Well, here is the Second chapter, less action and more world building. I still got one more to post plus one at the beta.


September 25th, 3040
Wynn's Roost System.
UNS Azure

Commander Lestrade looked at the fake windows of his office and reflected. Thirty hours had passed since the surrender of the pirate DropShips and the Azure was back in geosynchronous orbit over the Magrotta plains.

It had been an interesting thirty hours.

Communication with the Dyson had proved mixed. His superiors hadn't been all too happy about his decision to intervene, but there had only been a very light dressing down. Pirates weren't exactly popular and his intervention opened a door with the people of Wynn's Roost, as that was the name used by the locals for New Albuquerque. It didn't roll off the tongue well, but it was something he would have to get used to.

On the other end of the equation there had been the funerals to arrange, three of his pilots had fallen in the line of duty, and he'd had to write three letters to next of kin, regardless if the men had them within the fleet, it was a matter of principle or maybe a coping mechanism or perhaps even an exercise, a reminder that actions came with consequences.

They had learned a lot these past hours, messages exchanged between his people and the Wynns, as the locals called themselves, in particular their Chairman, Virginia Andretti. And yes, it was 'chairman', he had asked, something to do with a local tradition.

Right now he still had a detachment of Variable Fighters and Work Destroids planetside as they continued to clean the battlefield and move the remains of the machines, his and the pirates, to a more secure location until they could figure how the spoils would be split.

As he checked his watch, Lestrade noted it was almost time for his first meeting with the locals.

The Admiral had empowered him as the fleet representative for the time being so he could handle the negotiations, like this upcoming face to face meeting, though his mandate wasn't without limits. There was a laundry list of things he could and could not do. The whole purpose was to put the idea of basing the Spacy Fleet from Wynn's on the table, feel out the issue and leave the details for a negotiation team, if things progressed well. A big if.

Checking his watch again, he stood up. It was time.


September 25th, 3040
Wynn's Roost System.
Magrotta Plains, Wynn's Court.

Virginia Andretti was feeling a mix of anxiety and nerves as her private car moved towards the meeting point. She had been Chairman of the Roost for the better part of two decades. That meant she was very aware how tight their situation was, they weren't that far from being a failed colony, despite her and her predecessors' best efforts. She also knew how fortunate the intervention of the UN Spacy had been. A godsend if she were to be brutally honest.

Her driver slowed down the car as they passed through the cordon. The militiamen manning it didn't look too thrilled but they were doing their duty of keeping the curious off the battlefield. It was no place for a civilian, not yet. From her limited understanding, there were many risks, like unexploded ordnance but it was also in place to keep the treasure hunters from scavenging the fields.

The messages exchanged between them and the orbiting Azure had filled her with a strange optimism, but they also worried her. While a godsend, the motivations of the Spacy were an unknown. That, naturally, preoccupied her. In her experience, people were hardly selfless and always had an angle. Not like they could do much if the spacers decided to become hostile, perhaps that was what concerned her most, that of changing their impotence before a pirate raid for yet another form of impotence.

Outside the car she could see the lean forms of a team of two Worker Destroids. That was how the Spacers called their IndustrialMechs, or that particular model of Industrial, she wasn't completely sure which one was. The machines were moving the wrecked shell of a BattleMech, a Locust if her memory served right, towards one of the storage areas that now dotted the plain.

Allowing the Destroids and their honor guard to work the battlefield had been an easy decision, a way to respect the Spacers fallen and let them retrieve those shattered machines of theirs. It also allowed her people to have a better look at the spacers.

The pirate's Mechs, on the other hand, were only being carted off to a designated storage area. Those Mech's ownership was one of the topics still in the air.

Five minutes later, the car slowed down and came to a stop as they arrived. A moment later, her driver opened the door and she stepped into the Magrotta plains.

It was a cool summer morning with a slight overcast sky. A nice day to be out in the country after all the bloodshed.

A small tent had been set nearby to serve as an impromptu conference room. Nearby, she also spotted General Robert Fenwood. He was at a table having a discussion with two people in what she assumed were Spacy work uniforms, probably the senior techs she mused. When Fenwood spotted her, he excused himself from the spacers and turned to face her at attention. He always was a stickler for discipline.

"Madam Chairman," he said giving her a salute.

She responded to him with a nod. "General Fenwood. I take everything is ready?"

"Yes," he motioned towards the tent, "we are set up and waiting for Captain Lestrade."

"Good," she said moving towards the tent's open flap.

The insides of the tent were spartan, with a table dominated the space, along with two chairs, on opposite ends, two flags, one the local Wynn's Roost emblem and the other, unfamiliar to her, but by deduction the Spacy's own.

"General, I thought you would be joining us?" asked Virginia noticing the chairs.

"With your permission, I'd rather stay standing," came the sharp reply from the militiaman.

"Robert, you aren't a young man any more, there is no shame about sitting down with the rest of us mortals, you know?"

"Nevertheless, Virginia, I'd rather stand."

"If you must, Robert," she glanced at her Commanding General. Robert Fenwood was frowning. He always did that when he was deep in thought. It was probably the reason why he was refusing to sit down; he always insisted he thought better on his feet.

She glanced at her watch, it was almost time.

Ten minutes later, there was a strange whooshing sound as one of the strange shuttles from the Azure made its landing nearby. It really amazed her seeing one of the fusion plume-less contraptions land so close to her.

Within a few moments, the Spacer Captain, Eric Lestrade, entered the tent. He was wearing what she assumed was their uniform, white pants and a blue Jacket with a white visored cap.

"Captain Lestrade?" asked Andretti as she offered her hand.

"You must be Chairman Andretti, then?" he said shaking her hand.

Lestrade then turned to the other person in the tent "General Fenwood?" he said, this time extending his gloved hand.

"Correct, Captain, A pleasure to meet you," Fenwood responded, "We owe you a debt of gratitude, to you and your men."

"It was the least I could do, General," he said with a curt nod.

"Perhaps we should sit?" offered Virginia, as she motioned towards the small table

"That sounds like a good idea," replied Lestrade.

Once the two of them had sat down, and Fenwood had taken his place besides his commanding officer, Virginia eyed the alien captain. He looked young, younger than her, at least.

Finally, she cleared her throat.

"Perhaps we should begin?" she offered with a practiced ease. She was out of her depth, but that was true for all the involved, as far as she could tell, and that gave her a certain degree of confidence.

"Certainly, Madam Chairman," Eric paused, "how would you wish to begin?"

"I would like to begin with your people, what can you tell me about them and what were your reasons for being in this little corner of the galaxy," she stated.

"That is a difficult question, Madam Chairman. You have to understand that our situation is unreal." He paused, struggling for words, "Our fleet is lost, Madam."

"Lost? I find that difficult to believe, Captain. How could you be lost?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

"It is not a matter of location, but of chance. We were caught in a trap and to escape it we had to get creative with our FTL engines."

"Are you telling me you purposely miss-jumped?" interjected General Fenwood somewhat horrified. He had heard some tales of miss-jumps, and none of them had happy endings. Some of them, he though were exaggerations but all the spacers he had talked with, all three of them, had only talked about miss-jumps when well and truly lubricated.

"Not exactly," Lestrade interjected, "from what little I understand of your FTL drives, ours seem to work somewhat differently."

"How bad?" asked Fenwood automatically.

"Tell me, General, Chairman," he said as he faced both of them, "have you ever heard of the term parallel universe?"

For a moment, silence dominated the tent and Eric was left with the feeling he had made a serious mistake. For her part, Virginia blinked, she had expected many things, the OWA reforged, the Star League reborn, hell even another star nation from the deep periphery, but this? This wasn't anywhere near. It was an outrageous claim. But... she also had no reason to doubt the Captain. Not yet.

"I have, Captain and I have to say that it sounds rather... fantastic" She said, diplomatically. She had been a science fiction fan in her younger days, the idea wasn't that uncommon in her library, but seeing somebody, of flesh and blood, standing before her claim he was from an elsewhere? That was downright Fantastic, with a capital F no less.

"I agree with you, Madam," echoed Fenwood.

"It sounds fantastic, that much I agree, but it is the truth." Lestrade said in an even tone, though Virginia could tell his voice was strained.

"Hmm... I believe you Captain, for now" Andretti responded after a moment, she then looked at the younger man before her and took a gamble, "You are looking for a new home, right?"

Eric's eyes widened and he seemed to freeze for a second before he nodded, "That is correct, Madam Chairman."

"I think it might be time to drop the honorifics, Captain, Call me Virginia and I will call you Eric... and you can call this lug Robert." she said as she pointed at her General.

Eric couldn't help but to nod dumbly. He still hesitated for a second before he spoke again "Very well... Virginia," though his voice was still tentative. Virginia nodded in acknowledgment.

"Good, very good, Eric. Now, you were talking about a new home, right?"

"Yes, that is the mission, we were to scout a number of systems, compare them to our databases and see which one was the most suitable," he said, more calmly sounding than before, "Finding Wynn's Roost inhabited was really a boon to us."

"And just in the nick of time too," she added, "and what will you do now, Eric, will your people be conquering us or forcing us into bondage?"

"Nothing of the sort," he responded horrified, "merely negotiate, we could be of help to one another."

"That sounds agreeable," she responded, "I suppose that with you around we certainly wouldn't have to fear any pirate raid," stated Virginia, she then glanced at Robert, "no disrespect to your men, Robert," her tone this time was apologetic.

"None taken Virginia," responded Robert with a long suffering sigh, "the truth is I agree. Without your people, Captain, we would have fared poorly against such a large pirate force."

"I suppose so, we just did what we trained to do," responded the alien captain.

"That must be some training," stated Virginia with an impish smile "but back to the issue at hand.."

"You are open to the idea?" asked Eric.

"Yes, insofar we can reach a mutually beneficial deal," she responded. "I would have to sell it to the board, you understand, perhaps even need call a plebiscite, but I doubt many would see ill to the idea. No one in Rook City, for certain."

"That is enough for me. However, I would have to consult with my superiors, so I'd suggest we organize a follow up meeting for this issue," explained Lestrade.

"I understand, Eric, I think that should be for the best," responded Virginia.

"Thank you Virginia." Eric said with a small grin. "In the meantime, I want to suggest we trade our history databases. If we are going to be working together it makes sense we learn of each other, right?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea," she then turned towards her general, "What do you think, Robert?"

"It sounds like a fair trade." Robert responded perhaps a bit too fast. He was still uncertain about the story woven by the younger Captain but he was honestly curious about the files themselves.
"Now perhaps we should move to the issue of the Pirates..."

"I have no real stance on that issue," Eric stated, "Though Commander Kurata, that is the captain of the Rapids," he explained, "needs to keep the crews of the JumpShips, or else we risk losing them." Already the situation of the Elisai was somewhat critical; she had to be tethered to the Rapids to avoid her orbit from decaying too much, and to provide power to her failing systems

"It chafes me to give them a bye." mentioned Robert.

"Not a bye, but a, hmm, work release program," interjected Virginia.

"That could work, though not sure if it will fit everybody in those crews," replied Eric, "from what I've been able to learn, the crew of the, Tramp, seems to be rather belligerent." In Kurata's words the only thing keeping them honest was the damage suffered during contact and the very real presence of the Rapids and her marines.

"And what do you plan on doing with them?"

"For now, nothing," he explained, "but if they prove too troublesome, I'll have the Rapids tow the ship into orbit and let your courts deal with the crews." Eric paused thoughtfully, "might need to make an example of a crewman or two, probably the Captain as well, from what Commander Kurata has informed me, he seems like a thoroughly unpleasant fellow."

"That... seems acceptable." replied Virginia.

"Rather than the pirates themselves, I am more concerned about their gear," Robert said.

"We captured quite a bit of it," was Eric's reply

"Two DropShips, a pair of ASFs and seven Mechs," paraphrased Robert, "with at least another half dozen repairable."

"That seems about right." admitted Eric.

"What are your plans for it, Eric?" asked Virginia.

"I've been instructed to turn as many of those machines as possible over to the fleet's R&D." Eric explained, "But I've also been allowed to release a few for your use. As a sign of good will," he clarified.

"That sounds good, perhaps we should work out the details?" suggested Virginia.

In the end the split was mostly satisfactory to all. The Militia would gain four of the light Mechs, but the Spacy would keep the heavier ones, including the beheaded Awesome, plus most of the damaged ones. The AeroSpace Fighters and DropShips would be handed over to the Spacy who would take on rgw role of the defacto System defense force, at least for the time being.


September 25th 3040
Wynn's Roost System
UNS Rapids, Zenith Point

Buster Devries was out of his depth. Ever since he had set foot on the Rapids, things had gone from dire to bizarre. The ship was new, it felt new, or at least very well maintained, but that was the least of the issues. There was gravity here, the whole ship had it, and with no evidence of rotating sections, this was honest to goodness gravity that felt just like being planetside.

He was also anxious about meeting the captain of the ship, and he had to convince the man that he and the Rockhound weren't pirates. And they weren't, not that it would be an easy sell.

Eventually he was led to a small office; it was spartan, dominated by a metal desk with the same stylized blue diamond over a red roundel that seemed to be these people's insignia. Not a Cameron Star in sight, a part of his mind had provided, as he discarded the possibility of the Star League returned.

That was good, the League had been a golden age, well, not exactly in these parts, but it had been very, very, harsh on piracy, even those in his situation would have had to fear the noose.

There was a man, of Asian descent, sitting behind the desk; he seemed to be working on some sort of incorporated holo terminal.

Then his escort left the room leaving him alone with what he assumed was the Ship's Captain.

"Mister Devries?" asked the man.

"Ah, yeah, that's me, auh, Captain..." Buster trailed off.

"Kurata will do" responded the man, not looking up from his desk. Kurata, that sounded distinctly Japanese. Maybe even Kuritan... that was bad, they were even worse than the League when it came to pirates.

"Captain Kurata," he said tentatively.

"Good, I've been told you had requested to meet with me," replied the Captain. He was still looking at his holoscreen, which was making Buster nervous, and that was probably the point.

"I am not a Pirate," he blurted out. Great going, he though, now he is really going to believe you.

"Yes, my aide mentioned your claim," he still continued to work at his station, "do you have any proof of that?"

"I..." and he paused, this is what he was dreading, most of the proofs he could provide were far from being ironclad. He sighed, his shoulders slouching as he did so, "you can search my ship, interrogate us if you like, but I am telling the truth," he said with as much conviction as he could muster.

"Or you could be lying to try and save yourself from the noose." Buster gulped, and there it was the true reason he was scared out of his wits.

"Did you capture the DropShips?" was Buster's hesitant question.

"We did," admitted Kurata.

"Then there might be something else, the Mule, that is the Fair Lady, she was docked with us when the Pirates ah..."

"Impressed you into service?"

Buster nodded, "Yeah, the Captain, Dobbs is his name, he should be able to.. to..."

"Verify your story?" completed Kurata as he, finally, looked up from his desk

Another nod was all Buster could manage. The man, Kurata, had penetrating eyes, seemed to go right though him. A part of him had preferred when he had been looking at his holoscreen.

"Hm. I will follow up on this, in the meantime, I would ask you for a gift of good will, perhaps information on the Inner Sphere I've heard your people talk about..."

"Well... not sure why you need to ask me... y-you have access to our files and" he seemed to pause, "but I... yes I would be more than happy to assist you."

After an eternity, the man smiled, it was a toothy grin "Very well, why don't you sit down and start at the beginning."

"B-what?!" he said surprised, he wanted to do that now? From memory? "I thought you wanted to see my databases."

"And I will, but first I want to hear things, a general image, if you will, from your own mouth. It is always better to hear things first hand," he said, still smiling, "and after all; as a trader you must have moved extensively, and heard a lot, didn't you."

Ah, cold sweat yeah, there was that too now, thought Buster. "Y-yes, yes, certainly, my memory isn't the best but if you only want broad strokes I can do that."

"Good, but do take a seat," he said motioning to a metal chair to the side, "and move it close it to my desk."

He complied and sat down.

"I g-guess we should begin here, this area used to be part of the Outworlds Alliance..."


September 27th 3040 (local time)
GLK-2526 System,
UNS Dyson

"I assume you have read team Alpha's report," Thomes addressed his senior officers. There was an echo of agreement and nods from those present. The meetings had changed a bit since the event, that was how the crew had begun calling the misfold, for one they now included Mayor Logan, for another, they were happening far too often. Now that they had the time to digest the briefings and reports sent by the Azure and her escort, now there were other pressing issues to address.

"In that case, we better get to the core of the matter, should we settle in New Albuquerque?" This was one of the few cases where Reuben, Admiral Thomes, couldn't pull rank, it had to be consensual. It also showed that, slowly, the meetings were turning into a defacto ruling council. That was something they would need to fix, once they had settled.

The table broke in murmurs, for a few minutes after that. Thomes let it; it was conductive for a debate.

"What do you think the locals will extort of us?" asked Gloria. She was open to the idea, to a point.

"Doubt it would be too much, Mayor Logan," addressed Colonel Geoffrey Kuong, "you have read the reports, they are in a bad shape, and they know we know. To be honest, I am more worried about this inner sphere and those Destroids of theirs."

"Perhaps we should call them BattleMechs? They seem to be significantly different than your Destroids, Geoff, and that is how the locals call them, their durability is concerning," pointed out Chief Engineer Mitchelson.

"We can address that issue afterward, both their Destroids and their Fighters and how to improve our effectiveness against them," stated Reuben. He was particularly interested in the latter given their new reality. "And how we will deal with this Inner Sphere."

"Then I say go," stated Mitchelson.

"I agree," echoed Logan

"Sir, having an already built support base is an ideal scenario, if the cost is not too high, we can't let it pass by," were Commodore Duperiale's words.

"I have my doubts, but will follow the will of the majority," Kuong interjected..

"Hmm, I think it is a good idea, will also be a good place to see what the locals are immune to. I understand that..." Doctor Fraga seemed to trail off.

"We will discuss that later, Elizabeth," Reuben paused for a second, "but then it is agreed. We will have to dispatch a team to Wynn's Roost to finalize the agreement."

"Gloria," he said, turning towards the Mayor, "I am very short on diplomats, can you do this?"

"Well, sure, I will leave the day to day to Fergus," she said with a shrug, "though you must know I am no expert."

"Compared to whom?" Reuben paused, "besides you did a good enough job two years ago with all that union business."

"Okay, point." She admitted.

"That more or less settles that issue," stated Thomes, "Now let's move onto the next issue, the battle between the Azure's compliment and the Pirate forces at Wynn's Roost."

"I am not happy with Commander Lestrade," stated Vifol, "he took far too many risks by engaging the unknowns; it might have turned out for the best, but..."

"Vifol, I understand your position, but we have already addressed this issue during our last meeting," said Reuben in a conciliatory tone, "I am more interested in your opinion of the battle."

"Our pilots proved to be very adaptable to their situation, few seemed to freeze over the durability of the alien machines, and our Stealth seems to have been successful, that is for the 171s, the enemy fighters were able to bypass the more basic OverTech stealth of the Thunderbolts."

"On the ground battle, our pilots used their stealth to great effect and were able to overwhelm the enemy in a relatively short period of time, by concentrating their firepower, that is two to three machines firing full payloads onto one of the BattleMechs; but then again, it should be noted that they were facing a band of ill-disciplined thugs in poorly maintained machines, I doubt we would have the same luck against inner sphere regulars." Of course, they didn't had a clue of what an 'inner sphere regular' was actually like, but regulars would have, probably, adapted better to an outside context problem; not to mention the quality of the machines would have been better. The latter was a sobering thought.

"And what about the machines themselves?" asked Kuong.

"That is my cue," stated Mitchelson, "Do bear in mind this is just an analysis of the data at hand, I'd have to get my hands dirty before we can get anything more solid. So this is mostly speculative in nature."

"We understand." replied Thomes.

"The BattleMechs, as the locals call them, are considerably more armored than our own, they also seem to out-mass our machines a couple of times, not surprising given how much armor, and weapons, they seem to carry." He gave a second's pause before continuing, "The armor itself is ablative alloy of some sort, seems quite superior to anything I've ever seen and, like I said before, they seem to mount it in spades, this goes both for the fighters as well as the Destroids."

The holotable switched to show a few schematics of the BattleMechs themselves.

"Commander Lestrade has managed to secure half of the captured machines as samples so we can use them to determine what is the best way to kill them, but if you want a quick answer, I'd say, concentrated or overwhelming firepower is the way to go." The former implied hitting the same general areas to perform an anomalous erosion of the armored plate itself, the pro was that it was doable with current gear, the con was that it required a high degree of precision from the pilots; while the later implied using more powerful weapons to overwhelm the plate in one go, it was simpler, but it would require new equipment and that came with other downsides.

"Not an easy thing to accomplish, to concentrate firepower," stated Geoffrey, "At least not in battlefield conditions and not with a lot of training." Oh, a few pilots could manage that but most of them would be far too busy dodging and staying alive to pull it off successfully.

"That much is true, so that leave us needing to up our firepower, particularly against things like that 80 ton monstrosity," commented Admiral Thomes, the Awesome, as it was called, worried him considerably. It may have been slow but was hard hitting and it was only one of many 'Assault' class machines. "Can you do something about it, Thaddeus?"

"I'll have to look at the databases," the chief engineer explained, "however I do have a couple of ideas, but they are quick fixes mostly, like switching to energy gunpods." Vifol frowned at that, Energy gunpod was an idea that was suggested perhaps once every few years; they were far more formidable than the ammunition based ones, but...

"What about the power requirements, wouldn't they compromise the SWAG and PPBs?" asked Vifol. That was the issue, energy pods would need to draw power from somewhere and that meant less energy for other critical systems as the energy converting armor or the Pin Point Barrier.

"Somewhat," admitted Mitchelson, "but short of upping the power-plants..." he trailed off. "And that isn't a quick fix, but if the present agree, I could look into that. However it will take time and resources." Several people along the table frowned. Time and resources were things in short supply at the moment, not to mention that any of these projects could end up producing lemons and they really couldn't afford that.

"Could we improve our current gunpods instead?" asked Mayor Logan "Better ammo? Or a dedicated ammo type?" While retired from the service, Gloria Logan had been a VF ace in her youth; she had been in a cockpit during the Battle against the Boddole Zer's Fleet and had lived to tell the tale, unlike most.

"That would be ideal, but would need research, we might be able to improve on the propellants, or the cooling, or we could switch to a heavier gun pod caliber, god knows we need that for the Tbolt." That caused a few nods along the table, "Or we could rely more on external ordnance, heavy missiles or bombs, but will up the costs considerably and give us a hit in the endurance of the Vfs, and lets not forget any of these options will take some time especially since we don't have much of a military research complex", he stated.

The fleet had considerable number of scientists, but since it was aimed towards exploration, it was geologist, biologist and physicists mostly, and to help set up colony worlds, there were also civil engineers. The military specialist were few and had been tasked mostly with adapting the research data received from HQ rather than coming up with new things.

"We don't need an immediate answer, Thaddeus, take your time," replied Thomes. "After all, I doubt we will be engaging pirates anytime soon."

"Understood."

"What can you tell us about their weapons, Thaddeus?" asked Duperiale.

"Too early to tell, they seem effective enough, I'd have to study them to give you a better analysis. Though the refire rate of their beam guns is glacial."

There were a couple of nods from the rest of the table. Rate of fire was of high priority for the current Spacy and Army doctrines. And those present agreed with said doctrine, at least to a point. After all the true core of the doctrines was versatility. It had been that versatility that kept the pilots from freezing out when things happened differently in the field and ultimately, kept them alive one more day.

"I'd need more testing to give you a better answer," he replied. Alpha's report had included a lot of data on the battle itself, including cockpit recording of all involved VFs but, as it was only a preliminary report, it had huge gaps and lacked a lot of the experimental test a proper forensics team could pull.

"Speaking of which, Thaddeus, I need you to assemble a Battlefield Forensic team," stated the Admiral. "We need to know more of these BattleMechs and Fighters and how to kill them. To use your words."

"Certainly, I will need a couple of days to get the people and equipment together," replied the chief engineer. "I assume you will be detailing one of our science vessels to this?"

"Yes, I'll detach the Goddard and some escorts." replied Thomes. The Goddard was a Cassiopeia class research vessel, it built using the hull of a Zentradi picket, as opposed to the far more massive and purposely built Einsteins but were more than suitable for their needs, allowing them to be all over the place supporting scouts and explorers and close to the so called hot zones, unlike an Einstein they were more expendable and their facilities weren't quite as versatile. Of course, their circumstances had changed, and the state of the art facilities of an Einstein would be missed.

"She is a good ship, good crew too." He paused, and then said, "I'd want to lead this one, Reuben."

"Actually I was going to ask you just that, considered it Okayed," responded the admiral.

"Excellent," was his reply, a smile evident on the Chief Engineer's face.

"Geoff, Viofol," spoke Thomes as he turned towards his underlings, "I want you to start drilling your people in the sims, see how good they fare against these Destroids and Fighters."

"I will have to guess a lot of the op-for capabilities," stated Vifol with Geoff nodding in support.

"Do your best," was the Admiral's reply. "That goes for you both. Our survival will rest on how well we might be able to kill those machines, both in the air and on the ground."

"Understood, I will put the boys through the paces." Kuong said with a predatory smile.

"Thaddeus, I know you will be busy but try to keep in touch with Vifol and Geoff, so they may refine their tactics," Reuben requested.

"Goes without saying, Reuben," was the engineer's reply.

"Moving on, the final issue for today is what do we do regarding the Inner Sphere?" asked Reuben..

"Do we have to do anything yet?" replied Logan, "I've read most of the history files and Commander Kurata's briefing and while worrisome, we are outside their reach."

"Worrisome? We are talking about five superstates going at it for the last two hundred years, they have racked a body-count that must be, at least, an order of magnitude larger than Space War One." answered Koung.

"In total numbers not percentiles," clarified Vifol.

"True but do keep in mind the information we have is stale, very stale" replied Thomes, the data from Wynn was decades, maybe centuries out of date, and the Rockhound had last traded in the sphere over a decade prior.

"Perhaps we should get new data, then?" suggested Geoff.

"How do you suggest that? Defolding over there and asking the locals?" said Gloria.

"Of course not, that would tip our hand, as to speak, and I think we will need to play with our hand close to our chest for most of this one," replied Reuben.

"Well... we do have a couple of local Starships in our power." interjected Mitchelson

"Ships we don't know how to operate with crews we can't trust, yet." was Reuben response.

"So we are going to do nothing, Reuben?" asked Kuong.

"I didn't say that, but it is not like we have all that many options." he paused, "for the time being we should explore the local provinces. They seemed to have fallen off the map, so they are rarely traversed by local Starships."

"So we will be moving openly?"

"Not at this time, scout forces will deploy just inside the Oort cloud, given how the local FTL works, I doubt the locals will be watching outwards much, if at all."

"Sounds reasonable," replied Vifol. "What will the mission parameters be?"

"Basic recon, make sure how reliable our new maps are," he said referring to the old Outworlds Maps the Wynns had provided, "and to check how bad this area of space is."

"And should they find signs of human habitation, just observe and report?" hazarded Vifol.

"Yes, in the mean time we can also refit the captured Starships and prepare a more in-depth exploration of the inner sphere. Because this much is clear, ignoring them for too long is far from being a good idea," Reuben paused for a moment, "By the way, what is the status of Detroit Blue and Sao Pablo Gold?"

"Blue's drives should be up and running in two days, tops. We would need a week or so to fine tuning them. Gold is a little behind schedule, say a week for the first fitting."

"Then this is what we will do. I will be sending the Goddard and two escorts from Frigate Division Three in two or three days tops. With them will go Gloria, her team, Thaddeus, his team, and a colony team."

Colony teams were detachments of surveyors, scientist and engineers that were normally deployed to do the prep work for a colony. That involved testing the flora and fauna, cataloging the local resources and building the initial infrastructure. It was a significant commitment of manpower and equipment.

"A Colony team? Isn't it perhaps a bit too soon for that?" stated Elizabeth.

"Not if we use them to do Civil Engineering works. Might earn us some points with the locals. Plus we can also begin setting up the orbital infrastructure and the mines, once we get permission." One of the reasons that Wynn's Roost was such a tempting target was the presence of a very rich asteroid field in between the second and third planets. An asteroid field the locals hadn't tapped into or had stopped exploiting for one reason or the other.

"What about the colony team, will they be going in the Goddard or we will be dispatching one of the transports?" asked Mitchelson

"The latter, I think King of the Plains has finished its inspections?" asked Reuben.

The King, as she was known, was one of the fleet's few dedicated construction vessels, a purpose built craft, capable of planetary landings and of carrying a considerable stockpile of supplies for the work teams. It had a large landing section, taking a cue from the Zentradi command cruisers, that was meant to serve as home for the colony teams, and their gear, as they did their worked the field.

"Yeah, The King is space-worthy enough." agreed Mitchelson,

"Then the King and the Goddard, plus their escorts, will depart in three days" he paused, "then, as soon as the Blue finishes its trials, we will be sending her, the yardship Formas and the carrier Formidable and her escorts." The Formidable was one of the two Uraga class carriers that had been assigned to the fleet and represented a considerable fraction of their force projection capabilities, especially with her escorts which included one of the fleet's six Lancer class Cruisers. "They will assist the damaged Elisai and will refit her for our use."

"So we are sending in a task force? I thought you wanted to make nice with the locals" stated Geoff, "they might take it the wrong way."

"The locals don't seem to care much about what happens past their atmo, and then we have Lestrade's own arrangement," stated Reuben.

"Ah, yes, that arrangement. System defense force, that might work," conceded the Army Colonel.

"Now unless there is another issue?" asked Reuben. At the lack of response he nodded, "Then this meeting is dismissed."

With that, the meeting came to a close.


September 30th 3040
Wynn's Roost
Wynn's Court, Rook City.

Chairman Virginia Andretti was starting to feel the burn. The last few days had been exhausting, especially thanks to the information provided by the history trade. That had been the first real agreement between them and the Spacy fleet. A truly momentous occasion, and yet it had brought her more headaches than she cared to think about.

That was the problem; she just didn't know what to think. To start with they weren't only from another universe, no, they were also from a thousand years prior. And that wasn't the most surprising thing, far from it: alien warships, a civil war, a space war, the near annihilation of humanity all packed in a single decade. And then what? A reconstruction using mass cloning and the decision to expand to the stars. Robert was right, it sounded just like the plot of one of her favorite novels, except for the part where it was all factual.

At least she now had a better understanding of whom she was dealing with and, as far as her people could tell, the videos attached to the files, some even from gun cameras, weren't faked.

Of course, the trick had been how to present the information to the board of directors; they weren't the most imaginative people on the planet and she needed their support.

The Board was the legislative body of Wynn's roost, originally it had been run by the trade cartels but after the Exodus, the role had fallen to elected officials. The current crop was half way through their ten year long service, were a tad too comfortable with their positions and not concerned enough by the specter of reelections, yet.

"How did it go?" asked Robert Fenwood.

"As well as it could be expected," she replied, tiredly.

"That bad?" he asked.

"They agreed to continue the negotiations; they know we can't last on our own, not at this level of tech. But show them the files and..." Virginia trailed off.

"I imagine," he responded, "it isn't something easy to believe. We are talking about aliens for one, real live alien creatures."

"Not that alien, they look perfectly human to me," she interjected.

"Except they can be ten meters tall," he countered.

"There is that," she admitted, "though it is not the most shocking point, not that the board members were able to tell."

"I know I am going to regret this, but do tell," Robert said.

"They can mate with us, with viable offspring."

"So?" biology wasn't his forte, he was a military man first and foremost, though there was something at the edge of his mind that had kept nagging him about that.

"So, this Protoculture has to be linked to us."

"In another dimension," countered Robert.

"It doesn't work quite like that, Robert, we have the same history up to the year 1999 or so," there had been some differences here and there, butterfly effect, if she'd have to guess, but by and large it was the same, "so there is little reason for the prehistory to be different, actually there are very good reasons for it to be the same," she mussed, "the point is, there might be Zentradi and Supervision Armies fighting out there." Robert blinked, twice.

"I am not sure if I understand your reasoning, Virginia," replied Fenwood.

"It is simple, I am convinced the point of divergence is in the Macross, maybe it was destroyed in here, or it crash-landed elsewhere."

"That doesn't answer the big question, why has nobody stumbled upon these Zentradi?"

"Chance, I'd say. Space is big." There was that. Space was incredibly big, even with how large the inner sphere was, it was only a pinprick in the Orion arm.

"Assuming I believe you, Virginia," he said with a sigh, "then what?"

"I don't know. This is bigger than me," she replied after a while, looking thoughtfully.

"Well, maybe you will be able to talk about this with the Spacy representatives," better them than him. Virginia could be a force of nature when she wanted to, or when she felt she needed to.

"Maybe..."she said speculatively.

"On any case, you got what you wanted and, doom-casting aside, we just need to figure out how desperate the Spacy fleet is for a home."

"Yeah, that makes far more sense, worry about the short term first," she admitted, "it is not the best of policies, but it is certainly better than going nuts over something I can't change."

"Good, so this is what I've been thinking…"


October 2nd 3040
GLK-2526 System
UNS Alvin York

The Cuirassier (MBR-12) was the Army's third generation destroid. It based off the highly successful MBR-07 MKII Spartan, instead of the ill inspired MBR-10 Defiant. Designed by the StarShatter program in the late '30s and entered wide-scale adoption in the mid '40s, it was a machine of many firsts: the first destroid to mount the pin point barrier system; first successful implementation of feet mounted rollers for added agility, unlike the MKI Cheyenne which was mostly an experimental and very temperamental machine; and first to mount the revolutionary modular hard-points.

Weapons-wise, it was a beast: it kept the Spartan's pair of micromissile dispensers in a protected mount at each side torso, as a close in weapon; and the centrally mounted updated Astra TZ-X gun cluster, in between the micromissile dispensers and just below the cockpit. A pair of RÖV-15 Mauler pulse lasers mounted in a small turret above the machine's head served anti-missile and anti-personnel roles. From the Defiant, or perhaps even the Tomahawk, it inherited two shoulder mounted missile launchers providing the machine with added long range hitting power both against air or ground targets

The Cuirassier's arms ended in standard manipulators, instead of the Norman Banks claws of the Spartan, with each arm pioneering a new modular weapon payload technology, allowing fitting different packages for different roles. The standard load-out was a shield in the left arm and the Mauler PGB-15c rapid firing, liquid cooled, Charged Particle Cannon on the right, and left open the option of carrying a gunpod in the hand of the same arm or storing it on the back of the Destroid.

It was, in many ways, the pride and joy of the army but, regretfully, both machine and crew were falling short of Colonel Koung's expectations. At least insofar as the training scenarios went.

"Again!" Colonel Koung barked at the assembled members of the 5534th Regiment, 1st Battalion, A Company, "You are going to do it again and this time better," he bellowed. "I want you all better supporting each other, firing by platoons at each of the machines, not going off and try to earn kills by soloing," continued the Colonel, "We are not Flyboys, and we don't have their casualties either. I want you to go into the sims, again, and this time emerge with less casualties than the Azure did."

"Is that Clear?" he asked in a threatening tone.

"Yes Sir!" responded those present, seemingly unfazed.

"Good, go," he said dismissing them.

For his part, the Colonel moved towards the side of the room where Admiral Thomes was lurking.

"Aren't you being a little too harsh on them?" asked Admiral Thomes once the room had been cleared.

"Maybe, but their adaptability is still below par. I know we are not a service known for getting the best and brightest, but I've been trying to forge the 5534th into a tool we'd all be proud of," he paused for a moment. "However they are still a bit green around the edges. They are trying though," Koung admitted.

"What is the problem, then?"

"The problem is I am loosing too many of them in the sims. They seem to over-rely on the PPB system or get surprised when the pirate beam guns overload them or when the pirates suddenly develop cohesion and start volley fire."

"How much have you over-gunned those beam guns?"

"This time?" Koung said looking at the empty room, "Not too much, but you did say worst case and I am also varying the scenario from time to time. Can't let them get too comfortable or predictable."

"You had a full platoon of those Awesomes as the core of the pirate force and almost doubled the number of light machines, last time," countered Reuben.

"You did say worst case scenario," repeated Koung, almost like a mantra.

"That I did. Now, how are they really doing?" asked Thomes after some time.

"They are not bad but I think they can improve. I have my faith in them," he explained,

"A Dangerous thing to have, it seems, Colonel," replied the Admiral.

"They can handle it," he replied with a slim smile, "Anyway, what brought you to the York?"

The Alvin York was the fleet's sole dedicated troopship; rated for a full brigade, though it carried but a regiment of Destroids, the 5534th, and one of infantry, mostly combat engineers. It was a busy posting for the engineers; they generally helped their civilian counterparts set up infrastructure and prepare the colonies basic military installations.

"Wanted to check on our ground pounders and to have a word with you"

"Regarding?" questioned Geoff.

"The future of the army, Geoff," stated the Admiral

"Let's go to my office, then."

Colonel Kuong Geoff had been assigned the main office of the York, the one nominally assigned to a Brigadier General, and had decorated it accordingly. Photos, flags, even a pair of crossed swords dominated the walls. He even had a banner made in the likeness of the regimental colors. He had also secured some very posh chairs to boot.

Reuben wondered where the man had requisitioned them from, or if he had paid them with his own money, always a possibility. After all the Kuongs were nominally loaded, which made Geoff more of an oddity in that he choose to be a ground pounder in spite of having the backing of a wealthy and influential family and, more strange at that, fought to get a frontier posting.

Reuben was currently enjoying the chair while sipping the coffee offered to him by Kuong's aide.

"I've forgotten you had one of the fleet's good coffee machines, Geoff."

"Had to fight General Carrauther for it, worth it," stated the army Colonel, "but, you wanted to talk about the army."

"Yes," started the Admiral, "I've been thinking about the challenges ahead"

"Haven't we all?" asked Geoff, "so, what's the prognosis?"

"Well, out of all the branches of service, yours is the smaller."

"I am an army man in a navy's outfit," replied Geoff.

"There is that," deadpanned the Admiral.

Geoff replied with a small laugh.

"Anyway, I've read your recommendations and have to agree, conditionally," continued the admiral

"Oh?"

"We need to expand all our services, that much is clear. Especially since we don't know what is out there."

"And, like always, we assume the worst," completed the Colonel.

"True, but we don't have industrial capacity to spare, we are going to need most of what we have invested in infrastructure works, we might be able to spare a bit for you, though."

"What sort of kit?"

"Basic, I am afraid, but for the time being we are only going to need more infantry." With the limitations on the KF drive, the force on Wynn's Roost was more than enough to deal with any problems before it reached atmo, doubly so with the reinforcements heading its way.

"So, you want me to raise a Regiment of infantry?"

"That's the idea, and with time, I hope they can be turned into a regiment of powered."

"I am only a full bird Colonel, Reuben," warned the army man.

"No, you are not, consider yourself promoted to Brigadier General, effective immediate. Congratulations"


October 4th 3040.
Wynn's Roost.
Wynn's Court, Rook City.

It was getting late in the afternoon when Robert Fenwood marched into Chairman Andretti's office. He seemed a bit winded and was looking exhausted.

"We got confirmation?"

"Huh?" said Virginia as he looked up from her desk.

"The Negotiators have arrived." stated Robert.

"Ah, you should have said so, from the very beginning," replied Virginia as the stood up, paperwork now forgotten, "Where to now?"

"Startown. They will be landing within the hour."

The Star Town, or Startown, had been the main star-port, located only twenty kilometers from Rook City, it had been a sprawling and massive complex on its heyday. That day was long gone and was now used mostly as an airport for the few airplanes that still ran between the continents of Landing and Wynn's Court; but the facilities were still in place and it made sense as the place to receive an envoy. Even if their ships could probably land in the parking lot, if they so desired.

Startown also served as the main aerospace tracking and communications array site for the planet and had, at one time, even housed the local HPG, before it was destroyed in the great raid of 2890.

The drive to the Startown had been a pleasant, and short, one for Andretti. She had been anxious; this wasn't just meeting with the young Captain, but with a senior representative. And it was in this meeting that Wynn's fate was riding on. No pressure.

Once they arrived, she had been led to the operations center. Local commuter traffic had been diverted to one of the secondary airfields in Devon's Crossings, from what Andretti understood.

From the ops center, she had an excellent view of the tarmacs and landing pads. It had been some time they had used them and probably wouldn't be using them today, either. The lack of a drive plume meant that there was no need for the blast shields or the redirection channels. Below she could clearly see the militia honor guard hurriedly deploying a red carpet while others of their number were already at attention.

Twenty minutes later a single blip appeared in the radar and five minutes later the shuttle could be clearly seen through the windows. The craft looked like an aerodyne of some sort, but instead of using one of the landing strips, the plane seemingly stopped in midair and begun moving vertically.

"We should move downstairs, Virginia." stated Robert.

Gloria stepped out of the shuttle and into the tarmac. It was a hot day, slightly humid too. While Wynn's roost was drier than Earth, the Startown was close to the coast, making the air more humid than the norm, and giving the air a tinge of sea salt.

The soldiers, militia men as far as she understood, were all standing at attention and the militia band was playing an unfamiliar, if somewhat martial, tune.

There was even a red carpet that extended from the shuttle to where two people, she recognized as Chairman Andretti and General Fenwood, were standing.
It was the first time she was received in such a fashion and, she had to admit, it felt good.

With a small smile on her face she began walking the length of the carpet, towards the welcoming committee.

It was show time.