Fate Can Be Cruel (Part One)

[2ndAcr]

Disregard post #58, I goofed and will be rewriting it.

[2ndAcr]

New version of post 58 now up.

[cawest]

like the changes

[Daryk]

I think Mitchell and Rommel will have no problems working with this version of Blythe...  :thumbsup:

[2ndAcr]

 Main goof was got my systems confused, the Star Lords are in Boulsi not Thazi

[Daryk]

Heh... we'll have to agree to disagree on that point... :)

[2ndAcr]

7 June 2766
Eigerland (Outworlds Alliance)

 Commodore Trisha Delvaney, commander SLS Salvation, Newgrange Yardship, along with SLS Gareth and SLS Helmet, Essex Destroyers materialized at the Nadir Jump Point. Everyone was getting a little antsy, they were now 4 jumps from Quarte Belle. She was really looking forward to some extended ground time. Her Chief Engineer had a fairly long list of issues that needed addressing in a repair yard, not the least of which was a complete Jump Core replacement. She looked at her communication officer and was surprised when she got a differennt answer to the unasked question "We have alignment on the HPG and we have a a return signal. Praise the god's, we actually can send a message."

 This was the first time in over a year that they could actually send a HPG message. "Stand by for message." Commodore Delvaney said as she quickly prepared a message to 10th Fleet, which was based out of Quatre Belle.

 To: 10 Fleet
 From: SLS Salvation

 Completed mission at Rest Stop March 23, 2766. Currently Eigerland enroute Quarte Belle. SLS Gareth and SLS Helmet in attendance. Per Chief Engineer, SLS Salvation needs Jump Core replacement, many micro cracks appearing. ETA Quatre Belle 29 June.

 "Send this with a priority acknowledgement request." Commodore Delvaney said

 "On it." Typing furiously, he then encoded the message and hit SEND "Message away."

 "Begin recharge operations. We are almost home people." Commodore Delvaney said

Spencer (Independent Periphery)

 Colonel Brandon Janees, commander 173rd Mechanized Infantry Division, or what was left of it, had bent to the vote made from the suvivors of the Division. They wanted to leave the fighting. Only 3 Star Lord captains had been willing to join them, so he had wished the other ship captains well and allowed them to attmept to return to SLDF command, along with 700 of the Divisions personnel that also wanted to leave. Over the last 2 months, many wounded had been cleared for duty. Currently aboard the 3 Star Lord Jumpships. The vote had been to head for the Tortuga Dominions.

173rd Mechanized Infantry Division

Battlemech Battalion - 4 Company's
Mechanized Infantry Regiment - 3 Battalions
Mechanized Infantry Regiment - 3 Battalions (only 1 Batt has APC, other 2 Batt foot)
Artillery Battalion - 2 Company's

Wayland Mobile Repair Bases - 6
Mobile HQ (Standard) - 1
Coolant Trucks - 11
Flatbed Trucks - 68
BFFL "Buffalo" - 22

Division Support Personnel - 3,852

Unassigned Personnel
69 Mechwarriors (No Battlemechs)
491 Infantry (not cleared for duty)
562 Armor Crew (No Tanks or not cleared for duty)
22 Aerospace Pilots (No Fighters or not cleared for duty)

Star Lord Jumpship - 3
Dictator Dropship - 2
Union Dropship - 4
Lion Dropship - 3
Czar Dropship - 6
Mammoth Dropship - 3

NP29 (Periphery)

 "General" Olivia Daniels, commander 54th Mechanized Infantry Division, had been shocked and a little scared when the personnel of the 54th nominated and then voted her commander. She cursed the memory of Major General Tanner Hansen and his stupid command meeting for all officers Major and above that had completely decapitated the 54th. Where the fighting had been bad, it had gone to absolute crap after a tactical nuke took out the Command Staff of the Division. Now here she was, in "command" of a mutinied Division, trying to stay alive and reach the Tortuga Dominion's. She still thought of herself as a Captain, she knew she was not ready to command this large a force. Yes, she had assumed command of her Mech Infantry Battalion during the desperate fighting, and then her Regiment when no one else seemed up to the task, but a Division, she was out of her league and knew it.

Hope IV (Independent Periphery)

 The convoy carrying the 280th Mechanized Infantry Division had been at the Nadir Jump Point for 3 days. Today was the day Major General Iris Carman had dreaded. On the bridge of SLS Midnight Rider, Star Lord Jumpship, with Commodore Richard Devall watching, she depressed the radio mic already set to broadcast her voice to every radio and intercom on every vessel in the fleet.

 "This is Major General Isis Carman, most of you must be wondering where we have been going and what is going on. Well, I have a confession to make. I lied to all of you. I forged those orders bringing us here to Hope IV, our actual orders had been to report to Armington for disbandment. All equipment to be turned in, all personnel to be sent to a replacement pool for reassignment as individuals.

 I could not take the thought of my Division being broken up, not after the hard fighting we had already done together. Not after all the years together. I asked for them to break the Division up by sub command and assign everyone that way, so that we could at least stay together that way and it was denied. Today you all have learned the truth. You are all my family, the only family I have left. The choice is now all of yours to make, I will not be returning to the SLDF. The next 3 days are yours. Any that wish to return to the SLDF, may do so with my best wishes. Those that would like to remain with me, well, our future is not clear, but we will be together and that is my greatest wish. Forgive me for lying to you all, you all know where to find me. Carmen out." She handed the radio mic to the ships communication officer and departed the bridge for her quarters. Only time would tell what her fate would be.

Albaracht (Uncolonized System)

 After 2 weeks on the planets surface, they had replenished their water supply, run it thru their purifiers and basically just enjoyed being on solid ground. Now, Colonel Patrick Quieg watched the last of his people reboard the Dropships for the 6 day trip back to the Jumpship. A platoon of volunteers had remained on board to make sure the ships captain did not strand them here. Next stop, Hope IV and then the Tortuga Dominions.

NP32 (Periphery)

 Lieutenant General Nathan Baxter, commander 359th Battlemech Division and Major Jenny Davidson, commander 509th Battle Regiment had decided to make for the Torgtuga Dominions. Once there, they would allow the personnel of their commands decide if they wanted to continue or leave. They still had at least a 6 month journey to get there. Both had spent many days studyng the Star Maps. Major Jenny Davidson wanted to travel to Drachenfeld, a fairly new colony and possibly start a new life. Her 509th Battle Regiment had already agreed to go with her. Lieutenant General Nathan Baxter on the other hand, was not sold on the idea, not yet anyway.

Argos (Uncolonized Periphery)

 Colonel Irma Fuentes, commander 19th Hussar Regiment, Major Oscar Venezuela, 9917th Marine Regiment and Major Cassien Thomas, 9th Royal CAAN Regiment were aboard Colonel Fuentes' SLS Heaven Bound, Tramp Jumpship. Their combined commands gave them enough defensive firepower that traveling the empty periphery did not worry them all too much, short of triping over a warship anyway. When the alarm sounded, they all headed for the ships bridge, on entering they saw Commodore Jack Helmsley looking at the ships plot board.

 "What is happening Commodore?" Colonel Fuentes asked

 "Emergence wave inbound, by the readings, picking up 2 distinct readings, each roughly 300,000 tons. So we could have incoming warships. We have 2 more days to complete recharge operations, so we could be screwed." Commodore Helmsley said

 "Well, guess we better kick the Dropships loose and get what Aerospace Fighters we have launched." Colonel Fuentes said and then to Major Venezuela and Major Thomas "I guess you two should get your Marine suited up, at least you can fight the way you trained, I pilot a Battlemech so I am just a weakly trained grunt for this."

 "Here they come!" Shouted the sensor operator "Should be about 14,000KM away from us."

 Three minutes later, 2 Tramp Jumpships materialized at the Nadir Jump Point and everyone breathed a small sigh of relief that it was not warships. Each Tramp had 3 Jumbo Dropships attached and none were broadcasting SLDF IFF, so that made them hostile. Major Venezuela then spoke "I will take a company over and take out one Tramp, Major Thomas, care to lead one of your company's over and take the other?"

 "Sure, it has been quite awhile since we did any boarding actions. I don't see the need to take both of my full Battalion." Major Helmsley replied

 "Colonel Fuentes, have your Aerospace Fighters do some passes on those Tramps while we get suited up and make the trip over please. If we are lucky, they will surrender without a fight." Major Venezuela said as he and Major Thomas moved to leave the bridge for the hanger deck.

 One hour later, both Major Venezuela and Major Thomas were aboard seperate shuttles heading for the 2 Tramp Jumpships. The 6 Jumbo Dropships had detached and attmepted to make a run for it, but were quickly shown the folly of that by the 14 Aerospace Fighters, Titan Dropship and several Lee Dropships. All 6 had surrendered after a few shots were landed on them and Major Venezuela had ordered another company of Marines into shuttles to board the Dropships.

 With a Lee Dropship hovering within easy weapons range of each Tramp Jumpship broadcasting surrender orders, neither Tramp Jumpship responded to the calls for surrender. They would have to do it the hard way. As the shuttle's carrying Major Venezuela's marines reached their assigned Tramp, he watched as his marines went EVA and on reaching the Tramp Jumpship, they punched in the mandated SLDF security override codes and entered the airlocks. Fifteen minutes later came the call "Ship secure, we have 2 marines WIA, 4 enemy KIA, 6 WIA and 23 prisoners."

 Major Thomas's Marines had it much easier as their Tramp surrendered once they knew boarding was about to occur. Two hours later, the Jumbo Dropships were redocked with the Tramp Jumpships and both Major's made a quick inspection of the Jumbo Dropships. What they found was surprising.

 Jumbo 1
144 Stinger STG-3R
108 Firestarter FS9-H
3,000 Tons spare parts and ammunition

 Jumbo 2
144 Phoenix PX-3R
2,000 Tons spare parts and ammunition

 Jumbo 3
72 Battlemaster BLR-1G
3,000 Tons spare parts and ammunition

 Jumbo 4
108 Archer ARC-2R
1,500 Tons spare parts and ammunition

 Jumbo 5
144 Talos TLS-1B
2,000 Tons spare parts and ammunition

 Jumbo 6
9,000 Tons combat rations

[cawest]

looks like the 19th Hussar Regiment, 9917th Marine Regiment, and the 9th Royal CAAN Regiment can do some rebuilding. 

[Daryk]

Definitely... and that much materiel wandering around the Periphery unescorted should really say something in and of itself...

[2ndAcr]

9 June 2766
Apollo (Rim Worlds Republic)

 President Stephan Amaris would soon be boarding RWS Stephan Amaris, Stephan Amaris Battleship for the journey back to Terra. His plans were now in their final stages, most pieces were in place. He had made the decision to end all further support to the far flung Outposts. They had performed their mission, and now were just too big a drain on shipping and resources. He had already ordered shipments of material to Outpost #27 halted. Soon, he would have the Terran Hegemony in his possession and with all of it's production might, the 2 shipyards there would be a pebble in the ocean. It had accomplished it's task, producing 2 new Dart Light Cruiser's and refurbishing a third one. He would continue shipments of food to maintain the facility as a secret Fleet base.

 Of the many Outpost's he had established, only 4 had any sort of manufancturing capability. Built in secret, at huge expense, both in money and resources. Now it was time to end the economic drain. Even though he hated to leave the Battlemech Complex on Outpost #11, he consoled himself by restating in his mind that soon he would have all the industry of the Terran Hegemony at his disposal.

 Strategos Rubert Kominsky knocked on President Amaris' door and was waved inside and pointed to a seat in front of the broad desk. "Rubert, we will be ending support for all Outposts effective immediately. What do we have remaining in transit to the last 3 furthest Industrial Outposts?"

 Stragegos Kominsky pulled the information up on his always present portable computer pad, found the relevevent data and said "One convoy dispatched 8 months ago for Outpost #11. Carrying just over 1.5 million tons of raw material and just over 300,000 tons of general supplies aboard 40 Mammoth Dropships and 16 Jumbo Dropships transported by 7 Leviathon Jumpships escorted by 2 Riga Frigates. They will be stopping at Outpost #4 and #7 after delivering their cargo to Outpost #11, loading all current Battlemech production and then picking up all awaiting Tanks and Aerospace Fighters at #4 and #7 for return to the Rim Worlds. Return trip will be around the periphery of the Draconis Combine to avoid detection. They should be 100LY beyond Detroit by now."

 "Halt all further deliveries to thos Outposts. Current personnel at each Outpost?" Amaris asked

 Consulting his portable computer Strategos Kominsky replied "Outpost #11 is the largest with 153,281 personnel, Outpost #7 is next with 88,122 personnel and Outpost #4 has 54,872 personnel. Shall I arrange pickup for the personnel?"

 "No, they are no longer important. I was just curious. If I remember correctly, Outpost #11 grows some of their own food but Outpost #4 and #7 must import theirs, am I right?" Amaris asked

 "Correct sir, there is a small chance that Outpost #11 could survive on their own, but those on Outpost #4 and #7 are doomed. All attmepts to grow sustainable crops has failed, there are some greenhouses on both Outposts but in no way can they sustain the populations." Strategos Kominsky replied, though he did not like abandoning trained technicians, he did not give them a second thought once their sentence had been announced by President Amaris.

 "Very well, I will be separting for Terra soon. Make sure to erase all information on Outpost's #11, #4 and #7. As far as anyone is concerned, they never existed." President Stephan Amaris ordered

Boulsi (Outworlds Alliance)

 It had taken 5 days of fighting to finally secure the capitol city of La Tapoa, but it had finally been accomplished. In the house to house fighting, the SLDF forces had sustained 253 KIA and 1,210 wounded. The desire to keep damage to the city itself to a minimum had been the main cause of the casualties. Lieutenant General Mitchell now ordered the Light Battlemech Battalion attached to 2722nd Brigade to form with the Light Battlemech Battalion in 2721st Brigade and for them to begin securing the outlying towns on the continent. She ordered 2722nd Brigade to garrison the capitol city while the rest of the 272nd and 126th MID moved to take the mountain fortress.

 Inside the mountain fortress Colonel Xin Chou exploded "What do you mean we do not have enough food to sustain a siege of more than 3 months?"

 "I performed the estimate myself sir, at normal rations, we have exactly 88 days of food inside this complex. If we immediately move to 1/2 rations we can stretch it to 6 months." Major Kho Lin replied

 "There must be more hidden, all SLDF defensive bases are stocked with enough food and supplies to last over a year under siege. Find them." Colonel Chou almost yelled

 "There is no more. I have spent the last week conducting an inventory of everything in this complex. Water is pumped up from the aquifer and we have power from the fusion reactors installed here, but it appears that the SLDF unit here never got the complex fully stocked with food. We have enough ammunition and spare parts to last well over a year of heavy fighting, but not food." Major Lin stated

 "And I never thought about transferring that mountain of combat rations from the space port into this complex. I cannot believe the bad luck that has suddenly befallen us. Unbelievable." Colonel Chou replied while staring up at the ceiling of the massive cavern carved out by SLDF engineers.

 Outside the mountain complex, Lieutenant General McGregor, commander of the 126th MID, watched as Colonel Estaban provided the coordinates to SLS Conroy, Avatar Heavy Cruiser in orbit. They had pulled back 10KM and this would be the first attempt at breaching the massive but excellently concealed main doors to the complex. After 10 long minutes the radio sounded "Incoming in 10 seconds."

 Seconds later, man made lightening slammed into the mountain face containing the massive doors. For 4 minutes SLS Conroy pounded the area with all she had before announcing "Mission complete, passing out of optimal firing angle."

 "Well Colonel Estaban, shall we go see what kind of damage we did?" Lieutenant General McGregor

 Ten minutes later, both stood 2Km from the blasted rock face of the mountain with open mouths "Son of a *****. We barely scratched that damned door. Whoever built that knew what they were doing. Pulverized the damn overhang though, made a mess of the area too." Colonel Estaban said

 "We are going to have to rethink this. Shit." Lieutenant General McGregor said

[Daryk]

Heh... both sides are having to do some rethinking...  ^-^

I almost feel sorry for those 300,000 or so Rim Worlders being abandoned at their outposts...  That's going to get ugly real fast after the first missed shipment...

[Cannonshop]

thing about fortifications: the harder  you make it to get in, the harder it is for YOU to get out.  Pulverize the overhangs and bury the doors, then the gun ports and sally ports, then bring up the quickset concrete trucks and...bulldozers.  bury them in their bolt-hole.

[2ndAcr]

13 June 2766
Boulsi (Outworlds Alliance)

 For 3 days, Lieutenant General Mitchell, Lieutenant General McGregor and Colonel Estaban had discussed an assortment of ways to breach the door. Not a single idea so far was feasable. They had brought engineers up for a look see and it was confirmed by one that the door was SLDF manufacture. On the 11th, they had ferried a Jump Infantry Battalion to the top of the mountain for a look see. They easily found the bored holes, quickly identified by accompanying engineers, constructed for emplacement of SDS weapons. The maintenance tunnels leading to each site had been filled with ferro-crete, the same substance used for space port's. They coud get thru is, but it would be noisy as heck and the tunnels were no where large enough for Battlemechs, it would be an Infantry fight all the way with this method. Brutal and costly. For they would not have any surprise at all.

 "Well, anyone got any other idea's? Because I do not want to pay the price in blood going thru those tunnels up there." Lieutenant General Rita Mitchell said

 "There is always just laying siege and starving them out. Might take a year or more, but sooner or later they are going to have to crack that door and come out. Short of detonating a nuke touching the door itself, which we do not have, and contaminating the hell out of the area if we did, I see no other way to go about it." Lieutenant General McGregor replied

 "Well, then we keep thinking on it. The sweep of the smaller towns on this continent have met light resistence that so far, has been easily overcome. There has been no hostility from the civilians reported, and in the smaller towns, they have been down right thankful to see us. While we have been beating our head on this problem, I have also been giving some thought on Thazi. I don't like the thought of all of us sitting here laying siege to this complex while any rebel forces on Thazi dig in deeper and tighter. So Lieutenant General McGregor, I am going to take my 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division over to Thazi. The 277th Dragoon Regiment will take over sweeping this continent and then hop over to the others via sub orbital deployment by Dropship. I will leave SLS Rhodon here with you in orbit. I will take SLS Conroy and SLS Mighty Lift with me. Anything happens, I will send SLS Conroy back to support you here." Lieutenant General Rita Mitchell said

 "Is that wise, splitting our force like that? It is not like we are at full strength." Lieutenant General McGregor replied

 "I will leave my 2722nd Brigade with you. That will give you an additional full Mechanized Infantry Regiment and 2 Battalions at roughly 50% strength each. They will fill back out as wounded are cleared for duty. If I get into something I cannot handle, I can call on the 277th Dragoon Regiment to come bail me out. But this needs to be done sooner rather than later." Lieutenant General Mitchell said

 "Your the boss Rita. Take my Cavalry Battalion with you. I am not going to need them in a siege situation. Go clear Thazi." Lieutenant General McGregor said

 "I plan to do just that. It will take a few days for 2721st Brigade to get back to the space port and for the 277th Dragoon to redeploy and take over. So I will plan on boosting on the 20th." Lieutenant General Mitchell said

Hope IV (Independent Periphery)

 Major General Iris Carman, commander 280th Mechanized Infantry Division had given the people a few extra days to decide things. Today, this was the day she found out how the people voted. A knock at the door brought her out of her staring at the wall. "Come" she called out.

 Lieutenant General Curtis Skondale, Executive Officer 280th Mechanized Infantry Division entered her quarters with a large binder. "I have the totals sir."

 Taking a deep breathe, Major General Carman held out her hand to take the binder "How bad is it Curtis?" She asked as he gave her the binder.
 
 "From the Division, 121 Infantry, 16 Mechwarrior, 101 Armor Crew, 5 Aerospace Pilots and 487 support personnel have voted to return to the SLDF. From the Dropship and Jumpship crews, 162 total want to return to the SLDF. There is a Merchant Jumpship sitting at the Zenith Jump Point. Commodore Devall has already made contact with them and they are willing to transport a Dropship to Armington for the "SLDF". Those leaving also voted to leave their equipment with us. Most said the exact thing, better the 280th use it than any other unit." Lieutenant General Skondale said

 Relief surged thru Major General Carman at the news. For days, she had been sitting in this room waiting for a squad of Infantry to appear and take her into custody. Now she felt vindicated. "Kick a Czar loose, load those that wish to return with plenty of supplies. Anything else?"

 "You will find in the binder there, quite a few requests from those staying. They ask that when we reach where ever we are going if an attmept can be made to bring their families to them." Lieutenant General Skondale said

 "I will make every attempt to reunite the families of those staying. I have no clue how, but I will move heaven and earth trying. Yours too Curtis?" Major General Carman replied

 "No sir. I will be returning to the SLDF. I cannot risk losing my family. I have the utmost respect for you Iris, but I have to weigh everything. I am sorry." Lieutenant General Skondale said with sorrow in his voice

 "I see. I will miss you and your advice Curtis. I will write up a letter for you to take with you to present to the SLDF. It will say that I and I alone made the decision to leave. That I forged orders and that only I knew what was happening in truth. Hopefully, that will sway the SLDF to accept you all back in the fold." Major General Carman said

 "Thank you Iris. Either way, as far as those of us leaving, we are all that remained after getting jumped by a Taurian warship. That should hopefully throw the SLDF off your trail." Lieutenant General Skondale said "I will go see to the arrangements now sir. It was a pleasure serving with you Iris. Good luck."

NP31 (Periphery)

 Colonel James Buchest, commander 191st Royal Jump Infantry Division "rogue", had no clue really where they were going. When faced with the order to disband, they had siezed control of the Star Lord Jumpship transporting them and made a break for it. The 191st Royal Jump Infantry Division had been chewed up on Tirabad by an estimated 3 rebel Divisions. Only by using orbital bombardment had the 191st Royal Jump Infantry Division been able to defeat the rebels. The last month had been as scary as he could remember, always afraid they were going to bump into a SLDF or Taurian warship and get blown to bits. He had spent the month working on a new formation for his "Brigade" to deploy and fight if they had to.

191st Royal Jump Infantry Division "Rogue"

1st Regiment
Battlemech Battalion - 12 Lynx LNX-9Q, 24 Shadow Hawk SHD-2Hb
Jump Infantry Battalion - 3 Jump Infantry Company
Jump Infantry Battalion - 3 Jump Infantry Company

2nd Regiment
Battlemech Battalion - 24 Lynx LNX-9Q, 12 Shadow Hawk SHD-2Hb
Jump Infantry Battalion - 3 Jump Infantry Company
Jump Infantry Battalion - 3 Jump Infantry Company

Star Lord Jumpship - 1
Union Dropship - 3
Overlord Dropship - 1
Czar Dropship - 1
Mule Dropship - 1

Thazi (Outworlds Alliance)

 Major Brian Calloway, commander 3391st Special Forces Battalion, watched the rebel infantry platoon as from his hidden location 600 meters away. Idiots, even after 6 months of getting ambushed they still stick to the roads, of course entering the dense woods is a sure fire way to die. Any second now, A Company is going to decimate them. He thought silently. In the helmet of his Nighthawk PA(L) MkXXI he heard the double click and laser fire from Mauser 960's lanced into the rebel platoon and in seconds they all laid dead or dying on the road. He watched as a platoon of Nighthawk suited troopers quickly emerged from the dense woods and began sweeping the enemy for anything useful. Within 5 minutes, they had completed their task and vanished into the dense woods.

 Deployed to Thazi to assist the 2 SLDF Independent Infantry Regiments combat the uprising, the last 6 months had seen some hard fighting. His Battalion of Elite Special Forces had spent the last 4 years training with the Nighthawk suits. The SLDF High Command was still not sure of the best way to use or even transport the Nighthawk suits into battle. A year ago, his Battalion had been given 4 specially modified Confederate Dropships, each configured to carry a Nighthawk Company of 64 suits and 4 light vehicles with 498 tons of cargo, well equipped MASH, Ferro Aluminum Armor, Double Heat sinks and a nice battery of ER Large Lasers. He had convinced his superiors that 36 suits was just not enough in each Company, so they doubled his command size. He configured his Battalion with in a square configuration giving him 256 soldiers. Each Company had 4 modified Prowler Medium Tanks configured to carry a squad of Nighthawks each. But 6 months of combat had seen his Battlion take losses.

3391st Special Forces Battalion (Pre-Deployment)

Nighthawk Company - 64 Nighthawk PA(L) MkXXI, 4 Prowler (BA)
Nighthawk Company - 64 Nighthawk PA(L) MkXXI, 4 Prowler (BA)
Nighthawk Company - 64 Nighthawk PA(L) MkXXI, 4 Prowler (BA)
Nighthawk Company - 64 Nighthawk PA(L) MkXXI, 4 Prowler (BA)

3391st Special Forces Battalion (2766)

Nighthawk Company - 64 Nighthawk PA(L) MkXXI, 4 Prowler (BA)
Nighthawk Company - 48 Nighthawk PA(L) MkXXI, 4 Prowler (BA)
Nighthawk Company - 48 Nighthawk PA(L) MkXXI

 He had his 4 Confederate Dropships grounded 18KM away from his current position hidden under special camoflage netting that shielded the Dropships from radar scans. It was a major pain to erect over the Dropships and prevented lift off until taken down. If they ever got off this planet, he planned to see if it was possible to equip the Dropships with something similar to the Null Signature and Chameleon Light Polarization Shield. They had disadvantages on Battlemechs, but a Dropship had space to spare. Though the Nighthawk suits gave them decent protection, you could still get killed in them. Even by regular infantry.

 He gave the command for A Company to fall back and return to the Dropships. Help better get here soon, it was only a matter of time before that Battlemech Battalion on planet came a calling.

[2ndAcr]

28 June 2766
Thazi (Outworlds Alliance)

 Commodore William Blythe, commander SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Pursuit Cruiser, looked at the incoming emergence wave displayed on the sensor readings. Two seperate readings, the smaller was Cruiser sized or a fully loaded Jumpship, the second one, well it was massive. He keyed the portable radio "Chief Whitney, we have possible hostiles inbound, get your people inside and secure everything you can. We are going to General Quarters."

 Outside, supervising the installation of new armor, Chief Whitney began cursing up a storm that only the gods could hear. Gonna loose the portable cranes for sure the moment we start manuevering. Take too long to take them down and stow the damned things. "Listen up people, stop everything and get inside, we got trouble inbound. Move it people!!!" He turned and manuevered as fast as he could for the airlock. I just hope those portable cranes don't break anything when they break loose. Worthless pieces of crap.

 Chief Whitney managed to get all of his work parties back into the ship in 8 minutes. The personnel assigned to the work detail, which was 60% of the crew, hurried to remove their EVA suits and get to their battle stations. The first enemy vessel to materialize was a Avatar Heavy Cruiser. Seeing this, Commodore Blythe swore, where the hell did the rebels get their hands on that. But then the incoming ships sensors and electronics came online and his plot board registered the SLDF IFF. SLS Conroy, Avatar Heavy Cruiser had arrived. Thank you General Kerensky, help had finally arrived. "Comm, get a secure laser lock on SLS Conroy and ask them where the hell they have been."

 Aboard SLS Conroy, Commodore Vincent Zeibler was surprised to see a SLDF IFF identifying SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Pursuit Cruiser along with 2 Dart Light Cruiser's. Before he could form another thought, his comm officer said "We have received a secure laser lock with SLS Hatchet, they want to know where the hell we have been and what took us so long to get here."

 A thin smile crossed his lips "Tell them we have been busy kicking ass and taking names instead of loitering at a recharge station on extended shore leave."

 Six hours later Commodore William Blythe was aboard SLS Mighty Lift, Potemkin Transport. Having told his tale and listening to the stories of the other officers, Lieutenant General Rita Mitchell finally brought the discussion to the here and now. "Have you made any attmept at contacting any possible SLDF forces on the planet's surface?"

 "No sir, with my ship so busted up, I wanted to get some repairs completed before broadcasting to everyone that I am here." Commodore Blythe responded

 "Commodore Sandra Gallonsa, will you please have communications try and raise any friendlies on the surface. Be nice to have a secure landing zone or at least an idea on what we are about to drop into." Lieutenant General Mitchell asked in way no one could miss it as an order, then to the gathered officers "Let's kick the Dropships loose, Commodore Zeibler get back to Conroy and prepare to escort my 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division to the surface. Commodore Blythe, continue your repair operations but I am light on Infantry so I am stealing all those Marines but a single Battalion. They will move to the planet with me. Let's get moving people, there might be SLDF troops fighting for their lives down there." Lieutenant General Mitchell said as she made for the grav deck exit followed by her officers.

 Commodore Blythe was about to protest when Commodore Zeibler caught his attention with a slight shake of his head. Once Lieutenant General Mitchell and her officers were off the grav deck, Commodore Blythe asked "What the hell? Since when do ground pounders give orders to the Navy and who does she think she is stealing my Marines?"

 "She is one hell of a fighting General. That is who she is. Commodore Coltrain has said to me that she would follow her anywhere. She has rode to the sounds of the guns since we have been with her. Even when forced to withdraw from Blommestein, the moment she discovered SLDF troops needed help she did not hesitate, she gave the order to move out. She leaves the Black Water operations to us Navy, but when she gives an order, follow it without hesitation." Commodore Zeibler said then turned to head back to Conroy.

 On the surface, Major Brian Calloway was shaken awake by a crewman from the Dropship he was aboard "Sir, captain needs you on the bridge asap. We have radio contact with SLS Mighty Lift carrying the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division."

 In a flash, Major Calloway was out of his bunk and racing for the bridge in only his underwear. Entering the bridge, he saw Captain Thadius Hamilton talking on the radio "Roger Mighty Lift, we will await contact when you reach orbit, Hamilton out." He handed the mic back to the communication tech and turned to find Major Calloway in his underwear "You could have put some pants on Major. It will take almost 3 days for them to reach orbit."

 "So we have help inbound?" Major Calloway asked

 "Yes, we have help on the way. The 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division along with warship escort." Captain Hamilton replied

 "Excellent, I am going back to bed. Glad I did not take the time to put on pants, quicker this way." Major Calloway said

31 June 2766

 Major Calloway had all 2 of his Nighthawk Company's just outside the perimeter fence of the space port. Directly opposite them, were 3 warehouses being used as barracks for a Regiment of rebel Infantry. His 3rd Nighthawk Company, along with all 8 Prowler Tanks were 8km away, just outside what used to be a long term storage area, but now a prison camp where they held the captured SLDF troops from the 2 Infantry Regiments. He had no clue where the damned rebel Battlemech Battalion was, but he planned on chewing up this rebel Infantry Regiment while his other Company freed the prisoners. Sonic booms announced the arrival of the SLDF relief forces, he gave the order "Move now".

 At his command, his Nighthawk clad troops leaped the perimeter fence and began fanning out into the warehouse cluster. Rebel troops began exiting their barracks, looking up at the sky trying to get a glimpse of what made the noise. They made easy targets for his elite troops who mowed them down where they stood without mercy and then plunged into the barracks to slay the rest. In less than 3 minutes, the rebel Infantry Regiment was no more. Selecting the 272nd's command frequency, he transmitted "Space Port secure."

 Minutes later, he walked to the lead Dictator that had grounded and watched a massive Pillager descend the ramp and walk towards him. His radio chimed as the huge Assault Battlemech halted only a few meters away "Major Calloway I presume. Lieutenant General Rita Mitchell, 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division. Sorry for the delay but we had to assist a few planets on the way here. How about we clear this planet."

[Daryk]

Nice update!  Glad to see Mitchell making progress...  :thumbsup:

[2ndAcr]

5 July 2766
Thazi (Outworlds Alliance)

 Lieutenant General Rita Mitchell, commander 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division, left the 5 Battalions of SLDF Marines to guard the space port and her Dropships while her Division secured the capitol city of New Ludell, population 3.4 million. She had Aerospace Fighters running recon flights in an attempt to locate the rebel Battlemech Battalion reported by Major Calloway and his Special Forces Battalion. It was a huge area to cover, Thazi had a single continent covering roughly 63,257,911 sq miles, or 163,837,241 sq km to search. Water covered 57% of the planets surface area with only a scattering of large islands with the largest being 785,753 sq km in size. Low level recon flights detected no inhabitation on any of the islands. Plus the space port contained their old Dictator Dropship.

 The planet itself was quite with a average temp of 78.8 degrees, densly wooded in areas, many large fresh water lakes fed by Glaciers that covered the northern and southern parts of the continent. A massive mountain range cut the continent in half with several smaller mountain ranges which had been found to be righ in minerals and ores, several mining communities were dotted at their bases. Huge swaths of the continent were vast prairies with rich fertile ground with an almost year round growing season. Roughly 10 million people called Thazi home and they had discovered that the planet itself seemed to accept any crop planted in it's soil. Gravity was light at .75g, but overall a very nice planet. The highest form of life native to the, planet were amphibian, mostly small frog and salamander like creatures, but Major Calloway warned her that there was a very large amphibian, that was much like Terran crocodiles, only bigger that inhabited many of the swampy areas along the coastlines. Highly aggressive, they grew up to 30 feet in length but weighed a good 2 tons, though the average size was usually around 12 feet and 800 pounds. They did not have the skin of a crocodile but more like a salamander. Slow on land, but quick in the water.

 Securing New Ludell went very quickly with no resistence met. Questioning the local's, they discovered that the Rebel Regiment at the space port had been the local garrison for the capitol and space port. But they mainly let the local police handle things. Major Calloway estmated that besides the Battlemech Battalion somehwere on planet, the rebels might have had 4-6 Infantry Regiments at the start. He estimated that 2-3 of them had been destroyed over the last 6 months of fighting. Lieutenant General Mitchell decided to form a Task Force of 1 Battlemech Battalion, 1 Armor Regiment, 2 Mechanized Infantry Regiments along with Major Calloway's Battalion to sweep the countryside and secure the next largest city of roughly 1 million situated on the eastern coast 1100km away. She kept 1 Battlemech Regiment at the space port ready to load onto Dropships when the rebel Battlemech Battalion was located.

 Lieutenant General Mitchell dispatched the 126th MID's Cavalry Battalion to sweep west of New Ludell to a town roughly 140km away surrounded by massive fields of various crops. While she planned her Divisions next moves, was notified that she had a visitor. Exiting the Mobile HQ, she was met by a well dressed civilian. "Lieutenant General Rita Mitchell, commander of the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division and you ar
 "My name is Harold Ludell, the planetary governor of Thazi. I was one of the first settlers here in 2748. I wanted to thank you in person for coming here,but alos to ask when we could expect the system to be safe for cargo ships. See, we provide a lot of the food for neighboring systems and we have warehouses and silo's filled with crops that have not been shipped and we are coming up on another harvest season." Harold Ludell asked

 "Mr Ludell, I am not sure I can answer that question. I have already been informed that your planet's HPG was wrecked by the rebel forces, much like every other planet I have been on since the Uprising began. It seems to be one of the very first things they do is destroy a planet's HPG." She replied

 "I see, that is not good news. It could very well cause many deaths on other worlds, there are a great many in the region that cannot properly feed themselves." Harold Ludell said

 "Tell you what Mr Ludell, I will try and get some merchant ships in here. I cannot promise anything, but I will give it a try." Lieutenant General Mitchell said

 "That is good enough for me General. Any clue when the Star League will get around to rebuilding the HPG?" Harold asked with some hope

 "Not a clue sir, probably not until the fighting stops to be honest with you." Lieutenant General Mitchell said

 "Then I will leave you to your duties General. Thank you for your time." Harold Ludell said as he turned and left. General Mitchell went back inside the Mobile HQ and moved to her communications officer "Fire up the HPG. Send a message to Major General Rommel on Pilon and have him do his best to verify those ships crews that claim to be merchants. Once he has done that, ask him to give me a shout. Leave the HPG online to receive communications.:

 "Yes sir, I will send the message within the hour."

Quatre Belle (Outworlds Alliance)

 Commodore Trisha Delvaney watched the Elephant Tug's manuever SLS Salvation, Newgrange Yardship into the the gaping maw of SLS Prometory, Newgrange Yardship. Her HPG message had been received and no sooner had SLS Prometory discharged the massive McKenna Battleship she had been overhauling had she been cleared to dock. One nice thing about Quatre Bell Naval Yards, they kept quite a few Jump Cores on hand for rapid change outs. The moment her old core was removed, it would be hauled over to a Germainum Processign Plant, ground down and seperated into it's individual components and then hauled a short distance away to be recast into a new Jump Core. Her people would have a 3 month down time until repairs were completed. She hoped their next assignment would not be another 2 years away from base.

NP24 (Periphery)

 Lieutenant General Gregory Hanesworth, commander 291st Brigade, 29th MID "Rogue" counted his commands blessings. They had spent the better part of the last 2 months bouncing between uninhabited systems. After getting the news that the 29th MID would be disbanded and broken up as individual replacements to other commands, his Brigade had reacted extremely negatively to the orders. On the 3rd jump back towards Umka, while recharging, they had seized the Star Lord Jumpship and when the next jump was made, they went the opposite direction. On the 2nd jump as fugitives, as he thought of themselves, they had stumbled upon a Infantry Regiment from the 200th MID that had also decided against being disbanded and made the decision to decide their own fate.

 Talking with Colonel Xander Janzet, they had agreed to join forces. They both decided that it would be best to reform the units, forming 2 Brigades of 2 Regiments each.

291st Brigade, 29th Mechanized Infantry Division "Rogue"

1st Brigade
Mechanized Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Mechanized Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion

2nd Brigade
Mechanized Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Mechanized Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Goblin Battalion

Star Lord Jumpship - 2
Czar Dropship - 4
Triumph Dropship - 2
Mule Dropship - 2

McEvans' Sacrifice (Uninhabited Periphery)

 Colonel Bradley Montgomery, commander 3rd Battlemech Regiment, 265th MID, sat aboard his Dictator Dropship mulling his commands decision to make a run for it instead of being broken up as replacements. He still was not sure this was the right thing to do, it wnet against everything he had been taught in 14 years of service to the SLDF. But he could see their point, they had fought hard against long odds and won, only to be ordered to disband. It had been a hard punch to the gut for everyone. During the fighting, they had absorbed the other 2 Regiments of the 265th MID's Battlemech Brigade. Now here they sat, recharging only to delve deeper into the unknown.

3rd Battlemech Regiment, 265th Mechanized Infantry Division "Rogue"
Battlemech Battalion - 24 Warhammer WHM-6Rb, 12 Guillotine GLT-3N, 12 Shootist ST-8A
Battlemech Battalion - 24 Emperor EMP-6A, 24 Thug 11E
Battlemech Battalion - 36 Phoenix Hawk PXH-2

Star Lord Jumpship - 1
Dictator Dropship - 4
Mule Dropship - 1

Independence (Uninhabited Periphery)

 Major Sandra Barkley, commander 1st Battlemech Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 181st Royal Mechanized Infantry Division, could not believe their horrible luck. After 2 months of dodging around in uninhabited systems, now they had a busted Jumpship. For over a week now, the Jumpship crew had made attempts at repairing the damage, but nothing worked. Soon, she would have to make the decision to abandon ship and head for the surface. But the captain wanted 1 more week to try again to repair his ship.

1st Battlemech Battalion
Battlemech Company - 12 Thunderbolt TDR-5Sb
Battlemech Company - 4 Thunderbolt TDR-5Sb, 8 Warhammer WHM-7A
Battlemech Company - 5 Archer ARC-2Rb, 4 Marauder MAD-2R, 3 Stalker STK-3Fb

Invader Jumpship - 1 (navigation computer failure)
Union Dropship - 3

[Daryk]

It's beginning to look like a lot of "lost colonies" are going to be the result of all those rogue units...

[2ndAcr]

13 July 2766
Thazi (Outworlds Alliance)

 Notified to be expecting Jumpships, Commodore William Blythe, commander SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Pursuit Cruiser, still had his ship at General Quarters when the first Merchant Jumpship arrived, quickly followed by 3 more. Aboard each Merchant Jumpship was a full squad of Infantry from the 322nd Armored Division with a squad of Infantry aboard the 8 Jumbo Dropships they had transported.

 On the surface, Lieutenant General Rita Mitchell smiled when the news came in that the 4 Merchant Jumpships had arrived from Pilon. She remembered her HPG conversation with Major General Heinrich Rommel 3 days ago.

 "Got your message General Mitchell. I was beginning to wonder when you would make contact and was starting to worry some. About the merchant crews, I am already ahead of you on that one. The civilian population here is already going into the planets food reserves. I culled out those crews who the civilian space port personnel could identify as legitimate civilian merchants. Dropship crews were done pretty quick, but the Dropship captians identified the Jumpship crews for us. The crews are already on the way to the Jump Point with the removed circuit boards. Of course, they are escorted by a squad of Infantry for each vessel, no since taking a chance. Would not do for them to bolt on us." Major General Rommel said

 "That is really good news. I concur on keeping armed personnel aboard. We are making good progress here on Thazi, still hunting the primary defenders and have met some light resistance from Rebel Infantry, but they are nothing we cannot handle. We managed to rescue captured SLDF from the planets original garrison force, they are still being cleared for duty but when cleared, it should give me another Infantry Regiment. I plan to send them to your 322nd Armored Division. When we arrived, we found SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Cruiser in system along with 2 Regiments of Marines. I will be tasking the Marines to provide security for the merchants." Lieutenant General Mitchell responded

 "Excellent news, but keep the Infantry. We have returned 5 Battalions of wounded Infantry to duty, so I am in decent shape here. I think we need to think about sending one of the warships to make contact with High Command. Not SLS Mighty Lift, we keep her here with us." Major General Rommel said

 "We have been out of contact with High Command for almost a year. Be another 6 months at least if they left right now and then another 6 months or longer before relief gets here. We cannot risk sending SLS Rhodon back, her Jump Core might not last. Okay, I will send SLS Conroy to make contact with High Command. We will send them with all the intel we have gathered out here." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "Sounds good to me. Feels lonely out here all by ourselves. Maybe we can get the damned HPG's back in service out here. I will send you my replacement needs to relay to SLS Conroy, I can also contact Lieutenant General McGregor and have him send you his replacement needs. I will let you get back to your campaign General Mitchell. Rommel out."

 She smiled slightly as she walked over to her communication officer "Notify Conroy that I am coming up for a visit."

 Five hours later, Lieutenant General Mitchell exited the shuttle that had brought her from the surface to SLS Conroy, Avatar Heavy Cruiser. She was conducted to Commodore Vincent Zeibler private quarters and shown inside. "General Mitchell, welcome back aboard. The message that you were coming up for a visit caught me off guard."

 "I have a new mission for you and SLS Conroy. We need to make contact with High Command, I have selected your ship to make the journey. I cannot risk sending a standard Jumpship. Not with possible hostiles out here. I have one of my Mammoth Dropships being loaded with fresh food supplies, they will bring it up to you. I figure Quatre Belle is the most likely place to find the SLDF still in full control. It is Home Port for 10th and 12th Fleet's, so I don't see the rebels being able to take control of that system. How long you estmate to get there?" Lieutenant General Mitchell explained

 Commodore Zeibler pulled up a Star Map and studied for a few minutes before answering "Single jumps only, 3 1/2 months. If I double jump some, I can cut the travel time to possibly 2 months."

 "Good enough, make the trip safe. Better than I thought, actually." She handed over a envelope "Inside are the replacement needs of the 272nd, 322nd and 126th Divisions along with replacement needs of the 277th Dragoon's. Also inside is all the intel we have gathered out here in the sticks for SLIC. Also some of my own evaluations."

 Commodore Zeibler took the envelope and secure it in his desk "I will make ready to depart as soon as possible. General Mitchell, in case 10th Fleet does not allow me to come back, it has been a pleasure and an honor serving with you. I plan to plead my case to return in as forceful terms as I can. I will not let you down and will make contact with High Command and deliver this information to the proper channels."

 "It has been a pleasure serving with you also Commodore. Now, I do not know this Commodore Blythe, what is your estimation of him?" Lieutenant General Mitchell asked

 "He is a good officer, aggressive, independent minded. Those are the ones they place in the Kimague Cruisers, the most aggressive ones. I am sure he will follow your orders. Tell you what, I will brief him on what he needs to know before I depart. I will make sure he understands what his mission is." Commodore Zeibler said

 "That would help a bunch. With SLS Rhodon having a doubtful Jump Drive, I need a fast response ship. We are spread across 3 systems but easily within range of a LF equipped warship. Just in case all 3 systems have trouble at the same time, which I doubt." Lieutenant General Mitchell responded

 "I will stress to Commodore Blythe what is expected of him." Commodore Zeidler said

 "Good. If we do not speak again before your departure, safe trip Commodore Zeibler. Hope we see each other very soon. I must get back to the surface." Lieutenant General Mitchell said as she turned to leave.

Independence (Uninhabited Periphery)

 Major Sandra Barkley, commander 1st Battlemech Battalion, was overseeing the loading of her 3 Union Dropships with everything they could haul from the busted Invader Jumpship. Captain Jinloo Chu, ships captain Invader Jumpship, wanted to keep a skeleton crew aboard the Invader Jumpship to monitor the ships systems and provide either a early warning for danger or contact any ship for rescue. She had grudingly agreed, but did not trust that they would wait for her Dropships to undock and then jump from the system. She wa debating on leaving some of her people aboard when the ships alarms sounded. Rushing to the bridge, as soon as she entered Captain Chu turned to her and announced "Incoming emergence wave, it's gonna come in pretty close roughly 6,000km from us. At least 2 ships inbound. If you want to undock, you better hurry, if they are hostile, and I have no reason to doubt they are anything but that, at least on the ground you have a chance to fight back."

 Major Sandra Barkley started to leave the bridge for her Dropship when the first Star Lord Jumpship materialized followed shortly by a second Star Lord Jumpship. "Captain, they are broadcasting SLDF IFF, SLS Heaven's Gaze and SLS Orion's Gaze." She heard as she grabbed the bridge door frame to bring her to a halt. Better to face the music than starve to death. She floated back to Captain Chu's side.

 "Contact them, we will take our chances with the SLDF. I will make sure they understand I took your ship by force Captain Chu." Major Barkley said

 Two hours later, Lieutenant General Gregory Hanesworth, commander 29th Mechanized Infantry Division "Rogue" boarded the broken Invader Jumpship. He had been shocked to discover the Invader Jumpship here. When he was led to the Jumpships Grav deck, he met Captain Jinloo Chu and Major Sandra Barkley. After a few minutes of being told about the trouble with the Invader Jumpship, he held up a hand.

 "That is all good and well, but how about telling me WHY you all are way out here alone." Lieutenant General Hanesworth said, he had detected the tension on both officers before him.

 "It is my fault General Hanesworth. I took this Jumpship by force. Captain Chu had no choice but to follow my orders. I submit myself to your arrest. I mutinied against orders to report for disbandment. My people have no idea of my actions, they think we have been reassigned." Major Sandra Barkley admitted

 "You understand mutiny is a capital offense during a time of hostilities? I could order you tossed out of an airlock and General Kerensky would porbably pin a medal on me." Lieutenant General Hanesworth said

 "I am aware of my possible punishment General. After all we have been thru during this campaign, I could not bear seeing my unit broken up and scattered to the winds. I alone made the decision to leave." Major Barkley replied

 "Well, as long as you are aware of the possible punishment if we are discovered." Lieutenant General Hanesworth said

 This statement by General Hanesworth caught both Captain Chu and Major Barkley by surprise and it showed. Lieutenant General Hanesworth filled the stunned silence "So I guess we better get your Dropships loaded aboard my Star Lord's and leave this system for hopefully greener pastures."

 The ships alarm sounded again, Captain Chu headed for the bridge much faster than either ground pounder. Arriving ahead of either officer, he turned to both "Another emergence wave inbound. Seems this is a popular place."

 Ten minutes later a Star Lord materialized 65,000km away. "Broadcasting SLDF IFF, SLS Heaven Sailor. We are being hailed."

14 July 2766

 Colonel Bradley Montgomery had not expected to find a SLDF flotilla this far out when they arrived in system. He could not risk not communicating nor accepting the invitation to join them abaord the Invader Jumpship. After being led to the ships Grav deck, he reported to the Lieutenant General before him. "Colonel Bradley Montgomery, 3rd Battlemech Regiment, 265th Mechanized Infantry Division reporting."

 "A very long ways from Umka aren't you Colonel Montgomery? I do believe that is where the 265th MID was ordered to report to. Don't look surprised, I am a General officer, I see many things. SO, how about explaining what the hell you are doing way out here?" Lieutenant General Hanesworth asked

 "I do not have a proper answer to your question sir." Colonel Montgomery replied, the jig is up and we are in deep shit.

 "You do realize that your answer tells me you have gone rogue, deserted, mutinied against the SLDF?" Lieutenant General Hanesworth stated

 "Yes sir, I do understand that. I would like a lawyer for myself and my personnel." Colonel Montgomery answered

 "Sorry, we are all out of lawyers. Mutiny, desertion and worse rogue are capital offenses. The SLDF could toss all of you out airlocks if captured." Lieutenant General Hanesworth stated

 This caught Colonel Montgomery off guard, he cut his eyes to look at the other 2 officers in attendance and thought he caught concealed smiles. What the hell is going on, he thought.

 "Safety in numbers Colonel Montgomery, safety in numbers. There are still a bunch of hostile rebels running around out here. I think it would be best if for the time being you join our merry band of wayward soldiers and travel with us." Lieuteneant General Hanesworth said as he broke a smile

[Daryk]

That's getting to be quite the collection of rogue troops there... wonder if they're headed to Tortuga too...  ^-^

[2ndAcr]

18 July 2766
Albaracht (Uninhabited System)

 Lieutenant General Nathan Baxter, commander 359th Battlemech Division along with the 509th Battle Regiment had been in system for 4 days recharging. Major Jenny Davidson had so far resisted the idea of folding the battered remains of the 509th Battle Regiment into his command. He was going slow and not pushing the issue. He just brought up the idea every now and then to her. He had decided not to set down on the planet to give the people some ground time bacause once they halted, it might be too hard to get them started again.

 He was deep in thought about the unit's future when the ships alarm sounded and almost as fast the intercom in his quarters said "General, might want to get to the bridge, we have an emergence wave incoming."

 Without even acknowledging the message he was out the door and on his way to the bridge. He arrived just as the Star Lord Jumpship materialized. "Sqawking SLDF IFF, SLS Deep Voyager. She's fully loaded sir." The sensor operator said

 Ships captain Jorge Gonzalez looked at Lieutenant General Baxter who just shrugged in reply, Captain Gonzalez said "Comm, hail her."

 Aboard SLS Deep Voyager, Colonel James Buchest, commander 191st Royal Jump Infantry Division "rogue", stared at the flotilla of Jumpships displayed on the plot board by the ships sensor's. Of all the damned luck, we run right into a SLDF convoy. When the flotilla called them, he knew prison or worse awaited him. "Answer them."

 Four hours later, he exited the shuttle onto the SLS Shining Star, Star Lord Jumpship. Already tense, he was shaken to his core when 4 armed soldiers escorted him to the ships Grav deck. There he saw a very stern looking Lieutenant General along with a Major who kept her hand on the holstered laser pistol she wore. There was an evil glint in the Major's eyes that he could see even from 6 feet away. Willing himself to calm down he said "Colonel James Buchest, 191st Royal Jump Infantry Division, reporting."

 Neither the Lieutenant General or Major said a word, they just stood there looking at him for several minutes. Finally the Lieutenant General spoke "Colonel, I am Lieutenant General Nathan Baxter, commander 359th Battlemech Division and this is Major Davidson, 509th Battle Regiment. Since your arrival, we have been discussing what a unit this far from SLDF lines was up to. We have both come to the conclusion that your renegades, mutineers or possibly gone pirate. All of which are capital crimes punishable by death during hostilities. So Colonel, which one is it?"

 Colonel Buchest thought his heart was going to explode in his chest. But he willed himself to answer "I alone am responsible General Baxter. After everything we had been thru together, alone, cutoff from any help, with none arriving until after over 50% of the Division were dead, I could not allow them to break us up. My troops are good soldiers, good fighters. I accept responsibility for disobeying orders."

 He was even more worried when Lieutenant General Baxter seemed to relax and he thought he detected the hint of a smile flicker across the mans face. "Relax Colonel, we will just have to make sure the SLDF does not find any of us. So let's all sit down and discuss our futures on the run."

Mirfak (Uninhabited System)

 "General" Olivia Daniels, commander 54th Mechanized Infantry Division, was tired of the long journey in space. She wanted to feel firm ground under her feet again. She was already hearing the grumblings among the troops, they too were getting tired of space travel. They had "elected" her, but they damn sure could also remove her. She had calculated that it would take another 5 month to reach the Tortuga Dominions.

Lastpost (Uninhabited System)

 Colonel Patrick Quieg, acting commander 31st Infantry Division, was getting antsy again. Even with the 2 week layover on an uninhabited planet, he was still tired of seeing nothing but empty space. Just 3 more months to Tortuga Dominions.

Mackolla (Federated Suns)

 Ships Captain Martin Zuni had just delivered another load of cargo inside the Federated Suns. He made more money in the Outworlds Alliance, Jumpship traffic was much less dense there, but you could make a living in the Federated Suns. But first, he paid out a good sum of money to get his Merchant Jumpship into the Olympus Recharge Stations repair bay. It was past due for a overhaul at a proper shipyard, but he tried to make sure routine maintenance was conducted on her. Maybe when the "vacation" in New Port Royal was over he would make his way to Ramora and put her in a shipyard slip for an overhaul, it was cheaper there that in the Federated Suns, plus not near as long a wait line. They would spend 2 weeks here before moving on, enough time for the 2 Dropships to return with cargo for delivery to Bamburgh.

Thazi (Outworlds Alliance)

 Commodore Vincent Zeibler, commander SLS Conroy, Avatar Heavy Cruiser, shook the hand of Commodore William Blythe, commander SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Pursuit Cruiser. "Welcome aboard my ship Will. Come on, let's head for my quarters, there is something very important we need to discuss."

 Once inside Commodore Zeibler's quarters and both had taken seats, he spoke "Will, I will be taking Conroy back to Quatra Belle. Your going to remain here and protect the SLDF forces in the region. I can see that repairs are still not completed on your ship from here. Commodore Coltrain and SLS Rhodon are next door at Boulsi, but her Jump Core has some serious micro cracks and only in a dire emergency will she make a jump. I need to make contact with Higher and get some relief out here." He held up a hand to stop Commodore Blythe from talking "Let me finish Will, I outrank you by time in rank. You are not to abandon these troops out here. Period. When I return, if I find out you gave Lieutenant General Mitchell any grief, I will personally have you brought up on charges. If I return and find out you left before I got back or the troops here were properly supported, I will personally hunt you down and destroy you. I am deadly serious about this, you are to obey Leiutenant General Mitchell or anyone she appoints over you as though they were a damned Admiral. No solo head hunting. I vouched for you, do not make me a liar."

 "Look Vincent, I am in 12th Fleet and your in 10th Fleet. My orders were to hunt down enemy shipping and to destroy them. Those orders came from Vice Admiral Jean-Claude Detier himself. You cannot just....."He trailed off as Commodore Zeibler interrupted him.

 "Shut up Commodore Blythe, you WILL obey my orders. Per SLDF Regulations, during hostilities, when no communication with higher command is possible, officer will obey the on scene commander until such time as proper communication can be re-established. That makes me the on scene commander. And when I depart in about 6 hours, Lieutenant General Mitchell is the on scene commander. That is final. No more argument, no more excuses. The next words out of your mouth had better be Yes sir or I will have my Marines toss you into the brig here, appoint your XO in command and transport you back to Quatre Belle to stand a court martial for disobeying orders in a combat zone." Commodore Zeibler said

 Commodore Blythe's face flushed red, but when he opened his mouth all he said was "Yes sir. I understand my orders."

 "Glad you agree Will. Now get back to Hatchet and get her battle ready as soon as possible." Commodore Zeibler replied

[Daryk]

Blythe is going to be trouble...

[cawest]

is it just me are there very few carriers and assault ships in the SLDF. 

[2ndAcr]

19 July 2766
Luikaw (Outworlds Alliance)

 Major Yuri Nabokov, acting commander 211th Hussar Regiment, sat aboard SLS Night Jumper, Tramp LF Jumpship at the Zenith Jump Point. After spending a month sweeping Blommestein in a effort to locate the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division, Major Nabokov had finally called off the search and order the 211th Hussar Regiment back to their Jumpships. Though the Tramp's were all LF equipped, he was trying to keep their use to a minimum, though he had used them extensively getting to Blommestein. They were 3 days into their recharge cycle when the emergence wave was detected. They had gotten lax in their security and had failed to preplot an emergency jump location. This was not going to end well. It would take 15 minutes to plot a jump from the system. Estimates place the arrival of their unwanted guest at 12 minutes.

 Commodore Vincent Zeibler, commander SLS Conroy, Avatar Heavy Cruiser, watched as the ships sensors came back online and spotted the targets appearing on the ships plot board at the same time as he heard "Radar contact, 5 ships, range 54,000km to closest. Sir, they are transmitting SLDF IFF, SLS Night Jumper, Tramp Jumpship is closest target." He smiled as he spoke "Hail them." He had decided to push his ship as hard as he dared and executed a double jump at Maripa.

 When the huge Avatar Heavy Cruiser had materialized 54,000km away, everyone had released the breath they had been holding even before they registered the SLDF IFF, SLS Conroy. When the hail from SLS Conroy came in, everyone shouted with joy. Major Nabokov accepted the radio mic "SLS Conroy, this is Major Nabokov of the 211th Hussar Regiment, we sure are glad to see you. We have not seen a friendly warship since our escort left us months ago."

 "Roger that SLS Night Jumper. We will come to you, eta hour and half. Then we can talk in person. SLS Conroy out."

 Two hours later, Major Nabokov exited the shuttle and was guided to an office and shown inside. "Major Nabokov, 211th Hussar Regiment reporting."

 "Commodore Vincent Zeibler, SLS Conroy. Are you the lead element of an SLDF push into this area?" He asked

 "Sir, I do not know anything about a push into this region. We just left Blommestein after looking for the 272nd Mech Infantry and are on our way to Ambatomainty to hunt down the 126th Mech Infantry." Major Nabokov said

 Commodore Zeibler let out a laugh "Well, your search is over Major Nabokov. The 126th Mech Infantry are on Boulsi and the 272nd Mech Infantry are on Thazi. Battered but very much still alive and in the fight."

 "Well, at least now we are not stumbling around blind. My orders are to locate them and assist them against the rebels. So you say both of them are in a fight?" Major Nabokov asked

 "Very much so, but they both have the upper hand against the rebels. If your moving to link up with them, head for Thazi. Lieutenant General Mitchell, commander 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division is in charge out there. Report to her and she will direct you where to go. You said your escort left you? Why?" Commodore Zeibler asked

 "They got orders to go after some spotted Alliance warships, then we got jumped by probably those very warships and we lost some good people before escaping. We have spent the last 6 months bouncing all over the Alliance praying we don't trip over any more enemy warships. One reason I came to you is because I got some seriously pissed off people with a grudge against the Navy. And I will admit, I harbor some bad feelings also, not just against the Navy but also in how Higher Command has bounced us all over the place, never letting us catch our thoughts. Seems every system has had it's HPG destroyed, so we have no clue what the hell is happening." Major Nabokov replied

 "We have noticed the same thing, HPG's seem to be the first targets the rebels hit. One reason I am out here and not with Lieutenant General Mitchell, trying to make contact with higher. Your not alone now Major Nabokov, take your Regiment to Thazi, SLS Hatchet, Kimigure Cruiser and SLS Mighty Lift, Potemkin are there, and at Boulsi is SLS Rhodon, Luxor Heavy Cruiser. They could use the help, your Regiment might be the tipping point in the campaign out there." Commodore Zeibler said

 "I will do that Commodore. We have 4 days left to recharge our drives." Major Nabokov said

 "We will be here until you jump. So since we have a few days, you can tell me all about what you have seen and I will tell you what we have seen and done." Commodore Zeibler said

Ype-Jhu (Outworlds Alliance)

 After a month on planet, Colonel Alberta Collins and her personnel were in no hurry to leave. Ype-Jhu was a pleasant planet to be on, the people actually very nice and the food was great. She had deployed her MASH units to provide medical care for the population as payment for the hospitality they had been shown. The capitol of Kuero Fresco Nueva contained the majority of the planets population with 655,000 people. Situated on the coast of the only continent of Estacion Costa they fished the large ocean extensively. The remaining 200,000 people were spread out in 6 other towns. All situated within 400km of the capitol city.

 She was giving serious thought on just staying here with her command.

30 July 2766
Thazi (Outworlds Alliance)

 Commodore William Blyther, commander SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Pursuit Cruiser, wait for the inbound ships to materialize. His ship had 60% of it's lost armor replaced and he had to listen to Chief Whitney curse up a storm when his work was once again interrupted. "Weps, all weapons hot and ready?"

 "Yes sir, everything is warm and ready to go. All stations manned and ready." Ships weapons officer announced

 "Very well, weapons tight until we have confirmed the identity of the inbounds. Sensor, how do things look?" Commodore Blythe asked

 "First should be arriving any minute. Computer projects the closest to arrive at 1500km range." The sensor operator said

 Before Commodore Blythe could answer, the first Tramp Jumpship materialized followed seconds later by 4 more Tramp Jumpships. "Reading SLDF IFF Commodore. SLS Night Jumper, Sprinter, Star Runner and Void Runner, Tramp LF Jumpships." The sensor operator stated

 "Roger Sensor, Comm hail them." Commodore Blyther ordered

 Aboard SLS Night Jumper, Tramp LF Jumpship, Major Yuri Nabokov, acting commander 211th Hussar Regiment, looked at the massive Cruiser displayed on the ships plot. When the hail came in, he nodded to the ships captain. "SLS Hatchet, this is SLS Night Jumper carrying the 211th Battle Regiment. Commodore Zeibler send his regards." Major Jordan Wirth, commander SLS Wind Runner said

 "Welcome to Thazi Night Jumper. You are cleared to release your Dropships and they are cleared to head for the surface. Report to Lieutenant General Mitchell on arrival in orbit for final landing instructions."

Mackolla (Federated Suns)

  Ships Captain Martin Zuni watched the tugs ease his Merchant Jumpship from the Olympus Recharge Stations repair bay. They had finished the maintenance checks 2 days ahead of schedule. He had watched every move the Stations Techs had made, along with his Chief Engineer. He might sail the Periphery, but he tried to keep his Merchant Jumpship in the best condition possible. Built in 2624, she was 142 years old, but in top notch condition, he spent a ton of money keeping her in this shape. His grandfather had first bought her, then his father had paid her off. Now she had been all his for 18 years. He figured another 2 years and he would be able to afford either another Merchant or a 50% down payment on a Star Lord Jumpship with some cash left over. His father had never gotten around to expanding his operation beyond this one ship, but Martin had bigger plans, he wanted to grow, maybe one day actually settle down and just run the show from a nice planet somewhere.

Dilk (Uninhabited Periphery)

 Sergeant Mathew Hollister was young, only 23 and on his first tour with the SLDF. Assigned to the 191st Royal Jump Infantry Division, he had been blooded in battle over the last year of fighting in the Periphery Uprising. It had troubled him greatly when his Battalion had voted enmass to leave when the order to report for disbandment had come. He had been one of the few dissenters, but after 2 days of near constant "badgering" by his fellow Mechwarriors, he had gone along with them. Now months later, he still felt the pain inside from his decision. After 2 months aboard the Dropship, he had found that the only place he could have any sort of privacy was in his Phoenix Hawk PXH-1b's cockpit. He had enlisted in the SLDF at 16, with his parents blessing's, and after almost 6 years of training, had graduated. In his only battle campaign on Tirabad, he had scored 6 Battlemech kills and come away with his Phoenix Hawk relatively unscathed. He knew he was a good pilot. He had learned to pilot a Crosscut Loggermech at 12, with his father on New Earth. By 15, he could do things in that Crosscut that most deemed impossible. When they had placed the "skullcap" on him during testing, he had not only moved the small Battlemech, but had made it stop, move, turn and stop. Most others could only get it to move a little bit.

 I should have said no and went to the replacement depot, he thought to himself, alone with his thoughts.

[Daryk]

Hollister is not wrong...

Glad to see the 211th hooking up with Mitchell!  :thumbsup:

[2ndAcr]

5 August 2766
Thazi (Outworlds Alliance)

 Major Yuri Nabokov, acting commander 211th Hussar Regiment, contacted Lieutenant General Mitchell as his Dropships made orbit around Thazi. He wondered what kind of commander she was, would she be the typical SLDF commander that pushed men and equipment to the breaking point, the type of commander that just shoveled troops at a problem until the problem went away, without a care in the world? He was about to find out.

 "Nabokov calling ground command. Looking for Lieutenant General Mitchell over." Several minutes passed before an answer came back.

 "This is Lietenant General Mitchell, go with your traffic."

 "Major Nabokov, 211th Hussar Regiment. We have entered orbit around Thazi proper. Where would you like me to ground my troops and what is our mission."

 "Glad to have you with us Major. Ground your Regiment at grid 112985-457, that is the last sector I have not put any ground troops into, we been hunting a rebel Battlemech Battalion. The area is densely forested, so air recon is not much use. Once on the ground, start sweeping the area best you can. I have a Mech Infantry Regiment and special troops here at the space port. They will sub orbital to your position and they will assist in your sweep. SLS Mighty Lift is on call for orbital fire support if needed. Restrcted use to no closer than 50km from any town or city. But that should not be an issue, we have no indications of any inhabitation in that area, over."

 "Roger, ground at grid 112985-457, sweep area for rebel forces. Will be on watch for your troops. Good copy on fire support restrictions. We should be ont he ground in 3 hours.

 "Contact me if you need anything Major. My 2 Battlemech Regiments are pushing in that direction, but this is a massive continent to try and clear with only a single Mechanized Infantry Division and we are not full strength."

 By 5pm, Major Nabokov had his 211th Hussar Regiment on the ground and deployed. With nightfall not far away, he issued orders for limited patrols and they would move out at dawn to begin their sweep of the area.

Rim Worlds Outpost #11

 Taxiarchos Jermaine Haye walked along the assembled Battlemechs awaiting transport. He had been out here for ten years and had overseen the construction of the massive Battlemech Factory complex along with supporting factories and some mining. Under his command were 153,281 personnel. Only 1 of the planets 3 continents had any inhabitation. The small capitol city of Haye City housed 101,098 people. Not far away, 15km was the Battlemech Factory Complex and adjecent space port. The Battlemech Factory Complex itself housed all of the needed machinery and sub-factories needed to manufacture Battlemchs.

Battlemech Factory Complex

Stinger STG-3R - 2 Lines producing 30 per month
Firestarter FS9-H - 1 Line producing 15 per month
Phoenix PX-3R - 2 Lines producing 24 per month
Talos TLS-1B - 2 Lines producing 24 per month
Archer ARC-2R - 2 Lines producing 12 per month
Battlemaster BLR-1G - 2 Lines producing 12 per month

 The primary on planet support, was the mining community of Devil's Rock located 320km away serviced by 2 old but functional trains which hauled 5,200 tonnes of raw ore per day each on the 5 hour trip each way. Devil's Rock housed 52,183 miners and their families. Three mines operated from Devil's Rock, each with a Corx Mobile Tunnel Miner and 6 Dig King Mining Mechs. Security was provided by a single Battalion of Battlemechs and 2 Infantry Regiments. Local farming barely could meet the minimum needs of the population.

Rim Worlds Outpost #7

 Taxiarchos Christine Palmer was in charge of the this Outpost, having taken command 4 years ago after an industrial accident claimed the previous commander during an inspection. Under her command were 88,122 personnel who worked in the Tank and small Aerospace Factory Complexes. The only city on the planet was Snell's Gulf City where the space port and both factory's were located. The planet itself could not support life without outside imports.

Tank Factory Complex

Merkava Mk VIII - 2 Lines producing 48 per month
Marsden II-A - 2 Lines producing 48 per month
Ballista Artillery - 1 Line producing 12 per month
Heavy Tracked APC - 2 Lines producing 72 per month
LVT-4 Hover - 2 Lines producing 36 per month
Sherpa Armored Truck - 2 Lines producing 72 per month
Sherpa MASH Truck- 1 Line producing 24 per month
Sherpa Fuel Truck - 1 Line producing 36 per month
Sherpa Canteen Truck - 1 Line producing 36 per month

Aerospace Factory

Typhoon TFN-2A - 2 Lines producing 12 per month
Star Dagger S-2A - 2 Lines producing 24 per month

Rim Worlds Outpost #4

 Taxiarchos Waylon Hazot commanded Outpost #4, he commanded with a iron fist and was known to have unproductive workers lashed with a whip. The smallest of the Outposts with production facilities, he strived to impress President Stephan Amaris with the output with limited resources available. For 8 years, he had exceeded production quota's. A single city of 54,872 people serviced the planets Tank Factory. Without outside imports of material and supplies, the planet would be uninhabitable.

Tank Factory Complex

Merkava Mk VIII - 1 Line producing 30 per month
Korvin KRV-3 - 1 Lines producing 40 per month
Ignis Infantry Support - 1 Line producing 36 per month
Heavy Tracked APC - 2 Lines producing 80 per month
Sherpa Armored Truck - 1 Line producing 48 per month
Sherpa Fuel Truck - 1 Line producing 36 per month

[Daryk]

Hopefully Nabokov is appreciating sane orders...

I wonder how long Hazot will last once they realize no more supplies are coming.

[2ndAcr]

6 August 2766
Terra (Terran Hegemony)

 First Lord Richard Cameron looked at the small infant in the intensive care room. His wife Elise had given birth to twins, but the second infant had been kept a secret when it was quickly discovered that the infant had a heart defect. Only machines kept the 6 month old infant alive. He wanted to end this, but his wife Elise refused to even entertain the idea. First Lord Richard Cameron had ordered all records of the second child's birth to be expunged from all records. He made a visit to this secret intensive care room at least once a week to stare dispassionately at the infant hooked to life giving machines. When Stephan Amaris returned to Terra, he would ask him what should be done. Turning away from the small viewing window, and without a word, exited the small room and walked down the long corridor with only 2 members of the Royal Black Watch accompanying him.

16 August 2766
Unknown (Empty Space)

 Commodore Vincent Zeibler, command SLS Conroy, Avatar Heavy Cruiser, could not shake the idea that he had condemned his crew to death. I should have listened to Lieutenant General Mitchell, take it slow and safe, but no, I had to push the limits too far. I gave the order for the second jump way too soon and now I have destroyed our field initator. Not only have I doomed myself and my crew to certain death out here, but I have possibily doomed everyone else counting on him. He thought to himself for the millionth time. He hovered over the navigator, who had spent the last 6 hours trying to work out their exact position in Commodore Zeiblers locked quarters, when finally the navigator looked up.

 "I think I have it Commodore, and it is not good. We misjumped, from my calculations and working with the Star Maps, we are not even in the Outworlds Alliance anymore. Best I can calculate is we are a minimum of 240LY from Ammon our target, closest inhabited system, as far as I can tell is Novo Franklin, and that is 80 to 90LY away from us." His navigator said

 "Great. My stupidity might have killed us all. If Chief cannot cobble something together, we don't even have a damned planet to shuttle down to. We have food and water for a year. No way of calling for help. If my fuzzy math I just did is anything, even a 1g burn for Nova Franklin would take us over 600 years to reach. Shit." Commodore Zeibler said

 "I will keep working to better determine our exact location, just in case Chief works a miracle, we will need the information for a jump anyway." Ship's navigator said

 "I am going to head down to engineering and try to do something worthwhile. Let's keep this quiet as long as we can, everyone knows we got a broke ship, but they don't know how screwed we are." Commodore Zeibler said

Thazi (Outworlds Alliance)

 Major Yuri Nabokov, commander 211th Hussar Regiment, watched the 3391st Special Forces Battalion swiftly move among the dense forest, seeking out any hostiles in their weird armored suits. He had never seen anything like them, but the commander of the 3391st, Major Brian Calloway loved the things. Even if they find the rebel's, this dense forest will make fighting a very close range affair. They had spent the last 2 weeks sweeping the area until finally reaching a long narrow peninsula. His radio chirped "Contact, we have a Stinger in sight. We can only see it's upper torso and head, looks to be dug in deep and tight. Grid 121571-301. We will start working down the line in an attmept to find the enemy's flank."

 He keyed the mic "Roger, grid 121571-301. Proceed with extreme caution Major Calloway, I am not as confident your armored suits will take much Mech scale weapons fire."

 A chuckle came back "They won't take any Mech scale weapons fire. Even standard infantry weapons can kill us. We live by not being found."

 Major Nabokov switched channels "Zeus, this is Geronimo Actual, we found them. Grid 121571-301. You want us to dig them out the hard way?"

 Lieutenant General Mitchell responded quickly "Negative, determine the exact alignment of the rebel's. I am not going to lose people digging them out, not in that dense forest. We would be fighting at point blank range. I will head down there with one of my Battlemech Regiments to assist and evaluate the enemy positions. See you very soon Major Nabokov, good work."

New Haiti (Tortuga Dominions)

 Major General Iris Carman, commander 280th Mechanized Infantry Division, was glad to be on solid ground again. They had grounded 3 days ago and quickly set up a perimeter. Late yesterday, one of the many pirate bands in the Tortuga Dominions had come a calling and quickly found out that there was still a lot of fight left in the 280th Mechanized Infantry Division after they had 3 Battlemechs and 5 tanks quickly destroyed. Major General Carman had forbid any pursuit of the pirates. She had left her Aerospace Wing with her Jumpships to safeguard them from any hostile attempts. If the pirates made anymore trouble, she would consider removing them from existence, right now, she just wanted a few weeks of surface time while they decided their next move.

 

[Daryk]

Ooooo… a secret Cameron heir!  :o

Zeibler is so screwed.  His best bet is to aim the ship toward Novo Franklin with as much data recorded as possible.  Eventually someone will get the message...

If Nabokov doesn't realize he's in good hands by now, he's an idiot.

Carman should have pursued those pirates.  She might just regret that...

[2ndAcr]

16 August 2766
Thazi (Outworlds Alliance)

 Major Yuri Nabokov, commander 211th Hussar Regiment and Major Brian Calloway, 3391st Special Forces, watched the Command Dictator settle to the ground along with 3 Dictator Dropships and a single Mule Dropship. The first Battlemech to descend the Command Dictator's ramp was a Pillager. It paused at the bottom for a few seconds before moving towards them. Major Calloway spoke "That's Lieutenant General Mitchell in the Pillager."

 Both watched as the Pillager halted barely 10 meters away and then knelt. A chain ladder dropped from the cockpit and Lieutenant General Mitchell descneded the chain ladder with ease. She paused as her feet hit the ground, taking a quick scan of the area before continuing towards the waiting officers.

 "Major Calloway, you must be Major Nabokov. I am Lieutenant General Rita Mitchell, commander 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division. Glad to put a face to the voice. So, show me the location of the rebel's." She said and the 3 officers moved to a map generated from aerial recon photos.

 "The Rebel Battlemechs are deployed in dug in positions across the peninsula. They have some Infantry with them, estimate a full regiment. They are literally stretched from coast to coast, the penisula is only about 3km wide where they are deployed at. The forest is extremely thick, the thinner areas are obvious kill sacks. It will not be easy to get at them and the fighting will be point blank range." Major Nabokov said as he traced out the positions on the map.

 "Well, I am not going to lose people needlessly. I brought my Long Tom and Thumper Battalions along with one of my Battlemech Regiments. I want a 1km wide area cleared from here to here. I don't want a raging forest fire to get away from us. Any tree that is too big to rip out with Battlemech hands, whack it down with weapons fire, after ground cover is cleared away. Once that is done, we will commence shelling the rebel poistions. The rebel's have few choices, leave their positions and come to us, across the cleared area, sit and take the pounding, pull back from their defensive positions. Before we begin shelling I am going to have a squadron of Aerospace Fighters come along and dump a load of Inferno bombs behind the rebel lines, they pull back, fine they can do so by going thru a raging fire." Lieutnenat General Mitchell laid out her plans

 "No engineers General?" Major Nabokov asked

 "They are on Boulsi with the 126th Mechanized Infantry Division. Wish I had them right now, but we make do with what we have." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "Well, we better get started, that is a lot of ground to clear of foliage." Major Nabokov said

19 August 2766

 The roar of Aerospace engines woke everyone not already awake as they screamed overhead. Those exiting tents looked in the direction the noise had come from and could see a evil looking glow on the horizon. Lieutenant General Rita Mitchell leaned against the foot of her Pillager drinking a cup of coffee, a casual glance at her watch caused a smile to flicker across her face as she watched the cannoncockers ready their guns a short distance away, any second now.

 A volley of booms echoed across the small base camp that had sprung up as the artillery barrage began. "So, how much ammunition do those artillery pukes have?" Made her turn her head to see Major Nabokov walking up.

 "Quite a lot actually. The Mule that brought the artillery units has 3,000 tons of shells on it. I have another 4,000 tons at the space port. Or I can have SLS Mighty Lift shuttle down some, nice thing to have access to. She has almost 10,000 tons of artillery reloads in her cargo bays." She replied with a smile

 "Better the rebels than me." Major Nabokov said as the next volley was sent down range

 "Don't worry Major, I am a firm believer in firepower before blood. If the artillery does not flush the rebel's, well I have much bigger artillery in orbit. One way or another, they will come to us. But if fate casts us an evil dice roll, and we do have to go in and dig them out, I will be the first one going in." Lieutenant General Mitchell responded

 This caused Major Nabokov to cast her a sideways look, a rare bird, a true fighting General. So often General officers, once promoted to that rank, forgot what it was like in the trenches. He glanced up at her Pillager, kneeling, like some silent assassin awaiting the order to go forth and wreak havoc on the enemy. He could see the repaired armor plates and further up the General's kill markers painted on the Pillager's left torso. Twelve painted in red and 14 more in gold in much fresher paint. Very impressive and Major Nabokov said as much which caused Lieutenant General Mitchell to look up at what Major Nabokov was looking at.

 "The 12 red ones are duels, from the Combine. The gold ones are from since the Uprising began." She replied before turning back to watch the artillery crews in action, taking another sip of coffee.

22 August 2766

 For 3 days the artillery pounded the rebel positions relentlessly before Lieutenant General Mitchell called a cease fire. The artillery crews were exhausted and the guns needed a rest. Fires burned all over the peninsula and the smoke was thick in the air. Inside the Mobile HQ, she said "Try to make contact with the rebel's, open channel unsecure. Tell them to surrender." As the communications tech began broadcasting across the radio frequency, she exited the Mobile HQ.

 "I would prefer them to surrender. But they have a few hours to think it over, then I will have SLS Mighty Lift give them some love taps. Maybe they just need a bigger kick in the pants to see the error of their ways." She said to the gathered officers "In other news, outside of this group here, I think we can call this planet secure. There has not been any shots fired outside of this area in 36 hours."

 "So after we take out these rebels, what are your plans for the future General?" Major Nabokov asked

 "To be honest, I have not given it much thought. With no contact with Higher, I have been sort of flying by the seat of my pants. Guess I better start figuring it out. I do know we will go into a low state of alert, do some serious maintenance, let the troops relax some. We been on constant combat ops for almost a year now, the troops need it." She replied honestly

 Three hours later a communication tech stuck her head out of the Mobile HQ "General, the rebel's have finally answered. They are surrendering."

 "Order them to dismount any Battlemechs or vehicles and walk out of there. Send weapons tight to all commands here. Major Calloway, take your Battalion in and secure the area please." Lieutenant General Mitchell said and got a lazy salute from Major Calloway as he moved to where his troops were camped. "Major Nabokov, have your 211th Hussar move to cover Major Calloway's advance."

 In orbit, Chief Engineer Whitney had completed all repairs aboard SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Pursuit Cruiser and had declared her 100% combat ready. He had ordered the portable cranes dismounted and once again stowed in the ships cargo bays. Hope I never have to use those pieces of junk again, he thought to himself. Before re-entering the airlock, he took another glance at the Olympus Recharge Station 800km away with both Dart Light Cruiser's not much further away, still battle scarred. If only the damned thing had a decent repair bay, 150,000 tons was not nearly big enough. With that, he turned and entered the ships airlock.

Hope IV (Independent Periphery)

 Colonel Patrick Quieg, acting commander 31st Infantry Division could see light at the end of the tunnel now. They were only a month from the Tortuga Dominions now. He was almost afraid all his personnel would vanish the moment they made it on the surface, but then again, that would be their right. They had been thru so much. If they scattered, he would not ay a word, hell he just might join them.

Lastpost (Uninhabited Periphery)

 Lieutenant General Nathan Baxter, commander 359th Battlemech Division, wished the recharge operations would speed up. They had at least another month until they reached Hope IV. His convoy now consisted of his 359th Battlemech Division, 509th Battle Regiment and 191st Royal Jump Infantry Division. Supplies were running low, mainly fresh water. They had combat rations, but those were not the tastiest things around. He figured they would ground on Hope IV for resupply before heading to the Tortuga Dominions.

Bartrock (Federated Suns)

 Ships Captain Martin Zuni watched the undocking of the 2 Mule Dropships as they prepared to head for the planets surface. That was another 100,000 in the bank. With no Dropships waiting for transport, he had made the decision to head direct to New Port Royal. Might as well start my vacation sooner. Should put me there around late September. He wondered how the SLDF troops were doing in the Outworlds Alliance. News said fighting was still raging across the periphery. He wished it would stop, so that he could get back to normal business.

[Daryk]

I think Mitchell has Nabokov fully on side now... took the rebels long enough to surrender.

Zuni is going to be waiting a LONG time for the fighting to stop...  ::)