Tangentially, the main issue that brings Kelly into conflict with the Empire is conscription (ignoring the problem of the Jhereg liking their prey to be powerless). And I don't see how a bunch of Teckla and Eastern landlubbers can possibly be of use in sea battles. Actually I don't see why the shipping lanes can't be restricted to Imperial waters and a sorcerer placed on each ship, ready to blast any enemy vessel. Actually I don't see why the Necromancer can't zap over and blast the enemy govt. Finally, it's not clear to me why Kelly should believe in the Cycle. It's clear to me he should believe in the ability of any of Vlad's friends to smear, bribe, mind-control, or assassinate the situation into control. Say you have to kill 5% of the ghetto - would it be much worse than the average big battle with the usual cannon fodder?