Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Eight: Taking Great Care
Kentares IV, July 10th, 3032
"We're going to have to redeploy with one of our units soon." I told Natasha. "We get a small pass because of the sheer amount of damage that we caused, but we're going to be expected to move in and assist the rest of the Draconis March in their advances."
"The 3rd Kentares only have a couple of 'Mech battalions though." Natasha said as she consulted her slate for our force estimates. "We would have to deploy with the Ducal Guard again to have a proper invasion force."
"I know." I said with a shrug. "But we need to get back out there, even if it's only to serve as reinforcements for a force that has gotten bogged down, plus we can add in some of the least damaged parts of the other guard units, and the conventional forces will be able to do their jobs anyhow."
"I agree, but we may want to bring some faster machines with us. There is a major manufacturing center on Al Na'ir and we may get chewed up by hovercraft if we are not careful." Natasha observed before looking down at the map in front of us once again. "Where are the current Draconis March Forces?" Natasha asked me, knowing that I had intelligence on the current movements.
"Hanse pushed forces up all across the border, but the place that's been giving friendly forces the most trouble is Al Na'ir." I pointed to the system in question. "There are two battlemech regiments there, and the militia units are putting up a fierce fight as well."
"Which two units are there?" She asked, leaning over the map table.
"The 8th and 15th Dieron Regulars." I said as I consulted my intel briefs. "The 15th have a larger amount of Assault 'mechs than the rebuilt 5th Avalon Hussars expected, and the advance had bogged down according to the last reports."
"How long until David is supposed to be back on Kentares?" Natasha asked. "I thought he was supposed to make landfall in a couple of days."
"He's supposed to be back on the ground by the 15th." I responded with a small smile. "You want him in with the 3rd Kentares and the Ducal Guard?" I asked.
"Yes," Natasha stated curtly. "He needs to prove himself capable in front of our troops or he will never be able to move up and take your place as he is supposed to."
"We'll load him up as soon as he gets here." I responded. "His Crockett should be a solid 'mech to bring anyway."
"Indeed," Natasha replied with a grin. "I shall prep the Ducal Guard while you brief the 3rd Kentares Guard."
"I'll get right on it," I replied. "This is a way to test my new 'mech at least."
"I would consult with Dr. Rogers and McAllister before I went out in the new 'mech." Natasha told me bluntly. "I am uncertain as to how it will respond, or what the new weakpoints that might be present, I merely gave them the basics of what you would like, and they did the remainder."
"I'll clear things up with Mac and Dr. Rogers before we deploy." I replied. "I'm assuming that there's more to it than there was to my WHM-6Rk."
"I would not know." Natasha shrugged with a grin. "While I am good at doing what the technicians tell me, I am not a Fusion Engine expert."
"At least you're able to help out with repairs now." I replied. "Mithril certainly helps out with the heavy lifting though."
"True, now let us go prepare for war once again." She said as she stalked out with the walk of a predator.
"Looks like we're back to it once again." I said to myself as I looked at the map table. "Let's finish this, before we get hammered in the back from some remnants of the RWR or something."
Kentares IV, July 15th, 3032
"Lieutenant Hull-Kerensky, I have your orders here." A Fireteam Corporal saluted the uniformed young nobleman as he exited the Pueblo class Dropship that he had been on. "Here sir." He passed the folder containing said orders to the 19 year old.
"I'm assigned as XO to a mixed fireteam with the 3rd Kentares Guard." David muttered to himself as he read over the documents. "The CO of the Battalion is Katheryn Sandoval, and I'm attached to the Command Fireteam."
"You're supposed to report by the end of the day sir." The Corporal said as he continued walking behind the Lieutenant. "The 3rd Kentares is shipping out by the end of the week."
"I'll get my 'Mech moved over in an hour and report by the time listed." David assured the young noncom. "I'm sure you have other duties to take care of."
"Actually sir, I've been assigned as the introduction between you and the rest of the fireteam. Fireteam Corporal Travis Perez at your service. I'm a Crab pilot and will be your battle buddy for the rest of the time that you're assigned to us." The Corporal replied with a smile on his face. "But, you can call me Scooter, it's my callsign and what everyone calls me anyway."
"Okay?" David Hull responded with a questioning look on his face. Imitating the eyebrow raise that he had seen his father so many times. "Why are you called Scooter?"
"On account of the fact that I once locked up the treads on our training Scorpionand we scooted off down the side of a mountain." The young noncom sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Later we found out that maintenance had forgotten to do some stuff, but I was driving and the name stuck."
"Well, I don't have a callsign yet, but I'm sure it'll be just as embarrassing." David replied with a chuckle. "And, I will be getting the full story later."
"Fair enough," Scooter replied with a shrug, "Let's get everything squared away so we can get some training done before deployment. We've got a decent veteran core, and we're deploying with the Ducal Guard so even though most of us are a little green I think we'll be okay."
"Any clue on where we're going to be deploying?" David asked as he combed into the truck that Scooter gestured to. "I'd like to get some research done if nothing else, can't be too sure of what the actually situation is until we're there, but you can still get data on the topography and any areas of critical importance."
"We're deploying to assist the 5th Avalon Hussars on Al Na'ir." Scooter replied as he helped David throw his away bags into the back of the truck. "From what I know, there's two regiments of the Dieron Regulars on the planet, and they've got plenty of backup due to a major hovercraft industrial center on the planet. The Militia are outfitted with enough Hovercraft to make our faster units green with envy, and they're hard hitting too. Our latest reports were that the 5th Avalon Hussars were pinned down to their LZ and unable to make any major advances due to the hit and run tactics of the Militia combined with the assault 'Mechs of the 15th Dieron Regulars."
"Damn." David shook his head at the thought. "We bringing enough forces to force them to back off and let us advance?"
"The Duke just cut us off of the leash as far as some of the truly advanced tech is concerned." The Corporal replied. "We're being augmented by an entire Battalion of the advanced Toros from the 1st Kentares Guard, along with some of the Omnimechs that Kerensky brought back with her."
"That'll have to be enough combined with the Arrow IV systems and cluster munitions." David said. "We're going to want to take looks at the latest maps, if we can figured out where to deploy our arty we might be able to nail the hovercraft in order to force a close range engagement."
"That's above my pay grade sir." Scooter said as he pulled up to the Barracks. "Now we need to get you sorted and introduced to the rest of the fireteam and the company that we're a part of as a whole."
"Yay." David weakly pumped his fist. "Introductions are my favorite, not. "
"Just get in there." Scooter replied. "I've got to go pick up a couple of other latecomers who were on leave."
"Fine, but when you get back, remember to bury me at the family farm." David replied deadpan. "It's a big farm, you can't miss it."
"I've been on the Ducal Estate sir." Scooter replied. "And that's not just a farm, that's the whole shebang."
"Just get going." David grabbed his bags, sling them over his shoulder and patted the side of the truck a couple of times, signaling that it was alright for him to move on. "Now I get to introduce myself… What fun."
July 20th, 3032
"We're loaded up and ready to roll." General Robert Frost told me. "I've got operational plans in place, and as soon as we get our supplies loaded up we can move to Al Na'ir."
"We just topped off the Ducal Guard's load of supplies." Natasha weighed in, " and we are at around 85% force readiness after the campaigns that we were on."
"Then we'll hit with around 70% of an RCT and a regiment plus a battalion of vehicles?" Frost asked as a clarification question.
"That's right." I finally spoke up. "We hammer the interior of the main Drac areas, but we're a little on the weak side until we can get all of the wounded treated and the machines replaced."
"I hope it's enough sir." Frost turned to me, "because we're going to have a hell of a fight on our hands."
"We'll have to make it enough Frost." I replied with a shake of my head. "Both of our Marksman units are working for the Lyrans right now, and the 1st and 2nd Kentares are in need of some R&R. We're lucky that the Toro's and the pilots of them were among the least damaged out of the 1st Kentares."
"I know sir, but we can't wait another month in order to get more people rotated into my unit?" Frost asked. "I've got a lot of green in my unit sir, and while they're all good kids I'm worried that they might not be ready for this kind of fight."
"I understand your concern, Frost." I replied with a sad expression on my face. "But this is the cold calculus of war, if we want them to not be green troops anymore than they have to be blooded, and considering the tech difference, they'll have the best advantages that we can give them."
"You sure you're not simply wasting lives sir?" Frost asked. "Everyone knows that the 1st Kentares is the priority unit."
"I won't deny that." I replied. "The 1st Kentares has the greatest concentration of people that I've directly served with over the last 30 years than the other unit. But, my son is in your unit, if I really intended to just feed y'all into a meat grinder then I wouldn't be entrusting my son to you would I?"
"We'll just have to wait and see sir," Frost replied with a chilling expression on his face. "
"Frost, if you have an issue with me then tell me now before we get out in the field." I said with a raised eyebrow.
"There's no issue sir." Frost said after a moment. "We'll see what happens when we get onto the field."
I met Natasha's eyes and her body language basically said what I was feeling.
"You're dismissed Frost." I said, "Go rest up before liftoff tomorrow."
"He is going to be a problem." Natasha said after General Frost had left. "He has avoided deployment since we made Kentares IV our home." She said as she reviewed Frost's CSV. "He managed to get promoted because he was an excellent logistician, but we haven't had to test his skills in real combat since he was a junior officer."
"That's what I get for signing off on the promotion recommendations without looking over them in their entirety." I muttered to Natasha and myself. "Can you have Dunham double check his XO and make sure that they're competent? If they're not then we could run into some major issues if we're not extremely careful here.
"How is it that this is more complicated than attacking Luthien and New Samarkand?" Natasha asked. "We did not seem to have these problems with Packer and Godbolt."
"People," I replied with a shrug. "Packer and Godbolt are very good at what they do, we had to hit average personnel, and normal problems eventually." I chuckled to myself. "I should tell you about some of the old WWII stories about Marine and Army generals having issues when they were against the Japanese."
"Maybe later," Natasha replied. "We need to get some alternate plans ready if we need to relieve Frost of command."
"I'll have Mathis and Dunham coordinate with us on that." I replied. "Two days should be plenty of time to get everything sorted."
"Are we going to pay David a visit?" Natasha asked, "I was hoping that we could at least attempt it."
"Let's let him settle in with his new unit." I replied. "This is his first deployment, and the last thing he needs is for us to show up and remind everyone of whose son he is."
Author's note: wrote most of this on my phone. So may be some stuff that needs to be cleaned up.