When Frederick and Lily Lamb stepped into the conference room, twenty minutes after the Count first left, the commanders and officials in the room immediately stood up in greeting. None of them showed any annoyance of being forced to waste twenty minutes waiting.

“Lord Lamb.” Many of them greeted before their eyes landed on the young woman following him. “My Lady.”

Lily nodded at the various men and women. She was clearly shy, especially when she was greeted by dozens of the most powerful individuals in the system. Still, that didn't stop the others from smiling at her politely.

In the cases of Imperial Nobles who had multiple offsprings bidding for power, the quality of said offsprings mattered. In those cases, multiple sons and daughters would fight over the chance of being named heir to their father or mother. It would be a competition of intelligence, connections, martial prowess, influence, and a hundred other attributes. Sometimes, the children who lost would raise up a fleet and try to take the seat they believed they rightfully deserved by force. They seldomly won, but those that did made quite a name for themselves.

Either way, that wasn’t the case here. It was well known that Lily Lamb was the Count’s only child. Count Lamb was one of the better husbands among the Imperial Nobles. He only had one wife and never bedded any mistress as far as the world knew. His sister, Laurel Lance, wasn’t into men. Consequently, Lily would be the Count’s heir no matter how shy or inexperienced she might be. As such, she deserved respect.

Of course, if she turned out to be an incompetent idiot, then many of those seated around the table might see an opportunity to...replace her.

Lily sat down in a seat to Count Lamb’s right, directly across the table from her aunt. Now that all the attendees were finally present, Count Lamb started the meeting that was already postponed way too long.

“Where are we in the mobilization process?”

That was enough to cause Lily to send a confused glance at her father. Since a while ago, she had heard rumors that her father was going to war against the Republic, and these rumors were just confirmed. As an Imperial Count, Frederick Lamb was naturally the enemy of the Republic, and an assault shouldn't come as a surprise. Still, the young woman knew that in this day and age, a war could take months, even years. It was odd that her father was ready to spend so long away from his territory when he might not yet have full control over his own worlds.

Still, she remained silent, knowing that these questions were best reserved for later.

“My Lord…” One of the men seated along the right-hand side of the table spoke up. He was a fat man in his forties, and he was in a suit that likely cost more than anything an ordinary citizen could make in their entire life. Lily recognized him. He was Director Garner, head of the Office of Logistics of Battlefleet Obsidian.

The man might not have a single warship under his command, but he had a lot of wealth and influence. And power, too. He indirectly oversaw the manufacturing of all Obsidian warships and the recruitment of all Obsidian troops. He also frequently worked with top officials within the system. As a result, it was no surprise that he quickly grew to be one of the richest people in the room.

When Lord Lamb raised his question, the Director was the first to form a reply. Surprisingly for him, the Count cut him off almost the moment he started.

“Director. I appreciate your enthusiasm. However, I would like you to do your report at last, if that is ok with you.”

“I...of course, my Lord. I am your loyal servant, and I do as you command.”

The Director’s brows darkened as his heart sank, but he hid his concern well. As the man did his best to act as if nothing was wrong, Lord Lamb turned to the others and motioned for them to speak up.

The first to rise was Laurel Lamb. As the others were still taking interested glances at the Director of Logistics and wondering what their Lord’s words meant, she wasted no such effort. After all, she knew exactly what was going on.

“All the losses Battlefleet Obsidian had incurred during the chaos three months ago have been replenished. We have rooted out every single Wolf sympathizer we could find. We have done detailed background examinations of everyone ranked above Lieutenant. Their loyalty can be guaranteed.” Laurel nodded at her brother with confidence in her voice. “Battlefleet Obsidian is ready for war. 1 Flag Fleet. 12 Fractional Fleets. All 1,800 ships and 14 million men and women are ready to strike as you command, my Lord.”

Count Lamb nodded slowly, unable to keep a small proud grin off his face. Battlefleet Obsidian was one of the mightiest forces in the galaxy. It had the best ships and the best crew to match it. At least 2 million of the 14 million crew members were Marines, and most of them were Knights trained and equipped with Power Armors.

In many cases, Battlefleet Obsidian didn't even need to act as a single force. Its Fractional Fleets could be sent out to pursue different missions, and in most cases, the Fractional Fleets were as unstoppable as the Battlefleet as a whole.

And soon, he would plunge the blade that was Battlefleet Obsidian deep into the throat of the Republic.

“My Lord.” This time, it was a middle-aged man in Admiral’s uniform that spoke up. Lily recognized him as well. Admiral Richards of the Valorian Defense Fleet. Much like most Defense Fleets, the VDF was tasked with protecting the world of Valorian. Unlike Battlefleet Obsidian, the VDF rarely marched into foreign battlegrounds. Its role was much more defensive.

Of course, Valorian was nothing like a backwater planet whose defense fleet included a handful of repurposed frigates. As the warden of the Capital World, the Valorian Defense Fleet was nothing to snicker at. It included one Flag Fleet and 6 Fractional Fleets, and in a fight to the death, it could easily cripple one of the weaker Battlefleets in the Empire.

“The Valorian Defense Fleet has been stronger than ever, my Lord.” The man stated simply as he gave Count Lamb a grateful nod. “Thanks to the additional funding you have provided us, we were able to add multiple capital ships into our ranks. We have also established four more orbital platforms around Valoria, each of them armed with shield generators, lance cannons, and fighter squadrons. Whatever happens, my Lord, know that Valorian will stand against any invader.”

“I have trust in you, Admiral.” Count Lamb replied simply, and he meant what he said. The Admiral was one of the most cautious people he knew...at least on the battlefield. If the rumors he heard were true, the man was a lot more aggressive in the bedroom...not that it mattered. What mattered was that Richards was a defensive commander, and he was a good one at that.

Just like that, the meeting continued. The commanders of many major military units in the system all reported the status of their units to the Count. Among them were Baron Jenkins, the Commander of the Valoria Security Forces, and Baron Dawson, head of the Capital Security Forces. One was charged with protecting the capital city exclusively while the other was tasked with keeping the planet itself safe. As expected, they promised that no enemy would launch a successful invasion on their watch, and the Count could feel comfortable with personally leading the assault against the Republic.

Supreme Commander James Key of the 76th Army Group made similar promises. The 76th Army Group was the faction of the Imperial Army that was raised and operated in System Obsidian. The entire Army Group numbered around 20 million troops. Unlike the Marines and the various Security Forces, the Army Group was designed to fight an actual ground-based war. It had a massive arsenal of artillery units, air support, and armored vehicles and transports. When it came to wars of attrition or trench warfare, no one could beat the Imperial Army.

On paper, that would make Commander Key extremely powerful, but the man’s situation, much like the position of the Imperial Army within the Empire, was a little awkward.

This was the age of warships, not the age of the infantry. In a time where a single warship could lay waste to an army, common infantry held very little value. Sure, when the smoke from the orbital bombardment cleared, an army would be needed to hold a city...or at least what was left of it. Yet Marines attached to warships could achieve the same task.

The only cases where Imperial Army units were needed would be rare situations where orbital bombardment couldn’t be used to get the job done for one reason or another. Perhaps the enemy positions were too entrenched by shield generators and orbital cannons that a frontal assault from above was impossible. In that case, transports would circle around and land the Imperial Army units elsewhere on the planet and have them assault the enemy positions from the ground.

Even in those cases, the infantry would be mere cannon fodders. They would advance into entrenched positions, and enemies that could afford so many fortifications could also afford a lot of artillery, trenches, land mines, bunkers, and so on. And if the battle in space changed and the Imperial fleets lost control over the orbit, well...it would only take so long to light millions on fire.

Imperial Army units were still necessary, but in many cases, the only resources and funding they could get were leftovers from the fleets. Even aspiring officers preferred to work within the metal hulls of a spacecraft than to sit in an armored vehicle.

Count Lamb had no intention of bringing any Imperial Army unit on this assault against the Republic. Commander Key wasn’t satisfied, but all he could do was promise that he would do the duty tasked to him, whatever it was.

One of the speakers that Lily didn't recognize was a woman in her thirties. Her most noticeable feature was her bright red hair, which made her stand out a lot in a room full of Generals and Admirals with stern looks. For a while, Lily wondered who she was...until she came to the stunning realization that this woman was actually Director Yasmin, head of the Obsidian Naval Intelligence.

The prospect of someone with bright red hair being the Director of a secretive intelligence agency was something Lily didn't expect. Then again, perhaps that was the point. Either way, the fact that this woman was sitting in this room alone spoke louder than anything her choice of hairstyle possibly could.

As the conversation went on, one attendee was having trouble listening. He was Director Garner, and despite his best attempts, he could feel cold sweat sliding down his chin. He tried to tell himself that this was normal, that he was told to speak up last because of how important he was, but deep down he knew that wasn’t the case.

But despite this, there was nothing the man could do but sit there and wait.

Finally, as an Admiral of some Planetary Defense Fleet finished explaining how well protected his world was, Count Lamb turned to the poor Director, a cold grin on his face.

“Now, Director...it’s your turn to speak.”