- The Lucky Regiment -[]
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- Chapter 40 -
Justin Allard gets to work[]
Asking a Friend a Favor[]
Palace Gardens
Zi-Jin Cheng ("Forbidden City")
Sian, Capellan Confederation
December 12th, 3028
11:00 Hours Local Time
Justin Xiang's morning jog through the palace gardens was usually alone, this time he had brought Alexi Malenkov. Justin knew that Malenkov was in fact a Davion mole, a man who carefully shared what he could with the MIIO. Alexi on the other hand was he believed of the firm impression that Justin was now utterly loyal to House Liao and thus some sort of filthy traitor to the First Prince.
Despite that presumed certainty, Justin had found that Alexi was either a very good actor or a genuine friend and had quietly shifted behind Candace out of a desire to answer to someone who wasn't prone to regular fits of rage. It was putting Justin in a bit of a bind, he had managed to solidify Candace's position pretty well, quietly lining sensible intelligence and military figures behind her and unmasking those who were on Romano's payroll. The problem was that if he was unmasked Candace would be weakened, not to mention heartbroken.
They paused the jog by a lake and he took a drink from his water bottle. The palace complex was surrounded by several kilometers worth of parkland in all directions. It provided a layer of security for the palace and helped with the local air quality. In the event of an attack there was space for the garrison to engage an invader away from the palace buildings.
"You were right, Justin, it has cleared my head." Justin nodded, exercise was usually a good thing. He could still remember his academy instructors on the log run shouting about how pain was weakness leaving the body and other such macho phrases.
"I've got a favor to ask, Alexi."
"Of course."
"Don't say that yet. It's dangerous."
Alexi looked out over the lake. He really did the role of loyal analyst and operative perfectly.
"Candace didn't like the First Prince's latest speech, particularly the bit about her brother." They both knew what that meant, it was downright creepy trying to murder your son and replace him with a replica. She might have forgiven Maximilian if it had been Romano being replaced, but for all his many flaws she loved her little brother Tormano.
"I understand." The Federated Suns had paid up to send the text of it almost instantaneously across the Inner Sphere. It was a move that had shaken Candace to the core, nobody wanted to live in fear of their mentally unstable father.
"If the program is still running she wants to persuade her father to wind it down."
"I don't know anything about it, Justin, that message was the first I'd heard of it."
Justin started gently jogging again and Alexi joined him.
"We don't want to be too obvious, the Chancellor might respond poorly if we are caught looking." Candace would likely be fine, but Maximilian's response could well be a quick execution for anyone else.
"I'd prefer to avoid that."
"Me too, which is why we will spy on Tsen and Romano, Romano will want to control it."
Alexi smiled, it clearly wasn't at odds with any orders from New Avalon. "What do we do when we have a good lead?"
"The ground will dictate, and it'll be a decision for Candace." There was a momentary look of nervousness, minions were expendable in the Confederation. "Trust me she's aware of the risks for us." He looked a bit calmer, Candace at least was trustworthy even if occasionally short tempered.
They jogged silently past a security detachment, the squad of soldiers diligently keeping an eye out for Davion saboteurs. Justin was a well known sight and the eight man patrol moved out of the way when their officer recognized him. Alexi waited till they were well out of earshot before speaking again.
"Justin, I think we may have more evidence to support your Axton thesis."
"What else did you find?" Justin asked
"The reconstruction bill from a raid a few years ago seems to include the funding for your R&D facility." That was an important piece of the 'puzzle', enough to justify the raid he had already planned.
"Are you sure it wasn't part of the funding for the Federated Boeing plant?" That was a hell of a project, Axton was going to do well on the back of it and thanks to the Helm business the Federated Suns was a few big steps closer to restarting some old production lines.
"As sure as we can be, it looks like a facility was built on the other side of the planet at a small NAIS campus."
Justin smiled, Hanse had sent him a coded message at the wedding, Axton was to be a target. "Nice work, Alexi."
"I have to warn you, Justin, there is definitely a Lostech battalion stationed at the Federated Boeing plant, they are a bit green, but they have good instructors."
He took a deep breath, he was starting to notice the gentle slope of the ornamental hill, "Don't worry, I know about them, Candace has me keep a watch list of nearby threats to her holdings." He knew there were also local units stationed alongside the mercenaries, it wasn't worth the cost going if anywhere near them. And sadly he doubted he could find a way to tempt Romano to try and raid it in person.
"They won't be able to leave the plant unattended, it's just too valuable."
"They may be more flexible on their use of air power though." Alexi had a good point, and wasn't aware that Justin had been given a pretty good steer at the wedding that a raid would be able to get through 'undetected'.
"I know, but the Maskirovka obtained some military transit codes, Tsen will brief you later, he's planning to use them to get raiding parties close to a number of supply depots. Assuming Maximilian agrees to the plan that is. Based on what you have said I'll use one set to get in close to Axton and be in and out before they can reach the LZ."
"You're going in person?" There was a surprise in Alexi's voice. It had to be said that by and large those on Sian tended to prefer their creature comforts.
"Indeed." Justin stopped at the peak of the the very shallow hill, admiring the view of the tended patches of gardens and rolling lawns. "I need to ask of a favor of you though."
"Of course."
"I'd like your personal support, I need someone watching my back, too many accidents have been happening of late." Alexi had an uncomfortable look, he knew exactly what Justin was referring to. Romano and to a lesser extent Candace had used the the ongoing hostilities to pick off military and political figures that were definite supporters of the other. Hanse probably didn't need the help of Alexi or himself to hamper the war effort, Romano unsupervised would likely do it of her own accord.
"I'd be honored." They shook hands to seal the deal, they were now best friends for forever, or at least allies.
He patted his friend on the back. "Thanks, buddy, I'll be there when you need it, no matter what." Alexi did his best to look honored, whilst the Capellan court was notorious for its backstabbing it was also the case that the survivors rose through forming little alliances and finding a patron. Candace was theoretically a solid choice for Alexi, and everyone knew at some stage the sisters would have to fight it out and the supporters of the winner would be richly rewarded.
Uneasy Invasion Preparations[]
Marauders HQ
Axton, Federated Suns
January, 14th 3029
12:30 Hours Local Time
Darius looked at the holographic display showing the entire planet of Axton. He and the Marauders were on one side of the world, the Capellans were on the other. The red marker showed a pair of dropships descending, they had cunningly used standard codes to come in close and now they were attacking a lightly guarded NAIS research station.
"Colonel, it'll take twelve hours to get there if you can me the dropships from the capital, otherwise I'm stuck here." Darius felt a sense of helplessness. There was a platoon of militia stationed there to keep the bears from eating the scientists, they would be helpless against a single 'mech let alone a pair of dropships. It was the sort of devious thing Edmund would have done.
The Federated Suns officer looked non-plussed as he also stared at the map. The man had been stationed there since the beginning of hostilities, he and a small command were supervising the ongoing work on the Federated Boeing plant.
"I know it sounds harsh, Darius, but the First Prince has injected billions into the construction of this factory. The NAIS facility is studying climatology as part of their terraforming program, it's fascinating stuff apparently, but it's replaceable."
"What a about the personnel?"
"Evacuating, they'll be out of there before the dropships land."
"What are the Capellans doing there if it's just a weather station?" Darius could tell he wasn't in the loop on something. The Colonel was hiding excitement very well, and seemed pleased by the choice of target.
The Colonel frowned, "It's built on top of an old terraforming facility, it is worth studying, but it isn't worth a raid." The Colonel looked at the dropship markers. "They might be a diversion, hence the alert for here and scrambling the fighters."
"There aren't enough dropships in the system for that."
"Indeed not, so I suspect they are hoping the NAIS facility is working on one of the Helm projects."
Darius looked at the status updates on the map of the facility, there was now a company of 'mechs on duty, two of his and one belonging to Federated Boeing formed the core of a large garrison. The status of the large aircraft contingent indicated another four were ready to launch. "Should they be optimistic?"
"Honestly, Darius, I was told the terraforming files are very low down on the security priority list, they are unlikely to have much of the Helm core there and that facility was assumed to be safe on the grounds it isn't economical to raid it."
Darius had to admit the Capellans were hardly demonstrating a coherent strategy in the war so far, and by all accounts the fall of Tikanov had destroyed the bulk of their mobile force. Darius knew most of Axton's military industries were located relatively near the Federated Boeing complex, as were the key shipping points for off world commerce.
"They could be looking to hit the invasion's supply lines?"
"Certainly a sound strategy." The Colonel studied the map. "We can can have a company of mechs at any of the crucial points within an hour, so I'm not too worried. But we do feed into the invasion supply chain." He looked again. "There a few small militia depots near the NAIS facility, but nothing there to justify a raid." Darius's own experiences were that those were often the best place to raid as the garrison was usually small vs the potential rewards, but of course that was only if you needed to replenish a small force and not stop an invasion.
"Perhaps they had bad intel?" Darius had taken part in more than one raid that had found nothing when they arrived at the specified destination, getting payment for those sort of jobs was often a pain in the backside.
The Colonel looked thoughtful as he listened and stared at the map of the planet. "Potentially, or this could be a part of a larger pattern of raids, merely showing their capability to do this may force an adjustment in the offensive." That would suggest the recent Combine attacks on the Terran Corridor were an opening move in a combined operation. Not for the first time Darius missed the simplicity of the periphery, nobody had the resources for much complexity.
"Will it go on our record that we let this raid through? This is a key contract to us." Darius was increasingly sure something was irregular, and he didn't wish the Marauders good record to be ruined.
"No, just follow my guidance and there might even be a bonus for today in year or two."
"Of course, I'll keep the Arrow IV Artillery batteries on standby and ensure everyone feels they did their part with plenty of patrols and alerts." Darius had already got the main rapid response plan underway, but there were small variations to carry out depending on how the threat evolved.
"That would make sense, now if you excuse me, whilst you handle this district I shall supervise the rescue of the NAIS staff and plan our response."