28

Chapter 28

-VB-

Captain-General Janos Marik of the Free Worlds League.

Heir Theodore Kurita of the Draconis Combine. 

Archon Katrina Steiner of the Lyran Commonwealth.

Chancellor William Liao of the Capellan Confederation. 

Primus Myndo Waterly of the ComStar Order. 

And himself, First Prince Hanse Davion. 

Hanse wished that Melissa could be here but this particular meeting was only for the heads of states and their representatives. She would be able to join him at later negotiations.

While everyone situated themselves, he looked around. 

There were fifteen guards, two from each head of state and the rest were ComGuard soldiers. Though each nation's soldiers differed in outfit, it was clear to Hanse that the ComGuard pulled to defend this negotiation were not just elite but armored and armed to the teeth with lostech.

He set that detail aside and looked across the round table at each of the heads of state. 

The first one who caught his attention was none other than his mother-in-law, Archon Katrina Steiner. The blank, cold stare even when she acknowledged him - as well as many letters detailing her disappointment - made him want to grimace but decades of his training as the spare and then the heir to the throne of the Federated Suns kept that from showing. He knew that he was currently not her most favorite house lord, and if it wasn't for how utterly unique Sian's situation had been with so many lostech and new technologies the Capellans displayed, then she might have been demanding divorce for her daughter. 

Speaking of which, the second person who caught his gaze was Chancellor William Liao, the man who supposedly suffered worse than he did under Mad Max's rule. 

The man who ruined the Federated Commonwealth's prosperous future.

But a man Hanse could not find himself to hate. 

William Liao worked with what he had, and did it to a magnificent degree that left Hanse in awe of what the man accomplished. 

Everyone knew that the Capellan Confederation was the weakest of the five Successor States. They had been, were, and will continue to be so. Their new technological progress didn't change the fact that they just lost fifty of their worlds along with all of the industries, people, and strategic positions of that territory. They were weak before, and their technology was the only thing that kept them from spiraling into collapse. 

William met his eyes, and the two exchanged something. 

Hanse didn't know what they exchanged but it felt a lot like … acknowledgement. 

The chancellor, however, was not the one who Hanse focused on.

No, that was Theodore Kurita. 

The crown prince of Draconis Combine was an able commander of men, strategist, and politician in one. It was like looking at a Combine mirror of himself. With only five regiments put under his command, he managed to savage the Lyran-Draconis front so thoroughly that, according to Katrina, her commanders barely managed to scramble up enough defenses to halt the crown prince's advances. 

Five regiments took over a dozen systems while he, the First Prince with the entire resource of the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth, barely managed to take thrice that number with ten times the force. 

And finally, he looked at Janos Marik.

The Old Eagle, as he was called by his detractors and supporters alike, was undoubtedly the winner of the Fourth Succession War. Sure, Hanse managed to establish the bridge between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns, but the Free Worlds League took more systems from the Lyrans than they lost with minimal casualties. He and Theodore Kurita shifted the balance of the war so much that if the Capellans hadn't lost so many systems to his alliance, then they would be the one who started the war, only to be on the losing end. 

The sole non-guard, non-house lord participant of the meeting stood up, and everyone looked to the Primus. After a moment, she began to speak.

"Today, on August 17th, 3030, we begin a peace conference that will hopefully see to the end of the Fourth Succession War that has terribly ravaged the Inner Sphere for the last two years," she began. "We have the following participants: Archon Katrina Steiner of the Lyran Commonwealth, Captain-General Janos Marik of the Free Worlds League, Chancellor William Liao of the Capellan Confederation, First Prince Hanse Davion of the Federated Suns, and Heir Theodore Kurita of the Draconis Combine. I, Primus Myndo Waterly of the ComStar Order, will serve as the mediator of this conference. May the Inner Sphere be blessed with peace as Blake wills it."

She sat down.

"Allow me to speak first," Marik spoke up.

Waterly nodded. "Please, go on, captain-general."

Janos Marik looked around. "I am in favor of calling an end to the war with the current borders as they are determined by who occupies the border worlds."

"That is absurd," Katrina Steiner replied. "The Lyran Commonwealth has barely experienced any loss. A quick end to the war just means that the Free Worlds League would end it with gains."

"And a quick end to this war also means that neither economies of the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns are ruined by the war, no?" William Liao interjected with a sly smile. "Come now, Archon. All of us here at the table are aware that both you and your partner in crime have crippled your own economy to attack me and establish that corridor. How long can you keep your economy up with Steiner wealth? One year? Six months?" A pause. "One month?" Then he turned to look at Hanse. "And you. Instead of focusing on improving your worlds, you went and savaged mine. Congratulations, you played yourself."

"Are you here to make peace or to use this chance to berate us?" Hanse riposted. "Isn't it your nation that is suffering the most from this war?"

"Is it?" William asked with a mock surprise. "I didn't know that I was suffering so much that you noticed! Who caused it, I wonder…?"

"The Free Worlds League can go on for a few more years," Janos chuckled as he joined in. "The Lyrans didn't even offer much resistance when we crossed the border."

"Oh my," William grinned. "I wonder where their soldiers were… Oh right, a failed assault on my capital world. They didn't even last a single day."

"Truly?" Theodore asked, genuinely surprised. "I was under the impression that the joint assault did some harm to Sian."

"Nonsense! The only damage they did was burning my lawn rudely. Didn't even hit any of my cities."

"How … disappointing," the crown prince muttered with a frown. 

Hanse didn't grit his teeth. There was no point in harming himself and letting his frustration show. It was obvious what the chancellor was doing. He was downplaying the FedCom war efforts and making fun of it. 

"What was your declaration two years ago?" William hummed. "Oh, right. Something about 'I give you the confederation' to your new wife. Well, Hanse, I'm still standing. You're going to need to get her a new wedding gift."

"I think most of the Tikonov Commonality is an excellent wedding gift," Katrina cut in. 

"Ah yes. The Tikonov Commonality whose people will never accept the Federated Suns because of their latest anti-Capellan legislation. I wonder what kind of genocide you will commit there, First Prince."

"He will not," Katrina cut William off. "It has been agreed between the two of us that the Tikonov Commonality will be renamed Tikonov Republic and gifted to the Lyran Commonwealth." 

"Oh, that's good, actually," William replied with a cold smile. "Better in the hands of stoic Germans than uppity French."

"You talk a lot for being the loser of the war," Hanse drawled. 

"Am I the loser?" William hummed. "From where I stand, I am perfectly fine with continuing the war. My people are united in our defense of the homeland while yours … well, let's just say that I couldn't have possibly stolen all of those jumpships without the help of your own people."

Hanse nearly slammed his fists into the table as he glared at William. 

"I want the names of traitors as part of the peace treaty."

"Why would I? They were very helpful to me. Unlike the First Prince and the Archon, the Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation does not abandon those who show him fruitful results. We are above petty politicking." He paused before turning to Katrina. "Oh, and I still have Frederick Steiner, by the way. He's gotten rather smitten with one of the palace maids. I might have to help him set up a Steiner branch in Sian if you don't ransom him soon." 

She just glared at him.

"I want Frederick Steiner back as part of the peace treaty," she replied evenly. 

"Hmm. Maybe. We'll have to discuss that more, shouldn't we? Just like how I want Hanse to return to me all Capellan subjects under his rule."

"That's an impossible task," Hanse replied. "You know this, I know this, and everyone with half a decent brain cell knows this. Why are you even bringing this up?"

"I don't see how it's impossible," William replied with a shrug. "I never made demands to return them to me right now. I'm okay with a certain timeframe to make it easier on all of us."

"Even then, the number of dropships needed for mass migration makes it unviable."

"So you say. But you moved all of those mechs didn't you? Unlike the citizens of the Federated Suns, the Capellan people are hardy. A few weeks stuck in cramped conditions aboard the dropship is not a concern for them."

"If you want that to happen, then I also want Lyran subjects under League occupation to also be returned."

"That is not happening, period," Janos snapped off. 

"If Lyrans can't return home, then the same is true for the Capellans," Hanse replied coldly. "They will learn to be Lyran or FedSun subjects."

"... Then we are at an impasse on that subject," the primus spoke. "Let us shelve the topic for now and move on."

"Very well," Theodore agreed. "I, as the crown prince of the Draconis Combine, vote in favor of a peace treaty that retains the current occupation zones." 

"It has been noted, crown prince," the primus replied. 

"I demand reparations for the damage caused to the shipyard by the Capellan spies," Hanse interjected. 

"Hell no," William shot back.

Suffice to say, the meeting devolved from there, but this was the expected outcome for the first negotiation meeting. 

-VB-

"... You were surprisingly casual," Janos remarked when he met with both Theodore Kurita and William Liao that night. 

The three of them sat around a round table with food and drinks in front of them.

"Was I?" William hummed. "I thought I was playing the 'dismissive Capellan' role."

"Perhaps acting is not your strong suit," Theodore shrugged. 

William hummed again. 

"So what is our goal for this peace conference?" the crown prince asked. 

Janos looked at the chancellor, who looked back, before looking back at Kurita. 

"Does your father have any demands?"

He shook his head. "He told me that I had his trust."

The man looked troubled by that admission. Was there internal strain within the ruling Kuritans or was the role his father gave him too much? 

"Hmm. Then how do you two feel about a combat free trade corridor around Terra?"

Janos turned and looked at William.

"... What?"