036. Anni Virtanen considers Rasalhague

January 2992, Kirchbach, Rasalhague Kingdom

Anni Virtanen checked the latest message from Yu Fan. Despite both of them being the 'heads' of Eggers Agriculture, the reality was that it doesn't exactly work when you were on the other side of the Commonwealth from another. With entirely different circumstances to work through.

As of right now, both were working on two different objectives, another point for having two different heads of the corporation.

In the Rasalhague Kingdom, even on worlds in the border across the Lyran Commonwealth, there were many worlds that had suffered greatly. The Combine did not treat ecological management as a priority. Extracting as much as they could, then leaving the world to die.

Ironically, Seeds of the Dragon referred to worlds that had just been conquered.

Worlds, that, in other words, would be harvested until there was nothing left.

Reinvigorating these worlds through the judicious use of healthy microbes, fertiliser and rejuvenation techniques was closer to the process of terraforming than it was to farming.

The entire process, one that had been designed in the early days of the Terran Alliance. Impregnating a soil with Terran microbes, fertilising the soul... soil. A process that had been painstakingly recovered with experimentation and effort.

It was what allowed for the growth of plants on Crippen station in the beginning.

In other words, the process of Terraforming was the process of turning each world into one that resembled Terra. Assuming of course that the weather patterns permitted it. As in, constant cycles of weather that would break down the formations of rock into boulders, into pebbles, into gravel, into soil. On other worlds, more costly, and energy-intensive methods were required, but here on a human-inhabited world? Here it was a much simpler issue.

All across the Rasalhague Kingdom, the Terraforming sites were guarded zealously. In fact, there were more guards at their sites than there were at the population centres. For all understood just how important it was that the microbe farms were kept safe, productive.

"Duchess Virtanen, the transfer is ready. Please." To her side, the aide stood politely, the trappings of Combine culture had not left them. The ravages of having their childhoods destroyed in the name of the dragon, annihilating their minds with indoctrination and propaganda.

The research in the Lyran Commonwealth had pointed rather fatalistically at the damage it was causing their youths. Long term, permanent damage on developing minds. That the Lyrans conscripted at the age of 16 had long been pointed out as a significant drain on the people, both in their future capability and productivity.

The Combine started their propaganda and indoctrination from birth, conscription or marriage with children at 15. An entire childhood lost.

Anni hated it with all her might. Living across the border, she had been brought in by Eggers General Utility to head Eggers Agriculture... and... even the relatively... lesser damage to the people in the Rasalhague Kingdom was shocking.

Notoriously independent, the people of Rasalhague had managed to at least... maintain some of their culture in the face of the Dragon... and yet.

Yet, it was hard to look at her 'experienced' workers. Looking as if they were thirty then they were actually in their early 20s. 16 hour work days from 15 or younger. The constant threat of the ISF murdering you or your neighbours as 'subversives' or just as examples to keep everyone submissive.

She had hated the Combine as a Lyran citizen.

Now? Now she hated them as a human being.

She wrenched her thoughts back to the present. The transfer was proceeding, the eighth such procedure in the last month.

Glorious victory, one might say.

"Continue with the transfer into the tanker. The shipment will be delivered to Thorson's Hollow as planned." She said simply, unable to shake the sheer... alienness of it all. The fact that these skilled professionals had to wait for her to give the orders, as if they were incompetent children. It struck her wrongly.

"Duchess Virtanen, we have confirmation that the experiment using fish faeces and the starter culture has been a success. Should we continue wide-spread distribution?"

"Yes, continue, good work."

The entire team brightened at that. Her simple praise lightening their day, again with the comparison to children.

She hated it.

In any case, the title of Duchess was... alien to her in a way. The noble title reform had gone through despite the howling of the Estates General. More because of how none had been consulted prior, a simple directive by the Archon breaching established protocol and custom.

As a result, duke or duchess was no longer the greatest title one could hold, a title that covered everything from authority just below the Archonship to that of a single holding on a single planet.

An example would be the Duke of Kelswa also being the Duke of the Tamar Pact, a collection of worlds, that included the provinces of; Trellshire, Tamar Domains, and Orkney Shire, dozens of worlds in total, each province ruled by their own dukes.

With greater distinction in rank, it had been easier to determine just who was what in this new system.

Kings for leaders of Districts, such as those of the Protectorate of Donegal, Tamar Pact, or Federation of Skye.

Archdukes ruled Provinces within a District such as the provinces of the Protectorate of Donegal; the Coventry province, Alarion Province, Bolan Province, and the District of Donegal.

The District of Skye included the Provinces of; Virginia Shire, Rahne-shire, and Isle of Skye

Grand-Dukes ruled small collections of worlds, dukes single worlds or great industrial concerns. With enough expansion, an industrial duke could become a grand-duke of industry.

Virtanen therefore, for her efforts in the Rasalhague Kingdom had been elevated to Duchess. Not a Grand-Duchess for she didn't actually own Eggers Agriculture.

That was her employer, Huu Eggers, King of Rasalhague. An announcement had been made by HPG just yesterday. There had been no Royal Court presentation or ennobling act. Just a simple HPG message, as if it were an afterthought.

It was... ad hoc and a large breach of protocol. One wondered if the Archon was slighting her employer in the manner in which he had been ennobled. Such a matter would be enough to cause a permanent rift to form between the two, possibly even leading to thoughts of secession, as with the Isle of Skye.

Worse still was the title in question.

King.

A title which gave many a raised eyebrow.

A title that essentially declared that the Archon, upon bestowing such a title, expected Huu Eggers to carve out enough worlds from the Combine to become a King in reality. A dangerous title to bestow, that much was for certain.

In the manner in which the title had been bestowed, and the position within... all of it spoke of the Archon handing someone who was escalating in power and influence... a suicide mission. Killing off a rival now, than later when they were in a position to challenge for the throne.

Something closer to the horrors of the Draconis Combine than that of the Lyran Commonwealth.

It was, in and of itself, something horrifying. The Rasalhague district was still heavily influenced by the Combine, heavily infiltrated by the ISF. Whoever was appointed King would live the rest of their lives as targets of the Combine.

Never able to rest.

Knowing that the Archon wanted you dead with the cavalier manner he had sent you off. And with the Combine wanting you dead for being the authority on their lost worlds.

The Estates General was likely howling, yet again. Those who supported her employer in the face of his seeming execution, others who cheered joyously at a potential rival being eliminated.

Anni was reminded of just how much she hated politics. Her employer had done so much good, to be rewarded with a suicide mission? Oh, how the sharks of the Commonwealth resembled their Combine counterparts at this very moment.

She had never met him, of course, but would soon... when he made his way over to either Kirchbach or Rasalhague to establish his seat of power.

Or perhaps he would choose another world.

It was not as if she could influence the decision. Not here, not now.

It would not do her any good to continue deliberating on the matter.

In any case, Anni continued to watch as the tankers were filled up with starter. A microbe rich, dense, topsoil mix. Designed to allow the microbes to flourish, even if the soil they were landing on was less than hospitable. They would be sprayed out over depleted fields, before being given a bath in nitrogen rich fertilisers and microbial enhancers.

Over time developing the soil, enriching it, creating the support network needed for crops to grow safely, with sustainability.

Billions of Kroner of research had gone into this, testing each and every possible mix until they had come upon the right one.

Within a year of its use, based on experiments across the Rasalhague Kingdom, the soil would be rejuvenated for light crop harvests.

Within two, they could be planted normally if the treatments continued.

Projected yields in year 3 were astronomical as the microbes truly made the topsoil their home and this small part of the world was brought back to life.

As it was, hundreds of millions of Kroner had been spent on loading the mix onto aircraft and spraying it across entire planetary surfaces.

While not as intensively terraformed as the agricultural plots, it would serve to inoculate the soil... and if left on its own, within the decade would guarantee the soil had been made 'Terran' like.

The process had been surprisingly simple, in truth.

The revelation that the process was in the public domain, that anyone could simply walk out of a library on Terra with it...

Well, the ancients would marvel at the foolishness of their descendants, that was quite certain. All that work to rediscover what had been sitting in a book titled 'Terraforming for Dummies'.

This last shipment was the final one for today. They did not wish to overtax the microbe farms, sustainability was key for this operation.

It was, also, coincidentally, the end of a 7 hour work day. Her employees being forced to go home.

To spend their time... not at work... at leisure.

Which had been an enormous cultural shock for them, that much was certain.

For someone of her position, the work was never ending, yet she didn't do it in the office. One had to set an example, and enjoying one's rest was just one such example.

That didn't mean to imply that she didn't find her own enjoyment in life, of course.

Listening to songs from Eggers Media, which had been spreading rather... strongly across the Rasalhague Kingdom was always nice.

The cutting edge, or rather, experimental nature of it serving as a point of pride among the Rasalhague population. Something that they were better than the Commonwealth at.

With all their leisure time now, they had been able to enjoy a greater variety of the arts. To simply sit... and think about what to enjoy.

None of which would have been possible without Eggers General Utility through Eggers Agriculture.

Honestly, it wasn't like they could use the tens of billions that had been provided to them for research and development. It's not like you can just force microbes to grow faster, after all.

Instead, what she had used the tens of billions of Kroner for was... well, one could call it charity.

She called it a future investment.

The money had been used to continue what the Combine had been doing due to their... inability to actually manage worlds properly.

Purchasing food and having it shipped to the people of Rasalhague. Ensuring that they could survive.

Whereas before the Archon had been providing the funding, albeit grudgingly... with Eggers Agriculture offering to take on the burden, it had been handed over with unseeming haste. The Archon apparently eager to refocus on his future conquests.

Yet another point to the hypothesis that he wanted her employer dead. Spending all their capital on Rasalhague, and then be killed by Rasalhague natives. Saving the Archon, the problem of dealing with Eggers General Utility and Huu Eggers in the future.

Yet, for all that the Archon might wish it were so, Anni and Marzio had been doing their best to ensure this would not be the case. Even prior to the announcement of Huu's promotion.

The people of Rasalhague were... in a very unethical way, captured by Eggers General Utility.

Eggers Construction was providing the defences with their Cradles.

Eggers Armaments with weapons factories established on every world, granting every citizen the protection of arms. Smialies and Retro-weapons coming off the line in the thousands.

Tolsand Warworks, establishing Exosuit factories on their worlds. Exosuits that could be used in civilian life, working alongside the Smialy to give the Rasalhague people all they had missed in the last 700 years.

Eggers Media with film, music, and art lauding their struggle, teaching them to think in the same manner that the propaganda and education in the Combine had done. In a much more benevolent manner, of course.

Eggers Defence Force, arming and training the militia across all their worlds to use the weapons of Eggers Armaments and Tolsand Warworks.

Eggers Education for providing the people of Rasalhague a higher education. Even though it was learning through mail, it was better than anything that they had prior. Indoctrinating them into believing the spiel that had been handed out regarding their new opportunities in life. To believe that a better life was possible.

And Agriculture... providing them the food they needed to survive.

In other words, nearly every aspect of their lives was in the hands of Eggers General Utility.

Was it any wonder then that the people were so eager to have Huu Eggers as their ruler? When he was, essentially, providing the services of leadership in the first place... was there any reason to choose another?

Anni wasn't exactly sure... just how far ahead the Boss she had never met had planned matters.

Putting her in place, focusing on Agriculture, the EDF on training missions, the Construction... everything from the foundation upwards had been planned out.

She had heard rumours of his monstrous foresight. That it had come true in such a way? Predicting even the Archon?

Monstrous.

On the other side of the Lyran Commonwealth, a similar story was emerging. Duchess Yu Fan speaking of how they were nearly becoming the defacto leadership in some of the more remote and primitive periphery worlds.

Hopefully, the Kings or Archduke/duchesses would do their job and take control of the situation. That an agricultural company had more influence than the ruling family... was just a little embarrassing in Anni's opinion.

Settling down in her room after a day of supervision. No manual labour today, Anni took a deep breath and sighed. There was the matter of the other worlds in the Rasalhague Kingdom that needed handling, but she could see to those after a brief break.

The largest media project of Eggers Media had been released. Settling down into her room, joined by her honour guard. An expected accompaniment of being a duke... as well as a necessity as decided by Eggers Defence Force. The Defence Force personnel took up positions around the room.

One could never be too careful, especially when the ISF would be doing their very best to kill off the closest thing Eggers General Utility had to a representative in the Rasalhague Kingdom. At least before the Boss arrived.

"The Farmer, a tale of Rasalhague, 2992"

The overly long name, a necessity given just how many other movies had been titled 'The Farmer' in the last 1000 years.

Even the date alone wouldn't be enough, given how common the name was.

In any case, she settled down in the couch, her guards half focused on the movie, half on keeping her alive.

The tale washed over her gently.

What a... beautiful propaganda piece.

A retired warrior sitting on his farm, tilling the soil with a repurposed war-mech. Trying to make a living.

Only to take up arms again because he absolutely had to.

Because the world could not allow him to retire peacefully.

Fighting against the Combine, not out of a grand purpose or crusade, but because he wanted to defend his people.

Immediately dropping his metaphorical sword for a plough immediately after.

Was there anything that would appeal more to the Rasalhague peoples?

When most of their Mechwarriors retired from the Rasalhague regulars after a mere 2-3 years of service because of the nigh-constant ISF observation and intrusions? When every aspect of their lives were suspect because of the mere location of their birth?

Retiring to get out...

Wanting to get away from that life.

There were thousands of Mechwarriors in the Rasalhague Kingdom that were, themselves, representative of the Combine's exclusionary policies. Unable to truly see themselves as Combine, defining themselves by their local communities because of the constant discrimination.

By establishing it was the local, and not the Combine that owned their loyalty... in such a beautiful way. Anni shook her head, there would be school assignments on this movie, killing any desire to watch it again by generations of children. That much was certain.

All set to a song that touched her heart.

Anni shook her head, this must have been in production for months. Before the Archon had likely even thought of making him King.

Even if he hadn't been elevated in rank, he was doing all he could to help the Rasalhague people.

This was why she was loyal, despite having never met him.

~Never gonna give you up~

The great humanitarian.

~Never gonna let you down~

Huu Eggers

~Never gonna run around and desert you~

Still... what foresight, insidious in how it made you second guess yourself.

~Never gonna make you cry~