Nostredame expected all sorts of outbursts or at the very least extremely offended noises and gestures from his captors. Instead, there was but a chill in the air, a heavy silence and all eyes upon him. He had meant for his last gloat to be furious, incisive, burning... But instead, he spoke calmly, in a low voice laden with foreboding.
"My colleagues are coming. What you probably thought was a routine raid on Southampton... We were testing the ground. Not quite the vanguard, no... Although that should show up soon. Very soon, in fact."
He looked at his wrist watch.
"In fact, they're probably already on their way here. And in tow... The doom of Bretonia, I would say."
He looked at both his captors' faces in rapid succession.
"Charles has had enough of this war. Leeds was a prudent, methodical attack, a scalpel. This... This will be the end."
(06-14-2019, 12:25 PM)Sombra Hookier Wrote: If everyone was a bit more like Lanakov, the entire world would be more positive. Including pregnancy tests.
The Admiral tapped his fingers on the table for a moment, thinking for a moment before replying. Clearly this man felt so strongly that regardless of what he said now, the defeat of Bretonia was going to happen. That or he was lying, with this in mind he produced his sidearm and placed it on the table. So you reckon we're all going to die eh? What about you? Your fleet won't bother saving you, as I'm sure you know, but we might be able to come to some sort of arrangement, if you can tell us a bit more about this...grand fleet of yours. Who leads them, for example, what is their main target?
Nostredame laughed. Another one of those bad laughs, although much less flamboyant than earlier. He was downright sneering, at this point.
"An arrangement, eh ? Well, I don't think you've been listening, amiral. Not much of what I'll say can save me, at this point. Or you, for that matter, so I reckon my problem is your problem. Except I made peace with mine."
He stared into the admiral's quizzical eyes. This was not as entertaining as he hoped it would be. It smelled of death and sorrow.
"This will be Isabelle Montlaville de Chanteloup's fleet. None other than our chief of staff would have been adequate to run this operation. Or so she insisted, I'm told. Whether she's at the helm of some battleship or back in Paris, she'll lead this one. And their main target ?"
He gestured around.
"All of this, I would assume. Perhaps you don't realise yet the measure of what's bearing down upon you at this instant. It's likely to start here, with your lovely little shipyard, and then a bee-line to London until serious resistance is met. That is, if any is met... At any rate, that's what I would do. This is all hearsay, as you can imagine. I am but a lowly officier marinier, votre altesse"
He allowed himself one last smirk before falling silent. Wouldn't be much longer, now, he thought.
(06-14-2019, 12:25 PM)Sombra Hookier Wrote: If everyone was a bit more like Lanakov, the entire world would be more positive. Including pregnancy tests.
The silence ran out through the door which had just opened. Hall came in. He called Steiner and Steiner left with him.
"Transports!", he almost shouted at the extemporaneous face of the admiral's. "I've revised on the reports. At least twice more spotted this week, and -- these were not the usual supply Cows. No! Bulls, they were! The chaps couldn't get near enough to scan the cargo, but you know what Bulls are for! Our captive is telling the truth, Sir. It will be soon indeed. And I believe this confirms my theory that the attack will come from the jump hole. No one knows how to align Ageira with GMS gates, and even if they somehow did, wouldn't they keep their troop transports in Leeds, with the main invasion fleet? This gate which they are constructing, it is to be useful after the war -- and during the war it is meant to be a ruse, and make us waste forces to guard our own. I say we send the full bomber wing as soon as ready, slaughter the Bulls fast and suddenly, and then withdraw. It is a scrap field, we will have the upper hand. Sir?"
The admiral said nothing for a few moments, his eyes fixed on Hall but his mind running through possible situations and solutions. He tapped the wall, and continued to think for a few moments more, his face holding it's serious expression before he finally spoke in a quiet and cold tone.
Contact the Macduff, tell them to come to New London, I will inform McIntire of the situation we have just learnt about. Order Battle-stations, launch the bombers to go after the Bulls. I'll alert the capital.
Hall nodded. "I will call the MacDuff at once, but I had rather wait until their arrival before sending the bombers then. I don't want to provoke a counterattack before we are ready to face it. Would you agree?"
I do. Get someone to oversee the evacuation of Southampton, if our french friend is correct, they'll hit that first and they'll hit it hard. When you contact the Macduff, tell them to ready their bombers, we don't need to waste time waiting for them to load and fuel
"The bombers are implied. I will prepare the crew to evacuate, but I think we still have a good chance to postpone the invasion considerably, and evacuating without necessity would cause delays in ship building. Do I proceed?"
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