“Seo-yun, what is wrong?” he asked, standing and crossing the distance between them.
“Adrian came to see me,” she started. “He doesn’t want to tell the Sowir about his connection to the Spirit. He doesn’t think that he can do it without risking our people, and he doesn’t want to do that.”
“Oh…” Tomas said slowly.
“I can understand that. And I know that he is right; no Sowir is innocent. But still, it somehow feels wrong,” she said. “I know that I have said that I will not bring this up again, but I can’t help it.”
Tomas hugged her tightly. “That is why I love you. Because you care. But I have told you before, I will do everything in my power to protect my people and those who need protection. The Sowir are a threat, and Adrian is right, they are not innocent. They need to be punished. We will not wipe them out; they will live, and perhaps in time they might even prove themselves enough to start making amends for what they have done. But I doubt that they will ever be able to level the scales.”
“Yes…” Seo-yun sighed against him. “I just worry that we will someday turn into them, that we will start deciding that some races simply don’t deserve to live,” she said.
“That is why I created the Hand of the Empire, why I will make use of Adrian’s Sentinels if our plans for the future prove fruitful.” Tomas paused. Then he lowered his voice and continued. “There might be a time when we will be forced to do exactly that. And if that time comes, I pray to all that I hold dear that I don’t make the wrong choice.”
Chapter Five
Thanatos; Fleet Headquarters
Bethany hurried down the corridors of the large complex on Thanatos, one of Sanctuary’s moons. The entire moon was property of the Fleet, and it was covered in artificial environments, warehouses, and research centers. A great number of Fleet personnel actually lived here; there was a dedicated apartment complex that currently housed around a million people, all part of the Empire’s Fleet. Beth would need to find an apartment there too, seeing as the home she’d shared with Harry was no longer hers. She didn’t feel sad about it; she hadn’t stepped foot inside it for years, and Harry deserved to have it.
She had spoken with him a couple of days ago. The two had met at what used to be their home. They had spent almost the entire day talking, and at the end they’d decided to get a divorce. They didn’t love each other anymore. The process of getting the actual divorce didn’t last more than a couple of minutes. Together they had called, and after a few questions and their consent, they were divorced. They didn’t have any joint possessions except the house, and Beth let him have it. And so, more than thirty years of marriage had ended in an afternoon.
But since then, Beth couldn’t help but feel elated, free. She had dreaded that moment for so long, and when it had finally come, it had been anticlimactic. They’d spoken as two old friends, both understanding that there was no point in keeping up with the charade. They had no kids together; there was no need to try and fix something that had probably never worked in the first place.
Now, after she was done with her personal stuff, she could focus completely on Fleet. After reporting to the headquarters, she had been given a few days’ leave. The ships she’d brought with her had been sent to the shipyards orbiting Thanatos for quick upgrades before the offensive. And now with her leave over, she had to report to a meeting with the Fleet’s leaders.
She reached the meeting room and entered. The first person she saw when she stepped inside was Fleets Master Laura Reiss, who sat at the head of the holo table, her black hair pulled back in a tight bun. Next to her on her left was Oswald Mein, Commander of Fleets, who was Laura’s second-in-command. Across from him sat Fleet Commander Nair Hakeem of the Third Fleet. He and Beth were good friends, one of the few she actually had. They’d been the two commanders in charge of the invasion on the Sowir territories, and they had talked almost daily over the past three years. She nodded at him with a smile, which he returned. She then turned to look at the last person in the room, who was standing on the right side of the room, and froze.
Adrian smiled uncomfortably at her as she continued not to move. The Fleets Master saved her by speaking.
“Take a seat, Fleet Commander Jones,” she said, gesturing for her to take a seat by Nair’s side.
Beth saluted and took a seat. She watched as Adrian walked and sat down next to Oswald across from her.
“Well, now that we are all here, let’s start with the briefing,” Laura said. Then she reached to her overcoat and brought out a small data chip. She placed it on the table and the holo table turned on. Images of three Sowir systems started spinning above the table.
“These are our first three targets. The most important one is this one.” She pointed, and the holo changed to show only one system. “The Guxaxac system. This is where we will hit them the hardest. The Army is ready to take the fight to the ground; our job is to make sure that all Sowir forces in orbit are dealt with. To that extent, we will be sending most of our forces there.” She turned to look at Bethany. “Fleet Commander Jones, we will be sending you and the Second Fleet. In addition to your current ships, we will add another one hundred Kraken-class and eighty Furious-class missile ships.”
“Thank you, Fleets Master, I won’t disappoint you,” Beth said.
Laura nodded. “The forces in the Guxaxac system are not as large as in other systems, but we can’t risk them doing something rash once they realize that they will lose the system. We don’t want another situation similar to Earth,” she said grimly, then added, “The forces on the ground are much more formidable than in space, but that is for the Army to deal with. Their transports will also join your fleet.”
She again swiped her hand across the table, and the holo changed to show the second of the three systems. “This is Nuuar, a former capital of the Pouute. As you can see, the Sowir have a much greater presence here. Thirty-four defense platforms, five stations, and two shipyards. The planet is occupied by millions of Sowir agents, but according to the intel we got from the Sowir prisoners, there are only a dozen or so Sowir on the planet,” Laura said as she gave Adrian a strange look. “The Sowir are using their agents to adapt former Pouute cities to their liking before they move in themselves. Most of the Sowir are residing on the stations in the system. So you will ignore the planet.”
She turned to look at Nair. “Fleet Commander Hakeem, you and the Third Fleet will be assaulting this system. After evaluating the shipyards and stations we took from the Sowir in the last offensive, our people agree that there is little we would gain from taking more of them. Your mission is simple: destroy all their ships and stations, and bomb any other planet-based installations they have in-system from orbit.”
Nair nodded. “Of course, Fleets Master.”
Then she turned to Adrian. “Clan Leader, your target is this system.” The holo changed again to show the last Sowir system. “This is one of the original Sowir systems, as you can see this system has more defenses than any system we have previously attacked. There are two hundred military ships in system, in addition to their cargo ships. Our goal is only to hit military targets, but as the Sowir don’t really have a civilian population, if their non-military ships intervene, you may destroy them as well. Concentrate on destroying all of their facilities, defense platforms, and stations. If some ships want to run, let them,” Laura said.
She looked around the room before continuing. “Our plan is to isolate them in their home system, which is why the locations of these three systems are on different sides of their territory. We will basically herd them back to their home system, and crush their military there.”