ADO Chpt 31

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==Nautilus ExpeditionChapter 31 - Aurigan Dreams (BattleTech CYOA)==
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===Choices of whom stays and who goes===
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With the last of Outpost Castle Nautilus’ inventory taken, Lord Espinosa and I return to Lord Karosas in the main command centre. As we do that, the support personnel are hard at work shipping the goods we’ve found up to the Argo, having already started during the first stage shortly after we started our tour and found the ‘Mechs.
“Any ideas on what you are going to pick?” inquires Lord Espinosa as we make our way back through the corridors of Castle Nautilus.
“In terms of ‘Mechs, I’ll be going heavy on the assaults,” I answer, “Don’t worry, I won’t be taking all of them even though I can. I’ll leave a few for you and the others to fight over, but I’m definitely taking at least a couple of lances of Atlases and Highlanders. I’m definitely taking a Royal Atlas as my new ride.”
“What’s the decision-making behind that choice?” asks Lord Espinosa.
“A Royal Atlas would be a straight upgrade on my current ride,” I answer, “And it would be a ‘Mech that I am familiar with piloting, which is a big deal considering I’m still learning to pilot a ‘Mech.”
“I would like one of those Highlanders if you don’t mind.” says Belinda, “It might be slower on foot than my Zeus, but it has jump jets, double heat sinks, and that gauss rifle. I always wanted to use one of those.”
“I can arrange that,” I tell her, “I’ll definitely be getting some Royal Atlases for the rest of my command lance as well.”
“Tamati would appreciate that,” says Lord Espinosa, “the only thing that would make Kamea safer than an Atlas is a Royal Atlas.”
“We could also upgrade a few of our existing ‘Mechs with some LosTech.” I say, “I don’t know what you or the others will do with your shares, but I’ll be getting enough LosTech that I can afford to add some to my current ‘Mechs whilst still maintaining a reserve.”
“I will likely do the same.” says Lord Espinosa, “Will you be continuing to use combined arms battalions or will you be using more conventional formations now that you have enough equipment to make them work?”
“Combined arms works for me.” I reply, “It fits aboard one of our Fortresses and I don’t have any other DropShips for large formations right now. Plus I like the combined arms approach, it fosters unity and teamwork amongst the different branches.”
“In that case, I would like to know when you’ll be calling yourself General?” inquires Lord Espinosa and I do a double-take at that, “Come on now, Lady Nora, you already have enough forces to form a couple of regiments and your share of Castle Nautilus’ contents will just increase that to three regiments. Regardless of what rank you use, that will make you more of a general than a mere colonel.”
“Lord Espinosa is right, boss,” adds Belinda, “If you expand the Sentinels with the goods from here, then you’ll be looking at multiple regiments worth of soldiers under your command regardless of how you have them organized and you will be functioning as a general in truth if not name.”
“I guess you’re right.” I concede as we reach Lord Karosas.
“Ah, Santiago, Lady Nora.” Lord Karosas greets us as he spots the return of our party, “I’ve finished sorting through the various data archives. You won’t believe what I’ve found.”
“A top secret Terran Hegemony research site?” I guess, cheating a little since I already know that they were doing some SDS research here.
“Why yes, I did,” replies Lord Karosas, sounding a bit surprised, “Did you find something in your tour?”
“Just that the garrison was fully Royal Command and we found some Nighthawks.” I answer, “This place being some top secret Hegemony site was the most likely explanation for all of that hardware being here.”
“Speaking of which, have you uncovered the story of Castle Nautilus yet, Simon?” asks Lord Espinosa as Lord Karosas gives me an approving look.
“I have.” answers the older man, “It seems that the Terran Hegemony wanted a remote, secret research site for their Space Defence System. They didn’t want the rest of the Star League finding out about it, but they also wanted to keep it far away from Hegemony space in the event that something went wrong.”
“The Space Defence System is that warship drone system the Star League had, right?” inquires Belinda as Lord Karosas pauses to take a breath.
“It was the Terran Hegemony rather than the Star League as a whole and it wasn’t just warships, but yes.” answers Lord Karosas before continuing, “When the New Vandenberg Uprising broke out, the personnel of Outpost Castle Nautilus were quietly withdrawn whilst all of the equipment and hardware was mothballed. According to the final logs, they were planning to return here after everything had settled down so they didn’t want to compromise the security of Outpost Castle Nautilus by ruining its secrecy.”
“And then the Amaris Coup and the fall of the Star League happened so they never returned.” I conclude.
“That is the logical conclusion,” agrees Lord Karosas, “Unfortunately, Castle Nautilus lacks any record of what happened to those that were supposed to return. e are the first people to enter since its personnel originally left and put everything into mothball.”
“What about the automated defences?” inquires Lord Espinosa, “Have you been able to gain control over those?”
“I have added us as friendlies to the turret network and the security system.” answers Lord Karosas.
“Try and get the drones under our control as well.” says Lord Espinosa, “Whatever defenders we station here will need that extra firepower.”
“What drones?” demands Lord Karosas.
“I’ll let you fill in Lord Karosos on what we found,” I say to Lord Espinosa, “I’m going to inform Major Herman of our new plans.”
The man gives me a nod and focuses on his conversation as I walk away, looking for any sign of Vance. I don’t see the man himself, but I do spot Kamea.
“Kamea!” I call as I walk over to her, “Have you seen Vance?”
“He was heading to the storerooms to see the ‘Mechs when I last saw him,” answers the Arano heiress, “Vanessa was with him too.”
“Thanks, Kamea.” I reply and I head off in search of my nephew.
It doesn't take long to find the Hermans as I find them staring in awe at a company’s worth of Royal ‘Mechs.
“Hey, Liz,” calls Vanessa as she spots me entering the room, “What brings you here?”
“I was looking for Vance.” I tell her, “Or rather, Major Herman since there is some business to sort out.”
“I see.” replies Vance, “What’s the problem?”
“We need to give this place a temporary garrison while we take the goods back to Coromodir and sort out a long term garrison.” I say and Vance sighs, “I know, but this is too much of an excellent defensive position to let someone like the Taurians or a band of pirates seize it whilst we are away.”
“And you’re leaving Alpha Battalion behind?” correctly guesses Vance.
“I am,” I reply, “I’ll be bringing Kamea with me, but I’ll temporarily assign a couple of MechWarriors and their rides from Amazon Company to keep you at full strength. I’ll also be leaving the Durendal with you for the extra firepower and in case you need a clean getaway.”
“I can’t say I like this, but I understand the necessity of it.” replies Vance, “The accommodations won’t be too bad even if the planet is a frozen ice ball. Do we have any plans for our relief?”
“If the Founding Council can’t agree to anything in a timely manner. Lord Espinosa intends to send some of his house troops to make sure that Castle Nautilus remains secured for the Coalition.” I answer and that seems to satisfy the man.
“Good,” says Vance, “I still don’t like it, but at least we’ve got a plan in place.”
“I am being left behind as well?” asks Vanessa.
“I’m afraid so,” I tell her with an apologetic smile, “I’m needed back at Coromodir because I’m the colonel and Kamea is coming because she is the heir to the Aurigan Coalition and House Arano. I have no such justification to bring you back as well.”
“Welcome to the military where we sometimes have to do unpleasant jobs,” says Vance as he throws an arm around his sister, “Just be thankful that it isn’t worse.”
“Do we at least get to pick a ‘Mech?” asks Vanessa as she pushes her brother’s limb off her.
“I was planning to give each of you a Royal Atlas.” I answer, “It seems like the logical upgrade to your current rides.”
“It would save us from having to learn how to pilot a new ‘Mech,” agrees Vance, “and it isn’t like there is much of an alternative choice.”
“Just the Highlander really.” says Vanessa.
“Still, if you do want me to get a different ride for you, just let me know,” I tell them, “I have priority picks and if you want something like one of the Highlanders over one of the Atlases, I would be happy to arrange that.”
“We’ll keep that in mind.” replies Vance, “How long do we have to decide?”
“Until we leave for a clear choice, but even once I decide on our loot choices. You’ll have some leeway though a more limited selection of ‘Mechs,” I answer.
“Got it.” says Vance, “Any idea on what time we can expect the rest of you to be leaving?”
“I don’t actually know.” I admit after a moment of thinking, “It shouldn’t be for several hours as we need that much time to load everything into the Argo. As for an actual time, I’ll need to speak with Lord Espinosa. Or maybe Lord Karosas. One of them anyway. Shall I…?”
“Go ahead,” Vance tells me with a wave of his head, “I’ll start looking at the prep work for garrisoning this place.”
“Just make sure to get a proper look at the ‘Mechs.” I say as a parting shot as I walk back out of the room.
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The time of our departure turns out to be the next day. There is a lot of stuff in Castle Nautilus to be shuffled up to the Argo and Lord Espinosa doesn’t want any damages due to people being overworked. I can’t say that I disagree with the logic and we can afford to take a day or two before leaving.
Lord Karosas is able to get the drones under our control and basically rewrite the automated defences from belonging to the SLDF to belong to the ACM. Something that makes both myself and Vance rest much easier as those drones will be a major boost to any garrison force.
Unfortunately, the news regarding the memory core is less promising.
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===Limitations of the Coalition===
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“Please tell me that you aren’t saying that it is useless, Simon.” says Lord Espinosa as him and I have a private chat with Lord Karosas in the evening.
“I am not saying it is useless, Santiago,” replies Lord Karosas as he gives Lord Espinosa a withering look, “Just limited on what it can do for us on its own. It has a vast amount of technical data, but all of it involves already built components or warships.”
“So what does that mean?” asks Lord Espinosa while it clicks into place for me.
“It means it is assuming that we already have the ability to make the parts.” I say, “Which is the problem for us, right?”
“Lady Nora is correct,” replies Lord Karosas as he gives me an approving nod, “Think of it as a puzzle and we only know what the final result looks like. We have no way of knowing the steps on how to get there.”
“Or like cooking a fancy meal where we have detailed instructions on what it should be like in the end, but no access to the recipe on how to make the meal.” I add.
“Quite so,” agrees Lord Karosas, “We lack the knowledge and expertise to get from the raw materials to the final product. This is the case with effectively all of the data in the memory with the exception of the data pertaining to warship and drone construction.”
“Can we use that construction data to make warships or drones of our own?” inquires Lord Espinosa.
“We don’t have the infrastructure or the budget to make a Warship.” answers Lord Karosas, “We don’t even have either of those for making JumpShips let alone a warship. As for drones, I’m not sure. A chunk of it is fairly normal stuff, nothing too special, just not used over having actual humans behind the metaphorical wheel. The rest of it is all aerospace based from fighters all the way up to Warships. Given our own lack of aerospace infrastructure, I don’t see us being able to make use of it.”
“Once again, I am failing to see how it isn’t useless to us.” says Lord Espinosa with a frown.
“It gives us a end point to aim for,” I say, “Let’s say that there is ferro-fibrous armor specifications in there-”
“There is for the record.” interrupts Lord Karosas, “Well, ferro-aluminium armor, but that is close enough to my understanding of the matter.”
“They have the same effective properties,” I say, “Ferro-aluminium is supposed to be for aerospace while ferro-fibrous is for the ground, but I never found an explanation on why that is so. But anyway, I know that ferro-fibrous uses a diamond weave to maintain strength whilst reducing weight, but I have no idea on where to get started. With some functional technical specs. It wouldn’t tell me how to make ferro-fibrous, but it would give me something solid to aim for.”
“Quite so,” agrees Lord Karosas, “There may be no immediate boost, but it gives us a starting point to begin researching these technologies. Trust me, I’m the Lord of House Karosas, this sort of thing is my specialty.”
Unfortunately, what Lord Karosas is missing is that we need to make sure that ComStar doesn’t go all Holy Shroud on our butts. Well, they will, but we need to make sure they aren’t successful. I know it is possible, the Great Houses being capable of doing it is what led to the failure of the second attempt at Holy Shroud. Unfortunately, the Aurigan Coalition isn’t one of the Great Houses and we have far more limited sources to face ROM’s sabotage.
Multiple copies should do the trick or at least it will be our best bet. Beyond that, we’ll need to take things slow and try to keep it under the radar. Being a sixth rate power out in the Periphery will help with that since we are unimportant and low priority compared to any of the Great Houses or even the Major Houses. Yet at the same time, the Coalition has done a fair bit to draw attention to itself recently. The recent expansion with Artru and the other worlds, the Argo and now Castle Nautilus. All of the activity will be making people pay attention to us more than usual. 
So yeah, we’ll need to take things slow and only work on a handful of things at once and do so discreetly. The ComGuards are a joke at this point in time whilst I am confident in the Rimward Sentinels being able to take on any ComStar-sponsored pirates right now. The only problems will be if they break out the nukes and warships, but that would draw more attention than ComStar is willing to risk. Hopefully.
I mean it is Tiepolo who is Primus right now. He was a moderate who was more focused on not losing compared to Mad Myndo who was more worried about winning regardless of the costs.
I just need to convince the others of the potential threat without sounding like a crazy person. Yes, that is what I need to do, that is what I decide upon as I watch Lord Epsinosa question Lord Karosas further about the memory core and what it contains.
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==Author's Chapter Notes==
;Word from the Author:Okay, so they haven’t left Artru yet. I will promise that the next chapter will start with them being in transit back to Coromodir. Anyway, the Aurigans have the memory core, but unfortunately they lack the knowledge, infrastructure and expertise to make full use of it. And unlike the Great Houses, the Aurigan Coalition lacks the resources to make an NIAS (House Davion) or a knock off of it (House Marik).
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