Michael pondered this as the other senators debated amongst themselves. Prepare a bath for me upon my return. I'm already getting a headache... he sent as a telepathic message to his aide, whom quietly made her way to the senator's quarters as requested. After a moment more of silence, the blonde-haired man voiced his opinion:

"My fellow senators and grand admiral, this proposal is.. interesting. I've always had the belief that 'the best offense is a good defense'. In our current state, we need defensive forces more then offensive. I am unsure, however, at this time about replacing the Third Fleet with this 'provisional' fleet.

I now question the grand admiral... What will the Assault Fleets be doing when their defensive obligations are no longer necessary? Will they patrol Nepleslian space, searching for something to devour? Leaving them idle would arouse suspicion towards us that we may be devising a plan to attack our neighbors. That is all that I have to say for now."

"And where are you going to get the resources for this fleet, Admiral? I certainly hope you don't suggest we stretch our budget any thinner than it already is. While it is true that we have numerous resource operations in our Colony systems, remember that nearly all of their acquisitions are being used to develop their civilian infrastructure. Even Delsauria would not benefit from this, even though most of your war vessels would be constructed on our very soil; despite our supposed wealth some of you believe we have, poverty is still a very prominent issue in our society, and I look to preserve our worlds from the known threats, and not some imaginary galactic foe, supposedly hiding just beyond our borders," Edward spoke plainly.

Senator Vanderhuge stopped and breathed a sigh. "However, I am not opposed to strengthening our defenses around our civilian worlds. We must go to whatever lengths we can to preserve our culture...thus, I have a solution that does not rip into our delicate economy, and provides our nation with generously adequate defensive measures; begin construction of new new defense fleet ships, but disperse the assault fleets into the newly-formed defense fleets. Grand Admiral Corcyra has been especially adamant in filling his fleet rosters to the brim; perhaps this sacrifice on both the military and the civilian populations would be more beneficial to Nepleslia as a whole. It would certainly put our Assault Fleets to better use than to have them sit docked, twiddling their digits and sucking resources away in upkeep costs."

"With roughly 600 vessels in each Assault Fleet, and three Assault Fleets, that brings our total to around 1,800 ships. In order to provide protection to the five sectors the Admiral had suggested, I would say 500 vessels per area would suffice, therefore warranting the construction of 800 or so ships, which may leave us with a few extra to disperse as we see fit. Even I can agree to these reasonable numbers."

Haytham nodded to Senator Vanderhuge, while clamping his hands onto one another, interlocking his fingers and moving to rest his chin on the crease formed by the knuckles of both hands. It seemed that this was a good enough idea, and suited the needs of Nepleslia as a nation that might some day need to defend itself, without putting too high of a drain on the resources of the Imperium.

"I suggest we make our decisions now, to vote for either the proposals made by the Grand Admiral, or those of Senator Vanderhuge."

Corcyra chimed in for the first time.

"I'm all for Senator Vanderhuge's proposal."