Chapter Eighty-Eight: Discussions
Kentares IV, October 15th, 3018
"Captain," I greeted the CO of the McKinnon's raiders. "I'm glad we were able to meet."
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Duke Hull," He shook my hand. "I've heard a great many things about you and it's nice to finally put a face to the name."
"Well, I hope the things you heard were good." I said with a good natured laugh. "Because otherwise I might have to get some new PR people."
"I recommend starting with your PR in the Capellan Confederation." He replied with a straight face. "I hear they burn pictures of you at festivals now."
"I almost believe that," I chuckled. "Now, my son David accidentally stumbled onto a base that your predecessor's used to harry the Combine forces and a lance of 'mechs that they had left behind."
"I got the message you sent." McKinnon replied. "While we would like to take possession of the 'mechs, we can't afford the repair costs that you estimated at this time." He sighed. "Although I wish to have the 'mechs, I realized that your people can probably do more with them. And with that in mind, I'm willing to accept your offer of a mixed lance of factory fresh 'mechs in exchange."
"What 'mechs were you thinking of?" I asked him bluntly. "We only produce the Grasshopper and Toro here on Kentares IV, with the rest of our facilities scattered in various locations.:
"We want either a Highlander or Crockettin replacement for the Nightstar that you found, a Crab, and a couple of Grasshoppers." He told me.
"It'll take about a year to get you the Crockett, Highlander or Crab." I told him, "I can move some of the Grasshoppersthat were intended for the local forces over to you immediately." I shrugged, "I'll give you some Mithril pilot suits to go with them, along with enough to outfit your entire unit."
"We can wait on the 'mechs." Ross McKinnon responded. "Your reputation is rock solid, and we trust that you'll keep your promises."
"Now, I know you probably get this a lot, but I want to hear about a couple of your battles." He grinned and leaned back in his chair across from my desk. "How'd you beat Major Barton in a Warhammer when he was using an Atlas?"
"Well, for starters…"
October 17th, 3018
"Captain Ross McKinnon?" A Kentares Guard member asked.
"Yes, that is me." He responded. "Why do you ask?"
"I've got a delivery for you, but I'll need a signature as well as a small blood sample before I transfer this over to you."
"Very well." McKinnon accepted the specialized pad from the Kentares Guards Officer, it had a small area where it pricked his thumb with a small needle to analyze his blood and ensure it was him. He had donated some blood to make sure that they had his bio-identification markers so that he could receive deliveries and classified information if necessary. "That always stings more than you'd expect." He told the Guardsman who looked sympathetic to his plight.
"Yeah," The guardsmen rubbed his thumb." You expect it and yet it still manages to surprise you. "But it works, so I guess I can't complain too much."
"Where's the delivery?" McKinnon asked, not seeing a truck or anything.
"It's being held at the local starport until you bring the pad with you to confirm transfer."
"Well that's complicated innit?" McKinnon asked.
"It may be complicated, but it works sir; and it was my assigned job for the day." The guardsmen laughed. "If you're done, there's plenty of beach and sun to go around, take a soak before you leave too, it's gorgeous year round."
"I thought you were in the middle of Autumn though?" The confused man asked.
"That's only in the mountains for the most part. We get parts of seasons, but it's only on the top of the tallest mountains here that it snows. Everywhere else is mild or warm all year round."
Carver V, Capellan Confederation, November 3rd, 3018
"Move in and hit their flanks." Colonel Stone ordered from his Marauder, "Their Infantry and vehicles are reeling right now, and we should press on now."
"Copy that sir." His Battalion commanders responded. "Closing the trap now."
Stone had used his command lance as bait, and it was paying off in spades, the Carver V militia, despite receiving some benefits of having had the Wolf's Dragoons on their world for a bit, were also still recovering from the damage that had been done in their escape. This was allowing Stone to pin down and hammer at the militia until they could free up some time and space to start stripping the Mothballed Ironsides lines and doing a quick search to see if there were anything left of the Victor and Atlas lines that could be salvaged.
November 8th, 3018
"I'm sorry sir, but just about the only thing left here to salvage is the Ironsides factory here." The lead engineer that Dr. Rogers had sent with him reported. "There's not even a scrap of an Autocannon left to piece together." (Stone is the unluckiest dice roller in all of the command staff somehow, he ended up rolling a 2 on a D(20) five times in a row!)
"Alright then, I guess we'll just pack this up and start moving everything onboard our dropships for transport." Stone replied, "The militia here is beaten down, and with the FWL a mess, I'm not worried about us being hit by any forces with any sort of strength anytime soon."
"I can't believe you just said that sir." A Staff Sergeant said as he drove his forehead into his palm repeatedly. "Now we're for certain going to get hit with something."
"What do you mean?" Stone asked with a look of confusion on his face as a staff member ran in.
"Colonel Stone, the Free State of Stewart just jumped into the system with a regiment in order to subjugate this world."
"Well that ones new." Stone said. "They must have seceded from the FWL while we were in transit." He sighed. "Alright people, we're on a time crunch now to get everything packed up, we have around five days before they manage to land and I want us to take off and head for the jump point in two."
"But sir," The engineer protested. "We've only gotten a quarter of the factory packed up as it is."
"Well your people better pick up the pace then, because we need to be leaving before that Regiment decides that they want to pick a fight with us."
"Engineer," Stone's XO chimed in, "If you can't pack it up, make sure you get the correct dimensions on the replacement parts, we can fix the lines if we have too, but we'd prefer them intact."
"Right, I can do that." The engineer stammered in reply, "And we'll try to get everything packed up, it might go quicker if you lend us some of your infantrymen though."
"Let us know what you need to get done faster, and we'll make sure that you get it," Stone replied.