BtH28

==Chapter 28 - By the Horns==
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General Headquarters, Taurus Defense Force
Mount Santiago Defense Complex, Taurus
Taurian Concordat
November 4th, 3025
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Thomas Calderon leaned over the table-sized map showing the systems of the Taurian Concordat and those which surrounded them; he leaned and he frowned. “You are leaving the entire eastern-half of the Concordat virtually undefended!” he bellowed. “Only Perdition and Sterope have been provided with any of our BattleMech forces!”
“Yet every single one of your worlds has at least one battalion of armor and more than a regiment of infantry—some of those worlds have divisions of tanks, Protector Calderon, and entire corps of infantry, supported by artillery and conventional aircraft. Plus the Constabulary units,” Helena said. “Right now, at this moment, the entire TDF BattleMech reserve—including mercenary units—consists of forty battalions. Forty. Sure, our battalions are larger—but we still have just forty of them.” She paused as Thomas glared at her, and then she sighed. “Protector,” she said, “just what does those systems out towards Badlands have that Davion wants? Other than Perdition and Sterope and their factories?”
Thomas stood silently as he fumed and considered the map, and Helena nodded. “Exactly. They have nothing that Hanse Davion wants or desires—NOTHING. The prize that our enemies desire is HERE,” she said as she pounded the western-half of the table. “Pinard. New Vandenberg. The mines at New Ganymede. The Hyades. If we lose New Vandenberg alone, we will have lost more people and industry than Amber Grove, Sterope, Euschelus, Perdition, Grossbach, Logan's Land, Norman's World, Dicallus, Celentaro, Organo, Cyrton, and Althea's Choice combined.” She paused as the military officers at the table slowly began to nod their heads.
"Flaum, Burton, Illiushin, Renfield, and Camadeierre are too far distant from Davion or Liao to be of great concern, and they are lightly populated with little industry of any note," Helena continued. "That leaves us with Mithron, Atreus Prime, New Ganymede, New Vallis, Jansen's Hold, MacLeod's Land, Laconis, Brisbane, Pinard, New Vandenberg, and Landmark . . . plus the worlds here in the Hyades."
She took a deep breath. "Atreus Prime and Landmark are close enough for a deep-strike to hit . . . but they have little of value. And Brisbane, while home to rather stunning waters and beaches, has little industry to offer a conqueror. We have EIGHT systems, plus the Hyades to concentrate our forces on. That will allow us to put four battalions each on New Ganymede, New Vallis, Jansen's Hold, MacLeod's Land, Laconis, Pinard, and New Vandenberg, with three more on Mithron—an unlikely target, but one we can still cover—and that accounts for thirty-one battalions with two more in the eastern sectors . . . leaving seven battalions in reserve here on Taurus for rapid deployment anywhere we need them. And ALL of our deployments are within one or two jumps of the capital. So if we HAVE to, we can shift troops quickly and in CONCENTRATED FORCE."
Helena sighed as Thomas still glared at her and shook his head defiantly. Cursing under her breath, she circled the table and grabbed his jaw, jerking his head up and around to stare directly in his one natural eye. “Listen to me, Protector Calderon! We cannot be strong everywhere! We made that mistake in the first decade of the Reunification War—and we fucking LOST because of it! Yes, the eastern systems are extremely vulnerable, but that is the price we have to pay to hold onto what we have!” She stepped back and released Thomas as astonished Marshals and Colonels just stared at her—and a shocked Thomas Calderon sputtered and gawked, unable to form words.
“If necessary to make the point, I will hand you my resignation, Protector Calderon, effective as of this moment,” she said, laying her baton upon the table and letting it roll. “This deployment scheme—arrived at by your officers and my staff—gives us absolutely the best damned chance of stopping any invasion of our CRUCIAL systems dead cold! If you insist on defending everything, everywhere, we WILL lose it all—and Sir, I won’t watch that happen again. I won’t.”
Henri licked dry lips and he began to open his mouth—at the same time as Brenda Calderon; but both were interrupted as Thomas Calderon began to laugh. He laughed and he slammed an open palm upon the table.
“THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is how you fucking tell me NO when I am wrong. All right, Marshal Vickers—issue the orders for redeployment.”
Helena smiled. “The couriers left three days ago, Sire,” she said, and Thomas began to chuckle again.
“You and I—we have got to play some poker together one afternoon, Marshal,” the Protector said.
“Poker? What’s that? A game? I love trying new games,” Helena asked innocently as she batted her eyelids, and the senior military officials of the Concordat began to laugh.
“Very well,” Thomas said after a moment, when he finished laughing and shaking a finger at Helena Vickers. “I don’t like it—but as Marshal Vickers points out, we don’t have all that many options,” he finished sourly. “Approved. And gentlemen? Ladies? Let your Brigadiers know that if an invasion comes I don’t want a single one of those son-of-a-bitches to get away. Not one.”
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