FSRB Chpt 265

==The Federated Suns Reborn - Chapter 265==
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June 3072Interlude: A modern day Machiavelli
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Office of the Regent - Special Advisor's Room
Asgard, Mount Wotan 
Tharkad, Donegal Province 
Lyran Alliance 
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Tormano Liao paused for a second in composing the memo he was sending to a few of his old "friends" and smiled at how the world turned. This had been his old office whenever Katherine Steiner-Davion had required him to work from Mount Wotan, although he vastly preferred the suite of rooms and offices he had had within the the Royal Palace itself. Still this wasn't so bad and more importantly it was good to be back walking the halls of power. He even had to admit that he preferred working for Adam Steiner over Katherine. Or Katrina as she had ridiculously insisted on being called. His previous employer's major flaw was that she genuinely seemed to believe that she was the most devious person in the room at all times and that she could manipulate anyone. Well... Everyone had seen how that had worked out for her back in December of 3060! She had attempted to play some of the AFFS's strongest characters for fools and had ended up in chains. The former heir to the Liao throne couldn't help but allow himself a brief private smile as he recollected the advice he had given to reinforce her mistaken belief that Jackson Davion would go along with her little coup. A true political operator would never have fallen for that, but Katherine had always wanted to believe what suited her. The fact that she hadn't insisted he come with her had been the final evidence of her naivety into how things would go. Had she had any clue that he had been misleading her she would have insisted he follow her into the Lion's, or perhaps Fox would be more appropriate, den. He shook his head and composed his face again. Katherine Steiner-Davion - just smart enough to be dangerous, not smart enough to be deadly. Combine that with her lack of insight and delusions of grandeur and she had never stood a chance of coming out on top. Which just proved she didn't deserve his loyalty. 
Now Adam Steiner... He was a different story. Oh he didn't have Katherine's gift for intrigue and politics, but in his case that was an asset. A lot could be made of a man with a reputation as an honorable and gruff soldier. Much more than a princess who nobody really trusted. Even more so when said soldier was vastly out of his depth in the political arena and would come to rely upon his key advisor more and more as time passed. Of course the temporary nature of his position as Regent was a hinderance, but something could always be done about that in due course. And even if Hanse Steiner did grow up to assume the Archon's throne, the Regent who shaped him and was also his General of Armies would be ideally placed to influence him... While in time perhaps the young Hanse would need a political mentor too... Someone who the Regent could appoint to train him for instance. Yes. The future was looking rather positive for Tormano Liao if he did say so himself!
There were only two real potential threats to his position here on Tharkad. The first was that if Adam managed to ham fistedly break the very Lyran Alliance he was hoping to preserve, a very real possibility of late given the divisions that were breaking out all over the Alliance. Still things weren't beyond repair. He'd finally managed to arrange for Adam to agree to release all but a handful of the arrested delegates - after speedy and almost entirely show trials which had confirmed their innocence. One of Tormano's old friends within the Tharkad judiciary who had been appointed by Katherine had seen to that. That should relieve a lot of the political pressure and the proposal he had just sent over to Adam regarding the renaming of the Lyran Alliance back to the old and popular name of the Lyran Commonwealth would help more...
The second threat was of course Victor Davion and his Federated Suns. Given the history there it was fair to say that the warrior prince probably wasn't too fond of him and might exert some of his still considerable influence to thwart his rising star within the Alliance or even have him dismissed entirely. Particularly if he was able to repair the relationship with Adam Steiner or forge a new relationship with his nephew Hanse Steiner. The first was entirely possible as Adam and Victor were both soldiers and could potentially build on their mutual respect as such to create a working relationship. While the second was almost inevitable as the young prince looked to his famous uncle for guidance and direction. Those two possibilities had to be strangled in their crib so to speak. Which was why he was sending word to some of the agents he had cultivated in his time in charge of Free Capella and also as Katherine's key advisor via this memo. A few extra protests within the conquered former worlds of the Capellan Confederation would keep drawing Victor's eyes in that direction and making him spend key resources to placate them rather than to helping his fraying alliance with the Lyrans. In time, who knew, perhaps those protests might spread and even take in the former Lyran worlds which were joining the Federated Suns after the recent debacle on Thorin... They might even get worse. Hard for Adam and Victor to get along when "Lyran terrorists" were bombing AFFS troops on worlds that Adam saw as rightly belonging to his realm... While Hanse Steiner was hardly going to look favorably on an uncle who "stole" some of his birthright... 
Tormano allowed himself one final chuckle before he went back to laying out his instructions in a routine memo that would be forwarded via HPG through a dozen shell and dummy accounts before reaching his agents.. 
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