WP3025 Chpt 26

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==Chapter 26 - Winged Praxis (Battletech 3015 CYOA)==
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===Reasons for setting out===
Buquoy Memorial Spaceport
City of Jakarta, Fanardir
Fanardir System, Magistracy of Canopus
7th April, 3015
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"I can't believe that you're not still in that hotel," said Socks as we walked towards the meeting room. "You couldn't drag me away from a Canopian honeymoon with stampeding bulls."
 
I chuckled. "Maybe with the tiny bulls you grew up with. You wouldn't say that if you met a Ranger bull." I shook my head as Socks rolled his eyes. "But really, Wolf's announcement was a real mood-killer."
 
Which was true. None of us had been feeling amorous after hearing Jamie Wolf declare blood vengeance against Janos, least of all me, considering I knew some of what the words Jamie had used meant in the culture he had come from. The man had burned a world in vengeance for his family in another timeline, and now he was set on a warpath to the heart of the League. Worse, he had the support of Anton's faction in it. The Ducal Guards were of mixed quality at the moment, but after benefiting from the Dragoons' expertise, there was a chance that Anton was going to get his hands on this timeline's equivalent of the Ryuken. Add to that the fact that the Highlanders had stopped Janos's forces cold, and about the only good news was that actual fighting was at a bit of a lull for the moment.
 
Not that anyone expected Wolf to take a second longer than he needed to before starting his little crusade. It was dark days. I was worried about Circinian and Lyran adventurism in the Trinity, especially if Janos could manage to draw down the border any further, Diane was worried about Les Halles falling under Capellan rule, and Terri was terrified for her father and brothers, all of whom were Janos loyalists.
 
It had led to a surprising sort of intimacy as we talked about our concerns, supporting each other with closeness. It wasn't passionate, and it was something I hadn't expected when I put the ring on Diane's finger. Though if I was honest, I shouldn't have been surprised after she had listened to our story of how things went wrong on New Olympia.
 
"Okay," said Socks. "I can understand getting floppy after that bombshell. Dude was pissed. I'm kind of glad that Hussars are breaking for Anton. The fight between the military and the government is going to be ugly, but at least Wolf's not going to be reaving his way through the Principality."
 
"Hope not," I said with a grimace. "But he did make mention of those who stood with Janos being fair targets. It wouldn't be impossible to take on the Principality's planetary militias as a warm-up, maybe clear out some chaff for his new best Regulan buddies."
 
"That's a real fucking cheerful thought, Duster." said Socks, disgusted.
 
"And now you know why I'm not in the hotel suite," I said. "It's either try and do something or get blasted on the admittedly really fine Canopian drugs and try and forget the universe."
 
"Eh, stims and booze are good enough for me," he said, opening the door. "Guess it wasn't much of a choice."
 
"Not so much, no," I said. "After all, this leads to flying." I turned to my officers and lawyer. "Ladies, gentlemen. Let's see if we can't get this airshow planned."
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===Preparing for the new Arrivals===
"I think that it's a good idea to debut your new mercenary unit at this airshow Colonel." said Phillipa. "Marrying Captain Virgi..." She winced and corrected herself, "Apologies, Captain Zalman, has solidified your position, but it would be worthwhile to establish your mercenary bona fides even further. It would also make things easier to hit the ground running when you get to Canopus."
 
"By hitting the ground running, you mean?" I asked.
 
"I would think it would be possible to use some of the office and warehouse space adjacent to the spaceport for recruitment and perhaps for the pilot training program you've expressed a wish for."
 
I nodded and turned to Kumari. "Cliffhanger? Where do we stand on that?"
 
She frowned. "I have a curriculum worked up, but we aren't going to have much in the way of throughput, even if we do start with competent conventional air pilots. We simply don't have a supply of instructor pilots. Lieutenant Isobe has done a stint in tactical instruction, but I'm the only pilot we have who has experience with the whole training pipeline. We can skip the majority of atmospheric operations and tactical programs, but we'll still need to get them up to speed on the differences between an ASF and a pure airbreather, and they'll need the full void course, and of course, we'll need to do neurohelmet compatibility training. Luckily, the requirements for that are less than for 'mechs, but it could lead to us washing out otherwise promising candidates."
 
"How much less compatibility is necessary for an ASF?" asked Ikshita. I remembered that she hadn't quite been up to the mark for 'mech training, and Aitutaki didn't have an Aerospace Fighter track, shunting her into armor. Well, she certainly had the reflexes for it…
 
"More is better," I said. "We can see about crosstraining you, Lieutenant, but right now I need you heading up the armor program. Con air pilots might make for excellent blower drivers."
 
She nodded with a frown. "Without any armor, I'm going to be restricted to classroom learning. That isn't going to get us competent crews. They need hands on experience."
 
I bit my lip. "Well, armor tends to be cheap and available. We should be able to get something, though it might be Quickscell chassis."
 
"It'll make good practice for techs and astechs, if it is," said Kalpit, wryly.
 
"It's better than nothing," said Ikshita. "And we shouldn't go to far into acquisitions until we know what the bulk of our units will be. On the brighter side, it shouldn't be hard to pick up some veteran armor crews who want to go mercenary."
 
I nodded. "That is good." I turned back to Kumari. "You pointed out that we're low on instructor pilots. What about training craft?"
 
"Ideally, I'd like all three of our light fighters," she admitted. "Really, I'd like all of what we have, but I think you're going to need to keep at least a two air lances of ASFs as security."
I looked over to Vixen. She grimaced. "Promise me you use my Cheetah as the instructor bird." she said, nodding assent.
"That was my hope," admitted Cliffhanger. "I'll take good care of her if you do the same for my Corsair."
"Deal." said my wife.
 
"Do we think it's worth it making a play for getting some of the Dunianshire Sabres?" I asked.
 
"They tend to be hotly contested," said Phillipa. "They may only be light fighters, but they have the most secure logistical base in the Magistracy for fighters, and there aren't many of them per year. You may have to pay a premium for them."
 
"It's probably still worth looking at," said Kumari. "They make for solid training birds, and they're common across the Sphere, a desirable feature in a mercenary fighter."
 
I tapped my finger on the desk. "We'll explore the possibility at least. If nothing else, we might be able to snag one so that we can fill all of Queen Anne's bays in a pinch." I looked to Jai. "Since we're talking training, are you ready to expand your ad-hoc jump infantry school?"
 
"Sure can," he said, his successes with the Queen Anne's crew having bolstered his confidence. "Looks like we should be able to pick up infantry no problem, what with the mandatory service here. They won't be the same as professional soldiers, but it's going to be the motivated ones who want to go merc. And its nutty just how many combat medics they've got around here."
 
"Lucky us. Okay, so that's ASF, armor, and infantry schools at least ready to get going." I looked at Kumari. "Captain, I'm going to put you in charge of our training command to start with, along with running the ASF program."
 
She nodded, having expected that. "I'll need Candy," she warned.
 
"Everyone wants Candy." he said.
 
I rolled my eyes. "Well, Cliffhanger gets you."
 
"I'm so lucky," she monotoned. "We are still missing 'mech training, Colonel."
 
"We're missing 'mechs." pointed out Terri. "Makes the whole thing academic, really."
 
"I'm aware," I said. "With any luck, the first Southwesterners will be showing up within a week of us making planetfall on Canopus, and if the Lord is with us, some of them will have brought their own metal with them. We might also be able to pick up some local mercs with their own machines, but I intend to be recruiting pretty heavily from Trinity Worlders for our Mechwarriors."
 
"Don't tell me they all handle a 'mech like you do?" said Socks.
 
"Some are better," I admitted. "But it's a matter of loyalty as well. Southwesterners are going to inclined to side with me against any gringo. I know I can trust all of you," I lied, only knowing that about some of the people around the table, "but I don't know that about our new recruits. So, I want to stack the deck best I can."
 
"Makes sense," said Terri. "Do we want to make sure there's a cadre of Southwesterners in each of our branches? Just to make sure no branch can get too Canopian?"
 
I blinked. "If we've got enough recruits from the Trinity, it makes sense, sure. Just know they're going to want to go for the mechs if they have half a chance. Should make some pretty good infantry and techs, at least."
 
"LMS taught you to love flying," said Cliffhanger with a twinkle in her eye. "I'm sure I can repeat the feat with a few more of you."
 
"Es verdad," I admitted. "I'm not going to stand in the way of you working magic, Captain."
 
Phillipa tapped her stylus against her noteputer. She had been busily scratching away at it as we discussed. "Have you decided the name of the unit?" she asked. "We have the chance to get you established with the MRB here and use the airshow as initial advertising. It will be broadcast within the Magistracy at the very least."
 
I pursed my lips. "Don't we have a contract with Bankhead to do that under TASS's name?"
 
She shook her head. "Don't worry, they won't object." The certainty in her voice left no room for doubt.
 
"In which case, the leading name in my mind is the Coyote Mercenary Collective," I said, suppressing my mad, nigh-suicidal idea to call us the 331st Wolverines in the hope that it would pull the Wolf's Dragoons into a screeching u-turn out of the Civil War. 
 
"Aw," said Socks, "not the Coyote Combat Collective? Go for the alliteration, Duster."
 
"It's another option," I said. "But there's something about CMC that rolls off the tongue in a way that CCC doesn't."
 
"Zalman's Zambonis?" asked Jai.
 
"Que?" I asked, my local ignorance coming to the fore. "The hell is a zamboni?"
 
"It's something you use to level ice." said Vixen.
"For hockey." explained Jai.
 
"Yeah, no," I said. "That doesn't fly."
 
"With enough explosives, it would," said Diane, impishly. "But it probably wouldn't be a great name for a unit made up of mainly desert worlders." She pulled out a folder. "Which is why I think Duster's Devils is the way to go." She slid a logo in front of me.
 
"I didn't know you drew." I said.
 
"We've only been married a few days," she said. "I'd better still have some surprises for you at this point."
 
I nodded and examined the logo. It was a masterpiece of old school bomber nose art, a scantily clad, grinning, red-skinned she-devil with black flames for hair, riding a dust devil like a horse at full gallop, holding a six gun and cavalry saber in her hands. A tattered longcoat billowed out behind her like a banner. Upon closely examining the devil, I saw that Vixen had blended Terri and her features into the mascot.
 
My eyebrows raised, and I whistled. "That's quite the logo." I said.
 
"Been thinking about how to reinforce you're in charge for a bit now," she said. "Naming the unit after you does that. I figure that we can place squadron or company logos on the longcoat. I've also knocked together a low-vis version." She slid that over to me, a version with little more than silhouette and a few lines to make it readable.
"I love it, Vixen," I said, "but I'm not sure we can use it, gringa."
 
She frowned. "Why not?"
 
"The devil bit," I explained. "Cowboys and the Catholics take that mierda serious."
 
The others gave me an incredulous look. "You're kidding," said Jai.
 
"Wish I was." I said.
 
"You're telling us they would refuse to join a unit named the Devils?" asked Ikshita.
 
"Some of them?" I said. "Yes. And plenty of the rest wouldn't be happy. Don't get me wrong, it wouldn't bother the indios or my fellow cowboys, but…" I shrugged. "Sorry, dear," I said. "I really do like it."
 
Diane sighed. "I should have asked. Sorry, Duster."
 
"Wait," said Terri. "We can't use it for the whole unit, but what about the air wing?"
 
Our heads turned to Terri. "Go on," I said slowly.
 
"Well, we know that the air wing is going to be light on Southwesterners anyway, and it's likely to be where recruits that think Vixen should take over will be. It makes sense to name it after you, Gid. And I'll bet the most Trinity Worlders we get that are willing to take pilot training are going to be cowboys following your example."
 
I cocked my head to the side. "I can see it, yeah. Fill in with the odd indio and we've got a Southwestern cadre and my name on the most dangerous unit to cohesion."
 
"And you keep your wife happy." pointed out Terri.
 
"Always an important consideration," I said. "Okay, the air wing gets nice art, and the name Duster's Devils." I got a squeeze of my thigh from both Terri and Diane.
 
"What about parade paint?" asked Kumari. "Do we want to keep the scheme from TASS?"
 
I shook my head, thinking about the knock off of the Black Eagles in purple, gold, and silver. "Too complex, and that's really only optimized for ASFs." I drummed my fingers on the table. "My inclination is to say that we don't have a parade scheme. Let the sub-units or individual warriors choose their paint. We're a collective, after all, not one uniform thing."
 
Cliffhanger frowned. "That's not going to be good for discipline. I'd feel better if we had one scheme."
 
"Distracting Southwesterners with large scale art projects is likely to be worth it's weight in gold," I said. "Trust me on this. We need to do something with our natural exuberance. If it makes you feel better, we can make pauldrons, vert stabs, and turret sides a flat field of a color found in coyote fur and use that as background for unit insignia. Gray, reddish tan, black and white."
 
"It's something." grumbled Kumari.
 
"I'll get to work on something coyote-themed for the unit as a whole," said Vixen.
 
I nodded. "Thanks, Diane. In any case, I think I'm going to go back to my initial instinct and use the LMS mottled gray for my personal paint. No one can say I didn't earn it."
 
"Mind if I join you in that, Duster?" asked Socks. 
 
"Of course," I said. "Terri, Cliffhanger?"
 
Terri was already nodding before I got the first syllable of her name out. Kumari thought longer, then gave a sharp nod. "It's a good memorial to our lost comrades," she said. "But it needs to be something for us. I don't want to see it on machines of people who weren't there on parade."
 
"Agreed." I said. I was right there with her. If I ever picked up any of my old comrades, they could represent the defenders of LMS, but anyone else hadn't earned it.
 
"Hmm," hummed Vixen. "I might do the paint job I saw my first combat under as my parade scheme as well. It was a pretty good one."
 
"That might make for a good guideline for parade schemes," said Kumari. "First combat schemes."
 
"We can encourage it, but I'm not going to shut down creativity entirely," I said.
 
"Some of us haven't seen combat yet," pointed out Ikshita. "Maybe let art projects on the unblooded, but have people earn their camo?"
 
"That's a good compromise," I said. "We've got a couple of days to adjust things before we need to have it ready for the airshow, so if you come up with anything, now is the time. Once we go public, it's going to be a pain in the tuchus to change it. Ms. Kasparova, do you need anything else from me for setting up the unit?"
 
"Well, it would be best if you were there when the paperwork was filed."
 
 I suppressed thoughts of ROM blackbag teams swooping out to bundle me away in the lobby of a Comstar compound. "That makes sense," I said. "Shall we do that the day before?"
 
"I'll make an appointment, Colonel. If you'll excuse me?"
 
I nodded and she left, letting me tune back into the conversation over whether people other than the founders should be able to bring in their first combat schemes, or whether they needed to earn it as Coyotes, and what would happen if a person's first combat was an ambush on a parade or training ground. "Sounds like that would make for a hell of a story," I said. "Real mark of honor, maybe even make for better ties between the new blood and vets."
 
"What about earning camo as a Coyote?" asked Jai, who didn't really have a dog in the fight. "We don't want to be repping other merc units, or even worse, house units."
 
"Technically, I will be," I said. "And I'm leery of giving founding members extra privileges."
 
"We need to enforce at least some hierarchy," said Terri. "This is a way to do it. Especially with so many of us being so junior."
 
I nodded uncomfortably. "We'll see about a cutoff point. We're hardly established right now. Anyway, Vixen, you had the airshow menu worked up, yes?"
 
Diane nodded and passed the files to everyone. "So, since Socks is back up for piloting status, I figured that we'd give everyone a chance to show off. Cliffhanger, since you're the most experienced with announcing, I've got you slated for that, and Socks, you'll be taking the Corsair up again. T-Bone in the Stingray, Candy in the Centurion. Duster and I will be in the Sabre and Cheetah respectively…"
 
She continued on with our plans for the show, and for a while, I almost forgot about what was happening to my home. What I had set in motion.
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*; Words from the Author : A little bit of unit management, a little bit of culture, a little getting ahead on the plans for Canopus. By next chapter, the unit will be named, so if you've got any brilliant ideas I haven't come up with, want to weigh in on Coyote Combat Collective vs. Coyote Mercenary Collective, or have opinions about the painting traditions of the unit, now is the time. Speaking of naming ideas, the crazy idea to name the unit the 331st Wolverines comes from my intrepid (SpaceBattles.com) beta reader, LtDanAintGotNoLegs, who remains an incredible sport about giving early and timely feedback to this madness. 
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