Scavenged Restoration 82 (Patreon)

Commissioned by RoyalTwinFangs

Scavenged Restoration

Chapter 82

-VB-

The success at Hanover was not the turning point that the rest of the Inner Sphere wanted. 

In fact, the “ignorance” shown by the Spheroids and nearly wiping out a naval star galvanized the Clans into meeting with one another to discuss how they were going to approach this new problem, especially the still unknown weapon that obliterated the FireCrest.

What it did do for the Draconis Combine was to give them a breathing room to negotiate with the Federated Commonwealth to pull ships and troops away from their shared borders to reinforce their defense against the Clans. The Federated Commonwealth would then go and negotiate with the Capellan Confederation to pull their troops away to reinforce the Lyran Commonwealth. 

The Chancellor, of course, allowed it. 

In his words, “A border without triggerhappy soldiers between our two peaceful nations is a wonderful thing.” It was a dig at the Federated Suns and their past three decades of belligerence, and everyone knew it. 

Even the Free Worlds League, seeing that there was a chance at victory, began to send ships and troops to support their ally. 

The Battle of Hanover was not the turning point the Inner Sphere wanted, but it was certainly a ray of hope that everyone needed. But it was a battle that everyone heard about. A truly massive Inner Sphere victory that saw the destruction of multiple Clan warships.

And the name attached to that victory was… Princess Anastasia Liao.

-VB-

When I received the news from the coreward Inner Sphere, I smiled.

Good.

My plan to give Anastasia a chance to make her own accomplishments worked. And her victory over Clan Smoke Jaguar, The Draconis Combine would have a breathing room to reorganize and push back against the Wolves and the Bears. 

Speaking of which, I looked down at the report coming from the other end of the human civilization. 

“So they are ready to join the confederation in full?” I asked the Deputy Minister of Exterior Expansion, whose role was to facilitate and nurture colonization of worlds. 

“Yes, chancellor,” the mousy man replied with a stern look. “The worlds of McEvans’ Sacrifice and Portland have officially submitted their request to enter the confederation.”

“Good,” I hummed as I looked over the data of their world that came with the admission request. 

In the past two decades that we have been nurturing those two worlds and many more, McEvans’ Sacrifice and Portland have become a significant trading hub for the Reach. McEvans’ Sacrifice in particular was a very important world for us because it served as the gateway to the rimworld deep periphery. Exploration into the rimward deep periphery has already netted our confederation with many resource rich worlds and more than a dozen habitable worlds suitable for colonization. The most interesting thing was the now semi-regular contact the confederation had with the rimwardmost human civilization to date: the Alexandrian Covenant. They were technologically backwards due to their frequent civil wars just like how ComStar once wanted the rest of the Inner Sphere to be. No matter. In due time, they will join the confederation as well. It may not be my lifetime, but as long as my children and their descendents keep out of the affairs of the Inner Sphere and expand outwards, they will come under our banners. 

Portland was important for a different reason. 

It was an arable world with a mild climate. It served the Reach as a breadbasket world with enough industrial capacity to supply itself and few traders who frequented those stars. Economically, it was the world that held our rimward periphery colonies together with its farmlands. 

Militarily, I had multiple mercenary companies and even a newly created “Reach Reserve” regiment operating out of the system to hunt down pirates. Ever since the confederation’s expansion into the Reach, the pirates have become a thorn in our side. 

But they were being taken care of. 

“Very well. Good job so far,” I said as I handed the tablet back to the deputy minister. The man bowed and left. I turned to the next person. “So. How is the technology distribution going?”

“Going well as you have planned, Celestial Wisdom,” Maskirovka Director replied with a slight bow. “We have done away with the pretenses of letting them steal and moved onto direct negotiations.” A pause. “If I may ask, chancellor…?”

“Go ahead.”

“Was the Clans the reason why you allowed them to ‘steal’ some of our technology?” he asked cautiously. 

“Yes,” I replied. “Just enough that they would never win against the Clans independently but enough that they won’t outright lose.”

“I see. You were looking decades ahead.”

Decades? 

“You must have foreseen more than just the Fourth Succession War when you became the Chancellor.”

I mean, I did -.

“So you planned. The Helm Core. The New Dallas Core. The intense defenses of the Fourth Succession War that directly countered the Federated Suns. The slow release of technology in preparation for the Clans…!”

I think he’s reaching -.

“If it weren’t for the Lyrans, the Federated Commonwealth would have been able to hold off even more. Those dumb Germans…”

I cleared my throat. 

But before I even got to say anything, the director looked at me and his eyes widened. “... Did you perhaps even see that as well, chancellor?”

“Hmm?”

“You did, didn’t you? You saw that there would have been another war.” He paused. His eyes widened. “That’s why you didn’t bother to participate even though the confederation clearly had the capacity! You were saving our strength for the Clans! It’s why you requisitioned jumpships in such a manner! A stolen jumpship might get us laughed on the political stage, but no one would bother to track them.”

Well, yes -.

“And you only fought when the Federated Suns insisted on ruining your plans, and you made them pay dearly for it.”

“Yes,” I finally said with a sigh.

He stared at me with eyes that shined a little too brightly for my personal liking. But I was used to such glances from many people. I just didn’t expect to see it from someone I considered above such emotions.

“What’s important right now -.” I spoke up before he continued. “- Is that I miscalculated just how strong the FedCom would be. Or rather, how weak they ended up being between the number of technological sabotages and their own shortcomings. We are currently at a point where I do not expect the Lyrans to hold out for more than five years. After that, we may even see a complete collapse of their state. Which is why I allowed the Federated Suns to pull their troops away from our border. As much as the Lyrans are Davion patsies at this point, I would rather have them than the Clans.”

“I see. So there should be no sabotage for the technological exchange that is supposed to happen soon?”

“No.”

“I understand, Celestial Wisdom.” He bowed and left. 

Then I turned to the final person left with me in the room.

My own sister and Minister of Citizenship, Candace Liao. 

“So how’s your day so far, sister?”

“As good as it can be without Kai.”

She gave me a small glare for that, and I shrugged. 

It was a small contention between the two of us that I should not have allowed Kai to follow Anastasia into the Draconis Combine. But considering that I was not expecting Anastasia to attempt anything reckless with the two mech regiments I sent with her, I didn’t see how Kai would be in danger. 

“And the state of the confederation’s citizens?”

“... The percentage of residents remains steady at eight percent of the total population,” she replied. 

I nodded. 

Compared to what percentage the servitors had been at when I had been the heir, eight percent was great. However, Candace didn’t look like she thought so. 

It had been her goal to reduce the resident percentage down below five percent, but it simply wasn’t happening no matter what acceptable reforms she carried out. 

Both of us knew why, even if she didn’t like it. 

There were just some people who weren’t… fit for society, either because they became violent or because they couldn’t handle society. They were people who didn’t want to get better. Who didn’t want to put in the work. Who didn’t want to think. Who didn’t want to work. Who didn’t … the list went on.

And the residency was becoming what the servitor caste had been in tis early days: a caste of unwanted people. It was only through the strong arm of the state that these peoples, ranging from the truly lazy to actively criminal, that the confederation was able to make some use out of them. 

Which sometimes involved the less problematic members of the residency and throwing them onto new worlds to serve as “colonists.” If the colony failed, then we shrugged our shoulders and threw in another ten thousand residents and repeated that until the world became colonized. Of course, we only did that for worlds with minimal value - habitable but arid and resourceless worlds and the like. 

But this did not mean that some people slipped through the cracks in the system. Just last month, I heard a heartwrenching tale of a young man who became a resident not because of something he did but because of a bureaucratic error. Because he had the same name as a resident on the other side of the planet. 

Things like that happened, and because perfection did not exist, we couldn’t keep it from happening. The most we can do was to make up for it. 

“Keep at it, sister. Even one more percent less will be an accomplishment for us.”

She nodded and left. 

Not too long after, I got a message from the coreward Inner Sphere.

Anastasia had engaged in battle against Clan Ghost Bear and lost one of the Shenmazu.

-VB-

Three battles. 

The Battle of Hanover, the Battle of Luzerne, and the Battle of Nykvern. 

Smoke Jaguar naval fleet defeat, second Smoke Jaguar naval fleet defeat, and finally, Smoke Jaguar main logistics hub defeat. 

Through these wins, she captured close to a dozen jumpships, thrice that many dropships, and close to a hundred “omnimechs,” Clan mechs, Clan ASF, and “omnifighters.” Clan Smoke Jaguar had been crushed in just three battles, and she didn’t even need to get down to the ground. Sure, there were still Smoke Jaguar “stars,” “galaxies,” and “clusters” on Combine worlds they occupied, but that was for the Combine to take back at their own pace. 

But then the fourth battle happened. 

The Battle of Jezersko.

She had reached too far too quickly and ran into the Ghost Bears. 

They had been ready for her. 

They ambushed her when she chased after an unprotected jumpship fleet into the Jezersko system.

“Princess, we have an enemy warship fleet on radar!” 

She jolted. 

‘What?! Smoke Jaguar’s warships should all be gone!’ “I want identification on them!” 

But before her sensor officers could get her that data, they contacted her first. 

“Who are you?” she demanded when the comm came through. 

“You must be the honorless Capellan cur, Anastasia Liao,” a soprano voice came through. “I am Star Commodore Elissa Snuka, and I shall be the one to claim you as a bondswoman. And since you have offered no honorable combat to the Smoke Jaguars, I shall return the favor.”

The call had cut off right there and then before she could even respond. 

“Enemy fleet composition, princess! One Black Lion, one Cameron, two Congress, three Essex, two Lola, and two Fredasa!” 

Two battlecruisers, two frigates, five destroyers, and two corvettes to her three heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, eight destroyers, and thirty pocket warships. And they surrounded her while her fleet was bunched up. 

“Enemy batteries are opening fire from all directions!” 

Her ship shook and then continued to shake. 

“Launch all fighters and pocket warships! Focus fire on the damn battlecruisers! Squadron A on the Black Lion! Squadron B on the Cameron! The rest are with me on the Black Lion!” 

Was it a good idea to split up the warship formation? It was the only idea she had. If she stayed, then she and her fleet would just keep getting pounded while they would not be able to fire back at the enemy effectively. 

Pocket warships sped off, far more maneuverable and far faster than the warships. They braved the long empty space between the two fleet formations, and tried to close the gap. 

“Incomin call from Union pocket warship Confederate Star! They are requesting permission to use nuclear weapons!” 

She gritted her teeth. She did not want to use nuclear weapons. Her father’s intelligence on the Clans had made that clear: anyone who used nuclear weapons was considered worse than dishonorable; they were dezgra and must be put down. If she allowed her people to use it, then she may as well ring the bells for the clans to come after the Capellan Confederation. And that would be a certain thing. If the Clans failed at reaching conquering Terra, then they would turn their eyes upon her confederation. If they succeeded, then her confederation would become the sole target for their Trials of Annihilation unless everyone else in the Inner Sphere also used nuclear weapons, but that was not guaranteed nor did she expert them to think like she did. 

A nuclear weapon use against warships in deep space was, technically, allowed by the Ares Convention, but she doubted that the Clans would care. 

“Negative! I do not give permission!” she shouted even as her ship continued to rumble against continued enemy fire. She would only give that permission in the direst of circumstances like Sian possibly falling to Davion or Clan hands. And when she did, she would make sure all of her enemies died. 

But right now, she was not defending Sian.

She was fighting for her life. 

“”Aim at the Black Lion!” she ordered her pilot. 

The ship smoothly turned its prow around even as it continued to shake and rumble.

They were getting closer. 

“Squadron B has engaged the Cameron Battlecruiser!”

And that’s when things began to go sideways. 

Instead of holding back, the colonel of Candace Liao, one of the Shenmazu, engaged in close quarter combat. 

No, that’s the wrong way to think about it. The Ghost Bears knew that the Shenmazus excelled in long range combat, and had deliberately closed the distance as quickly as they could. In fact, they had used the brief moment of communication to initiate that maneuver. 

Against a heavily armored and armed Cameron-class Battlecruiser and all of its three escorts unleashing everything it had on it, the Candace Liao could not withstand the barrage and broke. 

But not before shooting its antimatter warhead at the battlecruiser. 

The warhead destroyed the battlecruiser’s command deck and a quarter of its hull, turning it into a floating graveyard instantly. And its escorts could not withstand the wrath of a cruiser, two destroyers, and eight pocket warships. 

One of the pocket warships, a Leopard-class pocket warship equipped with a Killer Whale launcher, took a critical hit, and instead of retreating, chose to dive bomb one of the two Essexes, breaking that ship in half with its kamikaze run. 

On her end, she managed to keep her distance and fired off two antimatter warheads. 

The first … missed. 

The second struck the Black Lion dead on and shattered the front half of its hull.

Once the Ghost Bears saw how outmatched they were, they jumped out of the system. 

And this time, she couldn’t chase after them. She didn’t know where they had jumped to, didn’t know how many other Clans might be in the area, and her own ship had been so thoroughly damaged that they wasn’t a single ton of armor left. 

Yes.

Her flagship had its armor stripped so thoroughly that the technicians checking her over told her that she could not take her flagship to battle. It would take one good hit from a NAC/40 to end the heavy cruiser’s life. 

So she did what she could. She rescued her fleet’s crew, captured Ghost Bear survivors, salvaged what she could, and pulled back into Combine systems. 

And that’s where she was now, orbiting above Luthien with her damaged fleet while the Combine did their best to try to fix her ship, though she didn’t let any of them touch any of her ship’s critical systems. 

She won against Clan Ghost Bear, taking out four of their eleven ships including their two heaviest warships, but in return, she had also lost the Shenmazu bearing her aunt’s name, two destroyers, and a third of her pocket warships. She managed to salvage both of the Fredasa corvettes and one of the Essexes, but this still basically cut her effective strength down by a third. 

If she engaged or got engaged by a Clan trinary (15~18 ships), then she would be finished.

Worse, her fleet was down to their last five antimatter warheads out of the fifteen they had. Candace Liao had carried five, but all five had been lost with salvagers attempting to retrieve them when one of the five’s containment field failed. 

Anastasia… felt irritated. 

While she had won great victories for the confederation, she was not happy with how short her excursion had been. 

Because she knew the right call to make. 

She had to go back to the confederation, switch out the ships and crews and restock up on ammunition.

To fight on in her condition was folly, and as someone who held absolute power over her fleet’s actions, she would do so. 

Four battles. 

All victories. 

Stunning victories. 

But she had wanted more.

She took a deep breath in.

‘Remember what dad says all of the time. Careful patience wins victories.’

So she made the call.

The Phoenix Brigade was pulling back to the confederation. They would return, yes, but they would do so at full strength.

-VB-

And so, after just six months of campaigning across the Combine, Princess Anastasia Liao chose to go back home. While the Clans did not know this, they understood that Clan Ghost Bear had inflicted a significant damage upon the Capellans, and would use that chance to surge back into Combine space. 

But by then, Combine was able to bring all of their Davion border regiments and warships to fight against the Clans. 

And Princess Anastasia’s decision to not use nuclear weapons turned out to be the right decision.

Because the Lyrans, in their desperation, did use their nukes. 

And the Clans were not going to let that pass.