Castle Brian “Tara,” Georgia
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
12 September 3055
“As I’m certain the Archon-Prince is aware,” said Colonel Edward Senn, “the Mercenary Conference on Arc-Royal made the formal decision that no mercenary unit in the employ of the Federated Commonwealth would suffer any form of criminal prosecution for accepting a legal contract with Duke Ryan. Add to that the fact that we accepted your offer of amnesty and did not oppose your landing here last week.”
Victor Davion stood up. “Colonel Senn, this hearing is merely a formality, legally mandated to return Northwind into the Davion fold. Your Clan Elders will remain in power. Your regiments will return to the employ of the Federated Suns, unless you so choose to renegotiate at this time.”
Senn shook his head. “That will not be necessary.”
“Good, then let us proceed. This will not take long.”
Joshua Messer, commander of the Star Swords, watched his Prince and friend from near the exit of the room. He had come to press his own case against the Highlanders, that one of their officers still had custody of his toddler son, Daniel. Daniel had been the offspring of his wife Lisa and the former Highlander officer Robert O’Malley. Now Ian O’Malley, Robert’s father, had the child, who had been abducted by Robert’s brother Richard and brought to Northwind.
“You cannot do this.” protested Senn.
“These are your orders, Colonel. Your Highlanders have caused significant damage to the infrastructure of several Combine worlds. It is my full intent that you make reparations to the Combine by entering into their employ. Only one regiment need leave Northwind for this assignment. The rest may remain, but I am ordering you to be a peace offering from those who fought for the Conspiracy.”
“And if we refuse…”
“I wouldn’t.” said Victor sternly.
Senn turned to those behind him. Seated with him were the other three regimental commanders of the Highlanders. Senn commanded the 1st Kearny Highlander regiment and was their spokesman by appointment. The 2nd Kearny, the O’Malley’s unit, were commanded by James Cochraine. The other two units were named for their commanders: MacLeod’s Regiment for Colonel William MacLeod and Stirling’s Fusiliers for Colonel Andrea Stirling.
The three men and one woman discussed Victor’s proposal among themselves. Joshua stood up and walked over to Victor. Victor turned and looked at Joshua.
“Good, I see you’ve arrived. It would seem that my surprise offer has succeeded in catching them off guard.”
“It’s a bold move, and not unprecedented. After all, after the Dragoons fought for Anton Marik in his revolt against the Free Worlds government, they ended up working for that same government for several years.”
“True.”
“The Highlanders never really took up arms against the Commonwealth. They only fought against our troops on Dieron and there was the one skirmish between O’Malley’s troops and my own here on Northwind. This whole mess is just complicated because Duke Ryan chose Northwind as his proxy capital after Skye was retaken.”
“In truth, I think we can still trust them to do the right thing.” Said Victor. “I’m not asking a lot. And I dread the alternative at least as much as they must.”
“Still, they got into this because they hate Kurita.”
“And the best way for them to unlearn that hatred is to meet with and live among the people of the Combine. Times change. The Highlanders need to learn that.”
The Highlander huddle broke and Colonel Senn walked towards Victor. He glanced at Joshua for a brief second. Joshua meanwhile was looking at Colonel Cochraine.
“We are willing to hear your offer, your Highness. I presume we will receive the details via our liaison on Outreach.”
“You will. Now there is one other matter, one concerning my subordinate here.”
“Yes, regarding your request that the scions of House O’Malley be turned over to you for criminal acts not associated with our Conspiracy contract.”
“Richard O’Malley kidnapped my son. He is in O’Malley custody as we speak.” Said Joshua.
“We sympathize with you, General. Baron O’Malley is a respected member of the nobility here on Northwind, a Clan Elder, and has been a good and loyal soldier with the Highlanders. His children….” Senn paused. “…are another matter. We were going to request that you not press criminal charges in exchange for their turning the boy back over to you. However, something has happened to complicate matters.”
“What’s going on?” asked Joshua suspiciously.
“Baron O’Malley has disappeared: he, his family, much of his household staff, and number of his soldiers with their Battlemechs. It would seem that they have gone rogue and we do not know where they are.”
“Was he aware of your intent to force him to turn Daniel over to me?”
“I think the Baron knew his position was untenable in regards to your son. I also think he might have feared reprisals from the people of Northwind and your people for the brutality of his son’s tenure as head of Conspiracy Intelligence. There are many who remember well the lengths to which the Baron has gone to cover for his troubled children, and he is not terribly well liked outside of the nobility. But he is not, despite what you may believe after your dealings with Richard and Robert, an evil man, merely one who loves his family a little too much. Neither is he a coward. No offense, General, but he would not have run from the likes of you.”
“And yet he has, Colonel.” Said Joshua angrily.
Victor touched Joshua’s arm. “There is little to be gained by arguing this here. The Highlanders don’t know where he is, Josh. Considering the pressure I could bring to bear on them right now, I doubt they would lie to us about that.”
“Please be assured that we will use every means at our disposal to locate Baron O’Malley and the child.” Said Senn.
“Don’t mind then, if I don’t put much faith in that assurance.” Snarled Joshua. He stood up and left.
Provisional Command Center, 1st Star Swords Enclave
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
12 September 3055
Lisa could tell from her husband’s expression how things had gone with the Highlanders. She waited patiently as he walked away from his car and over to her.
“What happened?” she said dejectedly.
“O’Malley has gone AWOL. The Highlanders claim to not know where he is.”
“That doesn’t make much sense. Why would he abandon his barony and flee?”
“Because he knows the Commonwealth courts will never side with him over the issue of custody of Daniel. That much is obvious.”
“Are the Highlanders are protecting him?” said Lisa, her voice growing shrill in fear and frustration. “Damnit, Joshua, they gave you a few platitudes and you just walked away. This is our son!”
“They’re not protecting him.” Retorted Joshua strongly. “Their position is too fragile right now to do anything like that with Victor backing us. When they say they don’t know where he is, they are telling the truth. There’s nothing for them to gain to protect O’Malley and everything to lose.”
‘So he was right. With his dying breath, Richard was right. He won.”
“Not yet he hasn’t.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Simple. We are going to find him.”
“It’s a big galaxy, Joshua. The Swords are needed on New Belfast and we’ve no clue where he’s gone.”
“None of those are obstacles we cannot overcome. I found you when you ran. I can find our son.” Said Joshua. “And I have someone I trust enough to bring him home.”
“Who’s that?”
“Logan.”
“You’d send the Dark Rangers?”
“Why not? They’re a small mercenary band. They can go places we cannot. They can cross into Liao space, Marik space, wherever O’Malley may have gone. We take ourselves and we’ll start an international incident.”
“But it’s Logan…He’s a thug, Joshua. He’s good at that. But it’s like the old saying, when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. We don’t need a hammer for this. We need a brain, someone who’s trained at investigation, who can speak multiple languages….”
“Who has intelligence training.” Finished Joshua. “Do you not think I hadn’t considered that?”
“Gwen?”
“Absolutely. I’ll send her with them.”
At the mention of Joshua’s former lover, Lisa stiffened.
“With her skills, she’s easily the most qualified to track him down and you know it.” Said Joshua. “And you know damn well she’ll do everything in her power to find him.”
“I know.” Lisa relented. “I’m just not comfortable with the whole idea. It all makes sense, Josh, I know that. You’ve thought this through, which is probably good because I can’t think straight about this. I’m too scared, too worried. I’m not usually like this.”
“No, you’re not. But this is different. Our son is at stake.”
“Add to that the simple fact that I’m not terribly emotionally disciplined when pregnant.”
Joshua smiled and gave her belly an affectionate rub. It was just barely beginning to show. “I do hope you will be a bit more reasonable than last time.”
“I couldn’t be much worse.” Lisa smiled. “No, my love, I don’t plan to go crazy this time.”
Joshua pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Come on, there’s work to be done here. We smashed up the town and it’s the least we can do to help the Highlanders put it back together. Organizing some work crews might get our minds off things.”
Lisa nodded and followed after him.
ConsInt Headquarters, Georgia
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
15 September 3055
Gwendolyn Laidir shivered as she stepped inside the now-abandoned base of Conspiracy Intelligence. The last time she was here, she had been brought as a prisoner, wounded in the fight at Napineo’s Prison. Wounded, she remembered, by Lisa MacLeod.
“Not that she didn’t have plenty of reason to shoot me.” thought Gwen. The Swords intelligence liaison and New Vision survivor frowned at the thought. After reuniting with Joshua, Gwen had done everything in her power to win Joshua from Lisa, but in the end failed to do so.
“Lots of bad memories in this place.” said Karl Rohan behind her. The Dark Ranger had accompanied her to help out.
“You aren’t kidding.” Said Gwen, using her flashlight to sweep the room, looking for clues.
“Hello?” Said a voice.
Gwen spun, startled. The man who had entered the room behind them was dressed in scruffy old clothing. When he noticed her surprise, he smiled.
“I could have shot you.” Said Gwen annoyed.
“Not with a flashlight in your pistol hand.”
“Nathan Bairn.” said Gwen. “It has been a long time.”
“Aye, that it has, Gwendolyn. They had told me you had signed up with the Star Swords, but I didn’t believe it until I saw you walk in here in your uniform.”
“You still dress like trash. Why must you try to maintain your cover when there is no need?”
Nathan, who was affectionately called “Bum” because of his undercover role as a street person, smiled. “Sorry. Laundry day is tomorrow.” He joked.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m heading up the team that’s tearing through the Conspiracy’s records. All kinds of nice tidbits to find in their files.”
“We’re looking for O’Malley’s office.” asked Gwen bluntly.
“Upstairs.” said Nathan, pointing to the ceiling. “We hit it first, so most anything of interest has already been shipped out of here.”
“What I’m looking for likely won’t be in the records you took.”
“Looking for his father?” said Nathan. “Or the boy he took?”
“Where we find one, we’ll find the other.”
“We didn’t find any clues to his whereabouts up there. Most of us know about the boy.” Nathan paused. “You all aren’t alone in this. Don’t forget that General Messer is regarded as a hero by many in the Commonwealth. The fate of his son matters to us.”
“We appreciate that, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to investigate myself.”
Nathan shrugged. “Be my guest.” He gestured for the stairs, indicating for Gwen to take the lead. He fell into line behind them.
Gwen climbed the several flights of stairs to the top floor, Nathan close behind. As she approached the door at the top, she heard voices. She looked back at Nathan, who had a look of curiosity on his face, as if he was not expecting anyone to be there. Gwen approached the door with caution and peeked through the glass pane on the door into the hallway.
There were three men standing outside the door to O’Malley’s office. All three were in uniforms for LIC, the Lyran Intelligence Corps. One was working at the door knob, trying to unlock the door, whether with a key or something else, she couldn’t tell. Another, Gwen recognized immediately as Antoine Anderson, Richard O’Malley’s aide. Anderson appeared to be shackled.
Gwen cocked her head toward the door, indicating for Nathan to look. Nathan peeked in. “Anderson.” he whispered. “What’s he doing here?”
“He appears to be a prisoner. Those LIC goons have him.”
“Gwen, there are no LIC agents in this operation. It’s all DMI.”
“Then something is wrong.” said Gwen, drawing her blaster pistol. Rohan drew his gun also.
“Quiet like,” said Nathan, pushing Gwen’s arm down. “There are three of them.”
“And three of us.” Emphasized Gwen.
Gwen slipped into the hallway, with Nathan and Rohan close behind. Nathan had drawn a slugthrower. They crept up to the door. Nathan motioned for Gwen to cover the other side of the door. She darted across and took up position on the other side.
There was no window in the door, but the trio inside had left it slightly ajar. While they couldn’t see anything, they could hear them talking.
“....looks like they’ve picked this over pretty good.” said a voice.
“Yes, but I doubt they were looking for what we’re looking for.” That was Anderson. There was a rattling sound, as if someone had released the shackles.
Gwen looked over at Nathan, as if he might know what these three would be after. Nathan responded with a shrug and a look of puzzlement that matched Gwen’s own.
“You sure this thing exists?” said a third voice.
“O’Malley had to do something with those files. He wouldn’t have been foolish enough to take what he knew to the grave.”
“You suppose it’s at the manor house?”
“Could be. If so, it’s buried under the rubble after the Star Swords razed the building. More likely his father has it.”
“It might be in the hands of the enemy already.”
“No, if it were we’d know and since Prince Victor has yet to take action against the Duchess, I’m sure the files are still in the open.”
The talkers fell quiet. Instinctively, Gwen jumped back from her perch beside the door. Her instincts saved her as gunfire roared through the door. Rohan dove to the floor as the rounds whizzed over his head. Nathan darted back, but not quickly enough to avoid getting hit.
Gwen leapt forward, going through the door. The window on the far side of O’Malley’s office was open. One of the LIC troops was still within the room, brandishing a submachine gun. He brought the weapon to bear on Gwen, but Gwen squeezed the trigger on her pistol as he did so. The blaster bolt struck the LIC man in the shoulder. The superheated plasma seared through his clothing and flesh and threw off his aim. The gun rattled off several rounds as its bearer fell to the floor.
Gwen dashed to the window as klaxons sounded, no doubt triggered by the reports of gunfire. Anderson and the other flunkie were nowhere to be seen.
“Sloppy.” she snarled at herself. “They must have heard us.”
Davion soldiers rushed into the room a second later. “At ease. This area is secure.” said Gwen.
“Kommandant, what happened here?”
“Three infiltrators got inside this office. Agent Bairn and I interrupted them. Do you have a medic?”
“Yes. Agent Bairn is being tended to.”
“Good. Two of them escaped via the window. The third is smoking quietly in the corner.”
“Shot to the left chest and shoulder. Nice clean kill.” complimented the lead soldier.
“Unfortunately,” lamented Gwen. “He might have answered a few questions for us.” She turned and headed for the door. Something more was going on here than a simple flight from justice. And Gwen was determined to find out what.
10th Lyran Guard Command Center, Georgia
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
16 September 3055
Galen Cox, aide-de-camp to Prince Victor Davion, shook his head. “It was a bad hit, a lot worse than most pirate raids. The militia of Pattison is completely shattered, nearly all the troops killed. I think a tank corporal is in charge now. Guy by the name of Lee.”
“And what of the raiders?” asked Prince Victor.
“Stole several dozen heavy loaders. Construction vehicles, Workmechs, as well as nearly 100 civilian prisoners.”
“Slaves?”
“Most likely.”
“The slaves I can understand. As appalling as it is, the trade in human beings is one of the more profitable means of commerce in the Periphery. Abductions of this type are sadly not very uncommon. But the equipment? Why construction vehicles?”
“Perhaps they intend to build a base on some uncharted or uninhabited world close to our border.”
“That sounds too organized for ordinary pirates. Is that why this one merited your interest?”
“No, let me show you what did.” said Galen, holding up a vidchip. “Gun camera footage from Corporal Lee’s Manticore.” Galen put the chip to the player and pressed “PLAY.”
The screen flickered to life, showing several tanks of the militia battling a number of raider Battlemechs. Victor looked intensely at the mechs.
“I recognize those designs.” To that, Galen merely nodded. The chip played on for another minute or so before Victor exclaimed. “Wait, hold there!”
Galen paused the image on-screen. “Yes, you see it too.” he said.
Frozen on screen was a clear image of three mechs: a Mongoose, a Clan Thor, and a third mech similar in appearance to Clan Wolf’s Naga artillery mech, only smaller.
“Clan raiders?” said Victor, puzzled. “That’s awfully far out of their invasion corridor.”
“I suspect our pirates may have stumbled upon one of the Dragoons’ caches. They would likely have Clan equipment stored within.”
“Perhaps, but I find it unlikely that they’ve left any of it behind for people such as this to find. Summon General Messer. He hails from that part of the Periphery. Perhaps he knows something.”
“Very well.”
---
An hour later, Joshua was standing in Victor’s office. The two were alone; Galen was not privy to the secret of Joshua’s true origins and although Victor trusted him implicitly, Joshua did not know him.
Joshua viewed the chip with a look of concern. He paused the video at the same point as Galen had before.
“Tell me this isn’t what I think it is. I spend most of the last year chasing Clan equipped pirates across the Lyran Commonwealth. Now I see footage of raiders in the Federated Suns Outback armed with a Mongoose, a Thor, and a machine we’ve never seen before.”
“Not a Thor,” said Joshua, “although it’s understandable why you’d made the error. That’s a Harbinger, an early Clan upgrade of the venerable Thunderbolt and a precursor to the Thor. The Mongoose you recognized. The last mech is what we called a Ranger, a heavy fire support unit based on the old Archer. From what Star Colonel Mechlanthon tells me, it was also used as a model for several artillery and fire support mechs in the Clans touman.”
“So we’re looking at first generation Clan machines here.”
“Yes, machines not any more advanced that our own recovered technology machines.”
Victor nodded. “So where did they come from?”
“You wouldn’t have asked me here, my Prince, if you didn’t already suspect the answer.”
“Could these pirates have looted your homeworld for these machines?”
“Possible, but unlikely. Our equipment cache was strong enough to repel warship bombardment. Unless these thieves had a tactical nuclear device, I doubt they could penetrate it. Still, security measures can be fooled, even a genetic lock.”
“Might the Dragoons have left them behind in one of their caches and that’s the source of these machines?”
“Several problems with that theory.” said Joshua. “One, you’re assuming the Dragoons would have abandoned any of their supposed caches. That’s unlikely considering the damage they sustained in your father’s wars. Two, the Dragoons were meant to be equipped with machines familiar to the Inner Sphere. Although a few Clan designs were among the ranks, the Annihilator and the Imp for instance, it would be unlikely for them to cache a large number of unfamiliar designs. And then there’s the third reason, one you wouldn’t know, my Prince.”
“And that is.”
“We were their cache. The Dragoons never brought extra equipment along with them, despite all the rumors. Their infamous supply runs were trips to New Vision, where we outfitted them with excess machines from our supplies.”
“I thought the other Clans had kill-on-sight orders for your people.”
“They do, but Jaime Wolf is a more practical man than that and so was my grandfather, who was Khan when the Dragoons arrived. Both of them discerned the true intent of the other and rather than waste themselves in a useless battle over a vendetta two hundred years old, they agreed to work together. The Wolverines would supply arms and equipment to the Dragoons in exchange for what they learned about the Inner Sphere. It was a great arrangement, our first glimpse at the Inner Sphere since Kerensky’s Exodus. But then my father succeeded his father-in-law and the arrangement came to an abrupt end. The year I was born, I might add.”
“Then there’s one another possibility for the origins of these machines we haven’t mentioned.” Said Victor. “One you’re avoiding.”
“What? That they are Wolverine survivors? My Prince, don’t be preposterous. You never saw what the Falcons did to our world.”
“You survived. Your friends survived and most of them were pulled from battle damaged and demolished machines. If they lived, surely others could have. What was the population of your world when the Falcons struck?”
“Four million.”
“And only seven survived? Joshua, you’re being unrealistic. Surely there were others. Even the Falcons killed 99% of the world’s population in those few short hours, that would still leave 40,000 people alive. Simple arithmetic.”
“New Vision is a savage world, populated with powerful predators. Forty thousand, you say, but forty thousand without infrastructure, without food, weapons, medicine. Those the dracosaurs didn’t eat, disease would have finished.”
“Joshua, you’re my friend. In my position, I can’t say that about a lot of people. I’m not one to psychologize, but it seems to me that you’re doing your damndest to avoid facing the facts. I’d thought you’d be happy to learn that you weren’t alone, that others survived the holocaust of your world. What happened there? You have a haunted look about you.”
Joshua allow himself a cynical chuckle. “Haunted? That’s a good word. There are ghosts on that world, Victor. Ghosts I’d rather not face.”
“Well, either way, Joshua, someone has to stop these pirates. I cannot allow them to continue to ravage my worlds. So I am ordering you to do that for me. Whoever they are, they are equipped with machines you are familiar with, so you are clearly the best for the job.”
“Ordering me or the Star Swords?”
“Ordering you personally. I’d rather the bulk of the Swords be back on New Belfast by the first of the year. New Belfast, as you well know, is vulnerable whenever you are away. Select your best and go after these pirates. The rest of your regiment will return to its post.”
“And what if you’re right and they are my people? What am I to do then? Kill them?”
“I would never order that of you after what you’ve been witness too. No, I have something better. My father took a great gamble with you and your fellow refugees, a gamble that has paid off in spades. Imagine then what a force I could put together with not five Wolverines, but hundreds, maybe thousands. Negotiate with them, Joshua. Bring them into the Commonwealth like my father brought you in. And maybe at last, if you succeed, we will have an army with which we can beat the Clans once and for all.”
Mech Hanger, 10th Lyran Guard Compound
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
16 September 3055
Captain Logan Thorpe, commander of the Dark Rangers, sat perched on a repair platform looking intensely at the ugly scar torn into the front of his personal mech, The Nightmare. The hanger, loaned from the 10th Lyran Guard, was empty except for Logan, who was trying to repair the damaged circuit boards beneath the scar. The scar was battle damage, a wound inflicted by any one of a dozen opponents Logan fought during the attack earlier that month.
As the hanger was empty and as Logan was not using any heavy equipment at the moment, he easily heard the footsteps of someone coming into the hanger. He turned his head to see his second-in-command, Karl Rohan walking towards him.
“Are you sure you don’t want Doc to help you?” called Rohan up to him.
“Doc’s got a lot of work to do on the other machines. I figured I’d try to get as much done on my own as possible. Besides,” he said while ripping out a fused circuit. “This is just like the test. I can’t damn well inflict it on our recruits if I can’t do it myself.”
“The test” was something Logan had concocted when the Dark Rangers were formed. Determined to make sure his unit would not lack for technical support. He would take a laser rifle and fire it repeatedly into an open service panel of a Dark Ranger mech and then order that mech’s pilot to repair the damage. Dark Ranger mechwarriors very quickly learned how to do such repairs.
“Have you thought about General Messer’s offer?”
“I wasn’t aware we had a choice. I believe you already helped Agent Laidir the other day. Nearly got you killed to boot.”
“You’re not happy about this.”
“Why should I be?” He leaned over the edge and looked down at his comrade. “You know what happened the last time we did a special job for him.”
“That was different. That was a trap.”
“I know and we barely got out alive. But one thing isn’t different, Karl. Like before, General Messer is demanding a lot of us. Asking us on this wild goose chase with little chance for battle and salvage.”
“We owe him. Most merc outfits our size would have already folded or succumbed to attrition by now.”
“Don’t remind me.” Despite his defiance, Logan knew he couldn’t argue with that logic. It was true. The Dark Rangers owed much of their success to the Star Swords. Joshua had put in good words in all the right places and times to get the Rangers choice assignments. The Rangers had trained alongside the elite Star Swords “Dirty Dozen” company. His technical staff had repaired their forces and even refitted them with the powerful Clan technology when they ran afoul a Jade Falcon raid during a training exercise. Messer had even arranged for their refit and repair after the disastrous raid on Northwind.
Logan showed in a spare circuit panel and watched the diagnostic readout go green. “Alright, where are we going?”
“Gwen checking out some leads now. I think she’s got a good shot at tracking down what system the O’Malley’s fled to from here.”
“Give orders to the troops. Have them ready to leave at moments notice. The sooner we catch this guy, the sooner we can get a real job.”
O’Malley Mansion, North of Georgia
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
17 September 3055
Although the fires had long since gone out, the ruins of the O’Malley manor still had the feel of recent battle. Many of the buildings had been leveled or burned out. Now, manor workers were picking up the pieces, many of them wondering why they had been made to suffer for their employer’s crimes.
A Highlander Captivator and Tempest stood guard near the demolished gate to the grounds, both machines probably claimed from the now-dissolved Conspiracy regiments. A single automobile drove up to the gates and stopped before the two mechs.
“They didn’t leave much behind, did they?” said Rohan, looking out over the ruins from his vantage point in the passenger seat of the car.
“On every world, there are villains. It seems that given the predations of the younger son and the treason of the elder, the O’Malleys will take their place among them in the history of Northwind.” Said Gwen, who was driving. “Once the Conspiracy surrendered, those who suffered under Richard’s tender mercies had their revenge on his father’s home.”
“Why didn’t O’Malley’s troops stop them? I presume that’s what these two jokers are.”
“Most of them fled with the Baron. Only one company remained and even then, they would be reluctant to fire on their own people.”
“This only makes our job harder.” Said Karl with an air of frustration. “O’Malley’s flown the coop and we don’t have a first clue as to where.”
“That’s why we’re here.” Said Gwen. “One of the remaining household personnel is bound to know.”
“You’re assuming they’ll talk to us.”
A Highlander infantryman walked over to the car. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, Gwen Laidir, and Karl Rohan, here to investigate the kidnapping of Daniel Messer.”
The soldier stiffened at Gwen’s introduction.
“We are here with Duke Stuart’s permission.” Said Gwen, holding up a document to the soldier. “I was assured of full cooperation from the Highlanders.”
The soldier read over the document quietly. He returned it to Gwen without a word and then waved up to the two mechs. The mechs stepped aside.
“I guess that means we’re in.”
“I guess so.”
Gwen drove onto the grounds and parked near the front of the mansion. Ironically, the rioters who had ransacked the place had left the front of the building somewhat intact. Or, at least as intact as it was, because Joshua himself had shot it to pieces with his autocannon to kill Richard O’Malley. Perhaps that was why they left it alone, to make finding O’Malley’s body easier and to make a statement in that.
Another Highlander infantryman was there, waiting for them.
“Miss Laidir, Mr. Rohan,” said the man. Now it was Gwen’s turn to stiffen, more than a little annoyed at not being addressed by rank. “I am Sergeant Angus McDonald. I’m overseeing the cleaning process here.”
“So you’re in charge?” said Gwen bluntly.
“More or less. I’m detached from the 2nd Kearny Alpha Battalion, so I’m not in direct chain of command with Baron O’Malley’s troops.”
“Do you know who might be able to help us?”
“Greg O’Neil is the steward of the manor. He’s likely to be the one who can help you.”
“Is he here?”
McDonald gestured towards a small group of people who seemed to be inventorying things retrieved from the wreckage. Gwen and Karl walked over.
“O’Neil.” Said Rohan.
“Yes,” he said, looking up nervously.
“We’re here on business from Duke Stuart. We’re interested in the whereabouts of Baron O’Malley.”
“I don’t know where he is.” Said O’Neil evasively. "I've told that to what seems like hundreds of people now. Why won't anyone believe me."
“You would be the one to arrange for any transportation for him.” Said Gwen. “That's why. No one believes for a second that you don’t know where he is.”
“I don’t and I mean it.”
“Very well. If you uncover anything, please let us know.” Gwen turned and headed back to the car.
“Don’t tell me you’re giving up on him.” asked Rohan confused.
“I’m not. But the means by which I’ll get the information out of him are best not done in front of the guns of Highlander soldiers. I hope you’re not squeamish.”
Monday, February 4, 2019
Saturday, February 2, 2019
A Hero's Homecoming links page
Art by CeruleanRaven
The quick navigation page of the second Aurigan short story, A Hero's Homecoming...
Part Four
A Hero's Homecoming Part One
Detroit
Victoria Commonality, Capellan Confederation
7 July 3134
Maxwell McKree walked up the ramp into the repair bay of the Aurora-class dropship. The dropship belonged to a mercenary company known as Behemoth’s Bombardiers. A company that, despite their cliched name, was a long standing and storied unit in the Periphery, with a history that led back to the Fourth Succession War era, over a hundred years.
For nearly 14 years, Max had served as a mercenary mechwarrior. He’d signed on to numerous outfits over the years and, as was often the case, few of those units lasted more than a few years. Max was hoping to change his luck; when he heard the Bombardiers were hiring seasoned mechwarriors, he sent them his application. They’d responded and had asked them to swing by their dropship for a face-to-face interview.
Max looked up at the WHM-6R Warhammer that dominated the bay where he’d entered. The design was old, very old; dating from before the founding of the Star League. Despite that, it was still a formidable weapon of war: Twin particle cannon, a large short-range missile launcher, and two pair each of medium lasers, small lasers, and machine guns were more than enough firepower to discourage most foes. It’s lack of a modern coolant system and armor was its only real drawback.
“Hello!” Max called out. He heard a thump in response from the mech’s exposed leg.
“Ouch!” came a voice. “Hello. Give me just a second.” Crawling out from within the mech’s superstructure was the shortest woman Max had ever seen. She was dirty; her hair, skin, and clothes covered with dust, grime, and grease. She stood up and walked over to Max.
“You must be the rookie.” she said. “I’m Lilly, the chief tech.” She pulled off her work glove and proffered a clean hand for a handshake.
“Pleased to meet you, Lilly. Yeah, I guess I am the rookie, although I’ve been fighting in machines like that for over 15 years.”
“Yeah, she’s a beauty, isn’t she? We’ve got some newer machines in the company, but Crapshoot won’t part with her.”
“Crapshoot?”
“Call sign of Alpha Four. Owner of this machine.”
“I think I’m looking for Alpha One. Behemoth.” He pronounced the call sign in the “American” fashion, as Bee-he-muth.
Lilly chuckled. “That’s my sister. And it’s pronounced Bay-eh-moth, by the way.”
“British English. Gotcha. So, do they give you a nickname, Lilly?”
“Oh, I answer to lots of things. Short stuff, Munchkin, Tiny, even Bilbo Baggins on occasion.”
“You let people make fun of your height?”
Lilly shrugged. “I’m only 1.4 meters tall. I can’t hide or change that. So, let them mention it. I can tell the difference when someone is teasing me playfully and when someone means to insult me.” She looked at Max and smiled. “Anyway, Behemoth is on the bridge. You been on an Aurora before?”
“Many times.”
“Then I imagine you know how to get to the bridge from here. She’s waiting for you. Hopefully, I’ll see you around.”
“Agreed.”
---
The interview with Behemoth went very well. Max got the feeling within five minutes of the conversation beginning that Behemoth had already made up her mind about him before he’d even arrived. Most of the interview was the two of them swapping war stories.
“Alright,” said Behemoth, bringing the conversation to a close. “You’re smart enough to have figured out you’ve got the job. What call sign do you want?”
“I typically go by Pendragon.”
“Really?” said Behemoth. “Isn’t that interesting?” Max was curious as to her reaction, but before he could inquire about it, she resumed talking. “Well, welcome to the Bombardiers. You are Dispossessed right now, correct?”
Dispossessed. An archaic term for a mechwarrior without a mech. That used to be the worst fate any mechwarrior could face, but the scarce times of the old Succession Wars were long gone. With thousands of old mechs in storage across the Inner Sphere and the Periphery, all thanks to Devlin Stone’s Demilitarization Initiatives after the Jihad, finding another ride was easy. No longer did that term bear the shame it once did, but Max was again curious why she’d use that old term. He nodded. “Yeah, got my Centurion shot out from under me on my last job.”
“Well, you’re in luck. I think we have a Centurion in storage. You’ll be Alpha Three, Pendragon. Serving in my lance.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Max tossed her a mock salute. “So when do I get to check out my ride?”
Behemoth sneezed. “Damn allergies. Our reserves are aboard the Argo, up in orbit. We got a job lined up and our employer is coming by tomorrow for final negotiations. Find yourself a bunk and move in. I intend to launch after that meeting finishes tomorrow. Once were docked with the Argo, Lilly’ll get you lined up with your new ride.”
“Sounds good. I’ll head back to town and get my gear.”
Aurora Dropship Atlantia
Victoria Commonality, Capellan Confederation
7 July 3134
Maxwell McKree walked up the ramp into the repair bay of the Aurora-class dropship. The dropship belonged to a mercenary company known as Behemoth’s Bombardiers. A company that, despite their cliched name, was a long standing and storied unit in the Periphery, with a history that led back to the Fourth Succession War era, over a hundred years.
For nearly 14 years, Max had served as a mercenary mechwarrior. He’d signed on to numerous outfits over the years and, as was often the case, few of those units lasted more than a few years. Max was hoping to change his luck; when he heard the Bombardiers were hiring seasoned mechwarriors, he sent them his application. They’d responded and had asked them to swing by their dropship for a face-to-face interview.
Max looked up at the WHM-6R Warhammer that dominated the bay where he’d entered. The design was old, very old; dating from before the founding of the Star League. Despite that, it was still a formidable weapon of war: Twin particle cannon, a large short-range missile launcher, and two pair each of medium lasers, small lasers, and machine guns were more than enough firepower to discourage most foes. It’s lack of a modern coolant system and armor was its only real drawback.
“Hello!” Max called out. He heard a thump in response from the mech’s exposed leg.
“Ouch!” came a voice. “Hello. Give me just a second.” Crawling out from within the mech’s superstructure was the shortest woman Max had ever seen. She was dirty; her hair, skin, and clothes covered with dust, grime, and grease. She stood up and walked over to Max.
“You must be the rookie.” she said. “I’m Lilly, the chief tech.” She pulled off her work glove and proffered a clean hand for a handshake.
“Pleased to meet you, Lilly. Yeah, I guess I am the rookie, although I’ve been fighting in machines like that for over 15 years.”
“Yeah, she’s a beauty, isn’t she? We’ve got some newer machines in the company, but Crapshoot won’t part with her.”
“Crapshoot?”
“Call sign of Alpha Four. Owner of this machine.”
“I think I’m looking for Alpha One. Behemoth.” He pronounced the call sign in the “American” fashion, as Bee-he-muth.
Lilly chuckled. “That’s my sister. And it’s pronounced Bay-eh-moth, by the way.”
“British English. Gotcha. So, do they give you a nickname, Lilly?”
“Oh, I answer to lots of things. Short stuff, Munchkin, Tiny, even Bilbo Baggins on occasion.”
“You let people make fun of your height?”
Lilly shrugged. “I’m only 1.4 meters tall. I can’t hide or change that. So, let them mention it. I can tell the difference when someone is teasing me playfully and when someone means to insult me.” She looked at Max and smiled. “Anyway, Behemoth is on the bridge. You been on an Aurora before?”
“Many times.”
“Then I imagine you know how to get to the bridge from here. She’s waiting for you. Hopefully, I’ll see you around.”
“Agreed.”
---
The interview with Behemoth went very well. Max got the feeling within five minutes of the conversation beginning that Behemoth had already made up her mind about him before he’d even arrived. Most of the interview was the two of them swapping war stories.
“Alright,” said Behemoth, bringing the conversation to a close. “You’re smart enough to have figured out you’ve got the job. What call sign do you want?”
“I typically go by Pendragon.”
“Really?” said Behemoth. “Isn’t that interesting?” Max was curious as to her reaction, but before he could inquire about it, she resumed talking. “Well, welcome to the Bombardiers. You are Dispossessed right now, correct?”
Dispossessed. An archaic term for a mechwarrior without a mech. That used to be the worst fate any mechwarrior could face, but the scarce times of the old Succession Wars were long gone. With thousands of old mechs in storage across the Inner Sphere and the Periphery, all thanks to Devlin Stone’s Demilitarization Initiatives after the Jihad, finding another ride was easy. No longer did that term bear the shame it once did, but Max was again curious why she’d use that old term. He nodded. “Yeah, got my Centurion shot out from under me on my last job.”
“Well, you’re in luck. I think we have a Centurion in storage. You’ll be Alpha Three, Pendragon. Serving in my lance.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Max tossed her a mock salute. “So when do I get to check out my ride?”
Behemoth sneezed. “Damn allergies. Our reserves are aboard the Argo, up in orbit. We got a job lined up and our employer is coming by tomorrow for final negotiations. Find yourself a bunk and move in. I intend to launch after that meeting finishes tomorrow. Once were docked with the Argo, Lilly’ll get you lined up with your new ride.”
“Sounds good. I’ll head back to town and get my gear.”
Aurora Dropship Atlantia
Detroit
Victoria Commonality, Capellan Confederation
8 July 3134
Max did as he was told. He cleaned out his room at the boarding house and brought his belongings aboard the Atlantia. Over a decade moving from merc unit to merc unit had taught him to travel light. One pack of clothes, his Winchester 2776 Rifle, and his snub-nose EL-631 revolver were really all he carried. That, and a small tablet computer filled with digital photos of his family and friends, memories of lives he’d left behind.
He was cleaning his EL-631 when the PA system barked. “Pendragon, report to the bridge.”
Max stood up and set down the disassembled parts of his pistol on his bunk. Hoping no one would disturb his work, he headed toward the bridge.
He stepped onto the bridge a few minutes later. In addition to Behemoth and the command staff of the Bombardiers, there were two other men. The first was a massive bear of a man, probably 2 meters tall at least. While he looked fat, Max could tell by the way he moved that he was easily 140 kilos of pure muscle, the sort of fellow that could pick up a chain and drag a tractor-trailer rig across a parking lot by himself. The man was older, perhaps 70, and wore a Republic of the Sphere uniform.
The other was much younger, perhaps 35, and much smaller. He wore the uniform of the Northwind Highlanders, one of the most famous mercenary units in the Inner Sphere. The family resemblance between the two was obvious. They were a grandfather and grandson or some such arrangement.
“Pendragon, reporting as ordered.” said Max.
“Ah, so you’re the one who’s claimed the callsign of Patrick O’Brian.” said the older man.
“He’s a hero of mine. I’m Aurigan and he means a lot to my people.”
“Mine as well. I am Paladin Petar Victorius Messer and this is my nephew, Colonel Phillip O’Malley.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, sir, why the interest in my callsign? Behemoth thought it odd yesterday as well.”
“Do you believe in destiny, Mr. McKree?”
“I prefer the term ‘providence,’ but essentially yes.”
“Ah, a Christian, I take. No matter. We do as well. That’s why we’re here. Your signing on with the Bombardiers may be an omen.” The paladin chuckled. “It’s not a big deal. Perhaps just coincidence. But it is curious that someone would come on bearing O’Brian’s name at this particular juncture.”
“I don’t get it.”
“What do you know of O’Brian’s history?”
“I know he commanded a mercenary company known as Pendragon’s Dragoons throughout the Aurigan Civil War. After the war was over, he took some jobs in the Inner Sphere, working for House Steiner, I believe. Not sure what happened after that.”
“Well, your sense of history is correct. Pendragon’s unit fought in the Fourth War for the Lyran Commonwealth, helping Houses Davion and Steiner claim several worlds from House Marik. He won several military commendations for his valor in those battles, and the right to return. You see, O’Brian and his family were exiles from Steiner space. He redeemed his family name and he came home. He settled on a planet known as New Belfast. The ruling duke learned of O’Brian’s military record and asked him to raise a militia for the world. He did so and served with distinction for another twenty years, marrying and raising a family while he was at it.
“His mercenary unit, on the other hand, passed to his second-in-command, a woman named Miranda Aguilera. Callsign Behemoth.”
Max looked at Behemoth. “My great grandmother.” She confirmed.
“So you’re telling me, I signed on with the original Pendragon’s unit?”
“That’s exactly what we’re saying. And that is exactly what you did.” said Messer. “Now you know why I mentioned destiny.”
“Oh, that’s wild.” replied Max. “That’s just crazy.”
“It gets better.” said O’Malley. “You’re probably wondering why a Paladin of the Sphere and a Clan Elder of Northwind are out here on the edge of civilized space looking for mercenaries.”
“Well, I figured with the Blackout and all, the Republic was probably looking for some backup. The sharks are undoubtedly circling.” The Blackout was the name for the failure of interstellar communication that occurred on 7 August 3132. The entire Comstar communication grid that linked every colonized world failed utterly. Two years later and things still weren’t back to normal.
“Well, you’re right to some degree about the Republic. But it’s not the Republic that concerns us at the moment.” said O’Malley. “We’re here because of New Belfast.”
“O’Brian’s retirement planet?”
“The very same.”
“Why?”
“First, let me explain our interest.” said O’Malley. “O’Brian retired from all military duties in 3048, just before the Clan Invasion. He was replaced by a man named Robert O’Malley, my grandfather.”
“The Clans invaded.” said Messer, continuing the story. “They took New Belfast, but didn’t hold it. They were repelled by a FedCom known as the Star Swords. Commanding the Star Swords was my father, Joshua Messer.”
“You said you were uncle and nephew.” queried Max.
“Yes. My father adopted his father, Daniel. Daniel was later recognized as heir to the O’Malley estate on Northwind.”
“Destiny again.”
“Indeed.” said Messer. “Regardless, New Belfast fell back into Jade Falcon Clan hands during the Jihad and has remained one of their holdings ever since. The Jade Falcons have recently launched incursions into Lyran space, making a beeline for the Republic. Much of this is due to a new philosophy that has emerged among some of the Clans known as the Mongol Doctrine. Brutal, savage, bloodthirsty, these new Clanners are likely to impose the same sort of tyranny on New Belfast that my father fought to cast off.”
“So you’re sending us to help liberate the planet.”
“Wise of you to put it that way.” said Messer. “A single company of mercenaries is not nearly enough to repel the Jade Falcon garrison, even as weak as it now is. We want the Bombardiers to wage a guerilla campaign on New Belfast, assisting local partisans until support arrives. And it will arrive. We are hoping to draw Clan Wolf, a Clan that has rejected the Mongol Doctrine, into taking New Belfast. Not as ideal as being returned to Lyran control, but the Wolves are very much the lesser of two evils at this point.”
“So, we stir up trouble and then bail when Clan Wolf shows up.” said Behemoth, more to Max than anyone else.
“Something like that.” said Messer, implying that he was not sharing all the operational details of the mission.
“Fighting Clanners is not easy.” said Max. “They have a fearsome reputation.”
“You are being compensated appropriately. The hardest part is the journey. New Belfast is a fourth month trip from here on Detroit.”
“All the way to the other side of the Inner Sphere.” said Behemoth. “Should be fun.”
Victoria Commonality, Capellan Confederation
8 July 3134
Max did as he was told. He cleaned out his room at the boarding house and brought his belongings aboard the Atlantia. Over a decade moving from merc unit to merc unit had taught him to travel light. One pack of clothes, his Winchester 2776 Rifle, and his snub-nose EL-631 revolver were really all he carried. That, and a small tablet computer filled with digital photos of his family and friends, memories of lives he’d left behind.
He was cleaning his EL-631 when the PA system barked. “Pendragon, report to the bridge.”
Max stood up and set down the disassembled parts of his pistol on his bunk. Hoping no one would disturb his work, he headed toward the bridge.
He stepped onto the bridge a few minutes later. In addition to Behemoth and the command staff of the Bombardiers, there were two other men. The first was a massive bear of a man, probably 2 meters tall at least. While he looked fat, Max could tell by the way he moved that he was easily 140 kilos of pure muscle, the sort of fellow that could pick up a chain and drag a tractor-trailer rig across a parking lot by himself. The man was older, perhaps 70, and wore a Republic of the Sphere uniform.
The other was much younger, perhaps 35, and much smaller. He wore the uniform of the Northwind Highlanders, one of the most famous mercenary units in the Inner Sphere. The family resemblance between the two was obvious. They were a grandfather and grandson or some such arrangement.
“Pendragon, reporting as ordered.” said Max.
“Ah, so you’re the one who’s claimed the callsign of Patrick O’Brian.” said the older man.
“He’s a hero of mine. I’m Aurigan and he means a lot to my people.”
“Mine as well. I am Paladin Petar Victorius Messer and this is my nephew, Colonel Phillip O’Malley.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, sir, why the interest in my callsign? Behemoth thought it odd yesterday as well.”
“Do you believe in destiny, Mr. McKree?”
“I prefer the term ‘providence,’ but essentially yes.”
“Ah, a Christian, I take. No matter. We do as well. That’s why we’re here. Your signing on with the Bombardiers may be an omen.” The paladin chuckled. “It’s not a big deal. Perhaps just coincidence. But it is curious that someone would come on bearing O’Brian’s name at this particular juncture.”
“I don’t get it.”
“What do you know of O’Brian’s history?”
“I know he commanded a mercenary company known as Pendragon’s Dragoons throughout the Aurigan Civil War. After the war was over, he took some jobs in the Inner Sphere, working for House Steiner, I believe. Not sure what happened after that.”
“Well, your sense of history is correct. Pendragon’s unit fought in the Fourth War for the Lyran Commonwealth, helping Houses Davion and Steiner claim several worlds from House Marik. He won several military commendations for his valor in those battles, and the right to return. You see, O’Brian and his family were exiles from Steiner space. He redeemed his family name and he came home. He settled on a planet known as New Belfast. The ruling duke learned of O’Brian’s military record and asked him to raise a militia for the world. He did so and served with distinction for another twenty years, marrying and raising a family while he was at it.
“His mercenary unit, on the other hand, passed to his second-in-command, a woman named Miranda Aguilera. Callsign Behemoth.”
Max looked at Behemoth. “My great grandmother.” She confirmed.
“So you’re telling me, I signed on with the original Pendragon’s unit?”
“That’s exactly what we’re saying. And that is exactly what you did.” said Messer. “Now you know why I mentioned destiny.”
“Oh, that’s wild.” replied Max. “That’s just crazy.”
“It gets better.” said O’Malley. “You’re probably wondering why a Paladin of the Sphere and a Clan Elder of Northwind are out here on the edge of civilized space looking for mercenaries.”
“Well, I figured with the Blackout and all, the Republic was probably looking for some backup. The sharks are undoubtedly circling.” The Blackout was the name for the failure of interstellar communication that occurred on 7 August 3132. The entire Comstar communication grid that linked every colonized world failed utterly. Two years later and things still weren’t back to normal.
“Well, you’re right to some degree about the Republic. But it’s not the Republic that concerns us at the moment.” said O’Malley. “We’re here because of New Belfast.”
“O’Brian’s retirement planet?”
“The very same.”
“Why?”
“First, let me explain our interest.” said O’Malley. “O’Brian retired from all military duties in 3048, just before the Clan Invasion. He was replaced by a man named Robert O’Malley, my grandfather.”
“The Clans invaded.” said Messer, continuing the story. “They took New Belfast, but didn’t hold it. They were repelled by a FedCom known as the Star Swords. Commanding the Star Swords was my father, Joshua Messer.”
“You said you were uncle and nephew.” queried Max.
“Yes. My father adopted his father, Daniel. Daniel was later recognized as heir to the O’Malley estate on Northwind.”
“Destiny again.”
“Indeed.” said Messer. “Regardless, New Belfast fell back into Jade Falcon Clan hands during the Jihad and has remained one of their holdings ever since. The Jade Falcons have recently launched incursions into Lyran space, making a beeline for the Republic. Much of this is due to a new philosophy that has emerged among some of the Clans known as the Mongol Doctrine. Brutal, savage, bloodthirsty, these new Clanners are likely to impose the same sort of tyranny on New Belfast that my father fought to cast off.”
“So you’re sending us to help liberate the planet.”
“Wise of you to put it that way.” said Messer. “A single company of mercenaries is not nearly enough to repel the Jade Falcon garrison, even as weak as it now is. We want the Bombardiers to wage a guerilla campaign on New Belfast, assisting local partisans until support arrives. And it will arrive. We are hoping to draw Clan Wolf, a Clan that has rejected the Mongol Doctrine, into taking New Belfast. Not as ideal as being returned to Lyran control, but the Wolves are very much the lesser of two evils at this point.”
“So, we stir up trouble and then bail when Clan Wolf shows up.” said Behemoth, more to Max than anyone else.
“Something like that.” said Messer, implying that he was not sharing all the operational details of the mission.
“Fighting Clanners is not easy.” said Max. “They have a fearsome reputation.”
“You are being compensated appropriately. The hardest part is the journey. New Belfast is a fourth month trip from here on Detroit.”
“All the way to the other side of the Inner Sphere.” said Behemoth. “Should be fun.”
Star Swords Reborn Quick Links page
Art by Shimmering Sword
This is the quick navigation page for the Third Star Swords novel, Star Swords Reborn.
Part One
Part Two
Chapter Eight -
Star Swords Reborn Prologue
Ironhold
Clan Homeworlds
5 January 3055
Star Captain David stood motionless as he scanned the assembled warriors. Most within the circle had their heads bowed in defeat. His eyes lingered momentarily on the gaps in the circle, places where once a living warrior stood. He smiled as his eyes landed on the sole other person in the ring whose head was held high.
Khan Elias Crichell spoke from the dias above the assembled ring. “Thirty two of you have fought to claim the Pryde bloodname, late of Star Colonel Dal. Only two remain: David, his aide-de-camp and chosen heir and Raisa of the 5th Falcon Veilites. Now is the final challenge in this Trial of Bloodright.
“Bring forth the coin. Heads shall give advantage to David and he may name the nature of the trial, leaving Raisa to state his venue. Tails gives the advantage to Raisa.” The Khan accepted the coin and tossed it skyward. It landed at the center of the circle. David and Raisa both walked forward.
“It is heads.” admitted Raisa.
“Then we shall fight augmented.”
“So be it.” said Raisa. “For the Pryde name!”
Raldamax
Outworlds Alliance
1 June 3055
“Your protest is noted, Star Commander.” Said the operation’s leader. “But the fact remains that we cannot expand further without additional manpower.”
“But to take slaves? This is against everything the Great Father believed.”
“Desperate times, my friend.” The leader glanced down at her mech’s sensor monitors. “Cut the chatter. I’ve got a fast mover closing on our position fast. Radio silence, people.”
The comm chat went silent as the dropship roared past. The leader watched as it flashed past for the horizon.
“Do you think they saw us?” asked the Star Commander, risking a tight-beam message.
“Did you see that ship, Commander?”
“Yes, looked like a Confederate class.”
“Database ID confirms that. Outworlds Alliance is believed to largely armed with pre-Star League technology. What is an advanced Star League era dropship doing flying over one of their worlds?”
“Perhaps our intelligence is wrong, my Khan.”
“Or something else is going on here. That dropship was on final approach, so it landed less than ten klicks from our position. Too close for my comfort. Hold position here. I am advancing to investigate. If you do not hear from me within the hour, continue with your mission.”
“My Khan, you should not risk yourself.”
“You have your orders.” She pushed the throttle of her mech forward. Raldamax was, like most Outworlds planets, a largely agrarian planet. The Khan’s raiding force had landed in a remote area, far from any would be defenders, but near enough to a few settlements that their planned abduction should go off without a hitch. Now the appearance of a dropship that should not even be within the Outworld’s limited military, let alone here on this planet, had thrown the Khan’s plan into question.
The Khan was thankful for two things. One, that they had landed in such a remote area that any defenders would likely be lax, and two, the heavy forest served to conceal her BattleMechs from any who might be looking anyway. Her mech, an old Star League era Thorn, carried more than enough firepower to get her out of any trouble spots. But still it paid to be cautious and she periodically glanced down at her sensor monitor as she advanced along the path towards the dropship’s destination.
As her mech advanced through the forest, her sensor monitor lit up. Contacts, lots of them. The computer ID’d most of them as construction vehicles, civilian craft that were no threat to even her light BattleMech.
“What are they building out here?” she mused to herself, as she pulled back on the throttle for a more cautious approach. The forest would shield her from ground-based radars, but if she got too close magnetic sensors and others would reveal her presence. She pulled her mech to a complete stop and popped open the hatch. She climbed down to make the rest of her journey on foot.
The forest came to an abrupt end after less than a kilometer of walking. She kept to the trees as she watched a ForestryMech clearing timber nearby. The old primitive WorkMech was not an unusual sight, even on a primitive world such as this, but what lay beyond its work area was. Construction vehicles dashed about new ferrocrete pad, upon which sat the newly landed dropship. Now with a good long look, the Khan could confirm what her instincts and computer had told her earlier; It was indeed an old Star League era Confederate.
But the insignia on its side was not that of the Outworlds Alliance.
“Great Kerensky’s ghost,” swore saKhan Leighanna Hallis, “as if the Falcons were not bad enough. Now they are here.” She stumbled backwards into the shade of the trees, her eyes never leaving the dropship’s emblem, the insignia of Clan Snow Raven.
Conspiracy Intelligence Headquarters, Georgia
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone
15 August 3055
“So Antoine, what have you been up to?” Richard O’Malley’s fingers danced across the keyboard of his computer terminal. “Why so secretive?”
“Only two files in the past eight months? I wonder what they contain.”
“What the hell?” said Richard out loud. “Delta Omega clearance? There is no such thing.” He glanced about, but the archive room at ConsInt Headquarters was empty. It was the reason he was here. No one to interrupt what he was doing. No one to discover he was snooping about.
Of course, on one level, it seemed rather silly for the Director of Conspiracy Intelligence to have to sneak about in his own headquarters. But lately, things had been changing. His old war buddy and fellow spy, Antoine had been growing increasingly distant of late. Richard might have chalked that up to the disintegrating war effort, but he had known Antoine for over 20 years. Richard was also well-trained to detect deception, and he knew that Antoine’s behavior was a mask for something else.
“So what are you up to?” O’Malley repeated in his mind. “If you think some fake security clearance is going stop me from finding out what, you’re sadly mistaken. I’m the Director of ConsInt. Who’s going to tell me I don’t have authorization to view this file, even if I don’t have Delta Omega clearance?” O’Malley sat down to work. His extensive training did not stop with recognizing people’s ticks, it included BattleMech combat, interrogation techniques, and, thankfully, computer security skills. It did not take him long to crack through the file’s security encryption.
“Oh, my God.” He said aloud as he read the first few paragraphs of the document. Without hesitation, his hands moved across the keyboard, giving the computer the command to print. “What have I uncovered here?”
He quickly gathered the documents from the printer and stuffed them into a dossier folder. He would review the rest later, in a location more secure than here. Even deep within the archives, he feared detection.
Just as he finished clearing the logs from the terminal he had logged in on, covering his tracks well enough he hoped to avoid Antoine discovering his files had been compromised, he heard a sound from the stairwell outside the archive room. Richard flipped off the computer and quickly made for the door, trying to look casual.
He opened the door to see Juan Miranda coming down the stairs towards him. He quickly tucked the dossier under him arm and extended his hand to his other old friend and comrade-at-arms; again, trying to look and act casual.
“Well, this is a surprise,” said Richard, “although I had heard you were on Northwind. What brings you to ConsInt Headquarters, Juan?”
“Trying to get some information. See if we know anything about what Prince Victor might throw at us.” said Juan. “If I’m going into battle, it might help if I knew against who.”
Richard could see through Juan’s lie too, but at the moment, he didn’t care. “Unfortunately, our operations have become a bit more limited. Most have given up already.” He responded nonchalantly.
“Have you?” pressed Juan, making things personal.
After what he had seen, Richard wondered at the question. He chose his next words more carefully. “There’s more going on than you know, Juan.” He said grimly. “The Conspiracy is finished. Your best bet is to get your folks off-world while there’s still time.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you. I thought you’d go down with the ship.”
“I will. Nothing can stop that now. Either your former boss will kill me…” he paused. “…or they will.”
“They?” asked Juan.
“That’s a question you’re better off not knowing the answer to.” With that, he brushed past his friend and up the stairs.
Outside Georgia
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
2 September 3055
Baron Ian O’Malley looked out across the horizon through the pre-dawn light. Despite the darkness, one thing could be seen clearly: the fires burning in Georgia, the capital city of Northwind. He sighed and watched as the city he called home for most of his life blazed away before his eyes.
“The damage could have been worse, mi’lord.” Said the steward of his manor, Greg O’Neil. “In the end, it was probably good that we did not oppose Prince Victor’s landing.” It was odd for a servant to speak so boldly, but O’Neil had been with the O’Malley family for nearly all his life. He saw the pensive look on his lord’s face, and sensed grim regrets behind it.
“True.” Said the Baron, ignoring his servant’s audacity. “Northwind will survive this, whereas it might not have had we faced the full brunt of the Prince’s wrath. But what of us? Look, Greg, to the southwest. The manor burns.”
“It is as we feared. The Star Swords have set fire to the manor.”
“They are seeking the child as we speak. No doubt, my son is dead.” Ian paused. He was too numb to feel any sorrow or remorse at the death of Richard. His only solace was the toddler Richard had brought to them just a few months before. The child now slept quietly in a nearby tent with his aunt, Ian’s only remaining child, his daughter Celine.
“This has been a fool’s errand, this Conspiracy.” The Baron continued, spitting out the last word with contempt. “Look what it has cost us. Our lands, our home, my son…” He let out his breath. “I have lived too long to see such days as these.”
“Soon they will come for us. Mi’lord, this camp will not hide us forever. Soon, the Prince will negotiate for the return of Northwind to Davion rule. When that happens, the Star Swords will be released from the pact that binds them to the city and they will find us.”
“I know that. But Richard did say to await a signal, confirmation that he had found passage for us off-world.”
“It seems strange that Lord Richard would ask us to run. To leave Northwind.”
“Daniel is now my only male heir. We will not win a legal challenge against Messer and his wife for custody, not with the power of Prince Victor behind him. If our line is to survive, we must seek our fortunes elsewhere. And there was more…”
“More, sir?”
“Richard had his suspicions about the true nature of the Conspiracy. Suspicions he had hoped to confirm. Things we might use as leverage to help us regain what is ours.”
“Then let us hope he was successful, mi’lord.”
A ground car drove up a nearby road, its headlights cutting through the pre-dawn mist. It stopped just short of the tent where Daniel and Celine were sleeping. A single figure disembarked and began to walk toward Greg and Ian.
“Perhaps now, we find out.” Said the Baron sidelong to O’Neil. “Identify yourself.” He barked at the newcomer, his hand instinctively going for his sidearm.
“I am Hiroshi Takagi from ConsInt. I was an associate of your son, Baron O’Malley.”
“What business have you here?”
“Richard O’Malley fell in battle against elements of the 1st Star Swords yesterday. My condolences to you and your family on your loss. In the event he did not survive, my orders were to deliver this into your hands.” He held out his arm to reveal a leather attaché case.
“What is it?” asked Ian.
“I do not know. I was only given instructions to give it to you in the event of Richard’s death. I have not reviewed its contents.”
“Give it to me and be on your way.”
“As you wish.” Takagi turned over the case to O’Malley and turned to depart.
“Well, let us see what my son’s final gift to us is.” He popped open the case and looked inside. Within was a large stack of papers and several computer data chips in sealed plastic containers. They were labeled JA2342, KS4231, SS0001, and so forth. Sitting on top of the papers was a handwritten note. Ian recognized the script as Richard’s. It read:
“Yes, mi’lord.” Replied O’Neil. He then paused, his boldness returning. “Mi’lord, should we not consider turning this over to Prince Victor while he is here?”
“The others who seek this case and its contents will never let us get close enough to the Prince to deliver it. We must get off world and soon. Richard’s given us a cursed gift. If anyone seeking this case finds us, we’re all as good as dead.”
Pattison
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
2 September 3055
“I’m telling you, you have got to listen to this.” Corporal Michael Lee held out his portable digital music player to his friend and fellow soldier Private Kelly Rodgers.
“Michael, enough. I’m sure its good, but that’s not the sort of music I enjoy.” She gave him a playful shove and turned to park her self on the front of their old Manticore battle tank. The two of them had known each other since childhood and had enlisted together into the planetary militia just a few short months earlier.
“You never did have any good taste.” Grumbled Lee, putting the speakers back over his ears. But he had barely pressed play when the klaxon sounded.
“What the?”
“Pirate raid.” Said Rodgers nervously. Neither of them had ever faced real combat and this far out into the Federated Suns “outback” they likely never would. But pirates and raiders were an ever present, if rare, threat.
The other two members of their four-man tank crew came dashing out of the nearby building. “Enemy mech force approaching. They’re only a few klicks out.” Barked one, his voice pitched higher with anxiety.
“How’d they get so close without us knowing?” asked Lee.
“Crappy backwater sensors.” Snarled Rodgers. “It’s not like the AFFC bothers much with worlds like ours.”
The four of them pulled themselves into their tank, taking up their positions. Rodgers slid into the drivers seat and flipped the switches to bring the tank’s sophisticated fusion engine online. “At least, we have a good tank.” She said.
Rodgers activated the drive train and the tank sped out into the plains. Behind her, the rest of their tank squad fell into line. Against a light battlemech force, they were a force to be reckoned with. Aside from the powerful 60 ton Manticore, there was also a Vendette, a Bulldog, and a formidable Patton. That was enough firepower to make even a heavy mech force sit up and take notice.
“Contact. Enemy BattleMech at 2 o’clock. Distance 1.6 kilometers. Computer is unable to ID.” Reported Lee from his position as tank commander.
“What?” exclaimed Rodgers. She glanced over at the mech on her viewscreen. It was a strange mech, similar in shape to a Thunderbolt.
“I know what that is.” Said one of the other tankers with a shudder of fear. “That’s a Thor. It’s a Clan mech.”
“Oh, hell.” Said Lee. “Enemy will be in range in less than a minute.”
“And he’ll hit us before we can hit him.”
“Four other contacts. Falling in behind the Thor. Confirm Clan Star formation. My God, what are the Clans doing here?”
“We’re the only thing standing between them and Byron City.” Said Lee. “Look sharp people. We have a job to do.”
Another mech, another that the computer could not identify but having the look of a cobra, pulled ahead of the Thor. “Ok, folks, there’s our target!” barked Lee. “Sight him up and let him have it.”
The Manticore’s PPC lined up and laced a bolt of electric fire at the cobra-like mech. The bolt tore into the mech’s left arm. Lee let out a cry of elation, ignoring the fact that the tank’s other weapons missed the target.
Then the Clan mechs opened fire. Most of them focused on the Patton behind them, shredding its treads with laser and missile fire. The Patton was now immobilized, but could still fire.
Then the cobra mech opened up, raining LRM fire down on their Manticore. Missiles peppered the mech’s heavy armor. “Don’t worry!” said Lee over the din of the impacts. “We can take this.”
“Motive damage, Michael.” Said Rodgers in a panic. “We’re crippled.”
Lee looked up crestfallen as the Thor closed the distance. Behind it came one of the Clan lights, a mech he recognized from his history class in high school, a Mongoose scout mech. “Take the Mongoose. Damnit, we’ll take one of them with us.”
The Manticore opened up on the advancing Mongoose. The PPC missed, but SRM volley spattered across its light armor. The Mongoose emerged from the smoke and fire damaged, but unbowed.
Another LRM volley slammed into the Manticore from the cobra mech. Shrapnel tore through the crew compartment. Lee was astonished that somehow he managed to avoid being hit. “Kelly, are you alright?”
She was unconscious across the control stick. Lee leaned over to reach for her as another impact struck the crippled tank. The crew compartment filled with smoke and fire. Lee grabbed Rodgers and pulled her from her seat. He forced open the hatch and pulled her and himself out of the burning tank.
The five Clan mechs continued their assault, pouring immense firepower into the Vendette and the Bulldog. Nearby, the Patton was aflame; it too now destroyed and out of the fight. “Who the hell are these people? They annihilated us in less than a minute.” Mused Lee as he desperately tried to awaken his unconscious friend. His eyes glanced upward to see the massive cobra mech walk past his demolished tank, its insignia of a three clawed animal paw burning in his mind.
Clan Homeworlds
5 January 3055
Star Captain David stood motionless as he scanned the assembled warriors. Most within the circle had their heads bowed in defeat. His eyes lingered momentarily on the gaps in the circle, places where once a living warrior stood. He smiled as his eyes landed on the sole other person in the ring whose head was held high.
Khan Elias Crichell spoke from the dias above the assembled ring. “Thirty two of you have fought to claim the Pryde bloodname, late of Star Colonel Dal. Only two remain: David, his aide-de-camp and chosen heir and Raisa of the 5th Falcon Veilites. Now is the final challenge in this Trial of Bloodright.
“Bring forth the coin. Heads shall give advantage to David and he may name the nature of the trial, leaving Raisa to state his venue. Tails gives the advantage to Raisa.” The Khan accepted the coin and tossed it skyward. It landed at the center of the circle. David and Raisa both walked forward.
“It is heads.” admitted Raisa.
“Then we shall fight augmented.”
“So be it.” said Raisa. “For the Pryde name!”
Raldamax
Outworlds Alliance
1 June 3055
“Your protest is noted, Star Commander.” Said the operation’s leader. “But the fact remains that we cannot expand further without additional manpower.”
“But to take slaves? This is against everything the Great Father believed.”
“Desperate times, my friend.” The leader glanced down at her mech’s sensor monitors. “Cut the chatter. I’ve got a fast mover closing on our position fast. Radio silence, people.”
The comm chat went silent as the dropship roared past. The leader watched as it flashed past for the horizon.
“Do you think they saw us?” asked the Star Commander, risking a tight-beam message.
“Did you see that ship, Commander?”
“Yes, looked like a Confederate class.”
“Database ID confirms that. Outworlds Alliance is believed to largely armed with pre-Star League technology. What is an advanced Star League era dropship doing flying over one of their worlds?”
“Perhaps our intelligence is wrong, my Khan.”
“Or something else is going on here. That dropship was on final approach, so it landed less than ten klicks from our position. Too close for my comfort. Hold position here. I am advancing to investigate. If you do not hear from me within the hour, continue with your mission.”
“My Khan, you should not risk yourself.”
“You have your orders.” She pushed the throttle of her mech forward. Raldamax was, like most Outworlds planets, a largely agrarian planet. The Khan’s raiding force had landed in a remote area, far from any would be defenders, but near enough to a few settlements that their planned abduction should go off without a hitch. Now the appearance of a dropship that should not even be within the Outworld’s limited military, let alone here on this planet, had thrown the Khan’s plan into question.
The Khan was thankful for two things. One, that they had landed in such a remote area that any defenders would likely be lax, and two, the heavy forest served to conceal her BattleMechs from any who might be looking anyway. Her mech, an old Star League era Thorn, carried more than enough firepower to get her out of any trouble spots. But still it paid to be cautious and she periodically glanced down at her sensor monitor as she advanced along the path towards the dropship’s destination.
As her mech advanced through the forest, her sensor monitor lit up. Contacts, lots of them. The computer ID’d most of them as construction vehicles, civilian craft that were no threat to even her light BattleMech.
“What are they building out here?” she mused to herself, as she pulled back on the throttle for a more cautious approach. The forest would shield her from ground-based radars, but if she got too close magnetic sensors and others would reveal her presence. She pulled her mech to a complete stop and popped open the hatch. She climbed down to make the rest of her journey on foot.
The forest came to an abrupt end after less than a kilometer of walking. She kept to the trees as she watched a ForestryMech clearing timber nearby. The old primitive WorkMech was not an unusual sight, even on a primitive world such as this, but what lay beyond its work area was. Construction vehicles dashed about new ferrocrete pad, upon which sat the newly landed dropship. Now with a good long look, the Khan could confirm what her instincts and computer had told her earlier; It was indeed an old Star League era Confederate.
But the insignia on its side was not that of the Outworlds Alliance.
“Great Kerensky’s ghost,” swore saKhan Leighanna Hallis, “as if the Falcons were not bad enough. Now they are here.” She stumbled backwards into the shade of the trees, her eyes never leaving the dropship’s emblem, the insignia of Clan Snow Raven.
Conspiracy Intelligence Headquarters, Georgia
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone
15 August 3055
“So Antoine, what have you been up to?” Richard O’Malley’s fingers danced across the keyboard of his computer terminal. “Why so secretive?”
File Access Log (01/01/55 – 15/08/55) for Anderson, Antoine
KS4231
TS7982
“Only two files in the past eight months? I wonder what they contain.”
Enter Access Code for File KS4231:
Delta Omega Access Only
Of course, on one level, it seemed rather silly for the Director of Conspiracy Intelligence to have to sneak about in his own headquarters. But lately, things had been changing. His old war buddy and fellow spy, Antoine had been growing increasingly distant of late. Richard might have chalked that up to the disintegrating war effort, but he had known Antoine for over 20 years. Richard was also well-trained to detect deception, and he knew that Antoine’s behavior was a mask for something else.
“So what are you up to?” O’Malley repeated in his mind. “If you think some fake security clearance is going stop me from finding out what, you’re sadly mistaken. I’m the Director of ConsInt. Who’s going to tell me I don’t have authorization to view this file, even if I don’t have Delta Omega clearance?” O’Malley sat down to work. His extensive training did not stop with recognizing people’s ticks, it included BattleMech combat, interrogation techniques, and, thankfully, computer security skills. It did not take him long to crack through the file’s security encryption.
“Oh, my God.” He said aloud as he read the first few paragraphs of the document. Without hesitation, his hands moved across the keyboard, giving the computer the command to print. “What have I uncovered here?”
He quickly gathered the documents from the printer and stuffed them into a dossier folder. He would review the rest later, in a location more secure than here. Even deep within the archives, he feared detection.
Just as he finished clearing the logs from the terminal he had logged in on, covering his tracks well enough he hoped to avoid Antoine discovering his files had been compromised, he heard a sound from the stairwell outside the archive room. Richard flipped off the computer and quickly made for the door, trying to look casual.
He opened the door to see Juan Miranda coming down the stairs towards him. He quickly tucked the dossier under him arm and extended his hand to his other old friend and comrade-at-arms; again, trying to look and act casual.
“Well, this is a surprise,” said Richard, “although I had heard you were on Northwind. What brings you to ConsInt Headquarters, Juan?”
“Trying to get some information. See if we know anything about what Prince Victor might throw at us.” said Juan. “If I’m going into battle, it might help if I knew against who.”
Richard could see through Juan’s lie too, but at the moment, he didn’t care. “Unfortunately, our operations have become a bit more limited. Most have given up already.” He responded nonchalantly.
“Have you?” pressed Juan, making things personal.
After what he had seen, Richard wondered at the question. He chose his next words more carefully. “There’s more going on than you know, Juan.” He said grimly. “The Conspiracy is finished. Your best bet is to get your folks off-world while there’s still time.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you. I thought you’d go down with the ship.”
“I will. Nothing can stop that now. Either your former boss will kill me…” he paused. “…or they will.”
“They?” asked Juan.
“That’s a question you’re better off not knowing the answer to.” With that, he brushed past his friend and up the stairs.
Outside Georgia
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
2 September 3055
Baron Ian O’Malley looked out across the horizon through the pre-dawn light. Despite the darkness, one thing could be seen clearly: the fires burning in Georgia, the capital city of Northwind. He sighed and watched as the city he called home for most of his life blazed away before his eyes.
“The damage could have been worse, mi’lord.” Said the steward of his manor, Greg O’Neil. “In the end, it was probably good that we did not oppose Prince Victor’s landing.” It was odd for a servant to speak so boldly, but O’Neil had been with the O’Malley family for nearly all his life. He saw the pensive look on his lord’s face, and sensed grim regrets behind it.
“True.” Said the Baron, ignoring his servant’s audacity. “Northwind will survive this, whereas it might not have had we faced the full brunt of the Prince’s wrath. But what of us? Look, Greg, to the southwest. The manor burns.”
“It is as we feared. The Star Swords have set fire to the manor.”
“They are seeking the child as we speak. No doubt, my son is dead.” Ian paused. He was too numb to feel any sorrow or remorse at the death of Richard. His only solace was the toddler Richard had brought to them just a few months before. The child now slept quietly in a nearby tent with his aunt, Ian’s only remaining child, his daughter Celine.
“This has been a fool’s errand, this Conspiracy.” The Baron continued, spitting out the last word with contempt. “Look what it has cost us. Our lands, our home, my son…” He let out his breath. “I have lived too long to see such days as these.”
“Soon they will come for us. Mi’lord, this camp will not hide us forever. Soon, the Prince will negotiate for the return of Northwind to Davion rule. When that happens, the Star Swords will be released from the pact that binds them to the city and they will find us.”
“I know that. But Richard did say to await a signal, confirmation that he had found passage for us off-world.”
“It seems strange that Lord Richard would ask us to run. To leave Northwind.”
“Daniel is now my only male heir. We will not win a legal challenge against Messer and his wife for custody, not with the power of Prince Victor behind him. If our line is to survive, we must seek our fortunes elsewhere. And there was more…”
“More, sir?”
“Richard had his suspicions about the true nature of the Conspiracy. Suspicions he had hoped to confirm. Things we might use as leverage to help us regain what is ours.”
“Then let us hope he was successful, mi’lord.”
A ground car drove up a nearby road, its headlights cutting through the pre-dawn mist. It stopped just short of the tent where Daniel and Celine were sleeping. A single figure disembarked and began to walk toward Greg and Ian.
“Perhaps now, we find out.” Said the Baron sidelong to O’Neil. “Identify yourself.” He barked at the newcomer, his hand instinctively going for his sidearm.
“I am Hiroshi Takagi from ConsInt. I was an associate of your son, Baron O’Malley.”
“What business have you here?”
“Richard O’Malley fell in battle against elements of the 1st Star Swords yesterday. My condolences to you and your family on your loss. In the event he did not survive, my orders were to deliver this into your hands.” He held out his arm to reveal a leather attaché case.
“What is it?” asked Ian.
“I do not know. I was only given instructions to give it to you in the event of Richard’s death. I have not reviewed its contents.”
“Give it to me and be on your way.”
“As you wish.” Takagi turned over the case to O’Malley and turned to depart.
“Well, let us see what my son’s final gift to us is.” He popped open the case and looked inside. Within was a large stack of papers and several computer data chips in sealed plastic containers. They were labeled JA2342, KS4231, SS0001, and so forth. Sitting on top of the papers was a handwritten note. Ian recognized the script as Richard’s. It read:
Father,
I know it sounds clichéd, but if you’re reading this, I must be dead. Contained within are two sets of documents and files, both dealing with certain enemies of ours. The files and documents labeled SS concern the Star Swords and their leaders. These so-called heroes have a number of secrets that they do not want to become public knowledge. Use this information to incriminate them. This is leverage we can use to retain custody of Daniel, who you know by now is your sole heir.
Secondly, the other files concern Ryan Steiner’s conspiracy. As I had suspected, Steiner is not the true force behind the conspiracy. We’ve all been duped by his secret master, a woman known by the code name of “Duchess.” This was never about stopping the alliance between the FedCom and the snakes. It was her plan to rise to power. Within is all the information about her plan, including her true identity. Guard this information well. The future of the Inner Sphere could depend upon it.
I know this is not an easy burden for me to put upon you. But the people who have brought about my demise cannot go unpunished. Both the Star Swords and the Conspiracy represent some of the greatest threats to the Inner Sphere, greater perhaps than even the Clans. Use this information wisely. Guard it with your life. Both parties will seek you for its contents. Your best bet is to flee Northwind as soon as possible. Take it to Tharkad or New Avalon and deliver it directly.Ian quickly closed the case. He turned to O’Neil. “Go wake up Celine and the child.”
“Yes, mi’lord.” Replied O’Neil. He then paused, his boldness returning. “Mi’lord, should we not consider turning this over to Prince Victor while he is here?”
“The others who seek this case and its contents will never let us get close enough to the Prince to deliver it. We must get off world and soon. Richard’s given us a cursed gift. If anyone seeking this case finds us, we’re all as good as dead.”
Pattison
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
2 September 3055
“I’m telling you, you have got to listen to this.” Corporal Michael Lee held out his portable digital music player to his friend and fellow soldier Private Kelly Rodgers.
“Michael, enough. I’m sure its good, but that’s not the sort of music I enjoy.” She gave him a playful shove and turned to park her self on the front of their old Manticore battle tank. The two of them had known each other since childhood and had enlisted together into the planetary militia just a few short months earlier.
“You never did have any good taste.” Grumbled Lee, putting the speakers back over his ears. But he had barely pressed play when the klaxon sounded.
“What the?”
“Pirate raid.” Said Rodgers nervously. Neither of them had ever faced real combat and this far out into the Federated Suns “outback” they likely never would. But pirates and raiders were an ever present, if rare, threat.
The other two members of their four-man tank crew came dashing out of the nearby building. “Enemy mech force approaching. They’re only a few klicks out.” Barked one, his voice pitched higher with anxiety.
“How’d they get so close without us knowing?” asked Lee.
“Crappy backwater sensors.” Snarled Rodgers. “It’s not like the AFFC bothers much with worlds like ours.”
The four of them pulled themselves into their tank, taking up their positions. Rodgers slid into the drivers seat and flipped the switches to bring the tank’s sophisticated fusion engine online. “At least, we have a good tank.” She said.
Rodgers activated the drive train and the tank sped out into the plains. Behind her, the rest of their tank squad fell into line. Against a light battlemech force, they were a force to be reckoned with. Aside from the powerful 60 ton Manticore, there was also a Vendette, a Bulldog, and a formidable Patton. That was enough firepower to make even a heavy mech force sit up and take notice.
“Contact. Enemy BattleMech at 2 o’clock. Distance 1.6 kilometers. Computer is unable to ID.” Reported Lee from his position as tank commander.
“What?” exclaimed Rodgers. She glanced over at the mech on her viewscreen. It was a strange mech, similar in shape to a Thunderbolt.
“I know what that is.” Said one of the other tankers with a shudder of fear. “That’s a Thor. It’s a Clan mech.”
“Oh, hell.” Said Lee. “Enemy will be in range in less than a minute.”
“And he’ll hit us before we can hit him.”
“Four other contacts. Falling in behind the Thor. Confirm Clan Star formation. My God, what are the Clans doing here?”
“We’re the only thing standing between them and Byron City.” Said Lee. “Look sharp people. We have a job to do.”
Another mech, another that the computer could not identify but having the look of a cobra, pulled ahead of the Thor. “Ok, folks, there’s our target!” barked Lee. “Sight him up and let him have it.”
The Manticore’s PPC lined up and laced a bolt of electric fire at the cobra-like mech. The bolt tore into the mech’s left arm. Lee let out a cry of elation, ignoring the fact that the tank’s other weapons missed the target.
Then the Clan mechs opened fire. Most of them focused on the Patton behind them, shredding its treads with laser and missile fire. The Patton was now immobilized, but could still fire.
Then the cobra mech opened up, raining LRM fire down on their Manticore. Missiles peppered the mech’s heavy armor. “Don’t worry!” said Lee over the din of the impacts. “We can take this.”
“Motive damage, Michael.” Said Rodgers in a panic. “We’re crippled.”
Lee looked up crestfallen as the Thor closed the distance. Behind it came one of the Clan lights, a mech he recognized from his history class in high school, a Mongoose scout mech. “Take the Mongoose. Damnit, we’ll take one of them with us.”
The Manticore opened up on the advancing Mongoose. The PPC missed, but SRM volley spattered across its light armor. The Mongoose emerged from the smoke and fire damaged, but unbowed.
Another LRM volley slammed into the Manticore from the cobra mech. Shrapnel tore through the crew compartment. Lee was astonished that somehow he managed to avoid being hit. “Kelly, are you alright?”
She was unconscious across the control stick. Lee leaned over to reach for her as another impact struck the crippled tank. The crew compartment filled with smoke and fire. Lee grabbed Rodgers and pulled her from her seat. He forced open the hatch and pulled her and himself out of the burning tank.
The five Clan mechs continued their assault, pouring immense firepower into the Vendette and the Bulldog. Nearby, the Patton was aflame; it too now destroyed and out of the fight. “Who the hell are these people? They annihilated us in less than a minute.” Mused Lee as he desperately tried to awaken his unconscious friend. His eyes glanced upward to see the massive cobra mech walk past his demolished tank, its insignia of a three clawed animal paw burning in his mind.
Chapter Thirty-Two - Reckoning
Georgian Hills district, Georgia
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
1 September 3055. 1005 Hours
Lisa marched her Mad Cat down the still untouched residential streets of one of Georgia’s more upscale neighborhoods. Although the battle had been a good ten kilometers to the south, she could still see the smoke on the southern sky from those fires that only now were being attended to.
“Edinburgh must have been like this.” She thought. “Dirty, brutal, one block at a time, battles. The collateral damage down there must be staggering.” She glanced over at her navigational monitor.
“Now leaving Georgian Hills. Entering O’Malley baronial lands.” said the computer.
“I’ll hold the perimeter, Lisa.” Said Gwen from behind her. “Shout if you need my help.”
Lisa nodded and advanced. This neighborhood, all too familiar from the last time she was here, consisted of small houses owned by the employees and servants of Baron Ian. Some of them, she suspected, were also owned by mechwarriors who fought in the Baron’s battalion. She marched with haste towards the large manor house at the end of the street. There was no sign of any enemy mechs about.
“Good, because that means I won’t have to fight my way in. Bad, because it may mean this area’s been evacuated and Daniel with it.”
Automated defenses at the outer gate of the manor house opened fire on her as she approached. Lisa triggered the Mad Cat’s heavy lasers, standard on its primary configuration, destroying the first missile turret before its missiles made it half-way to her. She triggered her own missile launchers against the second as the first’s shots landed home. The light LRMs peppered her mech’s armor, but did no significant damage.
She quickened her pace past the burning turrets and soon moved beyond the residences onto the grounds of the main manor itself. Unlike the last time she was here, it was devoid of mechs. Carefully scanning around her to confirm that, she brought her Mad Cat to a stop and opened its hatch. Cautiously, she climbed out and looked about.
She knew immediately that it was abandoned. In fury, she slammed her fist against the leg of her mech, knowing Daniel was long since gone. “If I hadn’t tried once before, he might still be here.” She swore at herself.
“It looks like they’ve jumped ship. There’s no sign of anyone.” Said Lisa into her headset mike.
“I’m sorry, Lisa.” Replied Gwen. “I have a contact. Looks like Joshua’s making his way here. O’Malley’s bound to be around. You should wait for us to arrive to investigate further.”
Despite the wisdom of the advice, Lisa moved to the giant hole where the front door had been. Placing her hand on the hilt of her claymore, she stepped inside.
The main hall was silent except for the ticking of a nearby grandfather clock, which had somehow managed to not be crushed by Gwen’s rescue. She headed upstairs for the nursery, where she’d last seen Daniel.
“I knew you’d come back.” Said a voice from behind her.
Lisa spun about and drew her sword, but there was no one there.
“I’m not so foolish to get within sword-reach of you, my dear.” It was Richard, that much she was certain. “The room in which you stand bears many scars, you know. My mother died in there, and with her, my brother’s sanity.”
“Am I supposed to feel sympathy for you? For your family? Is that it?” retorted Lisa. “You knew what he was and you stood by and did nothing anyway.”
“He was my brother. Just as your son is my nephew. He belongs with the O’Malleys.”
“Where is he, you son-of-a-bitch?”
“Long gone. My father has fled Northwind with my sister and nephew. You and I together have forced their hand. Between Daniel and what I uncovered about the true Conspiracy, they will not find rest for a long time. But at least, Daniel is with his true family.”
“Show yourself, coward, or I do I have to hunt you down.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shimmer and she remembered. “The stealth suit!”
She swung her sword at the shimmer, only to hear and feel the clanging as her blade struck his. The shimmer faded as O’Malley turned off the suit. “You’re sharper than I thought, Lady MacLeod or should I call you Justice.”
“Justice might be more appropriate, for that is what is going to be delivered.” She said, slashing right then left. O’Malley parried both blows and backed away.
“You’re forgetting that I taught your husband how to beat my brother. Don’t think I didn’t keep a few secrets in reserve.”
“If that’s so, why blame us for what happened? You gave us the tools to defeat him.”
“He wasn’t supposed to die!” said Richard in fury, launching into an offense of his own. A quick snap of his blade caught Lisa under her left arm. Blood splattered from the gash onto the floor.
Lisa backed up, but O’Malley didn’t relent. She parried blow after blow, but decided to take back the initiative herself. She dove to the floor and rolled as O’Malley cut a viscous slash where her neck would have been. Now behind him, she spun and slashed down across his back. Only his quick reflexes kept the fight from ending right there. The cut was shallow.
O’Malley turned, surprised he’d been so easily outmaneuvered. “I’ll not make that mistake again.” He said coldly.
“You won’t have the chance.” Said Lisa. She leaped forward, thrusting at his chest. O’Malley sidestepped and slashed downward against her sword. The blow jarred Lisa and O’Malley pinned her sword down. With a quick backhanded punch, he knocked her away.
He kicked her sword across the floor before turning on the dazed Lisa. “I don’t think so, my dear. First you, then your husband.”
Rather that simply lie there and get stabbed to death, Lisa bolted for her sword. Surprised at her swiftness, O’Malley nearly spun and slashed across her back in much the same way as she tried to do to him. Unlike her blow however, he struck home. Lisa cried out and slid across the floor, unconscious before she ever reached her sword.
O’Malley walked over to her, nearly slipping in her blood that she’d smeared across the floor by the slide. “I suppose I could take you head and stick it on a pole outside.” Said Richard with a sick chuckle. He suddenly paused. He could feel mild vibrations through the floor.
“Damn, not enough time.” He spun on his heel. “I’ll finish you later.” He closed the door behind him and locked it.
He dashed up the stairs and onto the front balcony of the mansion. Resting against the railing of the balcony was a Minolta 9000 sniper rifle. He snatched up the weapon and pulled back on the bolt. It snapped into place smoothly, a testimony to the construction of the weapon.
“Less satisfactory than the blade, but unlike your wife, I know you’ve been preparing for me. Best not to take my chances.” He said to himself. He scanned ahead and saw the Cauldron Born approaching the compound. Behind it marched an Assassin.
“Switched machines on us, eh?” said O’Malley to himself, commenting on the Cauldron Born. He drew the reticule across the mech’s cockpit. “No matter.”
The Cauldron Born came to a stop beside the Mad Cat. O’Malley waited patiently for Joshua to open the hatch.
The canopy began to open.
Below him, he suddenly heard a scream. “Joshua, NO! Above me!”
The canopy suddenly snapped shut again. In fury, Richard squeezed the trigger, but the bullet ricocheted harmlessly off the armored glass. The Cauldron Born turned and brought its autocannon to bear on the mansion.
“Shit!” swore O’Malley, turning to run inside the house. Joshua opened fire, raking the balcony with 75mm cannon shells. The stone balcony was pounded into powder by the impacts. Dust clouds erupted from the shattered stone, obscuring the view of the wreckage.
“Did I get him?” asked Joshua, marching Steppenwolfe closer to the building.
“I don’t know.” Said Gwen. She popped the canopy of her mech and lowered herself down.
Joshua did likewise. He drew his sword and walked towards Lisa.
“Gwen, she’s hurt.” He said, picking up his pace and heedless of danger.
“Coming.” Replied Gwen, drawing her pistol and surveying the grounds before moving up behind him.
Joshua turned to his wife. “Are you alright?”
“I will be.” Lisa winced. “Cut me a few times with his sword.”
“That gash looks nasty.”
“It feels it, trust me.” She said, “but I’ll live. I’m in far better shape than you were the last time we had to kill an O’Malley.”
Gwen moved over to the pulverized front of the house. Joshua’s cannon had ravaged it into rubble. “No one could survive that.” Said Lisa.
“And yet he has.” Said Gwen, leaning down to shove a piece of stonework aside.
Underneath the stone was the broken and battered body of Richard O’Malley; He was still alive, but barely. His right leg was gone below the hip, and only the wreckage lying on top of him had kept him from bleeding to death. Richard raised his head as Joshua walked over.
“I’ve still won, Messer.” He choked. “Daniel’s gone. You’ll never see him again.”
“Don’t count on it, bastard.” Said Joshua, thrusting his sword through Richard’s throat. Richard gurgled for a second and then died.
“Mercy was too good for him.” Said Gwen cruelly. “You should have just let him bleed to death.”
Joshua pulled his sword away, wiped it on the grass, and said nothing.
“He was right, wasn’t he? He did win.” Said Gwen grimly.
“No.” Said Joshua defiantly. “He hasn’t won. Our son is alive and out there somewhere. We will find him, one way or the other.”
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
1 September 3055. 1005 Hours
Lisa marched her Mad Cat down the still untouched residential streets of one of Georgia’s more upscale neighborhoods. Although the battle had been a good ten kilometers to the south, she could still see the smoke on the southern sky from those fires that only now were being attended to.
“Edinburgh must have been like this.” She thought. “Dirty, brutal, one block at a time, battles. The collateral damage down there must be staggering.” She glanced over at her navigational monitor.
“Now leaving Georgian Hills. Entering O’Malley baronial lands.” said the computer.
“I’ll hold the perimeter, Lisa.” Said Gwen from behind her. “Shout if you need my help.”
Lisa nodded and advanced. This neighborhood, all too familiar from the last time she was here, consisted of small houses owned by the employees and servants of Baron Ian. Some of them, she suspected, were also owned by mechwarriors who fought in the Baron’s battalion. She marched with haste towards the large manor house at the end of the street. There was no sign of any enemy mechs about.
“Good, because that means I won’t have to fight my way in. Bad, because it may mean this area’s been evacuated and Daniel with it.”
Automated defenses at the outer gate of the manor house opened fire on her as she approached. Lisa triggered the Mad Cat’s heavy lasers, standard on its primary configuration, destroying the first missile turret before its missiles made it half-way to her. She triggered her own missile launchers against the second as the first’s shots landed home. The light LRMs peppered her mech’s armor, but did no significant damage.
She quickened her pace past the burning turrets and soon moved beyond the residences onto the grounds of the main manor itself. Unlike the last time she was here, it was devoid of mechs. Carefully scanning around her to confirm that, she brought her Mad Cat to a stop and opened its hatch. Cautiously, she climbed out and looked about.
She knew immediately that it was abandoned. In fury, she slammed her fist against the leg of her mech, knowing Daniel was long since gone. “If I hadn’t tried once before, he might still be here.” She swore at herself.
“It looks like they’ve jumped ship. There’s no sign of anyone.” Said Lisa into her headset mike.
“I’m sorry, Lisa.” Replied Gwen. “I have a contact. Looks like Joshua’s making his way here. O’Malley’s bound to be around. You should wait for us to arrive to investigate further.”
Despite the wisdom of the advice, Lisa moved to the giant hole where the front door had been. Placing her hand on the hilt of her claymore, she stepped inside.
The main hall was silent except for the ticking of a nearby grandfather clock, which had somehow managed to not be crushed by Gwen’s rescue. She headed upstairs for the nursery, where she’d last seen Daniel.
“I knew you’d come back.” Said a voice from behind her.
Lisa spun about and drew her sword, but there was no one there.
“I’m not so foolish to get within sword-reach of you, my dear.” It was Richard, that much she was certain. “The room in which you stand bears many scars, you know. My mother died in there, and with her, my brother’s sanity.”
“Am I supposed to feel sympathy for you? For your family? Is that it?” retorted Lisa. “You knew what he was and you stood by and did nothing anyway.”
“He was my brother. Just as your son is my nephew. He belongs with the O’Malleys.”
“Where is he, you son-of-a-bitch?”
“Long gone. My father has fled Northwind with my sister and nephew. You and I together have forced their hand. Between Daniel and what I uncovered about the true Conspiracy, they will not find rest for a long time. But at least, Daniel is with his true family.”
“Show yourself, coward, or I do I have to hunt you down.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shimmer and she remembered. “The stealth suit!”
She swung her sword at the shimmer, only to hear and feel the clanging as her blade struck his. The shimmer faded as O’Malley turned off the suit. “You’re sharper than I thought, Lady MacLeod or should I call you Justice.”
“Justice might be more appropriate, for that is what is going to be delivered.” She said, slashing right then left. O’Malley parried both blows and backed away.
“You’re forgetting that I taught your husband how to beat my brother. Don’t think I didn’t keep a few secrets in reserve.”
“If that’s so, why blame us for what happened? You gave us the tools to defeat him.”
“He wasn’t supposed to die!” said Richard in fury, launching into an offense of his own. A quick snap of his blade caught Lisa under her left arm. Blood splattered from the gash onto the floor.
Lisa backed up, but O’Malley didn’t relent. She parried blow after blow, but decided to take back the initiative herself. She dove to the floor and rolled as O’Malley cut a viscous slash where her neck would have been. Now behind him, she spun and slashed down across his back. Only his quick reflexes kept the fight from ending right there. The cut was shallow.
O’Malley turned, surprised he’d been so easily outmaneuvered. “I’ll not make that mistake again.” He said coldly.
“You won’t have the chance.” Said Lisa. She leaped forward, thrusting at his chest. O’Malley sidestepped and slashed downward against her sword. The blow jarred Lisa and O’Malley pinned her sword down. With a quick backhanded punch, he knocked her away.
He kicked her sword across the floor before turning on the dazed Lisa. “I don’t think so, my dear. First you, then your husband.”
Rather that simply lie there and get stabbed to death, Lisa bolted for her sword. Surprised at her swiftness, O’Malley nearly spun and slashed across her back in much the same way as she tried to do to him. Unlike her blow however, he struck home. Lisa cried out and slid across the floor, unconscious before she ever reached her sword.
O’Malley walked over to her, nearly slipping in her blood that she’d smeared across the floor by the slide. “I suppose I could take you head and stick it on a pole outside.” Said Richard with a sick chuckle. He suddenly paused. He could feel mild vibrations through the floor.
“Damn, not enough time.” He spun on his heel. “I’ll finish you later.” He closed the door behind him and locked it.
He dashed up the stairs and onto the front balcony of the mansion. Resting against the railing of the balcony was a Minolta 9000 sniper rifle. He snatched up the weapon and pulled back on the bolt. It snapped into place smoothly, a testimony to the construction of the weapon.
“Less satisfactory than the blade, but unlike your wife, I know you’ve been preparing for me. Best not to take my chances.” He said to himself. He scanned ahead and saw the Cauldron Born approaching the compound. Behind it marched an Assassin.
“Switched machines on us, eh?” said O’Malley to himself, commenting on the Cauldron Born. He drew the reticule across the mech’s cockpit. “No matter.”
The Cauldron Born came to a stop beside the Mad Cat. O’Malley waited patiently for Joshua to open the hatch.
The canopy began to open.
Below him, he suddenly heard a scream. “Joshua, NO! Above me!”
The canopy suddenly snapped shut again. In fury, Richard squeezed the trigger, but the bullet ricocheted harmlessly off the armored glass. The Cauldron Born turned and brought its autocannon to bear on the mansion.
“Shit!” swore O’Malley, turning to run inside the house. Joshua opened fire, raking the balcony with 75mm cannon shells. The stone balcony was pounded into powder by the impacts. Dust clouds erupted from the shattered stone, obscuring the view of the wreckage.
“Did I get him?” asked Joshua, marching Steppenwolfe closer to the building.
“I don’t know.” Said Gwen. She popped the canopy of her mech and lowered herself down.
Joshua did likewise. He drew his sword and walked towards Lisa.
“Gwen, she’s hurt.” He said, picking up his pace and heedless of danger.
“Coming.” Replied Gwen, drawing her pistol and surveying the grounds before moving up behind him.
Joshua turned to his wife. “Are you alright?”
“I will be.” Lisa winced. “Cut me a few times with his sword.”
“That gash looks nasty.”
“It feels it, trust me.” She said, “but I’ll live. I’m in far better shape than you were the last time we had to kill an O’Malley.”
Gwen moved over to the pulverized front of the house. Joshua’s cannon had ravaged it into rubble. “No one could survive that.” Said Lisa.
“And yet he has.” Said Gwen, leaning down to shove a piece of stonework aside.
Underneath the stone was the broken and battered body of Richard O’Malley; He was still alive, but barely. His right leg was gone below the hip, and only the wreckage lying on top of him had kept him from bleeding to death. Richard raised his head as Joshua walked over.
“I’ve still won, Messer.” He choked. “Daniel’s gone. You’ll never see him again.”
“Don’t count on it, bastard.” Said Joshua, thrusting his sword through Richard’s throat. Richard gurgled for a second and then died.
“Mercy was too good for him.” Said Gwen cruelly. “You should have just let him bleed to death.”
Joshua pulled his sword away, wiped it on the grass, and said nothing.
“He was right, wasn’t he? He did win.” Said Gwen grimly.
“No.” Said Joshua defiantly. “He hasn’t won. Our son is alive and out there somewhere. We will find him, one way or the other.”
The End
Star Sword : Shattered
Chapter Thirty-One - The Battle of Northwind
Spaceport, Georgia
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
0645 Hours. 1 September 3055
The huge Mammoth class transport dropship touched down on the tarmac, dwarfing all ships nearby. Two mechs of the 1st Conspiracy regiment marched towards it to begin their inspection of its cargo.
“Hey, Joey, what do you make of this? Those cargo bay doors seem to be modified.” said one, piloting a Captivator.
“Yeah, and we weren’t scheduled this arrival until last week. Something’s fishy here.” said the other, in a Tarantula.
“Keep sharp then.” As they closed, one of the cargo bay doors began to open.
“Hey, something’s going on.”
Dropping out of the half-open bay door was a Clan Mad Cat bearing parade colors of forest green, magenta, and navy blue. It raised its left arm, twin beams of light arced out and struck the Tarantula, boring clean through it and detonating its SRM ammo. The mech exploded in a huge ball of flame.
“We are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack!” screamed the Captivator pilot into his communicator, but all he got on the other end was static.
Other bay doors opened and other mechs poured out: mostly Omnimechs like the Mad Cat. “It’s the Star Swords!”
A PPC shot from Mechlanthon’s Exile silenced him quick, but other Conspiracy mechs began to close on the Mammoth as the Swords moved to secure the tarmac.
“Take out the control tower and secure the perimeter.” ordered Joshua. Four PPC blasts from a Swords Masakari blasted through the tower’s concrete base and made it come crashing down on top of the terminal in a huge cloud of dust and smoke. Swords mechs fanned out to engage the single company of Conspirators that held the space port.
Star Swords 4th Battalion Staging Area Gamma, Georgia
0702 Hours, 1 September 3055
“Did you hear that?” said Lisa, rapping on the canopy glass of Gwen’s Assassin to make sure she got her attention.
“Explosions coming from the spaceport. Looks like attack has begun.”
“Now it’s our turn to move. Get this heap moving.”
“Hang on.” Said Gwen, pushing the throttle stick forward. The 40 ton mech lurched forward, advancing the small handful of blocks towards an old Highlander compound, one presently used by a lance of Conspiracy Star Swords.
“Doesn’t look like they’ve moved. Seems Juan was good on his word.” Said Gwen.
“I knew he would be.” Said Lisa confidently. “After all, he’s been very helpful. Not did he give us the data on O’Malley’s security, but also told us about this place. He knew we’d not be wanting to sit out the battle. Let me down here.”
Gwen brought the mech’s hand up to cradle her passenger and lower her to the earth. Surprised to see a Highlander Assassin approach their base, several of the Star Swords techs and mechwarriors looked on with curiosity.
“Lady Lisa?” said one, obviously a New Belfast native.
“I am requisitioning one of your BattleMechs. Stand aside, Sergeant.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“You can and you will, Sergeant.” Came a voice across a loudspeaker. Behind the assembled group, a Thor powered up and stepped out of the hanger.
“Juan.” Said Lisa with satisfaction.
“I should have picked another depot for you.” Apologized Juan. “This one only holds a heavy lance. I know preference for medium class machines.”
“No matter. That Mad Cat will do nicely.”
“Sergeant, hand over your master key and allow General MacLeod to pass.”
The sergeant pulled the key off of his neckband and handed it to Lisa. Lisa headed over to power up her new mech.
“So, are you here to keep your people in line or join the fight?” asked Lisa as she put on her headset radio.
“I’d like to join the fight if I could.” Said Juan. “I’ve a score to settle with a certain Duke.”
“It’s good to have you back, Juan.”
“I’m sorry things came to this. I should have trusted you. All of you.”
“We’re all human, Juan. Everyone of us.” Said Lisa, stepping into the cockpit of the Mad Cat.
Georgia Convention Center, Government District
0650 Hours. 1 September 3055
“General, we are receiving scattered reports of skirmishes within the city.” said an aide as he dashed into one of the early morning planning sessions for the Conspiracy.
Ryan Steiner stood up. “What do you know?”
“Not much. It seems central communications are having trouble. It seems an attack force of unknown composition has hit the spaceport.”
Steiner let out his breath. “So it has begun. I need confirmation. Force composition. Location. Let’s get the troops ready to…”
The Duke did not get to finish his sentence before a machine gun went off. Duke Ryan dove to the floor as bullets chewed through his aide, splattering blood onto the battle map in front of the assembled generals. Before the attacker could send some of his deadly ammunition at them, gunfire erupted down the hall as the generals’ bodyguards rallied to aid their charges.
General Atherton, commander of the 1st Conspiracy, jumped up and slammed the door shut. “Loki assassins.”
“Where there’s one…” said Steiner. “Let’s get out of here. There’s a back door that will lead you to the escape ship. We’ll compose our counter-strategy on the move.” He ushered the men out the back door and then darted in behind them.
Georgia Central
0715 Hours. 1 September 3055
Steppenwolfe moved cautiously between the skyscrapers of Georgia’s commercial district. After the 1st Conspiracy had been driven from the spaceport and into the streets, the lighter Star Swords mechs had pursued with the intention of destroying them down to the very last mech. In the somewhat chaotic pursuit, Joshua found himself separated from the other members of his lance.
“General, I have new signals approaching our position.” said Mechlanthon. “It seems the 1st Conspiracy have gained some reinforcements.”
“The rest of their regiment?”
“Yes, sir. It would seem so.”
“Any sign from the Highlanders or the Sword’s 4th?”
“Negative, sir. If they’re in the fight, they’re in reserve.”
“Good. Are the Lyran Guard and Genyosha off-loaded yet?”
“Not yet, sir.”
“Knew the good news wouldn’t last forever. We’ll have to buy them the time they need. This’ll all be for nothing if we can’t get away from the spaceport. General Messer to all Swords mechs, expand the perimeter to 1 kilometer from the spaceport. All pursuit mechs return to the spaceport. We’ve got to hold those Conspiracy mechs off.”
“Stretching the perimeter spreads us awfully thin.” commented Ryan.
“I don’t want to get trapped in there.” He paused. “If worse comes to worst, the Swords can still escape to do the job we came here to do. Victor’ll be on his own.”
“I heard that.” said Prince Victor.
“Sorry, my Prince, but....” Joshua did not get the chance to finish before Mechlanthon interrupted him.
“General, new signals closing on you fast!”
Two jungle green Battlemechs turned the corner three blocks down from Joshua: a Warhammer and a Griffin. The Conspiracy reinforcements have arrived.
Joshua launched a salvo of LRMs at the Warhammer, which peppered across the mech’s heavy armor. It responded with a pair of PPC blasts. Within the confined street, Joshua was unable to dodge and both slammed hard into Steppenwolfe. The blasts knocked the Cauldron Born off its feet and into a nearby bank.
Joshua forced his mech to its feet as the Warhammer began to close. The Griffin stayed back; It was a better long range fighter anyway. But the Griffin was soon joined by a Trebuchet and an Enforcer, no doubt the rest of the lance.
“Star Colonel, I’m in trouble.” said Joshua as the Griffin lobbed LRMs over the Warhammer’s head. Joshua slammed his feet down on the reverse throttle, backpedaling away from his opponents. The missiles struck the street and blasted the blacktop road into powder.
“Aw, come on, Colonel. Don’t tell me these rejects are giving you trouble?” said a voice; Logan.
A PPC and gauss shell slammed into the side of the Enforcer as it stepped into an intersection. Although previously undamaged, the Enforcer shuddered under the attack as the twin weapons ripped the right arm and its primary weapon from the mech. The Trebuchet turned to face the new opponent, leaving Joshua only to fight the Warhammer and Griffin.
The Nightmare stepped out onto the same street as Joshua and hammered the Trebuchet with its potent weapons. The 50 ton missile carrier disintegrated under the barrage, leaving only a pair of legs where the mech once stood. Joshua fired his twin lasers at the Warhammer, chewing through to the mech’s SRM ammunition bays. An explosion ripped through the Warhammer’s right side, knocking the mech into a building and burying it in rubble. The Griffin pilot fired his jump jets and escaped onto the next street over.
“See? No problem.” said Logan.
Joshua ignored his cocky savior's flip comments. “Logan, you take the Dark Rangers and go after the Government Center. We’ll draw off the Conspiracy regiment here.”
“Good plan, Joshua.” interjected Victor. “The Rangers are better suited for that kind of action anyway. We’ve almost got our forces off-loaded. I’m sending the mechs I have into the streets to bolster your perimeter. Tai-sa Asano is doing the same. The battle will be fought here! The Rangers will do the dirty work.”
“Whatever you say, my Prince. You heard the man. Hold the perimeter and pray Agent Bairn and Lisa got the Highlanders and Conspiracy Swords battalion out of our hair.” said Joshua.
Mechlanthon and the Swords command lance joined up with Joshua. “We’ve got to give them an opening or the Rangers aren’t going anywhere.”
“The Conspiracy mechs are almost in weapons range.” said Victor. “Hit them. Hit them now while they’re still on the move.”
The not-so-distant sound of weapons fire told Joshua that the battle had begun. Conspiracy mechs suddenly poured into the streets near Joshua’s command lance. Over an entire company was being pushed back by the forces west of Joshua’s lance. Those would have been Ryan Smith’s Dirty Dozen.
“Nail them.” he ordered.
More concerned with the forces at their breast, the Conspirators failed to notice the single lance of Swords mechs strike their left flank.
Ryan’s Mad Cat was in the middle of the fray, blasting away with its twin PPCs. A barrage slammed into a Conspirator Thunderbolt. Joshua closed with Ryan’s target and hammered it with an autocannon barrage from his Class Ten. The burst ripped through the mech’s LRM launcher, tearing it from its mountings.
Mechlanthon fired his jump jets and rocketed over the battle and landing right beside a Conspirator Whitworth. He spun his mech around and fired his PPC. The single blast ripped clean through the lightly armored missile carrier. The wreckage was tossed backwards into Amanda’s mech, who batted it aside to get at her opponent, a Conspirator Dervish.
The battle was blatantly one-sided. The Conspiracy regiment was neither well trained nor well equipped, outfitted as they were with mostly Succession War era mechs. They were grossly outmatched by the Star Swords and their Omnimechs. Joshua knew that the Duke Ryan’s homegrown regiments had more potent upgraded mechs, including some stolen Clan designs aside from those they’d stolen from him, but they were nowhere to be seen.
The Conspirators, now routed, began to pull back rapidly. In their wake, they left nearly a full battalion of their fallen comrades. Alliance losses had been minimal. Only a handful of the enemy were even capable of retreat.
“Something smells fishy here.” said Joshua to himself. “This was too easy.”
“Press the attack.” said Victor, elated with victory.
Whatever was going on, Tai-sa Asano of the Genyosha sensed it as well. Victor should have, but he was almost drunk with victory. “Is that wise?” questioned the Kurita commander.
“I doubt it.” responded Joshua prophetically. As he feared, dozens of contacts suddenly appeared on Joshua’s radar screen.
“New contacts.” said Mechlanthon. “Almost two regiments.”
“Identify? Who are they?” said Joshua anxiously.
“I’m reading Captivators, Minutemen, and Marik designs. It’s more Conspiracy troops, probably their mercenaries and the 2nd regiment” said Amanda.
Joshua let out his breath. “Still no sign of the Highlanders?”
“Negative. I think Bairn did his job.”
“Kou Fairchild, where are you?”
“About five blocks west and two blocks north of your position, sir.” Came Kou’s response. “5th Battalion present and accounted for. We’re only down three mechs from combat losses.”
“Take your Battalion and flank the incoming Conspiracy force.”
“Roger that. We’re on the move.”
“That’ll break the line.” said Victor, reality coming back to him.
“It’s my intention to keep the Conspiracy from exploiting it. Victor, bring your 2nd Battalion up to cover their maneuver.”
“You’re spreading us thin.” said Asano.
“I intend to make us thinner.” said Joshua. “Check your ammo stores. If we don’t break their initiative now, they’ll pick us apart after our ammunition is spent. Dirty Dozen, prepare to charge.”
“Are you crazy?” said Ryan.
“We have the advantage, even in the city.” said Joshua. “And we might just intimidate them into falling back.”
“Go for it, General.” said a reassuring Logan. Joshua wondered from where the transmission originated. Logan should have been long gone by now.
Joshua brought Steppenwolfe up to a full run. Falling into line behind him were his command lance. On adjacent streets, Sword mechs began their charge. “Spread out. Maximize our contact points.” ordered Joshua. Lances broke apart to widen the line as the Swords rapidly closed the gap with the advancing Conspiracy forces.
Joshua and Mechlanthon encountered a medium lance of mercenary mechs. Mechlanthon, who’s mech was much faster, took the lead and opened fire with his SRMs into the lead mercenary mech. The Phoenix Hawk got a torso-full of missiles, but it didn’t slow that mech down. Joshua followed it up with his LRMs, smashing into the same mech. That got its attention and the impacts made the mech misstep and slide on the slick concrete street.
Joshua didn’t miss a beat to open up on the next mech in line, firing his autocannon. The Highlander Blackjack returned fire with its twin heavy lasers. Both volleys hit and one ton of armor was destroyed. Joshua snarled, but was pleased he now piloted a heavy mech instead of a medium. Any of the Galileos would be in much worse shape than the Cauldron Born by now.
Joshua pushed down on the accelerator, bringing his mech to a run and firing his lasers into the Blackjack. Beside him, the Phoenix Hawk came back to its feet and fired one of its heavy lasers into Mechlanthon’s Grendel. Joshua gritted his teeth and swerved his mech to one side. The Cauldron Born struck the Phoenix Hawk in a glancing collision, only slightly slowing its run. But it had the effect Joshua wanted. The Phoenix Hawk was unbalanced and fell back down.
What it had cost him though was the room to maneuver. The Blackjack had drawn a bead on him now and was about to fire another volley of lasers.
“Oh no, you don’t.” said Mechlanthon. His use of a contraction was far less surprising than the PPC blast that ripped though the left arm of the Blackjack, blowing it off. It was uncharacteristic of Mechlanthon to assist a warrior he respected in a one-on-one duel.
Joshua cut loose with the autocannon again into the damaged Blackjack at point blank range. The shells ripped through the mech’s center armor and blasted into the Blackjack’s gyro, crippling it. It crashed over backwards as Joshua looked up to face the next two mechs.
They were a pair of Vulcans, deadly city fighters. But in this stand-up fight, they were no more potent than any other medium mech. Joshua lunged Steppenwolfe forward. Three pulse lasers arced over his mech’s surface; A fourth narrowly missed only to scorch the building behind him. A computer alarm sounded off, warning Joshua that his armor had been breached in several places. His mech’s extra stamina was now gone.
Mechlanthon stepped up, firing his SRM pack into the twin mechs. He followed that up with a PPC blast. Lightly armored, the first Vulcan lost a leg and the adjacent arm in that barrage. The mech crashed to the street.
Freed of having to fight two opponents, Joshua fired a pulse from the large laser into his Vulcan. Unable to take even one hit from such a potent weapon, the Vulcan staggered back, heavily damaged. It turned to run, but Mechlanthon finished it with a PPC to the back.
Joshua glanced down at his radar screen. The charge had worked. Fifth battalion’s flanking maneuver had just begun and the Conspiracy forces were falling back, disoriented and frightened. Unfortunately, this had been a costly maneuver. Joshua knew that the enemy had taken down a few of the Swords before being forced to withdraw.
“Ammo check.” said Joshua. He scanned over his own stores. The final pulse laser attack from the Vulcans had scrapped his LRM launcher, making its nearly full ammunition complement useless. His autocannon was down to only 3 bursts.
“My SRM is almost empty.” said Mechlanthon.
“Let’s hope it’s enough.” Said Joshua. “They know they’re backed into a corner. That’s why Duke Ryan threw the kitchen sink at us.”
---
A little more than a kilometer away, Logan and the Dark Rangers were marching through the burning city streets of Exiletown. The fighting in this part of the city had been particularly fierce, as the Genyosha regiments clashed with the elite of the Conspiracy. To Logan’s surprise and dismay, most of the mech carcasses that littered the streets were of Kurita mechs. Had the Swords not flanked Ryan Steiner’s bodyguards, it was quite likely the 2nd Conspiracy regiment would have pushed through to the spaceport.
By now, all the Alliance ground forces were active. The aerospace support would be off-loading next and it was vital that the lines hold until they were also finished. But Logan and company were not here to ensure the perimeter remained intact. They were hunting an old friend.
“You know, we shouldn’t be doing this. General Messer....” said Kai.
“I know what he wanted.” said Logan. “But I suspect some of our old friends have already taken care of their generals for us. We didn’t spend three months on this rock without learning just how tenacious our rebel friends can be.”
“You put a lot of faith in Nathan.” asked Rohan.
“This whole operation was carefully planned. You’ve heard the chatter. The Highlanders have mostly stood down and are not engaging us. Do you honestly think Bairn’d stop at that?”
“Careful, boss.” said Abel, Christian’s son. “I’ve got an enemy mech two blocks ahead.”
“Just one?”
“It seems to be a Thor, sir. A Clan design. Wait, its IFF transponder signal is Star Swords”
“Must be an equipment malfunction. We’re too deep into the city for there to be Swords mechs about.”
“It’s no error, Captain.” Said a voice. “This is Kommandant Juan Miranda of the Star Swords 4th Battalion. I’m here to join your hunt.”
“You were supposed to stand down, Kommandant.”
“As I’ve said to others, I’ve got a score to settle. Duke Ryan is in the area. Be mindful.”
At that very moment, pulse lasers raked across the buildings, tearing two large furrows in the armor of Juan’s Thor.
“Backstabber!” snarled Duke Ryan. “I should have known not to trust one of O’Malley’s lackeys.”
Logan marched up and passed Juan as he tried to get his mech out of the line of fire. A full company of enemy mechs was bearing down on them, all brand new designs and led by a single Grand Titan. Ryan Steiner and his command company had arrived.
“You may have won the war, fools. But at least I’ll get the satisfaction of taking you with me.” taunted Ryan Steiner. The pilot of his Grand Titan drove the point home by cutting loose into The Nightmare with his LRM launchers.
Steiner and his pilot followed up the attack with another pulse laser attack. At moment, the rest of the company smashed into the bulk of the Dark Rangers. A huge melee erupted.
After their losses on Northwind, the Rangers had only managed to fill a handful of their open positions. They were understrength by three mechs, despite Juan’s surprise arrival. Steiner’s forces were of equal skill, but were slightly better equipped and outnumbered Logan’s men.
With Steiner was one of the stolen Balrog Omnimechs the Conspiracy owned. Armed with a brutal combination of laser cannon and a targeting computer, it waded in among the fray, its heavy armor making nearly invulnerable to all the weapons fire. It trained its sights on Rohan’s Mantis and fired a full barrage. Laser after laser ripped through the Mantis’s light armor like it was paper, destroying vital systems. Rohan, fearing for his life, punched his eject button and rocketed into the sky. The Mantis exploded beneath him in a huge fireball.
Logan swore and backed up to cover Rohan as his parachute deployed. The Balrog had other plans as Cowboy brought his Banshee to bear on the Balrog. Far more evenly matched, Cowboy’s mech hammered the Balrog with twin PPCs and a gauss cannon. That hurt it.
Logan’s distraction gave the Grand Titan enough time to pummel The Nightmare once more with a volley of pulse lasers and missiles. Unfortunately for Steiner, his mech’s weapons were almost too diverse. No one weapon had the punch to seriously hurt Logan’s mech. To keep up with the damage Logan’s Clan-based weapons could inflict, Steiner’s pilot had to push his mech to its limits. And his heat level had begun to rise.
Meanwhile, Doc and the rest were tackling with the bulk of the Conspiracy force. Doc’s Ryoken was taking a beating but the former technician was giving as good as he got. He’d modified the mech to carry a configuration similar to the one General Messer had preferred on Galileo III: a gauss cannon and medium lasers for support. Without the Galileo III’s advanced targeting computer, the configuration was not quite as potent, but it made up for it with increased firepower in the form of a Streak SRM rack.
Doc had moved his mech alongside Juan’s Thor and the two of them were holding the line against wave after wave of Thunders, Captivators, and Minutemen. Behind those mechs, the lethal missile carriers called Apollos rained LRMs down on the hapless Rangers. A blast from a Conspiracy Thunder’s Class 20 autocannon brought down Grayson’s Shadow Hawk, but Doc doughnutted the mech with a gauss shot a few seconds later. The Thunder went up in a huge fireball, severely damaging the building next to it.
Doc suddenly became aware that all the firepower being released was seriously damaging the nearby buildings. The Thunder’s destruction seemed to spell the doom of that office building and it began to sway. “All Rangers, pull back!” screamed Doc, backpedaling his Ryoken out of harm’s way. Juan fired his Thor’s jump jets as the building came down into the street. It crushed a Conspiracy Minuteman that couldn’t get out of the way in time and raised a huge cloud of dust the blanketed the battlefield.
Masked by the dust cloud, Cowboy pulled back from the Balrog. Badly damaged, his Banshee had lost both of its PPCs to a lucky hit from the Balrog’s twin heavy lasers. With his gauss rifle now empty, Cowboy found himself robbed of most of his firepower. But the Balrog was almost in as bad a shape. A few lucky hits from Cowboy’s gauss had all but crushed one of the demonic mech’s jump nacelles, making it impossible for the mech to jump.
Logan also took advantage of the cloud, not to give ground, but to take it. He closed on the Titan’s last position, hoping to give the damaged assault mech a lethal volley at point blank range. As the dust cleared, Logan discovered to his dismay that Steiner had moved away. A dozen warning alarms went off in The Nightmare’s cockpit as lasers tore into the soft back armor of the Awesome. Steiner may have been no mechwarrior, but the soldier piloting his mech knew his stuff. Logan had been outsmarted.
“Critical hit: Engine. Critical hit: Gyro. Critical hit: ER PPC. Criti....” chimed his computer before it shorted out.
With its gyro damaged, The Nightmare fell forward onto the pavement. Impact with the ground crushed the mech’s heavy pulse laser in its housing, robbing the mech of two of its three heavy weapons. All that remained was the gauss rifle and the SRM launcher. The SRM launcher was loaded, as always, with inferno rounds. On the ground, he was nearly helpless and the Titan was closing for the kill.
As Cowboy cleared the dust cloud, the Balrog charged out of nowhere to slam into his Banshee. The impact knocked the 95 ton mech into a nearby building. The weakened building collapsed on top of the Banshee, pinning it under tons of rubble.
The Balrog turned to face another target only to get a blast of SRMs in the face from Doc’s Ryoken. Blinded for a brief second, it staggered backwards into another building. As it crushed mortar, glass, and steel with its huge bulk, Juan hammered it with the last of his autocannon shells. The gun clicked dry just as the last of the Balrog’s heavy chest armor fell away into the street. Seeing his opening, Doc fired his lasers, drilling through the massive mech’s chest and destroying its gyro. Crippled, the Balrog fell forward into the street.
Not far away, Steiner’s mechwarrior was about to press his advantage when his computer chimed in with a warning of its own. “Heat level critical: Shutdown sequence initiated.”
“NO!” swore Steiner. He reached up and smacked the pilot on the head, a pointless gesture of frustration as the pilot’s neurohelmet more than softened the blow. As he watched his mech’s systems turn themselves off one by one, he also watched Logan slowly bring his nearly crippled mech back to its feet. Logan turned and saw the motionless Titan, looking down on him as if in elated triumph.
“Why doesn’t he finish me?” said Logan to himself. Without his sensors, he couldn’t determine why the Titan was doing nothing. It did not take him long however to deduce what had happened.
Logan swung the gauss rifle around to point at the chin of the Titan. The head of the Titan exploded, rocketing Steiner away just as Logan fired. The gauss shell finished off what the ejection rockets didn’t, killing the mech’s elite pilot, but Steiner was free and clear.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” snarled Logan, dropping another crosshair onto the ejection pod.
As Steiner’s parachute deployed, Logan triggered a volley from his SRM system. The inferno round detonated about 10 meters short of Steiner’s parachute, spraying the area with white hot liquid. Logan smiled and imagined the scream as Duke Ryan Steiner, the great leader of the Conspiracy, was incinerated. The parachute burned away in less than a second and his body dropped to the ground, smashing into powdery ash as it hit.
Logan slapped his radio transmit switch, hoping the device still worked. “Logan to all mechs: The Duke is dead. I repeat, Duke Ryan Steiner is dead.”
“General Messer here. Can anyone confirm that report?”
“Roger, General.” Said Doc. “Report confirmed. Logan nailed him with an inferno round.”
Blocks away, Joshua smiled. Logan had transmitted his message across an open frequency. Everyone, Conspiracy or Ally, had heard the news.
Steiner’s bodyguard company, who had witnessed their leader’s brutal death, were the first to show the signs of what would soon spread across the Conspiracy forces. Demoralized, their coordinated and efficient attacks began to falter. That momentary break was all that Doc and Juan needed to rally the remaining Rangers and drive off their enemies.
“Doc to General Messer reporting in. This area is secure.”
“Go ahead, Doc. What happened?”
“We encountered a company of the 1st Conspiracy. We’re in bad shape. Logan, Cowboy, Rohan, and Grayson are down. Logan’s alive. The rest are status unknown.”
“Withdraw to the dropships. I’m sending a company of Swords to cover your area.”
Georgia Central
1 September 3055. 0825 Hours
Word quickly spread through the 1st Conspiracy that Steiner was dead. Without their leader, it quickly became a situation of every man for himself. Convinced they would be defeated and then tried as traitors, the former FedCom soldiers that made up the bulk of the Conspiracy army fled their positions en masse. Mercenary units, never famous for their loyalty, did likewise. The Conspiracy lines soon collapsed under a furious attack by the Genyosha and Victor’s Lyran Guard. Rather than face further harm to their own capital city, the Highlanders entered the fray, but not on the side of the Conspiracy. They had been waiting outside the city limits and now prevented any Conspiracy forces from escaping into the wild. Trapped, the remaining Conspirators surrendered.
With their enemies in retreat, the Alliance forces gained a needed break to rest and rearm, even if only for a few hours. Joshua, however, had no such break. Juan had joined up with the Swords and had told Joshua that Lisa and Gwen were headed for O’Malley’s manor. Joshua then ordered his mech reloaded.
“This is unwise.” Said Mechlanthon. “If you open fire on a Highlander unit, even if it is O’Malley, you could bring them into the fray against us.”
"We've seen a handful of Highlander mechs among the Conspiracy forces. Not all of them chose to obey the order to stand down." interjected Daisaku.
“Regardless, that monster has my son!” said Joshua forcefully. “And my wife and best friend are heading right towards him. I will not stand idly by while the both of them rush headlong into danger.”
“General…”
“You don’t have a child of your own, Mechlanthon. I don’t expect you to understand.”
Joshua drew his sword to inspect it. Mechlanthon realized that it was a new blade.
“That is new. When did you get that?”
“It was time.” Said Joshua. “I forged this before we departed.” The sword was exquisite. Unlike Anduril, this weapon was single-edged, its blade having the porous appearance of compressed endo-steel. The hilt was wrapped in red and black cloth, similar to the hilt of a Japanese katana. The crosspiece bore the emblem of Clan Wolverine. “This is the same design as my father’s sword.” He said. “And of the Khan’s before him, reaching all the way back to Rebecca Laidir.”
“The sword of the Wolverines. You have recreated it.”
“I have and its first test will be to bathe in the blood of Richard O’Malley.”
“Good luck, Joshua.”
---
Joshua moved Steppenwolfe out of the demolished sections of the city around the spaceport into those areas battle had not yet touched. With his high speed, Joshua watched as the Dark Rangers and his other allies slowly dropped off of his radar. As he progressed though the city, he spotted Highlander signals ahead.
The cease-fire with the Highlanders was still very tentative. Contact had not been established with Nathan to determine the conditions of his agreement with them. As Mechlanthon had highlighted, advancing further into the city might threaten the peace, but Joshua was more than willing to take the chance.
“Hopefully, they’ll not think much of me.” Said Joshua to himself. But as he feared, a small group of mechs broke off from the rest to check him out.
“They’re in for a surprise.” Said Joshua as he told his computer to target the lead mech. It registered as a Panther, a light scout mech. Joshua cycled though the other approaching mechs, finding the other three to be two Wasps and a Hermes II medium mech.
“A scout lance, just as I suspected.” Said Joshua, somewhat annoyed. Too fast for Joshua to outrun easily, they didn’t pose much of a threat by themselves, but they could signal for reinforcements that Joshua would have trouble dealing with.
Joshua held his course, making his way towards O’Malley manor on the far side of the city. He was still a good 25 kilometers distant, and Joshua did not want to have to fight his way through all 25. The Panther turned the corner a couple of blocks ahead and drew a bead on him with its primary weapon, a PPC.
Joshua cut loose with his lasers, saving his autocannon shells for meaner opponents, before the Panther could fire. Both lasers sheared though the mech’s right arm, cutting off the PPC and leaving the light Panther virtually weaponless. It pulled back away, realizing it has bitten off more than it could chew. Joshua let it go, but the real damage had been done. Two more mechs broke off from the main group of Highlanders and made their way towards Joshua. Joshua knew they would be a bit tougher.
“Time to put you though your paces.” Said Joshua to his mech. He pushed the throttle forward and the mech moved up to its maximum speed of 86 kph. At that speed, Joshua could outrun most any mech that outgunned him. Fortunately for him, the enemy attack force could not keep up, but by now, Steppenwolfe had gained its own reputation to match that of either of the Galileo’s. That meant the O’Malleys would know he was coming.
“Captain O’Malley, we have identified the enemy mech as a Cauldron Born. It bears Star Swords markings.” said the Panther pilot, limping back to the main Highlander force.
“It is him. Let him pass. I’ll deal with him.” Came Richard’s voice in response.
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
0645 Hours. 1 September 3055
The huge Mammoth class transport dropship touched down on the tarmac, dwarfing all ships nearby. Two mechs of the 1st Conspiracy regiment marched towards it to begin their inspection of its cargo.
“Hey, Joey, what do you make of this? Those cargo bay doors seem to be modified.” said one, piloting a Captivator.
“Yeah, and we weren’t scheduled this arrival until last week. Something’s fishy here.” said the other, in a Tarantula.
“Keep sharp then.” As they closed, one of the cargo bay doors began to open.
“Hey, something’s going on.”
Dropping out of the half-open bay door was a Clan Mad Cat bearing parade colors of forest green, magenta, and navy blue. It raised its left arm, twin beams of light arced out and struck the Tarantula, boring clean through it and detonating its SRM ammo. The mech exploded in a huge ball of flame.
“We are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack!” screamed the Captivator pilot into his communicator, but all he got on the other end was static.
Other bay doors opened and other mechs poured out: mostly Omnimechs like the Mad Cat. “It’s the Star Swords!”
A PPC shot from Mechlanthon’s Exile silenced him quick, but other Conspiracy mechs began to close on the Mammoth as the Swords moved to secure the tarmac.
“Take out the control tower and secure the perimeter.” ordered Joshua. Four PPC blasts from a Swords Masakari blasted through the tower’s concrete base and made it come crashing down on top of the terminal in a huge cloud of dust and smoke. Swords mechs fanned out to engage the single company of Conspirators that held the space port.
Star Swords 4th Battalion Staging Area Gamma, Georgia
0702 Hours, 1 September 3055
“Did you hear that?” said Lisa, rapping on the canopy glass of Gwen’s Assassin to make sure she got her attention.
“Explosions coming from the spaceport. Looks like attack has begun.”
“Now it’s our turn to move. Get this heap moving.”
“Hang on.” Said Gwen, pushing the throttle stick forward. The 40 ton mech lurched forward, advancing the small handful of blocks towards an old Highlander compound, one presently used by a lance of Conspiracy Star Swords.
“Doesn’t look like they’ve moved. Seems Juan was good on his word.” Said Gwen.
“I knew he would be.” Said Lisa confidently. “After all, he’s been very helpful. Not did he give us the data on O’Malley’s security, but also told us about this place. He knew we’d not be wanting to sit out the battle. Let me down here.”
Gwen brought the mech’s hand up to cradle her passenger and lower her to the earth. Surprised to see a Highlander Assassin approach their base, several of the Star Swords techs and mechwarriors looked on with curiosity.
“Lady Lisa?” said one, obviously a New Belfast native.
“I am requisitioning one of your BattleMechs. Stand aside, Sergeant.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“You can and you will, Sergeant.” Came a voice across a loudspeaker. Behind the assembled group, a Thor powered up and stepped out of the hanger.
“Juan.” Said Lisa with satisfaction.
“I should have picked another depot for you.” Apologized Juan. “This one only holds a heavy lance. I know preference for medium class machines.”
“No matter. That Mad Cat will do nicely.”
“Sergeant, hand over your master key and allow General MacLeod to pass.”
The sergeant pulled the key off of his neckband and handed it to Lisa. Lisa headed over to power up her new mech.
“So, are you here to keep your people in line or join the fight?” asked Lisa as she put on her headset radio.
“I’d like to join the fight if I could.” Said Juan. “I’ve a score to settle with a certain Duke.”
“It’s good to have you back, Juan.”
“I’m sorry things came to this. I should have trusted you. All of you.”
“We’re all human, Juan. Everyone of us.” Said Lisa, stepping into the cockpit of the Mad Cat.
Georgia Convention Center, Government District
0650 Hours. 1 September 3055
“General, we are receiving scattered reports of skirmishes within the city.” said an aide as he dashed into one of the early morning planning sessions for the Conspiracy.
Ryan Steiner stood up. “What do you know?”
“Not much. It seems central communications are having trouble. It seems an attack force of unknown composition has hit the spaceport.”
Steiner let out his breath. “So it has begun. I need confirmation. Force composition. Location. Let’s get the troops ready to…”
The Duke did not get to finish his sentence before a machine gun went off. Duke Ryan dove to the floor as bullets chewed through his aide, splattering blood onto the battle map in front of the assembled generals. Before the attacker could send some of his deadly ammunition at them, gunfire erupted down the hall as the generals’ bodyguards rallied to aid their charges.
General Atherton, commander of the 1st Conspiracy, jumped up and slammed the door shut. “Loki assassins.”
“Where there’s one…” said Steiner. “Let’s get out of here. There’s a back door that will lead you to the escape ship. We’ll compose our counter-strategy on the move.” He ushered the men out the back door and then darted in behind them.
Georgia Central
0715 Hours. 1 September 3055
Steppenwolfe moved cautiously between the skyscrapers of Georgia’s commercial district. After the 1st Conspiracy had been driven from the spaceport and into the streets, the lighter Star Swords mechs had pursued with the intention of destroying them down to the very last mech. In the somewhat chaotic pursuit, Joshua found himself separated from the other members of his lance.
“General, I have new signals approaching our position.” said Mechlanthon. “It seems the 1st Conspiracy have gained some reinforcements.”
“The rest of their regiment?”
“Yes, sir. It would seem so.”
“Any sign from the Highlanders or the Sword’s 4th?”
“Negative, sir. If they’re in the fight, they’re in reserve.”
“Good. Are the Lyran Guard and Genyosha off-loaded yet?”
“Not yet, sir.”
“Knew the good news wouldn’t last forever. We’ll have to buy them the time they need. This’ll all be for nothing if we can’t get away from the spaceport. General Messer to all Swords mechs, expand the perimeter to 1 kilometer from the spaceport. All pursuit mechs return to the spaceport. We’ve got to hold those Conspiracy mechs off.”
“Stretching the perimeter spreads us awfully thin.” commented Ryan.
“I don’t want to get trapped in there.” He paused. “If worse comes to worst, the Swords can still escape to do the job we came here to do. Victor’ll be on his own.”
“I heard that.” said Prince Victor.
“Sorry, my Prince, but....” Joshua did not get the chance to finish before Mechlanthon interrupted him.
“General, new signals closing on you fast!”
Two jungle green Battlemechs turned the corner three blocks down from Joshua: a Warhammer and a Griffin. The Conspiracy reinforcements have arrived.
Joshua launched a salvo of LRMs at the Warhammer, which peppered across the mech’s heavy armor. It responded with a pair of PPC blasts. Within the confined street, Joshua was unable to dodge and both slammed hard into Steppenwolfe. The blasts knocked the Cauldron Born off its feet and into a nearby bank.
Joshua forced his mech to its feet as the Warhammer began to close. The Griffin stayed back; It was a better long range fighter anyway. But the Griffin was soon joined by a Trebuchet and an Enforcer, no doubt the rest of the lance.
“Star Colonel, I’m in trouble.” said Joshua as the Griffin lobbed LRMs over the Warhammer’s head. Joshua slammed his feet down on the reverse throttle, backpedaling away from his opponents. The missiles struck the street and blasted the blacktop road into powder.
“Aw, come on, Colonel. Don’t tell me these rejects are giving you trouble?” said a voice; Logan.
A PPC and gauss shell slammed into the side of the Enforcer as it stepped into an intersection. Although previously undamaged, the Enforcer shuddered under the attack as the twin weapons ripped the right arm and its primary weapon from the mech. The Trebuchet turned to face the new opponent, leaving Joshua only to fight the Warhammer and Griffin.
The Nightmare stepped out onto the same street as Joshua and hammered the Trebuchet with its potent weapons. The 50 ton missile carrier disintegrated under the barrage, leaving only a pair of legs where the mech once stood. Joshua fired his twin lasers at the Warhammer, chewing through to the mech’s SRM ammunition bays. An explosion ripped through the Warhammer’s right side, knocking the mech into a building and burying it in rubble. The Griffin pilot fired his jump jets and escaped onto the next street over.
“See? No problem.” said Logan.
Joshua ignored his cocky savior's flip comments. “Logan, you take the Dark Rangers and go after the Government Center. We’ll draw off the Conspiracy regiment here.”
“Good plan, Joshua.” interjected Victor. “The Rangers are better suited for that kind of action anyway. We’ve almost got our forces off-loaded. I’m sending the mechs I have into the streets to bolster your perimeter. Tai-sa Asano is doing the same. The battle will be fought here! The Rangers will do the dirty work.”
“Whatever you say, my Prince. You heard the man. Hold the perimeter and pray Agent Bairn and Lisa got the Highlanders and Conspiracy Swords battalion out of our hair.” said Joshua.
Mechlanthon and the Swords command lance joined up with Joshua. “We’ve got to give them an opening or the Rangers aren’t going anywhere.”
“The Conspiracy mechs are almost in weapons range.” said Victor. “Hit them. Hit them now while they’re still on the move.”
The not-so-distant sound of weapons fire told Joshua that the battle had begun. Conspiracy mechs suddenly poured into the streets near Joshua’s command lance. Over an entire company was being pushed back by the forces west of Joshua’s lance. Those would have been Ryan Smith’s Dirty Dozen.
“Nail them.” he ordered.
More concerned with the forces at their breast, the Conspirators failed to notice the single lance of Swords mechs strike their left flank.
Ryan’s Mad Cat was in the middle of the fray, blasting away with its twin PPCs. A barrage slammed into a Conspirator Thunderbolt. Joshua closed with Ryan’s target and hammered it with an autocannon barrage from his Class Ten. The burst ripped through the mech’s LRM launcher, tearing it from its mountings.
Mechlanthon fired his jump jets and rocketed over the battle and landing right beside a Conspirator Whitworth. He spun his mech around and fired his PPC. The single blast ripped clean through the lightly armored missile carrier. The wreckage was tossed backwards into Amanda’s mech, who batted it aside to get at her opponent, a Conspirator Dervish.
The battle was blatantly one-sided. The Conspiracy regiment was neither well trained nor well equipped, outfitted as they were with mostly Succession War era mechs. They were grossly outmatched by the Star Swords and their Omnimechs. Joshua knew that the Duke Ryan’s homegrown regiments had more potent upgraded mechs, including some stolen Clan designs aside from those they’d stolen from him, but they were nowhere to be seen.
The Conspirators, now routed, began to pull back rapidly. In their wake, they left nearly a full battalion of their fallen comrades. Alliance losses had been minimal. Only a handful of the enemy were even capable of retreat.
“Something smells fishy here.” said Joshua to himself. “This was too easy.”
“Press the attack.” said Victor, elated with victory.
Whatever was going on, Tai-sa Asano of the Genyosha sensed it as well. Victor should have, but he was almost drunk with victory. “Is that wise?” questioned the Kurita commander.
“I doubt it.” responded Joshua prophetically. As he feared, dozens of contacts suddenly appeared on Joshua’s radar screen.
“New contacts.” said Mechlanthon. “Almost two regiments.”
“Identify? Who are they?” said Joshua anxiously.
“I’m reading Captivators, Minutemen, and Marik designs. It’s more Conspiracy troops, probably their mercenaries and the 2nd regiment” said Amanda.
Joshua let out his breath. “Still no sign of the Highlanders?”
“Negative. I think Bairn did his job.”
“Kou Fairchild, where are you?”
“About five blocks west and two blocks north of your position, sir.” Came Kou’s response. “5th Battalion present and accounted for. We’re only down three mechs from combat losses.”
“Take your Battalion and flank the incoming Conspiracy force.”
“Roger that. We’re on the move.”
“That’ll break the line.” said Victor, reality coming back to him.
“It’s my intention to keep the Conspiracy from exploiting it. Victor, bring your 2nd Battalion up to cover their maneuver.”
“You’re spreading us thin.” said Asano.
“I intend to make us thinner.” said Joshua. “Check your ammo stores. If we don’t break their initiative now, they’ll pick us apart after our ammunition is spent. Dirty Dozen, prepare to charge.”
“Are you crazy?” said Ryan.
“We have the advantage, even in the city.” said Joshua. “And we might just intimidate them into falling back.”
“Go for it, General.” said a reassuring Logan. Joshua wondered from where the transmission originated. Logan should have been long gone by now.
Joshua brought Steppenwolfe up to a full run. Falling into line behind him were his command lance. On adjacent streets, Sword mechs began their charge. “Spread out. Maximize our contact points.” ordered Joshua. Lances broke apart to widen the line as the Swords rapidly closed the gap with the advancing Conspiracy forces.
Joshua and Mechlanthon encountered a medium lance of mercenary mechs. Mechlanthon, who’s mech was much faster, took the lead and opened fire with his SRMs into the lead mercenary mech. The Phoenix Hawk got a torso-full of missiles, but it didn’t slow that mech down. Joshua followed it up with his LRMs, smashing into the same mech. That got its attention and the impacts made the mech misstep and slide on the slick concrete street.
Joshua didn’t miss a beat to open up on the next mech in line, firing his autocannon. The Highlander Blackjack returned fire with its twin heavy lasers. Both volleys hit and one ton of armor was destroyed. Joshua snarled, but was pleased he now piloted a heavy mech instead of a medium. Any of the Galileos would be in much worse shape than the Cauldron Born by now.
Joshua pushed down on the accelerator, bringing his mech to a run and firing his lasers into the Blackjack. Beside him, the Phoenix Hawk came back to its feet and fired one of its heavy lasers into Mechlanthon’s Grendel. Joshua gritted his teeth and swerved his mech to one side. The Cauldron Born struck the Phoenix Hawk in a glancing collision, only slightly slowing its run. But it had the effect Joshua wanted. The Phoenix Hawk was unbalanced and fell back down.
What it had cost him though was the room to maneuver. The Blackjack had drawn a bead on him now and was about to fire another volley of lasers.
“Oh no, you don’t.” said Mechlanthon. His use of a contraction was far less surprising than the PPC blast that ripped though the left arm of the Blackjack, blowing it off. It was uncharacteristic of Mechlanthon to assist a warrior he respected in a one-on-one duel.
Joshua cut loose with the autocannon again into the damaged Blackjack at point blank range. The shells ripped through the mech’s center armor and blasted into the Blackjack’s gyro, crippling it. It crashed over backwards as Joshua looked up to face the next two mechs.
They were a pair of Vulcans, deadly city fighters. But in this stand-up fight, they were no more potent than any other medium mech. Joshua lunged Steppenwolfe forward. Three pulse lasers arced over his mech’s surface; A fourth narrowly missed only to scorch the building behind him. A computer alarm sounded off, warning Joshua that his armor had been breached in several places. His mech’s extra stamina was now gone.
Mechlanthon stepped up, firing his SRM pack into the twin mechs. He followed that up with a PPC blast. Lightly armored, the first Vulcan lost a leg and the adjacent arm in that barrage. The mech crashed to the street.
Freed of having to fight two opponents, Joshua fired a pulse from the large laser into his Vulcan. Unable to take even one hit from such a potent weapon, the Vulcan staggered back, heavily damaged. It turned to run, but Mechlanthon finished it with a PPC to the back.
Joshua glanced down at his radar screen. The charge had worked. Fifth battalion’s flanking maneuver had just begun and the Conspiracy forces were falling back, disoriented and frightened. Unfortunately, this had been a costly maneuver. Joshua knew that the enemy had taken down a few of the Swords before being forced to withdraw.
“Ammo check.” said Joshua. He scanned over his own stores. The final pulse laser attack from the Vulcans had scrapped his LRM launcher, making its nearly full ammunition complement useless. His autocannon was down to only 3 bursts.
“My SRM is almost empty.” said Mechlanthon.
“Let’s hope it’s enough.” Said Joshua. “They know they’re backed into a corner. That’s why Duke Ryan threw the kitchen sink at us.”
---
A little more than a kilometer away, Logan and the Dark Rangers were marching through the burning city streets of Exiletown. The fighting in this part of the city had been particularly fierce, as the Genyosha regiments clashed with the elite of the Conspiracy. To Logan’s surprise and dismay, most of the mech carcasses that littered the streets were of Kurita mechs. Had the Swords not flanked Ryan Steiner’s bodyguards, it was quite likely the 2nd Conspiracy regiment would have pushed through to the spaceport.
By now, all the Alliance ground forces were active. The aerospace support would be off-loading next and it was vital that the lines hold until they were also finished. But Logan and company were not here to ensure the perimeter remained intact. They were hunting an old friend.
“You know, we shouldn’t be doing this. General Messer....” said Kai.
“I know what he wanted.” said Logan. “But I suspect some of our old friends have already taken care of their generals for us. We didn’t spend three months on this rock without learning just how tenacious our rebel friends can be.”
“You put a lot of faith in Nathan.” asked Rohan.
“This whole operation was carefully planned. You’ve heard the chatter. The Highlanders have mostly stood down and are not engaging us. Do you honestly think Bairn’d stop at that?”
“Careful, boss.” said Abel, Christian’s son. “I’ve got an enemy mech two blocks ahead.”
“Just one?”
“It seems to be a Thor, sir. A Clan design. Wait, its IFF transponder signal is Star Swords”
“Must be an equipment malfunction. We’re too deep into the city for there to be Swords mechs about.”
“It’s no error, Captain.” Said a voice. “This is Kommandant Juan Miranda of the Star Swords 4th Battalion. I’m here to join your hunt.”
“You were supposed to stand down, Kommandant.”
“As I’ve said to others, I’ve got a score to settle. Duke Ryan is in the area. Be mindful.”
At that very moment, pulse lasers raked across the buildings, tearing two large furrows in the armor of Juan’s Thor.
“Backstabber!” snarled Duke Ryan. “I should have known not to trust one of O’Malley’s lackeys.”
Logan marched up and passed Juan as he tried to get his mech out of the line of fire. A full company of enemy mechs was bearing down on them, all brand new designs and led by a single Grand Titan. Ryan Steiner and his command company had arrived.
“You may have won the war, fools. But at least I’ll get the satisfaction of taking you with me.” taunted Ryan Steiner. The pilot of his Grand Titan drove the point home by cutting loose into The Nightmare with his LRM launchers.
Steiner and his pilot followed up the attack with another pulse laser attack. At moment, the rest of the company smashed into the bulk of the Dark Rangers. A huge melee erupted.
After their losses on Northwind, the Rangers had only managed to fill a handful of their open positions. They were understrength by three mechs, despite Juan’s surprise arrival. Steiner’s forces were of equal skill, but were slightly better equipped and outnumbered Logan’s men.
With Steiner was one of the stolen Balrog Omnimechs the Conspiracy owned. Armed with a brutal combination of laser cannon and a targeting computer, it waded in among the fray, its heavy armor making nearly invulnerable to all the weapons fire. It trained its sights on Rohan’s Mantis and fired a full barrage. Laser after laser ripped through the Mantis’s light armor like it was paper, destroying vital systems. Rohan, fearing for his life, punched his eject button and rocketed into the sky. The Mantis exploded beneath him in a huge fireball.
Logan swore and backed up to cover Rohan as his parachute deployed. The Balrog had other plans as Cowboy brought his Banshee to bear on the Balrog. Far more evenly matched, Cowboy’s mech hammered the Balrog with twin PPCs and a gauss cannon. That hurt it.
Logan’s distraction gave the Grand Titan enough time to pummel The Nightmare once more with a volley of pulse lasers and missiles. Unfortunately for Steiner, his mech’s weapons were almost too diverse. No one weapon had the punch to seriously hurt Logan’s mech. To keep up with the damage Logan’s Clan-based weapons could inflict, Steiner’s pilot had to push his mech to its limits. And his heat level had begun to rise.
Meanwhile, Doc and the rest were tackling with the bulk of the Conspiracy force. Doc’s Ryoken was taking a beating but the former technician was giving as good as he got. He’d modified the mech to carry a configuration similar to the one General Messer had preferred on Galileo III: a gauss cannon and medium lasers for support. Without the Galileo III’s advanced targeting computer, the configuration was not quite as potent, but it made up for it with increased firepower in the form of a Streak SRM rack.
Doc had moved his mech alongside Juan’s Thor and the two of them were holding the line against wave after wave of Thunders, Captivators, and Minutemen. Behind those mechs, the lethal missile carriers called Apollos rained LRMs down on the hapless Rangers. A blast from a Conspiracy Thunder’s Class 20 autocannon brought down Grayson’s Shadow Hawk, but Doc doughnutted the mech with a gauss shot a few seconds later. The Thunder went up in a huge fireball, severely damaging the building next to it.
Doc suddenly became aware that all the firepower being released was seriously damaging the nearby buildings. The Thunder’s destruction seemed to spell the doom of that office building and it began to sway. “All Rangers, pull back!” screamed Doc, backpedaling his Ryoken out of harm’s way. Juan fired his Thor’s jump jets as the building came down into the street. It crushed a Conspiracy Minuteman that couldn’t get out of the way in time and raised a huge cloud of dust the blanketed the battlefield.
Masked by the dust cloud, Cowboy pulled back from the Balrog. Badly damaged, his Banshee had lost both of its PPCs to a lucky hit from the Balrog’s twin heavy lasers. With his gauss rifle now empty, Cowboy found himself robbed of most of his firepower. But the Balrog was almost in as bad a shape. A few lucky hits from Cowboy’s gauss had all but crushed one of the demonic mech’s jump nacelles, making it impossible for the mech to jump.
Logan also took advantage of the cloud, not to give ground, but to take it. He closed on the Titan’s last position, hoping to give the damaged assault mech a lethal volley at point blank range. As the dust cleared, Logan discovered to his dismay that Steiner had moved away. A dozen warning alarms went off in The Nightmare’s cockpit as lasers tore into the soft back armor of the Awesome. Steiner may have been no mechwarrior, but the soldier piloting his mech knew his stuff. Logan had been outsmarted.
“Critical hit: Engine. Critical hit: Gyro. Critical hit: ER PPC. Criti....” chimed his computer before it shorted out.
With its gyro damaged, The Nightmare fell forward onto the pavement. Impact with the ground crushed the mech’s heavy pulse laser in its housing, robbing the mech of two of its three heavy weapons. All that remained was the gauss rifle and the SRM launcher. The SRM launcher was loaded, as always, with inferno rounds. On the ground, he was nearly helpless and the Titan was closing for the kill.
As Cowboy cleared the dust cloud, the Balrog charged out of nowhere to slam into his Banshee. The impact knocked the 95 ton mech into a nearby building. The weakened building collapsed on top of the Banshee, pinning it under tons of rubble.
The Balrog turned to face another target only to get a blast of SRMs in the face from Doc’s Ryoken. Blinded for a brief second, it staggered backwards into another building. As it crushed mortar, glass, and steel with its huge bulk, Juan hammered it with the last of his autocannon shells. The gun clicked dry just as the last of the Balrog’s heavy chest armor fell away into the street. Seeing his opening, Doc fired his lasers, drilling through the massive mech’s chest and destroying its gyro. Crippled, the Balrog fell forward into the street.
Not far away, Steiner’s mechwarrior was about to press his advantage when his computer chimed in with a warning of its own. “Heat level critical: Shutdown sequence initiated.”
“NO!” swore Steiner. He reached up and smacked the pilot on the head, a pointless gesture of frustration as the pilot’s neurohelmet more than softened the blow. As he watched his mech’s systems turn themselves off one by one, he also watched Logan slowly bring his nearly crippled mech back to its feet. Logan turned and saw the motionless Titan, looking down on him as if in elated triumph.
“Why doesn’t he finish me?” said Logan to himself. Without his sensors, he couldn’t determine why the Titan was doing nothing. It did not take him long however to deduce what had happened.
Logan swung the gauss rifle around to point at the chin of the Titan. The head of the Titan exploded, rocketing Steiner away just as Logan fired. The gauss shell finished off what the ejection rockets didn’t, killing the mech’s elite pilot, but Steiner was free and clear.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” snarled Logan, dropping another crosshair onto the ejection pod.
As Steiner’s parachute deployed, Logan triggered a volley from his SRM system. The inferno round detonated about 10 meters short of Steiner’s parachute, spraying the area with white hot liquid. Logan smiled and imagined the scream as Duke Ryan Steiner, the great leader of the Conspiracy, was incinerated. The parachute burned away in less than a second and his body dropped to the ground, smashing into powdery ash as it hit.
Logan slapped his radio transmit switch, hoping the device still worked. “Logan to all mechs: The Duke is dead. I repeat, Duke Ryan Steiner is dead.”
“General Messer here. Can anyone confirm that report?”
“Roger, General.” Said Doc. “Report confirmed. Logan nailed him with an inferno round.”
Blocks away, Joshua smiled. Logan had transmitted his message across an open frequency. Everyone, Conspiracy or Ally, had heard the news.
Steiner’s bodyguard company, who had witnessed their leader’s brutal death, were the first to show the signs of what would soon spread across the Conspiracy forces. Demoralized, their coordinated and efficient attacks began to falter. That momentary break was all that Doc and Juan needed to rally the remaining Rangers and drive off their enemies.
“Doc to General Messer reporting in. This area is secure.”
“Go ahead, Doc. What happened?”
“We encountered a company of the 1st Conspiracy. We’re in bad shape. Logan, Cowboy, Rohan, and Grayson are down. Logan’s alive. The rest are status unknown.”
“Withdraw to the dropships. I’m sending a company of Swords to cover your area.”
Georgia Central
1 September 3055. 0825 Hours
Word quickly spread through the 1st Conspiracy that Steiner was dead. Without their leader, it quickly became a situation of every man for himself. Convinced they would be defeated and then tried as traitors, the former FedCom soldiers that made up the bulk of the Conspiracy army fled their positions en masse. Mercenary units, never famous for their loyalty, did likewise. The Conspiracy lines soon collapsed under a furious attack by the Genyosha and Victor’s Lyran Guard. Rather than face further harm to their own capital city, the Highlanders entered the fray, but not on the side of the Conspiracy. They had been waiting outside the city limits and now prevented any Conspiracy forces from escaping into the wild. Trapped, the remaining Conspirators surrendered.
With their enemies in retreat, the Alliance forces gained a needed break to rest and rearm, even if only for a few hours. Joshua, however, had no such break. Juan had joined up with the Swords and had told Joshua that Lisa and Gwen were headed for O’Malley’s manor. Joshua then ordered his mech reloaded.
“This is unwise.” Said Mechlanthon. “If you open fire on a Highlander unit, even if it is O’Malley, you could bring them into the fray against us.”
"We've seen a handful of Highlander mechs among the Conspiracy forces. Not all of them chose to obey the order to stand down." interjected Daisaku.
“Regardless, that monster has my son!” said Joshua forcefully. “And my wife and best friend are heading right towards him. I will not stand idly by while the both of them rush headlong into danger.”
“General…”
“You don’t have a child of your own, Mechlanthon. I don’t expect you to understand.”
Joshua drew his sword to inspect it. Mechlanthon realized that it was a new blade.
“That is new. When did you get that?”
“It was time.” Said Joshua. “I forged this before we departed.” The sword was exquisite. Unlike Anduril, this weapon was single-edged, its blade having the porous appearance of compressed endo-steel. The hilt was wrapped in red and black cloth, similar to the hilt of a Japanese katana. The crosspiece bore the emblem of Clan Wolverine. “This is the same design as my father’s sword.” He said. “And of the Khan’s before him, reaching all the way back to Rebecca Laidir.”
“The sword of the Wolverines. You have recreated it.”
“I have and its first test will be to bathe in the blood of Richard O’Malley.”
“Good luck, Joshua.”
---
Joshua moved Steppenwolfe out of the demolished sections of the city around the spaceport into those areas battle had not yet touched. With his high speed, Joshua watched as the Dark Rangers and his other allies slowly dropped off of his radar. As he progressed though the city, he spotted Highlander signals ahead.
The cease-fire with the Highlanders was still very tentative. Contact had not been established with Nathan to determine the conditions of his agreement with them. As Mechlanthon had highlighted, advancing further into the city might threaten the peace, but Joshua was more than willing to take the chance.
“Hopefully, they’ll not think much of me.” Said Joshua to himself. But as he feared, a small group of mechs broke off from the rest to check him out.
“They’re in for a surprise.” Said Joshua as he told his computer to target the lead mech. It registered as a Panther, a light scout mech. Joshua cycled though the other approaching mechs, finding the other three to be two Wasps and a Hermes II medium mech.
“A scout lance, just as I suspected.” Said Joshua, somewhat annoyed. Too fast for Joshua to outrun easily, they didn’t pose much of a threat by themselves, but they could signal for reinforcements that Joshua would have trouble dealing with.
Joshua held his course, making his way towards O’Malley manor on the far side of the city. He was still a good 25 kilometers distant, and Joshua did not want to have to fight his way through all 25. The Panther turned the corner a couple of blocks ahead and drew a bead on him with its primary weapon, a PPC.
Joshua cut loose with his lasers, saving his autocannon shells for meaner opponents, before the Panther could fire. Both lasers sheared though the mech’s right arm, cutting off the PPC and leaving the light Panther virtually weaponless. It pulled back away, realizing it has bitten off more than it could chew. Joshua let it go, but the real damage had been done. Two more mechs broke off from the main group of Highlanders and made their way towards Joshua. Joshua knew they would be a bit tougher.
“Time to put you though your paces.” Said Joshua to his mech. He pushed the throttle forward and the mech moved up to its maximum speed of 86 kph. At that speed, Joshua could outrun most any mech that outgunned him. Fortunately for him, the enemy attack force could not keep up, but by now, Steppenwolfe had gained its own reputation to match that of either of the Galileo’s. That meant the O’Malleys would know he was coming.
“Captain O’Malley, we have identified the enemy mech as a Cauldron Born. It bears Star Swords markings.” said the Panther pilot, limping back to the main Highlander force.
“It is him. Let him pass. I’ll deal with him.” Came Richard’s voice in response.
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