Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Three: Newton's Third Law
New Avalon, November 21, 3036
"Dad!" David ran up and hugged Natasha and me as soon as we left the dropship. "You can't vanish on me like that again. I wasn't in any way prepared to handle everything that you do."
"I'll work on easing you into the responsibilities," I laughed as I squeezed my son back. "But first, I've got two little ones to introduce you to."
"I read the letters you sent me, and honestly," David paused to breathe for a minute. "I'm glad that I'm going to have some little siblings to spoil again."
"Well, when it's time for them to wake up from their nap they'll be able to meet their new big brother," I replied as we began to walk to the armored truck that we would be taking to the Davion Palace complex. "I've got some information to share with our liege lord before we start getting things set up to transition you to the lord of the Terran March."
"Is it about the battleship that attacked you while you were on your way back to New Avalon?" David asked curiously. 'I knew that you had made some modifications to the Manassas, but I don't think that anyone thought that a heavy cruiser would be taking on a full-sized battleship anytime soon."
"Well, the Manassas has one of the best crews in the Inner Sphere," I replied with a wide grin on my face. "And they were pirates who had merely managed to get most of the power conduits running the way that they were supposed to by sheer accident," I scoffed. "I don't know where they found the original prototype of theStefan Amaris class prototypes that Amaris commissioned before the Amaris Coup, but it seems that they found it and managed to get it moving again."
"Well, it doesn't look like it helped them all that much," David observed as we pulled into the palace grounds for an inspection.
"It didn't," I replied as I let the staff of the palace run through an entire identity check and removal of weapons before allowing us to pass through. "And it turns out that it was a pirate lord that I offended long before my entrance onto the main stage of the Inner Sphere."
"I take it he didn't survive?" David asked as we finally made it through the first security entrance.
"No, most of the atmosphere was vented when our Marines breached the Bridge," I replied. "But all of their data was able to be retrieved and we towed the ship to an area where one of our Faslane's can get to it."
"Well, while you were gone we managed to finish off what we believe was the main force of the Comstar radicals," David informed me as we made our way to the next checkpoint. "There may be a few small pockets remaining but there's not much we can do about that."
"I managed to track down where the pirates were coordinating everything from," I said in response. "But it's going to have to wait until I can speak to Hanse and possibly Katrina Steiner."
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"The Marian Hegemony has access to the Black Boxes," I told Hanse once we were secluded inside his office. "They and the pirates have been reading the Lyran Commonwealth's mail and have been using it to coordinate their raids." I looked at Hanse once again. "The Marian Hegemony has been a haven for pirates for a long time, but now they're making their bed with them."
"I'll pull the Commonwealth and Concordat in on this," Hanse said as he looked over the data I had just handed him. "Morgan has been chomping at the bit to go on an antipiracy operation anyway, so I'll greenlight it should I get the go-ahead from our allies."
"Good," I replied. "Is there anything specific you need from me or Sharpshooter?" I asked as I leaned back in the comfortable chair.
"Not currently, no," Hanse shook his head before pausing. "There is one thing." He said as he grabbed his slate. "I need Natasha here before I expand on it though."
"Well, while we wait for Natasha to arrive can I get the general info on the rest of the Inner Sphere?" I asked. "I've been deep diving in specific data for the past couple of years and haven't quite had the time to play catch up yet."
"The Free Worlds League has mostly been gobbled up by the Marik brothers," Hanse told me bluntly. "It seems that Janos and Anton work together fairly well when they're not arguing. Andurien and the state that it created is the only state that remains outside of their influence for now." Hanse sighed. "The only reason that Andurien has managed to stay separate is that they've managed to make some trade deals with both the Concordat and Magistracy for the things that they are not able to source from their own suppliers."
"And the rest of the Inner Sphere?" I asked. "I know that the Outworlds Alliance is going to take years to rebuild if not decades."
"The Combine has shattered into four different factions," Hanse said as he brought up a holographic map of what was left of the Draconis Combine. "The first faction is trying to put Marcus Kurita's children on the throne of Coordinator. They're trying to make the argument that Theodore's children are not able to inherit because he was captured alive instead of committing seppuku the moment he was able." Hanse sighed, "The second faction and possibly the strongest is the most pragmatic of the bunch, they're being led by the Generals that you faced on Al Na'ir. They've rallied a bunch of the military together and are holding a neutral power bloc together around the remaining industry. They claim to be waiting for a true coordinator to rise from the ashes of what is left of the Combine. And the other two factions are what is left of the ISF along with the Black Dragons trying to kill each other off."
"What are the optimal projections?" I asked, knowing that Quintus would have put together an intelligence briefing.
"That they'll kill enough of each other off that they won't really be a threat to the rest of the Inner Sphere for another two decades or so," Hanse said as he tossed me the paper file folder. "The Canopians are likely to completely join in our alliance, and the Wolf Confederation is making roads towards full membership as well."
"Let's hope that everything goes well on that front," I said with a hopeful gaze. "I'd hate to get dragged back into another war after the two that we just fought."
"We're going to have to rebuild our reserves," Hanse nodded in agreement. "Me diverting and building up resource centers and factories in the Periphery March will help in the long term, but we're going to be hurting in the short term," Hanse raised an eyebrow at me. "Unless you feel like pulling something else impossible out of your bag of tricks that is." He trailed off.
"I'm all outta tricks, Hanse," I laughed. "I'm just an old man who's beyond ready to get his son trained up to take over for him." I leaned forward. "I've actually been thinking about retirement a lot lately, Hanse. We've just adopted the twins, and we want to give them a good childhood before they get thrust into the politics of everything. It'll be a good five years or so, but I'm thinking about retiring in four or so years. David needs his own chance to shine, and so does the rest of his generation. They've got a lot of potential, and I want to see how they do!"
"I'm holding you to that four years," Hanse glared at me. "I'm going to have to find my own time to retire now."
"It's up to you, Hanse," I told my friend as I got serious. "It may not be the right thing for you, but I've essentially lived through two separate timelines, and even though I don't look it, I'm feeling every single one of my sixty-three years." I cracked my neck. "I'm tired Hanse, I've done a lot over my lifetime, and It's nearly time for me to pass the torch on," I laughed. "Hell, even Sheppard found someone to take over for him as the one in charge of the Marksman Academy. It'll be a bit, but he's planning on stepping down too."
"I'll look into some precedents for First Prince's retiring," Hanse said thoughtfully as he took it all in. "If nothing else, Jonathan will have a good support system. But it will have to wait until he's served his time in the AFFS, that's a requirement for a reason after all."
Author's Note: I was tempted to just write the epilogue and leave it here... I didn't, but I did consider it. I give it five or so chapters until the end of Blood on the Horizon.