Dark Shadow's Fall

Chapter 2

Wendingo

Atreus System

June 19 3035

Warson sat up from his bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He glanced at the alarm clock on the night stand. It was only 0430, a full hour before he had to get up, but he knew trying to go back to sleep was futile. While being able to wake up quickly was normally a blessing, once he was up, he was up. Sighing, Warson sat up, careful not to disturb his bed mate. Maria turned but otherwise remained still. Ren was still not sure about how he felt towards their relationship, he was technically her superior and they had avoided acting on their mutual attraction in the past. That all changed after the drop. The Drop. That's what all three of them called it. After Polls and Cerillios were picked up, it was a tense, somber mood on the dropship. Warson tried to comfort both of his fellow pilots over the death of their Lieutenant, despite his own grieving. Polls took it all in stride, like he always did. He was used to death in a way that Warson hoped he would never be.
Cerillios was quiet different. When Warson went to her quarters, she was clearly crying. What started as comforting became hugging, and hugging quickly moved on from there. It was healing for both, but Warson was unsettled afterwards.

He realized it wasn't just Lt Jefferson's death that had affected her so much, it was that she had been kissed by death. Cerillios was an excellent pilot, but getting shot out of her Hermes had been the first time she had been so close to dying. The fact that she had to fight off several Capellan infantrymen after her Mech fell only made it worse. Back when he was a scout, he had been attached to a Special Forces unit that in turn was supporting a Liberation unit. The Fourth Succession War was in full roll, and it was not going well for the Free World League. Liberation Units were dispossed Mechwarriors or other ner'do'wells that were trained by the League to enter hostile terrain, break stuff and cause chaos. In return, these desperate men and women were promised any Mechs they could capture, or other riches. The Liberation Warson's team was supposed to meet up with had been causing the Lyrans no limit of grief.

Warson's mission to support them was almost over before it began. His 24 man team had jumped on the world and began maneuvering to meet the Liberation unit. There was no telling how long the enemy had been tracking their movements, but once most of the unit was in a open field, disaster struck. Two Warrior Helos flew over the horizon, opening their autocannons up before the platoon knew what was happening. Warson had just made the tree line on the other side, doing his duty as a point man. They shells thudded around his position, throwing him to the ground. He looked on in horror as his team was cut down in mere seconds.
A veteran sergeant, his intestines spilling from his shredded body, stood on one knee and lifted a SRM. Though he was dying, the man was going to do his duty to its last and squeezed the trigger. The two missiles leaped from their launcher, and homed in on one of the helicopters as it was making its missile missed high, but the other impacted the Warrior right in its tail sergeant's dying shot was also his greatest as the rotors exploded in a metal spray. The helicopter auto-gyrated down and crashed into the earth.

Still lost in the past, Warson looked at the sleeping form of the younger Mechwarrior in his bed. He knew should would get past the pain and the shock. She would even get past the fear of her own death as well. It would take time, and while he could be there for her, he couldn't lead her to the solution. For him, it had been continuing the fight and getting payback. The fact that he got his beloved Grasshopper, Warbeast during those brutal days was another salve to his soul. Cerillios would find her own way, Warson was confident of that.

For now, he had his own, more immediate problems. When the Lance had returned to Wendigo, the moon above the League's capital planet Atreus, they were allowed some R&R. Unfortunately, that was not going to be long, and Reaper Lance was in bad shape. More to the point, the whole Dark Shadows Battalion was in bad shape. The Dark Shadows on paper were supposed to be an reinforced battalion of 40 Mechs, 2 companies each of 120 special force infantry, 12 Aerospace fighters and supporting vehicles. The Fourth Succession War had been rough, resulting in more than a quarter of the elite combined arms unit being injured or killed. To make it worse, when Andurian succeeded, a significant number of troops, included a full platoon of infantry defected and returned to their native region.
Mechs themselves were actually easy to replace. Both Polls and Cerllios were given new machine to replace their old ones. In fact, because of their special force status, both got replacement models for the very Mechs they had lost. What was much harder to replace was pilots.

Training new warriors was a time consuming ordeal, and officers were even rarer. the best the command could do was give Warson a new pilot, a young sergeant named Jean Emersol. The man showed promise, and was lighting fast in his locust, but that still left Warson with a whole new headache. For the time being, he was in charge of the Lance. For the last couple of months, Warson had trained his new lance as best he could, but he still felt unready. Moving through the bedroom, he quickly crossed into his small living room. Sitting down at his desk, he reviewed his e-mails. It was going to be a full day, and if he couldn't sleep, he might as well get to work.

Maria looked through the covers as Ren walked away. She had woke up when he moved from the bed, but she didn't want him to know she was awake. For the moment, she just wanted to see the man who she had come to rely on, not only as a leader, but as a friend and lover. He always seemed so serious and stern when he knew other people were watching. The only exceptions were when he was rushing into battle, in the throws of passion or when he thought that no one was looking. It was touching to see him like this and Maria didn't want to ruin it.

He was only a couple years older than her, 24 years standard in fact. But he had been a warrior since 16, moving through mud, blood and pain. That was probably one of the things that drew her to him, the way he was so stern and hard except during the moments when being human really mattered. She let him leave the room, and slowly drifted off back to sleep, smelling him in their sheets.

Atrues, June 19

Janos Marik rubbed at his eyes, trying to not show his frustration and exhaustion. He was in a staff planning session with his most trusted advisers going over plans to take the Free World League into with the Andurians were going nowhere fast and draining him of his his energy. He looked across the table at his aides, his son Thomas, nodding slightly in return.
He's shaping up well, Thomas thought. It was the right thing to bring him back from Comstar. Janos had recovered from his illness and returned to his duties. Thomas had filled in well in his stead, but the League still needed the steady, measured hand of the elder statesman.
His nephew, Duncan was also there, quietly observing and making few comments. He's sulking again, Marik was no secret that Duncan wanted the throne, but Janos denied him at every turn. Though he was a skilled pilot and unit commander, he was the wrong choice to lead the League. His sullenes at this moment only confirmed it to Janos.
At the moment, it was Thomas who was speaking, and most eyes in the room focused on the young man. They had just reviewed the success of the last series of raids into the Capellan systems. The risky missions had paid off, in that Liao had backed down and no longer made maneuvers to attack the League or Andurian. Now for the much more important matter of Andurian itself.
"Duchess Humphries continues to refuse to return her realm to the League. No one is doubting that he forces have taken a beating. In fact, her Mech forces are at best, 75 percent combat operational, and that includes raw recruits replacing their losses. She's going to bleed us dry in bringing her to heel."
Janos frowned in thought. While Catherine Humpries was always a painful thorn in his side, he had thought she would do what was best for her subjects. It would have been one thing if her forces had managed to take over the Capellan worlds, but now, every one knew that she was simply delaying the inevitable. No sooner had they begun debating their upcoming maneuvers, an orderly walked into the conference room. " Forgive me Gentlemen, but there is new information from Scarborough. The Nightriders have been repelled from Scarborough".
There was a collective sigh from the room as the announcement sank in. As a final act of defiance, Liao had sent several units as raiding forces into both the League and Andurian. The Nightrider's Regiment of the elite Macarron's Armored Cavalry was a particularly concerning element of the raids. News of their withdrawal was a burden off of everyone's shoulders.
"Captain General, Duncan stood up and addressed Janos. " I should get a detailed report on this before we get too far into the rest of the briefing". Accepting Janos's slight nod, the younger man and head of the Marik Militia walked briskly out of the room.
At least the boy can preform his assigned duties well, Janos mused. Of course, the problem is that he wants to assign himself more duties! Motioning for Thomas to continue, Marik listened as his advisers provided analysis, commentary and theories about where to start the re-conquest of Andurian. Though he paid rapt attention, Janos mostly felt tired.
Janos Marik was the oldest and longest serving of all the Successor Lords by far. He had survived plots, assassinations and civil war brought on by his own family. He simply wanted to rest, but knew that that was simply not a option. Thomas would be an excellent Captain General someday, but he had been a priest for too long. Janos knew the man needed some of the hard, sharpening lessons that serving on his staff would provide. As the meeting continued, Janos looked at the watch on his pinkey ring. Fifteen minutes had passed since Duncan had walked out of the room. While it would take a moment to get the information and comeback, it had been too long. Janos was beginning to feel uneasy. " I'm sorry Gentlemen, but we really should have the commander of our militia here. Thomas, please wait. Colonel Clark, go see where General Marik has gone to before we continue."
"Of course Sir." Colonel Clark, a steady but uninspiring leader moved from his position, motioning towards the door. Sending the officer after Duncan was a subtle reminder of who was in charge. Another move in the continuous game Janos had to play. As Clark moved across the room, Janos's unease only grew. This was wrong, Duncan was defiant, but he wouldn't try such a subtle move in showing Independence. Janos was on the verge of standing up himself when Colonel Clark reached the door. His hand twisted the knob, straining to open it. "That's strange". Thomas turned to look at his father, they both felt it. Janos was just about to shout a warning when the whole room filled with fire.

Duncan Marik stood on the podium, his uniform still torn and singed. His wounds had only received the barest medical attention. His calm demeanor in front of the cameras only solidified his persona of the weary, battered warrior, resolute in fulfilling his duties. He had already spoken for 10 minutes to the film crews in a speech that was sure to make its way through the League, indeed, the whole Inner Sphere within weeks. " And so, with heavy sorrow, I ask that the nation mourns with me as we accept the loss of one of the greatest leaders the League has ever known" Except for failing to keep his brother in check, fighting a single successful war or keeping that bitch Humphries in her place. Duncan smirked to himself. Janos had been a great leader once, but time had worn him down. The old man was too stubborn to know that it was time for young blood to take over.
"I swear to you that this tragedy will not go unanswered, and that the guilty parties to this cowardly assassination will not escape justice." Once I am done showing the "evidence". Duncan had been meticulous in setting up the bombing, down to how close he had to be to receive only superficial injuries from the blast. It wouldn't be long before the Andurians were implicated in the attack and his position as Captain General was assured. There was no way anyone would be acceptable to the people, not after this. " I ask that all of us, as one people stand united in this moment. We must not accept the evil of other men to dictate the measure of our resolve. The League is strong, stronger than one man, stronger than one moment. We will stand up from this dark day, strong er than ever. All that I ask is that you will stand with me!"

well, I hope you liked the second chapter! Sorry for the delay in continuing this story, but real life interrupted. I will try to post bi monthly if not more often. I am trying to make this story follow not only the Cannon Battletech timeline, but also real world military doctrine and military life. For anyone who has an interest in the Andurian Crisis, may I recommend the book Brush Wars by Fan Pro and Wiz Kids. It really made that decade of warfare come alive and made me love the Free World Leagues.

In any case, I would really like feedback, good or bad from folks. Let me know what you think. If no one provides any input, Ill figure folks just aint interest and move on to other things. But I would really like to see this through and give a story folks care about, so PLEASE POST! Thanks in advance.