[b]The Pitch[/b]

Claes’s face brightened immediately, chagrin blooming in her for a moment before being swept away by anticipation. She hadn’t meant to look impatient, and was sure her new Emperor was not pleased with her impertinent disposition, but after a long and arduous ride [and subsequent boat journey, by far the worst leg], full of pressing decisions and matters requiring her attention,[i] not doing anything[/i] was proving difficult. The tall tales from her fellow advisor were helping alleviate her impetuous mood, but only slightly.

She stood at attention when he entered, her chair screeching back on the floor as she saluted ramrod stiff. She listened to the briefing with rapt attention, not betraying any of the trepidation that was building inside of her. She suppressed a grimace at the mention of the boat ride; it was inevitable, and at least now the horses would be slightly less skittish, but it did not meant that she dreaded it any less. What finally broke the calm and respectful edifice was the announcement of her task. She had to take a city. More than that, she had to take the capital of a world power, likely heavily defended even after a sally, with no time or resources for a proper siege. She knew that her soldiers would not like it, at the very least. Cavalrymen rarely were employed in sieges, and while she understood the reason for the assignment she doubted the men [and few women] who would do the actual fighting and dying were not looking forwards to giving up their mounts and lances in favor of daggers and ladders.

The enthusiasm of the God-Emperor was surprising. It was not unwelcome, certainly: a more sanguine commander had always sat well with Claes, but she was surprised such an ancient and storied figure would have such excitement for anything. She did at least appreciate his mind for his own strategy: she figured the feinting force would not be able to carry its own supplies, and was excited and amazed at the prospect of a retreating action supplied by water.

She had readied herself to speak, and was about to politely voice her opinions, when she was cut off by her new subordinate. She was not particularly bothered, more than willing to have her questions wait. The woman raised valid concerns, and she was happy to have a charge who was not afraid to ask for clarification from a commanding officer. She’d seen the type in Tolos who would drown their army crossing a river without rafts, all to follow orders.

What did bother her was the arm suddenly draped around her, as though she were in a tavern rather than a strategy meeting. She felt a familiar burning in her chest, and managed to stop the muscles in her face from their instinctive tightening. She beat back the anger, saved the rebuke for later. She managed to smile slightly, though she did not return either the clasp or the thumbs-up gesture. Feeling her moment to interject, she jumped on the opportunity, eager to ask a thousand questions and suggest a thousand alternatives.

[color=orange]"The Winds can handle vanguard operations easily enough, my Lord. However, I have questions about the operation.” Catching herself before she gave offense, remembering just in time that this was her liege-lord, not just an employer “In detail, not in general, of course. To put it bluntly, the Winds are not siege troops, my Lord, and I fear that your army’s supply method will hinder your ability to avoid conflict. If I may propose an alternative deployment...”[/color]

She cleared her throat, extricating herself from the unwarranted grip of her fellow advisor, bending over the ornate map and gesturing about it to illustrate her point as clearly as possible. [color=orange]“I suggest dividing the Winds into several parts. The outriders will stop news of our arrival, as you said, but I would recommend two more divisions, made up of mounted archers that would be poorly used in a siege. A third of the company would stay with the assault detachment, sacrificing remounts and matching pace with the lancers. One third would follow the pursuing army south, again sacrificing remounts that would not be needed to keep up with the slower moving Prophetic force. They would be tasked with cutting supplies and harrying outriders, ideally slowing the enemy force significantly and reducing morale perhaps disastrously. The final third, gaining remounts from both groups, would dash towards Tolos cutting off reinforcement and loot surrounding villages, denying supplies, extra militia recruits, and perhaps drawing additional forces from our objective. These forces would still ideally be able to support the assault, but would be able to bring their entire capability to bear against any forces they encounter in the field. I see minimal risk in the plan, and it should not only make the capture easier, but put the pursuing army in a position to be destroyed once news of the capture reaches them, as opposed to letting them scatter and regroup. Two such victories in close succession would also have a significant effect on opposing morale, hopefully drawing more supporters to our side.” [/color]

She let the feigned smile return, now with genuine satisfaction, as she stood straight once again. She had realized long ago that this was where she belonged, and she relished the anticipatory excitement that could be enjoyed before the travails of campaign truly set in. Her smile dimmed slightly after her brief pause, as she began listing possible drawbacks to the plan.

[color=orange]“Unfortunately, such a plan would mean that horses would die on the interdiction sprint, leaving the Winds slowed until replacements can be provided. This should not be a problem, since after the siege I presume we will hold the city and await reinforcement, but it is something to be considered. There will be public opinion issues when the interdictors loot farms and villages, but the Winds are disciplined enough to keep their looting in a strictly military capacity. Rape and pillage will not be allowed, and the food can be reimbursed later, which may in the end net positively for our public image. Also, and this is highly unlikely, if a beachhead defense is prepared ahead of time, the Winds will be much less able to break through with a third of their mounted archers deploying further south, and those archers will be effectively defenseless against concerted beach defense. These possible beach defeats are, however, dependent on enemies learning of the plans and the specific deployments ahead of time, which can be prevented by dramatically increasing guard against departing ships which may be carrying spies bearing knowledge of such matters.”[/color]

She waited for rebuke or criticism, hoping that her new God-Emperor was not the type to invest one’s ego in making all executive decisions. She thought her arguments were sound and her plan an improvement on the general strategy. She had to admit, however, that having a major role in two triumphant engagements in the first week of the war was appealing, though she tried not to let such desires cloud her judgement.