Scavenged Restoration 59 (Patreon)

Commissioned by RoyalTwinFangs

Scavenged Restoration

Chapter 59

-VB-

Katrina Steiner’s body jerked as a coughing fit wrecked her.

Despite the cough and being sixty-four years old, she didn’t look a day over fifty. 

And looking at her mother with a frown on her face was Melissa Steiner and her husband, Hanse Davion. They were on a biennial trip around the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth.

This was the third time that Victor would visit Tharkad and the second time that Andrea would see her grandmother. 

But her grandmother, the Archon of Lyran Commonwealth, looked sickly. Weak. Not at all the pillar of strength and authority Melissa remembered her being.

“You didn’t look this bad last time we came by…” Melissa began. 

Her mother smiled as she leaned back into her chair. 

Next to her on a stand was the outfit she greeted them with.

But now that it was off of her, everyone could see the number of mechanical components, wires, and hoses built into the bulky fur cloak. 

“Yes,” Katrina nodded jerkily. “It seems that the lung cancer I got rid of a decade ago has returned with a vengeance. And metastasized.”

“To where?” Hanse asked with a frown. He did not expect this. In fact, he hadn’t heard anything about this. 

“My useless womb for one,” the archon chuckled. “My colon. My left kidney.”

“... You’re dying,” Melissa muttered in horror. 

“If it wasn’t for the medical core that William gave to me, then I would have died months before all of you got to Tharkad,” she replied. 

“You still insist that he gave it to you,” the First Prince frowned. 

Melissa wanted to tell him to stop, that right now was not the time for this. 

If there was one thing that Hanse and her mother disagreed on, then it was the post-Fourth Succession War technology boom, which was partly accelerated by the number of memory cores that both of their nations had managed to pilfer from the Capellan Confederation as well as samples of technology they purchased through proxies in the Free Worlds League. 

Hanse claimed to this day that this was a win they managed to score after the disastrous Fourth Succession War. 

Her mother disagreed firmly. She insisted that specific memory cores were leaked to every single Great House. Whether it was to prevent a concentrated effort or for some other purpose, she insisted that it had to be a deliberate action on the chancellor’s part. She even had a theory about it based on what the LIC knew about which cores were leaked where. 

The Draconis Combine got a significant boost to their mech and aerospace technologies as did the Lyran Commonwealth. 

The Federated Suns and the Free Worlds League mainly stole/received industrial technology and support/utility military technologies.

Why? It was a mirror of what each side received. 

Lyran Commonwealth that focused on military upgrades lagged behind on its industrial upgrades. The Federated Suns that focused on the industrial upgrades couldn’t rearm fast enough to match the confederation. 

Why? 

It was a never ending debate for the two of them. 

“Just in time for me to catch the first lung cancer with the first memory core. And just in time to successfully treat my second lung cancer with the second memory core.”

“... Second?” Hanse whispered. 

“A medical memory core that was specifically tailored for cancer treatment and medication.”

Hanse stared at her mother, and her mother stared right back, meeting his gaze and daring him to accuse her of working with William behind his back.

Because that’s what Melissa thought for a split second. 

“... His spies are fucking everywhere,” her husband sighed as he closed his eyes, lowered his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

One of the myriad of machines surrounding her mother beeped, whirled, and then quieted. 

“They are if he knew about my relapsing cancer before my doctors did!” Katrina laughed, knowing that she finally managed to plant that doubt of William’s intentional “loss” in Hanse. “I actually had to get the LIC to triple check all of the doctors, nurses, and related medical staff just to make sure. Alas, no luck.”

“At this point,” Melissa spoke up. “I would say that he knows us better than we do.”

Both Hanse and her mother grimaced. 

Which only made the wider picture worse for the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth.

Just five years ago, the Capellan Confederation revealed their five new warships, followed by ComStar’s ComGuard’s four and the Free Worlds League Navy’s two. Compared to their rivals, their nations had only produced one warship each.

And who knows what the Draconis Combine was doing? The latest reports from their spies spoke at length about an increase in aerospace fighter production in the Combine. 

“... How are you doing, mother?” she asked quietly when the silence went on for long enough to be awkward. 

“Despite my appearance, I am doing better than I was six months ago,” she replied with a soft smile. “I wouldn’t have had half of the medicines and machines to help me if William didn’t send that second core two years ago. I’m glad I had my people focus on decoding it as much as possible.”

“He could have sent a recipe for poison.”

“Oh, I know. You don’t have to tell me. Nondi was on my case for months!” she laughed before coughing again. “She’s also very sore about being wrong, by the way. Hanse, you should go and share your anti-William sentiments to make her feel better.”

Hanse sighed. “I’m sure she’ll be fine on her own. She doesn’t like me any more, anyways.”

Melissa sighed. 

It was odd how her aunt didn’t like Hanse.

But it was a sentiment she understood. 

Her Aunt Nondi had always been firmly loyal to the Lyran Commonwealth. To her, the current state of the Fed-Com alliance and the disaster that was the Fourth Succession War were proof that the alliance - or rather the Federated Suns’ First Prince being the head of the alliance - needed to be changed… or done away with.

But from Melissa’s place, this alliance was already cemented in place. Victor, Sierra, and their soon to be born son already made that very clear: there was no going back. 

In fact, she believed that if this alliance broke, then there would be hell to pay as the still intact Kapteyn Accord would coordinate their militaries to crush them once and for all. They would be lucky if they retained all of their border worlds. 

In the worst case scenario, the alliance would break into a civil war, and all the accord would have to do was watch them kill each other before jumping in as the civil war came to an end. 

That… could not be allowed to happen. 

“Yes, perhaps you two can finally share something common enough to put some differences aside,” she smiled.

Hanse grunted. “Fine, fine. I guess I can go and discuss some future strategies with her. But you know that she’s going to insist on drafting the plans first?”

“We aren’t at war,” she shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

Then she noticed something. 

Her mother was frowning. 

“... Mother?” 

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, making even Hanse pay attention. 

“The Estates General has been… restless.”

“Restless,” Hanse repeated. 

“Restless,” her mother confirmed. “They see that the Commonwealth has recovered more than what we lost in the Fourth Succession War. In fact, they are seeing the entire Inner Sphere’s continued stockpiling as a problem because the League and the Combine must surely have something that their allies gave.”

Hanse nodded slowly. “There has been a similar sentiment on New Avalon as well,” he replied. “That we are making a mistake by allowing the larger and more populous half of the Inner Sphere to continue to build up.”

“It’s not their fault that they haven’t seen the reports.”

The reports. 

Or rather “The Occasion Reports,” as they were compiled and codenamed. 

The Occasion Reports was more than five thousand pages of unsummarized critical reports of the build-up of the Draconis Combine, Free Worlds League, and the Capellan Confederation. A summary of those reports made a very simple conclusion: it was already too late to wage war based on presumptions and assumptions about rival states’ stockpiles and industrial capacity. There needed to be a paradigm shift in how they dictated and conducted their wars now. 

“Even among those who have read the report,” the Archon grunted. “They think that our secret weapon will be able to counter the Combine’s aerospace superiority and and the Capellan warships. All they see is how we can win.”

“Then they are dumb,” Hanse hissed out. “Worse, they are dumb and desperate.”

Melissa, Hanse, and Katrina knew better than most the power of their secret weapons… and their weaknesses. 

And it wasn’t enough to win a war. 

-VB-

Thomas Marik stared at his father intensely. 

The past decade since his return to the Free Worlds League had been… interesting. 

Yes, interesting. That was a very good word to describe the situation he and the Free Worlds League found themselves in. 

Right after the Fourth Succession War, the Duchy of Andurien declared themselves to be independent and waged a war upon the League’s enemy-turned-ally, the Capellan Confederation. 

The attempted secession led to annexation.

And while everyone in the Free Worlds League did not like that fact, it also presented an opportunity.

The former Duchess of Andurien, Catherine Humphreys, had been the leader of the anti-Marik coalition within the League’s Parliament. She had been the backer of so many campaigns, nobles, and even judges. 

Without her and her wealth - the wealth that she foolishly threw away in a war she never had a chance to win - the anti-Marik coalition broke apart into squabbling factions each looking out for their own interest only. 

This allowed his father and the pro-Marik alliance to pass through reform after reform…

Including the amendment of the Home Defense Act to reduce the 75% retention of local forces to 50%.

Yes. 

Much change. 

Great change!

And these changes, however small and in the defense of the nation without infringing upon the basic rights of all Free Worlds League citizens, were becoming a rallying cry. That the Mariks were becoming tyrannical.

Because… what? 

Trying to better utilize their resources, military, and bureaucracy was a treason? It was tyrannical, apparently?! 

He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly before looking around. 

Well, his father was gone. He will be missed.

Troot troot…

He picked up his phone. 

“Hello?”

“When are you going to visit me?” his father, Janos Marik, asked over the phone. 

“Dad,” he sighed. “I am busy.”

“I know you don’t have any meetings today. Don’t try to lie to me about how busy you are. On top of that, I know you aren’t spending enough time with your only kid right now. That’s not good, boy.”

“Dad, I just got off of negotiating for a cheaper purchase of mechs for our house forces.”

“So?”

“Shouldn’t you be at that age where you find everything bothersome?”

“Nope.” Then he cackled. 

“... You’ve become very relaxed since your retirement,” Thomas sighed. 

“Of course. I have nothing else to do but laugh at the stupidity of people. Speaking of which, I actually got a message from William.”

“What is the Celestial Wisdom up to now?” he asked. 

Chancellor William Liao was now Thomas’s peer just as he had been his father’s peer, and having seen everything play out in favor of the chancellor, he couldn’t help call the man by his informal title. Because it really did feel like at times that William had all of the wisdom whenever he needed it. 

The best plans to raise his people up.

The best defenses.

The best people to delegate to. 

Thomas frequently compared himself to the chancellor, and despite the long standing bad blood between their two nations, he readily asked the allied chancellor for advice.

And to many people’s surprise, Chancellor William provided, including agriculture technologies and lost industrial technologies. 

In fact, one could say that the past five years of prosperity was less about how well Thomas did and how well he managed to get help from the Capellans. 

The people, of course, didn’t see it this way. They didn’t know that there were back channels and quiet transfers. All they saw was him, Captain-General Thomas Marik, leading the Free Worlds League to a better future after the traitorous Duchy of Andurien finally stopped being a pain in the ass of everyone. Which then bolstered his already popular support and fed into faster reforms. 

Oh, he knew what the Capellan chancellor was trying to do. 

The man wanted a true peace between their two nations, and Thomas Marik was more than happy to give it if it brought prosperity. The open trade between their nations also seemed to grow the support for peace between them. 

The only problem in his reign so far… were the Lyrans. 

Everyone knew that their Estates General, especially the “Homeless” clamoured for war. Now, he didn’t know what the military situation was like in the Lyran Commonwealth, but even with the most optimistic rate of recovery, they couldn’t be that ahead of the League. 

-VB-

A/N: in which on the other side of the border, Thomas goes through the same ordeal as William does at home: being nagged by his elders. On the other side of that border, the Lyran Estates General are bristling for action without realizing just how “not significant” their improvements have been.