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Chapter 2
Grand Ballroom of the Consulate Palace
Caddo City, Trinity Continent, New Dallas
5th of August, 3049

Hanse Davion tried, as he always did, not to fiddle with the pen in front of him on the table.  As always, he also succeeded, but no one, excepting his wife Melissa and his friend Arden Sortek, knew of the internal struggle that he fought with his anxiety, nor how hard he fought to hide it during every public occasion.  His father had seen it, and worked the young Hanse ruthlessly to supress it without the need for medication, and despite years of tortured practice, Hanse had never quit.  That second primary trait of Hanse Davion, dogged persistence, kept his diplomatically more problematic issues in check.  His doctor no doubt suspected, but said nothing, knowing the futility, but his recent prescriptions and advice to Melissa regarding Hanse’s diet and exercise routine hinted that the doctor suspected his inner battle and the taxing effect it was having on the deeper and fundamental parts of his physiology.  In order to distract himself from the almost overwhelming desire to start clicking his pen like some unhinged maniac, Hanse used one of the tricks his father had taught him.  Look to others to see how they are reacting, how they are providing tells on their own anxiety and the stress of the moment, and you will see that no matter how anxious you feel, they are more so, for you are a Davion.

Hanse looked up and across the massive ballroom of the palace that a toadying New Dallas noblemen, anxious to please the visiting Richard Cameron II, had built in the 2750s.  The First Lord had never used the palace and Amaris had, surprisingly, not touched it, with the structure remaining unused until the New Dallas Consulate appropriated it for hosting more formal state conferences.  Hanes’s chest tightened a little and then fluttered.  ComStar seeks to embarrass and belittle me by holding the conference here, instead of at the Planetary Congress, flaunting their influence of New Dallas’s political landscape.  His chest fluttered again, though not a single outward sign showed on his stern face as he calmed with his next thought.  They do it because they fear me and they could not have chosen a more fitting location for the revelations I bring them.  Hanse chuckled internally.  Waterly you stupid, conniving, power hungry techno-whore, you have no idea of what you are playing with and the stakes are high enough that your recent games across the Inner Sphere may force some of us to put you down like the rabid dog you are.

The Grand Ballroom, a more fitting title a room had never had, was 200 meters long and fifty wide, decorated in the styles of the 19th Century Russian court.  The room screamed both high art and bad taste in spades and Hanse was sure the deep red and cream décor would give both the other dignitaries and himself screaming headaches by the end of proceedings.  Arranged in a broad circle were the tables of the various powers, and here Myndo’s petty games shone again.  At the 12-o-clock position was the table of ComStar, with the Primus doing her best to glow in her golden robes, whilst the stern figure of her steely eyed and plain white robed general, Anastasius Focht, provided a startling contrast.  Though both radiated power, Waterly’s was like that a dying star, dynamic, unpredictable, and likely to cause great harm.  Focht’s on the other hand, was like that of a glacier, unmoveable and ever advancing. 

Waterly had sought to diminish Hanse and his wife by placing them at the 6-o-clock point, on the southernmost part of the room.  Again, Myndo, you provide me with more than you realise.  I will flip the Inner Sphere and your notions on their heads and no matter where or how you seek to place us, you will find the Federated Commonwealth forever ignoring the status quo you seek to create. 

Hanse looked then directly to his right, to the 3-o-clock of the room, where the Free Worlds League delegation sat facing their counterparts from the Draconis Combine.  The Federated Commonwealth’s major foes, anchoring and balancing the Myndo’s little charade, were represented by the Marik Captain-General, Thomas Marik, with his ally Christopher Halas and opposite them were the grim Kuritas: Coordinator Takashi and his Gunki-no-Kanrei, Theodore Kurita.   The other states filled in the gaps between the four major powers, something that was of deep aggravation to the Capellans, who sat facing the Taurians, denoting that both were of similar power.  Not really all that far off the mark for once Myndo.  I broke Capellan power twenty years ago and I plan to keep it that way.

Before Hanse could assess the room further, Myndo Waterly rose to call the hall to attention.  Hanse was ready for this and prepared to begin playing his hand.  “Assembled dignitaries of the Inner Sphere and Periphery, welcome to New Dallas.”

Myndo Waterly obviously planned for a long and convoluted introduction, no doubt extolling the virtues of the order she represented and endeavouring to put every other power in the place she perceived each of them, below ComStar. 

Hanse Davion was having no part of that. 

Hanse Davion had called the conference and Hanse Davion was going to call the shots.

As Myndo took a deep breath to continue, Hanse suppressed on last bout of nerves, stood and interrupted.

“Thank you Primus, your welcome will be noted in the records of these proceedings.”

For the rest of his life, Hanse would swear to any who would listen, that he heard a pin drop at that very moment.

Myndo Waterly looked as though she had been flash frozen to the spot, her mind obviously short circuiting as the massive insult of Hanse’s offhand dismissing of her position in front of the entire Inner Sphere went home.  Hanse took a moment to sweep the room with his eyes:  Most looked shocked; Romano Liao stared venomously at Hanse, though that was par for the course, so he could assess little from it; The Marik was open mouthed, with his scarring making him look like a zombie hungering for flesh; Colonel Natasha Kerensky was grinning like a Cheshire cat and obviously looking forward to the potential for chaos now present in the room; and the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine’s reaction was best of all, as his usually implacable face was marked by a single raised eyebrow.

Hanse ploughed on, No sense in letting them get their feet back under them.

“I have called you here as I have come into possession of information the likes of which many have searched for across centuries.  Information that will change the future of the Inner Sphere forever.”

Myndo Waterly bean to interject, but Hanse cut her off with an imperious gesture and spoke over the top of her.  The Primus went beet red, savage anger flashing in her eyes, with Anastasias Focht reaching surreptitiously to take her arm in an effort to prevent her self-immolating on the spot.

“This information has been gathered by elements of the FCN over the course of the last ten years.  It was the true reason the AFFC and FCN were pulled back from the Combine in 3039 and 3040 – no disrespect Kanrei, your strategy was still inspired and victory was not assured in any case for the Federated Commonwealth due to it.”  Hanse nodded towards Theodore Kurita and the nod was returned.  No sense in antagonising two enemies in one day.

As Hanse continued, Focht managed to get the seething Waterly to sit.  “The information we have gathered is this:  The Star League Defence Force has been found!

Gasps, chattering and demands for more information came from all across the room and Hanse held both hands up.  Many wore looks of shock; others were incredulous; and still more looking to each other in bewilderment.  Kerensky had stopped grinning and Coordinator Kurita had even shifted in his seat.

“Please, PLEASE!” He called.  Silence slowly returned.  “I will share with you all I have over the coming days, for this is intended to be no information session.  This is a Council of War.  The descendants of Kerensky plan to invade and destroy all that we are, and do it soon.  They are a society of warriors, breed only for war, who see us as barbarians who should be conquered and enslaved.  It is my intention to forge an alliance of Inner Sphere powers and strike at the enemy before they strike at us, so that it is there worlds and their people who bear the brunt of war, not those of the Inner Sphere.”

It was now that chaos broke out in the room.  I admit, I could have broken the news more softly, Hanse mused, a thought echoed via his wife Melissa’s shaking head and wry smile, But they need to be shocked, it’s the only way to break through their hide bound animosities and grudges, shock and a carrot, that is.  And now for the carrot. 

Amidst the commotion in the room, Thomas Marik stood and looked to Hanse.  Hanse called  loudly across the room.  “Captain-General Marik, you wish to speak?”  The room quietened.

“I do Prince Davion.”  He paused.  “I find myself somewhat incredulous as to the veracity of your claims.  However, if they are true and the Star League Defence Force does indeed plan to return to chastise us all, and you plan to lead us all in a gallant crusade, no doubt far from home, pray tell, how do you plan on getting so many quarrelling states to follow you?”

Hanse smiled so broadly, he thought his face would split, “I plan to give each state that joins me Hyperpulse Generator Technology.”

It was at this point that Myndo Waterly exploded, later requiring sedation, before she could be removed from the room.

Yup, I plan to take the piss a little in this one. Oh the twists that are coming...