Primus of ComStar Julian Tiepolo had a difficult time wrangling the various heads of the Successor Houses during the conference. Maximilian Liao couldn't be seated anywhere near Hanse Davion, while the Latter had to be kept from tweaking the nose of Takashi Kurita too often about the military failures of the DCMS. The Coordinator of the Draconis Combine meanwhile, refuses to be seated near Katrina Steiner in any way, for fear of losing face. At the same time, Janos Marik would have been a neutral party amenable to everyone, save for the animosity he bore the Steiners and the seizure of the Duchy of Bithinia from the Capellans, which meant the Captain General wasn't to be seated near Chancellor Liao or Archon Steiner. It had been a full time job simply wrangling all the various egos, let alone getting any real border settlements worked out.
Fortunately, Julian had staff to help with that or he would have gone mad from the bickering by now. His staff ensured that the seating arrangements were acceptable to everyone, drew the eye of the various parties with offers of drinks or food any time the sniping threatened to boil over into a derailing argument, and generally catered enough to the various parties to allow everyone to be in a more even-tempered mood going into each day of negotiations and haggling. It truly was a miracle what a competent staff could do for talks such as these. Julian was not the most Zealous of his fellows, but every day so far, he had thanked Blake for setting down the hiring policies that guaranteed the competence of his staff. More than once, in fact.
That wasn't to say his entire job at this meeting had been to play mediator. No, ComStar had a single, overarching, goal in this conference and that was the issue of ensuring that the Lyrans didn't walk away with all of Kirchbach Prefecture. They had managed to take the prefecture as well as parts of the Rasalhague Prefecture. It had been enough by itself to drastically alter the balance of power in the Inner Sphere, but when you added in their gains against the Free Worlds League as well, suddenly the Lyran Commonwealth was looking well-enough positioned to become the Hegemon of the Inner Sphere. That was something to be avoided at all costs, even temporarily. After all, if there was to be a Hegemon at all, it should be ComStar, as the sole remnant of the Star League. That at least was a sentiment he shared with his more hardline bretheren.
To that end, Julian had proposed that a new Principality of Rasalhague be established as a buffer state between the Lyrans and Draconis Combine. The idea gained some traction with both Coordinator Kurita and Archon Steiner, though for very different reasons. Archon Steiner simply wished for peace and realized the Coordinator wasn't likely to agree to cede so many worlds to the Commonwealth out of spite. Archon Steiner also recognized the value of not having to occupy worlds that had an active independence movement with a highly skilled militant wing. Such territory would only cost more in blood and treasure in the long run and Katrina Steiner was not willing to resort to the same tactics to keep hold of the territory that the Kuritas were.
Coordinator Takashi on the other hand, had to be talked into going through with this over the course of several months by his son and heir, Theodore Kurita. It had to be phrased in such a way that appealed to Takashi's sense of spite, but over the course of several months, Theodore managed to get his father to agree to letting some of the worlds they still possessed in the Rasalhague Prefecture join the proposed Second Rasalhague Principality in order to bilk the Steiners out of their gains from the war. By Mid-July, the Coordinator had been convinced that doing so would be a clever move to spite the victorious Lyrans and one which would free up units otherwise occupied holding worlds that were bleeding men and funds to civil strife for duty elsewhere. Neither of the Kuritas ever considered that in agreeing to the Rasalhague proposal, they were dancing to ComStar's tune.
Of course, the shape of said Principality was another contention. Neither side wished to release worlds they still held and for the rest of July and all of August, the Lyran and Combine delegations skirmished over worlds like misers hoarding C-Bills. At first, the Coordinator only agreed to cede Rasalhague, Vipaava, Pomme de Terre, Predlitz, Radije, New Oslo, New Bergen, Leoben, Dawn, Hermagor, Svelvik, Balsta, and Outpost while the Lyrans were only willing to cede Alleghe, St. John, Ferleiten, Unzmarkt, Rodigo, Lovinac, Liezen, and the Edge. Twenty-One Systems which would effectively allow an outside power to dominate the Second Principality with an application of soft power. Eventually, both sides began to add systems to the new state via careful manipulation and prodding on the part of Julian's staff, and he suspected also a bit of ROM Agents at play, Veser showing his hand a bit. Of course he didn't want the balance of power to shift in favor of the Lyrans any more than Julian did.
Eventually, by the end of August, with the combine keeping the worlds of Damian, Thule, Pinnacle, Last Frontier, Jerzesko, Casere, Kempten, Halesowen, Utrecht, Altenmarkt, Maule, Nox, Tukayyid, Ramsau, Diosd, Dehgolan, and Grumium. The Lyrans kept New Caledonia, Verthandi, Harvest, Ridderkerk, Planting, Mozirije, Basiliano, Skokie, Moritz, Weingarten, Tannhausen, Volders, Hyperion, Karston, Hainfield, Wheel, Thun, Galuzzo, Carse, Quarell, Jabuka, Lothan, Ueda, Karnala, Al-Hillah, and Orestes. The Second Principality of Rasalhague got the rest. It was a compromise that both sides were, if not completely happy with, at least willing to allow for the time being. That had been, perhaps the most contentious issue to resolve, taking the majority of the conference to do.
The Coordinator definitely milked the loss of worlds for all it was worth in the sinultaneous negotiations with Hanse Davion. Takashi played the loss of territory to the Lyrans to the hilt, using it to bargain down lost worlds to the Federated Suns by gaining the sympathy of Janos Marik and Maximilian Liao, though it was clear that Max was helping apply pressure on Hanse for his own ends. Whatever the reason, it seemed to have worked, with the Federated Suns being forced to gain less territory than they had hoped for, only gaining Marlowe's Rift, Misery, Arlington, Thestria, and Gandy's Luck. Hanse Davion seemed to be ready to press his advantage against the Capellans instead, as Federated Suns Forces had reached deep into the Duchy and Commonality of Tikonov. Hanse had expected the support of Janos Marik in pressing for Capellan Territory. After all, the Free Worlds League had also seized territory in the Capellan Confederation. It stood to reason that together, they might be capable of getting whatever they asked for.
Hanse Davion expected the Captain-General's aid. He didn't get it. Instead, Maximilian Liao essentially paid for Janos Marik to step aside and not help Hanse Davion with the Duchy of Bithinia. Janos, content that he had gained territory, did so. With one move, Maximilian Liao had split his opposition. With Janos Marik standing aside, Max Liao turned toward Coordinator Takashi for diplomatic aid in preserving territory by negotiation. Takashi, willing to aid the Capellans to spite another foe, did so. Hanse turned to Katrina Steiner to aid his own negotiations, but Maximilian Liao was not done maneuvering politically. No, Julian had been reliably informed by Vester's people that private talks between Maximilian Liao, Takashi Kurita, and Janos Marik had been ocurring the whole time. An alliance was taking shape between the Free Worlds League, Capellan Confederation, and Draconis Combine, though Janos Marik had to be promised aid in regaining Alhena, Wing, Chertan, Dubhe, and Shiloh from the Lyrans, along with salvaged Lyran Mech, Aerospace Fighter, and Combat Vehicle technology to study in order to join.
This new Alliance poured on political pressure and threatened to walk out of the Conference alltogether and continue the war if Hanse did not mediate his demands. In the end, Hanse was stymied, picking up the worlds of Ronel, Tybalt, Achernar, Yangtze, Tikonov, New Hessen, Tigress, Small World, Ingress, Sheraton, and Fletcher. Eleven worlds instead of the twenty-six he had demanded initially, less than half of his starting position. It was still enough of a gain that Hanse was unwilling to continue the war over it, especially with the new Tristar Alliance as the Marik-Liao-Kurita Alliance was being called.
Privately, Julian didn't believe the Liaos and Mariks would be able to coexist on a long-term basis, and Veser agreed with him. The Tristar Alliance would not last. Another War was bound to ocurr which would fracture such a shaky agreement, though that might not happen for years yet. For now however, peace had been achieved in the Inner Sphere and no one Successor House was able to claim hegemony over the rest.
And for Julian Tiepolo, Primus of ComStar, that would be enough. . .
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Takashi Kurita had been forced to agree to the terms of the establishment of this absurd Rasalhague State just to avoid calamity. His son had been right, though, ceding those worlds and forcing the Steiner Woman to do the same to her gains ensured that though the Dragon may be downed, the Lyrans would not get to enjoy their victory. Now the task was to ensure the Dragon had the strength to rise again and lay waste to those prideful fools who had thought it defeated. Part of that was the agreement with Liao and Marik. Their worlds will be made to bow to the Dragon one day, but for now, they would be more useful as allies, temporary as such an alliance may be.
"What do you think of our allies?" Questioned Takashi as he and his son and heir were firmly ensconced in their armored hovercar, making their way to the DropShip Talon which would take them up to the JunpShip Honor of Luthien for the journey back home.
"i don't believe Marik and Liao will be able to set aside their differences long-term. There's too much bad blood there, and Maximilian Liao is too prone to fits of anger to work together with anyone for any significant amount of time." Offered Theodore.
"Indeed. Those who lay outside of the strictures of Honor often cannot be trusted. The Liaos especially. I am certain that the Chancellor will do something foolish at some point to break up this alliance. That does not mean that we should not benefit from such an arrangement while we can. The technology recovered from battles with the Lyrans was quite advanced. We will need to understand the secrets of such technology to defeat them when we inevitably clash again. With Marik and Liao also working on the technology as well, the chances of that increase while the effort expenditure required decreases." Nodded Takashi.
"How can we be certain they will share any data? Maximilian Liao seems the type to hold back such information." Queried Theodore.
"The Dragon has eyes everywhere, even in places where others might seek to hide." Smirked Takashi.
"Like the research labs on Sian?" Asked Theodore.
"Just so. In the meantime, we must save face. The Oberon Confederation was a project you spent some effort on. I am told our latest vassal has used the gifts we so graciously gave him to chop down one of his rivals. Is that not so?" Questioned Takashi.
"It is so. We sent him enough demobilized equipment and advisors to double the amount of regiments under his command." Answered Theodore.
"Excellent. It is time that the Dragon receives the tributes owed for that largesse. The Poniatowski Boy signed an alliance with the Steiner Woman. He should be made to understand that siding with the enemies of the Dragon has a price, do you not think?" Grinned Takashi.
"I will see that Grimm carries out such a lesson, then." Agreed Theodore. Takashi sat back in his seat, content in the knowledge that while the Dragon was down, it was not out, and would only rise again stronger.
Then all those who sought to humble the Dragon would face their reckoning, as was only proper. . .
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Maximilian Liao was not a happy man. True, he had gotten out of the negotiations without losing nearly as many worlds as he had feared, while also gaining a pair of useful fools in Janos Marik and Takashi Kurita. The Tristar Alliance would ensure that his dynasty would have the tools needed to take revenge for the insults offered at this conference. However, there was another, more immediate way to take vengeance that did not require years of meticulous planni g and build-up, because all the planning and build-up had already been done.
Yes, he had to simply make a single call back to Sian and greenlight Operation: Doppelganger. Once everything was in place, Hanse Davion would return to his palace just in time to be abducted and replaced by a carefully crafted doppelganger who was loyal only to the Liao. With a puppet acting in that pompous fool's place, he would drive a wedge between the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth. Davion and Steiner had both sought to stymie his plans, so Maximilian would force his puppet to shatter whatever cooperation the two had built in preparation for the glorious return of lost worlds to their rightful place. Who knows? If this worked, perhaps he would try something similar in the future on Marik.
No, actually, that would be a waste. Janos Marik is old and a fool. A better plan would be to simply arrange something deadly and untraceable be put into the man's morning tea while cultivating his heir Anton as a puppet instead. That would be much less expensive and more importantly, not require the aid of ComStar. With a Puppet in New Avalon and another in Atreus, the Liao would control the bulk of the inner sphere from the shadows and be able to take the remainder by force. Yes, that was the better plan, truly Maximilian was astounded by his own genius at times. First, though, he had to stop at the HPG Complex on Terra to greenlight the operation.
"Change of plans. You will take me to the HPG Complex before we go to the Spaceport." Commanded Maximilian.
His driver hastened to obey, and soon the first steps on the road to Liao Hegemony of the Inner Sphere would be taken. True, it would be considered underhanded and dishonorable by the fools in New Avalon, Atreus, Luthien, and Tharkad, but that was only because they were too blinded by their own weaknesses to truly have the ruthlessness neccesary to gain Hegemony of the Inner Sphere. He did, as did his children, for that was what it meant to be Liao. Only the Liao would rule because only they had the ruthlessness to do so.
All the rest would learn that in due time. . .
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AN: Apologies for any spelling or grammar errors in this one. My editing software is on my still at the shop laptop. Apparently, the part they're waiting on needs to be shipped from Canada. Hopefully, you all could read this OK and it wasn't too illegible.
Here we see the first of our series of interludes, detailing the Terra Conference and some of the fallout from that. Rasalhague is now becoming a thing, though it's smaller than in canon and will likely have some Lyran influence, Mad Max is scheming to be an Emperor from the Shadows, and Takashi Kurita is going to try to save face with a proxy conflict in the Periphery. Also, an alternate version of the Concord of Kapetyn was formed, though for different reasons than in canon.
At any rate, the next chapter will be an interlude with Hendrik Grimm.
Stay tuned. . .