Schönkopf over stepping his bounds, but in this case the operators turned back to their stations without question. Indeed this entire operation had been launched and millions of soldiers had died solely to kill this one man.

"No survivors, sir." said one of the operators meekly. "There's hardly even any debris."

"Perhaps another volley just to make sure?" suggested Vice Chief of Staff Patrichev as the voices of the rest of the command staff now stepped into the void Yang's silence had created.

Frederica put a hand on Yang's shoulder who's eyes were still hidden under a combination of his beret and roughly frayed hair. Yang merely nodded in response to the touch. She turned and relayed the nod confirming the suggestion. Quickly after, another volley of deadly light rained down upon the meager wreckage remaining of the once proud Brünhild that until moments ago had effectively been the mobile throne of the galaxy's most powerful man.

Yang finally managed to return his eyes to the screen which now only showed what little remains of the ship had not effectively been atomized by the intensive volleys of fire. "I guess I really managed to do it this time." Yang muttered quietly.

Flashes of light still occasionally jolted in and out of existence as the remaining Alliance and Imperial forces continued their life and death struggle. Whatever laid ahead now, Yang felt he had a duty to not let anyone else die needlessly. The real battle was now over. He pulled himself out of the command chair and rattled off a series of dispassionate and methodical orders, "End all communications jamming and broadcast 'Lohengramm is dead.' continuously on all channels for an hour. Order any ships that can't make full speed to be abandoned. Quickly rescue any crews we can. We're leaving this sector for supply base D-28. I'll leave the maneuvers to Admiral Fischer."

Yang made for the exit of the command room but standing near it was Chief of Staff Murai.

"Sorry, but I'll be going for a rest first." Yang uttered joylessly to Murai.

"Your Excellency," Murai started uncomfortably, "while I can't say I personally disagree with the course of action you've taken, you have disobeyed a direct order from the Alliance High Command. Don't you think it's necessary to discuss the implications of what has just happened?"

Von Schönkopf broke into the conservation as if to protect a beleaguered Yang, "No one in this fleet will question his actions. We're safe, at least for now."

"Lieutenant Greenhill, prepare a meeting of the staff officers in four hours. That ought to be enough time for everyone to take a rest." said Yang while leaving the room saying nothing else after the monumental victory he had just accomplished. Julian quickly followed Yang off the bridge while the rest of the officers busied themselves relaying Yang's orders.

The battle of Vermillion was over. Duke Reinhard von Lohengramm, the de facto ruler of the Galactic Empire, was dead.

"Marshal!" Julian shouted down the corridor as he chased after Yang. "Why did you disobey the stand down order? Didn't you always tell me that a soldier of democracy has to follow the commands of the civilian government?"

Yang slowed his pace until Julian caught up, then started into his explanation. "Yes, I guess I did say that, but I had to make an exception in this case. Do you remember when I told you we shouldn't just think of ourselves when taking action? That we also needed to consider what would befall those living in the Empire as well?"

Julian nodded and Yang went on, "Well there is another group that we need to take into consideration as well."

"Who Marshal?" Julian asked.

"The generations yet to be born." Yang answered bluntly, but went on when the puzzled face of Julian demanded more.

"When Rudolph von Goldenbaum subverted the Galactic Federation and created the Galactic Empire, the flame of democracy was extinguished for centuries before our predecessors managed to escape and form the Free Planets Alliance. It's true that we can't directly compare the actions of Duke von Lohengramm to that of Rudolph, but even if his good character had remained intact his entire life, what of his successors? Ultimately, if we failed to stop him, he would have ruled over a galaxy united under a single despotic nation. It could have doomed generations to the same sort of fate they suffered under during the Goldenbaum dynasty. Even if those living today curse my name forever for the pain and suffering they'll have to endure because of my actions it's something I had to do."

Yang paused for a moment to look out into the vastness of space while he collected his thoughts. Apparently Admiral Fischer's skilled maneuvering had already brought the ship past the danger zone of enemy fire so the blast shields could be lowered.

"Because of what I've done, countless citizens of the Empire will suffer as they descend into chaos with the loss of their leader and no clear line of succession. The Alliance might not escape unscathed either, as the remaining Imperial fleets could launch reprisal attacks upon the civilians. In our current state our fleet would be unable to stop them all."

Yang gave his head a troubled shake as he paused for a moment before pushing on, "But all the death and destruction that might be unleashed due to the death of Lohengramm is still a mere fragment of what could be possible if a second Rudolph von Goldenbaum is allowed absolute rule in the galaxy. I weighed these dismal options and this is the decision I made, even if I had to bend the rules a little this time."

Yang shrugged recalling his uncharacteristic action, "If the Alliance demands my head for disobeying orders, I won't put up a fight. That's if the remaining Imperials don't pick us off first."

"Marshal..." Julian seemed despondent at Yang's list of potential outcomes.

Yang tried to head off Julian's worries, "I haven't given up Julian, it's just I need to be realistic about what's likely to happen. Most of all I have to apologize to Frederica for endangering our future. I might not be able to collect my pension if I'm drummed out of the service."

"I'll never let them do anything to you two." Julian said while clinching a fist.

"Calm down Julian and go get some rest." Yang insisted. "All we can do now is keep up our strength so we can face whatever comes next."

Julian nodded as Yang retreated into his quarters. The future that Julian had envisioned for himself just days before had just taken another drastic turn.

Imperial Admiral Neidhart Müller had just completed transferring his flag for the fourth time since rushing to the aid of his lord in the Vermillion system when the transmission finally reached the ship he boarded.

"The Brünhild has been destroyed!" shouted an officer at a bridge station.

"Quickly, confirm if Duke Lohengramm made it out." demanded a superior, but the sensor operators could only turn to each other with grim looks on their faces.

"No signs of escape pods or shuttles." one of them replied.

At the entrance of the admiral, all the officers present stood and offered a salute, "I need a status update, what is happening?" Müller demanded.

"I'm afraid the Brünhild has been destroyed, sir." responded the battleship captain somberly.

"Damn it!" Müller cursed while putting his fist into a nearby console. "Are you certain? Has Duke Lohengramm fallen?"

The officers all looked back to their stations momentarily before one at a communications station turned back to address his superiors, "The rebels sir, they are transmitting 'Lohengramm is dead.' over and over again. It's on every frequency."

With the additional news the officers present turned towards each other, all uncertain how to proceed, until one finally asked Admiral Müller, "What should we do, admiral?"

Müller shook his head. "Is Yang Wenli mocking the entire universe?"

Müller had already made countless sacrifices among his men in a desperate effort to save Duke Lohengramm, but despite that they had failed to prevent his death at the hands of the Alliance's strategic genius, Yang Wenli. While Imperial officers had to this point had a mix of admiration and fear when it came to their adversary, now nothing filled Müller's mind except thoughts of revenge. "Don't let him escape! If the Alliance has taken our leader away from us, the best we can do is make sure we take away theirs as well!"

As soon as Müller had uttered the command however, the ship was rocked by an explosion that knocked the officers off their feet and interrupted the power momentarily until the emergency lighting kicked on. "Damage report!" demanded the captain.

"My console isn't responding!" complained an officer.

A series of blaring alarms insisted not all as well on the ship even as the officers started to collect themselves. Müller's aide approached him. "Sir, it seems this ship has been compromised as well. If we're going to continue this battle it seems we must transfer again."

"Prepare the shuttle and select a suitable ship." Müller complained as he stormed back out the way he had entered the bridge. In such a manner, Müller transferred his flag for the 5th and final time during the battle of Vermillion. By the time he arrived on aboard another functional battleship, the Alliance forces had already made their escape.

Space Fleet Commander-in-Chief Alexandor Bucock had only been tossed in the dark holding cell deep beneath the Alliance High Council building for mere moments before he heard a disturbance from outside. It took some effort to move his old body after the rough treatment he suffered at the hands of the armed Terra cultists that pulled him out of the High Council chambers, but the urgency with which the group of men outside the cell were speaking pushed him to lean in as far as possible to hear the conservation.

"They're saying Lohengramm is dead. That Yang Wenli's fleet was victorious."

"Weren't they ordered to stand down?"

"Maybe the order didn't make it in time."

"Maybe he ignored the order, either way will Trunicht go through with the surrender if the enemy's leader is dead?"

"There's thirty thousand Imperial warships in orbit. Of course he'll have to surrender!"

"Who knows? Perhaps they'll leave and start fighting amongst themselves now that their chain of command has broken down, but that's not our immediate problem."

"If thirty thousand imperial ships in orbit isn't the immediate problem then what is?"

"The surrender order. When news gets out that Trunicht gave the order to surrender just as Yang Wenli defeated the Imperial's leader he'll lose all authority in the minds of the public. He barely had the technical grounds to make the order in the first place. Everyone will turn on him, and us too if we're not careful."

"Are we going back into hiding?"

"We'll grab Trunicht first. He's damaged goods, but maybe the Grand Bishop still has some use for him."

The news of Duke von Lohengramm's defeat in battle and death had also reached the Imperial fleets commanded by High Admirals Wolfgang Mittermeier and Oskar von Reuentahl. Along with Hildegard von Mariendorf, who had persuaded the two high admirals that the Duke's plan to act as a lure to catch Yang Wenli's fleet would fail and to instead directly attack the Alliance capital of Heinessen, each of them had their own unique reactions to the news. At first all three of them remained hopeful that the flagship Brünhild had merely been destroyed and another message would soon arrive confirming that some of the Duke's subordinates had forced him to escape in an act of desperate insubordination, but eventually the three had to accept that their leader who had overthrown the corrupt Goldenbaum dynasty had fallen in battle to the Alliance's Yang Wenli.

"So, that was the limit of our leader's capabilities. It's a shame." Reuentahl said coolly, not showing any signs of disturbance if he was effected at all.

Mittermeier on the other hand blamed himself for the failure, pacing the bridge of his flagship while uttering he should have insisted on being on the front lines to confront Yang instead of Reinhard, thinking of all the alternative possibilities that could have taken place if he had acted differently.

Despite all the front line action the two admirals together had seen in the war against the Alliance thus far, nether of them had directly confronted a fleet led by Yang Wenli in a pitched battle. Reuentahl realized that his 'victory' over Yang at Iserlohn Fortress was merely a tactical ploy, a part of Yang's grand strategy that finally took fruition at the battle of Vermillion.

The usually upbeat Hilda became sullen at the failure of her plan to save Duke Lohengramm from his own hubris. Her mind was a brilliant one and she knew all of the horrible implications Lohengramm's death could mean for the Empire. There would be a struggle for power and perhaps a full scale civil war that would likely set former allies in this very fleet against each other. In addition, unlike the previous Imperial civil war that saw it liberated from the corrupt control of the old nobles of the Goldenbaum dynasty, it was highly unlikely that whatever order came afterward would be better than the one it was replacing. To the contrary, it was very likely to be much worse. Then she realized that the two most powerful men in what remained of the Imperial Fleet were right in front of her. The fate of billions hung on the decisions these two men would make starting from now. While Hilda had been given an honorary military rank, her influence was now vastly diminished as it had been largely due to her access to Duke Lohengramm in her role as his private secretary. Now she felt helpless in front of the two most powerful men in the galaxy as they argued on how to proceed.

"The Alliance has betrayed us." insisted Reuentahl. "They agreed to the ceasefire, but executed Duke Lohengramm all the same since they had the opportunity to do so."

Mittermeier shook his head, "Even if that's true there's no way for us to prove it. The timing was too close to call with certainty once you consider the lag time needed to rebroadcast the order."

"Who says we need proof?" Reuentahl suggested. "It will be just like when we accused Marquis Lichtenlade of the assassination attempt on Duke Lohengramm. It was feasible and we had the power to act, so we did so."

"That was to seize power from the high nobles, we had no choice." Mittermeier grumbled. "Besides, when did you start taking the liking of that dog Oberstein's plans? Now that he's dead shouldn't we let his way of thinking die with him as well?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, he was right in that case and if he was alive to suggest such a plan now, he'd be right again. You need to be practical about this Mittermeier. This situation is very much like what happened after Geiersburg. If we fail to take action now, we'll be cursed by future generations as incompetent men that let the universe be consumed by complete chaos."

Mittermeier continued to resist however, "I don't want to go down in history a murderous bandit that slaughtered millions of innocent civilians because his leader was killed in battle either."

"Neither can we let a resurgent Alliance with Yang Wenli at the helm come after us before we can secure power in the Empire." countered Reuentahl.

"Then what do you suggest? That we commit to a nuclear strike on the Alliance capital? Wasn't it that same sort of drastic action that finally sealed the fate of the high nobles?" asked the exasperated Mittermeier.

"Nothing so drastic." said Reuentahl who still managed to keep his composure. "We'll need supplies for the return journey to the Empire and it makes the most sense to take them from the enemy while we're here. We'll setback their space infrastructure and reduce their ability to wage any future war on us, while sparing their population from direct attack."

"Wouldn't it just be better to threaten the Alliance to reaffirm their agreement to the peace treaty? Then their hands would be tied to an agreement."

Reuentahl shook his head, "Who knows if the Alliance government that is here today will be there tomorrow? If we reduce their capability to fight now, we'll be able to buy the time we need to ensure order back in the Empire no matter who the Alliance puts in charge."

"What exactly does ensuring order in the Empire entail?" Mittermeier questioned cynically.

"Imagine the worst possible scenario, then imagine yourself doing something to prevent it." Reuentahl suggested calmly. "I'm your friend Mittermeier, but if you can't keep up with the changing times you'll be left behind."

"That's a bad joke, Reuentahl." said Mittermeier before coming to accept that something had to be done. "How do you suggest we act?"

Ultimately, Reuentahl agreed to do much of the dirty work of rendering the space infrastructure of the Ba'alat system inoperable. Mittermeier would head back to Urvashi and rally the remaining Imperial fleets. Once Reuentahl was finished in the Ba'alat system he would rejoin the fleet which would then split into two groups. One led by Mittermeier would return to the Phezzan corridor and ensure the pathway to the Empire would remain open, then return to reestablish authority in the Empire. Reuentahl would lead the other group to conduct raids on space infrastructure throughout Alliance space before finally returning to the Empire through the Iserlohn corridor. Hilda quietly remained on Mittermeier's flagship Beowulf, still uncertain what possible path she would take in the coming struggle.