Month: May 2025

Grognard Corporate Tower

Scottsdale, Continent of Zona

World of St Ives, Capellan Confederation 15 April 3081

 Victor Chen exited the taxi and headed into the building. It had been a several month long trip from the other side of the Federated Suns and a potentially fatal encounter to the lap of luxury that being back in Capellan space offered. The Arms Dealer and smuggler had been out on Centarus for the start of a client’s revenge activity against a large merc command that ran the planet.

 He’d been content to work with his client, a Word Of Blake Precentor, in his revenge action in providing him with requested weapons and devices.  The most dangerous of what he had procured for him was a series of nuclear devices… of which had been used on the world.

 Mind you, Chen had been surprised by their *actual* use… but given how everything had fallen apart for his client and how they were used, he could not fault their use. He did fault where he used them but that was not his decision.

 That four of the six devices worked was annoying and for solid reasons. He took pride in everything he provided a customer would work properly, and those two failures were a threat to his reputation. He never delivered faulty equipment and there would be words with his procurement person over that…

 His client’s hate for the Phoenix Lancers had been substantial and he was prepared to spend whatever it took to destroy or humiliate them, which was a solid payday for folks like Chen. The blind buyer tended to spend a lot to acquire needed materials and not ask questions.

 In the end, his client had gotten caught and killed, which cost the smuggler/weapons dealer a cash cow… As a result, Chen was forced to try and avoid being caught on the world; an oversight as he never expected his client’s efforts to fail.

 Had he escaped to the world’s wildlands, it would have only been a matter of time before he could possibly escape the world, as so much of it was not populated but well mapped. He’d have had to ditch his battlemech, of course… but sometimes, prized gear was expendable.

 However, He had not counted on the tenacity of the Lancer Striker company and that was an error on his part. Their skill had prevented him from fighting his way past them and he had been caught. He knew his diplomatic status would protect him but had not considered the lack of control when that merc commander shoved his shotgun in his face… That was a scary moment when the enemy leader came close to pulling a trigger. He backed down though… and Chen had been repatriated.

 There will be restitution, he thought, not for the first time, as he remembered his abject fear and the soiling of his uniform because of it. There is time and I will have my revenge… As he reached the building, he oriented himself and strode towards the security desk. He had gotten a message to come here to the public offices of his organization and to be proper when he did so.

 The security desk officer checked his identicard and handed it back. “Mister Chen, you are to take elevator nine and you are to report to the thirty ninth floor. You will be met,” the security person said. “Enjoy your visit.”

 With a nod, he took his identicard back and headed to the elevator.  Boarding, he tapped in the floor and was whisked upwards to the appropriate floor. When the door opened, a young woman in a blue and green qipao met him and wordlessly, motioned him to follow.

 Doing so, he was led down a hall and eventually to a corner suite. Ushered into the outer office, he was greeted by another woman, this one clad similarly to his escort.

 “Good afternoon, Lama Chen. The Mandrissa will call for you shortly,” she said as she gestured to a chair off to the side.

 A wordless decline for the seat, Chen chose to stand.

 After a few minutes, the woman looked over at him and spoke. “Lama Chen, she will see you now…”

 With a slight bow, Chen walked to a door that had opened and stepped through.  On the other side of the door was a large office that was along the exterior of the building. Expansive tinted windows spanned the exterior walls and the room was decorated with exquisite statuary of Chinese style dragons and lions. Scattered about the room, there were large plants; mostly ferns and sculpted bamboo.  A large modern desk, with terminal and trivid communication screen, was at one end of a grandly ornate rug.

 Behind the desk sat the Mandrissa, her hair pulled back in a warrior’s ponytail, which was slightly at odds with the environment. But then, the Mandrissa was an unusual individual.  Searching his memory, he recalled she had been from a Warrior House though which one escaped him at the moment. She had transitioned to Wah Kee at some point and risen within its ranks with a mixture of diplomatic skill, guile and when necessary, heartlessly focused violence. To either side were her two bodyguards, both men clad in slacks and jackets, standing in a parade-rest position. All of them watched when he entered, and she gave a subtle nod when he stopped ten feet from the desk.

 She had become his superior when the Mountain Master appointed her to lead the Periphery portion of their operations and its smuggling component. She had been a fair master and Chen was unsure of why this meeting was happening. That he hadn’t been grabbed by Enforcers or agents of the Maskirovka said to him this was likely not a bad meeting, just pro-forma.

 Perhaps he’d get a scolding… or simple questions as to how he’d been caught. He was one of the most successful among the forward deployed of the Organization and unlikely to be removed. He made too much revenue to be sidelined…

 “Good afternoon, Lama Chen,” she began. “Thank you for coming straight here from the starport. I trust your journey was comfortable?”

 “It was so ordered, and I would be remiss in not responding quickly,” he replied with a slight smile. “And yes, the second half of the trip was quite pleasant; the new Monarch starliner dropships are quite comfortable.”

  “Indeed…” She sat. “Tell me, what were you expecting in your operation in Federated Suns space? It is not your normal area of operations…”

 Right to business, he thought. Must be pressed for time… “I was expecting a successful deployment of recently acquired materials and their effective use by my client,” he stated. “The client was a recent addition to my customer base, and I wanted to be sure assets he requested were being used effectively. I also wished to perhaps influence him into more substantial future purchases… Participation was a calculated risk; he seemed like one who valued direct involvement so I took the opportunity.”

 She lifted an eyebrow. “Indeed. What made you think it was an intelligent idea?” She asked. “Your customer belonged to a rather malignant organization.”

 Chen inclined his head slightly. Hm. That isn’t a promising statement. “I viewed the risk as an acceptable one that could result in far more revenue and perhaps far more important deals in the future.”

She leaned back into her chair. “Your calculations… were flawed,” she said. “And were far too dismissive of the risk for the reward potential.”

 Chen blinked. “Mandrissa Feng, no high value operation is without risk… and I felt the potential to be worth it.”

 A sigh. “Lama Chen, entering deals with any of the Word Of Blake, no matter how much potential such a transaction may be realized… is not worth ANY risk or exposure.” She replied calmly. “They have assaulted and killed many within the Confederation; entering deals with them is something of a questionable act because of that… In addition, it has come to the attention of the Wah Kee that we may be implicated and given culpability in the deaths of the civilian population by your actions.”

 Chen blinked. “Impossible. All precautions were taken, all protocols followed…” The words of protest died on his lips as he took in her cold stare.

 Silently, she reached out and tapped a hidden button on her desk.  A screen dropped from the ceiling and began to play, a pair of mechwarriors in plain pilot gear appeared on the image and one began to speak, the Mandrin nearly flawless.

“Beloved Sister, I hope this message finds you well and successful in service to the Chancellor and House. Though we have not spoken in some time because of choices, we have something to bring your attention that requires reversing those decisions, if only for a message. It is about an event upon our current home that has potential to affect both the House and your Triad…”

 Over the next two minutes, the two men took turns detailing the events of the nuclear devastation upon Centarus and the capture of Chen by the defenders. It detailed some of the inconclusive interrogation that occurred and investigations carried out.  The men disclosed the subsequent discovery of information maintained by elements of a Fifth Column within the population; information that was very detailed, laying out the connections made to acquire the devices… and how it led back to the Wah Kee and the potential repercussions that could arise.

 Repercussions that could arise should those within the Confederation decide House Liao’s Honor was threatened enough to warrant further investigations closer to home… Those investigations would be conducted by the Maskirovka’s best as this was an Inter-Successor State issue of importance.

 “… We have been able to keep anything official from being given to MIIO through favors owed, with an assurance that the source would be punished appropriately,” was heard. “We know with the current state of affairs within the Inner Sphere between Houses where the Word of Blake is concerned, established rank and value becomes potentially less so when repercussions for heinous acts are considered.”

A brief silence. “We are warning you that while we were assured this would be kept confidential, the potential exists for others not within the purview of our contact may also learn of the connections… and an Agreement between Nation States and Agencies may be made that are rather… final… towards anyone directly connected to your Agent. Do with this information as you will; the warning is about the only course of action we can do at this time as anything more is out of our reach.”

“Forewarned is fore-armed; it is believed removal of the cause might be enough to preempt any activity by those other entities,” The two men stood at attention and gave bow. “Again, be well and perhaps our mutual silence may be breached once more with more pleasant news.”

 The message ended and she looked at the now very stunned Chen. “Your math was poor.”

 Chen, for his part, managed to keep his features free of fear, only showing his confusion. “This is not possible…” he began and was cut off.

 “Belief in the impossible is impractical,” she replied. “Time and again, it has been shown that things thought impossible become possible, even probable… After all, it was believed impossible that Kurita would allow Mercenaries on Luthien… it was believed impossible that St Ives would rejoin the Confederation…. It was believed impossible that a Terran Republic would ever become a Nation once more… It was believed impossible that the Word of Blake would have enough manpower to do as they did… and yet, here we are.”

 She sighed. “Lama Chen,” she said. “Your recklessness has brought potential ruin to the Wah Kee, potential ruin to all that are connected to us. It may even bring problems to the Confederation, should it be decided that they allowed these acts… despite many a Capellan world suffering under the lash of the Word of Blake.”

Shaking her head, she continued. “Such thinking is Insanity… but then, our State has had many of questionable sense leading it so that is not impossible.”

“The fact remains that your acts have brought us to the brink of potential ruin She paused. “And for that, there is no forgiveness…”

 As she finished, her two bodyguards snapped silenced pistols to hand from behind their backs. Within a split second, both fired, the shots striking Victor Chen in the upper chest and face. Death was nearly instantaneous, and his body crumbled to the ground on the rug.

 Standing up, she stepped around the desk and looked at the body where it lay. “Hmph, I had grown rather fond of that rug,” she said to her guards. “But sometimes, sacrifices need to be made to prevent worse events.”

 Turning to head towards a side door she finished. “See that picture proof is made then sent to me; I will have a message going with it via courier to the HPG station. As for body, bundle it in the rug and have both burned,” she said. “I do not want the ashes anywhere save the refuse pile.”

**

Outpost Class Dropship “Traveler”

Nadir Point,Uninhabited Star Sysem 100294857

Davion Space 16 April 3081

Newly promoted Galaxy Commander Marcus Fletcher stood at the viewport of his cabin. He enjoyed watching his fleet. Yes, he thought, fortune favors the bold. Months ago, he was a Star Colonel in a second line unit bound for obscurity. Now he was a full Galaxy Commander… and annoyed.

 His annoyance came from the Clan Watch Commander knowing about the promotion and the additional troops that went with it before him… and that he was not informed of things until the actual rendezvous. Not a pleasant surprise, even though the promotion and additions were happy things.

 Star Captain Warren told him that he was under orders from the Clan Council not to reveal before it was time and that if there been a need, he would have broken protocol then. Fletcher was willing to let that answer be sufficient- for now.

The fact remained that Fletcher now had three full clusters under his command; a mechanized assault, a mechanized cavalry, and a second line cluster organized as a horde cluster.

 In addition, he had nominal control over the watch binary assigned to this mission; a formality that could be bypassed by their commander if necessary… but that was a concern for later. Right now, he was mentally reviewing the roster of the additions and was pleased. Many of the names were familiar to him, most command positions held by members of his old Cluster.

 This is a sign, He thought, Surely it must be a sign.

*

Wardroom, Lion class Dropship “Griffin”

 Star Captain Warren stood with Star Commander Miriam, both looking out of the viewport into the stars. There was a long period of silence before either of them spoke.

 Miriam spoke first. “How did he take the news of the additional troops and his *promotion*?”

 Warren, still staring into the view port, answered. “For the most part as I expected. What I did not anticipate was his anger at not being the first to know about this… that will bear some watching. In the meantime, please tell the rest of the command to stay alert around the rest of the clusters; better yet tell them to keep their distance from his commands period.”

 He paused. “I want you to put our troops on an around the clock training schedule. We only have a few more jumps until we reach our objective Quiaff?”

“Aff Star Captain,” answered Miriam. “When do we tell him what our separate mission is?”

 Star Captain Warren remained staring into space as he pondered his reply. “In accordance with my orders from the Khan, when I feel he needs to know.”

 Star Commander Miriam nodded her understanding, and both continued to look at the stars.

Southern front Rear area

2312hrs 12 April

 Argyle and the rest of his team lounged on or against their Kestrel as they waited for deployment orders. The suggestion to Borton about contacting Nagumo to inquire about Point Commander Blargek had been made and as it turned out, he *was* part of the Saber Cat detachment.

 Blargek was only too happy to perform the mission request. After getting a group of infantry troops for assistance, he led them to one of the northern camps to do a complete search. No room or closet was left unsearched and after a good three hours, the facility was cleared up for use.

 Salem had done much the same activity at his target, also finding nothing; both instances concerned Borton but after much discussion, the decision was made to occupy. Salem cracked jokes about babysitting a complex to him when he called… and Argyle had a tinge of Jealousy over it. At least Gamma was doing *something* while he and Alpha were stuck waiting.

 He knew that waiting was part of the job… and campaign work was either non-stop or twiddle thumbs. Knowing and being happy about it were two different things though. Little did he realize that things were about to get busy very soon…

 Mercer was sitting on the deck of the Kestrel, adjusting his Nighthawk suits helmet fasteners when he happened to look up. Catching a bit of movement in the shadows out near the command vehicles, he put his helm on and activated his infrared scope.

 “Boss…” he said quietly. “We got a problem…”

 Argyle looked over from where he was leaning, a cigarette cupped against showing light. “What?” he asked as he looked at Mercer.

 “We got rats in the house…” he said, tightening down his helmet. “Six of them…”

 Tossing his smoke, Argyle snapped close his helm and looked where Mercer pointed. “Fuck…” he breathed and then ordered everyone up. “Alpha… Gun up; we got company…”

 Switching channels, he jumped on the command net. “Papa Security, Spectre One One PRIORITY TRAFFIC … Papa Security Spectre One One PRIORITY TRAFFIC…” he called out as he grabbed his Mauser system.

 [Spectre One, Papa Security Super, send it.] The shift supervisor, on board the Overlord command drop ship serving as the fall-back point, answered.

 “Papa Security, Spectre One One… initiate CHARLIE INDIA… Sappers in forward command area” he said as he led the rest of the now gunned up team after the commandos. “Target appears to the Thirty Six; Spectre One moving to intercept…”

 [Copy CHARLIE INDIA Forward Command] The supervisor on the other end replied and a second later the southern task force network came alive with the alert…

 Low lights came on from various locations in the perimeter and personnel stirred…. Infiltrators needed low or no lights to get places. The low lights… removed some of it and made the low light sensors more effective.

 The commandos spotted by Mercer, realizing they were now seen, broke out in a run for various points. Two of six attackers headed straight for the command van at a mind-boggling dead run.

 Argyle saw them and cursed. “Fuuuuuuuuuuck….” He snarled. “Those gotta be Domini. Cass, with me! Syd, hunt those fucks down…” Shifting his route, he ran as hard as he could, the Nighthawk suite assisting his ground speed.

 He didn’t dare fire yet; if they were Manei Domini commandos, he needed to be closer to be sure of where he hit. And it also meant he might have to do this the old-fashioned way… fist to face. Shooting them might not be enough, he thought. Joy…

**

 As the alert was raised, troops who had not been awake woke up and the news passed quickly about what was going on. The standard issue among Lancer infantry was night vision gear and all the sets had a limited ability for infrared operation.

 Using them in that fashion ate battery life but for events like this, who the hell cared… As the various troops secured their spaces, the first Domini troopers engaged a group by the small generator station near the mess trailer.

 The gun battle that broke out was short, as the Trooper’s accuracy was nearly perfect with his light machine gun. His shooting raked the mess trailer and the handful of night technicians responsible for feeding the force were gunned down. The two survivors returned fire with pistols, but it was almost like pissing into the wind.

 As the Lancer forces scrambled to respond to the incursion, small clusters of defenders attempted to stop the Domini super soldiers. While their efforts could not keep them from causing damage, they could force them to slow their assault, or in the case of one squad, occupy it long enough for a better response.

  An infantry squad that had been near the supply vehicle park caught one Domini commando as it got close and laid into it. Some of them had fought in the Jihad elsewhere and knew of the weak points in Tornado armor which allowed them to counter the commando.

 Being what it was, the Domini commando resisted many of the hits it took, its cybernetics enabling it to resist the damage being taken for a time. In the process, its own Mauser 1200 took a toll on the infantry fighting him.

 As it attempted to blow past the infantry, Mercer closed on the trooper.  The Spectre commando switched his auto-shotgun to semi as he lifted it into play. Triggering it twice, he was rewarded with two body hits to the enemy trooper, which staggered him.

 Closing, Mercer shifted his grip and delivered a butt-stroke to the back of the Domini’s head, laying him out. Dropping his free hand, he snap drew his Sternsnacht Eagle and put two rounds into his target’s head.

 This served to finish the trooper off and the cybernetic commando stopped moving. “Secure this fucker…” he called to the infantry squad before looking for another enemy.

**

 Inside the command van, Barry jumped from where he was napping at the sound of the alert klaxon and looked at one of his techs. “Charlie India?” he asked.

 “Yessir… we are being raided, commandos…” the tech answered as he grabbed his PDW. “The Spectre team spotted them.”

 “Shit…” Barry commented. “Well, we figured shenanigans were coming after the air battles.” Grabbing his bullpup Ceres Arms shotgun, he checked to be sure it was chambered.  Turning towards the door, he commented. “This is going to be a bullseye…” escaped his mouth as the sound of gunfire began to be heard. “I’ll never make my machine so I’ll help here.”

 The other technicians in the van nodded or voiced agreement, with half of them turning to help guard the hatch.  The vehicle was resistant to small arms, its armor being Battlemech Grade, but armor meant nothing if someone got inside. The electronic door lock was good but if they were commandos, they likely had items to defeat it.

**

 Up on the Northern front, the alert at the Southern assembly area, triggered a similar security response. The Elementals of Sabercat and the handful of Ghost Bear ones all woke and scattered about the area.  Some of them had faced Blakist supertroopers before and the word quickly passed among them what to watch for.

 If any were coming here, they would find out how bad an idea it was to fuck around…

**

 Out on Odayama’s landing zone, his security detail was surprised at being alerted to the problem at the Southern Zone but took the warning seriously. The handful of battle armored infantry among the Yuutsu spent the night with squads of infantry, spelling their less armored companions on night watch.

 They had just gotten here and struck a blow… they would not be taken by knives in the dark from an honor-less foe.

**

 Argyle and Cass kept up their sprint, trying to catch the enemy commandos. As they ran, they saw the two they were chasing close on the M36 and get engaged by the four-man security detachment.

 Though they weren’t enough to stop them, the troops did manage to slow the Manei Domini commandos down, selling themselves dearly to buy time.

 Getting past the security, the two troopers went to the hatch, and one produced a cyberhacking tool. Much like a Decker would use on a mainframe, the device fielded by the Domini soldier was designed to enable a bypass on anything computer controlled or electrical in nature. It wasn’t elegant… but when you had to brute force something, it worked.

  Five seconds later, the hacking trooper succeeded in overriding the lock.  Wordlessly, it turned to cover their rear as the other one popped open the hatch to enter, its submachine gun better for the tight confines of the van.

 As it stepped in, the trooper was met with several blasts of a shotgun and small arms fire…

**

 “They’re bypassing the lock!” The crew chief of the van called out, the display next to the door showing the hack.

 Barry knelt down behind a workstation and sighted over the barrel. “Of course, they are…” he said as he aimed at the doorway. Not the way I wanted to find out how good these shells work, he thought. McCoy said they might be necessary… He and I need to have a talk.

 As the hatch opened, Barry counted to one then fired, catching the Domini trooper center mass upon it’s entering, even as others fired.  His target, armored in Tornado armor, was highly resistant to small arms, even a shotgun at point blank range.

 But what Barry had in his weapon was ammunition designed to defeat light power armor. A creation of the AFFS and Free Worlds League Military R & D, the specialized discarding sabot shells had the ability to puncture the lighter power armored suits like Nighthawk, Tornado and the New Israel Jericho armors. The sabot slugs were even rated to cause harm to light battle armor like the Grey Death Legion Scout and Combine Kage suits.

 The ammunition came into wider use as a result of the Jihad, due to the extensive deployments of powered armor by the various Word of Blake units. As reports of their effectiveness came in, the various militaries and merc groups bought in… and of course, the Blood Spirits carried it as part of their issued gear.

 McCoy had given him a box of the ammunition before they departed Centarus and suggested he carry a load or two. “You never know, ya know?” he had said and right now, that action seemed almost prophetic.

 His two shots punctured the torso of his target, rocking it backward as the energy of the sabots slammed through the armor. A third shot landed in the same spot as one of the first two and went straight through the target, the munition getting stuck in the rear torso armor half-way through.

 **

 Outside, Argyle and Cass charged the other trooper, with Cass having her baton deployed for use. Reaching their target, she engaged him in close assault as he shot at her. Grunting in pain from the machine pistol hits that failed to penetrate, Cass swung on the enemy and kept him occupied for what came next.

 Argyle ran up and attempted to grapple the trooper. As the trooper attempted to defend himself from the both of them, the Spectre leader realized an opening and took it.  A quick tap on a lever on his gauntlet, Argyle maneuvered himself to deliver an uppercut with that gauntlet.

 Attached to his forearm and wrist was a one-shot wrist gun.  Firing a twelve-gauge sabot shell, the Punch Gun was a very short-range variation of a Bang Stick. Similar in nature to what Phoenix Lancer infantry carried, this one was designed to be used in close combat when a punch was landed…. And as the uppercut landed, it fired its sabot up into the Domini trooper’s jaw and through its head.

 Cass jumped back as the weapon discharged with pieces of helmet, bones and brain matter sprayed everywhere. “What the ever-loving fuck, Argyle?!?!” she exclaimed as she backed away from the headless corpse.

“Hmph… it worked like I thought,” he said as he watched the dead enemy drop, his hands automatically going to reload the device. Looking over at Cass, he continued. “Don’t Duncan always say End It Quick?”

 She groaned in reply as she shot the other commando on the ground through the face plate.

**

 Inside the command van, a tech moved to cover the doorway better as the sound of the wrist gun was heard through the open hatch. Outside, they saw the female Spectre turn to face the one Barry had shot and the Blood Spirit put two shots into its head.

 When the other Spectre looked over at him, the tech answered. “We’re good here… got no further than the door.”

 “Good,” the male Spectre replied and motioned to his companion. “We need to help the others; there is still a few more out there.” Looking back at the tech, he continued. “We’ll be back.”

 “Right!” the tech replied and watched the two Spectre depart. “Jeeze that’s a mess…” he muttered.

 Barry, who had come up behind the tech, spoke up. “I’ll watch; you and Jenkins get out there and check on the detail…” A grim smile as he patted his shotgun. “I might not be a grunt but I know how to shoot…”

 The technician nodded. “Yessir, you do…”  When Jenkins appeared with the combat lifesaver bag, the two of them went to check on the wounded security detail. With a little bit of luck, they weren’t dead…

 Barry looked at the two dead Domini troopers and shook his head. I must have struck a nerve somewhere, he thought. Or they are desperate…

**

The other Domini troopers did not last terribly long as Phoenix Lancer protocols covered commando raid defense, which made sense as they used the tactic a lot… As a result, the Manei Domini troopers ran into practiced units of Lancer troops. Even as Logistics troops, all had the same training and once able to organize, were able to handle the rest.  Mind you, having the Spectres hunting them, it minimized their own casualties. All told, it was about another twelve minutes before all six commandos were killed.

 In the process of the attack, the enemy managed to destroy some supplies and damage support assets. Not everything damaged was put out of action, fortunately, and operations would continue.

 Casualties, though, were a different story. All told, the attack caused eighteen dead and twice that wounded… with some of the dead being perimeter security- taken out quietly by the attackers. The badly wounded were evacuated to the MASH or sent to the dropship to await transport to the fleet. It could have been worse… but training combined with their own specialists prevented that.

 Borton was furious he got took… but quietly reminded himself that his statement about plans and a solid night watch was proven out here. He thought he had accounted for just about anything that was going to be thrown at him but as he should have predicted, the Word of Blake had a wrinkle to add to things.

 Orders were passed to increase the watch; he didn’t think there would be another assault but then, he didn’t think there was Manei Domini here either. Those fighters should have been a damn hint…

 In the morning, they’d be relocating to that outpost and a proper assessment could be done. He was pretty sure the injury to the southern group wasn’t insurmountable but a better assessment in the morning would know for sure. There would be time to be upset later…

Bridge, Merchant class Jumpship “Temperate Storm”

Nadir Jumppoint ,Cork System.

15.5[1 G]hours from planetary landing, 12 April

Tai-sa Odayama’s task force jumped into Cork unprepared for what they would see. He had ordered all ships to close all weapons ports and not to open them except on his personal command. When his jumpship came out of hyperspace he was on the bridge.of the  Temperate Storm, a Merchant class jumpship. It’s two docking points held an Overlord class and an Okinawa class dropship.

 Several kilometers away the Quiet Journey, a second Merchant class jumpship appeared holding the rest of his task force, an old Lion class and a Dictator class dropship, built to original specs as an armored vehicle carrier.

 Already they were being hailed and in the Lidar two Achilles class assault ships were vectoring in on their position. The captain of the jumpship Tai-i Yoshi, was calling for a red alert.

 “Belay that order,” Odayama commanded. He didn’t shout, however, his voice carried in the small bridge and he was obeyed. Having the inter-ship frequency opened, he ordered all ships to stand down and hold their positions. Next, he had the comms officer switch to the open hailing frequency and when it was ready, he spoke. “This Tai-sa Odayama of the 1st Yuutsu Regiment. We are ronin, an Independent unit.”

  He still couldn’t bring himself to say Mercenary, as hard as he tried. “We have been requested by Governor Tinney of Centarus to place ourselves under the command of Colonel Barry T Borton for this operation to function as Cavalry…. We await for word from him for us further orders; Until then we will hold position here waiting his command.”

[1^st Yuutsu, this is the Phoenix Lancer Assault Ship Sparta. You have been expected and the request has been relayed to Colonel Borton.  You have preliminary permission to advance into the system… Maintain 1 Gravity unless otherwise directed…]

“Yuutsu acknowledges…” Odayama returned his eyes to the LiDAR, he could see the two blips on the screen with the overhear monitors showing a video of each Achilles and giving a readout of their stats, weapons, condition, speed and bearing. As they sped towards them while  they began their transit in, another object changed its vector and began moving in their direction.

 The blip some was huge compared to two assault ships. The LiDAR systems aboard both ships were civilian not military so it could only classify the huge moving object with what was stored in its memory systems. Everyone on the bridge (Including Odayama) gasped as what came up as a “Small Planetoid” changed vectors and began to follow the two assault ship. Even as they read the IFF coming from the “Planetoid”, they received a return of their initial hail with a message for them.

 [Temperate Storm, this is the SLS Denali message received, standby for a security flyby. Assault Ship Sparta and Athens will verify identity visually.] the female voice coming over their speaker was polite but all business. [After verification you will receive further vectoring instructions. Transit to planet is approximately fifteen standard hours at one Gee. When you are within one hour of planetfall you will receive instructions from surface command.]

 As they closed the gap between them, the bridge crew and Odayama could see the Achilles assault ships gliding by like barracudas in one of the viewpoints. Behind them they could finally see the “Planetoid”. The Lola III class Destroyer dwarfed the two assault ships as a killer whale dwarfs a piranha. While the Achilles appeared to glide towards them, the warship moved as an unyielding force. As it closed it continued to grow to a monstrous size in view ports, dwarfing anything they had ever seen. Close inspection showed the gigantic naval cannon and missile ports, the multiple conventional weapons turrets… it was a veritable fortress in space and instinctively, they knew there may be larger further in the system… perhaps that larger Small Planetoid that was now showing on their systems

. Each Assault ship completed a circuit around the jumpships and the attached dropships, weapons ports open while the war ship hung over them like the Spector of death should they fail inspection.

The entire inspection to approximately 30 standard minutes after which the communications speaker on the bridge crackled to life. [This is Captain Jeffery Kendalson of the SLS Denali, your dropships are clear to undock and proceed to planetary orbit,] the now male voice said over the speakers and he was no less pleasant. [Vector instructions are now being sent to you. Be warned there are too many unknowns and still may be possible hostiles in the area; please proceed with caution and prepared for potential action. It is advised that no deviation from the flight plan occur; the other friendly warship in the area will be expecting traffic from a specific direction and we do not want another Incident to occur. Denali clear.]

Aboard the Denali, the bridge crew was working hard to contain themselves. There had been no friendly fire incidents per-se, but a warning given this way kept dropship captains attentive and their crews alert.

 Tai-sa Odayama replied, “Understood, Denali; uncoupling within the next ten minutes and preparing to burn toward the planet. We will be alert for updated instructions…. Temperate Storm clear.” The four dropships uncoupled from their jumpships and after rendezvous, began their burn for the planet at the specific speed.

 After they had moved past the massive warship Odayama passed the word to all crews to bring all weapons to active, ports open and gun crews to standby positions. For him the hunt was now over… and the battle was about to begin.

Bridge,Overlord Class Dropship “Moeru Yaru ”

Enroute ,Cork System. [‘Burning Spear”]

65 minutes [1 point 5 G speed] from planetary landing, 1901hrs, 12 April

Tai-sa Odayama spent most of his time in transit viewing the battle updates and terrain maps sent to him by Colonel Borton after getting a direct comm call from him a few hours ago. After their conversation, Borton requested he increase speed fifty percent; he had an immediate job for him and would send over the data soonest. The increase in speed made transit time much shorter and they would have a good two hours of daylight to set up a perimeter.

 Within five minutes of the conversation ending, the information now being pored over arrived and the leader of the Yuutsu immediately got to work with his command staff.  He had never met the man but if he’d had, he would have tried poaching him away from Governor Tinney as what was provided was equal or exceeded anything he’d ever gotten from DCMS planners… The Maps and information coming through the combat feed were meticulous and detailed.

  One hour ago, he was given mission reentry points to ground drop ships and disembark. At that moment the comm tech relayed an incoming message, audio only. Odayama opened the conversation when the channel activated. “Commander how may we serve today?”

  Borton spoke with the hoarseness of a man coming out of a hot battlemech. [We could use a little additional air support today, if you have them to spare. The Ghost Bears ground attack and Wolverine CAP has been busy fending off several attempts at them since this morning and a few more friends in the air would be a good thing.” He spoke. “I’m down at least four with damages of my combined twenty-six allocated for surface duty; they are down nine out of I don’t know how many; they haven’t seen fit to clue me in…] That last was said with an audible chuckle.

 Odayama waited a half a beat and replied. “Give me the coordinates, I think we can oblige.”

 [Good to hear, Tai-sa] Barry replied, his voice improving. [It’s been a touch busy here and right now, my ground scouts are confirming on a contact to our east… so you might be doing more than being a big threat and pushing a flank when you get here. I hope you have a good night watch; you may need it and I’m sorry.]

 Odayama nodded to himself. Surprises are a staple of war… and Borton does not sound surprised. Perhaps annoyed… but not surprised. “No apologies, Colonel. Knowing what we are possibly facing, night security was factored in,” he said then added, “A saying… the enemy always gets a say in any battle plan, Colonel.”

 A laugh over the comm channel. [Yessir he always has a vote… and no matter how perfect a plan I think I have, he is always there to tell me I missed something] Barry replied. [Tai-sa, it sounds like to me you know the Teachings of the Almighty Muphy]

 Odayama laughed. “It is said among the Mustered Soldiery that Murphy was a wise but insolent gunjin” he replied. “We will be ready to fight when we land, no matter how or where we land, Colonel”

 [Good to hear, Tai-sa; I’ll have my ops people sent the updates and locations. Borton clear.]

Once the coordinates were received, the updates were relayed to the appropriate crews…. And as the drop ships were about ten minutes from orbit, the commands were sent.

 “Bright cloud over August moon, the dragons wing beat fiercely”. Within sixty seconds, the Okinawa class dropship opened its bay door and its complement of fighters were released.  Eight SL 17 Shilones formed up with two HCT 213B Hellcats and once formed up, the aerospace formation sped toward the planet with the Hellcats taking a large lead.

 The second group consisted of six CSR V12 Corsairs, and they moved in pairs to act as a screen for the dropships. It was then Odayama left the bridge, heading to the mechbay to do a final briefing. His people were about to get directly involved and he found himself relishing what was coming.

 Borton seemed to be an incredibly competent leader and for Hitoshi, the chance to go into battle under a smart superior, even if he was not Kuritan, boosted his personal morale.  Compared to the last time he took the field, this was an operation that suited a Kensai-Kami honor graduate and not something an idiot from the Pagoda for Luthien Officers would be part of.

 Those officers were best suited for hunting pirates on New Samarkand, where there were none, than in a place like here. He had none of those within his forces… and if he could avoid it, never would.

   Getting to the mech bay, he saw that his company was there and awaiting him.  Good… it was time to speak on how they were going to be utilized and the why…

Crossroads Landing Field (Military Side)

15 April 3081

 Major Sean Farquharson, the acting battalion commander for First Bn and the current Duty Officer, was standing on the tarmac of the field as the various Drop Ships began landing.  The craft, which carried the civilian portion of the Yuutsu, arrived seven hours ago at the far Nadir point. After identification, they were allowed to transit to the planet.

 As they transited in, plans drawn up seven days ago were set in motion and assets moved into position. Extra medical teams, buses and lodging were freed up or moved in to make sure they could be housed properly and deal with anything medical among them.  Security troops also were in place as a just in case measure… but Sean didn’t think they would be needed.

  Standing in his dress uniform, the treasured daisho carried in the traditional fashion, he hoped he didn’t look too off.  As he watched the various craft, a mixture of military aerodyne like the Fury and Condor aerodynes, a trio of the civilian Monarch and few spheroid ships such as the civilian Mule and Danais, he began to reminisce his last interactions with Draconis Combine troops…

Civil Defense Bunker 4

outskirts of village of Auburn

10 May 3072

 Sean checked the load in his combat rifle, a beat-up Federated Carbine that had seen far better days. He had acquired the rifle when he had to change from his prized ancient Thompson as ammunition for the carbine was far more common.  Satisfied that he had enough in it at this time, he ventured out to the entryway of the bunker.

 He and a handful of resistance troops had gotten a chunk of the population into the old Civil Defense bunker when the Blakist troops had started ransacking everything down in Landing and on their way here to the Auburn area. There had been rumors and snippets of news about the state of the occupation, with reports of non-blakist forces having entered the system.

 If they were true, it meant that the nightmare of the last three and a half years would be ending soon… as the occupation had not been kind. He would believe a counter invasion when he physically saw it though. If anyone was coming, it would be the rest of the Phoenix Lancers… and he knew there wasn’t that many of them anymore. Hell, the handful of mechs still operating on the planet that were Lancer was small, with his Marauder, inherited from its previous owner, finally picked off three months ago.

 Sean had been one of the local leaders of the resistance, the former Marine-turned-mechwarrior letting his Northwind Highlander nature power his refusal to submit. His training as a Marine and half-remembered leadership courses saw him rise in stature and take over the local cell.

  In that role, he had excelled… Several times over the last three years, he and various other Lancer personnel had kept up the fight against the traitor Dyckman and his Blakist forces. One of many groups all over the planet, the various cells had mixed successes against the Blakist forces, some of them spectacular, some small… but almost all of them were consistent in doing something.

  Sean’s band The Carcajou, was one who consistently had success, with some of those successes costing the Blakist occupiers assets and in once case, an entire base full of supplies. It was those very expensive successes that had earned him notice and after the destruction of the Munitions Dump, a price placed on his head.

 Not a small one either… which suited him just fine. As he put it to one of the others, they weren’t paying attention to other groups if they were chasing him. And it had been that attention that cost him his battlemech and led to the merry chase he’d been leading various hunting parties looking for him and his people.

  Given the ransacking of the city and surrounding area, it seemed to him that either they had given up playing nice trying to find him and his band or perhaps those reports of a counter invasion were accurate. If  the latter, he really needed to be out there attempting to link up with anyone attacking them, the hunt for him be damned…

 As he readied to leave the security of the bunker, he could hear the sounds of a battle down the hill towards the far side of Auburn. Well, that’s helpful, he thought as he cleared the entryway.  I dinnae have tae go far to find a fight then. With a wave to the outside pair of sentries, he happened to look up and catch sight of the Blakist Infantry making its way up the path to the semi-hidden bolt hole. A large number of Blakist Infantry, some with with anti-armor missiles…

 “SHITE!” Sean exclaimed and sought cover, his movement getting the two sentries to do likewise. As he took cover, the Blakists coming up the trail noted their being discovered and some of them opened fire.

 Round began impacting in and around the three defenders and Sean took a quick count of what he could see… and he didn’t like the number. “Joey,” he called to one of the sentries out here. “Ye got the phone with you?”

 “I do!” Joey said, the young man crouched behind the low dirt berm that shielded his position.

 “Good… call inside and tell ‘em to close up,” Sean said. “I dinnae think this is going to be endin’ well..”

 “There’s a lot of them, ain’t there?” The other sentry, a young lass named Naomi, asked.

 “Aye,” he said as he took a few potshots down the way. “At least twenty… most likely more.”

 “Oh no…” Naomi cried as she clutched her rifle. “This is bad…”

 Joey spoke up. “Sean, they been told…” he said. “They said they’d hold it open for us…”

 “Oi…” Sean said as he ducked out and picked off a pair of advancing enemies. “Bad fookin’ idea… Ah well, we need tae hold them off best we can fer now. I dinnae like their havin’ those Anti-Tank launchers; the main door willnae last too long against those. We need to try an’ kill ‘em.”

 Joey’s face showed his fear but the boy, to his credit, didn’t crack. “O… okay,” He said. Mimicking Sean, he leaned out around his barrier and fired down the trail, actually hitting a trooper that tried to advance up the way.

 “Good lad…” Sean said as he picked off another. “Conserve ye ammo and pick ye shots…. Naomi?”

 “Y-yes sir,” Joey replied. It was the first time he’d shot anyone.

 Naomi didn’t answer as she attempted to return shots and few of them were close; fear was affecting her aim, and it was only a matter of time before this fear overrode her remaining. Sean sensed this and spoke up.

 “Lass, toss us some of your mags and git inside. Make sure they lock everything up, aye?” He said to her as he picked off another enemy. That’s seven…

 She did so and scampered away, wordlessly leaving the two men to keep fighting.

 As they continued to hold the position, Joey looked of to his right and froze.  One of the anti-tank teams had flanked their position and had its launcher to shoulder. “SEAN!” he yelled and spun to face the enemy troops; his rifle barking rounds at them four times before going empty.

 As he scrambled to replace his magazine, the Blakists fired.  The missile streaked at their position and slammed into the barrier that had protected the younger defender, blasting him backward.

 Sean too was rocked by the blast, taking shrapnel in the process.  Shaking off the effects of the blast, he looked at his now bent rifle. “Shite…” he breathed as he dropped it and drew his pistol. Getting to his knees, he quickly acquired the closest Blakist and fired, the shot impacting the target in the face.

 As that enemy went down, he shifted position and saw the anti-tank team advancing up. The desperation of the situation seemed to aid his aim, and four more shots saw to the two men, putting them down. Another trio of shots down the trail picked off two more enemies.

 Mentally counting what he had left in his pistol and what he had in the spare magazine, he knew he was fucked. “Da said there might be days like this…” he muttered. “Wish ta the bowels of a Capellan Hell he’d been wrong.”  A grenade thumped into the defensive position within reach.

 Like a mongoose, he grabbed it and heaved it out of the position towards the oncoming Blakists.  As it detonated two seconds out of his hands, pieces of shrapnel arced back towards him and a bit clipped him across a temple even as a bullet hit a shoulder.

 Biting off a scream, the former Marine hugged the front of the berm out of sight and reloaded. He had ten rounds left in this magazine and he would be damned if he didn’t put half of them into the advancing Blakists.

 Drawing his beloved long dirk, he stilled his nerves and prepared to charge out when they closed. He intended to bury his blade in the chest of the nearest enemy and to kill as many as he could before he dropped. When in doubt, fix bayonets an’ charge… he thought grimly.

  As he readied to stand, the sound of automatic fire and a lot of yelling was heard from the positions to his right and below his. Yelling in both English…. And Kuritan? Daring to peek out from behind his cover, he saw several suits of what appeared to be Kage battle armor, their white armor with grey striping accented with areas of green pouncing on the Blakist troops.

 The battle armored troops attacked the Blakists with abandon, the submachineguns they carried making short work of the enemy forces.  At least one of them forewent its firearm and used a katana to strike down one that had tried to run….

 Within seconds, the battle was over and the four-man team of troopers advanced up the hill, executing each Blakist they came across that was still alive with a burst of shots to heads.

 As they approached, Sean stood, pistol and blade in hand. Neither was raised, as he wasn’t sure who these troops were.  If they were friendly, great; they were killing Blakists, after all. If they were another enemy hitting the planet, they’d get his dirk in a chest. Considering they *looked* like Combine troops meant nothing to him… as he had no love of the Draconis Combine. Respect for their troops, sure… but no love for their homeland. At least they didn’t look like Capellans; those fuckers just needed to be shot, as far as he was concerned.

 “Aye…” he called to the four troopers, the blood from his temple trickling down his face. “If ye be friend, show ye face.  If ye be foe… Then say so and quit fookin’ around.” As he said this, he could feel his energy start to wane.

 The lead Kage trooper held up a hand to stop his squad. Assessing Sean quietly, the trooper moved to open his faceplate. “Greetings, Lancer. We are not foes… I assure you.”

 “Then who are ye?”

 A smile. “I am Chu-i Ito Kasagawa of Second Armored Recon team, Third Pesht.” He said to Sean as a flight of Shilones flew overhead. “The Third Pesht is here helping your Commander to free your world from the Word of Blake.”

 Sean blinked, wiping the blood from his eye with a dirty sleeve. Subconsciously, he noted it too was caked with blood. “Is tha’ so?” he said. “How did ye know to come here?”

 Ito smiled. “A little bird told us that she was in danger and a Samurai stood at the gate to her sanctuary against Great Odds, letting no enemy pass… that he needed help.” He spoke. “As we were closest, we came as fast as we could to come help that fellow samurai against the great odds he faced.”

 That the little bird was a deep cover agent was not said, the DEST trooper’s simple answer being truth enough for the situation. That agent was also why the Pesht was sent… and again, this need not be said.

 Sean laughed weakly. “Heh… a Samurai, eh?” he managed. “If me da’ only knew I was bein’ called that, he’d laugh hisself stu…” he never finished his statement as what adrenaline he had been running on finally gave out, collapsing him where he stood.  The last thing he saw was two of the Kage troopers rush forward towards him…

**

 Sean brought his focus back to the present as he rested a hand on the hilt of the katana. He had been in the hospital when he was visited by that Kuritan carrying a wrapped bundle… and it had been presented with these blades.

 Ito had sat with him that day and a few more times while he was in the hospital. During that tme, the two warriors had come to know each other as skilled warriors and equals.  This was the first time Sean had really talked with a Kuritan trooper for anything other than passage when traveling or as captor to prisoner.

 For Ito, it was to learn about what had happened on the world during the occupation and to share tales of events here and elsewhere.  By the time Sean was cleared to leave the hospital, the two men had become comrades, their respective issues with what the other was (him a merc, Ito a Combine Citizen) behind them.

 He had seen Ito before he and his people had left, and genuinely wished him well, both men expressing a desire to never face the other…  It had been one of the few pleasant memories from that time… and that interaction was one of the influences in his deciding to turn the Gordon lass- and her Uncle when the bombs had dropped.
 Politics make a mess of things… as did Family Feuds. And sometimes, one needed to look past them and be bigger than what was.

 As the first of the former Combine citizens got off the transports to enter the reception hangar, Sean spied an older gentleman who was directing the passengers from the buses inside. He studied the man and noted his features held a familiarity to those old memories. Nae… he thought. It cannae be him. Odds be against it.

 As the man got closer, the more he resembled the man he knew, if a bit more wizened. Watching him herd the people inside, the man stopped and looked at Sean, his uniform and the daisho the Lancer carried.

After a look up and down, the man spoke. “Sean Farquharson?” he inquired.

 Sean looked at him and when he heard the voice, he answered him “Ito?” he asked in reply.

 The Kuritan’s face brightened and he answered in slightly horrible Gaelic. <It is good to see you again, my friend…> and saluted using the Lancer style, showing a missing right hand in the process.

 Sean replied in his limited Japanese. <Good to see you too, Kasagawa-san> he said and gave the man a bow.

 Ito returned it and then broke out into a laugh as he closed the distance to give the Highlander a proper Highlands backslap greeting, which was returned by Sean. “I am glad to see you still live!”

 Sean replied. “Back at ye, Ito… back at ye!” Motioning him towards the hangar he continued. “I dinnae expect to see the likes of you here.”

 A shrug. “I didn’t expect to be here, Sean,” Ito commented. “But here I am.”

 “Aye, ye are…” he said. “We need tae catch up once ye have seen tae ye people. The medical folks are thorough… and we had temporary lodging set for everyone as well as food.”

  Ito looked at the older Highlander and nodded. “We do need to catch up and there is much to discuss; especially between the likes of us.”

**

 Hours later, Sean was sitting in a side office of one of the training area barracks buildings allocated to shelter the newcomers. With him was Ito and the two men sat at a small table in the room, a bottle of scotch in front of the Kuritan and sake in front of Sean. The Lancer officer’s uniform jacket sat to the side, daisho on top of it.

 The two men had been talking and catching up on many things, speaking of their fortunes and mis-fortunes in the years since they had seen each other.  As the conversation dies down, Ito closed his eyes for a few seconds and opened them, his expression sober, as if he had made a major decision on something.

 And that something was about to be spoken on.

 “Sean…” he began. “Did you or anyone figure out what my team was back then?”

 Sean, who had picked up on the demeanor change didn’t bat an eye. “Somewhat…” he answered cautiously. “It was figured out some time later ye and your team were probably DEST…. As the Pesht dinnae have integral battle armored troops. At least nae normally assigned, which made ye special sorts.”

 At Ito’s nod, he continued. “Dinnae matter tae me then… though why do I suspect it should now?” Farquharson watched his old friend carefully. They had both been drinking and well through the two bottles.  While it was true alcohol made some people stupid or more willing to talk, he didn’t think Ito was one of the former… and being the latter was odd but not impossible. but more willing to talk? Nope, while unusual it wasn’t impossible, just unlikely. In these times, though, who the hell knew?

 “Only some…” he said. “And those reasons involve Odayama and your Governor.” He paused, searching for the words and decided to come out and say it. “I am here to make sure he carried out his last mission to the Dragon, one way or another, if it was necessary to perform it… and given he’s diverted and so many others here, it was the likelier outcome, for which I am pleased…”

 Sean studied him. Given what he knew about how some things worked (or didn’t) within the Combine, sending an armed force into possible enemy territory could have many meanings.  One that was seen as possible friends… had only reasons two.

 “Someone thought thae false flag fuckers were us, aye?” he asked in a neutral tone. What he wouldn’t have given for Leslie to be here for this… She’d warned him yesterday there were questions about the Yuutsu and what their real mission was. She also said to keep his ears open; she knew he spoke some Japanese and it was possible someone might slip.  He was to let her know if he heard anything of interest…

 Sean was fucking sure she didn’t know Ito Kasagawa was with them… or that he’d approach him with this, if she knew he was here. And yet, she said what she said and here he was. Saints and sinners… what the fuck have ye been dropped into, lad?

 “Hai, this would be the case…” he said. “None who had been here back then believed it could be, of course; your Governor and the people here are not monsters. But with the madness of the last ten years, nothing is impossible. Improbable, certainly… but impossible?”

 Sean nodded, sipping from the sake glass in his hand. “Aye… on that we agree,” he said. “Given ye were DEST, you were insurance. Missing a hand or no…”

A nod. “Hai,” Ito replied, downing the shot in his glass and then refiled it. “Odayama-san did not believe your Governor would order or sanction such things your people were accused of… and neither did I, if truths are being told. But being a Son of the Dragon, he would do as ordered. If the accusations were true, it was his job to end it… If it was proven untrue, then his Service to the Combine was satisfied and he would be free to become like the Gajin Mercenary unit he was modeled after. Never to return.” A pause. “Given what he… requisitioned… on the way out of the Combine, returning is never to be an option. And no, he does not know what I know.”

 Sean stared at his old friend. For Ito to spill tea like this was serious business; Draconis Elite Strike Team troopers were fanatical sorts and super loyal to the Dragon, at least usually. This was very serious business to discuss, even among your own… But spilling it to him? Madness…
Then it hit him, the words said on the tarmac. Things to discuss between the likes of us… Shite. This was a matter of Honor…and the demands it placed upon one’s soul. Being a Highlander, Sean knew a whole lot about such things.

 “Ito, if he had ordered what we were accused of, especially in light of what the fook happened here, I’d have killed him myself.” Came out of his mouth in a hiss before he knew it, a hand clenched tightly around the sake glass. “Cause there be some things ye dinnae do. I’m nae Assassin or fancy commando; just a stubborn Highlander Marine with serious moral code, even as a merc. Trust me when I say I give thae man migraines at times… And if he had gone off the reservation, I’d have gone for him.”

 A slight chuckle. “Ah… then, Sean, you and I share attitudes too,” Ito said. “I have given my old Tai-sa many of those before I mustered out with this.” He held up his stump and then sobered. “Even with disability, I still serve… and in coming here, I had concerns, despite not believing the accusations. I believe your words… and they give me peace in knowing I was right about you.”

He downed the shot. “The prospect of being wrong was always there…and if accusations were true, it would get exciting. They are not so life will be boring.”

 Sean stared. “And the families?” he asked. Ach lad… you know that answer already…

 Ito refilled his glass. “If the mission is important enough, all serve the Dragon, my friend,” He replied. “I am gratified it was not necessary… and perhaps, I may properly retire.”

 Sean looked into his sake glass then back at his friend. The revelations that had come out in this conversation were earth shattering and perhaps deadly if the wrong person heard them. He knew alcohol could loosen tongues… and so could heavy hearts. When both were present, not speaking was rather difficult.

 He also knew he could be getting played here.  But if there was one thing he did know about Combine culture, it was that if you were considered Honorable by their leaders or by their warriors, there would be no duplicity; such would bring dishonor and therefore, not bloody likely. By virtue of that daisho he had been gifted all those years ago, he knew where he stood.

 A mental snort. Shite… sometimes there is more to be gained by being blunt. And men like us dinnae retire, we just generally pick our fights better, He thought. Saints, Duncan would love him… And I need to change this subject like yesterday. “Speaking of your retirement,” he began, changing the subject. “Was the loss of ye hand the reason ye were mustered out?”

 “It was,” Ito replied. “Replacement for any but the most Senior of Warriors or the highest of society is not possible. This has been my life for the last two years.”

 Sean grinned slightly. “Ito, laddie… I will have someone for ye to talk to,” he said. “It’s nae her primary discipline, unless ye be an animal… but she knows a thing or two aboot such things and we have some good prosthetics here still as well as surgeons.”

 He chuckled. “She fixed the Governor’s hand after he broke it on the Saber Cat Khan’s jaw so I think she ken help ye.”

 Ito blinked. “He punched The Elemental? He lived afterward, obviously… but really?” The former DEST trooper had met Krog all those years ago and the surprise in his voice was plain to hear. “I would hear of this Madness…”

 Sean refilled his glass. “Oh laddie… that madness and the rest of the last two years is full of tales, let me tell ye.” He spoke. “It all began when thae Wolverines showed up tae settle here….”

Outside Commanders Quarters
Argo Class Dropship Elysium
Nadir Point, Sylvan System

19 April 3081

  Major Vance and Hauptmann Spector stood outside the commander’s quarters and listened. Inside the room they could hear screaming, the pounding of furniture and the sounds of objects being thrown against the wall. The replacement for Veratoni, Lt. Roslyn Browning, stood watch abnormally calm considering the racket going on behind her.

Spector spoke first. “What the hell is going on? His wife told us she was in the dining area and to report here.”

 “I do know, but I can’t tell you,” Browning said calmly. “I’ll let you in when he’s ready. Those are my orders.”

 Vance looked her square in the eye and advanced for the entryway… and then stopped. He saw the slight shift in position Browning had taken and most would have missed it. The shift was preparing her to defend the entryway, her body shifted to allow lateral movement and her hands free… “Really!” Vance said with a lifted eyebrow.

 Browning looked him in the eye. “I have my orders,” she said quietly. “I have no choice.”

 Even as his annoyance grew, he was proud of her. He had hand-picked her to replace Veratoni. She only had one job, and it was Protect the Commander at all costs.

  Then the room became silent behind them. After about ten seconds, Browning stepped aside and opened the entryway. After they entered, she closed the door from the outside.

 Vance smiled, knowing that she was still standing guard out there and feeling sorry for anyone who would attempt to interrupt this meeting. And right now, anyone other than them coming in here would be a bad thing with what they saw…

The two senior officers looked around the room in a mix of awe and shock as the space was a disaster area. Throughout the room, there were items strewn across the entire floor. A knife was stuck in the sound baffles of the ceiling and furniture simply trashed. A whole lotta of anger had been let go in here…

 
Hauptmann Spector had been with Pryme almost each other’s entire careers and she had seen him angry.  Oh, had she seen him angry… but never lose his composure to the point of destroying things around him. Ever.

 Whatever it was seemed to have passed as he now seemed calm, almost serene. Given the evidence of the room, she didn’t buy the serene part at all.

 “Sorry,” Pryme said with a long sigh, “I had to get it out of my system.”

 They watched as he walked across the room and turned on the trivid system, one of the few things still intact. It booted up and began replaying the last message, apparently received from the Sylvan HPG station marked urgent.

 It showed his brother Jeffery and his two sisters Leilani and Florence, all in combat gear. Jeffery was the one who spoke first. [Adam do not return home!]

 The two officers watched the replay in silence as the three on the video explained what had happened back home.

  Jeffery explained that because of their neutral stance during the FedCom Civil War, the local barons had always been plotting against them for their Davion leanings. Given that close to ninety percent of the Legion were troops blacklisted from service for being somehow not loyal enough to the current regime had only added fuel to things. The Pryme family had taken them in, given them a place and a purpose… and this was viewed by some as almost traitorous. That it was a pragmatic act and one that only served to strengthen the world’s defenses… was either missed or ignored deliberately by those Barons.

 When the Dropships were stolen, members of the local Lyran Command were insistent that the Legion recover them, even offering an overwhelming bonus for the recovery. It was all part of the plan in order to get the powerful unit off the world. After they left, all that was remaining to safeguard Wagyu and its spaceport was the two companies of older model assault mechs and a mixed battalion of armor and infantry that comprised the Pryme Personal Guard (PPG).

 This was in addition to the port security force of a heavy infantry battalion. These were in support of the Port’s fixed defensive installations and the planetary militia. The 3rd Lyran Guard RCT was on planet as well using it for rest and refit.

 Leilani picked it up from there…

  The first part of the attack was a feint by a different baron’s personal guards, the force landing in the wilds to draw the militia away chasing what were believed to be pirates. About twenty-four hours later, the attack hit.

 A battlemech battalion of the Lyran Guards led by the Guards commander received word that he was to take control of the planet, have Comstar impose an HPG blackout and take all Pryme family members into custody. The reasons the 3^rd’s commander had been given was that the LAAF High Command received messages implicating the Pryme family in aiding certain pirate bands in the region and that evidence was forthcoming. Both sets of messages were false, set up by an officer coopted by the Barons into joining the conspiracy.

  The only thing that saved any of the Pryme family was a communications officer who, while scanning for pirate communications, picked up the chatter of the 3^rd’s movement orders.  With the warning, the PPG 2nd Company was quickly alerted and moved to a position to slow the Guards. Meeting them in a narrow pass that led to the family holdings, 2^nd Company gave their lives to slow the oncoming elements of the Lyran Guards down and away from the port. Their holding action bought time for the rest of the defensive troops to mobilize and ready for siege…

 And a siege it was. The next 2 months saw the PPG remnants and port security forces hold off the Lyran Guards’ attempts to take the port. Which bought them time to enact several last-ditch plans.

 Jeffery picked back up the explaining…

 He and his wife Jean managed to put their own emergency plan into operation, and it was a somewhat risky one… Using the family’s transportation corporations jump ships and dropships as a Pony Express since HPG access had been cut, the family began to sell off all the tangible and large assets they owned on Khon Kaen, along with licensing rights to travel lanes and various off planet facilities within the Lyran Alliance.

 Even the ownership rights to the very spaceport they were defending was sold off to larger corporations. The legal battles that would happen for compensation when the dust settled would be epic. Given the Alliance’s Legal system, the court cases could drag on for years… and no revenue would reach the planets coffers while those cases were litigated. In essence, it was a final fuck you to those barons…

 As this was going on, all family members, attendants and anyone else that wanted off planet were sought out and were being boosted off to corporate jump ships. The plan to abandon not only Khon Kaen but the Lyran Alliance was a desperate one. Taking hard cash and the company assets and transferring them to the Davion banking system via Comstar gave them all they would need to start over and make them legally untouchable by the Lyran Alliance.

The family was going to the Federated Suns… but at least it would not be a blind trip or without anywhere to go.

The Pryme family had a small landhold on Neosho in the Federated Suns, along with several small land-holds held by the maternal side of the family, the Garlands. Located on several planets the largest of these was held by his Uncle, William Garland whose exploits were legendary within the family and it was there the escaping Prymes were going.

 All told, by the time the last dropship boosted off planet with the Pryme family the fleet had grown to 23 Jump-ships of varying models and a host of Dropships; mostly civilian or cargo. This did not include assets already on the move toward Davion space.

 Florence finished up the message to her brother….

 [Adam… we did our best but abandoning Kohn Kaen was the best possible answer. With the Legion with you and no allies, there was no way to win. But we will survive, and we will rebuild. It’s what daddy always said… the best way to piss off enemies is to not only survive but thrive. Right now, I want nothing more than that…]

  He looked at the stunned faces of his two subordinates as they watched the trivid and reached for the controls. As he paused the playback, he spoke. “No one aboard knows about this yet… and we ‘ll have to inform them in groups. We need to find out who wants to go to Neosho with us and who may want to return to the Lyran Alliance.”

 A pause as he tapped a small pendant which brought in Browning to the room. As she closed the door behind her, he continued. “Those who want to return to the Alliance, including jump-ship and Dropship commands, will be released to return; I will not hold them here as possible disgruntled troops.  That would be asking for trouble.”

 Looking at Browning, he said. “Take a shuttle and go to the Sylvan HPG for three dispatches. The first item I need you to do is have the following message sent to Governor Tinney on Centarus- The Legion is free and clear of all obligations and heading to Neosho as our new base of operations. Any contract available Will be considered. Will explain next I see you… Sign it Colonel Adam Pryme, Legion Commander. The second message is to the MRBC registering us as a Mercenary unit and signed the same. Final missive is to Dana Todd on Centarus; we left him trying form those who stayed into a mercenary battalion…  inquire if he would consider a joint collaboration.”

 When Browning nodded that she had gotten the messages, Pryme looked over at Spector. “Lori, start breaking the unit down into groups, give them their options and let’s make arrangements with the Sylvan Government to ground and do this. Someplace secluded. When we’re done, we are likely going to be a lot leaner, maybe leaner than I’d like. Hopefully Todd will link up giving us some speed and recon assets…”

 A sigh. “Let’s get to work people; in 10 days I want to be enroute to Neosho.” As they walked out the door, Pryme added, “Whatever you two decide to do, it’s the right thing for you…”

 When the door shut, he looked around the mess that was his cabin. “Fuck, can I make a mess or what?” he said to himself as he began to clean up what he had wrought…

SLS State of Grace

In orbit over Cork

0820hrs 12 April

 The sensors technician monitoring the local airspace down below noted the entrance of a handful of WoB aerospace launching. “Commander, launches detected coming from the main Blakist facility. Six fighter craft of unknown types…” he said. “They appear to be vectoring towards the southern front…”

 Commander Bruce Kosh looked over at his technician. “Verify direction, alert Southern Cap and notify Northern,” he ordered. “Coms, place it in the tank…”

 As this was happening, the sensors tech called out again. “Transition Warning, multiple contacts…” he said. “Awaiting IFF…”

 “Lovely…” Kosh sighed. “Alert the flotilla then take us to General Quarters. Tactical, get solutions and alert Denali.”

 Comms spoke up as the General Quarters alert sounded. “Sir, Denali already reporting they are at Gee Que and preparing for possible engagement.”

 Sensors called out. “Transitions complete. Four jump ships various classes; lead IFF is DCS Temperate Storm.”

 Kosh looked over at his first officer. “Chyna, wasn’t that former Kuritan commander due around now?”

 The first officer, Lt Commander Chyna Dobrev, answered him as she stepped to a different workstation. “I believe so, sir. They didn’t say what they were coming in…”

“Great.” Kosh said. “Comms, hail them.”

 Comms answered him. “Sir, they are hailing us… a Tai-Sa Hitoshi Odayama is requesting contact with Colonel Borton,” she said.

 “That answers that, Bruce,” Dobrev commented.

 Kosh nodded. “That it does… Comms, Alert Borton and prep interfaces. Ops, launch secondary CAP and have Birddog Flight investigate along with the Dropships Sparta and Athens. Trust but verify…”

Southern Front CAP

0820hrs

 Flying high above the southern front, the Ghost Bear Jengiz ground support craft were guarded by a quartet of Wolverine Lightning fighters. When they were notified of the launches below, the Wolverine flight angled off to intercept.

 Leading the charge was Flight Lieutenant Malcom Xi.  One of the better Wolverine pilots, he had been waiting for an opportunity to get an actual engagement, perhaps too eagerly.  And now he was getting it.  Calling over the net, he issued orders. “Storm flight… pair off. Three and Four fall back a little; Two and I will try to break them up and force a scrum…”

 [One, Two… they look like Shiva Omni-fighters… Marik designs]

 “No matter… they cannot get at the Jengiz’s”

 Streaking towards the oncoming enemy craft, the Wolverine pilots split into Fluid Two pairs and scissored to the enemy flanks. Of the six craft, four of the heavy fighters split off to deal with them and the last two kept going.

 The splitting of their numbers enabled the lighter Wolverine fighters to outmaneuver the WoB Shivas and the advantage proved to be a large one.  Before long one of the four Shivas began a long, lonely descent to a fiery end on the ground.

 The remaining Shiva of the pair reversed its flight and lured his pursuers into the sights of the other pair. In doing so, it allowed the Blakists to threaten their attackers, and the trick worked. After one of the Wolverine fighters was crippled, it dove out of the fight with its fellow fighters covering its retreat.

  Breaking off, the remaining three Lightnings circled away and reassessed how to engage the remaining craft. As they did so, a portion of the Northern CAP arrived, the pair of EGL-6Rb Eagles catching the solo Shiva unawares.

  Pulse lasers flashing, the newly arrived Wolverine fighters tore into the Blakist Omni-fighter that had the unfortunate position of being directly in front of the arriving craft. With the majority of the weapon strikes catching a wing, the Shiva lost control and tumbled away.  The craft’s pilot struggled with his controls, managing to regain its flight envelope and allow him to level out before he crashed.

 Unfortunately for him, the fighter was too low and had to climb back into the fight which left him vulnerable to anyone waiting. Unengaged Lightnings dove down on him and finished the work of the Eagles, removing it from the fight permanently while the Eagles circled back to help the others in the scrum.

 As the fight turned drastically against the Shivas in the scrum, the two that kept on going past that fight to hunt the two Ghost Bear Jengiz discovered their intended targets were waiting for them.  The two sides surged through the air at each other, electing to take each other in head-on passes and trust their weapons would do the job of shooting their opponents down.

 In this, the more powerful Clan fighters proved to be just as dangerous against aerial targets as they were against ground ones. When the two sides passed one another with their weapons discharging, the higher-powered clan weapons inflicted severe damage to the Shivas and in one case, caused the target to tumble as it went by, its avionics damaged beyond recovery while the other began to trail some smoke.

 The Ghost Bear fighters didn’t escape harm, with the Shiva’s weapons very capable of bringing down a Jengiz if they were able to concentrate their shots… but not this time.  The clan craft did suffer damage though as one of the Clan Omnifighters lost a large pulse laser in a wing along with a particle cannon in its nose. The other Jengiz suffered just damage to its armor.

 As the two sides began to reverse their direction, the Ghost Bears ground attack fighters were joined by some rapidly approaching help in the form of a pair of light weight SB-27b Sabers. The two fighters came screaming in at maximum thrust, slashing their way past the fight to go after the damaged Shiva. Catching it from the side, the Sabers finished off the heavier Omnifighter as they went by.

 Back at the scrum, the remaining two Shiva attempted to run and were pursued by the Wolverine fighters. The Lightnings were the faster machines, and the outright range advantage of their nose gauss rifles allowed them to bring the retreating Blakists under fire fairly rapidly.

 The two Shivas dodged left and right, trying to shake the slowly overtaking Wolverine fighters.  AS they prepared to enter the area of the base’s anti-air protection, a Lightning scored a hit against a rear wing of one craft.  As the slug slammed into the wing, the stress of the shot bored into the internals and clipped a fuel tank.

 The resulting explosion tore the wing from the fleeing fighter and sent it pinwheeling through the sky as it arced into the ground past the base. The last fighter managed to enter the protective virtual shield the base’s air defenses gave it and the chasing fighters broke off to avoid their fire.

 Falling back, the Lightnings were covered by the newly arrived Sabers and retook their positions over the southern edge of battle. The two Jengiz fighters returned to their station above the battlefield, awaiting relief from reinforcements coming from the State of Grace while the the southern CAP returned to its position. The two northern CAP craft headed back to their coverage area and took up their stations above the battlefield.

 The Word of Blake had not displayed any airpower when the allies arrived, and the thinking had been they didn’t have any. This encounter showed the mistake that thinking was… and there would be no more assumptions.

 Adjustments would be made to the patrol rotations… and if the Blakists sent anything into the air again, it would not last long.

Northern Front

0835hrs

 Major Tatsu Nagumo, commander of Delta Company, First Battalion of the 331^st Regiment, Clan Wolverine, cast a critical eye upon the advancing formation of her force. This battle could very well be the true test of her command skills, and she resolved not to be found wanting.

 She had been in command at the Battle of Forbes back in December when the Mercenaries tied to the Word of Blake had attempted to take the continental Starport. There, she had directed a masterful defense of the facility and secured her role as a combat commander. It was a role she’d been assigned initially as the Touman was being resurrected with the help of their hosts and as a former analyst, being in combat was never first on her list of things to accomplish.

 But her performance there had shown her Khan that she was more than an intelligence and information officer… and he placed her permanently in charge. Her nature was to do the best she could, at whatever task she was given, and this prevented her from declining. As a result, she dove into the new job with determination to be more than competent.

 Tapped to lead the Northern Front efforts by the Phoenix Lancer leader, she had accepted the role willingly. With the disparate elements under her command, leading them would be a challenge with the different cultures present. Having the formal Knights Errant turn out to be as polite as she been told had been a pleasant surprise… and the Ghost Bears being nearly as cooperative was almost unbelievable… but no less real. The Saber Cats were the expected cooperative faction; their Khan had seen to having his clan and hers become allies.  That made sense, considering they were both small and living on the same world… but where the Traditional Clan thinking was concerned, such events were not the norm.

 Good thing neither group was all that traditional.

 And as proof of that lack of tradition, she assessed what looked to be facing her people and drew up a plan… part of which could involve the Ghost Bear binary that was serving as pickets. Pulling up a private channel, she contacted the leader of the Binary. “Badger Charlie One One, Badger Actual”

 An answer came quickly. [Badger Actual, Charlie Actual] The voice of Star Captain Malachi Hall came across the net clear and clean.

 “Malachi, I have reservations on how this battle may go and I am proposing a spot adjustment.” She said. “Pick a star and have them lurk out of sight behind us…”

 Hall was silent for a moment. [Are you expecting ambush?]

 “Possibly. But as you no doubt noted, my people, while well trained, are not experienced… I may outweigh what we are to encounter but I am not positive on the outcome.”

 A low chuckle. [Major, there is no Zellbrigen here and they are Word of Blake; I would expect shenanigans.] he replied. [If I understand you, having us be the cavalry is rather amusing and a welcome role.]

 A smile. “Indeed.  While I do think we will manage, to semi-quote Colonel Borton- having an ace up your sleeve against a known cheater is a smart plan.  And Malachi, you are to be my ace.”

 [Aff, agreed. If you need us, we will be there within minutes. If not, we can take up the chase.]

 “My thoughts exactly…” She replied. “If this goes the way I envision on the positive side, your task will be to run down anything that escapes. The hounds to their foxes…”

[We welcome the mission, Major] he replied. [We will be ready…]

 “Counting on it, Malachi. We are about to engage… Nagumo clear.”  Changing channels to the company net, she spoke again to issue orders. “All Delta elements… Target priority is their larger machines, especially that Dire Wolf followed by their Atlas. All other targets are as opportunity allows… Once they are dealt with, remove all opponents as they present themselves…”

**

  Star Captain Hall had a star move up to just over the low ridges behind the Wolvering Assault Company. He agreed with Nagumo and shared her reservations. He had noted the young nature of her company’s pilots and had wondered if they had the steel to face a prepared enemy. Given the eclectic composition of her command and how potent the machines were, Hall was sure they would be fine. How damaged they would be by the end of things would be another story… and he expected much.

  As he watched the battle develop over the drone feeds, he observed the lead enemy machines, an Atlas and the Dre Wolf advance to take up blocking positions. On the right of the enemy, a Warhammer and a Charger moved to try and force a herding towards the center where a trio of support battlemechs awaited, the LRMs of a Crusader and a Dervish being dangerous to assault battlemechs as both could remain out of sight to most weapons.  The third was a Rifleman, the venerable machine being a threat at range to almost any foe.

 They were protected to the front by a Battlemaster, Shadow Hawk and a Hunchback, all capable and dangerous in their own right though a Shadow Hawk might not have the power to tangle with assault machines. The same could be said for the left flank machines but they had features it didn’t

 The enemy left force consisted of one of those Super Locusts and a Talon. Both were light mechs but their weapons and speed made them dangerous, especially that Super Locust. That machine was armed with six extended range small lasers backed by a medium and targeting gear. The Talon was faster than the other machine and able to get its Particle Cannon almost anywhere on the battlefield.

 It was a varied foe but a dangerous one.

 Initial weapons fire was minor, with the Wolverines scoring some success.  As the two forces closed, it was then that the weight of fire their allies had, showed itself… and also revealed Nagumo’s reservations were simply nerves.

  The enemy Atlas had advanced forward, looking to get its weapons on target to the Wolverine Archer when it came into the sights of Major Nagumo.  The Wolverine commander lifted one of her gauss-rifle arms in its direction and fired, the steel projectile from the weapon connecting with the skull-like head assembly of the enemy assault machine.

 As the Atlas fell, the Super Locust attempted to close on a Wolverine Pillager and was promptly blasted by an allied Crockett, its weapons coring the far lighter battlemech.  As it dropped, othern fire from the enemy forces managed to pummel the light machine’s intended target, forcing the Pillager to its knees.

 On the far side, the enemy Charger and Warhammer squared off against a Wolverine King Crab and a Bullshark. The latter platform, a legendary mythical machine even among the clans, had never been seen by any of the Clans. The reasons for that were shrouded in time and only whispered about within the Technician Caste. One of the largest assault machines ever proposed among any of the other clans (save the Jade Falcons with the Stone Rhino), no one truly knew of what it looked like or could do as it had been a Wolverine Project. As a result of Kerensky’s Edict, it therefore had been lost to time and mostly forgotten except in legends, among other things.

 That the resurgent Wolverines had one… was odd enough. That it was fully functional was even more odd.  Armed with what they called a modified BSK-M3 loadout, the monster machine was designed to function at both long and short ranges, being rearmed with Light Autocannon and Multi Missile launchers.

 The machine worked on the principle of throwing maximum munitions downrange at a foe.  Nothing was incredibly heavy in terms of pure power… but much like a sand blaster, it was built to shred anything that got in its way with a thousand cuts.  And as the enemy Charger discovered, this principle was a sound one.

 As the Charger closed on the monster, the Bullshark turned its bulk to face it and unleashed its payload.  When the smoke cleared, the enemy machine was knocked to the ground. Not dead… but decidedly pummeled to within an inch of its mechanical life.

  The Warhammer, seeing the carnage dished out by the monster, backpedaled some and fired its weapons at it in an attempt to bring it down. Doing so brought it into the sights of the King Crab, which reminded the enemy machine that there were other threats out here… and just as dangerous as the Bullshark.

 Clear on the other side of the field, Wolverine forces continued to push to close the net around the Dire Wolf and in the process remove enemy machines that dared get in the way.  A Highlander, moving to cover the advance of its lance mate the Pillager, took a potshot at an enemy Dervish with its gauss rifle.  The potshot scored a success equal to Nagumo’s and removed the medium support machine from its perch in the enemy backfield, its head cleaved off by the high velocity slug.

 Over in the center, the Wolverine Devastator, rearmed with Hyper Assault Gauss Rifles (gifts from the Ghost Bears last year) squared off against the Dire Wolf inwhat looked like two gunfighters pairing off.  Both unloaded on the other and when the exchange ended, the Devastator was on the ground, the machine functional but its center rended with massive damage.

 The Dire Wolf still stood, the huge Clan Omni living up to its reputation as a difficult machine to kill… but its armor was beginning to look like the surface of an airless moon.  As it attempted to back away from the Wolverines alongside its companion Battlemaster, it was beset by both Nagumo in her Nightstar and a Wolverine Marauder, with missiles from a wounded Archer (which had been pummeled by the Dire Wolf prior to the Devastator closing for their face off).

 Over towards the center, a Wolverine Orion and the Pillager sought to engage the Shadow Hawk and the Crusader, having cleared a low hill.  They were joined by the advancing Highlander, the Crockett and a Shogun, another equally odd machine to see but no less capable.

 The two enemy machines, after seeing their companion Rifleman get dropped and fail to move afterward and the destruction of the Hunchback, elected to fall back, trusting in their jump jets to get them away over the broken ground.

 They were joined by the Talon, mauled in its attempt to try to take the Pillager not long after the Super Locust tried. The lighter machine, slowed by actuator damage, would be ignored by the Wolverine machines, the assaulting forces having much bigger and more dangerous enemies to hunt…

 As they closed, the enemy Battlemaster was beset by the King Crab, fresh from putting down the Warhammer and the Wolverine assault mech let the enemy know it was seen.  Cutting loose with everything, the Battlemaster was blasted with multiple hits. This alone was concerning to the enemy pilot but his situation was about to get worse…

 For as the Dire Wolf fell, those that hunted it turned their attention to the Battlemaster and within minutes, the battle was over as the last enemy machine fell in a heap of blasted armor and steel.

 “Impressive,” Hall said aloud even as his comms came alive. Activating his comms, he answered. “Badger Charle Actual.”

 [Malachi… it would seem I was concerned over nothing] Nagumo’s bemused voice was heard. [Three have retreated… and you are free to pursue at your leisure.]

 A chuckle. “Major, I sat through some of those seminars run at their school… Had you not planned for it, we would have been needed,” he said. “We will bring down the runners; I have a motivated Star that is taking wagers even now.”

 A chuckle. [I am amused…]

 “So am I, Major. So am I,” he said. “I have a hunt to conduct, and they have a head start…”

 [Yes, you do. May the Great Father guide your aim, Star Captain.] she said. [Nagumo clear.]

Southern Front

0715hrs

 Major Emslie popped the hatch of his Wolverine and took a deep breath of fresh air, letting it mix with the somewhat stale of his cockpit.  Making sure he had a comm unit with him, he climbed down from his machine as the infantry rounded up the various captured Blakist pilots.

 He could see Johnson’s Company speeding past him. They would be looking to catch the retreating Blakist troops or would be tangling with whatever was in the way.  And he wished him luck- what he had encountered was very unexpected.

 This battle had been one of the hardest he’d ever fought and the damage to his command showed it. Of his company, only the two Scorpions and the Enforcer were in any condition to keep fighting. Lt Jeri Amas’s Hellhound was viable but needed some armor repair first as did Kit MacLeod’s Marauder. Everyone else, to include his machine, needed major repairs to armor, structure, limbs… or in the case of Monroe’s Novacat, a new head assembly.

 Thankfully, it could have been far worse, in that there was only a handful of injuries. By rights, they got off lucky versus what they faced.

 And what they faced weren’t even former Lancer machines for the most part. Now, there were a few there that the computers IDed as escapees from the Reign encounter. Of the four of those, only a Locust managed to escape yet again.

 No, the unit they faced was some sort of desert or badlands camouflaged unit that the database had no record of. A heavily armed one too, with its machines. A Pillager, a Gunslinger and a clan Shadowcat with all their gauss rifles made for heavy firepower and these were supported by an early model Griffin SR, a Centurian, a plucky Watchman and a K model Phoenix Hawk. A rare spotter version of the Ostscout was present and its TAG gear made its presence felt early on with some guided LRMs using its guidance. Thankfully, it and the two former Fake Lancer machines that had TAG equipmetn on the field were eliminated or chased off.

 Stepping towards the triage area, he pondered the oddity among the enemy machines. The Griffin SR was a rare machine outside of the Phoenix Lancers, the custom package build of quad medium lasers being an unusual load out for the medium weight support mech. Getting the serial number off that machine might clue them in on who else may be in Blakist employ.

 Or simply had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.  But that was an intel weenie question; right now, he had people to check on.

 One of the infantry medics saw him and intercepted his route. “Major?”

 Charlie looked at him. “Sergeant Alda,” he answered. “How are my people?”

 Sgt Alda pulled a notepad from an arm pocket. “So far so good, sir. Warrant Officer Monroe is alive with only a fractured wrist from the emergency ejection. She’s not happy about it but who would be? Mister Connolly has a concussion and Ms Amas a bloody nose. Amas is over there…” he pointed at the pilot who was seated on a downed tree. “And she is clear to get back in it… The other two, I vote no. Considering their machines are down, not a hard choice.”

 “No, it isn’t,” He said. “Considering how tore up almost everyone’s machines are, this could have been worse. How many prisoners?”

 Alda replied. “Seven. All of them are injured to one degree or another, one of those critical,” he paused. “I imagine the spooks will get some info out of them…”

**

Staging Base Aziz

0803hrs

  Bakersfield was back in the operations center observing the feeds from the various fronts. Of them, the northern front looked the weakest, with the mixed force of Wolverine, Ghost Bear and Knights Errant pushing hard. There was still one card left to play up there though, and a pair of secondary tricks were about to be committed.

 The hold card being played was that of the former Grey Bolt company they had. The Word of Blake had come into possession of the company when their Jump Ship suffered a misjump here months ago when on its way to Centarus and its cargo captured.  And it was a prize too, with its Dire Wolf assault Omni. A rare machine. It was even more rare with the weapons load it had. How a non-famous merc unit managed to acquire Hyper Assault Gauss Rifles was a mystery he may never have the answer to…

 But no matter; it was going to be committed with the rest of the unit against the Wolverines Assault company that was moving south. It would be a rude surprise for them, he was sure.

 Speaking of the south, the last of the project units prepared to take the field against the Lancers. Comprised of a large number of Blackjacks, the unit didn’t look like a fierce foe but it made up for it in numbers and the giant metallic blue Awesome that anchored it. What would give it help would be something he’d been loathe to do… and that was committing their limited Aerospace craft to counter the allied air support.

 He knew nothing about how well the Wolverine fighter pilots were trained or how well their fighters were maintained. But he did know if he didn’t do something, the Ghost Bear Jengiz craft would continue to be a problem…

 “Precentor, the counter air is ready for launch,” Demi Precentor Clay spoke then. She too had been awake far too long since the invasion started. Hazards of the job but it was a condition that would be remedied soon; if enough punishment was inflicted today, the assault was sure to bog down as the attackers, while substantial, would have to pause to effect repairs soon.

 Based on her analysis, few of the companies encountered so far had emerged from their battles capable of continued offensive operations. Given the number of drop ships present, they had chewed up at least four of the nine possible mech companies attacking. Getting their own air up would go a long way towards hampering enemy efforts; at least for a little while.

 It give the False Lancer Hades Company a better chance at inflicting even more damage as it moved to flank the real Lancer advance.

 “Very good… have them launch in ten mi-,” Bakersfield’s orders were cut off by a space alarm from one of the few warning buoys remaining.  “Blake’s blood… what else has shown up in system; it’s not ours, is it?”

 Clay quickly went to the terminal and worked with another tech to get the information. “Sir… several jump ships of Combine Origin. The IFF on the lead craft indicates it’s called DCS Temperate Storm.”

 Bakersfield looked at his assistant. “See if our database has anything on them… and get the Hades group moving; I suspect they are going to need to get to the Lancer flank soon. The Lancer light recon armor won’t be able to stop them if they come across them…”

 He paused. “Also have the Domini team head out. The Lancer advance, despite our blooding them, is working far too well… and I think Borton is to blame. Remove him and we might be able to outlast them. The Corinth and its supply ships are due by the end of the month; if we stretch this out, we might be able to evacuate.”

 Clay nodded as she began to tap in the orders for transmission. “Orders are being sent out. Hades Company won’t be able to hit them till late afternoon or evening at the earliest, sir.” She said. “Faster would reveal their positions, provided the Warships haven’t seen them yet.”

 A pause. “The Domini team will take a day at least to get in position. Otherwise by morning.”

 “If the Warships had seen them, there would be more guarding that flank or a kinetic strike,” he replied. “If they hit them today, that would be optimal. Otherwise tomorrow at sunrise… along with the decapitation attempt. The more havoc that can be cased, the better for us.”

**

Southern Front LZ

Task Force Command Van

0801hrs 12 April

 Borton looked at the master plot boards and listened to the communications chatter of the various companies. It pained him to not be out there but as a veteran leader, he knew he needed to be where he was.

 Graf was integrating with Leisey’s company ok and this morning he reported he had been welcomed with open arms. That company was mad… A little bit of grieving over the injuries their two commanders had taken, of course, but the main emotion was anger.  Barry agreed with his exec; if that anger could be channeled, the next foes would not care for the results…

 But with the damages stacking up, the question became one of logistics… and how much time it was going to take field teams to fix or repair damages.  And as much as he didn’t want to use ‘em, those remote camps might have to be occupied… and his chief investigators were about to arrive.

  Entering the command van, Argyle and Salem arrived and approached Borton.  The two men stopped and both gave him a parade-ground quality salute. “Blood Spirits reporting as requested, Colonel.” Argyle said in a professional tone.

 So this is the Mission Face of McCoy, he thought as he returned the salutes. As professional as Duncan assured me. Good. “Gentlemen and at ease,” he said. When the two commandos relaxed some, he continued. “I’m about to commit your teams, gentlemen… or at least one of them.”

 Turning he motioned to a technician who changed one of the larger screens to show a satellite camp. “In order to maintain things, we may have to occupy one of these camps. Based on the captured data, they are repair and supply bases for company level units… and if they are not defended or trapped, they are going to be pressed into service for us.”

 Salem looked at the image then at Borton. “If I may sir?” he inquired and at Barry’s motion to continue, he did so. “I am actually sorely shocked they haven’t been in service prior to our arrival. Or that drone investigation found no defenses…”

 Borton nodded. “I am too… which is where your teams come in,” he said. “I need this facility investigated and checked for viability. I also need it checked for traps… or a big bomb. Last thing I want is us to take a place and have it blow up.”

 Argyle smiled. “Colonel, its pretty much the last thing either of us want.  Nearly getting blasted by Orbitals is not something I want a repeat of and a facility blowing up around my ears ranks with that on the desirables list.” He spoke. “Given they haven’t blown yet, they either aren’t wired, or they are waiting for us to take them.”

 Barry nodded. “That’s my thinking, which is why one of your teams is investigating. Each of you has a bomb expert and at least one crypto-smith on your teams… I imagine those camps are a treasure trove… and probably wired for sound.”

 Salem looked thoughtful. “Which is where we come in,” he said. “Check them, disarm any bomb we find, if possible, and assess if the facility is usable for us… Correct?”

 Again, a nod. “You have it right, Captain.”

Argyle and Salem looked at each other and without a word, the two leaders held up a fist placed in a palm. In unison, the two of them counted, fists moving in time with the numbers…. “3, 2, 1, Shoot!” they recited as they did RPS to choose who was going.

 This did this five times, twice tying and when Salem won twice, Argyle cursed briefly then turned to Borton. “Captain Belmont will be going sir.” He commented. “As soon as able, I imagine?”

 A slight smile. “Sooner the better, Mister Argyle.” Looking at Salem, he cautioned. “I know I don’t have to say it but if it’s wrong, get out and let me know right away… I will have State of Grace bombard it to kingdom come.”

 A grin. “Now that would be a lovely sight to see, Colonel. I’d just want a beer and camp chair to watch the fireworks if you have to…” Salem replied in his usual bemused tones then got serous. “That said, my team and I will do our best to make sure there are no surprises or giant bombs present. I do understand logistics… and we have been watching what’s happening on both fronts. Our techs are excellent but its cramped space in a dropship. Even in that Maintenance Mule we brought with.”

 Argyle took up the train of thought. “And a true facility would be far better,” he said. “These look like standard SLDF layouts, used almost all over the Inner Sphere; we know them well. If it’s a good bet or a no-go, either of our teams will find out for you quickly.”

Borton nodded. “Good to know and hear, gentlemen. How soon until you can leave?”

 Salem replied with barely a moment to think. “Fifteen minutes, sir. Figure twenty to get to it and another hour to properly investigate,” he said. “Call it two hours from your word you will have an answer.”

 Borton looked at his watch then at the two of them. “The word is given, Mister Belmont. McCoy, get your team ready to go too… if nothing else, I will send you at another location near or ship you up to the north side.” Salem quickly saluted and departed to get his team up and moving.

 A nod from Argyle. “Either is fine with me, Colonel; though I will recommend you message the Saber Cats.” He said. “If they sent their wannabe commando with their contingent, they have someone among them.”

 At Barry’s inquisitive look, he continued. “Point Commander Blargek is a budding engineer and demolitions person; scored well on the course he was part of. If Khan Dusal asked for volunteers, I know he’d be on this.” He shrugged. “Didn’t think of it before now, sorry.”

 Borton lifted an eyebrow. “Really?” he asked. “They let them play with serious putty?”

 McCoy smiled. “Sir… Elementals actually are pretty smart, if allowed to be and Blargek is quite talented. Remember, it was an elemental who cooked up the boarding plan to take the McKenna in that trial last month” he said. “Krog is making sure all his people are more than their caste… and I think that’s friggin great.”

 A chuckle. “Can’t wait to hear the first time his people outsmart someone expecting dumb elementals…. The screaming will be epic.”

 A laugh. “That it will… I will message Major Nagumo to check on if Point Commander Blargek is part of their contingent. If he is, he has a new job. If not, you’re up.”

 Argyle nodded then saluted. “Absolutely. Permission to get mine ready?”

The salute was returned. “Given; and if you go, good luck.”

 As Argyle left, a comms tech spoke up from one of the communication stations. “Colonel Borton! Flash traffic from the State of Grace; we have ships inbound into the system. Combine IFF and you specifically are being hailed…”

 A sigh. “Well shit…” He commented. “Fire up the cameras, Sergeant. Looks like we have our expected help and a phone call to answer…”

Northern Front

0601hrs 12 April

 Knight Captain bin Zalas moved his Black Knight forward along with the bulk of his forces and took pride in his pilots.  All of them entered this battle clear of mind and calm in emotion.  The coming fight against the Word of Blake defenders was going to be a very violent battle and all accepted their possible deaths here…

  The enemy was cornered and undoubtedly were not going to back down. His own standing orders was for everyone to stand their ground as much as possible… only backing off if their battlemech was in danger of becoming destroyed.

 He understood the overall logistics for this operation- while the Allied forces could get reinforced, it would take time more than likely… and their opponents at this point, had no one coming.  While they had plenty of supplies, it was unlikely they could replace losses.  This meant the more they bled their opponents, the less allied follow-on forces would have to work to end this enemy force. At least in theory…  But there was another reason for his orders, and they were personal.

 The Word of Blake had destroyed a lot of good men and women in the First and Second Knights on Atreus… and anything he could do to pay them back for the deaths of his comrades was a desired goal. The bombs on Centarus were just one more reason to put the hammer down on them…

Lucan and Tristian had agreed with the orders… but both had voiced disagreement with his going in with the lead company.

 Lucan had been very… direct with his disagreement. “Are you mad, Khalid?” he had said to him this morning. “They are going to target you the moment you start giving orders… Let one of us lead this.”

  Khalid had assured him he had a plan for that… everyone going forward would group and operate as independent cells with calls for support coming from him or Knight Modred in his Marauder. He also said he wasn’t going to stick his mech forward this time.  The movement plan called for Line Abreast… and they were going to stick to it, with his Black Knight firmly in the middle of the line. He didn’t expect it to stick, of course… but he knew it would long enough for their plans.

  As he brought his mind back to the present, he noted they were about to pass the Ghost Bear- Saber Cat picket lines.  Activating his comms, he called out. “Badger Command, Badger Kilo One One…”

 [Badger Kilo One One, Badger Actual] The voice of Major Tatsu Nagumo, the leader of the Wolverine detachment and the Northern Front’s overall commander was heard.

“Badger Actual, Kilo one; Kilo conducting passage of lines…” he said as he tapped the command screens to change data feeds.  It was time to activate the link to the remote sensor drones- there would be no surprises going forward and he was assured the communications would be jammer resistant.

[Kilo One One, Badger Actual. Confirmed passage of lines…. Aerospace Assets on station in zero five minutes, call sign Claw. Phase Two push moving out in six zero minutes to keep the pressure…] Nagumo replied then added, [Personal to all of Kilo… Good Hunting and may the Great Father guide your aim…]

 Khalid smiled. “Message received… and will pass the personal on. Kilo One One clear.” Changing channels, he called out to all of the knights. “Kilo, One One, Nagumo says good hunting… and air support is Claw.”

[Khalid, any changes?] Tristian called over the net.

 “No… Wait ten minutes after we engage and then come running; if the intelligence is right, we have numerical advantage but I do not want to spook them,” he said. “I would rather fight them now than get ambushed later; there is supposed to be two Nightsky’s lurking in  their backfield to support their Clan-spec stuff. They aren’t there right now but we know how things can change.  Be ready to move when I signal or if this goes poorly.”

 [I still don’t like this plan, but we will make it work. We will come running when you call] Lucan answered. [Hit them hard and often, my friend… and don’t let the Ghost Bears get too bored; they have blood in their maws and are looking for more.]

 A laugh. “I’m more worried about them coming in when NOT called for, Lucan. They are committed to killing Blakists and might be a touch overzealous…”

**

 The twelve Knights machines in the forward line advanced towards the waiting Blakist forces in a disciplined line which is impressive on open ground, much less the broken terrain they crossed.  But advance evenly they did… and as they came into range of their foes, two words broke the silence of the Kilo communications network.

 “BEAU SEANT!!”

 Over the course of the next few minutes, the Knights Errant picked their shots and made the waiting enemy know they meant business.  As they closed, the two sides exchanged fire, with the clan-spec heavy force of the Blakists obtaining hits against the Knights but not making anything telling.

Dame Margo’s Thug became a priority target for the enemy as she advanced into their face, trusting in the armor of her machine to get her into their lines. Joining her was Sir Chase in his Warhammer and the two of them attracted plenty of attention.

 Dame Traci flanked them in her Tempest, presenting a threat to the enemy’s right flank while Pellenor’s Spider raced about being a distraction. The light battlemech carried only pulse lasers but even those were dangerous in proper circumstances. Given that she was excellent at physical combat with her scout machine just added to it.

 The Grand Titan of Mongomery also drew attention but not as much as the enemy would care for as he wasn’t alone.  The big assault machine was flanked to his left by Morgana in her Exterminator, Carlotta in her Enforcer and Benjamin’s Centurion. Xavier lurked alongside in his Phoenix Hawk and the group’s quarry were two of the more dangerous of the enemy forces, a Turkina and a Timber Wolf.

 The center of the Knights lines stood the Knight Captain, and he was flanked by Sir Ciciero in his Orion ON-2K (a solid update of the venerable –1k) and Sir Modred in his Marauder. Mongomery’s machine was to his right as all advanced.

   The Word troops were holding their ground, looking to stop or bleed the attacking Knights. The forces on the field joining the Turkina and Timber Wolf were two Archers in their backfield providing long range support across their lines.  And this was very necessary on their right flank, where Margo and Chase advanced against the Word Marauder IIC and a small Cougar Omni while an enemy Tempest attempted to flank the line.

 Their center was held by a Nightstar assault machine, a Goshawk, a smaller Vixen and the always dangerous Nova clan omnimech. Three fast machines around a very tough Inner Sphere platform.

 As the weapon exchanges began, the fire of the Knights was far more accurate and telling with punishment being doled out in small batches. Targeting was disciplined, the multiple successful strikes giving telling hits.

 It became very apparent that the Knights were on a mission and the Blakists destruction was it…

 Across the network, the battle cry of the Knights was heard several times as major strikes shredded armor and in the case of the Goshawk, an entire torso from the deadly fire of Khalid when it strayed too close.

 The Blakists were holding their lines though, and giving back as they could. Knights armor was being shredded or melted in places on the allied machines but nothing very dangerous  as of yet.  As the battle developed and the stronger weapons of the Blakists looked to be tipping the scale, Khalid played his pocket aces…

**

 [Claw Flight, Kilo One One- Strike Request…] The Knight Captain’s voice was heard by the two Ghost Bear pilots orbiting nearby in their Jengiz A Omnifighters.

 The lead pilot for this flight, Star Captain Brenna Devon, glanced in the direction of the battle when she answered. “Kilo One, Claw Lead,” she replied. “Send your request…” Tipping a wing over, she led her wingman in the direction of the battle.

[Claw Lead, Kilo One. Requesting direct strikes against Word of Blake forces.  Priority Targets Nightstar, Marauder IIC in false Lancer colors.] Khalid said. [Danger Close unfortunately.]

 A slight smile. Of course the Knights are the ones to give us a tough target, she thought.  But then, they have reason to get that close with them. “Kilo One, Claw Lead… Confirm Danger Close direct strike enemy Marauder IIc and Nightstar,” Devon replied as she guided her fighter on an appropriate line. “ETA under two minutes… Two passes… Initial pass entering from your nine o’clock. Second pass to be determined.”

[Claw Lead, Kilo One… confirm two passes commencing under two minutes and my Nine O’clock; Good Hunting…]

 “There in sixty seconds, Kilo One. Claw Lead clear” she sent then switched to the flight channel. “Greerson, you take the Nightstar… do not miss, quiaff.”

 [Copy Nightstar,] Greerson replied. [And when have I ever missed?]

  Brenna replied as she guided her fighter into the attack run. “Ramsau; how you missed that Orion IIC in the open I will never understand…” She replied calmly. “Beginning attack run…”

**

 Down below, the Word forces were pressing the Knights hard, nearly stopping the Dgger-like advance when the ground attack mission showed up.  Streaking in, the lead Jengiz unleashed its energy weapons upon the Marauder IIC with relish, the powerful particle cannon and pulse lasers melting armor as if it was butter.

 The strike staggered the enemy machine and forced it to the ground. Not dead but definitely hurting.

 The wingman’s strike was no less effective, hammering the Nightstar’s flank and nearly ripping its arm off as its powerful weapons slammed the mech’s right side.  As they raced away, the two pilots began to arc around to come in again from behind the Knights lines.

 As they looped in to make their next strikes, Devon assessed what she saw on the ground and grimaced. She could see that their strikes had allowed the Knights to bring down the Marauder IIc and capitalize on the havoc the ground attack caused. Indeed, the Knights appeared to have brought down a Nova and the Turkina was also on the ground.

 As she lined up to come in again, she watched the still standing Nightstar lay into the Black Knight of their allies and saw the removal of half that machine. The Black Knight remained standing, but any more attention would likely change that.

 I do not think so, Surat, she thought to herself as she lined up her craft for the run in. Know your place and yield… “Greerson, take one of the Archers; the Nightstar is mine.”

 [Aff, hit an Archer, the Nightstar is yours] Her wingman replied. [Make it hurt, Star Captain…]

**

 Khalid backed his machine up and away from the Nightstar, warnings blaring in his cockpit from the damage taken. “Ciciero, concentrate on that Nightstar, he is being a problem…”

 [On it, Khalid] The Orion pilot answered as he moved up.

[Khalid, Traci’s down- I’m going to try and help her,] Modred called to him [Their Tempest and that damn Vixen are trying to actually kill her…]

  “Go!” he ordered. “Pellinore…”

 [On it, Knight Captain,] she answered and sent her Spider back that way. [That Vixen is going to be taught a lesson…]

 Traci called over the network. [Khalid, I’m still in this but some help would be appreciated…] she said as her mech staggered but remained right. [I have gyro damage]

 Mordred answered her. [On my way, Traci; they are in my range now…] he said as a light gauss slug slammed into the enemy Tempest as his particle cannons passed it with mere inches to spare. [Pretty sure I have his attention.]

 His shots also got the attention of the Vixen, which chose to run from him and Pellenor’s Spider, which had laced into it and shredded its armor. The light clan machine chose discretion over valor and retreated back the way it came. Modred continued his advance, knowing he needed to hit the enemy heavy mech some more. It was the only way to give Traci a fighting chance to survive their face off and he was going to do what he could to make that happen.

 Pellenor, who had caught the Vixen with her pulse lasers, backed off as well and set herself up for a go at the Cougar. That machine had moved to cover it’s retreating companion after it took pot shots at her Spider. [Hang on, Traci… I have a problem to chase off…]

 [I’ll do what I can. Champ’s not long in the fight but I still have my weapons…] She answered as she used the nickname she had given her battlemech. [Let’s see him take everything my boy can dish out…]

 Khalid said nothing as he looked to line up his particle cannon on the Nightstar; his people knew their profession and didn’t need his direction for what they were doing. Losing half of his weapons hurt but at least he still had his big gun and that Nightstar needed to be introduced to it.  As he readied to shoot, the Ghost Bear pilots arrived for their second pass… and the results were impressive.

 The attack on the Nightstar melted even more of its armor and the cracks were beginning to show finally. As it staggered from the strike, Ciciero lit into it and delivered even more punishment to the machine.  Even then, it still shrugged it off as it began to face the oncoming Orion.

 It never completed its movement as was shot up by Xavier in his Phoenix Hawk, who had ran over after helping to drop the Turkina. His lasers cut into the enemy assault machine and found an open torso… destroying it and the huge engine of the battlemech. [BEAU SEANT!!] he called over the comms. [Scratch a Nightstar!]

 The Knights battle-cry echoed across the network as Montgomery, who had recovered from being stunned, finished off the still stunned Goshawk which had tried to get away earlier but had fallen again. Its’s guns smoking from their discharge, the Grand Titan turned to move towards the central battle line as it lobbed missiles towards the still-standing Archers in the enemy rear. The long range shot got their attention with a near miss and the two machines shifted position.

 Traci, in her crippled Tempest, traded fire with her opposite, hoping to cripple him much like her own machine was and perhaps set it up for Modred to drop. Unleashing the full fury of her machine, she saw her opponent’s armor blast away like paper in a shredder but even as she fell from his weapons, she noted it still stood.

 [Brothers and Sisters, Champ is done for] she called over the network after her Tempest hit the ground. [Get that bastard…]

 Elsewhere, Chase’s Warhammer moved to intercept the Vixen that had fallen back, the enemy wanting no part of the Knight Marauder that was coming to deal with their still standing Tempest. Chase fired his short-ranged weapons at the wily light Clan machine and only managed to glance it while it in turn tore into him.

 A head strike on his machine slagged armor and burned through to the internals, destroying his life support module and the sensors. These were crippling even as machine guns from the light enemy also tore into him as well as missiles from an Archer. A large pulse laser blast from the distant Cougar was the final straw in his machine’s stability and its taxed gyro as he began topple over.

 [My mount is done, Khalid… Punching out] Chase called over the net and his cockpit rocketed out of his mech’s head assembly as his machine fell.

 Morgana advanced towards the Archer pair along with Carlotta in her Enforcer, the both of them looking to collect a few tons of mech parts from the two support battlemechs. [I’m on my way, Chase…] she called out. [Avoid them if you can…]

 The enemy Archers, seeing the very healthy Knights advancing after them, turned and ran their machines down the backside of the hill they had been on. They knew even with the reinforcements due soon, their continued survival was measured in minutes… especially with the still-in-the-area Ghost Bear fighters coming around for a possible additional set of strikes.

 They were joined in their retreat by the Vixen, who also realized it wasn’t going to avoid being taken out if it remained.

 Pellenor spied the retreating Cougar and took off after it.  As she raced to catch it, she noted the enemy Tempest retreating nearby with Modred in pursuit. While she was fast, the Cougar had a head start but the Tempest was a slower target… and also had her companion’s Marauder to worry about.

 Shifting her line of travel, she managed to get in behind the retreating heavy battlemech and unleashed her pulse lasers at it.  Both weapons struck the back of the Word machine and widened the rifts in its armored rear torsos. Charging forward, she closed on her foe and as it sought to get past the last hill it needed to escape line of sight, the Knight recon pilot got within physical range and sent a pair of fists into its backside even as she fired her weapons once more.

 The results of the light machine’s attack was deadly, as a pulse laser painted its energy over the heavy machine’s head assembly. This strike finished off what it had left of its protective armor (damaged earlier) and all of its internal structure- which removed it cleanly from the mech’s frame.

 As she turned to potentially continue her hunting the Cougar as the Tempest dropped, she heard Khalid order all forces not to pursue. A quick look at her mech’s sensors quelled her potential protest as the losses the Knights had taken registered on her awareness.

 Half of her comrades were either down or badly damaged… and any continued pursuit would have to wait for rest of the Knights that were rapidly approaching the battlefield. They had won this battle but it had been messy… and despite what was healthy for her fellow Knights, who knew what awaited them in the next valley and hills.

 The remaining enemy forces had gotten a reprieve. But it was going to be a short lived one as the Wolverine Commander on their front had her machines moving to take up the advance.

 The Word of Blake was on the run… and whatever stood after the allies had their say would be dealt with by either them or the Ghost Bear and Saber Cat troops.

 Either way, this was a victory and a well earned one.  She, like her Knight Captain, had her own ghosts to deal with from Atreus… This battle had gone a long way towards putting them to rest though but there was more work to be done.

 When the day came once this campaign was concluded, she hoped some of those memories would settle. Until then, she would deal with them and save any true celebration for when this campaign was complete.