The Forbidden City, Sian
Sian Commonality, Capellan Commonwealth
4 October 3028
"How dare he! I'll destroy him! Not one in a hundred of his soldiers will be spared when I take revenge for this perfidy!"
For once the Liao ranting at the outrages of the universe was not Romano Liao, although the relationship between father and daughter had never been clearer on their faces. And in fairness, Candace Liao admitted, this was one moment where Romano's perspective might be slightly valid. The younger daughter had been persistent in her distrust of Janos Marik and she had been... Candace forced herself to think the unthinkable: Romano had been correct. "I feel ill," she murmered to herself.
"As well you should daughter." Maxmilian Liao mastered his anger, with clear effort. "The Marik was ever a fool but even I never thought him so craven as to lick Hanse Davion's boots in this fashion. His cowardice is sickening."
Actually, Candace privately thought that Janos Marik's actual proscecution of his campaign had been the least nauseating thing about the entire affair. The border with the Free Worlds League had been given a low priority since the formation of the Kapteyn Pact and several more units had been stripped away from it during the interval between Hanse Davion's marriage and Marik openly turning his coat. The best that could be said for that circumstance now was that it had reduced the casualties suffered by either side of the invasion: a disturbing fraction of the local militias weren't even putting up a token struggle.
The obvious move would be to move McCarron's Armored Cavalry to block the thrust upon Sian, but it was equally obvious that that would not be enough. There was one other source of troops close enough to deploy in defense of the capital but Candace quailed at the thought of pulling them away from her own domain. "Can we be sure of the loyalties of your ally upon the other border, father?" she asked. "Hasek-Davion has never concerned himself with anything beyond his own interests. With one dagger in our back, what would stop him from completing our ruin?"
The Chancellor hesitated and then seated himself upon his throne. The motion seemed entirely too much like a retreat. "A reasonable question. Summon Citizen Xiang."
Justin arrived within minutes, Tsen Shang trailing behind him like a lost puppy. Candace searched his face for signs of fatigue and found none. Remarkable, as she knew how little sleep he had been receiving lately. "How may I serve you, Excellency?"
"You are familiar with the latest perfidity of Janos Marik." It was not a question. "In light of this, my daughter questions the fidelity of Michael Hasek-Davion. I desire your opinion."
"Celestial Wisdom, when you first did me the honour of taking me into your service, Duke Michael aptly stated that the end always justifies the means. Our alliance with him is built upon the desired end of destroying House Davion. Just as we use him as a tool, so he seeks to use us a tool against his liege. I need not instruct you upon what is done with a broken tool."
"Indeed." Maxmilian's face twisted into an ugly expression. "Then he will turn upon us at the first sign of weakness."
Justin spread his hands, one of flesh and one of metal. "It is his nature, your Excellency. No doubt he will then seek an accomodation with Janos Marik."
"Then we shall show him our strength." As if the matter was already accomplished, the Chancellor relaxed his shoulders. "Janos Marik and Hanse Davion. One must be crippled that the other may feel the true weight of our anger. We must have a target. Find me one, Citizen Xiang."
"Your excellency, Duke has given us such a target."
Candace blinked at Tsen Shang's words. Her lover had not spoken of this to her so it must be part of the most recent information given to them by the treacherous Duke of New Syrtis.
The Capellan analyst manipulated the controls of a holographic projector and a map appeared, displaying the recent losses to the AFFS. "An offensive on this scale requires a highly efficient supply system." Six worlds within the pre-war borders of the Federated Suns gleamed brighter. "However, in order to overwhelm our forces, Davion has left his principal depots unguarded. With the current accumulation of jumpships in the area from transporting reinforcements, we can stage attacks upon all these worlds in mid-November, just as the depots are filled to support the third wave of attacks. Without them, Davion's forces will be crippled - unable to continue their attacks until the supplies can be replaced. At the same time, those supplies will strengthen our own regiments."
"An interesting plan." Liao looked over at Justin. "Do you agree, Citizen Xiang."
Justin frowned slightly. "I have studied Shang's plan and it is meticulous. I would recommend one small alteration."
"Oh?"
"Axton." Although he shook his head in disagreement, Shang nonetheless touched the controls again and a seventh world sprang to prominence. Candace frowned. The plates at Hanse Davion's wedding had each been marked with the crest of a world. Axton had appeared on her fish plate. It was a strange irony that the dishes her father had claimed marked Davion's targets were now coinciding with their own.
"Davion has a secret research facility associated with his NAIS, developing new and more powerful BattleMechs. I've narrowed the location down to one of two worlds, and Axton is conveniently placed for the Fourth Tau Ceti Rangers to raid under the cover of Shang's plan. If nothing is there, then it will help to disguise the source of our information. And if the facility is there, then at a stroke we will gain his advanced technology."
"Excellent." Liao sat back in his chair. "Daughter, travel to St Ives and gather your regiments. When news comes of our victories against Hanse Davion, I will emplace a command circuit to bring you and the St Ives Lancers here to Sian. Together with the regiments here, and McCarrons's five regiments, we will crush Marik's spearhead and chain him on his knees in front of my throne!"
