personal3

It wasn't enough to simply transfer the RWR Equipment to my Baronial Guards. As it turned out, there was a lot of re-equipping, re-training, and the like going into the process of upgrading my Baronial Guards. A lot of their prior equipment was far more mundane and ubiquitous, Griffin and Rifleman Medium Mechs, Manticore Heavy Tanks, Pegasus Hover Scouts, and Hetzer Assault Guns all had to be cataloged and put into storage, along with various transport VTOLs, Gunships, and APCs. My father had tried to build out a potent defense force for his Barony as economically as he could, and while I wouldn't have put that sort of equipment up against the Dracs in a prolonged engagement, I'd have lain even odds on the Baronial Guards being able to fend off an assault by Hendrik Grimm or Redjack Ryan.

Now, though, they were equipped with a weight of metal unseen in the periphery for a long time. Rim Worlds Republic Army Rampage Assault Mechs, Dragoon Medium Mechs, Ignis SRM Assault Tanks, LTV-Four Hover Tanks, Hipparch Scouts, and a number of VTOLs and APCs now filled their armories, to say nothing of artillery or infantry equipment. All of it mounted enough LosTech to make my Baronial Guards the most potent force in this section of the Coreward Periphery. Once they'd worked up enough training time in their new equipment, I would put my Baronial Guards against any similar-sized Inner Sphere or even Clan Unit and give them decent odds of victory.

The Rampage Assault Mechs especially were the Four-G model with Gauss Rifles and Large Pulse Lasers, weapons unseen in the Inner Sphere for some time. Meanwhile, the Dragoons' modular weapons loadout gave them a mix of variants, from the short-ranged AEM Oh-Two with its ER PPC, five medium lasers, and small pulse laser, to the AEM Oh-Three Long-Ranged Fire Support Model with its three Artemis IV FCS-guided, 15-tubed, LRM Launchers with 2 tons of CASE-protected ammunition and medium pulse lasers. The Combat Vehicles were no less impressive than the mechs, boasting ER PPC Cannons, Arrow Four Missiles, and Pulse Lasers among other weapons.

Beyond that, a number of new dropships and Aerospace Fighters had also been given over. The Aerospace Fighters were VLC-Six-N Vulcan Heavy ASF with Gauss Rifles replacing the wing-mounted Autocannons, and the dropship ranged from the trio of Achilles-Class and Vengeance-class Gunboats and Fighter Carriers to Triumph and Lion-Class Troop Carriers. The old Sabres, Spads, Corsairs, and Typhoons were relegated to storage, much like the ground equipment had been, though none of the dropships or Jumpships that the Baronial Guards had operated would suffer the same fate.

All of this, and the training and working up, would take place over the course of the next few months. For now, I was meeting with General Jorgensen as he oversaw the process to begin the procedure of expansion. I made my way to his temporary office at Wolin Proving Ground on New Ålborg while he oversaw a series of field maneuvers being put on by the several combat vehicle battalions of the First and Second Baronial Guards Regiments. As we met, I could see Combat Vehicle Crews getting used to the longer ranges provided by the advanced targeting and tracking systems on their new equipment off in the distance as several mixed vehicle units engaged in a mock skirmish.

"They're getting used to the new range." I mused.

"You should have seen them earlier, still charging into the knife-fighting range we used to be forced to operate at thanks to those targeting and tracking computers being LosTech. They've gotten better about that, but we'll have to give it a few months before they can gain back any sort of veterancy." Grumbled General Jorgensen.

"Once they do, I expect to be able to take them out into major engagements and completely demolish the opposition." I intoned.

"The new equipment is good for that. I'm sensing you didn't want a meeting just to see firsthand how the re-training process was working out, though." Opined General Jorgensen.

"No, though that isn't a bad thing. It's good to see how the men are coping. I wanted to talk to you about expansion. We have four regiments in the Baronial Guard, with four regiments of Militia backing them up, but I'm not confident that we'll be able to achieve my goals with just that." I said.

"Why? Planning on seizing control of the Oberon Confederation?" Questioned General Jorgenson.

"Eventually, but I'd like to take Butte Hold and Gotterdamerung first." I nodded.

"Gotterdamerung only has what, forty-thousand people? Maria Morgraine set up shop with a whole bunch of folks on that little iceball, but she's only got a single regiment plus a single regiment of militia. I'd be more concerned about Redjack Ryan. Your father managed to build up a population base of just about half a million people on Butte Hold before Redjack Ryan showed up. They've got four regiments of mixed quality plus an equivalent amount of militia, same as us. Problem is, Redjack Ryan's boys are a lot more blooded than our men, same for Maria Morgraine's regiment. I can see why you'd want more troops." Laid out General Jorgenson.

"They're blooded in the same way any pirate is blooded, in attacks on less defended worlds and the like. Still, you're right that even that level of combat experience is enough to make them an issue. The question is, how much can we expand exactly at the moment?" I asked.

"Not enough to form another regiment. We don't have the population. We might be able to get another battalion or two, but that's it, plus you didn't give me enough new equipment to outfit them." Informed General Jorgenson.

"Equipment won't be a problem. I have a lead on another cache of Rim World's Republic equipment that's currently being investigated. About the population, though. I've cut orders to Minister Kowalski to entice Last Chance and Botany Bay to bend the knee. That's another forty-thousand people, giving the Barony an even four-hundred-thousand people." I said.

"That'd be enough to get us our fourth regiment, maybe even a fifth depending on if you can entice Cryfder too. There's another fifteen thousand people on that mudball, though it's too small a population and too out of the way, for most Inner Sphere Maps these days. I'd recommend seizing Gotterdamerung first if you're planning on doing this, though. Maria Morgraine may be Redjack Ryan's lover, but she's the weaker of your main targets. With Gotterdamerung, we can get to six regiments in the Baronial Guards, which will probably be enough to take back Butte Hold. There's just one problem, we're currently technically still a vassal of Redjack Ryan. He has a chance to get wise to what we're planning before we can do it." Explained General Jorgensen.

"I have a meeting with Minister Simowitz tomorrow to try and plan some sort of generalized wall of silence aimed at preventing anyone from looking in on what moves we're making. If we can get something workable, Redjack Ryan might not know what we're doing until we've already hit Gotterdamerung." I revealed.

"That still might not be enough if he decides to take everything he has and have a go at New Ålborg as soon as we take out Maria Morgraine." Hedged General Jorgensen.

"Which is why we ought to be training and re-equipping the militia as well. The New Rifleman Variant should help with that, but I was hoping to ask about the viability of transferring some of the old Baronial Guards equipment to the Militia as well. I know it's good equipment and you probably don't want to lose it, but I think it's a good idea." I nodded.

"It certainly couldn't hurt, mind you the Militia aren't professional soldiers like the Baronial Guards. They only drill a few times a month to maintain readiness and get time in the simulators and in field exercises. I'd say we should stagger the release of equipment from the Baronial Guards Storehouses to the Militia, just in case. Combat Vehicles and Infantry Equipment first, then move on to Aerospace Fighters and Mechs. That way it limits any training incidents that might occur from giving Militia too much heavy equipment at once to drill with." Mused General Jorgensen.

"Ideally, I'd like to be able to attack by the end of the year, do you think we can get there in time?" I queried.

"Maybe, a lot depends on your cache exploration and the expansion initiative. I can tell you that the Baronial Guards should be ready by then, but I can't vouch for any new regiments until we actually get to recruiting them. If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to hit Gotterdamerung and Maria Morgraine by the end of the year, though Butte Hold is going to have to wait until after." Answered General Jorgensen.

"Draft me up a recruitment plan and have it sent to the palace by secure courier. We'll at least try to meet my initial timetable, even if we're looking to hit Gotterdamerung instead of retaking Butte Hold. In the meantime, I have to speak with Captain Gomez, as she's just come into the spaceport with word about one of those caches." I ordered.

"Of course, Sir. Don't let me keep you." Nodded General Jorgensen.

With that settled, I headed for my hovercar to head to my next meeting, the sounds of simulated combat fading into the background. . .

XXXX

Captain Serena Gomez immediately bundled me into a small conference room upon meeting her at the New Ålborg Spaceport. It was one of the ones that were normally used when talking about cargoes too valuable or secretive to speak of openly, just in case a rival spacer crew decided that a bit of theft was in order so they could turn a tidy profit. I took that to mean that Pavise and Pheonix Outposts had proven out and had valuable salvage. I wasn't prepared for the briefing she'd given me. Operation Redoubt was proving to be as good as its name implied for storing all sorts of goodies. While Stephan Amaris hadn't had the chance to utilize these caches, his loss was our gain in a big way.

Pavise Outpost had been a general-purpose storage facility. A vault containing much of the things that Amaris would need to rebuild his dominion if he ever got booted out of the Rim Worlds Republic. That meant not only Military Equipment, of which there was sufficient equipment to outfit two more regiments, ASF Groups, and Dropship Groups with Rim Worlds Republic Gear, but also industrial equipment, raw materials, and communications equipment. This included such gems as another ten K-Series Transmitters, automated factory equipment capable of producing Star League-Era Battlemechs, ASF, and Combat Vehicles, though at extremely low output, and even a single, mobile HPG ready for installation. The Memory Core, however, had been almost completely corrupted and Doctor Sokabe had only been able to pull two schematics from it, one for K-Series Transmitters, and one for an experimental twin-barreled, man-portable, assault laser.

Pheonix Outpost was almost purely a medical station and infirmary, though there was a single docked Star Lord-class JumpShip with three Pentagon-class Dropships and three Lion-class Dropships there. The Lion-class Dropships carried enough Rim Worlds Republic Equipment to outfit a seventh Regiment. The main find here was a number of LosTech items including Stasis Tubes and a Biowarfare Vault containing several, extremely nasty, biological warfare agents that I wanted no part of. What was more impressive about Pheonix outpost was that its memory core was retrieved completely intact, allowing for Doctor Sokabe to pull a copy of a full list of Star League-Era Medical Knowledge off of the servers there. I planned to toss the bioweapons into the nearest sun, but the Stasis Tubes and Star League Medical Knowledge more than made up for the loss of any weapons of mass destruction.

It might even be enough to save Archon Katrina Steiner from the Cancer slated to kill her in around twenty years if only I could figure out a way to convince her to get screened. Captain Gomez finished her briefing and then slugged back a drink from the provided liquor inside the conference room. Tequila unless I missed my guess.

"I thought you didn't drink much?" I asked.

"Your luck is rapidly driving me to do so. Do you know that in all the time I've been with your father, he never once had me hit three extremely valuable caches of LosTech back to back to back?" Responded Captain Gomez, cocking an eyebrow.

"You're going to have to go to at least one more. The Dark Nebula has a SLDF Naval Base in it that's been lost to the rest of the Sphere. Camelot Command might have something of value in it, though it's protected by several dozen autonomous combat drones. I know I already told you about it, but I'm going to send you and the Claremont there next. Take whatever you can carry from it, and destroy the rest. I have a feeling that whatever's in there is time-sensitive in terms of discovery, so it's likely you'll only be making one trip." I informed.

"You know, I know we signed up for this sort of thing when we agreed to work for your father, but he mostly had us doing spare parts and munitions salvage. I don't know how much longer your last bonus is going to buy everyone's silence if you keep this up." Sighed Captain Gomez.

"You guys can go back on spare parts and munitions salvage once you get out to Camelot Command, and don't worry about the bonus, I should be able to issue another one soon." I replied.

"Good. You'd better offer another bonus if we're going to have to deal with Combat Drones. Hazard pay, and so on." Huffed Captain Gomez.

"I will. Just get out there and do your jobs and the bonuses will come when you get back. In the meantime, you did transfer all the equipment you picked up at Pavise and Pheonix Outposts to Iron Land, didn't you?" I asked.

"Before we got here, yeah." Nodded Captain Gomez.

"Good. Hopefully, this all will have us ready to start building up to my plans for the future." I remarked.

"And what plans would those be? I know you were hoping to reclaim Butte Hold from Redjack Ryan, but you make it sound like you've got more planned than just that." Questioned Captain Gomez.

"Twenty-six worlds." I offered.

"What?" Blinked Captain Gomez.

"Twenty-six worlds. From Erewhon to Ferris, from Star's End to Dirkel. Twenty-six worlds. That's my future plans." I repeated.

"You don't do anything by halves, huh? Your father was the same way. You realize the biggest obstacle in your way is going to be the Oberon Confederation, right?" Blinked Captain Gomez.

"I know. Hendrik Grimm will get his eventually. First, though we need the ability to face him, and for that, I need you and Past Prologue to do your jobs." I intoned, sending the coordinates to Camelot Command over to Captain Gomez's noteputer.

"Well, your father didn't hire incompetents, just make sure our bonuses are on time and that we get some low-effort jobs after this." Pointed out Captain Gomez, glancing over the coordinates.

"Will do, don't worry about that." I agreed.

And with that, my second meeting of the day wrapped up, I was confident I could build up if the intelligence service kept people's noses out of my business. That was why I had my meeting with Minister Simowitz in the morning. Hopefully, the Ministry of the Interior could institute enough of a counter-intelligence program to keep things under wraps here until I was able to put phase one of expansion in the rear camera. For now, though, I made my way back to the Palace, ready for a stiff drink of my own and a bit of simulator time before having to return to paperwork.

There really was no rest for the weary. . .

XXXX

AN: Had this one already mostly written up, so you guys are getting the extra update. In this chapter, we see a bit more of Jozef's long-term goals come out as well as seeing him start working toward them. He's already gotten phase one of the expansion of his barony underway by engaging in talks with the populations of Last Chance and Botany Bay to be brought into his Barony in exchange for some of the Star League Tech he's gained, like the Storm Inhibitors. Phase one will officially end with the reconquest of Butte Hold, the timetable for which is sometime in the next eight to ten months.

As to caches, Camelot Command is going to be the last of the low-hanging fruit. Even then, it isn't going to be as much as the stuff he's gained from Columbus or any of the Operation: Redoubt caches. Especially given the orders he gave to destroy whatever Captain Gomez couldn't take. He hopes to deny the rest of it to ComStar or the Clans, though he has no idea just when exactly ComStar grabbed most of the functional stuff. He does know that Snord's Irregulars eventually occupy it and manage to get some of the machinery back into operational shape, but he's hoping he can beat them and ComStar to the punch. We'll see just how much Captain Gomez and Past Prologue can grab from it in the future.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve the meeting with Minister Simowitz and the discussions about what they can do to increase OpSec. Then we'll have an interlude involving the negotiations with Last Chance and Botany Bay.

Stay tuned. . .