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Avasarala's trusted admiral lays out the Medina operation: an exposed OPA carrier, a Roci escort, and a fleet-scale distraction.
Admiral Souther is a senior Earth naval officer who became Chrisjen Avasarala's trusted military ally during the conflict over Ganymede. In the present war, he works from Luna beside her to shape the coalition's response to Marco Inaros and the breakaway Martian power behind him.
In a secure briefing with Mars's Rhodes Chen, Souther explains that Medina Station cannot be ignored: possession of its gates controls traffic to the colony worlds and Laconia, while Marco's strategy of retreat should fail because the station is too valuable to abandon. He presents the Giambattista as a converted water hauler carrying nearly four thousand improvised craft, thousands of torpedoes, and a selected ground assault team to seize the rail guns. The Rocinante will escort it, while Earth, Mars, Pa's ships, and OPA allies conduct a huge separate action to make Marco look the wrong way.
An older Earther naval admiral with a high-pitched, musical voice and a composed professional manner; he wears a formal service uniform in secure government settings.
Souther is the military planner translating coalition politics into an operational attempt to seize Medina's Ring defenses.