Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Four: Debriefing
New Avalon, March 23rd, 3035
"David, walk with me," Hanse told the younger man who was sitting at a small table drinking some coffee. "We just got confirmation that Dunham took a command circuit to New Avalon, he just reached the jump point and is supposed to be doing a full debrief of Ms. Fischer."
"I'm sorry." David apologized, "I'm still getting used to some of the different responsibilities and I've only done an intel debrief once before." David chuckled. "And I was the one being debriefed at that one."
"No, you did fine," Hanse replied as they continued walking down the hallway. "But I need you to step up in a new way." Hanse sighed. "We lost all contact with the Jumpship that your parents were on, and while we try to reestablish contact you're the one in charge of the entirety of the Terran March."
"You need me to start shifting members of the Kentares and Northwind Guard to the Periphery March." David's mind drew the lines and filled in the blanks.
"Unfortunately, yes," Hanse replied. "You're a little younger than everyone but Morgan, and I'm going to need you to act in place of Mark until we're able to figure out what happened to him and the battalion of the Ducal Guard that was with him."
"I'll move to take the command circuit that should still be in place," David responded as he moved more rapidly. "I'll grab my go kit and have Elsa come along, and I'll take my dropship up in a few hours."
"Thank you," Hanse met the younger man's eyes. "I'm sorry that we have no location on your parents."
"Knowing dad and mom," David laughed a bit. "They probably got caught up in something and/or misjumped somehow." He shrugged. "They'll pop up again sooner or later with a new adventure or story to tell. But right now, I have a responsibility to discharge the duties of a March Lord." David slowed his walk down and came to a complete stop. "Was there anything else that you needed Uncle Hanse?"
"No," Hanse shook his head. "I think that was everything."
"Well, you've got my contact info should you need me for anything further," David replied as he resumed walking.
"You're a good man." Hanse brought his somewhat adopted nephew in for a hug. "I'm proud of what you have already accomplished and what you will accomplish in the future."
Then Hanse let go of the embrace and patted David on the shoulder. "Keep doing what you're doing. Being steadfast and staying the course that you've already embarked on will take you just as far as your father and mother have."
"They just seem superhuman sometimes," David remarked. "I don't know how I could ever measure up."
"You can't," Hanse replied with a shrug. "But you're not supposed to be a clone of your parents. Mark is laying the foundation of something greater than he is, but he'll only ever be the foundation. It's up to you, Jonathan, Melissa, and the people of your generation to see it through and to build upon that foundation something that will last throughout the ages." Hanse laughed. "I honestly don't think that we'll be able to handle some of the problems that are going to come from a new era of peace. Almost all of us are built for war, and that's all we've known for a long time. Even your father started his service at the end of the Amaris Civil War. He's known war for most of his life and we both know what kind of society your mother was bred and raised in."
"I think I get it." David smiled. "Thanks, Uncle Hanse." He gave the First Prince another hug. "I better grab my go bag now and start getting everything sorted."
March 30th, 3035
"Miranda, I'm glad to see that you survived. We feared the worst when you stopped transmitting." Dunham said as he pulled out a chair across from her to sit down in. "Now, I've got the reports from what the DMI and MIIO did, but I wanted to run a debriefing of my own, so I'll need you to start again from the top." Dunham smiled softly. "I know that you've already done this song and dance a half dozen times, but I'll need you to go through it once more for me."
"It's fine." Miranda smiled back. "I expected to be thoroughly debriefed when I got back anyway." She leaned back in her chair, "Do you want me to start from the beginning?"
"Yes please," Dunham replied. "I'm sure that Duke Hull will want a comprehensive report."
"I can do that," Miranda said before she took a sip of water and a deep breath. "I departed Terra in the middle of the year 3015…"
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"Sometime in three thousand and thirty-one or two, we dispatched a team to the hidden world of what is known to the Word of Blake as Mayadi, but to the rest of the Inner Sphere as the dead world of Tangerz." Miranda continued. "They took samples of the bioweapons that had been developed there and brought them back to some of our labs in the Outworlds Alliance for study." She sighed heavily. "I found out about the bioweapons and smuggled all but a few of them out into the void where I sent them on a course for the local star." She shrugged. "All but one of them that is. I couldn't get to one of the bioweapons because I didn't have access to that specific lab and I couldn't be discovered before I made it back to friendly territory. The plan was to release the bioweapon that destroyed Tangerz here on New Avalon. I had managed to replace and dispose of the bioweapon while we were en route to New Avalon from the Outworlds Alliance."
"Were there any further plans for New Avalon?" Dunham asked.
"Both of the Rampage 'mechs were custom fitted with Null sig and Chamaleon Light Polarization shields," Miranda stated. "They were supposed to be headhunters. Their job was to track down and eliminate First Prince Hanse Davion and any member of the Hull family that might be on the planet. Additional side objectives were the Archon, the Magestrix, and the Protector if at all possible."
"Why did the invasion force fall apart so quickly once you eliminated the headhunter lance though?" Dunham asked.
"Because the pilot of the Phoenix was the CO for the regiment," Miranda said bluntly. "And the way that the command structure was laid out meant that the XO was in one of the two Rampages, once I took them out it threw the rest of the regiment into short-term chaos, which the Davion Heavy Guards used to their advantage."
"And I have the rest of it down," Dunham said as he finished writing down his notes. "We'll get you looked over one more time by the medical staff at NAIS and then we'll get you and your mech shipped home to Kentares or wherever else you want to settle down."
"Thanks." Miranda sagged in relief. "I'm just glad to be out of there. I don't think I could have stuck it out for much longer."
"I know that as soon as Duke Hull makes a reappearance from wherever he disappeared to that he'll have other rewards planned for you, but I have this for now." He produced a debit card. "As a thank you for your contributions, we set aside a fund for this sort of thing. There are a half billion Pounds here, and if you need help with figuring out where to go from here we've got resources that will assist you."
"And if I want to step back into work?" Miranda asked.
"Then you're going to have to go into another field," Dunham stated firmly. "We have rules for our deep cover agents, one of them is that they're not allowed to work in intelligence anymore. Not because you might be compromised, but because you absolutely will need a break from that kind of stress. So we can insert you into the Marksman, Sharpshooter, or into any of the Terran March's militia or guard units but we can't and won't allow you to step back into this field."
"But what about my experience?" Miranda asked.
"We might pull you for training details, but burnout is a real thing, especially in our line of work and we don't want any of our people to get to that level of stress," Dunham replied. "I'll personally assist in getting you set up in whatever field you want to go into next, but you won't be able to reenter the intelligence corps unless you go to MIIO. They have different rules and standards than we do."
"No, I was just curious," Miranda replied. " Taking a place in research and development sounds lovely after the last twenty years of undercover work."
"Then we'll get you linked up with Dr. Rogers and we'll move forward from there," Dunham replied as they both stood up. "Once again, thank you for all of your work."
Author's note: I didn't want to reply to any of the comments because it would have given some of the contents of this chapter away. Sorry if y'all thought that there was only a 'mech regiment that was dropped in. The WoB had a lot of plans, and a lot of them got derailed by one enterprising agent.