Collection 53 (Patreon)

Collection

Chapter 53

-VB-

Ian Davion

New Avalon, Federated Suns

3005 June 20

When he picked up the report brought to him by his spymaster, he expected to find things like scandals, internal disputes, and maybe even minor rebellions. 

What he found instead of a nation being built on very loose control but what control it did have was very fucking firm in Edward Arlaoskas’s hands. 

The Arlaoskas Union, as it was named and owned by the aforementioned Arlaoskas, could only be described as a federation similar to how the Free Worlds League operated. Each world was responsible for itself, they would pay tax in money, manpower, or materials, obey a standard set of laws, depend all interstellar level military on Arlaoskas Fleet, maintain their own militia, and have a representative on the “Victoria Fortress Station.”

And, by God, that was a fortress. 

The analysts here in New Avalon were able to figure out that the station had more weapon emplacements than armor on the surface, though it was all disguised to look like a smooth surface. What made this fortress dangerous, however, were its missiles; videos of missile tests showed that the fortress station was capable of launching up to three hundred 10 kiloton missiles every volley with each volley being one minute apart. Those missiles would then travel at 1% of the speed of light to their target. 

And every single system in the Arlaoskas Union had one of those fortress stations. 

By the sheer speed alone, those missiles were already dangerous. With their firepower, no invasion would be successful. Even attempting to use fighters and debris as screens would not do anything in the long run as the first two volleys would wipe out anything between the fortress and its targets, and then the third volley would kill its target with extreme prejudice. 

That didn’t matter much to him, because he didn’t want to attack the Arlaoskas Union. But if those weapons were turned against him… That would be a problem.

And the only way they would turn against him was if something went awry in the political field. 

Which brought him back to how the Arlaoskas Union was arranged. 

Or not arranged. 

Much like the Free Worlds League that depended mostly on House Marik to provide it the bulk of the mobile military, Arlaoskas Union did the same with the Arlaoskas Fleet. 

The Fleet was the union’s interstellar military, and the Fleetmaster of the Arlaoskas Fleet was also the head of the Arlaoskas Union. 

This meant that the Arlaoskas Union was, in effect, no different than any of the Great Houses in how it functioned. Fleetmaster Arlaoskas would make the rule, and everyone would follow. What Ian didn’t understand was why Arlaoskas intentionally made it so that he would have little to no control over individual worlds. Why would he give up power when he had it in his hands? Morality? Philosophy? Sentimentality? 

Lack of thought?!

… Probably not. 

“Personally? I think he doesn’t care.”

Ian looked up and saw Hanse. “When did you get in here?”

“When you were too busy reading about whatever has you confused about them,” his younger brother shrugged. 

“... And what do you mean he doesn’t care?”

“From what we know of him, he’s not particularly ambitious.”

Ian raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, he’s not power hungry is what I meant,” Hanse chuckled. “He has his own ambitions, but those aren’t mutually inclusive with being power hungry.”

“Like me. I just want to punch things.”

“Exactly, like you! You know instead of doing your job like the First Prince is supposed to.”

“I am doing my job!”

“Because the circumstances are extraordinary. If it weren’t for me volunteering to go and check them out, then you would have gone off to punch the Capellans.”

“I do want to punch the Capellans,” he grumbled. “So what did you mean by not caring? Again.”

“He doesn’t care for power. He just wants to do what he wants to do, which seems to be making things, but the universe keeps getting in his way. Him building his weapons, his ships, bigger ships, bigger weapons, and now an entire nation are all reactions to what he probably sees as threats to himself and his … hobby.”

“Hobby,” Ian deadpanned. 

“Look, some people hunt innocent animals and other people like making cool machines. Our fleetmaster likes making cool machines,” Hanse emphasized. “Which actually brings me to the next point. He’s not evil or callous. Now that he has people underneath him, he’s putting in work to make their lives better.”

“You mean the ship sale program he’s got going on.”

Even more than the fleetmaster’s conquest of rimward Sian Commonality, his ship sale program was the real talk of the town. 

“No, actually. It’s a new intel I received from our baroness ambassador,” he said as he handed over a new stack of paper. 

Ian took it and read it. 

And read it. 

Read it just one more time.

He looked back up.

“... You’re not pulling my leg?”

“I asked the baroness the exact same thing,” Hanse shrugged. “As far as she is concerned, the fleetmaster is serious about this project.”

Considering everything he’s done and shown, there was no reason to believe that Fleetmaster Arlaoskas couldn’t achieve this, no matter how outlandish and impossible it sounded. A tech that belonged in the realm of science fiction! 

… But then again, mass producing jumpships in quantities that not even the Star League managed also said a lot of things. 

“... That impenetrable fortress just became even more impenetrable, huh?”

“Yup.”

-VB-

Janos Marik

Atreus, Free Worlds League

3005 July 1

A live broadcast as if it was planetary news. 

A live show of the opening of the new “gate” system, whatever that meant. 

From their house’s manor on Atreus, Janos sat watching the “show” with those of his family who were willing to join him. 

“So this is the man that slipped through your hands, father?” 

Janos glanced at the wayward son who had returned as soon as he had asked. Thomas Marik was a better image of his mother than Janos, and at a time when he was still missing her, Thomas was both a blessing and a reminder. 

“Yes,” Janos replied without any preamble or remark. 

Because what else was he supposed to say? 

Here was the man who’d left the Free Worlds League, went to the periphery, and came back as a powerhouse capable of destroying a Successor State. 

It was his failure that led to the ongoing destruction of the Capellan Confederation but also the loss of all of those technologies enriching the Free Worlds League, and one such technology was being shown in an interstellar broadcast through the FTL Comm Buoy that Arlaoskas had so kindly dropped off in Atreus system. 

He watched with everyone as Edward Arlaoskas, from within the confines of his “throne” room aboard the “fortress station” as he did something to activate the “stargate.”

Janos’s eyes widened as energy crackled and sparked across the ring and then -.

A second camera captured the event from within The Maw.

The ring blossomed as energy sparked something in the midst of it and then flattened out into a wave-like and bright … how else was he supposed to describe this?

Thomas shot up from his seat. 

“An event horizon?!” 

“Thomas?” Janos asked questioningly. 

“It’s… It’s an event horizon. Like what exists on the surface of the black hole. It’s not an object so much as it is boundary!” his science-loving son rambled. “Even a laser is an object if you consider light’s property as part-wave and part-particle. An event horizon is not even that; it’s not light or something else but -.”

Then closed his mouth when they all saw something groundbreaking. 

Something poked out from the center of the dimly glowing blue “event horizon” at the center of the ring. 

That thing grew and grew until its width almost crossed the entire diameter of the ring. 

“That’s a ship,” someone muttered. 

Janos stared with wide eyes as a ship that had not been there just a moment ago rumbled out from the event horizon.

It was a perfect copy of The Maw. 

But the camera showed the original Maw already floating next to the fortress station! 

Then his heart stuttered as a third carrier rumbled out from the event horizon.

Then a fourth.

A fifth.

They lined themselves up in front of the ring - the stargate. 

“Let this be a warning,” Edward Arlaoskas’s words rumbled out, and the camera cut back to the Victoria Fortress Station’s throne room where he stared ominously at the camera. His eyes glowed. “The Arlaoskas Union is protected. Bother us at your own peril. For those of you who wish to join a growing prosperous nation, however, our doors are open and our arms welcome our new siblings.”

And then the feed cut out, ending the broadcast. 

“Well, shit,” someone else muttered. 

“... We should send a diplomatic delegation if we haven’t already,” Thomas grimaced. 

Janos looked at his son.

… Out of all of his children, it was obvious right now that Thomas was the one most suited to become the next Captain-General.

Good. 

Janos can continue working without having to worry about his succession.