Inheritance (Rise of the Empire Book 5) by Ivan Kal Page B

in space, but that is for the Army to deal with. Their transports will also join your fleet.”
    She again swiped her hand across the table, and the holo changed to show the second of the three systems. “This is Nuuar, a former capital of the Pouute. As you can see, the Sowir have a much greater presence here. Thirty-four defense platforms, five stations, and two shipyards. The planet is occupied by millions of Sowir agents, but according to the intel we got from the Sowir prisoners, there are only a dozen or so Sowir on the planet,” Laura said as she gave Adrian a strange look. “The Sowir are using their agents to adapt former Pouute cities to their liking before they move in themselves. Most of the Sowir are residing on the stations in the system. So you will ignore the planet.”
    She turned to look at Nair. “Fleet Commander Hakeem, you and the Third Fleet will be assaulting this system. After evaluating the shipyards and stations we took from the Sowir in the last offensive, our people agree that there is little we would gain from taking more of them. Your mission is simple: destroy all their ships and stations, and bomb any other planet-based installations they have in-system from orbit.”
    Nair nodded. “Of course, Fleets Master.”
    Then she turned to Adrian. “Clan Leader, your target is this system.” The holo changed again to show the last Sowir system. “This is one of the original Sowir systems, as you can see this system has more defenses than any system we have previously attacked. There are two hundred military ships in system, in addition to their cargo ships. Our goal is only to hit military targets, but as the Sowir don’t really have a civilian population, if their non-military ships intervene, you may destroy them as well. Concentrate on destroying all of their facilities, defense platforms, and stations. If some ships want to run, let them,” Laura said.
    She looked around the room before continuing. “Our plan is to isolate them in their home system, which is why the locations of these three systems are on different sides of their territory. We will basically herd them back to their home system, and crush their military there.”
    Oswald then cleared his throat. “Clan Leader Farkas will command his Vanguard Fleet in addition to what we are now calling the Fourth Fleet, which consists of newly built Kraken-class ships and repaired ships that survived the battle at Nelus. Also, Clan Leader Farkas will act as Warmaster for this offensive. After you complete your primary objectives, he will guide the rest of the conflict. The Fleet will be here for advice, and we will keep watch over the Sowir systems with our surveillance drones and relay the information to your fleets. I will let him tell you about the expanded plan.”
    Adrian stood and the holo changed, now showing Sowir territory with three points glowing red—the three systems they were planning on attacking.
    “The rest of the offensive, following the opening, can go in many different directions depending on the Sowir reaction, so I will not bother you with plans that might not even be used. Our primary goal will always be the same: Isolate the Sowir in their home system. All our actions will be for that goal. The Sowir don’t follow any kind of doctrine that we can imagine. Their ships are operated by only a few of their people, with them using their telepathy to control their tools like additional limbs. But with their small numbers, that means that they never allow themselves to be without those tools, which makes capture extremely hard. We were lucky to have gotten any prisoners; we caught them off guard. That will not happen again. They will keep thousands of their tools between themselves and us. So don’t even try to take prisoners. No boarding disabled ships; destroy them and move on. We will not be taking these systems from the Sowir, we are wiping them clean,” Adrian said, looking both Nair and Beth in the eyes. She