Eagle Cries and Sword Clashes
by Kat Wylder and RogueBaron

Note: This is a collaborative effort of Kat Wylder and RogueBaron. The main idea is that sometimes war is not as clear as "good guys vs. bad guys". There are no good soldiers vs. bad soldiers, only soldiers: children, fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, lovers on the opposite side of their guns. We rarely see fanfics like this, so we decide to make one.

BattleTech/MechWarrior and all its components are copyright of FASA, Wizkids, Activision, and Microsoft.
The Scimitar Company and all its components are copyright of Kat Wylder.
The Screaming Eagle Company and all its components are copyright of RogueBaron.
All rights reserved

Chapter I, by RogueBaron

Screaming Eagles HQ,
Bucharest, Terra,
February 9, 3068

Mario Cruz walked in a long hallway. He was a medium-built young man, a 27-year-old 5'5" 145-lbs brunette with brown eyes, and a kind of goofy smile. But he was a mechwarrior, despite his funny appearance. His mercenary unit, the Screaming Eagles, was a company-size mercenary unit based on Bucharest, Earth. He joined the Screaming Eagles after Word of Blake invaded his hometown, San Diego, ten years ago. He still remembered the event to this day. The Blakist landed and started destroying everything in sight, forcing him to flee his home. Lucky for him, the Screaming Eagles were short of personnel, so he was recruited immediately and he worked for the unit ever since.

The hallway brought Mario to the garage where technicians were prepping up the mechs. 'Something's coming up,' he thought. 'Maybe we have another contract.' Mario walked pass his mech, an old PXH-3S that was his pride and joy. His mind wandered to the day when he acquired – stole, to be exact – that mech, and his lips curled into a smile. The day Word of Blake invaded San Diego, Mario was forced to take refuge in a Comstar garage, knowing nothing but to find the safest place – the Phoenix Hawk. Mario was just a 17-year old boy and had never been in a real battlemech, but he played video games extensively, so he managed to take down a lance of Blakists using the Comstar's Phoenix Hawk, and escaped.

Mario walked through the garage and went to the command control. The CO of the Screaming Eagles, Major Chip Taylor, was talking to several other members of the mercenary unit. He was a stocky, muscular man, with grayish hair and deep, brown eyes. Battle scars were all over his body. Some rumor said that he had an artificial leg, a souvenir of Tukayyid campaign where he was locked in a pitched battle against 2 Clan mechs. His cockpit was smashed that the techs had to amputate his leg to get him out.

Mario snapped a quick salute to his superior, then said, "I saw the mechs were being fitted, Sir. Are we having a new contract?"

"Indeed, Cruz," Chip replied. "For the last couple of years the Irian BattleMech Unlimited, Marik's primary mech factory, has been building new weapon systems. The FedCom is growing uneasy about this, because we all know that FWL harbored the Word of Blake during their initiation. They suspected that this rumor had something to do with the Blakist, so they want to know what the Mariks are building.

"This is IBMU research center at Irian," Chip put on a holographic map on the table. "The FedCom wanted us to infiltrate this base, download information, get out, and get paid. This is a simple mission, small adversaries expected. If we're lucky, we don't have to fire our guns altogether."

Mario froze a moment, then asked "Isn't it risky to hire a mercenary unit to carry this sensitive mission? They have better assets to do this kind of task. Why ask us?"

"Politics is not our game, Cruz, so don't try to understand it. But if I have to guess, then I guess FedCom doesn't want to jeopardize its relationship with FWL. As we all know, Isis Marik is one of Victor's staunchest supporters in the Civil War. They send us in to do this job, so when this mission goes hairy, they can disavow any knowledge of us."

"Then why are we doing this? I don't trust the FedCom. There are a lot of other jobs waiting at MRBC. We don't have to do this, Sir."

"The money is good," Chip answered. "If everything goes well, we will walk in and walk out unopposed. If something bad happens, then we just take care of ourselves, just like the other days. You have been in my command for 10 years, Cruz, so you know I will never take a mission that we can't handle. Don't worry about it. We'll have a general meeting at 1800 hours, and I'll address the situation with others. For now, dismiss."

For some reason, Mario had a bad feeling about the mission, but he also knew that his CO was a respectable man, not a greedy opportunist that would risk his teammate to get money. He nodded off and went out of the command control, trying to get rid of the anxiety. 'If I can't trust the FedCom, I can trust Chip', he thought, then went to his room to cool off.