ALJ Chpt 12

frameless|right|300px|link=A Long Journey
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==Chapter 12 - A Long Journey==
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6 February 2785
Mackolla (Federated Suns)
The arrival of the convoy made the locals nervous, though some communication did calm them down some. That they were still identifying as SLDF, it made the locals feel just a little better. Commodore Patricia Mitchell established a local CAP for security at the Nadir Jump Point, having selected to arrive there instead of at the Zenith where the Olympus Recharge Station was to not overly scare the locals anymore than they had to. It took a couple hours for communication with their father, Colonel (ret) Gerald Mitchell, who quickly worked began working on getting them landing rights on the surface. A few hours later he had gotten them permission from the planetary governor to bring a single shuttle down for a meeting.
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9 February 2785
The meeting took place at the planets only space port outside the capital of New Custoneci. The planetary governor, George Nelson, had cleared an office area for this meeting. The governor position was one of a rarity in the Inner Sphere, with no actual noble for Mackolla itself but an elected position. Everyone got seated and water was placed in front of everyone.
"I must say that this is a surprise. I received no notice of your arrival nor about any SLDF personnel coming to our system." Governor Nelson said
"First, let me say that it is good to be home. It has been a long time since myself or my sister have been here or even seen our parents. Second, we are no longer a part of the Star League Defense Force. There has been a massive demobilization since the wars end. Myself and those with me are tired of war, I have been at war almost my entire career and am tired. What we all want is to settle down here at home, on Mackolla. I heard pirates have been ramping up their raids so we are prepared to deal with them if and when they arrive. Personally, my primary goal is to safeguard my home, Mackolla. I know the planetary guard is only a single Infantry Battalion, not nearly enough. I have with me almost two Division worth of troops, all veterans of the war. I think we can prevent any pirate raid. But I need your permission to ground my people on the surface." Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell replied
"Are you saying you have gone mercenary and want Mackolla to hire you? There is no way Mackolla could afford hiring you." Governor Nelson said
"No, sir. We are not mercenaries. What I am saying is that we want to make Mackolla our home. For a few of us, it already is, and we are ready to defend our home. Even I have not figured out the payroll situation, but I will some how. I am sure that you will need permission from possibly the First Prince for anything to be permanent, but we have been traveling for over 7 months and would really like some ground time under our feet and to air out our Dropships. They are pretty funky right now." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied
"Your correct, this is way above my pay grade. But as Governor, I can grant you landing rights. I doubt our space port is even remotely large enough to handle all of your ships, so for right now, you will have to land on the continent of Peel, more like a very large island. There is fresh water, but no local inhabitants there. It is mostly jungle or rain forest. You can take your shuttle over for a survey if you like, but that it about all I can grant you at this time, though if you need fresh food, I will make sure you have all that you need, we grow quite a bit here and ship it off world to nearby systems, at least until I get some guidance from someone above me." Governor Nelson said
"I will gladly accept your offer of landing on Peel and we might take you up on the offer of fresh food. We have a large stock of combat rations but those get old really fast. I will be waiting on any news from above. To make communication with me quicker, I will have one of my shuttles bring over a communication truck, though you must understand I will have a security detachment with it." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied
"I have no problem with that, General. I will even make arrangements for it to be housed in one of the warehouses here at the space port. I will ask for guidance as soon as I leave here. For now, welcome home, sir." Governor Nelson said shaking hands around the room.
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