Admin61

==Chapter 61 - The Administrator==
CWS Dire Wolf
Moored at Upano Naval Service Station
Upano System
Lyran Commonwealth
3148
The Lyrans were building charging stations. This was new. the Clans had sat on the designs for the SLDF's charging station network for generations, had not even put them in during the Invasion along the Exodus Road for security reasons, and hadn't built any in the occupation zones.
Nobody had built them since the fall of the Star League.
"Nobody but, Sharon Ngo." Alaric observed, looking out the viewing port at the structure being assembled at Upano's nadir point. The portions being assembled right now, weren't part of the core purpose of the station. They were the service gantries meant to handle commercial traffic, specifically maintenance and servicing of commercial jumpships.
The core military application-the actual charging and fueling facilities? those were finished first.
If there was to be a statement about the Lyran commitment to driving the Jade Falcons out, it was logistics and servicing points being assembled to support the needed fleets. Not just the attacking fleets but, the follow-on fleets. He knew the Civilian trade that would have to follow to stabilize the region in the aftermath.
He sighed, "If you thought I was arrogant, I would have told you to speak with Sharon Ngo."
Star Admiral Josephine Fetladral anchored her feet unconsciously to the deck beside her Khan. "I will say this, when they go big, they go big. I have never seen this many active combat vessels in one system in my life, My Khan."
"I have." he said, "Not so many Destroyers, but the cutters...Aff. Nasty things."
"How are they supplying the consumables we are getting?" he asked.
"Belters." Josephine said, "See? Those are not just small-craft, those are prospecting rigs. There are probably four or five small outfits out here. As stubbornly independent in a way that the Blood Spirits might envy. However, the Merchants tell me they deal honestly. Something about how a reputation for cheating customers leads to freezing to death in the dark."
"We have them in the Empire?" He asked.
"Aff. Trying to corral them?" she shook her head, "An exercise in futility. If The Folk think you're about to cage them in, they simply disperse and flee to somewhere else."
"They work for the Lyrans. What would it take to get them working for us?"
"Spacers, Belters, Rockjacks, The Folk?" she shrugged, "OvKhan, they are not like planet-bound populations. When the Founder wrote his regulations, there were none like them among the Exodus Fleet. The SLDF never managed to recruit more than a bare handful, and those did not come on the Exodus...in fact..." she reached into her coverall, "They slipped through the usurper's fingers as well. I suppose you could direct the Merchant Caste to find out what they will take in trade."
"Sharon has 'Rockjacks'." he said.
"She lives as one-for all intents and purposes, the Duchess of Kowloon only comes to a planetary surface if she is commanded to by the Archon. Did you see the pendant she wore at the diplomatic function?"
"Yes...it has meaning?"
"Free Stars, OvKhan. Sharon Ngo serving the Lyrans is a voluntary thing-she is a spacer."
"You know this...how?"
"As your Naval Reserve's senior officer, I need to know these things. so, I questioned a few Spacers when I found them on patrols, while doing inspections on traffic. The Folk are an incredible resource-if you know how to approach them. I have requested members of the Clan's Watch try to infiltrate their ranks...with limited success, however our best sources are the Clan's Merchant Caste. The Folk will trade with anyone who deals honestly with them-they simply resist being assigned a 'place' in the rest of society."
"She has them supplying these bases."
"Supplying them, probably supplying labor to build them. There are legends about The Folk, especially in more distant parts of the Inner Sphere...historically, I think this is the closest they have come to choosing a side since the Amaris Coup...no, that is wrong. Since the Metis Coalition joined the crusade to oust the Word of Blake."
She turned to her engineering officer, "How long until we're fully fueled?"
"Another ten hours, OvKhan."
Josephine turned her Khan, "Feel like a space-walk?" she asked.
He looked a little ill, "Neg."
"I will be on the bow dorsal hull if you need me then." she said.
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