TBntG-3 Chpt 20

=The Bull and the Genie=
==Chapter 20 - Book III - The Clan Invasion==
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==Mary Makes Plans and Gets a Headaches==
===No idea where the road would end===
"Five days?" Mary asked, staring at the readouts. Which might as well be Greek for me.
 
"Yes, General." The Comstar scientist was speaking. "I mean, it's an incredible breakthrough. The two scanner KF cores provide a triangulation, and the sensors then provide information to the main computer. It was only possible when the 12th Theorem was solved by—"
 
"Someone who took advantage of our core?" Mary asked. 
 
The adept had the grace to blush, but Mary shrugged. "Never mind, long day. So why can't we get faster results?"
 
"It's… The computer power needed to refine the data is incredible. We had to rebuild what is more or less a modified CASPER core for it, and since you can't be near the scanners, due to interference dangers, speed of light delay actually becomes a fact or, and then the two receivers have their own HPG's which transmit the raw data to the core. If you'll look at page 3042, that shows the equations needed to compensate for interference from transie—"
 
"Forget I asked. So if we put these together, we have a shot of what happened five days ago, in a 90 light year radius."
 
"Yes."
 
"You have one prototype?"
 
"Yes."
 
"Good. I need ten. A hundred would be preferable."
 
"I—" The adept turned the color of new milk. "General, the expense—"
 
"That works. That makes it more valuable than a McKenna." Mary smiled. "Especially since this isn't the only little space surprise we're giving the Clans…"
 
"General?" Then the adept nodded. "Ah. Security." 
 
"Yes." Mary didn't get snarky, but she tried not to smirk. After all the years of you trying to stop it, human progress is going to win this war. Millions of theoretical scientists, mathematicians, people who had only been able to play with theories, now had the money and resources to experiment. 
 
Mary had no idea where the road would end, just that it was going to be a very bumpy road for the Clans. 
 
But let's not get overconfident. It's not just Frederick, but the smarter clans are reacting. Wolf and Ghost Bear had been deploying regular combined arms units, utilizing a mixture of Clan and SLDF doctrine, while the Nova Cats and Diamond Sharks were arming up with former slaves and pirate victims—and had quietly informed their neighbors that they would not attack, unless attacked first.
 
And that and a C-Bill will get you a cup of coffee. The need to maintain forces in case they changed their mind was pulling down her own forces, but… 
 
I can pull a Frederick and trap and destroy their main forces at New Avalon and Tharkad. It wouldn't just be a victory, but would result in the discrediting of the most aggressive and militant clans, the ones Intelligence believed would never seriously make peace. Mary wanted to wait until she could pull her preferred tactic of just Bull Rushing them across the entire border, but…
 
Kurita. Half of the Kuritans must have been separated from the Smoke Jaguars at birth and things were getting a little…
 
Oh, let's say it. If things were fine, Theodore would not have asked to have some of Hohiro's and Omi's bodyguards be from the Terran Bureau of Security. Or for the current insane plan he and Hanse have cooked up. 
 
The other problem was that Frederick's command had at least one full division that was too mobile by far, and their raids had proven his forces were well drilled—and on at least one occasion had pulled out when the situation had become untenable, instead of staying for the glorious battle.
 
He's planning a flexible defense, with that reserve ready to Sunday punch us if we get over extended. It would be nice to believe that Frederick hadn't planned for failure, that he'd launched his attack with the same brain dead aggression the Smoke Jaguars had used when they'd tried to raid the Kuritans and lost the best part of a Cluster because the commander had just been charging forward against a light defense point that he'd never considered might be a trap. 
 
Nope. Mary had a bad feeling that Frederick and his people had considered exactly how everything could go pear-shaped and how to turn it around. Which meant she had to give him something else to think about… Presuming the Magi had decided to give her the Christmas Gift she'd asked for. 
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===Trial by Fire===
TDF DesRon (Destroyer Squadron) 2 (experimental) 
Commodore Fernando White looked at the board, showing the five ships, all TDF ships seconded to the UMC, all based on the Federated Suns Corvette design, and the TDF support cruiser design, based on the old Volga design, which Comstar had helpfully supplied assistance on, since they had some Volgas. 
But we finished our squadrons first. Especially this one. 
In the corner of the bridge, looking like it had been added as an afterthought was the fast charge monitoring station, hooked up to the systems for KF collar 1. The design couldn't act like a battery. They'd tried that and lost the JumpShip proving it didn't work. But it could let them charge at the same speed as a close orbit at a K class star, or hot charge if they were willing to take the risk, and that meant that they could charge the core and KF battery at the same time—and the battery packs could be moved by conventional JumpShip. 
 
The next generation would have two enabled KF collars, but these ships had been already under construction when the system was proven, and modifying two collars would have been far too time consuming. 
 
You fight with what you have. 
 
And now they were moving out. Moving faster than the Clans expected, and each ship was festooned with the best of the new parasite designs, 36,000 ton ships, and mobile dock plugs, designs that could use one collar to carry a docking module and up to 6 small droppers, complete with supply and repair facilities. The TDF Bull's Horns would supply ammunition, fuel, replacement crew and if need be, extra dropships. Hopefully. Presuming that Captain Jellico had forgiven the rest of the squadron for renaming his ship the Cow's Teats.
 
"Stand by for jump." he ordered. 
 
By the time we're at Terra we should be ready, with all of our issues shaken out.
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===One on One with Victor Steiner-Davion===
"Captain," Mary said. 
 
"General," Victor Steiner-Davion replied. The only sign he was from the Federated Commonwealth was the little patch on his shoulder, the rest of the uniform being UMC. 
 
"Do you know why you're here?"
 
"My… actions?"
 
"Your actions. You were ordered to quickly disengage because your raid ran into an over-strength Jade Falcon unit."
 
"I found the best way back to our drop zone."
 
"Through some old Star League Era drainage systems, which I presume you'd studied beforehand, because they weren't on the modern maps."
 
"I looked at the historical maps, General." 
 
"Ah, and then you hammered the Jade Falcons in the rear, just as they were gearing up to hit the drop zone and shattered them." 
 
"Yes, General."
 
"What was your plan for failure?"
 
"General?"
"If the commander had kept his head, you were outnumbered by the Clan Mechs, most of which were configured for close range combat, in a situation where they would be using it. What was your plan?"
 
"The command lance could have held the Clans while the rest of the unit bypassed them. I had verified that."
 
"Which is why you're not on a flight to some training camp," Mary said. "You thought about failure, but tell me, why was it worth it?"
"General?", Victor asks
 
"You are the eldest son of Hanse and Melissa Steiner-Davion. You are the heir. You are—"
 
"I'm no more valuable than anyone in my unit!" the younger man took a breath. 
 
Mary nodded. "And that's worn on you hasn't it? Your sister almost got killed by a social general I couldn't get rid of until he gave us cause, and people look at you and wonder how much of your record is yours… and how much is made up."
 
A tinge of red touched his cheeks.
 
"I don't have to wonder. You're an excellent battlemech pilot, with a good combat record and you have an ability to keep track of what your teammates are doing. Which means"—Mary gestured for Victor to sit down—" that yes, you are more valuable. Not because you can trace your heritage, or because father and mother are great leaders, but because if you die, so will most of the people you lead. Entire armies have been destroyed by men and women who were too brave and not wise enough." 
 
"I…" He took a breath. "But we won."
 
"A battle. We need to win a war." Mary shook her head. "Good news, you're brave and smart, and we can do a lot more with that than we can with stupid or cowardly. So congratulations, Major Steiner-Davion. We're forming up a new unit, and since I am continually stressed for good commanders, you get promoted. Just remember, a battle is not a war." 
 
"Yes, General." 
 
"Now, you've Met Hohiro Kurita, correct?"
 
"Ah…yes."
 
"Since I didn't get any reports of riots, you and he got along."
 
"Yes." Victor shrugged. "We didn't talk much, it's a little…"
 
"Awkward? You'll have to lose that. He's coming along. You're first battalion, he's second. The senior battalion commander is TDF, don't worry, he won't check you for horns more than once, and the CO is Comstar. You'll have a chance to get to know each other, since we'll be having at least a few months of working up."
 
Where we would once have a year. 
 
"I see… Part of the policy to form non-national units."
 
"Officially. Unofficially, and this does not leave this room, Major, part of your job is to make certain no accidents happen to the Heir of the Draconis Combine."
 
"Accidents?"
 
"The kind that pop up with depressing regularity in the histories of the Combine." Mary watched as Victor's eyes narrowed. 
 
No, not an idiot, not at all.
 
"We'll be moving against the Clans…" Victor muttered. "Hard to slip anyone in… what Combine Units is he coming with?"
 
"Some people transferred from the Legion of Vega."
 
"Theodore's old people…" Victor paused. "You don't trust his own security and Terra is too easy to slip someone in. In space or on the front line, we can vet people." Then he frowned. "But why me? If I was trying something against Theodore, framing the heir to the Federated Suns for murdering the Heir to the Combine…" Then he looked up at her. "You want them to try, don't you?" 
 
"Well, people said you were smart. You don't need to know everything and this is very need to know, but let's just say we are well prepared to stop any attempt and track it back."
 
"I… but if they try…" Victor frowned. "Why now? The Combine is doing the worst of any Inner Sphere nation. Sparking some kind of problem now would be insane."
 
"So would butchering over forty million people by hand, giving the Federated Suns an atrocity to unite around while demoralizing your own forces." Mary shrugged. "People don't always make wise decisions. Dismissed."
 
And I can't tell you the other reason. 
 
Hanse, Melissa and Theodore were all aware that the biggest danger to the Inner Sphere wasn't the Clans. It was what might come next. And for all of his quite logical reason for putting Hohiro with Victor, Mary knew one was the idea that the two might hit it off and thus not use their shiny new militarizes to start a war when the Clans had been dealt with.
 
Which as politics went, "Hope the heirs hit it off and don't develop a life-long hatred" was right up there with "Hope Amaris just wants to have a nice Christmas Day party" in terms of not being exactly firmly grounded politics. 
 
But that wasn't Mary's problem. Her problem was hopefully ensuring that the Combine wouldn't do something stupid that would result in her entire damned flank coming unraveled. 
 
Especially since it was facing the Wolves, Ghost Bears and some of their allied units, who had evidently not slept through the lectures on strategy and tactics. 
 
Can't control what everyone else does. With that, Mary turned back to her desk and the endless piles of papers, emails, and frantic missives on stone tablets. They weren't going to read themselves. 
 
When was the last damned time I got to sit in a mech?
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