Scavenged Restoration 100 (Patreon)

Scavenged Restoration

Chapter 100

-VB-

Melissa Steiner frowned.

Because of the current war and the spreading nature of the clans, she and her husband have been forced to be apart to keep control of the overall situation affecting the Federated Commonwealth alliance. Until just recently, Hanse had been in charge of Tharkad while she had been in charge of New Avalon. It was only a month ago that they had switched their positions so as to improve the alliance’s ties.

Their plan had been to push against the antispinward Clans with the combined might of the FedSuns and Lyran navies. And this was happening; the FSN and the Commonwealth Navy’s combined might of fifty warships and thrice as many pocket warships were on their way to crush Clan Ice Hellion, who have been raiding across the Lyran periphery worlds with abandon, a very un-Clan-like behavior. 

But there was a new development that had Hanse focused. Or “lock in” as the children said these days.

The Capellans were on the move. 

Those words completely distracted her husband from the wider war.

His eyes left the coreward theater completely and pinpointed on the Capellans… and for a very good reason.

She had read the report of a possible Capellan stealth warship, which horrified her as it no doubt horrified her husband, if not more. But in response to this, he was moving an entire fleet which protected the very heartland of the Federated Suns.

There was … some logical reasoning to this that she couldn’t deny. 

One, the Capellans have shown to be willing to uphold the treaties and peace so far, despite the fact that it was obvious how well they could have sundered the FedCom alliance.

Two, outside of the Capellans, there was no one else with a fleet who would be able to invade New Avalon. 

Three, a lack of martial showing while two foreign fleets fought on or inside the FedSuns’ borders would make Hanse appear weak, which would invite attacks from pirates and lesser states who didn’t understand international politics on a good day and interpersonal relationships on a bad day. 

Did she want to be at the mercy of other states? No. But she already was.

Did she have a choice with the Clans still fighting against her people despite the growing disunity her people reported? Also no. Even if she and Hanse succeeded in driving out the Clans, they would be weak enough that the Free Worlds League and the Capellans could devastate them enough that the FedCom alliance would have been in vain.

And what would happen if they failed to drive out the Clans? Then now, the Lyran Commonwealth would be surrounded on all sides by active and potential enemies, and her people would not be able to hold out. The FedSuns might just pull out after Hanse passes by propping someone other than Victor.

The situation was bad to say the least. Utterly shitty and in the gutter by her estimate. 

And that made her hate the clans more than anything. She and Hanse had been finally able to recover from the losses of the “Social General’s War” as her people called the incident, and then the Clans came and ruined everything all over again. 

Worse, the Capellans and League were not losing anything while she and Hanse did. 

The only consolation prize was that the Draconis Combine suffered as much as her people did.

After Crown Princess Anastasia left with her fleet, the other Clans began to push their way into the Draconis Combine more than they did hers. It was simply that they no longer gave her the “courtesy” of announcing their attacks that things have been dire for her. The Combine, on the other hand, have lost more than they won against the Clan’s batchall challenges. 

That wasn’t to say that her losses were that much lighter than the Combine’s. 

She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. 

Perhaps… perhaps the Capellan approach was right. 

Space combat, no mercy, take out their warships and jumpships as quickly as possible. End the threat before they can land. Overwhelm them with numbers they cannot ignore. 

But she didn’t have half the number she needed for such a campaign.

… Not unless she bought warships.

With a grimace, she stood up.

Melissa Steiner needed to call William Liao and Thomas Marik. 

-VB-

“It’s an honor to meet you, princess,” Protector Edward Calderon greeted the young royalty. 

“The honor is mine, protector,” she replied with a smile. 

The two of them were in the bowels of her new flagship, CCN William’s Confederation. It was a beast of a battleship and the largest warship that he had ever laid his eyes on. It was bigger than the TCW Vandenberg… which was a warship that the Capellans helped fix. 

Putting it that way, the Capellans were bound to have access to bigger and better warships. He’d known this intellectually, but knowing and seeing were two different things.

And having seen the kilometer long battleship had put that into perspective. 

“So you are going to war against one of these Clans,” he hummed conversationally. “I heard from Minister Liao that these ‘Snow Ravens’ are the premier naval power among the Clans.”

“That is what I have heard as well, yes,” she replied with a nod. “I am looking forward to the challenge.”

‘Ah, so the rumor is true,’ Edward thought to himself. 

The TMI had recovered battleROMs and combat footage of the crown princess’s venture to the coreward Inner Sphere to fight the Clans. And from those videos, they determined that the princess was hiding a Liao-worthy bloodlust. As far as the TMI was concerned, she was the Liao among Liaos, competent and great at hiding their sociopathic or psychotic tendencies. 

He hadn’t been sure about the TMI’s analysis until he just heard her response. 

He was now convinced that she was indeed as bloodthirsty as his intelligence agency had suspected. Who would pop dropships filled with crews aboard with such … casualness? 

This meant that he had to be as agreeable and affable as he could to ensure that she never felt the need to look at the Concordat’s direction for entertainment. Because Edward knew from studying while his father, Thomas Calderon, was in power that this alliance was never one of equality. The Capellans were partially using them to spite the Fedrats, partially locking them in with their tech and defensive alliance, and fully keeping them under their thumbs in … less obvious ways. After all, no one in the Concordat’s leadership missed how so many cheap Capellan consumer goods were flowing into the Concordat. Or how the youngsters were beginning to look upon the Capellans favorably. Or the Capellan media slowly growing in percentage on many affluent and populous Taurian worlds.

He didn’t miss any of that. 

And now, they were marching their fleet through Concordat territory. Yes, the permission had been given. Yes, it was to fight the one Clan that decided to go all the way around the Inner Sphere to fight the Capellans. Yes, this was necessary. 

So, no, he and the Concordat never had a chance to say no. What else were they going to do? Fight the premier naval Clan with their own still small navy? 

He kept his shudder to a minimum. His father had once thought about marrying him to this bloodthirsty woman? Who was oh so gleefully looking forward to a massacre, whether that be her people or someone else’s? 

“... Please excuse me, princess,” he sighed. “But I must ask a few pointed questions.”

She merely raised an eyebrow and nodded. 

“What do you intend to do after you defeat the Snow Ravens?” he asked. 

“Do after? Whatever could you mean?” she replied while presenting the perfectly innocent visage. 

“Your fleet. It has some of the most powerful ships currently flying in the Periphery and the Inner Sphere. There is no doubt about that.”

She looked proud at that. “Indeed.”

“And no one else in the Inner Sphere even knew that such ships were in construction when the Clans came.”

She smirked proudly. “No, they certainly didn’t.”

“So that leads me to believe that this is not just an expedition to defeat a Clan who came challenging your place as the Inner Sphere’s premier naval power.”

Anastasia stared at him for a moment before giggling. 

“True. You are right about that. Defeating Clan Snow Raven is not the only reason why my Phoenix Brigade and I are out here.”

Ah ha! 

… Then what did she want?

She glanced to the side.

“You could say that this expedition is a … test. Of a sort.”

“A test?” That couldn’t be it. Yes, sure, militaries tested their new weapons and doctrines against each other all of the time, but she was saying it as if that was the secret. 

She grinned. “May I whisper it to you?”

“... Sure.”

She stepped closer, cupped his ear, and whispered. 

His eyes widened as she stepped back.

He looked at her. “Truly?”

“Truly truly,” she chuckled. 

Oh.

Oh. Those Clanners were fucked.