TBntG-2 Chpt 10

=The Bull and the Genie=
==Chapter 10 - Book II - The Ninety-five Theses==
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===Risky Message to a friend===
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Triad - Tharkad, Lyran Commonwealth
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The orders were sent in utter secrecy. Military units were isolated on their bases, and preparations were made—to most, obviously to strike at the Federated Suns. 
Two other letters were sent. The first was to Tharkad via Comstar, using a one-time code, while the second was sent via messenger to the Davions. The risk that it would not arrive in time was a calculated risk. 
It was a risk that paid off as Katrina Steiner sent her own messages upon receiving the code. And then she had a celebratory drink.
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===The Bull Prepares to Charge===
Officer of the Protector, City of Samantha - Taurus, Taurian Concordat
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"Kicking the shit out of some border regiments isn't enough." General Lynda Sterns said. "We have got to make a point. Now ,the Navy isn't going to be allowed to use their biggest toys, since those sub-caps might make people nervous and we need something back here in cease someone decides to launch an attack. But they've got enough."
 
They should. Years of profit, of business deals, of building civilian DropShips that had parts commonality with their military designs. Union Fighter Carriers and every Aerospace Fighter they could beg borrow or steal meant that they should be able to claim dominance over the primary target. The missile boats would also be a pretty damned unpleasant surprise to any fighters or ground-side defenses.
 
"Our goal is not to take land," she continued. "That is the primary orders for all of your units. Get in, raid, hurt them, but don't get trapped into a head on battle. We want them to deploy, especially if that puts us in the position where the Navy can grab their JumpShips." She chuckled. "In fact, the goal is to get them to send reinforcements out, so the Navy can grab them. TMI believes that all their assault droppers and front-line fighter units are facing off with the Fedrats anyway. The goal of the diversionary elements is to score maximum panic, not take land. We'll leave that to the Davions, since they'll be happy to deal with the lunatic Death Commandos."
 
She paused, and waited for the chuckles to die down.
 
"Now for the part that you need to understand, and this doesn't go out of this room. If you talk in your sleep, tell your significant others to wear earplugs."
 
The chuckles were louder.
 
"Victoria is one of their linchpins. We can't take it, but we're going to use our new augmented infantry to ruin their day—smash it completely. Make a point and teach them a lesson. That's where our primary fleet elements are going, because we need to smother their air defense."
 
There was more discussion, talk about how to keep it secret. After a long and fruitful discussion, the meeting was adjourned and General Sterns found herself in the office of the Protector.
 
"It's ready?"
 
"If I didn't know better, I'd say we were invading Victoria." 
 
"Good," Edward said. "This is a tremendous risk. But the people need a strike that says they've paid our enemies back. I'm not going to let Max hid behind his soldiers and let them pay for his misdeeds." He glanced at the computer on the desk. No input or out put systems. The files had been loaded, and then the circuits that would let anyone read from it had been physically slagged. The only sensor it had was one that would detect if it left the office—whereupon it would slag itself. 
 
On its screen was an image of the Celestial Palace. 
"Normally I'd say this was crazy," Stearns said. "But we've got conventional capital ship missiles for bombardment, and the powered armor. Nobody uses unsupported infantry, especially against a fortress, but once we're in, they can't exactly blow up their capital, or their boss. And once our forces are inside, regular infantry against our PA(L)s and fire support armor? It's not going to be a good day for them, and we can use pathfinders to direct fire against the AA defenses around the palace." She shrugged. "It helps that it's a raid, and honestly, the Davions are doing a nice job of distracting them." 
 
"Your main goal is to if possible, kill or capture Max. I do have the dear image of him standing trial in Samantha's superior court for the murder of 50,000 Taurians." Edward shook his head. "But if that's not possible, at the very least, the Celestial Palace is to be leveled. Let the civilians leave of course, but I want to leave a lesson on their capital that they will never forget. Then leave and return to the Concordat."
And we can. Several covert ships that had been rented were already waiting to move First Army to its destination, faster than if it had been forced to stick with the same JumpShips. But on the way back, supplies would be cached around red dwarfs, letting the force come home, if slower than they'd moved out. More importantly, it would be almost impossible for them to be intercepted—a trick that the TDF had used during the Reunification War. And those cargo pods they'd developed were just the thing to let it happen, since without knowing where they are, the chances of anyone stumbling over their orbits… 
We used to be a naval power, it's only fair that the longest ranged offensive in our history take advantage of our new navy. 
"You realize, if you pull this off, you may have handed Hanse Davion the Capellan Confederation."
"He's going to get it, anyway." Edward said. "The Capellans have been the weakest of the Inner Sphere states and I think that Hanse Davion isn't about to pass up the chance to remove them from the equation, permanently. I'm counting on it, actually."
Stearns blinked. "Pardon?"
"All those systems, General. Full of people who have been brought up with hatred for the Suns and a belief in their own manifest destiny. Full of secret police and the people they oppressed. I expect that Hanse Davion, after the euphoria of victory passes, will feel that he has developed quite the tummy ache, one that will keep the Federated Commonwealth preoccupied, to say nothing of their new border with the Free Worlds League. I expect that will ensure that nobody in the Federated Suns end of the new state has any desire to invade us."
 
"And us?"
 
"I'm not about to occupy worlds full of people who will hate us. Worlds that want to join us voluntarily… maybe. But if we pull this off, it puts us in a position to be the kind of leader that can get all the independent worlds around us, and the Arugians and Canopeans, to sit down and hammer out a commercial and defensive union. While the Inner Sphere is celebrating or mourning their latest phase of war, we can finally create the kind of alliances that can trade with them—on an even keel, and ensure that nothing like the Samantha Atrocity ever happens again. 
 
"Presuming we win."
"Anything less than complete defeat will do the job," Edward said. "This is, after all, the very first time a Periphery state is launching an offensive against an Inner Sphere's Successor State capital. However, I would love to hear that the operation was a complete success."
"..And I would love to tell you that—in person."
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===News from times ahead===
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The Taurian offensive came out of the blue for most people. Edward's declaration of War and his public revelations regarding the Chancellor's perfidy had barely hit the news when the first strikes were launched against a dozen targets, units changing their designations between attacks and using other deception tactics to make the offensive look larger than it was. Frantic cries for reinforcements were met with silence, as the last reserves had been committed to try to stem the juggernaut of the Federated Suns. Units facing the Federated Suns, realized that their rear areas were no longer secure, as Taurian commerce raiders merrily rampaged through Confederation Space seizing merchant JumpShips and sending them back to Taurus.Several spies reported, credibly, that the TDF intended to take Victoria and use it as a jumping off point for further attacks and the Capellan high command managed to scrounge the last reserves in the region to secure the valuable world.But when the largest Taurian naval formation since the Amaris Crisis appeared, it was not at Victoria, but over Sian.It is hard to say whether or not its impact was decisive, but the broadcast, in the clear, of the Arrest Warrant for Chancellor Maximilian Liao, issued by the Samantha City 1st Superior Court, at the request of the District Attorney for the city, did not, by all accounts, do much for the Chancellor's mood…The Rise and Fall of the Capellan Confederation.3051, Capellan Union Press.
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