FCBC - 2770

==Fate Can Be Cruel - 2770==
==January==
17 January 2770
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
General Rita Mitchell had almost jumped thru her ceiling when the message came in from Rear Admiral Tanaka detailing everything at Linden and then she got to the part about the 4 Special Forces commands that Rear Admiral Seimens had never even tried to check on and she almost lost her lunch. What is it with some of these officers? Are they cowards or just worthless? She thought to herself, but quickly turned to addressing the needs. She fired back a HPG message agreeing with Rear Admiral Tanaka's orders and advising her that she was sending additional forces to back her up. 
She ordered Major General Johannsen to prepare her 173rd Mechanized Infantry Division for immediate deployment to Linden. The planetary factories were too important to risk. She then issued orders for Colonel Fuentes to prepare his 19th Hussar Regiment (Royal) for deployment to Azur. SLS Solomon, Essex Destroyer was the first ship fitted with LF Batteries and she ordered her to make ready for deployment to Linden, escorting the 173rd and 19th. Once the 173rd was safely on Linden, SLS Solomon was to escort the 19th Hussar to Azur. She ordered Rear Admiral Tanaka to kick the 238th Striker Regiment loose and add them to the 19th Hussar. The 238th Striker would hit Feijo on the way for to drop the 19th Hussar on Azur.
Suddenly she felt that she was running out of units already. She knew she wasn't, but it sure felt that way at the moment. She went ahead and issued warning orders to Major General Hanesworth for possible deployment of his 29th Mechanized Infantry Division. She had finished issuing the orders when Major General Nathan Baxter entered her office.
"Heard a message came in that seemed to light a fuse in your office. Thought I would wander over and see if I could help out." Major General Baxter said
General Mitchell handed over the HPG message from Rear Admiral Tanaka which he quickly read. "What an ******. Bet you 100 to 1 this Seimens is a Bureaucrat, that is why they stuck him way out here in the boonies. Want me to get my folks ready?" 
"No, I don't think this warrants a full Battlemech Division and besides, your my primary reaction force if Blommestein goes south." General Mitchell said
"It won't. Major General Carman and McGregor are very capable. We really need more Independent Regiments for these kinds of situations." He tapped the list of deactivated commands she always had near her "How about we do this, I will give up 2 of my most experienced Battlemech Regiments and commanders, if you release 2 of your Battlemech Regiments, between us, we can reactivate the 509th Battle, 247th Heavy Assault, 201st Battle and 228th Striker Regiments. At least that adds to our rapid response forces without having to deploy full Divisions. I got just the commanders for the 509th Battle and 247th Heavy Assault Regiments."
"That sure weakens your 359th Battlemech Division." General Mitchell said
"Not really, I talked to General Quieg about what you have planned for the 31st Infantry Division. Worst case, we pull one or both of the 31st's Battlemech Regiments and slap them into heavier Battlemechs. Boom, I am back up to strength. But to be honest, I don't think we have anything to fear out here that we cannot handle. I have almost gotten a good count on what our initial Mechwarrior candidate class will look like, so I will be kind of busy there. Right now we are looking at roughly 338 candidates that were able to move part of a Stinger in some way from all 3 worlds. But what I really want to do is go hit Wokha now that it joined us. Hell, the first batch of miners you brought back with you from there, there are 65 of them that pilot mining or industrial mechs. They tell me that there are at least 500 mining or industrial mech pilots on Wokha. You know how much training time that cuts out? If I can get my hands on even 200 of them, I could have them trained up in just over 2 years time. Basic training and then onto weapons and tactics training. They already know how to make a mech move and act." Major General Baxter said
"I will think over your idea's. Now let me ask you a question, are we doing the right thing out here?" General Mitchell asked.
"Of course we are. Most of the worlds out here were settled by people from the Hegemony or Inner Sphere. Without us, most would starve or waste away. For damn sure the Outworlds Alliance is not doing anything to help them. The troops think we are doing the right thing, it' what they actually signed up to do. Defend those that cannot defend themselves. Protect those that need protecting. Before we all arrived here, morale was in the gutter. We felt abandoned, nothing but cannon fodder forcing our will onto a people that just wanted to live their lives. Now, morale is sky high, we are letting the people choose their own way, we are not forcing anyone to join us. With Amanda Cameron here, the troops have a purpose, someone that they believe will return them to greatness. Instead of being raised by a distant, almost always gone figure or a doting treacherous leech, she is being raised by you. Let me honest here, if General Kerensky gave an order, but you gave a counter order, the troops would follow you first and foremost. I can think of no greater honor than that." Major General Baxter said
A whimper and soft cry "Mama" caused Major General Baxter to smile and stand from his chair "Duty calls, Rita. You’re doing the right thing. We have faith that you will raise her right, so that she can return the Terran Hegemony to it's former glory."
18 January 2770
Blommestein (Outworlds Alliance)
Major General Carman and Major General McGregor landed their 280th and 126th Mechanized Infantry Divisions on a vast plain roughly 150km from the Capital of New Tamasi, neither wanting to land on the space port where the crater from a nuclear detonation was still visible. They quickly established a perimeter and then began a slow advance towards the city. Not knowing what to expect, they were taking things slow and easy.
Shira (Outworlds Alliance)
Major Marcella Ramirez, commander 2282nd Special Forces, shivered in the cold night air. She looked up at the stars and wondered where the hell the SLDF was. It had been over 4 years. The first 2 years had been a touch and go affair against the insurgents and rebels on planet. But slowly they had formed an effective resistance movement made up of former SLDF troops and remains of the small SLDF garrison of 2 Infantry Regiments. A year ago, the rebels had just up and left, blowing every space faring vessel to bits before they left. Without the support of the people, they would have long ago been destroyed. She had formed 5 Infantry Regiments of resistance, but had 2 left.
2282nd Special Forces Battalion
A Company - 4 Platoons (112 Troops)
B Company - 4 Platoons (112 Troops)
Shira Resistence
Infantry Regiment - 4 Battalions (SLDF Reserve)
Infantry Regiment - 3 Battalions (Local)
Infantry Regiment - 3 Battalions (Local)
Feijo (Outworlds Alliance)
Captain Wesley Hardin, acting commander 3157th Special Forces, had also fought a hard unconventional campaign against the rebel forces for 4 long years. They had been inserted years ago with 4 full Company's of Nighthawk suited troopers, 256 Elite troops. Now he only had 18 Nighthawk suits in action, and another 119 down for lack of spare parts. He still had 157 troops in his command. He had managed to raise a single regiment of resistance fighters only to see them ambushed by the rebels and destroyed a year ago. Now, from his hide high in the mountains, he watched the rebel Battlemech lance cautiously try to find a way up the steep mountain range. They had learned hard lessons fighting his 3157th. They were 17km from the cavern that housed his troops.
Azur (Outworlds Alliance)
Major Dovie Frazier, commander 2972nd Special Forces, was the defacto military governor of the planet. They had landed and found the local SLDF reservists had actually beaten back the initial rebel assault on the planet. The second invasion had been larger and more brutal, but that brutality had turned the an already hostile population even further against them. They had faced so many sniper attacks, ambushes and bombings that they had finally fled the planet 3 years ago. But they had destroyed everything that could fly before leaving. They just did not have the personnel to control 160 million people that were hostile.
2972nd Special Forces Battalion
A Company - 48 Nighthawks
B Company - 48 Nighthawks
C Company - 48 Nighthawks
D Company - 8 Spector SPR-4F, 4 Exterminator EXT-4C
SLDF Reserve Garrison
Battlemech Battalion - 36 Phoenix Hawk PXH-2 (SLDF Reserve)
Battlemech Battalion - 36 Night Hawk NTK-2Q (SLDF Reserve)
Infantry Brigade - 3 Grunt Infantry Regiments (SLDF Reserve)
Infantry Brigade - 3 Grunt Infantry Regiments (Local)
Infantry Brigade - 3 Grunt Infantry Regiments (Local)
Infantry Brigade - 3 Grunt Infantry Regiments (Local)
20 January 2770
Blommestein (Outworlds Alliance)
Major General Iris Carman, 280th Mechanized Infantry Division, watched the several vehicle convoy approaching from the Capital City of New Tamasi. She had her command widely spread out to minimize any damage from a nuclear detonation. The lead vehicle halted about 500 meters away and the passengers approached slowly on foot. At 100 meters, each was searched by SLDF troopers before being escorted to her.
"Major General Iris Carman, 280th Mechanized Infantry Division. I hope you understand our security measures. And you are?" She stated.
"Jessica Parington, Governor of Blommestein and acting Governor of the Blommestein Province. This is Colonel Walter Medley, he commands our small garrison. Retired SLDF. Your arrival must mean that the SLDF has pushed the rebels out of the region." Jessica Parington said.
"There is actually a complete cease fire with the rebel forces. Has been for almost 3 years now. I take your lack of knowledge about this to mean that you have had no contact with the Outworlds government?" Major General Carman said
"We have not seen or heard a word since the rebels drove the SLDF from the planet in 2766. We are fortunate that we can easily feed ourselves and a few surrounding systems. But our Jumpship capacity is minimum. We have been doing the best we could." Jessica Parington replied.
Major General Carman shook her head sadly before responding "Same thing we have heard before. It is as though the Outworlds Alliance has abandoned the entire region. It is not really my place, but several worlds have voted to join the Terran Hegemony. It seems the SLDF and acting Hegemony Administrator are the only force in the region trying to restore order and see to the peoples needs."
The news shocked Jessica Parington, and it showed "Worlds have actually left the Outworlds Alliance for the Terran Hegemony? Is that even legal?"
"Votes were carried out with an 80% approval rate or above. Those worlds deemed that the Outworlds Alliance has forfeited it's right to rule them by abandoning them for 3 years now. Leaving millions to live or die on their own with no support. But now, are there any hostile forces on this planet?" Major General Carman asked
Colonel Walter Medley fielded this question "No sir. The rebels moved on barely a year after the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division departed. I have had my limited forces sweeping the planet on a regular basis and have not encountered any hostile actions. I have 1 Armor Regiment and 3 Infantry Regiments under my command. Our regular garrison was the Blommestein Demons, but we have not seen or heard from them since the Uprising. Last we heard, they were up in the Traders Domain working with the 1st and 2nd Trader Sentinels working on guarding DoME projects."
"Very well, I will still be conducting patrols of the planet. I would like for you to recall your local garrison to avoid any accidents. Once I get my commands into positions, we will talk more." Major General Carman said
21 January 2770
Major General Carman had already checked the nights patrols and all had reported no hostile actions. She had spoken with Major General McGregor and recieved the same news from him. It looked like the local's were telling the truth and there were no hostile forces left on the planet. But only 24 hours was not enough time. Both agreed to complete sweeping this continent while Aerospace Fighters made recon flights over the other continents.
Ceiba (Outworlds Alliance)
Colonel Brian Calloway, commander 3391st Special Forces, had made radio contact with Major Benjamin Manfield, commander 3281st Special Forces Battalion and grounded his Dropships only 3km from the cavern that had sheltered the 3281st Special Forces. With some hesitation, but slowly, the surviving personnel of the 3281st Special Forces began emerging from the dense woods. 
"Colonel Brian Calloway, 3391st Special Forces. You must be Major Manfield. We were surprised to learn if your location and came as soon as we could. What is the situation?"
"Rebels hold the Capital City of Ramirez and the surrounding area. Roughly 300km east of here. We got pushed away from the space port when they managed to overrun the local SLDF reserve force stationed here. I lost 4 Exterminator and a full company the last time we tried to retake our Dropships a year ago. The defenses were just too strong. Lucky for us, we helped establishing this cache of supplies and knew where it was." Major Manfield said.
"Well, we have a whole lot more force now and I have a Whirlwind Destroyer in orbit for fire support if we need it. Let's go retake your Dropships. Our mission is to rescue you, not retake the entire planet. I can have Rear Admiral Tanaka call for a force to complete that mission. Getting Dropship crews might be a problem." Colonel Calloway said.
"Not really, just over half the crews are with us. Enough to operate the Union and Lion Dropships anyway. The rebels executed the others trying to get us to surrender." Major Manfield said
"Well, screw just taking the Dropships, we are going to take out the rebel trash. I will have my Battlemechs move overland, all of us suited troopers will load up on a couple of Confederates and drop with on the space port. When the rebels come out to greet us, they will meet 2 Company's of pissed off Battlemechs and all of us." Colonel Calloway said
23 January 2770
Major Sandra Barkley had gotten her 24 Spector's within 10km of the main rebel base, led there by the 3281st's Exterminator's. Making full use of their advanced stealth abilities, they calmly waited for the signal. They would then rush the base targeting the barracks containing the rebels. For over an hour they waited just inside a treeline, the waiting grated on everyone's nerves. Finally, drive flares from 3 Confederate Dropships appeared in the distance approaching rapidly. She knew the Nighthawk equipped troopers were packed in like sardines. When the first lights began flicking on, she keyed her radio "Ghost's, let's go take care of business." She then pushed her throttle to the max, speeding across the flat plain waiting for her targeting gear to acquire a lock on the barracks in her sights. She could see a few figures milling around the now open door. Heads began to turn in her direction, they might not be able to see her Spectors, but there was no masking the ground shaking thumps of their pounding feet.
When her targeting reticule blinked, she fired and they barracks erupted in flames. More and more barracks began coming apart under the massed fire of the Battlemechs as Nighthawk equipped Special Forces troopers fell from the sky along the long runway of the Space Port. As she rushed through the barracks area, she made no effort to avoid the surviving rebel infantry, smashing them underfoot. Major Manfield had told them about a reported detention camp at the space port consisting of 4 warehouses and she pushed her Spector at full speed to reach it. She could see pulse lasers flashing all over the space port as the Nighthawk equipped troopers engaged anything threatening around a set of warehouses and several grounded Dropships.
By dawn, there was very sporadic fighting as whatever rebels managed to survive the daily night fled the area.
Shira (Outworlds Alliance)
Colonel Harry Estaban, commander 277th Dragoon Regiment, watched SLS Conroy, Avatar Heavy Cruiser begin maneuvering towards the Olympus Recharge Station at the Nadir Jump Point knowing Commodore Zeibler was calling for it's surrender. In the meantime, Colonel Estaban was sending messages to the planet over open channels in an attempt to reach any SLDF forces on the surface. He was surprised when they finally got a response before they had even detached from their Jumpships.
"It's about time someone got here. This is Major Marcella Ramirez, acting commander of all Allied forces on the planet. We have no hostile forces on the planet and as far as we can tell, only civilians are on board the Olympus up there. Rebels blew every damn thing that could fly, either in atmosphere or into space when they left here about a year ago."
"Colonel Harry Estaban, 277th Dragoon Regiment. Sorry it took so long, but we have been pretty busy. With no direct enemy threat, we will be recharging and heading to Feijo to help the SLDF there. Before we depart, a Vincent Corvette will arrive in system and relay your needs to General Mitchell, the SLDF commander of this region. We are pressed thin, but we are pushing deeper into the region. Do you have immediate needs?"
"Negative, we are in pretty good shape down here now. I have 2 Company's of my Battalion and 3 Regiments of Infantry, 1 SLDF Reserve, 2 Regiments of survivors from the 5 Regiments we raised and trained. Just be nice to get some news on what all we have missed since being cut off." Major Ramirez replied
"It has been a busy time. You have no information on Feijo?" Colonel Estaban asked.
"Negative on that. Promise you won't forget about us down here?" Major Ramirez asked.
"That will never happen again. General Mitchell has made it her top priority to seek out and bring all the lost commands back into the fold. Welcome to the Forgotten Corps, Major Ramirez."
Blommestein Armor RGT
24 Turhan
12 Goblin Tank
12 Manicore Tank
28 Maxim Hover Transports
14 Von Luckner (SL) Tanks
6 Alacorn VI Tanks
26 January 2770
Shira (Outworlds Alliance)
The sonic booms announcing the arrival of an incoming shuttle brought out crowds of civilians to view the first space craft seen in over a year. A loud cheer sounded as the shuttle made it's landing and rolled to a halt. Colonel Harry Estaban exited the shuttle and was met by a deafening cheer. It caught him off guard, but he focused on several people rapidly approaching, two wearing the uniform of a SLDF officers. Once they had shaken hands he said "Colonel Harry Estaban, 277th Dragoon Regiment."
"Major Marcella Ramirez, 2282nd Special Forces. This is Major Charles Gravotini, commander of the SLDF Reserve forces on planet. Colonel Patty Jenson, commands the local militia forces and also acting Planetary Governor. The rebels executed the last and we have not had any elections yet, we are still operating under martial law." Major Ramirez introduced
"I only have a day before I have to return to the Jump Point. I wanted to tell you in person, SLS Trinity River, Vincent Corvette has arrived in system and will be entering orbit tomorrow. She is equipped with a HPG that will allow you to communicate with Blommestein with another HPG equipped Vincent Corvette. A message has already been sent to General Mitchell advising her of your situation. She sent word that you can expect several Jumpships loaded with food supplies to supplement what you make on planet carried by ZaP Shipping.
Plus I felt I should deliver current news in person. Stefan Amaris has taken control of the Terran Hegemony via a coup. General Kerensky has the entire SLDF over in the Rim Worlds Republic. We do not have any contact with him at all or even SLDF High Command. Gathered Flag officers have named General Rita Mitchell, as commander of all SLDF forces in the region. So far, 4 worlds have voted to leave the Outworlds Alliance and join the Terran Hegemony. General Mitchell has also been named head of all Hegemony and Star League administration until we reestablish contact with rightful command.
I don't have all the answers, nor am I authorized to really provide more information than I already have. We have 2 Divisions on Blommestein right now. Trouble shows up, you will get help quick. Things are moving quite quickly right now, but I would assume General Mitchell will be making her way this way soon. I wish I could stay, but we have learned that several other SLDF Special Forces commands have been cut off, like you and we are rushing to relieve them." Colonel Estaban explained
"Well shit, how the hell did he manage to take the Hegemony? That explains why we have been out here on our own for so long." Major Ramirez replied.
"Come Colonel Estaban, let us get some food and you tell us more about what ever you can before you leave." Colonel Patty Jenson said.
Blommestein (Outworlds Alliance)
On learning that Shira was not in any danger and that Ceiba was now classified as in SLDF control, General Rita Mitchell had issued new orders changing destinations. The 126th Mechanized Infantry Division was to move to Azur since it was currently not needed on Blommestein. Major General Colin McGregor was already reloading his Division for their new destination.
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
General Rita Mitchell really wanted to be on the front, but she knew Amanda Cameron came first. Martin Zuni had already departed with his Star Lord and 6 converted Mammoth Passenger Dropships for Multan. Hopefully in a year she would see her husband and son and she could begin reuniting her troops with their dependents. Construction of the outer buildings was beginning for the Tank and Ammuntion Factories. Estimates placed construction time at 3 months before any actual factory equipment was installed and easily another 6-9 months before any actual construction began.
The miners had been given a list of needed material for the Tank and Ammunition factories and were already locating the needed deposits to be exploited. She had also seen that a list was sent to Boulsi and Wahka. She needed to make sure jobs began returning to those planets also. Questioning the Rim World warship prisoners had revealed that both of the other known Outposts were lightly garrisoned. This made them tempting targets, but right now she could not risk detailing any troops for that long of a mission. Just to reach Outpost #7 would take 240 days from Thazi. The Outpost #11 was much further with an almost 2 year travel to even reach it. One year with extensive double jumps which she would never authorize that far out. Maybe in another year or 2, maybe then she could dispatch 2 missions, but not now.
She had dispatched the HPG techs they had to Linden with their massive lists of equipment needs to begin possibly repairing the HPG stations on worlds where they could be repaired. They also carried orders for a DoME team to assemble a HPG station on Blommestein. It never had one, but it needed one. Once that was completed they could then begin surveying the surrounding systems that had HPG's and bringing them back online. This would free up her Vincent Corvette's from HPG relay duties. 
She had even begun plotting worlds that had HPG's and those that did not have them by searching every data base she could find. Once this operation was completed, she would start sending out the reformed Independent Regiments to the systems close to Thazi. Major General Dixon was already hard at work reforming them. Instead of releasing 2 Battlemech Regiments from her 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division, her last full strength Division, she authorized him to pull the 2 Battlemech Regiments from the 31st Infantry Division and re-equip them as needed. He had thrown himself into the task with gusto.
31 January 2770
Feijo (Outworlds Alliance)
Commodore Vincent Zeibler, SLS Conroy, Avatar Heavy Cruiser materialized at the Zenith Jump Point and was surprised to find 3 old Liberty Jumpships and 3 Invader Jumpships docked with the Olypmus Recharge Station. As SLS Conroy began moving towards the Recharge Station, he was even more surprised when 2 Leopard CV undocked and began boosting towards them launching Aerospace Fighters.
"Comm, are we broadcasting?" He called out.
"Aye, going out on all channels. I really think they mean to engage us, sir."
"Weps, target the Leopard CVs and show them the error of their ways as they enter range. Get all of our birds in the air." Commodore Zeibler ordered
Pacing SLS Conroy were 2 Titan Dropships fully loaded and they began launching the rest of their Aerospace Fighters to join the single squadron immediately launched as a CAP. They began forming up and moving to intercept the incoming fighters. The 24 Aerospace Fighters from the Conroy remained beind forming a second CAP line to protect the Cruiser but mainly to protect the 4 Dropships of the 277th Dragoon Regiment.
When the merge occurred the enemy fighters found themselves outnumbered by the SLDF fighters 3 to 1 and quickly found themselves on the defensive instead of the offensive. Within minutes emergency beacons were displaying on every SLDF fighter and ship in the area identifying the location of enemy pilots needing SAR. As the lead Leopard CV entered range, SLS Conroy fired her first volley and 6 NL/55 and 4 Heavy NPPC's crumpled the Leopard CV like a piece of tin foil. Before the 2nd volley was fired on the 2nd Leopard CV signaled it's surrender.
"Launch SAR. Comm, tell that Leopard CV that if it even thinks about doing anything we will destroy it. Then I want you to tell that Olympus Recharge Station to prepare to be boarded. Relay to Captain Jardan that his Marines are going to be busy in a bit. Tell the Titans to recover their birds and escort the 277th to the planet, we will be along as soon as we can." Commodore Zeibler ordered
===February===
10 February 2770
Colonel Harry Estaban, 277th Dragoon Regiment had reached a Captain Wesley Hardin on the surface and gotten a quick intel scoop on the situation on the ground. He decided to land his Regiment as close to the SLDF Special Forces as he could. Escorting fighters reported a short company of Battlemechs fleeing the area and when Captain Hardin confirmed that any Battlemechs were enemy, they made repeated strikes on the fleeing Battlemechs.
He gave a short "GO" and his 1st Battalion began dropping from their Overlord Dropship to secure the immediate area, selected because 1st Battalion contained every jump capable Battlemech in his Regiment. Minutes later, the first SLDF Battlemechs in over 4 years landed on Feijo and began securing a large area encompassing the selected landing zone. Once the 3 Overlord and single Mule Dropship were on the ground, Captain Hardin left the treeline and cautiously approached the SLDF troops. He watched as tanks and infantry unloaded from the Mule Dropship, which carried the 277th Dragoon's attached Armor and Infantry Battalion.
A CTS-6Y Cestus Heavy 'Mech moved towards him and halted a short distance away "Captain Hardin? Colonel Harry Estaban, 277th Dragoon Regiment. Allow me to get my perimeter secure and then we will meet and discuss retaking this planet." The loud speakers announced
Two hours later, Captain Hardin had brought his remaining people into the 277th Dragoon's perimeter and they were being checked out by medical personnel. Captain Hardin was with Colonel Estaban looking over map where he was pointing out known rebel locations. "The main rebel force is of course at the captial and space port. At least 2 Battalions of Battlemechs and several Infantry Regiments. We had raised a few infantry regiments of locals, but the rebel Battlemechs kicked the crap out of them and they scattered to the winds. Me and my people hold no ill will towards them. Asking infantry to take on Battlemechs is always a hard thing to do.
The people themselves hate the rebels. The rebels are downright brutal in their treatment of the civilians. The last 2 years we have limited our actions against the rebels because they tend to come down extremely hard on the civilians closest to where we hit them. So we pulled back into the mountains and beat on any rebel patrol they sent in after us."''
"Not going to fault you, Captain Hardin. You people have fought a long campaign. But you have help now, and I can call on more if I need to. But I am sure my 277th Dragoon's can handle the rebels. We are roughly 600km from the capital. So it will take a week or so for us to reach them from here. Think I will let the Aero pukes beat on the rebels a few days. SLS Conroy will be reaching orbit in another 2 days. But I think me and the rebel commander need to have a talk." Colonel Estaban said
"Good luck, General Dennis Manskill is a ruthless and heartless piece of crap of the worst sort. Good Mech pilot, but he has no problem wiping out a town that in any way supports, helps or just happens to irritate him." Captain Hardin said
Colonel Estaban was handed the radio mic "Colonel Harry Estaban here, you there, Manskill?"
"It is General Manskill to you. What do you want?" The hate was obvious even over the radio.''
"Listen Manskull, surrender now and avoid me and my people wiping you out." Colonel Estaban said
"Once again it is General Manskill. Why would I surrender before we have even fought?"
This is going to be get old quick, Colonel Estaban thought before keying the mic "Numskull, I have been advised that you and your people enjoy inflicting harm on the civilians. Well that stops now. I am coming for you, this planet will be secured. You want a fight between our forces, I am more than willing to oblige, but the civilians stay safe, you got that?"
"GENERAL MANSKILL!!" came booming over the radio "You think you can take me and my troops, your sadly mistaken. I will meet your forces at the space port."
Colonel Estaban smiled "That will be fine Numskull. I will even promise you that I will not use orbital bombardment on you. But the moment I get a report of a harmed civilian, all bets are off and I will hunt each and every one of you down and kill you with everything I can bring to bear."
A very deep sigh came over the radio "You almost had me, Colonel. NO harm to the civilians. I look forward to battle."
Colonel Estaban switched radio frequencies "Dragoon Actual to Titan lead, tomorrow, I want you to strike the space port nice and hard. You’re free to engage any Battlemech within 300km of the capital city at will. We will see how the enemy likes a few days of nonstop aerial death."
"Roger that, Dragoon. We will prepare the battlefield for you. Titan out."
11 February 2770
Feijo (Outworlds Alliance)
General Dennis Manskill had his troops digging in hard and deep now that he knew exatly where and which direction the SLDF was bound to come from. He looked up when many sonic booms sounded across the landscape followed by many explosions walking down the defensive lines being built by his troops. He could barely track the fast moving Aerospace Fighters but his eyes locked on a single one and he watched it begin a turn to the left and then begin to accelerate back towards the defensive lines. It seemed to be heading right for him and he dove head first into the small but deep trench his brain had registered suddenly. Problem was, it was not a defensive trench but a slit trench which had suddenly appeared when the bomb blasts had blown the outhouse into kindling.
When he managed to get his head above the raw, foul smelling filth that half filled the slit trench, he spat some of the filth that had he had managed to get in his mouth before cursing the SLDF long and loud. It took a Stinger holding a rope to slowly pull him from the unspeakable filth in the slit trench. Seems everyone else not in a Battlemech was busy elsewhere. With as much dignity as he could muster, he strode towards his quarters to get cleaned up only to find that his quarters, set right next to his command post was no longer there, nor was the command post, which had been easily identified by the mass of radio antenna and dishes clustered around it. He stopped dead in his tracks, not 50 meters from the still smoldering remains of his quarters and all of his tailored uniforms. For several minutes he just stood there before wandering off to locate a replacement uniform and shower.
Leading his 2nd and 3rd Battalions, Colonel Harry Esteban piloted his Cestus at a steady 43kph march towards the space port. They could easily reach the space port in just over 13 hours, but he refused to rush things. His jump capable 1st Battalion had already boosted back into orbit while the Aerospace Fighters hammered the space port. Hopefully, his enemy had been too distracted to register it's launch. The 12 Maxim Hover Tanks that usually carried his Mechanized Infantry Battalion was carrying 2 Company's of his Infantry but all of Captain Hardin's Special Forces troop's on a long distance race around to set up positions in the Capital city to prevent any enemy forces from entering the city once fighting began.
12 February 2770
The Aerospace attacks were even more intense when they hit as they were accompanied by SLS Conroy's 24 Aerospace Fighters. Today, the first attack was armed with Cluster bombs and they released them all down the defensive lines still being built by the rebel forces. Hundreds of rebel infantry were killed or wounded in this massive attack. After dropping their loads, the Aerospace Fighters broke into squadron formations and began seeking out individual Battlemechs or clusters for special attention. It did not take long for the rebel Battlemechs to flee into massive warehouses to escape the relentless strikes on them. But this had a drawback, for now they were tightly clustered and no one noticed a full Aerospace Group return to rearm.
When the Group returned, they were loaded with the limited amount of Napalm/Inferno bombs they had and seeing the massive warehouse doors open, they came in low and fast and literally skipped the bomb loads into the depths of the warehouses, turning the insides into the inferno's of hell. Over a Company of rebel Battlemechs never left the now consumed warehouses, their pilots caught outside of their Battlemechs and incinerated. Those that broke from the cover of the warehouses faced the angry swarm of Aerospace Fighters loitering over the area just waiting for such an event. Strikes and strafing attacks destroyed another 8 rebel Battlemechs before the Aerospace Fighters broke off and returned to their carriers.
13 February 2770
The early morning saw the return of the Aerospace Fighters, but the rebels had learned by now and everyone was burrowed into deep bunkers. But this left them blind and they never noticed the 277th Dragoon's 1st Battalion dropping from the sky 30km away. Once on the ground, 1st Battalion began moving towards the space port. One Company of Highlander HGN-732, a single Company of Emperor EMP-6A and a Company of Guillotine GLT-3N made for an awesome force.
Once he got word that 1st Battalion was on the ground, Colonel Estaban ordered 2nd and 3rd Battalions to begin their assault and close the last 25km to the space port. A full Battalion of Battlemaster BLR-1G formed 2nd Battalion while 3rd Battalion had 2 Company's of Thug THG-11E and a Company of Archer ARC-2R. Colonel Estaban was the only non Battlemaster in 2nd Battalion, refusing to give up his Cestus CST-6Y. 
After the SLDF Aerospace Fighters dropped their bomb loads across the space port, many rebel's wondered why the ground was still shaking. General Dennis Manskill, clothed in the coverall's of a random technician that wore his size, exited the bunker and his eye's widened when he saw the fast approaching Battlemechs. He ran for his EMP-5A model Emperor, the only assault Battlemech in his command. The rest being mainly medium or light Battlemechs. The Aerospace Fighters had hunted down his few heavy Battlemechs with a ruthlessness. He could hear the explosions clearly as his cockpit closed and he felt the heart of the Emperor begin to pulse to life. Outside of the Black Eagle that sheltered his Emperor, he saw a Griffin explode as if hit by a god. The moment he emerged from the Black Eagle, his Emperor shook from multiple hits, almost knocking it over. It was no god that destroyed the Griffin, but a solo Cestus and 11 Battlemasters which now focused on his Emperor with determined vengeance. In less than a minute, his Emperor was literally stripped of armor and he slapped the ejection override as he fired a volley into a Battlemaster. The Gauss Slug blew right past the remaining shielding and his reactor went critical. The fusion explosion blasted through the open door and into the belly of the Black Eagle, detonating tons of ammunition and wrecking the Black Eagle.
The fighting lasted barely an hour before the last rebel's had been hunted down and either destroyed or surrendered to the SLDF.
15 February 2770
Pilon (Terran Hegemony)
Colonel Jenny Davidson, commander 509th Battle Regiment, stood in her new office staring at the outline of her new Regiment pinned to the wall. Major General Baxter had given her very broad powers in recruiting for the reconstituted 509th Battle Regiment. She had all of her original members of the 509th Battle Regiment, 51 Mechwarriors including herself. On the board she had drawn out her new TO&E.
509th Battle Regiment (Reconstituted)
Regiment Command Company - 4 Battlemechs, 8 Chaparral Arrow IV Missile Artilery Vehicles
1st Battlemech Battalion - Command Lance, 3 Battlemech Company's
2nd Battlemech Battalion - Command Lance, 3 Battlemech Company's
3rd Battlemech Battalion - Command Lance, 3 Battlemech Company's
Armor Battalion - 36 Zephyr Hover Tanks
Aerospace Group - 18 Aerospace Fighters
509th Battle Regiment's Transports
3 Lee Dropships
2 Lion Dropships
She wanted herself and her Battalion Commanders to be able to focus on keeping control of the battle, not actually fighting. She knew she was raiding several commands to gather the Zephyr's she wanted, but Major General Baxter had told her "Build a Regiment that can fight itself to a planet's surface, and take on 2 to 1 odds with a better than even chance of defeating the enemy without additional support, but carried by the fewest Jumpships available." Her Dropships gave her 7,560 tons of supply. The Aerospace Group gave her internal air support. She planned on having as few ammunition intensive Battlemechs as she could. But before she could decide on the exact Battlemech's, Major General Baxter had told her to design her Regiment and present it to him for approval. She knew several other Independent Regiments were being reformed so there would be a fight for limited resources.
In another building not far away, Colonel Branden Sukotov, new commander 247th Heavy Assault Regiment, had it much easier. His entire Regiment had been cut out of the 359th Battlemech Division and reflagged from the 971st Dragoon Regiment to the 247th Heavy Assault Regiment. It had long ago absorbed the 32 former members of the 247th Heavy Assault Regiment. Really the only major change had been in equipment and the addition of his own Artillery in each Battalion and 2 Mechanized Infantry Battalions. He did not have to compete with any of the other new commanders for much of anything.
247th Heavy Assault Regiment (Reconstituted)
1st Battalion - 36 BattleMaster BLR-1G, 12 Marksman Artillery Vehicles
2nd Battalion - 36 BattleMaster BLR-1G, 12 Marksman Artillery Vehicles
3rd Battalion - 36 BattleMaster BLR-1G, 12 Marksman Artillery Vehicles
4th Battalion - 3 Company's Mechanized Infantry, 12 Turhan Medium Tanks
5th Battalion - 3 Company's Mechanized Infantry, 12 Turhan Medium Tanks
247th Heavy Assault Regiment's Transport Assets
3 Dictator Dropships
1 Triumph Dropship
1 Czar Dropship
1 Mule Dropship
Boulsi (Terran Hegemony)
Newly promoted Colonel Lisa Harmony, commander 201st Battle Regiment, watched the Battlemechs marching off the 9 Union Dropships. They had been transferred from several other commands to fill her needs. All were heavier than the light Battlemechs they had been piloting. She did not have a huge core of former 201st Mechwarriors to form a good cadre, but the 11 others besides herself would have to do the best they could in melding the Regiment together. It was way different than the original 201st Battle Regiment. The remaining Mechwarriors came from the 31st Infantry Division, which itself was undergoing a re-organization.
201st Battle Regiment (Reconstituted)
1st Battalion - 36 Phoenix Hawk PXH-2
2nd Battalion - 36 Crab CRB-27sl
3rd Battalion - 36 Thunderbolt TDR-5S
Armor Battalion - 36 Manticore Heavy Tanks
Infantry Battalion - 3 Mechanized Infantry Company, 12 Demon Tanks
Aerospace Group - 18 Aerospace Fighters
201st Battle's Transport Assets
9 Union Dropships
1 Triumph Dropship
1 Czar Dropship
1 Mule Dropship
Not far away, Major General Nathan Baxter stood in the shade of a large tree watching Colonel Lisa Harmony direct traffic off the grounded Dropships. He was glad that General Rita Mitchell had given him the go ahead to reform the Independent Regiments. The 228th Striker would have to wait though. He wanted the integral Aerospace to be LAM's and it was going to take some doing prying those from the various Division's Cavalry Battalions. Shouting caused him to turn around; one of the Basic Training Instructors was tearing into a Platoon of new Mechwarrior recruits. He smiled as he watched all 28 recruits drop for their 50 pushups over whatever screws up had occurred. There were 9 Platoons of recruit Mechwarriors undergoing Basic Training, 252 brand new recruits, almost 100 had already been washed out. In 4 years, he felt he would be lucky if he graduated half of them.
 
His attention was diverted again by the pounding of boots on pavement as his proudest addition jogged past. 252 former Mining Mech pilots recruited from Wokha. Once they completed Basic Training, in 6 months, they would begin piloting the stockpile of Stinger Battlemechs waiting on them. In 2 years, he hoped to graduate enough pilots to field a full Regiment. Soon he would have to return to Pilon and check on his secret project, General Mitchell had not authorized a full bore Gunslinger program, but he still commanded the 359th Battlemech Division which contained 16 Gunslingers, not counting himself, and he hoped she would miss his transfer of the 4 former Gunslinger Instructors to the 359th Battlemech Division. Those 16 Gunslingers were being taught how to be Gunslinger Instructors themselves by the 4 former Gunslinger Instructors. Soon, they would begin, as off the books as he could make it, begin to train Veteran Mechwarrior pilots of the 359th Battlemech Division in the art of being a Gunslinger, starting with the most gifted pilots he had.
===March===
3 March 2770
Azur (Outworlds Alliance)
Major General Colin McGregor, 126th Mechanized Infantry Division, shook off the effects of the jump to the Zenith Jump Point. SLS Rhodon, Luxor Heavy Cruiser began moving for the planet escorting the mass of Dropships carrying the 126th Mech Infantry Div. It did not take long to make contact with SLDF forces on the planet's surface and learn that there was no resistance on the planet's surface. They would make landfall in 3 days.
7 March 2770
Major Dovie Frazier, commander 2972nd Special Forces, almost wanted to shed a tear at the sight of all the Dropships setting down on the space port. She watched as the Dropships began disembarking the forces that they carried. Beside her, Lieutenant General (Reserve) Carter DeMars, Commander of Azur's SLDF Reserve Brigade and Commander of the Planetary Garrison. He had never commanded combat troops during his SLDF career of 30 years, always being in the Quartermaster Command. When the fighting had begun, he had almost lost control of the fight but one of his Infantry Regiment commanders had pulled everything back into order and they had thrown back the first rebel invasion as the Special Forces troops had arrived. The second invasion was larger and had managed to push them from the Capital of Jerusalem. Major Farzier had begun a major campaign of terror on the rebel forces, recruiting and training Regiments of local's to beat back the rebel forces.
A SLDF APC raced across the tarmac followed by a Mobile HQ vehicle. It halted and an officer in SLDF fatigues, wearing the rank of Major General, got out and moved to the small group. "Major General Colin McGregor, 126th Mechanized Infantry Division. We got here as soon as we had word of your location. You said the planet was secure, but is there any area's where my troops need to focus on?"
"Major Dovie Frazier, 2972nd Special Forces. This is Lieutenant General Carter DeMars, command of the planet's garrison. I have a Brigade of Infantry on every settled continent. There has not been a hostile shot fired in 3 years. We are just glad to have a Division to take over garrison duties."
"Guess you also have not heard. There has been a coup, seems Stefan Amaris took control of the Terran Hegemony. General Kerensky pulled the SLDF completely out of the Periphery and far as we know took out the Rim Worlds Republic. We have roughly a Corps of troops in this region under General Rita Mitchell. We have no contact with SLDF High Command or General Kerensky. We just learned of your location and here we are. I cannot promise you that we will be here long term."
"That is some crappy news to get. I retired from the SLDF, came out here to seek out a new life and got sucked back into service as the ranking former SLDF officer. I know logistics and how to get stuff from one point to another very well. But I am not a Line Officer. Guess I got my hopes up when I heard you were inbound." Lieutenant General (Reserve) Carter DeMars said.
"It all depends on what General Mitchell decides. For now, let me get my troops squared away and then we see about getting a message to General Mitchell." Major General McGregor said.
10 March 2770
Linden (Outworlds Alliance)
Major General Katrina Johannsen, 173rd Mechanized Infantry Division knew she was going to bump heads with Rear Admiral Percy Seimens from just the quick radio conversation with him. While her 173rd MID made their way to the planet's surface, she took a shuttle over to the Olympus Recharge Station to meet his royal highnness Rear Admiral Percy Seimens.
Two hours later, she laid eyes on the Rear Admiral and her thoughts were confirmed, she was not going to get along with him at all. "Major General Katrina Johannsen, 173rd Mechanized Infantry Division, I will be assuming command of the garrison of Linden. The 238th Striker Regiment will be assigned to other duties, for now they will be joining with the 19th Hussar Regiment that came in with my Division."
"Rear Admiral Percy Seimens. You might be garrisoning the planet surface, but you do not command the garrison of Linden. That job is still mine and I expect you to follow my orders when I give them. The 238th Striker Regiment stays put and I am also assuming command of the 19th Hussar Regiment and your Destroyer for the defense of Linden."
"Those are not the orders I was given by General Mitchell, sir." Major General Johannsen said trying to defuse the situation.
"Your General Mitchell is not in command of me or my personnel. I answer to High Command and General Kerensky. No one else." Rear Admiral Seimens said.
"We have no contact with either of them. General Kerensky is off fighting to liberate the Terran Hegemony. As far as we know, we are the only SLDF troops in the entire Periphery, totally cut off and on our own. It only makes sense for all of us to work together out here until such time as we make contact with Higher Command." Major General Johannsen tried again.
''
"Until that time, all force in Linden answer to me. You may return to your Division and assume garrison alongside the 238th Striker Division. Take the 19th Hussar with you. Your dismissed General." Rear Admiral Seimens said.
On the shuttle ride to join her Division, she relayed the conversation with the Essex Destroyer, SLS Solomon, No one was happy with this development.
15 March 2770
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
General Rita Mitchell read the HPG message relayed to her from Linden. She crumpled the message in her hand. Now she knew she was going to have to take a little trip. This was probably going to take some time also. Not a quick week trip. Amanda would have to come along with her. There would have to be security arrangements made. She had some messages to send.
28 March 2770
Blommestein (Outworlds Alliance)
Jessica Parington, Governor of Blommestein and acting Governor of the Blommestein Province had found her discussions with Major General Iris Carman extremely informative. She had learned that her Blommestein Province had basically lost Thazi, Boulsi, Pilon and Wokha with their votes to join the Terran Hegemony. She knew that she should be furious, but she could not fault the people of those worlds. With almost 5 years of no contact with anyone from the Outworlds Govt, she herself felt the resentment against the Outworlds Alliance.
She had seen the celebrations that the people here on Blommestein had thrown as the SLDF troops patrolled the area. SLDF medical personnel were seeing to the citizens of the planet. Making long journey's to the smaller remote towns. The rebels had executed the Governor actually appointed by the Outworlds Alliance, but did she have the actual power to do what her heart told her to do? That was the million dollar question. Her small council of advisors were not much help on the matter, but they swore they would support whatever decision she chose. She had spent the last month making up her mind, and now as she walked towards Major General Carman's headquarters, she steeled herself.
Guards had alerted Major General Carman that Jessica Parington was approaching and she exited the Mobile HPG vehicle where she had been reading a dispatch from General Mitchell about the situation on Linden. She had already responded to General Mitchell that she was ready to dispatch additional warships to Linden on her command. 
"Governor Parington, I was not expecting a visit from you. What can I do for you, ma'am?"
"General Carman, would it be possible for you to relay a message to your General Mitchell for me?" Jessica Parington asked
"Of course. May I ask what this message is about?" General Carman asked
"This has not been a easy decision for me to make, but I feel it is the best for the people of my Province. Please inform your General Mitchell that the Blommestein Province would like to join the Terran Hegemony. The entire province, all worlds. I am confident that the people of the Province will agree with my decision." Jessica Parington stated
"I will relay your request as soon as possible. It will be up General Mitchell to accept. She possibly might still require individual votes of the planets concerned." General Carman said
"Completely understandable. I am quite sure Blommestein itself will gladly vote to join the Terran Hegemony. And I will gladly campaign to make that happen if she desires it. These are dangerous times and the Alliance had 5 years to at least try to re-establish contact with us, they have not. They have lost their right to rule over us. Your troops might be SLDF, but your operating under the Terran Hegemony flag. You have spoken quite highly of General Mitchell in our discussions. I have heard the respect you have for her in your voice, I will trust your judgment." Jessica Parington said as she turned to leave.
Major General Iris Carman watched Governor Jessica Parington depart. She wondered how General Mitchell would react to the news, she wished she could be there to see her face when she read this message. She then turned and entered the Mobile HPG to send the message.
29 March 2770
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
General Rita Mitchell read the HPG message from Major General Carman on Blommestein several times. She had then pulled up a map of the Blommestein Province and counted the inhabited systems. She counted them again, 26 inhabited systems. She had serious doubts about taking on that many systems, hell, she had only done the 3 initial planets as a way of staving off the bill collectors. It had bought her some time, but the people on Thazi, Boulsi and Pilon and now Wokha had seemed to take great pride in being part of the Terran Hegemony and seemed to strive to live up to being worthy of that right. This decision made her extremely nervous. General Kerensky was going to have her hide tacked to his walls when this was all over with. But for now, she needed to get to Linden and sort out this Rear Admiral Seimens.
She had sent HPG messages, by relays, to Rear Admiral Tanaka and Colonel Calloway for them to meet her at Linden on 15 May. She had a few surprises for this Rear Admiral Seimens.
===April===
April 2770
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
General Rita Mitchell shook hands with Commodore Trisha Delvaney, commander SLS Salvation, Newgrange Yardship. "Sorry it has been such a long time since I came up to see you Trisha. You and your people have done some excellent work. How long until SLS Mighty Lift is completed?" She asked looking at the massive Potemkin-Class Transport.
"We should have her buttoned back up and mission ready within the week. All other ships have been fully upgraded with LF Batteries per your orders." Commodore Delvaney replied
''
"Excellent. What would it take to upgrade the Salvation?" General Mitchell asked
"A much bigger shipyard than we have or another Newgrange Yardship. Which we need to think about, Salvation is going to need some yard time soon and we have nothing that can handle her." Commodore Delvaney answered
"Well, Rear Admiral Delvaney, I guess you better start giving it some thought." General Mitchell said
Commodore Delvaney stood there silently, did she misspeak, rocketed through her head. Then General Mitchell spoke again "You heard me Trisha, you have earned it. I will let Admiral Tanisha Tanaka assign you your ships, but I know you and trust you. I need you to start giving some thought to what all we need out here to survive. You say we need a much bigger yard to handle your ship, well then build one. Send a request for material to the surface and have the mining operations get on it. I also know your crew has been stretched with all the work, if you feel you need extra people, send a request for recruits to learn the art of working in space. Start a training program if that is what it takes. Your the expert on what we need to keep the Fleet operational, you have my trust. I will be gone for a few months and for now, your in command of all space assets in the immediate area."
"Thank you General Mitchell. I will take your advice and start getting some plans ready to implement." Rear Admiral Delvaney said
"Name is Rita. At least when it is just us. You don't have to wait for my approval on anything. If you feel we need it, build it. Now, I am boarding my shuttle for the ride back to SLS Tirpitz and we will begin our journey. See you when I get back." General Mitchell said tossing a half salute.
Ceiba (Outworlds Alliance)
Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka read the message from General Rita Mitchell. It had been forwarded to her from Colonel Calloway's Mobile HPG on the surface. She had already read it several times.
To: Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka
CC: Colonel Brian Calloway
From: General Rita Mitchell, Acting Regent
On receipt of this message, you are hereby promoted to Vice Admiral. Your command is hereby formally named 21st Independent Squadron and will consist of all warship and armed transports EXCEPT for SLS Tirpitz. She will remain strictly as protection and transport for Amanda Cameron. I am also promoting Commodore Barbara Coltrain, Commodore Vincent Zeibler and Commodore Trisha Delvaney to Rear Admiral. They have earned it along with yourself. How you organize your Squadron is up to you.
I need you and Colonel Calloway at Linden on 15 May. Seems this Rear Admiral Seimens has confiscated some of my ground troops and SLS Solomon. I am heading that way aboard SLS Tirpitz with a 15 May ETA. It is time for me and Rear Admiral Seimens to have a talk. See you in a month.
Rita
I thought me and Rear Admiral Seimens had a clear understanding before I left, I was wrong. Now, General Mitchell is on her way to sort out the mess. Admiral Tanaka thought to herself.
On the surface, Colonel Brian Calloway had already read the message and even let Major Benjamin Manfield, commander 3281st Special Forces Battalion read it. "What does this mean, Colonel Calloway?"
''
"Nothing good, except the promotions. This Rear Admiral Seimens is not going to like what General Mitchell is going to say to him." Colonel Calloway said
"I can understand wanting the warship there, but why you?" Major Manfield asked
"I can read between the lines. I will be leaving my Battlemechs under Major Barkley here with you while I am gone. The rest of my troops will be going with me. Our techs will continue working on getting your suits repaired using my spare parts until I leave. We will be back. I assume General Mitchell wants us back there in case this Rear Admiral Seimens try's something really stupid." Colonel Calloway replied
17 April 2770
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
Peter Sajak watched the careful installation of his precious assembly lines. He seemed to be everywhere at once, constantly on the move. While the foundation and actual buildings were being built by the mass of Engineers from the SLDF and also 2 separate construction outfits here on Thazi, he had spent a lot of time with his engineers and supervisors going over all the plans and specifications they had, both on combat vehicles, civilian vehicles, support vehicles but mainly he had them pouring over the spec sheets for the actual production equipment. He had asked one question "Could they build new production machinery for expansion?"
For 2 months they had poured over everything they had, then compared what could be produced here on Thazi, then requested info on what could be produced on Boulsi. Finally, the answer had come back. "Yes, but we will need access to a factory that can build advanced circuit boards to run the actual machinery. The industry here on Thazi can easily manufacture the actual heavy machinery, but was unable to manufacture the advanced circuit boards. Plus, if we want to produce the advanced equipment, we will need a steady source of advance equipment."
===May===
8 May 2770
Carmelita (Outworlds Alliance)
General Rita Mitchell was strapped into her chair while she worked in her small office. A shriek of laughter from the hallway outside brought a smile to her face. Several of the Royal Black Watch Jump Infantry were musing Amanda Cameron, in her specially made padded jumpsuit complete with helmet. Probably throwing her between them like an oversized football. It was one of her favorite Zero G games that she had discovered during this trip. Almost 4 years old now, Amanda preferred to walk on her own than be carried, so Zero G had become a challenge for her, but after the first 2 weeks, Amanda had discovered and slowly gotten used to floating rather than standing. She had not mastered actually aiming herself, so usually either herself or one of the ever present Royal Black Watch Jump Infantry did it for her. Her giggles and shrieks were a common sound aboard the SLS Tirpitz, Black Lion II-Class Battlecruiser.
She forced herself to return to her work. With nothing massively pressing, she had been reviewing different requests from the various units. The staff of the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division mostly handled the huge task in addition to their normal Divisional Task. Rita knew she was going to have to form a much higher level of command structure. She was absently flipping through various personnel requests and daily manpower reports of the units when she suddenly stopped on a report from the 211th Hussar Regiment. Why had they transferred a Mechwarrior to the 359th Battlemech Division and received another Mechwarrior in return, she thought to herself.
She pulled up the daily reports of the 359th Battlemech Division and as she flipped the various daily reports, she saw that the 359th had transferred almost 20 Mechwarriors to various commands and received a Mechwarrior in return. What are you up to Nathan, she thought to herself. Then her eyes focused onto a name she recognized, knew she name very well in fact. She smiled thinly, Nathan, you just could not wait for me to agree to starting a Gunslinger Program so you are trying to build one within the 359th Battlemech Division, somewhere you thought I would not see it, but you messed up, Johnny Kushneyeva is a name I would recognize because he had been transferred from the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division to the 211th Hussar Regiment before the trip towards Terra and he was a Gunslinger graduate, she silently thought to herself. A little more digging and cross checking names of the transferred Mechwarriors confirmed it, all Gunslingers and 4 of them were former Gunslinger Instructors. Caught you with your hand in the cookie jar Nathan, she thought to herself with a smile.
With that little mystery solved, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Not to rest, but to just let her mind work out different plans or idea's before she would focus on a single one and put pen to paper. One issue forced it's way to the front in her mind, Blommestein Province, the entire thing. How could she cover that many worlds? She pushed the thought aside and mentally recalled her forces, 8 Divisions and 9 Independent Regiments, and 1 Conventional RCT. When she could not mentally recall a map of the region with enough clarity, she opened her eyes and pulled up a map on her note pad. She spent several minutes studying the map and then pulled out a pad and began to make some notes.
She then pulled up information detailing what was in the training pipeline. She saw that they had 5 Regiments worth of Armor crews and 6 Regiments of Infantry. She did not focus on Mechwarriors as it would take several years to field them. Enough to form 2 Conventional RCT's. She spent 2 hours flipping back and forth to various screens and making notes. Finally she sat back and looked at what she had drawn up, it was doable, but they sure would be stretched thin covering a lot of ground. But it was more heavily defended than before the Uprising started. With heavy recruiting, maybe they could form an additional 3-4 Conventional RCT's and that would free up her Line units as reaction forces in a year or 2.
Rough Garrison Assignments
272nd Mechanized Infantry Division - Thazi
322nd Armored Division - Pilon
280th Mechanized Infantry Division - Blommestein
29th Mechanized Infantry Division - Ambatomainty
173rd Mechanized Infantry Division - Linden
359th Battlemech Division - Puttalam
126th Mechanized Infantry Division - Feijo
31st Infantry Division - Ejeda
Royal Black Watch - Thazi
211th Hussar Regiment - Ddraig
19th Hussar Regiment - Ceiba
277th Dragoon Regiment - Zetang
238th Striker Regiment - Domeyko
509th Battle Regiment - Mandeville
201st Battle Regiment - Zumbo
247th Heavy Assault Regiment - Alktral
8th Conventional RCT - Wokha
9th Conventional RCT - Shira (would be created with on site forces)
10th Conventional RCT - Blommestein (would be created with on site forces)
11th Conventional RCT - Carmelita (under training)
12th Conventional RCT - La Ligua (under training)
If she agreed to this idea of the entire Blommestein Province joining the Terran Hegemony that is. She still had not made up her mind on the matter. No matter which way she decided, she knew she would have to let go of the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division so that she could focus on other matters and form a Command Staff to help her keep track of everything. Just the thought of letting go of the 272nd was enough to bring a sick feeling to her stomach, but the time had come. But she would by god form her own small command on the off chance she got to take the field again. Then a smile spread across her face, payback is a bitch Nathan, never go behind my back.
Linden (Outworlds Alliance)
Major General Katrina Johannsen, 173rd Mechanized Infantry Division, had found that Colonel Bradley Stockton, commander 238th Striker Regiment, loathed Rear Admiral Percy Seimens. For years he had argued and even begged to be allowed to head out and assist the SLDF Special Forces units they at least knew locations of. He had explained that he had learned over the years all about Rear Admiral Percy Seimens and his past. He had been placed in command of Deep Spin almost 10 years ago, mainly to put him somewhere he could do no real harm. Rear Admiral Percy Seimens had spent his entire command in the Transport Subcommand, until he had botched a rapid deployment exercise which caused a complete SLDF Division to arrive at the wrong system, deep in enemy territory to be destroyed in detail. But when the need for someone to command Deep Spin had arrived, Rear Admiral Percy Seimens had been selected for the task. His only focus was to make sure Deep Spin itself ran smoothly.
But once communication with any higher command had been lost, he had pulled rank on everyone. Restricted movement, cancelled any movement outside of the system. As the DoME crews had returned to Deep Spin, he had ordered them to stand down and remain in system. Even though this would wipe out much of the work they had just returned from. Major General Johannsen had been pleasantly surprised to learn that Linden itself had a massive stockpile of ammunition and replacement parts on it. Colonel Stockton had even explained that in storage were older Battlemechs from his 238th Striker Regiment. They had been upgraded in early 2765 but the Uprising had prevented the supply convoy from leaving the system. 
238th Striker Regiment
1st Battalion - 36 Night Hawk NTK-2Q, 6 Sabre SB-28
2nd Battalion - 36 Phoenix Hawk PXH-2, 6 Sabre SB-28
3rd Battalion - 36 Crab CRB-27sl, 6 Sabre SB-28
Mech Infantry Battalion
Mech Infantry Battalion
Old Equipment in Storage
36 Thorn THE-N
36 Phoenix Hawk PXH-1
36 Shadow Hawk SHD-2H
18 Sabre SB-27
She had even spoken to Commodore Gretchen Chen, she commanded the HPG Factories on Linden for Communications Command and her civilian counterpart from the Star League Department of Communications. Together they made sure the SLDF had the compact HPG's but also they supported establishing the HPG's in this area of the Outworlds Alliance. They both had explained that they had cut back to just enough to keep the local's employed and their skills from degrading. When she had explained to both that they might want to pick up the pace on production since every HPG in the region was either destroyed or heavily damaged, both had smiled and departed almost at a run. A few days later, Major General Johannsen had noticed that the HPG Factories were running around the clock. Now she just waited for General Mitchell to arrive and pop Rear Admiral Percy Seimens big head like a bad pimple.
'12 May 2770
Carmelita (Outworlds Alliance)
General Rita Mtchell had spent the last 4 days working on different things. But the biggest was deciding who would take over the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division. She had finally decided to turn the 272nd MID over to Lieutenant General Rachel Canaday, her ranking Brigade comamnder. She would formally promote her to Major General when she returned. That had taken 2 days of crawling thru every command looking at the limited reviews on her officers. Then she had started work on her new Command Structure, after 2 days, she sat back and looked at it. Using the projected Force structure she had used for absorbing the entire Blommestein Province she had come up with a working plan. 
New Organization
Army Command - General Rita Mitchell
Royal Black Watch 
*1st Corps - Major General Heinrich Rommel
**322nd Armored Division
**359th Battlemech Division
**272nd Mechanized Infantry Division
**29th Mechanized Infantry Division
**31st Infantry Division
**211th Hussar Regiment
**509th Battle Regiment
**201st Battle Regiment
**8th Conventional RCT
**10th Conventional RCT
**12th Conventional RCT
*2nd Corps - Major General Colin McGregor
**126th Mechanized Infantry Division
**280th Mechanized Infantry Division
**173rd Mechanized Infantry Division
**19th Hussar Regiment
**277th Dragoon Regiment
**238th Striker Regiment
**247th Heavy Assault Regiment
**9th Conventional RCT
**11th Conventional RCT
Naval Command - Vice Admiral Tanisha Tanaka
Transport Command - Vice Admiral Tanisha Tanaka
*Training Command - Major General Nathan Baxter
**Battlemech School
**Gunslinger School
**Armor School
**Infantry School
*Administration Command - General Rita Mitchell
*Quartermaster Command - Unassigned
*Intelligence Command - Colonel Brian Calloway
**Special Forces
15 May 2770
Linden (Outworlds Alliance)
Rear Admiral Percy Seimens knew it was going to be a bad day when SLS Windego, Whirlwind Destroyer, SLS Hatchet, Kimagure Pursuit Cruiser and then an hour later the Black Lion II-Class Battlecruiser, SLS Tirptiz, arrived in system. When he received a request from SLS Tirpitz to dock with the Olympus Recharge Station, the feeling of dread came over him as he granted the request. It was followed by a request for him to report aboard the Tirpitz upon their docking with the Olympus Recharge Station.
Once the Battlecruiser was docked, he tried to present an air of confidence as he strode down the docking arm corridor, but that air slowly abandoned him once he was aboard the Tirpitz and under an armed escort by several Marines. He was led to a large conference room on one of the grav decks, entering he spotted Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka and an officer wearing SLDF fatigues but wearing the rank of a full General. As he closed on the pair, he noticed that Rear Admiral Tanisha Tanaka was now wearing the rank of Vice Admiral and now an ice ball formed in his stomach.
He halted and reported "Rear Admiral Percy Seimens, commander Deep Spin Maintenance Facility reporting."
"That is still to be determined. My name is General Rita Mitchell, commanding General of all SLDF forces in this region of space. Now, how about you try to explain to me what gave you the right to countermand my orders, commandeer my ships and troops?"
"General, with respect, you’re not in my chain of command." Rear Admiral Percy Seimens stated and immediately regretted it when he noticed the General before him stiffen and her hand never wavered from where it rested on her holstered pistol.
"Is that so. When was the last time you had communication with YOUR chain of command? I am going to assume it was mid to late 2765, just like the rest of us. That means that by SLDF regulations, your chain of command falls under the ranking officer in the region of space you happen to occupy. That would be me. So either you have no clue about SLDF regulations or you have way more balls than brains when you ignored my direct orders relayed to you by Vice Admiral Tanaka here on her arrival. Which is it?" General Mitchell said
"I am fully aware of the SLDF regulations General." Rear Admiral Seimens replied
"So you willfully disobeyed my orders and then proceeded to confiscate and countermand my direct orders. You’re not winning any points here, Admiral Seimens, about the only saving grace you have is that you have managed to keep this system in complete operation and safe over the years. But that is vanishing extremely fast. I have half a mind to order those Marines to take you to the nearest airlock and throw you out of it. You bluster and short answers are getting on my nerves so you better learn to grovel better." General Mitchell said
"General Mitchell, I did not know you actually existed. Just that some Rear Admiral I never met, showed up and started giving me orders. Just throwing your name around is not much proof." Rear Admiral Seimens protested
"And yet, when the 173rd Mechanized Infantry Division, 19th Hussar Regiment and an Essex Destroyer all show up shortly after that, all bearing orders from me, that was not a clue to that dense skull of yours that there really was a General Mitchell out here? You just took it upon yourself to countermand my orders, even after being pretty sure there really was a General Mitchell out here giving lawful orders per SLDF regulations? You’re not making a very good case for your continued existence, Seimens." General Mitchell said
The dropping of his rank was as though someone had fired a gun at him, he felt beads of sweat forming on his brow under the steady gaze of this woman. That her hand never moved off her holstered pistol made him even more nervous. He cut his eyes to now Vice Admiral Tanaka and saw no help there, none at all. "I am very sorry, General Mitchell, now that I have confirmation that a true chain of command exists, per SLDF regulations, Deep Spin and all her personnel are at your disposal." Rear Admiral Seimens said
"Now that answer is what you should have started off with right away instead of the bluster. Rear Admiral Seimens, you now answer to Vice Admiral Tanaka here. Your continued service is at her sole judgment. I would advise you to not let your name appear before me with a negative report. If I have to return out here again on a negative report, the outcome will not be very pleasant for you. Now, I am going to leave you with Vice Admiral Tanaka, who will explain your orders very clearly. I am going to the surface and confer with my troops. Is that clear enough for you?" General Mitchell stated
''
"Very clear, General Mitchell." Rear Admiral Seimens replied.
"It had better be, for your own sake." General Mitchell said.
19 May 2770
Linden (Outworlds Alliance)
Vice Admrial Tanisha Tanaka had confined Rear Admiral Percy Seimens to quarters while she tried to figure out what the hell to do with him. She had spent the last 4 days speaking with his staff trying to learn everything she could. Deep Spin's executive officer, Colonel Glen Flawsen, had provided the most information and insight into Rear Admiral Percy Seimens.
"As a combat commander, Rear Admiral Seimens is horrible. Not a coward, but extremely timid. But his administrative abilities are exceptional. I have served under him for 9 years and before the Uprising, he kept the DoME missions running smoothly, they always had the material they needed, when they needed it, ready to go. When their ships would rotate in, he had the yards ready to receive the ships literally the moment they arrived. I guess you could say that is also an operational skill, but I would advise you to be careful with that assessment. I have to admit, I have come to admire the man for his administrative abilities. I watched him argue for getting the 238th Striker Regiment re-equipped with new Battlemechs. Even though all of their equipment was fully operational. He felt they deserved the best he could get them in order for them to fulfill their mission of protecting the DoME operations. He built up quite a stockpile of ammunition and spare parts for them also.
It is not often you see a Naval officer argue so hard for Army troops. But then the Uprising happened and I saw the timid side start to take over. But while we still had communication with Higher Command, he continued operations but argued for more assets. When we lost communication, well, his timid side completely took over. He cancelled DoME operations, pulled everyone back to Deep Spin and focused on keeping Deep Spin safe from attack. When you first arrived and then left, in his defense, he had started to prepare your requested mission, but then he second guessed everything. When the new SLDF units arrived, he reverted to protecting Deep Spin. I advised him that it was probably a mistake to attempt to countermand their orders, but I could not win him over." Colonel Glen Flawsen explained
"Tell me how an Army officer came to be assigned to a Naval Maintenance Yard, Colonel Flawsen?" Vice Admiral Tanaka asked.
"I came over from the Administrative Command. I controlled 4 recruitment and training teams for the Armies reserve forces. I lost 2 during the Uprising but have 2 down on the surface of Linden. We had been doing good work out here before everything blew up in our face. I was not actually assigned to the Naval Yards, but assigned to the region out here and Deep Spin just happens to be the closest major SLDF base, so this was my primary posting under Rear Admiral Seimens." Colonel Flawsen said.
"And if I were to return Rear Admiral Seimens to command, what is your assessment?" Vice Admiral Tanaka asked
"With a proper ranking officer and command structure for him to report to? I would expect Rear Admiral Seimens to return to his more normal self. Fulfilling the missions assigned to him. His wife and 2 kids live on the habitats. As do my own family. The meeting with you and General Mitchell scared him, he screwed up years ago and got exiled out here to Deep Spin, but instead of taking it as a punishment, he focused on making it the best running operation he could. Right now, he thinks his career is over. Hell, he is worried your gonna toss him out the airlock." Colonel Flawsen said.
"The thought has crossed my mind, but I felt the need to know more. Thank you Colonel Flawsen, you may return to your duties." Vice Admiral Tanaka said.
20 May 2770
Vice Admiral Tanisha Tanaka had spent the previous night mulling over everything she had learned about Rear Admiral Seimens. Around 9am local time, she called for Rear Admiral Percy Seimens to be brought to her. When he arrived, she pointed to a chair. After he had sat down, she could tell he was nervous.
"Rear Admiral Seimens, you have been a major pain. You have disrupted our operations but lucky for you, it did not cost any of our troops lives. God help me, I am going to return you to duty. But mark my word, Admiral, this is your last chance. I have heard how well you did before the Uprising out here, I pray you can return to that level of excellence. Our mission out here is difficult enough as it is, I do not have time, nor does General Mitchell, to run around dealing with insubordinate officers. Do you think you can do this?" Vice Admiral Tanaka asked
Rear Admiral Seimens cleared his dry throat "Vice Admiral Tanaka, I assure you, you will have no further problems. I will execute all missions assigned to me to the best of my ability if given the chance."
"You better, Rear Admiral Seimens. If I or General Mitchell get a single report of a problem from you, I will convene a court martial and be done with you. Major General Johannsen and the 173rd Mechanized Infantry Division will be staying to garrison Linden. She is in overall command of the defense of this system. Your mission is to make sure Deep Spin remains fully operational and that missions are handled in a timely manner. Is that clear?" Vice Admiral Tanaka explained
"Crystal clear, is she my direct command?" Rear Admiral Seimens asked
"You will actually report to me, I will be your direct superior. If for any reason, we lose communication, Major General Johannsen will assume command duties. Do not make me regret this Admiral Seimens." Vice Admiral Tanaka said
"You won't, that I promise. Deep Spin will be ready to support all missions assigned and to provide support as needed. I want to thank you for the chance to prove myself to you." Rear Admiral Seimens said.
"Don't thank me yet. You’re on probation. Your margin of error is exactly zero. Do not fail me." Vice Admiral Tanaka said as she stood from behind the desk and walked for the door, pausing "I do not want to have to return here again to deal with you."
On the surface, General Rita Mitchell greeted Major General Katrina Johannsen warmly "Good to see you again Katrina. You know I would not have held it against you if you had shot Rear Admiral Seimens."
"I half figured you wouldn't, but I have some trust to rebuild. I did not want to push the boundary with you, not yet anyway." She replied with a twinkle in her eye.
"Colonel Fuentes, you ready to get moving?" General Mitchell asked
"You bet, General. Where do you want us?" Colonel Irma Fuentes, commander 19th Hussar Regiment asked.
"Get your 19th Hussar loaded up, get over to Ceiba and make sure it is 100% secure." General Mitchell ordered and then turned to the officer she did not know.
"Colonel Bradley Stockton, commander 238th Striker Regiment at your service General."
"Good to meet you. Your troops ready for deployment?" General Mitchell asked
"More than ready. Our orders?" Colonel Stockton asked
"Load up and move to Domeyko. Secure the planet. Take the Mobile HPG from the 173rd Mechanized Infantry so you can stay in touch. Sorry Katrina, I cannot have a command without communication, you have the HPG located here. I promise to figure out a way to replace it." General Mitchell ordered
"I am going to hold you to that. I am curious, how did it go with Rear Admiral Seimens?" Major General Johannsen asked
"I came close to shooting him. He is Vice Admiral Tanaka's problem to deal with now. Whatever she decides, I will back her." General Mitchell replied 
21 May 2770
General Rita Mitchell watched Amanda Cameron play in the grass not far away, always under the watchful eyes of several Jump Infantry from the Royal Black Watch, but now also with a Company of Battlemechs deployed in the immediate area. She had met with Commodore Gretchen Chen and had been assured that they would have the requested replacement parts ready within the month to restore the HPG's on Thazi and Wokha. Boulsi would have to completely be rebuilt and that would take several months. But, they had 6 Mobile HPG's in storage as replacements for any SLDF warships. They just needed a ship to mount them on. As they toured the facility on the ground, General Mitchell came to the idea of mounting them aboard the 4 Scout-Class Jumpships still operational but not being used. At least they could act as relay ships until the HPG's were repaired. She ordered the Mobile HPG's loaded aboard a Dropship for transport along with enough technicians to assist in installing them.
30 May 2770
Linden (Outworlds Alliance)
Back aboard SLS Tirpitz, General Rita Mitchell issued her orders to Vice Admiral Tanisha Tanaka. She had decided at the last second for the 238th Striker Regiment to be to move, but they would delay until systems were scouted. Admiral Tanaka had shuttled over for the meeting.
"Are you sure about this, Tanisha? I mean can we trust Rear Admiral Seimens to handle things out here?" General Mitchell asked
"My call, Rita. You told me to handle it, well I am handling it. Now, what crazy idea have you called me about?" Vice Admiral Tanaka asked.
"Yes I did. Okay, I want to dispatch the warships assembled here at Deep Spin and we will fan out a single warship to each system we have not yet visited. Make contact with the planet and try to get a feel for what is going on in each system. It might take 2 weeks for word of any system to reach Deep Spin, but until we get HPG relays established and such, it is just how it has to happen. But we need to get a good feel for what is going on and the status of each system in the Blommestein Province." General Mitchell said
"Okay, I can make that happen. I take it you’re going to head for Blommestein itself as planned?" Vice Admiral Tanaka replied
"That is the idea, but I will help out and hit Alktral on the way. According to the charts, it has only a 3 day trip from the Jump Point. I don't want to delay my trip any more than I need to. Once I get done with Blommestein, I am going to jump up to Azur and check that situation out. From there, back to Thazi." General Mitchell said
"Your starting to lean towards taking over the entire Blommestein Province aren't you, Rita?" Vice Admiral Tanaka asked.
"Yeah, I have given it a lot of thought. It is not right for us to sit on our current systems and let the rest go to hell. I have run the numbers and it will stretch us pretty thin for a few years, but it is doable. Martha Pruitt should be back by the time I return to Thazi and I can get an intel dump on what is going on in the Terran Hegemony." General Mitchell said
"Thin is an understatement. But there is also something else I been meaning to talk to you about. The Vincent-Class Corvettes, they are too thin skinned for any combat actions. I would like to have Rear Admiral Delvaney work up an upgrade for them. Lord knows they have enough spare tonnage to play with. They are as big as a Destroyer, might as well turn them into Destroyers. Or see if it feasible. I would not feel as nervous about sending them out on patrol and maybe we team them with a Essex Destroyer and then we have a Division with a HPG for rapid response." Vice Admiral Tanaka explained
"Your Fleet, Tanisha, I will not tell you what to do with it per se. The only restriction I will say is no building new ships. I think we have enough right now and do not have the industrial base to support much more than we already have, nor the crews." General Mitchell said
"Fair enough, I can live with those terms. But you know someday, I want to recover my ships from Outpost #4." Vice Admiral Tanaka said
"We will, but for now, let's focus on the immediate plan. So, with that said, get off my ship so I can get moving." General Mitchell said and then laughed as Vice Admiral Tanaka flipped her bird as a salute.
===June===
1 June 2770
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
Rear Admiral Trisha Delvaney, commander SLS Salvation, Newgrange Yardship had received the HPG message from Vice Admiral Tanaka and wasted no time in putting the task to her engineers. Having been given a green light by General Mitchell before her departure, Rear Admiral Delvaney had gotten her engineers to run some numbers and decided to add limited manufacturing equipment to the modified Olympus Recharge Station. It would have onboard ability to manufacture replacement armor, weapons, LF batteries and primary control and computer systems. This should enable the Station to handle most repairs and maintenance once SLS Salvation completed the 2.5 million shipyard to handle maintenance and repairs on SLS Salvation in 4 months.
Azur (Outworlds Alliance)
Major Dovie Frazier and Major General Colin McGregor were sitting in the 126th Mechanized Infantry Divisions Mobile HQ where Major General McGregor was bringing her up to date on everything he knew. Leaving only the news that Amanda Cameron was on Thazi from the short briefing.
"So, four systems have actually voted to leave the Outworlds Alliance and join the Terran Hegemony? Is that even legal?" Major Frazier asked
"Damn sure seems to be legal. We made sure the votes had to be 80% or above for passage. As far as we can tell, the Outworlds Alliance has washed it's hands of everything and everyone out here. They sure did not come checking on you did they?" Major General McGregor replied
"No they have not. But I would not expect them to. Azur was settled by mainly Terran Hegemony settlers and some from the Federated Suns. Same goes for Danli which is basically next door to us. Azur and Danli are the exception, they are majority settlers from the Hegemony. There are a bunch of Hegemony settlers out here in the Traders Domain, Blommestein Province and Onverwacht Province. But both Azur and Danli hold the greatest concentration of Hegemony settlers. You put a vote to join the Terran Hegemony on either of these worlds and they are going to vote to join. 
Azur is the gem of the region if you ask me, damn sure has the largest population, roughly 170 million people. We got good education, good industrial capacity, and used to produce large amounts of exports, but we have to import most of our resources. Danli is much smaller, roughly 10 million people and was actually settled by the people from Azur. Heck, Azur was like a staging area for the colonization of many of the systems out here." Major Frazier explained
"You know an awful lot about the area." Major General McGregor said
"I studied the heck out of stuff before we deployed out here. I firmly believe in knowing everything I can about a region I am about to go play in. Who might be friendly to us, helps to know a lot of stuff for when it hits the fan. These are the newest colony regions, most of the systems out here have only been settled in the last 20-30 years. Like I said before, Azur was like a staging area. It even has a large equipment storage facility. That is how I can field 2 full strength Battlemech Battalions. Lieutenant General DeMars could tell you exactly what is in the underground storage facility down to the last bolt. The guy is like a computer when it comes to logistics, but he is a horrible combat commander. There are some more Battlemechs down there, but I don't have anymore pilots. Maybe another Battalion worth at the least, probably closer to two more. Lots of Infantry gear and light weapons. And I mean a lot. All brand new and still packed up nice and tight." Major Frazier said
"Now that is very important information. I am not sure what General Mitchell is going to do. I know she will be making a trip up here, but not exactly when yet." Major General McGregor said.
4 June 2770
Zlatousi (Draconis Combine)
Martin Zuni was a little nervous as he watched the DCMS Dragonstar-Class shuttle approaching. He had never crossed into the Draconis Combine before and had heard some horror stories about the strict customs regulations and inspections. Beside him, Major Dennis Bastaline, commander 2nd Battalion, 9919th Marine Regiment was eerily calm, that made him even more nervous. Martin heard his XO clear the Dragonstar shuttle into the Star Lord Jumpships shuttle bay. Martin used a hand hold to spin towards the Marine Major. "Shall we meet the Combine customs folks on the Grav Deck Major?"
"Works for me, Mr Zuni. You need to calm yourself. You’re a chartered Jumpship with valid orders to transport SLDF dependents to their new garrison location. The SLDF does this all the time. There will be some bumps since they will not have the usual clearances from the SLDF, but that is easily explained by the crisis. There is nothing out of the ordinary really. Even before the crisis, dependent transfers were escorted by SLDF Marine detachments, though never a full Battalion, but again, easily explained by the current crisis." Major Bastaline said
"You say so Major, but I have heard way too many horror stories about plying the Combine space lanes to not be nervous." Martin replied as they moved down the hallway towards the grav deck.
They arrived just minutes before the Combine custom officers arrived. Introductions were made and Martin handed over his manifest, crew lists and his Federated Suns registration identification card for ZaP Shipping along with the orders signed by "Major General" Rita Mitchell, commander 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division and Major General Colin McGregor, commander 126th Mechanized Infantry Division to pick up and transport both units dependents to their new garrison location."
The Combine custom official looked over all the paperwork before speaking "We have not been notified of this transfer. No flight plan has been filed with us, you will have to file a flight plan and projected course to Multan. Usually the SLDF notifies us in advance of such movements, but with the current conflict, I guess there will be many other breakdowns in the usual communications." Chu-sa Paul Yamagumi said
"I am sorry that things are so irregular, Chu-sa Yamagumi. There is so much chaos right now, it hard to even keep track of SLDF line units, much less their dependents." Major Bastaline said.
"No apology is needed, Major. Personally, I wish the Coordinator would do more to assist the SLDF in this trying time. Amaris is a barbarian and his action has caused serious problems for everyone." Chu-sa Yamagumi said, before anyone spoke again, a DCMS trooper entered the Grav deck and spoke to Chu-sa Yamagumi in Japanese for a minute. "Everything seems to be as reported on your manifests. You are cleared for recharge operations and please file a proper flight plan with the Station before leaving the system. Once we receive your flight plan, we will transmit it to the proper systems to speed your travel in Combine space. Safe journey."
"Thank you, Chu-sa Yamagumi. I will have the flight plan filed before you arrive on the Station. It is so nice to deal with professionals." Martin said
Once the DCMS shuttle had departed, Martin felt a huge relief. Major Bastaline nudged him with his elbow. "I told you Mr Zuni, the SLDF does this all the time. Every member state is so used to this shuffle that they think nothing of it at all."
Alktral (Outworlds Alliance)
SLS Tirpitz, Black Lion II-Class Battlecruiser materialized at the Nadir Jump Point to find an empty Jump Point. Commodore Walter Namathien, commander SLS Tirpitz gave the order to move to orbit the planet while they trickle charged the ships drive off the reactors. It would make communication of rapid deployment of the limited ground forces aboard the ship if there was some trouble that had to be dealth with. While they made the journey, they would broadcast and attempt to reach any SLDF troops.
7 June 2770
SLS Tirpitz entered orbit around Alktral, during the journey, they had made contact with the civilian Government and learned that there were no hostiles on the planet, their HPG was badly damaged by the rebels years ago. General Rita Mitchell decided to take a ride to the surface, but Amanda Cameron would remain aboard the WarShip. 
When her Lee-Class Dropship landed on the space port, just outside the planets captial of W-1 City, she piloted her Pillager off the Dropship followed by the Battalion of Royal Black Watch Battlemechs. She headed for the small group of vehicles located near the space ports tower. She knelt her Pillager and popped the hatch and scrambled down the deployed chain ladder to the tarmac. When she reached the ground, she strode to meet the small assembled group but easily picked out the SLDF uniform in the small group. 
"General Rita Mitchell. I am in command of the SLDF presence in this region of space. I understand there is no hostile presence here?" General Mitchell asked.
"We are glad to see you General Mitchell. No, the rebels hit us October of 2765, put the HPG out of operation, looted a bunch of food and supplies and then left almost as quick as they arrived. We have been cut off ever since. My name is Douglas Wallace, Governor of Alktral. This is Colonel Quin Hill, commander of the SLDF Reserve here on Alktral."
"Colonel Hill. What is your current status and needs?" General Mitchell asked.
"Sir, I have 2 Infantry Regiments. We are fully staffed and equipped. I have to report that we pulled back when the rebels hit us. We did not stand a chance against them. We withdrew into the capital city and prepared to defend the citizens, but the rebels just took out the HPG and looted the space port warehouses. Once they loaded up the stored supplies and stuff they boosted and left." Colonel Hill said.
"I am not going to fault you, Colonel. You did the right thing. I am sorry it took so long to get to you. But we are here now and you will have regular visits from my forces. I will see about making arrangements on getting the HPG back up. It could be awhile though. Seems the rebels destroyed or damaged every HPG in the region. We have a lot of work to get done." General Mitchell said.
'''
17 June 2770
Blommestein (Outworlds Alliance)
General Rita Mitchell disembarked from the shuttle while the Lee and Gremlin Dropships carrying the members of the Royal Black Watch settled to the ground at the Space Port. SLS Tirpitz was in orbit, having come into the La Grange point only 2 days from the planet itself. General Rita Mitchell could still see the lingering remains from where the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division had suffered the devestating nuclear attack that had decimated the Division's command and support elements in 2765. It sent a shudder up her spine, even after all these years. She shook it off as Major General Iris Carman approached along with who she assumed was Jessica Parington, Governor of Blommestein and acting Governor of the Blommestein Province.
"General Mitchell, welcome to Blommestein. This is Jessica Parington, Governor of Blommestein and acting Governor of the Blommestein Province." Major General Johannsen said
"I have been before, Iris. Ms Parington, it is good to meet you. I believe your father was Governor when I was here in 2766." General Mitchell said
"He was, the rebels executed him after the SLDF departed Blommestein. He refused to denounce the Star League or swear allegiance to the rebels. I do not hold any ill will towards you or the SLDF. It was a difficult time for everyone. But I hope I never have to watch the SLDF flee again." Jessica Parington said
Her words struck deep into General Mitchell's heart "I can promise that, the SLDF will never abandon Blommestein or the people we are charged with defending again. I am very sorry about your father, he was a good and decent man from what I remember. I only met him once during those early days. With that all said, you’re still sure you want to throw in with us and the Terran Hegemony?"
"Yes, the Outworlds Alliance has done nothing to aid us or even made an attempt to make contact with us. Major General Carman has spoken with me at great lengths about how your have finally decided to push out from your existing systems. About how your allowing the people on each world decide their own fate, but I am proposing to turn the entire Blommestein Province over to the Terran Hegemony. One fell swoop. But I have a question, what are you doing with those that refuse to join the Terran Hegemony?" Jessica Parington asked
"Luckily, those that voted against joining the Terran Hegemony have not caused any trouble and have, as far as I can tell, have assimilated quite well. But, if any feel they cannot live under Terran Hegemony rule, I promise to transport them, at no expense to themselves to another Outworlds Alliance world, if they so choose. They are not going to get to pick the world, but we will get them to another system. I would prefer to bring all of the planetary Governors of the various systems to Thazi. There they can see what we are doing and speak to the Governor there. See it with their own eyes. I would then prefer to have a Province wide vote by the people. Let them decide wether to join the Terran Hegemony. The same voting rules would apply, 80% of the population must vote to join the Terran Hegemony for that to take place." General Mitchell explained
"And those systems that vote to not join the Hegemony, what of them?" Jessica Parington asked
"Luckily, that has not been an issue yet. I have struggled to come up with a way to handle that situation, but until it actually happens, well I am not sure. I have made sure that we have still supplied various systems with food exports in exchange for raw material where applicable to systems that are not currently under Hegemony rule. I would hope the people themselves are smart enough to see the value in joining the Hegemony freely." General Mitchell explained
"Have you made contact with every system yet?" Jessica Parington asked
"No, but we are beginning to push into those systems now. Making contact with those in the systems, both to verify that hostile forces are no longer there or to remove hostile forces as we come upon them. I have already given the orders for my forces to begin the process. But, those worlds that elect to not join the Hegemony will not have SLDF garrisons on them, even if they are in the middle of the area we control, BUT, I will not allow those worlds to become a security threat to the Hegemony either. The Hegemony will trade with them, but will not pay for repairing or building a HPG station on their worlds. Hegemony world's will come first of course." General Mitchell said
''
"So the meeting could take some time to happen on Thazi." Jessica Parington said
''
"It could, but it could also happen very soon. Realistically, I think we could plan for a October meeting on Thazi and if everything goes well, a Province wide vote for December 2770. But, we can discuss the detail later, I would like to get settled in, it has been a busy month for me." General Mitchell said
"Of course, I have made arrangements, after consulting with Major General Carman, for you to stay at my personal compound. Major General Carman has her headquarters established right outside of it." Jessica Parington said.
"Very well, if Major General Carman says it is secure." General Mitchell said.
"It is General Mitchell, I have it very well guarded. I have personally examined the defensive arrangements." Major General Carman said.
===July===
1 July to 1 October 2770
Blommestein
General Rita Mitchell had spent 2 weeks on Blommestein. During that time, she had ordered the local garrison renamed the 10th Conventional RCT. She promoted Colonel Walter Medley to Lieutenant General and place him in command of the 10th Conventional RCT. General Mitchell had spent a full day walking the large cemetery the people of Blommestein had dedicated to the SLDF dead and the monument carved of stone which was dedicated to the unrecovered remains of the nuclear detonations. She had sent a HPG message to Linden for a HPG station to be established on Blommestein as soon as possible.
She had also sent a HPG message to Thazi informing Rear Admiral Delvaney that 2 Liberty-Class Jumpships needed extensive repairs and were not jump capable but her first priority was to recover the Vigilant-Class Corvette in system. She had then departed for Azur.
Linden
Rear Admiral Percy Seimens had returned to work with a vengeance. Quickly assembling the 4 DoME Teams and needed material from the lists to repair the HPG stations on Thazi, Boulsi and Wokha. Though not their specialty, the DoME Teams had assisted personnel from Star League Communications in constructing HPG stations on the various worlds in the region while they worked on Terraforming various planets agricultural ratings.
Upon receiving General Mitchell's message about getting a HPG station on Blommestein, he quickly detailed the last DoME Team to that task. Rear Admiral Seimens then canvassed the personnel at the HPG factory and managed to create 2 survey teams that could begin surveying systems that had HPG stations to evaluate what was needed to return the HPG's to working order and dispatched them to begin survey operations on planets under SLDF control.
Azur
General Mitchell arrived on Azur late July and spent a few days meeting with Major Dovie Frazier, Lieutenant General (Reserve) Carter DeMars and Major General Colin McGregor. Major Dovie Frazier had stressed her desire to return to her active SLDF duties, and had nominated Brandon Campbell to take over as planetary Governor, a member of the planets Governing Council, he was well respected by the people of Azur. Taking the office of Governor, Brandon Campbell was then brought up to speed on General Mitchell's desire to hold a vote in the region in Decemeber. Not fast enough for him, Brandon Campbell managed to get a vote organized and completed in less than a month in which the citizens of Azur voted to join the Terran Hegemony by a 97% approval.
When the vote tallies came in, General Rita Mitchell after consulting with Major General McGregor reactivated the 36th Infantry Division on Azur. Folding the planets garrison into the 36th Infantry Division along with large transfers of personnel from the 126th Mechanized Infantry Division. Lieutenant General Gregori Chekoskty, 1262nd Brigade commander, 126th MID was promoted to Major General and named commander 36th Infantry Division. Assigned to Major General Colin McGregor's 2nd Corps.
Lieutenant General (Reserve) Carter DeMars, after a meeting with General Mitchell had agreed to return to active duty and was named Commander Quartermaster Command. He quickly got his family packed and ready to return to Thazi with General Mitchell.
Ambatomainty
Major General Gregory Hanesworth, commander of the 29th Mechanized Infantry Division, grounded his Division at the planet's space port. After a week of intensive search of the planet, he was convinced that the planet held no hostiles. But he kept patrols out roaming the planet to make sure. He spent weeks meeting with the planet's leaders and they agreed to elect a planetary Governor after having ruled over the various cities and towns on the planet after the rebels departed. 
Thazi
General Rita Mitchell arrived back on Thazi mid September, 2770 and quickly delivered the news to Major General Nathan Baxter that he was now in command of the new Training Command. This was met with some protest but it was Major General Heinrich Rommel that calmed things down.
"Rita, I appreciate the command of the 1st Corps, but I really think Major General Bacter should command 1st Corps. I will command the Training Command. Major General Baxter is a much better maneuver commander than I am. Besides, looking over your soon to be large use of these Conventional RCT's, I can use my 322nd Armored Division as an advanced training command for newly graduated troops. Give them a year or 2 in the 322nd Armored Division before deploying them out to the active commands." Major General Rommel said
"You’re sure about this, Heinrich?" Rita had asked
"Yes. It makes more sense. You already have my 322nd Armored garrisoning Pilon. I am getting too old to jump all over creation and that is what is going to be required of a Corps Commander. My wife has gotten used to me being around." Major General Rommel replied.
"So be it. Nathan, you are now Commander of 1st Corps. How is your Gunslinger School going?" Rita asked
Taken aback, Nathan Baxter protested "What Gunslinger School? You never gave me a yes to start one?"
"Then why did you try to hide your gathering of Gunslingers into the 359th Battlemech Division?" Rita asked
"Never started a school, but I did gather some Gunslingers and the 4 former Gunslinger Instructors. I now have 20 Gunslinger Instructors just waiting for your go ahead." Nathan Baxter replied.
"Well they now belong to Heinrich and the Training Command. Heinrich, on Linden are 2 Teams of recruiter and trainers from the Administration Command. Get them back to work as soon as you can." Rita said
In orbit, SLS Salvation had completed the 1M ton Yard and was deep in a maintenance cycle which would last until November. She would then move to Blommestein and work on the Vigilant Corvette and the Jumpships there. Meanwhile, on board the Modified Olympus Station, 2 Scout-Class Jumpships were being modified to carry mobile HPG's as relay ships. 
The massive Tank Factory was finally in production ahead of schedule but at only 40% capacity. Peter Sajak had named the new complex Thazi Motors. Working off his observations of current SLDF equipment, he had Thazi Motors producing:
Thazi Motors
Manticore - 2 Lines producing 14 per month currently each line (30 per month once 100% reached each line)
Alacorn MkVI - 2 Lines producing 10 per month currently each line (20 per month once 100% reached each line)
Turhan - 2 Lines producing 20 per month currently each line (40 per month once 100% reached each line)
In another month, he would bring 2 lines producing Chevalier online. He also had managed to beg a Demon from the 272nd Mechanized Infantry Division which was stripped down for reverse engineering. The slowdown was in establishing the much needed supply lines of raw material. But at least he was producing much needed equipment ahead of schedule.
===October to December===
1 October to 31 December 2770
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)
Lieutenant General Carter DeMars spent a full month building his staff, though small right now he planned to expand it much more, and then threw himself into the task of going over each commands full TO&E. The very first thing he focused on was the lack of HPG communication in the region. Comparing the current number of Mobile HPG Command Vehicles in current commands to General Mitchell's wish list of commands to re-activate, plus the new Conventional RCT's which did not have any Mobile HPG Command Vehicles. He had sent a message to Linden about construction speed and gotten a response of 1 Mobile HPG per month could be built for Command Vehicles and 1 Mobile HPG per month could be built for space faring ships. He suggested to General Mitchell that they switch to the larger Mobile HPG production to the smaller version as soon as possible.
He then visited the new Thazi Motors and spoke to Peter Sajak. Though Peter Sajak thought it wasteful, he ordered construction of a separate high security wing added to the main complex. It would contain a single production line, set aside to manufacture 2 Mobile HPG Command Vehicle per month. Lieutenant General DeMars quized Peter Sajak in depth on the capabilities and short comings of Thazi Motors. Making accurate notes of the answers, he promised to do all he could to get the SLDF forces to release various munitions and vehicles for reverse engineering by Thazi Motors.
Lieutenant General DeMars spent 2 weeks inspecting the large stockpile of equipment on Thazi. Taking a careful inventory of every item. With Thazi Motors, they at least had a local production source for Combat and Support vehicles. They could even maintain their Warships, Jumpships and Dropships, but they had no way of handling easy replacement of Battlemechs or Aerospace Fighters. Especially the advanced SLDF Battlemechs and Aerospace Fighters. When he brought this to General Mitchell's attention, he was shocked to learn that she actually knew of the shortfall, but mostly that she knew the location of the much needed production equipment. He was not successful in convincing General Mitchell to launch a strike to recover the factory complexes like they did with the previous factory complex. But he might have lost the first round, but vowed to keep bringing the subject up.
General Rita Mitchell was impressed by Lieutenant General DeMars' dedication to his new role as head of the Quartermaster Command. But right now, she had bigger issues on her mind. In December, she hosted the various Planetary Governors from the Blommestein Province, having over the last several months made contact with every system in the Province. The best news had been locating a small group of "survivors" from the 335th Royal Dragoon Regiment. They were currently on their way to Thazi. The large groups of Governors were being led around by Harold Ludell, Governor of Thazi and Linda Thompson, Governor of Boulsi. They explained everything in full to the large gathering of Governors. They held nothing back and ultimately made very convincing arguments.
Planetary Governors
Thazi (TH) - pop 10,901,903, Harold Ludell
Boulsi (TH) - pop 19,736,476, Linda Thompson
Pilon (TH) - pop 13,170,165, Winston Voleshev
Azur (TH) - pop 167,773,533, Brandon Campbell
Wokha (TH) - pop 17,501,935, Seamus Kelley
Blommestein (OA)- pop 19,100,346, Jessica Parington, Acting Province Governor
Ddraig (OA) - pop 27,205,174, Lacey Prater
Ejeda (OA)- pop 10,361,515, Edith Guthery
Waini Point (OA)- pop 2,869,716, Waylon Franklin
Zumbo (OA)- pop 1,275,224, Thomas Scranton
Ambatomainty (OA) - pop 24,060,568, Varig Kopowski
Sorsk (OA) - pop 19,674,319, Tabitha Uverde
Puttalam (OA) - pop 22,402,022, Reginald Aemes
Maripa (OA) - pop 8,191,400, Jordan Kildare
Loikaw (OA) - pop 961,761, Francis Delgarde
Mandeville (OA) - pop 1,396,772, Wendy Harris
Zetang (OA) - pop 2,050,005, Paul Busch
La Ligua (OA) - pop 1,045,605, Ingrid Goldstein
Carmelita (OA) - pop 237,110, Nicholas Weldon
Quinnes (OA) - pop 718,829, Christopher Mandell
Shira (OA) - pop 13,924,268, Patty Jenson
Domeykp (OA) - pop 3,023,237, Joshua Molleco
Feijo (OA) - pop 12,870,229, Althea Jenkins
Alktral (OA) - pop 17,740,399, Douglas Wallace
Linden (OA) - pop 12,738,074, Shepard Trancien
Ceiba (OA) - pop 20,819,004, Tiffany Lansing
Bossangoa (OA) - pop 15,488,950, Albert Zwinsen
Governor Brandon Campbell had raised a sticky issue with General Mitchell during the rare meetings with her. Azur was surrounded by systems that would not be in the Terran Hegemony. Zalt being added would at least link the province. General Mitchell took the question under advisement with a promise to give the matter some thought, but worried about possible future backlash when the situation returned to normal and she had to explain why she poached so many systems from the Outworlds Alliance. Just absorbing this many systems was a risky proposition. At the end of December, the Governors all agreed to hold a vote on April 10, 2771. The date was selected to allow time for the Governors to return to their respective systems and do some campaigning for the measure being put forth.
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