Chapter 37 - The Advisor[]
Luthien
Draconis Combine
3157
[Throne Room of the Coordinator]
How do i get out of this? thought Yori Kurita. She wasn't stupid, she could read a battlefield, and she could read a strategic map. Julian didn't do this. Stone did. She held her placid expression. We're losing. she pondered
Tormark was losing her ass in the Dieron "pocket" region and while the Federated Suns were still positioning. It was clear that regardless of whether or not she and Julian had come to an understanding. The FSN would be sailing for New Avalon and points anti-spinward.
"Tai-sho Watanabe, you will take the Carriers Mutsu and the Shinano and their groups and move to support our remaining forces in the Dieron district. Once there, you will get my naval forces organized and drive the invader from the combine." the words came quickly, once the decision was made. Watanabe was a conservative. An activist, his involvement with the pro-war faction was something she was well aware of, and the man had been maneuvering in the forces to usurp her authority to create a Bakufu.
"Hai!" so she gave him what he most wanted.
"Depart immediately." she said. The man hurried away, vindication and joy in every step.
"Tai Sho Hamado, withdraw the Hiryu and her assets, along with any of our transportable naval assets to Quentin. Leave a token force for the hated Davions to overwhelm at New Avalon. The holding there is of no practical value to the Dragon but, it will entice them into walking into a trap."
Hamado knew the real score. The DCA didn't have the resources or the assets to hold such a long front, and the DCMS was still fighting an ongoing guerilla campaign in most of the occupied worlds spinward of the prewar border. By withdrawing forces and shortening the front line, she would preserve her fighting forces for the enemy rolling coreward from the Republic.
The other potential front...the one she was certain to her bones Stone was struggling to unleash was the Rasalhague Dominion. We need enough assets to stop them...and we don't have them with how extended we are into the Federated Suns.
That border was momentarily quiet, but she could feel the threat there, beginning with the kindly worded note from Rasalhague's foreign minister, severing diplomatic ties.
[On Rasalhague in office of the Elected Prince...]
"The decision is made. Clan Wolf is attacking the Republic, our ally, and you propose a foolish solution by staying neutral?" Khan Bekker stated, "In matters of war, the Khan leads. The Riksdag agrees with my position. The Dominion will act on behalf of our allies."
She laid the vote of the Rasalhague civilian legislators on the desk of the Elected Prince. "The Republic has agreed to provide us with ships. Our target is Luthien."
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