Scavenged Restoration 102 (Patreon)

Scavenged Restoration

Chapter 102

-VB-

Star Colonel James Lankenau waited along with the rest of the crew aboard the Spur, a Lola III-class destroyer that belonged to the Swing Wing Naval Assault Star. 

… Well, whether or not a ship belonged to a specific assault star didn’t matter, because this wasn’t a single galaxy’s operation but that of the entire Clan’s. Warships and dropships from all across the Clan were represented in this fleet, and he was the highest ranking clan warrior of the Lankenau Bloodhouse. 

He was prepared to make sure that he made his bloodname proud. 

But this was boring. 

Journeying across the rimward periphery was boring. 

There was nothing interesting here. 

Worse, the local pirates, those that hailed from this “Tortuga Dominion,” never gave them a fight. They hid in their nebula, which was a hazard to jump into at the very best of times and outright suicidal if the captains didn’t know what they were getting into .

So they had, despite the fact that the dezgra were right there, chosen not to throw away valuable lives and warships.

Not when the true prize was on their way to meet them in combat. 

The Capellan Confederation’s own Phoenix Princess. 

Or as those in the Clans called her, the Honorless One. 

Intel from the other clans was shared with all of the commanders of clan warships, which was now in front of him on a noteputer. 

The Phoenix Brigade had fifteen warships and forty dropships at the start of its campaign against Clan Smoke Jaguar and walked away with a few warships and dropships lost; no one knew exactly how many losses they sustained. 

Taking this into account, the clan had sent out fifteen warships and sixty dropships, just in case they needed them. 

To be specific, the clan sent the following: 

1 Nightlord Battleship

1 Cameron-class Battlecruiser

3 Aegis-class Heavy Cruisers

2 Sovetskii Soyuz-class Cruisers

3 Lola III-class Destroyers

1 Essex-class Destroyer

2 Vincent-class Corvettes

2 Potemkin Troop Cruisers

10 Titan-class Dropships

8 Union-C-class Dropships

5 Union-class Dropships

3 Overlord-C-class Dropships

1 Overlord-class Dropship

12 Achilles-class Assault Dropships

7 Carrier-class Dropships

10 Leopard-class Dropships

4 Leopard CV-class Dropships.

It was the largest single naval force currently in operation anywhere in the Inner Sphere, Periphery, and the Clan Homeworlds. 

And James was proud to be part of it. 

Against this fleet, the Capellans and their Phoenix Brigade would field the following, assuming the Phoenix Brigade was the only fleet they sent (which seemed to be the case): 

3 Shenmazu-class Heavy Cruisers

4 Soyal II-class Light Cruisers

8 Essex-class Destroyers

2 Camel-class Transports

40 dropships of varying classes and models

The Capellans were much more uniform about their warships, and outside of the Shenmazu, their fleet was in the destroyer tonnage.

Now, there were rumors about a battleship flying among the Phoenix Brigade but … 

SCREEEE SCREEEE! 

He snapped up in his command chair. “Report!” 

“Jump signatures, star colonel!” 

He grinned. The Capellans were here! 

-VB-

Anastasia stared out into the void from the bridge of her ship.

One moment, she was in a different system.

And after a brief blue flash that engulfed everything, she was now in the Fugeres System.

“Fleet report,” she demanded even though her head felt a little light. 

“... Squad 2, green.”

“Squad 3, green.”

“Squad 4, green.”

“Squad 1, green.”

With a grunt, she flipped the switch present before her hand on the captain’s console. Then she pressed it. 

The wide plasglass window in front of her lit up with warning screens. 

She pressed it again after five seconds. 

The warnings went away, replaced by green screens. 

[Jump Tugs Disconnecting].

She felt the battleship rumbling as the two jump tugs disconnected from the sides of her ship and activated their own thrusters to pull away from the fleet. 

Anastasia closed that button’s cover and opened the next one. 

“Captain, prepare for activation!” she commanded, and her second aboard this ship quickly stood up from his own station. He pulled out a key just as she did. They inserted their keys together at their own stations, and the bridge’s screen showed a livestream of the most protected chamber within the battleship.

There were eight metal cubes separated from each other submersed in a clear liquid. 

“Twist.”

They twisted the keys.

The bridge screamed.

[WARNING]

[WARNING]

[WARNING]

[AI ACTIVATION IN SEQUENCE]

[WARNING]

[WARNING]

[WARNING]

Even though she knew this was completely safe, she took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. 

She glanced and saw the captain. He looked fucking terrified, but performed his duty as commanded. 

Good. Men like him deserved commendation, fighting through his terror to do his job. 

“Uncover!” 

Both of them uncovered their buttons. 

“Activating in 3… 2… 1…!” 

C-Click.

On the bridge screen, the eight cubes came together at the center and clicked with each other. 

There was a moment of silence as everyone on the bridge looked at the video in tense silence. 

Then there was a static. 

Ping.

A moment later, the hologram pillar at the center of the bridge lit up in green and a woman flickered to clarity. 

“Admiral,” the ship’s comm system crackled with a dull soprano. The voice sounded like it belonged to someone who was perpetually disapproving of everything she laid her eyes on. “Battle AI Queen reporting for duty.”

Anastasia couldn’t stop the grin from ripping open her lips. 

“Welcome back, Queen,” she replied. 

“Permission to take control?” Queen asked. 

For an instant, everything digital froze on the bridge. And then everything ran again but without human input. 

“... Admiral, we have an incoming communication request. The ID states Snow Raven.”

Her eyes narrowed. There was no mistaking the owner, huh? 

“Put it on screen.”

It was audio only. 

“This is Star Admiral Miklos Roul of Clan Snow Raven’s Expeditionary Fleet. May I receive a confirmation of your identity?” 

“Polite,” she muttered under her breath. “I am Admiral Anastasia Liao of the Phoenix Brigade. You have challenged the Capellan Confederation -.”

SCREEE!

“Jump signature detected,” Queen reported calmly. 

The AI displayed a rough map of the system and showed where the new jump signature was coming from: merely two hundred million kilometers away from them.

The IFF signatures that came through less than a minute later showed up as Richardson, the flagship of the New Avalon Defense Fleet. 

“The Federated Suns?” the star admiral grunted. “I assume this was not part of your plan?”

“No,” she replied immediately. “But I think we should both find out what they are here for, shouldn’t we?” 

“... Aye.”

---

Admiral Michael Delcronali grunted as he tried to overcome the feeling of the jump. 

He looked up and saw the officers diligently working away at making sure everything was in order. 

“Sensors are active… There are two fleets in the system, admiral. One belonging to the Capellan Confederation and the other … IFF states Clan Snow Raven.”

He grunted. 

“Admiral, incoming communication requests!” the comms officer reported.

He thought about it for a moment before he replied, “Patch us through.”

Immediately, two radio vector lines appeared on the biggest screen on the bridge. 

“This is Star Admiral Miklos Roul of Clan Snow Raven. I demand to know why you are here, sons of the Federated Suns.”

“This is Admiral Anastasia Liao. I too would like to know and what your intentions are.”

He stared at the vector lines before turning to look at the comms officers. “Is this in real time?”

“Y-Yes, admiral,” she replied. “There is a slight lag but it’s less than a second.”

Possible one second delay. One light second away? They had to fucking far away, then. 

With a sniff, he brought the microphone on his console closer to him, though not so close that his beard and moustache might scrap against the microphone head.

“I have no hostile intent to either Clan Snow Raven or Capellan Confederation.”

“Then what are you here for?” the “star admiral” asked. He sounded unconvinced.

Michael grinned as he prepared for this. 

“This is a battle that will break out in a system claimed by the Federated Suns. While we have no colonies or an outpost here, it still is part of our nation. So we are here to make sure nothing untoward happens to the interest of the Federated Suns. Like either of you setting up an outpost here under the pretense of repairing your ships. But that is secondary.”

“Secondary to what?” Admiral Liao asked, obviously cross with him and his fleet. 

His grin threatened to slip wide open.

He reached into the bag he had prepared for just this moment. He reached in and pulled out another bag.

And ripped it open.

Then he reached in and pulled out … a chip.

He audibly and very loudly began to eat the chips in front of the microphone. 

“To watch, of course!” 

---

Anastasia narrowed her eyes. 

“That son of a bitch -”

---

Miklos snarled. 

The FedSuns have not developed any manners over the last three hundred years, have they?