The force rocked the tank as Addison was thrown all over his station. After what felt like an eternity he was finally able to refocus his vision, realizing that he was laying on the side wall of the vehicle.
"Hill...Hill…" He heaved as he popped the hatch in front of him and painfully pulled himself from the wreckage. His face stung, he must not have noticed the light sandstorm that began to swirl around him as he watched the road from the comfort of his infrared sight.
"We got a live one!" He heard a voice say mockingly.
Looking over his shoulder he saw what looked like League soldiers climbing all about what remained of his vehicle and a massive form behind him. A few of the soldiers jumped down walking towards him. "Wha- What happened?" He inquired. Before he could get an answer, he saw Corporal Hill being unceremoniously thrown from the drivers position by some of the soldiers, his body making a loud thud as it hit the ground, not moving. Taking a closer look Addison noticed the wicked smiles on these people, as techs began prodding his vehicle, in the distance he could see the Mobile Field Base turning in his direction. Grimacing he managed to yell "What the Hell are you people doing!?"
One of the soldiers answered. "Don't worry about it sir" The condescending tone of his voice made Addison sick. "I bet you realize that this weapon has only been in production for less than three years, it'll go perfect on that 'mech!"
After hearing this Addison finally realized what was behind the smoldering form of his vehicle. It was a HBK-4G, the telltale cannon on its right shoulder was unmistakable. The paint distinguishing it as a part of the 25th Marik Militia, the battlemech regiment that his unit was attached to. He took another glance at the man talking to him. He immediately noticed his cooling jacket, the standard equipment of a mechwarrior. "You're attacking your allies just for a weapon? But you're with the League. This is treason! I'll have you court-martialed for thi-" He was again cut off as a loud crack rang through the air. Standing above Hill was a soldier holding a smoking pistol. "You people are insane." He whispered to himself.
"You know we can't have any witnesses to this." He whistled through a wicked grin.
Looking around Addison realized that he needed to take action. Guessing that the entire convoy must be working with these people he decided that it would be suicide to try and fight, not only do they have the Ibex's, but now he also needs to worry about the humongous 'mech as well. There was only one chance and he took it. He began sprinting as fast as he could into the heart of the sandstorm.
The cracks from the soldiers' small arms began immediately, Addison could hear the whizzing past his head and the heat from the personal energy weapons.
"Trying to run, eh?" The mechwarrior chuckled to himself as he scrambled up his Hunchback. Upon reaching the cockpit he quickly activated the 'mechs startup sequence and after waiting a few seconds he activated his telecom to call for backup, but he only heard static. "Tsk, I forgot about that Skulker jamming the frequencies." Switching his sights to thermal he scanned the area but could not see the officer anywhere. "Doesn't matter, there isn't a single League outpost for over 100 Kilometers, he won't make it a day out there." In frustration he shot a few stray Small Laser blasts in the direction that Addison ran.
After running for what felt like hours Addison collapsed onto himself, the sandstorm still raging around him. Exhausted and running out of options he did the first thing he could think of and began digging into the sand, trying to hide himself. A few hours passed before Addison awoke, laying on his back covered in the sand, only his masked and goggled face visible. It appeared to now be early in the night and the temperature was quickly dropping.
Standing up he could feel the aching pain from the ordeal before, as well as taking the brunt of the freezing temperature. Lifting up his uniforms top he could see that his entire right side was covered in a massive bruise. "What time is it? I need to notify everyone of this, I can't believe we're actually under attack." He mumbled to himself, trying to make sense of the situation. "Shit, Hill. Dammit!" He yelled slamming his fist on the ground.
He stood up looking around. The weather finally had calmed but he could only see a barren wasteland in all directions. "I don't even remember where the road is. What am I going to d-" He stopped as he felt a slight tremor. In a panic he again fell to the ground as a group of massive figures approached shining spotlights.
He watched the beams of light dart across the ground around him. As one scanned over him he could feel every one of his muscles tense until it passed. He let out a soft breath as he realized that he was not noticed, but that hope quickly dissipated as the light returned to shining on him, as well as all of the others turning their blinding gazes towards his direction.
He remained motionless as the hulking figures lumbered in his direction. A voice boomed from the external speakers of the 'mech standing at most 150 meters from him. "This is Captain Samuel Tash, commander of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion! Get on your knees slowly and put your hands behind your head!"
Not seeing any other option Addison complied, doing as the Captain commanded.
Looking up at the other 'mechs he could see two of their cockpits opening, with their pilots slowly climbing down to the ground as the other two kept their weapons focused on him.
The two mechwarriors approached him and patted him down. One of them spoke into a radio "Um sir...I don't think he's one of ours, he's wearing foot soldier equipment." A muffled voice could be heard from the radio in his hand. The mechwarrior moved closer to Addison. "What unit are you with sir?"
Surprised with the sudden formality Addison looked closer at the soldier's rank, finally realizing that he is being held at gunpoint by a Corporal. "I'm Lieutenant Addison Stewart, Charlie Company 1-9 Stewart Light Armor. I was attacked by a group wearing 25th uniforms, what hell's going on?"
"S-sorry sir." The soldier again brought up the radio. "Sir he's not one of ours, he's a lieutenant with the 9th. I think he was attacked by the people we're after." The faint voice could be heard from the radio again to which the corporal replied "Yes sir." Turning back to Addison the soldiers put their weapons down. "Please relax sir, our commander will explain everything as he offered the radio.
Addison looked at the radio and took it into his hand slowly bringing it up to his ear "Sir?"
"Lieutenant Stewart was it? What happened to you? Why are you out here?" The voice on the other side hastily threw out questions.
"I was attacked by some people wearing Militia uniforms, it was a convoy, a Hector Road Train, some Ibexes, a few J-27's, a MFB, a Skulker and at least one 'mech. I ran after they destroyed my tank and killed my operator. Do you know what's happening?"
Tash lowered his voice "I do. Firstly, if it means anything, I am sorry for your loss. Secondly." He paused and hardened his tone. "Lieutenant, we've got a big problem, most of my newer soldiers went rogue. They stole all of that equipment and now they're on a warpath. We tried called into New Bastogne, but we couldn't get an answer. I fear we may have a planet-wide rebellion on our hands."
"New Bastogne? You can't be serious, that's one of the most secure bases in the League, right after Atreus itself. There's no way it could have been taken by a few fresh recruits."
"You misheard me, I said my newer soldiers. It's not just the green's, pretty much anyone who's been in the unit for less than a year is gone, that includes those that have been recently transferred."
"We need to inform command, we should go to Bastogne and talk to the Blakists at the HPG. We need them send the message."
"Stewart, like you said Bastogne is nearly impenetrable, I'm sure it's fine. I bet the message is already being prepared to be sent, right now I need to stop my own soldiers from killing any more people."
After only a few minutes Addison could barely stand being cramped in the storage area behind Captain Tash's cockpit, but he really had no other choice. It was either this, hold on for dear life on the exterior, or be left alone to die in the desert. Although it was small, he really couldn't complain as the cargo space of the Awesome he was in was more spacious than any station he's operated in a combat vehicle. He could take any claustrophobic area, but it was the jostling that was annoying him.
Even from this position he could see Tash's form from around his command couch. Addison heard stories of the Clan's Elementals, and this man fit his vision of them perfectly. It looked although his entire body was muscle. His head was shaved in standard FWLM form and he wore an issued cooling vest. He gave off the look of a perfect League mechwarrior.
"How can you stand it, this shaking is terrible." Addison complained.
"It's really not that bad" Tash responded tapping his neurohelmet "especially since this thing makes it like I'm the one that's walking."
"Yeah, I know how that works, I'm asking how you stand it. I remember when I-" Addison stopped himself short.
"Oh, so you know? And you were remembering something?" Addison could hear the slight mocking tone in Tash's voice. "Don't tell me you're a mechwarrior hiding out in an armor unit."
"No, not at all. Well, at least not fully. I was expelled from Princefield before I graduated."
"Princefield!?" Tash's voice changed to one of disbelief. "Now that I think about it you did say that you were a Stewart, any close family ties?"
"Not really, my family branched off generations ago, my great-grandfather was Androcles' brother, we've been falling more and more into obscurity ever since."
"I gotcha, at least you kept the name, right? And to get kicked out of Princefield. I mean they're prestigious, probably even the best in the Inner Sphere. Your family must've been furious."
"They were surprisingly fine; Truthfully I think they were expecting it."
"What did you do to deserve the boot?"
"I got into a fight" Addison said meekly.
"A fight!" Tash laughed. "I've always heard that they welcomed physical altercations there, one of the only two schools in the league to still practice dueling in order to solve arguments."
"Princefield 'banned' dueling years ago, and that wasn't quite what happened."
"Oh? So, what did happen tough guy?"
Addison trembled a little from hearing this from someone like Tash. "I punched a member of the cadre. He was giving orders that I couldn't rightfully follow."
"Come on kid, sometimes you'll need to do things that you don't fully believe in, that's just a part of war."
"But it isn't! Have you heard of the Knights? They are doing their best to bring back the style of combat that has been missing for hundreds of years."
"I have, the Knights of the Inner Sphere, Captain-General Marik effort to bring chivalry back into combat." Tash shook his head. "I get what he's trying to do but stuff like that is just going to get people killed. So, what exactly was the order?"
"He was trying to force me into strike a training chassis in the rear armor, I couldn't do it, mechwarriors are supposed to have honor."
Come on Addison, that's normal combat protocol, the armor is weaker there and-" Tash pondered to himself for a moment. "Wait, was this during a training exercise?"
"Yeah, it was. I nearly toppled his Archer into a building."
Tash laughed harder than before "Alright, I could see that doing it! But seriously kid, you won't last long with an attitude like that, I'm sure that that regiment will be dead within a few years."
"I have to disagree, the volunteers of the Knights and the Crusaders are the best the Inner Sphere have to offer, I can see them doing great things."
"Look, you've just experienced real combat, you were attacked with trickery and surprise, your operator is dead and you almost were too because the enemies do not fight with honor. Have you ever seen a true fight for life and death before this?"
"Well." Addison paused with a bleak look on his face. "No, I haven't."
"Exactly, I've been here a while." Tash motioned towards his storage locker behind Addison. "Top shelf, it should still be in its case."
Addison slowly made his way to the locker, his entire body rocking with every step the 'mech made. Opening it there was a small black box laying directly on top of other trinkets in a storage bin. Opening it he gasped.
In his hands he held a small bronze leaf-shaped pin, set with a ruby. "This is a Distinguished Service Award."
"As you can see, it's just a ruby grade, but still I fought for it. Hard. I was in the Andurien Secession, Cursa campaign."
Addison finally noticed Tash's age, the Secession ended nearly 20 years ago. Although it seems that he must have been at about the minimum age for a soldier when he fought, he still must be at least 40 years old. He's heard of the Cursa campaign before, one of the greatest tragedies in recent League history.
"I'm-I'm sorry about that, could you tell me what happened?"
Tash's eyes lowered for a moment. "I was a brand new Junior Lieutenant at that point. We dropped on the fourth of December, 3036. The 25th Militia and 1st Free Worlds Guards were sent there to quell an uprising of the local populous. It should have been so easy, I mean The Amazons are one of the Free World's best units. At first the fighting was going well, that is until the bomb went off. The Guards command center was targeted by a terrorist attack, wiping out their entire high command. That wasn't even the worst part, this must've been planned by the Andurien's because right after that the 4th Defenders came out of nowhere. We had no idea they were there, and without half of our command we were quickly overrun." He took another pause and turned to take a glance at Addison, who was listening carefully. "We were scattered all across the planet, it was really more survival at that point. After a few days on the run my lance was able to regroup with Captain Ohopko and the rest of our company. It took six months to force the Defenders off of the planet. We ended up losing two thirds of our unit, all because those cowards had no honor. That's actually the campaign that our unit got its name, the 'Soldiers of Faith', because after something like that nearly everyone found some sort of religion"
"Wait, Captain Ohopko? Why does that name seem so familiar?"
"You may have heard of him during your time in the 9th, he's currently the Force Commander for the third Battalion of the 25th, and still my boss. You might have also heard stories about how Cursa changed him. I'm not saying that he has ever been 'filled with the love of life' or anything, but he's become more distant, colder, more calculating. Ever since he's always commanded ruthlessly, always targeting the opponent's weakest area. Even in friendly training exercises he doesn't show any mercy, always fighting as if his life depended on it."
"I get it, not quite the kind of man I'd like to meet." Addison relented.
"Probably not, he'd likely try his best to beat that attitude out of you." He said managing to let out a small laugh.
A ping could be heard for a moment as a direct message was received by Tash's 'mech. Looking over his shoulder Addison could barely make it out. It explained that the group they were tracking have been found and that they were digging something out of the ground, along with a set of coordinates. It was clear that it was the corporal that Addison had talked to, who was previously ordered to scout ahead as the rest of the lance took up the rear.
Tash took out his keyboard, a rarely used piece of equipment standard in most military vehicles, but currently the only way that the lance could safely converse without the chance of being monitored. He quickly typed a response and spoke into his microphone. "Alright Parker we're too far out, turn back, we're heading back to our post in case it's targeted by some other group."
"Yes sir. I have no clue where they could have gone, I doubt we'd ever be able to catch them now.
Tash turned his head to look at Addison, who was now practically over his shoulder reading the messages. "I guess you know what's happening, Parker found them, we're switch to passive and moving in to intercept." Tash gave a slight grin "You may want to hold on to something."
Author's notes-Okay wow. I apologize for that massive wait before this could actually start. After creating the preview, I decided that I would go over some of my Battletech books to make sure that everything that I include fits the timeline perfectly, and if not to at least know what doesn't. Sarna is great for general information but there is so much that the website is missing. So, after re-reading Field Manual: Free Worlds League, Battletech Handbook: House Marik, as well as some others that will become important later, making notes throughout, I decided to actually start this story. I'll hopefully be able to post a new chapter every week, or at least every other week.
In terms of the canonicity I mentioned I will also point out what doesn't fit in these notes, and although everything fits in this chapter the preview did have two inconsistencies-first is Addison's vehicle. This was just a small shout-out to my favorite unit in Battletech, the Main Gauche, which isn't introduced until 3064, so I made it in its prototype stages (Which makes sense that it would be being tested on Dieudonne because the creators of the vehicle, Brooks Incorporated and the Quickscell Company, are located right next to the planet) I also needed a reason for Addison to be targeted by this group and having a brand-new weapon seemed like perfect bait. Secondly is the Mobile Field Base, which wouldn't be introduced for another year, or even in FWL control until years after that. I was in need of this type of vehicle for later parts of this story, so I decided to just put it in regardless.
Again, sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoy!