Fall from Grace
Sarna News
| Fall from Grace | |
|---|---|
| Product information | |
| Type | Novel |
| Author | Chris Hartford |
| Pages | 205 |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | BattleCorps |
| First published | 15 October—19 December 2008 |
| Content | |
| Era | Star League era |
| Timeline | 9 July 2571—9 April 2617 |
Fall from Grace is a novel by Chris Hartford that was published online on BattleCorps in 2008 as a ten-part serial.
Previously, in 2007, a German translation of an earlier revision had been published as a print novel with some differences (see In Ungnade).
Plot summary
The novel describes Rhean Marik's tragic struggle as Captain-General of the Free Worlds League.
Part 1
- published on 15 October 2008
| “ | “It was the dawn of a new era of humanity, the establishment of the first Star League. Through years of preparation and sacrifice, the leaders of the major human powers had come to together under one government. Changes were sweeping throughout known space, bringing unknown challenges to the next generation.” | ” |
Plot Summary
Rhean Marik (age three) is present at the gala ceremony on Terra celebrating the creation of the Star League. While Albert and Marion Marik discuss the problems of keeping the six member states together in the alliance, Rhean tells Archon Viola Steiner that she wants to be a Warhammer when she grows up.
At age six, Rhean is present on Atreus when Ian Cameron's Pollux Proclamation triggers the Reunification War. While Captain-General Marion Marik is worried by this development, young Rhean only fears that she's too young, and will miss all the fighting.
In her teens, under assumed name of Frieda Moran, Rhean attends classes at the Princefield Military Academy on Oriente. The heirs of noble families run roughshod over the children of wealthy merchants as the pecking order sorts out, and (being undercover as a merchant scion) Rhean repeatedly clashes with Lambert Allison, grandson of the Duke of Oriente, as she refuses to comport herself as his inferior.
Part 2
- published on 22 October 2008
| “ | Part Two takes us through Frieda's journey at Princefield, amid the back drop of the growing Reunification War. Come with us and see if Lambert Allison gets his in the end. | ” |
Plot summary
In 2581, while Rhean spends the holidays with friends at a Swiss chalet, she receives news that her uncle David died in a car accident, placing her in the direct line of succession for the Captain-Generalcy of the Free Worlds League. Her father, Brion Marik, decides to allow her to continue to attend Princefield as "Frieda Moran," albeit with a bodyguard, Evangeline.
In 2584, Evangeline rescues Rhean when a drunken Lambert Allison attempts to assault her in the Princefield showers.
In 2586, Rhean gets revenge on Lambert by humiliating him in a pre-graduation infantry combat exercise, beating him out for top honors. At the graduation ceremony, her father reveals her true identity.
Part 3
- published on 29 October 2008
| “ | Rhean Marik soon discovers that the political landscape of Princefield, was pale imitation of the one she would face in life. And then there was Canopus... | ” |
Plot summary
In 2588, Rhean is a newly commissioned Lieutenant in the 1st Free Worlds Guards. At the controls of a Guillotine, she takes part in the joint Capellan-League task force dispatched to Wisconsin to destroy Shepperton's Freebooters - a renegade Capellan unit that had turned to piracy. When a dispute over the custody of the defeated pirates erupts between Colonel Appleton of the First Guards and Colonel Sheng of Cheng's Chasseurs, Rhean intervenes, playing on her relationship with "Auntie Ursula" to prevent her prisoners from being sent to Sian for execution.
In 2591, Rhean visits her Princefield friend, Madeline, on Terra, where she has just given birth to a son. Recently promoted to Captain, Rhean has been beset with requests for support from new "friends." During the visit, she receives word that her aunt Therese Marik-Liao died in a car accident, along with her unborn daughter. Captain-General Marion Marik tells Rhean that the auto-drive computer in Therese's car failed, causing the crash. However, Rhean recalls that Therese distrusted auto-drive systems, and preferred to drive herself. She is disturbed by the implications.
In 2593, Rhean begins an assignment to the staff of Duchess Melissa Humphreys, the Star League governor of the occupied Canopian territories. Other members of Humphreys' staff include chief economist Huw Ragnarsson, and Martin Demianchuk, representing Magestrix-Emeritus Crystalla Centrella. After a brief discussion of the ongoing Reunification War and Star League politics, they are joined by Magestrix-designate Rinalla Centrella, who shocks strait-laced Rhean.
Part 4
- published on 6 November 2008
| “ | Being the heir to the Captain-Generalcy is not without its trials and tribulations. Rhean Marik must learn to navigate the inner workings of the Star League now, before she is thrust deep into the fires of running her nation. Fortunately she is a shark at pool. | ” |
Plot Summary
In 2598, Rhean has returned to her staff officer position on Canopus IV after attending the funeral of Captain-General Marion Marik, which elevated her father, Brion, to the role. Rhean's bodyguard since her Princefield days, Evangeline, has gotten married to a Hegemony Armed Forces officer and is now on maternity leave, so she's been replaced by Annelise Corbin, an SLDF infantry officer of Davion heritage. During an outing with four year-old Carla Centrella (the Magestrix-designate), Canopian security guards reveal their rebel sympathies and attempt to take Rhean hostage. The attempt is foiled, thanks to Annelise, and Magestrix Rinalla Centrella calls for an end to the insurgency, noting that Canopus has never achieved its goals through violence.
In 2600, Rhean attends a session of the Star League Council, and meets several other Great House leaders: First Lord Ian Cameron; First Prince Alexander Davion and his great-grandson, Zane; Coordinator Leonard Kurita; and Archon Kevin Steiner-Dinesen. Zane, Kevin, Rhean and Rinalla form a "kids clique" and go afterwards to Cavanaugh's - a Unity City bar run by House Cameron, where the Star League elites can go to be themselves. While shooting pool with Kevin, Rhean is introduced to Lydia Peterson-Cameron, and her bodyguard, Tanya Kerensky.
Part 5
- published on 12 November 2008
| “ | The Golden Century, a time of the greatest peace and prosperity of the Star League. All was perfect and everyone was at peace... Yeah right, convince Tanya Kerensky of that. | ” |
Plot summary
In 2602, First Prince Zane Davion alleges that the Free Worlds League had engaged in "inappropriate financial manipulations" in the Federated Suns. Captain-General Brion Marik admits to the manipulation (which dates from the Age of War), and orders Rhean to settle the situation quietly. Rinalla Centrella advises Rhean to resolve the issue with feminine wiles (Canopian-style "diplomatic negotiations"). At the "working lunch between friends," Zane and Rhean flirt, and Zane agrees to let the matter langish in the bureaucracy in exchange for increased FWL investment on Robinson and support in a council vote. Rhean leaves Zane wanting more.
In 2604, Rhean and Zane administer CPR to the mortally wounded Tanya Kerensky, who was stabbed by Leonard Kurita on the floor of the Star League Council chamber as she tried to defend First Lord Nicholas Cameron from the Coordinator's drunken rage. Despite their efforts, Tanya dies, and a distraught Rhean is whisked away by Zane to a Davion-owned villa in France. "Diplomatic negotiations" ensue...Canopian style.
Notes
Author Chris Hartford confirms that the Davion villa in France where Rhean and Zane have their tryst is the same place where Caleb Davion throws Harrison Davion over the railing to his death in the 3130s.
Part 6
- published on 19 November 2008
| “ | Meeting the man of your dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife... A song never summed up Rhean's life more then when she fell astray of the charming and witty leader of the Federated Suns. | ” |
Plot summary
In 2604, Rhean and Rinalla attend the funeral and memorial service for Tanya Kerensky with Rhean's younger brothers - Quentin and Albrecht - and Quentin's son Tomas. As the last group of dignitaries arrives, Rhean is thrilled to see Zane Davion, but then stunned to see him escorting an unfamilar woman and child. Rinalla informs Rhean that it's Elaine Romera, Zane's wife, and their daughter. When she later confronts Zane about it, he says that he doesn't view marriage as an exclusive bond. They agree to end their relationship, and part on less than friendly terms.
On December 23, 2604, on Atreus, Albrecht Marik is en-route to the Captain-General's residence with "explosive" information for Rhean regarding their aunt Therese's mysterious death in a "car accident," which served to remove her half-Liao child from the line of succession. He makes a quick stop at a flower shop en-route, and then explodes as a bomb detonates under the car. Captain-General Brion Marik hears the explosion and, literally seconds later, is informed by his head of security, Ross MacArthur, that Albrecht is dead. Brion assigns Rhean to liaise with the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to investigate the bombing, and promotes her to Warden of the Perimeter Defenses to liaise with the SLDF for a possible invasion of the Draconis Combine in retaliation for Leonard Kurita's murder of Tanya Kerensky.
On December 27, 2604 Rhean arrives at the FWLM command center on Marik to assume the duties of Warden of the Perimeter Defenses and coordinate with the Seven Sons of Solon - the League's military high command - including Duke Narinder Selaj of Regulus, NIA Director Maria Kreiss, Marshal Kozurek of Tamarind and Rhean's Princefield Academy nemesis, Duke Lambert Allison of Oriente. Despite a warm welcome, Narinder and Lambert begin plotting against Rhean as soon as she leaves the room.
Part 7
- published on 26 November 2008
| “ | Hello Rhean Marik, my name is Murphy and I really love your family. Here let me do this, oh and this, and then this. Had enough yet? Rhean Marik must watch as time marches forward, tearing from her those she holds dear and close. And then she gets a personal dose of good old Murphy. | ” |
Plot Summary
In 2610, Rhean attends a reception at Cameron Palace in England, and chats with Tomasina Cameron-Havley-Weston, Ian Cameron's niece, whose childhood scribblings had inspired the Star League insignia. Rhean introduces Tomasina to her fiance, Baron Carlton Allison of Oriente (Duke Lambert Allison's younger brother). Rhean muses to herself on Captain-General Brion Marik's command to marry and produce heirs to continue the Marik line, and that she's not really in love with Carlton. She speaks briefly with Coordinator Sanethia Kurita (relations between Combine and Star League having been restored following her brother Leonard's sudden and fatal "illness"), then encounters First Prince Zane Davion, who advises her not to get trapped in a loveless marriage like his. One of Zane's assistants distracts Carlton, and he and Rhean slip away to a guest room for renewed "diplomatic negotiations."
In 2611, Rhean visits with her Princefield friend Madeline on Atreus. They discuss Maddy's children, internal politics of the Seven Sons of Solon, and her affair with Zane. However, she's unable to attend the ball at the Parliamentary Grand Hall later that night, as she is diagnosed with cancer. At the ball, Lambert Allison and Narinder Selaj continue plotting against Rhean, and imply that Marion Marik was their co-conspirator prior to her death. At the Archangel Raphael Clinic in Atreus City, Rhean ponders the preliminary diagnosis of an aggressive and malignant tumor. Carlton arrives from the party to support her, but she calls off their relationship, saying she can't make him marry someone who is terminally ill.
In 2612 Rhean insists on going to Terra for the Star League Council Meeting. Ailing Captain-General Brion Marik eventually concedes, though he insists that Duchess Melissa Humphreys and her Rhean's brother Quentin accompany her as advisers. En-route to Terra, Melissa reveals that she knows about Rhean's affair with Zane. However, after twenty years on Canopus IV, nothing shocks her anymore. She resolves to help Rhean continue her secret tryst. However, as Rhean waits for Zane at a cafe in Switzerland, Elaine Davion approaches instead, and demands that Rhean terminate her affair with Zane. Still in shock, Rhean returns to Unity City and meets with Carla and Rinalla Centrella, who inform her that Rinalla, too, has cancer, and intends to go out partying. The spring Council session ends with a number of final goodbyes. Rhean gets one final shock when her younger brother Quentin suffers a fatal heart attack.
Part 8
- published on 4 December 2008
| “ | No one ever expected her to take office, and when she did they all assumed it would be nothing but seat warming for her nephew. We all know what assumptions make of you and me... | ” |
Part 9
- published on 11 December 2008
| “ | Is the cure better than the sickness? A question Rhean had to ask herself once the cure lead to even greater, 'complications'. Be careful what you wish for, the hidden costs might be fatal. | ” |
Part 10
- published on 19 December 2008
| “ | Stripped of power and prepared for exile, Rhean finds she must prepare for execution instead. The conspiracy runs deep, but so do her friends. The question is, which is better? | ” |