[Colonel (ret.) Theodore Strong - CEO of Phoenix Heavy Industries]
[Corean Enterprises R&D Bldg]
[New Avalon, New Avalon System, Federated Suns]
[June 8th, 3028]
This was a rather busy time for Corean Enterprises, far more than the employees and staff let on, but Colonel (he was retired now) Theodore Strong would have never made it to his rank (he was retired now) if he hadn't been able to read people. While everyone was calm on the surface, there was an undeniable tension in the air— a slight buzz of excitement that translated into people's posture, movements, and speech. He wasn't a master cold reader like he'd seen from a MIIO spook once upon a time in the years far behind him, but he liked to think he wasn't unobservant. Being such more often than not ended up with a Capellan Death Commando squad in your support element's rear end and by that point everything was a bit pear-shaped!
Some of that he was sure had to do with the CEO's impending departure for a few months for his wedding and honeymoon. While most companies did just fine without their nominal CO breathing down their necks... Arthur Corean had a cult of personality about him that just drew everyone in. From the common laborer working the dig sites to the white-coated eggheads crunching numbers and furiously tapping at calculators, there wasn't a single person he'd met in his two visits here that didn't have something positive to say about the young lad. While the vast, vast, vast majority of people working under the man had never met him, everyone knew someone who did, and he was just about as cracked up as all the stories made him out to be.
While he spent most of his time in the labs or the prototyping shops, he was a rather common sight elsewhere— clad in his nondescript worker's safety jumpsuit and rubbing elbows with the men and women who would in any other company be lucky to catch a glimpse of their middle management. It was said he could be seen quite often in the SCMFs, sometimes working side by side with some workers, and it was always with the new equipment that was rolled out under the CEO's purview. If the crew seemed competent he'd merely work with them and observe, but if they seemed to be having trouble he had no qualms about putting a stop to work and hosting an impromptu training or Q&A session.
While more than a touch embarrassing for line leaders and junior management, word was that there were usually no reprimands for them except additional training to help them understand what they couldn't quite grasp the first time around. By the standards of his fellow corporatists that might seem a little lenient, but Colonel (retired) Strong understood better than most of these stuffed shirts that sometimes people just needed time and a little TLC to get them up to snuff. Or a lot of TLC in the case of some people. In the AFFS, you learned how to break down complex problems into small, easily digestible bites when you had to deal with farmboys and farmgirls with little to no education.
Not every planet in the Federated Suns was a bastion of education like New Avalon or the other capital systems, and lots of labor from poorer worlds migrated to them in search of work. You either turned your noses up at them and shooed them away or you put yourself in their shoes and learned how to best help them. It wasn't easy, in fact, it could be quite hard at times, but how you broke down concepts they might never have heard of before could make all the difference. Though perhaps he was just a bit biased, since he had been a school teacher before the siren song of adventure called to him when he was still unmarried and just starting to inch into his thirties...
Regardless, he had been given an escort and allowed to explore to his heart's content, even most of the restricted areas since his NDAs were still valid. That gave him plenty of time to meet and greet the lads and lasses of Corean Enterprises, as well as sniff out the former AFFS employees to exchange a good story or two while asking his questions. The more he looked, the better he felt about the future partnership with Arthur Corean and his company; he'd received some offers from other corporations previously, but those had been chock full of legalese that would have put a leash around his neck.
To that point, his interactions with Arthur Corean had been precise, and straight to the point with little dithering or nice-making; they always wore those polite, placid smiles while they plotted how they'd try to swipe his company and its Urbanmech license out from under him. It helped that Arthur Corean had little need of his Urbanmech license given he had quite the stable of 'Mechs he could produce, but what helped even more was that Theodore Strong could understand the other man. There was a passion and vigor within him that often reminded the old Colonel of himself when he'd first joined the AFFS.
Except... where he had joined for all the wrong reasons— adventure, excitement, and a desire to tell stories of war from his own experiences— Arthur Corean's patriotism and belief in the First Prince's vision for a brighter future was far more genuine. It was something that a younger, thirty-something Theodore Strong didn't truly understand— about the beauty of the Federated Suns— until his unit had performed a raid, just one system across the border, and he'd come to see the squalor that the downtrodden masses were forced to live in.
All under the banner of Mad Max, the Celestial Highness and Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation.
It was his experiences there in the Capellan March that truly made him see that his nation, while no 'Shining City on a Hill', was still far better than most places in the Inner Sphere. Was it merely a coin toss or the Will of God himself that allowed him to be born in the relative safety and comfort of the Federated Suns? To grow up in a stable, happy household, and to have the opportunity to attend a college and become a teacher when so many others were less fortunate and forced to work in mines or factories from a young age?
It truly made him grateful, and when he saw that there was someone among his fellow industrialists who understood that the company's bottom line wasn't the be all, end all? Someone who understood that a company's worth was more than just the value attached to their precious government contracts? Well, it spoke to him, especially when the man in question was more than happy to wax poetic about a simple ration heater while surrounded by people who'd scoff at making anything less than the biggest, most expensive piece of military hardware they could.
Arthur Corean had never served a day in his life. Still, with that simple sidebar about how excited he was to one day be putting said ration heater in every 'Mech and vehicle he produced so that the common fighting man could enjoy a hot meal on demand... it told Theodore Strong that this was a man who understood. The biggest, best Battlemechs, Tanks, and Aerospace fighters certainly had their place, but sometimes a hot meal when 'the shit is bad' can do just as much for morale as finding out said military hardware was on the way to reinforce their position.
So when Arthur Corean approached him in December for a genuine partnership with Phoenix Heavy Industries he had a good feeling about nominally accepting it. That he had been involved in a rather rousing bit of spycraft at MIIO's direction, to unearth traitors within the highest echelons of FedSuns nobility no less, also did his old heart some good! Nothing like securing some fantastic aid for his company and helping put a boot to the asses of ne'er-do-wells!
The sound of the double doors opening to his left was heard just before a smooth, enchanting voice, "Mister Strong? Apologies for the wait, but Arthur Corean will see you now."
The Colonel (retired) had been seated in a rather plush and comfortable chair just outside of the office of Corean's CEO, the man enjoying a light spot of tea along with a rather scrumptious crumble cake now that he'd had his fun wandering about the facilities. He looked up and was greeted with the stunning visage of Miss Sam Sterling, Mister Corean's personal aide and fiance; the way the black-rimmed glasses highlighted her beautiful green eyes and the flaming red bangs framed her face made him smile reflexively. Arthur Corean was a lucky man indeed!
"Ah, Miss Sterling, a pleasure to see you again!" He wiped his fingers on an alcohol-laden sanitary napkin before standing up and shaking her hand gently. "While I certainly didn't expect to wait this long to see the lad, I must say that I had a smashing time wandering about."
She gave him a pretty smile and nodded, "Yes, it is quite busy around here, and Arthur as always is juggling many different projects at once. However, I must remind you that it was you who showed up hours early."
"Hah! Well, you know how it is, Miss: 'If you aren't early then you're late!'" He chuckled lightly and followed the woman inside the man's office before she whispered a few things into the other man's ear and left them alone.
The man gave him an acknowledging nod as he typed a few things at his terminal before standing up and walking around the corner of his desk with a hand outstretched. "Colonel Strong, glad to see you have come. Welcome back to Corean Enterprises; I trust that you enjoyed yourself while you waited?"
Theodore gave the man a firm shake, "I did indeed!"
"Excellent." The red-headed man gave him a slight nod before leading him over to a love seat with a coffee table in front of it, and next to the table were a pair of polymer hard cases, "How goes the construction efforts on Ashkum?"
Ah, yes.
Phoenix Heavy Industries, to secure the offered Andosteel and Henan Crystal Processes, had to conduct a complete upgrade of their facilities to house them properly. Given his facilities had been broken into once already, it was deemed appropriate that PHI would have to take additional measures to keep them safe from future thefts. MIIO had already approved the SCMF and its miniature model to be acceptable, and while the larger corporations such as GM and Achernar already had facilities that fit the bill... it meant that PHI would have to construct some of these buildings themselves.
Not that PHI wasn't already going to build some, as the designs were far and above what they currently had facilities-wise, and the promise from Arthur Corean to help them automate the SCMF-derived buildings they constructed made it a clear winner. However, the full-sized SCMF was far heavier on the pocketbooks than what they could afford at the moment, so they went ahead with the plans to build two mini-SCMFs since they offered a quarter of the output at a fifth of the price tag. Still, even with the Crown's generous tax breaks and construction subsidies it meant that their company would be running rather lean for the next few years.
"The advanced team you sent from Bauer, Hetzmann, and Highrise has certainly sped up the timetable quite a bit, so for that, you have my thanks." He placed his fists at the small of his back as he watched the younger man place the cases on the table and began thumbing open the latches. "We should be finished with the excavation by November, with the construction of the two mini-SCMFs finished by the following August or October at the latest."
The primary issue was the SCMF design as a whole required a lot of excavation, and while Ashkum was as a whole rather prosperous for how close it was to the Capellan border... it only had fifty-two million people spread across eleven cities and hundreds of smaller towns and agricultural communities. It certainly had a heavy construction industry, as a dozen airports, three starports, the Caldon Heavy Steel factories, and Phoenix Heavy Industries' own facilities could attest to, but they simply didn't have the specialized experience required for mass excavation and reinforcement for the mini-SCMFs... let alone the massive full-sized model.
They had the equipment, most certainly, as a digger was a digger, but in terms of know-how and technical expertise they were sorely lacking. There was far more to it than just digging a wide and deep hole— there were the geological and water tables to worry about, drainage, and structural reinforcement to ensure that the large, heavy structure that would be built within would settle predictably. So to help get their crews up to speed to begin construction as soon as possible, the CEO had gotten a special contract written up by the freshly established Industrial Construction Advisory Board under the Ministry of Ways and Means. This contract allowed for the creation of 'SCMF Construction Advisory Teams' that were a few dozen men and women strong who would be tasked with assisting other Federated Suns manufacturing firms in the building of their new facilities.
"Very good. It took me quite a bit of massaging to get those handful of teams approved by the three firms, but thankfully nothing motivates people like the sound of tax breaks and additional Pounds in their pockets. Hopefully, by the time you're finished, your local firms will have the experience necessary to help expand your operations when time and funds allow." The man flipped up the lids on the two cases and took a step back with his hands on his hips, revealing their contents.
The Colonel (retired) felt his mouth go a touch dry as he stared at the Corean Cooling Suit and Improved Neural Helm. "And these are... for me, I presume?"
Theodore picked up the neural helm and marveled at how light it was— maybe two or two and a half kilograms— before setting it down and grabbing the cooling suit, the man holding it up to inspect it. He'd seen the improved cooling suit line while on the tour in December, but when asked when they might be available for purchase he'd been told that they were still in testing and all of their production bar special cases were spoken for by the AFFS. While he had been sad to hear it, Theodore knew full well how important that these beauties made it to the men and women on the frontlines.
There was a slight quirk to the man's lips as he nodded, "Yes. Since my team and your team exchanged a few messages back and forth, I think we managed to put together a few designs that will be more than satisfactory for PHI to produce. Of course, they'll require some testing to determine if they're truly satisfactory... so I thought that since you were here you might like to hop into our Sim Pods with a team of my own Mechwarriors to test them out."
The Cooling Suit was in a muted Davion Green, but there was a tasteful red piping along the seams, and on the left and right shoulders were velcro patches that had his name, rank, and the Rising Phoenix logo. The rank tab on the shoulder was even subdued, with a darker orange with grey instead of the stark white, so it was a nice touch. No doubt once he put it on he'd be feeling like a real Mechwarrior again— while he was happy to be out and retired, running a corporation not too different from running a regiment, there was no denying that he missed putting his uniform on every day.
"I would be delighted to. It's been far too long since I last sat my rump behind the controls of a Battlemech, or even a Sim Pod for that matter!" He chuckled lightly as he carefully laid the cooling suit over the helmet case, and there he discovered that underneath the suit's spot in the case was a pair of rugged boots and a strange-looking... vest. "What is this?"
"That is the Modular Lightweight Plate Carrier, specifically the model for Mechwarriors and vehicle crews." Arthur picked it up and began going over a bevy of bits and bobs on it, and Theodore had to admit that it was a lot better than the old armored vest that most Mechwarriors and tank crews were issued; those were usually stored in a compartment underneath the ejector seat so that they could have it when they punched out... but no one ever wore the damn thing.
"—As you can see it's fully modular so you can put on whatever pouches you need, and it has a 2.5-kilo armor— front and back— fashioned out of Battlemech armor. This model has what I called a 'Pilot's cut', meaning that it doesn't rest on your thighs or hips when sitting, making it viable to wear over your cooling suit." The CEO was rather enthusiastic as he placed the carrier on the loveseat and tore open the velcro flaps on the bottom to pull out the plate. "You can't see it, but it's got a thin Andosteel backer to prevent trauma from backface deformation, and it has a dual-layer anti-spall coating! Not that it needs it since the whole vest is fashioned out of the same Star League-quality ballistic fabric."
He reached out and tugged on the sleeve of the cooling suit, "The same that is used in the suit here. Though if it's light, doesn't affect your movement, and can be easily worn over the cooling suit then why wouldn't you take the extra protection? I've personally worn both for a few days just to get a feel for it while I was working, and I didn't feel particularly fatigued."
"You know what they say about 'anecdotal evidence', don't you?" Theodore chuffed, but still, he looked over the equipment with a shrewd eye.
Shrapnel wounds were among the most common wounds that Mechwarriors or Tankers received, aside from bruises and broken bones. For Mechwarriors, such wounds were garnered when ejecting, though some were incurred from direct damage to their cockpits. While a shot to the cockpit was usually fatal, there had been plenty of instances where it didn't end in the immediate death of the occupant.
In fact, he remembered a story about a Blackjack pilot whose canopy had been blown away entirely!
The man had many wounds, which he patched up himself as best he could with his medical kit before sallying back out to meet the enemy using only his Mark I eyeballs to aim at his targets. However, most of his injuries had been because he'd only worn his cooling vest and a Gods be damned speedo in the cockpit (the smell must have been ripe!), and he likely would have been in much better shape had he even the ballistic protection of the cooling suit.
"It isn't exactly anecdotal," The man smirked slightly as he dropped down to a knee, slid out a large polymer hard case, and opened it up to reveal a bevy of infantry weaponry. "The MLPC, cooling suit, and the weapons you see here have all just finished their Phase III Regimental Combat trials."
The Colonel (retired) felt his eyebrows rise a touch. "Truly?"
"Yes!" Arthur Corean clapped his hands as he stood up with one of the weapons— a rather futuristic-looking rifle— in his hands and handed it over to Theodore to inspect. "This here is the X1 infantry rifle, freshly approved for limited adoption—"
As the man looked over the weapon, he couldn't help but be surprised.
The adoption process for new weapons and equipment could be rather long-winded, though that was usually because most manufacturers only had a concept of an idea that they wanted AFFS R&D Pounds for. For those who actually had the technology readily available for inspection, the process was much shorter, and if they had proof they could mass produce it on a reasonable timetable then that made the process faster still.
While he wasn't in the business of manufacturing small arms and infantry equipment, as Battlemechs were his area of expertise, he knew that most of the trials followed the same format. The Phase I trials were where the weapons or equipment were tested in laboratory settings with small lot numbers, and the Phase II trials had the lot numbers expanded and the equipment was evaluated in field conditions applicable to the technology. The third phase required multiple regiments of AFFS soldiers, tankers, or Mechwarriors to test them for 60 days in not just field conditions, but in full-on war games to stress them to their limits. After that was the Phase IV trial which saw active-duty combat RCTs outfitted with the equipment and sent out into the wild to scare up some Snakes, Cappies, or Pirates to conduct the final validations before a 'Mass Adoption Certificate' was approved.
Most companies could pass both the first and second phases fairly regularly, but the Phase III trials were where they often got hung up as they had to sink large finances into fronting the equipment for the trials, and if it wasn't an outright success then they'd have to go back to the drawing board almost empty-handed. Not completely empty-handed, as if the equipment or technology showed promise then the company could be awarded funding to continue development. Though there were some large differences for the manufacturers of 'Mechs and vehicles, as they couldn't very well outfit entire regiments for trials, could they?
They moved through the various weapons, the rifle, the pistol, the small and amusing PDW, the rather enchanting light machine gun, and lastly the 5-kilogram missile tube!
"That is a five-kilogram missile tube, my boy."
"You don't know how many times I've heard that before." The man's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "And it fires both full-sized SRMs and LRMs as well."
Since he had been certified on the standardized 'Federated Two Piece' Infantry SRM launcher — which weighed 30 kilos!— the Colonel (retired) played with the launcher a little bit more; shouldering, taking a knee, and a few other things before setting it back down in the case.
He took a slow breath as he looked over the assorted equipment and placed his hands on his hips. "The only real question I have here lad... is why are you showing me all of this?"
The levity and satisfaction that had been on his face as he showcased his toys slowly melted into something much cooler.
"There are many reasons, Colonel, but the 'what' is that I'd like to offer Phoenix Heavy Industries a full license to produce everything that I've shown you here. The Cooling Suits, Advanced Neural Helms, the Infantry equipment, and the weaponry... as well as the munitions needed to feed them." He slowly dropped down to a knee and began putting away all of the equipment. "As for the 'why'? Well, as I said: Many reasons."
"Firstly, Federated Arms on Novaya Zemlya still haven't gotten their political lackeys in line yet; there are a few hung Senators in their parliament that seem to be expecting some sort of payout in exchange for approving the rezoning of the lands that the County of Corean owns on their world. I suppose once MIIO sinks its fangs into the situation and the courts perform their work that won't last much longer, but for the time being it's pissing me off. Secondly, out of all of the companies that are constructing SCMFs, yours is the one that will be completed the soonest. That means that I can have a copy of my Infantry Systems line writ small in your hands and producing this sorely needed equipment for our Infantry, likely before even I can have a dedicated SCMF."
"I have four more production lines that will be completed before this one, and I have a feeling that we'll be needing all of the volume we can get." The man closed one of the cases and closed the latches before he looked at Theodore from over his shoulder. "Thirdly, a little production diversity couldn't hurt PHI, and considering there are millions of units that we'll need to produce I will need all of the help I can get. So while I get around to helping automate your new mini-SCMFs for Urbanmechs you can help me make this equipment in the meantime."
"So you'll be using me and my company to poke Federated Arms in the eye for dragging their feet?" Theodore let a hand come up to brush his fingers over his mustache.
"Yes." Was the simple reply, but the other man elaborated. "Your first mini-SCMF will be online in the next five or six months, and I'll be honest and say that I'll need your help to exceed the production quotas that the AFFS will request once the Phase IV trials are completed. I do have some manufacturing capacity dedicated to these items, roughly twenty-five thousand units of kit per month, but the AFFS will require many millions of items and that could take a long time to fulfill at my current output. Until my first dedicated SCMF for Infantry Systems comes online it will be tight, and I'd like to have PHI help me get well and above their quotas."
That did make quite a bit of sense, and Theodore hummed in thought. "I do believe that we wouldn't mind assisting Corean Enterprises in this endeavor, but I trust that you have something more to offer for our help?"
"Quite so." With a huff, the man pushed off the floor and to his feet, his ice-blue eyes looking straight at him, "You'll be able to outfit your Security Forces with the latest and greatest equipment at cost... and I won't ask for you to do this for free either. How many Battlemechs do you currently have defending your facility right now?"
Colonel Strong rubbed his fingers against his palms as he considered the question, though he didn't think that the young man was fishing for information he couldn't find out on his own if he wished.
"I have a demi-company of... Urbanmechs defending my premises now. A lance of the R60s and a lance of our R90s." Theodore resisted the urge to dip his head in shame, "We do have an additional battalion of Militia Mechs for my home planet, but those would be busy defending the civilian population centers or the space ports so I am leery of including them among my numbers."
"I know full well that you'd no doubt love to start using your first mini-SCMF to start producing more Urbanmechs, but in exchange for doing me... and the Federated Suns this favor... I will sell to PHI a lance of Corean Battlemechs and two lances of our Sunchaser Light Scout Tanks at cost. And the transportation will be free of charge."
"Which 'Mechs?" Theodore instantly asked, as he knew that at cost the Mechs would be a steal, especially since he wouldn't have to pay for the shipping as well. Despite having a great deal of pride in the Urbanmech there was no denying that it had its flaws, and his security forces could definitely use something with more heft. As for the Sunchasers, he'd already seen the automated line back in December and was impressed with their specifications, so while he knew there would likely be teething problems he was confident that the lad in front of them could get them ironed out.
Regardless, having two very quick lances of harassing and scouting vehicles would give his security forces more flexibility... something that was sorely needed given he only had a handful of Scorpion Light Tanks in his stables.
"Any 'Mechs in our stable."
"Two Centurions, and a Trebuchet for certain. All upgraded with your weapons packages, of course."
"They'll have the most optimum build we can produce. Better weapons, the maximum allowable armor for the chassis, more heat sinks, ammunition, and even our prototype CASE to protect said ammunition. Though we're fairly close to making an improved model, I can feel it, but once the new CASE is made I'll have them shipped to you free of charge. Now, the last one?"
He'd chosen the two Centurions because they were decent all-round combat 'Mechs, with the ability to provide fire support with their LRM-10s, as well as good armor and decent mobility. The Trebuchet likewise was picked because it had lots of missiles, and with his Urbanmechs providing plenty of direct, pinpoint damage, he needed something that could lob missiles over the walls at their attackers. That left the last remaining 'Mech... and didn't Arthur Corean recently...?
Theodore tilted his head slightly, "Didn't you recently come into possession of the Marauder line?"
There was a flash of recognition and the man smiled a toothy smile. "That line in particular will be completed by the end of January. If you'd like, you can have the second one to roll off the assembly line."
That caused the CEO of Phoenix Heavy Industries to snort, "What? Not the first?"
"Nope, unfortunately, that one will be going into the Corean Museum, so that way all of the school children who come for field trips can gawk."
Theodore, the former teacher, scratched at the side of his nose a moment before giving the other man a genuine grin in return. "Quite admirable. I suppose I'll just have to suffer the indignity of having the second one then. Nothing for it."
The pair lapsed into silence for a moment before Theodore snapped his fingers and struck his fist into his palm, "Well then! It sounds like we have an accord, Mister Corean. I see no problems with this arrangement, and once my first miniature SCMF is constructed I'll have it producing all of this equipment for the lads and lasses on the ground."
"Thank you. That will take a load off my mind." The man rubbed the palm of his hand against his forehead, "Once the whole Federated Arms business is settled... maybe I'll open an offer to them. While I did promise the Prince that I would, their inability to unbuild the stone wall they put up in front of me does not speak well of their competency."
Theodore cleared his throat, "Well, I don't think I have much I can do on my end to assist you other than opening up my first line, I'm afraid."
"And that is more than enough for me." Arthur huffed lightly as he walked over to his desk and retrieved a noteputer before handing it to Theodore. "Here are the designs we've come up with. We couldn't send them to you through the normal channels, but once you've seen them I'm sure you'll understand why."
The Colonel (retired) opened up the first document and scrolled down past the preface before getting to the technical specifications, and it didn't take but a quick glance for him to cotton on.
"My dear lad... this says the new designs will have not only Endosteel, but Ferro Fibrous as well. I trust that you aren't pulling my leg?" His eyes snapped up to the younger man and he arched an eyebrow. "It also says that the CASE here will weigh a quarter ton... as opposed to the full ton that your prototype CASE currently weighs."
"Yes, we have Endosteel and Ferro Fibrous, and by the time your second mini-SCMF is ready I'll have enough production volume to supply you with both in the amounts you would require for production... plus a little extra as a buffer." He gave the other CEO a wry smile as he shrugged, "And the Ferro Fibrous was the breakthrough we needed for the new CASE. As I said, we're close to a breakthrough. We have all the pieces of the puzzle we just need to put them together. By the time everything is ready on your end we will be ready on our end... though in the event that we're not we have a secondary variant that will be slightly altered to fit that lost .75 tons. Or we can simply push back mass production until the sticky parts of the process are ironed out; if we're behind schedule you can trust that I'll be seeing to it personally that the Improved CASE is finished in a timely manner."
The CEO of Phoenix Heavy Industries nodded and closed the noteputer, "Well then, if that is the case then there will be no need to worry, eh? So unless there is anything else... I do believe I have a date with the Sim Pods I need to attend to. Will I need to lug these cases down there myself?"
"No, no. I have someone waiting just outside with a cart and they'll escort you to the Training pits."
"Smashing."
It took a fair bit of self-control to keep himself from rubbing his hands together because he knew he was going to have some fun.
[Colonel Jaime Wolf - Commander of the Wolf's Dragoons]
[Corean Enterprises]
[New Avalon, New Avalon System, Federated Suns]
[June 8th, 3028]
"War bares a sword's steel,
Autumn leaves reflect color,
A samurai's blood."
Minobu Tetsuhara returned the ink dish and returned the tray to its former position. Sinking back into his kneeling position, he waited as Michi approached up the aisle formed by the Dragoons and two members of Mason's Marauders. The company of Crater Cobras had refused to attend the ceremony, but Wolf had come to know that the second-in-command of Commander Mason's mercenary company was a former DCMS Mechwarrior and former Ronin. Out of everyone in attendance, it was plain to see that she was the one among them who understood this ceremony the most.
Michi Noketsuna, Minobu's aide and friend, carried a white lacquered tray, balanced carefully in his good hand. On it were a ceramic drinking dish and a small flask of sake. Michi knelt and placed the tray before Minobu.
They bowed to one another.
Minobu took the flask in his left hand and filled the dish in two pours. He returned the flask precisely to its place. Raising the dish to his lips, he took two sips. After a pause, he drained it in two more sips and returned the dish to the tray.
Michi bowed and removed the tray to the back of the room.
Minobu knelt quietly, a great calm reigning within. One minute stretched into two, then three.
At last, he spoke.
"I, and I alone, am accountable for the unfortunate losses among those for whom I was responsible. For this failure, I disembowel myself. I beg all of you present here to do me the honor of witnessing the act."
Minobu bowed to the Dragoons and two Marauders who had assembled to bear witness. Their faces showed reactions ranging from disgust to dignified concern to vengeful satisfaction, but only one was filled with a resigned understanding; much to Captain Yuri Wanko's credit, she had tried to get the stubborn man to change his mind just as much as Jamie had, but it was all for naught. Only Kerensky remained as dispassionate as he.
As Minobu straightened from the bow, Jamie watched as he shrugged his torso free of his upper garments. The man tucked the sleeves of his kimono under his knees. Naked to the waist, he waited, hands resting lightly on his thighs. His face was expressionless.
Michi again approached, bearing another white lacquered tray. This time Minobu's wakizashi lay on the shining surface. The sword was closely wrapped with rice paper, which was tied at three points with a red cord. Only three centimeters of the blade's shining steel was visible at one end. At the other, the lacquered wood handle was bare, showing the Tetsuhara family mon.
Carefully, he knelt and placed the tray in front of Minobu. The sword lay with its edge toward Minobu, pointing to his left. Michi bowed, rose, and walked around to Minobu's right. He crossed behind his sensei. Stopping slightly behind Wolf, he knelt next to the Dragoon.
"Jumonji," Minobu said in a low voice that did not reach beyond the two men kneeling behind him.
Michi leaned over to Wolf and whispered, "He asked you to wait until he has made the second, crosswise cut."
Wolf's nostrils went wide as he sucked in air, but he nodded slightly to confirm his understanding.
In a deliberate motion, Minobu reached out a steady hand and took the sword that lay before him. He looked down at it.
Minobu turned the point toward his abdomen and paused with the tip hovering just over his dark skin.
Then, with a sudden thrust, the man stabbed the sword deeply into his flesh, on the left side below his navel. He drew it slowly across to the right. Turning the sword in the wound, he cut upward toward his heart.
There was no pain on the man's face, but knowing that the 'ceremony' had been completed, Jaime took aim with his borrowed laser pistol and squeezed the trigger.
Jamie Wolf's nostrils stung from the sour scent of bile and singed hair. Tears blurred his vision as he knelt to free the short sword from Minobu's limp hands. He shoved the bloody blade into its scabbard and picked up Minobu's long sword as well.
"What are you doing, Colonel?" Michi asked, appalled by the lack of respect shown to the sword. "The swords must go to his family."
"Don't worry, Michi. They will. I only want to arrange for a suitable messenger."
There had been quite the motorcade waiting for the Dragoons at the New Avalon military spaceport when their dropships had touched down, though there was little fanfare to be seen. No flashing cameras, no ticker tape parades, no brass bands trumpeting victoriously, but for Colonel Jamie Wolf that suited him and his Dragoons just fine. For all that the Battle of Misery should be treated as an outstanding military victory, with their foes utterly crushed and their own losses tolerable, there was very little cheer to be seen in his men and women.
The men and women of the Combine, the Ryuken, had been their enemies... but they had also been their trainees. Their students. And in the cases of some of their Mechwarriors, their friends.
With all that the Dragon had done up to that battle, they all knew that their climactic battle among the frozen wastes of Misery was a foregone conclusion.
It was inevitable.
The students had been ordered to slay their teachers, and like good, loyal soldiers, they had complied with those orders even if they were reluctant.
It was something that Jamie had to constantly remind himself of, for while he wasn't nearly as close to those Mechwarriors they dropped into the frozen waters or slew on the battlefield, he had been exceptionally close to Minobu Tetsuhara... and his loss was keenly felt.
The Dragoons all ached at the loss of their students, not just Jamie.
Still, even as trapped in his thoughts as he was— his mind constantly returning to that accursed 'ceremony'— Jamie still had more than half a mind to pay attention to his surroundings. While the primary New Avalon military spaceport was indeed massive, it wasn't wholly large enough to settle all of the Dragoon's dropships, so they had been relegated to numerous smaller ports surrounding the fourth planet of the New Avalon System. However, there were other dropships present that seemed to draw his eyes.
"That Union is from the Magistracy of Canopus. That Leopard has the sigil of the Duchy of Andurien, and that Union—" Major Stanford Blake was keeping stride with Jamie as they marched down the ramp toward a waiting limousine. "— Has the coat of arms for the Aurigan Coalition."
"The Aurigan Coalition?" The Colonel arched an eyebrow as he refocused on the symbol— a red shield with a bird's head and three wing-like embellishments.
"They're a small collection of planets on the rimward Periphery," Stanford replied easily with a shrug, "The Taurian border, spinward side, and sharing space with the Capellans. And I do mean 'small'. It's a wonder why they're here."
"I'll have Colonel Strickland give us a sit-rep on the Federated Suns once he's able to touch base with his people. We'll need to know everything we can, especially Corean Enterprises." While Wolfnet had been very active over the past few years, drumming up additional intelligence to fill in the blanks that the ISF had in their reports, it was only for the Dragoon's internal use and had truly only been directed toward House Davion's military deployments and regional operations.
Truth be told it had been the better part of a decade since he last looked at the dossiers of the industrialists of the Federated Suns, and while he hadn't expected much to change as growth was a terribly slow thing in the Inner Sphere... he had seen a few reports about Corean Enterprises that came across his desk. However, at the time, he had plenty of other things to worry about so he merely skimmed them and returned to his work toiling under the Dragon.
"War bares a sword's steel,
Autumn leaves reflect color,
A samurai's blood."
Jamie shook his head to clear his thoughts.
He just needed to remind Colonel Strickland to go with a lighter touch, as he didn't want to trip any alarms with MI5— MIIO's Counterintelligence and Counterinsurgency Branch. Especially not when they had signed a provisional contract for service under the Federated Suns. He didn't want his Wolfnet agents or informants to take any unnecessary risks, though given how lax most corporations tended to be he figured that whatever moles they had within Corean should be able to give him and his Dragoons a clear picture.
They'd need it since they were going to be spending multiple months under the corporation's care.
When they reached the bottom of the ramp, an AFFS Leftenant was there to greet them with a professional salute, "Colonel Wolf, I presume?"
Normally they'd make a game out of who would 'play the part' of Colonel Wolf, usually a test of someone's observational skills, but since the Dragoons had already served under House Davion before the point was moot. Instead, the pair of men returned the salute and he shook the Leftenant's proffered hand. "Indeed, you would be correct. We are to be meeting with the First Prince soon, yes?"
"Yes sir, though normally there would be more senior personnel on hand to greet you, our Prince thought that after your trials on Misery, you might appreciate the lack of Pomp and Circumstance." He gave them a firm nod before continuing, "I'll be taking you directly to Corean Enterprises from here. That's where we'll be meeting the First Prince. Though I was told that I'd be transporting four members of the Dragoons?"
"We're just waiting on our last two to come down; they'll be along shortly." Major Blake placed his hands on his hips and dipped his head toward the other dropships, each with a similar limo parked out in front of them. "I take it that we're not the only ones being taken to Corean?"
"No sir, we have three other esteemed guests who'll be convoying with us out to the Corean Administrative compound. We'll be running small and fast for this transport, but just in case we'll have a few QRF vehicles shadowing us as well." The AFFS Officer briefly pointed over toward a pair of blacked-out utility vehicles parked to the fore and rear of their limo. "We don't believe there'll be any trouble, but it's always good to expect it nonetheless. So should anything happen you can rest assured that those lads inside will handle the problem while we scoot."
A pair of thumping boots came down the ramp behind Jamie, and he turned to see Natasha and the Dragoon's Senior Chief Technician Martin Caldren striding toward them. Both wore their dress service uniforms, complete with their internal campaign ribbons and cords. However, while Martin's head was shaved, Natasha's forest of red curls looked to be a bit more wild than usual, and it was pulled into a low ponytail.
Notably, she had her custom Makarov pistol on her hip which Jamie clearly remembered telling her not to bring.
While most Dragoons wore their service weapons when in uniform, it was customary for them not to have them until a contract between them and the client was formalized.
To his surprise, however, the Leftenant didn't seem to be fazed by it, though it was clear that he was too awestruck by Natasha herself to be bothered by the weapon; if it was an issue she could just hand it over to whatever security is on-site and have it returned to her when they left.
"Nice ride. Is this ours?" Natasha jerked her chin toward the luxury vehicle, and the Leftenant cleared his throat.
"Ahem, yes. This is one of Arthur Corean's personal fleet vehicles. A Lamborghini Typhon, though these are more than meets the eye." The officer clapped his hands together lightly as he turned starry eyes toward the limo. "A new engine, frame, Battlemech grade armor— underneath the body panels— and some particularly explosive goodies for anyone who might try to impede us. I'll be your driver, Leftenant Gordon Rosule, and Sergeant Pinings in the passenger seat is our gunner."
The Black Widow's eyes became hooded as she placed her hands on her hips and gave the vehicle an appreciative look. "A luxury vehicle with 'Mech armor and hardware requiring a gunner's seat? I like this Arthur Corean already."
"Are we ready to depart, Leftenant?" Colonel Wolf changed the topic as he gave the woman a small glare, but she simply shrugged her shoulders.
"One moment, Colonel." The man placed a finger to his ear and brought his mouth down to speak into a lapel mic, and after a few seconds, he nodded before opening the back door, "We are ready to depart. Please make yourselves comfortable. The straps should be familiar to you."
Indeed, as Jamie, Stanford, Natasha, and Martin slipped inside they were quite familiar with the crash couches; they looked like they had been pulled directly out of a Battlemech's cockpit. However, they were definitely very fine, fashioned out of richly appointed leather, and between the seats was a small refrigerator... which Nat wasted no time in digging into.
She huffed as she held up a glass bottle, "Only water? How boring. I take back what I said about liking Arthur Corean."
"Just strap in already," Jamie grunted as he carefully slipped the retention harness over his uniform and made sure nothing would catch before tightening everything down.
A thought came to him, and Jamie looked down at his chair before he found a button labeled 'Intercom' and pressed it. "Come to think of it, Leftenant, I didn't see a Leopard dropship on the tarmac from Mason's Marauders. Any idea as to where they are?"
"The Marauders have a landing spot at the Corean complex. They'll be there before we are, Colonel."
So there was a relationship between the Marauders and Corean Enterprises? Was it merely contractual or was there something more to it? He'd either ask or have Colonel Strickland inform him later.
Needless to say, the journey from the spaceport to Corean Enterprises was without complications.
In fact, it was rather smooth, all things considered; Jamie supposed that all of the C-bills spent on this luxury vehicle and its upgrades were rather worth it. The seats were comfortable, the water crisp and refreshing, and the air conditioner was a nice reprieve from the New Avalon summer air. Natasha had helped herself to three of the bottled water already, the woman just grinning as she remarked about hearing how Corean's Sim Pods were among the most advanced in the Inner Sphere.
The Typhon slowed down as it made a right-hand turn into the vehicle parking lot of the Corean Administrative Complex, and he had to admit that the defenses had certainly been improved since the last photos he'd seen. The walls were taller than an Assault Mech, and thick enough that Jamie didn't think one could bulldoze through it like many of the other fortifications his Dragoons had compromised in the past. In the afternoon sun, the hundreds of windows on the primary building glistened, bathing the vehicle park in bright light despite the very tall walls surrounding it.
"These defenses look pretty formidable," Stanford muttered to Jamie, his eyes zeroing in on the half-dozen visible weapons emplacements on the walls; their payloads were retracted, but there wasn't a single Dragoon that would miss the concealed turrets.
"Eh, Hesperus II was bigger."
Jamie didn't bother to dignify that with a response, and instead he undid his safety harness and clambered out of the vehicle where he was surprised to see that there was a literal red carpet rolled out to greet him.
"Well, at least he knows how to make a lady feel appreciated," Natasha mused as she climbed out after Stanford and Chief Technician Caldren.
"Wolf's Dragoons?" A young woman wearing a business suit and pencil skirt strode forward with a pleasant smile on her face, her posh New Avalon accent carrying to Jamie's ears; she had a noteputer in her hands.
"That would be us," The Colonel replied as he tugged on the edges of his cuffs and got his jacket situated.
"Excellent! If you would please, proceed through the double doors, through the security station there, and take a left where a driver and a cart will take you to the Museum." She tapped on her noteputer a few times before stepping off to the side and canting her head, "It is a great pleasure to welcome the famous Wolf's Dragoons to Corean Enterprises, and I do hope you enjoy your time here."
Much to Jamie's surprise, the security officers only asked that Natasha remove her sidearm long enough for her to go through the scanner before returning it to her. When he probed one of the officers about it the man merely told him that Mister Corean trusted that if a situation should arise when drawing a weapon was necessary he was sure the Dragoons could handle their firearms as well as they could handle their Battlemechs. He also stated that he wouldn't be the one to deprive his guests of their right to self-defense.
Given the amount of cleverly hidden security he and Stanford had been able to pick out— ceiling turrets and the like— the man seemed confident that it wouldn't be the Dragoons of any of the other attendees causing trouble.
Still, they made it through the security just fine, and as expected there was an electric cart with a top cover and clean white seats waiting for them. A rather youthful young man with brown hair and eyes was seated behind the wheel, and he was wearing a New Avalon-styled suit and tie— a lanyard with a polymer card holder hanging from his neck. He appeared to be rather bored, the kid toying with his lanyard, but upon hearing their approach, the young man straightened up in his seat, and when he saw the Dragoon's patch on Jamie's service dress uniform the boy sat up even straighter.
Colonel Wolf sat in the 'captain's chair' on the boy's right, which left the two rear benches for his other three companions. The young man stole a look at Jamie from out of the corner of his eye, but his attention was immediately drawn to Natasha as she settled down in her seat behind him and put a shiny boot up on the steel frame of the cart. The lad looked at her, she looked back, grinned wolfishly, and immediately the kid turned away with his cheeks turning a bright pink.
"Ha-hem..." The boy cleared his throat as he put the cart in drive and they began trundling down a freshly paved road.
The Commander of the Wolf's Dragoons peered down at the boy's lanyard, "So, Douglas..."
"Y-yes sir?" He didn't quite squeak, but his voice did crack a touch.
"This is..." Jamie swept his hand out in front of him.
"A-ah, yes. This is the primary Administrative Complex, the beating heart of Corean Enterprises. We have our overarching administrative building, which we just came from, and if you look over to the right you can see six smaller buildings— those are our system offices. The first two were for Stewart and Ramen II, but since we closed down our Free Worlds League operations those have been put on mothballs until they're needed again. The big building we're currently alongside on our left," The kid gestured with his left hand, "Is the multi-plex. It's our company's Historical Product Museum, a children's learning center, employee training center, corporate lecture hall, and as Mister Corean likes to call it... our 'Show and Tell' building. Though most of us just call it the Expo Hall."
"Quite a few responsibilities for a single building, but given its size I can see it." The Colonel spied off in the distance another large and thick wall at the end of the drive, "And beyond that wall there... is the main construction complex?"
"Yes sir, it is!"
Getting the boy chatting seemed to the edge off his nerves, and while the drive only lasted a handful of minutes it was a rather productive use of his time. Douglas wasn't exactly a font of knowledge, given he was a new hire freshly graduated from Tertiary School, but what little he did know he was happy to tell Colonel Jamie Wolf of the famous Wolf's Dragoons.
They turned left and the asphalt road drove alongside a very large green space, with plenty of finely trimmed green grass, nearly a hundred large trees flush with spring leaves, and a large pond with a beautiful fountain in the center fashioned around the Corean Shooting Star logo. While Jamie had never truly thought of himself as the sort of person to appreciate 'beauty', as it was almost always merely 'terrain' for his Battlemechs and combat vehicles to navigate, he could say that it was a rather nice space. The breeze off the pond was cool even if it was moist, and with hundreds of tables and park benches, he could imagine the employees enjoying this small slice of nature even when surrounded by large and harsh concrete walls.
The large windows once more reflected light as they pulled up to the front of the building, and again they were treated to a red carpet arrival.
"Thank you for the ride, Douglas." Colonel Wolf said as he slipped out of the chair and straightened out his uniform once more.
"A-ah, ummm... Miss Kerensky?" The boy's hands were trembling slightly as he held up a marker and a small paper notepad, "If y-you wouldn't mind...?"
"Captain Kerensky," She corrected playfully, her eyes hooded as she gave the kid a playful smirk, "And no, I don't mind."
However, instead of signing the notepad, she uncapped the marker and signed his plastic cardholder— the woman puckering her ruby red lips and placing a mark next to her signature with her lipstick. "Muwah. There, now you'll have something far more valuable."
She capped the marker and tossed it in his lap, leaving the poor lad gobsmacked as she dug into her pocket and pulled out her tube of lipstick— the woman reapplying it as she followed Jamie up the steps.
At his questioning eyebrow, the woman arched one of her own, "What? I hardly get to meet any of my fans."
"—And on the far side you'll find the refreshments; food and drink. If you haven't had time to freshen up, just ask for an attendant and they will escort you to a private locker room where you can take care of your needs." The man at the entrance to the Expo Hall was professional in his speech, but given that he had likely given this same speech dozens or more times already, and Jamie could see that his nerves were already starting to fray. "The rest of the hall is mock-ups and displays of current Corean products or those that are soon to be available for purchase. Mister Corean will be here shortly, and since you're on our VIP list you can expect to have some one-on-one time with him if you wish for it."
"We'll take that under advisement, thank you very much." Jamie gave him a short nod of the head as he moved into the Expo Hall.
There were only a few dozen people milling about, which was a bit of a relief as Jamie had neither the will nor the patience to make pleasant conversation.
With hands on her hips, Natasha looked around before jerking her chin toward the closest display, "Start from there and work our way through?"
Given the displays were set up in a 'U' shaped configuration it was the natural path, and Jamie led the way.
Much to his surprise, there was quite a bit of colonial equipment on display, from miniaturized versions of the company's self-contained living habitats to solar cells.
"Sixty-one percent efficient solar cells?" Jamie hummed as he picked up the hexagonal cell on the display and felt its heft before turning it around, "Very lightweight and rigid. Only time would tell how durable it might be, but given it's fairly inexpensive and superior to what we are already using... have some of our logisticians and techs put in a requisition request for our own testing."
"One step ahead of you, Colonel." Stanford replied from his elbow as the man typed some notes on his mini-noteputer, "And we might want to see about requisitioning some of those as well."
Following his companion's eyes, Jamie stepped to the next display booth over and examined its offerings carefully. "Metal Salt Solid State Batteries? I've never heard of this before."
"The Star League did some research into it, but they determined it wasn't worth investing future resources into," Came Chief Technician Caldren's reedy voice, "The Lithium power cells were deemed sufficient. Though I wasn't one of the scientists, I do remember overhearing something about it being a possible avenue of advancement that could be beneficial to the Wolves."
SCT Caldren, like Natasha, was a Trueborn warrior, though after losing his right foot early on in his career he had been reassigned to the Technician Caste within Clan Wolf. Though disheartened by the loss of his career as a proud Mechwarrior, he put his skills as a Mechwarrior to use by becoming a Technician who understood the needs of his pilots better than anyone else. His hard work and dedication to his new craft put him on a young Star Commander Natasha Kerensky's radar, and she was quick to claim him and his crew as her own— even fighting three separate Trials of Possession for him. Wherever Natasha went, Martin Caldren followed along behind her, from her humble beginnings as a Star Commander right up to her position as the Star Colonel of the 328th Assault Cluster of Clan Wolf's Alpha Galaxy.
So when she joined the Wolf's Dragoons it was only natural for him and his crew to join.
"Same charge density, faster charging time, greater safety, and resistance to extreme temperature variance... for half the weight?" The technician picked up one of the display models and examined it closely, "Standard form factors and common connectors too. Color me surprised, I would have figured that a Spheroid corporation would have at least made a 'proprietary' connector for 'technical purposes'."
Arranged on the display were numerous sizes and shapes, but Jamie was able to recognize most if not all of them. Thin rectangular bricks for noteputers, square-ish, angled bricks for laser pistols, and the standard power pack for a laser rifle. The size and shape ran the gamut of most normal applications, and on one of the placards hanging on the display, there was even a message that custom power cells could be built depending on volume.
"'Coming soon to an electronic device near you, Winter 3029'." Jamie felt his lips curl up slightly as he shook his head.
"Speaking of 'Soon', I think we need to find Natasha soon before something—" Stanford began as he raised his head and looked around, though he quickly cut himself off, "—Ah. There she is."
Jamie looked over to see her... hefting a missile launcher onto her shoulder with a broad grin on her face.
Reflexively he felt his hands curl, and the Colonel smoothly moved past a few curious onlookers and slipped up next to her. "Captain."
Her smile grew a touch more as she lifted her pointer finger up off the handle of the launcher and waggled it at the display.
"Corean M-5 Multi-Missile Launcher System... internal variable locking collars... allows for the use of 'Mech grade Long Range and Short Range missiles?" Colonel Wolf felt his eyebrows rise as he looked between the display, which had still images of the launcher as well as a pair of flatscreen monitors showing the launcher firing at distant targets, and his Captain.
"It's only five kilos, Jamie."
Holding a strange-looking rifle up in her hands the woman's eyes crinkled.
"I want this."
A PDW, the M-2 Personal Defense Weapon, was hanging off of her uniform by a thin sling— the weapon resting easily against her hip.
"I want this."
A large machine gun was held easily in her hands, sans ammunition, and Natasha Kerensky moved the weapon around, snapping it to various ceiling lights back and forth.
"M-3 Light Machine Gun? Would be a perfect fit in my cockpit. I want it."
Half of the Expo had been left unexplored by Jamie as he ended up spending his time chaperoning Captain Kerensky, but he was confident that Stanford and SCT Caldren would give him a thorough debrief on what they had seen.
Unlike most Mechwarriors, Natasha wasn't the least bit afraid to leave the confines of her Warhammer's cockpit and shoot it out with infantry if the need arose, so it wasn't that surprising to see her practically glued to the five weapons displays. A new pistol and PDW that shared the same caseless cartridge, a new rifle and light machine gun that shared the same cartridge, and of course the five-kilogram missile tube that could fire both LRMs and SRMs that were native to Battlemechs and Combat Vehicles. Even if the targeting system wasn't all it was advertised to be–Jamie had long since learned to question advertised capabilities–as long as the tube fired the missiles then it would be a solid step up in the Dragoon's dismounted capabilities.
"Hello, and thank you all for coming to this impromptu Corean Expo. I'm sure that all of you have noticed by now but this crowd is exceptionally small, though that is for good reason." Up on a small stage stood a tall, red-haired man in his late twenties or early thirties, with a finely trimmed red beard and a navy suit that clung to an adequately muscled frame. "All of you in attendance are here upon the request of our beloved First Prince, however, given the very tight timetables that we are all under at this time we needed to be efficient with how we got things done. So, to that end, we'll be doing a bit of a 'Round Robin' style of meeting process, wherein everyone will be able to meet with him in short order."
"That is Arthur Corean," Stanford murmured as he touched the inside of Jamie's elbow, and the Colonel nodded in turn.
There was no stage light above him, but his blue eyes had an almost crystal-like quality to them as he swept his gaze over the crowd. "The arrangement for these meetings with the Prince is not in order of importance, but by how long they're expected to take given the requests you all have filed with the Home Office for this meeting. So first up will be Count Julius Carter of Kirklin, and following him will be Countess Rodina Achernar of New Avalon. Do be close by so that you might hear your name when you are called. Thank you."
Much to Jamie's surprise, when the man walked down the steps of the stage the CEO of Corean Enterprises made a beeline directly toward him and his company.
"Colonel Jamie Wolf?" The man asked as he approached and offered a hand.
"Indeed. A pleasure to meet you, Mister Corean." Jamie gave it a firm squeeze, which he found responded in kind; it was not too firm or domineering.
"And your companions?" The man held a hand and shook the hands of Jamie's compatriots as he introduced them.
"Major Stanford Blake, Captain Natasha Kerensky, and Senior Chief Technician Martin Caldren."
At the mention of Caldren, Arthur Corean's eyes lit up a touch as he smiled. "Excellent, just the sort of man I was hoping you'd bring."
The CEO of Corean looked around for a moment before he spotted who he was looking for, and after waving to get the man's attention he lowered his arm. A weathered old man wearing clean Corean coveralls came by, his head bald and eyebrows covered in tufts of wispy snow white hair. He patted the elderly gentleman on his back lightly, "Senior Chief Technician Caldren, let me introduce you to my second-in-command of Corean's Technicians, Doug. I know he might not look like much, but the man is a Platinum-certified Level 5 technician, for Battlemechs, Combat Vehicles, and even conventional airbreathing or void craft. With over 63 years of experience, he's the man who will be the Dragoon's point of contact while your outfit is being repaired in our facilities."
"I've heard a lot of great things about the techs of the Dragoons, so I look forward to learning with you during your time here." The elderly man's reedy voice almost whistled as he smiled at Caldren.
"Likewise. I hope that this will be beneficial for all of us."
"Now then, why don't you and I retire to my office across the way? There is a lot that we'll be having to cover, and Corean Enterprises has a peculiar way about things."
The Senior Chief Technician nodded to the older man, but looked at Jamie purposefully, "By your leave, Colonel?"
Jamie looked to the CEO of Corean, "About how long are they expected to be gone? We do only have the ride your men have provided, so if it's going to take all night... I'd rather not have one of ours out for too long."
"Oh?" Doug blinked before chuckling, "Oh! Only two hours or so, three hours at most depending on how many damaged machines you've brought for us to help fix up. It would be best to get at least a third of the repairs scheduled right now, and we can handle the remainder once we've had a chance to feel each other out. Regardless, we should be finished up well before you're ready to leave, however, if that isn't the case then you can just have someone call me at my office."
Satisfied with that answer, Colonel Wolf nodded to SCT Caldren, and the pair of older men walked off toward the entrance of the Expo and out of sight.
Once they were gone, Arthur Corean placed his hands on his hips and jerked his head toward another side entrance, "Now that we have the formations of a battle plan being put together in terms of handling the Dragoons' maintenance needs... shall we, Colonel Wolf?"
Jamie looked to Natasha and Stanford, "They'll be coming with me, if that isn't a problem."
While Stanford Blake wasn't his attache or anything official, Jamie could count on his insight and organizational skills, and of course, Natasha's talents spoke for themselves.
"Not a problem at all, please follow me."
Colonel Wolf shouldn't have been surprised, but the small but functional meeting room off to the side of the main venue was rather comfortable and homey. It had some nice appointments, with leather-clad office chairs and a small, circular table made of a finely lacquered dark wood. On the back wall was a wooden cabinet that matched the table, and on the primary lip was a half-dozen different crystal decanters of which ostensibly fine alcohols waited. Of course, upon seeing them, Natasha made a beeline for them and began cracking the crystal tops and sniffing their contents.
"I hope you don't mind..." Jamie refused to frown as he watched the Black Widow find something that agreed with her, and she dropped a few ice cubes from a steel tub into a tumbler and poured herself a generous amount.
Arthur Corean gave him a lopsided smile as he shrugged off his jacket, undid his tie and the top button of his Oxford shirt before rolling up his sleeves. "No, it's what it's there for. I don't drink or smoke, casually or socially, so if other people don't drink it then it just sits there. Please make yourself comfortable, as this is an informal off-the-cuff little deal here. 'Hats off' is I believe the military term."
He took a seat before reaching into a drawer on the table and pulled out a pair of slender noteputers; they looked to be half as bulky as the one Stanford held in his hands, and Stanford noticed this as well. "I do want you to know that while this is to be a business meeting, I'd like it to be as open as we can make it. I don't like wasting time with needless mind games, and the like, so we can get down to brass tacks and make things happen."
"Oh yeah? Interesting. You Davions always like a good bit of pomp and propriety. What makes you so different?" Already Natasha's coat was off and she loosened up her tie before kicking her boots up on the edge of the table.
She was always keen to play the part of the rough and abrasive Dragoon while Jamie and the rest were the 'reasonable' ones with a sense of decorum. She had her fearsome reputation as a Mechwarrior, and she used that to get up underneath the skin of the people on the opposite side of the table to see how they'd react; given the veneration Mechwarriors receive there was always some level of conceit that is tolerated. Especially if they were Mechwarriors of Natasha's caliber. Still, to play his part, Jamie leveled her with a look, "Boots off the table, Captain. I know that he said he wanted informal but that is going too far."
Ice blue eyes flicked between them, but rather than at least appearing stunned by her brazenness, he merely shrugged with a half-smile. "I really don't mind, Colonel Wolf. These tables are built to last, and it will take a lot more than her boots to damage the finish. However, I'll leave that for you to decide."
To better blend in with the relaxed atmosphere, Jamie loosened up his tie a touch, leaving his cuff buttons done up, though he did take his coat off and hang it on the back of the chair. "So, Mister Corean, how can Wolf's Dragoons help you?"
"Just a moment..." Arthur Corean held up a finger as he tapped on the top of the table and a panel pulled away to reveal a handful of buttons. He pressed them in a simple sequence, and the door they had entered was locked with an audible 'choonk', and a slight hum filled the air.
"This room is built to all of MIIO's specifications as far as information security goes..." The man spoke casually as he stood up and walked over to a wall panel, opening it up to reveal a computer stack along with a switchboard, and with a few flicks of his fingers, he sat back down with a smile. "And now not even they can listen in."
Jamie's eyes tightened, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Stanford stiffen a touch as Natasha shifted ever so slightly in her chair; she could reach her Makarov more easily now. He noticed that Arthur Corean noticed, but otherwise made no other movements. "You take your security seriously, though to cut out even MIIO?"
The man shrugged, "MIIO has so much access to me that they can count my toenail clippings, so for this small moment of time they can just settle for being deaf and blind."
Interesting, but Jamie didn't have much he could say to that, so he let it be.
There was almost an entire minute of silence, where the man seemed to look at the three of them in turn, before he kicked his feet up on the desk and steepled his fingers. The moment his shoes came up, Natasha's boots were back up too, and she smirked a touch as she nursed her alcohol.
"I've been thinking about this conversation for a long, long time, Colonel Wolf." His eyes were no longer on the three Dragoons, but were instead on the ceiling. "It's been distracting me from my work, to be honest, which is annoying because I can usually laser focus on anything I set my mind to. There are so many things that I want to say, some good, some bad, but I always find myself returning to the simple, honest basics. There are some things that I feel like I desperately need to know, and I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to ask them if I let you walk away now without opening up my mouth and just asking."
"Ominous," Jamie muttered but he still sat up straight in his chair, "But since you want to eschew with the bush beating then just come out and ask."
"And I will, but first, I think I should start off with a very dire warning: Do not, under any circumstances, trust Comstar." He lifted his feet off the desk and produced a data stick from his coat pocket before sliding it across the table; Jamie's hand closed around it and he immediately held it over his shoulder for Stanford to grab. "That is the sum total of my personal investigations into Comstar, and I'm sure if you asked the First Prince and promised to safeguard it... then MIIO might be willing to depart with theirs as well. Of course, that depends on the nature and longevity of your contract with the Federated Suns."
"A grave accusation to make." Jamie supplied, but inwardly his mind was racing.
"Comstar is not in any way, shape, or form a 'neutral' organization. They run the communications for the entirety of the Inner Sphere. Even the most classified communique must travel via their hands, no matter if it's House Davion or House Marik. They have your mail, and they read it all. So keep that in mind when you're sending tactical or strategic information via any HPG station; the First Prince is aware of this, and we have hard evidence of their perfidy, so don't be surprised if, in your new contract, you find yourself having to abide by new security protocols that didn't exist under First Prince Ian Davion." The man placed his palms flat on the tabletop, "Secondly, Comstar is completely capable of running clandestine covert operations, from sabotage to assassination. They have many trained agents and they aren't afraid to use them. Half of the reason why the Inner Sphere is in such dire straits is because Comstar, when not killing our politicos or scientists themselves, are leaking information to the other Great Houses to do their dirty work for them."
Jamie did his best to control his body as he wished he had a thumb of some of that alcohol in his hand.
It would depend on what exactly 'hard evidence' Arthur Corean had to back up his claims, but it did make a disturbing amount of sense.
"Comstar already controls Terra, and they have a vested interest in ensuring that none of the Great Houses can ever get a leg up on each other." Arthur Corean rubbed the thumb of his right hand against his forefinger, "Because the moment a Great House wins this... game of thrones... they'll cease to be relevant as an organization. Control of the HPGs within the Inner Sphere will be stripped away from them and put under the control of the ruling House's administration. So in order to prevent that eventuality, they'll lie, cheat, steal, and kill whoever they must in order to keep the Houses fighting each other."
"What makes you so sure?" Natasha snorted as she sipped at her tumbler, the ice cubes clinking.
"What makes me so sure is that Comstar has attempted to assassinate me twice, and will make a third attempt here soon enough. It was Comstar who supplied the faulty hydrogen seals that killed my parents, and it was a Comstar operative who arranged the attempt on my life in December of 3026 using two SAFE operatives as patsies." Arthur seemed to be more relaxed now, the man resting his cheek against his fist. "I also know this because Comstar arranged for the death of the father of someone you know— Commander Jacob Mason."
Natasha peered over the rim of her tumbler, her eyes narrowing just a hair. "Again, I ask: What makes you so sure?"
"Have you heard of a mercenary company called 'Black Inferno'?"
Jamie shifted through his memories, but he didn't think he had ever heard of them before; Wolfnet might have, but the name didn't ring any bells.
"Black Inferno was founded under a man by the name of Andreas Kane, a former Mechwarrior who served under the command of Anton Marik. He left the Free Worlds League Militia in 3007 under intense scrutiny for his heavy-handedness and brutality. When he created his unit, they quickly earned themselves some rather nasty ratings from Comstar, citing ruinous property damage and civilian casualties. By 3009 it became clear to anyone that their unit would likely not last much longer... that is until 3010 when they miraculously received a startling upgrade in their MRB ratings.
Yet there were no completed jobs visible on their profile to garner such a sudden improvement. No battlefield reports, ROMs, or customer satisfaction surveys. Nothing. They went from being just a few short months from defunct to suddenly free and in the clear... with almost a whole battalion of Battlemechs under his command when before he had at best a demi-company."
Arthur Corean pushed a few buttons, and a panel on the wall slid away to reveal a flatscreen, which turned on and showed pictures and a profile.
"Of course, all of this is in the packet, but since I'm on it already, might as well do it properly." The man clicked over to another slide, "Black Inferno resurfaced on April 12th, 3010 in the Capellan Confederation with their new jumpships, dropships, and battalion's worth of heavy metal. From there they began a years-long campaign of attacking lightly defended systems from all of the Great Houses. No one was spared, not the Combine, not the Free Worlds League, Capellan Confederation, Lyran Commonwealth, or Federated Suns."
Arthur Corean tapped his lips with a single finger as he looked from the screen to Jamie, and while Jamie noticed, he was too busy looking over the historical map of their attacks. They had attacked dozens of systems, and somehow managed to make their escape every time. It was something that no Great House would have stood for, to have their worlds being struck by a mercenary band.
"All of this should have elicited a response, but they didn't. News was suppressed on those worlds, with one side of the planet not even knowing that the other side had been attacked until weeks after Black Inferno was gone... and there always just so happened to be a Comstar Recovery and Relief team to help the people back on their feet. Convenient, is it not?
It's made even worse when looking at some of the historical MIIO information and finding out that it sometimes took months for local reports to make their way to the MIIO field offices via the HPG stations. The locals couldn't even send a dropship to call for help because Black Inferno was able to interdict each system and... Comstar was slow-rolling any communications.
We know all of this because Commander Mason's crew just managed to escape one such interdiction. Black Inferno had shown up to the Nik's Cavalier's landhold on Deberry Prime, assaulted their compound, destroying and killing as they went... and Nikolai Mason's father was one of the fallen."
Arthur Corean winced as he tapped his fingers along the surface of the table, "Probably overstepping myself by telling you that, as that's something he should get to decide, but since you asked and wanted more information there was no reason why I couldn't provide it."
Natasha was quiet for a few moments before she settled her tumbler on the table. "So, a bad company gets a huge upgrade in lift, jumpships, and Battlemechs... attacks some planets, and Comstar is somehow involved?"
"Well, circumstantially, their appearance before any first responders is more than a touch suspect..." Stanford offered.
"Every site they hit contained a Star League facility of some kind. Be it a logistical cache, a research facility, or a regional HQ. Details are scarce since Comstar isn't exactly forthcoming with their information, but Mason's crew along with Interstellar Expeditions have uncovered enough evidence to corroborate these findings. Particularly because Mason managed to rebuff one such raid by Black Inferno on the FWL world of Cole Harbor... " Arthur stood up and walked over to a small fridge and grabbed a bottle of water to wet his throat, "Ah, sweet H2O... and when Interstellar Expeditions surveyed the planet? Well, they found a Star League-era Vac-Stack manufacturing facility that once belonged to a subsidiary of International Business Machines of Ancient Terra."
Ever flagrant, Natasha shrugged a shoulder, "Still sounds like a conspiracy to me, but it looks convincing enough I guess."
The side eye she gave Jamie wasn't missed by him, and he gave her a subtle shake of the head. The smart thing to do would be to remain nominally silent while they let Wolfnet corroborate the findings here, though the Colonel had done a lot of risky and very stupid things on far less convincing information.
"Well then, I think you'll find that I'm going to be two for two on my 'conspiracies' in this meeting, Natasha Kerensky." The man made deliberate eye contact with Natasha, but he soon broke it to turn his eyes on Jamie. "But before I go any further I will say this: everything I say from here on out is offered in good faith, and not to antagonize, threaten, blackmail, or disparage. Are we clear, Colonel Wolf?"
For the first time since he sat down at this meeting, he felt a small thrill of unease tingle up his spine, and he wasn't the only one to feel it either— not from the way Natasha's fingers tightened on the empty tumbler.
Colonel Jamie Wolf of the Wolf's Dragoons nodded, "I understand, as do my companions. Speak your mind, Mister Corean. You did offer honesty, and if it is within our ability to do so we'll respond in kind."
Arthur Corean's eyes closed, and he took a slow, deep breath before letting it out. "I know who you are."
Jamie blinked a few times, tilting his head. "I beg your pardon?"
Ice-blue eyes opened and zeroed in on the Colonel with laser focus. "I said: I know who you are, Colonel Jamie Wolf, of the Wolf's Dragoons. Or should I say... Clan Wolf?"
A small, mocking chuckle left Natasha's lips as he stood up and poured herself another drink, "All of the build-up and tension for that? 'Clan Wolf'. Pull the other leg, it's got bells on it."
"On April 11th, 3005, a massive force arrived in the Inner Sphere, within the Federated Suns, from their anti-spinward Periphery border. They not only had five regiments of Battlemechs, a confounding rarity in 3005 even for the largest mercenary commands, but they also had a large complement of combat vehicles, support vehicles, and aerospace fighters." Arthur Corean leaned back in his chair as he crossed his arms slightly, but it didn't get past Jamie that his hand was near the control panel... just as Natasha's hand was near her pistol. "Not only that, but they had machines that were, at best, virtually extinct, and at worst never before seen. They had an entire space station of an unknown classification in tow, with an entire fleet of jumpships and dropships to support them.
An array of men and metal that would have beggared all but the largest of corporations, and certainly put a dent in the financials of even a Great House. Yet no one knows who they are or where they came from, and at the end of the day, the mystery could remain a mystery because the newcomers were willing to fight their enemies for the right price. They are highly trained, competent, and able to get results, so the details were not that important."
He smirked a touch, "Unless you're Comstar."
Jamie sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Nat, fix me a drink, please. I think I'll need it after I hear this latest story about how the Wolf's Dragoons came to be."
The CEO frowned a touch, his head tilting to the side, "I thought we agreed that we would be honest, Colonel Wolf? Do I need to go on? Query Affirmative?"
Jamie fought down the instinct to clench, and instead gave the man his best smile as Nat handed him a tumbler, "Please, do go on."
The two men stared each other down, and Arthur Corean's nostrils flared as he grunted, "It seems I must because you are clinging to your charade now... the year is 2980, and the location is the Clan Homeworlds. An outfit by the name of 'Intelser'— oh, you've heard of it?"
Jamie didn't think he gave anything away, but with a slight turn of his head, he could see the whites of Stanford Blake's knuckles against his mini-noteputer.
This was now a problem.
"So, 2980. I don't know the exact date, but this outfit began recruiting 'Free Birth' members of various 'Clan Merchant Castes', and trained them in intelligence gathering." The man used his fingers to make quotation marks as he spoke. "Their mission? To infiltrate the Inner Sphere and feed back this information to Intelser, who would then report to a... 'Clan Council'. However, they ran into a problem."
"And what problem was that?" Natasha turned around and leaned her back against the cabinet, the woman nursing her drink.
"Well, the problem they ran into was that once their intelligence operatives made it into the Inner Sphere... one by one their people stopped reporting back. Now, this might be a bit of a reachbit a reach for me—" Arthur threw an arm over the back of his chair, "— considering I only have two data points to go off from... but I think that my hypothesis is correct."
Jamie sniffed at his drink before throwing it back all at once, using the burn of the whiskey to mask his discomfort. "Only two data points? Not a lot to go off of. Your impromptu presentation on Comstar had far more meat on the bones. So far, I'm not impressed."
"Well, the Wolf's Dragoons are here and present in the Inner Sphere, are you not?" Arthur Corean's eyes drilled into Natasha, but Jamie could admit he could feel the chill from where he was sitting, "If Intelser's operations were in the least bit successful, then the children of SLDF wouldn't have sent the Wolf's Dragoons at all. Though I don't think that this is true anymore, and it's not, is it? I doubt that the SLDF is anything more than a long-cherished memory at this point— their visage transformed by the Great Father Nicholas Kerensky into what he believed would be the ideal warrior society: The Clans."
Jamie felt his heart pounding in his ears, and he struggled to keep his breath under control.
"Clan Spectral Bear, Clan Giant Stinger, Clan Crystal Fish—" Arthur Corean lifted up one of the pads and began reading down... a list.
He felt a vein in his head about to burst until the names registered in his mind.
What?
"Clan Ichor Ghost, Clan Flaming Monkey, Clan Hellish Stallion, Clan Desert Vermin—"
Natasha's hand, which had been resting on the grip of her pistol... slowly started to migrate toward her belly.
"Clan Frost Bird, the other Clan Frost Bird, the other other bird clan, Clan Verdant Magpie..."
The cold indifferent mask she usually wore when she was going to shoot someone dead, started to peel away.
"Three different flavors of snakes, one being soft and fluffy, another hard like iron, and another with a Star Name... now we a the clan with a boring name... Clan Wolf..." Arthur pointedly looked up from the noteputer and flicked his eyes intently over the three of them before continuing, "And finally we have Clan Star Feline and my particular favorite... Clan Sooty Pussy—"
BANG!
Natasha's hand smashed against the top of the cabinet, and she immediately spun away to rest her elbows on top of the wood— her face hidden from sight.
Jamie felt his gorge rise, as they really could not afford to have her kill an Industrialist within his own compound. Not now. Not ever.
The Colonel was about to stand up, ready to throw himself on top of her to keep her hand away from her sidearm, but instead, her shoulders started to... heave?
"Heh. Heh heh. Hahahaha... hahahahahahaha!" When the Black Widow threw her head back it was with her eyes closed and lips peeled back in raucous laughter.
Her knuckles beat against the wood a few times before she dropped herself into her seat, the woman kicking her booted feet back onto the tabletop. "Heh, Clan Sooty Pussy."
Arthur smiled back, "Or Clan Smoke Jaguar, if you'd prefer to be correct about it. Same with Clan Ghost Bear, Star Adder, Cloud Cobra, Snow Raven, Ice Hellion, Burrock, Fire Mandril, and Diamond Shark... I could go on, naturally, but now that we've established that I'm not just blowing smoke up your skirts?"
The CEO of Corean Enterprises tilted his head, "Do remember that I said that this was all in good faith, right? I'm not about to beat you up over the head with this, nor will I run to First Prince Davion with this either..."
Jamie was struggling.
This was... how?
"Since my Colonel seems to be lost in his head, I think I'll answer for him and say that your information is spot on, for the most part. Far more detailed than I think any of us would like, but..." Natasha held up her hands and shrugged, "It wasn't like continuing to deny would do us any good. In fact, it might make you do just that: run off to tell Hanse Davion. Though whether he'd believe you would be a different story."
"Oh, he'd believe me. I've been far more right than I've been wrong, and he knows me and knows that I wouldn't bring something like this up for no reason. Especially once I started presenting my data points." The man looked to Jamie and leaned forward, "Though I'm hoping that you will be the ones who tell him. Him and Melissa Steiner. You'll have the perfect opportunity to do so during the long trek to Terra for the wedding, and before you negotiate a new contract. That way if things don't work out then you have the opportunity to leave and go elsewhere... maybe try rooting out pirates in the Periphery or something? Though I highly doubt that would be the case... the Dragoons would be more than welcome within the future Federated Commonwealth, I think."
Colonel Wolf's jaw was no longer clenching, but there was a tightness in his shoulder blades as he evaluated the man in front of him. He felt ill-equipped to handle him, and a lot of this could have likely been avoided if he'd consulted with Wolfnet prior to coming. He just didn't think that the CEO of a Battlemech manufacturer would come out and press them, especially from this direction.
Their status as a Clan scouting force had been secret and unknown for decades. There was always speculation, some of it closer to home than Wolfnet would have liked, but for the most part those who posited theories did so with the wrong data that ended up quickly disproving their own research. They were correct, that the Dragoon's were descendants of the SLDF, but there was so much more to it than that, and their claims were largely cast aside as nonsense.
"The only question that I want to ask before we get into the meat and potatoes of this meeting—"
They weren't at the 'meat and potatoes' yet?
Jamie fought down a twitch.
"—Is this: When the inevitable invasion of the Inner Sphere from these... Clans arrive, which side of the fence will the Dragoons be on?"
Colonel Jamie Wolf didn't know, so he said as much.
A/N: Almost forgot to post this again. To be frank this scene was a huge pain in the ass. There was so many ways to approach this, but I had to keep re-writing it over and over again before eventually stalling out on it (which led to the long hiatus this story was on). It was very tough to remove myself from Arthur, as even if this is nominally an "SI" story, I am not Arthur Corean— he and I are far apart, with different life experiences and I had to constantly drill that into my own head. Even if we might have started from the same person, we diverged pretty quickly and very early on as people to become separate entities. Arthur has had many years in the Inner Sphere to be inculcated, and while he can still view it from the outside perspective... when the time to talk with the Wolf's Dragoons finally comes he isn't the sort of person to "do the meme" (for those that don't know, the 'meme' in question is asking "How is the weather on Strana Mechty?" just to make the Dragoons sweat). Arthur isn't the sort of person to do that, or lead a conversation on, to be subtle and drop 'hints that he knows about their origins'. He doesn't have time for that, and knowing what the Dragoons had suffered on Misery leads him to believe that some candidness that doesn't come with veiled threats and whatnot is likely to get the Dragoons to cooperate; being a Game of Thrones extra might very well end up with him pushing the Dragoons away, and while he doesn't like the Dragoons, he is willing to set aside his personal qualms for the good of the realm.
He knows that the FedSuns when they kick off the 4th Succession War are going to need the Dragoons to keep pressure off the Draconis March so they can smash the Cappies. So potentially alienating them at this critical juncture could have disastrous consequences that are far more important than Arthur's personal distaste for the Furry Scouts.
Given this is the holidays the next chapter might not come out any time soon, but since I have a few days I'm going to try and do some writing to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I hope you enjoyed!