Scavenged Restoration 41 (Patreon)

Commissioned by RoyalTwinFangs

Scavenged Restoration

Chapter 41

-VB-

No one was perfect. 

Or rather, one had to think about it all in game terms. Because, of course, I spent a lot of time during my house arrest playing games of all kinds in the lengthy free time I had. 

Five facts remained true regardless of who, what, where, and when a person lived. 

Each person had their own limited time. 

Each person had their affinities. 

Growing a skill took time. 

Each person had their own resources.

The combination of affinity, resource, and time resulted in human productivity. 

In simpler terms, time was experience, affinity was an understanding of a subject, and resource determined how much effort could be invested into a specific subject.

This meant that no one could perfect every subject or even perfect one subject in their life, because it was not wealth or affinity that ultimately determined the end result but time due to its limiting factor. 

A babe that died in the crib would never learn.

A girl who drowns in the river will never gain a skill to call her own. 

A man who dies in war will never master his skills. 

If one does not die, then one can learn forever. If one can learn forever, then one can hone their skills forever. 

Time was the limiting factor. 

And time had not been kind to me. 

A decade spent in childish naivety. 

Two decades spent fighting for every morsel and scrap.

A decade spent in forced idleness. 

And now, I spent my latest half decade doing everything possible to keep my fatherland from crumbling under the weight of its rivals and opportunistic petty kingdoms.

I spent a lot of time administering, planning, politicking, and diplomating. One could say that I have been honing those skills, whether I wanted to or not. 

It made me resent my people and state sometimes, because I never got the chance to do something I wanted to be better at than my father. 

Parenting. 

I wanted to be a father, but the only woman who’s ever held my interest was … brutalized by my sister. 

I couldn’t even find her corpse after deploying the Maskirovka. That’s how petty and cruel my sister had been, and knowing what I knew, it was better for everyone in the confederation that she was dead. 

I took a deep breath in and rose from the water, allowing the moisture clinging to my body to trickle down over the curves and grooves of my muscles.

… And just like the skills, I put in the time, effort, and resources into shaping my body, for the body of the chancellor was the body of the Capellan Confederation. Time spent sick or injured was time not spent governing and enriching the fatherland. 

Of course, this applied to everyone as well. If the chancellor was the body, then every single individual was a cell making up the body. For the body to be strong, all of the cells have to be strong as well. 

It was why I aggressively pushed for lower food prices through lower taxes on farmers and agricultural corporations. Just as equally, however, I was not lenient on anyone who tried to or committed tax fraud when they had already received a lowered tax. Those individuals were punished to the fullest extent of the law, which meant losing their citizenship and being dropped down to residency. 

Which meant they would also lose almost all of their properties and rights. They could not operate any business as its major shareholder or owner. They could not even leave the continent their house sat on. A few people still tried, of course, but after many fraudsters lost their citizenship across the confederation, tax fraud cases have gone down. 

In the case of a rather infamous directorship citizen…

“I- I have worked tirelessly for the sake of the confederation for decades!” an elderly man shouted from where he’d been forced to kneel. “You and I went to the same school! Our children and grandchildren went to the same school!” 

The judge didn’t say anything for a moment. He was taking his time to respond because this was one of the rare instances of a court case being televised across Sian. It would be recorded and sent to other worlds as well. 

“We studied together, yes,” the judge replied with a hardness to his voice. “We saw the same thing across Sian. We worked together. We saw the same problem. Yet how is it that even though we saw the same problem, you chose to take advantage of the very people whose lives and livelihoods we have been charged to safeguard? You received everything you wanted and the state provided, but you reached beyond that to… to what? To satisfy your debaucherous urges when you had a perfectly willing wife and a beautiful concubine at home?” 

The judge rose up.

“No. We saw injustice just like we did. We promised each other to be better men. But you lied to me, your family, your community, your state, and the chancellor. You were supposed to be one of the chosen ones among the Capellans! A member of the directorship! But instead of becoming an example for others to follow, you spoiled your own people. You defiled them.” 

Tears began to flow down as the judge, a man who had been a friend of the accused and now sentenced the guilty criminal, looked down upon the man who wore his friend’s face. 

“I sentence you to death by a firing squad. You will have no grave. You will have no honor and achievement put under your name. Your name will be stricken from the directorship and be listed under the forbidden servitorship,” the judge gritted out even as his voice grew thick with emotion. “Be thankful to Chancellor William Liao. Had this been under his father, Chancellor Maximillian would have eradicated your entire lineage, including our grandchildren…!” 

The elderly criminal sagged before the security took him away. 

And the judge collapsed into his seat when the door closed behind them.

It had been a harrowing case for the judge. He retired soon after, but the people bowed whenever they saw him.

For in their minds, Alex James Murphy was the Honorable Judge, the champion of the citizens who would weather any hardship that came his way.

Of course, the story would have changed a little if the citizens knew what happened behind closed doors. What the judge said about my father wiping out entire lineages wasn’t false. 

Because that was a law still in place. 

And with how heavy his crimes had been - from tax fraud and generic corruption to rape and torture - the now dead and nameless “servitor” would have had his entire lineage executed as an example. 

After all, corruption became a bit harder to choose to do when one knew that it wasn’t just them who would be punished but also their children and grandchildren.

Because there was no statute of limitations on corruption charges for the worst thing a person could be in the Capellan Confederation wasn’t a foreigner, or “the other,” but someone who corrupted and betrayed the Capellan people from within. 

(Thankfully, such eradication only applied to the criminal and their direct descendants.)

“Your Highness.”

I paused. That was not the usual title that went with the chancellorship. I turned around and relaxed. “Oh. Why are you teasing me, auntie?” I drawled. 

The director of the Maskivoka, who was now approaching her seventies (but looking like her fifties), chuckled. “I have to find some way to keep you on your toes, Celestial Wisdom. I am also here to give you a report on our advances into the Magistracy of Canopus.”

“And it couldn’t wait until I was done bathing?”

“Maybe if you had a young thing here, then I certainly wouldn’t want to know about your sex life and definitely would have waited. Perhaps waited days as you had your way with a very young woman who would have been more than happy to join you in bed…”

I let out a despairing sigh. 

Being known for my softness in my inner circles meant that I got a lot of prodding like this. 

You know, the kind that was normal among regular people. 

… I supposed that I could have a taste of normalcy even as a chancellor. Yes, it was a blessing to have familial love, though I wasn’t sure if Aunt Ling felt familial love toward me and my siblings to that extent. 

But then again, she was Tormano’s godmother, not that he needed it. 

“Very well, let’s hear it,” I said as I dipped back into the scalding hot water. 

(Everyone said it was scalding. I called it the perfect temperature.) 

“As we’ve discussed and you’ve approved, all attacks into the Magistracy will operate on a low burn. All of the commanding colonels of each regiment have been notified to use the invasion as a chance to not only learn more about the mechs provided to them but also to look for talented mehwarriors and soldiers. 

“Currently, three regiments have struck Fanardir. As expected, Canopus reinforced the closest to our new Andurien borders. Early Dawn, New Abilene, and Cate’s Hold are also being besieged by one regiment each. We expect all but Fanardir to fall within two months. Canopus has also sent a diplomat to conduct negotiations and has asked for a truce while the negotiation takes place.”

“Denied,” I replied coldly. “The war continues while negotiations take place.”

“And a certain High Lady of the Aurigan Coalition is currently waiting for your audience. It is scheduled for … tomorrow, I believe. Yes, tomorrow.”

Hmm. 

Kamea Arano. 

I have, of course, had the Maskirovka find out everything about her, though only a single squad of the subtler Maskirovka agents was assigned instead. 

She was struggling just as she had in canon. The Aurigan Coalition had shrunk away from the confederation’s borders, but it still held four worlds that the Capellan Confederation used to hold before the Fall of the Star League.

Panzyr, Mangzhangdian, Tyrlon, and Itrom. 

Hell, the confederation held Tyrlon and Itrom as late as the Second Succession War.

“... She is an accomplished military commander,” Aunt Ling spoke up in the silence. “Not bad looking either, with a body to match most mechwarrior models. Though she lacks the prestige needed to be your wife, she wouldn’t be bad as a concubine.”

“And give some periphery minor power a claim to the chancellorship?”

“They are a periphery. Big talks like that would just mean we would send our Maskirovka to ensure silence.” A pause. “Making her your concubine would give you the pretext to put more funds into rimward expansion. Just as we have reclaimed the Andurien Commonality, we can reclaim the … ‘Aurigan Commonality’ and its lost worlds.”

“Or we could just conquer them.”

“Or we could do that, but as you said, we shouldn’t take needlessly violent paths. There are many worlds with many tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of future subjects. Resource in the Aurigan Reach remains unexploited as well, providing us rich systems that are far beyond the reach of our neighbors. And if we take the Magistracy’s spinward systems, they would be secure as well.”

“And the Taurians?”

“We ignore them.”

I nearly snorted. “Ignore the Taurians?”

“They are isolationists. As long as we don’t invade any of the systems that they hold currently, then they won’t act. Oh, they will certainly make a lot of noise, of that I have no doubt. But they will not act. Or rather, they can’t.”

“... Because of their involvement in the Aurigan Coalition’s little rebellion.”

“Yes. The Concordat Navy lost a rare and valuable Fortress-class dropship. Speaking of which, do we have any new shipyards dedicated to the Fortress-class?”

“No,” I hummed. “As far as I know, none of the new shipyards have information on Fortress-class or its blueprints.”

“A pity.”

I hummed in agreement. 

“The next topic on the agenda is the Free Worlds League. The captain-general called.”

“Oh? He’s healthy enough to make calls now?” I asked with raised eyebrows. “I was under the assumption that he wasn’t having a good time.”

“The Old Eagle is stubborn. He has managed to wrangle the Parliament, but it’s less because of his leadership and more because of their fear of us.”

“Because of Tikonov II.”

“Yes. Speaking of which, ComStar is being coy.”

I groaned. “What do they want?” I asked. 

“They have expressed concerns.”

“Fuck them.”

“They aren’t good in bed.”

“Of course, the nerds aren’t good in bed.”

“The cultist ones are a freaky, though. You know, I had this handsome lover when I was young. He did marvelous things with his tongue while praising Blake -.”

“Nope, nope, nope. I do not want to know!” I shouted as I jumped out of the bath and ran out of there. “Why do you do this to me?!” 

“Watching a forty-year-old man act like a prudish teenager is very funny, dear!” 

-VB-

It was a private meeting. 

There was no ceremony, no attendant waiting for her, and no herald to announce her. 

Just her and her most trusted advisor.

It should have been an insult to not be treated as the head of a state, no matter how small, but her situation and the Capellan reception didn’t feel like an insult. All of the servants and guards treated her and her retinue with genuine respect. She was granted luxurious accommodation even compared to other diplomats. 

She knew that because the manor she had been given for the duration of her stay was less than a kilometer from the Taurian Embassy. Their embassy was a third of the size of the manor the chancellor offered. 

And now, she was here. 

A private meeting.

“You may enter, High Lady Arano,” the servant bowed as the doors opened inward automatically. 

And she saw him.

Chancellor William Liao.

Then she noticed that she hadn’t been guided to the Throne Room but a much smaller office. 

She walked in first and her advisor, someone Madeira offered for being a better politician and diplomat than he was, followed after her quietly.

The door closed behind them.

“Please, take a seat,” the chancellor said as he gestured to the armchairs before the desk he sat behind.

Kamea hesitated only for a moment before walking forward and sitting down.

“Thank you, chancellor. I am Kamea Arano, High Lady of the Aurigan Coalition,” she introduced herself. 

“I am aware,” he said before glancing at her advisor. “And this is…?”

“Councilor Josephine Aserro. She is my advisor.”

“I see. Welcome to the Capellan Confederation, Councilor Aserro.”

The politician bowed while seated. “Thank you for the welcome.”

The chancellor nodded before looking back to Kamea. 

And it was here that she noted a lot of things about the chancellor. 

He wasn’t old by any means. She knew that he had to be approaching his mid-forties. However, he did not look that old. In fact, his skin looked better than hers. What caught her off guard the most was the intensity of his eyes behind the half-lidded stare. 

Her father had the same eyes when he was at his most intense moments. 

… The chancellor was taking this meeting seriously. 

“It has been a long time since another head of state has visited Sian with the express intent to meet with the chancellor,” he began. “However, greeting you as my ancestor had greeted the First Lord would have been contentious to say the least.”

“So we are in a private meeting instead.”

“Indeed. A public meeting would have required me to act as I am expected to. You know this as well as I do.”

She nodded. 

“And had we been in a public meeting in the Throne Room with all of my courtiers watching you, then I would have had only one option available to me: to demand your unconditional surrender and annexation into the Capellan Confederation.”

Her eyebrows twitched. “Reannexation?”

“Just because worlds fell off the map doesn’t change the fact that, officially, they are still part of the Capellan Confederation,” the chancellor replied. “All of your worlds coreward of Coromodir were once part of the Capellan Confederation as late as 2900.” He sighed. “But we are not in the Throne Room with my subordinates making eyes full of expectation, are we? We’re here to have a reasonable negotiation that leaves both sides as happy as possible.”

Kamea took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “You are being very accommodating.”

“I know,” he replied. “It costs me very little.”

Cost him little? 

Truly, the scale of Inner Sphere houses differed from the Periphery houses. 

“The Aurigan Coalition wants to know the Capellan Confederation’s intent for the Aurigan Reach.”

“Simple. Colonization and expansion.”

“There are many worlds there that belong to the Coalition.”

“Just as you have de jure confederation worlds, the only thing that truly matters is the de facto control. Last I heard, all of the systems coreward of Itrom have ceded from the coalition, did they not?”

“... They have, but even so, there are plenty of Aurigan citizens on those worlds.”

“And they will be Capellan citizens in time just as you will be.”

Her hands curled up into fists.

“You came here because you knew that it would be an inevitability,” I replied. “If it wasn’t the mech production, then the warship should have alerted you to the fact. Warship production also means jumpship production. Produce enough jumpships and all distances eventually close. Including those of the current de facto borders.”

“I know.”

“Then what do you have to offer me?”

She took a deep breath in. “I am willing to offer the Aurigan Coalition as a protectorate of the Capellan Confederation.”

It was the best card she could play. 

“A protectorate, huh?” the chancellor mumbled. “Not a bad idea. Not a good idea, either.”

“Why do you say so?”

“Because it doesn’t benefit the confederation to accept the Aurigan Coalition as a protectorate. In fact, it will cost us,” he said as he leaned forward. “Just how many mech regiments do you have left? How many aerospace fighters and dropships? Jumpships? I know that your civil war took a toll on your people. Why else would so many worlds break away from you left and right?” he asked before shaking his head. “No, you are barely standing as you are. Your offer of protectorate is an attempt by you to maintain as much independence as possible while enjoying Capellan protection.” 

The chancellor leaned back.

“Am I wrong?”

“... No, you are not,” Kamea replied. 

“And in suggesting it, you mistook the confederation,” the chancellor replied. 

“How so?”

“To be a protectorate means you would willfully place yourself under the confederation’s authority yet gain significant autonomy in exchange. This might work with the Lyran Commonwealth or the Free Worlds League because that is how both of those realms operate, if not on a national level, then on the local level as well. The confederation does not. Everything is for the survival of the state and thus the Capellan people. To allow you to retain significant autonomy would be allowing hypocrisy. ‘Why do they get to rule themselves?’ the rest of the commonalities will ask.

“If you had known how the Capellan state operates on a fundamental level, then you would not have offered your nation as a protectorate. This also shows that you lack a base internal bureaucracy to handle basic information exchange. An interstellar nation that cannot operate even on that level is a nation that is already on the path of failure, if not an already failed state.”

“And you expect us to offer to become a vassal in full?”

“No. Everyone has pride. No one willingly does it unless there is a greater threat or survival is at stake.”

Then he glared at her. 

“And that is the second nail in the coffin you failed to realize. Your people’s survival is at stake, but you have placed your pride first.”

He reached down and pulled up a packet of paper.

“This is the Maskirovka’s analysis of the current state of the Aurigan Coalition. Please, have a look.”

He slid two copies across the table. 

Kamea looked at it before hesitantly picking it up. It was written in Star League English. 

She flipped the first page. 

Then second page. 

Then third …!

Her fingers trembled. 

“That report was for my eyes and that of the director of the Maskirovka,” he noted. “It was not made to pamper to middle manager bureaucrats. So if the report is accurate, then all I would need to do is wait for you to die as a nation before walking in with renewed jumpship production.”

“... you could have prepared this report in advance to shake my resolve.”

“I could have. But you forgot something, High Lady Arano.”

“What did I forget?”

“You presume I need to go to such a length. I do not. Because I have a warship and you do not even have two dozen jumpships total. Do you remember my question at the start of this private conversation? About how many mech regiments you had left?”

Kamea trembled. Her hands threatened to ball up into fists. 

“Then … what do you think … I should be offering you…?” she asked with difficulty. 

She felt conflicted. 

Was the Aurigan Coalition truly a mere few years away from total collapse? A year, in the worst case scenario?

“To accept the Capellan Confederation as your new overlord. To have the Aurigan Coalition’s systems - both current and former - reorganized as part of the Aurigan Commonality. To accept jumpships that would go to your worlds with grain and machines you need to keep your economies running and mechs repaired and ready to defend the border. Because I tell you this truth in private, without anyone else listening in. The Aurigan Coalition already died, and all you can do is keep it alive on a failing life support that has already malfunctioned.

“Because this time next year, there won’t be an Aurigan Coalition left.”