B54

Once again I made my way over to the Herring Club, this time to speak with Hertig Knute Fraga of Kirchbach. I was ushered not to the bar this time but to a booth in the rear of the restaurant where the bearded form of Hertig Fraga was already seated and eating Köttsoppa, a type of soup with beef and root vegetables. He also has a glass of Akavit that he was occasionally sipping on.

"You started without me?" I questioned as I walked up.

"I did. I don't imagine this will take long, so I didn't believe it necessary to wait." Answered Hertig Fraga.

"Oh? You don't care to hear my pitch?" I questioned.

"It's not that, I just have a few questions." Refuted Hertig Fraga.

"Ask away." I agreed.

"First off, what will you be doing to safeguard the Principality against its foes?" Asked Hertig Fraga as I slid into the booth opposite him.

"As you know, I have an army of my own, not dependent on the Principality that I can send to bolster the KungsArmé." I began.

"So I understand, but how large could such a force truly be? I know your realm to be powerful for a Periphery Realm, but it is still just that. A Periphery Realm." Frowned Hertig Fraga.

"Currently we have Seventeen Regiments and Three Aerospace Flotillas, and are working our way towards thirty-seven Regiments and Four Aerospace Flotillas." I responded.

"I see. And when do you believe you will have all those mustered?" Questioned Hertig Fraga.

"Eight Years for full readiness." I informed.

"Coinciding with the KungsArmé's own equipping at your hands. I see you've put a decent amount of thought into this." Mused Hertig Fraga.

"If you're going to do anything, do it well." I shrugged.

"A good sentiment. What of the economy? I know you promised to undertake the ComStar Loans in your capacity as Grand Duke of New Ålborg and have promised to work with GKT Enterprises for Licenses, but I have my own economic concerns." Queried Hertig Fraga.

"Swedenborg Heavy Industries, yes?" I asked.

"You've done your homework." Nodded Hertig Fraga.

"Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance, my Lord. I can offer investment in Swedenborg Heavy Industries and negotiate licenses with you." I offered.

"Are you not worried about spreading yourself thin?" Questioned Hertig Fraga.

"If I'm being Frank, my Lord, the C-Bills I am making off trade with the Lyrans alone will more than cover the costs of investment, and I also have gained interest from the Outworlds Alliance in my Aerospace Fighters and Dropships, plus the Federated Suns have begun sniffing around. Honestly, I have more orders for equipment than I can produce. If Swedenborg wishes to pick up the slack, then Swedenborg can reap the profits." I remarked.

"You would propose a partnership, then?" Queried Hertig Fraga.

"One of equals, at least so far as Mech Production is concerned. I am not the Combine or their Zaibatsu. I will not seek to aggrandize myself at the expense of my partners." I insisted.

"It is intriguing. I assume we would gain access to your Mech designs by necessity?" Asked Hertig Fraga.

"Of course. Partnership means partnership, after all." I affirmed.

"Now that is something that interests me very much. Consider my concerns allayed." Nodded Hertig Fraga.

"So I have your support and those of your bloc?" I questioned.

"You do. I think we should drink on it, don't you?" Queried Hertig Fraga.

"Of course, My Lord." I grinned, knowing I had his votes.

"Do you drink Akavit? If not, you should start. If you plan to be Prince of Rasalhague, that is." Asked Hertig Fraga.

"I prefer Krupnik, but I have been known to indulge in Akavit from time to time." I confirmed.

"Krupnik is a bit sweet for my taste." Mused Hertig Fraga.

"It is made from Honey, after all." I pointed out.

Hertig Fraga flagged down a waiter and had him bring over another glass of Akavit for me. The clear, brownish-yellow, liquid was poured and I hefted my glass in a toast. Hertig Fraga did the same and together we drank a toast to our success and the success of the Principality. The caraway taste of the Liquor wasn't my normal preference, a bit too bitter for my taste, but when in Rome, you did as the Romans did and when talking with the Ruler of Kirchbach, you did as they did on Kirchbach.

The meeting didn't last too much longer, though I was just about able to order a steak before Hertig Fraga had to leave on other business. Apparently, he had a meeting to go to with Taoiseach Conlan of The Edge about the purchase of a number of industrial machines for a satellite factory Swedenborg Heavy Industries was supposed to be opening in the next few months. I wished him good luck in his negotiations and then he excused himself.

As I ate my steak, I reflected that with Hertig Fraga's fourteen votes in hand, that put me at Seventy-Five Votes for Prince. I was in spitting distance of securing the Throne of Rasalhague now. Of course, two of those fourteen votes had already gone to me in earlier voting rounds, with the remaining twelve having gone to Haakon Magnusson. Swaying those twelve meant I only needed seventeen more to cinch the nomination. I would set up a meeting with Vévoda Kolowrat for after tomorrow's session of the Regentskapsråd to try and sway his block. With his twenty-three votes, I would effectively have the nomination beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Of course, given how things had already been split, I was likely only going to gain some of those twenty-three votes, around six already were voting for me. The other seventeen had voted for Haakon Magnusson. It would still be enough to cinch the nomination. The weakness in Theodore Kurita's latest bout of strategy had become clear, Haakon Magnusson may be voting for the Combine's interests thanks to Theodore convincing him the Combine was the only choice, but those who had voted for him weren't as firmly set and could be swayed, undermining the combining of Haakon Magnusson's votes with the Comte de Rochefort's votes to my benefit.

Theodore was more subtle than his father, but that didn't mean much when his stratagems hadn't been fully honed. I'd imagine in an environment like the Combine, Theodore hadn't had much chance to play these sorts of skullduggery games against someone who was as good or better than he was at them. It would be considered a loss of face for the heir apparent of the Coordinator to engage in such dishonorable acts, after all. He'd likely not had too much practice at it. Certainly not enough to beat me when my strategy had been helped along by someone of Minister Simowitz's caliber.

As I finished my steak and paid the bill, I idly wondered what the Combine would try next. Would Theodore attempt another political play or economic ploy? Would he jump to sending in the Ninjas to assassinate me? I had no idea, but figured that I would find out soon enough. I had no idea how right I was about that.

It happened in the dead of night as I was asleep in the townhouse I had purchased for myself during my stay in Reykjavik. One moment, I was asleep, the next I was being awoken by the sounds of a scuffle in the hallway outside my bedroom. Immediately, I reached for the Laser Pistol on my Nightstand. It was one of the Buccaneer Arms Marlinspike Models we had just begun manufacturing as a sidearm for Officers, Aerospace Fighter Pilots, and Mechwarriors, an ER Laser Pistol.

No sooner had I grabbed the pistol, than the door to my bedroom opened with a beep and click as someone bypassed the electronic lock. In crept a man garbed entirely in a black sneaksuit complete with opaque faceplate. He had a dart pistol in one hand and a subgun in the other. On his back was sheathed a monoblade Ninjato. As he entered, seeing I had my pistol, he raised his subgun to fire. I was faster on the draw, though and my Marlinspike let out a crack. A red beam spat out with an accompanying smell of ozone and lanced through the Kevlar of his sneaksuit like it wasn't there, burning into the Shinobi's chest. As he died, he let off a three-round burst of his subgun that chattered into the wall behind me and to my right.

That seemed to wake the Guards that were off duty and I made my way in my underwear over to the door, peaking out to see Agent Novak leading a quartet of guards into the hallway against two more sneaksuited Shinobi. Two guards lay slumped against the wall with poison darts sticking out of their necks, letting me know exactly what the commotion that had woken me up had been. Apparently, the Shinobi team had darted both of them to maintain enough silence to reach their target, which was apparently me.

As the remaining Shinobi let out a pair of long bursts with their own subguns, forcing Agent Novak and company to duck back around the corner, I kicked open the bedroom door and fired my Marlinspike into the back of one of the Shinobi. He let out a strangled scream and dropped to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut. The other Shinobi turned to fire a burst at me from his subgun, but I was already popping back behind the barrier that was the Ferro-aluminum security door to my bedroom. The bullets hit the door and failed to penetrate. There was a series of hissing cracks as laser weapons discharged in the hallway, and when I opened the door again, the last Shinobi had been shot to pieces by Agent Novak and his men.

"My Lord, are you all right?" Demanded Agent Novak.

"I'm unharmed. That's more than I can say for the two guards on duty at my bedroom door." I informed.

"Stick close to me, My Lord. Judging by the sneaksuits, these were members of a DEST Strike Force. There may be others on the grounds." Commanded Agent Novak.

"I see. In that case, have your men begin an active search using our sensors and not the Inner Sphere ones. They should be able to pick up any other DEST Strike Team Members through the interference of their sneaksuits." I ordered.

"Of course, My Lord. If any others are hiding around here, we'll find them. For now, please come with me to the panic room." Nodded Agent Novak.

I followed him to the Panic Room, a room fortified with Ferro-Aluminium and all sorts of Star League-derived sensors that we had brought with us from New Ålborg. Another team of guards kept watch from the Panic Room and Agent Novak had me wait there under their care while he directed the search. Over the course of the next hour, his Guard Teams ferreted out three more DEST Shinobi, one of which was shot while hiding, another shot while attempting to escape and the last swallowed a poison tooth to prevent capture.

By the time everything was over, I could confidently say I had my answer to my previous question. Theodore's next move had been to emulate his father and jump straight to assassination after his prior political and economic gambits had failed. His DEST Shinobi team had gotten far enough to take literal shots at me, which was a testament to their training. However, this could potentially turn out to my benefit.

After all, if the Combine wanted me dead, then surely I was doing something that was bad for their interests. Being bad for the Combine's Interests was something that the overwhelming majority of the Regentskapsråd could get behind. If I played this right, that would translate into the votes I needed to cinch the throne of the Principality. It would all come down to how I played it in tomorrow's session of the Regentskapsråd. It was all very ironic, in trying to silence me as an opponent, Theodore Kurita may have just given me the ammunition I needed to win the throne.

We'd find out whether or not the votes I could sway using this would be enough in the morning. In the meantime, I slept the rest of the evening in the panic room, just in case. When morning came, Agent Novak declared the all-clear and I showered and dressed to head to the Regentskapsråd for the day.

It was time to see what hay could be made out of this. . .

XXXX

AN: The next chapter is already up on my Patreon, so check the link in the threadmarked post if you guys feel like throwing me a couple bucks to get chapters in advance. Everyone who does is super appreciated and I can't thank my patrons enough.

All right, so here's the next chapter. Not only did Jozef manage to sway Hertig Fraga to his side, but Theodore Kurita actually sent the Ninjas after him since his prior gambits weren't doing the trick. Fortunately, Jozef isn't your average Inner Sphere Noble and was able to hold his own long enough for Agent Novak to show up and get him to the Panic Room. Now he's going to be trying to use the fact that the Combine tried to silence him to get more votes. That sort of thing has worked in the past, after all.

A Note on DEST and the seeming inability of Jozef's Security to stop them. DEST are literal Ninjas, they have some of the best training of any Black Ops in the Sphere, at least insofar as infiltration and assassination goes. They also have sneaksuits that baffle sensors, and Jozef only has so many of his own Star League-derived Sensors with him. They haven't been fully integrated into the Reykjavik Townhouse yet. DEST exploited that to get their shot at Jozef.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the next Regentskapsråd session, where we'll see just how much hay Jozef can make out of the assassination attempt on him.

Stay tuned. . .