FSML Chpt 11

=Chapter 11=
Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter
-----
==Frederick Steiner and the Man Who Knew Too Little==
===Expected Bad News===
----
Fort Durenford, Loric
Protectorate of Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth
26 April 3011
----
For the first time since Max had spent time with the unit, the Seventh Lyran Regulars were back at their home base on Loric. Immediate dependents had been with them on Wyatt, but they’d shipped back here by commercial routes through the Commonwealth and the ‘unscheduled’ delay in the regiment’s return had obviously worn on some of them.
“What’s on your mind?” Frederick asked him as they watched the disembarking soldiers meet with their families. It made for quite a crowd but there was a festive air - after all, the Regulars were returning in triumph.
The party also diverted a lot of attention away from the cargo handling areas where some of the most valuable cargo was already being shifted to a pair of heavily secured cargo-variant Union-class dropships. Over three thousand tons of advanced weapons, heatsinks, armor plating and electronics had been crammed into the cargo holds and excess space within ‘Mechbays on board the Regulars’ transports. All of that would be heading for Tharkad and then to other, highly secretive, locations where some of the Lyran Commonwealth’s best scientists would study them. Both dropships also carried complete copies of the data downloaded from Helm - just in case someone managed to damage, destroy or steal the data storage cores being escorted separately by the Kell Hounds.
Max looked down at the families – he and Frederick were on the Retribution’s observation deck - and felt a twinge of regret for a select few people who existed only in his own memories. “Considering a few of the costs of war.”
The younger man gripped the rail under the viewing port. “Ah, you heard then.”
The secretary frowned in confusion. “I’ve heard a lot of things…”
Frederick took a deep breath and exhaled. “Sevren.”
“Sevren… the Winfield Guards?”
“Yes. We got news after we jumped in here.” Gray eyes fixed on Max for a moment. “I see the grapevine didn’t get hold of that then?”
He shook his head. “As bad as I… predicted?”
Frederick jerked his head down in a sharp nod. “Yes. Donna… she’s taking it badly.”
Max tilted his head and then made a guess: “Someone she knew?”
“The Archon regrets to inform her,” Donna Steiner’s elder brother recited grimly, “That Hauptmann David Steiner-Casval, Duke of Porrima, is among the confirmed casualties suffered. His company held a rear-guard position… Selwin Kelswa will be sending a medal back to Porrima in lieu of the body. It wasn’t recovered, you see.”
“Shit.” Max had never met Donna’s husband - he only knew his name because he'd looked it up and it hadn't occurred to him that Steiner-Casval might also be with the Winfield Guards. The fighting on Helm had given him some idea of what it must have been like, though. “Should I offer my condolences?” If they'd known more, they might have been able to avoid the entire debacle, rather than just getting Donna out of that line of fire.
“I’m not sure.” admitted Frederick in a frustrated tone. “She’s barely left her quarters since she got the news.”
“Who hasn’t?” The question came from the door into the observation room and the two men turned to see the object of their discussion standing there, wearing a dress uniform that was only slightly rumpled.
Max nodded politely. “Duchess Steiner. My condolences on your loss.”
“Dowager Duchess now,” she corrected him, sounding tired. “Ryan will be duke now. It’s a lot of weight for some very small shoulders.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond to that so he nodded in acceptance and stepped back to let her join Frederick in looking down from the top of the Retribution over the spaceport.
However, Donna shook her head. “There’s no need. I know I’ve joked about your relationship with Frederick, but I’m glad he has someone.” Then she looked over at her brother. “Mother would be so pleased you’re seeing someone at last.”
“It’s not like that!” the general snapped.
Max sighed. Donna probably wouldn’t persist at that idea if it didn’t get such an exaggerated reaction from her brother. “Will you be going home to Porrima? Or joining the Winfield Guards as they rebuild?”
Donna smiled a little thinly at the change of subject. “Porrima. I want to see Ryan, he’s all I have left of David now. And besides that… what you said last year isn’t entirely wrong, Frederick.” She clenched her teeth. “I don’t want him growing up without a mother, as well as a father.”
“Taking time away from your career?”
“It’ll end my career as a pilot,” Donna corrected her brother. “High performance flying is a young woman’s game. When I come back, if I go back, it’ll be a desk job. Maybe teaching at best.”
Max shrugged his shoulders. “It’s a truth going back to the Second World War that once soldiers have experience, the best of them are of more use teaching the next crop of soldiers than they are on the battlefield. And most of them protested that assignment.”
“Thanks for trying to try to make me feel better.”
Frederick shook his head. “I’m sure you can keep your hand in with Porrima’s militia if you want. But… hmm. Max, isn’t Porrima on the list?”
Which list… ah. “For industrial development? Yes, it’s got the mining and light manufacturing to step up.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Donna.
Her brother put his back against the bulkhead. “I’ve been dabbling in the military industrial field.”
“Yes, I noticed. If only because it was a surprise.”
“It was pretty clear that if I wanted enough ‘Mechs for the Regulars then I was going to have to get them myself. And there are only so many holes in the ground that they can be found in.”
Donna laughed. “You say that? After New Dallas? After Helm?!”
“A finite resource,” Frederick repeated. “While I served with the Royal Guards, I never had to consider that even the Commonwealth is limited in how many ‘mechs and other warmachines we build. Or that the quality isn’t quite what we might want, but the Seventh aren’t the Royal Guards. We’re almost the bottom of the priority list. So, I decided to do something about that.”
“Thus you pushing for the redesigned Lucifer.”
He nodded.
The younger of the two Steiners turned to Max. “So, what’s your part in this? Because you’re not just his lostech bloodhound, or his stress-relief.”
“He has a lot of stress to relieve.” Max said with a straight-face. “It’s… bruising.”
Donna doubled over, laughing. Frederick banged the back of his head against the bulkhead. “Dammit, Max!”
“What? I mean Skye basketball. It’s not my fault you nobles have dirty minds.” He gave his employer a questioning look. ‘How much do I tell her?’
The nod he got back looked like a ‘go for it’, to Max. “Bowie Industries is investing heavily in the new Battlemech factories on Carlisle, with significant amounts of investment from the Commonwealth. So money pouring into Bowie is an understood problem as far as foreign Intel is concerned. Except that’s not the only project they have.”
The woman’s brow furrowed. “They also build the Chippewa, don’t they? It’s not that well armored, but it’s not the worst attack bird around.”
“That is debatable.” It was that or the Lucifer, Max thought but since Donna loved her Lucifers it wasn’t an argument to get into. “Anyway, among the prizes from New Dallas we found a lot of data on the one aerospace design either of us has ever heard of that was developed by the Canopians.”
“I didn’t even know they even had any aerospace industry.”
“After the Reunification War, they didn’t.” The idea of de-industrializing worlds other than Terra hadn’t begun with ComStar. For that matter, it hadn’t even begun with the Star League. “The Dragonfly was a light attack fighter - a cheap and practical way to get a lot of ground attack fighters.”
“Something like a Lightning?” Donna asked.
“A bit slower and it has a pair of large lasers instead of the autocannon, but basically yes. It’s not really competitive in air-to-air combat, but for ground attack work and anti-dropship attacks. It does most of what Lucifers do.”
She put her hands on her hips. “After all that time and effort turning the Lucifer into a superiority bird, you now need to fill the attack role again?”
“This one came with an ejection seat.” Frederick told her sharply.
“No one is denying that the role is needed,” Max interjected before the siblings could get into a squabble. “But the Commonwealth has the Thunderbird and Chippewa as heavy attack fighters, and the Lightning as a fighter-bomber. The Lucifer was useful as was; but rebuilding it into a superiority platform helps fill that slot where we’ve been relying mostly on Eagles - a Marik design. The idea is that we can put the Dragonfly into production and pair them with Seydlitz interceptors to cover them in militia units.”
Donna frowned. “Sounds like a swarm strategy. But to be fair, large lasers have a lot of bite. And Bowie are thinking we’d build these on Porrima?”
“It’s a candidate,” Max confirmed. “I’ve never even been there; all I know is the weather and that it’s got a fairly solid economy and infrastructure.”
“The weather’s only an issue every seventy years or so.” she told him. “So you want me to work with you, fronting efforts there?”
“If you still want to contribute,” Frederick told her, “It’s not as dramatic as flying - or as piloting a ‘mech. But the fact is, I may be doing more good by taking what we’ve found and pushing our industries forward than I am running the Seventh Regulars, and I like to think I’m doing a good job there.”
“The question,” Donna pointed out, “Is whether Katrina thinks you’re doing better. You could wind up promoted to Logistics. Would you like me to put a bug in her ear?”
Frederick grimaced and Max knew he was doing the same.
“What?”
“As soon as the take from Helm is all on the way, I’ve been called to Cavanaugh II.” Frederick admitted. “Katrina will meet me there, so she can debrief me. I’m guessing that the high command under Mount Asgard have been second-guessing me and knives are out.”
“After a victory like Helm?” she questioned her brother
“Ja. Especially after a victory like Helm.” Max told her, voice flat with cynicism.
----
===Meeting with the Archon===
Caerleon, Cavanaugh II
Protectorate of Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth
19 May 3011
The administrative center for the dozen or so worlds of the Cavanaugh II Theater was as busy as you might expect. Even when there wasn’t any active fighting going on, the staff had to manage the various bureaucratic and logistical challenges to be ready for when that inevitably changed. Worlds further from Terra were slightly less likely to be attacked by neighboring Successor States but considerably more likely to be pirate targets so Francine ‘Frank’ Gregory’s duties as the theater’s Margrave weren’t light ones.
“Don’t keep looking around as if you’re going to buy the place.” the Margrave told Frederick as he waited for her to finish dealing with her current minor crisis in the main strategic operations room. “Her highness is waiting for you in the briefing room and I’ll be with you shortly.”
Glancing up at the briefing rooms that looked down on the chamber from its mezzanine level, Frederick couldn’t see any of the occupants but a pair of LIC agents in plain clothes made it clear which room he was to go to. Thus, he saluted his distant cousin and headed up the metal stairway to the upper level.
He was stopped at the door by the guardians who checked he wasn’t carrying his sidearm and didn’t have any obvious weapons inside his tunic before admitting him. He’d been through more thorough checks before he was allowed this far, but a little extra caution wasn’t unreasonable. He passed the inspection and inside he found Katrina reading from the chamber’s computers.
“Frederick,” she greeted him, looking up from the screen. “You look well.”
“Is there any reason I shouldn’t?”
“I half-expected to find you wearing a white-trimmed red uniform and sporting an extra few kilograms around your waist.”
He blinked, then realized what she meant. “Ho-ho-ho.”
“Quite. I’ve been looking at the list of data and equipment you’ve brought us back since I left Tharkad and I still don’t think I’ve grasped the scope of it. Would I be killing the golden goose if I asked how you found all of it?”
Frederick considered that for a moment. “I guess the old saw about a million-to-one chance coming up more often than it should may have something to it.”
She didn’t believe him, he could tell that. “Napoleon always looked for luck in his marshals. I’m not going to say that’s all you have going for you, but it’s clearly among your qualities.” Katrina gestured for him to sit. “Simon would prefer I press you further, but I think it more important to leave you your secrets - as long as those secrets serve the Lyran Commonwealth well.”
They locked eyes for a moment and Frederick chilled at the glimpse of steely resolve in the Archon’s. “My loyalty is to the Commonwealth.” he told her, hoping she would believe it.
Perhaps she did, for she did not press harder. Or perhaps she just preferred he should believe she was willing to trust him.
“Now, I’ve been besieged with proposals as to how you should be treated for your victory on Helm. Some of them even suggest that you be rewarded, although there are some dissenting opinions.”
“Complaining that I could have lost my own command?”
“You really could have.” she agreed frankly. “There is a reasonable case that if you hadn’t sent the HPG for help and instead simply extracted with your original dropships and what they could hold, we could have now launched a more substantial recovery mission without the League having been aware at all.” Katrina shrugged. “We’ll never know, of course.”
“Which won’t stop the complaining.” he told her. “They could be right, or it could have let the League take possession of a Castle Brian and most of its contents. Including those nuclear weapons.”
“Quite.” She steepled her fingers. “The League’s ambassador has had a lot to say on the topic of mass destruction, but I gather there remains no evidence at all that any of the nuclear weapons were used, which supports your account of how the base was destroyed. Whether or not Janos Marik will decide on a retaliatory strike I don’t yet know, but we’ll be on a higher alert for at least the rest of the year just in case. I'll also need to move you and the Seventh away from the border because you’d be the primary target for the FWLM if they do decide to retaliate.”
“Permission to speak frankly?”
Katrina blinked. “When have you ever not?”
“I’m not sorry. I’ll make a formal apology if you want me to, but I wouldn’t mean it. We have sufficient strategic reserves if we need them and either side having that arsenal would have been far more destabilizing than this.”''
“I tend to agree… well, that you’ve nothing to be sorry about. I believe that the data from Helm will be extremely destabilizing in respect to the balance of power in the Inner Sphere, but since those changes will be to the benefit of the Lyran Commonwealth, that’s nothing that I’m going to complain about.”
Frederick nodded. “I take it the data will be handled with care?”
“I’ll be at least as careful with my copy as you’ve been with your own,” she told him. “The worst thing we could do right now is lose that data core - it should shave years or even decades off the time we need to understand the books you recovered on Halstead Station. One or two of the very few people it’s been discussed with are even suggesting that the technological decline of the last two hundred years will be essentially over by the end of the decade.”
“Probably optimistic.”
“Perhaps. But it does promise an end. Once it’s backed up, we’ll start releasing small packages to the right people to deal with some of our most pressing needs. After that…” The Archon smiled. “A number of universities will have very well protected additions to their libraries. Not to mention some new research facilities on secure worlds. The budget for the next few years will be fun to get past the Estates General, but it’s money well spent.”
“Agreed. We can’t afford to lose it, but we can afford less not to use it.”
“I’m aware of your current industrial ventures.” Katrina continued. “I take it that you intend to continue to expand your interest in that military production.”
“It seems to pay dividends. Literal and otherwise,” he added on realizing he’d been less than clear. “I’m a soldier first, but I do have other tools available.”
“I’m glad you realize that,” she admitted. “I’ve had my doubts about your intentions for a while, but if you wanted to challenge me for the throne, you had all the tools you needed.”
He frowned. “I suppose I could have thrown warm bodies into everything from Helm but that’s not necessarily enough to taken on the First and Second Royal Guards, not to mention reinforcements…”
The Archon gave him a thoughtful look. “Frederick.”
“Yes?”
“If you took the core to the Estates General and told them that the throne was your price for it, they’d have probably have asked me to stand down.”
He stared at her in disbelief.
“Not because I’m unpopular,” she added. “And it would have been a tough decision. But it’s really that valuable.”
The older of the two folded his arms. “That would have meant making it public.” Could it have been that easy to do? Were the Estates General that venal? “I don’t think that that would have been in the best interests of the Commonwealth.”
“And that comes first for you.”
“Always.” Of that he could at least be sure.
There was a discreet tap on the door and a moment later it opened to admit Francine Gregory. Frederick half-rose before she waved him back to his seat. “Your highness. General.”
“Margrave.” Katarina gestured to one of the other chairs. “Let’s not stand on formality in private.”
“Very well. And may I say, I’m glad you’re not at each other’s throats.” The Margrave was hardly going to be intimidated by their social ranks - she’d known the taught both of them at the Nagelring.
“I believe we have enough points of agreement that we can avoid quarreling,” the Archon told her and looked back at Frederick. “And now that Frank is here, we can get to the fun part where I dig into my toybox and show everyone that I don’t share their criticisms of your conduct.”
Frederick frowned. “It might be best to downplay it.”
“You smashed most of a regiment and brought back a very large shipment of supplies and lostech,” Francine told him. “Not rewarding you would be suspicious.”
“The Seventh Lyran Regulars will be receiving the Eagle’s Feather and the Unit Citation of Merit.” Katrina began. “I can’t justify going to Loric myself but Frank will be presenting it to your command on my behalf.”
“It’s well deserved. They’ve come a long way.”
She nodded. “For your part, there will be the McKennsy Hammer. Not just for Helm, but also as a belated reward for your part in Operation Commonplace. Edward Regis was very impressed, and I considered giving you that at the time, but it would have drawn more attention to your finds on Halstead Station. This time though it’s easy to justify.”
“I hope those shoulders aren’t for show,” the Margrave warned him. “I almost ruptured myself the first time I lifted mine.”
The McKennsy Hammer was one of the LCAF’s most remarkable awards for strategic and tactical excellence. It wasn’t a medal, it was a nine kilogram block hammer made of solid silver. Carrying it on formal occasions was a significant physical strain for those not used to it.
“I think I can manage.” Frederick assured her.
“And then there’s your next assignment.”
He looked up sharply at Katrina and bit back his initial response. “Which would be…?” he managed after a moment.
Cool gray eyes looked at him. “I have two potential positions open for you to be transferred into: you could take over the Tenth Lyran Guards or the Second Royal Guards. Which would you like?”
Katrina had led each of those regiments at one time in her rapid rise, Frederick thought. The Tenth was customarily the assignment of the heir so taking that would at least implicitly mean he was seen as a successor. The Second Royal Guards would position him on Tharkad, where they generally guarded the capital’s major industrial centers. That would be give him a lot of access to encourage companies to make use of the recovered data…
But the other side of that would be leaving the Seventh Lyran Regulars behind. After more than three years of building them up, he didn’t think they’d collapse back to their former selves overnight, but even so, they were his soldiers now…
No, they were the Archon’s soldiers, he reminded himself.
“A difficult decision?” asked Iris, as if she didn’t know.
“I’m somewhat loath to take a different regiment,” he admitted. “But I’ll serve where I’m sent.”
Katrina raised an eyebrow at him and then looked over at Francie, who reached into her pocket and pulled out a half-kroner and slid the coin across the table to the Archon. “Someone’s knocked some sense into you,” the Margrave observed. “It’s worth losing a little bet to learn that.”
Frederick harumphed, uncomfortable at the praise.
“Very well.” Katrina put the coin into her jacket pocket and produced a set of shoulder pins. “That being the case, these are yours.”
He accepted them and saw they were like those be wore except that they added a fourth diamond to the three of a Leutnant-General to form a cross. These pins represented a Hauptmann-General’s rank. “I see…?” He’d be a bit high in rank to lead either of the two named regiments though. Was she going to give him a desk job since he hadn’t picked a regiment to command?
“I am hereby appointing you to command the Lyran Regulars,” Katrina informed him, realizing his last words weren’t all that accurate. “All of the Lyran Regulars. You’ve brought the Seventh up to an excellent level of service and while not all of their sister-regiments are in the state that they were, they’re also not as well regarded as other units. In addition to their training, I want you to expand the combat support element you’ve formed around the Seventh and apply it to the full brigade. Combined arms pays off very well for the Federated Suns and I don’t see any reason why we can’t do just as well.”
“I see,” he said again, this time more honestly. Finishing the change to his uniform badges, Frederick rose to his feet and saluted Katrina formally. “I accept this duty, Archon. Thank you for your trust.”
“Thank you for being worthy of it.” Katrina looked away for a moment. “There are times when I feel the need for it more than at others and the past year…”
He nodded, thinking of Arthur Luvon.
“I was serious about offering you the Tenth Lyran Guards though,” the Archon told him, all business again. “If anything were to happen to me, I want Nondi to raise Melissa. She’s got three children already and I think she’s doing well by them.”
“That makes sense.” But why tell him?
“Nondi, however, wouldn’t make for a very good Archon. She makes you look like a courtier by comparison.”
“I have noticed that,” he admitted. “She would serve though.”
“She’d be clawing at the walls,” Katrina said, voice fond as she spoke of her sister. “Which is why I want her to look after Melissa but you to look after the Commonwealth.”
Frederick stared at her. She’d swept back in not even five years ago, dethroned Alessandro and pushed him out of the position of heir presumptive… and now she was talking about him as taking over from her if needed? Had he really misread the situation that much.
But he had to say something.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” he admitted at last. “Do you mean as Melissa’s regent or…?”
“That would likely depend on how she shapes up,” Katrina told him frankly. “We’d all have been far better off if Kerensky had seized power rather than passing it back to Richard Cameron when his regency ended. But at the same time, I’d like to think that Arthur’s daughter could be raised to rule well.”
“Whatever happens, I will try to protect her,” he promised at last. “She’s family.”
Francine shook her head. “You’d be a bloody awful Archon,” she warned. “I doubt you’d even be happy with the politics of being a Margrave, which would be your likely next career step.”
“It may never be a consideration,” pointed out Frederick. “By the time succession is an issue, Melissa may be a proven leader in her own right. Or she might not want it, which would mean looking at Nondi’s children or at Ryan.”
Or at other branches of the family, but the idea that the Somerset branch of House Steiner might somehow inherit was far-fetched. Likely by the 3070s this time the situation would look very different. Or at least, it would have if he had anything to say about it.
“But moving along, are there any other duties you want to pass off as rewards, Katrina?”
She laughed. “Do you want more?”
“Well, if you’re planning to let me assign some of the lostech ‘Mechs to the Regulars…”
Francine snorted. “You’d have to knife-fight half the LCAF.”
“Once we’ve given it sufficient examination, I’ll filter some of it into the Royal Guards.” Katrina told him. “Some if it as replacements and some to add another battalion to each of the three regiments. Tharkad’s security may need to be bolstered if anyone learns what we have now, and that would still leave enough of a surplus to keep the Third Guards equipped after combat losses.”
Frederick nodded. “Long enough to hopefully start producing replacement equipment ourselves.” Particularly double heatsinks. Duran A&M was already quietly looking into those systems and the data from Helm would get there as fast as Max could courier it there.
-----
===Meanwhile, on Terra===
Hilton Head, North America
Terra, Solar System
19 May 3011
“The Free Worlds League side of the Helm crisis appears to be settling down.” Pretentor Atreus reported.
Julian Tiepolo nodded and gestured for the man to keep talking. He’d been Pedrigor Aliz’ predecessor in that post so he knew that issues inside the government of the League were never that simple - although over the last five years he’d realized that that was true even in the less democratic governments of the other five Successor States.
Aliz smiled slightly. “The Captain-General and his father-in-law both favored retaliation against the Lyrans for the incident, but even House Halas weren’t prepared to back Marik on that. Ultimately, Duke Anton talked his brother down, which has raised his profile a little more.”
“I’m sure that that pleases you, Kristofur.” The Primus looked over at the third man in the discreet office not far from the First Circuit’s meeting chambers. Not the official office where Tiepolo met with newly appointed Precentors and such individuals of importance as rose up through Terra’s many local governments, as well as the occasional Joe Public whose time with the head of ComStar gave the organization and its Primus a more benevolent image. This office was one of those from which real power wielded, and that was a function of the people in it, not the comparatively modest luxuries it boasted.
Precentor ROM was sitting in the other chair facing Tiepolo’s desk. “It certainly doesn’t hurt, but we’re a few years from being able to pull the trigger on that gambit.”
“Overall though, we’re seeing an upswing in anti-Lyran sentiment within the League and discontent with the Captain-General,” Aliz continued. “His wife’s health is declining, which seems likely to sap his attention and energy for the next year or two.”
Tiepolo nodded. Janos Marik had been a very dangerous Captain-General when he came to the throne, popular and energetic with a willingness to further de-escalate the Third Succession War. Wrecking that had been a major focus of his efforts as Precentor Atreus - he hoped Aliz appreciated how much easier his job was now that Marik was worn down. “The last thing we want is softening on that front. The League and the Commonwealth economies are still much stronger than I’m comfortable with. Letting them trade with each other would just make that worse.”
“There’s always going to be some smuggling.” The precentor spread his hands. “But the Earl of Stewart will probably have sufficient support to oppose any attempt at improving relations in the near future. It’s always easier for Parliament to be spurred to block action than to encourage them to commit to anything new.”
“Good enough.” The Primus rested his hands on his chin. “The situation on the Lyran side however… Precentor Tharkad is less certain. I trust that you have some idea, Kristofur?”
Kristofur Vesar met his gaze evenly. “Some idea, Primus. Not yet a satisfactory one.”
“How unfortunate.”
“We have a reasonable estimate of the physical contents of the cache,” the younger man continued calmly. “Approximately the equivalent of an SLDF brigade of battlemechs and the same of armored fighting vehicles. The types appear to be predominantly those built in the Rim Worlds Republic during the later periods of the Amaris Civil War. It seems likely that there was infantry equipment there, but such material tends to be little different from that currently available. It’s unlikely much of that was taken, given that all indications are that General Steiner withdrew before fully loading his dropships.”
Tiepolo frowned. “Based on…?”
“Thrust profiles of the dropships as they took off from Helm indicate they were, on average, operating at between sixty and seventy percent of full load.”
The Primus hmmed, and then nodded.
“The quantity of supplies taken along with combat units this is unclear but is only really relevant in determining how long the advanced equipment can be kept operational. It’s likely that one or two Lyran elite regiments will be making operational use of the hardware for several years at a minimum.”
“And what if they reverse-engineer the equipment?” asked Aliz in concern. “You’re talking about the same kind of equipment our own ComGuards possess!”
Vesar nodded in agreement. “I have no doubt that House Steiner will pour considerable resources into attempts to accomplish this. Preventing this will be one of ROM’s highest priorities in the years going forward.”
“How is Steiner finding all of this?! Three major finds in as many years!”
“Calmly, Pedrigor.” Tiepolo adjusted his glasses. “But the question is apt, Kristofur.”
“Currently we can only speculate - by comparing the original message we sent to the deciphered copy SAFE’s Stewart office forwarded to Dieudonne, we know the intercepted message was very vague.” He paused. “As a side note, we also have the key to everything sent under that cipher now. Unfortunately, it’s been dropped since the Lyrans know someone broke it, but we do have access to a backlog of LCAF traffic that we can read.”
Pedrigor jabbed his finger at Vesar. “Don't change the subject. Is Steiner a houdon to be finding so much?”
“Setting aside accusations of witchcraft, there appear to be two major possibilities,” answered Vesar. “Firstly, it is possible that Katrina Steiner discovered data during her time in the Periphery that led to the three sites. In this scenario, the rift between herself and Frederick Steiner was exaggerated for disinformation purposes and his semi-exile to a third-tier regiment covered for moving him into position to investigate the finds.”
Tiepolo nodded. That sounded unfortunately plausible. “And the other option?”
“In that scenario, New Dallas was essentially luck and that the other two are the result of Cranston Snord forming an alliance with Frederick Steiner after his initial plan to access Helm as a hireling of House Marik fell apart. Halstead Station would have proven his credibility as a source.”
“Why Snord?” asked Aliz curiously.
“He’s a former member of the Wolf's Dragoons. Given the strong suspicions of their having a connection to the SLDF, they might have already known exactly where the Helm cache was and how to access it.”
“How did we not know?”
Tiepolo shook his head. “We were aware that there had been an equipment stockpile there for the naval base, but our understanding was that it had been emptied by Kerensky for the Exodus and that it had been in the SLDF warehousing complex in Freeport - which may have been accurate. The existence of an entire Castle Brian under the mountains was likely highly classified, especially if it was being used as a storehouse for nuclear weapons. The exact details may have been lost in the Amaris Civil War and the Exodus.”
“We know too little,” Aliz observed grimly. “And some individuals know too much.”
“Quite.”
Vesar cleared his throat. “Frederick Steiner has also been involving himself in making use of data gathered previously to expand Lyran military production. It seems very probable that if Katrina Steiner’s reforms bear fruit, then the rest of the Inner Sphere will be facing a much larger and more capable LCAF.”
“That would be a disaster. Let us not forget that the Lyrans were the subject of ComStar’s very first interdiction. They have never understood our mission, seeing us as a mere corporation.” The Primus shook his head. “I don’t suppose there is any sign that he’s building an army to turn against his cousin?”
“Unfortunately, whatever rift there was between them seems to have been somewhat healed. Our estimation is that with the death of her husband, the Archon will be seeking new political supporters and her cousin is emerging as a pillar of military support. Unless Aldo Lestrade proves much more persuasive than he has been so far, it is unlikely that Frederick Steiner will be following Anton Marik’s path.”
“Consider all options, Vesar. If our plans for the Free Worlds League weren’t so advanced, I would consider suspending them for this.”
“Of course, sir. We have infiltrated agents into Mountain Wolf BattleMechs - our estimation is that it is likely that either General Steiner or someone trying to emulate them will look to recruit their expertise now that they are near to putting their Merlin into production.”
The first new ‘mech design in centuries being built in the Outworlds Alliance had come as a nasty surprise. Fortunately, it was unlikely to be manufactured in great numbers, given the Alliance’s pacifist bent.
“And you believe that they would yield to Steiner’s influence?”
thumb|right|250px|Merlin Heavy 'Mech
“Mountain Wolf was originally a Lyran corporation,” Vesar informed Aliz coolly. “An offer to help them rebuild one of their lost factories to construct Merlins for the LCAF would be entirely in line with Frederick Steiner’s approach so far. And if he does not, it remains a company we need eyes and ears inside of. Preferably before they surprise us again.”
“True, but don’t take your eye off the Lyran situation.” Tiepolo warned the head of ComStar’s covert intelligence. “In fact, I want you to look at appointing someone to cultivate potential dissent within the Lyran Commonwealth. With SAFE distracted by internal affairs, we’ll have fewer catspaws to direct against Lyran research efforts than usual.”
Vesar nodded. “Adept Emilio Rachan has been showing promise, I’ll put him on to this. How far would you like him to go?”
“If you can find a suitable candidate, just as far as we’ve planned for the Free Worlds League.” Tiepolo said seriously. “Blake’s word predicts schism and fragmentation within the Successor States, so we have nothing to fear from that. An open civil war within the Commonwealth would cover for a considerable amount of latitude in curbing their ambitions.”
“Of course, sir. With your permission, I’ll tell him to assign teams to explore both Tamar and Skye dissent. The latter in particular would require some degree of assurance that House Kurita would not take the initiative.”
“Fortunately, the First Prince is keeping Kurita’s attention primarily focused on the Suns but we will act if need be. And should lesser measures present themselves.”
The youngest of the trio stood and bowed. “Of course, sir. Would you like me to step back from my involvement with Anton Marik to handle this personally?”
Tiepolo frowned in consideration, then glanced at Pedrigor. “What is your opinion, my friend?”
The Precentor for the Free Worlds’ capital also grimaced. “I don’t think it’s wise to compromise your influence at this point - but this is why I objected to Precentor ROM taking such a personal hand in the first place.”
“A fair point and if you weren’t involved so directly, I’d still prefer you oversee operations from here on Terra.” Tiepolo concluded, looking at Vesar. “Once the Marik brothers are at each other’s throats, expect to be recalled but you must learn to delegate.”
“As you command, Primus.”
Gesturing dismissively, the head of ComStar watched the spymaster leave and then looked over at Pedrigor once more. “Once all your colleagues are together, we may need to discuss other potential measures. This goes deeper than just House Steiner. The Inner Sphere’s technological and economic slide has slowed almost entirely. There are even signs of recovery.”
“Fortunately,” the other man noted with a smile. “Their propensity for attacking each other hasn’t waned.”
Tiepolo snorted. “Yes, that would be all we need. For peace to break out…”
The two men traded amused looks at that laughable notion and began discussing what measures to put before the First Circuit. Blake’s will must be done…
-----
Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter
011 Chapter