Disclaimers: I do not own Battletech.

A/N: So here we go with a plot I kind of wanted to abandon but decided that it would potentially lead to character growth for a number of people, plus it had some more Nico/Kamea interactions and showing off more of the respect the two have for each other. Everyone's back on the Argo in the next chapter.

Check out my other stories too if you have the chance.

Doctrines and Contracts

"Are you sure the two of you are ready for this?", Alexander asks once more to Nico and Darius in the hallways outside of the main conference within the royal palace "This meeting is going to include all the representatives of the Founding Houses and powerful governors throughout the Reach."

"I think we can handle it", Darius replies, "The Dragon's Raiders have done briefings of their own during the war and such."

"This is a military reconstruction briefing, I assure you it will be entirely different than what you are used to", Alexander states, "This will discuss what efforts will be taken to bring the entire Reach back up to full-military readiness."

"The coronation was only about a month ago, why are we doing this now?", Nico questions.

"Kamea wants it out of the way so she can move on and attend to her other duties", Alexander answers before leaning in to whisper, "As well as get the other Founding Houses and governors off of her back."

"That bad, huh?", Nico asks.

"Like you would not believe", the head of House Madeira answers just as the doors open up and a servant steps out and informs them that they may enter.

"Here we go", Nico says as he led the way with Darius behind him, "Into the belly of the beast."

The meetings with the Coalition High Command pass in a blur of holograms, statics, data-slate, charts, and graphs.

Standing military numbers. Potential recruitment numbers. The number of training camps that are currently operating. The number of recruits each training camp can hold. The number of new soldiers being fully trained each month. The waiting period before fresh recruits can be transferred in to take their place.

Infantry divisions creations. The number of battalions and regiments each division will hold. Their bases. Their rallying points should the planets they were on come under attack. Their officers. What houses these officers belong to. Their highest rank enlisted. Their ammunition supply. The type of guns and grenades that they use. Their food supplies. Their medical supplies. The number of vehicles allotted to them to transport their troops. The fuel amount that these vehicles will use up yearly.

Armored divisions creations. They differentiate between light, medium, and heavy tanks. Their fuel supply. The time needed to repair them depending on the gravity of their damage. The caliber of all their guns. The amount of ammo each tank carries for their guns. Each division chain of command. Their artillery support. The range of their guns. The accuracy of their guns. The length a gun can be fire continuously before it has to stop to prevent overheating of the barrel. The total number of men needed to fully load and fire a gun. The time it takes to set up a gun.

Mech divisions creation. The types of mechs available to the Coalition. The handful of production factories the Reach has. Their locations. The number of military units protecting these locations. The defensive positions entrench around the factories. How long a position can hold out before reinforcements are needed. The workers that operate the machinery. The background checks performed on the workers. The number of mechs kept in reserve. The standard lance formation used by the Reach.

Aerospace fighters. The number of trained pilots. The numbers the academies are putting out. The top surviving aces. The range of each type of aircraft. The armaments they carry. Their flying formations. Their tactics. The equipment that the pilots have available to them should they have to eject behind enemy lines. The airfields. The lengths of their runways. How much damage a runway can take and still be able to launch planes. Nearby streets that could be used as improvised runways if the originals are destroyed in an attack.

Fleet compositions. The number of fully battle-ready dropships remaining in the Coalition Navy. The number of each type of ship. The flotillas. The fleets. The patrols squadrons. The planets that serve as their supply bases. The shipyards. The defensive capabilities of each shipyard. The number of ships they can produce and purchase on a yearly basis. The destructive capabilities of their guns. How many fighter wings and mech lances that certain ships can carry. The position of each jump point. The ships stationed around these jump points.

Special forces creation, this got Nico's and Darius' full attention. The command structure with Nico at the top. The additions being added to the Argo, including the extra Leopard. The upgrades to their equipment all across the ship. The schematics of the "stealth" system that the Directorate was researching that the ship was going to be field testing. The armaments being added. The hull being made thicker. The number of additional crew members that would be coming aboard, including special forces. The aerospace fighters that would be assigned to them. The missions the pilots have flown in. Their kill ratios. The drop-pods, Nico couldn't believe that they were getting drop-pods nor the sheer numbers that were being given to them. The capabilities of the drop pods. The amount of protection they could provide. The bases where the Argo could get new drop pods.

Their bases of operations outside of the capital. An increase in their food storage. The uniforms that would be given to the crew. The military regulations and disciplines that Nico and Darius would be expected to uphold. The pay that each rank onboard could expect to receive. The ranks that were given to each of the mechwarriors. The secured channel that Nico could contact Kamea or Alexander for mission brief and debriefs. The rooms on their ship being put aside for the High Lady, her advisers, or any high-ranking officers that could be staying on the ship for an extended length of time.

The number of spies they have operating throughout the Inner Sphere and the Periphery. The planets they were located on. That is as far as it got for only Kamea and Alexander were granted access to any further knowledge on this matter….

And...

And Nico and Darius endure all of this for ten days.

Ten. Days.

"Oh, thank god, it's finally over", Darius groans as he collapses on the couch in the room that was given to him during his stay at the palace, "No more numbers, please no more numbers. I rather go back to moving crates again."

Nico couldn't help but smile at his friend as he watches him from the doorway, "Get some sleep, Darius. Tomorrow, you head back to the Argo."

"I'm sure Sumire will be happy to have me back", Darius replies as he looks up at the ceiling, "She must have been going crazy trying to keep everyone in line."

"Well, we haven't heard much back from her, so that's a good sign", Nico says before noticing somewhere turning the corner down the hallway and coming right for him. As the person got closer, Nico was surprised to see that it was Kamea, only she was alone and it was nearly midnight.

"Some people would find it unusual for the High Lady to be walking around the palace with no guards at this time of night", Nico states as Kamea came to a stop in front of him.

"We live in unusual times", Kamea replies, "Come with me, will you?"

Aware that there might be servants and such still up at this hour, Nico only gave a respectful nod, "Of course, my High Lady."

Moments later, Nico found himself walking behind Kamea, keeping a respectable distance between them in order not to upset the guards patrolling the palace, who Kamea had to keep waving off from joining the duo as they walk by them.

"Might I ask what this is about, High Lady?", Nico questions as the two of them walk into her quarters, past the Royal Guard at their post outside of it, "I mean, if you wanted to have me alone for your own personal reason, all you had to do was ask", he jokes.

"I just received new intelligence", Kamea said as she sits down at her desk, "Regarding the pirates."

"What did you learn?", Nico says, his mood instantly changing to a more serious one.

"For starters, they are more fortified than previously thought, plus they are far larger too", Kamea answers, "This will not be as easy as I originally plan it to be."

"So what's the plan?", Nico asks as walks in front of her desk.

Unceremoniously, Kamea falls face-first onto her desk, her forehead banging against the wood.

"That would be considered highly improper behavior for a noble, especially for such a lady as yourself", Nico points out.

"I am fairly certain that you are the last person in the entire Inner Sphere, Periphery, or Deep Periphery who can get on me for improper behavior", Kamea retorts from her position.

Nico shrugs, "Fair enough. I mean, here I am in your own private quarters...alone….in the dead of night."

"With two members of my Royal Guard just a door away from gunning you down", Kamea adds, her head still on the desk.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop", Nico concedes, "But seriously, what are you going to do?"

"I have already given every standing military unit in the Coalition an assignment and I don't have the resources available nor the time to move them around, so adding additional units to the Argo is out of the question", Kamea answers.

Nico shakes his head, "I doubt reinforcements will be needed."

"Let us say you are right, we are still going to face a deeply entrenched enemy who no doubt knows we are coming", Kamea counters.

"Okay, then it will be the same as last time only a few more mechs and a few more vehicles. Hell, they might have an aerospace fighter or two this time", Nico jokes.

Kamea lets out a groan, "We can only hope that they do not for who kn-", right before she shot back up, looking directly at Nico with an expression of sudden realization, "What did you say?"

The ace pilot was caught off-guard by Kamea's sudden movement and took a second to speak.

"I said that the pirates might have a few more mechs and vehicles, along with possibly-"

"Aerospace fighters", Kamea finishes as she got up and briskly made her way to a nearby bookshelves pack to the brim with volumes of knowledge. She then started scanning through the books in an almost fanatical pursuit.

"Um, you mind telling me what's going on?", Nico asks but Kamea ignore him

"Ah-ha!", the High Lady cries out as she pulls out a book and then walks back over to her desk.

"You still haven't told me what's going on", Nico says.

"The Aurigan Coalition needs something new, Nico!", Kamea began to explain as she lays down the book which Nico notice was a history book titled: A History of the Tactics and Doctrines of the Successor States Armed Forces.

"The original concept of a new military reform that can give us an edge out here in the Periphery and I think I know what", Kamea says, "For too long, the Coalition has relies almost solely on mechanized infantry to carry the day due to a lack of a significant number of BattleMechs!"

"Okay, I'm still listening", Nico says, curious about where the High Lady was going with this.

"But my uncle was supplied a great many mechs by the Taurians and they themselves left a great many of them behind in the midst of their withdrawal, mainly the ones they didn't have time to salvage!", Kamea kept going, her voice rising in volume with each passing second, "And a gigantic effort is going toward cannibalizing and repairing them!"

"Okay, so the Reach has more mechs than it did previously. That doesn't mean you can House Steiner your way through the Periphery", Nico points out.

"That is not my intention whatsoever!", Kamea says as she flips through the books, searching the pages until she finally found what she was looking for, "But this is!", as she points at a certain page and steps aside for Nico to see.

Reading through the book, Nico takes in all the information it had before turning to Kamea, "This is nothing new; nearly all of the interstellar nations practice this doctrine."

"True, but it is always at the battalion level or higher. I want to practice it at a lower level; something that they probably think it is impossible to put off", Kamea counters.

"Probably for good reason", Nico adds.

"Listen, Nico, I believe this new doctrine could make the Aurigan Coalition enough of a regional power to even expand out into the frontier", Kamea tries to tell him.

"Oh? Will it help us against the Inner Sphere or the Concordat if they come a-knocking?", Nico asks.

Kamea hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Probably not with the Great Houses, but that is where diplomacy and alliances will come in. But if we can fine-tune it, it will definitely help us against pirates and probably make the Founding Houses and such get in line as well, along with making them have second thoughts about resisting my rule. At best it could possibly deter the Taurians from coming back", Kamea explains, "I believe that the Coalition will come out stronger than ever with change but to ensure this I need to field test it with the Argo and its crew before I apply it to the rest of the military."

Nico gets up from the desk and looks at Kamea, searching for any sign of doubt in her facial expression. If there was the slightest indication that Kamea wasn't one hundred percent sure that her reform could work, he wasn't going to approve of it.

Now of course this couldn't stop her from going through with it but if their current relationship was anything like it was during the civil war, Kamea wanted his approval before going ahead with anything military-wise.

He recalls Alexander mentioning that somewhere along the way during the war the now-former mercenary commander became Kamea's unofficial head military advisor. At first, Nico shrugged it off as Alexander just being nice and didn't think much of it as he had an entire ship to take care of.

But ever since the final victory at Coromodir and no more fighting happen, Nico has had some time to reflect on things.

He notices that it all started after the liberation of Weldry that Kamea started showing up more and more on the Argo, planning entire system campaigns from it. At first, a part of Nico thought she was only doing it to keep a close eye on the Argo and her crew since they were her assets; to make sure they didn't turn tail and run if things got too dicey as some mercenaries have been known to do.

But then she started insisting that Nico be there whenever she made a battle plan. She also genuinely used whatever advice he gave, and even took his suggestions to heart.

The decision for his Raiders to take the spaceport on Panzyr that was seized by the Directorate instead of Kamea using her already battered and tired troops was his idea. Even though they have been hitting Directorate's targets in the systems surrounding Panzyr in the weeks prior to that particular battle, thanks to the rotation schedule Nico had for his pilots and the mechs, and the addition of Qartio, they had two fresh full lances ready to go as soon as they arrived planetside.

Another thing was the battle over Itrom. While the overall strategy for the capture of the refinery was Kamea's idea it was Nico who came up with the suggestion to attack from the north during a sand storm in order to get the drop on the forces defending it; a suggestion that Kamea immediately approved.

By the time the assault on the capital came, Kamea had generals and other senior officers on her staff, yet she still kept coming to him on the Argo to draw up battle plans. Perhaps she just wanted someone who would give her the cold hard truth about a strategy instead of just a yes man.

One part of Nico felt slightly honored by this but the other part was telling him that he unofficially held the lives of countless men, women, and children in his hands.

Quite the burden to have for someone who was barely in their thirties and was just a mere colonel.

"Alright", Nico groans, "I'll go along with this for now but on one condition."

"And that would be?" Kamea asks.

"Since we're testing this through my crew, we will implement it through my measures and on my schedule", he states, "I know the crew and I know what they can endure. I will handle the original Argo crew and you will handle the new additions and we will both come together on this."

Kamea mulls this proposal in her mind for a moment, pointing out the flaws and advantages of it.

She could easily just order Nico to comply with her choices but that would do her no good. The reason their relationship work so well during the war is that she treated him like an equal despite being his employer. Instead of looking at him as a mere tool to be used for her benefit, she instead saw him as a fellow student of their teacher, the late Raju Montgomery, who would have no doubt wanted them to get along and respect one another.

In some ways, Nico was her senior seeing how he was slightly older than her and was without a doubt the better pilot

In fact, while he currently held the highest kill count of any mechpilot in the Reach she barely maintained the sixth-highest, just right behind the four Lance Commanders of the Argo and that was by a wide margin.

To be fair though, she ended up doing a lot more commanding than actual combat as the war went on with the battle for the capital being one of the few times she was in a Battlemech in the last year of the Restoration.

"Fine then", she finally spoke, "We will do this your way", to which she received a nod in return from Nico, "Now let us get to work, we have to polish this up a little bit before we start trying to enact it."

When the head of House Maderia, Alexander Aquino Madeira, awoke the following morning, he softly kissed his still-sleeping wife and child, took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast, and then made his way over to the High Lady's quarters to brief her on her schedule for the day; he was expecting a number of things to happen.

One of the things he wasn't expecting was to receive a piece of intel on his data-slate that sent his sprinting down the hallway...well as best as he could. His body has yet to fully recover from the abuse it suffered at the hands of Victoria.

The guards let him through and he flings open the doors, bursting into the room in a panic.

"Kamea! We got a problem! It-", before he came to a screening halt and witness the scene in front of him.

"YOU TWO CANNOT BE SERIOUS!" his voice booms throughout the room and into the hallway, startling the guards.

Darius slowly wakes up from his position on the couch, the sunlight shining on his face through the window. He sits up, looks at the clock, looks down at the wrinkled clothes he now had on for a moment before prompting falling back to sleep, using a pillow to block out the sun.

"The Argo can last a few more hours without me", he murmurs as he drifts back to sleep.

Meanwhile back in Kamea's quarters, a loud voice snaps Nico awake from his position of sitting on the floor, his back leaning against Kamea's desk, his hand was already going straight for his laser pistol. He drew it, took the safety off, was already looking down the sights at the person in front of him and his hand was about to squeeze the trigger when he realizes that it was Alexander that had woke him up.

A very piss-off-looking Alexander as a matter of fact.

Kamea jolts up from her desk in a dreary panic, her hair now a tangled mess covering her face. Her mind was racing, trying to figure out the sight that was before her. There was Alexander in the middle of her office quarters, fuming. She then notices Nico starting to put away his pistol and was able to piece the situation together rather quickly, even if it looked like something straight out of one of those action-comedy holovid movies she remembers watching on the Argo during one of the movie nights.

"I know what you are going to say, Alexander, and let me be the first to tell you that nothing happened. This I can assure you. Nico and I just fell asleep while going over something", she starts off as she got up from her desk which was littered with books and papers.

"I can plainly see that nothing happened seeing how both of you are still fully clothed. The fact of the matter remains that this is the second time that the two of you have put yourself in a rather precarious situation that could easily be misunderstood! You two were alone in Kamea's quarters for God knows how long!", Alexander points out while breathing heavily, "Could you imagine what could happen if this ever got out? The political backlash would be immense! The nobility would begin to question you and any potential political marriage alliance would be thrown out the window! The shuttle incident alone was bad enough and the damage control for that took everything I had! You two are not making my job easy and in case you have forgotten, I got torture for while so this much stress is bad on my health!"

"I thought it was okay due to their being guards outside the room", Nico states as he stands up, "Does the Reach have two different sets of nobility etiquette that I wasn't aware of?"

"Nico please, not now", Kamea replies as she looks at the clock, "Oh good heavens, look at the time."

"You have a meeting with the representative of the oligarch of Mechdur in an hour", Alexander told her.

"And I still need to take a shower, change my clothes, and have something to eat", Kamea gripes.

"The servants should have brought you something to eat by this time", Alexander points out, "Why did they not?"

"They probably got sent away by the guards", Kamea figure.

"And why would the guards do that?", Alexander questioned.

"Probably because she told them last night that she wanted no one to disturb her", Nico says as he yawns before realizing something, "Oh, I now see how that could look suspicious especially since they saw me come in."

"Oh, now you see?", Alexander complains, throwing his hands in the air in the process, "You two are unbelievable!"

"Look, let us all calm down and think. Alexander, call the Mechdur representative and inform them that the meeting has been pushed back fifteen minutes", Kamea told him, "That extra time will allow me some breathing room to get ready and we can start the day."

"And I will take my leave", Nico said as he heads for the door.

Alexander takes his glasses off and pinches the rim of his nose, "That would be for the best", he states before suddenly remembering why he ran in here in the first place.

"Wait!", he shouts out to the former mercenary.

This stops Nico just short of him grabbing the door handle. He then turns around and looks back at Alexander.

"Is there something you need of me?", he asks but instead, Alexander turns around to face Kamea.

"You remember that bit of intelligence we received regarding the bounty your uncle place on Nico's head?", he asks.

"I feel I should be involved in this particular conversation. Plus, why was I not informed of this earlier?", Nico states, but neither Alexander nor Kamea pay him any heed.

"I do", Kamea answers.

"One of the agents we sent into to keep track of it just reported back, saying that someone has accepted the contract", Alexander explains.

"What? Why? My uncle is rotting in a Taurian cell waiting for execution", Kamea says.

"I'm still being ignored here despite this being all about me so far", Nico adds.

"Well, it seems that your uncle forwarded them the money early and thus they took it, I guess as a precaution since the war was turning against him", Alexander informs her.

"Okay then, tells us, preferring me, just who accepted the bounty on my head which I was not told of beforehand?", Nico asks, this time with a hard tone in his voice, causing the other man to turn to him.

Alexander then looks back at Kamea for a moment who gives him a nod.

"He has just as much right to know as I do", she says.

"Thank you", Nico says.

Alexander takes a breath and brings his data-slate up so that both the Dragon and High Lady of the Reach could see. The two of them quickly read through the data, their eyes growing wider with each passing second.

"OH, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME!", Nico's voice rings out, startling the guards once more.

A/N: Should be fun.