DROPSHIP FUJINAMI
NEW EXETER SPACEPORT
EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
6 APRIL 3150
0800 HOURS
Baron Zachary Vogel, now bathed and wearing a simple gray jumpsuit, was led into and through the DropShip by two Ghost Regiment soldiers. While their faces and body language spoke of disgust and hatred, their manners were impeccable. He was treated more like an honored guest than a captured enemy. He hadn’t been touched. Not beaten nor drugged. Not yet. This invasion by Tai-sa Yoshizawa was unlike every other Combine military campaign he’d experienced to date.
Yoshizawa waited within a small, ornate conference room. A meal for two was spread out before him on the low, round table. He beckoned Zachary forward as the guards left him at the door. “Come in. We have much to discuss, you and I. Better to do it over a meal.”
Zachary stood his ground. Even though he knew the battle was lost, he needed to know where his boundaries were. “You aren’t afraid I’ll try to kill you with the cutlery?”
“There is always the chance. But should anything happen to me, every MechWarrior on this planet will be summarily executed, including your wife, Lady Shannon. That would be the beginning of what happened.” Yoshizawa gestured to the door with his chin. “My people are loyal. They would take my death hard. Their grief would be leveled at your planet.”
“My wife understands war; the consequences and the costs.” It was good to know the man’s escalation means, but terrifying at what that meant for Emporia.
“Are we at war?” Yoshizawa gestured to the table. “Please, sit.” There was a hint of steel behind the request.
The question startled him. To cover his surprise, Zachary took the indicated spot at the table. He shrugged and helped himself to the food. He didn’t know when he would eat again. No matter what Yoshizawa said, they were at war. The question now was how much time Zachary could buy the rest of the planet before the real face of the war showed itself and the slaughter began. “You have captured my spaceport and my MechWarriors. How are we not at war?”
Yoshizawa ate as Zachary did, like a soldier fueling his body and nothing more. “With one important exception: no one has been killed. We haven’t bombed this planet. While my regiment is on a long campaign, we have done nothing except take control of the one vital spaceport. Oh, and the communications system, which sent the alert that made all of your MechWarriors easy to capture.”
The baron grimaced. He had hoped the comment about his MechWarriors had been a bluff. “What do you want, Tai-sa? Why am I here?”
The Kuritan put his drink down. “A fair question. May I turn it around? What do you want, Baron Vogel? Knowing I am here and have your planet in the palm of my hand, what do you want?”
“I want you to leave.” Zachary gestured with a wry smile. “But I know that won’t happen. Instead, I will say I want my people safe.”
Yoshizawa returned a benevolent smile. “That is what I want as well. For too long, your planet has been ignored by the Federated Suns. Too long have you lived on the border, fearing for your safety and your sovereignty. I offer you both within reason. I will leave a planetary governor here, advised by a council of Emporia leaders, and Emporia will become part of the Seventh Ghost Regiment. A home base that is protected by the might of the Draconis Combine. A planet no longer on the edge.”
You talk a good game, Zachary thought. But what is your word worth, and how can I use it to my advantage? “What do you need from me?”
“Your cooperation. I need you to address your people and have them stand down.” Yoshizawa raised a finger. “In truth, I don’t need it. But I want it. I think it is the best thing for your people and mine.”
“You want to take this planet without a fight?”
“We have already taken the planet, my lord. It is mine. It is under my control. Even now, New Exeter is under curfew. My veteran commandos are moving swiftly to secure the outlying estates. I can do with Emporia as I will. Right now, I am choosing to be generous.”
The two of them ate in silence as the baron considered his options, while the tai-sa showed the power and the patience to allow him to do so.
As a plan came to mind, Zachary nodded. “I will do as you ask. Will I be allowed to write my own statement, or will it be written for me?”
Yoshizawa gave him an open-handed gesture. “It has been written for you, but you will be allowed to modify it so the words sound like they are coming from you. I know the Combine has a hard reputation—a well-earned one—but we also understand that after centuries of war between our people, unless those who see and hear you are familiar with the words you speak, they won’t believe it.”
He pressed a button on the table. The conference doors slid open, and a young uniformed man entered. His focus was on the tai-sa until the man gestured to Zachary. He handed the baron a noteputer, then left without a word.
Zachary accepted it and put it to the side. “How do you want me to address Emporia’s population?”
Yoshizawa tilted his head. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“By what means? Do you have technology you wish me to use?”
“You have a planetary communication system in place. You may use it.”
Zachary shook his head. “We’re not as…civilized as that. We are an agrarian planet. We cannot control every screen or comm at the touch of a button as I’ve heard the Draconis Combine can. We have no ‘Voice of the Dragon,’ so to speak.”
Yoshizawa was unsurprised at the knowledge in retrospect. “I see. We’ll have to do something about that in the future. What do you recommend? As ruler, you know your planet’s infrastructure.”
Zachary made a show of thinking about it before he nodded. “The planetwide emergency broadcast system. All radios and TVs that are already on will be interrupted with the message. I suspect that will reach enough of the population for your purposes. Those who do not hear the message can hear it when you rebroadcast it a second or third time. Should you choose to play it more than once.” He paused. “Will I be able to see my wife before the broadcast? Is it possible she can be at my side during it?”
This time, Yoshizawa was slower to respond as he considered the request. “Why?”
“This involves her. I don’t rule in a vacuum. It would be good for the people to see the ruling couple together for the statement. If not, the assumption will be that you hold her hostage. While not untrue, it would be better to pretend otherwise.” Zachary did his best to seem like a reasonable politician, and not a tactician under a gentleman’s façade. He could enact his plan alone, but it would be easier if Shannon were by his side.
“It is possible. I will consult with my council. You may see your wife as soon as we are done eating. Then I will want your version of my statement. After that, you will speak to your MechWarriors and inform them of the forthcoming broadcast. That you are doing it of your own free will. That they are to follow your lead and bend the knee to me.”
Though the order turned his stomach, Zachary kept his face as neutral as he could. “As you wish, Colonel.”
Sumi waited for Yoshizawa in his chambers. There was no need to pretend she hadn’t just watched the meal between the two men.
“Your thoughts?” he asked without preamble.
“I think he’s more dangerous than he seems. There is fire in his belly. He will try something.” She didn’t move from her place on the couch.
“Of course he will. I hope to use him just long enough to ensure there will be no uprising. If I must execute him before then, he will be my first example to Emporia’s population.”
“A hard action for one who would be liberator and protector.”
He shrugged. “Hard times make for hard decisions.”
“The wife. We must observe his interactions with her. Even though he knows they’ll be watched, recorded, his guard will drop. Assuming they love each other.” Sumi considered the thought.
“It doesn’t matter. Everything is going to plan. Even if the baron had denied me, he would’ve made the statement. Under duress.” Yoshizawa sat next to her, his mind far away. “How does the rest of my council see my actions?”
She glanced at him, eyebrows raised in a question.
He patted her on the shoulder. “I know you have spies everywhere. This is the first bloodless coup we’ve attempted. How are they taking the plan?”
“There are questions, yes. Mostly around the equipment and the ease—so far—at the capture of the planet. No one believes in an easy victory. Though, it isn’t truly a victory until Baron Vogel addresses his people. Then we will see what the population does.”
“Are these your words, or another’s?”
Sumi bowed her head. “Both. Mine and Sho-sa Kusunoki. He has been at war for so long that peace isn’t a dream. It is a façade not to be trusted. He waits for the uprising. Then he can get to work.”
“And you?”
“I will watch you work, see your success, then report back to both your masters and mine.”
“Which first?”
“It depends on who needs the information faster. A single military victory on a long-contested border does not need to be rushed home. A new, rich planet ripe for the plucking? That’s another story.”
Yoshizawa took an even breath. Already the shingiin sought to take his treasures and give them to another. The longer he could keep her by his side, the longer it would take for word to reach her grandfather. Perhaps a more permanent solution to Sumi Yoshida was needed.
The thought made him smile. Perhaps the idea of a peaceful invasion was too much for even him. He itched to continue the killing.
“My lord?” Sumi asked, watching his face.
Yoshizawa shook his head. “I need to speak to my council and let them know that, for now, we have Baron Vogel’s full cooperation.”