Chapter 216: Reaching the Capital

James wasn't deluded with all this advancement at his enemy. He knew victory was in reach, yet it wasn't that much secured. So he didn't underestimate his opponent even when he pushed them to stand on their last leg like this.

"I know you hide a fleet somewhere," he muttered while rubbing his chin, "and the best action is to save it to the last battle but…"

He paused as he was sure his enemy wouldn't think safely like this. His enemy was anticipating any sign of weakness to hit hard, and there was currently one place he could do that.

"Give orders to Rigo and Dora," he said before adding, "at the start of our battle here, they have to act fast and show their true power."

"Roger that," the droid started to relay orders fast and the response came swiftly from both in the matter of a combined call.

James was too lazy to move to his dorm this time so he received the call on the deck.

"Can't we wait for their troops to take the bait further?" Dora asked in doubt while Rigo nodded, agreeing with her.

"No, this is risky," James shook his head, rejecting her words.

"On you?" Rigo asked.

"On you two," James corrected before adding, "I believe the final fleet defending the capital wouldn't hesitate to move and assault you two if you don't show your true fangs."

"Then why don't we lure them out and hunt them here instead?" Dora asked.

"Don't underestimate that man," James warned before adding, "he won't let the last chip in his hand be burnt easily."

"Do you mean…?" Rigo paused.

"More external reinforcements are on the way here. If you stayed there and waited for them to attack, you'll both end up being killed like sitting ducks."

They both exchanged looks through screens before they nodded. "Good, we are this close to crushing them, so don't make a single mistake that would cost us the entire war."

"Don't worry," Dora nodded, "I'll make them know the terror of my fleet once more."

"I'll move everything under my disposal and hit the capital as fast as I could," Rigo added.

"Good," James was delighted of their compliance, "now when reaching the capital, you need to arrange a massive blockade there and be ready to start the fight at any time."

"Shouldn't we send spies in?" Dora asked.

"Do it fast then," James nodded, "as once you started the blockade, sending anyone inside would be impossible."

"Do you think they will assault us first?" Rigo asked.

"No," James shook his head, "they will recall the troops attacking me trying to squeeze you in the middle."

"This…" Dora paused while her face showed how hard this fight would be.

"Don't worry, I won't let them escape my sight," he smiled trying to reassure both of them, "in fact we will be the one sandwitching them, not the opposite."

He laughed and they got his main idea. "Still we will lose many fleets," Rigo sighed.

"Losses are unavoidable in wars," James said before adding, "and we have a couple of fleets coming fast as we speak from our home."

"They'll need time to arrive," Dora shook her head, "they won't make it in time."

"They will," James said before adding in a deeper tone, "but it's our task to make time for them to arrive."

"Aha, prolong the actions and not hurry to start the final battle, right?" she asked with a realization.

"Sure, plus we need to make sure the enemy is occupied by side fights instead of one main battle," James said, trying to expand their horizon upon his plan.

"Like what?" Rigo asked.

"Like when we got an attack from the outside we would retreat a couple of systems, drawing their forces out and expanding the fight area before hitting them hard again," he explained before summing his plan up as he added, "to eat an elephant, you need to take one small bite at a time."

They nodded their heads in understanding. "But this will turn into an attrition war," Rigo commented.

"It's been like this since the start," James sighed, "just make sure once getting there you send some fleets to hide in unnoticed places. We need to reserve as many forces as possible as we have ten long days ahead of us."

He sat in his deck waiting for the kick start of this fight. "It's boring to wait for such an intense moment," he muttered while checking his own watch from time to time.

"They are here," the moment his droid said this, James was jolted awake. He felt a gush of adrenaline pushing through his veins and his mind started to shine.

"Give orders," he said in a loud tone, "let the battle start at once, no need to wait for their ships to fully assemble."

"Roger that."

"Send the signal to Dora and Rigo, let them both start advancing now."

"Affirmative."

James glanced at his hologram with anticipation. The early clashes had his side domineering obviously on the vanguard ships of his enemy.

Yet after hours, the main body of the enemy fleets appeared all of sudden, and the fight turned intense all of sudden.

On a side hologram, the news coming from Dora and Rigo was displayed there. James was anticipating his battle, but he was much excited about the movement of Dora and Rigo.

Both moved fast the moment they got his orders, and for hours they fought hard those remaining fleets in the area. There were many ships still staying back, but in less than one day they managed to crush them all.

And then they started to race time towards the Terases capital.

As for James, he kept those forces in front of him in bait. He didn't order for his entire forces to join the fight, and only used less than half to stop the incoming invaders.

To those watching from far, they would mistake the fight as quite balanced. He planned this so when they retreat towards the capital, they wouldn't doubt his inability to hit the retreating forces hard.

"If you need to hunt a tiger, you need to be a tiger feigning weakness yourself," he smiled while he noticed the early signs of his enemy retreating on the fourth day.

Rigo and Dora had just arrived around the capital and they were not fighting the outside defensive fleets around it.

"Should we chase after them?" the droid asked.

"Not now, it's too soon," James shook his head, before adding, "they just retreated a small portion, trying to harass Rigo and Dora and test our real intentions. Don't fall into their bait and stay on the plan."