Coming up aces, in other words!
"My Lord, Admiral Jónasdóttir has a tight beam transmission for your eyes only."
The voice of... Sauvot, that's his name, interrupted his celebration.
About the construction traitor, no less.
But, now she was his transport ship boss. What was so important that she had to talk to him personally?
Well, no harm in it!
He made his way over to the communications room... helped along by his bodyguards, that took his lacking sense of direction as normal by this point.
Was it the red line or yellow line that led him to the Wolverines?
"I'm here. What's up." He said, enjoying her wince at his casual language.
"My King, your plan has succeeded. We've been given a 14 day exclusionary travel zone at the L3 Lagrange Point, as well as a 100,000 kilometre wide travel route to New Oslo. LCAF Navy has seconded Eggers Shipping vessels around New Oslo for the duration of this crisis. I am looking forward to the success of your plan!" Her voice and shuddering holographic form was full of jubilation.
"Plan? What plan?" His, meanwhile, was full of confusion.
"My King, didn't you plan for this?"
"No? I don't even know what this is. What exclusion zone? Why is the Navy taking control of your ships?"
"... if you do not know my King... then neither do I. We have been given no explanation as to the reason for this."
He paused. So. There was something... fuckey going on here.
"Do they have the authorisation for this?" He asked, voice serious.
"Yes sir, it is the Archon's signature, through Margrave Winston Munster."
"So... Archon Alessandro?"
Her eyes narrowed on the hologram.
"Yes sir. I think, that we have not been informed on something of critical importance. Shall the Wolverines investigate this matter further, My Lord?"
++ System Reminder; Assets seconded for non-Educational purposes count as full Assets. ++
"Yes... urgently please."
Fucking System, always ready to screw him over!
December 12, 2992 New Oslo
"Sauvot-" A cough interrupted him.
"Right, Number 13, Any news on what is happening with that exclusion zone?"
"No sir. The Wolverines have not been able to uncover anything regarding this. Our contacts with the LIC have been quiet, while this isn't abnormal, we cannot be sure if this is part of standard LIC operations... or if they have been ordered to keep quiet by the Archon."
Huu was worried.
Very worried.
"If there is an invasion, Eggers Shipping does have the firepower to shut it down, yes?"
"Yes sir, currently there are 450 Razorsquigs in inventory. We have 100 pilots, but this is enough to ward off any invasion force. However..."
"However?"
"However, if Admiral Jónasdóttir does break with LCAF orders to destroy a potential invasion force... that will be considered grounds for a trial of treason My Lord... and since Admiral Jónasdóttir was ennobled by yourself... if she is convicted, you can be convicted by extension. She is reluctant to do anything that may endanger you."
Right. That was a thing.
"Right, right... keep at it. I can't believe that nobody is willing to say nothing."
+_+
December 13, 2992, New Oslo
And now, everything had come back wrong.
He had been betrayed.
No.
It wasn't his people that had done it.
He had been attacked.
He had been optimistic, had been ready to celebrate, a three month cycle with a simple objective, with his Kingdom (what did you even do with a Kingdom) losing him money.
He had even, just yesterday, achieved his objective of raising life expectancy! He had become allergy free! All that money into healthcare had worked out for the best of everyone. They got to live longer, he got to become allergy free!
Which meant, that for the last week, Huu had been devouring things with milk and milk byproducts. Like cheese-sausages. Or regular milk! All the things that had been denied to him over the course of two lifetimes! Or just walking around without a mask. Which was actually... kind of cold. All that air on your face? That's cold, what the hell, world. Why is there so much... moving air outside?
Or the hand-eye coordination. Being able to catch balls that were thrown at him, being able to walk in a straight line without tripping over his feet. Being able to run a marathon without falling on his face at some point. Or swing a sword and not have it fall on his toes!All the things that made him feel great!
All the things that were now at risk of being denied!
These... fuuuuuucking Combine!
What had he done? What had he, Huu Eggers, had done to the Combine? Why had they attacked him? Were they stupid or something?
Oh, the incredible rage he felt towards them at this moment in time.
Why? Because, right now, he had 6 months to solve the problem before his Noblesse rewards were stripped away.
Fuuucking, System, always ready to screw him over.
++ ... ++
So. He had to deal with the Combine.
Who had the fucking gall to invade his planet. Sure, he hadn't asked for this, but they were his now, his loss making citizens, and the Combine was here to kill his people?
Yeah, nah.
Not happening.
++ Bum Beep Boop. ++
What now System? The Combine is invading, and attacking my people, and making life a pain in the ass. What are you here for?
++ Noblesse System New Objective Host! Host must demonstrate Noblesse Oblige by preventing further harm to Host's citizens. If a True Noble cannot protect their citizens, they must avenge them! Protect your citizens or avenge them, Host! Make sure this never happens again. Like a True Noble! Solve this conflict within 6 months Host! Further Noblesse System Objectives blocked until crisis has been resolved. ++
...
Fuuuuucking System!
Huu was irritated beyond belief.
But.
But these were his people now, and well, he had always been accused of being a hoarder. Even when something had risen to a worth of a thousand American dollars on the marketplace, he had been unwilling to sell his collectables. An eclectic collection who's only connection being that they were his.
The people of the Kingdom, the Rasalhague Kingdom?
These were his people now.
He didn't need the System to tell him that.
They were his loss making citizens.
Letting some... idiots assume they could just come in and kill them withoutthey could just come in and kill them without some kind of retaliation?
Impossible.
Which, was naturally, when things got worse.
"My lord. I have something urgent to tell you." Mairi, Vice-Lord, head of his personal guard. A personal guard that was so personal, he had forgotten what it was like not to hear the whine of the hydraulic assists.
"More urgent than... this whole invasion?"
"Yes Lord, more urgent." The voice at a whisper, as the other guards surrounded them to block out sight and sound.
So, he had followed to a guard station, one operated by the Wolverines. Guaranteed silence.
"My Lord. We have been betrayed... by the LCAF, and members of your inner circle."
Ah. So, he had been betrayed. His gut instincts... always right about the worst things.
"The invasion fleet?"
"Yes Lord. Admiral Jónasdóttir and Lady Sandra have received orders as of five minutes ago. The fleet is to guard the passage of the Combine dropships so that they may make planetfall. The Archon plans to use this opportunity to deliver a crushing victory upon the Combine to stabilise his rule. They bear the witness signatures of Margrave Winston Munster, Kommodore Marci Tandevaal, Kommandant-General Anton Brein... General Marzio Cocci... and your father."
"All these people working to harm my people for... Alessandro... And Jónasdóttir cannot move without permission... or she'll get tried for Treason."
"Yes, Lord, she is willing to take the risk and is preparing to move now. If she destroys the fleet and commits suicide, it will keep New Oslo safe."
"Denied. De-fucking-nied. She is one of my people, I refuse to allow Alessandro fuck this up as well. He's fucked up Deep Raid, he's fucked up Kalidasa, and he's about to fuck up New Oslo. He's not going to fuck up my people as well."
"Lord, if the fleet lands on New Oslo... your people will be caught in the crossfire."
Huu took in a deep breath.
Right.
Sacrifice one to save the many?
In his past life, he had always advocated sacrificing the one to save the many. But in this situation, as much of a traitor as she was, making him profits... was that enough to condemn her to death? It was just profits... and she was one of his.And... Lord. I have just received an update, Margrave Munster has produced a direct order from the Archon. He bears orders in the Archon's handwriting, and it has been genetically verified. It... it says that any who disobey the orders contained wherein will be executed for treason on the spot. Their superiors for failing to control their subordinates will be tried for treason."
Huu took in a deep breath.
"And how does he have the authority for this?"
Mairi looked uncomfortable.
"He is Margrave. His is a military appointment on behalf of the Archon. While he acts, he has the Archon's authority. He... can trial civilian nobles such as yourself regardless of rank. Margraves in the past have done so before."
Huu felt Alessandro's regard... or disregard his people. Treating them like... chess pieces on some imaginary board.
"What... options do I have? I am not exactly a tactical master on the battlefield." He admitted it freely. Looking at Mairi through his helmeted head.
"As of this moment, sir, the only forces that have not been seconded to the LCAF for the duration of this conflict are yourself... and ourselves as your Honour Guard. If you wish to act, sire, without being tried for treason, you may only act according to the Brandenburg Reforms of Nobility and the recent Tharkad Reforms of Nobility. Specifically, you may defend your planet on your own initiative, as long as you do not co-opt LCAF assets to do so."
"So... it's just you and me, and the Veelvraat then?" The few to protect the many? Or was that hubris?
"Yes Lord. The EDF and Wolverines have been given their orders. The EDF will serve on the front... and the Wolverines are to travel and find berth in the Eggers Shipping vessels for the duration of this conflict."
...
He thought back to his high school education. The Articles of Acceptance, that each planet signed gave the Archon the ability to commandeer any private military force in the Commonwealth, didn't it? It had made sense in school and, he had made a presentation supporting it. Centralising authority in the face of disparate enemies or something. He would like to go back in time to smack younger him over the head.
+_+
December 2992, New Oslo
Sitting inside of the control room, beside his father, and strangely, not his mother... and assorted command personnel. Only two of which were not LCAF or LCAF adjacent, Marzio (the actual traitor) and Guðlaug. Huu looked at the image that was being displayed on the holo-console.
"Why, exactly, is there a 14 day travel bubble around the pirate point?" He asked, looking with irritation at those around him. His father, the system-commanders, the militia commanders, of course Marzio (he would get even) were here. Wanting to get some answers from someone that wasn't his own guards.
Answers from those that had given the orders.
The people, in other words, who were in charge of the defensive operations of this battlefield.The response from those around him was not... encouraging.
"An exclusion zone was ordered in the area around the lagrange point, my King."
His head swung to the right.
"An exclusion zone? Right before an invasion force jumps into my system? An exclusion force that will serve to do nothing but protect these jumpships, which, I might add, all arrived intact, in formation... as if they knew exactly where to jump. Who gave that order?" His voice, if anything, was glacial at this point. for those in the room, it felt as if there was a specific twinging sensation in their ears as the sound caused bones to vibrate unpleasantly.
"Well, King Eggers. We have... over the last several months observed a great deal of build-up of the Combine DCMS in the last several months. This has led us to assume that they will be launching an invasion. We have worked out a... tentative plan that the DCMS was likely pursuing... and have worked on a... wordless understanding." The naval officer spoke, his tabs indicating he was from the LCAF-Navy. Which, in turn, meant that he had no authority over him. As much as he might wish otherwise at this moment.
Huu put a hand up, stopping the man from continuing.
"The Coordinator, whoever he is, wanted to kill off some officers, Warlords, whatever. Why were they allowed to jump in... and leave safely. Why is this being allowed? Why wasn't I consulted?"
The room took in a breath, unwilling to speak, before his father interrupted.
"Well, two reasons really, son. First, we've gotten reconnaissance of the Combine worlds by jumping 24 light hours away from their worlds in the region. Observing the planets closest to us, in the traditionally Rasalhague region. They're all defenceless. Worlds in the Combine proper, have been fortified to the same level that New Oslo has been. Roughly 20 worlds along the Commonwealth and Kingdom borders have been identified." Phan ticked his fingers off.
"Takashi is essentially saying-" He was cut off by the Hologram at the head of the table.
"What Takashi is saying is irrelevant. As King under the civilian articles of nobility, you have no military authority in this situation. The LCAF, has no obligation to keep you informed of any military actions within the Commonwealth. Please understand, King Eggers, you are here as a courtesy alone. If you, or your people, break with the orders that have been set forth, you will be tried and executed for treason under the Articles of Acceptance which govern the realm." His bushelled face, a beard that ran down his neck, wrinkled face, and crows feet at the eyes did not lend well to the image of a young, dynamic commander. Rather, this one looked as if he were chosen solely because of social connections.
"There are no exceptions. I speak with the Archon's authority in this matter, and Archons past have removed House Tamar and House McQuiston from their positions. Archon Alessandro is not afraid to do the same again to another District House. I hope you understand. The plan is as follows. The Jumpships will be allowed to leave, the dropships will be allowed to land. Upon landing, they will be the Combine's armies will be destroyed. The LCAF will launch a counter-attack. Everything else is beyondyour remit as a civilian authority." He finished, glaring about the room.
"So we let his jumpships get away, let his soldiers kill themselves honourably on the ground. Why? Why should I let this happen? Why can't I, as King of the people of Rasalhague, order the dropships annihilated before they even breach atmosphere. What about the orbitals?" Huu had sat himself down, elbows on the table. Fingers interlaced, thumbs supporting his chin.
"Again, you are a civilian noble. I am Margrave, of military rank. I outrank all civilian nobles, which includes yourself. Further, regardless of rank, the LCAF has made it clear, you are to leave this alone. It is beyond your remit. Leave the fighting to the soldiers, King Eggers, we know what we are doing." His smugness almost radiated off the hologram.
He could see the reasoning. Mairi and Guðlaug had explained it to him. That this would result in a battle so bloody it would buy half a decade of peace.
Yet, where was this understanding here, now? Where was the explanation for using his planet, his people to achieve their goals. Goals that they were not even willing to explain to him? What fresh hell was this bullshit?
That he hadn't even been consulted over it? That he hadn't been told that this was happening? His people were suborned from underneath him?
And worse of all... it had been done legally according to the Commonwealth laws and customs... of which he was a part.
His only option here was, in simple terms... was to rebel. He couldn't even push a lawsuit, not when Rasalhague didn't even have a representative on the Estates General as an associate member of the Commonwealth.
Fingers to temples, he paused.
"So this has all been planned out. There's nothing I can do to stop this."
"Well..." Muttered one of the analysts, silencing after a stern look.
"Nothing I can do to stop this, that won't make everything infinitely worse, for my people and myself."
A pause.
"Correct. Accept it and move on. I was appointed directly to this role by Archon Alessandro. I can guarantee you, that I know exactly what I am doing." Again with the insufferable smugness.
He took in a deep breath, stood up, and leaned forward. Both hands on the table.
"Let it be known, here and now, that I consider this a betrayal by Archon Alessandro Steiner. Consider myself, King Eggers, First of his Name, to be opposed to the Archon. In every action he will take, in every policy he may propose, I will tell the people of the Commonwealth just why, I, King Eggers, who has been betrayed by Archon Alessandro, disagree with everything he is doing. I will, under my rights as a Lyran Citizen, publicly tell everyone, why he is a threat to the Commonwealth. I will be exercising my rights to their fullest, Margrave. This does not end here."
In the meantime, I will be exercising my own rights as a civilian noble. I will be training to use an Armsman suit. Let me know where they will land. As King, I will be there, fighting with my people. Exercising my right asa noble under the Brandenburg Reforms." He stood up and walked out. Not letting them get a word in as he did so.
Ignoring the storm of protests that were coming from those in the room. Most pointing out how his allergies were going to get him killed. How he just wasn't ready. That the marathons were just physical training, not actual combat training. And, of course, that he couldn't do this, it was an LCAF affair, that he, as a civilian was forbidden from doing this.
But, that didn't matter, even if the allergies had still been present. These were his people, they were being expected to die for him... and they, in turn, expected him to treat those deaths as meaningful.
To give them the respect they deserved for it.
And so, he would be there for them, in the words of the Noblesse System, it was required to be a true Noble.
++ Host is truly on the path to Nobility. Host has self-actualised True Nobility! Host to be rewarded with actual battle skills. True Nobles lead from the front Host! ++
Right. This time, at least, he felt better about a System message.
+_+
December 30, 2992, New Oslo.
Sitting on a makeshift chair, that more resembled a throne, Huu Eggers, King of Rasalhague, First of his name, waited.
As a noble, he should lead from the front.
As a King, he couldn't risk himself unless absolutely necessary. His death would do more harm than his meagre assistance.
Yet.
Yet, here, now, in the Cradle where the Combine had sent the majority of their forces, he was waiting. Unable to help, unable to contribute.
"Artillery has breached zone 95. Emergency triage teams being routed to repair the damage."
"Exosuit push along Blocks 123A, to 126A. EDF forces are being pushed back by due to presence of Light Battlemechs."
"Blocks 87A, 142C, 10C have been retaken by militia forces. Medical triage has been dispatched. Militia units have been classified as combat ineffective, 60% losses."
"Battlemech combat in level 1 maglev area concluded. Combine mechs have been routed or destroyed. Wreckage preventing further movement."
"EDF 1st Company, 4th Battalion, 95% casualties. Combine deploying fragmenting shells in tunnels of Block 32A."
The voices continued to rise and fall in the command centre around him. Huu himself, clad in an Armsman suit, as were all of those in the room. Large wires underneath sheets of tape, connecting to different communications hubs and the matching consoles. A mere one hundred and fifty metres from the front. 5 hexes, nigh-impenetrable, in other words.
The command staff rushing bodies back and forth, in and out of combat as necessary.
Voidy was unconcerned, lifting the fingers on his left hand one by one. Raising itup and dropping it. The matters of humans were just... not of concern to the creature, apparently. Not the way his people would need mental health services as standard after this, not the way the weapons his companies were producing contributed to this grinding death-slog.
The sheer, grinding nature of the conflict meant, in simple terms, that any unit that was sent to the tip of the spear, would be ground down until it was barely functional. There was no other way around it, not when one or two individuals were at the very front of the battlefield, hundreds of men and women behind them. Marching forth into a firing squad as the ones in front died, and the ones behind replaced them.
Those that wanted to avoid that fate by shooting around corners and corridors given the zigzag nature of the tunnels, resulted in stalemates... broken by the same grinding death as mentioned above.
As King, he listened.
These were his people, and they were dying in his name.
A King that, really, hadn't been part of their lives for all that long. That didn't have that much of an impact, not when it was his department heads that were doing the work. He was, there, as he was now, a figurehead. As he was now.
It was, basic courtesy then, to listen to the voices of his people as they fought and died, as he sat here impotently. To do this for them, to hear their final words even if none else could.
Their screams, their pleading, their begging for mercy, calling out for loved ones, mothers, fathers.
He sat.
He listened.
For these were his people.
"Mairi." He said over the private communications channel he had with his Veelvraat, one that wasn't accessible by Heimdall... one of the perks of being a designer in the system.
"My Lord?"
"The ones who planned this. The ones who organised this... bloodletting of my people. I want them gone."
"Asking us to kill the Archon does count as treason, my Lord." Mairi's voice was light, almost jovial. He too must feel frustrated regarding this matter.
"The Archon... let's think on it, he's too far away to reach right now. But for the rest. I want them gone, a warning to everyone else who thinks of my people as nothing more than... tools for their glory." His voice was alien to him, unfamiliar. Cold. He did not like this side of himself, hated it, in fact. For his people, he would accept it.
"Yes my Lord. We will... work on it." "And he was as deadly serious in this as Huu's. Both wanted retaliation for this.
"Breakthrough, Block 34B, militia forces have been driven back. No reinforcements within range. Possibility of large-scale breakthrough is possible. Sending request for reserves to be moved up!"
"Impossible, reserves have been deployed to 8 breakthroughs on B-Level."
"Bastards played us! We need to get something there or they will break through and encircle our forces on B-Level."
"Issue the order for the units to retreat, we cannot allow them to be encircled, we'll block off the area and enclose it!"
"Freight elevators to levels A and C are present within the area!"
The burble increased as the panic increased.
Huu sat upwards, the slight whine of his hydraulic assists not audible at all in the noise. His Veelvraat, however, noticed.
"My King?" Vice-Lord Mairi asked, voice concerned.
"Reserves are needed to prevent the collapse of this front. Are we not reserves?" His voice was genial, one might say... calm.
"My King, while it may sound serious, such a breakthrough will result in less than 6% of the Section falling under Combine control. It is a small portion of three levels, such matters do not need your personal intervention. You currently don't have the training to make a difference, my King, pardon my bluntness." Mairi sounded as if he were trying to placate a feral cat.
Huu meanwhile had stood up, he had a duty to his people as their King.
"Lead the way Vice-Lord. We have a breach to plug."
The room had paused in seeming shock, their faceless helmets still displaying some kind of shock at his intentions.
Huu was already moving, his system-imparted personal skills (he was sensing a theme), giving him the ability to move the suit at all. His marathons at the system's directions giving him the stamina to train in said suit over the past 27 days. He was, given the system had imparted the skills directly to his brain and body, quite good.
This would be the first combat trial, he was shaking in fear.
Legs were soft.
Hands couldn't stop shifting around.
Only able to stand upright because of the Armsman exosuit.
But.
He had a duty, expectations to fulfil.
January 2992, New Oslo
Mairi watched the Lord, as much as he could, from their relative positions in the small room.
With a large kite shield on his left arm, eschewing a machine-gun altogether, and a mining pick, not dissimilar to that of prospecting geologists with its square spiked head. His Lord had strode forth and demonstrated heretofore unseen skills in the operation of an Armsman suit.Descending into what could only be called a silent berserker rage, their Lord had stunned the Veelvraat by slaying multiple Combine Armsman. Using the simple concept of a shield being more useful in these close ranges, to close in under fire, to batter aside arms and blades, opening them up for the spike into neck and joints. Unable to hear anything from his command authority override besides panting, the Veelvraat could only watch as he smashed the pick down into vital organs, smashed shield into faceplate.
Hammering repeatedly as necessary until a death had been confirmed, blood gushing from the ventilated holes in their armour.
Their Lord, demonstrating the effectiveness of the system to such a degree, that he had inspired a following. Going beyond just melee weapons and a gun, to melee weapons and a shield.
Like a warrior of old.
Not that their Lord was perfect, eight times now they had to pull him back lest he overextend, or suffer catastrophic armour damage.
Coincidentally, over the past 3 days, there had been 8 breaches. The sheer mass of Combine seeking passage within. Combined with the King's insistence on being at the forefront of the reserves, had seen them rushing about regardless of casualties. If the Veelvraat hadn't been here, their Lord would have died several times over.
Unable to see the strategic situation, he had rushed in blindly, almost like his mother in a way. Yet, unlike his mother, he wasn't able to think about the wider situation, instead focusing on the here and now to the point of tunnel vision. Unable to realise he was about to extend far past the protection of his Veelvraat, his gluttonous ones.
Which, really, was saying something given they were the best.
As Mairi shoved his short sword into the neck of a Combine Armsman, his shield swinging upwards to open said Armsman to said strike. He called out over the short-wave radio "reinforcements?"
"Inbound Vice-Lord. 3 minutes. Combine forces on New Oslo have been whittled down. Their main offensive capabilities are withdrawing for one final stand at their dropships. These are the last of them on New Oslo."
The voice of his command liaison came through.
Mairi acknowledged before turning his head back to the front. Two of his men carefully tapping their King to pull him back. His Hyperdimensional pet ending the last threat by simply phasing through the helmet. The body dropping as if its spine had been cut. Which, really, was exactly it. The armour cleaning teams mentioning the words 'explosive deconstruction' to explain the effect on the unfortunate soul's head... assuming their soul had passed onto the afterlife once Voidy was done with it.
His King looking down the tunnel as the Veelvraat secured it. Finally, (to Mairi's relief), he started the trek back to 'their' lines.
As satisfied as the Wolverines had been regarding the idea of a leader who was... capable of fighting in his own trials.
It was also terrifying.
All knew of the ending of the Great Father, Nicholas Kerensky. Knew how the Clans had degenerated once he had died, the chaos that would unfold if their new Great Father, Huu Eggers had died before his vision could be realised.
Now, despite their King's miraculous skills with an Armsman (which, really, how did that happen?) he wasn't going to get himself killed in the final moments of this battle.
The Combine had fought with... suicidal tenacity.
To prove that even though war had changed, their way of life was worthy of respect.
They still died, of course.
In their thousands.
But, in a way, he could respect it.
He could also respect a leader who know how to delegate. Handling the... vengeance of New Oslo were a few Wolverines of the more... clandestine leanings. A message would be sent on behalf of their Lord. All who had half a brain would heed it.
Duchess Eggers had been at the forefront as always.
Having had to make significant concessions to prevent herself from dying from the sheer attrition that battles on this scale possessed. For all her skill, one couldn't dodge hundreds of projectiles from a hundred different angles.
Shooting at range in her custom Smialy, utilising a 120 mm sniper-cannon to fulfil her urges. The inability to get in close, grating on her the entire time. Frustrated at how this had turned out, how the LCAF had muscled in and demonstrated, again, their incompetence.
Some had said she was immeasurably jealous of her son for being able to fight hand to hand in the tunnels.
Mairi shook his head to clear it, things were winding down... soon there would be the counter-attack, and it was going to escalate once again.
+_+
March 2992, Casere
Huu frowned.
In order to get the jumpships required for a counter-attack on the scale, he demanded. Enough to get dropships over every world in the 'Rasalhague region' that the Coordinator (the bastard) had left under-defended. He had to use the communications dropships. The LCAF wanted small counter attacks, wanted to show they were reacting.
Huu said fuck that noise. If they were doing this, he would push to the hilt. No more raids, no more weak little pushes as Alessandro had planned out. A big... re-enactment of Deep Raid or something equally useless.
No.
He would take these worlds, fuck Takashi, fuck Alessandro. The moment the emergency orders had been concluded, he had sent orders for the EDF, his people Cocci, to move out. The Archon wanted a victory? He would give them a victory.
His.
The massive mobilisation had meant the massive mobilisation of his eudcational jumpships. Something that had meant they were now counted as non-educational.Which meant that they were, for their total value of hundreds of millions of C-Bills each... were added to his asset valuation. Nigh trillions. Every single jumpship and dropship pressed into temporary military service.
He was going to be making profits this cycle, no matter what he did.
There wasn't enough actual liquid assets to spend to create losses to counter the sheer number of dropships and jumpships he had.
And so, in accordance with the emergency procedures, had declared it an emergency. The cycle would pause...
And he would make a profit for this cycle. But, thanks to the pause, not make a profit over the next cycle, and the cycle after that because of these assets. For however long this emergency would last.
For his people, he had willingly made a profit. To finish this farce of a conflict as soon as possible, he was willing to... ugh, talk to people at a party. His wedding with Iris was still pending... maybe he could talk to people there and finish the penalty that way?
There was also a victory over Alessandro.
The cost? Enormous profits.
The satisfaction of destroying his plans? Priceless.
He hoped they appreciated the lengths he was going to in order to protect them, his loss-making citizens, his people.
Standing inside the Haptic Control System of his Smialy, itself clamped inside the Sojourner Class Retro-Dropship, the cigar-like vessel and its ilk being pumped out of Eggers Orbital Construction slipways... a large number of them that were currently deployed... counted as assets.
He shuddered.
The sheer profits this war had made, despite all the money being spent on ammunition, pay, transport... the sheer profit in assets was killing him.
"Ready for drop!" The voice called over the intercom. The hundreds of Smialies attached in boxes that opened directly into the void. A pair of rails and clamps allowing the loading of each Smialy (sideways)... and served as a boost to shoot them out if necessary. The design for separate Standard Container units, working perfectly with a plastic case in the same shape containing a Smialy.
Like now.
The sensation as they burned through Casere's atmosphere, the twisting sensation in his body telling the King that the dropship was spinning at the same time. Ready to shoot them out like a seed dispenser on a tractor. Depending on the pilot, one could aim for a general spray... or a concentrated deluge. Ejecting containers in the event of a hazard, performing the same role in the case of a planetary invasion.
Huu for his part had double-checked the mech-scaled parachute before climbing in. The only method to slow down the fall of the Smialy. As King he would be here, to finish this entire conflict as a Noble should.
If he didn't die here... this entire conflict would end... and he could get back to making losses. Looking after his loss making citizens.
Damn the Combine for making him do this!
Killing his people, swaggering into his Kingdom, slapping his face.
Damn Takashi for making him play into this.
Damn Takashi all for dragging him into his fucking game. As if he couldn't reform his own nation without using his Kingdom as a trash bin.
Damn Takashi for hurting his people, as if it were an afterthought. A side effect of letting them get one last charge in.
Damn Alessandro for forcing his hand.
Damn Alessandro for using himself and his people as pawns in his fucking power games.
Damn Alessandro for being so incompetent that he didn't even fucking ask him about his opinion on the matter.
Damn Alessandro for not even taking advantage of the enormous weakness Takashi had set up, and was just weakly poking at it. Why? Why hadn't he taken advantage of it to launch a full invasion?
Damn himself for not predicting that this would happen. For not having enough Aerospace to frighten off anyone that would try to invade. Not enough anti-orbital weaponry to scare off anyone stupid enough to ignore the ASF. For not having an army terrifying enough, that anyone with the brain too small to notice, would die before anyone even realised they existed.
As the acceleration drove him out of the Dropship, his visor displaying the bright blue sky beyond.
When this was all over, hopefully, in the next few days... he was going to rethink just how his Kingdom was defended.
Because the idea of something like this happening again, to his people, was unacceptable. 7956 dead civilians, 21,981 dead EDF and Militia.
Oh and 53,829 dead LCAF soldiers. But, really, who cared. They were not his, they were the Margraves, and thus, Alessandros.The others, his people, had been ordered about by incompetent commanders, had died because of LCAF incompetence. They were the ones he considered important.
Something needed to be done about the Archon.
A change in Archon... and a new treaty of Acceptance perhaps. One that would give Rasalhague more independence in its own matters. The question then, was who would be a suitable new Archon with which to sign this treaty?
One who was close... but not too close.
He would need to think on it, to ensure this never happened again.
29,937 of his people dead because he had been attacked, unable to ward off any attempts with passive threats of annihilation from his defensive fortifications.
It wasn't to say he hadn't had his people die in battle before, civilian or otherwise. But being there in person? Listening to his people breathe their last? Knowing these were not volunteers, those that chose the life of danger and conflict?
No, in the future, his people, his civilians, the ones who didn't have a choice? This would not happen again.
If there was going to be war, it was going to be on their lands, their people.
Last edited: Aug 28, 2022
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March 2992, New Oslo.
Iris Steiner, as a cadet, had not fought on the Battle of New Oslo, as they called it. They hadn't needed the manpower.
Instead, she had continued her education... the battle taking place on the other side of the planet. The shock, however, continued to reverberate through the planet.
Still, that did not mean she was not up-to-date on what had happened, not when images of her fiancé were posted about the noosphere (she wasn't sure why Huu had been so insistent on calling the digital web this name). The image of an Armsman with the crest that Huu had adopted upon their engagement. A cracked egg on a purple, iris flower.
The shield cracked and pitted, the armour barely holding on. Yet, standing tall, ready, facing a tunnel from which Combine Armsman were rushing forth. His broad shoulders, a bulwark of security.
The photograph, taken during the battle, hid nothing of the brutality of war. The bodies underneath his feet, the blood coating everything underfoot, and Huu himself liberally. The way, there was nowhere to stand, and so they stood on the corpses of their comrades, trying to find their footing in the slippery hell that was tunnel fighting. Yet, the idea of their King, fighting in the inglorious, filthy battles in the tunnels? That had ignited a patriotic fervour in the people of Rasalhague. Truly, the idea that he was eschewing the traditional role of a noble in a Battlemech, instead choosing to stand where the fighting was fiercest had simply poured fuel into the fire.
A warrior king.
Of course, she knew, the Veelvraat would have dragged him out of there, not allowing him to continue the fight with armour that pitted and damaged. Not when exosuit combat was so lethal.
Already, the holo-capture of him sitting on a makeshift throne made of empty ammunition cases. Was being made the signature 'standby' image for anyone who wished to be seen as 'cool'. Leaning back on the boxes, right arm loosely by his waist holding his pick near the head. Bouncing it gently up and down in his palm. Left hand, face down, near chest height. The sight of Voidy as it lazily swam around his neck, like a bladed scarf.
His Armsman suit pitted and scarred, myomer visible in many different locations, yet the cracked egg on lily motif remained unblemished on his right breast. The damaged armour plate laying carelessly about him as his Veelvraat worked to replace the pieces as necessary, leaving the chest for last. The chipped and pitted kite shield, upside down, leaning against his leg. Facing partially away from the camera.
Around him there was the scene of a command centre with its array of cables and individuals working away inside. The dull blue lighting dancing off the many imperfections of the armour, the fluorescent bulbs overhead barely sufficient to lift the shadows cast by his form.
The caption 'A King Waits' was certainly poetic enough.
Enough for Iris to secretly enjoy it in private.
While she had concerns... worry... a great deal of worry about him being a warmongerpar none, the fact that he had shown greater concern for his people than that of prosecuting a war?
She thought, the solution Katrina, George, and herself had aimed for... had worked out, now that she looked at it in light of his fierce protection of his people. The desire for peace for continued prosperity, winning over his need to wage war.
The sheer, mind-numbing anger he had displayed when said people were threatened by an external enemy. Something he confessed to her on one of their weekly dates.
Which, really, should have been obvious from the sheer amount of effort he put into improving the lives of his citizens. They came before all other considerations to the King, her fiancé. He could allow many other concerns, difficulties, wars, conflicts. But anything that hurt his people? An inimical rejection that was straight from the heart.
Really, George's idea of making him King had been perfect. Giving him his own people to worry about, had indeed worked out far better than they could have ever imagined.
A small voice in the back of her head asked if being the Archon was really so bad.
Then reality smacked the voice in the head, kicked it in the ovaries, and shoved it into a dumpster. Iris knew what kind of person she was. Heir to Furillo was one thing, heir to the Commonwealth?
Just how much would be expected of her in that case, exactly?
She knew her limits.
In any case, Amelie Gipps and Marie Francoeur were seated in the same room as she was. Her living room, that had been colonised. As third year cadets, they had a great deal more freedom. Freedom to embrace the School of Conflict's oldest traditions of looting where possible. Reducing costs by mooching off others in this circumstance.
Her upperclassmen sitting in her room, nibbling on snacks, watching movies on her screen, playing on her Recreational Holographic Environment (RHE) device. Imported from Kensai Holographiks in the Free Worlds League. The premier holo-sensory producer in the Inner Sphere.
Well, Gipps was. Marie had paused the video to watch Gipps... possible make a fool of herself.
Heir to the planetary duchy of Barcelona, the Graf was wearing the sensory equipment that served to trick the body into thinking it was in a different reality. The small device in the centre of the ceiling, overlaying a different environment on the already existing objects in the room.
Visored head shifting side to side, her left arm held out as if it were holding a shield. The right hand clenched as if gripping some kind of weapon.
With a grunt, Amelie lunched forth, punching with her left hand, the haptic system vibrating and stopping her arm in its tracks, theharness tightening as it did so. Even as this was happening, the right arm moved in an upwards arc, fist pointing towards the ground. Then it came up and down again, as if she was trying to hammer in a nail.
Left arm forgotten, the small harness over her body serving to push the limb up and out of the way of an invisible attacker before Amelie froze.
"Dead!" Chortled Marie.
The battle scene was only visible to the third year cadet, the environment being the only part that the watchers could see.
But, really, Iris knew what the other duchy heir was experiencing. The small devices attached to her neck, and spine, allowing the young woman to experience fully what Huu Eggers had experienced. The feeling of dryness in the mouth, the uncomfortable sensation of armour on flesh, the sweat dripping down the nape of his neck, the echoes of his breath in the armour, the rising humidity that the filters couldn't handle. The sickening sensation felt through the hand as pick punctured suit, myomer, skin, flesh, and bone. The panicked striking on the shield, the terror from feeling said shield getting lighter as piece after piece was ablated off.
The sensory data collected from the Armsman through the Heimdall System (that she had been read in on), enough to recreate this and disseminate it to all of Rasalhague.
And... for a fee, the rest of the Lyran Commonwealth.
She herself had experienced the holo-sensory experience. Had understood then, just how... intense it was, how terrifying it was. And how deeply Huu cared about the people of New Oslo. That he would willingly do this multiple times, despite never having been trained in an Armsman suit, not even been conscripted to serve.
One hundred percent volunteer work... and he had done it willingly to protect those he considered his.
After what he had done to protect his family on Blackjack, he was doing the same in the here and now to protect his Kingdom.
After their weekly meetings, their... little rendezvouses... where they did things like... holding hands and leaning on one another. Huu being surprisingly puritan about the whole affair. For a young male, that is. Rather, it really did seem to Iris, he was much more concerned about emotional closeness than he was about physical or carnal needs.
In any case, they had met enough times for her to feel confident about this marriage match going forward. It was why she had been invited to discuss the matter with his inner circle. The matter of his betrayal by a select few of the Inner Circle.
Was it betrayal if they were doing it at the behest of his own Liege Lord, the Archon? The semantics of it, as well as the legality of it, didn't matter. Trust had been broken, for the good of the Commonwealth, yes, but... trust had been broken all the same.
Some assumed, for some strange reason, thought he would have known aboutThought he was some kind of god of foresight.
No, no, he wasn't.
Really, if she, could tell that he was rather socially blind and dense despite not being near him constantly like they were. What excuse did they have for misunderstanding him so much?
He had no more idea that this was happening any more than they did. Well, the they that wasn't Phan Eggers, Marzio Cocci, Kommodore Marci Tandevaal and Margrave Winston Munster. The LCAF officers attached to the Rasalhague region and his EDF officers taking cues from their leadership. Acting on behalf of Alessandro, on his orders, to set it all up. What did they think would be his reaction to it?
The betrayal by his people, of his liege lord?
She shook her head as Marie had a go of the holo-experience. Peeling off the sensory attachments on Amelie with quite a bit more intimacy than that which was required for such a simple task.
Now they were waiting to see what he was going to do.
Iris, being close enough to Huu for them to feel confident. Had been brought in to discuss the matter from the perspective of the Archon as a member of House Steiner.
Really, Alessandro, just tell him beforehand. Trading the Combine-owned Rasalhague worlds, in exchange for allowing Takashi's old guard to die honourably. Now he had probably made an enemy for life. One that would do anything to see him kicked off the throne for what had been done to New Oslo. That he had done it in this way, wasn't it simply because he wasn't willing to share the 'glory' of victory with Rasalhague? To gain some kind of glorious victory to outweigh his failures at Kalidasa? An attempt to... win back the public's trust?
Those, she suspected of being Lyran Intelligence, would need to decide where their loyalties lay.
Alessandro, their Archon who was acting, increasingly out of self-interest. Or Huu, their King, acting for the benefit of his people, no matter the cost.
She shook her head, more personal issues were taking up her mind. The marriage ceremony had been set for February. But now, she needed to re-organise the whole affair. Mother would help, of course, but this was her marriage. It would be done her way!
Seriously, there were calls for a victory march as well as a wedding, it was going to balloon in scale. Or, in other words, a pain in the ass that threatened to make this a circus and not an actual wedding.
"Oooh, wait. Priority television message...?" Marie asked, stopping in her placement of the sensory pads. Her wrist-mounted computer vibrating with an alert. Looking up at the screen and trying to remember where she had placed her remote.
"Here," Iris said, pressing the 'on' button.Immediately, the sound of cheering filled the room.
"Good morning! This is the 23rd of March, 2992 on the world of Casere! Formerly of the Combine! I am Sille M. Villadsen nee Mardsen, and I'm here to bring to news, to you, the people of the Lyran Commonwealth! On behalf of Eggers Media News Service, I bring you the capitulation of Casere and the end of the New Oslo retribution offensive! As of this very moment, we have confirmation that all the worlds of the Rasalhague Consortium, before being absorbed by the Combine, have been captured! Many worlds that were part of the Rasalhague Military District have also been captured. The Rasalhague Kingdom has expanded by 20 worlds in the last two months. The largest and fastest military campaign in the history of the Inner Sphere!"
The wild voice of Sille came from the television, her face, smoke smudged face visible to the camera. Grinning wildly as she waved her arms.
Behind her, stood Huu on a platform. Opposite him was probably the duke of the planet, given just how... well-made his clothes were. All Combine officials and nobles wore extremely subdued designs, brown with different liners or stripes to denote their station. It was in the cut of cloth that one could tell just how high ranked they were.
This was one was wearing imports from the Commonwealth, the leather, she recognised, as coming straight from Tharkad's mountain goats. The fur lining underneath had a distinct pattern to it, one Iris, as a Steiner could recognise, it was the exact same as her own personal jacket!
"We are here now to complete the signing of the peace! Behind them is the Smialy, piloted by Marzio Cocci." The cameraman highlighted the four metre tall machine sitting on the ground. Arms by its side, legs askew. The cylinder that made up its chest... cracked open. The body inside a charred corpse.
"Falling in the last minutes of the battle, our Eggers Defence Force head followed his King all the way here to Casere. Some have criticised him for abandoning the operational command of the operation to come here. But if he hadn't, then our King would not be here today. Stepping in to protect the King with his Smialy at the last moment, taking a PPC shot that would have struck and mortally wounded King Eggers. While his being on Casere will remain a mystery, we are thankful of his presence."
The two came forward, one a king, the other a duke. A piece of paper was set between them.
"With this, the campaign is over and the integration of these worlds into the Rasalhague Kingdom will begin! We are sure, despite the death of Margrave Winston Munster, newly instated to command the New Oslo Theatre, that the Rasalhague Kingdom will continue to go from strength to strength!"
Oh.
Her fiancé... was rather more brutal than she was expecting.
He was very non-confrontational. Hated trying to argue in-person, it was just not one of his strengths. Or anything he felt confidentThinking, stewing... and then acting afterwards? This was how he handled matters.
But.
Uh.
"Wow, Marzio and Winston at the same time? Why were they even on the frontline, who did they piss off?" Marie asked, leaning back on the floor from where she was sitting. Rocking back and forth as she did so.
"Yeah, who." Amelie muttered, eyes flicking to Iris and back.
Marie turned her head and noticed.
"No? Seriously? What did they do!?"
"Why don't you ask Queenie over here. Holy shit, what did they do to get a Military Order?"
Iris grimaced.
Military Order, the understanding that orders on the battle have the chance of getting you killed. Anything referred to as a 'Military Order' then... meant that it was essentially a suicide mission.
"I want to know how whoever it is got Winston to die. He was Margrave of the New Oslo Theatre right? There are nine... no, ten of them now in the whole of the Commonwealth. Like, seriously, it goes, Archon to Margrave to lowly Kommandant-General. They give the orders right, when it comes to the military, everyone except Generals of the Armies and the Archon has to listen to them. So, how, exactly, did a Margrave head to the front-line and get themselves killed?" Amelie, pondered, her own mother as Duchess of Barcelona, was under the authority of General Marti Lyons of the Bones Theatre. She knew that it wasn't her mother that controlled the LCAF or Militia forces in the area, it was General Marti.
"Ehhh, don't bother asking her. Iris hasn't been married into the family yet, they won't be sharing all the secrets with her yet."
Iris for her part shook her head. A vicious satisfaction within her gut, for as much as they were family, Alessandro and herself. She was about to become someone else's family, part of the Eggers family, and they also had her loyalty. Where one had clearly wronged the other, she would join the wounded side. And with two of the instigators of this entire farcical conflict dead, she wondered what would happen to the others, one being his father, the other being a Kommodore of the navy.
They were all interrupted as the video continued to play.
"We are about to... wait. What are those!?"
On screen figures clad in civilian clothes rushed out of the crowd and onto the stage. The Veelvraat moved with incredible efficiency, butchering most of them. But there were 12 against 50 or more. Only one needed to succeed. Iris' heart was in her throat, as the seconds dragged out into eternity.
And then.
A miracle.
The Smialy, ruined, cracked, the pilot inside very much actually dead, raised its right arm, mounting the rapid QF 2 pounder. Six rounds were boomed out, the first three actually hit the assassins, the rest went high. The rounds ripping through the packed assailants and easing the pressure of flesh. The Veelvraat, finishing off the rest before they could do anything else. Hastily pushing the crowd aside, their presence likely an insistence of Huu. It seemed the kind of thing he would do.
The machine fell silent, arm by its side.
The creeping quiet.
The cautious movement of the honour guard.
None were willing to come near the... impossibility.
"Black Pearl." Whispered Sille on screen, the mythos of the Battlemaster that lived again, to fight again, loomed in their minds. A dead pilot, in a crippled machine... that still delivered one final blow for the Commonwealth.
There was a pause of silence.
"You know, given the fact your fiancé has a literal hyper-dimensional squid attached to him, you would expect something like this to not be shocking. But... uh... that's still, really freaky." Marie finally said into the silence.
Iris nodded, she wasn't going to disagree.
+_+
March 2992, Casere
Guðlaug Jónasdóttir looked with satisfaction at the reports that had been read to her. Standing on the bridge of the Providence Jumpship Eggers, flagship of Eggers Shipping.
The Wolverines, for their loyalty to their King, had been left out of the conversation, the planning, the entire situation. Being sent a movement order, and accepting it as per standard traffic controls.
Then being told, as the jumpships arrived into system, in rather candid terms... that they were forbidden, per Margrave Winston Munster's orders to attack the inbound dropships. On pain of the treason of disobeying the Archon's authority. The LCAF-Navy's assets positioned threateningly near their own ships.
The Wolverines would have made a break for it regardless, but they did not have the numbers. Did not have the strength. Not when most of Eggers Shipping was not of their bloodname, not of the Clans. Did they have the numbers? No, no they did not.
And so, they had stewed with impotence as the Lyran Commonwealth had served to betray the Great Father. The LCAF and LIC cutting him out of the conversation, on orders of the Archon. He wanted them nowhere near this victory, this was to be his glorious action to win back the respect of the 'warrior and civilian castes' or, in the words of the Inner Sphere, the military and civilians. It had not worked at all, not when their King had marched into the tunnels to fightwith hammer and shield. His image spreading across the Commonwealth, the traitor Archon's influence nowhere to be found.
They had only being let in on the 'grand plan' in the last few minutes, having to come up with justifications for its existence, by order of the Archon. Betraying their oaths as they did so. Betraying the Great Father, in that meeting. A shame all would bear until their ends, a shame that had been written into the Remembrance Saga for all to know, for as long as there were Wolverines.
Until word had come from Vice-Lord Mairi, he had told their King of the truth. The truth that had him furious. So much so, that, for the first time, he had commanded the Wolverines to act as his claws.
The Great Father wanted retribution for the ones that had brought this upon his people. To ensure the lesson was learnt, and that this did not happen again in the future.
Kommodore Marci Tandevaal had died when his Providence Class Jumpship suffered a misjump. Strangely enough, all of the Eggers Shipping crew members were absent when the ship left the Spittal System en-route to Casere.
None had survived.
The Margrave had found himself being sent a message from the 'Archon' to carry his flag into battle. Winston Munster had found his drop-pod failing. One of... several... containing certain officers. The Atlas he was travelling in serving as his tomb. His body... explosively deconstructing upon impact.
And now Marzio. Given a military order by King Eggers himself, had accomplished the objective grandly.
Dying in place of their Lord, redeeming himself in the process.
The first two deaths were due to her, of course. Who else had access to the jumpships and dropships besides Eggers Shipping?
The only one spared as his father, on account of their ties of blood. He would still be exiled to Rasalhague for his part in this.
It would be a lesson to all that thought they could take advantage of her King.
Be they Archon... or First Lord.
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