InaG Chpt 15

==It's not a Gundam - Chapter 15 -Secretary of War- Book 2 -==
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===To Witness to age of Change===
Guild Flagship, Coalition Fleet
Border Staging Grounds, Circinus-Guild Border
Circinus, Circinus Federation 
January 3027
When the Star League was still a thing Jumpships were criss-crossing the Inner Sphere. There were enough that travel took days rather than weeks or months as any traveler could hop between a readily available stream of Jumpers.
 
The apocalyptic wars that wracked The Sphere had done plenty to reduce the number of Jumpships to the point they were always a dozen accidents away from extinction ... and interstellar civilization with it.
 
That was a fear that Secelia shared with billions of others. Two years ago that is. Two years that changed things.
 
The Rimward-Anti-Spinward expanse of the Periphery was now safe and as stable as it could be for years to come. With peace came industry, investment, and immigration.
 
Permanent Command Circuits were established, connecting the disparate worlds of the Cooperative with each other. One Jumpship would always be on standby in every Cooperative system and all routes would lead to and from Junker, Alphard, and Canopus.
 
Many of the 'New' Jumpships were in fact refurbished wrecks, the Junkers and their partnered Spacers spared no expense tracking down every derelict Jumper they could no matter how old and rebuilding them. They jury-rigged solutions and parts and standardized said solutions and parts. It was a philosophy that allowed the Junkers to reproduce what would be called Lostech at a steady pace. An army of robots and her boyfriend's magic make-anything machine helped.
 
For Secelia her fear was replaced with wariness.
 
Her lips thinned as the fleet gathered. The Guild was neutral and to bring Circinus to justice they first found evidence and then got their partners on board.
 
It led to awkward situations like ships with the Davion Sun and Steiner Fist floating beside ones with the Marik Eagle and Liao Sword. Each and everyone of them on their best behavior.
 
Especially because 'The Mack Cannon', as the Dainsleif-carrying Hunchback was sitting atop the Junkers flagship.
 
Especially because playing games with the Exarch was one way to see the business end of one of his toys. He seemed to have an endless stream of them.
 
Worker pods, tugs, and shuttles fluttered around the flotilla, while many of them came from various lone worlds and Periphery states they were all identical in form and function, the moment they left their hangers they slotted themselves into the logistical chain.
 
She would know this because what others saw as chaos ... she saw a concert in motion. Years working in management and organization told her so.
Guild members, mercenaries, and representatives from various nations' forces gathered on the Junkers Jumpship; an Aquilla of all things, and if the scuffed worn bull symbol on it said anything it was once one of the primitive jumpers that brought the ancestors of the Taurians to the Hyades Cluster.
 
She eyed each and every one of them. Some were genuinely here to get rid of pirates, others to keep on the Guild's friends list, more than one was here because their rivals were.
 
Before they could begin a Guild Officer burst into the room, holding in hand a printed paper so new that it was still warm from the laserjet.
 
She already crumpled it as she read the contents. They had to move. Now. Those gathered here were there for Occupation/Garrison. Not to face an army of killbots.Their faces said everything: Trepidation. Hesitation. The moment they read the report was the moment the operation was in jeopardy.
 
The Guild would not abandon their leader. They would go in with or without their 'allies'. The mercenaries could be placated. Wave around some shiny tech and a few more zeroes on their check and they would stand and fight.
 
That left the nations involved. Her own included. More than one was likely thinking in their heads whether the Exarch dying on Circinus IV was a bad thing or not.
 
Call it selfish ... but she was not going to lose one of the few men that caught her eye.
 
"Let's get started." She spoke, "If anyone is afraid of pirates you can bow out now."
 
The first thing she had to do was unsettle them.
 
"I beg your pardon!?"
 
The second was to find a stooge to poke and prod; and with luck it turned out to be a Lyran.
 
"If you can't deal with some pirates then don't. Maybe if you Lyrans give them your watch and grovel enough they'll take pity on you."
 
The Kuritans and Leaguers snorted.
 
"I'll have you know we Lyrans do NOT back down from a fight! Unlike the damn snakes we are not cowed by challenges."
 
Indignant Combine protested. Before her eyes it became a shouting match. Mack gave her a side glance. While he was an oddball he had been around her long enough to know when she was pulling strings.
 
In the end she got what she wanted.
 
Some were genuinely here to get rid of pirates, others to keep on the Guild's friends list, more than one was here because their rivals were.
 
Reinforcements would come. Everything was as it should be.
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====Crossing the Galactic Sea to battle joined====
She climbed into her Urbanmech as Mechwarriors all around her ran to their machines.
 
Their jump would be through a transient Pirate Point, the closest a Jumpship could get to a planet; it was also one of the riskiest and most prone to Misjumps. If the Guild didn't cheat. Compared to resurrecting old wrecks, repairing antique Jumpships was child's play, Meanwhile calculations that would take hours, even days, for navigators to perform were being done in minutes by the Exarch's new computers.
 
As the last of the Jumpships reeled in their solar sails, as the final dropships docked into their collars, Secelia braced. The moment they entered Circinus they would be staring directly at a horde of OZ drones. Time was of the essence, and time was not one her side.
She looked across at the gantry holding Mack's Hunchback.
 
(("That was risky, Missy.")) Mack chastised over the radio, (("Call them Yellow and they might want to put you in the ground."))
 
"Compared to Parliament this was a kiddie spat." She dismissed.
 
Though in her opinion, FWL Parliament was already a bunch of screaming children. She dwelled on that fact as the Jump came and went. She only felt the shudder as the Aquila and it's brethren crossed between islands in the great black sea.
 
What she saw as they exited the Aquila ... was a scene from history. Or hell.
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====Rescuing the Exarch====
She had never seen so many machines. The closest she could compare it to was the Battle of Terra. Where once space battles were decided by ASFs and Assault Droppers it was now clogged with Combat Pods and Mobile Suits. So many that they seemed like schools of fish, or swarms of insects.
 
A sign of things to come.
 
And an ill-omen as well.
 
There, surrounded by all sides was the Knights of St. Cameron. General Gluck and his force with dozens of circular drones swirling around them emitting some kind of force field. It was not going to last. The wrecks of many unmanned Balls looked to have tried ramming it and the dents on the Guild dropships said some had gotten through.
 
"Mack." she said, voice curt and grim, "We end this. Now."
 
(("Righty-on, little lady!")) Mack shouted, (("PUNCHING A HOLE!"))
 
The Dainsleif roared into the void. The massive depleted uranium spike smashed into an enemy ship shattering into so many splinters, scything through the thin armor of pods, disembowling mobile suits, and carving horrific gashes into the sides of dropships.
 
'Mack-Cannon' leaped off the Aquila as conveyors fed conventional Gauss Rifle slugs into his cannon. It was his only weapon save for the axe taken from the Hloekk Graze.
 
(("Come on ya apes!")) Mack roared as well on open channels, (("You wanna live forever!?"))
 
Battlemechs had no place in space combat. Once. But this was the Age of the Mobile Suit.
 
The Hunchback blasted forward, equipped with same rocket pack that allowed Leos to operate in space. Axe in hand Mack cleaved aside a Ball and kicked away another. He was soon joined by others. Secelia included.
Guild Moebius Zeros added their guns to the mix, their Gunbarrels cutting through swathes of chaff as they darted back and forth. Kurita Shilones and Davion Stukas danced in tandem, AMBAC systems letting them swerve in and around the swarm of drones.
 
Battlemechs engaged OZ Mobile Suits double their number. At times struggling to kick the drones off of their dropships.
 
What coalition dropships that could make through the gap did and Secelia landed upon the deck of Gluck's flagship: a Leopard that had seen better days. Near instantly she was beset by some of the boarding Drone Leos. They lumbered forward with autocannons blazing. The shells bounced off Rouji's E-Carbon plating as she dashed forward. Her Urbie had evolved just as the Inner Sphere did. Instead of external mountings her machine had full 360 integrated thrust vectoring. Instead of being armless it had manipulators. So when the time came she dodged the clumsy swing of a Leo's fist. Her Urbie twisted as industrial arms folded out, grabbing and ripping the head off one Leo as her beam guns blasted the other point blank.
 
//"Lady Dote!"\\ he answered, //"I'm glad to see you!"\\
Beside her she saw a Lyran Commando crush the head of a Leo with a Mech-scale War Pick. Almost instantly it was tackled by a trio of Oggos.
 
"...I can see that." she replied dryly.
 
//"These Mechwarriors aren't Aerojocks."\\ the General explained, //"The Guild has trained in Mech-roles in space combat ... the men you brought aren't."\\
 
Janos would disagree. So would the Archon, the First Prince, and the League's 'allies'. They were always playing catch-up with The Exarch and that included training men used to fighting on solid ground in a battlefield with none of it.
 
"Well now what?" she questioned.
 
//"Now ... we cut the head off the snake."\\
 
With a whine Gluck's Mobile Suit fired again. The brilliant golden beam vaporized a dozen Pods with one sweep. Dozens more still threw themselves at them.
 
"What you brought is enough!" He shouted over the chaos of the comm channels, "We can hold them off here! Get to the surface! Protect The First Lord!"
His answer was punctuated by flashes of distant but powerful explosions. Clouds of flak filled space, fired from Riflemen and Jagermechs braving the vacuum. Balls and Oggos cracked like eggs. Leos were torn apart in a metallic charnel house. Mechs being used as improvised turrets was no longer a desperate tactic, but now a valid one. And as the swarm seemed to writh as it circled them Dote knew every last gun was needed.
 
Secelia's attention snapped back to the ship she stood on. More Drone Leos set foot and the Guild LAMs turned to face them. The drones fell over themselves clawing at whatever that was in reach. One of them lunged toward the two of them and for its troubles Gluck's 'Vayeate' pistol-whipped the Mobile Suits with the reinforced barrel of his cannon and blasted another lance of its brethren before they could get to the ship.
 
//"Save him."\\ He pleaded, //"So he can save us."\\
 
Gluck and his men stayed to fight and to give the rest of them a chance to get to the surface. Mechs scrambled back into their DropShips, the only exception being the Free Worlds League forces who joined the descent on the Tickbalang Sub-Flight units she had designed. Some called them mad but as they began the descent the naysayers were silent. Marik Battlemechs and Mobile Suits would be the first to fight and ... they knew it.
 
As her machine rumbled during reentry a pair of words kept floating around in her head, "First Lord huh?"
 
If orbit was hell, the surface was Tartarus.
 
Fires raged uncontrollably around Circinus IV's Capital as man and machine spilled blood and oil.
 
What Taurus and ASFs that could be brought from the battle in space were immediately beset by swarms of Conventional Fighters and Aries. Angel, Defender, and Meteor conventional strike fighters rose up and filled the air between them with lasers and missiles. Every one of them possessed no cockpit, replaced instead by a smooth armored dome.
 
Those who had Shrike packs lifted off to join the fracas around them. Those who solely had Jump Jets and hover units swung low and leapt off their Tickbalangs into a land covered in fire and death.
Hordes of gun-carriers and Scorpion tanks spilled out the brush to attack from the ground and Warrior VTOLs did from the air. All of them cheap and replaceable, all of them unmanned.
 
The Marik Militia detachment bled for friend and foe alike, clearing a Landing Zone in the middle of glassed earth and trampled mud.
 
Just like Alphard, Circinus IV was yet another war not seen for decades. Shells and rockets flew left-and-right. Lasers and PPCs scythed through the thick fog of war. But Dote persisted. Commanders rallied their men. Mechwarrior and Tankers found their nerves. They pushed and pushed out from their dropships, out from the landing zone, out into the scarred expanse of Circinus and its fields of grain grown from stolen seed stock.
 
E-Carbon clad Demolishers equipped with Dober Guns boomed beside Alacorn MK 6OZ Assault Tank, a once extinct triple-railgun tank now revived with OZ parts and Linear Rifles. Shadow Hawks and Phoenix Hawks with mounted Shrike units braved thick AA fire to wreak havoc behind enemy lines. Archers and Marauders strafed the drones just out of arm's reach, of all the mechwarriors those with heavy and assault mechs had newfound respect for hover engines.
 
The horde abated once again and meter by bloody meter they reached the Exarch's defenses: a static hardened iron ring of DropShips and dozens of Mobile Suits dug into Mech-sized trenches. Hovering above were the same disk drones emitting the same electric defense field as the force in orbit was. It flickered under the strain of an artillery bombardment. In the middle of the circle was the Mercurius. It was battered and burnt but it stood proud.
 
The Exarch commanded his forces, rotating his exhausted pilots in-and-out against an innumerable force. From their foxholes the Serpents exchanged fire with the drones. Short bursts of their gatling guns, a rare Arrow IV artillery missiles streaking toward one vital target or another, Beams shot out into the masses again and again so much so that their barrels glowed red. Plenty of them pried guns off of fallen Leos and Aries to continue resisting their siege. The Tierens that they had brought no longer fired but they weren't silent. They shed their heavy weapons and used their immense mass to protect what gaps there were in their defenses. Barehanded if they must.
 
Over tidal waves of Electronic Warfare and interference the Exarch spoke;
 
<<"Secelia.">> he said with a hint of strain, <<"Thank god you're here. I'll fill you in-">>
 
"I know the situation." She answered, "What's the plan?"
 
<<"A breakthrough he answered. I identified their controllers but we can't reach them.">>
 
"We can."
 
<<"You can.">> He confirmed, <<"They'll expect you to try to relieve us. Not target them. Exploit it.">>
 
Almost immediately the Exarch went to task commanding them. He sallied out as every Serpent surged out of their trenches. Daggers, axes, swords, hammers, and spears were drawn as they leaped toward the Circinian ranks.
 
Lances of Mechwarriors fought Companies of drones. Where one was struck down another took their place but the sea of Quikcell garbage was not her concern. She and the rest circled around and struck the Black Warriors from the flank. The pirates' Battlemechs turned around too late as the coalition unleashed their alpha strike.
 
The Pirates shouted in panic and confusion, desperate to marshal their forces to shield them but it was too late. They were overrun.
 
As each Circinian Mech fell the drone swarm's cohesion dropped with it. Without their controllers the OZ machines were dull and sluggish, nothing more than glorified walking turrets.
 
One-by-one the Circinian forces began to unravel on the ground, in the air, and eventually in space. The moment they identified the command ships the space forces reduced it to scrap and turned the swarm into a floating debris field.
 
It was over. Circinus had fallen.
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===Handling a Workaholic===
Coalition Landing Zone (Outside Clayborne Remembered)
Circinus IV
Circinus System, Circinus Federation 
January 3027
After the last stragglers were hunted down the Knights of St. Cameron finally stepped out of their machines. Some had collapsed in exhaustion and had to be hauled off to the medics. Others reached for the nearest drink, whether wine, whiskey, or plain water they emptied whole canteens. More than enough simply stayed in their open cockpits slouched in their seats and letting the cool air come in. Their snores were as audible as the groans of the wounded.
 
Cleanup started soon after the guns fell silent. Scavenger instincts compelled many to pick the scorched and cratered battlefield clean. No Battlemech with hands stayed out of the work, She and Gluck ensured it.
 
Machines were being fixed, the wounded were treated, and the dead were properly seen to. The fight was long and bloody but the Knights of St. Cameron were neither short on men nor material since they had been absorbed into the Guild.
 
As Gluck saw to further preparations Secelia boarded the Ptolemaios where their fearless leader now resided.
 
The Exarch stumbled out of Mercurius, almost falling if Secelia hadn't caught the big lug.
 
"I got you." she spoke.
 
The Exarch groaned. He seemed ready to pass out but he stood back up, albeit leaning on the side of his Mobile Suit.
 
"How are the men?" He asked.
 
She crossed her arms, "You should be worrying about yourself!"
 
"I can multitask." he grunted, "And Secelia ... thank you..."
 
"Don't thank me just yet." she replied softly, "McIntyre is still out there. Probably with another drone army."
 
He shook his head, "No. We dealt with the most of them."
 
The Exarch waved over a Zako who held out a noteputer and then handed it to her. Two lives as a secretary let her read the raw data displayed right in front of her. Compiled lists of shipments both legal and illegal offered to the Guild on a silver platter by the scared residents of Clayborne. It told a story of the Circinus Federation stockpiling weapons and equipment. Some of it from suppliers Dote had no doubt were shell companies, but also from local factories. In almost every file she came across two words kept popping up
 
"...Project Workshop?" she said out loud, "It keeps popping up."
 
He nodded, "Star League fabrication systems used in R&D. They can make anything. Slowly. With the right setup. They weren't feasible for mass use so only a few were made and those few tended to be scientists and engineers."
 
"...and who were one of the first targets during the 1st and 2nd Succession War." Dote grimaced, "Not good."
 
She had thought the only machine that was even close to the AGE Builder was the Argo. And now it turned out it was in the wrong hands.
 
"It must be inside that SLDF base."
 
"Possible." The Exarch weighed in, "We destroyed or disabled most of its likely output today. We'll see what interrogation says after they go through the prisoners."
 
"Not going to hand them over to the spooks?"
 
For an operation like this, the relief force was likely stuffed to the gills with spies from one group or another.
 
"We got our own." he commented
 
"Oh? Do tell~" enquired
 
"Nope. SAFE can figure it out themselves." Exarch countered.
 
"Poo." She pouted.
 
As the AGE Builder hummed at work, she and the Exarch sat side by side in the Ptolemaios' lounge. For a busy man like the Exarch this was his home. The Junkers would gladly make him a palace for all the things he did for him but the masked man preferred the sterile Captain's Quarters.
 
Outside the work continued. Even if it was just a Dropship and Jumper the various nations had sent what they could as a sign of solidarity. The MPs of half a dozen nations gathered in front of one of the Exarch's police robots who explained the situation of Clayborne and the surrounding settlements. Construction-type Leos coordinated with Heavy-lift Aries setting up a future Junkers Guild base. Clouds of Circinian drones were replaced by Haros surveying the land and assisting in what menial work that the Zakos couldn't do.
 
In the time she'd known him she had yet to see his face. Even so she knew of his strong character, his hardened will, his many skills, even a few weaknesses she would keep to herself.
 
...First Lord. Why did Stan Gluck say that? What did it mean? Secelia looked at the enigma in front of her as he studied and mulled over a constant stream of reports. Not once did he stop to rest since she'd arrive.
 
"McIntyre is finished." The Exarch spoke, "It's a matter of when not if. If he doesn't surrender then we'll crack open his base."
 
"You mean Mack will."
 
"If we have to." He explained, "We've only used it twice and you saw it fire twice."
 
The Ares Convention allowed for the bombardment of Military Targets some distance away from civilians and an underground fortress-factory maze was a valid target as any.
 
"What about you?" she asked him
 
"What about me?"
 
"Your pushing yourself. I don't like that. Have you ever considered a vacation?" she countered
 
"We're in the middle of a war and you are asking about a vacation?" Exarch questioned
 
"I am." She said staunchly, "I've known you for two years and you put the weight of everything and everyone on yourself."
 
"But-" Exarch began
 
She jammed a finger in his face, pushing back at the man's mask, "No buts. You got people to listen to you. And for once you should try to listen to them."
 
The Exarch paused for a few moments and sighed, "Is it just me or you are better at this leadership thing than me?"
 
"I'm a Secretary." She huffed with pride, "It's what I do."
 
Every strong man had a strong woman beside them.
 
"I guess the plan doesn't change then. McIntyre or not we got what we came for. I'll get some Police-bots printed out to help with the garrison. Maybe we can reuse some of the drones the Black Warrior used..." Exarch explained his plan.
 
The original plan had to have a joint occupation force be set up once House McIntyre was neutralized. Another government, preferably free of Pirates, would be set up. How much of it was a puppet and how much of it would be a genuine legitimate administration would depend on the Circinians themselves.
 
For now they could settle with chasing him and his lackeys out of his home. A task force would be established and a bounty for pirates distributed. Scouts would watch Camp Amber in the meantime. Even if McIntyre could rebuild his forces he would face a hardened occupation force with the artillery and air support to make his machines armored coffins.
 
"Your friends can take it from here." She continued, "I'd like you to come with me back home."
 
"To the League?"
 
"To Atreus. I think you'll like it there. The Old Geezer would want to meet you." Secelia explained.
 
"The Guild isn't going to take sides." he told her.
 
"I'm not asking you to." She smiled, "But I met your family ... It's time you met mine."
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==Chapter Notes==
*; Author's Chapter Note: Training wheels are off. Now Exarch will have to face the ultimate threat of Battletech: Inner Sphere Politics.
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Chapter 15