Debauchery Worlds 49 (Patreon)

Commissioned by Southmonk

Debauchery Worlds

Chapter 49

-VB-

Andrew Davion

Robinson, Federated Suns

2982.04.09

“Asteroids instead of bombs.”

It was … a novel idea. 

Not a new idea. A horrible and deeply troubling idea but novel nonetheless. Part of the reason why asteroid bombing hadn’t been done before was because ships required to pull off a stunt like that were too few in the Succession Wars, and even before that, it was hard to do because carrying a giant rock that weighed as much as a spaceship with spaceships was hard if not fatally dangerous. 

The “Coreward Principality” had the tech and ships to carry it out, but no other successor state would be able to do it on a whim. For one, it would be really easy to spot. The thruster plumes of multiple ships working together to tug an asteroid big enough to threaten a world would be seen far before they got to the planet’s orbit, and the defenders would rise up to stop it at all cost. ‘Commander Marris - or was it Prince Marris now? - only manages to do it,’ Andrew estimated. ‘Because his ships are too strong for the defenders to contest the orbit. And he probably bombed all of the military bases.’

Orbital defense platforms weren’t new when then-Commander Marris built his on David II. They were far and few in between, yes, but they existed. New Avalon had a couple dozen in place, made with lostech naval lasers. He wasn’t sure if Makab had one, but if they did, Marris probably bombed it into a crater. 

With no way to contest the meteor bombing and most likely no help from the Draconis Combine coming to contest a border world, Makab will have to surrender. 

Which meant that, in under two months, Marris went from a mercenary commander to a duke-equivalent who now had several billion people under his command. People who probably didn’t like him for the asteroid bombing but also people who would dutifully carry out their orders because of the implied threat of more bombing. 

It was … too close to how the Second Succession War was waged, and Andrew didn’t like it. 

Also, the speed at which Marris produced his convertible dropships and mini-warships meant that space combat was starting to become much more important than before. 

Again, Andrew didn’t like this because Marris produced as many assault dropship equivalents as the entire Federated Suns. That meant that, for less people, he could hold his ground in space far better than the Federated Suns could, especially because his territory was miniscule compared to the Federated Suns. 

His people would need to distribute the assault dropships and other dropships across three different fronts while Marris could concentrate his to a mere three worlds. 

Cylene, Makab, and David had become fortress systems without Andrew realizing it. 

But they were heavily armed and protected systems poised not against the Federated Suns but the Draconis Combine. 

It was the only reason why he hasn’t yet moved against the “Coreward Principality.” 

But that may change depending on how this talk with Alan Marris went. 

“My Prince.”

He looked to his assistant. “Yes?”

“The …”

“You can say it,” Andrew huffed. 

She looked uncomfortable even as she nodded. “The Prince of the Coreward Principality is here.”

“Show him in.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

After only three more minutes of waiting, the doors to this meeting room in the ducal palace opened and Alan Marris, the Commander of the Marris Mercenaries and the “Prince” of the Coreward Principality, walked in. 

“First Prince Davion,” he greeted just after stepping into the room. “It’s a pleasure to meet you again.”

“It is for me as well,” he said as he stood up, walked around the table, and clasped hands with Marris. “It seems you’ve moved up in the world.”

Marris just grinned. “Well, I suppose I am.”

“Come. Take a seat.”

And they sat down across each other. 

“I don’t mind if we skip the pleasantries,” Prince Marris said with an easy smile. 

“... If you say so,” Andrew nodded. “Prince Marris. What are your intentions for the systems of David and Proserpina which hold your immovable assets? And what is your future plan with the Federated Suns?”

Marris just scratched his head. “Nothing.”

Andrew blinked. “Nothing?” he repeated. 

“I mean… if you want to tell me to leave because I have my own system, then I can,” he replied. “None of my assets there are immovable. It’ll just take some time.”

“... Do you truly have no design or plan?” he asked again.

Marris nodded. “I’m in it right now to make life hell for Draconis Combine like they tried to do to me. If I take their worlds while doing so, then that is what it is.”

“Then why even declare independence?”

“Oh, that’s simple,” he grinned. “I just don’t like being under someone.”

Andrew couldn’t help the sudden exhale of a shocked laugh. “That’s it? That was enough for you to declare a new state in the middle of the Inner Sphere? Do you have any idea how my peers are taking that act as?”

“My bid for the Star League or something?” he drawled. “Please, that is an old and dead throne that doesn’t deserve half of my attention. I would sooner be out there, colonizing the stars with people who want to get away from the Inner Sphere.”

“Then why not do that?” Andrew asked. 

Alan Marris finally gave him an answer that satisfied him. And he delivered it with a bone-chilling anger and hatred leaking out of his voice in a calm and collected manner that only intensified the feeling, not reduce it. 

“Because I always give back as much as I take, and I’m not leaving until ComStar’s First Circuit and the Draconis Combine’s Coordinator both experience a nuke to their face.”

-VB-

Alan Marris (clone)

Proserpina VI, Federated Suns

2982.04.10

What I said to Andrew Davion in that first meeting was the truth of it. 

At the same time, it wasn’t all of it. 

Once I had something, it was mine. I didn’t intend to just let it go once I achieved my goal. The Coreward Principality would be a name to respect soon, and I intended to make that happen because I was the Coreward Principality and the Coreward Principality was me. 

Right now, a second meeting began on Robinson between the commander clone and the First Prince. This time, the First Prince wanted to write a treaty between us. In exchange for acknowledging us on the international stage, he wanted us to sign a non-aggression pact and a promise of “no first-use,” i.e. should anything happen and war broke out between us, neither of us would use weapons/means of mass destruction against each other. Also, he wanted to turn both Proserpina and David systems into a “shared systems,” meaning that instead of remaining landholds, Proserpina VI would be our planet as part of the Coreward Principality while the landhold on David II would become an enclave. 

While that negotiation rolled on, my clones on Prosperina VI Factory Station experimented.

I did not have mastery over warcraft magic. Oh, we learned it and could cast a few spells. But mastery? No.

But even without mastery, there were experiments we started to see just how we could go about improving our technology. 

The first of these experiments included material enchantment. Jaina Proudmoore and her Theramore sold us a lot of lesser magic essence as part of our trade. 

We wanted to know.

We wanted to see. 

Just how far can we push all mech and ship components with just the lesser magic essence, the most basic enchantment material from Azeroth?