Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Nine: Transmissions
New Avalon, August 8th, 3035
"You have something for me?" Hanse asked Quintus as the man handed him a data disc.
"Yes Hanse," Quintus Allard replied with a smirk. "Comstar just sent us this via priority delivery."
"Did we finally manage to get a bead on Mark?" Hanse asked as he inserted the disc into a Tri-Vid player.
"No, unfortunately not," Quintus shook his head. "But this may be the next best thing."
"This is Lieutenant Dan Rawley of the Haynesville Militia, we managed to repel all of the invaders that landed here and are currently digging in," The man in the recorded message sighed. "We'll be awaiting further orders from you while we try to make Haynesville a hard target." The Lieutenant looked at someone out of view of the camera. "I'm going to get back to work, I've got one more person that you folks on New Avalon will probably need to see."
"First Prince Hanse Davion," Adam Steiner walked into view of the camera with his head held high. "I'm sure that my mother has been pulling her hair out and driving her intelligence agencies to insanity trying to find me since I disappeared from the academy." The younger man pulled out a cigar and began chewing on the tip while thinking about what he was about to say. "I know that you are obligated to tell the Archon where I am, and if it means that relief gets to Haynesville faster then I'll gladly pay that price. But either way, relay to my family that I'm doing well for myself here, and that I'll do my best to visit once this is all over."
"I take it that we didn't know that Adam Steiner was in the Outback?" Hanse asked as the recorded message turned itself off.
"Negative, he managed to steer clear of any of our agents," Quintus replied while shaking his head. "I'm sure he's giving the LIC a proper headache right now though."
"We'll pass on his message," Hanse said after some thought. "It's a good thing that the Marksman are the ones making landfall on Haynesville in October though."
"Lady Steiner is riding with the 1st Marksman though," Quintus said as he went through his memory of the troop redeployments.
"Indeed," Hanse grinned. "I think young David and Elsa will put our wayward son's head on straight."
"Speaking of wayward sons," Quintus looked at Hanse and met his eyes. "You have Jonathon serving in the 2nd Davion Guards as part of the first wave. Are you certain that you are okay with that?"
"You're never really okay with sending your children off to war," Hanse says after a moment. "I understand that it must be done for him to be a seasoned leader of men, but he's my son." Hanse stopped speaking for a second. "And he's a Davion, which means that when his men start dying, he's going to be the first one on the line to stop that from happening."
"Davions, you all make us want to pull our hair out," Quintus smiled at his friend. "Jonathon is in good hands, trust that he's going to do well and he will."
"I'm more concerned about Julian once he is out of the academy in four years," Hanse sighed as he looked at the photo of his wife and children"He's going to insist on being his brother's Champion when he's old enough and then Jennifer is going to take the political world by storm."
"She has taken to your lessons fairly well," Quintus said as he stroked his chin. "Do you think she's going to play spymaster for her older brother?"
"She has her brothers wrapped around her finger," Hanse chuckled. "But she adores both Jon and Julian."
"You and Dana have done well," Quintus smiled. "And I hope that your children follow your example."
"I just wish that Hull had a couple more kids," Hanse sighed. "David is going to do well as the leader of the Terran March once Mark retires, but if something happens to him then we're going to have to find someone else to fill in those shoes."
"And they're pretty big shoes to fill," Quintus agreed. "Not many people work as hard as Hull has to get where he is."
"Let's hope that David survives because if he doesn't then Mark and Natasha will kill everything that stands between them and revenge. And they'll damn the consequences."
"Agreed," Quintus shivered. "They sacked a national capital the last time something like that happened."
"We should probably move some discrete assets over to add to his protection detail," Hanse said after a moment of considering the potential ramifications of David Hull dying.
"I'll get in contact with Dunham, he'll probably be able to help out with that," Quintus said before turning to leave.
Haynesville, August 21st, 3035
"We got a response from New Avalon," Adam said as he brought over the recorded message. "I figured you'd want to watch it first LT."
"You figured right," Dan replied as he stretched out his legs and resisted the urge to scratch the peeling skin from the burns on his legs. "Let's see what they have for us."
"We got your message," a recording of First Prince Davion appeared in front of the two men. "We've already got people on route to reinforce both Haynesville and to retake the other worlds that were not as successful in resisting as you were. The estimated time of arrival is the end of October barring any accidents involving the jumpships." The recorded figure of Hanse had a savage grin on its face. "We're going to be providing you the gear to go on the offensive as soon as you're up and running at near full strength once again. Good work, and remember that we're coming in force to throw out the invaders and eradicate the Word of Blake once and for all."
"Oorah!" Dan and Adam cheered as the message ended.
"Let's get back to work," Adam said as he popped a cigar into his mouth and began to light it with a match. "We've still got a ton of salvage to go through, and I want us ready to move on the offensive as soon as the reinforcements get here."
"Took the words right outta my mouth kid," Dan said as he swiped the cigar out of the younger man's mouth and threw it in an ashtray outside of his door. "No smoking in my office." The officer got to his feet and walked out of the building. "I'm going to go get some meds for my burns, and then I'll meet you at the armory."
"Copy that, I'll meet you there," Adam replied as he retrieved the battered cigar and lit it up once again. "Now, let's get cracking!" The Steiner man hopped into his truck and sped all the way to the repair bays, eager to get back to work.