Because We (Trash) Can 03
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General Armstrong started: "The first proposition is that you help the Eridani Light Horse acquire or set up a heavy industry company. Much as Wolf's Dragoons have their Blackwell Industries, the Eridani Light Horse need a RobotniC Systems to manufacture and give priority to non-House troop concerns. This company will focus on supplying mercenary commands so that they don't fall into company store policies or find themselves in debt from advanced technologies that they can't maintain due to House manufacturers prioritizing resupply for House troops engaged in combat.
"The Eridani Light Horse doesn't have… any experience in business. However, even as RobotniC would start off constructed and staffed by Davion personnel, it would be a privately owned business controlled entirely by the ELH's civilian services that outside interests can't interfere with. Obviously we accept Davion eyes will be observing all new tech and production, but just try to be subtle about it."
"Sure, that sounds reasonable enough," replied Hanse. "But of course you can't expect this to be done for free. What's in it for the Federated Suns?"
The holo showed a rotating image of the Super Royal Urbanmech, which then disassembled into component parts.
"You know of the specs of the Super Royal Urbanmech. No one expects an Urbanmech to go eighty-six kph. It is possible to do so even without using an Extra Light Engine and still pack a decent warload with a PPC."
Armstrong took out the leftmost Memory Core. "But no more fumbling around. Here is everything necessary to create the Super Urbanmech and all its components. Extra Light Engines. Double Heatsinks. Ferro-Fibrous armor. Endo Steel construction. Extended Range PPCs and Lasers. Pulse Lasers. Guardian ECM. Beagle Active Probe. LB-X Autocannons. Variable Range Battle Computers. Star League cooling suits and neurohelmets. Everything that makes a Royal BattleMech a Royal - it just happens to come in the form of an Urbanmech.
"For now we just want to produce Sensors and Tracking Systems, Ferro Fibrous Armor and Double Heatsinks. No matter how many factories you make or retool, another source will always be useful. Whether or not you can protect the rest of this technology from theft by other Houses is not our problem."
Ardan Sortek pointed at Nathan Armstrong. "You- this is Star League lostech, and you understand how to make it?! This changes everything!"
Hanse nodded. "I must say this actually is being very generous of the Light Horse. We would be happy to cooperate with this. Where do you want the company to be listed and its factory built? Colchester?"
"New Avalon. Why move away from the workforce and resource base, after all?" Armstrong raised palms up in a shrug. "We have always considered it a major weakness how so many critical factories are spread out and make outlying planets strategic targets instead of concentrating the defense."
"That is because most of these factories date back to the days of the Star League and earlier, and how to make them is also lostech," said Quintus Allard. "Even when we understand manufacturing from first principles, those factories are too large to remove and losing them would cripple the planetary economy."
"Lostech no longer," replied Armstrong. He shrugged. "Well at least as long as it's in the shape of an Urbanmech."
Hanse hummed. "I was going to ask… why Urbanmech? Then I realized that Urbanmechs aren't really considered a threat, aren't they? A new Mech factory for Urbanmechs isn't going to sound like an offensive build-up."
"Urbanmechs ought be good at urban combat and free up other forces for more mobile wars somewhere else," Ardan commented. "It's ironic that the standard Urbanmech with the AC/10 isn't really. With only a single ton of ammo and a Small Laser for backup weapon, reputation has it that once engaged an Urbanmech is only good for around two minutes of combat - either the enemy gets destroyed, it gets destroyed, or it becomes almost useless. Whoever decided just to put a PPC on an Urbanmech instead is a genius."
"I considered putting a PPC on an Urbanmech," Hanse acted as if pouting. "It's only good that we know now the Suburbanmech concept works."
"Being able to go assault mech speeds still means it has an underpowered engine. It looks to me here - like it is possible to make a Super Urbanmech without lostech. Same 150-rated engine as we use for the Valkyrie." Ardan pointed at the holo.
"Eridani Light Horse are willing to license the design if you want to cover for the appearance of Super Royal Urbanmechs in the Draconis Front. The only difference is e-war suites and double heat sinks to handle the heat load."
Hanse slapped his palm down on the table. "Accepted! This is a done deal, what else have you got?"
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"The Eridani Light Horse wants a world inside Davion space ceded to the SLDF in perpetuity. It would be a black site, no one goes in, only out. The SLDF reserves the right to detain or treat trespassers with lethal force, no matter their origin."
Hanse threw his head back and laughed. "That's some escalation in demands!"
"My lord, this would set up a terrible precedent if allowed-" hurriedly said Quintus.
"Whatever you're offering, it has to be big," the First Prince of the Federated Suns continued, and while his entire being radiated amusement, his eyes were cold.
"To mitigate your concerns, we don't need a settled world. We would prefer for our purposes an abandoned or dead world. It would be where the Bright Horse would conduct our research. Not even NAIS is safe enough. We would still share the results, of course. RobotniC would be the public source for new technologies, the black site for… other things.
"Once the Federated Commonwealth is an established fact, we may as well request a second world somewhere in the back end of Lyran space as a backup site."
Quintus Allard frowned. Given how even NAIS could be infiltrated by House Liao via skullduggery by Morgan Hasek-Davion, this made some sense. However, giving up worlds was still not something a Great House should do so easily. Even when giving worlds to mercenaries as their homeworlds under employ, there was no abrogation of ultimate authority over the world and its populace and resources.
A dead world could still be awarded to a hardworking retainer freshly ennobled at some point.
"The price for that still needs to be big," said Hanse. "Centuries from now, who knows if that ceded territory would be a good thing at all. What can compensate for that?"
Armstrong nodded and the holo changed into a star map of the Federated Suns. Then some stars grew brighter and most of the field grew dimmer. "The Federated Suns has been described as islands of some overdeveloped worlds in a sea of mediocre and poverty-stricken worlds. The AFFS has some of the most highly-trained and and well-supplied soldiers in the Inner Sphere, but this comes at the cost of leaving little for the economic development of worlds far from the combat regions. But with how the Draconis Combine is an existential threat to the Federated Suns itself, it's understandable that you can't afford to dial down instead.
The holo switched to a single world. First dry and lifeless, then bombarded with ice asteroids until it had water, and then slowly going green.
"This is not part of the price we pay for that world. This is DATABASE DEMETER, the complete library of the Terran Hegemony's terraforming technology. All those Jamerson-Ulikov Water Purifiers that many worlds relied upon, and their breakdown meant that worlds had to be abandoned? No longer lostech. Here is everything you need to make the components to repair and maintain them. Here is everything you need on the biosciences needed to introduce Terran flora and fauna into alien worlds. Here is everything you need to filter toxic and tainted atmosphere and fight bioplagues.
"We have sent copies of this Memory Core to Katrina Steiner. The name of the Eridani Light Horse might be irritating to their generals, but our centuries of service still carries weight to the Archons.
"Soon enough we will announce this ELH LIFE CORE to Comstar. I'm sure they would try to subtly sabotage or discredit it. But Comstar's public face is benevolence, most of their people are true believers that they do good apolitical work, and as the neutral providers of communication technology throughout the Inner Sphere and protectors of technology, they can't afford NOT to distribute the Core."
Quintus held his breath.
Hanse frowned minutely. If this would help everybody, then it would also help House Davion's enemies. This would hurt the Federated Sun as much as it would make things easier.
"While that's good, I don't see how that's worth us giving up a planet to you in particular. Charity to the entire Inner Sphere shouldn't require compensation. Unless you're trying to angle this as some sort of publicity for the Federated Suns?"
The holo zoomed closer to the planet. A space station came into view, and moored within cages were multiple what looked to be Scout-class JumpShips.
Spheroid DropShips, presumably Unions, were approaching the planet.
From docking ports on the station, Leopard CVs undocked. The view followed them as they intercepted the invaders.
However, as they closed, only half the Leopard CVs released fighters. The other half began blasting at the enemy Unions from extreme range with Capital Lasers. Hull sections of the Unions began to crack open, like so much boiled eggs.
Armstrong continued "This is what we offer the Federated Suns as an advantage:
"Your economy and strategic speed suffers from lack of JumpShip capacity, like all of the Inner Sphere. This is the SLDF Expeditionary Scout II JumpShip - effectively a Scout with extendable pod grav decks and two DropShip Collars. The complete plans not just to build a JumpShip from scratch, but the shipyards to craft them.
"Your initiative suffers from the need to keep substantial on-planet defenses that you can't truly push against the enemy. Nobody in the Inner Sphere has any real Navy. Landings are rarely able to be contested in space. Here is the technology for Sub-Capital Lasers and Sub-Capital PPCs and what Capital Naval Weapons were developed from. You may have finally the capacity to build Pocket WarShips to have a true Navy capable of defeating enemy raids in space.
"Pirates would be less of a problem. Pirates can risk losing Mechs, but never their DropShips. A Pocket WarShip built on an otherwise mediocre Leopard hull can secure a world in a way a company of troops or mechs can't. I brought with me on the DropShip I arrived with, two Sub-Capital Lasers for you to use as a material sample.
"This is what we will be building on the blacksite. A secret shipyard and Sub-Capital Weapon manufactory. Where we're getting all the germanium for that? That is not something we will strain Davion Supply lines with, please do not worry about it. Build as many of your own new cost-efficient JumpShips as you can. Upgrade old Leopards repossessed from bankrupt mercenaries into as many Pocket Warships as you can."
Armstrong picked up the second Memory Core and placed it on the table.
"This is what we offer House Davion for its magnanimity. Unfuck your economy before considering any grand strategic deep battle offensives, Hanse Davion."
Hanse Davion whistled. He blinked several times, owlishly, as if barely able to believe it. No one does things like this. No one. This was vastly overpaying for one world.
Ardan Sortek whispered slowly "… are you actually the SLDF?"
"We have always been," said Armstrong.
No one knew how to reply to that.
This technically had always been the ELH's claim. It was just that for over three centuries they had just looked... delusional.
"What do you think?" Hanse asked Quintus. "Is it fair… horse trading?"
Quintus closed his eyes and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. He exhaled. "No, Hanse. No it's not. Giving up a dukedom on an established world would be a fair price for this. One dead world that we're supposed to cover up and find a reason to deny access as a recharge point for civilian JumpShips? If they really intend on building shipyards and Capital weapons down there, that allows enough time to build up before other Houses scrabble to keep up with the escalation. Other agencies will only be able to see us building second-line mechs and JumpShips - hardly a threat."
Hanse looked back towards Nathan Armstrong. "This sounds almost too good to be true. I'm going to have to trust that you're not just going to stab us in the back. Anything that can build JumpShips and DropShips in Davion space out of sight… one world could bombard multiple worlds, you know?"
"The ELH Navy will remain under the same terms as the Eridani Light Horse RCT," replied Armstrong. "Technically a SLDF RCT always its own naval assets. What we lack most right now is liquid funding and an established supply line. In honesty, if we had a world in Davion space we would be less inclined to leave. Originally the Eridani Light Horse were peacekeepers in Kuritan space, you know? A place where we can support defense against Combine aggression would be ideal."
"Right. Fine. Is there any particular world do you want? Even if it somehow has a Castle Brian we just all missed…" Hanse hummed as he perused the star map on the holo.
"Of course you may scan as much as you want to make sure the world doesn't have anything particularly valuable that the AFFS would need to carry off. Don't spend more than three months on it though," replied Armstrong.
The general pointed to a star near Colchester, directly to the right on the starmap. "This one seems ideal for our purposes. The abandoned world Declan II."
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Declan Star System
Star Type (Recharging Time): G3V (134 hours)
Planet type: Terrestrial
Diameter: 11,700km
Position in system: 2 (.700 AU)
Time to Jump Point: 8.35
Year length: 1.2 Terran years
Day length: 23.0 hours
Surface Gravity: 0.97g
Atmosphere: Breathable
Atmosphere Pressure: Standard
Atmospheric Composition: Nitrogen and Oxygen, plus trace gases
Equatorial temperature: 35 degrees C
Surface Water: 29%
Highest Native Life: Birds
Landmasses (Capital City): Hugill (New Hindolveston), Jupe
Population: 0
Socio-Industrial Level: Regressed: Pre-industrial world
HPG Class Type: none
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After considering the data and how it was only three jump aways from Colchester, Hanse nodded. "It's a pity that you want this to be a black site. Bringing back a dead world would also be good for your own independent economy, you know?"
"You would have two worlds," noted Quintus. "Publicly Colchester and in secret Declan II. If income for the expansion of your regiments is your problem then you really ought to start investing into Colchester as well."
"General Armstrong…" Ardan Sortek said suddenly but firmly. His fists were clenched.
"Yes, Colonel Sortek?"
"When is the Star League planning to return?"
Armstrong reply was just as firm. "The Star League isn't returning. It must be established by common consent by the powers of the Inner Sphere."
Once again, a long uncomfortable silence draped across the room as the ELH general calmly failed to explain any further.
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"You know, I'm really enjoying these meetings," Hanse Davion said with a wide grin. He pointed towards the last remaining Memory Core. "Go ahead then. Shock me. I'm ready!"
"When the Second Star League is established-" and here suddenly Ardan Sortek let out a strangled noise at Armstrong's choice of words "... the ELH requires from the Federated Commonwealth, if not its constituent powers of at least House Davion and House Steiner, to support our nomination for First Lord even above what they might consider their own interests at the time. That they must trust that this is not intended to harm either powers but instead will help strengthen everyone involved."
He stared at Hanse. "Hanse Davion… you would make for a perfectly adequate First Lord. As I have been told 'Davion-wank is acceptable as long as everyone else happens to be pants-on head evil or incompetent'. However, the Star League and the Terran Hegemony went extinct because of ONE First Lord's incompetence despite their centuries of institutional compentence. That sort of gross mistake can never be allowed to happen again. If the Second Star League falls, it would create a Long Night from which humanity might not be able to wake again.
"The Federated Commonwealth is the earliest stress test for the establishment of the Second Star League. If you can make it last more than two generations, it can be an example to bring in House Marik as the economic bounties would be worth more than war, and House Liao would accept externally imposed peace from the Star League as it would freeze their borders and get them to ease off the stress of defense."
"What about House Kurita?" asked Hanse.
"Luthien delenda est."
Hanse grinned. "Fair enough."
Armstrong sighed. "More than anything, all the Eridani Light Horse ask for is not heroic leadership. Just competent ones. Less war-mongering ones. We recognize the necessity of war to secure political goals, but the Succession Wars to succeed a throne that no longer exists is a waste of lives.
"As a wise man said to me: 'Astropolitics does not need to be a zero-sum game.' We have given you the tools to expand outwards, not into each other. Together you are strong; apart, you will shatter upon enemies from beyond the Rim."
Ardan Sortek looked up sharply. "Is there- is that the reason why you're acting so openly now? Is there something out there that needs the Star League united again just to fight back?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny at this point."
Ardan made a low sustained growl of frustration.
Hanse laughed. "All right! But giving up potentially my or my descendant's claim to being the First Lord is something I can't just let go. Centuries of my people have also died and bled for the claim. Maybe John Davion was greedy. But right now… would it be so bad? If you were looking for competent leadership, then I think the Federated Suns have proven enough we're capable of ruling large realms. Why wouldn't the leader of the Federated Commonwealth be the natural choice, unless you're working the Concord of Kapetyn into some sort of counter-balance for a voting block? Are you thinking the First Lord should just be a figurehead tiebreaker?
"We as rulers have our own responsibilities to shoulder the dreams and expectations of our people. I don't think there's anything big enough to compensate for how insulted this would make our people feel, like we saying all those centuries of suffering mean nothing."
The holo shifted to a large truck with a dish on top.
Armstrong spoke "This is the Star League Mobile HPG. Fifteen tons. Transportable. And the plans on how to build these compact HPGs to destroy the Comstar monopoly. Let human space expand as far as it can, as much as it can. This is the knowledge that would invite nukes or naval bombardment, but it is yours if you can ensure you and your descendants will fulfill the contract.
Hanse threw his hands up to the air and cursed "Fuck! Well that would do it then!"
"These are the three things that create a golden age: Peace. Transportation. Communications. It can be here inside your lifetime if you were just able to abandon the zero-sum game." Armstrong turned aside to shut off the holo display. As the movement tugged back on his left sleeve they noticed that he was wearing a large but simple golden bangle around his left wrist. Almost like an oversized gold ring.
"What would Comstar become if this ever becomes open knowledge? Didn't you just warn earlier about the Clarion protocol?" Quintus spoke up.
"The Eridani Light Horse would prefer it if Comstar ceases being a phone company and just starts being the Terran Hegemony again. They would be up to much less bullshit if they did."
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