New Avalon
Crucis March
Federated Suns
05 January 3025
When First Prince Hanse Davion was informed that ELH Brevet General Nathan Armstrong was looking for another face-to-face he was tickled enough to arrange for a command circuit. This was a pre-positioned series of JumpShips that would jump as soon as the favored DropShip could transfer from one JumpShip to the other. Potentially this could reduce travel times from several months into a matter of one week.
Given the relatively short distance between Colchester and New Avalon, this was not a hardship for JumpShip captains. There were always plenty of ships heading towards New Avalon.
Nathan Armstrong had additional requests for their meeting. First, that there would be tri-vid unit available - which was fine. Second, that Ardan Sortek would also be there. That one, Hanse Davion granted for his own amusement. He just knew that Ardan was there just for his reactions as a very traditional mechwarrior. Hanse countered by asking if it would be fine to have Quintus Allard attend as well.
Much to his pleasure, Armstrong agreed immediately to the promise of subtle interrogation.
-.
Which led to their present situation, all three of the some of most important men in the Federated Suns waiting in a veranda for the leader of a three-regiment mercenary unit; Hanse mused as much with a mischievous smile.
"Apparently four or five regiments now," said Quintus Allard.
"They have to be faking it somehow," groused Ardan Sortek. "No one gets two regiments of anything all of a sudden like that. Even if they're Urbanmechs. Specially if they're Urbanmechs."
"Royal Urbanmechs, apparently," added Quintus. "NAIS looked them through. They are pristine Star League make. The fact that they have given us practical examples of Extra-Light Engines, Double-Heat Sinks, and Extended Range PPCs should buy them goodwill. Except that it doesn't. I share Ardan's suspicions. This is much too good to be true, and there is a catch to this somewhere."
He turned towards Hanse. "The Eridani Light Horse moving to the Federated Suns to support the Draconis March was a good thing when they were on a logistical dead-end. But a mercenary unit that has been rebuilt on its employer's largesse can just decide to move. The 12th Star Guards were also a SLDF-born unit. With five regiments they are one of the largest mercenary commands.
"They moved to the Federated Suns back in 3012 to improve their finances. Then just this year they decided not to renew their contract and go off to the Lyran Commonwealth instead. Even supposed and old and honorable mercenary commands can't be relied upon not to chase the money or their own interests."
Hanse shrugged. "To be fair, it's not like it was a bad deal. I know Katrina" the Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth "wanted a replacement for the Eridani Light Horse on the Kurita border." He and the rest of the Federated Suns were always willing to spend as long as it brought hurt into House Kurita.
Given the general ineptitude of Steiner command, compensated for only by depth of resources and a dedicated NCO corps, they needed a similar force that can respond with independent initiative operating on regimental scale. The 12th Star Guards were five regiments to the Eridani Light Horse's three regiments.
"Mercenaries," Ardan sniffed. "You can trust them the least when they're going on about their honor."
"The Eridani Light Horse are becoming too dangerous to interact with without leverage," added Quintus.
"Trying to absorb the Light Horse with some sort of company store policy or reducing their command rights is the kind of thing that would make them resentful and give them a reason to leave, you know," said Hanse. "It's not like they can just leave. If they really follow their traditions - then where else can they go? They just burned their bridges with Steiner high command. Not able to sign up with Liao and Kurita, of course. They have bad memories with Marik, and after what House Marik did for Wolf's Dragoons, they're not all that reliable as employers either. Anyone that dresses up like they are still the SLDF won't be welcome anywhere in the Periphery.
"No, I think we're all hitched together for what it's worth. You still haven't figured out their Wandering Horse intel service, haven't you? You know they gave us good intel on OPERATION DOPPELGANGER when they didn't have to. My own senechal, ready to have me replaced! Losing that future asset can't help your own operations either."
Quintus Allard tightened his lips and stared back at the First Prince. "That couldn't have gotten as far without Michael. This is as much a Hasek-Davion plot as it is a Liao one. How the Eridani Light Horse knew anything about it in the first place… all right, I admit it. I don't see any plausible way they could have intersected into this situation. Even if they were complicit in it, it's unlikely."
Hanse grinned. "So you agree we should play nicely with the Eridani Light Horse."
Quintus nodded slowly. "At least until we can know more."
An aide came in and whispered something to Quintus. The head of Ministry of Information, Intelligence, and Operations (MIIO), glanced up in surprise.
"Something wrong?" Hanse asked.
"Armstrong is here and he may have brought something troublesome," said Quintus. "If you will excuse me?" At Hanse's assent, he stood up to deal with the new situation.
Shortly thereafter, the attendants announced Nathan Armstrong's arrival.
-.
-.
The general carried with him a metal briefcase, which made Hanse quirk an eyebrow with curiosity. Obviously the contents would have been scanned most thoroughly. No one should risk bringing a bomb into the presence of the First Prince of the Federated Suns.
Quintus Allard had a flat expression as he accompanied the general and directed him to his seat.
"Welcome back to New Avalon!" Hanse greeted with open arms. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Nathan! You've been busy, eh? I think you pulled a fast one on me."
"In what way, my lord?"
"Your crew were only away for five months. If you were taking anything, that puts those goods well inside my Federated Suns space, eh?"
"That would be true if, first - that we salvaged a cache somewhere. And second - if DropShips could not transfer to another JumpShip anywhere along the way," Nathan Armstrong replied calmly. "We left with two DropShips, we returned with nine. Surely your observers would have informed you about this."
"Fair enough. Fair enough." Hanse grinned. "So, did you get a resupply from the SLDF? Is the Star League still alive out there somewhere?"
Quintus Allard gave Hanse Davion a look that said 'I seriously cannot believe you are just saying that.'
Armstrong's eyes squinted in a smile that didn't move the lips. "I can neither confirm nor deny in any way, I hope you understand."
Something much like jilted hope passed across Ardan Sortek's expression. As a mechwarrior, as much as he knew it would be an unrealistic fantasy, in his heart - in many hearts - there was still a child that longed for the glory of the Star League and its armies of battlemechs fighting not for the sake of territorial conquest but for peace and justice. Fighting and dying to retake Terra from the usurper, and then leaving the Inner Sphere to fester in their own malice even as the House Lords carved up the remains of the Terran Hegemony that brought the stars to mankind. The last worthy war by the last true men and women of honor.
Leaving aside the Unification War to bring to hell the Periphery and all the atrocities committed by the SLDF there, of course.
Hanse waved aside. "Moving on then. What have you got there? Any more interesting souvenirs?"
"Before we continue, could you indulge me this for a while, my Lord Hanse Davion? If that is your real name~," said Armstrong with a dramatic lilt at the end of his words. "It is now already thirty twenty-five. Please forgive if I cause offense. Can you answer me, these questions three?"
Hanse Davion beamed. Ardan groaned and palmed his face.
Quintus remained stony-faced, but someone knew that Hanse had a penchant for drama and this was both dangerous and annoying.
Hanse leaned back on his chair and replied "Ask your questions, general. I am not afraid."
"First, do you feel like you should be in jail?"
Hanse blinked. "... no?"
"Second, are you a man of culture?"
"I suppose I am, yes. It's a prerequisite for the job."
Armstrong began chuckling and muttered under his breath 'oh my god robotnik why' then looked up. "Last, then. Are you happy that what you would be doing in thirty-twenty eight is barely legal?"
Hanse Davion's eyes showed confusion, then a sudden glimmer of realization, then blazed in raw fury, which almost as quickly tamped down into a cool measuring calculation. He put a hand under his chin and nodded. "I suppose not. Thirty-twenty eight, huh. You know that's when Melissa Steiner turns eighteen. I know about the age difference, I knew my enemies would be using that against the FedCom alliance, but I wasn't expecting to be insulted and called a pedophile this early."
Ardan Sortek snapped out of his chair. "YOU DARE?!" he roared.
"There is no way you could have known about that secret provision in the Fed Com Accords," spoke Quintus Allard.
Ardan turned aside and bewilderedly asked "What are you saying? This is… Hanse and Melissa?" He could understand more Hanse Davion and Katrina Steiner, though given that Hanse was in his thirties and Katrina was in her fifties - though universally it was agreed that Katrina didn't look any older - there was a 20-year age difference either way. Nondi Steiner, Katrina's sister, was 44.
Ardan Sortrek scowled. If the whole point was to have a viable heir for the united realms, then… only Melissa Steiner's direct bloodline would do. There would be nothing more than eyebrow-raising in three more years. Arranged marriages were the norm for nobility. In a way, in exchange for their authority and luxury this lack of freedom to marry for love instead of mutual interests was the obligation of the aristocracy. Something this big could only be sealed by blood.
But in 3025, the girl was all of fifteen.
What did she think about this?
God! But how he hated politics!
He sat back down.
Armstrong tilted his head slightly towards Quintus Allard. "Should you be verifying my suspicions that easily, as far as being the head of an intelligence agency goes?"
"Obvious lying is pointless where your plan is to obtain accurate information," replied Quintus. "Garbage in, garbage out." It was pointless since Hanse gave the game away already anyway.
Armstrong nodded. "But of course for security reasons I can't tell you all about Wandering Horse as much as you can't reveal the sources for MIIO. We will share important information because the Eridani Light Horse is incentivized to make the Federated Commonwealth stand for more than just a generation as the best hope for lasting peace in the Inner Sphere.
"And to that end, Prince Davion -"
Armstrong opened the briefcase and turned it around. There was no shining light from within, but there might as well be. Hanse Davion's eyebrows raised near to his hairline, Ardan Sortek gasped, and Quintus Allard who had allowed him to bring this along exhaled softly in consternation. This complicated things. The ELH was as dangerous as they were a valuable ally.
Three Star League Memory Cores, shining and chrome.
Armstrong smiled thinly. He then took out a holovid tape and inserted it into the 3-vid player on the table. "Prince Davion, I have bad news, good news, and the worst news. Which would you like to hear first?"
-.
They spent a few silent moments to digest the unreality of this.
Hanse Davion laced his fingers together under his chin. "Hit me with the worst news first."
Armstrong nodded and continued "When Katrina Steiner went off to the Periphery, she returned with a sample of Black Boxes, first-generation Star League FTL communication devices that could transmit to each other within a hundred light years. This technology was done under Project TRANSIENT and was delivered to the SLDF's Rim Worlds commanders during the Reunification War. It was at least much better than jumpship relays."
The holo showed a black box, which itself was compact and looked like miscellaneous computer server hardware. "Limited to only small amounts of data, around two hundred kilobytes each time, the project was terminated in 2614 as the much more practical Hyperpulse Generator was developed and came online in 2630.
"But it was not enough just to discontinue a less efficient method. SLDF Communications Command ordered Black Boxes to be recalled and dismantled. The Eridani Light Horse knows why. You intend to use Black Boxes to continue military communications in the inevitable HPG blackout by Comstar. The Light Horse formally suggests that you don't rely on them."
The holo showed a star map with waves radiating out from each star, and then interfering with each other much like ripples on still waters.
"Black Box signals propagate, unlike HPG point to point transmissions. The Star League realized that Black Box - or K-series transmitters - create ripples and waves through their limited hyperspace frequencies and these disruptions can persist. Hyperspace becomes clouded, and messages will over time become redirected, garbled, or de-encrypted, requiring stronger signal modulations, which adds to the problem. The secret will inevitable out, and other Houses would copy the technology, and no one will exercise any restraint.
"The Star League never were able to resolve this problem. Overuse of the K-transmitters can lead to the whole system being unusable and it can take up to a century for these ripples to dissipate. And without communications, interstellar civilization grinds to an almost-halt as the Inner Sphere will only be able to rely on pony express JumpShip messenger services."
"So we really have no choice but to use HPGs? But Comstar neutrality… is not," said Quintus. "Unless you are going to tell us how to make HPGs, this is not useful data. How many years can we spend before the Black Box signals begin to compromise hyperspace?"
Armstrong shook his head slowly. "No, that is not the worst news. The worst news is that the Terran Hegemony built-in a killswitch into every HPG ever built. A signal might be sent into hyperspace that would cause HPG cores to slag themselves. Even replacement cores would not last. There is no way to track the origin of the blackout signal, because you will note that it has similarity to the Black Box propagating signal. This Clarion Note Protocol… is an option for Comstar.
"This is why Comstar should be co-opted, instead of pushed into suicide. If they would be destroyed then they might just take interstellar civilization down with them."
Hanse Davion sucked in air through grit teeth then exhaled in a whistle. "Well you certainly don't pull your punches. That's the worst news I could have heard. I can hope you're just lying about this, but… it's bad enough that it has to be true."
Quintus Allard scowled. So much of the AFFS operations relied upon being able to pass information through the inevitable Comstar blackout. The Eridani Light Horse telling them this was a disruption, calling all their objectives into question, and was the next best thing to sabotage. But at the same time, it was as helpful as it was harmful. "So? Do you have a solution?" he asked.
"Not right now, no," replied Armstrong. "That is why it is the worst news. The silver lining is that the first time you use it on a wide scale, it should be fine. Trying to improve the transmitter for more range, more information density, and more propagation speed just worsens the effect."
Hanse Davion sighed. "All right. I could use some good news."
"Might I go bad news then good news?" Armstrong asked instead. He gestured to the memory cores. "I promise that we have an escalating level of good news and bad news for each."
Hanse, being tickled at his love for drama, grinned weakly. "All right. What's the damage?"
Armstrong said "First, Prince Davion, the Eridani Light Horse have a series of… not quite demands, but not quite requests either. They are mutually beneficial, but non-negotiable."
Quintus Allard narrowed his gaze, but just giving SLDF Memory Cores without negotiating payment was almost deranged levels of generosity. Though it all depended upon the information present in those cores.
The Eridani Light Horse better have something to make this aggravation worth it.
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AN: I'm not sure if it's bad trying to be 'clever' again with alternating perspectives in an arc.