Castle's Recon
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: I've found that I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: Following Castle's Tanks.
"Attention!" Bellowed the Brigade Sergeant Major. The officers shot to their feet and watched as Colonel Black Jacques Schram made his way to the podium and looked out at his officers, gathered in the auditorium.
"At ease. Sit down." He ordered and waited for a few seconds as his men got comfortable. He then hit a button on the podium and a hologram of a planet appeared beside him, large enough for all of his men to see.
"You gentlemen will be glad to know that we have a mission, so we won't be bored just sitting around doing nothing." That got a few chuckles from the assembled officers. The brigade had been working very hard to absorb new men, new equipment and new tactics. They had been anything but bored.
"We have a contract to go to Saint Ann." He pointed to the hologram. "Theoretically, we'll be working for the government of Saint Ann."
Black Jacques Schram's Mercenary Armored Brigade was one of a dozen or more units that were supposed to be mercenary units but were in fact a part of the United Kingdoms' military. The United Kingdoms had been fighting the so-called Shadow War with the Han Worlds for decades to determine who would be the most powerful star nation in the Europa Cluster. Since a war between star nations armed with thermonuclear weapons was unthinkable, the UK used "mercenaries" and the Han Worlds sent "volunteers" to fight their proxy wars.
"By the way, you've all been sent a data packet covering everything you'll need to know and more, so I'll just be hitting the high points today."
"Saint Ann is a colony covering the northern most continent on the planet Saint Ann. It has a population of some fifteen million people, is quite wealthy and industrialized and has a considerable off planet trade. They have a space navy of one destroyer, eight frigates and perhaps forty or so system defense boats. They're building another destroyer which may be in service by the time we get there. They're a member of the Europa Cluster Defense Organization, and so, are our allies."
"Their army is based on universal conscription, but we won't be dealing with them. We're headed for the colony on the other major continent, in the south." The holo lit up showing the southern continent. "This continent holds the Empire of Tralee. The Empire was founded a century and a half ago by dyed in the wool monarchists who wanted a nice, solid, static society. Which is what they started out with but not what they have now."
"Some forty years ago, the Emperor Nicholas VI was crowned. He turned out to be a sociopath and totally paranoid. He started killing off people he felt were conspiring against him until he fell down a flight of steps, broke his neck and died."
There were some laughs at that.
"That's the official cause of death. Don't blame me if it sounds like a lie."
"He was replaced by his twelve-year-old son who was sweet, gentle, not too bright and easily guided by his Council of Regents. The Regents saw that they could get rich by manipulating the young emperor and that's exactly what they did. Then the various dukes, counts, lords, barons and what not found they could bribe the Council for anything they wanted, which was usually more power for themselves. It didn't take long for the Empire to become a byword for corruption and incompetence."
"The current Emperor is James IX. He's had no interest in anything but sex and drugs from well before he ascended the throne. He hardly knows or cares what's going on around him."
"The Han Worlds saw an opportunity to set up a client state on the planet of Saint Ann. However, they didn't realize just how corrupt and incompetent the governments, from the Imperial Government down to the local village councils, was."
"For instance," Schram gestured, and three parts of the Empire of Tralee lit up. "The Han provided funds for the Duchy of the Peloponnese to attack the Earldom of Skye, who were not pro-Han Worlds. Instead, the Duchy attacked the Earldom of Neuchatel, which was pro-Han Worlds, but much easier to defeat. The Duke of the Peloponnese made an excuse that Neuchatel was about to betray the Han Worlds."
Another part of the map lit up.
"The Count of Mourne found a way of ridding his realm of the many bandit gangs that infested it. He sold them Han Worlds weapons and ammo on the condition that if they wanted more, they should go rob his neighbors. And so it went on and on."
"Eventually, a high-ranking Han officer died in a suspicious automobile accident. He was the only one injured and he had evidence of just how corrupt the whole Empire was. The Han decided to leave, but they tried to get some revenge. They brought in several large shiploads of infantry weapons and distributed them almost every noble in the Empire. They left enough to fuel wars for a dozen years."
"Our interest is with the Duchy of Courland. They're situated on the east coast of the Empire and have the best and almost only port on that coast. They trade with the Colony of Saint Ann, so Saint Ann has an interest in keeping them safe. We sent the Viking Armored Regiment from Norge when the Hans first showed up. The regiment is just a very large battalion, but it was enough to keep the peace. Then suddenly everyone in the Empire had all the weapons they needed, except for Courland. Our job is to reinforce Courland. We'll have the Vikings under command as well as the Requetes Armored brigade of one tank battalion, one armored rifle battalion, and one artillery battalion. The other combat, combat support and combat service units are all company sized. We'll also have Storm Battalion von Epp, one tank company and two armored infantry companies and both a heavy mortar battery and an artillery battalion, plus smaller support units, of course."
"We'll also have under command the Red Rose Airmobile Brigade: One airmobile infantry battalion and one large aviation battalion, plus company sized units."
"Getting back to armored units, we'll have the Gordon Highlanders Light Cavalry Regiment. Three light cavalry battalions, an artillery battalion, aviation battalion and assorted other units."
"Last and certainly not least we have a genuine mercenary unit, Sir Clive Butler-Owens Flying Circus. He has two squadrons of K-50 fighter bombers and a mixed squadron of transports, aerial refuelers, electronic warfare aircraft and some helicopters for search and rescue."
"I'm trying to get more engineer assets and artillery and anything else I can get."
"Courland is about as close to being a democracy as anyplace in the Empire. When Duke Edward of Courland was faced with a rebellion among his subordinate barons, he made deals with the farmers' cooperatives and the city merchants' guilds, so they have a say in the government."
"Courland's military consists of fifteen battalions of militia which answer in fact to their farmer and guild bosses, not the duke. Duke Edward has two good sized light infantry battalions, a four-gun artillery battery, no armored vehicles and a few civilian light aircraft. The militia is good for defending their own home turf, but they hate operating out of their own area."
The hologram snapped off and Schram left the podium.
"Get to work, gentlemen. Oh, Lieutenant Castle, I'd like to see you."
"Yes, sir?" Rick said.
"Relax. Your idea for the recruitment of more Tarkai is paying off."
Castle had been born on the planet Tark and when he was a young boy a man named Demming had murdered all of his family so he could take over the plantations on Tark. He had reduced the local Tarkai to slavery. Rick had managed to escape and now commanded a platoon of Tarkai scouts for Schram. The Tarkai had better senses than humans and were much in demand as scouts and trackers. There were a few plantations on Tark that treated the Tarkai properly and survived because they were far from Demming and his slavers, and they were so small that they didn't threaten Demming financially. Schram had tried sending recruiting officers with any tramp freighters that might visit Tark, but that didn't always work. Rick had suggested that the ship captains be told that Schram would pay them for the cost of the passage for each Tarkai they brought in.
"We have fifteen Tarkai coming down on a shuttle at about 1330 hours. You should have someone there to meet them. I have their records here for you." He handed Rick a data cube. "Every mercenary unit that the UK has wants a platoon of Tarkai scouts, but we get the cream of the crop since they all want to serve under the famous Lieutenant Castle, the future liberator of Tark."
"I appreciate their confidence, but the liberation of Tark is a long way off."
Rick went back to his unit and called his platoon sergeant, Sergeant Saava.
"Saava, we have fifteen brand new privates coming in at 1330 today. You should go and greet them and let them know what we expect of them."
"My pleasure, sir."
Platoon Sergeant Saava was ready to greet the newcomers. His black boots were made from a woven ceramic matrix, light but tough. They could stop a bullet. His camouflaged trousers were bloused into his boots and his short-sleeved shirt was worn over his trousers. Around his waist was a pistol belt. On the right-hand side was a standard 9mm pistol in its holster with two spare ammo clips in pouches behind the holster. On his left-hand side was the long, double-edged blade that all Tarkai soldiers carried. Most Tarkai soldiers carried issue knives and a few carried knives handed down from generation to generation. Saava had gone to a renowned Tarkai bladesmith in the United Kingdoms and had his specially made. Saava even had a pint of his own blood drawn so that the white-hot blade could be quenched in his blood.
On his sleeves were the three chevrons of his rank in dark green, edged with black. On his head was the steel grey beret only worn in garrison. Otherwise, the Tarkai wore helmets or a variety of hats. On the beret was the insignia of Castle's Scouts, a stylized castle with crossed Tarkai knives behind it.
He saw a shuttle land and disgorge a group of fifteen Tarkai.
"Lieutenant Castle's Tarkai Scouts, form up here." Saava bellowed. The Tarkai ran to where Saava was and stood at attention.
He stared at them for a long minute.,
"I'm Platoon Sergeant Saava and you are now privates in Lieutenant Richard Castle's Scout Platoon. When you left Tark and enlisted you became recruits. After basic combat training, basic infantry training you became privates. You then went on to other training and you are now here. Your next step is to become riflemen. You achieve that by doing what you've been trained to do: Serve in combat. And you're in luck. We'll be shipping out soon so you will all become riflemen, or I'll know why you failed. You do not want me finding out your faults."
Saava looked over the records on his pad of the males before him. One stood out.
"Private Honoff, you were born on the Moon Wales in the UK? Why did you enlist?"
Almost all of the soldiers in Castle's platoon were from Tark. Only a few were born in the UK.
"Sergeant, before I was born, my family was hunted by human slavers. We fled to Richards' Ranch, hundreds of miles from our home. Half of my family died in the journey. The rains had failed at Richards' Ranch, and we could have died but for the arrival of a human ship with food and a recruiting officer from the UK. I owe my life and that of my family to the UK. I owe death to the slavers."
TBC