Strat-3 Chpt-26

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==Strategos (A Great Captain Roberts Tale!!) - Part 3 - A Light In The Black - Chapter 26 - The Noose==
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"...data from the Kolossus array…
…corresponds with Jane Drillson's testimony." Foster explained to the gathered Officers and AI.
"So why are we going off-axis that far?" Captain Bedwyr asked. "If it's right, we should be driving straight through Bannerhoft, not pussy-footing sixty lights Coreward!"
"There are good reasons." Helena spoke up. "Mission constraints, even." She leveled a meaningful look at the Admiral.
"We're supposed to work with another foreign force." Seron noted. "Thazi's contributing on that axis, quiaff?"
"They are. They've got new-build Tracker class and some unarmed Carracks they're fitting weapons to. But we've seen the enemy has real fleet units… What's the status on the Bannerhoft offensive, anyway?"
"Codeword classified," Foster stated. "Just be assured, the planning among the Khans is under way and they're going to be ready by the end of the year."
"Shit, they're bidding aren't they?" Luther Bedwyr had learned a lot from Larry Nichols, and more than a little from Foster himself. But he was a Northsunner, and that breed don't really suffer wasted effort any more than their Free Stars ancestors. "They're bidding for 'glory' and 'honor', and maybe holding ****** Trials to sort the pecking order, aren't they?"
"It leaves us free to act." Regina interrupted. "We're free to act, while the 'grown ups' who aren't really grown up, play their childish games. It's an end-run isn't it, Admiral? Because those bids and trials are going on via HPG, and eating up time, but more important, they're going to draw the enemy's attention away from us."
Bedwyr looked thoughtful, then, "Yeah, that makes sense."
"They'll be ready by the end of the year," Foster repeated. "For Bannerhoft, anyway."
"Who bought the Longtooth?" Seron asked. "I noticed the yard was loading her up…"
"Wynn's Roost's Defense force… And they paid in hard currency. You'll see the funds in your account soon," Foster said. "The Thazi Confederacy is bidding on the cruiser you brought back, but they're having to compete with the Dracs and the Feds."
"So the Ravens weren't interested?"
"They feel it is…surplus to their needs, and the transit costs made the Ghost Bears and Falcons balk." Foster explained, "Which is why we're not using it."
"I thought Thazi was a Fedsuns Client…"
"They're still independent, and they want that ship for heavy lift capacity," Helena speculated. "The Feds would put it in that floating trophy rack they call a 'navy', but the Thazi boys will actually use it. The reality is it is going to whoever has the bigger piggy bank." Helena cleared her throat, "Which is the Republic of the Sphere." This got everyone's attention.
"You're betting Stone will buy it?"
"I don't have to bet." she said. "Everyone else pays attention to the intel briefs. I read the business pages... and Juanita, sorry I pre-empted your presentation there."
Juanita scowled, but then grinned, "Yeah, I can forgive that one. The Republic dropped a last minute bid this morning… six times the best bid from the Federated Suns, and seven times as good as the Combine's, for a total list price of something like twice the original build cost… What you do NOT know, is that the Republic also funded Wynn's Roost's bid on the Longtooth."
“Simply put they understand that there needs to be a real force out here but they also see the dangers of a Naval Arms race,” Helena added.
"They'll probably trade a Castrum group for it." Juanita continued. "Stone offered a similar deal to buy up our Bonaventures in exchange for Pocket Warship groups. The Khans turned him down."
"That's good, I like my hull." Regina stated. "It has… sentimental value to me."
"It's not even half the hull you were born with!"
"I like it... and want to keep it when this is over." Regina insisted.
“That is something I will have to work out with Avellar but I will do my best to grant your wish my Eternal Knight.” Helena chuckled.
"We'll talk renovations later," Esme promised. "Truk, I think, will want some input there as your… shipyard of record. And I know Alice has a few ideas, not to mention Erin."
“I just might be the only AI to be born three times, certainly the first. But we’re starting to derail the briefing, we will absolutely be talking later.” Regina smiled.
"Will the Republic be involved then?"
"They're involved. We're supposed to be hosting one of their units here in a few weeks. Said unit will be shipping with our follow-up forces," Foster explained. "Helena, you know more about these guys than I do. What kind of hassle are we looking at?"
“It’s been a while since the Jihad and Stone’s liberation so most of them will probably be fairly green and not used to working with Clan forces. So I expect them to have a senior leader who does assigned, but no promises. They are going to have lots of collar space for the Pocket Warships they will be bringing too. Our best bet is making sure we assign them targets where we don’t have to assign them as much support to cover the liabilities of Pocket Warships on the offensive. But for someone running off the standard SLDF playbook, they’ll make a fine defensive force. So if we can convince them to garrison worlds for us that would be even better.”"Let's hope they bring lots of 'mechs then." Bedwyr commented. "Battlemechs, and fighters to secure planets, DropShips to secure supply lines?"
“Yeah, I know. The Pocket Warships they favor are super obvious but they do pack a good punch so they’re not completely hopeless in the role, but I will still be assigning Division 2 units as convoy escorts the farther we push. The Republic can cover the more secure inner portions of the supply lines. I know space is three dimensional and they can still end run us but as much as we have the numerical advantage in total hulls, we’re not the Star League either and we can’t cover every link of the supply chain as heavily as I would like so we have to gamble a bit where we leave weakness in the escort forces. The core worlds of the Outworlds will at least have militia units to help there, so we’re going to have to trust them while also keeping the people safe. If we can close the noose around them tight enough, then I’ll commit Division 2 to the offensive properly.” Helena shook her head.
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