Davion Palace, Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Suns
2 March 3014
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me," says Victoria to Ardan Sortek and Dana Stephenson as the three of them along with Tahmina sit in a meeting together.
Being the soldiers that they are, all four of them are in service dress and Victoria has picked one of the more spartan rooms in the Davion Palace for this little meeting. Victoria is hoping it will go more easily than her other meetings these days. It feels like half her time since coming to New Avalon has been in meetings, either dealing with the ministries, the AFFS or all of the nobles who want to meet her.
"You're the First Prince now," replies Ardan, earning a reproachful look from Dana and an annoyed one from Tahmina.
"Nonetheless, I am grateful for you coming here," continues Victoria, "It cannot be easy for you after Hanse's death."
"It has been almost a month now," says Ardan wearily, "Plenty of time to come to terms with it and we have to move on at some point."
"Grieving takes time and while you can get back to work, that doesn't make the grief go away," says Victoria, "But if you are insistent on going back to work, then I would ask if you are willing to support me like you intended to support Hanse. I know we don't have the same friendship, but if I am going to lead the Suns, I'm going to need every bit of help that I can get."
"I'll do my best," answers Ardan with an approving nod, "You might not be Hanse, but you are my First Prince. Though I would like to request that I remain as a MechWarrior in the AFFS. I'm not quite ready to become a desk jockey yet."
"Don't worry, Ardan, I'm not cruel like that," replies Victoria with a chuckle, "I will be transferring you to the Davion Heavy Guards. I haven't checked if it has gone official yet, but they, along with the 34 Avalon Hussars and the 10th Deneb Cavalry, will be rebuilding here on New Avalon as the new garrison while they recover from their losses."
"What about the 1st and 3rd Davion Guards?" inquires Dana.
"Being sent to the Draconis March for the official purpose of exploiting any weaknesses left by the losses the DCMS took at Halstead Station," answers Victoria, "And unofficially, I am sending them to repay Aaron Sandoval for the loyalty and support that he has shown me."
To Victoria's surprise, that earns a look of disapproval from the man, who then blushes slightly when she raises an eyebrow at him.
"You disapprove?" inquires Victoria as she stares at her brother's best friend while her own best friend is glaring at Ardan again.
"I just feel that military deployments shouldn't be based on politics," explains Ardan firmly even as he squirms in discomfort, "The soldiers place their faith in us to do what is best for the Federated Suns."
"In this case, supporting a loyal vassal for the support that they have provided is in the best interests of the Federated Suns," replies Victoria, "And it isn't like their talents would be wasted in the Draconis March. Not to mention that pulling the 34th Avalon Hussars and 10th Deneb Light Cavalry back for rebuilding leaves something of a gap in the Draconis March."
"And yet you are justifying your decision on politics not those military merits," points out Ardan, sounding a mixture of distaste and confusion.
"Similar arguments could be made for the military value of sending the Davion Guards to the Capellan March," explains Victoria, "At the end of the day, sending them to either March is a military sound choice so I am using politics to make my decision. And I won't be dishonest by pretending otherwise."
"You sound like Hanse," says Ardan wistfully.
"I hope to be a worthy successor to him," replies Victoria, "Ian, too."
"Better you than Hasek-Davion," says Ardan.
"I think we can all agree to that," adds Tahmina, "I don't know much about the guy, but I feel like he has been our biggest pain in the arse since we got to New Avalon."
"That certainly sounds like Michael," agrees Ardan.
"Hasek aside, I need to know something," says Victoria as she looks Ardan in the eye, "Can I count on you to publicly support me and carry out my orders? I don't mind you questioning me in private, in fact I welcome it if you think I am making a mistake or doing something wrong. But I will not be able to tolerate you questioning me in public. It would undermine my authority and I couldn't afford that even if I didn't have to worry about Michael snapping at my heels."
"Of course," answers Ardan and to his credit, he only lets a little of his indignation show, "I know how to be professional."
"Thank you, Ardan," says Victoria before she shifts her attention to her other guest, "Dana, so it is confirmed?"
"Yes, I'm pregnant," answers Dana Stephenson, "The doctors here on New Avalon confirmed what the MedTechs were suspecting."
"And you are certain that Hanse is the father?" asks Victoria, which gets Ardan's hackles up.
"That's-" starts the captain as he lends forward, but he stops as Dana places a hand on his shoulder.
"She has to make sure, Ardan," Dana tells him before turning her attention back to Victoria, "Yes, we were doing the deed prior to setting out on the mission and it is the right time frame for my pregnancy. Hanse is also the only person that I have been having sex with so he has to be the father."
"I'll accept that for now, but I'll have to order a paternity test to make certain," replies Victoria and she quickly elaborates as Ardan's reaction, "Not because I don't trust you, but because others won't and I'll have to answer them. If we can prove that you are having Hanse's child, then it will help smooth over some otherwise ruffled feathers."
"And what happens to me?" asks Dana.
"You can either accept an honourable discharge or take a transfer to a non-combat position, at least for the duration of the pregnancy," answers Victoria, "Also, I'll be giving you a security detail."
"Am I in danger?" asks Dana as the other woman frowns.
"Bluntly, yes," replies Victoria, "You all remember the sniper who took a shot at Hanses on Emerson?"
"You suspect Michael will try to kill Dana?" demands Ardan, sounding incredulous, "I can see why he would target Hanse or now you, but Dana?"
"Hanse's child will be my heir apparent unless I have kids of my own," explains Victoria, "Now, I'm not saying for certain that I think Michael will make a move against them, but I'm not willing to rule it out or take a risk. He has solid grounds to make an argument that Morgan has an equal or greater claim, especially once Morgan does his five years in the AFFS, but he might try cutting the knot like he did on Emerson."
"I appreciate the danger that I may be in," says Dana, "I didn't know Hanse for long, but he made sure I knew about the big threats. Not just the obvious ones like the ISF or Mask, but also internal threats like Duke Hasek-Davion's ambitions."
She really didn't know Hanse long in Victoria's mind. She knows that it is none of her business, especially now that Hanse is dead, but she always felt that Hanse and Dana had a rushed relationship. They had known each other for around forty days before her half-brother decided to make his proposal. That isn't a sign of a bad relationship and to their credit, the two of them did get along very well, but little over a month of dating is just too little time in Victoria's opinion.
The more cynical part of her is relieved that one of them is dead because they don't need to worry about the fallout should their rushed relationship break down.
"I would offer you a room in the Davion Palace, but Michael had his hooks deep into Ian's administration," Victoria tells the woman who would have been her sister-in-law if things had played out differently, "Hanse did a clean sweep of the ministers, but the ministries themselves and who knows what else are still corrupt as ever even if we have begun making some headway."
Victoria just hopes that Mark is doing a better job as the Minister of Information, Intelligence, and Operations than she did in her short tenure as Minister of Administrative Services. She did what she could, but Victoria spent her days just getting caught up with her responsibilities to even think about clearing out Michael's people let alone get started on actually doing so.
"So what do you suggest, sorry, what do you want me to do?" asks Dana.
"For the meantime, I would recommend staying with your unit," answers Victoria, "I can get you a trustworthy security detail and the people that you have trained, fought and bled alongside should provide a safe location for you to sleep and relax. Once you get far enough along in your pregnancy that you need to transfer to the desk job-actually, forgive me, I assumed you would be staying with your unit."
"It was an accurate assumption," replies Dana with a smile, "I would like to stay with the Avalon Hussars for as long as I can."
"Then I shall let you keep your current position until you are far enough along in your pregnancy that you will need to discharge or get a transfer to a non-combat position," says Victoria, "Once we get to that point, we'll reassess your living and security arrangements at the time. Hopefully we will have cleared out enough of Michael's people that we will have some degree of safety and security."
"I have no objections," says Dana.
"In that case, I would like to call this meeting to a close," says Victoria, "I would love to get to know the two of you better, but that will need to be at another time. Perhaps we could have dinner together."
"I would like that," replies Dana.
"As would I," adds Ardan and he pauses before saying, "Sorry about not retrieving Hanse's body. The Sword of Light was overrunning us, especially once Hanse's defence failed. We had no reasonable opportunity to retrieve his
BattleMaster and the call was made-"
"Ardan," interrupts Victoria, speaking in a gentle, but firm voice, "You don't need to justify the decision to me. I read the reports myself and I concur with the decision and the reasoning behind it. It is highly regrettable, but no more so than Hanse's death itself and there was no benefit to suffering even greater losses for something that had minimal chances of success."
"We still should have brought him home," says Ardan morosely.
"I know and I'll make the Kuritans pay," declares Victoria, "Just another reason to send the Davion Guards to the Draconis March."
***
Davion Palace, Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Suns
3 March 3014
"Morgan today and then I finally meet with Michael tomorrow," hums Victoria to herself as she and Tahmina walk through the corridors of the Davion Palace, "I am certainly looking forward to one of those than the other."
"It'll be great to see Morgan in person again," says Victoria wistfully, "He's a great guy to have around both on and off the battlefield."
"Do you think he'll be willing to play messenger to the Archon?" asks Tahmina, "I know it is a bit late to ask this now that he is already making landfall, but you think he will?"
"He will," answers Victoria, "Morgan is close to Katrina Steiner and he knows that I know that. It isn't part of his contract, but Morgan has delusions of achieving peace and an end to the Succession Wars. I'm certain he'll be willing to help my efforts with making peace with the Lyran Commonwealth at the very least."
"You know him better than I do so I'll trust-" Tahmina starts to say when it all happens.
Victoria thought nothing of it at first when the palace staff walked by, carrying something in her hands. The next thing the Princess Imperial knew was happening was the woman in the uniform of the palace staff firing a pistol concealed within the item she was carrying at her. It is too close for Victoria to dodge and she can only cry out in pain as the flechettes from the needler pistol rip through both the fabric of her dress and the flesh of her body.
The next thing Victoria knows is that she is falling to the ground in agony as Tahmina shoves her to one side. She hears the commotion, hearing footsteps as she watches her bodyguards tackle the would-be assassin to the ground while good old Tahmina is leaning against the wall, clutching her blood-soaked arm as tears of pain well in her eyes.
She hears more footsteps and a lot of yelling as the world begins to go black. The last thing that Victoria remembers before falling unconscious is someone shouting about a doctor whilst someone or somebodies begin to touch her unconscious form.
***
When Victoria wakes, she is laying down in an unfamiliar room and in a lot less pain. Wincing in dulled pain, she looks around the room and tries to sit up. Victoria appears to be in some sort of infirmary or other medical facility. Not exactly a surprise when she thinks about the last things she can remember.
"Please stay still, your majesty," says an unfamiliar man's voice, "Your injuries are still fresh and you need bed rest to recover."
"What happened?" demands Victoria in a raspy voice as someone gently pushes her back down.
"You were attacked in the Davion Palace of all places, ma'am," says the man again and this time, Victoria spots him, a middle-aged man in a military doctor's uniform with the insignia of the 1st Davion Guards, "An assassin dressed as one of the palace staff attacked you with a hold-out needler pistol, but I'm afraid that is all I can tell you right now. The investigation is still ongoing, you see."
"What about Tahmina?" asks Victoria as she remembers her best friend with her bloodied arm and then as an afterthought, "And Morgan? I was going to meet with him."
"Leftenant Colonel Singh was also injured in the attack after taking a shot meant for you," answers the doctor, "Thankfully, her wounds were less severe than yours as the majority of the flechettes which struck her only hit her left arm. With the medical technology and expertise here on New Avalon, she is expected to make a full recovery. As are you."
"As for Colonel Kell, he is waiting nearby," says someone else, but this time Victoria recognises him as someone from the security detail that Mark handpicked for her, "A judgement call was made that you would still want to speak with him. Speaking of which, I have made sure that this room is free from any bugs and secure from anyone listening in. You just need to receive the doctor's say so before we can send him in if you still desire to speak with him."
"I would," replies Victoria before shooting a look at the doctor, who sighs.
"Let me do some checks and potentially some additional treatment," says the doctor, "I must warn you that a full recovery will take at least a few weeks. Don't expect to go gallivanting about in the meantime."
"I won't," promises Victoria as she lets the man go about his work.
It has to be Michael behind this. No matter what the investigation officially turns up, Victoria knows that it has to be her brother-in-law and rival for the throne. The timing is too confidential for it not to be him. She wonders if this is how Hanse felt after the sniper missed their shot on Emeron. Maybe though she suspects he was in much less pain given that his attacker outright missed instead of merely scoring a non-lethal hit.
On the one hand, Victoria hopes that they can prove it is Michael's doing and nail that weasel to the wall. On the other hand, the man is popular enough that even with proof, acting so decisively against him would lead to, well, not a civil war, but an uprising that the Suns can't afford. Not to mention the blow to the Federation's unity. Victoria remembers Hanse telling her that was important, something about his investigations into the corruption of the Capellan March being undone if he caused a civil war.
Not for the first time and certainly not the last, Victoria decides that politics are a pain.
It isn't long before the doctor is done and she can have Morgan sent in. She spots her old friend as he walks into the room, pausing to speak with the doctor as the other man makes his exit. Victoria is too far away to overhear their hushed conversation, but she assumes it goes well from how both of them look okay with its outcome.
Morgan Kell looks the same as ever, a strong and fit man who is filled with confidence. Not arrogance or overconfidence, but someone who knows their value, where they belong and what they can get done. The sort of man that Victoria would want under her and now that she thinks about it, she does have him under her command. At least within the confines of his contract and until it ends.
"Morgan," says Victoria as she gives him a smile, "Good to see you looking as good as ever."
"I wish I could say the same, but when we were meeting today, I didn't expect you to be in a hospital gown," replies Morgan with a frown, "Do you know what happened? Everyone is being coy with me."
"Michael," growls Victoria, "Don't go around repeating that because I can't prove it yet, but he wants my throne and has no legitimate chance of getting it."
"So he is resorting to under the table methods," concludes Morgan, "Sounds like your own version of Aldo."
"He's worse than that because unlike your Free Skye problem, Michael is competent," replies Victoria, "Well, more competent than Lestrade. The matter is only made worse by the fact that Ian had Michael running the government for him whilst he was busy on the battlefield. Hanse took the first step towards clearing out his influence, but unfortunately, he only got to the first step before he…well, before everything that has happened recently."
"I can appreciate that," says Morgan sympathetically, "This is why you called me here? Because I figured you had something else in mind, but I'll help you where I can."
"No, Michael is an internal problem that I need to deal with internally," Victoria tells him before sighing, "No, what I want is-look, you still have those big dreams of yours? Of freedom, stopping destruction and bringing peace by being so good that nobody wants to fight you?"
"They haven't been crushed yet," answers Morgan with a sardonic voice and a grin.
"I want to make peace with both the Lyran Commonwealth and Free Worlds League," says Victoria, "An alliance with the Commonwealth against the Combine and an alliance with the League against the Confederation whilst getting the Commonwealth and the League to stop shooting each other. I know it is a bit of a long shot, but there are some unique circumstances right now that my advisors feel I could take advantage of to make it viable. Not likely mind you, but something that is within the realm of possibility rather than being a pipe dream."
"Well, I can't speak for Katrina, but I would be willing to help with that," says Morgan slowly as he gives Victoria a considering look, "If you don't mind me asking, what are those unique circumstances?"
"It is two-fold," replies Victoria, "One is that Anton Marik is about to start a civil war in the League with under the table support from the Liaos. The second is that we recovered the majority of a Star League-era library from Halstead Station, which wasn't worth Hanse's life in my opinion, but it is extremely valuable. I figured that I could-ugh, this hurts."
"You okay?" asks Morgan worriedly.
"Honestly, no, someone tried to kill me earlier and did a decent job of it," answers Victoria, "Anyway, I hoped to, for lack of a better term, bribe Katrina into not attacking the League during its civil war and leverage that into getting Janos into peace talks. I was thinking of offering copies of some of the data we recovered from Halstead to sweeten the deal, but it won't matter if neither one goes along with it. With Anton's upcoming revolt, I have some options to get leverage or goodwill with Janos, but I don't have much on Katrina. I understand that I am maybe overstepping here, but-"
"You want me to reach out to Katrina on your behalf," concludes Morgan, "Don't worry, I'm willing to help you out. It isn't the total peace that I desire, but getting three of the Successor States to stop fighting is something I am willing to help work towards."
"I'll draft a message for you to deliver to Katrina," says Victoria, giving him a relieved look, "Sorry about the circumstances, but I really wasn't expecting to be attacked by assassins in the Davion Palace of all places."
"It is as unthinkable as the Archon getting attacked by assassins in the Triad," says Morgan before pausing and adding, "Scratch that, it is more unthinkable with the Davion reputation for military professionalism while the Commonwealth has social generals."
"Right, we probably have the Commonwealth beat in some forms of corruption," mutters Victoria unhappily, "God, I'm worried about how Michael is going to rope this to his advantage."
"Well, I can't help you with that, but I will do what I can to plead your case to Katrina," says Morgan, "I won't go all out for the Suns like you Feddies would, but I consider this to be to the benefit of the Commonwealth. An alliance with the Federated Suns against the snakes and then getting the League off our back? I'll argue for that."
"Thanks, I'll arrange for some quick travel to Tharkad for you," Victoria tells him, "Speak with Olivia-that's Minister Fenlon of Foreign Relations, actually no, I'll organise a meeting between the two of you. She has the details on what I am willing to offer Katrina and I'll let her know that you're going to be my messenger to Katrina. Well, she already knows my plans, but I'll tell her that you've agreed to them."
"I'll let you sort that out then," says Morgan, "Best of luck dealing with Hasek-Davion. I have a feeling that you're going to need it."
***
Okay, reaching the climax of the first arc is taking longer than expected. We have Ardan, Dana and Morgan covered in this chapter and by the time I was finished with that last one, I realised this chapter was getting too long. Anyway, Victoria is establishing a relationship with Ardan, Dana is pregnant with Hanse's kid, Victoria is attacked by one of Michael's assassins and Morgan agrees to be a messenger to the Archon.
Next chapter will be Michael making his play and I am hoping to wrap up this first arc in the next update or two.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
