BoTH Chpt 76

==Blood on the Horizon - Chapter 76 -==
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===Breakfast with Hanse===
Date: August 21st, 3007Location: New Avalon City - New Avalon, Federated Suns
Hanse Davion aand I met in a small, out-of-the-way cafe in the middle of the city. We'd both taken unobtrusive cars and had done our best to blend in before we ordered our respective drinks and tea before sitting down and beginning to chat.
 
"I'll just get straight to the point, Hanse. I'm going to be heading out in a few days," I handed him a file folder. "I'm not the person to do any complex negotiations so any big talks or discussions should be held with the CEO of WarWorks or Protector Calderon. Details for everything are there." I gestured to the folder while taking a sip of my coffee and leaning back in my chair.
 
"You sure you don't want to spend a little more time on New Avalon?" Hanse asked, accepting the documents and skimming the pages. "I'm sure I could find a use for you."
 
"I don't exactly fit in well here," I gestured to the clothes I was wearing. "Hell, even the Wolf's Dragoons are more acclimated to this than I am, and they're a bunch of periphery hicks."
 
"Periphery hicks with five regiments and enough lift and metal to make anyone take notice," Hanse reminded me. "They picked up on some of the political games fairly quickly."
 
"Yeah, this isn't for me," I shook my head. "I'll stick with people who are at least honest about wanting to stab me in the back over people who pretend to be friends."
 
"Fair enough," Hanse grinned. "I'm about to ship out to the Capellan border myself. Anyway, I'll get this to Ian and the rest of the senior staff, they'll hash out everything between the Concordat, WarWorks, etc."
 
"Right," I nodded. "I'm gonna finish up breakfast here and then head to my next meeting. But before I do that, there are a few things I wanted to go over."
 
"Oh?" Hanse raised an eyebrow. "Anything important?"
 
"Yeah, I replied. "It's about Opsec and making sure leaks don't pop up. If at all possible, don't transmit stuff via HPG."
 
"Obviously," Hanse rolled his eyes. "You think we trust Comstar to keep communications secure? No. We're not fools. Most of our secure work is done through methods I'm not at liberty to disclose."
 
He sipped his drink and smirked at me.
 
"Now, what's your next meeting?"
 
"Countess Pierce," I replied. "Given I own a decent chunk of property on the world under her authority, it's probably best that I see what she wants."
 
"Need me to take care of it for you?" Hanse asked. "I can see to it that she understands you're currently of great importance to the Federated Suns."
 
"No," I shook my head. "I'm pretty sure it's about the fact that a Mercenary unit has a base on her planet. Probably taxes that I need to pay, and probably a deal to be made to ensure that we stay on good terms."
 
"I'll let you get to it then," Hanse stood up and tucked the folder into a small briefcase. "It's always a pleasure to spend time with you, Mark Hull," He clasped arms with me before stepping back and nodding. "Just maybe don't underestimate our intelligence organizations next time."
 
With that, he winked, and the rest of the people in the cafe paused and stared at me before resuming their conversations.
 
"MIIO and MI6 are very good at what they do," Hanse grinned. "I'll see you around, Major. Try to stay on your toes. You never know who might be listening."
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===Cutting Deals and Advice before I go===
"Ma'am," a knock came on Countess Durand's door. "I've got that background check for you."
 
"Thank you, Chris," she smiled. "Set it on the desk for me, please."
 
"Do you need anything else, ma'am?"
 
"No, I just need to take the time to look this over," She replied. "We expect him to come by sometime today, and I'd like to get more information on him than the dossier we had on him from Pierce and the brief meeting I had with him."
 
"Understood, ma'am," Chris nodded. "I'll leave you to it."
 
Her Chief of Staff closed the door behind him, leaving Durand alone with her thoughts and the full MIIO report on one Major, Mark Hull.
 
"Let's see what makes you tick, Mister Hull."
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A few hours later…
 
"Can I help you?" the Receptionist asked.
 
"Yes," I stroked my beard, feeling slightly out of place with my boots, jeans, and polo. "I'm Major Mark Hull, here to meet with Countess Durand."
 
"Ahh, yes," his eyes lit up with recognition. "She's expecting you. I'll let her know you're here, and you can head on."
 
I only had to wait a few seconds as he spoke into a phone before setting it back into its cradle.
 
"You can go in," he gestured towards a singular office in the back.
 
I followed the pointed hand to a door and knocked gently before stepping in when invited.
 
Elizabeth Duran wore a dark blue modest dress that matched her eyes. Her brunette hair was in a tasteful bun, further emphasizing the impression she'd made when we met at the awards ceremony as someone both practical and understanding of how the real world works.
 
"Major Hull, thank you for taking the time to meet me before heading out," she shook my hand and gestured for me to sit down. "I know we're both busy, so I'll cut to the chase."
 
"Your unit has a base on Pierce, but you're not sworn to the Federated Suns, nor do you have a contract with myself or any of the other nobles in the Capellan March at this point in time. I'd like to establish some contractual obligations and rules between us so that if you are ever hired to act against the Federated Suns that Pierce isn't threatened in any way."
 
"So I take it, you'd like a contract or something in stone?" I asked.
 
"Either that or something similar," she nodded. "I'm not saying that you'd attack out of hand, but I'll not take chances when it comes to my people and the world I am responsible for."
 
"So, I don't have any of that sort of paperwork with me at the moment, and I don't have an MRB representative here to provide it that would be familiar with me or yourself," I began. "If you'd like to, we can meet on Pierce at the HPG in a few months to get everything sorted out. And until then, you have my word that we won't take any contracts that would endanger Pierce."
 
"That'll have to be enough for now," she sighed. "Regardless, thank you again for taking the time to meet."
 
"Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?" I asked.
 
"I was going to ask if you or WarWorks would be willing to look into resource extraction or a potential factory on Pierce at some point in the future," she shrugged. "As well as a contract for a company or two for protection beyond that of the local militia."
 
"Resource extraction?" I asked.
 
"I hired a few prospectors and have had people going over records from the Age of War to the present," Durand replied. "At the very smallest, there are a few battlefields that were lost to time that I want to try and locate to see if there's any decent salvage."
 
"And at the most?" I raised an eyebrow.
 
"Some records indicate that there used to be mines for raw materials and refineries that would make for industrialmech and potentially battlemech production. We'd still need to figure out tooling and a fusion engine plant. But if we do find the old mines or even places for new ones…"
 
She trailed off and then shook her head.
 
"But that's all wishful thinking. Given the circumstances, I just wanted some basic assurances," she glanced at a clock above her doorway. "If you have some extra time, would you mind if I picked your brain regarding corporations? I'm looking for people who won't be looking to squeeze every penny and pound out of me."
 
"Well, I'd start with Taurus WarWorks," I grinned. "But that's because the Marksman are part owners. "But I do have a short list of everyone we've worked with, with the good, bad, and ugly all rolled into one."
I glanced at my watch and decided I could afford to spend extra time helping her out.
 
"Starcorps is fairly decent to work with, but they charge a premium to try and get licenses for even manufacturing spare parts for any of their designs. It'll pay off in the end if you can afford the upfront cost, but it might not be worthwhile. Now, I'm a bit of an odd duck, but given how short the market is, I think that if you can get an older design back into production, that might be worth looking into. I know I've got a Swordsman in our inventory that we're not using. If you'd like, I can have some of my staff look into what it would take to produce it. It might also be worth talking to Achernar to see if they'd be willing to look into licensing some of their older designs."
 
I paused and grinned as I recalled what I'd won at the auction a few days ago.
 
"And there's the potential for a heavy design," I said. "Give me and some of my people a few months; we might have a design and license for you. But you'll need to have everything ready to build the 'Mech before we try to finalize anything."
 
"I'll reach out to some of those companies. And I'll look into what it will take for us to get a factory built or at least started," she took some notes. "Now, is there anyone I should keep track of that might try to stiff us or cheat us?"
 
"Well, we should probably start with what to look out for in smaller companies so you don't get scammed…"
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Chapter 76