Overview, 3058, coventry...
Without the Federated Commonwealth split, things might have worked out very differently at Coventry, except...
1. First Prince Victor Ian Steiner-Davion, first of his name, did something smart. He, rather than spies, revealed the Joshua Marik scam to the public, and by public, I mean he revealed it to everyone at once, along with a full apology, and offers of Reparations.
For once, he managed to get his sincerity across to the public in the Free Worlds League, and the second, He offered Thomas Marik certain worlds as collateral on his promises of reparations. This happened because certain people weren't available to influence things, such as Katherine, who died in her attempt to assassinate Melissa...because someone got to the assassin with more money first.
Point being, House Davion ate crow publicly, and some of Elizabeth Ngo's Germanium went to the Free Worlds League instead of into jump cores.
2. Thus, with Wergeld paid and a profuse, sincere public apology and minor national shaming, Victor solidified a reputation as an 'honest dealer' in contrast with his father, and prevented a destructive conflict and breaking of the Federated Commonwealth Alliance, though he did incur some domestic opposition from the Federated Suns half of the Joint House, this was overcome by his gaining an appearance of seizing and securing the moral high-ground on the international stage as well as moralist elements within the Federated Suns itself-which made the subsequent attempted coup much easier to put down.
HOWEVER, the need to PUT that domestic coup attempt down, did draw units from the Lyran theater back into the Federated Suns, resulting in a weakened corridor.
At the same time, Clan Jade Falcon killed Ulric Kerensky and the wolves broke up the band, with the Wardens fleeing to Arc Royal and seeking asylum with the Kells. In this timeline, Elizabeth's speech in front of the Estates General...well...you can see it for yourself!
Estates General, February, 3058...
Duchess Elizabeth Anne Ngo was still a little bit unstable on her feet after the rushed flight to Tharkad, a flight made by switching between jump vessels carrying her firm's goods from Kowloon to the industrial centers of the Commonwealth in much the same way as a command circuit, only using a dinky little shuttlecraft instead of an opulently appointed dropship.
She barely had time to shower and change into civilian clothing, before being driven to the Triad.
"Morgan Kell is a national hero, and a national treasure." she announced, "My brother was named for his brother, by my father, who admired the Kells immensely. Pat, of course, died on Tamar, killed by Clan Wolf." she held down the nausea and vertigo and hid it from the crowd of lawmakers, fellow nobles, and the Archon Prince.
"Morgan Kell is a hero. His son, Phelan, switched sides and joined the Clanners, not due to coercion, not due to threats or blackmail, he wears no explosive collar, he joined them willingly and of his own volition. He is, by definition, a traitor to the Realm forced to return home when his new allegiance proved less powerful and attractive than he previously believed...and he brought many survivors with him. Thanks in part to the work of Anastasius Focht and the ComGuard, and in part thanks to his own written statement, we know who the Clans are. They are the descendents of the Deserters, Traitors, and Turncoats who abandoned the Star League to three hundred years of civil war."
she laid her hands on the podium, "My people, we have our own memory of that dark time. of promises made by the SLDF-that-was, Promises broken by Kerensky and his conspirators-their people abandoned us all, they stole property that was not theirs, they took people that were not theirs to take, they stripped the last vestige of order and authority, and they betrayed us all..."
she took a deep breath, "And now, nearly three centuries after the SLDF abandoned their duty, nation, and those that looked to them for protection, they have returned, not humbled or contrite, but as conquerors and bandits and slavers."
her eyes glittered under the lighting, "Because that is the root of the Clans-they are a society made of the worst excesses of Amaris, cloaked in the clothing of the Star League. No civilian is free in their system, all are chattel property owned by the Clan. Their whole system invalidates concepts of loyalty, free will, the very idea of Liberty is anathema to them...and this body must decide if we will willingly let the degraded, depraved, disloyal element return because they come with the son of a legend at their head, as their spokesman, their propagandist."
her voice dropped low, barely audible through the pickups. "My people, sacrificed three million of our best and brightest to help Aleksandr Kerensky restore rule of law to the Star League and depose the illegal and inhuman, abusive regime of the Amaris dynasty. Three million Kowloonese lost in the march from Eagle's Nest, to Apollo, to Elbar, to Earth. The promises made were not upheld...can the descendents be trusted is the question you should all ask, will they be better than their forebears? Is their word good? can we, should we forgive them?"
she opened a one-handed knife, "What are the Clans? what have we seen them do? Turtle Bay?" she drew her knife across her palm, blood welling, "Tamar?" she drew it again, the other way, making an 'x' of blood. "Sudeten, others? Rasalhague, a Lyran Ally, lies mostly at their feet, a third of the realm is under their boot, they did not come to honor the promises their ancestors breached, they came as conquerors to enslave us all."
she held out her hand, "I have blood on my hands, see it? I have shed the blood of traitors, a man I personally felt almost a familial love for, and I did so because it was my duty. Do the Clans even comprehend duty? The books of their founder do not suggest this, the character of their actions denies it. but we must not bind them to the sins of their ancestors as they bind others to the sins of those same ancestors. We are Lyrans, we do not practice Blood Libel or Genocide as Clan Wolf and their compatriots did, to their own kind early in their history. we are better than they are, better human beings. so do we give them forgiveness and asylum, or do we send them back to the cold?"
she folded the knife with a flick, and pocketed it. "This is the question not of their nature and character, but of our own. As Lyrans, as people, as human beings." she sighed, "Kowloon votes 'aye', we must, if we are to be better than a bunch of jumped up, genemodded pirates, we must uphold our own morality, beliefs, and ideals, especially in the face of an enemy. I thank you all for your time."
her bloody handprint reflected on the lights, and on the cameras in stark relief.
