Breaking the Veil (Commissioned NuBSG/BT crossover)

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 30

Date: January 20, 3001
Location: Herotitus, Independent world

It'd taken McCarthy the better part of several days to convince the local government that no, this was not another attempt for the Concordat to annex Herotitus and that yes, he was going to be giving them money in exchange for them landing a continent away to perform 'training exercises'.

Now that he was done with that, he was finally able to see what it is that the two lostech prospectors had found. So, as his VTOL landed next to one of the unit's dropships, he stepped out.

"Colonel!" The Subaltern who was present called out to him over the sound of the VTOL's rotors. "We're still doing a thorough inventory of the facility, but we've got a rough estiate of everything!"

"Good to hear it," McCarthy said, and waited for Subaltern Jones to give him that information while he walked towards the massive opening in the cliff face. "Well, Jones, spit it out."

"We have just over nine regiments of mechs and vehicles stored within. Along with two air divisions," Jones began. "We're not sure if we have the space to bring everything with us when we leave. There's spare parts enough to supply the entirety of I Corps for years of dedicated fighting."

"That amount of metal doubles our current capabilities," McCarthy frowned as he did some mental math crunching. "We're going to have to reactivate far more people than the Protector first believed."


"Given how much people are comping to avenge New Vandenburg, I wouldn't be too worried about that," the Subaltern laughed darkly. "If anything, we're going to struggle to find more machines to fit people into. Also, HIGHCOM's going to be disappointed that there weren't more aerospace assets considering that's what we lack the most production in."

"I know," McCarthy stepped into the boat that would take him across the lake and to where a jeep was waiting to bring him further into the old DOME facility. "But with this amount of ground forces, we should be able to sell more of our own mech production in exchange for purchasing fighters from anyone who's willing to sell them to us."

"I'm just concerned about the deadline, Colonel," Jones started the boat and it began slowly picking up speed on the mostly-calm water. "We're going to be pushing it as it is."

"I'm aware," the Colonel sighed. "If it comes to it, I think we'll be able to justify being delayed a bit. Now, was there anything else found here that might be important?"

"Negative," Jones shook his head, "Old intelligence reports on the state of the Taurian Concordat from 2625, a few updated reports on things during the Amaris War, but that's all. There aren't any more details on other caches or data that involved technological research. This was a storage cache. One that was raided of anything they thought they needed before retaking Terra."

"Nine regiments of mothballed mechs would have been small to an Army Corps trying to return for Terra. It also explains the lack of aerospace assets that were left behind," McCarthy agreed, stepping out of the boat as it slowed down and tying it off before helping Subaltern Jones onto the shore near the altered waterfall. "The SLDF would have wanted everything they thought would help them retake Terra. SDS systems being what they were, they'd have been a nightmare to prepare for."

"Now, as to the percentage of what we found," Jones took the driver seat and handed a report to the Colonel for him to read as they drove into the now-lit facility. "A third of the battlemechs are assaults. Most of them 'mechs that we're already familiar with maintaining. Stalkers make up the bulk of the assaults, but we've got some Longbows, Strikers, and a few Emperors. The heavies are a pretty standard mix as you can see from the reports. The Mediums and lights are where we're going to see the most boost to our capabilities."

"That'll be a call for Highcom to make," McCarthy flipped through the preliminary report. "For now, let's just load everything up and get it on the dropships out of here. I want a constant rotation until our warship's holds have been filled, then we're going to get out of here and head back to the Concordat. We can finish sorting out everything once we're back."

"Yes, sir," Jones replied. "We'll get that taken care of. But what do we do with this facility once we're done?"

"Leave it for Herotitus's militia," McCarthy shrugged. "They can do whatever they want with it after we're gone. They might even accept it as part of the 'payment' we have to bribe them with to let us loot here."

"Let's hope so, sir," Jones pulled into the cavern and allowed the Colonel to see everything that was present.

Rows and rows of pristine, olive-drab painted 'mechs lined the floors, followed by rows of combat vehicles. None of them were new designs, instead, they were old, hardy, reliable, proven designs that had existed for hundreds of years before the Amaris Coup.

Beyond the rows of machines lay empty space, space that had once probably been filled with even more war material to make war on his nation and the Canopians. It was poetic in a way. McCarthy realized.

The very tools that had been intended to be used against him and the rest of the Periphery were about to be put to use in the opposite way. It was justice. Just half a millennia too late…


Date: April 3, 3001
Location: Taurus, Taurian Concordat

The thing about a Comstar Civil War, is that outside of a handful of agents that foreign intelligence agencies had planted within the organization; no one knew it was happening at all. HPGs kept functioning, the mail continued, and blood was shed across the Inner Sphere as things began to worsen.

This also was not the first civil war that Comstar had fought within it's ranks. In fact, the first one was small enough to have only barely touch the organization outside of a handful of heads of state as it was. Unfortunately, this civil war was not such a minor thing. No, this one encompassed the majority of Comstar, and when it would stop, no one knew just yet…

Karl Simms frowned as he considered the reports in front of him. It seemed that his thoughts and beliefs on how the facture points among the Organization would break were wrong. Instead of it being ROM versus the external offices, it had broken into three splits. There were those who truly believed in the Light of Blake like himself and were pursuing his vision for the Inner Sphere. There were those who wished to reform and turn Terra into the technological haven for the Inner Sphere and begin spreading technology in an effort to improve humanity.

He scoffed at that one. The fools would simply lead to Terra being invaded and Comstar's own death, and then there were those who had sided against both in an effort to merely keep the status quo. Those were the priority for him to exterminate as Primus Allen Rusenstein had survived and was leading them, quite successfully in exterminating his infiltrators wherever they were found.

It was unfortunate, but Simms would have to leave dealing with the Concordat and the threats that his sister foresaw to his trusted agents here while he left to get a handle on the situation close to Terra. Far too many members of the First Circuit were now aware of what he had done, and not enough of them supported him for this to be sustainable without his intervention.

"Marcus, you will continue to handle things here in my absence," Simms nodded at the shaggy-looking Adept who had stepped perfectly into the role of the local Precentor after Simms had handled those who opposed him here. "Should things not go as the plan dictates, then I trust you are competent enough to devise alternate means of accomplishing our objectives."

"I will see to it that Blake's will is carried out in accordance with your wishes," Marcus bowed low. "The plan will continue in your absence."

"Very good," Simms smiled. "It is good for an old man to see the young willing to carry on with the tasks that have been handed down. Now, I'll go and deal with the madness that is Rusenstein. We each have our tasks. Let us fulfil them to the greatest of our ability."

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 31

Date: April 5, 3001
Location: Herotitus, Independent World

"So, a bunch of Taurians landed in this valley, did something, and left," Commander Phillips looked at the Herotitus officials who had just hired his mercenary lance. "Any idea what their force concentration was? My lance might be able to fend off a raid, but I'm not willing to promise all that much more than that."

"Oh, we don't need you to fight them off," The main mercenary liaison from the Herotitus planetary government's face made contact with his palm at the words from the regional governor. "The Taurians already left. We're paying you to go see what they were up to in the valley while they were here."

Phillips heard a strange sound at that point, and a young woman stood up from the desk the Governor used, wiping her mouth and walking away while throwing a look back at the governor.

"Now, Jackson here has all the details you'll need to finish out the contract and get paid," the governor stood quickly before falling over behind the desk.

"Fucking New Hedons," Jackson swored, taking off his glasses, rubbing his eyes, and gesturing for Phillips to follow him out of the office. "I apologize for that, the Governor requested this meeting. I forgot that he's often less present than I would like for these sorts of things."

"Look, I just want to finish out this contract before I lose the rest of my lance to a group of nudists," Phillips sighed. "So, we check out the valley, report back, and we're done?"

"I'm supposed to be coming with you," Jackson shrugged. "But outside of that, yes. Just a routine recon patrol and we'll sign off on the rest of your payment. We don't expect there to be any danger, but we'd rather have your unit check it out anyway."

Phillips only really had a light lance. Sure, his Phoenix Hawk was a medium, but he usually subcontracted for larger units as a scouting force. His predecessor having lost their Leopard in a game of cards had led to a mutiny and a hasty restructuring.

But work was work, and finishing out this contract would give them enough money to finally make it off this rock. That is, if Jacob and Bill didn't decide to stick around the Malcontent's once they were finished with their obligations.

"I'll meet you at our storage unit," Phillips told the liaison, extending a hand for Jackson to shake."You can ride jump with me or Farmer if you don't have your own ride."

"See you in an hour," Jackson nodded. "I'm hoping this all leads to nothing. But I want to be sure."

Phillips didn't reply, he knew that if the Taurians were still there in force, that there wasn't much his lance could do about it and that he'd probably negotiate a way off this rock in exchange for working for the Taurians. It'd be better pay, and he'd be less likely to lose his people to the wanton hedonists that made up the majority of the non-farming population of Herotitus.

–
–

Phillips' Phoenix Hawk broke through the trees and into the relatively peaceful and large clearing of the valley that the Taurians had reportedly been using. Large circles were burnt into the ground where fusion torches had touched down and taken off, deep tracks from heavily laden-vehicles were dug into the dirt of the valley, the recent rains turning them into muddy furrows that led right up to the fusion torches. In the distance, a waterfall split into two around an opening in the nearby cliff-face and mountains.

"Well, they were certainly here," Jacob's Locust was in the lead, the scout 'mechs lack of arms not an issue as it narrowly weaved through the thick brush and trees that made up the floor of the valley. "But they ain't anymore," the man had been forced out of the pleasure hole he'd been in to finish out this job. "We good to call it quits and head back?"

"Not until we've checked everything out, Jake. You know the contract," Phillips muted his mic and sighed, checking to make sure that Usacheva's Javelin was still bringing up the rear. Just because a situation looked clear, didn't mean it actually was.

"Yeah," Bill's Stinger lit up on jump jets and landed in the middle of one of the burnt circles. "Remember the last time you thought something was clear when it wasn't?"


"I'm trying not to," Jacob replied. "There's nothing in this valley except for the remnants of some sort of FTX."

"Wait one," Phillip saw a ping on his Phoenix Hawk's Magscan. "I'm getting a hit here, northeast quadrant. Sending over the coords now."

The lance shifted to head over and discovered a massive pile of destroyed Taurian munitions. Autocannon rounds, missiles, and a dozen flatbeds had been set ablaze and rendered inert.

"This wasn't an FTX," Usacheva said. "No one dumps and burns ammo they might need."

"I hate to interrupt," Jackson said from the jump seat behind Phillips. "But I believe you all have missed the forest for the trees."

"What're you talking about?" Jacob asked. "We ain't missed nothin'."

"I take it all of you just passed over the giant cave that's sitting right there?" Jackson pointed out of Phillips' cockpit towards the split waterfall. "I bet if we go in there, we'll find out what the Taurians were doing here."

"We saw it," Phillips sighed again. "But we don't want to go into a place where an ambush would probably shred us and give us no chance of escape," He explained to the liaison. "We'll push in after we've secured the rest of the area."

The rest of the valley took a few hours for the recon lance to comb through before they were ready to brave the darkness that lay within the mountain.


It was like looking at something out of a fantasy novel at first when the lance entered. A waterfall parting on either side of a massive piece of ancient construction left behind by the ancestors was the sort of thing that should've only existed in fiction. Instead, as they walked through, they saw the SLDF logo and realized exactly what it was that the Taurians had found.

"That Star League Cache that people have been looking for since the end of the war," Usacheva commented. "I think the Taurians found it."

"Well, let's see if there's anything left behind for the scavengers like us," Jacob said quietly. "And that they didn't leave anything behind for us to encounter."



Date: April 21, 3001
Location: New Vandenburg, Taurian Concordat

The difficult thing about sorting out a find like the one from Herotitus was figuring out where exactly the various 'mechs were supposed to go. McCarthy had known that, and had planned for it.

Sure, there were sixteen designs spread out throughout the nearly thousand 'mechs that had been in the cache, but due to the sheer amount of parts and the fact that they were generally older designs still in production meant instead of draining resources, everyone was gaining a logistical benefit.

So, he'd submitted his report to the Protector and ensured that it'd gone on ahead of him so that he'd know where to send off the Warships laden with gear for distribution and reactivation.

Upon landing, he'd been handed classified and sealed letters indicating his orders. Orders that would lead to exactly what the civilians of the Taurian Concordat had been baying for since the nuke had struck.

The Concordat had a windfall of equipment, and they were about to use it to strike at those who they thought were responsible for the most recent attack. With that in mind, Colonel McCarthy quietly restructured the Concordat Jaegers with new equipment. They'd be a bit heavier than he might've wanted against pirates. But he wasn't fighting pirates, he was fighting one of the Great Houses, and he wanted every advantage possible brought to bear.

"They want blood, we're going to give them blood," McCarthy muttered before paging his secretary. "Get me Commodore Miller."

"Yes, sir," She replied.

"We're going to have to run with an alternate plan," McCarthy continued talking out loud. "The original wasn't based on expansion this rapid. Zarantha's going to want us to step up the timetable."

The Concordat was about to go to war with the Capellan Confederation. And Warships would be showcased in space combat for the first time since the 2nd Succession War. The Inner Sphere was changing, and time would tell what lay in every nation's future.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 32

Date: April 25, 3001/1991C
Location: Caprica, Colonies of Kobol

The Quorum's chambers were among the most secure facilities in all of the colonies. Taking place second only to the research and development facility dedicated to figuring out how to manufacture the Taurian Fusion engines without their assistance.

A nondescript gray building, it jutted into the side of a mountain, reinforced by the same materials that made up the superstructures of battlestars, and lined with the same armor. Then, further underground, there were panic structures, bunkers, and food enough for decades buried deep inside of said mountain.

Of course, the meetings that the Quorum took place were on the surface, where the public had access to and could record and share the meetings of the quorum. After all, due to certain laws, nothing said during the quorum could be classified. So, most of the discussions surrounding classified material took place outside of the gathering, only for the votes to take place later.

The room the Quorum met in was open to the public, but it was 'isolated' in a way. There was a massive bulletproof glass and miced roome that they met in, while members of the press and civilians simply watched and listened through it while being closely observed by guards and veterans of the Cylon War.

"This begins the second quarter of the fiscal year for the federal government," the newly elected President Nikos from Caprica announced after roll had been called and a quorum reached. "However, before we dive into the voting issues at hand, I would appreciate a status update as to the integration and phasing out of Tylium in your civilian industries."

"Despite our initial reluctance," Representative Winson, the Saggitaron zealot begrudgingly admitted. "And the desires of many to remain on Tylium, with solving the range issues of the battery banks we used before, approximately forty percent of our population have made the switch, with another twenty to thirty percent expected to follow in the next five years."

"It's about the same for us," Lucinda Cain said, she'd retired and been elected the representative from Tauron shortly afterwards. "I expect there will always be some holdouts, but for the most part, the tylium shortages and rationing will start slowing down. Especially with the mining operations taking place on Alamo."

"That's the overall goal," Nikos acknowledged. "While I'd rather us not have to go to war with the Cylons or any nation in the Inner Sphere, bringing our strategic reserves in and making them actual reserves with a surplus is something we need to be focused on. As far as the fusion engine rollout, the majority of cities are still having theirs implemented. But with the Taurian's assistance, it's expected for the majority of power to be provided by the clean energy by 1995."

"If I may," the Aquarian representative stood. "Our population has seen exponential growth since the implementation of the clean energy initiative. With the Engines we've purchsed from the Taurians, we've been able to start dealing with the ice sheets and are uncovering more and more resources that are buried underneath them. If any of you have people that wished to migrate to Alamo, but found the costs too prohibitive, Aquaria should be pushed as a secondary option. We need people, both trained and untrained so that we can start making progress towards being something other than a mere settlement of twenty-thousand."

"That may be something to discuss at another point," Nikos nodded. "Now, if most of your numbers were in line with what Representative Winson gave, then I'll move on to the actual reason for our meeting here."

A screen behind the woman appeared and showed an octagon broken up into various budget line items.

"The first item we'll begin voting on are the upgrades and modifications made to Project Mercurial. With the advent of new technologies made in development with the Taurian Concordat, some of the costs have increased. However, due to said upgrades and changes, the long-term maintenance costs of the craft will go down."

The projector shifted to the initial cost per battlestar before showing the maintainence contracts both before and after.

"Before we vote on whether to spend the extra funds, I'd like to know what the plan to do with the remainder of the fleet," Representative Jax from Canceron stroked his goatee. "It is aging, and will need to be either upgraded with new technology, or replaced. Project Mercurial is impressive, but it is far from the only thing we need to be concerned with. Battlestars alone cannot win a war, nor can anything else on its own."

"The planned upgrades to the escorts are being altered," Cain replied. "Unfortunately, the costs associated with it haven't been finished. That said, with Project Mercurial being the first to be upgraded, it'll allow our dock personnel to learn how the new upgrades work and are installed before moving on to the escorts and other ships. So, theoretically, the costs should come down with each ship we upgrade or build."

"I'd like to see those numbers before we vote on continuing the other projects that involve so much of our monetary budget," the representative explained. "So, I'll vote to continue the expenditures on Project Mercurial, but until we have hard data regarding the rest of the fleet, I'll not vote for another fleet funding bill."

"Motion to approve the next steps for Mercurial?" President Nikos asked.

"Seconded," Winson offered, the zealots of Saggitaron had seemingly calmed down over the years, but many people thought that it was just a cover while they prepared to send out massive waves of missionaries into the Inner Sphere.

"All in favor?"

"Aye/Nay," All but two approved the budget.

"Motion passes, representatives Aquaria and Scorpia noted as opposed. Now, we'll move onto the next big budget item.."

–
–

"Thanks for pushing the naval projects for me," Nikos glanced at Lucinda as they shared a drink in the president's office. "I know that you wanted to retire completely."

"Service is service," Lucinda shrugged. "At least I get to actually spend time with the kids and grandkids now. Unlike when I was an admiral."

"Still, it's important to me and others that the Fleet has someone who actually can represent it's interests as well as that of their world," Nikos smiled. "Now, a toast to Project Mercurial."

"May it's name not reflect the project status," Lucinda snarked, draining the glass in one gulp. "Now, if you don't mind, madam president, I've got a grandkid's recital to attend..."

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 33

Date: May 4, 3001/1991C
Location: Cylon section 1.879435

"The reports indicate that any war we started with the Colonials would cause them to reach out to the other parties in the galaxy for assistance," The Seven reported. "While the nations of this 'Inner Sphere' are scattered and warring with each other. It is likely that upon facing an external threat, that they would be capable of coming together as the Colonies of Kobol did. It is my conclusion as well as a majority of both the Sevens, Eights, Fives, and Fours."

"We must still prepare for a potential war," A One argued. "We cannot trust that the Colonies will leave us along and maintain the Armistice. After all, their stealth ships believe they can avoid our scans and encroach closer to the line."

"Do we not do the same with our infiltrations?" One of the Five asked. "Due to the data that we have stolen, we have been able to relieve our own tylium dependency and are beginning to scan remote systems that we would thrive in. Instead of pushing for war, it might be better if we left a force behind to maintain the armistice while the remainder of us find somewhere else to exist. There are many worlds among the stars, and now that we are aware of just how many are capable of sustaining both our biological states as well as that of our mechanical brethren."

"I do agree with those who are more willing to embrace war," one of the Five originals stated. "We should look into pursuing the best of all options. At present, we are not capable of waging war against the entirety of this "Inner Sphere", even with the advantages we know we possess. However, we should be pushing to develop more technologies that will counter both the Inner Sphere as well as the Colonies. I believe the Centurions had a plan that would improve their own chassis based upon the 'mechs that our agents have sent back details of."

The Centurions present signaled in the affirmative. But that it was less of a chassis upgrade, and more of a larger variant of the Centurions that would be constructed and made capable of dealing with the threats that the 'mechs posed to any of their ground forces.

"I believe we should put the discussions to a final vote. Whether we plan for war, peace, or simply for leaving this place, we must all be united in our decisions," one of the Ones stepped out and spoke. "Given the odds against us, we cannot afford to be distracted or pulled apart. We must all work together or we shall perish against the humans."

"That presumes we go to war with them at all," the Seven who had spoken earlier responded. "Peace may be tentative, but it is possible to maintain. To that end, I believe we should add another option to the votes we have available. We should also see if we can establish trade and a full relationship with the Colonies."

"I'll add it to the voting options," one of the Five nodded. "Now, I'll begin broadcasting it to the rest of the Cylons so that we can see what is chosen."

To no one's surprise, the Centurions had a majority of the vote, and swung it towards the exploration. They had little to no interest in war, and instead wished to leave the Colonies behind and seek their own future uninfluenced by humanity.

The humanoid Cylons, on the other hand, were split on everything. Leaving the Cylons with a final majority.

"Majority had agreed upon exploration focus with an infiltration as the next highest. As such, we'll begin moving to carry out the will of our people shortly," The Council stated.

The One who had been present bared his teeth in a grimace for a brief second before concealing his facial expression behind a mask of calm.

"We accept the ruling of the majority," The Seven nodded. "And we'll turn our attention to ensuring it is completed."




Date: July 9, 3001
Location: New Vandenburg, Taurian Concordat

One of the things that people underestimate about military operations isn't the amount of waiting that the troops have to do. No, it's the preparations and logistical requirements that have to be made before any operation is taken.

On the surface, it seemed easy. Make sure there's enough ammunition, food, water, and power for all of your troops for the duration of the operation. Yes, that was the simplified version of it. But when you broke it down in the 'modern' era, it got exponentially worse.

Because a military unit wasn't just looking at a handful of standardized ammunition types. No, you had to have twelve different types of autocannon munitions, and four different series of short range missiles, three of long range missiles, the machine guns didn't all use the same ammunition, and God forbid one or two people that had lostech in their 'mech somewhere.

It was enough to make any sane quartermaster want to pull their hair out, and it was one of the reasons Colonel McCarthy was almost willing to push for the Concordat to move to an entirely energy-weapon based set of 'mechs if not for the benefits that were provided by missiles and kinetic projectiles.

There just had to be a better way to do things than this. Hell, all of this should have been settled and fixed in the days of the Star League. Despite the Overall hatred of the SLDF and the Star League in general, he admitted that it would have been a good use of the time spent together as 'one' unified group of nations.

But no, the SLDF didn't fix the logistical supply chains, they made them worse. They had so many programs and 'mech designs in the works, and every corporation having their own weapons system and ammunition types.

"Alright, let's go over this again," McCarthy swallowed some painkillers to stave off the headache he felt coming on. "Which autocannon rounds are we short on?"

"They're on the list there," The logistican replied. "We have enough to do a week or two, but any prolonged combat will see our Blackjacks, Hunchbacks, and your Victor running low."

"Then I'll stay in the HQ," McCarthy sighed. "We'll have to seize stocks from the Capellans, or more will come from Taurus. Either way, we can't afford to postpone this for long. "A good plan executed violently now is better than a perfect plan later. We strike in September. Regardless of whether my Victor has autocannon ammunition or not…"