Collection 48 (Patreon)

Collection

Chapter 48

-VB-

Hanse Davion

New Syrtis, Federated Suns

3004 December 2

He was not Hanse Davion.

Yes, he was Hanse Davion but he was not Hanse Davion, because right now, he was a certified ambassadorial assistant of the Diplomatic Corps, Johnathan Daywood. He was in no way present because he, the current heir of the Frederated Suns, would in no way be on a diplomatic ship serving as a second to the actual ambassador just in case he needed to intervene for the sake of maintaining a healthy diplomatic relationship with a new state, right? 

Right. 

“They declared themselves a new state?” he asked the ambassador as they went over the new information.

“Yes,” the blonde haired woman hummed. Dressed in a professional business attire and pencil skirt even in what should be a more casual meeting, Baroness Anna deSalvatore was the picture of sexy professionalism. Dark blonde hair tied up into a ponytail, a dark blue business suit that kept a large part of her chest open, a white button-up shirt underneath it that almost seemed inviting, a neck tie that covered the buttons and seemingly imitated a cleavage, a black pencil skirt, a pair of thigh-high stockings, and a pair of low heel dress flats. With a heart shaped face and a mischievous smile, she could have gone for a career in the entertainment industry and become a super star.

But unfortunately for the desperate managers and recruiters looking for talents, Baroness Anna deSalvatore, the third daughter of Duke Stephan deSalvatore of Meinrad III, was too ambitious to tie herself to the entertainment industry. No, she wanted to leave her mark in the Inner Sphere, and that was why she joined the diplomatic corp. 

She had initially wanted to be a mechwarrior, but lacked the minimum neurohelmet compatibility. 

But her incompatibility was a boon for the Federated Suns.

“What are your thoughts on the situation?” he asked her. 

She hummed. “I believe that the time of the Capellan Confederation as an Inner Sphere power has come to an end.”

He nodded. He agreed with her. 

“I think, however, my reasoning is different from what you might be thinking, sir.”

His lips twitched. “Oh?” 

“Please, tell me your thoughts on the matter.”

Hanse thought about it and didn’t see why not. 

“Let’s exchange one reason at a time,” he suggested instead. Traveling in a dropship was boring, so he wanted to extend even this little discussion. “And being the benevolent prince that I am, I’ll start!” He leaned forward. “The Capellan Confederation lost too many jumpships pissing off a monster.”

Nothing else needed to be said or explained. 

Jumpships were everything. They were the lifeblood of an interstellar empire, even more than the HPG stations and the FTL communication those machines allowed. The bigger the nation, the more jumpships it needed to stay alive. While many colonies were self-sufficient for the bare minimum necessities in this day and age, not every colony could exist without trade for its defense and prosperity. Was it possible? Yes, but did it happen? No. In the academic circles, there was a pretty much accepted number for how many colonies a single jumpship can keep alive. 

Three. 

Despite his and Ian’s best efforts, the Federated Suns’ Outback was the best example of this. While the poorest of the worlds in the Outback didn’t possess enough population or wealth to get their industries moving, some of the more “major” worlds did. However, the concentration of jumpships around the center of the nation and along the borders left the Outbacks without many jumpships for their trade. With no trade, there was no incentive to develop. With no development, trade further declined. Declining trade led to depopulation. Declining population reduced trade further as both supply and demand fell. And the cycle repeated itself from there. 

Jumpships, thus, was the backbone of an interstellar nation. 

One of the reasons why the rest of the Inner Sphere was able to maintain their borders while the Capellan Confederation lost their border worlds war after war was exactly because of jumpships; the Capellan Confederation had a single world in Capella from which they made jumpships while the rest of the Successor States had multiple jumpship manufacturers on multiple worlds. 

And the Capellan Confederation, which lost dozens of jumpships, lost the capacity to support, mobilize, develop, and defend upwards of fifty worlds. Even if they focused their nation’s entire manufacturing capacity solely to jumpships, they wouldn’t be able to make all of the jumpships they lost. 

It was a fact that both the Federated Suns and the Free Worlds League jumped at.

The Capellans would have to defend their most critical worlds but leave their less important worlds to be the sharks. But those less important worlds mined up the ores, grew the grain, and served as military outposts. Those losses would translate into future losses. 

Yes, as the ambassador said, the Capellan Confederation was no longer a Great House.

“That is a good point,” she agreed. “But I believe that the Capellan Confederation’s bigger and more immediate problem is not their loss of jumpship but their broken morale.”

He blinked. 

“Their defeat not just at Coromodir but at Victoria and other former Capellan worlds were broadcasted to every Capellan world. To every Great House. To everyone who can receive a signal. Even before we were able to mobilize, the Capellans themselves understood that they had just broken their nation’s backbone. They lost their confidence in the chancellor, in the Liaos, and the Capellan system.”

He leaned back.

He hadn’t thought about that. 

“And they will be forced to question their reality,” Hanse muttered. 

She nodded. “They have to look back at their sacrifices and see that all of it had been for nothing. The loss of confidence in their way of life will not only cause fractures but outright rebellions,” she said. “And I think MIIO and DMI have already acted on this, no?”

He smirked. “How did you figure it out?”

“Madras.”

It was one of the first Capellan worlds to experience planetary unrest.

“Had it been anywhere else,” she began. “I would have thought it a coincidence. However, if we assume the Arlaoskas Union as a new Great House on the rise, then preventing them from gaining further ground in the Inner Sphere is a must for the Federated Suns, especially because Arlaoskas’s League heritage will surely give them preferential treatment. If we go down this line and make the assumption that the Union will push its way toward Terra, Madras would be one of the worlds that the Union will have to eat. But by fomenting rebellion on Madras and making it easier for the Federated Suns to invade and conquer it, the higher ups must be looking to cut off the Union from further expansion.” Then she paused. “However, if they move as such on that basis, then they are overextending on the wrong justification.”

“Oh?”

“Sir,” she began. “You’ve given me the files. You don’t have to act coy.” 

Indeed, he did give her the files on Arlaoskas. Including the files on what the DMI and MIIO knew about the space stations Arlaoskas built. What made them scary to the leadership of the Federated Suns was not their size, utility, or even their ability to defend strategic worlds. 

It was the speed at which they were built. 

Confirmed time and again, Hanse knew along with all of Ian’s inner circle that each space station was built within a month, at max.

That was a base of operation that mechs and infantry could not destroy or hope to capture built in a month.

It was a projection of industrial and military power that the Federated Suns, with its near trillion people, could not match, and it showcased exactly the breadth of the technological gap that existed between the Federated Suns and the Arlaoskas Union.

“We also know that they are capable of moving to star systems that most of us in the Inner Sphere and the Periphery have ignored… but contain valuable and needed resources if one is willing to stake out there for years. We cannot do this but Arlaoskas can with his supposed artificial intelligences and city-sized warships. He doesn’t need to conquer, and that is why I believe that attempting to cut him off from future expansion is the incorrect move.”

He stared at her. 

She stared back.

And he couldn’t help it. He broke out into a grin. “That was beautifully put together,” he laughed. “Did you practice?”

“It’s been on my mind for some time,” she huffed. “... But I do ge the feeling that there is another motive behind Madras.”

“Oh?”

“If it isn’t to cut off Arlaoskas, then it is to strike deep into the confederation then bloom outward… to create a border with the Free Worlds League.”

And she got it. 

The main reason behind Madras. Oh, her previously stated reason was also true; there were enough people in Ian’s inner circles who didn’t think that Arlaoskas would stop his conquests. They firmly believed that he would continue to conquer. 

But Arlaoskas wouldn’t. 

Because the pattern didn’t fit. 

The man had an objective and that objective wasn’t to leave his name behind or create a new dynasty, though he did that anyway. 

From what the psychologists were able to determine, Edward Arlaoskas cared only about creating a better life for him and his family, but time and time again, someone kept messing with him.

There was a very good chance that had no one bothered him at all, Edward Arlaoskas might still be plying the space lanes in the first iteration of his mini-warship. 

“And why else do you think the confederation will fall?”

She raised an eyebrow. “It’s your turn, sir.”

He huffed. “Fine, fine!” 

It was a good debate. 

-VB-

A/N: a peak at some of the mindset of the people involved in the strategic level and their perception of Arlaoskas as well as the diplomat who might become Eddie’s wife.