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Homecoming Arc - 2.4
Chapter 9 - Aurigan Battleship (BattleTech CYOA)[]
With Great Power comes Great Responsibility[]
Cordia City, Coromodir VI
Aurigan Reach, Aurigan Coalition
18th September 3020
The next part of the meeting is just discussing how I will find the manpower to put together two combined arms regiments and crew all of my aerospace assets. Even without the Tomb-Maker in consideration, the former is an easier prospect than the latter. The Reach may not have a great surplus of experienced manpower, but it certainly has plenty of trained recruits.
For example, like everywhere else, the Aurigan Coalition has far more MechWarriors than it does 'Mechs. My family isn't the only one that trains up its spares to pilot the family 'Mech should anything happen to the heir, giving a decent supply of untested, but trained MechWarriors to tap into. And as a bonus, it means I will make plenty of the Reach's nobility happy with me. Provided that I don't get their sons and daughters killed of course.
It isn't quite the same situation with the vehicle crews and infantry personnel, but in their case, the relative ease of training them means there is also a large pool of recruits that can be easily trained up. Though the same relative ease means that the majority of them tend to be commoners like myself than nobles like the rest of my family, meaning there will be something of a class divide between branches.
Unfortunately, the same commonness cannot be said when it comes to aerospace recruits. ASF pilots are something of a rarity as not only are they more difficult to train than MechWarrior, the former lacks the glory of the latter, meaning that few follow that career path. I find myself in a similar situation with the ship crews as DropShip and JumpShip crews don't grow on trees. Especially since I have a greater need for spacers than pilots and that is before we take into account my WarShip.
Nevertheless, both High Lord Arano and Lord Espinosa are confident in our chances of finding enough manpower for the Tomb-Maker. The Reach isn't one of the major powers, but with almost two dozen systems, there are a lot of potential recruits to draw upon before we include those who will be drawn to Coalition by the sheer amount of heavy metal that I found.
I wonder just how many of the latter will be ComStar plants looking to take the Tomb-Maker off the table. At least a few.
"Now that we have discussed personnel arrangements in generalities, I would like to get more specific, Miss Nora," says Lord Espinosa as he fixes with me with a look that I don't quite recognize, "In this case, I would like to request a place for my daughter amongst your ranks."
Wait, what? Why is he asking that?
"I would be honored," I say out of reflex as I think about the implications of having Lord Espinosa's daughter and heir working for me, "I can find a well-protected machine to stick her in. I have plenty of Assault 'Mechs. Um, can I ask why? Not that I don't want her or anything, but that request, well, it took me by surprise."
"Your unit will offer her more opportunities to prove herself in combat than simply putting her in the House Espinosa Guard like I originally planned," answers Lord Espinosa, "Your surplus of 'Mechs compared to MechWarriors means that she will be able to pilot a 'Mech whilst letting me continue to pilot the ancestral 'Mech of House Espinosa. And while I have only recently met you, this meeting combined with your past record is enough for me to be confident that you won't unduly endanger her and will go to reasonable lengths to keep her safe."
"I would also like to make a similar request regarding my own daughter," says High Lord Arano and I freeze, "I likewise feel confident in trusting you to handle Kamea's safety with due care and it will both offer her greater opportunities than the Royal Guard and the chance to pilot a 'Mech that isn't the Arano Kintaro."
"I-I would also be honored, High Lord Arano," I tell him, stuttering slightly, "I'm sure that I'll be able to spare an Atlas for her to pilot."
This is both great and terrifying. On the one hand, my inexperienced arse will have to protect the heiresses to both House Arano and House Espinosa. On the other hand, I will have an unparalleled chance to befriend the Arano and Espinosa heiresses, which will set me up to have great influence over the future of the Reach if I play my cards right. This is the perfect opportunity to turn me into a trusted advisor of Kamea when she becomes the High Lady.
"I'm sure Kamea will be delighted by the news," says High Lord Arano as he gives me a reassuring smile, "She has been inquiring about it ever since she learnt about your plans. Now, it occurs to me that while we have covered plenty about the organisational and logistical needs of your new mercenary unit, we have yet to discuss its name."
"Aurigan Sentinels," I reply without thinking before remembering just whom I am talking to, "That is I'm thinking of calling them the Aurigan Sentinels. Aurigan is a display of our origins and unofficial loyalty while sentinel is a, well, I like how it sounds more defensive than aggressive or offensive and the lack of connotations associated with it means people are less likely to make assumptions about what the unit can or cannot do."
"I think you might misunderstand just how much heed people pay to a name like hussars or dragoons, but it is a solid name nevertheless," says Lord Espinosa, "Aurigan Sentinels. Yes, I do agree with you that it sounds rather pleasant."
"Thank you," I say before deciding to try something, "If I may be so bold, if we are making requests for specific people to join the Aurigan Sentinels, I would like to request my sister. She has recently joined the Royal Guard with the family 'Mech and while she is nothing special in the grand scheme of things, I trust and I would like to have her helping me out if at all possible."
"A simple enough request," says High Lord Arano, "I shall look into it."
"Thank you," I reply both out of gratitude and for the sake of politeness since this is my head of state.
"Unless either of you have any further requests, I would like to move onto the next topic," says Lord Espinosa with the air of someone who knows that neither of us have any further requests.
"Of course, Santiago," replies High Lord Arano, "I suppose that the next order of business should be Miss Nora's ennoblement."
"My what?" I squeak out, momentarily forgetting who I am speaking to at that idea, "But I haven't done anything to deserve that."
"You have brought back a WarShip, multiple JumpShips and DropShips along with a couple regiments' worth of heavy metal," points Lord Espinosa, "A single 'Mech can get you a knighthood, a lance would make you a baron, a DropShip like a Fortress could make you a count. Merely possessing such machines and being willing to use them in service of the Aurigan Coalition is enough to earn you a title."
"I would give you a planet, but I don't have any spare," says High Lord Arano humorously.
"That can wait until we have expanded out into the Frontier," says Lord Espinosa with far more seriousness and earning himself surprised looks from both myself and High Lord Arano, "Expansion into the Frontier is the next logical choice once we have a 'Mech factory or two. With a domestic source of production combined with the security of a functional WarShip, we will be able to expand either anti-spinward or further Rimward. A nation needs to expand or die, a truism that has been fact since the Age of War. We need to turn the Aurigan Coalition into a peer of the Magistracy or the Concordat if we are to have a long-term future."
"We'll talk about it later, Santiago," replies High Lord Arano warningly before turning to me, "Miss Nora, I trust that you will be discreet about this until further notice."
"I know how to keep my mouth shut," I assure him, thinking about all of the metaknowledge from other-me that I've been keeping secret.
"Excellent," says High Lord Arano, "As for your title and holdings, I can reasonably make you a count, but I'm afraid that practical limitations mean that your holdings will be more akin to those of a mere viscount than something fitting for your station."
"I would prefer to start smaller," I confess weakly, "I don't know where to start with running my own landhold and given that I will be running my own multi-regiment mercenary unit in addition to industrial concerns, I won't exactly have the time to learn."
"I can find a suitable regent to help cover things," says High Lord Arano, "It will be coming from my own holdings so it may be as simple as leaving the existing people in their current positions. It should also be a simple matter to find some lands that are minimally populated. In any case, it would be inappropriate not to reward you in such a manner if you are to set up the Reach as your home."
"Neo-feudal politics," I mutter.
"Indeed, Miss Nora," replies High Lord Arano, "The reality of the situation is that if you are to become a player in the Reach, especially one that is sponsored by myself and Santiago, then we need to give you rewards equal to the services provided. And as Santiago mentioned earlier, you will be on our short list for getting a planet if we find ourselves with a leaderless world."
"I see," I say as between both lives, I am smart enough to figure out how things work even if I never expected to be in this sort of situation.
Freaking WarShip. The Tomb-Maker is both a blessing and a curse as on the one hand, it makes everything so much more complicated and significant, but on the other hand, it is an invaluable source of firepower that even a Successor Lord has to be wary of.
"I will arrange for some instruction on noble etiquette on the sly," says High Lord Arano, "Kamea should be up for the task and it will be a good test of her ability to instruct you."
"Victoria will also be able to help out," adds Lord Espinosa, "I'm sure she will be able to pick up anything that Kamea overlooks."
"Thank you," I say.
The rest of the meeting goes fairly well. I'm going to be made a countess for now and given some land to claim income from and nominal rule over. It won't be the greatest of lands thanks to its remote nature, but since we have agreed to set up the tooling factory in my new landholding, that same remote nature is actually desirable as it adds a bit of extra security. That won't last forever, especially if I do start industrializing and setting up new factories, but every little helps when you need to worry about the Blakists gunning for you.
I didn't bring up my power armor venture yet. It is too tied up in my debts still so I don't want to look like I'm asking for money to my future bosses. Maybe once I have some working models, but right now, I only have the pieces and have yet to put them together. I'll get the first factory up and running and then when I have the Nora Mk. I Power Armour to show off, I'll ask for investment from High Lord Arano and Lord Espinosa then.
All things considered, I'm both pleased and relieved about just how well the meeting went. I didn't botch things up and I successfully secured the support of both High Lord Arano and Lord Espinosa along with their respective Founding Houses. I've even somehow gotten access to both Kamea Arano and Victoria Santiago, which should give me connections to help guide the future of the Reach.
Now I just need to turn the Aurigan Sentinels from a bunch of partially manned hardware into a proper multi-regiment mercenary unit. And avoid getting killed by ComStar or any of the major players in the process.
Author's Chapter Notes[]
- Word from the Author
- And here is the end of the meeting as the logistics of creating and running a new mercenary unit are covered. Next update will be the final one in this arc as Elizabeth returns to her family and has a little chat with Moana.