The Alliance’s Next Steps

The Alliance's war council convened once again the following morning. The atmosphere was tense, and the room was filled with a quiet sense of urgency. Despite the recent victory, there was a sense that their situation was far from stable. The Rhytil would retaliate, and the question was no longer if, but when.

Lena took her seat at the head of the table, her eyes scanning the room. She could feel the weight of their expectations pressing down on her, but she couldn't allow herself to falter—not now. The meeting began with reports from various officers about the status of their fleet. Despite the repairs to their ships, the Alliance was running low on resources, and the Rhytil's deep pockets of reserves remained a constant threat.

General Sato was the first to speak. His voice was firm, but there was a sense of doubt lingering behind his words. "We can't afford to take too much longer to regroup. Every hour we spend sitting idly here gives the Rhytil more time to prepare. We should hit them before they can recover."

Captain Nora nodded in agreement, her arms crossed. "The question is, how do we hit them? We've inflicted damage, but we don't know where their core forces are. We're going to need better intelligence if we want to capitalize on our success."

Lena listened carefully, her fingers drumming softly against the table. "I've been considering our options," she said, her voice steady. "I think we need to turn this into an opportunity. While the Rhytil are rebuilding, we need to disrupt their supply chains. We hit them where it hurts—where they least expect it. But to do that, we'll need more information. We can't just rely on conventional intelligence."

"Are you suggesting we take more risks?" Sato asked, his tone skeptical. "We've already taken a lot of casualties. Another high-risk operation could cost us more than we can afford."

Lena's eyes hardened. "We can't sit back and wait for them to regroup. We need to move now, while they're still vulnerable."

There was a pause as the officers exchanged looks, weighing Lena's words. It was clear that not everyone was on board with her plan, but the urgency of the situation began to settle in.

"Alright," Tavon said after a moment, "We'll gather a smaller team for reconnaissance. We'll go after their most likely points of weakness. No large-scale attacks yet, just intel gathering. We'll hit them fast and hard—before they can retaliate."

Lena nodded. "That's the plan, then. We'll move quickly, and we'll make sure they know that we're not finished. We're going to end this war, one step at a time."