While the Fleet Admiral was busy listening to Admiral Davis, Hall directed a certain look at Commodore McIntire. It was shamelessly lewd and it diverted towards the Fleet Admiral immediately, as if he wanted to say: "You'd hit that, eh?" Hall's organism was, as already mentioned, deteriorated by the extensive use of cardamine many years ago, so he did not feel a lot of romance himself towards the Fleet Admiral. Knowing McIntire as a rather virile man and the youngest of them all, save the Fleet Admiral, he expected him to rashly let off a reaction, which would help Hall sense how highly he thought of the Fleet Admiral and, perhaps, how loyally. O'Brien turned towards Hall at this inappropriate moment and avoided the perverse look only by a second. Hall skimmed through a list, cleaned his throat, and started to speak. He prolonged the first "the" as he was gathering all the necessary information into his working memory.
"Theeee... size of the Norfolk Fleet and the Cambridge Planetary has diminished slightly since the last census. This is because we are covering not one, but three systems. A month ago we were still bogged down in our operation against Cadiz due to the Omega-5 asteroid field and the lack of forces caused by the lack of the High Command's care towards my fleets. Despite everything, it seemed that we did dent the Corsairs really well, as that was when the Red Hessians suddenly decided to disrespect all our agreements and attack us, despite all my efforts to reason them. That resulted in the operations against Cadiz being halted. They mentioned that the Corsairs had been pushed back and that it was what enabled them to pillage our territory. I do not think that they were right completely and I would rather say that they had been pushed aside. More precisely, into Poole. The frequency of their raids in that system has increased dramatically, while it has decreased in Cambridge. The jump hole leading to and from Omega-5 in Cambridge has collapsed, but it is possible that a new one has opened in Poole. It is also possible that, God forbid, they have built an outpost in the system. I require a small wing of ships equipped with the best sensors available to probe the Torfaen Asteroid Field.
Progressing further, or rather deteriorating, even the Zoners of Freeport 1 decided to turn against us, albeit not openly. The Sovereign has been positioned to monitor the Freeport, but the ship might have to be moved to Magellan following the absolutely indispensable transfer of the Dauntless to the secondary fleet. I remind you, Fleet Admiral, that I still need orders concerning Freeport 1."
He took a cup of tea, apparently specially prepared for him. He looked around it, at it, smelled it, tasted it timidly and carefully, and only then took a sip. And another two, as it was apparently both safe and delicious.
"On the brighter side, however, as I have not received any significant reinforcements for years, I have managed to strike a few agreements with some parties, such as the IMG, the Core and Battlegroup Auxesia, and use their instead. I also hope that the treaty with Rheinland, which I initiated myself, will be signed soon, because it seems to me that the Red Hessians, the Coalition and the Mollies are forming an alliance, directed specifically against my forces. If that does not happen, I propose ceding a part of Dublin to the Corsairs in exchange for a peace treaty, and some inevitable neighbourhood disputes with the Mollies, of course." He grinned at the thought of manipulating people to murder each other. "That should make the Commodore's work easier too.
Bringing everything to a conclusion, my forces are too spread out and I need reinforcements in order to continue keeping the southern trade routes safe. Whether they come from other fleets or from Rheinland is not my concern. I also need orders concerning Freeport 1. That is all."
Hall did not really need those reinforcements so direly. What the south faced were mostly just disorganized pirate raids and a few Coalition propaganda ships. But his forces were not exactly invincible either, so failure was still an option. That would damage his reputation notably, and he needed the reputation to climb the ladder of power.
He bowed his head to the Fleet Admiral slightly, but submissively, as he needed the reinforcements. He was waiting for her to turn her back so he could stab it.
