WCGW Chpt 170

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==Chapter 170 - What Could Go Wrong==
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Thazi (Former Outworlds System)
1st September, 3044
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Five Lee Class Dropships lifted off at regular intervals from the former SLDF base, it was followed by a single Seeker Troop Carrier Dropship. Major General David Mitchell was hitting Onverwacht with most of the command. The 199th Light Horse and 2 Battalions from the 1st SaRI Jump Infantry Regiment were staying on Thazi as a garrison. First Battalion, 1st SaRI Jump Infantry was loaded onboard the Seeker Dropship. They would make their landing covertly ahead of the rest of the command and provide rapid extraction for their four volunteers, who would insert via shuttle closer to the main settlement.
While they had no clue how many people would depart with them, they did have spare room for just over 1,000 people without resorting to cramming them into cargo bays. The plan was to see if the four volunteers could influence and sway the projected enemy to lay down their weapons. If they could, then the rest of the unit would land, offer passage to Thazi and sweep the system. If forced to fight, the 1st SaRI would extract the volunteers while the rest of the command came in and cleaned out the pirates. 
Aerospace Fighters would sweep the reported moons for the mining sites there. If any were located, the Marine battalion (2 Companies) would sweep them via shuttles. The trip would take a month to complete, but taking them thru four systems, one of which was known to have held a SLDF garrison and two cache sites. Puttalam had been garrisoned by the 147th Mechanized Infantry Division in 2765. They knew the main base had taken several nuke strikes and the unit had suffered 36% losses before withdrawing from the system. That was all that they knew, the planet was roughly 8 days from the Jump Point, so they would just gather local stellar information for a return later.
Before leaving, Major General Mitchell had sent out his equipment request. He had not gotten a reply before they departed. He had another message being delivered to Inner End via Jumpships, which was another reason he was only using a single Star Lord Class Jumpship for this operation.
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Office of the First Prince
New Avalon (Federated Commonwealth, FedSuns State Capital World)
3rd September, 3044
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Prince's Champion Ardan Sortek handed the fax to First Prince Hanse Davion. "Message from SaRI, Highness. Another equipment and supply request."
"Another one? What do they want this time?" First Prince Hanse Davion replied opening the folded message.
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Highness,
I understand that the AFFC is slowly rotating out their VNL-K70 Von Luckner variant heavy tanks for Patton/Rommel. I would be interested in purchasing any that you have, at a fair price. I understand that they are no longer in production so I would also be interested in any spare parts you might have for them. All is well, moving to complete a previous operation that was placed on hold. Convoy enroute to usual location to pick up additional personnel and supplies. Will notify you of any good finds soon.
Major General David Mitchell
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"Well, at least it is not for the very best that we have. Do we even have any of those left around?" First Prince Hanse Davion asked
"I checked before coming over here. Of the K70, we have 182 in active line units and 93 in storage awaiting transfer to militia units as needed. We have another 729 of the other variants in various commands." Ardan Sortek replied
"Okay, kick the 93 from storage loose. They are old, but we also need to purchase replacements for those militia units. What can we get on the open market quickly?" First Prince Hanse Davion asked
"The Zhukov Heavy Tank should be fairly easy to come by. The Brutus Assault Tank is also fairly easy to purchase." Ardan Sortek replied
"Issue the purchase orders to replace what we are shifting to SaRI. Wait, we are violating our agreement. My footprint." First Prince said
"I was already prepared, Highness. I will have them placed on the market for sell as excess. But somehow, SaRI will be the first bid for them. All nice and legal. I will make sure they get a good parts selection. Figure 2 million each, fair price for those old tanks." Ardan Sortek said with a smile
"Make it happen, Old Friend.", Hanse told friend.
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