from outside our borders. Admiral Carver's presence has been requested so she might personally offer her assessment of the situation. Jen, give us your appraisal."
"As you've learned from the message received from the Viceroy of Milor," Jenetta said, "the Tsgardi have apparently entered GA space with the intention of seizing at least one planet. It would be too optimistic to assume they intend to stop there. For them to begin an action of this sort has to mean they intend to seize a portion of our territory and annex it to their own empire while our hold on that part of space is still tenuous. Our intelligence on the capabilities of their warships is that they are limited to a top speed of Light-225, so it will take them quite a while to conquer even a small area. Once the Milori have had a chance to query their off-world contacts, we'll have a better idea of the scale of their invasion."
"How do you think the Raiders fit into the equation?" Admiral Bradlee asked.
"We know the Raiders have often employed Tsgardi in their operations," Jenetta said, "but this is different. This may be a situation of the Tsgardi employing the Raiders to create diversions. Neither the Tsgardi nor the Raiders should know the true size of our forces in Region Two, so it may be an attempt to divide our fleet by pulling half of it to the other side of the territory."
"Or the Raiders may be looking to establish their own territory where their bases will finally be safe from Space Command," Admiral Ahmed offered.
"Trying to seize part of our territory would be a foolish way to create their own region of space," Admiral Plimley said. "They have to know we won't stand for it."
"I suppose our dream of enjoying a few decades of relative peace was too much to hope for," Admiral Ressler stated sadly.
"Is Region Two even worth another war?" Admiral Woo asked. "We're only there to keep the Milori from attacking us again. The Tsgardi would probably keep them in check for us."
"It's too late to back out now," Admiral Moore said. "If we simply cede the territory it would send a dangerous signal. We can't have our neighbors think we're afraid of the Tsgardi, or that we won't fight for what we've already laid claim to."
"An even worse situation," Jenetta said, "would be if the Tsgardi got their baboon paws on Milori ship-building technology. They'd be able to double their speed, improve the strength of their hulls, and give us a rougher time with every encounter. Right now, a Tsgardi warship doesn't stand an even chance against one of our oldest warships still in service. That would change very quickly if they seized the Milori shipyard and enslaved their scientists, engineers and technicians, as they did with the Flordaryns."
"We know the Tsgardi warships don't match up with our own," Admiral Burke said, "but how much of a threat are they really? What I'm getting at is: What will it take to push the Tsgardi back behind their own borders?"
"I suppose that depends upon how many ships the Tsgardi have devoted to this effort and what ships I have for the counter attack," Jenetta said. "Our new scout-destroyers are easily the equivalent of three of their best destroyers and our new battleships are probably equivalent to ten or more of our scout-destroyers simply because the hull plating on the battleships is denser, their Phalanx defense provides better coverage than the small ships, and they can fire torpedoes much more rapidly."
"Our best estimate is the Tsgardi have at least three hundred warships," Admiral Bradlee said.
"Then I'd need a hundred scout-destroyers, or ten new DS Battleships, to repel a massed invasion force if I'm to feel completely confident we'd win the day."
"What if you must fight with just the ships already assigned to Region Two?" Admiral Plimley asked.
"The M-designate ships we captured in battle are among the best built by the Milori," Jenetta said. "Once they were repaired, and converted for our own use, we installed the new
"As you've learned from the message received from the Viceroy of Milor," Jenetta said, "the Tsgardi have apparently entered GA space with the intention of seizing at least one planet. It would be too optimistic to assume they intend to stop there. For them to begin an action of this sort has to mean they intend to seize a portion of our territory and annex it to their own empire while our hold on that part of space is still tenuous. Our intelligence on the capabilities of their warships is that they are limited to a top speed of Light-225, so it will take them quite a while to conquer even a small area. Once the Milori have had a chance to query their off-world contacts, we'll have a better idea of the scale of their invasion."
"How do you think the Raiders fit into the equation?" Admiral Bradlee asked.
"We know the Raiders have often employed Tsgardi in their operations," Jenetta said, "but this is different. This may be a situation of the Tsgardi employing the Raiders to create diversions. Neither the Tsgardi nor the Raiders should know the true size of our forces in Region Two, so it may be an attempt to divide our fleet by pulling half of it to the other side of the territory."
"Or the Raiders may be looking to establish their own territory where their bases will finally be safe from Space Command," Admiral Ahmed offered.
"Trying to seize part of our territory would be a foolish way to create their own region of space," Admiral Plimley said. "They have to know we won't stand for it."
"I suppose our dream of enjoying a few decades of relative peace was too much to hope for," Admiral Ressler stated sadly.
"Is Region Two even worth another war?" Admiral Woo asked. "We're only there to keep the Milori from attacking us again. The Tsgardi would probably keep them in check for us."
"It's too late to back out now," Admiral Moore said. "If we simply cede the territory it would send a dangerous signal. We can't have our neighbors think we're afraid of the Tsgardi, or that we won't fight for what we've already laid claim to."
"An even worse situation," Jenetta said, "would be if the Tsgardi got their baboon paws on Milori ship-building technology. They'd be able to double their speed, improve the strength of their hulls, and give us a rougher time with every encounter. Right now, a Tsgardi warship doesn't stand an even chance against one of our oldest warships still in service. That would change very quickly if they seized the Milori shipyard and enslaved their scientists, engineers and technicians, as they did with the Flordaryns."
"We know the Tsgardi warships don't match up with our own," Admiral Burke said, "but how much of a threat are they really? What I'm getting at is: What will it take to push the Tsgardi back behind their own borders?"
"I suppose that depends upon how many ships the Tsgardi have devoted to this effort and what ships I have for the counter attack," Jenetta said. "Our new scout-destroyers are easily the equivalent of three of their best destroyers and our new battleships are probably equivalent to ten or more of our scout-destroyers simply because the hull plating on the battleships is denser, their Phalanx defense provides better coverage than the small ships, and they can fire torpedoes much more rapidly."
"Our best estimate is the Tsgardi have at least three hundred warships," Admiral Bradlee said.
"Then I'd need a hundred scout-destroyers, or ten new DS Battleships, to repel a massed invasion force if I'm to feel completely confident we'd win the day."
"What if you must fight with just the ships already assigned to Region Two?" Admiral Plimley asked.
"The M-designate ships we captured in battle are among the best built by the Milori," Jenetta said. "Once they were repaired, and converted for our own use, we installed the new
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