Battletech An SI in the Concordat - GhostRider's Revenants (Battletech CYOA)Rev.2
- Thread starter paulobrito
- Start date
Chapter 35
paulobrito
Well-known member
Thomas gave me a team of civilian servants to help me take control of New Vandenberg. The catch was that they were loyal to Thomas and not to me personally, but those were the rules of the game. After taking control of the system, the ex-ruler and his loyalists had already departed, not even waiting for the formal ceremony, and gaining some knowledge of the ongoing activities, which took about a month (thank God the team Thomas provided me with was made of people with former experience in system government), it was time to have a talk with Dr. Murad. One of the interesting differences in government from what I knew was that in reality the noble that received the control of a system didn’t need to do much as most of the time, they had a team that did all the work, some nobles went as far as no even providing general guidelines, enjoying a life of relative privilege (as long as they paid the bills and were able to more or less defend their holdings).
Running her usual magic, she had managed to make the operations on the shipyard in orbit of Lompoc (New Vandenberg IX) move ahead of schedule and at a lower cost than projected. According to her estimate, it would be fully operational in the middle of 3030, starting to build one Invader per year and in 3035, it would be able to produce 2 Invaders per year as more and more parts of the old shipyard would be restored. No stranger to this ambitious goal was the discovery of a big asteroid extremely rich in Germanium coupled to the almost finished unit that would process that ore and produce K-F cores. As far as I understood, that was the real bottleneck for the production of new JumpShips and before the people in charge of that area gained enough experience (and expanded the hardware) the number of cores per year was going to be small.
The construction of Snowden L was also running at full speed, at this time two were in activity and two others in an advanced stage of construction, which improved the availability of resources. Rebuilding the old shipyard had taken a lot of time, the central part was very complicated to restore and running. Now that that area and one of the slips were finally operational, rebuilding other slips was relatively easy and fast, but without the industrial infrastructure to feed them, everything was useless. And building that industrial infrastructure would take time as was of the needed training of the staff needed to operate the various elements. While everything was not ready, the slips could be used to provide maintenance to the aging commercial fleet operating inside the Concordat.
Part of our conversation had to do with the only structure in Arano Restoration capable of performing maintenance on JumpShips, which was in orbit around Mechdur. At the moment, according to the data I had and that Farah was reading, they were only able to perform their operations on one JumpShip at a time, with an efficiency of about 60%. After reviewing the data, Farad said that with our support and with what she and her team had learned in Lompoc, it would be possible to update the dockyard for greater efficiency but that it should also be possible to expand it to work on up to 2 JumpShips simultaneously. Of course, this would only be possible with great support from Concordat, and only after Lompoc was finished, which meant probably around 3035, although preliminary work could start as soon as Lompoc was up and running, i.e. after 3030. But for that, I needed Thomas to accept to provide the necessary support. Maybe, he would be inclined to do so because it would also give the Concordat an extra capability maintaining/repairing its JumpShips.
Saying goodbye to Dr. Murad, I took a look at the reports on the Revenants and Grey Death. After a somewhat troubled beginning, they had created a good relationship and everything indicated that the efficiency of my forces had increased considerably. Because I was now the ruler of the system I opened to both units all the training areas that the local militia and TDF forces had access to since until now they only had access to about half of them with the most remote and most diversified biomes being unavailable for them. It was not difficult to extend the contract with GDL to training the militias and the regular TDF forces in the system as for them it only meant being paid for the same job. For me, I was using the planetary defense funds to improve the capacity of the local forces, a move supported by both the TDF and the local militia commanders.
The analysis report for the BSK-MAZ Bull Shark Assault ‘Mech had proved that its technology was actually superior to the latest Royal 'Mech to which I had access, which it had probably been created by the Clans and possibly by Clan Wolverine, because of the markings on the ’Mech. What the hell was this technology doing on this side of the Periphery? As far as I knew the Clans were on the other side of IS…
On the positive side, my technicians were confident that with the technology provided by both data cores and the ER Medium Lasers models found on that 'Mech, they could recreate those advanced weapons as long as enough money was available. Which, of course, wasn't in the years to come.
What was really interesting was written in a confidential memo saying that Argo could reproduce all the advanced laser types we had obtained in the operation against Baumann: ER Large, Medium and Small and also Pulse Large and Medium. We only had blueprints of ER Large and all the pulse ones, but extensive analysis of the ER Medium and Small allowed my experts to learn how to scale down the advanced lenses used in the ER Large to create the same effect in the Medium and small models. Obviously in limited quantities and at a high cost but still. At the moment they were not able to reproduce other types of weapons, but ongoing investigations were taking place. One of the first ’Mechs to receive these upgrades was the Highlander 732b of Vasseur, with the switch of its three Medium Lasers for extended range versions. The decision was taken to upgrade the ‘Mechs of the Revenant's but with maximum secrecy.
Meetings with leaders of various companies in all branches, universities, and hospitals led to the distribution of selected parts of both data cores in accordance with the Calderon’s directives to disseminate the technology, advising everyone to invest in security so as not to avoid taking unnecessary risks. I took the opportunity to inform those present that similar initiatives were taking place on other planets, the impact of such initiatives being depend on the money others companies were investing. One of the companies that would gain substantially from this was Pinard-Dicolais Electronics, which in addition to building a subsidiary in New Vandenberg, was producing to the maximum of its capacity advanced security and surveillance systems, models I had provided them with previously. Without forgetting that during my visit to Pinard, during the alarm caused by the Galahad 3026 exercises, I had obtained a stake in the company. Another pleasant news from P-DE was that they were planning to start limited (and expensive) production of Artemis IV warheads in mid 3030 followed by the guidance systems by late 3030 or early 3031.
The reunion with the Board of Directors of VMI went rather well. After all, since I had begun to lead it, the company had grown a lot, adding several new lines to its production capacities, ranging from vehicles to ‘Mechs and ASFs and was right now the biggest military company in the Periphery and not bad when compared to those of the Inner Sphere. The latest report from the VMI R&D team was also interesting. After years of work on the samples of Ferro-Fibrous, Streak launchers and ammo provided by the Celano operation and with the help of the data cores, they were finally confident that they could start the production of these advanced items. Once more if the budget was there. Unfortunately, there was for now no available budget to start these projects.
Running her usual magic, she had managed to make the operations on the shipyard in orbit of Lompoc (New Vandenberg IX) move ahead of schedule and at a lower cost than projected. According to her estimate, it would be fully operational in the middle of 3030, starting to build one Invader per year and in 3035, it would be able to produce 2 Invaders per year as more and more parts of the old shipyard would be restored. No stranger to this ambitious goal was the discovery of a big asteroid extremely rich in Germanium coupled to the almost finished unit that would process that ore and produce K-F cores. As far as I understood, that was the real bottleneck for the production of new JumpShips and before the people in charge of that area gained enough experience (and expanded the hardware) the number of cores per year was going to be small.
The construction of Snowden L was also running at full speed, at this time two were in activity and two others in an advanced stage of construction, which improved the availability of resources. Rebuilding the old shipyard had taken a lot of time, the central part was very complicated to restore and running. Now that that area and one of the slips were finally operational, rebuilding other slips was relatively easy and fast, but without the industrial infrastructure to feed them, everything was useless. And building that industrial infrastructure would take time as was of the needed training of the staff needed to operate the various elements. While everything was not ready, the slips could be used to provide maintenance to the aging commercial fleet operating inside the Concordat.
Part of our conversation had to do with the only structure in Arano Restoration capable of performing maintenance on JumpShips, which was in orbit around Mechdur. At the moment, according to the data I had and that Farah was reading, they were only able to perform their operations on one JumpShip at a time, with an efficiency of about 60%. After reviewing the data, Farad said that with our support and with what she and her team had learned in Lompoc, it would be possible to update the dockyard for greater efficiency but that it should also be possible to expand it to work on up to 2 JumpShips simultaneously. Of course, this would only be possible with great support from Concordat, and only after Lompoc was finished, which meant probably around 3035, although preliminary work could start as soon as Lompoc was up and running, i.e. after 3030. But for that, I needed Thomas to accept to provide the necessary support. Maybe, he would be inclined to do so because it would also give the Concordat an extra capability maintaining/repairing its JumpShips.
Saying goodbye to Dr. Murad, I took a look at the reports on the Revenants and Grey Death. After a somewhat troubled beginning, they had created a good relationship and everything indicated that the efficiency of my forces had increased considerably. Because I was now the ruler of the system I opened to both units all the training areas that the local militia and TDF forces had access to since until now they only had access to about half of them with the most remote and most diversified biomes being unavailable for them. It was not difficult to extend the contract with GDL to training the militias and the regular TDF forces in the system as for them it only meant being paid for the same job. For me, I was using the planetary defense funds to improve the capacity of the local forces, a move supported by both the TDF and the local militia commanders.
The analysis report for the BSK-MAZ Bull Shark Assault ‘Mech had proved that its technology was actually superior to the latest Royal 'Mech to which I had access, which it had probably been created by the Clans and possibly by Clan Wolverine, because of the markings on the ’Mech. What the hell was this technology doing on this side of the Periphery? As far as I knew the Clans were on the other side of IS…
On the positive side, my technicians were confident that with the technology provided by both data cores and the ER Medium Lasers models found on that 'Mech, they could recreate those advanced weapons as long as enough money was available. Which, of course, wasn't in the years to come.
What was really interesting was written in a confidential memo saying that Argo could reproduce all the advanced laser types we had obtained in the operation against Baumann: ER Large, Medium and Small and also Pulse Large and Medium. We only had blueprints of ER Large and all the pulse ones, but extensive analysis of the ER Medium and Small allowed my experts to learn how to scale down the advanced lenses used in the ER Large to create the same effect in the Medium and small models. Obviously in limited quantities and at a high cost but still. At the moment they were not able to reproduce other types of weapons, but ongoing investigations were taking place. One of the first ’Mechs to receive these upgrades was the Highlander 732b of Vasseur, with the switch of its three Medium Lasers for extended range versions. The decision was taken to upgrade the ‘Mechs of the Revenant's but with maximum secrecy.
Meetings with leaders of various companies in all branches, universities, and hospitals led to the distribution of selected parts of both data cores in accordance with the Calderon’s directives to disseminate the technology, advising everyone to invest in security so as not to avoid taking unnecessary risks. I took the opportunity to inform those present that similar initiatives were taking place on other planets, the impact of such initiatives being depend on the money others companies were investing. One of the companies that would gain substantially from this was Pinard-Dicolais Electronics, which in addition to building a subsidiary in New Vandenberg, was producing to the maximum of its capacity advanced security and surveillance systems, models I had provided them with previously. Without forgetting that during my visit to Pinard, during the alarm caused by the Galahad 3026 exercises, I had obtained a stake in the company. Another pleasant news from P-DE was that they were planning to start limited (and expensive) production of Artemis IV warheads in mid 3030 followed by the guidance systems by late 3030 or early 3031.
The reunion with the Board of Directors of VMI went rather well. After all, since I had begun to lead it, the company had grown a lot, adding several new lines to its production capacities, ranging from vehicles to ‘Mechs and ASFs and was right now the biggest military company in the Periphery and not bad when compared to those of the Inner Sphere. The latest report from the VMI R&D team was also interesting. After years of work on the samples of Ferro-Fibrous, Streak launchers and ammo provided by the Celano operation and with the help of the data cores, they were finally confident that they could start the production of these advanced items. Once more if the budget was there. Unfortunately, there was for now no available budget to start these projects.
Doomsought
Well-known member
Damned shame all those bottlenecks, but this will also produce less heat compared to something like a royal battlemech factory popping out of nowhere.
paulobrito
Well-known member
Many of these bottlenecks are because this is the Periphery, not House Steiner + House Davion. Yep, a full automated Royal grade brand new factory for sure catch the full attention - and rage - of C*.
I wonder if you will take some notes from what Drakensis is doing and have Melissa visit the Taurians. As it is from Hansen's view a low risk area and a chance to see how she handles diplomacy.
With the MC perhaps giving her a small refit kit for her mother and aunt to bring their mechs more in line with the Royal standards (MC: there is too much tension to give your new husband a similiar kit). Then give her a few anti-cancer drugs from the memory core, as a gift to the people of her new nation. "In memory of your father who died of cancer, we hope that you will show this faith isn't misplaced and she will use this information to improve the lives of your nation's people. Not focusing on war."*
*Granted, from the MC's view this will likely stop Melissa's mother dying of cancer and giving FedCom a better chance.
With the MC perhaps giving her a small refit kit for her mother and aunt to bring their mechs more in line with the Royal standards (MC: there is too much tension to give your new husband a similiar kit). Then give her a few anti-cancer drugs from the memory core, as a gift to the people of her new nation. "In memory of your father who died of cancer, we hope that you will show this faith isn't misplaced and she will use this information to improve the lives of your nation's people. Not focusing on war."*
*Granted, from the MC's view this will likely stop Melissa's mother dying of cancer and giving FedCom a better chance.
paulobrito
Well-known member
Can you point me to that Drakensis work? I normally read all of his BT ones, but somehow failed to see that one.
He is busy trying to setup an alternate Battletech franchise publication , from 1970, with them advancing BT's timeline in sync with RL. So each year they would advance the franchise one year with a new book.
One of the suggestions that he is going to go with is to add a book for Melissa to show her political chops, since she is frequently a side character in other books, but never really shown taking leadership. So it was suggested to setup a book in 94 with her calming down the Taurian border.
Battletech Story Ideas thread (NEW)
Even armor repair gets painful fast if you have to take four times the time for the same level of reliability. 10 hours plus per ton of armor shot off on top of the 3 hours or so the basic maintenance on even a light mech would take means you're not going to be doing more than one extremely...
forums.spacebattles.com
paulobrito
Well-known member
Well, in this story Melissa at this time (3029, in the middle of the 4SW) is returning (or about to) to Tharkad and is too young and inexperienced for that. Also, the relations of the Concordat with FS are way better than OTL. But something can be arranged soon.
paulobrito
Well-known member
To be fair is not exactly Clan tech - more like an advanced Royal tech - the Wolverine 'problem' / elimination occurs about 282x - at the time that the Clans started to develop advanced weapons. But yes, some friction with the Dragoons is probably going to exist in the near future.
Yeah, but it will be a warning sign that the company has access to things more advanced than SLDF. Maybe the Dragoons suddenly want to do some training together, get a chance to socialize and find out what's up
paulobrito
Well-known member
That is for after 3030 - right now the Dragoons are busy with Takashi on the other side of the FS, and Baumann also has gone underground. By 303x, you have the Dragoons on Outreach and when Baumann re-appear is going to be 'fun' as the final mission of the FP in the Heavy Metal DLC fun. At least, that is what is planned for now.
I'm looking forward to it.
Chapter 36
paulobrito
Well-known member
As soon as the series of meetings with the various companies was over and after having given the final instructions to ”my” government, I started preparing myself to leave for Coromodir. The day before my planned departure, I received a message from Thomas requesting that I went to Taurus ASAP. Showing what ASAP meant, he had arranged for a ‘Pony Express’ chain of JumpShips to accelerate my arrival.
What now I wondered. I had “just” left and many things could also be discussed via HPG.
The trip was happily without surprises and two weeks later, I was on a DropShip approaching the capital of Taurian Concordat.
The first news I received while still in flight was that ComStar had Interdicted the Federated Suns due to an attack on the HPG in Sarna. I smiled and muttered 'We happily continue to follow the script, I see. Hopefully ComStar will remain busy with the Inner Sphere for a long time.' I saw the stunned look of the captain of the DropShip, who restrained himself and did not comment, while I swore for saying that out loud.
As soon as I landed, I was brought to Thomas’ private cabinet, and the reason behind the emergency became crystal clear. Anne-Maria Centrella was there with both Calderons.
It turned out that Magestrix Kyalla Centrella had decided to fix her relations with the Concordat and had sent Anne-Marie to work out the details.
The proposal that the Magestrix was making me was that my companies would upgrade Magesty Metals and Manufacturing (MMM) to the same level that VMI had been, help rebuild the Dragonfly line and sell as much of VMI production as possible (obviously the one not already sold by firm contracts in the next two years) to the Magistracy. Thanks to the new construction lines (not only of ‘Mechs and ASF but also vehicles and components), the upgrades of older lines and the capacity to order parts from companies inside the Concordat that had also been upgraded, VMI now had a lot of untapped production capability, which would for the first time be pushed to its limits. The Magistracy wanted to buy everything at real market price, not even asking for a discount for such big order, with the only condition being that the operation should be kept secret as long as possible. Clearly, Thomas was okay with that, otherwise he wouldn’t have called me here. Apart from that confidentiality clause and the size of the order, it was a normal contract and one that provided VMI with the necessary funds for some expansions / research I had in mind, so I had no problem signing it (furthermore with the blessing of the Protector).
I was also informed but with no details that the Magistracy and the Concordat had signed a treaty of non-aggression and several commercial accords. Ah, and that the last part of the Aurigan debt still in Magistracy hands had been transferred to the Concordat...
My inner thoughts told me that Kyalla Centrella had understood how fragile House Liao was and was already planning her future offensive against it. No doubt that she had already talked with Catherine Humphreys. But, for going as far as launching this offensive, she needed the Concordat help to beef up her military forces and to give her quiet borders, so it was obvious that she would want to be in good terms with the Concordat or turn them into allies. In order to do that she was ready to let split her last piece of influence / interest in the Reach.
With the political questions already addressed by Thomas and the technical side also dealt with, my principal question was if the Concordat would be going into that total mess that was the Andurien Crisis as I knew it.
When I asked Thomas in private (I didn’t want Anne-Marie to know that I might have a clue about their plans) about that (putting the case as hypothetical as I couldn’t say how much I knew about this universe), he answered that, for now, the Concordat was going to stay away, but that depending on the performance of both sides, maybe it would try a quick land grab. Hypothetically, of course. While I was not informed on the guarantees or reasons Anne-Marie gave the Calderons that the Concordat would not be the target, both of them seemed to consider them good enough.
Even before Anne-Marie departed for Canopus, the issue of the new relations between the Concordat and the Aurigan Restoration was addressed. A message was sent to Kamea ‘inviting’ her to come to Taurus to negotiations, with a possible clearing of the Aurigan debt that is now in Concordat hands to attract her and providing her with the same ‘Pony Express’ fast travel I had received. Kamea arrived at Taurus after Anne-Marie had departed, conveniently removing the Magistracy from these negotiations.
To the surprise of the Aurigan leader, she was received with all honors and treated like an important chief-of-state and not like the leader of a small nation being called by the local super-power.
Instead of demands, she received a proposal for a formal alliance with her as the junior partner, but with offers of financial support and access to technology and production that her nation so desperately needed. The Concordat gained access to the for now, poor Aurigan market, and one of the secret clauses was that should there be a war between the Concordat and the Capellan Confederation, Concordat troops would be able move freely through the Aurigan territory.
The offer included a selection of the data in the data cores focusing on agriculture, civil industry and medicine as well as the repair and expansion of the dockyard in orbit of Mechdur, the expansion of the military-industrial complex on the same planet with the creation of lines for production for conventional fighting vehicles and fighters and some low tech parts to sell to the Concordat and Magistracy military forces. That Concordat companies (including VMI) gained partnership with the Aurigan companies – and in some cases like in Mechdur control over them - that received support was one added condition.
Until now Kamea had made good use of her time, consolidating the power in her hands (among other actions she had ordered that all belongings of the now extinct House Espinosa would be given as repayment to House Arano) and rebuilding what she could of her nation. But it had been badly damaged during the civil war and the ongoing Fourth Succession War did not help at all in the development of trade, the Aurigan so desperately needed. So, the proposal from the Concordat was the solution to her problems, even if it turned the control of substantial parts of her economy to Concordat hands.
To Kamea’s surprise, (the issue had already been talked with me before with Thomas securing my agreement) Thomas also wanted us to marry, sealing the alliance of both nations. He didn’t offer the hand of his son, because the Aurigan Restoration was a minor nation compared to the Concordat but going through me was still a way to link both nations.
The last part of the deal was the clearing of all the Aurigan debt, Thomas had already secured the part that I and VMI controlled. One of the benefits for the Concordat was that it secured that part of the border, gained a junior partner and many low tech industries in the Concordat had access to a whole new market.
Without revealing anything, Kamea asked for some time to think, which obviously was granted and left for the Aurigan Embassy.
Without much surprise, the next day I received an invitation requesting me to visit her.
As soon as I arrived at the embassy, I was immediately directed to her room. She received me as the perfect High Lady, nothing in her attitude, pose or tone of voice would make me think that we had been lovers.
I was subjected to a long questioning about the proposed deal, whether it had been my idea, what my plans were, what I thought of the situation and how I saw the future of Aurigan Restoration in case the proposal was accepted, what Thomas planned to do in the future, etc.
I answered as best I could, without revealing secrets and trying my best to maintain an equivalent tone and pose to the Kamea’s one.
Finally, and without revealing anything about what she planned to do, Kamea dismissed me.
'This is not going very well Jean-Luc' was my thought when I left the embassy.
Two days later I was called back by Thomas.
Thomas, Edward and Kamea were already there when I arrived.
Fortunately and contrary to what I had feared, Kamea had accepted the proposal. And when she said so, she looked at me and winked and smiled (a warm smile).
‘One of these days that girl is going to be my death’ I murmured to myself.
‘Did you say anything ?’ Asked Edward with the air of someone who was having immense pleasure painted on is face.
I answered back with the best innocent face I could manage. ‘Nothing, my Lord, I’m just very happy with the decision of her Highness’.
The next day, me and Kamea departed for Coromodir and Edward to New Avalon, no doubt to make a very interesting proposal to Hanse Davion.
What now I wondered. I had “just” left and many things could also be discussed via HPG.
The trip was happily without surprises and two weeks later, I was on a DropShip approaching the capital of Taurian Concordat.
The first news I received while still in flight was that ComStar had Interdicted the Federated Suns due to an attack on the HPG in Sarna. I smiled and muttered 'We happily continue to follow the script, I see. Hopefully ComStar will remain busy with the Inner Sphere for a long time.' I saw the stunned look of the captain of the DropShip, who restrained himself and did not comment, while I swore for saying that out loud.
As soon as I landed, I was brought to Thomas’ private cabinet, and the reason behind the emergency became crystal clear. Anne-Maria Centrella was there with both Calderons.
It turned out that Magestrix Kyalla Centrella had decided to fix her relations with the Concordat and had sent Anne-Marie to work out the details.
The proposal that the Magestrix was making me was that my companies would upgrade Magesty Metals and Manufacturing (MMM) to the same level that VMI had been, help rebuild the Dragonfly line and sell as much of VMI production as possible (obviously the one not already sold by firm contracts in the next two years) to the Magistracy. Thanks to the new construction lines (not only of ‘Mechs and ASF but also vehicles and components), the upgrades of older lines and the capacity to order parts from companies inside the Concordat that had also been upgraded, VMI now had a lot of untapped production capability, which would for the first time be pushed to its limits. The Magistracy wanted to buy everything at real market price, not even asking for a discount for such big order, with the only condition being that the operation should be kept secret as long as possible. Clearly, Thomas was okay with that, otherwise he wouldn’t have called me here. Apart from that confidentiality clause and the size of the order, it was a normal contract and one that provided VMI with the necessary funds for some expansions / research I had in mind, so I had no problem signing it (furthermore with the blessing of the Protector).
I was also informed but with no details that the Magistracy and the Concordat had signed a treaty of non-aggression and several commercial accords. Ah, and that the last part of the Aurigan debt still in Magistracy hands had been transferred to the Concordat...
My inner thoughts told me that Kyalla Centrella had understood how fragile House Liao was and was already planning her future offensive against it. No doubt that she had already talked with Catherine Humphreys. But, for going as far as launching this offensive, she needed the Concordat help to beef up her military forces and to give her quiet borders, so it was obvious that she would want to be in good terms with the Concordat or turn them into allies. In order to do that she was ready to let split her last piece of influence / interest in the Reach.
With the political questions already addressed by Thomas and the technical side also dealt with, my principal question was if the Concordat would be going into that total mess that was the Andurien Crisis as I knew it.
When I asked Thomas in private (I didn’t want Anne-Marie to know that I might have a clue about their plans) about that (putting the case as hypothetical as I couldn’t say how much I knew about this universe), he answered that, for now, the Concordat was going to stay away, but that depending on the performance of both sides, maybe it would try a quick land grab. Hypothetically, of course. While I was not informed on the guarantees or reasons Anne-Marie gave the Calderons that the Concordat would not be the target, both of them seemed to consider them good enough.
Even before Anne-Marie departed for Canopus, the issue of the new relations between the Concordat and the Aurigan Restoration was addressed. A message was sent to Kamea ‘inviting’ her to come to Taurus to negotiations, with a possible clearing of the Aurigan debt that is now in Concordat hands to attract her and providing her with the same ‘Pony Express’ fast travel I had received. Kamea arrived at Taurus after Anne-Marie had departed, conveniently removing the Magistracy from these negotiations.
To the surprise of the Aurigan leader, she was received with all honors and treated like an important chief-of-state and not like the leader of a small nation being called by the local super-power.
Instead of demands, she received a proposal for a formal alliance with her as the junior partner, but with offers of financial support and access to technology and production that her nation so desperately needed. The Concordat gained access to the for now, poor Aurigan market, and one of the secret clauses was that should there be a war between the Concordat and the Capellan Confederation, Concordat troops would be able move freely through the Aurigan territory.
The offer included a selection of the data in the data cores focusing on agriculture, civil industry and medicine as well as the repair and expansion of the dockyard in orbit of Mechdur, the expansion of the military-industrial complex on the same planet with the creation of lines for production for conventional fighting vehicles and fighters and some low tech parts to sell to the Concordat and Magistracy military forces. That Concordat companies (including VMI) gained partnership with the Aurigan companies – and in some cases like in Mechdur control over them - that received support was one added condition.
Until now Kamea had made good use of her time, consolidating the power in her hands (among other actions she had ordered that all belongings of the now extinct House Espinosa would be given as repayment to House Arano) and rebuilding what she could of her nation. But it had been badly damaged during the civil war and the ongoing Fourth Succession War did not help at all in the development of trade, the Aurigan so desperately needed. So, the proposal from the Concordat was the solution to her problems, even if it turned the control of substantial parts of her economy to Concordat hands.
To Kamea’s surprise, (the issue had already been talked with me before with Thomas securing my agreement) Thomas also wanted us to marry, sealing the alliance of both nations. He didn’t offer the hand of his son, because the Aurigan Restoration was a minor nation compared to the Concordat but going through me was still a way to link both nations.
The last part of the deal was the clearing of all the Aurigan debt, Thomas had already secured the part that I and VMI controlled. One of the benefits for the Concordat was that it secured that part of the border, gained a junior partner and many low tech industries in the Concordat had access to a whole new market.
Without revealing anything, Kamea asked for some time to think, which obviously was granted and left for the Aurigan Embassy.
Without much surprise, the next day I received an invitation requesting me to visit her.
As soon as I arrived at the embassy, I was immediately directed to her room. She received me as the perfect High Lady, nothing in her attitude, pose or tone of voice would make me think that we had been lovers.
I was subjected to a long questioning about the proposed deal, whether it had been my idea, what my plans were, what I thought of the situation and how I saw the future of Aurigan Restoration in case the proposal was accepted, what Thomas planned to do in the future, etc.
I answered as best I could, without revealing secrets and trying my best to maintain an equivalent tone and pose to the Kamea’s one.
Finally, and without revealing anything about what she planned to do, Kamea dismissed me.
'This is not going very well Jean-Luc' was my thought when I left the embassy.
Two days later I was called back by Thomas.
Thomas, Edward and Kamea were already there when I arrived.
Fortunately and contrary to what I had feared, Kamea had accepted the proposal. And when she said so, she looked at me and winked and smiled (a warm smile).
‘One of these days that girl is going to be my death’ I murmured to myself.
‘Did you say anything ?’ Asked Edward with the air of someone who was having immense pleasure painted on is face.
I answered back with the best innocent face I could manage. ‘Nothing, my Lord, I’m just very happy with the decision of her Highness’.
The next day, me and Kamea departed for Coromodir and Edward to New Avalon, no doubt to make a very interesting proposal to Hanse Davion.
Chapter 37
paulobrito
Well-known member
We got to Coromodir without any problems.
The wedding was in the oldest (and largest) cathedral of Cordia City, and as was to be expected for the wedding of the queen of the kingdom, very dignified and with the presence of all the nobles and representations of all nations that had contact with the Arano Restoration.
I looked back at what I had achieved, going from a nobody in my original world, to the governor of one of the richest planets of Concordat and being married to the monarch of a nation that had 23 systems, even if it was the smallest and poorest of the Periphery nations. Not bad in 15 years in this universe.
One of my wedding gifts to Kamea is the complete rebuild of her KTO-18 Kintaro ‘Mech – an KTO-18 Kintaro – that as had been severely damaged in the last battle in Coromodir. Part of the rebuild included the replacement of all Single Heat Sinks by Double ones, resolving many of the limitations the ’Mech had.
As I had expected, Kamea was not prepared to share her control over her nation, I was a prince consort, and she made it clear from the beginning.
Fortunately for our relationship, I wasn't in the least interested in having that burden or in dealing with it myself, as I told her in a very open conversation we had. For me, controlling one system, 2 companies and a mercenary company was more than enough for me as was living with a beautiful woman with a somewhat wild side. This last sentence made her smile but she made me pay for the joke later… Wild and vengeful no doubt. Well, my intimate moments of marriage were certainly not going to be boring...
During one of the relaxing times after such moment, a time when Kamea enjoyed discussing delicate situations had to do with my more than normal access to information about advanced technology and how much I could provide her kingdom without betraying my oaths to Thomas... Kamea was undoubtedly an intelligent woman and had already understood that I knew where to find very valuable information.
After giving it some thoughts, all the while she did her best to 'distract' me, I eventually told her that if her nation sent negotiators to Niops, a small, single system independent nation, on the other side of the Magistracy, they should be able to find something very interesting.
Kamea thanked me in more than one way but I will stop here...
A month later, we received information that not only had Andurien separated from the Free Worlds League but that he had allied himself with the Magistracy beginning an attack of the Capellan Confederation.
Kamea, always so perceptive, managed to notice that I was not really surprised to receive the news and discreetly asked me what would most benefit our realm.
My answer was simple. “Don't get us in this mess and provided we had enough strength, take advantage and 'absorb' independent, but self-sustained, planets like Detroit or Herotitus.” She immediately asked if my mercenaries were available for a contract. By this time the training with The Gray Death Legion was over, and despite my best efforts, they had gone back to the Inner Sphere in search of more 'prestigious' contracts, and since Thomas had not (yet) made any decision about intervening on the Capellan Confederation, and the Revenants don’t have any contract at the moment, I answered yes.
Kamea immediately offered me a contract that basically consisted of sending my forces acompanied by several of her infantry regiments to 'free' several systems between her realm and the Magistracy. After a quick and quiet calculation of probabilities, I accepted.
The wedding was in the oldest (and largest) cathedral of Cordia City, and as was to be expected for the wedding of the queen of the kingdom, very dignified and with the presence of all the nobles and representations of all nations that had contact with the Arano Restoration.
I looked back at what I had achieved, going from a nobody in my original world, to the governor of one of the richest planets of Concordat and being married to the monarch of a nation that had 23 systems, even if it was the smallest and poorest of the Periphery nations. Not bad in 15 years in this universe.
One of my wedding gifts to Kamea is the complete rebuild of her KTO-18 Kintaro ‘Mech – an KTO-18 Kintaro – that as had been severely damaged in the last battle in Coromodir. Part of the rebuild included the replacement of all Single Heat Sinks by Double ones, resolving many of the limitations the ’Mech had.
As I had expected, Kamea was not prepared to share her control over her nation, I was a prince consort, and she made it clear from the beginning.
Fortunately for our relationship, I wasn't in the least interested in having that burden or in dealing with it myself, as I told her in a very open conversation we had. For me, controlling one system, 2 companies and a mercenary company was more than enough for me as was living with a beautiful woman with a somewhat wild side. This last sentence made her smile but she made me pay for the joke later… Wild and vengeful no doubt. Well, my intimate moments of marriage were certainly not going to be boring...
During one of the relaxing times after such moment, a time when Kamea enjoyed discussing delicate situations had to do with my more than normal access to information about advanced technology and how much I could provide her kingdom without betraying my oaths to Thomas... Kamea was undoubtedly an intelligent woman and had already understood that I knew where to find very valuable information.
After giving it some thoughts, all the while she did her best to 'distract' me, I eventually told her that if her nation sent negotiators to Niops, a small, single system independent nation, on the other side of the Magistracy, they should be able to find something very interesting.
Kamea thanked me in more than one way but I will stop here...
A month later, we received information that not only had Andurien separated from the Free Worlds League but that he had allied himself with the Magistracy beginning an attack of the Capellan Confederation.
Kamea, always so perceptive, managed to notice that I was not really surprised to receive the news and discreetly asked me what would most benefit our realm.
My answer was simple. “Don't get us in this mess and provided we had enough strength, take advantage and 'absorb' independent, but self-sustained, planets like Detroit or Herotitus.” She immediately asked if my mercenaries were available for a contract. By this time the training with The Gray Death Legion was over, and despite my best efforts, they had gone back to the Inner Sphere in search of more 'prestigious' contracts, and since Thomas had not (yet) made any decision about intervening on the Capellan Confederation, and the Revenants don’t have any contract at the moment, I answered yes.
Kamea immediately offered me a contract that basically consisted of sending my forces acompanied by several of her infantry regiments to 'free' several systems between her realm and the Magistracy. After a quick and quiet calculation of probabilities, I accepted.
Chapter 38
paulobrito
Well-known member
Because Mechdur didn’t have the capacity to produce any “advanced” technology, the equipment supplied to the units of Kamea’s army was limited. The tanks, APCs and IFVs only had ICE engines and missiles (SRM and LRM), cannons (AC/5) and machine guns (HMG) were the norm for their weapons and energy weapons (lasers and PPCs) the exception. Likewise, the infantry had decent ballistic weapons and rockets (LAW and SRM) and Flak armor with energy weapons or ablative armors being almost non-existent.
That said, with the support of my Revenants, I was confident that we could succeed and on the 25th of January 3031, 4 infantry regiments supported by the Revenants invaded Herotitus in order to claim the planet on behalf of the Aurigan Restoration.
Gabriel Fur' Seng-Gang, the Planetary Ruler, had little more than a small police force to maintain order, despite is best efforts to obtain a ‘Mech mercenary unit to beef-up the planetary defenses, and was not exactly stupid. As soon as he learned of the number of forces that had landed and of their goal, he declared his allegiance to Kamea and immediately accepted the integration of Herotitus into the Restoration, thus ensuring his position and a peaceful transition.
Although Herotitus was a Mercenary Star, even if on a much smaller scale than Galatea, there were almost no mercenaries present when the Revenants arrived, due in no small part to the war going on between the Magistracy allied to Andurien against the Capellan Confederation that had attracted almost all the mercenaries in the area. What was left was too badly equipped or had such a low reputation that no one wanted them, not even Seng-Gang. Interestingly, a good percentage of them left the system soon after we arrived and took control...
Herotitus was important to Kamea not only as a source of income but also because it exported food, something that unfortunately was still very much needed by the Aurigan Restoration, in spite of the improvements over the recent years.
As soon as the situation on Herotitus was stabilized, which thanks to the “cooperation” of the local authorities took only a few weeks, we departed for our next target: Detroit. On the 4th of March 3031, we arrived at Detroit. With one regiment staying on Herotitus, our forces were slightly smaller.
Unlike Herotitus, Detroit didn’t have a centralized government, but this doesn’t mean we had it easy to secure the planet as the opposition being several independent forces, it took us time to secure the planet, since we had to deal with all of them.
And one of these groups had advanced weaponry… that is for the era. Fortunately for us, they were few in numbers and little more than thugs leaving us the full advantage of superior numbers, training and material.
This time we didn't capture any 'advanced Mech', we ‘only’ found several 'Mechs, or more precisely what was left of them, with different pieces of very advanced equipment. The 'robust' interrogation of the survivors of that group, as well as the detailed analysis of their computers and records, revealed not only that, as I had been expecting, they had obtained the equipment from Notker Baumann but it also gave us the location of Baumann’s base, a group of coordinates in the Mantharaka system, 41.3 light-years away from Detroit.
The first prize of this conquest was that several groups, including the one with advanced equipment and another one formed by survivors of the forces from Espinosa had several JumpShips and DropShips in the system, allowing us to easily capture an Invader, a Tramp, two Unions, one Triumph, one Jumbo and one Leopard. However, unlike last time, Kamea had looked at the contract and made it so that any captured JumpShip or DropShip would be delivered to her, meaning I just got the salvage left by the ‘Mechs and vehicles.
However, the real prize was the world itself. Detroit was by a wide margin, the most industrialized independent system in the area, almost as much as Mechdur and in some areas even better. On it were the repairable ruins of an Earthwerks Limited facility capable of producing light, medium and heavy units, ranging from tanks, to Mechs or even Aerospace Fighters. In the lore that I remembered from my universe, it was the basis for the Detroit Consolidated group of factories built in the 3060s. It would probably take time and money (a lot of both) but the Aurigan Restoration and perhaps I too would have something to play with.
As soon as the system was considered safe enough and after exchanging messages with Kamea, (It is strange how these independent systems all had HPGs, while many systems in the Aurigan Restoration didn’t), I left one of the Revenants battalions with Kamea’s regiments in Detroit and left with the others three for Mantharaka.
That said, with the support of my Revenants, I was confident that we could succeed and on the 25th of January 3031, 4 infantry regiments supported by the Revenants invaded Herotitus in order to claim the planet on behalf of the Aurigan Restoration.
Gabriel Fur' Seng-Gang, the Planetary Ruler, had little more than a small police force to maintain order, despite is best efforts to obtain a ‘Mech mercenary unit to beef-up the planetary defenses, and was not exactly stupid. As soon as he learned of the number of forces that had landed and of their goal, he declared his allegiance to Kamea and immediately accepted the integration of Herotitus into the Restoration, thus ensuring his position and a peaceful transition.
Although Herotitus was a Mercenary Star, even if on a much smaller scale than Galatea, there were almost no mercenaries present when the Revenants arrived, due in no small part to the war going on between the Magistracy allied to Andurien against the Capellan Confederation that had attracted almost all the mercenaries in the area. What was left was too badly equipped or had such a low reputation that no one wanted them, not even Seng-Gang. Interestingly, a good percentage of them left the system soon after we arrived and took control...
Herotitus was important to Kamea not only as a source of income but also because it exported food, something that unfortunately was still very much needed by the Aurigan Restoration, in spite of the improvements over the recent years.
As soon as the situation on Herotitus was stabilized, which thanks to the “cooperation” of the local authorities took only a few weeks, we departed for our next target: Detroit. On the 4th of March 3031, we arrived at Detroit. With one regiment staying on Herotitus, our forces were slightly smaller.
Unlike Herotitus, Detroit didn’t have a centralized government, but this doesn’t mean we had it easy to secure the planet as the opposition being several independent forces, it took us time to secure the planet, since we had to deal with all of them.
And one of these groups had advanced weaponry… that is for the era. Fortunately for us, they were few in numbers and little more than thugs leaving us the full advantage of superior numbers, training and material.
This time we didn't capture any 'advanced Mech', we ‘only’ found several 'Mechs, or more precisely what was left of them, with different pieces of very advanced equipment. The 'robust' interrogation of the survivors of that group, as well as the detailed analysis of their computers and records, revealed not only that, as I had been expecting, they had obtained the equipment from Notker Baumann but it also gave us the location of Baumann’s base, a group of coordinates in the Mantharaka system, 41.3 light-years away from Detroit.
The first prize of this conquest was that several groups, including the one with advanced equipment and another one formed by survivors of the forces from Espinosa had several JumpShips and DropShips in the system, allowing us to easily capture an Invader, a Tramp, two Unions, one Triumph, one Jumbo and one Leopard. However, unlike last time, Kamea had looked at the contract and made it so that any captured JumpShip or DropShip would be delivered to her, meaning I just got the salvage left by the ‘Mechs and vehicles.
However, the real prize was the world itself. Detroit was by a wide margin, the most industrialized independent system in the area, almost as much as Mechdur and in some areas even better. On it were the repairable ruins of an Earthwerks Limited facility capable of producing light, medium and heavy units, ranging from tanks, to Mechs or even Aerospace Fighters. In the lore that I remembered from my universe, it was the basis for the Detroit Consolidated group of factories built in the 3060s. It would probably take time and money (a lot of both) but the Aurigan Restoration and perhaps I too would have something to play with.
As soon as the system was considered safe enough and after exchanging messages with Kamea, (It is strange how these independent systems all had HPGs, while many systems in the Aurigan Restoration didn’t), I left one of the Revenants battalions with Kamea’s regiments in Detroit and left with the others three for Mantharaka.
Chapter 39
paulobrito
Well-known member
Two jumps later we arrived in the Mantharaka system, at its nadir jump-point. During our burning to the planet, the sensors detected three more JumpShips, two in the zenith jump-point and one in what could only be a pirate point.
In front of us, four DropShips were on an approach route, all ahead of us: two Unions accompanied by a Mule would land in two hours and an Overlord 6 hours later but still 4 hours before us. All these units, both the JumpShips and the DropShips, had their IFF / identification off, never a good sign.
Being this time in command as Vasseur had stayed in command of the forces in Detroit and considering the forces an Overlord and two Union could carry, I thought it best to land a little further away and to regroup my forces before moving towards Baumann’s base, the obvious destination of all forces.
Apparently, only one of the groups ahead of us had Aerospace Fighter support, with 6 Light Fighters, most likely for the unit that had landed with Overlord. My forces included a dozen Aerospace Fighters, a mixture of Heavies, Medium and Lights Aerospace Fighters. For the moment these were executing CAP on my forces during our advance. I didn’t want to engage any of my forces before knowing who and what was ahead of me.
As soon as we got close to the base location, we began to find wreckage of 'Mechs. Every single ‘Mech we met was lacking a distinctive unit insignia or a specific painting, something I expected from Baumann's forces, but unless they were the only ones to have lost 'Mechs, the force that had landed first seemed also eager to remain hidden. Meaning they were either a pirate force or someone that wanted to remain in the shadows.
When we reached the base location, we found out that the base had been destroyed and the noises of the combats were increasing, meaning some heavy action was going on.
The first 'Mech we saw was a jet black Shogun firing at a more distant bright green Archer. Oh shit, I thought, at least one of the forces was the Black Widow Battalion.
Although tremendously proud of my Revenants, I knew perfectly well that they were not playing in the same league as Natasha Kerensky's unit. Even with the support of our mechanized forces, artillery and infantry and twice as many Aerospace Fighters, I had no doubt who would win the fight if we had to fight them. This was not a video game after all.
‘Revenants, don't shoot at the ’Mechs painted in black, unless they shoot at us first. The others are fair game.'
Meanwhile, I jumped from one frequency to another, trying to get in touch.
‘Major Kerensky?’
Natasha Kerensky's unmistakable voice responded almost immediately.
'Isn’t this the prince consort of the tiny Aurigan Nation? What do you want, little prince? I'm busy, withdraw your forces from the battlefield if you don't want to be destroyed.'
Yep, Natasha Kerensky's charm and diplomacy remained the same as I remembered them...
'Major, I have nothing against your presence, my forces are there to eliminate the smuggler Baumann and his forces.'
'First, it's Colonel Kerensky, pup and second that problem has already been solved. I am in the middle of setting up a personal matter. Last warning, withdraw or I open fire on your toys.’
Fortunately I stopped right in time before answering what I would have wanted to say, which would have brought us in combat against one of the deadliest units of this time. Not that it was easy to stay mute. During this time, I had seen the Shogun decapitating the Archer, however I could also see a few more 'Mechs further away exchanging shots, most in black, the few others in green.
Bright green, fighting against the Black Widows, and Natasha said it was personal, why did it ring a bell in me?
…
Crap, the other force must have been the Bounty Hunter group. But Michi Noketsuna was right now the Bounty Hunter, wasn’t he ? Either something really wrong had happened or this was another divergence from the story as I knew it.
Not willing to take too much time in case there was no time left, I switched channels again.
‘Revenants, cease operations and regroup at Baumann's base coordinates. Let's wait there for these two groups of egomaniacs to settle their disputes.’
A series of nervous laughters was the only answer I got as my forces retreated towards the destroyed base. As my forces began establishing a defensive position, my technicians scoured the wreckage to find something worth scavenging.
While the CAP reported that Natasha's forces were wiping out the last 'Mechs of their opponents, we took control of the destroyed ‘Mechs around the base and found the body of Notker Baumann with a card left as a signature, a 7 of Spade...
Damn, I swore. Not only had I forgotten that Natasha had been promoted to Colonel when the Black Widow’s Company had been upgraded to a Battalion, but I had also forgotten that the 7th Kommando had been added to it! I quickly ordered our DropShips to execute a short flight and land near the ruins where we were located, adding their firepower to ours and reducing the risk of them being captured or sabotaged by the 7th Kommando, if Natasha decided to focus on us.
Shortly after, our air cover reported that the battle was over and that Natasha’s forces as expected had won. After dealing with her “private matter”, I was afraid that Natasha would come for us or at least finish destroying Baumann's base. My bet was that she would be eager to destroy everything linked to the Wolverines (she was a good Clanner after all) … that is if she knew what was present there.
To my great amazement and pleasant surprise, the reports I got were that Natasha's forces boarded and left shortly after the end of the battle, taking with them the captured DropShips, without even a word in our direction. Was it possible that she had only come here to settle her dispute with the Bounty Hunter, without knowing what was nearby? Not that I would complain, even if the way we'd been dismissed was humiliating.
Having remained alone in the area, we spent the next few days doing a thorough search of the base and the battle sites. For those, Natasha had taken everything of value, leaving us with not much to loot, with the exception of the 'Mechs destroyed near the base and a lonely green Marauder that had been stripped of anything useful and was left with its cockpit smashed, but we found no body in it. In the base and after several hours of search, we found a carefully hidden entrance to underground levels where we found several hundred tons of hardware, some very advanced, most of it 'normal', although not a single 'Mech. Interestingly enough, we found several data cores with advanced encryption, which we didn’t have the material to crack on site. At first, it looked like a variant of the latest versions of those used by the SLDF, meaning that they were either Royal or had to have been used by Clan Wolverine, wich meant they were likely to come from the same place where Baumann had found all his hardware.
Thank God I had talked with Kamea about the need to return for a while to New Vandenberg to manage some business, dispatch some of my responsibilities as I was after all the governor of the system and maybe even going to Taurus to talk with the Calderon, as the only place where I could hope to decrypt the data cores was New Vandenberg.
In front of us, four DropShips were on an approach route, all ahead of us: two Unions accompanied by a Mule would land in two hours and an Overlord 6 hours later but still 4 hours before us. All these units, both the JumpShips and the DropShips, had their IFF / identification off, never a good sign.
Being this time in command as Vasseur had stayed in command of the forces in Detroit and considering the forces an Overlord and two Union could carry, I thought it best to land a little further away and to regroup my forces before moving towards Baumann’s base, the obvious destination of all forces.
Apparently, only one of the groups ahead of us had Aerospace Fighter support, with 6 Light Fighters, most likely for the unit that had landed with Overlord. My forces included a dozen Aerospace Fighters, a mixture of Heavies, Medium and Lights Aerospace Fighters. For the moment these were executing CAP on my forces during our advance. I didn’t want to engage any of my forces before knowing who and what was ahead of me.
As soon as we got close to the base location, we began to find wreckage of 'Mechs. Every single ‘Mech we met was lacking a distinctive unit insignia or a specific painting, something I expected from Baumann's forces, but unless they were the only ones to have lost 'Mechs, the force that had landed first seemed also eager to remain hidden. Meaning they were either a pirate force or someone that wanted to remain in the shadows.
When we reached the base location, we found out that the base had been destroyed and the noises of the combats were increasing, meaning some heavy action was going on.
The first 'Mech we saw was a jet black Shogun firing at a more distant bright green Archer. Oh shit, I thought, at least one of the forces was the Black Widow Battalion.
Although tremendously proud of my Revenants, I knew perfectly well that they were not playing in the same league as Natasha Kerensky's unit. Even with the support of our mechanized forces, artillery and infantry and twice as many Aerospace Fighters, I had no doubt who would win the fight if we had to fight them. This was not a video game after all.
‘Revenants, don't shoot at the ’Mechs painted in black, unless they shoot at us first. The others are fair game.'
Meanwhile, I jumped from one frequency to another, trying to get in touch.
‘Major Kerensky?’
Natasha Kerensky's unmistakable voice responded almost immediately.
'Isn’t this the prince consort of the tiny Aurigan Nation? What do you want, little prince? I'm busy, withdraw your forces from the battlefield if you don't want to be destroyed.'
Yep, Natasha Kerensky's charm and diplomacy remained the same as I remembered them...
'Major, I have nothing against your presence, my forces are there to eliminate the smuggler Baumann and his forces.'
'First, it's Colonel Kerensky, pup and second that problem has already been solved. I am in the middle of setting up a personal matter. Last warning, withdraw or I open fire on your toys.’
Fortunately I stopped right in time before answering what I would have wanted to say, which would have brought us in combat against one of the deadliest units of this time. Not that it was easy to stay mute. During this time, I had seen the Shogun decapitating the Archer, however I could also see a few more 'Mechs further away exchanging shots, most in black, the few others in green.
Bright green, fighting against the Black Widows, and Natasha said it was personal, why did it ring a bell in me?
…
Crap, the other force must have been the Bounty Hunter group. But Michi Noketsuna was right now the Bounty Hunter, wasn’t he ? Either something really wrong had happened or this was another divergence from the story as I knew it.
Not willing to take too much time in case there was no time left, I switched channels again.
‘Revenants, cease operations and regroup at Baumann's base coordinates. Let's wait there for these two groups of egomaniacs to settle their disputes.’
A series of nervous laughters was the only answer I got as my forces retreated towards the destroyed base. As my forces began establishing a defensive position, my technicians scoured the wreckage to find something worth scavenging.
While the CAP reported that Natasha's forces were wiping out the last 'Mechs of their opponents, we took control of the destroyed ‘Mechs around the base and found the body of Notker Baumann with a card left as a signature, a 7 of Spade...
Damn, I swore. Not only had I forgotten that Natasha had been promoted to Colonel when the Black Widow’s Company had been upgraded to a Battalion, but I had also forgotten that the 7th Kommando had been added to it! I quickly ordered our DropShips to execute a short flight and land near the ruins where we were located, adding their firepower to ours and reducing the risk of them being captured or sabotaged by the 7th Kommando, if Natasha decided to focus on us.
Shortly after, our air cover reported that the battle was over and that Natasha’s forces as expected had won. After dealing with her “private matter”, I was afraid that Natasha would come for us or at least finish destroying Baumann's base. My bet was that she would be eager to destroy everything linked to the Wolverines (she was a good Clanner after all) … that is if she knew what was present there.
To my great amazement and pleasant surprise, the reports I got were that Natasha's forces boarded and left shortly after the end of the battle, taking with them the captured DropShips, without even a word in our direction. Was it possible that she had only come here to settle her dispute with the Bounty Hunter, without knowing what was nearby? Not that I would complain, even if the way we'd been dismissed was humiliating.
Having remained alone in the area, we spent the next few days doing a thorough search of the base and the battle sites. For those, Natasha had taken everything of value, leaving us with not much to loot, with the exception of the 'Mechs destroyed near the base and a lonely green Marauder that had been stripped of anything useful and was left with its cockpit smashed, but we found no body in it. In the base and after several hours of search, we found a carefully hidden entrance to underground levels where we found several hundred tons of hardware, some very advanced, most of it 'normal', although not a single 'Mech. Interestingly enough, we found several data cores with advanced encryption, which we didn’t have the material to crack on site. At first, it looked like a variant of the latest versions of those used by the SLDF, meaning that they were either Royal or had to have been used by Clan Wolverine, wich meant they were likely to come from the same place where Baumann had found all his hardware.
Thank God I had talked with Kamea about the need to return for a while to New Vandenberg to manage some business, dispatch some of my responsibilities as I was after all the governor of the system and maybe even going to Taurus to talk with the Calderon, as the only place where I could hope to decrypt the data cores was New Vandenberg.
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Chapter 40
paulobrito
Well-known member
The return to New Vandenberg went without incident.
Almost two years had passed since the last time I had been in the system and some changes were evident. The shipyard was in operation, with the first JumpShip, called New Life a few days away from officially entering service, a ceremony was even planned.
By now six Snowdens were already in operation with two more almost ready. Although only one slip of the shipyard was used to build new JumpShips, two more were in operation, maintaining JumpShips. Curiously, one of them belonged to a Federated Suns company.
While the mainframe was decoding the data cores, I was upgraded to the latest news. The technicians from VMI and V4RUhad finally reached a final prototype for the Concordat version of the Marauder II and it was ready to enter production.
Using the latest available technologies, it packed an Extended-Range PPC and a Medium Laser in each arm, a Medium Pulse Laser in the center torso and an LRM10 with a ton of ammunition in each torso. 20 Double Heat Sinks cooled it with the rest being equal. The production of ER PPC had started three months ago although at a limited speed.
For the launch of the New Life, which was the first JumpShip built in the Concordat but also in the whole Periphery, in the last hundreds of years, Edward had come.
'Edward, tell me how did the negotiations with Hanse and Katrina go?' I asked him as soon as I had a chance to be alone with him, in a place protected from wiretapping.
‘It is true that you weren’t in the area in the last months. What I can tell you is that I arrived in New Avalon when the ban was already doing a lot of damage to the economy, so our proposal to provide a HPG class A SLDF with full blueprints, manuals and tech specs couldn't have come at a better time, as you had anticipated. The possibility of both kingdoms being free from Comstar control in the future led to very interesting concessions being extracted'.
'And can you specify them, or is it a secret I don't have access to?' I asked, because he hadn't gone into details, just put on an air of satisfaction.
‘Well, normally the details would be secret, but my father gave me the permission to let you know because of your involvement. We got a credit of one trillion kroner, available over the next 10 years, full access to NAIS, various business concepts and production licenses and access to markets. In both nations, or if you want in the new Federated Commonwealth. And finally a better relationship on the military side'.
'Not bad, not bad at all. And by the way, what's a Davion JumpShip doing in our brand-new shipyard?
'Oh that? Part of the deal included maintaining House Davion's JumpShips, they were put under a lot of pressure with his little war.'
'Very cute. And where are ours repaired? They need a lot of maintenance too, as you know.
"Jean-Luc, Jean-Luc, you're forgetting that our shipyard on Taurus is also operational, even though it won't be capable of built new JumpShips until the end of the year, for now it can only do maintenance. And we're investing in Mechdur in your wife's kingdom. I'm sure we can maintain some there too, which will help both nations businesses,' replied Edward with a calm and satisfied air.
'Since we are talking about the kingdom of Kamea, we found in Detroit an old Earthwerks factory, that is repairable, with very interesting capabilities. If someone brings the money, I can get the technicians to repair it. Do you happen to know anyone who might be looking for a good investment?' I quietly counter.
"Jean-Luc, you know perfectly well that this money is to improve Concordat not other nations..." replied Edward with an exasperated look.
"Come on Edward. We both know your father's idea is that in the next generation, if not before, we will merge both kingdoms as Davion and Steiner did. If I’m not wrong, we tried to sell that before to the Centrellas, but they didn’t buy it. I'm just looking after your interests for when you will be Lord Protector. ‘
After a quiet pause, Edward answered.
'Perhaps something can be arranged, but I must speak to my father first.' Edward replied with a thoughtful look and not denying my statement.
Since I had his attention, I asked one last question
‘And what about the long range expedition to the SLDF Navy test base? Have they returned?’
‘God, you are relentless!’ said Edward with a laugh. ‘Yes, they have returned, three months ago, to be precise. They returned with a modified Soyal Heavy Cruiser. The SLDF was apparently experimenting with sub-capital weapons and this cruiser had some installed. And we also found a partly disassembled advanced dockyard that we took with us and we decided to use it to repair the one in Bolthole. And before you ask, we found enough hardware to create at least two regiments of ‘Mechs, several regiments of armor, mechanized infantry and diverse support units from the various caches along the way.’
With a laugh he added
‘That is if you want to use hardware from the Time of War. We also got about a company of late Star League ‘Mechs and lots of spares for army and navy.’
After the ceremony was over and Edward had returned to Taurus, I was able to analyze the data cores obtained from Baumann's base and to do this alone
They were in pretty bad shape and much of the information was not recoverable, but they included part of the captain's logs of a JumpShip, the SLS Dobrev and parts of the route to a destination, which looked like the Pentagon worlds with a return route from there to this side of Periphery. Unfortunately the maps were all badly damaged and it was impossible to establish the exact location of the Clans worlds or the exact route to there. The logs included pieces of the history of the Wolverines, which were similar to what I knew from the Betrayal of Ideals novel and with talks about a destination beyond Periphery on this side. Unfortunately it contained no details and the maps were not usable or complete missing a lot of information.
For VMI the last two years had been very good. All the production had been sold, Andurien had been added to the list of clients, meaning probably that the Concordat government wanted to weaken the Capellans as much as possible as several other military industries in the Concordat were also selling their production to both the Magistracy and the Andurien military, providing both forces with more options than in the story I remembered and allowing them to be in much better shape while making the Concordat and my companies richer.
Almost two years had passed since the last time I had been in the system and some changes were evident. The shipyard was in operation, with the first JumpShip, called New Life a few days away from officially entering service, a ceremony was even planned.
By now six Snowdens were already in operation with two more almost ready. Although only one slip of the shipyard was used to build new JumpShips, two more were in operation, maintaining JumpShips. Curiously, one of them belonged to a Federated Suns company.
While the mainframe was decoding the data cores, I was upgraded to the latest news. The technicians from VMI and V4RUhad finally reached a final prototype for the Concordat version of the Marauder II and it was ready to enter production.
Using the latest available technologies, it packed an Extended-Range PPC and a Medium Laser in each arm, a Medium Pulse Laser in the center torso and an LRM10 with a ton of ammunition in each torso. 20 Double Heat Sinks cooled it with the rest being equal. The production of ER PPC had started three months ago although at a limited speed.
For the launch of the New Life, which was the first JumpShip built in the Concordat but also in the whole Periphery, in the last hundreds of years, Edward had come.
'Edward, tell me how did the negotiations with Hanse and Katrina go?' I asked him as soon as I had a chance to be alone with him, in a place protected from wiretapping.
‘It is true that you weren’t in the area in the last months. What I can tell you is that I arrived in New Avalon when the ban was already doing a lot of damage to the economy, so our proposal to provide a HPG class A SLDF with full blueprints, manuals and tech specs couldn't have come at a better time, as you had anticipated. The possibility of both kingdoms being free from Comstar control in the future led to very interesting concessions being extracted'.
'And can you specify them, or is it a secret I don't have access to?' I asked, because he hadn't gone into details, just put on an air of satisfaction.
‘Well, normally the details would be secret, but my father gave me the permission to let you know because of your involvement. We got a credit of one trillion kroner, available over the next 10 years, full access to NAIS, various business concepts and production licenses and access to markets. In both nations, or if you want in the new Federated Commonwealth. And finally a better relationship on the military side'.
'Not bad, not bad at all. And by the way, what's a Davion JumpShip doing in our brand-new shipyard?
'Oh that? Part of the deal included maintaining House Davion's JumpShips, they were put under a lot of pressure with his little war.'
'Very cute. And where are ours repaired? They need a lot of maintenance too, as you know.
"Jean-Luc, Jean-Luc, you're forgetting that our shipyard on Taurus is also operational, even though it won't be capable of built new JumpShips until the end of the year, for now it can only do maintenance. And we're investing in Mechdur in your wife's kingdom. I'm sure we can maintain some there too, which will help both nations businesses,' replied Edward with a calm and satisfied air.
'Since we are talking about the kingdom of Kamea, we found in Detroit an old Earthwerks factory, that is repairable, with very interesting capabilities. If someone brings the money, I can get the technicians to repair it. Do you happen to know anyone who might be looking for a good investment?' I quietly counter.
"Jean-Luc, you know perfectly well that this money is to improve Concordat not other nations..." replied Edward with an exasperated look.
"Come on Edward. We both know your father's idea is that in the next generation, if not before, we will merge both kingdoms as Davion and Steiner did. If I’m not wrong, we tried to sell that before to the Centrellas, but they didn’t buy it. I'm just looking after your interests for when you will be Lord Protector. ‘
After a quiet pause, Edward answered.
'Perhaps something can be arranged, but I must speak to my father first.' Edward replied with a thoughtful look and not denying my statement.
Since I had his attention, I asked one last question
‘And what about the long range expedition to the SLDF Navy test base? Have they returned?’
‘God, you are relentless!’ said Edward with a laugh. ‘Yes, they have returned, three months ago, to be precise. They returned with a modified Soyal Heavy Cruiser. The SLDF was apparently experimenting with sub-capital weapons and this cruiser had some installed. And we also found a partly disassembled advanced dockyard that we took with us and we decided to use it to repair the one in Bolthole. And before you ask, we found enough hardware to create at least two regiments of ‘Mechs, several regiments of armor, mechanized infantry and diverse support units from the various caches along the way.’
With a laugh he added
‘That is if you want to use hardware from the Time of War. We also got about a company of late Star League ‘Mechs and lots of spares for army and navy.’
After the ceremony was over and Edward had returned to Taurus, I was able to analyze the data cores obtained from Baumann's base and to do this alone
They were in pretty bad shape and much of the information was not recoverable, but they included part of the captain's logs of a JumpShip, the SLS Dobrev and parts of the route to a destination, which looked like the Pentagon worlds with a return route from there to this side of Periphery. Unfortunately the maps were all badly damaged and it was impossible to establish the exact location of the Clans worlds or the exact route to there. The logs included pieces of the history of the Wolverines, which were similar to what I knew from the Betrayal of Ideals novel and with talks about a destination beyond Periphery on this side. Unfortunately it contained no details and the maps were not usable or complete missing a lot of information.
For VMI the last two years had been very good. All the production had been sold, Andurien had been added to the list of clients, meaning probably that the Concordat government wanted to weaken the Capellans as much as possible as several other military industries in the Concordat were also selling their production to both the Magistracy and the Andurien military, providing both forces with more options than in the story I remembered and allowing them to be in much better shape while making the Concordat and my companies richer.
Chapter 41
paulobrito
Well-known member
My share of the material from the long trip I had recently discussed with Edward had been a battalion of obsolete Shadow Hawk 1R. Although they were not very valuable as front line units, my plan was to offer them to Kamea, as garrison units, a role in which they would still very useful with a slight retrofit, most of all in the Periphery, and I knew she would appreciate this gift as her realm was lacking ‘Mechs.
The next thing I did after ensuring that the battalion was shipped to Kamea was to read the security report I had received from my TMI liaison and it contained good news.
Thanks to the continuous improvement of safety standards, and better surveillance equipment, the number of sabotages, and 'incidents' in the Concordat had decreased substantially in recent years. The number of spies and saboteurs caught had also increased, though almost none were caught alive. A fact known only to a group of few people, in which I was included, was that some of these spies and saboteurs were ROM. However, they had reduced their activities in recent years. I didn’t believe that our defenses were that efficient, my theory (and hope) was that the Federated Commonwealth had become their top priority and that they had to reduce their efforts in the Concordat.
While in New Vandenberg, I took the opportunity to check personally and on-site the status of several projects I had started.
For example, one project I had started in 3015 was battle armor research and development, but until recently it was only awarded a small budget.
Starting with only few things efficient for real battle armor, a fully articulated two-hand exoskeleton, high-density batteries, mid-range sensors and armor efficient only against light infantry weapons and an upper weight limit not exceeding a ton, progress had been slow and difficulties numerous.
Using the strongest industrial myomers available for the body and “muscles” and medical myomers used for artificial limbs in the articulated hands that needed to be capable of performing precise operation, the first powered armor prototype produced, worked only for a short time before shutting off and its armor was still very light, only efficient against light infantry weapons.
One of the main limitations was that the myomers used could not support more weight, which would have solved both the problem of protection and of the greater battery capacity. Extras such as magnetic clamps and scaled up infantry jump packs were only starting the testing phase.
The existing prototype at the end of 3031 weighed 650 kg, was able to withstand moderate infantry fire, but not any from a 'Mech' weapon, was reasonably agile and capable of using most infantry weapons although some had to be modified. Its autonomy was still small and the software had too many bugs for anything more than laboratory tests or a very small field test.
Another program launched, but that was only in the design phase, was an advanced Aerospace Fighter weighing 90 tonnes and packing 20 Double Heat Sinks as well as 16 tons of armor. It had an ER PPC in the nose, with one ER Large Laser and a LB10-X in each wing with two tons of ammo and 2 Medium Lasers firing backwards. Another interesting feature were the two large bays for internal weapons I had requested and that were designed so that each could carry 2 elongated Arrow IV. These Arrow IV, still in experimental phase, were aimed at taking care of bigger space threat thanks to a rocket booster and an advanced seeker. If the Fighter had to deal with ground targets, 'normal' Arrow IV could be used.
The prototype would be using parts that we couldn't yet produce but I had managed to acquire over the years (and the several caches visited) a small stock of ferrous-aluminum armor as well as different things found on ‘Mechs unable to run like a 270 XL taken from a Hussar HSR-200Db a Beagle Active Probe or a Guardian ECM unit.
The problem with the advanced Arrow IV missiles was that the new seeker, which can provide an anti-Fighters and anti-DropShip capability was still in the early test phase at O-P Electronics but if we could produce a prototype, “regular” Arrow IV missiles would be available.
If you added to all these problems, the fact that no one on New Vandenberg had any experience in designing a new Aerospace Fighter from the ground up, the obvious conclusion was that my project was way too advanced for the Concordat in 3031, but developing a new Fighter took years, and I was confident that when the aircraft would be ready to roll up, the technologies would be mastered.
The last project I looked after was a Heavy 'Mech, an advanced Penetrator. The difference with the PTR-4D in my universe was the use of an Endo Steel chassis that had allowed it to pack two more Heat Sinks and a Guardian ECM. Apart from the fact that it was still impossible to produce the Guardian ECM or Anti-Missile System (even if I could always “salvage” some from other designs or from stocks I had) and that the quantities of Endo Steel produced were quite small, even if they had doubled since my last stay in the system, the main obstacle to the development of this ‘Mech was that I only had vague memories of its specifications, which was obviously insufficient to tell the engineers what I really wanted and made its development a trial and error process. However, if you also added to that the lack of experience of VMI in producing new designs, the overall delay seemed to me not so bad as we were now in the final stages of building the first prototype, even if the Guardian ECM and AMS systems were from the diminutive stock of these components I had from early cache raids.
The only program that had reached the production phase was my idea of a modular weapon, similar to but better than the much-vaunted, and very heavy, SLDF Mauser 960.
V4RU had started with a stripped down version leaving only the pulse rifle, but with still 6kg to carry and with the help of Pinard Protectorates Limited (PPL), the Taurian specialists of small weapons, they had designed a lighter version, weighing only 5 kg, that was capable of taking modules thanks to a system similar to the one used on the modern assault rifles of my universe and the rail system they used to add extra functions and tools. This allowed all the extra options of the Mauser 960 (advanced optics, grenade launcher, bayonet, even the survival kit) to be added in almost any possible combination, in the field (if one was ready to go for a really heavy assault rifle). It took some time for V4RU and PPL to finalize the design and to iron out the quirks, but what we got, in the end, was the first true modular pulse rifle in this universe.
They even improved the model by creating a more dense / capable battery, that doubled the number of the shots, its only drawback is that cost considerable more than the standard one, or putting a connector for an external power pack which together with the replacement of the standard insulator with a more capable one, could transform the weapon into a real machine gun. Another improvement was an adjustable multi-position telescopic buttstock, offering six different lengths of pull.
Even the internal components were designed to be easily replaceable, making it an instant favorite of all armorers. Showing the prototypes to the TDF, in a private, and very discreet demonstration, generated a big order. I also ordered enough to equip my Revenants with it.
After analyzing the hardware found in Baumann’s base, something interesting was found, an ER PPC but a kind of enhanced version, which dealt more damage. If I remembered correctly, the Wolverines had developed those, and they were a midway between the original ER PPC and the Clan ones. So far, my people were studying how to produce these advanced models.
While reviewing everything, I also hold several reunions not only with the people I had put in charge of governing the system for me but also with the local representatives of various companies.
One of the things that I had placed a lot of importance on was how to reduce or if possible eliminate the dependency of New Vandenberg on other systems. In the last years, for example, the local production of medicines had grown to the point that New Vandenberg exported them to the rest of the Concordat.
While the other big shareholders in VMI were very satisfied with my performance they didn’t want to invest in the factory complex in Detroit until the Calderons showed the way. It was the same for the investment company that my in-this-universe father had, they were interested but didn’t want to get involved without reassurances from the Calderons. For that, I needed to wait for Thomas’ decision. Maybe if Thomas decided to go that way, would the others follow.
Exiting the last reunion of the day, I received a phone call from my secretary on an urgent matter. This phone call probably saved my life because it made me head into another direction, as a car that was parked near mine exploded. Without these steps in another direction, I would have been caught in the full blast of the explosion. Thanks to this and the fact that my civilian suit was made of very discreet but advanced personal armor, I only got some cuts, burns and a concussion. This was not the first time that I was in danger, I had been several times in battle but this was different, and I would lie if I said that it didn’t affect me.
Unfortunately, the subsequent investigations never found the culprit / organization behind it.
However, Lieutenant Fisk, the head of my security apparatus went completely (in my opinion) bananas. Not only was the number of goons that followed me every place I go doubled, but a lot of restrictions were placed on what I could and couldn’t do. When I tried to change that a bit, I got a message from Thomas saying ‘shut-up and take care, we don’t want to lose you’. The bastard even sent two specialists from his personal guard to analyze my security and implement the procedures they thought were needed.
Two weeks later, having taken care of everything I could in New Vandenberg, I decided to go back to Coromodir, leaving behind me (or, so I hoped) someone dedicated to kill
The next thing I did after ensuring that the battalion was shipped to Kamea was to read the security report I had received from my TMI liaison and it contained good news.
Thanks to the continuous improvement of safety standards, and better surveillance equipment, the number of sabotages, and 'incidents' in the Concordat had decreased substantially in recent years. The number of spies and saboteurs caught had also increased, though almost none were caught alive. A fact known only to a group of few people, in which I was included, was that some of these spies and saboteurs were ROM. However, they had reduced their activities in recent years. I didn’t believe that our defenses were that efficient, my theory (and hope) was that the Federated Commonwealth had become their top priority and that they had to reduce their efforts in the Concordat.
While in New Vandenberg, I took the opportunity to check personally and on-site the status of several projects I had started.
For example, one project I had started in 3015 was battle armor research and development, but until recently it was only awarded a small budget.
Starting with only few things efficient for real battle armor, a fully articulated two-hand exoskeleton, high-density batteries, mid-range sensors and armor efficient only against light infantry weapons and an upper weight limit not exceeding a ton, progress had been slow and difficulties numerous.
Using the strongest industrial myomers available for the body and “muscles” and medical myomers used for artificial limbs in the articulated hands that needed to be capable of performing precise operation, the first powered armor prototype produced, worked only for a short time before shutting off and its armor was still very light, only efficient against light infantry weapons.
One of the main limitations was that the myomers used could not support more weight, which would have solved both the problem of protection and of the greater battery capacity. Extras such as magnetic clamps and scaled up infantry jump packs were only starting the testing phase.
The existing prototype at the end of 3031 weighed 650 kg, was able to withstand moderate infantry fire, but not any from a 'Mech' weapon, was reasonably agile and capable of using most infantry weapons although some had to be modified. Its autonomy was still small and the software had too many bugs for anything more than laboratory tests or a very small field test.
Another program launched, but that was only in the design phase, was an advanced Aerospace Fighter weighing 90 tonnes and packing 20 Double Heat Sinks as well as 16 tons of armor. It had an ER PPC in the nose, with one ER Large Laser and a LB10-X in each wing with two tons of ammo and 2 Medium Lasers firing backwards. Another interesting feature were the two large bays for internal weapons I had requested and that were designed so that each could carry 2 elongated Arrow IV. These Arrow IV, still in experimental phase, were aimed at taking care of bigger space threat thanks to a rocket booster and an advanced seeker. If the Fighter had to deal with ground targets, 'normal' Arrow IV could be used.
The prototype would be using parts that we couldn't yet produce but I had managed to acquire over the years (and the several caches visited) a small stock of ferrous-aluminum armor as well as different things found on ‘Mechs unable to run like a 270 XL taken from a Hussar HSR-200Db a Beagle Active Probe or a Guardian ECM unit.
The problem with the advanced Arrow IV missiles was that the new seeker, which can provide an anti-Fighters and anti-DropShip capability was still in the early test phase at O-P Electronics but if we could produce a prototype, “regular” Arrow IV missiles would be available.
If you added to all these problems, the fact that no one on New Vandenberg had any experience in designing a new Aerospace Fighter from the ground up, the obvious conclusion was that my project was way too advanced for the Concordat in 3031, but developing a new Fighter took years, and I was confident that when the aircraft would be ready to roll up, the technologies would be mastered.
The last project I looked after was a Heavy 'Mech, an advanced Penetrator. The difference with the PTR-4D in my universe was the use of an Endo Steel chassis that had allowed it to pack two more Heat Sinks and a Guardian ECM. Apart from the fact that it was still impossible to produce the Guardian ECM or Anti-Missile System (even if I could always “salvage” some from other designs or from stocks I had) and that the quantities of Endo Steel produced were quite small, even if they had doubled since my last stay in the system, the main obstacle to the development of this ‘Mech was that I only had vague memories of its specifications, which was obviously insufficient to tell the engineers what I really wanted and made its development a trial and error process. However, if you also added to that the lack of experience of VMI in producing new designs, the overall delay seemed to me not so bad as we were now in the final stages of building the first prototype, even if the Guardian ECM and AMS systems were from the diminutive stock of these components I had from early cache raids.
The only program that had reached the production phase was my idea of a modular weapon, similar to but better than the much-vaunted, and very heavy, SLDF Mauser 960.
V4RU had started with a stripped down version leaving only the pulse rifle, but with still 6kg to carry and with the help of Pinard Protectorates Limited (PPL), the Taurian specialists of small weapons, they had designed a lighter version, weighing only 5 kg, that was capable of taking modules thanks to a system similar to the one used on the modern assault rifles of my universe and the rail system they used to add extra functions and tools. This allowed all the extra options of the Mauser 960 (advanced optics, grenade launcher, bayonet, even the survival kit) to be added in almost any possible combination, in the field (if one was ready to go for a really heavy assault rifle). It took some time for V4RU and PPL to finalize the design and to iron out the quirks, but what we got, in the end, was the first true modular pulse rifle in this universe.
They even improved the model by creating a more dense / capable battery, that doubled the number of the shots, its only drawback is that cost considerable more than the standard one, or putting a connector for an external power pack which together with the replacement of the standard insulator with a more capable one, could transform the weapon into a real machine gun. Another improvement was an adjustable multi-position telescopic buttstock, offering six different lengths of pull.
Even the internal components were designed to be easily replaceable, making it an instant favorite of all armorers. Showing the prototypes to the TDF, in a private, and very discreet demonstration, generated a big order. I also ordered enough to equip my Revenants with it.
After analyzing the hardware found in Baumann’s base, something interesting was found, an ER PPC but a kind of enhanced version, which dealt more damage. If I remembered correctly, the Wolverines had developed those, and they were a midway between the original ER PPC and the Clan ones. So far, my people were studying how to produce these advanced models.
While reviewing everything, I also hold several reunions not only with the people I had put in charge of governing the system for me but also with the local representatives of various companies.
One of the things that I had placed a lot of importance on was how to reduce or if possible eliminate the dependency of New Vandenberg on other systems. In the last years, for example, the local production of medicines had grown to the point that New Vandenberg exported them to the rest of the Concordat.
While the other big shareholders in VMI were very satisfied with my performance they didn’t want to invest in the factory complex in Detroit until the Calderons showed the way. It was the same for the investment company that my in-this-universe father had, they were interested but didn’t want to get involved without reassurances from the Calderons. For that, I needed to wait for Thomas’ decision. Maybe if Thomas decided to go that way, would the others follow.
Exiting the last reunion of the day, I received a phone call from my secretary on an urgent matter. This phone call probably saved my life because it made me head into another direction, as a car that was parked near mine exploded. Without these steps in another direction, I would have been caught in the full blast of the explosion. Thanks to this and the fact that my civilian suit was made of very discreet but advanced personal armor, I only got some cuts, burns and a concussion. This was not the first time that I was in danger, I had been several times in battle but this was different, and I would lie if I said that it didn’t affect me.
Unfortunately, the subsequent investigations never found the culprit / organization behind it.
However, Lieutenant Fisk, the head of my security apparatus went completely (in my opinion) bananas. Not only was the number of goons that followed me every place I go doubled, but a lot of restrictions were placed on what I could and couldn’t do. When I tried to change that a bit, I got a message from Thomas saying ‘shut-up and take care, we don’t want to lose you’. The bastard even sent two specialists from his personal guard to analyze my security and implement the procedures they thought were needed.
Two weeks later, having taken care of everything I could in New Vandenberg, I decided to go back to Coromodir, leaving behind me (or, so I hoped) someone dedicated to kill
Chapter 42
paulobrito
Well-known member
Just before departing for Coromodir, I asked Thomas to provide me with the Combine contacts obtained during the interrogation of Santiago Espinosa. Then, I talked with John Smith to see if we could use these contacts to try to acquire several DEST suits.
In early July 3031 I arrived in Coromodir where a pleasant surprise was waiting for me: Kamea was pregnant.
With the child to be born at the end of August if everything went well, I basically went into 'nervous father' mode. I requested from New Vandenberg the latest medical equipment for maternity hospitals, the latest Star League ones that were being brought back into production and from Canopus the best medical team I could get my hands on. This was despite Kamea assuring me that they had competent staff in Cordia City, but I was not willing to take any risks.
Fortunately, my fears were unfounded, and on the 27th of August 3031, Sara Arano-Bassot was born, a beautiful, healthy girl.
To commemorate the birth of her daughter, Kamea decreed that the Restoration was complete and that the nation would be called Aurigan Reach again.
The Shadow Hawks were being upgraded with modern armor, myomers and weapons in Mechdur. Unfortunately, doing so for the electronics and engines proved impossible, but they were still a much appreciated booster.
The delegation that had gone to Niops had successfully obtained a trade treaty. That wasn’t easy, mind you as the Niops ruling elite was very isolationist and suspicious. And if her people could get a copy that information would be hers, and with a bit of luck, some of that information would be new, not included in the Helm and New Dallas data cores, and could be traded at full value, with no need to negotiate with Thomas for scraps. From the beginning of this operation I had informed Kamea of the difficulties and possible winnings, so she could understood that it was gong to be a medium to long time operation as it couldn’t be easy, nor fast as I didn’t have any idea where that information could be located on the planet and I didn’t believe negotiations would get us through; meaning she needed to send a long term infiltration and spec ops team, because I didn’t believe that she could get it through negotiations. But the first contact was already made, and she now had a base of operations on system, namely the Embassy that she had secured.
The DEST suits arrived at New Vandenberg, and it was soon discovered that I had been had. While they were indeed what I ordered, the very expensive order was of second quality, with many of the components replaced by ones of sub-par or obsolete ones. But, my team in V4RU was confident that they could replace all the bad or sub-par parts with ones made locally, and as soon as they would have finished the refit, they would send them to Coromodir.
In the middle of 3032, it was evident that the invasion of the Capellan Confederation was at a turning point. Even with the support of the Concordat, Romano Liao’s troops were better and that was showing on the battlefields.
To my amazement, Thomas, who so far had wanted to stay out of this conflict, sent us a personal envoy, evidently unwilling to entrust this type of information to Comstar, informing us that he would begin operations against the Confederation in early January and that he 'expected' Kamea to do the same.
Kamea was not at all pleased with the 'suggestion’, but she was a politician and realistic enough to know that she had no alternative if she wanted to continue in Thomas' good graces and continue to receive the economic aid that her nation needed.
Thomas targets on the first wave were going to be Rollis, Larsha and Corodiz, and he expected that Kamea’s forces, supplemented by the Revenants would hit Ward. The objectives for the second wave were Yuris, Zanzibar and Muridox and for the Aurigan forces, Hurik. That is everything went well. The main objective was to secure the South East salient of the Capellan Confederation while at same time relieving pressure from the Canopian forces. Kamea would get two worlds for her participation and almost no border with the Capellan Confederation. And the thanks of Thomas and Kyalla. Oh, and probably the hatred of Romano Liao, but such is life, after all.
Further objectives were not planned but that could change depending on the results.
At the end of December 3032, the Revenants with the support of two of the few mechanized infantry regiments Kamea had at her disposal arrived at Weldry on the border between the Capellan Confederation and the Reach.
In 9 January 3033, we jumped on Ward, just two days after the Concordat forces started their operation, invading Rollis, Larsha and Corodiz in the first wave. Because Romano Liao’s forces had been involved for some years in war with the Canopians and Andurien, and before that had been severely reduced in the 4th Succession War, she had left only light, poorly equipped forces to protect this side of the border. The long time defenders of Ward, the Kamakura’s Hussars were supposedly on Turin, the only forces left were some Home Guard units, AKA, Capellan national militia. At least, that was the intel gathered by the TMI and the AIS (Aurigan Intelligence Service).
The first part of the operation went well, our run to Ward VI, the only planet inhabited in the system, was unopposed.
We dropped a few kilometers from the capital, our recon flights not detecting any opposing forces in the area.
Approaching the capital, my force was ambushed by a group of Manticores and Vedettes supported by a company of ’Mechs. Normally, one of my Beagle equipped Black Knights should have detected the ambush force, but severe interferences prevented that from happening. Several of the Revenant ‘Mechs were damaged, including mine. I saw Cornet Kaneda Arisa executing a Death from Above on top of a Liao Vedette, while at same time discharging her PPC on one APC. God, that woman was really good! Only the massive armor of the Nightstar saved me, from PPC hits from two Manticores. After placing two Gauss rounds in one of the Manticores, I changed targets for one Cataphract, in the colors of Warrior House Lu Sann, because the second Manticore was already a smoking wreck, I didn’t see who destroyed it. WTF were ‘Mechs in the colors of a Warrior House doing on this forsaken planet? As usual the ‘Intelligence’ services had it all wrong, shocking, really. The bastard fired first and hit my ’Mech on the left torso, reducing the already damaged armor to dangerous levels. My returning fire penetrating its center torso, killed it. As soon as the Cataphract was destroyed, the interference terminated. Wait, was that one of the very rare, CTF-0X? I quickly placed an order to secure the wreck and searched for another target, this time selecting an already damaged Marauder, a 3L variant or so say my computer. The unfortunate ’MechWarrior was busy fighting against one of Revenants Thunderbolt, so I got the luxury of taking time to make a carefully placed shot on his left torso, destroying it with two Gausss rounds and a shot of my ER PPC for good measure. All the ambush force had been eliminated, and we continued advancing towards the capital. By sheer luck, we caught the Home Guard Mine-layer infantry just finishing deploying a minefield, and so we quickly eliminated them before avoiding the dangerous area.
No more forces appeared to challenge us, so we captured the capital and Lord Whitt Ricardo surrendered the system to us. All in all, while the battle was intense, it was also very short and our losses light. Kamea’s regiments had no time to engage before we eliminated the defenders and had suffered no losses.
A few days later, Whitt Ricardo was found dead, assassinated during is sleep. The security team in charge of his protection never saw the culprits, and the body had a sign saying 叛國罪 - ‘Traitor to the Nation’. And this was just the beginning as we quickly discovered that several small units of infantry from the House Guard had dispersed, no doubt with some veterans from the Warrior House and began playing a guerrilla campaign against our occupation in the following months, inflicting several losses on the forces we kept for garrisoning the planet, mostly to the infantry regiments. Thank God, the civilian population was mostly calm or things could have gone ugly very fast, because we didn’t have enough troops on the ground to control them.
After an extended infield analysis, the first ‘Mech I had destroyed was indeed one of the very rare CTF-0X, electronics was thankfully intact, so I sent it to New Vandenberg for analysis.
In early February arrived the time for the second wave and we departed for Hurik. Thankfully, we had received reinforcements, two extra Aurigan infantry regiments had arrived to take garrison duties bringing also the planned replacements for the losses for the units of the first wave and two lances of the refurnished Shadow Hawks 1R. So, we departed with a full force again, the Revenants had even had the time to repair the damaged ‘Mechs.
Just before our departure for Hurik, a DropShip arrived from New Vandenberg. Inside it were three ‘Mechs – the prototypes of the PNT-1TC Penetrator, the prototype of the MAD-5TC Marauder II and the BSK-MAZ Bull Shark. Like the two prototypes, the Bull Shark, after being microscopically analyzed was being deployed for battlefield testing.
Aurigan Reach Military
At this time – Early 3033 the Aurigan Reach Military consists of
5 and a half battalion of ‘Mechs – one and a half survivors of the civil war, with none bigger than medium, three battalions of Griffins and one of Shadow Hawks 1R
6 regiments of mechanized infantry – equipped with light / medium tanks, SRM and LRM Carriers, APCs and IFVs and some towed arty.
40 regiments of infantry – militia / Home Guard, with small arms and transported by trucks, with a few LAWs and SRM-2.
One battalion of ‘Mechs plus one of the mechanized infantry make the Royal Guards, the only force that has a small number of atmospheric fighters / fighter-bombers.
The Royal Guards and the mechanized forces are all veterans of the civil war, experienced troops. The rest are green, and about half of dubious loyalty.
The Aurigan Armed Forces don't have ASFs, nor DropShips or JumpShips. When in need, civilian ones are commandeered.
In early July 3031 I arrived in Coromodir where a pleasant surprise was waiting for me: Kamea was pregnant.
With the child to be born at the end of August if everything went well, I basically went into 'nervous father' mode. I requested from New Vandenberg the latest medical equipment for maternity hospitals, the latest Star League ones that were being brought back into production and from Canopus the best medical team I could get my hands on. This was despite Kamea assuring me that they had competent staff in Cordia City, but I was not willing to take any risks.
Fortunately, my fears were unfounded, and on the 27th of August 3031, Sara Arano-Bassot was born, a beautiful, healthy girl.
To commemorate the birth of her daughter, Kamea decreed that the Restoration was complete and that the nation would be called Aurigan Reach again.
The Shadow Hawks were being upgraded with modern armor, myomers and weapons in Mechdur. Unfortunately, doing so for the electronics and engines proved impossible, but they were still a much appreciated booster.
The delegation that had gone to Niops had successfully obtained a trade treaty. That wasn’t easy, mind you as the Niops ruling elite was very isolationist and suspicious. And if her people could get a copy that information would be hers, and with a bit of luck, some of that information would be new, not included in the Helm and New Dallas data cores, and could be traded at full value, with no need to negotiate with Thomas for scraps. From the beginning of this operation I had informed Kamea of the difficulties and possible winnings, so she could understood that it was gong to be a medium to long time operation as it couldn’t be easy, nor fast as I didn’t have any idea where that information could be located on the planet and I didn’t believe negotiations would get us through; meaning she needed to send a long term infiltration and spec ops team, because I didn’t believe that she could get it through negotiations. But the first contact was already made, and she now had a base of operations on system, namely the Embassy that she had secured.
The DEST suits arrived at New Vandenberg, and it was soon discovered that I had been had. While they were indeed what I ordered, the very expensive order was of second quality, with many of the components replaced by ones of sub-par or obsolete ones. But, my team in V4RU was confident that they could replace all the bad or sub-par parts with ones made locally, and as soon as they would have finished the refit, they would send them to Coromodir.
In the middle of 3032, it was evident that the invasion of the Capellan Confederation was at a turning point. Even with the support of the Concordat, Romano Liao’s troops were better and that was showing on the battlefields.
To my amazement, Thomas, who so far had wanted to stay out of this conflict, sent us a personal envoy, evidently unwilling to entrust this type of information to Comstar, informing us that he would begin operations against the Confederation in early January and that he 'expected' Kamea to do the same.
Kamea was not at all pleased with the 'suggestion’, but she was a politician and realistic enough to know that she had no alternative if she wanted to continue in Thomas' good graces and continue to receive the economic aid that her nation needed.
Thomas targets on the first wave were going to be Rollis, Larsha and Corodiz, and he expected that Kamea’s forces, supplemented by the Revenants would hit Ward. The objectives for the second wave were Yuris, Zanzibar and Muridox and for the Aurigan forces, Hurik. That is everything went well. The main objective was to secure the South East salient of the Capellan Confederation while at same time relieving pressure from the Canopian forces. Kamea would get two worlds for her participation and almost no border with the Capellan Confederation. And the thanks of Thomas and Kyalla. Oh, and probably the hatred of Romano Liao, but such is life, after all.
Further objectives were not planned but that could change depending on the results.
At the end of December 3032, the Revenants with the support of two of the few mechanized infantry regiments Kamea had at her disposal arrived at Weldry on the border between the Capellan Confederation and the Reach.
In 9 January 3033, we jumped on Ward, just two days after the Concordat forces started their operation, invading Rollis, Larsha and Corodiz in the first wave. Because Romano Liao’s forces had been involved for some years in war with the Canopians and Andurien, and before that had been severely reduced in the 4th Succession War, she had left only light, poorly equipped forces to protect this side of the border. The long time defenders of Ward, the Kamakura’s Hussars were supposedly on Turin, the only forces left were some Home Guard units, AKA, Capellan national militia. At least, that was the intel gathered by the TMI and the AIS (Aurigan Intelligence Service).
The first part of the operation went well, our run to Ward VI, the only planet inhabited in the system, was unopposed.
We dropped a few kilometers from the capital, our recon flights not detecting any opposing forces in the area.
Approaching the capital, my force was ambushed by a group of Manticores and Vedettes supported by a company of ’Mechs. Normally, one of my Beagle equipped Black Knights should have detected the ambush force, but severe interferences prevented that from happening. Several of the Revenant ‘Mechs were damaged, including mine. I saw Cornet Kaneda Arisa executing a Death from Above on top of a Liao Vedette, while at same time discharging her PPC on one APC. God, that woman was really good! Only the massive armor of the Nightstar saved me, from PPC hits from two Manticores. After placing two Gauss rounds in one of the Manticores, I changed targets for one Cataphract, in the colors of Warrior House Lu Sann, because the second Manticore was already a smoking wreck, I didn’t see who destroyed it. WTF were ‘Mechs in the colors of a Warrior House doing on this forsaken planet? As usual the ‘Intelligence’ services had it all wrong, shocking, really. The bastard fired first and hit my ’Mech on the left torso, reducing the already damaged armor to dangerous levels. My returning fire penetrating its center torso, killed it. As soon as the Cataphract was destroyed, the interference terminated. Wait, was that one of the very rare, CTF-0X? I quickly placed an order to secure the wreck and searched for another target, this time selecting an already damaged Marauder, a 3L variant or so say my computer. The unfortunate ’MechWarrior was busy fighting against one of Revenants Thunderbolt, so I got the luxury of taking time to make a carefully placed shot on his left torso, destroying it with two Gausss rounds and a shot of my ER PPC for good measure. All the ambush force had been eliminated, and we continued advancing towards the capital. By sheer luck, we caught the Home Guard Mine-layer infantry just finishing deploying a minefield, and so we quickly eliminated them before avoiding the dangerous area.
No more forces appeared to challenge us, so we captured the capital and Lord Whitt Ricardo surrendered the system to us. All in all, while the battle was intense, it was also very short and our losses light. Kamea’s regiments had no time to engage before we eliminated the defenders and had suffered no losses.
A few days later, Whitt Ricardo was found dead, assassinated during is sleep. The security team in charge of his protection never saw the culprits, and the body had a sign saying 叛國罪 - ‘Traitor to the Nation’. And this was just the beginning as we quickly discovered that several small units of infantry from the House Guard had dispersed, no doubt with some veterans from the Warrior House and began playing a guerrilla campaign against our occupation in the following months, inflicting several losses on the forces we kept for garrisoning the planet, mostly to the infantry regiments. Thank God, the civilian population was mostly calm or things could have gone ugly very fast, because we didn’t have enough troops on the ground to control them.
After an extended infield analysis, the first ‘Mech I had destroyed was indeed one of the very rare CTF-0X, electronics was thankfully intact, so I sent it to New Vandenberg for analysis.
In early February arrived the time for the second wave and we departed for Hurik. Thankfully, we had received reinforcements, two extra Aurigan infantry regiments had arrived to take garrison duties bringing also the planned replacements for the losses for the units of the first wave and two lances of the refurnished Shadow Hawks 1R. So, we departed with a full force again, the Revenants had even had the time to repair the damaged ‘Mechs.
Just before our departure for Hurik, a DropShip arrived from New Vandenberg. Inside it were three ‘Mechs – the prototypes of the PNT-1TC Penetrator, the prototype of the MAD-5TC Marauder II and the BSK-MAZ Bull Shark. Like the two prototypes, the Bull Shark, after being microscopically analyzed was being deployed for battlefield testing.
Aurigan Reach Military
At this time – Early 3033 the Aurigan Reach Military consists of
5 and a half battalion of ‘Mechs – one and a half survivors of the civil war, with none bigger than medium, three battalions of Griffins and one of Shadow Hawks 1R
6 regiments of mechanized infantry – equipped with light / medium tanks, SRM and LRM Carriers, APCs and IFVs and some towed arty.
40 regiments of infantry – militia / Home Guard, with small arms and transported by trucks, with a few LAWs and SRM-2.
One battalion of ‘Mechs plus one of the mechanized infantry make the Royal Guards, the only force that has a small number of atmospheric fighters / fighter-bombers.
The Royal Guards and the mechanized forces are all veterans of the civil war, experienced troops. The rest are green, and about half of dubious loyalty.
The Aurigan Armed Forces don't have ASFs, nor DropShips or JumpShips. When in need, civilian ones are commandeered.