Debauchery Worlds 32 (Patreon)

Debauchery Worlds

Chapter 32

-VB-

General Rachael Jamakawa

Proserpina IV

2981.05.04

The invasion of Proserpina IV was a resounding success.

‘It’s the Invasion of David II all over again,’ she thought as she looked over the reports she was getting.

Her 41st Avalon Hussars had suffered minimal damage, the enemy had been left utterly ruined, and Marris fucked off to somewhere out of sight.

Or rather, in this case, they fucked off to Proserpina VI. 

Like the contract for this invasion stated, they got to choose a single planetary body to claim as theirs that wasn’t Proserpina IV. 

Proserpina I was a barren world too close to the star. 

Proserpina II was also a barren world with nothing noteworthy and not worth mining. 

Prosperina III was a toxic world with atmospheric pressures too high for anything but a Star League mining expedition, which didn’t exist anymore. 

Proserpina V was a gas giant with a dozen notable moons with gravities ranging from 0.1 to 0.6.

And finally, Proserpina VI was an arid giant world at the edge of the system with 1.4 gravity. 

Because of its gravity, no one bothered to colonize the otherwise fertile world. Not even the Star League bothered. Even if they did, the cost of the infrastructure and upkeep alone would be triple, if not more, any built on Proserpina IV. 

But the Marris mercenaries moved over there as soon as she gave them the go, and, to her surprise, they were building in orbit of the world already.

… She should be concerned about what they must be building, but she was far more concerned about what happened on David II, because she just got message from the AFFS High Command that, yes, David II did get nuked by the snakes and the capital city of Polis was more or less a radioactive crater with only bits on the edge and the sturdy Marris compound surviving. 

How they survived was secondary to the fact that over a million people got killed, who were Draconis Combine citizen only a year ago, and the rest of her command was also killed. The only reason no one was going to write it off the map was because the Marris Mercenaries survived and, instead of leaving, they were doubling down on building up the David System.

So much so that they began to expand beyond their allotted lands on David II and also began setting up outpost stations around the system.

And the High Command and ordered her to hunker down while they sent more reinforcements to her so that the Federated Suns can secure Proserpina System. They also told her that the Marris Mercenaries were no longer under her purview. 

So she was stuck with her stomach turning upside down because she didn’t know what those mercs were up to.

Goddamnit! 

“General?”

She stopped and looked up from the latest report to come across her desk. Seated at the previous governor’s seat in the ornate eastern-styled governor’s palace (complete with rice paper walls), she grunted. “What?” she asked the … lieutenant who came by.

“The Marris Mercenaries contacted us five minutes ago. They’re asking if we would like any mech parts or even armor plates.”

She chewed oner her lips for a second before nodding. “Tell them we’ll buy as much as they are willing to sell at market price.”

“Yes, general.” And then he left her office, sliding the door close after himself. 

She paused.

“Wait, how are they selling armor plates?” she muttered to him. “They haven’t gone back to David. She highly doubted that they were stripping armor off of their own mechs, because that wouldn’t fit on any old mech. Did they bring stacks of armor just in case they could sell them? She doubted that, too.

… But she wouldn’t doubt it if someone told her that they already set up an orbital factory. 

She learned later that they welded together their Crawdad dropships together and made a makeshift orbital station.

-VB-

Andrew Davion

New Avalon

2981.05.12

“... Rise, Major Anderson,” he instructed the man kneeling before him in his private office.

The major looked uncomfortable before he quickly stood up. “Prince Davion, I -.”

“You survived a nuclear attack upon your world,” Andrew cut him off. “You did it while you were in space, yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that you survived something rest of your unit did not. For that, you have my condolences.”

The major bit his lips and nodded once. 

“Now, tell me what you’ve experienced. What you’ve seen.”

The major took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “My Prince, I must first ask you to keep this extremely secret. If this were to leave this office without any preparation, then we may have consequences beyond the Federated Suns and to all of the Inner Sphere.” He paused. “Please.”

Andrew stared at the man before nodding. “Then follow me.” He stood up from his chair and pressed a button before leaving his disk. One of the bookcases to his left slowly swung open to reveal a secret office, and only one of the royal bodyguards followed him in. The major hesitated before he quickly followed.

When the major walked in, the other bodyguard outside closed the door.

Andrew walked over to a plain, if still expensive mahogany table, and sat down at his favorite chair. He gestured for the major to sit on the other hand and he did so. 

“This is the most secure room in all of New Avalon. Not even the depths of the ancient mines under our feet can provide better security. So speak.”

The major nodded. “Yes, My Prince. First, you are correct that I survived the nuclear attack because I was in space. This was because prior to the attack, an unknown raiding force had jumped into space. Many aerospace pilots flew out to fight along the mercenaries, who moved to defend the system and David II. 

“The Marris mercenaries refit what civilians dropships they could and fought back. After three days in space, the raiders and Marris mercenaries met. But what none of us knew was that the raiders brought nuclear bombs, and they used it on the mercenaries. Despite losing dropships and men horrendously each time a bomb went off, they held the line.

“And that’s when a nuclear bomb went off on the ground.”

Andrew took a measured breath in and out, making sure to not clench his hands into fists in his fury.

“Continue.”

“That’s… that’s when the warships jumped in.”

The bodyguard almost moved but didn’t, but Andrew saw the man’s lips twitch.

“Warships,” Andrew repeated.

The man nodded. “I have a small noteputer, courtesy of the Marris mercenaries. It’s in my pocket. Do you mind…?”

“Go ahead.”

The major pulled it out slowly and slid it across the table. The bodyguard walked over, picked it up, and checked it out. After five minutes, he deemed it safe and handed it to Andrew. He took it from his bodyguard and opened it up. It looked like a mirror almost.

‘What a simple and user friendly layout,’ he thought as he looked at the light blue background with just a box-like icons. He … didn’t see any buttons.

“It’s touch-based, milord.”

“Ah,” he muttered. Touch-based noteputers were rare. He touched the “Gallery” pict and, instead of a hologram popping up, it opened up on the screen to show a list of pictures. 

And right there, even though it was small, was the ruins of a warship. 

He paused before touching on that image, and it expanded.

Andrew was not a navy man. He did not know much about warship classifications, their lengths, armaments, and anything else. All he knew was that dropships were small fries compared to even the smallest warships. 

And what he was seeing? One of the Marris mercenaries’ dropships was in the image of the ruined warships and it was small.

“This is …?”

“According to the Marris mercenaries on what they fished out of the ship’s onboard computers, it is an Aegis class heavy cruiser.”

Andrew felt the world swim for a second.

A heavy cruiser? 

That was short of a battleship like the Invincible that saved Hesperus during the Second Succession War (who didn’t know that story?). A single heavy cruiser in this era of missing naval firepower? It was the equivalent of having a nuclear bomb when no one else had a nuclear bomb. 

Without warships, a nation is a theory. With warships, a nation is a fact*. 

The Federated Suns was a theory right now because someone out there had more warships.

“Who…?”

It couldn’t be any of the Successor States. If they had a heavy cruiser, then they would have used it or guarded their capital world with it. 

“It’s not the only warships, sir,” the major whispered. “There were four warships. One Aegis heavy cruiser, one Essex destroyer, and two Vincent corvettes.”

“Who?” he demanded again.

The major hesitated.

“Who, major!?”

“C-ComStar, My Prince…!” 

“...What?”

The major gulped. “There are multiple videos, including the confessions of a ComStar precentor after Marris … after he did something,” he replied. “Marris also has at least a handful of precentors and almost fifty ComGuard soldiers in his custody.”

Andrew’s eyes snapped down toward the noteputer and quickly went through the files until he found the video in question. 

And when he played it …

The more words he heard from the precentor…!

He sat in silence after the video came to an end. 

ComStar… was assassinating his people.

ComStar had a fleet of warships. 

ComStar was waiting in the shadows for all of the Successor Houses to fall.

He leaned back before righting himself. 

“What is Marris doing with the destroyed remains of the warships?” he asked. 

“He … he said he intended to use it against the Combine. Leave the ComStar and Star League insignias on it and use it to attack the Combine because it was their nuclear bomb that went off on David II.”

-VB-

Alan Marris

???

2981.06.06

It was ready.

Oh, the Righteous Fury was nowhere near its pristine condition. Even after a month and half of working on it, it was still not in a good shape. However, it could fly, attack, and, most importantly, jump.

That was good enough for us. 

We watched in glee as the giant warship slowly lumbered away of the makeshift shipyard with its auxiliary thrusters before firing its main thrusters, which were a dozen Kraken thrusters we purchased from Drake Interplanetary.

But none of that would matter because no one would discover design discrepancies. 

Not when the Righteous Fury was meant to survive the coming battle. Not when we loaded it with as many explosives as we could. 

Once it was clear of the shipyard, we opened a linked portal.

Its thrusters bloomed as it sped through the portal and appeared at the edge of the Benjamin system. The portal closed as soon as the Righteous Fury passed through.

And we set course for Benjamin III.

---

Toshiro Weavers, Tai-sho (general) of 17th Benjamin Regulars

Benjamin III

2981.06.06

“Tai-sho, we have an anomaly that appeared just outside of Benjamin III’s orbit.”

The aging general frowned and looked up from his desk. “Rep-”

And then the sirens rang. 

Deciding to skip the middlemen, he quickly turned on his desk noteputer while grabbing his phone. He quickly dialed the command center. “This is Weavers Tai-sho. Report!” 

“Tai-sho,” the soprano voice of his trusted aide came through. “The sensors have detected the thermal plumes of an object estimated to weigh over 500,000 tons. We are still getting-.” There was a pause. “T-Tai-sho, the sensor officers are reporting visual confirmation of the anomaly. It is a warship. I repeat, it is a warship. Check it again!” the aide shouted away from the phone but Toshiro heard it nonetheless. “... It is a warship. The computers are confirming the visual confirmations. It is an Aegis-class heavy cruiser, Tai-sho, and it bears the mark of ComStar!” 

Confusion. Anger. 

Decision. 

“Launch all fighters! Stop that warship! Benjamin will burn if it gets in orbit!” He slammed the phone down and rushed outside. The chu-i who’d come in to report quickly followed after him. 

The command center was less than three minute run.

So he ran.

He might be 76 years old, but he was a general of the Dracons Combine. Running was not even a problem!

Two minutes later, he barged into the command center.

“Report!” he shouted loud and clear, and his aide, a young woman from the local Chiha Clan, quickly stepped up. He ignored the chu-i who was gasping like a koi fish on land.

“Fighters have been scrambled, Weavers Tai-sho-sama, and the first squadron should be meeting the warship within five minutes.”

At the center of the command center was the holographic map of Benjamin and where the approaching warship was along with its past trajectory. There were numbers wheezing by, but only two caught his attention. Its speed and acceleration. 

It looked wrong.

Why wasn’t it slowing down?

He frowned. “Any demands from the warship?”

“Ie, tai-sho-sama. It has not responded to any communication attempts.”

He glared at the hologram. “Open up a channel for me.”

“Hai.” A pause as the aide gestured for the comm officer to do as he ordered. There was a few clicks and clacks. “We’re ready and broadcasting, tai-sho.”

Toshiro took a deep breath in. “This is Tai-sho Weavers of the 17th Benjamin Regulars to the unknown warship bearing ComStar’s logo. I demand you deccelerate this very instant!”

… No response. 

“You are intruding upon sovereign space of the Draconis Combine. You will respond or we will shoot you down.”

No response.

“Cut it off,” he growled. When he heard the comm channel closing with a click, he turned to his aide. “How close are the fighters?”

“Two minutes, tai-sho,” the aide said as the fighters finally left atmosphere and showed up on the hologram. He watched as their light dots on the holographic map moved to intercept and -.

“Fighter squadron 1 leader reporting casualties! They’re shooting from beyond their range!” 

“Continue route of interception,” he ordered with gritting teeth. Of course, the warship would have naval weapons that outrange any that they have on hand! 

He watched with a bit of sadness as the blinking lights signifying his fighters disappeared from the map.

“Next squadron?”

“Three minutes-.”

“Tai-sho! The warship is speeding up!” 

Everyone froze and turned toward the sensor officer. 

“... Confirm!” 

“Confirmed! The warship is speeding up! And its trajectory is … It’s the capital…” he finished almost quietly. 

---

Alan Marris

My clones finished setting up the warship to fire upon the defenders with automated systems. 

One of our clones glared at the image of Benjamin III. 

In the past and future, the bushido was an accursed ideology. It only caused trouble. And the Draconis Combine that held it up as some sort of shining beacon of philosophy needed to be … curtailed. 

That very clone grabbed the thruster lever and punched it. The ship lurched as its thrusters roared silently in space, and the ship began to speed up.

Once we completed that and we were sure that the ship would survive atmospheric reentry, we opened a portal and walked on through.

The warship continued its programming, completely unaware of its significance in the years to come.

---

Joseph Hakashi, Duke(shogun) of Benjamin

“A warship…?” he asked in his incomprehension at the report he received from the gunsho in front of him within his office.

“Yes, milord! A warship! It bears the logo of ComStar and the Star League!” the large burly man sitting on half-seiza reported.

“ComStar…? Warship…?” It made less sense the more he heard about it. Then he slapped himself. “Have we scrambled the fighters?”

“Yes, milord. The warships has refused all communications and speeding toward Benjamin III. The Tai-Sho of the 17th Benjamin Regulars personally ordered the fighters to intercept the warship.”

“And how did it get so close to my world?” he demanded angrily. Were the sentries asleep?!

“They must have used a pirate jump point, shogun, but -”

“Shogun!” another Benjamin militia officer quickly stepped in behind the sergeant who’d come to deliver the report. “We must evacuate!” the large officer, a sho-sa (captain), pleaded. “The warship… It is not slowing down! It’s sped up!” 

“What…?” he muttered, once again confused. “What do you mean they are not slowing down?!”

“The warship is -!”

There was a boom outside. 

No longer wishing to hear from the mouths of incompetents, Joseph shot up to his feet and rushed outside to the balconies.

And the sight froze him.

A giant ball of fire sped toward his city. 

“Oh,” he muttered to himself. 

That was a warship.

Burning.

And falling toward his city, nose first. 

“No!” he roared powerlessly as the fireball of death raged toward him and his city. “No! NOOOO!!!!”

The flaming warship struck the city … and everything turned white.

---

The capital of Benjamin III, Deber City, was quickly consumed by the explosion of a warship using its mass as a weapon upon its sacred ground. The explosion swallowed the entire city and burned the surrounding landscape and suburbs in a firestorm that left nary a hundredth of the original fifty-seven million Deber City inhabitants alive as well as destroying the HPG station and almost half of the 17th Benjamin Regulars stationed on the planet at the outskirts of the planetary capital.

However, the people and soldiers of the Draconis Combine survived the attack and salvaged the record of the entire event…

-VB-

A/N: *quote from Raiders of the Inner Sphere (Battletech/Starcraft). Great story.

A/N 2: wasteful ramming of a warship upon a city has been inspired/brought to you by Admiral Tovil-Toba. But, you know, not as honorable or grand. We just wanted revenge on Draconis Combine and ComStar.

A/N 3: the VERY rough calculation of a 700,000+ ton warship striking the ground at Mach 2 came out to be 41 kilotons of TNT. Why Mach 2? Because I didn’t want to calculate the terminal velocity of a non aerodynamic warship.