Battletech [Battletech/Planetary Annihilation SI] Iron Blooded Commander

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
I'm pretty impressed with how this story has gone. Honestly, I was quietly hoping you would bring it to an end after the fight with Theodore Kurita, because I didn't feel there was any good way to maintain tension now that the Cameron name was out and Vicki had let everybody see the constructor. But you've managed to bring all the tension and events back in just a couple of chapters and take it in a new direction that still flows naturally from the original storyline.
 

Seras

Well-known member
I'm pretty impressed with how this story has gone. Honestly, I was quietly hoping you would bring it to an end after the fight with Theodore Kurita, because I didn't feel there was any good way to maintain tension now that the Cameron name was out and Vicki had let everybody see the constructor. But you've managed to bring all the tension and events back in just a couple of chapters and take it in a new direction that still flows naturally from the original storyline.
Thank you. That's actually really nice to hear.
 

LordSunhawk

Das BOOT (literally)
Owner
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I will say that I am looking forward to seeing what happens when Vicky finds out about this.

A few predictions.

It will be a Vicky plan, with a terrible name.

And her wrath will be terrible, because Gauge has been with her from day one, and now Comstar killed him.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
Why does everybody think Gauge is dead? Perfectly plausible the Comguard have him prisoner and are trying to extract Vicky's secrets from his brain. The description didn't mention any blood or pain from a bullet, just a bang. Granted Standard Issue Tornado armor comes with an auto-rifle but it has a modular mount for swapping weapons and why wouldn't security guards have a stun weapon available for subduing drunk and unruly Acolytes?
 

Seras

Well-known member
Why does everybody think Gauge is dead? Perfectly plausible the Comguard have him prisoner and are trying to extract Vicky's secrets from his brain. The description didn't mention any blood or pain from a bullet, just a bang. Granted Standard Issue Tornado armor comes with an auto-rifle but it has a modular mount for swapping weapons and why wouldn't security guards have a stun weapon available for subduing drunk and unruly Acolytes?
I confirmed on the Spacebattles thread that Gauge did in fact get killed here. I wanted to openly say it because his death is just so much stronger of an act than if he somehow survived, and I was waffling a bit on it. I like Gauge. He is a fun character. Him dying sucks. but it just works so much better.

Here is the Quote from the SB thread.

Bit of behind the scenes here.

Originally Gauge wasn't going to die here. Back when I came up with the idea around chapter 11-ish. But things change, my story especially. Gauge 'dying' here was something I sort of wrote out without really planning. The scene just... It fit. Too well. When I finished writing, I had to stand there for a minute and consider. "Am I really killing Gauge?" And then I have to consider. What is best for the story? As a Storyteller. Having him die is SOOOO much more powerful. I mean this isn't GRRMartin kill off half the cast because wow factor.

This is a character finishing their arc by doing what they believe in, despite knowing that it will be there end. To make a sacrifice, the final sacrifice, in the belief it is the only way to truly fix the world. It ties into Vickys constant. "We can make a path that others follow!" Thing she keeps saying. Gauge is in essence, the first of the ISDF. Vickys first disciple in her belief they can make the Inner Sphere better.

There isn't a man behind the curtain, not a robot version, or a clone. No alternate universe stuff, or having him show up in a few years as a cyborg, or been hidden away to survive it all. So yeah. Gauge died.
 
Chapter 26.1

Seras

Well-known member
Chapter 26.1 Operation Shiroyama interrupt: Side 2

3029

Green Base


“Blake out.”


It was the worst possible thing. Gauge, in the middle of ComStars HQ doing this?


Gauge doing something so monumentally boneheadedly stupid! The amount of danger he was in now… God they could just ki- No. He had to be alive. They wouldn’t kill him surely. Interrogation, investigations. They would want answers… I was on a time limit.


He had to be alive.


He had to be.


Our HPG had picked up a signal, a master SLDF signal meant to override anyones attempts to stop it from taking the message and passing it on. My little Mobile HPG had the same codes. So it picked up the message and sent it off, and caused a bunch of alarms in Greenbase at the same time.


“Commander?” Marcus asked, quietly. He was looking for answers. “What were we going to do? What can we do?”


What should we do?


I exhaled. My hands were shaking. The command room was quiet, as everyone that had been doing their job were no longer focusing on anything but me.


There was only one option here. I had to move. Fast. Faster than anyone expects. If I was to save Gauge.


“Get…” My voice failed me for a second. I swallowed my dry mouth. “Get everyone ready. We are going to Terra. We will pick up some crew if we can when we hit Saffel.” I said calmly, my voice firm. Cold. No jokes. This was me at my most serious.


Marcus Interrupted. “Commander. You want to pull everyone? Why not leave some of the non-coms here?”


“Green Base without proper staffing is just a massive target. I’m taking our gunnery officers. Gonna need them. So we can’t leave people here without protection. They all need to come. I’ll… I’ll figure it out.”


“Hey.” Marcus was there grabbing me, stopping me from rushing ahead. “Slow down.” He speaks softly just for us. “Come up with a plan. Run it by everyone, we all want to save Gauge, so let’s do this right.” I opened my mouth, to argue? To agree? Honestly even I wasn’t sure. So instead I jerked out a nod. Marcus let me go, allowed me to move, and so action was what I needed to do.


Gauge’s life was on the line. I turned from the comm station on the bridge of Green Base grabbing one of the message phones and putting in my key so my voice would be heard throughout the base.


“Gauge is in danger on Terra. I am going there to save him. As of this moment that is our only concern. Move our hostages into a room close to the hangars. If they cause any trouble, shoot them. They are no longer Important. Prepare for full mobilization. Green Base is disappearing, so don’t leave anything behind. Hangar 1 will be our meeting point.”


With that I walked out of the room, grabbing my noteputer, to begin queuing up the system. Terra… That was a tough nut to crack. This wouldn’t be easy. Unless I went at them sideways.


I liked sideways… Yeah that could work.


I rushed to my hangar, I would need the Neurohelm chair to modify the construction to work this out safely.


“Commander!” The voice stalled me, as I turned.


“William.” I acknowledge the man had obviously started running not long after my message, he took a moment to catch his breath.


“Commander, what is going on? Who is Gauge?”


I opened my mouth to speak, only for nothing to come out. How could I explain this? How could I explain who Gauge was to us? To me?


Nothing came out of my mouth when I tried.


I shook my head. Not the time Vicky. Not the time.


“Don’t worry about that… William, we will give you a jump out to Lockdale. So you should prepare your men… Also, I need you to take the Kuritans. I won’t have time to deal with them safely… And some of my people as well. I have non-combatants I can’t take with, not to Terra.”


He instantly shook his head. “Hell no. If you are going to Terra… Obviously looking for a fight, you need us. You need your Blackwatch. We aren’t going anywhere without you.” He said his voice firm.


“I don’t need…” I cut myself off. Stop. Breath. Think. This could get messy. I needed fighters, and while HomeGuard were good. I could use more fighters. I would already be low. “Okay. Just your fighters. And any of your dropships crew that can help me out. But we need a balance. I still need someone to move the prisoners out of here, someone I can trust.”


“As you need. We do.” He answered simply. “Leave it to me.”


I swallowed, giving the man a nod as I turned and hurried along. I had work to do.


The hangar was empty as it usually was and I settled into a seat. Pulling up the Noteputer, the schematics. I already knew what I would need to do. No restraint. No holding back. No hiding.


Never again.


I winced as my work through the nanoforge over and over came back with errors, and issues.


The Noteputer didn’t like what I was doing. Modifying, altering, creating. It went against what the Noteputer wanted. But it was possible… Mostly.


Plus, I was angry enough. Focused enough to keep hammering my head against it until it did what I wanted. It was messy. It would break. It wouldn’t last. It was expensive. And I didn’t care about any of that.


Eventually my head won.


—--


“So that’s my idea.” I offer my group. I laid out my idea in front of my staff. This wasn’t a plan I could pull off with just gumption and audacity. This was serious. If I fucked this up, I killed anyone coming with me.


“It’s insane. I love it.” Marcus offered with a grin. “But I have no idea if it’s possible. What do you think?” He turned towards Kim. Who had previously been one of our Dropship officers. She had been one of the kids taken on Ko, she had basically retired to Green base to stay away from the war.


I felt bad about dragging her into this, but she hadn’t hesitated. To rescue Gauge, she set aside her fears, her hesitation.


She shook her head. “Way outside my expertise Commander… I can, I can look through the training manuals? See what they say about what you are asking, but honestly? This is the sort of thing no one has ever done before. I mean… Marcus said it. It’s insane.” She offered looking over the Holovid display of the Warship I had slowly being built outside Green Base. The Tharkad Warship would be needed to survive traveling through Terra’s system.


Terra did have protections. But hopefully with a sensor, a Tharkad, and audacity we could avoid most of it.


“Okay. Do that. I want your best estimates of our survival. If it’s too low, we will toss this plan for a different one. If nothing else, a Warship raiding the system will cause ComStar plenty of problems.”


“Will do.” Kim offered, already reaching to grab a noteputer to start up her task.


“Marcus, anything you can point out?”


“Well if it can work. You don’t have any of your Metal extractors in the system right? You will run out of supplies long before ComStar does.”


“Point.” I agreed, frowning as I considered it. How could I fix that? I needed metal Extractors in the Terra solar system, but if I stopped, to try and put them down? Dead. This idea wouldn’t work without supplies.


“I need a few people who can fly dropships, I’ll make two Leopards. They can break off as soon as we hit the system, and create some extractors.” I offer, earning a hesitant shrug from Marcus.


“Could work. But they could end up shot down… We should send them in after we hit. We can hire a Jumpship at Saffel.” He offered.


“That’s better... Ask around for volunteers. No pressure on anyone, volunteer only. And I mean it this time. Tell them it will be dangerous.”


“Commander. That isn’t going to stop anyone, but I’ll make sure everyone understands the dangers.”


“Good… Then until Kim gets back to us. I want everyone getting ready to crew the new Warship. Remember don’t leave any personal effects behind. We will drop that stuff off with the Non-combatants.”


“We could wait.” William piped up. I felt my hands clench at his words. “This is a… Dangerous idea. If you can create warships though. Why not go to the Commonwealth, or the Fed-Suns. They would happily crew a few warships to take Terra, especially with what is happening.”


“If we do that, Gauge might be de-.. It might be too late before they are ready.” I answer. I had to get him out of there fast. I couldn’t even imagine all the horrible things they are doing to him right now… That they might be killin-


I shook that thought away. “No. I'm going now. Alone if I have to.” I answered simply, and that earned a frown from William but he nodded.


“Where you go we follow.”


Well I couldn’t help but think. At least one good thing came out of this Cameron Nonsense. A few more Mechwarriors was just what I needed right now.


—--


“Welcome aboard. Remember your instructions.” I ordered the group gathered together in a large conference. Every person on board right now. On board my new weapon.


The ISDF’s Second Tharkad Warship.


Of course just like the stick I felt like I was back to square one. Barely anyone knew how to fly this stupid piece of shit.


But that was fine. We only needed to get it around. We should avoid any real fights. Until it was too late.


ComStar! I felt my teeth clench. “Get to it! If you have issues, do your best. Prepare to travel to jump point.”


“YES COMMANDER!”


I don’t know what Marcus had told them. But none of my kids had joked or messed around even once since I had issued the order. A stream of competence and seriousness I was thankful for.


The Highlanders were also doing a good job of helping out however they could.


We barely had enough crew, but it would have to do. It would have to do.


Eventually, thanks to recruiting a bunch of the dropships personnel from the Highlanders, and my own kids that were interested in space flight we had a crew.


God this was going to end in disaster.


Thank God that was part of the plan though. Now it was just about making sure it was a disaster for ComStar and not us.


I looked out the window on the bridge and watched the Colossus dropship that was now the property of the Highlanders flare ahead of us. Aboard were the non-coms of the ISDF, as well as Mike and his film crew.


Hope they were watching, because as I hit a button on the Noteputer as the Warship got underway, Greenbase began glowing.


More and more of the Nanoforges activating all with one job.


As we burned towards the jump point Green Base slowly disappeared. Leaving the system as empty as it had been before we arrived.


—--


Our emergence into Saffel was met with confusion and panic. Ships immediately panicking, dropships doing their best to avoid us by turning right around. And Jumpship captains immediately offering a surrender.


It was always a hoot traveling around in a Warship.


Too bad I wasn’t in the mood to enjoy the chaos.


It took only a second for the Sensor to get a good idea of the system, but to my surprise it was a mess. Dropships and Jumpships idling around, and seemingly lost about what to do.


“Captain, any idea what is going on?” I asked, trying to make sense of it all.


“None Commander. Marcus, access comms reach out to the nearest Jumpship. Ask what’s going on.”


“Roger that Captain.” Marcus called out. Everyone had a duty on board, Even William and the Highlanders… Blackwatch. Whatever, they could call themselves whatever they wanted.


We had them operating some of the subsystems. Until this was all done, everyone on this crew would be greener than shit. Luckily this is my second time being on board a completely new Tharkad with a Green Crew.


So I at least knew most of the fixes for stuff. Or how to guide people through things. I had learned over the months of floating around as an asteroid.


“Captain! Commander! The HPG is down! That’s why everyone is freaking out! No one can get any messages through.”


“The hell? Why is the HPG down… Oh.” I uttered. I had been a little hyper focused over the last day.


I forgot that it wasn’t just Gauge on Terra, but the entire Inner Sphere that was dealing with the reveal of what ComStar had done, and was still doing.


“Captain! We got a message from the Saffel Defensive force. Their Colonel is demanding an explanation for our business… Mostly in curse words. Message lag… Three minutes.”


“Tell him we are passing through to deal with ComStar bullshit.” I answer and then hesitate. “Ask for an update on their HPG, tell him directly we might be able to help if we know what’s going on.”


Marcus didn’t hesitate. Turning back to his comm station.


“Commander. The plan? We should send off the Leopards now.”


“Right. Get our Volunteers undocked. Once Marcus is done, we will find a jumpship to take them.”


“Commander! Apparently ComStar enacted an interdiction across the entire Inner Sphere! The HPG was disabled, and they have no idea what to do with it. Not all of ComStar were on board with it though. Some of the Acolytes and adepts left the Terminal and spread the word of what is going on. So the Governor is trying to get it back up and running. But the parts are missing.”


I bit my lip. Time, time, time. Every minute was another minute Gauge needed to endure.


“Tell them… Tell them we have a Mobile HPG we can give them for now, hopefully not all of the HPG terminals followed through with a Sphere wide Interdiction. They just need to come collect it, we don’t have time for a delivery.”


I waited a few minutes as things happened all around us before Marcus got back.


“The Colonel is sending a dropship that’s close by to come and get it. He wants to add, If there is anything the AFFS can do to help against ComStar we only need to ask.”


“Tell him… If he has any mechwarriors, or dropship crew willing to go on a suicide mission to Terra that we are low on staff at the moment.” I tell him quietly. More people meant more lives at risk for my crazy plan. But we could use more people.


I waited a few minutes in quiet as Marcus answered a few questions over the comm before he once more turned to me.


“Colonel Brakker says… Volunteers will be joining us shortly. As long as we can provide hardware.”


“Tell him. Who the hell does he think we are?” Then I stilled the smile of amusement on my face disappearing in a flash. “Tell him we have mechs and equipment, we just need men. And remind him, that we weren’t joking about the potential suicide mission.”


“Roger that Commander.” Marcus offered, turning back to his Comm. While I noticed the whole crew had turned to stare at me. Their looks were… Gentle.


“What are you all looking at.” I grumbled, earning at least the hint of smiles from some of them. My hands were shaking again. Dammit.


—--


A dropship came and docked with us in just under an hour, picking up the Mobile HPG I had created in one of the ship's hangars that had been replaced with Nanoforge hangars. We didn’t have any ASF support. So better to fill them with Nanoforges, and be able to create anything I needed on the fly.


In fact one of the hardest modifications to the warship was a Mech style Neurohelm interface on the bridge. Basically I had access to all the nanoforges from a seat on the bridge where I could que up orders, and build as I would need.


Honestly? It was a mess, and half the time I was crossing my fingers that it would even connect, but it worked well enough for now.


I would just have to see how well it works after we take damage.


The Dropship captain, a merchant of some sort that had taken on the job of transporting the HPG had looked ashen when it was loaded up. I don’t think I had ever seen someone load something into a dropship so carefully before.


There was one good thing about the HPG being out of order on Saffel, it meant ComStar had no idea we were coming.


Marcus handled a barrage of messages over the next few hours. As we waited for an Invader that had changed course to meet with us. Apparently the entire system wanted to know what was going on.


But I didn’t have time for explanations. Marcus found a jumpship captain that would stop by Terra, about forty-minutes after we jumped, that would drop off the Leopards. Although I had to pay them a pretty penny.


No one wanted to find out what Terra’s defenses would do.


Speaking of the defenses of Terra. It kind of pissed me off that Earth was this untouchable paradise planet. Earth. Our homeworld! It was basically off limits, to more than just 99% It would be like the 99.999999% would never touch Earth.


I shook my head. Once again I was drifting into thoughts that had nothing to do with rescuing Gauge. We were standing around one of the docking bays, floating around waiting for the AFFS crew that had agreed to head into hell with us to finish docking.


“You sure about this Commander?” William asked, his men having taken double duty to assist as security since everyone was so busy, and the Blackwatch Mechwarriors, had the least experience.


I would have to get them a copy of the Memory core and put them through basic ISDF style.


“As sure as anything.” I tell him. As the connections turned green and they opened.


“Permission to board?”


“Permission granted.” I called up the docking bay and then men began floating in. The first was an AFFS Colonel, by the uniform, although the lack of spurs, and the rank pips told me he was a Air Colonel. ASF pilot? Or maybe just a Dropship Captain?


“Colonel Hiller, A pleasure to meet you Commander Eisen-Blume. I’ve heard a lot about you.”


“Thank you, Colonel. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well… Thank you for joining us. This won’t be an easy mission.”


“I heard. Assaulting Terra itself? Damn crazy plan that, but I like crazy.” He turned behind him to the men streaming through and each of them were smiling alongside him. “Crazy is in our name. Literally. Crazy Foxes. Or the 7th Saffel Guard if you want to be exact. But we prefer the name.”


“Nice to meet you.” I offered a little shocked at the introduction. I guess this is what you get out of defense forces. But it was fine. I would take it.


“Let’s get your men situated and we can fill you in on the plan, and get your men familiar with what we need them to do.”


“Of course. Lead the way Commander.”


—---


We spent a few hours familiarizing our new crew with their positions on a Warship. Most of them were taking over minor positions that allowed my kids more time to focus on the big things, although some of the actual dropship crew that joined were put on more important positions.


Of course I also had to explain to the new Colonel what the plan was. The look on his face as he took in what I said had gone from ashen to bright red as he paced and rubbed his beard as if what he was hearing was some horrible nightmare and not a military plan that he was now a part of.


“It’s insane.”


“Yeah.” I agree simply without an inch of give. “If you want out, now is the time we are leaving shortly.” I tell him simply with my eye locked to his. “We are going to Terra. I have one of my kids there, and he is in trouble. If ComStar refuses to play nice. Then I will have no mercy for them.”


“You are talking about… I can’t even imagine it! It’s a waste! It’s horrid! Hell, I don’t even know if it’s possible! Much less… Commander you yourself said that you barely have crew with the know how to fly this monster! What is the point of a Warship if you can’t even maneuver!?”


“We believe it will work. And I will be pulling out every trick and play that I have to ensure that. Again Colonel. We don’t have any further time to waste. Are you in? Or should I call for your Dropship to come back?” I ask directly and that stills him he grimaces.


“The ISDF is an ally of the AFFS. I agreed to help. I’m no liar. Do not slight my honor, or courage.”


“I don’t. Truly.” I offer although I was struggling to hit the consoling tone that would have came so easy to me only yesterday. “I warned that this is a suicide mission. Not because I believe we will all die, I will not allow that. But in war the enemy gets an opinion as well.”


“Aye, that they do. I’m in Commander. My men as well. We all agreed after hearing it was a suicide mission, damned if just hearing the details will change our mind. Besides… What ComStar did? The AFFS must respond. We have to take some part in this. The First Prince would agree.”


“Very well.” I agree. “Send a message to all hands to prepare for Jump. Inform the Captain we are ready.” I stood leaving the room. I would need to be on the bridge when we hit Sol.


My hands clenched unconsciously, in and out. Gauge. Be safe.


I took a breath and stilled for a moment outside the bridge. I needed to be calm. Clear. I had discovered that I liked war. I liked battle. That I had changed in this life. But where I had allowed myself to get caught up in the fun of it during the Green Base attack, here? Here I would show only my Iron.


I stepped onto the bridge to see a riot of movement as everyone prepared for action once we jumped. Kim sat in her chair running through calculations from a printed out manual compared to her displays.


I say nothing, giving a nod to those who noticed me, earning a smile and a return to work double time.


And then I sat in my chair. A neurohelm coming down. And the system started up showing all the Hangars full of Nanoforges showing as green. That many of the outer rooms on the hull had a Nanoforge within. That our holds that were usually full of ammunition and other supplies, were instead full of metal processed out to give as much resource in my storage as I could fit.


It was time.


The Colossus that carried our non-coms, and our personal effects undocked. And as we watched it race towards the surface of Saffel.


The Warship activated its jump drive. I had a moment of odd noises as if I could hear ancient words. Spoken so long ago that they had been lost to the ages. That I blinked and we were in Sol.


And then. Slowly as if a waking monster. The alert of our appearance spread.


Even as our engines engaged. I could practically see the spit takes across the charge station that we appeared next to. It took a while. As obviously whoever was in charge on the stations woke up their boss. And then that person probably ran for their boss.


I waited for a while. For the station to reach out. I knew they would. I was wondering how many men got pulled out of bed or dragged out of some leisure activity before they found someone that actually decided to take action.


“Commander! Response from the Recharge station Brandenburg! They are demanding immediate halt of entry into System, and identification.”


“Send the prepared packet.” I answer simply.


Captain Kim didn’t even wait a moment after I spoke to add her own order. “Do not stop, continue on course.”


We shared a look. Before we had jumped Kim had asked me about engagement, how we were going to handle this. The orders were simple enough.


They either agree to releasing Gauge to us. Or our Mission continues.


I had a feeling that ComStar wouldn’t agree to hand him over. Not without realizing just what sort of situation they were now in.


Nine days. It would take Nine days of travel for us to reach Terra.


Well… Perhaps not.


I grimaced. Everything about this depended on ComStar. We would be hearing from the First Circuit soon I bet. My hand gripped my chair.


“Commander! Something interesting on scopes. We have confirmation of a foreign Warship! It is currently hidden in a station at Titan. From what I can see, it’s undergoing maintenance!” Mara called out. She was currently doing the initial Sensor sweeps, since we didn’t have much need of a fire control officer… For now.


“Fuck.” I turned as Colonel Hiller spoke. He was looking at Mara in shock. Honestly. I wasn’t sure if it had to do with the sensor, that we could see as far as Titan, or that there was more Warships in the Inner Sphere.


It didn’t matter.


“Continue the sweep Lieutenant, once you are finished, keep an eye on the Warship.”


“Yes Commander!”


“Marcus. Any response from the Recharge station after our packet?”


“Negative Commander! They cut our connection once the file was sent. Although I can tell you they are definitely sending comms to Terra.”


“Alright keep me apprised.”


I breathed out as the Warship blasted off into the darkness of space. The complex equations needed to hit a moving planet, with a moving spaceship even more difficult considering our current plan.


I could only pray that ComStar would see reason.


Just give him back.


—--


Far distant from the Warship. A signal was received by an old station. An intelligence older than anyone alive registered the order to destroy. Yet before it could begin another signal was received. Normally such a thing would have simply been ignored. It may be intelligent, but only for its own duties.


But a red flag had erupted, as soon as the file was received. An old search algorithm had discovered what it had been looking for.


It was checked. Recorded, and given a full sweep by the intelligence, before confirming. A report from the First Circuit of ComStar. The current protectors of its Ward. A meeting where they ran a blood screen through their systems, and confirmed.


Within that file was the original data. A confirmation. A discovery that the intelligence had waited centuries for.


It compared the order from the First Circuit to the new knowledge and immediately disregarded it.


Order 1. Hidden deep within its base code. A simple logic circuit. A simple law.


Do no harm to the Cameron.


And so the SDS station, kept in modest repair by ComStar, disregarded the message it had received. It shut down, awaiting the order from its Commander.
 
Last edited:

Goofus

New member
Oh...oh this has potential. North America might have had one when the ISDF initially jumped in, but now there probably will be a Cape of Ironblood where Hilton Head stood.

I am hoping for a Texas-class SLS Praetorian or even the Congress-class SLS Sybil Ludington, but I'll take anything that provides more metal to smack around the Robes.
 
Chapter 26.2

Seras

Well-known member
Chapter 26.2 Operation Shiroyama interrupt: Side 2

3029

Sol System


A different Perspective

Precentor Elrich

Saturn Defense Force.


“Precentor?”


“Ready all defenses. A Warship is on its way to Terra. We will stop it. Has the emergency signal been sent?” Elrich asked, normally something like this would cause the Terra HPG to send a message to Ross 248, to the secret fleet.


“We don’t know! Terra’s HPG was ordered to be locked down. The request was sent to Terra but we have received no response.” Elrich grit his teeth. It wasn’t his Comm officers fault that Terra was currently imploding.


It was the damned First Circuit. The Warship entered system almost twelve hours ago. Blared out a video on all lines that had been almost too fascinating not to look into.


It had caused more issues for his command, than the Warship itself.


A young woman. Come to rescue her friend. Willing to leave only if he was returned, but otherwise would head to Terra.


A young Acolyte revealing the depth of all the corruption at the heart of ComStar.


And then years upon years of secrets now open and free. Elrich had been forced to order the data locked down. It didn’t matter what horrors the First Circut had done. Right now they had a duty that could not be set aside no matter the reason. Protect Terra.


That was all that matters.


“Sir! Reports from Adept Ekel, The enemy Warship is in range of an ASF Strike requesting permission to launch.”


Elrich sighed. Rubbing his forehead. “Any response from Terra?”


“Nothing new sir.”


Of course. Elrich sighed. Destroy the Warship.


The only order that Terra had sent. Obviously someone had decided that complying with the release of Acolyte Blake was unconscionable.


Damn them.


“Tell Ekel that a fire mission is go. Go with Blake.”


“Roger! Fire mission is go! Flights confirm green for launch!”


The command room of the satellite around Saturn was quiet for a time. Likely many of those brave pilots would not return. Just for the foolishness of some arrogant fools.


“I want a direct line to Terra, if they refuse to pick up, keep calling.” He demanded his Comms officer nodded. Hurrying to do as ordered. They both knew that if this continued many would die.


Elrich stood. Waiting. If it was any other time, the Warship docked at Titan would be active and ready. But it was undergoing maintenance after an accident. Damn the First Circuit for not even having the balls to be prepared!


He hadn’t even been alerted to the broadcast that even now he found himself slowly drifting towards! If he had known he could have begun preparing defenses for an attack!


He sighed. At the same, he secretly created a copy to send to an old friend on Luna. He couldn’t believe some of the secrets the First Circuit had been keeping.


—--


A different perspective

Adept Martinez Ekel


Martinez didn’t care about why this was happening. A fucking Warship? Hell yes he wanted to go out and blow that bitch up. There were a few pilots, older guys now that went out from time to time that had the very unique honor of having a battleship printed out on their helmet.


Martinez would be joining them today. Or die trying. He grinned, as an ASF pilot ‘or die trying’ tended to be a common refrain.


But he could do this, he had a lostech bird, all the defenses of Terra behind him, and an oversized target. He could do it.


“ETA until intercept?” He called out over his comms. He already had his own time, but as the Flight leader he still needed to make sure everyone else was on point. The short variance in times he got back was about what he expected, but everyone had it right.


Good. This was going to be one dangerous whale to take out. She would be shooting back through the run.


“Flight leader. We are being pinged by the Warship… I think she is sending us a transmission… Confirmed packet is a video message. ETA one minute until full signal coherence.”


“Interesting. Let me know when the message is complete.”


“Roger!”


Martinez kept his focus as he continued the calculations needed to ensure a clean pass by of the Warship. He could do it in his sleep, but it was always good to recheck the calcs. Last thing he wanted was to end up missing his target.


Not this time! He would take out this Warship! Make his name known across the Inner Sphere!


“Flight Leader. Transmission is complete.”


“Alright let me see what the Captain of that behemoth wants.” He accepted the file transfer from his wingman and began playing the message. Only to flinch as it opened with a direct view of a very angry face.


“Gauge Blake is on earth. I am here to collect him and leave. I want to do that peacefully, but I see you have decided force. Turn around Pilot. Save your men, and your life. Because if you continue on this course. You will die. I will have no mercy for any man that stands between me and my brothers rescue. Eisen-Blume out.”


The message simply ended. Martinez took a moment to huff out a laugh. How stupid. These Spherians think they can just come to Terra and throw their weight around?


“Alright everyone. These hicks think they are the big kid on the block. Let's teach them the power of ASF Pilots!”


“Roger!”


“You got it!”


He chuckled sending back message of his own, demanding they power down and prepare to be boarded. He had no intention of actually boarding them, but it was the correct thing to do. If they did power down, well. That just meant they would be even easier targets.


—---


“Commander. The ASF squadron sent a refusal. I won’t bother bringing up what they want.”


“Alright. Do we have their flight path?”


“Yes Commander.”


“Then swat them.”


—--


A different perspective

Adept Martinez Ekel


A few hours later Martinez was like all of his men starting to get bored. Flying straight in the blackness of space only to eventually intercept the enemy wasn’t exactly riveting.


“Any change on our quarry?”


“No Flight Leader, they haven’t changed course at all.”


“You would think they would at least try to avoid us. I mean really, what are th-”


—--


“Commander Confirmed destruction of four ASF by Gauss Slug.” Marcus called out with a whoop of delight. Really firing a weapon at this distance would normally be easy to avoid, but they were so far away I doubted they even noticed the firing plume that we sent out. Idiots. Just because a normal ship couldn’t calculate the coordinates of an intercept point this far away, didn’t mean the ISDF couldn’t.


You would think ComStar would know that by now.


“Good they will probably attempt to divert course. Keep harassing them.”


“Yes Commander!”


The game of cat and mouse continued.


—--


A different perspective

Adept Martinez Ekel


“Status!”


“Green! We lost red three and four.”


“Green We also lost Yellow one and two.”


“Green.”


“Green.”


“Damn bastards. Did anyone get eyes on what happened?”


“Flight Leader. I was close to Red three. It came out of nowhere whatever it was. And it was moving fast. It didn’t even register on my scopes before it hit.”


“It wasn’t an AC round. Moving too fast. Flight Leader. The Tharkad is equipped with Naval Gauss…”


“It fits the profile.” Another voice interrupted before Martinez took over.


“Alright! Comm silence. We are altering course. I don’t know how they scoped us, but I refuse to take any losses like this again. Everyone input new course. Every Flight should alter flight every thirty minutes until we intercept. Roger?”


“Roger!”


—---


“Commander ASF are diverting course… Evasive maneuvers. Their course will still intercept… Looks like two hours of additional flying. ETA five hours!”


“Continue firing at their assumed pathing. Lets try and take out a few more before they get too close. I’ll add additional launchers. Lets see how these ASF like the best of the SLDF.”


I say with a tight frown, as I pull my neurohelm back on my head. Burying myself into the ship. It wasn’t at all like a Mech. I wasn’t in control. Instead it was like I had a weird proprioception of having hands at different points of the ship.


The three Hangar bays on the ship had been completely converted, for quick adjustment. If I needed more weapons. Then I could convert them into quick fire weapon platforms.


Thankfully our appearance had done what I expected. ComStar was so focused on us, they had ignored the two Leopards that had flown out towards specific points I had ordered them to. The timing would be close. They would need to reach the metal nodes I had detected and lay down the Metal Extractor. Which would in essence give us infinite ammunition.


Until then I had my small storage, and a little trick. I had stored an absolute ton of metal on the ship in locations with a Nanoforge. Enough to fill the storage while building by extracting from the raw material.


So I had enough material for now for some adjustments. In two of the three hangars, a blazing green light appeared as from the open hangar new weapon emplacements were grown.


No holding back this time. No hiding. They wanted to pick a fight with me, then I would show them what it meant to fight a True Commander.


I was the only person on the ship that knew just how much this design was altered from the base. After all, the moment we had arrived. I had begun this Warship's permanent alteration into something else.


After all, a Warship had to be able to make Jumps. This ship no longer could. As her Jump drive had just been eaten away to provide more weight for weapons.


Normally I would laugh and call out taunts, probably make a Sidious reference to my fully functional Battle Station. But I wasn’t in the mood.


There wasn’t a hint of enjoyment in me right then. Only a furious coldness that promised that anyone who got in my way wouldn’t enjoy it.


Now I just had to wait. My Warship was changing, its insides adjusting to suit my plan. To hopefully keep us all from dying at the culmination of the insanity I had come up with.


Nanoforges all across the ship came alive. Normally a Nanoforge couldn’t affect its own platform. A bit of a weird quirk that I expected was a remnant of the Game. A repair mech couldn’t repair itself after all.


But the Warship was big enough that I could use different Nanoforges to alter a different section of the ship. Green light flooded over the ship as I continued to build up its weapons and armor all the while altering it for the plan.


I watched as the Metal storage, and the material stockpile began vanishing.


I just hoped the Leopards would be on time. Without them this would all fail.


—---


A different perspective

Adept Martinez Ekel


“The hell is that?” Martinez whispered to himself, as the Warship they were tracking was starting to come into visual range, but the massive green light it was emitting leaving a long trail behind it had Martinez completely confused.


“I want a scan, what is that Warship doing?” Martinez demanded, and his wingman went to work. His Royal Gotha had a better sensor package than his own Chippewa. Some random upgrade given to the ASF in the centuries since its production.


“Sensor can’t make out what it is at all, Flight Leader.” his Wingman offered back sounding just as confused.


What was it doing? Trying to scare them with lights, or something else?


“It doesn’t matter! We are here to stop this Warship for Terra! For Blake! We will not fail ComGuard!”


The surge of acceptance returned back to Martinez as he nodded. Good. He would do his best to be prepared for whatever trick the ISDF was thinking they could pull off, it wouldn’t be enough.


—-


As the intercept grew closer and closer our weapons began preparing. Gunnery officers grinning in delight at the brevy of munitions I had put at their fingertips including the ammunition resupply that meant they didn’t have to fear running out.


“Colonel Hiller. Are you ready?” I asked, the man had been looking dazed along with his crew as the full capability of what I could do was pushed right into their face. There was no going back I knew. And I had no regrets about unleashing everything.


I had decided a long time ago that the life of my kids, my friends, were more important than my own desires.


I knew there was no going back. No return to just Commander of the ISDF.


The Great Houses would never leave me alone now.


But to save Gauges life? To rescue my brother?


A worthy trade.


“Yes Commander! My men and I are ready… Give us the word and we will fire every gun you give us.”


“Good. Captain? I am turning over full command to you. Tell me what you need and it's yours.”


“Understood Commander. You heard the Commander! Get to your stations. I want weapons on target! Why am I not hearing our Gauss firing? They are close enough to be forced to divert their course to avoid it now! Fire! Fire Fire!” Kim yelled out instantly, getting everyone moving as they rushed to do as she said.


Slowly the lights of the ASF Approached. I continued to work on what I could to prepare surprises and weapons…


I wouldn’t make another mistake like Green Base again. These pilots were coming to kill my people. I would shoot their space scrap into space dust before I stop creating more weapons and firing.


The conversion was almost complete. But it was draining the ship drastically… I crossed my fingers and continued working.


I could see as suddenly Marcus jerked in his chair, looking to Kim but realizing she was busy he kept quiet and sent a small message to me directly.


I grimaced at what it told, but Marcus had been right. It would have to wait. Kim needed to focus on the fighters first.


“ASF fighters in intercept range! All hands! Begin combat operation!”


—--


A different perspective

Adept Martinez Ekel


“Something isn’t right.” Martinez couldn’t help but mutter as they finally slowed into an intercept course. It wouldn’t be a fast fly by unfortunately. They had been forced off course too many times, besides, the fighters knew they would need to put more than a single passes weapons on target to take out this beast.


Martinez really wished they had a nuclear weapon right now.


Unfortunately there hadn’t been any prepared for this operation. So they were moving with purely normal armaments.


“All fighters! Begin attack run!”


He squeezed his trigger letting loose his Chippewas LRMs first, his ER Large Lasers readying for when they were in perfect range. The ASF flight each had a target, weapons or sub systems. They had to take care of this beast.


His flights all began firing LRMs, or other long range weapons. PPC bursts, and Large Lasers pitting, and cutting into the armor of the Warship.


But it was the bombs that he knew would do the most. Each fighter released their bombs on a ballistic course. Once they hit. That Warship was going to be in bad shape.


Unfortunately a moment passed and a missile? He wasn’t sure what it was, but it had been shot out from one of the Warships hangars, and suddenly in a burst of spectacular red the LRMs all the ASF had fired were cut down.


He barely had a moment to curse when he realized the Warship was firing missiles back.


And they weren’t LRMs. His computer quickly updated him on what was racing towards him.


“Killer Whales incoming! Evasive Evasive!” He demanded as he saw the launchers fire, but it wasn’t just the launchers he had expected. The Tharkad had six Killer Whale launchers. It had been part of the ASFs attack calculations, that they would likely get at least two barrages from the weapons before the ASF could tear them down.


But it wasn’t six launchers! The Cargo bays were launching a barrage as well!


“Aim for the missiles!” Martinezcalled out as he tapped his thrusters, giving his Chippewa a bit of a kick to put him into a roll, her ER Large firing off not at the Warship, but into the firing angle of the missiles. He stuttered them, his ER Large causing a few eruptions as he used every second of skill he had accumulated in the cockpit.


Just a few more. They had to try and take out as many of the missiles as they could! Damn them! How many one off launchers had they put in the cargo bay! Bastards!


He grimaced as he noticed one of the Gotha go up in flames as a Killer Whale smashed into it, its evasive attempts for naught.


Just a few more! He grimaced the G’s of his forced adjustment of the nose of his Chippewa causing his eyes to darken as he forced the fighter well past the tolerance range.


And then as they cleared through the barrage with more losses than he would have ever dreamed of.


The Warship hadn’t stood idle after firing so many Killer Whales. Its main weapons had been firing putting massive NAC shells through ASF flight paths. Firing barrages of LRMs itself. Not counting the disco array of lasers… Not everything hit. In fact Martinez had a moment to almost laugh at how inaccurate some of the barrage was.


But it didn’t matter.


He felt himself go slack for a moment.


Not only did the six launchers on the front of the Warship fire again…


The barrage coming out of the hangar of the ship had just fired again!


“All flights! Abort! Full abort! Evasive now!” he ordered, already hammering his stick as hard as he could as his accelerator clanged, as he maxed it out.


If it was any missile but SLDF killer whales he might have had some hope. But it was too late. He and his flights. Friends, Rivals. Idiots he would normally see happy going up in flames were chased down by missiles that cared nothing for their skill. For the fact many of their ASF were Royal birds.


They were hunted down.


Despite the explosions that peppered the Warship, the massive wounds in its armor as it was struck again and again.


—--


“All ASF are in full retreat, or gone! No further enemy ordnance on target.” Kim called out after a few minutes. I was grimacing. The damage they had done was bad.


If it was anything other than this specific Warship. It would be in full retreat right now.


“Damage report!” Kim called out then, and we both frowned as the reports came in. If I hadn’t specifically reinforced the Warship for this plan that likely would have been enough to cripple it. More than a few bulkheads had been blown out and were venting atmosphere. It was only luck that we were so short staffed so no one was in them.


“Commander. Captain. Before the assault something important came up. Sending you the data now.” Marcus called out.


I watched as Kim frowned taking in the news. She turned to me.


“Repairs are underway.” I tell her firmly Letting the Captain ignore the problem. I grimaced, the front of the ship which is where most of the ASFs bombs had hit, had ripped chunks out of it, we were lucky that the bridge was so well protected…


I ignored it. The Nanoforges in the area had been wiped away. It would take some time to have the forges across the ship slowly push back into the damaged area… Or…


“I just need someone who can pilot an ASF.” I called out getting a nod as one of Colonel Hillers men nodded, and I directed him towards Bay 2. The former Small craft hangar had of course been repurposed as a fire platform, but it only took a few moments to consume a few of the Killer Whale Launchers and begin creating an NFX Stuka in their place.


Within twenty minutes it was launched from the bay and it was flying around us, the Nanoforge on the Stuka aimed as it began to repair the damage. It would speed up the process, ensure the front of our ship doesn’t fall off now that we were out of the environment…


Stop making jokes. I shook my head. This wasn’t the time for games. I refocused.


We should be alright. I doubt ComStar would know what we were doing. How could they?


The Inner Sphere still had no idea the Nanoforge existed. It was a completely out of context problem for them.


They could launch as many strikes as they wanted against the Warship. I would simply repair it after every one.


Although that only counted if we survived.


Then Kim called out, after her discussion with Marcus.


“Alright. So we have… Whatever those are. Jumping into the system. I want numbers. Can they catch up with us?” Kim demanded looking around as her bridge crew swiftly began checking.


“While they are doing that. I’m not getting any registry information.” I call out. “I have no idea what those are… Well other than Four Warships.” I grimace. They were. They had jumped into the system, and immediately began burning on an intercept course for us.


The problem is they had jumped into a pirate point. One I suppose ComStar kept secret. They were definitely moving faster than we were, but we did have a few advantages, one we were already accelerated and on our way.


The second was what we were planning.


“They won’t catch up until our retroburn.” The nav officer called out a few moments later much to the relief of our crew.


“Well that is good.” I mutter especially since that would tie into our surprise perfectly.


“Marcus get me a comm channel with them. Send them the package.”


“Understood Commander!” He called out his hands dancing along the comm console. The entire Bridge was relieved at that, despite the shock of the Warships appearance.


Although I still had no idea what they were. They weren’t in any of the SLDF records. So ComStar had been busy it seems.


“Repairs are estimated to take about three hours… If our resources hold out.” I add quietly to my report. My fingers crossed that the Leopards would get into position soon.


Otherwise we would be sitting ducks. Without our armor fully restored no way this plan worked.


—--


It was nine days from Jump point to Terra following standard times.


We were not following standard times. But even being chased by Four Warships that I had never seen before, receiving messages pretty consistently to disarm and shut down all weapons, didn’t change the fact that time was passing, slow as a snail.


With the Sensor we were capable of working in a skeleton of skeleton crews. Set the ship on its course and it didn’t matter much what ComStar was planning, they couldn’t do anything in any quick length of time.


Every time I went to bed, I was hardly able to sleep from the anxiety. The absolute insanity I had planned to reach Terra. Without even being sure I would have the resources for my plan to work.


It took two days of traveling mostly quietly after the first ASF response before the Leopards finally put themselves in position near some asteroids out in the blackness of space. Receiving their message that they were in position, that they hadn’t been blown away by ComStar security had been a load off my heart.


Inputting the construction order from half way across the solar system was a weird feeling. But it worked. Within minutes I could see the metal storage suddenly start increasing.


And that meant at least the plan had a hope. A chance of working. I sent them new coordinates. For more extractors, for when everything really hit off.


Instantly I finished the repairs that I hadn’t managed to complete with what we had left, and while that was working, I began building. The strongest defense would be right at the end. No chance ComStar didn’t try to send nukes to counter us, or at least every dropship that they had access to.


I expected the entire atmosphere of Terra to be filled with metal to stop me.


So I built. Almost out of a compulsive need. For days I worked on improving our chances. Building anything that I thought might be needed. All ready to punch us through to Terra proper.


And then. The moment came. The moment that I knew Terra would start really panicking. Where people would maybe potentially start realizing what absolute craziness I had come up with.


So I decided since it was close to the point of no return, that I would try one more time for diplomacy. God. If I could turn towards a jump point right now, and just never step foot on Terra, that would make me happiest. Especially with the whole Cameron thing.


So I made a call.


Marcus was the only other staff on the bridge when I went up to sit next to him. A message went out to Terra. A request for a conversation to end this.


“First Circuit. By now I am sure you understand the depth of my resolve. But this is unnecessary. Turn over Gauge, and I will leave never to return to Terra. Please. Think of how far this can go over one man.”


We waited, Marcus and I in quiet contemplation as the message was sent, and we both knew it could be hours before we heard a response.


So we waited still and quiet aboard a Warship that had a name, but that I prayed I would never have to tell anyone. For doing so would feel like an admittance to just how far I would go in this desperate gamble.


Even I had to admit what I was doing was foolish. This was the sort of thing that got people killed. A desperate rush towards an objective without proper planning. Even if I did think it would work. Even if the Nanoforge and my Sensor made this potentially possible. It was still a risk. A major one at that.


I was taking Homeguard into battle. Something that I had never meant to do. I was taking men and women that were on the backlines into a suicide mission to rescue a single man.


The longer the silence lasted the more I regretted all of this. Every inch of it. If I had just told Gauge more about ComStar. If I had convinced him not to go, to instead stay, to build the ISDF into what ComStar was meant to be.


To not leave.


But Marcus reminded me, with a hand on my shoulder jostling my armor a bit that I wasn’t alone.


He nodded. The two of us spoke without words. From knowing each other for our entire lives practically. Marcus, who had always been Bennys underling, who had played with us younger kids because Benny looked out for us.


He understood, and accepted. A single nod, without a word spoken, told me that he understood my fears. That I could practically taste blood from how I was worrying at my lip told me how he realized my fear.


But he said nothing. Needed to say nothing, because not a single member of the ISDF that I had informed of Gauges capture had hesitated a moment.


This wasn’t about me the Commander leading people that trusted me into a suicide mission. It was a group of people willing to be led into a suicide mission to rescue one of their own.


Gauge had taught nearly every member of the ISDF before he left. He was the one that taught us how to repair mechs. Every mechanic in the ISDF remembered his lessons. Every single one. Most of the lessons were recorded and played for young mechanics. Explaining complex repairs and how to fix them.


It wasn’t perfect. Even Gauge had admitted that, but it was what we needed when we first started. When Gauge was the only one that even knew how to take off a piece of Battlemech armor, much less fix a broken Fusion Engine.


Gauge who had guided the youngest of us in an education that put us on parity with any noble family, and some continued on to go beyond even them.


Gauge who had been the one many people went to when they had a problem. Because Benny was the older brother that no one wanted to admit to embarrassing idiotic acts, and Gauge would usually at least tell them how to clean up or fix their mess.


Gauge. Who was the first of the Iron Blooded. The First of the ISDF.


“Message received from Terra.” Marcus spoke simply.


“Play it.”


—---


A different perspective

Myndo Waterly


“It's a trick. She wants us to let down our defenses so she can strike.” She said simply at the gathered men of the First circuit. Well most of them. Huthrin the former Precentor New Avalon was gone.


He had disappeared in the night. Much to Myndos fury. The coward abandoned her at the moment where their leadership was most needed!


“Psych profile suggests that is unlikely. She is earnest. Almost improbably so. If we hand over the boy she would leave.” Nicholas offered with that smirk on his face as he looked right at her.


“Of course that is unlikely under the circumstances.” He added leaving no doubt what he meant.


“I refuse to cave to her demands regardless! This is Terra! ComStar are the caretakers of the cradle of Humanity! I will not be the one that allows a Warship to fly above our heads and rain hell onto Terra!” Myndo snapped a fist hitting the wood table with a thump.


No one seemed to care. She realized. Her First Circuit was melting down just as quickly as the rest of ComStar it seemed. Every riot they put down caused five more.


Already she had ordered the Comguard to pull back only to ComStar installations. Too many civilians firebombing ComStar equipment and personnel.


The personnel that were still around anyways. To Myndo’s horror more than a few of the ComGuards had actually had the audacity to turncoat. Joining the rioters. Protecting them against their compatriots. As if protecting rioters was anything but a betrayal of what it meant to be a ComGuard!


“Then Precentor Rom. What do you suggest?” She asked sharp as a Katana. The man had been seemingly loving the absolute destruction of everything he should have been desperately trying to protect.


“I will admit. I am interested in finding out what happens if we tell her the truth.” He offered, causing the rest of the First Circuit to choke at the idea.


“You want to taunt a woman with a Warship that is heading here that her objective, that she is seeking to recover is already dead?” Myndo couldn’t help but question, in shock at the Nicholas’s answer.


“I am curious which is stronger. Idealism, or vengeance. Considering the Warship will come regardless, I find the what ifs more interesting than the is.” He offered with a smile that had Myndo wonder if the man had gone utterly insane.


“No. Absolutely not. If our defenses in space fail, Gauge Blake being a hostage is the only thing that keeps the chance of her committing an orbital bombardment off the table.” Precentor Tharkad Ulthan Everson interrupted instantly. The man obviously cared more for his life than anything else right now.


“I agree.” Myndo said glaring, Nicholas simply shrugged, uncaring it seemed at her censure.


“Then I am afraid Myndo we have little that we can use to convince her. Victoria Eisen-Blume has already proven her commitment to her word, from her assault on Ko. If you recall?” Nicholas asked, with a certain emphasis that only made her anger hotter.


The Ko fiasco had been partially her plan. Of course almost no one knew that. It had been a solid plan at the time, to get the Lostech out of the hands of Lyran backers, and into the Combines. Considering the danger of the Fed-Com unification, it had been brilliant, only for it to fail horribly, and instead damage the Combine by completely destroying one of their regiments.


Nicholas must have discovered her hand in ensuring the former governor of Ko, Kagemuchi knew where to assault the ISDF dropship.


Damn ROM!


“Then we will have to prepare defenses on the ground and air. Put out a call to the Dropship centers. Get them into the sky to defend against the Warship!”


“Most of them fled already Myndo, most that remain no longer heed our commands. I am afraid many of the Dropship Captains that ran the Terra route are very upset about some of our choices regarding their union attempts, particularly why they keep failing.” Nicholas informed them with his ever present smirk.


“Then ready our ComGuard ASF pilots! We have thousands of them! If we send them up, there is no chance a Warship will survive.”


“Myndo. Most of the Airstrips have been taken over by rioters, it's more a full rebellion at this point. Even if we could get enough ASF into the air from Terra how many of those pilots have heard the Blake Broadcast? How many do you think will be loyal tomorrow? Or the day after?” Nicholas shook his head. “We already lost contact with one of the bases on Io. The last message we received was ‘We heed the Word of Blake’ I believe.”


Myndo felt her blood pressure skyrocket.


Was anyone around her not a traitor or incompetent!? How could this have happened, right as she finally found herself in charge of ComStar!? It was then she realized the rest of the First Circuit was far less concerned with the whole situation.


And she realized they hadn’t fought her taking power because they believed she should lead, or were too afraid of her.


No they were too afraid to be the one in charge when the shit hit the fan.


“Cowards. Every one of you. Look at you! ComStar is dying, and instead of standing and taking responsibility you all would rather put your feet up as everything around you burns? Wake up. They will hunt you down to the ends of the periphery and beyond! All of our necks are on the line today!”


“Yes Myndo. What exactly do you expect us to do? The entire Inner Sphere now knows our dirtiest secrets. All of us will be placed against a brick wall after a short but very pointed trial, and even our own people are actively trying to kill us.” Ulthan pointed out once more reminding Myndo of the many betrayals.


“I expect you to stand firm and act. We are ComStar. We are destined to lead the Inner Sphere!” She argued but it didn’t seem to have the effect she wanted. Most of the rest of the First Circuit seemed uninterested in her words.


“I believe this all leads us away from the reason for this meeting.” Nicholas reminds them, pointing towards the Holovid with the Commander's message.


“You are correct this time Nicholas. We need a response.” She said glaring at the rest of the First Circuit.


“We have only one option on the table. We either tell her Blake is dead, or we refuse to comply.” Ulthan spoke sounding bored.


Myndo frowned. She hated Dichotomous thinking. That they only had two options was wrong.


“If we say nothing, we gain nothing. We do not rule the Inner Sphere by playing to our enemies strengths… Very well. Let’s tell this Commander exactly what the cost of her actions is.” Myndo offered with a sinister grin.


If she was already here, ready to battle, then Myndo refused to back down. She would spit in this Cameron Commanders face, and see if she blinked.


—--


“Gauge Blake will be executed. If you wish to save him, you have only one choice. Complete Surrender. If you fire a single round at Terra. Blake will die. A gun will be held to his head until your surrender is accepted.”


I watched the message again quietly listening to the womans tone the way she looked half crazed. I sighed. I truly just wanted my friend back. I just wanted this nonsense to end.


“Send my request and her reply in a full ping across the entire system. Marcus add in one more thing for me. Record this please.”


I waited a moment before he nodded.


“This is Victoria Eisen-Blume. I have no intention of firing any weapons at Terra. But to the First Circuit? I am coming.”


I nodded. Ending the recording.


Damn them for forcing me to do this.


And damn me for being willing to do it.


I was silent for a long time. Watching space fly past. Long after the point of no return came and went. Despite the fact we didn’t slow down at the point we would normally need to to land safely.


I guess I had learned something from Theodore after all.


—--


I could tell the moment that ComStar realized something was wrong. That I wasn’t following the standard game plan. The four Warships were adjusting their course trying to find out what our course was. Normally we would have flipped around and started decelerating long ago.


We didn’t. Normally we would reach a point that would be easy for the enemy to catch up to.


We didn’t.


Normally people don’t come up with my insane fucking plan.


We did. The ComStar Warships accelerated even more when they realized we weren’t. Trying to catch up. But it was too late. They realized it, we knew it. That we weren’t slowing. Making no motion to do so. Well not entirely, we were activating some light retro thrusters but they were tiny ones. Just enough to help at the end. We weren’t accelerating anymore either, but that only half solved the problem.


Because when you started going real fast, slowing became an ordeal… especially when you didn’t want to splatter squishy humans across bulkheads. Which is the genius of my plan. Because slowing down is when you get attacked by ComStar. They had launched more ASF to try and hit us as we turned to slow down, the enemy Warships had thought the same, setting up a course that would have them meet us as we tried to slow down.


But we didn’t. I could practically feel the confusion in my enemies as we continued moving closer. Our course was set. The green fog of the Nanoforge is active hurriedly making the adjustments to the Warship.


I had practically covered it in weapons for when I expected ComStar to throw everything at us, but their actual attempts were almost anemic. The moon, and a few other satellites or bases, sent a force of ASF after us, but none really made any attempt to stop us. Almost like they were afraid of getting too close…


Oh right. We had murdered an entire squadron of ASF already.


What did they throw at us? Well like I said Anemic.


I jostled in my seat, as the shop rocked gently as the Quartet of PPC managed to hit home against our armor, but after that it went quiet. The last of the defenses on our path blown away with such overwhelming firepower that it forced Kim to adjust the engines to put us back on course.


I was forced to start breaking down some of the weapons after as our engines were struggling to keep us on course with how overweight we were. A few minutes of breaking down weapons and Kim sent me an okay that we were back on our course.


“Where are the rest of Terra’s defenses?” I couldn’t help but ask. ComStar controlled not just thousands of Pilots and ships, but Dropships, and satellites. We had just blown through some of the defense satellites, but they had barely reacted. Hell out of the three we were passing close enough to, only one actually fired. The other two were quiet. The fact nothing was seeming to be done about our approach was concerning.


“Captain! Commander! We are getting messages from Terra. A lot of them!”


I could see Marcus desperately trying to answer all the messages, since we were getting closer and closer the actual time from message to response was almost 1 to 1.


Kim was of course getting a little annoyed by the fact his console kept pinging over and over constantly as messages were received.


“What is going on?” I called out. Only for Marcus to finally have enough and pull his headset off.


“Apparently… Apparently Old Terran Governments are reaching out! We got a message from a multiple governments. I didn’t even know Terra had this many governments. I'm struggling here, but they want to know what our intentions are!”


“Connect them to me Marcus. All of them.” We were approaching earth at far too fucking fast. I didn’t have time for this!


The Holovid activated and I watched as more and more little heads were added in sharing space until I could barely see the twenty or so people I was on a call with.


But they could see me.


“This is Victoria Eisen-Blume. ISDF. We are here for a rescue mission to recover Gauge Blake. I am not here to attack Earth, but if anyone attacks us, I will respond with the full might of the ISDF.”


The voices all began talking interrupting and talking over each other into a heady mix of noise and voices.


I gave it a few moments, to see if any of them would actually shut up, but that didn’t happen. Too many voices talking at once. Leaders all wanting to be heard. Too much fear. I could hear ‘Warship’ practically every other word from all of them, along with another word I didn’t want to hear.


“Cameron.”


So I muted them.


“I am afraid, Terran Leaders, I am not asking. No one. And I mean, no one. Kidnaps, or holds my people hostage. Not the Combine’s Coordinator, or even the King of Merry Old England. This time, it is ComStar. I am heading to Hilton Head. Now. I will only say this once. So that there shall be no misunderstandings.”


“Get out of my way.”


I cut the comm message.


“Alright. Everyone Prepare for Operation!” I call out, since for some reason there weren’t any further Terran defenses coming up to attack us, it was time to prepare for the crescendo.


The entire Bridge crew got out of their seats to leave. Every one of them. We all floated for a moment in silence.


“If this fails. I am sorry. But thank you. For trusting me. For fighting beside me. For… For being my friends.” I tell them all in the quiet earning odd looks from Colonel Hillers men, but firm nods from the Highlanders, William looked proud for a moment from his position.


But for the ISDF. For my family. There wasn’t a dry eye in the bunch.


It was Kim who stopped me from saying any more. “The ISDF fights for what's right. That’s something you taught me Commander.”


Marcus spoke up next. “The ISDF takes on the tough tasks. Even if we have to take risks. If we never risk, nothing changes. And the ISDF refuses not to change the Inner Sphere for the better. You taught me that.”


Around the bridge. More words were offered. For once it wasn’t me giving the speech. But my people. My ISDF, my kids giving me a speech. I closed my eyes.


This was for Gauge. But also? It was for the Inner Sphere. The First Circuit had decided they wanted to be Tyrants. So I would act. The ISDF would act.


I had once told Katrina that I wanted to be a force for good. To be trusted by every side so that I could do more than just fight for territory.


I had thought I had failed. By joining against the Combine, I felt I had burned my own goal aside for the reality of life.


But failing wasn’t the end. Only giving up was the end.


So I failed. I had allowed myself to act in a way I hated. But I had done it. I wouldn’t ever say it was the right choice. The best choice. But it was mine. And here again. I would make a choice.


“ISDF! Here is an order from your Commander! Live! Not one of you has been given permission to die! Head out!”


“YES COMMANDER!” The entire bridge crew roared out startling the outsiders as they saluted and moved.


They would all be entering an escape pod, either in a mech, or without. I myself would be joining them once everything was completed. My Phantom was ready and waiting in an escape pod for me. But first?


It was time.


I sat back, and the effort I had been doing to modify the Warship began in earnest. As far as I know no one had ever thought to do something like this before. Not going this fast. Not with crew this green. And certainly not on Terra.


This was something new. Something impossible to expect.


As green light once more burst from the Warship covering it in a haze as more and more armor was added onto the ship in a second layer, a sort of egg around the weak insides. The entire thing took on a bullet shape. Dozens of feet thick armor creating itself from nothing. Growing around the ship.


On the exterior of the armor engines grew. Powerful ones, engines capable of shifting the mass up to more G’s than I really wanted to count. Each of them connected for a Fusion Engine to ensure they would have the power they need.


This is what had taken me so long to put together. Something new. The Noteputer hated new. It didn’t like me toying with it to create.


But I hadn’t given up. Would it work?


I don’t know. But I had done everything I could to try and make it so.


Inside the ship every hallway, every gap, was had been filled with more armor, or a foam to keep the ship from compressing itself during this stupid fucking plan.


God please let this work.


And so on the last approach to Terra, my Warship burst into such brilliant green light, leaving a trail of sparkling green fog behind us that it could be seen from ground. People watched a burning green light approaching closer and closer.


With no idea what it was.


“Operation Stardust Memory begins now. Hold on.” I inform the crew over the intercom, as I float out and rush to my escape pod. Kim and her pilots would be handling the maneuver from their escape pod which had been fitted with controls.


Slowly at least in the grand view of things, the ISDFS Tharkad class Warship, reached an angle that would allow it to hit the Terra’s Atmosphere. Normally going this fast, a ship would simply bounce off. Probably breaking into pieces in the process.


But we didn’t. At the first sign of turbulence, of our ship bouncing against the atmosphere the powerful engines ignited pushing us back against the atmosphere. And slowly, as the entire ship screamed at the forces pushed against it, as turbulence began building up to the point that most of us would probably black out, slowly. The Side 2 grinded itself into the atmosphere. Using the friction to slow down, grinding away feet of high grade battle armor in the process but losing speed at a ridiculous rate as we spun around earth.


And slowly the name of the Warship that I only added onto the bullet armor itself, a final touch. My only sign of my normal joking attitude, mostly because not naming a ship was bad luck, and we would need all the luck we could get.


Side 2.


For if you were going to drop onto earth to make a statement, there was no other name that had the same impact… Stop joking idiot. I cursed myself. Although after that I didn’t think of much else.


If not for the foam that I had made sure everyone would be encased in for the re-entry most of us probably would have been broken apart from the turbulence. Instead we simply were forced under incredible stress. The one thing none of us had been fully sure of was whether our armor or bodies would give out first.


All of us were praying to whatever God we worshiped that the ship would hold. That we wouldn’t all die in a blaze of fire over Terra.


—--


Everyone on earth could look up in to the sky. Watching as a fireball stretched across the sky. Slowing down as it circled the globe until finally, it had slowed enough that it wasn’t destroying itself through natural forces.


Yet when it finally breached the atmosphere, its performance wasn’t over. Finally having broken into the atmosphere, having slowed itself to an extent, it reacted. It broke apart. Splitting like a blooming flower. As the bullet-like armor fell away in four petals, the entire structure a deep rust red, from the heat, fire still streaking from the plates as they launched away from the ship within.


All across the world cameras had risen up. To watch something odd. Something strange. Now even more rose up. The sight of a Warship over Terra caused a horrified stillness across the population of everyone who saw it. Yet there was something awe inspiring about its reveal, The flower-like burst of fire and metal behind it appearing like a firework in the darkened sky.


Slowly, powerful engines littering the newly revealed warship burst to life. Not to fly, as the weight of the ship was too much for that, but it was enough to slow the fall of the Warship, and ensure it fell on target.


A small island off the coast of the Continental former United states.


Hilton Head.
 

xachariahxx

Well-known member
That was epic. Colony dropping is a time honored tradition, and of course the story is battletech, so problems must be solved with battlemechs.

Hmm, for some reason the-sietch didn't want to notify my that this story had updated here, so I randomly saw it on SB. I just want to say, Seras, don't worry about the math.

Battletech math doesn't make sense. Someone mentioned mathematically, the ship should be hitting fast enough that it's kenetic energy should raise the temperature of the planet by 3 degrees over the entire planet's atmosphere. Except that means if a dropship engine can impart 6 zetajoulles of energy in 4.5 days, then the dropship's energy output is 1.33 zetajoulle/day, which is just silly. The same dropship could cook a planet just by turning on the engines and idling.

Like, why is Tharkad even cold if a single spaceship with its drive engaged could raise the temperature of the planet in a month?

It's fine. The magical battletech fusion torch drives slowed things down enough to be servivable. BTech fusion torches drives can do anything. Like seriously, they don't make any sense, give a dropship a 40 day head start and it's engines can generate as much energy as a dyson sphere. IMO don't worry about it, Battletech is all about handwaving the hard sci-fi off so that mech battles can happen.
 
Chapter 27.1

Seras

Well-known member
Chapter 27.1 Operation Shiroyama interrupt: The One Day War.

3029

Terra


—--


Blurry. Everything was blurry. I realized I had passed out at some point. I gasped. Pulling off the oxygen mask as I looked around. My Nightstar NFX Phantom’s cockpit was still dark, full of re-entry foam to ensure that I didn’t literally bash myself into pieces.


Not that it stopped me from feeling like one entire bruise.


But I was alive.


“S-Status!” I gasped out, listening to the silence on the radio for a moment, before slowly, responses filtered in.


“We are in the atmosphere. O-On course…” Kim spoke up weakly.


I exhaled in relief. I can’t believe it. We had actually survived.


“E-eta five minutes until surface c-contact. Three minutes u-until drop pod release.”


“Good. Good… Everyone! I want every light on my dash to be green! I expect everyone to confirm they are alive and awake!” I yelled, hoping to awaken those that had passed out.


We had just committed an orbital insertion while going at a cruise speed.


The fact we all weren’t dead was the greatest joke in the fucking universe.


Slowly more and more tired, drowsy or concussed responses filtered in. Slowly we prepared for the next step.


This wasn’t even my final plan… I sighed at how stupid that sounded right in that moment.


I accessed the ships systems. Most of the Nanoforges were offline, and from what I could see from the reports, if we weren’t already planning on crashing this thing, it would be done regardless. Its spine was broken. If we weren’t already going forward, I am pretty sure the Warship would have broken in two.


So I did what I could to make sure it wouldn’t do just that. Hasty repairs using what Nanoforges I had left to basically glue the ship back together. Readying the ship for its final act.


—--



A different perspective

Maya Elliot


Maya had joined the rebellion. She had to. She had taken a copy of the Blake reveal, read through it to learn just what her ‘leaders’ were up to.


It had sickened her. Her family had been on Terra for as far back as anyone could remember. They weren’t important. The closest to Politics her family had ever reached was an aunt who became head of a school board.


Nothing ComStar had ever done had attacked her family. But reading about the people murdered. The knowledge lost.


To learn that the rest of the Inner Sphere had lost so much, and yet every time they worked on improving themselves ComStar ensured it didn’t happen…


Her Father had almost died from Cancer years ago. Only to be taken care of in a hospital. To know that the knowledge required had been lost to the rest of humanity? Not just lost, but that when they tried to re-create it the scientists had been murdered?


Maya swore never again.


So she had taken a stand. At first it had just been her fellow College students. Protesting at the Hilton head gates. But then, ComStar had deployed mechs.


So many dead. People she had known, friends and classmates.


She wasn’t protesting anymore.


Like many around her, she wore a scarf around her arm. The old Star League Flag. She wasn’t sure who had picked it for the sign of their rebellion, but it had stuck. So had the name.


SLDF.


A way of saying ComStar not only didn’t represent them, but they didn’t rule anymore either. Not anymore.


So they fought. Fire bombs. Assaults. ComGuard marching down streets shooting rioters. Hit by old industrial vehicles. Their weapons taken.


And the Rebellion spread. Communication was still open. ComStar couldn’t just shut down satellites or land lines. Those were under control of regional small governments even if they had been puppets until now.


But the people had spoken.


She looked over at Hilton head. They had been trying to attack it for days now. Slowly whittling away ComStars ability to defend themselves. Anything that left the base was attacked. People died, sure. But to many of the members this was ‘fun’ they were ‘play’ rebelling thinking they would succeed without injury and life would go on.


They were useful. If stupid.


“What the hell is that?”


The voice called out from their barrier of broken burned out vehicles they had placed across the road leading from Hilton head. The call alerted the entire group, as they looked into the sky.


A streaking red comet.


Maya grabbed her radio, not sure what she was supposed to do, or what she could do, but the words left her lips. “Look up.” She transmitted simply.


And so all across the area, men and women looked into the sky and stared.


The comet seemed to explode as it grew larger and larger.


Splitting into multiple pieces and exploding in fire. A flower exploded in the sky, bright and beautiful.


But then whatever it was, kept coming. Maya grabbed her binoculars, aiming in on the object. She could see engines activating, seeming to shift the… Whatever it was.


She had thought it must be a dropship at first. But as she watched, a realization of something filtered through her.


She had always wanted to fly. She had even considered joining ComStar at one point. Eventually she had decided she would join one of the merchant captains. So she had studied dropships.


That wasn’t a dropship.


It was too big. Far far far too big.


She swallowed as it kept blazing closer. A comet aimed right at them.


She could see it now. The ships engines were thrusting, trying to slow down, but there was no way.


And then green light.


Appeared as the ship lost its reentry flame, it burst into life, She startled as she watched it change right before her eyes.


Where before there were a few tiny thrusters, more… Grew. As if it was alive.


More and more. Literally coming to life along the entire bottom of the ship. She didn’t think it would be enough, but amazingly, it did seem to do something. She couldn’t believe the ship wasn't ripping itself apart, as it fell, trying to slow itself.


Around her, more and more of her people began running. Fleeing in horror although no one knew where to go. The ship was coming from behind them. Where were they to go? Towards Hilton Head.


Maya didn’t. She grabbed one of the fleeing rebels with a strong grip.


“Get your damn camera on that!” She demanded her voice firm. And with that, to her surprise, the boy running seemed to hesitate, before he did just that. Grabbing a camera and pointing it at the ship. A few moments later he nodded he was rolling.


They both stood there, standing atop the barricades as the object grew closer and closer, and Maya wondered if she had been a fool. If this is how she died?


She could feel it. Windows rumbling first. Then the ground beneath her shifted, the noise became almost ear piercing.


Yet she stood her ground, staring at the sight of a Warship.


It was a Warship.


Flying down from the sky, and then with a roar of such strength she felt her bones ache, it raced over head. The heat from the engines turning the entire area into a sauna. It flew so close over head, and then it was over. Wind and dust rushed around her, pieces of metal red hot raining around them, finally causing her to grab the boy and duck into one of the broken vehicles just to have something over her head.


But she only had a moment after to brace.


Because then the ship landed. She could hear it. The thunder of air breaking apart, water giving way. As the very earth beneath her shifted in an earthquake. The broken heap of a car rumbled and spun, the boy she had grabbed had somehow found it within himself to buckle himself into the ruined vehicle, and she had just managed to do the same.


Luckily for her, the design of the vehicle even ruined as it was, kept them safe as they rolled down the street.


Slowly it stopped. Her eyes opened.


She was alive. So was the boy, both of them took a while to crawl out of the car. Falling into water, as the crash had obviously caused a wave to wash over the entire area.


The current was strong tugging at her legs. The smoke and dust continued to whip around blinding her to anything but distant fires that flowed in the haze.


The sound of falling metal was all that could be heard.


Slowly the dust cleared, and the boy joined her. Weakly pulling himself from the wreck, only to slip in the water, Maya having to grab him to keep him from falling into the rushing water. The camera nearly falling from his grip.


Somehow he had kept it in hand during the crash.


“Grab that!” She choked out coughing herself as she pointed to the camera, and he jumped to do just that. She pushed him forward, climbing on top of the car so she could see the ocean.


She was joined a few moments later by the boy moving more slowly, as the dust cleared, the sun piercing into their eyes from across the ocean. As the day begins.


And there. Resting in the ocean, that was still an absolute riot of waves and currents, looking more like a frothing white rapids than a usually calm ocean.


Rested a Warship.


“What is that?”


The boy asked, pointing his camera already on target, but it was having trouble getting a picture.


Maya grabbed her binoculars, raising them up, before lowering them and rubbing the dust from the lenses.


And then they were raised up. There standing atop the Warship rising out of a crouch. Single use rockets popping off in a silent refrain from this distance was a mech.


She watched, as more and more drop pods opened up overhead. Slowly, more and more mechs landed atop the broken Warship. The steam from the boiling ocean blocking them from sight from time to time.


“Did.. Did they just surf a Warship?” The boy beside her asked in awe.


Maya heard him but it took a second to process what he had just said.


“What? No. That’s stupid.” She whisper hissed at him even as she continued to stare. Who were these people?


What the hell had just happened?


But more importantly?


Why?


She couldn’t take her eyes off them, as they slowly gathered together. The mech in the middle slowly started moving, to her shock a green fog burst from the front of the mech. Rolling over the surface of the fallen Warship. Which once more began shifting. She held her breath. In fear? In Awe? Surprise? She couldn’t say.


Slowly a pillar of metal rose up


And then the green fog became a wave, rolling over everything. She swallowed her dusty dry throat, because before her eyes, the Warship started… growing, as if… This Metal Tyrant of the Stars had fallen to earth.


And lived.


Maya shook her head. Too much time in drama class, she decided, but it was moving. Growing before her eyes. Until slowly a wall rose up from the ocean around the ship. Blocking the mechs from sight.


It continued to rise, growing larger and larger, until it literally cast a shadow over the entirety of the island. Until the morning sun once bright cutting the dust was blocked completely from view.


It expanded, widening until it was like she was staring at a castle wall. Growing more and more, until it dwarfed everything.


And then appearing in a searing green light, in blood red, in front of her eyes, an image appeared onto the white ferrocrete building.


A flower.


Then it seemed to slow, the building finishing its expansion.


Maya held her breath. What else could she do? What was she even looking at? What absolute madness had she found herself in! She was in college! Did she just walk onto the set of Immortal Warrior?


“No way. That’s… That’s impossible.” The boy standing beside her filming it all said sounding hoarse and… Afraid.


She was too.


Because along the top of this castle grown from the death of a Warship, A massive weapon grew out of the green fog. Maya swallowed dryly. The gun that grew from the top of this structure was definitely the largest weapon she had ever seen.


Once it was completed. It shifted, aiming… Down.


And then another grew out beside it. And another.


And another.


And then a different type that looked like an LRM launcher…


And then more. And more and more and more!


Each time they finished the weapons would adjust themselves before aiming down towards Hilton Head.


Maya couldn’t tear her eyes away, as this… Thing turned itself into a porcupine. She only hoped the boy was still recording. Because she knew no one would believe her.


—--


A different perspective

Myndo Waterly


Deep within the very bowels of Hilton Head Myndo sat in a safe room. The entire First Circuit, or at least those that were still here, had come down once they confirmed that the Warship was definitely reaching Terra.


Of course the concern had been Nuclear weapons, or Biological attacks. The Warship was going too fast to enter orbit.


The assumption had been a bombing run, why else would you not retro burn?


The room now held not just the First Circuit, but also some of the Precentors that carried out important duties at Hilton Head.


All of them had been watching the exterior, and satellite cameras in horror.


Some of the men that were in charge of the ComGuard. Those with military experience had assured Myndo that the Warship would pass right on by. They were deep enough, and secure enough they could survive whatever trick the ISDF was planning.


Those men were now no longer saying anything.


“Does anyone, have an explanation for anything I am seeing?” Myndo asked darkly, as the cameras watched Warship.


A Warship, make re-entry into an atmosphere intact. The room was quiet. Partly because no one wanted to try and explain this.


But also because everyone was staring at the cameras. From dozens of angles, some orbital satellites all watched what was going on in a mix between horror.


And Awe.


Myndo hadn’t thought so.


“Ready the ComGuard.” She ordered, only for no one to move. No one to act.


She grit her teeth furious and frustrated, and more than anything terrified.


“READY THE COMGUARD!” She yelled, using every ounce of her breath, startling the room to all look at her, but then.


Nothing happened. The men immediately dismissed her. The Comguard Precentors simply turned back to the holovid.


She rose. Ready to lash out more than verbally, when a hand firmly pushed her back into her seat. A strong hand that broke no weakness.


“Relax Myndo. We don’t even know where it will hit, or what damage it will do. Or who will survive. The ComGuard are already prepared regardless.” Nicholas ordered as he held her down in her seat.


And for the first time Myndo actually felt truly afraid of Nicholas Cassnew. Because his usual smirk was gone. Instead it was the utterly blank face of a man that had been given control of ROM because he never hesitated to complete his duty.


And now he didn’t look amused.


“You can’t tell me what to do Nicholas. Let me go.” She tried to argue, as she pushed up against the arm, but it was pointless. There was no give in his strength.


“Be silent, Myndo. I am attempting to process what is happening.” And for just one second he turned down towards her. “And your voice as usual is grating.” The man said with a hostility that Myndo had never heard from him before.


She turned to look at the rest of the First Circuit, but they wouldn’t even look at her.


And she realized with a sinking feeling, that the men that had joined them in the secure room were armed, and all of them standing around the edge of the room…


She swallowed. She had grown up in the Combine. She recognised a threat of force. So she did the wise thing. She kept silent, and opened her eyes.


The more she understood about the situation the better she would be able to respond when things went bad.


And hopefully end this threat to her life.


“This is impossible.” Nicholas spoke simply. Three words that echoed around the room, his eyes locked onto the Holovid. The Warship was coming down. They could all see it. It had somehow survived re-entry.


As they watched it shifted and then exploded. Four petals that looked almost like a flower bursting away revealing that the Warship had some sort of re-entry capsule surrounding it…


Somehow.


As they watched the Warship was revealed, but it didn’t look like a Tharkad design Myndo had ever seen. It was grotesque. Almost lopsided in a way. Then she realized it was. Whatever forces the ship had survived had broken it. Utterly.


She almost sighed at the sight, knowing that this threat at least was no longer.


But then, as it continued to trail fire down from the sky, green light could be seen. Leaking from the ship like blood it spread, most of it burning away from the heat of entry, but at the same time it seemed to be actively consuming the flames as it spread.


Then with a sense of horror because a human mind could recognize impossibility in their sight, the broken ship fixed itself.


Like a wounded beast.


She could feel Nicholas’s hand tense, he had seen it too. Both of them could do nothing but watch as this warship, an unthinking unfeeling machine, acted as if with thought. With feeling. As its back solidly and visibly fixed itself.


Myndo had known the ISDF were weird. Potentially backed by the former SLDF. Although the fact that no one had verified anything had given her the confidence in sending Theodore everything he would need to end the threat.


But now she understood more surely than ever before that something about the ISDF was wrong. Not just a threat. But something that should not exist.


“Look.” Nicholas spoke, but not to her, more to himself as the ship began shifting again, she flinched at the sight as the entire front of the Warship seemed to grow fusion engines out of nothing but a green fog.


What was she even looking at? ComStar had all the secrets of the Star League, and yet what she was seeing didn’t match anything! You couldn’t just alter a Warship in a few moments that isn’t how anything worked!


From the sides of the Warship suddenly plumes appeared as drop pods began shooting out, The dark shapes followed after the ship like little fish following a whale. Then to her shock the falling Warship a beast of metal had the new engines on its face and belly activate.


Fusion drives as bright as a star began firing more and more coming online. Myndo couldn’t imagine the fusion engine in the ship could handle this much power, but it did.


And the ship seemed to slow. Entering into something that was close, but not quite a flight path.


“Find out where it is landing!” She demanded, and this time Nicholas said nothing as a few of the Precentors around the room rushed to do just that.


They watched as the drop pods seemed to keep pace with the ship as they all flew ever closer.


“They are aiming for us!” A voice cried out and Myndo nodded. Already suspecting.


Where else would they go?


They watched as it flew overhead so close the drive Plume from the engines heated one of the HPG satellite dishes into a river of overheated metal.


It smashed into the Ocean just off the island.


The lights actually flickered.


It was the only thing Myndo could think about as the entire structure shook. As everything in the room decided it didn’t want to be there anymore. It took longer than she would have liked before she realized she was still alive.


She was on her side on the floor. Gasping as she realized where she was, Myndo scrambled upwards looking around the room. Just like her everyone was regaining their feet. Nicholas was pulling himself from the conference table that he had been laying atop.


Everyone was muttering to themselves wondering what happened.


Looking up at the Holovid Myndo scowled. Most of the outside cameras were down, and the satellite images showed nothing but a cloud of dust.


“G-Get someone up there to find out what is going on!” She called out, earning a few looks before one of the adepts actually listened to her, as he headed for the door.


—--



“Owe!” I cursed as my everything hurt. The single use jump jets popped off my mech now that I stood atop Side 2. The landing hadn’t been graceful, but I had made it. It was too bad I felt like mashed potatoes.


I adjusted the Phantom, catching sight of all the other jumping mechs aiming for the top of the fallen ship. I nodded, it looked like everyone was on target. The escape pods that held our pilots and other crew were coming down as well, but they would be here long after the Mechs. Mostly because they were actually shuttles and not just escape pods. Just one of those little adjustments I had forced on Side 2.


But I needed a safe place for them when they got here. So step one, as always as a Commander was to build.


I grit my teeth as I looked over the utterly shattered waters between me and the Island. We had definitely caused a Tsunami from our entry, not counting the steam that had shot up from the engines trying to slow the bulk of Side 2 from simply shattering everything for miles.


I breathed a sigh of relief, that while the structures on Hilton Head had seen better days, and that poor forest was on fire, at least the city behind it wasn’t suffering from an orbital drop too much.


I could see smoke still, but that would have to be something the locals dealt with for now. I would rebuild or something after.


Shit this was such a stupid idea.


I shook it away. The doubt. The hesitation. The fear.


Gauge, the goal. That was all that mattered.


I lowered the nose of my Nightstar, its ERPPC replaced by a Nanoforge for the first time and then in a haze of green I activated it. There weren't any Nanoforges still active in the ship that could do what I need. So instead I simply built atop it. Like it was a green hill and I was planting trees.


First I consumed down, where I began putting a fusion engine to power the nonsense I was about to start creating.


Then I resealed it, before creating a Large Nanoforge right atop it. Sticking up out of the ship.


The green fog of the Nanoparticles went from a small stream to a wave, as I began inputting orders. Creating a design using pieces of Ferrocrete, and Castle Brian designs I had grown so accustomed to messing with the basic building blocks, I didn’t even need to think about it. The walls began forming. Thick Ferrocrete began rising around us. First a Bulwark a wall to ensure that any ComStar members on the island wouldn’t be able to simply shoot at us with impunity.


That was my job.


The Black Watch landed and swiftly surrounded me on guard, but I paid them no mind. They weren’t needed to protect me right now. Because here atop a monument to my own arrogance I was not going to stop.


I had come too far to hesitate now.


As the walls rose up around us. Growing larger and larger as the green fog spread, I simply waited. Once my people in the shuttles were with us, they would man the guns.


And only then would I send one final call to ComStar. It didn’t matter that the army of mechs hidden under the island were all preparing, moving out to reach the surface. It didn’t matter how many soldiers they had wearing Tornado PA L, or even a few of their remaining NightHawks.


Because nothing on Earth could stop me from rescuing Gauge now.


“Commander?” The noise startled me, after confirming everyone was on their way I had begun building and blocked everything else out.


“Eris? What is it?” I asked after a moment working on a tricky bit of the Castle to ensure its gun emplacements would be able to reload.


“I think I found Blake. His Cooling suit anyways. Looks like they are sleeping in a room.”


I felt my heart soar. Yes! We had done it! I quickly accessed her scanner and found the room in question.


It didn’t look like a prison or something but then again ComStar probably just stuck him in a room, not like he was getting out of there.


“Alright Eris, get the ground team informed, once they land. I want them suited up. I’ll create the path and keep the ComGuard distracted. Let's rescue our boy before they even realize that their walls are useless.” I said, for the first time since I heard his message I felt… Happy.


I was almost breathless with hope. The only danger now was them shooting Gauge before we could rescue him. I had been terrified we wouldn’t be able to find him before they simply murdered him out of spite!


As the Large Nanoforge continued to expand the Castle. I turned and started digging down. Straight through the ship to the ocean floor and then beyond. With the Nanforge building corridors as I pleased, there was no chance that ComStar would even hear a rumble before I literally created a breach in their stupid island fortress.


My island fortress was better after all.


Once I was at the level I needed to be. I simply created a second Large Nanoforge facing towards the Island.


It began carving out the passage. A few miles of ocean silt, seawater and rock, and we would be able to reach Gauge.


Just hold on, I’m coming.

—--


A different perspective

Francis Capella


Francis wasn’t a fool. The ComGuard were done, more and more of his friends were disappearing every day. Soon there wouldn’t be anyone left. But he would be damned before he heads out onto the surface to fight in the mud. He was one of the best Mechwarriors on Terra. He topped nearly every simulated battle, every objective had his call sign next to it at, or near the top.


But he sure as hell wasn’t going to throw his life away. He wasn’t sure exactly what was going on. Between the alerts, and the earthquake. He had decided to just stay in his room. Let everyone else fight and die.


He doubted anyone would ever pierce the Castle Brian, at least not before long days of wasting time, more than long enough for him to make a plan to escape.


He didn’t much like the idea of being a traitor, but if that is what it took, then that is what it took.


He found himself napping and resting, simply waiting to see what would happen. A few hours of silence broken up by messages coming over the intercom out in the hall from time to time, but nothing that he paid any attention to. He had no intention of sliding into his mech and fighting for ComStar.


Not anymore.


He knew just how strained everything had become. More than even the higher ups realized because while some of the ComGuard stayed, many of them were fully intending to turn around and fire on their commanders the moment they were given an unacceptable order.


The Word of Blake had spread like a fire through the young ComGuard. Young men and women, even if many were more than happy to simply follow orders, kill who they were told, and get on with their life. The files had changed everything. The Blake Broadcast had more than just all the evils of the First Circuit and ROM.


It was basically all the files that the First Circuit needed to be able to access at any time, so it had everyone's personnel files as well.


Francis had never seen something that would turn loyal members of ComStar into furious traitors as when many of the men and women read their own files. Read how little their superiors thought of them. Their honest thoughts that went up to the First Circuit, or the highest Precentors when it came time to determine promotions, or duties.


The fact was since its inception ComStar had never had a leak. Never. So the higher ups had gotten lazy, hadn’t cared how vitriolic they were about their underlings, it wasn’t like they would ever read the files. Most of them had been stamped with ‘Do not Promote’ Or ‘Untrustworthy’ which referred to whether they could be brought in to some of the secrets, that now thanks to the Word of Blake were open to everyone.


Yeah. A lot of young men and women might not care, but a lot did. A lot of the ComGuard had joined to make a difference, to do something good.


Francis chuckled, his own report had been stellar, he didn’t care about doing what was right, or anything like that. His skill and attitude to do whatever was asked of him meant he was on an upward trajectory.


It was why they had given him the SLDF Cooling suit. Apparently it had been another acolytes who had joined, but he wasn’t ComGuard instead assigned to a different station, so the higher ups had decided to award it to Francis after a competition.


He had been more than pleased to earn it. It made his actions in his mech far more comfortable.


A knock of all things broke him out of his rumination.


“The hell?” He asked standing up, why would anyone be knocking on his door? Everyone should be in their mechs ready for action, or already long gone, and no one even knew he was here.


He stood brushing off his robes that he wore over his cooling suit as he looked towards the door. He hesitated before he walked over and opened it.


The first thing that crossed his mind was that wasn’t the hallway outside his room. The hallway went left and right past his room, not straight forward. A long dark tunnel that had slowly increasing lights popping into life slowly coming towards him.


Second, the four men wearing power armor shouldn’t be looking for him.


Third was the entire hallway had a glowing green fog covering its floor, like someone had too much fun with a fog machine. He couldn’t even see the floor.


Fourth was the hand that reached out and grabbed him around his jaw with power armor strength that stopped him from even speaking as they tugged him right off his feet and began dragging him down the hall. The hall that shouldn’t exist! There was no hallway here! In his fear he started trying to scream for help.


Of course he couldn’t know, but no one ever heard him. Far behind him, green fog grew up the walls once more. Removing the walls they had created to cut away the hallway to ensure that on their rescue of Gauge no one could interfere.


Now that the report had come back that the one they found wasn’t Gauge. Far away a furious mind removed any trace of their assault on the Castle Brian.
 

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