A Human Supercarrier

"The hell do you mean we shouldn't try to subjugate Humanity? By all accounts they only have 10 supercarriers, we've got well over a hundred. I don't see any possibility under Tolar's twin suns of Humans presenting little more than their sword in surrender if push comes to shove," Fleetmaster Brackus had to pause to catch his breath and wipe the spittle from his clenched mandibles before continuing his rant, "How dare you present such defeatist nonsense before the Empress? How dare you mock our fleet's ability, how low do you think of us that we apparently couldn't even-"

"Silence."

With the words of the Empress hanging in the air, Brackus stopped his ramblings immediately, bowing his head in reverence as he let out one final indignant huff of anger,

"As you wish your majesty."

The Empress rose from her throne and walked toward the holographic display of the galaxy before her, in her thousand years of exalted tenure she oversaw the conquest of hundreds of species, thousands of stars had risen to meet her Empire's might and fallen all the same; If one of her most trusted advisors for over a hundred of those thousand years said something was risky, it was worth hearing him out at the very least,

"Please continue Scoutmaster General."

Scoutmaster Ular clicked his mandibles and lowered his head to the Empress before speaking,

"I continue to stand by the claim that Humans only have 10 supercarriers, I continue to ascertain that our 167 supercarriers are insufficient in dealing with that threat."

Fleetmaster Brackus was going red in anger, but one glance from the Empress was enough to subdue his rage into nothing but a particularly forced reshifting of his mandibles, for the time being, he'd let Ular speak, but the Scoutmaster was unsure for just how long this could last.

"To elaborate on this I'd like to go over what exactly is classified as a supercarrier; as I'm sure both of you know a supercarrier is any vessel purpose-built to transport a complement of over 100 fighters to the battlefield."

With a wave of his hand, the holographic display of the universe changed to a Systemcracker Class Supercarrier, the backbone of the Imperial Fleet and the bane of untold numbers of species throughout the years. With its mere presence in a system rebellions and rivals alike lay down their arms in submission.

"700 meters long, meter thick stellar steel plating, four antimatter fusion reactors, a complement of 150 Janus Class strike fighters, 20 Hulker bulk transports, and bristling with point defense armament alongside a dozen class-3 railguns; It is the most feared and capable vessel in all of known space, or at least it was."

The holographic display once more shifted, now to a ship of a blatantly alien design. Instead of the sleek gradual curves of any proper imperial vessel, this ship was jagged, blocky, and rough around the edges. Weapon mounts were visible all across its surface, and sensors, antennas, and lights erupted from the surface in great spires in a cluttered but highly functional manner. This ship wasn't pretty, but based off of the massive blast doors and impressive armament, it was clear to both the Empress and Fleetmaster Brackus that this was an incredibly capable craft.

"This is the UHG Cairo, 550 meters long, meter thick plating of similar strength to stellar steel, if not exceeding it slightly. Our intel on the internals of the ship is hazy at best, but from what can be gathered from the civilian communications and information networks we have managed to breach it has several antimatter fusion reactors alongside backup battery packs for emergency running. From visual inspection alone we estimate this vessel is capable of carrying a complement of roughly 80-120 space-fighters of varying makes and models. By all accounts, this is a supercarrier, and its capabilities are roughly equivalent to that of a Systemcracker; military simulations show that for these vessels to defeat a fleet of 4 Systemcrackers the Humans would need to commit 5 vessels of this class."

Fleetmaster Brackus seemed to be in much better spirits now and began to interject,

"I admit that these vessels of the... What were these aliens called again?"

"Humans Fleetmaster."

"Thank you, Humans, are quite impressive. However you said it yourself, they only have ten supercarriers; While we may incur more losses than if we were fighting the average galactic ruffian, the Imperial Fleet should have no problems dealing with such things." Brackus turned toward the Empress with pride saying, "I will have the invasion plans drafted and the fleet on high alert by the end of the week."

The Empress took one final look at the display of the Cairo before replying,

"Very well. These Humans admittedly seem quite industrious, they shall make a fine addition to our Empire. Thank you for your concern Scoutmaster, this intelligence has been invaluable to our decision today. If that's all-"

Ular clicked his mandibles loudly and let out a huff,

"That is not all."

The Empress was shocked at the Scoutmaster's open display of disrespect, her royal guard visibly tightened their grip on their blasters, and Fleetmaster Brackus roared in anger. Within a fraction of a second the Fleetmaster had his saber pinned to Ular's throat, he turned to face the Empress and roared,

"LET ME MAKE AN EXAMPLE OF THIS BEAST!"

When the Empress glared into Ular's eyes to see if he'd beg for mercy, she was shocked to see not remorse, but fear. Not fear of her, or the nearly rabid Fleetmaster Brackus, or even of the saber pinned to his vital arteries, but pure unadulterated terror stemming from the holographic display behind her. When she turned to look at whatever had caused Ular such great fear, she simply became confused.

"What am I looking at Ular?"

With a saber still firmly pressed against his throat, Ular let out a somewhat stifled reply,

"You are watching a video capt--- the Human --- system."

"Brackus," the Empress mumbled quietly, "Let him speak."

"As you wish."

But Ular didn't need to speak, because the video was speaking a billion words a second. He spoke anyway to ensure no doubt of what they were seeing existed in anyone's mind,

"You are watching a video captured from the Human home system, from what we can gather this is Humanity's Home Fleet."

Hundreds of tiny pinpricks of light danced across the projection, but upon closer inspection, it was obvious the dots were anything but tiny,

"Each dot you see is a vessel of similar size to the Cairo. There are thousands of smaller ships present, but they are too small to see from this distance."

Fleetmaster Brackus was too stunned to speak for what seemed like an eternity before finally asking the inevitable,

"I thought you said the Humans only had ten Supercarriers, there have to be-"

Ular cut the Fleetmaster off before he could finish,

"228 to be exact, and that..."

Even knowing it was coming Ular was left speechless. The star visible in the background of the scene began to dim as a vessel of truly gargantuan proportion entered into view, eventually, the entire scene faded into nothingness as the massive vessel eclipsed the star entirely.

"... That is a supercarrier."

"And they have ten?"

"That we know of."

Fleetmaster Brackus had to sit down to avoid passing out, the Empress had her claws tightly wrapped around the nearest railing to steady herself,

"How much do we know of these supercarriers?"

Scoutmaster Ular shuddered as he uttered,

"What we call Supercarriers, the Humans call Light Assault Craft. The Grand Imperial Fleet in its entirety could be housed, supplied, and fielded all within a single human Supercarrier Strike Group."

The Empress turned to the Scoutmaster with a vacant stare,

"What are we to do?"

"Preferably any course of action that doesn't lead to us acquiring an accurate count of Supercarriers fielded by Humanity."

The Empress took one last look toward the projection before clicking her mandibles in agreement,

"Thank you, Scoutmaster, this intelligence has been invaluable to our decision today... That is all..."