Command authority and POW duties survive communications collapse

After the fictional communications strike, one admiral proposes a revenge offensive and another suggests returning to the capital. The regional marshal rejects both courses because he lacks intelligence and his commission limits his authority to the Ringward Marches. Leaving without Senate authorization would constitute desertion, and taking his fleet to the capital would constitute treason regardless of his intentions. The emergency continuity-of-government facility has been destroyed, while two planned backups were canceled to fund super-battleships that have also been lost. He orders the fleet back to Niagara, its previously designated gathering point, where surviving authorities will know to look for it. He also orders prisoners removed from the warships to proper detention facilities because grieving sailors may retaliate against captives whose comrades attacked their homes.