11.2
Phecda
In Orbit.
"No, I don't care what your commanding officer says. We are landing!" I growled into the radio. Phecda. Fucking Phecda. I forgot!
It was an easy thing to forget. I mean the chance to copy a Colossus and 'pretend' it was in perfect condition was too much for me. But Phecda has a certain fact that I forgot.
52 days from jump point to planet.
If that long ass trip wasn't bad enough. Phecda was no longer a normal planet, due to the lack of supplies and other issues, it's population was almost gone, only it's use as a military position kept it relevant. It also meant to land, I was going up the chain of people who are supposed to deny any landing due to the constant threat of League raids.
But I did not travel 52 days out of my way to turn around.
"Yes I will hold!" I roared into the receiver.
"Commander, perhaps a moment to relax?"
"I am two minutes away from calling the Archon. I can do that now. I have the power." I hissed into the bridge. My kids were smiling at my threat, but the Captain and the non Orphan crew looked rather pale at the very idea.
They knew it wasn't an idle threat. I did just spend more than a week hanging out on the Triad. A few had even seen the Archon see me off before we lifted off.
She didn't hug me! She didn't! Anyone who says otherwise is a filthy traitor breaking a vow of silence!
Of course my kids knew I was just blowing off steam and not threatening people with the Archons attention.
A crackle came over the radio. "This is Hauptmann General Paul Aleman. Of the 5th Donegal Guards. We are not accepting civilian landings at this time."
"Good thing I'm not a civilian then Hauptmann General. I am Victoria Eisen-Blume, Iron Blooded Orphans Mercenary Company. I am landing for a job. It doesn't have anything to do with your factory. But I am going to need to land."
There was a moment of silence before I got a response. "Please understand Commander. We are securing this site because we believe another League raid is incoming. We can't risk having an unknown dropship land."
"For- Hauptmann General, I am going to land. That is what is going to happen. If you need to ensure I don't have a League raid hidden in my holds please. Tell me to land somewhere you have fully secured. I'll allow an inspection. I only have a Demi-Lance of mechs on board, my own and another. That's it. We are both on the same side. If a raid happens while I am down there, you can be assured my guns will be aimed at the same enemy. But I didn't come all this way to be turned away."
"Commander, I am securing a factory site that has been raided seven times in the last two years. You are not landing on my-" The call cut off.
"What happened?" I demanded to our radio operator who blinked at me owlishly. "I don't know Commander. Call ended. Let me try to get them back." He muttered, pushing a few buttons.
But not only did the call not go through there wasn't even a connection being established.
"Commander. I've seen this before." The radio operator who wasn't one of my kids, although there was Sandy sitting beside him learning. "This is ECM interference. I've just tried cycling through every connection point on the surface, nothing is responding because it's being blocked.
"So we just walked into the middle of a raid."
"... Possibly."
"Captain. I heard the Hauptmann General request assistance before the call was cut, didn't you? Better get us down there. I'll be readying my mech for battle."
"Understood Commander. Battle Stations! We are beginning re-entry!"
—-
I hate re-entry. By the time the Dropship landed in probably the roughest landing I have ever experienced from a drop I was quite ready to just surrender and call this whole battle off.
But I couldn't. Giving up just wasn't in my makeup.
My radio crackled. "Commander, you should let me come with!" Eris demanded from inside her Thunderbolt, but I nixed that.
"No, I want you to stay around the dropship just in case."
"Commander! Going out by yourself is suicide! Let me at least watch your back."
"Lieutenant. Have some faith in your Commander. You never got a chance to really see what I can do, have you?"
"I've seen the recordings of you on Tharkad Commander, you are better than I expected, but you aren't an elite."
"Ah see, there is where you are wrong. You are comparing me on a VR run to an actual battle. Relax. If you feel you need to, follow me out, but stay around the Dropship. I need to get some practice in with my new ride."
"Dammit. Understood!" The radio ending with a crackle as close to slamming a receiver we could do. But I shrugged. Eris didn't know about the sensor yet, she didn't have one in her Thunderbolt, so she couldn't come, she would just get in the way of my plan.
The opening of the Hangar door caused a massive blast of snow and wind to rush in, immediately my cockpit frosted over, and it was only through my sensors that I managed to see anything. Not that it mattered. I had already finished plugging in my good sensor in the cockpit so when I stomped out of the dropship. Into the frozen tundra. I was already tracking my first target.
Two thunderous shots disappeared into the snow. The two circular paths blown through the snow were the only sign of the shot to a normal eye.
The Spider mech that had been scouting went down, its reactor disengaging.
"Captain. If you feel the dropship is in danger you are to get out of here, and enter orbit until I give you word. Understood?" I radioed back to the ship as I stomped into the snow, although I slipped slightly on the snow before taking a few more steps slowly getting a feel for the difference in terrain.
"Understand Commander. God Speed."
"I don't need speed, Captain."
I flipped a switch, and the mech went into passive sensor mode. Everything but my special sensor turned off. It would make me very difficult to spot, especially in this weather. While I could see them just fine. I took a moment to look over the battle. It was definitely a raid. And I could see that unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the battle to be able to protect the factory.
But I could do something else.
With an especially feral grin I turned a bit more to the right. Straight towards the Union that was definitely a FWL dropship. Stomping through the ice and snow I stalked my prey.
As I moved. I kept my eye on the battle itself. Despite being outnumbered the defenders were doing their best but they were too cut off. Many of the defenses were split up to protect the factory. I had to move quickly. Which wasn't something that a 95 ton assault mech was great at. But finally I reached my target. At the max distance of my weapons, well outside any danger of return fire I opened up. First with my ERPPC to zero in my shots. And then adding my two Gauss into the rotation.
Not long after my first round I started noticing radio transmissions being sent out by the Union. But my Sensor told me all the story I needed. They were trying to buy time. Their engines were heating up as they were planning on trying to get away.
I continued firing until finally my weapons fire hit something serious. The entire Union shut down. And only when I was sure of my target being inactive did I turn, heading towards the battle that was disrupted now that the raiders were getting messages of their dropship being under fire.
I stalked through the blizzard, where everyone else was fighting blind I was omniscient. And the enemy paid for that. Once I was in range. The enemy were already in danger despite the complete lack of sight, as the snow blurred everything into fuzzy white.
Another ERPPC shot rang out and a moment later two hypersonic slugs. The Snow melted as the ERPPC burned a hole through the flurry. The Wolverine that had been duking it out with a Lyran Zeus and winning, after the Zeus had face tanked an entire Lances fire, never even saw the shots that smashed into its side. The sudden explosion ended it's fight as it's SRM ammo went up with the shot.
From there the Zeus, searching for the ally that helped it, was ignored. I moved to the next target. Still stomping forward. I only stopped in a stutter step. The same one Hanna had taught me to align my weapons before firing another triple shot.
The Marauder which was probably the command mech of the raiders was luckier. It was a 3M so it had some hefty armor. But it wasn't enough. Instead the Marauder found it's left side ripped apart in a salvo that sent the pilot who had been focused on one of the defenders' Hunchback smashing into the snow. The Slugs had knocked the mech entirely onto its side.
It was scrambling back to its feet a moment later, even as the Hunchback was trying to capitalize on the sudden distraction. Unfortunately the Hunchback was in more dire straits than he had realized, or the Marauder pilot was simply that much better, because despite having lost half it's mech managed to scramble upwards and unleash a large laser and AC/5 shot that went internal and the Hunchback curled over itself as it's fusion engine shut down.
My second burst of ERPPC lightning only just missed as the Marauder shifted, one of the Gauss rounds still hit, ripping a tunnel through the remaining right arm. I could tell the Large laser was down by the way the Marauder suddenly began retreating desperately trying to find cover.
Unfortunately for him the tundra we were in was mostly flat. I shot again, this time missing entirely, as the Marauder was doing everything he could to juke my fire, but seeing where it came from as the ERPPC burned a hole through the snow, he fired back. His AC/5 shots landed nowhere close but that was fine. I ignored him for a moment. Angling my nose past him.
The Griffin that was currently shooting PPC fire into the factory suddenly got a shock as a Gauss round shattered across it's PPC the pilot not expecting his PPC to simply disappear as he was shooting it nearly fell over but instantly burned his Jump jets to reposition hoping to escape.
I aimed for where he was landing and fired my ERPPC. The Griffin took the shot straight on as it landed and I didn't bother to focus on him anymore. Instead I continued stomping forward. Sure, staying at a distance would be the best way to handle this. Slowly picking off the enemy at range. But there was more at stake here than that.
It was a full company that dropped on this factory, and two other lances were still actively firing on the buildings, when they weren't fighting off the reinforced lance of the defenders.
They needed a distraction. So I took the risk. I continued stomping forward in passive mode. Until I was nearly on top of the Marauder, Switching out of passives just as I came into visual range I got to see the mech do a little jump as it realized what had just come out of the snow. My ERPPC and dual Medium Pulse lasers shattered whatever remained of it's armor. The mech fell to the ground Fusion engine powering down.
The Marauder was a good mech, but the Nightstar was literally it's big brother. I could see in real time as the enemy Lances noticed my existence. The battlelines shifted, in favor of the defenders, but I was facing an entire Lance of angry League raiders.
Feeling cheeky I decided I might as well put on a show. I flipped my radio on. Broadcasting loudly into the snow. "I am the Phantom of the StarLeague. Come." Then a triple shot through the snow smashed into a second Griffin that was in the lead for charging toward me. The shot thundered, tearing armor, smashing components. In the end, The Griffin, a mech that had only taken light damage before, simply fell to the snow. I had cored it.
My Gauss continued to bark as the enemy charged. The Lance unfortunately dodged my next few shots. They must have realized by now that while they couldn't see me, I could see them. So they were dodging, hard. I didn't have enough practice hitting actively dodging mechs. But that was fine. I was distracting an entire Lance of mechs from their objective. I could already see the defenders falling onto the last Lance and starting to clean up.
They may have been a little angry.
But I soon had to ignore them, focusing fully on my battle.
Four mechs remaining. The first Griffin that only had an LRM left. A Vulcan. A phoenix Hawk, and a Centurion. Although this was the base Centurion-A model that had an autocannon. Which I learned when an AC/10 round shattered against my mechs shoulder.
I wiggled the limb realizing it hadn't gone internal, and returned fire. This time, I didn't miss but I wasn't quite as on point. The Three shots hit three different spots, although that didn't mean he didn't feel it. I didn't take the time to focus on him though.
They had gotten into visual range. The Phoenix hawks Large laser flashed out, in return I sent an ERPPC blast against him which he dodged, meaning his laser only barely burned against my armor before the mech was dodging away.
But I switched targets. Just before the Vulcan got into visual range. I moved towards him. Firing round after round into the snow.
I grunted as the Griffin was now able to lock me. LRMs exploding against my armor. I ignored it. Focusing on one target at a time.
The poor pilot didn't even have time to realize that I had turned my focus towards him before the Gauss rounds hit, shattering chunks of his armor and instantly putting his mech into the danger zone. The fact I kept charging even as he faltered meant that by the time he saw me, I was already nearly on top of him.
Now I can't normally catch a Vulcan, but twin Medium Pulse Lasers were more than capable of cutting his leg off at the knee as I continued to charge in. Falling into the snow, I didn't hesitate, and I got to hear The Pilot literally screaming on the radio as I let my Nightstar stomp onto his other leg. Lowering one arm until my Gauss was pointing down.
The Incredibly loud thunder of a Gauss rifle at point blank range caused the snow around us to ripple outward. The Vulcan was done. I turned to the Phoenix Hawk who had been going off on my Nightstar while I was distracted. He was trying to keep out of range of my Medium Pulse lasers, but that simply made it easy for my nose to catch up with him. The ERPPC flash burned just skimming past him but one of the Gauss rounds punched in sending the bouncing Phoenix Hawk into the snow.
I grunted another LRM 10 shattering armor, Then another, and then Mediums and an AC/5. Apparently the Centurion was still willing to brawl.
My armor was nearly stripped at some points. Those LRMs had been chewing through me and I had a few points that were basically already internal just waiting for a hit.
I double Gaussed the Centurion. Both slugs on point. I don't know what I hit, but the way the Centurion fell to pieces he wasn't worth any more attention. I switched my focus on the biggest threat, the Phoenix Hawk.
It became a game of cat and mouse. I could keep the Phoenix Hawk in my sights even when he tried to disappear into the snow. But the mech was fast, and he was good. He kept his visual on me, waiting to see where I was aiming. He was dodging every shot. Even if it meant his own Large laser only did minimal damage.
That didn't matter because I was being worn down. LRM 10 rounds constantly falling on me. Although I was winning this battle of attrition. The Phoenix Hawk was starting to heat up after all. But I managed to trick him. Waiting for him to be in the right spot I turned my focus from him to just to the side, firing into the snow.
The Griffin pilot thought he was safe.
The shattering of armor in the distance told another story. The Phoenix Hawk realized he was alone. Standing across from an angry assault mech.
Unfortunately. There was no escaping this. I had already taken out the dropship. These raiders knew that. Was it a mistake? Maybe. But these guys were attacking an unacceptable target.
They needed to learn that had repercussions.
The silence between the two of us staring at each other definitely benefited the Hawk more than me. He was cooling down even as our stare off continued but this had turned into a moment between two warriors. Then in a flurry that cut us both off from sight of each other we both moved.
Medium Pulse lasers flashed out, burning through where he had been, the Large laser shooting down from above gave me a sightline. My ERPPC returned fire even as he juked turning off his Jump jets for a moment to drop.
The two Gauss rounds spinning into the snow as he landed, bending forward and actually using a second burst of jets to dodge. Then it was on. A flurry of dodging and juking, Any time he got arrogant enough to fire at me, I returned it. Meaning he spent a lot more time dodging my shots than firing back.
The one time his laser did finally go internal on my right torso, a few tons of Gauss ammo melted down, leaving me without my big guns.
A few minutes of this passed. Yeah that is how skilled this pilot was at dodging. Growing frustrated. I did the only thing I could think of. I switched back to passives, and stepped backwards. Watching in amusement as the Phoenix Hawk slowed as he lost sight of me.
The pilot was skilled, it was why he realized he was in serious shit when the assault mech he was tangling with basically disappeared in front of him.
He kept moving. Trying to get sight back on me, but unfortunately for him since he was now moving towards me. Well.
I was moving towards him too.
He only had half a second to realize that I was there when I burst out of the snow. I didn't bother firing. Didn't need to. His Phoenix Hawks jets fired but it was too late. I was too close.
I used my secret special move. I body checked him, but this time I wasn't in my Locust. I was in 95 tons of angry.
The echoing *Thunk* of a Phoenix Hawk splattering across the side of my mech was very satisfying. Unfortunately this pilot was a badass. Despite the body check knocking him flat he actually started to get back up. Either I hadn't hit him hard enough or this guy laughed in the face of concussions.
His Phoenix Hawk rose up and actually punched my Nightstar rocking my cockpit to the side, but thanks to my armor and my hefty mech that's all it did. I turned, staring into his cockpit. I could just make out the pilot inside through the armored glass.
The glass which polarized as I fired my ERPPC. The pilot probably hadn't quite put two and two together. That my remaining weapon wasn't a normal PPC. I didn't have a minimum range on mine. The mech's shoulder was burned straight through with blue fire, the entire arm giving way and sending the Phoenix Hawk back into the snow. This time, the pilot took the better part of valor and shut down. Signaling his surrender.
I flipped back to active sensors appearing on radar just as the defenders reached the battlefield.
"All clear. No active enemy presence remaining."
I inform the group over the comms.
—-
An hour later I was enjoying a warm cup of coffee in the base's mess hall after the 5th had secured the raiders metal. I had been allowed to march my mech onto the small base the 5th were using and power down. I think they just wanted to be able to keep an eye on an assault mech that had just torn through two lances of mechs.
But that was fine. This planet was fucking cold.
Finally after a rather overlong wait a man entered the mess wearing what was obviously just got out of a mech, but it's cold as shit outside attire.
"Commander Eisen-Blume?"
"I am."
"Hauptmann General Aleman. I don't know whether I should thank you, or yell at you. You took out the enemy's dropship. We were already doing a good job seeing them off when that happened. You realize you turned a minor skirmish into a knock on drag out fight?"
"I normally have no issues respecting etiquette, but attacking a factory producing water refineries is a bit beyond the pale."
"That is for me to decide. Not you." He grumbles as he takes a seat across from me. One of the mess hall cooks brought him a cup of warm coffee as well that he started sipping on. "We lost more metal than I am comfortable with. Even with Salvage, it will be a while before we can get spare parts out here. You may have stopped this raid, but what about the next one?"
"Are you sure there will be a next one? The League just lost a company of mechs, and a Union. Are you sure they will likely send over even more metal now?"
"Either way I have to assume the worst. You did me no favors today Commander."
I considered that before smiling. "Maybe not today, General, but tomorrow?"
He looked confused at my statement but I just finished my coffee. "I still have a job to do here on Phecda."
"Well I can't hold you. I Contacted the LCAF command, they were very direct, you are free to move as you like. Never heard a general sound so urgent about this sort of thing before." He said obviously digging.
"I can't tell you much General, but I did just come directly from the Triad on Tharkad. We all have jobs to do."
He was silent for a while. "Indeed we do."
I rose. Grabbing my hat and coat. "I'm sure we will talk again soon."
I walked out into the blizzard. Despite the weather, my ride had an audience. Every tech and mechwarrior on the base was standing out in the snow looking over my Lostech ride. The fact it was scarred and damaged did nothing to lower it's intimidation. No, my Nightstar standing tall reminded me of an image of an old Lion I had once seen. He was bloody and wounded, but undeniably the victor of whatever battle he had just faced.
That was what my Nightstar looked like.
I climbed back into the cockpit and turned it towards where my dropship was still landed. My baby would need a checkup before I completed my job here.
—-
A different perspective
Gauge Blake
Red Base
Gauge was having a fairly normal day. His head buried in past knowledge of the ancient world. Or at least that is how he liked to think of it. Relearning things no one knew anymore. It was glorious.
Unfortunately Vicky had left him in charge one too many times. If Benny was busy Gauge was left handling things. "Gauge! Trouble squad is at it again. Apparently they decided to bake a cake or something. The kitchen down on Sub-Green is trashed."
"Ugh. Just… Make them clean it all up, if they don't revoke all Sim privileges."
"You got it."
Gauge was just getting back into his current interest, an explanation of PPC functions and how the ERPPC works. It was quite fascinating when his radio went off this time. With a groan he put down his printed book and grabbed the radio.
"Gauge here. What is it?"
"Hey Gauge, you got a visitor here. Looks like a couple of ComStar guys? Says he wants to see you."
"ComStar? What does ComStar want with me?" Gauge asked, actually surprised.
"No idea, you want to come up here and ask?"
"Yeah, tell them I'm on my way."
Confused, but a little excited, Gauge raced through the halls. He stopped just before leaving as he plugged in his cooling suit for a moment, giving the coolant pump power to start moving the cooling fluid. It caused his temperature to drop swiftly, almost shivering at how cool the suit could get before he unplugged and headed outside. Although the pump was no longer shifting, the liquid inside was still ice cold giving him plenty of protection against the Zaniah heat.
He grabbed a truck to drive out to the checkpoint. A little surprised that as he came out he noticed someone he actually knew.
"Adept Michaelson!" Gauge found himself calling out as he rushed over, the older man offering him a wide smile as he took in the changes Gauge had gone through, the fact his armor still had a ComStar style hood was one of the unique changes he had done to his standard armor.
"Gauge my boy. You are looking well!"
"You as well Sir! What? What are you doing here! It's a long trip from Solaris!"
"Why, it wasn't so bad. I had an opportunity to be transferred to Zaniah and I just had to take it! I knew you were still here, and I couldn't help but be worried! But it looks like my concern was for nothing. You look healthy."
"I am! We are, I mean. Everyone is doing well. Vicky has… Led us very well." There was an odd expression crossing the man's face for a moment at that before his normal smile returned.
"I am glad to hear that. You had me worried when you decided to run off and become a Mercenary. I always thought it was a shame. You were meant for ComStar." He shook his head a few beads of sweat falling reminding Gauge of where they were. "Oh Sir. Let's head inside, it's cooler there. The heat on Zaniah is… A bit different from Solaris."
"Hah! That you have right my boy. Please I would love to get out of this heat, and you can tell me everything that you have been up to!"
"Sure." Gauge waved him inside the checkpoint, leading the two of them into the underground through the checkpoint. The rooms that were normally used for bringing in new kids or for the Guard Unit to cool off were instead where Gauge led Adept Michaelson.
"Impressive! I checked the records of this base back when you first left, there was no record of any underground." He offered softly.
"It wasn't something most people knew about. We found it after we took over the base, we spent a lot of time remodeling everything for our use." Gauge offered, using what Vicky had said to explain the underground if it ever got out.
"Come now my boy. I heard an interesting rumor, and… It is the duty of ComStar to try and protect such things. Is it true? You found a Castle Brian beneath this base?"
Gauge stills shocked that he had been asked about that of all things. He knew Vicky was planning on telling the Archon, but that wasn't something that would pass around that quickly would it?
"Where… Where did you hear that?"
Adept Michaelson waves his hand "Rumors and hearsay. ComStar hears many things, many secrets are shared with us, you understand."
But Gauge didn't understand. But he knew how to find out. "It was empty." He finally admitted watching out of the corner of his eye as the Adept had a strange look go over his face. "Vicky found it. She had rumors that something might be here, but it still took us a while, but it was completely empty stripped bare."
"Oh I see. A shame. I have to admit, I was hoping to hear something more interesting than that. Although… Your friend Vicky. She did bring quite a bit of Lostech to the Archon from what I heard. She didn't find it here?"
Gauge hesitated. "Vicky and I went Lostech hunting a while back. We found some stuff."
"Really! My Boy! You must tell me everything! I had no idea you went on such an adventure."
"I'm not supposed to say much, but I can tell you a bit." Gauge offered as he fell into telling the man a story about the Helm Cache.
—--
A few hours later after I had pulled my Nightstar into the gantry on the dropship to get looked over by my techs. They didn't have time to do a full repair at the moment, not even close. But they were checking to make sure it would be fine in the weather for another run outside.
I still had a job to do.
"Are you sure about this Commander? It's not exactly pleasant out there. And your mech isn't in top condition anymore." The 1st officer Natalie was one of my kids. She was learning directly from the Captain in order to eventually take over some day, but she was also a worrier. Which was a good attitude to have for a drop captain.
"I'll be fine. I just need to go out to look around. I should be in contact the whole time, but it might be a day or so depending on how long it takes me to find everything."
"I still think you should take it easy! Maybe we could request some vehicles from the 5th, have some people accompany y-"
"Natalie. Leave the Commander alone." Amarie, my chief tech on the Isaribi, told her nominal superior as she shrugged at me, "Sorry Vicky. Natalie never stops. The Nightstar is as fixed up as we can do. At least we covered the holes into the internals, but it's still stripped bare, and out of ammo."
"That's fine. There shouldn't be any more fights, just some issues with the weather."
"Yeah well. It won't take any more damage than it already did from the weather. Just watch the right shoulder. If you don't mess it up anymore before I can go in and fix it, it will be an easier job."
"Understood Chief."
"Ugh! Fine! But if anything happens you better call! And stay in contact! I expect hourly reports, Commander!" Natalie huffed as she turned on her heel and stalked off.
"I thought I was the one in Command." I whispered into Amarie's ear the giggles I got in return caused me to join in, and we both got glared at by the girl once she heard us.
"Don't worry Natalie, I'll be very careful, and I will stay in touch.
—-
I am really glad that my Nightstar had a heater. When it got really cold I could also just fire my ERPPC and lasers a few times to warm it up. The temperature on Phecda was a little too low for my liking.
But the first stop had been finding a metal node. I had to pop the hatch and crawl down my mech while trying not to fall and break my neck in the arctic winds. Start up the note puter. Crawl back into my mech to stay alive. And wait for the Metal Extractor to complete.
Once that was done I retrieved my noteputer and headed towards my real objective.
You would think lostech hunting would be hard or something. But as I stepped over the iced over Colossus which had been laughably easy to find with my sensor I was smiling at how easy it was. Once more I jumped out of my Nightstar and began forming a Centurion NFX. It was a common enough mech design no one would think twice about me finding one.
I unfortunately was rather stuck here too. I wasn't about to walk off anywhere without my noteputer. Even if I could always use my sensors to find it.
Still I was stuck in a Nightstar cockpit for another long wait. Chewing on SLDF style rations I had set up before. And mostly just wrapping up in a blanket and watching some holovids. It was a boring bit of time.
Finally it was done. I powered down the Nightstar and switched over to the Centurion. The mech warmed up quickly enough and I soon found myself digging into the ice until I reached the Colossus buried within.
The Colossus that was utterly filled with mechs.
"Well time to get to work." The green of my nanoforge burst into life again causing huge chunks of the Colossus to slowly disappear and slowly my Noteputer put together a blueprint.
The Opposite Perspective.
"FUCK! Someone just took out our fucking Dropship!" Captain Reynolds voice crackled over the comms. And She knew. Instantly that shit had just gotten real.
No defenders would take out the dropship once it was landed unless they were confident in their ability to finish off the raiders. Otherwise everyone died.
"Alright everyone. We are altering course, Bravo Lance on me. I don't want any fuckups!" She wondered if that last bit had been towards her? She didn't care. She was better than any of the other pilots. They all knew it. Even in her Phoenix Hawk. Every time she had dueled Reynolds in his Marauder she had won.
If only she wasn't a pariah.
The first sign something was definitely wrong when Reynolds voice reached out to Issiah. His Spider had been sent out to scout the enemy dropship landing.
Nothing came through.
That had been it for Reynolds. He was in full damage control. Everyone needed to keep their focus because enemies were coming.
The instant loss of Max's Wolverine had the entire Company freaking out. Something was out there. The whispers over the private comm lines would be going crazy she knew. They excluded her, but she had been in enough fights to know that while the main line was kept for orders. Private ones would be full of chatter and freaking out.
She kept her focus. Even as Reynolds called in a massive strike on his Marauder. His attempt to retreat leading to a downed Hunchback and him dodging as 'something' fired from out in the blizzard.
"I have no idea what is out there. Something is hitting me hard. Watch out for PPC fire."
She clicked her comms once to offer her acceptance as she raced through the snow. More fell. Gonzales Gryphon was struck when the idiot was focusing on the factory.
But it was Reynolds breathless "Oh Fuck." That stuck with her. And a moment later she watched his mech fall out of connection.
Then. Then!
More than anything, what happened next stuck with her. Froze her heart.
"I am the Phantom of the StarLeague. Come."
A familiar voice echoed out over her comm. But no one was laughing at the frankly cheesy line. Because an enemy that just took out a Lance of mechs doesn't need to brag.
Their kill count already did that.
Her Phoenixhawk burned, as she dodged actively trying to avoid whatever it was that being shot at through her in the snow. Her computer was at least now able to read something. A big heat source.
An Assault mech.
She cursed herself, wishing she had her old baby. She shook that away an old wound now. She had to focus. The battle continued and more fell. She finally reached it. Her large laser hot and ready to make a shot when the snow cleared, just enough to give her sight.
She nearly stuttered to a stop, even as her Large laser fired mostly on reflex. Only her long years in a cockpit kept her moving aborting any attempt to aim her laser, which is the only reason she survived that fucking monsters PPC strike. Although that wasn't what shocked her. Gauss rifles. That fucking thing had Gauss rifles! She recognized them, even vaguely recognized the mech. Which her computer helpfully supplied after it whined for a good ten seconds.
NSR-9J 'Nightstar' 95 Tons.
Jesus fuckin' Christ.
She breathed a sigh of relief when it seemed to focus on the others first. As she continued to try and do something to this thing, but even her large laser only seemed to scratch it. Like she was fighting a titanic beast whose hide was stronger than her blade.
She almost wanted to cry as she watched Vince get fucking destroyed in a move that she prayed she never had to experience. The shockwave alone probably knocked him unconscious if not burst his head like a grape outright.
Then this fucking beast turned to her.
She dodged, trying to keep out of range of a full alpha strike. She could handle the Gauss, and the PPC, but Medium lasers would tear her Hawk up.
Just like she they had the Vulcan.
She jumped bouncing out of range of the mediums as the beast turned to her, but it was too late she had been too distracted watching the Vulcan be torn apart. She dodged the ray of lightning. The PPC nearly heating up her cockpit as it passed just so by her, but suddenly something struck her and she was tumbling.
A few moments later she gasped, her breath coming back to her. Her hands were shaking. Was that a Gauss? Was that what it was like to be hit by a Gauss rifle!? She felt out her controls her cockpit was buried in the snow, probably the only reason she was still alive. Her mech moved. The round had struck her side torso and she prayed for a moment that her machine gun ammo hadn't gone up.
But now wasn't the time for that. If she wanted to survive she needed to get up!
She heaved herself up her Phoenixhawk rising from the snow and ready to fight once more!
The battle was damn near over she noticed. She fired once before the Francis in his Centurion seemed to come apart at the waist. Two Gauss slugs nearly ripping the mech in half.
She shivered. That was her fate if she got hit again.
She breathed out. And let herself feel her mech. Every move, Every jump and dodge and dip moves she had done a thousand times. This pilot was good. But not that good. She kept herself just out of range of the Medium lasers. Her large searing a few scars into the armor but nothing she allowed herself to take a risk for.
It took a moment when the Beast suddenly shifted and she realized what was about to happen. "ISAAC MO-" It was too late. She saw his Griffin fall into the snow.
She was alone.
God.
Her mech was burning up but as the Beast shifted back… Something connected them. An acceptance. She breathed, feeling her mech cool. She could do this. A David versus Goliath battle. She could do this.
A flurry of snow cut it from her sight, and she jumped, just in time to avoid the medium lasers cutting through the snow into steam.
She aimed down, she knew the Beast hadn't moved. It was slow. Her Large laser arced out burning into armor the first time she had gotten a long strike on this thing nearly the entire battle. Instantly she cut her jets, letting her drop in direction, barely dodging the PPC that pierced through where she had been.
This pilot was good. She was better.
The battle continued. Dodge dodge small shot to score some armor damage. Dodge dodge!
It continued for a few minutes. Her Phoenixhawk once more nearly melting with how it was getting. But she had to keep pushing. If she stopped. If she tried to break away she would die.
She nearly roared when her Large pierced into something, and those Gauss rifles went silent right after. The beast was injured! If it could bleed she could kill it! She roared in her heart.
Then. As if it had realized her thoughts?
It shifted back a step. The snow brushed along it's hide cooling the score lines across it.
And the Beast disappeared.
Impossible. She gaped. One second it had been there. Her mech had kept it in sights but then… As if…
It was a stray thought one that hit her only as she took a bouncing run forward. Almost as if disbelieving the mech could simply vanish from where it had been.
She wasn't fighting a Beast.
Her Jump jets roared trying to escape trying anything as the Monster came out of the snow directly infront of her. As if appearing from nothing.
It was a Phantom. It had even told her!
She wasn't sure what happened in the next few moments. Her mech tumbling backwards faster than it had been going forward rocked her. Only a few moments later she managed to blink her eyes clear and look up. It was there.
She had to know. Dizzily she fought herself up and took a swing.
Her fist connected, breaking a few shards of armor off as it moved back slightly.
Was it real? Was it a Phantom? She honestly didn't know. So confused. So shocked she didn't even try to dodge the PPC firing.
The PPC that blew her mechs arm off leaving her in the snow again. For the final time. Staring up she was sure what was coming next. A PPC shot to the cockpit.
It was what she would do.
It was what she HAD done.
But it never came. No Sergeant Isabella Nash, Once Captain of her own raiders waited in the snow head full of fog. And a feeling in her breast that what she had just fought, wasn't even real. A Phantom come to punish her once more.
She knew when she eventually ended up back in the League there was only one thing she would tell her superiors.
The Phantom of the SLDF was here.
Beware.
Phecda
Phecda Outpost
A week later I was relaxing in my new base. Of course I couldn't just 'find' a pristine Colossus in the middle of the tundra with no explanation. So I made one.
The Star League Outpost Phecda 845682-2070. Was my newest trick on the Inner Sphere. Inside was a pristine Colossus and an army of Battlemechs most of them frozen or damaged as the outpost had been damaged at some point leaving one of the walls open and allowing the ice and cold in. Of course the Colossus was on the other side of the outpost and fine, but the Battlemechs suffered some cold.
Not that anyone would mind Battlemechs in nearly perfect condition just roughed up a little in the ice.
It was a good enough explanation that I was satisfied. I watched as my dropship came down. The Isaribi's fusion plume was bright from where I was, as it came down outside the base. Only my Nightstar giving the dropship coordinates on where to land. I was staying in here where it was warm though. Slowly some of my techs and even some of the other crew came down to look at what I had found.
The Captain himself eventually running into the outpost only to stare in awe at the pristine Colossus that was now resting in a Dropship bay. Only some time to remove the snow from the surface to allow the bay doors to open and it would be fully ready to fly.
"Commander…"
"Well Captain. I am going to need some help making sure my kids can fly this beast back to Zaniah. You ever studied a Colossus dropships controls before?"
"Never… But I can figure it out."
"Captain, that is exactly what I wanted to hear."
This wasn't a short time task. It took us almost a week to burn away the ice that was covering the dropship bay and get everything ready.
I had purposefully made it deep enough in the ice and rock that it wouldn't be strange that no one had ever found it before. But in doing so of course I had to report to the 5th.
When Hauptmann General Aleman stepped into the entrance corridor of the Outpost he really did act as if he was walking into history.
Not long after that, when he saw the Battalion of mechs that my kids were recovering, he looked disheartened. "All of these mechs. Under my feet this whole time."
I stood beside him, watching my kids, mostly just trying to get on their feet and into a mech bay. I hadn't exactly been gentle when I removed the Colossus around them after all. "You know Hauptmann General, I did say I might not be doing you a favor that day."
He blinked looking at me in shock. "You can't be serious."
"I have a lot of mechs but not nearly enough time or people to work on them right now. Transporting them is going to be annoying. I wouldn't mind leaving a few of them here, for your mechtechs to get running… In exchange for some salvage from the battle. Maybe a one to one trade? One of my mechs for the broken ones?"
"What? Why would you offer that? These are working mechs. Some of them look like Lostech versions!"
"Because you have been here trying to get that factory up and running without enough help for long enough. How would you feel if the next time the League come here, if they ever do again, they don't face a Lance of work horse mechs. But a Company of Lostech machines?"
"You care about this factory that much? I don't believe it. Is this some trick, Or a game? Commander I don't feel much in the mood to be toyed with." The man spoke, sounding frustrated and confused. Well I could work on that.
I rolled my eyes. "Check them over yourself, they are perfectly fine other than the obvious. One of them for each salvaged mech you took. Take it or leave it."
"Considering I owe you some of those mechs anyways. I just."
"I intruded on your battle after being warned away, I might have downed those raiders but it's your salvage."
"Fine. Fine. I'll have my men look over some of the mechs… Thank you."
"I told you I would do you a favor. Now let's talk about this base once I'm gone, because I don't have the time or interest in defending it."
"In that case Commander I would be more than happy to take over that duty."
"I'm glad you are catching on!"
—-
I decided to hitch a ride on the Colossus on the way back. For two reasons. One every component was brand new so I knew it wouldn't have any issues on the flight.
Second? There was so much more space! The massive ship was utterly unlike the rather cramped union. I didn't feel like I was in a submarine any more. The Nightstar locked into the gantry, the Centurion also there, just so it wasn't left behind. That might be hard to explain. And then all the mechs other than those traded away. The salvaged mechs were placed into the massive amount of storage space the dropship had. And after everything was ready?
Two plumes burst on Phecda's surface. One for my Isaribi. The other? For the massive Pure white Colossus.
I decided to call it WhiteBase.
—-
"What is that?" I asked, I had decided to walk around my new ship exploring the nooks and crannies. So one of the places I had ended up at was the mech hangar. My Nightstar was being repaired as best as the techs on hand could do, which wasn't much, but again. Experience.
But it was what was painted on the side of my mech's nose that caught my eyes.
Phantom.
"Oh you named it during the battle remember?" Amarie told me as she joined me on the gantry. "You were like 'I am the Phantom of the Star League!' It was awesome."
"What! You heard that!?" I asked, flushing red. Dammit! I hadn't intended on letting anyone I actually knew hear me be all geeky!
"Oh yeah you were broadcasting loud and clear everyone heard it. But damn was it awesome. We were following the battle from the bridge of the Isaribi and I think some of the older guys had tears in their eyes. Something special about the Nightstar you know? It's like it really is the ghost of the SLDF coming to fight again. Especially when you started wrecking that Lance."
"Ugh. Hardly. I was just trying to shit talk. I guess I'll make sure my mic is off next time."
"No way Commander! It was so inspiring! The old guys might have been weird but we were all cheering for you! How did it feel? You were amazing!"
"Ah well… I guess I discovered I really am a Lyran. I don't think I'll ever be happy piloting a light mech again. Speed is good but… An assault mech is something else."
"Pfft! That's just like you Commander!"
"How is it like me!?"
Amarie just waved her hands before pointing at the name on the side of the mech. "Can we keep it?"
"Fine. I guess It would be wrong to tell you to clean it up."
"We would just repaint it whenever you stopped looking anyways."
"Also that. Alright alright. I'm leaving then so I don't have to look at it."
"Aww. Do you not like it? I painted it myself."
I sighed. "It's an awesome paint job. Good job."
"Yes Commander!"
—-
91 days. That is how long it took just for dropship travel between Phecda to Zaniah. It actually took longer because we wasted a long time trying to get a jumpship for both dropships.
But then we were burning into the Zaniah atmosphere and I took a long exhale. Finally home. No more Archons. No more ice. The last two planets I had been on had too much ice. It was actually nice to get back on Zaniah where we never had to worry about snow.
WhiteBase landed on one of the Dropship pads I had put into Redbase all that time ago. It was a good thing I had ordered the largest sizes too, because Whitebase still almost didn't fit on the pad. The Captain did an excellent job of landing the colossus on the platform made for it, and I could already see the horde of kids coming out of the base to see the new massive ship we had just landed.
I had of course already messaged Benny and the command staff what we were bringing in, but it was still a shock to see in person.
Once everything was cooled down the massive hangar bays of Whitebase opened letting me see the crowd that was gathering around. I laughed as soon as I appeared. The kids were waving and cheering my return. More than a few rushed up to meet me in fierce hugs. "I missed you all too!" I yelled out.
We didn't settle down. Instead that night we had a party. Everything else could wait. Food and drinks. No alcohol. Because I had put my foot down about having alcohol on a military base, although I noticed that Lenden and Rough squad had their own punch bowls that they were keeping the youngsters away from.
I decided to punish them later. If I remembered.
—-
It was a fact of Battletech that travel was never a quick prospect. When you pulled all the time I had been away for this one mission, I was gone for two hundred and fifty two days. More than half a year.
So I was not surprised to see massive changes around the base. Benny of course had access to the funds in general, and with the Archons kind infusion of cold hard C-bills and Kroner Benny had more than enough cash to get whatever he felt like he needed.
It also helped that I had left him with an army of equipment in the Castle beneath our feet.
He had taken what we learned on our jobs, and had stuffed all the best of the best kids into equipment of some sort. We were long past Battalion size now. I had told him before leaving that once we had spoken with the Archon he should feel free not to hide our Royal machines. Or the amount we had.
Which is why as I looked out the window of our new Command tower that had been installed in my absence, watching Lance after Lance of mechs and tanks travel around the base All of them busy.
"Repair Unit is probably the worst off to be honest." Benny mentioned as we rested up against the center Holovid table while looking out the windows. "They are the only group we can't up jump. While we did get a lot of new recruits, it's not the same as putting a fresh mechwarrior into a mech. There is only so much someone without experience can do on a mech."
"Yeah. That's why I pushed Gauges schooling courses so hard. It makes it easier to train our people."
"You did that because you didn't want him angry with you." Benny teases, pushing me lightly before nodding. "Not that it's not helpful, but we expanded too much too fast. We have growing pains handling repairs."
"Maybe. Also I know you had, or have a plan Benny what are you thinking?"
"I know you didn't want to, but we should hire some actual Mech techs and admechs. We have the start of a reputation, and having so much high end gear, we won't struggle to get interested techs, everyone wants to work with Lostech after all."
"Brings in a lot of trouble. Some will be spies."
"We already got spies Commander."
"Oh? Is LIC still bothering us?"
"Yes and no. We think some of them are still sniffing around, but we started tracking a few newer guys as well."
"Well talk to Eris about the LIC guys, and if we have eyes on any others, tell her about them. I'm sure she can have some fun with it."
"Right. Eris… I don't know about this Commander. Analise. Or Eris. We knew from the start she was a spy but…"
"Benny, she is one of us now. I haven't told her about everything, and I might not ever be able to. But she is still an Iron Blooded."
He hesitated, I knew Benny wanted to argue. So I waved him on letting him say it. "How can someone we can't trust be an Iron Blooded?"
"Because we live in the real world. Trust is something given, not earned. If we wait for everyone in the world to earn our trust before giving it, then we will never get to trust anyone."
"Isn't that the opposite of what everyone says?"
"Yes, it's a shame they are all wrong."
He snorted. "Crazy."
"Maybe. But really. We have to live in the world we are in. Will we be betrayed? Yes. Yes we will inevitably be. There are people out there that will do anything to another human being for money. But our job, no matter how ugly is to be better. Someday Benny I will get someone killed because I trusted the wrong person."
"Commander?" Benny looked at me startled and I nodded.
I shrugged "It's going to happen Benny. But here is the thing. I would rather trust one hundred people and be betrayed. Then only trust ten, with a better assurance that I won't be."
"You said it before Commander. It's all about Trust right?"
"That's right! Everyone forgot about trusting each other! So we will teach them. We will do amazing things and they will see us doing it. They will first trust us, and then by learning from us, learn to trust each other again."
"Big hopes Commander. I don't know if it will happen like that."
"It might not. I might never see it in my lifetime. But I would rather try than simply accept that it won't happen."
"Ugh, too much philosophy for me," Gauge interrupted, walking up to the two of us, pushing me off the Holo table with a squawk. "C'mon enough of this, we need to go over all the new stuff you brought in. I can't believe you went to another cache of equipment without me!"
"It was a spur of the moment thing! Since Aunt Kat-The Archon…" Oh no.
"What?"
"What did you just say!?" Both boys suddenly attacked me, pinning me against the Holovid table as they interrogated me.
"Nothing! I didn't say anything! I won't tell ever! And none of the crew will either! I swore them to secrecy!"
Benny was having none of this. Grabbing his radio as he continued to hold my shoulder with the other. "Amarie. This is Benny come in."
"Yo Sub-Commander. What's up?"
"Vicky said somethin interesting. What is this about the Archon being 'Aunt Katrina?'"
"OH! Shit yeah I forgot to tell everyone! She-"
"NO!" I screamed out struggling. "Traitors! I am surrounded by traitors! My trust is broken!"
Completely ignoring my cries Amarie continued "Yeah when we left the Triad the Archon herself. I swear this is true. Pulled Vicky in for a hug. Called her 'Victoria' and told her to stay in touch. Vicky called her Aunt Katrina, and the Archon didn't say anything."
"Oh my god." Gauge muttered. "My bet was wrong. I didn't say anything about being related to the Archon!"
"Fuck me either. I was sure she-"
"What bet?" I growled, and both boys stilled as my eyes narrowed. Suddenly their hands gripping me were locks for them rather than me. "Did I just hear my cute subordinates making bets about my parentage?"
"No! Not at all!"
"It was Hanna she started the betting pool!" Gauge cracked without regret as he took off running.
Giving me all the leverage I needed to grab my Sub-Commander before he could escape.
—-
A week after settling in I was observing a lance on lance challenge. The kids were all in Centurions which had turned into our standard training mech, although I did have a lance of Stingers to give all of the kids a mech with jump jets to get used to using them.
Even I had taken one out going through the Jump jet course I had set up. They were incredibly fun, especially on a light mech. Although having discovered my love affair with the biggest of the big stompys I really wanted a Marauder II. Which was like the Biggest brother between the three? I chuckled as I considered the Marauder family and it's weird history.
I of course didn't think about the inbred cousins the Clan versions.
"Commander! Red alert. The Governess is here. She looks maaaad."
I snorted. I had a feeling I would be seeing Governess Alessa sometime soon. "Alright send her through the checkpoint. I know what she wants to see."
I walked down to the entrance of the main admin building. The Hangar entrance was rarely used if you were on foot. The long fancy car that Governess pulled up in was actually more packed than I expected. Not only the Governess, but Arthur, and Vincent, along with General Faulkner who was the one that held his hand out for the Governess to finally slide out. And yep. She was mad.
"Good afternoon Lady Alessa, what can I do for you today?"
"You can explain why I received a message from the Archon, that not only was 'Redbase' now under your command under the Archons command, but also the Castle Brian underneath was under your guardianship… I would very much like to know!" Her voice was barely restrained. I could tell she was trying to keep calm, but apparently this was a little too much for her.
"I suppose that is fair. Please come inside." I waved them to follow as I entered the admin building heading to the large Elevator I had built up. The five of us slipped in as I hit a button, waited for it to verify that it was someone with permission to go to that floor before the Elevator swiftly descended, barely a sound or a vibration as it moved.
My Guests noticed it immediately. Arthur held his brother back as the younger baron moved to say something.
When the door opened. Well… I had purposefully made this entrance into quite a view.
And a killing field. But that was a different issue.
The elevator opened up to a catwalk that showed the massive mech sized entranceway. Our mechs were actually currently moving through and I let the group see how they were coming down from a mech sized Ramp that circled around form the upstairs hangar down to this room giving mechs access to the Castle Brian
Because we had turned it into our fortress. Five months of me being gone after setting this thing up, and it was now roaring with activity. The repair bays above were rarely used, It was cooler down here and the equipment regardless of how innocuous was better. I had copied all the SLDF tool kits as well after all.
"Welcome to the Castle Brian Red Base."
I didn't get a response at first. The boys were too shocked. The General looked very impressed.
The Governess looked like she was going to commit murder. "This was down here? All this time?"
"Not all of it. The base itself yes, But it was stripped bare. Almost all of the equipment was brought in from another find. And there weren't any mechs down here of course."
"Of course. Otherwise you would have had to report them to me! To your rightful Governor!" She hissed, turning on me and I shrugged.
"I understand why you would think that. That I would betray the trust you so 'kindly' offered me." I stepped well into her personal space now. Thanks to two years of growth, and a full set of my armor I definitely outweighed her, and I was taller even without my boots.
"But do not ever implicate my honor again. There were no mechs down here. Every mech that you see were bought and paid for, or brought over from another Castle Brian. You do remember my visit to League space do you not?"
It clicks in her head then and clenches her fist. "Chasing rumors?"
"Yes. That part was the truth. I was chasing rumors. I just happened to find what I was looking for. I did lie to you about that."
She exhaled as she backed up resting against the guard rail. "I see. Congratulations are in order then I suppose."
"What!? We can't just stop there. This girl lied to us! Kept a CastleBrian from us! Who knows what was down here!" Vincent exclaimed, breaking from his older brother's grip. Stomping up to me. But I never got a chance to say anything, because General Faulkner bodied the younger man. Grabbing him by the back of his fancy vest and yanking him back from me.
The thing is General Faulkner obviously wasn't a soldier. But he was a big guy. And Vincent was sorta scrawny.
The younger son let out a squawk as he was yanked back and up into the General's reddened face. "Young Vincent. Your manners have left you. Another word out of your mouth while your Mother the Governess is speaking and I will find time to re-teach you your manners."
Vincent looked rather furious, his face reddening to match the Generals. But when he turned to his mother looking angry, her own furious look seemed to cow him for a moment, and it appeared he wasn't stupid.
He nodded and didn't say another word.
"Apologies Commander." The words sounding defeated came from the Governess.
"Think nothing of it. Our relationship has had plenty of ups and downs… I can understand the frustration."
Her lips pursed she simply nodded rather than trusting her voice.
"How about we continue the tour, I am sure all of you have wanted to see the inside of a Castle Brian at least once in your life?" And that was how I showed the leaders of Zaniah around Redbase. Although Vincent was sullen, even he could not deny the interest in our mech bay, or the rows of Mech sims.
Arthur for some reason was sticking close to me, peppering me with questions, and talking about how interesting it all was.
Weird.
Arthur also caught on to the fact kids were wandering around in just their Cooling suits.
The rule for wearing armor wherever you go was strictly when off base after all.
"That's an SLDF cooling suit…" He uttered in shock as one of the trainees walked past.
"It is. We all have them. Why do you think we wear armor in the cockpit? The cooling suit means the armor doesn't heat up. Giving us more protection in and out, while also hiding the fact we are wearing them at all."
Although the Governess seemed aware that they were rare her own curiosity was purely as a civilian. She wasn't a Mechwarrior after all. "Is it rare to put armor on them?"
"Mother! SLDF Cooling suits are reserved for the best of the best. I don't think even the 1st Royal all wear one!" Arthur looked at his mother in shock. I almost snickered, despite being in his twenties it was like a teenager sounding aggrieved that his parent didn't understand his awesome anime reference.
"They do actually. I sold about twenty thousand of them to the Archon while at the Triad." I offered interrupting.
That stuttered the older boy to a stop, his jaw hanging open. "Twenty thousand!?"
"Yep. That was what we had left after we issued them all to all my people… Do you want one Arthur? You did help us out with training after all."
'I… I would love to have the honor." He managed to say with only a slight squeak to his voice and I couldn't help but laugh as I nodded turning the tour towards the equipment room.
"It's a good thing we have the only working factory for them then? As an apology for all the trouble, why don't we supply a Suit and an Advanced NeuroHelm to you and Vincent?"
Both boys' eyes widened as I revealed that, even the Governess was speechless at hearing about a factory. Even if she didn't seem to get the full effect that would mean.
The General on the other hand? He understood completely, he smoothly cut in. "The young Barons would be honored to receive such equipment Commander. I am curious about this factory as well. I hadn't been informed of anything of the sort."
"The Archon is aware of it. I'm afraid I will have to stay silent on anything more about it, even it's location. Considering the second batch of equipment is already being prepared to be sent to the Archon, you understand that any leaking of the information would cause trouble."
"I understand perfectly. Is it alright to offer the boys the equipment in that case? If it is bound for the Archon?"
"Not a concern. The production of the suits is surprisingly easy. We have plenty stored as well. All of my kids have one after all. It helps in the Zaniah heat. Not just in a mech cockpit."
"Wait… You said all the brat-kids." Vincent corrected himself, probably realizing he was on thin ice. "Wearing armor has an SLDF cooling suit? I've seen your infantry wearing that armor…"
"Yep. It's good for infantry too. The cooling function is exceptional, especially in the heat here. Plus it has a full seal function with a helmet. Hopefully if we ever have to endure a biological attack it will help."
"That's… A waste. Those are meant for Mechwarriors." He spoke sullenly, although he kept his voice mostly level. It was obvious he was angry but trying to hide it.
"I disagree. They are very functional, and Vincent. My people don't each have one suit." I ended just as I opened the door to one of our storage rooms. This one specifically for the undersuits.
It was full.
Thousands and thousands of Cooling suits. Lined the room on racks. "Most of my people have multiple in case one needs to be cleaned. They do tend to get sweaty on Zaniah. Go ahead, help yourself find one in your size." I waved the boys in.
Vincent's look of shock was satisfying, but Arthur was capturing everyone's attention as he rushed in like a kid in a candy store and started trying to find a suit in his size.
Eventually both barons received a SLDF Neurohelm and a Cooling suit, and then I kicked the group out. Even the Governess had to leave my base when I said. It was mine now Aunt Katr- The Archon said so!
—-
Things came into a comfortable balance over the next month. Training was still the name of the game. And all of my kids got goodies in return for doing well. The amount of little naming ceremonies I went through shot through the roof as I passed out more and more 'official' mechs. The ones that weren't training mechs and were theirs to own.
We went from a reinforced Lance. To a Company. To a mech Battalion. Within just that month. It wasn't just because the kids were doing well. It was because I wanted them to familiarize themselves with their permanent ride. As I learned, driving a Locust did not give me the experience to drive a Centurion. Or a Nightstar.
Of course doing so made more work for me.
"Okay so we have the overarching Command as the ISDF. Then first Company the Iron Blooded Orphans." I moved my finger along the board. It was a setup showing the entirety of our "Wait, Company… Battalion? Hell, I suppose we can't call it a Mercenary company anymore."
"We should go with Battalion for now. With both dropships we could count as a reinforced Battalion, but most of the time we will just be using Whitebase now."
"Okay so the Iron Blooded Orphans First Battalion." I ran down the line I needed to memorize all of this. "First Battalion. First Company. Would be the 11th. First Battalion Second Company, wouldbe the 12th. Right?"
"Yes Commander. We are following SLDF conventions after all."
"Okay so 1st Company, or the 11th is made up of 111th, 112th, and 113th Lances."
"No one is going to call your lances that in a few months Commander. I'm afraid now that you started formalizing things, nicknames are bound to happen." Benny poked fun but I ignored him. That was just how things were.
"2nd Company, the 12th, Made up of 121st, 122nd, and 123rd. You are in command of the 121st. And Lenden will lead the 122nd. Erica will take over the 123rd."
"Thanks, just what I always wanted to deal with Lenden for the rest of his life."
"Isn't it the rest of your life?"
"I know what I said."
"Dark but I'll allow it. Okay and then the 3rd Company, will be the 13th. With the 131st, 132nd, and 133rd Lances. Hanna will be the Command from the 131st. And we are still deciding the rest of the leaders."
"Sounds right. You realize the 122nd will be Rough Lance within like a minute of Lenden finding out right?"
"That's inevitable.
Okay so the Org Chart.
ISDF 1st Battalion. Iron Blooded Orphans
1st Company 11th
111th Vicky
112th
113th
2nd Company 12th
121st Benny
122nd Lenden
123rd Erica
3rd Company 13th
131st Hanna
132nd
133rd
Special detachments
101st Home Guard
102nd Artillery Unit
103rd ASF Unit
104th Panzer Battalion
105th Motorized Battalion.
Of course Delta Ops wasn't on the org chart. They were a special, special detachment.
The special detachments were still in progress. Sure the 102nd I would be happy to take with me into combat, but the 103rd?
"Hanna is still arguing about being put in charge by the way." Benny told me. Which I couldn't help but groan at.
"Still!? It's been a week!"
"She wants to do her own thing. She was arguing for a Headhunting Lance."
"Too bad. She is the next best leader we have. I know she wants to lone wolf every battle, but that is exactly why I want her in charge, she can't run off on her own if she is responsible for everyone."
"Like you did?"
"I was testing a stealth attack! It worked!"
"You nearly wrecked your Lostech machine."
"And that doesn't matter, plus I learned a lot from that fight. Stealth was incredibly effective."
"Sure it is. Surprise is great, but you should have taken Eris with you. She told me that you went out without her."
"I couldn't exactly move in passive mode if she was with me! I had to go by myself."
"And she couldn't have come running when you went loud?"
"Okay okay it happened, I know I know I won't do it again… But I had to know."
"Had to know what?"
"If I could really be a Mechwarrior. Every fight we have been in… I was only a bystander. I wanted to challenge myself. To actually see if I could do it."
"Commander. Your sim scores should tell you that you have what it takes. You aren't that far behind Hanna."
"Only in Accuracy."
"Yeah because accuracy isn't one of the most important things."
"Moving on! Get Hanna on board for me? I know she can do this, and I think it's important to keep her from running off and biting off more than she can chew."
"I will convince her, she is mostly just complaining about it now."
"Good. Good. How is our selection process?"
Benny snorts, as he shakes his head. "Oh it's going alright. You and Hanna have a lot on your plate figuring out who is going to be in your Lances."
"Part of the job I guess."
"Yeah well the wargames are going well. You will be pleased to note that only five injuries have been reported so far."
"Oh god. Please don't tell me someone broke an arm or something."
"Only one broken bone so far. Catelyn decided she could definitely jump the old ravine. Her Centurion face planted."
"Fuck me."
"Hah! That's the same thing she said!"
"Anyway this will work for now… You know we will have to restructure everything once we get bigger. I can't have you all leading a Company, when we move up to a Regimental command. You will have to take over a Battalion."
"Commander. That's for a few years in the future at best. We need time. But yeah… I know Vicky. We will be ready when we get that big."
"I think so. I believe Benny. I know we are going to shake the Inner Sphere."
—-
"Eris… Why do we have a company of men storming my Colossus?"
The woman was already standing out on the dropship pad as the men in LCAF uniforms seemed to swarm the ship. I had been called out in a hurry once an alert had sounded, apparently Eris had allowed men on the base, and it had caused a bit of a fluff.
"Did you forget Commander? You gave the Archon permission to inspect a Colossus if you found one. The LCAF don't have any functioning, so to see one in working condition could tell us quite a bit."
"Tell them quite a bit you mean. ISDF Lieutenant Eris."
"Of course Commander Eisen-Blume." She replies, neither of us really believe it.
"And no, I remember that. I was talking more about why they are on my Colossus, on my base. Without me okaying it." I was pretty firm when I gave the older woman a glare. She bowed her head seemingly realizing the error.
"Sorry Commander. I didn't think it would be an issue. When the inspectors arrived I was already on my way to meet them so I directed them through security. I did let the Homeguard complete their inspections… What little that it was. You realize The Archon has sent security agents as well, to increase security around your base. They are quite… Unimpressed."
"Yeah? Tell them to try breaking in then."
"They already have tried. And failed."
"Then there isn't a problem. Next time this happens Eris. You run it by Command first. You are only a lieutenant. Remember?"
"Yes Commander."
"Good. Benny will have some work for you then. I think he wants someone else to run around with the recruits for a few days. Should give you time to think about this."
The woman actually looked rather unhappy, as she nodded, with pursed lips. "Understood."
"Good. Now I need to keep these guys from putting their dirty hands on the insides of my ship. Hey! Get your hands out of that!" I screamed as I rushed over.
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