Chapter Seventy Four: Mix things up
Kentares IV, Draconis March, Federated Suns, June 15th, 3016
"Good fight." I told Jaime Wolf. "Can we establish the plan now?"
"Yes, I have taken some of what you said into consideration." Jaime inclined his head. "You are correct in some aspects, and I shall rectify that by helping you out."
"Helping me out how?" I asked curiously. "I'm pretty sure that I've got what I need to start getting production started minus needing more people."
"While your Warships are well hidden from most eyes in the Inner Sphere, it is hard to conceal them from those who have had to do the same." There was a smile on his face and a gleam in his eye. "I have five Warships of the Wolf's Dragoons that are out in the Periphery that I will be taking out of mothballs, if you will help me meet with the various Heads of state that you are known to, I will lend my people to help train crews for you."
"I think I can agree to that deal as long as you actually have experienced crews." I said with a nod of my head. "But I'm also going to need some of your engineers and scientists to help mine make sense of some of this data core that you gave us."
"Only if you allow us to be bumped up in the queue to purchase some of your Stinggunships." He negotiated. "My aerospace people can't stop raving about them after looking at the specs."
"Bargained well and done." I extended my hand and we shook on it. "I'll have my people draw up a contract later."
"Hey!" I said as he turned to leave my office. "Why did you leave all of these civilians with me?"
"Because they have nowhere else to go." He stated. "Soon enough they would have been no better than slaves." He raised an eyebrow. "This was the first place I could think of that not only had the capacity to take them in, but to treat them with the respect and honor that they have earned."
"Wolf," I said. "I don't much like your long term planning abilities, but I have the utmost respect for your combat abilities. May we never meet on the battlefield.
"Agreed." He said. "You do not fight fair after all."
"If you're fighting fair you're losing." I shrugged in response. "Now give me a rough estimate on when my wife will be back and go back to Marik space. You are still under contract after all."
Mountain Research facility Bravo, Kentares IV June 21st, 3016
"Duke Hull." Adamina Rogers greeted me. "A pleasure to see you again."
"I'm here for a status update." I said. "I know we made multiple copies of the core that the Wolf's Dragoons gave us, and I want an estimate on how long it will take to implement some of the upgrades."
"The endo-steel factory will take two months to modify to the specs listed in the core." She responded. "The new alloy is a different mixture compared to the one that is listed in our copy of the Helm core."
"And starting to incorporate some of the upgrades to the rest of our factories?" I asked, "I was going to see if we could enhance the Grasshoppers and Von Luckners we are producing."
"Well, the upgraded freezers we can start manufacturing as soon as the endo steel factory is up and running. The main difference between the freezers listed in this new data and the Helm core is the use of the upgraded endo steel. This allows it to be smaller than the freezers we make currently."
"That'll free up space to add in some extra lasers." I said. "I want the Grasshopper to be the light mech hunter of the Inner Sphere."
"It'll take a while to comb through the rest of it and see what we can easily modify to these new standards." She replied. "We're going to focus on the endo steel and freezers and work out from there."
"Give me a rough estimate please." I told her. "I need to start getting some Sharpshooter plans in place."
"Two to three months on the Endo-Steel and Freezers." She said after reviewing her notes. "The Endo-Steel facility is barely keeping up with our freezer production, and the upgrades should help." She sighed. "There's just so much data here to go over. I think it'll take us at least a year before we have gone through and found what can be easily modified, or what we'll have to build from scratch."
"Thank you Adamina." I said. "I'll look forward to good news from you."
June 30th, 3016
"Thank you for all of your hard work." I said to the crews that had finished the Ducal Estate. "I'll make sure that you all get bonuses for doing such good work."
Thankfully, I had picked out the furnishings to go in, and they had done that as part of the building process. So I didn't have to move anything aside from the personal belongings that Natasha and I had collected over the years. And with David spending time with Aunt Katrina and Uncle Arthur, I could get some of the personal work done without having to tote the three year old around with me.
The Triad, Tharkad July 4th, 3016
"Aunt Kat." David said. "I want to play." He opened his hand towards the toys that Elsa and Melissa were playing with.
"Okay David." She said, "You can go play with them, but be gentle."
"David!" Melissa gave the younger boy a hug. "You wanna play with the 'mechs?" She held up an Atlas figure in her hand. "I'm this one!"
Little David looked at all of the assorted figurines and action figures and finally picked up a lone infantryman. "This one, it looks like dada"
"Ok." Melissa agreed and their whirlwind of a game started.
"Like father like son I guess." Katrina looked over at her husband. "What are the odds he ends up the best Combined Arms commander of the century?"
"I'm not taking that bet." Her husband smiled. "I know a suckers bet when I see one."
"I've got a meeting with Johsnon," Katrina glanced down at her watch. "Keep an eye on them?"
"Of course." Arthur leaned in for a kiss before going to keep a closer eye on the three children having the time of their lives.
"Archon." Simon Johnson said as Katrina entered her office. "I have the update you requested."
"Good, I've been trying to get Lestrade for years, do we finally have something to nail him to the wall with?" She asked.
"Yes ma'am, we finally have video, audio, and written evidence of collusion between the Draconis Combine and Duke Lestrade." Johnson said.
"That is good news." She replied. "We'll need to wait to release the information and try him for treason until he steps out of line, then we'll get him for good so I can finally get the reforms in Skye pushed through."
"And I have the latest report from the other thing we discussed." He leaned in and grabbed a folder out of his briefcase before handing it to the Archon.
"We'll be ready to move on them in six months?" She asked for confirmation. "Because I want the traitors killed." Her voice hardened. "They betrayed their sworn oath, and I'm going to end them for it."
Kentares IV, July 31st, 3016
"Mark." Hanse greeted me as he stepped off of the dropship that he and Dana had been aboard with their son. "I'd like to introduce Jonathon Davion to you." He handed me his year old firstborn with Dana smiling on.
"He looks healthy." I told them with a smile. "Have you seen my new home yet?"
"No, and after we take a look at the new Ducal estate, I have some choice words for you." He said. "You went on an adventure without me, and I cannot abide by that…"