The battle should have ended in a simple cleanup.
Instead, a strange scene appeared on Solenne's tactical display.
One of the two surviving capital ships suddenly lost cohesion in its escort ring, not because Rhoswen had hit it again, but because several of its own smaller ships turned their guns inward and started firing at the vessels around it.
At the same time, the nearly one hundred archaeological and transport ships that had been hiding behind the combat line did not try to flee, did not try to reinforce, and did not even try to reposition. They simply stayed where they were, as if they were waiting to see who would win.
Solenne narrowed her eyes slightly as she studied the shift.
"This does not look like they are trying to escape," she said. "But instead it is a mutiny?"
Rhoswen, who was already closing on the damaged formation, spoke next over the line.
"Commander, one of the surviving capital ships is trying to contact us. Their captain says he wants to surrender."
