Again, both Lanai and Isani were shocked. And again it was Isani who was first to recover.
“How many ships?” Isani asked.
“They will send one fleet of ten ships. They think it will be enough to defeat the Sowir. I have been instructed to install an FTL comm on your ship Retsar Isani. So that you can coordinate with our people.” Kisaragi said.
“Of course.” Isani said.
“I need to go and report back to my people.” With that the human bowed her head and then left the office. A second later Sumia turned to Isani. “What just happened?” Sumia asked.
“Hope Sumia, hope.”
Leviathan
Adrian walked in his ready room, after yet another game. This one was one of the hardest yet, and he just barely managed to win. In the last few days the two fleets had eleven encounters. And the score was now 7 to 4 in First Fleet’s favor. After that first battle, Fleet Commander Johanna Stern was much harder to beat. But then, she was chosen to be a Fleet Commander for a reason. This last battle was a close one, but Adrian managed to win in the end, bringing his win total to 7. Both he and Fleet Commander Stern, were learning a lot from the games, they were able to devise better tactics for battles, and to learn much more about the capabilities of the dreadnought class. And quickly it became obvious that these ships would be the core of their fleets. As he sat down, he brought the data from the last game on the holo-table. “What do you think?” Adrian asked.
“The command board is operating adequately. It will be even faster and more efficient in real battle, when I won’t need to manage the simulation.” Iris said. Adrian nodded, agreeing with her.
“I don’t think they imagined this system being so powerful. With the FTL comms it gives the commander of a fleet ability to control almost every aspect of the fleet movements and battle.”
“I agree, they believed it would be just a slightly more efficient way to present data, and send out orders.” Iris said.
“But, it is dangerous as well. With the ability to constantly send out orders some commanders might fall into the trap and try to micromanage their fleets. We will need to have people trained to recognize when to just let things play out.” Adrian said. Both Fleet Commander Stern and he, came to the same conclusion, future commanders need to be trained to avoid trying to control every aspect of their command. Adrian and Johanna both fall into the trap several times, and those instances were usually the ones where they lost. Scrolling down the various lists and reports he came to the report his High Prime sent, or rather now Ship Master Paul Isaacs. Adrian had promoted him, since he was the one in command of the ship during fleet actions, it was appropriate for him to have the title. Adrian knew that the Fleet as a whole was still very young and that they just now started to learn what were the most efficient ways of doing things. They tried to create their own way, rather than to emulate organizations from Earth based militaries. That was reflected in the report that Paul sent him. The ships that were commanded by those that were not affiliated with a navy or air force back on Earth tended to do better than those that were. Most stations that were manned by younger people, those born right before or shortly after Olympus started expanding into space, tended to execute their orders at least 12% faster and more efficiently. That was a huge number when you kept in mind that it was on the fleet level. The numbers in Adrian’s First Fleet have been steadily improving since the beginning of the war games.
“There is an incoming call form the Fleet for you Adrian, it is marked level 1.” Iris said, she usually monitored his comms when he was busy working and when he didn’t want to be disturbed.
Adrian frowned for a second. Level 1 comms were reserved for times of war. At least that was the intention, there was no need for that. Adrian cleared his holo, and then accepted the call. The call was not sent through the FTL comms, but rather ordinary lightspeed ones. They were not so far away from Sanctuary to make conversation impossible. As soon as he accepted the call an image appeared in front of him. As soon as he recognized who it was Adrian executed a sharp salute, fist to chest. He was very much surprised, he excepted Laura or someone else from the Fleet, not Tomas Klein.
“Sir.” Adrian said. He noticed in the corner of the vid a small number, 2.4 sec, which meant that was the lag between the Leviathan and Sanctuary. Two seconds later, Tomas Klein responded with a salute of his own.
“Fleet Commander. I am calling to tell you that the war games are canceled. I know that there was a lot more planned for the future, but we have run out of time.” He sighed then, to Adrian he looked as if he was carrying the weight of a world on his shoulders. “Twenty two Sowir Dominion ships have been detected in Nuva system. And we, I, have decided that we will provide aid. Your fleet is to go to Nuva and engage Sowir. Defending the Nel.” Tomas Klein said.
Adrian looked at the image on his holo, he kept his calm face on, but underneath he was shocked. Looking into the eyes of Tomas Klein, he realized something.
“If they have been detected in system, there is no way for us to get there in time to be of any use.” Adrian said, and immediately continued. “But you already know that, which means you plan on us getting there after… No, you wouldn’t do that, there is no point. You plan on us getting there in enough time to be of use. But I don’t see how…” Adrian said. And a second later he saw a side of Tomas’s lips twitch upwards.
“Yes, you will get there on time. Seo-yun and the research department have found a way to travel much faster than with hyperspace.” He said.
Adrian nodded, he had no idea what it could be. “What about the Second Fleet?” Adrian asked.
Tomas looked saddened for a split second, and then spoke, “The Second Fleet will stay here. I can’t leave Sanctuary unprotected, no matter how small of a chance there is for someone to find us.”
Again Adrian nodded, he understood the reasoning. “But why the First Fleet, and not the Second? Not that I’m trying to find a way out of this. I would just like to know.” Adrian asked.
Tomas Klein studied him for a moment before answering, his gaze looked at Adrian knowingly, “Because you are the best we got. I know that you are very young, but Olympus never put much stock into age. We have always valued skill above all else. And you are our most skilled commander.” Tomas Klein said. “I know that I can entrust this to you, and that you will do everything in your power to succeed. This will take some outside thinking, something new.”
Startled, Adrian responded, “Thank you sir. I will not let you down.”
“I know. That is why we chose you.” He said with a small smile.
“I won’t take much more of your time. The Fleet will be sending you any data that you might need, as well as the coordinates of the trans-station, the army will be joining you as well. We will be sending ten companies. Around fifteen hundred soldiers, to defend the planet in case that Sowir manage to get some troops on the ground. As well as additional loads of ammunition, missiles, and some raw materials for the fabricators. Laura will contact you soon with the details of the mission, wait to brief your commanders until after you speak with her.”
“Yes, sir.” Adrian said.
“Good luck, Fleet Commander.” Tomas Klein said, and closed the link.
Adrian leaned back into his chair. His mind was firing into overdrive, thinking about hundreds of possibilities, and things he had to do. Fear slowly crept in, it seemed to him that things were happening insanely fast ever since he left the orphanage. Then a voice broke through in his head.