A Simple Transaction I

The Hero's Leviathan

"Time to relax," Hunger declared, setting up an inlet beside the river, which he had broadened and made mighty. Around the inlet was a glade of trees artfully grown so that the bend of their trunks formed natural benches in a circular array, and a table similarly created at the clearing's center.

"Oh boy," Letrizia said, skipping over to the copse. "Here it comes. Let me guess, the fishing speech?"

"That's right," Hunger admittedly happily. "And to see you so excited for it that you've already predicted its coming, fills my heart with joy."

"Fishing, huh." Aobaru walked to the edge of the inlet, looking down from the gently sloping grasses. "The Elixir Springs didn't really have any fish. Plenty of normal rivers and lakes, but I've never really experienced it as a pastime, beyond archaic holovids. Sounds fun!"

"Don't encourage him," Letrizia complained. "Weren't you just saying that you were taking this time to train?"

"Fishing is a time-honored class of training," Hunger reprimanded her. "How quickly you forget your lessons, young lady."

"I've never seen a living fish," Adorie said excitedly, peeking at the river. "Only in books. Will you catch them and let them go?"

"Absolutely not," Hunger said, sitting down and producing a rod. "The act of fishing is not just in the retrieval of the beast from the depths, but also in the course of actions that follow. The philosophy of the fish-returner is not a path I will countenance."

"I see..." Adorie nodded attentively, as if committing his words to memory.

"Great. Three weeks of this..." Letrizia pouted.

"Um, if it's permissible, I'd like to take some time off to explore the Realm of Evening," Aeira interjected. "I feel my Element has an affinity for some of these locations, and would like to learn more... would it be alright if I spent a few days alone?"

"Go ahead, but be cautious and fall back at the first sign of peril," Hunger said, raising a hand. "I trust you to be prudent about this sort of thing, unlike most. If we can discover any useful information about the Realm's history, that may well pay dividends later."

"Thank you!" Aeira bowed and took off, humming a gloomy melody.

Gisena knelt by the shore, dusting off her skirts. "Wouldn't this be the perfect spot to start my blast-fishing experiments again? What do you say, hun, shall we have a nice, informal competition?"

"Blast-fishing? That sounds like my style!" Aobaru exclaimed. He scampered to her side.

"An abomination," Hunger declared. "But even if I were to agree, what's to stop me from simply deleting all the fish on your side, and flooding the waters on mine?"

"Your kingly sense of sportsmanship and fair play?" Gisena batted her eyelashes.

"A tyrant has no need for such," Hunger scoffed. "And who but a fool would yield any advantage against the Lady Nullity?"

"I'm delighted you hold me in such high regard," Gisena preened. "But if your only recourse is overwhelming force, I'll further delight myself with the joys of research instead!"

"Be my guest," Hunger said. "Would you like a lab? Perhaps a conservatory open to the heavens that you might admire the constellations while contemplating the fundamental nature of all things?"

"How very thoughtful of you, hun! That would be lovely. And dinner as well, of course. I'm thinking, fish?"

"You'll have to get in line behind my three disciples here. They who catch the fish, should be first to enjoy its bounty."

"Such wisdom," Letrizia murmured, feigning awe.

"See?" Hunger raised an eyebrow. "She understands. You're about to experience one of life's great mysteries."

They settled in, girding their spirits for the transcendent happenings surely to follow.

Hunger cast line.

Hours passed in peaceful contemplation, the river yielding a steady stream of muscular salmon and slippery bream, shimmering trout and monstrous tuna, every hue and flavor of sea-dweller relenting to his hook and line. Adorie took to cheering him on, shouting with unusual gusto, though there was really no suspense given his influence over the Realm; Aobaru struggled mightily with his makeshift rod against benthic monstrosities created to provide an actual challenge.

"Done sulking?" Hunger asked Letrizia. "It's your turn soon."

"Hmph," Letrizia huffed. "You should be glad I'm keeping you company at all, and not resting in Verschlengorge! I-If it weren't for your cooking, I'd simply retire to my Armament immediately."

"Speaking of which, does Versch want any fish?" Hunger flicked his rod, depositing another snow-white grouper into their harvest basket. It thumped futily against its compatriots for a moment, then went still. "I'm sure you alone could eat all of this, but he must be getting hungry as well."

"Not since you bonded with him," Letrizia said absently, looking back at the Armament. "It looks like his physical hunger was mostly a product of the Curse. He can still devour things, but it's mostly a tool of war now."

"So there's really no excuse for your appetite." Hunger said.

"Well, I do have a bodyguard who insists on feeding me."

"My sympathies. He must be very stubborn."

"You have no idea."

"I admit to ignorance of many things... such as the current conditions in the Human Sphere. It's likely to be very relevant once we depart this place. Perhaps the Duchess could enlighten me?"

Letrizia blinked. "Ah. I should, shouldn't I... Sorry about that. We're trained to keep things a secret, but after all the times you've saved us, I could have been more forthcoming."

Hunger waved it off. "We've rarely had the chance to catch our breath. Always some crisis looming. Likely there will be another as soon as we reach the Human Sphere. It's strange that the Republic would commit a full Armament to hunting you down when you've had no contact with the Empire for months. Either they have gratuitous resources to spare, or they've a very strong reason to want you, specifically, dead."

Letrizia nodded. "No Armament is ever gratuitous. Either Verschlengorge's Ultimate would pose some sort of strategic problem for their plans, or something's been going on with House Artriez. I just hope my father is okay..."

Hunger tsked. "We should have interrogated the surviving kill-teams more thoroughly. Any information regarding a high-level noble of that station is likely compartmentalized, but it may have given us some idea."

Letrizia sighed. "It's not Miss Gisena's fault she fried their brains, she hasn't finished her fine-control Graces yet. I think she's going to work on a resurrection one next, just for you!"

"Such faith in her King's abilities... But, back to matters of Empire."

Letrizia blushed. "Ah, yes. Well, I don't know how relevant it'll be now, but the organization I was working for was formed for the purpose of inter-polity cooperation. Tensions between Republic and Empire have always existed, with the Association rarely hesitating to fan the flames. Of course, we haven't let them off easily either."

She frowned. "...As for the general disposition of the nations, I only have my perspective, but our larger neighbor is typically seen as venal, poorly-coordinated, and captured by entrenched interest groups. Their strengths of immense territory and resource access, and established structures of scientific research, would be overwhelming if not for the incompetence of their high-level command."

She took a breath. "They pretend to common morality but simply use mass-manipulation of their media organs to cover up or distract from their many crimes. I imagine their people mean well, but their representation is so diffused and locked into internal strife that hardly anything is capable of getting done, except for special-interest projects headed by motivated actors. The Voyaging Realm kill-team operations are an example of this. The competent and self-aware are shunted into middling positions, incapable of effecting institutional reform. It's a decaying nation, lacking even a basic telos, ailed by countless social, economic and command-level issues. But it's not past the point of total incapacitation, and is still dangerous for its immense size. Its death throes would be even worse!"

"I see," Hunger said levelly, casting line again. Almost immediately the waters rippled, as the abundant fauna fought over the fragrant bait on his hook. He frowned. Perhaps he would have to adjust the density of the teeming schools, so that they didn't tear each other apart before reaching his line. "And what of the Empire?"

"Well, we're hardly flawless," Letrizia began. "Imperial power has expanded in recent generations, to the detriment of the Noble Houses. This has lead to increasing corruption and inefficiency, as we trade the responsiveness and agility of local rule for an increasingly ossified bureaucracy. Our tactics tend to be straightfoward and hide-bound on the national level, overly concerned with matters of honor and demonstration, though our regional-level commanders are still highly capable. We don't have nearly as many worlds as the Republic, nor are ours as developed, but our military is significantly more capable in the field, as is clear from our performance against their overwhelming numbers! Each House runs its fiefdom on its own code of laws, so economic and social structures can vary widely within Imperial bounds."

She cleared her throat. "House Hegellian holds the Imperial Seat because their Armament would throw a hissy-fit if its pilots weren't on top, but the true center of power has varied widely over generations despite the longevity of their formal rule. It's true that Attramemnar is one of the stronger Armaments when not considering its Ultimate... The Arch-duchy of Artriez controls most of the Republic border territories, so we understand the enemy best of all. Interference from the Imperial center is a frequent problem, often impairing our forces, but we retain enough authority to get the job done."

Hunger landed another fish into his basket. "Your Armament essentially mans the border, but was allowed to take part in this three-nation research organization instead?"

Letrizia shook her head. "The Voyaging Realm travels the border between Republic and Empire naturally. It's not a large imposition to place Verschlengorge here. Most of our Armaments rotate into border posts around here, since the Republic is our chief rival."

"I see. I assume the Realm traces a natural border of some kind, rather than it having detected your polities and adjusted to them."

"That's right," Letrizia nodded. "It would be too great an advantage for either nation to have exclusive access to the Voyaging Realm, after all! It's more fair to say that our treaties have placed the arc of its travel along our mutual border, because neither state has been able to fully overwhelm the other, despite many Republic incursions."

"If it's war," Hunger mused, "What would be the Empire's goal? Defense of existing territories, destruction of the enemy ability to aggress in order to force them to the negotiating table? Or they would follow an offensive policy of capturing key enemy resources?"

"There are always twofold strategic objectives in war," Letrizia said, finger raised in a lecturing pose. "First, the Armament side. Armaments are the anchor of interstellar travel as well as our greatest battlefield-level assets. We offer comprehensive protection against technological WMDs as well, since even something like a nova-induction bomb would fail when opposing an Armament and inflict minimal harm even if it went off. Kinetic bombardment with in-system meteors suffers the same problem. Were it not for the protective probability gradient of Rank, humanity would likely have destroyed many important worlds already! So, if the Armaments of one side can overwhelm the other, that all but guarantees a win in the longer equation."

"Mm," Hunger nodded. "On the other hand, if the populace or chief politicians of your nations are held hostage or otherwise convinced to surrender, you could be forcibly stood down. Though I imagine only the very highest authorities of either nation have that prerogative with regards to Armaments themselves, since each Pilot is ultimately a law unto themselves. Orders can't truly be enforced when your subordinates are capable of existing independently and overwhelmingly stronger than you."

"Yup," Letrizia nodded. "You get it. It's refreshing not to have to explain this to someone for a change!"

"It's simply one of the insights that I've gained from my career as a fisherman," Hunger said modestly. "Perhaps you should socialize with more of us, for a change."

"How disgraceful," she huffed. "Trying to tie your habits of rule to your hobby as an excuse to overindulge..."

"So," Hunger continued shamelessly, "The presence of an uncontested Rank 10 being in any system should effectively place that system under its control for any policy-level task. Its Pressure would smooth the way for all but the most impractical of objectives. With both myself and Adorie around, you'll basically have two additional Armaments, though we need to be together in order to fight other Armaments directly. Once you advance in your Sharpbright, you'll be able to fulfill a similar function in rule. And the Republic is down one Armament already, having lost Procyon in pursuit of you. It seems strategically hunting or capturing the remaining Republic Armaments would be a lucrative and tactically sound mission for my mercenary band."

"You're a King, so it wouldn't be a simple mercenary band," Adorie interjected. "That would be beneath your dignity. Perhaps some form of Royal expedition force?"

"A Royal Mercenary Legion." Hunger mused. "Commerce is core to the Elixir Kingdom, after all."

"Or you could go as Nilfel's champion," Adorie continued. "We were intending to unify with your Voyaging Realm territories at some point. I'd be happy to handle the paperwork and political matters in exchange for a fraction of your revenue. Nilfel's reserves of mundane platinum have been severely depleted as of late!"

"Just how much do you think we can pay you..." Letrizia grumbled. "Stupid... Paperwork Queen!"

There was a crash, and thunder of billowing waters as a shining leviathan emerged from the depths, coruscating like a gilded tower as meter after endless meter pulled ceaselessly heavenward. By virtue of their combined Rank, only Aobaru got wet.

Said Hero Chosen fell flat on his back, Vigor-infused rod straining, voice ragged but ultimately triumphant. "I did it, guys! I finally caught one!"

---

What should be the official position of Hunger's mercenary force? The real vote will be in 1-2 days, this vote is binding but will close when the real vote is posted.

[ ] Nilfellian Special Expeditionary Legion, Presided Over by Queen Adorie, Commanded by Lord Champion Hunger. ++Adorie, +Oath of Winter applicability (somewhat increases the range at which Oath of Winter's Destruction applies)

[ ] Elixir Foreign Legion, Commanded by King Hunger - As is more or less right and proper. +Letrizia, ++Imperial.

[ ] Elixir Royal Privateer Commission, Commissioned by King Hunger - Hunger thinks being a pirate will be fun. +Willpower, Hunger's preference (+2 Arete), -Imperial, -Republic.

[ ] Human Sphere Armament Trading Company, est. Miren, Kingdom of Nilfel, Year 1 of the Reign of Queen Adorie I - Provides a not-really-legitimate cover for stealing and ransoming Armaments. +Association, +Aeira, +Stock Options (can sell or gift shares to align incentives towards your purposes).

[ ] Adorie's Bodyguards - Queen Adorie is simply touring the Human Sphere, it's not her fault these knaves constantly attack her retinue and must be put down! +Gisena and +Aobaru, who think it's funny. +Enemy Confusion.

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