AATiPDC Chpt 5

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==Chapter 5 - An American Tanker in Prince Davion's Court==
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General Hodges Residence, New Avalon
February 8th, 3028
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Two hours later, the end credits of Goldfinger roll. Kym Sorenson looks to Hodges and says "Was that really the way things were back then in the intelligence business?"
"Hardly, Countess. James Bond was a fictional character created by Ian Fleming based on his experiences in the Second World War, where he worked for Rear Admiral John Godfrey (who was Director of Intelligence for the Royal Navy). Though entertaining, Bond's exploits bear as much relation to reality as Shakespeare's play 'Richard III' does to the real story of the King."
"Indeed."
The next several hours pass in discussion of various topics, until just before 3:00 PM, Sorenson's communicator beeps. She quickly looks at the screen and says "General, the First Prince and his party are five minutes out."
"Thanks for the heads up."
Shortly thereafter, the two head outside to await Hanse Davion's arrival.
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3:00 PM
A staff car and two escort vehicles pulls up in front of General Hodges' house. While Hanse' bodyguards take up positions around the building, he and Hodges exchange greetings.
"Good afternoon, your highness; Welcome to my home."
"Thank you for having us, General. In truth, I've been looking forward to coming here."
Aside from Hanse Davion, the official party includes Field Marshal Yvonne Davion, Quintus Allard and Morgan Hasek-Davion. The group follows General Hodges inside, and takes their seats at the dining room table. Already, the dishes and salads have been laid out; last are the steaks that Hodges cooked with his own hand. A bottle of wine is passed around, glasses are filled and Hodges taps on his glass to propose a toast…
"The President of the United States"
From the perspective of General Hodges' guests, the office of President of the United States was last occupied nearly 1,000 years ago. For Hodges, however, the office was still occupied as of just a few days ago.
The First Prince stands from his chair and says "General, one of the reasons why I wanted to come here today is that there are topics of that I must discuss with you. I have consulted with my senior staff and decided to make attempts on the Helm and New Dallas caches. If they are as extensive as your information says they are, you will have my eternal gratitude."
"Thank you, your highness. Regarding what is to be done with the contents, the Helm cache is the more valuable of the two by far; therefore, you should make an equal split with the Lyrans. I'm quite sure that Archon Katrina would appreciate it. As for New Dallas, I respectfully suggest that you have multiple copies made and distributed. There two reasons for this; First, it will help disguise the smash & grab you did on Helm and the second is that it will get you major credit with the Capellans, the Kuritas and the Free Worlders. As for Comstar, the sensibilities of that toaster-worshipping bunch of morons mean precisely less than nothing to me."
"General, I am inclined to agree with your proposal. However, before I commit to its implementation, I'll have to discuss it with the Privy Council. In view of your value as an intelligence source. I have decided to offer you a commission in the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns; your rank would be that of Major General, with the associated pay and privileges."
"Well Sir, as I am, as they say 'between engagements', I will be pleased to accept your generous offer. However, I will point out that, as you begin to act upon the information I give you, history will begin to change. The more time that passes, the bigger the changes will be. Certain macroscopic developments however (such as your impending marriage to Melissa Steiner and the coming invasion by the Clans) are still going to happen."
"True enough, General; Minister Allard assumes as much…"
"Your Highness, there is also the matter of Comstar…"
"General, you have already made your dislike of Comstar known."
"Sir, you don't know the half of it. Those Ma Bell wanna-bes are hardly the neutral organization they portray themselves as. For example, they have an enormous stockpile of Star League-era mechs, artillery, vehicles and other equipment cached at various locations on Earth (as well as a small fleet of operational warships hidden in the outer reaches of the Sol System. In May of next year, they will carry out a false-flag operation against their own HPG station on the planet of Sarna (which planet being one of the targets in your planned actions against House Liao). In this action, Comstar will disguise its mechs as being part of the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers and use them to destroy the station; with this 'justification' in hand, Comstar will place the FedSuns under a communications interdict and reveal the existence of the ComGuards."
"General, I am not overly concerned about Comstar's interdict, as I have ways around it; none of us. However, knew about Comstar's secret stockpiles. For that information, I thank you once again."
"You're quite welcome, your highness. I am aware of those 'black box' fax machines and, though their transmission capabilities are limited. They will prove to be of immense strategic value in the coming conflict."
"Err, yes…"
"Your highness, while I was still in the hospital, I made myself familiar with armor doctrine and tank technology as it stands in the Inner Sphere today. I believe I can significantly improve the tactical capability of your tanks, as well as the operation effectiveness of your armored forces."
Just then, Field Marshal Yvonne Davion speaks up and says "What can you do for us, General?"
"Marshal, if you'll recall your military history, there was an engagement on Earth called the Battle of 73 Easting. I was there, with E Troop 2nd ACR under the command of Captain H.R McMaster. In that engagement, we were silver-bulleting enemy tanks at a range of 2,000 yards. By way of comparison, your own tanks are lucky if they can hit an enemy vehicle at 650 yards (less than one-third the distance…).
"Very impressive. What kind of weapons did you use?"
"The main battle tank employed by the United States Army was the M-1 Abrams. It is armed with a Rheinmetall 120-mm smoothbore cannon that had a barrel 44 calibers in length; Great Britain and Germany used the same gun (but with a 55-caliber barrel). The muzzle velocity of the U.S version of this weapon ranged between 5,200 and 5,700 fps. One of the reasons why the 120-mm gun was so effective was that we had a stabilization system for it.."
"Stabilization system, what is that?"
"A gun stabilizer is a system fitted to a weapon that allows the gunner to counteract the effects of his tank's motion, along with those of the target; a gun with a stabilizer can shoot as accurately when moving at full speed as it would while standing still."
Field Marshal Davion looks to the First Prince and says "Your Highness, the AFFS absolutely must have that system." Hanse turns his gaze to General Hodges and says "Can you help NAIS engineers develop a stabilization system?"
"I'd be delighted to, sir. Also, I can and will help your weapons engineers greatly improve cannon technology."
"How so?"
"Your highness, my father topped out as a brigadier general in the United States Army. Among his latter assignments were as the XO of the M1 Tank Test-Bed Project, project officer of the XM30 electrothermal gun project and project officer of the Component Advanced Technology Test Bed project; he was also the US Army's designated liaison with Lockheed-Martin on their M1 'Thumper' project. I have copies of my father's notes in my files; with this information, my own experience and proper engineering support, I can come up with a gun design that will hit your enemies like the hammer of Thor on a bad day. Look at it this way, sir; if you can hit your enemies and they can’t hit you, guess who wins?"
Hanse Davion nods and replies "I am convinced, General; let this be your first assignment for the AFFS."
"Yes, sir. May I respectfully ask that the Lyran Commonwealth be kept in the loop on this project?"
"Of course; the destinies of House Davion and House Steiner are about to be united, so any progress we make will be shared by them."
"Very good, sir." A moment or two of pause, then General Hodges says "Gentlemen, Ladies, dinner is served."
Once dinner is finished, cigars and beer are called for and served out on the front deck of the house. Afterwards, General Hodges says "Your Highness, given that you are going ahead with the attempt of the Helm and New Dallas caches, the movie I have chosen for tonight is particularly appropriate."
"What have you chosen?"
"It's an old war film that came out in 1970; it's called 'Kelly's Heroes."
As with the movie he showed Kym Sorenson, Hodges slots the CD into his player and the film's opening sequence begins to play.
Friends all tried to warn me but I held my head up high
All the time to warn me but I only passed them by
They all tried to tell me but I guess I didn’t care
I turned my back and left them standing there
All the burning bridges that are falling after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore…
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