Chapter Five
Heliat
Aurigan Reach
March 1, 3023
Once again, I am a year older and now eighteen, I wonder if they will let me have a drink tonight. There will be no party this evening as according to father we have too much to do.
I have been so busy over the last couple of months preparing for the recovery mission. We have managed to acquire five tons of ammo for the Centurion and will be taking our missile stock pile for the Strikers. We have about ninety percent of the dropship crews while the jumpship will be fully staffed. We are short four small craft pilots but the three fighter pilots and my father can fill in if necessary. I have three MechWarriors to fill out the lance but Mastiff has yet to confirm. The ammo won't be wasted as I can just assign one of the Centurions from the cache to the lance. Half of the home guard infantry and vehicle crews will be coming along and father has arranged to sell the business, APCs and Strikers to the Duke. Damn I can't go five minutes without thinking about the plan unless I am busy.
I have barely had any free time with all I have been required to accomplish, what with the increased focus on my education and training. Mastiff with the aid of the other warriors have been pushing me hard both in and out of the mech.
I won't have time for flight training before we leave so that has been put on the back burner. Perhaps I can learn during our long down times while the jumpship recharges it's KF drive, but not until I separate from my parents. I want to spend as much time as I can with them before we reach Andurien. Everyone has been busy preparing for that special day. Even the new employees have been put to work gathering the necessary food supplies etc. The marines have even started working with their infantry counterparts to train them in whatever they can while grounded. Damn my mind wondered off again, I need a break.
Entering the house after 4 hours of gunnery practice, I tiredly make way to my room to shower and change before dinner and more training. Walking into the dining room I stumble as "Surprise!!!!" rings out catching me totally off guard. The sneaky bastards pulled one over on me. It is a small group but that is just fine with me. After the congratulatory hugs we sit down to eat dinner followed by opening the gifts. Mom gave me a data chip full of family photos. Father gave me a regular birthday card with a folded-up sheet of paper inside. Reading through it left me stunned as it stated I was the president of Warrior Arms Inc. which consists of the following assets.
The Tramp Class Jumpship (Ferryman)
The Behemoth Class Dropship (Vault)
The Mule Class Dropship (Styx)
An MRBC listed security force (Reapers) see below
The Leopard Class Dropship (Scythe)
One Battlemech Lance (type and units to be determined)
One Aerospace Lance (Stingray F-90 x2)
One Vehicle Lance (type and units to be determined)
"Now son, just so you know that will not be legal until we get down to Dewey, Cheetum and Howe to sign the documents."
Recovering from my shock, I find Mastiff smiling at me from across the table and holding out a folder for me to take. Opening it I pull out what appears to be a certificate with a note covering most of it 'To my XO Reaper, congratulations Mastiff'. Pulling the note off I find a certificate certifying me as a Green rated MechWarrior with the MRBC. Grabbing Mastiff, I jump for joy causing him to laugh.
Once I have calmed down, Norman Kharkov and Michael Garibaldi hand me a package with their combined gift. Ripping open the package in my excited state reveals a black ball cap embroidered with a blood red "Reaper 6" and a black t-shirt with a grim reaper on a blood red shield embossed on it.
After exchanging another round of hugs, Mastiff informs me that my training this evening will involve a team building exercise with all the warriors to take place at Peelers', an infamous strip club. I know I will regret this in the morning but I am actually looking forward to it.
Waking up the next morning with a hangover is never fun, but you have to pay to play. Once again, I am back to the grind although I am spending more time on my education now that I am a certified MechWarrior.
A week later I find my self holding a meeting with the ground forces including the infantry/marine commanders. The purpose of which is to hash out our force composition.
In attendance are the following.
Captain Ragu 'Mastiff' Montgomery my mentor who reminds me of a late forties Maori warrior. (company commander)
Junior Lieutenant Rick 'Reaper' Grimm, the one and only. (company XO)
Senior Lieutenant Norman Kharkov a short stocky man in his early thirties. (tank lance commander)
Senior Lieutenant Rory McQueen a buff pale skinned man in his mid-thirties. (infantry / marine commander)
Junior Lieutenant Michael Garibaldi a stocky man in his late twenties with a receding hair line. (infantry / marine XO)
MechWarrior Ron 'Ricochet' Kerner a physically fit dark-skinned man in his early twenties.
MechWarrior Leonard 'Wolfman' Wolfe a short hairy man in his mid-twenties.
MechWarrior Wilson 'Willy' Lai a short out of shape Asian man in his late twenties.
"Okay gentlemen let us get this meeting started. Captain Montgomery do you wish to continue piloting your Centurion or would you like me to look into acquiring you a different mech?"
"I am fine with my Centurion; I see no need to replace it at this time XO."
"Lieutenant Kharkov, I have my eye on a lance of Manticores, will your crews be able to transition to them?'
"Some of the new guys have experience in the Manticore, so with their assistance we should have no problem with the transition."
"Good, Lieutenant McQueen several platoons of marine equipment will be made available soon, I will try to get more specific details of the equipment to you ASAP."
"MechWarrior Kerner what mech do you prefer to pilot?
"A Wolverine sir!"
"MechWarrior Wolfe what mech do you prefer to pilot?
"A Griffin sir"
"And you "MechWarrior Lai?
"A T-Bolt sir!"
"Very well as long as Captain Montgomery has no objections? I believe I can arrange that."
"I have no objections; however, I am curious what type of dropship we will be using?"
"I have a Leopard and a Mule lined up. The Manticores will have to use the Mule or landing craft like my father's, until our transportation situation changes. It is quite obvious my father and I are working on something. You will be informed about the specifics when the time is right."
"I want to thank you all for your time and patience."
June the third is turning out to be a fine day, the weather is nice and our recovery team has finally arrived at the Zenith jump point. Now I just have to round up the proper personnel and get them to the landing craft. I am sure no one is looking forward to days in a jump seat but it is not like we have a Monarch lying around.
Let's see, I need the mule crew, the three fighter pilots with their support crew and a squad of marines for security. By the time I round everyone up the jumpship parts should be loaded.
Three hours later and we are all strapped in and ready to launch.
Several days in a landing craft just to get to the jump point sucks hairy balls. I think I am going to go crazy considering I will be doing this for the next couple of years or more. Hopefully I will get used to this. I see a lot of reading in my future to stave off the boredom.
"We have arrived at the jump point and will be docking with the 'Pusher' shortly. Make sure you are secure until the hatch opens."
I recognize the voice as that of our aerospace commander Mike Metcalf, call sign Viper. Thirty minutes later and I see the hatch starting to open. With the hatch fully open the spacers make their way out of the hatch, I follow their lead in a clumsy manner. I am relying on the memories of my younger 'self' to get around in zero-G. I should hopefully improve my zero-G skills over time, as I will have a lot of time to practice now. With the help of one of the marines, I manage to keep up with the others. We are led to our temporary births to stow our gear, before moving on to the introduction / briefing.
Positioned to the right and slightly back from my father, I try not to move while waiting for him to speak.
"Captain Bosch, thank you for having us on board the Pusher and for your quick response to my request for your services. I know your services are highly sought after."
"Your welcome, all of you. I will say the promised bonus for a timely arrival may have had some thing to do with it" Chuckles can be heard echoing around the room.
"Down to business then, this will be news to most of you as secrecy was required to protect my family and its future. The reason we are here is the recovery and repair of a Tramp class jumpship and its attached dropships. A Leopard, a Mule and a Behemoth. The Behemoth has been sealed and may only be entered by myself or my son. The marines are here to protect our assets, please do not test them. You are being well paid for your services and we do not want any problems. As I understand it the plan is to have the Pusher here grapple the Tramp and move it to this jump point while the engineers work on repairs. My crew will work on getting the Leopard and Mule operational, along with a couple of fighters for protection. If Captain Bosch and his chief engineer will stay behind, we can formalize a plan of action."
Getting a nod from the Captain, the meeting breaks up. I hang around in the background and try to stay out of the way. I listen in to try and learn what I can, but a lot of it involves knowledge I do not have. I do however learn that it will take several days to reach the jumpship. Oh joy! More time in cramped quarters and boredom to look forward to.
I spend the following days slowly getting to know the marines and aerospace pilots. I was unable to spend much time with the soon to be 'Styx' Captain as she was busy working with her new crew.
Arriving at the location I get my first glimpse of the ships; they look small from here but it is hard to judge distance and perspective in space. I still have at least a day or more to wait until I can board my new home, as the recovery crew needs time to inspect and prepare for their operation.
I join Commander Metcalf, my father, a pilot from the recovery team and our marines on the landing craft. We will be docking in the only open small craft bay on the ships. This happens to be within the Behemoth which is why we have limited the personnel on this trip. The plan is to make our way through the Behemoth to the Tramp and then secure the Behemoth behind us.
Arriving in the designated small craft bay we exit the landing craft and wait for my father to input his code and DNA sample to unseal the interior door. Apparently, the Behemoth was modified for extreme security measures due to its intended cargo. It took quite some time to make it to the Tramp due to all the security check points we had to pass.
With the Behemoth once again secure, we leave a marine to guard the door before making our way to the small craft bays. Commander Metcalf and a marine separate from us at the small craft bays to see if either of the Battle Taxis are usable at the moment. The rest off us continue to the bridge so the recovery pilot can do his thing. It is a good thing my father was in charge of the mission for these ships. I hate to imagine the work involved in trying to bypass all the security without his codes and DNA, not to mention his ability to add people to the security list.
Several hours later and the coupling is complete and both Battle Taxis check out according to the Commander. The jumpship is low on fuel and reaction mass after more than twenty years of station keeping and adjustments which were performed by my father during his visits.
Running low on oxygen we board the Battle Taxi in bay 1 to return to the Pusher. Father will swap out his oxygen supply and return with marines and repair crews to provide access and observe their work. I have learned that everything in space takes longer than I expected due to the extreme caution and care that is required. While I find it frustrating, I am sure I will learn to live with it, that or die of stupidity.
I have just learned we will be here for several days while they repair the KF drive. According to the engineers and techs it will be easier to work in Zero-G rather than while under thrust via Pusher. Our dropship crew has been going over the Mule 'Styx' now that the jumpship is safe to inhabit without a space suit.
I have been working with father to learn the security system as we make our way around to input my clearance and codes. Father has also setup access for the marines to enter the Behemoth but only to the cargo bay that was being used by the former marine contingent. The Marines seem happy with their new Star League marine kit with Mauser 960 laser rifles.
Using some of the crew from the Styx I arrange to move the units already in the Leopard 'Scythe' to the Behemoth 'Vault'. This along with the marines new kit has started the rumors of LosTech. While this is not unexpected we had hoped to delay this a lot longer. Forgetting about the need to move the unknown units out of the Scythe was an oversight on our part. Having moved a Wolverine 6R, Griffin 1N, Thunderbolt 5S and a pair of Stingray F90's to the Scythe, she is now ready to go.
During my free time I have been going over the inventory and conferring with my father to confirm what he has removed over the years.
There is just shy of six hundred inner sphere mechs massing 35,500 tons, two hundred and sixty-five clan mechs massing 12,650 tons. I have not counted the number of vehicles yet but the manifest has them at 20,250 tons for inner sphere and 3,100 tons for clan. VTOLs weigh in at 425 tons unclassified at this time. Next, we have the aerospace fighters coming in at 3,960 tons inner sphere and 1,560 tons clan. Last but not least is approximately 500 tons of mixed battle armor types. With the Behemoth holding just under 75,000 tons, the Mule holding just over 8,000 tons The Tramp holding 2800 tons, the only available space is the 5,350 tons from the mechs and vehicles removed and sold by my father over the years. The unaccounted for above 1,000 tons is taken up by spares and supplies for the various ships which I need to keep, well except for the food which needs to be replaced. Man, they really stuffed these ships to the gills. I guess it would make sense since they were one jump from unloading.
With the repairs completed I can now look forward to over a week of light gravity while we are slowly pushed to the jump point. . In an effort to keep the rumors under control my father made a brief statement to the effect that there would be a meeting to discuss the contents of the dropships and our plans for the future when everyone still on planet has joined us on board at the jump point.