FSRB Chpt 145

==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 144==
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March 3070Interlude - Steele's Hard Truths
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"This is David Steele and welcome to Steele's Hard Truths, New Avalon's premier Military and Foreign Affairs talk show! As ever I am your host and tonight I have with me once more two of my favorite guests, retired Leftenant-General Abraham Zibler, late of the Avalon Hussars and author of the New Avalon Times top 10 best selling book of 3064 "Warrior Prince" and Professor Linda Cartwright of the School of the Written Arts at Gogh-Bukowski who I believe has just released her own book "Walking towards a cliff, the corrupt Davion military-industrial complex"! I'm so glad to have you back on the show, good evening to you both..." David Steele smiled broadly and for once he was being entirely genuine. He truly was delighted to see the retired general and the well known political activist back on his show - primarily because whenever the two tore lumps out of each other live on camera his ratings jumped at least 5 points! Although it had taken some real pressure to get the Professor to agree to come on given that she had known she'd be facing a hostile audience - he'd had to promise to plug her new book in the opening credits. Flashing his trade mark smile to the watching cameras he continued. "Tonight we are discussing the escalating situation with the Draconis Combine..."
"May I interrupt you right there, David?" Zibler half barked. "You've got 2 things wrong and you missed one thing out."
Burying the flash of irritation at being interrupted Steele smiled broadly. "Of course general! I'm always happy to stand corrected..."
"Firstly, I'm not Leftenant General Zibler, I'm now Major General Zibler, New Avalon Militia." The old soldier grinned almost fit to burst. "I've been recalled to the colors, well at least the militia hence why I can still appear on your show, for the duration of the current conflict and placed in command of a force of New Avalon Militia. They aren't the Avalon Hussars, but give me time! Give me time!"
David Steele laughed along with his audience while silently swearing that whatever flunky or researcher had dropped the ball and not told him about the fossils reactivation and promotion was going to wish they had never been born. "You said 2 things general and missing something out...?"
Pulled out of his moment of self indulgent triumph the Major General nodded. "Of course... The second thing is that this isn't an escalating situation as you call it. This is a full on war son. It's not a crisis and and it isn't a situation. We are at war with the Combine. You're maybe a little young to remember the War of '39 and before that the Succession Wars, but trust me... Fighting the Dragon isn't something to take lightly..."
"Typical warmongering flunky for the military-industrial complex! Almost boasting at the dreadful situation that he and the neanderthals like him have gotten the rest of us into!" Professor Linda Cartwright almost shrilled. "This is all in my new book, the leadership of the Federated Sun's is walking into a Fifth Succession War and all that entails! Worlds burning and billions dead! All to keep their profits and power intact!" 
"Now now Linda, you can't interrupt the general... Major General I mean... It's rude!" David wagged a finger at her to forced chuckles from the audience, but there was a definite frostiness towards the professor coming from the audience. Which she met with a firm glare back. 
"Thank you David, as I was saying the final thing you missed is that while you mentioned Professor Cartwright's new book... And how are the sales of that going by the way Linda...?" Zibler smirked knowing her book was already being consigned to the 3 for 10 D-bill bins across the FedSuns but continued on before she could snap back. "You forgot to mention my own new book that's coming out next month, The Phoenix Prince..."
The presenter forced another smile and chuckled. "General Zibler, you really are a shameless self-promoter you know that? I can see how you got yourself reinstated! Still fine, you've got your plug and I'm sure it will be another excellent book, but do you wish to actually make a comment on the war with the Draconis Combine..."
"I do... Honestly I think it's the right war at the wrong time... But the timing wasn't up to us. It was hit or be hit and the First Prince made damn sure we hit those rat bastards first!" Zibler barked out to almost cheers from the audience.
"Lies and false news spread by the corporate shills and hacks of the military-industrial companies like Achernar, Johnson, Robinson, Lycomb-Davion and the rest!" This time the professor really did half shriek over the booing crowd. "The same lies that led us into no less than 4 succession wars and led to hundreds of planets across the entire Inner Sphere being left as blasted wastelands!" 
"People, people, now give Linda the chance to put her views... Please go on Professor Cartwright..." Steele was starting to suspect that Linda was getting near the end of her rope with the audience, at least the studio audience and perhaps the wider public. With support for the AFFS and the First Prince growing almost daily her rants were becoming less topical and more fringe, worse her growing realization of this were making her if anything more and more angry and bitter. Perhaps Gogh-Bukowski had a bright new star of a professor he could invite next time...
"Thank you, David. As I was saying I have it on good authority from a confidential source..." Cartwright ignored Zibler's scoffing noise at the mention of another confidential source and continued. "That the Coordinator Theodore Kurita himself requested to meet with our First Prince to try and broker a peace... A peace that our warmongering Prince refused outright before storming out of the meeting in an appalling show of disrespect for the Coordinator!"
Steele nodded gravely. "That is a serious charge, Linda... Peace of course is what we all want and one would hope our leaders would make every effort to secure it for us!"
The general nodded. "I agree entirely with that sentiment, David, I really do. And I can promise you that the vast majority of the men and women wearing the uniform of the AFFS do as well. We know war. We know every inch of it's ugly face and nobody wants to avoid it more than a soldier who's seen action. Trust me on that. But like so many of the good professors sources this one has twisted the facts into a pretzel. The First Prince did indeed meet with the Coordinator prior to the fighting, that much is common knowledge to most of us... What Professor Cartwright is omitting is the terms that the Old Dragon was asking for that peace. He was demanding no less than to be able to dictate the foreign and defense policy of the Federated Suns and insisting that our First Prince kowtowed to his demands to let that mass murdering bastard Sun-Tzu of the hook for his sister's attack on St Ives!"
This time the audience really did roar in fury and outrage, ignoring the Professor's attempts to make any counter point, while the host went through the motions of calming them. With decades of experience he knew that the crowd wouldn't settle down enough for the talk show to continue for at least 2, maybe 3 minutes. Still even as he made soothing gestures and nodded with grim resolve to the audience he could barely contain his glee! What a scoop, life on air! Glancing at Linda who was now screaming back at the crowd Steele decided that yes it defiantly was time for a new younger professor to counter Zibler, younger and ideally prettier one...
Major General Abraham Zibler sat back nodding his head to the crowd after having delivered his bomb shell. Looking every inch the gruff honest soldier. Which was actually what he was...
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Far away in Mount Davion Field Marshal Stephanie Day sipped her 20 year Northwind whiskey and smiled over at Marshal of the Armies Jackson Davion and Prince's Champion Ardan Sortek. "I told you it would be worth reactivating that old battle axe and slipping him that Intel..."
Both men chuckled sipping their own drinks. Davion nodding his head in a salute. "True... It doesn't hurt that the old bastard's will actually make a good Commanding Officer of the reinforced brigade we gave him..."
Sortek nodded. "The only downside is we'll have to watch him for skimming off the best troops in it and trying to get them assigned to the Avalon Hussars!"
Which set all 3 to chuckling again... 
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