The three mercenary officers were led into the briefing chamber by a uniformed Palace Guard. Kira was surprised by just how large the audience was. Unless she missed her guess, every flag officer and ship or station commander was either physically or virtually present.
So were the Palace Guard. Dozens of the red-uniformed bodyguards lined the walls, more of them than Kira had ever seen in one place before. Despite everything, the Guard was taking no chances with the safety of their monarchs, even with their own officers.
Given that eight officers who should have been in the room were now in military jail cells thanks to Neha Bradley, Kira approved. The young pilot had handed them the image of Commodore Tiamat Julien, the commander of a monitor squadron…and the woman at the heart of the Institute’s operations in Redward.
They’d taken Commodore Julien by surprise aboard her ship, managing to use a military override to keep her from wiping her headware memory. Her encryptions had proven insufficient to counteract the fact that she had Redward military hardware in her head, and Redward Intelligence had swept up her network in a matter of days.
The Palace Guard were clearly assuming that they hadn’t caught everyone, and since eight senior officers had been part of the network, even the RRF’s senior officers couldn’t be trusted.
Another trio of officers, a Rear Admiral and his aides from what Kira guessed was a planetside administration command, stepped into the room—and the doors slid shut behind them with an audible crash.
Moments later, Kira’s headware lost all connection to the outside world. The holographic presences flickered as high-powered encryption locked in. Kira suspected that if they could have put everyone physically in the room, they would have, but that would have left the RRF leaderless.
The room was still chilled to silence as the security measures activated, and the King and Queen of Redward stepped onto the stage in that silence.
“Thank you all for being here,” Larry said calmly. “As many of you have guessed, the couriers we sent out to make contact with our allies returned home yesterday.
“We now have several covert mapped nova points around Redward that we can use to circumvent the blockade. Using any of those points for civilian shipping is impractical, but they have allowed us to reach out to the rest of the Cluster and establish an update on what is going on.
“Very little of that news is good,” he warned them.
A map of the Syntactic Cluster appeared above the King. Red spheres enveloped several of the familiar stars, and Kira shivered. Not just Ypres and Redward were blockaded, it seemed.
“As expected, Bengalissimo has assembled blockading forces preventing anyone from entering or exiting the Ypres and Redward Systems,” Larry told them. “For the moment, they have ignored our new protectorates in the former Costar Clans Systems, but that may not last. They have moved against several of our older allies in New Ontario and Exeteron, though the forces involved there are minimal. No one outside of us, Ypres or Bengalissimo is going to be a major factor in what happens now.”
The map zoomed in on Ypres and Redward, both marked with red spheres.
“With Ypres under blockade, no significant traffic has entered or exited the Syntactic Cluster for roughly three months,” the King noted. “Not only is Redward cut off from the Cluster, but the Cluster is also cut off from the galaxy at large. Our enemies have struck not only at Redward but at the entire Syntactic Cluster under the pretense of striking at us.”
He shook his head.
“Unfortunately, the story they are telling of our aggression enables just that pretense,” he admitted. “We have contacted the other systems in the Cluster in the hopes of leaning on old alliances and the Free Trade Zone agreement. We have received soothing words and no promises of actual support.”
Angry mutters filled the room, and Larry held up his hands.
“I do not blame them,” he barked. “They have corvettes and destroyers at best. What help can they be against a fleet of cruisers backed by Meridian money and Fringe mercenaries? In our isolation, they see their defeat. And in Queen Rossella’s claims, they see an excuse for their surrender.
“Bengalissimo claims we have refused to negotiate. That even their most reasonable requests have been denied.” Larry shook his head. “We have received no requests. No communications. Not even a demand for our unconditional surrender.
“Bengalissimo paints us as aggressors and conquerors, using the Ypres Federation and our seizure of the Costar Clans Systems as evidence. Our silence in the face of their blockade is only more proof of our plans and our guilt.”
The room was angry now and Larry slapped his hand down on the lectern.
“Again, I do not blame our allies,” he snapped. “What could they do? Bring a handful of destroyers against the cruisers and nova-fighter carriers that blockade Redward? We cannot ask them to die for us. We cannot ask them to fight without hope of victory.
“And that brings us here.” He gestured around the room. “For hidden among those soothing words were other messages. Messages our allies could not dare risk Bengalissimo knowing they’d sent.”
The map above Larry’s head shifted. The trade-route stops around Redward and Ypres were now highlighted—and numbers and icons appeared next to them.
“None of our information on Bengalissimo’s military positions can be taken as gospel,” Queen Sonia told the gathered military officers, “but we have data and reports and estimates on the strengths of their positions and the locations of their vessels as of eleven days ago.
“We know the Bengalissimo Fleet’s doctrines and protocols,” she continued. “We know their officers and their objectives. We don’t know the mercenaries supporting them as well, but many of their choices will be shaped by their employer.
“That means that we believe we have identified key points in the blockade structures around both Redward and Ypres. Not, I must warn everyone, weak points. Key points. Logistical support fleets, guarded by the core nodal forces of the blockades.
“If those fleets and their defenders are destroyed or captured, it will be very clear that there is a chance of victory,” Sonia told them all. “With a chance of victory, our allies will again gather around us and we will be able to drive Queen Rossella’s forces back to Bengalissimo—a defeat that will enable those who question her coup d’état to move against her in both the streets and the Parlamento.
“If you can clear the path from Redward to Ypres and deliver a demonstration convoy while shattering their strongest positions, we may be able to force Bengalissimo to sue for peace.”
“And even if we fail in that, we will have halved their cruiser strength and gutted their mercenaries,” Larry concluded. “We can achieve a far greater concentration of force than they can. We know where our besiegers are positioned and can choose our moment to strike.”
He shook his head and looked out at the officers.
“I won’t pretend this will be easy. It is war. True interstellar war, such as the Syntactic Cluster has never seen before and I pray will never see again. I put my faith in the officers and ships of the Redward Royal Fleet against any enemy.
“Our allies in the Cluster have delivered us the keys to victory. It falls to you to open the door.”