I tried a couple of times to turn this into a novel, but I'm not yet a military SF author like David Drake or David Weber.
By 2290 Anno Domini, it was almost universally acknowledged that that world was in splendid shape. Universities spoke once again of theology as the queen of sciences, and logic was revered. Private labs were financed as a point of pride by rich men, or by investors looking to make very big money. The New Reformation in art was producing works that were adored the world wide. Private charity had taken the place of governmental interference and coercion so that the smaller governments were known for their incorruptible officers and agents. Christianity flowered worldwide, and under its benevolent guidance, religious toleration was enforced and the sciences charged ahead.
Humanity stretched from the research labs on Titan to the power taps on Mercury.
And it had been this way for over a hundred years. The last time the world had seen this much peace and prosperity, the British Navy had ruled the seas. Nowadays, it was Americans in powered armor battle suits who stood behind their apparently unarmed young captains who guided things.
But it was rare for such to be needed as the system ran quite well.
But, as always, there were problems. One blessing or bane was longetivity research. The human lifespan for useful work was reaching a hundred fifty years. This made for subtle, and experienced leaders in all sorts of fields, and young, impatient workers who wanted to get out on their own, and do their own thing.
There were various solutions to this. Some of the olders ones took up hobbies, and others moved their competitions into more subtle things that if you were below a hundred you might not even notice. But it was not enough. Others began to trickle through the insanely expensisve jump gate found out at the Titan research lab.
A problem was spotted and a solution offered.
They knew they lived in a Golden Age. But they also knew that such ages never last. Perhaps there was a way to extend it. Take some of the best and the brightest, and offer them a chance to do good work, in the future.
Cryonics had been discovered.
The Torchthrower Project took several hundred top-notch individuals, and froze them, and put them in a starship which waited in deep space with a patient AI to listen to reports sent to it, and to the radio signals streaming between the stars. It might take hundreds of years, but eventually a colony world would be well on its way to a collapse. Then the Torchthrower starship would fly to that world, wake its small army, and send them into battle.
The grunts are young, eager, cooperative and they wear the giant power armor.
The captains are a bit older, more seasoned, and they are cybernetic.
The command rank are still fewer, and they tend to have direct access to satellite weaponry. "Sat One, foe is 100 yards to my right. Vaporize him." A hundred miles up, Sat One fires a hundred megawatt laser into the atmosphere and flash steams the target.
The top leader is the visionary, the Bearer of the Sacred Fire, the oldest by far, and a hard as rock man. He is more like Moses or Elijah than some nice grandpa.
The generations of soldier types are based on Generations Theory with the grunts being Civics, the captains Reactives, and the leader a Visionary. I'm not sure how to slot in the staff guys....
