A Long Journey

[Wolf72]

as in you just have to pay for it when designing your ship? I would guess that it is integral to the ship so it is just a cost modifier.

[Daryk]

Yes, though you still have to plan for consumables.

[2ndAcr]

 Okay, I am going to fill you all in......there will be no uber data cores, not uber fancy shipyards and all that. This will more than likely be a hard scrabble to survive, but yes, they have a pretty big starting force to play with and some fancy toys. Outside of the normal research I do before starting a story, most of my writing is day to day or week to week. A lot of day, I just sit down and start writing, if I like it, I post it. Stories can change direction really quick and it is easy to write yourself into a corner.

 I have let stories get so powerful that they could overpower one of the Houses, those are easy to write. Starting in the Star League era, they just get a big leg up, since they can easily start strong or high tech. In those days even pirate bands had warships and division sized units per canon. Or should I say rebels.

 So, no sense wasting time tossing ideas, for uber stuff, not gonna happen. That way we don't drag down the story too much. You can guess at what will happen, but no Hughes, no high tech shipyards, no magic data cores no snagging a Newgrange, outside of the solo Vigilant, there is a chance that might be all they get, if they can keep it running and such.

[Daryk]

Sounds like a plan to me! :)

[paulobrito]

If they can maintain their JumpShip fleet, that alone is a big plus in that backyard.

[Wolf72]

I wonder how they'll avoid C* in the (near) future.

[Taron Storm]

improvise, adapt, overcome...

these are tenets to survive by!

[2ndAcr]

14 June 2784
Terra (Terran Hegemony)

 Commodore Patricia Mitchell and Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell shared an awkward hug in zero g. He had taken a shuttle over from one of the still new smelling Monolith Jumpships that had been assigned to his task group. "Good to have you back sis, we have so much to get caught up on. Our plan has developed more than we even thought it would."

 "Good to see you too Sammy. I would love to get caught up, but I really have to go make my report." Commodore Patricia Mitchell replied

 "Before you go, how many collars do you have open? I am going to need some." Lieutenant General Mitchell asked

 "Right now? Ten collars are open, could be more if they want me to pull the recovered ships off, it will all depend on that, but you cannot dock anything until I find out maintenance. Not that we really need any, we had a good maintenance stand down before we pulled out a few months ago. Now, I really have to go." Commodore Patricia Mitchell said as she pushed off towards the shuttle bays leaving him floating in the hallway.

23 June 2784

 Colonel Colin Blaine performed his last action on the Terran surface and once completed he pull the third and last data stick from the computer and erased all trace that he had been in the system at all. He pocketed the data sticks and turned out the lights to his office for the last time. He had a shuttle to catch to the Nadir Jump Point.

6 July 2784

 "Commodore Mitchell, prepare to receive three Mule Dropships. The crews will depart via shuttle after they are docked. The doors will be locked and sealed. No entry is allowed. Confirm the orders verbally." The voice of General
Aleksandr Kerensky said

 "Orders received, three Mule Dropships docking. Crews departing via shuttle, door locked and sealed with no entry allowed." Commodore Patricia Mitchell repeated

 "Very well." General Aleksandr Kerensky said as he signed off

 Commodore Patricia Mitchell shared a look with Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell and Colonel Colin Blaine. "That was weird, Task Group commanders are usually informed of any and all cargo being transports on their ships. And I can only think of one item that being hauled where doors are locked and sealed even while docked on a Jumpship."

 Colonel Colin Blaine said it out load "Nukes. Standard protocol when those are around."

 "What the hell does General Kerensky want or need with nukes?" Lieutenant General Mitchell asked

 "Sammy, nukes are the best warship killer. All SLDF warships carry nuclear tipped missiles, always have and always will." Commodore Patricia Mitchell replied

 "Well, my people have been on the receiving end of nukes and the survivors don't like them at all. Neither do I because I lost a bunch of good people to them when Amaris nuked the landing zones near Seward Alaska." Lieutenant General Mitchell said

 "Feel free to tell General Kerensky you object to three Mule Dropships that YOU suspect have nukes on them being docked with us. That will probably result in a bunch of marines being placed aboard, which is going to endanger our plans. Best to just dock them, we haul them until we are ready to depart the fleet and jettison them. Of course then we need to be ready for the guilt every time a nuke goes off anywhere in the known universe cause it might be one that we set adrift. At least here, they are no threat to anyone." Commodore Patricia Mitchell said

 "There is that drawback. Okay, we take them with us, all the way. When we get to Mackolla, we figure out what to do with them, but at least we control them." Lieutenant General Mitchell as he turned to leave the bridge then said "How many nukes can three Mules carry?"

 "You really don't want to know Sammy. Leave it alone, better to not think about it." Colonel Colin Blaine said

8 July 2784

 The journey began with a single word "EXODUS". From 50 locations the massive fleet carrying the SLDF began leaping from their staging areas.

28 August 2784
Matar (Draconis Combine)

 As the SLDF fleet once again started moving after recharging their drives, the ships carrying the 322nd Armor Division leaped in another direction.

Klathandu (Federated Suns)

 Led by SLS Second Chance, Vigilant Corvette, the ships of Commodore Patricia Mitchell materialized at the Zenith Jump Point and prepared for recharging operations. When hailed by the system garrison, 14th Avalon Hussars, Commodore Patricia Mitchell tried to keep their secret as long as they could.

 "This is Commodore Patricia Mitchell, Star League Defense Force, Commander of the 83rd Fleet Recovery and Salvage Squadron. We are just recharging our drives and will depart when that is completed. We will be launching a normal Combat Air Patrol for local security. Please notify AFFS Command that our destination is the Periphery on Star League business and currently do not need any assistance."

 She looked at her brother, Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell and said "Standard procedure. If it works, we should make it almost all the way to Mackolla without any trouble. At least the Federated Suns is usually friendly to SLDF movements. But then again, everyone is on edge right now due to General Kerensky's movements. But the subterfuge might cost us down the road by not being honest about our intentions."

 "We take the risk and get as far as we can before tipping our hand." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied.

[Daryk]

The AFFS should have bigger things to be worrying about than a stray SLDF squadron, honestly...

[2ndAcr]

 Still almost 3 years to the 1st SW invasion.

[Daryk]

Still, I'd think they'd be more worried about anything the Dracs are doing...

[lowrolling]

Hope they have a few command keys. Those mules need to be left alone otherwise

[2ndAcr]

29 August 2784
Klathandu (Federated Suns)

 "ETA to Mackolla is 157 days, if nothing impedes our progress forward." Commodore Patricia Mitchell said

 "Pick a point about halfway and see if we can arrange a grounding for a week R&R. We are going to need some ground time and also air out the damned Dropships. Speaking of that, what do those recovered Dropships hold?" Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell replied

 "I will try to make the arrangements, better make it a month, no way are we going to get permission to ground all our Dropships, the AFFS will think it's a damned invasion. We will have to shuttle everyone over to those Jumbo's and then down to the surface. I think it is best to power thru and get to our destination. As for the Lee's, that is your dept, several busted up Aerospace fighters, some Battlemechs and vehicles. We buried the crews on Epsilon Indi. Only way your getting on them is in a pressure suit. They are fully vented to vacuum." Commodore Patricia Mitchell said

 Lieutenant General Mitchell shuddered at the thought of being in a pressure suit, even the emergency procedures everyone trained for when boarding space vessels gave him the shivers. "I will leave that to the crazy folks, pretty sure if I mention it to some mech jocks or those techs they would not hesitate to get an inventory together."

 "There you go. I am surprised you haven't asked about the four massive units that are not Dropships." Commodore Mitchell said

 "It has been on my mind but other things came first, what are they?" Lieutenant General Mitchell asked

 "Bastion Defense Stations in their transport mode. We have two of them, ready to assemble where ever we decide. The real deal, not the watered down ones that are sold to the Houses. These are armed with capital weapons. Dual Barracuda's, dual White Sharks, those are missiles, backed up by four naval laser 55's in each arc. Large naval comm scanner and they have a boosted armor rating with four hundred fifty tons of Improver Ferra Aluminum. Not so good against a real effort against multiple warships, but against a solo warship, well it is going to have a problem. They can be moved around as we need to, we get to Mackolla we can decide how to position them. They also can carry thirty-six to forty-eight Aerospace fighters and no warship wants to face that kind of swarm, not willingly." Commodore Patricia Mitchell said

 "So they can keep Mackolla safe?" Lieutenant General Mitchell asked

 "Not by themselves, but they are a big speed bump to anyone's plans for an easy take over. Two of my Mammoths are loaded with replacement capital weapons and a few thousand tons of normal weapons and a few hundred missile reloads. The third Mammoth is loaded with replacement armor, double heat sinks, some replacement reactors, a few thousand tons of steel plate and standard replacement parts for various ship types. Each of my Tramps have over thousand tons of manufacturing equipment to field fabricate just about any part except a Jump Core in their cargo bays. We just have to get the raw material to work with. Which is what the steel plate is for. We managed to get the manufacturing equipment when the Tiger Team joined us. But back to the capital weapons we have, we can construct ground based SDS with them, gonna need a lot more to cover the entire planet though. You experienced ground based SDS during the war, so you know it can be quite effective if set up correctly, though no one here has any knowledge of that sort of thing that I know of." Commodore Mitchell said

 "But they are a start down the right path. Got it. I'm gonna shuttle over to my ship and see if any of the techs are brave enough to go inventory those Dropships." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

30 August 2784

 It had taken about ten minutes to find quite a few volunteers to go aboard the Lee Dropships, even in pressure suits. Master Sergeant Caldwell volunteered to lead the teams that would board the Lee's. Master Sergeant Caldwell was the first to board one of the Lee Armor/Infantry Transport and his first act was to peer thru a hole in the armor into open space. "Lord keep us safe. Everyone be real careful of sharp objects, always in pairs, watch your buddies carefully."

 He moved very carefully from brace to brace, avoiding anything that might snag his pressure suit as the various teams spread out to inventory the five Lee Dropships. He patted the insignia of the 34th Royal BattleMech Division and said softly, "Stupid but brave lads. Rest in peace all of you."

 It took a full six hours for all the teams to complete their inventories of the five Lee Dropships. After getting safely back on board the Star Lord Jumpship, Master Sergeant Caldwell gathered the inventories and moved to locate Lieutenant General Mitchell to deliver the report. He found him on the grav deck sipping a coffee.

 "Damn Royals really do get the good stuff sir. We have some sweet toys on those Lee's. But it is going to be a total bitch to move them off the Dropship, into a cargo bay and then loaded onto a functional Dropship for transport to a surface. But here we go from the top.

 12 Mongoose MON-66b
 12 Hussar HSR-200-Db
 12 Talon TLN-5W
 36 Crab CRB-27b
 36 Thunderbolt TDR-5Sb
 4 Spartan SPT-N2
 2 Stuka STU-K5b
 1 Sabre SB-27b
 1 Sabre SB-28
 1 Hellcat II HCT-213C
 1 Zero ZRO-116b
 72 Von Luckner Royal
 4 UTR-588 Recovery Vehicle
 2 Mobile HQ (HPG)
 2 MASH
 56 Goblin (SLDF)
 1390 Mauser 960
 4,627 Tons of assorted ammunition, armor, spare parts

 I have no clue why there are so many different Aerospace fighters, but the going theory is they were badly damaged and landed on the first Dropship they could find. The flyboy techs say none can fly until they get some serious loving. About half the Battlemechs have some armor damage but the Mech techs say it is easily fixable. Same goes for the tanks, but only about half need work past buffing out some scratches. I peeked at one of those Goblins and I gotta say, they are sweet machines. They also need some loving on their armor, but not much. But I will say this, we better keep these under some deep dark secret of the Feddies are gonna want to take them away from us. We are talking top of the line equipment here boss." Master Sergeant Caldwell reported

[Daryk]

Sweet!  Goblins are back! :)

[lowrolling]

Things are looking up. Nice addition of the Goblins. The SDS could easily get paid for by the Feds needing replacement NL. Strong update

[vianca]

So, can they make the royal parts needed for those royal rides?
What all can they make?
And what for self studie materials do they have, to hold off bordom?

We know they have some manufactoring machines.
Can they copy said machines?
Can they make a shipyard or a dockyard?
Hell, can they make a jumpcore factory, if wanted?
What can they do?

I do think they made a slight mistake with their unit list, they should have added some engineerings devisions, their stuff.
Would have made ground side construction, easier.
Would also have given them more options.
I get a feeling, the ground pounder, did not really think things true, with their unit selection.
Their list was too small, did they just recruite lower rank ground pounders?
Nobody from a engineerings unit, a ASF unit, a base or so on?

I hope they have the blueprints of a recharge station and a M9 Pavice.
I feel they might want to construct a heavily modified one, with a upscalled M9 Pavice incorperated into the design.
That would give them a big enclosed bay, they could work in peace from praying eyes and if enlarged enough, they would even be able to house the bigger warships.
Heck, use two, side by side and put a jumpcore factory in between them, with the recharge station on top of them.
If you rotate the bay doors to the sides, you can even put another recharge station structure in a mirrored position, making it have a shell feeling.
If they have those blueprints, start playing with some design layout concepts, so they can have several design options, later on.
Can then even start with a upscaled M9 Pavice on one jump point and a recharge station on the other one.

Here is hoping they will visit SLDF bases on the way to their new home, if only to see if they can strip some more stuff.
Which is part of what I feel they will be doing after dropping of most of the troops.
Visiting SLDF bases in order to get more stuff.
Does that mean Columbus will be visited?
Or what about Victoria CC?

[Iron Grenadier]

So, can they make the royal parts needed for those royal rides?
What all can they make?
And what for self studie materials do they have, to hold off bordom?

Please let him tell the story, and you can find out like the rest of us.

[vianca]

Please let him tell the story, and you can find out like the rest of us.

I'm quite sure he will pick a different angle, a very different angle.
Just a shame for those SLDF engineerings guys from Helm, you know.
They might be just what they need, for some base building, which makes it a double shame.

Edit:
I do wonder if setting up a Excalibur, as a bigger Seeker, with some room for a couple of light mechs, might work?
Throw in a Union it's C&C ability as well and keep the machines under 50 tons...
Think scout mechs, infantry transports rated for Nighthawk power armor and so on.
Keep her light.
It's a shame the Fury (Combat Vehicle) is 80 tons, though.
I do think a Excalibur could do with some of the Seeker it's bay setup. and since it needs a redesign anyway, to remove it's structual flaw...
What can be done, there?

[2ndAcr]

6 February 2785
Mackolla (Federated Suns)

 The arrival of the convoy made the locals nervous, though some communication did calm them down some. That they were still identifying as SLDF, it made the locals feel just a little better. Commodore Patricia Mitchell established a local CAP for security at the Nadir Jump Point, having selected to arrive there instead of at the Zenith where the Olympus Recharge Station was to not overly scare the locals anymore than they had to. It took a couple hours for communication with their father, Colonel (ret) Barclay Mitchell, who quickly worked began working on getting them landing rights on the surface. A few hours later he had gotten them permission from the planetary governor to bring a single shuttle down for a meeting.

9 February 2785

 The meeting took place at the planets only space port outside the capitol of New Custoneci. The planetary governor, George Nelson, had cleared an office area for this meeting. The governor position was one of a rarity in the Inner Sphere, with no actual noble for Mackolla itself but an elected position. Everyone got seated and water was placed in front of everyone.

 "I must say that this is a surprise. I received no notice of your arrival nor about any SLDF personnel coming to our system." Governor Nelson said

 "First, let me say that it is good to be home. It has been a long time since myself or my sister have been here or even seen our parents. Second, we are no longer a part of the Star League Defense Force. There has been a massive demobilization since the wars end. Myself and those with me are tired of war, I have been at war almost my entire career and am tired. What we all want is to settle down here at home, on Mackolla. I heard pirates have been ramping up their raids so we are prepared to deal with them if and when they arrive. Personally, my primary goal is to safeguard my home, Mackolla. I know the planetary guard is only a single Infantry Battalion, not nearly enough. I have with me almost two Division worth of troops, all veterans of the war. I think we can prevent any pirate raid. But I need your permission to ground my people on the surface." Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell replied

 "Are you saying you have gone mercenary and want Mackolla to hire you? There is no way Mackolla could afford hiring you." Gonernor Nelson said

 "No sir. We are not mercenaries. What I am saying is that we want to make Mackolla our home. For a few of us, it already is, and we are ready to defend our home. Even I have not figured out the payroll situation, but I will some how. I am sure that you will need permission from possibly the First Prince for anything to be permanent but we have been traveling for over 7 months and would really like some ground time under our feet and to air out our Dropships. They are pretty funky right now." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "Your correct, this is way above my pay grade. But as Governor, I can grant you landing rights. I doubt our space port is even remotely large enough to handle all of your ships, so for right now, you will have to land on the continent of Peel, more like a very large island. There is fresh water, but no local inhabitants there. It is mostly jungle or rain forest. You can take your shuttle over for a survey if you like, but that it about all I can grant you at this time, though if you need fresh food, I will make sure you have all that you need, we grow quite a bit here and ship it off world to nearby systems, at least until I get some guidance from someone above me." Governor Nelson said

 "I will gladly accept your offer of landing on Peel and we might take you up on the offer of fresh food. We have a large stock of combat rations but those get old really fast. I will be waiting on any news from above. To make communication with me quicker, I will have one of my shuttles bring over a communication truck, though you must understand I will have a security detachment with it." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "I have no problem with that General. I will even make arrangements for it to be housed in one of the warehouses here at the space port. I will ask for guidance as soon as I leave here. For now, welcome home sir." Governor Nelson said shaking hands around the room.

[Daryk]

Whew!  They made it all the way to Mackolla without being issued a speeding ticket... ;)

[Detlef]

So they reached Mackolla. And of course the governor needs to ask the First Prince for guidance. According to Sarna Mackolla only vanished from the maps during the second SW.

Sarna doesn´t say anything about the system at all. How many planets? Moons? Asteroid belt? Does it make sense to think about space mining?

I can imagine that right now New Avalon would be happy with them settling down on Mackolla. Perhaps with the obligation to help protect other FS system against pirates? Though Mackolla isn´t the best location for a QRF? With only Giverny one jump away.

Anyway if they want to keep at least a percentage of the soldiers on active duty they need to find a way to pay them pretty fast.

Things probably will change once the first SW starts. Two divisions of SLDF veterans with equipment? Enough jumpships and dropships to transport them? A Vigilant corvette and two Bastion defense space stations? With how the war initially went for the FS they´d scream for assistance from them.

And with the governor contacting New Avalon that means that Comstar also knows about them.

Two Bastion defense stations and one Olympus Recharge station with their dropships bays means that perhaps the Lee dropships could be repaired? They would be the best dropships for a QRF. Not to mention being almost assault dropships by themselves? Adding five of them to the three Titans and one Pentagon would add to the protection of Mackolla.

It might also be a good idea to place one Bastion station close to the Olympus station. At least if you want to keep the Olympus station working?

Having said all that they still have one major problem.
- 3 Monolith jumpships
- 2 Star Lord jumpships
- 4 Tramp jumpships
and not a single shipyard large enough for them close by. Neither for routine maintenance, even less for repairs. And the 1,000 tons factory equipment per Tramp jumpship mentioned doesn´t count really. Field repairs IIRC? Field repairs means repair enough so the the ship can limp to a real shipyard. And 4,000 tons really isn´t that much for ship factories. Any repairs demanding more, ask for a Newgrange yardship.

Essentially I see three options here:
1. Sell all the jumpships and buy Merchant jumpships.
2. Maybe "Commodore Patricia Mitchell, commander 83rd Fleet Recovery and Salvage", knows about some hidden SLDF naval bases?
3. Maybe "Commodore Patricia Mitchell, commander 83rd Fleet Recovery and Salvage", knows about Linden?

Option 1 might win you some friends with the FS military? Option 2 is unlikely since according to the author they won´t find any "Star League treasures". Which might also include option 3 "Linden"? Although Linden and the Outworld Wastes might be far enough from Mackolla to be a real challenge?
Anyway the common sense option is to sell every single jumpship to the FS and buy Merchant jumpships instead.

[2ndAcr]

13 February 2785
Mackolla (Federated Suns)

 "Temporary housing only for now people. We do not have permission for permanent structures yet, but I will work something out real soon. For now, stretch your legs, enjoy the gravity and get some sun because most of us are as pale as the walking dead." Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell said to the gathered officers who then moved off to inform their respective commands.

 "We are really going to have to figure out the payroll situation real soon or we are going to start losing people, and that could end in a shooting match. They are soldiers and soldiers without weapons are no good to anyone." Colonel Colin Blaine said

 "I know, I did some serious rough math last night and I came up to roughly 32 Million dollars a month just in payroll. Since no one has been paid since we left the convoy, hell really in a decade, I figured the troops are owed roughly 288 Million since August of last year." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 Colonel Colin Blaine whistled at the figure and then said "Geez cuz, that is a ton of cash. Where the hell are you going to get that kind of money?"

 "Not a damned clue. About the only thing I can come up with is selling off some Jumpships, but then Tricia is gonna have to agree to that part because they belong to her. Since we arrived, I linked into the planetary library and did some research, a Star Lord could fetch around a Billion dollars. That would at least cover payroll for 3 years, 2 years if I pay them all the backpay at once. But we are damn sure gonna have to figure out some sort of income stream to make payroll and buy anything we need. You get any ideas you bring them my way. But we are not going mercenary and I damn sure do not want to join the AFFS as regular troops and get fed into a meat grinder. I am going to need all the idea's we can come up with." Lieutenant General Mitchell said

 "I don't think farming is going to go over too well with our people nor generate enough money to sustain us. Until our status is official and we know where we stand, our options are pretty limited." Colonel Blaine replied

 "All we can do is wait, so we kick back and enjoy a little rest and relaxation until we have to go back to work." Lieutenant General Mitchell said

17 February 2785
New Avalon (Federated Suns)

 "How on gods green earth did a force that size manage to travel across my entire nation without me knowing about it?" First Prince John Davion asked after reading the message from Mackolla asking for guidance.

 "They followed every law we have in place. They filed flight plans per both our own and SLDF regulations. We even asked the SLDF headquarters on New Earth for clarification but still have not heard back from them. Stopping a SLDF movement has never been done, even with communication delays, at least not in my service time of thirty years. Now the Free Worlds and Combine always play those games, hampering SLDF moves, but never us." Fleet Admiral Jonathon Kincaid replied

 "What was the unit the Capellans recruited?" First Prince John Davion asked

 "The 360th Battlemech Division, the entire Division Highness." Marshal Thomas Worth replied

 "That's the one, they created six new regiments from that recruitment and this message says there are TWO Divisions with this group. Get me a command circuit in place, I want to handle this recruitment personally." First Prince John Davion ordered

6 March 2785
Mackolla (Federated Suns)

 The arrival a week ago of two Davion II Destroyer and a single Robinson II Transport at the Zenith Jump Point did not cause much concern for Commodore Patricia Mitchell onboard SLS Second Chance, Vigilant Corvette. When the Invader Jumpship materialized and shortly afterwards the Federated Suns warships began heading for the planet, that did raise the hair on the back of her neck. But she could only watch for now from a distance.

 "Nav, plot a in-system jump to the planet. Just in case this goes south." Commodore Mitchell said, while silently praying nothing went south for her Vigilant would not last long against the Federated Suns warships.

11 March 2785

 Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell was waiting at the space port as First Prince John Davion exited the Overlord Dropship he had been on while two other Overlord Dropships disembarked Battlemechs from the Davion Heavy Guards. He moved to meet First Prince John Davion.

 "Your Highness, Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell at your service." He said with a slight bow of his head before coming to attention and saluting.

 First Prince John Davion acknowledged the salute and said "Your a long way from home General Mitchell."

 "Actually sir, I am standing on my home. I was raised on Mackolla. I have returned. I am a citizen of the Federated Suns." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "Didn't you have to swear alliegence to the Star League on joining? I do believe that was a requirement." First Prince John Davion said

 "Yes sir, but the Star League is no more. I believe you were at that meeting when you dissolved the High Council." Lieutenant General Mitchell said with a little too much anger.

 "You harbor some ill will to that decision?" First Prince John Davion asked as they walked to the cleared conference room.

 "A little your Highness. I apologize for my tone." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "No offense taken General Mitchell. That is the past, I am here to talk about the present and future. What exactly are your intentions here?" First Prince John Davion asked

 "We are tired. This is my home, my people want to make it home too." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "So, you want to join the AFFS. That can be arranged." First Prince John Davion said as an aide held the door open and they entered the building.

 "No sir. We do not wish to join the AFFS. Not as regular troops, to be stationed far from home. We are willing to patrol and protect Mackolla and surrounding systems from any hostile actions as a condition to calling Mackolla home. We are willing to even defend the Federated Suns from invasion if that were to happen. But we do not wish to be offensive troops against someone else, outside of pirates, those types we will gladly locate and chase down, wherever they decide to hide. I have spent almost my entire career in the SLDF at war, I wish to try a peacetime career now. Beating on pirates, protecting instead of attacking. Building instead of destroying." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "So, part of the Crucis March Militia's? I do not see how I can have a dozen new Battlemech Regiments added to the CMM rolls." First Prince John Davion stated

 "A dozen Battlemech Regiments? Your Highness has been misinformed. I have a single Battlemech Regiment, but I have almost two Divisions of troops with their equipment. My official command was the 322nd Armor Division at 100% strength with another two Brigades of mixed armor and infantry and supporting artillery. A reinforced Wing of Aerospace plus a Vigilant Corvette that my sister commands." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "Yes, I have been greatly misinformed General or maybe I just jumped to that conclusion. That changes things, a great deal actually." First Prince John Davion said as he leaned back in his chair

 "We have no problem answering any call for aid within our reach from any Federated Suns system. We can also help provide maintenance and repairs to the Federated Suns Navy in the region, for a fair price. Probably cheaper than taking the ship back to a major shipyard for routine maintenance. My Division was designed for garrisoning large areas or multiple systems to delay an enemy until the cavalry arrives. I know for a fact that we can safely garrison four systems around us and act as our own cavalry. This allows you to redeploy some commands to other areas. You have no capital expense for this, we already have all of our equipment and my troops are highly trained and combat veterans. The only real thing we need is some sort of payroll, that is going to become a real issue for me real fast." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 First Prince John Davion thought about this for a few minutes in silence before speaking, "How much payroll?"

 "My rough math is 32 Million a month, but they are owed back pay of roughly 288 Million since we entered Federated Suns space." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "You laid out some decent upsides and payroll is the only downside. The Federated Suns will cover your backpay and 1/4 of your monthly payroll expenses, pay a fair price for any maintenance needs." First Prince John Davion said

 "There is no downside to this your Highness, cover the backpay and 3/4 monthly payroll. The maintenance pay will be fair as is, but it is also outside of my expertise." Lieutenant General Mitchell countered

 "Backpay and 1/2 of monthly payroll and that is my final offer General Mitchell." First Prince John Davion said

 "Then we have a deal Your Highness. Our official status?" Lieutenant General Mitchell agreed

 "Officially you will be listed as planetary garrisons for the region, that will be coordinated with the local command. Coming up with official unit names will be up to my High Command. You will all have to swear allegiance to the Federated Suns, be granted citizenship with all the rights that entails. Now, as to your warship, that is going to be a problem." First Prince John Davion said

 "It stays with us Your Highness. It is our cavalry if it gets really ugly out here. I will have it scuttled before I turn it over. Our equipment remains ours. To help ease the sting, I will offer you a few cache locations that I know are still untapped by the SLDF. You can have all the stuff you find in them, but I have no idea what they contain." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied

 "Okay General Mitchell, I will sign the orders that all your equipment is your commands, not to be toyed with, even the warship. You have no idea what are in those particular caches?" First Prince John Davion said

 "No your Highness, not a clue, only that they remain unmolested as of June 2784. Could be anything and now that I think about it, maybe I should have checked them first and sold the contents to the Federated Suns." Lieutenant General Mitchell said

 "Maybe you should have, but too late now. How about you take me over and show me what you brought." First Prince John Davion said as he stood and offered his hand.

[2ndAcr]

Mackolla System

Star Type - M2V (Recharge Time 176 hours)
Recharge Station - Zenith

Planet Type - Terrestrial
Diameter - 13,200 KM
Position in System - 1
Time to Jump Point - 2.85 days
Year Length - .9 years
Day Length - 21 Hours
Surface Gravity - 1.09g
Atmosphere - Breathable
Atmosphere Press - Standard
Atmosphere Comp - Nitrogen and Oxygen, plus trace gases
Equatorial Temp - 32C
Surface Water - 58%
Highest Native Life - Birds
Landmasses (Capital) - Judea and Samaria Area (New Custonaci), El Maouna Prime, Minami's Hole, Peel
Population - 49,182,520
Socio-Industrial Levels - B: Advanced World
                          D: Low Industrial 20th century level
                          A: Fully self-sufficient raw material
                          C: Limited Industrial output
                          B: Agriculturally Abundant
HPG Class Type - B rated HPG

System Information

1: Mackolla (2.85 days)
2: Parker (Dwarf Terrestrial) (2.89 days) (vacuum)
3: San Nicandro Garganico (Dwarf Terrestrial) (2.94 days) (vacuum) (1 moon)
4: Parker (Gas Giant) (3.09 days) (Toxic) (12 moon, dust ring)
5: Mahmud (Giant Terrestrial) (4.34 days) (Toxic) (3 moon)
6: Lithgow (Gas Giant) (5.8 days) (Toxic) (18 moon)
7: LF1 Belt (8.04 days)
8: LF2 Belt (15.52 days)

 Major industries - Farming, Fishing, Limited ranching, Logging, Minor Mining operations supporting local growth, minor metal smelting and manufacture
 Exports - Food

 Adult Workforce - 22,540,000 est

 Estimated GDP - 405,720,000,000
 Tax Rate - 26%
 Planetary Tax Amount - 105,487,200,000
 Federated Suns Tax - 60%
 Federated Suns Tax Amount - 63,292,320,000
 Planetary Funds Left - 42,194,880,000

 *Though 42 Billion sounds like a lot, take into account that a bunch of stuff has to be imported, that gets expensive quick. On a global scale, 42 Billion will not go far at all and most would be dedicated to large scale infrastructure projects over many years. The tax rates are already very high, with 60% of the planetary government taxes going up the food chain to the Fed Suns purse. I set the working population at an avg income of 18,000 a year which includes the exports income. This is FASAnomics at it's finest.

[Daryk]

Prince John negotiating that himself is the appropriate amount of freak out for the FedSuns government.  He did let Mitchell off light...

[EAGLE 7]

  The FS is making bank, a short crop of veteran troops with full support and advanced tech, DS and JS + a fire brigade RCT at no capital cost and 1/2 pay. Not front line but a solid anchor and freedom to maneuver house troops.
Oh yeah, expert black navy recovery and repair assets. The first prince is doing a jig.

  Looking forward to 2ACR spinning his web of BT crack, thanks 2ACR.

[2ndAcr]

1 April 2785
Mackolla (Federated Suns)
 
 First Prince John Davion spent two weeks at Mackolla speaking to the gathered troops, looking over their equipment, cursing mildly when he got a tour of the new ships and spotting the two Bastion Defense Stations and three Titan Dropships up close and personal. And he had said as much.

 "General Mitchell, you failed to mention those two Bastions and those Titan Dropships to me before we concluded our negotiations." First Prince John Davion said

 "Highness, if I had told you about them, you would have taken some of them if not all of them from us. This way, I know Mackolla will be protected even if we are deployed somewhere." Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell replied

 "An honest answer. I had forgotten how refreshing it can be to hear. Your probably right General Mitchell, a good play on your part, but let's not make secrets a habit okay." First Prince John Davion said

 That exchange brought a smile to his face every time he thought about. The First Prince had been gone for just over a week now and the 322nd Armor Division and attached troops were in the process of shifting their base back to the inhabited continent of Judea and Samaria Area, the largest continent on the planet, but also the only one currently inhabited. Currently, only the unit's engineers had moved to the only space port to start enlarging it, the Planetary Governor, having been assured by the First Prince that Mackolla would be reimbursed for the expense, helped contract the largest construction company on the planet to assist them.

 A smaller team of engineers was surveying the continent by shuttle craft to locate a site for the main base of the 322nd Armor Division. Once selected, they would then have to construct a new space port for their use and also all the housing, warehouses and infrastructure that would be needed. After a decade of all-out war, every former member of the SLDF new that basing near a civilian population was a near death sentence on those civilians, so every effort was being made to locate a suitable location.

 While all of this was occurring, Lieutenant General Mitchell had spent several days with his senior officers, except his sister, organizing a new TO&E so that they could fulfill their mission of providing garrison forces for surrounding systems while at the same time providing for the defense of Mackolla. In order to accomplish this task, they had taken some from the SLDF that worked while discarding what they felt didn't work. The arguments has been long and hard for every option tossed out on the table for debate. No one could miss the large TO&E of the 322nd Armor Division posted on the wall with all the remaining units then listed out.

 322nd Armor Division

 First Brigade
 108 Alacorn MKVI
 108 Manticore
 108 Manticore

 Second Brigade
 108 Demon
 108 Demon
 108 Fury
 
 Third Brigade
 1st Mech Infantry Regiment (3 Batt Mech Inf)
 2nd Mech Infantry Regiment (3 Batt Mech Inf)
 3rd Mech Infantry Regiment (3 Batt Mech Inf)

 Artillery Brigade
 1st Artillery Regiment (48 Thor, 24 Chapparal)
 2nd Artillery Regiment (72 Marksman Artillery)
 3rd Artillery Regiment (16 Long Tom, 24 Padilla, 23 Pollux ADA)

 Engineer Brigade
 1st Engineer Battalion (6 Engineer Vehicle, 12 Leesup, 2 Buffel, 2 Prometheus)
 2nd Engineer battalion (6 Engineer Vehicle, 12 Leesup, 2 Buffel, 1 Prometheus)

 VTOL Regiment (Reinforced)
 1st Scout/Attack Battalion (12 Vector Scout, 12 Vector EW, 12 Vector Attack)
 2nd Transport Battalion (36 Vector Transport)
 3rd Transport Battalion (36 Karnov UR)
 4th Transport Battalion (36 Karnov UR)

 It told everyone in the room that Lieutenant General Mitchell wanted the 322nd Armor Division to remain intact. Not that anyone could really blame him for that, but it made the task harder for everyone with that roadblock in their path. After three days, no one could agree with anything that didn't break up the 322nd Armor in some fashion.

[lowrolling]

Nice welcome home. They may want to look into helping the Governor with his Olympus station and helping him modify it. Will certainly help cure maintenance worries on the jumpships which would help justify using them to help with local trade. Do those defense station still have a 30k ton repair bay as well?

[Daryk]

I'm curious as to how the Mech Infantry is organized... and where's the 'Mech Regiment?

[False_Prophet75]

Probably an oversight, and while I can’t speak for Ser Awesome Author (2ndAcr), I would have the Mech regiment garrison Mackolla and act as the quick response Fire Department, with whatever LF ships are available.

[vianca]

That guy should really talk with his sis, more.
And ½ pay?
Is he nuts?

He should have demanded compensation for this, like say a jumpcore factory.
Or else all the blueprints and the licences needed, to use them

As for fixing those Lee's, they have the Bastions, did they not have a dropship bay, each?
I think that if they can construct a jumpcore factory, somehow, they might actually be able to pull something off.
Lets hope they have a way to construct ground pounder equipement.
But their first task, after settling down, is copying all their fabrication gear, so they have spares.
Then to start expending on fabrication ability, so they can actually make everything they own and more.
Maybe upgrading everything to as much as possible, to royal gear as is easily possible.
Like double heatsinks and so on.