ALJ Chpt 67

frameless|right|300px|link=A Long Journey
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==Chapter 67 - A Long Journey==
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14 December 2786
New Avalon (Federated Suns)
"Marshal Salazar, you may have the floor." First Prince John Davion said
"Thank you, Highness. General Mitchell, the First Prince has briefed me on your desire to make a sweep of the Tortuga Dominions in an effort to knock them back, as you called it. This has been tried several times and it had no great effect on pirate activity along our border. How do you propose to accomplish this?" Marshal Salazar asked
"One of two ways. The first a sweep of each system in the Dominions, locating and destroying bandits as we locate them and freeing any prisoners or slaves that we locate. We will also be capturing every Jumpship and Dropship that we can to deny them the ability to flee or raid until they secure alternate means. It could take years for them to become a threat again, which is time I can use to better prepare my garrisons. The second option is to just sweep the region and take out their Jumpships and Dropships while avoiding a ground campaign, though I do not like this option as it still leaves the prisoners under pirate control, and we have no idea what kind of condition they are in for survival if cut off from outside sources of food or water." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied
"How do you plan to corner Jumpships? If they do flee, they can remain just out of your reach." Marshal Salazar asked
"It is risky, but we will charge from our reactors at a higher-than-normal rate. Three days for a full charge of the core. We can be on them before they complete their own recharge. Though if given AFFS naval support, even a couple of corvettes, we could be in systems waiting for the fleeing ships to come to us anyway. I would think that most of the Dropships will be on the surface which will entail a ground component to secure them." Lieutenant General Mitchell replied
"Highness, I think the operation would be a waste of time and possibly even a risky venture. Hot charging a jump core as General Mitchell describes risks losing an extremely valuable asset. I cannot endorse this plan of action. The risks outweigh the rewards." Marshal Salazar said
"Thank you, Marshal Salazar. General Mitchell, on the advice of Marshal Salazar your proposed operation is just too risky. You have gotten most of what you desired, after the valuation of the Chesterton we will discuss your salvage fees. You may recruit your own replacements and actively recruit from the garrisoned systems. You may establish training camps for the purpose of training these recruits pending Field Marshal Oliver approval of your training methods and standards. I am going to assume that there will be no further unauthorized operations from your command nor making problems for my senior officers. I already have enough on my plate, please do not add any further issues to an already difficult job." First Prince John Davion said
"Yes, Highness. I will keep your High Command informed of my activities and will not conduct further operations without their permission. Just being able to bring my command up to strength and train them in the SLDF way is a huge step in make my own tasks easier. It was never my intention to add to your workload Highness." General Mitchell replied
"Good, then let us call this meeting concluded and get some lunch shall we. Then we can all return to our jobs." First Prince Davion said bringing the meeting to an end.
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16 December 2786
General Samuel Mitchell boarded the Dropship that would take him to the jump point, he would be ferried by the command circuit to where he had been first picked up by it. It had been a whirlwind of meetings but now he could get back to Mackolla and really get to business. 
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Terra (Terran Hegemony)
Major General Lauren Hayes looked up as her most trusted aide, who had served fer for over a decade, entered her small office. He closed the door behind him which means he had some information to relay to her that he did not want anyone else to hear.
"What have you got for me today, Tim?" Major General Hayes asked
"I did some digging thru the records like you asked. The 11th Hussar Regiment defected during the Periphery Uprising and then it seems they turned pirate. There were reports of a Star Lord Jumpship broadcasting a SLDF identification code during several raids by the Battered Brood. It took me a few days, but I managed to confirm that it is the same ship that was assigned to the 11th Hussar Regiment."
"So, Mitchell bumped into them somehow and swung them back to his side. That has to mean they were operating out of the Tortuga Dominions. Anything else?" Major General Hayes asked
"Not much, our person on Mackolla reports that a few months after the 11th Hussar were located, which also happens to be about the same time as Mitchell reported to the AFFS that his command had repulsed a raid by the Battered Brood, who just so happened to completely drop off the radar net, a fairly substantial force from the 322nd Armor loaded up and departed Mackolla. They have not been seen since."
"That is an awful lot of coincidences. The Federated Suns still playing company store on Mitchell?" Major General Hayes asked
"We have no reports of any AFFS supply ships entering Mackolla space. Nor has any orders gone out that we have seen concerning supplying Mackolla so I can only say yes."
"What does every good commander always plan for Tim?" Major General Hayes asked
"Some sort of backup plan in case the original goes to shit." 
"Exactly. If you were in Mitchell's place, what would you be doing right now? Or should I ask, what sort of backup plan would you consider?" Major General Hayes asked
"From Mackolla there are not too many ways to go. Long ways from any other House to link up with. Closest inhabited place would be the Tortuga Dominions.....you really think he would consider falling back to the Dominions?"
"I think that is exactly what he is planning for. I don't see him linking up with the Taurian Concordant, probably still holds a grudge there. Every other location would require passing thru Suns space and if he is on the run, he is not going to do that. Unless he abandons his father's investments, and he would be a fool to do that, and Mitchell is no fool. Not from what I have seen so far. It is where I would head for if I was pushed to make a run for it. Okay, new tasking, put a list together of every SLDF command from that entire region that we have no clue what happened to. Confine your search to before 2768, you will have to dig thru a ton of old reports to find the information. Include last known locations in your findings. Put it all on a data stick." Major General Hayes ordered
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