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We spent several hours cataloging the various ships and other accouterments inside the Naval Port. It was a staggering amount of ships, ammunition, spare parts, and fuel. Several repair bays had been repurposed as berths for various ships that could be used for repairs and limited production of spare parts and equipment once those ships had been removed. Not only that, but the master terminal for the repair bays had a partial memory core's worth of Naval Designs and technology to facilitate the production of spare parts and whatnot for the automated repair bays. All told, while I could produce spare parts and equipment to repair battle damage and re-arm any of the Dropships, JumpShips, and WarShips in the port, I was unable to produce new ships without different equipment. There was a difference between repair and rearmament facilities and an actual full drydock, after all.

The number and types of ships were also staggering. Aside from the three WarShips, there were a pair of Star-Lord-class JumpShips and a pair of Tramp-Class JumpShips in the port, along with three dropships each of Titan-Class Dropships, Triumph-Class Dropships, Veangeance-Class Dropships, Pentagon-Class Dropships, and Lion-Class Dropships. We also had to go board each of the ships to see if they had anything of value on them. Some of them did. One of the Titan-class Dropships, all of the Achilles-class, one of the Vengeance-Class, the Commonwealth-Class Light Cruiser, and one of the Star-Lord-Class JumpShips had fighters aboard, though none had their full complement.

Still, it was an impressive amount of Aerospace Fighters, a total of ninety Aerospace Fighters of varying classes and weights. They were one group each of SLDF Royal Designs, one of Royal Eagles, one of Royal Spads, one of Royal Ironsides, and one of Royal Sabres, as well as one group of Rim Worlds Republic VLC-Six-N Vulcan Heavy ASF. There was also a mix of small craft, mostly Mark VII Landing Craft, but there were a pair of NL-Forty-Three Battle Taxi Stealth Assault Craft as well. Both NL-Forty-Threes had a full Company Each of Jump Infantry Gear to SLDF Standard on board.

That would have been enough on its own, except that there were also combat vehicles and battlemechs aboard some of the Dropships. One company each of Royal Puma Main Battle Tanks, Royal Burke Fire Support Vehicles, and Royal Nightshade VTOL Recon Craft, as well as various Royal APCs in a mix of Hover, Tracked, and Wheeled. There was also a Company of Royal Griffin Medium Battlemechs, a Company of Royal Highlander Heavy Battlemechs, and a Company of Royal Marauder Heavy Battlemechs. These were scattered among the various Dropships, JumpShips, and WarShips, along with various spare parts, ammunition, and other gear.

By the time we'd cataloged the port, a full day had passed and we still had yet to break into the rest of the base. Honestly, the contents of the port alone would be enough to call this a success, but I insisted we continue on into the rest of the base. So that's what we did after a short rotation of rest shifts that saw the various scientists, technicians, porters, and security personnel rotate out for food and sleep. Once we'd all gotten six hours, we were back to rotate onto duty and I was informed by Lieutenant Adamski of what had happened in the interim while I was sleeping.

"Doctors Sokabe and MacAllister managed to get the door further into the base opened up and apparently, the port leads into an infantry barracks and armory. Looks like a battalion of the SLDF One-Seventy-Seventh Royal Jump Infantry was stationed here along with a Jump Infantry Battalion of the Third Amaris Dragoons and a Battalion of the Second Republican Marines. We have Jump Infantry equipment coming out of the Demon Hole now, plus enough thumpers, LAWs, and SRM Launchers, as well as ammo, to support them. There have also been signs that this was the equipment that was in storage and that the personal combat equipment of various troopers was used up in the attempted coup." Informed Lieutenant Adamski.

"I see. Where are Doctors Sokabe and MacAllister now?" I asked.

"Doctor Sokabe is in what she believes to be the main control room attempting to retrieve the primary Memory Core of the Facility. Doctor MacAllister is currently attempting to engage the manual bypass on the Mech Bay. Apparently, someone fused the door terminal's circuits during the attempted coup as a way to deny the enemy entry into the Mech Bay." Answered Lieutenant Adamski.

"Right, and has anyone gotten a look at the Aerospace Fighter Hangars, Combat Vehicle Bays, or the Research and Development Labs yet?" I queried.

"No, sir. We've checked the other corridors and it looks like they lead to various living quarters and a commissary. From what Doctor James has said of similar facilities he'd read up on, the Combat Vehicle Bays ought to be on the other side of the Mech Bay, while the Aerospace Fighter Hangers should be a level above. His best guess is that the Research and Development Labs are down a level below near where the Engineering Deck would be on a normal depot. Doctor Sokabe should be able to confirm if she can pull the Primary Memory Core intact." Explained Lieutenant Adamski.

"I suppose we'll find out, then." I offered.

"I suppose we will, Sir." Agreed Lieutenant Adamski, reaching for his flask and taking a sip of what had to be bourbon from the smell.

"What time is it, Lieutenant?" I questioned.

"It's five o'clock on Unzmarkt, Sir." Shrugged Lieutenant Adamski.

"Very well, take me to Doctor Sokabe first." I sighed.

"Of course, sir." Agreed Lieutenant Adamski.

He led me out of the base camp we'd established in the naval port and through a cavernous pair of double blast doors that formed the airlock leading deeper into the base. As we passed through the airlock, we entered a series of bunkhouses and barracks sufficient to hold a full division of troops, plus the armories, where crates of LAWs, SRM Launchers, and Ammunition, as well as racks of combat armor, laser rifles, and jump packs, were being carried out of them by large, musclebound porters under the watchful gaze of some of Lieutenant Adamski's security troopers. Thankfully, the porters had cleared the bodies of various troops out earlier with help from security. I made a mental note to give the porters and security troopers their bonuses first since they had the hard work to do. Then we were through and out into a branching series of corridors.

Off to the right, a corridor led down a hallway where I could hear the neurotic complaints of Doctor MacAllister demanding to know why the Manual Override for the Mech Bay was in such a difficult-to-reach place. Of course, his unwillingness to engage in regular physical activity couldn't possibly have been the issue, what with his genius brain having already calculated that regular exercise wasn't a productive use of his time. His predicament made me grin, even as Lieutenant Adamski led me down the middle corridor. At the end of the middle corridor was a room where dozens of computer terminals and rows of servers were stored, guarded by more of Lieutenant Adamski's troopers.

Inside, the small frame of Doctor Sokabe was working at a terminal very intently. So much so that it seemed like she hadn't even heard us enter. I moved toward her as Lieutenant Adamski checked in with his Two Troopers on door guard duty. As I moved up behind her, I saw her focusing intently on what looked to be a tertiary security program. She'd apparently gotten through the primary and the secondary security features using the access codes that my father had left me, judging by the words on the display. That just left this tertiary program to go before she could safely access the Base's Primary Memory Core.

As she typed in one string of indecipherable letters and numbers after another into the sextet of prompts, the display flashed green with each one. Finally, as she put in the last string of characters, the display flashed green one more time before turning blue and Doctor Sokabe did a little dance in her seat as she celebrated.

"I knew it would work! I'm the best!" She grinned, as she did her little pseudo-victory dance. I waited for her dance to finish before speaking.

"What would work?" I asked from over her shoulder. That caused her to let out a small squeak of surprise and go completely still before she turned to look at me.

"How long have you been standing there, sir?" She asked.

"If you're asking if I saw your victory dance, then yes. That isn't important, though. Are you through and how did you do it?" I asked.

"Well, sir, the Primary Security Program and the First Backup were bypassed using the command codes you sent me for Admiral Straczynski and General Tomino, but these sorts of high-level facilities also have a secondary backup Security Program in case of infiltration that requires a series of four-digit Alpha-Numeric Codes to unlock the system. The Codes typically change every week, but fortunately, the lockdown that was put in place automatically initiated a full reset of the code database once the General and Admirals codes were input into the first two programs. That meant that it would ask for the six, high-level, clearance codes for the theater commander of this section of the Rimward Periphery." Explained Doctor Sokabe, blushing as she did so from my admittance of seeing her dance.

"And you just happened to know those?" I pressed.

"Well, no I didn't just happen to know those. It took some amount of effort to find them. Fortunately, we had a partial code book to go off of from the Columbus Expedition which had a number of sets of master codes in it. Fortunately, each set is unique, and when it took the first code in the set that I input, I knew I had the right set of Master Codes. We were lucky I got the right set on the first try, sir. If I hadn't we'd only get a partial Memory Core, and if I had gotten it wrong a second time, the Data would have been purged on the local servers, and nobody is coming with the Backup Core now that the Star League is no more." Informed Doctor Sokabe.

"Good job, Doctor. Begin pulling the Memory Core. I'm going to go check in on how Doctor MacAllister is doing." I praised.

"Thank you, sir." Beamed Doctor Sokabe.

I turned around and began to walk away, Lieutenant Adamski saw this and fell in step behind me. As we made our way out of the Control Room and Data Center, down the right-hand corridor, the complaining and insults from Doctor MacAllister grew even louder. When we reached the end of the corridor, past an amused pair of Lieutenant Adamski's Door Guards, we found that Doctor MacAllister was shoulder-deep in a wall panel, trying his damndest to reach the manual override, his face and shirt covered in smudged grease and machine oil as he made grunting sounds. Unfortunately, his reach wasn't good enough, largely because the same destruction that had destroyed the blast door terminal had also fused the usual panel to get at the manual override lever shut.

"Need some help, Doctor?" I asked. Doctor MacAllister extricated himself from the innards of the wall panel and looked over at me, spotting Lieutenant Adamski, he gave a nod.

"Thank God you've brought someone with a bigger reach. Clearly, my arms were meant for putting together marvels of engineering, not rooting around in wall panels like some glorified aircar mechanic." He huffed in annoyance.

"You want me to stick my arm in there? Who knows what sort of rats nest of sparking wires is in that wall?" Frowned Lieutenant Adamski.

"Well, someone's got to do it." I shrugged.

"Besides, it's perfectly safe. I isolated the section from the power grid. . .mostly." Agreed Doctor MacAllister.

"What do you mean, mostly?" Demanded Lieutenant Adamski.

"Well, with the terminal having fused the circuits in that side of the wall, those wires were already dead. There was no need to isolate the panel from that side. . .probably." Explained Doctor MacAllister.

"Probably?" Echoed Lieutenant Adamski.

"Fine, if you won't do it, I will." I grumbled, marching up to the open wall panel and reaching in, much to Lieutenant Adamski's annoyance.

"What you're reaching for is a metal lever, around one foot in length. When you've got it, pull it downward and that should disengage the door locks." Informed Doctor MacAllister.

"I've got it." I grinned, as my hands closed around the lever. I pulled downward, and for a few moments, nothing happened. The Lever wouldn't budge, stuck after all these centuries. With a grunt, I redoubled my efforts and slowly, the lever began to pull downward. Eventually, the rust and corrosion gave out, and with a loud grinding noise, the Blast Door into the Mech Bay began to open. I pulled my arm out of the wall panel and Lieutenant Adamski chided me for taking a foolish risk, as Doctor MacAllister just sighed in relief that his particular ordeal was over.

Moving over to the opening Blast Door, I peered into the Mech Bay as the lights began to flicker. As the lights powered on, the Mech Bay opened up to reveal something that I hadn't expected to see in my wildest dreams. Rows upon rows of SLDF Royal Battlemech Models in various cubbies, along with spare parts, ammunition, and a number of automated repair bays to keep the various mechs in the fight. There must have been a Brigade's worth of SLDF Vintage Royal Battlemechs in here. I spotted Royal Griffins, Royal Pheonix Hawks, Royal Stingers, Royal Marauders, Royal Rifleman Twos, and Royal Black Knights, along with a single company of Royal Thug Assault Mechs. There were also a number of Rampage Assault Mechs and Dragoon Medium mechs in Rim Worlds Republic Colors.

It was more metal in one place than I'd ever seen outside of simulators before, and it wasn't going to be the last surprise this depot had in store for me by a long shot. As we were cataloging everything, one of Lieutenant Adamski's Security Troopers came running, pressed into service as a courier by Doctor Sokabe. He handed Lieutenant Adamski a sheet of paper with Doctor Sokabe's handwriting on it. On reading it, Lieutenant Adamski turned to me.

"That was from Doctor Sokabe. She's managed to get a full data dump off the Primary Memory Core." Informed Lieutenant Adamski.

"And?" I queried.

"And the data includes a full library of SLDF technical knowledge as of November of twenty-seven-sixty-six, roughly a month prior to the Amaris Coup." Informed Lieutenant Adamski. I blinked in surprise at that, stunned into silence by the enormity of this find. In the end, I could only think of one thing to say.

"I think I'd better go have a look at what Doctor Sokabe pulled out of the memory core." I hedged, before heading to the Command Center as quickly as I could. Lieutenant Adamski stayed behind to ensure that Doctor MacAllister knew the price of talking about what he'd overheard of Doctor Sokabe's message. The amount of material alone would have been more than enough to put a target on my back for assassination if anyone knew the full scope of this discovery but with this memory core on top of all of the equipment? This could change everything.

I think I needed to know exactly what had happened at this base. Suspicions weren't enough, I needed a timeline of events because this was a little more than just one of Stefan Amaris' lost caches of War Material. This was essentially a Castle Brian in miniature, out in what had been Rim Worlds Republic Territory. I needed answers, and the one place I could think to find them would be the data dump from the Primary Memory Core.

I just hoped that Doctor Sokabe could supply them. . .

XXXX

AN: So yeah, turns out this place is essentially a Miniature Castle Brian. The Exact Story of what this base is will be revealed next chapter, but it isn't quite as simple as a forgotten Amaris Cache. There was real SLDF Involvement here along with Rim Worlds Republic Involvement. There would have had to be with so much Royal Equipment here. But then, Richard Cameron was pretty much completely dependent on Stefan Amaris before the end. This place also stored another technical library, think of it as a Helm Core Plus, though where the Helm Core had technical info on everything, this relates almost solely to military information.

A note for those who are worried about power scaling, it is going to take a while to begin to implement any of this technology on any of Jozef's worlds. He has to build the production facilities and tech up his industry a bit before he can start producing any of the SLDF Stuff. In the meantime, he's dependent on the Mechs, ASF Fighters, Dropships, Combat Vehicles, Infantry Equipment, etc of the Cache. While there are repair bays that can manufacture a limited amount of spare parts and repair damaged equipment, that isn't the same thing as building new equipment, much less innovating on SLDF Designs. Plus destroyed mechs, vehicles, ASF Fighters, etc aren't repairable in these repair bays.

He may have a lot of material to work with now, but he's gonna have to be careful in how he uses it. Trying to fight everyone at once is only going to destroy more of his gear beyond the point where the repair bays and facilities of the Iron Land Base can do anything to repair them, which will only lead to a death spiral toward defeat. He needs to be careful how he plays this to gain the time necessary to begin production of various SLDF-level gear. Plus it's possible that if he plays his hand too quickly or too hard, he'll wind up having an assassination attempt via ComStar or any of the Successor Houses who might want to seize control of the cache.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve the backstory of this base, as well as a peak into the Vehicle Bays and ASF Hangars.

Stay tuned. . .