Nibo City, Kingdom of Nibo
Nibo IV
12th August 3080
1000 hours local time
The founding fathers of Kingdom of Nibo had high ideals when the discovered the deep periphery world more than forty light years away from the Draconis-Lyran borders just before the First Succession War. Escaping from the ravages of war after the departure of General Kerensky and the Star League Armed Forces, the refugees from the Draconis Combine had tried to follow the trails of the Exodus Fleet, but had lost itself in the uncharted deep space. They had nearly given up hope, and nearly surrendered itself to mutiny led by the increasing frustrations of more than a few of its members against the leader of the wandering group when the JumpShip Captain declared with joy that they had chanced upon a water rich world in an otherwise uninhabited system.
After a rather protracted saga which could be filmed into a movie, if not a trilogy itself, the system was named Nibo, with the solitary sustainable planet settled.
The Kingdom was to be a place where political terrorism and strict state police monitoring were none existent. It was to be a world where economy would be self sufficient, and reliance on outside commerce cut to a minimum. Nibo would be a place where the memory of the decline of technology so widespread among the Inner Sphere would be arrested, and reversed. In short, the Kingdom was Nibo was to be a paradise.
It was all crap.
Over the next few years, assorted bands of rag tag refugees much like the pioneer refugees themselves and other miscellaneous groups of pirates chanced upon the Nibo system and the newly minted King’s small but well trained army. The former provided much hungered after news from the Inner Sphere, while the latter offered the chance for the Nibo Armed Forces to sharpen their skills and obtain hard to come by salvage, not to mention willing recruits from the defeated pirate forces. (The NAF had grown noticeably slack after the first year passed with them not needed to do anything much except stand intimidating around to cower the civilians…)
With a wide cross section of civilians among them, the Kingdom of Nibo actually managed to engaged successfully in agriculture, fishery, animal husbandry and even light manufacturing of civilian products.
While the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Succession Wars tore the heart out of the Inner Sphere and many other Periphery kingdoms, the Kingdom of Nibo was relatively untouched. Succeeding lines of Kings achieved their leadership by ensuring loyalty of the standing military force, they managed to persuade the civilians to throw in their lots behind him.
While the population of the Kingdom of Nibo never soared, it climbed steadily over the years to reach an impressive number of half a billion. Even though the Kings of Nibo could never claim to be excellent rulers, they all did wisely follow in the footsteps of first King in encouraging research and investments in all aspect of life so that Nibo could be self sustaining.
The Kingdom even managed to reverse engineer some of the hardware that trickled into the Kingdom. While many of these were pathetic and crude machines, mostly manufactured by the less than reliable Quikscell Company, they did mean that the military of the Kingdom could churn out military vehicles cheaply and rapidly in obscene quantities. Further supplemented by a semi-company of BattleMechs (the youngest of which was a 25 ton Commando captured sometime during the 3rd Succession War), the vast fleet of vehicles would pose considerable danger to many an unwary raider. More than an invading force of pirates had found the price of poor (actually, none existent) intelligence gathering as they fell quickly to concentrated and overwhelming firepower from hundreds of tanks crewed by hastily conscripted civilians.
The Kingdom of Nibo narrowly escaped invasion by the Clans as their system laid just (and by just here, it meant a single jump) beyond the invasion corridor of the returning Army of Kerensky. However, routed military units fleeing the Clan invasion DID stumble onto the Kingdom. Seeking to take over the seemingly defenceless world for their own, more than a few of such units tried to drop onto the world in a show of military might. Very few could display the subsequent required show of flight.
In recent years, the Kingdom slowly but steadily rejected Quikscell military equipment. Its subsidiary in the Kingdom - Nibo QS Ltd, hatched an insidious plan. They would covertly hire and arm bandits and assorted mercenary bands with war machines and encourage them to raid and attack the Kingdom. They surmised that with the relative lack of experience and what they felt was Periphery produced pooh-dunk equipment, the NAF would not be able to withstand these attacks. Nibo QS Ltd would than step in, offer their superior combat equipment to the NAF, and then pay their hired guns to scale down and eventually cease their attacks, thereby swinging things back in their favour.
Quikscell would also supply other machines that were commonly available throughout the Inner Sphere so as not to draw suspicions of their involvement with the attacks. (Unofficially, even Quikscell knew that their own machines would be no match for the generally superior machines produced by Nibo Heavy Industries. Not only would combat machines produced by more reputable companies like Aldis Industries and Scarborough Ltd hide Quikscell's involvement, they would also provide the raiders with hopefully higher quality and efficiency).
However, Quikscell’s plans backfired as the numerous raids only prompted the Kingdom to expand their units by buying MORE of their own products. Faced with a mounting payroll without positive input, Nibo QS Ltd ordered the pirates to come together into a massive horde and invaded the Deep Periphery nation.
While the Kingdom would eventually succeed in repelling the attacks, their victory would cost them dear. However, rather than force the Deep Periphery world to increase its reliance on its neighbours, the invasion reinforced their view that they should strive for independence.
Zhao turned the small piece of weapon in his hands, his eyes going over the details while feeling the weight, or rather, the lack of it. And THIS, is just one of the many results of that view. If Nibo had a greater population base, and stronger economy…
Ira smiled at the Black Star officer. “What do you think Captain?â€
The Chinese man returned the smile. “I like it.â€
Basic "Clean" Layout
With attached scope, extended magazine, silencer and other accessories.
The Nibo pilot took the weapon back from Zhao’s hands. “The Nibo Kinetics (NK) 88 Personal Defence Weapon. Smaller than a conventional submachine gun, the 4.6 mm NK88 is a compact and lightweight Personal Defence Weapon that can be carried like a handgun yet is capable of rifle-like effectiveness.â€
Zhao nodded. From what Ira had already explained, a subsidiary of Nibo Heavy Industries - Nibo Kinetics-developed 4.6 mm x 30 ammunition provided the penetration approaching that of an assault rifle round and would be able to defeat the types of body armour frequently found in the hands of terrorists and criminal gangs, as well as other non-Battle Armour troops. In response to the proliferation of body armour for non-BA soldiers, NK developed a Personal Defense Weapon system that will penetrate some of the most common body vest, usually with 1.6 mm titanium plates and 20 layers of Kevlar, out to 200 meters and beyond.
Adopted and fielded by the Kingdom of Nibo's vehicular crew as well as pilots and even some MechWarriors, the NK88 could be fired from the closed bolt position, using a rotary locking bolt system similar to that of the some of the more common assault rifles to contain the powerful 4.6 mm cartridge.
The NK88 handled like a pistol yet allowed targets to be engaged like a rifle. With its 7 inch barrel, the NK88 was capable of firing ten shot semiautomatic groups at 45 meters of less than 2 inches. Unlike other similar designs, the conventional and fully ambidextrous design of the NK88 ensured immediate acceptance by all users.
The NK88 was manufactured predominantly of carbon fibre reinforced polymer with embedded metal components where needed. In the hands of a nominally trained user, the weapon could be field stripped in seconds without tools and required little cleaning due to its unique gas system.
The lethal 4.6 mm x 30 cartridge generated minimal felt recoil (50% of 9mm rounds) to assure that multiple hits would be easily obtainable in all modes of fire — incapacitating the target through penetration and permanent tissue destruction.
The NK88 was fitted with a removable full length rail on the top of the receiver for mounting a variety of optional targeting devices. Optional forearm rails were also available. Standard folding mechanical peep sights could be fitted to the top rail or an optional 24-hour reflex sight attached in seconds without tools. The reflex sight provided a single red aiming dot for 24-hour use when the weapon was fired from the shoulder or at arms length like a handgun.
Special carrying devices were further made available for overt and discreet carry of the NK88. Due to its lightweight, small size and minimal width the NK88 had proved itself suitable for VIP protection details, pilots, drivers, guards, and support personnel who required hands-free carry of their defensive weapon while performing other tasks.
“It weighs only 1.9kg?†Zhao asked.
“Indeed. 590 mm with stock extended and 380 mm with stock collapsed. Barrel length of 180 mm, and capable of a rate of fire of 950 + 200 rounds per minute.†Ira informed. “ It has an effective range of 200 meters, and comes in feed systems of 20 or 40 round box magazine.â€
Zhao nodded. “I’ll order some for my vehicle crew.†He turned towards David, who had kept quiet while the Nibo pilot had given the specifications of the NK 88. “I know you prefer your guns… bigger, but we might want to check it some of the others want it for their sub-unit as well?â€
David just glanced at the weapon and dismissed it. "Ask them if you want, but I'd bet they will want something with a little bit better ammunition availability. We aren't staying on Nibo forever, you know."
"You would not need to worry about that Lieutenant." Ira smiled. "The NK88 has already had some success in the export market, notably in the Draconis Combine. The ammunition itself isn't all that difficult to obtain as well."
The trio had been returned to Nibo after their scouting and exploration expedition just the day before. Even as their DropShip had burned towards the planet itself, their findings and reports had been transmitted to the King and his advisors. In a surprisingly fast turnaround, the Black Stars had been informed that the King had requested for a meeting for the mission debrief the next day.
The huge double doors on one end of the hall way that led to the King’s court opened silently on well oiled hinges, with a young Nibo officer approaching the three men.
“The King would like to request for your kind presence please.â€
Zhao winked at David. “Let’s not keep his Majesty waiting than.â€
In the room, the Black Star reports had been spread over a large table, with holovids of aerial and orbital photos of the pirate bases projected over the table. Around the table, King Marcus Collins, Rear Admiral Vincent Alfax and Major Emma Katz were pouring over the details, joined by two other officers, both spotting the ranks of Colonel.
“Captain Zhao! Lieutenant Ten-Bears! Welcome back to the Kingdom!†The King beamed brightly as the pair approached the table. The others turned towards the approaching mercenaries. “I believe you have already met Rear Admiral Alfax and Major Katz previously. This gentleman is Senior Colonel Andrew Smith, commander of our 1st Heavy Guards Regiment.â€
The more elderly of the unfamiliar officers extended his hands to shake both of those of Zhao and Ten-Bears. Despite his obvious age, his grip was strong, but not overly so.
“And this is Colonel Richard Carls, commander of the 5th Nibo Armoured Regiment.â€
“Gentlemen.†The younger Carls smiled easily at the pair of Black Stars. “We understand that we owe the safe return of the Professor and his crew, as well as the discovery of those blasted bandits who had been plaguing Nibo. Thank you.â€
“Its our job.†Zhao dismissed the complements with a slight tilt of his head. “I would be worried if we didn’t find anything.â€
“Indeed.†The young King added. “For without a proper enemy, we wouldn’t be here.â€
Zhao raised an eyebrow. “Oh?â€
“As you well know, the Kingdom’s still rebuilding from the devastation of the QS backed invasion last year. While the Colonels had wanted the honour of crashing the possible remnants of those mercenary turned pirates, a quick number crunching concluded what I have feared – that we are in no shape to undertake such an operation.â€
David shrugged. "Not exactly a surprise... if you'd had available forces for outside operations, we wouldn't have been hired for escort duty in the first place."
“In light of that predicament, the Kingdom would like to extend a supplement contract to the Black Stars for the neutralization of these pirates.†The King continued. “Payment would be double what we offered for the earlier escort duty of course, with full salvage rights.â€
“Any supporting forces?†Zhao asked.
“The Next Stop will continue to provide you with the means to travel to, and back from that system where the pirates are holding up. Its… what was it called again?†The King looked around.
“DD-456-M-2†Ira reminded his King politely.
“Silly name to give a planet if you ask me.†The King rolled his eyes. “But anyway, Lieutenant Kepford will also continue to provide some aerospace support with his pair of Sword OmniFighters.â€
“Unfortunately, that will be all the military support we can provide you with.†Colonel Richard Carls concluded.
"If these are indeed the remnants of the pirates and mercs who participated in the attack against us the previous year, I can tell you now that they're armed with more than just rust buckets and tanks held together by spit, bale and prayers."Senior Colonel Andrew Smith rubbed his jaws, brows knotted. "While you won't spot the latest top of the line machines in their ranks, they have been known to have some upgraded hardware as well."
"We'll work with that in mind." Zi Long replied. "And thank you for letting the Swords accompany us for this supplement contract."
David sighed. "It's more than most of our employers are able to contribute." David turned to face the King. "And if you don't care for the current name, your Majesty, you could always give it a new one. The planet WAS found by forces under your banner, and you ARE the local sovereign. Who better to give it a more fitting name?"
The young leader of the Deep Periphery world grinned at Ten-Bears. "We'll see about that after the successful conclusion of your mission. There's more than enough time."
Zi Long nodded. "If that's the case, we'll see to the necessary preparations for our departure as soon as possible."
"Of course." Marcus agreed. "Good luck, and good hunting."
As the pair of Black Stars left the room, Zi Long turned towards David. "Get our people ready. Check out supplies and equipment. We'll conduct a mission briefing on the Event itself at twenty hundred hours today."
August 12th, 3080
1102 hours, Local time
Seeker-Class Dropship Event Horizon
Nibo Spaceport
Nibo City, Nibo IV
Kingdom of NiboAina sometimes had to wonder if having a commanding position is worth it.
Being a former trueborn clan warrior, she was born and raised to be a fighter, to battle in the fields of honour, to kill or to be killed.
She never expected the amount of paperwork that comes with the responsibility of having her own command. If anything, she wondered how many clan warriors would strive to rise up in the ranks had they known of the less glamorous side of command, the one she had to cope with daily these days.
But cope with it she must. This is one annoyance that unfortunately did not go away if you shoot at it with a large-calibre autocannon. From the moment the unit approaches Nibo IV she had been looking over the “budget†of her unit, from her earnings over the past few months (a rather surprisingly large amount considering the relatively sweatless work over the time), to the supplies that she would need to purchase – she had to repress a instinctive shudder at the thought of doing things usually relegated to those in the merchant caste – for her growing unit, for she judged that she had enough of the money used by these inner sphere people to purchase a Mech of her own, and possibly much more after the current mission is over. The big purchases would have to wait until the unit as a whole returned to the inner sphere proper however, for the risks of delivering goods all the way out to the deep periphery where they are right now are not to her tastes. For now she would have to work with what she had in hand.
First she would need to secure a healthy supply of underwing-mount Air-to-air and air-to-ground Arrow IV and Thunderbolt missiles – military supply that fortunately enough, could be purchased even in the relatively isolated Kingdom of Nibo. The ideas of her two aerospace pilots seem to have merit in her mind, and combined with the extremely unorthodox (even by inner sphere standards) tactics used by the Black Stars as a whole, she decided to add a collection of different types of bombs to that, ranging from regular high-explosive ones to mine-laying ones to ones loaded with inferno gel and timed to explode in mid-air, literally showering those underneath it in a rain of burning inferno gel.
As for Mechs… She knew that she would need to purchase one on her own soon – and she intends to do so as well once they reached a planet with a MHB depot on it. A quick browse of the catalogue provided by the place made it clear to her that more likely than not, she would not be able to afford any machine that are considered top-of-the-line, since their prices would probably turn a Diamond Shark merchant purple with a single glance. Having resigned herself to the cheaper Mechs on the market, she then matched them to the profile she had in mind for the unit she plans to build out of her current small one.
She knows that she wanted to build it along the lines of organization most familiar to her, that used by the clan. A trinary… with a star each of Mechs, vehicles, and aerospace fighters… The vehicle force should be heavies and assaults, slow, yet well-armoured and bristling with long-range guns, while she plans her Mech forces to be lighter and faster, mostly mediums with a heavy or two at most. The aerospace fighters… she felt that part might be better left at the hands of the aerospace pilots themselves, since she had to admit that she knows very little about actual aerospace combat, being a MechWarrior.
First things first however. In order to expand her unit, she would need more people as well as hardware. The hardware she planned to get soon, but the people… she planned to do that part earlier, so that she could weed out the useless ones and further train the ones she consider usable for her unit. Of course, the hard part would be actually finding MechWarriors here in Nibo. Thinking about that, she stood up from behind the Spartan desk, and donned her Black Star long coat, heading out of the DropShip and into the city proper with the intent of finding some usable candidates in mind.
~ Later that night ~Having just returned to her bunk room aboard the Event horizon after a fruitless search throughout the day, followed by a strategy briefing which she attended, mostly content with Zhao’s plan, since she did not think she could think out the kind of plans he and other members of the unit seem to literally pull out of nowhere, Aina felt somewhat annoyed about failing to find even a single MechWarrior who was free to join the mercenaries. She frequented mostly bars and the likes, places where she knew from experience warriors usually gather in, but to her bad luck, not a single one of those she talked with were free or willing to join the Black Stars.
When she entered her bunk room, she found the two aerospace pilots inside, together with Diana, apparently helping the little girl pass the time. She nodded at them both, which they returned with salutes (Theresa did. Erica was occupied with the little girl as well as her own pet cat).
“Good evening Ma’am. Didn’t see you around the ship all day.â€
“Good evening. It baffles me how difficult it was to find a free MechWarrior on this planet…†Aina muttered out of frustration.
“Checked the bars?†Chimed Erica out of a sudden.
“Naturally. Not a single freelance warrior among those I visited.â€
Erica seemed to ponder her thoughts for a moment, before she turned back to face the other two women again. “Mind a suggestion, ma’am?â€
“If you know where to find some warriors, certainly.â€
“Know any gambling dens around here?â€
Less than one hour later, Aina found herself inside a somewhat dimly lit room, one reeking of tobacco smoke, strong drinks, and god only knows what else. Despite the run-down entrance of the place, the insides were by local standards, relatively luxurious, with the carpeting thick and the chairs plush, covered with the local equivalent of velvet. The room was rather crowded, with the crowd ranging from burly types that are likely engaged in military profession to rather well-dressed people who mostly populated the tables on the second floor. Several rather scantily clad women (and men as well) were walking amongst the throng with trays of refreshments that they offered to any who asked for one. On the various tables were various card games, dice games, and other games of chance, and piles of C-bills traded hands every moment in the place. Off in one corner there was even a couple of large holovid screens, one constantly running matches straight off Solaris VII, while the other was linked to the pair of simulator pods set in that corner of the room.
“Now Ma’am, if you don’t mind, wait for us here.†Said Erica with a smug grin on her face. Aina was noticeably out of her element in such places. “We’ll bring over those we think might work your way.â€
“You did not come here just to help look for warriors, quiaff?†Asked Aina in return, noticing the glitter in Erica’s eyes.
“No point of visiting these places if you ain’t going to rip some people off.†Replied Erica in a low voice, the grin widening on her face.
Aina has to hand it to the Lyran fighter pilots that they know what they were doing. In less than forty-five minutes they already sent four people her way for a little “interviewâ€, two of them gruff-looking unshaved men whose resemblance would probably mean some family relations between them. Another was an older woman, around her fifties, who wore a rather haunted look on her face. The fourth “applicant†amused her somewhat, for the girl was young, at most around Erica’s age, and was actually one of the scantily-dressed serving maids that was passing refreshments. From a short interview with each of them, Aina managed to gather a little bit of information on them, although she would not trust most of what has been told by these people.
The two gruff men identified themselves Charles and Robert Haines, former mercenaries, although most of the units they claimed to be formerly part of were ones that Aina did not recognize, and a questioning glance at Theresa only earned a shrug. The Lyran pilot apparently never having heard of those units as well. The two boasted a lot, but personally, she doubted they could do much of what they boasted. But they were eager, dispossessed, and more importantly, without work at the moment.
The older woman, Leanne Ferguson, claimed much more quietly as once having been a part of Redjack Ryan’s pirate band, who since made her living working for small-time mercenary units. Aina suspected that the main reason she was on Nibo at the moment might have been related to the pirate/ mercenary attack to the kingdom a while ago, which might also contribute to her dispossessed state, although the woman looks like she could make a living out of gambling alone.
The last one, the scantily clad young woman who passed her time there as a waiter, told a much more believable story. Hazel Burns was her name, and she said she was a drop out of the Nibo military academy due to financial reasons, and had been working in places like this one to try get money to pursue her dream as being a MechWarrior. Aina considered her as most likely the least experienced one of the bunch, but eager, and chances are her background is rather probably the real one, whereas she would not be surprised if the others had invented some parts of their backgrounds.
Aina decided on which one to hire rather simply. She booked the simulator pods for the next hour, and simply shoved the four applicants one after another into the simulator pods, with herself acting as their opponent, cycling them one after the another to judge for herself how good they are. It did not take her long to decide that neither of the Haines brothers would do for her. Both men picked heavy or assault Mechs for their rides in every occasion, while Aina picked a STV-4L Sturmvogel medium Mech, the one inner sphere Mech that reminds her the most of her usual Stormcrow B. Despite the weight discrepancy, she won every bout against those two easily, and usually, within less than three minutes.
The other two proved to harder to pick from, and she found both the women to be better pilots by far compared to the Haines Brothers, with the older Leanne noticeable having more experience, but the younger Hazel making up for it with reaction speed, and from Aina’s point of view, more potential to grow. Leanne tended to fall back into routines in combat, a fault that Aina would exploit mercilessly with guns blazing. Hazel’s inexperience in turn leads her to make mistakes, but that is more understandable, and Aina figured that it would be easier to train a young rookie to overcome those flaws than to retrain an old pilot.
After one hour that left the four applicants thoroughly humbled (each one having been beaten in the simulators three times in a row), neither the Haines Brothers nor Leanne offered any protest when Aina politely (if very frankly) told them that they are not what she was looking for one after the other. Now a sullen-looking Hazel Burns stood in front of her, the younger girl definitely thinking that she had lost her chance for employment with the mercenaries.
“Now, Miss Burns, are you still interested in working as a mercenary?†Asked Aina.
Hazel’s eyes it up at the question. “You mean… You would accept me, ma’am!?â€
“I will put it bluntly. You are inexperienced, you make mistakes only made by nestlings, and you definitely would need to learn.â€
Hazel’s looks were cast down once again with the slight dressing-down.
“But you at least are young enough to be trained to work over those flaws, and better than those so-called MechWarriors are.“ Said Aina, throwing a glance at the retreating form of the Haines Brothers. “I am willing to give you a chance, but you will not pilot a Mech until I deem you ready for the task. Your pay will depend on your performance, with only food and board during this trial period.â€
“Ordinarily I would not be recruiting people without combat experience, but as you spheroids say, the pickings are rather slim on this planet of yours. Do you accept?â€
“Yes, Ma’am! And thank you!†Answered the young girl eagerly.
“Get something more passable to wear. We are leaving soon.â€
Hazel looked somewhat troubled at that. The truth is, she did not carry much more than a long coat to cover her scant “uniformâ€. Fortunately for her, Erica solved the issue by kindly tossing a MechWarrior’s jumpsuit her way. Hazel nodded her thanks, and put on the jumpsuit, which although a couple sizes too large, would do for the time being. Aina raised an eyebrow questioningly at Erica, as if querying just where she found that jumpsuit, to which the diminutive Lyran pointed with her right thumb over her shoulder at a man who was dejectedly leaving the establishment – in nothing but briefs and undershirt.
Aina can’t help but shake her head at the sight. It would indeed be a long while for her to accustom herself with living among these people of the Inner Sphere.
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Topic: Contract 3A - More rumblings from the Deep Periphery (KoN Sup Contract) (Read 16347 times)