Fort Kershaw, Sinclair
Periphery
1 January 3050
The weather was absolutely perfect for the parade - the blue sky marked only by a few high, thin clouds and promising no adverse weather. Of
course, it was late summer in Sinclair's southern hemisphere rather than the mid-winter being experienced on distant Terra. Flags all around the huge,
amphitheater-like parade ground were fluttering in the wind. The Clans did not place great weight upon the ability of their infantry to march in close
formation, but sometimes it was appropriate for them to display their martial might to their civilian castes and... others. For this reason, most of their
enclaves had an open space suitable for the garrison to gather and display their full strength, even if that ground was more typically used for other
purposes.
The parade ground at Fort Kershaw was more typically used as a space port. The terrain around the fort and the associated civilian settlement
had few flat spaces large enough to be used by more than one or two dropships. Therefore, as the population grew and the required traffic for any invasion
became apparent, steps had been taken to provide such a place. Tiered plateaus had been carved into the side of a mountain overlooking the Fort, broad enough
for even the largest dropship to land upon and unload. Sloped roadways large enough for even the broadest of labormechs (or battlemechs) cut between the
tiers.
Today, those tiers were filled not with dropships but with people. The outer edges held spectator seating that was already filled by an
unprecedented number of civilians - perhaps as many as a quarter of the entire population of Sinclair. The central space of every one of the five tiers was
occupied by the people who were the heart of the clans.
Gathered together in numbers that had virtually never been seen on Strana Mechty and never from a single Clan, were more than sixteen
thousand Warriors, wearing the black leather and white silk of their dress uniforms. They did not stand in dressed ranks however. Behind each was their
warmachine - hundreds of battlemechs and aerospace fighters, tanks and helicopters; thousands of Asps and suits of battle armour, each painted in the black and
dark blue of Clan Star Adder, trimmed in the colours of their respective Galaxies.
Costigan could hardly have been happier about the golden trim of Alpha Galaxy visible on his Assassin as he stood at the back of the lowest
tier, looking across at the small podium in front of a holo-projector that would ensure that everyone present would be able to see the speaker. A speaker who
was just arriving it would seem, he noted as he saw a broadshouldered warrior emerge from the Fort and walk in front of the line of seated Galaxy Commanders
and other senior officers to the podium. As he stepped up behind it, the holo projector lit up and the head and shoulders of Roderick N'Buta were projected
fifty metres high above the saKhan's head.
"Greetings, warriors," he declared, and then nodded left and right, acknowledging the civilian castes without words. A cheer went
up from the more demonstrative members of the crowd.
"Two hundred and sixty-five years ago, our ancestors followed the Great Aleksandr Kerensky in a mighty Exodus from an Inner Sphere
already falling into war as its leaders fell upon the remains of the Star League like jackals."
"Two hundred and forty-seven years ago, our ancestors followed the Great Nicholas Kerensky out of the Pentagon Worlds, consumed by the
ancient jealousies that had been brought with us from the Inner Sphere."
"Two hundred and twenty-eight years, our ancestors returned to the Pentagon, forged into the Clans of Kerensky. There we created a new
order, building it upon the ashes of the ruins that had followed from the disasters of the Pentagon Civil War."
"In the Inner Sphere, Succession Wars have reduced the treacherous regiemes of the former Lords of the Star League to barbarity. Now we
shall return, now we shall build new order on the bones of their squalid kingdoms."
"This year we return to the Inner Sphere!"
There were more cheers now, a cacophony of shouting and simple exultaion from not only the civilians but also the warriors. Costigan was
among those shouting. The exercises months before had been followed by a winnowing of the organised galaxies as those who had not performed to the satisfaction
of their commanders were discarded. No one had been safe - Duke Togo had discarded one of his Star Colonels, promoting a Star Captain to command the 10th
Hussars. It was on the Galaxy Commander's advice that virtually all of the 17th Independent Nova had been brought in by Star Colonel Hannibal Banacek to
fill spaces left when the new broom swept several other warriors out of sincures that they had held more due to long aquaintance with Ivar Hutchinson than any
particular merit.
In retrospect, Costigan realised that the exercise had served a very real purpose besides simply testing the fitness of the invasion forces.
There would have been enormous resentment if Galaxy Commanders and Star Colonels had simply vetoed the choices of their subordinates when forming the units. By
doing so after a field exercise of such thoroughness when some of their choices had come back to haunt the junior officers, they had given everyone a chance to
prove their value and the reasons behind such an shake up. In many cases, the reorganisation had not even been decreed but simply followed from Star Captains
and Star Commanders realising their errors. There had even been some memorable fist fights as officers fought impromptu trials to see who would recruit a
warrior who might have distinguished himself during the simulated war.
There had been smaller exercises since then, more gruelling than any of the short Trials that Costigan had experienced since his Trial of
Position. Galaxy versus Galaxy and Cluster versus Cluster as the Star Colonels hammered their commands into shape and then honed the edge of their warriors.
And all this led to today and the announcement that they were expecting.
"Over the last six months," Roderick N'Buta declared, "The seven Galaxies that will particpate in the invasion have vied
not only for pride but also for the highest of prizes: to be allocated the invasion corridor of their choice." His image disappeared, replaced by a
graphic display of the Lyran Commonwealth. Glowing red lines sliced deeply into it. "I will now announce the assignment of these invasion
corridors."
Somewhat theatrically, as if he had not been intimately involved in the decision making process, Roderick produced an envelope from the
podium and opened it to extract the assignments. "Zeta Galaxy is assigned... the New Capetown corridor!" he called. The most coreward of the red
lines was marked on the hologram by a bold Z. Unsurprising, Costigan noted. While the flank corridor was one of the more risky, Zeta included the Command
Keshik and placing it on the flank would give Khan Virgilia readier access to the Keshik once she returned from the rest of the invasion force.
"Iota Galaxy is assigned the Bolan corridor!" Now that was a surprise. The saKhan would be accompanying Iota Galaxy, since that was
where his Quasar Keshi was posted, but the Bolan corridor was the second most rimwards which would not give him a central position to ease his communication
with the other Galaxys. Still, Bolan was not one of the most prestigious corridors.
"Epsilon Galaxy is assigned the Tangua corridor." Costigan winced for the warriors of Epsilon. The nearest corridor to Sinclair, it
was also the shortest corridor, flanked by Zeta's New Capetown and the Coventry corridor, which would converge quickly. At that point, Epsilon would have
to move into a reserve postion.
"Delta Galaxy is assigned to Carlisle corridor." Another corridor that would not have been Costigan's preference. He noted with
growing delight that only three corridors remained to be allocated: the Alarion and Coventry corridors were both greatly desired as they would be able to
attack earlier, picking off periphery colonies outside the Commonwealth before the real invasion began. However, the real prize would be the Cavanaugh
corridor, located directly on the border with the Free Worlds League. The Galaxy that had that position would be watching the flank of the entire invasion
against an entire Successor State - a truly awesome responsibility.
"Gamma Galaxy is assigned the Alarion corridor." The information that had been made available was that that world, once the heart
of the Lyran Navy had very little left of it's yards. Restored they would be invaluable to the massive logistical challenges of the invasion as it reached
deeper into the Inner Sphere. It also left only two more corridors, so the last announcment would decide the issue.
"Beta Galaxy is assigned the -" for a moment Costigan thought that the saKhan was going to pause dramatically, but he continued
evently "- Coventry corridor." Costigan whooped triumphantly. Alpha Galaxy would have the extreme right flank of the invasion, facing the toughest
oppostion in the early waves and would be on the forefront if House Marik had a sudden inexplicable urge to offer aid to their Steiner rivals.
He couldn't hear Roderick N'Buta over the cheering as a capital A appeared on the holomap to confirm the assignment. But Costigan
simply could not have been happier with his lot in life than he was at that moment.
Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
13 Februrary 3050
"Good morning Justin," Hanse Davion said, looking up his breakfast. Beside him at the small round table in their apartments,
Melissa Steiner-Davion also smiled in greeting and gestured for the Secretary of Intelligence to take one of the vacant seats. Her face was questioning however
as she refilled her coffee and then passed the carafe to her husband. It was standard practise for Justin Xiang-Allard to brief one or both of the royal couple
every morning with the latest reports from official and unofficial sources across the Inner Sphere. For him to interrupt them during their breakfast was
considerably less likely.
"Melissa, Hanse," Justin smiled, taking the offered seat and setting several briefing documents down between the cutlery.
"I'm sorry to disturb you so early, but you asked to be informed as soon as we heard anything more about the periphery raiders."
Melissa paused, her cup halfway to her lips. "Has there been any news of Phelan?" she asked sharply. It was six months to the day
since her young second cousin Phelan had disappeared after a clash with unknown combatants during what should have been a routine skirmish against one of the
many pirate bands that plagued the Periphery worlds. The final transmissions from the mechwarrior had sent a furore through the New Avalon Institute of Science
once the Ministry of Intelligence released details to them. Despite every effort by the Inner Sphere's finest scientific institution, no one had been able
to determine how the extraordinary performance of the attacker's battlemech had been achieved. Even the advanced materials and technological secrets of the
former Star League that NAIS had been able to unravel could not explain the speed and power of what analysts had dubbed the Mad Cat, for it's resemblence
to both the Marauder and the Catapult battlemechs.
Justin shook his head quickly. "No Melissa, I'm afraid not. There have, however, been some new reports." He moved a jug of
orange juice aside to pass a report to Hanse, then poured himself a glass while the First Prince perused it. "The original raids only hit the Oberon
Confederation and the other pirate worlds around them. At least, those are the only attacks that we are aware of. None of those worlds have been heard from
since. ComStar's Explorer Corps have stopped sending ships out in that direction - the only ship that went out that way since the fighting began came back
unscathed but they've been quite close mouthed about what they found out there."
"You don't think that ComStar was behind the raids?" Hanse interrupted sharply. "We know that they have advanced
battlemechs from the Star League and have equipped their ComGuards with them. If these raids were intended to test a new design..."
"That is one of the theories that is being considered," Justin admitted. "The fact that the fighting seems to have ended after
Phelan's report makes it plausible - ComStar must have been aware of the contents of the message when the Kell Hounds sent it with the report but
they're too smart to have altered or deleted it - as long as the Kell Hounds had escaped, it wouldn't have done anything but buy them time at the cost
of confirming our suspicion. However, there is no positive information to confirm the theory so for now it's only speculation."
He sipped the orange juice as Hanse passed the report to Melissa. "To summarise the report, a jumpship trading with Gillfillan's
Gold jumped into the Hinckley system two days ago without their dropships. The captain reported that a small flotilla jumped in at a pirate point while his
dropships were grounded and at least two dropships - possibly Overlords - landed. Since the planet has no real armed forces, it was over in hours. The guards
on his dropships put up a token resistance but there was nothing that they could do about two battalions of BattleMechs. They did manage to report what they
were up against though."
The First Prince and the Archon both nodded grimly as Justin passed over the image of a Mad Cat, this one painted in woodland camouflage
rather than the simple grey shown in Phelan's last transmission. "The jumpship captain is ex-Lyran fleet," Justin added. "Retired after the
Fourth Succession War and worked his way up the the merchantman's crew. When he lost contact with the Dropships he jumped back to the Commonwealth and
contacted the local military command."
"Gillfillan's Gold is five hundred light years from the last known sighting of the Raiders," Hanse said thoughtfully.
"Sounds as if they relocated after Phelan sent his warning. Two battalions is a respectable force, but... isn't there a pirate band that large out
there?"
"Morrison's Extractors," confirmed Justin. "However, current reports don't give him any Overlord dropships and
Morrison's never shown off any Mechs that we haven't verified as old Star League equipment. The theory is that he found a cache left by the old SLDF
from their campaign against the Rim Worlds Republic, or perhaps even from the Reunification War. This Mad Cat is very different. NAIS have combed through their
archives and they have nothing like it. I presume you've seen Doctor Pardoe's analysis?"
"Thirty-four tons of weapons, a forty ton fusion reactor and fourteen tons of armor - but somehow it only weighs seventy tons?"
Hanse asked. "Even with Star League lightweight materials we couldn't build something that fast and well armed unless the armour was paper thin, which
it definitely isn't. I wouldn want to fight one of those."
"Nor would I," the former Champion of Solaris VII and one of the most renowned mechwarriors of his generation agreed. Justin shook
his head. "If Morrison had a force of Mechs like this then he wouldn't be making penny ante raids in the Periphery. He'd be hitting our Periphery
March and Marshal Steiner-Davis would be screaming for reinforcements."
Hanse Davion frowned. "I would rather that matters didn't reach that stage," he said. "We have some good troops out there,
but against Mechs like this things could get messy in a hurry. Perhaps we should send some reinforcements out there now rather than wait."
"Apart from the fighting on Aubisson, Skye has settled down," Melissa observed thoughtfully. "Sending a less experienced unit
out to the periphery for seasoning would be reasonable, but I don't think that it would be sufficient if these raiders are as dangerous as you
say."
"There are four Lyran Guards regimental combat teams in Skye," Hanse suggested. "We could move three of them out to the
Periphery and then move one of the Republican regiments out of the Sarna March to cover for their absence. I don't think Aubisson is likely to flare into
the Fifth Succession War any time soon."
"Hanse," Melissa said in a warning voice and nodded towards Justin.
Justin smiled and Hanse could see that he was tired. He had probably been up all night collating these reports, the Prince noted. He's
not getting any younger... and I'm older than he is. "I'm sorry Justin. I'd forgotten Kai was posted to the Lyran Guards."
"I'm not worried about Kai," Justin said. "Well, no more than any soldier's father should be. He's a fine
mechwarrior and he has one of the best Mechs in the Inner Sphere. Besides, the 10th are due for a rotation where they can pick up some experience so moving
them would be an excellent cover for moving, say, the 11th and the 19th Lyran Guards out to the Periphery. It would leave Denebola a little short, but I
don't think Thomas Marik is likely to lose his head and invade if we move the 5th Republican over from Elgin to Callison."
"That would build the Periphery March up to twenty-two regiments," Hanse agreed. "If the 10th replace the 6th Lyran Guards on
Althastan then that would give Marshal Steiner-Davis three of our best regimental combat teams to go looking for trouble out there. I don't think any two
battalions in history could possibly withstand that many troops, no matter how advanced their technology is."
"I'll send a note to Morgan," he decided after Melissa reluctantly nodded her head. "And he can cut the orders. That
should place the Guards out there by mid-April." The Prince's lips quirked. "Hohiro Kurita, Victor and now Kai off to the Periphery. Perhaps we
can avoid another major war in my lifetime after all."
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Periphery
1 January 3050
The weather was absolutely perfect for the parade - the blue sky marked only by a few high, thin clouds and promising no adverse weather. Of
course, it was late summer in Sinclair's southern hemisphere rather than the mid-winter being experienced on distant Terra. Flags all around the huge,
amphitheater-like parade ground were fluttering in the wind. The Clans did not place great weight upon the ability of their infantry to march in close
formation, but sometimes it was appropriate for them to display their martial might to their civilian castes and... others. For this reason, most of their
enclaves had an open space suitable for the garrison to gather and display their full strength, even if that ground was more typically used for other
purposes.
The parade ground at Fort Kershaw was more typically used as a space port. The terrain around the fort and the associated civilian settlement
had few flat spaces large enough to be used by more than one or two dropships. Therefore, as the population grew and the required traffic for any invasion
became apparent, steps had been taken to provide such a place. Tiered plateaus had been carved into the side of a mountain overlooking the Fort, broad enough
for even the largest dropship to land upon and unload. Sloped roadways large enough for even the broadest of labormechs (or battlemechs) cut between the
tiers.
Today, those tiers were filled not with dropships but with people. The outer edges held spectator seating that was already filled by an
unprecedented number of civilians - perhaps as many as a quarter of the entire population of Sinclair. The central space of every one of the five tiers was
occupied by the people who were the heart of the clans.
Gathered together in numbers that had virtually never been seen on Strana Mechty and never from a single Clan, were more than sixteen
thousand Warriors, wearing the black leather and white silk of their dress uniforms. They did not stand in dressed ranks however. Behind each was their
warmachine - hundreds of battlemechs and aerospace fighters, tanks and helicopters; thousands of Asps and suits of battle armour, each painted in the black and
dark blue of Clan Star Adder, trimmed in the colours of their respective Galaxies.
Costigan could hardly have been happier about the golden trim of Alpha Galaxy visible on his Assassin as he stood at the back of the lowest
tier, looking across at the small podium in front of a holo-projector that would ensure that everyone present would be able to see the speaker. A speaker who
was just arriving it would seem, he noted as he saw a broadshouldered warrior emerge from the Fort and walk in front of the line of seated Galaxy Commanders
and other senior officers to the podium. As he stepped up behind it, the holo projector lit up and the head and shoulders of Roderick N'Buta were projected
fifty metres high above the saKhan's head.
"Greetings, warriors," he declared, and then nodded left and right, acknowledging the civilian castes without words. A cheer went
up from the more demonstrative members of the crowd.
"Two hundred and sixty-five years ago, our ancestors followed the Great Aleksandr Kerensky in a mighty Exodus from an Inner Sphere
already falling into war as its leaders fell upon the remains of the Star League like jackals."
"Two hundred and forty-seven years ago, our ancestors followed the Great Nicholas Kerensky out of the Pentagon Worlds, consumed by the
ancient jealousies that had been brought with us from the Inner Sphere."
"Two hundred and twenty-eight years, our ancestors returned to the Pentagon, forged into the Clans of Kerensky. There we created a new
order, building it upon the ashes of the ruins that had followed from the disasters of the Pentagon Civil War."
"In the Inner Sphere, Succession Wars have reduced the treacherous regiemes of the former Lords of the Star League to barbarity. Now we
shall return, now we shall build new order on the bones of their squalid kingdoms."
"This year we return to the Inner Sphere!"
There were more cheers now, a cacophony of shouting and simple exultaion from not only the civilians but also the warriors. Costigan was
among those shouting. The exercises months before had been followed by a winnowing of the organised galaxies as those who had not performed to the satisfaction
of their commanders were discarded. No one had been safe - Duke Togo had discarded one of his Star Colonels, promoting a Star Captain to command the 10th
Hussars. It was on the Galaxy Commander's advice that virtually all of the 17th Independent Nova had been brought in by Star Colonel Hannibal Banacek to
fill spaces left when the new broom swept several other warriors out of sincures that they had held more due to long aquaintance with Ivar Hutchinson than any
particular merit.
In retrospect, Costigan realised that the exercise had served a very real purpose besides simply testing the fitness of the invasion forces.
There would have been enormous resentment if Galaxy Commanders and Star Colonels had simply vetoed the choices of their subordinates when forming the units. By
doing so after a field exercise of such thoroughness when some of their choices had come back to haunt the junior officers, they had given everyone a chance to
prove their value and the reasons behind such an shake up. In many cases, the reorganisation had not even been decreed but simply followed from Star Captains
and Star Commanders realising their errors. There had even been some memorable fist fights as officers fought impromptu trials to see who would recruit a
warrior who might have distinguished himself during the simulated war.
There had been smaller exercises since then, more gruelling than any of the short Trials that Costigan had experienced since his Trial of
Position. Galaxy versus Galaxy and Cluster versus Cluster as the Star Colonels hammered their commands into shape and then honed the edge of their warriors.
And all this led to today and the announcement that they were expecting.
"Over the last six months," Roderick N'Buta declared, "The seven Galaxies that will particpate in the invasion have vied
not only for pride but also for the highest of prizes: to be allocated the invasion corridor of their choice." His image disappeared, replaced by a
graphic display of the Lyran Commonwealth. Glowing red lines sliced deeply into it. "I will now announce the assignment of these invasion
corridors."
Somewhat theatrically, as if he had not been intimately involved in the decision making process, Roderick produced an envelope from the
podium and opened it to extract the assignments. "Zeta Galaxy is assigned... the New Capetown corridor!" he called. The most coreward of the red
lines was marked on the hologram by a bold Z. Unsurprising, Costigan noted. While the flank corridor was one of the more risky, Zeta included the Command
Keshik and placing it on the flank would give Khan Virgilia readier access to the Keshik once she returned from the rest of the invasion force.
"Iota Galaxy is assigned the Bolan corridor!" Now that was a surprise. The saKhan would be accompanying Iota Galaxy, since that was
where his Quasar Keshi was posted, but the Bolan corridor was the second most rimwards which would not give him a central position to ease his communication
with the other Galaxys. Still, Bolan was not one of the most prestigious corridors.
"Epsilon Galaxy is assigned the Tangua corridor." Costigan winced for the warriors of Epsilon. The nearest corridor to Sinclair, it
was also the shortest corridor, flanked by Zeta's New Capetown and the Coventry corridor, which would converge quickly. At that point, Epsilon would have
to move into a reserve postion.
"Delta Galaxy is assigned to Carlisle corridor." Another corridor that would not have been Costigan's preference. He noted with
growing delight that only three corridors remained to be allocated: the Alarion and Coventry corridors were both greatly desired as they would be able to
attack earlier, picking off periphery colonies outside the Commonwealth before the real invasion began. However, the real prize would be the Cavanaugh
corridor, located directly on the border with the Free Worlds League. The Galaxy that had that position would be watching the flank of the entire invasion
against an entire Successor State - a truly awesome responsibility.
"Gamma Galaxy is assigned the Alarion corridor." The information that had been made available was that that world, once the heart
of the Lyran Navy had very little left of it's yards. Restored they would be invaluable to the massive logistical challenges of the invasion as it reached
deeper into the Inner Sphere. It also left only two more corridors, so the last announcment would decide the issue.
"Beta Galaxy is assigned the -" for a moment Costigan thought that the saKhan was going to pause dramatically, but he continued
evently "- Coventry corridor." Costigan whooped triumphantly. Alpha Galaxy would have the extreme right flank of the invasion, facing the toughest
oppostion in the early waves and would be on the forefront if House Marik had a sudden inexplicable urge to offer aid to their Steiner rivals.
He couldn't hear Roderick N'Buta over the cheering as a capital A appeared on the holomap to confirm the assignment. But Costigan
simply could not have been happier with his lot in life than he was at that moment.
Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
13 Februrary 3050
"Good morning Justin," Hanse Davion said, looking up his breakfast. Beside him at the small round table in their apartments,
Melissa Steiner-Davion also smiled in greeting and gestured for the Secretary of Intelligence to take one of the vacant seats. Her face was questioning however
as she refilled her coffee and then passed the carafe to her husband. It was standard practise for Justin Xiang-Allard to brief one or both of the royal couple
every morning with the latest reports from official and unofficial sources across the Inner Sphere. For him to interrupt them during their breakfast was
considerably less likely.
"Melissa, Hanse," Justin smiled, taking the offered seat and setting several briefing documents down between the cutlery.
"I'm sorry to disturb you so early, but you asked to be informed as soon as we heard anything more about the periphery raiders."
Melissa paused, her cup halfway to her lips. "Has there been any news of Phelan?" she asked sharply. It was six months to the day
since her young second cousin Phelan had disappeared after a clash with unknown combatants during what should have been a routine skirmish against one of the
many pirate bands that plagued the Periphery worlds. The final transmissions from the mechwarrior had sent a furore through the New Avalon Institute of Science
once the Ministry of Intelligence released details to them. Despite every effort by the Inner Sphere's finest scientific institution, no one had been able
to determine how the extraordinary performance of the attacker's battlemech had been achieved. Even the advanced materials and technological secrets of the
former Star League that NAIS had been able to unravel could not explain the speed and power of what analysts had dubbed the Mad Cat, for it's resemblence
to both the Marauder and the Catapult battlemechs.
Justin shook his head quickly. "No Melissa, I'm afraid not. There have, however, been some new reports." He moved a jug of
orange juice aside to pass a report to Hanse, then poured himself a glass while the First Prince perused it. "The original raids only hit the Oberon
Confederation and the other pirate worlds around them. At least, those are the only attacks that we are aware of. None of those worlds have been heard from
since. ComStar's Explorer Corps have stopped sending ships out in that direction - the only ship that went out that way since the fighting began came back
unscathed but they've been quite close mouthed about what they found out there."
"You don't think that ComStar was behind the raids?" Hanse interrupted sharply. "We know that they have advanced
battlemechs from the Star League and have equipped their ComGuards with them. If these raids were intended to test a new design..."
"That is one of the theories that is being considered," Justin admitted. "The fact that the fighting seems to have ended after
Phelan's report makes it plausible - ComStar must have been aware of the contents of the message when the Kell Hounds sent it with the report but
they're too smart to have altered or deleted it - as long as the Kell Hounds had escaped, it wouldn't have done anything but buy them time at the cost
of confirming our suspicion. However, there is no positive information to confirm the theory so for now it's only speculation."
He sipped the orange juice as Hanse passed the report to Melissa. "To summarise the report, a jumpship trading with Gillfillan's
Gold jumped into the Hinckley system two days ago without their dropships. The captain reported that a small flotilla jumped in at a pirate point while his
dropships were grounded and at least two dropships - possibly Overlords - landed. Since the planet has no real armed forces, it was over in hours. The guards
on his dropships put up a token resistance but there was nothing that they could do about two battalions of BattleMechs. They did manage to report what they
were up against though."
The First Prince and the Archon both nodded grimly as Justin passed over the image of a Mad Cat, this one painted in woodland camouflage
rather than the simple grey shown in Phelan's last transmission. "The jumpship captain is ex-Lyran fleet," Justin added. "Retired after the
Fourth Succession War and worked his way up the the merchantman's crew. When he lost contact with the Dropships he jumped back to the Commonwealth and
contacted the local military command."
"Gillfillan's Gold is five hundred light years from the last known sighting of the Raiders," Hanse said thoughtfully.
"Sounds as if they relocated after Phelan sent his warning. Two battalions is a respectable force, but... isn't there a pirate band that large out
there?"
"Morrison's Extractors," confirmed Justin. "However, current reports don't give him any Overlord dropships and
Morrison's never shown off any Mechs that we haven't verified as old Star League equipment. The theory is that he found a cache left by the old SLDF
from their campaign against the Rim Worlds Republic, or perhaps even from the Reunification War. This Mad Cat is very different. NAIS have combed through their
archives and they have nothing like it. I presume you've seen Doctor Pardoe's analysis?"
"Thirty-four tons of weapons, a forty ton fusion reactor and fourteen tons of armor - but somehow it only weighs seventy tons?"
Hanse asked. "Even with Star League lightweight materials we couldn't build something that fast and well armed unless the armour was paper thin, which
it definitely isn't. I wouldn want to fight one of those."
"Nor would I," the former Champion of Solaris VII and one of the most renowned mechwarriors of his generation agreed. Justin shook
his head. "If Morrison had a force of Mechs like this then he wouldn't be making penny ante raids in the Periphery. He'd be hitting our Periphery
March and Marshal Steiner-Davis would be screaming for reinforcements."
Hanse Davion frowned. "I would rather that matters didn't reach that stage," he said. "We have some good troops out there,
but against Mechs like this things could get messy in a hurry. Perhaps we should send some reinforcements out there now rather than wait."
"Apart from the fighting on Aubisson, Skye has settled down," Melissa observed thoughtfully. "Sending a less experienced unit
out to the periphery for seasoning would be reasonable, but I don't think that it would be sufficient if these raiders are as dangerous as you
say."
"There are four Lyran Guards regimental combat teams in Skye," Hanse suggested. "We could move three of them out to the
Periphery and then move one of the Republican regiments out of the Sarna March to cover for their absence. I don't think Aubisson is likely to flare into
the Fifth Succession War any time soon."
"Hanse," Melissa said in a warning voice and nodded towards Justin.
Justin smiled and Hanse could see that he was tired. He had probably been up all night collating these reports, the Prince noted. He's
not getting any younger... and I'm older than he is. "I'm sorry Justin. I'd forgotten Kai was posted to the Lyran Guards."
"I'm not worried about Kai," Justin said. "Well, no more than any soldier's father should be. He's a fine
mechwarrior and he has one of the best Mechs in the Inner Sphere. Besides, the 10th are due for a rotation where they can pick up some experience so moving
them would be an excellent cover for moving, say, the 11th and the 19th Lyran Guards out to the Periphery. It would leave Denebola a little short, but I
don't think Thomas Marik is likely to lose his head and invade if we move the 5th Republican over from Elgin to Callison."
"That would build the Periphery March up to twenty-two regiments," Hanse agreed. "If the 10th replace the 6th Lyran Guards on
Althastan then that would give Marshal Steiner-Davis three of our best regimental combat teams to go looking for trouble out there. I don't think any two
battalions in history could possibly withstand that many troops, no matter how advanced their technology is."
"I'll send a note to Morgan," he decided after Melissa reluctantly nodded her head. "And he can cut the orders. That
should place the Guards out there by mid-April." The Prince's lips quirked. "Hohiro Kurita, Victor and now Kai off to the Periphery. Perhaps we
can avoid another major war in my lifetime after all."
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.