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Blood on the Horizon (Battletech SI)

Reader mode
Wolf’s Dragoons interlude 3014
  • Threadmarks
    • Wolf's Dragoons interlude 3014

    "How was the wedding?" Jaime Wolf asked his brother. "It is strange to think about Kerensky ever settling down."

    "It was short." Joshua replied. "While I did not understand why she stayed with the Marksman at first I think I am beginning to grasp it."

    "Indeed." Jaime replied, stroking his beard. "I find myself feeling more at home in the Inner Sphere than I did back in the Clans."

    "Been spending too much time with Snord?" Joshua asked. "Do not let him get into your head like that."

    "He is…" Jaime paused. "Useful, he offers a good perspective of how the enemy might think." Jaime sighed. "I am promoting him to Captain, and giving him the command of our misfits."

    "Are you sure that is a good idea?" Joshua asked his brother. "Our bunch of criminals and misfits are not for the faint of heart."

    "He is the only one who I believe can handle them and potentially transform them into a proper fighting force." Jaime responded. "Now, we need to discuss the reveal of the Elemental in a few months."

    "We need to put them into action sooner rather than later." Joshua told his brother. "At the rate that the Marksman are developing new armor types under the umbrella of Mithril, I fear they may soon be obsolete."

    "Why is that?" Jaime asked curiously. "I would have thought that the Elemental would remain superior for some time."

    "It is, in certain areas." Joshua offered. "The elementals are going to perform better against enemy 'Mechs and armor, whereas the Mithril is more easily produced en masse and can be scaled up and down for whatever task you need." Joshua sighed. "It's a much more versatile powered armor than the Elemental, and anyone with a minimum amount of training can use it."

    "That does not bode well." Jaime responded to his brother's spiel. "We will have to see about adapting the Elemental in some way."

    "Or," Joshua offered. "Purchase some Mithril if the Marksman will sell it to us, and see if there are any improvements we can gain for either the Elemental or the Mithril suits." Joshua thought out loud. "There are advantages to both powered armors, if we wish to maintain an edge, we should try and see what can be gained from having both in the field at the same time."

    "That is a good point." Jaime told his brother. "And you said that it can be scaled down? What did you mean by that?"

    "I saw some of their Combat Vehicle crews wearing a smaller version of it, and the man that Blake sent with me was able to obtain some of their data." Joshua said. "They managed to improve survival rates by nearly seventy five percent by implementing them across all of their forces."




    "We're going to need to return for reinforcements." Jaime told his brother. "Hesperus II was disastrous for us."

    "I know." Joshua replied. "Most of Alpha and Beta Regiments are gone, along with half of Zeta."

    "We will have to collect better intelligence and maps for the next raid that we conduct." Jaime said. "There would have been far fewer losses if we had known that most of the planet was a jungle and that many teams had gone missing exploring it in the past."

    "Shall we collect Kerensky and bring her with us this time?" Joshua asked. "Khan Ward will be asking after her location and I am not certain he will be satisfied with a response this time."

    "I am sure that we can convince her that it will be necessary." Jaime said. "We are not enemies after all, and it could even help her remain where she is, provided she has a good justification for it."

    "Who should we send?" Joshua asked. "While I would go to convince her, I feel that you should go and persuade her to return temporarily with us." Joshua sighed. "It is you who has a family and will be better able to understand her after all. And, you should be able to get Mackenzie treated at Kentares."

    "They do have the medical facilities and personnel." Jaime thought out loud. "It is decided then."





    "You're leaving?" The Dragoons Marik Liaison asked. "You're still under contract though."

    "We're going to replenish our forces." Jaime told him flat out. "We will be leaving Cranston Snord and his Irregulars here to support whatever you need."

    "I'll let the Captain-General know." The Liaison said. "But he doesn't particularly like that group of troublemakers."

    "It does not matter whether he likes them or not," Joshua Wolf responded. "They are the only full strength unit we have available currently."
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Sixty-Six: Departure
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Sixty-Six: Departure

    Kentares IV, Draconis March, Federated Suns December 10th, 3014

    "Colonel Wolf," I greeted the man as he walked into my office. "What can I do for you?"

    "I am in need of your services." He said as he sat down. "I need to speak to Kerensky, and I would like to bargain for the use of some of your medical experts and facilities for my son Mackenzie."

    "Alright then." I replied. "Natasha is probably going to walk in on the meeting in a few minutes anyway, and if you need to speak to her you can find her yourself." I shrugged. "Heaven knows I'm not controlling that woman."

    "And as for the medical facilities?" The man asked. "What would it cost?"

    "Honestly." I said, "Whatever it is that the specialists on the Argo want to charge you." I gave a small shake of my head. "I'm not going to hold your son hostage or anything like that, I don't really have any need to do that."

    "You are certain?" Wolf asked curiously. "You could extract a favor or anything else within reason and you will not?"

    "Nope." I replied, popping the "p" sound. "If I ever happen to need the Wolf's Dragoons services, I will purchase them myself." I shrugged. "I've got my Marksman for Mercenary needs anyway."

    When I finished that sentence, Natasha came in the door with a wailing David.

    "He will not stop crying." She said, handing him to me. "Work whatever wizardry you normally use." Then she noticed Jaime Wolf sitting across the desk from me. "Colonel Wolf." Natasha greeted him. "I was not expecting a visit from the Dragoons anytime soon."

    "We have need of resupply." Jaime Wolf replied. "And I think you need to be there this time." He carefully didn't mention the Clans. "It could be important to your remaining in the Inner Sphere without issue."

    "Give me a day to think about it." She told Wolf. "I assume you will not be departing within the day?"

    "No, we will be here for a week." Wolf replied. "I am attempting to see if there is any way we can negotiate purchase of some of these "Mithril" powered armor suits while I am here."

    "While I am not currently open to selling to mercenaries that I may fight one day." I shrugged. "Maybe there are some things we can negotiate over." I offered. "While I personally don't like the Marauder II that you and Blackwell have developed together. My techs wanted to take a look at it and see what they might be able to do with the chassis."

    "We shall have to see what we agree to in negotiations." Wolf agreed.




    Later that day…

    "I think you need to go Natasha." I told my wife. "Given what you've told me about Khan Ward, and what I know from my past this could be absolutely critical." I pulled her in for a hug. "You going with Wolf this time could mean the difference between the Clans invading in the next couple of years, and the clans invading after our preparations." I confided. "That being said, I'm not going to force you to go, and if you do go I will just ask you to be cautious."

    "Let me sleep on it." Nat replied. "I will need some time to come to a decision on the matter."





    December 13th, 3014

    "Say goodbye to momma. " I told David. "She's going to be on a long trip."

    "Bye Mom'ma" David said his first stumbling words.

    Natasha pointedly didn't cry, but she did hold David and just looked at him for a while before handing him to me and giving me a searing kiss and boarding one of the Dropships that Wolf had brought with him.

    I on the other hand was one step away from full fledged tears. Only the fact that Wolf was still standing there prevented me from crying. I wasn't one to show weakness in front of a potential enemy unless it gave me an advantage after all.





    December 14th, 3014

    "Time to catch up on the news." I said to myself. We still didn't have an HPG on planet officially and so I had to get news via jumpships as they came by for trading.

    "What the fuck?" I said as I browsed through the equivalent of the Federated Suns big newspaper. I rubbed my eyes and then asked Mary if this was indeed the latest edition. "And Bring me a beer please. I think I might need it for this."

    "Of all the things to butterfly, I never expected this." I said as I took a sip from my beer with my door closed and the white noise generators on. "I don't even know whether to be scared, or excited at the changes that have happened…" I finished off my beer. And continued reading the documentation of what was being called "Romano's Story".

    "Of all of the people to have a bout of sanity…" I chuckled to myself as I read different parts of her story. "I'll have to send her company some Mithril, if she can do that with regular infantry I can't wait to see what she comes up with when she has mobility and more options."




    January 1st, 3015

    "Sheppard, how goes the academy construction?" I asked the man as he sat in front of me. "I liked your recommendations for new senior staff, and will be approving most of them."

    "Construction is moving at a decent rate." Sheppard said, " our people having experience with the base has helped speed some areas of it up." He shrugged, "and it was either Packer or Paige, and Paige is sticking with the Marksman as Peterson's XO so Packer had seniority for this."

    "I would have thought Mathis would be up for promotion, but he requested a transfer to my physical bodyguard unit." I said with a nod at my doorway where the massive man was dressed in Mithril and alert for any possible threats.

    "He likes the bodyguard work, remember?" Sheppard said with a smirk. "He'll probably start a family tradition of being Hull family bodyguards too."

    "I forgot that was a thing." My facepalm echoed throughout the room. "He probably sees me as the last remnant of the Terran Hegemony or something doesn't he?"

    "Something like that, yes." Sheppard replied. "You forget his family is from Towne, and that they have a lineage dating back to some of the last known SLDF members." He shrugged. "The ELH had to medically discharge him, and he couldn't afford the bills. So you taking him in and helping his family out…. You have a loyal infantryman and bodyguard for life."




    Authors note: Wrote most of this on my phone, so I may have to go back and reformat some of it. Natasha going back to the Clans with Jaime will be a separate side story.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Sixty-Seven: Urban Development
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Sixty-Seven: Urban Development
    February 1st, 3015

    "Alright, let's look over some of these plans." I said to the architect that Hanse and Ian had recommended to me. "I really need something that's not super glamorous, but rather is functional and is easily defended."

    "I have this." He rolled out a set of plans, and grabbed a pencil. "If you don't want something super ornate, I can get rid of the fany pieces here, here, and here." He drew circles around parts of it. "Unfortunately, as a noble you are not going to be able to go minimalist."

    "I actually have an idea about that." I said, and withdrew some stuff that I had drawn up myself. "Now, I'm not an architect, but I do have practical building experience and that lent itself to some of this." I pointed out the various materials, and what I was thinking. "I know it's not a usual thing, but I think it would fit the aesthetic that I tend to work with."

    "Yes, and if we added walls here and sheathed them in the same outer material then it would end up looking both minimalist and wealthy at the same time." He grew excited. "In fact, if we get the right craftsman then people will be able to tell that you had this done very professionally."

    "So it can be done?" I asked.

    "With some minor modifications." The man said. "Give me three months to get in contact with some experts, and I'm going to need some of the people that you have working on the Academy for some consulting work." He inhaled. "But honestly, this is brilliant, you said you drew this up yourself?"

    "Yeah, I used to watch my dad do it, and It's mostly plotting. I also used to do general contracting, and measurements and materials are something I know a little bit about." I shrugged, "It's nothing to brag about, but I think that you could potentially make something really great out of this."




    February 15th, 3015

    "This is an interesting mansion you've cooked up." Sheppard said as he helped me break ground on the new mansion complex just outside of Davisbury, the capital city of Kentares IV. There was a small mountain range just outside of the city limits and I was helping out with some of the beginning stages of construction as a little bit of a vacation.

    "I know, I just felt inspired by a couple of things I read in a book a long time ago." I replied with a small smirk, remembering exactly which book I remembered it from. "I think it will come out well." I began to use the excavator as instructed to by the foreman on site, David sitting in my lap giggling away as we began the construction of our new home. "You having fun there?" I asked the toddler, laughing with him as he did what all boys do when they have massive power tools at their grasp. "Careful, don't pull that one too hard." I cautioned him. And together, we continued to work until he fell asleep. At which point, I got out of the excavator, and went to the pre fab we were living in until we were done with the living quarters.




    February 20th, 3015

    "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" I asked Packer, "I didn't catch it the first time."

    "We're setting aside a company specifically for your protection." He said, "While Mathis is a good at the close bodyguard detail, and decent at platoon or smaller sized formations, you're going to need something quite a bit heavier in order to cover you."

    "And I have a tendency to throw myself at the poor bastards that are trying to kill my people." I agreed. "Making it harder to keep me alive in the middle of combat."

    "Exactly, I'm having a mixed company of mechs and combat vehicles moved here to both protect you, and to escort you into combat." Packer said. (AN: I distinctly remember writing a scene where I had Mendoza taking over the company of Ducal Guards, but I can't find it anywhere…)

    "I take it they will be a separate command from the Kentares Guard?" I asked him. "Because if they're going to be an independent force then we'll need a separate chain of command for them."

    "Get the paperwork together, and I'll sign it." I told the newly promoted CO of the 1st Kentares Guards. "I'm still working out the kinks in the Militia currently"




    March 1st, 3015

    "Mary," I said. "Can you come confirm these numbers for me please?"

    "Sure thing." The woman said and she maneuvered to take a look at the numbers I was talking about. "Yes sir, those are the most accurate recent numbers."

    "That's a pretty large population boom." I said. "How many of them are from local families having babies, and how many are from immigration?"

    "It's currently about a 50/50 split." She replied. "Part of our population boom is youngsters looking for a place to settle down with a good chance of gainful employment."
    "And because we are restoring the cities over time, the price of land and of living quarters is steadily decreasing." I finished for her. "And with the Land grant system that I put in place for those who serve in the Kentares Guard or the Militia, people are going to surge here in order to receive their own plots of land."

    "That is true," Mary agreed. "And considering that Sharpshooter manufacturing is the largest employer in the system and is constantly hiring not only people in the Kentares System, but is also engaged in hiring for plants and factories in other areas, you have a series of booms."

    "Your next step will need to be deciding on a system of government." She said. "I have some recommendations for you, but I will leave it up to you."

    "I'm leaving the Planetary government alone." I said. "I'll handle military and diplomatic matters with Duke Sandoval, or the Davions, but I'm not touching local politics with a hundred meter pole. It's not my place to weigh in on that." I stated. "They can decide how they want to be governed on their own, as long as there is good representation."





    March 15th, 3015

    "Mr. Hull," Mary said with a knock on my office door. "You have someone here to see you."

    "Huh?" I questioned, having been spending my lunch hour with David, trying to teach him to say some more words. "Well, send whoever it is in will you?"

    "Yes sir." Mary said, "He'll be right up."

    "Duke Sandoval." I stood up to greet him but was told to sit down. "What brings you here sir?"

    "I wanted to meet my new nobleman." He replied, a small smile on his grizzled face. "I apologize for coming unannounced, but I find that people respond more accurately when surprised."

    "It's perfectly fine." I said, "I was actually taking my lunch break with my son here." I helped little David wave at Duke Sandoval.

    "Well, you seem to be doing good work here on Kentares," Sandoval said with some approval. "It's about time we started recovering from some of the monstrosities the Dracs visited upon us." He paused. "I'll set up a regular meeting with your secretary for some time later this week, And I'll leave you to your son." He smiled sadly. "Enjoy them at this age, they only get older from here on out."

    "I will sir." I shook his hand as he made to leave. "I'll have Mary clear up some time." I told him, "I think there's someone I can bump further down the list tomorrow."

    "No." Sandoval shook his head. "I know how hard it is to manage your time as a nobleman, much less a businessman and a Mercenary company owner. I'll see you at whatever time your lovely Secretary puts me down for. Have a good day Hull."

    "You too sir." I said with a dip of my head as he walked out my office door. "Well, that was unexpected." I muttered to myself after the door had shut. "I knew he was on the planet, I just didn't know he was headed to meet with me so soon."

    I picked up my comms device and called Dunham. "Hey, you might want to put some more people on VIP duty, or replace them, Duke Sandoval just walked into my office without so much as a "by your leave". Yeah, I know it was harmless this time, but we can't get lax even with people that we trust, MASK and the ISF are really good at their jobs, and if we slip up people will die." I finished the conversation with Dunham, happy that he would be dealing with the lax intel people.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Sixty-Eight: Meetings
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Sixty-Eight: Meetings
    Kentares IV, Draconis March, Federated Suns March 17th, 3015

    "Duke Sandoval." I shook the hand of my immediate superior insofar as nobility went. "Now that we are able to have a proper meeting." I sat down and he did as well. "What is it you came here to discuss?"

    "I wanted to meet the new noble who has yet to show his face in my court." Sandoval got straight to the point. "You've been galavanting all across the galaxy, and interacting with the Davions, and yet I have never even seen your face aside from some tri-vids." He crossed his arms. "Why is that?"

    "Because I forgot that there was a court to appear at." I replied bluntly and honestly. "Until a couple of years ago, I was managing the executive decisions for the nobility, Sharpshooter Inc, and both the Marksman and Kentares Guard." I sighed, "I didn't even have a proper bureaucracy until last year. And now you see the fruits of that." I gestured to the much smaller stack of papers on my desk. "I don't have nearly as much to do paperwork wise, and I can delegate to people that I can trust to do their jobs. I had intended to drop by Robinson in a few months, but you preempted me by a good bit."

    Duke Sandoval just sat there for a while, taking in the perfectly valid reasons that I had to avoid the politics for the past few years.

    "While I understand that you are a new noble, one of the very few that made such a massive jump in recent history, I do think that you should have at the very least made the attempt." He waved off any response that I was about to make. "With that being said, I am grateful that you have managed to help in destroying some of the forces that face us in the Draconis March." He grinned. "Now that the serious stuff is over, I want to hear about the First Prince's and your battle against the 2nd SoL first hand."




    March 31st, 3015

    "Shhh." I rubbed David's back as he cried out for Natasha. "It's okay, Daddy's here." I said, trying to lull him back to sleep to no avail. "I know you miss momma, I do too." I kept speaking softly and rocking him until he went back to sleep.

    After I had gotten David to fall back asleep I looked at the clock. "Ugh… So much for going back to sleep." I muttered under my breath. "Might as well be productive." I went and did some sim training and hit the gym before getting an early start on the paperwork for the day.

    "Morning Mary." I greeted my secretary as she walked in for the day. "Ready to get started?"

    "Huh?" She just rubbed her eyes, still half asleep. "Yeah, I guess I'm ready."

    "Sorry." I apologized, handing her a cup of coffee. "David woke me up and I've been going ever since."

    "Uhuh." She just glared at me. "I forgot that you are a morning person." Mary reached for a pen and threw it at me. "Leave me in peace you inhuman monster."

    "Fine." I surrendered, raising my hands and moving to my office. "I already got most of the paperwork done, so expect a light work day."




    April 19th, 3015

    "Alright, I'm here for training day." I clapped my hands together as I greeted and joined some of the new militia recruits. "Let's get started." I was filling in as an additional instructor and to take a break. So I led the militia through some exercises that would have made the pre dimension hopping me throw up and quit halfway through.

    "Come on!" My current drill instructor partner yelled at them. "I've seen children move faster than that!" The DI pointed at David who was in a carrier on my back. "See, there goes one right now!" I ran faster.





    A few hours later…

    "Shovel the food in your mouth, chew and swallow!" I screamed at the recruits in the chow hall. "My son is eating faster than you!" I fed David another spoonful of mashed potatoes. "Clean up your plates!" I yelled, "Hurry up!"

    "Charlie Platoon!" I screamed as I left the chow hall, "Fall in! Recruit Maxwell, you're platoon leader for the day."

    "Aye Sir!" She yelled.

    "I can't hear you recruit Maxwell." I said and held up my hand to my ear. "AYE SIR!" She let out a bellow.

    "That's what I like to hear." I said with a frown on my face. "Get up here Maxwell and show them how it's done."




    April 20th, 3015

    "You better not be thinking about stealing some of my recruits." The Kentares Militia commander, Colonel James Earnest said to me. "I appreciate you spending some time here and designating funds over to us for acquisitions, but I don't want any poaching."

    "I just want one." I told him. "I think she has great potential as a battlefield commander."

    "Then she can put in a transfer request when she's done with her training and her four years." Earnest said, not budging an inch. "We all get the same training anyway Hull." He looked me in the eye. "You'll just have to wait and see what becomes of her here."

    "That's fine with me." I said. "I wasn't trying to poach anyway." I shrugged. "If she has the potential for battlefield command, she can apply those same skills elsewhere, and we need those types of skills everywhere on Kentares, not just in the military commands."

    "Thanks for not poaching." Earnest's shoulders sagged a bit. "It's hard enough to get people to join the militia as is with the massive paychecks coming in from Sharpshooter and the Marksman."

    "I'll set aside more funding for competitive rates, but a Militia unit isn't supposed to be full time anyway Earnest." I reminded him. "You're going to get some people who only join for the little bit of extra money they get every month, but you're also getting a lot of weekend warriors here."

    "I know." Earnest sighed. "It's just such a different experience compared to serving in the Hussars like I used to."

    "Well, it takes time." I reminded him, "Just don't expect perfection to take place overnight." I smiled. "I mean, you already give them a longer boot camp than any other militia in the Suns anyway."

    "And we give them additional specialist training as well." Earnest said. "Thanks for making sure we got the Mithril priority by the way, we managed to gear everyone up already with some spares set aside in case of emergency."

    "Not a problem, I'm sorry they're the old hand me downs from the Marksman, but the older generation will still function pretty well, it's just not quite as comfortable and up to date as the newer suits we've been producing lately." I replied with a shrug.

    "It's the way of the world." Earnest said. "Frontline units get the fancy new gear, and the Militia get the slightly outdated stuff." He shrugged. "I assume you're going to move some of the new gear our way anyway though.

    "You suspect right," I told him. "I'm approving the transfer of some of the Grasshoppers, Von Luckners, and Brutus' fresh from the plants to you."




    May 5th, 3015

    "Gabriella, what's the data on the current lines we hold?" I asked the man for some hard numbers.

    "Well sir, the two Grasshopper lines are running at peak efficiency and producing Six 'Mechs a month combined, the Brutus is producing eight vehicles a month, and our two Von Luckner lines are matching it in production. The freezer factory is churning them out as fast as we can get the Endo-Steel used in their production, and we've got two hundred Mithril 11(A) suits rolling off of the lines every month, The Toro Factory is outproducing all of the other 'mech factories due to simplicity and even when we up teched it with Freezers and ERPPC's, it's still manufacturing around 15 'mechs per month." Gabriella grabbed another folder. "As far as the assets we have in other systems, the last reports i have are on the Layover and Markesan systems."

    "And what are they reporting?" I asked, I had a burning need to know just how much material we were producing currently.

    "Three Stings and three Mule class dropships are rolling off of the lines at Layover every month along with 3 Vengeance a year. The R&D areas have been reactivated, and so has a Union CV line. Our people are working on an upteched escort variant of the Sting and report that they should have something in a couple of years." She paused and reviewed her report. "The Highlander factory is producing four 'Mechs a month currently, and I don't have any up to date information on the other areas Sharpshooter is into right now."

    "Thanks for that." I gave Gabriella a nod. "Get some sleep and try and get me some of those reports if at all possible."

    "Yes sir." She said as she gathered her files and left. Leaving me to consider everything in peace.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Comstar Interlude: 3015
  • Threadmarks
    • Comstar Interlude: 3015

    "What is the status on Operation Monarch?" Primus Tiepolo asked the current Precentor Rom, Vesar Kristofur.

    "We have infiltrated some people into what was previously Salvatore Incorporated, now owned by Sharpshooter Inc." Kristofur reported. "Their output is above average, and any sabotage we attempt is quickly fixed and noted, our Agents are waiting for an opportune time to gut the Vengeance lines, while we would attempt to removed the new Sting class DroST from production, they would simply spool up another line in its place. It is an easily manufactured dropship, and could be manufactured even on a periphery world, there is nothing truly unique in its tooling."

    "Understandable." Tiepolo said. "Now, the rest of the operation?"

    "We are one hundred percent certain that the Davions are onto us." Kristofur started. "After extensive debriefings of the few higher ups we managed to acquire from Taussen we realized that they had been there and stripped a number of 'Mech lines as well as some data from the HPG station." He shrugged. "At this point, we have no idea if they have shared any of this information, or if they are waiting for us to make a move before exposing us."

    Kristofur paused for a minute, taking several gulps of his now lukewarm tea before starting up again. "We have lost almost all of our agents in the TMI and MIIO." He said. "We are still able to read their mail of course, but back in 3006 the Taurians started a massive house cleaning of their intelligence apparatus. They removed, fired, or shifted most of their personnel to other areas with a new focus on the TMI being accurate and able to provide verifiable intelligence, we have not been able to get any new agents in, and neither have MASK, MIIO, or any of the other agencies. We are all in the dark as far as the Concordat is concerned. That is why we didn't know about their Warship until it arrived in orbit around Taurus."

    Kristofur got up and collected his thoughts, beginning to pace a bit. "All of this began with that damned mercenary unit." He said. "The Marksman and their leader, this Mark Hull person who is a supposed time traveler, has managed to destabilize a massive amount of our plans." He ranted a bit before sitting back down. "I apologize, that was uncalled for. Where was I? Ahh yes, well, we have got some people infiltrated into the lower ranks of the Marksman and the Kentares Guard as well as Sharpshooter Inc, but whoever their intel people are, they are very good, and they have managed to avoid placing any of our people in high up positions where they might have access to any data that might prove useful to us, we have managed to get some people inside of the Grasshopper and Von Luckner lines that they are using to manufacture those designs, and are attempting to sabotage them. We shall have to see if they are successful or not. Our lack of an HPG on Kentares IV is both a blessing and a curse as far as this kind of work goes."

    "I see." Primus Tiepolo said. "How goes the effort to assist the Combine and the Capellan Confederation?"

    "The Confederation is not going to be able to be saved at this point." Precentor Rom pointed out. "It is in its death throes and we should just try and salvage what we can from the corpse." He said bluntly. "The Mariks are in the midst of the civil war that I enflamed, and should be fighting for a period of several more years. And to be blunt, Precentor Taussen was an idiot of the highest measure, we would have lost much more than gained if he had managed to succeed at dropping those nukes on Kentares IV." He said as a side note. "While it may have been useful in the short term, the Damage done to the Capcon meant that there wouldn't be any interference on their end, and the Davions would have been able to focus on the Draconis Combine and at the very least make them bleed for a good long while."

    "Our efforts to ensure that the Draconis Combine are able to resupply are proceeding fairly smoothly, we haven't been providing them with Lostech, but we did leak the locations of several old factory lines and are letting them do with it as they may." Kristofur said. "We also have made several experts "Available" for hire in order for them to get those factories up and running as soon as possible."

    "And any plans to stall the Lyran Commonwealth?" Tiepolo folded his hands into the sleeves of his robes. "I have not heard anything in that vein yet."

    "The LIC is good." Kristofur started, "Very good, so we are not as privy to as many secrets as we might hope as far as they are concerned, we have seen some movements, but nothing aside from Katrina's reforms. And while we at first attempted to widen the gap between her and Frederick Steiner, that seems to have backfired, seeing as he is now firmly cemented with her in restoring parts of the Commonwealth military with the unveiling of the rebuilding of the Fourth Royal Guards with him at the helm. We have had luck in assisting the Free Skye movement and Duke Lestrade though, he had been radically opposed to the Archon, and doesn't care for much from power. We are currently trying to assist him in his bid for the control of Skye, and will be attempting to install him as regent or something similar in order to potentially break it away and cause more chaos between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine."


    "Why had we not done any of this sooner?" Tiepolo asked. "I assume we have had this capability for a while."

    "Unfortunately, good agents take time to train and get in the right place at the right time for infiltration, and one wrong step or move could spell disaster, and that is a place that we have never wanted to be in previously." Kristofur shrugged. "If not for the discovery of the Taussen system, I doubt we would be moving as fast as we are currently. But with the danger of discovery slightly less because the Davions already know, we are pushing a little harder and faster."




    Omega Division, Hilton Head Island.

    "I fucking hate this place!" The head researcher assigned to the Mithril powered armor screamed. "Why can't we fucking figure this power source out? We have had it for five years!"

    "Sir." One of the junior scientists timidly raised their hands.

    "What?!" He raged. "That was a rhetorical question!" He screamed, "I don't want a fucking answer, I want this thing to work!"

    The researcher just lowered her hand and slunk as low as she could to try and avoid the wrath.




    At a bar outside the Hilton Head Complex

    "I'm quitting." Miranda told her friend. "This was fun five years ago when I was recruited to study this new battery pack idea thing, but the head is a perv and a raging psycho."

    "Where do you plan on going?" Her friend asked. "It's not like they'll let you leave the planet."

    "Why not?" She asked, with a shrug. "It's not like I know anything classified, every single nation in the Inner Sphere has a Mithril suit somewhere being dismantled, the problem is no one can figure out the stupid power source aside from the people who made it."

    "Well, good luck to you then." Her friend raised her beer in a toast. "May the odds be ever in your favor."
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Sixty-Nine: Nice!
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Sixty-Nine: Nice!

    Robinson, Draconis March, Federated Suns, September 13th, 3015

    "What do you think David?" I asked my son as I got dressed in a simplified Marksman/Kentares Guard uniform, properly tailored to suit the environment I was about to find myself in. "Do I look good?" I gave my Son a thumbs up and got one in return, along with a fist bump. "See, I don't need to look too good, gotta keep the women away after all."

    Mathis was chuckling in the background.

    "Hey!" I said pointing at my bodyguard and friend. "No comments from the peanut gallery."

    "But, it's funny." Mathis said, still laughing. "It's not the clothes that keep women away from you." He was doubled over at this point. "It's that you wouldn't notice unless they dragged you to a bedroom and tied you up."


    "I'm better about it now." I said while crossing my arms. "I am married after all."

    "Yeah, no." He said as he finally contained his laughter. "You're just not on the market anymore and so don't have to notice anything."

    "Just shut up and help me wrangle a two year old." I told him, grabbing David who was in a miniature version of my uniform. "We need to get going."




    Later that day…

    "Mathis," I told my bodyguard through the small mic attached to my collar. "I need an exfil plan, if another woman comes and tries to pick up my son I will shoot somebody."

    "Sorry sir, but you haven't been able to meet the Sandoval's yet." Mathis told me. "If you manage to get in and have a small discussion with him and some other important nobles, we will be able to exfil."

    Grabbing David and slinging him onto my hip, I politely slipped through the crowd. After gently making my way through, I managed to find the area I needed to be in.

    "Duke Sandoval." I shook his hand. "A pleasure to meet you again."

    "Duke Hull." He responded. "A pleasure to finally have your presence grace the court here on Robinson. Have you met my children?"

    "I am afraid I have not had the chance to meet any of them as of yet." I responded. "I'm pleased to meet you." His four children all introduced themselves to me going from oldest to youngest.

    "Colonel Hull." James Sandoval got my attention after being introduced to me. "Would you care to have a discussion on combined arms tactics? I have just graduated from the Academy and while my father has had very good advice, there is always something new to be learned."

    "Of course." I responded. "What area of combined arms tactics do you want to discuss? I personally favor asymmetrical warfare and overwhelming firepower whenever possible." I said. "The new Sting class makes for an incredible CAP gunship and is able to support infantry and Vehicles in a way that current Aerospace does not."

    "I saw the Sting" Duke Sandoval weighed in. "We are currently on the purchase list from the Layover facility."

    "There are a lot of people on the purchase list." I replied. "We are rolling them out and getting more lines set up as fast as we can vet and hire people. I think the overall goal was to have a minimum of three per world, with as many as six or more for critical infrastructure worlds."

    "Yes," James agreed. "I think that stopping an invasion force before it arrives is something that could become critical, but why would you waste something so valuable as a close support craft?"

    "Because a dropship can be replaced." I told the two of them. "There is no Lostech involved in their construction, and the licenses that we sold to the Taurian Concordat and the Lyran Commonwealth will help curb and/or end piracy as we know it."

    "Is that your overall goal?" Duke Sandoval asked. "To end piracy?"

    "No, my goal is to have secured a permanent place for my family, and to make the Inner Sphere a better place." I said, shifting the now sleeping David to my other arm. "And I would like peace, but I know that peace is something that is hard to come by."




    September 15th, 3015

    "We are finally leaving." I said with no small amount of cheer. "Done with the politics, and back to the things I actually understand."

    "And where there is less of a security risk to yourself and David." Mathis weighed in. "The armored car is here."
    We had purchased a small convoy that we used, with an armored hover-limo as a decoy and the armored sedan as the actual vehicle that we used to get to our destination. We were on our way to the spaceport, where the Messenger and some of the Sting gunships we had brought as escorts waited for us when the hover limo exploded in inferno gel and explosions.

    "Stay down." Mathis told the two of us as he moved the sedan out of the way and accelerated towards the spaceport. "I'm pretty sure we just got hit by some sort of cell trying to kill the both of you."

    I just drew my sidearm, and put David down on the floorboard. "Anything bigger than my pistol?" I asked Mathis who simply pushed a button on the front dash of the car. "Thanks." I said as I grabbed the rifle that was stored behind the rear seat. "Let me know if I need to provide supporting fire."

    "We're two mikes out from the Spaceport, and the Messenger and her escorts are prepped to lift off as soon as we are aboard." Mathis reported to me. "It seems that whoever it was took the bait for now."

    "Stay cautious though." I told him. "We've pissed off enough people that it could be ROM, ISF, or MASK trying to kill us."

    "Or it could be all three." Mathis shrugged. "At this point it doesn't matter who is trying to kill you, only that they don't succeed."
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Comstar Interlude 3012-3013
  • Threadmarks
    • Comstar Interlude 3012-3013

    "What do you mean that there was a Jumpship that survived?" Primus Tiepolo asked the captain of the Narbonne. "What is happening in the system?"

    "Primus, we were hard pressed to even get in range at all." The captain replied. "The lone dropship that was present in the system managed to attach itself to an Invader class Jumpship and as we fired as they jumped."

    "Well, thank you for your report Captain, I'll have ROM look into covering up what happened, and will await any further reports from Taussen."




    Hilton Head Island, Terra

    "You are certain that it was First Prince Ian Davion?" Kristofur asked one of the two remaining Adepts that had made it off of Taussen.

    "Yes, Precentor." The adept confirmed, "We, that is the remaining ROM units on world, even attempted an assassination, only to be foiled at the last minute."

    "Was there any information taken?" Kristofur asked. "Anything that would show our hand?"

    "Yes sir, they managed to capture Precentor Taussen, and quite a few of the senior HPG staff." The adept said. "We attempted to neutralize them, but aside from the select few that managed to commit suicide, we were unsuccessful." The adept took a sip of the water in front of him. "And after the bombing, the civilians were no longer cooperative."

    "What do you mean they were not cooperative?" Kristofur asked. "They have been servants of Blake for generations now."

    "The head Adept, the poor bloody fool, set it so the explosives would damage the surroundings as well in his zeal to kill the First Prince, and in doing so harmed many of our own while on the planet." The adept sighed. "And the video clips of Prince Davion's left hand risking his own life to not only save the Prince, but to help some of our own civilians did us no favors."

    "So they won the Propaganda war?" Kristofur asked, taking careful notes. "We are trying to figure out how Taussen was discovered, what the Davions and their allies might know, and what we can do to prevent these things in the future." He explained.

    "Precentor, we were screwed over by Precentor Taussen." The Adept said bluntly. "He commanded the local ROM units to use Draconis Combine codes and colors despite knowing that they were outnumbered, trusting in the fact that we had Lostech to cement a victory. He planned on nuking Kentares and blaming the Combine for it, not only killing the new factories that are being brought up there, but also making the Davions enraged so as to turn their focus onto the Combine instead of finishing off the Confederation." The adept shrugged. "I guess someone forgot to wipe their Navicomputer or something because here we are."

    "Interesting." Precentor Rom said in response. "We had to give up Taussen." He confided in the Adept. "And the Narbonne and all of our agents set traps and rigged things so that when the Davions return they do not find any factories there, we just did not have time for the full bombardment or anything else lest the Davions jump more units in system and broadcast the footage to the entirety of the Inner Sphere."

    "Please tell me that there are plans in place to kill the Prince's left hand?" The adept said. "That bastard was at the forefront of the efforts to find us and root us out, it was only that he ran out of time that saved us." The adept trembled with barely restrained rage.

    "Who is the Prince's left hand?" Kristofur asked for clarification. "I think I know who you mean, but I want to make sure."

    "Duke Mark Hull." The adept said. "I didn't know who he was until I got back to Terra, but he is most definitely and enemy of Comstar."

    "I will have ROM cells on the lookout for opportunities to slay him." Kristofur assured the raging adept.




    Later that week…

    "What is the verdict?" Primus Tiepolo asked.

    "We are going to have to tread carefully." Kristofur stated. "While it appears that the story about space debris has worked in the mainstream channels, we know for certain that the Davions are onto us." He sighed. "They managed to take Precentor Taussen alive and several of the senior HPG staff. I would take bets on the interrogations that they are undergoing."

    "We will begin setting in plans to either assassinate several leaders in Davion and Lyran space or to trigger a war between the Concordat and the Fedsuns. There will need to be back up plans as well." Tiepolo said. "Now that the Mariks are fighting each other, we should see if we can split up any of the other stellar nations in similar ways."
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Seventy: Wrath
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Seventy: Wrath

    Robinson, Draconis March, Federated Suns, September 15th, 3015

    "Messenger" Mathis spoke into his comm's device."We are one Mike out, standby." No sooner had the words left his mouth then he had to swerve in order to avoid a man portable SRM someone had fired at our vehicle. "Hull, I need them pinned down in order to make sure we get there." He told me, opening the sunroof for me to stand up in.

    The rifle kicked against my shoulder as I fired in short controlled bursts, hitting and stopping two of the people throwing SRM's our way. I had to reload after the third one was struck and then got back up again. Then, I felt something thump into my left shoulder and I spun around, seeing that there was a second group. We peeled past them, and I just held down the trigger, heedless of what might come my way. And then we were free, the Messenger was moving down the runway with one of its loading ramps down, and we shot into the bay as it took off in an almost vertical landing.

    "You good David?" I asked the toddler. "He was crying and still covering his ears on the floorboard. "Mathis, you clean?"

    "I'm good." Mathis said, "But my partner isn't." The Ducal Guardsmen who had been in the passenger seat had been nicked by a piece of shrapnel that had penetrated the passenger floor, hitting his femoral artery and causing him to bleed out. "I'm putting us in Mithril for the rest of eternity." He stated. "And I'm pretty sure the First Prince will sign off on it."

    "Agreed." I replied, running a quick status check on myself. "I'm hit in the shoulder." I told him, "Clean entry and exit, I think it missed the important bits."

    "I'll grab David." Mathis said. "We'll follow you to the infirmary."




    Davion Palace Complex, New Avalon, October 27th, 3015

    "Mark!" Ian greeted as he walked in the room. "Where's your better half?"

    "The half of me most likely to invade Terra is currently visiting family in unknown space." I said in a cold rage. "And the half of me least likely to invade Terra is sitting here in front of you, and if you don't convince it very quickly, Terra will soon be owned by the Marksman and the Kentares Guard."

    "What are you talking about?" Hanse asked.

    "Comstar's ROM division." I tossed two separate file folders onto the table in between us. "Co Opted and created orders for two previously unknown sleeper cells to target and assassinate myself." I stood up in a cold fury. "If it were just me, I could almost accept it." I stated, "Unpleasant, but it comes with the enemies I have made. But they did not just target myself." I raged. "They targeted my son, and so unless you and Ian have some extremely valid reasons why I shouldn't, I'm drafting the orders and carrying them out by December."

    "The two Cells," I continued. "Were each from different nations, one was an ISF cell, and one for a MASK cell." I sighed. "If I had been on any dropship other than the Messenger we wouldn't have the intel at all. As it is, we didn't manage to decrypt the message until after we had left Robinson."

    Hanse and Ian stood there, and their positions were reversed for once. With Hanse now seething with Rage just like I was, whereas Ian was silently contemplating everything.

    "We don't have the HPG's yet." Ian finally said. "We haven't managed to spread out enough of the mobile HPG's we've been manufacturing enough to cover the areas that Comstar is in." He sighed. "The very minute that I have confirmation that we've gotten at least half of the coverage Comstar does, I will join you myself." He sighed. "I understand that you are angry, and you have every right to be, but until we are in the position to do this properly I'm going to have to ask you to stand by. While I am confident that you could not only take Terra, but hold it. If we were to be interdicted we would lose everything we have gained over the last decade in a single sweep of the table."

    "I will allow it." I said, "I'm still going to formulate some invasion plans, and if they try anything else, I'm taking the Manassas and taking the system for myself, And I'm certain I could convince the Concordat to help me out."





    "Hanse, you have to calm down." Ian tried to talk to his still angry brother. "I know that it angers you, but we have to think of the long term."

    "Ian, I'm going to need a combat posting soon." Hanse said through gritted teeth. "I have to do something."

    "I can give you a Guards division and send you to take Ares." Ian said. "I'm just not certain you want to do that with Dana about to give birth."

    "I will wait." Hanse said, "But if something akin to this happens again, I will be joining Mark in any invasion he sets up. And Dana will gladly join me."

    "I know," Ian replied. "And with the Taurians at his back I think he could do it." He shrugged. "I just can't have us commit to that offensive yet, if we did and the Interdict still happened, we would be torn apart by the Combine as soon as they knew that we weren't able to communicate. And while Katrina and the Commonwealth would try to assist, they're still in the middle of restructuring their entire military."

    "I get it Ian." Hanse said sadly. "I still have this burning need to do something though."

    "You're a Davion," Ian said. "If you did anything less than father would be rolling over in his grave right now."

    "Ian, I'm going to go love on Dana for a while." Hanse stood up. "You should probably find something for Mark do do before he goes and storms the local Comstar station."
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Seventy-One: Preparations
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Seventy-One: Preparations

    Kentares IV, Draconis March, Federated Suns January 3rd, 3016

    "The Manassas and Age of Discovery are hidden in the shadow of one of the moons in the system." Sheppard reported to me. "Jewel sent Rook with the Snowden over to start repairs to the Texas Class Battleship."


    "Peterson is a month or so out." Packer told me. "We have the 2nd Marksman up to a combined arms force that should be able to handle a force its equal at the very least."

    "Our Warship crews are still green." I said, "but I think Comstar's will be green as well, and with the automated systems on the Manassas we should have a slight advantage. Jewel is returning with some of the Sting refits we commissioned and will be present by February."

    "We move in March." I told them, "we're going to make a statement to Comstar by taking their naval Bases out of commission."

    "Paige's Marines are chomping at the bit," Sheppard reported. "We gave them the upgraded Mithril 15(B) suits, and they are ready for any boarding actions we need them to try."

    "Good," I said. "I want as much of the infrastructures and ships taken intact as possible."

    "Based on the thrust ratios we calculated for that Warship that attacked you in the Versailles system we are going to be at a disadvantage in regards to speed." Commodore Frye spoke up. "The sensor data that the King Henry V reported was able to give us a calculated glimpse of what it might be armed with, and we think we might have the edge in firepower, but if we aren't accurate then it will be a very close battle."

    "We'll have all of our Sting's loaded for bear and ready to attempt boarding, and Wardog and Strider Squadrons are prepping for anti Warship runs." I said. "They're going to be coordinating in space and we need to be absolutely ready to make fast decisions."

    "I'm leaving overall tactics and planning to the people most likely to know what will happen." I said. "Lieutenant Colonel Paige, you're in charge of the Marine Forces that we have, and Commodore Frye, you're in command of both the dropships and Warships. I want an operational plan in three days for both systems, we're hitting them hard, and we're hitting them fast."

    "Are Ian and Hanse briefed on this?" Sheppard asked me before I had the chance to dismiss everyone.

    "I'll send a courier with a message when we leave." I told him. "I left hints that we would be retaliating, and there's a reason that I'm using the Marksman instead of the Kentares Guard."




    Ross 248, March 14th, 3016


    "Have the Age of Discovery detach her escorts." Commodore Frye ordered, "And have the Messenger engage in broad spectrum jamming. We don't want them to signal to any reinforcements that we are here."

    "Ma'am." The sensor officer said. "We're detecting one Warship, and two Yardships."

    "Send Paige and her marines to board the Yardships, and have Hull's Colossus move down to the Space station."

    "Yes ma'am,'' the Communications officer replied. "Sending orders."

    "That Frigate is coming in fast, Commodore." The sensor officer said.

    "Have our drone's target the rear." Frye replied, "And have Blaze coordinate with the Strikers, we're not sure how well our modifications will work."

    "We're in range Ma'am." The gunnery officer told her.

    "Fire as you see fit." She told him.

    The Manassas shuddered around them as they took Naval Autocannon fire on some of their armor.

    Then, the Manassas answered with their own NAC's, their superior concentration of firepower and better targeting systems allowing them to put rounds on the enemy Warship. Causing armor to shatter and/or be melted off as Naval Lasers began to join in.




    "This is Blaze," The Aerospace commander of the Marksman said. "Wardog and Strider, we are going to need to be extremely careful on this one, the enemy Warship seems to have extremely good anti fighter systems as was proven by the Drone's we sent out first."

    "Roger that Lead." Chopper said. "I don't see any escort fighters for it though."

    "We have nothing on our scopes." Blaze replied. "Edge, I'm assigning your squadron to escort the boarding craft to the Yardships, everyone else, pair up with a Sting. Let's make them bleed."

    "Copy that Lead." Came back. "Moving to escort positions now."




    "Marines!" Colonel Paige said over her dropship's command line. "This is what we've been training for, while the Navy gets to use their big guns for the first time outside of training, we get to go and do what we do best."

    "Loot then Burn!" The marines responded.

    "Damn straight!" Paige said. "Run checks on your Atmo seals, If anything manages to wreck that you'll be SOL."


    The Sting dropship they were on maneuvered to avoid the fire that was directed at them. "We're coming in fast, Prep to drop and use jets to finish reaching the Yardship." The pilot told the Marines on board.

    "You heard the man!" Paige yelled as the bay doors opened. "Get onto the ship and find an airlock, if you can't then we'll make rescue efforts as soon as we are able." The company of Marines "Dropped" out of the bay, using jump jets to navigate to the hull of the Yardship.

    "Ma'am, I've got an escape pod here!" One of her marines said over their laser comms.

    "Copy, drop a Nav point on it so that way we can have the others navigate here." Paige told him as she navigated over there.

    "Set Breaching charges." She told him. "This should be a good entry point." She assisted in getting the shaped charges ready. "Rook, I want you close by, we need to get into the computer systems and to be able to turn this ship against them."

    "Yes Ma'am." Lieutenant Rook replied. "Hanging on your six." While there were other computer specialists in the Marksman and Kentares Guard, none were as capable as Rook and so she had requested him to be with her unit.

    "Breaching." The marine called, detonating the charges. "Hole's clear, moving in." They moved into the now defunct escape pod and slapped a temporary seal over the hole they had made.

    "Opening door." Rook called as he used the pods controls to open the hatch in front of them. "We're in, let's do this."
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Seventy-One Continued: Combat
  • Threadmarks
    • Chapter Seventy-One Continued: Combat
    Ross 248 March 14th, 3016

    "Commodore." The communications officer said. "The enemy ship has gone dark, and we're seeing less fire thrown our way. We may have just hit their bridge.."

    "Ma'am, Armor is at seventy five percent and holding," The gunnery officer said. "We're reloading several of the forward NAC's right now."

    "Have Blaze escort some Marines over there for boarding actions, if we can take it and get it moving via a secondary bridge, we might be able to come out of this with even more than we thought."



    "Fireteam one, take this corridor, and try to limit damage as much as possible." Paige directed one of the three fireteams with her. "Fireteam two, take the corridor opposite them, I'll be taking fireteam three along with Rook and trying to take the bridge." She inhaled. "Remember people, we want as many of them alive as possible, many of them will be unarmed and we need to be able to actually use the ship after we're done. Am I understood?"

    "Yes Ma'am." They said over the comms, before they dispersed to their own areas. Everyone had the same orders, and vacuum rated packs with flex cuffs stuffed inside for anyone they subdued without killing.

    "Rook, Fireteam three," Paige nodded. "With me." And took off at a jog towards the area that the map they had pulled showed the bridge to be.




    "Alright people, this is primarily going to be an infantry op." I told the assembled Marksman unit with me. "The vehicles and 'Mechs are going to be guarding the Colossus while the Specialists and Infantry go and see what we can take with us when we leave."

    The assembled soldiers of the 2nd Marksman began to unload from the Colossus, making sure that we were covered. I myself was in Mithril, the only difference between mine and the others was that mine had extra communications gear.

    "Sergeant Lovell, I hope that Rook has taught you well." I told the tech fireteam with me. "Because we're splitting up. I'm taking a fireteam and hitting the local HPG, I need the rest of you to go strip records from every computer you find, I want to know what Warships are here, and what is repairable or able to be moved out of the system."

    "Yes sir." Lovell responded. "We're on it." And we dispersed, I moved to the area that the Manassas records indicated the HPG would be with a platoon of Mithril clad infantry right on my heels.

    "Records show we've got quite a bit of ground to cover in order to reach the station." I told Mathis and the others with me. "Expect some sort of resistance."

    "Copy that." Mathis said and began to take point. "Moving up."



    "You have a go, Archon's Favor" Blaze told the Sting dropship they were escorting to the enemy Warship. "We're not seeing any fire currently headed our way, and the Dropship collars appear to be intact."

    "Copy that Wardog Lead." The Archon's Favor replied. "We're docking now, keep an eye out for us."



    "Cover the hatch." The marine Sergeant told a member of his fireteam. "We're about to override it and head in."

    "Copy that sir." The Mithril clad Marines stacked up on the hatch. "Flashbang out." The second man called out after cracking open the hatch. "Moving." The point man entered the room, checking his corners the entire time.

    "Clear." was sent various times along the comms systems. "Atmosphere is still intact, we'll have to clear out the ship room by room though."

    The fireteam moved through, managing to get decently far before some armed men showed up to try and repel them.

    "Well, Normally I'd be getting into cover." One of the Marines observed. "But I don't think they have anything with the firepower to breach our suits on board." And the two of them took point in finishing off the armed ones before cuffing the rest of them.



    "Rook, please tell me you got the data?" Paige asked the tech specialist. "Because I think that this captain and crew might be a little difficult to interrogate later." Said bound and gagged bridge crew were glaring at her.

    "I managed to pull everything they had on the computer banks." Rook replied. "They hadn't even managed to get started on wiping anything before we burst in, I just hope that everyone else is doing as well as us."

    "Well, I've heard nothing but good reports on the company that managed to land here." She said, "We think there's a relatively small crew here and that'll make it easier to get this ship back to Kentares."

    "Then we better start moving soon." Rook replied. "Remember the last time we messed with one of Comstar's hidden systems."

    "Yeah," Paige shrugged. "But we have Warships of our own this time."

    (AN: Unless implied otherwise, any infantry are speaking on close comms between their own fireteams. No one outside of the armor can hear them unless they turn the external speakers on.)




    "I'm into the system." I told Mathis. "They had barely started a system wipe before we got here." I was typing SLIC codes into the system and transferring data to a data core to go over later."

    "Good." Mathis said as he kept a lookout. "Everything seems to be going well so far, but we are going to have to replace four Sting gunships if what I am hearing is accurate."

    "We can replace the dropships." I said as I kept typing. "It's the personnel I'm worried about." I sighed. "Thankfully, Commodore Frye designated several Sting's to not carry more than a skeleton crew so we could do recovery as necessary."




    "Commodore Frye." The Communications officer reported. "The Marines are reporting that one of the Yardships is ours, the enemy Warship has been seized, although we did get a lucky shot and destroy the bridge, the secondary bridge is able to be utilized to get the ship moving."

    "The second Yardship?" She asked. "What is the status on it?"

    "Nothing to report yet, they're the ones whose gunnery crews managed to tag one of the boarding ships."




    "What's the status of these Warships." one of the Infantrymen asked Sergeant Lovell. "Are we able to move them?"

    "Most of their K-F Drives are intact, it's the fusion drives that are the problem." Lovell reported. "There are a few ships that can move under their own power, it's the others that might be a problem."

    "How many are able to move under their own power?" The ship specialists asked. "We'll start with those, and see about getting the rest out."


    "The Black Lion class." Lovell pointed out that particular Warship. "The Volga class over there, and the two Lola III's" He designated each of them.

    "Sarge." Another technician ran up to Lovell. "I found out there's a series of Tugs here."

    "Well, all but the two Vincent's have intact and working K-F Drives." Lovell said. "If we manage to tow them to the Jump point we should be able to have them jump to the systems that we want them to."

    "I'll have someone work this up to command." The infantry officer said. "We'll start getting the tugs up and running though, even if we have to force some of these people to do it at gunpoint."




    "Commodore, Paige is reporting total control, they're moving the Yardship to the jump point and leaving the system."

    "Good to hear." Commodore Frye responded. "Do we have updates from anyone else?"

    "The enemy Warship is ours, but the Marines on board are helping to put out fires and other issues before they move to take the ship out of the system."

    "And the Recovery crews?" Frye asked. "Have we managed to get our people out of the void yet?"

    "We've recovered ninety percent of them." The comms officer reported, "And one of the people we have on the station has an ambitious plan that will need some dropship crews."

    "What is it?" She asked.

    "Seeing as Hull is currently stripping the HPG's data, they are requesting permission to use the Elephant class tugs that are present on the station to tow any and all of the jump capable ships to the jump point and get them out of the system that way. They're even saying that we should attach the tugs to the collars before Jumping so that we can move them easier."

    "Give them approval, and use the crews that are still alive from the Sting's that we lost. Split them up to fill the roles if we have to, but I want as many Warships removed as possible."
     
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    • Chapter Seventy-Two: Audacity
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    • Chapter Seventy-Two: Audacity
    Ross 248 March 14th, 3016

    "Why is that second Yardship not moving yet?" Commodore Frye asked. "We've got the ships that can move out of the space station already moving to the jump point."

    "Ma'am," The comms officer replied. "Marines are reporting that they are locked out of the ships systems, they can move the ship, but they're going to have to do it directly from engineering until we can bully past the lockout."

    "Well, have them start moving then, we've got to start getting out of this system." Commodore said in response. "Have the mobile ships jump to the rendezvous point A system, we'll have the ones that can't move jump to point B and start getting out of this system before any enemies jump into the system."

    "Understood Ma'am," The comms officer responded, "Relaying the message now."

    "Alright people, we're going to need to maintain a careful lookout." She told her bridge crew. "We need to make absolutely sure that there isn't anything else here that might try and take a bite out of us."




    "Mathis, am I hearing the comms properly?" I asked. "I was a little distracted pulling the last of the data."

    "Yes sir, we've found five Elephant class dropships attached to the station." Mathis said. "They're stripping as many people as they can from the Sting's in order to crew them, and using the ones that had their gunships shot out from underneath them as primary crews."

    "Makes sense." I replied before turning my high end comms gear on. "This is Marksman Actual, I need the stats on those tugs ASAP." I told anyone who was listening. "I may have a plan."




    "Rook, is the jump calculated?" Paige asked the tech specialist. "Because we're ready to leave this godforsaken system."

    "Yes Ma'am." He responded. "Everything checks out and we are able to move to Plan A." He paused. "Our Sting escorts are attaching to the collars now, we are ready to leave as soon as they are on board."

    "Jump us out as soon as we have confirmation that they are attached." Paige told him and the Marines around her. "And when we are at the rendezvous point I want the company to move the POW's to the Stings for holding." She sat down in the captain's chair. "I don't want any escapees here."



    "Black Lion is moving to the jump point along with the other three with intact drives." Sergeant Lovell reported to the officer in charge. "The Sting's are docking now with the recovered crews for the Elephants."

    "Good, we're going to need to move quickly if we want to pull this off." The officer responded. "The rest of the escorts and aerospace fighters are docking with the Age of Discovery and heading to the rendezvous point in order to provide some extra firepower there."

    "Hull wants us to prioritize the Cruisers and Destroyers." Lovell said. "If we can get those up and running later we'll have the makings of a decent sized fleet."

    "This is Marksman Actual." came over their comms systems. "I need the stats on those tugs ASAP, I may have a plan."

    "Safe thrust is 2.5gs, and maximum is 4, reinforced bow and has lots of internal cargo space." Lovell read off the computer screen in front of him. "What's the plan sir?"

    "We're going to send the station into the gap between the systems after we've gotten the Warships we can out of here." You could almost here the grin in his voice. "If we can get all five of the Elephants to coordinate, we can shift the station and get it's orbit to shift to the gaps in between systems, allowing us to come and take what we need at our leisure."

    "That'll take time sir, we've still got to get the Warships out of here." The officer reported. "We've only gotten the mobile ones out of here so far."

    "I know it'll take time Captain, I'm not worried about it." Their CO inhaled audibly. "If the worst comes, we'll just scuttle everything and leave."

    "Copy on implausible plan number seventy five." Commodore Frye weighed in. "We'll cover you, and I'll have some people start crunching numbers on where to launch it for ease of access."



    "Get this hunk of junk moving." The marine Sergeant told the boarding crew onboard the previously enemy Warship, now theirs. "We have been ordered to move to rendezvous point B."

    "Copy that Sarge." The marine in charge of navigation responded. "But you have to remember this is the secondary CIC, and we're unfamiliar with these systems. Give me fifteen minutes, and we'll be mobile."

    "Sarge!" A separate member of the fireteam called out. "We've gotten all of the POW's locked up on the Archon's Favor."

    "That's good news." The sergeant replied. "Most of these people weren't any problem, but station some guards just in case."



    Ross 248 March 22nd, 3016

    "That's the last one that we can manage." Lovell reported to Hull. "We've gotten all of them except for the Vincent's, the Congress, and that Aegis out and jumped to rendezvous point B."

    "Good, Have the Manassas on standby to grab the rest of the Elephants after we're done." Hull replied. Two of the tugs had left with the Warships that had jumped out.

    "Let's go." The infantry boarded the Colossus and got ready to leave the system while the three tugs all synchronized their drives and began to push the Space station out of it's stellar orbit and onto a path that would have it be in the gap between systems in half a year.

    "Docking and moving to the jump point." The last tug docked with the Manassas; they jumped out headed for rendezvous point A.
     
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    • Comstar/House Lords Interlude 3016
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    • Comstar/House Lords Interlude 3016
    Davion Palace, New Avalon
    "You have a message for me?" Ian asked Colonel Peterson the CO of the first Marksman RCT.

    "Yes sir." Peterson replied, "I was told to hand deliver this Pad to you personally." Peterson inhaled. "Hull recommends you wait to open it until Hanse is in the same room as you." Peterson then waited until he was dismissed before leaving.

    Ian picked up his phone to call directly to his brother's room and waited for him to answer. "Yeah, Hull sent us a message. No I haven't opened it yet, he wanted you here before I read/saw it."

    While Ian waited for this brother to arrive, he settled down and did some paperwork. They were still rebuilding some of the units with Hardware from the Helm cache and some things needed to be signed off on and reviewed.

    "You ready to watch this?" Ian asked as he waved the small disc in his hand at his brother. "Because He was just here a little while ago, what trouble has he gotten into that required a specialized courier?"

    "Let's find out." Hanse took the data disc and put it into a Tri-Vid viewer.

    "Hello, is this thing on?" A vid of Hull appeared. "We good?" He nodded at the camera. "Okay, so I decided to do a raid on a Comstar facility using a Warship that I had hidden from you." Hull said flat out. "We've got actionable intelligence, and are going to hopefully be pulling several intact Warships that need minor repairs out of Comstars hands and into ours. There are two facilities, and I'll be hitting one of them. Upon my return, I'm going to be repairing them and sending a good portion of them over to New Avalon. I hope to be back by June, wish me luck!"

    "That son of a bitch." Hanse said as he stood up. "I'm gonna kill him."

    "Why?" Ian asked.

    "Because he didn't take me with him," Hanse said.




    The Triad, Tharkad

    "Melissa, I'm going to need you to calm down a bit." Katrina told her daughter. "David won't be here for another couple of weeks."

    "But he's the same age as Elsa!" Melissa squealed, "We're going to be the best of friends." She laughed a little maniacally.

    Katrina just facepalmed at her daughter's dramatic behavior before picking up her third child to rock him to sleep.

    "Archon," Simon Johnson entered the room. "Is this a bad time?"

    "No, just let me get some things done here and I'll join you in a bit."





    "We've finally pinned Duncan down to one planet." Anton Marik observed to his brother Janos. "We're just going to have to finish off two regiments of radical elite forces."

    "I am aware of this." Janos glared at his brother. "We shouldn't have let it get this far in the first place. The Steiners are probing us, and the Andurians are carving chunks off of the Capellan Confederation while we are here fighting each other."

    "We're going to have to do this quickly if we want to bring the Andurians to heel." Anton said. "We've already taken too long to whittle their forces down to this state."

    "I'm moving my personal forces to Procyon in order to assist in taking out Duncan." Janos said. "Remind them to be mindful of the forest." Anton said. "There's an extreme risk of a forest fire if Duncan's forces decide to do so."

    "That's a chance we'll have to take." Janos said. "If the war goes on for much longer we may split into separate nation states once again."




    Sian, Capellan Confederation
    "Why is she not dead yet?!" Maximillion Liao screamed at the current head of MASK. "I told you I wanted her head delivered to me." Max drew his sword and decapitated him.

    "That's the third one this week." Candace muttered to herself below her breath. "Maybe I shouldn't have set Romano up."

    "Father." Cancade announced. "I request the ability to move to St. Ives, and begin to recover some of our forces"

    "No." Max looked at her with madness in his eyes. "You will remain here, I have need of you, seeing as these incompetents cannot accomplish a task as simple as killing she who has no name."




    Luthien
    "Director Indrahar," Takeshi Kurita greeted. "Walk with me my old friend, we have much to discuss."

    "Of course Coordinator." Indrahar replied. "As the Dragon commands."

    "Why is it that I find the ISF revealing itself to the Davions in a wasted assassination attempt?" There was a shar edge to the Coordinator's voice. "When the Dragon has ordered no such thing to be done."

    "Coordinator, any assassination attempts were not authorized by myself or any of my immediate subordinates." Indrahar promised. "I believe that others have obtained some of the command codes that we use to activate cells such as the ones on Robinson."

    "Then they are traitors." Takeshi said with finality. "Find them, and bring them to me. I wish to see them dead at my feet."



    Hilton Head Island, Terra

    "Sir, there's nothing here." The captain of the CSV Bordeaux reported to Primus Tiepolo. "There's some debris, but there's no station, and none of our Warships are here."

    "Primus!" One of the adepts nearby said. "Are you there?"

    Tiepolo grabbed his chest in agony, his face scrunching up as he struggled to gasp for breath and lost his footing, falling to the floor.

    "Primus!" The adept said once more before turning to another Adept as she began CPR. "Get a med team in here, I think the Primus is suffering from Cardiac arrest."

    The entire team of people in the room scrambled to find something that they could do to help, with one of the other CPR certified Acolytes rotating out with the Adept.

    "Come on! I've still got a pulse and breathing, but I'm not sure how much longer he has." The Adept yelled.

    The med team arrived a couple of minutes later. Loading the Primus up on a stretcher and taking him away to get medical treatment.




    "I regret to inform the First Circuit of this." Precentor Rom, Vesar Kristofur started their meeting. "But Primus Tiepolo suffered from a heart attack yesterday and we did not manage to get him to the hospital in time to save him." He sighed deeply. "I would like to ask that we have a short period of mourning in order to announce his death to the Inner Sphere before electing a new Primus."
     
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    • Chapter Seventy-Three: Evaluations
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    • Chapter Seventy-Three: Evaluations
    Kentares, Draconis March, Federated Suns May 11th, 3016

    "How long will it take to get the Ships up and running?" I asked Captain Jewel, our main repair expert.

    "If we dedicate multiple work crews, we should be able to rearm the Black Lion battlecruiser and the Lola II's in a couple of weeks. The Volga will take a bit longer because it still has a small amount of Armor damage and is missing some weapons." She said.

    "And getting the Manassas and Narbonne up and repaired?" I asked. "I want them up and running ASAP just in case we face some retaliation."

    "Eight days on the Manassas if we focus multiple work crews on it." She responded. "It would be faster if we had the second Yardship up and running, but its computer systems are still locked down." She sighed. "The Narbonne will need a minimum of three weeks before we can get everything repaired on it. Then we can start on the other vessels."

    "Okay then, I want the Manassas and Narbonne fixed up, and then we can focus on the battlecruiser and destroyers." I told her. "I'm promoting you, and placing you in command of the Functional Yardship, I'm going to be giving the battlecruiser and the transport to the Davions, so as soon as we can, I'm going to need them able to move and shoot."





    June14th, 3016

    "Colonel Wolf." I greeted the man in front of me. "Where is my wife?"

    "She is currently helping our Khan to prevent an invasion." He told me bluntly. "I was given orders to help prepare the Inner Sphere for said invasion." He reached into the hard case he had beside him and pulled out a data core. "This contains all of the information you need to begin advanced technology development, I need you to begin distributing it to anyone you are nominally allied with." He then turned to leave.

    "Hold up a minute." I stopped him. "You don't get to just drop a bomb on me and then leave for your current contract." I stood up and got in the slightly taller man's face. "You said you were supposed to help prepare the Inner Sphere for an invasion and just dropped this on my lap." I blocked the doorway. "I will not be doing your job for you, so sit down, shut up, and let me explain exactly what is going to happen."

    He started to protest, but didn't manage to get a word out. "You are going to give me actionable intelligence, and you're going to actually explain what might happen. Not only to myself, but to both Ian Davion, and Katrina Steiner, I may even have Thomas Calderon or his mother drop by for a visit, while Thomas may not like me, he'll damn sure listen to me after all that we've done for his nation." I sighed. "You are a military genius as far as short term conflicts are concerned," I told Jaime Wolf. "But when it comes to long term strategy and planning you fail to understand the consequences."

    "Fine, I shall listen to what you have to say." Jaime Wolf said with a hint of a growl. "But insult me like that again, and you will face me on the battlefield."

    "Fine." I threw my hands up. "I'll take you here and now if it'll help you get it through to your thick head." I stalked out of the room while grabbing my comm device. "Mac, I need my backup Warhammer. I'm pretty sure that Nat stole mine again."




    Several hours later…

    "I do not think this was a good idea." Joshua Wolf confided in his brother. "His critiques, while uncalled for, were at least honest."

    "This is the second time he has insulted me." Jaime growled. "I will not allow him to command me unless he has proven that he is my better in combat."


    Jaime closed the hatch to his Archer ARC-2W, and powered it up. Beginning the journey to the designated combat area by a lake 50 Kilometers away from any potential residences. He was followed by Joshua in his Black Knight, and Sheppard in his Cyclops. Sheppard and Joshua were to be seconds, spectators, and judges for this trial of combat.





    "Duke Hull." Joshua said over an open comm channel. "Are you prepared?"

    "I'm ready to rumble." I responded, my Warhammer bouncing back and forth as if it were a boxer. This wasn't the Warhammer I typically used, and so my speed was the same as Jaime's Archer. This was the WHM-7A that we had pulled from the Confederate class Dropship Last of us. Natasha having "Borrowed" the Bobby B from me again when she had left to go on her little side quest.

    "Colonel Wolf." Sheppard said, "Are you ready?"

    "Let us be done with this farce." Wolf said with a sneer in his voice. "I am ready."


    I immediately moved to avoid the LRM's he had fired at me, knowing that he had the firepower advantage at range, I moved closer, because I had ERPPC's, I would be able to tank his two medium lasers and SRM's for as long as I needed to, I had the advantage close in.

    On top of that, I was angry, angrier than I had been in a long time. And I wanted to brawl, so I got close in, and dodged the fist that Jaime threw my way while firing my Lasers and SRM's at his Archer, I lashed out with kicks, and even forced my PPC's in close to use as melee weapons. At this point, this wasn't a 'mech duel, it was a straight up brawl between two angry men in giant robots.

    "Should we do something?" Joshua laser commed Sheppard. "I feel like this is something we should be intervening in.

    "Just let them duke it out." Sheppard made his Cyclops shrug. "They'll either not be able to stand each other, or be best friends at the end of this…"
     
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