Kick the Sphere 28 (Patreon)

Kick the Sphere

Chapter 28

-VB-

Alan Marris

Two months passed since the test raid. At this point, I was pretty sure that no one was coming after me in retaliation.

I was so sure that ComStar would have at least told the Capellans about who and where we were. Maybe the math nuns didn’t want the Capellans to get their grubby hands on my tech? That could make sense … if I didn’t know that ComStar was adamant about destroying high-tech outside their control.

If I were ComStar, then I would alert both the Free Worlds League and the Capellan Confederation, and when the two nations inevitably clashed on and over my world, the circuit board lovers would pull out as many nukes as acceptable and bomb all sides to kingdom come. And that would be the conservative action. Some of the more brash among them might advocate for a full invasion while others, the more pragmatic ones, will advocate for deployment of their hidden warships.

… So why weren’t any of them here?

Did I scare them too much when I crushed their last attempt? That was possible. It’s also possible - if they decided that there was no way they could win against me - that they might disseminate technology themselves to prevent losses elsewhere. That would be … well, it would be beneficial for almost everyone while not hindering me in any way. I say almost everyone because the Clanners weren’t going to enjoy fighting the technology-resurgent states of the Raselhague Republic, Lyran Commonwealth, and Draconis Combine. Especially the Draconis Combine.

Of course, this was under the assumption that ComStar got desperate enough and managed to distribute technology without factional strife in their ranks leading to civil war… because even if 90% of the ComStar’s leadership (pfft) and their lower ranks (most likely) were benevolent supporters and another 5% was ambiguous about it all, that last 5% can really do some serious damage.

Hell, even a single branch of ROM decided to be dicks about it, then they could cause so much damage and reveal a lot about ComStar that the Inner Sphere will be thrown into a new era of chaos.

After all, if Terra was no longer neutral, then that would start a new rush by the four Great Houses to claim it for themselves. And if only one of them gets to have it, then you bet your ass the other three will nuke it not just to the Stone Ages but back to the goddamn Hadean Era.

Speaking of nukes…

I looked around the holographic screens giving me readings of the Manufactory, the giant fuck-off factory that could make anything and everything as long as it got the materials and blueprints for it. Today, I was putting into production Ares’s fifth iteration of battleship.

Yes, my most aggressive replicator son decided that he needed to make more.

I, of course, told him no initially because, you know, I didn’t want him to hog replicator production output for what was clearly becoming his hobby.

That’s when he somehow got his aunts, my T-Dolls, into his scheme by promising to build each of them a ship of his design.

My good gun girls (3G?), who have been quiet and content to do their own little side hustles like the ice cream shops (a franchise, not just a single shop) by Alanna and Anastia, AK-15 and AK-12, respectively. I didn’t know how, why, or when they began their ice cream franchise with a cute puppy mascot, but I ain't complaining. Better that they stay busy, right?

Two months were also enough for what fiefdom was assembling under me to start organizing in a more civilized and refined manner. This was something that my T-Dolls, again, pushed for not with me but among the people who willingly or begrudgingly accepted my control over the planet and the system. The system was … dishearteningly feudal. A group of like-minded settlements with over ten thousand residents can send a representative to, essentially, “advise” me on planetary matters. Settlements with less than ten thousand can group up with others to form that “coalition” and there was no rules about additional representatives or what not.

This system, essentially, pitted regions against each other, internally and externally, and made it so that people remained as divided as much as possible. It was a horrible system to have, in my opinion, but when I didn’t have to care about the actual governance because I demanded that all regulation of violence and trade be something only I and my people get to decide, everyone else was left to do their own thing and not telling other coalitions what to do.

So … I was essentially like the federal government of the USA but without the ability to collect taxes, make regulations outside of what governs violence and trade, and … essentially, manage the rest of the system taht was my land.

Wait.

I put a finger to my ear and made a connection to the person responsible for the government: Rebecca (Negev).

“Rebecca?” I called.

There was a pause before she responded. “What is it, general?” she asked.

“Are you busy right now?” I asked her.

“Never for you, sir.”

“I never asked what you will do with all of the people who they will be sending as their representatives,” I said to her with a frown as I watched the Manufactory accept Ares’s new blueprint and begin printing all of the components.

“Ah, yes. The current plan is that representatives will gather into “continental courts,” and those courts would be able to talk to us. And then we would bring up the issue to you.”

That sounded like a lot less work than I expected. I thought I would be the one holding court or something. Glad I’m not.

… But why would anyone want to deal with squabbling people?

-VB-

Far away from the base of their general and among the ruins of the city that once dominated this landscape before the Second Succession War, a single building made out of marbles and grey replicator matter stood like a tiny obelisk among the ruins of skyscrapers. Yet it commanded a presence that made the mortals around it skulk around quietly.

Because, despite everything that they have said to their general, the situation on the ground was … very different.

While some humans respected them and others hated them, Alanna (AK-15) and Anastasia (AK-12) found out very quickly that power alone was enough to make so many humans - humans that were just like their general - come kneeling and begging. From a raised dual throne of rose gold and purple gold, they stared down at the latest supplicant who came begging.

This was the Marble Court of the White Sisters. This was where the downtrodden, the weary, and the vengeful came in the hopes of finding their salvation.

On a different land on this world, there was also the Reupgrade Workshop, a place where the sick and infirm entered and came out as something … more.

The Temple of Ares was the place ambitious men and women traveled to in hopes of joining the Machine Gods in the heavens.

There were others. Some alike, others antagonistic.

All of this was possible thanks to the near-infinite resources provided by their general/father.

But they were all of the same mind. The greater galaxy will come after their progenitor, and even gods could not live alone. When their progenitor rose up to claim his place among the stars, they and their followers would be there with him.