Sakuntalem, Kalidasa
Free Worlds League
15 January 3022
Benjamin Nevis rode the impact as his Hunchback crashed to the ground but he could taste blood in his mouth once his vision cleared. Expecting the enemy Mech to follow up, he rolled the 'Mech onto its back and then propped it up, looking for the target. However, the blue-and-gold Zeus had seen the remaining pair of his lance-mates approach and decided against tangling with the three of them in close quarters.
"Lieutenant! Are you okay?" Bounding forwards, Messina Hobbes brought her Wolverine into position to screen him.
"I'm doing just fine, Messina." Nevis levered the Hunchback upright and assessed the damage. It wasn't good news, but he could still move and use all his guns, including the heavy autocannon that the medium 'Mech was best known for. "Did you spot Grissom? He had to punch out."
"We saw his 'Mech. No sign of him but there's a platoon of our PBIs up ahead so he's got a good chance of hooking up with them."
Nevis sighed and looked at his status board again. He really wanted to fall back for repairs but there probably weren't the reserves to replace his lance on the line. The 23rd Marik Militia had arrived on planet just barely in time to stop the Lyrans over-running Kalidasa's capital city and too late to keep them from capturing the KaliYama factories that were the planet's main claim to fame. They'd build his own Battlemech, for example.
"Watch my back," he ordered the other mechwarrior in the lance, Russell T. Russell. 'The Rus' as he was nicknamed, set the feet of his Trebuchet and swivelled his torso, ensuring he could bring his weapons to bear on any of the three roads that met at this junction. Heavy with long range missiles, the 'Mech was far from idea for a close quarters brawl, but like this, he could fire salvos directly down the open avenues for at least half a kilometer.
Flicking his radio over to transmit the company frequency, Nevis took a deep breath. "Bowler One, this is Bowler Nine. I've just had a close encounter with a Zeus in Royal Guard colours. Seems like he's pulled back to whistle up some friends and it would be real nice if I could do the same."
For a moment there was only a crackle of of static. "Bowler Nine, we're a little light on boots right now, but give the word and there'll be friendly wings overhead."
"Understood, Bowler One. Bowler Nine out." He made sure the transmitter was off before adding. "Friendly wings... I've heard that chestnut before." Opening up again, this time to Messina and the Rus, he warned: "Heads up, people. If we see any movement the Captain promises to kick those lazy aerojocks out of bed, which means their Lyran dance partners won't be far behind."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Rus tilting his 'Mech's torso back and extending the arm mounted missile launcher. "Sir, I think the Lyran aerojocks woke first," he warned and then started firing into the air.
With no weapons that could reach a useful altitude, Nevis would have to rely on his lancemate to ward off the fighters. Instead he side-stepped his Mech leftwards into an alleyway, hoping the building would give him at least partial shelter while he fired into the Mechs that were no doubt about to rush the position. "Messina..."
"On it, sir." The Wolverine backed up into an empty lot that would let it hit the Steiner forces in the flank if they advanced up the street.
"Bowler One, this is Bowler Nine. We're going to need that air cover the moment it’s available..."
The first enemy 'Mech to appear was a Vulcan - in the same colours as the Zeus from before - that popped into view down the street. Apparently undaunted by the fact that it was no match for either of them, the 'Mech fired its jumpjets as soon as it spotted Nevis and the Rus, bounding forward to trade shots at point-blank range.
Audacity paid off for the Lyran: although Nevis blazed away, his huge autocannon poured fire into the facade of the building next to the Vulcan rather than the Mech. The Rus broke off firing missiles at aerial targets and snapfired his medium lasers, one of them scarring the Vulcan's flank and breaking up the paint-job.
"Look out!"
Nevis glanced at the rear-view of his display and saw the Zeus again, looming over a low building, weapons pointed at his rear. Laser fire from Messina's Wolverine sliced into it, but the big 'Mech deliberately fired a volley into Nevis' rear armour. Sparks flew in the cockpit as he fought to avoid falling again. This time he managed it and even brought the Hunchback around to face the larger 'Mech - a good thing since there Hunchback's rear was now essentially unprotected. He was fortunate nothing vital had been struck.
"Where's the Vulcan?" he asked, unable to see it or the backstabbing Zeus.. The last thing he needed was for the lightly-armed city-fighter to rip into his vulnerable rear with its small guns.
"Running south-west," replied the Rus and salvoed missiles after the withdrawing Vulcan. "Missed."
Messina cut in: "I spot a Firestarter heading the same way. Can't do anything, I've got a Crusader in my face."
"Two long range heavies and a pair of light city-fighters... why aren't the lights birddogging us for their buddies." The answer came to him an instant too late as his thermals picked up heatspikes from the south-west. "Tell me that isn't where those infantry were operating."
"That was probably them," the Rus replied heavily as the two 'Mechs moved to support their lancemate. The Vulcan and Firestarter both carried heavy machineguns that could carve an infantry platoon apart in seconds - but the heatsink suggested the use of their feared flamers to root the infantry out instead.
"Operative word being 'was'."
They reached Messina easily enough and Nevis was pleased to see that the Wolverine, while battered, was more than holding its own against the larger Mech. Crusaders were designed for long range support and their close in fire was not suited to an extended firefight, which the smaller Wolverine had the agility to force it into.
He was less happy when the Zeus charged into the fray, almost slamming the Rus' Trebuchet off its feet. Pointblank was not the powerful mech's optimal range but no one seemed to have told the Lyran that and two sharp kicks shattered the leg of the Marik Milita 'Mech, dropping it to the tarmac.
"None of that," Nevis growled, centering the Zeus in his sights and jamming his thumb down on the joystick's primary TIC holding it down. The lasers fired, cycled and then fired again. And again. In the meantime the massive KaliYama BigBore roared out tongues of fire as its shells tore into the much larger Mech. The autocannon's vibration was such that it took a moment for Nevis to realise that he wasn't under fire himself - the Lyran was firing past him at Messina, apparently trying to draw fire away from the crippled Crusader.
If that was the intention, then the mechwarrior was completely successful: the badly damaged Crusader was ignored as all three lancemates poured fire into the Zeus, wrecking its left arm and and stripping bare most of its chest. More than a match for any of them individually the assault 'Mech fell to its knees and then toppled forwards.
Sparks flew off the front of the Hunchback as Nevis moved up to finish the fallen machine and he saw the Vulcan hanging back outside his own range, picking away at him with its light autocannon. The damage was little more than a nuisance but with the damage taken already and the Rus' 'Mech on the ground and likely to remain that way, it wasn't something that any of them could ignore...
Which made it the ideal diversion for the Firestarter which hopped suddenly into the gap between Nevis and Messina, having outflanked them along a parallel road. The first Nevis knew about it was when his ejection seat hurled him out and upwards from his 'Mech as the Lyran took advantage of the existing damage and fired its flamers and machineguns directly into the Hunchback's ammunition bins.
Fortunately for Nevis' life and limbs, his parachute deployed safely.
Less fortunately, he then had a perfect view of the Firestarter jamming both its muzzle-tipped arms into the face of Messina's Wolverine, reducing the cockpit to a burning wreck.
With the Vulcan's machinegun aimed in his direction within seconds of reaching the ground, Nevis was herded alongside the Rus, who had baled out rather than receive the same treatment. Both men placed their hands on top of their heads and watched as a small column of Lyran tanks moved up the street, an APC peeling off to take charge of them.
For the pair of them the war was over.
Sian, Sian Commonality
Capellan Confederation
23 January 3022
"This is excellent news," Maxmilian Liao gloated from the Celestial Throne as Chandra Long finished her report on the Lyran offensive. "With three worlds lost and a fourth in doubt, that dog Janos cannot spare supplies or transport to place pressure upon our border with him."
Standing between her siblings, Candace Liao could not help but agree. Of course, that fact would do nothing to help her own St Ives Commonality which was threated by deep Davion salients, but her other responsibility was ruling over House Liao's ancestral homeworld and that had most definitely had more to fear from the regiments of House Marik.
"This is a moment of opportunity," her father continued, pulling lightly on his long mustaches. "Marik's attention is elsewhere and Davion still licks his wounds after the fighting around Tikonov." It was very much the Chancellor's style to ignore the fact that said fighting had been a substantial defeat for the Capellan Confederation. "Meanwhile our own forces are fully recovered with the addition of the resources of Brownsville."
Brownsville, a world once part of the Terran Hegemony, had been abandoned during the early ears of the Third Succession War. Environmental damage from the use of nuclear weapons during the Amaris Coup and First Succession War, coupled with chemical weapons during the Second Succession War had destroyed it's manufacturing and agriculture, rendering it worthless to the Successor Lords and brutally inhospitable to the surviving residents.
Eighteen months before, a lostech prospector had offered to sell the CCAF directions to a large cache of military equipment, once intended for use by the Hegemony's planetary militia but now abandoned and long forgotten a subterranean warehouse. Given the value of what he described, the requested price: rule of an entire planet, might even have been merited but the Maskirova's interrogators had managed to wear him down to the less expensive price of Capellan citizenship for himself and his family.
Once stock had been taken of the hundreds of battlemechs and armoured vehicles in the cache, the Chancellor had ordered that the matter be dealt with under the greatest of security, requiring that the prospector be quietly murdered. His wife and children would be granted the privilege of continuing to serve the Confederation however, since it had been ascertained that they had never been advised of the cache's contents.
"Serene Wisdom." Tormano Liao stepped forwards slightly and bowed deeply. "The cache found on that worlds will be outweighed in time by production from the factories of Tikonov. May your humble son petition that this opportunity be used to retake that world?"
Liao shook his head dismissively. "You are young and naive, my son, but I forgive you. No doubt that miserable Fox would anticipate such an obvious strategy. You are correct, however, that Davion should be our target. But rather than Tikonov, we shall strike elsewhere. This is our opportunity to liberate the long-lost Chesterton Commonality."
Just as Spica had been 'the opportunity to close the wound in the St Ives Commonality', Candace thought privately. When she was younger, her father's pronouncements had seemed to have the force of law. Later she had felt pity that he couldn't see how doomed his schemes were.
Somewhere along the way those emotions had become contempt for his blind obsession.
She saw Victor Hargreaves shift uneasily among the senior nobility of the Confederation that were in the attendance. The Duke-in-Exile of Chesteron might have been expected to support the goal of recovering his family's long lost domain, but he was a realist and like Candace was entirely aware that there was little or no chance of accomplishing it. Temporary success might be feasible, but a salient driven almost into the Crucis March would be inevitably be destroyed by the AFFS now that they were not fighting against the Draconis Combine.
Still, while this plan might be a disaster in the making, perhaps something could be salvaged from it. "If I may recommend, father, an operation of this scope will demand great stocks of war material both on our part and Hanse Davion would require similar quantities in order to oppose it. While retaking the Chesterton worlds is of course the objective, may I propose including the command world of Valexa in the first wave of attacks. By doing so, we may both arm ourselves from the Davion armories and disrupt the cohesion of the AFFS in that sector."
"Well thought." The Chancellor smoothed out of his mustaches. "A decisive first strike will cripple the Federated Suns response. This will require our finest troops. The Chesterton Voltigeurs must participate, of course, but the core of the task forces will be drawn from the Northwind Highlanders and McCarron's Armored Cavalry." His eyes were alight with a fearsome intensity.
"Father!" Romano forgot herself, enraptured by the vision. "Permit me to lead your soldiers in battle!"
Liao shook his head firmly. "What possesses you, Romano. I require you here at my side. Candace..."
"Permit me father, to take charge of the regiments facing House Davion's rimwards defenses," she evaded swiftly. "By feigning readiness to fall upon those defenses I shall pin the Duke of New Syrtis' eyes upon me and prevent him from sending reserves to slow your victorious advance." It would also let her justify drawing supplies out of the stockpiles amassed for this operation, supplies that might be needed to defend the St Ives Compact once Hanse Davion retook the Chesteron worlds and looked for a new venue of operations.
This time the Chancellor nodded. "Tormano, my son. I will grant you a post with the Chesterton Voltigeurs so that you may represent our House in this grand campaign."
Discretion being the better part of valour, the young man bowed his head in acceptance.
Imperial City, Luthien
Pesht District, Draconis Combine
18 March 3022
"The Lyran advance mirrors the gains made by the Federated Suns during their campaigns a few years ago," Grieg Samsonov declared coldly. "They grow stronger while our own soldiers are slack and soft."
It was as close as any of the Warlords had come to outright criticism of Cecilia's policies. She steepled her hands in front of her, allowing the corner of her lips to quirk upwards in amusement. "There are also noticeably more of our soldiers, Tai-shu. And their equipment is in better condition, would you not say?"
"All of what you say is correct, Tono," the grey-haired Warlord of Alshain Military District admitted. "However, the will of the DCMS has been eroded. What use numbers or weapons if the spirit behind them is weakened?"
The spirit of the Combine's soldiers, the indoctrination to seek death in battle, had carried them onwards to victories over the more numerous and better equipped Lyran and Federal regiments on many famous occasions. The times when it had led them on to devestating defeats as a result of recklessness were less heralded.
She laughed at him. "I can promise you, Tai-shu, I have not spent all my time and energy restoring the bone and sinews of the Mustered Soldiery so that they can simply look pretty on parade. Not do I neglect their heart and soul, the battlefield."
"Then you intend war?" Yoriyoshi leant forwards intently. His own District and that of Hsiun Chi across the table from him would be heavily involved whether Cecilia elected to attack the Lyran Commonwealth or the Federated Suns, bordering both nations.
Cecilia inclined her head regally. "It is the business of a ruler to consider war at all times, Tai-shu. My agreements with Hanse Davion and Katrina Steiner have provided time to add seven regiments to our roster, more than replacing the three regiments lost to the Ronin. The Pesht Regulars have been brought to their full strength, as they have not been in generations, an unpleasent surprise for the savages in the Periphery."
That drew a smile from Warlord Shotugama. Under the cover of preperation for a punitive expedition against Port Krin, he'd managed to secretly ship the Ninth and Tenth Pesht Regulars in completely the other direction and launch a surprise assault on the pirate stronghold of Santander's World. Reinforced with additional aerospace wings, the two regiments had made a text-book assault upon the fortress of Helmar Valasek, a former AFFS officer turned pirate, and levelled the site before returning to the Combine with hundreds of pirates and thousands of their concubines, tame farmers and other support personnel in chains. The Coordinator had even authorised the use of a small nuclear warhead to ensure that the entire site was purged and prevent a second group of pirates from moving in to make use of the ruined stronghold. It was a rare moment of glory for the 'rear-area' regulars and had blooded young soldiers who might otherwise not see action for years. The booty wasn't bad either as the DCMS had been generous in allowing the soldiers to take anything not of direct military value.
"Give the word, Tono, and I will place two regiments on Colmar within the month," bragged Samsonov.
"If I intended war on House Steiner I would tell you to place them on Fatima and Meacham." Cecilia saw them draw the conclusion that she was considering an offensive towards the one-time Lyran capital of Arcturus and shook her head. "But I do not plan at this time to move against the Lyran Commonwealth."
Sorenson did not propose a target but at the implication of fighting on the Combine's other border, Cecilia saw the Warlord of Galedon straighten. Before he could become too hopeful, she waved her hand for silence. "Director Indrahar, please share with the Warlord Council the information your agents in the Confederation have discovered."
The dapper head of the ISF rose to his feet. "It has come to our attention that Chancellor Liao intends a lightning assualt upon the Chesterton region. As yet we are uncertain how he intends to supply such an ambitious attack, but all indications are that he will obtain at least strategic surprise which suggests that the initial wave of attacks may be successful."
"Intriguing," admitted Hsiun Chi. "Were we to strike out from Ashio Prefecture, we could drive our own salient to meet with his attack, raising the possibility of severing the Davion prefecture of Addicks entirely from the rest of the Federated Suns."
With extreme effort, Cecilia refrained from verbally eviscerating the Warlord for his idiocy. He was in general her supporter and alienating him for a moment's satisfaction would not be prudent. "An interesting idea, but I have something else in mind, one that might lead to greater exploitation of such an operation in the future. Director, if you would be so good?"
"In addition," Indrahar added, "we have confirmed that the current Primus of the Sirian Concordance, the closest province of the Free Worlds League to Terra and thus to ourselves, has refused under their Home Defense Act, to make further regiments available to the Captain-General for the purposes of repelling the Lyran invasion. As a result, were the Concordance to come under attack, it is likely that Marik would wash his hands of them."
"Thank you, Subash." Cecilia gave him a conivial smile, reminding her generals that she was on close and friendly terms with the Internal Security Forces. "So the Capellans have committed their reserves against House Davion and the League is committed his own to fight against House Steiner, while haivng a disruptive province he values little upon our border."
It was Yoriyoshi who bowed his first. "Lord Kurita, your grasp of strategy casts us all into shadow. By striking past Terra and into the League and the Confederation, we will show our fangs to realms that have forgotten to fear the wrath of the Dragon. Further, the narrow corridors linking the Lyrans and the Suns to Terra will be held in a vice."
"Precisely correct. It is my intention that each District will contribute one regiment from their Regulars, in addition to several mobile and mercenary regiments to form the task forces being despatched. Thus the entire Combine shall be represented. Warlord Hsiun Chi shall act as my second in command for the operation."
"With respect, Coordinator, since the ceasefire with House Davion nine years ago, many mercenary regiments have been allowed to leave the Combine. Recruiting a substanial force of lucre-warriors will take time and may betray our intentions."
Cecilia spread her hands and gestured reassuringly. "Be at ease, my Tai-Shu. Trusted officers are already securing the necessary contracts with great discretion."
Fort Jaime, Mizar
Isle of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth
3 April 3022
While the garb of a Lyran businessman was unfamiliar to him, Minobu Tetsuhara allowed no discomfort to show on his face. No doubt any agents of Lyran counter-intelligence who might be in the area would be entirely aware that he was no merchant - the bearing of a samurai was hard to disguise - but there were no laws in the Commonwealth to prohibit a visitor from adopting local garb and his identity papers made no attempt to claim that he was anything other than what he was: a DCMS soldier detached from active duty in order to serve as aide to a powerful nobleman.
"Into the wolf's lair, eh, Sho-sa?" Said nobleman seemed to not even notice the constraints of his own suit, although it must be far more uncomfortable for the portly man. Then again, very little seemed to bother the inestimatable Chandrasekhar Kurita, sometimes referred to somewhat indecently referred to as the Coordinator's Pillar of Jade, for his financial acumen and the scurrilous rumour that he was father to Cecilia Kurita's daughter.
"It is as you say, Kurita-sama," Minobu replied non-commitally and then paused to allow his superior to enter the conference room they had been guided to first. As he entered, he saw that although the room could accomodate dozens, only five officers sat on the far side of the table, each wearing the three stars that marked them as holding the rank of Colonel. Only one could be Jaime Wolf, but without ever having seen a picture or even read a description, determining which would require introduction or...
Chandrasekhar clapped his hands together briskly. "A child's game, eh? Well you've young eyes, Minobu, why don't you make a guess for me?"
...or it was a test. And irritating as the unconventional Kurita could be, Minobu didn't doubt that he had made his own judgement immediately and was now feigning laziness to further challenge his aide.
Put on the spot, the samurai scanned the table's occupants swiftly. Two women and three men, ranging in size and shape from the near-giant in the centre to the short man in the neat uniform at one end. It was to the latter that Minobu bowed, drawing back the opposite chair for Chandrasekhar to sit in. "Colonel Wolf, may I introduce you to Chandrasekhar Kurita, cousin and close advisor to the Coordinator herself."
For an instant there was no response and Minobu feared that he was somehow mistaken. Then the small man smiled slightly. "Clearly the honorable Kurita values good judgement in his companions." He stood and bowed slightly, his officers following suite. "Allow me to introduce Colonel Korsht of Gamma Regiment, Colonel Dumont of Delta Regiment, Colonel Shostokovitch of Beta Regiment and Colonel Carmody of our Aerospace Group."
Chandrasekhar smiled engagingly as he returned the bows and accepted the seat. "And this is Sho-sa Tetsuhara, late of the Dragon's Second Sword of Light Regiment, without whose guidance I am quite bereft."
"No doubt." Wolf sat back slightly in his chair. "So, what does the Draconis Combine want?"
"Your contract with the Lyran Commonwealth comes to an end in five months, Colonel Wolf. While it's been very well paid, I imagine that it hasn't quite been as active as you would have prefered. The only heavy fighting the Commonwealth has been carrying out is against the nation your contract prohibits them from using you for."
"I'd like to think the fact your Coordinator sued for peace rather than fight us means that the Archon has had her money's worth out of us."
Minobu blinked. That was certainly a very confident statement for a mercenary to make to the representative of a House Lord - bordering on insolence, in fact. He would not have expected such a petty comment - or for Chandrasekhar to break off the discussion immediately.
"In her eyes, perhaps. You would know better than I how garrison duty can be wearing on soldiers accustomed to field campaigns." The expression on Chandrasekhar's face was pure innocence although Tetsuhara knew, having studied reports, that the soldiers under Wolf's command had been restless for almost a year, much as they had been in 3013 when Maximilian Liao kept them on garrison. Of course, the Archon's daughter probably wasn't causing the Dragoons trouble in the same way Candace Liao had...
"I think your Coordinator would agree that even the best soldiers need a respite every now and then."
Gracefully Chandrasekhar conceded the point. "The Draconis Combine has rested for some time, Colonel Wolf. But now we are reinvigorated and in confidence I can tell you that my cousin intends upon a new military offensive in the near future. In deference to your longstanding custom, I can assure you that were you to take employment with the Draconis Combine that you would be offered a place in that offensive and that it would not be against your current employer."
Wolf remained non-committal, his self-control excellent, but Minobu could see signs of interest in the proposal from Colonels Dumont and Shostokovitch. "What exactly are you offering, Mr. Kurita?"
"The Coordinator proposes a five year contract on similar terms to those you have received from House Marik, House Liao and House Davion. The exact rates would be negotiable but in principle the Coordinator suggests Yance I in Al'Nair Prefecture as a landhold and offers full command rights for your regiments and full salvage rights for all independent actions, with salvage in other cases to be divided proportionate to forces involved."
"It's an interesting offer," agreed Wolf after a moment's thought. "I'd like to know a little bit more about what we're getting into though."
"I thought you Dracs had quit hiring mercenaries," observed Colonel Korsht.
Minobu shook his head. "That is not quite correct, Tai-sa... uh, Colonel. We employ quite a number of smaller mercenary units in garrison roles, but with relatively little activity over the last few years the DCMS elected not to renew contracts with most of the larger forces we had previously employed. It's likely that other regiments may be hired either for the campaign or to replace regular regiments on our other borders but for security reasons, this has not been confided to me."
"As for the details of the campaign..." Chandrasekhar shrugged. "I have told you almost all that I have been told, Colonel. I can only presume that the Coordinator would prefer her plans be kept secret until the proper time. That proper time, however, will be soon."
"Hmm. Well, I'll consider it. However, I note that you didn't mention transport arrangements or supplies..." There was a degree of curiousity in Wolf's voice and both Minobu and Chandrasekhar recognised it. The fish had taken the bait and now all they had to do was reel him in.
Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Suns
3 June 3022
"Notify all involved forces that Operation Roland is cancelled, effective immediately," was Hanse Davion's first order once the reports sank in.
"The regiments moving from Kentares could still follow through," Marshal Geahart proposed. "Their supplies haven't been lost and it could draw foces away from this operation."
The First Prince shook his head. "The idea behind converging thrusts was to split the local defenses. Without the attack from Valexa to split their defenses, any attack there would bog down. We might succeed, but it would take time - and supplies that we'll need to repel this attack."
The good news was that the Capellan task forces that landed on Demeter and Valexa hadn't expected there to be additional Regimental Combat Teams present, preparing for participation in Operation Roland - the AFFS plan to slice off the New Hessen salient, due to be launched in the next four weeks. The bad news was that with the Northwind Highlanders arriving on Demeter and four regiments from McCarron's Armored Cavalry landing on Valexa, the defending Battlemech regiments had been outnumbered two to one. More than half the supply stockpiles on Valexa had been destroyed to prevent them falling into Capellan hands but at least a third had not.
It was the worst military setback of Hanse's reign.
"Duke Michael claims that he is unable to send substantial reinforcements to the area," Nelitha added, tapping a communique with her left index finger. Folded beneath her palm, her thumb touched the warm metal of the ring she now wore on that hand. Formal announcement had yet to be made, although she had seen money exchanging hands among the other senior officers when she wore it for the first time in the Fox's Den. "In addition to the inevitable blame he places on the amendments to the PDZ boundaries last year, he also claims that there are substantial troop movements in the St. Ives and Sian Commonalities, forcing him to keep regiments in Sirdar, Ridgebrook and Alcyone PDZs on high alert."
"What utter bullshit," Yvonne Davion grumbled, drawing startled looks from officers who had not heard the grandmotherly woman use such language. "With McCarron's regiments up on Valexa, there's nothing anywhere near Sirdar or Ridgebrook that would say boo to a goose, much less the number of regiments down there."
Hanse nodded. "Alright. Cut instructions to the Illician Lancers - I'm activating the emergency clauses in their contract and I want three of their regiments redeployed to Bell as soon as possible. They've got the jumpships for it, barely and even if it takes two or three months for them to get there, the Maskirova will pick up their movements and have to worry that they could be headed for a target on the border. If Liao can tie Michael up watching the border then turnabout is fair play."
"We could probably divert enough jumpships to move the Lancers faster," Nelitha suggested, pulling up data on the whereabouts of T&R Command's fleet.
"No, instead see what you can pull together for our reserves in the Crucis March. I want the Kestrel Grenadiers, the Argyle Lancers and both Davion Guards RCTs from New Avalon to be on Farwell as soon after the end of the month as you can manage. Requisition civilian shipping if you have to. And plan on me going with them."
Nelitha bit her lip rather than disagree. Hanse hadn't taken the field personally since Halstead Station, almost a decade before, balancing his duties as First Prince with those of Prime Marshal.
He smiled at her. "I won't be leading any charges, love." Looking around the room Hanse noted that there was less surprise at the 'slip of the tongue' than might have been expected. He shook his head. "For those who haven't heard the gossip yet, General Green-Davion accepted my proposal of marriage last Sunday. There will be an official announcement tomorrow so if any of you plan to make any last minute use of the advance warning then you're sneaky, deceptive souls and you have nine hours to clean up on sucker bets."
Several officers murmured quiet congratulations at the revelation. Yvonne Davion was one of them, directing a reassuring smile at Nelitha. "But that's even more reason for you to stay here," she pointed out. "I can think of three Field Marshals offhand who'd be glad of the chance to command here - myself for one. You, on the other hand... you're not replaceable."
"I'm not going there to throw myself into the fray," Hanse told her firmly. "I loved Ian, but I'm not him. I'm going there because any other marshal in that area will have to answer to Michael. He's still the Field Marshal of the Capellan March and he'd have a sound arguement that their chain of command would have to go through him. But if I'm there - in a command centre, as the field commander, then he has no recourse because I'm the one person who unquestionably outranks him in every way."
Geaheart tried to bring the discussion back to the more mundane realities of warfare. "Alright then, there are seven 'Mech regiments and Combat Teams in Valexa right now, plus a Training Battalion on Bell that I don't suppose you want to commit them against the Big MAC."
"Not hardly." The inexperienced trainees would be wheat to the scythe of McCarron's battlehardened regiments.
"Otherwise the Valexa CMM and the Davion Light Guards are being pushed back into the hills, but they'll pin down a good-sized garrison so they're where they should be. On Demeter, Redfield's Renegades managed to link up with the Second Crucis Lancers, so there's a coherent force but it's only a matter of time before they're forced to make a stand. That leaves..." The Marshal checked the map again. "The Aragon Borderers and Twentieth Avalon Hussars on New Aragon and the Sixth Crucis Lancers on Moravian."
"New Aragon is almost cut off with Demeter in Capellan hands," Hanse decided. "Liao will have a follow up force, at least four regiments. Most likely he'll try to capture the pocket, so the Borders and the Hussars are right where they should be. I'm sure the Lancers will want to rescue their brother regiment, but for now they're to hold on until we can pull some of the regiments out of Kentares."
"How many do you want? This will take them further from the Draconis border than Roland would have."
Hanse nodded. "I know. And with Kurita in secret negotiations with Wolf's Dragoons -" Dammit, Cecilia, what the hell are you planning? "- the whole Draconis March is nervous. Still... we can have the Blue Star Irregulars and Crater Cobras spread their regiments across several worlds to give us the same range of coverage and then pull the Twenty-Second Avalon Hussars and Twelth Deneb Light Cavalry out of Addicks. They were slated for the first wave of Operation Roland anyway so they should be ready to go. If they meet up with the Sixth Crucis Lancers on Moravian that will give me a force to relieve Demeter while I take the Crucis March regiments to Valexa. The Illician Lancers are insurance against whatever else Liao throws at us."
