The Short Victorious War

1994

Well, it had to come.

All the alliances are made; the ships as prepared as they possibly could be and the reports from the spies collated.

Admiral Parnell of the People's Republic of Haven's Navy is sure his plans are fool proof and will take out the heart of the Manticoran Alliance - Manticore itself! His prime target the wormhole junction in the Basilisk System.

What he doesn't know. What he can't know is that his spy in Manticore's Office of Naval Movement isn't spying for him but is a Manticoran double agent.

An attack that was supposed to be launched against a run down force finds itself going against a prepared position with all the disastrous results that one might expect of such an operation.

But the attack against Basilisk, though it might be the most important, is not the only thrust that the People's Navy was to make and not all Manticoran commanders believe that the war has really come. One such was Admiral Yancy Parks who decided that he would be perfectly safe taking his heavy ships off to systems more at risk than the 'safe' system of Hancock, leaving a young Captain in charge of the cruisers that were all that had been left behind.

Had that captain been any one other than Honor Harrington, it was entirely possible that the Manticorans would have lost Hancock altogether but by sheer bloody-mindednes Honor manages to hold out until the heavy ships could return.

It quickly became evident that what the People's Navy had thought would be a short victorious war was going to be far longer than either side had first thought! Nor are all the Proles satisfied by their Basic Living Stipend.

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