ALJ Chpt 9

frameless|right|300px|link=A Long Journey
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==Chapter 9 - A Long Journey==
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11 May 2784
Epsilon Indi (Terran Hegemony)
<<"We have a good capture, Commodore. ETA back to you is four days.">> Tug One reported
"Very well, good work, Tug One." Commodore Patricia Mitchell replied. On arrival, they had spent a week recharging the drives on all of her ships while trying to get a feel for where the wrecks were. It had taken several days to even locate one of the wrecks, after almost a decade adrift, most had moved into the outer systems which made them really hard to locate. But once they really knew what to look for, it had become much easier. Instead of spending weeks letting the Elephant Tugs chase the wrecks, she had taken the riskier course of having one of the Tramps carry the Elephant close to an identified wreck and then bring it back to her location at the Nadir Jump Point. They had repeated this method four times so far and recovered 2 Lee Mech Dropships and 2 Lee Combat Vehicle Transports. This was the fifth recovered, another Lee Mech Dropship. While technically wrecked, none of the Dropships were really destroyed, but all were severely holed and engines destroyed. Without some serious yard time, they were useless except for the cargo they had aboard them. All of the human remains had been transported to the surface and buried with full honors. 
"We have not located any other wrecks, so when Tug One returns we regroup and get ready to head back to Terra. Nav, go ahead and plot our return trip." She ordered.
"Aye, Ma'am."
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Terra (Terran Hegemony)
Loading their nine Triumphs had gone quickly, it was what they were made for. Notice had arrived that another three Triumphs, two Titans, two Mammoths, four Dictators, three Czars and two Jumbo Max Passenger Dropships were on the way just made things easier. It was loading all the vehicles into cargo containers so that they could be stacked aboard his four Mammoths that was causing all the headaches. Everything had to be just perfect to make sure there were no issues with flight stability on take off or landing in the atmosphere. His own Mammoth Dropships still contained the shipping containers that held his ill-gotten goods, plus armor, ammunition, spare parts, replacement weapons in addition to loaded containers from the Quartermaster Command that seemed to never end, this also threw their loading into some disarray. He had decided to leave his Gazelle Dropships behind, collar space was probably going to be an issue. This was a case of go big or go home.
He had no clue what a Jumbo Max Passenger Dropship was until he asked around and found out they had been modified to hold just over 14,000 passengers. They were going to be cramped, smelly and supply whores. Just like the combat Dropships, they were not designed for long distance travel. A normal Triumph after a month long trip had an ungodly smell to it that took weeks to clear out. Much less a trip that might take a year or more. He remembered the many long voyages he had made during the war and shook his head while grimacing at the memory. 
We are going to stop quite a lot on our way home, get the smell out and fresh air, he thought as he watched the loading operations silently. With what they had he was sure they could defend Mackolla from attacks and it would take nuclear weapons to break them. Mackolla was not on a House border where they could face a massive invasion, it was on the Periphery border. Yet in the back of his mind were reminders that pirates in the past had delivered serious bloody noses to SLDF commands in the past. He also knew that there were several Rim World warships and units unaccounted for, not many but a few. Not to mention any of the rebels that might still be active in the region. With what he recruited, he basically had his 322nd Armored Division, most of an Infantry Division and a Battlemech Regiment. 
"What's up, cuz?" The voice startled him and he turned to see Colonel Colin Blaine standing there with a clipboard. "Just thinking, that all your stuff taking up valuable space on my ships?" Lieutenant General Mitchell asked pointing to a seemingly endless caravan of transport trucks.
"Yes and no. Mine are just mixed in with General Kerensky's stuff. Seems you had some extra cargo space and the General is going to make use of it. Not sure what is even those cargo containers, it just made my task easier to intermix my convoy in with his. They have detailed three of those new monster Monolith Jumpships to your command. I already have the orders cut for your folks to crew them, they should be boarding shuttles now. One is going to head for New earth to pick up some stuff for General Kerensky and then comeback here." Colin said
"What are they picking up?" Lieutenant General Mitchell asked
 
"Not sure, but there were some Admirals really happy about having extra collars. They wasted no time cutting the orders. I do know that it is going to eat up four collars. You better hope your sister has some empty collars, it could be a tight fit." Colin replied
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