GblaRCS Chpt 28

==Guided by the light of a (Red) Cameron Star - Chapter 28 -==
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"Given that we weren't going to let them take over running our Hyperpulse Generator stations, but we did want to take advantage of the new C-Bill to conduct long-distance trade deals, a decision had to be made on how we were going to handle that. After some negotiations I offered to send the Precentor back home to Hednesford where he was based with a shipment of germanium that he would effectively convert into a credit note for C-Bills that we could use. I don't think he expected us to hand over a billion dollar's worth judging by the expression on his face but I suspect his superiors weren't too unhappy. We were certainly unhappy ourselves though when ComStar put an interdiction on the Free Worlds League a couple of years later because all our transmissions were routed through the stations there and not only were we effectively cut-off too, ComStar was holding a lot of our money we now couldn't spend."Samantha Hollister - 2845 CE
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===Reflection of the impact due to the arrival of dignitaries===
Zenith Jump Point – Niops System – 2835
The Invader class jumpship Hikyaku was in a better state of repairs than most of its type these days, ComStar was wealthy enough not to skimp on regular visits to a shipyard for routine maintenance checks, and as a result Precentor Alan Stockdale was a little less nervous than he was when he was when forced to travel on a vessel belonging to someone else, but it nevertheless came as a great relief to him when they arrived intact at their intended destination.
Statistically jump-ship travel was supposed to be perfectly safe as long as you didn't do something stupid like try to jump more than thirty light-years, quick-charge your drive, or use a pirate-point, but Stockdale knew those statistics dated from the Star League era and standards had slipped since then. As a nervous interstellar traveller that it had only taken two jumps to get from Hednesford to their objective had also helped his mental wellbeing, every additional jump was another chance for something going wrong, and the fewer the jumps the easier it was to try and ignore them. 
Having no desire to end up collateral damage from someone else's war being handed a cushy job as Precentor Hednesford had come as a great relief to Alan Stockdale, even if the long journey to get there from Terra in the first place had been hellish on his nerves. Hednesford was situated on the outer edge of the Free Worlds League a long way from the frontlines, and not much ever happened out there which would require him to get on a jump-ship either. Thanks to having the reasonably well-trained and well-equipped twenty-seventh Marik Militia regiment as its garrison force people on Hednesford didn't even have to worry about the pirate raids that were an all-too-common part of life that far out, pirates liked to keep clear of anyone that could shoot back.
Life had, in fact, been pretty sweet and uneventful for Precentor Alan Stockdale until the day an HPG signal arrived at Hednesford from a station that had been completely dark since the early days of the Amaris War, triggering a series of events that led to him being ordered to go make contact in person since he was the most senior member of ComStar available in the region.
As ComStar continued its program of restoring the Hyperpulse Generator Network, so many of the old SLCOMNET stations having been lost over the years for various reasons including sabotage, lack of spare parts or even outright military action, there were always a few ComStar vessels traveling around the Inner Sphere and the closest of these was re-directed to Hednesford to collect Stockdale and ferry him to where the First Circuit ordered him to go.
Professional enough to do his research Stockdale had requested to be sent everything ComStar had on file about this old Star League scientific research colony that called itself the 'Niops Association' and he had made sure to learn all there was to know about the place before arriving. Basically just a bunch of astronomy nerds way out in the boonies, it was pretty obvious why they had remained in hiding all these years trying not to attract anyone's attention, the only mystery as far as Stockdale was concerned was why they had been starting to make their presence felt more recently. Over the last couple of years there were reports that they had been sending ships out to trade with neighboring systems, and now they had seemingly decided to switch their HPG back on, and the authorities on Terra were somewhat curious as to why.
That was the problem with systems without a ComStar presence. It was a lot easier to know what was going on there if you could secretly read all their outgoing mail and there were also a few ROM agents disguised as technicians working in the local ComStar controlled HPG compound.
The first indication that there was a lot going on in Niops that ComStar wasn't aware of, and that the files the organization had on the place were far from complete, was that when the ComStar jumpship arrived it was immediately hailed by an Olympus class recharge station at the Zenith point that had not been there during the Star League era and the second indication was a Blake-damned Essex class destroyer floating nearby, the warship transmitting an IFF signal that identified it as the former SLS Cape Bon now operating under Niops registration.
"What the ****** have I gotten myself into?" Stockdale asked himself quietly, trying to collect his thoughts as everyone else on the ship's bridge looked to him for guidance as to what they should do now. The ship's captain said he would analyze sensor data and check the records for anything on the 'Cape Bon' and he was soon at work while Stockdale collected himself. 
Stockdale cleared his throat. "Open a channel to the Olympus." he ordered. "And do please let me know if that warship points its guns in our direction" he added sounding considerably more blasé about the situation than he felt. As well as the station and the warship there were also a half-dozen transport JumpShips nearby, two of the Invader class like his own vessel, a Tramp, a pair of much larger Star Lord vessels and a gigantic Monolith, the latter more than a little surprising in itself as they were very, very rare and equally expensive.
"This is the ComStar Jumpship Hikyaku, Precentor Alan Stockdale speaking," he began in a clear, unwavering voice. "We are here on the orders of Primus Conrad Toyama to make formal diplomatic contact with the Niops Association and to respond in person to your HPG transmission requesting access to the ComStar network." he said, fighting back his desire to ask about the station and the warship in particular because it would be an admission he had no idea they would be there. ComStar liked to project an aura of omniscience, not dumbfounded ignorance, so acting like you weren't surprised was following standard ComStar protocols for behaviour when you actually were.
<<"Welcome to Niops, Precentor Stockdale, this is Niops Traffic Control">> a woman's voice replied. <<"Given that recharging your Jump Drive from our system's M5V Red Dwarf will take a while you are welcome to approach and we will beam additional energy from our emitters directly to your jump-sail to speed up the process" came the reply. <<"As you are on a diplomatic mission, not a commercial one, there will be no charge for the service.">> the transmission continued. <<"It's a free-of-charge, charge">> they added after a pause, laughing. "<<Our station commander, Captain Horatio Petroni, is requesting to talk to you so you'll be dealing with him from now on. Have a nice day. Niops Traffic Control Out">> the woman added.
Stockdale breathed a sigh of relief, despite the extremely unexpected presence of the warship the locals seemed friendly enough, generous even, ComStar controlled recharge stations in the Terran system would have wanted to be paid. "We appreciate your magnanimous offer of free access to your recharge service and will accept." he replied, grateful that it meant he would be able to return back to Hednesford quicker than he had feared. The problem with jumping into systems where the star was as small and dim as Niops was that it took noticeably longer to recharge your Kearny-fuchida drive than the usual week or so. "According to our files your capital is, or was, on Niops VII, if that is still so I would be grateful if you could arrange for me to be met by a representative from your government when my dropship arrives.
<<"Captain Petroni here">> a man's voice from the station responded this time. <<"My apologies Precentor, but foreigners are not permitted to land on any planet in the Niops system">>, sounding apologetic about it. <<"Given what has befallen the other worlds of the Terran Hegemony, the Niops Association is a little paranoid about giving anyone the opportunity to mark civilian or industrial targets for orbital bombardment, or possibly learn the location of our orbital and ground-based defenses">> he explained. <<"Any negotiations or discussions will have to take place here at the Zenith jump-point though fortunately, given the compactness of our system, you should not find the light-speed communications delay between here and our capital nearly as grating to deal with as in most places" they continued. "You can't go get lunch and watch some TV while waiting for a reply here">> he said humorously.
That would be annoying, Stockdale thought to himself, face-to-face negotiations were always to be preferred, and he was about to respond asking if he could talk to someone more senior about that when the man on the Olympus station started talking again.
<<"Speaking of television, I'm afraid that in order to minimize possible interference with equipment related to radio astronomy, our television and audio-only entertainment signals are all carried via cable, not over the airwaves, so your crew won't be able to tune into local media if they get bored.">> Petroni said. <<"It's one reason we were able to stay under the radar all these years, Niops was always a lot quieter than most inhabited systems across that part of the electromagnetic spectrum. If you stay still too long around here then I swear someone will build a Faraday cage around you">> he joked. <<"You should read the letters of complaint in the newspapers from irate radio astronomers every time someone in the military switches on their radar. Trust me If anyone gets painted by a targeting array in Niops they had better take it seriously because nobody wants to fill out all the paperwork for the sake of bluffing.">>
Stockdale frowned. "Some allowance will have to be made to your rules eventually due to the need to allow ComStar technicians to take over the running of your Hyperpulse Generator anyway, so I'm sure your government will make an exception in my case if you check with them" he suggested, not entirely sure if that last part had been a veiled threat or not given its good-natured delivery.
<<"Why would we need ComStar to run our HPG?">> the commander replied, sounding confused.
"In order to ensure it is properly maintained, they are extremely complicated devices that require great expertise and careful handling" Stockdale explained. "It's something of a miracle that yours still worked when you switched it back on after so many years."
<<"Actually we didn't switch it off so much as it went wrong back in the early 2770s and given the political situation at the time, what with Amaris and everything, we decided not to fix it until we actually needed it running again.">> Petroni replied. <<"When we did we just found the old SLCOMNET people that used to run the thing and put them back to work, replaced the parts that weren't working and fired it back up.">>
"You made your own replacement parts?" Stockdale asked incredulously.
<<"It's not difficult if you've got the complete blueprints and the right manufacturing facility.">> Captain Petroni replied conversationally. <<"I heard that making a whole new HPG from scratch took them a while the first time but they've gotten better at it since">> he added.
Precentor Stockdale blinked and looked around the bridge to gauge the expressions of the other ComStar personnel around him, they looked as perturbed as he felt. "You made your own complete HPG?" he asked dubiously.
<<"Well yes, what would be the point of getting the one of Niops running again if there was nobody to talk to on it">> Petroni replied. <<"Wait. Did you think we got our HPG here running again recently so we could talk to you?">> he asked rhetorically. <<"No, we got it running ages ago so we could talk to our colonies over NHCOMNET. We just never got around to talking to you until now because we didn't need to until we started visiting the Inner Sphere for trade as much.">>
<<"NHCOMNET? What in the name of Blake is NHCOMNET?">> Stockdale demanded to know.
<<"Niops Hegemony Communication Network, you know like SLCOMNET, but on a smaller scale of course.">> the station replied. <<"Not all our colonies have an HPG yet, but we're getting there. Much less of a pain-in-the-ass than having to send JumpShips as message couriers all the time.">>
Stockdale closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady himself. "You have your own colonies out here and they're linked by their own HPG network?" he asked slowly. This situation went well beyond normal protocols of pretending to know all of this already, if he feigned to do so they would wonder why ComStar had not turned up before to take over the running of this 'NHCOMNET'.
<<"Well yeah, I mean it's the twenty-ninth century not the nineteenth. Did you think we were using two cans and a piece of string to communicate with each other out here or something?">> the man on the station asked sardonically.
Precentor Alan Stockdale fought back the urge to loudly reply 'YES' and opted for a slightly less abrasive approach. "We were not aware of anyone producing Hyperpulse Generators other than ourselves." he said flatly instead. "At this juncture I must advise you that the Communications Protocol of 2787 places all HPG facilities under the control of ComStar with a guarantee of our neutrality towards all as regards control of the Hyperpulse network. As such each of your HPG stations will need to be placed in the custodianship of ComStar as soon as is practicable in order to comply with the protocol" he informed the man.
<<"Niops is not a signatory to the Communications Protocol of 2787, and I sincerely doubt my government is stupid enough to add its signature to the others after what happened in 2823 when you shut down your HPG on Tharkad just because you didn't want to pay your taxes.">> Petroni replied scornfully.
Stockdale was taken aback. "How do you know about that?" he asked. 
<<"They talked about it on the News Channel. Just because you don't know what's happening out here doesn't mean we didn't keep a close eye on what's happening in the Inner Sphere, we even monitor the ComStar News Network even though your commentators self-evidently spin the news like a compact battlemech gyro.">> Petroni replied wryly. <<"I might not like what the people at NHCOMNET charge me to send a message to my daughter working on Copernicus, but at least their news agency has some concept of journalist integrity, they pay their damn taxes and they're not owned by a foreign power.">>
Stockdale turned to the ship's navigator and mouthed the word 'Copernicus' to him, the navigator checked the local star charts and then shrugged to indicate he had no idea where that was.
"I'm not sure there is much to be gained in continuing our conversation at this time, Captain Petroni" Stockdale told him, it seemed like the man was not a fan of ComStar for some reason which the precentor attributed to either misinformation or considerably less probably out here from being very well informed. "I look forward to hearing from your government."
<<"If you think you'll get a better reception from the organ grinder on Niops VII than the monkey sat here then your timing stinks because it's an election year and there's not a politician in this system that wants to look weak on either national sovereignty or allowing tax dodging right now">> Petroni told him, audibly chuckling. <<"I'll notify the authorities that you want to talk and they'll get in contact presently, but I'll warn ya that if you want a treaty with us it'll have to be on much better terms than the Great Houses agreed to. Petroni Out.">>
Alan Stockdale turned to the captain of the Hikyaku, the next most senior ComStar official aboard whose expression indicated he was also totally nonplussed by the situation they now found themselves in. "Do you think they'd let us borrow their HPG to send a message back to Terra asking what we should do next?" the captain of the Jumpship suggested, unlike many ComStar vessels the Hikyaku had not been upgraded with a mobile HPG of its own as yet, the organization was still prioritising resources towards getting as many of the old SLCOMNET stations running again as possible. "We could encrypt it" he added.
"It's worth considering but I would prefer not to start negotiations with their government with us seemingly owing them a favour in return." Stockdale replied. "Anyhow, for ComStar to have to ask somebody else to send an HPG transmission for them would be embarrassing for us, verging on humiliating." he added, shaking his head sadly.
"They still seem to regard themselves as affiliated to the Terran Hegemony in some way despite its demise." the captain observed thoughtfully. "I've taken a close look with optical sensors and the recharge station itself, the warship and the transport JumpShips are all painted up in Star League colors and with insignia and markings matching those of the SLDF and Terran Hegemony, as well as the Red Cameron star we had heard rumours they used to identify themselves."
"Have you learned anything else useful about these people?" Stockdale asked.
The ship's captain nodded. "Boy, have we." he responded knowingly. "That warship, the Essex class destroyer, the external markings on her match her IFF, that being the SLS Cape Bon, and according to our database the last thing we have on file about her is that she was attached to the 295th Battlemech Division and was with them when they went chasing after Kerensky after being left behind in 2785."
"The 295th?" Stockdale queried, "didn't they turn merc after they failed to find Kerensky?"
"Perhaps some of them did, and ended up working for the Lyrans, and the rest chose to come here?" the captain suggested. "That merc group, I think they call themselves Raymond's Redcoats, sure as heck aren't division-sized and don't have the warships the 295th did." he said. "If so, that could explain why Niops isn't what we expected. They inherited most of an SLDF division plus their transport and warship assets."
Stockdale groaned. "And because they were a scientific research colony set up to be self-sufficient, one that was chock full of people with advanced degrees in physics and chemistry and whatever, they were able to keep a lot of that equipment running" he said, groaning again.
"Plenty of smarts, plenty of space lift and enough firepower that they didn't have to worry about anything short of a full-scale invasion by one of the Great Houses, and you end up with what we might be looking at right now. A little piece of the Terran Hegemony still going strong out in the periphery." the captain theorised. "You know, if we're right then they're not really so different than us."
"How so?" Stockdale asked.
"If it wasn't for General Lauren Hayes leading her SLDF divisions to Terra in support of Jerome Blake would civilization have survived and prospered there?" the ship's captain asked rhetorically. "I doubt it was just the Communications Protocol of 2787 that stopped the Great Houses invading Terra when they did the rest of the Hegemony, the notion of having to deal with eight SLDF divisions would have given them pause for thought too."
"Maybe if we play up that we're also a Star League remnant, SLCOMNET rebranded, and push the line that we had SLDF support in establishing ourselves on Terra that could help things run more smoothly" Stockdale said thoughtfully.
"That was my thinking, Sir" the captain replied. "Was it not Blake himself that said you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?"
Not originally, Stockdale knew, but under Conrad Toyama's rule ComStar had being increasingly less secular and prone to ascribing Jerome Blake with even more wisdom than he had in real life. It was of course dangerous to say anything that might be seen as denying the man's supposed omniscience, so Stockdale nodded instead. In the wake of the so-called 'Purification', as Toyama's purges were known, only an idiot did anything that might lead to ROM investigating them for signs of disloyalty or a lack of belief in the divine plan as set out by Blake and implemented by his successor.
The chances that there wasn't a ROM agent aboard the ship were extremely slim, perhaps there was more than one, and given that a significant proportion of the rest of the crew were potential informers that would pass along anything they heard to ComStar's intelligence branch it was vitally important to always keep to the straight and narrow. Precentor ROM Michelle Dupreas had eyes and ears everywhere, and the woman was dangerously competent and completely ruthless as well as being utterly loyal to Toyama. 
"If this an election year, as the man said, then presumably they maintained a democratic system as was the norm in the Terran Hegemony." Stockdale mused aloud. "That may present the possibility of an alternative course of action than in other places where we seek to sway the authorities to see things our way" he suggested. "Public opinion matters more in such a society than it would in the Capellan Confederation, for example, this may be a situation where the Primus might be best served by advice that we should not try and force the issue regarding the Communications Protocol since an opportunity exists to exert pressure from below should we be able to appeal to the masses."
"I would be happy to endorse such a proposal if you wished me to do so." the ship's captain responded, not just because he agreed but because it would see his name on a document presented to the Primus himself. "We could deny them access to the ComStar network, refuse to forward on any HPG transmissions they send out, but that would antagonise them without cutting off their access to the other systems they profess to control. The Lyran Commonwealth folded quickly when we placed an Interdiction or Tharkad because they could not easily govern their nation without HPG communications but that would not be the case here."
"That is what makes this situation such a potential powder-keg that must be treated gingerly" Stockdale concurred. "We find ourselves in a situation where the thoughtful and careful employment of soft power is the safer course of action. For one thing we still need to learn more, far more, about these people, their capabilities and their intentions" he said before smiling as he considered the great benefit that could be gained by allowing communications from Niops to be forwarded on via the ComStar network in the interim before any agreement was actually finalised, ROM could potentially learn a great deal from reading them as they already did everyone else's mail. For that matter investigating what these additional systems the locals professed to control could be very useful, particularly if they did not hold to the same regulations regarding letting people from elsewhere land. "Given that the Primus and the First Circuit will surely wish to make the final decision anyway, then perhaps it behoves me to downplay my authority still further." he pondered aloud, smiling. "Vagueness and procrastination tinged with an aura of what looks like fair-minded reasonableness while we fill in the blanks."
"Caution and prudence is usually the wisest course of action when dealing with the unknown." the ship's captain agreed. "Spend enough time out here at the edge of civilization and you learn that lesson well." he continued. "As Blake said, 'knowledge is power'" he quoted the great man once again.
"And what is ComStar but that aphorism incarnate?" Stockdale asked rhetorically, agreeing with the sentiment although he knew it was actually Sir. Francis Bacon who wrote that centuries before the birth of Jerome Blake.
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===Managing the politics of angry Khans===
Aboard the recharge station, Captain Horatio Petroni, formerly of the Potemkin class cruiser Ulithi. But long since reassigned because that vessel was mothballed for the foreseeable future, was grateful he had been advised that ComStar might be showing up in person and had been given an outline of what to say if they did. Putting them in their place without excessively antagonising them, and giving them a few hints as to what the situation was in Niops so they could feel clever by putting two-and-two together, was the order of the day. If Niops simply told them 'this is where the 295th Battlemech division ended up' it would encourage them to keep digging and digging, but letting them work out a lot of things themselves based on some scattered clues and casual remarks then hopefully they would feel pleased with themselves and subconsciously not want their theories to be wrong.
Fifth generation career military, navy of course hence his father lumbering him with the given name 'Horatio', Captain Petroni might have preferred to be still serving aboard a warship but the recharge station was hardly a command that lacked for prestige, despite being barely half-way complete. As yet only half the recharge batteries were in place, so it could only serve only four jumpships at once, only a single grav-deck was installed and spinning and as yet none of the repair bays was fully operational but externally at least it appeared complete and should suitably impress the telephone company.
They would be even more impressed, or perhaps distressed, if they knew that before she was finished the station would be home to several squadrons of Voidseeker AI-controlled aerospace fighters salvaged from Camelot Command, as well as more considerably more firepower of its own than a typical Olympus could boast, but that would be something they, or someone else, would have to learn the hard way. For now just encountering the Cape Bon as guardship should be enough to ensure the security of the station again anyone arriving at the Zenith point with ill intent while the rest of the system was defended by a frankly excessive number of aerospace fighters and armed dropships not to mention several warships that were not mothballed.
It looked like the government really wanted to play nice with ComStar because after reporting back to the capital via encrypted tightbeam signal Petroni was told that Secretary Hollister herself was catching a dropship to come up and meet them, presumably with a spooky intelligence type or two in-tow. There was no particular rush of course, even with the recharge-station beaming power to the ComStar jumpship they couldn't leave for a week anyway, but Hollister should arrive in three days according to her message which Petroni took as her wanting to get the message across that Niops wasn't rejecting good relations with ComStar by denying them access to any of the planets in the system, it was just standard policy.
In a similar vein, Petroni offered to send over some fresh food to the Hikyaku if they were interested, even asking if they might want a couple of crates of beer thrown in as a sign of being a good host, but Stockdale rejected the offer of the beer thereby making himself an enemy of several of the ships crew whose promise to abstain until off-duty was apparently just not enough for the Precentor.
Truth be told, Samantha Hollister was always looking for an excuse to get away from the office, and having already told Giles Olson that whether he was re-elected as High Associator or not there was no way she was going to stay on as Secretary of Trade and Industry, she wasn't bothered if some trivial administrative paperwork backed up in her absence.
With the first of the new model Hussar light mechs now rolling off the production line, only one every two weeks so far but production should be ramping up to double that by next year, Hollister was happy enough with how she had performed in the job. A few days ago she had signed off on developing a second-generation Niops Hussar with a suite of Improved Sensors based on those of the Stag, and that thing should far outclass anything this side of Strana Mechty for decades to come at least.
Metal imports from the Illyrian Palatinate had leveled off as domestic production finally started to catch up with demand, but the prices the Illyrians charged were so low they would likely continue as long as Niops had the obsolete and replaced military hardware to trade for the imports. You could buy a lot of copper or steel for a shipment of Star league era lasers or autocannons that would otherwise gather dust in a warehouse and some in government were starting to come around to the idea that there was a lot of potential in arms dealing, or rather arms trading and barter.
The Majesty Metals and Manufacturing corporation in the Magistracy of Canopus manufactured a tank the SLDF was well familiar with, the Manticore, as well as an aerospace fighter the Sabre both of which were seen as suitable for equipping planetary militias. What the corporation did not, or could not manufacture was the kind of advanced late Star League equipment that equipped Royal Divisions, such as the ERPPC and the Double Heat Sinks needed to operate them effectively, whereas Niops could.
Niops would have to set up a few new production lines, likely on Alphard, to churn out what was to them outdated gear but the Magistracy would love to have it. Perhaps even greeting the offer with more enthusiasm than they had shown when asked if they might be interesting in purchasing Jamerson-Ulikov Water Purifiers at cost when they were put into mass production. That had been an idea from the diplomatic corps, Niops could charge a fortune for the things but they wouldn't and would even offer the blueprints for free to anyone that asked. It was part of a plan to present themselves as the Terran Hegemony reborn, but a bit nicer than before, to help project a positive image in the wider galaxy.
Given the number of worlds that were effectively dying for the lack of a relatively cheap, reliable source of water for agriculture these days it seemed unlikely that the scheme would not be well received, at least by the general public at large.
That was partially why they wanted access to the ComStar network and also needed to be on good terms with the phone-company, at least long enough for word to spread about the purifiers and also that Niops was looking for people to emigrate to the new Hegemony anyway. They also wanted to make contact with several firms based in different parts of the Inner Sphere, including Terra itself where they were likely under the thumb of ComStar, to negotiate licenses to legally build various pieces of hardware.
Franklin Hallis had taken a look at a sales brochure for the relatively new Schrek tank made by Aldis on Terra and opined that by swapping out the three PPCs for Improved PPC's or a pair of Enhanced ERPPCs they would have a machine that could give armoured regiments the mobile firepower to take on most anything. Of course, given the Wolverine's evident PPC obsession that could have been some bias showing on his part. Funding the development of the Improved Enhanced ERPPC was already eating into the military R&D budget, and Hollister had vetoed outright a request for half a billion dollars to look into whether an Enhanced Naval PCC would be a complete boondoggle or not. 
Finding herself with some time to ponder the way things were going as the dropship ferried her to go meet the ComStar Precentor Samantha Hollister was feeling pretty satisfied that under her watch industry was expanding, finances were secure and she had successfully managed to convince Olson not to expand the Hegemony faster than was prudent.
She only hoped that whoever took over from her as Secretary of Trade and Industry was wise enough to follow the same path, because if you weren't prepared to say 'no' to most requests for funding there wasn't enough germanium of Alphard to pay for anything everyone asked for.
You had to be opportunistic though. The news that someone had just nuked the factory on Errai in the Draconis Combine where the Maltex Corporation had made the Thug assault mech was such an opportunity. Under the circumstances it was well worth sending Maltex an HPG asking what they might want for the blueprints and a manufacturing license because they weren't going to be making them anymore and they would really need a cash injection right now. That Niops was perfectly happy to agree not to export the things, so if Maltex eventually got back on their feet they wouldn't be a competitor on future sales, helped seal the deal (although Maltex did still complain about Niops being vultures when being bargained down hard in price). 
ComStar's new 'C-Bill' just made the whole process of transferring the money so easy too. Reading all the transmissions going back and forth ComStar was pleased to learn that Niops would only be hand-building the things, needing a few new assaults to replace older ones that were wearing out apparently, but they greatly underestimated what 'hand-building' meant in Niops Association terms.
For that matter if they had known what a Niops built Royal Thug actually mounted in terms of weaponry and armor ComStar would have been downright appalled. 
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===Star Map of Niops Association - 2835=== 
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==Chapter Notes==
*;Notes from the Author : Senior ComStar officials are known as Precentors with your rank in the organization being determined by where you are Precentor for. My OC here, Alan Stockdale, is Precentor Hednesford so he's mid-ranking. The Hednesford system, 35LY from Niops, is important emough that the Free Worlds League kept a decent sized garrison there, the Twenty-Seventh Marik Militia, and unlike many systems on the edge of the periphery it was never abandoned so it's not an important backwater.At this point ComStar is run by Conrad Toyama and still in transition from being a continuation of the old SLCOMNET (as it mostly was under Jerome Blake) to becoming the fanatical, quasi-religious organisation it became under Toyama's successor Raymond Karpov. Don't get me wrong, Toyama wasn't remotely nice but it was under Karpov that ComStar went, well, full ComStar (never go full Comstar). To give one example, under Toyama ComStar technicians still just wore grey jumpsuits as a uniform (like SLCOMNET did) but Karpov made them wear robes like those of a medieval monk and failing to chant over Hyperpulse Generators was going to get you into a lot of trouble. Toyama dies in 2837 and then things are going to get... interesting.The Olympus station at the Niops Zenith jump-point looks more complete than it really is (the construction crews are working on the station at Annie Jump Cannon) and between gher and the presence of an Essex class destroyer like the Cape Bon the ComStar people are really caught out here. After recieving an HPG from a periphery station that had been dark for decades they expected to find a tiny colony barely hanging on but instead ran into a hitherto unknown interstellar nation. Given that much of the reputation ComStar and ROM has for excellence in intelligence gathering is simply down to reading everyone's mail the notion that they might let Niops forward their hyperpulse messages via the ComStar network isn't too implausible (they really want to read them) although at some point they are going to insist on taking over NHCOMNET (and won't like the response).The ComStar C-Bill was introduced in 2835 and helped a lot with cross-border commerce (each power has its own currency). Another thing that happened in 2835 was the destruction of the Thug factory on Errai belonging to the Maltex Corporation. Despite being based in the Draconis Combine after their factory was destroyed Maltex gave Earthwerks Incorporated a license to produce the Thug in the Free Worlds League (albeit a downgraded version) so Hollister isn't the only opportunist vulture out there. The Wolverines having a thing for PPC's seems like a quirk they'd have so them hankering for the Schrek seems apt (it's made by Aldis, a company based on ComStar controlled Terra).
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Chapter 28