While the Command group was enjoying the spectacle of an infantry unit slogging down a mountain to get to the base camp, the first round of supply shipments was sent out to resupply the troops that returned to their starting points.
The transports raced away toward their destinations, loaded up with equipment and munitions that had been created at the Materials Printers inside the Landers, while the Mecha support ran power cables to chargers, set up to handle all of the Infantry unit’s Laser Rifle power packs at once. They could also recharge the Plasma Blaster’s power packs, and those had been the first items on the charging stands, in the expectation that the number of large Klem would only increase the next time they went below.
Many of them had been trapped for hours by Shredders blocking passages and a lack of sufficient firepower to deal with them. Fortunately, the Mercenaries took pity on them and sent in squads of Corvette Class Mecha to clear the exits when they received signals that the units in the tunnels were having a hard time.
There was something odd about those mecha though. More than one trooper had reported strikes from the giant aliens simply bouncing off the Mecha, leaving not even a scratch despite the ferocity with which they struck.
The Infantry commanders wrote it off as superstition at first, but there were some highly respected officers spreading the rumor, so they couldn’t keep it out of the reports forever. Central Command was used to strange sightings and superstition in the reports anyhow, it was just how soldiers were, but in this case, even a rumor of the capabilities that their allies could field would be incredibly valuable.
Aboard Abraham Kepler, the staff dutifully recorded the reports, then redacted them for transmission away from the vessel. Unlike the complement of the other ships, the staff aboard Abraham Kepler knew full well what was going on, and that the Mecha they were seeing were experimental units, not an alien Mercenary Group, as the reports insisted.
[Good news, General. The mole problem aboard the ship has been settled to my satisfaction.] General Yaakov sent to General Tennant while making a gesture of respect for the dead toward the body slowly floating away from the airlock in the landing bays.
Over the course of the last few days, he had spent every waking hour, and some of his sleeping hours dedicated to finding out everyone who sympathized with the Bureaucratic Nobles and to exactly what extent they had or would assist the movement.
His reputation as a Noble snob who refused to speak directly to his lessers helped him immensely in this case, causing most of the men he questioned to view him as an ally, right up until the very end.
He was greatly saddened to see the level of disloyalty and self-interest among the officers that he talked to, with a good portion of the officers who weren’t even nobles, much less ingrained parts of the Bureaucracy, being sympathetic on some level to the notion that the Emperor should be removed from power.
The sentiment that a rebellion was the way or even acceptable, was fortunately much rarer, with most of the disgruntled forces believing that the Military should be the ones to take over the running of things in the Kepler Empire.
That was somewhat understandable, and as loyal soldiers, as long as their superior officers were loyal, they would be as well.
In the end, he had only needed to eliminate a dozen people before the entire conspiracy to have the Bureaucracy expose and capture the Prototype Mecha was fully revealed. There was only one remaining issue, there were four more names on his list that weren’t on his ship. General Yaakov didn’t have any authority over the other vessels, so he had to come up with something before the ships left and the traitors would feel safe enough to send another message out.
So, he had to take a risk of having missed someone important and inform another General of his findings.
Inquisitor General Ming was the obvious choice. Yaakov knew that it would lead to an inquiry into his own loyalty, but he was ready for that. There was nothing but loyalty to the Emperor to be found, so he could withstand a few days or weeks of interrogation before the truth was settled.
So, General Yaakov took the final step and forwarded the data that he had found not only to General Tennant but also to the Inquisitor, hoping that the turncoats that had arrived with the other ships could be exposed and dealt with before they left the planet.
His actions had been stealthy, but there was a small change that none of the other Generals missed. This morning, the obnoxious sidekick that followed him everywhere was nowhere to be found.
“General Yaakov, I do hope your Nephew is doing well. Though his presence was a distraction, he seemed to be an enthusiastic officer.” General Tennant greeted him, giving him an easy chance to explain the disappearance.
“Unfortunately, it seems that his enthusiasm cost him dearly this time. While he was on a tour of the repair bays, a misplaced wrench fell on his head. Though the physical wound was healed quickly, the mental damage is extensive.” General Yaakov replied sadly.
The mental damage would never heal, he had made absolutely sure of it.
“A pity. Be sure to send a condolence letter to his parents when you get a chance.” General Tennant replied, then turned back to the mission plans.
“Once this sweep is finished, we should have full clearance on the tunnels. Most of the Klem have been either cornered and eliminated or swept out of the entrances to be dealt with by the Heavy Mecha squads. They just have to double-check areas that could not be verified due to combat damages, which means clearing a few collapsed tunnels and waiting for others to cool.” General Tennant brought the Regimental Commander up to speed, pointing to the relevant spots on the map.
The others in the room all assumed that he was a member of the Central Command team sent with General Tennant on this research mission, since there wasn’t officially any Mecha Regiment aboard the ship, so no questions were raised when he rejoined the group after days of other duties to attend.
“Shall we collapse the tunnels once they are verified clear?” General Yaakov suggested, highlighting the spots where an orbital strike could collapse a large portion of the mountain range.
“Imperial Command says no. They intend to assign a defensive colony here in the future, due to the continued threat of Klem incursion into the Empire, so they want the atmosphere in pristine condition if possible.”
Yaakov nodded, seeing the logic behind the order. “Understood. It will lead to a few more losses, but from what I can see in the data, the total loss to combat this mission will be under five percent, a resounding victory unless the unexpected should happen in the final stages.”
General Ming interrupted their conversation by clearing his throat. “Now that our numbers have been bolstered by the return of General Yaakov, I have a few matters to attend to back aboard my own vessel. I will return by the end of the day, but I can stop off if anyone else needs anything.”
The other two Generals nodded in agreement but waved off his offer.
“On second thought, bring over some extra Carib Rum. You sent the only case we had here on Abraham Kepler down to the Mercenaries and I’ve got a bit of a thirst.”
“And a case of cigars from my locker. My adjutant will happily give them to you if you stop off.”
Their small errands gave the General the perfect excuse to visit all three vessels for a few minutes and contact the hidden Inquisition officers aboard each, having them judiciously deal with the issue of the suspected traitors. Communication by radio wasn’t secure, but in person, he could get all the updates that he needed on how things had been going.
“I will see you all at dinner. I hope to hear good news.” Inquisitor General Ming told them as he left the room.
“Now that he’s gone, we can relax a little. There has been enough by the book, let’s send in the Fusion Flamers and have them clear the last pockets of resistance. Not many of the side spurs are more than seventy meters long, and a little burnt limestone shouldn’t bring the whole mountain down on them.” General Tennant told the others with a smile.
Officially, the Mercenaries were a support force, not to be sent underground to the front lines, but those nasty flamers would burn to ash anything from Klem Chitin to the very walls of the caverns they were hiding inside. In a pinch, the Disintegrators could also be used to open up tunnels, but the dimensions that they had for the main caverns showed that they should be able to move Crusader Class Mecha down them far enough to do a final clearance after the Infantry had gotten everything they could find.
The Klem were sneaky, but a fire would guarantee that nothing they hid in the mountains would survive to hatch, while the planet itself wouldn’t suffer as much as if they used an orbital bombardment to do the same task.
It was a minor technicality that the Inquisitor would surely catch, but if it was done before he returned, it was safe to assume that it was close enough to within regulation that he wouldn’t have an issue with it.