—==Chapter 2==—
Fenix Fusiliers Headquarters "The Nest"
Merlon, Caselton
Draconis March, Federated Suns
June 2nd, 3145
The main Mechbay was filled to capacity with slumbering giants. Titans built from Endo Steel skeletons and Myomer muscle to wage war across hundreds of worlds.
Elim Fenix didn't venture into the main Mechbay often, he didn't have much reason. With the sibko he had trained in Industrial Mechs, which had their own bay. He had been able to pilot one of the Pack Hunter IIs in a few training exercises with the militia, and he'd been able to pilot his great grandfather's Victor once—to move it from one bay to another—but other than that the sight of the sleeping titans wasn't something he'd had occasion or opportunity to take in.
Along with Alayne, his cousin, he was led towards the far end of the massive hanger. It was built to house a full battalion and with the addition of the Razor's Mechs still painted in their gray and orange tiger striped pattern it was able to do so again.
There were twenty giant stalls on each side of a wide divide that would allow Mechwarriors to leave two at a time when deploying from any of the four massive bay doors. Though the building had doors for the north, south, east and west Elim suspected they'd entered from the door furthest from their destination.
It was no problem for his great grandmother, despite having entered her ninth decade Ryza Helmer's Elemental blood still left her an imposing physical figure, towering at over two point three meters she stood head and shoulders above Elim himself, who stood barely two meters himself.
He was, after all, only a quarter Elemental.
The Fenix brothers, Theodore and Benjamin had married very different women. Benjamin, Alayne's ancestor had married the regiment's chief technician Alice Flint, a woman of some Northwind heritage. But Elim's great grandfather Theodore wasn't convinced to settle down until he met a woman capable of forcing him to, and it'd apparently surprised no one more than his great grandmother that she was the one to do it.
To hear her tell it the only thing that aggravated the former Jade Falcon more than falling in love was living this long.
But Benjamin's descendants had inherited Alice's hair color, resulting in Alayne and Lindsay's similar strawberry blond hair color, while Theodore's descendants had inherited Ryza's height and propensity for physical prowess.
As a result piloting BattleMechs wasn't always easy, or even possible for some of Great Grandpa Theo's descendants, Elim himself coming from something of the "runty" line meant that it was a possibility for him, too tall—or wide—and a Mech's ejection seat could become a greater death sentence than simply being trapped in the machine.
But despite the skepticism of some cousins and even his older brother Marcus he had proven himself not only a capable Mechwarrior in training but the best in their training class, with Alayne following behind a close second. Of course being short—relatively speaking—wasn't the only reason Elim had for having to excel, and he knew it was the same for Alayne.
As they walked down the wide floor of the Mechbay Ryza spoke up, telling them, "Most of these Mechs, the original Fusiliers' Mechs at least, were savaged during the jihad. As you know when Stone's people ordered the unit to disband Theo and Ben only handed over the Mechs they couldn't hide, or that they'd never be able to restore. They hid the rest and dipped into the family's fortune to buy the permits and licenses to publicly hold on to a single lance."
"Grandpa Theo's Victor, which he nicknamed Tyrfing, and grand-uncle Ben's Hunchback IIC, which he named Dragon's Gift after it was awarded to the unit for their service in the Combine-Ghost Bear war."
"And which my father inherited and renamed Stonesworn to boast about his devotion to the man who tried to ruin our family." Alayne added.
Elim was used to hearing the venom in Alayne's voice as she spoke about her father.
Actually the two of them had bonded when they first joined the sibko because of their fathers. Even though they both had the Fenix surname the truth was that neither of them was the child of a member of the regiment. On the contrary they were the children of the two most vocal anti-mercenary members of the Fenix family outside of the Fenix Merch side of the clan.
Alayne's father John was seen by the rest of them as little better than an outright traitor for his decision to abandon Caselton and join the Republic's forces during the early days of the Blackout, and where Lindsay had earned her reputation back when Caselton's return to the Federated Suns made service with the Swordsworn a more heroic act many had doubled down on the disdain for Republic loyalists to showcase their loyalty to the Suns. That included ridiculing Alayne for her father's decisions.
Elim's own father hadn't gone as far as joining the RAF, but Sisko Fenix was a known voice on Caselton accusing his family of gouging the world's wealth by daring to expect payment for their defense contract. He felt that the Fusiliers should either petition the Prince to be accepted into the AFFS, or disband and join the Caselton militia, but above all else he felt that they unit had no business accepting money for the defense of their home world.
In other words he was an idiot who didn't know what he was talking about and like Alayne had for her father, Elim had had to deal with quite a lot of ridicule because of his. Sometimes he suspected that that was what had caused the two of them to try so hard in the struggle to rise to the top and be the best of the sibko. It had certainly colored their decision to go to Sakhara academy like their great grandfathers, sending a clear message that they were Fusiliers.
"Tyrfing, Stonesworn, yes. Also the Wolfhound that Lindsay Fenix would pilot for the Swordsworn, and the Summoner that Jhonen is piloting now," Ryza said, waving a hand towards the Clan OmniMech not far in the distance. The sight of the former Jade Falcon machine sent a thrill down Elim's spine. He couldn't understand Stone's insistence on destroying these titans, even though the Summoner had fallen to Ben's descendants it was still a piece of two separate portions of Elim's heritage.
Just like his great grandmother it had once been Jade Falcon and now it was Fenix.
"But like I said, these were just the Mechs they couldn't hide from Stone's people. They are the Mechs they piloted when the Fusiliers fought alongside Stone's people to take back Caselton from the Word of Blake, but these aren't the Mechs they piloted throughout the bulk of the Jihad."
Alayne got a dreamy look in her eyes as she said, "My great-grandfather piloted a Mad Cat Mk II he called Godhand. The Fusiliers captured her from the Jade Falcons just before the Jihad along with uh . . ."
"Myself?" Ryza asked, and Elim could practically hear the old giantess's smirk.
But Alayne blushed and shook her head violently, "N-no ma'am, I was going to say Caladbolg, the Mech that your husband piloted during the Jihad . . . I just don't remember uh . . . exactly what sort of Mech it was."
Elim smiled and said, "I do. Caladbolg was a Daishi, a Dire Wolf, the ultimate Assault Mech, the greatest OmniMech the Clans ever built."
"Arguably," Ryza said, still smirking.
"Both of those Mechs were damaged beyond repair in the final defense of Caselton before the Fusiliers were forced off-world, that's why our great-grandfathers had to pilot older machines they'd actually passed down to other members of the Regiment by then." Alayne said.
"Yes . . . well most of the regiment got off-world. As you know myself and some others were unavoidably left behind to wage war against the Word on a smaller scale, using the underground network of tunnels that helped make Caselton such a fortress world. We were the ones who sealed away as many of the regiment's Mechs away as we could in an effort to keep the Word of Blake from salvaging them and using them. When the Republic came we just . . . didn't tell them."
Elim let the full reality of those words wash over him, it was Alayne who said aloud, "You mean we still have them?"
"Of course." Ryza told her. "It would take a true fool to ever give up a prize as valuable as a Dire Wolf. But it was quite a project getting them back online. Lindsay pulled Chief O'Bannon off Tyrfing to work on them and once word got out to the other techs almost all of them were all too eager to lend a hand in their off hours, I suppose for them it was like having a chance to rebuild history."
"And they did it in secret?" Alayne gasped.
"Well some of us knew, but we had to make sure you didn't find out, it'd ruin the surprise." Ryza told her.
"What? Why surprise us?" Alayne asked but Elim already had a feeling he knew . . .
"You two completed your training, you completed my training and you passed with flying colors. You passed with a higher score than any of the others before you and, while I might not agree with the decision, you are going to be going to an academy where all of that will be secondary to one thing: your social standing," Ryza said, "Lindsay did not want to send you two off to Sakhara without Mechs of your own."
"Mechs of our own? Won't there be training Mechs at the academy?" Alayne asked.
"Of course, but the students have always been welcome and even encouraged to bring their own Mechs. Most of them are wealthy enough to have their own brand new BattleMech, but few would look down on an ancestral Mech."
"Ancestral Mech?" Alayne whispered as the realization seemed to strike her like a rampaging wildebeest and she gasped as they neared the final stalls in the hanger.
There Elim could see the full reality with his own eyes. Godhand was to his left, but instead of the blues and gray of the Fusiliers the Assault Mech was painted in the gray, blue and red of the Sakhara Academy's training battalion.
And in the bay across from it to the right Elim actually expected to see Tyrfing.
It made sense for Alayne to receive one of her great grandfather's Mechs, but as his great-grandmother had said only a fool would give up a prize as valuable as a Dire Wolf, and hadn't Lindsay ordered her own chief technician to restore Caladbolg? The Mech would be a sight to fear by anyone facing the Fusiliers and it was certainly a trade up from the Victor.
When his great-grandfather had captured the Dire Wolf he'd passed Tyrfing down to a trusted subordinate, Elim had assumed Lindsay too would take the lead in Caladbolg . . . but there was the "Great Death" itself resting across from its younger sibling painted in the same gray, blue and red . . .
Elim was taken aback as Ryza said to them, "Alayne, your grandfather and aunt have given you Godhand, and Elim, your cousins and I have agreed that you are worthy of Caladbolg."
"Blake's blood!" Alayne gasped.
"You cannot be serious . . ." Elim stared in a mixture of excitement and horror at the Mech. It was too much, even the Victor would have been more than he deserved but this? "Lindsay or Jhonen should be piloting this, this Mech should be at the head of the Fusiliers, not being used for peacocking on Sakhara!"
A new voice spoke up as Chief O'Bannon emerged from Caladbolg's stall saying, "Your cousin Lindsay is satisfied with Tyrfing, she and I have put a great deal of work into making that Mech everything it is today, I don't think she'll ever give it up."
The man was short and slightly rotund, but his arms were thick with muscle. The portions of his skin not covered in oil and grease—namely enough of his face for positive identification—were pale in stark contrast to his pitch black hair, hair that was if possible a shade darker than Elim's own raven black hair.
Elim's great grandmother towered over the man yet she nodded to him with a level of respect he didn't see her show very many people as she said, "The Chief is correct. Your uncle Artemis left that Mech to her in his will and I believe it is more to her than just a machine to be discarded in favor of a superior model. I admit that I expected you would see your Great-Grandfather's BattleMech the same way, Elim."
"I do," Elim said, "it's just . . . this is too much to waste on Sakhara."
"Which is just what the wealthy cadets and instructors at Sakhara will think," O'Bannon said, "they'll remember you two and they'll remember the Fusiliers. When the day comes that they're thinking of which Mercenary force to hire for whatever reason, or one of their tycoon friends needs a job done they'll remember the Fenix cousins and it'll be us they come to."
"So you see even on Sakhara you're serving the interests of your family. This Mech is not some random gift or even truly some bloodline entitlement. You are, you both are already two of the greatest pilots in the regiment. It's true by taking this Mech you serve the interests of House Fenix, but remember that you are both members of House Fenix, even if your fathers are disgraced you can still bring honor and glory to your names." Ryza told them. The old Elemental folded her muscular arms and asked, "So what will it be, Elim? Do you accept this gift and the responsibility that comes with it?"
Elim looked at the Dire Wolf and felt a strange sort of connection with the machine . . . just like Jhonen's Summoner this Mech was two parts of his heritage, just like his great-grandmother it was once a Jade Falcon, now it was a Fenix.
More than that it had been great-grandpa Theo's Mech, same as Tyrfing, but this was also the Mech that could have been stolen from their family either by the Word of Blake or by Devlin Stone's followers if his great-grandmother Ryza hadn't been able to hide it away from the whole of the Inner Sphere . . .
He looked to Alayne and she smiled slightly, saying, "Don't look at me, I've never been less conflicted in my life."
Elim smiled back and nodded to his grandmother. "Very well," he said, "I will happily and gratefully accept . . . and if it's what it takes I'll devote every day of my life to being worthy of this honor and my great-grandfather's legend."
"Neg!" His great-grandmother snapped, startling him out of what was an otherwise reverent moment, "You will add to their legends by forging your own and in time your reputation may eclipse their own. That is the way of things, the young must outdo the old."
"But shouldn't we also honor their memory?" Alayne asked.
"In a sense," Ryza allowed, "But never imagine that you are in their shadows, or you will fight so long to emerge from them you will have no time to cast your own. Honor them by casting your own shadows, honor yourselves by seeing to it that they are shadows that block out the sun. It's time to step away from the reputations of your great-grandfathers and your fathers and begin your own legends."
Elim smiled and nodded to his great-grandmother, "I will."
"So will I." Alayne agreed.
Ryza spared them a very rare and very brief smile before O'Bannon rubbed his meaty hands together excitedly and said, "Lets get you two in the cockpits!"
"In the cockpits?" Alayne gawked.
The technician laughed and said, "What, you think we're going to load them onto the Dropship for you? My crew and I didn't go to all the trouble of getting these beauties operational again not to see them take their first steps out of the bay! Get suited up Mechwarriors and take these bad boys for a stroll!"
The two smiled and went about obeying their elders.