The Shattered Empire (The Shadow Space Chronicles Book 2) by Kal Spriggs

father had betrayed his Emperor, had led a military coup that had ended in failure and resulted in his execution.  The coup was ultimately founded upon the fact that Lucius's grandmother had been the lover of Emperor Romulus I and Lucius's father was the product of that affair.  Lucius's father had served his half brother, Emperor Romulus II, but upon his death, had sought to seize power from his son.  The result for Lucius and his younger sister had been a childhood without parents and being a social pariah for most of his life.  That heritage had also almost ended his military career multiple times.
    “I wanted to bring up a subject which I fear will be... tender for you,” Admiral Dreyfus said and broke the cycle of Lucius's memories.
    Lucius cocked an eyebrow, “Oh?”
    “We've continued analysis of logistics requirements for our various ships.  Part of that was done as the Gebeynr left, the rest after I ordered a deeper analysis based off of those initial results,” Admiral Dreyfus said.  The Admiral met Lucius's eyes.  “The Nova Roma ships we're operating use a different set of technology as well as a vastly different set of parts and equipment.”
    “You're talking about my old ship, the War Shrike and her sister ship, the Peregrine , aren't you?” Lucius asked.
    “Indeed.  The Nova Romans are operating the other vessels, predominantly, which means their labor and effort.  Which is important, because the different requirements of those ships uses up an additional fifty percent over the equivalent hulls of my own vessels.”
    Lucius did the math.  The closest equivalent to the two Desperado-class battleships were the Nagyr-class battlecruisers, which were half the size, but of similar speed and armor.  If the Desperado-class battleships used half again the resources to maintain, then that meant the two ships used up almost the same resources as an entire squadron of battlecruisers.  While the battleships mounted heavier energy weapons of greater range, they did not match the firepower of three battlecruisers, nor the versatility that three such vessels would provide.  “I see.”
    “We're not to the point that our resources are down to picking between one or the other, but maintaining an entirely separate class of vessels with a completely different stream of parts and equipment is an additional stresser on our logistics.”
    Lucius closed his eyes.  The decision was an obvious one.  The two ships were, technically speaking, not even property of the United Colonies.  They were built in Nova Roma shipyards and had never been decommissioned from the Nova Roma Imperial Fleet.  It only made sense to give them back to the Nova Roma Emperor in Exile, Emperor Romulus IV.  The young Emperor was their ally and giving them the ships would be a gesture of good faith as well as a way to let them deal with refitting and repairing the vessels after the battle against the Balor.
    And yet... Lucius had served aboard the War Shrike for over twenty years.  In that time, he had risen from XO to Captain.  He had commanded that ship against various odds, at times aware that his demise was a certainty... yet his ship and crew had pulled victory out in the end.  That single ship had allowed him to possibly turn the course of humanity back from the brink of destruction.  Giving her up, even knowing he would never command her again as Captain, was a heavy task.  Yet, making those kinds of calls were necessary.  He didn't want to see the last of her, but he could at least ensure that the next commander was worthy of the task.  For that matter, the Peregrine had served as the rogue Lady Kail's flagship.  Lucretta Mannetti, the self-styled Admiral Mannetti, had commanded the ship for almost fifteen years after her own failed plot to seize power in Nova Roma... until Lucius finally got the upper hand when she tried to betray him again here at Faraday.  He quirked a smile at Admiral Dreyfus.  “I assume the