Entry #15
Nadir Jump Point, New Dallas,
Terran Hegemony
12:10 13 January 2767
New Dallas's star is quite small – meaning that the usual jump points are less than four days away from the system's one inhabited planet. Normally that would be too far out for what I had in mind, but in this instance it opened up an opportunity.
I brace myself for a fight – if the Republicans hold the Pavise M-9 station here and if they've left any substantial number of M-5s to defend it, then I'll be fighting a naval battle for my life and an electronic battle for control over the drones.
To my good fortune, only one of those things is true – the Pavise is active but its protectors are only a squadron of M-3 drones – enough for police work on unarmed civilian jumpships but they'll only threaten me by ramming – something I'm alert for.
Even better, I've hit the exact point I wanted to arrive at – just outside the effective range of the station's weapons. It might mean that I can't engage them myself – my own range is no better – but it gives the First Royal Swiss Cavalry a chance to detach.
My only real cause for complaint is that once the Rimjobs recover from their surprise, they don't make the mistake of sending their M-3s out into my weapon range. Instead, as my on-board Strikers launch and stream towards the Pavise the M-3s cluster in and add their fire to its Naval Lasers, hammering shots into the five squadrons (I managed to replenish them from stocks on Zebebelgenudi) that cost me fourteen Strikers in a little over two minutes.
I don't sit idle, of course, but it takes time for my own engines to accelerate me to the sort of speeds I need for my Plan B – high speed passes to engage the station like the sitting duck that it is – and now the other sixteen Strikers are in range to fire their external ordnance.
Radio channels descend into unintelligible static as more than a dozen five kiloton warheads do their business. Most crash against the thick armour plating, converting the tons of layered metal, ceramic and other materials into plasma but failing to penetrate. Some find weak spots though and the penetrators function as intended, letting the nuclear reactions commence inside the M-9's massive hull.
The M-3s drop into standby, quite a relief since they'd been holding out against my intrusions quite well, and a moment later I have them – and the two-dozen Voidseeker Interceptors that had been about to do something very unfriendly to my Strikers. It appears that the Pavise's tactical computer must be a casualty. Good.
"Major Corvus, we're in."
"I'm on it." The Colossus and the Overlord fan out towards the waiting jumpships Her infantry are vac-suited and the 'Mechs configured for void operations. If any of those captains have any latent Republican sympathies then they'd be wise to keep them very quiet.
One scan of the Pavise confirms it's not just mission-killed, it's fragmented into four large and myriad smaller sections. It's a design flaw, I think. If they're going to still be used when this is all over, someone needs to think of a way to reinforce the structures against that sort of hit. Then again, if someone already had then I'd be having a much harder time right now.
Now, there had been two dozen Caspars assigned to each of New Dallas' jump-points. If the twenty-four assigned here weren't around then where are they?
Heading for New Dallas is the answer and that tells me a lot. There's no way they'd be sent there unless New Dallas is holding out still and unless there's a command ship with them, they must still be operating on direction from the Pavise here. Not under direct control, of course, that would be ridiculous at a distance of several light minutes. But even so…
The drive flares of more than twenty warships are detectable at this range – and there's more than twenty of them! They must have regrouped with the drones from the Zenith jump point and reinforcing warships… probably a full invasion force of the RWA as well. There's got to be at least eighty capital ships and as many dropships in that formation and they're less than a day out from New Dallas.
Isn't a just a goddamn shame that a quarter of that fleet isn't taking orders from Amaris anymore? I may be too far apart to give them tactical direction but I can most certainly give them new targeting priorities.
Quite a number of the Rim Worlds warships are Block I and Block II Lola-class destroyers not so very different from the M-5 and M-5C drones intermixed into the formation. Most likely they were among the obsolete vessels that Richard Cameron sold off to Amaris. Not terrible ships really, but just a bit too fragile to face the firepower that the drones can throw. Particularly since someone considerately loaded them with nuclear-tipped capital missiles for this operation. On general broadcast, Chris Cornell warns them that 'You Know My Name'.
Two minutes after my little fleet suddenly swerved to bring their broadsides to bear – well before the news can reach the Zenith command station that their drones need updated orders – more than forty Lolas and Caspars have been reduced to tumbling wreckage. Transport dropships scatter in all directions as the Republican command group of three Monsoon-class battleships that I'm fairly sure were not sold off legitimately open fire.
The dropships take pretty heavy losses just as secondary targets – any weapon arc of my Caspars that isn't firing into the battleships is firing on whatever they can – the main priority is the leviathans that are smashing my four squadrons of renegades. Each has a massive broadside of naval autocannon that laugh at the armour of the destroyer-sized M-5 and they're fighting at the same point blank range that let the drones cause such carnage in the attack.
Barham, now renamed RWS Arabella Rowe, goes silent as nuclear missiles scorch its armour from end-to end, just as I switch tracks to tell them that 'We Won't Get Fooled Again'. RWS Heather Durant, once SLS Rodney meets one of the M-5s head on, adding one last enemy to its score of three destroyed by its broadsides before battleship and drone die in a mutual viking funeral pyre. Surrounded and alone, SLS Thunderer, bearing the IFF of RWS Gregory Amaris explodes under the battering of the surviving drones, all nine of them.
Well… we've won. Yay the good guys.
If I had any delusions of immortality though, this kills them as dead as a doornail. I've been damn lucky not to expose myself to that sort of carnage yet and if I want to survive, I'd be wise to keep myself out of point-blank encounters.
Some Republican fighters did launch but none of them seem to have nukes so I can afford to ignore them. "Republican transports," I transmit, via one of the drones. "Cut your engines and surrender or you will be run down."
And now for people who are hopefully on my side. There are almost twenty drones in orbit over New Dallas, presumably still under loyal control. "This is SLS Praetorian calling Governor Clay. I have control of the Nadir jump point and I've neutralised the invasion force. Please respond…"
Entry #16
High Orbit, New Dallas,
Terran Hegemony
02:30 17 January 2767
Quite sensibly, Governor Clay didn't let me jump in via any of the three pirate points formed by New Dallas and its two moons, so I approached them the old fashioned way.
This also let them run technical teams out to the remaining drones from the slaughter and reconfigure them to take orders from the planetary SDS networks, which remained in loyalist hands. I could have prevented that, but only by firing on the shuttles, which would have been a bit counter-productive.
"You've made quite an impact on my people." Governor Titus Clay had entered politics after a successful career as an SLDF officer. Given his success in both fields (he'd retired as a full General), I wasn't inclined to underestimate him.
"If you hold off on deactivating me, I won't ask you to go ahead and award the medals they're suggesting. That way both extremes are equally frustrated."
He snorts. "You're not much of a politician. The politically correct answer would be to do both, but I'm not fool enough to try the former so you'll take your medal and be polite about it." While hardly on par with a SLDF sanctioned Hegemony Medal, the Star of New Dallas was well within the Governor's authority to award and came with a string of minor privileges upon the world. Most of which would be kind of hard to claim since I can't exactly go down there, but it's the thought that counts.
"I guess I'll grin and bear it." Plus, the public support might be a factor if someone follows up the idea of shutting me down later.
"Colonel Corvus sings your praises, by the way."
"No longer a Major?"
"General Kataga issued her a well-deserved promotion. Granted she may have to wait a while for SLDF HQ on New Earth complete the paperwork, but I don't think Kerensky will disapprove of her."
"Me, on the other hand…"
"Kerensky's a practical man and you're a valuable asset. Granted, he's not ecstatic about SDS drones in general but you've proven yourself. So what are you planning next?"
"A plan? Little old me?" My face on the monitor grins.
"Son, I know full well what a junior officer with a plan that requires more balls than brains looks like and the white hair doesn't fool me one bit." But Clay is also grinning.
"I've sent word to the Eighth and Eleventh Armies, I'd be appreciative if you'd do the same. They probably don't have the manpower or the shipping to liberate the Hegemony but if I can bust open a salient, I'm fairly sure we can keep it open long enough for reinforcements to arrive and turn that salient into a path right back to Terra."
"That's an ambitious plan. Of course, Amaris will do everything he can to crush you."
"I'm sure he will. Which will make his claims to be a legitimate, benevolent ruler look a bit threadbare, not to mention pull troops away from their busy schedule of oppressing the rest of the Hegemony."
"The problem with your plan is that if he does crush you, he'll crush us too… and probably salt the earth of New Dallas."
I shake my icon's head. "You've been resisting him for a couple of weeks now, Governor. I'm pretty sure he's not going to invite you around for tea and cakes any time soon. But if we can demonstrate that Amaris' grip hasn't tightened yet then maybe we can convince the Commanding General that he can take the Hegemony back on the run, rather than some slow and ponderous siege that gives the Fat Man time to get the SDS networks back online."
"I suppose I see your point. So what's step one?"
I bring up a map of the Hegemony, centred around New Dallas. "Tyrfing. We don't have good intelligence – surviving elements of First and Second Fleets are working on that but I'm not back in contact with them yet – but it's a provincial capital so the Rim Worlders would have had to knock it out hard and fast. There's a very good chance that they didn't manage to capture SDS control intact. If I can recruit some scratch navigational crews, I should be able to bring most of the M-5 Drones there back here. That'll give the orbital defences of New Dallas near parity with the entire fleet at Amaris' disposal. It makes you too tough a nut to crack."
"I like that part. Of course, if Tyrfing has been compromised, you'll be outnumbered dozens to one. I don't like your chances."
"It is a risk. War's like that. And I have a Lithium-Fusion Battery, so I may be able to escape if things don't go well."
"I'm not in a position to refuse you, I suppose." Clay stroked his chin. "And what will we be doing while you're running around playing hero?"
"Oh you've got the best job of all: logistics and politics."
"You merciless sonuvabitch. I knew you'd get me back for pinning a medal on you."
"Some of us are made for bigger roles, Mr. Interim Director-General."
It takes a second for my words to sink in. "What did you call me!?"
"You're the most senior government official I've found that I'm sure isn't compromised and Amanda Cameron isn't old enough to rule. Kerensky's already shown he's not got the political chops for the job even if he didn't have a major war to fight. Who else is there?"
"…there'd have to be an election."
"Of course, thus the word 'Interim'. But in the meantime you'll have much more weight with Generals Watanabe and Nagenda, given your military credentials, than anyone else would. That's going to be quite important since New Dallas is probably going to be feeding most of the SLDF for the next few years – not to mention serving as their headquarters."
"Are you sure you can't find another couple of hundred Caspars? Or a spare SLDF fleet?"
"You'd have to ask the Generals if you can borrow their transport fleets, but more Caspars might be possible. That's phase two, right alongside you re-establishing the Hegemony Armed Forces."
"You want me to do what?"
Entry #17
High Orbit, New Dallas,
Terran Hegemony
12:00 18 January 2767
Whatever Governor – excuse me, Interim Director-General - Clay thought of the plan at first glance, the crowds around the Executive Mansion in Caddo City are making their feelings known about the hastily produced badges on the right shoulders of the soldiers and BattleMechs parading through the avenues of the city return the salutes of Clay and a sour-faced Major General Kataga.
Many of the regiments had fought under the General's command only days before, storming the enclaves of Republican troops that New Dallas' defenders had been wise enough to bar from entry to their fortifications. Now they don't have the Cameron Star, badge of the Star League, displayed on their uniforms. Instead they proudly wear the globe in laurels of the Terran Hegemony.
Not all the soldiers on New Dallas have transferred – in fact less than a third have and virtually all are reservists – but the vast majority of them are in the parade.
And Caddo City loves them.
I can practically hear the cheering from orbit. These are their soldiers, not a part of the SLDF that could be sent off across the Inner Sphere on little to no notice. A month ago that wouldn't have mattered quite so much (although this was New Dallas) but that was then and this is now. Today New Dallas stands almost alone while more than a hundred worlds that were friends and neighbours are trying out Amaris' boot as an adornment for the back of their necks.
Of course, quite a number of those soldiers will be leaving New Dallas in weeks to come but there's no need to spoil the show.
"This is a historic moment," Clay announces once the last of the soldiers have marched into their proper places. "In the past, governments have awarded medals to soldiers, to military units and on at least one occasion to an island. While the SLDF routinely recognises the accomplishments of a ship and its crew, I believe that today New Dallas is witness to the first occasion when an artificial intelligence is decorated for their valour and their dedication to duty."
"Between 27 December 2766 and 13 January 2767, SLS Praetorian has distinguished himself by repeatedly engaging in battle against warships in the service of the Usurper, Stefan Amaris. Through his diligent efforts, Republican efforts to seize control of Terra were delayed long enough for many government officials to escape. In addition to this, under his direction, the heir to the late First Lord of the Star League was rescued from captivity, critical resources were denied to the Usurper and the planet of New Dallas delivered from the menace of a fleet of Republican warships."
"It is my great privilege to award to SLS Praetorian the Star of New Dallas. Wear it with the pride that the people of New Dallas have in you. Colonel Corvus, if you would do the honours?"
Aboard me, facing a bulkhead that I have carefully picked to have absolutely nothing valuable right behind it, Taylor Corvus makes brief use of a welding torch. The moment is immortalised by camera. What historians will one day make of it, I have no idea.
"I tried to get him to go for granting you citizenship too, Tommy, but he figured it was too much, too fast," Corvus advised me, secure in the knowledge that I was transmitting video but not audio.
"He may be right. Besides, then I'd have to pay taxes."
"Good point. Maybe we should emphasize that you took out half of Zebebelgenubi's tax records."
"Maybe we shouldn't. I'm fairly well prepared to defend myself against Republican warships, but if I get sued for tax fraud I'd be in over my head."
"Wouldn't we all?"
Down below, Titus was winding up his remarks. "Perhaps Praetorian would like to give the Hegemony Armed Forces a few words?"
At least he isn't springing this as a surprise. I've had a little time to prepare some remarks. Then I thought about it a bit more. The Director-General had asked for something rousing and morale boosting.
I don't open with words. I open with a beat.
Bam-bam-boom.
My 'face' appears on the central monitor behind the Governor, flanked by a shot of my hull from a media shuttle at a range of about two kilometers and by the medal now welded to me.
Bam-bam-boom.
I can see feet twitching in the crowds. The soldiers have better discipline, even if they're supposed to be 'at ease'.
Bam-bam-boom.
"~Stefan you're a fool, make a big noise, overthrow the League, gonna be a dead man some day. You got blood on your face, you big disgrace. Gonna kick your ass all over the place. Singing I will, I will rock you.~" On the screen I held out my hand, sweeping my finger across the crowd. "~We will, we will rock you.~"
I throw Clay a break, putting a kareoke-like stream of lyrics across his prompter. He hasn't got to his position without knowing a cue when he saw one and his voice joins mine with barely a falter.
"~Stefan you're the wrong man, fat man. Word's on the street, gonna take back the League some day. You got blood on your face, you big disgrace. Waving our banner all over the place.~" Is there singing in the crowd? "Sing it!"
"~WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!~"
From the sound of that, yes, there is.
"~Stefan you're out of luck, out of time; telling you right now, Amanda's coming home some day.~" And Clay gestures towards the soldiers to join in as we get to the familiar words.
"~YOU GOT BLOOD ON YOUR FACE, YOU BIG DISGRACE.~" I throw the next words up onto the main screen for the crowd. They respond enthusiastically. "~SOMEONE BETTER PUT YOU BACK INTO YOUR PLACE! WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!~"
"Sing it! Everybody!"
Like we need to tell them that! "WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!" I don't think anyone would even notice the guitar solo cut in, so I give them the beat instead. Bam-bam-boom. Bam-bam-boom. "WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!"
Entry #18
Lagrange Point, Tyrfing V
Tyrfing, Terran Hegemony
19:00 20 January 2767
"Not that I'm complaining, but why exactly are you riding with me for this operation?" I ask Corvus as we arrive in our target system.
"I figure you need adult supervision. Do you have any idea how badly that stunt you pulled in lieu of a speech could have gone?"
I'm not jumping in on top of the regular jump points this time, so it'll take a few moments for anyone to realise I'm here. Meanwhile I'm sending datalinks signals to where each M-5 and M-3 I spot is going to be once my signal arrives. Tyrfing V's Lagrange point isn't usually close enough to the actual planet of Tyrfing (the second out from the star if anyone cares) that it's got a permanent guard force. It's less than two days transit from Tyrfing at this time of year though and apparently no one warned the Republicans to picket it. What a shame.
"It could have been quite embarrassing." I admit. "However, even if I never attended the PR classes that most SLDF soldiers received, I do have the textbooks on record. I have a reputation for pulling out music in battle, it was widely commented on in New Dallas' media, so my pulling out another twentieth century rock song wasn't too much of a surprise."
The M-5s are ordered to make for the Tyrfing's most reliable pirate point and secure it until I can arrive. I don't want any gatecrashing Republican ships, although there shouldn't be many around – the Battle of New Dallas would have killed off most of the warships in the region.
"And if you got painted as some kind of crazy rogue AI…?"
"That's happening anyway, Taylor. If I'd gone full military professional then the focus would be on my being a warship and by definition threatening. Singing shifts the focus a little away from that, towards my being a person. In the long run, that's safer for me."
The M-3s have slight different orders. More to the point, they have different targets. A nice safe distance from me, they pointed their noses at Republican dropships and their turrets at any aerospace fighters or drone fighters in range. Then they lit up their drives and the weapons in the turrets.
Unlike their larger cousins, Voidseekers and their more primitive cousins were generally commanded by human personnel from dropship command ships like the Howdahs mounted on my collars and it was virtually certain that some of those had fallen into the wrong hands. Given that I've used my own Voidseeker Strikers to carry nukes, I'd prefer that they aren't allowed to do that to me – or more immediately to the M-5s I'm here to recruit.
Five of the six M-96C dropships I could see were dead before they show any sign of even knowing they're under attack. Twelve other dropships – three Titans, a Dictator, seven Avengers and a Condor are destroyed just as quickly. The one M-3 that had missed its target is destroyed a few moments later in nuclear fire, validating my concern.
It doesn't do the fighters any good, since one of the M-5s turns enough to bring one of its autocannon turrets to bear. The explosion that marks the destruction of the last command ship is smaller than the one that destroyed the M-3 but it's just as final.
"This won't be as easy next time."
"Probably not," agrees Corvus. "Enemies tend to obstruct plans – it's why we call them 'the enemy'."
I've got sixty of the Caspars under my control. I still have spare command links for the M-3s but I can't take any of them with me unless I discard the pair of dropships carrying navigational crews for the M-5 drones. None of my little fleet can carry dropships except me.
"So will you be transferring to the HAF?" I ask Corvus.
"Bite your tongue, Tommy. I'm not convinced it's a good idea… even if most of my regiment volunteered to transfer."
That must be painful. "Well, they are Royal troops and they've had a first-hand look at what happens when the First Lords sends off the Hegemony's protection."
"What I'm not convinced of is the idea that it'll stop the next First Lord from sending the Hegemony Armed Forces all over the place, just the same way the SLDF gets shifted," she points out.
"There aren't many social factors more powerful than human stupidity," I agree blandly. "Still, each safeguard reduces the chances of such catastrophic stupidity. Besides, it assumes that the First Lord's authority will always be wielded by the Director-General. At least until Amanda Cameron is of age, that's probably not going to be the case."
"Then you aren't going to push Clay to act as Regent?"
"Not in terms of the Star League. It's too large a job – Kerensky's very able, after all, and he didn't manage it. John Davion is a reasonably good choice to raise Amanda and he doesn't have any close male relatives in the age range that they're likely to end up married to her. Titus Clay has the political and military experience to govern more than just New Dallas, but he doesn't have the international prestige to lead the Star League Council. The only reason the rest of the Council will even let him sit is the alternative."
"Which is Kerensky! Why not him?"
"Firstly, he has a war to fight. Secondly, Kenyon Marik and Robert Steiner weren't on the Council last time. They both hate him."
"Then who can lead the Star League? John Davion? He's Amanda's guardian…"
"That would make sense, but human stupidity… more specifically ambition and suspicion… it's too much power. He already controls Amanda's upbringing which could leave him with the same influence over her that Amaris had over her father. I can't see Clay letting him infiltrate the Hegemony the same way, but the Regent has to be someone who can counter-balance him and someone who can work with Kerensky."
"Who do you have in mind?"
"It's too early to say… the worst case scenario is that the Council deadlocks over the issue. That would delight Amaris: the Star League would slide into a general civil war and that could make liberating the Hegemony almost impossible."
"God, you're a depressing person, Tommy. Is this all that you think about?"
"Not at all. Sometimes I spend hours thinking about meals I'm going to eat. Or my sex life. Oh wait, I don't have either of those." And thus they're considerably on my mind. The grass is always greener.
Corvus rolls her eyes. "Ah. So you're a teenager. It all becomes clear."
Entry #19
Lagrange Point, New Dallas,
Terran Hegemony
14:00 23 January 2767
The skies of New Dallas are a good deal busier than I expected – almost a dozen SLDF IFFs are apparent. At first I think a squadron has arrived from the garrisons in the Free Worlds League or Lyran Commonwealth have arrived, but then I spot SLS Caph and all becomes clear.
The Star League Defense Force's leadership might not have anticipated Amaris' coup but they did have a contingency for Terra being for some reason cut off or unavailable. A large part of that were the three 'command' battleships that led First Fleet and two counter-parts in Second Fleet. SLS McKenna's Pride was already acting as the Commanding General's HQ somewhere in the Periphery; SLS Enterprise was presumably still acting as a flagship / playpen for Amanda Cameron; and SLS Caph (and possibly her sister, SLS New Earth) was acting as a local command centre for the Hegemony.
Admiral McTiernan, or one of his colleagues, must have learned that New Dallas was holding out and rushed here to reinforce it.
It's a tense moment as I and the Caspars jumping in after me are under the guns of a dozen mismatched warships… tension rising as it becomes clear that we have a substantial numerical advantage.
"SLS Caph, New Dallas Control, this is SLS Praetorian returning with escort." I'm also sending the fairly complicated security codes that confirm I'm not a subverted Texas-class battleship playing Trojan Horse. We'd had to set up entirely new ones since Amaris probably had all of the standard SLDF codes well before the Coup, thanks to a certain blabbermouthed First Lord.
"Acknowledged, Praetorian," the centre of New Dallas's orbital defence grid acknowledges. "You're expected, please bring the Caspars into geo-stationary orbits so we can get technical crews to them."
"Will comply, New Dallas. Any chance of a top-up of my tanks? I'm running a little low on hydrogen."
"I'll pass that on."
While I might keep a few Caspars for escorts, the vast majority need to stay here. New Dallas gives Amaris an immediate enemy to focus upon, so it's reasonably likely he'll attack once he had gathered sufficient forces to do so. That, of course, diverts them from other purposes, but it's not a fight I'd like New Dallas to lose. Sixty or seventy M-5 drones will make it too tough a nut to crack without an all out effort. If a few squadrons of the SLDF arrive then it'll be too tough full stop.
By my reckoning, three systems – in the right places – like this will create a road all the way to Terra.
"It's a good plan," Corvus agrees when I comment on this. "But it's got the same weakness that left your drones useless during Amaris' Coup. If we lose the SDS control centres, we don't have the defences. And how many control centres do we have?"
"Two," I admit. "The one here and me. That's why we need reinforcements from the rest of the SDLF."
Speaking of which, I was getting a signal now from the Caph.
"So we meet again," McTiernan greeted me. "You've been busy."
"I get bored easily and the Devil makes work for idle hands."
He shook his head. "I've had a couple of long conversations about you recently. I think I need to know exactly what you're up to. Just what orders are you operating under?"
"My orders were to evacuate the First Lord and his family – which has, I hope, been accomplished."
He nods. "Admiral Mroczkiewicz can't stay in touch without an HPG but he should have reached the Federated Suns by now. Amanda Cameron will be as safe as the First Prince can make her."
"Beyond that I'm supposed to defend the Star League."
"That's reassuring." McTiernan pauses. "No, it isn't, because that's not what your actions suggest. Setting up a new Director-General and recreating the Hegemony Armed Forces doesn't support the Star League – it undermines it!"
I suppose, looked at from some angles he may have a point.
"I'm not sure I understand your position, Vice Admiral," I respond politely. "It is quite possible that I have overlooked consequences of my actions however. Please could you explain your reasoning?"
"I don't suppose that it's occurred to you that your Director-General may decide he wants to hold onto power once the new First Lord is of age? Or that your Hegemony Armed Forces represent a schism right through the centre of the SLDF?"
"In reverse order, Admiral, the schism has always been there – and because the Hegemony is left entirely dependent upon the SLDF for protection, there is a tendency to see them as simply the HAF writ large. What remains of the Royal regiments and Divisions may find themselves more trusted, not less, if their ranks are opened to those whose loyalty is predicated upon more than planet of origin."
"On your first point, Amanda Cameron is currently a figurehead since there is no conceivable way that she can rule her own life, much less the Star League. Therefore whoever leads in her name will have to contend with Amaris who has been elected Director-General in his own right."
That bombshell, which I'd picked out of the publicly available data on Tyrfing's planetary computer network, leaves McTiernan gasping for breath with pure outrage. I'd been surprised myself. Amaris had moved faster than I'd expected.
"Giving Amaris his due as an adversary, he is an exceptional politician. While it's highly unlikely that the election was more than a sham the fact remains that the populace of the Terran Hegemony can, will and have been presented with him as their rightful Director-General – something that trumps an unelected infant and whatever éminence grise that issues their own orders in her name."
"But an elected official of what - to the best of my knowledge and I must sadly to suspect to be the best of yours - is the only world of the Hegemony free of Amaris' imperial ambitions is another matter. He can contend with Amaris as a political equal which will be necessary if we are to convince any fraction of the Hegemony's populace to give a damn one way or another. It's not as if Richard owned their hearts so why would they fight for his child's guardians over someone who makes the trains run on time?"
The Admiral raises his hands. "Enough. It's clear you're more a politician than I am – I'm almost surprised you didn't seek office yourself. You didn't say anything about him standing down when Amanda comes of age."
"I have no mandate for that." I watch his face redden. "And given she won't be of age until 2783 – by which time he'll be in his eighties – I think it can wait until we're sure Amaris isn't around to contend against either of them."
Entry #20
Lagrange Point, New Dallas,
Terran Hegemony
14:30 23 January 2767
"The First Lord must be Director-General!" protests McTiernan.
"Given Richard Cameron as an example of a teenage ruler for the Hegemony and the Star League, that may not be a precedent that the Council will wish to follow. Amanda Cameron is alive to be a candidate and I hope she will prove a more promising heir than her father but if she has an incumbent to learn from – even if she has to unseat him in the end – then she may be something less of a disaster."
"God, you are as cold as ice. You're laying the seeds of another bloody civil war, you maniacal machine."
"You give me too much credit," I correct him. "House Cameron and the other Great Houses managed that quite a while ago. I merely wish to see that the Star League does not choke upon the harvest. Otherwise the civil war you speak of will be between factions of the High Council, each seeking to name their own candidate for the First Lord's throne. A war between two candidates may be winnable for one or the other… I am less sanguine about a five-sided one."
"Are you out of your metal mind!?"
My icon's eyes aim themselves directly at McTiernan's. "Tell me, hand upon heart, that you don't believe that Takiro Kurita wouldn't die smiling if he saw his son on Richard's throne… or that Kenyon Marik doesn't want it for himself. I may be doing Liao, Steiner and Davion too much credit in not citing the same ambition in them. A Cameron heir is the one thread keeping them from laying claim."
"Then why are you undermining that claim!? The SLDF has to stand together in her support."
"Nothing I can conceivably do would make the claim of a two year old less frail than it already is. All I can do is try to buy the time for her to grow up and make what arrangements I can to encourage competence. If she can prove the latter and claim the Hegemony then she can sit in the Council as equal to the reigning Lords. That is our only long term hope and if the Hegemony crumbles then she won't be able to do even that."
"The General –"
"Aleksandr Kerensky is no doubt a fine officer but he is one man. He cannot lead the SLDF and rule the Hegemony. He himself understands that or he wouldn't have tried to resign when he was appointed as Richard's regent. And of the two roles, it is as Commanding General that he does the best service now. He and Clay, working together, can win this. Without that kind of support, even if he overthrows Amaris in the end, I can see only the devastation of the Hegemony and the reduction of the SLDF to a hollow shell of itself."
"You're wrong."
I pause, that seems sufficient to express my disagreement. When he fails to fill the silence, I prod him: "Please expand on your argument, Vice Admiral."
"Amaris doesn't have the resources to fight off the SLDF."
"Nor did the rebels in the Periphery, but they've managed to hurt us pretty badly. How familiar are you with the losses over the last couple of years?"
"That's entirely different," he asserts. "They had surprise and they're fighting like bandits. Besides, losses aren't too steep."
"I'm afraid you're wrong," I corrected him. "Naval losses have been affordable, but ground forces have been very steep indeed. In excess of twenty-five percent of the committed forces as of my information and that isn't entirely up to date. The Rim Worlders are not foolish enough to attempt to fight the SLDF under the Ares Conventions: they'll fight dirty, hard and in places where the SLDF may hesitate to use its full force. Like cities, for example."
"If Amaris can win over the Hegemony's population then the SLDF is going to have to fight its way into every major city on more than a hundred worlds. Check your history or ask General Kataga: city-fights are among the most brutal and bloody of battles. And if there's anything worse than that it's a siege: you know better than I how many Castles Brian fell into the hands of Republican troops."
"Kerensky…"
"He's not a magical wand, Vice Admiral. I can perhaps neutralize most of the SDS drones, but the SLDF's fighting in the Periphery has dwarfed the Reunification War and that was the most terrible war in human history. And now they have to commit to a second such war either with little to no time to recover – or after giving Amaris time to entrench. Neither of those is going to reduce casualties. It's why I'm hoping that the bulk of the fighting for this year can fall on the Eighth and Eleventh Armies – they've not been through the wringer like most of the SLDF."
McTiernan draws himself up. "Are you done?"
"You have the floor." I have been going on a bit.
"What I was trying to say before you interrupted is that General Kerensky isn't just the Commanding General, he's also the Protector of the Star League. He is its rightful leader in the absence of the a First Lord." Not, by implication, a jumped up toaster. "If you claim to be loyal to the Star League, you should be loyal to him."
"Yeah, there's a little logical flaw in your argument."
"Really?"
"By that logic, when there is a First Lord, I should be loyal to them."
"That's hardly a flaw!"
"Did you ever meet Richard Cameron? Tell me with a straight face that loyalty to him, personally, served the Star League well?"
"…what alternatives did we have?"
The unspoken elephant in the conversation is called Ikolor Fredasa. Almost forty years previously he'd conspired to overthrow Jonathon Cameron, a plot that had failed when his proposed alternate First Lord proved loyal to her brother. An event that was probably a large part of the reason for my existence.
But Fredasa's treason had been idealistic: Jonathon Cameron was unfit to rule and ironically his sister became his effective regent anyway.
"A question that we must now explore," I tell him quietly. "Kerensky is half a thousand light years away… he may not even know yet what has happened although he should soon. We, and Clay and others like us must decide now what we are fighting not just against… but for. And if that frightens you, Admiral, it terrifies me."
Entry #21
Lagrange Point, New Dallas,
Terran Hegemony
14:00 27 January 2767
I'm considering another run for more Caspars – although it will be a few more days before I have a full drive charge – when alarms go off across New Dallas and its immediately surroundings.
Jump signatures – and a whole heaping lot of them – are being picked up from deep in-system.
While Lagrange points are formed by planets and stars as well as planets and their moons, most people don't use them – they're not significantly more convenient than the Nadir and Zenith points most of the time and they're still pirate points, with all the risk inherent in that.
For that very reason they're not usually closely guarded and the New Dallas system is so small…
The last of the Caspars has been handed off the New Dallas control feeds so I form up with the regular warships rather than with a flock of drones. Between my battered broadsides and those of the Caph anything that tries to punch into this squadron is going to be in for a nasty time of it.
The wordless tension stretches out…
And then fades as recognizable IFFs and selected codes from those sent to functional HPGs outside the Hegemony are identified.
"Someone's lit a fire under their aft quarters," I observe on the command channel. "They must have commandeered every merchantman they could find to get them here by command circuits."
"It's hard to argue with success," replies Clay.
Four destroyers and a cruiser aren't much of a fleet, but these are known ships attached to naval depots in the nearer portions of the Free Worlds League. And shepherded by them are jumpship after jumpship, spreading their sails out behind them as dropships begin to form up for the run out to New Dallas.
According to the IFF squawks, we've been honoured by the arrival of the 100th Royal Mechanized Infantry Division, a small part of Eighth Army. Not precisely the cavalry but a very welcome sign of support from the rest of the Star League.
The 100th Royals are about half-way to us when another flood of jump signatures heralds the arrival of the losers in the race to reinforce us. Major General James McEvedy manages to hide his fulmination at being beaten to the post by Austin Scriver's infantry, but I'm not personally inclined to complain about who got here first. Two Royal Divisions – McEvedy's command is the 331st Royal BattleMech Division – render New Dallas as near to impregnable as we can reasonably hope for and their reason for the wait (letting the battlecruiser SLS Killiecrankie join their escort) is more than worthy.
"I'm not sure of the legality of your declaring yourself Director-General," McEvedy grumbles at Clay once we're able to confer by secure radio channel with the sudden influx of senior officers.
"It's a little shaky," Clay agrees. "But it's Interim Director-General. What Amaris is apparently ignoring in his own so-called election is that the late First Lord had named his daughter as a successor. Under those circumstances, the High Council has no business trying to nominate anyone as Director-General. Until she's of age, the President of the Terran Congress should act as Pro-Tem Director-General, but he's in Amaris' hands."
"And the High Council is the same, I gather," Scriver concludes. "A tricky situation. What does the New Dallas Congress think about this?"
"They're in favour – although that may be because some of their leaders are campaigning to replace me as Planetary Governor." On the screen, Clay holds up his hands. "Once we've liberated Terra and restored their Congress, I'll gladly hand over to whoever is elected as President and he can appoint a new High Council."
"Hmm. You say that now, but raising the Hegemony Armed Forces suggests that you've more permanent plans."
"That's public relations – and perhaps a little bit political. I'd imagine that if the Star League Council see the Hegemony Armed Forces building up they might be a little more inclined reinstate something along the lines of the Star League Protocols to limit the military forces maintained by Member-States. If it's any reassurance, they'll act as an Auxiliary Corps to the SLDF until the Hegemony is liberated."
"That'll help. Whoever you appoint it had better be ready to work with –" for "- the General though."
"I intend to ask his recommendation. It's a shame General Stefannson didn't make it out of the Citadel – he'd have been the obvious choice but… well." Clay shrugs. "And I was in the SLDF myself, I remember how these things work. I suppose I can ask Praetorian to stand in until then. If anyone can be trusted to stand firm for the Cameron's then he can."
Okay, I proposed the HAF. I'm not exactly disinterested – although possibly I should have placed more weight upon McTiernan's worry that Clay would appear to be building up a power base. Still, I hadn't planned on leading them.
The spluttering at the suggestion rather indicates that I'm not considered command grade material.
"That singing battleship?"
"He could at least handle the paperwork," Clay points out. "And he is on the line, you know."
"My feelings, if you choose to accept them as existing, are not hurt, Director-General. It may, however, be more practical to consider our immediate strategy. I expect that it will take some weeks or months before further reinforcements can arrive but we may have the opportunity to liberate a second Hegemony world, which would extend our foothold as far as I believe to be defensible with the forces at hand."
"That's a bit ambitious, we won't see anything else from Eleventh Army for most of a month," admits McEvedy. "The East Hartford Division are mobilizing but the available shipping was disrupted getting us here."
"The rest of III Corps will arrive a little sooner than that – benefit of being on the supply lines out to Canopus," Scriver muses. "But that will be two to three weeks from now – can't use command circuits to move warships and it would be insane to send them un-escorted."
"Somehow I doubt that Praetorian is planning on waiting that long. How do you see our resources as sufficient for a planetary invasion. My best estimate is that Amaris must have at least twenty divisions deployed in the Hegemony right now. We have, at best, three."
"That would agree with my own information, Admiral McTiernan. However, with over one hundred and forty planets to secure, Amaris has to disperse his forces while we can remain concentrated."
"That's a reasonable expectation. So where are you thinking of? Connaught perhaps? Or Bordon?"
"Not quite. I have a more… aggressive target in mind."
Interlude #3
New Vandenburg,
Taurian Concordat
14:00 27 January 2767
Joan Brandt entered the Commanding General's cabin only after politely waiting for the guards outside to obtain permission but even so, the Admiral found the outer chamber darkened. Kerensky sat erectly upon a corner couch, eyes upon a holographic display in the centre of the room – projector cleverly worked into the Star League seal worked into the floor.
Before speaking a word, Kerensky returned her salute and gestured towards the door. "Hang your hat on the peg, Joan."
With raised eyebrows, Brandt obeyed. Implicitly, by setting aside their uniform headgear, they were to have a less than formal conversation. It would take more than the fingers of one hand to count the number of times she'd seen Kerensky unbend like this – absent his few and furtive leaves of absence over the decades – but only just.
"I'm sure you've heard the rumours of news from Terra."
"By way of Liao, yes." She was referring to the planet, not just the House of that name. SLS Dreadnought had reached the ancestral home of the Great House that ruled the Capellan Confederation four days before with dire news: a coup d'etat against the Hegemony and warfare upon and above Terra itself. It was impossible to keep word like that from spreading.
Kerensky nodded and gestured sharply with a command wand, bringing up more images. "From other places too," he said, indicating and then dismissing the globe of a slightly familiar world. "SLS Enterprise and a small escort reached Cartago late on the twenty-third and sent their own message." He turned the image of a small girl held in the arms of a SLDF officer so that Brandt could see it clearly. "Our new First Lord presumptive is aboard her, now en route to New Avalon."
"Amanda Cameron?" Brandt waited for the nod before concluding. "Safely out of the way, which is as much as can be hoped for… unless, is Davion implicated?"
"What? No, not at all. According to Admiral Mroczkiewicz there was a verbal statement by Lady Cameron to a Colonel Keeler and a recorded statement from the First Lord via Royal Security that John Davion is Lady Amanda's designated guardian should Richard die before she's of age."
"Who then?"
Kerensky let the question hang a moment and then: "Amaris."
"Stefan Amaris? That fat sack of… him? I thought he loved Richard like a son."
"He's an Amaris." The old man's voice was harsh. "They're not known, historically, for letting family sentiment get in the way of their ambitions. I think we can assume he's at least as well-equipped as the armies we've been fighting here. And all that was left in the Hegemony was a single Corps."
"And the Caspars… I know you don't like them but…"
Kerensky shook his head. "For the most part, they appear to have been neutralized. Mroczkiewicz says that only one command ship went active and while that let them eke out a temporary victory over Terra it wasn't enough to hold on. They evacuated who they could – mostly from Geneva, but they got the Combine's ambassador's family out too."
"Not the ambassador?" Brandt winced. "They'll not like that."
"He seems to have died fighting. I'm not sure how that will play with Takiro." Kerensky sighed. "There are some signs that Amaris doesn't have control of the SDS drones either, so it's a more or less level playing field. And New Dallas is still in loyalist hands."
The Admiral thought a moment and then nodded. "Titus Clay retired there, didn't he? I recall he'd been elected to their… Congress?"
"Planetary Governor. And via self-promotion, now claiming to be Interim Director-General of the Terran Hegemony. It doesn't have any legal standing, but it might serve I suppose. Their HPG is out of action but ships reached the League and elements of Eighth and Eleventh Armies are moving to reinforce him."
"We're going back then?"
"You are." Now it was readiness reports backing up Kerensky's words. "It'll take weeks to pull our forces out of the Periphery and too many divisions are exhausted. Besides, we can't leave the Republic itself out of our calculations. I'm forming an Army Group for you – Eighth and Eleventh, plus the Fifth and whatever we can piece back together out of First Army – two-thirds of their divisions were outside the Hegemony."
"I understand. My orders?"
"Reinforce New Dallas and any other worlds that are holding out, within the limits of your resources. If you can reasonably liberate more worlds without stretching yourself, do so." Kerensky paused. "And I want your assessment of Clay and… someone else. If they're trustworthy, they'll be assets. If not, we need them out of the way before they get entrenched."
"Alright. So… besides Clay who am I to evaluate."
The holograms changed again, to the familiar shape of a Texas-class battleship. Almost familiar, that was. Brandt's eyes narrowed as she picked out differences between this and other ships in the class that she was familiar with. "That's the M-6 prototype. I thought it had been destroyed."
"Apparently not." Kerensky folded his arms. "It jumped in over Terra, shortly after the coup, apparently spoiling for a fight against Amaris. Mroczkiewicz describes it as highly intelligent and independent – for a while they thought someone was aboard and talking to them."
"Well someone must have been when they jumped in. The computers in Caspars don't cope well with jumps."
"Not the case with this one, it seems."
Brandt pursed her lips. "I can see why that would be suppressed. Caspars that can jump without losing their marbles would be very useful… and very threatening."
"Well, either the Praetorian is more advanced or it's behaviour is the result of that sort of brain damage." The general shook his head. "It was singing during the battle – psychological warfare, it claims."
Brandt shook her head. "A warship that sings. Now I have heard everything. Don't worry, General. I'll take a look at it, as well as Clay. And if either of them looks like trouble I'll shut them down for you. Count on me."