16
EAS Lexington
Tortuga
It had been a long time since the planet had seen so much activity, and certainly such legitimate activity. Dozens of cargo ships were sitting in orbit, a loose ring above the world, waiting while they unloaded their cargo into a parking spot, where it could then be gradually transported to the surface. A small space station had been established to monitor and oversee the cargo operations temporarily, until a bigger and better facility was built.
There was no jumpgate, but the beacon links had been established, allowing for a steady stream of traffic from Earth, providing at least one of the ships had its own jump engine. This usually meant the convoys arrived with military escort, and today that escort was the Lexington.
It was a routine mission, the sort of task common to peacetime military operations and was actually something John Sheridan welcomed. It was a return to normal duties and a relaxing of the wartime rigors the fleet had still been operating under. Until recently, there had been an underlying current that the danger had not yet passed, that the Minbari could follow them or find a way to continue their attack and thus the fleet had been kept at readiness, focused on Earth. That alert had now finally been cancelled after several months of steadily reduced readiness.
Earth Force was going back to what it had been, financing exploration in addition to security. While combat ships remained the priority, the major shipyards at Luna were starting to build exploration ships, a mixture of the medium sized Oracle class scout ships and the massive long range true Explorer ships. The change in priorities was reflected with a gradual shift in attitudes among many officers.
"An Explorer ship?" Anna Keller gave him a frown across the slightly crackling commlink, definitely not sold on the idea.
"There's going to be more of them soon, and there's definitely a need for them." Sheridan outlined. "They're going to want commanders."
"Right, but you know what that means? Those ships can stay out there for years." She met his eyes across the viewscreen. "I'd never see you."
"But that's the best part!"
Her expression turned sharp. "John, you need to think carefully about your next words."
"No, no, I mean most Explorer ships have an IPX contingent. You could easily get a transfer, we can serve together. Both of us doing what we love with who we love."
Her hard expression broke at that. "You have this all planned out."
"It'll be a year or two at least, maybe longer if we wait for a real Explorer ship, but once we're in, we'll be good for the rest of our careers."
"It's a big commitment, but I'm open to it. Exploring this new universe is going to be amazing." Anna agreed. "We found an old military base, it was mostly empty, but we dug up a few rifles and sets of body armor. Imagine what else might be out there."
"Exactly!" Sheridan enthused. "When we get the family together, we'll finally get married, then I'll request a posting with the Explorer Division. Old Jack Maynard got in, so I think he'll put in a good word for me."
"You're old commander." Anna remembered. "Well, I'm happy to go along with it, suits my career goals too. Plus it would be nice to actually spend some real time together."
Whatever other plans they were going to discuss were cut short by the sudden klaxon call to alert status going off, the harsh noise instantly changing the atmosphere.
"I have to go, sounds like they need me."
"John? What is it?"
"Probably just a couple of freighters arguing about docking priority." Sheridan lied. "I'll go sort it out and we'll talk later. Give my best to your coffee fiend friend."
"Be careful! Love you!" She called across the gulf as Sheridan grabbed his blue jacket from the velcro wall strips.
"I will, love you too sweetheart."
The screen went black, Sheridan holding there for a long moment as he reflected on the words and what they meant. He did have something worth fighting for, worth surviving for, a reason to get the job done and come home. Whatever he had to do to make that happen, he was damn well going to do it.
"Bridge, Sheridan." He tapped the communication link on the back of his hand. "Status?"
"Captain, unscheduled jump ship arrival at the local pirate point. No markings, no IFF, no comms yet."
"Understood, put fighters on Alert Five and bring all systems to combat readiness."
He dragged on his uniform jacket, confident but wavering ever so slightly. This wasn't the Minbari war anymore, where hope was scant and survival rarely expected. There was a growing future, something to really look forward to, a reason not to throw oneself head first into danger. Balancing duty and his own personal wishes wasn't something he'd done in a while, he was going to have to learn again how to resolve himself.
EAS Lexington
"Any change?"
"No sir." Commander Carroll updated his Captain. "Two jumpships, big ones, each hauling six large dropships."
"Have they detached?"
"No sir, still docked."
Sheridan swung around into his chair and belted in, glancing at the summary of information and the tactical plot. He guessed the new arrivals were taking a good look around before deciding their next move, though the lack of communication was concerning.
"Signal to Bearn, Danube, and Colorado. Form on my position and screen the civilian vessels."
"Aye sir."
"Still no response from the new ships?"
"Nothing, sir."
"Then we better go over there and see what they want." Sheridan decided. "Put interceptors on automatic, launch fighters, and get a message to command detailing our situation."
The Earth Force ships took up a defensive posture, a pair of cruisers with a couple of Olympus corvettes as escort. There were more ships closer to the planet, a mix of corvettes and frigates defending the cargo station and low orbit, but Sheridan preferred to keep them close to the civilians in case there was something else at play.
"I don't like this one bit." Sheridan grimaced, his task force moving forward. "No change?"
"No sir."
The ships were too uniform to be pirates, but too plain to belong to one of the local powers. Intel had provided a decent briefing on local capabilities and unit colors, none of them matched these two transports.
"Captain, highly focused scans." Carroll warned. "I think they just went weapons hot."
"Return the favor."
"Unknown ships are launching fighters, targeting systems online!" Carroll called the warning. "Locking weapons on us and the civilian ships."
"Order the second taskforce to increase altitude and standby for contact." Sheridan brought the guard ships into play. "Increase speed to flank, standby all weapons."
"Enemy fighters forming up, sir. I have- sir, I have eighty contacts."
"Eighty?"
"Yes sir, multiple types, some of them are a lot bigger than the ones we've seen so far."
That was definitely not good, he had twelve fighters available to him, the smaller escort ships having no ability to carry Starfuries and the garrison nothing to offer. He did however have eight frigates and corvettes possessing a fully integrated interceptor grid. That might be enough.
"I need the frigate group in a screen covering the civilians, but advancing. Pull in our own escorts and set up a kill box. Fighter group is free to engage as it sees fit."
"Yes, Captain."
"Can we hit those jump ships?"
"Range is still long Captain."
"Alright, we'll push through and take them as quickly as we can. Set interceptors for barrier defense, standby to engage."
"Captain, missiles in the sky, hostiles are opening fire!"
That neatly solved any doubts about the rules of engagement.
"Weapons free, all units engage at will."
The unknown invaders began to fill the sky with weaponry as quickly as the attached dropships could manage it. The long carriers emptied their hangars, while the more bulky direct combat units began popping off as many long range heavyweight missiles as they could manage. The arsenal was split, some heading for the Lexington and her group, while the rest accelerated toward the civilian units and their six escorting light warships.
"Captain, Earth Force states it is deploying reinforcements. Two cruisers from convoy duty. Estimate two hours until arrival."
"This will be over in fifteen minutes." Sheridan set aside any ideas about delaying the battle. Eighty fighters was definitely not a good set of odds. Whoever this was knew that just because they didn't have their own capital ships, that didn't mean they were powerless. "Get some anti-ship missiles in the tubes."
"Ready, sir."
"Take a long range shot at those jump ships, see what they do."
The Lexington opened her bow tubes and launched a pair of nuclear tipped weapons, their targeting looping them around the mass of incoming fighters and angling them around to catch the enemy ships.
"Six minutes until our missiles arrive. Enemy fighters in range in one minute."
"Concentrate on the larger fighters, odds are they are bombers and I don't want to see what they are hauling."
"Starfuries breaking to attack, corvettes are firing anti-fighter missiles."
The two corvettes in formation with the Lexington and Bearn started launching salvoes of smaller defensive missiles from their flank missile bays. Smaller and more nimble than the heavy weapons of the Lexington, the missiles weaved and curved through the formation, selecting their individual targets to engage head on while the Starfuries dropped in from above.
It was a good tactic but these incoming pilots were not pirates. The first wave consisting of light fighters split by squadron and met their enemies head on, some going for the missiles and others for the inbound Furies. Bright laser and particle discharges signaled the fight beginning in earnest, fighters closing and frantically dodging to achieve a superior position.
The defensive missiles drew first blood, each one breaking open into a dozen smaller guided munitions that saturated the first line of inbound squadrons. Many missed, decoyed by countermeasures, clouds of chaff, rapid evasion, or in some cases well aimed interception fire, but others were pelted by the explosive warheads and shredded.
Beside them, the Starfuries engaged, rapid blue pulses striking their targets, each hit ripping away chunks of the hull and structure of the light fighters. In return, the inbound squadrons unloaded with everything they had, the Furies jinking wildly to avoid most of the fire, but not all of it. Two Earth Force fighters went dark, losses Sheridan could ill afford with the main body of the inbound fighter group still incoming.
"Enemy missiles in range."
"Clear them."
The guns of the taskforce began to speak, precisely aimed pulses of energy reaching out to catch the inbound missiles. They were easy enough targets, they didn't perform any evasive turns or have much in the way of jamming, but every shot made against a missile was a shot not taken against the fighters.
"Enemy strike squadrons are splitting, looks like they're going to hit us from multiple directions at once." His First Officer remained glued to the sensors.
"Civilian ships?"
"Getting some distance, looks like the enemy are focused on us."
"Bring the other escorts up here, best speed, we'll concentrate fire on the strike craft." Sheridan decided. "Starfuries?"
"Not good, they're heavily engaged with the hostile fighter screen and taking losses, they won't be able to disengage."
"And we can't support them yet." Sheridan grimaced. The enemy airwing was working as intended, their initial light fighter screen had swept aside Sheridan's fighters and were tying them up leaving the warships open for the bombers. "We could really use a carrier of our own right about now."
The heavyweight attackers angled their fighters inward, each unit forming up either on the Lexington or Bearn, giving their full attention to the largest of the EA ships. Logically, it made sense, but it at least showed these attackers didn't really know the strength of their enemy. As potent as the heavy cruisers looked in this scenario, the Corvettes were infinitely more dangerous.
"Angle the ship for maximum coverage, keep us in the box." Sheridan made the last few final adjustments. "Set weapons for long range dispersion fire, swap to barrier fire as the range closes."
"Set."
"Fire when the sights match."
The big pulse cannons elevated, not the most suitable of weapons for anti-fighter work, but their high rate of fire and excellent accuracy made them surprisingly effective. As soon as the targeting data aligned, the big guns opened up, the two cruisers spraying particle bolts into the sky. At this range hits were unlikely, the goal was to disperse the enemy formations, break up their groupings, and string them out. It was better to defend against several small units arriving one after another, rather than one single mass hitting together.
One or two heavy fighters exploded, their strength not offering much defence against the ship killing heavy guns. They broke formation and evaded the attacks, but quickly reformed and continued their approach, the pilots apparently well trained and disciplined enough to press the attack, even into heavy gunfire.
"Light fighters have broken through our screen, they're angling toward us."
"Stay on the bombers." Sheridan quickly balanced the threat levels. "We can't switch targets now."
It was a simple calculation, the light fighters would almost certainly try to knock out the Lexington's guns and targeting sensors to let their big brothers finish the strike. That was not something Sheridan could easily ignore. If he switched to engage them though, he'd lose valuable seconds as the turrets rotated and the sensors had to gather and calculate fresh target data. By the time that happened, they'd be on him anyway. He would have to put his faith in the sturdiness of his ship and the abilities of his escorts, a risky decision and most of the crew knew it, but it had to be done. Definitely not the first gamble this ship had made.
The guns kept firing outward, the smaller cannons on the corvettes now coming into play. These were much smaller twin light pulse cannons, less dangerous to warships but absolutely lethal to fighters. Their accuracy and high rate of fire filled nearby space with blue light, instantly slicing half a squadron of light fighters out of the sky. The survivors pressed on undaunted, sharply dodging through the hail of fire to pepper the Lexington with missiles and energy weapons.
"Impacts, starboard side." Carroll noted. "Negative hull breaches."
"They'll try again. What about their main strike group?"
"Accelerating hard, they're putting everything into this one strike."
"Then they're probably armed with something nasty. Warn the escorts to prepare for a full saturation attack."
The warships braced, many of the heavy fighters had been brought down, but plenty remained. Some struggled on with missing wings and burning engines, their pilots absolutely devoted to the mission keeping their craft on target.
"They're inside final barrier range." Carroll called. "Increasing our rate of fire to maximum."
The Lexington and her escorts intensified their fire, dumping emergency power into the weapons, overheating the system rapidly in exchange for unleashing a short range storm of pulse cannon shots. There was virtually nothing known that could survive that kind of killbox, but here something did. Anything hit by a heavy pulse shot stopped existing, but the heavy fighters proved resilient to the smaller shots from the corvettes. Enough made it into point blank range to deploy their missiles and then burn hard away from the maelstrom, the attack perfectly timed to bring in missiles from three directions simultaneously.
"Evasive action, launch countermeasures!" Sheridan shouted, his officers already making it happen. "Collision alert, brace for contact!"
All four Earth Force ships broke formation and tried to scatter, easier said than done with such massive vessels. The guns switched from engaging the strike craft to firing on their ordnance instead, dozens of hefty Arrow series missiles vectoring in on each ship. Chaff and decoys popped in glittering clouds, guns still spat blue fire. One of the corvettes had reloaded its missile racks fast enough to get a few interceptors out. It was a final few seconds of absolutely desperate chaos that succeeded in thinning down the strike, but not in stopping it.
The Lexington buckled as a quartet of nuclear warheads detonated on her flanks, brief flashes of light coupled with a shower of molten metal and boiling gases. The other ships also took damage as the nukes flashed like cameras at a concert, the Corvette Danube losing a massive section of her forward hull to a trio of well placed hits.
"Confirmed nuclear strikes, heavy damage to port side armour, hull breaches are contained, damage control teams responding!" Carroll did his job despite the ratcheting stress, the whole bridge broadcasting warnings.
"Bring us back on a steady course!" Sheridan demanded. "Where are the enemy fighters?"
"Changing course and getting ready for another run, it's taking them time to decelerate."
"Stay on them, they've still got guns!"
"Aye sir!"
"Escorts?"
"Danube is down, Colorado and Bearn are still operational and engaging." Carroll checked. "Frigate group is moving into range."
"Have them vector to support us against the enemy fighters, and keep us moving toward those enemy jumpships! As soon as we are in range, kill them dead!"
The Lexington moved on, pillars of smoke from internal fires jetting out into space as damage control teams tried to shut off the flow of air and liquids fueling the conflagrations. She was damage, hull cratered and peeling, but still functional, the hits were not so powerful as Sheridan had feared. Even so, if they hadn't thinned out the strike first, it could have been very nasty.
The Bearn and Colorado held station, their guns still spitting at the attackers, tracking the light and heavy craft as they approached. By now the formations were jumbled, the enemy fighters keeping in close and making repeated gun runs on the warships. Their weapons were leaving a mark, but the thick hulls of the heavy cruisers shrugged off the laser and particle beams. It would take several hits on the same location to wear the armor down, and anyone lining up on the same spot became an easy predictable target.
"Frigate group is coming into range." Carroll noted. "They're engaging in support."
The fresh ships finally arrived from the planet, the Artemis frigates unleashing a vicious coordinated strike from their pulse cannons into the swirling mass of enemy fighters. The attack was far more intense than that from the similarly sized corvettes, the Artemis class possessing more modern weapons and fire control.
It proved to be decisive, the surviving attackers broke off and made for the two jumpships still sitting and watching at the pirate point.
"Stay on them, I want more long range fire on those enemy vessels!" Sheridan ordered.
"Loading another salvo of anti ship missiles."
The enemy commander was now faced with a simple choice. Recovering his surviving fighters would take time, time enough that the damaged but still fully armed Earth Force ships could close in and engage. While his ships had some weapons, they had no hope in such a fight, therefore the decision was obvious. He dumped his lithium battery charge into his jump drives and vanished.
"Enemy ships just jumped away, that was a hell of a fast recharge!" Carroll grimaced in disappointment.
"Alert our sensor stations and outposts." Sheridan commanded. "Maybe we can spot them on their way back."
"There are still enemy fighters present, permission to engage."
"Open a channel first." Sheridan held them back, if they could take a few pilots alive it could be an intelligence goldmine. "Unknown fighters, your situation is hopeless, surrender and we promise fair treatment under the rules of..."
As he spoke the fighters each exploded, the pilots choosing to self destruct rather than be captured.
"I suppose that solves that problem." Carroll exhaled. "Fanatics."
"Fanatics with high quality equipment, advanced training, and nuclear weapons." Sheridan pointed out bluntly. "They underestimated us, I doubt they'll make the same mistake twice."
"You expect them to try again, sir?"
"Unless their objective was to show up and die, I'd think so." Sheridan reasoned. "Get a download of our sensor logs to command, they're going to have to begin reinforcing these colonies much more heavily than they do now."
Tharkad
Capital World of the Lyran Commonwealth
The scenery was absolutely beautiful, frigid mountains surrounding snow blanketed valleys and hardy evergreen forests. It was cold but clear, the sky pale blue with a few wisps of white clouds hanging lightly above. It would have been perfect skiing weather if anyone had thought to bring some.
The arrival was low key, the diplomatic transport settling into a distant orbit while the delegation headed down by shuttle. There was no grand ceremony this time as the craft touched down, scattering powdery snow from the cold concrete landing pad, just a small cluster of dark uniformed people and a line of cars.
"Good day, Ambassador Sheridan." An extremely sharply dressed officer snapped his heels together and bowed sharply. "I am Captain Gerhart Von Brulow, I will be your guide and liaison during your time here with us."
"Glad to meet you, Captain, pretty brisk weather here!"
"Ah, this is a good day for this time of year." Brulow peered upward. "You can see to Skye and Tamar from here, it allows the Archon to truthfully say she can watch her whole domain from her balcony."
He snapped an arm out to point at the cars.
"Shall we begin, Mister Sheridan? I have quarters prepared for you and your staff."
"Why not, lead on please, Captain."
The journey was swift and smooth, the vehicles taking the trip from the spaceport to the Triad, the trio of buildings representing the leadership of the Lyran Commonwealth. They had all been assigned pleasant quarters, plain but well appointed with staff on call.
"You are scheduled to be presented at court tomorrow, Mister Sheridan." Brulow spoke pleasantly. "Afterwards, I believe, negotiations can begin in earnest. Both the Council and the Assembly are very keen to see what trade you may offer."
"I had heard the Lyrans were an industrious people."
"There is a strong embrace of business yes, many of our most influential persons are senior industrialists, or those who knew an opportunity when they saw it."
That certainly reminded David of a lot of Senate meetings. While EarthGov had been keen to make contact with each major power and discover where they stood, the Lyrans had been given particular attention by the Senate, which actually meant their powerful corporate lobbyists. Somebody had scented money.
"If there is anything you need, please contact us using the handset." Brulow pointed. "A small dinner will be prepared for your staff at seven. Are there any preferences?"
"We all look forward to trying the local cuisine."
"Excellent, I shall ask the chefs then to indulge themselves." Brulow bowed. "Until dinner then, Mister Sheridan."
He departed with the same sharpness as he did everything, David unsure if it was military training or just the man's natural manner. The Davions had mentioned in their shared information that the Lyrans were on the more formal and stiff end of courtly matters and tended to take appearances seriously, though there was apparently a very wide variety among actual aristocrats and their backgrounds, which would make negotiations interesting.
He had settled in a bit, unpacked his suitcases and was flicking through the entertainment channels looking for a rolling news show when a knock sounded at the old fashioned carved wooden door. It was still a while until his dinner appointment and nothing else was scheduled. That put him a little on edge, but this was also the heart of the Lyran government. If anywhere was secure, surely it would be here?
He walked to the door, stood beside it rather than behind it, and opened it a little.
"Mister Sheridan? Apologies." It was Brulow. "Do you have some time for an informal chat?"
He severely doubted the Captain even understood what informal meant.
"Of course."
Brulow did not however move forward, instead he nodded to someone off to the side that David couldn't see. He opened the door fully to witness a well dressed couple standing just beyond waiting for his invitation.
"Might I present Archon Katrina Steiner and Duke Arthur Luvon." Brulow once again inclined his head with the speed and precision of a guillotine.
"Right." David raised his eyebrows. "Well."
"Tomorrow will be a formal event, Mister Sheridan." Katrina said by way of explanation. "I would prefer we spoke in private first, to better understand one another."
"I can understand that." David stepped aside. "Make yourself at home."
Both entered while Brulow disappeared to attend to his duties, closing the door behind them.
"Your staff left a well stocked drinks cabinet." David suggested. "I know I could use one."
"I know this is a little irregular." Katrina settled on one of the very comfortable chairs, her husband grabbing some glasses from the drinks cabinet. "But I want to know more about the people I am going to potentially work with, ask honest questions, and hopefully receive honest answers."
"Schnapps?" Arthur began filling glasses and made sure everyone was provided for.
"Thanks." David tried the drink, he was no expert, but it was likely as pricey as everything else in this room. "Well, Archon, I'm definitely open to some frank discussion."
"Call me Katrina today, we can be formal tomorrow."
"Then David is good for me." He relaxed a little. "Do you meet all the ambassadors like this?"
"No, only the ones I think I can have a productive chat with. This would be useless with a Marik, but perhaps one of the Davions would work." She shrugged. "For now though, David, let's focus on you."
"Ask away."
"What is your true goal here?" Katrina cut straight to the point.
"To open diplomatic relations, get some trade going, and sign a non-aggression treaty." He returned just as cleanly. "Our goal is not to take sides in any ongoing conflicts. We want to figure out who everyone is, solidify our position on the periphery, and hopefully gain some money and resources."
"Why visit every single power? Why not just the ones who can meet your requirements?"
"We don't want to be accused of playing favorites. If we go all in with, say, your government, we might make enemies of your enemies. That doesn't suit us."
"Reasonable enough." Katrina nodded. "But it is unusual for a Periphery state to be so proactive. Normally nations mind their business, guard their own worlds, and little else. Few seek to engage in affairs of state with distant powers."
"I suppose we're a talkative bunch." David admitted. "We've learned that being very clear with your intentions can prevent disaster. It is very important to us to ensure there are no misunderstandings."
"Again, understandable." Katrina nodded. "Provided, of course, you aren't causing yourself more problems. Some might say your best act would be to simply remain unnoticed."
"Perhaps, but the risks of making enemies are balanced by the benefits of finding allies."
"Then let me tell you my position." Katrina shifted gears. "You have warships and are offering Agricultural technology. We won't refuse the trade, but we would very much like to go further. I don't know exactly what your industrial base looks like, but there are clues. The ship you arrived in is very unusual, it suggests that you had, or still do have, some sort of large scale ship production. This interests me."
"Interests you how?"
"If you have the ability to build jump capable ships, this is of particular value to us." Katrina laid out. "As a fairly small periphery power you likely don't need many jump ships, but we do, therefore if you can build them, I will make sure there are contracts for every ship you can produce."
"That could run to a lot of money."
"I expect it will, I also expect expanding our jump ship capacity will be worth every penny."
"I can certainly raise the question as part of any second wave of trade talks we may wish to engage in."
"I promise, there will be more talks." Katrina smiled a little. "I sense a definite opportunity. You are far too confident for a minor periphery power. It's not just the warships, you have the attitude of a great house, someone used to standing among equals. It is very curious, Mister Sheridan, and I don't think it is accident or bravado."
"Is that why we're having a secret meeting?" Sheridan nudged.
"Private, not secret." Katrina winked back. "And yes, we likely won't speak much tomorrow. You will be besieged by all of our nobility wanting to sell you everything you could dream of in return for access to all the things they imagine you have. The current rumour is a full set of Star League era manufacturing tools. Any truth to it?"
"Sadly no, but we might be able to find something similar if my leaders agree."
David put his glass down.
"There is something extra, not on the list."
"You have my attention."
"Point to point secure interstellar communication. Something not tied to the HPG network."
Katrina shared a glance with her husband, both keeping a blank expression.
"Please go on, Mr. Sheridan."
It's called a tachyon relay, you'll need some satellites every dozen lightyears or so to boost the signal, but it is basically real time face to face communication across stellar distance. No outside parties, secure, and yours if you want it."
"As simple as that?"
"Yes. It's not free, of course, we expect payment, but yes, as simple as that."
"Why?"
"In part, so we can speak to you from our territory, but also so you can speak clearly to those important to you. Including your neighbors."
"You have offered them this technology?"
"We have. I am sure you can see the value of it from a military and diplomatic point of view. Speaking face to face with the other house lords at any given moment could help make the galaxy a more stable place for us all."
"That does certainly have value." Katrina allowed. "But I am sure Comstar would be most upset by this offer."
"They never need to know."
"If you offered this to Draconis, they know." She said simply. "They know and I do not think they will take kindly to their monopoly being challenged."
"They are welcome to file a complaint, but this won't affect their civilian traffic. Their revenue won't change much."
"For Comstar, it's not the money, it's the control." Katrina related carefully. "Don't underestimate them, I have heard many stories, all unverifiable of course, but none of them good."
She leaned back in her seat, her husband topping up her drink to her appreciation.
"I haven't been in this role long and have already survived several assassination attempts. Most I think from my own relatives. It has made me cautious, forced me to carefully weigh up an individual before inviting them into the affairs of state."
"I hope I made a good impression."
"You are earnest, Mr. Sheridan, and you are no fool. You bring gifts and the promise of more in time, you open lines of communication between the great houses and yourselves. I find this very interesting, like you are setting yourselves up as a power broker?"
"That isn't our intention, but we have learned the value of communication. Much of what we have heard is that the Inner Sphere is a violent place where war is always an attractive option. If we can play a small part in reducing that attraction, then it is worthwhile."
"Can't trade with a nuked out planet." Arthur wisely observed. "And I suspect you may have a lot to trade. In contrast, we have much to offer, fine weapons, dropships, luxury goods you won't find equal to."
"All very tempting, but also beyond the scope of this initial contact."
"Then I think we can come to terms, Mister Sheridan." Katrina decided. "It is a good first step, we have no hostile intentions or any interest in the worlds of the far periphery. Indeed, Mister Sheridan, if I may be completely honest, your words about communication ring true. It has long been a hope of mine that we can try to improve relations and perhaps finally find some peace between our great houses. The current state of affairs has gone on for far too long. We must change before we are finally consumed."
"I am glad we have that common ground, Archon."
"I shall see you at court tomorrow then Mister Sheridan, for the first time of course." Katrina finally broke a true smile, unguarded and genuine. "We must play our game, and when it is done and the Dukes and Barons have had their fill of you, let us drink Schnapps again and speak of the future."