ASO Chpt 19

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==Chapter 19 - Political Games - Aurigan Sentinels (BattleTech CYOA)==
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===Political Landmines Arise===
Tuamata Estate, Coromodir
Aurigan Reach, Aurigan Coalition
27th April, 3021
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The County of Tuamata is not an impressive landholding. Isolated and out of the way, it has plenty of untapped resources and only a small amount of people. Several farmsteads, a couple of mines and a handful of villages that all add up to around twenty thousand people who are all hardy and independent minded.
 
High Lord Arano did a good job when he chose Tuamata as my landholding. Large enough to look impressive, but with a small populace who don’t need me and are perfectly happy for me to be uninvolved in their lives. Which suits me just fine considering that I have enough on my plate thanks to my military and industrial endeavours without adding actively ruling Tuamata to it.
 
Tuamata also has a nice little coastal mansion on its lands. It used to be a summer home of House Arano, but after High Lord Arano granted me the County of Tuamata, it has become my personal residence. Though I only started staying here earlier yesterday as I finally decided to check out my landholdings.
 
I'm also fairly certain that the staff appreciate me finally showing up. Back when the place was still a House Arano summer home, it had a full time staff to maintain the place with any visitors bringing their own retinue if the presence of guests required additional work. When I became the Countess of Tuamata, my lack of a presence ensured that the staff remained the same size and even now, I haven’t brought any servants with me. Just some bodyguards plus three ladies who make up the rest of my lance.
 
Though both Kamea and Victoria brought some of their family retainers with them. I can’t tell if that is a case of them being on top of things or just a difference in backgrounds. I’ve certainly been getting on fine without any extra servants, but I don’t know enough to tell if that is just because the people that the heiresses brought with them have been handling things in the background.
 
All of this leads to me, Moana, Kamea and Victoria having what I believe can be called surf and turf. While none of the food on our plate comes from Earth, I do believe that the seafood and red meat from the native wildlife qualify as such. In either case, the food is certainly delicious and it seems that all of my dinner companions agree with my assessment.
 
“So what is the plan?” I say between mouthfuls.
 
“We have delegates from the Taurians, Canopians, Capellans and the FedSuns,” replies Kamea, “Especially of note is the fact that Protector Calderon sent his eldest son and heir apparent to lead the Taurian delegation. Despite how the talks with the Taurians a few years ago ended, it seems that enough has changed that the Bulls are willing to make a serious go at diplomacy with us.”
 
“And since the Coalition’s laws require the approval of the Founding Council for any diplomacy to be formally agreed to, all of the Founding House heads are currently here on Coromodir along with all of the diplomats.” says Victoria.
 
“There is also the small matter of Ava coming to visit,” adds Moana, “I’m as excited as anyone to finally meet your other half-sister, but you have to admit that the timing is suspicious.”
 
“Your sister is a noblewoman from the Free Worlds League?” asks Victoria suspiciously, “We have yet to receive a formal delegation from the League. So far we have only received a few parties claiming to be representatives of individual provinces.”
 
“The official League delegation is being delayed due to internal politics,” says Kamea as she purses her lips, “Most of them agree on reaching out to us thanks to the Coalition’s status as a rising star, but from what my father’s sources can find out, their parliament is arguing about how to go about formally approaching us and who gets to do it.”
 
“That lines up with what I know of Leaguer politics,” I say, “For what it’s worth, Ava and I had been planning something like this long before I found the Tomb-Maker. I also know that Ava wouldn’t be coming here as a spy though I wouldn’t trust anyone she brings in the same way. And while I trust her not to actively spy on us, I would be careful on what we show Ava since I wouldn't expect her to keep any secrets we let her find out.”
 
“In that case, I do believe that this is an excellent learning opportunity for you,” says Kamea as the Arano heiress gets a gleam in her eyes, “Hosting this Ava is an ideal chance for you to learn how to host fellow nobility, Liz. Assuming that given your familial status means she won’t be offended if you make mistakes.”
 
“Knowing Ava, she is going to be amused not offended if I make a fool of myself,” I reply, “I have no doubts that she will be delighted to go along with your plans to be a learning experience for me. She is cheeky like that.”
 
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to meeting her,” says Moana with a grin on her face.
 
“So putting Ava’s visit aside, what is the plan?” I inquire as I repeat my initial question.
 
“The plan is to keep your undiplomatic butt away from the important international negotiations,” says Kamea, “We can use you hosting Ava as a convenient excuse for that. We also have those meetings with Lord Decimis and Lord Karosas. You should do fine in them if you just follow my lead, but remember that this is your best chance to make a good impression on them so I’ll be coaching you on that.”
 
One thing that I didn’t do is keep the LosTech map secret from my bosses. While I wasn’t entirely honest with High Lord Arano and Lord Espinosa, I was able to successfully pass it off as noticing the oddity with the nav computer compared to the Myrmidon. The presence of my Advanced Electronic Codebreaker was explained away as the Argo might have held secrets within its hull and I didn’t want to lose those secrets in the event that the DropShip did prove to be unsalvageable. It helped that I brought the information to them without making any attempts to act upon it.
 
In regards to the potential SLDF caches on Smithon and Panzyr, the currently reigning generation decided to let the young generation benefit from these finds. Rather than claiming for their own houses or approaching the other Founding Houses themselves, High Lord Arano and Lord Espinosa decided to let Kamea take the lead on claiming the credit with Victoria and I being her wingwomen and sharing some of the credit.
 
Which is perfectly fine by me. I am happy to let Kamea play politics while I remain behind her as a loyal follower. Despite my ambitious goals, my personal ambitions aren’t so lofty that I desire to be more than a respected military leader of House Arano.
 
“I’ll do my best,” I promise her and the Arano heiress gives me a grateful look.
 
“There are two personnel problems, but I would like discuss the latest round of recruitment first,” says Victoria as the heiress of House Espinosa finishes off the last of her shellfish, “I understand the plan is to create another combined arms battalion despite lacking a Fortress-class DropShip to act as a dedicated transport?”
 
“That’s right,” I confirm, “We might lack interstellar transportation, but the rest of the ground forces are formed up into combined arms battalions and I see no need to change that.”
 
“We have more ‘Mechs in reserve, but lack any combat vehicles or infantry,” points out Victoria, “While I understand that we may have to go recruiting for MechWarriors or purchasing more BattleMechs from the Taurians, I do think we should consider the possibility of just making the new formation a full ‘Mech battalion rather than a combined arms on.”
 
Victoria has something of a point, but at the same time, I want to have a tradition of combined arms within the Aurigan Sentinels. So far, the variety of war machines from the Fable along with the half a dozen Fortress-class DropShips has given me uncontested grounds to create a combined arms battalion for each Fortress. Yet at the same time, combined arms is generally organized on a regimental level if you are large enough for it. Smaller combined arms units aren’t unheard of, but they tend to be regimental sized or smaller, not multi-regimental formations like my Aurigan Sentinels.
 
“I have no preference either way, but combat vehicles are relatively easy to source,” says Moana, “We can get Scorpions and missile carriers from Mechdur and we can always purchase light and medium weight tanks from the Taurians. Recruiting infantry is even easier, we just need to decide where to set our standards and training budget.”
 
“There is also some wisdom behind keeping the organization consistent,” adds Kamea, “The Aurigan Sentinels may have originally been organized into combined arms battalions due to the Fortresses that we found, but it is now the way the regiment is set up. If we were to switch away from that, I would like a better reason than things aren’t usually organized that way.”
 
“Valid points,” concedes Victoria before adding, “And I believe there is a transportation consideration. We may have dedicated transports right now, but the Fortresses don’t have to be permanently assigned.”
 
“That’s right,” I agree as I quickly catch onto what Victoria is suggesting, “Continuing with the combined arms battalion organisation means that if needed, we can put this new battalion aboard one of the Fortresses. Something we couldn’t do if we went with a regular battalion.”
 
“And it is your decision at the end of the day,” says Moana pointedly.
“Moana is correct,” says Victoria and she gives me a contrite look, “I apologize for overstepping, General Nora.”
 
“I’m happy to listen to my subordinates and you raise the issue in private, not in front of the troops or in public,” I reply, “There is nothing to apologise for.”
 
“With the question of organization sorted, do you know what machines you assign to the new battalion?”
 
“I’m waiting to see what sort of owner-operator rides we can get during recruitment,” I answer as I finish off the last of my meat, “Tanks will be filled out with what we can get our hands on, but for the ‘Mechs, I’m thinking of drawing upon the heavy ‘Mechs that we got from the Bulls.”
 
“Are you sure that is a good idea?” inquires Victoria, “You are putting that battalion under the command of that mercenary captain you recruited.”
 
Ah yes, Victoria isn’t a big fan of me giving a battalion command to Coranni. While she didn’t mind me recruiting her and her old unit for the Aurigan Sentinels, the Espinosa heiress is wary of giving them command positions. While she acknowledges their skill and experience, Victoria just doesn’t trust their loyalties between how they met them and the fact that none of them hold any ties to the Aurigan Coalition outside of Angela Harris.
 
“I have a pretty good read on Coranni now,” I reply, “I trust her to remain loyal so long as we treat her fairly..”
“She is also very devoted to Angela,” adds Kamea, “She won’t run off and leave her girlfriend behind.”
 
“You would know, cousin.” concedes Victoria rather than press the point further, “You’ve been spending enough time with her.”
 
“Angela is an excellent businesswoman,” protests Kamea defensively, “Her help has proven to be very useful in sorting out the finances and logistics of the Aurigan Sentinels. We will be getting proper uniforms for the unit and even a dress uniform. We are even looking at getting a steady supply of training ammunition to perform live fire training exercises.”
 
“We should give her a more formal position,” I note, “Being your de facto assistant is good and all, but we should officialise the work she does.”
 
“I was thinking of giving her a position of authority over our finances,” says Kamea, “Though whether that should be within the Aurigan Sentinels or Nora Engineering, I can’t say.”
 
“You can leave that up to me,” I offer, “It is my responsibility as the one calling the shots. Uhh, not that I distrust your judgement, but I’m not one to hide behind the choices of others when it comes to my responsibilities."
 
"No offense was taken though you should be more careful about your words," replies Kamea as she gives me a look, "Politics cannot afford careless wording. A poor choice of words will usually come with a price."
 
Sounds about right. Politics is more trouble than it is worth. A shame that I’m going to be a lot of it for the foreseeable future.
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==Author's Chapter Commentary==
; A Word from the Author: This arc is going to be more politics heavy with little in the way of combat. This is mostly me bringing a bunch of stuff going on in the background to the fore, all stemming from the Aurigan Coalition going from being a bunch of nobodies to being a bunch of somebodies. That said, they are still a small fish in a big pond and any advantages they have are relative.
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