Capella Commonality
Capellan Confederation
September 1, 3219
Trumpets blasted in the air as the Independent Congress of Kurragin played the national anthem of Kurragin, a little ditty that dated back to the days before the BattleMech. Rain Jeffers tried hard not to roll her eyes while the Capellan commander made a big show of surrendering his command to the CO of the Kurragin National Guard.
"This is bullshit," Scoot whispered next to her. "They ought to be surrendering to us, considering that the Kurragin National Guard only came into being yesterday."
"Yeah," Jeffers answered, "but you have to at least understand their position. We did kick their asses quite handily."
"Basically," said Hank Yountz, "they're cowards."
"Yup." Jeffers hushed the two officers. "Now quiet."
Colonel Jonathan Heng, the former executive officer of the Second Capella Commonality Guards, had assumed command after General Lao-Fe had died in combat. He stood in a CCAF dress uniform, dwarfed by his own 'Mech, a 50-ton Huron Warrior standing deactivated behind him. Heng held his service pistol in gloved hands. With great ceremony, he handed the weapon to General Masao Tanaka, bowing slightly before executing a smart about-face and marching back to his assembled troops.
Jeffers ignored the rest of the ceremony, turning back to her senior officers. Scoot had already gotten into the wine and caviar. Jeffers had at first been surprised to learn that Scoot was actually an aficionado of the exotic dish, but after she'd had time to think about it, it had really fit in perfectly with his jigsaw-puzzle personality.
"Umph," Scoot said through a mouthful of fish eggs. "Dis is rear-ree goo. Oo shou ry um."
"Thanks, Scoot, I'll bear that in mind." Jeffers shook a finger at him. "Just don't overdue; I don't want to dance with a drunk tonight."
With a great amount of effort, Scoot swallowed the food in his mouth. "Oh, don't worry about me. We Alders, we can hold our alcohol . . ."
"Did you know his last name was Alder?" Yountz asked her quietly. Jeffers shrugged.
"I must've seen it on a roster somewhere." She frowned thoughtfully. "You know, no, on second thought, he was always just 'Scoot.' Even on the pay sheet." She shook her head. "How about that, huh?"
"Ma'am." It was Sergeant Quintinar, one of the staff personnel Jeffers had reluctantly hired when the Lonesome Vanguards had been expanded into a regiment. "There's a communiqué from Tikonov, marked your eyes only," he continued after she had returned his salute.
Jeffers started. "Um. Thank you, Sergeant." She took the sealed envelope he offered. "If that is all, you're dismissed. Go enjoy yourself, Sergeant."
"Thank you, ma'am."
She quickly unsealed the envelope, reading the three lines of print.
"Crap."
"What is it, Colonel?" Yountz asked.
"Somethin' wrong, Rain?" added Scoot.
"I think that dance will have to wait, Scoot," she said. "We've been recalled. Prince Zander wants us back on Tikonov. ASAP."
FSS Glorious, System 5284
Dahar March
Federated Suns
"Helm," said Rear Admiral Cassius Ver Burg, "all ahead one gee."
"All ahead one gee, aye, sir." Slowly, the WarShip's engines came online, powering the massive ship—the largest jump-capable vessel ever constructed—out of its docking slip at a single gravity's acceleration. Ver Burg sighed as the familiar wash of gravity came over him. A true spacer, he reveled in the weightlessness of zero-g, but sometimes it was nice to be able to stay on the ground when one walked around.
The three Glorious Class WarShips—Glorious, Victory, and the Anderson Davion (originally destined to bear the name New Syrtis)—belonged to an all-new level of military starships. They had tentatively been classified as battleship-carriers, but now some officers in the FedSuns navy were saying that the term "superbattleship" was more accurate. Ver Burg himself tended to favor the latter rather than the former, but whatever they ended up being called, the Glorious ships would change the way WarShips were made.
Each was armed with over a hundred naval-grade weapons, including lasers, particle cannons, Killer Whale and White Shark missile launchers, and lasers. A single Glorious played host to three specially designed Mantis Class attack DropShips and four flights of Omnifighters. Furthermore, the WarShip mounted two more docking points to carry additional DropShips.
Ver Burg was looking forward to commanding the squadron in combat.
"Captain?"
"All systems are go, sir," reported Captain Tyrone Utterman. "It's all working. God, it's all working!"
"Victory and Anderson Davion report ready for action."
"Secure for jump," Ver Burg said. Shortly the appropriate alarms sounded, warning the crew that a jump was imminent.
"We are secured for jump, sir. The Victory and Anderson Davion report secured for jump."
"Helm, you may jump."
The universe seemed to stretch into infinity as the FSS Glorious's Kearny-Fuchida drive engaged.
Oproro, Capella
Capella Commonality
Capellan Confederation
September 3, 3219
"Allen, what's your position?"
"I'm with First Batt in the northeast corner of Grid Square 12," reported Kell from his BattleMech on the streets of the city of Oproro. "I think I'm engaging the mercs." There was a pause. "Okay, yeah, I just got a good look at one of their 'Mechs. It's definitely the Brighton Bashers, Company A, if I read the insignia right."
"Anything you need?" Bill Shenke asked. Edward Davion listened silently with an earbug of his own, letting Shenke coordinate the battle for Oproro.
"Well, some air support would be nice," Kell said. "Get me a couple aerofighters to scout out the area, maybe harass the Capellans some."
"Working on it," Shenke said, pointing at a leftenant already calling up the necessary commander. "All right, advise as necessary."
"Roger. Kell out."
"Well?" Edward asked.
"It's going as to be expected. Nirvuel's people are crap. I'm surprised that the Capellans are using them so early in the battle." He shrugged. "But then, they did get the drop on that company from the Fourth Avalon, so . . ."
"Mm-hmm." Edward was staring at the tactical map they had set up in their mobile CP. "Okay, so we hold half the city. The Samurai Guard is moving north very quickly. I'm surprised that the Third Sian isn't offering more resistance. For the most part, they're just running a fighting retreat. You told Genimocho not to get too far ahead of the rest of the force, in case they're planning a pincer action."
"Yes."
"Good." Edward clapped his hands together. "Frankly, Bill, you seem to be handling this thing quite nicely."
"It's my job," he said.
"Okay, then, I'll be here if you need me." Edward glanced out the window. "On second thought . . . Bill, I'm heading for my 'Mech. I'll take my command lance out for a bit of a patrol around the perimeter."
"We have people to do that, sir," Shenke said warningly.
"Well, now we'll have four more."
Kell's Templar ran down an unfamiliar street in Oproro, the leftenant-general scanning the various allies and crossroads for any sign of the enemy. After they'd gotten the hell beaten out of them by First Battalion of the First Crucis, Nirvuel's Bashers had retreated out of the combat zone. In light to medium 'Mechs, they had quickly outpaced the Lancers' assault team.
"Crap. Bug One, do you see anything?"
"Negative, General." Several hundred meters above, two Shilone aerofighters looked down on the cityscape. "There's some heavy fighting to the west, but nothing in your immediate vicinity."
"Great." Kell switched to his frequency linking him to Operational Command. "Shenke, you there?"
"I hear you."
"Do you have any idea where those mercs went? Any radio contacts or visual sighting?" Kell asked.
"No radio contacts as of yet, but one of our armored scouts reported seeing 'Mechs leaving Oproro from the north, heading for the capital. Looks like you were too much for the mercs," Shenke said.
"Nice to know someone still appreciates me," Kell said. "Okay, Bug One says there's fighting to the west. Who is that?"
"That's Genimocho's Second Battalion, and the Third Sian. You're welcome to help them out, if you'd like."
"Well, you'll know where to reach me . . . Kell out."
"OPCOM clear."
Kell called up his battalion commander. "Major Pflueger?"
"Roger, sir."
"Call up the battalion; we're moving to assist our Kuritan brethren. We'll try a flanking maneuver, get around behind the Third Sian and push them into the Samurai Guard."
"On it, sir," Pflueger answered. Immediately, Kell began to see the 'Mechs of First Battalion swinging around, preparing for the ordered maneuver. "General, the battalion is ready."
"Let's be about it, then. Tallyho!" The Templar hurtled down the street at what Kell considered to be too fast of a pace—which is why he pushed it to that speed. His lancemates were right behind him, and for the umpteenth time Kell was glad he had insisted that their 'Mechs be just as speedy as his.
Sergeant Allison McRae was right beside him in a Mad Cat Mark II, easily keeping pace with Kell while watching every possible angle for attack. McRae was probably the best bodyguard Kell had ever had (though in all fairness, she was also the only bodyguard Kell had ever had), and had saved his ass more times than he cared to remember.
He always remembered, though.
She never let him forget it.
"Okay, people," Kell heard Pflueger say, "we've got the Capellans in sight. I want you people to have your eyes open, because there're a lot of Drac 'Mechs in the area, and I will have the ass of the sorry bastard who hits a Drac! And then I'll toss him to the Dracs! Understand?"
Pflueger must have gotten the answer he wanted, because he immediately reported unit readiness to Kell. Kell nodded to himself and keyed the radio for Pflueger only.
"Execute."
"Execute!" Pflueger echoed to his company commanders, who relayed the message on down the line. Two seconds later, the 'Mechs of First Battalion, First Regiment, First Crucis Lancers attacked the Third Sian Regulars from the rear.
Kell dropped his crosshairs over the form of a Ti Ts'Ang and donated it a pair of gauss slugs. The projectiles blasted aside armor, knocking the Ti Ts'Ang off balance and making it miss a shot at a Kuritan Phoenix Hawk. Kell followed up with a devastating barrage from his large pulse lasers, leaving the Ti Ts'Ang a smoking ruin in the streets.
"Sir, go left," McRae instructed, and Kell did it, clipping his 'Mech on an office building as he went. McRae's gauss rifles spoke, impaling a tiny Anubis that had been gunning for Kell.
"Thanks, McRae."
"Two beers you owe me," she said.
"Two? I only saw the one!" Kell protested.
"Uh-huh. That's the point, boss." She advanced into the fray, firing medium lasers at an unfortunate victim.
Kell shook his head, and turned to the assistance of a Lancer Shadow Hawk. A Cyclops and a Stalking Spider advanced on it, lashing it with particle beams. The Shadow Hawk fell back, still firing its rotary autocannon, but Kell could see that its fight was far from over, and fired a gauss rifle at the Stalking Spider. One of the 'Mech's knee joints was crushed by the magnetically accelerated slug, and Kell walked his pulse lasers through the remaining legs. The energy darts boiled off streams of armor and weakened the framework beneath, and the Stalking Spider was betrayed by its own weight, its melting legs kaleidoscoping into the ground.
The Cyclops did not appreciate this. A PPC shot slashed into the Templar's left shoulder, burning off an unhealthy amount of armor and raising the temperature in the cockpit by at least ten degrees. Fortunately—And that's three beers, Kell thought—the Cyclops was not expecting to have a full flight of LRMs explode in its face.
The Shadow Hawk had pulled itself back on its feet, and used its autocannon to add considerably to the Cyclops's troubles. Kell found himself on the receiving end of the Stalking Spider's negative attentions, and quickly ran his 'Mech out of its limited field of fire. He leveled his guns at the immobile 'Mech, counting to five before he fired.
Just in time, an ejection seat came rocketing out of the Stalking Spider's head, soaring to safety as two gauss slugs penetrated the 'Mech's heart and set off a chain reaction of explosions that left it a burning crust of carbon.
The MechWarrior piloting the Cyclops decided that his comrade had the right idea, and ejected a few seconds later.
"Hey, Kell, is that you?"
"Roger that, and who do I have the privilege of speaking with on this fine day?"
"This is Tai-i Brigham, commander of the Second Battalion of the Samurai Guard. Thanks for the assist, Kell," Brigham said.
"Well, in all honesty, it really doesn't look like you needed it," Kell admitted. Tension was still somewhat high between the Samurai Guard and the AFFS, though most of Genimocho's officers had followed the lead of their commander and gotten over their prejudices.
"Thanks anyway, General. You probably saved some of my boys today."
"Anytime, Tai-i," Kell said. "Anytime." He glanced at the still-burning Stalking Spider. "And the truth is, Brigham . . . I just can't stand spiders."