Chapter 110 - Armistice (Patreon)

Notes :

Starting to do better. I also made a story plan for The Fallen World that...well let's just say it's book 6 all over again and the Sapphire Kingdom part might be a LOT longer than I originally planned for.

Chapter 110

Starborn Mountains, Starfire Valley

Workshop

Sapphiria sighed as she sat down in a corner.

She'd head back down in a minute. Ramina was already on her way home, giddy with new knowledge and tools.

Meanwhile she couldn't help but wonder what she was going to do with those squishies.

She'd made a deal with Kalia. The Magistracy, reborn, under the Federation flag. But what of the rest of the world?

She was going to need planetary scale industry if she wanted to have a snowball's chance in hell of taking down that fortress before it shredded half of the fleet.

Conquering them and integrating them into the Magistracy was out. Even if she was comfortable with the idea, which she wasn't, it would never fly with the Federation.

The thing was, she couldn't just look to the Federation for how this was going to work. The Federation ruled the stars, not the worlds orbiting them, bar humanity's home system or martial law.

The latter wasn't an option. The Federation's martial law protocols hinged on getting support and resources from Sol. She wasn't getting advisors, much less resource convoys and marine peacekeepers.

So...she'd done some research, and looked at Earth. At the massive, consolidated super-powers of the late 21st and 22nd century, which had pulled so many countries into coherent wholes.

They'd done it out of...what was the term? Jagathan inevitability? A socioeconomic theory that after the Terran Hegemony War, surviving and thriving on Earth required an economic and military block far greater than any surviving nation could provide, forcing states to band together. This was only further exacerbated by the interplanetary race, when the resources of Sol began pouring into the homeworld. The prize was too great, too essential, but also too expensive for anyone to afford alone.

To say that they'd been very different from one another would be a considerable understatement. Out of all of them, she'd picked the three she felt most applicable: the European Federation, the Pan-Asian Confederacy, and the United Interstellar States.

The Pan-Asian Confed, or just Confed as her aunt called it, had been by far the most decentralized. They didn't even have a unified currency in their founding documents or even a trade union. They'd just agreed to mutualize their space efforts, civilians or military, and make Confed colonies instead of dispersing their assets between individual countries. It had been a model born out of necessity, as several of the members hated each other, but it had worked and begun to pull itself together into a more tight knit group before her mom rolled over them and absorbed them into the hivemind.

The European Federation was the opposite of the spectrum. Despite the name, it was hypercentralized to the point of being able to be overthrown and taken over by her mother in less than six days. Born out of the ashes of the European Union, whose disunity had almost caused the death of the whole continent, it had worked hard to effectively obliterate the national identity of all of its 'members' in favor of allegiance to a greater whole.

The United Interstellar States was more of a middle ground. And it was, err...well, it had proven exceptionally resilient, by virtue of surviving several civil wars and rounds of shedding both colonies and member states. The Martian Revolution and the Winter Insurgency were the most talked about examples, but they had been continuously surviving shitshow after shitshow, from the Scotish seccession to the Lunar declaration of independence.

Most of that was due to the fact that they were the first interplanetary power. They didn't have a template to follow or pitfalls of someone else to analyze. They had to figure it out the hard way, from interplanetary colonization to trying to maintain a coherent government across a star system.

Another factor was the fact that they'd grown too much, too fast, and then paid the price for around a century. They'd tried to gobble up the entirety of Sol, in a desperate rush to secure resources, and ended up massively overextended and with growing internal strife. The European Federation had been well on the way of doing the same on an interstellar scale, before the Arcadia War happened.

The Terran Federation had been careful to do it in stages. First send out colony ships that would be effectively independent, then absorb those independent nations whole, turning them into lesser components of the whole.

Maybe...maybe she could use that, in conjunction to how these old Terran nations ran.

"Milad-I mean ma'am." Said one of the militiamen as he entered the workshop. "Are you here?"

"I am." Sapphiria sighed, and stood up, causing them to almost jump as she effectively materialized out of thin air. Right, her armor returned to blending in by default. "What's going on?"

"Ramina has been spotted returning, alongside Gregor and a sizeable escort. It seems urgent."

Sapphiria closed her eyes. Someday she wouldn't have an emergency every damned week on this freaking planet. Someday.

"Alright, I'll be right there."

*****

"What happened?" Asked Sapphiria as she walked into the clearing, finding Ramina pacing back and forth under Gregor's gaze.

"The Hand-" Started Gregor, before being interrupted by Ramina.

"They accepted your proposal! Well sort of! They said they did but want to seal the deal with you in person!" The artificer was practically vibrating in place.

Sapphiria's eyebrow rose. Thankfully the militia was keeping a respectful distance and probably couldn't hear what the hell was being said. Presumably, the guards accompanying Gregor had been briefed. She wasn't sure if her negotiations and proposals to the Hand were public knowledge in Astralis.

"Interesting. This could have just been a messag-Gah!"

Sapphiria yelped as Ramina grabbed her shoulders and began shaking her back and forth.

"Don't you get it?!? He accepted! You did it! You made peace...well, not peace, but stopped hostilities with the Bane! Some of the Bane." She briefly paused her shaking, before resuming. "It's a first! Holy shit Sapphi I would kiss you if Kalia wouldn't break my arms for doing it!"

"Ah! Stars damn it Ramina let go of me!" The artificer froze, suddenly realized what she was doing, and stepped back, releasing the AI, who shook her head. "Okay. That's good. Great. The Hand won't be an enemy anymore." Sapphiria glanced at Gregor. "I assume you were the original bearer of the message?"

"Among other things." Gregor somehow appeared to smile, despite lacking lips. "Our mage-magistrate would rather avoid an unfortunate series of event like our last visit."

So he was here to stop her from rushing to the frontlines again? Him and the troops 'escorting' him, presumably.

Kalia really wasn't taking chances this time.

"...Right. Let's hope the Nineteenth accomodates that then."

"Let's."

They both stared at each other for a few seconds, before Sapphiria sighed.

"I guess I better get the snowpiercer out of storage." The AI looked at Ramina. She could take a guess at why she'd come back with Gregor. Especially since she had left with several militiamen returning to the town, and hadn't come back with them. 'Conveniently' making it so she had no escort to return home on her own. "We're dropping you off at Astralis."

"But-"

"Do you have any reason to actually come to the outpost? Besides drooling all over the guns or witnessing our discussion with the Hand?" Ramina had the good grace to blush. "No? Then you stay in Astralis." She raised her voice, adressing the soldiers surrounding them. "As for you guys, it's time for a ride."

They cheered of course. The snowpiercer had already achieved something of a legendary status among the squishies. Of course it only made Ramina more upset, but that was unavoidable. The AI was starting to think she needed to set boundaries, at least on technology, because clearly the artificer couldn't.

*****

If the Hand was surprised by the presence of living soldiers on top of her bots, they showed no sign of it. They simply waited by the flag, rolling that coin across their knuckles.

Wait...the coin...

It didn't match her sensor records. Not entirely.

The toothmarks were less deep. The coin more whole.

Everything else was similar though.

Another one?

No.

It was self repairing.

Why...what?

What the hell was that thing? Clearly it wasn't just currency. Some kind of talisman, maybe?

She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind as she stopped before the Hand.

"Hand Sarcher." She said. No reason to not be respectful right now.

The Hand smiled. It was vaguely disturbing, because her sensors insisted she was talking to a corpse. And she didn't believe they had shown any real expression before.

"I'm afraid I cannot reciprocate the courtesy with your own titles. Nor your name, I believe."

"Sapphiria."

"Hello Sapphiria. I wished to confirm a few things."

"Shoot." He gazed at her, puzzled, and she shook her head. "Sorry, it's slang. Go ahead."

"The terms of the armistice would be for this valley alone, and include the withdrawal of my forces."

"Of this side of the pass, yes. Once it is feasible to do so of course."

"Any other provisions?"

"I believe we had agreed I would assist you in removing the Nineteenth from the other side of the pass if necessary. Other than that, none."

They stared at her.

"And I presume that extending the ceasefire between us to the continent or, say, only Exacor, would not be feasible?"

"Of course it is." That seemed to surprised the Hand, and Sapphiria nodded. "Of course, I would ask for similar concessions, and demand the withdrawal of your troops at Exacor."

She had no idea if the city held, but this seemed to indicate it was the case.

To her surprise, the Hand laughed.

"I'm afraid that would be beyond my remit." They stopped rolling the coin, and paused. "Tell me this, however. In honesty, please. Do you expect us to betray this deal?"

"You, personally? No. But you're not the highest echelon, aren't you? You answer to someone. And I'm guessing that someone won't take this lying down. So while I expect that you will do everything in your power to keep your end of the deal..."

The Hand nodded.

"You think I will be overruled, despite my objections, hereby breaking my reputation with my superiors, depriving myself of their support and they of my competence and service."

Actually, Sapphiria just wanted them to get rid of the Hand and ignore any of the intelligence he'd gathered on Astralis and her, but sure, that worked too.

She may not like what ExInt, External Intelligence, had done to the worlds and successor governments of the former Theocracy to keep them from reunifying and threatening humanity again, but she could learn from it. And the Bane were fair game.

"Perhaps. Your point being?"

"That we both acknowledge there is more to this deal than the word written on it."

Alarm bells rang into Sapphiria's mind.

"If you wish to betray its spirit..."

"Are you not already intending to do so, by your own admission?"

"I would argue it is more a consequence of our circumstances, which are vastly beyond my control."

"A fair point." The Hand gazed at her. "May I be honest, in return for your own honesty?"

"Be my guest."

"I believe you truly believe you will be able to bypass the valley and affect the situation South somehow, and this is you attempting to free resources to do so once the current battle at the pass has been resolved. I would have scoffed at you a few weeks ago, but now...." They gazed at the outpost. "Are you sure you do not wish to join the Empire? By my word and soul, no one would touch you or your people. You would....you would rise high."

Sapphiria retracted her helmet, and smiled. It wasn't a nice one, in any way, shape or form.

"I believe that ship has already sailed. And promising me advancement or riches will not sway me."

The Hand recoiled slightly.

"I suppose not. I meant no offense."

She didn't answer, and the Hand sighed.

"But I supposed it is inevitable some would be taken." Finished Sarcher. "Very well." They pocketed their coin, and extended their six fingered, skeletal hand to her. "I believe we have an agreement. An armistice, to hold until one of us breaks its provisions."

Sapphiria flicked a glance towards Gregor, who nodded.

She took the Hand's...well, hand, and they shook.

"Agreed."

They let go of each other's digits, and the undead smiled. It was still disturbing as all hell.

"Normally this is the stage where we would share drinks and a meal, possibly a banquet with many amenities. But I do not think we could indulge."

"I could. But I don't think I would trust your food or drink. Not for fear of poison, but...you know."

Sarcher nodded, though they looked taken aback at her admission.

"Of course. Those who cannot eat make poor judge of cuisine. Nor would I be able to procure much in the way of rations. Since we are now sworn to not attack one another, I have instructed my troops not to attack you. You and your people may visit the pass and its fortifications as you please."

"Hoping I will return the courtesy?"

"I doubt you would. But you were emphatic that reconnaissance was acceptable, and I will avail myself of that."

"Of course. Just don't get in the way. I'm not taking responsability if you get hit by a cut tree or squished by our vehicles."

The Hand nodded.

"I will endeavor to be as unobtrusive as possible. Now that we are allied however, would you like to see what the Nineteenth has been up to."

Sapphiria didn't need to look at Gregor. He wouldn't let her. Actually, he wouldn't be able to stop her, but showing disunity in front of the Hand could prove extremely deadly. Also she didn't want to spend any longer on the couch than she strictly had to.

"A rep-update will suffice." She hastily corrected herself "I'm afraid many things require my attention and I will need to return shortly."

"I find myself with much more free time than I expected, but I understand the feeling. Very well then, allow me to bring you up to date..."