DVH Chpt 19

<<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
==Davion Heir (BattleTech CYOA)Chapter 19==
----
===Unexpected News===
Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Suns
14th April, 3016
----
“You’re kidding me,” says Victoria in a shocked voice as the First Prince stares as the Minister of Information, Intelligence and Operations finishes dropping the latest bombshell in her life, “This has to be a bad joke.”
 
“I am not sure how MIIO missed it, but it appears that Hanse Davion is still alive and a prisoner of House Kurita.” replies Mark, sounding as weary as Victoria herself feels these days, “Apparently they captured him at Halstead Station a little over two years ago and have kept him as a secret prisoner ever since.”
 
“And now they reveal his existence and continued survival just a month or two before we invade them.” grumbles Victoria before letting out a frustrated sigh.
 
At this point, the Combine will be invaded, come high or hell water. Too much has been committed and even if the LCAF does flake out, the AFFS will still go ahead. It is clear it won’t be a repeat of the devastating victory over the Capellans, but the AFFS alone should be able to take at least a couple of worlds.
 
“It is going to be a diversion and an attempt to cause domestic strife for you.“ says Mark, “I’m no military strategist, but it is clear that they will use your brother as bait that you cannot ignore. Because you cannot. I also believe that they will attempt to undermine your position as First Prince via the fact that your predecessor is still alive. Given that your power base is primarily built upon Hanse’s, it could in theory undermine you if your supporters decide to stand by Hanse instead of you. However, between your own successes and the temperament of your own mutual supporters, it is unlikely to go anywhere.”
 
“Bait for a trap.” says Victoria, “Bait that I cannot ignore that they will use to undermine the offensive. Is anything going to go right when it comes to this invasion?”
 
“Your diplomatic efforts have gone well,” answers Mark, “The League has begun operations against the Circinus Federation, we have begun to purchase Taurian goods via Aurigan proxies and let us not forget that the LCAF will be launching a concurrent invasion of the Combine. Not to mention that you have eliminated a Successor State. Something that hasn’t been done since the Terran Hegemony.”
 
“Right, diplomacy has been going well,” says Victoria, “I just hope that the Leaguers don’t decide to backstab the Lyrans.”
 
“While I can’t say that the peace will last, I do think that is unlikely,” replies Mark, “My sources indicate that the Captain-General has a strong grip right now so we don’t need to worry about independent raids and Janos seems content to keep to the Solaris Accords. All of his peers are occupied with each other and the Free Worlds League is effectively at peace and the truce has a time limit on it. He just needs to wait out the truce and waiting strengthens the League with every chance of weakening his foes. You can speak with Olivia for a diplomat’s perspective, but as a spymaster, Janos benefits from upholding his word more than he does breaking it. Provided that the Lyrans appropriately guard Hesperus with a sufficient garrison. I don’t think Janos would ignore that opportunity if the Lyrans presented it to him.”
 
“That’s good I suppose,” mutters Victoria, deciding that the League situation, “What about the Taurians?”
“Surprisingly calm and stable,” answers Mark, “There is certainly unrest, but the Protector is a moderate and a strong-supporter of the Far Lookers. Her son is a different story, but even then, the fall of the Capellan Confederation has them wary in a good way. They are reevaluating the relative power balance between the Suns and the Concordat and they have enough intelligent people in charge to realize that it doesn’t favor them at all. And then there is the Draconis Combine taking out the Outworlds Alliance. Now don’t get me wrong, the Bulls still hate us, but the general consensus right now is swaying towards viewing House Davion as a lesser evil and better neighbour than House Kurita. We might expect the odd independent raid or two, but nothing major.”
 
“Good, good,” says Victoria, “Now back to the Combine, I want-”
 
“Vicky, we have some major bad news,” calls Tahmina as the First Prince’s best friend strides into the room.
 
“Of course, there is another crisis,” grumbles Victoria as she looks up at the ceiling for something, “Okay, Tahmina, how bad is it?”
 
“News from Ran on Marduk,” answers Tahmina, “Ardan and the Heavy Guards have taken the Norse BattleMech Works, but the Dracs gutted it. The details are in the report, but it looks like it happened prior to the liberation. Ran thinks that the Dracs decided to take the factory apart and bring it deeper into Combine space so we can’t get at it.”
 
“That’s insane,” protests Victoria, “Even for the Kuritans. They have effectively destroyed the factory and they won’t be able to put it together again.”
 
“Actually, they might be able to with the Helm memory core if what else they are doing with it is anything to go by,” says Mark, “Yes, it will take them a few years to get it back to full capacity, but if it gets them a long-term factory deep in their territory as opposed to a border world they will struggle to keep, I could see them doing it.”
 
“Great, just great.” complains Victoria before something occurs to her, “Damn, they might do a similar stunt with the Outworlds.”
 
“I’ll do what I can to investigate the matter with my ministry and see what I can do to prevent it from happening,” promises Mark and Victoria gives him a nod of approval.
 
“Speaking of the Outworlds, I also come bearing good news from over there.” says Tahmina, “We have received confirmation that the majority of the Alliance Grenadiers are willing to sign up with us. A handful are returning to their homeworlds, but most of them seem happy with our offer of service. That said, Yvonne wanted me to let you know that they aren’t going to be good for much right now due to their supply issues and relatively low numbers. She says that they’ll be best for garrisoning any Alliance worlds that they reclaim. We are also receiving positive reception from the Alliance Aerospace Arm though only a few of them have outright joined us at this point.”
 
“Some good news,” says Victoria with a grateful look at her best friend before the weariness overtakes her face again, “Speaking of Yvonne, I need to speak with her. With the news from Marduk, liberating the Outworlds Alliance has just increased in priority.”
----
===Forceful Downtime===
16th April, 3016
----
“I’m not sure this is the best use of my time.” mutters Victoria as Tahmina drags her to the spa because of course the Davion Palace has a spa built into it.
Fancy tosh nobles got to have their luxuries-no, Victoria needs to put that thinking aside. She has been the First Prince for a couple of years now and she needs to accept that her position in society has its luxuries. And to do her duties as First Prince, she needs to be able to offer at least a certain degree of luxuries to maintain a suitable amount of prestige and satisfaction from important visitors.
 
Not that she has used the spa before, but apparently Tahmina has and her best friend thinks it will be a good way to relieve some stress.
 
“Nonsense,” replies Tahamina, “Both you and Dana are stressed out from this business with Hanse. Now, I can’t do anything to help with that directly, but I can help you relax and destress if only for a little bit.”
 
“Tahmina is right, Vicky,” says Dana from behind the duo, “As much I am right to be worried about Hanse and if I’ll lose him again, I know that letting those worries overwhelm me does nothing to help. If anything, they can make it worse by leaving me in a position where I am not fit to help.”
 
“Even without Hanse being revealed to be alive, you still won’t get another time for yourself,” adds Tahmina, “Trust me, the spa here is great. Perfect hot tubs and saunas and the masseuses are professionals who are really good at their jobs.”
 
“You know from experience?” teases Dana.
 
“If I am going to stay in the Davion Palace and be best friends with the First Prince, I am going to take advantage of the luxuries.” replies Tahmina with a grin, “It isn’t like I’m spending an excessive amount of time using them, just utilizing one of the luxuries on offer every now and again.”
 
“I’ve been hesitant to do that myself,” admits Dana, “Between everything you’ve done for me, I feel like I’ve taken advantage of your generosity enough. Not to mention that you were kind enough to let Ian keep his father’s surname.”
 
“It is the least that I could do.” replies Victoria firmly, “I will not let you and Ian be treated the same way that my mother and I were treated. Or even how Marie was treated. Even if your relationship with Hanse wasn’t truly formalized, Ian is his son and deserves to be treated as such.”
 
“I still say you should see a therapist about that,” mutters Tahmina and Victoria huffs.
 
“And I say that I don’t need to,” retorts the First Prince, “I am perfectly capable of doing my duties and it isn’t like I am going to find a therapist in the Federated Suns who will be willing to accept hating a First Prince. Anyone from outside is an unacceptable security risk, especially given I am the First Prince now and not just an officer in the AFFS.”
 
“Is it really that bad?” asks Dana, directing her question more to Tahmina than Victoria.
 
“Victoria is right when she says that she doesn’t let it get in the way of her work,” concedes Tahmina, “But as you may have noticed, she has a chip on her shoulder when it comes to her father.”
 
“He was just a terrible father who doesn’t deserve the praise that he gets.” says Victoria, “Now, I believe we have arrived at the spa?”
 
“I suppose we have,” says Tahmina and she lets the subject drop as the three ladies enter the spa.
----
===Dieron Invasion===
Wilderness, Dieron
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
3rd June, 3016
----
It is finally happening. The long awaited invasion of the Draconis Combine has come though it technically began over two weeks ago. Not to mention that Victoria has been in the Diaeron system for over a week and landed on the planet a couple of days ago. But the First Prince has finally engaged the enemy so it feels like the invasion has truly begun.
 
Especially since her first opponents are elite MechWarriors from the Seventh Sword of Light in LosTech ‘Mechs. At least the First Prince has the weight advantage as she and her bodyguards are all in Assault-weight machines while the Sworders are in a Crusader, a Flashman, and a Phoenix Hawk. 
 
Despite the weight edge and the skill parity, Victoria is forced to concede that the LosTech might be giving the Draconians the upper hand. The CRD-2R Crusader and FLS-8K Flashman are hiding within the ECM field of the PXH-2 Phoenix Hawk, making it very difficult for the Davion Guards.
Still, Victoria is confident that she can win this engagement and the Combine can’t replace the LosTech that it loses just yet. The future may be a different story, but the invasion will be over one way or another by then.
 
As Victoria activates her jump jets, the Sworders attack her once again. Blue laser beams lash out at her, half of them missing, but the other two sear away at the armour of her Highlander. Thirty LRMs come raining down upon her and many of them strike her, exploding on impact and leaving holes behind.
 
Whilst she soars through the sky, the First Prince unleashes her own fury against the Phoenix Hawk, her bodyguard in the BattleMaster is going through a continuous effort to refine the shared sensor data enough that the rest of their lance can target the damn machine. Her heavy autocannon lobs a shell at the Phoenix Hawk, slamming into it with an explosion of such force that it leaves the ‘Mech staggering backwards. Her LRMs come bearing down on it and even as several are shot out of the air by the Flashman’s AMS, plenty pepper the Kuritan ‘Mech.
Then the second part of their attack comes into the play as their Victor runs into range of its assault autocannon while the Dracs were busy with Victoria. Just like the First Prince, the Davion Guardsman opens fire on the Phoenix Hawk. To their credit, the Sworder MechWarrior does their best to avoid the worst of it, but blocking the attack with one of their arms only does so much. The autocannon shell blows the entire limb apart and the force of it continues into the torso. The side torso armor holds even as a pair of medium lasers and a couple of SRMs slam into it, but the Phoenix Hawk is hurting.
 
Yet it is still alive and its Guardian ECM is still active. Victoria grimaces as her cockpit is shaken by the Crusader unloading into her and continues to focus on that Phoenix Hawk.
 
“I’ll get that Hawk!” calls Victoria into the lance radio as she fires her short-range weaponry at the Phoenix Hawk, “Victory-Three, deal with the Flashman.”
 
Her twin medium lasers and SRMs lash out across the front of the Phoenix Hawk, but none of it is enough to do any meaningful damage even if the last of the left torso armour is blown away. Victoria winces as her armour suffers an armour breach on her left side.
 
<<“Victory-One, you need to pull back.”>> calls one of her bodyguards, the woman in the BattleMaster.
 
“Negative, I just need to kill this Phoenix Hawk.” replies Victoria as she stomps her Highlander to the side, unloading another autocannon shell into the battered medium ‘Mech.
 
The autocannon strikes the Phoenix Hawk right in the central torso, which is unfortunate because that is the most heavily armoured region of the ‘Mech. Then as Victoria decides to take the heat of firing her LRM-20 again and pulls the trigger on a second volley, the First Prince’s Highlander is left staggering as the Crusader slams a fist into her ‘Mech. Steadying herself, Victoria fires up her jump jets as she unloads her LRMs into the Phoenix Hawk, she comes down behind the Crusader, maneuvering in the air to make sure she stays behind the Sword of Light ‘Mech.
 
Ignoring her increasingly toasty cockpit, the First Prince swings her fist into it, her Highlander ripping through the rear torso armour of the Crusader and into its precious internal structure. Stepping back, Victoria fires her medium lasers at the Draconian MechWarrior even as they begin to move to avoid her. One burns a gash into the center rear torso armor, but the other strikes true, melting through the exposed internal structure and rendering both the right torso and the right arm useless as too many vital sections are destroyed in the former.
Then it goes wrong as DCMS reinforcements show up. The pair of VTOLs are annoying, but no true threat, but the lance of Alacorns with them are a dire foe. Especially when their open shots tear into the Victor that is with the First Prince. Already battered from the prior fighting, the Assault ‘Mech is finished off as multiple gauss rounds tear into it though its pilot is thankfully able to eject. 
 
“Withdrawing!” calls Victoria into the comms.
<<“I’ll cover you.”>> her remaining bodyguard calls back as she blasts one of the VTOLs out of the sky with her PPC.
 
Speaking of the sky, Victoria ignites her jump jets again after firing one last volley of her SRMs and autocannon at the Phoenix Hawk. As she pushes her ‘Mech to dangerously hot levels, Victoria watches the Draconian ‘Mech stagger again, its left torso ruined, but its central torso and precious Guardian ECM are still functional.
 
Jumping away again, Victoria lets out an angry and frustrated snarl at how things have gone. A Victor is gone and for what? Damaging a Phoenix Hawk that still has its precious LosTech and hurting a Crusader? At least the Crusader’s endo-steel frame won’t be easily fixed.
 
Hopefully the rest of the invasion is going better.
----
==Author's Chapter Notes==
;Word from the Author: And we have finally reached the invasion of the Draconis Combine. The story is reaching the end now. I expect another couple of updates to cover the invasion and its aftermath, but that will be the end of the story. I am planning to do some updates set in 3019 to show how things have played out a bit into the future.
----
<<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
19, Chapter