Ara'lana set her cup down. -The citizens have faith in me,- she said. -Even those who are reluctant to see the benefits don't dare go against my will. They wish for unity just as much as I do.-
-They wish for it, or they fear how you would impose it upon them?-
-When you get right down to it, what's the difference?- the former admiral asked. She leaned forward, spearing Li'ren with an oddly earnest gaze. -You have spent time in the inner circles of the Ascendancy's government. You are Ailian. You understand the necessity of intimidation as much as I. It doesn't matter how you convince people, whether through clever words or by the threat of force. It is all the same.-
Li'ren bared her teeth, and with a soft growl she leaned forward as well. -In the short term you may be successful, but eventually you will wear your subjects down enough that they will not stand it any longer. Fear is not the same as obedience. And the more you make people afraid, the harder they will fight against you.- She waved a hand for emphasis. -The war with humanity is the perfect example. Kri'a's mother made the mistake of thinking that a sharp rebuke would back them off. Instead, we saw the opposite. It will be the same with the people of the Inner Colonies and Core Worlds. And with the citizens of the Outer Colonies, if you are not careful. And that is why, ultimately, you will fail-
Her smile slowly widening, Ara'lana sat back in her chair. -I had a feeling you would be unreasonable.- She smoothed down the front of her robes, suddenly eerily peaceful in her posture. -You always were a good advisor. You have the respect and admiration of many people. Which is why I am certain that the full force of your people's fleets will be devoted to your rescue, and my defeat. I will enjoy smashing them above the skies of our homeworld, and your execution will be broadcast to the entire Ascendancy. It will be a marvelous end to my final victory.-
Li'ren surprised Ara'lana by giving her a satisfied smile of her own. -I am to be bait for your trap, then? So be it. But you know as well as I do that Ailians are not easily trapped.- She stood up from her chair. -I would like to leave, now. Being in your presence is making me rather ill.-
Blinking, Ara'lana shrugged and raised a hand, snapping her fingers. The guards came back in, and one of them came to Li'ren and took her arm, pulling her away from the table. She offered no resistance, but Ara'lana did offer a parting shot before she went. -When you see her, do let Sami know that I harbor no ill will towards her. But she should choose her friends more wisely. Familiarity with you seems to be hazardous to one's health.-
Li'ren stopped short. -You would harm your own daughter?-
-Oh, one hopes to avoid such things,- the former admiral said offhandedly. She shrugged her shoulders. -Sami was always the obedient one, the quiet one. I always had my suspicions, of course, but she never gave me cause to know for sure. She never gave me any troubles, but I really can't overlook her taking up with someone like you. Such things shall not be tolerated under my rule, as under that of some Empresses.-
-'Someone like me?'- Li'ren repeated. She turned to face the terrible woman. -I hardly know what you mean. If you suspect something is going on between us, you are mistaken. But Sami
is
my friend, and mark my words, I will not allow you to take another friend from me.-
-You can protest as much as you like, but I see the signs,- Ara'lana said. She stood from her chair, coming around and walking forward until she stood right in front of Li'ren. -I can't decide what's worse. Aria joining those pitiful Royal Guards to fight against me, or Sami debasing herself by surrendering to such a pointless life.- She leaned forward, her voice lowering almost to a whisper. -But I am not heartless. I shall allow you both to die together. Perhaps, then, you shall have the comfort in death that Kri'a did not.-
Ara'lana gave a low chuckle of amusement at the way that Li'ren nearly ripped herself out of the guard's grip, before she was taken through the door and out of the dining room.
******
When Chief Admiral Jin Te'rou took his seat at the head of the meeting table, the doors were closed and the lights dimmed. At his instruction, the projector set into the center of the table was switched on, and the device ran through its start-up sequence. The room was much fuller than it normally would have been. Besides Admiral Te'rou, there were the admirals commanding the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth fleets, along with numerous senior fleet officers and infantry commanders. Complementing them were representatives of the military of the Nuretan Empire, including General Kalma Soumaren and the fleet admirals of the Imperial Navy. Various members of the diplomatic corps were present from across the Inner Colonies and Core Worlds, including a number of representatives who had managed to make it off of Lirna in time. Royal Governess Miri Amani, once again taking a leadership role, was seated at the right of Admiral Te'rou.
Aria felt a great amount of sympathy for the governess right now, and from where she sat about a third of the way down the table from her and Te'rou she could see the worry evident on the older Ailian woman's face. She was facing a great deal of problems right now, what with the abduction of her daughter, the Empress, and the impending attack that the Ascendancy was preparing to launch. Aria was feeling much the same as the governess was. Sami and Jack had been visiting Li'ren, according to the information gleaned from the Royal Guards who had survived the attack, and they were gone as well. As to whether any of them apart from Li'ren were still alive, they couldn't be sure. All they had were rumors, with nothing substantiated. Sleep had been hard to come by for Aria, but she'd done the best that she could.
-It appears we're all here,- Admiral Te'rou said, once the projector was ready. -If there aren't any objections, let's begin the meeting.- He pressed a button, and a divided screen playback began of video taken of the same time period from many different angles, some shot in space and others from the ground. -As you all are aware, forty-eight hours ago, allies of the Outer Colony rebels attacked Arbaros and assaulted this very building in which we are meeting. The humans who attacked were exceedingly well-trained and managed to take the Royal Guards stationed here by surprise.- As Admiral Te'rou spoke, the video played, showing the radar readings from the control center. -Their attack was three-fold. First, they used a decoy ship to occupy our tracking resources and distract us from the second threat, a fast, heavily armed and armored transport ship of human origin. This ship slipped through our defenses and managed to make it all the way to the governess' residence without being detected. It released two gunships, who suppressed and eliminated the exterior security forces before forty to fifty commandos assaulted the interior of the building.-
Some of the camera views were of the interior of the governess' residence, and showed the dark-clad humans rushing in and engaging Royal Guards in combat. Aria suppressed a snarl as she saw her soldiers, many of whom she had personally trained over the past month, falling one by one as the enemies advanced through the halls. Not for the first time since the attack, she had the thought that everything might have been different if she had been there. And not for the first time, she also told herself that if she had been there, she was just as likely to be one of those who had been killed.
Te'rou continued with his presentation as the videos continued to play. -Once they reached their goal, which was the personal chambers of Empress Amani, they abducted her and got her, along with at least two others, into the transport, which left as reinforcements from the Royal Guard barracks in Ar'bre arrived.- Several pairs of eyes looked towards Aria when that bit of information was recounted, which she did her best to ignore. Even with all that she had done to prove herself, and all of the support that the late Empress' propaganda campaign had generated, there were still those who viewed her with suspicion because of who her mother was. Te'rou pressed a few buttons at the projector controls near his seat, and the picture switched to an entirely radar-based view. -At about the same time, our defensive lines detected a sizable Pteryd fleet entering the space around Arbaros. These ships acted as a screen for the fleeing transport, preventing us from pursuing long enough for the transport craft to get clear of the gravity of Arbaros and enter hyperspace. Fortunately for us, the Pteryd did not appear interested in engaging in battle, and we only sustained the loss of a small number of our picket ships.-
One of Admiral Te'rou's aides, a commander in the intelligence division of the Navy, took over at that point. -We were only able to track the transport for a short distance through hyperspace after it vanished,- he reported. -They didn't do very much to cover their tracks, however. We've intercepted numerous communications from Lirna and between units of the rebel forces which indicate that the Empress is being held there, most likely in or nearby the palace. Our assessment is that our discovery of this information is no accident. We believe that Ara'lana Me'lia...- More glances towards Aria. -...very purposely wants us to have this information. She is hoping to draw us into a trap.-
-Whether it is a trap or not is of little consequence,- Admiral Te'rou said. -Lirna is absolutely crucial to the survival of the Ascendancy, and we have a duty to the civilian population to retake the planet. Above all else, we must rescue our Empress.- He spread his hands on the tabletop. -No matter if Ara'lana Me'lia expects us to come or not, we
will
be making the final preparations for retaking the homeworld, with the mission to be launched within the next twenty-four hours. To that end, I'll be laying out the general plan for the invasion.-
At Te'rou's instruction, one of his aides stood up and moved to his spot at the table. The officer withdrew a data card from her pocket and plugged it into a port at the projector's controls, while Admiral Te'rou began walking around the table. As he started speaking, his voice carried around the room, and the projector began displaying documentation and visual aids which were timed along with his recitation. Aria knew that, if anything, Te'rou was an efficient and proficient planner.
-This operation will involve the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth fleets, along with a number of units which can be spared from the Eighth and Eleventh Fleets,- Te'rou began. As he spoke, a representation of Lirna was displayed on the projector, and icons marked with blue representing the fleets materialized around them. -Our forces will be augmented by the 82
nd
and 101
st
Imperial Armadas of the Nuretan Empire. We will conduct a close-in hyperspace jump, exiting hyperspace just outside of the gravity well of Lirna. This will be risky, but with careful timing and precision it can be done. The jump will be timed so that all of our ships arrive at approximately the same instant. Once our ships are in place, we will engage the rebel fleets which surround the homeworld.- Icons in red began appearing around the planet. -Intelligence reports tell us that we will be opposed by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Outer Colony Fleets. Furthermore, we can expect the presence of a sizable number of Pteryd ships, though reports indicate that they are largely occupied with operations in the rest of the Ascendancy. There are also human forces in orbit around the planet amounting to at least one fleet's worth of ships. Though by and large smaller and not as heavily armed as our own warships, they are much more maneuverable and carry superior armor, so a note to all ship captains should be given: do
not
under any circumstances underestimate the contribution they can make to the battle.- He paused in his pacing and turned to face the display. -By all accounts, the fleets around Lirna are being personally commanded by Admiral Selina Kris.- An image of the black-furred Kris was superimposed over the display for a few moments. -Admiral Kris is a veteran of the Royal Guards and probably the most dangerous admiral the Ascendancy has known in many centuries, apart from Ara'lana Me'lia herself. You may expect that she will put up a brutal fight.- With that pronouncement, Admiral Te'rou gestured with one hand to Kalma Soumaren, the Nuretan officer. -I'll turn things over to General Soumaren now. She will be in charge of the ground operations on Lirna. Her experience with infantry matters is far superior to my own, and she graciously agreed to take the lead in this matter.-
The green-skinned, neon-eyed Nuretan nodded and rose from her chair as Admiral Te'rou went back to his. -This battle, I'd wager, will be one of the largest infantry engagements in the settled universe to date,- she said, speaking Ailian in her bubbly accent as she brushed her long white hair back with one webbed hand. -While the fleets keep the rebel ships occupied in space, we will begin the landing.- The image of Lirna returned, and dots of blue began appearing on the planet's surface, spreading into large splotches as the general described the plan. -In all, the landing force will be comprised of nearly two million ground troops and seventy-five thousand armored units. They will be augmented by Nuretan and Ailian air support, along with planetary bombardment from the fleets in orbit. I do not expect that all landing ships which are deployed will reach the planet's surface. I will consider a loss of twenty percent to be an acceptable margin which still offer favorable odds for success.-
General Soumaren stated this figure in a neutral tone that belied the gravity of what she was saying. Twenty percent casualties was an enormous number to contemplate. Assuming that her estimates were accurate, that meant that, at worst, the Nuretan general was anticipating the loss of four hundred thousand soldiers and fifteen thousand armored vehicles, all before the ground battle even began. Aria couldn't begin to imagine that many people dead, let alone who else would fall during the struggle to reclaim the planet. And that was just on the side of the allied forces. Surely the rebels would experience losses just as severe.