Ves contemplated Casella's proposal.
Her offer actually sounded good. Ves had not been able to adequately supervise the efforts to form his Premier Fleet. Due to his busy schedule, he simply passed it off onto others, but that apparently produced a lot of delays and oversights.
He did not even realize that this was a problem in the first place. This either ant that the people he put in charge of the military affairs of the Premier Branch were not competent enough to do their jobs, or they lacked the unity and communication necessary to gain a clear overview of all of these problems.
Ves had a feeling that both may have played a role in all of the faults ntioned by Casella.
If this was the case, then it beca even more important to put a competent leader in charge.
"Are you sure you want to assu control over this ss?" Ves asked. "Back in the expeditionary fleet, you withdrew from managing day-to-day operations in order to spend your ti on more strategic issues. Ace pilots such as yourself should not be bogged down by trivial issues that are unworthy of your attention."
The ace pilot that was currently piloting the Minerva had a response ready.
"You are not wrong, sir. In order to turn your Premier Fleet into a strong and cohesive ch force, I must spend much of my ti on the minutiae of forming a military organization. This is a serious commitnt, but I think it is more than worth it for to spend my ti on this endeavor."
"Why so, Casella?"
"Because this is a rare opportunity to form a powerful first-class military force that has the potential to beco the most powerful private ch organization in the Red Ocean. The expeditionary fleet ca about in a rather haphazard manner. Nobody put too much thought on how to organize it and how many achievents it could make in the future. With the Premier Fleet, I see an opportunity to do better. This new force of ours must beco the sharpest sword that can cut through the most powerful alien fleets and phase leaders!"
The Command Field maintained by the Minerva grew more charged as she spoke. This indicated that she was highly invested in this plan!
Ves definitely liked what he heard.
"Alright, but if you are really serious about this, then you should reorganize the staff and hire a lot of professionals in order to limit your burden. You can't do everything by yourself."
"My plan already goes into detail on that. Due to the escalating war, it will be difficult to recruit qualified servicen. Officers, non-commissioned officers and senior engineers will be in short supply. However, with your wealth and status and my attraction as an ace commander, we should be able to recruit enough senior personnel to form the prototype of an elite ch corps."
It would have been great if Casella proposed this plan a year earlier. Circumstances would have been more favorable.
"Earlier, you talked about trying to forge a stronger ch force by uniting its soldiers with a common belief. Can you tell what you have on your mind?"
"Why certainly." The Saint Commander said. "The expeditionary fleet started out as a quirky alliance of three different ch forces, but it had organically grown into a force to be reckoned with. Its developnt is completely organic and largely built off its many victories. It is difficult to define its belief in words. Many of its mbers believe that as long as they are a part of this fleet, they will win every battle. While the last half year or so has put this assumption of winning into question, it is still strong enough to maintain everyone's confidence. Perhaps the actual belief of the expeditionary fleet is excellence or superior equipnt."
Though her explanation did not sound adequate, Ves knew what she ant. He was responsible for much of it due to funneling so many resources and living chs to the expeditionary fleet over the years.
Compared to many other players, Ves had always made huge if not excessive investnts into his ch forces.
From trying to upgrade every second-class ch with a quasi-first-class ch, to spending an enormous fortune in phasewater and first-class materials to design unique and battlefield-defining expert chs as well as ace chs, Ves was one of the few leaders who made decisions based on emotions rather than rationality!
If Ves spent his money, resources and social capital in a more rational manner, then he could have easily raised 5 more ch forces of the sa size!
Acquiring the carriers necessary to transport and provide a ho to all of those chs would have been the greatest challenge, but not an insurmountable one in his opinion.
As long as Ves paid a great enough price, he could construct or acquire a handful of second-class orbital shipyards.
Instead of doing that, Ves and his allies chose to invest in quality rather than quantity.
This was the reason why the expeditionary fleet gained such a strong identity and earned so much fa and glory on the frontlines. It was also why all of its mbers were able to maintain high morale much easier than others. Their confidence in themselves had never truly shaken even if they had recently retreated from the Bortele
System
The soldiers of the expeditionary fleet simply considered the latest turmoil to be a temporary setback.
Sooner or later, they would definitely secure a major victory!
This was the power of belief!
Whereas the ch pilots of many lesser rcenary outfits had already turned into broken n and won due to the losses they suffered at the frontlines, the Larkinsons retained much of their confidence that next ti would be better!
"Do you intend to turn the Premier Fleet into a first-class version of the expeditionary fleet?"
"Partially" Casella admitted. "The expeditionary fleet has operated on a successful model, and I intend to copy most of it. There is nothing wrong with replicating its best practices. I will be making my own adaptations and changes in order to better fit the first-class environnt and the specific objectives of the Premier Fleet. I also do not want to reproduce the shortcomings that hold the expeditionary fleet back."
"The expeditionary fleet is actually a combined fleet of the Larkinson Clan, the Glory Seekers, the Cross Clan, the Adelaide Third Fleet and the Boojay Clan." Ves pointed out. "It may have started out as an attempt to forge several pioneering organizations together, but it has grown into sothing different. Even then, it is still made up of multiple different forces. The Premier Fleet is different. It should only be made up of Larkinsons."
"Not in my opinion, sir. At least not on paper."
Ves blinked at that. "You need to clarify that, Casella."
The Minerva took a step forward. Her Command Field seed to gain more weight.
"This is the primary reason why I wanted to discuss my plan to you under these circumstances. You may be correct that the Premier Fleet will officially consist of Larkinsons, but unofficially that may be different. Have you overlooked the fact that not one, but two additional first-class forces are at your disposal? You even fought alongside them fairly recently."
It took a short mont for Ves to connect the dots.
"Are you talking about the Bluejay Fleet? That... doesn't count. They are strictly assigned as my protection detail. Their mandate does not include fighting battles that do not have any direct relations to keeping alive."
"That may be the case for now, but that may change in the future. Camaraderie forged on the battlefield can co a long way into uniting different peoples from different organizations and cultures together. I have witnessed this in the expeditionary fleet, and I believe I can foster it in the Premier Fleet.
Ves was surprised by the boldness expressed by the Saint Commander. She was much
"You are talking about poaching the ships and chs of the Bluejay Fleet." "Yes. We are talking about 1 heavy cruiser, 1 reconnaissance cruiser, 7 destroyers, 1 corvettes and 2 combat carriers. Then there are hundreds of RA first-class multipurpose chs. Each of them are fairly modern and enjoy a sample of the best high technologies mastered by the Red Association and the Red Fleet. Do you not feel tempted to bring all of these formidable assets under more direct control?" "The chers and the fleeters will never allow this to happen!"
"Do they? I have a different opinion about this. Since the chers and the fleeters
never recalled these precious chs and warships, they have taken into account that you may take them over sooner or later. Believe , Ves. The RA and the RF will not mind if you effectively grab them for yourself, even if you cannot do so in an official
capacity."
Ves widened his eyes. Casella's outlook sounded outrageous. Even if he entertained notions about taking over the Bluejay Fleet himself, he never had the guts to go through with it. The success rate was too low.
The Saint Commander evidently thought differently.
"How will this even work?"
"On the surface, the Bluejay Fleet will still belong to the chers and the fleeters."
Casella explained. "In reality the soldiers serving on it have already surrendered their loyalty to you and our clan. We can even attempt to induct them into the Larkinson Network. So long as you respect their bottom lines and do not force them to divulge the secrets of the Red Association and the Red Fleet, I can guarantee you that the Bluejay Fleet will otherwise be fully at your disposal!"
"You will have to make the chers and fleeters willing to beco more loyal to than their original organizations." Ves skeptically said. "I don't think that is easy to do considering that the RA and the RF are two of the most powerful superorganizations in the Red Ocean."
Casella chuckled. "Your outlook is too simple. You are correct about the RA and RF, but
the ch pilots and spacers of the Bluejay Fleet are largely isolated from their centers of power. They have accompanied you for multiple years. On a personable and tangible basis, they are much more in contact with each other and our clansn. We can take advantage of these interactions to build up an increasingly closer relationship with these soldiers. Over ti, they will effectively beco our assets, just as how the alliance partners of the expeditionary fleet largely follow the lead of
our clan."
"That sounds... vague." Ves furrowed his brows. "I can see how it can work, but your plan doesn't sound reliable."
"This is admittedly the weakest component of my plan. Our ability to win over the
loyalty of the soldiers of the Bluejay Fleet will depend on multiple factors. Chief among them is how the Red War will unfold. The more our side is losing, the more the RA and RF will lose their legitimacy. When order is crumbling, the old rules that have kept us all together will begin to fray. Chaos is a ladder. It is much easier for us to cast a new order among ourselves when everyone else is too busy putting out fires across human-occupied space."
That sounded as if she wanted the Larkinson Clan to turn vulture in a ti when red
humanity had to co together.
It was a proposal that the Saint Commander would never co up with in the past. She was too noble to resort to such unethical or illegal practices.
However, after Ves had revealed his Chosen Envoy to her, Casella beca a lot more focused on accruing power as opposed to saving as many humans as possible.
On the one hand, the progression of the war made it difficult for her to realistically save everyone that was under threat. was hopeless for a single ace commander to stop the entire invasion by herself.
All she could do was to safeguard the lives and interests of herself and the Larkinson
Clan as best as possible!
Only by increasing their war capital would they be able to strengthen their ability to survive the threats of the future.
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