3
After Omarus killed Lieutenant Peter Strauss, the Crystal Dragon, the smaller dropship waiting nearby, loaded the mechs aboard and headed to where they had set up the barrels. Most of the cockpit damage was repaired, going so far as to replace the broken glass, and then rigging it to explode by remote for later. The PBC 250's were replaced with medium lasers and they set up a mock battle, with Omarus assuming the position as Peter Strauss, finding the group of mechs near the barrels, and getting into a battle with them, so the action could be recording from his view. After outrunning the mechs and taking slight damage, he simply continued forward to Graedis, telling Roberts that the city would soon come under attack and giving him the disk of the recordings, which also contained a virus that deactivated the defenses for the city's power grid. The guards rushed him to the hospital for medical treatment, and it wasn't too long before they found that he was actually wearing a mask, and hadn't truly been blasted with the planet's atmosphere. From the hospital he went to Mech Bay 2, where he rendezvoused with Kain Ikiru.
In the meantime, Kain, who had come with Omarus on the Eagle in a suit, began attaching bombs to the legs of the mechs. Once Ferris and Coleman were out again he used a magnetic grapple to reach the ceiling and enter the ventilation system. The map Drenkins Huchev had copied of the city helped Kain make his way to Mech Bay 2, where he also booby trapped the legs on the mechs, setting them to blow in eighteen minutes. He reentered the ventilation system and his next stop was Colonel Robert's room, where he accessed the computer system and stole all the top secret files he could find, includgin the blueprints to the PBC 2000. He set up bombs on the city's power core before returning to Mech Bay 2, killing Ron Kelly and the guards outside the door, and, after Omarus showed up, both of them got in the Guardrams and left the city, heading directly for the dropship. With the turrets out and the city's mechs all distracted by the supposed attack Omarus had told of, Kain and Omarus believed their troubles with Graedis were over.
"Hey, what do you think of these little mechs-" Omarus radioed to Kain- "these Guardrams? I think they're a lot better idea than the rapid transport we were originally planning on taking. Remember that quick little thing that we-"
"Yes, I remember it. The thing that was twice as fast as these Guardrams, right?"
"Yeah, but without armor or weapons. Not that these have much armor or weapons either. And they're not that fast, but hey, who's going to come after us? Another Guardram? It'd be impossible for one of them to catch up."
"Not that they could do us any harm anyway-as long as we had our shields on."
"Shields?"
"Didn't you see the shield button on the right side of your panel?"
"No, I didn't see it," Omarus said, finding the button and pressing it. "You must have quick eyes."
"So what are you going to do when we get off Arthenis," Kain asked his companion after about ten minutes.
"Rejoin the fray. After this, Arthenis will be viewed on of the greatest moments in mercenary history. And these mechs-these Guardrams- they're the best part of it. I've just been thinking about, and they'll make a great addition to my ranks. With their shields, they'll be great for medium range fire support, at least during brief skirmishes. The money will be pourin' in when they get out there! I'm still a little irritated over this deal I've set up with Herman, though. At least I'm getting a decent bounty for Strauss." Then, though Kain continued to listen, Omarus started talking to himself. "Actually, now that I think about it, maybe I should take out those mechs north of us. That'd probably be a good 20,000 C-bill bounty for all them, at least. In fact, we could just storm the city and wipe them all out! And there'll never be a better time."
"That was never part of the plan though, Omarus. You don't actually plan to attack Graedis, and kill all the people there?"
"No, you're right. I shouldn't submit my own dropship to that much fire, from Graedis or its mechs. Nor do I want to let my mechs get shot up. It'd just be too expensive if something goes wrong. Our gains wouldn't merit it, especially considering that Allied already has the rights to the PBC technology." "What are you saying," Kain asked Omarus, bringing him back to reality. "The Hell Striders are just a business, like Allied Armaments, and I don't think we'd make enough money from attacking Graedis to justify it. I'm sure that's the same thing Allied is thinking. So, their city can sit here, a testament to Omarus Aldan and his supremacy among mech pilots. At least, until someone starts buying up the guns from Allied and sweeps up the Arthenians. Maybe they'll even hire us to do it."
"Did I hear you right," Kain asked Omarus. "Did you say, you don't think it will be worth the money that it will cost to attack Graedis?"
"That's right," Omarus said. "I don't want to lose any mechs, or buy any more armor than I have to-especially not on this mission. Allied is barely paying the cost for us to come out here."
"Is the only thing you care about money?" Kain quickly asked Omarus. "Is that all you think about-how much money it will cost you to put down Graedis? You didn't even think about the people you would kill-the people in Graedis who would die in an attack. You're just thinking that it would be bad for your wallet. That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"
In his mech, twenty meters farther east than Kain, Omarus sat with his mouth open for a couple seconds. He didn't start drooling, but he was bewildered by what Kain had just said. "What's that supposed to mean? Come on! I'm a mercenary here! This is what I do for a living-what we do. I kill people, and I blow up buildings and dropships and mechs, and they pay me for it. It's the code mercenaries live by. Money is what matters. Emotion, sentiment-that crap-we leave that for everyone else, and in the end, we're the ones alive, because we have the money, and the best stuff. We're supposed to be good. We're supposed to make money. What I don't understand is what you're thinking. I thought you were a mercenary, too, but I don't think you understand what that is."
"No one ever said I'm a mercenary."
Omarus abruptly realized Kain's words were completely correct. He had assumed that Kain was a mercenary, because he was one himself. He offered the response that was most fitting for the circumstance. "Who are you, then?"
"You don't think Allied Armaments is the only group that's going to benefit from the PBC 2000, do you? This is something that's going to help change the whole face of the IS. We're funding a fair portion of this operation."
"We? Who's we?"
"It's-well, I work for one of the larger governments in the Inner Sphere. But plenty of organizations are behind this operation here. Mine sent me to get the blueprints out, once we got into Graedis. More than that, I can't say."
"Fine, whatever," Omarus said disdainfully. "I don't care who you work for. But . . . I still don't get it. It's not like the people you work for are humanitarians or something." Omarus pushed his helmet closer to his face, so he could speak into the mouthpiece. "Everything in this galaxy works on money, Kain-C-bills. It's the oil that keeps the machine working, and the arms and legs moving. There's no getting around it." Omarus had spoken his thoughts with undeniable clarity. There was no way to contest his meaning. But, in the recesses of Kain's mind, where the words were processed and their meaning deciphered, Kain's intuition attached a different meaning than what he would have taken from their face value. The words contradicted Kain's hunch, but it still seemed that they were said not without a little resignation, as though Omarus hoped Kain might somehow prove him wrong.
It seemed like minutes passed before Kain said anything more, and so Omarus thought Kain had chosen to agree with him.
"Maybe you're right," Kain said belatedly. "Maybe everything does run on money. But is that the way it has to be? What if there was another way?" Omarus pored over Kain's words in the near silence of his mech, wondering what to say. During his career, Omarus had always stayed on top by never letting down his shield-by never letting anyone on to his doubts. But what if there was a way? Was it imaginable that he could continue doing the job he liked to do, while keeping his conscience satisfied? Omarus's hope and curiosity got the better of him, and he finally asked. "What do you suggest?"
Kain, cramped into the cabin of the small Guardram, leaned back in his chair, and wondered how to best answer Omarus's question. "When I was ten, the city where I lived was attacked by mechs. Our militia was too weak to fight them off, but my father went out there anyway, hoping to save his family-hoping to resist them. Staying in our home, in an apartment building, I listened to the radio as the announcer described everything that happened. The tank my father was in was hit, as were over a hundred more that day. But then, just as their mechs stormed our barricades and blasted away at the buildings on the northwest of the city, something happened that I can never forget. Mechs arrived in our city from somewhere far away. They drove back the attackers, and then they helped rebuild our city. They were entirely selfless in helping us. They had never even heard of our city before that day. My father lost half his leg in that battle, but his life he owed to them. They had no reason to help us. They weren't rewarded with money for it; they weren't trying to capture the city; they weren't being threatened by the aggressors; and they weren't obligated to help us. Yet they did. I know that many, even most, people in the galaxy wouldn't care about something like that. But I do. And that is why I'm doing this: to prevent more from dying than have to."
Omarus remained silent for a few seconds more. "I'm sure that there was money involved somewhere, though. There always is . . . in my experience. It-"
Omarus's riposte was interrupted at that moment when his mech was rocked by a blow from behind-a great, tremendous blow of energy that sent the mech to the ground. In that sudden instant, priorities changed for Omarus. It no longer mattered whether what Kain said was true or not. From the rear, someone else had shown up-filled with sentiment for Graedis, and ready to fight and die to protect it and its secrets, and destroy its enemies. Omarus and Kain were the enemies of Graedis, and Jurick Donnell was going to take his shot at destroying them.
After Omarus killed Lieutenant Peter Strauss, the Crystal Dragon, the smaller dropship waiting nearby, loaded the mechs aboard and headed to where they had set up the barrels. Most of the cockpit damage was repaired, going so far as to replace the broken glass, and then rigging it to explode by remote for later. The PBC 250's were replaced with medium lasers and they set up a mock battle, with Omarus assuming the position as Peter Strauss, finding the group of mechs near the barrels, and getting into a battle with them, so the action could be recording from his view. After outrunning the mechs and taking slight damage, he simply continued forward to Graedis, telling Roberts that the city would soon come under attack and giving him the disk of the recordings, which also contained a virus that deactivated the defenses for the city's power grid. The guards rushed him to the hospital for medical treatment, and it wasn't too long before they found that he was actually wearing a mask, and hadn't truly been blasted with the planet's atmosphere. From the hospital he went to Mech Bay 2, where he rendezvoused with Kain Ikiru.
In the meantime, Kain, who had come with Omarus on the Eagle in a suit, began attaching bombs to the legs of the mechs. Once Ferris and Coleman were out again he used a magnetic grapple to reach the ceiling and enter the ventilation system. The map Drenkins Huchev had copied of the city helped Kain make his way to Mech Bay 2, where he also booby trapped the legs on the mechs, setting them to blow in eighteen minutes. He reentered the ventilation system and his next stop was Colonel Robert's room, where he accessed the computer system and stole all the top secret files he could find, includgin the blueprints to the PBC 2000. He set up bombs on the city's power core before returning to Mech Bay 2, killing Ron Kelly and the guards outside the door, and, after Omarus showed up, both of them got in the Guardrams and left the city, heading directly for the dropship. With the turrets out and the city's mechs all distracted by the supposed attack Omarus had told of, Kain and Omarus believed their troubles with Graedis were over.
"Hey, what do you think of these little mechs-" Omarus radioed to Kain- "these Guardrams? I think they're a lot better idea than the rapid transport we were originally planning on taking. Remember that quick little thing that we-"
"Yes, I remember it. The thing that was twice as fast as these Guardrams, right?"
"Yeah, but without armor or weapons. Not that these have much armor or weapons either. And they're not that fast, but hey, who's going to come after us? Another Guardram? It'd be impossible for one of them to catch up."
"Not that they could do us any harm anyway-as long as we had our shields on."
"Shields?"
"Didn't you see the shield button on the right side of your panel?"
"No, I didn't see it," Omarus said, finding the button and pressing it. "You must have quick eyes."
"So what are you going to do when we get off Arthenis," Kain asked his companion after about ten minutes.
"Rejoin the fray. After this, Arthenis will be viewed on of the greatest moments in mercenary history. And these mechs-these Guardrams- they're the best part of it. I've just been thinking about, and they'll make a great addition to my ranks. With their shields, they'll be great for medium range fire support, at least during brief skirmishes. The money will be pourin' in when they get out there! I'm still a little irritated over this deal I've set up with Herman, though. At least I'm getting a decent bounty for Strauss." Then, though Kain continued to listen, Omarus started talking to himself. "Actually, now that I think about it, maybe I should take out those mechs north of us. That'd probably be a good 20,000 C-bill bounty for all them, at least. In fact, we could just storm the city and wipe them all out! And there'll never be a better time."
"That was never part of the plan though, Omarus. You don't actually plan to attack Graedis, and kill all the people there?"
"No, you're right. I shouldn't submit my own dropship to that much fire, from Graedis or its mechs. Nor do I want to let my mechs get shot up. It'd just be too expensive if something goes wrong. Our gains wouldn't merit it, especially considering that Allied already has the rights to the PBC technology." "What are you saying," Kain asked Omarus, bringing him back to reality. "The Hell Striders are just a business, like Allied Armaments, and I don't think we'd make enough money from attacking Graedis to justify it. I'm sure that's the same thing Allied is thinking. So, their city can sit here, a testament to Omarus Aldan and his supremacy among mech pilots. At least, until someone starts buying up the guns from Allied and sweeps up the Arthenians. Maybe they'll even hire us to do it."
"Did I hear you right," Kain asked Omarus. "Did you say, you don't think it will be worth the money that it will cost to attack Graedis?"
"That's right," Omarus said. "I don't want to lose any mechs, or buy any more armor than I have to-especially not on this mission. Allied is barely paying the cost for us to come out here."
"Is the only thing you care about money?" Kain quickly asked Omarus. "Is that all you think about-how much money it will cost you to put down Graedis? You didn't even think about the people you would kill-the people in Graedis who would die in an attack. You're just thinking that it would be bad for your wallet. That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"
In his mech, twenty meters farther east than Kain, Omarus sat with his mouth open for a couple seconds. He didn't start drooling, but he was bewildered by what Kain had just said. "What's that supposed to mean? Come on! I'm a mercenary here! This is what I do for a living-what we do. I kill people, and I blow up buildings and dropships and mechs, and they pay me for it. It's the code mercenaries live by. Money is what matters. Emotion, sentiment-that crap-we leave that for everyone else, and in the end, we're the ones alive, because we have the money, and the best stuff. We're supposed to be good. We're supposed to make money. What I don't understand is what you're thinking. I thought you were a mercenary, too, but I don't think you understand what that is."
"No one ever said I'm a mercenary."
Omarus abruptly realized Kain's words were completely correct. He had assumed that Kain was a mercenary, because he was one himself. He offered the response that was most fitting for the circumstance. "Who are you, then?"
"You don't think Allied Armaments is the only group that's going to benefit from the PBC 2000, do you? This is something that's going to help change the whole face of the IS. We're funding a fair portion of this operation."
"We? Who's we?"
"It's-well, I work for one of the larger governments in the Inner Sphere. But plenty of organizations are behind this operation here. Mine sent me to get the blueprints out, once we got into Graedis. More than that, I can't say."
"Fine, whatever," Omarus said disdainfully. "I don't care who you work for. But . . . I still don't get it. It's not like the people you work for are humanitarians or something." Omarus pushed his helmet closer to his face, so he could speak into the mouthpiece. "Everything in this galaxy works on money, Kain-C-bills. It's the oil that keeps the machine working, and the arms and legs moving. There's no getting around it." Omarus had spoken his thoughts with undeniable clarity. There was no way to contest his meaning. But, in the recesses of Kain's mind, where the words were processed and their meaning deciphered, Kain's intuition attached a different meaning than what he would have taken from their face value. The words contradicted Kain's hunch, but it still seemed that they were said not without a little resignation, as though Omarus hoped Kain might somehow prove him wrong.
It seemed like minutes passed before Kain said anything more, and so Omarus thought Kain had chosen to agree with him.
"Maybe you're right," Kain said belatedly. "Maybe everything does run on money. But is that the way it has to be? What if there was another way?" Omarus pored over Kain's words in the near silence of his mech, wondering what to say. During his career, Omarus had always stayed on top by never letting down his shield-by never letting anyone on to his doubts. But what if there was a way? Was it imaginable that he could continue doing the job he liked to do, while keeping his conscience satisfied? Omarus's hope and curiosity got the better of him, and he finally asked. "What do you suggest?"
Kain, cramped into the cabin of the small Guardram, leaned back in his chair, and wondered how to best answer Omarus's question. "When I was ten, the city where I lived was attacked by mechs. Our militia was too weak to fight them off, but my father went out there anyway, hoping to save his family-hoping to resist them. Staying in our home, in an apartment building, I listened to the radio as the announcer described everything that happened. The tank my father was in was hit, as were over a hundred more that day. But then, just as their mechs stormed our barricades and blasted away at the buildings on the northwest of the city, something happened that I can never forget. Mechs arrived in our city from somewhere far away. They drove back the attackers, and then they helped rebuild our city. They were entirely selfless in helping us. They had never even heard of our city before that day. My father lost half his leg in that battle, but his life he owed to them. They had no reason to help us. They weren't rewarded with money for it; they weren't trying to capture the city; they weren't being threatened by the aggressors; and they weren't obligated to help us. Yet they did. I know that many, even most, people in the galaxy wouldn't care about something like that. But I do. And that is why I'm doing this: to prevent more from dying than have to."
Omarus remained silent for a few seconds more. "I'm sure that there was money involved somewhere, though. There always is . . . in my experience. It-"
Omarus's riposte was interrupted at that moment when his mech was rocked by a blow from behind-a great, tremendous blow of energy that sent the mech to the ground. In that sudden instant, priorities changed for Omarus. It no longer mattered whether what Kain said was true or not. From the rear, someone else had shown up-filled with sentiment for Graedis, and ready to fight and die to protect it and its secrets, and destroy its enemies. Omarus and Kain were the enemies of Graedis, and Jurick Donnell was going to take his shot at destroying them.