Chapter 29
By Cliff
Beta and Clean up: Not done
Reviewed by Hotpoint and Cannonshop
29 Feb 3048 the second run
Canopus System
Seven jumps, and 64 days later. The Tramp class jumpship showed up at the Canopus system's nadir jump point. The Canopus system was the capital solar system for the entire MC. It had a lot of traffic, for this part of space. It also had one other item that helped a lot with the high level of trade coming into this system. That was that it was also within only one full jump of the Free World's League's boarder. This had been a good thing and a very bad thing over the years, before and after the fall of the Star League.
In this system, Robert was taking all three of his dropships with him to the planet. With all of the information they had been able to intercept, so far. It was leading Robert to believe, that if something was going to happen to his dropships? It was going to happen here. Everyone in the whole fleet was on high alert.
The rotation of fighters was made up of the two LTN-g15 Lightnings, the STU K5 Stuka, and one of the Ironsides. The other two Ironsides would be held back as a surprise to any attackers. It was well known, by now. That the company had already sold the Vulcan and Cheetah before they made it this far. That was only one of the tricks up his sleeve. One part of Robert's brain was berating himself for almost wishing that something would happen.
On the five day burn to the planet called Canopus IV. The head tech from the Hobgoblin asked for some face to face time for a special meeting. It would have to be for a very important reason, that a request had been forwarded to him reference needing a face to face meeting while they were in transit to a planet. The two dropships docked together, and they did a hull to hull passenger transfer. It was not wise to risk someone being able to intercept the information about this meeting. If they had a small craft? They would have sent it over to pick up the needed personnel. Robert hadn't been happy, that this meeting had not been done while they were all still connected to the Styx. He made sure something like this would not happen again.
Robert looked around the room and let his eyes rest on one person. "Okay tech. We have about an hour before we have to separate, to start slowing down to make a zero/zero arrival. What have you got for us?" Robert had been given an encoded message that had hints to what was needing to be covered. But they were only hints.
The Tech was old, but she looked only to be in her low 60's to those who did not know about the SLiE. "You have all seen the plans for modifying the Stuka, which was passed around not long after leaving Dunianshire. So far? We have been able to do most of the pre-hard work, already. We can pull all of the old heat sinks out of the Stuka. We will replace them with high efficiency ones, out of our spare parts for the other craft. I just need the word to start the modifications. The sooner we start, the sooner the craft will be combat effective."
The Captain of the Hobgoblin looked over to Robert. "The Stuka is a heat hog, and this would make it more effective in combat, but still only using the technology that is available to the Inner Sphere." It was not a surprise to anyone, that he had been one of the primary supporters of this non-Royal upgrade of a fighter.
Robert was looking at the plans. This was the third version of the modification that had crossed his desk since they had left New Circe. He was walking a very thin line about having Royal designs to support his mission. "30 second generation heatsinks is bit of an overkill. Do we have enough replacement heat sinks to do this?"
The tech looked at the commander and gave him a strange look. "Sir, we have a block of 50 laid in as spares for all of the Ironsides we could put into use. Unless we run into something that gives them some major damage? We will still have enough replacements to completely replace the heatsinks for two whole ship's heat exchange systems. We think that doing a one for one exchange will keep the center of gravity of the craft manageable for the avionics, and it would be just simpler to do. I would be surprised if the craft would use all of those in combat, but it would save us trying to adjust a lot of computer code."
Robert looked at the tech again, but he shot a short look over to the Carrier Captain. "How long would it take to finish the modifications; from the time the word is given? I need a best case and a worst-case timeline to make an informed decision." He could feel the eyes watching him from around the room. He was the fleet commander, and it was his call. And it would be his name alone, on the order forms on file. He had only invited the other ship's commanders, so that they were aware of the issue with the Stuka.
The tech would have jumped up out of her chair, but they were in zero g. "Sir! We could do this one modification in as little as four days, but we will maybe need seven days at the outside. If we try to modify the software? That could take weeks, if we ran into difficulties. I have some good people, and I think that they can do that job also."
Robert looked around the room, but the truth was that this was his call, and his call alone. He had to fight down a smile, as he saw the other looks around the room. "Then do it. I also want you to look at pulling the Holly four pack, and start looking for those large lasers that you wanted for plan you marked as 5 D. I think this system will be our best bet to find them, for a while. Start working on a software patch to make them work on that frame. If you have any issues, put it back in and we will wait until we get back home to make the switch. But I want you to keep working on it until then." He was thinking that the techs might as well use the time going to the planet effectively.
The meeting would need to go on for a half hour more, as each of the Captains brought up whatever it was that needed to be worked out now, instead of using a radio for the later scheduled meeting. When the two ships split up, after the meeting. The massive engines fired and started slowing all of the ships, so that they could come into orbit above the life-giving planet.
They had to stay in orbit for almost a full twenty-four hours waiting to land after reaching the planet. This time keeping the carrier in orbit was not an issue. There was even a small satellite habitat that catered to support craft that did not want to land on the planet. Robert used the time to contact the person that Lora said was supposed to be there. As it turned out, they were there. And as soon as they could, they would be at the drop port. Robert also contacted the Rob Roy. She was stationed at the capital's main space port, just below the three craft under Robert's command. They replied with the correct codes, and now Robert could breathe a little easier. He had been worried when they had not picked up the transponder codes coming from the right Merchant class jumpship.
When the two dropships had been allowed to land. They already had been subject to dozens of requests to attend the many different pleasure circuses, held around the planet year-round. These were not targeted request for them to enjoy the shows. They were more of a general advertisement to any ship that was even close to the planet. Those contacts did not slow down, even after the dropships had landed. This was the first time that anyone of Roberts's people had landed on this planet since the last major supply run. The first day was taken up by just doing some house cleaning and getting fresh air into the ships, and a little relaxing time for the crews.
Things started happening at sunrise on the first full day that they were on the planet. Robert had to deal with the local government types first. They wanted to open every box in the cargo holds, "to see" what he was really bringing to their planet. Robert was only willing to move half of the cargo that they had brought with them to this planet. They had a long way to go, yet and he did not want to drive down the prices.
His gut told him that these government types were trying to get a look at his whole inventory, and not just what he planned to put on the local market while he was breathing their air. Robert ordered only a set number of items to be pulled out from the cargo bays. He did pull out all of the Colonial made items. He wanted to sell them, as quick as he could. It would give him a better idea how many he could bring out on the next run, as he got deeper into "normal" House space. This planet should be able to absorb this number of this type of weapon, and it not become over saturated. At least that was what the numbers said.
Jess and the dropship's Captains were taking care of any would be shoppers. Robert was dealing with bigger issues. He was in the main meeting room in the Blockade Runner, when the closed hatch opened. Robert looked up to the swinging motion. He knows the man that entered, and he rose from his chair to hold out his hand.
"David Sargent, good to see that you made it. How did the trip go after the Split system?" Robert was evaluating the man the second he walked into the room. He had down checked a few points when the other man had not knocked before entering Robert's office.
David Sargent had been in command of the Merchant class jumpship and the Trojan she had carried on its back, after the two ships had gone their separate ways. David and his small command had made their own way to this system. It was hoped that they would be able to put the jumpship up for sale or maybe even get rid of the dropship, with enough lead time. At least they could have them sold before Robert and the rest of the team made it to the capital. That had been in the original plan, and it had been flushed out of the airlock well before Robert had made it all the way here.
David was an up and coming commander within the SLDF Navy. This little run was checking the box, for an independent command. When he got back home? He would be moved into a staff position, maybe within the main fleet ground staff or on a large space fleet unit. If he did well in one of those two assignments? Then he might get a large ship combat command of his own. While he was a younger person, most of his crew, to include his second and third in command were old supply run people. About a third had been on the last run under Robert's command.
David took a seat and smiled at the older man. "It went good. We had no issues. I would call it a dull run, compared to all of the reports I have read before we left. We kept to the uninhabited systems for the most part, just as we planned. We only saw one other jumpship the whole way from Split to here. That is until we got here. It's been an active pain, after that. We have had a few bites on the sale of the dropship, but nothing on the Merchant."
Robert could feel the young lion's emotions. He did not like working for someone of Robert's age, which was common in the world, both within the SLDF and the whole Inner Sphere in general. Maybe it was even that way going all the way back to the dawn of time. Robert understood that it was worse within "clan space". Now it was time to show the young one, why old lions lasted so long as the leaders in the wild. Robert made sure that he had just the right look on his face, so that it would not aggravate the young lion. An aggravated youth was not inclined to learn.
"I have that covered. I have a buyer stopping by, in about 30 minutes. Did you list your people and ships under our operational cover name, when you arrived in system?"
David looked at the commander, with a blank level gaze. "Yes sir, I did. I do not know why you wanted me to change on the agreed upon protocol." When they had left, the idea had been for the new ship to be listed as belonging to Evergreen Space lines. David did not know that he had started to slip back into proper clan speak, but Robert did, and he would remember it.
Robert hides a smile. It was time for lessen number one for a larger ship commander. That lesson was to think about all the whys, that a senior commanders' order might mean. "David, we have been avoiding picking up and shifting other people's cargo and personnel for going on now two missions. After we sell these two ships. How are you getting home?"
David looked at the older man. One that he thought was a failure, but he had no idea what the fleet commander was getting at. He ate a member of the Rook family and asked for help. "Sir? I am not following." The words tasted like ash as the crow went down his throat.
Robert was a little surprised, that the younger man did not get where he was coming from. "David? If we are not in the habit of giving others a charter or passenger service. How will it look? When we lift you and your crews off planet, when we leave or even being seen spending an extended length of time with them? It's going to draw a lot of attention from all over the place. If you belong to "the company", then it fits with our historic actions. WE are only carrying more of our own crews, and not a bunch of strangers. Then it is more likely that the information will just be filed away, and not actively investigated after we leave."
David blinked several times and let his mouth swing open. He had not thought about that. "Sir, that makes sense. I had not thought about people asking, about why you changed your pattern of operations and why. I guess I am more used to straight up combat, and not having to sneak around the edges." One thing that David strived for, was never making the same mistake twice. And he would make sure that he remembers the lesson that he had just been given. He would also remember how it had been given to him. Teaching and showing was a valuable lesson for a future navy warship commander.
Robert now let a slight smile slip onto his face. "Good! You also need to think about how to look at all of the angles, that will help you in straight up combat. Fighting humans is different than fighting the current crop of Cylons. Now I need a copy of all your reports. Did you highlight who made contact, about buying the dropship?"
David passed over a data storage device that would fit into Robert's computer. They spent some time going over each of the reports the younger man had put together. David was getting another lesson on why the SLDF navy had sent him to learn from this Commander. That stopped when Robert was notified that his next appointment was there.
David was getting ready to leave, when Robert waved for him to stay seated. By now David knew better than to ask why. He thought that another lesson was in the works. When the hatch opened again, four strangers walked into the room. They made introductions by first name, but not by job or duty. One part of David's mind noted that they were an even mix of male and female. After so many weeks on this planet, he knew that this was odd.
Robert could see that David wanted to break for the door. "David, Kimberly Jay is representing a shipping company that supports a good-sized slice of the MC and FWL border area. They are looking to increase their lifting capabilities, if we can come to a successful conclusion on a price for the Merchant jumpship." Robert was rewarded with raised eyebrows from the younger man. He had been beating the streets and vendors looking for buyers, and this man had one set up before his dropship's engines had been allowed to cool down.
What Robert did not say, was that Kimberly Jay was one of the members of the Families sent to the Inner Sphere many decades ago. He would not have said that any way, because he did not know how the other three people with her were connected to her. The older lion never gives up all of his hard-won secrets, at least not on the first, second or third meeting. He also would not tell anyone in this room that Robert was named after Kimberly Jay's grandfather.
Robert turned back to face the woman. "So, Miss Jay. Now that we are all in system. When would you like to inspect the ship?"
Kimberly smiles, a disarming smile. "Captain Copeland. I wanted to thank you for letting us have the first look at your ship. We have a certified inspection crew currently waiting at the jump point. They could start as soon as they get the word that you are okay with the inspection."
Robert smiled a salesman's smile and kept to the script, which had been used a hundred times already. "I say the word, is given. He picked up the phone and told the bridge to contact the correct traffic control, to let them know that an inspection team was cleared to a ship belonging to his company. Kimberly used her own handheld device and sent a message to her office. They were to radio to their people at the edge of the system, to leave as soon as they could. It would take hours for the radio message to cross the distance between the planet and the jump point. One inspection had been done when David had put the ship up for sale, just like Robert had done with the Scout. This was more or less, a show of interest and to double check the first public findings.
The deal was signed, and the money was put into escrow. It would be put into Copeland's local business accounts, if the inspectors accepted the ship. It was all paperwork, smoke and mirrors, and both parties knew this for a fact. Kimberly knew that the ship was in top shape. Her people would not have risked the run, in a ship that was less than "good". Soon 380 million C-Bills would be shifted around in the digital world.
While Robert was escorting the small group to an exit of the dropship. Kimberly passed him a note, it was not done on the sly. She was very public about the hand off. It was her contact information for future operations. Robert was betting that David did not catch it, he had been checking out the second woman who barely had said a word during the whole meeting. Robert had noticed, but he had hoped that the interest was not due to the low-cut shirt the quiet woman had been wearing.
While Robert was outside. He was finishing glad handing the people, who had just spent over a third of a billion C-bills. He was still doing that slimy job, when a well-maintained Trebuchet came striding up to the White Rabbit. Seeing a mech walking around the drop port was not that surprising, but they normally tended to stay on the lanes marked for heavy mass traffic. This one had left those lanes and was heading towards the two dropships.
It was alone and once it reached the burn line, it had stopped moving without needing to be ordered by the alert crew on the ship's bridge. Everyone on the ground was watching, as the side hatch popped open on the head assembly of the medium class battlemech. A chain ladder rolled out and a man in a cooling vest but not mech shorts, started to climb down the metal rungs.
Normally in a mech you wore as little as possible, to help you combat the life stealing effects of the heat that one of these war machines produced in action. This older man was in a normal combat field uniform, but he did have a coolant vest strapped over them. Once he reached the massive metal feet of his war-machine. The stranger removed the vest and straightened his uniform top, before starting closing on the group of onlookers. He even kept the vest in his off hand, as he walked over to the gaggle of bystanders near the open hatch to the dropship.
The older man walked ramrod straight, and at a military pace of 60-inch steps and 120 steps to the minute. When he was closer to the group, he started looking around them and talking. "My name is Colonel Newton Ramilie. The commander of Ramilie's Raiders. I'm looking for a Captain or Commander Copeland, to do some business." The voice was gruff. It was like he had been gargling razor blades for the last few decades for breakfast.
Robert nodded to Kimberly and her group, and then turned to the uniformed man. "I'm Copeland, and Captain will due for my title. What can I do for you Colonel?"
The Colonel put a slight smile on his face and walked closer to Robert. The escorts standing near the main hatch were starting to get worried, when they saw the hand come out in a greeting. It moved a little too fast for them to be comfortable, but when they saw that it was empty. They settled back down to just watching what was going on. Very few people would notice that their fingers had slowly moved the weapons selector switch from fire to safe.
"Good to meet you. I was told, by some of my people and some others that I trust. You might have some items for sale that I might be interested in."
Robert knew, from Lora, that his group had been the go-to unit for the hard jobs that the MC needed done for over a decade. Four of his sub-units were rated Elite, in the Intel reports that Lora had given him. Robert knew that something like that took a lot of work to reach that level of skill, even in the Inner Sphere. "I think we might have something, of use to almost a Regiment of battlemechs. We might have a few things that could be very useful to them." He points to the boxes and crates around the base of the dropship.
The Colonel and the Regiment Commander walked around the items on display, but the Colonel seemed to just be going through the motion. After one walk through, Robert turned to face the other military commander. "So, Colonel. What do you think? Do we have something your unit could use on its current contract? If you don't mind me asking. How have those Hawks MMM sent to you, with the updated cannons worked out?"
The Colonel looked around the items on display. "How do you know about them? Oh, never mind. You sold the cannons to MMM in the first place. They have worked out very nicely, thank you for asking. They are going to be the core of my new third Mech battalion. Yes, you do have some items that I would like to have Commander Copeland. But your prices are high. People out this far don't have that much money to spend, and we have to import so much to keep going as it is." Newton looked longingly over the display of weapons in front of him.
Robert had heard this line, or a version of it, a hundred times already. "Look Colonel. I'm just a simple merchant that has partners to keep happy. Ones that are also just trying to make a living. Besides, you would not have come out here. If you didn't have your mind set on something. So, just tell me what's on your mind. Then let's get down to doing some business." Robert was smiling as he spoke, and his tone was light.
The Colonel gave a big belly laugh that sounded odd to Robert's ears, and he tried to speak as he laughed. "What are you, a Stiener? Look Commander. I had to trade a good bit of stuff, when I got word you were coming out here. I moved some of the very choice's bits of salvage, which we have been able to collect and not use over the last few years. I even had to get a bit of a short-term loan, from the government."
Robert did not say anything. He just waited for the man to get to the point and stop using up oxygen. He did learn that this man had some money to spend, and he might be willing to do some trading on the side that was not cash based. Robert folded his arms and gave the military leader a level look, and kept his mouth shut, and continued to wait.
The Colonel picked up on the look and gave in to the merchant. He also had things to do, after he was done out here on the drop port. "Okay Captain, what I'm looking for, is a way to increase my Sky Pirates Aero Fighter unit. Before you ask, no they are not Pirates. It's just what they called themselves, even before we came out here to find a new home. Before we talk money. I would like to see that pair of Lightning's you have listed for sale."
Robert had not thought the Colonel would go that way. He had a mental bet going that he was going to try to do a mass buy of high-tech autocannons. It seemed that this mercenary wanted to spend some very big money. "Please give me a second, and I will see what I can do."
Robert went about ten steps off to one side and used the relay on the bridge to contact the Hobgoblin. When he returned to the mercenary colonel. He had news, but he did not know if it was good or bad news. "Colonel, those two pilots were on crew rest, but I can have them down in two hours. How long will it take to get your techs out here to inspect them?"
Colonel Ramilie smiled at the other man. He had hoped that they could take care of this today. He had heard rumors that this Captain was a professional, and he like to get things done without having to do a lot of backslapping, red tape cutting, or other games that were commonly played in this type of market. He also did not like to waste time or anyone else's time by playing games. "I can have them here when they land."
Ramilie put out his hand and again. After a firm handshake shared by the two men, he went back up into his battlemech. Robert had to assume that he had radioed back to his base, after he got back into the cockpit, but he had no way to know. Robert decided that he would stick around outside, helping Jess and the escorts keep an eye on things. About 90 minutes later, a small truck, maybe a 1-ton cargo type pulled up. In what look like a clown car event. People kept coming out of the small truck's four doors. All of them had tools and greasy uniforms. They screamed Tech, without needing to say a word.
Colonel Ramilie exited his mech for the second time and talked to the newcomers, before joining Robert again. This time Robert was under a shade providing tent. If he was going to do some business? He was going to be as comfortable as he could get away with. He was of a half a mind to just let the Cargo Master handle this, but part of his mind was itching about having access to the best unit in the MC's military. Robert had let his mind wonder about how to ask the right questions, and he did not notice the military officer until he was in speaking distance.
"Captain Copeland, my aero fighter techs are here. About how long till the fighters land?" The tone the Colonel had used was the same as he would use with any other member of his senior staff.
Just as he stopped talking. A loud boom went by overhead, and Robert gave the other man a sly smile. "I would bet that they will be on the ground, as soon as the traffic control tower gives them clearance to land. Why don't you have a seat? Would you like to go inside, or stay outside so that you can keep an eye on your people?" Robert knew that this was going to take a while to complete.
The Colonel looked around, and it did not take long to make a decision. "Well, Captain? If you have some iced tea? I would prefer to stay out here with my people."
Robert asked one of the crew to bring some cold drinks out, and he offered a seat to the other military man. Robert and Jess sat with the Colonel as they sipped their cold drinks, but nothing much was said between them. Every question was answered with either a noncommittal or one-word reply. That is until they saw the two fighters being towed toward them. As soon as the towing tugs were disconnected, and almost before the pilots could get out of their craft. The pair of craft were swarmed by a mob of strange techs. The Cargo Master quickly took charge of the situation, before it could get out of control. They sent the two pilots to go inside the Lisbon Maru to wait for further orders.
Now that the 2 fighter craft were on the ground and the techs were going over the machines in a well-orchestrated dance. Robert looked up from his computer, after letting the crew of local techs work. He was guessing that the inspection should be about halfway done. "Okay Colonel. Let's talk about price for these two 50ton LTN-g15 Lightning class fighters."
The Colonel was a hard negotiator and drove the price down. When his people showed up with their report on the inspection? Robert could then retaliate and raise the asking price back up some. The Colonel was a little crest fallen, about the rise in price. He fought back as hard as he could, but the product was just too good and both parties knew it.
"Well Captain, looks like you have a deal at 4.8 million. I was hoping to get you down to a lower price point, so that I could get a few of those new type of cannons. You're stuck on 400k for them, aren't you?"
Robert nodded his head up and down. "Colonel you know that they are worth it, and just think what you will be able to do when you hit a pirate base. You will be able to rain damage on them from a good bit of range, without that much heat. I have a long list of things to pick up, for my partners, and to be frank. I have to get every C-bill that I can out of what we have to sell."
The Colonel looked like someone had just kicked his dog. "I know what you're saying Captain, but I can only get one of those things with what I have left in the bank." He had really needed those big hitters in his unit. He needs big hitters, and those Lightnings were packing the massive autocannon that were perfect for his unit. There were only so many mission types, that the smaller Sabers could handle. Sometimes you just needed a big hammer, and only light fighters were made in the MC.
Robert was reaching over to shake hands to close the deal, and then stopped before they could touch hands. The Mercenary Colonel also stopped mid-movement and his eyebrow's shot up. He was worried about what might have changed, and that was what it looked like had just happened. He was worried that he had just lost the deal of the year. Robert gave himself a shake that the other man saw. Robert put his hand back out to grasp the other man's hands, before the other man could recoil and pull the offered hand out of reach.
"Sorry, Colonel lets close this deal. But I had, what I think might be a good idea." The two men shake on the deal to sell the two 50ton fighters. Jess saw that the money was transferred. The tower was notified, so that the two craft could be towed to the area of the base that the Raiders used. It would not take long for word to spread "in the market" about the sale of a lance of medium weight fighters.
When all of the paperwork was done. Ramilie looked at the merchant. He was trying to work out what was going on behind those blue eyes and still face. He had seen the admittedly thin intelligence files on this man. But one of the key notes, was that this was a very shrewd man. "Okay Captain. What is on your mind?"
Robert shot a look over to Jess, but she was not following were Robert was about to go. She looked just as confused as the mercenary was. "When we were closing that deal. I remembered you saying something about choice salvage you might have on hand. That always is kind of a soft spot for me. Now you know we have a Stuka, on our carrier. We are short some items to support her, if we run into any major problems. I was thinking that maybe you might have a few Exostar Large Lasers or something that will work in their place, left in your caches of salvaged equipment. If you do? We might be able to do some more business. I decided that I did not want to tie what we had already done to a maybe, and risk losing both deals. I wanted also to keep this deal on the quiet side, so that it's not talked about in the local bars tonight." Everything he had just said was true, just not in the way that the mercenary leader was thinking that it was.
Colonel Ramili picked up a small radio, and put an ear bug in. This was going to be a short-ranged transmission, and he did not want this merchant to be able to use anything he might overhear against him. He asked the question to his head tech, and with a poker face took the answer. He was working behind the power ball, and he knew it. He was willing to risk it, for a chance to get one of those Star League level high speed cannons.
"Okay Captain. We have some Exostars or knockoffs of that brand that we are not using right now. They are earmarked as being held for combat replacements at our main support base."
Robert also had his poker face on, and then put a sly smile on his face. He was about to change the rules of the universe. "Okay Colonel. This is a onetime deal. The going rate for those types of weapons is 100k, but at the factory. If you can get four of them here, and they pass inspection by one of my people? I will trade one of my ultra-cannons to you, for four of them. Are you game?"
The Mercenary let the confusion show fully on his face. Was this merchant going to trade a Star League era weapon, for four old and used large laser class weapons? Having four of those weapons at once was not uncommon, but it was not that common either. He could get four replacement large lasers faster than he could get an ultra-class weapon any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
"I think we have a deal, Captain Copeland." It was a simple statement, and after it was done. He made another radio call to have four of the weapons dropped off at his location. The two newly acquired double fire cannons would be picked up by the dropping off flatbed truck, which had been carrying the four large bore lasers.
The Colonel was watching the uploading of the old Star League weapons, from the foot of his beloved machine. He also was watching the strange merchant captain finish up a deal for some computers and Blazer rifles from someone he did not recognize. When that deal was done, the Captain was heading his way. Something clicked in his head, as the merchant closed in on the stationary mech. The Colonel had a smile so large on his face, that it was starting to hurt. The Colonel put his hand out one more time to thank the merchant captain. He liked working with the government of the MC, but it was always a good idea to have some backup sources of support. He had learned that the hard way when he had to flee with his unit out from under the thumb of the Cappies.
"Captain! I want to let you know that I will remember what you have done for me today." He pulled Robert in a lot closer than ether man would normally feel comfortable with, and the mercenary pitched his voice very low. "Be careful with that ComStar spook going by the name of Igarashi Miya, while you are here in the MC. He offered me a job some time ago. He wanted me to take out your Mule dropship, and I would get a bonus for any other ship we could bag. I'm glad he low balled the compensation package when he offered me the deal. As far as I know, he is now looking for a medium to heavy squadron of fighters to go after you."
The mercenary released Robert's hand, and they put a little more distance between the two. Robert nodded his head, but he was careful to keep his face under control. He never would have thought a Merc would willingly give up a meal ticket, and then warn him about a contract that had been put out on him. All for no cost. Robert had only treated the man, like he would anyone else. Now it looked like it had come back in a payoff, in a surprising way. Robert made a note to remember the good turn this man had just given his people.
"Thank you, Colonel. I will keep that in mind and thank you for the heads up. I hope that we can do some business again in the future." Robert was not just saying words. He was making a mental promise to see if he could help this Colonel down the road.
The mercenary nodded and then quick, for his age, went back up the chain ladder showing all of those decades of experience. Robert walked back to the shady side of the dropship while the battlemech was powered up, and soon it was moving. With that sell done. Robert passed a message that he was calling a meeting of the Dropship's Captains.
The meeting was short and held on the Mule. Robert passed along the information. It was not confirmed, but the Merc did not have a reason to lie. He did have a reason not to say anything at all, but he had. Some in the meeting thought that it was bad form for a merc to let a target know, that they were being targeted. Robert did not think so. It would have made the meeting go easier, if the Colonel had sold him the information instead of just given it to them for free.
After the meeting. Robert, Jess, and the Cargo Masters went looking for the medical and some other hard to find equipment that they needed back home. The MC capital was well known to have the best medical equipment around the whole Inner Sphere. The Star League in Exile could make the very high-end items it needed. But the MC could have a lot of medical stuff, which would fill a lot of specialized needs and the more general medical needs of the planet. This was not the normal lower tech items, but this planet had items that were as good or even in some ways better. Then what the old Star League could have or did make in its heyday.
Robert was surprised when he was contacted by a member of the MC government while he was out working with some of the local suppliers. It was less than 48 hours after the Mercenary Colonel, had left with his new weapons. They were looking at picking up the Rob Roy, if it passed inspection by a certified government representative. It kind of made since that a major rim power would want this type of ship. It was called a Blockade Runner, after all. This class of dropship was first built not far from this nation state. Being known as a Blockade Runner might not endear the design to the SLDF. But out on the edge of space? It was a badge of honor.
Robert would bet, that the Colonel had been a test run of some kind on Copeland. It was a good bet that he told people, that Copeland was a straight shooter along with a few other hints about the man and company. Or it could have been another one of the local shoppers, which might have been working for MC intelligence on the side. In the end it did not matter, to Robert and his crews. The inspections on the Rob Roy had been done weeks ago, and a copy of the results had been filed for public viewing not long after David had made landfall. Those had only been done, because of what Robert had learned while working with Lora.
The meeting was held in the Maru. They thought that they had Robert over a barrel, because of the sale of the jumpship already. What was he going to do? Leave the dropship behind. He was able to counter the banter; with a statement, that he had already checked with the new owners of the jumpship. They were so happy with the deal. That they had offered to carry the Trojan to their home system, so that it would be closer to the center of trade with the rest of the Inner sphere for free. The MC Representative caved in soon after, and soon another 200 million C-Bills were transferred to the growing accounts of Copeland Supply Salvage and Resale Company. The government might not have been that happy with that turn of events today. But the local banks were very happy with the turn of events.
It was good timing for the sale. The other two dropships were working on settling in the skeleton crew of the dozen personnel that had come from the dropship. Three hours after the dropship was sold? The eight members of the Merchant class jumpship landed at the space port on some rented seats on a landing boat. Thanks to good planning before they had left New Circe. The space had been already set aside for them to use for the rest of the trip. The crews would be split between the two dropships. Those additional crew also would add some personnel for defense or battle damage repair, if needed. The only major player on this planet that did not stop by or even contact Robert, or his staff. They were the people over at MMM.
There was a hard knock on the open hatch. Robert looked up and waved for the two women to enter his office. He was surprised when he had been told that his next appointment had arrived at the base of the dropship, but it was not a single person. It was a pair that were coming up to see him. This turn of events had intrigued him, and he was wondering what was about to happen.
The two women took seats closer to Robert than the open hatch. He shot a look first at Kimberly and then to the other woman. Kimberly saw the look and she had a good guess on why it had been first directed at her.
Kim let a smile come to her face. She was about to enjoy this. "Congratulations on your promotion to Commander. I know Dad will be very happy to hear about it." She pulled a data storage device out of her jacket and passed it over to Robert. "He wanted me to pass this to you, if I saw you. I know that he is not expecting a letter from you."
Robert slowly reached out and took the device. He did not pull it from sight, but it now was closer to him. "Thank you, Kim. I was glad to find out that Lora was able to get ahold of you. But I am wondering about your co-worker."
Kim was now beaming with a smile. "Oh! This is Sophie Scholl; her family had been found by dad some time ago." Kim stopped talking and waited.
Robert was going down the list of names in his mind, but he could not connect a Family and Scholl. He was starting to see that the daughter and her father had a few annoying traits in common. After not saying anything for a few seconds. He gave his one-word reply. "Really?" This was his way of letting her know he was not going to play games, and that she was on thin ice.
Kimberly caught the tone and let the smile fall. "Sir, she is family. Her family was one of the first to come back. They fell out of contact when their handler died, when we lost Socrates. They have been sticking to the work ever since."
Robert's eyes went wide. The Socrates had been the first jumpship lost by the SLiE while making supply runs, after raiding the slave pens of the Draconis Combine. Robert knew that Kim's dad had been trying to find lost members of the family for as long as he could remember. Robert was not smiling, but he was intrigued by this revelation. "It is always good to make contact with a once lost family," was his flat reply to this news.
Kimberly went into business mode, now that it was time to end the games. "After Dad retired, I took his place within SAFE. My main job is tracking weapons sells between the FWL and any of the outlying states. I have about a dozen part time agents under my command. Dad had hoped that Sophie would be able to move higher than any of us, but that has not worked out. She is stuck doing analytical work. She is on the shit list, after breaking her bosses' hand. He had put it someplace that his wife would not have approved of."
Now Robert connected all the dots. He had been hoping that Kim was following along in her father's footsteps. Now he might be able to hand off a very thorny issue. "That is good to know. I do have a file to pass to your father, which is personal." He reached over and he released a data stick that he had been hiding in his palm. Then he reached over and pulled a note pad over.
"We will be coming back more often, but in smaller numbers to pick up items that are needed. We need to have some way to control the amount of surprises we have been running into. This is a list of names that I don't know if your father has. I want both of you to work with Lora. She does not have the training that the pair of you do, but she is smart and has an impressive amount of contacts. How you run things will be up to you all to work out, but she controls the purse strings. These are some of the issues that I know need to be looked at."
Robert stopped talking and writing at the same time. After he made eye contact with both women, he passed the pad over. The two women took the pad and started studying the information. Thanks to their training, they would not take the pad out of the office. The meeting would go on for another hour, and it would only have one addition to this meeting. Robert wanted Jess to talk to these two. Bye the end of the meeting both sets of participants were happy with the outcome of the meeting. It was not going to be an easy mission, which had just been given out.
Jess was able to have another meeting with Kimberly and Sophie, before they had lifted off. It had been requested by the two local women. They had been able to come up with some answers that Commander Copeland had been looking for. They had found out why MMM on this planet had not made contact with them. As it turned out. Most of the local members of that company had not believed that it was worthwhile to contact them, even after Mike's reports. They thought that Copeland was not worth the risk to do business directly with.
That was both surprising to Robert and not. MMM was a major company, and like anything that big you had clicks you had to deal with. This had not stopped Robert and his crews from finding a lot of the items that they needed to buy or sell. In short, if this part of MMM did not want to work with Robert. There were a lot of others that would gladly step in and take their place.
At first, they had feared that the attack would happen in this system. Now, being here and seeing that the locals were actively patrolling at a very high force level. Robert and his staff had worked out, that it would be a bad idea to do something aggressive in this location. At least if they were not connected to the local government, and after what the Mercenary Colonel told them. That did not seem likely. It was a risk that Robert knew he was running, but he felt it was worth it.
Robert and the two dropships under his command lifted off right on the hour that they had planned and published. They met up with their escort, the Hobgoblin, in high orbit over the planet. Supplies were transferred between the three different dropships, in orbit. It could have waited until they got to the jumpship, but Robert was betting that they were on short time.
Among the cargos that were moved over to the Carrier in orbit, were two more of the crated fighters. They were transferred while they were in the shadow provided by the Carrier. They were to replace the two 50ton fighters that had been sold, with a pair of more powerful 65ton craft. The Exostars were sent over also by a rented MK VII. And soon the Stuka was going to be turned into a true laser boat from Hades. The techs would only have about a week to get the whole job done. But they were not caught flat footed, and a lot of work had been done while the weapons were still stuck ground side. The Techs were using the open area to their advantage, in every way that the dropship's captain would let them.
The cargo space on both ships were quickly filling up, but they still had over a third of their capability still in an empty mass condition. They still had half of the ultras and computers to sell, and almost half of the advanced PPCs were still sitting in their freshly made shipping boxes. Robert had been letting only one to three of each of the high-tech weapons out, at a time. Almost all of the Blazers were gone, as well as were most of the other Colonial made weapons. The rate of sales on the computers had been a pleasant surprise. Now all Robert and his crew needed to do was find what was on the shopping list.
Still Robert was betting that they only would have enough stuff to sell to two or three more systems. He would rather have more Blazers to sell on the next trip, if they were going only to hit major worlds. The known weapons were selling better than an unknown weapon. It was not like he could start a sphere wide publicity campaign centered on the Colonial made projectile weapons. Still he could only bring what they could on the next trip. It was not like they would have another jumpship to sell on the next trip. Not unless something major changed back home. Then again? He knew that stranger things had happened, and he was only a Captain in a large Navy. He did have a major balance in the bank after selling of the dropship and jumpship. That would go along with what they had before and had not used up yet.
The trip to the jump point was uneventful, and it did not take long for the three ships to dock onto the Tramp class ship. Robert had an itch in the center of his back. He felt like someone was watching him and his crews, as they went about their jobs near the jump point. He could not prove anything, but it was a strong feeling. He was both happy and dreading, leaving this highly populated system. It would be some time before they were in a system like this again, with so many would be witnesses just floating around. They were leaving the system four hours after all three dropships had docked.
Notes:
30 Double heatsinks. Yes, it would make the sled a zombie. But I was more worried about center of gravity on the craft and making any needed software changes. While in the field, you just do not let your services unit make their own changes to your software in the fire control system on an M1 or AH64. I had been planning on updating the Stuka with DHS and more Large Lasers from the start of this story.
The Favor Trade. A lot of combat units track who pulled who's butt out of the fire last. It is not uncommon if you're nice to someone, they will be nice back in combat. In the case of the Mercenary unit. He was letting someone know, that they had someone looking to get them. If he or a close friend had taken the mission? He would not have let the mission out of the bag. That would have been bad for business and friendships in that line of work.
How to conduct a meeting without using radios, and you do not have small craft? This had started as a mental exercise, and then I had a last-minute meeting pop up at work. That got me to wondering about how something like that would be done, in the setting I have been working in. The command staff was so worried about "an attack" that they forgot about the normal mission stuff, and it came back to bite them in the butt.
How do you modify any of your aero fighters while on a deployment? I just wanted to touch on what might need to be done, outside of game rules.