Mazzarelli's Trachenberg Plan

Ever since his embarrassing defeat in the Toscana campaign of 221, Viktor Mazzarelli had hoped to redeem both himself and his-then commander, Chal Hugo of the latter’s disorderly conduct. In the years following the Toscana disaster, Vikor had steadily risen within the admiralty with the hopes and dreams of one day being able to lead the Metropolitan navy back to Toscana—not just for himself, but to regain the prestige of the Navy, and to honor those that died for naught.

Given the sweeping tides of the Orion Arm’s political atmosphere, however, it would prove to be a herculean task. Viktor knew all too well that politics was too finicky to be predictable; unlike many of his peers who pursued it after the distaste of Toscana, Viktor continued his career in the military.

By the year 226, Mazzarelli had climbed through the navy ranks to admiral. He worked tirelessly exploring different options of easing the relations between Metropolitan Sol and the colonies, in particular Ruthenia.

During a staff meeting with his junior officers, one of his officers, Friederika Trachenberg, suggested the idea of renewing a campaign against the 217 Mafia, with support of the colonies. Mazzarelli was actually open to the idea, and with her help authored the Trachenberg Plan: an allied coalition of Metropolitan, Ruthenian, and Frankish forces unifying for the common goal of subduing the 217 Mafia once and for all.

Mazzarelli believed that by treating the colonial and the Federation divisions as equals in this regard—oversight of the original 219 campaign—then it could provide the stepping stone that Sydney desperately needed to defuse the political standoff with her dependencies, and steer history in the right direction.

Mazzarelli would spend much of 226 touring the Orion Arm to inspect regional navies and pitched the Trachenberg Plan with senior officials, to mixed support. For many in the Ruthenia systems, the prominence of pro-Federation death squads had more priority over Sydney’s plans for suppressing the 217 Mafia and often mused to Mazzarelli that the Sydney central government was turning a blind eye towards them(the death squads).

“The Federation wishes to focus on its front yard but decidedly ignores the silent killings in its own backyard.”

- words of an unknown civilian official to Mazzareli

The Trachenberg Plan did, however, find a more favorable reaction from military officers. To his surprise, it received modest support from Ruthenia military officers as well, namely ones who were sympathetic to Metropolitan Sol. When Mazzareli met with Tory Dolz, now a vice admiral, he expected Dolz to be vehemently against the idea but to his added surprise showed a meager amount of support for it.

Dolz, much like his civilian counterparts, was more interested in watching the developments of the death squads in the Ruthenia regions. Before Mazzarelli departed, Tolz warned him it will only be a matter of time before the killings—and the general social dissent—would reach a critical peak. Dolz shared hope that the Trachenberg Plan would pave way the road to mending relations with Sydney but also feared it would not be a big enough stepping stone in the right direction

“There would be a need for a bigger push… the need to keep Trachenberg’s momentum and that is outside of our jurisdiction of course. It rests entirely on our governments to cooperate and especially for Capitol hill to relinquish its imperialistic stranglehold on us—our people—and give more say in Parliament… more representation.

"I fear the only way for change will be by painting the stars thick with blood. Our ancestors fought a war to the brink of extinction over reasons long lost. The survivors put aside differences and spent hundreds of years cooperating to impose their will on the stars. Yet, here we are, hundreds of years later on the teeter of an interstellar war with no meaning."

As our founding fathers had said in their opening inaugural—” a Federation of humanity. For the people, by the people”—not “a Federation by Terra, for Terra by Terrans””

- Dolz to Mazzarelli

Dolz wished him luck and expressed he was eager to fight side by side as equals in the incoming Toscana campaign.

It would be the last time either man would see each other on the same side of history.

By October 226, Mazzarelli returned to Terra, and while waiting for his appointment with the war ministry had tuned in to the televised proceedings of DeRyck's speech.

Mazzarelli's reaction was one of enthusiasm. He hoped that this would prove crucial for the Trachenberg Plan to succeed. In his eyes, one of the pitfalls were the orders of inexperienced officers being misinterpreted by subordinates—especially so when he read the after-action reports of officers being led by Garofano. With a more trained navy at their disposal, the Federation could subjugate the 217 Mafia with much more ease and with fewer losses.

The end of October saw Mazzarelli able to finally present the Trachenberg Plan to the war ministry, which was well received. However, for the war ministry, the glaring question remained; if the Federation and colonial divisions were to be treated as equals, then whom would be appointed supreme commander?

If they were to appoint a Federation officer, it would cause outrage in the Ruthenian camp and contradict the goals of the Trachenberg Plan. If a colonial officer was appointed supreme commander, then it would instill patriotic fervor and feed further into the secessionist movement after the events of the Toscana campaign.

After deliberation lasted for some days, it was decided that two supreme commanders would represent the duo, each with equal standing. They would both convene in the Kongriega corridor and form a synchronized timetable in order to strike as one body from two sides (Valspon and Dissenland). The war ministry hoped to initiate the Trachenberg Plan by no sooner than by 230.

In reality, however, the Trachenberg Plan would inadvertently be sabotaged by the inner workings of capitol hill and the political-social unfolding in the coming years.