A Matter of a Proper Reward for Services Rendered IV
Yellowhammer
Well-known member
A Matter of Proper Reward for Services Rendered IV
(A Welcome to the Jungle canon sidestory)
The Triad, Tharkad City, Bremen, Tharkad, Tharkad System,
Protectorate of Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth
February 18th, 3016
Julia Steiner applauded politely as she watched Alistair get ennobled as Duke of Catachan. If she was honest with herself, it was a bittersweet moment for her. He certainly did deserve the rank and status for all that he had done for the Lyran Commonwealth, especially House Steiner.
But the title of nobility was also sending a good man out to get paraded in front of her fellow nobles as a potential patsy or target in their schemes. While some politics was a necessary evil, it was in her opinion far more evil than necessary.
She sighed inaudibly behind her cool mask and then took a glass of Palos champagne from one of the waiters circulating around the Royal Court. After a sip of champagne, she then smiled at her classmate (and fellow noblewoman) Baroness Yasmine Kochhar from Chahar. “So Yas, you mentioned that Dobless Information Services finally expanded that new data center in Benares?”
The chocolate-skinned Hindi woman nodded, fire opals gleaming from the ornate embroidering of her sari. “Indeed, which is good news. Grandfather has been speaking to Trellshire Heavy Industries about building a feeder plant for munitions and artillery. Unfortunately, it seems that the Duke of Blue Hole has the same ideas to influence THI’s board of directors and the politics have been challenging. Perhaps you and your Duke Weber could look our way when his company expands off Catachan?”
Julia nibbled her lip. “I’ll see what I can do but he’s already fairly tapped out for the moment, Yas. I can introduce you to him at least since you have those ties to Dobless. He could use a good data archivist in his service, if nothing else and Dobless has the largest data library in the Commonwealth.” She then winked and spoke in a teasing tone. “Especially since you are happily married and so ‘safe’ for him to meet. I remember you marrying Baron Tobiason of Dobless, after all.”
Yasmine giggled. “You caught the bouquet too as my bridesmaid! How can I forget that?!”
“Well, it turns out that I may be in luck for redeeming that bouquet toss. Duke Weber’s a man of very high character and quite a skilled Mechwarrior. He didn’t mind me bagging a few of his targets to make ‘Mech Ace on Sevren against the Rasalhague Regulars. Didn’t mind very much, at least.” Julia grinned, then glanced over at a familiar dark skinned face heading toward her charge. “I’ll need to talk to Duke Brewer soon, Yas. Will you be on planet this week?”
Yasmine nodded. “For the next two weeks. I’m staying at the family’s townhouse.”
Julia nodded. “I’m keeping an eye on Weber at the Mjolnir hotel. I’ll give you a call and set up a lunch date to touch base and maybe drag him along to talk business. Auf Wiedersehen!”
With that she said her goodbyes and moved into an intercept course with Duke Greydon Brewer. Julia deftly interposed herself behind a lady he was speaking about some industrial matter or the other before they exchanged polite excuses to depart one another’s presence. She then gave a formal greeting, a slight curtsey to her social superior. After all, she was a Countess approaching one of the most powerful Dukes in the Commonwealth. “Ahh, it’s good to see you again, Duke Brewer! I heard you were attending today. May I help you?”
The dark-skinned businessman nodded to her. “Julia. Your mother informed me of your current posting when we spoke earlier.”
Julia blushed slightly. “I’ll check in with Mother at the earliest possible. Right now, I’m playing wingman for my charge.” She nodded at Alistair Weber as he spoke to a crowd of courtiers, who Julia had rapidly assessed as relatively harmless small fry in Court circles.
Duke Brewer chuckled a moment as he glanced toward the young man who had just been made a planetary Duke. “Indeed. I wish to speak to him about some strategic partnerships before I need to attend my other duties tonight.” Brewer leaned in. “Your recommendations, Julia?”
Julia spoke slowly. “Alistair, Duke Weber rather is a blunt man, a soldier and not a politician. The kind of Mechwarrior that gets his hands dirty helping his Techs because the more he knows about his machine, or his business, the better he is as a commander of it. He’s earnest, and forthright. You shouldn’t need to beat around the bush with him.”
Brewer chuckled. “Ahh, one of those. I can work with this. I must ask, the new Thunderbolt is as good as advertised?”
Julia grinned happily. “The Thunderbolt refit is better than advertised honestly, it’s actually a sweeter ride than my old Zeus in some regards, especially with the Vindicator autocannon. Asgard has the report on it that I prepared for them. Of course I also dropped off copies of the BattleROMs from Sevren for their files. He’s got a strategic partnership with Olivetti to assist them with building more T-bolts, along with some additional parts that will go into their Warhammer lines once they finish getting things organized on their end. He’s not going to stab them in the back, especially not since they helped him get Catachan off the ground. That said, you know about the Banshee mods that he did?”
Brewer nodded slowly. “I reviewed the footage that you dropped off. Those are seriously mean beasts. A definite step up from the -3Es we turn out and we could use more of them.”
“Well, I’m of the understanding that his contract with Olivetti doesn’t cover Banshees….” Julia commented while they watched Alistair Weber handle his first taste of Court life.
Julia smiled inwardly as she watched Duke Brewer escort her charge to the corridor containing the secure conference rooms where the real negotiations of Court got done.
The smile vanished as a servant bowed to her. “Grafin Steiner, your presence is requested.”
Julia nodded regally to him. “Lead on then.”
The trip through the maze of richly decorated opulent halls ended at another private room. Julia stepped inside and her eyes widened.
Waiting for her was her mother Iris Steiner who was dressed in a pastel blue Prada watered silk dress cut in a pseudo-military line. A matched set of flawless diamonds glittered at her throat, fingers, and ears as she turned from speaking to her husband. A color much lighter than the controlled frost of her demeanor when she inspected Julia, eyes sweeping her up and down as if assessing her before she allowed a small nod and smile of greeting to pass between them.
Anthony Steiner, Julia’s father, who looked like the professor of history that he was with his wire-rimmed glasses, wool suit coat, and receding hairline, gave her a proud smile. He was more restrained in her mother’s presence then the usual hug he would have enveloped her in.
To one side, her thirteen year old brother Caesar looked up from the tray of pralines that he was working through like an AgroMech through a wheat field.
“Hey Jules!” Caesar mumbled around a trio of chocolates stuffed in his mouth, causing his round cheeks to bulge out like a chipmunk’s.
“Hello Mother, Father!” Julia then turned to her pig of a younger brother and gave him a flat stare as she sighed inwardly, assuming the role that she had been groomed to play to satisfy her demanding parents. “Caesar. Veni, vidi, vici agitantibus?”
Caesar gave her a dirty look as her father chuckled at her plagiarizing a quote from her brother's namesake while he walked over to her. “It’s good to see that you have been keeping up on your Latin studies. It’s even better to see you safely home from Sevren, Julia.“ Anthony hugged her which Julie eagerly returned before he released her.
Iris walked over and hugged her daughter in turn. “Yes it is good to see you again, dear. Katrina spoke to me about your new assignment and I’m in full agreement with her on the point. I’d like to meet your Mr. Weber at the earliest moment to take his measure first, though.”
Julia gave her parents a smile. “I’ll make it happen once Duke Brewer gets done with him and I link back up. Thank you again for sending some of your jewelry for me to wear for the role here on Tharkad.” She touched the necklace. “So, is there anything I should be aware of?”
Iris nodded sharply to her husband, giving him his marching orders to guide Caesar back to the buffet line so the Steiner ladies could get to serious work. “Yes, Julia. Aldo Lestrade arrived for this session of court with his niece Lucrezia. They took Cousin Frederick’s dropship to Tharkad. Also Duke Mallos from Mizar came along with them and brought his daughters Anika and Malia Mallos.”
Julia sighed at the announcement that three of the strongest supporters of Free Skye would be present tonight. Worse, two of them had brought unmarried female relatives. “Blake’s Blood!”
(A Welcome to the Jungle canon sidestory)
The Triad, Tharkad City, Bremen, Tharkad, Tharkad System,
Protectorate of Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth
February 18th, 3016
Julia Steiner applauded politely as she watched Alistair get ennobled as Duke of Catachan. If she was honest with herself, it was a bittersweet moment for her. He certainly did deserve the rank and status for all that he had done for the Lyran Commonwealth, especially House Steiner.
But the title of nobility was also sending a good man out to get paraded in front of her fellow nobles as a potential patsy or target in their schemes. While some politics was a necessary evil, it was in her opinion far more evil than necessary.
She sighed inaudibly behind her cool mask and then took a glass of Palos champagne from one of the waiters circulating around the Royal Court. After a sip of champagne, she then smiled at her classmate (and fellow noblewoman) Baroness Yasmine Kochhar from Chahar. “So Yas, you mentioned that Dobless Information Services finally expanded that new data center in Benares?”
The chocolate-skinned Hindi woman nodded, fire opals gleaming from the ornate embroidering of her sari. “Indeed, which is good news. Grandfather has been speaking to Trellshire Heavy Industries about building a feeder plant for munitions and artillery. Unfortunately, it seems that the Duke of Blue Hole has the same ideas to influence THI’s board of directors and the politics have been challenging. Perhaps you and your Duke Weber could look our way when his company expands off Catachan?”
Julia nibbled her lip. “I’ll see what I can do but he’s already fairly tapped out for the moment, Yas. I can introduce you to him at least since you have those ties to Dobless. He could use a good data archivist in his service, if nothing else and Dobless has the largest data library in the Commonwealth.” She then winked and spoke in a teasing tone. “Especially since you are happily married and so ‘safe’ for him to meet. I remember you marrying Baron Tobiason of Dobless, after all.”
Yasmine giggled. “You caught the bouquet too as my bridesmaid! How can I forget that?!”
“Well, it turns out that I may be in luck for redeeming that bouquet toss. Duke Weber’s a man of very high character and quite a skilled Mechwarrior. He didn’t mind me bagging a few of his targets to make ‘Mech Ace on Sevren against the Rasalhague Regulars. Didn’t mind very much, at least.” Julia grinned, then glanced over at a familiar dark skinned face heading toward her charge. “I’ll need to talk to Duke Brewer soon, Yas. Will you be on planet this week?”
Yasmine nodded. “For the next two weeks. I’m staying at the family’s townhouse.”
Julia nodded. “I’m keeping an eye on Weber at the Mjolnir hotel. I’ll give you a call and set up a lunch date to touch base and maybe drag him along to talk business. Auf Wiedersehen!”
With that she said her goodbyes and moved into an intercept course with Duke Greydon Brewer. Julia deftly interposed herself behind a lady he was speaking about some industrial matter or the other before they exchanged polite excuses to depart one another’s presence. She then gave a formal greeting, a slight curtsey to her social superior. After all, she was a Countess approaching one of the most powerful Dukes in the Commonwealth. “Ahh, it’s good to see you again, Duke Brewer! I heard you were attending today. May I help you?”
The dark-skinned businessman nodded to her. “Julia. Your mother informed me of your current posting when we spoke earlier.”
Julia blushed slightly. “I’ll check in with Mother at the earliest possible. Right now, I’m playing wingman for my charge.” She nodded at Alistair Weber as he spoke to a crowd of courtiers, who Julia had rapidly assessed as relatively harmless small fry in Court circles.
Duke Brewer chuckled a moment as he glanced toward the young man who had just been made a planetary Duke. “Indeed. I wish to speak to him about some strategic partnerships before I need to attend my other duties tonight.” Brewer leaned in. “Your recommendations, Julia?”
Julia spoke slowly. “Alistair, Duke Weber rather is a blunt man, a soldier and not a politician. The kind of Mechwarrior that gets his hands dirty helping his Techs because the more he knows about his machine, or his business, the better he is as a commander of it. He’s earnest, and forthright. You shouldn’t need to beat around the bush with him.”
Brewer chuckled. “Ahh, one of those. I can work with this. I must ask, the new Thunderbolt is as good as advertised?”
Julia grinned happily. “The Thunderbolt refit is better than advertised honestly, it’s actually a sweeter ride than my old Zeus in some regards, especially with the Vindicator autocannon. Asgard has the report on it that I prepared for them. Of course I also dropped off copies of the BattleROMs from Sevren for their files. He’s got a strategic partnership with Olivetti to assist them with building more T-bolts, along with some additional parts that will go into their Warhammer lines once they finish getting things organized on their end. He’s not going to stab them in the back, especially not since they helped him get Catachan off the ground. That said, you know about the Banshee mods that he did?”
Brewer nodded slowly. “I reviewed the footage that you dropped off. Those are seriously mean beasts. A definite step up from the -3Es we turn out and we could use more of them.”
“Well, I’m of the understanding that his contract with Olivetti doesn’t cover Banshees….” Julia commented while they watched Alistair Weber handle his first taste of Court life.
--------------------------------------
Julia smiled inwardly as she watched Duke Brewer escort her charge to the corridor containing the secure conference rooms where the real negotiations of Court got done.
The smile vanished as a servant bowed to her. “Grafin Steiner, your presence is requested.”
Julia nodded regally to him. “Lead on then.”
The trip through the maze of richly decorated opulent halls ended at another private room. Julia stepped inside and her eyes widened.
Waiting for her was her mother Iris Steiner who was dressed in a pastel blue Prada watered silk dress cut in a pseudo-military line. A matched set of flawless diamonds glittered at her throat, fingers, and ears as she turned from speaking to her husband. A color much lighter than the controlled frost of her demeanor when she inspected Julia, eyes sweeping her up and down as if assessing her before she allowed a small nod and smile of greeting to pass between them.
Anthony Steiner, Julia’s father, who looked like the professor of history that he was with his wire-rimmed glasses, wool suit coat, and receding hairline, gave her a proud smile. He was more restrained in her mother’s presence then the usual hug he would have enveloped her in.
To one side, her thirteen year old brother Caesar looked up from the tray of pralines that he was working through like an AgroMech through a wheat field.
“Hey Jules!” Caesar mumbled around a trio of chocolates stuffed in his mouth, causing his round cheeks to bulge out like a chipmunk’s.
“Hello Mother, Father!” Julia then turned to her pig of a younger brother and gave him a flat stare as she sighed inwardly, assuming the role that she had been groomed to play to satisfy her demanding parents. “Caesar. Veni, vidi, vici agitantibus?”
Caesar gave her a dirty look as her father chuckled at her plagiarizing a quote from her brother's namesake while he walked over to her. “It’s good to see that you have been keeping up on your Latin studies. It’s even better to see you safely home from Sevren, Julia.“ Anthony hugged her which Julie eagerly returned before he released her.
Iris walked over and hugged her daughter in turn. “Yes it is good to see you again, dear. Katrina spoke to me about your new assignment and I’m in full agreement with her on the point. I’d like to meet your Mr. Weber at the earliest moment to take his measure first, though.”
Julia gave her parents a smile. “I’ll make it happen once Duke Brewer gets done with him and I link back up. Thank you again for sending some of your jewelry for me to wear for the role here on Tharkad.” She touched the necklace. “So, is there anything I should be aware of?”
Iris nodded sharply to her husband, giving him his marching orders to guide Caesar back to the buffet line so the Steiner ladies could get to serious work. “Yes, Julia. Aldo Lestrade arrived for this session of court with his niece Lucrezia. They took Cousin Frederick’s dropship to Tharkad. Also Duke Mallos from Mizar came along with them and brought his daughters Anika and Malia Mallos.”
Julia sighed at the announcement that three of the strongest supporters of Free Skye would be present tonight. Worse, two of them had brought unmarried female relatives. “Blake’s Blood!”
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