Fleet Admiral Steven Chou sat at the head of the conference table. His was the highest rank in the room, but he was aware of how little that mattered right now.
He was, after all, Fleet Admiral. A rank equivalent to General of Armies, which was itself one rank below the Archon in the military hierarchy. But, equivalent or not, he was not a General of Armies.
He could, of course, unilaterally issue orders and have them obeyed.
Social Generals had frayed much of the respect that the lower ranks had for their officers and leaders, but that rope had not snapped. Not yet.
They would obey his orders. But what would the cost of unilaterally issuing one be?
Typically, a good commander was not one who built consensus, it was one that led by understanding.
If his men did not understand his intentions, then they would follow the letter of the orders because they did not understand the intent behind them.
Unfortunately for him, he had his own standing order.
"Your orders Admiral are to keep those Jumpship yards intact at all costs! Nothing else matters."
The letter of the order was clear, keep the yards (nevermind that they were called slipways) intact no matter the cost.
The intent of the order was similarly clear.
The Archon, his patron, he who had elevated him to Fleet Admiral to begin with, mostly in order to not have interference with his Deep Raid, was focused on the slipways above all else.
As a result, Chou's own focus was the slipways if he wanted to maintain his position as Fleet Admiral.
His own focus was on the slipways he wanted the Commonwealth Navy to be anything more than a glorified appendix of the LCAF.
After all, the Commonwealth Navy was separate from the Transport Command, the first commanded the Jumpships of the LCAF, the second commanded the Dropships.
If he wanted the Navy to grow in prestige and capability, he needed the slipways protected.
That was his personal desire.
The Lyran Commonwealth's desire however, was different.
The Commonwealth needed Duke Huu Vu alive and able to continue producing factories and industrialising.
There was a conflict there, between what the Commonwealth as a whole needed and what the Commonwealth as embodied in the Archon desired.
Threading the two in the attack of the White Fleet had been impossible. He had to choose between them, and had chosen the Archon, his patron.
His mind returned to the moment.
The reason why he had to, at this particular moment in time, lead by consensus rather than intent.
In one room, there was Takashi Kurita, heir to the Dragon as well as several senior officers from the Dieron 3rd Regulars here to parley. The Sun Zhang Academy Cadre Battlemechs had ceased to exist and seemingly none had thought to ask their infantry/armour regiments for representatives.
Tellingly there was no representatives from the Dropship and Jumpship force.
Meanwhile, in the room with him was a Hauptmann-General of the Interior Theatre Tharkad, a Colonel Commanding a mercenary regiment leading the training of said Hauptmann-General's militia forces on-planet, and Duke Vu, the one tying all of them together.
They were, unfortunately, unified in their desires. After all, they had been working hand in hand for months now.
He sighed.
The man who built the Jumpships that were more like Primitive Warships was going to be against his own orders from the Archon and Steven as Fleet Admiral needed to thread that needle.
The man he needed on side if he wanted Primitive Warships for his own navy and not for his successor's navy when said man threw up a fuss to the Archon due to today's proceedings and had him sacked.
Well then, he turned to the other three in the room, well, there were more, but these were the three that he was worried about the most. After all, these were the ones that would dictate how the others felt about the matter.
"Sir. Respectfully, we should finish this and destroy them. We've got them bottled up and ready to feed into the grinder." Acting-Brigadier Slim said, looking at the Chou in the eyes.
Chou wasn't sure if that was because he was a Navy man or if it was because this man feared little.
"You were the one that accepted the parley Brigadier." He replied.
"Sir, that was because I thought he was actually going to surrender. Not negotiate for his units to leave without surrendering their banners or themselves or their equipment to us. One does not simply walk to Mount Utility and walk out again." Slim answered back.
He admitted that the man had a point.
Chu-I, acting Sho-sho, Takashi Kurita had truly thrown a spanner into the works with his actions.
"Unfortunately, we have accepted the parley. Now the matter is up to us to discuss. I have my standing orders from the Archon that unfortunately override your concerns. His exact words were;
to keep those Jumpship yards intact at all costs!
I must follow these orders as they were invested in me by my Archon as an officer in the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces." He said to the assembled officers, letting them know his baseline and what he was willing to compromise on (everything else).
He could not allow the smallest hint of disloyalty to colour his words for the meeting's minutes would be forwarded to the Archon to read.
"And he offered the ISF to chase after the White Fleet's origins in the Combine?" Asked von Randt.
"Exactly," Chou replied. "If it were anyone else save Hohiro Kurita, I would have taken the words as bravado."
"But he's heir to the Dragon and he's put his Honour on the line." the Hauptmann-General continued.
"And if I refused his offer, I would be breaching my standing orders from the Archon. The origins of the White Fleet are still unknown. A force willing to send 34 Dropships, freshly built Dropships from the paint and structural finishings mind you, on a kamikaze mission to destroy slipways is not someone that we can ignore. I must find out who they are and neutralise them before they they send a second, stronger fleet." He answered.
"Moreover, he has sworn on his honour as heir to the Dragon that the DCMS were not involved with the White Fleet. He has brought the unredacted sensors information and communication logs from their time on Dieron till now from his Jumpships and Dropships to confirm this. We cannot even make the argument that he as a Leutnant was not let into the secrets of the command staff, when all information from the black boxes shows that even the Brigadier had no idea about the White Fleet's presence and his shock at their kamikaze rush."
The room paused at that.
Especially at the Wakizashi that he had set on the table before the entire room. The one that every Mechwarrior that graduated the Sun Zhang Academy as well as the Wisdom of the Dragon School received. Takashi Kurita had attended both and graduated with honours.
It represented his honour.
The Order of the Wakizashi, when presented to an officer resulted in said officer immediately retrieving their Wakizashi, plunging it into their gut and having their second shoot them in the head… in order to preserve their honour and the honour of their family.
To hold a Combine officer's Wakizashi was not a small matter.
It was heavier than that officer's life.
To hold the Heir of the Dragon's Wakizashi… the sheer weight of it was unbelievable.
Heavier than the life of the Draconis Combine.
They mulled over the words he had said, eyes straying to the blade sheathed before them
It didn't cool their bloodlust of course, their ardour for battle. They would not be warriors if they were. Even he, an old man watching the battle from the bridge of a DC3 as it provided flak cover for the deploying dropships and small craft felt his heart beating faster.
To watch what he had only dreamed of come to life. The dominance, one more, of void craft over the planets below
If the Primitive Warships had been completed… perhaps he would have taken one of those lower to past the ground below with PPC fire, to rain down the wrath of the gods upon their ground bound foes.
Yes.
He wished very much to command a Primitive Warship, to drive forward and sweep aside all that stood in his path.
But he couldn't.
He was no longer a Kaptain or even Kommodore. His actions now affected the realm, not just a single vessel or a small flotilla of them.
But, as an old warrior himself, he needed to provide them with an outlet for their bloodlust in a manner that was acceptable to them. If he simple gave them an order they would turn on him.
If he gave them alternatives, they would see it as their prize escaping.
The solution then was to make it so that the prize was less valuable.
How did one do that however?
It was two Combat Commands that were sitting, ready for annihilation. The Combine had 83 combat Commands total.
That was, if his math was correct, 2.5% of the Combine's total strength destroyed in a single week of fighting. Impressive beyond all measure. But they wanted the total victory, something that they could bring back as proof of the success of their doctrine and ways.
He needed time to think.
They would follow his orders, especially as he made it clear what the Archon's priorities were, but, there was a chance the heir would let slip something that he could use to sway the warriors before him.
He needed to think on the matter to analyse the men, identify their centre of gravity and to outflank it.
+Break+
"I have 7 days of food left on the dropships." Takashi Kurita had dropped the bombshell.
The warriors looked hungry, knowing that they would be able to take apart the 2 Combat Commands piecemeal if they simply waited.
Fleet Admiral Chou was not of the same opinion.
He had found his centre of gravity. The Warriors wanted the destruction of Combine assets.
He had found his flank and was now ready to marshal his forces to assault it.
Taking a recess, he re-entered the conference room and got ready to lay on his assault. The others knew he would and were ready for it.
Unfortunately for them, they were not ready for the depths of guile that an old man like himself possessed.
"Gentlemen, ladies, I can see in your eyes that there is a need for bloodshed. You've trained yourself to defeat the Combine in open battle haven't you? The enemy is ripe for the taking. I understand, therefor I will put in a call in the HPG to request from the Archon permission to launch an attack on the enemy to demolish them. They are nearly out of food." He said to them.
They looked back at him. Some had shock on their faces.
He hid his frown, where was the quick wittedness that he was expecting? How could a trap be sprung if the foe did not walk into it? The bait was right there, they needed to get stepping quickly or the moment would be lost.
"A HPG call will take a week for a B-Class Station. The last transmission was a 7 days ago. So if we do this quick, we could get a message out to the Archon today. Then a wait of a few days for the Archon to get to the request and then act on it." Muttered one of the local colonels.
"Possibly a wait of a few days or more yes. But, if we do make the call, with express permission from the Archon I can move the fleet into permission, possibly even take out a few Primitive Warship hulls that have their guns mounted to provide direct support for your assaults. In the meantime you would get ready your assault forces." He said, laying it on a little thick.
"The problem is that the HPG is down." One of the colonels interjected.
And the noose tightened.
"What do you mean that the HPG is down?" Slim asked, turning his head back.
"When the did their Kamikaze run, the HPG locked down saying that it was for their safety in case anything made it through. We didn't pay much attention because we sent our messages already… and we were, you know, winning." The colonel continued.
"Those fuckers." Growled Slim causing Chou to look at him in surprise. This was the first time that he had shown such emotion in public, he wondered as to why. He did not have the luxury to focus on it right now, he had to tie the prey to the trap so deeply that they couldn't escape.
"So either we wait for the HPG to come back online, send the message, wait for a reply, in which case the DCMS soldiers would have already died from starvation. Or we disobey the orders from our Archon and assault them regardless." Chou said, tightening the noose further.
The general and the brigadier then frowned.
"To defeat an enemy in battle is one thing, to defeat one that is starving rather makes one's achievements lesser doesn't it?" Duke Vu said, leaning back at nearly a straight hypotenuse angle to the chair's right angle.
Was there something wrong with the man's back?
The other two looked at the third member of their Triad.
"I asked you to destroy the Combine to prove a point, that you cannot simply walk into Mount Utility and expect to walk back out." He started, sitting upright so that he could see their faces.
The others nodded.
"Due to the geographical location we've stuck the in, there's no foraging possible. They have likely started developing disease and illness from the local parasites and organisms. They're also likely already on half-rations." He continued.
The other faces in the room fell.
"It was less glorious and impactful if you said 'we destroyed 2 Combat Commands… but they were starving and dropping dead of disease."
"Wait 8 more days and what kind of force can we reasonably come up against? Would that be a deterrent to the enemy, or an invitation like Hesperus? " Duke Vu asked the question.
"Half will likely be dead from lack of water. It's not raining right now is it?" Muttered von Randt
"It's a forest, they can suck the water out of the clay if they are thirsty. They've also got water in their rations, they have enough for 16 more days, surely." Slim tried to defend.
"The DCMS, sucking water from clay? They would rather die of thirst than be seen as mud suckers. Half-parched is not much better either." von Randt riposted.
"So either we let them go, or we walk into a camp of the starving, the diseased, the hungry, and the thirsty?" Asked Duke Vu, sounding incredibly irritated. He had wanted his victory, wanted the annihilation of his enemies and to hang their banners from his gates.
Or at least that was what Chou thought from his comments so far.
To have that achievement marred because the enemy was starving and at half strength rather did detract from that.
Fleet Admiral Chou was glad that they had accepted his Standing Orders and were trying to work around it and prevent the Archon coming down on his head like a ton of BAR10. Better yet, because he had explained it to them, in this meeting, they had no excuse not to follow it.
But, their eyes still burned for battle.
If it was against a half-dying giant, then they would take it.
But what if he sprung the trap and offered them a living giant? Their necks were already inside, waiting for that last step.
He would not let them finish the thought that they had brought the enemy to this point through their own effort, had surrounded them and prevented them from foraging. Therefore the victory was their victory regardless. If he allowed them to finish that thought, then they would have effectively withdrawn themselves from his trap.
He was, after all, after 3 objectives here.
Fulfil his standing order.
Build his Navy up.
Stay on the good side of Duke Vu and his confidants.
"Gentlemen, I understand that you have designed your forces to combat the Combine, but, you, Hauptmann-General will find it hard to launch an offensive when you are meant to be commanding the interior garrisons and defences." He started, looking at the Hauptmann-General who nodded back.
"You, Acting-Brigadier truly wish to see the Combine destroyed, but your existence as a House Unit constrains an expeditionary desire." He looked at Brigadier Slim who returned the look.
"You, Duke Vu, I do not quite have a reading for. What is it that you want exactly?" He asked, looking at the final wild card in the room.
"Me? I want to see my factory expand, I want to see the Combine driven back and destroyed if possible, reformed if necessary, I want to get married to a woman I'm actually quite fond of now, I want my future wife's family to feel safe and prosperous despite my overturning of their society, and I want to raise children on a world safe from raids." He said this, looking around the room.
Admiral Chou saw him nodding at Duchess Randolph and the Prime Minister of this world.
In fact… there were several points that he could grasp here to convince them.
"I wish to then make a deal with you in order that I fulfil my Standing Order to my Archon, and for you to receive what you wish." He started, looking at the three decision makers in the room. At least on matters of Mount Utility and the conflict therein.
"Then I offer the following to you. For Hauptmann-General von Randt, I will push the Archon to present you with the rank of Kommandant-General of the Tamar Theatre of Operations. From there you will be able to launch raids into the Combine assuming the General in charge of the Theatre sees merit in them. Succeed and I have no doubt that the Archon will elevate your to full General to plan your own assaults." Fleet Admiral Chou, confidant of the Archon said.
"Brigadier Slim and Duke Vu, for you I have a dual proposal for you, as you come as part of a package do you not?" He asked.
Both nodded.
"As Fleet Admiral of the Commonwealth Navy, and due to the Navy's smaller size due to the Succession Wars, my office has been invested in several powers that used to be delegated out. One of these is the designation of depots and construction yards, the defence of said depots and construction yards, and the ability to designate contractors to fulfil the construction and establishment of depots and construction yards." He said to a Slim that looked as if he already understood while Duke Vu's head was still getting stuck in the corners of the tongue twister.
"Which means I can designate specific worlds for the construction of Depots for Jumpships and Dropships, as well as designate who will defend these worlds and who will do the construction for them."
Duke Vu's fist hit his open palm with an 'ah'.
"So we can then build more Jumpships, which you want, but more importantly, have worlds close to the frontline to launch offensives from, while also still being a house unit." Slim reasoned.
"Exactly. These are loopholes that I am using, but as part of my office, I do have these powers." He said with a smile.
"So that's it then huh." Duke Vu muttered. "We either wait for the HPG message to come back, in which case the DCMS forces are going to be at half strength and any victory over them will always have that hanging over our heads. Or we let them go now and take you up on the offer to get potential staging bases closer to the front for potential raids into the Combine." Duke Vu said… making it sound rather flimsy.
"I will offer my guarantees then. The contracts for such we can sign now to make it iron-clad, even if the Archon sacks me directly after this." He said, binding himself to the deal.
"Then we will need to decide if this is worth it for us." Brigadier Slim answered.
"And the men. It's all good for us to accept the deal, but they were the one that have been doing the fighting and the dying. Retreating now will result in a complete collapse in morale, not after it's been brought up to such a high level by their successes so far." Von Randt finished off the thought.
Chou wasn't worried.
The idea had been planted and what he offered them was greater than what they potentially lost.
After all, without this deal, how would Hauptmann-General von Randt get himself into a position to launch offensive raids without years more of politicking?
Or how would Slim manage to get himself into the fight?
Duke Vu having more capacity for expansion across multiple worlds with official sanction would serve him well.
The best part about this was that he would benefit from it as well.
As the one who put forward Hauptmann-General von Randt, when he took the fight to the Combine and was successful… it would reflect well on him indeed.
When Acting-Brigadier Slim became Brigadier in truth and did the same, the fact that he was technically under Navy contract would, again, reflect well on Chou.
Duke Vu's developments of more factories would allow more vessels, which would boost the capacity and capability of the Navy, strengthening his own position in the High Command. Possibly allowing him to push for more Admirals to be promoted to Fleet Admiral and to get more seats in High Command, securing the ascendancy of the Navy after hundreds of years in the wilderness.
He would, in effect, be tying himself to the ship that was the triumvirate of Duke Vu, von Randt, and Slim.
Most importantly, he would be fulfilling his orders to his Archon, his Patron who had gotten him into this position to begin with.
He was seen as a rubber stamp for the Archon's frenetic ideas… but if this worked out, then Fleet Admiral Chou, Revitaliser of the Navy… yes, that name had a very good ring to it indeed. He would live on in the annals of the Naval textbooks, on documentaries, in historographies as historians fought over his name forever.
Yes.
He had a good feeling about this.
His trap had snared its prey.
"We'll finish it with a duel. Have our best units in the new Ham or Limb mechs duel it out in Lance on Lance battle with theirs. That way they will be able to finish the fight in a conclusive manner. Make it a spectacle. Keep it non-lethal perhaps and go from there." One of the colonels interrupted.
"It's not like we don't have, like, a lot of the things. They're producing 540 of the Limbs a month now! 324 of the Hams. In a few years we'll have produced enough to re-equip every Regiment in the Commonwealth with them. If they trash the things it won't matter all that much will it?" Another commented.
"Well. I think we can work on that idea. Let's finish it before we take it back to the Kuritans." Chou said, thinking that perhaps they might be a little too warrior minded and he was mooring his ship next to what was not a warship… but a fireboat.
+Break+
Chou's eyes were wide with shock as Takashi Kurita's Panther managed to slide its way underneath the Light to Medium Battlemech… and knock it over. The PPC aimed at the cockpit had the pilot inside power down his machine in surrender.
The rest of his lance had been defeated by the superior weight and firepower of the Limbs… but Takashi had just knocked over the board.
The other three had lost their machines due to the rules, the sheer size of the Limbs overwhelming the smaller mechs from Takashi's lance. Apparently they had come from the Sun Zhang Cadre and somehow managed to escape destruction.
To the victor of each duel went the spoils… and a fresh, undamaged Limb was going to the Combine.
Fuck.
He had miscalculated!
This was the newest machine of the Commonwealth… and his own machinations to keep the Combine's Honour as well as the Commonwealth's had backfired.
Fuck.
He had calculated the odds, but didn't know just how good a pilot Takashi Kurita was… The man had wanted to duel the newest of the Commonwealth's machines. He hadn't seen a problem with it and gently overruled the others in the room when they had made a fuss. It outweighed the Panther by over 20 tons he was sure, there was no way it would fall in a straight battle!
He had done the maths, but his maths had been predicated on bad data.
Fuck.
He should leave all the ground fighting matters to the other three members of their quad.
At least the infantry and armour exercises ended with the Lyran boys fighting well against Combine units, demonstrating their superiority in the field of infantry and armour. At least that was an unequivocal win, the morale boost had been good too. He just wished he hadn't lost that Mech.