BattleTech by Michael A. Stackpole

Author:Michael A. Stackpole
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs

10

NORTHWEST QUADRANT, ELLINGTON

CAPITAL DISTRICT

ZAVIJAVA

LYRAN COMMONWEALTH

15 DECEMBER 3010

Constantine Fisk really wasn’t a ’Mech commander, but he’d played one in many holos. His military philosophy could be, and had been, summed up in pithy one-liners he growled onscreen.

Hit ’em where they ain’t.

Hit and move.

Give no quarter.

Luckily for the Ion Knights, the militia commander was playing things exactly as if reading off a script. He’d failed to quarantine ‘refugees’ heading south on the maglev, so infiltrating a few scouts had been child’s play. Operational security for the militia had been non-existent, and the maglev passed just east of the militia’s lines, so the first scouting report confirmed what his intel hackers were pulling from the worldnet.

And that information built itself into a battle plan. Constantine assumed only two things. The first is that the militia plan would go off late simply because these plans always did. Second was that he could guarantee the cooperation of the press, and thereby guarantee his own operational security.

That latter piece had been terribly simple to arrange. News organizations need information. Constantine and Somokis granted interviews, which were broadcast throughout the world. They allowed themselves to come off as slightly disorganized, and made sure the media got plenty of holo of ’Mechs that had taken damage. Lots of them looked as if they had, which was more theatrical magic than reality, making the Ion Knights less threatening than they might be. Sharing the wealth of their raids with ordinary folks upped their image and created the Robin Hood mystique, which guaranteed viewer interest.

The Ion Knights then offered the local media a chance to embed reporters with the units. They’d get exclusive content and the network managers saw that as a spike in revenues. This made the raids quite lucrative and, for Constantine, would provide a source of publicity that would drive off-world interest in the loot.

The trick of it was, however, that the reporters could only send their material back for broadcast when authorized. Any violation of that plan would sever access, and make a network into a loser in the ratings race. Motivated by profit, reporters used their ‘objectivity’ to trump their nationality. By withholding information from broadcast, they effectively rendered the Ion Knights invisible except when the raiders wanted to be seen.

Colonel Wittenberg, on the other hand, alienated the press from the start, creating an adversarial relationship. Whereas the media had previously loved the militia and reported favorably on them; now they found themselves shut out. Reporters took great delight in ferreting out facts and broadcasting them, as if that would teach the militia a lesson. Again, personal self-interest trumped national pride, making every move the militia made into a news story that kept Constantine and his people wholly up to date on a minute-by-minute basis.

Citing militia activity, Constantine had two lances move back to Ravensburg and begin searching out defensive positions to the southeastern side of the city. That gave the media plenty of holo to keep it occupied. Having learned that the militia was going to come north in the night, Constantine then sent his remaining trio of companies south.

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