TBntG-3 Chpt 2

=The Bull and the Genie=
==Chapter 2 - Book III - The Clan Invasion==
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===First Strikes===
June 3045
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The first blow fell upon Arc-Royal. 
 
"So, Janice, what are you doing for lunch?" Tom asked at the recharge station's traffic control.
 
"I dunno, same thing I've—holy shit!" Janice shouted, as the jump alarm started howling.
There, among the civilian and military jump and DropShips, was a new ship. Its vast hull made of armor composites, heavy cannon poking out, sensors generating enough energy to burn out some of the detectors on the station. Then, behind it, in a coordinated move that had some part of Tom's mind wondering how they did it, four small ships appeared, followed up by two more ships. 
 
Then the computers informed them that they were facing four Congress class ships, an unidentified battleship, and two transports. 
And then the ships opened fire. 
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Star Admiral Wilma Bowes nodded as the readouts revealed the information. The assault ships had been picked out by their Bugeye, inserted into the system sometime before, and Achilles DropShips vanished under the fury of the fleet's fire. The fighter bays, larger on this variant, vomited their fighters and small craft, heading to the station. The station which was now sending frantic distress signals to the planet.
 
As intended.
 
"This is Star Admiral Bowes. Any resistance will be dealt with harshly. Surrender, and prepare to be boarded."
 
The surrender was not long in coming, and Bowes soon received reports from the marines that they had successfully gained control of the station. Prize crews would be put on any of the JumpShips that could be charged, and those that could not be would be destroyed. 
 
The station would not be destroyed. But the charging systems would be disabled, to the point where it would take months of work to fix them.
 
She smiled. 
 
He is a Ghost Bear, but I must thank him. We are finally allowed to use our Clan's strength. 
 
It was also amusing to see what he'd dig up next from those ancient, obsolete files. One of her friends had sent her the reaction of the Council to Frederick's newest (or oldest) innovation, "Hearts and Minds." 
 
Sometimes he seems more like a merchant than a warrior. You treated your lower castes well, she wasn't a Jaguar, but you couldn't coddle them. 
 
But now it was time to attack. The fleet shook itself into formation and started boosting for the world. They had charged themselves before disabling the station, leaving the crew and passengers behind. There had been some grumbling at that, but this wasn't a single raid. It was a mission, and she had no room for bondsmen. 
 
Other JumpShips were jumping in, no doubt in response to the HPG calls. 
 
No warships. That much was true. They were deploying their DropShips and fighters, but the big readouts showed the truth of the story—those units had not worked together. They should have remained by the world, using its curvature to shield themselves until they could launch a point blank attack.
 
He may be like a merchant in some ways, but he and his group were right. Frederick had claimed that the memory of the Succession Wars would lead to desperate attempts to keep the WarShips as far away as possible.
 
And I wonder if this group has nuclear weapons?
 
The fleet spread out, Pentagon Assault Ships and Titan class Fighter Carrier DropShips moving into their screening positions, the Congress frigates taking position around the CSR Victorious, with the fighters being held back until they were closer, as befitted their shorter endurance. 
 
Their enemy had clearly never expected to fight a fleet. 
The lasers on the Victory and the transports were set to AA mode, and started burning fighters from the sky, as the missiles and heavy guns of the WarShips did the same to the DropShips. 
 
The last few fighters that managed to meet their own newly launched and fresh Aerospace Fighters, died before they got in range of the flagship.
 
"Star Admiral. Did you note the capital missile launches, quiaff?"
 
"Aff, but they were not employed effectively." But they can learn. Wilma looked at the gift that Frederick had given every commander. Some had taken it as an insult, but she didn't. It came from some great Khan of Earth History, Napoleon. 
 
"You can ask me for anything you like, except time."
 
Wise. 
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The WarShips entered orbit over the panicking world. For six hours, they said nothing, while fighter sweeps flushed out the few remaining aerospace fighters and pinpoint bombardments smashed the few SDS sites on the world. 
 
Then a single announcement filled every frequency. 
 
<<"This is Star Admiral Wilma Bowes. The following sites will be destroyed in two hours. Any those who do not evacuate will die.">>
 
Militia and the Kell Hounds moved into position, around the named sites. It was clear that the enemy was trying to force them away before they landed and attempted to seize the named sites, but once they were down, orbital support would be far less of an issue.
 
But no ships grounded. No troops attacked.
 
The second after the deadline ended, the WarShips opened fire. Spaceports, DropShip component factories, and half-constructed DropShips vanished under the torrent of fire. Nothing else. Even the newly built BattleMech factories were left intact. 
 
To the defenders, the disdain in that act needed no explanation. 
 
Still, the assault on the world killed fewer than 2,000 individuals, most of them people who had ignored the order. 
 
And then, without saying anything else, the fleet departed. 
 
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"A strange battle, aff?"
 
"Aff." Wilma nodded. "But they are now helpless to influence the wider fight." 
 
We have taught them that. And a student can only learn when they realize that they are ignorant. We will teach them their ignorance, and then they will learn wisdom. They will learn the Clan way.
 
Hopefully before they learn how to effectively fight in space. 
As the fleet departed, the two supply ships started transferring consumables, ammunition, and spare parts to the combatants, replacement crews for the injured. They would be happy. Even counting the crewmen sent to bring the captured JumpShips to the rally point, the transports were still crowded.
But it would not do for a raiding force to have to return home after one raid.
 
The Atocongo system would be next, a world of almost no importance. Her bombardment officers were in fact trying to find something that was worth shooting. 
 
But that was important as well. Because what kind of immense military would be able to spare a battleship and its supporting fleet for a harassment raid? A number of the secondary targets were chosen to give the impression of a force so great that it didn't care if its targets were worth hitting.
 
Another tool to demoralize the enemy. 
 
It would also give the new crewmen time to get used to their fellows, in a low threat environment. 
 
With that, Wilma started work on the immense amount of paperwork that followed any battle.
 
Some things, it seemed, not even the Clan way could eliminate.
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Book 3 - 02