Blood on the Horizon
- Chapter 61 -[]
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Emergency Clause[]
Location: Valexa, Federated Suns
"Prince Davion," I locked eyes with the younger man. "A pleasure to meet you."
"Major Hull," he grinned. "I heard you had quite a fight a few months back."
"You could say something like that," I shrugged. "They ran into a sudden rain of explosions from the sky and decided the weather wasn't right for them. Now, what can I do for you, Colonel Davion?"
"You can tell me how you intended to handle the governor before Major Green-Davion got involved."
"I was going to use one of the contract clauses to get funds from the AFFS and then go back to the Concordat." I shrugged. "If this is how we were going to be treated by the Federated Suns, then we would have relocated."
"Then it's a good thing that she was able to resolve the issue," Hanse nodded to himself. "The other reason for my visit is to activate emergency clause 7 subsection A of the contract between the Federated Suns and the Marksman."
"Shit," I sighed. "Where are you sending us?"
"The retaliatory strike is intended to take place in the next few months," Hanse glanced at Ardan, gesturing for him to begin.
"The orders have been sealed and hand-delivered to units along the CapCon's borders," Ardan set a briefcase down on the desk and opened it, revealing a small cluster of classified documents. "The details for your unit's offensive operations are within."
Ardan brought the documents over and Sheppard shifted to read over my right shoulder as I skimmed the plans within.
"That's going to be a bit of a hard ask," I looked up. "We're still not a full battalion, and unless I pull off a miracle, we're going to be outnumbered if we try something like this."
"There are a few details that you seem to have forgotten," Hanse tapped the copy of the contract he'd brought with him. "We have to provide some guarantees if that clause was activated."
"So, the Triumph that I was looking at?" I raised an eyebrow.
"We've covered half of the cost, and a temporary crew is en route as we speak, along with the older equipment that you requested," Ardan smiled. "In fact, the logistics personnel were almost willing to pay us to take the gear off of their hands."
"Old Tigers and Merkavas might not be useful to them, but we've found enough parts that we can use them and put them to good use, and they'll round out the medium and heavier elements of my forces," I replied. "So, we're Into this counteroffensive. What else do you need?"
"Well, you see," Hanse smirked. "There's an odd story circling this section of the Federated Suns. A Rumor, as it were. That there was someone in the wrong time and place. And I've wanted to meet a time traveler for years now. But seeing as the Doctor has been mysteriously absent from any events recently, I figured I'd speak to you."
"A pop culture reference, really?" I raised an eyebrow. "Is that show even still running? I thought it was on its last legs before I misjumped?"
"It's gotten a bit repetitive of late, but yes," Hanse replied before pulling a small notebook from a pocket. "Now, I have a list of questions about the Star League Era, and I was hoping that you could provide some answers. Yes, we have historians, but that is vastly different from a 'boots on the ground' angle, as it were."
"Alright," I leaned back in my chair. "I've got answers. Let's hope that they match."
I spent hours answering Hanse's questions, the day slowly turning into night as we shifted from questions to exchanging stories from our childhoods. Eventually, though, our time for conversation was broken when I glanced at the clock.
"I assume that you've got a bunk for the night?" I asked.
"Your people provided both of us with adequate rooms." Ardan replied.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow," I yawned, stood up, and stretched. "Based on the schedule they left on my desk, there might be something interesting for you to see tomorrow. If the field tests finished up as scheduled while I was out."
"Then I look forward to seeing what you have in store," Hanse grinned. "Good to meet you, Mark. I hope this is the start of a beautiful friendship."
"Agreed."
Admiring the shiny new tin men[]
Dawn broke over the horizon, the local star's light shedding light on the mud, grass, and forest in front of us.
A Locust walked out into the field, its laser set to training mode, and the machine guns loaded with paint simulations.
"What are we supposed to be looking at?" Hanse asked.
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Locust Light 'Mech
"You'll see," I replied. "If they managed to hide themselves from the magscan well enough, that is."
"I don't think they did," Sheppard sighed as the Locust fell back. A group of small figures appeared out of the trees and swarmed the mech's feet. A small handful managed to grab onto it and climb up and onto the 'mech.
"That looks like jump infantry," Hanse observed as a few of them used jump jets to leap onto the bipedal machine.
"We're still prototyping the jets," I shrugged. "But the rest of it seems to be working well."
Then the Locust moved closer, the infantry slapping explosive charges onto the cockpit and jumping off.
After a few moments, the charges go off, the training explosives sending up small puffs of smoke.
While we watched, the training exercise was called to an end. The Locust stomping off to get cleaned up and the clustered infantry regrouping for a short debrief.
Once they had finished, one of the figures moved to the small tower we were seated in.
"Well, we've got to work on refining the training," Peterson removed his helmet, a small frown on his face. "But these versions passed all of the tests we could put them through."
"Hanse, this is something we've been working on for the last few years," I slapped Peterson's shoulder pauldron, the solid metal ringing a bit. "We're still working out the kinks, but I think you can see the future applications of this."
"We're currently working on a couple of different models," Peterson agreed. "But this is the only one that we've approved to begin manufacturing."
"I think I have some ideas on what this is, I'd appreciate a full explanation." Hanse looked over the armor with a critical eye.
"Get your men squared away and a shower," I ordered Peterson. "Then come to my office. We'll get a full debrief on the suits."
"You sure?" Peterson asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Yeah," I looked at Hanse. "I'm sure."
"Give me thirty minutes," Peterson looked back at the platoon. "I'll sort them out first."
"Take your time," I nodded. "We'll have plenty to go over first."
- Author's note
- I've been battling migraines all week, on top of doing some stuff in some personal projects. So, sorry for the delay