Looks like I have some use after all…..
Trade Mission
Victoria, Victoria Commonality
Capellan Confederation
3rd July 3120 In what was essentially an ambassadorial role Star Captain Kev Rosse and the Nova Cat trading party had joined Taurian Concordat traders on a trip into the Capellan Confederation. Rosse had trusted the Taurians “vouching” for his crew would gain them access to Capellan space without an official invite and it had worked. Now the Nova Cat Merchant Caste members were making trades with locals while Kev Rosse oversaw them.
“Star Captain Kevin Rosse?” A woman of Chinese descent asked coming up beside him she had black hair and wore a purple V-necked top, she was easily fifteen-to-twenty years older than Rosse.
“Kev Rosse” he corrected her “the scientists decided I did not need the ‘in’” he joked, during his time with the peoples of the Inner Sphere he had begun to realise that they appreciated a little humour during their encounters.
“Of course,” she said “are we able to speak privately?” She asked indicating for them to move off.
“Aff, they seem to have things in hand” he agreed following her.
“You are quite young for a Captain” she suggested as they walked together, she led him away from the trading market and down towards a footpath that walked along a river.
“Those that lack rank at my age are heading towards the garrison units. I have my rank and my name.”
“Kev?” She asked looking back at him
“Neg, my bloodname Rosse won through combat.” He explained
“Ah yes, I was told that your people fought over names, otherwise you have no name.” She said with a smile.
“We have the name of our Clan” he said defensively “but our names have meaning, they have honour and a link to our past.”
“Much like my name does I am Madam Marie-Li DeMichele-Hong, but please call me Marie.” She said seeing his interest “my parents were from the Capellan Confederation and from the Federated Suns originally I inherited names from both sides of my heritage.” She explained “my name carries my history, my heritage and my honour.”
“Aff, it does but you were one of perhaps a couple of children?” He asked she nodded giving little away. “I was a child of thirty born in my geneclass to the same geneparents. Two of us have won the right for our names to continue the Rosse name.” He explained “while we do not have the same connection to our parents as freeborns have it is our honour to carry our Bloodnames.”
“So many of your words are different from ours.” She revelled talking to them as they walked along the path, he was unsure how far they had walked.
“Which is one of the reasons behind our interest in making connections with the Taurians and your people.”
“It is a little afront to us that you approached the Taurians before the Capellan people.” Marie explained
“Aff, but would you have welcomed us with open arms Quineg?”
“Probably not” she admitted the Capellans had little experience dealing with the Clans and would very likely have been hostile especially one who was known to have links to the Federated Suns. It was one of the reasons she had drawn this duty as some of her Maskirovika commanders believed her Federated Suns mixed lineage would set her up well with the “so what is Clan Nova Cat looking for from this new relationship?”
“Fair trade between our peoples” he suggested but saw her face twist “we know it will not happen overnight but we are willing to work with you if you are willing to work with us…”
“Perhaps we can work on something” she admitted “in fact your arrival here is quite fortunate” she said stopping walking turning to face him. “The Capellan Confederation is looking for industrial air and water purifiers. We could re-tool a industrial centre to produce these but if Clan Nova Cat were willing to trade them to us then that could be a step in the right direction.”
“That is a possibility, although they will be of Star League vintage that is not a technology the Clans have ever invested much thought in.” He warned her
“Even Star League-era equipment will probably match what we could produce ourselves. What would you be looking for in return?”
“There are things we cannot produce ourselves. Certain compounds that a nation with a larger industrial base would be better suited to produce and things that you will have more experience than us constructing from scratch.” He explained
“The more cryptic you be Star Captain the harder it is for me to say yes or no to.”
“One specific area we are looking at is for is that of Stealth Armour…”
“Straight for the throat, you Clansmen don’t beat about the bush.”
“Neg, no games, just honesty. While our new partnership does not by any means hinge on your decision to provide us with such armour it is a preferred trading target for us.” He admitted
“I can try to fulfil that request and if we are unable, we will provide appropriate compensation for what you produce. Perhaps if you were able to produce two of our purifying units and we saw them in operation we could trade something other than military equipment in return and then we could move forward with other trades as more were produced would that be acceptable?”
“Aff, I think it would work for us. I will discuss with our leadership once I return home. In the meantime, to prove our commitment to peaceful and fair trade I have ordered a Pack Hunter BattleMech offloaded from our DropShip and transferred to Capellan control.”
“You talk about peaceful and fair trade and you start by providing us with a BattleMech?” She asked laughing a little “how very Clan of you.” How the relationship between the Capellans and the Nova Cats went was anyone’s guess but so far Marie saw benefits to working with the Nova Cats.
Negotiations
Coromodir, Cordia City
Aurigan Collective, Periphery
11th July 3120 The three VTOLs flew over Cordia City which basked in the late afternoon sun, Cordia City was mostly low built buildings and it was dominated by the massive castle situated in the middle. Two of the aircraft were Mantis Combat VTOLs painted in the brown and red camouflage of the Aurigan Collective while the centre craft was a green painted Cobra Transport VTOL with the insignia of the Star League Defence Force. The three craft orbited around the city a couple of times before the two Mantis pulled up and away from the Cobra leaving it alone. The transport craft moved in on the castle at the centre of Cordia City and came into landing on the guarded pad. Unlike the two Mantis VTOLs which had traditional propellers on top and at the back of the craft but the Cobra was more like a convention plane it had two jet engines situated in the middle of aircraft wings either side of the craft. At the rear of the ship a ramp lowered and out walked a man with peppered grey and black hair with a matching beard and a business suit at his side he carried a small box. Behind him two green camouflaged soldiers stepped out of the DropShip each carried rifles at shoulder rest. The two troopers fell into step behind the suited male as they walked away from the landing pad and down some steps to a lower level where they were met by brown and green uniformed soldiers these escorted them inside.
Inside the Castle they were escorted to the throne room High Lady Kamea Arano II sat on the throne waiting for him she was dressed beautifully in a red and black dress. “High Lady Arano, thank you for seeing me. A gift from the Commanding-General” he said handing the box to one of Arano’s aides “a bearskin hat and scarf, he understands that winter is coming to Coromodir.”
“Ambassador Aitkin, welcome back to Coromodir” she greeted him “thank you for the gift. Shall we get to business?”
“Of course, I am here to request access to the facility you have discovered on Artu. We would like to investigate it, potentially refurbish it and use it as a base of operations.”
“It is quite an impressive facility” she said
“Yes, it is and of Star League vintage.”
“A past Star League.” She reminded him “we have reoccupied the facility and are in the process of refurbishing the gear present.”
“The Commanding-General is willing for the Aurigan Collective to keep all of the contents of the base, and maintain a presence alongside our own.” He suggested “with your permission we will refurbish the base and operate it, we will of course support the Aurigan Collective in shoring up security and obviously our presence will require a steady supply line which will bring more trade.”
“Those would all be welcome, but we would require one further step.”
“Which would be?”
“Support in re-establishing Project Rook.” She suggested
“That is a very large ask High Lady Arano.”
“I’m not convinced given the size of the SLDF and the resources you have available. The Aurigan Collective does not have the resources of the SLDF, nor of our neighbours. We do not expect an attack today, we do not expect an attack tomorrow but an attack could come. Rook would guard against that.”
“We could work towards that Lady Arano.” He agreed “but to give the Aurigan Collective that we would need a stronger base behind our control over the facility on Artu. We would likely need the full control over that world, to use it as a base to support what you will require from us.”
“Artu is a frozen rock with a small population. Should any of them wish to leave the SLDF will have to facilitate their move and support their new living place.”
“Agreed we can do that” he admitted he knew that Artu had a population in the low thousands even if they wall wanted to move out of the Aurigan Collective and to the Star League Protectorate, hell Terra itself, the SLDF could do it without a thought. According to their initial analysis 90% of the population stayed nowhere near the facility anyway and they shouldn’t be a problem. To keep Arano happy he would ensure that every family was visited independently and given options to stay and be supported or to move anywhere they wanted to go.
Stand-off
San Bardo Racing Circuit
Southern Continent, Solaris VII
20th July 3120 As the crowds arrived at San Bardo Racing Circuit outside BattleMechs from six separate BattleMech Stables stand opposite a star of Clan Wolf BattleMechs. Neither of the sets of warriors are involved in the racing but the tensions on Solaris are bubbling over as the Stables are looking for ways to expand and the Wolf Garrison on the world refuse further expansion.
Diplomacy wins over rather than open combat with the Solaris Stables instead Clan Wolf agrees to hold annual Trials of Propagation. In those Trials the Stables will be allowed to increase their size with a win against the Wolf Garrison to a maximum strength of ten BattleMechs however should they fail then the number of Mechs they will be allowed to own will be reduced. Should a stable be reduced to less than a single active BattleMech their remaining assets and supplies will be seized by Clan Wolf. For the benefit of fairness SLDF observers will be allowed into every Trial of Propagation as the balancing act on Solaris continues.
CIC, Bulwark (Halcyon-class Cruiser)
High Orbit, Irece,
Irece Prefecture, Draconis Combine
27th July 3120 In a flash of light the Halcyon-class vessel Bulwark arrived near the planet of Irece, inside the Draconis Combine, at a pirate point. “Status” Star Admiral Seidman, the commander of the vessel, called out from his position in the middle of the round room which was dominated by the tactical holo-tank in the centre of the room.
“Sir, we have a Kyushu II-class Frigate breaking orbit turning in our direction.” One of the sensor operators reported.
“Very good, Deploy DropShips and fighters to the Planet we will cover them.” He said, their primary duty here was to escort the Khan to the planet’s surface where the actual mission would take place. “Prime Gun crew you are clear to engage with Reaper.” He commanded looking over at the two operators on his right side, the Bulwark had recently been refitted with a Repeating Naval Gauss Rifle or Reaper as the crew had begun to call it, along with the main gun changes multiple secondary arrays of hyper assault gauss rifles and advanced tactical missiles had been added to the starship essentially creating a new version of the Halcyon.
“Aye sir, clear to engage with Reaper, targeting helm adjust course two degrees to port.” One of the gunners said “engaging with Reaper” he replied the weapon fired three light naval gauss slugs in a single volley. The three gauss slugs crossed the space between the two targets rapidly, the first slammed into the nose of the turning Frigate while the second bored down the side of the ship tearing into the armour. The third slug missed the target completely.
“Not good” Seidman said glancing at them “secondary crew take firing control over” he commanded as the Kyushu II engaged them with Naval Lasers striking the Bulwark’s nose. “Damage control teams to stations.” He called into the ship’s intercom activating controls on the holo-table in the centre of the room.
“Secondary’s have target” one of the other set of gunners replied, “we have target engaging with Reaper, firing” she said again the Bulwark fired three shots from its forward weapon this time two struck the nose of the ship and the third tore down the side of the ship.
“Better Secondary Crew you have gunnery duties for remains of engagement…”
“I declare a Circle of Equals!” One of the crew called out angrily standing at his post.
“Agreed” one of the other gunners replied not moving from his station “firing Reaper on enemy target!”
“You will fight in a Circle after this battle, to the death, retake your station” Seidman ordered the man who nodded “you will control point defence and tertiary armaments.” He said calmy demoting the primary crew to the conventional weapons allowing operations to continue. As this drama had continued in the CIC the Reaper shots slammed into the nose of the Kyushu II forcing it to change course. “Excellent work, open them with the secondary array!” He ordered as the Bulwark closed on its target the Naval Autocannons mounted in turrets behind the gauss rifle engaged the Kyushu which each tore holes in the Frigate’s port armour. “Helm turn us to port, Broadside guns on target!” As the ship passed its heavy naval autocannon array engaged lighting up the side of the Kyushu II, the Bulwark had the advantage over the other ship now causing disproportionate damage on their enemy.
“Pivot along the axis!” Seidman ordered “continue along course.”
“Pivoting to starboard” the helm officers replied the Bulwark began to turn while continuing along the same course.
“Targeting their engines” the gunners said Seidman allowed them to work. The Reaper fired again this time targeting the rear of the retreating Kyushu II, this time all three slugs slammed into the main engines of the enemy frigate one of the ship’s main engine nacelles stuttered out from the damage. In response from the Kyushu lasers and autocannons continued to slam into the heavily armoured hull of the Bulwark. While light for a Cruiser the Bulwark was built around a reinforced core and had heavier armour plating than most ships of its size and it absorbed the damage.
“Helm main engine burn, kill our momentum and keep us in range.”
“Aff Admiral” the helmsman responded at the rear of the Bulwark the ships massive engines ignited once more cutting the reverse velocity of the Cruiser as it did the weapons array continued to blaze away at the rear of the Draconis Combine vessel shredding its rear armour and the remaining engine nacelles, from the Bulwark’s he could tell there was a hull breach.
“Comms, give me direct contact with the target, continue attack aim to disable them in their entirety.” He ordered moments later the crewman at comms sent his console a message to say he was connected.
“Bulwark Actual to Draconis Combine Cruiser, your engines are disabled, our sensors can see your hull is breached. Cease defence fire, heave to and prepare to be boarded, I Andreas Seidman, claim your ship, its crew and cargo as Isorla for Clan Hell’s Horses.”
“No, you cannot have this vessel!” The ship’s commander replied
“Then prepare to be boarded!” He replied “deploy assault shuttles to target.” He commanded watching the heavily damaged frigate begin to spiral out of control having its main engines being disabled. Soon from the Halcyon ten Pelican-class Small Craft headed over to the Kyushu and deposited several stars worth of Elementals and conventional marines.
Watching on the Holo-tank Seidman noticed that the Bulwark had slowed to a stop and was beginning to accelerate forwards again “Helm, bring us alongside them but keep enough distance that should their core explode, we will be minimally harmed.”
“Star Admiral, this is Star Captain Cooper heavy resistance being encountered however we have reached the cargo bay and we have confirmed that the cargo is intact as the Watch suggested it would be.” One of the Elementals confirmed “we are blasting clear the cargo bay doors and will eject them from the Mechbays before the defenders try something rash.”
“Aff Star Captain Cooper, well done Pelicans are in place for recovery.” He responded “deploy second and third Pelican stars for recovery operations lets secure as many of these machines as we can.” The Watch had said they had intelligence that the Land-Air-Mechs onboard the Kyushu II based in the Irece system did not have pilots and that the ship was being used as a transport for moving the units across the Draconis Combine and now the Hell’s Horses would be salvaging as many of them as they could. “Contact the Khan and inform her mission accomplished.”
----
On the ground near the LexaTech Industries the Khan’s forces pushed heavily against the Draconis Combine defenders while they were not near to controlling the facility her people had fought well so far. News that the Frigate in orbit had been disabled and that the Horses were salvaging the LAM cargo on-board. Like the Frigate the ground defenders had refused a batchall and now instead of an honourable Trial of Possession this was a grinding raid.
“Khan Cooper” one of her warriors call for her attention.
“Report” she ordered from her Gnome Battle Armour suit.
“We have broken into the barracks; we have confirmed there are eighty engineers and their families present.” The Elemental reported
“Good evacuate them”
“The engineers are resisting leaving their factories, we could execute them?”
“Neg, we need the engineer’s cooperation. Tell them we will take them all if they agree to cooperate with us.” She stated activating her suit’s communication system “Star Admiral Seidman I need three of the Pelicans to be redeployed to the surface.” She commanded “yes, I understand that Admiral but this is just as important, do it. We will hold until they arrive.”
On the ground the Horses held their ground as the Khan had promised but it came at a cost more than half of the Khan’s troops had been killed in the fighting and the Khan herself severely injured with her left arm severed at the shoulder by enemy fire. The three Pelicans flew through the continued fighting to evacuate the recently captured engineers and their families which were immediately evacuated to the Bulwark. On the ground the Hell’s Horses attempted to pull back but the Draconis Combine defenders would not let them go.
“Cooper to Bulwark, this will be my final transmission” Teresia Cooper said into a communication link from her medical bed onboard a combat vehicle. “When our Pelican’s arrive, you are to leave this system and return home. My forces have fought bravely but we cannot win the day. Our mission today was to secure the future of Clan Hell’s Horses and we have succeeded. You have the blueprints adapt them to our great work and continue the STAMPEDE!” She commanded as her forces continued to battle. In all three Clusters of Horses personnel, equipment and their Khan are lost on Irece as they are surrounded and pounded by the Draconis Combine defences. The LexaTech Industries facility survives damaged but intact with the personnel losses discovered after the fighting was over. Meanwhile the Bulwark is able to slip through Draconis Combine naval units and is not seen again within the Succession State’s territory.
