Scavenged Restoration 54

Commissioned by RoyalTwinFangs

Scavenged Restoration

Chapter 54

-VB-

To my surprise…

I got along with Duchess Allison. 

Or just Aly when we were in private. 

She officially became my concubine, but we hadn’t done anything so far. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her -.

Nobody truly trusted each other in a noble or royal court.

-but it was more that I was holding myself back. 

Sure, it’s only been two months since I met her for the first time and we didn’t talk to each other for the first two weeks, but I think I got a pretty good grasp of the duchess. 

That and the Maskirovka’s rather intense investigation about the duchess.

They found out everything about her. From her home life to her ruling style. 

And I think that was one of the reasons why I got along with her. She ruled her world, yes, but she didn’t carry the same kind of arrogance most other rulers had. 

Here in the Capellan Confederation, rulers - not nobles - carried with them an air of superiority, and while I didn’t like it, I also accepted that they had a right to feel that way. While politics did determine who ruled a world, their tenure depended not just on the planet’s local politics but also on the commonality level and then the confederation level audit of those rulers. 

Yes.

In the Capellan Confederation, rulers did not audit the state. The state audits rulers. 

This was because of a cultural quirk that had developed due to how the Capellan Confederation suffered between the two giants of the Free Worlds League and the Federated Suns. 

A weak and inefficient ruler was a liability to the state and the people, and thus needed to be removed as quickly as possible in the least harmful way possible. Anything less would result in damage to the state, which was unacceptable. 

As such, those chosen to become planetary rulers or commonality leaders possessed abilities which might seem near superhuman when compared to the layperson. Their loyalty was usually not in question. Sometimes, too much loyalty to the state can hamper their judgement in what was best for their planet and commonality, so zealots were oftentimes not rulers. Advisers, adjutants, and maybe even vice governors, yes, but not rulers.

They also had to pass rigorous tests, both public and private, along with examinations conducted by the Maskirovka. Passing these tests, which was conducted similarly to the Citizenship Test, meant that there was public proof of their abilities.

While fresh blood might be chosen once in a while, longstanding veteran politicians and leaders became rulers and governors more often than not. 

… Of course, hereditary governorship was also common as were corruption, but such tradition and faults did not last in the face of disasters and failures. 

Not even Liaos were left alone if they failed. 

“So why, my distant cousin, does it say here that your planet is rife with MIIO spies,” I asked quietly at the man who’d been called up.

The older man sweated visibly even though the low grade HPG transmission. 

“I… I have no words, chancellor.”

“And your security director?”

“Already shipped to Sian, Your Grace.”

I hummed. “This is your first recorded failure, Governor Lorace Liao of Capella,” I stressed. “As such, you will receive a mild reprimand and a small fine in light of your long stellar service. Should something of this magnitude happen again, however…”

The man quickly got down to his knees and kowtowed. “My life is for the state.”

“As long as you understand.”

I terminated the transmission before turning to my godmother. “What do you think the damage is, director?” I asked my godmother. 

Director Chandra Ling hummed, but she didn’t stoop forward (slightly) like she used to. No, she looked better than she had in the past decade, and that was a result of Magistracy’s medical technology. 

I had made it a point to disseminate medical technologies as far and as wide as possible. Of course, those close to me and those with power certainly got a taste of it first, but in the past few months, mortality from rarer diseases and even common ones have gone down slightly. Slightly, yes, but it was only a few months. I doubted that I was going to see something significant and appreciable in the next decade or so. 

“Asuming that the Federated Suns stole just a few manuals across the confederation’s new factories, the damage will still be limited. The problem is less about what was stolen and how it was stolen. A network of mafias, gangs, cartels, and syndicates working for the Federated Suns.” A pause. “We can use this to start a purge of criminal elements.”

I hummed. “We certainly could,” I noted. “Can I leave it to you?” 

“Of course, chancellor. This is a failure for the governor as much as it is for the Maskirovka. We will scour every world. From Styk to Coromodir.” 

I nodded, and she excused herself. 

Then a bell rang. I blinked and looked down. It was lunch time. 

… Normally, I would just work through it, but I made a promise to see the duchess for lunch.

Speaking of the duchess, this whole internal monologue initially started because I was thinking about her. 

And how she was similar to me. 

Just like me, she had a lot on her shoulders, but I envied her for having parents who loved and supported her. Sure, she inherited what was essentially a backwater planet, but it was a backwater planet whose people respected and worked with her. I, on the other hand, dealt with backstabbing and sabotage at a minimum and had to deal with my father canceling my work after it was already having a good impact. 

But outside of that, the broad strokes of our experience in rulership was similar: bringing up a world/state to a better state, fending off pirates/invaders, and improving the economy by encouraging/mandating infrastructure. 

After a yawn, I stood up and left to meet her. 

I wondered what we were going to talk and laugh about today. 

-VB-

Director Chandra Ling expected this. 

No, it was better to say that it was her job to expect and deal with problems like these. This wasn’t just Governor Liao’s failure but that of her Maskirovka. The damned Davions subverting the criminal elements of the confederation had always been a fact of life, but to utilize that unwieldy tool to steal technologies right under her nose?!

She had been too lax if she allowed this to happen. 

And the chancellor was too lax about not thoroughly punishing someone who failed in their role. And while she wouldn’t gainsay her godson and chancellor, she could add layers. After all, a “small fine” to someone with a prestigious family and position like Governor Lorace Liao of Capella would be an astronomical sum for the commonality caste citizen. Similarly, a “mild reprimand” might not include anything that would directly harm the governor, but the Maskirovka needed to keep an eye on someone who proved to have failed the state and his people. His children might need … bodyguards, yes. 

After all, someone who “failed” his people to the Federated Suns might “fail” again, right? 

Perhaps there just needed to be more frequent audits of the planetary governors and dukes. 

The last great purge was decades ago. 

Perhaps the rulers of the Capellan Confederation have gotten too lax.

And as soon as she entered the Maskirovka 

“Director.”

She abruptly paused in her walk when she heard the familiar voice of her second favorite adjutant. The sudden stop would have put her in pain just a few months ago, but after the Canopian anti-aging and recovery treatments, she didn’t feel joint pains anymore! She felt two decades younger!

Those damn Canopians. They kept all of this to themselves for all this time! 

“What is it?” she asked sternly. 

“It’s the Lyrans.”

She took a deep breath in and let it out. “What about the Lyrans?” she asked. 

“It seems that they have taken advantage of some of the business loopholes. They managed to get their hands on a few technologies through a chain of shell corporations.”

Chandra sighed. “Which ones?”

“We suspect that they now have the blueprints for the upgraded Vindicators and Grasshopper.”

She narrowed her eyes. “And Double Heat Sink technology?” 

That was the most critical technology as far as she was concerned. Used in every war platform from light tanks to warships, it doubled a unit’s heat capacity. If mass production had been the backbone of the confederation’s survival during the Fourth Succession War, then the Double Heat Sink was the strength that struck down any and all enemies.

If that falls into enemy hands…

“We believe it to be still safe in our hands and that of our allies.”

Her tense shoulders relaxed. “Good. Then what was stolen?”

“Ferro-fibrous technology, director.” 

He hummed. It … wasn’t as bad of a damage as she thought. 

Ferro-fibrous, while powerful and applicable to basically any platform, wasn’t that advanced compared to the standard armor. When it came to actually manufacturing them, anyway. 

What was worse as to who it fell to. 

Lyrans loved their heavy and assault mechs, which possessed the most capacity to armor up with ferro fibrous plates. 

She snorted. 

“The Combine and the League are going to have their hands full with the Commonwealth. Very well. Report this to the chancellor after his lunch break. Anything else for me?” 

“We analyzed Duchess Mambalay’s urine.”

“The routine one, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Well?”

“She is not pregnant.”

Chandra groaned. “When will that boy get it on? He’s taking longer with his courting than the Kuritans!” She paused before turning back to look at the adjutant. “Is she healthy?”

“Very. All of the fecal tests we’ve performed on hers came up negative for any sort of illnesses or physical deficiencies. She isn’t eating enough fat, though. She sticks rather strongly to her pescatarian diet.”

“Tell me about it,” she sighed with a roll of her eyes. “The girl’s all skin and bones, I swear. She needs to eat more. I mean, I certainly do!”

Because after having experienced a decade of poor teeth health, she now had the strength and health to eat meat properly. It was one of her new daily little joys of life. 

Oh, how she had missed chewing. 

Perhaps she should visit the only concubine of the chancellor. Ask her how things have been. 

-VB-

Kamea stared at the memory core in her hands. 

“You are being… generous.”

“Maybe,” Chancellor William Liao replied from across the table. He didn’t expand on it.

Regardless of how he felt about this, she felt overwhelmed. The chancellor might not consider this generosity but to someone who lived in the periphery, it was.

“Thank you, chancellor,” she bowed. 

“Hmm. As long as you uplift the Aurigan Commonality while setting up new factories, I will be happy with this investment.”

Right, that was the price for this memory core. 

She, Duchess Kamea Arano, had been tasked to bring the Aurigan Commonality to be a peer of the other commonalities sans the New Abilene Province. In the next decade, the Aurigan Capellans must raise at least two battlemech factory which produces mechs that are on par with the Vindicator or better, improve the standard of living by “5 points” as set by the Ministry of Development’s Sian Development Index, and enlarge the local militia force to one regiment per planet, though it need not be a full mech regiment; the chancellor specifically stated that he would prefer if the planetary militias possessed more armored companies than mech companies. This was an unspoken admission that the Aurigan Commonality would never be militarily important as the Inner Sphere commonalities. After all, the only possible enemies her commonality would face would be the Taurian Concordat and … independent worlds. 

While they might be a threat (she still vividly remembered how a single commodore and his Fortress-class dropship had nearly ended her restoration almost by himself), the Taurians wouldn’t start anything with the Capellan Confederation. The recent victories over the Anduriens and Canopians exemplified exactly what Taurian aggression might result in for the Taurians. 

It was why she had been ordered to start up at least two battlemech factories but not fully defended and armed worlds. The Aurigan Commonality will serve as an industrial addition safe from direct invasions and raids. 

“I… I hear and obey,” she said with another bow. 

Even as grateful as she was with the generous technological uplift and military protection, it was going to take her some time to get used to Capellan customs and culture. 

-VB-

Pavel Ridzik, the Strategic Military Director, let out a shuddering breath.

“So it’s done? All five are complete?” 

“They are,” the man in charge of the secret Necromo shipyards responded with a proud smile. 

Pavel couldn’t help it. 

He walked to the edge of the office. To the wall-wide window looking out into the shipyard. 

And he felt his heart thundering inside his chest. 

And a prick of tears in his eyes. 

Because floating in front of him within the confines of the drydocks were four warships. 

Three Vincent-class Corvettes and one new warship class, a Impavido-class Destroyer. 

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

“The chancellor will be pleased.” Ecstatic, really. 

“This servant shares in the chancellor’s joy,” the shipyard director bowed. “May the fruits of our labor be used to defend the confederation…”

-VB-

A chapter in which A) widespread internal proliferation of technology lead to the discovery of a few security holes and lax guards, B) Maskirovka Director-Grandma grumbles about the lack of children, C) Kamea Arano understands her and her people’s place in the confederation, and D) the confederation re-establishes the Capellan Navy in secrecy.

Or, in other words…

ComStar: NOOO! You can’t just reindustrialize all of your worlds  with Lostech and make a new fleet in secret! Only we’re allowed to do that!!!! 

Chancellor William: Heh heh. Industry go BRRR.