WoWS3 Chpt 48

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==Weapons of War Saga: The Final March- Chapter 48 - ==
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===Wolves Fleet Rising===
Shipyard
Bolan, Wolf Empire
22nd January, 3145
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The hull slid free from the finishing chamber, towed by tugs. She was a little different from the rest of the fleet, a design originated in the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth, as re-envisioned by Clan engineers for the use of Warriors.
Nobody had built a new Mjolnir since the 3060s. This one was the first of that hull type to be reworked by a Clan technology…from the base components outward.
Not quite enough warship to be a new Flag ship, but the advances of Clan Technology made this vessel a monster compared to her progenitor design. A New battlecruiser. A fit chariot for Warriors to stride into space battle.
As yet, unnamed.
“We shall name it the Uratha class.” Khan Alaric Ward nodded. “The speed at which the vessel was constructed is both pleasing and worrying. Give it a thorough shakedown. I want even the slightest hint of imperfection discovered if possible.”
“Aff, my Khan.” Star Admiral Sukhanov smiled. “We now have the means to be self-sufficient.”
"When will the others be ready?" Alaric asked.
"Estimates show the second will be completed in six months, with the third next year, fourth mid-summer next year, and we do not have solid numbers on hull five from this yard, as materials are still being located." Sukhanov reported.
"Pity we cannot speed that up, but as is we are already in danger of rushing the work to the point of construction flaws finding their way in. What of the lighter ships?"
“We settled on Lola IIIs and Fredassas. They give a good blend of capabilities for screening the larger ships without us having to take a great deal of time coming up with a new design.” Sukhanov reported
"The Mako program was a bust, then." Alaric mused.
"Aff. The upgrades could not be worked into the base design, and you specified up to Clan Specification in your order, My Khan. We are looking to re-engineer the design for the future, but it will almost be a keel up new design at that point. We could potentially produce it in its current form."
"But not up to the level of performance I required, I understand, Mister Timichin." Alaric chuckled, then looked at his watch.
"If that is all, My Khan, I have much work left to do…" Timichin requested
"You are dismissed to your duty." Alaric nodded, then smiled a secret smile.
Right about now, the special operation would be moving to bring McKenna's Pride out from the mothballs.
The IlClan would have a true flagship, by the time he was ready to take Terra and initiate the beginning of a new Star League.
April, maybe May at the latest. That should be when all is as ready as it can be for our final attack on Terra. Alaric smiled.
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===Snow Raven in midst of irritate Wolves===
McKenna Class Battleship, SLS McKenna's Pride
Dark Nebula, Clan Hell's Horses Occupation Zone
23rd January, 3145
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The position was on 'loan', but at least the Wolves didn't treat her like a slave. Star Captain Mai Roberts finished the plot on the McKenna's Pride's main jump computer, "Strap down, this is going to be a rough one!!"
Others had been searching for the venerable flagship, and they had been…'lucky'.
"Are you sure?"
"No!!" she hit the initiate as the counter on the plotter hit the point she'd broken three safeties to make the ship accept.
~~~~~~~Discontinuity~~~~~~~~~
"...you're abandoning them, Aleks! Taking the last thing that can stop this!!"
"It must be done."
~~~~~~~Discontinuity~~~~~~~~~
Mai Roberts vomited into a scavenger vacuum, "POSITION!!"
"Collating to charts…we made it…"
She wiped her mouth and gulped a shot of bluish energy drink to wipe away the horrible taste of fear-vomit. "Sensors, any sign of our pursuers?"
"Neg, all scopes clear."
She started plotting the next series of jumps, this time moving through known uninhabited systems on a route to rejoin the Wolf Fleet at Bolan.
"Good. Start charging the core, sail and fuel, we will meet a replenishment vessel at the next stop. Engineering techs, I want every inspection below level four done by zero eight hundred local time, that last malfunction almost sank us, find it and fix it. Everyone else who is not on maintenance or security detail rotate bunking to keep a fifty percent bridge crew active while we are in this system, we math have shaken that pursuit, but they were motivated and there are damned few good points to recharge this far into unfriendly territory that are not mapped and monitored."
"You are not in command here, Mai Roberts." Garner Kerensky said flatly.
"Tell me, saKhan, How many capital ships have you stolen from a pursuer in your career? Since because this one is not my first, I intend to get it to Khan Ward intact and undamaged."
“There may be a reason we have accepted you for this mission, but watch your tone.” Garner Kerensky warned.
“One last bit of pointing out the obvious then. Someone clearly got the idea to check the Dark Nebula for this ship. You might want to direct your attention to the leak that nearly spoiled close to seventy years of no one knowing where to look for this ship."
She didn't flinch as he closed his fist, and he relaxed it. "Aff."
"By YOUR LEAVE, then, I will go get observations from the outer deck's telescope array in case we need another alternate route., Sir." Mai requested
“Dismissed.” Garner was still obviously in a foul mood but his anger did indeed seem to be directed elsewhere now.
Mai headed for the hatch, helmet in hand. Sterling you better have a plan to get me back. she fumed silently as the hatch opened and she headed for the outer ventral deck, past Clan Warriors in their uniforms and techs in their emergency suits. Their procedures…or lack of them, grated on her soul.
How in the hell did we lose that trial? bounced in her head, the conclusion kept coming up because the Khans let them bid it into a ground fight.
She reached the telescope array, and began running a series of observations of the neighboring systems, both those named on maps, and the ones named only with catalog numbers.
It took eight hours before Mai felt fully calmed again.
"Warriors, do not normally do this kind of work." Arik, the leader of the three Scientist-Caste brought on this mission, spoke from the hatchway.
"Snow Raven officers do." she said it idly, "Which I was, until last year." she made an adjustment to the scope's position, and began cycling through enhanced images. "Do you have a need to use the 'scope, Arik?" she asked.
"I am presently…unoccupied, ovKhan."
"Right…well, if you are bored, have a seat at station two and we can look over the spectral mapping images…" Mai said
"What are we looking for?" Arik asked
"Satellites and radio sources to explain something that is nagging at me." she told him. "There is no way in all the hells of myth, that what we ran into in the Dark Nebula was random chance. Someone has been preparing a mapping series, and I do not crave to be caught by surprise by the betrayers from the Homeworlds again."
“It could be remnant Falcons who did not come over, seeking safety from the Commonwealth’s wrath.” Arik offered.
"Then we still need to know they are out here, preferably without them knowing where WE are." she stated. "We do not have a full combat crew aboard this battleship, and I would prefer not to deliver a damaged prize."
“Aff. It seems to have already suffered some ‘rough handling’ as they say and I may only be a scientist but I do not relish the prospect of meeting our foes blindly either.”
"I will not be trying another short duration jump, not until the core has gotten a level one overhaul." she agreed. "THAT was an emergency, the plan is to avoid emergencies until we arrive at Bolan."
“Should I have some meals brought up to us?” Arik asked.
"Aff." she nodded, "That would be good, pick something you like that we have." she said it almost dismissively, "Arik, I have dealt with Khans before, and saKhans, hell, Alaric Ward himself stood at the foot of my recovery bed and told me what this mission was…I can not figure out Garner Kerensky's mind and it troubles me."
“Alaric has the vision and perspective granted him by his genemother tempered by Vlad Ward. Garner? He is, well… How do I put it politely…”
"A ground commander." she filled in, "A warrior who is in space, not a spacer." 
“Aff. He is accomplished in his own right and certainly loyal and reliable. Just outside his normal area of expertise.” Arik agreeded
"He hates me." Mai said quietly, "For reasons I cannot fathom, but they are there. I may be fortunate to survive to make it to Bolan."
“As you say, Garner is a ground Commander. So perhaps consider he is uncomfortable and irritable for it. But I am an astrophysicist. It is not for me to know the mind of a saKhan.”
"There we are… radio source, see it?" Mai asked
“Aff. Just off axis of Wotan to not be coming from Wotan.”
She triangulated the distance. "Yep…hello shadow."
“Given last I knew it was not possible to track a hyperspace jump they must know where we’re going.”
"You can not track it but, with enough information you can predict it." she told him, "I ran rings around Tortuga's best pirates by knowing where they would have to go…and someone is likely to be using my playbook."
“Aff. If you know where they are going, then you can look for the best charging stars like we are because while comets work to top off fuel that takes time.” Arik said
She leaned back, "Now, how to convince Garner Kerensky to launch a CAP while we are charging in this nice, empty star system…." 
“Call it a training exercise. Idle warriors are irritable warriors after all.” Arik suggested
"Aff, we are." she nodded, getting up from the station, "Mind collating this and sending it to CIC, Arik? He may take the news better from you."
“Sure, Mai. Can I call you Mai? Or is that too forward for you?” Arik tensed for a moment.
"When you are comfortable doing so. I cannot lose more prestige, after all." she said lightly.
“Well for what it is worth, Mai, I thank you.” Arik nodded.
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Garner Kerensky fumed in his ready-room. The woman was infuriating with her chalcas behaviors and abrasive personality.
He had, himself, lobbied to get the best known navigator in the Snow Ravens brought over to the Clan, and he'd admired her record for years…
But the woman was personally grating and infuriating, more like a Free Spacer than even the most liberal Snow Ravens he'd met before her…and what was even more frustrating was how often Mai Roberts was right, right for the mission, right for the position…and yet, so wrong in every other aspect.
Now she was even socializing with a lower-caste member.
I need her but how much more can I tolerate?
He glanced at the open personnel record , and mentally added, How?? How can someone so accomplished be so…wrong?
“After we get back to Bolan. I just have to stomach her until Bolan.” Garner repeated to himself.
A hesitant knock on his ready room door interrupted his reverie. "Enter!"
The Crewman held a report in one hand, "My aaKhan…the latest report…"
Garner felt back in his element, dealing with someone sane. He extended a hand, taking the report.
The young point commander waited while he examined, then re-examined it. "Inform Star Captain Lynnette that she is to double the combat air patrol, and extend the radius to two times standard coverage, just as this report suggests." 
"Yes, My Khan." 
Garner dismissed the junior officer with a gesture. Mai Roberts might be infuriating, but she'd been right every time so far, and the shoddy cover of using Scientist Arik to assemble the report did not hide the true originator.
"I just have to rely on her until Bolan." he muttered it like a mantra. 
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===Lying Low in shadow of a Battleship===
JumpShip, MS Cavern
Wotan System, Clan Hell's Horses Occupation Zone
22nd January, 3145
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Atrocity studied the relay report. MS Cavern's drop-sats reported the emergence signature of something Warship grade in a system nearby, before going silent. It was enough of a contact report, without the usual IFF scatter from Sea Fox ships, to be worth investigating.
"Homeworlders maybe?" she inquired out loud.
"I don't know, but the transponder is from SLS McKenna's Pride."
"******. Homeworlders." the Mac was, as far as she knew, still in the possession of the genocidal maniacs that took over the Clan Homeworlds.
"They could be friendly?" Tool suggested.
"No." Atrocity shook her head, "Odds say anyone as reputedly genocidal as the Steel Vipers and their allies, they're not here to make friends. Prep our droppers and fighters for launch on arrival, we're going to get a closer look."
It's a McKenna class, Atrocity. It's going to have escorts and fighter wings."
"I know, keep a hot charge on the battery, we pop in, take a look, some pics, and pop out." Atrocity directed, "Low risk, Tool, we don't have the punch to tangle with a Mac."
”No. We get too close and screw up our positioning even once and it can tear us apart before even I can hit the button to jump out.”
"We'll angle for the opposite point." she suggested, "Just go for pics and hope for the best, if the homeworlders ARE moving on the Inner Sphere, that's going to change a LOT of key considerations. Those ****** murdered Snow Raven civilians because they could...but make sure our backups are updated for relay back to Kolossus…just in case."
”On it. But I find it unlikely that the Homeworlders would have gotten this far without tripping at least one of our early warning relays.”
"Space, is big." Atrocity mused, "We missed something."
”True but Clanners move in predictable patterns. They have terribly little gift for cunning in space.”
"That makes me feel better, Tool." she said, "Which means it's probably wrong. Ready for jump."
”And carry the zero, jump available at your command!”
Atrocity nodded, regretting that she'd had to hand over most of the organic personnel to bulk of Helena's forces or fill out ranks for the Lyrans. "Here we go…"
~~~~~~~Discontinuity~~~~~~~~~
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===Pursue of a Shadow===
Unnamed star system
Approximately 60 lightyears from Wotan (Rimward and a bit spinward)
24th February, 3145
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It had taken some time to setup but exactly as Mai had predicted their foe jumped in at the opposite point from them.
The confirmation did take a few hours to get to her but once it did she had the jump plotted.
“Initiate.” Mai ordered
~~~~~~~Discontinuity~~~~~~~~~
When reality re-asserted itself and the systems were clear their foe was trying to burn away.
“They fleeing.”
“Aff. It is their only option. Main battery. Open fire.”
The exit point put them very close to the the unidentified ship that was now trying to run for its life.
So close that the optical telescopes could just barely make out the splattering of molten metal flying into space as weapons fire hit.
That was the Naval PPCs. After a moment the Naval Autocannons found their mark.
The unidentified ship swung about suddenly.
Mai braced for return fire but none was forthcoming. Then Mai realized.
“We’ve broken their starboard engine block. It’s out of control. Another full salvo will finish them.”
“Who were they?” Garner Kerensky asked.
“Judging by their methods, someone who had the same tutors I did. It was how I was able to predict them and achieve the level of surprise I did.”
“Enemy vessel is attempting broadcast.”
“It’s on the Envoy frequency.”
“Ensure that signal does not leave the system. If possible utilize the capture methods we have developed.” Garner ordered.
“Done, ovKhan. Unsure if we got a full capture but I am certain we blocked enough of the transmission we will not see this particular envoy again.”
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===Unusual Salvage===
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The face was not quite what anyone expected, when the boarding teams came back with the only organic body on the wreck.
At least, the only identifiable human body on the wreck.
She looked…"She looks like a Hazen." the saKhan said after a moment, studying the bruised and ruptured corpse.
"Gene testing says she is…but there are some interesting other traits…"
The Ship's chief medical tech showed intracranial implants, including a burnt bit of something inorganic near the base of the brain, with microfibers extending through it.
"An Envoy...made to look like a Jade Falcon." Garner almost spat, "why? Did your teams recover anything else?"
"Sixty kilos of organic matter that might be brain tissue, laced with the same microfibers and linked to what appear to be components based on Nirasaki technologies." Arik spoke for the Scientists, "Medical Science chief Lenart says the material is organic, but not human, or human derived, it looks…fractal."
“The damage was extensive, ovKhan, my Elementals were unable to find anything else. If there were more crew aboard they are in the areas of the vessel we could not access due to the damage our excellent gunnery inflicted.”
"So…no data cores?" Garner asked, "No Logs?"
“The entire aft end of the vessel was little more than wreckage. What terminals we found were completely unresponsive.”
"Search it again. This time, take a team of Techs, a ship like that has to have some kind of back up information storage. I want to know where it came from to be here, what their mission was, and why."
“Aff ovKhan.”
He turned to Mai. "Speculate." he told her.
"There are rumors regarding a series of these 'envoys' that are purpose-made to fill specific roles." she said, "Including a rumour that one of them infiltrated the Jade Falcon genetic repository and uncovered an imposed sabotage by the Scientist Conspirators under Etienne. I have seen the votes surrounding that during the time I served as head of the Roberts Bloodhouse, so I know at least that much must be true-the defect was confirmed by Snow Raven scientists and some of your own. As further evidence our foe utilized many standard tactics of the Privateer Fleet of the Alliance."
"So, what was she doing here?" he asked
"Prototype testing is my first guess." Mai said, "We knew Kolossus was working on a series of ship designs and erecting a shipyard, though like the Kolossus system itself, the AI has been cagey about revealing the exact location. I do not believe you will find other humans aboard that ship."
“Which means this Envoy really was in the right place at the right time to begin pursuing us or pursuing us was her true mission. I think I tend to believe the later given the observation satellites our CAP uncovered.”
"We knew the types at Dark Nebula." she noted, "Nightlord, Cameron, and Vigilant. We also got a look at their hull markings, quiaff?"
"Your point?"
"This ship we defeated is a newer design, and they left the markings off. That would tend to foul up any attempted subterfuge, quiaff?" she asked innocently.
“So we face more than one foe. This is not quite the revelation you make it out to be.”
"That is my conjecture ovKhan." she said, "While I cannot prove it, without the enemy attacking us again."
"We will see if any data can be recovered from the wreck." He ruled half to himself.
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===Hiding friction of two personas===
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Garner Kerensky stopped the playback, looking ill. "Well?" he asked.
Mai Roberts looked…dispassionate. "Kolossus has claimed an external threat." she said, "Our experience in the Dark Nebula suggests it, and this encounter suggests the old robot is trying to do the defending thing itself……badly and without telling anyone, which is rank stupidity."
"You feel nothing?"
"Irritation, saKhan." Mai said, "This situation happened because someone…that is, the dead Envoy and that box of artificial brains down in cold storage. Acted rashly and stupidly…and died for doing so. I suspect there will be fallout from this, since I was the one who planned the action and supplied the reasoning, I will have to accept the blame for the outcome, if the outcome is a conflict or conflicts with the Khan's intentions."
"Just like that?" Garner asked
"Someone has to." she said, "IF word gets out-and it will get out, too many eyes have seen for it to do otherwise, someone must take the hit for the Clans and our part in this incident. I am the only outsider aboard, it is logical that I will be held accountable for this."
"YOU were not in command, Mai Roberts!!" Garner almost thundered, "I approved your plan, why are you so willing to fall on your sword when you have made it abundantly clear every single day you hold our Clan in contempt??"
“Aff. You treat space as if it were surface postings. Look at how I am dressed, look at how the others are dressed. See the difference? We have gotten lucky so far, but eventually we will meet an opponent that will bleed us and burn us, we went into combat at full pressure, if that ship had landed a solid blow, we would be scrambling with one hand tied because most of the Warriors aboard are not damage control qualified." It tumbled out of her mouth, "Meaning that a hit to the wrong area and warriors DIE in darkness and silence, or worse, they are crushed and burned when they did not have to be!"
“Radstadt.” Garner said quietly but bitterly. “We lost an ilKhan on that dark day.”
"Aff…and the damage was minor, Sir." she explained, "If the bridge of the Dire Wolf had not been pressurized, and if the crew had been properly drilled, the deaths from Tyra Miraborg's last charge would likely have been only those immediately in the path of her crashing fighter. Instead of nearly the entire bridge crew, an IlKhan, and other valued personnel. We got lucky this time, in the face of a spacer crew using spacer doctrine, warriors will die needlessly, and this, it is true, offends me to the core."
Garner’s face became an ever changing expression of frustration and anger. The noises coming from his mouth were at most the fragments of the beginnings of words.
“What if it really is the Homeworlders making their move, then Alaric is directing his efforts the wrong way.” Mai added.
“You are insufferable! Every fiber of my being demands I should punch you in the face, but that will not change the fact that you are right.”
"Being right? Doesn't change things if nobody changes things. We have a mission to complete." Mai suggested, "After that, will be time if you need to punch me, or shoot me, or..whatever. For now, we must bring McKenna's Pride to Bolan with what we have learned, quiaff?"
“Aff.” Garner collected himself.
Surreptitiously, Mai glanced to assure nobody else-nobody from the crew, had overheard their conversation. "We appear clear of eavesdroppers." she suggested, "The crew do not need to know of any friction between officers while on a mission."
“Go. Tend to your duties.” Garner ordered
She saluted, "Seyla, Honor thy Clan." for the first time since she'd GOTTEN here, it sounded…genuine. Then, she left the ready room.
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