Henry considered letting them go. But if any of them managed to get the data on those damned implants back to the League… "Vidia, put me on, general hail."
"Yes, sir. I've got ya broadcastin'."
"Attention surviving League vessels. I can't allow you to depart the system right now. If you surrender and power down, I can promise fair treatment and, if you so choose, repatriation. If you continue to run, we'll be forced to pursue and disable you, and that will cause you further loss of life." Oh Lord, please. Move their hearts.
For several seconds, the ships continued to flee. The independent fleet came about to pursue, firing as they did. One of the red blips, a destroyer, vanished, a casualty of a Trinidad Station vessel's missiles. The other ships all started to slow.
Vidia spoke. "General transmission, sir."
A voice crackled over the line. "This is the LS Pollitt. I am Commander Luang Chen-Wu. We accept surrender. Please hold your fire."
"Send to all ships, hold fire," Henry ordered. "All ships hold fire. Assume positions around surrendered enemy vessels and begin S&R operations immediately." He turned to Vidia. "Let Captain Chagger know we're going to need the Majha's holds very soon."
"Tellin' her now."
The need for the Majha aside, Henry was half-worried the more aggressive captains, especially the Tokarevs, would refuse to stop. He was grateful to see his worries were unneeded as their vessels immediately obeyed the ceasefire. Various ships burned into position to surround the surrendering League craft.
We've done it. Thank the Lord, we've done it. After the hours of tense space combat, Henry let out a sigh of relief and wiped at the sweat pooling on his forehead.
Now all that remained was Thyssenbourg itself, and Director Rigault.
49
Antoine Rigault's world was falling apart, and nothing he could do would stop that.
Behind him, General Rousseau was busy trying to do something to reform their lines. The rebels were through their lines in two places and levering them from other defensive positions protecting the city center. The map showed the wide breakthrough made. Minute by minute, it expanded as corporate forces either fled from entrapment or surrendered upon being surrounded.
I was so close. His face twitched with fury. So close.
His last hope now faded in space, as the last League warship submitted to the arriving fleet. The surviving League troop transports were out of position. Their captains were landing elsewhere to avoid the destroyers still in orbit. If we could hold the capital, I would prefer this. Let them secure our other districts. But any success they have will be meaningless now.
I was going to be an Emperor. The thought went through his mind, vexing him, like a broken tooth he couldn't help but rub his tongue against despite the pain. Everything was set for his victory. A subdued, servile Hestia. Kepper eliminating rivals for power in the HBC and the company itself. His ships compelling favorable contracts and trade deals, destroying pirates, running that damnable Lou's fleets out of Neutral Space. Rigault Heavy Industries would've become the Rigault Empire, and he would bring order and stability to these worlds.
The minutes became another half hour, then a full one. The enemy fleet was returning to orbit. They were unnecessary; the corporate forces in the city center had already broken under the enemy attack. Their last local operational reserve was spent in the failed spoiling attack.
"Director." Rousseau's voice broke through his cold fury, winning his attention. "Enemy columns are already advancing up Tinsdale Avenue. Our barricades at the Republic Plaza have failed and another column is on Rigault Boulevard. The Council is preparing to flee the city. We should join them."
"Do so, if you wish." He slumped into a chair, sullen in defeat. "There is no point in me joining you. We've lost."
"There are possibilities. If we can escape the city and link up with other forces in the countryside, we could remain a force in being until reinforcements arrive from other worlds."
"Reinforcements." Antoine laughed bitterly. "My cruisers are the enemy's now. They will massacre any reinforcements that come."
"Surely there are other options. Other worlds that might support us, that will be hostile to Lusitania and Trinidad Station so blatantly supporting the rebels. We could still win—"
"I can't!"
Antoine's angry roar echoed in the room, drawing the attention of every officer.
Rousseau's expression turned blank. "Director?"
"Do you think I give a damn about those cowardly businessmen?!" Antoine's voice trembled with rage. "They have no vision! They have nothing but their piles of wealth, and that's all they care about!" His voice lowered, as if his rage was spent, but no, it merely smoldered, like a caldera building to another furious explosion. "I had more in mind than stocks and profit margins, I had a vision, Rousseau, a vision of real power. The kind of power that stamps itself on human memory! That's what it was all for! Not for Rigault's asset reports, but for a House of Rigault to rise and rule!" He clenched a fist. "An Empire that would echo through memory forever! That was my goal. That is why I built my fleet; that is what I spent every damn centime my family has." Fierce tears formed in his non-mechanical eye. "And I've lost it all. Lost it because my cowardly cousin and those accountants and managers were more interested in public relations, and a damn amnesty! I should have shot Tia Nguyen when I had the chance! But now…"
…now, it was over. He'd survived all this, survived the battles of the last revolution, survived that Hestian bitch shooting him in the head with his own pistol, crawled his way up the ranks regardless with the power of vision, and it was all for nothing. His dreams were ash.
He continued after a brief pause. "...now it doesn't matter. The Council? They're not going to escape this world, and Nguyen will shoot every one of them." Antoine gestured to the holotank. "With that fleet, with my cruisers, she can defy the corps for a long time." He laughed bitterly. "And it's all irrelevant to my family. Our stock prices will collapse. Sagittarius will learn we're nearly bankrupt. The family company is doomed. I don't care to save the others. Let them all hang."
Rousseau swallowed. "Director, are you ordering me to surrender?"
"I'm ordering you to go to Hell, General." Antoine slumped into a chair at the main table. "I don't care what route you take."
There was an answer, but he didn't care to hear it. He didn't care at all.
Not even when Rousseau broadcast the surrender of the city.
* * *
A command vehicle bore Tia, Sarno, and their immediate commanders and staff through the battlefield of Thyssenbourg. Already Tia could see the people from the slums moving through the streets. The surrender meant an end to the fighting, but that didn't mean an end to trouble. Some of my people will want to take from the corporate stores, she thought. Others will want revenge, like Quan.
The Tia Nguyen who fought her way into that department store sixteen years ago would be thinking the same thing. She'd want goods to send to her parents and siblings, goods they'd never be allowed to even buy since company scrip couldn't purchase off-world luxuries like that, only proper currency. She'd want to send food items back until the revolutionary government got the supply chains going again, and the farms expanded. And she wouldn't give a single damn if she paid properly for any of them. No, we'd have all looted these places bare.
Not that she didn't plan on distributing the food and some of the goods. She had a lot of changes in mind, in fact. But allowing looting to begin would only bring chaos, and undermine their legitimacy immediately.
As they passed Thanh Memorial Park, they found a more recent battle. The bodies still lay in the streets in various stages of damage. Tia watched Sarno quietly sign a cross again and mumble a prayer at the sight of the bodies. White urban camo-clad Sisters, mercs with a grayer urban camo suit, Hestians in civilian clothes or tactical suits bearing the armband of the liberation forces… they remained in place, yet unattended.
"The casualties are in
the thousands," noted Colonel Rochefort. The Nouveaux Gascon man represented Lou's mercenaries. His English was not so thickly accented as Tia expected. "On both sides. So far, we've accounted for about three hundred dead Sisters, fifteen hundred dead among the associated forces, and about the same in your forces, Chairwoman."
"There will be more," Tia said quietly.
"Yes."
All of those dead. Her mind returned to the hollowed out department store. To her dead comrades. Her martyred uncle. She felt like a stone was crushing her chest. I have to make it worth it all.
Their vehicles pulled up to the Hestian Security Force's HQ building. It was a twenty-story structure in the Government District, on the border of the Financial and Commercial Districts as well. She found it a fitting symbol for how the megacorps controlled things. Outside, troops already had captives lined up and disarmed.
Yanik walked up as they dismounted. "You will want to see this," he said to her.
She couldn't help but notice a few wounds on him. "You should go see a medic," she urged.
"I will, when this is done and you are safe. But for now, I am your protection."
The look on his face made it clear she would not convince him to leave. "Lead on, then, Yanik."
A couple of armed Hestian revolutionaries joined the group in entering the building. An armed Sister was waiting at the elevator with a key card. She swiped it before touching a button.
The lift closed. After a slight jolt, they lowered into the basement levels.
When they emerged, Tia visually scanned the arrival chamber. More soldiers, a combination of Sisters, mercenaries, and the revolutionaries stood watch at the checkpoint. Her party was waved on into a series of halls with office rooms. Toward the end of the halls was a pair of big doors. They stepped inside.
Tia recognized immediately that she was in the Planetary Command Center. A smile curled on her face. No Hestian is supposed to step foot in here. Ha. She strode into the room and looked over the various monitors showing the planet's status. The surrender in the capital was spreading swiftly across the world. The League transports and their troops had yet to surrender, but given their situation, it would come soon enough, while the rest of the planet's security forces were giving up at a rapid rate. So many of them have hurt my people. I can't just let them walk away. But I have to honor my promise.
Her attention quickly focused on one form still seated in a chair, flanked by Sisters in white power armor. She approached and looked down at the sullen expression of Antoine Rigault. "Director Rigault." She was surprised at the level tone she managed. "I'm surprised you didn't try to run, given everything you've done."
"Oh, but why should I?" The venom in his voice was unmistakable. He glared at her with both eyes. A sly smile formed on his face. "You pledged to treat prisoners fairly, after all. You wouldn't want to go back on your word now, would you?"
"I didn't plan on it. But you're not any average corporate trooper. Not with the crimes you've committed."
"Do you think you've won, Hestian?" He chuckled. "I hear you captured the HBC. You'll find them as annoying as I did. They're not going to take you seriously at all, you know."
"They'll learn to."
"Why should they? They command the economies of entire planets. They can recruit hundreds of thousands of mercenaries with fleets of armed ships, while their economic might lets them bend other worlds into sanctioning yours. The Coalition will never aid you, as you have made an enemy of the League and they wish to keep the peace." He chuckled. "And how long until your own party starts to turn your people against them with their revolutionary dogma? That's what happens whenever your kind takes power. You consume yourselves. Between the corporations and your own followers, your world is going to burn, Hestian." He leaned in as if to get closer to her. "I wonder what will happen with you. You play the merciful one now, but what happens when people resist your reforms? Not just civilians from the other worlds, but your own people? Will you end up using our methods for yourself? Or maybe you'll compromise until your own followers overthrow you. I will so enjoy finding out." He cackled. "It will be nice to see your dreams turn to ash, just as mine have."
Tia refused to let his words reach her, even though they echoed some of her own worries about what the future had in store for her and her people. "Whatever happens, at least it'll be Hestians deciding the future of Hestia, not your people. As for you, Director, you're going on trial."
He said nothing at that.
"Tia." Yanik stepped beside her again. He picked something up from the table nearby. "This is yours."
She extended a hand and took the object. The holster was as familiar as the weight of the weapon. She pulled the heavy plasma pistol out and examined its surface. Sixteen years' worth of gunfights made it feel natural in her hands.
With practiced ease, she removed the power pack. Once she had its port closed again, she set it in Antoine's lap. "I don't need this anymore," she said. "You can wear it to the gallows." She nodded to the Sisters flanking him. "Take him away and see to his confinement."
The two women glanced toward Sarno briefly before lifting Antoine and removing him from the room. Tia watched them go before directing her attention to her ally. Sarno's face was tight with concern. "You pledged amnesty and fairness. That includes Director Rigault. Even such an evil man deserves a fair trial."
"He does, and he'll get one," Tia assured her. Seeing the curiosity and relief on Sarno's face, she forced her own to relax. "I didn't intend to make you think I was going to have him hung by a kangaroo court. I'm just confident that any sane trial will establish his guilt beyond a doubt. With all of the people those experiments killed and his plan to enslave this world, I'm sure he'll get sentenced to hang."
"I would agree," Sarno said gently and with some relief in her words. "Now that you have had your satisfaction, there are other matters to attend to."
"No rest for the weary," she agreed, although she very much wished to rest some. But that would have to come later. The capital's security would have to be ensured, law and order maintained.
But first things first. She walked over and personally operated a communications station in the command room. She switched the transmitter to the GalNet connection. "Greetings, everyone. This is Tia Nguyen. It is with great pleasure that I announce the surrender of the capital of Hestia and all HSF units across the world. Hestia is now under the control of liberation forces committed to ending the exploitation of our people by the Hestian Business Council. Said Council's members are being taken into custody as we speak.
"After so many years of megacorp domination, the people of Hestia again control their own destinies." Just saying those words filled her with elation. My entire life has come to this moment. "I call upon the leaders of Hestia's political movements and parties to meet with me right away. It is important that the reform of the Hestian Republic can begin immediately and with the voices of all Hestians heard. Our people will not be subjugated again, not by offworlders and not by our own.
"I ask all communities to communicate their desires through chosen representatives. In the meantime, celebrate your liberation, for tomorrow we begin the rebuilding of our beautiful world.
"This is Tia Nguyen of the new, free Hestia, signing off."
She ended the message there and left with Yanik, Sarno, and Rochefort. They had wounded to see to—including Yanik—and she wanted to be ready for when Linh and the others came down.
Her heart skipped another beat from the pure joy filling her. Happy tears flowed from her eyes. I've done it, Uncle. We're free. We're free.
* * *
The galley had food waiting for Oskar when he arrived with Brigitte. Every muscle seemed to ache from his earlier exertions, and his neck still stung from Breivik's teeth digging into his flesh. His heart weighed heavy with the knowledge his friend was dead. Whatever his crimes, I can't forget our times together. We owed much to one another.
By the time he gathered a tray full of
food, every pair of eyes in the room was on him. He recognized that the vast majority of those dining, or simply resting, were the Hestian prisoners. Some of them he'd already operated on. Others still had the implants in their necks. He sat and took a couple of bites before realizing they'd yet to look away.
He never saw where the cheer started, but soon they were all doing it. They showered him with their thanks, their gratitude and affection, their praise.
For a moment, he considered asking them to stop, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to, not out of ego or pride, but because interrupting their genuine joy seemed wrong given all the suffering they'd gone through.
So he did nothing but weep silently at the undeserved adulation washing over him.
50
The shuttles from the orbiting fleet came one at a time, depositing passengers onto the shuttle pad for the Palace of Government. Tia stood waiting for them while admiring the new flag fluttered on the flagpoles. It had the traditional hoist-side blue triangle beside stripes of blue, white, and gold, the original flag of Hestia, with a five-pointed gold star now set into the middle of the triangle to represent liberation.
A shuttle with a blanked-out Rigault insignia deposited Henry, Linh, and the rest of the Shadow Wolf crew save Oskar and Brigitte. An older, heavily-used shuttle landed the Tokarev brothers and their chaplain, Father Vasily, while one with Lusitanian livery deposited Captain Dominguez and members of his staff. A custom-built shuttle from Trinidad Station landed Mad Jack Dulaney and some of his captains. One of the Majha shuttles deposited Kaiya.
"Welcome to Liberated Hestia, my friends," Tia said to them as they approached. "I can't express my gratitude that you came."
"Given what you showed us, Miss Nguyen, we could hardly refuse," Dulaney remarked. "Even Doctor Toussiant immediately voted to intervene."
"Prime Minister Ascaro showed the entire Cabinet and the Assembly's Select Committee on System Security," Rodriguez said. He shook his head. "She got unanimous approval from all related parties."
Breach of Trust: Breach of Faith Book Four Page 42