NDiS Chpt 22

=New Dawn in the Sun's - Chapter 22=
<<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
----
==Debriefing of current Events==
----
The Eyrie
Wendigo, Free Worlds League
March 4th, 3017
----
Janos Marik knew he was a tired old man, his triumphs long behind him, and all that remained was a long slow slide into irrelevance. No matter what he told his supporters he was all too aware of that truth, and that he had buried the best parts of his legacy. His devotion to duty drove him on, powered by his desire to piss on the graves of every fool who had torn down what he had accomplished at the beginning of his reign. That desire was why he was here, rather than on the planet below warm in his bed.
 
Martin, his heir, joined him looking out the window at the small dot of Atreus below. While Janos trusted the boy's political instincts the way he ran around acting like a fop rubbed the older man the wrong way. Especially after what had happened to Faith. Martin knew how to use the image, and was smart enough to keep it to just an image rather than reality, thank god. The last thing Janos needed was another one of his children turning into junkies.
"What bad news does William have for us today?" Martin asked his usual boyish charm in ambiance, replaced with the hard face of a Marik. Janos couldn't help but smirk in approval over the change, no matter what parliament thought they were getting with the boy he would run rings around those fools, a good legacy to leave behind when his time came.
 
"Rumblings from Loyalty," William Cornejo stated flatly, "and an update on just what the Dragon has been getting up to."
 
"Not the Fed Rats, crappies, or liars?" Janos asked, indulging in the lack of witnesses to freely use the pejoratives that usually stayed in his head when he had to think about the other successor states.
 
"We know what the Lyrans are up to, they announced it after all. A triumph of Lyran engineering and ingenuity I believe the press release called it," Martin snorted as he said that. "As if getting an old mercenary stopgap into production is something to be proud of."
 
"It's the production that they're proud of," Janos disagreed with his heir. "Liars they may be, but they build better than anyone else. Never forget that fact, or it will bite you in the ass when you least expect it."
"I know," Martin frowned a bit. "The Humphreys are just as bad, we were supposed to be impressed by rocket launchers?"
 
"Let the poisonous bitch crow all she likes," Janoses voice was sour. "She won't be crowing for long when Kali Yama comes through for us. She'll be begging for favors just like the rest of the opposition soon enough."
 
"That might not happen." William spoke up, refusing to wilt from the poisonous glares he got from the two Mariks. It was times like this when he was firmly reminded of their blood relation.
 
"Explain." Janos stated flatly.
 
"We had a bit of a situation develop on Loyalty when the production equipment was loaded. Two teams tried to hijack the shipment. The first reports are we got them all, but I don't trust the commander on the ground. He let a team of Death Commandos get all too close to succeeding, if they hadn't run into a DEST team trying for the same objective which we had no clue was on world then they very well might have."
 
"I suppose you're going to argue for mercy for the son of a bitch?" Janos had his temper on full display now.
 
"No," William stated flatly. "All four ships made it to the Ire without reporting issues, but if she disappears…"
 
"You aren't worried about a naval interception?" Martin asked mildly.
 
"Ire's ex-SLDF, one of their special rapid reaction jobs. She's been kept in excellent shape since then with parts directly from her manufacturer, once she jumps out there isn't a ship in the sphere that can catch her, and she's using one of three alternate routes through dead or never settled systems to get to her destination. She was specifically chosen for this job because of her capabilities. The only threat to her is going to be internal." William asserted with absolute confidence. "She might not have the battery she had back in the day, but with her expanded bunkerage she's perfect for slipping in and out of other states without notice and getting deep into their backfields. The Eagle Corps usually uses her for deep raids, so we know the crew is loyal."
 
"Options?" Janos said flatly.
 
"Kali Yama has a backup plan in place, but you're going to need to modify the acceptable specifications. If they use the Nissan two hundred they already produce the Liberator will begin production on schedule, but it will lose about ten kilometers an hour off the top speed." Martin spoke firmly. He had been up to his neck in getting the Liberator project off the ground, mostly in clearing away political objections and smoothing over ruffled feathers. Irian had been a particularly thorny issue, with his cousin Garth being more of a blockhead than usual. "That might not make the LCCC happy, but it will calm some of the objections we'd likely get from Irian and Andurien. They've been worried we're planning to replace the Hermes II outright, especially after Anton's temper tantrum."
 
"They didn't sell you a pig in a poke, did they? It works?"
 
"It's the original design before they were forced to redesign by the LCCC, frankly I think that the rumors we were hearing about there being unreported issues were Kali Yama trying to get the design changed back so they could deliver on schedule. You know they've been fighting with the cooling system due to the torso design." Martin shrugged before continuing in a light voice. "Yes, they're all minor issues that won't push back deployment, according to them, but they've been going full throttle with the alternate design in parallel which makes me think the issues were more severe than we were led to believe."
 
"Do you didn't think to say anything?"
 
"What did we have to lose? They failed, we foreclosed on the loans, and shock… put out their alternate design due to the leadership of the Marik. They succeeded? We have a new mech. Either way, we win."
 
"Planning to put yourself in charge of the project?" Janos's suspicious mind was fully engaged now.
 
"No, I was thinking of having Duggan do it. Having him in charge of shooting a few of his industrialist friends might just convince the rest of that venial lot he's not the safest favor trader around. Lord knows he's not going to moderate himself." Martin grimaced as he said that. He liked his younger brother, but there were times when he just wanted to throttle him. His incessant favor trading and backhanders were a problem, one that he would have to deal with in time.
 
"I'll keep that in mind," Janos kept his opinion firmly to himself on Duggan. The boy was a disappointment, wallowing in Lyran-style corruption and hedonism even if he did do his duty when required. "William, you said you had some additional information about the Dragon?"
 
"One of their new developments was transported through a chain we were aware of." Willaim's grin was downright predatory as he said that. It was a quirk of the mans that he reveled in SAFE's abysmal reputation, leaking stories to enhance it with glee. The truth of the matter was that SAFE's expertise was in finding and breaking into enemy communication loops, something they were frighteningly good at, with a side order of plain old bribery. "For some odd reason, they choose to run their courier through one of the local nobles who was hosting a Tai-sa of the Twenty-Fifth Rasalhague Regulars who made the mistake of announcing his war crimes to the Lyrans. LOKI somehow got the plans for the estate… and well, did what they always do. Naturally, the courier escaped, and through a bit of daring defected, bringing the data with him."
 
"Well done." Janos couldn't help but smirk at that. It was always a pleasure to give the liars a hand hoisting themselves on their own petards. "We did we get?"
 
"Specifications for the Dragon's newest weapon, a lighter PPC," William accepted the scant praise with grace, he had worked with Janos long enough to learn the old man's foibles well. One of his faults was an almost congenital inability to give fulsome praise, no matter how pleased he was. "If we can get it to work it would be a boon to Irian, their Hermes II is almost the perfect platform for the system, assuming what we got wasn't intended as disinformation."
 
"A PPC, lovely." Martin frowned and chewed his lips as he considered what to do with the information. Unlike his father, he could let a grudge go, and that might be required here. There were very few PPC manufacturers in the League, the weapon was almost extinct here despite the family's efforts, and the largest one was on Andurien. Dame Catherine Humphreys was not one of his father's favorite people, and she fully returned his hatred and contempt, making any reconciliation the next best thing to impossible. "We might need…"
 
"No. I know what you're going to suggest but no. Dame No will not benefit from the hard work and dedication of patriots without paying her due." Janos shook his head firmly, setting his jaw in a way that let both men know he wasn't going to be changing his mind. "Technicron Manufacturing still has the capabilities that we need here, and they aren't traitors in the making. Let them play with it William, but watch them closely, we cannot afford to give the Lyrans, or worse yet the Capellans, any of our advantages."
 "It will be done," William accepted his orders easily. Savannah was a lot closer than Andurien, much easier for him to move the data there without sending it through the HPG chain. For all Comstar liked to pretend they were neutrals, he was the director of SAFE. They at least still remembered the Comstar war.
-----
<<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
Chapter 22