"We absolutely must not underestimate him. To speak frankly, though it may be somewhat disrespectful, I personally believe that we lost the Pilgrim during the Third Battle of Sade because we underestimated that man too much." Major General Jaeger Sobeck addressed the holographic projections of the senior officers present.
The "Third Battle of Sade" was the official name the Empire had given the battle that had just ended in its formal military reports. Of course, the two sides' armies had been facing off in this tiny star system for more than half a year, and there had been well over a thousand battles and skirmishes of all kinds. But those were all mere footnotes, not even worthy of inclusion in the official histories.
The highest-ranking officer present was Lieutenant General Midbech, a burly middle-aged man with a mane of golden hair, whose rugged, imposing appearance marked him as a fine warrior. He nodded modestly.
"Major General Sobeck, I heard that before the Third Battle began, you actually submitted a proposal urging the marshal to commit all our combat forces to the battlefield?"
Jaeger Sobeck nodded gravely.
"Not keeping a reserve force is somewhat counterintuitive," the lieutenant general said. He sounded neither approving nor skeptical, merely restating an objective fact.
"It certainly is counterintuitive, but we've suffered so many losses precisely because we've clung too tightly to conventional wisdom!" Sobeck said, steeling himself.
That was truly a counterintuitive thing to say, yet everyone seemed to find it quite reasonable and nodded along.
The lieutenant general agreed, but asked, "Weren't you concerned we wouldn't have enough room to deploy our forces?"
"Well, that is indeed a concern. But a tighter formation would make our lines impenetrable. A dense barrage of fire would create the strongest possible defensive line, and at least we