VOTGW-5

=Chapter 5=
==Vignettes of the General War==
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~Observation Bay, Ioto Galactic Shipyards, Alarion, Lyran Commonwealth, May 9th, 2579~
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Maybe it was a commander's bias, but the sleek cruiser suspended in the middle of the maintenance slip outside the window just looked gorgeous to Kommodore Douglas Lutjens.
The ship, the Elrich Steiner (named for the recently deceased Commander of the LCAF) was brand new, fresh off her shakedown cruise (and the maintenance and refit that traditionally followed). She was an upgrade of the old Commonwealth class, slick, modernized, and his.
"If only your wife could see such adoring eyes," came a voice from one side. Douglas turned to offer a salute reflexively, hooking one foot into the steel loop welded to the deck to stabilize him against the microgravity as he did so.
"At ease, Doug," Admiral Frederik Hogan said as he (only somewhat awkwardly) guided himself into the room using the upper handrail. "Honeymoon period isn't over, I take it?"
"She's big and beautiful, sir," Douglas acknowledged. "I'm over my last girl." His 'last girl', as it were, was another Commonwealth class cruiser, but that one had been one of the first production run, two hundred years old and rightly described as a 'damn cranky bitch' by captain and crew alike. The Elrich Steiner was a dream come true in comparison. Enough to assuage the occasional pangs of guilt over 'trading up' from his last command.
"Good to hear," Admiral Hogan replied. "Yard's told me the Elrich is in all respects ready for service, and we have a job that needs doing. You ready to get back out there?"
"Aye sir," Douglas replied, but his interest was piqued. Someone was in a hurry. The Elrich had just come off a four week shakedown and a refit to fix all the problems that shakedown had uncovered. The refit was finished, but even then standard protocol was at least another short shakedown to make sure everything that was supposed to be fixed was fixed. They were skipping a step. "What's the assignment."
"Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Relief," Admiral Hogan said with the ghost of a smile. "The Archon has declared the Rim Worlds Civil War a humanitarian crisis and wants our newest ship out there as part of the relief squadron."
"Huh," Douglas said. "Permission to speak freely, Sir?"
That same ghost of a smile. "Granted."
"The Rim Worlds has been a humanitarian crisis since before either of us were born," Douglas said. "No disrespect intended, why does the Archon give a damn now?"
Admiral Hogan actually laughed in response. "The Taurians, that's why," he said. "The Feds and the Caps are getting slapped around by a periphery state because they didn't take the threat seriously. The Archon wants to nip the Rim Worlds in the bud before they can become the same sort of problem." He took a datapad out of his jacket and handed it over. "Your orders. I'm giving you two other cruisers and a brigade from the Donegal Guards. Your orders are to take Apollo and restore order, ensuring any military industries on world or in system aren't used for war making."
Douglas started running through the data provided. "It's gonna make waves," he said.
"Richard Amaris will probably call it an invasion," Admiral Hogan said. "But you'll have superior forces, so they won't be able to do more than growl, and we think his puppet master is reasonable enough that he'll deal once it's clear he's outmatched. We already have allies in the Rim Provisional Government to aid us, but they're a bag of cats. Some of the more radical might see you as another invader, and others will definitely see you as one. Work with the friends we have, but don't be afraid to stamp out the ones who want to pick a fight." 
"With all due respect, sir," Douglas said, "this is starting to sound like a quagmire."
"You don't need to conquer the whole Republic," Admiral Hogan said. "Their industries and major population centers are mostly concentrated on Apollo and the surrounding systems. Once you have the heart and shake out a stable local authority, the rest will follow."
That sounded... optimistic. "What about the Terran Hegemony?" They were old friends with the Amaris regime, and heavily invested in the Rim Worlds. They weren't going to like someone else moving in on their turf.
"They've been supplying arms under the table to Amaris since the civil war broke out," Admiral Hogan said. "We've already barred their alleged 'humanitarian convoys' from passing through our territory, but we can't completely cut off the flow. Still, we don't think it'll go beyond that. Terra's focused on the Taurian problem right now, and once we're in place and got a stable government behind us on Apollo, we can start exerting pressure to get Terra to cut off Amaris. They've already got a pretty ugly reputation, and our boys will be able to provide evidence and documentation. In the end, Terra's not willing to give up their cherished reputation for the sake of a rim Tyrant we're all better off without."
That simple, huh? "Understood, sir."
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