My main worry is that if war is declaired that the whole quadrant will catch fire and WWI in space will happen.
If we go to war with Cardassia does that activate our treaty with the Klingons. And then if so when (not If, WHEN) the Romulans attack them, do we have to attack the Romulans after all we've been through together to improve relations?
I don't want to fight on four fronts. I don't want to loose what rapport we do have with Romulus. This came at a really bad time. Our only hope is that Celos falls within the week so that the Cardassians aren't even tempted by the idea.
However we do have a good shot at that:
1) We control the Orbitals, either the Syndicate Fleet finally comes out in the open to fight and die or we gain the most important advantage. That this force is led by one of the Premier officers of our age is a huge bonus.
2) This Uprising does not seem to have popular support, minor peaceful (if unruly) protests were cooling down before this. Federation troops may be seen in a good light due to our relief efforts and any Aerocommando units landing will be seen in a different light to the SSD and other law enforcement units that committed the atrocities earlier on.
3) The Syndicate forces that are there have been fighting or in hiding for a while, and critically: The Syndicate forces that took the planet were apparently mainly small teams. Once they are pinned in place and forced to defend fixed locations their numbers can be depleted quickly. Any reinforcements would have to come from conscription from the local populace... and that is very likely to backfire. I repeat the Syndicate have not be reinforced in force since Celos was originally scoured.
4) The Main force tasked with reclaiming this world: The Aeroknights. This direct assault against entrenched positions of the Syndicate's best is literally what the Aerocommandos have been doing day in and day out since day one of this conflict. With the Amarki added to them they are perhaps the most formidable force in not only Union space, but the entire Federation.
5) The local SSD may in many locations be intact. The Syndicate look to have taken the key centers of power alone in surgical strikes. The SSD units are now scattered and broken. But are unlikely to have surrendered yet due to fears of atrocity. If we move fast enough, as In have units in orbit the day of the revolt and landing any forces on the ground soon after we may be able to recoalesce those units before they break up completely, defect, or do surrender.
6) If we move within days the Aeroknights should be able to begin attacking before the Syndicate are fully settled in and have repaired the damage that they caused to take Celos in the first place and also critically: to scour the networks for backdoors and security codes held by loyal government forces and remove them.
Essentially I want to go in hard and go in now. Damn the casualties. We can hand the Cardassians a fait accompli in a week and tell them to fuck off because there is nothing for them here.
EDIT: The fact that this rebel government is calling itself "Corporate" is actually a huge boon to the Union Government. Reforms aimed at rolling back corp influence will get a boost from people disgusted by how far they went as well as loss of support from Nationalists wondering why they are calling on the Cardassians of all people.
And on another level, the Syndicate and the Hypercorps there (which are entangled by definition with the Hypercorps elsewhere) have openly colluded on Celos. No longer can disingenuous politicians go "Oh we need the Syndicate to fight the Corps" or "We need the Corps to fight the Syndicate" both have announced that they are one and the same.
I can tell you that Maxime Sierre is happy about being able to put all the people's enemies in one big box and fight them all at once out in the open. I bet others in the government are just as happy.
