IBC Chpt 9-1

Iron Blooded Commander

- Chapter 9.1 -

Politics and Paperwork

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---

Price of Arrogance

Brattleson's Depot
Vindemiatrix System, Lyran Commonwealth Space
3021

I felt horrible. The pirate's DropShip that I had taken back was not as stable as the well maintained one that had taken us out. The damn thing was hell on my stomach. I paid for my arrogance!

"C'mon, Commander, no time for this. You have a meeting with the Governor, remember?" Benny prodded as I groaned as a sack of terrible discomfort.

"I hate you all!" Vicky exclaims

"Yeah, yeah, I know, c'mon you'll feel better once you are off the DropShip."

Unfortunately, Benny was right. He dragged me off the ship, and once my feet were on stable non shaky ground I was already starting to feel more normal. The Governor this time wasn't waiting for us at his mansion, no the man had actually gone out to greet his son.

The fact his son was returning at all must have been a relief but when the Colonel stepped out of the DropShip not in the Shadow Hawk he had left in, but his own BattleMaster? Once more returned to him. I could tell the old man was feeling something.

The Colonel clambered down the ladder from the BattleMaster and stood before his father, tall and proud. The old man pulled him into a hug, and despite the flush of red going up his neck I could see the Colonel returning the hug. Their whispered conversation stayed between the two of them as I stayed away, mostly because I was still regaining my color.

"Ah and there she is. Commander Eisen-Blume." The old man called out, despite his obvious frailty, he seemed more energetic than before.

I guess getting your family Battlemech back will do that. "Governor. I hope you are pleased with the Iron Blooded Orphans work?" I couldn't help but ask as I approached. The old man offers a deep rumble of a laugh before nodding.

"Yes, Commander, you are worth every Kroner. Or will be rather once I actually pay you." He said turning entirely from his son to step towards me. "You have done my planet a service no amount of Kroner can ever repay." His heavy words echoed around and everyone took notice of his words.

"I was simply doing my duty. Pirates are the enemy of all civilization." I offered, not sure what else to say. The whole situation was awkward. But it seemed to be enough because he patted my shoulder and headed back to his car.

"Well then let's get somewhere more comfortable for our discussion, I am sure it will be an interesting one." He chuckled as he led me into his very fancy hover car.

It had cooling seats! I wanted one.

---

Compensation for Services Rendered

I appreciated the food. The wining and dining the Governor was doing for me. I liked the praise him and his men were giving me. Hell, I liked the medal he had told me I would receive in an official meeting the next day. The Star of Vindemiatrix was a hell of a medal apparently. The highest award the Governor offered outside of LCAF military medals.

But I was starting to get annoyed at his dawdling. As Virgil Carolus, the Governor's aide, once more went over our contracts reimbursement for ammunition. "Due to excessive although effective use of LRMs during the engagement we will accept the repayment request 95% of cost of all LRMs will be return-"

"Enough about the ammo, the hazard pay, or all the other little bits and pieces. You have been avoiding the meat of this deal all day. And Governor, I'm fifteen. I don't really care for the purposeful avoidance of the issue at hand."

The room went silent. The large meeting room with a massive wooden table is where I was sitting around with The Governor, the Colonel, the aide, then around the table stood, nobles, and generals, and all sorts of important people that lived here on Vindemiatrix. All of them of course aiming for a piece of the pie.

But I wanted my piece first.

The room was silent. No one, not even the Colonel willing to intrude on this argument. "Very well." The rumbling bass of the Governor speaks, the first time in quite a while, and I note his voice is not just deep, it's tired.

We had been at this all day after all.

"Virgil. Skip to the important part."

"Y-yes, Governor Maruska; The Invader Jumpship Clementine, The Union Dropship… undesignated. And the Mule Dropship Undesignated. Have all been accepted as salvage under the Contract the Governor made with Commander Eisen-Blume." Virgil admitted, and the gasps around the room were thunderous.

It wasn't just odd to hear that, but almost unheard of, but it had been part of our deal. I would move out with my current forces, join his assault of the pirate base attacking his world. But in exchange. Anything taken from the pirates could end up on the salvage table. No exceptions like in a normal contract.

It was a definite contract of desperation. And I knew exactly why the gasps of denial were so loud. A JumpShip. A single JumpShip could do wonders for a planet's economy, and Virgil just admitted that if I pushed for it, I could potentially take it right out from under them. If it had been any other situation the demand would have been refused immediately.

But this had been the old man's one chance to have it all. Take out the pirates. Get his family Battlemech back, earn enough wealth from the pirates' haven to revitalize his economy for decades to come.

And I had given it to him at a steal.

But now I wanted what was mine.

The Governor raised his hand and the table went silent. "As per our contract the Iron Blooded Orphans earned their pay. All of it. No matter what circumstances we end up with. I won't hear any denials on this. Commander Eisen-Blume. Per our agreement, you have first choice of any one piece of salvage. Regardless of what it is."

I swear one of the nobles made a sound like he was going to have a heart attack when that was admitted to the table. It had been one of my demands when making this deal. There were always minutiae or exceptions for normal clauses in salvage. 'Company earns percentage salvage shares but can't spend them on X' sort of stuff. It was normal. Common. I had demanded an exception to that because of the danger. And it had been dangerous even if we had done exceptionally well.

It only took one mistake to end in death.

"I am sure most of you believe you already know my choice. It should be obvious plainly to even a fool. But I am also not fool enough to take it outright. I am a mercenary. I will always need JumpShip. But not always use them. So how about a more equitable arrangement? If I don't choose the Jumpship today, instead I want an offer of premium status. If I ever need a JumpShip for an emergency mission, or need to go somewhere in a hurry this Invader will assist me. If you can agree to that concession, which I will of course pay the crew for every use of. I will remove the Jumpship from the salvage offer."

My offer rattled around the room for a minute. The noble who looked like he was dying before regained his color and turned to the Governor. Because really there were only two voices that mattered in this room. His and mine.

"I believe a contract will need to be written up to suit both our interests, but I see no reason why we would not support our friends the Iron Blooded Orphans in any endeavors they might have in the future."

I smiled like a shark. "Then my first pick is of course the Union DropShip." My statement still sent the room in a tizzy, there had been more than a few nobles in this room planning on the new DropShips and JumpShip to restart trade here on Vindemiatrix, but frankly? Not my problem.

No, I was going to have a DropShip. And a good one too. The Mule was something I would let them keep. Those things were dangerous to be in during any sort of combat. So I happily traded any claim on it for more shares of everything else. Of course the Union was exactly what I really needed.

Well it would be once I brought in all the 'spare parts' it would need to fix it.

Considering the Jumpship, and Dropship were all I really cared about, I accepted without complaint the mechs and other salvage that was partitioned to me. Most of it was junk from when we blew up the street, mechs in ten pieces don't usually do well. But it was fine. I was already planning on scanning it all down and just creating some new mechs.

The next few hours were mostly determining the Jumpship contract. Which was very nice. In the end, I became a co-owner of the JumpShip. Which hadn't been what I expected, but it seems to be the first thought they all had at my offer. Which was fine. The Clementine was a fine ship. Or it would be eventually. Unfortunately it was a lot harder to get scans of the damn thing, so for now I was relying on just giving them money to ensure everything was fixed up.

Although I didn't tell them, if it ever got really bad I would just go out and copy the thing whole. But that was years in the future, If ever.

It wasn't like I was going to be able to hide a brand new Jumpship. That was one secret that once it got out, there was no putting back.

---

Unexpected Recruit

The rest of the meeting went well, and it was only as it was ending and I was leaving the Governors manor that I ran into someone else I had been wondering about.

"I suppose since you aren't in handcuffs and are walking around freely someone proved your credentials?"

"Correct, Commander Eisen-Blume." Analise told me. The woman was wearing more normal clothes now, a pretty standard Lyran LCAF uniform, although pointedly without any rank, or other markings. "Once we got in contact with LIC, they assured the governor's office that I was on assignment. Of course I now have a new one."

"Well good luck with that. I guess." I mutter before heading off. She still creeped me out a bit. Unfortunately it was only a few moments later that I realized she was following me. I slowed, a creeping feeling up my back, "I'm not going to like the answer when I ask you why you are following me, am I?"

Despite her blank look I could tell she was amused. "Not at all, Commander Eisen-Blume. Not at all."

"Alright. Why are you following me, Analise?" I said after a few moments realizing she was waiting for me to play along.

"Why because I have orders to be your new Liason with LIC command of course! Someone was very impressed with your work and figured that you should have a more direct line Commander Eisen-Blume."

"I am fairly sure everything you just said was a lie." I tell her, turning around and looking the woman in the eye. "I think if that was true they would have offered me a fairly normal liaison not a member of Lohengrin."

"I think the Governess of Zaniah III's comments on you are quite accurate Commander Eisen-Blume, you are very perceptive!" She offers with a fake looking smile. Which only made me shudder in my armor.

"I don't suppose I can refuse can I?" she commented

"It would look rather suspicious, besides. Didn't you yourself say you accept any orphan that wishes to join? I'm an orphan, Commander Eisen-Blume."

I blinked at that. Hell, that's right. I remember that vaguely some of the LIC agents were orphans trained to be incredibly patriotic. Damn, that's fucked up. I stepped closer and did what just came naturally to me. Despite the woman being a little taller than me, it wasn't too much of a height difference, my armored boots helped as well, so when I leaned up and patted her on the head it wasn't too difficult. "True. Welcome to the Iron Blooded Orphans, we will have to get you some armor… You'll be an odd fit, but whatever." I tell her, before walking away. "Well don't fall behind, we have work to do!"

"W-what… Yes, Commander Eisen-Blume." Analise awkwardly answered

---

Handling Staffing Changes

Well alongside our surprise recruit, that wasn't the only ones who wished to join. Part of the agreement with the Governor was that the Iron Blooded Orphans could go around to the orphanages and recruit.

Yeah, he had looked a little uncomfortable about it, but I did explain this wasn't some weird meat grinder thing. I simply have the resources to provide food, housing, and training for a lot more people on Zaniah, and if he wanted to lighten the resource drain on his planet, I would take all of them.

I ended up with a lot of new recruits.

"How many joined?!"

"About four hundred." Benny offered, handing me the clipboard containing the list. "I know the population here is a little higher than Zaniah, but this is still a lot of people."

"Yeah it is! That's twice as many joined us on Zaniah, and we cleared out most of the orphanages there! Where did they all come from!?" I was utterly shocked at the numbers, but really as I looked into it, I discovered the simple truth.

There were fewer orphans on Zaniah, because more of them died. Raids after all didn't just affect adults. Kids got caught in the crossfire. Plus we were on the news everywhere here on Vindemiatrix.

"Okay, so that's too many to take with us on the Union. We are going to need to charter a civilian transport ship for that many." I offered, already pulling up the listings for civilian dropships. We just need to find a personnel transport. That would handle that many kids without too much issue.

"Yeah, but there is another problem, Commander, that is more than double our current population. Do we have the resources and manpower to handle that sort of increase?"

"We probably don't but to be honest we need to do this anyway. We will need to get used to getting surges in population. We aren't always going to be just a small merc band after all." I offered mentioning my future plans even as Benny waffled.

"Alright. I guess we should probably send a message to Zaniah then, let them know about the incoming. So they can prepare."

"Good idea, Benny, while you're there, go ahead and try to reach out to these ship captains. I doubt most will be too pleased about transporting so many children, so you might have to offer a bonus for doing the job."

"Can do.. Vicky. About the LIC agent. Analise. What do we do?" Bennys hesitation was obvious, Analise wasn't what I would call a trustworthy member of the IBO. And once she made it to Zaniah it would be pretty obvious that something is up.

"Nothing. Yeah she is a spy, obviously, but she is an orphan just like us, even if she is older. She wants to join? We bring her in. Is she spying on us? Definitely, but that's just how it's going to go. We can spend all our lives trying to hide from every prying eye, or just do our best to keep improving ourselves. I would rather keep recruiting anyone who wants to join, than worry about the couple spies that will inevitably get in."

"Vicky… Don't you think that's a little short sighted? We need to be careful about traitors, what if they set off a bomb, or reveal all of our secrets!"

"I know it's naive Benny. I know! But we can't change the world by falling into the same mistakes that everyone else has already made. We need to look at the world how we want it to be. So yeah. It's a risk. And if it fails, it will be my fault. I take that responsibility. But if our trust is paid back in turn, even just once? I think that's worth it."

Benny grimaced and then dropped his head into his hands and moaned loudly for a few moments before righting himself. "Understood, Commander. Just, don't expect me not to keep an eye on her."

"Do as you like, as long as you are making her feel like she is one of us."

"That, Ugh I'll try, Commander."

---

Months of Travel

Lyran Commonwealth Space
3021

Two months. Our Union, and I did love saying that. Left Vindemiatrix before we did. It's crew were men and women hired on the planet, from the starports, and the captain was the same former Lieutenant that had flown her here, he worked for me now. The crew weren't permanent and knew that, but I was paying them very well for now to crew the ship and when they landed on Zaniah to start training some of my kids as dropship personnel.

It was the safest way. I wasn't about to put a couple kids who have barely even been on a dropship in command. That is how explosions happen.

Everyone else basically went with me on the Stardust. A horribly cliche name for a travel liner. We had basically commissioned the whole ship for this run, and I was paying out the nose to make sure it happened. While we were on board, on a long and boring trip my orphans trained the new kids. Basically a mini bootcamp, as we started putting everyone through their paces and explained the ins and outs of what it meant to be Iron Blooded Orphans.

It was a long arduous trip, and I never want to be stuck on a ship full of teenagers again.

Unfortunately, I'm a moron and that is basically half my current profession.

Also I did my best to keep an eye on Analise. The woman… still creeped me out, even if I did feel bad for her. 'Taken in' by the LIC as a young orphan and basically taught nothing else but how great the Commonwealth was.

Yeah it explained the weirdness. The two month long flight was long and boring, and it gave me plenty of time to have conversations with her. Even if I did have to force myself to do it. Regardless of her true intentions she agreed to be an Iron Blooded, so she was one of us, at least until she did betray us.

Union Class Dropship approaching a planet

I wasn't holding my breath, but I wasn't going to limit every choice in the world for fear of being betrayed. So we talked. Not that she actually ever said much. It was always redirected questions and side answers. But that's fine.

As we finally hit the atmosphere of Zaniah I couldn't help but feel glad it was almost over, even as my stomach rebelled.

---

Welcome Home to Plenty of Paper Work

Red Base
Zaniah III, Lyran Commonwealth
3021

Red Base

"Vicky. Welcome home." Gauge told me as he pulled me into a hug which I returned even as the hundreds of new orphans looked around their future home for the first time.

Unlike when the IBO had originally gotten eyes on the base, it looked like an actual military base now. Gleaming white concrete walls surrounded the interior, turrets lining the walls giving it a strong feeling of safety.

The roads weren't dirt anymore. They must have hired a ferrocrete layer while I was gone, which was fine. It was always nice to put some money into the local economy. So now strong roads crossed the base. The prefab buildings I had purchased so long ago were here now. Each of them would need some 'upgrades' but that was for later. For now they were all cooled, and usable as offices, or extra barracks, or just hang out rooms for different units.

Whatever we needed.

Thankfully, Gauge had gotten my HPG message, and I could see the trucks and construction men working outside the walls on the north side.

Creating our Dropship pad.

I would go over it myself after to make sure it was good to go, and then we would set up additional walls and defenses. It was the first 'extension' we had put on our base on the surface. A good sign.

"Glad to be home. We brought new kids."

"I see that… Maybe too many this time? Where are we going to put them all?" Gauge whispered as he looked over the horde that was being met by already trained members of IBO. The armor that they all wore grew stares and envy, as did their easy confidence, and shiny equipment.

The new kids would get all of it, but only after they integrated.

"It's fine. We are going to need to get used to integrating large groups. This won't be the last time we hit a planet and recruit a batch of orphans."

"That's… Fair. Oh Benny, Hanna, Welcome back! Benny, you have so much work on your desk!"

"Hey, Gauge tha- What do you mean I have work on my desk! You were supposed to take care of it!"

"Oh, I did my best but some things I didn't know. So it's all yours. Welcome home!" Gauge offered patting Bennys shoulder and getting a slug back in return, although with their armor Gauge only laughed instead of wheezed in pain. By the Narrowing eyes, I figured Gauge would be under a nasty prank for a few days until Benny forgave him.

"Oh Yeah, Gauge, how's the repair of the mechs going? I know our new dropship got here first." I reminded him, knowing the reaction I would get.

The squawk of horror he gave when I said that was worth it. "What did you idiots do to the mechs! Hanna! Don't think I'm not talking to you too! Your damage wasn't as bad but really you lost the arm again! And Benny! What, did you decide to use your mech as target practice!? You are supposed to DODGE! And don't get me started on all the scrap you brought back!"

I smiled as Benny and Hanna enjoyed showering Gauge with all of the stories of how their mechs were damaged, enjoying the irritation the boy showed.

"And don't think I am done with you Vicky! Next time you order a 'surprise' like that, warn me first! They delivered the crates here and we opened them up without knowing what was inside. Do you have any idea what I have been dealing with for the last two months? Thousands of requests to be the new mechs pilots. Thousands!"

Stinger Light 'Mech

"Well did you tell them it wasn't going to work like that, the four Stingers are training mechs."

"Of course I did!" He hissed.

All I did was smirk in return and by his narrowed eyes I got the feeling I would be suffering some pranks in the future as well.

All was good.

---

The mysteriously expanding Base

Red Base
Zaniah III, Lyran Commonwealth
3021

I was busy through the next few days. Unlike last time I didn't have the luxury of resting for a while. As soon as we landed I was back in charge. Balancing four hundred new men. Two more barracks 'appeared' downstairs. And frankly I knew it was suspicious which is why I reminded as many of the old guard as possible to just pretend it was always there.

Enough of them got the message that I didn't hear any comments from the new kids.

No idea how much Analise figured out of course.

But with the quarter's situation completed, I was able to move on to other issues. We needed a second and probably a third cafeteria, and more cooks. We couldn't cook enough food for seven hundred people like we had before.

So it was time to expand in another way.

"Lieutenant Kurtz. It's time to expand our staff. We need more cooks. More workers. Laundry probably needs an upgrade as well." I told the older man as I walked into his office the next day.

"Commander… We can do that. It won't be hard to hire some part time, or even full time cooks… Are you sure that's a good idea? We have… well you know."

"It's fine. We already have a LIC agent among our most recent recruits."

"What!? Who? Why?!"

I snort as I settle into the chair. "Not by choice, Analise, and she was ordered to keep an eye on us, so if she is going to spy on us regardless, might as well recruit her and put her to work as well."

"Is that… wise?"

"You mean, am I being a stupid kid? Probably. But I am hoping that being open enough to just recruit her despite knowing what she is, will help keep anyone in the LIC from growing concerned about what my intentions are."

"I don't know if that will really work out how you think it will Commander."

"I am aware it's naive, Alfred. But I refuse to play the secrecy game for the rest of my life. Why do you think I told you the truth about everything?" I asked him after a time, he paused before closing the packet of papers he had been working on before.

"I haven't been sure. Not even now. If you were anyone else in the Inner Sphere, I would probably have taken a bullet, and that would be the end of it. I had noticed things you were obviously hiding."

I couldn't help but smile. "That is exactly why I decided to tell you. Lay everything on the table. We, I mean humans, didn't used to be like this. I mean, sure, as a whole we always have had problems, but there were times in the past we were better. I want to return to those times. I want to remind humanity we don't have to live like we have been. That war is not our natural state."

"I, I don't know. Commander, I don't think I understand, but if there is one thing I have learned after working with you for so long, it's that you do things differently than anyone else. Maybe we need that." The older man looked a little embarrassed as I gave him a full smile.

"I trust you, Alfred. You may not be an orphan, but you are an Iron Blooded, and in the end me trusting you, hiring you at all, was a net positive for everyone. I want to keep doing that. I would rather trust people, and watch things improve, then suspect every person I meet, and never get anywhere."

"Understood, Commander. How... How should I interact with her? Will we be running her through our boot camp?"

"Of course! How else is she supposed to make connections? Treat her like any other. If she wants to spy on us, by joining, then she does all the same work the rest do."

"Hah, when she is done, she is probably going to be cursing your name, Commander."

"Bah, if she is a spook, she must have gone through a bootcamp before. Let her sweat for a bit. It's a good way to get her used to Zaniah anyways."

---

A called for You

While settling the new recruits was a major workload over the coming weeks, I made sure to focus on probably the most important job.

"Eighty of you volunteered for a very important job. You will be joining the crew of the Union Dropship Isaribi. You will train every day continuously under the crew we have hired. There is no task on board that ship that you won't know back and forward. I need you all to be capable, on your own, of handling a ship during the routine or the emergency, because eventually we will get more dropships. And when we do, you will be the core of the crew, the captains and leaders to ensure our people get to where they need to be safely."

I had gathered all eighty of the potential crew at the Starport where the newly christened Isaribi was landed. Captain Dallas, was standing beside me as he looked over his trainee crewmembers. I could tell he was hesitant about this idea. They were all young, nothing but kids in his eyes. Without any of the schooling that he expected they would need. It didn't help that he was young too.

I told him plainly he would do this. Training his replacements of sorts was a requirement of his job. Eventually he agreed. 

But not without a lot of persuasion and a hefty raise. Damn Lyrans.

So as I watched the Captain took control of the crowd. All eighty of the kids were divided up, 2 to 1 for a member of the ship's crew to learn from.

Over the next few weeks the Isaribi would be going up every day before coming back in. Over and over. It was going to cost a small fortune in fuel, and the captain had been worried about repairs. But I had waved him off.

Gauge had already gone through the ship with his repair group 'searching' for damaged parts or traps the pirates might have left. Of course there were issues, and Sensors were applied to all of them, not all the ship was scanned, but enough was that we had discovered a few systems that had required immediate repairs. And I had already 'found' the spare parts. Most of the repairs were completed at this point, meaning that the Union was already in better shape than most Dropships of this age.

Pleased with the meeting I left the kids to get settled into the dropship. As I was heading back to the base a few AFS flew overhead in formation and I smiled knowing that at least a few of them were my kids.

Things were looking up. Training was still our main focus, but when money flowed, and resources weren't a problem, you could teach someone a lot in a pretty short amount of time. I pulled up to the security checkpoint and was waved through a moment later. Every checkpoint had a scanner set up, so it's not like anyone coming through wasn't already checked for weapons or bombs long before getting close. I drove down the road, slowing a few times to allow the groups of new recruits wearing their cooling suits run around the base. Our training group had increased massively, as many of the original Iron Blooded had been tasked to help out running the bootcamp.

I pulled in and parked my truck. Leaving the key in the ignition, if someone needed a truck they would just walk up and take it. There were plenty of them now. We had a huge fleet of trucks, after all. As I hopped out, one of the kids walked out "Afternoon, Commander!" He called as he started refueling the truck. The fuel cache I had created before I had even left for Helm had only needed a top up when I came back from the Vindemiatrix job. It carried a startlingly large amount of fuel, and I had buried it underground to ensure it wouldn't be a target during an attack.

I had also created a 'fake' surface fuel storage that was actually filled with water.

You know in case anyone was stupid enough to try and blow it up, it would make it harder to light anything on fire instead.

I headed inside. The original Hangar was still our main building, but our prefab buildings now connected to it, creating a large compound on each side of the hangar. The biggest benefit for them was just to have more places to cool off after being outside. I passed a few of the rooms being used, mostly by older Iron Blooded as a place to get some privacy as they did their work. Most of them, being taken over as offices. The logistics department was always getting bigger.

Despite being able to create anything we needed it was still important to know when we needed something after all.

I got plenty of greetings as I walked past, everyone was wearing our new uniform, the armor. I hadn't quite made it mandatory to wear the armor over the cooling suit, but with the new recruits and the culture growing it had slowly become a sign of 'graduating' basic training. Basically if you wore the armor, you were more than just a recruit, you were an Iron Blooded officially.

I groaned as I remembered I would have to remind Benny about the medals thing. I still owed Erica a medal for doing so well on Gniezno.

I walked through the buildings into one of the many staircases that now led down. Instead of being forced to use the hangar I had made more entrances. The stair cases were quite wide enough for five to move up and down at the same time, as I stepped down a few passed me, some of them recruits wearing just their cool suits. "Commander!"

While it wasn't an official requirement, Benny always liked his military cosplay and had taken to teaching a standard Lyran salute to the recruits. Of course the older kids had picked up on it, and started doing it too.

Mostly just to annoy me. Since it felt wrong not to salute them back I ended up having to do it rather constantly. My hand raised up to my forehead in return as I sent them off.

As I walked downstairs we got to the important stuff. I walked past the school rooms. Gauge had taken little time in claiming a few rooms and turning them into a school. Every Iron Blooded was not so much required, but 'suggested' to sit in on them whenever possible. The fact the classes were covering topics that were literally in some cases unknown to the Inner Sphere outside made me laugh.

Alfred was usually sitting in on them when he wasn't busy. The man was fascinated with the science we had lost.

Of course just down the hall were the games rooms. I couldn't let a bunch of kids do nothing but train after all. Holo, and TriVid Projectors, that were top of the line had constant viewings of Immortal Warrior and other vids. Solaris matches were still very popular. Freddy made sure that he always picked up the most recent matches whenever a HPG message was delivered with them.

I walked past Sasha in the medical bay. The girl was, whenever not helping someone injured, learning in Gauges classes. Her focus, unlike Gauge, was medical science. Although we had hired a group of doctors at exorbitant rates to cover our medical needs. A lot of their job was teaching.

I was still curious if Sasha learned more from the Classes, or the doctors.

I was actually really thankful a lot of the Helm Core was filled with old SLDF 'classes' on subjects, for soldiers away from a school, sort of like correspondence courses. Of course I also knew it was getting closer to the time for me to act on that.

Passing through the cafeteria I grabbed a snack that was always freely available. Freddy had outdone himself. When word had gotten around that with the new recruits it was stressing our cooks. Which was more of a routine job than anything permanent even now. He had seen an opportunity.

It was very Lyran. Instead of hiring permanent staff and having them on base, instead we had hired a bunch of people off base to cook food. Basically many of the people in the nearby town that were out of work, would be supplied food. They would cook it, and it would be collected at a central location and then brought back into RedBase.

Normally this would never work. A chance for someone to poison my kids was an instant no, but the sensors once more solved a convoluted problem. When they were brought in, the food was checked. And that was that.

Snacking as I walked I passed the Rough Squads chosen room. The door was as usual open, and I slowed as I passed. I could instantly tell Lenden and the squad were plotting. Lenden noticed me at the door and smiled while I gestured 'I have my eyes on you.' while he gave me a shrug and innocent smile.

I wasn't convinced at all. Satisfied he got the point I continued on. Heading to my objective.

The training room was a massive hall filled with Sim pods. Each of them were currently full, and I walked up to the command center, Hanna had taken to running these. She would create the objectives for each Lance, sometimes making them work in large companies. Sometimes alone, she would pit groups against each other, with objectives and everything else.

She got a real kick out of it.

"How's everyone doing?"

"Good. Better now. We learned a lot from our last jobs. Erica has been teaching the scouts how to think in a different way since we have the sensors. Benny has been guiding everyone on morale. I focus mostly on accuracy and making it so we are actually effective…"

"And Lenden is Lenden."

"Right. Rough squad? Well. I don't really want to fight them in an actual battle. They are going to be a menace."

"Yeah, but they are our Menace. How is the integration going for combined arms? I know the Stingers I picked up have basically never stopped running."

"Well we run them through maintenance of course. Repair group is starting to riot half the time when we bring in damaged ones, but yeah. We can thank the Governess for that. Gauge traded her for a few of the Scorpions while we were gone, in exchange for something or another, but it allows us to train combined arm groups. Although first they have to prove they have what it takes on the sims before we put them in the Stinger."

"Good. So we have Scorpions now? I didn't know that. Jeez, Gauge needs to actually finish his reports. Who took over the tanks?"

"Well, you know not everyone can be a Mechwarrior…"
"Yeah. So it's that group?"

"Yep. They were feeling useless. Sure they help out around base doing other things, but not all of them want to be non-combat. So we got them some tanks."

"I'll have to get some bigger vehicles than a couple Scorpions for them then. Scorpions are good for militia, or for training, but I would never let any of us drive one into battle."

"Sounds good, Vicky. I'm sure the Tankers will be happy."

"Tankers?"

"Gauge isn't good at naming things. Almost as bad as you." Hanna commented

"Hey!"

"Just being honest with you, Commander." Hanna offered snickering at my huff.

"Whatever. Fine. Anything else interesting happened while we were gone that Gauge forgot to mention?" Vicky disguntly commented.

"No idea. I've been busy with this."

"Yeah, fair enough." I sighed patting her on the shoulder as I walked out of the Sim room. Seems I had other things to check on.

"Commander! Radio for you!" Elias called out as he jogged to catch up to me. "It's Arthur."

"Weird. What does he want?" I muttered, taking the radio from his hand and pushing down the receiver. "This is Commander Eisen-Blume."

<<"Vicky, I am glad to hear from you, I find myself with some time tonight. I was wondering if you would be interested in joining me?">>

"Huh? Oh sure, we can do with a bit of night Training. I'll get everyone prepped. Glad to hear from you too, Arthur. I'll see you then. Commander Eisen-Blume out." I toss the radio back to Elias who is looking at me weirdly. "Can you let everyone know we are having some night training?" I told him. And he nods slowly as I walk off.

I still don't know why he started laughing so hard.

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