TBntG-3 Chpt 44

=The Bull and the Genie=
==Chapter 44 - Book III - The Clan Invasion==
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==Frederick Plots==
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Ruins of Kagoshima III BaseKagoshima System, Draconis Combine
The fortification, built in the time of the Star League, had never fallen.
 
Until today. Frederick watched through his suit's scanners as the combined fire of three Clan Warships turned it into a tomb for those who would not surrender. One of the great blast doors exploded out from its housing as sustained NPPC fire carved down to the center of the mountain. He didn't need to be in armor, but his security staff insisted on it. Sometimes Frederick wondered if they considered themselves his subordinates or his minders.
 
"We could have taken it," a Jade Falcon Star Captain said, glancing over at the elemental who was, in theory, barely his equal in rank.
 
And who had landed the better part of a SLDF division to support the invasion.
 
"Neg," Frederick said. "Any who might have made worthy bondsmen have already surrendered. I would not risk taking any of the ones in the fortress. They might contaminate the Clans."
 
Or lose any of you to more stupidity. The Jade Falcons were not Jaguars, but they had some of their traits and the newest units brought forward, fresh Sibko's who had placed very high on their trials of position… Five trinaries with heavy casualties because they hadn't bothered to listen to the briefings about traps and allowing the infantry to clear the city first. Well, the survivors had learned. They no longer mocked his infantry regiments. At least this Star Captain didn't, for all he was new from the Home Worlds. Worth educating. Good reflexes, but it would be necessary to teach him all the things that had nothing to do with a trial of position.
 
"Frederick!" Monica said, hurrying up, the other Clan warriors eying the short woman, one of his staff from the Commonwealth OZ, and most definitely not a warrior.
 
No, Monica had been the CFO of Tasty Treats, The Food that Makes You Go Yum! And had been in charge of handling supplies from dozens of different sources before she'd run afoul of a competitor with better bribery skills on Tharkad. Now, she headed up the OZ civil logistics department that Frederick had been forced to create since most Clan assumptions were that they'd simply move in and take over.
 
And as far as Frederick was concerned, he'd happily bid away a cluster to keep her services.
 
"What is it, Monica?"
 
"The Jade Falcon warriors are holding our shipments up!"
 
"Ah. Is there a reason for this?" Frederick asked.
 
The Star Captain frowned at Monica, a merchant caste who was speaking in such a manner, and then spoke, "It was considered that restricting the transport of materials until we can secure order—"
 
"Hungry people are not concerned with order, quiaff" Frederick said. "Did anyone speak to Monica and her staff? This world has food enough for all, but between the invasion and the previous activities of the dragons, it is not where it needs to be." As you should know. But even now, too many clan warriors were thinking of the old ways, where fights were regulated, and widespread destruction was avoided. Even the ones who wanted to learn had to unlearn habits and that took time—and all too many of them were dead, being replaced by those taught by sibko leaders who were far from the battlefield.
 
And who hadn't considered that when you were outnumbered a thousand to one or ten thousand to one, failing to supply the civilians you'd just conquered could set an entire world on fire.
 
"I'd also like permission to transport the injured to regional hospitals. Most of the fighting was around military bases, and there wasn't much civilian support for the dragons, especially after the chemical attack on Baris."
 
"Chemical attack?" The Jaguar asked. "I was not aware of that."
 
"It was insignificant, against us," Frederick said. He gestured for them to follow to the command tent. "Call up visual 21."
 
Monica looked away. The scene was normal enough: a highway leading out of the town, hundreds of wrecked cars from it…
 
"Those were not bombarded," The Star Captain said. "Their doors are open…I—" He frowned, then swallowed.
 
Ah. He saw it. The center of the freeway was a depression, to allow for rain to pool there without damaging the road. But… Now it was covered with bundles of clothing… people. You couldn't see the grass.
"HS-21 was an agent developed during the Age of War." Frederick glanced at the Star Captain. "Even then it was considered a terror weapon. It attacks the eye, doing severe damage, blindness, and agonizing pain occurs within seconds of exposure. They launched it against our forces, and we believe against those disobeying them."
 
"It would have gone in the cars… They are not protected…"
 
Frederick watched the man as he made the connection.
 
Blinded, in agony, falling from the cars, running, tumbling down the center divider, but then more people tumbling down after them, covering them, crushing them…
 
"Forgive me, Star Captain, I need to step outside for a moment, Quiaff?"
 
"Aff." Frederick pretended to not hear the sound of someone being sick outside the command tent.
 
Yes. Very new from the Homeworlds, with no time to learn what the Black Dragons were.
 
"Most of the ones who survived are blinded," Monica said. "Um, the Clans technically don't have any communication with the Interstellar Red Cross, but some of my connections…"
 
Frederick nodded. "There is precedent during disaster for civilians to provide aid even between warring clans without fear of being troubled. I will bring it up to the Council."
 
"Will they agree?"
 
"Yes. Khans are human, and we will play this atrocity, and speak of the importance of mercy for our wayward brethren." He frowned. "How many survived?"
 
"Twelve thousand in this area, I have the breakdown. Um, sir, why did they use this if it wouldn't work?"
 
"Oh it did work in a few cases, there is always someone who does not listen to the CBERN alerts, and forcing the units to remain buttoned up helped their ability to fight us… slightly. It also helped me."
 
"Sir?"
 
"Those who knew what was coming knew they only had to wear eye and face protection, since the chemical must be directly exposed to the mucus membrane."
 
"I don't…"
 
"It makes determining who to shoot quite easy, quiaff?"
 
"Um…Aff."
 
Frederick sighed. "A great error. If I'd known how depraved the Combine was, even before this, I would have suggested we just attack them, and after that use their population to build up our forces."
 
Not that the Council would have listened to that, Frederick.
 
"Also, sir, I have the data from the Diamond Sharks on civilian transport numbers, but Clan Smoke Jaguar is demanding priority on shipping…"
 
Right. Of course. Frederick's people would handle it themselves, but too many Clan leaders had never been in, or worried about the Occupation Zone, so they wouldn't take them seriously unless Frederick or another Clan officer was talking.
 
Sometimes he envied his opposite number. Mary Cheng hadn't had to build a staff from scratch. I wonder, if I asked nicely, if she would loan me her own logistics staff…
 
Monica blinked at Frederick's stifled snort at the Jade Falcon officer came walking back in, looking pale.
 
"You handled your trinary well," Frederick said, "And I have decided you will be part of the force landing on Luthien." The man nodded. "But remember this world was only a taste of what awaits. You cannot let glory convince you to charge ahead. Besides, there is little glory to be found destroying the Black Dragons."
 
"Aff. The UMC will also be landing on Luthien?"
 
"Yes. It has been decided that since we have both declared Trials of Annihilation against them we will cooperate, though not as tactically mixed units."
 
Frederick nodded at the man's wince. Not foolish at all, not if he is considering how trying to intermingle our forces on the battlefield would turn out.
 
"And the capital?"
 
"The UMC will handle that." Frederick raised his hand to stifle a protest. "We simply do not have enough armored troops. I believe the UMC will call upon them to surrender, but A victory at the cost of most of our elementals is no victory at all. We shall let the UMC take the lead there and prepare to bring this conflict to a satisfactory ending."
 
"And then Terra?"
 
Frederick paused, then nodded. "You heard what I said. We shall bring this conflict to a satisfactory ending."
 
A few moments later, Frederick was alone. He keyed his helmet open and looked at the readouts, flipping them to more information. Production capability, number of UMC units active and how many were projected to take the field in sixth months, a year, two years.
 
We have hit the point of diminishing returns. Even presuming attrition remains stable, I can, at best, maintain my numbers in the OZ and the Clan frontline forces will start to see an irreversible decline. Even if they brought in members who had failed their tests, the Sibko system wasn't designed to be easily expanded. Why? No Clan had ever needed that capability… Until now. And now there was no way to develop it. They had neither the people, nor the industrial base.
 
Even if our mechs and pilots were ten times as good as the UMC, which they are not, soon enough they will have fifteen, then twenty mechs for each one of ours. But too many of the Council are still wedded to victory, or at least avoiding defeat, and I must do my best.
 
"Satisfactory." You should have asked what I meant by that, Star Captain.
 
The capital of Luthien would be fanatically defended. The Clan contribution would be symbolic, which had pressed Frederick and his allies to their limits. The same went for world after world Frederick had ceded to the UMC. In part, because even the worlds they had taken from the Black Dragons, were stretching his adhoc relief services to their limit but more importantly…
 
You will have world after world where you must provide police, power, food, medicine. You will have to root out BDS survivors, and keep their victims from taking vengeance on them. And… there is no more manpower intensive job than an effective occupation. 
 
And that might make the UMC pause before their next offensive. Maybe even make them willing to talk to avoid that next offensive. Not a surrender, or even a Status Quo, but perhaps Frederick could at least negotiate a truce, or convince the council to negotiate a withdrawal that let them hold on to the regions where they had been welcomed. The Diamond Sharks and Nova Cats were already in negotiations with the Magistracy and Free Worlds League, secret negotiations, but they kept Frederick informed… So that would likely have no problem and the Combine would have no government to debate with, and since the Clans had no long-running hatred… Perhaps the victorious Inner Sphere powers would prefer to avoid continuing the war for worlds full of people who had been trained to hate them, or who saw the Clans as liberators. The worlds in the Federated Commonwealth though, were as good as lost. The most he could hope there was to negotiate an amnesty for any of those who had joined the Clans and wished to remain behind. But given the amount of forces they had, and the fact that the government was… far less savage than the Kuritans, there was no chance that they'd accept anything else than taking every last world they had lost.
 
I had such high hopes. It would be difficult, but maybe, if everything broke right, the Clans would have claimed the victory. 
 
I failed. And now I am left to attempt to salvage something from our inevitable defeat… without letting the Council know until even the Smoke Jaguars can see the truth. Frederick sighed. But you could not drop a duty just because it became difficult. He headed outside to where his transport was waiting with his military and civilian staff to take him to the next fire that needed to be put out.
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