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Expedition Arc - 1.5
Chapter 5 - Aurigan Battleship (BattleTech CYOA)[]
Not Everything We Were Looking For[]
Unidentified Asteroid Base, Zara System
No Record, Free Worlds League
10th May 3020
The inventory of the SLDF depot also includes supporting elements, some of them borderline civilians. After all, there isn't much difference between a civilian exoskeleton or IndustrialMech and a military exoskeleton or IndustrialMech except who owns it and is using it. In our case, we found dozens of cargo-loader exoskeletons and several IndustrialMechs, all clearly intended to help load or unload visit DropShips or JumpShips or WarShip in the case of the Tomb-Maker.
As far as exoskeletons and IndustrialMechs go, the ones here at Zara rank pretty highly. Like with everything else, they were built to exacting standards in the time of the Star League and despite being the same on paper, they are miles ahead of their modern counterparts. The only downside is that none of them are the infamous Nighthawk power armor, but considering how rare those suits were, I'm not surprised.
We also haven't found any trucks, but given it is an asteroid base, I'm not surprised. The place doesn't have much room to use a vehicle and I supposed if they really needed mechanical transportation, they could just use one or more of the exoskeletons.
In terms of more clearly military hardware, there are a few artillery pieces with the facility having half a dozen Long Tom field artillery pieces in storage along with a couple dozen as many Thumper field artillery pieces. Which isn't as impressive as it sounds because you can't just throw them onto a vehicle without making some serious modifications to both the gun and the vehicle. Not to mention that it takes a mechanized platoon of infantry to lug around either a Long Tom or a Thumper. On top of it all, there are logistical concerns of ammo as the infantry can only carry so much at once as you need to have ready access to a stockpile of artillery shells.
So yeah, artillery is cool and all, but the practicalities of using it makes it less desirable without good supply lines. It is useful enough that I'm going to add putting the field guns into service to my to-do list, but I'm not expecting to deploy whatever artillery battalion set up offensively. Not unless I really sort out my logistics. No, artillery might be a part of my forces, but they will most likely be a defensive element to protect our home base or an ace in the hole for any garrison jobs.
.
The facility also has some simulation training pods in one of its storage bays. There are sim pods for 'Mechs, ASFs, tanks, DropShips and JumpShips. They aren't quite LosTech, but you will be hard-pressed to find them outside of highly developed worlds and even then, I doubt anything versions produced in this day and age have anything on the ones we have found. These simulator pods are going to be a great boon, especially those for aerospace training, since I'm not sure any world in the Reach can make them.
Last of all, there are two treasures in the facility that rival the Tomb-Maker in value. This facility isn't just a SLDF military base, but it is also an engineering research site. It isn't Helm by a long shot, but the facility's memory core has extensive knowledge of the various industrial and automation techniques of the Star League. Thankfully, engineering is my field and looking though just some of the data is enough for me to realize just how valuable this memory core is even if it isn't Helm levels of value.
With the knowledge contained within, the memory core could be used to rebuild late Star League industrial technology and techniques from the first principles. Not only would it allow for the reconstruction or restoration of existing factories, but it would serve as the basis for allowing the construction of brand new factories that are worthy of the Star League.
Unfortunately, it doesn't carry any blueprints for any late Star League technology or blueprints at all. I or anyone else using it will need to acquire existing technical specifications or invent our own and while the latter of such is certainly viable with the memory core, it will take time, expertise and C-Bills to do so. Less of a problem for the Successor Lords, but for a seventh-rate power like the Aurigan Coalition, it is something of a major hurdle.
The other invaluable treasure is a small automated tool factory and while it doesn't produce a vast quantity of stuff, what it does make is of the highest quality. Despite being called a tool factory, the truth is that it is effectively an oversized and overengineered machine shop with its official name being indicative of its intended purpose rather than its limitations. It is meant to produce prototype designs for testing so just like the data core, it is limited by its need for blueprints and the site's lack of them.
Oh, and there is a hundred thousand tons of assorted raw materials. Apparently they were around for testing. Nothing truly valuable in them amongst them like gold, diamonds or endo-steel, but raw materials are raw materials. As long as we have spare space aboard the ships we found, it doesn't cost me anything to bring them home with me and I should have sufficient transportation for them so it is basically free resources to use or sell as I wish.
All Gassed Up and Ready to Go[]
"Alright," I say as the senior leadership of my expedition sits around a relatively private table aboard the Starclaimed Spinner, "How much of how things look line up with reality after a closer inspection?"
"The WarShip is functional and fueled up," says Commodore Leona Geary, the ex-AFFS leader of Mum's-of my naval contingent, "There are enough basic similarities that we could do a decent job of running it. It is still a Kearny-Fuchida Drive, just one that is half the size it should be. That aside, we don't have nearly enough people to fully crew it so it won't be combat-ready, but we should be able to get it moving and capable of jumping."
"I didn't think things would be that simple," says the captain of the Starclaimed Spinner, one Captain Danilo Teodoro.
"It isn't, but there is more overlap than you might have expected," answers Commodore Geary, "The only big differences between a Compact K-F Drive and a regular one is mass and price. Our JumpShip crew can get it working and jumping as well as they can with the Monolith and the Invaders. As for the rest of it, it uses the same technology as a DropShip so there is enough similarity to figure things out. The only real concern is the weapons as none of us have prior experience with capital weapons. That and the fact we just don't have another crew to fill it out even if we did know how to work it perfectly."
"What about the other ships?" I inquire, mentally thanking the asshat of a noble who drove Commodore Geary out of the FedSuns and gave me such a capable naval officer as the result of that.
"All of them are known designs except for that Argo-class, ma'am," answers Commodore Geary, "Apart from that the Myrmidon, we got enough veterans amongst our ranks that we can find at least few people who have experience with every other DropShip or JumpShip. Unfortunately, we don't have enough crew for every vessel even discounting the McKenna. We are about a hundred seventy people shy of crewing all of the DropShips and JumpShips, excluding the WarShip. Adding in the Tomb-Maker just increases our deficit of spacers to over seven hundred according to the documentation we found."
"Will that be a problem?" asks Aunt Rosabella before clarifying her question, "I mean, how much of a problem will that be?"
"We have sufficient JumpShip crew and docking collars to bring everything with us," answers the Feddie woman, "We will need to rotate crews though the DropShips to get them docked up to the collars, but we can bring everything with us. And I do mean everything as we have plenty of cargo space thanks to the monstrous cargo holds of that WarShip. I also recommend filling up the cargo bays with everything we want to bring with us before going though the hassle of docking everything up for heading back home."
"Speaking of heading home, how viable is it to get back to the Reach via dead systems?" I inquire, "I would rather not have anyone find out about this until we reach the relative safety of Coalition space."
"I'll have someone look into it," replies Commodore Geary, "Fortunately, we have old SLDF maps at hand. Nothing special, but they do contain some old systems that nobody bothers to put on any modern maps."
"Good," I say before looking around the table, "Does anybody disagree with Commodore Geary that we have space for everything?"
"As the Commodore says, on paper, we do," answers Captain Teodoro, "We have enough bays to stick most of the war machines in them and even without that, the big tickets can fit in between the Mules and that Argo beast. The Buccaneer and Fortresses have room between them for everything else important. I haven't run the exact numbers, but in my expert opinion, we can take everything with us so long as we can stick all of those raw materials in the battleship. The WarShip is the only ship with the cargo capacity to take it all home with us."
"Speaking of going home, what are your long-term plans?" asks Aunt Rosabella, more to voice the question out loud for the others as the two of us had already discussed that matter in private.
"Mercenary unit," I answer promptly, "The Aurigan Coalition is my home and House Arano has done right by my family so I don't want to abandon it to sign up with a Successor Lord, but legal and political reasons mean I can't just directly sign up with the ACM. Meanwhile financial concerns mean that whatever unit I form will need to be mercenaries to ensure enough income to sustain itself."
"I will be willing to sign on with you," says Commodore Geary before giving a sheepish grin, "The chance to command an honest to ancestors WarShip is too good to pass up."
"I'll need an Admiral for this many ships and you are the most experienced and senior naval officer here," I tell her, "I would be happy to have you aboard. How many others are likely to stay with us after this expedition is over?"
"The majority," answers Aunt Rosabella, "We all knew that a new mercenary unit would be the most likely outcome of a successful trip and with a few exceptions, we intended to join up. Besides, I'm not going to turn down the chance to be a part of what you make of this."
"I've been speaking with my crew and the general consensus is that we would like to sign up with you on a longer term basis," says Captain Teodoro as he leans forward, "You're a smart enough girl and between that and this haul of the century, you'll be going places. The WarShip alone is enough to make you a household name across the Inner Sphere."
"As we have already discussed, I am open to extending this job from a single contract to something permanent," says Rosabella as she leans back, giving me an assessing look, "As Danilo says, you'll be going to places, Elizabeth, and I don't mind being on that train. I will need to speak with my girls to make sure that they are all aboard, but I'm not expecting any of them to abandon me."
"Of course," I reply, "I don't expect any decisions right now. We do need to get everything aboard the DropShips and the DropShips to their JumpShips. Not to mention we need to figure out what route we'll take back home."
"We also need to figure out what to do about the Cardenia Claremont," points out Captain Arkos, "They'll stick around with us and should accompany us back to the Aurigan Coalition, but they might change their minds.
"Especially if we do attempt to sneak back via dead systems," adds Commodore Geary, "Most JumpShips avoid using them for a reason."
"I'll speak with their captain," says Captain Teodoro, "Veronika and I go back. I'll be able to talk some reason into her. She'll be a damn fool to miss out on this and I'll make sure she knows that."
Author's Chapter Notes[]
- Word from the Author
- And this is the end of the first arc. This is the last of what is in the depot and I'll probably post the results of the CYOA I used tomorrow since it is late for me and I'll need time to turn my notes into something presentable.
Otherwise, the next arc will be covering Elizabeth's return home and the consequences of her bringing back everything she found.