Three Square Meals Ch. 104

Lynette gently squeezed her hand in return, then looked at John. "Alright, let's get business underway. I believe we should start discussing what we're going to do about the Kintark."

"I agree, Fleet Admiral," he replied, sharing a smile with her.

She returned to the podium and stood behind the glass lectern as she waited for the admirals to return to their seats. The three holographic projections returned, with Admirals Kester, Morgan, and Zelig watching proceedings via the holo-cams recording the meeting.

"Welcome back everyone," she said, appearing calm and collected despite the dramatic recent events. "I will choose a replacement for Admiral Dubois, but I'd like to take my time selecting a worthy candidate. For now, the most pressing matter we need to discuss is the Kintark Empire and the aftermath of the Battle of Terra. What's the current status of the Kintark forces in the Sol System?"

Admiral Edwin Caldwell unclipped a holo-reader from his belt to check the exact data. "We estimate there were initially over 2100 warships of corvette size or larger in the Kintark armada. 107 were still capable of combat when they surrendered, mostly consisting of cruisers and battleships. Their carrier groups and support vessels were obliterated to a ship, along with all of their strike craft." He swiped across the holo-interface and continued, "We're still checking the wrecks for survivors, but have taken over 800,000 prisoners so far, shipping them to the internment camps set up on Callisto."

"Thank you, Admiral Caldwell," Lynette said, before eyeing the admirals in the audience. "We need to make contact with the Kintark leadership and discuss an armistice. With Baledranax slain, who is next in line for Imperial succession?"

"Norwood was the real expert on the Kintark," Caldwell said with a grimace. "I saw the Hera during the battle, but he didn't try to make contact. I haven't seen any reports mentioning his capture."

"Norwood was there on the Hera's Bridge," John informed them quietly. "He lived long enough to see all his plans ruined, but he didn't survive the battle..."

"A fitting end to the Dragon March traitor," Lynette said, her eyes narrowing with anger. She paused for a moment, her anger turning to regret at the sheer numbers killed by Norwood's treachery. With a heavy sigh, she squared her shoulders and continued, "The last intelligence reports I read on the Kintark Imperial line indicated that the next in line for succession would be Baledranax's brother."

John shook his head. "If you're referring to Kindralax, we killed him while liberating Federation prisoners from the Xen'Nuchek slave mines."

"Does everyone who crosses you share a similar fate?" Caldwell asked, an edge to his voice.

Alyssa gave him a predatory smile. "Yeah, pretty much. There's been a few exceptions, but it's never too late to clean house..."

John placed a calming hand on her shoulder, then ignored Caldwell and turned to look at the Fleet Admiral. "We can contact the Kintark homeworld and find out who's in charge that way; someone must have been ruling Kinta while the Emperor was leading the invasion. What High Command really needs to decide right now, is the surrender terms you want to demand from the Kintark Empire..."

Aeri Malone rose from her seat, her hands clenched into fists. "We lost a hell of a lot of good people yesterday! Those scaly bastards need to pay for what they did!"

There was a loud clamour of agreement from most of the admirals in the room, sharing her sense of outrage and need for vengeance.

John got up and walked over to stand beside Lynette so he could face the indignant admirals. "I understand your desire for revenge... the atrocities the Kintark committed demand retribution. After what they did to Port Medea and Unity City, let alone the war crimes committed against the Dragon March fleet, they should face a harsh penalty."

Lynette studied him carefully for a moment. "I sense your idea of a penalty doesn't include total subjugation and annexation of the Kintark Empire?"

"You could go that route and would be fully justified in doing so," John replied, noticing that he had the full attention of the admirals. "But you need to seriously consider the ramifications of that kind of action."

Aeri Malone frowned in confusion. "What ramifications? It's not like we'll face any objections from the Ashanath, Trankarans, or the Maliri. The Brimorians will probably complain, but they'd object no matter what we did, so what's stopping us?"

Charles grimaced and replied, "Sixty percent of the fleet defending Terra was destroyed or badly damaged. We don't have the manpower or fleet resources for total occupation of the Kintark Empire."

John glanced at him and nodded. "Exactly. The Kintark Empire hold as many worlds as the Federation; imposing Terran control over so many potentially hostile planets will require huge numbers of troops and transports. The Kintark also have extensive borders that will need to be patrolled... I'm just advising caution, so you don't bite off more than you can chew."

"And we still have to deal with the Kirrix invasion," Lynette said, her expression growing increasingly bleak.

Admiral Cartwright exchanged a worried look with her. "The logistical difficulties in supplying both the planetary liberation fleet on the Kirrix border and an occupation force in Kintark Space will be... daunting... to say the least. We're talking about a two-front campaign at opposite ends of Terran Space."

"I linked up with Commodore Campbell's border fleet and our combined battle group will reach the closest of the Kirrix occupied worlds in four days," Admiral Nathan Zelig stated, his holographic face revealing his tension. "According to the border sensor grids, the Kirrix have been flooding into Terran Space... I intend to focus on liberating the occupied worlds, but my forces are geared towards patrolling the border, not planetary invasions. We're lacking in troops and have inadequate medical facilities to deal with the sheer numbers of infested civilians we're likely to encounter. We'll definitely need reinforcements and logistical support..."

"As soon as the Invictus is repaired, I plan to head to the Kirrix border," John said, glancing at Zelig's holographic image. "I'll do what I can to help liberate the Outer Rim and thin out the Kirrix swarm, but I won't be able to stay to defend the border."

Aeri Malone grimaced with frustration. "I know we have to repulse the Kirrix, but we can't let the Kintark get away with invading Terra! We need to make an example of them."

Lynette had a stern look on her face as she said, "I have every intention of making sure the Kintark Empire give us fitting reparations."

She turned to the lectern and her fingers swept over the holo-interface until a glowing Empire Map appeared in the auditorium, floating above their heads. All voices went quiet as they studied the map, visualising just how difficult it would be to occupy the vast number of worlds in the Kintark Empire.

John watched them for a while, then said, "Just ask yourselves, what does the Terran Federation really need?"

After a brief pause, admirals began calling out suggestions.

"Resource-rich worlds!"

"Colonisable planets!"

"Room to expand!"

Lynette had an acquisitive gleam in her eyes as she turned to the holo-interface and made some adjustments. Half the Kintark Empire that bordered Drakkar Space and the Unclaimed Wastes changed from Imperial red to Federation green. "We can claim those worlds, then offer the current Kintark inhabitants the choice between Federation citizenship or free passage to the Kintark-controlled portion of their empire."

John smiled and nodded his approval. "That should dramatically reduce the numbers of planetary rebellions you have to deal with. We crushed the Drakkar at Ashana, so they won't be a serious threat along that border for years... long enough for you to rebuild your fleets."

"Would the Kintark leadership even consider such a huge loss of territory?" Kester asked, his shrewd gaze appraising the redrawn map.

Aeri gave him a grim smile of satisfaction. "The Kintark don't have any choice, we've got them by the balls!"

"I'm convinced that the Emperor threw every spaceworthy ship he could muster into this invasion," John agreed, glancing at Charles. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you have more Kintark ships parked outside Olympus than they've got left in the entire Kintark Empire."

Charles rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then glanced at Lynette. "If their fleet asset situation is as dire as we suspect, the Kintark won't even have enough ships to patrol their borders. If they reject our territory claim, we could make them an offer they would find very hard to refuse."

"What have you got in mind?" she asked him curiously.

"Repatriate the ships and crews we captured at Regulus," he replied, his moustache twitching as he spoke. "It would give the Kintark enough ships to form a defensive fleet, but not enough to be a threat to us."

"And the Regulus prisoners weren't involved with the invasion fleet's war crimes..." Lynette murmured as she considered his proposal. "That's an excellent suggestion, Charles. Thank you."

"We stripped the heatsinks from those ships, so it'll take the Kintark a few weeks to make them all combat-capable again," Charles said with a smile. "Which reminds me... we need to start salvage operations on what's left of their forces in the Sol System as quickly as possible. There's a wealth of Kintark heatsinks there, as well as the shield generators they acquired from the Brimorians." He glanced at John and added, "I believe you captured the Hera. What do you want to do with it?"

"That dreadnought is Federation property!" Caldwell strenuously objected. "You can't possibly be considering just letting him claim it?"

Charles gave him a helpless shrug. "I'm just adhering to the privateer amendments to Federation salvage law. Civilian vessels aiding in times of war may stake a claim on any enemy ships that they can prove they were solely responsible for incapacitating. My hands are tied."

"Civilian vessel?! That's absurd!" Caldwell balked. "He's only just been promoted to Vice-Admiral!"

"But we've never officially revoked his retired status," Charles calmly replied. "I know for a fact we haven't been paying him salary for the last ten years."

"This argument is pointless, I'm not interested in the Hera," John said, shaking his head. "Upgrading that dreadnought to match the Invictus' capabilities would take us months and I can't afford to waste that much time..." Glancing at Charles he added, "I'll speak to you later about a bounty."

"I'm sure we can arrange a suitable reward for capturing the Hera unscathed," Charles replied, winking at his friend.

John smiled back, then turned to frown at Caldwell. "While we're discussing salvage, what were you playing at with the Maliri?"

"They were trying to cherry pick all the best salvage sites," Caldwell replied, lifting his chin obstinately. "And they had the audacity to do it in our home system as if they owned the place!"

"Don't you think they earned that salvage?" John asked, his eyes narrowing. "You can't have missed just how many Kintark ships they destroyed."

Caldwell was stubbornly defiant as he replied, "The Maliri escaped the battle unscathed, while Terran forces took the brunt of the damage in the fighting... we earned the best salvage rights the hard way."

"If it wasn't for them, you'd be dead!" John snapped, finally losing his patience. "I'd already granted them permission to take whatever they needed! Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was for me having to apologise for your behaviour? The Maliri had just proven themselves to be invaluable allies and you suddenly decide to start antagonising them! What the hell were you thinking?!"

Caldwell winced then started to reply, "But-"

John shook his head. "But nothing! Between the Invictus and the Maliri, we racked up at least 50% of the Kintark ship kills! You should have been thanking the Maliri for leaving so much salvage for the Terran Federation!"

Turning to address all of High Command, he continued, "That Maliri fleet is heading to the Trankaran Republic now, to help them liberate their worlds from the Kirrix. But the Terran Federation were supposed to be the Trankaran's allies; it should have been you helping them! Kester's fleet is right there on the Trankaran border and has been left sitting there for weeks! If High Command had actually lived up to its treaty obligations and assisted the Trankarans when they asked for help, you could have spared millions of civilians from the horrors of a Kirrix invasion!"

The admirals looked chagrined, no one who'd been part of that decision was able to meet his accusatory glare.

"The Maliri just proved how invaluable strong allies can be," John said, his steely-eyed glare challenging anyone to disagree. "The Trankarans, the Ashanath, and the Maliri have all started cooperating to face threats like the Kirrix. I strongly suggest that you start thinking of the bigger picture, because you might find you need their help again. After the losses the Terran fleets just took against the Kintark, you're highly vulnerable to aggression from the Kirrix and the Brimorians."

Lynette nodded, her expression grim. "I'm sure everyone is painfully aware that if you and the Maliri had not intervened, most of us would not have survived the battle. The Kintark would now be deciding how best to rape our worlds of all their resources and the Terran people would have been doomed to lives of slavery. We sustained appalling losses at Terra, because our fleets had lost technological parity with the Kintark, but I'm determined that we will not allow ourselves to fall into that complacent state again."

She held herself straighter and said in a determined voice, "Our highest priority now is to rebuild our shattered forces, so that we can protect our borders and assist our allies. We've been given an incredible gift of new technology, providing us with stronger shields, faster FTL drives, more powerful reactors, quicker engines, highly advanced heatsinks, and much longer-ranged sensors. I propose we fully exploit this massive boon, accelerating the refit and upgrade programs currently underway at Olympus. In addition, I want us to undertake the biggest ship-building program the Terran Federation has ever seen!"

She turned and swiped her hand across the holo-interface on the lectern. On an adjacent screen, a long list of capital ships began to scroll down, detailing the proposed start and completion dates for each new vessel's construction.

Shaking his head Charles said, "We'll never be able to meet those construction targets. We'd need at least five times the drydock capacity Olympus has at the moment!"

"I agree," Lynette said with a crafty smile.

She pressed more glyphs on the holo-screen and the holographic Empire Map faded away, to be replaced with a detailed view of Olympus shipyard. The schematics highlighted the current drydock area and the much larger area of the space station that was allocated to docking civilian traffic. As Lynette's fingers flew over the holo-interface, the entire shipyard was reallocated to construction yards and refit bays.

Charles gave Lynette a worried frown. "All the fees we receive from docking bays allocated to civilians and traders keep the station running. We break-even on operating costs because of them..."

"Which is why I propose we also greatly expand Olympus, building a whole new layer purely dedicated to trade," Devereux announced, hitting more buttons and displaying a new set of blueprints Dana had created for the massive station. The six-armed shipyard doubled in size, now incorporating a lower layer that housed hundreds of docking bays allocated for civilian usage. "If we're going to be working more closely with the Ashanath, the Trankarans, and the Maliri, there'll be a huge upsurge in trade and I intend to capitalise on it. We're in the middle of all those empires and the logical focal point for a massive trade hub."

The admirals gaped at the holograms in stunned silence.

Cartwright finally managed to stammer, "B-but this will cost trillions! We'll never be able to afford it!"

"Not with the current budget, no," Devereux agreed, swiping her hand across the holo-controls.

She brought up a detailed empire-wide budget forecast for the Terran Federation, which again plunged the room into shocked silence. As the admirals read through the budget changes, there were disgruntled murmurings that quickly escalated into howls of protest. Lynette glanced at John, sharing a smile with him as her proposed changes generated exactly the kind of outrage they'd both predicted.

Eventually she faced her audience again and clapped her hands together, the sharp sound like a gunshot in the auditorium, shocking everyone into silence. With quiet restored, Lynette leaned forward and said, "We are facing a time of unprecedented danger to the Terran Federation. These budget changes fly in the face of establish budgetary protocol, but they are critical to our short and medium-term ability to protect our territory."

Admiral Hugo Chapman fidgeted with his glasses, then shook his head vehemently, ruffling his comb-over. "The changes you're suggesting are preposterous! You're seriously intending to eliminate ALL military R&D?! Have you completely lost your mind?!"

She glanced at him, unmoved by his tirade. "I realise this directly affects your remit, Hugo. However, I assure you I am quite sane. Last year alone, we spent over 175 billion credits on military research! In the short term, the likelihood of your research teams being able to improve upon all the alien technology we've just acquired is miniscule. Therefore, we will cut them and divert the funding to areas where we will see more tangible results."

Before he could raise any further objections, an attractive middle-aged redhead interrupted him. "Lynette, be reasonable... you're planning to shut down all our propaganda divisions?!"

Alyssa frowned at her. "Here's a novel suggestion: instead of trying to convince people you're doing a good job, how about actually doing a good job!"

Admiral Lina Van Den Broeck glared at her and in a voice dripping with condescension, she retorted, "This isn't some game, young lady. Public approval has to be carefully managed. If the numbers dip too low, it leads to rioting, anarchy in the streets, and eventually planetary rebellion!"

"People aren't stupid. If you improve their lives, they'll be more content; you can't trick them into being happy!" Shaking her head in disgust, Alyssa added, "This shit isn't rocket science..."

The redhead scowled and was about to launch into a fiery rant, before Lynette cut her short. "Lina, that's enough, Alyssa's quite right. I fully intend to increase spending on planetary improvements, focusing on infrastructure, public services, as well as research into crop cultivation and hydroponics. We've neglected colony development for far too long, particularly on the Outer Rim. A happy population is a peaceful and law abiding one."

While the grey-haired admiral in charge of research perked up, Van Den Broeck shook her head in disagreement. "This is a big mistake! Our recent efforts to raise public opinion of High Command have been wildly successful and-"

"No. They've been almost completely ineffective," Lynette said sharply. Before Lina could protest, she pointed at John and continued, "We've been enjoying an unprecedented boost in popularity due solely to TFNN's coverage of the Lion's victories, particularly the ones in conjunction with T-Fed forces. The public love a war hero and John's delivered that in spades. For the last several months, the Propaganda departments have been a huge money-sink with nothing to show for it. If we hadn't spent a single credit, we'd have still seen a meteoric rise in public opinion."