BtH83

==Chapter 83 - By the Horns==
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The Obsidian Fortress
Saso, New Syrtis
Federated Suns
March 2nd, 3026
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“Hanse, are you certain you want to do this?” asked Marie Louise Davion-St. Claire (formerly Hasek-Davion) in a very quiet voice.  “Rebecca has been doing well as Minister standing in for Mich-. . .” but she was suddenly cut off.
“Rebecca Hasek,” and Hanse Davion deliberately left off the hyphenated ‘–Davion’ that Michael had insisted his sister legally change her name to, “is on my naughty list.  There is no way that Michael managed to convince five RCT and one Regimental commander in the Capellan March to undertake his failed invasion without at least her knowledge.”  His voice hardened.  “She did nothing.  She did not even attempt to inform me.  No, Marie,” he continued in a softer tone.  “She is not going be Minister of the Capellan March, not even interim.”
Marie began to say something else and Hanse shook his head.  “No.  Morgan is too young for the post—and there are still some questions about his loyalties, especially with the manner in which his father died and the accusations coming to light about Michael’s extra-curricular activities.”
Hanse sighed.  “I’ve already relieved both Fiona and Tamara of their commands . . . publically, it will seem as though I let them resign their commissions and retire with honor, but let us be honest, Marie.  I sacked both of them.  And I did the same thing to Major General Jara Dahar.  I’d do the same thing to Stephen Cooper and Robert Johnstadt, but they at least had the sense to obey my orders when they got delivered here to New Syrtis!”
“The only reason that Stephen Cooper is not wearing manacles and waiting for a Court-Martial and still a Colonel and remains in command of the BattleMech Regiment at the heart of my Assault Guards is that he insists—and General Gavin confirmed—that while the Assault Guards were going to jump towards the Taurian Concordat, they were not going to follow the route they were assigned by Michael,” Hanse continued with a scowl on his face.  “They were headed for Lindsay with the intention of sending a priority message via HPG to me on New Avalon and let me know what was going on.  And the navigation data from their JumpShips backed up that story.”
He gestured at his sister.  “Sit down, Marie, please.  I get enough of the hoopla on New Avalon, I don’t need any more from my sister.”
“Half-sister, Hanse,” she said with a soft smile as she sat.  “did not want to offer you les-majesty, after all.”
Hanse Davion snorted.  “I could use a little of that from time to time—although Ardan does a good job of reminding me, ‘You, too, are only human.’  Quintus tells me he believes that Morgan is loyal not just to the Federated Suns, but to me personally, and that he has no intentions of following in his father’s footsteps.  Hell, I like the man he is becoming!  But, right now, I need to make certain that I’ve got someone out here I can trust, someone that can do the job right and not fall victim to various plots and intrigues.”
He held up one hand.  “I will, however, confirm him as the Duke of New Syrtis tomorrow, Marie.  But, I am not going to make him—at age 21—the Minister of the Capellan March and Field Marshall of the AFFS in command of one-third the armed forces of this realm.”  And then Hanse chuckled.  “Besides, it would break his heart to have to give up his command in the Heavy Guards and come home to New Syrtis without ever seeing combat—and you know it.”
Marie laughed.  “Well do I know it!  He takes more after our father, and you and Ian, than he does after Michael.”  She paused and her smile faded and then she sighed.  “He was once so eager to gain his father’s respect, but then Michael,” and she shook her head, “he always knew how to ruin things.  After that chess game, Morgan kept his distance and tried his best to just avoid his father’s company.”
She waited a minute.  “It would be a cold day in hell, Hanse, before he ever followed in Michael’s footsteps.”
“I know, but I can’t risk it.  Not right now, Marie.”  Hanse sighed.  “So, are you going to take the job or not?”
“You have better people for it, Hanse.” she answered quietly.
“No one as admired as you are in the March.” he said in return.  “Take the job—as Morgan’s regent if nothing else.  When he is a little more seasoned, I will appoint him as Minister, but it won’t be tomorrow.”
There was silence for a moment, and the Marie nodded.  “Okay, then.”
Hanse smiled.  “You know, sometime we are going to have to meet at something outside of funerals and crisis situations; maybe a family retreat somewhere quiet and peaceful.”
“Like you and I could get that lucky!” she snorted in amused agreement.
There was a knock at the door, and then it opened and Quintus entered the room.  “He’s here, your Grace.”
Hanse nodded and he stood, followed by Marie.  “We are going to have to cut this short, sister dear,” he said then he leaned forward and kissed her on the check.  She hugged him in return.
“See you tomorrow, little brother.” she said with a grin as she left.
After a few moments, Quintus returned and in his wake was Ardan Sortek.
“Welcome home, Ardan,” Hanse said warmly and he extended his hand.  “How was life as a mercenary?”
“Decent enough, my Prince,” his best friend answered as he took Hanse’s hand and shook it warmly.  “Although I am glad to wearing an AFFS uniform once again.”
Hanse sat, and he gestured at both Ardan and Quintus and the two men sat as well.  “Heard you got into a little bit of a battle there at the end of that business on New Vallis?”
“We did; lost five ‘Mechs and two MechWarriors during the fighting, but Edward gave the Foxhounds . . .,” and Ardan paused as he blushed, Hanse and Quintus not even bothering to hide their grins, “ah, the 2nd Battalion, Heavy Guards, first choice of the salvage.  We are back up to strength in ‘Mechs and the with the rest of the Heavy Guards RCT here on New Syrtis, we also have replacement MechWarriors.  We are back up to full strength, Sire.”
“Good,” Hanse said quietly and he cast a glance at Quintus who shrugged.  “Tell about him, Ardan,” the First Prince commanded in a soft voice.
“Edward?” Ardan asked and Hanse nodded.  “He’s . . .,” and Ardan paused.  “He’s complicated, Sire.  He’s young—late 20’s.  He’s never piloted a ‘Mech in combat.  But, he has a spine.  He knows he doesn’t know everything and he asks the right questions; doesn’t always take advice, much like someone else I know,” and Hanse made a ‘moi?’ gesture with one hand as Ardan nodded, “but he makes his decisions and he stands by them.”
“Like hanging the survivors of the Sixth?” Quintus asked.  “That has set the temperature of the Capellan March to boiling.”
“He gave them chance after chance to surrender—and he did that only after Michael tried to nuke his own people—and the Taurian citizens helping them—at the surrender point Edward had designated.”  Ardan shook his head.  “I wouldn’t have done it, but he has to walk a fine line between being conciliatory to us and appearing weak at home.  He’s no good to you if his own people believe him to be a sell-out.”
“Tell me about him, Ardan.  The man, not the persona he wears,” Hanse commanded again.  “Can I work with him?  Can I make a deal with him?  Will he stab in the back first chance he gets if doing so gives a political advantage at home?”
Ardan paused now and then he nodded.  “He’s a lot like you and Ian in your late 20’s.  Damn, first time I saw him, I swear he could have been Ian reincarnated.  You can work with him, Sire.  You can trust him to stand by his word once he makes a deal—even if it costs him at home.  Look what he did to make sure that the surviving personnel of the Sixth who surrendered were treated fairly and kept safe.”
Hanse nodded and he looked at Quintus again.  Then he turned his gaze back to Ardan.  “So, he’s not his father?”
“He . . . he is the best parts of his father.  Without the paranoia and inflexibility.  He genuinely wants a normalization of relations with the Federated Suns; last week,” Ardan continued as he sat back and crossed his legs, “he said something to me.  He doesn’t know about your and Kartina’s plan to form the Federated Commonwealth, but he said, ‘Ardan, whether or not the wedding happens, this super-state is already here.  Katrina and Hanse have gone too far not to finish the job and the rest of us really small fish in a huge ocean need to get our houses in order or we will just wind up being absorbed.  Either militarily or economically.  The Concordat’s best chance for a bright future is to end this unrelenting hostility with the Federated Suns over what happened almost five centuries ago!’  And he is right, Sire.  He wants to work with you—and he brought with him a complete copy of the Data Core.”
Hanse glanced at Quintus again.  “He has it aboard his DropShip?”
“He does—under heavy guard.  I wouldn’t recommend trying to steal it; that would sour relations but good, my friend.”
“After what happened on Taurus, I wouldn’t dream of it, Ardan,” Hanse answered and he grinned, but Quintus only scowled.
And softly muttered, “Just wait until Phil Sheridan gets here and we debrief him in person, I want to know what he was thinking!”
“We weren’t there, Quintus.  Didn’t you tell me never to second-guess agents in the field?”
“You are their monarch, Sire.  I am their boss.  He could have told me what was going on!”
“With the HPGs down?”
“That why we have courier JumpShips and the border is just one jump away.”
“That is for later, Quintus.  Right now, I need to know—how much is Edward going to push to get me to cough up?  I’ve already paid a heavy price to be able to pay the price?  What is he going to want?”
Ardan sighed.  “Some of those with him are pushing him to ask for the return of a dozen systems that used to belong to the Taurian Concordat, along with quite a bit of money and a free trade agreement,” and Hanse’s face could have been carved from stone, it appeared so still and hard.  But Ardan shook his head.  “Edward overruled them.  He might start high, but he will settle on something reasonable.”
“Is the information in the Core worth it?” asked Quintus.
“I’m not a scientist nor am I an engineer,” replied Ardan.  “That being said, we could definitely use this to our advantage.  NAIS will have a field day—and there are things in there—lost early Star League technologies—that will enhance our military once we get the factories to produce them up and running.  Never mind the WarShip data.”
“They are giving us that?” Quintus asked in a shocked voice.
“Thomas was hell-bent on refusing, but Edward talked him into it.” Ardan answered.
“Well, we have Doctor Banzai out here with us—just in case they let us have a glance at what they are offering.”
“And I bet half of Team Banzai are here as well—all posing as scientists and engineers with their ‘Mechs stored aboard their DropShips.” Ardan commented dryly.
“I wouldn’t take that bet,” Hanse answered with a smile of his own.  “Okay.  Anything else you need to tell me?”
“Nothing that can’t wait—except, that WarShip Thomas found and salvaged?  He didn’t salvage it.  It had a misjump at the tail end of the Reunification War and reappeared here and now—with a crew from that time onboard.  Helena Vickers is the commander.  That Helena Vickers, Hanse.”
For a moment no one said anything, and then Hanse whispered, “Damn.”
“Yes indeed,” Ardan answered.  “She’s every bit as impressive as the histories make her out to be—and quite concerned with the safety of young Edward.”
“It is a good thing then that I have no intention of harming him in any way,” Hanse replied with a slight grin.  And then he stood, followed by Ardan and Quintus.  “In that case, care to join me for dinner and tell me what glory the Foxhounds found on New Vallis?”
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