TBntG-2 Chpt 24

=The Bull and the Genie=
==Chapter 24 - Book II - The Ninety-five Theses==
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==Dropping By to say Hi!==
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DropShip in Orbit, Helm, Free Worlds League - 3028
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"Lord Garth, I am Ardan Sortek, and the Captain-General himself has authorized me to assist in taking the suspects in the Sirius atrocity into custody. I have General Cheng with me!" 
Next to him, Mary waited until the light speed delay let Lord Garth get back to them.
 
<<"No!">> his voice was a little tinny. <<"If you attempt to land the Heavy Guards, I will take it as an act of war against the Free Worlds League.">>
 
He's using a DopShip link to a sat system. Mary frowned.
 
"What kind of forces does he have?" She muttered.
 
"Not the kind that can stand off a regiment." Ardan said.
 
"He knows it, unless he's a complete idiot." So unless he's an idiot, he wants to delay us. Why? Pride? Trying to capture them first? Or trying to kill them first?
 
"The League can be difficult at the best of times," Sortek said in a musing voice. "And Grayson would have been taking orders from Lord Garth."
 
"You think he gave the orders?" Mary shook her head. "But there was nothing on the world worth it."
 
"Unless he can claim Janos issued the order." Ardan shook his head. "But no, he has to know in that case, Hanse wouldn't stop with Janos."
 
"If we arrive when he wants…" Mary frowned. "General Sortek, how are you for high-G burns?"
 
"They'll be prepared for it."
 
"We jumped in as close as we could risk." Granted more to keep Grayson from escaping. "And my infantry union… It has some additions. WE didn't just use the saved weight from the mech bays for spas, after all."
 
"What kind of additions?"
 
"Four G max."
 
Sortek frowned. "I couldn't justify my people—four gs isn't going to leave most mech warriors good for much. But I could go—it's not what the mech can do, but what it represents, especially with the rest following."
 
"Well, let's get you checked out by our doctor." Mary nodded. "So let's drop in al little early on Lord Garth."
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Taurian DropShip Baby Carriage, High Speed Insertion, Over Helm, Free Worlds League
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Not all the fruits of the core had come in the form of guns. The SASF had long worked on high-G maneuvering systems and the tools needed to keep you alive. But the last of their long-ranged craft had died long before the current era and the Concordat had not had the money, nor the ability, to rebuild them.
 
Until now.
 
Baby Carriage (it had another name, but nobody used it), was easily twice as expensive as most Unions. It carried few weapons, but heavy armor, along with drop chutes for powered armor, two small craft bays to both recover the troops and bring along extra firepower, and a single lance of mechs.
 
One of only three existing combat infantry transports, it was a sign of just how important Edward regarded this operation.
 
Mary lay back, naked, in her acceleration couch. At four Gs, even a misfolded shirt could do damage, to say nothing of buttons, so nothing would come between her and the gel designed to minimize the stress of maneuver on her body. A few scanners were attached, to let the command know if any of his crew and passengers were in danger. A facemask was attached to her, and the medic gave her a thumbs up as the hatch was closed.
 
<<"Com check.">>
 
"Com check, Aye," Mary said. "General, how are you?"
 
<("Would it offend your dignity if I said I felt like I was about to star in a Canopan porn holo?")>
 
Mary snorted at the older man's comment. "You can't be, we didn't charge your bank account first."
 
ALL HANDS, ALL HANDS, STAND BY FOR ACCELERATION. We WILL START AT 1G, INCREASING TO FOUR GS OVER THE NEXT TEN MINUTES.
 
Well, here we go. Four Gs is going to strain the engines to hell and gone, and logistics is going to want my ass.
 
Hopefully they'll let me get dressed first. 
 
And then Mary felt the pressure start to increase. It'd be like this for quite some time, other than the mandated periods where they'd have to back off to keep their people combat capable.
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Sneaking up on a planet ran into one major issue.
 
The mechanics of space, meant that if someone saw your DropShip, they knew what course you'd have to take.
 
Looking at a DropShip spewing a kilometers long plume of superheated matter made finding it quite easy.
But Helm wasn't a front line planet, and its sensors were, to put it mildly, not up to the capabilities of a modern world. Better, the Dropships could "Jink" at the last moment, ensuring that the actual landing point of the ship would remain unknown until the last few moments.
 
Granted, that didn't account for Aerospace Fighters, but Mary was hoping that Garth wouldn't be insane enough to declare war on the Concordat and FedSuns, and if he was, that was another reason for the heavy armor—and all they would have to do would be to ground and wait for a regiment of extremely angry elite Federated Suns troops at that point.
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Sometime later, Mary was heartily regretting everything that had led to her ever leaving her world. The only good news was the laxitives and purge that were part of the preparations for this kind of high-G burn meant she hadn't soiled herself. But…
 
(("General,")) the captain's voice was strained. (("We've got confirmations of combat on the surface."))
 
"Can you localize where the Gray Death Legion is?", she asked
 
(("Not closely. They're apparently retreating to a mountain range, not terribly far from the old capital city."))
 
"Beam this message to them." Mary tried not to sound like an invalid. "To the Gray Death Legion. I am General Mary Cheng, here with the Prince's Champion, Ardan Sortek. You are currently wanted for crimes against humanity. However, you have not been tried, and as per the agreement between Hanse Davion and Protector Edward Calderon, I will transport you to Samantha to face a tribunal to determine what occurred. I give you my personal word that no harm will befall any individual I take into custody, and that any individuals, including your dependents, who were not aware of the events on Sirius, will be released unharmed, regardless of the findings of the Tribunal."
 
<("This is Ardan Sortek. I confirm General Cheng's promise, in the name of the Federated Commonwealth.")>
Mary waited. C'mon, be smart. Carlyle had nowhere else to go—
 
<<"Forgive me, General Cheng,">> the voice was smooth, not at all what Carlyle had sounded like in her intelligence recordings. <<"Grayson is currently occupied. I am Duke Hassid Ricol, I believe you may be functioning at a disadvantage, as Grayson Carlyle is an honorable man, and I have evidence that he was not involved in the atrocity. I would like to discuss this, and other matters, as your arrival has changed the situation.">>
 
"Who—" Mary's mouth snapped shut at Sortek's curse.
 
<<"Duke Hassid Ricol is from the Draconis Combine.">>
 
Mary blinked. Then said the first thing that came to her mind. "Well, that wasn't in the briefing."
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