BoTH Chpt 50

==Blood on the Horizon - Chapter 50 -==
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===Unexpected Recruit===
Location: EidolonDate: July 13th, 3004
"Major Hull," someone knocked on the door of the room I had been using as a temporary office.
 
"Come in," I replied, setting aside the reports I had been reviewing.
 
The door slid open, revealing a frail-looking brunette, her form swallowed by the PT gear she'd been loaned.
 
"Captain Johnson," I stood up and greeted her. "How are you feeling?"
 
"I've been better," She smiled a bit. "But don't let any of the enlisted hear about it. They think this is just a normal Tuesday for me."
 
"I'll keep my lips sealed," I laughed. "I'm pretty sure that you didn't just come in to discuss that sort of thing with me though."
 
"I want to sign up," she leaned forward, resting her elbows and forearms on the desk, her green eyes flashing in the harsh artificial light. "I've read the history that you have available on the Concordat of the present day…" She trailed off for a moment as she seemed to get lost in thought before shaking her head and refocusing. "I won't fit there, it's not the Concordat I grew up in. For the others, they might be able to make it work, what with them having family that survived the freezers. But I don't have that."
 
"I'm not one to turn down a good hire," I replied. "But is your only reason for not wanting to go back because of not being able to adapt to the current state of the Concordat?"
 
"No," she sighed, a tired look coming over her face. "There are other reasons, but they're my own."
 
"Alright," I nodded. "If that's your decision, then we'll process the paperwork and get you brought in. I unfortunately can't just bring you in as a senior officer right away. Even if you do have the experience for it."
 
"I understand," Johnson replied. "I just have one request."
 
"You want your 'Mech." I finished. 
 
"She's mine," the woman replied. "And I have the paperwork to prove that I own her."
 
"We weren't planning on holding all of them," I admitted. "But given we've got a decent amount of staff from the Federated Suns, we didn't want to give y'all access to them until we'd had the chance to explain ourselves."
 
"Understandable," the officer nodded. "But I still would like to join."
 
"Then it's a pleasure to welcome you to the Marksman," I shook her hand. 
 
"Speaking of which," she commented. "Why is it Marksman instead of Marksmen?"
 
"That is a story better suited for a bar and a group of friends," I replied with a grin. "Because it involves paperwork SNAFUs and MRB guidelines."
----
"Look," Doctor Adamina Rogers sighed. "I'm more of an exoskeleton girl, but we can figure out how to pack up a factory and load it onto the Jumbo. It'll just take a little bit of work."
 
"I just need a solid ETA," I replied. "And I can send you as many bodies as you need to throw at the problem."
 
The engineer chewed on the end of a pen in though, removing it to tap on the notebook that she held. 
 
"Call it two to three weeks?" She asked. "I can't guarantee that it'll be done in that timeframe, but that would be my rough guess."
 
"Alright," I nodded. "Just let me know what kind of manpower needs you're looking at and I'll make sure that you get it."
 
"I'll have it to you in a couple of hours," Adamina wrote something down in her notebook. "Major, if you don't mind me asking. What are you planning on doing with the factory?"
 
"It's a factory that makes Toros," I replied. "I'm giving it to the people that it belongs to."
 
"As a Taurian Citizen, I appreciate it, but I also have some questions about why you'd do that. Especially when one of the larger states might be willing to pay you a lot of money for the intact factory."
 
"I might be a mercenary. But I know that there are many more forms of currency than cold hard cash. Favors and an entire nation being in your debt is not a bad thing to have."
 
"If you're sure," the Doctor shrugged. 
 
"Doctor Rogers," I set my shoulders and rested my hands on the desk, my fingers interlaced together. "This wasn't just my decision. We had a command staff meeting about this. And when we asked for your presence, you said that you were busy. After the meeting concluded, you were sent the minutes and agenda of the meeting as well as the decisions that were made. I understand that you are busy with research and that you are trying to do something new. But that is no excuse for you to ignore the other responsibilities of your position. So, to make you aware of it. We are not in the civilian world anymore. Command staff meetings are mandatory. If you are not present at one in the future for anything less than an emergency, there will be consequences. And if you do happen to miss a meeting," I shrugged. "Because you are human and it will happen in the future. Then you review the meeting and ask questions so that you're not left in the dark. Am I understood?"
 
"Yes, Major," she gulped and nodded. "I understand."
 
"Good," I allowed myself to relax. "I'll take a look at that manpower list that you have once it's available. Until then, I have work to do."
----
===Reviving old Beasts of Yesterday===
Date: August 1th, 3004
Location: Eidolon
"I don't need them to be refitted to what we have on the other DroSTs," I sighed, looking at Hober, Katherine, and the work crews. "I appreciate the efforts, but we can do that later. We need them spaceworthy and able to hold people and cargo. That's it, nothing more, nothing less."
 
"But what about defense?" the Lieutenant asked. "We're going to be transporting them from here to the Concordat, we need to be able to defend them."
 
"That's what the first two refits and the ASF squadrons are for," I replied. "We can do the refits later. Right now, we have priorities. Get them ready for cargo and passengers, and ensure they're spaceworthy. The Black Eagle's work crew is already finished and is going through the tests now. So strip the two that we can't fully repair in a decent timeframe, and get the other two ready to go."
 
"Aye sir," the Lieutenant responded before turning and beginning to supervise his work crew. "You heard the Major. Want teams Alpha and Bravo to strip DropShip Foxtrot, on our last survey that was the DropShip that would take the most to get repaired and modernized."
The crews dispersed and the sound of plasma torches, cutters, and welding devices were heard as the crews focused on the one DropShip.
 
"So, DropShips Charlie and Delta's status?" I asked.
 
"I've got the reports here," Katherine Smith (AKA Katrina Steiner) handed me a clipboard. "We're not too far off schedule, but we still have to do a full check of the life support systems on Charlie, and ensure that the conduits and power is working through all of Delta."
 
"You have a week," I glanced at the Lieutenant, making sure that I wasn't glaring anymore. "I understand your caution and the decision that you made. But there are some other things that we need to be worried about right now."
 
"I take it some of it is beyond my pay grade, sir?"
 
"For the moment, yes. Just know that the more quickly we do this, the less chances we have of something going wrong."
 
"Understood," Hober nodded, his long legs carrying him over to the two DropShips that were being repaired, a 'noteputer finding itself in his hands as he climbed in to diagnose problems. 
 
"Major, I have a few questions if you don't mind," Katherine pulled me to the side. 
 
"I have answers," I replied. "Let's hope that they match."
 
"What are your intentions for the Jumpships that are at the jump point?" 
"For them to remain there aside from the other Leviathan. We're already going to be catching attention for growing so fast. And I'd rather not have the Successor States paying a lot of undue attention to my unit. But I'm sure that eventually, I'll pay to have some of them repaired and transported back to known space. Most of those ships are history, and I'd like for them to be preserved as such."
 
"If you ever decide to do such, remember to keep me posted," the woman responded. "I have some connections that might be willing to assist with the funding for that sort of thing."
 
"I'll keep that in mind. Now, Ensign, I'm pretty sure that they need you over there," I indicated the DropShip where her work crew was. "And I have some paperwork to attend to."
 
"Right, understood, sir," the blond-turned-redhead joined the teams and began working.
 
"And now for the fun bits," I sighed.
----
===Monitoring with hidden threats===
"You're certain that this is a list of all of the agents that have infiltrated the unit?" I asked.
 
"You can never be a hundred percent certain," James Dunham replied. "But it's as good of a list as I can give you."
 
"So two noncoms, someone's wife, a mechanic, and the three that I brought to your attention," I flipped through the document. "Any idea which nation they're from?"
 
"One of the noncoms is MIIO," the large man shrugged. "Based on behavior, she's simply reporting which nation we're hired for and base unit strength. If we ever ended up on a contract against the Fedsuns, she'd find a way to leave and give all of her intel to them. But as long as we don't have an issue with them, she should be fine. The mechanic is a spy for the Canopians, and the wife is probably working for TMI. But she's not able to pass on a lot of information due to not having access."
 
"I'm not worried about her at the moment," I waved aside that concern. "Unless the marriage is a sham, we can deal with a TMI agent that passes along the occasional location information. Which leaves the other noncom."
 
"I have no idea which nation she's a part of," he replied. "But she's passing on every scrap of data that she gets. Oddly enough, while her technology training is top-notch, it was her lack of knowing how to cover for herself that got her caught. She tried to transmit a data package so large that the unit ended up getting charged a fee."
 
"She got caught because of a transmission fee?" I raised an eyebrow. "That's not a joke?"
 
"You'd be surprised at how often the little things are what gives people away," the Terry Crews lookalike shrugged. "But either way, we're ready to deal with them when you want."
 
"Leave them be for now," I stroked my beard. "But when we take care of them, I want that sergeant taken care of first."
 
"And you want us to leave the Lyrans alone?"
 
"Yeah. They're going to be our inroad into the Commonwealth later. They might be exiles right now, but I have a feeling that they'll be much more important than that in the long run."
 
"Understood," Dunham stuffed the reports into a nearby shredder. "If that was everything, I'll get back to work."
 
"Remember to get some rest," I reminded my S2. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."
----
===Eidolon Salvage Report===
August 1st, 3004
The Details of what was recovered from planet Codenamed: EIDOLON during the second visit are as follows.
 
3000 people, mixed civilian Specialists, Scientists, Engineers, and military personnel from colony.
(Notes from Chief Medical Officer Doctor Janet Hale)
 
Approximately ⅓ of all personnel suffered physical damage from being in crystasis for the long period of time. While our medical supplies and resources are enough to treat the physical damage, we don't have the capacity to treat the ⅓ that suffered from minor brain damage. The last ⅓ are completely functional aside from loss of muscle mass. They will be the easiest to handle, provided they are willing to undergo a diet and physical regimen to return to proper health. Our food supplies are strong, but we're going to have to keep a careful eye on the health hazards.
 
(End Notes)
-1 Black Eagle Class Dropship
-2 Drost Class Dropships
-1 Leviathan Class Jumpship
-24 Toro Light Battlemechs
-4 Talos Medium Battlemechs
-1 Light Battlemech factory
 
(Notes from salvage teams are as follows.)
 
(Dropship team)
The dropships will survive the trip back to the Concordat, but I want them looked over by a solid repair team once we make it back to civilization. I don't want to leave anything to chance in case we screwed something up.
 
And we're going to need to find a source of spare parts. Because we basically used everything we could salvage from Eidolon for the Black Eagles. I can find DroST parts on the open market pretty much whenever I need to. The Black Eagles, they're near-extinct. So we're going to have to either hand make any spare parts, or pay someone to set up a factory somewhere. Either way, it's going to be expensive.
(Jumpship Team)
 
Repairs went about as expected, we hit a few snags on some of the seals we brought with us being bad, but luckily we were good about bringing some spares with us. So we now have the Whirlwind and Tornado ready to leave with us.
----
The Toros are in fantastic shape. They were mothballed properly and it shows. And don't even get me started on the amount of spare parts we grabbed for the things. We could build another company out of Spare parts alone!
 
I'd recommend we sell the lance of Talos that we found. They're ammo bombs waiting to happen, and the Concordat might like to have them as museum pieces.
 
Regarding the factory we found. It's not a full Star League era factory, but there are some advantages to it being a couple of steps downward from one. For one thing, this is intended to be operated by people, and the fabrication software and hardware is something that any industrial world should be able to manufacture and accomplish. While it's not as automated as other factories, this should be able to be more easily fixed. And, if I read the documentation on things right, then it can be upscaled or downscaled as needed as well as being fairly mobile. (Which we proved by packing it up onto the Jumbo…)
 
I fully expect that while the factory is valuable, the scientists and other people that were in the cryopods are the true treasure that we found on Eidolon. Several of them had notes and documentation among their personal effects that should accelerate project Tolkien's progress by years, if not decades. Either way, we're going to be busy for a little while.
 
(End Official report)
…..
…..
 
File Encrypted…
Please Input Decryption Key…
 
…Decryption code accepted,
Welcome, Major Hull…
Begin Classified Message…
 
 
Major,
 
The data core that was recovered in the factory has had several copies made and stored among every ship in the fleet. All documentation is to be classified under the same restrictions as the data from the Phoenix.
 
Please see attached report for more details.
 
Lieutenant Dunham
 
End Encrypted Message…
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*;Author's note: Dunham's backstory will be explored in a sidestory I'm going to be writing called "Debts and Debtors. It won't be updated as often as the main thread though.
*Wiki Notes: Record Sheet for the Back Eagle Class Dropship (3015 Refit) - Downloadable here - **It will instantly download**
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Chapter 50