Thermopylae Base
Marduk, Draconis Combine
February 2, 3059
1640 hours

"Dear gawd Rommy! Please tell me you didn't buy all these" hollered Ice as Rommy climbed down from her Berserker.

"Nah, nothing like that chief. Our AWOL friends from the New Baltimore garrison decided that they wanted to arrest you, me, and Kastor for that December fiasco. Wanted it bad enough to knock Tribal on his ass, hah! Their infantry fled in trucks without a fight, but we have all 8 of their mechs in some form of functionality. Wolf Trap has a busted leg, Urban Mech needs a new reactor, and some pock marks in the armor of everything else, but once the Spatha and Lightning mechs showed themselves, those Militia suckers wanted nothing to do with a live firefight" replied Rommy as tech pilots walked the captured Militia mechs onto the parade ground to await an open mech gantry for repairs and rewiring.

Ice could only shake his head in amazement. Send Rommy to take care of some crazy rogue Militia, and she comes back with two lances of new mechs. "So is this it or do I have to worry about you bringing anything else home with you?"

"Funny you should mention that, Chief. Found 8 lost pilots to these 8 nice battlemechs and figured that since they are AWOL from Toriyama's Militia, then they're rogue. And if they're rogue, then we can squeeze them for info" said the smartass Lieutenant with a grin.

-----.-----

In the CIC, Ice sat in the corner, waiting for Tai-sa Toriyama to make it to his nearest viewscreen. "Captain Olsen! This is certainly a surprise. Is there anything that I can do for you?"

"Tai-sa Toriyama, thank you for receiving my call on such short notice. I'm afraid I must get straight to business for lack of time. Have you any word on the New Baltimore garrison?"

"I have not, Captain. As far as my intelligence can tell, their base has been abandoned, but there are no clear tracks to hint where they might have gone. I'm afraid my intelligence agents haven't been able to gather much success as of late. With tensions in New Pontiac as high as they are, I have confined all Militia personnel to the base. But seeing as my garrison has the highest percentage of Combine citizens in it, it's not surprising that this step has been necessary."

Nodding, Ice piped in "I believe I do indeed know where the New Baltimore garrison has gone, Tetsuo. Just this afternoon, one lance of mechs, bearing the New Baltimore insignia on their machines, attempted to assist a lance of New Pontiac police-mechs and around two companies of foot troops and officers in serving a warrant for the my arrest, as well as the arrest of Lieutenants Witters and Kastor. A mechwarrior Miller fired on one of my people and both lances were captured, along with the pilots. The infantry fled in their trucks without a fight."

Toriyama appeared shaken at the news of the lance of garrison mechs. "Yes, that was one of the lances posted to defend New Baltimore. This obviously means that I no longer have control over that garrison force, and I have very few ideas who might. That portion of the Militia has chosen their course. I wash my hands of them and their actions. My apologies that the situation has deteriorated that I can not control troops that I am supposed to command, Captain."

"Don't worry about it, Tai-sa, there was nothing you could do to prevent it. There are forces at work here that we can not possibly comprehend and with obsessed politicians in the mix, it does not bode well for anyone. You shouldn't bear any of the blame for this incident. Unfortunately we will have to detain your pilots in order to glean some information off of them while we can and try to unravel what it is that's going on."

"Understandable. I would do the same if I were in your position."

"I must get going since some of the pilots are beginning to wake up. I don't want to miss anything. Watch yourself, my friend. The police and the politicians are beginning to overstep their bounds and they will want to eliminate any perceived threat. Unfortunately that puts you and your people dead in their sights. If you need to fall back, should your position outside New Pontiac become untenable, we have room for you here. It's good ground with good support. They wouldn't be able to move us from this rock."

"I will keep that in mind and keep you informed. If you're right and my fears come true, this may need to happen sooner than I would like. I will try to task an extra satellite or two to cover the approach to the Zamas Bridges so you have more advanced warning next time. Take care, Captain."

-------.--------

Ice strode into the brig where all the pilots were being held in a drug-induced sleep. "Just in time Captain" said Sergeant Jackman, the Spartans' infantry commander. "We're just getting ready to bring out the first of the police pilots. None of the hard stuff for them since they're legit; it's those Militia deserters that are going to get the rough treatment."

Looking through the two way mirror, Ice could see the first pilot being dragged into the room and placed in a chair, still half-drugged. A back door opened for the interrogator and in walked Mobius of all people. At 5'11" Mobius was not an imposing figure, but he was a university-educated mechwarrior and knew his psychology…as well as most of the inner workings of at least half of the battalion's vehicles and equipment.

Mobius walked over to a side table and picked up a syringe. Turning back to the police mech pilot, Mobius injected him with the contents and waited as the man returned to consciousness.

"Welcome to Thermopylae Base, home of the Spartans. You can refer to me as Mobius. I'm here to ask you just a few questions before we decide what to do with you. If you cooperate, we may release you back to the New Pontiac authorities. If you are uncooperative, I might just have to turn you over to our Sergeant Jackman…and that man has a penchant for going through unarmed people with his power-armor."

Still somewhat affected by the drugs in his system and the implied threat of handing him over to be tortured, the pilot's expression changed from confusion to one of fear. "Y-y-you ca-can't do that! I'm an officer of the New Pontiac police! I have my rights…"

"Honestly pal, just between you and me, you are dealing with Mercenaries after all. They subscribe to their own laws, especially in a situation like this when they feel threatened. Let me explain their state of mind to you right now so that you know what you're facing. You have a couple hundred mercenary personnel bottled up on this side of the Zamas. Most of the citizenry of New Pontiac, as well as the planetary Governor, don't exactly like these people at the moment and wouldn't mind seeing something bad happen to them.

That's where you attempted to come in earlier. You and your companions were fodder to attempt to show force and to force the Spartans' hand. But that didn't quite work out as planned since your people fired first. When people fire on mercenaries unprovoked on their own turf, that really does offend them and they get very edgy. Edgy people have a tendency to pull triggers.

See, by you and your companions being in this situation, you've created quite a bind for the people that sent you, whoever they were. They knowingly sent you in under-equipped. They sent two lances of lighter mechs and a couple companies of ground troops against a base they built and made into an impregnable fortress that currently houses a pair of lances that outweighed your entire force individually. In their minds, best case was you would either succeed and capture your targets or else you would be fired upon and either turned back or killed, thus creating a troublesome political catastrophe for the Spartans. Their planned worst case scenario was likely you just getting turned back.

The situation you're in right now? The one with you initiating the aggression, failing in the mission, AND getting captured alive…this is the worst thing that could have happened for your bosses. You know why?" Seeing a shaking of the head, Mobius continued "Because you're alive, you lost a valuable battlemech, created a catastrophic event that now they have to deal with, and you might reveal who ordered all this. If this were anywhere but Thermopylae Base, you might have had at least one attempt on your life by now to make sure you didn't talk. Hell, if we end up sending you back to New Pontiac regardless if you talked or not, they still might kill you for failing and the off-chance you did blab.

I just know I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in your position when you get out of here. Now all I can really do here is ask questions, but I do know that we might be able to hammer out certain arrangements if you didn't want to go back to a potentially hazardous working environment in New Pontiac. All you have to do is to cooperate on all of this and have the desire to work something out with us. We may be mercenaries, but we do have some honor after all…and we take care of our own…"

---.---

"Damn Mobius. Laid it on a bit thick in there, huh?" said Ice as the two pilots reviewed the interrogation results in another room. "If I wasn't in the Spartans to begin with, I probably would have been after that talk. Seriously, I thought the guy was going to pass out, he got that pale when you were going on about how he had 'failed and was now a liability'. Some points I was laughing so hard during all that that Jackman actually saw me cry…and now he's not shutting up about it."

Mobius had a laugh at that. "Well I did get him thinking about everything, boss. I figured you'd like that much. I may only be 23, but I know what I'm doing. Helps that Jackman picked out the Lance leader to talk to first. Now that we have him scared stiff, he'll relay that to his partners and they'll be easier to deal with. Personally, I'd rather see those 4 helping us than going back to New Pontiac to be wasted like that. Though if any of those four weren't single, that'd create a problem. You know how these black-ops people are…they wouldn't hesitate to target the families and loved ones."

Ice nodded. He was looking over the information Mobius had managed to squeeze out of their first interrogation. The man's name was Jeff McDougal. He was single, 25 years old with no family on planet. An 8-year police veteran, Jeff had tested into the police mech-corps at 21 and had commanded his own lance for the past 3 years. The interrogation had shaken him up pretty bad, especially the revelation of how big of a target he was now. Jeff had seemed cooperative for the duration of Mobius' questions and even appeared interested in taking the Spartans up on the offer of safety. Nothing was guaranteed yet of course, but Mobius had given Jeff the night to think everything over and talk with his lancemates.

Come morning, Mobius would have another crack at Jeff, and then his people. The rogue Militia pilots were under guard in a different section of the detention block, and held separately from each other. Ice was thinking he'd let them stew things over for a few days before letting anyone take a crack at them. If anyone was going to have the slightest shred of information, it was going to be Jeff and this Gale Miller person. One of them talking would be great. To have both of them talk would be like finding a Star League cache in terms of information.

----.-----

Thermopylae Base
Marduk, Draconis Combine
February 3, 3059
0930 hours

"Good morning Mr. McDougal" said Mobius as he entered the interrogation room. "How was your night? Good night's sleep?"

"G'morning, sir. It was an interesting night. I'm not used to being the one on the inside of the cell door, but it was nice regardless. I must extend my gratitude to you and your commander for the fine treatment of me and my people" replied Jeff.

"Well we can certainly appreciate the situation you're in. Following orders does still land you in a hot spot every now and then so we figure it wasn't your fault, so why punish you for it? I take it that you have talked everything over with your companions?"

"Yes sir, I did. One of the few things that we could all agree on was that we were screwed over with this assignment, and it was likely intentional. If that is indeed the case, then the worst thing for our health would be so show back up in New Pontiac alive and without our mechs. We didn't even want to get in a shooting match to begin with, and wouldn't have if that damned woman hadn't started firing" said a slightly peeved mechwarrior. "If we go back now we might as well be dead. If you can promise us safety within these walls, I'll tell you what I know. And perhaps, if you'll have us, my lance and I would like to volunteer for your unit."

The last statement had Mobius looking at McDougal with his head cocked to the side and jaw open. Nothing at last night's post-interrogation briefing had suggested anything like this would happen. Best suggested case was that at least one of the police pilots would talk.

Mobius was saved having to respond by Ice coming in through the door and waving him to take a seat. "Mr. McDougal, I am Captain Olsen" said Ice as he extended his hand to Jeff, who shook it firmly. "Now Mr. McDougal, you just stated that you might even go so far as to join the Spartans if we could promise you protection. I won't beat around the bush, we can't promise you protection…not because I don't want to, but because with events as they are and hidden players on the field, there is no promise of protection for anyone or anything. What I CAN do, is promise you that we will do our best to protect you."

"Thank you Captain. You're a man of good character and of good conscious. I had studied to be an interrogator before I transferred into the mech division so I know how to read people. Despite all my training though, I couldn't help but be impressed by your man here during my session last night. Masterfully done, good sir. Made even more so by the fact that you were using the truth and stating the strong likelihoods that loomed. Most fellows I know would have tried intimidation, threats, maybe even violence. Instead you made it almost like casually going out for coffee" laughed Jeff as he spoke. "But to answer you, Captain, yes, I would like to request to join your unit, for both me and my lancemates. We have nothing to go back to now. Our careers are shot even if we were left alive. One doesn't lose a whole lance of mechs on assignment and not take the brunt of the blame and consequences."

Ice nodded to Jeff "And those are big consequences. I've seen this unit up from just two mechs to a company, almost lost everything last year, and now am back at this. Losing a lance of mechs is not something that happens lightly, but with politicians dipping their hands into things, the consequences would likely be greater than at any other time. Is there anything that you can tell us about who orchestrated this attempt to arrest me?"

"There not much I can tell you, Captain. I was called in on January 30th by the chief of the mech division and told that in a few days' time my lance would be coordinating with a pair of SWAT teams and some military assistance in order to carry out the arrest on you and Lieutenants Witters and Kastor, though no organized resistance was to be expected. I caught a glimpse of paperwork on his desk with the Governor's personal seal on it, but I can't be sure if those were the orders for this op or not. It was slow moving because of our Urban Mechs, which we had to take since the division refused to allow a last minute mech swap. On the way here we found the lance of militia mechs and four trucks of troops waiting for us, I can't say where they came from, though since there were no tracks off-road. After that, we made our way to the bridge and you know the rest."

"I wish that you would have had more information, but the higher ups were obviously keeping you in the dark from the very beginning. But if you are indeed interested, I say welcome to the Spartans, Mr. McDougal" to which Jeff nodded and grinned. "You and your people will have to take the unit oath, sign the standard paperwork, and then make it through our initiation. After that, we can take you down to the hangers and assign you your new mechs…if you still want to pilot your Wolf Trap, it'll still be awhile; the techs are going to have to have a new leg made over at Norse. Until then you have your choice of open mechs. And we'll have to get two of your pilots something a bit better than Urbies."

With that, Ice lead the new 'Sergeant' off to go collect his people and fill out paperwork…after all, no Merc wants to make the MRBC angry by not following procedures; it's bad for business.

----.-----

Thermopylae Base Parade Ground
Marduk, Draconis Combine
February 3, 3059
1800 hours

At least 50 off-duty personnel were gathered on the parade ground to witness the swearing in of the Spartans' four new pilots. Ice climbed up onto the 'stage', which was really just the flatbed of a Battlemech Recovery Vehicle, followed by the four initiates. They stood at attention in the khaki colored fatigue pants and red shirts that were standard uniform for the Spartans.

Ice's voice boomed out over the grounds "Spartans, attention!" Everyone snapped to attention as one, looking upon the 'stage' and the people upon it. "We are here today to witness the entry of these four mechwarriors into our brotherhood. They have survived the task of the tedious paperwork. They have passed the question and answer phase. And now we witness their public oaths that every one of us have taken."

"Do you mechwarriors desire entry into the Stuart's Spartans Mercenary Battalion?"

"We do" they all answered.

"Do you swear upon your lives, mechs, and commissions to uphold the honor the of the Stuart's Spartans, obey the chain of command, and fight as would the Devil's own?"

"We do."

"Do you swear to never betray the trust of the Spartans so long as you draw breath?"

"We do."

"Do you willingly accept the uniform, weapons, and mark of the Spartans and all that they represent and entail?"

"We do."

"Now step forward and roll up your right sleeves."

The four initiates stepped forward in line with their sleeves up. Dani came forward with a device of her own making. Pressed to the outside of the right shoulder and turned on, the device used small lasers and needles to create a small symbol on the skin identical to the crests that all Spartan battlemechs wore: a black ovoid Hoplon shield with two red overlapping 'S's on a downward right angle, speared through with a Spatha sword. None of the four did more than flinch as the device left the mark. When all four had received their marks, each was presented with a Spatha sword to wear on their belts and a blood-red cloak that hung to just below waist-length.

"Welcome mechwarriors, into the brotherhood of the Spartans. Now you must tackle your most challenging task of the day, an evening of celebrations where you must drink enough to attempt to keep up with Beers, here" said Ice as he pointed over to Marcus 'Beers' Flethcer, a light-mech jockey from Lightning Lance. As he walked over to the stage to gather his charges, Beers grabbed a beer off of a table set off to the side and downed it like one would water. "Have fun children" commented Ice as he walked off laughing, leaving the paling pilots to the hardest initiation they had ever faced…

-----End Chapter----

AN: Well here's Chapter 7 for you…I hope you all enjoy having two chapters in as many days. Leave me some reviews.

-AP signing out.