Emperor Raden frowned.
"I thought you said you'd have the new fleet operational last week!" he spat at Hashan, his military general.
"The shipyards are working as hard as they can, emperor. Rest assured, however, our plans our secure, and will prove extremely effective," Hashan replied coolly.
"Oh, tell again," Raden smiled.
"Of course, emperor, " Hashan replied, his face as expressionless as always. "As you know, our eight squadrons have proved very effective against our opponents. Our sixty ships in each squadron are too much for the enemy to handle - not a waste of ships, but just enough that in most situations we have enough ships for a problem, without redirecting command. In full scale battles, two or three squadrons can split up easily to carry out individual operations, whereas other armies rely on set generals."
"However, now we are building up a larger force, to be used for the direct assualt on the Kayans. To complement the squadrons Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Theta, Omicron, Epsilon and Omega, we are now building up a new force. As it seems we don't need another squadron, and increasing individual squadron size would be inefficient, we are building up Battlegroup Demon, a force of one hundred and fifty ships, easily enough to destroy most of our opponents," Nashan finished.
Raden nodded, smiling. "How much longer will it take to complete Battlegroup Demon?"
"We've build seventy ships so far, which are on their way to Gadzair now. To build the other eighty, we'll need several more weeks. Rest assured, emperor, it will open up new possibilities, and no-one will suspect the existance of our fleet."
"Do you have any suggestions on who should lead Battlegroup Demon?" Raden asked.
Nashan coughed. "Should I answer with modesty, or with truth, emperor?"
Raden grinned. "You need not answer at all. So be it, General Nashan - Battlegroup Demon will be yours. And after this building project, we shall see about the construction of my own personal battlegroup..."
"With all due respect, I believe after the Demon's construction, Gadzair's shipyards will need a rest," Nashan replied.
"Not if we take the Zior mines first, General," Raden replied. "Not if we take Zior..."
After Nashan had gone, Raden looked down to one certain datapad, that listed the positions of all squadrons.
_Squadron Alpha
Position: Lavetto
Status: Fortified
Squadron Beta
Position: Astin
Status: Moving (Feviry patrol)
Squadron Delta
Position: Calb
Status: No orders
Squadron Gamma
Position: Vastan
Status: Fortified
Squadron Theta
Position: Chari
Status: No orders
Squadron Omicron
Position: Specific unknown (report expected)
Status: Unknown (exploration)
Squadron Epsilon
Position: Lavetto
Status: No orders
Squadron Omega
Position: Diudir
Status: Moving (Gadzair -> Elridi)_
Raden looked over the positions, deciding to sent orders to Epsilon and Delta telling them to move to Norhis together, and defeat any Kayan ships in the system, before receiving further orders.
Looking over the plans one last time, this time satisfied, he pushed them away and began reading on the progress of the signal transfer program, and on several documents on how the Arada should be used.
The first Arada, the Magenta, Emperor Raden sent down to follow Squadron Omicron, as the Arada was several times faster in hyperspace than any other Gadzair vessel, and would thus be incredibly beneficial to the squadron's exploration mission.
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That's all very nice, but where are the guns?
- SilverDragon
(This message has been edited by SilverDragon (edited 09-25-2001).)