"At this point in time, we have three full fleets at anchor in Scarpa Flow. Which gives us six Battleships, twenty Cruisers of varying sizes, forty Destroyers and fifty Fast Attack Boats. All they require are orders to sail and a target to engage. I have run the fleets through a strenuous series of exercises and I feel sure that they are ready." He looked around as the door opened and Geraint walked in.
"Sorry I'm late, the RIS has been making life a tad interesting. What did I miss?" He said as he sat down next to Lancelot.
"We'll catch you up later. As I was saying, the Fleets are in readiness and simply await your orders. There are a million details that we can go through, but they can be sorted at a later time."
"Thank you Uncle Percy. Geraint, your timing is perfect timing, Can you give us an update on the Army's readiness?"
"Certainly Arthur. The infantry reserves stand at five Divisions, approximately twenty-three thousand troops, of those we have two battalions of heavy weapons, four thousand troops, and the remaining are unpowered infantry. There are six Brigades of powered armour, with a full battalion of recon configured suits, about nine hundred troops. These are of course spread over the entire infantry corps, the remaining powered armour is divided into sixty companies, fifteen thousand." Geraint paused to look up. "While that sounds like a lot of troops, it is about sixty-five percent of the Loyalist troop count." Everyone remained silent at that piece of information, but the eyes were the true indicator of their feelings, they all looked worried.
"Our armoured stocks are in a far better condition than we have any right to expect. Mt most recent head count gives us fifteen divisions of PC1BR MBT's (Main Battle Tank) eight platoons of heavy artillery, ten platoons of light artillery. There are eleven squadrons of PC4BC armoured attack carriers, and if we are desperate, four platoons of Battle Mechs. That about covers our main land forces, these figures are as accurate as I can get at short notice."
"Thank you, Geraint, although we are short on numbers, I am willing to bet that we have a major edge in training and commitment." There were nods of agreement around the table.
"If I could interrupt for a moment?" Guinevere asked.
"Of course, what can you tell us?" Arthur replied.
"I have had plenty of time to observe the military over the past few years and I completely agree with the assessment that they have poor moral and their training is lack lustre and they rarely train. The general feeling is that the military is nothing more than window dressing." She related.
"My informants tell me the same thing, Guinevere." Percival agreed.
"Gwen is fine, only my mother calls me Guinevere." They nodded and thanked her for her input.
"Thank you Gwen, Lancelot, I don't expect you to have full details of our current materiel levels, but any information you have on force reserves would be helpful."
"No pressure at all, eh Chaps?" That brought a chuckle from those at the table. "But, on more serious note, I can say with authority that we have ten full Squadrons of Reapers, 200, eight squadrons of hammers, 160 and eight squadrons of Wraiths, 96. There are assorted R10's and Eigers, and the jewels in the crown, four Goliath Airborne Carriers." He said proudly. "I can say with supreme confidence that our pilots and aircraft are superior in almost every aspect."
"Ok, well you are far better informed than I was expecting and you have proven my confidence in promoting you. So you're stuck with it, Lance Old Boy." Arthur smiled and stood again. "So we have a fairly accurate number on Materiel and Personnel, the next question is, how do we deploy to gain the best advantage?"
The discussion went well into the night and all were exhausted by the time they called it a day and headed back to their respective accommodations. Arthur gathered his papers and looked up to see Guinevere sitting at the table looking more than a little lost.
"Are you ok, Gwen?" He asked her.
"I am a bit overwhelmed, Sir." She replied, her eyes starting to fill with tears.
"I want to ask you something, when you had information important to the meeting why did you speak up?"
"I thought what I knew was relevant, but Sir Percival had already known the information."
"No, you brought up pertinent information, I didn't know it, neither did anyone else except Percival, and he had not recalled that information until you mentioned it. That, in and of itself was the important part, you reminded Percival that this was important data. Had you kept that to yourself, there is a very good chance that it would have remained unsaid and we would not have had a very important variable." He looked at her, and she seemed to still feel down.
"We were in here for over six hours and I only had that one piece of input."
"It isn't about how much you input, and not to make too fine a point on it. You have been in the job for little more than that six hours." He approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder, he wanted to reassure her. But she turned and buried her face in his shoulder. Her sobs came, wracking her body as she held Arthur so tightly, he was starting to worry about breathing. She suddenly quieted and pulled away quickly.
"I am so sorry, Sir. I should not have behaved so unprofessionally." She said there the last of her sobs.
"Gwen, you have cried on my shoulder, I think you can call me Arthur." He said with a smile, his light mood making her giggle a little. "Now I am going to take a beautiful woman out for dinner." He explained.
"Oh, My God, I am so sorry I am keeping you." Her faced dropped. Arthur laughed out loud. Guinevere looked at him with a confused look on her face.
"I'm sorry for laughing, I meant you, you're the beautiful woman I was intending to escort to dinner." Guinevere was stunned and her mouth slightly hung agape. "Unless you have previous plans of course."
"No…Ah…No nothing. Ah…I mean I would love to." She stammered.
"Well let me go and change my shirt, and maybe have a shower, and I will pick you up in an hour."
"Only one problem, I don't know where my quarters are." They both laughed and Arthur escorted her off to the quarters she would stay in.