CnC Chpt 10

==Cat and Crescent - Chapter 10 -==
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===Difficult Conversation===
Trojan-class Dropship Hondo
Approaching Lyreton, Rimward Periphery
Monday, October 4th, 3024 
"It's techs versus jocks, Commander," Chief Lottie declared. She stood on one side of the makeshift court, playfully spinning a volleyball on one finger. "Ya should join in 'afore we crush you!"
 
Remihel cocked an eyebrow at Lottie. "Those are bold words, Chief. But thanks, I'll just watch."
 
"Come on, Commander," Luke Skinner said. "We finally got Wes to play with us, so we're going to start working on you, next!"
 
Wes, who'd just taken his place on the court alongside Luke and Josie, winked at Remihel. "Remi's not interested in any sport that doesn't include horses."
 
"Well that's just not true!" Remihel protested. "I've played cricket and racquetball, too."
 
"Those aren't real sports," Luke said. "C'mon, sir - there's only three of us. If you don't play, we'll have to get one of the Aero pilots to play. And they are cocky as roosters."
 
Josie rolled her eyes. "Pot, meet Kettle." She looked at Remihel. "Just one game?"
 
He hesitated for just a moment. "All right," he agreed.
 
"Tall people in the front," Luke said.
 
The confidence Chief Lottie held in her techs was not unjustified. They collected three points in a row before Luke scored a first point. A few moments later, Josie spiked the ball past Marco Espinosa. From there on, the match got more even, until the "Jocks" beat the "Techs" ten to eight. 
 
As the two teams exchanged high-fives of congratulations, and Corporal Rimac managed the payouts for the different bets he'd logged, Remihel noted the lift doors open. Captain Zachary Harwood strode into the cargo bay, immediately locking eyes with him and changing course like a homing missile. "Commander," he said, "I need to talk. My office."
 
"Sure, Captain," Remihel replied, wondering what might be so urgent. Captain Harwood's expression read grave rather than angry. Anyway, he already knew about the herd of cats…
 
They boarded the elevator and rode in silence to the upper deck. Remihel didn't frequent the upper decks, preferring to stay out of the way of the Hondo's ten-person crew. Captain Harwood's office featured a complete wall of dried flowers,all contained in neat, well-lighted shadow boxes, each labeled with the flower's name and the world from which it was collected. Remihel saw one from Girondas - something with orange petals, he didn't know the name - a few from Herotitus, and an insect-eating plant from Coromodir.
 
"All right, Captain," Remihel said, once he closed the door. "What's the issue?"
 
"Not just one issue, I'm afraid," Harwood said, handing him a noteputer. "This just got sent by one of the official stations on Moab. An UrbanMech exploded while engaged in training exercises near the capital. The pilot was killed. It was the Shanna - Cassie Jalal."
 
"Oh," Remihel said. He felt his breath go short. "I don't think that's an accident."
 
"I believe you." Harwood rubbed his forehead. "I figured you ought to hear about that right away. But there's something else I have for you. About two hours ago, another JumpShip arrived in system. It's the Ralph Heyerdahl on her run between the Federated Suns and Canopus. They brought three drop ships with them from Canopian space. One of them - a Leopard - detached and started making its way in-system."
 
"Since you're telling me this, I gather you smell a rat?" Remihel prompted.
 
"I can't be sure," Harwood said. "But I think it's the Diving Bird. I've never seen her myself, but McQueen put her on my list of ships to watch for. She's Canopian, and he believes she might be tied to the Magistracy Intelligence Ministry."
 
"So she left the JumpShip… where is she going?"
 
"Not clear yet. One of Lyreton's moons, obviously - but I can't tell you which. Oh, we can't rule out the shipyards in orbit, either."
 
"Ehm." Remihel spent a few long moments in thought. The presence of a possible MIM ship - or agent, or team - worried him. MIM had a decent reputation in intelligence circles - better, certainly, than their Taurian counterparts in TMI, or SAFE from the Free Worlds League - but probably still inferior to the Federated Suns duo of DMI and MIIO, or the feared Capella Maskirovka. 
Their presence in this situation could satisfy Remihel's ultimate mission goal, or upset it entirely.
 
And that doesn't take into account the problem on Moab, he reflected. If Cassie Jalal was dead, the smart money put that 'accident' squarely at the feet of Jairo Crivoi. That implies he's ready to make his move on the throne. Or at least he feels ready…
 
"If that drop ship is Diving Bird, when could they arrive on Moab? If Moab is actually where they're going, of course?"
 
"We can touch down on schedule in two days. The best they can manage is three days after that - if they go for hard acceleration and deceleration. If they aren't in a terrible hurry, four days."
 
"I see." Remihel slowly rose. "Thank you, Captain. I'll let you know if we need anything."
 
He headed for the lift, and summoned Josie to the conference room. I need a clue about how the locals will respond, and she's got the best insight out of us all.. He couldn't tell her about the Canopian dropship, though - not without serious repercussions.
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===Suspicious Death===
Josie arrived in the conference room with a wary, worried expression. "What did I do?"
 
"Ehm? Sorry - nothing you did."
 
"Oh, good." Josie slid into the seat across from Remihel. "You got called away, and now you look… serious, I guess."
 
"Yes," Remihel said. "Cassie Jalal is dead. Her UrbanMech blew up during an exercise."
 
Josie immediately covered her mouth with one hand. "Oh no," she gasped. "Oh no. Her daughter must be… can't be five years old. That's going to be horrible - I feel so bad for them. Was it an accident?"
 
"Does it matter?"
 
"I… guess not," Josie said. "Even if it was an accident, it won't make much difference. Everyone shall presume it's an assassination and act on that."
 
"My thoughts, too. So… what do you think will happen next?"
 
She thought for a few long moments. "It might not be Mandarin Crivoi."
 
"It might be a genuine accident, too. But I don't put much stock in that."
 
"Hmm. Maybe…" Josie hesitated for a moment.
 
"You aren't sure?" Remihel asked, giving her a look of surprise.
 
"I'm not confident," she admitted.
 
"Hmm. In that case… this is why I hired you. Advise me. I'm ready to listen."
 
"It could be outsiders. Capellans, or FedRats, or Canopians, or even… no offense, even Taurians. Cassie went to college in the Federated Suns and has been pretty friendly toward the Davions… maybe that could get somebody on Taurus mad."
 
"I suppose there might be a few. I still wouldn't pick the Taurian Concordat as my first culprit."
 
"Oh, not my first. But I, as a native, can't rule it out. Big powers always stick their fingers in the pie even when they don't belong." She brushed her hair back and tucked it behind her ears, a gesture that reminded Remihel of his step-sister Evelyn. "I guess I have to include the Aurigan Directorate, too. I just don't know how that situation looks, since the Directorate took over only a month before I fled."
 
Remihel resisted the urge to keep defending the Concordat, and simply nodded at Josie's thoughts. "Anything else?"
 
"Those are just the least likely ones. It could be our neighbors - Nephi or Kanab. This could be the opening move in a plan by one or the other to conquer Moab, or just change the status quo."
 
"Anyone else?"
 
"Crivoi will blame the Gang of Four."
 
Remihel searched his memory of the various political briefings he'd read. "The four mandrinns…? I thought they backed Cassie Jalal…"
 
"It was a compromise. Mandarin Crivoi couldn't win, but neither could Mandrissa Lu. The Gang of Four weren't happy, but they went along with it. Crivoi will accuse them of the assassination just like they'll accuse him…" She trailed off, clearly deep in thought. Suddenly her eyes fluttered and she aggressively combed the end of her braid. "Oh! Oh shit."
 
When she didn't immediately elaborate, Remihel prompted her. "Yes?"
 
"If I was a gambling girl," Josie said, "and I kinda am! I bet Crivoi will accuse Mandarin Yosef of Cassie's assassination. Yosef leads the Gang of Four, and he shares a border with Crivoi. None of Yosef's allies share a border. They can't march to his rescue, or open a second front. If Cassie lived, she'd employ Moab's sole dropship - a Union-class - to reinforce Mandarin Yosef. But since she's dead… Remi, we need to do something!"
 
Remihel raised an eyebrow. She sat forward, eyes earnest, seemingly ignorant that she'd referred to him for the first time not as the formal Baron Greenbrier, not as Commander, nor even the somewhat risky Remihel, but as just plain Remi. He allowed few people that privilege, and immediately readied a rebuke, only to stop himself at the last moment.
 
"Remi?" Josie asked, picking up his hesitation. "Er… I mean, Commander."
 
A snap decision. "You can call me Remi - though not in public, please."
 
"Thanks," she said. The sudden shy turn of her voice hinted that she realized she'd received a special privilege.
 
Remihel tried to get back on track. "You think Mandarin Crivoi will launch an invasion into Mandarin Yosef's territory?"
 
"Yes," Josie said. "Yes, I do. There's a long feud between them. Regular political arguments in the Council meetings, economic competition, border disputes…" She paused, and fidgeted once again with her braid. "My dad always respected Tamir Yosef. But because of his oaths to House Crivoi, he couldn't leave. When everything went bad, I escaped from Bingham Prefecture into Yosef's Rondonia Prefecture, and they got me off Moab."
 
"So you owe them a bit of a debt?"
 
"Maybe a little," Josie admitted. "And I had a huge teenage crush on one of Mandarin Yosef's sons."
 
Remihel gave a quick little chuckle, and picked up his noteputer. "Let's see what Mandarin Yosef has for his defense forces," he said.
 
"Four battlemechs," Josie said immediately. "Two Urbies, and two Javelins. Yosef owns one of each. The other two are hired mercs. Yosef pilots a -10F Fire Javelin - the one with medium lasers - as his ancestral house mech. Really close serial numbers to Mandarin Crivoi's -10N Javelin. He also has a dozen armored vehicles - mostly Hetzers - and some good infantry. The Tansen Gurkhas."
 
"...you certainly know your stuff," Remihel admitted. Her account matched well with the quick-and-dirty intelligence synopsis he'd purchased on Herotitus, and then combined with markups from TMI's own briefings. "Though this doesn't have anything about how good the infantry might be."
 
"Probably written by a mech jock," Josie said. "We always dismiss the infantry."
 
Remihel acknowledged this truth with a shrug and a nod. In the eyes of a mechwarrior, the infantry represented an annoyance to be brushed aside in battle… though if the infantry carried any of the terrifying shoulder-launched Inferno SRMs, a mechwarrior changed their targeting priorities immediately.
 
"Does Mandarin Crivoi dismiss the Gurkhas, too?" Remihel asked.
 
"Definitely. Dad told me once he'd gotten into it with the Mandarin. Crivoi boasted in a meeting that he could march from Bingham all the way to Satyawati, and sack Yosef's palace before he got his pants on. Dad told him he was looney." She shrugged.
 
The seed of an idea took root in Remihel's mind. "Do you think Mandarin Yosef would take my call?" he asked.
 
"Maybe," Josie said. "Particularly if you mention you've got a Marauder. You might have his undivided attention…"
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Chapter 10