I do not own SSB nor the right to call any of this Canon. As always, those pleasures belong to BlueFishcake.
Special thanks to [ ] and [ ] for helping me with this chapter's names.
Special thanks to [ ] for helping me with editing.
Last
Chapter 8B:
{New Russian Governess arrives and starts to set up her base of operation in Moscow and hunt for the rogue Tribal leader(Putin) within her territory.}
The ship Countess Ti Drune had been stationed on wasn't small by any means, it could comfortably house over 55,000 people for a year after all, but the last two days had forced her to get a little too cozy for comfort with her neighbors aboard. Of particular annoyance was the food situation. It wasn't like she was used to much better on the noble front, as she was the 3rd daughter of a minor baroness herself, even though someone of her current rank was expected to keep higher company; However, Marines weren't known for being particularly "proper" or "well-mannered" company, and it was downright tedious, and more than a bit insulting, that she had been forced throughout the duration of the trip to share her meals with peasants on multiple occasions. Somewhat sickening even.
Those meals, taxing as they had been, weren't all bad though. Those meals had given her the opportunity to exercise her recently expanded authority over her social inferiors, which had proved itself to be an immensely cathartic activity. They'd also led to her successfully making inroads with several of her more noble meal mates, and even some of the more well connected non-commissioned officers. A few had even spawned agreements that she could count on once in power. Yet as she sat in her quarters awaiting updates about the status of the campaign unfolding on the planet below, she still found herself restless.
She knew that it wasn't a restlessness born of her wanting to play the soldier. Were that the case she would have joined the Interior with her older brother. No, perhaps it was impatience to rid herself of her more unworthy company. Maybe it was the desire to stretch her legs outside of a communal gym treadmill reeking of lavender, only partially masked by the smell of inadequate cleaning chemicals. Or perhaps could it be the excitement of a brand new world to see, feel, and touch?
She supposed that part of it almost certainly had to do with the personal stakes at hand. Firstly, it had been no small feat that the 3rd daughter of a half-forgotten Baroness had been selected to receive a brand new noble title of her own. That fact hadn't been lost on her father who, though she was still only 15 at the time, had pleaded and nagged her mother into backing her efforts to catch the eye of the 2nd Princess when she announced recruitment for the upcoming integration of Earth. It had taken a small fortune in hosting dinners and balls, which were neglected by all but the lowest of influencers; hundreds of bribes to those same influencers to obtain invitations to the various gatherings of the higher noble echelons; months of desperately rubbing elbows and carefully stroking egos to obtain a sponsor for her to attend the annual Royal Ball for a week in an attempt at a social debut; and shear luck to achieve the briefest of moments to try and attempt to make a good enough impression on the Princess's inner circle to get a shot at a recommendation. By the end of it all, Ti had quite a few locks of her hair go fully gray from all the stress, sleepless nights in nervous dread, and stomach churning anticipation of news regarding the final outcome of her efforts.
Then there was the matter of the fact that her mother was only a Baroness; a low Baroness that no one bothered to remember half the time. In fact the highest rank anyone in her family had ever achieved was to be married to a viscountess. The fact that she had been given the title of Countess, was an unprecedented honor… an honor that weighed very heavy on the 20 year-old. The fear of failure ate at her, but so did the fear of not even getting a chance to fail in her own right, screwed by some uncontrollable circumstance before she ever even got started. Though there was something else that, for all her struggle to stow it away in its proper place, tended to force itself to the fore of her mind during fleeting moments of peace.
Ti's Mother had pulled some strings following her acceptance into the new nobility of Earth. At first it was something simple: an assistant, and a personal bodyguard, but when it became clear to to her that Ti had been accepted as a Countess, everything changed. Now her mother wasn't super rich as nobles go and certainly not particularly well connected, but she had more strings at her disposal than Ti had ever suspected prior. Strings enough to leverage Ti's new appointment, and its implied access to suggest some lower appointments to the 2nd Princess, into an, honest to Jrafell, arranged marriage. His name was Tistis, he was a remarkably beautiful and healthy young man from House Afarri, and he was her second cousin on her father's side.
Ti was a healthy young woman after all, and growing up as a 3rd daughter to a low prestige baroness meant that she was as likely to get a husband as any random girl on the streets- which was a fancy way of saying that she simply wasn't. Still, having seen so many noble women and various influencers with husbands of their own as she struggled for a chance of being selected made her realize just how much she wanted one as well. She had expected to have to share a husband, maybe even share him with seven or more other women, but to have one to herself…For her and only her…
No. THAT pleasant thought; THAT pleasant potential reality was all contingent on her success. It depended on her actually taking possession of her new territory. She had to make it her own and not screw things up so badly that she lost it before her fiance could arrive safely and actually marry her. She needed to hold on to it to have him, to have something to pass on to her children afterward, and to have the honor and respect her family deserved.
The updates that she finally received were a blessing and a relief. Her territory had been at least nominally secured and pacified. Her orders were to immediately disembark from the fleet in orbit alongside her attendants to her new post as West Russia's Governess. She was then to meet with General Okunda Muthan, of the 1st Home Army on the ground in the Grand Kremlin Palace, and to take immediate possession of her territory. Something that she was quite eager to do. She didn't hesitate in collecting her things, grabbing her servants, and hurrying to the shuttle bay.
When they got there she held up her data slate to the on deck officer. After taking a moment to read the key points the woman directed them to the appropriate shuttle. The three women piled in and stowed their belongings, joined shortly after by Baronesses Lucia & Nami Drune and Dames Tuma & Misora Drune, each bringing 2 servants of their own. Much to their collective relief, the cousins and their entourages filled up the shuttle to capacity. None of them particularly wanted to share a shuttle with strangers.
However Ti felt a bit guilty about not being able to get cousin Riu, now Baroness Riu Afarri, onboard the same disembarking shuttle as well. After all, they were only here today because of Ti's prior efforts, so it felt rather wrong that they should all make the trip down together except for her. Ti tried to not think about it too much and chose to distract herself by looking "out" her "window" view screen as the shuttle left the bay and made for the planet. There were clear signs of distant nuclear detonations on the world, as well as countless criss-crossing, woven lines of vapor from orbital laser bombardment. The former was maddeningly horrifying and the second vaguely beautiful, and as the ship descended towards the upper atmosphere, Ti… No. Countess Drune couldn't help but wonder what would await her in the world below.
///
According to the Imperial Partition, the prevailing state of the former Federation of Russia was as follows:
1) Yugra: [(2 Oblasts) Murmansk, Arkhangelsk (2 Republics) Karelia, Komi (3 Autonomous Okrugs) Nenetsia, Yamalia, Khantia-Mansia/ Yugra] -> [(1) Countess Ustria Gedrick - Governess of all of the Country of Yugra; (2) Viscountesses shared with other Territories: Polla Guanu - Regional Governess of Northwestern Russia & Du Guruka - Regional Governess of Ural Russia; (7) Baronesses - Provincial Governesses]
2) Yakutia: [(1 Oblast) Magadan (1 Republic) Sakha/ Yakutia (1 Autonomous Okrug) Chukotka (1-1.5 Krais) Northern half of Krasnoyarsk, Kamchatka] -> [(1) Countess Itti Cul'van - Governess of all of The Country of Yakutia; (2) Viscountesses shared with other Territories: Teffi Yarm - Regional Governess of Siberian Russia & Ki'ma Aut'oran- Regional Governess of Far Eastern Russia; (5) Baronesses - Provincial Governesses]
3) East Russia: [(7 Oblasts) Omsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Irkutsk, Amur, Sakhalin (1 Autonomous Oblast) Jewish Autonomous Oblast (4 Republics) Altai, Khakassia, Tuva, Buryatia (4.5-5 Krais) Southern Half of Krasnoyarsk, Altai, Zabaykalsk, Khabarovsk, Primorsky] -> [(1) Countess Ziva Merkori - Governess of all of the Country of Eastern Russia; (2) Viscountesses shared with other Territories: Teffi Yarm - Regional Governess of Siberian Russia & Ki'ma Aut'oran - Regional Governess of Far Eastern Russia; (17) Baronesses - Provincial Governesses]
4) West Russia: [(36 Oblasts) Astrakhan, Chelyabinsk, Ivanovo, Kaluga, Kostroma, {Lucia Drune - Provincial Governess of Leningrad}, Lipetsk, {Nami Drune - Provincial Governess of Moscow}, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Oryol, Penza, Ryazan, Samara, Sverdlovsk, Tambov, Tula, Ulianovsk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Voronezh, Yaroslavl, Kaliningrad, Pskov, Tver, Vologda, Smolensk, Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, Rostov, Saratov, Kirov, Orenburg, Kurgan, Tyumen (15 Republics) Adygeya, Bashkortostan, {Riu Afarri - Provincial Governess of Chechnya}, Chuvashia, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Khakassia, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Mari El, Mordovia, North Ossetia-Alania, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Dagestan (3 Krais) Stavropol, Krasnodar, Perm] -> [(1) Countess Ti Drune - Governess of all of the Country of West Russia; (4) Viscountesses Fully within the Territory: Risa Dasarni- Regional Governess of North Caucasian Russia, Ara Mino - Regional Governess of Southern Russia, Soya Miffel - Regional Governess of Central Russia, & Hea Dasp - Regional Governess of Volga Russia; (2) Viscountesses shared with other Territories: Polla Guanu - Regional Governess of Northwestern Russia & Du Guruka - Regional Governess of Ural Russia; (54) Baronesses - Provincial Governesses]
In reality, the state on the ground had yet to settle into something nearly so concrete.
///
Dame Tuma Drune was giddy with excitement at the sight of her city. It was beautiful, and vast, and green, and awesome! She loved watching the wonderfully crafted buildings as they passed by the Armored Car's view ports. As the new governess of Moscow it was hers and her heir's so long as she showed herself competent… and came to have heirs. She had time for that last bit she supposed. She was still 18 after all, just barely an adult by Shil standards.
Tuma was happy to be with her cousins during this momentous occasion. Many noble families had a habit of back stabbing, and true her own elder sister had viewed her as a rival back home, but typically the smaller houses stayed close knit on the whole. House Drune was no exception to this rule of familial unity, as was showcased by Cousin Ti securing these postings for Tuma and her cousins. This seemed so natural, like such a simple thing, but it was major.
Tuma, Lucia, Nami, & Misora were 2nd, 4th, 2nd, & 3rd daughter's respectively, and had very little chance of realistically being selected to succeed their mothers. Their futures were essentially a choice between duking it out with their elder siblings for title & likely being sent to the Interior if they lost- which was the likely outcome, or bending the knee and taking a military post, either serving their older siblings in the family militia or her majesty in the Imperial military. Somewhat bleak outcomes that were averted by the generosity of their Cousin Ti, who had managed to get each of them post, title, and a secure future to call their own.
Tuma and her cousins were quite close come to think of it. At least as far as 3rd and 4th cousins could be in a noble family. Likely in no small part due to the fact that they had come to empathize with each other growing up in the same family as essentially little more than glorified, potential spares. They also were never realistically eligible to inherit the same titles, and thus never had any incentive to become rivals in any real capacity. For these reasons Tuma felt safe and at ease with every single one of them, and it was clear that the others did as well… Well except for the Afarri girl. She was an outsider here, tolerated only by the thin strand of blood tying her to Ti, and Tuma honestly didn't know how to feel about her.
/
Baroness Nami Drune found her new Barony of Moscow's capital city, also known as Moscow, to be rather pleasing. A feeling ballooned by the fact that she'd not only gotten the former administrative capital for the super-tribe known as Russia in the partition, but also by the knowledge that of all the settlements comprising her new vassals the city was relatively wealthy. Though perhaps not to the same heights as her cousin Tuma's own giddy pleasure, as she hadn't found herself pasted to, and fogging up, her own viewing port… Then again, Nami did have 7 years on her, so perhaps that was to be expected.
Nami intended to have Tuma oversee the conversion of the city's four international airports into spaceports. She wanted to promote future trade, and ease supply and reinforcement constraints. As far as the reports were concerned the city was well connected to the surrounding areas via a massive transit network. With some finesse and mild competence, the city could become the beating heart of the Barony, perhaps the Viscounty, maybe even the entire County, Goddess willing. Nami wanted to hit the ground running and surpass all her rivals before they could get a meaningful grasp of their bearings, but that was an issue for later.
What was an issue now, was that they had just reached their destination and that according to the car's internal temperature display the temperature outside was tit-clenchingly cold! Nami wasn't exactly unprepared for the weather of her new territory; she had acquired winter gear for just this reason after all. Still, there was a notable difference between making a plan and executing it, and today that difference was marked by the Armored Car's door. This is where the cousins would part ways, with Cousins Lucia and Misora heading up north to their territories, and Cousins Ti, Tuma, and Nami disembarking here.
Beyond that door lay Nami and her cousins' new lives… and frigid cold. Perhaps it was the hesitation born of that cold that ultimately led to it being Cousin Misora, the only one of the group, servants included, that had brought a sub-zero rated environmental suit, to be the one to first brave the cold. Though it wasn't her own stop, Cousin Misora simply picked up Nami's chest of clothes in one arm and Cousin Ti's in the other. Without even a glance at either cousin, she then started walking towards the entrance of the Grand Kremlin Palace. This wasn't particularly surprising though, as Misora had always been a woman of action, rarely content to sit on her rear end when there was something to be done.
Cousin Misora didn't have the right gear for the right job because she was wiser than her fellows. Everyone here was prepared for the weather to some degree, servants included, but her preparedness was born of her mother's bare-bones-basic nature of investment into her "little runt's" future. She was absolutely the poorest of the Ladies of House Drune to make planet fall, with the only things truly given her in this life by her mother currently on her person or her servants; the things that had cost absolutely nothing to give, and she only even got those from her because giving them to her allowed the woman to replace them with better versions. The ratty e-suit she was sporting was something that she only had, because her mother had used giving a dusty, 5 generations out-of-date, patched-to-death, environmental suit to her daughter as a safety tax write off and got full credit for a free, brand new generation e-suit for herself in return.
Even Cousin Misora's servants had essentially come into her mother's possession "free of charge." They were given to Misora because they were the "least valuable" in her mother's eyes, and their leaving made room for servants from "more respectable" races. In point of fact, Misora's servants weren't even proper born Imperium Citizens, their homeworld was in a neutral system in the Imperium-Consortium Periphery. No, they were just some Mantacori refugee couple that owed Misora's mother a life debt for not sending them back home to the Mantacor System, or marooning them to die when she found them stowed away on her ship. Apparently they were attempting to flee racial discrimination and certain death in their home system, and thus were willing to work for free, barring safe passage and room and board.
The two Mantacori in question, the 6'9'' tall Muk male assistant and the 7' tall Thruk female bodyguard, 4 armed as they were, were also just so happened to be the only non-Shil'vati in present the car's little group. This was something plainly evident to the rest as they each used their arms to easily grab the remaining possessions of Ti, Nami, and Tuma respectively, something almost as evident as the racial differences between the couple themselves. As they quickly followed their young master into the biting cold, the assistant gently helped the bodyguard pull her loose hanging, knee long parka down in the back from where it had started to ride up, and back over her slightly exposed, evidently enormous wings. Between Cousin Misora's initiative and the biting cold it let in, Cousin Ti, Nami, and Cousin Tuma soon found themselves following suit behind Misora and her strange servants.
The drop off point, which was in the middle of the complex of buildings comprising the Kremlin, wasn't a far walk from their intended destination of the Grand Kremlin Palace, specifically the Senate building portion of it. The Palace, such as it was, was a massive two story complex, its immaculate white walls and windows lined and crafted so as to appear to be three stories from the outside, all capped off by a green roof, the highest portion of which featured a golden clock facing in each cardinal direction and a gold capped spire. The Palace had served as the residence of the former heads of the Russian Super-Tribe, and now it would serve as the Residence of Nami and her future heirs- or at least that's what she hoped. Cousin Ti was technically the Countess, and technically had first claim on it, with it being so "Countly '' in its countenance, and its former status of being the Russian Super-Tribe's capital… and its current status of being Ti's county's capital. That said though, this was the capital of Her barony… and to a lesser extent Tuma's City, she supposed. Nami honestly would, would fight against such an intrusive outcome from either of them, the family ties be accursed- of course she would, but the simple fact of the matter was that she might have to deal with the loss of it on a technicality.
It was however currently below 20°F out, and that was cold enough to override her other concerns at the moment. Nami was prepared enough to not suffer frostbite, but she had dressed the part of a proper Baroness and not a soldier. As such, she wasn't in an environmental suit and could feel the cold all the same. She would never understand why the Rakiri loved weather like this. Near as she could figure it was a coin toss between the puff balls' fluffy nature or it making their tits more firm and appealing to men. Mystery of the puff balls aside, barring the cold this place might just be perfect, but Empress above if this wasn't a drawback.
/
Moscow was no Shil, nowhere else in the known Galaxy was, but it was still a large city. A mega city by definition it boasted a population in excess of 10 million. Coming in at around 12,506,468 souls it served as the northernmost and coldest mega city on the planet. It held one of the largest rapid transit systems on the planet and the most active one on the entire continent. With over 40% of it covered in greenery it was without a doubt the Emerald of the North, an emerald that would bring great prestige to its new masters.
Of the Counties carved out of the tribe formerly known as The Russian Federation, Countess Drune's was the most developed and densely populated. With 4 full Viscounties, 2 partial Viscounties, and no less than 54 Baronies, it was undoubtedly the Grinshaw's portion of the former tribe. Giving so much to a single Countess, particularly one so young and undistinguished, was a colossal show of trust and favor. It also gave her a definitive early leg up on her social peers in terms of standing and prestige within the region.
After meeting with an awaiting three-woman military escort at the entrance, Countess Drune and her cousins, the Baroness Nami and Dame Tuma Drune, accompanied by their own servants, parted ways with Dame Misora Drune and her strange servants, exchanging farewells as they did so. Then, after leaving their attendants with the luggage, the three Ladies of House Drune and their bodyguards were led towards the meeting point by the military escorts. As they walked through the Grand Kremlin Palace's Senate Building Countess Drune couldn't help but admire its beauty and exquisite attention to detail. From the gold inlaid relief's and masterful craftsmanship, to the immense abundance of open space and vaulted tall ceilings with their ornate chandeliers, it was remarkably beautiful.
The whole Palace screamed, "this is what it means to be a Countess," with every passing floor relief. Such beauty would have to be admired in detail later though, this would be her home once things settled after all and there would be time for such things then. Still she couldn't wait to bring Tistis here; to show him the sort of life she was going to be giving him; to show how good a provider, how good a wife she will be… For now though, she and her cousins currently had a meeting with General Okunda Muthan of the 1st Home Army to attend.
As they reached the Former Russian Super-Tribe's Leader's office, now Her Office, Countess Drune took a deep breath and calmed her expressions to be something more befitting a noble of her rank and standing. Countess Drune was the first one through the door after the three military escorts, and she quickly swept the room with her eyes, analyzing everything she could without swiveling her head. It was an unfortunate truth that neither she nor her cousins had ever had the opportunity to meet General Muthan before today, a fact made evident by her cousins murmuring upon entering behind her. Fortunately for all their collective pride though, she had picked up quite a few observational skills while dancing the tightrope required to attain this posting.
Upon entry Countess Drune had noted that a woman already in the room had walked over with purpose and whispered something into a, noticeably smaller, woman's ear. The small woman in question, 6' tall and dressed similarly to the rest of the military personnel currently in the room, also bore the 4 stars of a field general on her uniform. The uniform was pristine, and well ordered, but didn't shine or excessively pull the attention of the eye. It was a master class of noble restraint almost entirely absent outside the Shil'vati Officer Class, with even her star's luster concealed by a standard issue piece of transparent film-like cloth intended to prevent shine or reflection.
"General Muthan of the first Army I presume," Countess Drune said as she walked over to the small 6' Shil'vati woman, who was currently in the process of carefully examining some native crystal dining ware.
"You'd be correct in that assumption," General Muthan said, as she carefully placed the glass she was examining back onto a tray full of similar crystal works. The crystal were all quite fine pieces to be sure, and almost certainly belonged to the former Super-Tribe's Leader, and would likely need to be returned to him shortly. It was a fact that wasn't lost on anyone here, and it was but one of the prices of holding to Shil'vati honor. Then with a deep breath bordering on a sigh, the General straightened up and motioned to a nearby table of Shil'vati make, deployed in the middle of the room.
The table's presence, though not strictly ugly, was certainly off in this room and Countess Drune couldn't help but find it an eyesore. Still she complied and, with her cousins, joined the General in walking over to it. It was rather sparse, save for some communication equipment, datapads, and an inbuilt holo projector that was currently displaying a map of West Russia. The General pulled up some additional icons and began:
"Our troops have successfully captured and/or neutralized the majority of the local military forces. The militia, the "militsiya" or "politsiya" as the locals seem to call them, unfortunately are another case entirely. Most were originally stood down following an order issued by the leadership that we managed to capture in our initial assault, and as you can see, our forces have managed to rapidly take control of the majority of the countryside. It is also my sad duty to inform you of the loss of the cities of Samara {1,140,723 residents} & Voronehz {1,047,549 residents} and all the souls therein {Shil Losses 48,682} to a nuclear device."
General Mutan massaged the bridge of her nose in frustration before continuing.
"In addition, the Local Leader was not captured and sent out a message, which has led to growing resistance amongst the militia. We are in the process of neutralizing and capturing them when possible, and enacting martial law at the moment. Most concerning of all is that the hidden message was sent via official government channels and relayed via our own fleet to virtually every native computer device in the Super-Tribe."
"How in the eight Goddesses' Names did you let that happen," Countess Drune practically screamed at the smaller woman. General Mutan, shrank back slightly, but maintained most of her composure.
"It was only a name followed by a verb, buried in a forest of critical and verified information. It seemed harmless at the time."
Countess Drune practically shuddered in rage, but didn't shout anymore. Her voice was strained by the effort but it came out half civil:
"What were the words?"
"Putin Lives."
(Meet with Military Leader for the area -General Okunda Muthan- find out that a brief message was sent out on the government channels when things opened up via an overlooked back door Putin Lives.)
{seat of power of the Government of Russia. Moscow is home to many Russian companies in numerous industries and is served by a comprehensive transit network, which includes four international airports, ten railway terminals, a tram system, a monorail system, and most notably the Moscow Metro, the busiest metro system in Europe, and one of the largest rapid transit systems in the world. The city has over 40 percent of its territory covered by greenery, making it one of the greenest cities in Europe and the world}