SotU Chpt 46

=Chapter 46=
==State of the Union==
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Castle Davion, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
1st September, 3064
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This was probably going to be the most expensive HPG conversation in history. Admittedly, the Star League Council had sometimes linked ten separate planets together for real-time conversations but the individual holo-fields being connected had been single individuals.
This call would link two large chambers together for at least six hours a day for what could easily be weeks. Almost a thousand people would be on the holo-cameras at any given time - the complete membership of the Federated Suns High Council and the reconstituted Estates General, together with various unelected officials and nobles down to the servers refreshing water jugs.
And then the entire data package would be edited down to a more manageable record and provided to public news outlets all across both realms, from which it was sure to be shared with foreign media and intelligence agencies.
Then again, after a harrowing budgetary meeting, Catherine had cut the legs out from under the accountants by pointing out that the cost of each day of calls wouldn't count as a rounding error compared to the costs of resuming what was now being officially called the Federated Commonwealth Civil War for the same length of time. Tancredi had to give her credit for that.
Screens had been set up such that what would normally be the front of each chamber would display the other upon large holoprojectors. Since this obscured what would usually be the speaker's stand, one edge of each semi-circle had been emptied of seats and replaced with a small podium. The edges between hologram and reality were cunningly concealed, although from his place in the guest gallery, it was possible to tell.
"I hope this goes well," Yvonne murmured from beside him. "giving everyone a chance to speak is a huge gamble. There's still plenty of ill-feeling."
"I hope not everyone tries to speak." Tancred did the maths in his head. "Even if they only had five minutes each, that would take most of two weeks."
Yvonne nodded absently. From where they sat to the left of the Federated Suns 'side' of the podium, they were adjacent to the Draconis March seating. Attendees were seated by geographical so membership ran on through the Crucis and Capellan members, then across the divide to Tharkad where Alarion, Bolan, Coventry, Donegal and Skye representative sat, followed by the seats of Peter and other ministers of state.
Lights dimmed subtly, cuing the attendees to cut conversations short and Yvonne saw Peter move to the podium.
"As the Regent of the Federated Commonwealth and Archon-Designate of the Lyran Alliance, I hereby call this extraordinary session of the Estates-General and the High Council to order." He looked around the room for a moment. "Forty-two years ago, my father and my maternal grandmother met privately on Terra and negotiated what was at first a secret alliance between their nations."
"That agreement grew into a union that, less than a decade ago, was formalized into a single state that crossed the span of the Inner Sphere. By any measure, the Federated Commonwealth of 3055 was the most powerful single political unit since the Star League. I will not dwell on how we have come from there to where we are today. The purpose of this session and those to follow is to debate where we should go from here. While I will enforce a ban on irrelevancies and personal attacks, any other aspect of this matter is open to discussion. I am committed to full transparency, so that when a decision is made, not one of our worlds can say that their interests were not represented and not one voice could not be heard."
He lowered his head and then glanced to his left - across the divide. "The first remarks will be from my sister, Catherine."
"Do you know what she's going to say?" asked Tancred as Catherine took the other podium and Peter returned to his seat.
Yvonne nodded. "We drafted it together. We don't know how she'll handle the stress here so we agreed she'd make the opening remarks and I'd deal with any responses."
Her sister had chosen to wear navy-blue today, in a military cut but very plain compared to most of the representatives. She set notes in front of her, looked into the middle-distance and declared: "Friends, Romans, Countrymen."
Tancred glanced at Yvonne. "You agreed on that as an opening?"
Her face was pale. "No, I think she's lost herself again. God, of all the times."
There was an uneasy pause as the rest of those in both halves of the room were clearly wondering the same thing.
"Those words were put to paper fifteen centuries ago and placed into the mouth of a man some fifteen centuries before even that era." Catherine continued after the hesitation. "Now, while many of our traditions, including this gathering today could be traced back to the Roman Republic, no one here is actually a Roman. We can leave that to the Marians." The jest got a few weak laughs.
"I would hope that there are friendships amongst us, even if in all too many cases I have yet to have a chance to establish such ties with you. Friendships, that may cross from here" She indicated the High Council. "to here -" The Estates General. "and back again."
"But countrymen... now that is the question that we are here to discuss today. Are we, all of us, countrymen - bound together as one realm by the foresight of Katrina Steiner and Hanse Davion?"
Catherine leant forwards. "There are at root three potential answers to that - yes, no and... because we live in a non-binary universe, sort of."
"We can restore the union that was envisaged from the end of the Fourth Succession War, with a single heir born to be ruler of a single realm. Although in this case, my brother Victor has declined to serve further, so it will be a different Archon-Prince."
"We can disband it, our realms perhaps remaining allies but no more in which case Peter, Yvonne, and I will have to decide on our loyalties and one or both halves will require their own rulers."
"Or we can continue as... the self-proclaimed Archon-Princess had it; Two realms but one ruler. A personal union of the crowns. I cannot say that I entirely approve of this, but it is an option. Whether it is the best of both or worst of both would depend on a great many details."
Tancred frowned. "Did you notice she didn't specify that without Victor, it would be Peter ruling."
Yvonne nodded thoughtfully. "Closer to our script except for that. I hope she isn't trying to leave the door open for herself to supplant him. That would be disastrous."
Taking hold of the podium with one hand, Catherine smoothly gathered her notes with the other. "I have one further point, an announcement that I've been allowed to make today. Evidence that we are stronger together than we are apart."
"Three days ago, General Adam Steiner's task force - the combined Fourteenth Donegal Guards and First Federated Suns Armored Cavalry scored a victory against Clan Jade Falcon upon Twycross."
There was a buzz of excitement. "For a second time, we have reclaimed the world from Clan Jade Falcon and for the second time, we have destroyed the Falcon Guards Cluster to do so." She tapped her notes together, tidily. "There are other worlds once part of the Federated Commonwealth that have been invaded over the last fourteen years. Twycross is not the first to be brought back into our company and I see no reason it should be the last."
The applause lasted well past Horatio DuVall taking the podium, across from Tharkad's elected representative on the Estates-General, and both men had to wait before they could begin their joint presentation of how they proposed a reunited Federated Commonwealth could build upon the lessons of the previous decades.
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