FCBC - 2773

==Fate Can Be Cruel - 2773==
===January===
15 January 2773
Rimworlds Outpost #7 (Deep Periphery)
Lieutenant General Hans Bleucher stood beside Jacob Henderson as they watched the last of the stockpiled equipment from the Outpost was loaded aboard the grounded Dropships. Most of the rescued workers were already aboard the Passenger configured Mammoth-Class DropShips. When SLDF troops opened the massive warehouses, they had found hundreds of vehicles in pristine condition. With 7 Passenger Mammoths with no passengers, thousands of tons of food and supplies were shifted onto other ships freeing their cargo space for other uses. But it would still not be enough to carry everything.
Merkava Mk VIII Tank - 288 found (all taken)
Marsden II-A Tank - 288 (all taken)
Ballista Artillery - 72 (all taken)
Heavy Tracked APC - 445 (all taken)
LVT-4 Hover Tank - 202 (all taken)
Sherpa Armored Truck - 498 (300 taken, 198 left in warehouses)
Sherpa MASH Truck- 102 (60 taken, 62 left in warehouses)
Sherpa Fuel Truck - 188 (100 taken, 88 left in warehouses)
Sherpa Canteen Truck - 168 (left in warehouses)
Typhoon TFN-2A - 72 (all taken)
Star Dagger S-2A - 134 (all taken)
85,000 tons of ammo, spare parts (left in warehouses)
No one wanted to leave the massive amount of equipment behind, but no one wanted to dump precious ammunition and spare parts from the warships either. The hard decision had been made to leave most of the lighter vehicles behind. Maybe they could return to collect the remaining equipment at a later date. They would be boosting tomorrow for the long trip back to Drachenfeld.
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
General Rita Mitchell had just put Amanda Cameron and her son Patrick to bed for the night. She settled onto the couch beside her husband Keith, tucking her legs under her. She was taking a rare night off from work or so she thought. Keith wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "Hon, we need to talk. I have been meaning to speak to you about it for a while now."
"What is it, Keith?" Rita asked
"I think you know, but I hate staff work. I need a command, to lead troops. Even though it is great to see you and be with you every day, and with the kids, I am going crazy." Keith said
"I figured it was a matter of time before you brought it up. What are you thinking?" Rita asked
"Well, I was up for promotion to Lieutenant General when Patrick was born but moved to the Reserve since you were promoted before me to raise Patrick. Well, Patrick is at an age where he does not need non-stop looking after, and besides, he and Amanda are always together, and she ALWAYS has adult supervision. Your running low on experienced officers for command slots. Well, I have command experience." Keith said
"I know all of that. You made a huge sacrifice and I will never forget it. I am mainly in a staff job now anyway. You have earned it. So much for my night off." Rita said as she reached for her portable computer and booted it up.
"Well, on the off chance you will be accused of showing favoritism, I want a Division command. You have that list next to your desk, the commands that have been folded into the units here. I am Hegemony born; I want to reform the 181st Royal Mechanized Infantry Division. I need to get back into a Battlemech. It has been almost 3 years and it is killing me, slowly but surely. You know I been playing OPFOR on the computer simulations against the 272nd Mech Infantry Division. I beat them 2 out of 3 times. We would be green as hell for a time and damned sure would not have the advanced equipment as a normal Royal command, but I want this, I want it bad even if I have to pilot a old Stinger." Keith said, his voice showing his excitement at the idea.
"Well, if I am going to be accused of playing favorites, I might as well make it worth the trouble. The 181st Royal Mechanized Infantry Division is your dear husband. As for a old Stinger, I think we can do better than that. You always enjoyed running a Thunderbolt. We just happen to have a Thunderbolt TDR-5Sb sitting here on Thazi, about half a mile from here, actually in the Mech Bay next to my Pillager. I had it brought in from storage when you arrived, on the off chance trouble developed and we had to do a bug out." Rita said
"All this time, you had a Thunderbolt sitting in a Mech Bay, with my name on it and you never told me?" Keith said while pinching her.
"It's only been fully certified for 2 months. We never really talked about what you wanted, so I had no clue where your mind was at. Well, now I know, and it is only right that I play mom while you go have fun. So Major General Keith Mitchell, the 181st Royal Mechanized Infantry Division will take up position on Ceibu and is assigned to 2nd Corps under Major General Colin McGregor. I will have Major General Rommel kick loose enough Infantry and Tankers from the 322nd Armored to fill you out, your gonna be light on Battlemechs, big time, the 126th Mech Infantry is being brought back to strength with the new graduates. They are emptying our storage. You’re only going to have a Battalion of Battlemechs, but to compensate, I am going to give you operational control of the 19th Hussar Regiment. Until Task Force Robber Barron gets back, we are strapped for Battlemechs. But you will have full Infantry, Armor and Artillery, and be light on Aerospace Fighters, actually you will have none, we don’t have any more pilots." Rita said making notes on her computer.
"I will take what I can get Rita. While Lieutenant General DeMars is making all the arrangements, how about tomorrow me and you take the Mechs out for a spin, I need to shake off some rust. Besides, we can see if you still have it after being tied to a desk for a few years." Keith said with a sly smile.
"Oh, I still have it honey. I used to kick your ass on the simulators all the time years ago or have you forgotten?" Rita said with a bigger grin
"Simulators cheat, and I still say you used your looks and charm on the simulator programmer before every match. Care to wager?" Keith countered.
"When you have skill, there is no need to cheat buttercup. Loser does the cooking and dishes until you leave?" Rita replied.
"A worthy wager. I sure hope your cooking has improved or I might have to live off field rations until I leave." Keith said as he caught Rita's half thrown punch and kissed her. He then stood and picked her up, carrying her to the bedroom.
16 January 2773
Major General Keith Mitchell snarled as the simulated hit shook his Thunderbolt. Damn, she is still death itself in that damned Pillager, he thought as he struggled to keep his Thunderbolt on it's feet. He got a lock and fired off another ERPPC bolt only to see her Pillager break left at the last split second and his bolt miss completely. His Thunderbolt shook again as another simulated Gauss round slammed into his Thunderbolt's right arm, removing it. "Son of a B****, she is doing this deliberately. Picking me apart." He cursed out loud.
Without his ERPPC, he needed to close the distance and pushed his throttle to the max and pounded towards Rita's Pillager. He saw her stop dead in her Pillager dead in its tracks and heard "Honey, are you crazy?". He did not answer as he was almost in range, just a second more....and then his view screen went blank. He looked at the damage display and saw that his head had been blown clean off. As his screen came back alive, he heard "I would like lasagna for dinner, with fresh garlic bread."
He keyed his radio "Yes, dear." He turned his Thunderbolt and together with Rita's Pillager they headed for the Mech Bay's.
===February===
20 February 2773
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
Major General Keith Mitchell had a bounce in his step as he left the Battle Simulator Room, for he might not be able to beat his wife in actual Mech on Mech combat, but he kicked her ass everytime they ran a Division on Division computer battle. Every day for the past month Rita had beaten him in their Mechs, but once a week he had beaten her in the Battle Simulator. With her limited time, they only had time for 1 or 2 fights, so he had taken to going up against Mechwarriors from the 272nd Mech Infantry and very rarely from the Royal Black Watch. But the rust was coming off in huge sheets and it was showing.
As he sauntered into Rita's office, he spotted her with another woman in SLDF uniform. General Rita Mitchell spotted him in the door and waved him inside. "Keith, this is Lieutenant General Sandra Barkley, newly promoted. She and her Battalion were in the original 181st Royal Mech Infantry Division. I brought them over from the 29th Mech Infantry, they will form the core. Sandra will act as your XO and command your Battlemech Brigade as it forms up. I have also slotted in a Regiment worth of the new Mech pilots into other commands and pulled enough experienced pilots to give you a Regiment worth of experienced pilots. Come over and have a look.
Since you been so busy with your training, I have been working on getting your 181st Royal formed. I am going to do some experimenting with your 181st Royal. You will still have 4 Brigades, but with some big changes. You’re going to have 3 Mech Infantry Brigades. Each Brigade will have 3 Mech Infantry Regiments and an Armor Regiment. Each Infantry Regiment will have a Battalion of Turhan assigned, a Company in each Infantry Battalion, so basically each Brigade will have 2 Armor Regiments assigned. You will still have your Command Battlemech Battalion, and Battlemech Brigade, well once we get some more Battlemechs anyway. A reinforced Regiment of Artillery, 4 Battalions strong. Until we get more Aerospace pilots, well nothing I can do there. Plus, all Battlemech Battalions will have a Command Lance while each Regiment and Brigade will have a Command Company. This will let the commanders focus on commanding and hopefully not fighting. Here is the write up." General Rita Mitchell said handing over her notes.
181st Royal Mechanized Infantry Division
Command Battlemech Battalion - 40 Battlemechs
1811st Brigade
Mech Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Mech Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Mech Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Armor Regiment - 3 Armor Battalions
1812nd Brigade
Mech Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Mech Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Mech Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Armor Regiment - 3 Armor Battalions
1813rd Brigade
Mech Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Mech Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Mech Infantry Regiment - 3 Mech Infantry Battalions, 1 Turhan Battalion
Armor Regiment - 3 Armor Battalions
1814th Brigade
Command Company - 12 Battlemechs
Battlemech Regiment - Command Company, 3 Battlemech Battalions (132 BM)
Battlemech Regiment - Command Company, 3 Battlemech Battalions (132 BM) (TBD)
Battlemech Regiment - Command Company, 3 Battlemech Battalions (132 BM) (TBD)
Artillery Regiment (Reinforced)
Artillery Battalion - 24 Padilla Arrow
Artillery Battalion - 24 Thor Artillery
Artillery Battalion - 24 Thor Artillery
Artillery Battalion - 24 Thumper Artillery
Major General Keith Mitchell looked up from the notes "It looks good on paper, but this organization is going to play hell with our current Dropship load outs. Be nice to have the rest of the support troops, but I will get in line and hold my hand out as they become available."
"Lieutenant General DeMars has already brought the Dropship problem to my attention. I already have some of Rear Admiral Delvaney's people up on the Modified Olympus working on the problem. But until we get that sorted out, I will say I am sorry now, your gonna have to make due with what we have. Your first 3 Brigades are being made ready to move to Ceibu, you got 4 Battalions of Battlemechs and operational control of the 19th Hussar Regiment. Probably be 2 years before I can provide the last 2 Regiments of Battlemechs." General Rita Mitchell said.
"I will make do. It will give me and Lieutenant General Barkley here time to get used to each other and develop some new tactics. How long before I depart for Ceibu?" Major General Keith Mitchell asked.
"About 2 weeks. Your Armor Regiments are going to be all Merkava for now. But we will be upgrading you as we get newer tanks online." General Rita Mitchell said.
"No problem, it is a decent tank. Old design, but always a solid tank." Major General Keith Mitchell replied.
===March===
1 March to 31 April 2773
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
Peter Sajak and a select team of engineers had spent 3 months working on upgrades for the Merkava Heavy Tank and Marsden II Main Battle Tank. With the new Manticore's and Alacorns reaching the Line Commands, they were returning for storage in large nunbers. With over 1,000 of each in service with the SLDF, it seemed a waste for them to be just placed in storage. They had come up with 2 upgrades to the Merkava and one for the Marsden II.
The first Merkava upgrade changed the armor to Ferro Fibrous for an overall increase in protection. The weapons were revamped, the AC/5 was removed for a UAC/5 and 2 tons of ammunition. Artemis IV was added to the LRM/15 and the machine guns swapped for 2 Small Pulse Lasers. It was a simple but effective upgrade.
The second Merkava upgrade swapped to Ferro Fibrous, boosted to 11 tons for added protection. All of the weapons were removed, and a massive Gauss Rifle was placed in the turret with 4 tons of ammunition. A trio of Small Pulse Lasers provided anti Infantry fire. A very effective and cost-effective upgrade.
The Marsden had been a challenge, but to improve it's overall logistical tail, they had swapped the ICE for a 180 Fusion engine. The same engine powered the Turhan which was in large use by the SLDF forces already. Speed remained the same. The weapons were all pulled. In their place, a LBX/10 was placed in the turret with 4 tons of ammunition stored in the body. Dual SRM/4 were placed in the front each fed by a single ton of ammunition and dual Small Pulse Lasers made sure Infantry stayed away.
They had then turned their attention to the LTV-4 Hover Tank. Swapping the ICE for a 115 Fusion engine, they kept the speed, but made the mounting of energy weapons more effective. They had swapped the standard PPC for a ERPPC which boosted sriking range and swapped the SRM/6 for a quad set of Streak SRM/2 launchers fed by 2 tons of ammunition which vastly increased it's staying power. Armor was swapped to Ferro Fibrous and boosted to 6 tons to increase survivability.
Martha Pruitt arrived back at Thazi on 13 March, with her, she brought over 14,000 dependents of the 280th Mechanized Infantry Division along with 5 old Liberty Jumpships loaded with 20 Jumbo Dropships carrying 44,000 refugees from the Terran Hegemony. After months inside the cargo bays, the refugees were only too happy to have firm ground under their feet. Once the Dropships had been unloaded, Peter Sajak new he now had the means to begin serious work on establishing a larger civilian economy. He met with several of the civilian experts that had been willing to relocate. Kimberly Jennings was a engineer from Lexan Oceanic, she specialized in VTOL production. Hector Valdez had been with building actual sea going ships for 20 years with Lebedev Nautical Enterprises. Timothy Highman had worked for Bluth Corporation as a lead production supervisor.
All had been both horrified and excited when they learned everything was being built from the ground up out here. Studying a map of Thazi, Hector Valdez quickly selected a location on the coast that he deemed perfect for a shipyard to build the Kaleen Bay Tanker and Anastaska Maro freighter designs for use on the vast ocean on Thazi. He explained that a specially modified Mammoth could carry 2 partially dismantled ships to destinations. They named the new facility Ocean Works. Estimates were 3 years before the first production.
Peter Sajak selected Ddraig to host the Factory to produce the Lexan Oceanic Series II Personal VTOL under Kimberly Jennings. She was excited to learn that she and her small group of experts would also be reverse engineering other VTOL aircraft and placing them into production. Major General Heinrich Rommel had then slated a new slot into his Training Command to train VTOL pilots and began the task of finding instructors to help start a school for it. Ddraig Aviation was selected as the name of the factory. Estimates for 2 years before the first production.
Puttalam was selected to host the Industrial Mech factory under Timothy Highman. There, they would build the CON-7 Carbine ConstructionMech and BV XXI Buster HaulerMech. They only had enough equipment purchased to create a single line for each design, but Peter Sajak and his people had long perfected the ability to reverse engineer and build new production equipment. Puttalam Industrial Concerns was selected for the name. Estimates put 2 years before the first production.
Peter Sajak put his people to work breaking down the equipment to produce the Ground Car design. It would be duplicated, and small factories established on every inhabited planet with a population over 10 million. This would provide both jobs and transportation for the locals. Estimates were 1 year before first production.
Peter Sajak selected Frank Graham, a survivor from Outpost #4 to head up the factory to be built on Ambatomainty. There they would produce Brunel Dump Truck, Lessups Dump Truck and TLF-LL6500 Fire Engine. They would also be producing Sherpa Trucks and Flatbed Trucks for civilian use. Estimates were 2 years before first production.
Aboard the Modified Olympus, engineers had selected the Lion Dropship as the basis for a new Infantry Transport. A durable and excellent design in service with the SLDF against Amaris and also in use with the SLDF in the region. The had modified it to carry a full Regiment of Infantry, whether normal SLDF standard of the new 12 platoon Battalions. Two separate decks were equipped to transport Infantry, each able to transport 24 platoons. A third deck had 36 Light Vehicle Bays to carry the Regiments Tank Battalion. A cargo deck held 2100 tons of cargo. The ship was equipped with a state of the art MASH hospital with 5 operating rooms. They had sent the design specs to Lieutenant General DeMars, who approved the design and forward it to Ceibu. There, Hegemony Aerospace was ordered to establish enough equipment and capability to produce in quantity the new design. Local construction companies began work on 12 new massive hangers capable of producing 36 of the new designs per year. To meet the need for new workers, recruiters were sent to Azur.
===May===
19 May 2773
Rimworlds Outpost #11 (Deep Periphery)
Rear Admiral Zeibler, Commander Task Force 11, watched as the ships materialized at the Zenith Jump Point. Finding no hostile shipping, the Dropships were released and the Task Force began the 12 day trip to the planet’s surface. SLS Cartagena and SLS Buccaneer, Essex II Destroyers remained at the Zenith Jump Point to guard the 2 Leviathan and 6 Star Lord Jumpships.
31 May 2773
The 509th Battle Regiment was the first force down to the surface. Securing a landing zone, they waited as the 2722nd Brigade began disembarking their Dropships before they began advancing on the decent sized City and Factory Complex. Aerospace Fighters began calling out resistance as a Battalion of Battlemaster Assault Battlemechs advanced to engage the SLDF forces.
Colonel Jenny Davidson, commander 509th Battle Regiment, knew her Battlemechs were out matched by the oncoming assault mechs, but she began a battle of maneuver against them. She ordered her integral Aerospace Fighters to start beating on the advancing Battlemasters. She checked her onboard map and saw that the Battlemech Regiment that accompanied the 2722nd Brigade was rapidly closing the distance to engage the enemy. Her Arrow IV launchers began fire, launching Cluster rounds into the mass of assault mechs. Sonic booms overhead announced the arrival of additional Aerospace Fighters from SLS Independence, New Samarkand II-Class Aerospace Carrier. They came in squadron strength and released their bomb loads before swinging around to perform strike missions.
As the surviving Assault Mechss had closed to firing range, the SLDF Battlemech Regiment had entered the fray. Massively outnumbered and facing much more experienced pilots, the enemy Battlemasters steadily fell to the massed fire from the SLDF. After an hour of fighting, the last enemy Battlemaster fell. But it had not been without losses to the SLDF. They had lost 4 Aerospace Fighters and 9 Battlemechs. Now it was up to the Infantry Brigade to clear and secure the Factory Complex and city.
By nightfall, Infantry from the 2722nd Brigade had secured the Factory Complex and huge warehouse complex. They were surprised to find both empty and idled. Layers of dust covered machinery. They would push into the city at dawn.
===June===
1 June 2773
With Battlemech escorts, the Infantry from 2722nd Brigade began pushing into the city. Recon flights had located a second smaller city and the 509th Battle Regiment moved to secure it. Moving swiftly, Infantry managed to secure the main city by mid afternoon with no resistance. The 509th also met no resistance and quickly secured the small city.
A squad of Infantry led Taxiarchos Jermaine Haye to meet Lieutenant General Samantha Colby, commander 2722nd Brigade. Bringing himself to attention he reported "Taxiarchos Jermaine Haye, I am commander of this Outpost and surrender the Outpost to you."
"Lieutenant General Samantha Colby, commander 2722nd Brigade. I accept your surrender. If you have any armed forces remaining, please have them come in and lay down their weapons." She said.
"There are no more. I have had to put everyone into the fields and fishing just to keep us alive out here. We shut down the factory when the warehouses were filled to capacity. We have not seen anyone in years." Jermaine Haye said
"I will have food and my medical personnel brought down." Lieutenant General Colby replied
"That is most kind of you. Will you be staying here?" Jermaine Haye asked
"No, we will be disassembling the Factory for transport. We will also remove anyone who wishes to depart with us and bring them back to civilization." Lieutenant General Colby said
"I hope you have a bunch of Dropships. You’re going to need just over 420,000 tons of cargo space for the Factory Complex and its equipment. I will gather my people and we will help tear the place apart. I am sick of being here, but some will choose to remain." Jermaine Crosby said
"That would be a huge help, Mr. Haye. Any that wish to remain, we will see that they have emergency supplies. Now I want to go have a look at those warehouses, my scouts reported they are filled with Battlemechs and supplies." Lieutenant General Colby said.
"They are. They contain just over 2 years production. Once they were filled, I shut down the production lines. I saw no need in keeping them running if no one came to pick up the stuff. I will go get my people gathered and we will start tearing the place down tomorrow." Jermaine Haye said.
2 June 2773
Lieutenant General Colby whistled as she looked at a warehouse stuffed full of rank after rank of Battlemaster Assault Battlemechs. She held a manifest put together by her people on what each warehouse held and had compiled it into a neat and tidy sheet with the numbers. It had taken all night for them to count everything.
Stinger STG-3R - 960 (19,200 tons)
Firestarter FS9-H - 480 (16,800 tons)
Phoenix PX-3R - 684 (34,200 tons)
Talos TLS-1B - 720 (36,000 tons)
Archer ARC-2R - 384 (26,800 tons)
Battlemaster BLR-1G - 336 (28,560 tons)
91,000 tons assorted parts and ammunition
After receiving the report, she had then gotten worried and started punching numbers. Her 16 Mammoth Dropships could carry 592,000 tons of cargo. She had a 100,000-ton deficit. She made a hard decision and ordered the Firestarter Line, a Stinger Line and a Talos Line destroyed in place. This created just enough room that they could take everything with them. It was a painful thing to order, but she had no choice and her orders had been clear, bring back everything that could be carried and duplicated later. It would take an estimated 5 months to get everything loaded up for transport.
22 June 2773
Drachenfeld (Deep Periphery)
Task Force Seven materialized at the Zenith Jump Point almost 3 weeks behind schedule. Rear Admiral Trishia Delvaney's voice came over the radio "We were getting worried. What happened?"
Lieutenant General Hans Bleucher keyed the radio "Blew a helium seal on one of the Leviathan’s. Took a few weeks to get it fixed and then refilled."
"Roger, we will head your way and take a good look at her. I will have my people start polling the ships for any issues we need to take care of. How did things go anyway?" Rear Admiral Delvaney asked
"We got the Factory Complex and hundreds of Tanks. But we had to leave a whole bunch of stuff behind, just did not have enough room to carry everything." Lieutenant General Blucher replied
"We have a year at least before Task Force Eleven is back, is it worth going back for?" Rear Admiral Delvaney asked
''
"Couple hundred support trucks but thousands of tons of spare parts and ammunition. We could probably do without the trucks, but the other stuff would save us having to manufacture it." Lieutenant General Blucher replied
There was silence for a few minutes "SLS Borneo and SLS Dark Brawler will head back and collect the rest of the material. Ground your Dropships and get some ground time, unload what space is needed on the surface and end of July they will head back for the rest. Figure out what unit will provide ground security." Rear Admiral Delvaney ordered.
Schrim (Outworlds Alliance)
SLS Sneak, Bug-Eye Surveillance had jumped beyond the Proximity Limit and had then moved slowly to the Ormazd Belt, 184 AU from the systems star. Her mission had been assigned by Vice Admiral Tanisha Tanaka, trace the recovered path of SLS Independence's treachery and check for anything recoverable. Schrim had been identified as a location where a SLDF supply convoy had been destroyed. The powerful sensors aboard SLS Sneak finally detected the 2 Carrack-Class Transports that had been severely damaged by SLS Independence's treachery and left in place after the mining station had been destroyed. Verifying their location, SLS Sneak began moving to a suitable jump location to continue their mission to the next destination.
Woodbine (Federated Suns)
Ships Captain Cynthia Williams and her Merchant Jumpship sat at the Zenith Jump Point having already taken on her charge from the Olympus Recharge Station. She shook her head in disbelief at what a simple favor for Martha Pruitt had turned into. A simple gather some SLDF dependents from the far side of known space had turned into a mission of herding cats. At the Nadir Jump Point, she knew that Michael Crawford, another free trader, was going through the same thing as her, only for Martin Zuni. Between them, they now "led" a fleet of 27 Jumpships carrying 134,812 SLDF dependents and another 377,000 refugees from the Terran Hegemony that the dependents had convinced to join them as they tripped over them. They had to stop in almost every system to purchase supplies as everyone was crammed into cargo bays. But everything was been paid for by some law firm on Bastrop, so that at least was not an issue. She was curious how either of them could afford the huge fee both her and Michael Crawford had been promised.
New Avalon (Federated Suns)
SLS McKenna, McKenna Battleship hung at the Nadir Jump Point. On one of the 45 meter grav decks, Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky was meeting with First Prince John Davion.
"Thank you for agreeing to be at the Jump Point on my arrival Prince Davion, my time is pressed and I must return soon to the front." General Kerensky said.
''
"Alek, call me John when we are alone. There is no need for titles between us. Now, what is on your mind?" First Prince John Davion replied.
"As you wish John. You have always been straight forward and honest in your dealings with me, for that I think I can trust you." Kerensky said.
"Flattery? I hope you know that I cannot commit AFFS troops openly to side with you in this Civil War. I have opened access to my shipyards and even my supply depots. I have not even openly opposed those of my own military that have joined your forces. Let us cut to the chase and get down to what you need." Prince Davion said
"I need more of everything. Currently, your AFFS is buying almost 60% of all production runs from your factories. What will it take to change that?" General Kerensky said.
"I see, intel has come in that the fighting has been overly brutal for your SLDF. I will counter, what are you willing to offer?" Prince Davion replied.
"If you would have the AFFS purchase only 20% of production runs so that my SLDF can purchase the remaining 80%, I will release some of our advanced designs for manufacture and purchase by the AFFs. Once the war is over, your Federated Suns will be allowed to continue producing and purchasing those designs without limit. But, I also need assistance with humanitarian aid. I cannot allow the AFFS to occupy Hegemony worlds, but they can carry light weapons for self-defense. This will free up some of my troops I badly need on the front." General Kerensky said.
"Make it 30% for my AFFS and I think we have a deal. I already have over 400 million refugees on various Federated Suns worlds. Plus, there are several million more passing through Suns space heading to the Periphery, mainly the Outworlds Alliance." Prince Davion said.
"We have a deal. I thank you for providing for those refugees from the Hegemony in their time of need. I trust that if the refugees decide to join the other refugee's that you will assist them in their journey?" General Kerensky replied.
"No thanks are needed, Alek. I would hope they find the Suns a welcome home, but if they decide they want to join their fellow's on their journey, I think I can assist them on their travel. It would be the humanitarian thing to do after all." First Prince Davion responded.
"Then I thank you for the assistance. I will see that the design specs are forwarded to you as soon as I can. I am sorry I cannot delay any longer, but I have a war to complete." General Kerensky said shaking First Prince John Davion's hand as he rose.
"God speed and safe travel, Alek." First Prince John Davion said as he took his leave.
===September===
1 September 2773
Bastrop (Federated Suns)
Ships Captain's Cynthia Williams and Michael Crawford had finally reached Bastrop where Martin Zuni and Martha Pruitt had said to bring their respective loads. The 29 Jumpship strong fleet was at the Zenith Jump Point. They had been in system for 3 days and were again taking on supplies purchased by the law firm. Radio traffic coming from their "fleet" was extensive between the various ships, but also responding to questions from arriving Jumpships. Ship Captain Cynthia Williams was getting frustrated when out of the blue they were hailed by a Scout Jumpship that had been hovering a few hundred thousand kilometres away.
"Silver Devil, this is Long Rider, I have a message from Martha Pruitt."
She saw that it had come over a laser link between the 2 ships before she answered "This is Silver Devil, send message."
''
"Ms. Pruitt is inbound at this time. ETA is 2 weeks. She has been informed of your arrival."
''
"Good copy on message. We are going to need a bunch of supplies for 2 weeks wait. I am not sure how all these passengers are going to react to that kind of delay."
''
"Arrangements are being made for additional supplies. She was not expecting you to bring this many people."
"We sort of picked up a bunch of folks along the way. It has been quite a challenge to get this far. My poor ship is way past a maintenance cycle."
"Will advise Ms Pruitt. Arrangements will be made to handle any issues. Contact us if you need further information. Long Rider out."
The brief conversation just made Cynthia Williams more curious than ever. What the heck was Martha into out here? Making arrangements for a maintenance cycle on her ship? How the heck does she have that kind of pull, she had already checked with the Olympus at the Nadir Jump Point and it was booked for the next 9 months.
15 September 2773
Another Scout Jumpship, carrying a single Elephant Tug materialized not far away at the Zenith Jump Point. It wasted no time in hailing Ship Captain Cynthia Williams aboard Silver Devil via a secure laser lock again. "Stealthy Rider to Silver Devil, how copy?"
"Loud and clear, Stealthy Rider."
The next voice was easy to recognize "Cynthia you old mare, how the hell are you?"
"Martha? Where the hell is your Merchant and what the hell is going on?"
"She is safe and sound. I needed to get here quicker so I hitched a ride that was arranged for me. We will talk soon; I am taking a shuttle over. Have Michael Crawford join us. See you in about an hour."
An hour later, Cynthia Williams and Michael Crawford saw Martha Pruitt leave the shuttle and effortlessly move towards them. Cynthia caught a glimpse inside the shuttle before the door shut and swore she saw a person in SLDF garb. What the hell, she thought.
"Cynthia, good to see you. You must be Michael Crawford, Martin has told me all about you. I would prefer to talk somewhere more private if we could." Martha Pruitt said in greeting
"Let's head for my quarters. Private enough I guess, and you can tell us what the hell is going on." Cynthia replied as she pushed for the door
Once inside Cynthia's quarters and the door shut Martha Pruitt said "It has been one hell of a journey out here. Me and Martin have dive into business together, ZaP Shipping and we have the market cornered on huge tract of space. We now operate 6 Merchant, 12 Invader, 4 Liberty and 2 Star Lords. We are light on cargo Dropships, but that is being corrected slowly. Mainly we run a bunch of passenger shuttles between systems. Makes good money. Easy access to maintenance facilities. Myself and Martin would like for both of you to join up with us. I know you own your Merchant free and clear, how about you Michael?"
"I owe about 25 Million to the bank. Why?" Michael Crawford asked
"Well get ready to make your last payment. Before I came over, I contacted our lawyer on the surface and he is waiting banking instructions to deposit, for both of you, 80 Million dollars each. As owner operators, you would be under a long-term contract to ZaP Shipping but would receive 10% as owners. All maintenance and expenses are paid by ZaP Shipping while under contract. It is a good deal and we need experienced Captains. The only catch is you have to have a security detail aboard your ships, but you will get used to it quickly." Martha explained
"You running stuff into a top secret SLDF base or something? I thought I saw a SLDF uniform aboard that shuttle?" Cynthia asked.
"Not really, and I cannot explain it any further. We take security seriously out here. We have 3 more months to our final destination, 12 jumps. I will lead everyone in. Every ship will have a security detail aboard it for the trip. When we get to our destination, if you choose to not join ZaP Shipping, and decide to not stay in the region, I will bring you back here, but your navigation computers will be wiped clean. This is a one time offer and you have until we reach our destination to decide." Martha explained further
''
"I never figured you to ever play under those kind of rules Martha. Seems pretty strict and you were always one to buck any sort of regulations." Cynthia replied.
Martha just shrugged "Times change and we have a really good thing going right now. There is no competition and we have a great relationship with the person in charge. Now, your mission was to pick up some damned dependents, not bring a damned fleet with you, what happened?"
"It was the damned dependents. They hailed every damned ship we came across, looking for news. Next thing you know, we had a crap load of tag along. You have no idea of the trouble we have had coordinating all these damned ships." Cynthia replied while Michael nodded agreement.
"Well, either way, arrangements are being made to take them in back home. Now, let's get the security details aboard the ships, get me your banking info so I can get you both paid and let's beat feet. We have a ways to go yet." Martha said.
24 September 2773
Martha Pruitt was on the bridge of Silver Devil, Merchant Jumpship. A full SLDF Marine Regiment was spread out among the 29 Jumpships, much to the irritation of every ship’s captain. Even Cynthia Williams was a little irritated as she watched Martha Pruitt punch in the jump coordinates and order her crew to transmit the calculations to every ship in the "fleet". They had also picked up more SLDF dependents here on Bastrop and more refugee's packing everyone into any ship with space over the week. When it was completed and verified, Martha said "Jump".
Martha Pruitt "Fleet"
6 Merchant Jumpships
13 Invader Jumpships
4 Tramp Jumpships
6 Star Lord Jumpships
16 Mule Dropships
44 Jumbo Dropships
21 Mammoth Dropships
12 Buccaneer Dropships
6 Monarch Dropships
SLDF Dependents - 141,169
Refugee's - 577,427
===October===
18 October 2773
Rimworlds Outpost #11 (Deep Periphery)
Lieutenant General Samantha Colby, commander 2722nd Brigade, looked at Jermaine Haye who had just returned from trying to convince the last hold outs to leave with them.
"You stressed that we will not be returning? That they are on their own out here?" Lieutenant General Colby asked
"Yes sir. I explained things to them in very blunt terms. 38,151 have decided that they will not leave with us. I have done everything I can do and so have you." Jermaine Haye replied
"So what is the final count on those leaving with us again?" Lieutenant General Colby having left the count in her Mobile HQ.
"143,120 is the final count General Colby." Jermaine Haye said
"Then that is all we can do here. The destroyed Battlemech lines are truly destroyed? They cannot be repaired?" Lieutenant General Colby asked.
"I have inspected them myself. There is no way to salvage anything from them. They are as destroyed as we can make them, short of staying here another 2 months and smelting the metals to slag. Which I would rather not do, I am sick of this place." Jermaine Haye said.
"Then we will finish the last of the loading and get gone from here. We have a very long trip ahead of us." Lieutenant General Colby said.
As they turned to walk back to the Mobile HQ, the last of the 509th Battle Regiment was returning with the 3 Corx Mining Machines and 18 Mining Mechs for loading, and it would be a very tight fit to squeeze them into the remaining space aboard the last Dropships. Another year to get back to Drachenfeld.
Rimworlds Outpost #7 (Deep Periphery)
Colonel Jesse Bezine watched his Infantry Regiment deploy into a perimeter. As he watched, 3 Mammoth Dropships were descending on pillars of flame to the space port. They would load the remaining equipment and material stored and then get the hell gone. Already, his few techs were opening the warehouses in preparation of loading the mountains of cargo.
New Avalon (Federated Suns)
First Prince John Davion smiled as he read the report in his hands. General Kerensky had been good to his word. The report detailed the advanced designs delivered by General Kerensky's people to various manufacturer's in the Federated Suns. It was a surprisingly long list and it would serve the AFFC well once the Hegemony Civil War was over.
Transferred Designs
Nightstar NSR-9J - General Motors, Kathil (released for sale)
Emperor EMP-6A - Star Corps, Crofton (released for sale)
Thug THG-11Eb - Achernar, New Avalon (new design)
Phoenix Hawk PHX-1b - Achernar, New Avalon (new design)
Locust LCT-1Vb - Achernar, New Avalon (new design)
Shadow Hawk SHD-2Hb - Kallon, Wernke (Talon) (released for sale)
Highlander HGN-732b - Star Corps, Crofton (released for sale)
Marauder MAD-2R - General Motors, Kathil (released for sale)
Warhammer WHM-7A - Star Corps, Crofton (released for sale)
Griffin GRF-2N - Kallon, Wernke (Talon) (released for sale)
Griffin GRF-2N - Norse, Marduk (new design)
Wolverine II WVR-7A - Norse, Marduk (new design)
Sabre SB-27b - Lycomb-Davion, New Avalon (new design)
Sabre SB-28 - Lycomb-Davion, New Avalon (new design)
Stuka STU-K5b - Lycomb-Davion, New Avalon (released for sale)
Stuka STU-K5b2 - Lycomb-Davion, New Avalon (released for sale)
Lightning LTN-G15b - Lycomb-Davion, New Avalon (released for sale)
Hellcat II HCT-213C - Lycomb-Davion, New Avalon (new design)
Hellcat II HCT-214 - Lycomb-Davion, New Avalon (new design)
This would be a huge boon to the AFFC, even with only 30% of the production. Lycomb-Davion would have to do a major expansion to handle the new work and he made a note to make the loans available. He knew that later down the road, there would be lawsuits galore over license rights, but he would deal with that when the time came.
===November===
1 November to 31 December 2773
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
General Rita Mitchell watched as the newly christened SLS Devon Pulman, Potemkin-Class Transport was pulled from the massive shipyard 2 months ahead of schedule. She had been named in honor of the captain of Vincent-Class Corvette, SLS Dominator, who had succumbed to his wounds at Outpost #4. The ship would undergo 3 months of trials before she would be assigned to the 359th Battlemech Division. This was a massive achievement, a locally produced warship of this size. Beside her, Vice Admiral Tanisha Tanaka stood watching silently before she spoke.
"She will come online quickly, the crew is not as green as you would expect. The commander and half the crew are experienced and will bring the new people up to speed quickly." Vice Admiral Tanaka said
"Oh? You promote some people off other ships?" General Mitchell asked
"Yes, I have been shifting folks around slotting in new people for experienced so that we can crew this ship with a decent crew. When the deployed ships return, I will do the same thing with their crews to man the next one. I want to use the Linden Shipyards, now that we have the Dropship production going well on Ceibu, I need the yards at Linden. At least for a little while, until Rear Admiral Zeibler returns, I am working Rear Admiral Coltrain's ships too hard patrolling our borders. I want to build the Vigilant Corvette, it is small, which will keep the crew small. I can use them to patrol the borders instead of our main combat ships. Deploy them in pairs, but I want them equipped with HPG's to call in help if they need it. No LF Batteries, they are for patrol not rapid response. Plus I can use them for advanced training for the green crew members fresh from school." Vice Admiral Tanaka said
"And how many of these Vigilant Corvettes do you estimate we need?" General Mitchell asked with a sinking feeling in gut
"More than you are going to like, I can promise you that. I would like to have 11 of them plus SLS Blommestein refitted to the new standard. They are small enough that we can actually use Olympus Stations for regular maintenance. Once built, they would only see an actual yard for major repairs. I need these ships Rita, I am stretched too thin patrolling our borders. It is not going to do us any good if we get paid a visit and I have nothing to respond with because half my ships are down for repairs or we have another Conroy incident." Vice Admiral Tanaka argued
General Mitchell knew she was going to have to agree to this. She had never doubted any of her top officers’ suggestions or advice. She knew that expanding their borders was going to strain the limited naval resources they had. "Okay Tanisha, I will send the orders to Rear Admiral Seimens and you have SLS Blommestein report to Linden."
"SLS Blommestein is already at Linden and Rear Admiral Seimens has already gotten warning orders. I just needed your permission to proceed." Vice Admiral Tanaka replied
"And Rear Admiral Seimens did not kick up a fuss?" General Mitchell asked.
"Nope, he is excited as hell about it. You know he has been producing jump cores, right? Not for the Vigilant, but he has a small stockpile of spare cores, at least one for every ship in the Fleet. When I asked, he told me it would speed up any repairs if something really bad happened, plus it would speed up regular scheduled maintenance, only a month to pull and reinstall a jump core. He is quite good when he has a strict framework to work in. Besides, I have already decided that Rear Admiral Percy Seimens is going to command the new 22nd Patrol Squadron." Vice Admiral Tanaka said as she took a step back just in case.
"Your kidding me. I came within a whisker of shooting him in the head a few years ago and now you’re going to give him an active command?" General Mitchell said
"Nope, I am not kidding. He has done good work, even excellent work since that meeting. He has earned this. He will be stationed on Linden to oversee the operation there, but he will also setup the patrol schedule of his command." Vice Admiral Tanaka said
"Okay Tanisha, you run the Navy. But make sure he has very clear orders and understands them very clearly. I do not want a repeat of last time when his head out grew his ass." General Mitchell stressed
''
"He will know exactly what his task is and the limits to his authority. He has already gotten me an estimate and swears that he can build 6 per year, 3 months for each one. So about the time the new Potemkin comes online, not only will I have all 12 Vigilant on patrol, but I will have a deeper pool of crews with experience to draw from to man her." Vice Admiral Tanaka said
On the surface, Lieutenant General Curtis DeMars was working on his wish list realignment of all the commands TO&E. He considered the new Infantry Division TO&E a great success almost perfect for garrisoning important worlds. The new TO&E that General Mitchell had used for the 181st Royal Mechanized Infantry Division was also very good. He figured if he could convince General Mitchell to have the other MID's move to the new TO&E, not only could he finish bringing the 181st RMID to strength but he could reform another Division on her list with the newly released Battlemech forces. He also knew that Major General Rommel was about to graduate 3 Regiments of Jump Infantry from the school. He pulled out his list and made some notes.
====Hegemony Forces TO&E====
Conventional RCT
Armor Regiment - 132 Tanks (36 Chevalier, 72 Demon)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Artillery Battalion - 24 Thor
Infantry Division
Command Battlemech Battalion (40 Battlemech)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Light Battlemech Battalion (40 Battlemech)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Light Battlemech Battalion (40 Battlemech)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Light Battlemech Battalion (40 Battlemech)
Armor Regiment - 108 Tanks (Manticore)
Armor Regiment - 108 Tanks (Manticore)
Armor Regiment - 108 Tanks (Alacorn)
Armor Regiment - 108 Tanks (Zyphr)
Artillery Battalion - 24 Thor
Artillery Battalion - 24 Marksman
Artillery Battalion - 24 Chaparral
Cavalry Regiment - Inf Batt (336 Inf, 12 Maxim) Armor Batt (36 Zyphr) Battlemech Battalion (40 BM)
Engineer Battalion - 3x Eng Company (336 men, 8 Eng Vehicle, 4 Leeps Dump Trucks)
Ground Aero Wing - 3x Aero Group
VTOL Wing - 3x VTOL Company (36 VTOL)
Mechanized Infantry Division
Command Battlemech Battalion (40 Battlemech)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Armor Regiment - 108 Tanks (108 Merkava MkX)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Armor Regiment - 108 Tanks (108 Manticore)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Armor Regiment - 108 Tanks (108 Merkava MkX)
Command Battlemech Company (12 Battlemech)
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Artillery Battalion - 24 Thor
Artillery Battalion - 24 Thor
Artillery Battalion - 24 Marksman
Artillery Battalion - 24 Padilla
Cavalry Regiment - Inf Batt (336 Inf, 12 Maxim) Armor Batt (36 Zyphr) Battlemech Batt (40 BM)
Engineer Battalion - 3x Eng Company (336 men, 8 Eng Vehicle, 4 Leeps Dump Trucks)
Ground Aero Wing - 3x Aero Group
VTOL Wing - 3x VTOL Company (36 VTOL)
Battlemech Division
Command Battlemech Battalion (40 Battlemech)
Command Battlemech Company (12 Battlemech)
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Command Battlemech Company (12 Battlemech)
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 Inf, 12 Turhan each)
Light Battlemech Battalion (40 Battlemech)
Armor Regiment - 108 Tanks (Manticore)
Armor Regiment - 108 Tanks (Manticore)
Armor Regiment - 108 Tanks (Alacorn)
Artillery Battalion - 24 Thor
Artillery Battalion - 24 Thor
Artillery Battalion - 24 Marksman
Artillery Battalion - 24 Padilla
Cavalry Regiment - Inf Batt (336 Inf, 12 Maxim) Armor Batt (36 Zyphr) Battlemech Batt (40 BM)
Engineer Battalion - 3x Eng Company (336 men, 8 Eng Vehicle, 4 Leeps Dump Trucks)
Ground Aero Wing - 3x Aero Group
VTOL Wing - 3x VTOL Company (36 VTOL)
Jump Infantry Division
Command Battlemech Battalion (40 Battlemech)
Jump Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 men each)
Jump Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 men each)
Jump Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 men each)
Jump Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 men each)
Light Battlemech Battalion (40 Battlemech)
Jump Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 men each)
Jump Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 men each)
Jump Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 men each)
Jump Infantry Regiment - 4 Batt (336 men each)
Light Battlemech Battalion (40 Battlemech)
Command Battlemech Company (12 Battlemech)
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
Battlemech Regiment - 132 Battlemech
LAM Regiment - Command Company (8 LAM), 3 Batt LAM (120 LAM)
VTOL Regiment - 4 VTOL Batt (164 VTOL)
VTOL Regiment - 4 VTOL Batt (164 VTOL)
VTOL Regiment - 4 VTOL Batt (164 VTOL)
Artillery Battalion - 18 Thumper, 18 VTOL
Artillery Battalion - 18 Thumper, 18 VTOL
Artillery Battalion - 18 Sniper, 18 VTOL
Artillery Battalion - 18 Arrow IV, 18 VTOL
Ground Aero Wing - 3 Aero Groups (54 Aerospace Fighter), Engineer Batt
Ground Aero Wing - 3 Aero Groups (54 Aerospace Fighter), Engineer Batt
He knew the VTOL factory was nearing completion on Ddraig and he during one of his reviews of the inventory in storage and also of each command, discovered a few gems. The biggest had been a single Paramour Mobile Repair Vehicle, once part of the 54th Mechanized Infantry Division, how they got it, he did not care, it was here, and he thought it was better than the Wayland Mobile. Smaller, less resources to build and easier to move around. He had already delivered it to Thazi Motors for reverse engineering and production. If he could get them built in decent numbers, he could pull the Waylands back to a single location and green light Peter Sajak's modernization of the Merkava.
Also inside the vast warehouses he had found a single Royal Cyrano Gunship. The 272nd Mech Infantry Division had the largest concentration of Cobra VTOLs while the 280th Mech Infantry Division had 2 Companies of Vector VTOL. The Royal Black Watch had 8 Peregrine ECM VTOL. He had already had the single Royal Cyrano sent to Ddraig, now he just needed to convince General Mitchell to order the release of the other VTOLs.
On Ddraig, Kimberly Jennings watched the first Lexan Oceanic Series II Personal VTOL begin to take shape on the production floor. She already had an order for 10 of them to be delivered to every planetary Governor and an additional 6 to be sent to Thazi and Boulsi. Her second line should be coming online in January 2774 and a third line in March 2774. Each able to manufacture 10 per month at her current staffing. After watching for a while, she headed for a separate hanger, there a small team of engineers were very carefully taking apart the Royal Cyrano that Lieutenant General DeMars had delivered with strict orders to be extremely careful.
She had never built military VTOLs before and the note had told her that weapons and any other specialized equipment would be built off site and delivered for assembly. That simplified things and now it was just another VTOL to her. As she walked across the large parking ramp to the hanger, in the distance she could see a local engineering company along with a SLDF Engineer unit building her next factory complex, this one was a massive structure. Going by her own smaller factory, which was designed to hold 3 production lines, this new factory would hold at least 15 production lines once fully out fitted. It was massive, covering a full square kilometer.
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