MBMSFS Chpt I6

==Manufacturing a Blueprint for a More Stable Federated Suns‎‎ - Interlude: Happenings Behind the Scenes Pt. 4 - ==
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===Virtual Ambush===
[Commander Jake Mason]
[Corean Security Forces Simulation Complex]
[New Avalon, Federated Suns]
[November 31st, 3027]
<{"Battlemech Power Up Detected."}>
 
"Thanks, Betty," Jacob Mason muttered to no one in particular as he kept on the speed while twisting his Marauder's torso to face the freshly unveiled threats- a pair of Panthers with a quartet of tracked APCs zipping out of the tree line, the slow vehicles using the downhill slope to get as much speed out of their machines as possible. Given they were blindly charging at him, that meant that they were unladen; even the AI piloting those vehicles in this simulated scenario wouldn't do that with their Infantry payloads on board, "So that means... yup, there they are."
 
Out of the corner of his improved cockpit, he could see multiple squads of the dismounted Mustered Soldiery popping out of the treeline laden with man-portable SRMs. This was a time-proven strategy of a mixed fighting unit- present two bad options and force the Mechwarrior to choose in that split-second which they thought was the lesser of two evils. In this case, the Panther and APCs on the left flank vs the Infantry with SRMs on the right flank. 
 
Both were vicious in their own right, and the Mechwarriors who discounted the Infantry often wound up dead, but when faced with an ambush there was usually only one option: Direct as much firepower toward the greatest threats on either flank and hope you have the tonnage superiority. In an ambush a Commander was restricted in how fast they could move, usually held back by their slowest unit, and the preservation of their Metal was paramount; a Commander couldn't leave their slower units behind lest they lose the 'Mechs and Vehicles that carried firepower that was needed to suppress. This often necessitated needing to move steadily in the Kill Zone, share armor, and coordinate fire... which meant that you needed to stay within the Kill Zone for longer than you otherwise would have.
 
It was a Catch-22 if there ever was one. 
Have your fastest units break through the ambush and potentially leave your firepower behind? Or stick around and hope that everyone could make it out in relatively good shape.
 
Given that the Commander was running this scenario alone it meant that he didn't have anyone to share armor and heat with, and while this would have been a problem if he were piloting a stock Marauder... he wasn't piloting a stock Marauder.
"Gulliver-Command, this is Broadsword-6. Spotted DCMS mixed fighting force in the vicinity of Checkpoint Able. Two Panthers, four tracked APCs, and a platoon of infantry," The bright blue packets of PPCs from the two Panthers lanced to the front and rear of his 'Mech, their close passage scrambling his sensors and HUD momentarily; those pilots must be pretty good to take those shots at 700 meters and almost hit him.
 
<<"Understood, Broadsword-6,">> Came the bored voice of the Corean Security Tech who was playing the role of the Command Post for the simulation, <<"Orders stand from Gulliver-High; eliminate all DCMS hostiles and continue Mission.">>
 
"Affirmative," Mason replied easily, a smirk on his lips as he kept the Marauder's nose pointed toward the Panthers and APCs; if there was ever a drawback to the design it was the Marauder had a fairly long body, so shots from the flanks were far more likely to hit. Keeping the 'Mech facing the enemy provided a much smaller hit-box, something that the AI-piloted 'Mechs had a hard time with even if they tended to cheat from time to time. 
 
With the Marauder's standard 64 kilometers per hour running speed the Panthers, APCs, and Infantry would be able to spring into action at roughly the same time, their speeds in line with his own, but in this instance? Well, he was more than 'just a bit' faster.
 
The chicken-like legs of his 'Mech ate up the ground between him and the Kill Zone, but just as he watched the Infantry poke out with SRMs shouldered Commander Mason hit the supercharger. His thumb pressed down on the red button on his throttle, and the Mechwarrior could feel the Sim Pod shake convincingly as his Marauder started to speed up well and above what it should be capable of. The soft whine of the fusion engine and supercharger spooling up filled his ears, barely heard through the noise-dampening of his Neural Helm but still present, as 64 kph became 75 kph, then 86 kph, and 94 kph, and climbed higher and higher until the 75-ton machine was thumping along at 129 kph; as fast as a Locust! 
 
The high-definition cameras on the flanks and rear of his 'Mech caught sight of two dozen man-portable SRMs streaking to the front and rear of where he had been just a few seconds previously, the DCMS Infantry unable to properly adjust for the sudden burst of speed. One SRM did strike his rear right torso, the impact shaking him in his shock couch, but the singular impact was hardly enough to make the Marauder break stride. The more amusing thing was seeing the pair of Panthers and a quartet of APCs fading away behind the rolling hills, and he let off the supercharger, his 'Machine easily able to bleed off the additional speed until he resumed his normal sprinting speed. 
 
"Wheel'n on around," Jake spoke to himself as he pulled the throttle stick back until it reached its primary detent- the 'walking' marker- and the Marauder's speed further dropped to 43 kph. He guided his machine up and around the hill, the Mechwarrior was content to play this cleanly, and when he started to crest the hilltop he pulled back even further. His ride was almost shuffling up the gentle incline at this point, but that was the point. 
 
For this simulation, he was piloting the fourth iteration of his personal Marauder, one that he had built out after Arthur Corean handed him a catalog of current and upcoming tech and told him to go 'hog wild'. 
 
The sky was the limit. Money of no consequence. Existing hard points weren't even a consideration.
 
The Marauder that Mason had claimed all of those years ago would be reborn as a wholly custom machine, rebuilt from the ground up to be exactly what he wanted... as long as Corean parts and weapons were used. Truth be told he had been more than leery to utilize experimental technologies for his 'Mech, but having spent the past three weeks running them into the ground on the AFFS' Proving Grounds at the New Avalon Institute of Science he was slowly coming around to the idea that these might not be the temperamental pieces of equipment that most would associate with being 'new'. 
 
Arthur had given him supreme latitude to stress test the weapons however he saw fit, and while Mason was certain most companies would carefully curate the samples that outside hands would touch... Arthur didn't want that at all. Mason tested the weapons by walking through one of the Self-Contained Manufacturing Facilities, stopping at the numerous pallets of sealed, completed weaponry, and then selecting a dozen examples at random and having the Techs mount them to his 'Mech, or the 'Mechs of his subordinates. 
 
Then they took them out to the ranges and ran through tons and tons of ammunition, all on Corean's dime. 
 
It was pretty great, all things considered. His Mechwarriors got more Gunnery time, he got to play with some neat little toys, and Mister Corean's weapons got tested blindly. The only dark spot was the detailed reporting that the man wanted, from both his Techs and his Mechwarriors. Nobody liked the paperwork given how meticulous and ball-busting they were, but it was a small price to pay for $2.5 Million C-Bills. 
 
Or a whole lot more given how much a wholly custom 'Mech costs.
 
It wasn't just him, it was his whole outfit that was getting custom rebuilds, and that lone was easily worth $30 Million. 
 
Armor plating needed to be moved around, ammunition magazines and the Prototype-CASE installed, new ammunition feed chutes ran to the new weapons, and the new weapons hardpoints needed to have power and communications harnesses installed in addition to the structural work needed to mount those new weapons. At most, Mechwarriors played around with the weaponry of their 'Mech's existing hardpoints, swapping around lasers, autocannons, and missile packs to suit their fancy, but it was rare for them to bother with the expense of creating new hard points. 
 
If creating a custom variant was easy or cheap then everyone would do it. 
 
Mason's Marauder was currently as far away from the 'stock' MAD-3D as it could get, and once his cockpit crested over the hill- pixelated tall grass swaying in the breeze- he was more than happy to fully put it to the test. 
His Prototype Headhunter I Targeting system quickly latched onto the Combine 'Mechs and Vehicles, giving him a read on their distance, orientation, and armor values. At 650 meters away they were a fair bit outside of the effective range of a standard PPC, but the two PPC and Enhanced Large Laser he had high-mounted on the side-torsos and center torso behind his cockpit were anything but 'standard'. 
 
He selected the lead Panther and leisurely tilted the wrist targeting stick to drag his off-white crosshairs over the enemy, and Mason tilted it just a hair more to the left to account for the readjusting 'Mech's velocity; the prototype Headhunter software had a pretty decent predictive targeting suite that was on more often than not, but the Commander preferred to simply memorize the velocity and arcs of the non-laser based weaponry. If a Mechwarrior relied on fancy systems like that too often they would lose their edge, especially when every near-miss from a PPC could temporarily scramble electronics; Mason had a rudimentary cross-hair painted on the interior ferroglass of his cockpit in a plain green grease pen specifically to counter this.
 
"Long Range Group, Alpha Pattern," Mason intoned and he was pleased to see the computer system recognize the command without a problem, the 'Second Deck' weapon group coming to life and assigning to his primary trigger. He gently stroked the bottom of the activation stud near his pointer finger and two brilliant PPC bolts flashed out from the left and right of his cockpit, the recoil causing the Marauder to shudder and jerk before it returned to center; like clockwork, a fraction of a second after the 'Mech stabilized, an azure beam of condensed light flashed down range. 
 
He was fully zoomed in on the lead Panther, and thus he had a prime view to see the weapons fire impact his target; the packet from the PPC on his Marauder's right torso impacted the Light 'Mech's left arm, tearing away the armored protection and almost eating through its structure entirely. The PPC from his left torso smashed into the left torso, shredding the standard battle plate and eating into the structure, and the 8cm beam from his Large Laser was focused in on the damage- the hot blue line cutting through the structural supports. The left arm and torso of the Panther were shorn off completely, and while for most 'Mechs losing a torso wouldn't put them out of commission- especially the Panther given its Lord's Light PPC was on its right arm- the bevy of explosions coming from the Combine 'Mech's SRM ammunition bin finished the job; carcass ragdolling onto its face to slide across the ground to a halt.
 
The cockpit's lights grew warm to reflect the sudden spike in heat in the coolant loop, the large display on his bottom corner shooting up to 'Heat: 28/32' before it began to tick steadily down, and by the time he had the crosshairs lined up on the second Panther, the weapons had finished their cycle and were waiting to be fired again. The enemy AI pilot was too far away from cover now, so rather than turn around and expose his back, the Combine 'Mech plodded toward his position with the best bob and weave its machine was capable of, but with 64 kph being its top speed, it just meant that Mason had to take an extra second to predict where the 'Mech would be and then he fired again. 
 
Twin packets of condensed particles belched from the barrels of his high-mounted, torso PPCs, and a quarter-second later the Large Laser followed after it. 
 
In a move that showcased why he both did and didn't like fighting against the AI Pilots in these scenarios, the Panther triggered its jump jets and started to spin in the air with a level of precision that only the most seasoned of Mechwarriors were capable of. One of the PPC packets shot right between its legs while the other impacted its left leg to completely destroy the armored protection on it, but its 360-degree rotation meant that his Large Laser splashed over the left and right leg equally as it spun in the air; this maneuver meant it still had enough structural integrity in its legs so that when it landed it could continue its dangerous trek to him. 
 
Mason clicked his tongue.
 
'Input Detection' was a commonly used tactic by coders to artificially increase the difficulty of Sim Pods, and it was a cheap one at that. 
 
The computers registered the input, saw which weapons in the group were being fired, piggybacked off the firing solutions to see where the weapons would land, and the AI Pilot would immediately execute evasive maneuvers in a fashion that would result in the least amount of damage to their 'Mech. Maneuvers that were impossible for the average pilot, and damn near impossible for pilots with the best twitch reflexes; they could slash damage across their armor plating better than the best of the best, and more evenly too.
 
It was cheap as hell, but Mason? Mason was someone who relished in the challenge, and it wasn't like he could complain about 'cheats' either; some might say that being able to fire two PPCs and a Large Laser simultaneously and not overheat their 'Mech was a cheat too. 
 
He lined up the crosshairs over the Panther's projected landing location because the handful of seconds after landing would be when it was most vulnerable as the 'Mech's gyro and legs got back into stride. 
 
The Light Mech barely stumbled at all on the landing, but that didn't save it from receiving another salvo directly to its torso; ever the cheating beast, the AI Mechwarrior once more tried to torso twist away, but with fewer than 400 meters of distance between them there was little it could do to stave off its demise. The Panther's upper body had only begun twisting when the third pair of PPC packets and 8cm Laser smashed apart the center torso armor and bubbled away the structural supports; a bright blue light filled the 'Mech's chest cavity as its fusion reactor's shielding was breached and it inhaled atmosphere before bursting into a pretty little mushroom cloud a few seconds later.
 
"Gulliver-Command, Broadsword-6. Enemy Panthers are down. Moving out to mop up the infantry and APCs," Mason spoke into the neuralhelmet's mouthpiece as he goosed his throttle up and began cresting over the top of the hill, the Mechwarrior angling his nose a bit further away from the treeline that had been the primary ambush site.
 
<<"Understood, Broadsword-6. Be advised that a mixed Lance of Lights and Heavies was spotted three and a half kilometers west of your current position. Given the heavy forests in that neck of the woods, it should be two, maybe three minutes before they arrive at your location, how copy?">>
 
"Another Lance, huh? Stepping up the difficulty on me this early?" Mason smirked as he keyed his comms, "Understood, Broadsword-6 out."
 
If there was one thing that Sim operators hated it was Mechwarriors doing too well at their station.
 
He gave himself 90 seconds to finish off the Infantry and 30 seconds to reposition himself before this new group of interlopers arrived. 
 
Then he'd Continue Mission.
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===Changing Out the Loadouts===
With his feet kicked up in the lounge in the Sim building, Jake fiddled with the noteputer in his hand, the thin stylus aiding him as he dragged and dropped components in and out of the Corean 'MechLab'. The program was a neat little way to quickly reconfigure a Battlemech- just drag and drop the weapons packages into the critical spaces on the 'Mech's chassis and see those represented on the screen. There were high-quality scans of all Corean-owned 'Mechs, and an end-user could even preview different paint schemes and camouflage patterns before applying them.
 
Being that it was in its Alpha state it wasn't completely fleshed out, with some of the weapon models being borrowed until new scans could be made and those assets added to the software, but other than a handful of bugs that required restarting the program, it was an easy way to kill time. 
 
The Sim run with his fourth configuration was fun, but he found out that he was lacking in viable anti-infantry weapons, and he strived to fix those deficiencies. He dropped some of the Enhanced Medium lasers in the torsos and one off each arm and scaled down the LitePak SRM-6s down to SRM-4s, and he used the saved tonnage to add a Quad-Array of "Chisel" Machineguns and a ton of ammunition in each arm. The ammo from the SRMs and MGs was protected by a Prototype CASE system, while hefty at a full ton, would prevent any ammunition explosions from damaging his side torso; while he was confident in his ability to quickly eject ammo stores, having the CASE greatly reduced the stress levels.
 
The Medium Lasers would certainly be missed, but that still left him with four- one in each arm and one in each side torso- which when combined with the punch of the SRMs and mulching of the quad-MG arrays still left him with plenty of close-range capabilities. Besides, Arthur was confident that once he got the prototype CASE systems perfected they would weigh a quarter ton, and with four free-floating critical spaces in his torsos that would mean two of those Medium Lasers he was giving up would once more find a home within his Marauder.
 
He sipped at his coffee and nodded before he hit the 'Save' button and emailed the config file to the Sim Jockey who should have this new loadout uploaded and troubleshooted for him when he came back tomorrow.
 
Two Enhanced PPCs, a Large Laser, four Medium Lasers, two SRM-4s, and two quad-MG arrays with plenty of ammo for them and plenty of cooling for everything else. It was almost a stupid amount of firepower to stuff into a chassis, especially when this build had the chassis' maximum loadout of 14.5 tons of armor, and all of that was possible thanks to the 300 XL fusion engine that Arthur Corean promised he'd be able to source for this refit.
 
Well, two 300 XL fusion engines. 
 
One for the 'Mech and a spare in case something unfortunate happened to his baby. He didn't know why the man was so confident in his ability to source such expensive LosTech, but Mason wasn't going to question it; Spears had a lot of interesting contacts, and he was certain that the CEO of Mega Corporation like Corean had even more. 
 
However, now that the last distraction of the day was done and dusted he was left only with the blank home screen of the noteputer in his hands and his thoughts.
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===Thinking about Tomorrow===
"Have you ever thought about what comes after, Mason?"
 
"What do you mean?"
 
"I mean after this mission of revenge. When Andreas Kane is six feet under, when Black Inferno is dust in the wind, and the Comstar Precentor who sanctioned their actions is buried right alongside them... what then?"
 
"I... don't know. This has been my whole life these past twelve years. It's all I've ever known."
 
"Well then, if you don't have any plans... I'd like to extend an offer to you and the Marauders, Commander Mason.
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That offer came in the form of three noble titles with lands to match, funds to build an installation for his mercenary company, and a very attractive retainer. Missions would have their own pay with generous salvage rights and hazard pay to match, and the best part of all was the men and women who supported him... and made their combined quest for vengeance against Black Inferno possible wouldn't be excluded. The Mechwarriors, Leopard crews, Techs and Astechs, and security personnel would all be Knighted as well, and included in the planned ruling body of Petrolia II.
 
It was an offer that left nobody out in the cold once the dust had settled, and according to Ryana all of the crew, while dedicated, were more than ready to settle down. 
 
To lay down roots and start rebuilding what Black Inferno and Comstar had destroyed. 
 
A new home.
 
So much time in the void was hard on people, and Jacob had to admit that after twelve years of... this... even he was feeling the strain of it all; the Cavaliers under his Mother moved around, but even they had a place to call home once the fighting was over. Black Inferno, however, had taken that away from them, and the landhold on DeBerry Prime only extended the Cavaliers; the moment they changed their Mercenary ID to slip the Black Inferno blockade they lost that. 
 
Not that Black Inferno left much intact. 
 
They'd circled back to their old complex a few years back, and it was still in the sorry state it was left in. Destroyed 'Mech Hangers, chunked ferrocrete structures, and twisted metal was all that remained of the legacy of his Mother and Father. 
 
The tombstone of where Nik's Cavaliers was laid to rest... and Mason's Marauders was reborn. 
 
That short visit brought forth some much-needed clarity to Jake. It was the stark reminder he needed so that he wouldn't forget his mission, and he promised that he would only come back one more time... to visit the place where his Father fell to protect him. However, that could only happen when his mission was complete, so for now, Nikolai Mason's spirit would have to remain restless.
 
Those thoughts brought him back full circle to the question that Arthur Corean posed to him: What came after?
 
The Commander held a hand up to his head and grunted.
 
He needed to talk to Ryana about this, and the Captain of their Leopard, Richard Falkheim. 
 
Two noble titles of 'Baron' for him and Richard, and a title of 'Baroness' for Ryana. Those were things that a lot of Mechwarriors dreamt about, and so did practically everyone else now that he thought about it. Only Mercenaries that were true 'Rolling Stones', or those who detested everything about nobles (except their money), would turn down such an offer.
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"This seems like a lot. Sort of out of the blue, you know?"
 
"Trust me, I know, however, the others you've been working for? You deliver to them piles of salvage but probably offer you a pittance in exchange. They don't know just how valuable you are, Commander Jacob Mason. I, however, do, and I'm willing to pay good money to secure the skills of the Marauders for my Duchy. Given our current state and the levels of strategic importance we'll be reaching as time goes on? We're going to need all of the help we can get. You've got plenty of time, and it's not like this is a time-limited offer. Consider it standing, so... think on it, will you?"
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"Ugh," Jake swiped a hand over his face, the man lamenting that Ryana and Captain Falkheim were off enjoying their extended vacation.
 
He needed a drink and someone he could trust not to blab to the rest to talk this over with.
 
For a moment he briefly considered taking Fahad out, but the opinionated bloke was torn between gushing over the neat toys he got to play with and griping about all of the 'rules' that the Corean Techs were imposing on them while the rebuilds of their 'Mechs were going on. He could only imagine the amount of bitching he'd have to put up with once Fahad got a few drinks in his system, and he decided against it.
 
"Yeah, not a great plan." He winced and scratched at his nose.
 
One Mechwarrior who'd been with him since almost the very beginning leaped to the front of his mind.
thumb|Captain Yuri Wanko
Captain Yuri Wanko had been a DCMS Mechwarrior that Jake and Ryana had picked up at a Cantina on Tishomingo after protecting the planet's grain storehouses from a lightning raid by elements of the 3rd Galedon Regulars. The dispossessed Mechwarrior had been wasting away, deep into her sake cups when they found her. It was a perfect confluence of events- despite having been a DCMS Mechwarrior she was ronin, and during that same desperate defense, Candyman's Javelin suffered one too many shots to his cockpit that unfortunately claimed his life. 
 
The Marauders had a mostly intact 'Mech, but no pilot, and Yuri Wanko was a mostly intact Mechwarrior with no 'Mech.
 
With another contract hot on the heels of their current one, there wasn't any other choice but to bring her on board, and Jake couldn't say that he ever regretted it. She was not only a good pilot, but she had this air about her that kept heads from getting too hot around her; most thought she was a frigid bitch who didn't like to talk much, but nobody knew her like Mason did. He could see beneath the cold exterior to see the critical spaces underneath.
 
Early on there had been some very real worries about her possibly being a DCMS plant, but he felt that his radar was pretty well-tuned, and Ryana and Spear's contacts didn't find anything else on her except what she had in her Comstar MRB record. She was still watched like a hawk, but over the last ten years, he felt he could safely say that Yuri Wanko wasn't someone who'd ever betray the Marauders. 
 
Jake inhaled sharply.
 
Yeah, Yuri was the safest bet. She'd tell it to him straight without holding back, just as she always did.
 
With that, the Commander stood up, stretched, and after realizing that he was still wearing his Cooling Suit he decided that taking a long, hot shower would be in order before heading out to the Marauder's fancy accommodations in the city. Arthur Corean was setting up a small complex for them inside of the walls of Corean Enterprises, but those wouldn't be ready until the New Year, so for now Mason's Marauders would just have to slum it out in a Four-Star hotel in the Big City. 
 
Sure, having to drive to and from was a bit of a chore, but when he got to spend that ride in the up-armored luxury of a Lamborghini Typhon the experience was much more enjoyable.
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===New Equipment Briefing===
[Corporal Lance Teigart]
[NAIS Proving Grounds]
[New Avalon, Federated Suns]
[December 4th, 3027]
"Greetings, chaps of the 'Don't Tread on Me'!" Corporal Lance Teigart turned his head around to look at the voice from over his shoulder, and he was surprised to see a civilian walk into their briefing room; he had on a set of pressed tan fatigues with an off-yellow stripe running down the outside of the arms, and when he saw the unmistakable logo of Corean Enterprises on a patch on the left sleeve the AFFS soldier immediately knew something was going on.
 
The Corporal looked around and saw the other twenty-seven men in the briefing room with him look at each other in bemusement as the Corean Rep strode forward to the center of the front of the room, "I hope everyone had a smashing weekend, I know I sure did!"
 
A few of the men raised their hands and a couple of small cheers were let loose, but Lance kept silent. He wasn't one for merry-making or jokes, but more than anything he was curious; he'd been selected by his CO, Captain Yuzaki, on Friday and voluntold to wake up at zero-dark-thirty on Monday to get on an APC and be tracked out to a training barracks at the testing grounds. His Captain didn't offer him any explanation, nor did he ask, but the old Infantryman was keenly aware that whatever was going on was important. So when the time came, after reporting in at the Staff Duty desk upon returning from his weekend leave, he went straight to bed and got up at the appointed time.
 
All so he and the other twenty-seven fellows could sit around for the next four hours until a pair of vehicles could come around and pick them up. He'd heard some of the Young Blood complain about having to wait for so long, but 'Hurry up and wait' was the lifeblood of any military, and for all the AFFS were the best trained in the Inner Sphere they were no different when it came to making their soldiery show up hours early only to sit around doing nothing. 
 
The tall, mustachioed man clapped his hands before rubbing them together, "However, now that the 'Play' has been had, it's time to get to 'Work', lads! Now, I can see that none of you know me, but that's fine. I am Captain Julius Castillo of the Corean Security Forces, and I am your training representative for the next three weeks. A little about me..."
 
The man picked up a 'clicker' and stepped to the side so that the projector that came to life could display a picture up on the wall, "Eager to leave my sleepy little world of Neosho, I joined the AFFS the moment I could enlist. I spent the next eight months as part of the 23rd Infantry Training Battalion here on New Avalon before shipping off with the 17th Avalon Hussars based out of Cassias. Thanks to the frequent raids by the Combine in their attempts at destroying the ore refining facilities there I got to see plenty of combat."
 
The picture changed from the Corean logo to another one, this one showing the Captain wearing corporal's stripes while standing in front of an APC with thirteen other men, "So much combat in fact that I earned several battlefield promotions, first to Corporal, and then only a few years later to Sergeant."
 
Lance winced, and he wasn't the only one. Battlefield promotions meant casualties, and nobody wanted to be promoted because the man or woman above them fell.
 
Captain Castillo was smiling, a wan thing that didn't touch his eyes as he looked at the photo with no small sense of longing before he shook his head, "I served for eight years with the 17th Avalon Hussars before my CO decided that I was meant for bigger and better things, and at the first opportunity he shipped me back here to New Avalon where I underwent the Infantry Officer's Training Course, and subsequently the Q-Course with Detatchment L."
 
The Corporal felt his eyebrows rise up, and out of the corner of his eye he could see more than a few others sitting up a bit straighter; as part of the 3rd Davion Guards, the 'Don't Tread on Me' Regiment and the Davion Brigade of Guards, they were considered among the most elite in the AFFS, but above them stood the Special Services- the Special Forces of the AFFS. 
 
Lance had washed out of the Selection course almost a decade ago when he'd been a younger man in the peak of his prime, and he knew for a fact that the standards Detatchment L had were above anything else in the business. It had been a grueling six weeks before the Invigilators decided he didn't make the cut, and it damn near broke him. That had been only the first of three phases, so if the man in front of him not only survived the cut... well, his respect for him immediately rose a few more notches.
 
"After ten years of service to the First Prince I decided that I'd done enough, and chose to take my twenty-year retirement and my pension," He clicked over to another photograph, this one of him in a much more high-speed set of kit, a beard on his face, and a laser rifle held in his arms. Eleven other men were standing around him, but their faces were blacked out with dark ink, "Yet I was bored in retirement. You can only do so much of nothing before it starts to get at you, so I reached out to one of my old contacts out at Cassias and they linked me in with Corean Enterprises where I joined their Security Forces."
 
Another click, and another photo, except this one had an info-bar at the bottom that read 'MIIO G6 Classified - Internal Use Only'. The image was of the Captain standing in front of another individual who was wearing what appeared to be an Exo Skeleton of some kind, the man holding an unidentified rifle while the former Special Forces officer looked to be giving him some advice.
 
"I've been a part of Corean Enterprises' Infantry Advancement Division for little less than a year now, and trust me when I say that you're about to be the first to step into a new generation of Infantry Warfare, gentlemen," Captain Castillo clasped his hands behind his back as he stood stiff-backed, "Mister Corean has heard the long-echoing cries of the infantryman, and the First Prince has decided that after a few months of strictly confidential testing the new equipment which you're about to see is ready to begin introductory trials."
 
A hand came up, "So we're not the first ones to get this kit, sir?"
 
"Who do you think tested it first? I'll give you a hint." The mustachioed retired officer gave him a half-smile before clicking back to the previous photograph, and the hand was dropped.
 
"Now, unfortunately, you gentlemen will not be the lucky platoon to field test the first Generation of Infantry Combat Exoskeletons; that honor falls to another group of sterling individuals," He unclasped a hand and clicked to the next photograph, this one of a sleek looking, futuristic rifle that wouldn't be too out of place in one of the science fiction holos that Lance liked to watch with the boys on occasion.
"This is the Corean X1 prototype, the newest generation combat rifle that will hopefully be deemed worthy to be held in the hands of our fighting men and women," He clicked again, and the specifications for the rifle appeared on the screen side by side with the Federated Long Rifle, "Compared to the Federated Long Rifle, of which I'm sure everyone here is familiar with, the X1 prototype weighs in at a svelte 2.2 kilograms and fires a 7.2-millimeter projectile from a 45-round ferroglass box magazine."
 
The slide switched again with another click, showing off the polymer-cased munition, "This round is hot, lads. A 130-grain double-ended bullet capable of a blistering 1,150 meters per second gives it a very flat trajectory and a maximum effective range out to 1,200 meters. Not that anyone except a trained Crawler could make consistent hits out that far, but the round itself is certainly capable of it; in our testing, we managed a 32% percent hit ratio on a man-sized target out to its maximum effective range, and as we develop new lightweight optics for this particular cartridge those numbers will only increase. However, for now, we will be focusing on short-range optics, primarily the X1-RDS red dot sight. Though even then that isn't until next week."
 
The Captain folded his hands behind his back, "For this week we will be going over familiarization and nomenclature, cleaning and care for the weapon, and lastly, familiarization fire and weapon zeroing."
 
Steely brown eyes surveyed the room, "This is the 'Train the Trainers' crash course in the X1 weapons system. By the end of these three weeks I will expect each and every one of you to be able to field strip, clean, reassemble, and zero this weapon. You will know it inside and out, so that way you can train your fellows as to its operation. Just as you will learn the X1, three other platoons are conducting the same training with the X2, X3, and X5 prototypes. At the end of this training period, you will be teaching this weapon system to them, and while Corean won't be grading your performance, your Staff NCOs will. So do pay attention."
 
A hand went up, "There are other weapons, sir? This ain't all?"
 
Captain Castillo's hand came up and he twiddled with his mustache, "I won't show you what they look like, as that would spoil the surprise, but I suppose I can tell you a few things. The X2 is a very light machine gun, a squad automatic weapon. The X3 is a Personal Defense Weapon, a submachinegun, meant for vehicle crews and Mechwarriors. And the X5 is a prototype missile tube."
 
A hand went up, "So a new rifle, PDW, LMG, and missile tube... is there a sidearm, sir? An X4, if we're following the naming scheme?"
 
The Captain's mustache twitched, "Well, funny you should ask..."
----
===Gift of Protecting Unity===
[Hanse Davion]
[Fox's Den]
[New Avalon, New Avalon System, Federated Suns]
[December 4th, 3027]
The First Prince rubbed a hand over his face as the last of the day's meetings came to a close.
 
More than a few of his advisors were perturbed by his decision to delay Operation RAT by a few months in order to get a few more regiments equipped with the Corean refit kits, even if they were all rather pleased with the results of the current trials. 
 
Lighter, more reliable, and more powerful weapons. Of course, this early in the testing phases they could hardly see how well they'd hold up to long-term stresses, but by every metric they were meeting or exceeding the AFFS' standards by a fair margin. 
 
It was so amusing to Hanse that his strategists could intellectually grasp the importance of Arthur's advancements in the realm of Battlemech weaponry, but even when it was spelled out in black and white they were stiff-backed in their opposition. Only Yvonne Davion grasped why Hanse had been so excited, and while she had her doubts about the current roll-out plan without at least half a decade's worth of stress testing, she understood the gravity of the situation. 
 
Lighter weapons meant more armor to keep the 'Mechs on the battlefield, and to prevent structural damage that would see them held longer in a 'Mech Bay undergoing repairs. Lighter weapons meant more ammunition, a frequent sticking point with the Federated Sun's stable of autocannon focused 'Mech designs, and that meant more shots could be taken. Lighter weapons meant more heatsinks so that the Mechwarriors could fire their weapons more often.
 
Altogether, it meant that AFFS Mech forces could stay on the battlefield far longer than their unaugmented counterparts, and more weapons fire statistically meant that more enemy forces could be removed from the battlefield more quickly. This meant that less damage was sustained by AFFS forces overall, which further improved their battlefield endurance.
 
It was a self-reinforcing chain, one Hanse was keen to hold onto.
 
Even if only a dozen Regiments saw these refits, the knock-on effects it could have for Operation RAT would be staggering. 
 
Besides, with a few well-placed leaks to the right people about AFFS regiments going in for refits... it would further add to the surprise of RAT. After all, Maximillion Liao was currently unaware of their plans as it stood- pulling regiments away from the Capellan border for these refits would only cement the idea in his mind that there would be no aggression from the Federated Suns. 
 
However, that did mean that he would no longer be able to make his grand announcement at his and Melissa's wedding, which was a pity. He even had a whole bit worked out for it...
 
"Wife, in honor of our marriage, in addition to this morsel, I give you a vast prize. Here my love. I give you the Capellan Confederation."
 
It would have been perfect!
 
Would have been perfect, however, with the delay of RAT for these refits announcing his intentions in such a fashion would have been the height of foolishness.
 
"My Prince," Quintus Allard's smooth voice filtered into Hanse's ears, and he turned his head to see the Head of MIIO sticking his head in through the door of the Fox's Den, "A package came in for you. From Arthur Corean."
 
That made the Prince sit up a touch more straight in his chair, "Oh?"
 
"Like the ears on a fox perking up, I swear," The MIIO Chief muttered good-naturedly as he stepped inside the strategy room and shut the door behind him, and in his hands were two briefcases made from what appeared to be ferroglass.
 
The older man placed the cases on the table and Hanse was immediately on his feet, the Prince using a hand to move the slider controlling the lights all of the way up; he was no longer using the holotable anymore, so some better illumination would only help. His fingers tingled slightly as he flicked open the catches on the first case that Quintus presented to him, and he was greeted with a closed-cell foam interior, with the first thing visible being a leather holster for a side arm. He picked it up and ran his fingers over the smooth, glossy brown surface; it was a ceremonial holster, one that matched the same one he carried on his hip when he was administering his duties. 
 
The Prince opened up the flap and saw the Corean logo embossed on the interior of the flap, noted that it was indeed from Hamilton City Leatherworks, and he saw that the flap concealed the opening for a pistol as well as two buttoned magazine pouches. He grinned broadly, "Arthur did say that when he had a pistol designed I'd be the first one to get one."
 
Quintus made a noise in his throat but otherwise didn't comment as Hanse placed the holster to the side and removed the foam tray to reveal the weapon in question.
It was coated in Davion Green, with none of the frills one would expect from a ceremonial weapon- hardly a gold-plated part in sight! No, this was something that was true to Arthur's form- he expected that if there ever came a time for Hanse to draw this weapon then it would be business only. 
 
He picked it up and marveled at how feather-light the pistol was, and he pulled the slide back to safety check it before he played around any further; safety first, safety always! 
 
It was somewhat blocky, but there was no denying that it was ergonomic as it felt exceptionally good in the hand, with a nice grip texture that was not too aggressive but not too smooth either. A short, rectangular suppressor sat at the end of the barrel, and seated just in front of the slightly raised rear sight posts was a rectangular sight; Hanse looked down the rear slide and moved his head around a bit before he caught sight of a simple, 3 MOA red dot, and he nodded. Large enough to be acquired quickly, but small enough to be precise, and given the illumination levels it was plenty bright. 
 
He safety-checked it one more time before he ghosted over the trigger, and he was pleased when the trigger broke easily and cleanly, and after racking the slide he felt the reset was physical as well as audible- the trigger resetting cleanly with a nice 'click'. 
 
"Very nice," He mused as he placed the pistol onto the foam, though something caught his eye and he held it up to his eye.
 
In a flowing script words on the slide read, "For the truest of friends" and he flipped it around to see another line of the same script, "May this protect you and yours."
 
He smiled and slipped it back into the case before picking up one of the magazines, this one fashioned from Henan Crystal ferroglass as well, and he inspected the ammunition within to note that it shared the same cartridge as the PDW he'd had the pleasure to firing just a few months ago. 
 
Hanse ran his thumb from the bottom of the magazine's spine up to the top, "Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five... would you look at this, Quintus? Twenty-five rounds!"
 
The older gentleman gave Hanse a wry smile, "I can indeed count, my Prince."
 
The First Prince snorted at that and he looked through the rest of the case, finding a cleaning kit as well as documentation on the pistol, and he put it all away before turning his attention to the other case. He cracked it open and saw that the holster at the stop was in the Steiner Blue, and Hanse couldn't stop himself from smiling broadly as he pulled out an identical pistol to his own, though this one was in Steiner Blue as well.
 
Engraved on the slide read: "For the Lady who already has everything... Defend yourself. Defend our Federated Commonwealth."
 
Hanse inhaled through his nose slowly as he placed everything back into the case.
 
Telling Arthur had been nerve-wracking, to say the least, but if he was as enthusiastic about this union as Hanse was... then maybe the people would see it as well. 
 
The vision Hanse and Katrina Steiner had for their two realms.
 
A unified body between the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth.
 
The moment the case's latches were clicked shut Hanse picked the two of them up and headed toward the door, "And where do you think you're going, My Prince?"
 
With Melissa's case tucked up underneath his arm and his case in his hand, Hanse Davion looked over his shoulder at Quintus and smiled, "Why, to the firing range, of course!"
----
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I6