DVH Chpt 5

<<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
==Davion Heir (BattleTech CYOA)Chapter 5==
----
===Marie Hasek-Davion Visit===
Davion Palace, Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Suns
5th March, 3014
----
When Victoria wakes on the third day of her injuries, it is to her half-sister Marie waiting at the side of her bed. Marie Laura Hasek-Davion, the wife of Michael Hasek-Davion and someone who Victoria has some very mixed feelings about. Especially since she doesn’t know why her sister has betrayed their family or if she has actually betrayed them in full.
----
=== Fretting Over Michael ===
----
“How are you feeling, my Prince?” asks Aaron Sandoval as the Duke of Robinson makes his visit to Victoria.
 
“Eager to get out and about again,” answers Victoria, “How bad is it out there? I know it can’t be too bad because I haven’t been swamped, but Michael arriving on the surface the day after I was attacked.”
 
 “Michael has certainly been busy making a nuisance of himself,” says Aaron with an unrestrained scowl in the relative privacy of Victoria’s private medical room, where the only other people around are their respective security details, “He’s made a big show of his arrival to the public and media about how he regrets that the Princess Imperial was attacked in the Davion Palace whilst making subtle remarks about how you are overstepping your place and being presumptive about your status.”
 
 “And then he went to the High Council.” concludes Victoria with a grimace.
 
 “Effectively so even if he didn’t officially,” confirms Aaron, “He met with a few people first, making backroom deals and getting a feel for the land. Almost certainly a continuation of what he had already been doing from his DropShip since he jumped in-system. Things have been going about as well as can be expected. He has been making some headway, especially with widespread support from the Capellan March, but he is fighting an uphill battle. I’ve been doing my best to push back against him on your behalf and as expected, the representatives from the Outback are seeing the choice between you and Michael as a choice between support for their worlds and support for the Capellan March.”
 
“I presume that means things are going in my favor,” says Victoria.
 
“They certainly are,” replies Aaron, “The Capellan March supports their duke for the most part, but without the Draconis March and the Outback, Michael can’t win. Even the undecided representatives are inclined to side with House Davion by default and right now, that means you. It was good thinking to get my involvement in this. I have no doubts that Michael would have tried to use his marriage to your sister to turn this into a Davion versus Davion affair, but with my resistance, the optics is myself representing House Sandoval and the Draconic March, him representing House Hasek and the Capellan March while you represent House Davion and the Crucis March.”
 
“That’s some good news and music to my ears.” says Victoria as she gives Aaron a grateful smile, “Thank you for your support, Aaron. I don’t know what I would have done without it, but I would be far worse off.”
 
“I am glad that you appreciate my support,” says Aaron before his face grows grimmer, “I could hardly do less than be loyal, especially after Michael has…I should let you know that I fully agree with your assessment that Michael was behind the attempt on your life. I must admit I wasn’t fully sure that Michael was behind Emeron and I was just giving you and Hanse the benefit of the doubt, but I can’t see how Michael isn’t behind what happened a few days ago. The Davion Palace is supposed to be secure and the First Prince protected in it. For someone to get so close, I fully believe that it is a result of Michael using his influence over the government that he acquired in Ian’s time to eliminate a rival he could not hope to legitimately defeat.”
 
“Me too,” agrees Victoria, anger tinging her voice, “The usurping weasel tried to have me killed. I hope that Mark or someone else finds evidence of his wrongdoing, but I’m doubtful they will. Michael has always been a thorough planner who avoids leaving anything leading back to him. Maybe he slipped up with the short time frame that events have given him, but I’m not going to get my hopes up.”
 
“On the subject of Michael’s attempts to usurp you, would you like to know the sort of arguments he is making against you before the High Council?” inquires Aaron and Victoria sighs.
 
“Not particularly, but if I am to fulfil my responsibilities to the best of my ability, I ought to,” replies Victoria, “How bad is it?”
 
“Thankfully, he is publicly staying within the confines of civility, but he is resorting to everything short of direct ad hominem attacks,” says Aaron, “Just minor things that he can justify as concerns. Such as your legitimacy as a Davion, but with Ian legitimising you, Hanse declaring you his Princess Imperial and you having served your five years in the AFFS, he isn’t making much headway with that outside of anyone who already supports him. However, he has been claiming that we need a Davion for a First Prince and you are just a London.”
 
“Annoying, but I had expected that line of attack given his limited options,” says Victoria, “Let me guess, he is also going after my lack of administrative experience.”
 
“It is the other obvious line of argument against you so yes, he has,” replies Aaron, “He is fully acknowledging your combat record, but he is pushing himself as a superior candidate based on having both military and civil experience while you are limited to just the former. To the rat’s credit, he is acknowledging that you’ve spent a couple of months as the Minister of Administrative Services, but he is dismissing it as insignificant compared to the responsibilities of running the Federated Suns and him having run three ministries at once in the past.“
 
“Unfortunately, we don’t have much way to refute that.” grumbles Victoria.
 
“I have been pointing to how you’ve been doing since arriving here and assuming the duties of the First Prince,” points out Aaron.
 
“I appreciate that, but at the end of the day, facts are facts and not all of them favour us,” says Victoria, “Okay, what is Michael’s end goal here? Setting himself up as First Prince directly or becoming a regent for Morgan?”
 
“He is being non-committal about it,” answers Aaron with another scowl, “Michael is trying to leave it open to go either way and he has been annoyingly wiggly about it. I have tried to pin him down and get an answer one way or another, but it is proving easier said than done even when I directly question him on the subject.”
 
“Wiggling out of trouble is Michael’s expertise,” notes Victoria sourly, “Once again, thank you for the support, Aaron. It is gratifying to know that I can count on at least one March and its leader to have my back.”
 
“I’m only doing my duty,” replies Aaron and from there, their conversation turns to less grave topics than who the future First Prince will be.
-----
===Troubling Developments===
-----
“My ministry is rotten,” says Mark as he walks up to Victoria’s bedside, those being the first words to come out of his mouth, “I don’t know how that assassin got close enough to you for their attack, but I do know that Michael couldn’t have pulled it off without help from inside my ministry. Even if it wasn’t Michael, I would bet my life that they had people from MIIO aiding them.”
 
 “Hello, Victoria, how are you?” replies Victoria sarcastically before switching to a false cheery voice, “Hi, Mark, I’m going fine apart from my injuries and my brother-in-law trying to usurp me, thanks for asking.”
 
“Jokes aside, I need to priorities cleaning house more than I realise,” continues Mark with an eye roll at Victoria, “That assassin shouldn’t have been able to get a needler pistol into the Davion Palace let alone get close enough to you to use it.”
 
“That bad?” asks Victoria.
 
“Someone just tried to kill the Princess Imperial who might as well be the First Prince in the Davion Palace!” exclaims Mark, “You can be such a Periphery hick at times, Victoria. Yes, this is an extremely big deal. Heads are going to roll over this, literally so.”
 
“Okay, the attempt on my life is a big deal, I get it,” says Victoria, “What news have you got me, Mark? Good or bad? A mixture of the two?”
 
“Good news is that unlike you, most people realise the severity of an assassin almost killing the Princess Imperial and future First Prince in the Davion Palace,” says Mark, “Because of that, I have a lot more latitude to clear out MIIO. As I said, this is bad enough that heads are going to roll and a failure of this magnitude makes people more forgiving when I go on a purge.”
 
“You’re purging your ministry?” exclaims Victoria.
 
“It needed to be done at some point, this just speeds things up,” answers Mark with a shrug, “I was always planning to rid MIIO of Michael’s supporters, this incident just gives me the grounds to do so in a more open manner and provides an alternative motive and reasoning for removing them. While it will be years before I truly rid myself of Michael’s legacy, I am feeling confident enough to say that the Ministry of Information, Intelligence and Operations will be more mine than Michael’s”
 
“That certainly sounds like good news,” says Victoria, “I’m going to guess that there is a catch.”
 
“I’m confident that I’ll be able to prevent another attack from happening, but I have low hopes about catching everyone responsible,” answers Mark, “I have caught those immediately responsible, but they have had helpers who have covered their tracks to slip away and I am certain they had help from others. Or maybe I am just being paranoid. Between this attack and Michael’s presence, I’ve been acutely reminded that Michael still has more influence over MIIO than I do. And I’m not the only one.”
 
 “How bad is it?” asks Victoria, her mouth going dry.
 
 “You have the very top in your corner and I’m sure plenty of people are just going about their jobs, but Michael is attempting to turn the ministries against their ministers and yourself.” Mark tells her before giving a shrug, “It is a mixed situation. On the one hand, we are getting push and resistance, but on the other hand, we have the authority at the end of the day and we serve at your pleasure. If Michael takes the throne, then things will work out for them and badly for us, but until then, it is just giving us grounds to clear out the troublemakers.”
 
 “What does this mean for me?” asks Victoria, “How screwed am I going to be?”
 
“Your government is going to be hurting for a bit as the ministry transitions from being Hasek-Davion’s to being yours.” answers Mark bluntly, “Things will recover in the long run, but the short term is going to be painful. One of those situations where things are going to get worse before they get better. Well, not worse, but you’re going to be reorganizing the central government and that’ll be disruptive. Think of it like having to replace half of your officers and some of your enlisted, where you’ll recover from it, but the adjustment period is going to be difficult. It isn’t quite the same, but you get my point.”
 
“I do,” says Victoria before she throws herself back down into her hospital bed, “God damn Michael for all of this. Why does that arse have to be an ambitious traitor?”
 
“On the bright side, you have one dependable March lord,” says Mark, “I doubt the man has mentioned it himself, but Aaron has been going to bat for you. That attempt on your life lit a fire in the man and he has been waging war for you in the High Council. He’s been meeting Michael low blow for low blow. Michael questions your right to call yourself a Davion? Aaron brings up his own right to call himself a Davion and how his extended family has even less right to call themselves Davions than you. Michael brings up his civil record and your lack of one? Aaron has been retorting with how the Capellan March’s situation has deteriorated under Michael’s leadership. It seems that the Sandovals are stepping up to make up for where the Haseks are falling short.”
 
“Well, I know which March to favour,” jokes Victoria, but Mark doesn’t laugh.
 
“Please don’t make jokes like that,” asks Mark, “I know you aren’t serious, but if you got overheard by the wrong people, it would cause you trouble. Michael would certainly latch onto your words to use them against you, even if meant cherry-picking them and conventionally ignoring the context.”
 
“Right, right, the First Prince can’t afford to make flippant jokes,” says Victoria, “It’s going to be an adjustment.”
 
“I’ll send Tahmina over,” says Mark, “Spending some time with a friend will be good for you. Oh and I’ll see if Morgan is willing to pay you another visit before he leaves.”
-----
==Author's Chapter Notes==
;Word from the Author: So the next chapter is definitely going to be the confrontation with Michael and the finale of the first arc. I don’t feel it is a spoiler at this point to say that Victoria is going to emerge as the First Prince, not Michael.Anyway, I wanted Marie and Victoria to have a sisterly moment, but when I was writing it, I realised that it shouldn’t work. Marie is married to the man who is trying to usurp Victoria and did try to assassinate her. The fact she isn’t willing to act against Michael as far as Victoria is aware is something she isn’t willing to put up with right now so any sisterly bonding is being put on hold.As for the rest, Michael’s influence is still running strong in the ministries whilst Aaron Sandoval is now one of Victoria’s biggest supporters. The old House Davion sourcebook says that Aaron is ambitious as Michael except he cares more about his power than his people. Because of that, I am treating him as a good counterpart to Victoria. Since Aaron has decided that only Michael could be behind the assassin in the Davion Palace, he is going on a warpath against Michael’s political ambitions.
----
<<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
05, Chapter