"I have some concerns about implementing these measures too quickly at this time. While the war has unquestionably taken an upward trajectory from the disastrous early years, it is far from over. I am extremely hesitant to do anything that might impair the combat effectiveness or morale of our forces until victory is assured.
"We have managed to keep the empire out of the current conflict by an effective campaign of bribery and blackmail. However, if I understand Number Seven's report" - he looked briefly over at that operative, who nodded in response - "General Santiago has been removed from command and may, in fact, have been executed. In any event, he is certainly no longer in a position to sabotage Imperial combat readiness in return for the stipend we have been paying him. We know the Imperial high command is planning attacks on several of our colony worlds. I agree with our decision to withhold warning from our field commanders - the outrage caused by a surprise attack will be quite useful as a propaganda tool, both in terms of focusing the attention of the military and instilling a useful amount of fear and nationalism into the civilian populations. Overall, it is clear the war is escalating, not winding down. I must question if now is the time to tinker too significantly with the military."
"Do we need to do this at all?" asked Number Ten. "It was relatively easy to maneuver the Marines off of EE-4. Perhaps we can handle things in a less sweeping manner. Maybe we don't need to completely eliminate the Corps. They are a very effective fighting force, and that is useful as long as we can maintain the requisite degree of control."
Number Two took a drink of water and cleared his throat. "The Corps must be replaced by a more, ah…pliable organization, at least eventually. We all know our history. For nearly a hundred years, the current system has served to remove troublesome elements from Earth and turn them into a valuable resource off-world. The very nature of the system makes the entire force uncontrollable. If we were able to select their officers we might be in a position to work with the current structure, but they all start as privates. It is an interesting system from the perspective of the fighting man or woman, and I can think of no historical force where the officers were as loved and respected by the foot soldiers. There is no reasonable way to infiltrate and control the organization from outside. If we tried to sack the existing officer class and replace them with political appointees, we would face a force-wide mutiny.
He paused for a breath. "We know why things were set up this way. The Unification Wars had just ended, and the government was in utter disarray. There was no choice but to deal with the military and negotiate the structure of the off-world service, and the resulting flow of military settlers helped build the early colonies. But our colonial presence was a fraction of what it is today, and the Corps was small….fewer than 10,000 during the First Frontier War. Even fifteen years ago there were only 40,000 in total. Now there are over 250,000 active duty personnel, armed with state of the art equipment and nuclear weapons. They have become too strong a force for us to allow outside of our control."
He tapped a few times on his 'pad. "I just sent you each a dossier containing a watchlist of political trouble spots in the colonies. You will note the length of the list and the fact that almost every vital resource-producing world is on it. There are retired Marines settled on most of these worlds, creating an incestuous relationship we can no longer ignore. The Corps is extremely effective at combating foreign enemies, but if a colonial world rebelled, would they execute an order to crush the revolt?"
He paused to let them consider what he had just said. "I am also sending you all an economic impact study that shows just how important our colonies have become to the nation." He poked at the 'pad again. "This war has been extremely expensive, and our economy, which was already precarious, has been pushed to the breaking point. If we were to lose the resources of the colonies, or even suffer serious disturbances, we could face total economic collapse within three years.
"There is no doubt that we must take steps to insure our unquestioned control of the off-world military. But we cannot risk defeat in this war. Therefore, I counsel that we proceed with our initiatives, but slowly. If we experience pushback, indulge it for now. When the war is won there will, of course, be a significant demobilization of the Corps. That will give us the chance to make a more substantial move to take control…or simply to replace the entire structure."
The room was silent for a moment. Some of the people present were thinking about what Number Two had said; others were simply hesitating, not wanting to express an opinion until they saw what Number One would say.
Stark just sat quietly, amused by the fact that they all waited for him to express an opinion. Let them wait a while, he thought. They assumed we was stewing on what Number Two had said, but the two of them had already discussed the topic thoroughly, and they were both were on the same page. What Stark was really thinking about was Alex's legs. Specifically, some of the more interesting ways they'd been wrapped around him. She was wearing a very short skirt, something she’d made sure he noticed.
Finally, he broke the silence. "I agree with Number Two's conclusions. We will proceed with the deployment of the political officers, however no coercive or punitive measures are to be employed until the war is nearing conclusion. We will push very softly on the Marines until they have won the war for us." He paused for a moment. "However, we might as well do some prep work. Instruct the political officers to compile a list of troublesome Marine personnel. When the time comes, we will deal with them first. Perhaps we can cut off the head of the snake, so to speak."
He stood up and walked over to the window, looking out over the skyline as he continued. "I do, however, think this is an excellent time to step up the implementation of our program to establish greater control over the civilian governments of the colonies themselves. They have had far too much leeway in the past. I want each of you to review the dossier Number Two prepared. When we meet back here next month, be prepared to discuss the specifics for deploying Directorate enforcement personnel to colony worlds, beginning with the most troublesome ones. The war gives us an excellent opportunity, especially on the planets most vulnerable to enemy action - and the projected Imperial surprise attacks will only help in this regard. The pretext of improving defensive capabilities will allow us to established enhanced civilian monitoring in a clandestine manner. Let's also develop a plan to assign a Directorate supervisor as advisor to each of the colonial governments."
Stark looked around the table to see everyone present nodding in agreement. "Lastly, Number Five, what is the status of our training program for our Directorate military units?"
Number Five cleared his throat. "We have graduated two battalions, which have been assigned to Number Ten's EE-4 security operation. As we reviewed at our last meeting, we are still having difficulty with the powered armor training. The Corps has had a virtual monopoly on elite powered infantry for nearly a century, so we've had to start from scratch on our efforts."
"What is the feasibility of ramping up the magnitude of the program?" Stark was looking down at his 'pad as he spoke. "We're going to need to move more than two battalions through at a time if we're going to replace the Corps within the next 5-7 years."
"Sir, there are some difficulties we will have to overcome before a massive escalation of the program is possible." Number Five was always nervous when he had to tell Number One something he didn't want to hear. Troy Warren had been a corporate magnate and not a political academy graduate like the others. Even though he'd worked his way onto the Directorate, he wasn't a career intelligence operative, and he sometimes felt like the odd man out. "Our instructional regimen is already substantially accelerated from the standard Marine curriculum. Our casualty rate during training is over 200% of that of the Marine course, despite the greater intensity of their program."