The orders were sent immediately to mobilize for war against Euboea.
Athanasios would personally lead 900 men from the capital province of Achaia. Supreme Commander Alexios was sent to Epieros to take command of the 1200 men waiting there. Steward-General Aba of Persechen was sent to Abkhazia to take the 1600 men there and bring them to Euboea. Prince Bartholomaios and Captain Goar of Persechen were sent to Moldau, which was what the Pecheneg lands were collectively called, and together they would summon 1400 men from Belgorod and Olvia, and set sail for the island of Lesbos, which was the other main island of the Principality of Euboea.
As Alexios boarded the ship that would take him to his troops in Epieros, his wife, Princess Nest, came to say goodbye. She kissed him and said, "My love, we have another child on the way."
Alexios grinned, "You mean?"
"Yes, Alexios, I am pregnant again. Make sure you come home to see your new child."
Alexios kissed her, "I promise, I will return..."
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It was three days until Athansios' fleet was to depart for Euboea. He was enjoying an early morning ride on his horse, when a messenger arrived.
Ipa of Persechen was the king's guard this morning. As he saw the messenger approach, he called, "Hail! Who are thee? And what business do you have?"
The messenger replied, "I am called Gregorios. I am a servant to the noble Prince of Kappadokia, Konstantinos Komnenos. I bear a message from him to the King of the Morea, Athanasios I."
Athansios said, "I am he. Speak."
Gregorios bowed and said, "Sire, my prince bade me tell you this, and I quote, 'Konstantinos, Prince of Kappadokia, to his most illustrious ally and defender, Athanasios, King of the Morea. Hail, noble lord. Word has reached my court of your war with the Principality of Euboea. I have for some time now held with him an alliance treaty, and this war forces me to choose between the two of you. Seeing as how you gave your word that if any man should attack me, you would come with all haste to defend my free lands, I did not have to ponder long which ally I would keep. My forces will depart for the island of Lesbos at once. I shall rid the inhabitants of the island of all their defenses, so that your armies may at once occupy the island. I remain ever your loyal friend and servant. God be with you.' Thus says my prince."
Athansios smiled, "Good. Tell him that his aid is much appreciated, and shall not soon be forgotten."
"At once, sire!"
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It was late June, 1118, when the fleet of ships left the Morea and headed for Euboea. All in all, there were some 2,000 men under the command of King Athansios and Supreme-Commander Alexios. The troops from the outer provinces would arrive in Euboea and Lesbos later.
The journey to Euboea was a calm one. No storms and no encounters with the Euboean navy.
On July 7th, they landed on Euboea's southern shore.
It was dawn on the 8th, when the Euboean army was spotted. They numbered only about 600 men. Ipa of Persechen was sent, bearing a white flag of truce, to negotiate the surrender of the Euboeans.
As he entered their camp, the men looked at him with hate in their eyes. He wasn't sure what they hated more about him, the fact that he was a Pecheneg or the fact that he was wearing the Morean colours.
He was taken to Prince Alexios's tent, where he spoke with the prince personally.
After presenting Athansios' terms, which were uncharacteristically generous, he stared into the prince's eyes, and said, "What say you?"
Alexios said, "If I had any intention of surrendering, I would have done so upon your bastard king's first demand. Tell him that we will fight."
So Ipa left the Euboean camp and delivered the message to Athansios.
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So Athansios summoned a war council, to determine the strategy that should be used. Present with him were Supreme-Commander Alexios, Captain Romanus, Captain Mikhael, and young Ipa of Persechen. Captain Romanus was the commander of the infantry; he was tall, scarred, and had a dark complexion. His hair was also very curly. Captain Mikhael was the captain of the archers. He was short and baby-faced, but he was stern with his men, and his archers feared and respected him.
Supreme-Commander Alexios made the first suggestion. But being more of a warrior than a strategist, his wasn't the best idea. He said, "Sire, the Euboeans are weak and we outnumber them by more than three to one. Put the knight guard in the centre flank with the infantry on either side of them. The light cavalry will protect the archers, who will provide skirmishing cover."
Captains Romanus and Mikhael both agreed with this idea, and Athansios was about the accept it, when Ipa spoke up, "Sire, if I may..."
Romanus glared at the boy, "You forget your place, PECHENEG!"
"AND YOU FORGET YOURS!" Shouted Athanasios, "I DECIDE WHO IS AND IS NOT IN THEIR PLACE! UNDERSTAND!"
Romanus bowed, "Yes, sire. Forgive me."
"BE GLAD I DON'T HAVE YOU FLOGGED FOR YOUR INSOLENCE! Now, Ipa, what were you going to say?"
Ipa bowed, "Sire, when I was in the Euboean camp, I saw the men there. They may be outnumbered and outclassed, but in their hearts burns a fierce hatred of us. They will fight fiercely and to the death to defend their homes. They remember what happened to their brethren on the island of Naxos. We cannot hope to overpower them, for they will overpower us with their sheer passion."
Athanasios asked, "Then what do you propose we do?"
Ipa cleared his throat, "If one studies military history, one will find that the typical military strategy has been to put the strongest troops in the centre, with the weaker ones on the flanks. But if one looks at the Carthaginian General Hannibal, one will find and interesting strategy of his, with which he defeated a superior army of Romans at the battle of Cannae. Hannibal put his weaker troops in the centre, and his stronger ones on the flanks. The result was that as the battle progressed, his centre flank collapsed under the might of the Romans. But his infantry and cavalry on the flanks easily destroyed the weaker troops on the Roman flanks, and soon enveloped the Roman centre, killing every Roman in the centre. The result was about 10,000 deaths for the Romans, if my sources are correct, and among these were nearly half the senators of Rome."
Mikhael snorted, "And how does this long dead pagan general help us any?"
Ipa continued, "If we put the light infantry in the centre, with the heavy infantry on the right flank and the Knight-Guard on the left, we can destroy the Euboeans with minimal casualties."
Athanasios began to think, and Romanus said, "Sire! Surely you can't be seriously considering this proposal? I mean, are you really going to let a Pecheneg boy lecture you?"
Athanasios took the back of his hand and slapped Romanus hard across the face, "That 'boy' happens to be the son of one of my close friends, and among the first Pecheneg converts to Christianity. I wish that more of his people would follow his example! And you could learn alot from him, too. Now you are ordered not to speak again until after the battle. If his strategy ends up a disaster, perhaps I will reconsider trusting his word. But if his strategy is correct, you will be humbled, for I will make you his servant. Am I clear?"
Romanus nodded.
"I SAID AM I CLEAR?"
Alexios put his arm on Athanasios' shoulder, "You ordered him not to speak again until after the battle. He is obeying your word."
Athanasios snorted, "Hmph, well that's a nice change."
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So it was decided that Ipa's plan would be used for the battle the following day.
Athanasios ordered all the men to get good sleep.
But Alexios couldn't sleep. He was up very late, pacing back and forth. Ipa had awakened to use the bathroom. And after he had relieved himself, he noticed Alexios pacing, and walked over to him. He put his arm on his mentor's shoulder and said, "Are you alright, sir?"
Alexios looked to see who was talking to him, "Oh, Ipa, its you. No, I'm not alright."
"What's wrong, sir?"
"I have a very bad feeling."
"About my strategy?"
"No, Ipa, not about your strategy. I think it is a very good plan. It should work. Especially as we have numerical advantage already. No, I have a different sort of bad feeling. Like something is going to happen to me. Or maybe did happen."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"I don't know what I mean. I just... have this feeling... that something bad will happen..."
Ipa smiled a little and said, "Sir, I will do everything in my power to protect you."
Alexios smiled back, "Thankyou, Ipa. I feel better already." But he was lying. He felt no better. He still had that haunting feeling...
o 
