Chapter 20
A View of the Ashes
HIMS Leo Rugiens, High Orbit of Bellator
"Admiral on deck!" KapitÀn Wei shouted, and the assembled staff smartly rose to attention.
"As you were," Admiral Beck said, giving them a dismissive wave.
They nevertheless waited for Admiral Beck to take his seat before sitting themselves.
"What's the damage?" the Admiral asked.
"A total purge of a fifty-kilometer radius, centered on the coordinates of Major Yang's encounter with Oberleutnant Van Houten," KapitÀn Wei replied, "as directed, Herr Admiral."
"Did we get her?"
"Our scans detect no life readings, Herr Admiral, but we will continue to monitor the situation. Permission to dispatch close-in scanning crews to the site?"
"Granted," the Admiral replied. "You shouldn't have to worry about the locals for a while."
"Speaking of which, Herr Admiral," Kommodore Pak the Chief of Staff said, "now that the Clovingians are no longer our point of contact with the indigenous population, should we not decide on a new candidate for the role?"
Kommodore Khan, the Director of Political Operations, brought up a map of Bellator on the holoprojector highlighting one of the larger nations in the world, and said, "We would suggest this nation, the Nikean Empire, a sort of Russian-Byzantine hybrid, currently ruled by a Tsar Basil III. As you can see, their territory encompasses nearly half of the northern continent and they have footholds in the east as well, though unlike the Clovingians, they do not have any possessions in the south.
"We realize there is simplicity in focusing on a single point of contact to use as our proxy, but we recommend forming a sort of quadrumvirate of Nikea, Qing, Los Campos ElĂseos and Bhuta."
As he was saying this, the other three nation-candidates were highlighted as well, covering most of the three main continents.
"We'll take PolOps' suggestion under advisement," Admiral Beck said. "In the meantime, make arrangements for me to meet with this Tsar Basil."
"Aye-aye, Herr Admiral," Kommodore Khan replied.
"We will see if Tsar Basil will be as willing to reason as the late Emperor Clovis," Kommodore Pak said. "Just when things seemed to be going so smoothly..."
"It couldn't be helped," Admiral Beck said. "Since she made contact with the planet's Core Unit, Oberleutnant Van Houten became a strategic-level threat. We tried the scalpel and that failed, so we had to use the sledgehammer. Hopefully we don't have to bring out the dynamite."
To the outside observer, the complete destruction of a fifty-kilometer radius would seem to greatly outstrip any dynamite, but with the scale at which these expeditionary fleets operated, such a level of destruction was almost a trivial thing, to the point where no one in the conference room so much as raised an eyebrow at the Admiral's choice of words.
"Compared to a total loss, a mere blemish on His Imperial Majesty's prize is a small thing," KapitÀn Wei said.
KapitÀn Wei had managed to cut off the others in expressing his support for the Lord Admiral. Now they would sound especially toadyish if they seconded his sentiments. You did not always see it among Imperial officers, but some were more eager to curry favor with their superiors than others. Perhaps KapitÀn Wei was hoping to become the next Chief of Staff. It might very well be in his future, Admiral Beck thought. He did not want to be too quick to reward suck-ups and yes-men, but he did not necessarily want to discourage them either. There were times you needed a more critical voice to keep you from straying too far off the path, but pliant subordinates had a way of greasing the gears to make the everyday work of a leader go so much smoother.
Still, he would much rather prefer the company of his little pets. Once Major Yang's reconstruction was complete, she would be in need of comforting. An outstanding specimen such as herself did not taste failure often, so the Admiral expected her to be particularly receptive to him. It would almost be enough to make this whole incident worthwhile.
And yet a part of him wondered about Oberleutnant Van Houten, if she had actually succeeded in merging with the Core Unit and how that might have changed her. What sort of experience might he have had if she could have been brought back to him then? There was nothing to gain by wishing for it now, though. His kitten was gone and so the other pets would have to work extra to satisfy him.