Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One: Reactions

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One: Reactions

Tharkad, July 15th, 3031

"You're absolutely sure that Hull just hit Luthien?" Katrina Steiner asked Simon Johnson.

"Yes, I am one hundred percent certain that Hull, his Ducal Guard, and two regimental combat teams made landfall on Luthien a couple of weeks ago." Johnson replied.

Katrina opened up a drawer in her desk and gave Arthur a look. "You want some?" She asked as her husband brought out some glasses while she drew out a bottle of very expensive liquor.

"I'm not going to turn down that vintage." Johnson replied. "But I'm afraid that I'll only have a finger or two."

"Reschedule all of my appointments for the rest of the day." Katrina told her secretary via an intercom system. "I'm taking the day off."

"Thank you for the drink." Simon Johnson said as he savored the alcohol. "But I'm afraid I cannot take the remainder of the day off if I want to piece together what's going on in the Draconis Combine."

"Just make sure you get some rest." Katrina said as she raised her glass in a wave as he left her office. "Arthur, if he wasn't already happily married to Natasha, I'd have him wed to a Steiner already."

"I know." Arthur responded with a chuckle as he took a sip of some of his own liquor. "What does this mean for the Commonwealth though?"

"It means that we're probably going to be able to push further than even our best projections." She said as she gestured towards the map of the Inner Sphere on her wall. "With the 1st Marksman having taken and held Kessel against extreme odds, and the rest of our forces pushing hard we may have to actually pause our invasion in order to get our supply chains back together."

"Now, we have a bottle to finish." Katrina said as she poured more liquor into her glass. "A toast, to Mark Hull, the most magnificent and audacious bastard in the Inner Sphere."

"I'm not sure he's magnificent." Arthur chuckled, "but he would probably agree with audacious." He drank some more of his liquor. "Besides, he's the only one in Davion Space that has moved into Combine Space yet."

"He'll come back with some lostech or something." Katrina stated with a smile. "He always pulls off something strange and odd."

"That or Natasha will come back with the Combine having sworn to follow her as their Coordinator," Arthur said with a short bark of laughter. "I can see the Hull-Kerensky line taking the throne now."

"Don't even joke about that." Katrina smacked her husband on the shoulder. "Hull would never go for it anyway, he doesn't like all of the extra work."

Taurian Concordat, July 31st, 3031

"That bastard is just going to be even more smug the next time I see him." Thomas Calderon said. "We need to make sure that our orbital defenses are reinforced though." He jotted down a note. "If Hull can pull this off on Luthien, he can probably do something similar to Tharkad or New Avalon as well."

"Aren't we allies with both of them right now?" Thomas's wife asked.

"Yes, but it's better to prepare for something like this and for it to never happen, than to be shocked and surprised by it taking place on your doorstep." Thomas said. "The last time a Throneworld was attacked was in the 1st Succession War, and it wasn't on a level like this."

"Alright dear," Katherine said, "But that's something to work on tomorrow, it's past five now."

"You're right." Thomas leaned in and gave his wife a kiss. "Let's go home for the day."

Outworlds Alliance, July 31st, 3031

"Hull did what?!" Vesar Kristofur asked as he spit out some of the water he had been drinking.

"Hull made landfall earlier in this month, and managed to capture Theodore Kurita as well as the entirety of the current ruling family of the Draconis Combine." The agent reported.

"What of Marcus Kurita?" Vesar asked, "We assured him that he would have the forces for victory."

"Not a single person alive expected Hull to move on a Throneworld." The agent said bluntly. "I have our people tracking signals all over the Inner Sphere and Periphery in shock at what he just pulled off."

"You didn't answer my question." Vesar pointed out. "Is Marcus Kurita dead?"

"Yes sir, he was killed by one of the infantry commanders of Hull's personal guard according to our reports, and any of the Kuritas that were still on the planet are so far down in the line for the throne that the Combine may be warring amongst themselves for generations before they are able to have a new Coordinator." The agent handed over the reports. "I'm going to get some sleep now, I've been compiling these for the last twelve hours or so."

"Yes, make sure that you get the Analysts working on some projections for me first though." Vesar commanded. "Many of my plans just went up in smoke, it's hard to frame a hero in the Federated Suns after all."

New Avalon, August 30th, 3031

"You're absolutely certain that this is not Ian?" Hanse asked Dr. Janet Hale as he looked at the brain dead man on the medical table in front of him. 

"Yes sir, I brought more of the samples that we still had from his spinal surgery, as well as the DNA links that we found as evidence." Hale replied with Jones backing her up.

"We're not certain when the swap would have been done, but I can tell you with certainty that regardless of whether or not this is the real Ian Davion, he wasn't assassinated by us or Duke Hull." Jones chimed in.

"I believe you," Hanse said, "And most of the press are saying that Hull couldn't have done it either, but several other press areas and people have picked up the story of Hull assassinating Ian and running with it."

"Is there nothing that you can do?" Hale asked. "I mean, we have the proof right here."

"It'll take weeks to verify everything, and I can't do anything about the press." Hanse shrugged. "We have freedom of the press and speech as well, if I cracked down on them I would be no better than the late Takashi Kurita and Maximilian Liao."

"That's a very valid point sir." Dr. Hale replied.

"Jones," Hanse turned to the 2IC of Hull's intelligence network. "I want you to coordinate with Quintus Allard on this, see what you can figure out about when and how this switch would have taken place." He sighed as he looked down at the body on the bed. "We've got some excellent people, but yours are better at SIGINT and anything involving technology like this."

"Yes sir," Jones replied. "I'll send a courier with a message to Dunham and let him know about my change in assignment."

"This is a mess to be frank." Hanse said as he looked at the man and woman in front of him. "But Hull might have actually made it easier by moving on Luthien."

"How so?" Dr. Hale asked. "I'm not military or intelligence so I'm genuinely lost here."

"Right now Hull is a reigning hero who has done the impossible in the main media." Jones said "Natasha and our Duke are featured prominently as the ones who brought the Dragon down to the lowest it's ever been."

"Then how is this made easier?" Hale asked with a look of confusion on her face.

"Some of the press are pushing Hull as the latest iteration of Stefan Amaris." Hanse said, "It's mostly gossip rags trying to get a sale for now, but that could change quickly."

"Which is why we have a limited time frame in which to get everything discovered and proven before Hull is back." Jones agreed. "Now, there were plans to try and hit New Samarkand as well, but I'm not absolutely sure that they'll be followed."

"Let's hope they are, because if they manage to take out the ISF as well then they'll be able to stay in the good graces of the media for now." Hanse said. "Dr. Hale, I want you to meet with the physicians here in the Davion Palace complex as well as NAIS, they'll be able to help prove that this is indeed a fake instead of the real Ian Davion and have better equipment than the portable stuff you brought with you."

"Yes sir." Dr. Hale nodded. "I'll get right on that if someone can give me directions."

"I'll have someone escort you there directly." Hanse gestured and David Hull stepped out of the shadows to escort Dr. Hale to the location she was supposed to go to.