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The Capellan attacks had caught DMI and MIIO flat-footed, and Justin Allard, along with Alex Mallory, was working long into the night. 

"Reminds me a bit of Sian, before and during the War."  Alex didn't need to say what war.  They had both been there, deep cover, neither knowing the other was a Federated Suns plant.  "A bit more desperate back then, though." 

"Just so.  Plus, there were other distractions..."  Candace Liao, who had run off with him.  Now she had left, keeping their children.  It had been as big a trauma as when he had been publicly made a nonperson and exiled from the Suns.  Not to mention, this little war had put off his plans with Major Van Damme's unit.  The Capellan attack was not a convenient training ground for a new unit.  Maybe some raiding later on...

Not to mention the wary looks across the border at the Combine.  It was easy, all too easy sometimes, to forget about them, but the Dragon would never be satisfied, was always looking to expand.  Maybe 3039 had been too near run a thing for Teddy Kurita, but Justin wouldn't have bet on it. 

He stood up, yawning, stretching.  "C'mon, Alex.  Go home.  Get a few hours of sleep."  Of course, neither of them was going anywhere.  Justin would sleep on the couch in his office again, and he knew that Mallory would do the same, despite the trouble it would give him the next day.  "Back at 0500?  That's three hours."  That would give them a few more hours before they would brief the Prince.  Not trusting an alarm, he always had an orderly come in to wake him, and told the infantryman outside that he had to be awake.  He kicked off his shoes after Alex left, and lay down on the couch.  Exhaustion claimed him immediately. 

7 March, 3040
New Avalon, Federated Suns
NAIS Teaching Hospital, D Ward(Oncology)

Allard could sense a vague uneasiness from Reinhardt, but not exactly why.  if he had known it was the suit, he would have told him to spend more time in one, sleeping in it if necessary, but not knowing, he chalked it up to hospital uneasiness.  Justin himself had no fond memories of NAIS, where his mechanical hand had been fitted.  Not the most advanced type V, but the type IV was in many ways more practical even if it did mark him out. 

The noteputer he scanned quickly, discerningly.  "How reliable do you consider this?  Your gut feeling."  He knew Reinhardt would likely trust his fellow LIC agents implicitly, so no sense in asking if he trusted their methods.  "A command circuit?  Doable, but pricey.  Full disclosure and a similar favor, should something come up?"  Technically the Federated Commonwealth was a single political entity, but in practice it would be decades, if not a full century, for things to really operate the way they needed to.  He had the utmost respect for the LIC, and he was sure they felt the same about DMI and MIIO, but that didn't mean they were always on the same page.  "Boots on the ground, I'm sure I can find somebody willing to back you up.  We'll use the command circuit to get your team there, then shift it over for them."  He said it confidently, this was all the more grounds for him having a few smaller commands under his direct authority.  Soon enough, he thought.  Line units were useful but lacked the discretion and security clearances that he would have preferred for this, at least in general.  Still, they would have to make do.  "You looking to go with them, Mr. Reinhardt?" 

7 March, 3040
New Avalon, Federated Suns
NAIS Teaching Hospital, D Ward(Oncology)

Major(ret.) Justin Allard(he rarely used the Xiang on New Avalon) walked tiredly into the hospital.  His bodyguards waited outside; given the presence of Katrina STeiner and the visits of the Steiner-Davion children, few places were more protected in the Inner Sphere.  Despite him being relatively well-known, he didn't quite pass for the Champion of Solaris fifteen years after the fact.  The gray hair, in particular, was irksome.  Somehow his father had left out just how quickly the onset would be.  His ID was checked thoroughly, although he recognized at least one of the 'infantrymen' present.  Unlike the man he would meet, he was unarmed, save for the laser pistol built into his left arm.  At forty-three, he could no longer realistically consider himself a weapon, tai chi or no.  Also in contrast was the that black trousers and tunic he wore.  The black metallic hand gave him the look of wearing a glove as well. 

Ostensibly he was here to meet the Archon.  Melissa Steiner-Davion he knew rather well, after all, from years of working around the Prince, but her mother, he had never met.  But Justin also knew that Katrina Steiner would not waste his time.  If she had asked to be introduced to her son-in-law's intelligence adviser, she had an ulterior motive.  So he was not quite surprised to see someone who looked dangerously out of place in his his clothes.  "Archon."  He let the pleasantries play out, both knowing they were required for propriety's sake, and he certainly understand that.  After a solid 20 minutes, time in which he was asked about Candace, Kai and Cassandra, and various other topics, finally they were able to get down to business. 

"You needed to see me, Herr...?"  Names weren't all that important, and he expected an alias, but he needed some designation for the LIC agent.  He assumed it was high priority, as normal turf wars did not normally require Justin himself to intervene. 

6 Jan 3040
New Avalaon, Federated Suns


It wasn't often in the last few years that he had heard 'no' and the other party had stood by it.  But Riffenberg had stuck by his guns, and denied Justin the 'new' Delta Company.  And despite his less than stellar performance on New Mendham, no one could actually fault him for his caution on a world that had repeatedly resisted all attempts to successfully subdue it.  That, along with the fact that he no longer held any military rank aside from being a retired major, meant that the general was within his rights.  It wasn't worth bad blood between his office and the Light Guards, but nor were they the only source of experienced, innovative  tacticians around. 

One of the nicer things about being Hanse Davion's intelligence chief was the sheer volume of information at his disposal.  If Riffenberg would not give him Delta Company, he would create a new one.  But that meant staffing it, and more importantly, a leader for it.  As good as he had once been, maybe still was, Allard knew his days of jockeying a Mech were over; Yen-Lo-Wang sat deep in underground, waiting for him to start her up.  But even if he still felt like he could go out there, the fact was that he had become somewhat difficult to replace in the last few years.

But here on New Avalon, there were plenty of veterans, instructors, active duty, misfits, ex-mercs, and all sorts of other expendable jocks.  And this candidate looked promising.  Point Barrow Academy, passing marks for his education, but excellent in the mech.  Damned good outside of it as well, at least hand-to-hand.  First action in 4th Succession War, saw more in 3039, one of the handful of survivors of the First Chisholm Raiders.  He was seen as unlucky, the First suffering horrendous losses in both wars, and so he'd been sent as an instructor for the NAIS. 

He hit the intercom, giving his aide a single sentence of instruction.  "Tell Major Van Damme that I want to see about getting him back under a neurohelmet." 

1 January 3040
New Avalon, Federated Suns

It was a quiet passing of the torch, and the sole reason it was public knowledge was that theSuns had no real reason to hide it.  Quintus Allard, long Hanse Davion's intelligence advisor, was stepping down in favour of his son Justin.  It was not nepotism, as he had been doing intel work in an analyst's capacity for over ten years.  No, he was the most qualified, and Quintus was tired, and feeling his age had led to at least some of the mistakes of 3039. 

He hadn't wanted to change his office, but his father's was simply a larger, better set up for running  everything compared to his old one.  He had barely settled into his chair, when more reports started coming in.  Justin sighed and wondered why he had stopped piloting his mech, thinking that had been at least easier than this. 

He did, though, send out a request to the AFFC, to have Delta Company from the Light Guards seconded over to DMI for an indefinite period of time.  He maybe had something special for them, and he knew they were always up for that.  Redburn was long gone, off with the Kathil Uhlans, but he had met their new CO and felt confident this assignment would be appreciated.  That request made, he put his mind back to the drudge work.   He filtered everything, showed Hanse what was of immediate importance, what could wait, and some things never went past his desk at all, as he would continue waging the quiet war that Quintus had managed so well.