SotU2 Chpt 37

=Chapter 37=
==State of the Union - Book 2==
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Hyppo, Augustine
Silver Hawks Coalition, Free Worlds League
24th July, 3066
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“I caught your speech,” Isis told her cousin when they were in private. “not bad.”
“Who are you comparing me to? Victor Steiner-Davion?”
She shook her head. “I was thinking it reminded me more of some of grandfather’s public appearances.”
Alys winced, as she well should. Janos Marik hadn’t been incapable of swaying a crowd, but he was more remembered for his embittered old age than the youthful charisma that had turned the League around during the 2990s.
“On his better days,” Isis clarified, letting the other Marik off the hook a little. “admitting a mistake gracefully is always challenging but you came off about as well as we could have expected.”
“Thanks.” Alys removed her beret, twisted it slightly and put it back on at a less dapper but probably more comfortable angle. “I don’t imagine Marshal Van Creveld will be happy with me though. Even once we repair our salvage and get our wounded through the hospital, we’re down a lot of men and equipment for nothing.”
“Not entirely nothing. Even if the exact target was wrong, you’ve showed that the Coalition will mobilize if we’re attacked.” Isis patted her arm. “Plus you tied up the First Free Worlds Guards for weeks. That’s quite an achievement for our soldiers to boast of. Corinne may call it a victory but in all but the tactical sense your campaign has cost her far more than it has cost us.”
She watched her cousin process that and then the soldier shook her head. “That might be right in the long term, but right now I can still see our casualty lists… and whoever really hit our worlds got away with it.”
“For now.” Isis didn’t think the chances of find out who the actual raiders were was great unless they tried this again, but at least now they could be on guard. “But right now your troops need R&R and that includes you.”
“I got plenty of rest on the dropship.” claimed Alys, but she didn’t meet Isis’ eyes.
“Writing letters all night to the families of the fallen?” The flinch told Isis that she’d nailed it. “I’m not saying don’t but that doesn’t count as rest and we both know it.”
“You’re unfairly good at that.” Alys said
“I damn well should be by now.” Isis shook her head. “Come on, Alys. It’s not just your troops that need a break.”
“At least with the Star League’s peacekeepers here, we probably won’t need to take the lead if there’s a raid here…”
''“Indeed. Brigadier Steiner will be most unhappy if you don’t give his Skye Rangers a chance to show off.” Isis lowered her voice confidingly, although no one else was in earshot. “He’s a lot like Victor like that. Never happier than when he’s in the field.”
“Do you know him well? He used to lead Victor’s Tenth Lyran Guards, didn’t he?” asked Alys
“He did, but the Revenants weren’t fighting alongside Victor while I was with his staff. We met on Tharkad but only in passing.”
“So are you here to get better acquainted with him or is Galen back?” she asked
Isis shook her head. “Really, that’s the best you can do?”
“Well you do seem to have a type.” Alys commented
Galen has little in common with Sun-Tzu, Isis thought. And what would that have to do with Reinhart? The man was nice enough but a Steiner marriage would be politically disastrous right now and she didn’t even know him that well. “I’m here to rendezvous with Galen once he gets here from Irian.”
“Is that what you call it?” At least Alys was smiling a little.
She shook her head. “I’m going to visit worlds facing the Chaos March. With the news from Ohrenson, our neighbours in that direction are feeling nervous. Hopefully my presence and Galen’s will convince Sun-Tzu not to push harder. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll have the Lucky Thirteenth along.”
“I was going to say, a kind word only goes so far.” Alys’ smile slipped a little. “And while the Thirteenth are good, they’ll be outnumbered if Liao keeps going.”
“There are troops already stationed there. Given that it’s the Capellans, I think they’ll be glad of any support they can get.” She spread her hands. “We have to try. Our entire mission statement is to protect the League’s world against outsiders. That isn’t limited to the Lyrans. And we’ve had another invitation as well.”
“Who from?” ask Alys
“The Saiph Triumvirate.”
Alys blinked. “You’re going into the Chaos March?”
Saiph, Tall Trees and New Canton had been border worlds between the Sarna March and the Free Worlds League. When the March collapsed in the face of invasion back in 3057, Count Ledo Balatine of New Canton had rallied the three worlds against pro-Liao insurgents and carved out a tiny pocket realm for himself immediately corewards of Zion province, which in turn was corewards of Ohrenson.
“Saiph is fairly peaceful, at least so far. But if Ohrenson falls, which seems probable. Then Zion is next and after that Count Balatine will be facing Capellan troops on his border. It’s in his interests to form a common front at least in the short term.”
“You’re sure Ohrenson will be lost?” Alys questioned
Isis grimaced. “The Schrack was destroyed defending Ohrenson’s orbitals. The Capellans haven’t used orbital bombardment yet but they have the option, as well as local superiority.”
“And you’re heading into the war zone?”
“You did your job, Alys. Now I need to do mine.” She smiled thinly. “At least no one expects me to do any of the fighting.”
Alys shook her head slightly. “You’re sure this won’t cause any conflict with the Federated Commonwealth.”
Isis shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t imagine that they’ll be pleased if the Saiph Triumvirate has our protection, but the Archon-Prince will accept it because it’s better for him than the Capellans controlling those worlds, and he’s more focused on taking control of worlds that are relatively soft targets. Retaking Count Balatine’s domain would require an all out invasion rather than sending small detachments and supplies to aid existing pro-FedCom factions.”
Actually, she suspected that Peter Steiner-Davion was using the small conflicts as live fire training exercise for units had been battered during his civil war. Rotating a company of troops in to tip the balance in his favor while only doing so where the odds would heavily favor the AFFC detachment cost him very little in the long run and allowed inexperienced replacements to learn practical lessons that mere simulations and exercises would not. Granted, they’d still not be experienced in what they might face against true peer opponents, but it was still an improvement on never seeing action at all.
“There’s very little chance of encountering the AFFC.” she continued. “If we do, it’s vanishingly unlikely they’d be a match for the Lucky Thirteenth in numbers. A full combined arms brigade is more than I’d consider taking with me if it wasn’t for the fact that we might run into the Capellans.”
Her cousin looked away for a moment and then sighed. “You’re the diplomat, Cuz. But I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Well, you’ll not be going anywhere for a little while.” Isis told her. “So once you’ve had a rest, you can think of some contingencies in case I’m wrong and you need to mount a rescue party for me.”
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