Jay Allan - The Cost of Victory

Cain and Jax followed the lieutenant down the familiar corridor to the general's office. "Colonel Cain and Major Jax, sir."

Holm was looking at something on an infopad and, without looking up, he said, "Thank you, lieutenant. Dismissed."

Raynor snapped the general a fine salute, then turned and gave one each to Jax and Cain before marching smartly back into the hallway. Cain laughed after the door closed. "That kid's nothing if not a damn fine saluter."

The general was still staring at the 'pad on his desk, so he didn't notice Cain's cursory attempt at a salute, though he'd seen it plenty of times before. "Better than your sorry efforts, Erik. It's a damned good thing you have a few other skills." He finally looked up and they all shared a laugh.

General Elias Holm was one of the true heroes of the Corps. A veteran of the last war, he'd shown himself to be a military genius in this one. Cain and Jax were two of his protégés; the general had been a mentor to both of them since they’d first served under him as sergeants right here on Columbia when the planet had been attacked by a CAC strikeforce.

"I'm just reviewing these final reports on Sherman before I send them up the chain." He motioned toward a table against the wall. "Get something to drink and have a seat. I'll be done in a minute."

Operation Sherman had been a massive campaign intended to liberate systems that had been occupied by the enemy during the early years of the war, when the Alliance had been beaten back. Originally targeting six objectives, the campaign had been scrubbed after three when the attached naval resources were diverted to Gliese 250. Admiral Garret had been the naval commander for Sherman, but Alliance Intel had picked up a lot of chatter about Gliese, and the high command wanted to reinforce the fleet stationed there. Without Garret's battlegroups, Holm's operation was at a standstill, so his battered but victorious forces returned to their staging area on Columbia.

The three battles they had fought had been nasty. Some of the target worlds had been held for eight or nine years, and the enemy had spent that time fortifying them heavily. Garret's ships blasted as much as they could from orbit without wrecking the worlds, but these were friendly populations, so there was only so much indiscriminate bombing they could do. There were still plenty of strongpoints for the Marines to assault.

The invaders had been hard on the occupied populations, and when the Marines got a glimpse of the atrocities that had been committed, they stopped taking prisoners. When Holm got a look, he stopped trying to make them accept surrenders. Two of the battles had gone nuclear, and after years of occupation and nasty fights to liberate them, the colony worlds were in rough shape. Alliance Gov had promised to expedite relief to the worlds, but it was slow in coming. The Marines left the supplies they could spare - mostly extra rations and medicines - but it wasn't nearly enough.

Cain and Jax grabbed bottles of water and sat in the two large chairs facing Holm's desk. Finally the general looked up from the 'pad and managed a smile for his officers, however forced it might have been. "I have better over there than just water if you boys want something a little stronger." Holm was a bit of a drinker, though Cain had never seen him less than 100% sharp.

Cain and Jax both shook their heads. Erik rarely drank, and as far as he'd seen, Jax never did. Besides, Holm had a water sitting on his own desk too, and neither of them would have taken anything if the general didn't.

Holm looked over at Cain. "So I take it that Jax got to you before your new friend? I don't have any reports of a shooting in the quad, so I consider that a good sign."

Erik took a drink from his water. "No, the fool had just introduced himself when Jax came over and interrupted us."

Jax snorted. "Interrupted you from telling him to stick it, I believe." He grinned in Erik's direction. "Where did you intend to tell him to stick it, exactly? Knowing you, there are a number of possibilities."

Holm broke in before Cain could answer. "Look guys, we really need to discuss how we're going to handle this." Erik opened his mouth to say something, but Holm put up his hand. "I'm serious, Erik. I know how you feel about Alliance Gov, but we're stuck with this for now."

He shoved the 'pad across his desk toward his guests. "That's a dispatch from General Samuels about these political officers. I'll let you read the whole thing, but for now let me summarize. We are to accept these liaison officers without causing any problems until he sends me further instructions. Now Samuels is my boss, and I'm yours, so I guess that's all any of us needs to know." Holm spoke to his officers in a relaxed tone, but no one who knew him thought he invited any debate.

Cain leaned back and sighed. He wasn't going to argue. The general was half hero and half father to him; he'd do anything Holm asked. He just wished it was something easier…like charging an enemy bunker with a kitchen knife. "Sir," Cain finally said, "I understand your orders but, if I may ask, what do you make of this whole thing?"

Holm leaned back in his chair and took a breath. "Honestly, Erik, I'm not sure. We all know how things are run back on Earth. It's easy for us to forget just how little of that we have to put up with out here. I suppose it's possible that Alliance Gov just wants more direct information on the war. This is their fight too, and they bear a lot of the cost."

Cain looked skeptical. "Is that what you really think?"

"I just don't know, Erik." Holm shook his head slowly. "The Corps is a lot bigger than it used to be. What was a frontier defense force is now a pretty big army, not to mention the only Alliance ground force that has combat experience. Maybe they are going to try to change the relationship we've had for the last century. I just don't know."

Erik shifted his weight in the chair. He wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure he should.

Holm could see Cain was troubled. "You can speak your mind here, Erik. You should know that by now."

Cain looked at Jax, then at the general. "Well, sir, I don't suppose I know any more than you, but I just can't escape the feeling that whatever we think it is, the truth is probably far worse." He looked at Jax again and back at Holm. "I know none of us talk about our pasts; that's all washed away when we make that first assault. But I know what I saw growing up, and I know what Sar…what some other people went through as well." Sarah Linden was Cain's lover, and she'd told Erik about her suffering at the hands of a government official who'd had her kidnapped when she was a teenager.

Erik was trying to stay calm, but his face was contorted with anger as he spoke. "I remember what I saw when I got sent back there to give speeches and pander to our political masters. That whole system is rotten, sir. Rotten to the core." He stopped, thinking maybe he had said too much.

Holm stood up and walked around his desk, sitting down on the front edge. He leaned forward and put his hand on Cain's shoulder. "Erik, you know you're like the son I never had. There's nothing you can't say to me. But I want you to be careful too. Like it or not, we're being watched a lot more closely than we were. Whatever the politicians are up to, we've still got to win this war, and I don't want my key people distracted. I don't know why General Samuels is going along with this, but he may know things I don't. For now, I'm asking you - not ordering you - not to pick a fight with your political officer. Don't let him interfere with combat efficiency, but otherwise humor him a little. It's probably the best way to keep him out of the loop. Make him suspicious of you, and he'll probably just start snooping around more and causing problems." Holm looked over at Jax. "That goes for you too, Darius."