Scavenged Restoration 42 (Patreon)

Commissioned by RoyalTwinFangs

Scavenged Restoration

Chapter 42

-VB-

The House of Scions. 

The uneducated might equate it to a form of parliament or the Capellan equivalent of the Estates General. 

It was not, however, either of those. Both Lyran Commonwealth’s Estates General and the Free Worlds League’s Parliament possessed enough de jure and de facto power to impose and enforce laws; the question wasn’t whether or not these organizations could impose the law but whether or not they could gather the internal momentum to impose and enforce those laws. 

The same could not be said about the current iteration of the House of Scions. 

Once upon a time, they could push their own members into the Prefectorate, and from there, one of the Prefectorate could be voted into the chancellorship.

Once upon a time.

This was before the days of the Star League and as such an ancient history to the current Capellan nobility. 

In this current day and age, the House of Scions served the chancellor. 

End of story.

Its current function reflected the current state of the confederation; the chancellor made the decision and the House of Scions did its best to make sure those decisions were carried out. 

Due to my father’s limited involvement in the civilian side of ruling a state, the House of Scions had mostly occupied their time with working on that. 

I, on the other hand, had taken quite the direct approach when it came to ruling, so much so that the Capellan nobles were used to speaking with me in the proper setting, even going so far as to raise concerns and something close to an objection if they thought that I would cause unnecessary damage to the state. And I let them do it… as long as the suggestion and recommendations weren’t made solely to benefit the nobility. 

I had Candace’s help in that, too. More than anyone else, she had her ministerial position from which to engage the House of Scions.

And as such, she stood by my side when I appeared before the House of Scions for a formal declaration. 

The Auditorium was a huge room built into the palace itself, and as I walked onto the center stage, everyone rose up to bow. 

I didn’t wave my hand or do anything else. I walked up to my seat - shiny and dust-free despite the fact that I haven’t used it in over four years - and sat. My sister waited for me to sit and then sat down herself. 

“Please be seated,” the herald spoke up. 

All of the nobles sat down and began to look at each other and myself. 

Why was he here? A new reform? A change in political direction? 

I could hear those thoughts rummaging about their brain as they tried to get ahead of the game. 

And I let them stew in it for a while before I opened my mouth.

“Today … should be celebrated,” I began. “I do not say this because everyday should be celebrated but because today is a momentous occasion. Today, we meet here to welcome a new member of the Capellan Confederation. Please welcome… High Lady Kamea Arano.”

And from the side of the stage, Kamea walked onto the lower podium between me and the rest of House of Scions. 

Nobles broke out into murmurs and confused claps. 

As Kamea came to a stop in the center left of the stage, I spoke up again. 

“High Lady Kamea Arano is the leader of the periphery nation known to us as the Aurigan Coalition, which holds worlds that once belonged to our confederation but we failed in the waning days of the Second Succession War. High Lady Arano and her subjects, who are our brothers and sisters, have suffered in the past decade from the insidious actions of her uncle who usurped her and ruined the nation. She’s come to us for help in restoring her people’s livelihood and safety, and I have granted it. From this day onward, the Capellan Confederation welcomes … the Aurigan Commonality!” 

There was a pause before everyone stood up to cheer and clap. 

---

What they weren’t so happy about was the “special” treatment I offered the Aurigans for the next five years. 

See, unlike the rest of the confederation, the Aurigan worlds were on the verge of collapse. There was no exaggeration in that, and I was not exaggerating when I told Kamea that her people were going to collapse as a nation and perhaps even on a planetary level by this time next year if not earlier. 

However, if I allowed the Capellan nobility to move into this new territory unregulated, then they would do what any nobility did in times of trouble: take land, business, and opportunists away from the locals as they increase their power. 

I couldn’t let them do that for a very simple reason. I wanted the Aurgians to actually want to be part of the Capellan Confederation, and nobility running wild would have achieved the opposite of that. 

As such, I made it a rule - enforced by the CCAF - to prevent any Capellan nobility or business from moving into the Aurigan Commonality. This meant in essence Aurigans would manage Aurigan internal affairs while the confederation would be providing support.

But only for five years. 

Because five years was also the length of time that would take a resident, the former servitors, of conquered worlds into becoming citizens (as long as they passed the citizenship test at the end of that time period). By preventing the rest of Capellan society from moving into Aurigan Commonality and setting up shop, I was effectively giving the locals time to reorganize themselves before nobility power struggles started to hit them.

Because it will hit them.

However, those five years were also the time I wanted to use to turn various points across the Aurigan Commonality into colonization hub centers. Panzyr would be a great starting off point for both colonization and military hub as their next door neighbor was Herotitus, an independent world that operated much like Canopus but on a smaller scale. I could either lure them to join the confederation with concessions and gifts… or conquer them if they decide to play hard ball. 

Gangtok IV in the Gangtok System spinward of Coromodir was also a good place to set up a hub. It had a terran-like world with lower than average gravity, which meant it could serve as an exporting agriworld for new colonies. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to take that girl as your own? She isn’t half bad…”

“Auntie, please. If you keep bugging me, then I’ll pull a Candace and bring in a Fedrat whore into the palace or something.”

A pause. “I mean I’m not against it. I’m sure there are plenty of drugs we can use to keep her in line.

“Auntie, please.”

But even as I fended off her prodding, I was acutely aware that she didn’t do this just for the sake of her entertainment or familial duty. She did it because she was the Director of the Maskirovka, and looking out for the Capellan Confederation’s present and future was her duty, not just her desire. 

But that could wait after my negotiation with the Old Eagle. 

-VB-

Michael Hasek-Davion. 

Wanted to cry.

He wanted to scream.

He wanted to rage.

He wanted to grab a gun and shoot someone.

Oh, wait. He already did.

“Are there really no more death row inmates?” he calmly asked the prison warden after coming out of the room. There was blood all over his face, hands, arms, and clothes. 

Despite this being his first time letting his rage out like that, he felt surprisingly refreshed! 

The warden visibly stiffened. “Y-Yes, Your Grace. H-He was the last death row inmate housed in this facility,” he replied firmly but not aggressively. 

Michael let out a hiss of frustration. He enjoyed the feeling of a crowbar crunching skulls. After the fifth time, it became something he anticipated the most when it came to “dispatching” death row inmates. 

“What about Capellan prisoners?”

“... Sir?”

“Capellans are cockroaches and monsters, warden. I’m sure you know that, considering that happened to our only shipyard in the Capellan March.”

The man nodded stiffly. “... Perhaps. I will have to go and look, sir, but this facility was only for death row inmates.”

“Ah, right. I killed all of the prisoners in this facility, didn’t I?” he hummed. “I suppose it will have to be redesignated. Perhaps as a dissident-only prisoner? Prison for Capellan descent prisoners?” he hummed. He glanced meaningfully at the warden. “Somewhere that will house prisoners who won’t be missed, yes?”

“O-Of course…”

“Good. I want there to be at least a handful of them here by this time next month, warden. Otherwise, it’ll be your job on the line.”

Of course, Michael couldn’t let someone like the prison warden, who knew about his new proclivities, go without assurances. And if he couldn’t get assurances, then accidents will have to do.

The warden bowed, and Michael walked over to the changing room to get out of these bloodied clothes and wash himself. 

---

The reason for his scheduled outburst at the prison came from the fact that he had been fooled. 

And who fooled him?

None other than the damnable Chancellor William Liao.

The bastard had played him and played him well. 

He had initially believed that trading some repair time on the shipyard for a SLDF cache had been worth it considering what he got out of it; he now saw that all of it had been a ruse. 

The chancellor wanted the Kathil Shipyards to be sabotaged so that when he revealed his warship, the Capellan March would not be in any position to try to catch up! 

The SLDF cache had been a bait for the chancellor’s real purpose! 

And it ached Michael so much to admit that … the chancellor was his better. 

Oh, that smart to just admit it mentally. Saying it out loud was never going to happen! 

But most importantly, the Capellan March had become even more endangered than ever before. A warship. A fucking warship! There was nothing in the Capellan March that could defend against a warship! He could count on one hand the number of planets with planetary defenses and he would still have the majority of his fingers leftover! 

He took a deep breath in… just as a knock rang out from his office doors. 

“Come in,” he said and the doors opened to reveal his only child, Morgan. “Ah. Up already, son?” 

“I am, dad,” he began before he hesitated to say something. 

As much as Morgan was his child, Michael also knew that Morgan was a Davion loyalist through and through. His son never passed a single test Michael gave him. 

“What is it, son?” he asked irritably. 

“I’ve been promoted, dad, and it’s gonna cut my vacation short.”

He blinked as his irritation disappeared on the spot. “Oh, promotion?”

Even if Morgan was never going to be Michael’s help or supporter, he was still his son and the heir to the Duchy of New Syrtis. Any improvements and advancements Morgan experienced was one that Michael welcomed wholeheartedly. What he did not like, however, was that his son was going to leave his side again after being here for only two months.

Still… This was an opportunity.

“So you’re a leftenant general now? Congratulations!” he grinned as he stood up, reached over to one of the cabinets, and opened a secret compartment. “Now, I hid a good bottle of champagne here. It’s a good sixty years old, and I think your promotion deserves opening that bottle!” 

“B-But you don’t like drinking, dad.”

“Oh, I don’t but you do. I prepared this just for you. See? It even has a sticker. ‘For when my son becomes a general’!” 

But politicking and intrigue could wait until after he and his son got plastered.

-VB-

A/N: hope you enjoyed the new chapter! Michael Hasek-Davion’s POV was requested by RoyalTwinFangs, so I had to try my best as to how someone with MHD’s personality would react to something like this. Hope I did well. If not, then you let me know.

Yes, I view MHD as someone who would immediately think that his son’s promotion is an opportunity for himself, not his son.