"Operations" (Part 6)

---

• Date: August 16, 3029; 12:01 Local Time
• Location: Ryde Spaceport, Hangar C19

Olivia met Mikell at the opening. "Hey, was trying to reach you. Reginald and everyone landed not too long ago, we're in the process of unloading things." She stopped, seeing the expression on his face. "Okay, what's up? I thought you'd be happy we're all back together. Louis was also back, saying something about you got us a ship? And you're still not talking to me, so I'm wondering if you had your ears stuffed." He glanced over and she closed her mouth, now looking concerned.

He touched his earpiece. "Elly, I need you to send a private message to Reginald. Yes I know he just got back, send him a message to meet me at the briefing room in the 'Shadowfox' as soon as superhumanly possible. Use those exact words. Then we will be off comms for an hour, so orders in case anyone tries to reach us are as follows. Louis has command over the technical teams, if anyone is seeking me I am in a meeting and will be available in one hour. Do not send anyone to the briefing room. Do not tell anyone I am in the briefing room and who I am with." He waited, and made a half-growl of aggravation in his throat. "Yes if you want to swear, go ahead. On pain of the most painful death you can imagine, Elly. Not a pinky swear. Oh, yes, I'm so glad you gathered it is serious. Page Reginald to me."

"You have never snapped at anyone that way before." Olivia pointed out. "You're going to owe her an explanation or an apology later." She had a very still face, falling in behind him. "Are you going to?"

"I'll need to stop wanting to rip apart bulkheads with my bare hands."

Reginald swung out of his quarters, tugging on a fresh shirt. "What the hell was that about?" He hissed to Mikell. "Debriefing-"

"Can wait. Comm off." He twitched his head and caught the earpiece before quietly shutting the power off. Olivia visibly did the same, as they reached the briefing room and locked the door shut behind them. "Someone make sure Kelly isn't in here, she likes to sit around here rather than in her quarters."

Olivia checked behind everything quickly. "We're clear."

"Sir?"

"Right." He took a breath, and looked at both of them. "I just came from a meeting with a member of the Lyran Intelligence Corps. Remember when I said they weren't going to do anything to us? Well I was wrong, their idea of dealing with this seems to be finding a nice piece of leverage on us and using it." He folded his arms and sighed out. "They have the serial number and records of the BattleMaster, they have you-" He pointed to Olivia. "-on a charge for firing your weapon in public, what the hell?"

"It was into someone's foot, the gun wasn't going to endanger anyone else. That charge was supposed to be dismissed after the officers heard about what happened." She ground her teeth. "Local tried a lame pick-up line on me, failed, tried something more blatantly obvious, failed. Then he put his hands on me, and I reminded him I was armed. He asked me if that should frighten him. A shot was fired, there was blood, and he left me alone from the other side of the room until the officers responded."

Mikell rubbed his face and Reginald spoke up. "I'm gone for two weeks. Two weeks, and you have an incident like this."

"Not helping."

"I'm not trying to help, I'm just trying to point out how bad this looks for me." He sighed. "So what are we going to do, do we know who is doing this to us? Same weasel as the last time?"

"No, this is not a weasel." Mikell sat down, and looked at the ceiling. "This guy is a damn jackal. Smiles at you, while weighing you with his eyes and wondering if you're weak enough to take." He pointed at the ceiling. "Janus Templar. I would say I need to know who he is, but we all three know we'll never find any dirt on him to match what he has on us."

Olivia glanced at Reginald, then back at Mikell. "So what is it he wanted from us?"

"This is what he gave me." He fished the data module out of his pocket and plugged it into the table. The lights turned on and it began to project a series of documents and notes. "For the most part it's the data he has on us, and some notes he wrote in about the obvious parts which are interesting to him. Then there are these." He sifts through them on the table before allowing three documents to remain there. "There are a number of raids which have happened across the border with the Draconis Combine in the last few months, and he highlighted one which was supposedly imminent on Dalkeith."

"He was right." Reginald said. "I don't know who they were, but we had a lance try to engage us as we were escorting the surveyors through their mission. I know you didn't get me debriefed officially but there it is."

"Anything notable?"

"Shadow Hawk. The Kuritan model with a PPC and LRM-5." He ticked off on his fingers. "Wasp, the usual Medium Laser and two-shot SRM model who was keeping out of reach most of the time." Second finger. "Spider, fast jumping unit with two Medium Lasers who was trying to get the escorts until it lost an arm." Another finger, as he sighed. "The fourth I hadn't encountered, but my system called it a Hermes. Never seen it, fast and armed with a pair of Medium Lasers."

"And they were just out for the escorts? What do you have on them?"

"Not much, they wanted to know about potential new mining locations in some untapped land." Reginald shrugged. "I have the data, you can look it over later. For now, yes, there were possibly DCMS forces there. So this guy Templar guessed about it. What else is there he has to say?"

"There's a document about recent border skirmishes out near the coreward Periphery, and some weird stuff around Apollo, Steelton, general pirate issues." He frowns. "A few notes about that, fearing maybe the Greater Valkyrate or Oberon Confederation are behind it." And he moves to the third paper. "And lastly, some notes on events on the other side of the Combine, apparently there was something the FedSuns were doing to the Combine on their border aside from paying more attention to the Capellans. Cylene, Markab, Murchison, and Quentin. According to the official statements, it's merely trying to establish there's no issues with the border and overzealous mercenaries are taking liberties with their orders."

Reginald frowned. "What's this about Misery?" He was squinting at one of the other two documents floating in the air, reading.

"It loves company?" Olivia quipped, and was reading the coreward report herself. "Is there seriously a system called 'Anywhere'? What the heck, people, that's like naming your planet 'Dirt'."

"I am not touching that one." Mikell muttered, and shook his head, looking to Reginald. "What do you see?"

"I don't think it's important, but it looks like there's a recent addition to the report about some sort of action on Misery. Some sort of internal matter, it looks like. Over a ball of ice and rock, and apparently there was a lot of fighting there which just ended according to the reports." He shrugged. "That's a lot of data on something which looks like it's not important to us right now."

"I'll put Jade on it, she can sift through and figure it out." Mikell shook his head. "For now, I told Mister Templar we'd be willing to discuss a mission with him. These files were part of what he wanted us to study up on for whatever mission he had in mind. What matters now is where we go from here." He held out his hand, palm up. "I say we go along with this until we find out exactly what he wants us doing."

"I don't like that idea." Reginald said, tearing his eyes away from the documents on display. "I think that's just playing into his hands."

"Fine. Do I hear other ideas?"

Olivia held up her hand. "Jump from Ryde, go elsewhere? We don't have a contract, you know. Not yet, anyway."

"Reginald?"

Reginald paused. "As much as I don't like the idea you put forward, it may be the only option, sir. If this Janus Templar is high enough, we could wind up in deep trouble giving him a snub. I don't fancy looking over my shoulder for the rest of my career, and I don't want them to do anything to my family out of some problem with me." He held out his hand towards Olivia. "What about you? You know if we bite this hand, it's not going to be good for us."

She bit her lip, and shook her head. "No, no it won't. But let's not just assume what he wants is something we're going to do, okay? I want to be consulted once he tells us what he wants."

"In the meantime." Mikell cleared the data and removed the storage unit. "We have a Black Eagle DropShip I paid for, Louis and Jade are going to work on getting it operational over the next week or so. Once we have it space-worthy we should be in good order to head back to Salmacis and get to work properly on it."

Olivia rolled her eyes, then leaned her head back to groan. "Yay, museum piece."

"It carries twelve 'Mechs, has room for another five hundred tons of cargo, and if we can get it flying it will have cost us a lot less than a Union."

She thrust both arms into the air in mock-celebration. "Yay, museum piece!"

Reginald looked over, a half-smirk on his face. "Must you?"

She pointed a finger at him, snapping her fingers once before showing him a different finger. "I need this. After this last half hour, I need this. Don't take it from me."

"Okay, you two. Get in character, we've got to get back to work." Mikell stood up. "Olivia, I swear though, if that firearms thing happens again I will ground you."

"Yes, mom."

---

• Date: August 17, 3029
• Planet: Dalkeith V
• Location: Orbit, Union-Class DropShip "Mordenheim"

"I assure you, your performance is not the reason for this discussion." Sho-sa Shira Agati glanced over the report again. "Nothing you lost is permanent, and we achieved our objective anyway. If there was enough interest in those sites to have paid help as escorts, then there must be something there. We shall report back-" She stopped, and looked aside at a sign of a signal incoming. "You are dismissed."

After the other woman left, Agati touched the console. "How may we assist you?" She asked, keeping her face studiously impassive as no facial image rose to meet her. Only a symbol, an orange Lung dragon grasping its own tail. As the moments of silence stretched on, she added, "Your Grace."

"It costs nothing to be polite, Sho-sa. Please, it wounds me when you forget." The voice was feminine, but a little deeper than it should be. "Did our information on Dalkeith V prove to be accurate?"

A slight twitch towards a frown, as Agati spoke softly. "It proved to have some merit. The decision, however, is to be made higher than myself. That is the chain of command." Even a civilian such as this woman should know that. "How may we assist you?"

"I do not require your assistance at this time, but I would like to direct your attention towards an issue which may be important. Are you aware of Port Moseby?" This time it was the Sho-sa's turn to be silent, and there was a soft sigh. "I have assets on the planet which have to be moved. I fear my enemies have found some of my people there while we were looking into that peculiar JumpShip-"

"I must humbly apologize, Your Grace." She bowed her head just slightly, not far enough for the title, but perhaps this one wouldn't know how to read such. "But I am afraid I have orders from above not to do anything aggressive towards . . . those people. I will not ignore my orders, or in this case work against them."

"You misunderstand. I already have my report on that, thanks to someone with a very leaky mouth. I don't need your help taking that JumpShip, when I want it I will take it. I don't need it right now, therefore-"

"You mean you do not have the means to take it right now, therefore you have convinced yourself you don't need it." Agati sighed softly. "I do not have time to entertain your long discussions about how the Inner Sphere is yours, if you only wanted to take it, Your Grace." She put a twist on the words, and stared into the comm image for a breath. "I am making time for you because of your generous donation of parts for my Gladiator." She flexed her fingers, unseen, wishing she didn't feel such an honor debt; this one felt more onerous than it should, probably because the other woman didn't understand honor one bit beyond a tool to be used. "I entertained your information on Dalkeith V because it was already in my mission. What is it you need my help with on Port Moseby?" She hesitated again. "Your Grace."

"One day, you will require another favor." The voice had gone cold and hard, like ice. "One day you will ask for it, and I will remember this."

"That day is not today." Steel meeting ice. "It is also not tomorrow, either. Today, you are asking me for a favor, Your Grace."

"Yes, I am asking." And like that, the ice gave way before steel. Fluid motion, water currents finding another route to take as the speech became softer, easier again. "I want you to extract my people before they are located. I anticipate an urban battle soon. Evacuate my people and I will be very grateful."

"Only people?"

"Only people."

"I will see to it. I hope they will remain safe until September, as the travel goes." She used a stylus to make a note on the surface of her desk quickly. "Will that be all, Your Grace?"

The caller paused again, Agati getting the distinct impression this time it was for theatrical effect. She was used to that, however. "I am forwarding you a file on a place you might show interest. It is not far from your current position. My information was correct on Dalkeith, but I suspect this one will be also of use to your peers. I would ask you review all the information, and make a decision soon."

"Decisions will be made when they are made, especially when they come from the regiment command. Thank you for your time, Your Grace." She closed the connection and sighed as she began searching for a JumpShip and DropShip she could redirect. As much as this person wished, or rather demanded, to be addressed by a title she had not earned it. As far as Agati knew, none of the people in the organization had earned anything other than a need to hide and watch over their shoulders. Then again, the people who had come for them before came across the border not long ago. And they hadn't cared about civilian casualties.

Agati closed her eyes, thinking and letting possibilities move just behind her eyes before making her decision. She would save whomever was on Port Moseby, and she would regard the file which had just been received with all due caution. She would not be manipulated so easily as to defy duty for an outsider, a civilian, and a pretentious witch who never showed her face.

---

• Planet: Ryde
• Location: Ryde Spaceport

Mikell was browsing the data file Louis and Jade had accumulated for him in twelve hours, a little surprised at how thorough it was. Then again, these were the two workaholics of the non-combat personnel who took a lot of pride in getting things done right. Jade wanted a week to program a new flight control system by using files from the ComStar archives on planet as a basis. Louis wanted nine days to fabricate parts and replace wiring and conduits through the inner hull before beginning to test a flight control system. Neither had any aspirations to begin touching the fire control systems - and made it clear, with scribbled notes in the file margins, that did not mean "fire suppression systems" which also needed an overhaul and there would be a team working on those at the same time Louis had a team handling fabrication. Jade also added trying to make an interface in "a dead computer language" was giving her a headache, and wanted ten thousand C-Bills to get a new computer system core for the ship. All so she could work in something modern and familiar.

That was about when Mikell noticed the two uniformed personnel walking his way, and he made a show of scratching at the hair over his ear while palming his earpiece back into position and waking it. "Command, Cordova, is there any new warrants out for anyone? Please look it up, thanks."

"Commander Sethan, Priam Company?" The lead man said, stopping about twelve meters ahead of Mikell. Passers-by had started giving the area a wide berth, but more than a few knots of them had stopped to watch. "Would you come with us?"

"Am I under arrest?" He glanced around, noticing there were a few other uniformed men around this area of the spaceport. Only a few, covering the entrances from the hangar where the 'Shadowfox' was parked.

"Do you want to be?" A slight chuckle from the second man, as the pair seemed to exude bravado of those who expected to get their way.

"What's the charge, then?" He began sizing up the two people, and abruptly didn't like his chances too much. One was shorter, broad-built, and looked like he could put Mikell into one of the walls with no effort. The other was taller, slim, but had a rifle with him carried with a shoulder strap.

"Resisting arrest."

Mikell snorted, and glanced at both of them. "How much did you bet your buddies you'd get a chance to try that?"

The slim one smirked, and his rifle unslung from his shoulder. "Guess I just won the pool." They started walking towards Mikell, and two of the others started walking through the crowd as well.

The commander paused, unfolding his arms and letting his hands spread out somewhat. "Cordova, Command." He said, and the two stopped about five meters from Mikell. "How long until backup arrives?"

"Command, Cordova. I can have anyone there on foot in two minutes or a 'Mech in fifteen. What's up?"

"Gentlemen." Mikell cleared his throat. "I am about to leave you with a choice. You two can please tell your superior officers to apply directly to me and not send rookies, or you can find out what happens when you try to arrest a mercenary company commander five minutes from his people." He tilted his head. "Cordova, Command. If you don't hear from me in one minute, send everyone."

"Copy, Command."

"Do I get to have fun? I have a new knife now." Kelly's voice came over the comms, and Mikell felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. 'Please don't let Kelly be the only one coming, that would be bad. Very bad.'

Another voice, this one Vandal's. "Boss, I'm headed your way. I'll get there in one minute anyway. Where do you want me?"

Mikell didn't speak up, just staring at the pair and tapping his foot in time with the seconds passing. After ten loud taps of the foot, the tension broke. "Okay, okay." The slim man took his hand off the rifle and set it back in position. "You win."

"How gracious. Cordova, Command. Cancel previous order."

"Copy, Command." It wasn't until the two men walked off Elly came back. "There's no active warrants, by the way."

"Thank you." Mikell stopped, realizing someone else was approaching from behind him, and turned. "Mister Templar. Was that a test?" The thin man actually let his face show an expression, a wince. "Oh, I take it that is a no?"

"No, that is the result of the fingers of the left hand and the brain not communicating properly." He looked after the other uniformed people who were now leaving the area. "Something I will have to solve shortly. My sincere apologies."

"I don't need apologies from you, I need answers. Straight answers."

Janus made a face, somewhere between the same wince and a look of disgust aimed in the general direction of those leaving. "There is a platoon commander who makes a habit of trying to pull this sort of thing to mercenary groups who look like they have money to spend on bail for cooked-up charges, and lack the clout to fight it. This is the third time in the last two months he has seen fit to try things like this, and I believe it will also be the last time he will." His eyes pierced Mikell's. "Do you want that particular apology, or shall I go into exactly what will happen as part of the process?"

"No, thank you for your directness. I don't want to hear the grisly details this early." He turned around, seeing Vandal step out of one of the entryways and freeze only a moment before leaning on the wall. He looked back at Janus, who had stopped to look at the other mercenary intently. "Have you two met?"

"Perhaps in another life." Janus shook his head. "I take it, since you have not said so yet, you have still not made a decision on the offer."

"I mean no offense, but I want time to properly consider it. Also, you didn't offer a contract yet."

"Hm? Oh, I must have given you the wrong storage module." He reached into a pocket and held out another one. Mikell knew that was likely not true, but he wasn't going to push the matter yet. It wouldn't be worth that energy anyway.

Mikell took it and smiled, shaking his head. "These last couple days haven't been your best work."

"I assure you, if this had been my people, it would not have been public and it would not have been a spectacle. Which is why I need to be absolutely certain the idiot who thought it was a good idea is dealt with." He hesitated. "Would you have actually set your people loose?"

"That is the wrong question, Mister Templar. The question is, do you think they would have waited for an order, or that I could have stopped them?" He dropped the smile. "They would not have endangered civilians, no matter what." At least he hoped not. "That's enough freebies, for now."

"Then allow me to make a payment on good faith. Your people have had their records pulled by my department and are being held, such that inquiries will not turn up their data without appealing to my department for the information. Which, I will assure you, will only be given at my personal agreement to release it. Mostly because I will be the one who has the codes to access them." He spread his hands. "Those who come looking for you will be sorely disappointed, and I shall be glad to do so to shield those who would work for me."

"I didn't say I was working for you?"

"Did you not?" A small, soft chuckle as Janus shook his head and began walking. Mikell fell in beside him, and Vandal paced a few meters behind the pair. "I am not your enemy, Commander Sethan."

"Who are you, then?"

"I merely try to balance the books. My organization had an issue with yours, and now I have your attention to treat with you properly." Janus said simply, and made a tossing motion. "Hopefully, to mutual benefit."

Mikell frowned for a moment, and sighed. "Do you see us as tools to be used?"

"A tool should be grateful to be used for its proper task, in a proper manner. After all, that is why they exist."

"People are not tools."

"No, but they still have a proper purpose, and should be guided to find the end which serves it." Janus paused at the entrance and looked up. "I have business to attend to elsewhere, but I do have one other thing. My department has no need of the object you recovered on the last mission. A very carefully worded request got us the information we need. If you are willing to accept a side-task?" His eyes actually did smile with his mouth this time. "I can make an arrangement which is, indeed, mutually beneficial."

Mikell hesitated, thinking to himself for a moment. This could have been him if he hadn't run, moving people like pieces on a board, speaking of using them for purposes or destinies. It really wasn't hard to imagine Janus Templar in a white robe, speaking the familiar words. Some must make a sacrifice for the greater good, or everything is lost. A brief moment of realization hit, and Mikell smiled. "Well, we must all make a few small sacrifices." He spread his hands. "After all, if it helps everyone and costs nothing but a little face . . . it helps the greater good."

Janus' eyes changed, very subtly, a slight widening at the words. Yes, he did know those words, and had come across them before. What did that mean, though? "It is called a Raven." He said after a moment. "Take care of it. I will have the pieces delivered along with instructions on what we would ask of you and what the purpose of the equipment is intended to be." He seemed more hurried to leave now, giving Vandal only a slight glance. "The contract will be filed tomorrow morning with ComStar, but the particulars are on the data storage module. Good day, Commander."

"Be well, Mister Templar."