Act 2 - Bargaining[]
With A Bared Sword[]
Chapter 24[]
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Castle Davion, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
16 March 3056
Paul Fisher had been firmly warned that if he went off topic his career would follow Sven van Zandt’s into the trashcan. The former talkshow host had taken a calculated risk in trying to lure Kate into acknowledging that there was more to the relationship between Victor and Omi Kurita than was public. His math had been poor and while there was no official consequence, his contract had not been renewed later that year and none of the other big five networks had been interested in picking him up. Reportedly, he had left New Avalon in hopes he’d have enough name recognition to pick up a senior post in a local network somewhere else.
This time, the interview would be at Castle Davion and it would not be live. Any recordings would pass through Kate’s public relations team before it went to the network.
“Your highness,” the journalist said, bowing politely. Then he saw Jackson Davion and his back straightened, snapping a textbook salute.
“At ease,” the Field Marshal told him. “I’d have thought that reflex would have worn down a little by now, it’s been a couple of years since you served, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir.” Fisher didn’t relax much. “Some habits are harder to shake than others.”
“Who did you serve with, if you don’t mind the question?” Kate asked as if she hadn’t skimmed his file before he was approved for this interview.
“Twenty-Sixth Lyran Guards,” he admitted. “I wasn’t combat arms though.”
Jackson chuckled. “The shaft of the spear is as important as the head. Without that a spear is just a dagger. Besides, anyone who survived three clashes with Clan Wolf’s best deserves some recognition.”
“I’ve a lot of respect for those who stayed in,” Fisher said frankly, “But I’d done my five and -” he lifted his walking stick. “- medical retirement was on offer.” He smiled self-deprecatingly. “And being honest, I make a bit more these days than I did as a corporal.”
“I can’t fault someone who put in more than five years service,” the blonde princess assured him. Particularly someone wounded while carrying an ejected mechwarrior back to the comms van that shouldn’t have been on the battlefield to begin with. “Would you like to begin?”
“Yes, I’m supposed to be the one interviewing you,” agreed Fisher with a rueful chuckle. They moved to the seats that were set up for them - the lounge was set up for this with seats along one side of the room but plenty of room for the holocamera team on the other. One of the crew gave Fisher a thumbs up and he moved onto a few framing questions to set the scene for anyone watching who didn’t recognize the two Davions.
“I understand that the New Avalon CMM has a new battle honor,” he asked as he had been primed to once the preliminaries were over.
Jackson made a ceding gesture towards Kate. “That was her highness’ work, so I’ll let her explain.”
“There were a lot of people involved and I wasn’t among those deployed,” she said modestly. “But yes. Elements of the New Avalon CMM were part of an operation earlier this month that we’ve just had a report from. You may recall that the Fuchida Fusiliers, a mercenary command in the Draconis March, broke contract in 3051 rather than be redeployed to face the Clans. Since then they’ve carried out several raids on the Commonwealth and the Outworlds Alliance.”
“Yes, I recall they hit the Diverse Optics factory on Tancredi IV after their desertion,” confirmed Fisher. “And then the March Militia base on Bryceland late in 3054.”
That got a grim nod from Jackson. “Last year we learned that they had set up base on Tortuga, using the same lair that the infamous Paula Trevaline had operated out of for years.” He turned back to Kate and raised an eyebrow.
“With help from Marquessa Tempeleau of Filtvet, we were able to move a force of two ‘mech regiments and a mixed brigade from the New Avalon CMM into the area without tipping the Fusiliers off,” she informed Fisher. “The force has now returned to Filtvet and report that their attack on Tortuga was successful, catching the bulk of the Fusiliers on the ground along with four other pirate bands. Heavily outnumbered, the pirates scattered and tried to shelter in the wilds but the 1st Albion and the Wolverton Highlanders hunted them down and brought down more than seventy battlemechs while the conventional forces destroyed the support facilities and rescued thousands of prisoners.”
“Excuse me, by First Albion do you mean the First Albion Training Cadre? Cadets fresh out of an academy were deployed for this?”
Kate shook her head. “The Training Cadre isn’t made up of cadets, Paul. The soldiers are inexperienced, on their first deployments, but most have almost as much time in service as I do. If I wasn’t serving as Viceroy, I might well have been one of the mechwarriors sent by the CMM.”
Although most of the New Avalon troops sent had been infantry and armor, a single company of battlemechs had been sent. Kate tried not to think about Clara Rowan, the only one of the twelve mechwarriors involved who would not be returning to New Avalon.
Clara’s Javelin had been caught in an ambush as the CMM pushed into Raider’s Roost, an SRM Carrier dug into cover hammering the light ‘mech with a massive salvo of missiles at point-blank range. The rest of her lance had taken out the thinly armored combat vehicle before it got a second shot, but Clara had been forced to eject and taken shrapnel to the back before she could be picked up.
Medical science had come a long way since the Succession Wars, in no small part to NAIS’ medical college… but Kate’s friend would be doing well to walk again. Piloting a ‘mech was out of the question.
“You’re right, of course,” Fisher said apologetically. “Were you hoping for a frontline assignment? You and your brother Peter have both been sent to March Militia posts whereas Victor served with distinction in the Tenth Lyran Guards.”
“There’s no special treatment for royals in active service,” Kate told him. “We go where we sent, but as long as Victor remained on the frontlines at least one of us needed to remain available for the line of succession in case matters went poorly for our brother. At the moment, it isn’t clear if Peter will be going to the frontlines after his current visit to Solaris or if he will replace me as viceroy.”
“Yes, I heard that Prince Peter will be attending the championship on Solaris VII this year.” Fisher grinned broadly. “Do you have any money either way on the outcome.”
Jackson snorted. “No one in my office is willing to put any money down on Kai Allard-Liao failing to defend his title. He’s one of the sharpest officers to graduate NAIS since Hanse Davion himself, and even the Clans are reputed to in awe of his skills in the cockpit.”
“I wouldn’t take that bet either,” agreed Kat. “Although if Peter sneaks in a match with someone then I’ll owe Arthur five kroner.”
“Last of the big spenders,” Fisher muttered as an aside to the holocamera.
“Father taught us never to wager anything you weren’t willing to lose.”
“That’s a good point,” the journalist admitted. “I do have to ask though, the other speculation is regarding certain allegations made by Free Skye regarding your brother’s time on Lyons.”
“Their attempt to claim that the trailer for FBC’s new movie includes footage of Peter’s ‘mech?” she asked.
He nodded. “Particularly that the town destroyed in the trailer is Bellerive, a commune that was leveled earlier this year.”
Jackson spoke up scornfully. “Any real mechwarrior watching that trailer knows it was a pyrotechnic display. If a JagerMech’s autocannon could devastate such an area with a single salvo, we would have a ready solution to the Clan’s firepower.”
The Field Marshal’s reaction had to be entirely sincere, Kate thought, since he had no idea of the truth. “This is why I never watch action movies with my family,” she sighed. “They always bring in ‘realism’. To go back to your question, Paul, I believe FBC have issued a cease and desist order through the courts. While members of Free Skye have made those distasteful claims, they’ve carefully avoided anything that would open them up to a libel suit. If they do contest FBC then that may change so I suspect they will drop the claim rather than face a costly court case.”
Ryan Steiner had carefully stayed out of the matter. Of course, officially he had no provable ties to Free Skye beyond those he had used to negotiate a ‘compromise’ settlement in 3036.
“Bellerive was attacked,” the princess admitted. “Given the timing, we believe that it is another Zhanzeng de Guang attack, part of their campaign to destabilize the Terran corridor. Military units in the Isle of Skye have been alerted to support the authorities in case of further terrorism, but Jackson and I don’t have any hand in operations there.”
“I gather that you’re also heavily involved in raising new March Militias?” the interviewer switched the subject. “The Broken Wheel and Kathil March Militias are both being stood up, is there any truth that the final gap in the roster will be reactivated? Point Barrow is as far from any hostile region as possible, surely.”
“Well, I am a completionist,” Kate told him. “One alternative that has been suggested is to divide up Broken Wheel Combat Region and create a second March Militia in that region to improve our security in that area. On the other hand, coverage for the interior of the Commonwealth is important - deep raids and other low intensity threats can be an issue. Both ideas have merit, and if production of ‘mechs like the Watchman continues to expand we might be able to do both.”
“Yes, I believe the New Avalon CMM has a company of Watchman in their ranks - were any deployed to Tortuga? That would be their combat debut, I believe?”
“It was,” Jackson confirmed. “And it performed to expectations in all respects. Robinson Standard BattleWorks has provided us with a good, reliable standby for the AFFC in years to come.”