The Bull and the Genie

[Adventwolf]

Same!  I expect the Arano Restoration to still happen.

Of course, it is happening. Why do you think Mary and her Battalion are there in the first place. The war is already happening but she has no chance and will only cause the Aurigan Reach to fall apart if she is allowed to drag the war out. The only chance to end the war quickly is for the castle outpost mission to happen because with Mary in charge and their units being upgraded Kamea isn't getting away. But anything else will only result in the failure of the region.

[Korzon77]

Thunder on the Horizon


The rules of Tortuga didn’t realize anything was wrong. Not when the first jumpship appeared and detached its dropships. Tortuga didn’t have a long-range skywatch, and the sensors that could detect an engress merely told them that something had appeared… and after a weeks charge, left.

The three dropships boosted on carefully calculated trajectories and then went dark, deploying probes that even a successor state would have had issues detecting.

They were not there to attack.

They were there to listen. For three months, the ships listened to every communication coming to and from the world, watched as jumpships appeared and disappeared, built up a database of what ships were owned by the Tortugans, what ships were owned by individual pirates and what ships had been listed as being taken by their owners.

Pirates did not tend to keep large numbers of aerospace fighters for one simple reason: They were both expensive and when disabled, did not tend to return in any condition to be repaired. The number of fighters was important—the Concordat did not intend to land until the defenders had been suppressed from the air, and the first step for that was to establish air supremacy.

Other sources, including suborned pirates and Taurian agents, were present on the ground. They did not behave any differently from any group of pirates or traders, and expressed no sympathy for the enslaved.

Nor did they talk about the microcameras hidden in their clothing and the concealed sensors in their ships. Regions around the capitol of Raider’s Roost were mapped out, and a number of Taurian bases had prefab structures erected so that troops could practice in a similar setting to what they expected. Meanwhile, classified briefings were held for those who would be given the responsibility for establishing the occupational government. First Raiders Roost, then Tortuga III and eventually the entire cluster would not simply be reduced, but rendered permanently useless for pirate raiders.

Punitive raids were the cost of doing business, but Tortuga always survived, one of the most enduring and powerful pirate factions in the Periphery. Not a single Taurian world, outside of the core worlds had escaped raids, and the Tortugan pirates were notorious for their brutality. They assumed that their reputation for brutality and the threats to the slave population, would protect them.

The Concordat intended to so the pirates of Tortuga that they were in error.


From Freedom and Slavery:  Piracy in the Periphery, 3000-3075.


Samantha Educational Press.

[Korzon77]

Man Plans. God Laughs.


It’s a saying that should be put up on every government building in human space, but it’s still a lesson that needs to be learned again and again. Nobody can know for certain if Espinoza or Lady Arano had planned the Templeton Square Massacre. What is known is that the outcome, the thing that saw the Aurigan Confederation plunged into perhaps the greatest crisis of its short lifetime had nothing to do with the plans of Generals and Statesmen… But the fact that one of the security detachment member’s nieces had been among the dead in the square…


From: Chance and Mischance, a hundred cases where fate tossed a banana peel in front of the mighty.


New Avalon Press, 3101


“Really could use some fighters.” Thomas’ mech took a hit from some light rocket fire, and  Mary snapped off a shot blowing the disposable launcher to hell. Not that it made any difference. The rebels were using remote firing systems, and had started withdrawing immediately after hitting the detention center, while Mary and her unit were being impressively useless guarding a power center.

Which they were required to do, in order to protect the Aurigan Confederation. The leadership seemed certain that any minute now, Lady Arano and her forces were going to shift from hitting political detention centers and police stations, to attacking orphanages and hospitals.

“We’ve penetrated the building—“ the ground forces commander told Mary through his link. “Most of the police boogied.”

Of course.  “Status of the station?”

“Computers fried, records gone, ditto for the cells. Oh, and they have a printed statement about liberating the unjustly imprisoned.”

And we’ll hear that on the radio tonight. 

Mary took a deep breath. We don’t have enough fighters or dropships to try and land on them, when they hit a place, and by the time we can get here…  She’d try to yell at their fleet component, again, but nobody wanted to risk losing a dropship to rebels. And there was nothing—nothing on her requests to free up light units. If they could tie up the enemy long enough to bring her forces to bear…

But everyone was fixated on the eternal question of “how can they stand up to our mighty legions.” The general was focusing on it like it was a normal conflict, and it wasn’t. The rebels weren’t pirates, they were raiders and the unit just wasn’t set up for dealing with raiders.

And half the nobles are only with Espinoza because he’s threatening them or bribing them. The moment they thought he was done, they’d jump ship, just like so many of them had sworn allegiance to him before the bodies of the former leaders were cold.

Nobles. Sure, Taurus had them, but you had to do something first, and no Taurian noble had the kind of money these people did. No wonder they were willing to stick with whoever protected their swill trough. Not that Lady Arano is probably much better.

“Right I—“

“Brigadier Cheng?”  The voice was unfamiliar.

“This is Cheng.”

“This is Captain Willis. You’re ordered to return to base immediately. We’re sending a VTOL out to get you.”

“What? I’m in the middle—“

“This is a Delta Green situation.”

Mary shut up. Vital, but cannot be transmitted.  Delta Green was for if your coms were compromised or if you couldn’t even risk the chance you could be overheard.  “Understood.”

Twenty minutes later, Mary was flying back to the city. The three VTOLS had included a backup pilot for Baby, but nobody was talking to Mary.

But the feeling was… Worry. A lot of worry.

Then they got back to the capitol district and Mary just stared. The building they’d taken over for liaison offices was nearly totally destroyed, fire pouring from its ruins. Mary didn’t even wait until the door was fully open before she was dashing through the crowded streets full of firefighters and troops trying to hold a perimeter.

“Brigadier! Please, we need to get you under cover!” Mary turned as an infantry captain grabbed her and pulled her into a tent. There were coms chattering away, men and women looking impressively useless as they verified that yes, fire burned.

“What happened?”  Mary asked.

“There was a meeting between the general, his staff, the diplomatic staff…” The man’s face was pale, sweat gleaming on it. “One of the security detachment brought a bomb. He was able to pass through the cordon.”

“A single bomb didn’t do that,” Mary said.

“We believe he may have seeded some more.”

“How’s the general?”

“Dead, Ma’am.” Mary winced. “The XO?”

“Dead. So is the ambassador.”

“Fine, who do I report to?”

“Ah, Ma’am, I don’t think you understand. You’re the ranking officer, except for the naval contingent.”

“I…” Mary bit her lip, and remembered her training. The worst thing she could do would be to panic, especially now that she realized everyone else was quietly panicking. “Make certain all dropships and other facilities are on lockdown, with our troops, not locals.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Espinoza, was he there?”

“No, Ma’am.”

“Any sign of attacks from the rebels?”

“Nothing, Ma’am.”

Did they think they got Espinoza? An attack like this, losing most of their officers would be the time for an immediate attack, but they would be on a timer…

“Right. I want reports from the current commanders of all subunits on readiness in the next twenty minutes. I also want a briefing on what they were talking about. Find whoever is going to replace the ambassador. I want to talk to them. Right after that, get me a meeting with Espinoza.” Mary took a deep breath. “And I know that it’s a class B and they probably haven’t sacrificed a chicken to it today, but tell them we’ll pay what they want for an emergency message to Taurus.” Not that it can help us. Even presuming they had the ships ready, it’d be weeks before anything serious could be freed up for them. Which also meant… “Also, I am taking command of this unit. Log it please.”

“Yes, Ma’am. What else do we do?”

“Win this war.” Blake, I don’t think we’ve lost an entire staff like this since the Reunification War. What the hell are they going to do on Taurus when this news gets to them?

Not her problem. Mary sat down and starting giving more orders. Her problem was fixing this absolute ******, which was about as big as she could handle.

[idea weenie]

I wonder how long before Espinoza decides to start shmoozing up to Mary, in order to get her on 'his side'.

Hopefully a better ambassador will be sent, one that doesn't try to get drunk at a reception but instead listens to what is not being said.

The other idea is the Canopus ambassador starting a quiet line of communications to Mary, essentially telling Mary that Espinoza cannot be trusted and the fate of the Aurigan Reach is in the Taurian's and Canopus' hands.

[Daryk]

That last bit is the job of the Canopian ambassador on Taurus...  8)

[Adventwolf]

This is likely  local rebel cell that stupidly didn't coordinate with larger force. Also all you guys saying that Espinoza will be exposed for not being trustworthy. The Taurians do not care about what he does because he can negotiate for the whole Reach unlike the old government. With Mary in command now she will be able to demand the light units she needs to deal with Raiders. If she has to she can even swap out some of her mechs for lighter units. Along with getting a lot of CV fast units.

This isn't going to end with Kamea on the throne with the Taurians on her side because right now she is nothing to them except a unknown. And being unknown is dangerous as far as the Taurians are concerned. The only way she wins is if she can offer something more to the Taurians than the Directorate.

Also what is this Aurigan Confederation? That has never been a thing. The original was thr Coalition which formed from the Trade Pact, that has now transformed into a centralized government of the Directorate. Aka the exact opposite of what a Confederation is supposed to be.

And what is this BS about the Nobles of the Taurians not being as rich as the Aurigans? The Taurians are all far richer and better off than the Aurigans. And the Nobles are on an even bigger level. Yes to gain a Noble title you have to earn it but it is still inherited after that. They may not make as much as some of the Inner Sphere but they sure as hell make more than any other Periphery state.

[Daryk]

I think Korzon is approaching it differently than that.  We'll see where he takes the story.

[Adventwolf]

I think Korzon is approaching it differently than that.  We'll see where he takes the story.

That would be the case if not for the fact that every mention of the Aurigan Government prior to this was as the "Aurigan Directorate." So it being the "Confederation" at of literally nowhere makes no sense especially when the entire reason for the coup was that the old government was too inept and disorganized to ever deal with any other state probably the very reason no other state would recognize them as legitimate. As for the nobles and wealth, again it makes no sense for the Aurigans to have wealthier ones in canon let alone in this version where the economy and wealth of all the Taurians has taken a major upswing. The Taurians already were the biggest and most robust economy in the periphery prior to the technological uplift they are going through and the Aurigans are a 3rd rate power below the Taurians but just above the pirate realms.

[Sir Chaos]

That would be the case if not for the fact that every mention of the Aurigan Government prior to this was as the "Aurigan Directorate." So it being the "Confederation" at of literally nowhere makes no sense especially when the entire reason for the coup was that the old government was too inept and disorganized to ever deal with any other state probably the very reason no other state would recognize them as legitimate. As for the nobles and wealth, again it makes no sense for the Aurigans to have wealthier ones in canon let alone in this version where the economy and wealth of all the Taurians has taken a major upswing. The Taurians already were the biggest and most robust economy in the periphery prior to the technological uplift they are going through and the Aurigans are a 3rd rate power below the Taurians but just above the pirate realms.

I think you need to chill a little, instead of reading way too much into what´s probably just an oversight.

[DOC_Agren]

Insurrection

and now the current defacto Taurian Leadership has seen first hand how the Espinoza regime is handling things.

[Korzon77]

If I’d known what the Arugian fight was going to be like, I probably would have resigned and become a farmer. On the other hand, it did prepare me for trying to keep Takashi and Hanse from killing each other.


From the Periphery to Unity City, One Woman’s Story.

New Avalon Press: 3095


“Get ready to attack the objective,” Spear Lead said. The four battlemechs advanced quickly through the woods. There was a transmitter station that was used to jam rebel broadcasts. Once they took out the jamming systems, it would be easier to get the truth about the coup out.

Once I would have been fighting to defend it, Linda thought. But she’d joined with Lady Arano to restore the rightful rulers to power. Behind them were the troops that would move in and recover any salvage.

“No mechs on scope,” Spear Two said.

“Understood, keep moving forward.” The transmitter station had only a light guard force, and they were mostly fleeing as the mechs and tracked APC’s crested the hill.

Linda didn’t mind. She didn’t want to kill fellow Arugians. Now Taurians, that might be a different story.

“Get ready to—“

“Incoming!”

Linda looked up as a pair of meteor strike fighters shot over them. The sound of their cannons were loud in her ears, as they bracketed Jake’s Wasp with fire, tearing the armor off of the mech’s left arm. She turned and targeted them with her Hunchback’s lasers, but missed.

Where the hell did they come from? All the conventional air was staying at the cities!

“Spear Lead, recon reports several incoming VTOLs. They’re…” the man fell silent. “They’re moving to the Oderhaus Bridge.”

******. Mechs could move through water. Tracked APC’s generally couldn’t, at least not the deep waters of the Oderhaus River. VTOLs meant troops and she bet they were vibromining the bridge as they spoke. It wouldn’t be the first time the new Taurian commander played that trick.

And right on schedule, one of their civilian spotters with the radios they’d distributed reported that she’d seen Taurian battlemechs and tanks leaving the local base. Not our battlemechs. They might be traitors, but some of their enemies were reluctant to shed Arugian blood. Not the Bulls.

But now Linda had a problem. She couldn’t get tied up in a fight for the bridge with heavy mechs coming in behind her, and the strike fighters meant the plains were a no go, especially for her drop ship to land and extract them.

“Everyone on me. We’ll make for the Jumbles, and then leave from there.”

“But the station?”

Linda thought about wrecking it. But wrecking it would also destroy local broadcast stations and enrage the locals. They’d just have to leave the jamming equipment. “Another time.”

[/hr]

“We were able to destroy three APCs and damaged two battlemechs, but no confirmed kills.” The lance leader looked mulish. “If we’d chased them into the canyons—“

“They could have turned it around on you,” Mary said. “They had two Hunchbacks and that’s not something even a Marauder wants to get into a point blank range fight with.”

Two weeks and we are still shadow boxing. Mary stared at the holotable of their mobile HQ, and didn’t that say wonderful things about the local security situation, that she was here instead of in a building. She’d managed to slightly ****** their situation, using VTOL’s and the landing craft she’d pulled from the space force, but they were still restricted by the slower speed of their mechs and the need to protect everything.

Blocking forces deployed via VTOLs and mechs stationed at nodal points has stopped the bleeding, but we’re still nowhere close to winning this.  Lady Arano also had some very tough, very skilled mercs working for her, who had torn right through a Directorate unit that had gotten too eager in chasing some “wounded” mechs and ran face first into the kind of ambush that would have been hard for Mary to pull off.

“It’s confirmed,” Thomas said. “At least one of the APC’s was new, and the manufacturer is Canopian.”

“No, it is confirmed that obviously that APC was stolen, or perhaps grew legs and wandered off from the perfectly innocent Canopian military base,” Mary said, shutting down the display with a vicious move.

That was the other thing she’d discovered, right after the Concordat had informed her that for the near future she was in charge, and they had full faith in her, and she should read the general’s classified orders.

I read them. Then she’d screamed. “Under no circumstances are you to risk killing Canopian civilians or military personnel unless they are directly engaged in combat. Furthermore, attacks on regions where Canopian military or civilian personnel are active are forbidden, regardless of any actions they may be taking regarding insurgent forces. Canopian drop and jumpships are to be respected. Contraband may be removed if they are stopped, however, if they are registered to recognized Canopian civil or governmental agencies (see appendix C), the ship itself may not be impounded.”

“How about I also put my eyes out and use a cane with my battlemech,” Mary muttered.

“That again,” Thomas said. “Nobody wants a war.”

“Then maybe they should mention that to Arano and Espinoza.” She gestured at the pinned map. “How can we win this, if they can keep resupplying!  All they have to do is jump back to some Canopian world, or hell, a compound on an independent world and they might as well be on Terra! Screaming ‘not it’ is something you do in school, not here.” Because I can win this war, but it means risking a bigger war that nobody wants.

“Let’s go,” Mary finally said. “Santiago Espinosa needs to talk to us.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know, but he’s not happy that the Ambassador died and left me in charge.”

Mainly because I’m not letting any of the dear departed’s subordinates anywhere near this situation. The papers in the embassy had been classified, but now that Mary was in charge, she’d gone through, or had the legal officer go through, his personal financial papers, and it was an open question is there was anyone in the local region that the Ambassador didn’t have deals with. Enough to make it plain that he had divided loyalties, and just about every bit of information he’d sent back to the Concordat had been designed to make the Directorate look good. Like for example the fact that “Santiago Espinosa enjoys the complete support of the people, with only a few bandits seeking to rally the discontented.”

Which at this point are numerous enough that two sports complexes have been converted into detention centers. Mary had said something about that, but had been told that it was internal business and to butt out. Oh, he’d been more polite, mentioning that her youth left her inexperienced in such issues…

Problem is, I am inexperienced at this. Nobody ever worried about pirates running a successful insurgency, and this was the first time the Concordat had done something like this in decades. Well, nobody said this would be easy.

[/hr]

By the time they got to Espinoza’s office, they’d been passed through no less than six security checkpoints. Before the coup, the Palace had  included a museum and large parts were open to the public. Now you needed a permit to get within six blocks of it.

Inside, Espinoza and his daughter were waiting for Mary and Thomas and they didn’t look happy.

“I heard that another force escaped, Brigadier.”

Thomas tensed. Mary shook her head, quelling him.

“Escaped yes. Achieved its goals, no.” Mary nodded. “As you know, the enemy can choose where to strike.”

“And yet, we know where they obtain their supplies from.” Victoria stared at her. “We could smash them.”

“And possibly end up in a confrontation with outside nations if their nationals should… accidentally be harmed.” Another requirement of her orders. Officially, the Concordat and Magistracy were at peace, and no, they would never dream of interfering with each other.

I could be preparing to attack Tortuga, right now! The injustice rankled. Mary bet none of those officers were worrying about ‘what if the slaves decide they want to form an insurgency to keep us from liberating them!’

“They continue to spark discontent.”

Mary frowned. “Forgive me, but I think the actions of your government are doing that. If all the people in prison right now were active insurgents, this city would be burning down around our ears.”

“Not everyone fights, and we have discovered more than a few individuals relaying communications to the rebels,” Espinoza said.

Before or after someone broke their fingers?

“We’ll never be able to get them all,” Mary said. “I’m afraid that you’re… losing the allegiance of many people.”

“What is losing their allegiance is your inability to use the forces you have!” Victoria said.

“Victoria, please. Brigadier Cheng is new to her position. Perhaps however…” He tilted his head. “A closer liaison would be helpful.”

“Who would that be?” Mary asked.

“My daughter and her royal forces. They can both add numbers to your forces and bring a unique perspective to the situation. After all, it is our nation that we are fighting for, and the sooner this conflict is ended, the sooner the healing can begin.”

Crap. But the problem was, it made sense, and at least Mary knew that Victoria probably wasn’t working the opposition. And if she didn’t, people from the Concordat would be asking ‘why?’

“Very well,” Mary said, pasting a smile that probably only felt fake. “I look forward to working with Lady Espinoza.”

[Korzon77]

Beware true believers. They will be good and honest, and love their children… and commit atrocities that even a pirate band would flinch away from.  The worst thing is, true believers can also change the world for the better—and sometimes you don’t know which type you have until you are in too deep to back off.


Edward Calderon: Piles of Skulls,  A History of Shining Dreams Turned to Nightmares.


Oxford Press, 3077.




For the Directorate.  Victoria used that as her mantra. They had to make hard decisions but it was for the Directorate.

Her father had raised her with tales of the rise of the Reach. The trade partnership that had protected them from falling into utter destitution, becoming just another bauble for a pirate band to smash.

And then the Coalition, which had formed the foundation of a proud, independent nation.

But he’d also told her of other stories. The Outworld’s Wastes, the lands where brief, shining moments had been dragged down into the muck and mire.

The Coalition was a foundation, but a foundation wasn’t enough, and her father had shown her that if they were to be a proud, independent nation, they had to keep moving. And part of that was being able to negotiate with the Taurians.

And part of that was, if need be, betraying her family and friends. Killing Kamea, because they just refused to understand. Her parents might have understood but they were dead, and now Kamea was tearing everything down.

For the Directorate.

You could see what unity brought you in the Taurian forces by her side. They weren’t as good, Victoria believed, on an individual basis as the Royal Guard… but that didn’t matter.

“Royal One, watch your interval,” Cheng said. “You don’t have our armor.”

Even if individual pilots weren’t as good, the whole made up for the weaknesses of the individual. Not that individual Taurian pilots were bad, they just hadn’t grown up learning to pilot their family’s battlemechs.

And not just the pilots focused on the whole. Victoria had watched as the dropships had grounded on Panzyr, near the suspected rebel base. Temporary fortifications were thrown up, medical bays established, while aerospace fighters took up top cover, all done as if it had been done a thousand times before. They only had an over strength company, Royal Guard and Taurian mechs, but they were screened by light vehicles—and those were all Taurians.

It had been something of a bitter pill to swallow when Victoria realized that Brigadier  Cheng didn’t trust Victoria’s own forces to follow her instructions.

“No fighting to the death, not unless you have to,” she’d told the recon troops. “If they’re smart, and they haven’t been stupid, putting our eyes out will be a priority, and you’re our eyes. If you can force them to deploy for combat, fine, but nobody here try for a medal, just send us our information.”

And what was worse, she could understand it.

What could we do with an army like this?

“Taurus Prime, we just encountered combat vehicles. Tracked, no hovers, no VTOLs.”

“Confirmed.” There was a pause, then Mary’s voice echoed over the tacnet. “Right. By the numbers everyone. This looks like a supply cache, but I want records, and that means check your fire and don’t blow up things that aren’t shooting back. Royals, we also want to hang back so nobody can play games with minefields.”

The moved forward, and then suddenly Victoria’s mech rocked with detonations across it’s hull.

How did—but they were small detonations.

“Confirm, enemy vehicles are Pikes.” Mary’s voice was clipped. “They’re under cover. Support unit, give us some smoke. Move, everyone, get to PPC range, but do not try for a point blank range hit.”

“But they’d be helpless!” Victoria burst out.

“Which is why there’s a mine field in front of them, I’ll bet, or maybe a bunch of Hetzers.” Mary said.

The next several minutes were an exercise in misery. The thing to do was to close with those tanks, and even if their PPCs weren’t as effective, they could crush the tanks. But Mary merely had her forces advance, using some of the cover, until they were close enough to start hitting the Pikes. Meanwhile the few fire support mechs they had started lobbing LRM fire into the dug-in enemy tanks, along with VTOL strafing runs.

Victoria almost broke ranks, when suddenly there was an explosion of smoke warheads from the dug in forces and then several boxy units were roaring out at them.

Hetzers. How did she know? If she had been in command, they would have tried to close and…

But now the Hetzers were having to close on them, and the entire Taurian unit shifted their targeting to the little vehicles, the last one exploding before it got more than a single shot off, damaging, but not crippling one of Mary’s Marauders.

“Rebel force,” Mary transmitted. “You tried, but it didn’t work. Nothing’s keeping me from just lobbing LRMs into your compound, and unless you have a bunch of mechs we haven’t seen, you can’t win this. Surrender and I promise medical care and proper treatment for your forces.”

“They’re traitors!” Victoria said on the tacnet.

“Not as far as they’re concerned,” Mary said. “And I’d really prefer to not convince every rebel group out there to fight to the death. Half these people probably haven’t even held a gun before now, so it’s not like this hurts our war effort.” There was a pause. “And Pikes are a Magistracy design. Granted, they would never provide weapons to rebels, but I’d like to find out what criminals have been shipping such weapons to the rebels and making the Magistracy look bad. Least we know this bunch didn’t get experienced military advice.”

“Why?”

“It was a good idea, but made no provision for the other side not taking the bait,” Mary said. The supply depot now had white flags, and there were detachments of TDF troops moving forward to disarm and take them into custody. “The moment we didn’t charge forward, they should have tried to back off, or at the very least had another unit in a position to flank us and force us forward.”

But I would have fallen for it, Victoria thought. She could see the future. The Royal units trained like this, people who were loyal to the Directorate, not a single house. A single, unified dream.

And wasn’t that worth doing things that those who never had to make such decisions might judge harshly?

For the Directorate.

[Daryk]

I'm surprised Mary was able to restrain Victoria.  Maybe next time...  8)

[wolfgar]

Or maybe Victoria learns what a pile of BS she's been taught

[Sir Chaos]

Speaking of BS, I am not so sure that bomb was actually planted by Espinoza´s opponents.

Neither Kamea nor the Canopians want to piss off the Taurians by killign their ambassador. Their goal is for the Taurians to lose interest in supporting Espinoza, and this bomb achieved the exact opposite. Plus, something like that isn´t really Kamea´s style. The attack is also too high-profile for some lone wolf regime opponent or ragtag rebel group, the target is just too secure.

Espinoza´s people did this - probably Victoria, considering that in this story, she wasn´t busy with the Perdition massacre.

[Intermittent_Coherence]

The start of the chapter clearly tells what happened:
Bombs were planted by a lone actor maddened with grief.

[Dave Talley]

Tag

[Korzon77]

“Where are our prisoners?” Mary snarled.

“What?” the Directorate flunky said. “They were processed and are being sent to a holding facility.”

Mary stared at him. “That was not what they were promised for their surrender.”  The last month had been going… well. The mercs and Lady Arano were now running into the problem that they had a rebellion, not a few units, and that meant they had to protect their allies. Mary had been hammering away at any fixed location she could find.

And it had been working. Oh, they hadn’t succeeded in bringing them down, but every time they had to retreat, it was another sign that they couldn’t protect the people flocking to their banners.

Well, except those hiding in the cities.

But now… “You provided us with paper records, and yet, when one of my officers checked up, the hospitals had never even HEARD of those people, much less treated them. Where. Are. They?”

“At the detention center north of the city! It’s a filter center to see who needs to be sent to the secure facility!” He’d turned pale. Mary glanced behind her, and noticed that Thomas had lowered one of his PPCs. Just a little bit.

“We’re going there, right now.”

“But they are traitors—“

“Who surrendered on the basis of the promise of fair treatment. A promise offered by a Taurian officer and by extension, an promise by the Taurian Concordat.”

Blake, I hope this isn’t as bad as I think it might be.

[/hr]

It wasn’t. It was worse. Mary stared down at the network of cells, thrown up using prefab components. Some of them were full of people to the point where you couldn’t lay down. The stink of human feces and untreated wounds made her want to puke.

“You.” She looked at the warden. “My men will assist you in finding hospital beds for the injured.”

“This is a Directorate Facili—“

“Not any more. We’ll be taking over security. Your only role will be in finding facilities for the prisoners.”  Mary leaned forward, and for all that she was shorter than he was, he backed away. “You will also provide my XO with information about where the rest of the prisoners were taken. Nothing will be lost. Nobody will vanish, and if they are dead, you will provide us with the cause of death and what became of the body.  Am I perfectly clear?”

“Yes Ma’am. But what should I tell my superiors?”

“I’ll talk to them.”

But Mary didn’t go to the palace. Not first. First she had to make another stop. The Comstar Station. On the way over, she’d dictated her report, which summed up could be said: “Things are going to shit. Help.”

We can’t win this war. Every person sent to the prison would never forgive Espinoza. Nor would their families. But if they pulled out the Directorate would fall. Best case, fall and let Lady Arano in, who probably had no reason to like them. Worse case, the entire region would dissolve into civil war.

I should have checked the POWs.  Personally. “But I didn’t think of it” wasn’t an excuse. It never was an excuse.

She didn’t just fire off one message. She fired off several. To the TDF high command, to the Protector’s office, to the Diplomatic Corps, which might actually have someone there who was doing their job.

Be fair. They might have been lied to as well.

But now she was stomping up the steps to the throne room. And there was Espinoza, looking annoyed.

“Brigadier Cheng, I believe you have exceeded your authority—“

“How do you think we can win this fight if you make yourself hated by the people?”  Mary glared at him. “Half the prisoners I just saw weren’t royal guards or mercenaries, they were common people who joined her banners!”

“They are traitors,” Victoria said. “They should be happy that they’re not being sho—“

“Traitors like you?” Mary asked.

Victoria stared. “What?”

“You didn’t win in an election, Lady Victoria. Your father shot his way to the throne.” Mary shook her head. “I’m just a soldier, and yes, as some of your people have been painfully happy to tell me, young for my position. But the only legitimacy you started with was the legitimacy of force. To win this, to really win this, we have to win the people over, and you’ve ensured that probably isn’t going to happen!”

“When they realize they cannot win, they will surrender,” Espinoza said. “The noble houses are on our side, and they are the ones that matter.”

“Are they?” Mary asked. “Or are they on our side because you have guns pointed at them?”  She paused. “More importantly, I’m suspending active operations, at least until we have our POW situation fixed.” She smiled, the expression not reaching her eyes. “Because I promised fair treatment to any POWS as a Concordat officer and I will not violate the regulations of the Taurian Defense Force.”  She looked up at him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to wait for further communications from home.” She didn’t wait to be dismissed.

[/hr]

Later, Mary was in her office, going over the reports, when Thomas stuck his head in. “We just got the reply from Comstar.”

“So soon?” Mary said. That must have been a fast turnaround. Someone was evidently reading the increasingly annoyed reports she’d sent.

The document had to be decoded through the computer, and then…

Okay, this is very classified. Mary pulled out the isolated decoding machine, keyed her personal cipher into it, and then ran the code that the decoding process had generated.

A one-time code. Now that code was useless for any further use. Not only that, but the message files were scrambled as it was printed out.

What the hell are they sending me? Then Mary stared. Oh. ******.

DESTROY AFTER READING


FOR UNIT CO EYES ONLY


HAVE RECEIVED YOUR COMMUNICATION REGARDING CURRENT CONDITIONS IN ARUGIAN DIRECTORATE.

PROBABILITY OF LONG-TERM DISORDER OR FRAGMENTATION IS UNACCEPTABLE. YOU ARE TO CONTINUE TO COOPERATE WITH AUTHORITIES, CONSISTENT WITH YOUR BEST JUDGMENT.

Best judgment? What the hell?

   RCT 03 WILL BE DIVERTED FROM PREPARATIONS FOR OPERATIONS IN THE TORTUGAN THEATER. ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL, 45 DAYS. UPON ARRIVAL, YOU WILL SUBMIT YOUR UNIT TO GENERAL CHIVES WHO WILL ACT TO STABILIZE THE REGION. LOCAL AUTHORITIES ARE NOT, TO BE INFORMED OF THIS OPERATION.


RPT: LOCAL AUTHORITIES ARE NOT TO BE INFORMED OF THIS OPERATION.


IN ADDITION TO OTHER OPERATIONS, YOU WILL COMPILE A LIST OF ARUGIAN  GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, IN CASE IT BECOMES NECESSARY TO TEMPORARILY DETAIN THEM. FURTHERMORE, A LIST OF ACTIVE DIRECTORATE AND REBEL UNITS WILL BE PROVIDED TO GENERAL CHIVES UPON ARRIVAL.


MESSAGE ENDS.

Mary stared at the message. Then she said about the only thing she could say:

“Well… ******.”

[Korzon77]

Interlude: Wolf's Eye View

“I’ve looked at the equipment.” Stanford Blake said. “And… we may have a potential problem.”

“What problem?” Jaime asked.

“Right, well, nothing here shouts out anything more than what we’ve seen in the past. They have advanced mech alloys, it’s true, but everyone knew it was a matter of when, not if someone recovered those.”

Jaime Wolf nodded. It would be one thing to build a factory that could produce endosteel—but to build a factory that could produce light fusion engines and support the mechanics and techs that would be needed to keep them operating in the field? No. It would be a long time before anyone could do that.

“And the problem?”

“The other things. The superconductor compound, plastesteel, the new dropship designs. What SLDF depot would have all of that, and have all of that in condition to be so quickly adopted?”

“Allies?”

“Maybe. Or at the very least, far, far more than a few manuals that they dug up.” He paused. “And another thing. One of our agents just got back to us from Brannis. It’s a new world, success story, rebuilt, and supposedly the source of these leavings.” He projected images in the air. Maps, pictures of rapidly rising cities, a space station in orbit. “So far, so good. But…”

Now a scratchy voice sounded. “Hey Jake, can you get me some information? DM.34A5ish, I think.”

“Jesus, Tim, you wanna get us both put on latrine duty? No unsecured coms.”

“Right, right, the evil Davions are listening in on your house phone. I feel sorry for them. You have teenaged daughters.”

“And I’d like to leave them something in the bank account. TMI are being absolute pricks about this. I’ll talk in the office.”

“Okay,” Jaime said. “Explain it to me.”

“That was a standard  library code as established in 2700 as part of an attempt to establish a new library code system to replace the old ones. That was just a short version—long codes could be over 24 symbols in length. But it had only been partially adopted by the Amaris Coup. Only for governmental data cores, and most libraries were sticking with the old versions or only in the process of adopting it.” He paused. “And most of those are either on Terra, or left with the Great Father.”

“You think they have a core?”

“I’m not certain. I do know they’re expanding their military and there are a lot more research programs going on than would be explained by a single, small depot library.”

“And yet, you’d think they would be adding more technology to their forces.” Wolf frowned.

“They may be building up, but they’re still nowhere near the economic size of any of the House Lords.” Blake shrugged. “Periphery’s used to doing more with less. Maybe they just can’t afford it?”

“Maybe.” Wolf said. “And other states?”

“Well, the Davion’s are split. The Sarna March, mainly Hasak Davion, seems to be chafing at the fact that Hanse has said hands off the Bulls. And that’s because the Lyrans are very, very interested in them.”

“The business deals.”

“The business deals. The Lyrans are going to town on some of those deals, and there’s a lot of pressure to keep the Taurians happy. Comstar is… curious, but we’ve never had the in with them to give us more info. Just that Precentor Taurus looks like he’s been doing a lot of forensic accounting.”

Beyond that, the Lyrans aren’t the only ones thinking of money. The Taurians had also signed business deals with the Kuritans and Free World’s League, and were negotiating with the Capellans. It made sense. One of the dirty secrets of modern technology was that many things that went into a battlemech weren’t that useful for civilian applications. But things like the equipment the Taurians were exporting, that could be used everywhere and made the civil sector more productive, also put more money into the state’s coffer’s for military production.

Still only a tiny amount, a few tenths of a percent… Jaime thought, staring at the information.

But take a few tenths of a percent and multiply it by the Inner Sphere’s economy…

“Now I wouldn’t be worried, even with all of this, but our agent got one other thing when he left Brannis.”

“They let him leave? Sloppy.”

“Brannis is, officially, a associate world of the Concordat, and they have the right of free movement. According to scuttlebutt, it’s going to formally ask for annexation pretty soon, which is just formalizing the real state of affairs. But yes, you can come and go, and our man managed to get a data link to the dropship’s sensors on the way out. And we got this…”

The image, even with the best enhancement, was vague. A ship in orbit, the doors of the pressurized facility open, giving a look at it. The scale showed that it was a dropship of some kind but even so…”

“The hell? That’s bigger than an Overlord.”

“If our analysis is right, nearly four times.” Blake called up a wireframe enhancement. “Can’t tell for certain, not with the two or three shots we got. This was really lucky—I expect someone didn’t realize that they’d have the doors open just as a dropper was heading into orbit.”

“I’m hearing luck a bit too much here,” Jaime said.

“Well, the phone wasn’t luck, that was stupidity, which is easier to come by, but we came to the conclusion that the engines are based on their big Cargo design, The Bull Mammoth.” Blake shrugged. “Pretty smart, and I bet that saved them time and money. Heavy armor, what looks like a small craft or fighter bay and… this, which is a little confusing to our analysts.”  Another image, even more degraded appeared.

“Guns?”

“Yes, but too big to be conventional guns, too small to be capital ship weapons. These ports here might be capital ship missile launchers, can’t be certain.”

“They couldn’t build a warship, so they’re building the next best thing.”

Blake nodded. “And the Bulls used to have the second largest fleet in known space and did a damned good job of bloodying the nose of the largest fleet in human space.”

On the one hand, potentially dangerous. On the other hand… Jaime didn’t know what was going on in the Homeworlds right now, but he did know they had more than enough warships to steamroll the entire Inner Sphere—if they decided to go that route. Something like this might help.

“We can’t take up service with them,” Jaime murmured. The Taurians were too prickly and the Dragoons taking service with them would raise far too many questions. “Keep watch on them, but work to keep any of this from getting out.”

“Understood.”

Because this may be dangerous, but if worst comes to worst, I can’t think of a better place to put advanced factories than on the other side of the Inner Sphere than the Homeworlds.

[Daryk]

Sounds like a job for Snord, honestly...  8)

[David CGB]

Sounds like a job for Snord, honestly...  8)

God yes, would love to see that happen!

[DOC_Agren]

Wolf Dragoons should have used the TC to build hardware for them

[Daryk]

I'll just chalk that up to typical SLDF arrogance when it comes to the Periphery...  ::)

[Adventwolf]

So the Directorate pissed the Taurians off enough that a full occupation and annexation is in order. Kamea better get the Outpost Castle cache soon or she is going to lose everything. The Outpost Castle gives her the bargaining chip she needs to try and retain governorship of the Region under the Taurians.

Wolf Dragoons should have used the TC to build hardware for them

Except that in canon the TC didn't have the technology, infrastructure, or economy to be able to build that stuff until much farther down the line. It wasn't arrogance it was simply the way things were the TC offerred nothing.

Also funny how the TC is talking to the CC about the deals for their products. The CC is even more than the FedSuns the one Inner Sphere power that has ****** with the TC over it history. Plus those production lines if they are made will just be taken over by the FedCom and allies when the CC falls apart. And unless the author fiat/plot armor is applied to the CC in this timeline they are going to not recover. Even more so if the TC takes a swing at them during the MoC and DoA invasion or before that in the 4SW.

[Adventwolf]

Speaking of BS, I am not so sure that bomb was actually planted by Espinoza´s opponents.

Neither Kamea nor the Canopians want to piss off the Taurians by killign their ambassador. Their goal is for the Taurians to lose interest in supporting Espinoza, and this bomb achieved the exact opposite. Plus, something like that isn´t really Kamea´s style. The attack is also too high-profile for some lone wolf regime opponent or ragtag rebel group, the target is just too secure.

Espinoza´s people did this - probably Victoria, considering that in this story, she wasn´t busy with the Perdition massacre.

She may have helped but I am not convinced it is the case. Since she hasn't done the massacre she isn't insane and broken from it. But the bombing actually hurt the Directorate more than it helped it. They lost a lot of people they were influencing and were forced to accept Mary a complete unknown as the new most powerful person in the Reach. The Directorate isn't the smartest group around but they also aren't super stupid to do something like that. They already got a large enough commitment of troops and supplies from the Taurians before the war started and it is open support from the start unlike backroom deals like canon. And they had to know since Mary wasn't hiding it that she was requesting more light units to help. So killing off a bunch of people that were on your side and were looking to help even more isn't an action that they would take.

[Intermittent_Coherence]

Wolf Dragoons should have used the TC to build hardware for them

They did. TC built the Plainsman at their behest. And given the preponderance of heavy mechs in the Dragoons inventory I suspect more than a few purchases were made over the years.

[DOC_Agren]

Wolf Dragoons should have used the TC to build hardware for them

Except that in canon the TC didn't have the technology, infrastructure, or economy to be able to build that stuff until much farther down the line. It wasn't arrogance it was simply the way things were the TC offerred nothing.

They did. TC built the Plainsman at their behest. And given the preponderance of heavy mechs in the Dragoons inventory I suspect more than a few purchases were made over the years.

Right the Plainsman, and I agree they might have been buying from the TC like every other Merc group that could did, because the TC was making more mechs then they could buy themselves.

But leaking some secrets, helping the TC build limited advanced hardware, in early 3040s the TC duplicate ferro-fibrous armor that they found on Maultier on their own, a few years after the  Draconis Combine did.  It would have given them a "safe zone" to build upgrades for them to complete the mission they were assigned in 3019 prepare the Inner Sphere for the Clan invasion.

What I am saying, they could have done what they did with the virtually unknown Blackwell Industries, you know a former minor component supplier, before they associated with Wolf's Dragoons in 3007.

[Nikas_Zekeval]

Right the Plainsman, and I agree they might have been buying from the TC like every other Merc group that could did, because the TC was making more mechs then they could buy themselves.

From Sarna the Dragoons picked up the Plainsman when they were rebuilding after the 4th Succession War.

In a situation where they haven't burned through their cached supplies they might not have the same excuse.

[Adventwolf]

With the new forces coming in the TC is going to to either force a cease fire on both sides and puppet the Aurigan Reach in all but name, or they are going to fully crush the Restoration and make a statement to the Director to stop ****** around or those troops will have a new set of targets.

[Korzon77]

“Sweep forward,” Mary said. “I’m picking up a lot of scatter on my sensors. Anyone else getting it?”

“Confirmed, lead,” another Taurian mech said.

For the Directorate.  Victoria hadn’t wanted to believe it, but her father had the information. Secret communications to the command. The Taurians were pulling back patrols. Rumors that Brigadier Cheng was gathering more information about important figures into the Reach.

The battle had become too rich for the Taurian’s blood, and even if they didn’t have the penetration into the TDF’s organization that they needed to find out exactly what was going on, it made sense. Mary’s anger at the necessary measures the Directorate had taken. They would leave, and let Lady Arano—Kamea—take over, and her inability to unify the Reach would end them. No doubt that was what the Magistracy counted on, another pirate-ridden region of space draining the TDF’s coffers.

For the Directorate.

Her father had given her the duty. Because she was loyal. She understood that whatever the personal cost, the nation came first.

She—

“Incoming LRMs!”  They were in an overgrown region of the world, with many little ravines and gullies, heavy metal deposits making communication’s iffy.

The worst possible terrain for the Taurian’s movements, but the information that heavy weapons were being moved in here had been enough to force Cheng to come out, especially the rumors that there were uniformed MAF soldiers here.

Rumors that had been planted by the Directorate, taking advantage of the fact that Cheng was focused on military affairs and most of the civil intelligence officers had died in the bombing.

Not that Victoria was happy about the bombing. If that misbegotten fool hadn’t wanted to claim vengeance because a traitor had an allergic reaction, none of this would have happened.

She moved her mech to the side. The LRMs penetrated through the canopy, some detonating in the trees, sending splinters of wood down. The infantry was going to ground.

I could die here? After all, there were so very many ways this could go wrong. But if she died…

For the Directorate.

“I’m picking up a pair of medium mechs,” Cheng said.

“On them!” Victoria shouted.

“Royal One—stay in—Blake Dammit!”  Behind her, the marauder started charging after her. The other units were fighting the rebels.

I can do this.  They just had to get far enough ahead—and there were the enemies. Not mediums. One light, one medium. The panther raised its PPC, but Victoria fired first, and her PPC’s savaged it. Then from behind her, another three PPCs fired, and the panther stood for a moment, before the pilot ejected, the mech collapsing into wreckage. The other battlemech turned and jumped over the ravine.

“What were you on!” Cheng snarled. “Didn’t you remember, they like to play with minefields?”  The battlemech stomped by her. “Can’t follow them. The unit’s spread to hell and gone—they just fired and ran, but we really need to get concentrated in case they hit us with a counter attack. Why did they run…”

Because there’s nothing important at this supply point.  Not yet. There would be, but Victoria didn’t need a pitched battle. She needed…

What she had. Fleeing mechs getting the Taurians spread out. Evidently destiny smiled on the Directorate.

Because now they were out of LOS of any allied unit.  Now Cheng was alone with her.

“I was trying—wait, what is that?”

“What?”

“The other side of the ravine, more mechs!”

Cheng turned and raised her weapons…

For the Directorate.

Victoria fired all of her weapons into the rear armor of Cheng’s mech. The Mech staggered and spun forward, wobbling in a way that indicated its gyro was out, but somehow Cheng managed to stay on her feet, but Victoria charged and slammed into the mech, pushing it forward, firing her PPCs again. One missed, one hit, and now the shattered Mech was falling into the ravine, the waters below seeming to reach out to receive it.

For the Directorate. Then before Victoria could do anything else, the rebel medium mech reappeared—and this time is had two other’s with it. They opened fire on Victoria, lasers and LRMs criss-crossing the ravine as she returned fire with her mech. The armor was yellow in some places. She kept backing off.

If I survive, this is good. The Rebels had PPCs, and it would prove Victoria’s story, especially when father provided information that Lady Arano had issued a bounty for Cheng.

“This is Lady Victoria! Taurus One is down! Repeat, Taurus One is down!” She kept up her fire as more and more mechs appeared on the other side, evidently recognizing who she was.

It didn’t matter. Even if she died, it didn’t matter. She’d carried out her mission. Even if it meant killing someone who had fought side by side with her.

For the Directorate.

[/hr]

Okay, this is a new low in our political relationship, [/i]Mary thought.  The cockpit was black, save for emergency lights, and water was coming in. And she was upside down, her broken arm screaming in agony.

Agony was good. It kept her from panicking. Being trapped, underwater, was right up there with being trapped in a burning cockpit in ‘nightmares mechwarriors have’. She fumbled with her good hand for the override panel for the fusion plant. Civilian plants shut down when they were damaged. Military plants didn’t, which is why military fusion systems could explode, given that their design was a litany of things that you just didn’t do in the civilian world.

Now if it isn’t full of water, and preparing to simultaneously broil and explode me, if the myomers are still intact, if I can flip without just ending up deeper… The cockpit shuddered as Mary hit the right contact and the entire board came alive, red lights letting her know how ****** she was.

“Right, sorry Baby, just one more try…” Mary grabbed the controls and kicked out, the mech shuddering. There was another shudder, bangs, and suddenly light came into her cockpit.

Oh thank—

And the muzzle of a PPC tapped the cockpit, held by a panther that was not in her TOC.

Now Mary heard the sound of fighting, and the PPC tapped her cockpit again, a little more urgently.

Right, the rest of my people are moving up.  The implication was clear, and Mary took a look at her weapons board. All dead. Of course. Ditto for the gyro. Sighing, she reached down and pulled the purge lever for the data in the computer and then opened her cockpit. There were rebel soldiers there, in Arano livery, pointing guns at her.

Mary shook her head, remembering an old, old movie she’d seen on Brannis.

“Take me to your leader?”