BoTH Chpt 71

==Blood on the Horizon - Chapter 71 -==
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===Telling the Tale of the Journey to Here===
Location: Tybalt, Capellan Confederation
"So you never met Kerensky?" Jaime asked after I had relayed most of my story.
"Nah," I shook my head. "She's the first Kerensky I've ever met."
 
I nodded at the redhead that had gotten more drunk as the time wore on. 
 
"And honestly?" I sighed. "I'm not sure what I could have done. I wasn't willing to leave everything behind when Kerensky left, and my family was one of the lucky ones. They survived all of the shit that Amaris pulled. So when my contract was up, I signed up on the King Henry V as a junior technician in order to make ends meet. The rest," I shrug. "Well, you know the rest."
 
"You ever try to get back in contact with Terra?" Joshua Wolf finally spoke up. 
 
"I paid Comstar to get a message to any family that I might have still among the living," I glanced at my water and for a moment wished it were something stronger. "According to the message I got back. 'There are no records of anyone related to you on Terra at this time."
 
"Damn," Joshua took a sip of his beer. "I wouldn't want to be in that position." 
 
"I wish I wasn't in this position," I snarked. "But I'm alive, and in good health. So I push onward."
 
"Joshua, you mind making sure she gets back to the dropships?" Jaime indicated the inebriated redhead. "I have some things to discuss in private with the good Major here." 
 
The rest of the Wolf's Dragoons slowly filed out, leaving Sheppard and I alone with Stanford Blake and Jaime Wolf. 
 
"We owe you one," Jaime said once the bar was empty. "MacCarron's Armored Cavalry almost got away clean with their strike on New Valencia. You get one favor, one call for help, no questions asked."
 
He nodded at Stanford who pulled a one-time-pad from a satchel and handed it to Sheppard. 
 
"It only has one use, and is encrypted. You will need to send someone with it, but if. No, when we get it, we'll respond with whatever you need." Stanford made sure that Sheppard had a solid grip on it. "Do not lose it."
 
"I still don't think you owe us anything," I replied. "In fact, I'd argue the opposite. But regardless, I think this is the start of a good friendship. Now, you're not new to combat by any stretch of the imagination, but from what I can see, it looks like you're a bit behind on the political side of things. So, let me give you a bit of a rough and dirty look at what you can expect for the rest of your contracts."
 
"Any intel is good intel," Stanford Blake leaned forward. "Do you mind if I record this to go through in the future?"
 
"Go ahead," I shrugged. "I've got a lot to cover."
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===Sifting through the Intel===
"So, what do we think?" Jaime looked around at the regimental commanders and the rest of the command staff.
 
"He was telling the truth for the most part," Stanford glanced at the notes he had written down after the meeting. "The problem is that there aren't enough records for us to verify any of what he said about his service during the Star League."
 
"Unfortunately, while his time during that period is interesting, it is not something that concerns us and our mission," Joshua's hand found his chin as he thought out loud. "What of his intelligence on current affairs?"
 
"It will be useful information for future contracts as well as something that we can relay to the Clans when we return," Jaime replied. "Both Major Hull and Captain Sheppard cautioned us in regards to serving with the Capellan Confederation and the Draconis Combine. We will have to verify the information as correct, but I am inclined to believe them."
 
"What about their Elementals that we keep hearing rumors about from the locals?" the XO to Beta Regiment asked. His large build showcasing that he was from Elemental Stock.
 
"Preliminary searches and findings show that it is nothing more than upjumped civilian exoskeletons," Joshua shrugged. "We are going to have to dig further if we want to find anything more out."
 
"We are going to have Wolfnet start working on SIGINT with regards to the Capellans and the Combine," Jaime continued. "And I will discuss the armor rumors with Major Hull. Our contract is still valid for another three years. And we will be stationed here until local forces arrive to relieve both of our units. There will be time to develop a working relationship and potentially use them as a source of intelligence in the Inner Sphere. They have a different perspective, and might see things that we missed."
 
"We should also take the chance to insert some people into the Marksman?" Natasha spoke up, an odd look on her face. "I have a feeling that we should keep an eye on them."
 
"I will see what we can do," Blake replied. "Now, here's the information that was relayed to us regarding the Capellans and potential future contracts…"
===Keeping Eye out while dealing with the Paperwork===
"So, we've got an IOU from an Elite Merc unit," Sheppard glanced at the drawer that held the one-time-pad. "Never saw that one coming."
 
"I didn't either," I opened a small bottle of ibuprofen and took two pills, hoping to stave off the headache I could feel coming. "Now, we finally got the full damage reports from MAC. We need to go through them and start getting priority sorted."
 
"Right," Sheppard grabbed the reports and divided them in half before handing one half to me. "Pass me the ibuprofen, we're both going to want outta here once we finish this."
 
"I'm marking my 'Hammer as low priority," I immediately set that to the side. "We've got armor to repair across all of our forces, and the Phoenix isn't supposed to be here for another two weeks."
 
"Mithril has saved most of our PBIs," Sheppard tapped another report. "But we're going to have to replace parts on about half, if not three quarters of our suits."
 
"It's a damn good thing that we made the parts easy to work on then," I chuckled. "And that we packed the Dark Element (Jumbo Class Cargo Dropship) with enough spare parts for a year of intense combat."
 
"Sure," Sheppard sighed. "But we've still got the man hours that it'll take to get the suits back up and running to deal with. And that's before diving into the other shit that needs to be repaired."
 
"Right," I agreed. "So let's sign off on this and see what we can do to help. I don't want to sit here with paperwork longer than necessary."
 
"Slinging a wrench is better than signing off on paperwork," Sheppard laughed. "But one of us is going to have to check on the medical supplies. Make sure that we have enough to last until the Phoenix gets here with the better equipment."
 
"I'll take care of it," I started going through the paperwork at a rapid pace. "You look like you're about to keel over. So go get some rest and then get to work on helping with the repairs. I've got this."
 
"Yessir," my XO stood up and headed for the door. "Let me know if you need me to take over for you at any point. I'll be in the quarters next door." 
 
"Will do, captain," I smiled and waved him off. "I've got plenty to do here."
 
With that, he left the room and I was alone with my thoughts once more.
 
"Whelp, that happened," I muttered as I thought about the conversation I'd had with Wolf brothers and the other officers of the Wolf's Dragoons. "I'll have to keep an eye on them. It might be worth it to keep a few favors from them. Especially if things go badly in the FWL."
 
I then shrugged to myself and focused on the paperwork in front of me. The workload wouldn't shrink by itself after all.
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Chapter 71