TBntG-3 Chpt 10

=The Bull and the Genie=
==Chapter 10 - Book III - The Clan Invasion==
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==Opportunities Seized; Opportunities Lost==
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===Regrouping===
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How can things go to shit in less than two weeks? Mary shook her head, magnetized boots holding her to the ground. She didn't know where half her forces were—with only a few parasite warships, they couldn't come together.
 
That meant she had no idea how many people were going to make it. The smart thing to do would be to stick to uninhabited systems—but that didn't account for damage or malfunction in a place where there was nobody to signal. So Mary had scattered her forces, groups of two or three Jumpships, jumping in further away than they had to, recharging and heading back out.
 
She wouldn't know if it worked until she got to Terra.
 
But right now, they were charging, and the Comstar ship she'd been allowed to use had a portal HPG unit.
 
"We've lost communication with Tharkad, but Melissa Steiner-Davion didn't get off. Rumors are confused, she either refused to leave or the space situation was too dangerous to try, but she's issued a call for resistance by the military and civil forces." Edward Calderon told her.
 
Mary shook her head. "That could go poorly, Sir." Untrained civilians up against Battlemechs? Sure you could make a city ungovernable, but… Well, the Clans were ex-SLDF, and if they decided to crib from Forlough's book…
 
"Mostly passive resistance," Edward replied, "But there will be hotheads. The thing is, so far they don't seem to have brought enough troops to truly occupy the place. Transmissions from New Avalon seem to see them seizing military bases, power and utilities. Most patrols, so far, are more in the way of showing people the forces can't chase them out."
 
It makes sense. Everyone wargamed invading a high-population world, just to show what a bad idea it could be if you were there to seriously invade and not just kick the local militia around. A world like New Avalon, with seven billion people? You'd need millions of troops to occupy it, more than anyone save the old SLDF could amass and transport, and there was a reason the Reunification War had taken twenty years.
 
An invasion where most of the world won't see the invaders… Still, the impact… The Clan's were willing to let Comstar broadast some things, like the Jade Falcon Khan sitting in the Archon's throne, two Daishis flanking it.
 
"If we can't kick them out, it shows we're helpless, even if that's not the case, a lot of people will assume that." But… Dedicating so many of their forces to this…
 
"Well, I'm not done with the bad news. Takashi Kurita is dead."
 
"WHAT?" Mary shook her head. "How?"
 
"He couldn't pull a Hanse, not without… well, Kuritans. But he ordered his son, and according to my people, an order from both his father and Coordinator, allowed Theodore Kurita to pull out without any loss of honor. The whole filiel piety thing. Takashi and some of his old guard met them head on. Clans didn't have any fun, but half of the capital got leveled, Takashi, Ricol, we think most of the close nobility, just about all of the Otomo…"
 
"And the Clans?"
 
"Pulling out. They were Wolves and Ghost Bears. The Kuritans went berserk when it was announced that Takashi was dead, civilian wave attacks, the whole nine yards. Evidently whoever was running the opposite side decided they'd made their point, trashed the Battlemech factories, pulled up what info they could get, and pulled out, but the orbital infrastructure, the military defenses… trashed." 
 
So they're both settling down in the Free Rasalhague Republic. The Republic hadn't declared for the Clans, but their neutrality… Thank you Draconis Combine. They were clearly less fearful of the Clans setting up than they were of the Dracs dropping by to even accounts one day. And now that the Clans have killed the Coordinator, I expect the Republic will be very dedicated to their new allies.
 
After all you didn't need to read too much history to see how the Combine treated those they considered rebels.
 
"And the offensive units?"
 
"Mostly pinned and destroyed. Hanse managed to get some out, but too many delayed. There was a lot of shock and confusion."
 
"How many?"
 
"We think that maybe a third of their committed force survived. It's hard to say, nobody knows if any units are straggling in. Ninety percent of our parasites were destroyed, and about a third of Comstar's Warships." Edward looked old. Mary could see why. They'd just lost the majority of the TCN combatant ships.
 
"Christ… Sir, what are your orders?"
 
"Get to Terra and take up your new command."
 
"Sir?"
 
"The Federated Commonwealth isn't going to be ready for offensive actions any time soon. We can't just feed other national forces in there, and the ComGuards aren't trusted and didn't exactly cover themselves with glory. I've been talking with the other heads of state, the ones we can talk to, and we're forming a unified military command."
 
"Wait, a new command? What are we forming it with?"
 
There was a pause, and Mary wondered how long the portable HPG would keep it's connection to the A station.
 
"Well, your RCT to start with."
 
"Protector, what else am I going to get?"
 
"A regiment or so of ComGuards…and what you can make."
 
Mary took a deep breath. "Sir?"
 
"The political considerations make simply sending units over the border from nations that are not friendly… difficult. Comstar still has the stink of Sirius. The fiction of the Star League… it'd be a fiction and might actually hurt us. So we've decided to form a unified military command, that will be able to best marshal the unified forces of the Inner Sphere against our invaders."
 
"I—" Mary reminded herself you didn't scream at your boss. "Less than six regiments? That's not a unified force, that's a joke!"
 
"It is now. But best case, we won't be able to start retaking worlds, not until we have some answer for their warships. That's at least a few years, presuming the Davions weren't kidding about how simple their new Warship is. And Primus Chang has promised you the industrial might of Terra to kit out your units."
 
"And where am I getting those units?"
 
"Due to the emergency, you can recruit from any former member state of the Star League."
 
"I…" Recruit. People who think they can beat the Clans with one hand tied behind their back. When they're not fighting the other recruits because of something their great grandparents did. A few years? It takes a nearly a year to get a regiment ready for deployment once you form it, and that's with trained officers!
 
"Sir, forgive me, but I'll need a few things. Before I can accept this… wondrous opportunity."
 
"Oh?"
 
"First pick of the outgoing class of our military academy, the Terrans, and if you can swing it, other states. Also, I need you to try to find NCOs—I don't care if they're long in the tooth as long as they're good."
 
"And If I cannot?"
 
"I…" Mary shook her head. She'd almost deep sixed her career enough for the possibility to no longer terrify her. "Would have to respectfully decline this honor, because without a good backbone, these units would be going to slaughter, not battle."
 
"Even in two years."
 
"A year to train them, so fighting isn't suicide. The average Clan warrior is faster and better than most of our vets."
 
"Very well. Anything else?"
 
"Wolf's Dragoons." Mary stared at the image. "We can't use them on the front line, but I need an OpFor and training unit, and they've proven to be good at that."
 
"The Dragoons." Edward paused, the image rezzing slightly. "You do know that they are considered traitors by the other clans… And this would make them the first Clan based unit to set foot on Terra."
 
"Maybe it'd cause the Clan leadership to keel over from rage."
 
"I'll see what I can do. Janos, Candace, and I had to sit on some of their local commanders, letters from Hanse to keep them from trying to murder Wolf. They're going to lose Outreach, that much is clear."
 
"Speaking of Janos… Rumors are swirling about the FWL…"
 
"The Free Worlds League is officially considering the Clan offer. Unofficially, Janos isn't stupid, and knows what would happen when he was the only state left. We don't need to worry."
 
"Last thing," Mary said. "Presuming we get enough people, what's the maximum size of this unit."
 
"As big as you can make it," Edward said. "As big as you can make it." he repeated as the image derezzed.
 
"Sorry, General," the ComGuard tech said. "We were pushing it as it was."
 
"That's fine." Mary murmured. "Two years…" Will they even give us a month?
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===Aftermath of Success===
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Frederick shook his head, not certain he'd heard right. "An operational pause?"
"Yes," the Ilkhan said. "Our ground forces were badly damaged by your plan. Some consider the assault on Luthien to be ill-considered, although it was not surprising that the Ghost Bears and Wolves withdrew as quickly as they did."
Ulric leaned forward and Frederick hastily intervened. "My Khan's, the decision to withdraw was part of the plan. It is not… wise to become tied down in conflicts. Indeed, I feel we should also withdraw from New Avalon."
"Impossible!" the Steel Viper Khan snarled. "We cannot retreat!"
"While it is true that lines, as ground commanders understand them, do not exist in space, New Avalon is well beyond our forward edge, and most importantly, is demanding more of our transport than is wise." Frederick shook his head. "Had they panicked, had they surrendered, it would be worth keeping. As it is, it is a drain we can ill afford now that the time has come for wave three."
"Frederick, your tactics have achieved victory, but we feel a change is needed."
 
Frederick glanced at his own Khan, and noted the minute shake of his head. Ah, this was decided before, probably why so many homeworld clans are here. "A change?"
"We have decided the time has come to finish the victory. I have agreed to bring several new clans up, to operate in a more traditional manner."
 
Issuing challenges, fighting each other—"And the operational pause?"
 
"A year. Enough time to bring the new forces forward, since the importance of retaining New Avalon has reduced some of our shipping capacity."
"A—ilKhan! The Spheroids are not beaten! The way that they withdrew in good order from New Avalon proves that—" Don't you understand? New Avalon was a gamble—it failed, and trying to hold on to the world is worse than useless!
"A panicked flight for Terra. Lead by a Territorial state commander." Ilkhan Showers shook his head. "You give them too much credit. But that is no longer your duty."
I succeeded but did so in an embarrassing way, and so I am to be removed. It would be nice if you had waited until we won the Founder-damned WAR! "Aff, Ilkhan. What is my duty?"
"The original plans for the Freebirth Units have proven… less than useful. Some Clans have made use of them in ways the Founder would not have approved of. For that reason, we will now place them under overall Clan command. Your command, since you enjoy unconventional strategies."
 
Translation: The Wolves, Nova Cats, and Ghost Bears, to name a few have made better use of the freebirth units and now that you think they're no longer needed, you and the traditionalists are stripping them away so they cannot be used against you. "And what is my command's duty?"
 
"Suppression of lower caste rebellions among the occupied worlds, you have stated they need to be educated, and I feel that your service deserves such a reward."
 
"Very well." A year's pause. We have just lost this war. On the other hand, the freebirth units were infantry and vehicle heavy, and they had captured some factories, including at least one of the light battlearmor the Spheroids loved so much. "Will I have control over the regulations of the territories, even if other warriors should disagree?"
 
"Your Khan, insisted."
"Very well." Technically, we aren't supposed to equip freebirth units with front line gear, but even second line gear will let me form up a few fire brigade units. If the spheroids had the brains the scientist cast promised a tree, they'd be launching raids.
 
Already thinking, Frederick barely remembered the proper protocol to leave the council, just as an argument started about which homeworld clans would get the primacy when the offensive was renewed. 
He had work to do.
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