Fate Can Be Cruel (Part One)

[2ndAcr]

18 August 2786
Terra (Terran Hegemony)

 Coordinator Minuro Kurita was seriously contemplating seppuku if he had to sit thru much more of this techno babble from Jerome Blake and his never ending briefings and speeches. He had sat thru boring briefings and meetings before but this one took the prize as the worst. For 3 days now, he and the other House Lords had sat and listened to the planned expansion of the HPG network if the HPG Neutrality was signed, about how the expansion would be funded, that each HOuse would be allowed to designate certain worlds for immediate upgrade, limited to 10 every 20 years for each House. To break the boring routine, when today's monologue had started, he had asked about Luthien and the restoration of the Combine's HPG Network. It had been an embarrassing mistake.

 "Before you get on your roll Mr Blake, how soon will my HPG Network is fully operational?" Coordinator Kurita had asked

 "We have already begun work on making the HPG's operational again. It is fairly easy to shut them down, but getting them operational again and perfectly tuned is a time consuming process. Then there is the stations that were destroyed or badly damaged when your forces attempted to take the stations. Rebuilding them will take even more time, plus it is fully dependent on funding from your government. Take Luthien as an example, it was a fully upgraded HPG station, equal to all of the other Houses stations on their capital's and here on Terra. To rebuild the Luthien station will take 3 years and cost 80 Billion Dollars. We have already begun purchasing the needed equipment and construction is estimated to take just over a year, then 6 months to transport and another year to assemble on site, with several months of testing before fully operational." Jerome Blake stated

 "Why not quicker? Luthien should be of the highest priority!!" Coordinator Kurita exploded

 "Systems within the Hegemony come before all others Coordinator. The Hegemony controls the HPG production plants. And I am sorry to remind you, but it was the actions of your forces that resulted in the destruction of the Luthien HPG station. Those systems ahead of you have already paid for their equipment in full. The Combine has yet to send a single dollar to purchase the needed equipment to replace that which your forces caused to be destroyed. I took the liberty of inserting your order into the production waiting list for you, but construction of that equipment will not begin until payment has been received in full." Jerome Blake replied

 "This is an outrage, there has to be another way to speed this up. Luthien must regain it's ability to communicate again." Coordinator Kurita said angrily

 "Well, since you asked, I know that Graham IV, which is currently having it's equipment finalized for delivery in the next 2 months, could probably be persuaded to move to your current production slot, but it will be expensive. They need the cash for rebuilding efforts more than a fully upgraded HPG." Jerome Blake replied

 "How much will this cost?" Coordinator Kurita asked, though he seriously needed the HPG, he smelled a rat.

 "The full cost of their purchase, which is 45 Billion Dollars, plus an additional 45 Billion dollars for the 2 year delay on arrival of their already purchased HPG equipment. That would guarantee their acceptance of the deal, I am sure of it. Plus you would need to pay the 80 Billion Dollars, for the rebuilding of the Luthien station, before delivery is arranged to Luthien." Jerome Blake stated flatly

 "You have lost your mind Blake. The Combine will not be held hostage like this." Coordinator Kurita said

 "Then your production slot will remain where it is. But I remind you, production will not commence until your payment is made. In full sir." Jerome Blake replied

 From the corner of his eye, Coordinator Minuro Kurita could see First Prince John Davion watching the exchange with a barely hidden grin on his face. Across the table, Director General Amanda Cameron had continued jotting notes on her pad while drawing circles with her pen. "Director General Cameron, surely something can be done to overcome this impasse."

 She stopped her doodling and looked Coordinator Kurita in the eye "You should have heeded my warning Coordinator Kurita. But, your right, Luthien, as the capital of the Draconis Combine should not remain in the dark. I will make all the arrangements, but I will need the 45 Billion for Graham IV plus your 80 Billion before I authorize shipping. I also believe that an additional 17 stations were destroyed or heavily damaged and that the cost for those are an additional 470 Billion Dollars to being them to fully operational status. How would you like to pay for those?"

 The amount hit Coordinator Minuro Kurita like a sledgehammer, over half a TRILLION Dollars would be needed to bring his nations HPG Network back to full operation. He forced himself to remain stone faced as he answered "Luthien will be first, I will have the funds transferred the moment I am back on Luthien. The others I will need to examine their importance for repair or replacement."

 "Perfectly understandable Coordinator Kurita. Now, shall we continue with Mr Blake's presentations? He has worked a long time on them after all." Director General Amanda Cameron said

[Cannonshop]

and thus, the coordinator is introduced to the concept that "Critical infrastructure is expensive".

[cawest]

it would have been great is the DC had a stroke when he sees the final bill.  Maybe the TH would take a few warship as trade?  But Cash is king.... or as the golden rules says.... She who has the gold (HPG) make the rules.   :thumbsup:

[paulobrito]

Well, I never thought that economics can be so fun. Well done sir, well done indeed.

[Daryk]

So glad to see Blake staying on side!  8)

[Dave Talley]

Well, I never thought that economics can be so fun. Well done sir, well done indeed.

check Cannonshops new Ngo sequel LOL

[Daryk]

Heck, see ANY Kowloon thread EVER...  8)

[2ndAcr]

19 August 2786
New Samarkand (Draconis Combine)

 Vice Admiral Barbara Coltrain was tired, as were all of her crews. They had been on a heightened alert status for too long. But being in Cobine space did not allow them any downtime at all. Almost every couple of days a Combine Jumpship entered the system only to be captured by her warships. As much as she wanted to keep them all, she did not have near enough crews for them. She had impounded the independently owned Jumpships until they departed the system with their crews transported to the surface. Ships belonging to the DCMS Admiralty she had other plans for them. So far, they had taken control of 7 Invader, 3 Star Lord and a brand new Monolith Jumpship from the DCMS Admiralty.

 She wished Major General Colin McGregor could speed up his looting of the factory complexes, but she knew that was beyond his control. It took time. She consoled herself with having all 3 captured DCMS warships out of their slips and ready to leave with her Fleet. After consulting the specialists they had brought, they had confirmed that they could breakdown the actual shipyard slips in the time they had left and could possibly strip down several of the supporting orbital factories. She had given the go ahead a week ago and they had already begun dismantling the slip configured to build the Samarkand Carrier.

 She was about to turn in for the night when alarms sounded throughout the ship and she made her way back to the bridge. Probably another random Jumpship inbound, she thought as the bridge hatch cycled open. "Report, what have we got?"

 "Incoming emergence waves, multiple ships. Unless the Combine has gone to convoy's, I would bet money we have incoming warships." Her XO reported

 "Order General Quarters, set condition 3. Warm up the weapons and get the pilots to their birds. Comm, send to the surface, inbound hostiles to make sure they are ready for anything." Vice Admiral Coltrain ordered

 Cho-sho Ikuya Seki, commander 1st Fleet Supply Division, shook off the effects from the jump into New Samarkand. He was delivering the final crews for the 3 new warships but also resupply Cho-sho Shuji Hirata and his Division during their patrol of the periphery border. As the ships sensors came back online, he noted that all of the ships in his Division had made the jump. He gave the order to fire up the engines and head for the shipyard complex to transfer the new crew members to their ships and to begin transfer of material for the shipyards and taking on additional spares.

 An aide brought a cup of tea over and he had taken his first sip from the Zero G cup when the ships plot suddenly changed. Heading towards his Division at a 2g rate of advance and barely at the edge of his ships radar range were 6 blips. As he studied the incoming plots, he verified that his ships were broadcasting their IFF and then as the oncoming ships closed, the ships plot blinked as it started picking up their IFF signals. He cursed as his eyes focused on a blip now labeled SLS Rhodon, Luxor Heavy Cruiser. "Battle stations, get the weapons warmed up."

 Vice Admiral Barbara Coltrain smiled as her ships rushed the Combine warships that just materialized. It would not be a fair fight at all and they could not flee. Two Vincent Corvettes and 4 Carrack Transports would make a very nice addition to their growing Fleet. She checked the closure rate and saw that they had another 30 minutes to maximum range. She crossed her legs and adjusted herself as much as her straps would allow to maximize her comfort during the 2g rate of advance.

 Cho-sho Ikuya Seki knew this would be a very lop sided fight as he gave the order for his few Aerospace fighters to launch. His ships sensor's kept a count of the swarm of inbound hostile Aerospace fighters. Not a ship in his command really stood a chance against the oncoming warships. His Carracks had carried 6 Jumbo Dropships and 2 Aqueduct Dropships for their resupply mission. He had already ordered the nearly defenseless Dropships to flee in the opposite direction while the warships tried to fight off the incoming enemy. "Emergence signatures detected!!!" Cho-sho Ikuya Seki could clearly see the incoming signatures being plotted on his display, his sensors detected what looked like a single ship on each of his flanks with another pair directly behind, effectively surrounding his force.

 SLS Midnight Dancer, LF Star Lord Jumpship materialized 37,500km in front of the fleeing Dropships and detached the 3 Titan Dropships she was carrying, which in turn began launching their Aerospace Fighters. She was followed by SLS Yangtze River, Vincent Destroyer which began heading for the gaggle of Dropships slightly behind the flock of Aerospace Fighters. On each flank of the Combine warhsip squadron, SLS Trinity River, Vincent Destroyer appeared on their port flank while SLS Halthom, Vincent Destroyer materialized on their starboard flank. Both began moving to intercept the Combine warships and prevent any escape.

 Vice Admiral Barbara Coltrain watched the range closure and gave her final orders before allowing the individual ships captains to direct the fight "Weapons free, target as enemy ships bear. I would prefer to capture as many as possible but if they force our hand destroy them. I want non stop surrender calls even during the fighting, hopefully, after the intial volley's they will see the wisdom of surrender. Under no circumstances do we allow any ship to break thru and threaten our transports or shipyards."

 A flurry of acknowledgements came over the communications network as SLS Rhodon's weapons officer selected the lead Vincent Corvette as the primary target, she advised her captain of a slight course adjustment which would bring another facing into play for maximum effect. The course was altered slightly and as the lead Vincent entered max range, SLS Rhodon opened fire. Three NL/55, 6 Medium NPPC and 2 Medium Naval Gauss headed for the lead Vincent Corvette. Cho-sho Seki thought his Vincent Corvette had stopped dead in it's tracks as the massive volley struck home. A quick glance at the damage display caused a flash of fear to go down his spine. The nose of his Vincent Corvette literally did not exist any longer, several shots had gone internal and his Jump Core showed enough damage that he doubted he could flee even if he wanted to. Another volley like that and we die.

 DCS Gilded Dragon, Vincent Corvette was not nearly as lucky. She was struck by 3 Heavy NPPC and 4 Medium NPPC fired by SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Pursuit Cruiser. All the nose armor was blasted away along with most of the Forward Right armor. A single Heavy NPPC shot went internal and detonated the Barracuda missile stored there. The resulting explosion ripped the forward section of the Vincent Corvette apart.

 DCS Horned Toad, Carrack Transport was swarmed with Aerospace Fighters, who had barely even slowed to engage the few DCMS Aerospace fighters. Though her anti fighter weapons proved to be a threat, it was the Vincent rapidly closing that was her greatest threat. She focused all she could on the lightly armored Vincent and was shocked as sensor reads reported barely any damage when she should have lost over 1/2 her armor where her weapons struck home. Aboard SLS Kathy Hamile, Vincent Destroyer, Commodore Oscar Lorenzo smiled at what he was about to do to the Carrack Transport that had scratched his paint. "Weps, please let that Carrack know that we do not appreciate the greeting we just got."

 With a smile, the weapons officer gave the order to fire. Two NAC/10 were fired in return and both removed the nose armor allowing one of the NAC/10 rounds to go internal. "Sir, I cannot fire anything else, everything we have will blow that Carrack apart. We need to pass by to bring our AFT weapons into play, the Naval Lasers are all we have. The NAC/20's will possibly destroy the Carrack."

 "Understood Weps, Helm, accelerate and get our AFT weapons into the fight if you would please."

 So the battle continued but within 30 minutes, the fighting was over. The SLDF/HAF forces had lost 5 Aerospace Fighters and some armor damage to warships. The Combine had lost 12 Aerospace Fighters, and a single Jumbo Dropships destroyed. SAR missions were launched as Marine details conducted boarding operations. Within 6 hours of the Combine arrival, the SLDF/HAF was victorious.

 Captured Combine Shipping

 DCS Storm Rising, Vincent Corvette - Heavy Damage (Captured)
 DCS Gilded Dragon, Vincent Corvette - Heavy Damage (Captured)
 DCS Horned Toad, Carrack Transport - Heavy Damage (Captured)
 DCS Hōfuku Maru, Crrack Transport - Moderate Damage (Captured)
 DCS Tatsuta Maru, Carrack Transport - Light Damage (Captured)
 DCS Kyokusei Maru, Carrack Transport - Light Damage (Captured)
 5 Jumbo Dropships Captured
 2 Aqueduct Dropships Captured

[cawest]

now Vice Admiral Barbara Coltrain can be picky on what ships she takes, when she leaves.... hummm Mammoth or a union what to do? 

Can you remote jump a civilian jumpship.  Say you have one manned invader, can she control or remote activate the jump diver of a few other ships.  When they get to the end of the next jump?  Some of the crew from the "mother"  jumpship take small craft over to deploy sails, charger the engine, and load the next jump data.  this would slow down the whole "convoy" but if workable it would increase the number of jumpships.  i still would leave the independent jumpships.   

[Kyryst]

Or even remote jump any ship that can't be crewed to a point where they can be secured and taken later- whether that be in another system or a point in deep space. They remote jump cores, so there is no reason they can not do the same to jumpships.

EDIT: That is some very nice captured warship stock, with a lot of transport capacity. Looks like the two remaining warship slips might be needed for repairs. Hope they can repair what they need to and disassemble slips on schedule. Either that or they might have to blow everything remaining in place. Sorry Minoru, no shipyard for you.

[2ndAcr]

19 August 2786
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

 Martin Zuni, CEO ZaP Shipping, was reorganizing his shipping allocations. With the expansion of the Hegemony territory in the Periphery, he had been forced to expand his operations quicker than he had ever planned. So far, he was the sole player in the interstellar shipping market, but he was also smart enough to make sure he did not over charge for anything. If anything, he kept prices below market value. He had a good thing going and there was no sense in making waves or getting complaints that might cause General Mitchell to regret allowing him a monopoly on shipping traffic.

 Years ago, he had arranged to purchase the captured pirate Liberty Jumpships for a song and dance bargain price. This had allowed him to easily expand into the newer controlled territory to provide the needed services. Now that Thompson Shipyards was operating the civilian Jumpship construction market, he had been forced to do some serious negotiations to secure a good contract price per ship. Luckily, he had dealt with the first folks to arrive and not the head hunters from their main office still in the Hegemony. But it was still a very lucrative deal for both sides, they got a 20% discount on all shipping needs and he got a 20% discount on ship purchases and a 25% discount on maintenance costs. This was mainly agreed to because beside the SLDF/HAF military, he was the only Jumpship buyer out here.

 He had put off this reorganization for too long and he knew it, but it was time. Sooner or later he knew someone else was going to move into the area and begin some competition. He was not worried about a single ship independent, he was worried about one of the heavy hitters from either the original Hegemony or one of the Houses deciding it was time for an expansion. He studied the large monitor on the wall, where his current work was displayed. His eyes flicked down to his written notes and then back to the monitor looking for any errors.

 ZaP Shipping Operational Chart

 Home System - Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

 Thazi Division

 Star Lord Jumpship - 3
 Liberty Jumpship - 8
 Merchant Jumpship - 4
 Mammoth Dropship (Cargo) - 10 (4 on order)
 Mammoth Dropship (Passenger) - 4 (3 on order)
 Jumbo Dropship (Cargo) - 32 (4 on order)
 Jumbo Dropship (Passenger) - 4 (3 on order)
 Buccaneer Dropship - 6

 Mitz Division

 Star Lord Jumpship - 4
 Tramp Jumpship - 4
 Invader Jumpship - 16 (6 on order)
 Merchant Jumpship - 12 (8 on order)
 Mammoth Dropship (Cargo) - 30 (12 on order)
 Mammoth Dropship (Passenger) - 12 (4 on order)
 Jumbo Dropship (Cargo) - 24 (6 on order)
 Jumbo Dropship (Passenger) - 14
 Buccaneer Dropship - 7
 Mule Dropship - 24 (12 on order)

 Bastrop Division (Federated Suns)

 Monolith Jumpship - 2 (4 on order)
 Star Lord Jumpship - 2
 Invader Jumpship - 16
 Merchant Jumpship - 8
 Mammoth Dropship (Cargo) - 40
 Mammoth Dropship (Passenger) - 6
 Jumbo Dropship (Passenger) - 12
 Mule Dropship - 30
 Monarch Dropship - 8

 Transit Division (Bastrop to Vonja)

 Star Lord Jumpship - 4
 Mammoth Dropship (Passenger) - 16

 He had shifted more assets to support Martha Pruitts Bastrop operations. He had purchased new Dropships off the open market within the Federated Suns while extra Jumpships moved from the Hegemony to the Federated Suns. But what had both shocked him and scared him some was the fleet of Jumpships owned by Mitchell Vehicles that had arrived carrying their personnel and equipment. He had learned that Mitchell Vehicles was purchasing as many Jumpships and Dropships as he could to move everyone that wanted to make the move. Martin feared that once the move was complete, Mitchell would turn that Jumpship fleet into a shipping company, so he wanted to make sure he was ready.

 He had been forced to place 4 Star Lord Jumpships and 16 Mammoth Dropship (Passenger) on a command circuit from Bastrop to Vonja due to the increased and almost non stop Hegemony refugee's arriving at Bastrop carried aboard Federated Suns transports. Currently the circuit was moving 96,000 passengers every other week and had been for the last 3 months. He did not complain, as the circuit was making 230 million per month for the trip from Bastrop to Vonja. Refugee's paid 300 per jump for the 4 jump trip to Vonja, from there, the Hegemony paid a heavily discounted 150 per jump to move the refugee's to different worlds within the Hegemony border depending on a systems needs and refugee skills. Reports from Bastrop said that even with the command circuit, the number of refugee's was growing faster than they could transport them. Current rates had the Federated Suns delivering 380,000 refugee's per month. He was fighting a losing battle with the flood.

[Kyryst]

Looks like he is going to need to preorder some Mammoth Dropships (Passenger) to Batrop so that when the Monolith Jumpships get delivered, they can move enough Hegemony citizens to keep up.  Martin may be worried about competition, but it seems like there is plenty of work available for a transport business to find work for. The Hidden Hegemony is certainly growing, which is a good thing for it's future. As it expands, there will only be further trade generated- and people who want to prey upon it, meaning there will continue to be a reason for the HAF to exist, even at a reduced size. Although considering there are what, 80+(EDIT: Sorry 74) worlds plus Naikongzu, Antallos, and Drachenwald? That is a lot of worlds to garrison, especially if there is piracy, the DC miltary or state-sponsored adventurism.

EDIT: And having an active DoME means further terraforming, so yay?

[cawest]

ZaP has a few ways they can go. 

one order more and larger passenger dropships. 

two move Merchant class ship help, and then surge Invader class when/if things go down hill for the TH. 

three.  buy a few Carracks.  they "only" have two drop collars but the 63k of cargo so they can carry more than just people.  Where to get them?  the FedSuns is building up and they need weapons not merchant ships they are known as at this time.  When the THiE need to pull in the hole behind them.  those ships would be great for moving cargo in that dangerous part of space in SW1 and SW2.  i would go with a lease to own option on 4 of those craft. 

[2ndAcr]

 I have toyed with stripping the Carrack of Capitol Weapons for a civilian style transport, like the Clans did, BUT that entails some serious risk. Not far from now, EVERY House is going to go after anything with a Compact Core.

 The cost of even a stripped down Carrack is more than a Star Lord and 6 Mammoth Dropships which would carry far more cargo in a single load. I just don't see the risk versus reward of even doing it.

[cawest]

I have toyed with stripping the Carrack of Capitol Weapons for a civilian style transport, like the Clans did, BUT that entails some serious risk. Not far from now, EVERY House is going to go after anything with a Compact Core.

 The cost of even a stripped down Carrack is more than a Star Lord and 6 Mammoth Dropships which would carry far more cargo in a single load. I just don't see the risk versus reward of even doing it.

i looked at converted damaged vincent cor  into blockade runner.  my idea of carrack is stop gap measure

[2ndAcr]

19 August 2786
Linden (Terran Hegemony)

 Admiral Tanisha Tanaka had looked over the massive transport needs of the SLDF/HAF ground forces and it was not a pretty picture. The Star Lord Jumpship was the primary transport for the SLDF/HAF. Though Thompson Shipyards had brought the design for the Monolith Jumpship with them, it was expected to take at least 2 years before it was in production. Not only that, but any offensive or even defensive action would require the transports to be escorted with warships, and these were always in short supply. The workhorse Star Lord Jumpship, of which the SLDF/HAF had 83 of, was a good transport, but defenseless. Each Mechanized Infantry Division consumed a massive minimum of 50 Dropship collars to transport. It used to not be that bad, but with the expanded TOE of each Division while under General Rita Mitchell, the collar problem had exploded. It was fine for purely defensive operations, but it caused massive problems during offensive operations with Operation Black Eye consuming almost 35% of their available Star Lord's. Another 15 had gone to Terra with General Mitchell and had yet to return. That was almost half of their true available transports gone.

 She had thought long and hard over some kind of solution to their problem. How to provide the needed transport in a package that could protect itself from a warship threat for either offensive or defensive operations? That was the largest problem, they did not possess enough warships to both guard their borders, escort missions and fight an offensive campaign at the same time. She looked up as her guest arrived, Cynthia Howell from Mitchell Vehicles.

 "Please have a seat Mrs Howell. I need some input, suggestions, idea's. I need it all. Let me explain." Admiral Tanaka said and for the next 30 minutes she laid out all the problems and then asked for possible solutions.

 For several minutes Cynthia Howell sat in her chair and looked at the notes she had taken. She had spent a lot of time looking over the designs of both Warships and Dropships that the SLDF/HAF was using. Though they were excellent designs, they were limited in their carry capacity and chewed up collars, which was a huge issue in itself. She doodled on her pad for a few minutes until she finally looked up. "What if, Mitchell Vehicles could redesign the Colossus Dropship? I think we could modify it so that 2 of them could carry a full Battlemech Regiment with ample onboard supplies to keep the Regiment in battle for almost 2 weeks just on onboard supplies. That would chop the current 11 Dropships needed by a Mechanized Infantry Division down to roughly 6. We could also probably modify another variant to carry a full Armor Regiment. That would free another 8 collars up. Your still going to need the 10 Lion (Infantry) Dropships, which is a sweet little design, if expensive as hell. I think it might be possible to get the overall collar total down to maybe 35 to 40. But judging by the oversized Divisions your running overall, I just don't see a way to get below that. Your still going to need at least a Regiment of Battlemechs mounted in either Lee or Overlord Dropships to secure a landing zone for the Colossus Dropships to come in at safely.

 Even at that collar count, your looking at 2 Potemkin Transports per Division or 8 Star Lords. That new Monolith would drop the number to 5 needed. But the conventional Jumpships, though much cheaper, would need escorts at all times."

 "Well, you know my problems. So feel free to work on some design's and bring them to me. If you can make them feasible, I will fight like hell to get them approved for deployment. It would be a big contract, so keep the costs down as much as you can." Admiral Tanaka said "How are you and your people finding it out here?"

 "Much to my surprise, it has been extremely pleasant. The local's are as nice as ever and eager beavers. The housing, while not what we left, is comfortable and functional. My biggest surprise was from Vice Admiral Percy Siemens. He has been extremely open to any suggestions we have made. I am used to getting gruff from SLDF officers when I make a suggestion." Cynthia Howell said

 Admiral Tanaka pinched the bridge of her nose slightly between to fingers before she responded "Vice Admiral Siemens can be a burden at times. He means well, and I cannot fault his administration ability, but he can also get under a person's skin quickly."

 "Well, before coming over, I had just explained to him that with the current size of the fleet out here, he should really upgrade the existing shipyards to construct or handle ships of 1 Million tons. He only has 2 yards that size but has 6 yards that can handle 500 thousand tons or less. All those Vigilant Corvettes he runs can be maintained inside of a Olympus Recharge Station. But your lacking enough yards to keep your true warships in shape or build new ones. Those are the recommendations I will be making to Mr Mitchell when he arrives and we officially assume control of the shipyards here. My thinking is the faster we start some upgrades, the quicker we can fully upgrade the shipyard systems to the more advanced yards like at Graham IV. Plus I would love to increase the number of supporting complexes, I am a firm believer of you can never have enough of those." Cynthia Howell replied

 "Great" Admiral Tanaka said quietly before saying louder "How is your Destroyer design coming along?"

 "We have several in the works. They seem pretty good, but until we either build one for trials or get our hands on one to strip down and upgrade, they are just computer designs and rough ones at that. We don't have the more advanced computers that we had at Graham IV. Once those arrive, we will be able to not only design a ship, but do most of the combat testing within the computer itself before we even lay the keel." Cynthia Howell said

 For over an hour, they made small talk about how all the new arrivals were settling in and such.

Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

 General Heinrich Rommel was going over the almost non stop flow of refugee's arriving at Vonja and then being dispersed all over the Hegemony worlds depending on their skill sets. With almost a quarter million people arriving each month, the housing situation was rearing it's evil head. You just could not build towns and cities with all their infrastructure fast enough. Feijo Modular Construction had again not only expanded so that they now built 200 modular housing units per day, but were licensing their designs to other systems for construction for 10% royalty. Not only did this provide good paying jobs, but it also helped provide good quality housing for almost every world in the Hegmeony. They had even designed several new modular additions that can expand an existing structure in size and to make them more "custom". Currently the Hegemony and each planet was footing the bill for the initial structure for incoming refugee's, but any of the new "custom" models would have to be purchased on the refugee's dime.

 Currently he was focusing on getting the refugee's onto worlds that needed a population boost and had the needed resources to support them. Planets that needed no terraforming were a top priority. Like, Ype-Jhu, Kent, Santa-Ana since they were so close to Vonja than other systems. Those with high tech manufacturing skills were being taken to worlds where they were needed. Systems with a low population but ample natural resources were given top priority for new settlers.

 With a large part of the SLDF/HAF now deployed outside of their borders, he had ordered that the Battlemech pilot training program now extend training to 6 years before graduation to increase the overall skill level of the graduates before they entered line commands. He also suspended temporarily the reactivation of new command outside and focused on allowing some of the long term SLDF troops an option to retire to the world of their choosing with a modest pension. It was time, some of these troops had been in service for 20 years already. He would need the replacements for replacing the retiree's. Many would be offered training/instructor slots if they wanted them.

 He knew several Division Commanders that were getting long in the tooth. He had spoken to several of them and offered them a chance to start up an official Officer Training Academy plus Advanced Course for Senior Officers.

[cawest]

will some of those retires be allowed to take their mechs?  how about something like the Watchman idea.  i don't know if arming workmechs would be the right way to go.  the old jocks might think it was a slap in the face.  Still that would add some firepower to those planets they retire on, it also would be nice leg up for training the next generation (grandkids).  if they had hands they could be used around the planet they were living on. 

[Kyryst]

The only thing I can think of, would be something similar to a Fox class corvette without LF-Batteries. Being fairly cheap, light enough in mass to build quickly, with a high collar count, this could be a way to quickly raise transport capacity.

EDIT: Because anything larger would take over a year to build, where a corvette would take under 6 months to build, and would be armed and armored (150 k-tons w/180 tons max armor, 240 k-tons w/288 tons max armor- which are both more armor then a stock Vincent, assuming my figures are right). Honestly, if the Vigilant or Vincent could be redesigned to have a multi-collared variant, it would make parts availability and maintenance so much easier.

[cawest]

i just would go look what was on the second hand marked instead of trying to build new. 

[idea weenie]

now Vice Admiral Barbara Coltrain can be picky on what ships she takes, when she leaves.... hummm Mammoth or a union what to do? 

Can you remote jump a civilian jumpship.  Say you have one manned invader, can she control or remote activate the jump diver of a few other ships.  When they get to the end of the next jump?  Some of the crew from the "mother"  jumpship take small craft over to deploy sails, charger the engine, and load the next jump data.  this would slow down the whole "convoy" but if workable it would increase the number of jumpships.  i still would leave the independent jumpships. 

One idea if she can pull it off is to use the Carracks as fuel tankers/herders.  The Carrack uses its crew to tell the Jumpships to jump to a point in empty space, and then follows them.  After arriving, the Carracks transfer fuel to the Jumpships so they can run their reactors to charge their cores.  Repeat until the ships arrive in Terran space.  Going slightly off a direct line back to Terran space means it would be impossible for the DC Admiralty to spot them.

The Jumpships have as many Dropships loaded with cargo as they can.

This would let them get more material out of the Draconis Combine, and avoid the worry of jumping to an uninhabited system with a DC vessel present but not close enough to grab.

[2ndAcr]

20 August 2786
Terra (Terran Hegemony)

 Even Director General Amanda Cameron could not take anymore of Jerome Blakes technical heavy briefings. Before today's meeting she had cornered him and told him it was time to bring the matter to a vote and let their chips fall where they may. As everyone filed into the briefing room, she could tell not a single House Lord was looking forward to another grueling 6 hour day of techno babble. She watched casually as Jerome Blake took the podium again and cracked a slight smile as even First Prince John Davion moaned quietly.

 "My Lords, I want to express my gratitude for attending this conference. I think I have covered everything in enough detail that everyone fully understands the HPG Neutrality Accord and the HPG rates and what they will fund. I feel it is time to ask, who would like to be the first to sign the HPG Neutrality Accord?" Jerome Blake asked

 Everyone was startled as Coordinator Minuro Kurita nearly shouted "Let the Draconis Combine be the first to sign the HPG Accord."

 In due order, every House Lord of the Inner Shpere agreed to sign the HPG Neutrality Accord. Within an hour, the massive document was brought in and every House Lord affixed their signature to it. Comstar was now officially an independent organization in charge of all HPG stations and their operation. BUT, the Terran Hegemony still controlled the actual production of replacement parts for the HPG Network, those factories being on Terra after all. Once the conference broke up, Jerome Blake looked up as Director General Amanda Cameron walked up to him.
 
 "How may I be of service Director General Cameron?" Jerome Blake asked standing up quickly

 "Just wanted to wish you good luck. Your technically not answerable to me any longer Mr Blake. But I want to remind you that I still control the HPG factories. I will not ask you to compromise your neutrality, BUT, I caution you to remember I still hold the key's to the kingdom and you are registered as a Terran Hegemony entity which will have to pay your taxes on time to the Terran Hegemony Government." Director General Amanda Cameron said

 "I understand the issues quite well maam. I am always at your service and I will still abide by the reactivation schedule given to me by General Mitchell. I can see why the list is the way it is. Obviously the Hegemony had an operation that needs protection before the Peace Treaty takes full effect on 1 November. Not a single HPG activating before 1 November is within 50LY of another activated HPG." Jerome Blake replied

 "Just wanted to make sure everything was clear Mr Blake. I will leave you to your duties." Director General Amanda Cameron said as she turned and exited the room.

Terran Hegemony

 Across contested worlds, video messages from Coordinator Minuro Kurita were hand carried under a flag of truce to the Combine commanders. They watched the video messages in disbelief, but none could deny that it was really Coordinator Kurita delivering the message. Though official hostilities would not end until November 1, commanders across the contested systems agreed to seperate their forces. Everyone wanted the fighting to end, especially the DCMS commands that were currently on the losing end of the fighting.

New Samarkand (Draconis Combine)

 Vice Admiral Barbara Coltrain had damage estimates from the newly captured DCMS warships. Neither Vincent Corvette was jump capable and would require complete jump core replacements for them to be. She had ordered both Corvette's destroyed completely. All 4 Carrack Transports were jump capable but would require some repairs to make a long journey. She had them being cycled into the 2 active slips for emergency repairs.

 On the surface, Major General Colin McGregor watched as the ongoing removal of the Battlemech production lines made steady progress. Though they had a ways to go, the work was going faster each day as the engineers got more familiar with their tasks. He had even sent troops over to "liberate" Kiso Construction Mechs to make the task of dismantling as much as they could go faster. A few skirmishes had been fought with the remains of the Combine garrison but they were quickly beaten off and chased far away from the Battlemech factories.

Kilbourne (Federated Suns)

 Andrew Matheson, Thompson Shipyards, could not complain as he watched the HAF Yardship slowly maneuver away from the Germanium Processing Factory that it had just completed. It was the 2nd one it had built, after first building a 15,000 person Orbital Habitat to house workers at the large complex slowly but steadily takng shape. Dropships carried thousands of tons of steel frames from the planet's surface for the massive shipyard frames almost non stop. Thompson's Shipyards had taken 28 Billion of the Federated Suns grant money and managed to purchase a fully upgraded modern shipyard from Mitchell Vehicles from their Graham IV location. It would be transported to Kilbourne once it's current production was completed in a few months. He could then duplicate the upgrading process to the other shipyard slips. He estimated they could begin actual production mid 2788 or early 2789.

Quinnes (Terran Hegemony)

 Tiffany Sample, Mitchell Vehicles, watched the finishing touches being put on the massive Mitchell Vehicles Corporate Headquarters. Encompassing 360,000 square feet, it was an enormous complex. Though it was still smaller than the one they were leaving on Graham IV, their operation here was smaller also, but they had room to expand as needed. She turned and looked across the expanse to where the much larger Battlemech Factory complex was still under construction. Things were progressing quickly, but she guessed it would take at least another year before the first test Battlemech emerged from the Factory complex.

[Kyryst]

That had to be one of the few times every Lord of the Star League has been desperate to sign a treaty when given the opportunity. LOL. I guess we will see if the Kurita will hold to their own schedule and hold till May 2787, or if they will be so enraged they attack ahead of schedule.

Sad that the Vincents had to be destroyed, hope they were able to at least pull some salvage from them. Did you mean KISO construction mech? Glad to see the dismantling is coming along ahead of schedule.

[2ndAcr]

Yeah, typo happened that I failed to notice

[2ndAcr]

1 September 2786
New Samarkand (Draconis Combine)

 Major General Colin McGregor smiled as he watched an entire Battalion of Kiso Construction Mechs piloted by mechwarriors of the 29th Mechanized Infantry Division completed the disassembly of the Luthien Armor Works factory complex. He still kicked himself for not commandeering the construction Mechs sooner. But once he had finally done so, it had sped up the work tremendously. A non stop flow of heavy tractor trailors moved the dismantled factory to awaiting dropships for the trip to orbit. Tomorrow, this Battalion would move to the Wakazashi Enterprises factory to help dismantle that complex. If everything went ot plan, they should be fully boosting for orbit in 2 weeks. SLS Sneak, Bugeye Surveillance had already scouted and plotted a route from Combine space via uninhabited systems.

 Though he still wished to join General Mitchell in the Terran Hegemony proper, he had his orders, directly from her, via HPG relay to get back home with their prizes.

Terra (Terran Hegemony)

 General Rita Mitchell looked at the stack of folders on her desk. Though she held out hope that they could survive here, she continued with her movement of select industrial concerns to the Periphery. If for some reason they had to depart Terra for the Periphery, at least this time they would be extremely well equipped to survive. Though the primary factory producing the Nighthawk Armor suits had been destroyed, they had managed to salvage enough production equipemnt to assemble at least 1 assembly line back home for them. They would have to manufacture additional lines from scratch.

 Here on Terra, Mitchell Vehicles had finished dismantling their factory complex and had it fully loaded for shipment. The biggest success had been when Ostmann Industries had made the decision to uproot and join Mitchell Vehicles in moving. In another 3 months, their factory complex would be fully disassembled and loaded for shipment. They would all marshal with several other companies and make their move in a massive convoy slated to to depart in February 2787.

 At Caph, General Systems had also made the decision to move. They would also be joining the massive convoy planned for February 2787. Though they were moving, they had decided to keep a single line producing on Caph which would rotate production runs of the various models of Exterminator Battlemech on a as needed basis. The other 2 functional production lines would move to a new home, to be determined.

 On Graham IV, Mitchell Vehicles had completed dismantling their massive ground based factory complex. Their CEO, Delbert Mitchell had been spending money at a furious rate purchasing Dropships and Jumpships. When the invasion of Inglesmond had disrupted Monolith production, he had resorted to purchasing anything that could carry Dropships, from anyone that could provide them, even ships destined for the scrap heap and considered obsolete by everyone. That was how he had come to own 12 old but serviceable Leviathan Jumpships that had been stored awaiting their turn at the scrappers ax. These were fully loaded with the Dropships carrying his Graham IV Battlemech factory and Aerospace Factory. But he was not waiting on the February convoy, and had ordered the ships to leave and head for Bastrop on the far edge of the Federated Suns. Joining the 12 Leviathan Jumpships were 6 Merchant, 8 Invader, 11 Liberty Jumpships carrying 291,000 employee's and their families.

 On Pollux, Allied Aerospace was in the process of dismantling their factory complex. General Mitchell herself had made convincing their CEO of the need to move. As the producer of the Phoenix Hawk LAM, she wanted them safe. It had taken a promise of a 20 year production contract and 10 years tax free to secure the agreement, along with complete coverage of the transportation costs. They would also join the February 2787 convoy.

 Though it was not everyone she had hoped to secure, it was enough to make her feel more secure for the safety of "Home". Combined with the already safely stored data cores containing everything from terraforming techniques to the most advanced weapons designs and research from the Star League, she felt she had completed her task of protecting the Hegemony for the future.

[Shadow_Wraith]

Will the Terran Hegemony share some civilian tech with the FS since they are a valued ally?  Nice story update. 

[Ammonios]

I agree that this is a good update.

[Artifex]

Good update,

seems like everything is in order to leave the space of the original Terran Hegemony to the 5 great houses, should need arise and still survive as an entity, albeit in a different place. Redundancy of this kind is always good, and it's also good to decentralise mankinds industrial base away from Terra and the Core regions of the IS.

[cawest]

i think someone might need to look at taking some civilian tech with them into hiding. 

[David CGB]

i think someone might need to look at taking some civilian tech with them into hiding. 

not just some but as much as they can copy would be a great idea, you never know what might be needed...

[2ndAcr]

5 September 2786
Boulsi (Terran Hegemony)

 Peter Sajak sat inside a secure room searching the now functional data cores brought from Terra. Even though he wanted to go right for the weapons designs and such, his now primary job was to look after the entire Hegemony out here. Instead, he was currently reading about constructing a Model T Ford automobile. The Data Core contained complete blue prints of every part, it also linked to another section in how the manufacturer, Ford Motor Company, had shown how they had laid out their assembly plant, complete with specifications of those assembly lines. Another link sent him to a breakdown of the ancient internal combustion engine, complete with it's specifications and design diagrams.

 Another section held what seemed like every important book ever written. Another section contained medical information from simple surgery to cutting edge genetics. Diagnostics, the medical machinery, their complete design specifications. How to build CAT Scans, MRI's, X-Ray Machines, all the way down to a simple needle syringe. He figured he could spend the rest of his life down here and not read or see it all. He had already selected and printed off information for steel factories, metal ore processing, mining techniques, Endo Steel manufacturing, farming applications, weather control. A team was already going over a section he had printed off on advanced alloys, their manufacture, the base needs, applications for them. They would compile a list of the needs and dispatch specialists to seek out these minerals and ores.

 Another team, composed of Doctor's were going over sections of the medical information which would be used to raise the overall medical care of everyone in the Hegemony. The first hospital being built would rival those on Terra herself in the advanced medical care it would provide over on Thazi. A large 1,000 bed hospital which would be equipped with the very best medical equipment and techniques they could provide. Already doctors were being culled from the non stop refugee's arriving and were sent to Thazi. Azur would not be far behind, already having a very advanced medical center and even a medical school.

 A message had already been sent to Terra for a stockpile of seed grain to be sent out here. It should have arrived by now. This would be put to use in the ever growing need of food. The goal is to make the Hegemony as independent as they could from the need to import anything. Machinery was already being built to allow them to manufacture in quantity advanced hydroponics for growing food on planets that would take decades to reach the ability of actual crop growing. Another item being built was a large fission reactor complex that would power not only the Capital of Boulsi, but it contained multiple reactor, called breeder's. Though it would power the city, the SLDF/HAF would actually run the complex. He had already done some research and knew why, for the construction of nuclear weapons. He knew another complex was being built on Boulsi to manufacture the warheads for the Navy's missile systems. He did not really like these facts, but he knew it was better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them.

 The very first search he had done was on Battlemech production techniques. He had been shocked to find the Data Core held the actual information to turn Blommestein's Battlemech complex into one that would rival anything ever seen in production and efficiency. That had gone out the second he had found it. Specialized machinery was already being manufactured to produce the extremely high tech manufacturing lines needed and the computer control systems. He had then located the same information for vehicle production, Dropship, Jumpship Production and everything else he could locate. Specialized equipment was already being designed to manufacture the advanced assembly equipment needed.

 The wealth of information was almost limit less. There was information in the Data Cores that he did not even begin to understand. He did not even try to hide the fact that he had no clue what some said. He knew they would need experts in almost every field that had existed to get the full benefit from the Data Cores.

Arcadia (Pentagon Worlds)

 The first colonists from the Exodus Fleet had finally set down on the planet they had named Arcadia. Pre-fabricated buildings were being unloaded from Dropships and set up. Everyone was clamoring to get off the stinking and foul ships they had just spent 2 years aboard. Already several other worlds had been located extremely close by and were being studied by science teams. Livestock, transported at great expense from the Hegemony were on their way to the surface where they would actually have firm ground under them for the first time in 2 years. Survey teams were already searching the planet itself for mineral resources. The planet already held ample construction material for more permanent buildings.