He drummed his pen on the edge of the circular politburo table in the heart of the Kremlin Dome on Volgograd. It was the same room where Major Steele's had assassinated Admiral Karchov, spiralling into the chaos of Commandante Scott's coup attempt.
Four Coups in the year that he had taken absoloute authourity over the Coalition.
The Hardliners, Followed by His Watchful Eye, Scott, and then the Volkhan. Each with an agenda that sought to rob the people of the Coalition of party rule, of the Socialist Republic that they were trying to build. And there were still those lurking in the shadows of Omega-52 that felt that McIntosh's way was the right way, that through strength of arms alone would they actually be able to accomplish their goals.
The ordeals hadn't weakened the Premier's resolve. The collapse of the Order Alliance, a ripe betrayal that had plunged the Coalition into a cycle of self-doubt was now a catalyst, binding them together. The had come thorugh the darkness of the Volkhan, and were now stepping back onto the path that Katz, the architect of the new Coalition, was setting forth.
The faces around the table were mostly new, save for the old and familiar ones of Admiral Stansislaw, who Katz secretly mused was probably into his ninth or tenth stage of mummification, the dust on his lapels and peaked hat were one clue... however the steady snoring from the old goat, as he slept through yet another meeting were the only indication of his steadfast refusal to just keel over and die.
Mendel sat on his right-hand side, free of the nerve staple, and back to doing what he did best, in service to the Premier... someone had to be the devil's advocate, and since Mendel had sold his soul some time back, who better?
"I have word that Ulrich and Via are on their way to deal with our little rat infestation of the southern command bunker," Mendel observed, flipping through reports.
"Redemption for them," Katz murmured back, half listening to Ares boisterously reporting of the progress of the Santiago colony towards decontamination using the 'scrubbies' the Zoners had brought in.
"Well, when those two muppets actually get the scrawny Volkhan bastard, I'd like an hour alone with him... you know, in the Maximum fun chamber..." Mendel's eyes were deathly serious.
Katz shrugged, "depends on those two really. Though I expect that soon, all that will remain of the Volkhan and his legacy will be a dull red smear on concrete."
"All hail the Ikon of Ikons," Mendel muttered, sitting back and drinking his coffee.
Eichel stood inside an observation post dug deep in the face of the mountain. It offered a perfect view of the entrance leading up to the abandoned mine now serving as the last refuge of Volkhan's regime. He was supposed to be overseeing a detachment of marines who were providing over watch for the heavily guarded entrance.
While the Volkhan trusted him, it was only because the false Ikon believed the staple that embedded itself onto the base of Eichel's spine was still operational. That was not so. Following his interrogation of XiaoBei on Mikolayev, he found his way to TOR-ONE. Eichel likes to think it was his own actions that inspired the good doctor to develop the counter to the nerve stapling.
Luckily for him, his face was hidden behind his own helmet. His mind was not set on overseeing anything, but plotting his reinstatement to the Coalition political system. His position was surely harmed by not resisting the Volkhan like so many officers did. But if he could be called anything, his title would surely be master of self-preservation.
It was this instinct that led him to TOR-ONE. The same instinct that led him to Phantom relic long forgotten. And the same instinct that saw the nanites invading his body bent to his own will. But not without cost. As the nanites spread through his body, they sought to turn him into a drone. They spread to every corner, burrowing, embedding, essentially doing what the nerve staple did, but on a much larger scale.
His body had turned a shade of pale one would reserve for a corpse. The veins and arteries were a pronounced purple, and and flagrantly contrasted with his skin. His body required a richer concentration of oxygen, and he cannot go very far without the modified marine power armor before succumbing to exhaustion.
All of that was a small price to pay, he told himself. The nanites were under his will. He could have them replicate. He could have them regenerate parts of his body. He could have them infest anything he desired. A small price to pay indeed.
'Maintain watch, I will report to the Ikon,' he said, his voice slightly distorted as it passed through the helmet's vocalizer.
One of the marine sergeants saluted, and Eichel made his way down the narrow twisting stairwell. He switched off his vocalizer, and selected a frequency that he knew was specific to a certain mechanical general.
Ling Jiao Ping was one of the new faces sitting around the Politburo chamber. The new Minister of Plenty was listening to Ares prattle on about decontamination and that more "scrubbles" were needed when he felt he had to interject.
"Yes Ares that may be true but how would you pay for it? We have little to trade at the moment until we successfully repair the damage caused to our gas miners by that lunatic Miller!"
From that point, the meeting seemed to drag on and Ping grew more annoyed by the apparent lack of understanding for the economic situation the Coalition was in. He sat back down, fed up by trying to argue against the brick wall of the military.
Outside of the massive armored gate that served as the one and only entrance to the mine stood a battery of turrets and a couple dozen men who served as the front defense of the Volkhan's bunker. Standard patrols of various vehicles wandered around the perimeter; these vehicles were often quick response buggies or armored personnel carriers. It was imperative that should something go wrong, that the Volkhan's forces would be there within seconds en masse.
Pacing in front of the gate was Viatcheslav in an overcoat. His ornate hat made him taller than he was, but even then, he was still very intimidating. Two emerald green eyes peered out at the men who stood in columns, their weapons against their chests and their chins held high.
"Men," His harsh voice hissed out from the vocoder, "We are all that stands between the Volkhan and those who wish to kill him. Quite the responsibility?"
'Viatcheslav, it's time to end this.' It cam so suddenly that Viatcheslav had almost stumbled over the beginning of his speech.
"And for those of you with an imagination, you are to conclude this speech as best you can in your minds. Do not fail me. Do not fail the Volkhan. The Ikon of Ikons!"
"All hail the Volkhan, Ikon of Ikons!" The men shouted as one.
Without a word or nod, Viatcheslav walked off towards the complex, opening the private channel to Ulrich, "Indeed, my friend. Meet me in the armory in ten minutes." He shut off the channel without waiting for a response, quickening his pace.
"THE HULL HAS BEEN BREACHED AND THESCIENCEIS LEAKING OUT!"
"Enough," Katz's voice was quiet, but it rang across the chamber clearly. Cutting off the speaker, and allowing the Premier the floor.
He stood, shooting the cuffs of his finely tailored suit. He allowed himself so few personal pleasures, but a well made Vologograd suit was unlike anything in Sirius. He glared at each of them, as he walked around his chair, circling the great table.
"We cannot proceed as if nothing has happened, and we cannot keep going as we were," Katz said evenly. "The coup attempts come because of uncertainty, from a percieved weakness in us, the leaders of the Coalition. The iron grip of McIntosh has relaxed, and so the sand begins to pour out of our grasp. This is the road that inevitably led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, and I will not be seen as the second Gorbachev."
He rested his hands on the back of the empty seat normally occupied by General Eichel.
"The Volkhan's revolution has taught us a great many things about the will of the people, and the strength that lies in Party unity. But it also teaches us of the dangers of slipping, of allowing Counter-Revolution to take hold." He shook his head. "We cannot allow this, I cannot allow all that we have built here to fall into ruin. We lost JiangXi because we were too arrogant, we nearly lost the whole Coalition for the same reason."
He moved on around the table.
"The New Economic Policy has worked to bring in a great deal of wealth to the Coalition in the run up to the Volkhan's disaster. It allowed us to build the planetary shields that now protect Volgograd and JiangXi from a repeat of the Phantom attack. It allowed us to prosper in a way we had not been able to before. The Social Credit, New Economic Policy, these are but two of the tools we need to rebuild in order to change the hearts and minds of those who still long for the Iron fist."
He stopped now at the empty seat that had belonged to Admiral Karchov, "We must bring our work force to bear, not just as an importer, but as an exporter as well. We produce the cheapest and best alternative medications to Cryer, we're a source of water to the Red Hessians and to the Zoner outposts in Omega-50... but we should look at our other resources, our technical know-how gleaned from reverse engineering the Gallic Redemption Battleship, that has already revealed Hydrocarbon power generation, fabrication, and a new form of rubber sealant that is more durable than anything the houses possess. We lie at the cutting edge of a new form of technological and economical advantage, and we should seek to exploit it."
Folding his arms he looked pensive, "we might want to consider that the Volkhan has shown all of Sirius how advanced we truly are."
Ling Jiao Ping felt a sense of pride in what Katz was referring to, "Finally! They've read my reports".
"Honoured Premier, I have been discussing this with the other ministers and indeed we do need to realign the economy in order to produce *more* than we actually need, so that we can sell. However how would you pay for such an increase in output?"
Before Katz could reply, he continued his argument.
"Look at where we are right now. The H-Fuel crisis has meant a drastic rise in pump costs for the people and a cut in the subsidy we generously gave them. We risk counter revolution and resentment if we further increase taxes. While we are still in the honeymoon period of your restoration as Premier, I recommend doing something a bit more radical. There is a department which we can cut back, and be able to comfortably pay for the increase in output. The Military."
Shock and Murmurs echoed round the table, followed by angry shouts and finger jabbing. Ping struggled to raise his voice over the shouts.
"We... We need a smaller.. yet highly skilled strike force.. and better, LISTEN! Better equipment for our police officers to keep the people safe!"
Katz sat back in his seat, contemplating the radical statement made my the Minister of Plenty. To do as he was asking risked a lot. After the Civil war a significant amount of equipment was damaged and destroyed. There were replacements to be made, costly investments in upgrading security measures...
Not to mention the new XKR project that would have to be delayed yet again.
He stood, walking around the table.
"There's always another option, we have something of value to trade with certain groups outside of credits, something that might give us an edge in our rebuilding..."
Ulrich stood in the armory, facing the array of assault rifles, grenades, mines and other types of war equipment. It was enough to maintain an entire regiment for a sustained campaign. More than enough to turn any Coalition attack on the base into a deadly war of attrition.
The heavy steps of Viatcheslav resonated through the armory as the metallic General entered. Ulrich faced him and saluted.
"All hail the Volkhan," he said as he raised his arm to the brow of his helmet and lowered it. He then promptly turned off his helmet's vocalizer and dialed up the frequency that linked directly with Viatcheslav.
"I'm not sure about you, but I'm tired of sitting in this rat hole. The Volkhan is in his chamber with a detachment of Fedaykin. More than a match for us, no matter how advanced you may be. However, we do have a card up our sleeve."
He turned his vocalizer back on to fool the guards into thinking there was a conversation.
"How goes the defense of the main gate?"
And then he turned it off again.
"One of them is loyal to me, and me only. Taalib, I'm sure you have seen him at my side more than once. We also have the perfect time to strike. During their morning prayers. There is enough fire power in this room to simulate an attack. That is our best chance of entering the chamber. We will simply pretend we are falling back to reinforce his position. Thoughts?"
Ulrich was a rather repulsive sight, even to a machine. To Viatcheslav, it seemed that the man loathed his humanity and had tried every method in the book to bring himself to an immortal state.
"All Hail the Volkhan," Via replied in his tinny voice, returning Ulrich's salute.
"I'm not sure about you, but I'm tired of sitting in this rat hole. The Volkhan is in his chamber with a detachment of Fedaykin. More than a match for us, no matter how advanced you may be. However, we do have a card up our sleeve."
Via's head tilted quizzically to the side, silently bading him to continue on.
"How goes the defense of the main gate?" He said over his vocoder, then continued on in the private frequency, "One of them is loyal to me, and me only. Taalib, I'm sure you have seen him at my side more than once. We also have the perfect time to strike. During their morning prayers. There is enough fire power in this room to simulate an attack. That is our best chance of entering the chamber. We will simply pretend we are falling back to reinforce his position. Thoughts?"
"The men are prepared for war. I just gave them a motivational speech to brighten their spirits," He hissed, then swapped to the private channel, "Your servant aside, we still need a strategy. Surprise attacks only work as long as they maintain their value of being a surprise. The moment they coordinate is the moment that we will lose."
One of the guards approached the pair of generals, giving off a resounding, "All Hail the Volkhan!" before saluting.
"What is it, soldier," Via snapped, his voice displaying his annoyance.
"General, we have an issue in the communications center. We have been recalled to provide more security. Permission to reposition?"
Almost instantly the machine-general hissed out, "Yes. Do so with haste." The man gave another salute and rushed off with his paired guard, heading away very quickly. "And this," Via turned to Ulrich, "Is the moment we have been waiting for. I suggest we grab as much as we can and hide them in a secure location. Tell your friend that the plan is in motion." And with that, he walked over to the racks and began collecting all that looked favorable.
"THE HULL HAS BEEN BREACHED AND THESCIENCEIS LEAKING OUT!"
The Minister of Plenty looked down at the pamphlet and picked it up, and he skimmed through the pages. Nano-flux-something, Controlled Artificial Intelligence using limited synthetic pyro-thing-cores, Ping had difficulty understanding the intricacies however got the basic idea."
"Honoured Premier, you wish to invest in creating robots to fill the labour gap? In theory that is an excellent idea - Machines do not require food or water or sleep. If we got these onto the many production line's we have, I have no doubt that costs would be driven down in the long run. However.."
He exhaled deeply.
"Again, the funding has to come from somewhere to help with the initial start up costs."
He looked down at the pamphlet and then drew his eyes up to meet each of the ministers around the table.
"It.. might work.. If we delay the XKR project for another few months. I realise that the base models are ready to go into production - but if we divert that capacity to creating these robots.. In the long run.. we'd have almost a disposable military. Think of it! We could have robot's running this SCUD squadron which Mendel briefed me on. No need to use humans for that."