Chapter Four

Heliat

Aurigan Reach

January 2, 3023

Sitting in my Chameleon at the spaceport this chilly January morning is not how I expected my holidays to end. Father received a radio message from an inbound dropship two days ago requesting both his and Mastiff's presence for its arrival. My father is probably a lot more comfortable waiting in his car parked between my mech and Mastiff in his Centurion. We came in our mechs out of concern for our security as this dropship was unexpected. "Sensor contact detected", it seems the militia have decided to join the party, "Mastiff are you reading the four approaching contacts"

"Yes, it is the militia escorting the Duke. His presence was also requested."

With the Monarch class dropship finally grounded, we now have to wait for the area to cool before the passengers can debark and we can find out what this is all about. Three people exit the dropship and make their way to the Duke, it appears to be a government official with two body guards. Strangely the guards' uniforms are trimmed in green and white instead of the red and gold of house Arano. Having been summoned my father heads over to join the discussion taking place between the two parties. Examining my father as he returns to our location gives me the impression he is not pleased with the outcome of the discussion. Climbing into his vehicle he contacts us via secure radio communication.

"Bad news I am afraid, A coup took place several months ago and we are now part of the Aurigan Directorate under the leadership of Santiago Espinosa. The Duke and I were required to swear loyalty to Espinosa's popinjay envoy on his behalf. Strange, I thought the coup took place next year, maybe I remembered the timing wrong. Raju I am sorry to have to tell you this but Lady Kamea Arano was reported killed when her dropship was destroyed trying to flee Coromodir. I am unsure if this is true or not as Mastiff was here with me and not on Coromodir to help her escape, as took place in the HBS game. There is some good news at least, we have a lot of potential employees to interview as the coup left a lot of dispossessed warriors and spacers who have come to us at the advice of my various contacts."

Activity at the dropship catches my eye. I watch as several soldiers whom appear to be from the Directorate going by their uniforms, set up a security check point. Strangely it seems to be to contain the passengers. Next a couple of lawyer types come out and setup a table before pulling forms out of a large box. Slowly individual passengers come out and sign some documents appearing none to happy to be doing so. While all this was happening, I could hear my father arranging transportation and accommodation for over a hundred people.

"Rick stay in your mech and keep alert, I recognize the first group of people coming this way. I am exiting my mech to speak with them. I will leave my personal comm open so that you can hear what I hear."

"Confirmed, be careful out there Mastiff, I don't like the looks of those soldiers."

I listen in as Mastiff greets the first small group to arrive at our position, making sure to check my sensors and keep an eye out for any thing unusual. The three men are mercenaries whom were part of a unit under contract to House Arano. From what I am hearing most of their equipment was sabotaged prior to the coup leading to their capture. Santiago Espinosa then made them an offer they could not refuse, sign over all their assets and take the next jumpship or be executed. I am guessing Espinosa needs to maintain some form of legal excuse for his actions.

I can sense Mastiff's anger through the tone in his voice. My Father joins the discussion as more groups of people are processed and make their way to the growing crowd. From what I gather it seems all of them were mercenaries or independents under contract to House Arano during the coup. They all tell similar tales to the first three men.

My sensors pick up several vehicles approaching, confirming they are the busses arranged by my father I advise him of their ETA.

With everyone loaded up and an escort from our home guard in APCs the convoy of vehicles including my father's makes its way into town and to the hotel. I hope the cost to my family from this adventure will be worthwhile.

Mastiff and I return to the mech hangers as tromping around town in our mechs is frowned upon by the locals. I can barely hear mumbles about taking the next transport to Coromodir to kill them all coming from Mastiff. I hope he is not serious and can see reason when he calms down. I offer him the hospitality of our home and use of the family bar, as I prefer he not get into trouble with the Directorate personnel in town.

I spend the rest of the day listening to Mastiff tell me stories of his time with Lady Kamea as he slowly succumbs to the alcohol in his grief. Once he has passed out, I place him in a comfortable position on the couch before heading to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. Once my father returns, I hope to learn more about our situation and how he thinks we should proceed.

Later that evening I hear my father calling as the front door opens. "Rick are you and Raju here?"

"Yes, father we are in the lounge and Raju is passed out on the couch. I let him make use of the bar to drown his grief for the moment."

"Ah, good I will join you shortly so we can discuss our options."

Upon joining me in the lounge he proceeds to inform me we have over 150 interviews to perform over the next few days and that the group of potential employees have gone through an initial screening by his contacts before being sent here. This means that their skills and backgrounds have at least been verified to the best of his contacts abilities. The group is made up the type of people we have been trying to recruit in enough numbers to recover the cache if they check out.

The plan we come up with is to arrange interviews starting tomorrow with the spacers which my father will conduct as I observe. Once finished with them we will move on to the techs who will be interviewed by my father and John Baltic our foreman. The vehicle crews and marines will be interviewed by Lieutenants Kharkov and Garibaldi respectively while I once again observe. Last to be interviewed will be the MechWarriors in which we hope to enlist the aid of Mastiff.

The first day of interviews went well and we are both pleased with the results. The second day continues in the same manner and during lunch father hands me a sealed envelope that I am to deliver to the dropship before it departs. This is the only way to send messages off planet without an HPG, so I assume he is setting a plan in motion. Knowing better than to ask in public, I accede to his request to deliver the letter and will ask him about it tonight at home.

Later that evening we adjourn to my father's study to discuss things in private.

"Son, I know you are curious about the contents of the letter. I have instructed one of my contacts to enact a contract through one of the numbered companies to have a tug and repair team make their way here. We now have enough spacers to operate the Tramp as well as the Mule and Leopard. If the rest of the interviews continue in the same manner, we will also be able to crew the Behemoth and its small craft."

"That is good news father, I am looking forward to the day we recover the cache. Although I am curios about the sudden rush as I thought it would be at least another year before this step?"

"I have two reasons for moving quicker, the first is not wanting to pay these people to sit around or have them find other work, the second is the Directorate personnel remind of the Blake fanatics I told you about. This has me so concerned that after speaking with your mother we have decided to disappear when you take control of the cache."

"What do you mean disappear, where will you go and why?"

"For our safety as well as your own I will not tell you where. I have been thinking about this for some time and have come to the conclusion that as soon as the nature of the cache becomes known, I will be hunted by all the intelligence agencies in order to interrogate me about my future knowledge."

"I don't like it but I understand yours and mother's decision. I hope we can safely get together in the future, perhaps I can gain enough power and influence to make it happen."

In a somewhat somber mood, we continued to flesh out our plans.

Later that night while lying in bed I began to go over the revised plan in my head. 

Step one, complete the recruiting.

Step two, try to convince Mastiff to take command of my military forces, I am far to green to command effectively and I still have a lot to learn.

Step three acquire a stockpile of ammunition and spares if possible before the recovery.

Step four, complete the recovery while making sure to secure any future tech not recognizable as probably from the Star League. According to dad this should not be problem as he has already locked down the cargo decks on the Behemoth which contain this technology.

Step five, make our way to Andurien to pickup the Stingrays and the support material already ordered by dad. Making sure to sell off and or purchase selected equipment along the way. Andurien is where mother and father will separate from us.

Step six, make our way to Helm continuing to sell/purchase equipment etc. along the way.

Step seven, make use of the Star League ID chip dad found in a hidden compartment of the Archangel mech to try and access the cache. Note to self, try to recruit a skilled computer tech in case we gain access.

Any thing else will depend on what happens at Helm. Now if I could only get to sleep with all this floating around in my head.