VOTGW-1

=Chapter 1=
==Vignettes of the General War==
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~First Prince's Residence, New Avalon, November 2579~
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"Thank you for seeing me, Prince Davion," the Terran Ambassador said as he was ushered into the study.
Alexander Davion rose to greet him, shaking his hand. "It is the least I could do for a distinguished representative of the Terran Hegemony," he said as he ushered the ambassador to a chair by the fire. "Can I offer you anything? A drink?" He motioned to the steward.
"Thank you, but no," the ambassador said as he took his seat.
Alexander nodded as he took the seat across from the ambassador. "You'll forgive me if I partake, then," he said as the steward trickled brandy into the glass. "Young folk love to talk about professionalism, but at my age, with the weight of hundreds of worlds on my shoulders, sometimes just a taste is needed to ease my troubles." He raised the glass and took a sip, savoring the burn as it slid down his throat. "Now then. There have been rumors, spurious I'm certain, that the Hegemony is considering renouncing its cherished neutrality."
"These are alarming times," the Ambassador agreed. "The Taurians have attacked you, they've blockaded five Capellan systems, the Rim Worlds is locked in a civil war, the entire Inner Sphere is awash in a panic, building WarShips and just waiting for the next Age of War to begin. It's easy to see where dangerous rumors might start. Fortunately, cooler heads like you are at the helm of the Federated Suns, able to separate the fact from the fiction." 
"No truth to the rumors that your Director-General is talking about a mutual defense treaty with the Capellans, then?" Alexander asked innocently.
"No truth at all," the Ambassador insisted. "The Director-General is deeply concerned about the naked aggression of the Taurian Concordat. But any sort of joint cooperation with any Great House to counter this threat could only be conducted for the limited purpose of that alone, with the understanding of all affected powers in the region. We have no intention of entering into an open ended military alliance with any Great Houses."
It was what Alexander had already expected. His intelligence units believed these rumors of a secret Capellan/Hegemony pact were most likely being spread by Capellan sources themselves. A way to bolster their image and possibly deter aggression. But it was nice to have it all on the record.
"Perhaps no formal treaty then, but what about military aid?" Alexander asked with the same casual tone. "The Terran Hegemony has blocked the sale of additional frigates to the Federated Suns, and Dekirk Aerospace has filed a legal injunction against Challenge Systems to prevent them from building the design domestically. And yet, my sources have told me the Capellans have put in an order for over two hundred frigates and cruisers from your reserve fleet." 
"They've made a request, yes," the Ambassador acknowledged. "At a price point of around twenty percent of the Capellan GDP for quick delivery. But we turned them down, just as we are with every other foreign order at this time. The Director-General understands that you need to replace the losses you took in the Malagrotta War, but he is concerned some of the rhetoric coming out of the Federated Suns is more inflammatory than necessary." Alexander was impressed at how hard the Ambassador was working at not specifically blaming him for the rapidly accelerating arms race. "With tensions as they are now, the Director-General believes that diplomacy is what's needed, and a strong, unified response to rogue powers, not more weapons."
"The Director-General's wisdom and humanity is admirable," Alexander replied, hoping his sarcasm wasn't coming through just yet. "Will the Terran Hegemony be abandoning the five power doctrine, then?" The five power doctrine was the center of Terran strategic planning, and dictated that the Terran Navy must possess sufficient force to engage in a full scale war with all five of her neighbors simultaneously, a doctrine it has maintained through shear industrial might for two and a half centuries. The much feared Taurians menace that had spawned this meeting had a fleet that numbered maybe one hundred and fifty WarShips. The active Terran Hegemony Navy numbered over seven hundred, with another fifteen hundred in their reserve fleet ready to be reactivated and replace any losses. It was an unassailable force that had ensured the Hegemony would face little more than border conflicts and brief campaigns even throughout the Age of War.
"I'm not authorized to make any such guarantees," the ambassador said, sounding almost reluctant. "However, the Director-General has spoken of scaling back the reserve fleet as a show of good faith, if the great houses were amenable to further talks."
That was a no. But then, it was always going to be a no. Because the truth of the matter was that the only reason the Hegemony cared about the other powers building WarShips was when it threatened their own dominant position. And that position, built over the course of centuries pitting the fully developed industrial base of the core worlds against the weak, almost infantile industries of their early neighbors, was a lot weaker than they were willing to admit. The balance had begun shifting a long time ago as the great houses grew and expanded their own industries. The first WarShip the Federated Suns had built back in the 24th century had taken six years to complete. A modern carrier could go from keel laying to commissioning in a year, and half a dozen were currently being built in parallel in the various yards of the Federated Suns, alongside a dozen frigates and three dozen destroyers, with more on the way as new yards opened up. And Alexander knew that this was playing out with some variation in every other Great House. Even the Taurians, a humble periphery state with only a fraction of the population or industry of a great house, had a fleet that outnumbered every great house fleet save the Terrans themselves, and even they were turning out new ships at a frightening rate in an attempt to keep that lead.
And it had to be absolutely terrifying to the Hegemony. Their neighbors were catching up, and they were doing it quickly.
"You don't understand how much this race is going to cost you," the ambassador insisted. "The offer the Capellans made to us would have crippled their economy for the next ten years, but it's peanuts compared to what it would cost them to establish the industry, infrastructure, and manufacturing to build that many ships of that size themselves in any reasonable time frame. And it wouldn't stop there, because once the Capellans have their two hundred ships and you have your four hundred ships, your rivals will build to outmatch you. Their rivals, including you, will have to build to outmatch them, and on and on... it'll only end when your economies break under the strain, or you throw yourselves into a cataclysmic war to stop your enemy while you think you still have an advantage."
That was certainly one way to look at it. A bleak way intended to encourage keeping Terra as the center of the universe, but it was indeed a way to look at it.
"That's why I'm here, The Director-General has an alternative." the ambassador said.
"Do tell," Alexander responded, though his intelligence people already knew the basics of the Hegemony's plan.
"The Director-General would prefer to explain his plan to you and Ursula Liao directly," the Ambassador said. "He hopes both of you will accept his invitation to meet with him on Terra, to discuss how together we can end the Taurian threat and stop this race to Armageddon before it goes out of control."
That, and the hints from before, pretty much confirmed it. Ian Cameron wanted a joint operation against the Taurian Concordat. Either to subdue them or at least force them to the negotiation table. Guiding a joint coalition of old enemies to defeat this periphery monster that dared to threaten the security of Great Houses would give him massive political leverage for further deals. Most likely next would be a naval reduction treaty to 'keep the peace' that maintained Terra's primacy. Another step closer to Ian Cameron's cherished dream of a grand alliance with Terra at its head.
But Ian Cameron's dream wasn't Alexander's dream. "Terra would be a long journey," Alexander said. "And affairs of state are quite pressing. I don't think I can make such a trip at this time. Perhaps Director-General Cameron would consent to meet with me here?" In a lot of respects, diplomacy was the most juvenile of arts, consisting primarily of getting your opponent to acknowledge petty bits of dominance. So of course he insisted on Cameron coming to him and didn't even bother mentioning the Capellans. And of course he already knew that would be unacceptable the moment he said it.
"The Taurians are already on the move and time is of the essence," the Ambassador said, confirming Alexander's assumption. "I believe the Director-General would prefer if each leader agreed to meet jointly in a neutral location such as Terra, rather than wasting months shuttling back and forth between worlds, so that we can quickly hammer out a response to the Taurian aggression. Surely you can see the benefit of that with so many lives on the line."
So many indeed. Alexander wondered if the Ambassador truly believed in the media portrayals of the Taurians as savage periphery barbarians come to rape and pillage, or if he somehow expected Alexander to believe them. The Taurians were fundamentally his enemies. They had humiliated the Federated Suns, but in most respects the conflict between the two states had been fairly clean, and their conduct afterwards undeniably civilized. Very likely, the same would hold true for any war against the Capellan Confederation, so long as the Confederation didn't seek to escalate it. 
"Even so, I'm afraid the meeting Director-General Cameron wants isn't possible at the moment," Alexander said. "There are far too many things on my plate."
"This is a threat to all of us," the Ambassador said. "The Director-General insists..."
"The Director-General doesn't insist anything," Alexander snapped. "The Federated Suns is a sovereign nation. He does not dictate to us. He does not insist. He does not compel us to make alliances with our mortal enemies to suit his will."
The pause hung in the air like a pregnant warbler. "I misspoke," the ambassador finally said. "I apologize. The Director-General would like to know what it would take to make this meeting happen."
It was what the ambassador should have led with, but still, Alexander laughed in response. "Sell us the frigates we want," he began. "End your legal action against Challenge Systems. Either renounce the Five Power doctrine and start decommissioning some of that bloated mess you call a navy, or stop trying to obstruct our naval expansion." He could already tell by the ambassador's expression how he was going to respond, but Alexander wasn't done. "Get the Confederation to formally acknowledge their role in supporting the Varneys during the civil war. A formal apology and an agreement to discuss proper reparations for the harm they caused." 
"There is no way that'll happen..." the ambassador began, forgetting himself.
"That is the price to get me into the room," Alexander said. "Not even promising an agreement. You have no leverage, ambassador. If your Director-General simply wanted to defend the Capellans from the Taurian menace, he would have. He's using this as an excuse to push his grand alliance, but to do that, he needs more than one player, preferably rivals willing to put aside their differences for the common good. The problem is, I'm not willing. The Capellans struck us at our weakest point, funneled money, weapons, and mercenaries to the Varneys to weaken us and put a puppet on our throne. You're offering me nothing to forget the Capellans' role in the most traumatic period of my nation's existence."
"But the Taurians are your enemy as well," the ambassador responded. "Your people demand..."
"...justice, yes." Alexander agreed. "The Malagrotta treaty was a humiliation. My people have a right to be angry. And quite a few of them would feel a great deal of satisfaction if we rolled up with half the Terran Navy alongside us to 'teach them bulls a lesson'." He thought the down home accent on the last part was pretty good. "But the smartest of my people would see it for what it really is."
"And that is?"
"That the Prince couldn't handle it on his own, and we had to go running to Terra to help us." Alexander couldn't help but let the revulsion into his words. "And Terra's price was to save our oldest enemy, while they played the peacemaker and alliance builder. There is no way we would be anything but a junior partner, a vassal dependent on the might and goodwill of Terra for our safety and security. If I accept, I've surrendered our pride, maybe even our sovereignty for a petty bauble of revenge against the lesser of two evils." 
He leaned back in his chair, letting the ghost of a smile form on his face. "But if I refuse, I get to watch the Taurians hurt the house that backed one of my traitor aunts, maybe badly enough that myself and the League can divy up the rest. The Taurians will keep. Whatever they've built, they are still a minor power. Economically and industrially, they can't compete with us in the long term, and whatever nuisance they represent, it isn't important enough for me to set aside a chance to watch the Confederation burn."
"Eventually, the long term," the ambassador said. "You really think the Taurians will give you that chance as long as they still have the advantage?"
"Honestly?" Alexander replied. "I do. The Taurians have been around as long as any of us. They might have started at a disadvantage, but they've had all the time and resources they needed to join the great game. If the Calderons had any of our drive for expansion and conquest, they'd already be a great house, not the backwater we're so fond of viewing them as. That's the difference between them and us. The Taurians just want to be left alone. They had a grievance, they settled it. The matter's done. As long as we stay on our side of the line, we have no problem. Hell, we've already restored cross border trade!" He paused to take a sip of brandy. "Good god man, I'm almost insulted you dangled putting the Taurians in their place as a way to get me to work with the Capellans! I'm not afraid of Taurian aggression, I'm looking forward to it! The Taurians and Capellans fighting tooth an nail over a war fought two centuries ago?"
He let out another smile. "It should be a hell of a show."
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