FCBC - 2769

Fate Can Be Cruel - 2769

January

6 January 2769
Ramora (Outworlds Alliance)

Martha Pruitt was very nervous, I should have insisted that Martin take Ramora, he knows the Outworlds folks better than her, she thought. Her nervousness was caused by the Alliance customs officials aboard all the ships in her small convoy. I just hope the SLDF Marines aboard the 2 Invader Jumpships don't go nuts and open fire, she thought while the customs officer checked her log books.”Your a very long way from your normal operating area Ms Pruitt. May I ask why?"

“Easy, the Taurian Concordat is a mess. Pirates running all over the place. My friend Martin Zuni suggested I team up with him and I took him up on the deal. Here I am." She responded, go away, she wished silently.

“Martin Zuni, I have not seen or heard his name in several years. I thought for sure he had gotten himself killed during all the uproar the last few years." Before he could ask anything else, his portable pad beeped and he read the information before looking up at her.” It seems that both Invader Jumpships and all 5 Drost IIA Dropships have registrations that are false. Your Merchant Class Jumpship is completely up to date. Care to explain the problem with the other vessels?"

Martha Pruitt thought he would hear her heart pounding as she produced a copy of the transfer of registration signed by General Mitchell and witnessed by the other SLDF officers.”This is a valid transfer to Martin Zuni's ownership of all the ships. The SLDF captured them as war booty and declared previous ownership void. They then transferred the vessels to Martin Zuni for payment for services rendered."

The customs official took the forms and read over them before looking up ”Thazi, Boulsi. These are Outworlds Alliance worlds. Mister Zuni is now liable for the capital gains taxes on the vessels and the fine for each vessel not properly registered and being in Outworlds Alliance space." He started keying a calculator”The capital gains tax of 1% is 28,094,454 dollars and the fines are 1,050,000 dollars. For an additional 2 million dollars, I can make sure all of the vessels are properly registered with the Outworlds Alliance and even issue temporary registration right here."

("Friggin grifter,) she thought, (God how I hate corrupt officials.") "That would be fine, sir, I will be selling the Drost IIA-Class Dropships while I am here, but if you could handle the registrations, that would speed things up a bunch." Knowing full well that at least 1.6 million was about to be put in this guys bank account.

“Excellent. If you will accompany me to the Recharge Station, I will get everything in order for you. There are several ship brokers on board, I can recommend one to you if you would like." The customs official replied

“Well, that is too kind of you, sir. That would be a huge help. Let's get the paperwork handled and I will transfer the funds to pay everything. Martin can repay me." Martha Pruitt said, probably gets a kickback steering folks to the brokers.

An hour later, the funds transferred to the proper accounts, in record time the customs official had produced registration for all of the vessels. The entire time, she could not help but stare at the placard on the wall behind the customs official FEE FOR SHIP REGISTRATION 50,000, EXPEDITE FEE 5,000.

As he handed over the registrations he said “See, Mr. Shisterman, he has an office on the main grav deck. He can get you the best deals for those Dropships."

“Thank you, sir, you have been a huge help today." Martha Pruitt said as she took the registrations and stood.

“Please, it was my pleasure. Give my regards to Mr. Zuni." The customs official said with a smile

It took her another 45 minutes to locate the office of Mr. Shisterman. Probably a waste of time, I doubt this guy can afford all 5 Dropships, she thought as she entered the small office. A small but overweight man stood as she entered”How may I help you madam?"

“Looking for Mr Shisterman, I have some Dropships I would like to sell." Martha Pruitt said

“You found him. Multiple Dropships? That is very unusual. But I think we can come to an agreement. What have you got?" He said as he sat back down behind his small desk.

“I have five Drost IIA Dropships in excellent condition for sell. Here are the registrations for them." Martha said as she handed over the new registrations

“Still warm from the printer. You must have run afoul of Jake Ballster, head of the Customs Department here. No matter, they are valid. Drost IIA you say, old design, not in a high demand. I will give you 160 million each." He offered

Martha held out her hand for the registrations as she stood ”No way, 250 million each or I go somewhere else. I am no fool, sir."

“Wait, 250 million is way too high, I will go to 200 million."

“The registrations please. 250 million or no deal. I am sure I can find a broker that will gladly pay that amount." Martha said

“240 million, that is my last offer. You will find soon enough that I am the only broker here that can take all 5 ships off your hands right now."

“Sold. Your get the registrations the moment the money hits my account. This is the account number. And you will be eating the tax, title and licensing of the vessels." Martha said

“You’re killing me, ma’am. But I agree to your terms. The money will be sent out immediately. You can verify it from the HPG station if you would like. Takes about an hour each way for a response."

“I will see you in a few days , Mr. Shisterman. Pleasure doing business with you." Martha Pruitt said as she headed for the door.

10 January 2769

Martha Pruitt had gotten the HPG message from Martin Zuni that the money had hit his account, 1.2 Billion dollars. He was still on Bastrop, picking up 2,000 tons of cargo to take back to Thazi to sell to the locals. The message had filled her in on everything that had transpired since he had been on Bastrop. She had passed on the registrations, undocked the Dropships and wasted no time in departing Ramora.

20 January 2769
Rimworlds Outpost #4 (Deep Periphery)

Polemarchos Emerson Dragonovich had granted the personnel of his Flotilla surface time. They had been traveling for a long time without any real ground time and it was time for a break. They would not leave the system for the return journey to the Rim Worlds Republic until March. He had left RWS Dragonfly, Riga Class Frigate fully manned while RWS Firefly, other Riga Frigate only had a care taker crew aboard. All of the Mammoth Cargo Dropships had been brought to the surface along with all the crew from the 5 Leviathan-Class Jumpships. He already had the cargo manifests of the equipment being loaded aboard the designated Mammoth Dropships.

Rim World Republic Manifest 720 Merkava Mk VIII Heavy Tanks
960 Korvin Medium Tanks
824 Ignis Infantry Support Tanks
1,920 Heavy Tracked APC
1,142 Sherpa Armored Trucks
824 Sherpa Fuel Trucks
10,000 tons LRM-15 ammo
6,000 tons LRM-10 ammo
15,000 tons AC/5 ammo
8,000 tons SRM-4 ammo
5,000 tons MG ammo
17,000 tons spare parts

It would be loaded aboard 14 Mammoth Dropships which left him with 16 Mammoth Dropships still empty. He had met with Taxiarchos Waylon Hazot only twice since landing and found the man completely worthless. Cruel and barbaric, he was the type of officer that got assigned to these far flung Outposts. He had ordered that there would be no mistreatment of anyone while he or his people were on the planet's surface. Just the mere thought of the little turd made him spit into the dirt of this miserable ball of dirt.

NP119167

Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka, commander Task Force Raider, estimated they were 3 weeks from the Rimworlds Outpost. They had no clue what they would find when they got there, but Major General Hanesworth, 29th Mechanized Infantry Division was confident they could quickly secure the planet. What he worried about was the amount of time it would take to dismantle and load everything they found there. Major General Mitchell had added 4 Engineer Battalions to his force to assist in the disassembly of the factory complexes.

The troops of the 29th Mechanized Infantry Division were eager to redeem themselves and were looking forward to this fight. Technicians ran tests on every piece of equipment and anything that showed any kind of fault was immediately stripped out and replaced or repaired.

February

18 February 2769
Rim Worlds Outpost #4

Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka, commander Task Force Raider shook off the effects from the jump into the Zenith Jump Point. Sensor's quickly came back on and registered the five Leviathan Jumpships. She quickly ordered "Launch the 9919th Marine Regiment and secure those Leviathan Jumpships. Once they are secure, we will move for the planet. Get the CAP launched." It would take just over 6 days to reach orbit.

Within the hour, all 5 Leviathan Jumpships had been secured. She ordered a single Marine Battalion left aboard the Leviathans to keep them secured while the remaining fleet, except the 2 Star Lord Jumpships that they had brought with them. Navigators plotted a jump to a La Grange point roughly a day from the only habitable planet and leaving SLS Mighty Lift, Potemkin Transport and SLS Independence, Samarkand II Carrier to escort the mass of Dropships, Rear Admiral Tanaka ordered her LF equipped warships to make the jump.

The SLDF Task Force materialized at the La Grange point and were just starting to move when the 2 Rim Worlds Riga Frigates emerged from the back side of the planet and sensors quickly detected them. Rear Admiral Tanaka quickly ordered "Launch all fighters. We focus on the leading Riga Frigate, not sure why the other Riga is not accelerating, to keep up with the lead, but I will take stupidity any day."

SLS Rhodon, Luxor Heavy Cruiser took the lead, SLS Windego, Whirlwind Destroyer, SLS Dominator and SLS Halthom, Vincent Corvette's swung wide, ready to flank and swarm the oncoming Riga Frigate.

Whirlwind Class Destroyer

As the SLDF Aerospace fighters closed on the lead Riga Frigate, their sensors detected small craft heading for the rear Riga Frigate. "Admiral, we are detecting small craft heading for the rear Riga. I am detailing 2 Squadrons to shoot them down." Captain Bernard Nelson reported

On his orders, 2 Squadrons of SB-28 Sabre Class Light Aerospace Fighters broke off from the large formation of SLDF Aerospace fighters and accelerated to intercept the enemy shuttles. Captain Nelson mentally calculated the closing rate of his fighters and the shuttles coming up from the surface and smiled he came to the conclusion that his fighters would reach the shuttles before they reached the Riga Frigate. He then returned his focus to the leading Riga Frigate which was now launching it's own Aerospace fighters, but he knew he had the numerical advantage on them. He had 24 Aerospace Fighters from the warships remaining and an additional 12 Aerospace Fighters from the Titan Dropship carried by SLS Rhodon.

His smile grew into a evil sneer as the lead enemy Aerospace fighters were identified, 6 Star Dagger, followed by 6 Vulcan VLC-5N. "Ravens, take out the Vulcan's, break, Vulture's I would prefer not to have to watch my tail so please handle the Star Daggers. Falcons, let's hammer that Riga." Captain Nelson called out as he led his 2 Squadrons of STU-K5b2 Stuka in their attack on the Riga Frigate. Raven consisted of 12 TFN-3M Typhoons and Vulture consisted of 12 SB-28 Sabres. Before Captain Nelson and the Falcon's reached the Riga Frigate, they targeted the Rim World fighters rushing to intercept them and managed to down 3 Star Dagger and a Vulcan as they blew past them and continued to engage the Riga Frigate.

As Captain Nelson and his Stukas began ripping chunks off the Riga Frigate, Commodore Barbara Coltrain, aboard the SLS Rhodon, gave the order "Weps, you are weapons free at this time. Helm alter course to port to maximize weapons on target."

Before SLS Rhodon began her turn, her weapons officer opened fire with 6 Medium NPPC, 2 Medium Naval Gauss and 3 Naval Laser 55 which reached out for the Riga Frigate. Armor shattered across the Riga's Nose and Front Left but none penetrated. As SLS Rhodon made her turn, her weapons officer loose with another volley, 7 Medium NPPC, 4 NL/55 and 2 Medium Naval Gauss went down range followed a few seconds later by 2 NAC/25 and 4 NAC/30 as the Riga Frigate entered the long range bracket. The first volley tore into the Riga Frigate weakening the armor on her Nose to paper thin until the massive NAC rounds struck, 2 NAC/30 rounds slammed into the Riga's Nose stripping it of the last scraps of armor and burrowing deep into the Frigate causing massive internal damage. Return fire from the Riga Frigate tore some armor from SLS Rhodon's Right Broadside. With the Riga Frigate still holding a steady course, Commodore Barbara Coltrain ordered "Helm, maximum thrust, I would prefer to not get into a close range brawl with that Riga."

"Rear Admiral Tanaka, this Commodore Coltrain, I think I can handle this Riga, suggest you take engage the other one."

Rear Admiral Tanaka gave the order and her SLS Windego, Whirlwind Destroyer along with SLS Dominator and SLS Halthom, Vincent Corvette's accelerated to engage the second Riga Frigate which still had not accelerated to engage. She checked the ships plot and saw that the Eagles were engaging the line of shuttles trying to reach her targeted Riga Frigate. Lieutenant Cristy Brandt laughed aloud in the cockpit of her Sabre as the weaponless ST-46 shuttle desperately tried to shake her non stop weapons fire. They had already shot down 4 shuttles and were engaging the last 2 shuttles now. It only took 5 minutes before the last 2 shuttles were destroyed, with them 2/3rds of the second Riga's crew, which had been on the surface for some shore leave. "Shuttles destroyed, our Eagle Fighters are engaging the Riga Frigate now. Eagles, we can only scratch this thing, so let's focus on the engines."

Riga Class Frigate

Aboard the RWS Firefly, Riga-Class Frigate, Commodore Jekariti Namukanam knew he was in a dance to the death with the Luxor Heavy Cruiser. His Nose was completely destroyed and her Jump Core was massively cracked. The 750,000 ton warship shuddered as another volley from the Luxor raked his ship. He saw that the last volley had ripped his armor to paper thin all along his Port Side. Their return fire scored the occasional hit, but the crew of the Luxor were vastly more experienced and landed most of their shots while his could only obtain the occasional hit unless at close range. But no matter what he did, he could not close the range on the Heavy Cruiser, which managed to maintain the range, all the while slamming massive volleys into RWS Firefly. "Helm, alter course, best speed, let's head for the SLDF convoy, maybe we can rip up their troops."

"Commodore Coltrain, the Riga is altering course and accelerating, they are heading with for the convoy."

"I see it, no way we will catch her, but we can chew her up while we pursue. Helm get on her ass and stay there, Weps beat that Riga down." She ordered

Aboard RWS Dragonfly, Riga Frigate, Commodore Jennifer Harrison had watched 2/3rds of her crew get destroyed by the SLDF fighters now conducting annoying attacks on her AFT section. They could not do any great damage, but they were annoying. But the 3 oncoming SLDF warships were a different matter and with them came a swarm of Aerospace Fighters. While her Aerospace Fighters sat in their launch bays, pilotless. She barely had enough crew to "fly" her ship, much less fight her effectively. "Helm, break orbit, no one else is coming. Weps, your free to engage with whatever you can manage."

Vincent Class Corvette in heavy combat

RWS Dragonfly began taking hits within an hour of breaking orbit while her return fire was almost useless. Commodore Harrison knew her ship was doomed, but would do the best she could. That moment finally came as a Vincent Corvette came in close and RWS Dragonfly hit it with 3 NAC/25 and a single NAC/30 shell, leaving her a wreck. The moment the shells had raked the Vincent Corvette stripping the armor and burrowing into her internals, Commodore Harrison surrendered her ship to save the rest of her crew, she had done her best with what she had on hand.

20 February 2769

Chasing the Riga Frigate and unable to close the range, SLS Rhodon, Luxor Heavy Cruiser could only engage at extreme range which minimized the number of hits she could score. But she was hitting the Riga Frigate alot more than the Riga was hitting her. Commodore Coltrain, SLS Rhodon, knew her crew was worn out. The constant 2.5g thrust made every task that much harder. But finally, a hit knocked out one of the Riga's massive drives, which would allow them to gain on the badly wounded Riga Frigate, but it would be a slow gain.

Aboard RWS Firefly, Commodore Jekariti Namukanam saw the plot change as the SLDF Luxor Heavy Cruiser slowly inched closer with his ship now unable to maintain maximum thrust. He could also see on the plot a Samarkand II-Class Aerospace Carrier ahead of the mass of Dropships. There was no way he would be able to get past the Carrier and her air wing. It was hopeless, the damage to his ship was too extensive. They had already taken severe damage to the ships internal structure, the Jump Core was virtually destroyed and his ship's medical bay was over flowing with casualties. "Helm, being us to a halt. Comm, signal our surrender to the SLDF."

22 February 2769

Marines from the 9919th Marine Regiment quickly secured RWS Firefly, Riga-Class Frigate. Leaving a Battalion abaord, the Elephant Tug transported the last Battalion to secure RWS Dragonfly, Riga-Class Frigate slowly resuming orbit around the planet under the guns of SLS Windego, Whirlwind-Class Destroyer.

24 February 2769

Colonel Calloway and his 3391st Special Forces had accelerated his Dropships once the warship threat was removed and now they grounded 20km from the only city detected during their 2 passes around the planet. Major Sandra Barkley led her 2 Company's of Spector SPR-4F at best speed and under full EMCON followed by Colonel Calloway and his Nighthawk equipped SF troops. The 29th Mechanized Infantry Division would land tomorrow.

The low gravity hampered her advance and speed, but it still only took minutes for her Spectors to begin engaging the few tanks that attempted to halt their advance. She missed her Thunderbolt, but had to admit these little Spectors were quite fun to pilot. It had taken her and her Mechwarriors a few weeks to get the hang of the little Spectors and their abilities, and being next to invisible was a huge asset to have. It took only two hours to secure the factory complex of any resistance. Colonel Calloway ordered defensive positions to be laid out. The 29th Mechanized Infantry Division could handle securing the city itself. It was nice of them to place the space port right next to the factory complex as she covered a Company of Nighthawk equipped SF troops securing the 40 Mammoth Dropships at the space port.

25 February 2769
Rimworlds Outpost #4

Major General Gregory Hanesworth, commander 29th Mechanized Infantry Division, grounded his troops on a vast plain near the crowded space port due to the limited space. He quickly dispatched the 291st Brigade to relieve Colonel Calloway's 3391st Special Forces at the factory complex and then he suprised his remaining officers "Lieutenant General Daniels, take your 292nd Brigade and secure the city. Try to do as little damage as possible. But put down any resistance hard."

"Yes sir. We will get it done." Lieutenant General Olivia Daniels responded as she left the command post to ready her 292nd Brigade.

Once she was gone, Lieutenant General Bradley Montgomery spoke up "Think she can handle this?"

"We will soon find out, but that is why I want you to take your 293rd Brigade over that way and be ready to back her up. She has performed well during the training on Thazi, but this is for real. Observe and report, but let her run the show. I think she is smart enough that if she gets in over her head, she will ask for help. I just want you close enough to get there quickly." Major General Hanesworth said

"Got you boss, I will gather my folks and be close enough to render aid if needed. Where are you going to be?" Lieutenant General Montgomery asked.

"At the Factory with the Engineers. I want to know how long it is going to take to dismantle this place and get it all loaded." Major General Hanesworth said.

Five hours later, the Engineers had completed their assessment. "We estimate it will take at least 2 months to take this place apart and get it loaded. We might be able to get it down to a month if you let me use your Technicians and some of your Battlemechs with hands. We only have 4 Salvage Mechs and 10 Loader Mechs with us. I would prefer not to just rip the place apart, but carefully dismantle everything. It will make reassembling so much easier." Major Carey Newhart said

"You will get all the help you need. I will have Warrant Officer Demars head over and coordinate with you on assignments and needs. The Battlemechs will have to wait until this place is secured of course." Major General Hanesworth said as a distant rattle of rifle fire sounded in the distance followed by a distant explosion. "I need to get back and monitor the developing situation."

Inside the small city, Lieutenant General Olivia Daniels ducked quickly as rifle rounds pocketed the wall of the small building she was in, her arm hurt like hell where the bullet had hit her. Her radio crackled "Dammit General, what the hell are you doing up there with my lead Battalion?" Colonel Betsy Rodonald yelled.

"Leading by example. I am fine, I have an entire platoon with me. Be nice to get some armor support though." Lieutenant General Daniels responded. "Already on the way. Should be arriving any minute. You’re not a Company commander any more, you have an entire Brigade to look after, remember that." Colonel Rodonald scolded

Before Lieutenant General Daniels could respond, clanking tank treads announced the arrival of the promised tank support as a platoon of Merkava rolled past and blasted the offending building across the street. "Up and at them, let's go!!!" She yelled as she darted out the door leading the charge with her platoon right on her heels.

By nightfall, Lieutenant General Daniels stood before Major General Hanesworth "City is secured, sir. I took 59 dead and 167 wounded. The Rim Jobs lost 397 killed and we have 591 prisoners, 283 of them wounded. They put up a stiff fight and since I did not know where any civilians might be, we have to do things the hard way."

Major General Hanesworth looked at Olivia Daniels standing before him in her torn and dirty uniform. He could clearly see the bullet hole with dried blood on her upper sleeve. "Get that from a sniper?" He asked, already knowing that she was up on the frontlines with her troops.

"No sir, I was a little slow in getting to cover when they first opened up on us. My troops need to know that I am willing to take the same risks as them. Most of my troopers have more time in service than I do." Lieutenant General Daniela responded

"Go get the doctors to take a look at that. Let's not make this a habit. Good work, Olivia." Major General Hanesworth said.

Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

General Rita Mitchell was again taking advantage of Amanda Cameron's nap time to get some work done. In anticipation of Task Force Raider's return, she had talked to the few small mining outfits on Thazi about the natural resources the planet held. They had informed her that Thazi was fairly rich in minerals and ores, but outside of their current mine locations, they had no clue what else the planet held. None of them had the extra people to do proper surveys since there were less than 10,000 miners on Thazi which could barely keep up with the needs of the local industry.

This would be a problem. They would have to expand the mining ability to support any kind of real production. They were going to need a massive influx of mining equipment and experienced miners and especially people who knew how to find the best places to mine. This was way outside her expertise.

27 February 2769
Rim Worlds Outpost #4

Major General Gregory Hanesworth turned around when someone touched his arm, Lieutenant General Olivia Daniels gestured for him to follow her. The noise level inside the factory complex was too loud for any conversation. When they reached the outdoors, he saw that she had brought several civilians with her but his eyes focused on a Rim World officer under guard not far away. "What have you got, Olivia?"

"This is Peter Sajak, seems he was in charge of the factory. The others are his supervisors. That Rim Job over there is Taxiarchos Waylon Hazot, the commander of the Outpost. The civilians are in bad shape, malnourished, and all show some signs of being abused, many have some serious scars. We sort of rescued him from getting hanged by Peter Sajak and this group here." Lieutenant General Daniels said

"Really, so Mr. Sajak, care to explain why you were trying to hang this man?" Major General Hanesworth asked

"Easy, he was a cruel, abusive piece of crap excuse for a human. I have been here almost 9 years, before that, I worked for NETC on New Earth as one of the lead engineers. I got approached by folks with a promise of a huge raise and my own factory to run. Well, the huge raise lasted until we left known space, and I did get my own factory. But once we got out here, well as far as I know, all payment stopped, we never got to leave here and that piece of crap over there ran this place like a slave driver. Since we have been here, that thing over there is responsible for the deaths of at least 800 workers." Peter Sajak said.

"You witnessed these deaths?" Major General Hanesworth asked.

"Yes sir, I have seen him shoot a worker that failed to perform to his standards as an example. I myself have been beaten for standing up to him. I also can see you’re dismantling the factory and would like to inform you that you’re doing it wrong. Not if you plan to rebuild it easily anyway. Get me and my people off this rock and we can assist you in doing it the right way." Peter Sajak said

"How are we doing it wrong?" Major General Hanesworth asked

"For one thing, your using combat engineers, they destroy stuff for a living. They are taking apart the machinery for ease of movement, that is not how you do it. Those assembly lines break down into sections. I built this factory out here. I know it inside and out. Get us off this rock, and we will have this factory dismantled the right way in about 2 weeks time." Peter Sajak said

"Okay, Mr Sajak, bring your people over and show us the correct way to do stuff. It is going to be a long trip and you’re going to be stuck in cargo bays for the journey, it's not going to be pleasant." Major General Hanesworth replied.

"We will manage the trip, General. I will gather my workers at once. What about, Hazot?" Peter Sajak asked.

"I will let you know, Mr Sajak." Major General Hanesworth said.

March

14 March 2769

True to his word, Peter Sajak had the factory dismantled in record time. Now Major General Hanesworth faced the reality of trying to transport 55,327 people back to Thazi. They were going to chew thru supplies at a massive rate. Even if he put the entire combined force on half rations, it was going to be close. Really close. But he had no choice, he could not abandon these people. Consulting with Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka, she had suggested having Vincent Corvette SLS Halthom, depart ahead of the convoy and using a combination of standard and double jumps, they could arrange for a supply convoy from Thazi to meet them. SLS Halthom had departed on 3 March. They had calculated that Halthom should arrive at Thazi around May 2769.

Rear Admiral Tanaka had ordered Riga-Class RWS Firefly, and SLS Dominator, Vincent-Class Corvette placed into orbit of the 4th planet in the system for possible later recovery. The stable orbit had been calculated to last 350 years before it degraded enough to endanger the ships. Neither ship was capable of returning to Thazi with the convoy.

Task Force Raider would depart to return to Thazi on 26 March.

Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

General Rita Mitchell had convinced the 3 small mining concerns to each provide a team of surveyors to assist in surveying the planet's resources. She would provide them with transportation and escorts. She had ordered Bug Eye Surveillance Ship, SLS Sneak, into orbit and using the advanced sensors aboard, she now had detailed scans of the entire planet. These she provided to each of the survey teams. The survey teams had gotten all giddy when they studied the scans and could not wait to hit the field.

April

1 April 2769
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

Ships Captain Martin Zuni and Martha Pruitt finally returned from their mission. On the surface, both were brought to General Mitchell's quarters where they brought her up to speed on news from the Inner Sphere and results of their missions.

"General Kerensky has captured the Rim Worlds Republic. Seems most of the SLDF is still there. None of the Great Houses are helping him. We sold the DroST-Class Dropships and you have 2 Billion dollars sitting in my personal account. Which Martha also now has access to. I guess if the modified Jumbo Dropships are ready, it is time for me to fulfill my end of the bargain now and go get your dependents." Martin Zuni said

"They are ready. But we have to delay that mission, something more important came up and your escort is not available right now. I will not risk the mission without an escort. So, in the meantime, I am going to need mining equipment and experienced miners." General Mitchell said

"Miners are easy, Wokha, right next door has more miners than you can shake a stick at, along with several other planets out here. It is the only thing on that rock, massive mines. If they have not been able to move their stuff, which I highly doubt, I bet most of the mines have been idled. I can head over there and check it out if you like. Gives me something to do while I wait for that escort. Martha can take another batch of DroST to Bastrop to sell and buy your mining equipment. I can give her the name of my contact there to sell them." Martin Zuni replied

"That would be of great help Mr. Zuni. Take a few of the modified Jumbo with you, just in case you score some that want to migrate back here. Maximum secrecy, sir. That is paramount above everything else." General Mitchell said.

18 April 2769
Deep Space

Commodore Delvaney, SLS Salvation, Newgrange Yardship watched as Avatar Heavy Cruiser SLS Conroy, made it's test jump to a destination 15,000km away. Everyone sighed a breath of relief when she materialized right on target. "Conroy to Salvation, we are 122km from our planned target point. Completely within the margin of error for a Deep Space plot. Everything checks in the green. In 3 hours we should be ready to make a jump without LF Batteries to the next systems Jump Point. We can then recharge both our Drive and Batteries while everyone else charges their Drive." Commodore Zeibler reported.

"Roger, Conroy. We will plan to make the jump in 4 hours. No need to rush things. I already have the manufacturing department working on your last 2 Transit Drives. Should be ready for installing all 4 once we get back to Thazi. Two months after we arrive at Thazi, you should be back to combat readiness." Commodore Delvaney replied.

"I cannot wait, not even going to try and attempt to lie. I still feel like a damned fool." Commodore Zeibler said.

"I have seen dumber mistakes. In 2 months, we should be back at Thazi." Commodore Delvaney answered.

Wokha (Outworlds Alliance)

Ships Captain Martin Zuni had taken his shuttle down to the space port located near the Capital City of Naya La Massana. He had left his Merchant Jumpship at the Nadir Jump Point, with 2 squads of SLDF Marines on board. Attached were 2 converted Jumbo Dropships, each with an additional 2 squads of SLDF Marines aboard. They had strict orders that if he does not communicate with them at noon each day, they were to immediately jump for Thazi. General Rita Mitchell had the 211th Hussar Regiment on alert for deployment, just in case. There was no telling if any rebel forces were on planet or not.

He disembarked from his shuttle and was surprised to be greeted by literally hundreds of space port workers and quickly picked out several SLDF uniforms in the crowd but pushing their way towards him. When they reached him, an officer appeared "Your the first shuttle we have seen in a long time. I am Colonel Alexis Prater, ranking officer of the SLDF forces on the planet. How might you be?"

"Ship's Captain Martin Zuni, also CEO of ZaP Interstellar Shipping. I am very surprised to find any SLDF here. Heck, I was half expecting to find the rebel forces here meeting me at gun point."

"They departed about a year ago. We conducted a harrassment campaign for almost 2 years. Used to be the 8th Conventional Regimental Combat Team here. Have you had any other word from anywhere? We have been cut off since 2765 when the rebels blew the damned HPG station. Getting really low on food supplies." Colonel Prater explained.

"Actually, the war against the rebels is over. But the really bad news is that it seems Stefan Amaris has pulled a coup and now controls the Terran Hegemony. General Kerensky and the SLDF are all in the Rim Worlds Republic which they have conquered. Blown up HPG's seems to be the rebels favorite tactic, most planets out here are communication less. But I need to communicate with my ship, if you will please wait here for a few minutes." Zuni said

Minutes later, he transmitted a message to his Merchant Jumpship "Zuni here, seems the rebels left about a year ago. But still some SLDF here. Once your recharged, jump back home and inform General Mitchell. Then come back and get me or deliver further orders. Tell her we need food. A bunch."

Once he was back outside, he said "There are some things I cannot go into Colonel Prater, not right now. But I am sending my Jumpship back to get some supplies for you all. But your going to like how things go once they return for me in a few weeks." Zuni said.

24 April 2769
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

The quick return of Martin Zuni's Merchant Jumpship caused General Rita Mitchell to almost order the waiting 211th Hussar Regiment and the Kimagure-Class Pursuit Cruiser SLS Hatchet, to immediately jump for Wokha. But the news that he had found Wokha free of enemy forces and with surviving SLDF troops, but in need of supplies caused her to rethink things. Instead she had 2 Mammoth Dropships loaded with food and originally destined for Pilon to divert and for them to dock with one of the Invader Jumpships. She then issued orders for Colonel Nabokov to take his 211th Hussar Regiment, Zuni's Merchant Jumpship and the Invader Jumpship with the 2 Mammoth Dropships to Wokha. He was to assume a garrison post on Wokha, but not reveal anything further at this time. She needed to figure this out.

30 April 2769
Wokha (Outworlds Alliance)

When the small fleet of Jumpships arrived at the Nadir Jump Point and detached a flood of Dropships, on the surface, Colonel Prater toyed with shooting Zuni on the spot. But 45 minutes later, a message arrived announcing the arrival of the 211th Hussar Regiment with supplies for Wokha came over the radio waves. Even then, Martin Zuni was a little worried he would get shot.

May

21 May 2769
Rover (Deep Periphery)

The Vincent-Class Corvette, SLS Halthom, materialized at the Nadir Jump Point and quickly established a HPG link with Boulsi and sent Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka's message that she had passed to Commodore Anthony Blaymore, commander SLS Halthom, Vincent Corvette. The message was not long but hit all the high points.

To: General Rita Mitchell, Commander SLDF Forces
From: Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka, Task Force Raider

Mission successful. Captured a Rim World's Riga Frigate, However, in addition to a another Riga Frigate and the SLS Dominator placed in safe orbit due to severe damage. Also captured 5 Leviathan Jumpships and 40 Mammoth Dropships. Hundreds of Battlemechs, Tanks and Aerospace Fighters captured. Factory complex being dismantled. Will be bringing back additional 55,327 personnel from Outpost. Will need immediate and heavy resupply due to additional passengers. SLS Halthom knows our path of travel, Task Force Departure date is 26 March.

Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka

Officers manning the Mobile HPG on Boulsi quickly acknowledged the message and then relayed it to Thazi.

Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

General Rita Mitchell received the HPG message and did not hesitate. She ordered 10 Mammoth Dropships loaded with food and supplies which would then link up with the 5 Tramp LF Jumpships. They would accompany SLS Halthom for the initial resupply using a combination of single and double jumps. She then ordered 18 of the converted Jumbo Dropships to dock with 3 Star Lord Jumpships along with 18 Czar Dropships that would dock with an additional 3 Star Lord Jumpships, they would form a much slower convoy escorted by SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Pursuit Cruiser. At least it would provide a more comfortable ride for most of the additional personnel for the last leg of their journey.

Satisfied that everything was in order, she returned to planning her visit to Wokha along with Harold Ludell, Governor of Thazi and Linda Thompson, Governor of Boulsi. Their mission was to try and convince the Governor of Wokha to join the Terran Hegemony.

June

11 June 2769
Wokha (Outworlds Alliance)

General Rita Mitchell, Harold Ludell, Governor of Thazi and Linda Thompson, Governor of Boulsi were greeted at the space port by Colonel Yuri Nabokov, 211th Hussar Regiment, Colonel Alexis Prater, commander 8th Conventional RCT and Seamus Kelley, Governor of Wokha and Martin Zuni. Introductions were exchanged and the small group headed for a nearby building that Martin Zuni had been staying in while on Wokha.

"General Mitchell, on behalf of the people of Wokha, I would like to thank you for dispatching the food supplies using SLDF transports. It could take years to refill our planetary reserve. The Star League had started our Terraforming process to improve our soil for food production, but the damned rebels destroyed what they started and killed most of the Technicians. But Colonel Prater did manage to rescue 38 of the Terraforming Technicians. Then they destroyed our HPG before leaving." Seamus Kelley said

"No thanks are necessary Governor Kelley. It is the mission and duty to look out for those we are sworn to protect." General Mitchell replied

"Well thank you anyway. I cannot believe the Alliance has not sent anyone to check on us out here. That is a major failure on their part. We that came from the Federated Suns years ago, are pissed. Those from the Outworlds Alliance are getting there slowly, but it has caused some of the old tensions to flare back up." Governor Kelley said

"That is something we came to discuss with you Governor Kelley. But, I am going to leave with Mr Zuni and Colonel Nabokov while Mr Ludell and Ms Thompson talk with you. I need to review the security arrangements." General Mitchell said

Once outside, she walked with Martin Zuni and Colonel Nabokov across the tarmac. "Had any problems, Yuri?"

"There have been some reports of small clashes between the 2 main cities here. Colonel Prater's people mainly handled that. But I think I know what you have planned, and if they join us, you might want to assign a full Division over here for security. I am a little light on Infantry and if a major riot breaks out, my Battlemechs are not really what will be needed to break it up." Colonel Nabokov said

"I will take that under advisement. Martin, what do you think?" General Mitchell asked

"Well, I think they will go for it. I assume you mean joining the Terran Hegemony. Most of the tension is also from lack of work, with no way to ship their ores, most of the mines are idled. The have roughly 18 million people on this rock. Putting them back to work will really ease the tensions. I spoke to one of the smaller mine owners and he is more than willing to uproot his operation and head for Thazi, if you still have that in mind. By small, I mean about 85,000 people. Roughly 28,000 workers and their families. The food shortage sort of scared them." Martin Zuni said

"That is a lot of people to move. I hate the thought of delaying the Jumbo's longer than I have to." General Mitchell said

"I have been giving that some thought, General. I think you need to talk to that Delvaney woman, think about converting a couple of your Mammoth Dropships. Should be able to carry way more people than the Jumbo's. Plus, I been thinking about the mission to get your dependents. Taking 8 Invader Jumpships is going to draw unwanted attention. But if we could slim that down by half, I think we have a better chance of slipping in without too much attention." Martin Zuni said

General Mitchell hated to give up any of her Mammoth Dropships, they were the primary supply haulers of her combat commands, but then she remembered that was not really an issue now that Rear Admiral Tanaka was on the way with an additional 40 of them. "I will surely do that the moment she returns Martin. Good idea. Any other suggestions?"

"Not really General. You seem to have a firm grasp of the situation. But you might want to start thinking about what your going to do when the Outworlds Alliance comes a calling and wants their worlds back." Martin Zuni said

"I think about that very issue quite often Martin. But I have come to realize that there is no since in worrying over it. There are too many other things to worry about." General Mitchell said.

13 June 2769
Wokha (Outworlds Alliance)

General Rita Mitchell was being briefed by Harold Ludell, Governor of Thazi and Linda Thompson, Governor of Boulsi on the last few days of discussions with Seamus Kelley, Governor of Wokha.

"He still believes in his appointed duty to the Outworlds Alliance. We tried to explain to him that the fighting out here has been over since 2767, and yet still the Outworlds Alliance has not seen fit to uphold their duty, which was to support us out here. Two years is more than enough time to at least send ships into the area to reestablish contact with planets cut off from communication. We are going to meet again in 2 days, give him a few days to think this over more." Harold Ludell said "Do you think the additional days will do the trick?" General Mitchell asked "Personally, no. I think he is going to stand fast." Harold Ludell said and Linda Thompson nodded agreement

"Then what do you suggest we do?" General Mitchell asked

"You could militarily take control of the planet. I doubt the people would resist the move. Or we could pull our support and direct it to another planet willing to join, Ddraig is right next door. Give the planet a good taste of what being cut off really feels like. Once the people start really starving, I am pretty sure they will overthrow Kelley and petition us to join." Linda Thompson said

General Mitchell shook her head "No, I will not starve innocent civilians to sway a decision."

"Neither do I and I am glad you agree. Someone had to toss the idea out here and honestly, I was curious to see how you responded. Sorry General Mitchell. I think in 2 days, we can at least convince Seamus Kelley to at least allow the people to make the decision for themselves. Then we have a vote, even if he does not support it. The people will vote to join, I can almost guarantee it. Those are Star League transports delivering food, not Alliance transports." Linda Thompson said

"Then we wait another 2 days. I will send Martin Zuni over to Ddraig and at least dip his toe into the water. We can have him test the water anyway. I will have to return to Thazi within the week, you understand?" General Mitchell said

"Of course. Me and Linda have no problem staying behind and helping to campaign on behalf of the Terran Hegemony. Explain to the people how it has helped us after being abandoned by the Outworlds Alliance." Harlod Ludell said

"Very well, get some rest. I will go hunt down, Martin Zuni." General Mitchell said as she left both Governors.

It took an hour to find Martin Zuni, sitting inside a cabin of one of the grounded converted Jumbo-Class Dropships. After letting her into the small cabin he was using while on the planet, he sat back down on one of the bunks waving her to the only chair in the small cabin. "Please sit, General. How goes the diplomatic front?"

"Not very well. Seems Kelley is still loyal to the Outworlds Alliance. We might have to have a vote without his support, which brings a danger of a possible civil war with it." General Mitchell said

"Will be a very short war if you ask me. You did not come hunt me down for my advice. Not my forte, so what may I ask are my new orders?" Martin Zuni asked

"Feel like taking a trip over to Ddraig? Get us an intel assessment of things." General Mitchell asked

"You’re the boss out here, General Mitchell. I have been giving it a lot of thought, I might be technically a Merchant Captain, but you have placed an enormous amount of trust in me. You trusted me not to take the several billions and just run with it. Heck, you did not even throw a fit when I told you I have 2 Billion sitting in my personal account for your use. But you have given me and Martha Pruitt a huge leg up on starting a major shipping company and that is a huge debt to repay." Martin Zuni said

"Trust only goes so far Martin, you forget, I had 2 squads of Marines on board every Jumpship, including yours and Martha Pruitts. They did have orders to retake the ships and bring you back to Thazi if you made a break for it. Doubt I would have shot you, but I would have terminated any further dealings with you and canceled our deal for the remaining Invader Jumpships and such. I am just glad it never came to that." General Mitchell said with a sly smile.

"Forgot about them. Not sure how, they are still aboard my Merchant Jumpship after all." Martin Zuni said with a smile

"More for security now Martin. As long as you are assisting my forces, I will not leave you out here without support. I will be leaving in a week for Thazi. Be ready to head for Ddraig when I depart." General Mitchell said standing up

"I will be ready. You still want me to plan on transporting those miners to Thazi?" Martin asked

"Yes, and possibly any others that wish to leave here. When I get back, hopefully Commodore Delvaney will be back, I will have my remaining Mammoth Dropships converted to passenger carriers." General Mitchell reponded and smiled when Martin Zuni tossed her a sloppy salute

Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

Commodore Delvaney, commander SLS Salvation, Newgrange-Class Yardship, had materialized at the Nadir Jump Point, but she had sent a HPG message the moment they were a single jump away notifying them of their return. No since creating a panic for Rear Admiral Tanaka. But she was surprised to find only Black Lion-Class Battlecruiser SLS Tirpitz, in system. She was quickly brought up to speed on the raid on the Rimworlds Outpost and the rapid departure of ships to resupply the returning Task Force.

Now she concerned herself with getting her ship ready to bring SLS Conroy, Avatar-Class Heavy Cruiser into her repair bay so that they could install the new Transit Drives.

27 June 2769
Wokha (Outworlds Alliance)

General Rita Mitchell was preparing to depart for her return to Thazi. Governor's Harold Ludell and Linda Thompson were staying behind to campaign in favor of Wokha joining the Terran Hegemony. Seamus Kelley, Governor of Wokha still opposed the measure, but promised he would not stand in the way of a vote on the matter by the population of Wokha. Her Mobile HQ's HPG had brought word of SLS Conroy, recovery and return to Thazi. This news bouyed her spirits greatly. The HPG situation still was a major concern. Outside of Rear Admiral Tanaka's Wirlwind Destroyer, the 4 Vincent Corvettes and SLS Salvation, they had 11 HPG equipped Mobile HQ's. Each Division was equipped with one of the precious Mobile HQ's, along with one for the 211th Hussar, 19th Hussar and 277th Dragoon. She had assigned the last one to Colonel Calloway and the 3391st Special Forces.

Mobile HQ Vehicle

While on Wokha, she had made a quick trip and seen the planet's HPG station. Where the dmaage to Thazi, Boulsi and Pilon's HPG's had been preety extensive, Wokha's HPG did not seem as badly damaged. She made a mental note to herself to gather the remaining 67 HPG personnel and send them over here and see if it would be possible to repair the station here. Since the Star League controlled the HPG stations anyway, no matter how the vote went, they would at least have a working HPG in easy range. Martin Zuni had departed for the Jump Point yesterday to head for Ddraig. The 2 converted Jumbo Dropships were finishing loading with the first lift of 2,000 miners heading for Thazi. Her Star Lord Jumpship would transport them back to Thazi with her.

Blommestein (Outworlds Alliance)

Jessica Parington, Governor of Blommestein and Governor Pro Tem of the Blommestein Province, wished for better days of the past. With no communication with Alpheratz, and with decreasing Jumpship traffic in the region, she was finding it almost impossible to track what was happening within the province. During the Uprising, the populations of most of the worlds in the Blommestein Province had remained loyal to the Star League. This had kept turmoil on the planet's themselves to a minimum, but here on Blommestein the destruction of the 149th Mechanized Infantry Division by the rebels and then the hasty retreat of the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division after several nuclear strikes had caused many to question their loyalty. Luckily, the rebel forces had moved on quickly once the SLDF forces had either been destroyed or evicted, leaving the people of Blommestein to return to their lives.

With her normal garrison, Blommestein Guards, almost always off planet, she had ordered as much salvage from the SLDF and Rebel forces to be gathered into a central collection point near the capital of New Tamasi. There, they had managed to scrape together and repair enough equipment to form an Armored Regiment and 3 Infantry Regiments. There had been enough SLDF survivors along with those recently retired SLDF to aid in the repairs and training of the militia force over the last few years since the rebel departure.

She only had 2 old Liberty-Class Jumpships operational while another two Liberty Jumpships were no longer jump capable. The crew of the 2 Libertys not operational had worked tirelessly on recovering one of the Vigilant -Class Corvettes, and had managed to at least effect enough repairs that it could sustain an atmosphere. But it was deemed too beat up without extensive shipyard time, which they did not have access too. It had been left at the Nadir Jump Point. Her 2 operational Liberty Jumpships worked tirelessly trying to keep many planets fed and supplied in the Blommestein Province.

Ceiba (Outworlds Alliance)

Major Benjamin Manfield, commander 3281st Special Forces Battalion, had for the last 4 years played a deadly game of cat and mouse against the rebel forces on planet. Luckily, the population had supported them, providing intelligence and supplies, at great risk to themselves. When the Uprising began, his Battalion had been over strength, but now was at 50% strength, but sustained by a supply cache that they had been assigned to emplace on the planet. Enough supplies to keep a Independent Regiment in action for several years.

• 3281st Special Forces Battalion (2765)
  • A Company - 48 Nighthawk
  • B Company - 48 Nighthawk
  • C Company - 48 Nighthawk
  • D Company - 12 Exterminator EXT-4C

• 3281st Special Forces Battalion (2769)
  • A Company - 48 Nighthawk
  • B Company - 48 Nighthawk
  • D Company - 4 Exterminator EXT-4C

He still had another 4 Exterminator Battlemechs, but they were down for lack of spare parts. They had lost control of their Dropships in the initial invasion, which contained the special parts needed to maintain the advanced Exterminator stealth Battlemechs. Currently they were held up in a densley wooded area up next to a mountain range where SLDF engineers had carved a massive cavern to hold the supply chache. Over the last 4 months, they had not launched anu raids on the rebel force remaining on planet, which were onoy a few infantry regiments in strength, but they had mainly pulled back into a garrison attitude.

Linden (Outworlds Alliance)

Rear Admiral Percy Seimens, commander Deep Spin Maintence Yard, had not been able to reach anyone with their working HPG. They had not been able to get a lock on any HPG stations in range. Having been cut off since the Uprising, he had pulled in all the DoME crews for safety reasons. He had 5 complete Terraforming DoME crews in system for the last 3 years. All 5 DoME crews had been working on Terraforming planets in the region to boost various planets agriculture growing. Though Deep Spin did have the ability to provide the needed equipment for more substantial Terraforming, but most of those missions had already been completed years ago.

Deep Spin Maintenance Facility

2 Maintenance Shipyards (1M ton capacity each, basic manufacturing ability)
1 Germanium Processing Factory
1 Jump Core Factory
2 Medium Orbital Factory's
2 Large Habitat - 28,600 passenger each
2 Small Habitat - 5,880 passengers each
1 Olympus Recharge Station
3 Snowden Mining (1 orbit of Marshall, moon around Beaver Gas Giant, Germanium) (2 orbit James 1 and James 2, moons Low Gas Giant)

Escort was provided: 238th Striker Regiment - DoME escorts, 3 Mech Battalions, 2 Infantry Batt, 9 Union Dropships, 6 Fury Dropships
2391st Royal Independent Aero Wing - 54 Aerospace Fighters, 3 Titan Dropships, 3 Pentagon Dropships, Engineer Batt, Jump Infantry Regiment
SLS Buccaneer - Essex Destroyer (Garrison Fleet)
SLS Cartegena - Essex Destroyer (Garrison Fleet)
SLS Shield - Avatar Heavy Cruiser (Garrison Fleet)
5 Star Lord Jumpships - DoME, 30 Mule Dropships
5 Invader Jumpships - 238th Striker Regiment

Until he was able to reestablish contact with higher command, he refused to allow the DoME crews to return to their work and kept them all in system so as to be easier to protect everyone.

Author’s Notes – 8th Conventional RCT

• 8th Conventional Regimental Combat Team
  • 208th BM Div - 1 BM Batt, 2 Inf Batt
  • 370th BM Div - 2 Inf Batt
  • 284th BM Div - 2 BM Batt
  • 318th BM Div - 1 BM Batt, 2 Inf Batt
  • 201st Battle Reg - 1 BM Comp
  • 165th MI Div - 2 BM Batt
• RCT Status : 8th Conv RCT - 2 Inf Reg.....full strength 1 Armor Wheel Reg, 3 Infantry Reg

8th Conv RCT - 2 Inf Reg.....full strength 1 Armor Wheel Reg, 3 Infantry Reg

The conventional Regimental Combat Teams are Canon...….1 Wheeled Armor Regiment and 3 Infantry Regiments.

Mainly used in the Concordat and Canopus, but 18th Army had requested 2 of them for evaluation per the SLDF handbook. I might make a more heavy use of them that they did on Canon. But I have been toying with Renaming them a Brigade Combat Team, and adding a Light Battlemech Battalion to them. Primary purpose is garrison duty. Keeps my main forces for offensive duties or heavy response as we expand slowly. Like this:

Brigade Combat Team (new configuration) Infantry Regiment - 1 Wheel Batt, 3 Infantry Batt Infantry Regiment - 1 Wheel Batt, 3 Infantry Batt Infantry Regiment - 1 Wheel Batt, 3 Infantry Batt Light Battlemech Battalion

Each attached Wheel Battalion is broken to 1 Company per Infantry Battalion. If I use Turhan's, well that covers transport for each Company since a Platoon can carry a full Company of Infantry. God knows I have a gazillion light Battlemechs. Mainly Stingers, but I can mod them pretty easy, add some small pulse lasers. Just need a factory, convert all those Stingers to Royal's and remove 1/2 ton of armor. Now they have 2 Med Lasers and 2 small pulse lasers for anti-infantry work. Still a work in progress but it gives each garrison force a respectable anti pirate defense until a more massive response force arrives.

September

16 September 2769
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka and Task Force Raider returned to Thazi today. The captured Riga Frigate, RWS Dragonfly was moved to a holding pattern while the SLDF ships began scheduling maintenance with SLS Salvation and the modified Olympus Station. A massive swarm of Dropships began undocking and heading for the planet’s surface, those carrying the 29th Mechanized Infantry Division, 3391st Special Forces and a flood of Mammoth, Jumbo and Czar Dropships loaded with the refugees from the Rimworlds Outpost.

19 September 2769

General Rita Mitchell, notified of the amount of incoming Dropships, had designated a large plain 80km from the Capital as the landing zone for all the Mammoth, Jumbo, and Gremlin Dropships. The 29th MID and 3391st landed at the space port. She had deployed her 2721st Brigade to secure the temporary landing zone. Even though she had a firm count on the number of incoming Dropships, she was still awed by the sheer number slowly settling to the ground. 52 Mammoth, 18 Jumbo, and 18 Czar Dropships was still an awesome sight to behold.

She turned when she heard a hover vehicle screaming towards her from behind. Major General Hanesworth and Colonel Calloway exited the moment it stopped. When they reached her Major General Hanesworth said "General Mitchell, your not going to believe what is in those Dropships. The short version is roughly:

400 Stingers
200 Firestarters
300 Phoenix
300 Talos
150 Archer
150 Battlemaster
200 Marsden Main Battle Tank
1,000 Merkava Main Battle Tank
70 Marksman Artillery Vehicles
1,000 Korvin Tank
100 LVT-4 Hover Tank
800 Ignis Tanks
2,000 Heavy Tracked APC
2,400 Sherpa Trucks
100 Star Dagger Fighters
80 Typhoon Fighters
94,000 tons of ammunition and spare spare parts

Plus a complete tank factory and ammunition factory. I have the complete inventory manifests but my counts are close. We have 55,491 civilians, we had a few births on the trip back. We broght back the surviving Rim Job warships crews, but the ground troops, well we left the on that rock. They were pure scum. Doubt we have the Mechwarriors or Fighter Pilots for the new gear, but we have plenty of tanks to bring everyone up to strength and enough ammunition to actually start an armor school if you so desire. A Peter Sajak ran the factory complex out there, used to work for NETC before he got snookered and hauled out there. Knows his stuff and helped get the factory tore down in record time. I have spoken to him a bunch on the trip back, I think he would be a natural selection to put the factories back into operation and even run them, but that is your call General."

The numbers Major General Hanesworth had said stunned General Mitchell into silence. Just storing that amount of equipment was going to be a major challenge. "Now way all of this came from the single Outpost."

"No sir, the Rim World convoy we jumped had made pickups at 2 other Outposts. Number 7 produces tanks and fighters, number 11 is a Battlemech factory. According to the manifests anyway. We also have firm locations and routes to each one. I had Rear Admiral Tanaka do some calculations, it would take a year to reach 7 from here, and almost 2 years to reach 11 from here. That is some serious travel time." Major General Hanesworth said

"That is not an option right now. Get with this Peter Sajak and get the factory complex put back together. If his people are willing to anyway. Use the engineers to help nay way they can. Once it is back in operation, we can see what me can make from it. But first, get the engineers to start building some housing for the civilians. Once they get settled, we will have a talk with them and see where they stand. They are restricted to 5km from this area. I have troops posted to secure the area and they will only turn them back. Make sure they get fed and I will send a MASH truck over to see to any health issues." General Mitchell replied.

October

1 October 2769
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

General Rita Mitchell was impressed as she watched a non stop flow of cement trucks flowing in and out of the designated factory complex. She had seen the "blue prints" for the complex, but it looked much bigger than what she remembered seeing. She noticed Peter Sajak had seen her and was heading her way. "General Mitchell, I was not expecting you."

"Not a problem, Mr Sajak. I am curious though, from the plans you showed me, correct me if I am wrong but the foundations your pouring seem to be much larger than I remember seeing on the plans." General Mitchell said
"They are larger, quite a bit larger. See, I was a production lead supervisor for New Earth Trading Company before being hired away. Well, they never took my laptop away from me when I left. Seems I still have all the design information for the Manticore, all versions of the Alacorn and Engineering Vehicle on there from NETC. But I also have design specs for the Heavy Hover APC, Heavy Wheel APC and a few design plans that Amaris supplied to me before I was sent out here, but never got the equipment to build them, not sure how he even got his hands on them. But, it might take some time, but I have complete designs for the Chevalier Light Tank and Reaper Self Propelled Artillery.
Along with the design plans, I also have the weapons design plans for the Parti-Kill PPC, SureShot Mk VI SRM-6, Far Fire Medium Missile Rack LRM/10, OMI High Burn Medium Laser, Norse-Storm Gauss Rifles, Blankenburg ER Large Laser and Zone-Tone Streak SRM-2. Not to mention all the specs for the armor, engines and electronics for every design. And anything I don't have access to, well I have some of the best engineers that can be found outside of the Terran Hegemony itself, because most originally came from there. Ammunition design specialists, weapons design specialists, pretty much you name it, and we can either build it, or if given a copy and a few months we can reverse engineer it for production.
I planned to do away with the Ignis completely, and probably the Korvin. Modify the Korvin line to manufacture Manticore and the Ignis line to build Chevalier. I was going to leave it up to you to keep the Merkava line or convert it over to something else. I decided to build the factory with expansion in mind, should be able to fit an additional 4 production lines inside my current floor plan. Same for the ammunition complex. I have it planned to build just about any ammunition you desire except naval ammunition, I don't have anyone that can handle that. Before we got sent out to the outpost, Amaris himself asked me what I needed and I told him specialists in weapons and ammunition, even exotic ammo types. Damned if he did not provide them. Give me a year and I will be able to build pretty much any vehicle you have on hand and supply you with any ammunition you desire, besides naval ammo. I will just need a copy to dismantle for reverse engineering." Peter Sajak promised.

"You’re pretty confident in your abilities, Mr Sajak." General Mitchell said.

5 October 2769
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

General Rita Mitchell had called a commanders meeting and all major unit Commanders were in attendance. Sitting in the large conference room were:

Major General Carman - 280th Mechanized Infantry Division
Major General McGregor - 126th Mechanized Infantry Division
Major General Hanesworth - 29th Mechanized Infantry Division
Major General Baxter - 359th Battlemech Division
Major General Quieg - 31st Infantry Division
Major General Rommel - 322nd Armored Division
Colonel MacIntosh - Royal Black Watch
Colonel Estaban - 277th Dragoon Regiment
Colonel Fuentes - 19th Hussar Regiment (Royal)
Colonel Calloway - 3391st Special Forces
Rear Admiral Tanaka - Fleet Commander

She had left individual ship commanders at their duty stations along with the Marine Commanders, whose units were detailed to individual ships for security. She looked each commander in the eyes before starting.

"I called this meeting for several reasons. First, to Task Force Raider, excellent work. I am sorry we had to leave behind a Vincent Corvette, but we gained a Riga Frigate in return. Second, the recovered factory is going to take roughly a year to being online. But we have recovered enough ammunition for the Merkava tanks that I propose we start a tank school. The Infantry School was a great success and though recruitment is down from the intial enlistments, we fielded 8 Regiments of trained Infantry. We currently have 2 Regiments in training at this time. Almost all of our units are understrength in Armor so that is something I feel we can self correct.

Third, and this is a big one and I am not even sure we should attempt it. We are 612 Mechwarriors short for our current commands. We have no real idea when we will be back in full contact with higher command for replacements, and you all know why. But what we do have is a glut of light Battlemechs. Over 400 Stingers to be exact. Normal procedure to is not going to work out here for identifying potential Mechwarriors. But, we could take potential candidates and link them into a stationary Stinger, and see if it moves any. We have enough of them that even if we destroy 10 of them in the process, it will barely scratch our inventory. We currently have access to 30 million people, if we are lucky, maybe we can identify a few hundred candidates. We don't have training simulators, so they will train in the real thing, we can remove the weapons from them for safety. This will not be a rush course, the Infantry School was shortened without the higher education, I plan for the Armor school to be shortened the same way, but Mechwarriors will got through as tough an academy as we can establish. I figure 4 years training. Depending on the amount of candidates, we will determine class sizes. I figure, one year theory and getting used to how a Battlemech works, one year on movement, walking, running, jumping, standing up from a fall, the works. Then one year of weapons training and the final year on tactics and simulated combat exercises. That first year, they will work with the technicians to learn as much as they can.

Four, I am not going to risk trying to train Aerospace pilots. We are critcally short on them, but I am not going to have a bunch of lawn darts. That will have to go on the back burner.

Five, this pertains to Rear Admiral Tanaka. Warship crews. We have 3 warships currently unmanned. But, we do have former rebel warship crews manning Jumpships. This is your call Admiral, I am not going to force you to accept them as crews. But we need some kind of an answer to this problem. So, give it some thought.

Right side of the Map represents worlds governed by the Terran Hegemony "in Exile".

Six, the vote on Wokha is scheduled for 1 November to join the Terran Hegemony. If it passes, the next question is, how far do we go? Martin Zuni should be back from Ddraig in the next week, if he is not, Colonel Funtes, your 19th Hussar will be going to get him back, by force if you must. I will send Colonel Calloway and the 3391st Special Forces with you. Now, I am open to discussion. So let's hear it." General Rita Mitchell said.

Rear Admiral Tanaka spoke first "With all due respect General, I am not sure I can agree to have former enemies on active warships. But, there is a possible other way. I have 110 crew from the Vincent we had to leave behind. We have 1,497 trained SLDF Jumpship crews. And another 2,187 Dropship crews with out ships. To fully man the 2 Dart Light Cruisers, Riga Frigate, and my other 2 Vincent Corvettes, I need 937 personnel. I can pull most from the Dropship crews, and only need the Navigators and Jump Core Techs from some of the Jumpships to fully man those warships. We can then fill in slots using those rebels that are deemed trustworthy. I can transfer some of our current officers around and even crews to even out the crews so we do not have inexperienced people all on a ship.

Plus your forgetting a huge issue, we have 439 small craft fully crewed. If we pull 1 pilot off each small craft, we would have 439 pilots available to work up to piloting Aerospace pilots. Heck, I know for a fact that at least half of those shuttle pilots used go be Aerospace Pilots. We can slot in some of your ex-rebels into the extra shuttle seat until they prove themselves. But it gives us 439 Aerospace pilots to train up. They all might not know dogfighting and ground attack, but at least they know how to fly in space and atmosphere already."

"Now that is an excellent idea, Admiral Tanaka. Those are the idea's I need folks, help me." General Mitchell said

Major General Rommel spoke next "We can easily start an armor scholl and I have the perfect officer to command it. General Paul Kilgorian, the former Rebel Commander on Pilon. He is a tanker, hell he helped train the tank crews out in the deep periphery. And the ones I have in my 322nd Armored are not bad at all, maybe my SLDF are better, but those former rebels are damned good. They got good training. We can set the school up on Pilon, since I already have a full blown tank gunnery course established. Just need some recruits. I would help of course."

"Okay, that covers getting our armored forces back up to speed. How about the Mechwarrior school?" General Mitchell asked

Major General Baxter spoke next "It is not going to be easy, but I am willing to take on the task. I know I have 18 in my 359th BM Division that served time as instructors and I am pretty sure I can find a few more in the other commands. If I had to guess, I bet we have at least 80 former instructors scattered in the various commands. The first year, we can handle roughly 40 candidates per instructor, 2nd year figure we lose 30% and we start slimming down the class sizes, I would say no more than 3 candidates per instructor, 3rd year, we can pass the candidates off to our seasoned gunners for weapons training and then the last year we turn them over to field commanders for some real training. But I am sure we have more than 80 former instructors among the 2,600 Mechwarriors we already have. I would bet we have between 5 to 10% that served as instructors at one time or another. I would prefer Boulsi for the training site, the continent of Charton's Madness is perfect for it. Uninhabited, lots of varied land and can easily set up some good firing ranges. Train them intially on the Stingers and then progress them onto bigger and better
machines."

"Anyone have a problem with the idea?" Major General Mitchell asked, no one said a word "Then that is what we do. I want 36 Stingers sent to each planet for initial testing of possible candidates. When we have a decent number, they all first undergo the established basic training course at the Infantry School, then we start them on getting used to being around Battlemechs. Major General Baxter, your in charge of the Mechwarrior program. Start rounding up your instructors. I expct full cooperation when he selects an instructor. I will pull from my 272nd MID replacement pilots to replace those he takes. Now, the biggie, If Wokha joins us, how far do we take this?"

"General, your the boss out here. You say take the Outworlds Alliance and we will go take the Outworlds Alliance. Probably lose, too much to try and control, but we damn sure will give our best. So far, we have been nibbling at the edge. I say we move in a little, see what kind of reaction we get. For that, Blommestein, the Province capital. We go there, they join us and the Alliance does nothing, well, we reevaluate. They react, then we make a choice, fight or pull back. I would vote fight, because failure to do so will see them here at Thazi then we have to fight." Major General Carman said

Several other commanders nodded in agreement. "Okay, Major General Carman, prepare your 280th MID, Major General McGregor, get the 126th MID ready. Admiral Tanaka, prepare an adequate protective escort if you would. We will see how the Alliance reacts to losing a Province Capital." General Mitchell said

"Pardon my expression General, but you’re damned right I am. Let me give you an example, my weapons specialist is Hajera Spangler, was one of Blankenburg's top weapons designers, I also have Trevor Nixon, expert in Defiance and Maxwell laser systems. My engine specialist is Irene Yemmon, used to work as an engineer at GM Fusion Engine Dept, expert on all GM fusion engines, including XL but really good on VLAR, VOX and Pitban. Pretty sure she can handle any design. Cameron Falcry is my armor specialist, he can even make Ferro Fibrous and even Ferro Aluminum if given the right material. We might not know how to build a Battlemech or Aerospace Fighters, but we can damn sure arm it, armor it and make the thing move. Amaris might be a total scum bag, but he damned sure staffed us with some of the best around he could find." Peter Sajak said

"You let me know when you’re ready, and I will see what I can do about providing you some examples to tear apart and play with." General Mitchell said.

25 October 2769
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

Ships Captain Martin Zuni was led into General Rita Mitchell's office. He did not even wait for the offer and plopped into the chair in front of her desk. "You look like crap, Martin. Was it that bad?"

"I made a few extra stops, Ddraig could very easily come our way. They are already having protests about the lack of economic benefits. No one to buy their stuff or any imports coming in. Ejeda is a desert world, only about 18% is covered by water and it is salty as hell. Their water purifiers are already acting up. I saw some huge protests there over water. Next stop was Waini Point, talk about a cold ass planet. The damned equator is only 22C. Most of their water is under ice, thick ice too. But they have a bunch of it. Fresh water too, but they have no way to ship it. If you have a way to fix the water purification on Ejeda, they will most likely join you. Question is, how far are you going to take this little experiment of yours?" Martin asked

"Honestly, I don’t know yet. But we are going to Blommestein to get a feel for how the Outworlds Alliance reacts. It is a given that they have basically abandoned everyone out here, but we will see how they react when a Province Capital leaves them. I would prefer not to have a fight, but we will be ready for one. I suspect you saw the activity up at the Jump Point." General Mitchell said

"Busy as hell. I was sort of hoping to get some maintenance done on my Merchant, but that probably won't happen for awhile." Martin said

"No, but I think we can find you something else to drive around. We captured 5 Leviathan-Class Jumpships, but I am going to be using those for the time being, once Commodore Delvaney declares them fit. But, I heard you have always wanted a Star Lord, so, I am going to make your dream come true. We captured a single Star Lord a few years back that was not a SLDF ship. She is yours. She has already been run through a refit by Commodore Delvaney's people and she is good to go. My way of thanking you for all the hard work you have been doing for us. I have given Commodore Delvaney until December 15 to have all the ships heading for Blommestein ready to go, after that, she is going to begin work on converting 10 Mammoth Dropships to passenger carriers. Her engineers say they will be able to carry 6,000 passengers in steerage compartments. They should be ready to go around April 2770. I gave Martha a message to send via HPG before she left. Several actually. One to Cerulean where the 280th dependents are, they are to pack up and make their way to Bastrop. Major General Carman worked out a code that her rear detachment should be able to decipher.

Another message was to Multan, my 272nd dependents, informing them to be ready to go at a moment’s notice. Last message was to Kagoshima, the 126th's dependents, they will make their way to Multan. Once we get them back here, we will plan for the next groups. I authorized Martha to pay for their travel out of our funds your holding. Our deal still stands Martin, just trying to make things as quick and easy as I can. You will take your Star Lord to Multan and recover all the dependents there. Here is a list of dependents and counts to be picked up. Those are the intitial pickups. Brinton and Mithron, well we have no way of knowing if they are even there any longer. Once you depart, I will have another set of Mammoth ready for Martha to take to Bastrop." General Mitchell said handing the list over to Martin Zuni.

Multan - 272nd, 18,287 and 126th, 14,865
Bastrop - 280th, 19,854
Brinton - 359th, 27,698
Mithron - 31st, 12,572

"That is a lot of people. What about escort?" Martin asked

"Your will be taking a full Marine Battalion with you plus, each Mammoth will have 4 Aerospace Fighters aboard for 2 full squadrons instead of their shuttles. It's the only way I can figure to do this stealthy and not raise an alarm." General Mitchell replied.

"If you want, I can hit a HPG, when I find one and send a message to several of my contacts that ply the Taurian Concordat, have them check and see very quietly if those dependents are still there. Have the return message sent to Bastrop in both my and Martha's name. At least we will know for sure." Martin suggested.

"That would be wonderful. Pay them well, if they want to help move them, pay them more. I am not going to be stingy reuniting the families." General Mitchell said

Bastrop (Federated Suns)

Martha Pruitt waas led into the sprawling office of Penelope Swank, Martin's contact. She rose from her desk and moved to greet her guest "Penelope Swank, my receptionist tells me that you know Martin Zuni."

"He is my business partner. He told me that you can move our stock of Dropships at a fair price." Martha replied

"That I can do. What did you bring?" Penelope asked.

"I have 12 Drost IIA-Class Dropships to sell." Martha replied

A frown appeared on Penelope's face "DroST again. The last batch was hard to move. Now you have 12 of them. I will not be able to pay as much as I did last time."

"We will take 200 Million for each Dropship. Not a cent less. There are 6 other brokers on this planet and I will sell them in parcels if I have to." Martha said

Penelope Swank did the fast mental math. That was 2.4 Billion dollars. She figured she could move them for 220 million each pretty fast, a quick 240 million profit. "You have a deal, Ms Pruitt. There is the matter of title transfer and taxes of course."

"Which you will be taking care of at your expense, Ms Swank. Martin might be swayed by your looks and sweet voice, but not me. Now, we sign the deal or I have other brokers to go see, your call." Martha said

"I will have my secretary draw up the required documentations. It will take about an hour. The funds are to be deposited where?" Penelope asked

"All funds will be deposited to this account." Martha said handing over a slip of paper

"Ah, to Martin's personal account. I will arrange the transfer the moment we sign the paperwork." Penelope Swank replied

Martha wanted to get on with her other business, but she had already sent the HPG messages and also placed a call to the law firm of Fleesum and Gougem where they had begun work on locating and arranging delivery of quite a lot of mining equipment.

November

1 November 2769
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

General Rita Mitchell was juggling several issues today. The biggest was the election on Wokha, she wondered how it would turn out. Preparations continued for the Blommestein campaign. She had learned that the closest location that probably had the needed parts for the water purification systems was Linden. She was even more surprised to learn that Linden had been the primary maintenance facility for this region of space and primary DoME supply point. So now she was planning multiple operations, one to Blommestein and another to Linden.

In addition, General Paul Kilgorian had thrown himself into the task of preparing the new Armor School. He had start refurbishing the former prison camps into barracks to house the new recruits. Major General Nathan Baxter was swinging a mean axe canvassing the various units for former instructors and the results were surprising to say the least.

359th BM Division - 22
272nd MI Division - 19
126th MI Division - 17
280th MI Division - 27
31st Infantry Div - 13
29th MI Division - 31
173rd MI Division - 19
277th Dragoon Reg - 11
211th Hussar Reg - 16
19th Hussar Reg - 13
Royal Black Watch - 9

General Mitchell had vetoed any transfers from the 280th and 126th due to the upcoming operation and the Royal Black Watch. Which gave him 125 instructors. Major General Baxter had also identified Gunsinger graduates, of the 125 former instructors, 32 of them were Gunslinger graduates and 4 of those were actually Gunslinger instructors. He had floated the idea of starting their own Gunslinger course, but General Mitchell had vetoed the idea, for now, she could not gut her commands but she had the list anyway.

272nd MI Division - 31 Gunslinger Graduates, including General Mitchell
280th MI Division - 18 Gunslinger Graduates
359th BM Division - 17 Gunslinger Graduates
126th MI Division - 22 Gunslinger Graduates
31st Infantry Div - 11 Gunslinger Graduates
29th MI Division - 19 Gunslinger Graduates
173rd MI Division - 9 Gunslinger Graduates
277th Dragoon Reg - 23 Gunslinger Graduates
211th Hussar Reg - 10 Gunslinger Graduates
19th Hussar Reg - 9 Gunslinger Graduates
Royal Black Watch - 13 Gunslinger Graduates

She needed to keep the list away from Colonel Ian MacIntosh so she would not face a fight over allowing him to fully outfit his Royal Black Watch with Gunslingers. Rear Admiral Tanaka had also been hard at work, combing the ranks of the SLDF Jumphip and Dropship crews. She has decided to use one of the captured Dart Light Cruiser's as a training vessel, though it was not jump capable, it would serve as a capable training vessel. She had also slashed into the small craft pilots with a vengeance quickly reassigning 240 to Aerospace Fighter training, 127 of those had once served as Aerospace Fighter pilots and just needed the rust knocked off.

14 November 2769
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

Word had arrived from Wokha of the vote tallies. It had been a close run affair with 13,971,722 voting to join the Terran Hegemony and 3,364,112 voting to stay in the Outworlds Alliance, just barely putting them over the 80% thresh hold to pass. But the measure had passed and they now controlled 4 systems. Soon it would be 5 systems, thought General Rita Mitchell. Only this next one would be occupied by SLDF troops by force of arms before a vote was put forward.

With their ever expanding area of responsibility, she had sent a message to Commodore Delvaney ordering every warship to be outfitted with LF Batteries. Only the Bug-Eye and Dart Training Cruiser would be exempt, for now. She wanted SLS Mighty Lift, Potemkin Transport, SLS Solomon, Essex Destroyer, SLS Dark Brawler, Dart Light Cruiser, SLS Independence, Samarkand II-Class Aerospace Carrier, SLS Borneo, Volga Transport and SLS Dragonfly, Riga-Class Frigate all fitted with LF Batteries. Once those were complete, she ordered SLS Tirpitz, Black Lion II-Class Battlecruiser to also be outfitted with LF Batteries. Estimates placed a month for each vessel, but they could also use the repair bays aboard the modified Olympus Station so they could probably complete the modifications in 3 months time.

Blommestein Invasion Force
280th Mechanized Infantry Division
6 Colossus Dropships
6 Czar Dropships
2 Dictator Dropships
1 Titan Dropship
2 Mammoth Dropships
3 Star Lord Jumpships

126th Mechanized Infantry Division
6 Colossus Dropships
3 Dictator Dropships
6 Czar Dropships
3 Lion Dropship
2 Titan Dropship
2 Mammoth Dropships
4 Star Lord Jumpships

Escort Force

SLS Rhodon, Luxor Heavy Cruiser
SLS Conroy, Avatar Heavy Cruiser
SLS Trinity River, Vincent Corvette
SLS Yangtze River, Vincent Corvette
SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Pursuit Cruiser

Linden Operation

SLS Windego, Whirlwind Destroyer
SLS Halthom, Vincent Corvette
SLS Stellar Journey, Star Lord Jumpship
3391st Special Forces
9918th Marine Regiment
3 Modified Confederate Dropships
2 Union Dropships
1 Modified Elephant Tug

The Linden Operation was mainly a scouting operation. No one knew what was there nor what they would encounter. Rear Admiral Tanaka would lead the mission. If in friendly hands, make contact and decide a final decision on her authority. If in hostile hands, they were to take it back under SLDF control. She also had the 277th Dragoon Regiment would board 2 LF Tramps and stage to La Ligua ready to respond to either Blommestein or Linden as a reaction force.

Both Operations would depart on 15 December with an estimated arrival at destination on 5 January 2770.

Near her computer, she kept a list of every unit that had joined her command but had been absorbed or deactivated. She hoped to someday revive those commands. It was quite a long list, most were only Battalion sized elements from the units, but she felt the need to make them whole again someday.

509th Battle Regiment
9th Royal CAAN Regiment
9917th Marine Regiment
191st Royal Jump Infantry Division
54th Mechanized Infantry Division
298th Battlemech Division
200th Mechanized Infantry Division
265th Mechanized Infantry Division
181st Royal Mechanized Infantry Division
208th Battlemech Division
370th Battlemech Division
247th Heavy Assault Regiment
284th Battlemech Division
318th Battlemech Division
165th Mechanized Infantry Division
201st Battle Regiment
81st Mechanized Infantry Division
36th Infantry Division
192nd Jump Infantry Division
251st Royal Mechanized Infantry Division
228th Striker Regiment (Destroyed on Boulsi by rebels)

She stared at the list every day, so many proud commands no longer existed. She had no clue how she would manage it, but someday, somehow she would return those commands to active duty. She would move heaven and earth to make it happen. Even if it meant getting in General Kerensky's face and demanding it. She estimated that she could bring all of her current commands to 100% strength with local recruiting in a few years. It would take that long to even season enough commanders to be promoted to fill the required command slots.

December

1 December 2769
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

General Rita Mitchell had brought Major General Patrick Quieg, commander 31st Infantry Division, over for a consultation. "I want to run an idea by you Patrick. We both know that a Grunt Infantry Division is primarily a garrison or occupation force. Not an offensive unit. But I firmly believe the current structure is too weak in infantry to truely occupy or garrison a planet. I have been playing with some idea's and I want your advice."

"I am always available to you General Mitchell. Let's hear your idea's and I will gladly give you my honest opinion." Major General Quieg said

"Okay, now, these are pretty radical departures on the current force structure of a Grunt Infantry Division. Current structure has you with a Division Command Battalion of Battlemechs, 2 Brigades of 3 Infantry Regiments with also a Light Battlemech Battalion, Brigade of 3 Regiments of Battlemechs, Brigade of 3 Regiments of Armor, Cavalary Battalion, Artillery Regiment, Ground Aero Wing. Your current infantry total is roughly 5,000. I feel that is way too low.

Now, my new idea is to leave you your Command Battlemech Battalion, but increase your infantry massively. My idea would have 4 platoons of 28 in each company, 3 Infantry Company's per Battalion but each Battalion has an Armor Company. 4 Battalions to each Regiment. A Brigade will have 4 Infantry Regiments and a Battlemech Battalion, could be Light or Medium strength. But you will have 3 Brigades of Infantry for a total of 16,128 infantry.

You lose your Battlemech Brigade, but you will have your Armor Brigade but 4 Regiments, a full Regiment of 3 Battalions of Artillery and I would like to build in 2 Ground Aero Wings complete with a Jump Infantry Regiment and attendant Engineer Battalions. I do not have trained LAM pilots but am willing to outfit you with a full Cavalry Regiment for scouting. I will even let you design the Cavalry Regiment, no more than a Battlemech Battalion though. If we can train enough engineers, I will give your Division a full Regiment of them to support defensive positions.

So, what are your thoughts on my idea?" General Mitchell asked

Olympus Class Recharging Space Station

"Well, I would still have basically 2 Regiments of Battlemechs in total, but a massive boost in my available infantry. For defensive purposes, I can see the new makeup working quite well. Heck we could even do limited offensive operations in the right terrain. I would actually have to play some wargames with the full command to actually find the weak points, but it damn sure sounds like fun. Sure gonna eat up the new Infantry trainee's to fully fill it out. How soon are you thinking of giving this a try?" Major General Quieg asked.

"Probably be a year or two. We are going to need to get the new factory up and running, plus get some more Infantry in the pipeline. Not to mention, artillery, engineers and most of all aircraft, both Aerospace and conventional to make this work. But I want you to start thinking about it and maybe run some computer simulations against opponents before we actually do this. Try different equipment setups for Armor and Battlemchs to figure out what works best." General Mitchell said

"I can damn sure do that. Heck, half of my Infantry are currently helping at the Infantry School anyway. I will head back to my headquarters and start putting pen to paper. Try to poke some holes in your idea. But it does sound like a great mind exercise." Major General Quieg said.

At the Nadir Jump Point, Commodore Delvaney was hard at work overseeing the installation of LF Batteries in the designated ships. She had been pleased to learn that the massive storage batteries from the Olympus Station had most of the needed material to fabricate the LF Batteries. Currently in her repair bay was Potemkin-Class Transport SLS Mighty Lift, , massive holes cut in her hull for the installation of the LF Batteries. But even larger holes were cut into her hull, these made no sense to Commodore Delvaney, but her orders were very clear, install 50,000 steerage quarters into the Mighty Lift along with several more grav decks. This would keep Mighty Lift in her repair bay for almost 6 months and it really cut into her onboard cargo only leaving just over 120,000 tons.

Aboard the Olympus Station, Essex Destroyer SLS Solomon and Riga-Class Frigate, SLS Dragonfly were undergoing their refits. They would be complete in a month. Plus she had orders to increase the number of Mammoths being converted to passenger ships to 35 from the original 10 she had ordered. Even though she had no clue what was going on, she had her orders and they were very clear.

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