CHS4-6

==Chapter Six - Book 4 – Chappy's Howling Siegers==
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===The Retirement and a Job Offer===
War Council Room
Operation Liberate
Niles, Freedom Federation
December 1st, 3029
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Local Time: 0900 GST
Bharat Sanzgiri sat on a bench against the outer wall of the old capital building. At one time this was only the seat of power for the planet, now it was also the capital for a new faction. Of course, it was a faction of one planet, so he was not quite sure why he was here. Well, he knew why he was drunk and answered a net call, the prerecorded message asked him to verify his trip to Niles to discuss his future and the dime was on them. As he looked out the window to the courtyard and the downtown beyond, he notices the architecture was a mix of Davion and Kurita, simply because ownership of this planet would change every few years. He continues to wonder why he was there. Two years ago, his wife of 32 years died, a year later he married his only daughter to a man he loathed simply because he was a merc. He wanted better for his daughter; he wanted her to marry a doctor not a mercenary scum. That is when he decided to retire from the Syritis Fusiliers, then a week before his retirement and two weeks before the prerecorded message he received an communique. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the folded communique, carefully he unfolded the paper and read it yet again.
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Date: 30 October 3029
From: General Matthew Chapman Commander of AFFF
To: Colonel Bharat Sanzgiri, AFFS
Unit: 10th Syritis Fusiliers
Status: Retirement
Colonel upon your retirement from your glorious carrier from the Federated Suns Armed Forces, please make haste to the planet Niles, which is currently the capital of the Freedom Federation, for an important discussion about your future plans; not only for you, but also your family and the rest of the universe. We have a great opportunity here for you. You come highly recommended. Be here no later than 1 December 3029.
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Bharat looked at the communique and ran his fingers over the two crests at the bottom of the paper. When he first saw those, he had no idea whose crest they were, but now he knew the left one was of the crest of the new nation Freedom Federation and he assumed that the right one was some kind of crest for this General Chapman, he also assumed that this AFFF organization is this planet’s form of a military. When coming into the solar system all view ports on the DropShip were covered so he had no idea what the capital looked like he was not a fan of mysteries, so he was very uneasy. At that moment, a Captain looking completely crisp and fresh walked up and told him they were ready for him.
As the retired Colonel walked into the inner chamber he was taken by surprise and stop short at the door jam. He recognized the three gentlemen in the room, the first one he knew personally, he was Duncan Bovet the lowlife that took his daughter from him. The person on far right he recognized from recent news vids, he was the new Intern President for this planet Malik Henry….so that means the tall and muscular man in the middle must be General Chapman the one that requested his presence.
 
“Colonel Sanzgiri so glad you could make it, I am General Chapman let me introduce you to the Intern President Henry, and of course you know Colonel Bovet.” Chapman said. As the handshakes were finish General Chapman motioned him to sit down and proceeded to talk. “I am not sure if you are aware of what is going on, Colonel….” Sanzgiri raised his hand and interrupted General Chapman “Please call me Sanzi, I am retired now.” 
General Chapman looked at him and continued to speak. “Well… I am hoping that you will come and join our forces you come very highly recommended from you son-in-law and I have always found that family usually have each other’s back during hard times.” 
The general raised his hand as Sanzgiri was about to say something else to quite him. “I have a unit in need of a good commander it has 'mechs, tanks, and infantry each a battalion size with a wing of fighters, dropships and a JumpShip assign to it, all would be under your control. Before you say anything though know that within a month time you will see combat, are you interested?” Sanzgiri sat there stunned. 
The general continued, “Of course I cannot give you any details about the combat until you sign on and pledge alliance to the Federation, but do know this it will be groundbreaking, it will change the shape of the universe, and more importantly it is with the full blessing of the First Prince of Davion. Sanzgiri sat there and thought it out in his head, he has always been loyal to the Prince it was ingrained into him since a child, he knew from stories on the net that the General was childhood friends with the Prince, more importantly he has never been higher than a Battalion Commander, this would be his opportunity to show his worth, to show that he can lead troops to victory. “Yes, General and Mr. President I will join and take control of this unit.” 
General Chapman stood took Sanzgiri hand and said. “Welcome to command of the Duncan Renegades 3rd Group.” As he shook his son in law hand, he knew that this was a mistake, even if he was in command of his own unit, it was still under the umbrella of his son in law the one man that he wanted to kill. On the flip side if Bovet is here maybe his baby girl was here to.
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===Raid off in distant world===
36th Avalon Hussars
Operation Dragons Tail
Federated Suns
December 9th, 3029
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09:00 GST
Leftenant General Valeria Skidmore, the youngest general (that was not of noble blood) in AFFS history threw her flimsy down on her new desk, and rubbed her blue eyes, and then ran her fingers through her curly black hair. She knew that the First Prince Hanse Davion had a nickname ‘the fox’ but until now she did not fully comprehend how much trickery and deceit this one man could do. Of course, he had help, but no one really knew the extent of it until the orders came down. Somehow the First Prince had hidden a secret army and by the looks of it, ten regiments unknown to the world will be involved in next month’s surprise attack. He had also orchestrated a new faction into life on the Kurita borders to relieve some of the pressure off of the Draconis March. He also got married to the Steiner Princess last year which will mean that one day a Davion/Steiner would rule over both Great Houses.
Her unit was one of those unknown entities and no one in Kurita space will understand and realize what unit landed on Huan until months later. Intel reports, that there is only the local militia, the 36th Avalon Hussars boast a two battalion, and one company of BattleMechs with a company of artillery a battalion of Armor and an AeroSpace Wing. Seems like a piece of cake, there are concerns for her now that she has read the mission packet. They are three things, what if the Intel that they get from AFFS command is wrong and the enemy force size is larger, second concern is the goals of this mission, first goal is to take control of a small town called Keyoon just outside of the town there is a water plant that makes clean water for the entire sector of space. Then because of the shortage of DropShips and JumpShips for this operation they will have to leave to carry out another mission. Which leaves the whole unit having to march 8600 miles to the capital. The third item of concern is the weather, more importantly the rain in the plains and also the snow covered mountains that will have to be transverse to get to the capital that sits nestle to a large mountain range.
As she was still mulling over the complexity of moving an entire regiment 8600 miles there was a knock at her door. “Ma’am? You got a second?” said Leftenant Colonel Grose. Leftenant Colonel Danny Grose is her right hand man, her XO he is a strong, tall man of African descent and had an air around him that said I am a stud and know it. “Yes Colonel, please have a seat what can I do for you?” “General rumor at the comm suite is that orders have come in, no worries they would not tell me anymore than that.” “Danny, why in the heck would there be orders?” Skidmore said, then a twinkle showed up in her steal blue eyes and she sighed. “Ok, Ok, yes there are orders, the mission is a go we are to muster and be ready by December 31st.” She then proceeded to hand him the orders so that he could read the goals, and Intel.
 
As he looked over the mission packet, the General got up from her desk to get some coffee. “Danny, you want some coffee?”“Yes please, General.”“How do you like it?”“Ma’am, I like my coffee like I like my women, black..” “Ok Colonel, I will remember that one.” the general said and then chuckled.
 
Leftenant Grose looked up after some time and a few cups of coffee, “what was high command thinking?” “Moving 8600 miles through plains, forest, and mountains will not be fun and it won’t be quick.” 
“Yup, I know, Danny, not fun at all but it has to get done, I want you to coordinate with the section chiefs about this plan. We still need to keep it on the down low but when the transports show up on 26 December and the whole unit packs in people are going to know something is up. Let’s just make sure they don’t have a clue where we are going to.
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===Lurking in Plain Sight===
Command Bunker, Fire Base Freedom 
Operation Dragons Tail
Planet Skye, Skye Province
Lyran Commonwealth
December 3rd, 3029
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03:00 GST
Colonel Devlin was waiting in his office for the call to come in. The call that he had expected months ago after he kicked Holstein to the curb. All had been silent until the notification earlier that he was supposed to wait for a call from his benefactor. While waiting he started to remember how he got here.
Almost ten years ago…
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Main office of Duke Aldo Lestrade IV 
Lestrade Palace overlooking a valley 
on Lestrade Continent 
Summer, Skye Province 
Lyran Commonwealth
March 1, 3020
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07:00 GST
As Duke Lestrade sat in his chair behind the expensive wood desk, he went over the current events of the Inner Sphere. He hated what the Archon was doing, he hated Draconis Combine, he hated his father, and he hated the Free Worlds League. He was full of hate, but he did love power & he saw a glimpse opportunity at this moment. There was a movement that was gaining momentum, a movement that could lead the Skye Province free from the Lyran Commonwealth and Federated Suns, and with the right actions could lead him in power of the province. The trick will be to make sure he was there when it happens, and to make sure he had enough loyal followers both in civilian government jobs and the military to ensure he was the first ruler of the future free Skye Province. He was, after all, the leader of the Federation of Skye, so it would only make sense to be the new leader of a free Federation. He had plans within plans to achieve his goal. From influencing some of the Archon’s closest family members, to even a plan to kidnap her daughter when the time was right, Aldo had plans. The first one that he was going to enact upon was about to start any moment. Right then a knock on the door and a servant entered. “My lordship, Hauptmann Devlin is here to see you.” “Let him enter, and bring us some tea.” The Duke said, and went to sit at his desk again. 
As the Duke watched this young man of average height and weight walk to his desk, he thought this kid bearing was strong yet unassuming, perfect person for the job as one of his puppets. 
With a stiff and sharp salute, Hauptmann Devlin said, “Sir Hauptmann Edward Devlin reporting as order!” then continued to stand there at attention. “Excellent soldier, very good now have a seat.”
 
“I am sure that you are wondering why and or how I was able to call you from your post with the 3rd Skye Rangers.” The Duke continued. “I am in need of your unique services and qualifications to stand up a new army, one based solely for the purpose of defending Skye and when it is needed to defend our beliefs.”“Our beliefs?” the Hauptmann said, “what beliefs is that, you lordship?”
 
“Come now soldier, I have been following you like a hawk for three years now.” The Duke revealed, “we all know of your desire to have Skye free from the poor decision-making that is going on right now.” 
“Hauptmann Devlin, I want you to be the new commander of the new unit 4th Skye Guards, this unit will answer only to me, I don’t care about how you do it but within 10 years I want a full regiment, and the command team loyal to Skye, which means me, is that understood Colonel Devlin?” The realization of what just happen to him was like a fog that lifted out of the valley, as the Duke got up from his desk and handed Edward a box in which held two pins showing Colonel. “Sir, yes Sir I will get right on it sir” Devlin said, “Good, you and your unit will be stationed on Skye, in the north, at a base called Firebase Freedom, after you have successfully gathered enough men and trained them to field a company let me know and I will start tapping you so that your unit can gain experience. There are already 30 mechs, 20 tanks, 10 fighters in mothball there and I will have more units moved to your location in the future. Now get going” the Duke said as he opens the door to the outside.
 
A woman stepped out of the shadows and asked the Duke, “Do we trust him?”
The Duke looked at the tall lanky woman, “As far as I can throw him. He has made several statements and taken action that lends me to believe that he will be on our side, but just in case I need you to be there to make sure everything stays on track.”
As the sky car took Colonel Devlin to the Space Port, he made a list of what to do. First, once he got to his hotel room, he would have to make a secure call to his mentor, then to the one person that he wanted as his XO this man always thought outside the box. Although he was not part of the Rangers or the Lyran Commonwealth military, the soldier had been fighting against tyranny for a long time, since his background was with the Outworlds Alliance the new XO, if he accepted, would oversee training the fighters and all air operations. Edward had the pleasure of meeting and fighting with him in a rare joint mission. “This is Colonel Devlin get a hold of Nicholas Robel, his call sign is Xenon have him contact me through this channel tell him it is urgent.
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Present time…
Colonel Devin shook his head and notice that five minutes had passed the call had not come through yet, he started to think about the past again.
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Two years ago…
As the Colonel was waiting for the connection, he looked over the readiness report of his fully operational Regiment, as of this moment due to some of the men sick, and a few pieces of equipment in for maintenance they were 98% Combat effective, not bad considering 8 years ago him and his Atlas was the only thing on the roster. 
“Edward, pleasure to see you. I take it this call is about the most recent news?” the person on the other line said. “Yes, is there any other info that you can share?” Edward said, “Sending you a file, its top secret but even then some of the document has been redacted” person x said. Edward then asked, “Thanks, do I need to prepare the men is it time yet?” 
“No, not yet, but soon real soon,” the person said on the monitor as the person cut the transmission causing the monitor to go to the standard symbol of the 4th Skye Guards. 
Colonel Devlin was looking at the document that was sent by his benefactor just a few moments ago when the Sergeant on duty knocked on his door, Sir Duke Lestrade is on channel 5 for you” “Thanks, I will take it in here” Devlin said 
“Duke Lestrade, what can I do you for?”
“Colonel Devlin, how long is it going to take to get my Regiment up and running you have had eight years.” the Duke said angrily. “Events are moving faster than I imagine we need to move soon and fast." 
“Duke Lestrade, you gave 10 years it’s only been 8, but I might run over the 10 years also. I have to make sure that the people I hire will do what I say therefore I take my time on every hire to make sure I know their loyalties lay in line with what the 4th Skye Guards are going to be.” 
Duke sighs and seems to calm himself. “Ok, Colonel then what is your strength size as it stands right now?” 
Colonel looks at his Readiness Report and gathers himself up, this is the part of command he hates, deception. “Sir, we have a Battalion and a half that are combat ready of those two companies are out in the field, 3rd Company are on Baxter and 1st Company are on Moore both doing training with the local militia.” 
“Ok, Colonel, we need to get to full strength hurry up the process, I did give you 10 years but I need the unit now because of what is happening. Remember I put you in charge I can demote you in an instance” with that the Duke cut the transmission.
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Nightly news 
FNN station 
Skye, Lyran Commonwealth 
April 22th, 3029
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07:00 GST
Sad news coming out of Summer, Duke Lestrade died early today, details are not forthcoming as officials are tight lip, but we can confirm that there is an on-going investigation into his death. He had no known children so the title and such will be in escrow until a suitable person or organization can assume operations of his corporations and any other affairs he may have been working on.
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October 8 3029
Col Devlin was relieved in a way no longer will he have to hide the true strength of his forces since the Duke is dead. “Sir, a call from the commander of the 10th Lyran Guard on line 2 he requests a private and secure line.” “Ok sergeant I will take it in my office” Colonel Devlin replied. 
“Yes, Field Marshall Steiner? What can I do you for?” Colonel Devlin said 
“Colonel, call me Fredrick. No doubt you have heard about our Duke? He and I were great friends and supporters if you know what I mean. I have been following your progress, and I am concern however about your numbers. So I am sending an attaché to look over your forces. His name is Clovis Holstein.” 
“With all due respect, Sir, while I know who you are. I did not know you as a friend of the Dukes and so I am doubtful of everything you have said.”Bold 
“Colonel, you will do this or I will have you demoted and thrown out of the service!!” 
“Field Marshall Steiner, I have been threatened before, and I am still here. Send your emissary but I cannot guarantee his safety or hospitality.” With that, Colonel Devlin cut the line. Colonel looked up at the crew manning the command bunker all working hard not knowing that things are about to change. 
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Three weeks later 
He was dreaming, he was dreaming of a time that was simple when was that, ah yes his wedding day peaceful, full of energy, the bride was stunning, the perfect day. As his bride was walking down the aisle, a sudden loud and angry beeping noise came from the heaven, it scared him awake. Then he heard the beeping noise again; it was his bloody communicator. “Devlin here.” “Sir, sorry to bother you at this hour but a person by the name of Clovis Holstein said he is here to look at the merchandise.” Leutnant Mark Duncan said. “Thanks watch tower, hold him beyond the gate until I get there” “Sir, Yes Sir “then the line went dead. 
The Colonel went outside the wall and met up at the checkpoint where the intruder was being held. The wall was not much to look at but it was a miraculous thing to behold anyway, 50 feet high 20 feet thick and circle a square mile of a tournament style stadium, where the units of the 4th Skye Guard drilled. The building that showed could house two companies of mechs at any given time so that spying eyes would only see that. The beauty of this base was that everything else was underground or inset into the wall. Underground there was room for 4 battalions of mech, armor, aerospace, and soldiers each. If people like the Field Marshall or his lack dog Clovis found out it would be bad for business. 
“Mr. Holstein, I am Colonel Devlin I am sorry you wasted your time, but you are not welcome. I don’t recognize your authority so go.” As Devlin turned around and started to walk away, he could hear Holstein yelling. 
“You will not get away with this!!! Soldier, I am under direct orders from Field Marshall Steiner to inspect this facility!!! Colonel Devlin is in direct violation I am ordering you to arrest him.” 
Leutnant Duncan did not give it a second thought when he said “Mr. Holstein remove your ass from my station, or I will shoot it off for trespassing.” 
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December 3th, 3029
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Present Day
On his monitor, the 4th Skye Guards symbol when to the Comstar symbol showing that a message was coming in. 
<<“Colonel Devlin I heard a few months ago you had some fun. I took care of that, personally I would rather be there face to face to accomplish this next task but duties prevent me from it Colonel Devlin it is my great honor that for your sacrifice and dedication you have stood up a fully qualified fully combat regiment therefore I am promoting you to Leutnant General”>> Nondi Steiner said. <<“All those years have paid off for you Kreedo, from the spying and being a mole in Duke Lestrade camp. Now the time has come even though I don’t like it to prepare….” 
The next day at the Weekly Commanders meeting, everyone was looking at the new shiny Leutnant General Badges on Devlin uniform. Devlin stood up and started the meeting. “Ok guys, yes I have been promoted, we are also listed officially as a full regiment in the Lyran Commonwealth, no more hiding. I know some of you have been concerned and wondered what I was doing, and I just wanted to say that I appreciated your trust, and I am honored that all of you are with me. Now there is another matter to attend with we need to muster every part of this regiment, dropships are coming in 4 days we are loading up and will be on route for about 31 days. We are attacking Kessel, where if Intel is correct, is the current station of the 12th Sun Zang Regiment.
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===Waiting for the Outcome===
SpacePort
Delacruz, Draconis Combine
December 27th, 3029
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Tai-sa Decker exit the dropship and notice that there was nothing but brown, brown everywhere, he picked up his pro-gear and went to the bay doors to retrieve his Marauder. As the tech was transferring his mech from the bay to the cargo truck a Sho-ko came up to him.
 
“Sir, I am here to deliver you to the barracks and get you settle in.”
“Lead the way Sho-ko, hey what is the day now I always lose my timing during space travel.”
“Sir, in three hours it will be 28 December.”
Decker thought to himself as they got into the hovercraft, Not much time now, I am either right or wrong in a few days I will know.
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