Blood on the Horizon (Battletech SI)

Word of Blake Interlude 3020-3030
    • Word of Blake Interlude 3020-3030

    “We need to ensure the preservation of Blessed Blake’s teachings.” Vesar told the other radical Comstar members with him. “The ones who are in power now may have forgotten why we began our crusade, but we have not.”

    Vesar paused to take a breath. “I prepared for this eventuality though, and sent thousands of us ahead in preparation for this moment. The Outworlds Alliance is a small place without much industry, but I have been preparing for this day since we were torn by the Schism and have already gotten production started on various worlds in that interstellar nation.”

    “Primus, what is our overall plan?” One of the adepts with him on the dropship asked.

    “We are going to set into motion the beginnings of the end for the Federated Suns and anyone else who would seek to displace us from our holy task.” Vesar said. “As Precentor Rom I had access to many classified projects as well as where intelligence assets that we know of were being used by the Successor States. We shall begin with setting the Capellan Confederation against the Federated Suns in a vengeance that has never been spoken of before.”

    “We have assets in Maskirovka?” An acolyte from the Capellan Confederation asked. “I didn’t know that was possible.”

    “I would tell you,” Vesar smiled. “But then I would have to kill you because there is no such thing as a kept secret.”

    “Understood.” The Acolyte gulped.

    “I’m not making a threat.” Vesar chuckled. “Why would I kill or threaten fellow followers of the Word of Blake? I am supposed to be leading us into victory, and I cannot do that without all of you here.”




    3021
    “You promise that this will aid us in ensuring that the Draconis Combine doesn’t invade?” President Neil Avellar asked. “They’ve been steadily moving forces to and from the border since the legendary duel that resulted in ten years of peace.”

    “I am not only certain of it,” Vesar smiled warmly. “I guarantee it, and to sweeten the deal, we’re going to be helping Mountain Wolf Battlemechs perfect the Merlin and get the Night Hawk back into production.”

    “We are not a war loving people, Vesar.” President Avellar said. “We seek to remain at peace for as long as possible and to restore our nation to the way it once was.”

    “Don’t worry President, peace across the Inner Sphere is my ultimate goal as well.” Vesar smiled, “As it is with everyone who I brought with me in my self imposed exile from Comstar.”

    “Well, we’ve been getting some learning centers from an interstellar company called Sharpshooter.” Avellar said. “Would you happen to know anything about that?”

    “Just let them do their thing, they may be a long term plot by the Davions to pull exactly what they did with the Taurian Concordat all those centuries ago.” Vesar cautioned, “But as long as they are doing the good work of Blake then we shall leave them in peace.”

    “Good,” Avellar smiled. “Their hospitals have been an exceptional aid to many of our worlds.”




    3022

    “I told you that we would be getting production back up.” Vesar told President Avellar. “You had nothing to worry about.”

    “No, I believed you, it’s just hard to believe hard numbers like this at first glance.” Avellar replied. “There’s enough production here to completely outfit our units with fresh machines in five years.”

    “That is the ultimate goal is it not?” Vesar said charismatically. “To speak softly and yet carry a big enough stick to force the barbarians away.”

    “I don’t think that’s quite how the quote goes.” Avellar said after a moment's thought. “But I don’t remember the original well enough to truly correct you.”




    3023

    “Primus, we’ve managed to insert two men and a couple of women into the First Prince’s bodyguard detail, the MASK cell that was prepping for OPERATION DOPPELGANGER was able to assist in getting everything established and prepared as per your instructions.”

    “Good,” Vesar said. “We’ll have to make sure that they remain dark until we are ready for them to move, it may be years before we have everything prepared on our end though.”

    “Good techniques take time sir, isn’t that what you always say?”

    “Yes, I do say that.” Vesar agreed. “Now you need to get back to New Avalon and ensure that the MASK cell doesn’t receive any communications from the Liao’s until I am ready to make use of them.”

    “Yes Primus.” The Adept replied. “The Will of Blake be done.”

    “The Will of Blake will be done indeed.” Vesar echoed.




    3025

    “Why should we cut off the Federated Suns, won’t this Alliance be a good thing for the Inner Sphere?” Avellar asked his most trusted advisor Vesar Kristofur.

    “Nay,” Vesar shook his head. “It is nothing but the Star League come again, and soon enough you will see as they attempt to seize power from various nations and invade.”

    “But what about this I’m hearing about nukes being used on Northwind and several other places?” Avellar asked.

    “Just propaganda that the Davions are using to justify their little Triumvirate being able to invade and take out the Liao’s as a proper dynasty and House Lord.” Vesar cautioned. “And we’re not going to cut them off entirely, we’re going to maintain trade, but we can close their embassy and ensure that their intelligence agencies are not able to breach your nation anymore.”

    “Alright,” Avellar said. “I’ll begin to bring everything together to start cutting communications with the Davions, but I want your word that this won’t come back and backfire on me.”

    “I swear by Blake that I am attempting to do what is best for everyone.” Vesar said seriously as he placed his hand over his heart. “Trust me my friend, have I not increased the ability of your nation to defend itself over these past five years? Have you not been able to increase your strength to that of before the Succession Wars began? Have some faith in your friend and trust that he is here to truly help you and your nation thrive in these troubled times.”




    3026

    “This is the last one?” Vesar asked the Adept as he looked down at the bound woman on the other side of the glass from him.

    “Yes Primus, this is the last identifiable MIIO agent that we were able to locate and capture.” The adept replied.

    “Did any of them escape?” Vesar asked.

    “No sir, as far as we know there aren’t any foreign intelligence agents remaining in the Outworlds Alliance barring those that we left in place to report things as going normally.” The Adept replied.

    “That is good to hear.” Vesar said. “Begin her interrogation, she may have some intelligence we can use.” He turned and walked away.
    –
    –
    “Did we locate the Amaris Cache that was left behind?” Vesar asked one of the few Explorer Corps members that had left with him.

    “Yes, two full divisions were left behind by the Amaris people as part of the Secret Army here.” The adept replied. “We have begun outfitting our units with upgraded variants of the technology there and will be helping the Outworlds Alliance and Marcus Kurita get everything prepared for use.”


    “We’re going to be looking for the factories that were being used to outfit the units here, because knowing Amaris, there’s a high chance that there are several hidden around here.” The Explorer Corps Adept responded. “We did bring our star charts with us, so we’ll see if there’s anything we put down of note for the Outworlds Alliance.”

    “Good.” Vesar said. “We’ll need everything we can get our hands on.”




    3028

    “Another one?” Vesar asked as they brought another MIIO agent down to the interrogation room. “That’s the fifth one this year.” He scoffed. “You’d think they’d have learned by now.”

    “Why haven’t the Davions done anything yet?” An Adept asked. “You would think that they would have intervened militarily due to us taking their agents out.”

    “If a nation responded by invading a nation that took out their spies they would have no proper justification.” Vesar said with a smirk. “And the current First Prince and his family along with the Lyrans are people who think they are principled, they won’t intervene militarily without fabricating some sort of reason first.”

    –
    –

    “You lied to me, Vesar.” President Neil Avellar said as he entered the office that Vesar had been using for years now. “There really were Nukes that went off all over the Capellan Confederation and it wasn’t because of the Federated Suns finding a reason to invade.”

    “It’s a shame that you found out like this.” Vesar said coldly as he fired a whisper quiet suppressed handgun at Neil Avellar. “You were such a useful puppet that it was almost too easy to get the ones who wanted to rebel into positions of power.” He shrugged while talking to the corpse. “You see President Avellar, I’ve been subverting you by feeding your people, instead of them following you, they knew that I was the real power that was helping to protect and feed them, that I was the one to begin to bring their standard of living back up, and that is where you screwed up.”

    “Not going to say anything?” Vesar asked humorously. “I’ll use your children as little puppets in order to maintain the illusion, but in another couple of years it won’t matter all that much.”




    3029
    “You got the itinerary?” Vesar asked the agent that had just arrived from New Avalon.

    “I did, the best option for infiltration would be Delos IV.” The WoB agent responded. “That’s when the agents that we inserted will be on duty and it will be easier to get a swap done.”

    “What is the time window?” Vesar asked.

    “Ian is scheduled two weeks of R&R while on Delos IV, and that’ll be the time we can make the swap, but it’ll have to be done in the week that our agents are in the rotation, I recommend you use someone that our people will recognize one of ours but will still pass the background checks.”

    “I have just the honey trap for our First Prince.” Vesar chuckled to himself. “I’ll send the signal for the MASK cell to begin swapping the DNA samples by the time the swap is done.”

    “Yes sir, we’ll get everything done.”




    3030

    “You’ll never get away with this!” Ian yelled at the top of his lungs as he struggled against his restraints, causing them to chafe and break skin. “Hull and Hanse will make sure that I’ll be rescued!”

    “There’s no need to yell Ian Davion.” Vesar smiled. “I’m right here next to you.”

    “What? Are you going to tell me your master plan?” Ian asked.

    “No,” Vesar smiled. “In fact, you soon won’t be awake for any of this,” He turned to the two burly men beside him. “Hold him down and administer the sedative.”

    “Make sure you get a sample, if we want our backup to work then we’re going to need to preserve it for artificial insemination before we kill him.”

    “Give us a day to extract it.” Victoria smiled viciously. “Then he can die.”
    –
    –

    “Goodbye First Prince Davion.” Vesar chuckled cruelly as he raised his pistol and squeezed the trigger. “It wasn’t a pleasure knowing you.”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Six: Revenge?
    • Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Six: Revenge?
    January 8th, 3021

    “Good impact Ma’am!” The gunner and spotter called out. “The Battlemaster is down for the count.”

    “Good work, mark it for a salvage team to come check on later.” She ordered, “We need to move our fireteam to assist Alpha Battalion.”

    “Moving at maximum speed, aye ma’am.” The driver responded. “Are we sure that we’re going to make it through this ma’am?”

    “We’re the 1st Marksman corporal, we’re all that and a bag of chips!” Carter laughed. “We’ve already managed to take out the light and medium enemies we were up against, and have still maintained most of our machines.” Carter’s grin was a little bloodthirsty. “And we’ve still got ammunition for the artillery, as long as we’re able to maintain our edge, we can hold out and win this.”

    “Yes Ma’am!” The tank crew replied.

    “Colonel Carter!” Came over Colonel Zoe Carter’s personal comms channel. “We’ve got an officer here offering a temporary ceasefire. What do you want me to do?”

    “Hold tight Major Davis,” Carter replied. “We’re about ten mikes out.”
    –
    –
    “You have fought well.” Came a voice over the open comms channel. “But you will fall beneath the might of the Dragon.”

    “I’m sorry Tai-Sho Kingsley,” Carter replied with snark in her voice. “I can’t quite hear you over the sounds of your two destroyed battlemech regiments.”

    “You are excellent warriors.” Kingsley replied. “But it will not be enough to save you, I believe that you are nearing the end of your ability to maintain a defensive position against myself and the Ryuken-San.”

    “Well, you’ll just have to try us and see exactly how much we’ve got left in reserve won’t you?” Carter asked with a smirk. “I would have already left if I thought that we couldn’t win this.”

    “Fine then, your men’s lives are on your own head.” Tai-Sho Kingsley replied. “You have one day to reconsider before we come back in force.”

    –
    –
    “We have a day to repair and rest.” Carter told her people. “Let's make sure that we get our heaviest equipment back in the fight, and everyone needs at least eight to twelve hours of bedrest. I fully expect the ISF to try something.”

    “Good call Ma’am.” Major Davis said to his CO. “We’re going to have to hold out for longer before reinforcements get here”

    “Reinforcements?” Carter asked. “I don’t need reinforcements, we’re going to handle them all on our own.”




    Kentares IV, March 30th, 3031

    “Please tell me we have everything ready?” I asked Sheppard and Packer. “I’ve got the Ducal Estate acting like Natasha and I have come down with the latest variant of the flu and that we won’t be able to meet with anyone.”

    “Commodore Frye is ready and waiting with the fleet.” Sheppard said. “And both the 1st and 2nd Kentares Guard are just waiting for confirmation to lift off and make for the Age of Discovery and Manassas, along with the Vanguard.” (Texas Class Battleship that we restored)

    “Did Jewel manage the refits yet?” I asked, not quite remembering reading any of those reports.

    “Yes, the Manassas and Age of Discovery have AMS systems in place now, but we don’t have time to refit the Vanguard in time before you head out.” Sheppard said. “Godspeed Mark, and make sure that they pay for this.”

    “We’re going to make the Kuritans wish that they hadn’t crossed the line here.” I said, “Keep an eye on Ian for me, something feels off.”

    “Will do Mark, will do.” Sheppard replied as he snapped together for a salute. “You’re bringing the Ducal Guard with you?”

    “Everything except for the 3rd Kentares and the Militia are coming with us.” I said. Returning his salute. “Hold down the fort for me.”

    “Yes sir!” Sheppard replied. “I still think you should send a message to Hanse though.”

    “I already did.” I said, “It’s on its way with Rook as we speak.”

    “Good to hear.” Sheppard said. “Good to hear, maybe he can retask some assets to help cover Kentares while you’re gone.”

    –
    –

    “We got our course plotted in?” I asked Frye. “I made a list of the Dead worlds I used when bringing the Manassas through the Combine and Federated Suns the first time.”

    “We’re using quite a lot of the systems that you used the first time.” Frye said as she showed me the general path that we were going to take. “I can’t believe that you were within ten light years of Luthien thirty years ago.” She shook her head.

    “I was an idiot who was just figuring out how to make a jumpship work in the first place thirty years ago, Frye.” I said with a sigh. “Not that I’m much better at it now.”

    “You did fine,” Frye said with a smile. “Not everyone is cut out for advanced physics and calculations like that.”

    “I don’t want to have to do that again.” I agreed, “I prefer reading and writing over math anyway.”

    “I think we all know that by now.” She laughed. “Now, we’ve got a bunch of jumps to make if we’re going to pull this off properly, so strap yourself in and get ready to go.”




    New Avalon, June 25th, 3031

    “Rook, Dunham” Hanse greeted the tech specialist and chief intelligence operatives of Hull’s group. “I didn’t expect you and Dunham to be here, shouldn’t the two of you be on Kentares IV helping Mark and Natasha?”

    “Yes, but we were sent with some important intel for you.” Dunham said as he handed over a slate. “There’s a six digit code that I’ll input for you.” He input the correct code and opened the file that Hanse was supposed to see.

    “Good,” Hanse said as he looked over at the operational plans that Hull had sent to him. “I expected something like this to happen, and I’m hoping that Mark and Nat pull it off.” He flipped through. “I’ll send Duke Sandoval a small memo to have the Draconis March forces prepped, and have Duchess Romano Senn-Liao’s house forces ready to move as well.”

    “Morgan will be moving with the Davion Heavy Guards to reinforce Kentares while the majority of your forces are gone.” Hanse said. “Here’s the written confirmation to give to Yvonne for authorization.”

    “We’ll make sure to get it all done sir.” Rook said. “We brought David Alexander here for safety as well, Mark was hoping that your security umbrella was better than our own given the fact that Sapphire just died.”

    “He graduated from the Marksman academy right?” Hanse asked.

    “Yes, he did indeed.” Rook replied.

    “Good, he’ll join my bodyguard detail until further notice.” Hanse said. “If you’ll have him meet with Allard, he’ll get everything set up.”

    “We’ll set it up.” Dunham replied. “Thank you for your assistance Hanse.”

    “It’s always a pleasure to interact with competent people.” Hanse smiled. “And Mark doesn’t really handle idiots well.”

    “That’s very true sir.” Rook laughed. “Very true indeed.”




    Kentares IV, June 30th, 3031

    “Are you ready for your yearly Qualification sir?” The Fireteam Sergeant in charge of the ‘mech range asked. “We’ve got everything set up and ready for you to run through, we’ll start off with the simple scenarios, and move the difficulty up as we go.”

    “Sounds like fun!” Ian said with a chuckle as he responded through the communications systems. “I’m going to walk it to the range and then go weapons hot.”

    “Sounds like a plan sir, please follow the designated path until you reach the target area.” The Sergeant replied.

    “I’m at the designated area,” Ian responded. “Flipping the master arm switch on now.” He relayed. As soon as he flipped the switch, he started convulsing and seizing up. “Need help!” he called as loud as he could through the still open channel as he rocked back against the chair.

    “We need a medical team for the First Prince!” The sergeant called as he raced to the Titan. Triggering the jump jets built into his Mithril he flew up onto the shoulder of the assault ‘mech before he moved to the hatch. Grabbing on, he yanked, but the hatch was reinforced and he couldn’t get it open.

    “I need a breaching charge!” He called out to the militia fireteam training in mech takedowns.

    “Aye sergeant!” They responded and one of them flew up with a ‘mech breaching charge in his hands. “I’ve got this.” The militiaman set up the charge and both of the men braced as he set it off.
    “Thanks Private, I’ll make sure to note you down.” The Fireteam Sergeant said as he pulled the remnants of the pilot hatch off of the ‘mech and reached the First Prince. Yanking the Neurohelmet off of Ian, the Sergeant began to run through the basic medical training that all of the soldiers on Kentares were given.

    “I’ve got a pulse, and he’s still breathing, but there’s no response.” The Sergeant muttered to himself. “He’s actually unconscious, and not just asleep.” He said as he gave the man a sternum rub with his armored knuckles. “Potential brain injury.” He said as he grabbed the Neurohelmet. “We'll have to take this in for analysis to the Argo.”

    “You called for a medical team?” He heard the voice through the open cockpit door.

    “Yeah, I’m jumping down with the First Prince now!” He called back through his external speakers. “I’ve also got the neurohelmet that I believe caused this.”

    “Bring it all down,” The medical team lead called out. “We’ve got a Sting inbound for immediate transfer to the Argo.”

    The Sergeant leapt down and used the built in jump jets on his Mithril to slow the fall. “He’s still got a pulse and is breathing, but otherwise he’s unresponsive.”

    “I’ll relay all of this to Dr. Hale.” The medical team lead said. “You did good work.”

    “Thanks, so much for a relaxing job.” The Fireteam Sergeant snarked. “I thought this was supposed to be my retirement job and instead I get stuck doing shit like this.”

    “You’ll live old timer.” The Medical team leader replied. “You’ll live.”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven: Gambling
    • Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven: Gambling
    Kessel, January 21st, 3031

    “Pull back!” Carter commanded the fireteam that was leading the Ryuken into a trap. “Make it look just like how we practiced.”

    The 1st Marksman RCT began to fall back in what looked like a full retreat. But was really a carefully practiced tactic that Carter had drilled them in relentlessly over the past few years and only put into practice now. Once the Ryuken had taken the bait and were stretched out Carter’s men and women acted. As one, they turned around and coordinated fire on the heaviest of the Ryuken units, bringing down the Assaults and heavies with superior firepower. While the long range units were targeting the Heavy and Assault ‘mechs, anything with short range weapons tore the lighter units that were now unsupported to shreds.

    “That’s right you Motherfuckers! Run!” Major Davis said over open comms as the remaining half of the two Battalions of Ryuken-San fled the field.

    “That was good work, people!” Carter said as she coordinated with the other battalions that were fighting off the 18th Dieron Regulars. “I’m having the salvage teams come out now, and our Stings are about to initiate their bombing run.”

    “You heard the lady! Move with a purpose!’ Davis repeated. “Ma’am, I’ll hold down the fort here while you go make sure that Kingsley has to fall back into the bombing area.”

    “Solid copy Davis,” Carter replied “Be wary though, I’m sure the Ryuken will be looking for payback.”

    “They can try!” Davis laughed. “I’ve got this covered Colonel.”

    –
    –

    “They’re falling back Colonel!” One of the Other Battalion Majors reported. “We’ve got confirmation that we’re in the clear for now.”

    “That’s good news, have our Mithril scouts keep an eye on when they RTB.” Carter said. “The minute they get back our Stings are lifting off for Grid Square removal.”

    “Aye Ma’am.” The major responded. “I’ll have our best scout fireteam working on it.”

    “Good work Major,” Carter said as she transitioned her comms system to a private channel. “You’ve been holding off the best of Kingsley’s forces and you’ve done a fucking fantastic job, when we get back to Kentares I’m putting in for you to get a promotion.”

    “Just doing my job ma’am, I don’t need a promotion.” The major replied as they finally reached their LZ. “I’m gonna grab some rack time, I’m sure I’ll be needed back out there soon enough.” The Major parked her Grasshopper in an automated repair bay and got out by scaling down her ladder. “I know guys, and I’d normally help with the work, but I’m more apt to drop than to be able to help.” She told the techs and they nodded in understanding.

    “It’s alright Major, we’re getting more regular ruck time than you have been.” The lead tech said. “Go grab some rest, we’ll have her reskinned as soon as we can.”

    “Thanks Sarge,” The major replied. “I’ll be back in five hours to help out.”

    “Take eight hours of rest Ma’am, you’ve earned it.” The tech replied.

    –
    –

    “We have confirmation that the Ryuken and 18th Dieron Regulars are back at base.” Carter told the Sting crews. “We know that they may have some Alamo’s or other missiles prepped to try and knock you out of the sky, but I know that you can handle this.” Carter stated. “I’m hoping the AMS systems are able to help, but just in case you don’t come back, I want you to know that it was a pleasure being your commanding officer.”

    “Colonel,” The lead Sting pilot said, “With all due respect, we wouldn’t have volunteered for this if we didn’t think there was a pretty good chance of survival, we’re coming back, so make sure that the light is left on, because we’ll be back home soon enough.”

    “Alright then hotshot!” Carter replied with a savage grin. “I’ll see you back here after you're done removing them from the surface of Kessel.”

    –
    –

    “Man, that's a beautiful sight.” Colonel Zoe Carter said as she used the multizoom feature on her Binoculars to look at the base being leveled by the bombs dropping on them. “Explosions are a woman's best friend.”

    “I thought that was diamonds Colonel.” Major Davis chimed in behind her. “That is a lot of explosives.” He said as he observed the massive chain of explosions happening over the basecamp the enemies were using and the surrounding areas.

    “Nah, explosions are better, and diamonds are everywhere, I don’t know why they were all the rage a thousand years ago. Besides, an explosion of this magnitude will produce quite a few diamonds.” She shrugged. “We’re going to have to move in and see about clean up and helping out the survivors, not that I think there are any after that..” She gestured at the bombed out husk. “I would have done this sooner, but I thought we could handle them without going to this extreme.”

    “We held out until our artillery was out of ammunition Colonel, I’m not sure what else we could have done to ensure victory here.” Major Davis replied.

    “We’ll find out in the debrief,” Carter replied as she lowered her binoculars. “Get the staff together, we need to get a plan together.”




    Luthien, June 30th, 3026 (Same time Doppel!Ian is dying from complications via Neurohelmet)

    “Alright, we just jumped in at a pirate point that lessened our trip from ten days to three and change, you know the plan, so let's snap to it.”

    “Yes sir,” Godbolt, Packer, Hazen and Paige responded.

    “Paige, I want as many of the Excaliburs and Triumphs that we can take before you have the Vanguard take out the shipyards.” I told her. “We’ve got enough collards to take ten or so Dropships, but I’m not sure how many of them are near finished.”

    “Want us to load up on spare parts as well sir?” Paige asked. “Me and my Marines have been waiting for you to let us off of the leash again.”

    “Go have fun and remember, pillage, then burn.” I reminded her. “Not the other way around.”

    “Yes sir,” She grinned. “I’ll grab what we can.”

    “Good woman,” I said before turning to the other three COs. “The rest of you know your jobs, Hazen, we’re going to be bait until we either win or get reinforced by Packer and Godbolt finishing their objectives.”

    “Good thing we are the best then.” Mathis said. “I’ve been waiting to use this.” He grabbed a case behind him and opened it to unveil a massive two handed vibrosword. “They want to use swords, well I’ll show them swords.”

    “What’re you going to do with that thing Mathis?” I asked with a chuckle.

    “Take Subhash Indrahar’s head off.” Mathis said bluntly. “He’s either here or on New Samarkand, and I’ve been waiting for this sort of thing for years now.”

    “Just let Nat have the first crack at Takashi.” I told him. “If you get him first she might kill you.”

    “I’m staying well out of her way.” Mathis said before he looked me in the eye with a serious expression. “Are you sure that you don’t want to upgrade to an Assault Mech boss? No one would think any less of you.”

    “I’m sure Mathis.” I gave him a solid slug in his armored shoulder. “I’ve driven a Warhammer for so long that I don’t feel quite at home in any other machine anymore.”

    “Have you located Takashi yet?” Natasha asked as she strode into the room, her Mithril painted a shade of black with streaks of red that matched her hair. “My Nightstar is waiting to challenge him.”

    “Nat, we just got into the system and we’re going to have to wait until we get to the planet before you can challenge him.” I told my wife. “You just have to wait for three days.”

    “Then you are going to face me in the sims until the last twenty-four hours.” Natasha told me with fire in her eyes. “We need to prepare for everything on Luthien to be thrown at us, and you are still piloting that squishy Warhammer.”

    “It’s what I know Nat.” I shrugged. “I’ve never used anything else aside from it and why try to change what works?”

    “You need more dodging practice.” She grabbed my arm and dragged me to the sims. “Let us prepare you for the fight of our lives.”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Eight: The Void
    • Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Eight: The Void
    Luthien, July 1st, 3031

    “This is Blaze, signify ready status and get into formation, we’ve got a lot of enemy bogies inbound.” Commanded his wing as he moved his Clantech Stuka into the lead position. “Everyone follow your designated COs lead, and stay with your wingmen, we’re up against the very best that the Combine has to offer.”

    “Copy that Lead!” Came the responses.

    “You got the command console set up?” Blaze asked his Copilot who was in charge of helping coordinate the battle in the void while Blaze was taking enemy pilots down. “Because this is going to be the biggest Aerospace battle in centuries.”

    “I’m all green here, just keep us in the fight.” Blaze’s Copilot answered.

    “Remember that if you’ve taken too much damage to fall back into the cover of the Stings,” Blaze reminded the group of over a hundred aerospace Fighters. “That’s part of what they’re here for, and if you need to rearm, fall back to the Vanguard.”

    “Here they come!” A voice called on the comms channel. “We got lots of enemy fighters and at least three to four Achilles Dropships as well as what looks like some Sting knockoffs.”

    “Stay on your wingman’s wing and remember to follow your squadron leaders.” Blaze said as he accelerated his Stuka in order to engage the enemy faster. “We’ve got to keep the Warships clear until we make it to Luthien.”

    It took a solid fifteen minutes before any of the enemy aerospace assets reached weapons range, but once they did, the superior range of the Kentares Guard weapons showed its worth by shredding lighter aerospace fighters before they even got within the range of their own weapons.

    Squeezing his triggers at extreme range, Blaze watched as a Sholagar disintegrated underneath the twin ERPPCs he hit it with before switching to the Slayer that was coming in fast behind it, firing his remaining two ERPPCs, he also triggered his LB-20X at a range that his old AC/20 would not have hit, causing the Slayer pilot to spin out of control and impact their wingman.

    Then the battlefield in the void erupted into a chaotic furball, with Blaze flipping his Stuka around in order to stay on the tail of an enemy fighter while the Copilot began to give commands to the forces that were under their command.

    “This is Hitman lead, we’re making a run on the lead Achilles.” Came through the comms. “Be aware, we noticed that some of the fighters had anti Warship missiles underneath their fuselage.” He warned.

    “Copy that,” Blaze responded as he destroyed another Sholagar. “All units, priority tasking on fighters carrying anti Warship missiles.”




    Kentares IV, July 1st, 3031

    “This is strange.” Dr. Hale said as she looked at the results before her. “Franklin, come take a look at this.” She held out her slate to the doctor that was going to be replacing her when she retired.

    “He’s still alive with brain damage like this?” Franklin asked incredulously.

    “You’re not looking at the big picture.” Dr. Janet Hale said as she navigated to the specific area she wanted to show him. “First off, First Prince Ian Davion has internal scars from the surgery we did a couple of decades ago to make his spine funcional again, this one does not.” She put the slate into a machine that used her tri-vid to project what she was navigating to. “And, we still have the blood samples we took when we operated on the First Prince as well.”

    “Whoever is in there doesn’t have any of the recorded scarring.” Franklin said as he looked at the results. “And, that blood doesn’t match what we have on file.”

    “Also,” Dr. Hale brought up another section of the medical file. “There’s been an extreme amount of reconstructive surgery done on this patient's face and body in order to force a perfect match with Ian Davion.”

    “But if this isn’t Ian Davion,” Dr. Franklin asked. “Then where is he?”

    “This isn’t Ian Davion, but there are still Davion DNA markers here.” Hale said as she showed him. “Possibly a first cousin of some kind. But whatever the case may be, we have definitive proof that this isn’t First Prince Ian Davion.”

    “We’ll need to send this with Dunham over to Hanse Davion.” Franklin said as soon as he wrapped his head around what exactly Dr. Hale was saying. “And we need to send the body with him as well.”

    “We may need to have Jones do it sooner than that.” Dr. Hale said. “Some news channels are already accusing Hull of having the First Prince assassinated for not launching an attack on the Draconis Combine.”

    “But the Duke had been gone for months before this happened.” Franklin said. “Why would they think that?”

    “Because to many people, it doesn’t matter if it’s actually the truth or not.” Dr. Hale said as she began packing things up. “Everyone on Kentares IV will believe the truth because they know Hull, Hanse Davion and other nobles that have personally interacted with Hull will believe the truth. No one else is going to believe the truth no matter how much we proclaim it unless we can provide absolute proof that Hull didn't order the assassination.”


    “Proof that we have!” Franklin said.

    “Not for long if we don’t get it to New Avalon.” Dr. Hale responded. “If I were someone who was trying to bring down the Federated Suns, I would engineer a civil war by doing something similar to this. So we have a limited window here, and if we are not extremely careful, everyone we know and love could die.”

    “Where are you going Dr. Hale?” Franklin asked.

    “I’d tell you Franklin, but I don’t know if you can be trusted.” Hale said as she knocked him unconscious with a swift blow to the head. “I avoided any areas that might cause brain damage, but you won’t enjoy the headache that comes later.”

    She packed up the remainder of her supplies and essentials before contacting Dunham's 2IC. “Jones, we need to pack up the First Prince and get moving to New Avalon, we may have a lot of issues coming our way if we don’t do this immediately.”

    “Give me five minutes to scramble a Pueblo.” Jones said. “And then we’ll be on our way to the Argo.”

    “    Copy.” Hale responded as she wheeled the body of the duplicate First Prince into the small craft bay. “I’ll be in a shuttle hidden in the shadow of the moon.”

    “Roger,” Jones said. “We’re en route now.”

    “Good.” Hale closed her slate before prepping the shuttle for launch. “This is Dr. Hale to traffic control, “I’m taking my personal shuttle for a bit of a joyride, that last surgery was killer.”

    “Roger that Doctor.” The Traffic controller responded. “I’m depressurizing the bay now, have a nice flight.”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine: Landing
    • Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine: Landing
    Luthien, July 3rd, 3031

    “We’ve cleared out most of the enemy aerospace assets aside from those that managed to fall back to the planet.” Blaze briefed me. “We lost about a third of our fighters, but most of the people were recoverable.”

    “Good,” I told Blaze. “Pilots are expensive, we can replace their fighters over time, but the training and experience is what’s harder to replace.”

    “We’ve got about fifty or so prisoners that we rescued from the void.” Blaze said somberly. “The rest either didn’t eject, or deliberately killed themselves rather than be captured.”

    “At least they’re not the Capellans.” I told Blaze as I patted him on the shoulder before turning to the matter at hand. “We’re going to be setting down here while the 1st and 2nd Kentares Guard go into their designated areas. “They get first priority for the Sting tasking, but we may need Wardog and some aerospace available for CAS.”

    “You can count on us.” Blaze replied, “Just make sure there’s enough space here for a runway if necessary.” He pointed at the LZ. “There’s a field over there that might work.”

    “We’ll have to be careful.” I agreed. “Takashi may have the field and LZ mined so we’ll be taking things slow.” I sighed as I went over my operation plans. “Go get some rack time Blaze.” I said with a shrug. “It’ll be another couple hours before we drop.”




    BBP industries, July 3rd, 3031

    “Pack up what we can.” Paige commanded as her Marines went through and started loading spare parts into the cargo bay of the Age of Discovery. “We’ve got three of these things to finish when we get back to Kentares.”

    “Five Excalibur dropships isn’t a bad haul Ma’am.” Jenkins said to Paige. “Even if only one of them is finished.”

    “We can finish them on Kentares, and Hull might need the extra lift depending on what happens down there.” She pointed at the world in the distance. “Their Dropship collars and drives are intact, and we’re taking what we can to finish them before we destroy the shipyards here.”

    “Yes Ma’am,” Jenkins replied. “I’ve got the prisoners secured on the Manassas and we’ll make sure to hold onto them.”

    “Commodore Frye!” Paige said as she got a wild idea in her head. “What’s the status on the Narukami that’s in orbit?”

    “It looks like it needs a dry dock.” Frye answered. “But we can probably have the Age of Discovery tow it out to the jump point.”

    “Good, because I think that we should bring it with us.” Paige said with a mad grin. “I know it’ll cost a lot to repair, but it’ll be the ultimate slap in the face if we manage to repair it and use it when we leave.”

    “I’ll take a company of Marines over.” Frye said with a chuckle in her voice. “If we can get the reactors and jump sail activated then it may be possible to pull something similar to what we did at Ross.”

    “Good, I think Hull will be willing to spend the money on it.” Paige said. “Assuming that everything goes well down on Luthien that is.”

    “I’ll start working on getting everything set up.” Commodore Frye told Colonel Paige. “We’re going to need to make sure that we have those Excaliburs loaded up before we attempt this though.”




    Luthien

    “We’ve just cleared the landing zone General.” A staff officer reported to Packer. “This is the closest we could land to the Arisaka Munitions Complex.”

    “We’re two hundred and fifty kilometers away.” Packer said bluntly. “I wouldn’t exactly call this close to the munitions complex.”

    “It’s the best we could do and not get hit by any Alamo missiles on our way down.” the staff officer reported.

    “I know son, I’m just giving you a hard time.” Packer said as walked to the ‘mech bay. “We’re going to have quite the fight on our hands.”

    “Yes sir, I think the 7th Sword of Light is stationed here, along with a lot of militia units.”

    “Good thing we brought a lot of extra ammunition and armor then.” Packer shrugged. “We may be outnumbered, but our skill gap isn’t that great, and we’ve got better technology.”

    –
    –

    “We’re going to use two of our vehicle regiments to handle the 7th SoL.” Packer said as he surveyed the battlefield. “We’ve got Arrow IV systems on standby for TAG whenever you have infantry in position, use whatever you need to in order to make sure that the 7th isn’t able to flank us.” He told his XO. “The VTOLS are available for tasking as scouts and we’ve got half of the Stings here for CAS.”

    “Our Battlemech regiment along with the other Vehicle regiment will be focused on making sure that the militia is kept pinned down until we finish off the 7th Sword of Light.” Packer told the staff. “Don’t be afraid to call for air support or for Artillery, we’re not going to give the dracs the satisfaction of us playing by the same rules that they do.”

    “If we aren’t able to seize the Luthien Armor Works facility here, we may have to use our Stings to bombard it, and I’d rather have the factories to take with us back to Kentares then not. Copy?” Packer finished. “Now get to your positions, I think the 7th are going to try and hit us hard and fast.”





    “Have our Partisans on standby, we’ve got incoming conventional aircraft headed our way.” General Godbolt commanded her troops as her Alacorn moved across the ground with its fireteam. “We’re up against the 1st Sword of Light here people, we need to be very cautious because we don’t know what exactly Luthien has here to back them up. I’m expecting the militia units to be bigger and badder than the ones we would find on any other world.”

    “Aye Ma’am.” Came the responses. “Conventional aircraft engaged and neutralized.”

    “That’s good to hear, we’ve got plenty of enemies to engage, so Battalion commanders, pick your targets and follow what your regiment CO tells you to do.”

    “I’ve got a Charger in my sights ma’am.” The spotter said.

    “Take the shot.” The Alacorn’s commander ordered. “We need to make sure that it doesn’t get close enough to hit us with its fists.”

    Three rapid “thumps” sounded as the trio of Clan Gauss Rifles ripped through the air towards the assault mech. When they impacted, the Charger jolted backwards as armor crumpled and it’s right arm was completely shorn off. With a quick reload the Alacorn fired its trio of Gauss Rifles again, taking the Charger out before shifting to a Jenner and making the lighter ‘mech back off.


    “Ahh,” The gunner crowed. “Why are you leaving? I thought you wanted more!” He fired again after his guns were reloaded and grinned as the Jenner fell to the ground.

    “Easy on the bloodlust Corporal.” The Alacorn’s commander said. “We’ve got a hell of a campaign ahead of us.”





    “Takashi Kurita!” Natasha Kerensky hailed on an open channel. “Come out and face me you coward! You did not have the courage to face me or my family in open combat and so you had her killed!” Her Nightstar itself seemed to shake with barely restrained rage.

    “You say that and yet you come here to raid my home!” Takashi’s voice came back in response as an entire lance of Grand Dragon’s walked out backed by the rest of the Otomo.

    “If you believe that this is merely a raid you are sorely mistaken.” I said as I made my appearance with the rest of Natasha’s Clan Marauders. “We are here to ensure that your dynasty is no longer able to lead an interstellar nation. The Kuritan Dynasty has come to an end.”

    “Duke Hull,” Takashi said coldly. “I should have known that you would have the audacity to attack a Throneworld.”

    “I take refuge in the audacity Coordinator.” I chuckled. “Now, this is your last chance to surrender before we grind you into dust.” I said. “The rest of my forces are even now making sure that Luthien is unable to manufacture machines of War after we depart here.”

    “I will end you and your pitiful life Hull.” Takashi stated. “You are nothing more than a peasant whom the Davions took pity on and raised out of the dust, and I shall return you to the dust.”

    “We shall see about that Coordinator.” Natasha said. “All I see before me is a coward who is unwilling to face justice for his crimes.”

    “I am the Coordinator,” Takashi said coldly in response. “I am the law.”

    “Then we shall see you on the battlefield.” Natasha said. “In three days time we will see who is really a coward or not.”

    “What are you doing Natasha?” I asked on a private channel.

    “Ensuring that no matter what happens we get our revenge.” She said coldly. “He must respond to my challenge, and then we shall clean up the remains from his ‘mech and display it as a trophy for all to see.”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty: Battlefield 3031
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty: Battlefield 3031
    July 5th, 3031

    “General, the Militia are falling back into pre-set defenses.” An officer in the mobile HQ reported. “The Colonel is asking for CAS to clear the path before he advances.”

    “Have two Stings go provide support.” Packer responded. “Colonel Barnes, we need you to get into your ‘mech now.” He looked at the line where a company of 7th Sword of Light ‘mechs had broken through. “We’re about to get hammered.”

    “1st Regiment, what happened?” Packer asked the CO of that regiment.

    “Sir, it’s a company of fast mediums and lights, they broke through before we could take the shot and are pushing for our CIC hard, this is an attempt to take you off of the board sir.” The Colonel reported.

    “I figured that.” Packer said as he moved different forces in position and rotated some out for repairs. “Just make sure to clean up the last two Battalions that they have left.”

    “We’re backing them into a corner now sir.” The officer in charge of the units facing the 7th Sword of Light responded. “We’ll take care of it.”

    “General, you may want to get into your Rampage.” An officer relayed. “Those weren’t mediums, they’re a new Dragon and they’re moving fast supported by some Jenners.”

    “Moving.” Packer said as he left the Mobile HQ in order to scramble up the drop ladder from his Rampage. Closing his hatch, he connected his Mithril to the ‘mech and climbed into the secondary command chair and ordered the pilot to power everything up.

    “This is Kilo Golf 1, I need everything synced up to the command console here.” He told the staff in the mobile HQ.

    “Copy that General, syncing everything up now.” They responded. “Sixty seconds until completion.”

    The pilot of the Rampage began to move the Assault ‘mech forward at a steady jog until it joined up with the other two fireteams that were in place guarding the Command and Control center.

    “Do you need us to fall back and assist?” The CO of the units currently handling the militia asked.

    “Negative Colonel, we’ve got everything well in hand here.” Packer replied as he continued coordinating the destruction of the 7th SoL and the militia units supporting them.

    “Targets are lased.” A Mithril fireteam leader relayed to the Arrow IV artillery systems in place. “You’ve got solid confirmation on targets.”

    “Firing Arrows now.” The artillery Battalion responded. “We’ve got four targets lased and neutralized, reloading.”

    “Pick your targets, and keep them away from the HQ.” Packer ordered. “We’re winning this, it’ll
    just take us some time, time we won’t have if they kill our HQ staff members.”

    The Rampage pilot moved carefully out of the way of a PPC shot and let his AMS systems take care of the LRMs that the Grand Dragons were firing at him, triggering his Gauss rifle and LB-10X at the same time he was able to cause the heavy ‘mech to stumble. Engaging his MASC systems, the pilot moved forward at a pace of eighty-six KPH and lashed out with his fist and ER medium lasers to complete the fall of the Grand Dragon while the rest of the fireteam made short work of the other heavy and light mechs with concentrated fire.

    “Good work people,” Packer said from his command chair while looking at the battlefield as a whole. “But we aren’t finished just yet.”

    –
    –

    “That’s not powered armor!” One of the Mithril clad infantry yelled as a much larger suit of armor made an appearance on the battlefield.

    “No, it looks like a version of the Elementals fielded by the Wolf’s Dragoons,” A Platoon lieutenant responded. “Gang up on it, I want three Mithril to an Elemental.” The Lieutenant commed his company CO. “Captain, we’ve got Elementals on the battlefield.”

    “You’re not the only ones reporting that Lieutenant.” The captain replied. “It looks like they have one Elemental for every five regular infantry, so dedicate fireteams to taking on the Elementals while we focus on taking the Luthien Armor Works facilities here MPPCs are working to short out their electronics long enough for us to use the Small Lasers built into the arms of the Mithril (B) suits to finish killing them.”

    “Copy that sir, we’ll get it done.” The Lieutenant replied and then relayed the instructions. “Fireteam Alpha, I want you to focus on the Elementals, the rest of you are to finish cleaning out the standard infantry, I don’t want us to be taken out by a lucky ‘mech grade mine or explosive.”

    “Aye sir!” They responded and moved out.”




    Luthien, July 5th, 3031

    “What a Clusterfuck.” Godbolt muttered under her breath as she looked at what was left of the 1st Sword of Light. “Suicide, really?” She asked as she looked at the human being that while alive had been known as Rentoshi. “We got close and you just laid down and died?” She knelt by the dead man and shook her head.

    “I want these bodies cleared out, we’re taking the Daimyo as salvage to replace our own Mobile HQ.” She gestured towards the vehicle in question. “I suspect you’ll find much of what we did out here.”

    “Ma’am, we have reports of the enemy Sword of Light Mechwarriors attempting suicide charged against our vehicles and ‘mechs one their own are downed.” A senior officer reported. “None of our forces have been hurt yet, but some of our infantry are concerned, the enemy suicide bombers are all packing ‘mech grade explosives and they don’t want to get caught in an explosion.”

    “I’ll order our people to aim for headshots.” Godbolt sighed. “The Militia are falling back into the city though, and we’ve got access to the electronics factories and what Luthien Armor Works facilities are here as well.”


    “Have everything triple checked for traps?” The officer asked as Godbolt began to climb back into her Alacorn.

    “Yes, and anything we can’t bring with us I want a scan of, we can replace components, but we’re not leaving anything more than small arms manufacturing when we leave here.” She said before she closed the tank hatch. “Lieutenant, go get us rearmed and armored, we need to go man the lines against the militia units.”

    “Yes Ma’am.” The tank commander responded. “You heard the lady, get us back to our repair facilities.”




    Imperial City, Luthien, July 6th, 3031

    “This is not a duel, Coordinator.” Natasha said as she stood in the empty field. “This is where you meet your demise.”

    There was no response, just silence as the Otomo and Ducal Guard stood facing each other before Natasha fired her twin Gauss Rifles and ERPPC at an enemy Heavy ‘mech and watched it fall to the ground as the pilot lost their balance and fell to the ground.

    I immediately moved my Warhammer forward at a run, ready to bring the enemy before me low, only to be greeted by an Orion.

    “Your opponent is me.” A voice said over an open channel as the Orion fired a Gauss round that crumpled some of the armor in my center torso. “As your wife is my father’s opponent.”

    “Then I pray that you survive this Kurita-San.” I replied. “Because your father will not.” I shifted my Warhammer out of the way of the PPC shot that was sent my way and let my AMS system handle the SRMs before opening fire with one of my PPCs, and narrowly avoiding another Gauss round that was fired at my ‘mech.

    Swiftly moving out of range of everything but the Gauss rifle that the Orion had I began to alternate fire with my PPCs, being careful to watch my heat as I backed up while melting armor off of the slightly heavier machine. When his Orion was beginning to slow down I moved back into range of my lasers, and gave my Warhammer the opportunity to cool down before I used my brace of lasers to breach the center torso.
    “Kurita-San, I am not a barbarian, surrender and I shall allow you and your family to live as long as you swear to never take up arms against my family or nation again.” I said as I brought my ERPPC up near his cockpit.

    “I am afraid that I cannot do that, it would bring dishonor to my children and wife .” Theodore replied as he ejected from his crippled machine of war.

    “I want someone tracking that escape pod and chute, we need to capture Theodore alive if at all possible.” I commanded.

    Meanwhile, Natasha was playing with the Coordinator, toying with his Grand Dragon while peeling his armor off pieces at a time with her PPC and Medium Lasers.

    Only after a flash of light in the atmosphere did Natasha end the farce that this fight was by crippling Takashi’s Grand Dragon and firing her Lasers into his cockpit.

    “This is Mathis, orbital drop on the Imperial Palace is underway.” A comms signal crackled but made it through into our systems.

    “That was perfect timing, Mathis.” I said, “We’re cleaning up the Otomo now.”

    Author's Note/Edit: The flash of light was from Mathis and co entering the atmosphere, not because of any nukes. Just letting y'all know.
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One: Reactions
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One: Reactions
    Tharkad, July 15th, 3031

    “You’re absolutely sure that Hull just hit Luthien?” Katrina Steiner asked Simon Johnson.

    “Yes, I am one hundred percent certain that Hull, his Ducal Guard, and two regimental combat teams made landfall on Luthien a couple of weeks ago.” Johnson replied.

    Katrina opened up a drawer in her desk and gave Arthur a look. “You want some?” She asked as her husband brought out some glasses while she drew out a bottle of very expensive liquor.

    “I’m not going to turn down that vintage.” Johnson replied. “But I’m afraid that I’ll only have a finger or two.”

    “Reschedule all of my appointments for the rest of the day.” Katrina told her secretary via an intercom system. “I’m taking the day off.”

    “Thank you for the drink.” Simon Johnson said as he savored the alcohol. “But I’m afraid I cannot take the remainder of the day off if I want to piece together what’s going on in the Draconis Combine.”

    “Just make sure you get some rest.” Katrina said as she raised her glass in a wave as he left her office. “Arthur, if he wasn’t already happily married to Natasha, I’d have him wed to a Steiner already.”

    “I know.” Arthur responded with a chuckle as he took a sip of some of his own liquor. “What does this mean for the Commonwealth though?”

    “It means that we’re probably going to be able to push further than even our best projections.” She said as she gestured towards the map of the Inner Sphere on her wall. “With the 1st Marksman having taken and held Kessel against extreme odds, and the rest of our forces pushing hard we may have to actually pause our invasion in order to get our supply chains back together.”

    “Now, we have a bottle to finish.” Katrina said as she poured more liquor into her glass. “A toast, to Mark Hull, the most magnificent and audacious bastard in the Inner Sphere.”

    “I’m not sure he’s magnificent.” Arthur chuckled, “but he would probably agree with audacious.” He drank some more of his liquor. “Besides, he’s the only one in Davion Space that has moved into Combine Space yet.”

    “He’ll come back with some lostech or something.” Katrina stated with a smile. “He always pulls off something strange and odd.”

    “That or Natasha will come back with the Combine having sworn to follow her as their Coordinator,” Arthur said with a short bark of laughter. “I can see the Hull-Kerensky line taking the throne now.”

    “Don’t even joke about that.” Katrina smacked her husband on the shoulder. “Hull would never go for it anyway, he doesn’t like all of the extra work.”




    Taurian Concordat, July 31st, 3031

    “That bastard is just going to be even more smug the next time I see him.” Thomas Calderon said. “We need to make sure that our orbital defenses are reinforced though.” He jotted down a note. “If Hull can pull this off on Luthien, he can probably do something similar to Tharkad or New Avalon as well.”

    “Aren’t we allies with both of them right now?” Thomas’s wife asked.

    “Yes, but it’s better to prepare for something like this and for it to never happen, than to be shocked and surprised by it taking place on your doorstep.” Thomas said. “The last time a Throneworld was attacked was in the 1st Succession War, and it wasn’t on a level like this.”

    “Alright dear,” Katherine said, “But that’s something to work on tomorrow, it’s past five now.”

    “You’re right.” Thomas leaned in and gave his wife a kiss. “Let’s go home for the day.”




    Outworlds Alliance, July 31st, 3031

    “Hull did what?!” Vesar Kristofur asked as he spit out some of the water he had been drinking.

    “Hull made landfall earlier in this month, and managed to capture Theodore Kurita as well as the entirety of the current ruling family of the Draconis Combine.” The agent reported.

    “What of Marcus Kurita?” Vesar asked, “We assured him that he would have the forces for victory.”

    “Not a single person alive expected Hull to move on a Throneworld.” The agent said bluntly. “I have our people tracking signals all over the Inner Sphere and Periphery in shock at what he just pulled off.”

    “You didn’t answer my question.” Vesar pointed out. “Is Marcus Kurita dead?”

    “Yes sir, he was killed by one of the infantry commanders of Hull’s personal guard according to our reports, and any of the Kuritas that were still on the planet are so far down in the line for the throne that the Combine may be warring amongst themselves for generations before they are able to have a new Coordinator.” The agent handed over the reports. “I’m going to get some sleep now, I’ve been compiling these for the last twelve hours or so.”

    “Yes, make sure that you get the Analysts working on some projections for me first though.” Vesar commanded. “Many of my plans just went up in smoke, it’s hard to frame a hero in the Federated Suns after all.”




    New Avalon, August 30th, 3031

    “You’re absolutely certain that this is not Ian?” Hanse asked Dr. Janet Hale as he looked at the brain dead man on the medical table in front of him.

    “Yes sir, I brought more of the samples that we still had from his spinal surgery, as well as the DNA links that we found as evidence.” Hale replied with Jones backing her up.

    “We’re not certain when the swap would have been done, but I can tell you with certainty that regardless of whether or not this is the real Ian Davion, he wasn’t assassinated by us or Duke Hull.” Jones chimed in.

    “I believe you,” Hanse said, “And most of the press are saying that Hull couldn’t have done it either, but several other press areas and people have picked up the story of Hull assassinating Ian and running with it.”

    “Is there nothing that you can do?” Hale asked. “I mean, we have the proof right here.”

    “It’ll take weeks to verify everything, and I can’t do anything about the press.” Hanse shrugged. “We have freedom of the press and speech as well, if I cracked down on them I would be no better than the late Takashi Kurita and Maximilian Liao.”

    “That’s a very valid point sir.” Dr. Hale replied.

    “Jones,” Hanse turned to the 2IC of Hull’s intelligence network. “I want you to coordinate with Quintus Allard on this, see what you can figure out about when and how this switch would have taken place.” He sighed as he looked down at the body on the bed. “We’ve got some excellent people, but yours are better at SIGINT and anything involving technology like this.”

    “Yes sir,” Jones replied. “I’ll send a courier with a message to Dunham and let him know about my change in assignment.”

    “This is a mess to be frank.” Hanse said as he looked at the man and woman in front of him. “But Hull might have actually made it easier by moving on Luthien.”

    “How so?” Dr. Hale asked. “I’m not military or intelligence so I’m genuinely lost here.”

    “Right now Hull is a reigning hero who has done the impossible in the main media.” Jones said “Natasha and our Duke are featured prominently as the ones who brought the Dragon down to the lowest it’s ever been.”

    “Then how is this made easier?” Hale asked with a look of confusion on her face.

    “Some of the press are pushing Hull as the latest iteration of Stefan Amaris.” Hanse said, “It’s mostly gossip rags trying to get a sale for now, but that could change quickly.”

    “Which is why we have a limited time frame in which to get everything discovered and proven before Hull is back.” Jones agreed. “Now, there were plans to try and hit New Samarkand as well, but I’m not absolutely sure that they’ll be followed.”

    “Let’s hope they are, because if they manage to take out the ISF as well then they’ll be able to stay in the good graces of the media for now.” Hanse said. “Dr. Hale, I want you to meet with the physicians here in the Davion Palace complex as well as NAIS, they’ll be able to help prove that this is indeed a fake instead of the real Ian Davion and have better equipment than the portable stuff you brought with you.”

    “Yes sir.” Dr. Hale nodded. “I’ll get right on that if someone can give me directions.”

    “I’ll have someone escort you there directly.” Hanse gestured and David Hull stepped out of the shadows to escort Dr. Hale to the location she was supposed to go to.
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One: Reactions Part Two
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One: Reactions Part Two
    Atreus, Marik Space, July 31st, 3031

    “Anton, we need to formulate a response to this.” Janos said to his brother as the battleRom finished playing. “We are not a nation that can fully defend against a strike such as this anymore.”

    “That was proven when Stewart was hit all those years ago.” Anton replied as he sagged in his chair from exhaustion. “We’ve firmly established ourselves here, and we’ve been taking the time to build our forces up again.”

    “Most of the border worlds have ceded themselves over to the Steiners after the various states failed to protect them from pirates and other raids.” Janos said as he looked at the map. “We need to bring Stewart and the Anduriens back to heel before the periphery powers start to make moves.”

    “It’s too late for that, Janos.” Anton Marik sighed, “The Magistracy built up their forces for ten years and managed to retake the worlds that were taken from them during the Succession Wars. Six months ago they launched an offensive, and the militia units that were there basically rolled over for them.”

    “If we do not do something then the Free Worlds League will never be able to return to prominence.” Janos muttered.

    “The Free Worlds League as we knew it is gone brother.” Anton said tiredly. “I don’t think that it will return as a nation in my lifetime.”

    “Either way, we need to begin building our defenses up to be able to stave off an advance like the one that Duke Hull just pulled off on Luthien.” Janos stated.

    “Janos, the only reason that he was able to accomplish what he did is because he wasn’t there to conquer Luthien.” Anton said as he pointed out the force compositions that they knew of in Combine space. “Look, we know that they have at the very minimum over half a dozen battlemech militia regiments stationed on Luthien, not to mention the Sword of Light Regiments and the Otomo.” He brought up files of those units on their ‘Noteputers. “If he were there to conquer Luthien then Hull would have been bogged down, he only brought two RCTs and an overstrength Regiment after all.” Anton brought up the limited data that they had on the Kentares Guard units. “And, they left Vincent’s Commandos back on Kentares to ensure that Kentares still had a good defense force from what we have data on.”

    “So their only target was Takashi Kurita and the leadership of the Draconis Combine.” Janos stroked his Goatee. “If Hull managed to take out Subhash Indrahar as well, then the Combine will be nearly broken between the Steiners and Davions.”

    “Aside from a few remnants, yes.” Anton agreed. “I’ve spent the last two to three days going over the data that we had and triple checking our intelligence analysis for errors, and everything points to this being a revenge strike.”

    “A revenge strike for what though?” Janos wondered. “We don’t have any intel on what might have caused Hull to attempt something so bold.”

    “Wait for a press release from his people.” Anton shrugged, “People like to brag about their accomplishments when they actually pull something like this off.”




    Robinson, July 31st, 3031

    “That Son of a Bitch!” Duke Aaron Sandoval said to himself as he looked over the compiled reports that he had on the battle of Luthien. “I can’t believe anyone actually pulled something like that off.”

    “Katheryn was a part of the 2nd Kentares Guard.” James Sandoval said as he looked through the reports as well. “I’m mobilizing sections of the Draconis March to advance from Proserpina and take several planets while the Dracs are reeling from this information.”

    “I’m going to move several regiments of the Robinson Raiders forward to retake several of the worlds that we lost against the Combine all those years ago.” Aaron Sandoval said as he looked over his force readiness. “I know that the Swordsman was supposed to be a stone tied around our necks, but with the output from that factory and several others, we’ve been able to rotate fresh machines into our forces.”

    “It’s essentially a smaller Shadow Hawk.” James Sandoval agreed. “I just wish they had put SRMs on the machine as well.”

    “Regardless, it’s a machine that fills enough roles that we can make use of it in great numbers.” Aaron Sandoval said. “We’re going to hit the Combine, and hit them hard, and if anyone tries to stop us we’ll just point out that this is the best opportunity to break the Combine that any nation has ever had.”




    Kentares IV, July 31st, 3031

    “Hmm, would you like to try some Jasmine tea next time?” Kerlin Ward asked one of the patrons of his tea shop, the Timber Wolf. “According to my studies of the art of tea making you could benefit from it most greatly.”

    “If tea worked that well, I would have already brought peace to the galaxy.” Dunham told the retired Khan. “I see business is booming.”

    “Indeed, I find that more people come for advice and stay for the tea than the other way around though.” The old man stroked his beard. “I am uncertain as to why they would come for my advice though, I am merely and old Khan who enjoys his peace and quiet.”

    “Kerensky and Hull just managed to raid Luthien.” Dunham told Ward. “I figured you should know.”

    “I am no longer concerned with matters of war.” Ward said with a small twinkle in his eye. “But I do love a good story. Now, tell me of this great battle that was fought.”




    Oberon VI, July 31st, 3031

    “What is it?” Khan Ulric Kerensky asked Jaime Wolf as he entered the office. “I am currently trying to figure out how to join this “Alliance” in order to get assistance in setting up a civilian government.”

    “You are going to want to see this Khan.” Jaime Wolf said as he carried a copy of a Battlerom over to the Khan’s desk.

    –
    –
    “Why?” Kerensky sighed as he facepalmed. “Why must Natasha Kerensky always cause that much more work for me?”

    “What do you mean?” Jaime raised an eyebrow.

    “I am going to have to add both her and her bondswomen to the Rememberance.” Ulric Kerensky sighed. “They have taken part in one of the greatest battles in the history of the Inner Sphere, and I missed it.” Ulric stood up from his desk and began to leave his office. “Are you coming?” He asked over his shoulder.

    “Where are we going?” Jaime asked.

    “To gather up a Galaxy and go take part in the great campaign that is going on of course.” Ulric stated. “We have the opportunity to seize greatness, we must strike.”

    “Should I send a message to Archon Steiner informing her of our movements?” Jaime asked. “She may take it as a sign of aggression against the Lyran Commonwealth.”

    “Yes, and I will gather up the best of our warriors and launch an attack that will pierce the Draconis Combine.” Ulric grinned. “Finally some action after all of this peace.”




    Strana Mechty, July 31st, 3031

    “Where is Khan Weston Cooper?” Khan Elias Crichell of the Jade Falcons asked. “We are here to vote once again on whether to move on the Inner Sphere or not.”

    “The Snow Ravens have not been in contact with us in almost a year aside from our standard trade deals.” The Khan of Clan Ghost Bear replied. “This is most unusual.”

    “We have not fought any trials against them of late.” Khan Terrance Kufahl responded. “Admittedly though, we have been busy consolidating our finds after winning our Trial of Absorption on Clan Smoke Jaguar.”

    “Clan Wolf Continues to ferry their populace to somewhere that we have no knowledge of,” One of the Warden clan Khans spoke up. “And they have refused any challenges.”

    “Do we believe that Clan Snow Raven is attempting to do something similar?” Khan Crichell asked. “That would violate the vote yes?”

    “Not if they have not invaded the Inner Sphere.” Khan Kufahl stated. “They may be attempting to locate new worlds in which to colonize.”

    “We shall find out soon enough.” The Khan of Clan Ghost Bear spoke up. “Let us begin the vote on whether we shall move on the Inner Sphere or not.” He began the voting. “I vote Nay.” This was followed by a near unanimous vote of agreement by all of the clans.

    “We shall give it some time before we move on the Inner Sphere.” Elias Crichel stated. “For now we wait and bide our time.”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Two: Dark Days
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Two: Dark Days
    August 15th, 3031

    “We managed to pull off almost all of our main objectives.” I told Godbolt and Packer. “We have the Dragon, Charger, Quickdraw, and Grand Dragon lines on board the Age of Discovery, along with large pieces of the Lancelot lines before we destroyed the rest of the production there.” I sighed. “I need one of your units to take the Age of Discovery along with the Excaliburs and Triumph dropships that we looted and assist the Marines in getting to Kentares with the Narukami that we took.”

    “I hate to say it,” Packer started. “But I took a bit more losses than Godbolt did, and should probably get started on making sure that Kentares is covered from reprisal.”

    “I’m taking the Manassas and the Vanguard with me to hit New Samarkand while we’re still on the move,” I told the senior officers. “And I want to take out the ISF HQ while we’re there,” I shrugged. “After we strip all of the intelligence we can from it of course.”

    “What are we going to do with Theodore Kurita and his family?” Godbolt asked.

    “I’m turning them over to Hanse, it’s his ball park after all.” I said with a shrug, “I’m just playing in it.”

    “So Packer, you and the 1st Kentares are going to be taking the wounded, and all of the loot that we have back to Kentares.” I said with a smile on my face. “Be careful and stick to the dead systems that we used to make it to Luthien in the first place, the Age of Discovery looks like a mighty tempting target right now after all.”

    “We’ll keep the booty safe.” Packer said with a grin. “You can count on us.”

    “Y’all did incredible work on Luthien.” I looked at the two COs. “Anything you want after this, if it is in my power I’ll make it happen.”





    New Avalon, September 15th, 3031

    “We’ve run all of the possible tests.” Dr. Banzai told Hanse Davion. “Dr. Hale here was a big help in showing us what she had already gone over.”

    “I was afraid that might be the case.” Hanse replied with a massive sigh. “Do we have any idea whose body it is?”

    “I’m afraid not,” Banzai shook his head with a frown. “But we do have verifiable proof that it’s not First Prince Ian Davion.”

    “That’s what I needed.” Hanse said as he flipped through the documentation that was provided to him. “Do we have an estimated timeframe on when the switch took place?” He asked Quintus Allard.

    “We have identified areas where it would have been easiest to replace him, yes.” Quintus used his slate to send the files over. “We’re fairly certain that the swap occurred while he was on his tour of the Outback.”

    “There must have been traitors in our midst.” Hanse said as he flipped through the files.

    “We’ve identified the four that are most likely to be infiltrators.” Quintus said calmly. “With your permission, I would like to ask the personal guards of House Davion if they would be willing to subject themselves to Narco Interrogation in order to prove their loyalty.”

    “I’m not going to mandate it Quintus. “Hanse said after a moment's thought. “But we can see who is willing to submit themselves to it and move on from there.”

    “Most of us are going to be willing to Hanse.” Quintus said. “Even Jones and Hale here would be willing.”

    “Most of the intelligence that I know is already shared with you anyway.” Jones agreed. “I’d prefer to not share some of our department’s secrets, but I would be willing to do that if we were able to catch some traitors.”

    “You have my permission to administer it to people who are willing Quintus.” Hanse said. “We’re not going to lose the loyalty of some of our best people over this issue.”

    “We’ll find the traitors or infiltrators Hanse,” Quintus stated with a small smil. “And we’ll figure out who did this to Ian and bring them to justice.”

    “Alright, everyone can leave.” Hanse said tiredly. “Quintus, can you have Yvonne sent in, I think she needs to know about this and I should be the one to inform her.” ‘




    Altair, September 15th, 3031

    “We’re still bogged down here.” Stone commed his XO. “The Dragoons brought some sort of larger powered armor than our Mithril suits, and they got the drop on us.”

    “We’re handling the Ryuken regiments over here decently, I can send over a detachment of aerospace to clear some space for you to fall back.” Stones XO Major Vance replied. “But there’s still a lot of enemy assets.”

    “I have you trapped here Colonel Stone,” A voice said over open channels. “If you tell me where Duke Hull is then I will allow you to depart from this world.”

    “Colonel Wolf, even if I knew where Hull was I wouldn’t tell you.” Stone replied as he moved his MAD-2T around a gutted Von Luckner. “You’ll have to pry the information from my cold dead corpse.”

    “We shall see Colonel, we shall see.” The voice cut off as the channel closed.

    “I want all of our units to start falling back towards the LZ.” Stone commanded the forces with him. “I’ll hold the line with a couple of fireteams until Vance can get us reinforced.”

    The mixed regiment began to fall back in an orderly fashion, leaving Stone with a mixed company of vehicles and ‘mechs to hold the line against the Wolf’s Dragoons.

    “You gonna come and face me like a man Colonel Wolf?” Stone asked. “Or did you leave your balls back in the Wolf Confederation with your brother?”

    “Did you believe that I was limited by what my brother has done?” Joshua Wolf asked as his Black Knight walked out into view followed by three lances of assault ‘mechs. “This is where you lose Stone.”

    “We’ll see about that.” Stone replied as he fired his twin Clantech ERPPCs along with his LB-5X at one of the Assault ‘mechs. “The time for the Wolf’s Dragoons is coming to an end.”


    Author's note: Sorry if this seems a little incoherent, I've got a killer migraine right now and it makes it hard to write. I may will have to go back and edit this because I felt like I was missing a section, but at this point I'm just glad that I put a chapter out today. May or may not have any chapters out next week, I'm going on vacation and will not be bringing my computer with me. Also, I know canonically the Grand Dragon didn't make an appearance until later, but that got changed here by butterflies Author hand wave etc...
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Three: “It’s Treason Then”
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Three: “It’s Treason Then”
    New Avalon, September 21st, 3031

    “We’ve identified these four as infiltrators and two more as traitors.” Quintus Allard told Hanse Davion.

    “I take it they’ve already been imprisoned?” Hanse asked as he looked at the files that Quintus had just handed him. “I’d like to begin rolling up the last of any enemy intelligence cells on New Avalon immediately.” He looked at the map on his wall which had Luthien circled. “With the Combine on the back foot we need to begin getting things arranged to exploit the likely succession crisis they’re going to go through.”

    “We’ve already begun interrogation on the six agents we found in the staff here in the Palace.” Quintus responded. “And I’ll have our people start removing the ISF cells in conjunction with DMI shortly.”

    “Have the Taurians or Lyrans been sharing intelligence with us of late?” Hanse asked.

    “Yes, we’ve been coordinating with the Lyrans since they launched OPERATION BLITZKRIEG Quintus said. “We’ve helped Duke Sandoval to identify several key weak points in the Combine, and he’s launching a full offensive on the heels of the Sack of Luthien. That Hull pulled off.”

    “Sticking with that term huh?” Hanse asked. “I thought that was just something that our PR people came up with.”


    “It fits.” Quintus stated bluntly. “And until anyone knows where Hull is going to move next the entire Combine will be on the move.”

    “It is fitting.” Hanse agreed with a small smile. “And Yvonne and I have a cover story to move forward with in regards to Ian.”

    “Oh?” Quintus asked with a raised eyebrow.

    “A hit by the Combine in order to throw suspicion onto Hull after he departed with his two guard units.” Hanse said. “The full details are in this packet.” He slid the document over to Quintus for review.

    “I’ll look it over and get back to you along with the results of the interrogation.” Quintus replied. “I have a lot of work to do after all.”

    “I’ll let you get to it.” Hanse said. “I would appreciate it if you had the results in the next couple of days though.” He sighed, “Press release is on the twenty fifth.”

    “I’ll have it on your desk tomorrow morning Hanse.” Quintus smiled as he left Hanse’s office.





    September 22nd, 3031

    “We’ve got around sixty days until we reach New Samarkand.” I told the assembled officers. “I fully expect every single regional capital in the Draconis Combine to be on extremely high alert after what we just managed to pull off on Luthien.”

    “I do not believe that we will face the same amount of forces.” Yvonne Hazen spoke up as she brought up the intelligence briefs that Dunham had sent with us when we first left. “The Fifth Galedon Regulars have been stationed there underneath Grieg Samsonov for the last decade or so.”

    “They have an unusual TO&E for a Combine unit.” Mathis brought up. “We know based off of MIIO reports that its a medium unit, but that for every one ‘mech lance that they use they’re also backed up by two combat vehicles lances.” He glanced around. “They may not have quite the sheer amount of skill that we faced on Luthien, but these will be some of the hardest opponents we’ve ever faced, and a large part of that will be because everyone is going to be trying to bring us down for taking out the Coordinator.”

    “If they’re not too busy trying to fight for the specific person that they believe should be the new Coordinator that is.” I said as I looked over the map. “We just took out Takashi, Subhash Indrahar, and were able to take the immediate successors to the Combine as hostages. This along with us making sure that Marcus Kurita was taken out means that there’s almost certain to be a succession crisis.”

    “That may wait until after the Steiners and Davions are done with their invasions though.” Godbolt said after processing everything. “There’s nothing more unifying than an external threat.”

    “Unless we manage to feed those flames.” I said while stroking my beard. “What if we allow Samsonov to retreat and leave New Samarkand in order to head back to Luthien, we know from out intelligence reports that he’s a power hungry man, and that the 5th Galedon and the 19th Galedon Regulars are likely going to be loyal to him.”

    “Engineer this in a way that we get to hit the ISF HQ and set off a chain reaction.” Mathis said as he rubbed his hands together with a grin. “We’ll have to make several separate operational plans for this based on the reactions that we get.”

    “Better to have backup plans and be willing to improvise than to be caught by surprise.” I agreed. “While on New Samarkand, I’m going to need someone to get news reports from the rest of the Inner Sphere.” I shrugged when I got several questioning looks. “We’ve been in the dark for far too long, and we’re going to need more intel before we return to Kentares IV.”




    New Avalon, September 25th, 3031

    “Almost a year ago today I stepped in as regent while my brother First Prince Ian Davion went on a tour of the Outback in order to survey and check on the improvements that the realm as a whole has been investing in.” Hanse began the press release. “When Ian returned from his travels, he told me to remain as regent for a short time while he went on a short vacation before returning to New Avalon in order to resume his duties.” Hanse inhaled and looked at the gathered media presence. “A short period of time later, during the standard requalifications for mechwarrior certification my brother was harmed by a Draconis Combine plot to remove him from the head of the realm. Our experts at MIIO and DMI have explained to me that this was likely a plot to try and prevent Duke Hull of Kentares from moving on the Combine immediately.” Hanse smiled sadly. “That obviously didn’t work out very well for them.” He along with several members of the press chuckled. “Seeing as the Sack of Luthien happened last month and they still don’t know where Hull will hit next.”

    “What happened to the First Prince?” A reporter stood up and asked while Hanse paused.

    “The details on that will be released shortly.” Hanse replied. “But believe me when I say that the truth will not only set you free, but will shock you to the core.”

    “Is there anything you can tell us now?” A separate reporter asked.

    “Just that we are moving forward with an invasion of the Draconis Combine, and that our allies the Taurian Concordat and the Lyran Commonwealth have been extremely helpful in supporting us during this time of crisis.”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Four: Status Report
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Four: Status Report
    October 31st, 3031

    “Quintus, why didn’t you show me the recording before?” Hanse asked as he doubled over in laughter while watching the BattleRom showing the capture of one of the spies.

    “Because I knew that you wouldn’t take it seriously if I showed you this.” Quintus replied with a sigh. “The only reason that we didn’t lose any of our people is because they were wearing Mithril.”

    “I know.” Hanse struggled to breath without bursting into laughter again. “Just watch it from a comedic angle this time.”

    –
    –
    Recording Date/Time: 1900 hours New Avalon Standard Time 21/09/3031

    The Blakist infiltrator sighed with relief as he collapsed into the office chair of his penthouse apartment and turned on the swivel to look out upon Avalon City. Being a part of the Palace Guard paid really well, and even if he was just an infiltrator he might as well enjoy the money while he could.

    “Incoming call from Julia,” His caller ID said from his slate.

    “Julia!” He answered while thumbing his electrified baton and spinning it in his fingers. “I thought we weren’t supposed to contact each other.”

    “They’re at the door,” She said and then her voice just cut off.

    “Hmm,” The Blakist said as he shrugged and continued spinning his baton. Putting his hood up he cued up the security feeds to his apartment building. “So they’re onto us.” He muttered as the feeds started going out one by one. “I guess I’ll get ready then.” He grabbed three GyroJet pistols and set them into holsters as he also prepped the suicide tooth that he had. He then used a stimpatch and readied himself for when they came through the door.

    The door didn’t stand up to a towering two meter tall man clad in Mithril. And the Blakist flinched backwards at first before bringing the first of the gyro jet pistols up to fire. “You think you can face us!” He taunted. “We will have unlimited power when we seize Terra and your homeworlds!” He fired the pistol cursing as he missed the power armored man moving through his apartment.

    “You will fail!” The Blakist yelled as a different trooper moved in closer to engage him. “You know what wasn’t reinforced in my apartment?” He asked as he moved out of the way of the Davion trooper. “The Windows bitch!” He laughed maniacally as the trooper fell down from the penthouse before the trooper that first came into his apartment reached him. Trying to activate his suicide capsul, he moved his tongue around only for the Davion soldier to force his mouth open, nearly breaking his jaw in th process and yanking out the suicide tooth.

    “You are under arrest, by committing treason and being a foreign agent you have temporarily forfeited all of your rights until a proper investigation and interrogation is performed. Don’t remain silent, being vocal may save your life.” The Davion Soldier said as he restrained the hooded man.

    –
    –

    “Okay, maybe it’s not as funny the second time around.” Hanse said after they finished watching the recording.

    “It is admittedly funny in some parts.” Quintus said. “And we’ll have to use some of it for training, but aside from that it just goes to show that whoever accomplished this was no amatuer. They were well trained and if we didn’t have the Mithril and extremely professional personnel this could have been a disaster.”

    “We’re finished with interrogation and cross checking the information correct?” Hanse asked.

    “Yes Hanse,” Quintus replied. “They’re a significant force based out of the Outworlds Alliance. The remnants of the radical faction of Comstar that we thought had been eliminated. The switch was made on Delos IV and they had other agents on the planet to assist with the switch of the real Ian and this duplicate.” Quintus showed the details that they had uncovered on his slate. “The Switch had to have been made in a three week window,” Quintus paused. “And if I were in charge I would have made sure to do the swap early on in order to get as much information out of the real Ian in order to make the fake as convincing as possible.”

    “Do we have a name?” Hanse asked bluntly after looking through the files in silence. “Because we’re about to go on the warpath.”

    “Vesar Kristofur, former Precentor Rom of Comstar according to the records that Hull seized all those years ago.” Quintus replied. “And you know just as well as I do that we don’t have the resources to move on the Outworlds Alliance yet.”

    “When Hull gets back we’ll have him boost production of the Clan tech, and start to get the Swordsman and other mechs Royal grade refits and production, I want to be able to utterly destroy the ones who did this to Ian, and I want them able to know that they were outmatched from the beginning.”

    “We’ll get on it right away.” Quintus said. “I’ll send Dana and Jonathon your way before you have an explosive chain reaction.”




    Altair, October 31st, 3031

    “We made them retreat from here, but I’m not certain that it’s a good thing.” Stone said as he climbed out of his Marauder. “We’re going to be stuck here until we can get relief from Archon Steiner.” He looked at the pockmarked and slightly melted armor of his ‘mech.

    “I’m just glad we made it out of here alive sir.” Vance climbed up to meet him. “That was the hardest fight we’ve ever been in.”

    “I still don’t know why Wolf left though.” Stone said as he took a sip of water from his canteen. “It’ll probably bother me for a while though, and until we finish tying all of this down for the Steiners to send a relief force we’re going to be on our own.”

    “I’ll start getting the list of our people who speak Japanese together.” Vance agreed. “We’ve got the hardest job ahead of us now, pacification.”




    Kessel, November 2nd, 3031

    “It’s good to see someone here to take over.” Colonel Zoe Carter greeted the CO of the 2nd Skye Rangers. “We nailed down and fought off a significant amount of forces over the last six months or so.”

    “We got your reports.” The CO of the 2nd Skye responded. “We’ll take it from here and the Archon wants your unit to report to Tharkad for some Rest and Recovery before pushing into Combine space even further.”

    “Thanks,” Carter replied. “My unit will be happy to hear it.”




    New Avalon, November 4th, 3031

    “We’re never getting deployed.” David Hull-Kerensky complained to his drinking partner Morgan Hasek-Davion.

    “Tis the life of being the only heir.” He agreed as he knocked back his own shot.”Until we’re able to convince the higher ups that we’re responsible enough to not expose ourselves in front line combat.”

    “The downsides of being nobles.” David agreed. “We should probably head back to the Palace though.” He looked around. “The detail that Mathis has assigned to me don’t like me staying in one place for too long.”

    “Same.” Morgan jerked his head back towards the area where his own bodyguard detail was attempting to remain hidden. “Mine are a little more obnoxious than yours though.”

    “Mathis just emphasizes stealth a little bit more. But, I all but guarantee that I’ve got some plainclothes guards as well as Mithril close and on standby.” David said as he stood up. “I’ve got a feeling that something bad is about to happen.”

    The two heirs had barely gotten into their armored vehicles before an explosion and fireball erupted from the bar they had just left.

    “Get down!” The head of David’s bodyguard detail yelled. “ And stay down, the windows are armored, but you’re not in Mithril.” The vehicle peeled off and moved aggressively back to the Davion Palace as fast as it could navigate the traffic.
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five: Power
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five: Power
    New Samarkand, November 29th, 3031

    “We’ve got seven days before we make landfall on New Samarkand.” I told the assembled officers. “I fully expect them to send all of their ASF at us in order to prevent us from doing what we came here to do.”

    “We’re ready sir.” Blaze said. “They can’t have more aerospace assets than we faced at Luthien.”

    “That’s not a good attitude to have.” I said bluntly. “We can’t get overconfident here, this is the headquarters of the ISF and if we want the data that’s going to be stored here then we need to approach this with the utmost caution.” I pointed at the holographic representation of the planet that we were heading towards. “Mathis is dropping with nearly all of our infantry onto the HQ from orbit along with Natasha’s Marauders as cover.” I looked at Yvonne Hazen and Mathis. “I need you to coordinate and get Tech Specialist Jones into a place where we can get as much data as possible.”

    “Yes sir.” Mathis said. “Anything specific we need to have Jones look for?” Mathis asked.

    “No,” I shook my head, “Just rip as much data as we can, we’ll have Dunham and his crew go over the intel later.”

    “I’ve got an operational plan.” Godbolt said as she inserted a data stick into the holographic table. “Assuming you’re okay with me going forward as lead sir.” She looked at me.

    “You can act as lead.” I said with a shrug. “As long as we manage to accomplish our main objectives that is.”

    “Well, here’s the overall plan that I have.”





    Tharkad, December 15th, 3031

    “Colonel Carter.” Archon Katrina Steiner greeted the mercenary CO. “You’ve done some incredible work on Kessel, you diverted enough forces that it allowed us to push and take a great deal more than we originally planned for OPERATION BlITZKRIEG.”

    “We were just fulfilling our contract obligations ma’am.” Carter replied with a smirk. “Just give us some time to rest and get back on our feet and we’ll be ready to head back out into the field.”

    “I’m sending you back to Kentares.” Katrina said and enjoyed watching the Mercenary commander deflate. “Hull is going to need all the help he can get after what he just pulled off.”

    “I’m afraid I’m a bit out of the loop.” Carter said, “I would appreciate being filled in ma’am.”

    “Hull not only pulled off the Sack of Luthien, but he also just struck New Samarkand and Soul, wrecking the ISF headquarters and hitting an old Blankenburg Technologies storage facility there.” Katrina said with a smile. “He also managed to accomplish things that will set back the Combine for years if not decades to come.”

    “And reprisal might come sooner rather than later.” Carter came to the realization. “Ma’am, I should get back to Kentares ASAP.”

    “Sit back down Colonel.” Katrina told Carter. “Packer and the 1st Kentares Guard just returned according to the LIC and their own reports, Kentares is secure for now.”

    “It’s always interesting to see the kind of people that Hull chooses to be commanding officers.” Katrina said after letting Carter sit in silence for a moment. “You’re currently the youngest out of all of them I believe.”

    “Yes ma’am.” Carter responded. “I worked hard to get here and I think I’ve proven myself.”

    “I must agree, it’s not every day that one unit holds off and finishes off four regiments with one regimental combat team.” Katrina offered.

    “We’re used to long odds ma’am. The Gauntlet always feels like more pressure than actual combat.” Carter said.

    “I’ll have to agree with you there.” Katrina laughed. “I bet Sheppard has changed it a lot since I was in the Marksman though.”

    “You were in the Marksman?” Carter asked with a shocked look on her face.

    “Let me tell you some stories about when Hull was about your age.” Katrina said, with a grin.




    Dieron, December 20th, 3031

    “All of the hatches are sealed?” Melissa asked her lance. “Make sure that we keep an eye out for infantry, those battle armor suits that they’ve been using have wrecked more of our combat vehicles than should have happened.”

    “Yes Ma’am.” Her lance responded.

    “Be wary, they’ve been dropping buildings on the ‘mechs in this area.” Melissa said. “And we’re one of the only lances that haven’t taken a lot of damage.”

    “Contact!” The Toro ‘mech pilot said with urgency in his voice. “We’ve got an assault lance bearing in on our position, two Chargers, a Victor, and a Striker.”

    “Militia units lead by a frontline lance commander.” Melissa said, looking at the models of the ‘mechs. “Hammer two, I need you and your Marauder to start wearing them down at range along with Hammer Three, while Hammer Lead and Hammer Four move into position for the kill shots.”

    “Moving to skirmish.” Hammer Two, the Marauder pilot responded as he began to move to the right streets in order to start firing at range along with Hammer Three, the Toro Pilot.

    “Come on Hammer Four, power down our sensors and follow me.” Melissa ordered as she powered down everything but the engine in order to navigate the streets that she had memorized. “We’ll power up again when we’re in position.”

    The two Alacorns that had been gifted to Melissa moved in near silence, trusting their two ‘mech lancemates to draw the attention of the Assault Lance and allow them to pull off their ambush. After five minutes of weapons fire exchanged at extreme ranges Melissa’s tank and its partner came out of a side alley right behind the assault lance. Powering on her sensors, Melissa lashed out at the closest Charger with a full alpha, making sure to already have the next target set up. The first Charger fell to the ground even as the second Alacorn opened fire on the Victor, causing the mech to lose its autocannon as it turned to react to the shots coming from its rear. Continuing its spin, it moved to engage the two tanks only to realize that it had turned its back on the two lighter machines that had been the distraction earlier. A clantech Large Pulse Laser, LRMs and two ERPPC’s to impact the rear torso, striking the autocannon ammunition and causing the ammo to erupt, throwing the Victor to the ground as the lance continued to pour fire into the remaining Striker and Charger mechs.

    “Good kills, mark them for salvage, although I’m not certain there’s a whole lot left of the Victor.” Melissa said as she looked down at the remains of the lance. “We’ve got to keep moving to our rendezvous point, and we are on a schedule after all.”




    New Avalon, December 15th, 3031

    “We need to get ready to start moving on the Outworlds Alliance.” Hanse told Quintus Allard and Field Marshal Felsner along with Yvonne Davion. “If we wait much longer they may be too fortified for us to accomplish anything.”

    “I’ll start working on some plans.” Yvonne said, “But quite frankly we need to work on one war at a time, and until the Combine is no longer a threat we’ve got to work with what we’ve got.”

    “I’m going to be taking possession of the Coordinator’s family within the month.” Allard said. “We’re going to have to make a decision as to what we’re going to do with them.”

    “I’m working on it.” Hanse replied. “It just takes time.”

    “The Wolf Confederation started conquering worlds in the coreward periphery border about a month ago, and the Steiners have retaken almost all of the worlds that they’ve lost over the Succession Wars.” Yvonne reported. “We need to strike while the iron is hot and ensure that the Combine’s spirit is broken.”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six: Destroyer
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six: Destroyer
    New Samarkand, December 7th, 3031

    "Nat!" I said as I grabbed her off of the gantry before she climbed into her Nightstar. "Make sure that you come back."

    "I will." She took off her Mithril's helmet and gave me a fierce kiss before climbing back up and into her Nightstar. "Just keep the 'mech bay open for me."

    "I'll make sure that Samsonov is held off until you're done with the ISF HQ and New Samarkand Metals." I said as I turned back to where I was commanding the offensive. "Just make sure to grab what data you can, I don't want the Combine to be able to hold us off after this."

    "Have a little faith, husband." Natasha said and I could feel her smirk through the audio. "I shall take care of it." Her Nightstar began to plod out of the 'mech bay with Mathis’ infantry clinging onto certain areas where we had bolted handholds on, along with some hovercraft and her six bondswomen trailing after her.

    "Alright people," I turned around and clapped my hands together. "We've got to hold off an overstrength regiment until we've packed up the Schrek Factories, what's left of the decommissioned Gladiator lines, and whatever Intel that Natasha can pull from the ISF HQ."

    "We burning everything that's left?" Mendoza asked.

    "There isn't actually a lot more manufacturing here." I responded. The decommissioned Gladiator lines can be repurposed, and we don't field the Demolisher, and while we might like the Behemoth, it'll come down to how much time we have, we have to move on to hit that Blankenburg Technologies storage facility."

    "So loot what we can, and burn the rest." Mendoza responded. "And do our best to stall for time."


    —

    —

    "You think that you can stop us?" Natasha broadcast as she kicked down the main gate of the ISF HQ while shredding two Panther 'mechs with headshots from her Gauss Rifles. "I'm here for revenge, and you are simply not good enough to stop me." Natasha Kerensky was followed closely behind by Nadia Winson's Gargoyle who used her jump jets to evade the lasers from a Jenner before crippling both of the 'mechs that had been holding the gates with her ER Large Lasers and Medium Pulse Lasers.

    "Kerensky, my people are in, and Jones is breaking into the computer systems now." Mathis reported, he and several teams of Mithril clad infantry had dropped into the ISF headquarters while Natasha made her way to the enclosed area. "Jones says that they've already begun to wipe the systems clean, and that he has a limited window to pull data.”

    "Be wary Mathis," Natasha states "I fear that given the chance to loot at Mithril and Elementals the DEST teams may have been given upgraded gear."

    "A but too late for that Kerensky." Mathis replied as he fired his handheld Gauss rifle at the enemy powered armor and enjoying the fact that the production models were able to actually be effective against powered and Battle armor. "We've already encountered some of those teams and we're going to be pinned down here until Jones is done with the Computers."

    "Just stay alive Mathis." Kerensky replied with a savage grin on her face as she threatened the enemy lances that were attempting to breach the perimeter that her forces had set. "I need your kids to look after mine after all."

    "Working on it!" Mathis responded as he sidestepped a vibrokatana and snapped the DEST commando's arm in two despite the armor and double tapping the neck joints with his rifle before sweeping the leg of the next commando and drawing his sidearm to finish that enemy off. "Kinda busy down here though." He nodded at his fireteam as they finished off the remaining three commandos from this wave with a hellish crossfire.

    "Just let me know when you are finished." Kerensky cut the channel to allow the infantryman to focus on his job.

    —
    —

    "Jones, it's been a half hour and they're not slowing down any!" Mathis said as he fought yet another commando in CQC with a stolen Vibrokatana. "We're running out of ammo here."

    "I'm done!" Jones responded. "I only got a little over half of their overall data because they had started wiping it, but half is better than none."

    "Protect the VIP!" Mathis ordered as he stepped over the bodies littering the floor. "Jones, pass out your ammunition, we may need it in order to get out of here."

    "This is Major Mathis to all infantry teams in the ISF HQ. Set your charges and get the fuck outta here, we're in the clear." Mathis commanded as he and his team moved out of the base, leaving both little and big explosive surprises behind.

    "Mathis, this is Kerensky, I hope that you are done in there, because we have a mass of VTOL's coming in on attack vectors and we are low on ammunition."

    "We're on our way out now!" Mathis responded. "Give us five minutes to get clear!"

    The infantry company made their way out, nearly a hundred men and women sprinting out with wounded thrown over their shoulders and the dead having been dragged out behind the living.

    "Get clear, blowing the charges now!" Mathis yelled out over his comms as he flipped the switch on his detonator and watched as the explosions rippled upwards from the basement levels, sending the complex crashing into the ground.

    "ISF HQ is gone ma'am. " Mathis said, with a wide grin on his face. "We're going to have the Maxims come in for pickup if you don't mind staying on guard until they get here."

    "Mathis!" Natasha laughed. "We've got you covered until the end of time." The comms channel cut off as she focused on eliminating yet another enemy in her sights.

    "Jones," Mathis said as he sagged against a piece of rubble. "I'm starting to feel a little old for this shit."

    "I thought you were forty-nine Major?" Jones asked.

    "I am, but even longevity treatments don't make your mind feel younger." He replied. "Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it's not always easy, especially after a day like today."

    "The boss just doesn't like the fact that he's gonna get another medal on his chest." A member of Mathis' handpicked fireteam chuckled. "Takes on thirty DEST commands by himself and says he's tired."

    "Yeah, you should hear what Packer used to complain about. "Back in his day it would have been fifty, and all of them in hand to hand combat!"

    "Fuck off!" Mathis flipped his fireteam off. "You're just jealous that I pay for all the extra training."

    "No, we're just not quite at your skill level boss." One of them made a gesture that meant she was smiling behind her helmet.

    "Mathis," Jones said after a moment. "What do I have to do in order to join the Ducal Guard?"

    "We'll, I'll tell you once we're back safe and sound." Mathis responded as their Maxim transports showed up. "But let's just say that we're a bit more fanatical in our loyalty to Hull than most of the people you typically serve with."

    —
    —

    Pull back to grid Bravo-four." I commanded a mixed fireteam of 'Mechs and vehicles. "I've got infantry with TAG gear moving to paint those targets for you."

    "Copy that Delta Hotel, pulling back to grid Bravo-Four." The fireteam leader responded while I turned my attention to the other areas where we were battling the 5th Galedon Regular.

    "Delta Hotel, we are Oscar-Mike to LZ." Mathis voice echoed in my ears.

    "That's good to hear, we're just waiting on the factory teams to finish up and then we're lifting off." I replied.

    —
    —

    "Did you think I would just allow you to leave?" Tai-Sho Samsonov said into my ears.

    "Yeah, I kinda figured you would." I replied as I climbed into my Warhammer. "I figured you'd be more interested in battling it out for the throne on Luthien."

    "How can I seek said throne if I have not made the effort to avenge the Coordinators death?" Samsonov replied as his Atlas made its presence on the battlefield known.

    "Why is it always an Atlas?" I muttered angrily under my breath. "I'm really sick of fighting assault 'Mechs with my Warhammer."

    "Then upgrade already!" Natasha and Mathis said simultaneously.

    "I said that on the command circuit, didn't I?" I asked sheepishly.

    "Yessir, and if you had upgraded to an assault 'Mech already I wouldn't keep riding you like this." Mathis said. "Now go stonewall this guy while we finish loading up the gear so we can leave."

    "Slave drivers." I said as I rolled my 'Mech forward to meet Samsonov.

    Edging into the maximum range of my ERPPCs, I snapped off twin bolts of man made lightning towards the lumbering assault Mech facing me and watched as they carved away armor on the center torso. Twitching my controls, I spun my torso around to avoid the flurry of LRMs that were sent my way and crouched to avoid the Gauss rifle that was sent along with it.

    "Someone has a fancy 'Mech." I muttered to myself as I double checked to make sure that my comms channels were closed this time. "Now let's work on giving you some knee surgery." I began to walk backwards and alternate my PPC fire into the torso and legs of the Mech that was attempting to break me into two pieces.

    "TAG, you're it." I said after a moment when I painted Samsonov's Mech. Watching with glee as the Arrow IV missiles from my artillery impacted the enemy assault Mech and caused it to first stumble, and then fall to the ground as its reactor stopped functioning due to a breach.

    "Samsonov, I hope you're able to make it out of here, it'll be interesting to see what you do next." I said over the open channel as we loaded up our loot and got ready to leave New Samarkand. "Enjoy fighting for being Coordinator now." I said with a cruel twist to my voice.

    I moved my Warhammer back to its bay and powered it down before moving over to assist in loading everything that we had stolen up and helping lash things down for liftoff.




    Soul, December 10th, 3031

    "I want this place stripped down to the bedrock." Godbolt ordered as they entered the complex. "And below it if there's anything down there." She looked around. "And make sure to find an inventory list, I know we have the data we ripped from Comstar that led us to this place, but we need verification."

    "Yes Ma'am." A staff officer responded. "Moving to locate it now."

    "We need to triple check and make sure that we're secure before we take anything out of the facility, and have some of our tech specialists make sure that there's no self destruct that may be triggered, if I get buried here I swear to God that I will come back in my Alacorn and fire you out of the Gauss Rifles." Godbolt threatened with a hint of a smile. "And speed it up, we're on a time crunch here."
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven: The Rules of Engagement
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven: The Rules of Engagement
    New Avalon, January 15th, 3032

    “Theodore Kurita,” Hanse Davion greeted. “I see that you and your family have made the trip to New Avalon safely.”

    “Your dog Hull has no honor.” Theodore spat on the ground. “He denied me every opportunity to redeem my own honor and establish my son as coordinator.”

    “Hull is something we can discuss later.” Hanse said with a touch of a fox-like grin on his face. “For now, let’s get you and your family settled into their quarters in the Davion Palace.”

    “I will obey as a captive and hostage, but I will never be your puppet.” Theodore replied. “My father was murdered by your dog’s bitch Kerensky and not even given the illusion of a fair fight.”

    “I am not my brother Ian.” Hanse finally said after a moment. “I believe war is not an honorable thing. Instead, it’s something that we must strive to avoid, but, when we must engage in war, then we must crush the enemy so totally that there is not a chance that they are able to fight back.” Hanse then glanced backwards. “Lady Jasmine, Lady Tomoe, I hope the trip here was pleasant.”

    “It was satisfactory.” Jasmine Kurita replied, answering for both herself and her daughter in law. “Hull, while rough in his handling of matters of war, has a delicate touch when it comes to matters such as this.”

    “I am glad to hear of it.” Hanse responded. “My lovely wife Dana has been arranging the quarters for you and your family. I hope that you find them to your liking.”

    “I am certain that our exile will be one of comfort.” Theodore responded harshly. “That or torture in order to find the secrets that I may hold.”

    “We’re not concerned with your secrets.” Hanse chuckled. “According to everything I have seen recently Hull just demolished the ISF headquarters on New Samarkand, and even if they didn’t manage to pull all of the data stored there we shall be fine.” Hanse grinned. “The Combine is on the chopping board Theodore, and this may be your very last chance to try and save a piece of it.”





    Tharkad, February 15th, 3032

    “It is with great pleasure that I announce the recapture of every single world that the Combine has taken from us over the entirety of the Succession Wars!” Katrina said before the gathered press in front of her. “We have accomplished something that has not been accomplished in the history of the Commonwealth before, and have proven that not only is our military capable, but that we are able to do our part in this Alliance.”

    The assembled nobles began to clap and cheer before Katrina waved them down. “We have accomplished a great victory, but we still have much work to do, I am moving garrison forces forward in order to free up our logistics, and with our allies the Wolf Confederation and the Federated Suns pressing in on the Draconis Combine we will continue our advance until we are not able to move forward anymore.”

    “Do you have any comments on the Sack of Luthien?” A reporter asked.

    “I was pleasantly shocked to find that the leadership of the Combine had been removed at the same time that we were in some critical moments of our campaign.” Katrina said diplomatically. “And Duke Hull of Kentares has been a close friend of the Steiners for many years, and so we celebrated greatly when we heard of the victory that he had achieved.”

    “What is your stance on Hull burning down areas on New Samarkand?” Another reporter asked.

    “Every stellar nation should be grateful that the tool of tyrants has been burned to the ground.” Katrina said firmly. “The ISF has been a thorn in the side of every nation to some extent for hundreds of years, and while I am not naive enough to believe that the threat is totally ended, the ISF has been brought to the lowest point it has ever been in history.”


    “What about the rumors of First Prince Hanse Davion holding the Coordinators family hostage on New Avalon?”

    “Hanse Davion is not called “The Fox” for nothing.” She smiled mysteriously. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

    “Why did we hire Davion Mercenaries to assist in OPERATION BLITZKRIEG?”

    “Because they are our allies, and the Marksman have an excellent reputation for accomplishing nigh impossible tasks.” She gestures to the world of Kessel highlighted in Steiner Blue on the hologram. “This was proven by the 1st Marksman not only taking Kessel from two regiments of veterans, but also managing to hold it against reinforcements from the 18th Dieron Regulars and another battlemech regiment.”

    “Now, if you’ll direct any further questions to the press department,” Katrina said. “I have some other duties and responsibilities to handle.”




    Kentares IV, May 31st, 3032

    “We’re back home.” I told Natasha as we finally jumped into the Kentares IV system. “After nearly a year of combat and making sure that the Combine won’t be able to hit us back we’re finally home.”

    “Indeed we are.” Natasha responded while wrapped in my arms. “Now all that is left is to unload our equipment and maybe see what the future has in store.” She smirked at me. “And I may have something to show you.”

    “Let’s make sure that we get everything unloaded first, and Dunham will need all of the data that we pulled from the ISF HQ.” I said as we boosted towards the planet that we called home.

    —
    —

    June 10th, 3032

    “This was supposed to be ready six months ago,” Natasha said with a smirk as she led my blindfolded self around. “But we were a little busy back then.”

    “Is it a cheesecake?” I asked. “You know that my weakness is cheesecake.”

    “No, keep guessing,” Natasha laughed. “Or you can wait until we get there.”

    “I’ll wait.” I replied. “I’ll wait.”

    We continued walking and I remained almost literally in the dark until we finally reached the area that Natasha had set apart for this.

    “Now, behold what an excellent wife I am.” Natasha said proudly as she ripped my blindfold off, revealing a new ‘Mech. “This is a very experimental machine that took both Dr. Rogers and MacAlister working together for six months to refit and put together.”

    “It looks like a slightly taller Warhammer.” I said after examining it for a moment. “It’s not one of my refits, because I went with an all energy loadout last time.” I walked around the two story machine and tried to figure everything out.

    “It’s a Warhammer IIC.” Natasha took pity on me. “We had to use an experimental XXL engine like the one that they developed for Melissa’s Alacorn in order to get the movement profile that you enjoy, and also traded NAIS for some triple strength myomers.” She patted the machine's foot. “This baby has a maximum speed of 86.4 kilometers per hour before you use the TSM and has 5 jump jets to assist it in mobility. You now are able to take a bit more damage because you have 15 tons of standard armor and are able to hit something at virtually every single range on the battlefield.”

    “Thank you for this.” I said as I pulled Natasha in for a kiss. “Any other surprises I should know about?”

    “We’ll just have to wait and see.” She replied as she walked away. “You coming with?” She called out over her shoulder.

    –
    –
    June 15th, 3032

    “We need to put an endo steel factory in orbit over Markesan before we can move the extra Gladiator lines over there.” I said to Watson. “I assume we have the teams ready for putting some new factories in place?”

    “I’ll get the orbital team on it.” He replied as he flipped through the inventory of what we had taken from Luthien, New Samarkand, and Soul. “You want the Grand Dragon factories on Kentares IV, correct?” He asked.

    “Yes, I was going to have the stock Dragon lines be moved to Robinson, and the Charger as well.” I said, “I want the Schrek and Lancelot lines moved to Argyle, and I want to sell the Quickdraw line to the Davions, we’re going to be producing enough stuff as is.”

    “What about the loot from Soul?” He asked as he looked through the data from there. “What do you plan on doing with that?”

    “I plan on trying to see something, there were a couple of Battlemasters mixed in with the Crocketts that were in storage there, and the techs found a couple of manufacturing lines there.”

    “Going to have R&D go over stuff?” Watson asked.

    “When we go through everything I’ll let you know.” I told him. “For now, we’re going to have to stick with what we have though.”

    “I’ll get to work on moving around the teams and getting everything set up, should take a year or more to get everything production ready.” Watson replied. “I take it you want to create more endo steel facilities in orbit of every world that we have manufacturing on?”

    “Yes, the costs are negligible compared to the benefits overall when it comes to production.” I replied. “It allows us to make machines like the Gladiator or Von Rohrs able to do more than comparable machines.”

    “It’ll take at least a decade to get that done in orbit on every world.” He said as he flipped through the data. “But we can get at least the ones that will feed the Gladiator lines on Markesan set up within a year.”


    It’s okay if it takes time.” I told the man. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us anyway.”

    –
    –

    June 25th, 3032

    “We brought back around sixty or so Crocketts from Soul.” I told Godbolt and Packer. “My plan is to use them to fill in some of the gaps that we have where we lack assault ‘mechs.”

    “You may want to wait until the Marksman units get back.” Sheppard chimed in. “They’re going to need some replacement machines as well.”

    “We’ll take care of it,” I said with a shrug. “Given what we pulled off, I’m okay with bumping some people back down the list in order for us to get our units replenished.”

    “I am sure Hanse will sign off on it.” Natasha said from behind my right shoulder. “We are still finishing the Excaliburs and Triumph class dropships that we stole from Luthien.”

    “I’m gifting half of those to the 3rd Kentares Guard.” I said, “We have plenty of lift for the other units, but we’re still lacking lift for the 3rd Kentares aside from the Sting dropships that we built for them.

    “We can organize that later.” I said, “Right now we need to focus on the rebuild priority.”

    “Packer gets first priority for now, and then Godbolt, and we’ll figure out the Marksman when they get back to Kentares.”

    “So, most of my losses were in ‘mechs…”

    Author's Note: I'm going to post the new Hull Warhammer in the informational later, and I'll update the Sharpshooter page in a bit, there's a lot to sort through.
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Eight: Taking Great Care
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Eight: Taking Great Care
    Kentares IV, July 10th, 3032

    "We're going to have to redeploy with one of our units soon." I told Natasha. "We get a small pass because of the sheer amount of damage that we caused, but we're going to be expected to move in and assist the rest of the Draconis March in their advances."

    "The 3rd Kentares only have a couple of 'Mech battalions though." Natasha said as she consulted her slate for our force estimates. "We would have to deploy with the Ducal Guard again to have a proper invasion force."

    "I know." I said with a shrug. "But we need to get back out there, even if it's only to serve as reinforcements for a force that has gotten bogged down, plus we can add in some of the least damaged parts of the other guard units, and the conventional forces will be able to do their jobs anyhow."

    "I agree, but we may want to bring some faster machines with us. There is a major manufacturing center on Al Na'ir and we may get chewed up by hovercraft if we are not careful." Natasha observed before looking down at the map in front of us once again. "Where are the current Draconis March Forces?" Natasha asked me, knowing that I had intelligence on the current movements.

    "Hanse pushed forces up all across the border, but the place that's been giving friendly forces the most trouble is Al Na'ir." I pointed to the system in question. "There are two battlemech regiments there, and the militia units are putting up a fierce fight as well."

    "Which two units are there?" She asked, leaning over the map table.

    "The 8th and 15th Dieron Regulars." I said as I consulted my intel briefs. "The 15th have a larger amount of Assault 'mechs than the rebuilt 5th Avalon Hussars expected, and the advance had bogged down according to the last reports."

    "How long until David is supposed to be back on Kentares?" Natasha asked. "I thought he was supposed to make landfall in a couple of days."

    "He's supposed to be back on the ground by the 15th." I responded with a small smile. "You want him in with the 3rd Kentares and the Ducal Guard?" I asked.

    "Yes," Natasha stated curtly. "He needs to prove himself capable in front of our troops or he will never be able to move up and take your place as he is supposed to."

    "We'll load him up as soon as he gets here." I responded. "His Crockett should be a solid 'mech to bring anyway."

    "Indeed," Natasha replied with a grin. "I shall prep the Ducal Guard while you brief the 3rd Kentares Guard."

    "I'll get right on it," I replied. "This is a way to test my new 'mech at least."

    "I would consult with Dr. Rogers and McAllister before I went out in the new 'mech." Natasha told me bluntly. "I am uncertain as to how it will respond, or what the new weakpoints that might be present, I merely gave them the basics of what you would like, and they did the remainder."

    "I'll clear things up with Mac and Dr. Rogers before we deploy." I replied. "I'm assuming that there's more to it than there was to my WHM-6Rk."

    "I would not know." Natasha shrugged with a grin. "While I am good at doing what the technicians tell me, I am not a Fusion Engine expert."

    "At least you're able to help out with repairs now." I replied. "Mithril certainly helps out with the heavy lifting though."

    "True, now let us go prepare for war once again." She said as she stalked out with the walk of a predator.

    "Looks like we're back to it once again." I said to myself as I looked at the map table. "Let's finish this, before we get hammered in the back from some remnants of the RWR or something."




    Kentares IV, July 15th, 3032

    "Lieutenant Hull-Kerensky, I have your orders here." A Fireteam Corporal saluted the uniformed young nobleman as he exited the Pueblo class Dropship that he had been on. "Here sir." He passed the folder containing said orders to the 19 year old.

    "I'm assigned as XO to a mixed fireteam with the 3rd Kentares Guard." David muttered to himself as he read over the documents. "The CO of the Battalion is Katheryn Sandoval, and I'm attached to the Command Fireteam."

    "You're supposed to report by the end of the day sir." The Corporal said as he continued walking behind the Lieutenant. "The 3rd Kentares is shipping out by the end of the week."

    "I'll get my 'Mech moved over in an hour and report by the time listed." David assured the young noncom. "I'm sure you have other duties to take care of."

    "Actually sir, I've been assigned as the introduction between you and the rest of the fireteam. Fireteam Corporal Travis Perez at your service. I'm a Crab pilot and will be your battle buddy for the rest of the time that you're assigned to us." The Corporal replied with a smile on his face. "But, you can call me Scooter, it's my callsign and what everyone calls me anyway."

    "Okay?" David Hull responded with a questioning look on his face. Imitating the eyebrow raise that he had seen his father so many times. "Why are you called Scooter?"

    "On account of the fact that I once locked up the treads on our training Scorpion and we scooted off down the side of a mountain." The young noncom sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Later we found out that maintenance had forgotten to do some stuff, but I was driving and the name stuck."

    "Well, I don't have a callsign yet, but I'm sure it'll be just as embarrassing." David replied with a chuckle. "And, I will be getting the full story later."

    "Fair enough," Scooter replied with a shrug, "Let's get everything squared away so we can get some training done before deployment. We've got a decent veteran core, and we're deploying with the Ducal Guard so even though most of us are a little green I think we'll be okay."

    "Any clue on where we're going to be deploying?" David asked as he combed into the truck that Scooter gestured to. "I'd like to get some research done if nothing else, can't be too sure of what the actually situation is until we're there, but you can still get data on the topography and any areas of critical importance."

    "We're deploying to assist the 5th Avalon Hussars on Al Na'ir." Scooter replied as he helped David throw his away bags into the back of the truck. "From what I know, there's two regiments of the Dieron Regulars on the planet, and they've got plenty of backup due to a major hovercraft industrial center on the planet. The Militia are outfitted with enough Hovercraft to make our faster units green with envy, and they're hard hitting too. Our latest reports were that the 5th Avalon Hussars were pinned down to their LZ and unable to make any major advances due to the hit and run tactics of the Militia combined with the assault 'Mechs of the 15th Dieron Regulars."

    "Damn." David shook his head at the thought. "We bringing enough forces to force them to back off and let us advance?"

    "The Duke just cut us off of the leash as far as some of the truly advanced tech is concerned." The Corporal replied. "We're being augmented by an entire Battalion of the advanced Toros from the 1st Kentares Guard, along with some of the Omnimechs that Kerensky brought back with her."

    "That'll have to be enough combined with the Arrow IV systems and cluster munitions." David said. "We're going to want to take looks at the latest maps, if we can figured out where to deploy our arty we might be able to nail the hovercraft in order to force a close range engagement."

    "That's above my pay grade sir." Scooter said as he pulled up to the Barracks. "Now we need to get you sorted and introduced to the rest of the fireteam and the company that we're a part of as a whole."

    "Yay." David weakly pumped his fist. "Introductions are my favorite, not. "

    "Just get in there." Scooter replied. "I've got to go pick up a couple of other latecomers who were on leave."

    "Fine, but when you get back, remember to bury me at the family farm." David replied deadpan. "It's a big farm, you can't miss it."

    "I've been on the Ducal Estate sir." Scooter replied. "And that's not just a farm, that's the whole shebang."

    "Just get going." David grabbed his bags, sling them over his shoulder and patted the side of the truck a couple of times, signaling that it was alright for him to move on. "Now I get to introduce myself… What fun."




    July 20th, 3032

    "We're loaded up and ready to roll." General Robert Frost told me. "I've got operational plans in place, and as soon as we get our supplies loaded up we can move to Al Na'ir."

    "We just topped off the Ducal Guard's load of supplies." Natasha weighed in, " and we are at around 85% force readiness after the campaigns that we were on."

    "Then we'll hit with around 70% of an RCT and a regiment plus a battalion of vehicles?" Frost asked as a clarification question.

    "That's right." I finally spoke up. "We hammer the interior of the main Drac areas, but we're a little on the weak side until we can get all of the wounded treated and the machines replaced."

    "I hope it's enough sir." Frost turned to me, "because we're going to have a hell of a fight on our hands."

    "We'll have to make it enough Frost." I replied with a shake of my head. "Both of our Marksman units are working for the Lyrans right now, and the 1st and 2nd Kentares are in need of some R&R. We're lucky that the Toro's and the pilots of them were among the least damaged out of the 1st Kentares."

    "I know sir, but we can't wait another month in order to get more people rotated into my unit?" Frost asked. "I've got a lot of green in my unit sir, and while they're all good kids I'm worried that they might not be ready for this kind of fight."

    "I understand your concern, Frost." I replied with a sad expression on my face. "But this is the cold calculus of war, if we want them to not be green troops anymore than they have to be blooded, and considering the tech difference, they'll have the best advantages that we can give them."

    "You sure you're not simply wasting lives sir?" Frost asked. "Everyone knows that the 1st Kentares is the priority unit."

    "I won't deny that." I replied. "The 1st Kentares has the greatest concentration of people that I've directly served with over the last 30 years than the other unit. But, my son is in your unit, if I really intended to just feed y'all into a meat grinder then I wouldn't be entrusting my son to you would I?"

    "We'll just have to wait and see sir," Frost replied with a chilling expression on his face. "

    "Frost, if you have an issue with me then tell me now before we get out in the field." I said with a raised eyebrow.

    "There's no issue sir." Frost said after a moment. "We'll see what happens when we get onto the field."

    I met Natasha's eyes and her body language basically said what I was feeling.

    "You're dismissed Frost." I said, "Go rest up before liftoff tomorrow."

    "He is going to be a problem." Natasha said after General Frost had left. "He has avoided deployment since we made Kentares IV our home." She said as she reviewed Frost's CSV. "He managed to get promoted because he was an excellent logistician, but we haven't had to test his skills in real combat since he was a junior officer."

    "That's what I get for signing off on the promotion recommendations without looking over them in their entirety." I muttered to Natasha and myself. "Can you have Dunham double check his XO and make sure that they're competent? If they're not then we could run into some major issues if we're not extremely careful here.

    "How is it that this is more complicated than attacking Luthien and New Samarkand?" Natasha asked. "We did not seem to have these problems with Packer and Godbolt."

    "People," I replied with a shrug. "Packer and Godbolt are very good at what they do, we had to hit average personnel, and normal problems eventually." I chuckled to myself. "I should tell you about some of the old WWII stories about Marine and Army generals having issues when they were against the Japanese."

    "Maybe later," Natasha replied. "We need to get some alternate plans ready if we need to relieve Frost of command."

    "I'll have Mathis and Dunham coordinate with us on that." I replied. "Two days should be plenty of time to get everything sorted."

    "Are we going to pay David a visit?" Natasha asked, "I was hoping that we could at least attempt it."

    "Let's let him settle in with his new unit." I replied. "This is his first deployment, and the last thing he needs is for us to show up and remind everyone of whose son he is."

    Author’s note: wrote most of this on my phone. So may be some stuff that needs to be cleaned up.
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Nine: Proving Ground
    • Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Nine: Proving Ground
    Al Na’ir, October 3rd, 3032

    “Just remember that we’re here to support the 5th Avalon Hussars people.” Major Sandoval said to her Battalion. “So watch your sectors, follow orders and let’s go home alive and in one piece.”

    “Yes Ma’am,” David Hull-Kerensky replied as he moved with the rest of his fireteam to their nav point.

    “We’ve got three lances of fast movers incoming!” Corporal Scooter reported as they lit up on his Sensors and triggered his IFF.

    “Looks like mixed Jenners, a couple of Dragons and some Hovercraft.” David said, “Make sure that you focus your fire on the Saladins, those AC/20s are lethal if they manage to pair up and hit you with them.”

    “Copy that,” Scooter replied as he fired the ER Large Lasers that his Royal Crab had equipped at one of the Dragons, melting the armor off at extreme ranges.

    “Begin pulling back to the rest of the battalion.” David ordered, “We’ll need the extra firepower to handle a full mixed company.”

    “Pulling back now.” Scooter replied as he continued firing his ER Large Lasers at the Dragon that was leading the pack.”

    David triggered his own ER Large Lasers as the enemy company came into range, backed up by the Von Luckner’s Gauss rifle and the Brutus LRMs, completely killing two Jenners and causing a Hovercraft to spin out of control.

    The pair of Dragon ‘Mechs opened fire as soon as they entered range, the LRMs and AC/5s scattering across the fireteam as they continued to fall back in good order.

    “The Hovercraft are closing in!” The Toro pilot said as he moved backwards as fast as his Mech could handle. “Looks like two Saladins, they’ll be in range in around 30 seconds, watch out for their flybys, they’ll try to boom and zoom.”

    “A pair of AC/20s will rip your mech apart,” David told the Toro pilot, “Let one of the heavier units take the brunt of the attack.”

    “Aye sir, pulling back behind you.” The Toro pilot replied as David stepped forward instead of pulling back, once the first of the Saladin duo entered his range, he opened fire, making sure to use cluster ammunition in his LB 10-X in order to shred the armor on the front of the fast moving hovercraft. David had nearly dropped the machine but between the two of them he only managed to strip the armor off of them before they opened fire in sync at his Crockett. Rocking back, he turned to open fire, but the hovercraft had already exited his range, and he couldn’t expose his rear to the Dragons, Jenners, and the remaining hovercraft without being shredded by enemy fire.

    “Jackson,” David commed the Toro pilot. “I’m putting you on making sure that the Saladins are finished off, you’ve got the range, and they should be low enough on armor that your Large Pulse Laser should be able to finish them off.”

    “Copy that sir, thanks for taking that fire for me.” Jackson replied. “I’ll keep an eye on the fast moving Demolishers.”

    “You’re a good woman.” David told the Toro pilot before tuning into the command channel. “This is David Kerensky, I need air support on my location, we’ve got a mixed company bearing on our location.”

    “I’m moving our Stings to assist.” Major Sandoval responded, “ETA is two Mikes.”

    “Copy that Major.” David responded, “We’ll hold them off until the CAS gets here.”

    “Take out the Dragons.” David ordered the Brutus and Von Luckner crews. “Coordinate fire with Scooter and end them before they get close.”

    “Yes sir,” The two combat vehicles continued to roll backwards while launching LRMs and getting ready to fire their main weapons. “Consider the heavies gone.” The Von Luckner fired a brace of LRMs several seconds before they fired their Gauss Rifle at the closest Dragon, timing it so that the flurry of missiles and the Gauss Round struck at the same time, sending the heavy mech careening into the ground as it lost its balance temporarily. Meanwhile, the Brutus linked its computers up with Scooters Crab and fired its own set of LRMs before also using its twin clantech Large Pulse lasers to destroy armor at ranges that were typically reserved for PPCs, this caused the Dragon pilot to flinch back into the lasers Scooters Crab, where a lucky headshot ended the unlucky samurai’s life.

    “Scratch one.” Scooter reported as they heard the sound of massive fusion engines gracing the battlefield. “The CAS has arrived!”

    “I didn’t know you made housecalls, Foehammer!” Scooter said to the lead Sting crew.

    “You know our motto, we deliver!” the pilot responded with a wide grin and laughter in her voice as the gunship made quick work of the hovercraft and remaining ‘mechs.”But you’ll have to handle the cleanup.”

    “We can take it from here.” David replied as he moved his Crockett forward. “We lost track of a couple of Saladins, we need to make sure that they don’t hit us from behind while we hold this area down.”

    “Lieutenant Kerensky, I’m diverting two companies of Infantry to your position, Captain Kent will be acting CO of your area.” Major Sandoval’s voice broke in over the command circuit.

    “Copy that ma’am.” David replied, “We’ll hold down the fort until they arrive.”




    Al Na’ir, October 5th, 3032

    “Duke Hull,” Leftnant General Baker the CO of the rebuilt 5th Avalon Hussars greeted me. “I’m damn glad to see some assistance here.”

    “Happy to help, General.” I replied. “Where do you need us?”

    “I need your fast units to help pin down the hovercraft, the 15th Dieron don’t engage until the militia units and the 8th Dieron Regulars have whittled our armor down, and then they’re only doing pinpricks, a ‘mech here, a combat vehicle there, but we’re slowly bleeding to death here.”

    “And you’re mainly an Assault Regiment right?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, “I heard you got assigned a battalion of combat vehicles though.”

    “The Dropship containing most of our Combat vehicles was brought down by enemy ASFs on entry, and we tied in taking out ASF assets, there’s not much left but conventional fighters on Al Na’ir, but they did enough damage on our way down that there’s not way we’re lifting off of this rock without your help.”

    “Damn, they’ve really been tearing into you.” I said as I reviewed the reports that he showed me.

    “Yes sir, that’s why I’m glad that you’re here, I’m no fool, I know your track record and I need the kind of miracles that you and your people produce on the battlefield here.”

    “No promises,” I looked up with a grin, “We used up most of our miracles on Luthien and New Samarkand.” I then lost my smile as I looked over the holographic table of the battlefield. “I do have a lot of Artillery with me though, both conventional and Arrow IV systems, along with enough ammunition to make it rain for days on them.”

    “If you can pin down the fast movers then we’ll be able to do something about the two battlemech regiments, but until then my unit is going to be stuck on the defensive.” The General shrugged, “We just don’t have the faster units to pin down the hovercraft.”

    “We’ll handle the hovercraft, but I want you to start getting set up to drop the hammer on the 15th Dieron Regulars once we take the hovercraft out.” I said as I looked over the map. “Give me two days to get a better picture of the local topography and I’ll have a trap set up after that.”

    –
    –

    “Natasha, we’re probably going to have to use us as bait in order to get them to push like we want.” I said as I looked at the data we had on the forces we brought with us and the data collected on the enemies on the planet. “They’re going to be ticked off and rearing to avenge their Coordinator, we can use that against them for now.”

    “And we bring the best fights to ourselves.” Natasha joked with a hint of seriousness in her voice. “I love this plan!” She then pointed at the map. “You need to make sure we pick the right location for this, if we get overwhelmed then it will be hard to pull back from some areas.”

    “We’ve got the mapping data, now to just pick the right place.” I agreed. “Location is indeed everything after all.”

    “This Canyon may work,” Natasha said. “Yvonne, Mathis, come check and make sure that we are not making a mistake here.”

    “The Canyon is an interesting choice.” Mathis said as he surveyed the maps. “I’d be careful of this area though, if it looks like a perfect area to lay a trap then they may have already done so.”

    “Indeed.” Yvonne replied. “I would actually recommend this area.” She pointed out an area that Natasha and I had discarded as being too open previously. “I believe that this area will work better, you can hide several units in the river and as long as they are powered off then you can time the enemy approach properly, by simulating fleeing across the river we can trap them between two sets of forces and destroy the majority of the enemy hovercraft.”

    “I like that plan,” I said, turning to Natasha. “Let’s start the implementation process.”

    “We are the anvil.” Natasha agreed, “But who will be the hammer?”

    “I figure a mix of the 3rd Kentares Guards and the 5th Avalon Hussars, the Hussars need the win, and the 3rd Kentares need to be blooded.”

    “I hate to say it boss,” Mathis chimed in. “But it’ll almost have to be Mithril infantry and ‘Mechs doing the ambushing and locking down, none of our combat vehicles are rated for the water like that, but our ‘mechs and powered armor are.”

    “We’ll pitch the idea to Baker and Frost in the morning.” I said as I yawned. “We should get some rack time though, I don’t trust that these guys aren’t being sneaky, the generals here aren’t fighting like traditional Dracs, and that seriously worries me.”

    “Agreed.” Everyone around me said at once.

    “We’ll have our patrols on high alert.” Mathis said, “And we’ve got several units assisting in the 3rd Kentares with guard duty due to the importance of the succession after all.”

    “Good to hear.” I nodded at Mathis. “I’m going to hit the sack and get that briefing ready eary tomorrow morning.”

    “Get some rest, boss,” Mathis replied. “We’ve got you covered.”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Forty: An Ambushed Ambush
    • Chapter One Hundred and Forty: An Ambushed Ambush
    Al Na’ir, October 8th, 3032

    “Well, that’s a touch unsettling.” David said to himself as he looked at the water resting on the top of his Crockett. “I hope that this actually works…” He looked at his laser comms array, hoping that he wouldn’t have to wait underneath the water for much longer. “Woah,” David gasped as the water shifted over him as two lances of hovercraft moved over the river. “Now I just wait for the command and then we’re in business.”

    David looked out at the murky water as he started getting ready to power his ‘mech back up and took a deep breath to steady his nerves. “Just remember to let the Mithril get clear before you open fire.” he reminded himself. “There’s a lot of targets out there after all.”

    “Alright Necromancers, time to wake the dead!” Major Sandoval’s voice was relayed through the laser comms arrays set up. “Power up and give em hell!”

    Going through a quick systems check David then powered up his Crockett and once his Gyro had synced rose from the crouch that his Assault ‘mech had been doing in order to hide properly. “You clear Captain Kent?”

    “We’re attached to the handholds, you’re clear to engage.” The infantry company CO responded. “Just remember that there’s a couple of us on here now.”

    “I’ll let you know before I do any crazy stunts.” David chuckled in response. “Your MPPCs ready to roll?”

    “We’re solid,” Kent replied with a grin on his face underneath his Mithril. “Just keep it steady so that we can aim properly.”

    “Stow the chatter!” Major Sandoval ordered from her upteched Grasshopper. “We’ve got work to do.”

    “Aye ma’am.” David replied. “Engaging targets now!” He fired his autocannon and lasers at what his computer told him were a pair of Saladins bringing them down and causing him to smile broadly as the fireteam of powered armor attached to handholds on his armor disabled another hovercraft with their MPPCs as they entered range. Then, the hovercraft turned around. “Major! We have trouble, none of the hovercraft are the right designations, there’s not even weapons mounted on them!”


    “Fuck!” Sandoval replied before swinging around and looking around for where the enemy would be coming from. “Duke Hull, they somehow knew that we were planning an ambush!”

    “I hear you, Major.” David’s father’s voice came back over the comms systems. “I’ve got Mathis in my ear telling me that they’re assaulting our LZ as well.”

    “Sir, do we have the VTOLs for a recon pass?” Sandoval asked, her voice seemingly a touch calmer now. “I’m sure we’re about to be hit by some of the enemy forces.”


    “I’m afraid that we’re already showing enemies on our scopes.” Hull replied. “We’ve got the better part of the 15th Dieron Regulars with back up from a mixed battalion of hovercraft and the 8th Dieron Regulars moving to engage us.”

    “Damn.” David muttered to himself. “And here we are with a little over a battalion of mainly ‘mechs and infantry.”

    “Any chance of air support?” Sandoval asked, her Grasshopper spreading its hands out like she was asking the question in person.

    “Neg,” Yvonne Hazen cut in. “All of our Stings are tasked with keeping the hovercraft away from our dropships at the moment, and we are limited to three volleys of artillery before they have to move.”

    “Then I guess it’s time to give them hell!” Sandoval said as she turned her Grasshopper around to face the area that the Draconis Combine forces were going to be emerging from.

    “I’ve got your back, Major.” David said as he stepped up along with a Highlander to cover Sandoval’s flanks. “It’s going to be a bit dicey out here.”

    “Copy that,” Katheryn Sandoval responded. “We’re going to have to coordinate our fire and make sure that we drop each unit before we move on. Captain Kent, I’m going to need you dug into the riverbank and aiming at the cockpits of the enemy ‘mechs in order to disorient and distract them.”

    “Aye ma’am.” Captain Kent replied as he and his company used their jump jets to float down to the riverbank. “Digging in now.”

    “ETA on enemy being in range is five mikes.” The lone VTOL that they had in the air reported. “Get ready for them, because they're on their way.”

    David simply relaxed his shoulders and breathed deeply for a few moments, easing himself into the mindset that he needed to be in for the engagement up ahead. Then, opening his eyes he used his communications systems to open a private channel directly to his parents.

    “Mom, Dad, there’s a leak or a traitor somewhere.” He told his parents the thought that had flashed through his head.

    “We’re aware of that son.” David’s father chuckled a bit. “Good job on catching it though, it’ll help you out later in life, now pay attention, this could end up really badly for us if we do the wrong thing or if our estimates are off.”

    “Aye sir!” David replied, knowing that even though Mark Hull was his father, right now he was also the ranking officer on the field. “Shutting down comms now.” He reached forward and toggled the private channel off.

    “Nothing to be nervous about Dave.” He told himself. “You weren’t nervous when we dealt with that company before, so settle down.” He glared at his stomach area that roiled and rumbled a bit.

    “Christ almighty, where did they come up with the sheer amount of assault mechs?” Sandoval breathed into her comms systems. “Heads up people, we’ve got two full battalions of Assault ‘mechs bearing in on our position, and they’re being backed up by a lot of Dragons, make sure that you keep your rear torso clear, because if we get stuck we are dead.”

    “Make sure the sight lines are clear, the last thing we want is to shoot our friends in the back.” Duke Hull said clearly. “The Ducal Guard will be the first line, and we’ll rotate as necessary.” The Duke’s shiny new Warhammer moved forward in formation with his wife Natasha and the six women known as her Marauders. “The LZ is being attacked by a large amount of hovercraft and the 8th Dieron Regulars, we have to hold out until the Stings are clear to come and give us some CAS.”

    “Yes sir!” Sandoval replied as she moved to the second line behind the two battalions of the Ducal Guard.

    David just watched as his mother’s Nightstar triggered its twin Gauss rifles at extreme range, nailing one of the approaching Battlemasters and causing it to slow down in order to evade, this was followed by the rest of the Ducal Guard units using the weapons they had that outranged the enemy’s, making sure to peel armor off before it turned into a knife fight. Just as the battle lines began to converge, David watched in awe as his mother flat out destroyed two assault ‘mechs in rapid succession, followed by her Marauders as they tore into the Combine’s battle lines.

    His dad on the other hand, was a fast moving machine of death, his Warhammer blazed with heat on the scanners, but the Duke just used the extra heat to move faster, using his jump jets to hop around and avoid fire while using his lasers and SRMs to carve away massive chunks of enemy armor, not killing any one particular enemy machines, but instead leaving them open for other units to take advantage of.

    “We’re pulling back.” David’s father said over the command circuit. “Rotate out on my mark.” The Ducal Guard began to fight their way back through the enemy regiment, leaving broken machines and men behind them along with a full fireteam of their own. “Mark.”
    No sooner had the command left Duke Hull’s lips then the ‘machines of the 3rd Kentares Guard surged forward, the infantry that were dug in remaining where they were to catch any stragglers.

    “I’ve got the Atlas.” David called out as he fired his lasers and autocannon at the same time, enjoying the fact that his machine ran ice cold due to the freezers. The Atlas responded with SRM fire that splashed across David’s armor, causing his chest to itch for a moment as he retaliated with his own lasers and SRMs. Triggering his jump jets, David artfully avoided the AC/20 round that was headed for him and began to carve away the side armor of the heavier enemy machine.

    “Watch out Kerensky!” Sandoval yelled as David ducked underneath a sudden hail of missiles. “We can’t get bogged down, they’ve got a lance of Longbows on the ridge.”

    “Yes Ma’am.” David responded as he reigned in his touch of bloodlust, using his jump jets to avoid yet another AC/20 shot in order to get back to the trio that he was a part of.

    “Something is off about the Banshee’s over there.” The Highlander pilot said, firing his LRMs and Gauss rifle at the Longbow’s in order to make them back off a touch.

    “You’re right, their movement profile is wrong.” Sandoval said as she used her mainly energy armament in order to make a Dragon try to take on somewhere else. “They’re not moving as fast as they should be.”

    “Pull back to the river.” Yvonne Hazen commanded from her Atlas. “We need to regroup.”

    Almost as if it were agreed upon beforehand, the two formations split apart, the broken ‘mechs littering the ground of the valley that they were fighting in.

    “We can’t afford to take many more losses like that.” David muttered to himself as he looked over the losses. “They’ve got more numbers and heavier machines than we do.” He looked around. “How many of our pilots are going to make it out ma’am?” He asked Major Sandoval.

    “Most of our ‘mech pilots will be fine.” Sandoval replied. “Even the ones that don’t punch out are safer than the rest of the units in the inner sphere, but this is a disaster.”

    “What do you mean ma’am?”

    “The Kentares Guard and the Marksman aren’t trained for straight ‘mech on ‘mech warfare, the Ducal Guard is more trained in it, but we focused so much on combined arms that we don’t train in ‘mech on ‘mech warfare without conventional support as much.”

    “And now we’re stuck in a slugfest with a bunch of big stompy robots.” David’s father broke in on the channel. “We’re going to have our infantry TAG the Longbows, if we can take out their fire support then it’ll help us level the playing field, we’re outnumbered two to one here, and outmassed by a significant portion.”

    “No fancy tricks this time?” Sandoval asked, hoping that Dule Hull had a trick to pull out of his hat or sleeve.

    “Most of said fancy tricks were done because I had time and space to prepare.” Duke Hull replied, firing his PPCs at an enemy mech across the river. “This time, we were the ones ambushed and we’ve got three choices before us.”

    “And those are?” Sandoval asked, not seeing them.

    “One, we stay here and fight, hopefully cause enough damage that the 15th Dieron Regulars pull back and let us have the field.” Hull almost casually jumped out of the way of a gauss rifle round. “Two, we break through and make a push for the LZ, and hope they don’t steal all of the salvage here before we get back.”

    “And the third option sir?”

    “We hold out until our close air support gets here and pray that they don’t get bogged down.” the Duke replied. “All of the options are bad, but we’ve got to pick one.”

    “And I pick option Four.” Natasha said as her Nightstar stepped back in the front of the friendly formation. “We attack them, and clear them from the field, they have chosen death, so let us give it to them.” She killed a Dragon with a careful headshot from her ERPPC. “Does anyone care to challenge me to single combat?” She broadcast on an open channel. “Your coordinator was weak in combat, let us see if you can do any better.”

    “Or, we can go with option four.” Duke Hull said as he followed his wife’s assault ‘mech. “Cause chaos and make them angry enough at the two of us that it allows the rest of y’all to pick them off.” The married couple then proceeded to move at a moderate pace towards the enemy, seemingly unflinching in the danger in front of them.

    “They are so cool.” David said to himself. “One day, I’m going to be just like them.”

    “I hope not.” Sandoval tapped his Crockett on the shoulder, drawing him out of his thoughts. “Those two are absolutely Crazy. They’re the good kind of crazy, but there’s this little thing I like to call reality, and while they seem to be ignoring it for now, it’ll catch up to them eventually.”

    “But they’re heroes, Major.” The Highlander pilot chimed in.

    “Big Damn heroes always die.” Sandoval stated matter of factly as she took a large laser to the chest, melting a large swath of armor off of her Grasshopper. “Maybe they make it to old age, but when they die it’s never pretty.”

    “We’ll just have to see about that.” David replied as he once again faced the Atlas that he had tangoed with earlier. “We’ll just have to see.”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Forty-One: Green as Grass
    • Chapter One Hundred and Forty-One: Green as Grass

    His ears rang, he didn’t quite know where he was, and why were people shouting at him? He just needed to take a break… Yeah, a nap sounded really nice right about now. The young man stumbled out of the wreckage, being halfway pulled and carried along into a natural fork in the river.

    The infantry continued to drag the mech pilot to the destroyed hovercraft they were using for cover. And once the young man was set down they set back out to go rescue more of their wounded.

    “You gotta shake it off LT!” One of the medics ran a quick vitals check on the ‘mech pilot before removing his helmet in order to inject a stimulant. “He’ll be back on his feet in about two minutes, but he’s going to have a hell of a hangover.”

    “Anyone catch the Atlas that ran me over?” David asked, sitting up and turning to survey the field where the battle was still raging.

    “Yes sir, you and that Atlas decided that getting one of those super Banshee’s involved was a good idea, the big pileup over there.” An infantryman pointed to a cluster of Assault ‘mechs stacked on top of eachother. “Your ejection seat failed, and we had to drag you out, we’re pretty sure that you’re going to end up with a concussion, but a proper diagnosis will have to wait until we’re back to the proper facilities.”

    “Are we winning?” David asked as he put his helmet back on. “I can’t tell.” He tried to use the zoom feature on his powered armor but found that it was broken.

    “We can’t tell.” a medic responded as she dragged another ‘mech pilot back into cover. “It’s not like we’ve been busy or anything LT.”

    “Where can I help?” David finally asked after deciding that he couldn’t help on the fighting end currently. “I’ve got basic medtech training, but no more than that.”

    “Can you help us move people around?” A medic yelled as he ran past. “Or help drag more cover into place? We’re only safe right now because of the distraction that Hull and Kerensky are out there causing.”

    “LT!” Captain Kent shouted as he entered the makeshift hospital area. “Your comms down?”

    “Yessir,” I’m down to my external speakers only.” David replied. “Took a nasty blow to the head when I went down.”

    “Well, you’re with me,” Kent said. “Major Sandoval ejected about thirty minutes ago, and we need to get her back into our perimeter.”

    “Aye sir. Anyone got a bigger weapon than this?” David gestured to the sidearm at his side. “I had a carbine in my ‘mech… But I don’t think I’ll be getting to it anytime soon.”

    “Here,” A medic tossed her rifle at him. “Bring it back in one piece, that old girl has been with me longer than you’ve been alive.”

    “Got it Sarge.” David replied. “I’m ready and set to move when you are Cap.” He nodded at the infantry commander.

    “Move out.” Kent ordered the platoon that was going out. “Remember, we’re rescuing the Drac pilots too, don’t kill them unless they try something stupid.”

    “Sir, I believe the term is Terminally Brave.” A noncom spoke up with a chuckle. “And the Combine doesn’t have a lack of them.”

    “Got that right Sarge.” Kent chuckled as he navigated the platoon around the shattered battlemechs littered across the valley. “But this group has been behaving differently, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”

    “Shit!” Kent stepped back into cover as someone took shots at them. “Friendly!” He called out, “Check your IFF!”

    “Identify yourselves!” A fiery female voice responded.

    “This is Captain Kent, Major. We’re here to pull you out.” Kent responded as he eased himself out of cover to verify her identity.

    “Thanks for the rescue, my Grasshopper is trashed.” She said as she joined the platoon. “Kerensky, it’s good to see you in one piece.” She patted the LT on the shoulder. “You were down for a good while, and I was worried that you wouldn’t make it.”

    “I’m alive ma’am.” David responded as the platoon began to move back to the field hospital. “But I’m not sure about the other guys.” he gestured vaguely in the direction of the assault ‘mech pile.

    “How was the fight going before you punched out ma’am?” Kent cut in. “I don’t have the gear that your Grasshopper did for keeping a big picture of the battlefield.”

    “We’re going to lose shortly if we don’t get some support of some kind.” Sandoval said as the platoon took cover in between a fallen Timber Wolf’s legs. “Duke Hull used our arty to level the playing field somewhat, but they only got one volley off before the enemy was trying to counter barrage.”

    ‘Fuck.” Kent shook his head as he knelt there. “We needed that artillery.”
    “Well, it wasn’t all bad news.” Sandoval smiled. “The 8th Dieron Regulars stopped attacking the LZ and our CAS should en route as soon as they’re done mopping up the hovercraft over there.”


    “Damn!” A private muttered into his open comms as the platoon came to a stop. “Get a load of that action.” The platoon watched as Duke Hull and Natasha Kerensky coordinated fire and alternated targets in order to destroy a full lance in a matter of minutes.

    “They’re not going to be able to keep it up for much longer.” Sandoval pointed out as Kent ordered the Platoon to keep moving. “I’m pretty sure that Hull’s Warhammer is held together with more prayers than anything else, and Kerensky’s Nightstar is beginning to look like swiss cheese.”

    “Keep it moving.” Kent ordered, “we’re nearly at the field hospital.” The platoon began to move at a much faster pace, barely sliding to a stop in front of the wrecked hovercraft that were being used as cover.

    “Anyone got working long range comms?” Sandoval asked as she entered the area and immediately took charge.

    “I’ve got them ma’am.” A ‘mech pilot with a broken foot raised his hand. “I snagged the extra gear that I keep in my Highlander before I bailed out.”

    “Good man.” Sandoval clapped the pilot on the shoulder. “I’ll be borrowing these.” She synced up the device with her own suit of Mithril, and then patched it into her external speakers so that everyone could here what was being said.

    “This is Duke Hull,” they heard. “Where the fuck is our gorramed close air support?! They’re about to wipe us off the map.”

    There was nothing, no response for what felt like an eternity before a voice responded.

    “This is Echo 419, we apologize for the late delivery, we had to deal with some hitchhikers.” A trio of Sting dropships cast shadows on the valley to the cheers of the 3rd Kentares Guard and the Ducal Guards. “And trust me, they brought jetpacks.”

    “We’re just happy to have you here, Foehammer!” Captain Kent replied.

    “They are pulling back.” Yvonne Hazen said over the command circuit, her Atlas II limping along at a much slower pace than it typically had. “Hold your positions.” Immediately the Ducal Guard members that had been about to give chase stopped in their tracks.

    “Duke Hull,” Sandoval used the long range gear. “We’re going to need salvage and recovery teams here ASAP.”

    “Already have Mathis working on it, Major.” Hull replied. “You just make sure that the woundeda are stabilized for transport.”

    “What do you mean by transport?” David asked before he looked up and saw a Sting landing in an open space next to the valley they had been fighting in.

    “Load the wounded and recovered pilots onto Bravo 22 and get them back to the LZ.” Duke Hull ordered. “The rest of us will stick around in case the 15th decide to come back for seconds.”




    Al Na’ir, October 9th, 3032

    “Mark, I hate to wake you and Natasha, but this is urgent.” Mathis led them to a side room on the Messenger. “We figured out where our leak was, and you’re going to be pissed.”

    “One of ours?” I asked tiredly, still exhausted from the battle yesterday.

    “It gets worse, Both General Frost and his XO are in on it.” Mathis handed over the documentation. “Seems they’ve been feeding intel to the ISF since just before the ceasefire.”

    “And we didn’t track this before?” I asked, struggling to process everything when I was still half asleep.

    “They didn’t make any unusual purchases sir.” Mathis replied. “And I’m sure they picked him out because they thought he would never be a CO. A logistics officer can be just as effective a source of information.”

    “Fair point.” I said. “We thrown the two of them into the brig yet?” I asked as I drew my sidearm and double checked the chamber. To make sure that it was loaded.

    “Not yet sir, but we did give the evidence to the Field Marshal and to Major Sandoval.” Mathis replied.
    “That’s good enough for me.” I said as I stalked into the briefing room.

    “Robert Frost, I sentence you to death for treason.” I said as I drew my handgun. “Any last words you’d like to share with the class before I off you?”

    “You killed our chance at lasting peace.” He sobbed quietly. “We were balanced, and the Draconis Combine wouldn’t have invaded.” He continued to blubber while the command staff just ignored him.

    “You have zero options here Frost. I stated coldly and bluntly. “You’re going to die anyway, it’s just a different time frame."

    I watched as the slightly older man reached for something hidden in his desk. My weapon was already raised with my finger on the trigger, and so I waited for Frost to make a move. When his hand moved above the top of the desk, showing a small laser pistol, I fired without hesitation, drilling the CO of the 3rd Kentares Guard with a bullet right between the eyes.

    “Someone carry this body out of here.” I ordered. “And tell Sandoval that she’s in full command of the 3rd Kentares now, due to her previous COs being guilty of treason.”

    “Copy that sir, I’ll relay the message.” Mathis responded

    “Good Work Mathis, we’ve got our work cut out for us in this campaign…..”
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Two: Moving Forward
    • Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Two: Moving Forward
    Al Na’ir, October 15th, 3032

    “Alright,” Colonel, previously Major Katheryn Sandoval said as she slapped the holotable in front of her. “We got pushed and hit hard by the 8th and 15th Dieron Regulars, and they’re going to be coming back for more.” She paused for a minute as she looked at the people in front of her. “Your job, is to go and hit them where it hurts.” She pointed at the location where the Scarborough Manufacturing plant was. “We need them unable to manufacture more of their hovercraft while we’re here on this rock, and y’all are being voluntold.” She glanced up before running through the actual mission.

    “You're going to be boarding Maxims at dawn and taking the long route, we’ll be making probing runs throughout the day in order to throw them off their game. You’ll disembark short of their normal scouting runs, and make your way the last 50 klicks on foot.” She then gestured towards Kent in order for him to take over from there.

    “Our satellite passed over the manufacturing center a little over twelve hours ago.” Kent said, “So we’ve got a decent view of the layout, but no certain ways of telling where the critical manufacturing areas are. That being said, we’re bringing a hell of a lot of combat engineers, and every second man will be bringing a spare det pack.” Kent shrugged, “I know that it’s not our normal MO, but we’re going to level the place if we have to.” He then shut down the holotable for a second and had the lights brought back up to full. “Make sure to get some rack time, and pray that your battle buddy doesn’t get carsick, you’re going to be in for a hell of a long ride.”

    “You heard the man.” Sandoval said as the briefing ended. “I wish that I was coming with you, but I’m going to be here dealing with my new paperwork and making sure that the 5th Avalon Hussars don’t fuck us while we’re here bailing them out.”

    The group of soldiers chuckled at that before they started to file out of the briefing room. “Kerensky, Kent, Stay behind a minute, I need to talk to the two of you.” Colonel Sandoval said before the two men managed to leave.”

    There were some jeers and jokes thrown at David and Kent, but soon they had all filed out.

    “You wanted to speak to us ma’am?” David asked as he took a seat at the front of the room, spinning his chair around so he could rest his hands on the back of it.

    “Yeah, you and Kent are getting field promotions, along with a couple of other blokes.” She said as she pulled a small box out from behind the holotable. “Enjoy your new rank pins Major.” She tossed the new pins to Kent, and then turned to look at David. “You’ll have to make do without the actual rank pins unless Kent here hands his over, but considering we don’t wear them on campaign anyway they’d just sit here on the dropships.”

    “Congrats on getting away from the butterbars.” Kent said with a chuckle before his face got a little serious. “You sure you want in on this op?” He asked while looking David in the eye. “I know you’re down a ride right now, but this entire op could be blown and us all die in a split second.”

    “I’m sure.” David said with a grin, clapping the other two officers on the back. “I’m a part of the 3rd Kentares Guard, we’re going to pull this off and come back with big enough balls that the 1st and 2nd Kentares are going to be envious.”

    “Not the Ducal Guard?” Katheryn asked with a mischievous smile.

    “Them?” David asked. “No way, My mom has stones like no one else.”

    “Not going to talk about the Duke?” Kent asked.


    “He’s got bigger stones than she does, he married her after all.” David chuckled. “In all seriousness though, don’t tell them I said that, I’ve still got bruises from the last time I talked trash to mom and a headache from the last time I did the same thing to dad.”

    “A headache?” Katheryn mouthed to Kent only to receive a shrug in response. “You’re alright for a green kid, your secret is safe with us.”

    “Thanks.” David replied as a weight seemingly lifted off of his shoulders. “I’m gonna go catch some rack time and make sure that my new Mithril suit’s set up properly. See y’all tomorrow.”

    “They’re insane.” Katheryn said once David was out of earshot. “That family is full of crazy people.”

    “No,” Kent shook his head. “They just deal in cold hard reality, and most people can’t face too much of reality without a stiff drink before or afterwards.”




    October 16th, 3032

    “Hey Vickers, you good man?” David asked the man who was doubled over against the off ramp of the Maxis.

    “I’m good Captain,” the man replied. “I’m normally on the outside of a ‘mech when I do this, and the Maxim’s make me a bit motion sick.”

    “Well, we can weaponize that vomit if need be, but I’d rather you keep your insides where they are.” David joked as he pulled the man back into the Maxim. “We’re about to be at the dropoff point and don’t want you to miss out on all of the fun.”

    “Marching fifty klicks isn’t my idea of fun Captain.” The private moaned. “But I’ll do it anyway.”

    “Alright, approaching the dropoff point in five Mikes.” The Maxim driver’s called out over the closed comms. “We’ll hold here for refuel and for a quick rescue when you give us the signal.”

    “Hopefully we won’t need it, but we’ll keep you on speed dial.” Kent replied over the comms. “Check your gear people, the last thing we need is for some of our explosives to go off before we want them to.”

    “Aye sir.” David responded as he went over each of the individuals on his Maxim and had the lieutenants from each of the platoons he was in charge of doing the same.

    “We’re here, now get off of my ride.” David’s Maxim driver said. “And give the Dracs hell for me.”

    “Will do.” David replied. “Let’s settle down here.We’ve got to wait until it’s a helluva lot darker out before we start doing our jobs.”

    “Drink your water.” A noncom called out. “We brought plenty, but you can still get dehydrated if you don’t have enough, and I don’t want one of you numbskulls passing out when we get there because you forgot to maintain hydration.”

    “Yes, First Sergeant!” The men responded.

    “Music to my ears.” The noncom said as the two companies settled in for the next few hours of waiting.
     
    • Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Three: Earth and Ashes
    • Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Three: Earth and Ashes
    October 16th, 3032

    “Remember, we’re going comms silent when we’re fifteen klicks in.” David ordered his company. “The last thing we need is to be discovered before we’ve even accomplished our objectives.”

    “I thought we had encrypted comms though Captain.” Vickers said with a look of confusion on his face underneath his armor.

    “Encrypted or not, they can still detect the signals that we’re transmitting.” David replied. “And them even knowing we’re in the area could blow this entire op.” David shrugged. “We’re going in quietly, and we’re going to need to keep an eye out, we know from the Duke’s attack on the ISF headquarters on New Samarkand that their DEST teams have some sort of modified Stealthed out Powered Armor.”

    “Can they breach our Mithril?” Someone asked with concern in their voice.

    “Does it matter?” David asked. “Your job is the same regardless, we’re all carrying the portable Gauss rifles, and we know that they’re effective against enemy powered armor, so remember to check your corners, and be mindful of enemy operators. They will be willing to use explosives to level the playing field.”

    “And remember, our position being given away means that we get at least a battalion of ‘mechs and hovercraft crashing down on our position.” Kent said as he led the two companies. “So stealthed as long as we can make it, and only go loud if absolutely necessary.”

    “Copy that sir.” David responded, trudging through the underbrush that was between them and the manufacturing center. “Wilco.”

    –
    –

    “Well, that wasn’t something we saw from the satellites.” Kent said as he looked from the woods out at the industrial plant before him. “They’ve cleared out an extra four kilometers of brush and woods from around the site.”

    “How does that affect us sir?” David asked as he walked over.

    “We’re going to have to move and be careful of those spotlights. They’re not on a standard pattern, they’re operated by individuals who are doing their level best to randomize things. And it looks like they’ve modified their patrols as well.”

    “What about the river?” David asked, pointing towards that area. “That would get us to within two klicks.”
    “Not close enough, and that’s the point that is the most heavily defended, they’ve got a Warhammer and a couple of Vulcans guarding that entry point, along with a Jenner.”

    “Fuck.” David breathed out. “That lance of 'mechs could end our entire force.”

    “I know.” Kent said as he surveyed the place and began to cycle through plans in his own mind. “That’s why it’s your job to make sure that those ‘mechs aren’t able to interfere with the rest of the operation.” Kent looked at the younger man with a broad grin underneath his helmet. “How’s your Japanese?”

    –
    –

    In the dark of the night, six figures rose out of a river, and, making sure that non reflective materials were behind them they began to move across the open field, using small craters shallow depressions in the dirt to press themselves down in order to avoid notice. Barely avoiding notice, the fireteam pressed on, getting in the shadows of the enemy lance and using the terrain along with the relatively slow pace of the ‘mech lance in order to latch onto the different ‘mechs of the lance. Two members climbed onto the Warhammer, while the rest of the fireteam split up to take the rest of the lance out.

    “I hope this works.” David muttered to himself, edging his way up the back of the Warhammer slowly and making sure to stay out of sight of the other three ‘mechs. Finally reaching the cockpit hatch, he took a deep breath, steadying his nerves and preparing to do his job for the night. Taking his armored fist and signaling to his partner that he was ready. Receiving a nod in response, David rapped sharply on the back of the hatch, hoping that the ‘mechwarrior within would actually open his hatch. “Come on, take the bait.”

    The hatch opened a good thirty seconds later, the Warhammer having slowed to a stop in the process and a head popped out. Leaping up, David jumped inside the cockpit and grabbed the Combine mechwarrior, making sure to knock him out and secure him to the jump seat with the restraints that he had brought with him, as well as making sure that there were no weapons still on the enemy pilot’s person.

    “You good boss?” A quiet voice echoed through the cockpit as David’s battle buddy poked his head in. “We’ve got about a minute and a half to get this finished before the enemy commanders start asking for reports.”

    “I’m breaking in now.” David said as he pulled his personal Neurohelmet out of his pack and connected it and his slate to the Warhammer’s computers, overriding the security, and making David the new pilot and owner of the heavy ‘mech. “I’m in, you should make yourself scarce.”

    “Copy that, falling back to the river.” David’s battle buddy said as he closed the hatch and began to make his way to the river, leaving David and his multilingual skills to sell the disguise.
    –
    –

    “I really hope that the Captain pulled that off.” Kent muttered to himself as he and the majority of two companies began to creep up on the industrial center. After what felt like hours, they finally reached the wall of the complex and began to scale it, making sure to stay out of sight and to be as quiet as possible. Kent was the first to reach the top, and after clearing the top of the wall, he jumped down with a quiet thud and then grimaced. “I should have taken the stairs.” He muttered as the noise slightly echoed, drawing in a lone guard who looked around with a look of confusion on his face. Reaching the small crater made by Kent hitting the ground, he knelt and began to examine the large footprints, and hadn’t made it very far in his inspection when Kent crept up behind him silently with a knife and drove it upwards and back, immediately silencing the guard and ensuring that he was dead. Dragging the body behind a couple of storage areas, Kent signaled to the rest of the platoon that it was time to move on.

    Sheathing his knife after flicking the blood off of it, Kent grabbed his rifle off of his back and made sure that he had a mag loaded with the right ammunition. The companies began to make their way over, and spread out according to their fireteams, branching out in order to set up their demolition charges in the right locations as they discovered them.

    –
    –

    “Charges are set, moving forward.” A combat engineer reported to Kent as they moved away from the lines and the unconscious factory workers. “Set!” The point man called out as he posted up on the doorway.

    “First.” The first man to enter the room called out as he went left and cleared that corner while the man behind him went right. “Clear!”

    “Copy, moving.” Kent replied as he moved forward into the next area, followed by the remainder of the fireteam. It was slow going, but they were doing this right so as to cause as much damage as possible.

    “Setting charges.” Their combat engineer said as he knelt and unslung the det pack from his back. Grabbing the shaped plastic explosives and placing them where they would cause the most damage. “Charges set, timer is set for thirty Mikes.”

    “Copy that.” Kent responded. “We need to move onto the next building.”

    The two companies set their charges and began to move back to the wall that they had entered the premises on. Only this time, they had left a group of charges to detonate on their way out, so as to cover them leaving.

    Then, as they were about to leave, alarms started going off throughout the compound.

    “We’re made, blow the walls.” Kent ordered over the comms, the silence broken now. On the opposite side of the compound, a section of the wall collapsed due to explosions, allowing them to use their jump jets to get over the wall and begin running to the extraction point.

    “Fifteen Mikes to detonation,” echoed in Kent’s ear.

    “Kerensky, you hear all of this?” Kent asked, knowing that the lance they had stolen was keeping an ear out.

    “We hear you, we’re going to play along with the orders issued by the Combine for now though." Kerensky replied. “We’ll be able to cause more damage this way.”

    “Godspeed Captain.” Kent responded. “Take out as many of the bastards as you can, just make sure to make it back.”

    “Wilco Major.” David replied, “Stay safe, Captain Kerensky out.”

    “Crazy son of a bitch.” Kent shook his head. “But if it’s crazy and it works, then it’s still crazy, it just worked.”
     
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