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Creative Writing
Losing Money to Become an Oligarch. [BT/SI]
Thread starterTamarind
Start dateJul 23, 2022
Tagsbattletech battletech / mechwarrior i have no idea what i'm doing self insert
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Threadmarks 051. Huu and Katherine talk New
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Tamarind
Monday at 3:23 AM
#3,338
June 2993, New Oslo
Huu came in with the shield, blocking the front of his face and the side of his chest as he did so. Right hand holding an arming sword, a thick, brutal thing. Jabbing away at the figure in front of him, trying to poke, prod, find any kind of weakness.
He knew, in the back of his head, and the front, and everywhere else, that this was a bad idea. Going defensive was ceding the advantage, a voice said.
But, the quiet voice that was now the loudest nearly screamed that without a defensive posture, he was going to find himself very dead, very quickly.
He, of course, listened to the loudest voice and hid behind his shield.
Naturally, that was when the axe came down on top of the shield, the fanged head caught around the lip and pulled away. The shield going out dragged him forward, out of balance, stumbling even. The sight of the cracked egg on a Steiner fist, the last thing he saw as the dagger held in the arm to his right came down on his neck.
'Dead' bleeped the electronic voice.
Huu grumbled, yes, I know I'm dead, he thought as the Armsman fell forward to the ground in a heap. The internal bracing preventing him from breaking his neck or something, but still, this sucked.
'Restarting' the voice said again, Huu feeling himself being lifted into the air by the neck plate. Like a kitten under a mother cat's jaws
Setting him back on his feet, his mother, the same height as he was... as in, short, patted him on the shoulder.
"Aggression, Huu. Aggression. You showed it in the tunnels, too much aggression some might say, why aren't you doing it here?" His mother asked, pushing him to one of the reinforced benches on the side of the classroom.
The gymnasium (not to be confused with the term for schools in the Commonwealth), was large, well ventilated... and filled with Armsman clad retainers of House Eggers and his own Wolverines. All practising their Exosuit Combat Arts.
He couldn't tell if they were working hard or hardly working, what with the suits covering their bodies and all. But, really, that wasn't his job in the grand scheme of things. His job, was to make sure everyone had enough money to do their work... properly and safely.
"Well, you're... not the enemy. It's a little hard to... you know, get aggressive. I might hurt you." He said, trying to get his emotions across. It wasn't great, but it was something.
"That, and I was really angry at the time. Angry at the Combine, angry at Alessandro, angry at the LCAF, angry at dad. But, now I'm feeling... normal again. Back to where I was. I'm just... not feeling as strongly about it as I was... I don't know how to explain it. It feels wrong to not be angry about it anymore."
A sigh came from his mother.
"My little emotional lifeboat. That's what you are, son. When you get down, you float right back up. If you get high, you drop right back down. There's an equilibrium, that I've never seen you deviate away from for too long. When you got angry over your Locust toy being crushed by accident, you spent an hour furious at Phan, before returning to normal. When you held hands with Baron Arrestor's daughter for the first time, you were overjoyed for half an hour, before you returned back to normal." Her voice was reassuring. Huu for his part was trying to come to grips with the description. Emotional lifeboat? He... he could see it. Not very reassuring... but he could see it.
"You've been like since you were an infant. Don't feel bad, it is just who you are. As long as you remember the reason for your anger, and keep it close... that should be enough. Learn to harness your emotions, so you can use them at any time." His mother continued, trying... in her own way, to reassure him. Patting him companionably on the shoulder... which given they were in Armsman suits was more of an almighty clang.
Pulling him onto his feet, she patted him again on the shoulder. Really, it seemed after he went and... killed some people (which he really should feel bad about... but didn't... which was worrying), she was much more open with him emotionally.
Huu didn't want to think about why that was. Was his mother a psychopath or something? The whole 'I am Katherine von Eggers' thing she did... was looking a little different now that he had actually been on the battlefield. Had killed people. Was that her big thing? It's not like he was different in any way, right? Or was it the allergy thing? Thinking about it, he had no idea what her priorities really were. Children don't really think about things like that, do they?
"If you need to get into that mindset again. Think about what put you into a more aggressive mindset to begin with. What made you angry? Why did you react the way you did? Immerse yourself, and then learn how to pull yourself out. Control the emotion, don't be controlled by the emotion." She concluded, walking back to the centre of their practice area. Seeming to want to beat him into exhaustion as part of some... martial family bonding.
Huu really wished she thought playing computer games or something counted as family bonding in her mind... not swinging sharp things at each other.
As they moved through the eighth drill of the day, and the ninth sparring practice, the involuntary king asked the question that had been on his mind since that... conspiracy meeting.
"Mom, did you know dad... Phan... was like that?"
Panting, legs locked to keep him upright after a furious flurry of blows from his mother, he waited for an answer.
"Hmmm?"
"Loyal to the Archon and... all that indoctrination stuff."
"Oh, of course. I used to run a mercenary company you know. Handled more sensitive matters. Met your father on one, this teenager, eyes of steel. Interesting boy. Followed me around and grew up... and well, I thought why not. I needed to have children, and he was the best fit."
...
"Wut."
"You don't think I was a virgin or something, do you? I know you watch pornography on your computer, it shouldn't be a..."
"No no no, I mean, no epic tale of romance, no big sweeping off feet... just... you wanted children?"
"Yes. That's exactly it. I told him I wanted children, I was Baroness through Giovanni Steiner, and he was the one I chose for the role. I wanted strong children, he had been in an LIC direct action team. I do care about him greatly, of course, a little bit more than the rest of those that are mine. In case you were wondering if I picked him like a stud without caring about feelings. You were a bit of a worry for a while. It's good to see that you carried the family line through."
Huu was being hit with multiple revelations at the same time.
The first being that his mother had... done things that turned her into a mother. He didn't want to think about that at all!
The second being that is mother had... chosen his father like... a favoured breeding bull. Which just raised even more question about what the relationship between his parents was... and how his mother even thought on certain topics.
Like... did women think like that, or was it just his mother?
Huu vowed to himself he would ask Glory and Iris about it. He never realised just how much his mother had influenced his thoughts about women before.
The third issue... he had a family genetic history? Mother never spoke of her parents... but was this a family thing? Was he looking at Iris like someone that would bear him... him... him children? No, that wasn't it, right?
Seriously, this was a mind fuck. A seriously major mindfuck.
"So everyone in our family... thinks like you?" He asked finally. Not even pretending to be going through the drills anymore.
"What do you mean think?"
"The whole... breeding thing." He was squeamish just... thinking about it.
"That? Oh, of course. Your grandmother defeated your grandfather when he participated in a raid into the bandit kingdoms in the periphery. Two years later, he returned to Blackjack with me as a babe. It is who we are."
"Mother... a sample size of two... is not a trend..."
She cocked her hip, "I would think it is."
Huu shuddered, he needed to talk to Iris.
Was this normal?
Were all women like this, or was his mother... actually abnormal?
And if she was... how much of what she taught him... was something he could rely on?
So many questions to ask, not enough answers to be found.
The rest of the conversation was... perfunctory. He wasn't planning on asking any more questions about his family right now. Not when he knew he wouldn't like the answers.
249
Tamarind
Monday at 3:23 AM
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Threadmarks 052. Noosphere consequences New
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Tamarind
Tuesday at 10:36 PM
#3,380
June 2992, New Oslo
Chisaki jabbed an elbow into Glory's waist.
Glory glared at the Loki agent.
"Have you actually told him about you being Military Intelligence yet?" She asked, a teasing note in her voice.
Glory sighed. Then nodded.
"And it went over easy yes? No rage, not shouting, no throwing things around and swearing vengeance?" Eggers Media's head continued.
"Yes. You were right. Happy now?" Glory muttered, hand to her side, restlessly checking the flap of the pistol.
"So? How did it go? How did he react?"
"He asked if I was still Military Intelligence and if I was loyal..."
"And?"
"And I said I was no longer Military Intelligence for the LCAF, and that I was loyal."
"See? Why were you so worried about it? It's not like you were Loki like me, right? There's no indoctrination to worry about!"
Glory rolled her eyes. For all Chisaki joked about it, she was deadly serious about the indoctrination.
"Yes, you were right. Happy now?"
"Yes, very happy. Veeery happy."
Ignoring her, the head of Administration continued to stare at the... sheer enormity of data on display. The 'Noosphere', itself ran by Administration, was something that linked the entire Rasalhague Kingdom. Made possible by the anaemic systems that had existed under Draconian rule. After all, it had allowed them to build an entire communications network nearly from scratch. A single network that connected all of the Rasalhague Kingdom. Connecting all the worlds within the Kingdom, as well as the planets themselves, through nigh-hourly jumpship hops. Data was never more than an hour out of date, in other words. All were under the singular control of Administration. It gave them truly enormous insight into the flow of traffic. And, more importantly, how that information was used.
Really, their King's interest in naming it, and pushing for its development, was something that likely had an impact on its success... in more ways than they had originally planned. Perhaps his 'Factor-ness' had something to do with it.
In any case, the two were sat here because this was the largest operation on New Oslo since they started using the Noosphere in this way. The command bunker for this specific Cradle, where everything could be collated into a singular interface for the command team to examine. This, not being the Noosphere inspection node, but rather the command and control centre.
The images on screen depicting Duchess Eggers and the EDF waiting outside, the largest concentration of... dissidents that they had found so far. 45 of them in a single cell, only discovered by their use of the Noosphere to communicate. In cipher yes, but really, if you were using ciphers, you were probably someone to keep an eye on. If only because of how amateurish you were and how you might be more of a threat to yourself than others.
But after an investigation, they had found something... not benign. This series of Blocks, filled with weaponry and stolen Armsman suits. A quick deployment, a message to Duchess Eggers as head of the EDF, and they were ready to now... do something about it.
They watched from the personal cameras the laser array was adjusted. The support lasers, equivalent to a medium laser, were packed into a single collection of lasery-death. Long pipes of coolant trailed along the back to a few vehicle grade heatsinks that had been sourced for this makeshift weapon, the power coming from the Hex itself. All to support the laser death spitting array.
With emphasis on the laser death.
"Begin the breach." Duchess Eggers said in her role as EDF commander. Voice cold, lacking in anything one might call human warmth.
With no need for verbal confirmation, the laser array activated... and a constant stream of laser slammed into the blast door that kept the Block isolated. 3 metres thick, it was much more resilient than any Battlemech.
In the end, however, the fact that it was a door, and not an artillery battery, prevented it from counter-attacking. The support lasers melting a path through the door and into the Block within. The silence aside from the dripping, melting metal was deafening.
"Breach." Was the simple announcement, as the camera that represented Duchess Eggers stood stock still at the back of the formation.
"Huh, she's holding herself back. Never thought I would see the day." Glory said simply.
Chisaki rocking her head side to side.
"Of course she is. She's the Commander of the EDF now. She can't lead every situation, you know~" Her voice ended on a teasing lilt, Glory jabbing her with an elbow.
"Of course I know, delegate, delegate. Just, never thought it would be Duchess Eggers ever doing it."
Chisaki shrugged, she too had never thought it was possible, but here they were.
"Maybe it's the babies? She's feeling her mortality and wants to stay alive for them?" The Eggers Media head continued, finger to chin, pondering.
"Or she is training successors, since she can't be on every planet." Glory replied, much less philosophically, much more practically.
On the screens, Duchess Eggers finally entered the breach, eighth in line. Stepping through the still molten metal, her own form striding forth upright. Head swaying side to side, catching the sight of the several wounded EDF soldiers, their icons lit up as yellow on the display. There were two reds, indicating deaths, or suit failures.
A stray laser struck her arm, the Duchess rolling with the impact before continuing forward, as if she didn't need to be concerned about human things. Like death, and cover.
Luckily for her, or perhaps, 'as expected' that was the last stray shot, the fighting progressing deeper into the Block, itself...jury rigged to connect to the ones above it. Whoever had done this, had drilled holes to connect multiple blocks, without setting off the automated alarms... and maintenance/patrol teams.
For all their ineptitude in combat... their espionage capabilities were dangerous indeed. For two EDF dead in exchange, it did appear that they had managed to kill all the... insurgents(?), spies(?), infiltrators(?).
The battle ran for half an hour, the unrelenting aggression of the EDF overpowering the defenders, who probably expected their choke points and defences to hold up for longer. The stacks of explosives indicating a willingness to go out... with a bang.
"Tch, prisoners." Duchess Eggers muttered as they gathered up in the original, still warm, entrance, looking at the figures, hands held high. Surrendering, their bodies locked into Armsman rated restraints. "What do we do with them Control?" The Duchess asked, turning authority of the situation up to the two in the command room. As the ones coordinating this operation, they were the ones nominally in control. The EDF were just providing the muscle.
"Just kill them, why bother trying to make things complicated?" Glory said straightforwardly. It wasn't like they would know anything.
"No no no, don't kill them. Jesus, Glory. I'm the one who was trained to commit actual terrorism on the enemies of the Commonwealth, and I'm the one who's advocating restraint? You LCAF are all the same aren't you? See obstacle, shoot obstacle. Need soldier, send Atlas, need scout, send Atlas, need breakthrough, send Atlas." Chisaki interjected before the Duchess could give the order.
"Of course, the LCAF taught us to solve a problem with an adequate amount of force in the most direct manner possible. What is the point of keeping them? They won't talk, they won't betray whoever sent them, just kill them now and be done with it. Not waste time with things like torture or interrogation."
Chisaki let out a low moan of irritation.
"No, we won't just kill them. There are so many more things we can do with prisoners, you know, even the ones that don't talk. Just... take them to the Administration for now. We really need an actual intelligence agency, but for now, just take them to Administration. I'll teach you a few tricks okay? Just... don't kill them! Friggin LCAF"." The last part being muttered under her breath.
"Lieutenant, get them processed into Administration. I'll meet you back at the base for a debrief." Katherine said, assuming the conversation between Glory and Chisaki finished, before herself, leaving the bunker, 8 prisoners out of 45 individuals.
"Friggin? Isn't that Terran slang for female masturbation? Why are you even saying that like a swear?" Glory asked, pointedly ignoring the LCAF part of the remark.
"The Lord uses it when he's frustrated. It kind of fits you know? Like a situation is so messed up that your only recourse left is to frig." Chisaki's voice sounded like she was trying to convince Glory.
Who in turn just raised an eyebrow at her (formerly now that she was no longer MI) LIC counterpart.
"Anyway, back onto the topic! You can't just kill people because they're not immediately useful to you. I know Military Intelligence usually doesn't handle this kind of thing. But we're not Military Intelligence anymore, or LIC solely anymore. We're handling Rasalhague's entire intelligence apparatus right now. Which means we need to handle things like prisoners, interrogation, counter-terrorism, terrorism, military intelligence, and everything else." Chisaki lectured.
"Yes... I do see your point. Military Intelligence does not really concern itself with domestic operations. There is a great deal I will have to learn going forward regarding civilian ops." Muttered Glory.
"Yeah! Don't worry about it, I'll give you the patented Loki course. How to run an operation in the Commonwealth without killing too many innocent civilians! Some collateral damage may be included, but we always get our objectives in the end! Or those prisoners. Just arrange them around the site of an incident... and we have... perfect scapegoats! It's perfect, it's why you keep prisoners. They're like chocolate bars or Vanilla coke, you never know when they'll be useful!" Chisaki was practically bubbly with excitement.
"Too many innocent civilians? How many civilians do you consider to be acceptable?" Glory really shouldn't be surprised at this point. The infamy that Loki had wasn't baseless after all, it had to have a reason behind it... and... well, that reason was standing right next to her.
"Eh, it depends based on an index you know. How many people are there, how many incidents have there been in the past, economic development level, average age, and so on. Then you calculate what kind of people will be included in the collateral, like orphanages get higher levels of public response than an aged care home for example. Usually, it's around 1 to 10 depending on what kind of incident you're causing." Chisaki counted off on her fingertips, voice casual.
Glory, for her part, was reminded again that despite her cheerful demeanour... Chisaki had been raised as a literal terrorist for the Commonwealth. Indoctrinated to never feel remorse for her actions, so long as it was to the benefit of the Commonwealth.
Never forget what she is willing to do for her beloved Commonwealth, in other words. Killing loved ones without a second of hesitation? Absolutely.
Bomb an orphanage? Absolutely.
Organise a massacre of peace protestors? Absolutely.
Betray the Commonwealth? Never.
"And this applies to Rasalhague? That was never part of the Commonwealth?" Glory clarified.
"Of course, really it's so much easier considering how many heads the ISF put on pikes. We can probably get away with bombing whole neighbourhoods if we dress it up right. And it will still be less extreme than what the ISF got up to."
Glory thought about the lessons Chisaki was going to be teaching... and decided it would be a good idea to have someone not of Loki running their domestic intelligence. As straightforward and allegedly brutal as she was (a decimation of the EDF's compromised leadership components was not brutal!), she was much better than Chisaki would be. Maybe someone of the less... violent parts of the LIC... someone they could trust.
They also really needed a name for it.
She was partial to Rasalhague Intelligence Directorate.
RID.
233
Tamarind
Tuesday at 10:36 PM
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Threadmarks 053. Colony 01 and the Sheridan New
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Tamarind
Wednesday at 11:55 PM
#3,432
July 2993, New Oslo
Hunter Bek, haircut aficionado, looked down at the plans that Huu Eggers had ordered to be completed and wondered just how far they were going to take this?
From orbital construction... to orbital colonies.
The reasoning had been simple back then, when he first had been given the orders. Build orbitals for people to live in.
It then changed after the Great Betrayal, as it was now known in the Book of Grudges. Orbital infrastructure was allowed a defensive force. If the EDF was based and concentrated in orbit, it couldn't be commandeered, as it was performing a strategically vital task. Building more orbital infrastructure, meant that more of them could be stationed in orbit, taking them out of reach of the LCAF.
Patting his hair, now up in a 'Regent' style, a pompadour with the front extended to look like a bullet. Something about the design... just appealed to him. Hunter pondered the design that he had been given.
To his right, Guðlaug Jónasdóttir, or Gaudlig Jonasdottir according to exhaustive practice, had, in the interest of making sure that everything would be of assistance to Eggers Shipping. Had, with great interest, made her preferences' known.
Specifically, that the designs needed to be able to refit and repair the vessels of the fleet. Eggers shipping had expanded, with constant shipyard expansions to several thousand vessels. Itself, not that large a number, considering that the Primitive Bounty Concern supplied one in ten vessels to Eggers Shipping. Meaning, that the rest of the Commonwealth had ten times more vessels than they did. Spread across multiple different corporations of course, but still, that was a lot of ships.
Unlike the rest of the Commonwealth, their jumpships were focused into a tiny concentration of worlds. Which, really, made it so that Eggers Shipping, for all the innocuous nature behind the name... was in fact, the largest concentration of void-craft combat potential in the Inner Sphere.
Most of which was concentrated in Rasalhague to provide near continuous connections between worlds, between people. A constant stream of goods and services as well, guaranteeing a connection and a shared identity that usually took several decades to build, as per the states of the Inner Sphere. And even then, many of them were more loyal to local powers, rather than the state as a whole.
Not the case here in Rasalhague, that much was for sure. Not when planetary economies were all connected, with different planets shipping out their different specialities and products. An interconnection of labour and goods, one that created a shared national bond, not a singular planetary identity.
Still, all of that relied on Eggers Shipping, and all of that relied on Gaudlig Jonasdottir and her leadership.
Oh, and Erwin Jaxon was here, because his design had... practical use here in the void?
A tank?
A space tank?
The three of them and Erwin's plus one, one Marie Rosie from Trellshire Heavy Industries, floated through the void.
Before coming to a complete stop, as the colony itself... was operational. Providing centrifugal force as an equivalent to gravity. They were exploring the experimental 'civilian colony'. As in, the original plan for an orbital colony as it was... as desired by Huu Eggers on Blackjack before he had even been a noble... was finally to be realised over New Oslo.
"It's taken us a year, but we've finally managed to get an actual colony above New Oslo. The prototype over Blackjack is being dismantled right now. This. Egger's Cradle, is the first O'Neill Cylinder to have been produced in nearly three hundred years. From, at least, the time of the Star League. We... we have once again stepped into the stars and built our homes. No longer do we skip through it like an ocean of which we are terrified. We have made it home, once again, the stars are our home." Hunter whispered.
His voice coming through their headsets. The zero-gravity rated Armsman using a fuel-cell instead of a combustion engine. An intimate caress of their eardrums.
"Really? We can actually live on this now?" Asked Erwin.
"Not right now, but the structurally vital construction has finished. We are, as of this moment, standing inside the first orbital colony that has been constructed since the time of the Star League. We are. As of this moment, retaking our place amongst the stars. No longer treating space like it is something... we travel through. Now, space is something that we will make our own, as we have the worlds of the Commonwealth!" Hunter's voice echoed over their headsets, pumped directly into their ears. The slightly different speech raising many eyebrows. All six of them not connected to Hunter in fact.
"Practice that for the opening ceremony, have you?" Asked Erwin. The sound of his raised eyebrows evident from just his voice.
"How was it?"
"Good, a little more elaboration on exactly why we're meant to care about being able to live in space would be good. But, I think everyone will be so interested in the idea of living in space in the first place, they won't complain."
"Gaudlig?" Hunter asked.
"I enjoyed it, it wasn't bad. Not sure why we care so much about living in a colony, when jumpship crews live in space anyway." She replied, sounding distracted.
"Yes, but they're not living in space, are they? They are living on jumpships, in the tiny, cramped areas that are available to them. This colony, once it is filled with a breathable atmosphere, will have a surface area of 37.69 kilometres squared on the interior. An interior, mind you, that will be entirely available for those that wish to walk and explore it. Leisure areas, parks, pools, racetracks, and more. Nothing like a paltry jumpship crew quarters!" Hunted replied heatedly, swinging his arms about.
"Good, make sure that's in the speech then." Gaudlig replied, eyes scanning over the truly enormous expanse of grey concrete. "It kind of looks like a bullet vibrator now that I think about it." She finished, unashamed of her words.
Hunter and Erwin cringed as Marie made an interested sound.
"Please, there are thrusters at the back, and it has the attached mirror panels. It looks nothing like a vibrator!" Hunter defended his creation.
"And what about those?" Erwin asked, trying to head off this conversation he had no interest in participating in. Pointing his hand at the three 'windows'.
Said windows ensured the entire colony was illuminated. Three enormous slits down the side, set an equal distance apart. Each covered in a truly enormous set of transparent panes. Like that of Cockpit glass, able to ablate damage as it arrived, instead of cracking all at once.
"Those are the windows that the mirror panels shine sunlight through. You can walk on those as well. In, fact, if you angle yourself properly, you can use the mirrors to see New Oslo!" Hunter continued on, blithely. Not acknowledging that his miracle structure... may not be entirely perfect.
"I thought this was designed for my ships to maintain themselves within. I am not seeing it." Gaudlig said, voice dry.
Herself pointing, this time, at the caps on either end of the colony.
"That's where the central support strut comes into play. If you look up, you can see the central shaft, dropships and jumpships can enter, and be repaired inside, while protecting the colony from debris... while also keeping the ships in zero gravity. Isn't it great? My engineers pointed that issue out, and we've solved it perfectly, in my opinion!"
"Admiral, we have an issue. Eight jumpships have jumped into system, and they refuse our hails to haul to and allow boarding teams for inspection." The voice echoed over their communications systems. Hunter poked at his own Armsman to try and figure out where things had gotten crossed over so much as to allow this to happen.
Erwin tapped him on the arm, bringing attention to the Armsman with a Cracked egg set over two gun barrels on its right breast. The only way to identify Erwin... assuming one wasn't looking at the green name over his head, of course.
'My Bad' The suit signed off on tight-beam. The text displaying on Hunter's visual display. 'Linked Our Suits Together Just In Case.' The text continued to scroll down. Hunter nodding, that made sense.
Just in case there was an accident, they were all linked. But if that were the case... then there must be some kind of override, or mechanical or coded, that allowed this voice to go straight to Gaudlig instead of Erwin first.
Hunter froze at the realisation. Something was very wrong.
That should be impossible, if Erwin tied them together, then Erwin was the priority.
All messages went through Erwin, anything that talked to Gaudlig individually was something that should be impossible!
Hunter, having only basic training in the suit, turned and held out a hand to stop Marie, to not get closer to Gaudlig just in case. His basic training as a conscript all those years ago, telling him.
'Leave it to the experts.'
On the other side, Erwin strode forward (the colony already had gravity at 1 earth standard of 9.81 metres per second per second.
Tapping Gaudlig on her hand, instead of grabbing her. Making rather sure she didn't accidentally kill him by accident, Erwin sent a tight beam transmission across.
'Transmission Impossible. Unknown Vector. Compromised. Maintain Line.'
Gaudlig herself gave a nod, even as her voice continued to lift and fall with a regular pattern.
"Send the orders again. This is something you should be aware of, send the order to heave to and wait. This is space, we don't need to rush. Call me again in 30 minutes if there is still an issue." Ending the call, apparently, Gaudlig turned around.
Erwin tapped her to stand still as he opened the diagnostic panel on the small of the suit's back. Poking at it, his featureless helmeted face reflected the numbers, values, and charts, glowing softly as it did so.
A few more presses and a cable was gently disconnected from the side. Erwin making a low-pitched humming noise the entire time.
Apparently finished, he tapped Gaudlig to face the others, and the four turned to meet in a small circle.
Something, quite clearly was wrong. Even the densest of individuals would be able to tell with how Erwin had been acting.
Hands reaching up, Erwin gestured for them to touch his palms. Feeling like they were back in the gymnasia as children, the four touched each other, palm to palm.
A harsh sound, filled with static, breached their ears.
"Sorry. I've disabled Gaudlig's external communications using a hard bypass, something was overriding her suit's communications network. I've linked us through direct audio transmission. Nobody can overhear us like this. Just speak normally, and we can all hear it." Erwin's voice cut through, his background as a Mechwarrior carrying through clearly. No panic at the unusual situation, one might say.
"What's happening?" Marie's voice trembled. The other three couldn't exactly look at each other, their heads behind featureless helmets... but for some unfathomable reason, could feel their gazes on one another. Her breath was coming in loud, harsh... and increasingly fast.
Fingers pushed, tapping out a rather succinct message that had been passed since time immemorial.
You.
You know what to say.
Okay, I'll do it.
Gaudlig spoke.
"We are likely being used by an enemy intelligence asset. Likely hoping that I will, in my capacity as Admiral of Eggers Shipping, to send a message ordering the boarding or destruction of this unknown fleet. It will, no doubt, start a conflict designed to negatively impact on the Rasalhague Kingdom. I apologise that you have been drawn into this, but you need to relax and follow our lead. I will keep you safe, this I promise on my name as Guðlaug Jónasdóttir."
Marie tentatively nodded her head, breath calming down.
"So plans? Because I have one, but it's quite insane, and we need to figure out the best way to deal with this issue before it gets us, or the King, killed." Erwin asked.
"We haven't installed anything on the interior yet. So, there is no communication equipment set up on the colony interior. If we want to send a message, we could try using the mirrors we've built to bring light into the colony?" Hunter's answer was short, the message just as sharp.
"That's... actually better than my plan. Right. New plan. I had a prototype Sheridan tank brought in, so I and Marie, here, could demonstrate it. Using that, we can get a message out while still inside this... tube. Feeling like toothpaste here, and I don't want to wait for us to be squeezed, let me tell you." Erwin said, voice filled with disapproval.
"I've been meaning to ask this, but why do you have a tank inside my demonstration tour? I'm here to inspect this colony... and you're bringing a tank into it? What for?" The Eggers Construction head, naturally, hadn't had much to do with the head of Eggers Armaments, aside from where to stick weapons emplacements and the dimensions of said emplacements.
A cough interrupted Erwin before he could say anything. Marie's voice as it came out was filled with the confidence of a product designer talking about their products.
"The Sheridan, acknowledging the future of strategic concerns as being in orbit due to the increasingly space borne nature of assets and jumpship proliferation. It has been developed to handle combat within space-infrastructure. This occurs through the Sheridan's fusion drive on the tank's undercarriage, which generates enough thrust to break artificial rotational gravity. With a series of directional jumpjets, based on the experimental Armsman jump-dash systems, the Sheridan can flip over to make a landing as if it were a small dropship. This allows it to perform its infantry support role with admirable efficiency. Boasting an energy and ballistic loadout, the Sheridan has one small laser alongside its multi-role, low velicocity, 155mm rifle. The small laser can-" Marie was cut off as Erwin gently tapped her on the helmet, breaking the link between the four of them for a brief moment.
"Right. The big thing here, is that the Sheridan, as we loaded it... is fully functional. In flight, it acts more like a dropship. It's designed to bounce around a colony's interior, so it can act like mobile infantry support. Can also drop from orbit, but that's less useful. But it should get us to where we need to go."
"To take the fight to the enemy and annihilate them! We have a vehicle now, let us see just how they can threaten us now!" Gaudlig's voice was harsh. "Using me to strike at the King, if that is their plan? Denied. They will be annihilated to the last if it is the last thing that I do!"
Erwin coughed.
"No, actually, the plan was for us to fly to one of the mirrors, melt a hole in the glass, and then use the mirrors to shoot a message to New Oslo or one of the ships around the colony. If we tune the small laser properly, we should be able to handle it without melting the mirror. It's a 20 ton tank, the number of compromises we needed to make on it is ridiculous, let me tell you."
"..." They could practically feel Gaudlig's disappointment.
"Is there a way to do this without melting a hole in my colony? It hasn't even had any colonists arrive, the landscapers haven't even started work, this is a virgin colony you are desecrating here." Hunter complained, his voice forlorn. And indeed, looking around, one could see the dull grey concrete that made up the entire colony, there being nothing that indicated it was anything but an enormous art installation at this point. Well, the large tube through the centre was likely useful for travel, but that was it.
"Gaudlig gave them 30 minutes, we've probably used 15 already. We don't have time to think of another plan."
A grand sigh was Erwin's answer.
"Let us move before matters escalate into a threat against the Kingdom. We cannot allow the King to be harmed by our failure. From this point forward, we communicate using tight beam text only. Watch for enemies that might try to eliminate us. Marie stay close to me." Gaudlig said, giving a brief tutorial on how to activate the system before they bounded forward. The message had to be sent out before matters escalated beyond their control. What if a few of the Providences had been subverted and were used to destroy this fleet. It would be blamed on them, or worse, the King.
With the 15 kilometre, an hour running speed, the four (Marie lagging slightly) sprinted to the waypoint Erwin had set on their heads up displays.
In the end, the Sheridan was found (hidden under a tarp... because bright white tarp on an endless background of grey was hard to find... not). Gaudlig and Marie acting as the crew. The designer, and the one with naval authority. While Hunter and Erwin held on to the clearly marked Armsman attachment points. You wouldn't want to get vaporised by the jumpjets as they rotated, after all.
The entire tank lifting up as one might expect of a dropship, before ungainly waddling towards the nearest 'window' and sending through its message. The directional thrusters spinning rapidly to send them forward on a generally 'forward' track. Barely stable enough to send the laser message through. One picked up, through luck, by a picket ship. One that sent a tight beam to the patrol ships, and even further beyond to the combat flotillas.
'Something fuckey is going on' being the broad gist of the message. 'Maintain alert status, only acknowledge messages directly, do not trust digital systems without visual identification.' Being the slightly longer addition.
Of course, that was when the worst case scenario for the four individuals came true. Hijacked Armsman exosuits were deployed into the field from previously unseen entranceways. Clad in the colours of the EDF, the firing wildly at the Sheridan as it floated far beyond them. The two Mechwarriors hanging on for dear life. The space-tank wildly attempting to fire at the targets below and missing ever single shot with either the main gun or the small laser.
"Why are they so bad at this!" Screamed Hunter, hunching onto the tank with his magnetically charged hands and knees.
"There's no stabiliser on the prototype yet! We weren't expecting to actually need to use the guns!" Erwin roared back.
The two muttering and grunting loudly, before luck struck again. The same Sojourner patrol ship identified weapons fire and came to assist. Dropping an entire platoon, 30 Smialies, through the window shattered by its main guns. The thirty Automachines landing amongst the infiltrators and tearing them apart.
There were no survivors.
The Sheridan landed to great fanfare and laughter from the rapid deployment units.
The day was saved, a diplomatic envoy by the Magistracy of Canopus, who, in turn, was feeling increasingly stressed, by the waiting and armed Dropships/Small Craft hovering beyond her flotilla of Canopus manufactured Providences, all ignoring her communications. Saved from what some might call a diplomatic faux-pas. As, the boarding and annihilation of her crew would be called in polite circles.
The fact that three Sojourners had to be destroyed when they refused hails and instead burned at maximum acceleration at the diplomats... well, that was quietly swept under the rug.
The saboteurs couldn't be identified... but such masterful control over the digital environment? It wasn't like there were many options as to the culprits.
Marie for her part vowed to never demonstrate products in person ever again.
Gaudlig, Hunter, and Erwin were waiting for their King to react to this latest event. And he would... with great ferocity. They had, after all, seen what he had done following the Great Betrayal of 2992.
In fact, there were already bets being made about his reaction.
252
Tamarind
Wednesday at 11:55 PM
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July 2993, New Oslo.
"Mairi. Comstar is fucking over my Kingdom. My people, but I can't do anything about it because they control the communications in the Lyran Commonwealth. How long until we reach message reliability in the Commonwealth, as we have in Rasalhague?" Huu Eggers, King of Rasalhague, said, his voice filled with... barely suppressed rage. The report before him basically amounted to 'we don't know who did the communications trick to try and get the Eggers Shipping Fleet to fire on the ambassadors, but the list is really short, like one group long.'
"At least four more years at current production numbers, my Lord. Rasalhague has 60 worlds. However, the Commonwealth possesses hundreds of worlds alone, not including moons, and asteroid stations. We currently do not have the saturation necessary to replicate Rasalhague's connection on a wider scale." Mairi, his loyal Vice-Lord, head of his Veelvraat replied.
"And the whole Inner Sphere?"
"Much longer lord."
"Glory?"
"We could punish Comstar for their actions, but it will result in blowback from the Commonwealth for acting unilaterally, as well as the rest of the Inner Sphere. We will find little in the way of allies if we act early."
...
"They've been fucking us, Glory. They have been fucking my people, three captains, ninety crew, and one Kommodore are dead because of this. One incident, and my people are dead, how many incidents have there been? How many more before it's clear that Comstar won't leave us alone? It's quite fucking clear, in my opinion... that a message needs to be sent. We can't declare war on them, but after that Margrave died, and Marzio, the rat traitor, we haven't had problems with LIC and the LCAF have we?"
Glory, sitting at his side, answered this time, "no Lord, they have been avoiding us after your display of... dissatisfaction."
"So, let's think about this critically. What is a nice... proportional retaliation against Comstar that teaches them the message that fucking with my people has consequences? Tide us over until we can destroy them without worry about an Interdiction. So, we can stay on everyone's... good side. Until it comes time to crush them utterly." Huu asked, hands spread out wide. Said hands coming down to rest on the cheap bamboo table, the floor, ceiling and walls covered in a thin bamboo veneer. The entire room was so cheap that it didn't count as an asset, which was important! No antiques here, no hardwood, nothing that might up the value!
"Brainstorm time, people, we need to think about this logically."
Mairi at his right said simple, "if we kill enough of them, they will naturally learn the lesson. Even Comstar does not have the numbers to continue what they are doing. Recruitment numbers have been drastically reduced, and they are struggling to fill crew HPGs from their publicly available information." Which, again, had itsKill them. But that was too low key, he wanted to make a statement after what they had done to his people.
Glory meanwhile shook her head.
"We are retaliating against Comstar for their actions. Given how they attempted to force grand treason upon the King through the death of a diplomatic team, we must respond with greater force. Comstar operates several facilities within Commonwealth space that can be used as a focus for an attack. If we land and annihilate them using Battlemechs, they would not be able to blame us, who they associate with Automachines. Or, alternatively, we can destroy targets outside of the Commonwealth. However, in doing so, we will be unable to alert Comstar that it was us who did it, while maintaining plausible deniability." Glory's response was, as always, simple and effective... which had its appeal. He wasn't going to lie.
A pause in the conversation before Mairi added another comment.
"A little known service that Comstar provides is the explorer corps. Ships that chart out the worlds of the Inner Sphere that have been lost to time... and to seek civilisations that have survived the Succession Wars. The last time that the Combine and Comstar clashed... an explorer ship was reported missing a year later." The voice was quiet but Huu felt, that yes This... this was proportional no? Mairi really did come through this time! Never mind how he knew about it, Huu now had a target!
They blew up three of his ships, or force him to blow up three of his ships.
He would destroy three of their explorer ships.
Equal trade no?
"Right. Right. So, these Comstar bastards, have been doing all they can to screw us over. We've been taking it because they are the ones who can do Interdictions. But. Really, if they can't declare open war, and instead do everything through backstabbing fuckery... I think that it's only right that I do the same. These explorer ships? The ones that travel the periphery? A few going missing outside our borders... that sounds like a message that we need to send." Huu said after thinking for a while.
Really, those fuckers had it coming.
This cycle had a month left, and it was going to make him profits. He had accepted that. In fact, one might say, that it had awoken him to the fact that he had been going at it easy. So easy, in fact, that he hadn't really had to put in the effort in the last few cycles. But this had awoken him to the very real fact that things could... and did, go catastrophically wrong. This was the Inner Sphere, where wars were common, where interstellar nations just did not do things like peace. Which meant, in simple terms, that he couldn't rest on his laurels, or he would be fucked, just like this cycle.
More ways of losing money were needed, more avenues of future-proofing his lost-making. The biggest of which were the Space Colonies. Enormous, space, blah blah blah.
What was important, was that while they counted as assets, educational or otherwiseThe people, he had on board, would be paid at three times the normal rate. In other words, danger-pay for living in space. And since it couldn't be classified wholly as educational, only the blocks that had school structures in them, he had to pay enough to outweigh the asset rated profits.
Which... really... gave him a horrific premonition. If this applied to civilian space colonies... what would happen to his Eggers Cradles on the planets in the future? Would he be doomed to make infinite profits!?
But! But, the pay for the people would ensure he would lose money either way. He had forgotten the single truism of his past life and this life. People cost money! Invest in people, ignore crazy technology! Pay people more, give them more, and you will make losses!
Only for fuuuuuucking Comstar to come in and nearly ruin all of it by trying to get his Construction leaders killed. In fact, he had a great appreciation for Gaudlig (he really appreciated the germanicisation of her name, he could actually spell it in his head now). The cheaper she made the construction... the less the asset would be worth! The more efficient she made things, the less the asset would be valued at.
It was too bad he had been too short sighted to realise the benefits he had gained from having her around as part of Construction.
In any case, she was nearly killed as well! Fucking Comstar!
And Erwin, with that wobbly, unstable mess of a tank? It was the perfect money waster. And they wanted to kill him too?
So.
"So. A message. We will send a message to Comstar that they cannot ignore. The more they fuck with us, the more accidents their people will suffer. Untraceable, just like them, poetic right? It's like the world rhymes." He finally said after he rose out of his thoughts.
"A message that says, do not fuck with my people. Or there will be consequences. There won't be any evidence... but Comstar should get the message. And if they don't, we'll keep repeating it until they do. Glory get those orders out, I think Rasalhague Actionable Intelligence Directorate... that's a good name right? Yes, RAID needs to start planning its first... international operation." The King of Rasalhague was deadly serious, leaning forward, eyes narrowed.
A clapping sound spread through the room before Mairi and Glory could say anything in reply. One followed by the words, "I applaud you, young Dragon. Allow me to introduce myself."
Coming from everywhere and nowhere, the accent tinged German filled the room. Before him, as if emerging from a mist, appeared the form of an old woman. A cane in her hand, standing three metres distant from his desk. In an instant three greatswords were at her throat while Mairi interposed himself before his King. Glory, meanwhile, had a pistol out, pointed at the woman.
Old. Wrinkled. Looking as if she were... just any other old woman of Japanese descent. Something you could tell from the cheeks and nose. Huu as a current and previous Vietnamese descended individual could tell, it being rather... obvious if you knew what to look for.
"Since I'm not dead, and you were invisible... I am assuming you wanted to meet me for something... and this is not an elaborate attempt to kill me?" He asked, staring at her with a raised eyebrow. Looking at Mairi's back as he did so.
Right. Leaning over the table he tapped his chief bodyguard's waist, he needed to be able to see her for his expressions to work right?
"Yes young Dragon. I am... an Inquisitor, you might say. Of the Order of the Five Pillars, tasked with ensuring the moral purity of the Draconis Combine as a whole." At her words, his Veelvraat tensed even further.
Was this something he should be worried about? Was the Order of the Five Pillars something dangerous? They were just the morality police, right?
"However, as of your defeat of Hohiro Kurita the previous year, his son, Takashi Kurita, has betrayed all that represents the Dragon. Worse still, he had demanded the Dictum Honorium be rewritten, desecrating centuries of tradition. Of moral purity that has now been corrupted. The order has split, and I come here, now, to you. To the one that broke the Dragon. There is much to hear, to feel... to think. But, for now, there is much I have to offer. Qi." Her words were simple, her blazing with a rather creepy light.
That wasn't just him, right? Could the others see that light?
"Right, that's interesting and all, but how did you even get in here without anyone knowing?" Mairi interjected, the bulk of his body still in front of Huu. "What is stopping you harming our King? Especially with powers some consider to be Combine legends."
"Ah. That is but one of many... aspects... that I offer. Qi, the power of life. One that allows one to heal, to prevent others from dying... Qi is a pathway to many abilities that some consider to be... unnatural."
"Can it be learned?" Huu asked immediately. An inkling of a future loss-making scheme in his mind. If it were easy to learn, he would have heard of it by now. Instead, it must be really hard... which meant... that he could train up thousands, offer them pay to study... and get nothing useful from it!
"Yes, but it is an arduous task that requires great concentration and willpower, not a concern for you, of course, young Dragon."
Fucking perfect!
This cycle was going to fail, no matter what... but the next cycle? He had two secret weapons, his colonies, and this new Qi stuff.
Everything was coming up aces!
"Lord, we must verify her story before I can allow her anywhere near you." Mairi said.
Oh right, that too.Woops, focusing on profits so much could have gotten him killed!
He could imagine his past life, thousands of people across the globe learning how to 'martial arts' in the hopes it would grant them nigh-magical abilities.
Ha! Here, at least, there was some hiding-in-plain-sight ninja stuff... but how much of it was actually useful outside of edge cases?
A few dozen agents? Sure, whatever.
A thousand, ten thousand? Ha, what the hell could he even use them for? These... shadows would be utterly useless once he got past a few hundred or so of them.
What a perfect way to lose money, one that had nearly literally dropped in his lap!
"Please, verify. This sounds very... interesting."
Maybe he would be able to make losses next cycle even if there was an emergency!
"Lord... the ambassador from the Magistracy is waiting for her appointment outside... what do you wish for us to do with this Inquisitor?"
Hmmm?
"Just send her out, ask for volunteers, let's see if Inquisitor is all she says she is. Keep an eye on her, of course. But, we do need something to bring us up, so idiots like Comstar stop thinking of us as pushovers, don't you think? We can't just shoot them every time they do something stupid, we'd stop being able to make HPG calls if we did that."
Last edited: Wednesday at 9:50 AM
237
Takashi Kurita knelt in front of the grand parade grounds on Luthien. Inside a pagoda that had been built for just this purpose.
At his right side was his wife Jasmine.
In front was a grand parade. Showing off all the innovations that the Combine's industrial might, in the face of unrelenting pressure by the Davions and the Steiners, had managed greatness.
One that was never necessary before this point...
The private parades by the Pesht district for the palace of Luthien, nothing compared to this grand demonstration.
But, as a Dragon that had suffered losses. It was natural for the Dragon to count its hoard, to reassure itself that it was safe. That it had not lost all.
It was for this reason that Takashi had authorised and planned this parade. One that would, itself, be spread throughout the Combine, so that all would be reassured despite the loss of much of the coreward Kirchbach Prefecture, located in the Rasalhague Military District.
The recordings would be displayed across the Combine, to show, that despite how society was rapidly changing around them... that they would, in turn, be able to survive these changes.
For, no matter how much matters changed, the military was still the focus of the Combine.
A strong DCMS was a strong Combine. A strong Combine was a unified Combine.
Indeed, to drive his innovations, his reforms of the Combine forward, he must demonstrate that it was, indeed, worth it. That their people would not suffer as they did so.
In order to do this, Takashi had studied history.
Not just Combine history, but history as it was taught at the Sun Tzu School of Combat. Where battles from all of human history were studied. For lessons could be learned anywhere that more than two people had harsh feelings for one another. So, too, had he put aside his pride and studied the histories of mankind from as far back as mankind had history.
For three weeks he had sat in his room, reading, learning all that he could.
Upon the fourth, he stepped out with a simple realisation that had been gained from his reading.
In the wake of revolutions and enormous changes to society... the ones that lasted were the ones where the ordinary citizens were able to enjoy an increased level of prosperity. Or, at least, the same level of it. To receive, in simple terms, the message that nothing had changed, and that worry was senseless.
If this was maintained... change on a truly enormous scale was possible.
And so, in the words of the founder of Luthien University, Doctor Paul Edwards, "knowledge shall be sought throughout the galaxy in order to promote the welfare of the Draconis Combine".
His words were, once again, proving to be true.
Takashi had turned, not to the Davions, the eternal foe, but to Rasalhague, or more specifically, his rival.
Huu Eggers.
Not the Davion, for he fought on battlefields, yes. But their worlds were often overlooked. Small cores of industry surrounded by hinterland and failure.
But Huu Eggers?
Both ruled nations made up of Combine citizenry (or formerly), both were tasked with lifting up that which had fallen. Of creating a new society from that of the old, a strong society that could withstand all that was hurled against them, a people that would remain strong no matter the foe. Of generating strength from weakness, of creating a worthy foe from the dregs that remained.
They were alike, brothers in soul and mind.
And so, Takashi had aimed his eyes at this rival.
Had seen the innovations that his soulmate had made upon the Kingdom, and in turn realised the reason, had realised the implications and thought, again.
A true rival, an enemy worthy of being called his soulmate.
For was he not preparing a grand stage upon which their struggle would become legend? Of a conflict so vast, so deadly, that all would speak of it in awe. A conflict that he would face his soulmate, and they would battle, they would die.
And it would be a satisfying death.
He couldn't deny it, to himself, to those in his inner circle. For was this not the dream of any Son of the Dragon? To have a rival, that one would feel happy indeed to die to. Takashi felt a fulfilment that he was not sure he could feel with any other enemy.
And Huu's success had Takashi's own heart beating violently. A true foe, one that he could respect, and one that could respect him. But he could not be sure in those early, heady days, he needed to test his rival.
And so he had. Striking at his honoured enemy.
Testing him with those in the DCMS who refused his reforms. Refused to acknowledge their necessity.
To see if he had inherited the weakness of the Steiner. Of an economy that provided them with the most powerful military, and yet their people were weak. Their military, their buke barely able to stand upright without urinatingNot even worthy of being called foes.
And the result?
Aggression, with sheer, unrelenting aggression. He had seen in those months, why Huu was worthy of being named his soulmate. Of having a conflict with Takashi that was worthy of legend. The pinnacle of a warrior's Bushido, an epic struggle that could not be found elsewhere.
Taking that which Takashi had abandoned. His Ronin were concentrated in a single thrust. And annihilated them.
Those that were unable to change, those that were unable to adapt. All were purged from the Combine. Sent on one final charge to demonstrate just how deep the corruption had spread, just how much of it needed to be purged. A lesson to his people, a lesson to the DCMS.
Demonstrating the superiority of Takashi's rival over all others with the sheer ferocity of his rebuttal compared to the anaemic thrusting of the Steiner. Pounding away at the worlds left undefended for the test. And then, even further, striking into fortified territory and claiming it as his own.
An enemy that had driven the Dragon to the very edge, forcing him to adapt.
The Dragon must adapt.
His people must adapt.
His industry must adapt.
His mustered soldiery must adapt.
He himself must adapt.
Or, they would perish.
"First Lord, the DCMS has adapted well to the changes you have insisted upon." Said the Warlord of Pesht. A brute of a man, one who, was not quite able to understand that if he did not live up to Takashi's expectations, he would be replaced.
As he had done so with the man's predecessor, as he had done so with 689 officers so far. Those that failed to meet his expectations, low as they were of these officer class, would find themselves on the frontline, in Ashigaru suits. There was much in the way of potential promotions... when so many had departed their posts for a permanent grave on New Oslo.
He did not have high hopes for this one.
Armsman suits adapted to meet the needs of the DCMS. Produced inside the Combine, as thanks to the Lyran weakness, an exploitation of his soulmate, that no doubt experienced its own retaliation. For what else could one call what had happened to the fools that had betrayed their Dragon?
Gave away their strength for measly coin?
Death.
"Yes. They have. The Mustered Soldiery have met my expectations. For this, they have done well." Said the Coordinator, his eyes placid, his voice calm. For while the Dragon my burn with a furious flame inside, it must never be obvious to the peasantry beyond.
"Tell me, Warlord Imavon, what do you see before you?" Takashi's voice was light. The sudden tension he could feel to his left was... irritating. He had played a role in this. Had he not planned this, why, now, was he feeling tension? This was the release, the moment of truth. He had done all he could, to worry now was to demonstrate one's own useless nature in truth.
"I see the might of the Draconis Combine's Mustered Soldiery, emboldened and ready to destroy our foes as if it were nothing at all." The reply was firm. As expected of one of his Warlords.
Also, an answer that conveyed nothing. What was even the point of that? He found himself simultaneously irritated and pleased that he had not been present on Luthien to learn the intricacies of the Court. Of the meaningless mouthings of useless nobles, the kuge, of the culture of courtesies... of uselessness.
No, he had been spared that.
His mind was free, unclouded by the miasma of court.
Yet, it left him cold when these same mouthings were used on him. Telling him what he wanted to hear, yet providing nothing of worth. His lack of time in court leaving him struggling to understand their meanings hidden in empty mouthings.
He hated it.
What, useless pedantry.
That which did nothing but threaten the realm as a whole. Instead of being able to spend time in any court, adapting and learning. His graduation and immediate escalation to Coordinator meant Takashi, as he was now. Could look at the situation of the Combine from eyes that were unbiased. Eyes that were not blinded by the glorious lie they call tradition.
It set him apart from his people, and yet, he would not have it any other way. Even with the difficulties it presented. For only like this, could he, as Coordinator, guide his people with clear eyes.
"What you see before you, Warlord, is the glorious claws of the Dragon. One that has been adapted to meet the enemies that we will face in this new future. War has changed, the DCMS must change." Takashi said simply, directly.
Really, Imavon was rather useless as district leader of Pesht. In fact, it was something that he had to consider now, the fact that... putting it simply, the older generation under his father were useless. Two generations of useless Coordinators had created commanders that were more terrified of their shadows, than they were of actually doing what was necessary.
Unable to move without the Coordinator's permission, terrified of overreaching. Showing, in other words, little to no initiative of their own.
People who he did not need, trash who would only harm the Combine. This meeting was Imavon's last chance to prove he was worth something.
Clearly, Takashi had been overestimating him.
The sound of the narrator. The crowded civilian grounds behind palisades. The main parade down the main boulevard.
All could be heard from the viewing pavilion. Through speakers, of course, there was a great deal of social unrest from those that could not see the necessities of his reforms. Here, they were, at the very least, safe. Their unceasing cheers were proof of its success as regiments of newly born Ashigaru militia marched past. The innovations of the realm alongside them.
Turning to Imavon, Takashi said simply, "thank you for your time, Warlord. You will hear from me soon."
Watching from the corner of his peripheral vision, the bowing and scraping, Takashi felt that it would be better to replace him as soon as possible.
Ideally, with someone who had a spine.
"And here we can see the Ashigaru Exosuits! Designed with Combine ingenuity and intelligence, the Ashigaru allows even infantry to fight against the might of a Battlemech! With their 50mm Type 89 Grenade Dischargers or Juteki, they launch their incendiary shells over 600 metres! There exists no exosuit that can survive the fire of the Dragon's Breath!"
Alone in the room with Jasmine, Takashi turned his head.
"The Dragon must change if we are to survive the coming storm. You are... a woman. Traditionally, your role would be one of bearing children and continuing the Dragon's line. Yet, this is unacceptable in this new Combine. All must serve beyond what is considered traditional. There is much responsibility that will be placed on you." He said, looking at Jasmine with a small amount of discomfort.
Even here, in the family, there must be reform if the Dragon is to face the new age. His wife, a woman of 18 must take on more responsibility. All must work for the strength of the Dragon, especially if he was expecting to match the might of Rasalhague.
"Yes." She spoke simply... spoke what was only to be expected of a wife in the Combine. Doing her duty.
Yet, he felt irritation.
"Now we have the Meiyo o sainen sa seru Automachine forces! Designed to counter the Lyran Smialy, these machines are ready to annihilate the enemies of the Dragon! With their cannon and blade, the steel of the Dragon shall crush all foes! Using incendiary shells, produced solely for the DCMS, there exists no Automachine that cannot be burnt alive by their fiery impacts!"
"Speak your mind. We are to be partners in the future. We both, must act for the strength of the Dragon. I would hear your thoughts on these matters."
Jasmine, for her part, never broke her poise at all. Demonstrating, that, yes. At 14, he had indeed. had great foresight.
"Lord Hus-", her voice was cut off.
"Enough with the courtly frippery. We are to be partners in this new future, and you must embody the new Combine woman. You must be strong, to have thoughts of your own. To have a strength that benefits the Combine. We have been married for 1 month and I have not heard an honest opinion from you once. Speak your mind." His voice was harsh. He had chosen her for a reason, she would live up to his expectations.
"Husband, while you may detest 'courtly frippery' as you call it. It is, a fundamental part of the nobility. Without it, there would be constant disputes and conflicts, most of which will be resolved with honour duels to the death."
Takashi frowned.
"Like dogs that have been raised to only bite. They have been trained to bark through courtly manners. Is this what you are saying?" His voice held no rebuke, only honest curiosity. Perhaps it had been more of a disservice than he thought. To not have been present in court... no. If he had, he would have become like them, useless. Those who do nothing but devour the work and effort of others. If he had pushed for reform, it would have been a weak thing, unable to meet the challenges of this rising millennium.
"Husband, your kuge may find the comparison to dogs to be particularly upsetting. Especially with your desired reforms to society."
"Yes, you are correct. I will only refer to them as dogs in private, when it is yourself and I." He said courteously.
A muffled sniffle came from his right. Ah, she had a sense of humour. Perhaps of the Manzai variety. The straight man and the funny man, low brow humour for the common masses, the heinin. Yet, having spent his time first at the Sun Zhang Academy, and then the Wisdom of the Dragon. It had given him a rather wide net from which to cast his entertainment.
One could not expect those raised as the heinin to know better.
It was good that she felt at ease with him. It would not be a burning, passionate love that one might hear of tales imported from the Steiner's lands. Yet, a partnership was something he could accept.
"Here come the Charger 1A1P AutoMechs! By replacing the Gyro with the Haptic Control System, this venerable line of Assault BattleMechs has gained a Halberd and an Inferno 37mm retro-cannon to hunt down the enemies of the Dragon! Anything lighter and smaller is to be crushed beneath its feet or pierced with its blade! Those at distance will be set alight by this example of the Dragon's might!"
"The nobility must change, all must change. We will, as the Dragon Always has, take on that which is strong from the lands of others and make it serve the Dragon. We look to the honoured rival, Eggers as a guide. For as the avalanche cascades, a smart man studies the instigator."
His eyes narrowed again. Already imagining what their next confrontation would look like. Already imagining the sensation of them crossing blades.The sensory recordings from his rival's Armsman suit had been brought to his private residence. It was like studying an opponent's Battle Rom. Unlike a BattleRom, however, it was something that allowed the user to feel… exactly what the original experienced.
To be able to understand his rival on such a level?
What an age that they lived in.
He, had naturally spent quite a bit of time in the simulated battlefield. Learning everything he could about his foe. Understanding, that above all else, Huu Eggers prized aggression. To strike, strike, and strike again until the foe is defeated. Glorious.
"There is talk in the court that you are turning away from the traditional foe to this Rasalhague. They are a small part of the Steiner, not an independent state." Jasmine replied calmly.
His eyes turned towards her.
"Then they are blind. They do not see how we are the same, that if the Dragon wishes for a true rival. Then it is not merely martial prowess that matters. The Davion have been growing weaker, they allow their buke to demand and take. In time, perhaps, they will have a leader worth considering a rival. Rasalhague, is the birth of a struggle. And struggle begets strength, as Shiro Kurita spoke, so too shall I. Of the same stock, of the same blood, of the same culture. One who is led by one of the same generation as myself? We were destined for one another, to continue to clash, again and again. To struggle. And to, in one final climactic duel, to die. A tale that will pass into legend." Takashi's voice was passionate, showing emotion for the first time before his wife.
Jasmine for her part looked surprised.
"Husband… Rasalhague has but 60 worlds. The Combine has over three hundred. How can they be a rival?"
Takashi's eyes turned back to the parade.
"These 60 worlds martial every resource possible to wage war on a scale never even imagined, not even in the age of war. These 60 are worth 300 in the Combine, for their everything has been marshalled for total war. A war of culture, of martial might, of people. How can we compare?" Takashi's voice was filled with awe. He had thought that the Combine had marshalled itself totally for war. And instead found it was nothing compared to his rival.
"The Dragon is strong, able to challenge all foes, as it has since the first steps of Shiro Kurita. So, the kuge tell me."
"Here come the Kamikaze tanks. A divine wind that they replicate with the sheer firestorms that they can create. Enough to slay any formation of Automachines and Exosuits. Their batteries of inferno rockets are guaranteed to drive fear into the heart of any foe! The Dragon's might is once again visible to all!"
"If that were true, then the Pillars would not be changing. I would not be speaking to you as a… partner. I would not have been forced to bring changes to the Dictum Honorium. There would not be a grand parade to remind the heinin that the Combine is strong. Yet, it is so."
"Yes, this parade. I hear from my ears in the court that many... question its reason for existing."
"Your ears?"
"Yes, husband. My ears. Your actions in court have many turning to myself to speak on their behalf. You tell them you hate their petty mouthings. But they know no other means to convey their wishes, and so they turn to me."
The foolish were attempting to use those more intelligent than themselves to solve their problems.
Takashi felt himself grow increasingly irritated.
The Kuge, the nobility, existed to guide the Combine, to act as the brain amongst the other organs of the Dragon. The coordinators, the managers, the leaders.
And yet, there they were, acting as if they were nothing more than headless fools? What was the point of their existence if they did not adapt, did not learn… did not use their vaunted intelligence to solve their problems? It was the heinin that were the foolish, raised in the Shinto religion, believing the kappa and the grump skins that hid under the bed.
Why, now, was it that the Kuge whispered to his wife, as if she were a shaman that could whisper to the mountain Kami beyond their reach?
Just how deeply had the Combine failed that their leaders were so useless?
"The reality we face is no longer one that can be ignored. One that cannot be pretended away as if it were nothing. When the people are protected, are self-sufficient in their fortresses, they change. They require even greater indoctrination. Greater ISF oversight. All to keep them loyal, pacified. Yet, already, the ISF is overstretched, already they have been indoctrinated in every aspect of their lives. Religion, culture, work, thoughts. There is no longer a path at the end of this road." Takashi once again felt in his heart of hearts the burning of rivalry. The appreciation of his rival. Connecting all, as he had done with his jumpships and communications, bridging them with culture and commerce. Binding his people as surely as the Dragon had.
The first steps in their grand struggle.
"The whispers tell me that it is not an issue. That it need not be concerned with, and the troubles with the heinin will pass, as it always has." Jasmine answers back, her eyes quirked.
"Then I have been too lenient with them if that is the level of their mental acuity. If the worlds of the Dragon are to withstand future assaults. Then these worlds will be fortified against, not just the Davion or the Steiner... but also the Dragon. The heinin must have the restrictions upon them loosened. Or they will cease to be ours. Already the Eggers has done so, bound that which was ours to him. Education, healthcare, arms. They will not turn upon him like the heinin will at a moment's chance. Why else is the ISF constantly setting examples? It is because of the simmering need in the hearts of the heinin. The Dictum Honorium states that to struggle is to become strong. They say that it is because of hardship. Of a shared hardship because of a lack of resources that gives the Dragon strength." Takashi's fist was tightened in anger.
"Is it not? The shared struggle of our people grants them strength where the decadence of the Steiner breeds weakness. Is this not true?" Her voice was one that spoke less of her own thoughts, but those drilled into all children of the Dragon over the long courseof their indoctrination.
"No. It is simply an excuse to focus on the DCMS above all. See now, how my rival, my soulmate has revitalised the worlds we thought dead. Has turned them into weapons, bar none. Has shown me how one must proceed in this new age. The heinin are no longer the useless, but the vital. It was not the universities that were the source of the Meiyo o sainen sa seru machines. It was the heinin labourers in their factories. It was not the kuge that provided me with the Ashigaru, it was the heinin. It is not the kuge that man my fortresses, it is the buke and heinin. Perhaps, if the kuge were more useful, demonstrated skills and abilities appropriate to the resources they take. I would be more inclined to care of their concerns." Takashi felt dismissive of those that naysayed him, not after they demonstrated their inability.
"Finally, the Dragon 1A! Again, it replaces the gyro with a Haptic Control System to allow the pilot to Battlemech as if it were their own bodies. The AC/10 and LRM 10 has been replaced with a 203mm retro-cannon and a thermobaric missile launcher! Allowing it to strike enemies from beyond their puny eyesight! The thermobaric missiles will annihilate exosuits inside their fortresses, the Dragon's might cannot be denied!"
His father had been foolish. It was not struggle for daily survival that built strength. It was the struggle of nations that built strength. A people struggling for survival became desperate, weak, their minds dulled, foolish. A nation? Strength and unity. His ancestors had forgotten this simple truth, seeking short-term gains, destroying the Combine piece by piece.
"Husband, are you not afraid of assassination? In court, your actions invite consequence. There are mutterings you are not the right Coordinator, that someone more martial, more experienced should take your place."
He laughed then, boisterous, exulting.
"The fools were eager to launch a decisive strike against my rival. He demonstrated, yet again, why he is worthy of being called such and annihilated them. Those that remain opposed to my reforms either mewl uselessly at yourself, have been eliminated by the ISF, or have fled. If they do not understand the necessity of this change, then they must be discarded. I cannot continue to cater to the weak, the stupid. It does nothing but create weakness, weakness our enemies, even those incompetent as the Steiner, will exploit."
"I presume, my role is to work on matters of culture and art? To create a new image of the people?" His wife was showing more assertiveness. This, he could appreciate. It was small, yet even this much was praiseworthy.
"You presume too little. Your role is no longer simply mother of future Princes of the Dragon. No, are the wife of the Coordinator, my voice in the court. The model by which all women in this new, changing realm must emulate. For it is no longer sufficient for women to serve as mothers. You must do more... be more."
"This will cause upheaval among the people, not just the kuge. The chains of loyalty of wife to husband, sister to brother, daughter to father, will be broken. Upheaval never seen since the Age of War will result." His link to the nobility spoke. Still placid, never raising her voice. For as much as the Coordinator spoke of partnership, she was not willing, clearly, to challenge him. In time, she would. For struggle bred strength, and the struggle of partners would grant that and more.
She did not understand yet, the necessity for this change.
No longer was innovation in the realm of the kuge, with their access to higher education. His Automachines and exosuits were in the realm of the heinin and the unnamed middle-class. It was they that innovated, it was they that leapt at the chance to prove their capabilities. And in doing so, showed Takashi the way forward.
Retro-technology, introduced by his rival. It meant, in simple terms, the battlefield had been levelled. All were now equal at the starting point, and he who utilised the strength of his realm first and wholeheartedly?
He would emerge victorious.
And so, he worked now, the process would not end within his lifetime, not after 700 years of indoctrination. But he would lay the foundations, to ensure the Dragon did not die within his lifetime.
"There is much that you will be required to do. But, most urgently. You must drive art and culture for the heinin. To model what is appropriate... so that they will bind themselves to the Dragon by their own efforts. To demonstrate meals with the produce becoming available as our jumpship fleet expands, our worlds made whole again. To explain the policies of the Pillar of Gold for all to understand. In short, you will become the mother of the Combine, the voice of the Dragon." Takashi's eyes did not waver as he looked into her own.
The shock in them was evident. He spoke of partnership, he knew. But she clearly did not expect this. Did not expect the sheer scale of her role.
But, it was necessary.
His reforms would likely bring about civil war. Already the ISF and O.5.P had schismed, the DCMS prevented from doing so, with its more recalcitrant elements annihilated. They would flee, no doubt attempt to kill him, to reverse the changes. With so many dead, a new buke would emerge from the militia, the Ashigaru. Loyal to these changes, loyal to this new Combine. The ISF and O.5.P would be the same, the initial years would be... turbulent... but he was confident in weathering them.
In this matter, and this matter alone, he was glad of his realm's low life expectancy. Death by late 40s, early 50s. 15 years between generations (that he was changing). It meant, that he had to weather just 3-4 generations and the realm would rebel at going back to how they had been. It was not perfect, of course, but it would settle, at least partially.
They might hate the changes to the Dictum Honorium he had pressed in the now. The breaking of chains between female and male, for all were needed to work in his factories, in his farms. No longer could half the population remain to care for children.
That the excess of the nobility was no longer a laudable subject. That it was now a waste, of foolishness, of failure. Intolerable.
That putting all into the DCMS was no longer necessary. For a strong DCMS was useless if it could not sustain itself after pillaging its own people.
Changes that invited backlash, changes far greater than the Keeper of House Honour, and the Head of the ISF had thought possible in their first meeting. But the storm would subside.
The reform must occur.
For his Destiny spoke to him.
His Soulmate would not wait, nor would the Dragon's historical rival, the Davions.
Takashi would force the Dragon to rise up to meet them. Their struggle would become legend, and Takashi, a warrior, would die content.
For was it not the simple truth, that the way of the warrior was death?
He had to arrange the most glorious death of all to be truly satisfied. To know all his works had been successful, to know his reforms had born fruit. He had already written the haiku to be sewn onto his clothes. Had prepared a set of garments in which to die, so that he might be best presentable to his foe.
He would raise the Combine up, so that when he died in battle with his rival, he would know.
That his was a worthy death.
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