Chapter Twenty-One: Expansion

Chapter Twenty-One: Expansion

"Thanks for giving us access to your supply lines." I told the Magisty Metals Liaison. "We needed to be able to buy some things for our expansion."

"So, all of our current full vehicle and 'Mech production is promised for" She responded. "With that being said, we are willing to sell you some of our older stuff, as well as some spare parts and weaponry."

"I may end up buying out all of your stores of spare parts." I shrugged. "As well as most of your stocks of SRM and LRM's."

We were prepping to buy some equipment that the Canopians were willing to sell us, mostly things that had fallen into disrepair. After some talking with the local militia commander and our Majesty Metals Liaison, we had managed to purchase some of the older platforms from them. We were filling out an armored company with two Pegasus Hovercraft, two Vedettes, four Maxim's, a Partisan, and two Ballista Self-Propelled artillery pieces. We had also acquired four Vector Assault VTOL's for rapid response and scouting.

Most of what we had purchased were in various states of disrepair or just outright damaged, and we would have to affect repairs of our own before we could put them into use for our company. Thankfully, I had good engineers and Astechs who had been getting bored with only having a few 'Mechs to work on.

I had bumped up my own rank up to Lieutenant Colonel seeing as we were now a short Battalion by most standards with all of the assets we had obtained over the past couple of years. With these last few purchases we had made, we were capable of stopping almost any pirate force in it's tracks. Now we just had to find another dropship or two in order to be able to take our forces anywhere.

"Why did I never try this before?! Sheppard asked the rest of the crew he was training with as he took the Pegasus up to it's maximum speed. "Woohoo!" He shouted, "I'm gonna have to put in for a transfer, this is fun."

Captain Sheppard drifted around one of the obstacles set in place for training purposes. "Sir!" The instructor yelled at him. "You have to slow down immediately." Sheppard, having had his fun, slowed down to the recommended speed for the course and completed it exactly the way he was instructed to from then on out.

"Man," Sheppard got out of the Pegasus hovercraft and stretched. "It's a good day to be alive." He grinned and refused to look behind him as the instructors and recruits that had been his "Crew" began throwing up or walking uneasily. "So, should I transfer to the armored company?" He asked cockily.

"Sir," Lieutenant Mathis replied. "I think you're doing just fine where you're at." He offered, hoping that Captain Sheppard was joking.

"Yeah," Sheppard agreed. "I really am happy with where I'm at." The grin dropped off of his face. "Still; in all seriousness, this cross training stuff really has been a big help."

Everyone else in the training area just nodded in agreement. Even if only a fraction of the population were neurohelmet compatible, everyone was taught how to aim and fire the weapons on every vehicle, dropship, and 'Mech that the company owned.

"So, whens the next live fire exercise again?" Mathis asked Sheppard.

"It's on the memo. Remember to check your box when we get back to base." He replied. "It's supposed to be in like two… maybe thee weeks from now?"

"You don't remember either do you?" Mathis asked.

"Nope." Sheppard responded. "Can I take the Pegasus for a spin again?"

"No sir." Mathis grinned holding the keys he had swiped from the captain. "You're driving privileges are revoked temporarily."

"Oh well," Sheppard shrugged. "Guess it's time to shrink the paperwork pile."

"You could just do it as it comes up." Mathis offered. "It keeps the paperwork manageable versus the massive pile up close to the deadline."

"Yeah, but that would cut into everything else I do…" Sheppard offered. "Like taking the Pegasus for joyrides!"

Sheppard snatched the keys from Mathis and dived back into the Pegasus before sealing the hatch and driving away. Cackling as he drove away and through the obstacle course again.

"Still haven't managed to find a mobile command center Colonel?" Lieutenant Dunham, the head of our counterintelligence department asked as he walked over to me. I was in the the cafeteria of the building we had taken over with a bunch of reports other unclassified paperwork with me.

"No, I'll probably have to make do with the Warhammer until we do." I said with a shrug. "It'll drop us down a front-line 'Mech but it'll enable me to manage our forces until I can."

"How's the vetting of the new Dropship crews going?" I asked making a face at my now lukewarm coffee. And gesturing for him to take a seat.

"It's good so far sir." He responded, taking a seat and stacking up some of my scattered papers for me. "Almost everything checks out." He stroked his beard for a second. "How concerned are you about hiring former smugglers?"

"Former?" I asked, raising my left eyebrow.

"There's no actual records of him having been a smuggler, but the Messenger managed to track down some files that state the possibility." Dunham shrugged. "I'm pretty sure that he's been on the straight for a while, and the rest of his crew checks out. I just think we'll have to keep an eye on him for a bit."

"Alright then Lieutenant." I nodded. "I'll trust your judgment on this."

Standing up, Dunham nodded and then pointed to one piece of paper. "You should buy both of these and the other one the command staff were talking about."

He then grabbed the cup of coffee he had come in the cafeteria for and left the way he came.

A heavy sigh left my lips. The purchase of two DroST IIB dropships a Mule, and one more Leopard CV would take around half of the bounty we had gotten for the Merchant class we had sold to the Taurian Concordat. This would leave us still solidly in the black, but with less of a cushion than I actually liked. Regardless, we needed the lift capacity and so I sent a message to okay the purchase of the Dropships.

The DroST might be a strange choice for today's environment, but we needed something that could deliver both Infantry and Combat vehicles without needing to be unloaded piecemeal via a spheroid dropship. Part of our combat Doctrine had us using our areodyne's to get on the ground quickly so we could seize ground and move before anyone on the ground was prepared for us.

I sighed again, we had another couple of months on this contract and then we would be taking a contract with the Magistracy to hit a Marian Hegemony world in order to get them to back off of the shipping lanes for a little while.

That left us with almost sixth months before many of our troops would see combat for the first time. While I wasn't as concerned with my veterans, the soldiers we had been training over the last year and a half were still considered green. I hoped to get most of them up to regular or veteran status before we went into the main area of the Inner Sphere for more lucrative contracts.

Standing up, I went to heat up my now cold coffee. Pinching the bridge of my nose to stave off the headache from staring at balance sheets and fine print for too long.

"Penny for your thoughts Colonel?" A trio of fresh boot camp graduates from the Lyran Commonwealth entered the cafeteria. Two men and a woman.

"Just plans for the future Privates." I replied, pulling my freshly reheated cup of caffeinated bliss out of the microwave and taking a long sip. "Lot of plans for the future." I met each of their eyes in turn before gathering up my documents and putting them all in their designated place.

"If you're not careful, I may put you on paperwork sorting duty." I called out as I left the cafeteria enjoying the way that they shuddered.

"Listen up people!" Colonel Hull called out over the battalion communications channel. "Wardog and Strider Squadrons are covering us and making sure we're clear in the skies. It's up to us to hit the spaceport and any military hardware they might have on planet."

"Alright ladies!" Captain Peterson yelled at his Company of Infantry. "Our job is to land and seize any and all Dropships that might be planetside." He paused to inhale. "We have targeting priority for our artillery so call it in if you think you need it."

He finished just as the DroST came to a stop, dropping it's ramp and letting off the Maxim's and the trucks the rest of the Infantry used before letting the Vector VTOL's take off for extra cover.

Moving at just below flank speed, the mechanized infantry company moved into the impromptu spaceport. Making sure that none of the armed Dropships powered up before they seized them. "Mendoza, Jenkins, take fireteams one and two and hit those two dropships." Lieutenant Packer, leader of first platoon ordered. "I'll take fireteam three and clear out the rest."

While most of the infantry and armor companies hit the spaceport, the 'Mechs and the remainder of the forces had hot dropped over the small military base that the Marians had put up on the outskirts of the city. I was coordinating our forces from my Warhammer until we managed to get a mobile HQ. In the meantime, I was monitoring reports and calling in artillery coordinates as needed. I knew that micro managing would get people killed so I let my people do their jobs. There had been some minor casualties so far, but it seemed that we were doing what our Contract specified.

Authors note: Hasn't been seen by my proofreader yet, so some of the things in here are subject to change