Warrior Empress (Warrior Empress Series Book 4), page 5
My breathing faltered as I imagined the scope and magnitude of what this must cover. It would need to be some form of elite council of senior leaders, perhaps even including the wealthy kingdoms and executive leaders of many dozens of systems.
My hands began to tremble in anger and I quickly shut that down.
I needed proof. . . and then I would plan.
For now, I needed a different battle commander to end the Slave War. Only then could I take the next step of working to shift the Hoganthan Empire to a broader Alliance of self-regulated systems.
That had been chewing at me for some time. A dozen smaller systems had proposed that and now it made sense for me to support it, for my own goals.
And, then, find the traitors and kill them, simply, quietly executing them one at a time.
I took a deep breath, then nodded at Tor, “Admiral Cailan has been the Battle Commander for over thirty years and it does not feel like we are closer to winning the war now, than then. It just keeps dragging on and on with no resolution. I am considering replacing him and wanted your advice.”
Tor nodded, thought for a moment and responded directly, “There are many good and competent leaders there, but if you are trying to actually end the war, then consider a different path, select a Marine. . . consider General Oman Lim.”
I had gently set up the request hoping that Tor would offer himself as a candidate. I was surprised that he didn’t.
It isn’t that he is or isn’t power hungry, it is all about the battle strategy and finishing - winning.
And Tor is a pre-eminent elite warrior and battle strategist. He is all about winning in a careful and clever way. He is really, really good at it, too. I’ve seen the battle reports.
He saw the tiny flicker in my face and added, shaking his head at me, “General Lim has far more and broader experience than I do, or others like me. He will find the armada, destroy it and end the war. Oman is worthy of your consideration.”
Tor and I went on to discuss other things, but I could sense he knew our meeting was done. We smiled at each other and he left. I so miss his focus and insight. I miss the clarity of friendship.
The rest of the day I pulled up information about Oman Lim, his past, his family, his battle successes and failures. He did not have any battles that appeared to be built around ego. And, he’d lost his family except his daughter Peebo, a fighter Captain in the Admiralty. I looked at her files too and was astounded at her elite skill.
The next day, I had Teesa contact General Lim’s aide and arrange a meeting. . . I miss the days when I could just contact someone directly to speak or meet with them.
Anyway, he was very busy with orchestrating planetary battles to chew away at the Brinlo and Cren armies. He was surprised and cautious, but accepted my invitation.
One simply does not decline a meeting with the reigning empress of Hoganth and the Empire - well, I guess unless you are Admiral Cailan and don’t want to stoop that low. . .
When he came to see me in my working office, he was clearly tired and frustrated. I could see it in the lines of his face and his haggard stare. He was frustrated, but also now concerned why he’d been asked to meet with me.
I know I was taking precious time away from him, but was still pleased he’d accepted the formal meeting himself and had actually shown up.
When he strode through the doors held open by my Red Guard, he walked through the center space. I didn’t miss the slight nod Yanol and Azz gave him in respect as he entered the room.
It’s like the room changed with his presence. In a good way. Like. . . competence just arrived.
Oh, I liked that. I’d never met him before, but he just exuded ability. And, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding in.
Rather than an entourage, he had one aide with him and he strode in confidently just like the General did. These were men of action. These were men used to war and fighting/winning battles.
So, it pained me to see the haggard and frustrated expressions.
They both stopped directly in front of my officious desk, both bowed slightly, never taking their eyes off of me as is the warrior way. I stood up and bowed back as is customary.
I wasn’t sure what to have expected when Lim arrived. I’d been sitting behind my desk and now I didn’t want that formality, so I got up and walked around to them.
Yes, I saw the tiny tilt of eyes when I did that. . . a bit of deference given to he and his aide.
“General Lim, thank you for taking the time to meet with me, I know you are extremely busy. I just have one question - why aren’t we winning the war? Why can’t we find the Brinlo and Cren armadas and end the Slave War? It has been a thousand years and it seems to just drag on and on.”
Yeah, I know that was more than one question, but ‘THE question’ is the underlying issue of why we haven’t won yet.
General LIm and his aide both raised their eyes at me, their ear-tails wafting in the breeze. Their ears were up at the sides of their heads and not back, so that’s a good sign.
I could see the general processing the question and nod at me, “Reigning Empress Elith te Hoganth. . . “
I waved my hand at him and frowned, “General, I don’t much like palace formality. I am a warrior. I’d prefer if you just call me Elith. I prefer that.”
He had a slight nod at that, but I wasn’t finished, “General, I call you that out of respect and deference to your record and position. If you look at my history you’ll see I’ve spent time on Haden and am a graduated warrior. THAT is my perspective and focus. . . please continue.”
His eyes widened a moment as he used his node to search history files, so where I’d been and the very brief summaries of what Yellow Squad, now Red Squad, had accomplished and then nodded at me, “Empress. . . Elith, thanks. Call me Oman.”
He turned to gently motioned at his aide, “This is Solan Haas, my chief.”
I nodded at him as well, “Oman. Solan. Why haven’t we won?”
Oman’s face clouded a bit as he took in a deep breath and prepared his response, “Elith, thank you for asking me the question, but wouldn’t it be. . . more appropriate for you to ask Admiral Cailan? He is the resident Battle Commander and responsible for prosecuting the war.”
I smiled thinly. I used my disarming, but not happy smile, “Oman, he refused to meet with me. It felt like I was wasting his time and he didn’t have time to. . . what. . . bother to educate a prissy little empress on the realities of war?”
I’m not sure I was expecting much, but certainly wasn’t expecting him to laugh as hard as he did.
He nodded at me with a chortle, “I’m not surprised. Cailan’s in general and the Admiral specifically are not used to having to report to anyone other than their own House leadership.”
I nodded at that, “I’m not so much insulted by his type of response as I am insulted that an admiral of his rank and expertise has not actually won the war yet. Why? Is it really that hard?”
He squinted at me a tiny bit as he assessed what he would say and how he would say it, his lips drawn tight to a thin line, “The Hoganthan Houses could never afford to just stop the war, that is something that has to be carefully coordinated over a long time with the official ending of the enemy armadas and cessation of hostilities. Yes, it is a complicated thing if you are trying to balance all of that.”
I processed what he was saying for a moment, “So, the elite Houses just keep the war going through the Admiral and keep the money flowing so they can continue to profit at the expense of Hoganth, the Empire and the soldiers who die every day. Is that what you are saying?”
To say he was surprised at my comment was an under-statement.
“Yes. . . Elith. If you are trying to maintain balance with their wealth systems, it is a complicated thing.”
I leaned forward just a bit, “And, General, how would you change the battlescape if you were tasked with ending the war. Not perpetuating it. Ending it. What would you do differently?”
It took him a full minute to process that and then he weighed in, “If you are actually trying to end it, then that would mean enormous financial cut-offs to the elite Houses. You know that correct?”
“Yes, I know that. This isn’t about their credit statements and balance sheets. It is about the people of Hoganth, the Empire star systems and millions of soldiers - restoring some sense of life to them.”
He pursed his lips together and opened his eyes wide, “Then you’d need the Admiral to take his senior planning staff to the battlescapes to instantly respond to the shifting battle scenes as they happen. Send more agents out to find out where the resourcing is coming from and attack those resource planets, cut off their back supplies, force them into the open, make them desperate enough, and then bring in cooperative forces to surround and destroy them. . . not just damage them to allow them to escape, but to actually completely destroy them so they can’t escape. It would be even more helpful to actually kill Battle Commander Jorad Zen. He is their driving force leader. That is the only way.”
I cocked my head to one side at the obviousness of it, “And, Oman, is that not what we are doing now?”
Solan Haas openly laughed this time. I looked at him. He didn’t even try to hide his disdain.
The general was more circumspect, looked briefly at his aide and didn’t snicker, “No, that is not how we are prosecuting the war today.”
I looked over at Teesa and she very gently shook her head, her face tight, her lips in a thin frown.
She knew where I was going with this and didn’t want the enormous upheaval it would create, the financial chaos, the anger and hostility from the elite houses.
So, of course she shook her head. She knew what was coming. . .
I didn’t care. I wanted the thousand year war over with. Done. I wanted Hoganth, the people and the Empire systems to recover and have peace again. Wars are no good if they are for the sake of war. They need to have a purpose, to achieve that purpose and end, so the people can heal.
So, yes, Teesa was gently shaking her head.
So, I nodded at Oman, “And when can you do that?”
His ear tips went straight up and his ears almost flattened back. This was an interesting and unexpected fight response. His eyes were fierce and his expression intense. I could see him breathe deeply.
Huh. . . I’d said or done something to offend him, I think.
“Oman, I mean you no insult. It is a real question. I am not content to allow the war to continue another thousand years. I owe it. . . WE owe it to the people of Hoganth and the Empire systems to bring peace. To fully, completely end and eradicate slavery from the galaxy, where we can. Admiral Cailan has clearly demonstrated either a lack of skill or lack of interest in achieving that goal. The battle commander ultimately reports to me. I get to choose who that person is and it will no longer be Admiral Cailan. I understand it will cause upheaval, trauma and resource dislocations, but I want a seasoned and competent battle commander to take over, lead us through this and end this war. . . quickly. Will you do that?”
His face froze, half curious and half intense focus.
Solan Haas was exactly the same. . . curious and intense, processing my request.
Oman took a minute, a very long minute to think about that and frowned, “Do you realize. . . no, of course you realize what this will do within the elite Houses. The power struggles and resource dislocations, the hate and retribution it will cause.”
He paused as his mind raced through the process, “And, of course you haven’t discussed this with the Admiral, if you did, you’d likely have disappeared, or be dead by now.”
I tried to keep my face flat as he said that. No. . . I hadn’t considered they’d try and kill me, but it made sense when he said it. House Brite had already attempted to assassinate me. . . several times, for the vid I had published embarrassing Enwal Brite for his unwanted advances. But, that is another tale.
You can’t shut off Tredits - trillions of credit flows - and expect them to simply pout.
Nope, it doesn’t work that way.
But, so be it. If we ended the war and ultimately I died, that would still be a win for the Hoganthan people and the Empire systems. Oh, yeah, that would be a win.
And, worth it.
So I weighed in, “Oman, yes, I understand both the resource conflicts as well as the personal risks. When I announce it, the elites will start to retaliate and attempt to shut off resources and then when they realize it is really happening, they will attempt to sell or trade absolutely everything they can, to reap as much profit as they can and not get stuck holding the inventory. The hard part for them will be what to do with their massive factories. I’ll need to help them realign that production.”
I leaned forward toward both of them, my hands and fingers together in front of me and took a deep breath, “So. Oman. When can you start this?”
Chapter seven
Deciding on Oman Lim and getting him to accept his new role was easier than actually implementing that change.
Through my advisors, I had them notify all of the House leaders, both normal houses and elites, that Admiral Cailan was stepping down from his role as supreme battle commander with General Oman Lim taking over. I gave them two weeks to absorb that so that they could begin to shift their businesses as needed.
My office doors opened unexpectedly and. . . oh. . . wow. . . Admiral Cailan and his entourage of officer advisors stormed in.
Now, that I hadn’t expected, well, not just that way.
He stormed up to the front of the desk with nearly a dozen of his advisors standing behind him.
Not good.
My Red Guard stood behind me, Yanol and Tremeer on my left, Azz and Tau on my right.
And, yes, they had their assault weapons as they normally did. I heard three of the safeties click off. I smiled at that. They are so good.
Tau even had her long gun with her. She dropped the barrel down toward him and I could just barely hear the click as she thumbed the safety lever off.
The Admiral briefly noticed them and stopped. He didn’t say hello, he didn’t nod, he didn’t introduce himself, just began speaking, “You can’t remove me. I am THE Admiral and the supreme battle commander. It doesn’t work that way. . . “
I held my face flat.
Yes. . . I am learning slowly not to divulge my feelings through my expressions. It has been a tough journey, but one I’m learning slowly.
I interrupted him by waving my left hand at him, “Admiral Cailan, I want to thank you for your years of service to the Admiralty, Hoganth and the Empire. It is time for a new change of direction and General Lim is it. I think he will make a worthy and competent leader now that you are moving on in a different role.”
He blustered, his brown furred ears were fully back, but he was overweight and wouldn’t have been able to get across the desk to attack me anyway. He wouldn’t have done that, it isn’t his style.
And, if he’d tried, it would have been a race to see who would have killed him first, Tau. . . or I.
He started in again, “You can’t release me, I’m the Admiral and a Cailan. . . “
I put my left hand up, kept my face flat and interrupted him, “Admiral Cailan. Admiral Cailan. . . Yes. I. Can. Read your charter. I have a copy here along with the addendums across the last thirty years, in case you have lost your copy. You report to and at the convenience of the monarchy and, now, since my Pater is dead, it is a matriarchy. I am the reigning matriarch. I am the Empress and I have selected a new battle commander. Thank you again for your service, but I feel we need a different direction just now.”
He blustered. He’d played his one card and realized I’d actually read or had an advisor read his agreement, so he knew that I knew he worked for me, “Princess, I understand you are angry we didn’t attend you when we should of. . . “
I shook my head and immediately interrupted him, “Admiral. I am not the princess any longer. I am the Empress. . . just in case you missed that announcement. My pater, mater and brother are all dead. Somehow, a Brinlo death squad was able to make it through highly guarded Hoganthan air-space security all the way to a top-secret mountain retreat and kill the royal family. I’m sure I don’t understand how that could happen, but it did and now that leaves me with this role. I was happy as a warrior on Haden, but will now. . . execute. . . this role to the best of my skills.”
I just smiled at him, took in a deep breath as he seethed at me and I continued, “I found your lack of attendance, interesting, but certainly is not the reason you are being replaced.”
He cocked his head to one side, “Then why are you inserting General Lim. He’s just a marine.”
I laughed, “A marine with a long history of very good battle planning, executing and winning.”
The admiral was still processing it, “What do you think he can do that I can’t?”
I nodded at that, leaned forward and added, “He will end the war. That is what I care about. Ending the war and returning Hoganth, the Empire systems and the people who have carried this war, the ravages and that debt. . . to a life of peace and a chance to get control of their lives again.”
He frowned, his eyes furrowed and looked at the ground for a moment, processing that.
I kept going, “Uh, Admiral. Just so you know, they can’t do that if we perpetuate the war for another thousand years to continue to fill house wealth accounts. It just doesn’t work that way. You have done an exemplary job, really, of fulfilling the edicts and demands of your elite House leaders, weaving the war on and on. Now. . . it is time that it ended.”
He started to object again and I raised my hand with a slight and intentional smile, “Admiral, our meeting is over. I’m surprised you would simply show up without an appointment, but glad we had a chance to meet and discuss this. I have another important appointment that is coming up now that I cannot be late for. I’m going to meet with a very concerned group that is planning a small residential park on the north side of the city. My guards will gladly escort you out.”
