Ivan Kal - Sanctuary

No matter what way Hana looked at it, she couldn’t see a way for Consortium to win. Sowir had expanded too much. And no matter how much she wished it, she knew that Olympus couldn’t beat them either. Their technology might be better, their shipbuilding faster, but their one weakness was that there just wasn’t enough of them. Olympus could build ships faster than Sowir, but didn’t have enough trained people to crew them. They could recruit from other areas, but that would only mean that their other fields would suffer. Perhaps if they had enough time to grow, but that could only happen if they managed to stay hidden. And she was sure that Sowir would not stop their expansion. They were conquerors, when they met with the Consortium they reached an obstacle. They tried pushing and when they failed, they pulled back, reassessed, and patiently waited for a time when they would be able to smash that obstacle to pieces. From everything she read, Hana could see that Sowir were a terrible opponent, they were experts at adapting, at deceit, they did not care about other races. They would never stop, any peace with them would only last for as long as it suited them. And that meant that Olympus would need to fight. And unless something changed, they would lose simply because they were too badly outnumbered. Hana finally sighed and got to her feet, she made way towards her quarters, and went to bed. Thinking how she could help Nel survive long enough to give Olympus a chance.

Sanctuary space

Adrian walked hurriedly towards Leviathan’s conference room, following close behind was High Prime Paul Isaacs. Leviathan had met up with the rest of its fleet. The Second Fleet was there as well and their mock battle was scheduled to begin tomorrow. Before that Adrian wanted to get to know the commanders of his fleet. He entered the room, Paul and he were the last to arrive. The other commanders were all there in person, even though Leviathan was equipped with a hologram conference, they could all sit on their own ship and appear as if they were there in the room. Although this was somewhat limited by lightspeed. The ships needed to be close enough that the lag wasn’t too long. But for their first introduction Adrian wanted to meet them in person.

He knew most of them. Some of them were former Ship Masters of the 8 warships Olympus built in Sol. Adrian looked around the room at the young faces, no one looked older than him, but he knew that all were. That was another thing that changed with the gene therapy. There was no longer expectation that the leaders needed to be older. Now skill and knowledge were put first, no one cared if you were young, only that you were good at what you do. As Adrian entered the room no one stood up, there were subtle nods in his direction, acknowledging his presence, the atmosphere was relaxed as it was supposed to be. Adrian went to his seat at the head of the table and sat.

“Most of you already know me, and those that don’t, know about me. Nevertheless, I wanted to begin this meeting by introducing myself and telling you what you may expect from my command.” Adrian said. He looked around the room, making sure that he had all of their attention.

“My name is Adrian Farkas, I am Fleet Commander of the Olympus Frist Fleet. I want you to know that my command will be more relaxed outside of combat situations. Each of you may run your ship as you wish, unless instructed differently by me. There will be a regular drill schedule and each of you will be required to pass the minimal readiness score. If your ship fails to attain a passing grade I will interfere, if the problem persists, I will contact the Fleet and ask for your ship to be reassigned. Don’t take this as a threat, I will stay out of your business as long as you meet my standards. In combat situations, whether they are simulated or real, you will follow orders of the flagship implicitly. I welcome any insight and suggestions, but the final decisions rests with me. Are there any questions?” Adrian asked.

“How will the score be calculated?” Ship Master Leia Kim of the light cruiser Conqueror asked.

“The score will be calculated based on multiple parameters, such as the overall atmosphere amongst the crew, the time it takes for all stations to go to various stages of alertness. The detailed report, will be sent to each of you by the end of the day.” When no one said anything he continued. “I assume that you had the chance to get to know each other before I arrived. If not, I urge you to do so. I will host a relaxed dinner this evening, the details will be forwarded to your imps. That will be all.” They got to their feet and started to shuffle out of the room. Adrian remained seated.

“Force Leader Smith, Force Leader Krylov. Stay for a moment.” Adrian said. The two commanders looked at each other and then took their previous places. Force Leader Altsoba Smith was in command of the battleship Battle Song, and Force Leader Nenad Krylov was commander of the battleship Protector. They were in command of the two task forces of the fleet named Alpha and Beta.

“I will not take much of your time.” Adrian said. “As task force leaders, it will be up to you to make sure that my orders are followed to the letter. I can’t have ships disobeying in the heat of battle because their commanders believe they know better. You need to make sure that all commanders under you understand this. I said before that I welcome suggestions and insight, but that is not permission for them to go off on their own. I know that all of you went through the academy back in Sol. I know the limitations of those simulators, and I know that each of us are accustomed to working alone. This is the first time any of our ships will act in unison, and I plan on showing everyone during war games tomorrow the power of a fleet. That said, there will be times when I won’t be able to see the whole picture, or when there simply won’t be time to ask for instructions from the flagship. It is a great burden, but it is up to you to learn to differentiate between times when you need to follow my orders to the letter, and times when you need to bend them. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Fleet Commander.” Force Leader Krylov and Force Leader Smith said together.

“Good.” Adrian looked at the two commanders. They held themselves formally, there was nothing that suggested that they were uncomfortable with him, but Adrian knew that they must be.

“I want you to speak freely, there will be no repercussions.” Adrian said. The two Force Leaders looked startled for a moment. Adrian pushed forward and spoke again. “Tell me, do you have a problem with me being in command, or are there others that do.”

They didn’t speak immediately, they remained silent for a minute, but Adrian could see them steeling themselves to speak. Finally Force Leader Altsoba Smith spoke.

“There has been some talk of favoritism.” She said slowly. Adrian nodded, he suspected as much.

“The Fleet heads decision is final.” Adrian said. “I assume that the talks about favoritism come from my connection to Laura Reiss, while she is the head of the Fleet the decision comes from the Fleet board. I was selected because my scores are the highest in the fleet, and because I have the most, or rather the only experience in a real battle.”

“That experience is part of the problem. The only reason you have that experience was because you were in the right place at the right time, any one of us could have been in that position. And with the virtual simulators being as advanced as they are, all of us have experience, the simulations have reached the level where they can be called real.” Force Leader Krylov said.

“You are right, anyone could have been in my place. But the reality was that it was me. Would you have had the same thoughts if it was someone else? What if it was you.” Adrian said to Krylov.