I did not have the chance to see the visit that the representatives of the Fremen took to the swampy Eastern River Delta region, but I imagine it must have been a successful visit, because a month afterwards or so I was invited to see the transportation of the Fremen from the Bravian trading posts on the coast of ___________ to their new home. I was not posted on one of the transport ships that was carrying the Fremen itself but on one of the small destroyer vessels that was sent to guard the convoy of transport ships as they made their way across the sea towards the new settlements that were being prepared for them. I did not think it would be a very exciting journey, personally, as the vast majority of boat trips across that particular sea are not at all dramatic. That was the not the case here, though.

While the late afternoon crew was on the deck, our squadron of destroyers saw themselves to be targeted by a motley group of ships, some of them larger and some shorter than the destroyer task force, heading towards them at what seemed like full speed ahead. Flags were shown throughout the squadron seeking for the ships sailing directly at them to change direction and cease making an intercept course, but the ships kept coming on. Sailing day and night, it took three more days before we were finally in the position that allowed for something more than a chase to happen. At this time I received a message from the captain of the ship that my presence was needed below decks and also that it was too dangerous for me to remain on the main deck.

When I walked below deck I was ushered into a conference room where several officers were looking at what appeared to be a table map that was updated based on radar results as well as screens which showed a video feed of the fleet that was shadowing up. I felt rather nervous about it, as you might imagine, since from what I could see the ships chasing up were a large amount of warships of various size, most of them far larger than the destroyers that made up the Bravian task force that was focused on its main duty to shepherd the transport ships holding the Fremen to safety. I thought for some time that perhaps it had been a large pirate fleet that had unluckily decided to shadow us, but I was unable to engage the Bravian naval officers in any small talk during the stalking phase of the battle that was to come. For six days and nights we moved at full steam ahead, keeping out of the range of the guns of the fleet that was pursuing us and keeping in between that fleet and the all-important transport ships. I do not know what communications were made at that time, but the ships must have been communicating with each other and with others based on what follows.

Finally, on the seventh day, the maps showed that we were approaching the coast of Bravia, though I must say that as my knowledge of the geography of Bravia is not particularly great, I did not immediately recognize the area where we were at. Obviously, the destroyer task force knew, because at this point the ships started to make a turn parallel to the Bravian coast, again keeping the transport boats on the inside safe from attack, while we moved to the east. After a brief time, the map screen showed the presence of small ships coming from the area we were at from a dock close to the shore to where we had just vacated. The fleet that was facing us, from the video feed I saw, put up its flags to show that they were a naval force from _________, our often hostile neighbors and the nation whose attacks on the Bravian trading posts had prompted the whole problem with the Fremen in the first place. I was now deeply shaken to think that they had sent their entire fleet to chase after a destroyer task force and transport ships. What the Bravian ships did next, which I could see on other screens in the conference room, was even more extraordinary, in that they stopped and ran up all-black pennants. I did not know what the black pennants meant, but I surmised that whatever they meant was not good news.

After hoisting the black flag, the destroyer task force did something most extraordinary to me and started advancing towards the enemy fleet. I could see on the map that the transports were still making their way to safety while the destroyers were now engaging the hostile fleet at long range, while other vessels were now closing in from the north and from the west. I could see on the video screen that some dirigible airships had also moved from the coast of Bravia towards the enemy fleet, and while it did not appear that the other fleet acted in response to the Bravian ships that were now surrounding them on three sides, there was a pause when the airships came into view. From what I could tell, the Bravian ships that I saw were state-of-the-art, while the hostile navy was some years obsolete, and lacking a carrier arm, which would have been very useful in this particular situation, it must be admitted. It appeared to me that a general engagement was about to commence after days of tense stalking, and now it appeared that the hunted were now obviously the hunters, in their home waters, with a sizable fleet to go along with the homefield advantage.

Looking at the various feeds I could see, there was a massive amount of firepower that was now being launched at the enemy fleet. There were, besides many ships and the airships firing explosive shot and, from above, explosive bombs, but also shore runs firing massive explosive shells at the fleet. I could even see dive bombers coming from what must have been a carrier among the Bravian ships dropping bombs on the enemy ships. It was not too long before the shots pierced the armor of the enemy ships and started hitting vulnerable places like magazines and fuel storage, as one could see on the feed ships starting to explode and sending people into the sea. One could also see on some of the feeds pools of fuel and oil around some of the ships, which, when ignited by the explosions coming from ships and from the explosive shells and bombs, caught fire, burning alive many of the struggling enemy sailors. As long as there was still an enemy ship still struggling, it looked that the Bravians were going to destroy everything and kill everyone who had come against them. Towards the end of the enemy fleet I could see a large amount of logistic ships that were trying to retreat the other way, but then, much to my surprise, I now saw on the feeds that some submarines were now offering chase and targeting them with torpedoes that hit the defenseless tanker ships one by one, setting them ablaze until there were no more enemy ships at all on the sea and a sense of calm even if there was still some burning and sizzling going on of the ships that had been dispatched to the deep. From what I could see, none of the ships were visible at all above land, so I am not sure how deep the waters were off the coast of Bravia but they must have been deep enough to keep any of the ships, some of which were pretty tall in their superstructures, from rising above the level of the water.

All around me, I could see the looks of relief on the faces of the Bravian mariners, but much to my surprise there was no intense jubilation, no bragging, no massive celebrations. The battle, as I could see it, had been a complete rout. It did not appear that any Bravian ship or transport or airship or plane had suffered any hits from the enemy fleet and that all of the ships had been sunk. The coast guard littoral vessels that had come off of the shore were looking around at the places where ships had gone down, perhaps trying to salvage some usual material for their own shipbuilding or other manufacturing efforts. From what I could see, the Bravian scrounging efforts are high-tier. I’m not sure why I was allowed to see what happened, because while it was obvious that I was not involved in the strategic thinking, they were clearly trying to send a message to me, and through me, to you as well. I would like to at least guess as to what that message is. For one, I think that the Bravians wanted to send a message that Bravia and its people were not to be messed with, and that those who sought to take advantage ofa pparent weakness and do harm to their people would find a certain death. There is not a single person who left on a ship to attack them that survived that battle, and I will never be able to unsee the sight of ships sinking and people burning in pools of oil or of ships exploding and rapidly sinking into the sea.

Concerning the tactics of the Bravian navy, I must say that they deeply alarmed me. For seven days the Bravian fleet was able to conduct an orderly retreat while conducting a delicate humanitarian operation. During this entire time they kept under full fire discipline and did not provoke a clash. As soon as they arrived in a favorable area and had completed their efforts to bring the Fremen to safety, they turned to the attack and were able to mount a combined arms masterpiece against a hostile foe who clearly did not see it coming, leading to the complete destruction of the opposing fleet, who had foolishly allowed themselves to be drawn far away from their own homeland. My first recommendation is that we do not want to get into war with Bravia. Obviously, as I am pursuing a treaty with the Bravian nation, this is our aim, to preserve peace between us, but I believe that being able to see our neighbors and frequent enemies being so completely destroyed in my presence was both a favor to me, since I am sure the Bravians are aware that our nations do not get along, but also a caution not to engage in any attacks on Bravia’s people or property. I believe that message was conveyed successfully to me and I wish to convey it to you as well. Bravian military efforts are terrifying and would be frightening to see on our side, much less to see against us, if we survived. In that light, I ask for clarification as to how you wish me to proceed, because it is clear that the Bravians do not view us in a hostile light, but at the same time, are not a nation that we want to cross, even if their culture is alien to us.

Addendum: I had thought to submit this paper, but I wanted to wait until I was back on land and able to send it via one of the usual trade ships that operates between our countries, since there is as of yet no airmail service between Bravia and home. As it happens, after I finished writing this, the destroyer I was on docked at the port that I had seen on the video, and I saw that it was labeled as Port Esperance, which I remember from the meeting of the Grand Parliament as being the proposed boundary between the Eastern Delta province where the Fremen were going and Southeast Bravia, a relatively rural and mostly undeveloped area of the country. Port Esperance is by no means a luxurious city like the Free Port of Bravia, but it is certainly an acceptable spot for trading vessels to go and is a major port for the Bravian navy and coast guard as well. I was able to get up to date on the news about the battle and saw that the destroyer task force head had gotten the right to name the battle in honor of his efforts to draw the enemy fleet to their destruction, and chose to name it the Battle of Cape Esperance, to the general support of the area itself, which will probably put up a war memorial about the battle and perhaps even a museum in record time. It is not hard to see how that is going to be, and perhaps this dispatch will become part of the historical record, which is a worthwhile achievement for someone who never sought to be involved in military history in any capacity and whose career has been devoted to making peace. At any rate, I hope that all is going well for you.

I do not know anything about how the Fremen are doing. From what I can gather, they should be disembarking now in the sites that had been chosen for the first six Amphoe within the new province. I do not know how long it will take to build the cities to a state of completion, or how long it takes for Bravians to hew out a cave fortress for the capital of the new province, but it appears that hte Bravians have chosen to develop the swampy jungle region of the Eastern Delta, which means that they are pushing the direction of their development away from us for the moment. This gives us some time to figure out what we want to do with regards to them and should keep our lands from having any offers for trading posts for at least a few years as there are currently three provinces, all on the East side of Bravia, that are being targeted for various developments. I hope you will take this as good news, and I hope to hear more instructions from you soon.