A massive follow-up engagement has occurred at sea yesterday, only this time near the enemy's primary naval base rather than ours. The results were somewhat disappointing, as it was a victory for us that was more marginal than the one at Marietta 4 days previous. Alas for Takomen, the issue will be decided over a naval campaign over a series of weeks rather than two legendary battles of great decisiveness. However, at this rate we will prevail, and resupply capabilities during extremely taxing engagements such as these favor us as we specialize in maritime warfare. The patriotic fervor that has swept over Kantaria and Likuria remains, while in the enemy nations a sort of desperate urgency is starting to take hold. They must conclusively shatter us soon or they will lose the chance to ever do so.

13 January was a day of regeneration for our naval forces and of reckoning for me. The Strategic Council was understandably agitated because Perredine decided to come aboard the flagship despite them declaring we must be separated in battles that large and dangerous, and because a child was on the bridge and the resulting perception we weren't fired on very much because of this. The population in general learned of both of these and seem to be overwhelmingly endeared and intrigued by such antics. Contrary to the impression of many officers, I actually respect the Council and don't blame them for being upset over these developments. Their demand for our 2nd in command being away from the action was not unreasonable, and we shouldn't have children on warships during massive conflagrations (let alone the flagship bridge). As respected and competent as I am, I am not a being of unmitigated power and I should not be. Thus, I did not flout the Council deliberately, but many don't believe me because of my personality and general disregard for formality and convention.

The Council generally was indignant and concerned, but they understood not much can be done about this after I explained to them the circumstances. Being the objective and empathetic being I am, I was mildly frustrated but not judgmental when even they assumed I brought Lucien onto the ship. My own crew assumed I planned this, the ENEMY crew assumed I planned this, and the strategic officers also assumed this at the subsequent meetings. I am so capriciously concupiscent that the average officer just deems it more likely I wanted to yiff him while in the field. It's become a universal joke and cause for feigned (and occasionally real) derision. Fortunately, I quickly convinced them he openly defied me and that the assumption our security would have stopped a pre-teen from wandering around our flagship without being specifically instructed to was reasonable. Perredine also openly admitted to coming aboard and explained I wasn't aware he was there until it was too late, and that I was concerned once I saw him. Several members did state that even if we were still in Marietta I would have allowed him to stay, to which I sincerely responded that was correct because he was my friend. Some were not very sympathetic to such an answer, but they appreciated my candor and at least attempted deference to the Council. They and I more or less agreed nothing could feasibly be done about this given the various circumstances and we should drop it and move on.

Over the 12th and 13th massive progress was made on repairing the very extensive damage done to our ships. The Kantarian 1st Fleet was given priority as always and was mostly serviced at Marietta, and bases and personnel up and down the western and southern coasts  worked overtime to repair Kantarian and Likurian vessels. Our specialty and technological supremacy allowed us to repair 40% of our fleet damage by the evening of the 13th, and 60% by noon the next day. We thus resumed our naval raids on coastal infrastructure on the 14th, which put the enemy further behind proportionately than us while causing more work for our repair crews. While sections of the coasts on both continents were being shelled, I addressed our people numerous times, advising them the climactic period we envisioned had not concluded and thus continued exertion on our part was required to sufficiently maul their vanguard and set off a period of rapid implosion. While I could not reveal this to our people before we attacked, I'm sure they would have been further encouraged if they were told we would attack the enemy's home base in a daring attempt to achieve a critical victory while they were still recovering from the last battle.

Our naval and strategic officers agreed that the time was right to attempt an assault on the enemy's base of Kalobol and force a second massive engagement while so many of their vessels still were in repair queues. While Kalobol is extremely heavily fortified and the base's collective firepower exceeds what the Procyonidae can project by a factor of three, that would be mitigated by the comparatively poor condition of their armada. This was an opportunity to cause very extensive damage to a weakened foe that would rapidly diminish. We thus limited our raids on bases, crafted detailed battle plans to be followed, and drilled accordingly when possible. If we failed to achieve our objectives, the enemy naval force would likely remain too strong to attempt landings anywhere until a major engagement changed that, which likely would be in early February. We predicted they would attempt another offensive after feverish reinforcement of their naval and aerial forces at that time. If we could cripple them before then, we might be able to start landing marines near Kalobol in tandem with armored offensives to the east, a grand combined-arms campaign that would cause epic encirclements and destruction if it proceeded according to plans. 

Over the night of 15-16 January, our ground forces in earnest contributed to the attempt to overwhelm the enemy alliance in the area. After a period of relative tranquility over land on both continents save for artillery barrages on the 12th, we sent infantry and panzer units out of their fortifications with the objective of seizing points of the enemy's own fortified lines. We are not prepared to risk massive battles in the open to effect large-scale encirclements at this stage, but we are prepared to capture narrow segments of the opposing line just to destroy the defensive works and make the job for our lead units easier once they do begin their campaign. We also wanted to preoccupy the enemy artillery and destroy transportation networks while our and Likurian warships assembled and traveled north. A prolonged artillery barrage preceded the ground invasions, and the latter started taking place in earnest at the same time the enemy must have known of (and would have to react to) our massive naval invasions. A majority of the positions we planned to take fell over the course of the day on the 16th, and our forces managed to avoid being struck with atomic weapons long enough to finish their tasks and retreat to the Narenda and Tannenberg Lines. 

Because Marietta is so far from Kalobol, we had to assemble and start northward many hours in advance of the planned battle time. While the Western Front on land was alight with thousands of shell strikes a minute, I assumed my position as Grand Admiral on the Procyonidae and oversaw the preparations. We en masse set sail northward with our Likurian allies after Midnight. At around 10:00 I addressed the armada and the military as a whole, employing my legendary charisma and oratorical skill to further galvanize the forces in or about to be in active combat, but also to preemptively lessen the harm that would be caused by a defeat or stalemate or marginal victory. We all very much hoped we could cause great destruction to the enemy before having to fall back, but there was no way to make such a result inevitable. 

At approximately 11:00, our fleets came within range of the enemy fleets and Kalobol. Their flagship and Taneru were present, but we did not speak this time. Also dissimilar to last time was the absence of Perredine and Lucien. I gave a humorously worded command to security to not let the latter roam the ship without my permission first, while the former was asleep and thus not conscious to attempt insubordination again. The remaining thing that made this battle with regards to opposing flagships and commanders unlike the first was the two of us were mostly left alone to have a prolonged duel with each other. The majority of the damage both ships would incur would be from the opposing leviathan, making this as much a test of opposing fleets as of opposing commanders.

For the second time in well under a week, a naval battle of over a thousand vessels and many more aircraft transpired, and this engagement was no less ferocious and disorienting than the last. The few times I lamented the extent of our planet's capabilities being used solely to destroy each other at sea, I very quickly brushed it aside and resumed full focus on the battle. There was no time to contemplate the effect of the war on our planet's development when fleets gave near-constant updates and requests for commands, and sensor systems were almost being overloaded by the sheer scale of the engagement. Almost in an instant, the sea changed from a mildly tempestuous environment to an infernal cauldron of shell, bomb, and laser fire from both armadas and their supporting aircraft. Fortress artillery from the Narenda Line within range of Kalobol contributed to the colossal scale of geography and consumption of this battle.

To our dismay, the enemy effected more repairs than we assumed they were capable of. Combined with the awestriking firepower of Kalobol and Taneru's skill as a naval commander, resistance was extremely stiff across most of the area. The 1st Fleets of three nations (Likuria's was not involved in the battle) joined battle in a narrow segment of the line, our 1st trading extremely intense fire with the enemy equivalents. It is tradition on Takomen for the 'first' of anything to be the best of its larger formation (1st Division the best of its army, 1st Army the best of that nation and weapon type), so the best of most of the planet had to offer at sea fought each other to a virtual stalemate of great bloodiness near Kalobol. We barely were able to outperform our numerically superior adversaries as a whole in that fleet, and the contest between flagships was not much more favorable to us. We can be said to have won the engagement on a fleet and flagship/personal level, but not by enough to brag much. 

The results on the rest of the line were equivalent or worse. The Kantarian 2nd Fleet covered the armada's left flank, and came under fire by numerically superior forces, many of which we somehow didn't detect until they were firing on them. They suffered terrible damage holding that flank in a valiant effort to prevent encirclement and additional fire on our 1st Fleet, losing two capital ships and 8 Tier 3s even with the diversion of 100s of aircraft from baseships in the rear and 100s of hybrid planes from land. That and their superior mobility saved them from wholesale destruction upon our withdrawal from the area. We made limited progress on other places, though we caused more damage proportionally than we took. Kalobol itself lost 3 guns from our limited bombardment of their defenses, and service facilities were overall moderately damaged. Road and EM rail lines leading to the base were severed in places by bombs, shells, and missiles. 

After a while at the battlefield, our distance from home, the damage we incurred generally, and our ammunition levels aboard the ships, caused me to order a general withdrawal. This did not immediately lessen the ferocity of the battle as we were pursued a short distance by the enemy. In fact, it actually became worse for a short while due to the arrival of enemy reinforcements and increased usage of atomic weapons and torpedoes (both of us apparently decided in advance to use more towards the end). My ship had managed to evade being hit with any to that point because of fortune and the additional protection that is always assigned even a flagship as powerful as ours. However, two atomic weapons impacted our starboard side in rapid succession, which degraded armor to 35% and destroyed several non-primary turrets and caused damage to nearby supporting vessels of small size. We  immediately returned fire in kind and struck the opposing leviathan with three. What few Long Lance Torpedoes we had were fired at vessels en masse which we determined were close to armor failure or at units we wanted to slow down. These parting salvos and volleys caused considerably more damage to both sides, but more to the enemy combined forces. Taneru decided she had had enough and had the fleets turn around while ours returned home at flank speed. 

Upon return to various bases, it was readily apparent to all the base personnel that we had sustained very substantial damage. All we could tell them then was the enemy armada suffered at least as badly, and their base also needed some repair. 1,200 vessels and 5k aircraft participated. Despite combatant strength being lower than at the Naval Battle of Marietta, losses in percentages and non were actually higher. Vessels on both sides that were destroyed or damaged moderately to severely rose to almost 46%, far higher than the average 37.6% for the previous battle. We still prevailed in casualty percentages but that disparity is far less favorable to us, which means we technically won but we don't have much to show for it. Most of our stockpiled components were consumed in the first round of repairs, and now even with increased industrial allocation we won't finish repairs for at least a week. Some ships will spend a week or more in drydock to repair internal damage, and the Procyonidae's main turrets are becoming dangerously overworn and need replacement quickly. This was not how I wanted celebrate the battle, but at least we didn't lose it.

I had a most remarkable experience today, as did our nation. Decades ago our nation had been a sovereign nation, and was subjugated by Bengaria and made part of their empire. As is the case now, we had a parliamentary democratic system. Obviously, that parliament ceased to exist after Kantaria's subjugation, and the building was destroyed in the process. That and other factors seemed to destroy all physical traces other than history books that we had a national parliament. Some civilian archivists who were going through their storage facility came upon a relic from that era yesterday, something they have unquestionably traced back to our national parliament of old: a gavel used in the main chamber. As we were in a desperate battle, then we had to have a staff meeting, and then I needed to sleep, I wasn't made aware of this discovery. My secretary relayed to me the discovery upon my arrival at my post in Mirukan, and after a few other matters were attended to I journeyed to this facility to see for myself what they were raving about.

I was presented with this relic from our past, from a government that ceased to exist decades before I was even born. I gazed upon this hefty object that might rightfully be used as an improvised weapon in an emergency, and held it in my paws. In retrospect I suppose awe and reverence are the best terms for what I experienced, but at the time I didn't know whether I was jubilant or saddened, whether I wanted to cheer or cry. I seemed to experience both at the same time and more, and I suppose that is what awe of this nature is. I was even asked by the archivist if I was feeling well, I had such a facial expression and seemed frozen. I asked if I could retain this temporarily while I prepared a speech to the nation. She seemed astonished I would ask her permission for that rather than just claim it, and said I was summoned so they could give it to me to do as I felt appropriate. As I am the one entrusted with the survival and welfare of the nation, this was indeed a fitting choice. 

I gave a speech at the new site of our parliament, a building constructed since the Revolution, along with many other acts of urban rejuvenation for our largest city which I had encouraged. I spoke of various things, such as being entrusted with preserving our new government by ensuring we are victorious militarily, of what I felt when I was presented with the gavel, and of what we are fighting for and against. What Likuria and Kantaria are fighting for essentially is the prevention of immoral imperialism and abolishing the governments that fought for it. No Takomenian nation ought to permanently occupy any other Takomenian nation. I was careful to foment hatred against the senior government leaders of the opposition and not the people in general. The populace isn't our enemy, nor are the officers and soldiers ultimately. They have been led astray and been placed in a horrible position. At the end of my address, I presented the gavel to the assembly in general to do with it as they deem best. This presentation helped nullify the loss of spirit that might have occurred from the last two battles not bringing us overwhelming victory.

Marietta is under bombardment by heavy bombers yet again, and we don't know when that will stop again. The Procyonidae has been seriously damaged and strained twice in under a week, and some old concerns about structural integrity have resurfaced. Because of the results of the last two epic conflagrations, we're not assured of winning the third battle, and we don't know for sure when it will come. Since component reserves rather than repair capacity is the bottleneck now, repairs will slow in pace pretty soon. All we can do is try our best and hope we either cripple them next time or win the next few battles as we have. Things will progress slowly if we keep incurring these kind of casualties, and our people want and deserve better than that.