by Kal Spriggs
Mason looked down at his shiny gold vest and tight, red leather pants and shrugged, “Stavros was Greek.”
“Ah, yes, the Greeks,” Thomas Kaid nodded sagely, “Famously ostentatious.”
***
Faraday System
United Colonies
August 25, 2403
“Baron,” Admiral Dreyfus said, “Are you certain about this?”
“Certain about bumping up our timeline and attacking Melcer while still undergoing repairs and refits from our battle with the Balor?” Lucius asked in return. “Or am I certain about what we spoke about again last night?”
Admiral Dreyfus looked around the flag bridge. The two of them were in a pocket of isolation as the various crew moved about their duties and preparations. That didn't mean that the others didn't notice their discussion or, for that matter, were unable to read their body language. Lucius stood calmly, but Admiral Dreyfus's shoulders were set and tension was clear in how he stood.
For that matter, so was his uncertainty. Admiral Dreyfus finally let out a sigh, “Both, I suppose.” He pitched his voice low enough that it didn't carry. Lucius took his seat and gestured for the older Admiral to do the same.
“Pushing up the attack on Melcer is the best method I can think of to catch our opponents, whoever they are, off balance,” Lucius said calmly. “If they knew our departure time, if this informant exists, then they would expect us to use that time or delay. Either way, they could plan to hit Faraday with a raid based upon our expected departure.”
Admiral Dreyfus grimaced, “That's assuming they don't already have craft in the system. Despite our patrols, there are plenty of places in this system for a sizable force to hide.”
“Hide, yes, but to what purpose? I could imagine a scout, probably multiple scouts from various nations to take our measure. But keeping warships here for any sizable time would be a serious investment, especially with any uncertainty over our eventual departure,” Lucius said calmly. He had thought it through, himself. “Besides, we have the Nova Roma Fleet assets here. Their ships are almost repaired, they can certainly secure the system during our absence.”
“Assuming they don't claim it for themselves,” Admiral Dreyfus growled.
“Which brings us to what I discussed before,” Lucius said. He met the Admiral's gaze until the other man looked away. “There is a sharp divide between our personnel of Amalgamated Worlds background and those recruited from Faraday and Nova Roma.”
“There is nothing wrong with my people,” Admiral Dreyfus responded sharply.
Lucius waited a moment, “Except they're 'your' people... even you don't really think of them as United Colonies personnel. They've served under you for almost a century... and most of them view their recently recruited comrades as hard-working but ineffective at best.” The Admiral opened his mouth to speak, but Lucius continued, “How could they not? They left Amalgamated Worlds when it was intact, to appearances at the height of its power. They return to find degenerate empires, warlords, and technology that is either crude in comparison or kludged together from scavenged technology and barely understood physics. They wouldn't be human if they didn't blame those they left behind, somehow, or those who they found trying to clean up the mess when they returned to the rest of us.”
Admiral Dreyfus looked away. “I can't deny there is some... thoughts, perhaps even discussion about that, but there is no organized attempt to block your personnel out.”
“Again,” Lucius said, his voice level, “The identification of distinct personnel is part of the issue. There is not 'my' personnel and 'your' personnel. There can only be United Colonies personnel. It is a mentality... and if you and I can't adopt that mentality, then how can we expect our subordinates to do so?”
“So, what?” Admiral Dreyfus asked. “What you're asking is difficult, there are massive differences in training and experience between... between individual officers and enlisted. Hell, the technical experience and backgrounds are wildly different. Those differences can be the matter of life and death!”
“In more ways than one,” Lucius answered. “You are thinking of the differences between using your technology and mine... I'm thinking of applications, of joint applications of that technology. You're thinking differences in operational procedures while I'm thinking differences in tactics. And, Admiral, for all your people's training and experience, they haven't nearly the combat experience of some of the people they discount out of hand.”
Admiral Dreyfus nodded slightly, “It is not something that is easy for any of us to admit, that we trained in tactics that are... obsolete.” His lips were pinched in distaste and Lucius understood that feeling of waste. The Nova Roma Imperial Fleet had faced a similar issue when they had gone to war with the Chxor. They, unfortunately, had not adapted and the end result was the present circumstances. Lucius had seen officers who knew that they didn't have the right paradigm for their doctrine, but they went about it the only way they knew. It got far too many otherwise good officers and men killed.
“Not obsolete, but we need to rethink some of the applications. The underlying principles of offense and defense have not changed, merely, the applications.” Lucius let out a sigh. “Right now, the people with the mindset that they're humanities champions, their last hope... they've clung to that for so long that they don't want to accept anyone else into their brotherhood. For that matter, they can't admit mistakes, especially not to themselves. We have to change that, turn it around, or things are going to get much worse than a few hurt feelings.”
Admiral Dreyfus nodded slowly. “Very well, Baron. I see your point.” He looked around the flag bridge and Lucius could see some of the pain in his eyes, “It's just that we gave up so much and it is so agonizing to see how far we have to go to achieve victory.”
“I understand,” Lucius said. He thought of the sacrifices he had made, of the marines and sailors he had lost. He thought of the friends who had vanished into the maelstrom of war... and of the bitterness that came with every defeat. “But we need to set the example. And, if this prejudice becomes a discipline issue, we need to make an example. We cannot accept that kind of behavior... at any level, am I understood?”
Admiral Dreyfus nodded slowly, “Yes, Baron, you are.”
“Good,” Lucius said with a smile. “Now, then, I believe we have an intelligence briefing to attend?”
***
Lucius and Admiral Dreyfus stepped into the conference room and took seats. Captain Rachel Wu stood near the projectors, her normally cheerful face somewhat somber. As it should be, he supposed, seeing as she had not finished intelligence collection on the operation and had expected to have over a month of additional time to work on it.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats and we'll begin this briefing,” Captain Wu said. Her voice was pleasant, but the hard edge under her tone saw most of the officers to their seats in record time. Lucius hid a bit of a smile as he noticed even the arrogant Admiral Valens Balventia took a seat with remarkable haste.
“As most of you know, the United Colonies Fleet will depart the Faraday system in just under eighteen hours time,” Captain Wu said. “As Captain Franks has already seen to the overall operational order, I'm conducting an intelligence update on our targets.” She took a deep breath. “As you know, our initial target is the Melcer system. We've already hit the system with a raid–”
“Hell yeah we did,” an officer called from the back of the briefing room. That met with mutters and murmurs of agreement. They had, indeed, raided the system and rescued a lot of people in the process.
Captain Wu's gaze locked on the speaker and if her eyes were weapons batteries, he would have been reduced to ash on the spot. “As I was saying,” she said, her voice icy, “we have already conducted a raid at the Melcer system. In addition, we believe that the Chxor regional response force was the element that attacked here during the Third Battle of Faraday. By our estimates, that should mean that they would be unable
to substantially reinforce the system in the time since. We would guess that they would have between ten and twenty dreadnoughts in position. The system has no native population or colonies and only one marginally inhabitable world. However, we expect the Chxor to attempt to hold it due to it's position and the access it provides into their recently conquered systems.”
Captain Wu looked around at the silent, expectant faces. “As for the overall status of the Chxor Empire, we have somewhat mixed reports.” She glanced over at the Chxor element, “Commander Kral has provided personnel to translate the Chxor data feeds, but we are somewhat doubtful of the veracity of the Chxor's own reports.”
“What, you think they're lying about the capture of Nova Roma?” Admiral Balventia sneered. “Or perhaps they're trying to fool us because they know we're listening to their traffic?”
“No, sir,” Captain Wu didn't rise to his sarcastic comment. “I think, and most of my analysts agree, that the Chxor bureaucracy is reward-oriented. Good news gets a Chxor officer promoted, bad news gets them demoted or even executed.” She pulled up a roster of ships and Lucius recognized the Chxor Empire's order of battle. “These are the listed ships that, between Nova Roma and Chxor sources, we've identified them as having at the start of the war.” The display held ranks of white icons for dreadnoughts and cruisers organized by fleet and task force. It was a seriously daunting display, larger, by a serious margin, than all the human nations fleets combined in numbers alone, much less in actual tonnage. They had well over five thousand dreadnoughts and almost twenty-five thousand of their light cruisers. “As far as we can estimate, these are the ships we can confirm destroyed, either from the Chxor reports or our battle reports or both.” At least a quarter of those icons went gray. It left a swath of emptiness throughout the massive fleet. Lucius felt the emotional impact himself as his chest tightened with pride of their accomplishments, both those of Nova Roma and the United Colonies.
“Then, there is their own reports and what we find missing from those,” Captain Wu said, her voice confident. “Logistical requests for resupply, munitions shipments, parts requisitions. There are also mentions of certain commanders and vessels in their data feeds during victories and conspicuously absent when they occasionally report failure.” She tapped the controls for the display, “This, is what we estimate their actual losses are, based upon those correlations.” A huge swath of additional ship icons went gray as she eliminated another quarter or more of the icons.
There were exclamations of shock from much of the audience. Captain Wu gave an icy smile. “By our best estimates, the Chxor are really in a hard way. They've lost most of their strategic reserve and are stretched extremely thin holding all their new territories as well as their original Empire... and they don't even know how screwed they are.”
“How can this be?” Emperor Romulus demanded. “How could they have lost that many ships and not even be aware?”
“The Chxor Empire relies upon their commanders to give them accurate reports and to allocate additional resources where needed,” Kral the Chxor said. The renegade Chxor had plenty of experience within the Chxor Empire, he'd risen as high as a Ship Commander, despite coming from an 'inferior' genetic line. “Chxor commanders who request additional resources are seen as inefficient or ineffectual and are replaced, so most Chxor commanders will hesitate to list their losses directly, unless they can place the blame at the feet of someone else.” His emotionless, almost robotic voice carried that much heavier an impact. This was a Chxor telling them why their enemy crippled themselves.
“So they're over-extended,” Lucius said. “That's good to hear. What else?”
“We also believe there are some Nova Roma systems still holding out,” Captain Wu said. “Though we have no confirmation and, as Emperor Romulus can attest, they have not answered his calls to rally here, as some other Nova Roma Imperial Fleet elements have.”
Lucius nodded. They'd had a few more ships trickle in ever since they'd retaken the Faraday system and the Emperor had put out a call. What Captain Wu had left unsaid and what bothered Lucius, were the rumors of Nova Roma ships going rogue and pirate. Some of those ships might have not received the call and gone mercenary, much as Lucius had originally. However, it seemed more and more likely that either some of their crews had mutinied and deserted in the face of the enemy... or that their commanders' loyalties were to themselves rather than the Nova Roma Empire.
“What evidence?” Emperor Romulus asked.
Captain Wu brought up a star map which showed the systems the Chxor had conquered. It included almost all of the Nova Roma Empire as well as sections of unclaimed and Colonial Republic space, and even the old Ghornath home system and its single colony. “The Chxor have reported the capture in their data feeds of almost every system unless they had some strategic reason to avoid it. As yet, they have not announced the capture of the Volaterra or Lavinium systems. Since Volaterra was a fleet base, I think it likely that they have managed to hold out, possibly even to support a defense in depth through Lavinium. Volaterra's military presence was, as I understand it, to dissuade the Centauri Confederation or the Colonial Republic from an assault into the southern region of the Nova Roma Empire. Volaterra had no military shipyards, but did have a sizable civilian shipyard as well as a military rated repair yard. Since both systems were several weeks away from the Nova Roma system, their military forces would not have been able to arrive there for the final battle as ordered, which suggest their commanders would have instead prepared their own defenses.” The two holdout systems flashed green, down on the lower flank of the Chxor's advance into human space.
“You are suggesting that they intentionally disregarded their orders?” Admiral Balventia demanded. “My cousin, Admiral Tiburus was in command of the Volaterra system. My father was it's Duke!”
Captain Wu raised an eyebrow, “With all due respect, sir, which would be better, that the commander disregarded his orders and held the system against the Chxor... or that it fell and its populace faces extermination?”
Admiral Balventia started to open his mouth, his face flushed, but Emperor Romulus cut him off, “What does this do to our strategic situation?”
“The implications are twofold, your highness,” Captain Wu said. “First off, the Chxor military forces will be fighting on two fronts. While the Nova Roma forces at Volaterra and Lavinium might be on the defensive now, they have no guarantee that they will not sense weakness and attack once our own offensive goes into play. They'll have to leave substantial forces to defend the systems along that front, especially, here,” she highlighted one system on the map. “The Tibur system was Nova Roma's main strong point at the start of the war, and it is a crucial supply route for the Chxor Empire. Along with Danar and Malta, it is vital to keep their forces supplied in a timely manner. They'll have to secure that system, which means that will most likely draw some of their forces away from our own targets.”
She straightened up and went to parade rest, “Pending any additional questions, that concludes the intelligence brief.” There was silence after that. It was a thoughtful silence, though. As Lucius looked around, he saw some of the anxiety had faded from the room, replaced by a bit more determination.
“That's excellent news,” Lucius said. He peered at the map for a long moment, before he stood. “Now, as you all know, we're moving on the Melcer system far ahead of our original schedule.” He could not help but notice the pleased expression on the face of the Nova Roma Emperor. Not that I blame him, Lucius thought, I would have moved ahead much earlier myself if it wasn't such a rash move. “As you saw from the recent raid, here, we have other opponents than the Chxor. While their identities remain unknown, their intent is to gut our industrial base and leave us vulnerable to a larger attack or to leave us on a defensive stance, unable to go out and achieve our own objectives.”
There were angry mutters at that. This was the force that had defeated the Chxor and the Balor in one battle. They didn't want to b
e made into fools by some unknown adversaries. “By moving up the launch date, we take the initiative away from them,” Lucius said. “So, as you can see, while we are not at one hundred percent effectiveness, our enemies are much worse off than we. We will strike a blow, we will carry the fight to the enemy, and we will not stand still long enough for them to attempt a return strike.” Lucius let out a tense breath. “Thank you for your time, you are dismissed.”
***
Ensign Alberto Tascon grimaced as he stepped into the bar. It was not up to his usual standards, but it was what passed for the best here on Faraday.
He sidled up to the bar and gave a smirk at the blonde seated there already. The withering look she gave him told him that either he wasn't dressed fashionably enough or she had no taste in men. Probably both, he thought, young bitch can't recognize quality breeding and I'm not going to bother to buy into Faraday's limited fashion sense.
“Vodka, Centauri, mind you, none of the local crap,” Tascon growled at the bartender. She was also female and not bad looking. But if she had to work nights at the bar, she was probably from far too low a social status for him to even pretend to care about her. If he really wanted her companionship, he'd simply buy it, just like his drinks.
“One for me as well, no ice,” A cultured voice said from behind him.
Alberto turned his head to see. After a shocked moment of realization he whirled in surprise, “My lord, that is, sir, a pleasure to meet you.”
Lord Admiral Valens Balventia gave a gracious wave, “There's no rank in the officer's mess... or whatever pathetic excuse we have here in this backwater, am I right?”
Alberto straightened, “Of course, my lord.” Whatever the other man said, there was no excuse for not using his official title. He was, after all, Duke Balventia, close relative to the Emperor and the second ranking officer after the common-born, old fool, Admiral Mund.