Collection 35

Collection

Chapter 35

-VB-

Edward Arlaoskas

New Vandenberg, Taurian Concordat

3004 April

It took us a whole month to leave the Aurigan Coalition systems because I decided, on a whim, to distribute FTL Comm Buoys in each system we visited. Some were pre-fabricated at the Corlaos Shipyard, but I built the rest using automation inside The Maw with resources mined from asteroids and gas giants. 

Over the course of February and March, I visited every single Aurigan Coalition systems and dropped off the comm buoys.

When I was done, it was only then that I jumped from Aea to New Vandenberg. 

And when I arrived, there was a whole parade waiting for me. 

“Well,” I muttered from within The Maw’s bridge along with the rest of my family who wanted to be here for the jump. “I didn’t expect to see the Taurians coming out in force.”

Just like how the Aurigans had greeted us at their capital, the Taurians had greeted us. At their border. 

Four Fortress-class assault dropships, four achilles dropships, ten Union-class dropships, and at least forty aerospace fighters sat waiting. 

While someone else might take this as an insult or threat, I took it as a compliment! 

They were so scared of my power that they pulled out what had to be their entire navy! 

This did stuff to a man’s ego, you know? 

“They don’t look like they are warming up their weapons beyond standby,” Amy noted from my center-right. 

To my far-right, Armas pinged me. “Looks like the Taurians want to talk to you.”

“Alright. Put them on the call.”

The hologram at the front of the bridge lit up and I saw a black haired man in a sky blue military uniform. 

“I am Comptroller Jeremiah Vincent at the head of the Concordat Navy’s 2nd Fleet. I demand that you halt,” the rather lean and clean looking man with sharp eagle eyes said to him. 

“Wow, mate. What’s the problem?” I asked the comptroller… That was an actual naval rank’s name? Bloody hell, it sounded like the 90’s attempt at pinning the act of trolling specifically to computer-related activities or something. 

Oh wait.

80’s in space. 90’s lingo would be ahead for the universe. 

Damn.

I mean… it’s better than naming an entire interstellar nation after animals, but that’s kind of the low bar to point to.

“You are Edward Arlaoskas, the so-called Fleetmaster of the Arlaoskas Fleet.”

“Yeah?”

“You are currently in possession of a warship.”

“And?”

“Do you not understand common sense or do I have to spell it out for you from the start to end?” he frowned. 

“You’re gonna need to spell it out because I don’t see any problem with everything you’ve stated so far.”

“You have a warship and are intending to frolic around in the systems of the Taurian Concordat.”

“And?” I asked.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as if he was the one being reasonable. Bitch, I had a warship and I wasn’t doing anything!

“You may have been allowed to do so in the backwater minor powers because they have nothing to resist you with, but you are now in the Taurian Concordat. A civilian cannot own a warship!”

“... Is that your way of saying that you want to take my warship? Is the Taurian Concordat declaring war on me?” I asked incredulously. “I mean… if that’s the case, then I expected some sort of an attempt to board my ship first.”

“What-? No! The Taurian Concordat is not declaring war on you! Jesus Christ, I really have to spell everything out, don’t I?” he grumbled. He took a deep breath in and let it out. “The Taurian Concordat cannot determine whether or not you are a sane person. The Taurian Concordat Concordat does not have any form of trust or leverage it can use on you. You are in possession of a warship that can destroy civilization on a planetary level. The Taurian Concordat cannot afford to allow you to orbit Taurian Concordat worlds, and you, as the visitor, will be escorted by us, the 2nd Fleet for the duration of your stay.”

… I mean, if he put it that way, then I guessed that it was somewhat reasonable. They were acknowledging that I was too big of a fish.

“... Well, I’m not particularly against escorts if you want to provide them, but you realize that I’m a target, right?”

“What?”

I rolled my eyes. “Just get me in contact with someone who ain’t a Blakist and is as high up on your government as possible. Higher the better, especially because I want permission to set up FTL communication buoys.”

“...What?”

“Do you mind if my crew goes on vacation here in New Vandenberg, too? Even if my ship is the size of a small town, it’s kind of boring up here with everyone we know. Oh, and how much do you think fixing your secret warship is worth to you?”

-VB-

Zarantha Calderon

Taurus IV, Taurian Concordat

3004 April

“So he decided to stop by our country,” Zarantha Calderon, the Protector of the Taurian Concordat, said to herself while receiving a message from the Ministry of Defense. 

The ministry was right to involve her from the start. 

See, despite the fact that the Aurigan Coalition was a state composed of former Taurian worlds, she and her predecessors did not raise the issue of them forming their own political union, mostly because it narrowed the border between the Concordat and the Capellan Confederation. 

It did not mean, however, that the Concordat ignored the new nation. Unlike her predecessors, she kept in touch with each of the High Lords who headed the Aurigan Coalition. Her diplomatic overture bore fruit when High Lord Tamati Arano contacted her a month ago about the “Arlaoskas Fleet,” who headed it, and what they did for the coalition. 

Yes, it surprised her greatly that someone built an entire shipyard in a minor periphery power that could barely protect itself from pirates. 

Yes, she wanted some of that for her and the Taurian Concordat, which meant that she needed to treat her new guest as gently as possible lest he get upset and leave without doing anything. 

Hell, those new FTL communication buoys alone would be a boon to the Concordat! According to High Lord Arano, they allowed each of the Aurigan worlds to communicate near instantaneously. Unfortunately, the technology involved in their construction was out of the Aurigan’s understanding even after the incredibly generous Leaguer had allowed the Aurigan engineers to look at the schematics. Arano had asked her if any of her physicists and engineers knew what “hyperwave physics” was, because his engineers had looked as confused as he had felt. 

And yes, the man was from the Free Worlds League, which was both important and made this all the better because had this “Fleetmaster” Edward Arlaoskas been a Capellan or a Davion, then she would never be able to get anything done.

Her heir, however, did not look happy. 

“We shouldn’t be allowing a foreign warship to jump about in our star systems,” Thomas grumbled. 

“If it means we get a shipyard, then I’ll even loan him a world or two for a hundred years.”

“That’s a dangerous thought, mother.”

“Dangerous or not, only results matter. And as far as I am concerned, Fleetmaster Arlaoskas has a string of successes that no one else can boast.”

“He’s a Leaguer freak.”

“Thomas.”

“... Fine, mother.”

“Besides, he’s offering to fix our nonfunctional warship.”

“What?!”

She chuckled. “See? This is why you should be more open to foreigners. Sometimes, there’s someone who’ll offer things that mean so little to them but mean so much to us. Who knows? One day, we might have an ex-Combine mercenary coming to give us information on the Davions.”

She knew that the last bit was said just to poke at his Davion paranoia… but it started to worry her when he started getting contemplative after she said that. 

Yeah, his Davion paranoia was an issue, and one that she was unlikely to help solve with how old he was already. 

Maybe … should she get him on antipsychotics? She knew that he would hate her if he put him, an adult, on antipsychotics without his consent, but he was also the heir. If antipsychotics were what kept him stable and disconnected from his paranoia, then that’s what she’ll do.

“I think it is in our best interest that we meet the Fleetmaster face to face,” she spoke up after a moment. “If only to make sure that there is no miscommunication whatsoever.”

He grumbled and nodded in agreement.

“I want you with me by my side when i go to meet him, Thomas.”

He paused and looked up. “... Aren’t I too young for this kind of meeting?” he asked her with a raised eyebrow. 

“You’re soon to be twenty-three,” she replied. “I think that’s old enough for you to shadow me at all times now. It’s not like you’ve been skipping out on your education.”

Thomas gave her an incredulous look.

Even if teenagers were mostly not in favor of schools, this was still the Taurian Concordat. They, as a people, took an immense pride in being the most educated people as a whole. It was the duty of the next generation to educate themselves, whether or not they could use that knowledge in the current circumstances of the Concordat was secondary if not tertiary. After all, only those who were educated - regardless of their background - can teach the next generation. Education, of course, could come in many ways. It was why there was always an elevator installation specialist in every city on Taurus. After the Elevator Shortage of 2988, no one was going to let even a niche field like elevator installation not count as a legitimate education. 

“What? I know you skipped out on classes to see Kat. Don’t think I forgot that!” she said to him, and he blushed and looked away. “The Heir of the Concordat rushing off to see his highschool sweetheart and missing classes! Oh, the scandal that caused me!”

“Mother, I get it!” 

“I’ll be bringing it up until the day I die, boy! I’ll be telling all of my grandbabies after I retire! You can’t stop me!”

She laughed at the glare he gave her.

-VB-

Precentor Naralm de Veuganoe

Corlaos Shipyard, Coromodir, Aurigan Coalition

3004 April

The High Lord allowed him to visit the Corlaos Shipyard. The man believed that he was a man of the cloth, so to speak, for technology. That he wouldn’t attempt to destroy the new shipyard that the Aurigans now defended with justifiable aggressiveness. 

Despite the fact that the Aurigans didn’t possess a true navy of their own, there were at least four Achilles assault dropships that patrolled the region of space around the shipyard. 

And what a shipyard it was. 

When he was read into some of the secrets of ComStar, one such secret was the existence of Hidden Worlds and their shipyards. He’d seen pictures and size comparisons…

But this shipyard was bigger than them all. It wasn’t just a single shipyard; it was an entire vertical industry put together. 

He watched from one of the windows as small dropships zipped in and out of the station carrying common and rare ores mined from asteroid belts. Enough material flowed into this station each week to beggar the Aurigan Coalition, but it didn’t beggar the minor periphery power because they weren’t in charge of the shipyard-station. 

They were just the landlord who got paid in jumpships. 

“And … all of it is automated?” he asked the “manager” of the shipyard as he turned to face her. 

“Yes,” Manager Theresa replied with a simple smile that said and suggested nothing. 

He looked back out.

He had seen the station making ships from afar, but now that he was up close… he realized that this was not a problem that ComStar will be able to solve. Worse, because Arlaoskas Fleet had made it clear that they intended to make more shipyards in neighboring states, ComStar couldn’t even encourage Taurian Concordat to sabotage the Aurigan Coalition. 

But Capellan Confederation… they might be willing. 

“It’s beautiful.”

It was terrifying.