Collection 50 (Patreon)

Collection

Chapter 50

-VB-

Baroness Anna deSalvatore
Victoria Fortress Station, Arlaoskas System
3005 February 18

The fortress station was a monstrous construction on its own.

But the spaceships that entered its “supercapital” dock were also monsters in their own right. 

The thought of such behemoths flying over New Avalon sent a shiver down her spine. 

And now, she stood before what could arguably be called the throne room.

It was a vast and expansive hall with greek pillars every ten meters, rising high above her head like a New Avalon Blackwood. There were support structures that looked like roots and branches below and above her, though none of those took away from the clean, utilitarian, and brutalist central lane of the hallway. It was definitely an odd mix, and it made her feel like she was walking down an alien forest path than the hall of the most powerful state within the Inner Sphere. 

And then she stood before the thirty step raised dais and the throne on top of it. 

She curtsied. 

“Fleetmaster,” she greeted the man. 

With the light of the star shining down upon him from behind, she couldn’t make out anything on his face. 

Except for his eyes. 

Those half-lidded eyes seemed to stare into her soul, analyzing every part of her. 

“So you are the ambassador of the Federated Suns,” he spoke up after a moment. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Baroness Anna deSalvatore.”

There was no one else in the hallway, but she knew better. She’d seen the videos and testimony of the Capellan diplomat. Of artificial men and women seemingly forming out of the walls to bring snacks and drinks.

She could be surrounded by ten thousand such AIs for all she knew. 

“Allow me to ask you a question,” he began before she could, stealing her initiative. “Why does the Federated Suns send an ambassador to my Union?” 

“Because my First Prince wishes to maintain an open diplomatic channel, Fleetmaster,” she replied firmly. “There are no other motives.”

“Hmm. To keep me from invading the Federated Suns, then?”

She stiffened for a moment. “That is the concern, yes,” she replied after a while. “As the only nation with multiple warship fleets as well what I could only describe as super battleships, you project military power that has the entirety of the Federated Suns watching your every move.”

He leaned his head to the side and hummed. “Bold of you to admit it so plainly.”

“I believe in clear and concise communication, fleetmaster,” she replied. 

“Do you?” he asked. “Is that why the Federated Suns sent me a young ambassador instead of a veteran diplomat?” he asked. 

Her poker face stayed on but she felt … annoyed. 

He was making an accusation. He wasn’t saying it out loud but he was making one nonetheless. 

“I am qualified for the job entrusted to me by the First Prince,” she countered but did not elaborate. After all, what qualified for a diplomat was not uniform across all states. 

He tapped his finger on his throne’s armchair. 

“Very well. Then ask your First Prince if he is willing to open up trade with the Arlaoskas Union,” he said as he stood up. “We can talk afterwards.”

---

Edward Arlaoskas

“A diplomat?” Dad repeated with a hum before pausing. Then he chuckled. “Look at me, thinking about diplomats as if they were people I’m supposed to regularly meet.”

“You might,” I replied as I sipped mom’s home cooked clam chowder. We sourced the ingredients from Victoria II. The cold planet was home to a very small ocean near the equator, and the most abundant form of life were bivalves like clams. 

Dad blinked as mom sat down after putting everything on the table. “Why would I?” he asked me. Across from us on the table, Armas and Amy listened in, ready to contribute when they saw fit. Marco was also here, but he was busy eating. 

“Because she’s also a presbyterian, and you are the only pastor or priest of any Christian denomination aboard the station.”

Dad blinked. 

“Right.” He paused again. “Huh. You would be alright with me setting up a church here?” 

“... It’ll be slightly risky with this station being a military installation and whatnot,” I replied after chewing on a particularly juicy clam. The meat was chewy and filled to the brim with just a hint of that ocean flavor. “But I don’t see why not. At the very least, people will appreciate having a place to pray quietly.”

He stared at me before dipping down to sip the broth from his spoon. “Thank you, Edward.”

“Not a problem whatsoever. There’s plenty of room, anyway.”

“Speaking of which,” Amy spoke up. “We’re getting a lot of purchase requests for the Venture.”

I hummed. Venture was a new FTL-less ship I designed and made based off of New Eden’s Venture-class mining frigate. At roughly two hundred meters long, sixty meters wide, and thirty meters tall, it was a big ship comparable to smaller jumpships. I sold it with mining lasers and a few point defense turrets pre-installed, so all someone needed to do was pay the cost for fuel to drive it around. 

It was also fragile enough that it couldn’t enter the atmosphere at full throttle, unlike many of the other warships in my possession like the Slashers and Mules. 

Its purpose? 

To increase participation in the mining industry. 

With a cargo hold capable of holding up to five thousand tons, it could hold around two-third of what a Mule could hold. Unlike a Mule, the Venture will be able to visit gas giants, ice fields, asteroid rings, and uninhabited moons to mine. 

And once people bought it, they would put the Ventures to work. 

As materials flow, manufacturers will be able to purchase the materials they need at a cheaper cost. Which would in turn drive down prices. 

“As long as they pass half a decent background check, sell it to them,” I replied. 

“Almost all of the member planets are also requesting your help in setting up permanent fusion power plants, desalination plants, and other infrastructure like improved spaceports and fuel refineries.”

“Children, keep business off of the dinner table,” mom chided.

And we, including dad, voiced our quiet acknowledgement. 

-VB-

Edward Arlaoskas
Victoria Fortress Station, Arlaoskas System
3005 February 20

Despite her bold introduction where she approached me instead of being called upon, she remained rather quiet for a few days. 

That was fine with me. 

I wasn’t interested in dealing with the Federated Suns all too much right now. 

My current focus was to secure legitimacy through technological revival of the Union’s worlds. Normally, anyone else in my shoes would be seeking to militarily secure the newly gained territories… but I kind of didn’t need to. Even if I only had a dozen “true” warships, I still had close to a thousand patrol boats, corvettes, and frigates now. Those ships could each and every single one of my new systems safe. Even a dozen ships sent over to help any one of my allies in the Taurian Concordat and the Aurigan Coalition will be enough to put down anything short of a multi-regimental force. 

But did they all think that I didn’t know how to play the game? 

Did they all think that I merely sent out the FTL Comm Buoys just to screw over ComStar? 

… Well, yes, that was the primary reason, but the secondary reason had been to give my AIs the ability to reach out into other nations and be able to start social engineering. 

Because as try as a baseline human might, they were not going to win against a Beta or Alpha Artificial Intelligence. 

No.

While I strengthened the foundation of my new rule here in the Union, my AIs would subvert the courts of the Inner Sphere and the Periphery. 

All so I could achieve one thing. 

To be able to make cool shit while everyone else left me the fuck alone.

Ping.

Oh shit, new point. Where was I going to spend that? 

… 

… 

Well, I wanted to make the Union prosperous, right? 

Why don’t I connect all of the systems in such a way that, for the average Union merchant and hauler, FTL wasn’t necessary? 

Why don’t I set up a stargate network?

I put the new point (which came months after the last one) into Stargate Hyperspace Fundamentals, pushing it from advanced but within human limit of Level 5 to definitely supernatural Level 6.

And almost instantly, I knew how to do it even without naquadah or any other special unobtainium.

I grinned. 

Oh yeah.

It’s all coming together.

-VB-

A/N: kind of a cold first meeting between Anna and Edward, eh? Well, we’ll get more in the chapters to come. But for now, we’re going into something we should have done much earlier. 

Going back to focusing on the cool tech shit.