It was over. The shattered hulks of dozens of warships-Rebel, Imperial, and Zannist littered the aftermath of the battlefield. The Kuat system was devoid of combatants aside from the crippled Imperial fleet that had been protecting it until forced to withdraw to the far side of the system. Its defenses sorely battered, the valuable shipyards would be operating on reduced production capacity while the damage was cleaned up and repaired. Thousands had perished in the grueling battle, and those that were left, entrusted with picking up the pieces, were demoralized and defeated. While they retained control of the system, they had lost much. In fact, if it was a victory, there wasn’t a single member of the Imperial Navy in the Kuat system who would agree with that statement. Their ships just no