KnightofTempest
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Chapter 45
🕑 Added 2024-09-24 07:00:58 +0000 UTCAs I took a seat at one of the few tables scattered around the Mirror Room, I took a long sip from my Champagne Flute. I had to play this correctly because there was a fine line between giving licenses for technology that would help the LCAF and giving away my entire market share of high-tech equipment. I'd already figured out more or less what I could afford to part with in terms of licenses, but there would be the chance that Duchess Killa pressed for more.
"So, let's start with Duke Kelswa. What would you like to discuss specifically?" I questioned, getting the easy part first.
"Firstly, your father and I had an agreement to aid each others' political ambitions. I would like that to continue." Informed Duke Kelswa.
"I can agree to that, provided you actually confer with me before any large moves." I agreed.
I honestly had no issue agreeing to that, since it meant that I would gain Duke Kelswa's Support, and thus the support of the Tamar Pact, for my attempt to claim the throne of the Second Principality of Rasalhague by default. It accomplished one of my goals for this negotiation right off the bat. Honestly, it was practically gift-wrapped for me and my suspicions had been raised by that. Duke Kelswa may be an amiable guy, but there's no way he hadn't conferred with Duchess Killa to present a unified negotiating strategy, and she was the sort of negotiator who would have you paying an arm and a leg just for the privilege of negotiating with her.
"Excellent, now onto my next point. The Forces of the Tamar Pact were highly impressed by your new models of Sabre, Rifleman, LRM Carrier, and Scorpion Tank. We were hoping to negotiate for bulk quantities, enough of each, plus artillery and infantry equipment, to equip three regiments." Informed Duke Kelswa.
"Three Regiments? Are you expanding the Tamar Militia?" I queried.
"Actually, the Archon has put me in charge of reconstituting some of the shattered regiments of the Arcturan Guards from past wars, since those are regiments from the Pact. I'm supposed to be standing up the Ninth, Seventh, and Sixth Arcturan Guards again sometime in the next five years." Informed Duke Kelswa.
"Huh, well to let you know, that much equipment isn't going to come cheap. For three LCAF-Sized Regiments, plus three LCAF-Sized Aerospace Fighter Wings to Cover, we're looking at almost two and a half billion C-Bills worth of equipment." I pointed out.
"I know. The Tamar Pact is willing to pay the price. The Archon is reimbursing us out of the Treasury, as the Arcturus Guards have long since been folded into the wider LCAF, even though they're still a Tamar Formation on paper." Nodded Duke Kelswa.
I frowned at that. Crunching the numbers, producing all that equipment, plus keeping up with our own already outstanding commitments to expand the Grand Ducal Guards and supply our current trade partners would strain our current arms manufacturing capabilities to the limit, possibly beyond that limit. I was going to need to either gain the Throne of Rasalhague or conquer a place like Von Strang's World, which still had some Arms Manufacturing Capacity if I wanted to do anything more for the foreseeable future. Still, that just made getting the throne of Rasalhague all the more imperative.
"Done. As part of our previous agreement, however, I feel I should warn you that I will be attempting to gain the throne of Rasalhague by breaking the deadlock in the Regentskapsråd. I will need your support to convince the Archon to back me in that." I informed.
"Is that so? And you have support already?" Asked Duke Kelswa.
"I do. Not just Duke Watson of Apollo, our host, but also Melissa Steiner, the Archon Designate." I nodded.
"I see. Then I suppose I will be backing your play." Confirmed Duke Kelswa.
"Will you expect me to do the same?" Questioned Duchess Killa.
"I'll not lie, it is a goal of mine in these negotiations." I admitted.
"Well, I'd hope you're willing to negotiate to get it then. Trellshire Heavy Industries is very interested in several technologies you've been putting out. Extended-Range Lasers, Double Heat Sinks, CASE Munitions Storage, Ferro-Fibrous Armor, and Ferro-Aluminium Armor to name a few. We would like production licenses for those as well as for the Rifleman Two." Informed Duchess Killa.
"No on the Ferro-Fibrous and Rifleman Two, but yes on everything else. I'll also toss in licenses to produce our special munitions, our entire suite of small arms, and an Improved Jump Pack for Jump Infantry that we just developed." I haggled.
"Trellshire isn't interested in Infantry Weapons, though the Special Munitions Licenses we'll gladly take. How about parting with your Ultra-Autocannon and LRM Carrier Two Designs instead?" Retorted Duchess Killa.
That set off a lengthy round of haggling, whereby I tried to keep Trellshire Heavy Industries from acquiring licenses to produce complete designs and Duchess Killa kept a steady tempo of swapped demands up. She was very good at negotiating, better than I was by a good margin. In the end, I wound up parting with licenses to produce Extended-Range Lasers, Pulse Lasers, Ultra-Autocannons, Double Heat Sinks, Ferro-Aluminium Armor, CASE Munitions Storage, Our Entire Suite of Special Munitions, and the Guardian ECM Suite before she was satisfied. I also had to agree to sell Trellshire Heavy Industries a certain number of Improved Targeting and Tracking Systems at a fifteen percent discount over the next four years.
I'd effectively been fleeced by Duchess Killa, but would still hold onto my complete designs along with plenty of my other designs. Plus, I knew that Research and Development were working on a Prototype Targeting Computer which would make the Improved Targeting and Tracking Systems Obsolete and would, once the design was finalized and a production model worked out, bring us one step closer to the capabilities of the Clans in terms of targeting. Once that was figured out, I'd be in the money again even more.
In return, I would receive an annual fee of one and a half billion C-bills in License Fees, plus another steady income stream of a hundred million C-bills for Improved Targeting and Tracking Systems over four years. Plus, Duchess Killa would throw her support, and thus that of Trellshire Heavy Industries, behind my acquisition of the Throne of Rasalhague. By all accounts, this was a successful negotiation. So why did I feel like I'd been fleeced?
"It's because you were." Snorted Katrina when I posed the question to her.
"Oh?" I queried.
"Yeah. Yvonne Killa probably would have settled for less if you'd been better at negotiating. I fell into the same trap earlier in the night. She's just too damned good at what she does." Nodded Katrina.
"I guess there's a reason she's CEO of Trellshire Heavy Industries. It's got nothing to do with being the Duchess of Trell and everything to do with her Negotiating Skills." I groused.
"Yeah. Look on the bright side, though, with the Archon Designate, Duke of Tamar, and Duchess of Trell backing your play for support, the Archon is gonna have to agree to support you for the Throne of Rasalhague." Offered Katrina.
"True, that's three of the top five most important people in the whole damn Lyran Commonwealth demanding that the Archon back me." I confirmed.
"With the Archon in the top spot. Which gives you four out of five." Pointed out Katrina.
"I know I shouldn't have to ask, but will your father also be willing to back me on this in front of the Archon?" I asked.
"You know he will, though I doubt his word will be as decisive as the Leader of the Tamar Pact, the CEO of Trellshire Heavy Industries, or the Archon Designate." Smirked Katrina.
"Good. Hopefully, by this time next month, I'll be voted in as the Prince of Rasalhague." I mused.
"You're moving up in the world." Grinned Katrina.
"Yeah. Just to be on the safe side, though, I might wanna do something about Von Strang's World." I frowned.
"The Periphery Warlord? Isn't he the last vestige of Stefan Amaris' Regime?" Questioned Katrina.
"Yeah, he's also got some production capacity for Battlemechs, Aerospace Fighters, and Combat Vehicles I'd need to grab just in case even the Archon's support doesn't get the Regentskapsråd to vote for me." I affirmed.
There was also the fact that Von Strang's World actually gave the Clans some trouble, going by the history I'd read in that other life. Between the fortifications and the weather it was one of the very few battles during the Clans' conquest of the Periphery worthy of the name instead of being more accurately called a massacre. It would, with the proper equipment and investment, be a very decent forward stronghold in the version of history I was planning to create.
At the same time, I figured while I was out there, I could also start a bit of diplomacy to get some of the other, non-aligned, independent worlds to join up. Places like Skiland, Sentarus, Givrodat, Caillinius, and Jápminboddu all had a few tens of thousands of people on them, and some level of native industry which would be helpful once they got some extra investment from a more powerful government.
They also all hated the Von Strangs thanks to long periods of state-sponsored piracy by the Von Strangs to bolster their treasury at the expense of their neighbors. Every time they complained, the Von Strangs would sabre rattle and threaten, and since none of them could compete militarily with Von Strang's World, they always backed down.
Taking out the Von Strangs, which I was already planning to do, would be a useful way to convince them to get on board with joining the Grand Duchy. Even if that didn't work by itself, the fact that I could offer so much more in the way of investment than they'd been able to get by themselves ought to tip the balance in my favor. If I played this right, I could have a whole other swathe of worlds, most of which I'd gain through diplomacy, even if I didn't gain the Throne of Rasalhague.
"Hedging your bets? Whatever happened to being daring?" Smirked Katrina.
"Hey, I've got a whole bunch of planets depending on me now, I've got to have some maturity." I defended.
"Even if only some." Giggled Katrina.
"Yes, well, Baby Steps and all that." I chuckled.
"Jozef?" Queried Katrina.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Thanks for coming to my party. You being here is really helping me destress from all the skullduggery, backroom deals, and formal etiquette." Thanked Katrina.
"Any time. Would you care to dance? It might help relax you further." I tried.
"I'd love to." Agreed Katrina.
We headed out onto the ballroom floor where the band that had been hired for the evening was playing a Military Two-Step at the insistence of some of the LCAF Officers in attendance. Katrina and I danced the Two-Step, with me leading while Katrina had to gird up the hem of her gown so that she could actually dance the lively dance. By the end of the dance, we retired back to an antechamber that had a number of long divans and couches scattered around, alongside various paintings of landscapes and animals on the walls.
Sitting there, after dancing, alone in the dimly-lit antechamber, Katrina looked beautiful enough that I decided to go for it. She seemed interested from her earlier actions and what Melissa Steiner had told me, anyway. I leaned in, and I kissed Katrina. We lingered like that for a few moments, just kissing and holding each other, breaking apart only after what seemed like an eternity but must have only been seconds.
"Wow." I said, dumbly.
"Come with me." Insisted Katrina, dragging me away by the hand.
Suffice it to say, neither of us made it to whatever afterparty Katrina had planned. . .
XXXX
AN: So yeah, for those of you wondering about Waifus, here you go. Katrina X Jozef Confirmed. You can all stop shipping now. Please and thank you.
As for the other stuff of substance in this chapter, the support for Jozef's Rasalhague Plan cost him more licenses than he'd planned to give out, plus sales of Improved Targeting and Tracking Systems at a discount to Trellshire Heavy Industries. He's got the backing of the arguably most important Corporation in the Lyran Commonwealth now though, along with the Archon Designate and the Leader of the Tamar Pact.
Effectively, those three are all he needs to convince the Archon to back him, but Duke Watson of Apollo is also going to help, though in his case, this is largely overshadowed by the other three. The question is, what does the Combine do to try and stop it from happening if anything?
At any rate, the next chapter will be the return from Apollo.
Stay tuned. . .
Comments
Lorn von Darkmoor
Awwww... *snickers* Still what can the Combine do? Invade? That's just going to bring the Lyrans to the table. They aren't going to let a state that practically borders their entire northern sector fall to the Combine. Though the saying that once you let in a trickle you let in a flood comes to mind.
