****
The truth of war……is that it is largely monotony. The Fleet was spread out looking for the Sons of Plunder. With so many of them having Comm Scanners and mobile HPGs it was the sensible choice. Add in they had unaltered records of the Outworlds Alliance going back even before the Reunification War and they had some pretty good ideas about where to look.
So that was what 66 was doing. Floating well away from any possible detection in the outer system of one of their candidate systems to gather more information.
So far there was nothing conclusive but they needed to be sure. Thus the waiting. The dull, boring, waiting.
She was tempted to run some simulations to pass the time but her full attention was needed here.
Then an emergence signature. Finally a break from the monotony.
It was an unflagged jumpship. So she studied it and cataloged it. By itself it meant nothing but if it showed up again at one of their other target systems it would be worth investigating.
****
Convoy escort……while she was catching up with the Fleet was worse than her 90 days of scut work for what happened at the party at the Roberts farm.
But it had to be done and she did need to catch up with the Fleet. So Samantha Booker Roberts was in a loose escort position. She would be able to respond to most any attack unless it was overwhelming.
So far the Sons of Plunder had been smart enough to run away rather than engage the two times they tried to go after her convoy. She wished she could pursue, but that would be quite foolish. They were likely trying to bait her away from her charges.
The raids into nearby systems were likely similar attempts. As painful as it was to let those raids go unanswered as the Snow Ravens and Outworlds were still stretched too thin to respond to them all, the convoy was too important and too vulnerable without her protection.
Their best bet was indeed to get forward and find more of the bases that the Sons of Plunder were operating out of. Once those were dealt with it would be a matter of sweeping up.
Kicking Nests
"They refortified at Grankum……It's one base we know for sure," Fleet Captain David Foster explained. The tiny man was even tinier-he had no legs below the knee despite his Clan origin and the medical advances he MIGHT have gotten access to. "It was a tough nut when we sortied there last year, and it's tougher this year."
"So it might be one of their primary staging bases," Billie Hoel's remote said.
"I think not," Dave stated. "I think they're fortifying there, as a forward base to draw fire. Tie us up in that system while their main fleet moves elsewhere-they've moved in additional Pocket Warship assets and Titans, but aside from a couple of Vincent 39's and an
Essex that pop in and leave on a monthly basis? They're not setting up for an offensive from that system, they're digging in."
"Because we hit them there before," Captain Roberts noted. Amanda looked… healthier now that she was back with her ship.
"Bingo. They're hoping to draw in another raid or strike. It's defense by naval one-oh-one, get your opponent to overcommit in the wrong place."
"I don't think you are correct." Wilhelmina Siegel was technically the base commander at Port Orphan, and like Foster, she was a Snow Raven 'retiree' of the Aerospace phenotype, filling a critical leadership position in the Outworlds Reserve Fleet, formerly the Privateers. "We have seen convoys dismantling the facilities there, what you are looking at, is a withdrawal under cover-they are pulling assets
back and guarding the site until they've gotten them withdrawn."
"Stalin in nineteen forty two?" 'Stacey', the AI from TQF-204M5B asked.
"Likely. We don't know… yet… where they're reassembling, but they're concentrating away from the… ah… 'front line'," Wilhelmina noted. "Fleet Cap, we need to know where they're relocating their logistics."
"Fallry was a dry hole," Amanda Roberts noted. "So it's not there. They've gotta be going deeper into the Periphery, somewhere not on our charts."
“Then you can have ours. They are very thorough, including charts from back before the Reunification Wars,” Helena offered.
"We can compare them to the recovered database then," Foster said. "If you haven't lost it, Amanda?"
Amanda tapped her head, "I still have it, and ALICE has copies in her memory. We can make comparisons and get some best-guesses where they're going to be moving those yard facilities."
"Hmmm… maybe figure out where they've been before," Foster mused.
"Pardon?"
"They had to have moved at least once since going under, or they wouldn't have procedures to be doing it now… so… where were they in twenty seven sixty five? Twenty eight sixty five? Twenty NINE sixty five, or thirty forty seven."
"Seems pretty specific," Helena noted.
"Thirty forty seven, according to Federated Suns sources we got through the treaty, the Sons of Plunder were documented operating in
Blommstein province. Indirect documentation, the Feddies had a salvage effort that heard of them out there."
“And Kerensky’s efforts would have revealed where their bases were in twenty seven sixty five,” Helena said, reaching for her coffee.
"Heat went up on that front, so they moved house, but now the heat's on this end…" Amanda looked thoughtful. "So they might move back into old digs?"
"Or left clues behind," Billie Hoel contributed.
"That's light scouting work, a duration cruise," Amanda said. "Even with the size of your fleet, Lady Cameron, you're filling a critical defense role on this end…"
"How's the repair on
Illusive going?" Helena asked.
Erin's loaned 'screen' lit. "We've dried her in and restored most of the pressure envelope. The guns the Republic sent as aid fit most of the mounts, I can say our yard will have
Illusive ready for action in sixty days, but that still leaves recovering the crew from other duties… and then, there's the other issues."
"Lynnwood," Amanda said.
"Lynnwood is one-the Sea Foxes were generous with their spares there in exchange for one of your gene-legacies, Captain Roberts, and their tech crews aren't bad, just…awkward to work with. I have been told that
SLS Tokyo will be recommissioning as a Snow Raven carrier in July, which means we're not going to get the quality of test-downs for officer-leader positions we need to staff Lynnwood or make up losses to Illusive-they're keeping them for the Tokyo and to fill out the Alliance Naval Star's ranks."
“I was hoping to keep them in reserve or as a communication chain but it looks like I might have to order forward Second Destroyer Division as well. We need too much area covered and don’t have enough ships otherwise, especially with such shortfalls.” Helena studied the maps.
"ahm…ah , uh…i might have a solution," ALICE spoke up.
"What kind of solution, Alice? And good on you for speaking up!" she smiled at the camera.
"Well…they left some spares, things we didn't install…cargo eleven, crates are from Nirasaki but the..ah, um, they didn't log… ahm… what they are?"
"Okay, what's your idea first, we'll check the crates after you tell me," Wilhelmina's tone was almost like a stern mother.
"Well… I think they're… processors. Or at least, memory modules, I mean, 'Nirasaki' didn't exactly have a wide range of options, but if we can find hulls…"
“Like say
Illusive. Send word to Truk, he has some useful data in that regard,” Helena said, letting a slight smile find its way to her face.
"That's still a six month trip, based on how long it took to bring the support people forward to Robert's Nest," Amanda noted. "Fleet Captain, can you staff
Illusive? I can loan people from Evanescent for the interim, but if you're right, we need eyes forward into areas nobody considered the last two years, and that means ships to scout… which devolves to corvettes like ours."
“Note I said data, not supplies or technicians. He’ll have something for us by HPG that will help get things going here. Then I can order forces into position.”
Dave nodded, "Roberts, you're to stay in port until I tell you otherwise," he said sternly. "I agree with you in principle, but we need to do this
right, and that means?"
"Details," Amanda sighed. "It means getting the details right."
"Bingo," he asserted. "Alice, please contact Truk. Billie?"
Siegel caught the tone before Hoel did. "Aff?"
"Get tech crews to the bay and confirm what we've got down there, then get with our guests and our own techs, and work up what we can actually
do with it... and how fast we can. Roberts, get with Lady Cameron and her staff directly, give them the database you've been carrying around and comparisons with ALICE's data, we need
the best maps."
"Ayeh, sirrah."
“Come on, if you thought Vicky was interesting then you’re about to meet some real wild cards. And do be sure to rib them back. Otherwise they’ll never fully respect you,” Helena smiled.
*****
"Hitting Bannerhoft really, really……hard is not going to solve things, not unless we cut the rest of their empire off first," Khan Alberto Crowe explained. "If striking the capital, or what you think and believe to be the capital, could solve a problem like this, the Tortuga Dominions would not still be plaguing the Federated Suns border, nor would the Lyrans have a bandit-caste polity occupying THEIR border."
"So… your strategy is containment, followed by destruction. It sounds reasonable to me," Khan Ruel Chistu of Clan Jade Falcon nodded approvingly. "So…our role?"
"Clear the anti-spinward axis, find their holdings between where we KNOW they are, and where the invasion corridors passed through and we know they are not. It is deep periphery bandit-hunting, but their resources indicate you will want to use serious assets when you find them."
"Press them between two fronts and cut off their retreat… sound," Khan Kerensky nodded. "Can you sustain your side with the piecemeal forces you have, quineg?"
"Aff, we can…I believe," Crowe stated. "We will
have to."
The Grand Council considered it, then voted. The encirclement would be used, the Sons of Plunder isolated, and then, they would be destroyed and their victims freed.
****
"The scale……is pretty broad, Devlin, and the Senate is balking." David Lear noted, "They don't like the loans."
Devlin Stone studied the gardens outside his residence in Geneva. "I know." he said, "I think they'll like something like the Sons of Plunder getting big enough to be a recognized
state even less."
He turned. "SO, I'll talk to the Senate leaders in private, explain things to them." his eyes were hard, "We can't let something like that continue to exist."
"Are you going to commit more forces then?" Victor asked, "If you do, I know half a dozen commanders who'll volunteer to go right now."
Stone frowned, "get them ready." he said, "I'll talk to Mitch Avellar and the Khans, so our guys aren't bogged down in friendly fires, but yeah, we're going to bolster the Alliance…once I've gotten the Senate to recognize why it's the right thing to do."
"What if they decide to fight you on it, Devlin?" Lear asked in a concerned tone.
"Then, I get to deal with disappointment, don't I? We founded a
Republic, not a dictatorship." Stone stated, "Sometimes that means dealing with losing an argument we should, by all rights, win."
"The Lyrans still balking?" Lear asked.
Stone nodded. "They're insisting the client list has to be a fake, and Andrew's pleading poverty-claims they can't afford 'long range foreign adventures'."
"What about volunteers?" Lear asked.
"We were a little too efficient getting them to dismantle their mercs." Stone said ironically, "Victor?"
"Arluna's Duke is sending volunteers to link up with ours, I wanted to save it for a pleasant surprise. I also got some commitments from my sister's side, but the whole won't make up a full RCT and the provincials are running last year's model for equipment."
"See if we can outfit them from reserve stocks." Stone suggested. "Better gear if we can." He sighed heavily, "and now, I get to argue with the Senate over the troops we already
have in theater…joy."
"You could just tell them to shut up and back it, Devlin." Victor noted.
"I am not going to become a goddam dictator, Victor!" Stone's tone was irritated, "You know it's the right thing to do, I know it too, but we founded a
republic, not a…not an empire, not a Hegemony, not the Star League…a
Republic and that means we
follow our own rules or they're no use to anyone."
“Good men need no rules. Pray you never find out why I have so many. Something I heard once. We need these rules and we need them to mean something so that one day we might be able to go without them.” David Lear added.
Somewhere out there, past the light of Sol, a war was quietly raging.
