15.3

Chapter 15.3 All's Fair

3025

Ko

WhiteBase Bridge

Day 2.

"So why am I awake… An hour before my set time?" I grumble as I stumble into the war room on WhiteBase.

"Sorry Commander. We got some interesting information, and it does change a few things." Benny offered with an apologetic shrug.

I waved him on as I took a few more sips of space coffee. None of the taste, all of the caffeine. It was warm. And helped wake you up and keep you up. Good enough.

"So Eric got the Mechwarrior talking, and she found out who it is we are facing."

"You are leading to something, but I'm too tired for this."

"Right Sorry. So we are facing the 22nd Dieron Regulars. With a call to ComStar we found out a bit about them. Here is the funny part. They are a regiment sized unit… On the lighter side, Which is why we have seen so many Panthers. But the funniest part? They're specialized in scouting missions… I found out why they were so shy. We keep plucking out their eyes and their General is probably freaking out."

I blinked. Sipping a bit of coffee as I considered that. It… Fit. They have been sending in scouts constantly, trying to get some eyes on us, but thanks to the sensors, and Nighthawks. They have failed at every step. I put myself in their shoes. I'm a general, my men are great scouts. Yet whenever I send some scouts against this strange raiding party they disappear…

"Benny. They are going to overreact to everything we do. That's what they have been doing. Every time we poke them they try to double whatever we hit them with. They don't know how much force we have."

"Okay. So what? We overstretch them? Make them defend too much and smash them where they are weak?" Benny asked. I considered it. It was a good plan, Since we were all Heavy or Assault mechs it would work, but I shook my head.

"No. No, we want them to bring their force to bear. I want them thinking they have us on the backfoot. From now on, we need to use the same Lances we have already used. We want them to think they have an idea of our numbers. Break into Lances, or Companies. Go hit their defense points. Hit and fade, but not competently, If you start getting any resistance, retreat. Let them think… Let them think they have us on the backfoot. That we are too green. I want them to think we only have a few competent Mechwarriors."

"Commander?"

"I have an idea Benny. Take care of it?"

"Okay, I'll brief the men, and set up some plans… I'm going to borrow Erica. She will be perfect to maintain cohesion."

"Do it. I need twenty minutes and some more coffee. Then I have some calls to make."

I continued to wipe my eyes. Taking a few minutes to finish off my coffee and breakfast before climbing up through the interior of Whitebase. To the Bridge. The Comms officer, who's name was escaping me for a moment, was quick to jump to my request.

"Call went through?"

"It did Commander. They are apparently interested in hearing from you. Putting it through."

"Governor Kagemuchi. I want my people back."

"Commander Eisen-Blume. As I stated before. Your men are now the Dragons. If you wish them returned, you should have handed over your equipment and bowed your head. Now the price for their safe return has gone up. I considered removing one of their heads, just to ensure your understanding of the seriousness of their situation."

"I already told you murdering them isn't going to make me back down. Consider this Governor. We have won every engagement we have had so far. Your people have lost their lives, and some have lost their mechs. This can end. Right now. Give me back my people. We will leave. We won't even take any of the salvage from your men. You will be able to recover everything you have lost so far."

"What little we have lost will be regained from your company once the last of your men are in chains or dead. I am the will of the Dragon here on Ko. The Dragons Will, does not hesitate."

"Fancy words that don't mean anything." I stare into the image of the man that I had come here to defeat. "People are losing their lives. Defenders of your people are dying because of greed. Governor, see reason."

"Hmph you are afraid."

I shook my head, flipping the switch on the Holo unit. Cutting him off. My remorseful look was gone. As I turned to Gauge who had given me the signal I was waiting for during the conversation.

"You were right Vicky. That signal was definitely not from the Palace. I managed to track him down with the signal, and the sensor. He is in some sort of underground bunker. All of his signals are routed through the palace, but that's easy enough for us to follow with your lostech."

"Good. Check out that bunker. Find out if any of our people are down there. No I know it's hard to tell a person from a person, but look around for anyone in chains, or prison cells."

"Not gonna be easy to tell the difference, but I'll keep an eye on it. Gonna send Delta in?"

"No not yet. I need the Governor to think he is winning… Until he isn't. Guaranteed if we push too hard our captives die."

"Yeah. Vicky. You okay?"

I blinked, turning to my best friend. "Yeah. I'm doing as well as I can be. Why?"

"Because you haven't laughed once since we got the news. You don't even smile anymore. You know. This is a serious thing, this war we are in, but that doesn't mean you have to become someone else to do it. We got this. The enemy doesn't have a clue of what we have. They are fighting blind. It's okay to… Be you."

"I can't." I shook my head looking back over the bridge. Some of our people were still active. There was always someone up here, but it was quiet for the most part. "How can I laugh, or have fun when our people… They are probably doing horrible things to them! They don't… They don't respect our lives at all."

"Yeah, But that's always going to be the case you know? None of us, None of us would be angry if you laughed. We all look up to you. Seeing you so serious.. It's actually a little off putting."

"It's supposed to be. This isn't training, or a bandit raid Gauge. This is a full out, non-stop war. It only takes one messup to turn this entire thing around. They just need to be smart, or out think us, once. Just once."

"Vicky." He grabbed my head and turned me completely to face him. "You barely look anyone in the eyes, and spend all your time glaring at nothing. We need you. You can't let this beat you down… It's not your fault."

I flinched. "It is. I sent them out. I didn't even give them enough ASF defense. If they had a few more planes."

"Then they would still be in the same situation. The Governor, he knew how much they brought with. He was ready. The Combine wanted this. They wanted our people. You can't know when something bad is going to happen. You can prepare as much as you can, but bad things happen."

"Trying to make me feel better, in this situation just makes me feel worse." I grumble, but his arm pulling me in to a warm hug even with our armor in the way did make me feel better.

The jerk.

"So are you ready to stop messing around and come up with a plan?"

"I have a plan! What's wrong with my plan?"

"Well… The rumor is that you are babying us too much. Everyone wants to go and fight. To get our people back, but you seem to be…" He trailed off at my glare.

"That's just because you have books for brains! You can't see my obviously superior master plan. I call it Operation Fish in a Barrel!"

"Well the name is as terrible as always. So I guess you are feeling better."

"Pff. You just don't understand my genius. Fine since you and your simple mind are too simple. I will explain my master plan!"

"Definitely feeling better. Alright explain away."

"Well first-"

—--

A different perspective

Sub-Commander Benjamin Rommel 2nd Division, ISDF.

Ko

"So everyone got the plan?"

"C'mon Sub-Commander! This is bullshit. The Commander has been all overprotective ever since the Isaribi got nabbed. Stop holding us back, let us go out and kick Snake ass! We have the mechs and the will!" There were quite a few nods of agreement from the crowd. The entire 2nd Division, both Mechwarrior and Tanker were gathered together for this brief.

"Hey! Who do you think you are talking about? You don't think our illustrious ditzy Blonde doesn't have a plan? She is keeping it close. The enemy doesn't have a clue what is coming! She isn't babying you idiots. She is tricking them!" Benny called out surprised at the sense he was getting. No one had ever just… gone against the Commanders plans before. Sure this was the first time she didn't tell everyone what was going on, but there were too many people.

It made sense to keep it quiet.

"It's not what I heard!" Corben offered. The man was just about the same age as Benny, and as a Tanker he tended to have a chip on his shoulder. But it was obvious that the morale was wonky as Benny looked over his people. Nodding heads filled his view. Something was up.

"Where exactly did you hear this impression the Commander doesn't have her shit stowed, Hauptmann?" Benny demanded as he pushed through the crowd. Face to face with the boy that unfortunately was actually taller than Benny. "Because I would very much like to know that! As the one that knows more about the plan than anybody I would like to know who is spreading this kind of shit!"

"Fuck off Benny! The Commander has been acting funny for months now! She lost her shit! She always babied us! And now with the Isaribi lost she hasn't been acting right! We have a full regiment of Assault mechs! We should be out there crushing the Snakes not waiting around for them to get more reinforcements! We need a leader that will actually step up and do what needs to be done!"

"And who is this leader?" The voice brought the argument to a complete silence. Benny thought with an internal smirk. Despite her griping Vicky did have a way of bringing an entire room's attention to her. The crowd of soldiers, who were acting more like children, spread from her passage as she walked up to Corben.

She was shorter than Corben, but from the way he looked. That fact certainly wasn't what he was thinking. "Hauptmann, I asked you a question." The crowd winced. When not actively Commanding a fight, Vicky rarely used ranks. It had become a bit of a joke that no matter what rank you actually held. To Vicky you were only ever a kid.

Benny thought that joke was more accurate than expected from the way Corben, in his early twenties, looked like a five year old with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Commander. I just…"

She sighed. Shaking her head, reaching up and without seeming to even realize it she brushed a hand through his hair ruffling it as she walked past both of them. Every eye in the Hangar on her as she moved up to the foot of the Atlas Benny had been using to hold the brief. It had like many things become traditional to hold briefings standing on the feet of your mech.

Just another weird thing the ISDF now did.

"Alright. So this is definitely my fault. My bad. Our prep for this… Mission. Has been extensive, but we still rushed some things, especially the setup from our old Battalion size to a Regiment. So that's on me. We will do better. Learn from these growing pains and continue on."

Her back straight, Arms resting in the small of her back and fierce blue eyes locked down everyone in the room. The armor really was a perfect fit for her. At this point Benny couldn't imagine her in anything but the armor. It was just… Vicky.

"You are all concerned about the plan. That is my fault. As your Commander I should have made it clear that yes. We have a plan. That we are not messing around out here waiting for the Combine to beat us."

"What is the plan!" Corben seemed to find some steel in his spine as he called out. Vicky took his question without concern. Pointing him out.

"None of your business, Hauptmann." The crowd chuckled. Breaking some of the tension even as Corben seemed about to dig in before Vicky continued. "Operational security is a thing. Even if I am bad at it. You don't need to know the overarching plan."

"But let me ask you this. When your plan, which if I heard right was, take our regiment and charge into the city. Smashing through any defenders. Do I have that right? When that plan happens, and you find out that your charge meant that you got all the people from the Isaribi killed in response. How exactly does that meet the objective to rescue them?"

The crowd went silent and even Corben was flushing at that. None of the kids, even the most bloodthirsty members of Rough squad, was willing to sacrifice the Isaribi crew.

"We are not here to defeat the Combine Regiment. We are not here to punish evildoers. We are not here for vengeance. This is a rescue mission, people. That is it. That is the goal. We will not. For any reason, lose sight of that."

She stood there. Proud and tall and he smiled. Damn that girl. He would have spent an hour or more arguing with these idiots, but Vicky? With a few sentences she has everyone in the room ready to follow her orders to their death if they have to.

"Trust me. Just once more. At least once more. Until we are burning off this world with our people back. Trust me!"

"Always!" Benny called out, and he wasn't alone. The room had shifted. Any hesitation or concern at Vicky coddling them was gone. The woman. Because it was hard to call her a girl anymore had turned it all around. Even Corben was nodding grimly.

Benny would talk to him after even so. Something about this was wrong. He would be repeating his question about where he got the idea that Vicky didn't have this handled.

But that was for later, because now he had to actually get his people back on track. Vickys speech had wound them up, so now he had to actually get them moving.

Damn that girl!

An hour later. A bit longer than he had wanted he was moving out. His Battalion was on track. Multiple small probing attacks with Lance size attacks. Just enough to keep poking the Combine. To make them realize they will need more mechs to handle them.

But not enough to think the ISDF were competent. They all had the same order hammered into their head. If they took damage, any damage, They were to retreat at full steam.

Let the Combine think them cowards. Let them think that children playing at war had no idea what they were doing.

Benny gripped his controls of his Atlas. Yes. He thought. Let them think whatever they liked. As Vicky liked to say.

They would learn. They would all learn.

Following along behind the slightly faster mechs in his Lance Benny finally handed off operational command to Erica who was back at the dropships her voice in everyone's ears as she took over and started relaying orders to the other Lances. For Benny it was go time.

"Alright everyone! Remember we aren't here to be heroes. Poke the Snakes with a stick! Fire!"

LRMs roared out. The enemy weren't surprised this time. They had been sticking Cameras and things outside their base. An attempt to get some working intel before an attack.

Benny's Atlas roared it's anger as he fired his Gauss. Not aiming at any mech as they were still hidden behind the walls. But Gauss makes good holes in Ferrocrete. He grinned as his shot revealed a Stinger hiding behind the wall, causing the light mech to jerk back away from the hole.

The enemy were responding. LRMs coming back over the wall. Most weren't anywhere near in range, but a few hit here and there, Benny kept it together for a few minutes. Just firing his Gauss at anything. If something was moving, great. If not the wall was getting holes punched into it.

His lance finally retreated when barrage of LRMs from a turret the enemy had set up finally struck mostly on point. "Retreat! Scramble scramble!" He roared into the mic, making it great fun for the Lance. As everyone basically started running away in full sprint. He was sure the Combine were wondering what the cowards that had just attacked them were doing. But their lights harried them for a bit before retreating.

Mission successful.

—-

The engagement was going well. I kept a close eye on it as Benny led his 2nd Battalion into battle. He was better at using his vehicle support, she noticed. He was making sure the lances each had a Lance of tanks backing them up. Letting them use the Alacorns to the best effect sniping a light Mech and then hauling ass back to base.

The three targets Benny hit were outposts or guard posts that were being put up. Each of them had at best a Lance of Light mechs, but a company of vehicles, but already I could see the Combine responding, The defenses increased as the single Lance of assault mechs tore up some defenses before retreating at their first wounds.

Like green pilots terrified of dying.

I felt my face stretch into a smile. An evil smile at that. The Combine were Samurai. I would bet good money all during their training they were told how cowardly the Lyrans are. How they are weaklings easy to scare away with superior Combine skill.

What was it Sun-Tzu said? The original person, not the Liao. Appear to be weak where you are strong?

Well The Combine were reinforcing their defenses two, or even three Lances settling into the defensive positions.

Enough in their eyes to get around the slow lumbering assaults and take some out on their next assault.

I nodded. Letting the battleline settle for a few hours before Hanna moved. Just like Benny she did the same thing at the start of her shift. But unlike Benny she went with two lances of Mechs to each defensive position.

Enough to make the Company of Light mechs hesitate and give her cover to assault and retreat.

Then the commander on the other side requested more reinforcements.

"Just as Keikaku."

"What? Vicky. Was that Japanese?" Gauge asked as he flicked on the lights in the War room, blinking my eyes in the bright light, I looked away from my Sensor screen and into the judging eyes of Gauge as he was thoroughly unimpressed.

"K-keikaku means plan."

"I know what it means you idiot! Why are you hiding in the dark talking about… No I don't care." He rolled his eyes as I felt myself blushing. Damnit. "Hanna is on her way back but you know we are taking way too much damage here. The repair group can't keep up. Hell I have been done in the hangars trying to repair some mechs. If you keep this up we aren't going to have any mechs with armor left to fight."

"I know. Tonight… Well I have a plan to fix that. We just have to keep the Combine reinforcing their defensive positions for now. Once Delta finds them we can move."

"Ah. Nothing from Delta yet?"

I grit my teeth. "No. Sensors are great, but they can't tell much about a person compared to any other. Delta is scouring the city trying to find where they are being held. Nothing yet."

It was the single point of failure in my plan. If the governor felt threatened enough he might just make the call and have my people killed just to spite me. Combine were a bit known for that sort of thing.

"So you can't find them."

"No. Do you have any idea how many people are in prison-like conditions in that city alone? I swear half the damn population could be them. We won't find them unless they…" I blinked. That could work. That could definitely work. "I have to make a call."

"What? Vicky! Don't just run away while blinking into space, tell me what you came up with! Vicky!"

—-

A different perspective

Colonel Hanna Hayha 3rd Division, ISDF.

Ko

Hanna really hated smart enemies.

With the Sensor they had turned away at least a hundred sneak attacks. Infantry, Vehicles, aircraft. And now?

The fuckers were trying to move an artillery piece into range. Well technically two. Thumpers. And so now it was Hanna's problem. Of course it had been an easy spot. The Thumper only had a ten kilometer range. Give or take. They had seen it coming.

The problem was getting to it. Delta was busy. Rough was… Doing Rough squad stuff crazy bastards. ASF wasn't likely either. Unfortunately the damn things were well in the enemy defense cordon.

That meant she was going to send something to handle this.

And she knew just who, and what.

Striding out of Trojan Base she took a moment to look over the people that were running around. Even at the late time activity was everywhere. Three shifts meant someone was up at all times.

No one wanted to be the one sleeping when the enemy attacked.

She passed a fire of all things. Someone had actually dug a pit, and a few chairs had been placed around it. The kids were hanging out and relaxing after their long day.

Hanna liked it. This is what they should be. Happy. She left them in peace. She would keep watch while they rested. So that in the morning they would be well rested.

She walked into Whitebase. Passing a few kids doing diagnostics for the Repair Unit. The technicians had taken to basically commandeering wandering kids into the repair unit to do some work. So it became a fearsome act when any member of Repair Unit stalked the halls.

Heading up to the Bridge she caught up with Vicky, waving her into a side room. They would need privacy for this.

"Hanna?"

"I need to borrow your Spector."

The blonde blinked and frowned. "That's risky. It's not really meant to be used here."

"Well the enemy are moving up a pair of Thumpers, they have too much air defense for a safe ASF run, and they aren't anywhere near Rough Squad. Apparently they have been paying attention to where our mayhem makers are."

With a keen eye Hanna watched Vicky consider it. The blonde as usual thought too much. Seemed to always want to spend a few minutes thinking things through unless the idea came to her in a moment of inspiration.

Hanna sort of hated that Vicky was usually pretty competent at those moments.

"Okay. I'll allow it, you are right. We need to take those Thumpers out. But not alone." The blonde literally rushed off leaving Hanna in the room for a few moments before she sighed and realized she would have to follow her.

Damnit Vicky you blonde bimbo!

Racing after the girl Hanna really had to struggle to keep up. Benny's trick of making Vicky run all the time was paying off because Hanna was struggling to keep up with the nerd. That wouldn't do. She would have to start joining those practices herself soon.

Can't let Vicky actually be more fit than she was.

She caught up to Vicky in the Storage hangar for the Whitebase. It was mostly empty but Vicky ran around "Everyone out! This hangar needs to be locked down. Out out!" Shooing the kids out as she locked down every entrance. Hanna made sure everyone was out even before finally Vicky stopped moving.

For a girl that hasn't slept much in the last week, Vicky was seriously too manic.

"Alright. Hanna. I'll make a Spector Lance for you to work with, but this has to be kept utterly secret."

Hanna considered it for a moment before grinning. "That condition I can work with."

"Alright cool let me get them ready. Find four pilots."

"Three pilots." Hanna offered back. She was here after all.

"Don't be stupid. You aren't going anywhere. You are in command. You get to stay back and watch other people do fun things now."

"Bitch."

"That's what you get for calling me a bimbo!"

"I didn't say it aloud!"

"You were thinking it! I know! I always know!"

"Tsk Whatever. Get on with it then. I'll go grab a few I know will be up for it."

"Remember this stays secret!"

—-

A different perspective

Lenden Scorch

Ko

Lenden grinned as his boys went to work. He wasn't there unfortunately. Being a Mechwarrior and a Lance lead came with some responsibilities. But he was watching from a Lostech Sensor.

Of course Vicky didn't know he had one.

He had blamed it on Gauge taking one to fiddle with back when he stole it years ago.

She had shrugged at that. It was Lendens go to when dealing with the Commander, blame something missing on Gauge and she would shrug and continue on.

Hell half the time it really was that Nerd, so that backed up the times it wasn't.

"Get'em boys." He whispered as he watched his boys sneak into the enemy base. The plan was to steal a Lance of the Panthers. Those mechs were pretty nasty lights, and Benny knew they would sell for a good amount even if his boys didn't keep them. Plus they would be great support for the Assaults.

He watched the dots sneak in, a few of the enemy dots disappearing as they took them out, just like they were trained.

The Nighthawk clad members leading the way, as the un armored kids came in behind, to loot or secure buildings. But not everything was going well. Lenden frowned when he noticed it, but Rom the man in charge of the assault hadn't.

The enemy had been alerted. A fight broke out. And Lenden stared helpless as the fighting got rough. Rough Squad had to retreat, but there were deaths.

He grit his hands. He wished he was there. He wished he had sent more of Rought Squad.

He wished he hadn't just had to watch his friends die.

He exhaled, pushed it away. This was the life he chose. He knew from the start that members of Rough Squad would die. Hell.

He had thought he would be the first.

But he did promise that Rough Squad would do better next time. If their current equipment wasn't enough, he would bug Vicky for more. He would make sure his boys were the best equipped force they could be.

So that they could all come back with enemy loot and pop a beer.

—-

Late that night with confirmation from Delta I went to work. Sure I hadn't slept much in the last while, but that was what space coffee was for! Slipping into my Spector I moved into WhiteBases Hangar which had been cleared out. I moved towards my Nightstar. They were still working on fixing the damage I had taken. Honestly considering how long it took for armor repairs I was starting to wonder if this might be the new most powerful ability I used on my Nanoforge.

I still wasn't sure if this would actually work. The Nanoforge really was more about just creating from a blueprint. But this was important. I aimed my Medium Nanoforge and when nothing happened, because there was nothing selected in the Noteputer I willed it to do something different. "I need to repair this."

The slow birth of green as my Nanoforge activated and in a flurry green light seeped into my Nightstar. It took longer than expected at first, but when I realized the Nanoforge wasn't repairing just the obvious stuff, it was also fixing any wear and tear the mech had gone through.

When it was done. The armor on my Nightstar was as perfect as it had been the day I made it. Only one thing was different from that day.

I groaned. The Stupid Nanoforge! Phantom was seared into the metal itself, the paint job no longer something that could just be washed away.

Stupid eldritch abomination!

I sighed, pulling myself away from the Phantom and heading towards the next mech in the bay. I had a long night ahead of me.

Over and over the Hangar filled with Green that night.

—-

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