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Beyond Hope
- Chapter 40 - Operation: Crimson Shadow[]
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Reassignment[]
Kowloon, Federated Commonwealth
3060
"Sergeant Vanh, new orders." Klein handed him a packet. "Your platoon..our platoon, is being rotated back to the rear."
"Has it already been…?"
"Six months, yeah. Feels like…"
"Eternity, sir."
"Yeah. Everyone's being rotated to new duty stations, you're going to a Training Command."
"And you, sir?"
"Shipboard complement, FCS Richard Davion, ****** New Syrtis."
"You said ******, sir?"
"Did we actually do anything here?" Klein asked.
"I guess the Historians will have their say, sir." Vanh replied. "We're in the mud, and the blood, and it's the Mechwarriors the press wants to write about, we made their jobs easier, so..maybe?"
“Either way I’m being posted to the wrong front. The mission’s here, not New Syrtis.”
"Someone has to teach those Fedrats how to be Marines, sir, you get your points for promotion?"
"Yeah." now-Hauptmann Klein nodded.
"Then it's all good, you'll get them in shape." Eddie told him, then looked at his orders. "Huh…I'm going home. VDL's like, only an hour's drive from my dad's front door."
“Then you better also help make some new marines while you can.”
"I'll teach the new kids how not to die, Sir. You can bet on that."
“I know you will. Dismissed.”
Sanity and Bachelor Parties []
City of Ia Drang - Kowloon, Federated Commonwealth
3060
"Why are you rotating experienced troops off the Clan Front, Helena?" Victor scolded, "We need those-"
"We need a high level of veterancy, which can only be accomplished by updated training based on real-world conditions. A few Elites is nice, it's nicer if the whole force is not mostly greenhorns with a tiny elite that gets eroded and wiped out through over-use, Victor." Helena replied, "It's a basic tenet of actual war, overuse your best troops and soon they stop being alive. Dead men don't win wars."
To underscore her point, without looking Helena Cameron thumbed over her shoulder at a bookshelf exactly where she had a collection of books about how certain nations failed to learn the lesson of rotating troops and lost their fighting strength in the mid twentieth century.
"It's also a stress-test of the system." Liz said from her spot next to the data displays. "For once we're not moving cripples into those training billets, but instead, guys who didn't get their ticket home by getting blown up or forgetting to duck. This is going to be long-term, the Clan system isn't going to allow them to uphold a peace until they've lost so hard the idea of continuing scares their leaders. That hasn't been reached yet. We're probably going to need at least three more Huntresses before they start digesting it."
“We’re still working that out. The Jaguars are teetering but aren’t quite over the edge yet. But for the rest of the Clans we’re still deliberating who else we should go after if they don’t start talking peace.” Victor nodded.
Elizabeth Ngo pulled out a sheet of letter-paper divided into squares. "The Clans we've got names for." She said helpfully, "With suggested political leanings based on Santin West's information. Care to buy a square in the pool, Prince Victor?"'
“Heh. I probably have an unfair advantage in that I read more classified reports than you do.”
"I'm just playing banker and bookie, Your Highness." Liz commented, "My own estimation doesn't fit on the paper."
“Now that we’re there, in their territory, some of the stuff we’re learning is quite alarming. The mere existence of Helena is apparently driving quite the debate in the Clan Grand Council.” Victor nodded. ”The debate seems to have shifted from Crusader and Warden to Loyalist and Denier.”
“Yup." Liz said, "Hence, why my pick isn't in the pool."
"You gonna tell him?" Helena asked.
Liz shrugged noncommittally in response "Not sure my pick would make sense…I think by next year, we'll be having to cover refugee evacuations from the Clan Homeworlds, because they're going to be shooting at each other, and us, and it's not the ones you might expect being shot at, or doing the shooting."
“We already know Ghost Bear is pulling out, quietly. So is Snow Raven, but less quietly. Falcon and Wolf probably are doing so as well.” Victor confided.
Liz rubbed her chin, then scratched her scalp. "Huh. I figured the Wolves would. And the Nova Cats are evacuating, we know that…got their ships coming down the Crimson road even…but I figured the Falcons were keen enough to play both sides until they were forced."
“They are being rather cagey and surprisingly difficult to get solid info on so they could be and we just don’t know it yet.” Victor nodded.
"We've got four more destroyers coming off the docks next year." Liz confided, "Ioto's buying the big tooling. Did they get the Mjolnir contract?"
“Officially I’m not at liberty to say.” Victor evaded.
"So yes. McQuinsoton got the contract." Liz judged, "I found out because Heifernan from Krupp offered a subcontracting deal-seems that enough of the old tooling for making core forges and forming shipsteel members is…past the due date? It's worth one hundred twenty two point five billion Kroner."
“That’s my problem to lean on Liz. Eventually we’ll get Krupp straightened out.”
"For now, I think it might be a pity offer." Liz confessed, "I can't believe they let that stuff get eroded enough by solar winds and dust to be in that bad a shape, but I've been wrong before." she extended a sheaf of actual paper to Victor, "Needs your signature as Archon Prince to get the approvals."
“I’ll look it over and let you know.”
"If you don't sign, I'll just put the stuff to work here." Liz told him, "We can always use more capacity."
“Due diligence Liz. I’m Lyran enough to know to read the paperwork first, then have my lawyer read it, then sign if we both like it.” Victor smiled coyly.
"You know, Victor, Arthur gives me that smile-when he's about to do something monumentally unwise." Liz said.
"What's his current monumental madness?" Victor asked.
"He split Snark IV. Turns out you can get some mind-blowing velocities out of a supercollider that size, monumental enough that the radiation shock snapped a rock the size of Charon in half."
“Jeez Liz. Tell me he’s gotten that out of his system.”
She snorted, "We've already got a replacement in work. To 'confirm the experimental results', seems the readings he got has him working on a new variation of Kearney's equations…" she gave Victor a coy look, "Of course, this time we're using an uninhabited system. Herbania has a gas giant with a remote moon about the right size."
“A little sanity this time at least.” Victor nodded.
“Could be worse, Victor. Always could be worse.” Helena giggled.
"This one cost me seven hundred billion Kroner." Liz groused, "That's a shit ton of money, the replacement's going to cost more because we have to import components to an empty system."
“I know it’s an empty system but still do try and be more cautious this time Liz.” Victor shook his head.
"Arthur suggests it's going to lead to something really cool," Liz said, "but……we'll see."
Helena opened one of the drawers on her desk and pulled out a small cardstock and stamped a square on it.
“What you have there?” Victor asked.
“Arthur and Liz mad science bingo. I’m just short either a kaiju monster from another dimension due to the experiments going wrong or making a whole solar system disappear for a bingo.” Helena chuckled.
“Okay. I think I need to get back to Omi before I lose any more of my sanity.” Victor shook his head.
"Sanity…it's a one-trick pony, all it gives you is rational thought, with madness, the sky's the limit." Liz joked, "besides, Victor, don't you know that mad science means never bothering to ask what's the worst that can happen?"
“Yup. Definitely leaving before I need a padded room too.” Victor laughed as he stood.
“Oh, Vic. For you and Omi’s child.” Helena opened another drawer and produced a wrapped box, handing it to Victor. “Theodore couldn’t keep it a secret.”
"Rumors have it, Peter's planning your Bachelor party, and Kate's got a staff exercise for Omi's Bachelorette party, something about visiting some place on Old Earth…is it Marseilles is that how you say it?"
“Yeah. It’ll start there. Then she swore me to secrecy but it’ll end at one of Japan’s natural hot springs resorts.”
"You'll have to send me holos." Liz said, "I am not going to endure that many jumps, not anymore!"
Helena frowned. “I understand Liz. And unfortunately I have my own reason for not going. Majery’s treatment for Jonathon won’t be done in time and he can’t travel interstellar until it is, and I can’t be away from him that long.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make it clear to Kate she owes you two lots of holos.” Victor nodded. “But I do really need to get going. You two take care. We need you both.”
Victor stood and walked out of the office.
Urgency to Leave[]
Helena Drillson (Cameron)'s Office - Kowloon, Federated Commonwealth
3060
Adept Logan waited patiently for the Archon-Prince to leave Helena Cameron's office, before standing.
It wasn't that what he had shouldn't be seen by a candidate for First Lord, but this was more intimate, it needed to be seen by The Cameron first.
He hurried through the automatic door before it closed, paranoia making him check through the glass for pursuit. No pursuit was apparent.
But he could FEEL the eyes of ROM on him, as he made for the elevator, he could almost hear the feet drumming a steady cadence.
He frantically pressed the button. Rationally he knew it wouldn’t make the trip any faster but he was not exactly in a rational state of mind.
Painfully, slowly the Elevator came and the doors opened with a soft chime.
Once inside he pressed the button for Helena’s office.
He could feel the cold sweat dripping down his head and face as the doors closed.
Not even the feel of the elevator moving provided relief.
That only came when he exited and looked at the reception area.
He had practiced this part in his head a million times now.
“Do you have an appointment?” A young woman asked from behind a desk.
Her name tape said ‘Smythe’.
“It’s imperative that I see Lady Cameron right away. I have vital information for her. It has to be her and it has to be right away.” Logan knew he was doing it all wrong, this is not what he had practiced.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you can schedule for first thing in the mor-"
"There's no TIME!!" His heart racing, "look…fine GET HER OUT OF THE CITY! NOW!!"
"Hey, Smythe, what's going on?" Duchess Ngo asked as she came out of the office.
“This guy is ranting about needing to get Helena out of the city.”
Elizabeth frowned, "He got past the floor desk, Smythe, is Harvey screwing off?"
“We’ll look into that.”
"You'll look into that tomorrow." Liz turned to the Adept, "Adept, explanation, now please, you can tell me, or a Coast Guard Interrogation team."
"A faction of…of my Order, the Word of Blake… They put something in the city, something big. They’re certain it’ll wipe out the whole city and you and Lady Cameron. You need to evacuate now!”
Elizabeth Ngo reached over the desk, and pressed a concealed button. "Jakob!! Get Helena OUT OF THE CITY, this is a Case Gold situation!! November. Am I clear? November!!"
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Jakob Fletcher, body guard & fiancee to Helena Drillson (Cameron)
“Confirmed.” Jakob answered.
Liz scowled at Smythe, "If he got past Harvey, and he's in here talking bomb threats, you take it ****** seriously you earthborn bitch. Sound a general evacuation alert and pray this is only a ****** drill."
“Yes, ma’am.” Bertha held her tongue.
"Now, let me use your phone. I need to scramble the Alert squadron and get city evacuation going."
“Speed dial one.” Bertha handed the phone over as she began dialing a second phone.
Liz punched the button, and waited, "Cartwright, is this a drill? If this is a ****** drill on a friday-no drill…case gold, November, no, I don't know where it is, get birds in the air and find it, we don't know how much time we've got, but start clearing the suburbs right ****** now, if it's a drill they'll understand…yes, it's a Ducal Order…okay, and wake up Jan Huyn at VDL, we may need to get the fire teams out to put out flash, the source says it's probably nuclear…right, rooftop."
Bertha put up a large map of the city and started marking off grid squares, using different colored markers to make different notations.
“Thanks to Victor’s visit these grid squares were kept secured for his transit to and from the office, so if a nuke got into one of these it’s so well shielded we are not likely to ever find it.” Bertha marked.
Liz studied the grids, then…"aw scheisse…" she tapped one of the areas, "they wouldn't have to shield it HERE. That's the municipal powerplant, thorium-hot-salt reactor, enough to cloud most sensors."
“Teams are already dispatched there. The water purification plant has enough of the right heavy machinery and metals; it’d be another good place to hide one.”
Elizabeth studied, 'but those are both hi-sec…******, it's in the harbor."
“Mobilizing teams now. It could even be on a blue water ship.”
“Here. It’ll be somewhere in this area.” Liz grabbed a marker and drew a circle.
“The wind patterns, the lack of high rises between the offices and there, yeah.” Bertha nodded.
"Oldtown…"
Rapid Action Team Deployed![]
'Oldtown District, City of Hue - Kowloon, Federated Commonwealth
3060
Moshe and Pol were with a Coast Guard response team, watching the readouts from an active probe. There were two others.
"Blank spot., ninety meters across…over there." Samantha's voice on the comm was accompanied by a highlight karat. "Military grade jamming, maybe a Guardian."
The team spread out to begin searching on foot, with no way to know how long they had, the presence of a Guardian ECM going, and a Ducal Alert combined to make the locals VERY nervous.
"Where would you put it in that jamming field, Pol?" moshe asked.
Samantha was also working the controls of her communications set, scanning for unusual transmissions in the hopes of identifying if there was a team watching the bomb or not or if it was a reverse radio detonated bomb, where if you jammed the signal that is what would actually set it off.
"It's a hit, admittedly a damned big one, but they want to guarantee the kills." Pol said, "Its going to be near the east side of the Jamming, probably just inside to get a team like ours looking in the wrong place."
"Elevated?"
"Elevated or just ground level, we're near the water so it'll be..hmmm" he studied the buildings, "There." he pointed at an unused five story building, "It's in that building, probably fourth or fifth floor."
“That freighter, there. That’s where I’d put a watch team.”
"You take the team, I take the disarm?" Pol offered.
“Yeah. My demo quals are a bit out of date.” Moshe nodded.
Get her to the Chopper![]
Hue City - Kowloon, Federated Commonwealth
3060
Jakob had Helena on the chopper, and it took Bertha demonstrating she was NOT a ditz, to get Elizabeth out of the office and off the phones long enough to get her into it with their primary.
"You have professionals." Jakob scolded, "I know this, I trained some of them!"
“Yes but knowing and feeling are two different things.”
The VTOL lifted hard and pulled gees fleeing.
Dead men tell no Tales[]
Port of Hue City - Kowloon, Federated Commonwealth
3060
Moshe climbed the side of the freighter at a speed his trainers at Langebaan, in the 28th Century, would have been astonished at…but then, he'd been working with the Coasties for months, and they barely kept up in seizing the ship.
This involved a lot of immediate sanctions. Each dead man was someone he couldn't question, but here was a situation where time was not on their side.
He’d put money on them being disaffected locals who didn’t actually know anything useful anyway for the most part. If there was an actual operative in with them they’d find out soon enough.
He still almost missed it, but he didn't miss.
Dealing with a short fuse[]
Hue City - Kowloon, Federated Commonwealth
3060
"Oh you psycho sons of bitches." Pol could see how they rigged the anti-tamper. There wasn't the convenient holovid countdown, but this had to be a timer based bomb with a remote backup.
"Chao?"
"Sir?"
"Get everyone out. This is a clever trap, on your way out make sure the neighborhood evacuates to…well, might want to get the dock districts emptied as fast as possible. ****** bastards used a Peacekeeper warhead."
He was focused now.
Laser triggered fusion bomb, not a layer cake, so low to no neutron count, so it wouldn't have tripped a Geiger counter anyway…
He set to work, hoping he had enough time to do all the work he'd need to do. That the complete monster who set this up didn't short-fuse it.