The reason Rear Admiral Wander was smirking at the beginning of the meeting was that it was also something of a family reunion for him.

Hidden within the rows were other golden-haired, youthful children of House Wander. Captain Claus Wander of the frigate Fury, Administrator Katherine Wander of Royal Logistics Corps, several branch relatives from House Melathon amidst the escort leader ranks, and several others he didn't recognize from lesser vassal houses intermarried with House Wander. He'd have to arrange a proper reunion over some bottles of Void Wine, as per House Wander custom.

Still, despite his apparent carefree attitude and reason for cheer, he was more than aware of the situation at hand and what the Admiral was asking for. A very aggressive assault against the strongest point of enemy resistance. If they succeeded, the success of the rest of the reconquest would not be in doubt. If they failed....well it would make things "interesting" in the most ancient sense of the word. Especially since a jump at the point closest to the enemy forts meant hauling the logistics division under his command a lot closer to the front than doctrine called for. But they'd be bloody necessary to keep ships alive and supplied in the high-intensity battle likely to come.

Mentally tapping his VR implant to compile a message to the rest of the Wander's in the room for a family dinner and afternoon entertainment as well as planning session, Wander spent the rest of the briefing watching the moods of the captains and commanders. Making a list of who approved and who visibly disagreed with the master plan of the admirals. The former were to be noted, the latter to be confronted. He had nothing against honest disagreement, but showing it here and now did not bespeak well to a captain's political savvy, which would certainly play a part when this campaign hit the actual "reconquest" part. And he didn't want perfectly good command staff to be wasted because of some misstep in etiquette. At least not yet.