Editing Arden Baxter

{{Update Needed|[[Forms of Betrayal]]}}

{{InfoBoxCharacter 
| image               = 
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| name                = Arden Baxter
| birthdate           = 
| died                = [[2425]]
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[Capellan Confederation]]
| rank                = [[Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation|Chancellor]]
| title               = 
| position            = 
| profession          = 
| parents             = [[Geoffrey Baxter]] (father)<ref name=ISp51>''Inner Sphere'', Page 51</ref>
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
'''Arden Baxter''' was the [[Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation]] from [[2415]] to [[2425]]. He is one of only two individuals to hold the title who were not members of the [[House Liao|Liao family]].

==History==
Something of a republican, Arden Baxter went some ways towards restoring the ideas associated with a republic to the Confederation. A part of his plan involved reducing the size of the [[Capellan Confederation Armed Forces]], even as he launched a campaign against "border pirates" - those border pirates being the [[Taurian Concordat]].<ref name="ED:AOWp9"/> Arden Baxter officially started the [[Rim War]] in [[2418]]<ref name="ED:AOWp5">''Era Digest: Age of War'', p. 5, "War Without Reason"</ref> by declaring a state of war existed against the [[Taurian Concordat]].  The conflict had escalated for the past 20 years, but Baxter decided to go all-out in order to claim new territories.  The war nearly cost Baxter his chancellorship and drained the Confederation treasury.<ref name=HLCC-33>''House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)'', p. 33, "One Step Back"</ref><ref>''Field Manual: Periphery'', p. 47, "Coming of Age"</ref><ref>''The Periphery (first edition)'', p. 20, "Struggle with Liao"</ref> Despite the Confederation having signed the [[Ares Conventions]] Baxter showed no mercy to the Concordat, as the Concordat had refused to sign the conventions - ironically, because of their suspicions over the motives of the Confederation.<ref name="ED:AOWp5"/> 

The drawdown of the CCAF was soon overtaxed as a result of the conflict combined with the retirements and demobilization associated with the drawdown Baxter had implemented. With so many experienced officers having retired, conducting the war fell to inexperienced junior officers. Strategically and tactically inept, those same junior officers proved to have no real grasp of how to conduct the conflict and were characterized by the brutality with which they acted. Acting outside the Ares Conventions, these same junior officers actively used weapons of mass destruction against the Concordat.<ref name="ED:AOWp9"/> Faced not just with nuclear weapons being used against their armed forces and infrastructure, the Concordat was also attacked with biological and chemical weapons, technologies supposedly outlawed by the Convention. The Concordat swiftly responded in kind.<ref name="ED:AOWp17">''Era Digest: Age of War'', p. 17, "The Conventional Century: 2413 to 2524"</ref> The war lasted five years, ending in [[2422]].<ref name="ED:AOWp9">''Era Digest: Age of War'', p. 9, "Rim War (2418-2422)"</ref> Despite having only seized two worlds against a backdrop consisting of the deaths of untold numbers of civilians and military personnel, Baxter declared the campaign a victory.<ref name="ED:AOWp9"/>

Having waged war on the Concordat, Baxter suddenly changed course in [[2423]] when he offered his support to the idea of a ''[[Thousand-World Coalition]]''. The Coalition was intended to be a defense pact that would serve to isolate the [[Free Worlds League]], but the Concordat rejected the proposal. The negotiations conducted between the two states did go some way towards improving relations between the new nations, with the Concordat shifting to regard the Confederation with wary neutrality.<ref name="ED:AOWp5"/>

Arden Baxter was killed by an obsessed [[lieutenant]] from the [[Marion's Highlanders]] in [[2425]], [[An Manliu]], as he made his way to the [[House of Scions]]. His final grave has not been located.<ref name=HLCC-33/><ref name=AGTCO>''A Guide to Covert Ops'', Page 61</ref>

==Quotes==
{{Quote|''Some people still believe that because he is in charge, the Chancellor makes every decision in regard to the state. A new power station in Hobbes on Ward? The Chancellor's will. Never mind that the Chancellor couldn't be bothered to find Ward on a map.''|Remarks recorded during the reign of Chancellor Arden Baxter<ref name="HB:HLp93">''Handbook: House Liao'', p. 93, "The Ministerial"</ref>}}

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Era Digest: Age of War]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Periphery]]''
* ''[[A Guide to Covert Ops]]''
* ''[[Handbook: House Liao]]''
* ''[[House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)]]''
* ''[[Inner Sphere]]''
* ''[[The Periphery (sourcebook)|The Periphery (first edition)]]''

[[Category: Capellan Confederation Characters|Baxter, Arden]]