TBntG-2 Chpt 12

=The Bull and the Genie=
==Chapter 12 - Book II - The Ninety-five Theses==
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==The Invasion of Sian - Part I==
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===Facing red eyes of an angry bull===
Throne Room, Forbidden City - Sian, Capellan Confederation
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The streets of the Forbidden City were quiet. 
 
Inside, however, all was chaos. 
 
"Celestial Wisdom, the Taurians have deployed a fleet at the jump point." The officer pointed to the blazing red icon. "They failed to take the recharge station before it could send us a warning, but now their entire force is burning in, nearly sixty DropShips." He paused. "Our defending forces did some damage to their first echelon, but the war forced us to strip some of our long-range defenses. We did not anticipate this."
 
"They are thinking to invade… Sian? Our Capital!" Maximilian Liao's hands clenched on the throne, while next to him, Candace Liao remained silent. 
 
Romano Liao was not. "They will die! We will send their bodies back to their masters and burn Samantha City to the ground!" 
 
"Yes. Do we have enough forces to destroy them?", Max asked his commanders.
 
"I… Sir," the officers looked at each other. "It would be best if we were to let them make orbit, so we could support our longer ranged—"
 
"No! Do you even comprehend the damage even an unsuccessful invasion could do? This is our capital and it will not be sullied by barbarian hands! They will be broken before they reach orbit, and their tattered remains will be paraded for the people!"
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===The Naval Battle of Sian===
Deep Space - Sian System, Capellan Confederation
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Orders were given, and every available ship was scrambled. The enemy fleet did not turn away, although it started spreading out, to the confusion of the officers. The Taurians should be massing, to protect their troop ships.
 
Still, they would not question their good fortune. 
 
Most notably, the two forces were nearly two days away from contact, and would meet far from Sian. No barbarians would land on the motherworld of the Confederation.
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"Keep those engines running, Sandra." Mike said.
"Doing my best," the engineer told him. "But being that we're the only people on this crate…"
 
"Yeah," he said. The Mule Cargo DroShip had been captured, along with its JumpShip. The entire reason for grabbing the JumpShips and civilian DropShips, in addition to the obvious benefits, was to have this "fleet".
 
You had to get close to a DropShip before you could start seeing what it really was. This far away, and Mules and DRoSTs DropShips looked an awful lot like Leopards and Unions, especially if you knew how to play games with the drive plumes.
 
"So, being that we don't even have gun crews, when are we boogieing?"
"When we get the flash." Mike said.
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One moment, the pirate point was empty. Far from any battles. Unimportant, with even the small craft pulled away.
And then it was full of JumpShips. Most arrived safely, but one Tramp appeared, the JumpShip and DropShips looking like a twisted metal sculpture, with no survivors.
But the death toll was still less than they'd have faced fighting their way in, and even as the planet below them reacted with shock, every single DropShip deployed, even as the Union CVs started spilling out their fighters. 
 
Not so long later, the "fleet" heading for Sian, started boosting to the side. Moving away from the defensive forces that were still accelerating for them—and away from where they needed to be.
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===Readying the Defenses===
Throne room of the Chancellor, Forbidden City - Sian, Capellan Confederation
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Justin Xiang(-Allard) walked into the command post, chaos surrounding him.
 
"Recover the ships!", barked Chancellor Liao 
 
"It will be nearly three days before they can return, Celestial Wisdom!" The admiral was pale. "They were boosting to intercept the decoy fleet! First they must—"
 
"Recover the SHIPS!" Maximilian Liao howled, spittle flying from his mouth. "We will destroy—"
 
"Father," Candace said. "You cannot command the laws of physics. We must prepare for their attack."
 
"Prepare! We will crush them," Romano snarled. "The Warrior Houses stand ready!"
 
"Yes…" Max paused. "Yes, that can be done. We will make the city their tomb! Order all militias—"
 
"Father," Candace said. "The militias will simply get in our way. It would be better if they were to handle crowd control, especially since we do not know where they are going to attack."
 
"The palace?" Justin asked. 
 
Max laughed, contemptuously. "The palace is sealed and on lockdown—even an entire army couldn't get in before our forces return."
 
The forces you were using as a reserve, what little of one you have, to stop the Suns. Win or lose, unless the Taurians were utterly, improbably crushed, they'd just suckerpunched the Confederation. Max had already sent out orders for units to be pulled back, and they'd arrive here too late to do anything—but just in time to leave avenues for the Federated Suns to push through.
 
Did you plan this? Justin shook his head. Hanse was many things, but for this....he bet he'd be just as surprised as everyone else.
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===Planetary Assault with a Warrant===
The DropShip TCC Protector's Vengeance, In System - Sian System, Capellan Confederation
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At 18,000 tons, the Protector's Vengeance was the second largest hull the Concordat had fielded since the Amaris Crisis. The larger ships were back home, held as a surprise in case of disaster.
 
Fine with me, Captain Hanks thought. "Tac, do we have our targets?"
 
"Confirmed, Sir. Standing by for your order."
 
"Commence missile launch." Protective shields retracted, revealing the AR-10 launchers, while gunners selected the proper missiles. Moments later, the Protector's Vengeance and its three fellows were salvoing missiles at the rings of military bases surrounding the Celestial Palace. 
 
"Looks like we've caught their attention, sir."
 
Hanks nodded. Rising fighters, their formations choppy, probably mostly reservists who hadn't expected this, were frantically charging the heavy warships—and that meant they'd have to run a gauntlet of the escorts. 
I wonder if they're panicking, or if the people giving them orders are panicking?
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"Move it!" Section Leader Judith Chen shouted. The Union CV was crowded, not just with fighters, but with troops. The Victory bomber had a very roomy, very nice internal bomb bay.
Which, when people were talking about power armor units, led to someone pointing out that said bomb bay could be a people bay. And that from the outside, you couldn't tell the difference. 
 
The palace complex had lots of big guns. Good for stopping 'Mechs. It had lots of little guns. Good for stopping regular infantry who couldn't carry a hundred or so kilos worth of armor. 
 
Pity they had just that.
 
"Right!" she said as the troops moved into the crew space, checking their one-shot landing boosters, hooking themselves up to the lugs that would keep everyone from getting mulched by the bomber's maneuvers. "We're jumping at 10,000, remember your briefing. Our primary goal is to take out the palace defenses, and to enter the palace itself. Secondary goal, if we can, is to capture the Chancellor—alive. The District Attorney for Samantha has a nice room for him that shouldn't go to waste." The growl from her men was feral. "Remember, they're gonna be fighting, and nobody's ever said the Cappies can't fight. We're tough, but not Superman, and that means you, Willis."
 
The trooper in question, grinned, and patted the old comic symbol on his shoulder. "You're just jealous."
 
"Sure. I don't have comic book anatomy, what woman wouldn't be jealous?" Judith waited for the laughter to die down. "Right! Final checks and if you didn't piss before, it's too late now!" 
 
And then the speakers squawked. <<"Attention, Capellan government!">> 
 
Judith grinned. I wonder how the people on the ground are responding to finding out why we're here. 
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===Outrage and Explosions===
Command Post, Royal Palace - Sian, Capallen Confederation
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Everyone was silent in the command post. Nobody dared speak. Not with the echoes of the… inconceivable insult still echoing in the air. 
 
<<"To Chancellor Maximilian Liao, this force is here to arrest you in obedience to the civil detainment order and indictment handed down by The Samantha City Superior Court, First Department, at the request of the District Attorney. You stand accused of 50,021 counts of murder in the first degree, five hundred counts of arson, multiple counts of soliciting murder via the promise of payment, conspiracy to use a WMD, conspiracy to violate the rights of Taurian citizens and… the improper disposal of hazardous waste within the city limits.">> 
 
<<"If you surrender yourself to my forces, your safety will be guaranteed, and counsel will be provided you when we return to Samantha. Please note that I have civil law enforcement officers here who will take custody of you. You are not being detained as a POW, but as a criminal suspect.">> 
 
"Was that tight beamed to the palace?" Maximilian asked, his voice oddly calm.
 
"No, Celestial Wisdom… It was a planet wide broadcast. Now we know that they are coming for you—we should move you to a secure—"
 
"I WILL NOT MOVE FROM MY PALACE. WE WILL KILL THEM, KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM! THEY HAVE MOCKED MY PERSON TO THE ENTIRE PLANET, AND I WILL HAVE VENGEANCE!", screamed Max
 
And then, dimly heard through the mass of the palace, there was the sound of impacting warheads.
 
The Taurians had arrived.
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