Regulations and Regrets

[PeripheryExplorer]

New Albuquerque Air & Space Port, New Albuquerque, Nuncavoy
Nuncavoy Free Confederation, Rimward Periphery
May 10th, 2997

There had been no warning. No satellite network monitored the Nuncavoy system like the worlds of New Avalon or Taurus. No military patrolled the skies. So at 1:44 in the afternoon local time, Officer Grant Miller of the Confederation Civil Aviation Administration was shocked to alertness when his air traffic control radar alerted to the presence of a Leopard class DropShip on quick descent on a path straight to New Albuquerque. Stunned and shocked, Miller just stared stupidly at the ancient monitor on the dusty desk in the tiny tower facing what was at best, an airfield consisting of a single concrete runway and a heck of a lot of scrap that vaguely looked like buildings.

He quickly toggled the radio, “Unidentified Leopard.” He began, as calmly as he could, “You are outside of regulated approaches for New Albuquerque Airspace, please adjust heading by 246-mark-210 and reduce speed by one half, over.” His system activated the countdown clock, the red numbers quickly falling as the Leopard continued it’s approach. He repeated his message. After two minutes, Officer Miller accepted his worst fear - that this was a raid.

“Who would raid us?” he thought to himself, shocked by what was happening. The worst emergency he had ever dealt with was one of the local Planetlifters, converted for civilian use, having one of the drives fail and needing a much longer landing. He wasn’t even sure he knew what to do.

He regained his senses and picked up his phone, dialing rapidly to get the police headquarters. “NAPD, this is Gloria, what’s your problem?” a bored voice drolled over the line.

“This is Officer Miller, you have a Leopard class dropship on hot approach to the city. You need to get the alarm out.”

“What?” The voice on the other line sputtered, “No one raids up here! We ain’t got nothing!”

“Well they are! Get the alarm out now!” Miller shouted, before slamming down the phone over Gloria’s stuttering protests, then dialing again to get the militia alerted. He watched the computer clock quickly counting down till the unidentified Leopard touched down. “Come on, come on!” He muttered as the dull double tone of the phone indicated that it was ringing on the other end.

“Confederation Militia, this is San-ban-bing Liu.” The voice sounded chipper and happy.

“San-ban-bing, this is Officer Miller, CCAA, New Albuquerque Air Traffic Control. We have an unidentified Leopard DropShip on fast approach with touchdown in” he glanced quickly at his watch, “three minutes. They have ignored radio communications. We’re being raided by pirates.” He was surprised at how calm his own voice sounded.”

“Thank you Officer Miller, I’ll alert the duty officer. We will dispatch forces, we advise that you get all civilians into designated shelter spots.” He sounded bored.

Miller was again shocked for the second time this day, and shook his head, “San-ban-bing Liu, request ETA on support?”

He could almost hear the shrug in the young mans voice. “Sir, with all due respect, we’re 3,400 kilometers away from you. Even with a suborbital transition, we are hours away. We’ll do what we can.” The militia was headquartered and based out of the much warmer and nicer southern continent, out of Bola Bay, the only real city on Nuncavoy and the capital for the Confederation. The President, his advisors, and militia leadership all were there. New Albuquerque was the most prosperous of the northern towns, but the arid, dusty environment was not ideal for most people. This was the frontier of the frontier. Known only for the locally produced guanaco wool and other textiles produced by the Slater family.

The countdown hit zero and the pirates arrived. Miller switched his radio to the civil response channels and began helping to coordinate the response. He prayed that the Sin-ban-bing Liu was wrong. But he knew that he wasn’t.

Pleasant Horizons Apartments, Samantha City, Taurus
Taurian Concordat
May 15th, 2997

Riley Slater was awake, but she was carefully trying to not disturb her boyfriend Section Leader Edward Rodriquez. He was part of the Constabulary, and was exhausted after working back to back shifts to cover the current flu outbreak. Sneaking out of bed, she walked through their apartment to the refrigerator and looked at her options for a drink, settling on a native juice that was very tasty. She was generally in a very good mood, in just two weeks she’d be graduating with a Masters of Science in Agricultural Engineering from one of the most prominent Universities in the rimward Periphery. She had been here for six years - but she felt it was worth it. She and Edward had not spoken about what would happen after she graduated, and it was the only regret she currently had.

She had to go home. After graduating from her local education program, an ancient curriculum still based on Terran Hegemony standards reflecting the original colonists origins, she had worked directly for her father, tasked with becoming proficient in every part of their operations. She had chased down livestock on horseback, sheared sheep, avoided spitting llamas, provided veterinary care, repaired fences and outbuildings, worked the looms, and even loaded and crewed one of their Danais dropships, the NS Gila Vista - which they affectionately called the Gilly. After all of this, she had gone to University to learn how to best manage their extensive agricultural operations and learn what would be needed to not only take over Slater Textiles & Garments, but maybe have a chance to rebuild it to their former glory.

She twirled her glass in her hand, looking at the soft kitchen light reflecting off of the red liquid in her glass. She imagined the Gilly lifting off from New Albuquerque and joining a never ending stream of DropShips latching onto five JumpShips to go to markets ranging from Canopus to Taurus, and everything in between.

That wasn’t to say that the Route 66 wasn’t a fine ship, it was. The Invader class was well regarded throughout the Inner Sphere and Periphery, and the Route 66 even still had working hydroponic gardens. But at their height, her family had operated five JumpShips and a fleet of DropShips working from Nuncavoy all the way to Terra. Now, they had one aging JumpShip and three Danais DropShips, one of which was being used as a parts repository to keep the other two operational.

Her father had money, that’s why she could afford to be here. However, the costs of such a fleet would be astronomical, and while the Star League had supported trade - the same trade that had made the Slater’s wealthy - the civil war and Succession Wars had destroyed many of the worlds they had traded with, and taken much of their fleet as Successor Lords impounded them for military purposes.

Riley sighed, she wanted to turn her family’s fortunes around, but was it even possible?

There was a sharp knock at the door that startled her. Who would come knocking at 0300? She stood and walked over, looking at the security camera footage and seeing a ComStar Acolyte standing in the hallway. Startled, she opened the door, “Riley Slater?” Asked the Acolyte.

“Yes, that’s me.” She stood there in a shirt and shorts, her hair a mess.

The Acolyte nodded, then frowned, “Ma’am, it is with our deepest sympathies we regret to inform you that we have been notified that your father, Richard Slater, has passed after receiving injuries during a pirate raid.” Riley gasped in shock, as Edward emerged from the bedroom.

“Pirates? At New Albuquerque?” Edward asked, his brain waking up after being startled by the knock earlier. He was aware of Riley’s homeworld and also that pirates would normally not bother with such a resource-poor region. There was barely food to capture, and the population wouldn’t support slaving. His training was kicking in as if this was a Taurian world. He moved to support Riley, putting his arm around her.

The Acolyte nodded, “Again, you have our Order’s deepest sympathy. We bring these messages in person so that we might offer the Peace of Blake for you. I have brought a print out of the message that was sent for you to read.” He paused, “I also need to inform you that ComStar now recognizes you as the owner and chief executive officer of Slater’s Textiles. Accounts with ComStar have been transferred to your name, and we stand ready to help you in any way we can. Please don’t hesitate to come to us.” He reached out his robed arms and handed Riley an envelope. His eyes were sympathetic and as she took it he patted her gently on the arm.

Edward nodded, “Thank you.” he whispered. The Acolyte nodded back, and turned to leave.

Riley took the envelope and went to the table. She read it quickly. “Dear Reeree,” She paused, shaking her head at that stupid nickname. Her father’s housekeeper, Agatha, had called her that because when she was two, a few months after her mother had passed, Riley couldn’t pronounce her own name, instead saying reeree. It stuck, and became her nickname throughout school and while working for her father. “I am writing to deliver horrible news. Pirates raided our little town. It was sudden and unexpected, we’re still recovering and reeling from the attack. Your father had been in town to look at new tractors with Maurice.” Riley paused, and looked at Edward, “Maurice owns a small machinery in town, and builds and repairs farm equipment for most of the region.” Edward nodded, Riley took a deep breath and continued. “He joined the police to coordinate rescue and help get people to shelter, but they had BattleMechs. He was helping get a group of kids from the ice cream parlor and into the basement of the Church when he got caught on the street by some of their raiders. They dragged him away, and well, he didn’t survive. They blew up the bank. They fired into the crowds Reeree. They didn’t even take anything, just killed and destroyed, and left.” She paused, reading that in shock too. Pirate raids were brutal, but they were usually looking to capture people and equipment. Firing into crowds and blowing up a bank - usually a top spot to loot - was uncommon. Not looting? That was unheard of.

She continued, even as tears fell down her face, “I spoke with Aaron, he’s trying to keep everything running right now. We are going to send 66 out for you, but it will be a few weeks. We will wait for you.”

Riley put the paper down and felt the grief begin to take her. As sobs shook her body, Edward came around and held her. Her tears soaked his shirt but he just gently rocked her and stroked her hair.

Samantha Spaceport, Samantha City, Taurus
Taurian Concordat
June 26th, 2997

Riley stood in the lounge, leaning against the railing that kept people from pushing against the glass panes that allowed you to see the entire landing field full of DropShips. TDF ships would be much further away in their own section, but a number of civilian craft were present and the hustle and bustle was a good distraction. A hand touched her elbow and she turned to see Edward, she smiled up at him.

After a month of grief, counseling, graduating, and back and forth communication, Riley would have fallen flat on her face except for the constant rock at her back that was Edward. He was a continual source of support and help for her. When he told her that he had been granted six months leave from his commanding officer, and would join her on her way home, she was beyond happy. She had met many of his coworkers at the local Constabulary station, mostly for family events such as picnics and dances. They were all very kind, and even bought her a bouquet of flowers to express their sympathy and support. But this approval of Edward’s leave was amazing. She was so grateful.

Though it was odd to see him out of uniform, “There you are! What did you get?”

“Your favorite, fish and chips.” he held out a cardboard box and she sniffed it excitedly, “And myself a falafel wrap.”

She grabbed the box and turned to a nearby table in the lounge to enjoy her meal. “You can’t anything this good back home.” She forced out between bites. “Most of the native fish are edible, but disgusting. You either love lamb or you love the rockbite chicken, and you love it with hatch peppers wrapped in a tortilla.” She closed her eyes to savor the flaky deep fried fish. Edward grinned and shook his head.

“I’m glad you’re eating.” He smiled, as she hadn’t for a while. She nodded, “But I’m sticking with my falafel and veggies.” He chewed on his wrap, enjoying the food. In a few minutes a shuttle would be lifting that would take them out to the 66. It was going to be a hard journey and this was going to be their last really good meal. Riley planned on enjoying it and was thrilled when Edward volunteered to go get something as a treat.

“Thank you!” She said as she finished up. She looked down as the pager provided by the desk attendant started to buzz. “Perfect timing! That’s us!” Edward wolfed down the last few bites and both grabbed their carry ons and headed to the shuttle to board.

Riley sat near a port, and as the shuttle went through launch procedures and lifted off, she looked at what was now a closed chapter in her life. As the shuttle lifted off, she looked out at Samantha, and as it dwindled away she knew with it was the part of her life that was carefree and innocent. She was the last Slater, and inside of her a plan was forming. She needed to learn more, but something had happened. She wanted to dig.

She wanted to make sure whoever did this would regret it for whatever seconds of their life they had left.

TDF Headquarters, Basement Level 6, Samantha City, Taurus
Taurian Concordat
June 26th, 2997

Brigadier Alicia Rodriquez read the report from her field agent. The Slater girl was on her way home, and had been doing intensive research into what had happened to her father. A prominent trading family in the region, they had been negatively impacted by the alliance calling itself the Aurigan Coalition, and the Taurians saw this as an opportunity to expand their own influence to counteract the Magistracy in the region. Having a powerful and wealthy family work with the Taurians would be beneficial, and successful negotiations with the girl’s father had been progressing very well when the pirate raid occurred.

Alicia tapped her fingers against the oak of her desk. A pirate raid in which the pirates took nothing. A raid in which pirate infantry grabbed anyone fitting his description and dragged them off to shoot him. A pirate raid in which after killing their target, they blew up a few buildings and left. All relayed by their source on planet.

Alicia was furious. The Slater family had resources, resources that could move Taurian agents throughout the region, and business connections that would help them verify Aurigan accounts and financial data. All of that was at risk.

Thankfully, her backup plan was in place. Edward had filed his report before lift off, that he was on route and that she was incredibly thankful to his CO - the very supportive Subaltern Jeffries - and the Taurians in general. Now he just had to keep her alive.

Alicia considered what could have gone wrong to upset her plans. She had an excellent agent in place, but the girl was an anomaly - and years of planning and careful ground work could be at risk.

[Mister Spencer]

Interesting.

So, someone likely got wind of Mister Slater's negotiations with the Taurians and decided to preemptively strike and derail any possible cooperation that would most likely bring to light all kinds of interesting things.

It's either one of the Aurigan factions, the MOC, an internal faction within the TC or C*.

Things are likely to get very ugly.

[Daryk]

The Taurians clearly know it was a hit job, and it shouldn't be hard for Riley to figure that out once she gets back.  This story definitely has promise! :)

[DOC_Agren]

interesting set up

[PeripheryExplorer]

[Thank you all for your support! I am writing a lot more and I hope you all enjoy it! :)]

Slater Textile & Garments, New Albuquerque, Nuncavoy
Nuncavoy Free Confederation, Rimward Periphery
August 5th, 2997

Riley read through the report again while sitting in her father’s office. Now her office. Titled “Investigation into the New Albuquerque Raid”,  its findings were harsh and to the point: Officer Miller was to blame, and the militia was placing all of this disaster on him.

Per the critical findings, Officer Miller had been asleep in the tower, the limited radar coverage of the airport providing almost no warning - but a critical handful of minutes were lost as Miller slept through the initial alarm. He failed to challenge the intruder. He failed to contact either the local police department or even the militia. And well he did help out coordinating communications and messages after the raid, if he had not been derelict in his duty, the police might have been able to better coordinate their response. He had been arrested and moved back to Bola Bay for trial - and more than likely a very long prison sentence. During transit he was able to get his safety belt wrapped around his neck and hung himself. Riley frowned. She hadn’t personally known Miller, but she had met him on plenty of occasions. He was a conscientious official and ran his facility with a level of devotion almost equal to a ComStar Adapt.

Riley turned to the next report. An after action report prepared by one of the militia officers. Except for off duty officers who were outside of the city, none of the police had survived the attack. Riley had reviewed video of the various officers caught on security cameras trying to respond to the attack and prevent civilian losses. Even Gloria, who almost no one had even remotely nice things to say about if they had ever been subject to one of her tongue lashings, had gone down firing her sidearm at pirates as they attempted to take two older men down in the street. Both kind of reminded her of her father, which brought the grief back in waves. She had stopped the video before seeing the submachine gun be emptied into Gloria. Always harsh, always strict, but when the cards were down she had faced this threat with courage and bravery.

However, the report noted that the brave actions of the police had helped clear the streets before the pirates had landed, and that it was estimated that 45% of the civilians had managed to get into some kind of shelter.

Riley paused again and reread both reports.

She pressed the pager on her desk, alerting her aid to come to the door. It opened and the young woman who opened the door still had a bandage on her head. The pirates had hit this building first, storming through the now boarded up front doors and tearing through the place like a bad wind. “Yes Ms Slater?” her aid asked.

“Come in and take a seat.” She gestured to the chairs in front of the desk. She kept thinking of it as her father’s desk and would have to keep reminding herself it was hers. Her aide did so, Riley raced to remember her name. “Sara, how are you holding up?” She asked with concern.

Sara nodded, “Alright, I mean, we’re all devastated and shocked. We haven’t seen pirates here since the Second Succession War.” She shook her head. “And your poor father.”

Riley nodded, remembering that her father was killed too. “And yours.” She reached out to hold the younger woman’s hand. “Obviously I’m grateful you’re here, but if you need to go home…” She trailed off as Sara shook her head.

“No ma’am. We need to be here. I need to be here.” She paused. “I don’t know what else to do.” She looked at Riley and for a moment the fear and terror that had been hidden behind a mask of antidepressants and mood stabilizers shown through. Riley nodded. She patted the girl on the hand.

“I’m reading through the reports about what happened. But I’m confused and I’m hoping you can help.” Sara nodded, her face still troubled but willing. “We can stop if this is uncomfortable. Just say the word.” Sara nodded again more firmly.

“Anything you need Ma’am.” She stated with conviction.

“Alright. You were here. My father was out of the office as he was looking to get a quote on new tractors for our alfalfa fields.” Riley honestly thought her father and Maurice were probably really planning a camping trip and were just planning on expensing their lunch together, and that thought helped her with her grief over what had happened. Sara just nodded. “When did you become aware that raiders were landing?”

Sara paused and thought about it, she had been in a state of confusion for a while and months had passed. “Sirens started going off and police vehicles started racing through the city minutes before the Leopard roared overhead. The police were trying to get everywhere they could but it was confusing. No one knew what was going on. About five minutes after that we saw the first BattleMechs coming straight for us and between them were vehicles filled with more raiders. It was terrifying.” Sara had started to shake as she talked through it. “They smashed through the doors and the raider Stinger fired it’s laser into our buildings, just trying to destroy as much as they could.” She shuddered as she remembered how closely that laser had come hit her as she had fled the office area. Only being deep inside the reinforced brick building had saved her.

Riley stared at the broken windows now covered in plastic sheeting. “Thank you Sara. That’s enough.” Sara nodded, and stood, “Why don’t you go down to the cafeteria and get yourself some coffee? Get away from your desk for a few minutes.” Sara nodded, mumbled her thanks and left.

Riley stood staring after Sara as she left.

Someone was lying about something, and she was going to find out what.

New Albuquerque Police Department (Ruins), New Albuquerque, Nuncavoy
Nuncavoy Free Confederation, Rimward Periphery
August 5th, 2997

Edward stared at the burnt out remains of the police station. Local militia had been around for a while, but not the third of the department that had been off duty were trying to rebuild out of their vehicle annex. He had volunteered to help out, identifying himself as a Constable from Samantha, and on extended leave to support Riley. They had been eager to have his help and  support, and he got formal permission from his CO that he was able to give to the new Captain. Now he sat on a pile of tires, the five pointed silver star on his belt indicating his membership in the NAPD - even if it was temporary.

“It’s bullshit.” This angry outburst came from behind him, Edward looked back over his shoulder to see Captain Lynn slamming the phone down. “Total bullshit.”

A few officers gathered around, “They’re insisting that Miller was responsible.” If Edward remembered correctly, Lynn and Miller had been something of an item according to the local gossip mill. “But we all remember our alarms going off before the Leopard landed.”

A few of the officers nodded and muttered. None had been allowed near the investigation while the militia had been in town, and they had rushed through it, blaming Miller who then, while being transported away, had apparently taken his own life. Frankly Edward thought it sounded like a cover up, and he could guess from the faces here everyone else agreed. He kept silent, despite having proven his worth over the past few days, he was still very much an outsider.

“Alright, fine. Officially we can go pound sand. The feeling is mutual” Lynn was a large woman, six foot two in height and broad and muscular. She was incredibly intimidating but the officers clustered around her like she was a mother hen. “I’m not done with this. I promise you. But in the meantime, we need to keep things in order. Ed,” Lynn looked up and straight at him, “Great work on that wellness check yesterday. More of them are coming in, and you taking the time to help that girl find her cat is playing very well with the local news stations. I’m going to have you take River Edge. Rick will be your support. More residential, and prescriptions are starting to be tapered off.” The local medical center had been issuing anti-anxiety medications for a while, and the doctors were concerned about addiction - and supply.

Ed nodded, “Yes ma’am.” He looked at Rick who nodded to indicate he heard and understood the orders. The two of them got along well.

Lynn was treating Ed as a sergeant, and so he would go to the River Edge station and act as the local commander. It had emerged completely unscathed and most of the equipment they were using now was from there.

Both he and Rick turned and left, jumping into the Capellan wheeled transport that the locals used for their police and militia. It was ancient and Ed missed the much nicer Taurian vehicles used by their forces. The two drove off, taking the 15 minute more scenic route to the outlying neighborhood. “Glad you came back with Lady Slater.” Rick mumbled. He was a quiet sort, but Ed enjoyed working with the man. He was solid, reliable, and reacted well during emergencies.

Ed nodded, “Seemed the right thing to do. I’m just glad I can be of some assistance to you all.” He looked out the window as they drove, seeing scars of the battle throughout the town. In the distance the badly damaged Machine Works and Textile Plants dominated the skyline.

In the past few days he managed to get one report disguised as a letter to his mother. The response back contained the key words “thoughts and prayers” or sit tight, observe, listen. So that’s what he was doing. He continued to support Riley of course, acting as the dutiful boyfriend, but his access to police reports and records was proving invaluable. Even with the poorly handled tampering that had been child’s play to restore from the city’s mainframe. Ed had shaken his head at whomever was behind this - while it was clear the attack was aimed at the Slater family, potentially due to their relationship to Taurus, whoever managed the attack locally was an absolute idiot.

Which is why so many were dead and injured and so much attention was thrown at it.

He knew Riley was digging into this as well, it had only been a few days but he had a feeling that when he got home tonight there was going to be a cork board covered in documents, photographs and red yarn. If there was he could help, as he felt he had an idea of who the pirates had been using to spy on the family. He had gotten away, but at least he had an alias: “Dan Seavey”. Ed was building his report for the TDF, and had already coded out how to get that information - as well as the name of the pirate band, the Hunter’s Scream - back to where it could do some good. He was hoping for additional intelligence as he never even heard of this particular group. They had one Leopard and two Stinger BattleMechs. And it seems their Leopard was heavily modified to carry infantry.

He had all of this information ready to go and when they arrived at the station, he would use the police network to connect to the HPG and get the data out.

He also knew that whomever did this had connections with the government, so he was also very very careful with how he navigated through the police computer system. This of course took time, so while his carefully constructed scripts worked quietly, he and Rick managed the northern half of town, bringing supplies, comfort, and support as the civilians here worked through their trauma.

[PeripheryExplorer]

Slater Estate, Castillo en las Nubes, Nuncavoy
Nuncavoy Free Confederation, Rimward Periphery
August 5th, 2997

Evening had fallen and the stars were absolutely beautiful from the patio behind her family estate. Riley sat by the firepit in her favorite chair, wrapped in a woolen blanket. She sipped a coffee as she stared at the stars winking and glittering above her. Edward opened the patio doors and stepped out into the cool night, still dressed in jeans, flannel shirt, and work boots that he had decided was close enough to the police uniform. The shiny badge on his belt glittered as it reflected the flames of the firepit.

As he got closer he saw the massive amount of paper scattered over the table held down by rocks. He raised an eyebrow at the organization of it and made a note to get Riley red yarn when he went back to town. She looked over at him, “Don’t be upset.” She started, standing to face him, he paused, “I couldn’t stop thinking about the reports. Something was nagging at me. They don’t add up. The scattered response time from the police wasn’t due to Officer Miller’s dereliction of duty. It was due to them focusing on saving civilian lives.”

Edward nodded, “Captain Lynn feels the same way. She knows their radio alarms were triggered before the pirates touched down.”

Riley nodded, “Someone is trying to build a cover up. They are trying to prevent us from learning what actually happened. And frankly, I think my dad was targeted.” She shook her head, getting ready to defend her position.

“I agree.” Edward said simply.

She turned to face him, “You do?!” She had expected resistance. Everyone else was telling her it was just a raid.

He nodded, “No looting, no prisoners. They landed and headed straight to your father’s office, bypassing a scrap yard with actual armor and weapon salvage, a space port with undefended trade goods and DropShips, and the business district which has at least one jewelry store and one bank. This was not a raid. It was an assassination.”

She nodded, “That was my conclusion as well. They were also targeting anyone who even remotely resembled my dad.” She shuddered. “What I don’t know is why.”

Edward nodded, “Money probably. You own a JumpShip and DropShips that makes you incredibly wealthy in this region of space. Anyone who would want to muscle in on this territory?”

Riley nodded, “More than a few people. Magistracy, Aurigan, Tauran. All three or maybe Capellan? This is a main trade hub in all three directions.” She sipped her drink, “My father was very close to signing an incredible deal with business interests in the Concordat. It was going to potentially pay in the form of a fully refurbished Liberty class JumpShip.” Riley paused, “That’s an incredibly generous offer. My father had worked very hard to secure it. The Liberty class hasn’t even been produced since the 26th century, and would allow us to transport four DropShips.”

Edward listened intently, making notes of all of this. “So you believe whomever did this must have been aware that he was expanding his capabilities.”

Riley nodded, “And saw this as a direct threat.”

Edward looked down at the table, noting lists of traders who had been through the system. ATP kept being circled in red ink. He grinned, at least red showed up somewhere. “Aurigan Trade Partnership?” He asked pointing.


Riley nodded, “Yes, they’ve been unusually active. And frankly, they are the most likely to want to eliminate my dad.” She frowned, “Which sounds insane, but isn’t.” She sighed.

Edward nodded, and pulled up a chair for her. She sat down, and he sat as well. “Tell me why.”

Riley nodded looking at the papers spread out over the patio table. She picked up a list of transports that had touched down at the local port. “Over the past six months, Aurigan registered transports have landed both at the main port on the other side of the planet and here. While here, they did limited trade but had a large number of people on liberty. They stopped coming, their final communication indicating that trade opportunities at our port were not sufficient to sustain the trade.” She paused, “Which is fine, and probably absolutely true. However, why were they trying to shop for heavy equipment when we’ve never had that ability here - which they knew?” Her pause was telling. “And more importantly why did the pirate strike occur on schedule if it was an Aurigan trade mission?” She held up the plot she had created of timing for visits, showing that the pirate JumpShip had arrived a two weeks and three days after the last Aurigan JumpShip, which had arrived two weeks and three days after the last ship and so on.

“They weren’t here looking to trade. They were here scouting.” Edward nodded, following the logic - both the Aurigan officials and the pirates were probably operating out of the same system.

Riley nodded. “And they left someone behind to make sure that it worked. I reviewed the video logs,” she gestured towards her noteputer. “And the last trip had 20 people disembark, but only 19 people got back on when they left.” She shook her head. “We don’t have much in the way of paperwork or customs out here, so I doubt anyone noticed at the time.”

Edward nodded, “Dan Seavay.”

Riley looked up and her grin was predatory, “I think it’s time you share your side.”

He shook his head, “Don’t get to excited, it’s an alias. I’ve prepared a coded message back to my commander to see if he can find anything that we might have on him. But the local station here is a C class, it will be a few days before we can send anything out. He absolutely was a pirate however. That’s not the worst part.” He paused, “When we got here the local police had just gotten access back to their equipment and stations from the militia response team. Captain Lynn was furious about that, of course, but that’s not the worst part. Dan Seavay is gone, completely disappeared. No one matching his description anywhere among the casualties or among the population. The city mainframe was also heavily corrupted - which occurred after the raid. The pirates never made any effort at engaging in electronic warfare, just the assassination plus some general destruction.”

Riley growled, “Someone in the militia was helping them.”

He nodded. “You have enemies here. You have enemies out there. And right now this is all we have between us and them.” He patted the heavy Taurian made revolver on his belt.

She shook her head, “Not just that. Follow me.”

She got up and headed to the patio doors. She went inside and he quickly followed behind. The estate was large, easily 20 to 30 different rooms set into five wings: the main or center part of the house was where they were spending most of their time. The south wing including recreational facilities such as an indoor pool, gym, sauna, and sports room. The northeast wing was bedrooms and apartments for what had once been a massive extended family. Supposedly the northwing itself was equipment for maintaining the grounds and facilities, while the northwest wing had simply been marked as storage. They were heading to the northwest wing.

Edward noticed that things were getting more starkly utilitarian as they passed from the main living areas. Plush carpets and polished mahogany were replaced by rubber mats and ferrocrete walls. The doors leading to the main wing were not wood but now steel - probably blast steel. Edward whistled internally.

“I mentioned before I suspected that the Aurigan’s had the strongest motivation” Riley began to speak as she opened a panel to reveal a state of the art electric key lock. She entered a number he couldn’t see and the door beeped, hissed and began to slide open.

“My family settled here before the Reunification War.” She began, as the door moved open to reveal a very empty darkness. Slowly, lights began to click on, one row at a time. “We were Terran Hegemony peers, but we opposed the Reunification War and the Star League propaganda at the time. There were accusations we had gone native, and when the war started, the Camerons targeted us by seizing our fleet of JumpShips for the war effort.” She paused as the lights continued to flick on, revealing the cavernous space that was quickly apparent to Ed was an armory. Riley stepped into the room, standing on a large platform and Edward followed. “The Aurigan Reach became a major hub after the war, as the SLDF used Panzer and other worlds as major manufacturing and staging areas to keep an eye out on the Taurians and Magistracy.” Edward nodded as he assessed the contents of the room.

On the walls were racks of rifles and heavier weapons, many of which seemed to be energy based. The weapons were covered and sealed, locked away. Body armor and helmets were neatly sorted and stored. He saw sophisticated Star League era jump packs, communication equipment and more. Across the bay, tracked APCs would provide mechanized capability to some of the  units, further explaining the heavier support weapons behind them.

There was enough to outfit a full company of Star League era infantry. “Those that settled there, the major Houses, became very wealthy off of the Star League policies - for them, the era of forced unity between the Star League and the Territorial States was an era of prosperity. My family did not get to participate in that, though we didn’t do as badly as native Taurian families.” She paused, having walked over to the first weapon cabinet. She unlocked it with another code and opened the armored door. She pulled a rifle off the wall and unwrapped the plastic from around it, revealing a pulse laser rifle. She handed it to him, and he took it, easily shouldering it and checking the charge. It hummed to life easily, fully charged, as good as the day it came off the factory line on Terra. He realized he was holding a small fortune, and this was both an armory - and a treasury. “When their trade union was formed, we were kept out. My grandfather had attempted to join some of the negotiations but those they deemed as outsiders were excluded in the end. They were nice to our face, but they made it clear that we were not welcome.”

Edward nodded, “You were Periphery barbarians, not noble Inner Sphere settlers.”

Riley chuckled, “Despite being Peers.” She shrugged, “It is what it is. However, my father’s had putting additional effort into building what he called the Rim Corridor, a secure and safe trading route and alliance intended to link the Taurian Concordat to Free Worlds League and Capellan markets. The increased shipping capacity from the Liberty combined with Taurian investment was critical to that success. However, such a route, secured by House forces of the participating trading houses, would be a direct threat to the Coalition. Somebody doesn’t want to see this route come to pass.”

She picked up an automatic grenade launcher and belt of ammo. She shouldered both and headed back towards the main house. “I plan to see that it does. And I’m using every tool at my disposal, including my right to raise an armed force as the head of my House.”

Edward nodded, another piece of the puzzle coming into the picture about why his government was so interested in this family. He grabbed a box of power cells and two laser pistols. He followed closely behind. “When do we start?”

[Daryk]

Heh... I was half expecting a 'mech with that build up, but a Star League infantry company with APCs isn't too shabby! :)

[Dave Talley]

Tàg

[Artifex]

It doesn't always have to be mechs, when infantry and some wheeled carriers can do the same job. ;-)

[Daryk]

Since you're equipping your infantry with SLDF gear, some food for thought:

Mauser Shenanigans

Proposed Fix to the OG SLDF Armor Kit

[PeripheryExplorer]

My actual reasoning for infantry: Almost every BTech story is about BattleMechs, for obvious reasons. I wanted to highlight something a bit different!

In Universe Reasoning:

Riley is an agricultural engineer from a family of agriculturalists who raise goats, llamas and sheep for wool production, to turn into textiles and finished soft goods. While lucrative, and the family is historically wealthy, that wealth was in the form of JumpShips and DropShips to transport their goods, basically a merchant family. No BattleMechs, no history of BattleMechs. That said, facilities need guards and it's cheaper to have your own. Warehouses and DropShips need people to guard them, and while BattleMechs are a deterrent, most space ports will already have them. But guards with rifles can patrol in the building without turning the building and it's contents into rubble. Guards with APCs can escort transports on agricultural worlds with no SLDF. During the Reunification war, their JumpShips were "purchased" by the SLDF for additional lift capability, and while the windfall (taxed of course) was huge, losing their transport capability was a major blow. This was due to the family being seen as "disloyal" for arguing against Reunification and against Star League propaganda about the Periphery. As a result, they were now even more dependent on their own security to protect what they had, but also didn't have any funds for any heavy machinery.

There is wealth and then there is WEALTH.

A big part of what I'm hoping to explore through Riley is the costs of owning and operating a military force. She has some super tough decisions to make as she balances her desire for vengeance against the realities of logistics.

[Elmoth]

Nice! Following this with interest.

[Daryk]

Hmmm... sounds like Riley should have some APCs with fusion engines... hmmm... :)

[ThePW]

Helm. Full Stop. OOD, Set the Anchor Detail.

[DOC_Agren]

Since you're equipping your infantry with SLDF gear, some food for thought:

Mauser Shenanigans

Proposed Fix to the OG SLDF Armor Kit

You are evil, I love you

[Daryk]

Thanks DOC! >:D

[PeripheryExplorer]

Slater Estate, Castillo en las Nubes, Nuncavoy
Nuncavoy Free Confederation, Rimward Periphery
August 15th, 2997

Riley intended to start immediately, though that meant primarily starting with planning and finances. Despite her overwhelming desire to open the armory, arm her employees and hunt down every corrupt official and kill them - she knew that wouldn’t work. It would be like the Terran families that came out to the Periphery at the height of the Star League, certain that they would  make their fortunes farming or raising cattle, and then crashed and burned because it was hard work and their contempt for the natives of the Periphery made them ill prepared to do what was necessary. Riley couldn’t act like a naive fool. She needed to learn. She needed to prepare. And she decided to depend on her skills focusing on her budget and what she had immediately at her disposal.

Financially, she could divert nearly twenty million c-bills into this operation immediately, with another ten or so million available if she could get outstanding accounts owed to pay up. This could all be done without risking their textile business. This would mostly empty out her personal accounts and the trust her father had prepared for her, but would not touch the carefully managed family trusts. She was balancing the need to spend heavily on building her new forces, versus keeping the business and family solvent.

Surprisingly, Agatha was critical during this time. Riley had always seen her as just a “housekeeper” for her father, but she had a sharp mind for finances and costs. She had often advised her father on the family estate and was in charge of managing it, showing awareness of the textile business and the estate’s own revenue. She and Edward had quickly aligned around cautious spending and build up. Which led to her next problem.

She had her family's JumpShip, the Route 66, and three DropShips. One of which was not operational, and had mostly turned into a spare parts repository for the Gilly or the White Sands which was referred to as the Sandy. She also had an armory of very effective weaponry which Edward had calmly explained was also incredibly expensive and almost impossible to repair or maintain. Essentially she was sitting on a museum and not an arsenal. Agatha had agreed. Riley had sworn.

Less immediately, the local space port had two conventional Planetlifters and the scrap yard had a wide variety of weapon systems and armor. Her father’s relationship with Maurice also gave her access to a vehicle manufacturer. He had quickly become a critical ally, pointing out that despite the incredible collection of Star League weapons, the APCs were mostly still the same generic APCs that were used throughout the Inner Sphere. He and his head mechanic had done a full workup of all of them, leaving her with detailed notes and a green light that they were combat ready.

Honestly, having a chance to see him had been nice. As with Agatha, Maurice had become a source of support and care - a connection to her father and her past. However, he was also helping her build the future. In addition to his technical expertise, he was opening doors to the business communities on planet, getting her connections and access to the resources she’d need.

The most immediate need was weapons. Nuncavoy had a small level of light weapon industry. Rifles, pistols, submachine guns and even some heavier weapons like support machine guns and shoulder mounted missile launchers were all readily available. One of the largest manufacturers on planet was NKY - Niles, Kennedy, and Young - who were most famous for their .308 hunting rifles, but also built small arms for export. They were not tied to the government, who preferred working with GuS, which licensed and built Capellan small arms.

Maurice came through again. He was good friends with Robert Young, and when Riley explained what she needed, Maurice was able to come through - he even had multiple suggestions. Multiple discussions and budget projections with Maurice helped to narrow things down and improve their negotiating position. He made a few calls to Young and a few weeks later and she now had enough NKY Type 9 auto rifles, perfectly serviceable firearms not much different from auto rifles made across the Inner Sphere, to outfit a battalion of infantry. She also purchased NKY-E3 9mm pistols. They had the added benefit of coming with extension kits that allowed them to be converted into fully automatic submachine guns. Her own textile plants were manufacturing uniforms, including ballistic fibers that would protect the wearer from small arms or shrapnel on the battlefield.

While she had worked on the logistics and supply situation, she had asked Edward to start going through personal files and identify anyone with military experience who would be willing to help.

Edward had been sitting at the table looking over the finances and estimating the amount of work to convert the broken down Red Ochre. His goal was to convert it to a Trojan to provide some landing support, though it was completely capable of handling a large number of soldiers. Riley was working across the table from him, kicking her foot back and forth as she did when she was thinking. “Based on the weapons available in the scrap yard, we should be able to do it - probably a little less than five million before we consider the engine repair costs.”

Riley nodded, “And that will probably run us about forty million.” She reviewed the finances. “We need investors.”

Edward nodded, “You need something for them to invest in.”  He paused, and Riley put her paperwork down and frowned. “Don’t get upset! You've done a ton of work here!” He grinned, “Honestly I’ve seen people go off with far less prep and a lot more anger!” She continued to frown, “But, all of this is just on paper. We have accounts, we have money, but we have nothing concrete. Even when the rifles arrive, we won’t have anyone to give them too.”

Riley nodded, “I see. We actually need to start recruiting for the Guard.”

Edward shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I absolutely like the idea of the Slater Guard being reformed, but I don’t like the idea of you putting your House up for investors and risk. Nor would any investor worth talking to.”

Riley’s frown was no longer one of annoyance, but curiosity. “What do you suggest?”

“Two separate forces, one a mercenary company, the second a House Guard. We focus on the Mercenary company first, and organize it like any other business. The business can pull loans and investment out to fix up and purchase equipment: the rifles, the DropShip, and more. Hell, you can sell the Red Ocher to yourself and then turn around and invest that money into the mercenary command. We then turn to some of the local businesses and get contracts for security work. Everyone is spooked by the raid, so now you have revenue. Revenue means investors.”

Riley nodded. Then she smiled, “Riley’s Regulators.”

He grinned. “I like it.” He paused, “We’ll need to start recruiting.”

Riley nodded, “I’ll get you all the personal files for both the factory and the ranches. A number of our workers have military experience and have expressed interest in doing something.”

Edward nodded, “I’ll do a review and work with my friends down at the station, make sure everyone is legit.” With that, both decided it was time to eat and Agatha had made a delicious chicken with hatch pepper meal for them to enjoy.

Edward would have identified potential NCOs and officers over the next few weeks, and as Riley watched trucks rolling up with deliveries of rifles and ammunition, she was not surprised to see a small group of men and women meet the trucks and start unloading. It was now coming together.

[PeripheryExplorer]

Slater Estate, Castillo en las Nubes, Nuncavoy
Nuncavoy Free Confederation, Rimward Periphery
August 20th, 2997

Riley groaned and rubbed her forehead in a poor attempt at fighting the headache beginning behind her eyes. She had been working at her estate, as the sound of gunfire echoing off of the impromptu range Edward had supervised the construction of. She went out to the window and looked out, ten people were currently at the range, sighting in the weapons - most of them were ex-military or ex-police, with experience that Edward had selected to become trainers and NCOs for Riley’s Regulators. They were even wearing the new uniforms, khaki colored with darker brown trim and a dark red and yellow collar device sewn in. The uniforms were effective at blending into the type of terrain common in this region, while other uniforms were being worked on for forest, jungle and arctic terrain.

Apparently initial interest was high, New Albuquerque being a great place to pick up recruits. They were being organized, processed and would be arriving soon. Thomas Case, her new Battalion Chief Sergeant, had promised that the recruits would be on site tomorrow. They were at the local hospital getting their final physicals and immunizations, then would be transported in early in the morning. The rest of the day would be spent getting them their uniforms, bunk assignments, and training schedule. Case described it as an “easy Monday for them.”

Riley didn’t disagree. She was not looking forward to it, but she absolutely knew she had to go through it with the recruits. Edward had been impressed, as had Case. Both promised she would be treated like any other recruit. She just had to finalize the last of the paperwork, and then Agatha would bring her into the staging area so she could ride the same transport, and go side by side with the people she was asking to potentially die for her. There was a knock on her door and Agatha poked her head in - the new COO of Nuncavoy Security Consultants, Inc, which fully owned the subsidiary Riley’s Regulators - smiled gently, “All set?” Riley picked up the last stack of legal paperwork Agatha would be bringing to their lawyer and to ComStar.

“Yes.”

She took a deep breath. The next ten weeks were going to be incredibly difficult, but Riley wasn’t afraid of hard work. It was critical that she went through the training shoulder to shoulder with the men and women who were now finalizing the last of their own paperwork. She grabbed a small duffle bag and walked out the door to her private study and bedroom - luxuries she was sure she was going to miss to go stay in a small hotel across from the hospital where the other recruits were staying.

Slater Estate, Castillo en las Nubes, Nuncavoy
Nuncavoy Free Confederation, Rimward Periphery
August 21st, 2997

Sara walked down the hallway with the other recruits. When she had heard about the formation of a mercenary company to protect their community and strike back at pirates, Sara was all in. She caught a glance of herself in a window. She had shown up to the medical office in what she would have worn to the office, a nice dark skirt, light blue blouse, and a decorative ribbon in her hair like most of the women wore in the region. But where before she had been meek and passive, the raid had changed something inside of her - or the resulting therapy had changed something inside of her. She was terrified,  yes, but was no longer willing to be meek and passive - no longer willing to let the world happen to her. She walked down the hallway towards the transports that would take her to basic training with her head held high, and her will clear.

They shuffled forward, roughly forty young men and women climbing onto the busses with their duffles and quick waves and hugs with family members who were there to see them off. Sara was towards the front and got onto the first transport, and paused in shock. Riley was sitting as if she was any other recruit, looking out the window. “Riley?”

She turned, and her eyes widened in surprise, “Sara? You joined up?” She paused, “Does Agatha know?” Sara grinned, the housekeeper had turned into an accounting force of nature.

She nodded, “Yes, but what are you doing here?”

Riley grinned, “Training, same as you.”

Sara was shocked and sat down as other recruits poured onto the bus. Some knew who Riley was, at least by reputation and rumors started to swirl. Riley and Sara ignored them. As the bus pulled out, chatter picked up as everyone was nervous and many turned to boisterousness to hide it. Riley and Sara simply talked about each others families, Riley spending most of the time asking and learning about Sara’s father and mother, her brothers and sisters, how proud everyone was when she went to the technical college to learn business administration.

And how they were scared for her, but proud of her at the same time.

As the buses got closer the chatter started to die down, it was approaching sunrise and some of the recruits had speculated they’d get a nice breakfast before starting training. Riley knew better but wasn’t going to say anything. As the buses pulled into the front of the estate, their headlights illuminated a group of men and women in uniform milling around an open area. Fences and gates had been set up to help organize the training area and keep it separate from the rest of the property. As the buses pulled to a stop, sergeants climbed aboard, “All right!” they shouted out, “Everyone up! You have fifteen seconds to clear this bus! GO GO GO!” The recruits scrambled to their feet grabbing duffles and rushing out the door, clearing as fast as they could as the training sergeants descended on them, telling them to form up on the lines and using flashlights to show the recruits where to stand. Riley and Sara were quick off the bus and on the first line, while the rest formed up behind them within the 15 second time frame.

The sergeants prowled up and down the lines criticizing their formation, outfits, shoulders, duffles and nature of their parenting. Riley listened as they jumped on recruit after recruit.

“Son” one sergeant commented after ripping open his duffle, “Why did you pack a fancy shirt and tie? Do you think this is some kind of social?! REPACK!” he threw the duffle to the ground.

“HOW HARD IS IT TO STAND ON A LINE?!” Another sergeant screamed, pointing at the red paint on the ground and insisting the young lady shuffle her feet forward, “DO YOU NEED AN ENGRAVED INVITATION RECRUIT?” The lady stammered something but was cut off “YOU DO NOT NEED TO ANSWER THAT!”

Not even Riley was immune, her small duffle with just a day’s worth of clothes was picked up, “RECRUIT! DID YOU EVEN CHECK THE SUPPLY LIST?” Riley hadn’t and shook her head, the Sergeant glared and dumped her duffle on the ground, “YOU WILL RESPOND TO EVERY QUESTION WITH: ‘RECRUIT LAST NAME REPORTS AS ORDERED! YES OR NO SERGEANT!” he dropped her duffle. “REPACK!”

Riley shouted out, “Recruit Slater reports as ordered, yes sergeant!” He nodded.

Riley scrambled to repack, and when Sara reached forward to help the Sergeant was in her face asking her who gave her permission to break ranks. “YOU WILL STAND WHER WE TELL YOU UNTIL ORDERED OTHERWISE!”

Eventually everyone was in line and standing appropriately, and duffles were repacked. The Sergeants who had torn through their ranks stepped to the edges fo their formation.

Finally, a new face stepped forward, Riley recognizing the badge indicating a Force Sergeant. “ALRIGHT RAINBOWS!” He shouted. “Welcome to your new home, for the next ten weeks you will be given the finest training in modern infantry warfare and tactics. You will listen, march, shoot, fight, and be prepared to win. Sergeants!”

“Sir!” They shouted in unison, “Prepare the recruits to march!”

The sergeants quickly demonstrated basic marching principles, starting with their left foot and to move forward single file through processing. After showing them the basics, the Force Sergeant bellowed out the most compelling of military orders: “RECRUITS! FORWARD! MARCH!”

[Daryk]

Are you going to issue your Mausers to your designated marksmen, or maybe import Suns Killer Sniper Rifles?  The Mausers will do more damage, but the Suns Killers will get you more range. :)

[PeripheryExplorer]

You'll see! Right now they have to learn how to become effective war fighters!

[Daryk]

Cool, I can't wait! :)

[Schulz189]

A flight to rainbows...nice touch...yep, there's a term I haven't heard in a long time...