25th May 1698
The Strait of Gibraltar
The flag of the Spanish Empire hung high and proud in the sky. The sounds of waves crashing on the shore, seagulls chirping in the sky, and sailers reigning in the sails all resonated with a melodious ambience. All the ships entering and exiting the Strait of Gibraltar slowed their speed under the threatening muzzles of the coastal cannons and the majestic battleships. The Spanish navy inspected the large ships carefully from a distance as the ships entered and exited the Mediterranean Sea.
Being the fleet commander of the Spanish navy at the Gibraltar Strait was a very lucrative job, and that was exactly why Don had rejected having his own territory in the Americas and instead chose the post of fleet commander.
Don Francisco Álvarez de Toledo y Silva. That was his name, the heir to the Dukedom of Alba and a descendant of the House of Alvarez de Toledo, one of the most prominent high-nobility and aristocratic families of the Spanish Empire.
