InaG Chpt 21-2

==It's not a Gundam - Chapter 21 -Part 2 - Opening Shots- Book 2 -==
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===Lady Journey to see her Fiance===
The Fox Den, Davion Palace
New Avalon, Federated Suns
April 3027
The Silver Eagle departed Tharkad without much fanfare. While the Command Circuit line between Tharkad and New Avalon wasn't fully realized the Guild's partners both private and local government helped pick up the slack.
 
Stations, NEW stations were being built alongside derelicts the Junkers loved resurrecting and provided safe harbor to recharge, refuel, and resupply.
 
The liner skimmed past Kurita space. Skimmed. Uncle Kell and the Hounds uneasily stared across at their archnemisis. The Snakes knew that she was on this ship.
...so did the Guild.
 
Melissa Steiner may not be a MechWarrior, but she knew the Guild's finest when she saw them. Only the best were supplied the best that Lord Cameron could create. And the lance of [[w:c:gundam:Mercurius|Mercurius and Vayeate models, those Suivant variants no less, that just so happened to be providing the Jumpship security at the moment said everything.
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===Seeking Solutions in light of a growing threat===
 
New Avalon, for the next few months, would be her home. Getting to know her fiancee on a personal level would be for later. Politics, ugly, damned, dirty politics called to her. In the inner sanctum of the Fox's Den she sat beside The First Prince, his Champion, his Spymaster, and her Uncle. Less an active participant, more than observer, she listened as they talked about the storm wracking known space.
 
"Bluntly speaking." Quintus spoke, "Lord Cameron is more than a threat than Takashi."
 
"Those are words not spoken lightly." Sortek warned.
 
"Only because my counterparts in the Commonwealth share the same sentiment. Even if New Avalon fell, even if Tharkad was lost, there will always be many who would resent and resist against House Kurita. If not Davion or Steiner then someone who carries the spirit. But to many a Cameron returning is a messianic event. And right now some consider it literal."
 
The Cult of St. Cameron had exposed in number in just a month. It's sister faith, the One Star Faith grew at a relatively smaller amount in that same span; it still counted thousands of new converts.
 
Ignoring religion, ignoring how genetically close he actually was to Richard Cameron, his actions had cemented his status; his appearance merely helped.
 
Her mother had to tangle with some of her own government asking that her betrothal to the First Prince to be called off and her hand offered to the Exarch. As if she was some horse to be traded. At that moment she was in the mood to visit their house with her mother's Warhammer. Poor MechWarrior aptitude or not.
 
Ardan shook his head, "That doesn't mean we should expect Serpents landing on our worlds Quin."
 
"No. But it is what he represents. Even in our own nations there are plenty who dream about the Star League returning. A Federated Commonwealth is the closest thing to what could replace it. Two years ago."
 
"Which is why me and the Archon plan on joining the Cooperative."
 
The voice that answered Allard was not Sortek's. The First Prince had been silent the whole time mulling over reports just like she was. None of them were surprised. It was always an option. Technically the Cooperative was just an agreement. Technically.
 
"Hanse, there is a price."
 
"You mean commitments. We have the manpower and money to meet them and I'm sure our record on rights and liberties speak for itself. The Snakes and Cappies? Not so much."
 
Leaving aside the Cooperative's ... disinterest in the weight of noble titles. Even what little they could glean from the Junker ambassador said that the Exarch saw himself as the Exarch first and not a Cameron.
 
"It's an issue of sovereignty my Prince." Melissa finally spoke up.
 
"The Archon-Designate is right." Quintus spoke, "To be part of a potential Star League is to be subject to their laws and right now Marik has the Junkers' ear."
 
Hanse shook his head, "The board changed but the game is still the same. Melissa, I still plan on following through. We'll apply ... after we form the Federated Commonwealth."
 
"You want a stronger hand in negotiations." She realized.
 
"We NEED a stronger hand. Canopus was smart to realize how valuable a counterbalance could be inside their association than outside."
 
Alone FedCom would possess the largest military, economy, and population in human space. But a united periphery? It took the Inner Sphere to match them and unlike the Unification Wars the technological advantage, and just as importantly: The Camerons, weren't on their side.
 
No, should Operation RAT and GOTTERDAMERUNG succeed a House Steiner-Davion would be in a standoff with House Cameron, or God forbid, House Cameron-Marik.
 
"Ardan. Quintus. Melissa. What do you think of him?"
 
"I have already said my piece." Allard spoke.
 
"If you ask me I'm trying to be an optimist, Hanse." Sortek shrugged, "We can live beside each other. We've had for years. A few decades more would not be out of the imagination."
 
Discounting the Calderons of course. While the AFFS denied it the LCAF knew that it was forming Regimental Combat Teams entirely out of OZ-mechs and Junker-tech derived equipment to standoff against their Taurian counterparts. Everyone and their mother was scrambling to build up their forces.
 
The coming war would be bloody no matter how much preparations they and their enemies had done. Cameron or not. Comstar or not. FedCom and the Combine could not accept the existence of the other.
 
Marik? They were unsure. They had started this meeting with a message of reproachment from Janos Marik himself. Against the protests of League Parliament and his allies in the Kapetyn Accords the Captain-General made his choice, even going so far as to say that the title of First Lord belonged to another. The 'other' was obvious.
 
"The Archon." Melissa reminisced, "Pleaded for the Great Houses to lay down there weapons. It was what led to the cooperation between Davion and Steiner we have today. It doesn't have to end at just that."
 
Hanse looked toward his young fiance and nodded, "It doesn't. Let your mother know that the Federated Suns would support a peaceful. Preferable equitable end of hostilities between the League and Commonwealth."
 
"Your not going to say anything, Allard?" Ardan asked the MIIO director.
 
Quintus shook his head, "I offer advice when asked and provide when there is none but the decision is up to the First Prince. Whatever way Hanse I will support you."
 
The First Prince nodded. Peace with Marik it was.
 
Patrick Kell who had been content to sit and observe was the one to answer the knock at the door. One of his subordinates gasling for air was barely held up by Davion guards. Whatever the man said the grimace on Kell's face said everything.
 
"We got raids across Lyran space. Deep raids staged from Rasalhague."
 
"Damn Snakes-" Ardan growled, jumping up and jumping to conclusions as well.
 
"Not Dracs. Drones."
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===Waiting for Recovery===
Captain-General's Office, Atreus City
Atreus, Free World's League
April 3027
One way or another Janos Marik would have peace. If not for his people than his children. If not for his children then for himself.
 
He ignored the outcry of the warhawks in Parliament and the press. He wouldn't have any of it.
 
Janos went through with what he had spoken with the Exarch with. He offered a negotiated ceasefire. Prisoners exchanged. Historical worlds returned to their respective nations. Contested worlds and populations holding referendums seen by neutral parties and time for people and assets to move to one side of the border or another. What raised brows was that on every ballot was to have a third option: Independent.
 
It was a requirement for the Guild. For the organization of a modern King Arthur it had a quite strong belief in democracy.
 
Day-in, Day-out he had been bombarded with phone calls. Not just from those asking why the hell he asked for a ceasefire. But plenty more demanding how much he knew about the Exarch's true identity. Whatever answer he gave to the latter they assumed he was lying; to his frustration.
 
While he was in the middle of an important talk yet another thorn in his side kept him distracted.
 
"I'm busy, Humphreys."
 
The Dame-Duchess of Andurien like all his enemies tried to pull at his strings. They knew how close House Marik was to the Guild; they knew how close the man's secretary was to the sole human being with a rightful claim to First Lord in the Inner Sphere.
 
"..."
 
"I don't care about emergency sessions. We are already IN an emergency if you didn't notice the giant blob of killbots hanging around the hospital!"
 
Many of the younger generation saw the Haros, Zakos, and Verde units the Junkers made to be 'cute'. Watching the BattleROMs of them tearing apart pirates and raiders convinced Janos otherwise.
 
"..."
 
"Yes. I'm giving them the option to not rejoin. We have to be better than the Cappies and Lyrans."
 
"..."
 
"I am offering you the same thing, Humphrey."
 
"..."
 
"You heard me. If you want Andurien to be free you'll have to ask the Anduriens themselves. I will respect their decision. It depends on whether they will respect yours. After that? Your on your own. The FWLM will be pulling up stakes so you'll need to find an army of your own. You'll need to negotiate your own trade deals with your neighbors, your own laws, your foreign policy. If you want to have your cake and eat it to then get your own silverware."
 
He hanged up and put her number on block. Again.
 
He sighed and looked back up at his son Duggan, Member of Parliament and Minister of Trade. He was the right amount of crooked just like Janos was his age.
 
"Duggan, What did I tell you about corruption?"
 
He replied in full rote, "Do your job. Take a wee percentage. But don't be greedy."
 
"That's Lesson 2. Lesson 1 son was that no one gets the wheels moving without getting their hands dirty."
 
"And I have dad. I was the one to get the funding when Parliament got stingy with the coin purse."
 
"It's a requirement for the job." Janos spoke, "Duggan what do your contacts say?"
 
"You already know. Toms building an army and he doesn't want us or the league involved."
 
"It may as well be. He's family and Exarch is someone in our camp. If I was still the moron who got this seat I'd walked into the HPG Station by now."
 
"You could still do that." Duggan pointed out.
 
"...with the Rifleman your Grandfather gave me."
 
"...oh."
 
"Yes: Oh." Janos crossed his fingers in a tent as he leaned upon the table in deep thought, "We're doing everything in-house. I've been going through our military and intelligence apparatus with a finetooth comb. I don't give a damn if they aren't loyal to me. I want to make sure they sure as hell our loyal to the people we're all supposed to protect in the first place."
 
"Dad. We're talking about COMSTAR. And god forbid the SLDF in our lifetime."
 
"As i've said: Loyal to the League. Not to Us. Not to Humphrey. Not to Stuart. The League and the people who make it. I know the Guild is just itching for an excuse to make Circinus look like a sideshow."
 
Of the ten children, five were dead, two were estranged. It was just him, Duggan, Tom, and Paul. He would Count Secelia if Press and Parliament wouldn't throw an even bigger fit right now over him adopting a 'nobody'.
 
"I'll need all the resources we can get. Whether they are legitimate or something under the table as long as a Marik still stands so will the League."
 
Duggan's eyes darted left-and-right figuring out the logistics of what he could pry from his less-than-legal operations, "I can try."
 
"As long as you try, Duggan, that is all that matters."
 
Suddenly the door opened and speak of the devil, Secelia walked in. Her pale complexion and the bags under her eyes told her exhaustion. But the determined stare said something else.
 
"Sir."
 
Duggan stood up, "Dote? You should be in bed by now."
 
Janos stood up second, "How is he?"
 
"Alive." Dote answered, "Still in medical-induced coma. The doctor said his brain activity was ... bizarre. I don't know what they meant by that but they can't risk it."
 
The patriarch of the Marik family hugged her like he would any daughter of his.
 
"As long as he breaths there's hope." Janos consoled.
 
"Duggan." Secelia turned to him, "How many smugglers can you get on hand?"
 
"Depends." the Trade Minister asked, "What needs to be smuggled?"
 
"I received a message from the Guild. They said that should he," she struggled to speak, "... you know ... they would give us the location two major Star League Caches inside the League."
 
"Considering he's a Cameron I shouldn't be surprised." Janos grumbled, "But I still am. Why now? Why us?"
 
"They said they trusted me." she admitted, "and I trust you."
 
"With all due respect." Duggan replied, "Even Royals are losing their luster."
 
"No." she shook her head, "That's just icing."
 
"Knowledge." Janos concluded, "Another Halstead-"
 
"Data Cores. Star League Datacores. Not just some old science books. EVERYTHING."
 
The Captain-General pinched the ridge of his nose and landed on his seat, "Christ."
 
"He should have gone for it himself." Duggan mulled, "Hell, he's a Cameron. Shouldn't he have the tech already?"
 
"Apparently not." the older Marik answered, "That is a lot he's entrusting to you."
 
Guilt warred with love. Secelia was not herself but Duggan and Janos waited for her answer.
 
Suddenly the phones begin to ring. Not just Janos' but Duggan's and Secelia's. The Captain-General reached for a remote and the Holovid TV across from them blinked online with breaking news from channels across Atreus and beyond. Terrorists attacks had just went off across the League. 
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===Meeting Interupted===
Coventry Metal Works
Port St. William
Coventry, Lyran Commonwealth 
April 3027
Ask a Layman and he would say that a Defiance Industries Atlas was the face of Lyran Battlemechs. Ask anyone who was ACTUALLY competent in the LCAF and it was the Commando of Coventry Metal Works. While the jokes of Lyran overcompensation had some unfortunate truth to it Katrina had gotten to great lengths to dispel the stereotypes.
 
The Battlemechs that stood beside the Commandos were proof if anything else.
 
Dr. Banzai had made the trip to the Commonwealth in secret as Defiance and Coventry worked with the NAIS and their Davion counterparts. His mission mattered as much as her daughter's trip to New Avalon.
 
For the Archon the revelation of the Exarch being a Cameron had upended plans years in the making. Crash programs were already in the process. The GM project was one of them. Prototypes were being developed at a rapid pace as men, metal, and Kroner were found across the Commonwealth to close the gap between them and the Junkers. Or rather the Steiners and Camerons.
 
She was here on Coventry for a good reason and kicked herself for not ramping up the pace the moment the Exarch began carving out his domain one world and wunderwaffen at a time.
 
"The UC-DB labeled the series as the 'GM-family'." Said Buckaroo, leading the tour, "I theorize the name is short for 'General Mech' given it's capabilities but for now that is conjecture."
 
In Lyran White-and-Blue was a humanoid battlemech. It stood tall and proud at a solid Medium 41 Tons empty but at a height of 18.5 meters. There were dozens of different variants laid out in blueprints but the GM-LC was an amalgam of different technologies from both the database and the brightest inventors in the NAIS and Lyran industry.
"It's less mech and more an enlarged form of infantry." The Archon answered, "That is the distinction between a 'Standard' Battlemech and a 'Mobile Suit'-type Battlemech correct?"
 
"There are edge-cases such as the LAMs but that is correct. Given our simulations it will stand between an OZ and a Standard enhanced-Battlemech in performance."
 
Banzai gestured to the Commando standing beside the GM: The COM-Leo. Where Defiance wanted to tap into the market of (relatively) Affordable Battlemechs with their beefier Leo variants, Coventry had re-engineered their mechs to be able to use 'Hi-grade' standard mech parts or 'Lo-grade' OZ parts interchangable. It meant that their customers could repair and resupply their mechs easier in the field with cheaper more readily available parts or to upgrade them for better performance. The fact that Coventry now marketed 'upgrade kits' in Mechwarrior magazines said everything about their motivations.
 
As long as they do the job. Katrina mumbled her thoughts.
 
Hanse was trying to do something similar in the Federated Suns. She wished him good luck. Melissa could only do so much.
 
"Comparing the GM-FS, GM-LC, and the GMs in the database what makes the Lyran Variant different."
 
"Survivability and endurance. We know you Lyrans prefer heavier tonnage."
 
Katrina winced. Defiance may have not gotten state funding ... but the number of Lyrans who volunteered time and money out misplaced patriotism to make a 'symbol of Commonwealth might' disturbed her.
"It is a defense oriented mech. Fast enough to keep pace with Combine Jenner/Panther lances but armored enough to withstand hits from Dragons at range ... and Chargers in melee. The UC-DB had designs for Head Vulcans, machine guns that can act as an Anti-Missile System and layered ballistic shields that can absorb extended PPC fire. With our electromagnetic armor and 'Beam Spray' Light ER PPC is meant to engage enemies at stand-off ranges and intercept enemy fire and protect important static assets and act as escort for heavier mobile ones."
 
The scientist gestured to a second GM-LC. Where the first one had a single tower shield the Mobile Suit held two shields on sub-arms, freeing up space for arm-mounted weapons.
 
"Thunderbolt Configuration. Although I do no know how it relates to the Thunderbolt Battlemech."
 
"We'll have to ask Ms. Keith. Now what about the Federated Sun model?"
 
"The GM-FS has-"
 
Before he could answer the ground shook. Alarms began to blare. Coventry security was already scrambling into action while her own guards and Banzai's escort already began to circle them.
 
While her loyal men tried to get her to safety she could see out in window smoke begin to rise up. In the direction of the HPG station.
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Chapter 21-2