039. Hunter lays the groundwork

April 2992, New Oslo

Huu Eggers, their King, wouldn't be moving to New Oslo until after May, when his four sisters would be born.

Or decanted.

Then spending some time cooing over them and welcoming them into the world before heading off.

Whether that plan would remain intact depended on Katherine von Eggers, and if she wanted to move to New Oslo as soon as possible to hunt down dissidents was up in the air. Like custard in the ceiling, would it drop or would it stick?

Having been brought into the 'secret' along with the other division heads. Hunter had been rather.

Well. Shocked.

This was possible?

Of course, it would be possible, it was 21st century technology.

Retro-technology, once again, demonstrating that in the here, in the now... they were still so far behind their ancestors. Iron Womb for mothers who had trouble bringing children to term, or to protect premature children.

The first theory was that the Wolverines had kept the technology, had maintained it through the Succession Wars.

The other theory was that they were essentially the secret children of Kerensky. Having returned from wherever the Exodus fleet had left to.

To...

Work for Huu Eggers, after centuries of being absent. The legendary SLDF deciding to work for someone, who at the time, hadn't even been a noble? Someone for whom the word 'high-tech' meant gunpowder in a barrel?

Yeah, that wasn't something any of them thought was possible.

Present over New Oslo in orbit, the men and women of Eggers Construction and the subsidiaries were ready to begin.

Guðlaug Jónasdóttir had been put in charge of Eggers Shipping. Huu Eggers sending down the order for the Construction Union Leader to take up the role.

From construction Union leader of Blackjack, to one of the largest union leads in the Tamar Pact region, and now heading over to the Rasalhague Kingdom to establish herself here... the question, really, was just how high Guðlaug was going to be able to go.

As it was, being in charge of Eggers Shipping, with three months of production behind it, had already gained control of two jumpships. The production rate was accelerating at such an insane degree. That it would be a wonder if every single world in the Rasalhague Kingdom didn't have at least one in orbit at all times by the end of the year.

Imagining it in his mind now, of how Shipil's slips had been able to produce one ship every three to four years. Yet, with the shared Primitive Bounty slip, there had been three in three months, with yet more emerging as the production process was streamlined.

Especially with this secondary, or perhaps, primary shipyard going into the future. The Diplomat lines were coming online next month, yet more slipways were being laid down even now.

The problem was no longer the supply of metal.

No, it was the meat, the crew. As with so much that their Lord had done, meat was now more important than the metal.

There were many who recognised his genius and were ready to follow him to New Oslo, regardless of initial costs. After all, the members of the Primitive Bounty Concern were highly interested in maintaining their ties with Huu Eggers, King of Rasalhague.

Royal Decree, after all, was a very good way to ensure your products stood out beyond all others. Or perhaps it was to ensure that they were able to make the most of this new, almost virgin market.

Only despoiled by Eggers General Utility making inroads before anyone else had been able to step foot in. As a thank you for their assistance in turning the Kingdom to the side of the Commonwealth to begin with.

Entering such a market with E.G.U's backing or endorsement? Worth more than germanium.

Which was why, here in this room now, a great deal of very important personages were gathered. The jump and now the burn towards New Oslo. A small fleet of Dropships from all these different corporations and Eggers, Shipping with their... military salvage from their King's journey to and from Furillo.

Their plans had been made on the trip here, a two month journey by jumpship. It being April now, two months to hash over the plans of what they would be doing once they arrived. Two months to hit the ground with their feet already in motion.

Thousands of men and women were ready, willing, able to get Eggers Orbital Construction up and running.

The first thing to be established was the ground-factory. One that would be producing the Space-Molds as they were known. Each one the same size as a Block, but designed for orbital living. In other words, with a slightly canted side-wall to allow for them to curve upwards when put together. With enough, it would form a circle.

The two types were the residential areas, and that of the construction areas. Like slipways, possessing the equipment needed to shift large masses, weld them together, and keep the work crews safe during the process. Designed by the Lyran Free Traders Association, Lockheed, Shipil, Bowie, Semler Data Tron, Ioto Galactic Enterprises, and Defiance Industries, it was proving to be the Lyran Standard for orbital construction. Something everyone could handle, regardless of their other issues.

Each would be shipped up, in halves, to ensure that the dropships available for the task, could handle the load.

Once construction on the ground was fit to purpose, they would begin lifting the materials up into orbit to begin construction of the orbital infrastructure in earnest.

Which meant, really, that right now, all were here to ensure that the ground side production would be handled as efficiently and quickly as possible.

They wanted to get in on the 'action', to begin domestic Rasalhague production as soon as possible. How else were they going to make profits?

"Now that we are all here over New Oslo. Let us check the daily horoscope before we continue. May luck bless us this day."

The representatives of some of the most powerful corporations in the Inner Sphere looked at him expectantly.

Hunter, for his part, pulled out the dedicated Horoscope computer they kept for this purpose.

Turning it on, he gave the inputs of planetary location, date, time, and how many individuals were in the room.

Hmmmm.

"Our daily Horoscope is for New Kyoto. Our Zodiac animal is the Kyotan Armour Bear. It reads. Be ferocious, today is the day that you may experience joy as you venture from your lairs."

Everyone nodded, pleased smiles on their faces.

Yes, it seemed as if everything they did together with Eggers General Utility was under the power and assistance of some external entity.

So much so, that they were, indeed, extremely happy with this potential future that they found themselves in.

"Today, we begin our great work. We will, in this time of trials, ensure the prosperity of Rasalhague, and in the legacy of true Lyrans everywhere, make profits while doing so!"

The room burst into applause.

Polite applause, they had been cooped up on the dropship for too long to be anything but polite. All wanted off, there was so much work to be done!

+_+

April 2992, Blackjack

Guðlaug Jónasdóttir looked a little apprehensive about her new role.

Fleet Admiral of Eggers Shipping.

A rank that was reserved for the Lyran Commonwealth's Navy... yet bestowed upon her by Huu Eggers.

She who was merely a Union head for a single planet.

Well, multiple planets now, anywhere that Eggers Construction built their Molds and thus an Eggers Cradle... but still a Union head.

But now.

Now it was clear that Huu Eggers either knew of her Clan allegiances... or had strong suspicions of them.

Why else would he give her the rank of Fleet Admiral? Her of all the potential people he could have chosen, it was the Wolverine that had created his honour guard.

The only other role that she had, which he would have known of, is that of Mechwarrior qualified... and construction.

Yet, he had chosen her.

Would he do something like that? Something so wasteful, something so foolish? Someone with no experience in the naval arts... being handed control of something so vital to Eggers General Utility?

No, he was not so foolish.

Clearly, he knew of their meeting, of how they had been formed to keep him safe.

Of their Clan origins.

How had he known? The greatest of their anti-surveillance equipment had been deployed, the only ones there that would have known him personally were herself and her father.

...

Truly, a monster of insight.

Perhaps he didn't know the specifics, but had intuited that something was happening and that she was at the centre of it all.

A shake of the head.

Her Lord, King of Rasalhague... truly was deserving of their loyalty.

It was why, she had sent out a second round of feelers.

Of those Merchants, Labourers... and few Warriors of the Wolverines who had fled the Pentagon Worlds, carefully keyed messages had been sent using their secret ciphers. Those that had manned the Clan's shipping routes, their warships, their patrol craft.

Those, in other words, that would form the nucleus of Eggers Shipping.

Not that it would be sufficient, of course, not with the sheer number of retro-jumpships and retro-dropships that had been projected for construction.

But, they would form the core of the school that had been established. One that was, even now, struggling to find teachers. Mainly because the Lyran Free Traders Association had their own 'academy' system. That being from parent to child, master to apprentice.

Sanglamore on Sky was the only other academy to teach jumpship operations, but it had been wrecked during the second succession war. Leaving no formal academy from which to draw educators.

Perhaps that was why the Lord had chosen her. Knowing of her allegiance and those that she could call upon, it was only natural that she was chosen to bring more Wolverines into the fold.

Truly someone worthy of being spoken of in the same breath as the Great Father.

It was these people who were running drills on the Providence Class Jumpship, Escort Class. The one she was standing on the bridge of, trying to get her bearings. While she wasn't a naval trained warrior... she was a Union head. She knew how to delegate.

All would be union this day!

Anyway, back to the topic, with greater speed than the Cargo or Armoury class vessels, the Providence-Escorts were able to deliver a hail of rifle fire on target.

Standard rifle fire at that, aerospace and dropships not having been granted the Krupp-Standard Armour upgrade that their ground-based counterparts had been re-equipped with.

Each Providence capable of firing hundreds of shells every 10 seconds, the flak screen created would be a threat to anything lighter than a Warship.

Using an archaic layout, a contrast to the standard Jumpships of the Inner Sphere, or even the Clans, it was certainly something that they needed to acclimate to.

Specifically, how modern jumpships were essentially thin tubes wrapped around a germanium core, with some living spaces, some weapons, docking ports, station keeping drives, and storage.

Comparatively, the Providence was closer to an Aquila Jumpship. With its own weapons, internal ports, marine quarters, bulkheads to counter boarding actions, and numerous small craft bays to launch aerospace interceptors.

Aerospace development that had been rushed to an insane degree. A response to the Archon's call for development of a counter to massed dropship and jumpship invasion fleets, the Razorsquig.

Aerospace craft that had been designed purposely for this task, to only serve on the new fleet of retro-jumpships, nowhere else.

After all, their use anywhere else would be a war crime.

Taking inspiration from the Battleships of the United States Navy, member of the Western Alliance and then the Terran Alliance, these vessels had truly enormous main guns.

Main guns that were, in simple terms... able to fire nuclear warheads.

The A-10 Warthog had been the other half of the inspiration. A small craft built around its main gun.

A 503mm cannon, that ran the length of a single craft, with a single shell inside the chamber. One that was a nuclear shell, no ifs and buts about it.

The rest of the craft was either small rifles for close in anti-missile and anti-small craft defence, and an enormous amount of armour to keep it in one piece on the final attack run.

The first models were ramshackle things, likely to shake themselves to pieces if the main gun was fired, no secondary armaments present at all. The initial shells were still largely inert armoured slugs. The nuclear warheads were being developed... safely away from anywhere that may be populated.

Really, the most difficult thing about the craft was the main gun. They had the documentation from Terra. How these guns had been the first things laid down because of the time it took to produce. Layers of metal with layers around them heated, the tubes inserted, and the outer layer cooled, compressing and constricting. Repeated layers of this for maximum strength. Or of the boring operations for the rifling with one rotation a minute, so great was the heat generated. Nothing like a high tech autocannon. Working that out had taken months, each worked production example took equally as long. The production facility was almost as large as a Providence slipway, just for the space needed for that many guns, each 25 metres long.

But.

But, when it was refined, when it finally received its nuclear armament... it would represent a potent threat to any invasion force.

One craft was a danger. Ten? Twenty?

Only the truly insane, or the truly massive, would press forth an attack in that case.

All of this combined together to form the core of a rather... primitive fleet. But, in time, like with the retro-cannons of Eggers Armaments, of the primitive Elemental-like copy, sheer numbers would find any gaps in an enemy's defences and shatter them.

Why was this important?

Because the Clans.

The Pentagon Clans were coming.

Maybe not in her lifetime, but the stories that had been emerging from the Pentagon Worlds were of singular focus in the years prior.

An escalation of force, of scale, of frustration.

As with all societies, throughout time, as they had learned during their time in the Inner Sphere. Of how the histories of the Inner Sphere... truly was not so different from the Clans.

Of an increase in military strength, and a need to justify it.

Against those close to them? Of the other Clans where their bidding system reduced their threats to the lowest possible strength? Where was the justification for this build-up?

In terms of simple socio-history, that which the Wolverines studied extensively, well... there would have to be an external, unifying threat. Of a war, an excuse, justification.

The Clans were coming, perhaps not now... but soon.

Guðlaug Jónasdóttir had been placed into the role by Huu Eggers.

One who understood there was some kind of threat on the way.

Understood that Guðlaug was a representative of the Sphere Clans, here to assist him.

Instead of treating her or the Wolverines with caution, with fear.

King Eggers had embraced them wholly, had taken them as his own. Held back nothing in supporting them, money, armaments, armour, training.

Everything they asked for was given freely.

With anyone else, this would have been an invitation for a coup.

Again, as had been repeated throughout history.

But they were Clan Wolverine.

Was there anyone more suited to this role? Anyone more honourable?

No.

Truly, his insight was monstrous.

The best thing that she, Guðlaug Jónasdóttir, could do to repay this trust was to prepare his future Navy to counter the Clan threat.

After all, when one's honourable armies are annihilated through sheer number alone... where to turn but to the Snow Ravens, to the Clan navy?

And when they did... she would be there waiting.

Retro-Jumpships or not, nuclear warheads had a way of evening the playing field.