.png){kind=link}
| Cash, Cargo, and Capitalism Part 2 | |
| Facts | |
| Author | MarkWarrior |
| Series Name | |
| Alternate Universe Name | Blood on the Horizon AU |
| Year Written | October 27th, 2024 |
| Story Era | Alternate Succession Wars Era |
Description[]
Bases on the events triggered in the Blood on the Horizon main story, focus on a team of men hired for special salvage operation continued from Part 1
Story[]
What is in a Name[]
Location: Eidolon, Taurian Hidden system
Date: August 9th, 3008
<<"Captain Thomas, I've got good news and bad news,">> Doctor Carter's voice echoed through the bridge of the Worst Case.
"Go ahead," Thomas glanced at the excited face of William Bruce as he listened in.
<<"The repair station's life support and internal structure are worse than we first thought. Fixing and reinforcing the structure'll take six months to a year; the life support has to be completely redone because the scrubbers are completely shot.">>
"You said you had good news?" Thomas sighed.
<"The repair facilities aren't as bad as we first thought. They're fully intact, aside from a few parts that are worn out. Once we repair enough of the internals, we should be able to start repairs on the ships and expand the facilities.">>
"What do you need to begin repairing the internal supports?" William Bruce cut in.
<<"I need all the personnel you can spare,">> Carter replied. <<"We'll repair the life support systems first and begin working around-the-clock shifts. The real issue is going to be manufacturing new supports.">>
"There is a decent set of metalworking factories planetside," Captain Thomas stroked his chin. "We'll have to split our people between the factories planetside and the repair facility."
"The station needs a name," William chuckled. "I'm tired of calling it the "facility"."
"Bodach," the sensors officer spoke up. "The system is named Eidolon because it's the Greek word for mirage or illusion. Bodach means old man or spectre in old Irish."
"I like it," William grinned. "Now, let's finish getting everything sorted regarding the workforce. I'm about to head over and begin surveying those Conestoga clones."
Hiring Struggles[]
Location: Taurus, Taurian Concordat.
Date: August 18th, 3008
"I apologize, but most, if not all, of the people with the right clearance to be hired, were recently acquired by another organization," Elayne Fitzgerald smiled at the young heir before her. "You can try again in another three to six months or you can review the applicants we have available."
"Who hired them?" Robert asked, his frustration evident.
"Taurus Warworks is undergoing expansion and snatched up all of the people who were both qualified to work on their projects as well as those who weren't but had the proper clearances."
"Dammit," Robert exhaled. "Give me what's left, I'll see who's worth hiring."
"I'll go get the reports and CSVs," Elayne stood and walked over to a filing cabinet. "Now, these are not allowed to leave the building, but we can supply a small office or conference room if needed as you review everything."
"Thank you," Robert replied. "I'll take the conference room. I might be hiring some people today."
"Let me arrange that for you," Elayne picked up her phone and quickly rotated the dial through the numbers.
"Mike, please have someone set up conference room 13B for our guest and activate the secured line in there for the afternoon. Thank you."
She hung the phone up with a sharp click and slid the CSVs over.
"I wish you the best of luck, Mister Bruce. Mike Williams will assist you with finding the conference room and help organize whatever you need while you're here. Unfortunately, I have a meeting to attend and will have to leave you for now."
"Well, shit," Bruce sighed. "I've got maybe thirty people that are capable of doing what we need, and half of them aren't going to be willing to leave because they've got families here."
"That's the nature of working with classified projects," Captain Summers agreed, standing up from his chair and stretching. "HIre the fifteen to twenty that are willing, and then we can make the offer to those with families. It's not like we don't have room for the families on the planet. The facilities are there. We'll just need to expand our operations if families come onboard. This means that we need to discuss things with the government in the long term."
"Right," Robert nodded. "We'll have to start the process of getting schoolteachers and others the clearance to come with us. Some of these people are beyond qualified to work with us, but there's no reason for them to put their families so far away with no contact for years at a time. The younger Bruce chuckled. "After all, not everyone can be spacers like most of our crew."
The Forgotten, but not for Long[]
Location: System Codenamed Eidolon
Date: September 11th, 3008
"This one might be beyond our capabilities to repair," William chewed on his cigar as their small shuttle surveyed the damaged Aquilla. "You see that," he highlighted one of the sections they were scanning. "That looks like the keel is nearly broken, and it's been that way for a looong while. It looks like weapons fire started the damage, and the crew did their best to keep it together for as long as possible."
"And once they had the time, they simply abandoned ship," the shuttle pilot agreed. "Probably easier to strip it for what useful components are there than it will be to restore it."
"Now, that Conestoga, on the other hand," William smirked. "That beauty's nearly perfect on the outside. And our initial crew onboard said that the dropshuttles were all intact."
"There are dozens of JumpShips here," the shuttle pilot shuddered. "We're going to have a lot of surveying to do."
"Aye," William pulled his cigar out of his mouth and held it in his fingers as if to light it. "There are three Conestoga's in the void 'round here. If we can fix those three, we've already done more than break even here. If we get the repair facilities up and running, we'll turn a profit…" he trailed off.
"And if we can fix the rest of these JumpShips?" the shuttle pilot tapped on the screen, showing the various "modern" style JumpShips. "There's at least five Libertys, twenty collars of space. And I don't even know what the rest of these are called, given they seem to be old manufacturing."
"They don't have IFFs because the only JumpShips that we were allowed to keep records of were the ones that came from the Star League," Bruce muttered quietly. "The Columbus-Class Jumpships were our first native designs after the Liberty was manufactured. But you wouldn't be taught that in schools because we've all forgotten that. We once had a significant shipbuilding industry, but it's all gone now. We made the Columbus, the Tecumseh, and a handful of other Jumpships. But now, we're lucky if we manage to make a handful of Unions a year. We're a pale shadow, an imitation of what we once were."
His fist was now clenched tightly around his cigar, the smell of the rolled tobacco filling the air as it was crushed in his hand.
"The Davions warred against us, yes. But they're not to blame for our continued faults. We took the sucker punch and stayed on the ground like helpless children. Instead of clawing our way back into prominence through our own skill, trade, and strength of arms, we have stewed in our own mess, content to be mistreated at every turn."
He let the remnants of the cigar fall.
"This is the chance to begin restoring what we once had, our pride as a nation. One that stands on its own merits instead of playing the victim. To be more than the disaster that we have been for centuries. So, we're going to fix this Aquilla, not because we have to. But because if we can fix something this broken, restore it to its former glory, and even upgrade it to a modern Jumpship. Then, we'll have proven that we can do this for each and every vessel in this system. That the Concordat isn't another victim of the Succession Wars. That we're capable of rising above it all. And if we can manage to make some money along the way? Well, that's just good business sense. No one said that being a patriot can't be profitable."
--FINI--
- Note from the Author: Credit to Panther Al and his story The Bull gets its Wings (Battletech Non-SI) for the Bruce Family, their Jumpships, Dropships, and assorted crew. (I actually remembered to ask first before writing and borrowing characters this time.