"So despite your eventual success, you retreated in the face of the initial Alliance counterattack to preserve your command in the face of booby-trapped asteroids," Admiral Jalor Lee repeated back to her, his blue eyes locked on hers. His lips were thin in an even thinner face. "The sensor logs from your remaining ships confirm this. When you dispatched parties of Marines to scout out the asteroids ahead of the flotilla, did you discover any of these booby traps?"
Alvarez swallowed. She had received no reports. It made more sense for the rebels to want to lure any Imperial intruders deeper into the belt and trigger any traps there, in hopes of trapping them between their gigantic shotguns and other asteroids that might bar their retreat. She felt the eyes of the bridge crew on her. Best practices were to praise in public and rebuke in private, but it wasn't best practices to lose so many ships to a few squadrons of fighters. "No sir."
Admiral Lee nodded."Interesting tactic the rebels used. A free-floating grab-beam generator? Were I them I'd keep that closer to the chest and use them when I had more."
Alvarez nodded quickly. The more innovative and sneaky the rebels were, the less likely Lee would hold her accountable for the losses they'd taken. She went over the loss reports once more in her head. A cruiser that would have to be scrapped, a frigate that would need weeks of yard time, two frigates outright destroyed, and almost all of the initial fighter complement gone. Nearly four hundred loyal Imperial subjects dead and nearly 1,500 more wounded. This particular batch of rebels was proving more dangerous than she'd thought. Fortunately Lewis had gone down with his command, so it’d be easier to cast the blame on him.
"We'll need to build more dedicated fighter carriers," Lee continued. "And put more effort into keeping the Alliance” — his tone was so poisonous she nearly shuddered even hundreds of thousands of kilometers away — “from getting torpedoes. This isn't their only detachment that's destroyed capital ships, but it's one of the more successful ones."
"Yes sir," Alvarez agreed. Lee looked straight at her. She swallowed. She should have let him keep talking, rather than remind him she was there.
"Rear Admiral Alvarez, this is my judgment. You will remain in command of Kir's Fall and its battle group." Oh thank you, Suns Trinity. A formal reprimand would have been the end of her career, and that wasn't the worst that could happen. "You were able to extricate valuable Imperial assets and personnel jeopardized by Captain Lewis’s reckless pursuit and ultimately succeeded in your mission of ejecting the enemy from their base." He frowned. "However, it will be noted that you were not as thorough as you needed to be in clearing enemy traps and sensors on the way in and failed to quickly intervene when Captain Lewis pulled ahead of the flotilla. All this caused delays that allowed the bulk of the enemy force to escape." His frown deepened. "Imperial subjects died because of this, Rear Admiral, and more will in the coming years. Remember that."
She would, most definitely. "Yes sir. Thank you, sir."
"Now onto your next assignment. The Navy will be reinforcing anything likely to be targeted by the rebels all over the system." That would spread the Imperials awfully thinly, but Alvarez kept her thoughts to herself. "Kir's Fall and its affiliated ships will undergo repairs at Arkadius. When those are done, you will join the Death's Head battle group under Admiral Thompson." Alvarez raised an eyebrow. The Death's Head was the newest Imperial Navy battlewagon, one of the first in many years to have a significant built-in fighter component. "We will not be ceding strategic initiative to the traitors. We will deny them easy targets, then deploy multiple battle groups to sweep the system. We will root the rebels out hideout by hideout, lair by lair, and destroy them."
Relief welled through her. Not only did her career and not just she herself survive the incomplete victory, but she still had a chance to prove herself. Not only prove herself, but win glory dealing with the treacherous rebels. Her fingers clenched into a fist behind her back. Rebels who'd foiled her once. They would not foil her again.
"Thank you for your confidence, sir. I will not disappoint you."
The admiral's stern face looked like it had been carved from wood. "I hope you do not." Her superior's gaze shifted to the political officer. "Lieutenant Carver."
The thin man perked up immediately. Alvarez prevented herself from raising an eyebrow at this breach of protocol. "Yes sir?"
"Make sure the sailors remember how the Sarellian family won the Order Wars and kept the Starseers from making all other humans their cattle. Remind them how essential the Empire is to the preservation of civilization in the system. Make sure they know that the Alliance resorts to murdering civilians with suicide bombers. We want every man and every woman to know what they're fighting for, and we don't want any rebel propaganda taking root." The man nodded. "Admiral Lee out."
The enormous screen blacked out. Alvarez allowed herself to breathe again. She turned to her command staff. "You heard the admiral," she said, letting some of the tension out through her tone. "Let's get moving."
About the Author
Writing has been Matthew W. Quinn’s passion since he started doodling his own Calvin and Hobbes fan comics and stories about malevolent dinosaurs in diving helmets as a preschooler in the late 1980s. He’s worked in journalism and film and recently embarked on an academic career, all while writing tales of science fiction, fantasy, and horror on the side. He has one novel available for purchase and is shopping two more.
Those who would like to keep up with him can do so by visiting his Amazon Author Central page here.
Thank you for reading. All Amazon reviews, positive or negative, are greatly appreciated.
Fallen Empire: Discovery and Flight (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Choi and Watson Book 2) Page 6