One Rabid Fox changes the Succession Wars [A Battletech Isekai]

[HunterxReader]

"I don't think he noticed how quickly his technicians work, certainly not on New Avalon," Admittedly parts had been sourced locally but it had taken the various techs a week or just over working around the clock in order to provide the demonstration designs... the 70 ton Longswords had been brought and presumably, she had to assume there had been some spare parts it was one of Clay's DropShips and it had been his JumpShips that had carried them... but regardless the machines demonstrated on New Avalon had been put together quickly, and with such rapidity that it might as well have served as secrecy. "So you're right," She was still dancing around the matter of the growing form in orbit. The Shipyard was 'visible' in hte sense it was basically a new star in the heavens above Sakhara now, you could see the light reflected off of it in the night's sky.

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TFTC! I do hope Alexandria was there to see the forging, otherwise it might just be the Essence's ability to be rationalized at work. It'd be entertaining though. Even with a conservative assumption of just 1 of each new design were made for the demonstration in that week, that's about 485 tons worth of mech being manufactured even excluding the Longsword. For comparison, by sarna Corean's factory on New Avalon can churn out a steady 130 Valkyrie per year, with a peak of nearly 200/year at their best, so at most no more than 4 Valkyries/week or 116 tons worth of mech. Henry's techs would somehow be 3-4 times faster than a fully automated factory line, albeit without a clear number of the personnel nor what tooling they used. Heh, I imagine people like Team Banzai will probably be salivating for an introduction to get a look at their machinery and techniques.

Ah, the Atropos, AKA the SM1 but Hell's Horses, AKA the Clan Saladin. Nothing like having a hovertank flit around and opening up two 20 point holes in a Drac mech's rear.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Travel Interlude (aka Sakhara +)​

Henry leaned back in his chair looking over the Pratt and Whitney information, but only really half paying attention to the financial paper work. He had considered as the deadline had gotten closer rushing, pushing the resources into it to bring the Shipyard online... and he had held off... but it had been tempting. The mechs showing was, it had been tempting... maybe he had over done it to... but industry couldn't be treated as magic. Technology shouldn't be treated as magic, and that might have he admitted to himself at least seemed hypocritical given he had magic to make technology more or less out of thin air, but there needed to be industrial competition.

It was why he had considered shoving money into existing corporations in hostile take over schemes if it came to that... which it hadn't. Still they needed to publicize that you could still manufacture new ships, by building new yards, that that wasn't lost, that wasn't something humanity could no longer do. So that first Star Lord being built would need to come online sometime next year, and then the year after that they could take ship number two and offer first option to buy to House Davion.

And then they'd go from there ... and he was already looking out to six seven months out, and when the prospect of most of his friends would be going off to their first real duty stations. It played a part, it was impossible to pretend it didn't especially since in Justin's case he had some idea about what was coming... and seen what Justin was up against in terms of public opinion.

... and well it hadn't helped the situation that that when one just got down to it, Michael Hasek-Davion rubbed him the wrong way.

"So we're going to Robinson right?"

"Yeah, that's right." He replied to Justin's question. Justin's question demonstrated he was ignorant of the internal mulling, "He's," He leaned forward, and extended a sheet of paper from another stack, "Bringing on some of the RBA cadets, for... politics and stuff, I think there is going to be some of kind of small tourney for the cadets or something."

"When did you find out?"

Henry shrugged, "Basically this morning." There had been an email about it from 'technically' last night after lights out, but, it had been last minute... maybe something had gone out through the HPG network, or maybe it had just been failed to be mentioned. Maybe he had just failed to note a social cue or implied to the effect of. "So you know, good luck."

"Is, is that why Alexandria is bringing her Orion?"

He shrugged again, "I wouldn't doubt it," It wouldn't have surprised him if she had volunteered herself, or if the Vice Chanellor had played the honor of the school card up to here as ... most likely valedictorian or whatever, but they would have to see what happened. "Anyway, I get the impression its cadets from the Battle Academy, Avalon."

"Probably Northwind." Justin noted, "Might see..." he stopped to think about it... "I don't know maybe some of the other schools, Lex is probably serious about making a splash there. You brought the Rabid Fox,"

"Yeah, but I had planned to do that anyway. Its cadets only." He reiterated.

Justin snorted, "Right, you know there is a good chance if Avalon's in the run up, my little brother he's over there."

Henry found that to be unlikely, but then again... decided to defer disputing the point, "What does he pilot?"

"Valkyrie." Justin pivoted on the defensive after he said, "What it could happen."

"They're not going to put you up against anyone in a light mech, its ridiculous brother or not... besides even if he was in the tournament he'd be just as likely to run into Lex in the running." and very much doubt Alexandria would have any issue using her Orion's mass to layout a Light Mech regardless of who the pilot was.
--
Alexandria had the benefit of a large and comfortable suite aboard the JumpShip. It wasn't quite all of the comforts of home, but near enough... it was actually a step up from some of the amenities of the dorms.

She considered herself better prepared this time. The docking with the Star Lord meant they'd be leaving soon.. and on the other hand they'd be taking the circuit that connected Sakhara with Robinson first... she wasn't sure if that meant there was a ship waiting in Kestrel or not... but she supposed it it didn't matter.

Her father, the reigning Duke, and Justin's father should already both be on New Avalon... but they were going on New Avalon to to collect the Duke of Robinson, as well as the Duchess of Victoria... they were also going to drop off machinery for Robinson's industrial works.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Robinson and Sakhara would likely both end up producing BattleMechs that would flow to New Ivaarsen. Only an idiot couldn't recognize that leaving aside political connections, Ivaarsen was to important to leave under defended, the world was wealthy, pro Davion, and was the gateway for any Combine attack on either Robinson or deeper into the Federated Suns, and that the opposite was true. New Ivaarsen, and Royal sustained what was effectively a salient into the Combine.

It was what she expected Yvonne Davion to question her about... even if she didn't necessarily ascribe to the idea that they were actually having the cadets game out actual Combine positions. That rumor had been going on since they had started the larger exercises... maybe if they had been closer to the Capellan front the Combine wouldn't have so overshadowed the perspective, but more likely the exercises were genericized in the interest of being teaching material.

Whatever the case she had brought her assignments with her... even if she suspected there would be too much to do...

A chime sounded letting her know to make her way to the dining hall aboard the ship. Justin was already complaining about how much longer from the sound of it by the time she got there.

"We'll make the jump to Bettendorf in a few hours, Franklin and then Robinson," Henry sipped his coffee, "The time table is mostly based around separation and docking." She wondered if The Duke of Robinson, and Yvonne Davion were then already en route or docked aboard the JumpShip in Robinson, "We'll rendezvous with the others, jump to DeWitt and then from Kestrel two more jumps and then to New Avalon."

A time table being measured in days not months... and JumpShips carrying signficant amount of material... just the trip from Sakhara to deliver whatever were in the holds of the cargo dropships was ... probably an eye watering volume of cargo in terms of monetary value. Reports of which Justin was just leaning on as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Hey I was gonna ask," Her cousin questioned still slouching, and while she couldn't be sure his empty glass had probably been a beer, "When did you find out about this tournament that is happening?"

She paused, of course that would have been his priority, the implication had of course been there when they had left. A dozen BattleMechs had been brought to New Avalon as a gift to the academy there, something was going to have to be done a set of lists was likely, "Officially I suppose I knew the evening before we left," She replied, "I certainly suspected that some sort of holiday festivities were a given not that I necessarily presumed to participate." The diplomatic answer wasn't precisely what Justin was looking for, so she continued, "I expected that the cadets from New Avalon might duel one another, but its not all together unreasonable that we should be invited to represent Sakhara, or that other schools of the realm those of note should participate..."

 

[Bofors40mm]

I suspect that Aaron Sandoval upon hearing about the many virtues of the Sentry including that its designed with milita and 2nd and 3rd line units in mind wants it also made on Robinson. Which is fitting given its otl counterpart's orgins

 

[Arimai]

enroot

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Enroot is a drink. En route is the proper term, meaning on the way.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Enroot is a drink. En route is the proper term, meaning on the way.

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Is it a popular drink? Cause Spell check was telling me it was the correct spelling so I was like 'fine'.

En route has been fixed.

 

[Arimai]

Is it a popular drink? Cause Spell check was telling me it was the correct spelling so I was like 'fine'.

En route has been fixed.

Click to shrink...

I guess so. It markets itself as being crafted by James Beard Award chefs and as all organic with no preservatives.

 

[BlueRanger O-Doom]

I feel like someone is going to bite off more than they can chew trying to raid Henry's new jumpships.

 

[Arimai]

I feel like someone is going to bite off more than they can chew trying to raid Henry's new jumpships.

Click to shrink...

Aren't his ships armed with concealed guns and have an entire airwing of heavy fighters for security?

 

[Imperator Pax]

Aren't his ships armed with concealed guns and have an entire airwing of heavy fighters for security?

Click to shrink...

Star Lords aren't typically armed, but they are being escorted individually by carrier dropships carrying large heavy fighter air wings

 

[Imperator Pax]

New Avalon 2.1​

Lord Aaron had enjoyed the previous trip to New Avalon; it had been promising. Admittedly they had yet to actually receive a firm commitment against offensive action against the Combine but he suspected it was only a matter of time at this point. The transfer of machinery to robinson further diversified the march, and well... the engineers from Corean tended to talk freely when at his table.

There would be new Centurions in the first quarter of the year. A swelling in the ranks of BattleMech pilots, and that was some of the best news a Field Marshal could receive... and as a tanker the mass production of quality armor locally would reduce the time it took for spare parts to reach units of the Draconis March Militia.

Corean's engineers would be working through the new year to bring Centurion production online, working to convert the old refit works on Robinson into an actual factory production sight. They would be assembling imported parts to start with, but eventually Robinson would manufacture the pressings, and forgings and even more complex components of the battletech... and eventually that would likely mean being able to expand production into the manufacture of other BattleMechs.

... But they had to walk first, no pun intended.

From what he understood between skilled technicians and tooling probably inherited from the star league Sakhara would be producing air frames and would be exporting spare parts for mechs and tanks to Robinson to fill out their production. He didn't resent it.

That was to be a defining, and frequently political display within the likes of Punch, and other journals of political cartoons within the Federated Suns as the situation began to shift and change in the final years of the third succession war.

That distinction of being the third succession war belied the forthcoming disaster that was to define the Second Age of War. Lord Aaron would hardly be the only member of the Federated Suns to think of t he growing economic expansion and spread of literacy as a boon to the Federated Suns. Money poured into investments, which yielded returns, and facilitated growth. The ongoing talks with the Lyran Commonwealth over the tenure of Ian Davion were beginning to yield diplomatic progress, but the economic factors of negotiations wouldn't fully blossom for years still. Those weren't the sort of developments that Lord Aaron was thinking of.

For Robinson, and more broadly the military staff of the Draconis March Sakhara set an example of military direction, academic and economic productivity that were to be emulated to prepare the March, and its future officers for the perceived inevitable conflict with the Draconis Combine, whether that was defending against a counter offensive, or a wider offensive by the AFFS.

The Stephensons would need to be consulted that was only natural... and would be something to do some time in the new year... probably early in the new year, which would make coordinating with Sakhara difficult It would make coordinating with Northwind difficult, unless both the lords of New Ivaarsen and he made their way to the Highland Faire ushering in the new year. That was unlikely, they would have had to make arrangements to leave New Avalon and proceed to Northwind... that was not practical

To be a ruler was to have to evaluate these things, and Lord Aaron had had to learn the ropes quickly since he had not been born to rule the patrimony of his forbearers it had been thrust upon him after the death of his brothers, and as he himself had been convalescing.

"We might consider the summer faire, your grace?"

Aaron Sandoval, duke of Robinson, mulled the calendar. That was true meeting the Highlanders of Northwind would present them the opportunity to recruit mercenaries, and bolster the march anti-spinward. He didn't necessarily like putting off that deep in the year. The year would be half over by that point. "I'll think on it." He replied
--
The holiday season didn't change the fact that there was still business to be done. That even though officially things looked like they were settling down, in fact nothing of the such was going on. The nobility, and the business class came to New Avalon to Network, to make arrangements and conduct business for the future... and meetings like this were probably going to occur throughout the official holidays.

Henry double checked the schematics, but that was pro forma... it was theater even. The lawyers had all calculated fro both sides, the terms had been discussed. It was all very arcane in the legalese ... and the truth was Henry expected that once things were operational on Bristol they'd out pace Achernar's new mech production.

... that wasn't the point. Only a limited volume of Achernar's gdp was their military sales division... they did so much more business in the civilian sector and ... well once the Pratt & Whitney paper work was dry... and they had Bristol... well there was going to be a lot more civilian business to be done with Achernar. That would hopefully invite public spending, and thus mean everyone would be making more money... a growing economy.

... it would still probably take a few years, but he could wait. "I am planning to formalize the mech design bureau, there are things I need to do before that," He commented initialing the paper, "But the Longsword represents an effective platform for direct fire engagements." It wasn't a command 'mech. He still wasn't sure what they were going to do on that front... he knew what the Federated Suns leadership wanted on that front... but they weren't to a commitment on that point, "I have every confidence that the Longsword can be built on New Avalon," Presumably with minimal need to retool from Achernar's existing facilities... or more likely that House Davion would invest in Archernar's expansion in order to cement their access to more Heavy BattleMechs being produced near their home.

For now they were really done here. This had been little more than simple squeeze into the hotel, finalize everything, and to get the ball rolling for the first thing in the New Year. Achernar had probably spent the last month looking at hteh Longswords deposited with the academy here on New Avalon and weighing out what was their best option.

If they hadn't been talking about a design that involved a predominance of standard mass production off the shelf parts this would hae been more complicated, maybe too complicated to bother moving on this soon... but they weren't. The longsword heavy battlemech or no was designed for rugged simplicity.

"Right, but if all that's true," Justin started to say as the Achernar people departed, "But then what's the rush for the lighter mechs... the sentry and such."

Well, leaving aside Mountain Wolf, and wanting to be in a position to promise them being able to put their original claim to economic prosperity aside while angling for the Merlin as well...

"Its the Combine," Alexandria remarked. "We went over this during that simulated exercise with those tanks."

He nodded, "We're going to move forward with production of the Sentry, because the preponderance of Combine 'Mechs are Light 'Mechs. We want something than can effectively rely on existing logistical chains and pose a credible threat to not just the Panther, but also operate effectively against other combine threats." At 3.1 and change well the idea was numbers coverage, getting 35 and 40 ton mechs in the field along with armor support would better protect worlds against the usual combine raids... that was the priority in the Draconis March. "Expanding the number of militia mechs and armor support will release heavier front line mechs and production of them for other units." ... and just in case there were any preferences he was hoping to have enough variety while still running broadly general parts commonality for weapons and engine that it didn't make a mess. "But again the Centurion really will be first in the mass production line, and as Nissan engine expansion, well as it hits its stride we will expand production elsewhere."

 

[Bofors40mm]

Man Achernar needs to start getting more plants and licenses out there or corean will be a much bigger company than them on the military side of things. To be fair only like a fifth of Achernar's revenue is military related.

On another note the longsword being a thing might get Starcorps to try to get the Warhammer back into production on Crofton since the 6D is a fine mech if needing a slight change in 1 ton less of armor (of which it was already basically wasting a half ton anyways since it gained all of 1 armor point from it) to make the 2 small lasers mediums.

 

[Ashley9469]

Huh. I have to admit, if I had that power I'd have been grabbing wolverine clanners by the bus load.

I've always had a love of sticking it to psychopaths and rubbing out old nicks legacy is a good one.

 

[Imperator Pax]

New Avalon 2.2​

Henry watched the first tranche of payments make their way into his accounts as the deal was signed and the money transfers authorized. The first stage of benefits, and arrangements. There would be transfers of goods, broader sharing of industrial expertise as part of the plans... and really all without direct government involvement. Government involvement would likely come later once procurement talks started, and the AFFS started to draw up their needs for the future.

The military procurement system had generally come to terms with the state of industry that defined interstellar conflict in the post star league era... and realistically he accepted that a sudden change in the status quo would prompt efforts by hostile foreign powers to act against those oncoming resources. It was why he invested in a preponderance of air power.

Which was another industry he expected to be able to leverage, particularly once he prepared to demonstrate the launch of the first production of Vengeance ASF carrier DropShips. He hadn't advertised that and they'd been overshadowed by the ongoing progress of the skeleton taking shape in orbit of Sakhara that would assemble Star Lord-class JumpShips... but Yvonne Davion, Duchess of Victoria had recognized already that there were ASF and DropShip lines coming online within the county.

Absurd as it might have been to think of County in such terms it was the reality of space faring neo feudalism. IT was also a facet of a system where the organization of state power was predicated on local leadership, due to the realities of personal power. Henry understood that, better than he had two years ago. In way, he accepted he was as much a part of the Draconis March as he was the Crucis March but it didn't change the fact that his immediate personal friendship and loyalty was to Ian Davion and the reciprocity the feudal dynamic entailed.

A reciprocity he did not extend to nor shouldn't have been expected to extend to Ian's brother in law Michael Hasek-Davion the duke of New Syrtis.

The towering elemental leaned over, "We have confirmed the arrival of the 3rd​ Regimental Combat Team, the Eridani Light Horse."

"I see." He replied sucking in a breath... because the matter of Mercenary and house troops was another matter as well. He had been expecting that something was going to have to give, the Eridani Light Horse being present here was just one of several possibilities. Henry knew there was the possibility that there would be stumbling meeting of his Light Horse and the Eridani before he could finish reconstruction of the 19th​ Striker Regiment... but Yvonne was already asking around about Robinson's reminder.

The Kuritans had collaborated with the Rim Jobs against the SLDF... and it wasn't a conversation he was particularly looking forward to having with Jaime Wolf... especially not with the Wolves having participated in the Marik Civil War... but he needed to stop them from joining up with the Combine... and there were certain things both carrot and stick that he was willing to roll the dice on if it meant denying the combine access to the Dragoons ridiculous ability to reinforce themselves and so on.

He got up, and started pacing. The licensure agreements with Acherar were good. The trick really was that he wasn't expecting to worry about cost overruns. He wasn't planning on anything along the lines of simply stocking off world warehouses full of goods... the previous trip to New Avalon had involved utilizing parts available at market but even then putting that many machines together might have been a little too flashy, regardless of what it benefitted him in terms of support at the federal level... or the business gains. It could have delayed them and made some kind of trade exhibition in the coming year, but at this point the cat was out of the bag. There were a lot of mech designs, and an abundance of machines that if licensed out would all pull from commonly available parts, which meant sub contractors would have incentive to produce more of those parts.

How long it would take the AFFS apparatus to make plans, and how long it would take the bureaucracy of the treasury to get the b all rolling was another matter. He doubted there would be any serious movement at first... no what would probably happen is ... was that things would be slow while business looked at things, and the machines were tested and then all of a sudden the fire would catch and the wheels would turn... and then there would be a rush to do something.

If he was really lucky then not only would the shipyards be up and running and in place to start producing JumpShips to make the economic resurgence possible, enough capital and banking apparatus would moving to cause an expansion of the work force... and hopefully lead to increased civilian spending ... but he supposed that was probably a bit optimistic given that they were talking about economic production across multiple planets and with the limits of FtL travel. That was the burden to contend with.

--
Yvonne Davion had reconciled her responsibilities as duchess with her military obligations. She could have easily discharged those duties, or she could have taken advantage and leveraged her position within the military hierarchy ... but her loyalty was to the dynasty of her forbearers and the dynasty as a whole, to the realm. "MI2's final report is still forthcoming," She remarked, "But we can say the shipyard at Sakhara is now complete." Whether Sakhara had laid down the first Star Lord Jump Ship... they couldn't readily say. It was possible, but they were certain that the machinery, and critical systems were aboard.

Assuming of course that Clay's time table was accurate they would shake down the yard and construct a replacement ship for the Jump Ship they had needed to scrap some time in the next five to seven months if they were correct... mind boggling or not that was what the schedule was for the year... so really it would be next year. It would be the next year and then House Davion would be able to would have the opportunity to make a bid for a newly constructed Star Lord... and presumably the first of two that year...

Supposedly a shipyard of the size could manage three Star Lords in a good year. That seemed absurdly optimistic, but even two from a single yard would outpace House Kurita's production... and also if they could produce two annually that would meet the League's production... and if Clay could make good on the claim, then there was the likelihood other yards could be refurnished and rebuilt.... but that would inevitably create arguments in the fiefdoms of other nobles, other entrenched power blocs with the Federated Suns.

... which of course reiterated her resolution and commitment to House Davion... and on its face Henry Clay's original reasoning for placing a second shipyard at Bristol made sense. "The acquisition of Pratt & Whitney?" Ian Davion questioned.

"Machine tooling, the facility here on New Avalon, and their warehouses." The machine tooling in question were largely basic manufacturing systems. "There are the DropShip fusion drives-"

"Will it be a problem?"

The first prince was hasty in the question... "Layover they've always bristled against Federal intervention in local affairs." Ian snorted derisively, "But legally the Pratt & Whitney acquisitions are above board." It was a lot of money but no one was going to voice a significant challenge too it... not after Clay had saved the First Prince's life against the kuritans... "I almost suspect that the corporate acquisition wasn't the original target and that ... perhaps some talks either didn't progress beyond preliminary discussions or otherwise fell through otherwise."

Her nephew and monarch waved off the speculation, and drove back to the matter of the Shipyard above Sakhara. Hanse cleared his throat, "The issue of Bristol might raise protests,"

"Damn Marie, and her husband." Ian spat suddenly agitated, "if he spent half the time he dawdled and moped about New Avalon the Liaos would be in the gutter not nagging at our frontiers."

Yvonne had been absent from the incident in question, but its implication alone had been easy to suspect what had lead to it. In principle Yvonne didn't even disagree with Marie Davion's logic, and she wasn't necessarily at fault for her husband, but she was doing little, or insufficient to nudge him to correct his behavior. The family should have been coming together with Hanse's first born in the waiting... not having the Duke of New Syrtis throwing a tantrum over developments in neighboring marches. "Even so your grace it is a matter..."

"I will hear his whining regardless of what I do, you were the very one who reminded me that I needed to secure the Crucis March, and it was your notion to divert his efforts at repairing other existing shipyards."

This was a strictly family matter or Ian's outburst might have been a bit embarrassing, but there were no retainers around to glance at the floor, "You are correct, your grace. The yards at Sakhara need recognition," And if Clay could build an entirely new yard with plans for a second one at Bristol, ideally he should be able to rebuild the James McKenna yards of the old Star League, and that was something that the Federated Suns sorely needed.... "And if that needs to be done, it will posting troops from the Draconis, or nominally Crucis March at those facilities while the work is done."

"I have made up my mind on this and it is too late to back away at this hour."

--
Notes: I was very tempted to include Mikey boy complaining about BattleMechs and JumpShip resources being 'allocated' to the Draconis march... I plan to write Michael Hasek in a very Edward VII / VIII (the Duke of Windsor) really either of the Edwards in terms of behavior and attitude, but I take similar inspiration from George the Sixth for Ian, but again this is a case of canonically Michael has a lot of entitlement issues and doesn't seem to get he married into the Davions and that not everything in the Fed Suns is his as a result. This is going to be a recurring issue, because Ian is less patient than Hanse is, and Hanse canonically is a simmering pot of rage sometimes

 

[Bofors40mm]

I thought the idea was to make titans not vengeances and kick the Salvatore issue enough so they'll get back to making vengeances among other designs.

Also I could have sworn Marie wasn't especially on the side of her husband in political matters but more like a neutral party that not even comstar in their OG house davion source book could tell whose side she truly was on.

 

[Imperator Pax]

I thought the idea was to make titans not vengeances and kick tbe Salvatore issue enough so they'll get back to making vengeances among other designs

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I was going back through my notes from May, and SLDF pattern Titans are on the roster, Pratt & Whitney is going to start making parts for Vengeances and then whole air frames, which is the impetus for Ian in 3018 to tell Layover "Do something, or else." because I really don't see how layover managed to mismanage itself the way it did canonically with Hanse in charge and here with Ian in charge I can't see them being allowed to get away with such fiduciary failings of duty when you have someone like Clay doing stuff for the Crucis March and the Feds otherwise going through a resurgence in industrial productivity by that point

 

[Bofors40mm]

Had a thought. Of all the yards Ian should be worrying about first I think it would be Challenge Systems.
Since they're the sole monolith yard in the suns and this is the period when they're starting to have a LOT of problems which is slowing down production and within the decade will halt it for over a decade.
And unlike Kathil they're pretty safe from raids location wise since they're based in Panpour

 

[Imperator Pax]

Had a thought. Of all the yards Ian should be worrying about first I think it would be Challenge Systems.
Since they're the sole monolith yard in the suns and this is the period when they're starting to have a LOT of problems which is slowing down production and within the decade will halt it for over a decade.
And unlike Kathil they're pretty safe from raids location wise since they're based in Panpour

Click to shrink...

Thats valid and like... I totally forgot about panpour or it being the only monolith site... they might have to show up later

 

[Bofors40mm]

Thats valid and like... I totally forgot about panpour or it being the only monolith site... they might have to show up later

Click to shrink...

Fair enough.
Just like Delevan is the only pre existing Star Lord site in the suns and also the current only source of assault dropships in the form of Avengers.
Actually.....pre Helm/the refurbishment of Panpour and Kathil it might be the only reliable jumpship production yard in the suns left in otl with its invader and star lord lines.
After all Galax is basically dropships only.

Well unless the new yard in lore that we complained about not that long ago was making scouts or Merchants or something

 

[LokiTheDarkGod]

A good tech to introduce would be chemical lasers. They make vehicles oh so much better and are frankly horrifying in the late succession wars. Although it may physically pain the Federated Sun's to change that many autocannons to lasers. They'll just need to content themselves with the lamenting of the Combine, Capellans and Comstar.

 

[Bofors40mm]

A good tech to introduce would be chemical lasers. They make vehicles oh so much better and are frankly horrifying in the late succession wars. Although it may physically pain the Federated Sun's to change that many autocannons to lasers. They'll just need to content themselves with the lamenting of the Combine, Capellans and Comstar.

Click to shrink...

Or test the tech out on tanks that are energy heavy for no good reason. Like say the Ontos.

 

[HunterxReader]

A good tech to introduce would be chemical lasers. They make vehicles oh so much better and are frankly horrifying in the late succession wars. Although it may physically pain the Federated Sun's to change that many autocannons to lasers. They'll just need to content themselves with the lamenting of the Combine, Capellans and Comstar.

Click to shrink...

With Project Zhukov tanks to look forward to in the future, CL's will almost certainly make an early introduction. The question I suppose is how much they will proliferate and be applied by the states, which I guess will also depend on how advanced the technology and resources required for them will be considering the canon versions are Clantech. At least for militia it'll be a good substitute for ACs if they're willing to tolerate the toxicity and cost of the ammunition, or for standard Lasers if they're willing to become more ammunition-depended for free weight like in Johnston Industries's Goblin, which would be more brownie points with the Sandovals considering the Duke is a threadhead and JI is headquartered in the Draconis March.

Or test the tech out on tanks that are energy heavy for no good reason. Like say the Ontos.

Click to shrink...

In canon, they did the Ontos with LCLs, managed 8 of them with how many heatsinks and power amps the original MLs cost. I can only imagine how nasty an MCL-variant would look like.

 

[Bofors40mm]

On another note it occurs to me that by owning a operational jumpship yard even discounting everything else our SI just become one of the hundred or so most important people in the Inner Sphere

 

[Imperator Pax]

A good tech to introduce would be chemical lasers. They make vehicles oh so much better and are frankly horrifying in the late succession wars. Although it may physically pain the Federated Sun's to change that many autocannons to lasers. They'll just need to content themselves with the lamenting of the Combine, Capellans and Comstar.

Click to shrink...

Hunter ninja-ed me but yes he's right with Project Zhukov due to start hitting the market in 3020, Aaron Sandoval is going to start buying them for the Robinson armor as an expansion of his existing purchases

On another note it occurs to me that by owning a operational jumpship yard even discounting everything else our SI just become one of the hundred or so most important people in the Inner Sphere

Click to shrink...

also this, soon.

 

[Bofors40mm]

anyways any design requests today from any of you lot?

 

[Imperator Pax]

New Avalon 2.3​

Regardless of matters at the palace, tensions within New Avalon was a wash with the festive spirit, or at least affluent spending and show. Champagne, and other sorts of alcohol flowed freely as New Avalon livened up. The pomp and circumstances of the capital varied throughout the year, but the implication of the First Prince's invitation were of glad tidings, and the chatter of the heir to the realm having a child due underscored that.

Enough of a news statement that for most of the spies on the capital it was their primary focus simply because it was innocuous and inoffensive to report on for most of the hirelings. For more dedicated spies those with stronger ideological motivations, or chasing fatter paychecks Albion's receipt of new BattleMechs had attracted attention.

It had been long enough that the deliver of a company's worth of new 70 ton Mechs had gotten around, along with the talk of other machines which had made an appearance... but most of the more outlandish stories had been dismissed out of hand.

The talk of new manufacturing centers for the Centurion, and any variants there of, had been initially overshadowed but the commercial exchanges meant that it was impossible to ignore them. It would take time to confirm that the talks were real, never mind that actual movement had started on the manufacturing line, but that was largely out of the mixed expectations of how life in the Succession Wars operated, and that included industrial expansion and operations. Simply put it seemed ridiculous for that kind of capital movement to be underway without more notice, without more information, it was easy for non commercial, or industrial experts to reject such reports for one reason, while commercial or industrial experts to view such claims as absurd on the face due to the time and money moving such volumes would have required.

It was... in hindsight a mistake... but one that in the future would simply be blamed, and swept under the rug of sorts, as a transitional moment of the end of the long technological, and industrial dark age after the fall of the Star League. For more than two hundred years the inner sphere had been clinging to the remnant of the industrial base of the star league had been loosing bits and pieces of technology every few decades.

The Centurion though? There was nothing new, nothing revolutionary about the centurion, and the idea that House Davion would make a new centurion line, as it was perceived by outside observers... spies, seemed outlandish. It simply wasn't in the normal scope of operations for two new battlemech lines to be funded, much less the same model of mech in the same strategic area. It was therefore easy for confirmation bias, of well people don't do that, no one does that, to miss the development until it was obvious it couldn't be missed.

For New Avalon going into the Holiday season at the end of the year these foreign guests were when known were monitored for... those whose impropriety was too out in the open would be swept up but the reality of the succession wars was that the Intelligence Services of the Great Houses had sharpened their services, and some times the lesson had been taught that letting known spies run around with harmless bits meant sometimes they could be eased into taking bits of poison back to their nests.

For the military and civilian Federated Suns intelligence apparatus this was what the holidays were about it was watching for suspects to make a mistake. It was in this direction that the Duchess of Victoria was focused. She had no legal mandate after all regarding domestic production of materials even if as a cadet branch and noble of House Davion she could justify here involvement in discussions... but of course that was the problem since unlike most of her noble peers Yvonne understood what was going on in the Draconis March more broadly, and specifically at Sakhara... that went well beyond what the rumors were hastily denying could be any thing more than absurd hyperbole.

Exaggeration was normally something to be expected after all... but it wasn't exaggeration... you couldn't exaggerate that there was a new ShipYard of any sort... never mind one that would produce JumpShips... which was a detail that wouldn't simply be a rumor it would have official confirmation, and then the real chaos would start. Never mind the longswords, which had received far more attention than the Cataphract, but both Heavy BattleMechs would be overshadowed like everything else when the news reached the assembled elite of the Federated Suns and it would even with the limits of what news ComStar could carry through the HPG network spread like wildfire from there.

It was actually amazing the seriousness that the Sakhara academy had managed to maintain the secret... or that... the young scions failed ro recognize the situation. She didn't wish to be overly critical of a bunch of cadets but she was concerned that it really might have been more of the latter given that Clay's shipping concern was predominantly built on Star Lords...

It had been entirely possible that the Duke of New Syrtis had been being willingly obtuse about the matter but there were a lot of Star Lords comprising the Clay fleet. There was no AFFS component there, so there was no House Davion measure in the circuit that ran from the Draconis March Capital to New Avalon... the comments had annoyed the First Prince... and raised alarming questions over the Hasek prince's views on the private property of a Crucis vassal.
--
Justin Allard had doubled checked the Cataphract. He was pretty satisfied that at least on his end that there was nothing wrong... on the other hand... the Rabid Fox, Clay's 70 ton machine sat compact, hull down.

"So whats going on?"

"We're fairly certainly we can streamline production of the Cataphract to use a Dorwininion chassis probably sometime in the New Year we'll speak with Achernar."

"I thought they were building the Longsword?"

"Thats the plan, but if truth be told what I expect is that there are going to be demands for auto cannon equipped units in the near future, the cataphract is price completive, and with specialty ammunition either for your version or one also mounting short range missiles it has a market. As a training mech or as a militia command mech even the cataphract has utility given its parts commonality with systems available at market... but I really think the big interest is as Ian commented it mounts an auto cannon." and the truth was Clay intended to bring the LBX version to market in the coming decade... but not quite yet. "The other factor is this New Avalon Institute for Science they want access to the Centurion frame and the Cataphract, but I don't know how much of that Ian's insistence." Of course the Longsword was a polished slimmed down machine in many respects for mass production direct engagement... he'd told Achernar that over talks... but "What I would really prefer Achernar to do is to take seriously needs for a missile boat, it would take a lot of resources to bring the longbow into mass production due to that engine."

The door opened back up, bringing with it Alexandria's Orion, and a Highlander painted in Northwind Academy colors. So far it just looked like there were two or maybe three students from each of the schools participating. Henry had no expectation to participate since he had actually seen combat.

There was grumbling as an RBA painted Thunderbolt's pilot moved towards his machine complaining rather vocally about how long it had taken. Justin shook his head, "He's chomping at the bit to go fight the combine."

The Duke of Rio's son had been given every opportunity to excel. The thunderbolt had no combat experience but it didn't stop him from talking a big game... and he was one of the graduating students of the RBA representing Robinson in the tournament.

The Northwind Highlander was the only assault mech in the games. The pilot was one of the northwind clan scions and it was an ancestral machine, though one that no longer carried a gauss rifle in favor of a weapon still manufactured... admittedly that was something else that Henry was hoping to be rectify soon.

"Well, to be honest I don't' expect he'll have to wait for long." Henry replied to Justin's comment, and the truth was either the Combine would do something ... or Ian would make a move of his own, because ... well 'the Hound' wanted to hunt... it was just so far cooler heads had urged him to consider waiting until the AFFS could be built up to sustain an offensive... but Henry assumed that whatever preparations were being made were probably coming to fruition since Ian Davion had sounded a lot more bellicose on the prospect of a fight with the combine at breakfast. It had bordered on a stump speech really.

 

[Bofors40mm]

i'm not sure you can scale the dorwininion chassis up that much but i'm not sure either way.
also given they make the dervish achernar makes a missile boat

 

[Imperator Pax]

i'm not sure you can scale the dorwininion chassis up that much but i'm not sure either way.
also given they make the dervish achernar makes a missile boat

Click to shrink...

Fusilier liscence in this case, and the Chassis is based off of the Caesar which used a Dorwinion chassis that I assumed was tweaked specifically for the 70 ton since I don't think anything else uses the Dowinion CES chassis

 

[Bofors40mm]

Fusilier liscence in this case, and the Chassis is based off of the Caesar which used a Dorwinion chassis that I assumed was tweaked specifically for the 70 ton since I don't think anything else uses the Dowinion CES chassis

Click to shrink...

fair enough. that's workable I suppose.
also man the enforcer, centurion, and fusilier plus any available hunchback are a nasty trooper mech combo

also question would this frame similarity mean that achernar is likely making Cataphracts as well?

 

[Imperator Pax]

New Avalon 2.4​

Ian Davion had wanted to spend time in the mech bay but there was too much to do. The duties of First Prince had priority over his time as they moved into the new year. The truth was that he had had to hear petitions from too many of his wealthy and powerful vassals before the official start of the season. Corean, and Achernar, Kallon, and yet others were talking about the same mechs he was interested in, but he had other subjects to hear out.

He had generals in the AFFS who wanted to wait for things to be perfect. He had generals who hoped that procurement would be approved and that the ranks of the DMM could be filled up with machines at a rate not seen since the star league. Officers in procurement were talking about the matter of shipping those machines, and for that matter for procuring tanks.

Tanks was a topic that had elicited the attention from the Duke of Robinson of course, but it had also had brought up the matter of reinforcing the Regimental Combat teams... something one of Hanse's house hold staff had thought to bring up that his brother had relayed, and then there was the matter of Blackwell Industries of New Valencia, and that just turned his conversation to the matter of mercenaries. There were the Wolf Dragoons to consider, it would have been excellent to lure them back to the Suns for service... and of course in terms of service the Eridani had been in Federal Service for the majority of his reign.

The wolf dragoons might not have been here, but as his aunt had reminded him, and Hanse as well... the Eridani Light Horse had accepted his invitation to attend... and he needed to explain and leverage Brevet General Kerston. The very act was one he understood as a necessity of state. His duties to the state, he needed to secure Kerston's loyalty even if the Eridani remained nominally mercenaries... but so long as the regiments of the venerable old company were pointed at his enemies then it was fine... but again that merely went back to the matter of the Dragoons to whom they could not afford added to the Combine's reserves... and it would be best of all to coax them back to the Federated Suns against the Combine.

"If we could convince the dragoons to return it had a probable chance to press Waco's rangers into the Combine's service over their somewhat one sided vendetta."

"I may have a solution to that," Hanse replied to their aunt's remark, "Admittedly it isn't a great solution, I would never suggest wasting mercenaries of the dragoon's talents on the Taurian frontier but the Capellan front needs to be secured, even if Waco did join so long as federal control was retain of the Dragoons along side the Guard it would benefit us more than it would cost us." His younger brother reached up to a series of documents.

They were working under the assumption that they could succeed in convincing the Dragoons to return... but Hanse's idea was based upon what was already public knowledge, shaping the knowledge the mercenary community received and making overtures to the dragoons that they would be coming back to a contract that they had demonstrated no trouble with previously... and yes in conventional practice this would be part and parcel to attempting to sway a mercenary to coming over permanently. Inviting the Dragoons to come back to New Valencia would only be part of it, they would use pomp and circumstance but also less prominently they might be able to leverage Clay's offer to answering some of the Dragoons other logistical needs.
--
New Avalon was the heart of the Federated Suns, for the social scene especially. It was true that the First Prince needed to travel across his family domain, as head of House Davion, and the broader still of the Federated Suns, but the formal social niceties that separated them from the barbarians were here on the glittering jewel that was the capital. It was here processions made there way to celebrate the realm, and its ruling house.

It was the one place where the nobility could, and did readily congregate across the boundary of the marches within which their feudal domains were situated.

That created, Alexandria understood, certain allowances for domains and their scions to interact, but it didn't wholly alleviate the potential wagging of tongues. New Avalon was a mine field of sorts , and waiting for the unwary or the rash to make a misstep.

The comment that she should relax was unappreciated, even if Justin meant well... but he was also paying a lot more attention to the impending tournament than anything else. They needed to at least not embarrass themselves, and ideally do well, to excel in the competition. Given the limitations imposed by tournament rules, and practical limitations imposed by tournament fields fighting was going to favor closer range engagements, possibly even entailing the adventurous choosing to close to melee range... that wouldn't be reflective of the course work that they had been pursuing... but she decided it was probably best not to mention that either... Justin was excited about the prospect... especially with the confirmation that his younger half brother wasn't being pushed into the roster of combatants.

Henry mulled the throngs of students still present at the academy. There was still a fair amount of grumbling about the lack of notice, or the limits on participation. It was so last minute as one senior cadet had complained, as another had complained about how few slots there were. He couldn't really speak for the first one, but the latter he couldn't help but nod along in agreement over. Just two, maybe three students ... and from the sound of it all of some degree of noble status... well Ian had little reason to extend an olive branch to the Warrior Cabals of the Federated Suns but there seemed to be something of a limit. He wasn't sure if he liked that idea.\

Smart ass comments like war is a team sport might not have helped the situation... but he was somewhat regretting not bringing tanks to further reiterate the idea behind that truism. A mechwarrior could not be everywhere nor do everything. Infantry, boots on the ground were always going to b e needed to hold ground and coordinate movement dirt side. Airpower was similarly a vital component... and while a MechWarrior could in low intensity warfare be relied about to act with violence of action a professional military was a necessity for far flung expeditionary warfare... which was what fighting the dragon would require. They were going to need tanks, and lots of them when the time came to take the fight to House Kurita.

"Hey, Henry the guys from New Syrtis are finally here." Justin remarked nudging him sharply, and suddenly.

"Well it would have been odd, if Warrior's Hall hadn't been invited." Alexandria observed... and whether it was desrved or not, or more specifically if the cadets in question deserved it... he had a half a mind to tell the two participating Sakhara cadets to kick their asses... "Hmm?"

"Nothing, I just expect the two of you to win is all." He replied to her questioning look. It was about the same time, that afternoon that the conference of ministers to the first prince, as well as the most important lords... including of the Draconis and Capellan Marches were being assembled before Ian Davion to discuss the matters of state that would shape the Federated Suns in the coming year. It was not a requirement. Ian Davion like generations of his forbearers had a great of leeway to shape federal policy and the military even if local administration was devolved in various ways to respect regional, and planetary government... but the title was after all First Prince not Emperor. While plenty of leaders had had grand ambitions the position of first prince was not an absolute monarch, and there were hereditary rights and privileges to contend with that kept the realm stable.

Ian had to among other things, make certain assurances that his realm was stable, and that the succession was stable... he didn't mention the possibilities he had in mind with regards to stability but only that he had plans, and that House Davion would be further secured with Hanse's first born due. Ian had grand ambitions in mind, but he chose to play those close to his chest for the time being... and while he intended to be cagey about such things to the gathering there were other bombshells he was preparing to drop on the assembly.

The younger nobles would kept from such proceedings. Senior civil servants would have some presence at the meetings but those doors in the palace closed and they were as secure as the combined efforts of the Federated Suns intelligence services could make the sanctum Santorum of the state.
--
Notes: Soon. Other update stuff, I need to bite the bullet and sit down reread 1634 and start updating my Dominion of the Baltic Sea AH more regularly, I keep saying I'm going to do it and I just don't get around to it. Anyway, I will be posting hopefully some stuff in the Junkyard BT snippets thread I have but also I need to get the Aurigan fic further along, and that will mean probably splitting time between the Canopian perspective and the conflict that is to introduce really Heron and his down timers to well among other things the modern Capellans. That's important, since in Ghost there is the reference that Gene basically sits locked away in his cabin while they're transiting through taurian space and that's an allusion to other factors and that will come up later... but yeah stuff and things.

 

[Imperator Pax]

New Avalon 2.5​

His mind was filled with numbers, just as the papers in front of him were a survey of shipping rates, the projected costs of having to move something DropShip, and JumpShip across space. Given how in demand those numbers were he doubted to see much change.

In a market setting if he needed to he could buy using the essence with either C-Bills or BV buy something with BV sell it for C-Bill value but if he bought something either way and sold it it it might take longer but he could sell at a mark up reflective of market conditions in the 3rd​ Succession War, and the same held true of manufacturing new in this era. That required having a buyer, handling other factors in business and what not and it was a matter of time.

The lesson, of course that Henry understood was to not focus on the margin, but on volume... if he could bring large volume to market it a low profit margin for individual unit sold was less important than selling fewer for more. If he was going to do that he needed to be able to reasonably produce, and diversify production across multiple sites. Diversified production in this case was not international in this case... money was important and all... but his priority was the Federated Suns, activity and influence in the Federated Suns. Business partners, and deals with people operating in the Lyran Commonwealth or the Free Worlds League, people who held certain licenses who would have to be interacted with were one thing... but diversification needed to be inside the Federated Suns borders... just not...

... not on New Avalon. There was already so much going on here, he just couldn't fathom adding to the eggs in the basket... well at least so long as his options remained open... given what he knew of the wider universe if he didn't have any choice then he'd do it... but he doubted it was going to be an issue. "No I am currently expecting that late next year we should be able to expedite full scale production of centurions," He said after a minute. "There again really the principle bottleneck is the assembly line, once we have the assembly line put together and a steady chain of supply I think we will should be good."

Justin just nodded, as down on the level below techs worked to safety check his cataphract for the upcoming tournament.

It wouldn't matter that he didn't understood... that the commentary the dancing around was going right over his head. Justin would have graduated by that point, by the time the Centurion's entered full scale production.

That would be the real change. The truth was he would likely prioritize heavier production ... that was larger BattleMechs to be produced on Bristol, closer to New Avalon. There were other factors, but some of it was the thinking of avoiding placing assault battlmech lines on Sakhara for mass production ... he was already probably putting the planet at a lot of risk, what with it being so close to the Combine border. There were political reasons as well... and that at least Justin did grasp.

"Oh yeah you told me, Hanse Davion pilots a BattleMaster, the whole engine deal." The senior cadet nodded in what he no doubt interpretted as macho and surety in things.

"Yes if I can secure Bristol I'll diversify mech production," And truthfully if he didn't receive Bristol, he could work around that... but given the discussion and with the shipyard completed he expected they were going to move forward.
--
IN security terms Yvonne Davion knew that attempts would be made, and the truth was she expected that all of the late First Prince's Children understood that... not just Hanse, and Ian... which presented her with a problem that was both political and personal in nature. Especially in the light of the increasing fractious relations within the royal branch. Between the true born brothers, and their base born sister and her husband's machinations... and ambitions.

... and that was largely without them knowing what it was Ian had planned. Before Halstead talks with the Commonwealth had been a matter or could have been looked at just a matter of determing where the new archon stood.

That the new archon hoped to discuss a détente in the conflict, and the possibility of peace between the successor states more or less on the modern boundaries were something that House Davion could largely agree to. There would be objections, but she doubted that they would be serious enough to impede formal treaties between the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth... because well to be frank one had to recognize that peace between two of the states was an admirable goal, but she doubted that the Combine would simply agree.

The trade treaties from before Halstead between Davion and Steiner were small things, building blocks, the beginnings of a foundation... but more than that Ian hoped to secure his realm's borders further. Idly she was greateful that Ian was just sitting down for this meeting.

"Can we predict what the general's response will be?"

She looked up over her folded hands at the question from the First Prince, "No," Yvonne replied simply, "And truthfully we don't know enough ourselves... if our analysts are correct which I would be willing to wager they are... Clay's household are as we have discussed descendants of SLDF troops." In itself that was nothing, there would be no reason to make issue of that detail by itself, "If however the expansion on Sakhara is what we believe it to be, and the chatter we have observed is valid-"

"Then its confirmed?"

She mulled accepted the interruption from the sovereign, "19th​ Striker Regiment, 3rd​ Regimental Combat Team Star League Defense Forces... but the IDCs, the identity friend foe codes transponders were limited sources from what we believe are Land Air Mechs, probably from the Regiment's Recon Company when the League was intact."

"Are they with us?"

"No, the majority of Clay's household troops remained behind, my understanding is there are expectations of an attack by the Combine and the Colonel of the tentative descendants is commanding the defense." Her analysts going over the data they had from Sakhara's defensive force weren't confident that the signals were from Land Air Mechs, but the transmitted frequencies suggested they were from a Regimental Reconnaissance Company based on the communications... which of course they knew because Admiral Clancy had joined the Federated Suns in the 29th​ century after Kerensky had departed the Inner Sphere he had brought over a treasure trove of intelligence documents as well as signal intelligence material. "The DropShips aboard the Star Lord have a large aerospace component, we believe that they are Star League Defense Force fighters, however."

"Not Stingrays?"

She shook her head, "No, while Sakhara clearly is producing new F 90 aircraft using a 240 engine," That they were clearly manufacturing on planet, "These are larger," apparently earlier,"Deathstalker models," Eighty ton aircraft, "The real... sticking point," Was the term she settled on, "Will be Clay's earlier comments," During his previous visit, "... that the Eridani were bushwhacked on Talitha," She remarked. Yvonne couldn't bring her self to perfectly quote the vernacular young person's grammar. "I don't believe that simply having Clay drop that bombshell would be the idea way to handle it..."

"No I will make sure to tell them myself."

Yes the First Prince had said that before, Ian was quite adamant that telling Kerston personally was his job... "Yes sire," She replied with exaggerated indulgent slowness, "But if we could request proof it might make things easier." ... and frankly it would have been better if the Duke of New Syrtis hadn't been present to see the mechs on the previous visit to New Avalon, or present for the conversation which was the root of this whole matter.

It couldn't be helped though.

Hanse cleared his throat, "What are the chances then that he has recordings with him?"

"I couldn't say." She replied. "It was a matter that she hadn't directly broached, but we should consider the ramifications of the evidence. The ISF is purported to have fed intelligence from House Kurita to Stefan Amaris we are not talking about just the Eridani in terms of ramifications."

"Of course not," Hanse agreed immediately, "Any incriminating information would reflect poorly on House Kurita to say the least." They hadn't been ignoring the matter... there were other things to do, especially given other developments. She had little doubt that Ian would have released the information in the wake of Halstead or Mallory's world, but he could be convinced to wait for the time being, to play for time until they had their forces ready. That had defined their efforts over the last two years.