Battletech: The Ghost Who Walks (Battletech Isekai)

Son of Sam
Canopus had a relatively free press, and Luxen being home to one of the few remaining universities in Canopian space had a larger literate population than most periphery worlds. Even if that hadn't been true the population would have passed the troop movements around by word of mouth. That did present security concerns of course. Luxen had planetary defense units though how capable the fresh class of conscripts would be against hardened pirates did weigh heavily on all involved. Perhaps more heavily than normal given that Luxen's leadership had grown accustomed to the steadily expanding force since the Second Battle of Luxen.
It was understandable that they weren't happy about the reduction of forces. Even the ones who had complained about the size of the mercenary force to begin with... and the exodus of the refugee fleet further into the deep periphery was only part of that.


Of course all the fiction that would come out of the Pirate Wars would make things seem so much more coherent... better prepared in the for the masses retellings of everything... that and in the fiction well, things were so much less muddy. The rain hadn't stopped well deserving the moniker the rainy season... it was monsoon levels outside.


A company of Highland Cuirassiers mounted in Badgers and Bandits were in the process of swapping out with the White Mice mounted in the same new Valencia built armored fighting vehicles. Mechs and equipment from Bardiche were moving to the embarkation point to be loaded aboard dropships. Gene dismissed the muted news broadcast... he had stopped reading the subtitles as the las-rifle equipped personal protective detail showed in his officers. Mostly men that Gene didn't know as well as he did the Scratch Company veterans despite the long road in from the Inner Sphere. "The civilians are antsy with that Light Horse Regiment gone." Hammer observed.


"They miss the mechs." The Friesland native hadn't need the additional comment from the Swedense officer who had made it...but the Phoenix Hawks had been notable in their patrols which the Luxen news establishment had taken plenty of stock footage. Soren nodded to the Rasalhague captain... and it hadn't escaped Gene that Soren had started holding conversations modelled on MacIntyre's D program. Ostensibly an 'L' on the table to be fielded 'whenever' 'mechs could be found for the unit... which was of course an expectation that an SLDF cache would be found soon... at least ifSoren had a wish list he hadn't shared it.


"We still have the 12th​," Gene replied nodding to Colonel Bey, though at least part of the unit would be leaving Luxen, and part would be staying behind. Gene was loathe, regardless of how normal in this 'era of the succession wars' to divide his battalions down into companies... regardless of how much experience the Azami had fighting as company sized groups. That had been a topic because Bey and his captains under him were fully comfortable dividing the command as the Magistracy needed them... not the least of which was it raised the possibility of fighting men in Amaris colors. "Soren is Bardiche ready to rerun the drill in the simulators," Another iteration of a simulated defense against the mock up they had of the Amaris Dragoons, "Can you defend Royal Foxx?" Soren gave an affirmative reply to the question... they'd been waffling back and forth whether or not the deployments would actually play out... Gene didn't even want to begin to guess at what kind of horse trading might be going on behind the scenes... trading that seemed set on changing plans every hour it seemed like at times.


... and it would be reasonable to expect that returning to Davion Space would have similar concerns with Battalion D expected to be in the final stages of standing up when they returned. The company was already in the process of reorganizing to reflect its size, and the temporary swelling of ranks through the Azami. "Are we going to Canopus then?"


"We'll see." He replied to MacIntyre's question. "Its still up in the air." ComStar must have been making bank for the HPG conversation in real time between the Luxen HPG station and Canopus...and then there was the trickle in dribs and drabs of fighting from the inner sphere. "Bureaugard," Gene remarked, "Whatever we do," At least right now went without saying, "I'm leaving Baffins here to support Easy Company." The two scratch company veterans who had taken the Majesty Metals contract would be staying behind on Luxen as well... and that would be two more mechs plus the mercs that Friar Tuck had screened which would do pretty well for Luxen if Bey had to move the 12th in force somewhere.


Akashi shifted her weight, her retainer behind her more stoic...but it was also no surprise since it was impossible to have missed that he'd been considering attaching her 'Light' Company to Soren's Bardiche for deployment in the northern Magistracy. "The bandits are pushing this way. A confrontation is inevitable." She blurted out impatiently. "There are two regiments of Rim World origin in the fight."

Probably not whole regiments of course, but the comment did have an effect...


One of Bey's officers nodded in agreement before he could stop himself. The Light Company was filled out with a handful of ice cubes but were largely Azami pilots... most of whom flagged in the system as DC native SLDF troopers with the Torii gate of 15th ​Army. Chang's Company contrasted that by largely being Highland Faire recruits and reflected by being largely using Marauder II mechs...but Chang was also nominally under Septim who was supposed to be assembly a command lance to lead the force... but there were limitations to that... and unlikely to be settled before they next saw action.


... really this whole conversation was likely, Gene suspected, to be one that went around in circles with little to show for it until they knew something more about what their employers wanted them todo. He turned towards the old scotsman, "MacIntyre are you still happy with the base six system?"


"Aye sir, allowing its not perfect but I like the Canopian idea of," Especially given both their original lack of air power,and the Canopian limits on ASF, "Using Leopards to move a whole platoon, using them as gunships with their PPCs is a good idea givenwhat we're dealing with in the Periphery as well." Leopards being Aerodyne dropships could strafe a target if needed or loiterand the Canopians built leopards with domestically produced PPCs."And if we had a permanent peacekeeping presence, frontiers marshals to ride on brush fires here I think itd work." The Company as a fighting force waas unwieldy given its size to respond rapidly to pirate incursions they were finding that out first hand.

Majesty Metals liked the idea too it reassured the corporation that there would be security to work


--
Rain pounded against the transparent aluminum of the protected suite that overlooked the sprawling hospitality district of Luxen's capital... and the swollen river in the distance


Lady Raventhir sat backwards in her chair, allowed her aide decamp to pour the steaming tea into a piece of fine china. The porcelian set was from Earth from before spaceflight even dating to a unit of Infantry long long ago. It had belonged to the 102nd​Division of the SLDF passed down through the ages from its beginninguntil the SLDF division ahd been destroyed by time. Her eyes lifted to meet the savant.


The Straios began to speak "I don't believe this will create an issue with Force Major King."


Raventhir scowled ... because even if that were true, which itprobably was, this had the potential to be a headache. Keeping secrets was hard... Shepherd having been in a stasis tube for some period of time was a detail, an irrelevant one even for most officers of the MAF or people in general. "We are talking about a Terran Gunslinger who lost both of his parents to the Rim World," She rebutted, "And King did make," a Valid point, "That the implication was Shepherd had opened SLDF caches for rearm his Azami troops once crossing into Magistracy space... equipment that could have seriously bolstered the materiel reserves of the Canopian Armed Forces.


News secured from when Shepherd's highlanders had seized the Dieron ISF headquarters had included damming evidence of theCombine's complicity... a complicity which troopers were happy to share. It wasn't just kilted troopers either who talked... you couldn't keep secrets like that not in a regiment sized organization that had spent months transiting space only to find itself facing a revived and hated ancestral enemy... but it was also something that reputable papers would immediately publish. There would be exposes of known personalities within the unit, but not likely before she could move them off world... save for the Easy company and the Azami Osman Tactical Group which were expected to remain... and for the scratch company veterans most had already had been talked about.


Short though had written a book... books now, and would could be expected to dabble as armchair historian... she wasn't quite Luxen's bard but if she published she would do research and it would be read by the planet, if perhaps not the wider Magistracy. Still it might have been preferable than having the papers latch on that the pirates seemed to be doing their best to jump over the borders which invariably result in Houses Liao, and Marik, and probably the Taurians as well chasing after the pirates. Which was why her decision to send, her decision, to dispatch Shepherd personally to investigate the activities of a Luthien based salvage company was going to be controversial, but military intelligence had already confirmed that the pirates were doing the same chasing after Tsubaki salvage works's expedition... which meant it was pressing.


It was also why she was sure she would be sending the Swedenese Battalion, Bardiche, forward, and the Highlanders before she told Shepherd where she planned to send him. It was a calculated decision on her part to minimize any complaints from the unit commanders given that the constant changes to deployment plans was starting to become a point of contention as more news filtered in from the Inner Sphere. ComStar seemed to be doing all it could to push news of atrocities out in effort to pressure the Magistracy to release the mercenaries to go to war against the pirate menace... and it was working.


The Straios had reported that the pressure was being pushed at all levels, from the Magestrix on down as ComStar agitated that governments do something to stop the attacks on their neutrality and the damage being done to the irreplaceable relics of the Star League. Something had to be done, but that didn't mean sending Shepherd to Taragona was without objections, "There are star league ruins on the planet, and the nuclear accident,-" might not have been so much of an accident so much as an attempt to deny resources in the early days of the first succession war to a rival."If there is a cache and its what the pirates are after they have to be stopped." Raventhir gave a small sigh, and pressed on, "And even if they're not something has to be done. "Hitting Black Jack offensively with mercenaries would buy breathing room for a time.
--
The rain had finally slacked off some after about three days... more than enough time to load the DropShips The horizon was still dark, and the wadis were wide and swollen in the countryside. Three days of no drills outside simulators, and just classroom time for training Luxen troops. The Volunteers were improving though, which meant potentially traction for both more rebuilt Chargers and domestically built Shadow Hawks from the Magistracy. "What do we know?" He asked cognizant thatDante had been unusually quiet for most of the meeting's 'preamble', which had covered the latest incoming news, and Raventhir's marching orders.


"Not much more than we already did," Septim replied,"Never heard of these guys so probably just another two bit collection of thugs with an ego but they're big enough that apparently Black Jack told them to get onboard with him." with an implied or else no doubt.


Gene turned from Septim to Pasha, "Anything?"


"Tsubaki Salvage Works is a front for the ISF." He answered in a gravelly tone, "They have a special mission for hunting down evidence of Kerensky's exodus and the Minnesota tribe discretely for the Dragon."


Kiyone started to immediately brindle, and Gene had to hold up a hand to stay the Ronin's outburst, "You can come, MacIntyre I assume you're volunteering as well." The older highlander nodded a breathless 'aye'. "Septim, you're going with the bulk of Claymore to Canopus. You're the Company Liaison work with Speirs and MacKay." Bardiche, aboard their other Overlord-class DropShip, was already burning for the JumpShip Arkansas to head to defend House Raventhir's capital. Soren would join them on the next DropShip to leave since Presidio hadn't lifted off with Claymore but they were cutting it close with this meeting. "Colonel Bey do you foresee any problem working with Force Major King?"


"No sir. Nor should I expect trouble with House Alavi's merchants." The statement left the implied caveat that whoever he picked to go with them to investigate New Vulci on Taragona he was going to have grumbling from pilots not chosen. Bey would have to deal with the complaints within the 12th​ Light Horse himself, but there was no way the Azami Regiment was coming with...just as he couldn't bring Claymore or the mecchanized infantry. "There has been further news however..."


"Yeah the Amaris Dragoons crossed the border into Magistracy space," Gene replied, it was a confirmable sighting something that ComStar had pushed out to them as quickly as they had been able... what would have during normal times cost a pretty penny was now being done on the Robes own concern for their hides... but Gene didn't blame them. "Pasha tell me about the more local Opposition?"


"Criminals with delusions of grandeur, the local smugglers have made themselves wealthy by plying the illicit trade across the frontier," the jumpship captain replied, "I do not imagineBlack Jack regards them fondly but he has likely found a use for them as spies. The Magistracy's authorities are cracking down, but that has proven difficult given the libertine nature of canopian society." The old man replied.


"Recomendations?"


"Killing Notker Bauman would likely fragment his organization..." The man remarked sharing a glance with another Azami captain, "Though few would likely mourn his passing. He is an odious individual to be certain."


Gene nodded thoughtful, "Alright we'll consider that if the opportunity presents itself. They're smugglers, they have JumpShips I assume. We'll leave Tsubaki Salvage Works ships alone, but if Bauman is working for Black Jack his ships are fair game to seize."there were no objections to that line item in the discussion,"Taragona had a nuclear accident in 2977... I want to know moreI'll need a science team to standby to investigate. Dante says there is an SLDF presence at New Vulci that's where we're going I want teams geared up for site exploitation. Most of the Company will be deploying as agreed to defend the Magistracy, our objective is protecting civilians, if your units are going to act as independent companies then they need to be aware that the piratese may target critical infrastructure that could cause loss of civilian life."Protect dams, dykes, water purification centers and other public works... there would have to be a list, and even if ComStar weren't waving c-bills in front of their face they had the remnants of the SLCOMNET and that was the most effective way of staying in contact. He hadn't liked the idea to begin with, but the reality of splitting the Azami units off had eventually pushed him towards the inevitability of dividing the command... and it wasn't really like there was a choice. "Soren we will discuss the Livgardet Battalion further if there is meaningful SLDF material to set aside for use once we return to the Inner Sphere. I will not commit to allocating the resources until after Black Jack is dead." Soren nodded accepting the situation without any unreasonable protests... not that Gene had really expected him to... but better to head off at the pass any idea that if there was a cache on Taragona that those resources were going to be available. He decided to push forward. "When we get back B & L and C&D," Grouped as such "will probably act as Regiments in their own right..." Not that the Highlanders hadn't already been thinking that but might as well get out in front on that as well. For now though, "Septim you and Chang need to make a good impression on Canopus, Soren defend Raventhir's homeworld, Beau keep training the volunteers here," And that would leave Bey nearby, and asthe colonel pointed out Taragona is not that far... even if it was closer to the Aurigans, "House Alavi should be able to lighten the JumpShip burden, even in spite of our recent good fortune."


The Highland AI spoke up, "I have taken the liberty Colonelof assembling a Task Force roster, it should assuage the Azami's elders to know that hte bulk the force will be the magunac tactical groups based aboard the Crockett and Boone." The holographic globe shifted if Canopian authorities were looking for as heavy as a force as they could then tehy would be happy with the allocation of resources from the company stockpiles. Machines with the Cameron Roundels of the Company appeared as the hologram expanded. In theorythey were 'training' local forces on Canopus and Luxen and other worlds they were splitting company assets across. The real plan was to have a heavy weight reserve on those worlds if Black Jack did show up with a heavy battlemech formation of his own.


They had already been in the process of moving Fury tanks as the command vehicles for armor units... the nirasaki built computers represented a potent force multiplier after all. A trio of alacorns filled out each heavy vehicle lance with New Valencia vehicles filling out the light vehicle bays of the DroSTIIA. Crockett and Boone's mech bays carried pairs of Phoenix Hawks and large laser armed 7A. Theyd scout for armor and for the heavier mechs that would be aboard other DropShips.
--
Notes: I wish I could promise that the actual next segment would be going up soon, but I can't I had plans for more BT scraps but yeah IRL is a hot mess.

Son of Sam
They were getting down to the wire or at least that was the feeling they were absolutely getting to the point where something was going to have to give and a choice made... and it seemed like the general populace knew it as well. The Magistracy was going to have to chose where to send the company, which worlds.


Canopus had a relatively free press, and Luxen being home to one of the few remaining universities in Canopian space had a larger literate population than most periphery worlds. Even if that hadn't been true the population would have passed the troop movements around by word of mouth. That did present security concerns of course. Luxen had planetary defense units though how capable the fresh class of conscripts would be against hardened pirates did weigh heavily on all involved. Perhaps more heavily than normal given that Luxen's leadership had grown accustomed to the steadily expanding force since the Second Battle of Luxen.
It was understandable that they weren't happy about the reduction of forces. Even the ones who had complained about the size of the mercenary force to begin with... and the exodus of the refugee fleet further into the deep periphery was only part of that.


Of course all the fiction that would come out of the Pirate Wars would make things seem so much more coherent... better prepared inthe for the masses retellings of everything... that and in the fiction well, things were so much less muddy. The rain hadn't stopped well deserving the moniker the rainy season... it was monsoon levels outside.


A company of Highland Cuirassiers mounted in Badgers and Bandits were in the process of swapping out with the White Mice mounted in the same new Valencia built armored fighting vehicles. Mechs from Bardiche were moving to the embarkation point to be loaded aboard dropships. Gene dismissed the muted news broadcast... he had stopped reading the subtitles as the las-rifle equipped personal protective detail showed in his officers. Mostly men that Gene didn't know as well as he did the Scratch Company veterans despite the long road in from the Inner Sphere. "The civilians are becoming antsier by the day with that Light Horse Regiment gone." Hammer observed coolly.


"They miss the mechs." The Friesland native hadn't need the additional comment from the Swedense officer who had made it...but the Phoenix Hawks had been notable in their patrols which the Luxen news establishment had taken plenty of stock footage. Soren nodded to the Rasalhague captain... and it hadn't escaped Gene that Soren had started holding conversations modelled on MacIntyre's D program. Ostensibly an 'L' on the table to be fielded 'whenever'' mechs could be found for the unit... which was of course an expectation that an SLDF cache would be found soon... at least if Soren had a wish list he hadn't shared it.


"We still have the 12th​," Gene replied nodding to Colonel Bey, though at least part of the unit would be leaving Luxen, but part would be staying behind. Gene was loathe, regardless of how normal in this 'era of the succession wars' to divide his battalions down into companies... regardless of how much experience the Azami had fighting as company sized groups. That had been a topic because Bey and his captains under him were fully comfortable dividing the command as the Magistracy needed them... not the least of which was it raised the possibility of fighting men inAmaris colors. "Soren is Bardiche ready to rerun the drill in the simulators," Another iteration of a simulated defense against the mock up they had of the Amaris Dragoons, "Can you defend Royal Foxx?" Soren gave an affirmative reply to the question... they'd been waffling back and forth whether or not the deployments would actually play out... Gene didn't even want to begin to guess at what kind of horse trading might be going on behind the scenes.


... and it would be reasonable to expect that returning to Davion Space would have similar concerns with Battalion D expected to be in the final stages of standing up when they returned. The company was already in the process of reorganizing to reflect its size, and the temporary swelling of ranks through the Azami. "Are we going to Canopus then?" 'We' in this case meant both Claymore ... and also whether or not he'd be going to Canopus personally... the current deployment had changed yet again with Raventhir's mercenary niece still going... but they'd have to see.


"We'll see." He replied to MacIntyre's question. "Its still up in the air." ComStar must have been making bank for the HPG conversation in real time between the Luxen HPG station and Canopus...and then there was the trickle in dribs and drabs of fighting from the inner sphere. "Bureaugard," Gene remarked using his given name, "Whatever we do, I'm leaving Baffins hereto support Easy Company." The two scratch company veterans who had taken the Majesty Metals contract would be staying behind on Luxen as well... and that would be two more mechs. That would help somewhat.


Akashi shifted her weight, her retainer behind her more stoic...but it was also no surprise since it was impossible to have missed that he'd been considering attaching her 'Light' Company to Soren's Bardiche for deployment in the northern Magistracy. "The bandits are pushing this way. A confrontation is inevitable." She blurted out impatiently.


One of Bey's officers nodded in agreement before he could stop himself. The Light Company had filled out with a handful with an influx of eager Azami pilots... most of whom flagged in the system as DC native SLDF troopers with the Torii gate of 15th ​Army. Chang's Company contrasted that by largely being Highland Faire recruits and reflected by being largely using Marauder II mechs...but Chang was also nominally under Septim who was supposed to be assembly a command lance to lead the force... but there were limitations to that... and unlikely to be settled before they next saw action.


... really this whole conversation was likely, Gene suspected, to be one that went around in circles with little to show for it until they knew something more about what their employers wanted them todo. He turned towards the old scotsman, "MacIntyre are you still happy with the base six system?"


"Aye sir, allowing its not perfect but I like the Canopian idea of," Especially given both their original lack of airpower, and the Canopian limits on ASF, "Using Leopards to move a whole platoon, using them as gunships with their PPCs is a good idea given what we're dealing with in the Periphery as well." Leopards being Aerodyne dropships could strafe a target if needed or loiter and the Canopians built leopards with domestically produced PPCs."And if we had a permanent peacekeeping presence, frontiers marshals to ride on brush fires here I think itd work." The Company as a fighting force was unwieldy given its size to respond rapidly to pirate incursions they were finding that out first hand.
--
Septim leaned back even if it hadn't been raining it would have been dark except for the backdrop of lighting from canopian buildings and dropships. The lyran took a pull from his beer, "My own battalion?" Mech Battalion, he blew out a breath then took another swig from his beer, "Its a lot boss... we've got a lot of metal in reserve... I know you've said that something doesn't sit right with what Black Jack is swinging at us, but the money we pull in the salvage we take. Its almost too good to be true."


Gene looked out at the horizon of the illuminated magistracy city, and its reflection in the river, "We're unavoidably entangled in politics. Here, and with the Inner Sphere now." If they stuck around for anywhere that would probably be the case, but it was especially true, "We'll still be going back to Davion Space I may need to send you and Chang to Robinson."


"Check on little Sutton, or," He chuckled "King Wolf", the laugh threatened to turn into a full laugh at the Rio Scion's self chosen call sign before Septim exerted control and schooled his features. "But yeah, ok training cadre. I get it. Youre right we could start with two companies... maybe three if Andy and Joe decide to come in with us this time. A couple of us training five ten green cadets maybe with more experienced cadets helping."


"Magistracy Metals wants a permanent company security detachment." There was a muttered of course they do, "They have some light vehicles, It'll be good pay, and they're, and they're talking about having other options on the table as well. Via Caballero comes to mind," on Aquagea


"Can they really promise that? I figured just with ... well things being as they are, but if King is supposed to be supported by them do they have the ability to trade us gear?"


Gene shrugged, "I think they expect we'll kill Black Jack before too long and things will simmer down," and of course theofficers of the company were ... had been getting ahead of themselves in discussing the salvage... if they ran into more manticores which seemed likely well Hammer had actually put papers up the chain of command expressing that they could be used for reserve and training units to expand the Slammers, but that was mostly a question what they could feasibly move.


"Back to normal?" Septim took another pull from the stein in his hand, "I don't think they'll ever get back to normal boss," Black Jack had been running amok for a while now, the MAF had more volunteers this year than they had ten years ago, but didn't have the equipment for them. "And it'll be an even bigger mess when we get back... Black Jack hitting the Cappies and the League. When we get back Hammer is going to be scooping up tankers from whatever Davion sources he can get... which will settle our manpower issue I guess, but-" Septim trailed off, "There are days I figure our best option is to side with House Davion, but I keep dreaming of green raptors," Birds, "Coming out of the sky attacking... but I can feel it that we have to be there."


Septim had spent ... maybe not the only one but had spent time talking to the Preacher on Aquagea... which hadn't seemed like a problem at the time... "One fight at a time Septim," Gene replied, "We are going back to Davion space, and expanding the force is the plan," He'd have to talk to Hammer though he agreed in principle with the plan... and more concretely with both the standards expected and the pay tables being drawn up for the company. "We have to get through fighting this campaign." and speaking of that campaign the door chimed to let Haqim enter with the latest logistics report... and a dour expression on his features.


"Is that it?" Septim asked. "I mean isn't -"


The Azami leaned in, "Lady Raventhir is unhappy it seems. Something has developed." He remarked. He straightened, "The additional vehicles," From New Valencia "and personnel from Northwind are en route."


"I'm aware that a Swedish battalion, a second one is in the works." Soren was developing the idea, but they didn't have the personnel and they all knew that. "We will deal with that when we return to the Inner Sphere since MacIntyre no doubt left Northwind with clear instructions on preparing cadets for his wants." Soren couldn't possibly be ignorant of that. When Septim asked him what he was thinking, "Realistically it would depend on what we can find, but this L idea he's talking about borrows liberally from what MacINtyre has been sharing with the staff," And with the Canopians... and realistically the Archer Group was probably feasible as a starting point. "So I figure the next step will be to forma battalion of mechanized infantry along cuirassier lines... but that might be looking too far ahead." He blew out a wistful breath, "The Cuirassier have done good work, it reiterates that fighting isn't just the MechWarrior and if we're put into another situation like Dieron we will need infantry to screen advances of Mechs and Armor. To that end the resupply due in from New Valencia will be good when it gets here." since it would be carrying spare personnel as well.


Septim nodded acknowledging that despite the Ares conventions calling for avoiding urban warfare due to the unacceptable risk it posed to civilians and infrastructure the pirates certainly didn't give a damn... and House Kurita hadn't either.


Gene acknowledged that Dieron's urban fight could have gone significantly worse. "Again we got lucky, and if we hadn't had infantry things would have certainly been harder. I'll be talking to MacIntyre and Hammer both about... probably extensively when we're back in the Inner Sphere... there were stasis tubes on Dieron... with people in them." He didn't, he suspected that Fortress Dieron's AI had been collecting combine rebels to stage a rebellion but he didn't voice that.


"But first the pirates." Septim remarked with a nod..."and these shark fuckers." He added darkly sharing a look with Haqim. "What are we going to do about them?"


"For now we're still waiting for Raventhir to decide on the strategic level deployment... hurry and wait." He remarked clamping down on his own irritation at the tedious hurry up and wait that defined their present situation... and the monsoon season hadn't been helping that at all. "Hopefully we'll know something in the morning."


Haqim spread his hands apologetically, but he was just relaying the news.
--
Notes: This is not substantively different from the teaser and the new few updates should go up basically as soon as I type them up from my handwritten copies up until we hit Dobrev I think at which point we will slow down some but at least for the next month minimum I should be able to update regularly if I can sit down and type things up

Interlude Post Battle of Robinson
[Steiner Peace Proposal]
Alexandria Cunningham had returned to court finery... though it would have been acceptable to remain in her Davion Guards Uniform. Beside her Yvonne Davion also stood in civilian dress, but they were overshadowed in presence by the boisterous friendly form of the First Prince welcoming the ambassador of the Lyran Commonwealth. The emissary from Tharkad and the Archon represented a promise of further change to the Inner Sphere. It would also make it easy to slip from the room now that the circuit of polite greetings had been completed.


The talks with the Commonwealth .. the rumors were of a peace treaty proposal to bring an end to the 3rd​ succession war. To formalize the borders, which ordinarily Alexandria would have seen as farcical... but perhaps just maybe the Commonwealth and Federated Suns could make common cause and given the violence shadowing the periphery Liao, and Marik were distracted... Marik especially given the Combine's recent raids on the border forcing the captain general to split his attention.


This event for all that she presented the outward appearance of paying attention was nothing more than a facade. All important conversations would be after. Lord Aaron, and his counterpart from the Capellan March were both present as were other dukes of the Federated Suns including her father as well as the Duke of Elidere. The precentor New Avalon was present of course as were other religious figures of note. All talks of peace and good will though could not change the facts. The Federated Suns had enjoyed a string of victories and besides anti-combine sentiment had been at a fever pitch before they had invaded Dieron, and now Lord Aaron had a victory wholly his own to celebrate... which was why Lord Michael Hasek-Davion was smarting at the situation... probably made worse by Lord Aaron singling out several Robinson nobles for distinction before this.


... and while that was hard to miss, and there were abscences, like Friseland, who were noteworthy it was the presence of emissaries from the wolf dragoons also which had caused some speculation in the highest circles of society. Unfortunately polite conversation with the Dragoon's MechWarriors had proven difficult. Then on top of that there had been the surprising twist of Huthrin Vandal suggesting in relation to the Steiner Peace Proposal that perhaps Rasalhague might be granted independence from the combine as a way of securing peace between the Great Houses... which she didn't believe for a minute though given it would have humiliated the coordinator and the combine she didn't object to... but it did represent a significant breach of the robe's espoused neutrality. The strategic implications of such a shift, especially if it were broader than just the PNA were the Duchess of Victoria's concerns though and others... she had other more pressing issues. ComStar had been releasing a steady stream weekly of news broadcasts from the periphery... and that meant that the public was aware of the 'Pirate Wars' taking part across the border between the Inner Sphere and into the Periphery.


That the Capellan, League, and Federated Suns borders worlds were all suffering under raids by pirates who publicly proclaimed an allegiance to an heir of Stefan Amaris. Raids that unfortunately given the LosTech involved made the Great Houses seem impotent to stop. Black Jack, Kelly... the Amaris pretender didn't change thereality of the sucession war, of the deadly rivalries that existed between the successor states. The raid by the Arkab legion on the Free Worlds League were just a part of that... a reminder that war raged between the former member states of the Star League.


The proceedings continued until decorum let them come to an end. That allowed them to slip away to a secure smoking room, "The latest report seems to imply Black Jack is doubling down," That he was becoming desperate. Conventional wisdom suggested that he might have bitten off more than he could chew given his pirates had jumped over the border into the Inner Sphere and attacked planets of both the Capellans and the Free Worlds League. Jeffries made the observation that Shepherd's reorganizing of his Azami into two line SLDF units, the 12th​ Light Horse, and 139th​Light Horse could not have escaped combine notice. "Units destroyed during the Hegemony campaign, that may well have forced Black Jack's hand." Yvonne remarked... it was no secret that the bulk of the Eridani, and the Blue Star Irregulars were in the Draconis March but news had to have reached them and likely the Lexington CG as well. There was a pause from the head of DMI as she surveyed the throng of high society, "The Dragoons have been acting... squirrely," was the word she resignedly settled on, Lord Aaron had after all been a tanker in a common line unit after all, and his description was apt. "all this news from the periphery."


"They did send Captain Kerensky out." Jeffries observed. Alexandria was content to have the Guards officer make his observations. Truthfully she was still catching up on the material that had mounted during the defense of Robinson. "Our best guess is that both Shepherd and this Amaris pretender will come to blows sometime in the next year, they're both definitely opening caches...and I highlighted my concerns about the growing combined arms we're seeing used," The venerable Ignis tank by units in Rim World colors, "by the pirates." Which seguewayed into a conversation that had come second hand, "The Precentor Dieron,"or former Precentor Dieron ... the elevation of Dieron to primacy over the Combine HPGs had only occurred under Primus Takami ... and by seizing Altair and Dieron the knock on effect had been to reshuffle the First Circuit, "apparently believes Shepherd to be a descendant of Kerensky's exodus... which may have been leaked to the Combine." Jeffries meandered for a moment, "Some of itsounds like the spluttering sort of excuses we're seeing from the Voice of the Dragon, but that is the," apparent, "proffered explanation for the materiel Shepherd is using to expand with."


Alexandria had no immediate response, not that she was expected to have one. A fictionalization of the defense of Elidere had released to success not long after the Snakes had been shown off Robinson. It was a wild success in the Draconis March, the miniseries beginning from the desperate struggle of the initial invasion of the Galedon Regulars and building into the conclusion of the penultimate episode of Shepherd's radio call to signal the pipes and drums. "Shepherd's mother died during the nuclear attack on the Black Watch." ... which was a detail a she hoped didn't break soon... though it was possible it and other details had already begun to diffuse among the Highland clans of Northwind.


"The combine can't possibly know that..." Yvonne paused, "Admittedly Admiral Krennic's death, they could easier reconcile the vendetta I think...even more so if they piece together the destruction of the THS Allegiance due to the coordinator feeding Amaris the intelligence that lead to the loss of the Battle Group..." her fingers traced the rim of the Glencairn. "Which brings us back to the Tripitz, and its disappearance... which admittedly doesn't seem to have phased the dragoons a bit, but means a great deal to others,"


Jeffries nodded, he'd begun to pace the smoking room, "The Taurians could have ended up recovering the ship, and this mysterious white force ... we know the dragoons have penetrated the Capellan intelligence network to some extent..." probably in response to their time working with the Capellans and the fallout of the Marik Civil War, "the Wolf Net recorded that the Capellan operatives relayed to Sian our interest in the Tripitz and the event. That could have additional effects on the periphery front."


"It could," She acknowledged, foreign intelligence washer prerogative after all... in addition to being the Prince's Champion... her nephew and sovereign was busy... "We'll see how Galtor goes..." Part of the reason they were comfortable moving on the SLDF cache they had confirmed being there was that the periphery was so active that the Capellans would be distracted. "Shepherd asked if he could borrow the Eridani," And Kerston seemed accepting of whatever the Terran Colonel had in mind, even as Jeffries sputtered about the request, "and the Blue Stars."


"You have a suspicion?"


"I don't think its an attack on the combine," Yvonne truthfully imagined that if Shepherd intended something bold against the Coordinator Shepherd would have laid it out... given everything they knew... but from piecing little details together, and new information, "The rearming of the Azami into SLDF Light Horse Regiments," And Shepherd had trained the Robinson cadre on Light Horse opponents Alexandria recalled, "suggests to me that may be what he plans to do." Yvonne regretted that Hanse was aware of the request to 'borrow' the RCTs it would have been irresponsible of her to not inform the First Prince even if he hadn't been in contact with General Kerston, but Shepherd also wasn't slated to return to the periphery until another year or more and those had been before the pirates had adopted wide scale use of the Rim World colors and equipment or their more significant, deep, raids into the inner sphere.


Having regained some of his composure after choking on the he wants to borrow what my lady comment, "Speaking of Kerensky, and the Dragoons there is the matter of their participation at New Valencia, and their input on corporate decision making." Jeffries added, "Good news is that we shouldn't have to strong arm the company if the Dragoons do go to the Commonwealth next."


"A development from New Valencia?" Yvonne questioned turning to face Alexandria fully, but she had not heart of this until Jeffries had brought it up. "I was aware that a resupply of additional vehicles had been dispatched, but there are other developments?"


The two of them cut different figures. The Prince's Champion perhaps as befitting the head of DMI was dressed in an almost subdued manner... still appropriate for court, but also a reminder that the duchess had children grown. "We expected Lyran interest, the Dragoon strike on Hespersus may have contributed further we know that the Dragoons utilized Marauder II BattleMechs during the battle but also that by this point..." The LCAF High Command had to have thoroughly scrutinized the BattleRoms of Dieron.


"And their proposed partnership with Cosara?" Their in this case being Blackwell industries, and Cosara's refit facilities here being the object of talks.


Alexandria paused briefly to consider her response, the truth was... "Blackwell receives or we are nearly certain they received parts from the Dragoons originally. Machinery."


"The Dragoons are interested. Enough that they will consent to industrial arrangements."


"Yes, that seems to be the case." The Dragoons partnership with Blackwell had entailed warriors from the Mercenary Company being present , but their interest had begun to build before the inundation of news from the Periphery. It apparently predated the delivery of the first Marauder II BattleMechs to Shepherd's Company, which was interesting... she supposed. "They were quick to visit Robinson." A pause... "Were already planning to visit before the Combine began to move, the Dragoons do seem to believe our cover story that the Robinson cache was strictly from the63rd​ mechanized infantry division... which by itself doesn't seem to have concerned them."


Alexandria read between the lines, and her mentor nodded. "They suspect ... his origins? Or have the Highlanders already told them?"


"I suspect the latter to be the case, but yes I believe the first was already the case... just now the Highlanders have told the dragoons." A pause, "There is also the fact Shepherd identified himself to the Canopians as a Major, which coincides with what he departed the Hegemony in 2765 as, but his SLDF documents record him as a Lieutenant Colonel brevetted to the rank of full colonel." The Robinson Cache paper work the 'Brian Cache' documents had been scrutinized... Shepherd hadn't attempted to hoardor conceal the cache and allowed it to pass into Davion hands. Documents from within the Cache had suggested that had hostilities not ceased the plan had been to release the cache at the discretion of a HAF SOF Regiment under Colonel Heron Arascid operating against the Combine pretender to the Davion throne. "We have the benefit that the growth of the company reflects the difference in rank... but from the documentation we have access to Shepherd's promotion originated from the Hegemony Special Operations Command." YvonneDavion paused her fingers closing around the glass of whisky and her gaze scrutinized the remaining liquid resting at the bottom of her glass.