Chapter 14 - Cate's Hole

"Mick, I know you're going to like this one, you're always complaining of being bored." said Colonel Ezekiel 'Zeke' Jones, when everyone was finally present for a Staff Conference he had called. Shadow Brigade is a Mercenary Regiment and I am one of the Battalion Commanders. We had just enlarged from being a Battalion and I wasn't even used to being called 'Major' yet. "We have received a call from Thomas Calderon, Protector of the Taurian Concordat himself for a job. We are being given this assignment for two reasons. One, the world we are going to assist is in the Magistracy of Canopus and is a world that Canopus and the Concordat have battled over in the past. It was thought that by sending in a Mercenary group it wouldn't appear that they're trying to take advantage of the situation and capture the world for themselves. And Two, they can't spare the additional manpower. They are already sending in two Regiments to assist at New Abilene and Brixtana. We're going to Cate's Hole."

"Cate's Hole is just across the sphere of influence inside Canopus. It has been contested, as I said, for the last fifty years by the Concordat. Now it would appear that the Free Worlds League has decided that they need the large deposits of radioactives that have been worked there for the last twenty years. Cate's Hold has a very small population of only 50,000, most of whom are miners or administrators for the mines. Many of them serve in local militia and home-defense companies however they have no Mech forces themselves. When the Siege started there was two Lances of Mechs on the planet. One light and one medium. They haven't been heard from since. There is no ComStar facility on the planet."

"We'll be going in blind but we'll be going in heavy. We're taking twenty-five Lances in with us. We should be able to overwhelm what ever forces we meet as they should be spread out capturing the mines. We'll also be taking fighters to escort us in and we'll try to capture any Jumpships that are present. Because of that we'll be going in on both the Zenith and the Nadir drop points. Ladies and Gentlemen what we're expecting is an Invader class Jumpship at each drop point. We're going prepared for that. It might be something larger or something smaller."

"The Leopards are being configured as fighter carriers, I know they are not CVs but we are using them as such. Instead of Mechs each bay will carry a fighter. With the Union that'll give each Jumpship eight fighters. Along with our infantry in Zero 'G' gear we should be able to capture any ships there and still have an escort on our way down. Wing commanders will meet with Col. McKinnon after this meeting to work out placement. That is all."

"Officer's call, Phantom in one hour," I called out as we were breaking up. "Have your Lance Leaders with you." The other Battalion Commanders began to call out the same thing. As yet we didn't know who was going and who was staying behind so we were all making plans.

I had no more than gotten out the door of the briefing room when Sergeant Major Billy Jackson stopped me. "Stick around Mick, he wants to see you."

"Billy, if he is going to leave me behind on this one I'll shoot him. I got left behind on the HellHole job and it's someone else's turn to be the bride's maid."

"I don't think that's it. I think it is something else. Really I do. Calm down, boy," he said with a grin. The 'boy' thing goes back a ways between the two of us. As he had used that term I knew everything was alright.

A few minutes later Zeke came out of the Briefing Room and spotted me. "Mick, good he caught you. Come on." Still walking he continued to his office where he waited for me to enter and then he closed the door.

"Mick, McKinnon is staying behind on this trip. We still have our regular job to do and he'll be in charge of that. I need you to command the second drop point. I know that Milt is senior to you but I spoke with him first and he understands. You have the training and the temperament for the job. He says he can take your orders with no problem. So here. For the mission these are yours." Milt Jacobs was the sergeant in charge of the Lance I was assigned to when I joined Shadow. He is now the Commander of the Night Creatures Battalion, our heaviest Mechs.

What he handed me was a small piece of cardboard with the gold filled circle and St. Andrews crosses of Lt. Colonel rank insignias attached. This wasn't what I had been expecting. I'm sure my chin flapped a couple of times because of Zeke's comment. "Close your mouth Mick, you're catching flies! Congratulations. Now get out of here, you have an Officer's Call."

"Yes sir, thank you sir, I'll..." I was still muttering as he showed me out the door and closed it behind me.

"Hey boy! You're out of uniform. You're supposed to wear those Mick, not walk around with them in your hand." Billy took the insignia from me and started to pin them on my collar tags. "A lot different from PFC stripes, isn't it. That was a long time ago."

When he finished he buffed them just a bit with his sleeve and then stepped back and popped me a salute. It would have done any parade ground proud. "Congratulations, Colonel."

"Thanks, Billy," I replied, returning the salute just as proudly. "You're right, it's a long way from Sawyer's Wildcats." Sgt. Major Billy Jackson and I had been together years ago when I first hired on with a Mercenary Unit. It had been Sawyer's Wildcats. He had been the Sgt. Major and I had been a lowly private. I was one of only two Mech pilots who'd survived a devastating raid on the planet we'd been hired to guard. Our relief had literally gotten there in the neck of time. When the Raiders had been put down the Wildcats had been destroyed. Billy and I both had joined Shadow. I was now a Major and a Battalion Commander and he was again the Sgt. Major, only now it's Regimental Sgt. Major.