TADJ43

==Chapter 43 - The Adjudicator==
Geneva
Terra, Sol Star System
Republic of the Inner Sphere
Early 3160
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Devlin studied the status reports.  They'd managed to hold off Alaric's Wolf Empire by inches, despite the losses of shipyards and fleet units, Ward was like Stone-he preferred to contest control on the ground, and the Hastati units were, thus far, holding him off.
The Wolf Empire's Lyran allies weren't doing a lot to change that-they'd contested space with the RAF and won a string of victories-eliminating his Stealth Fleet by eliminating the capacity to support them, but they'd held back against RAF naval forces directly aside from the strikes on the yards and mothball fleets.
In essence, Alaric Ward had an advantage he wasn't leveraging, and so a rough sort of parity was in play-the Republic was denied their Ghost Bear allies due to the naval blockade on the Rasalhague Dominion. A few near-engagements that didn't go to blows with the Snow Ravens because the LCN decided NOT to engage, and it was in the hands of the ground game.
"Trumbull, why do you suppose they're holding back?" he asked his aide, idly.
"I don't know, sir."
"That's because we don't have anything the Lyrans want.  Alaric won't call them in to attack, he needs this to be a pure Clan win and he knows it.  Trillian's forces got what they wanted-they suppressed our Naval forces and eliminated the Stealth Fleet. They're keeping the Ghost Bears from intervening, and the Ravens can't support us fully without abandoning their holdings entirely. The supply line is just too long.  Both sides have extensive alliances with powerful allies, but it's between us, and the Wolves."
He looked up, "They're keeping this war contained." he said.
Trumbull sighed, "Sir...we're losing.  We're holding for now, but we're losing aren't we?"
Devlin Stone frowned deeply.  "Yes.  We are losing We're contained in the territory of the Republic, while our enemy has the initiative. We need those allies."
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