Genesis: Awakening
The year was 3132, the Inner Sphere was at peace; the Houses had followed suit to the Republic of the Sphere's policy and war was, for some time, a distant memory. Then one day, eighty percent of all HPG stations in the Republic stopped working. Chaos ensued and the once peaceful Republic was torn into several factions. Torn by old loyalties, greed, vengeance and ambition, the Republic's only hope lay in the Paladins, Knights and Knights-Errant of the Sphere. Here, I present to you, one such individual. His name is Leon Diaz.
Hyborian continent, Port Edward
Towne, Prefecture III
Republic of the Sphere
June 26, 3133
"Leon, reinforcements are needed here at sec.4A." barked the comm. unit into Leon's Ryoken II heavy 'mech.
He replied, "I'm coming over there, hold the line!" The 'line' was a Republic of the Sphere battalion, the last stand against another assault from Bannson's Raiders.
Leon's lance made up of a Spider, Pack Hunter and a MiningMech MOD, came into the battle and raised hell as they opened up with everything on the Raiders. Leon ran the Ryoken II through a street with metal fists at the ready.
He was astounded at the carnage of the battle, infantry from both sides were facing off in hand-to-hand combat and even some of the 'mechs had given up ranged fighting in favor of brawling each other to death with metal-shod fists. He saw a Centurion crumple into a raging wreck as a FireStarter let loose its hellish blaze upon the medium 'mech. An M1 Marksman tank rammed itself into a Koshi, a last ditch effort to hurt the light 'mech. He could swear there was a bout between a MiningMech and an AgroMech as chainsaw met chainsaw releasing red sparks of fury.
His anger turned into action as he ran his 'mech into the fray. The first unlucky recipient of his ire was an AgroMech, which tried a vertical slash with its left arm. It went down as the Ryoken II punched at the torso of the 'mech causing it to fall down onto its back, its pilot unconscious.
Leon turned to face a Condor tank, which was firing its auto cannon Mk-V at him, imbedding shells into the armor of the Ryoken II's shoulder as it tried to maneuver behind the heavy 'mech. Leon back-pedaled his mech into the vehicle and sent the misshapen vehicle careening into a building and out of the battle as its hover equipment failed to compensate for the force of the 'mech's kick.
Leon only then noticed on his sensors that a duo of ConstructionMech MODs was bearing down on him at full speed, melee weapons buzzing and auto cannons blazing. Their inaccurate fire caused most of the shells to impact elsewhere besides Leon's 'mech but the Ryoken II shuddered as a few rounds got through.
"Damn it, they're too close to dodge in time." Came Leon as he let loose a dozen LRMs each onto the oncoming enemies. The ConMechs, try as they might, couldn't avoid all of them and armor plates flew in every directions as the missiles slammed into the 'mechs.
Moments later, several groups of depleted uranium shells from a trio of DI Schmitt tanks joined the LRMs and added their own kinetic force to the salvo. The ConMech MODs were reduced to slag in no time, their lifeless hulks crashing into the street, their pilots failed to eject.
Leon belatedly noticed that those two were the last units that weren't in retreat. The Sphere army had won the third round in its bout with Bannson's Raiders but at the cost of the lives of fellow soldiers, one of them was his CO, and as the former XO, he took command just when the Raiders commenced their third assault.
He turned to a Centurion which housed his recently promoted XO and said, "Major, ready four two-man sentries to patrol the outskirts of the city and lead the rest of the battalion back to the field base for repairs, this assault may not yet be over."
"Yessir!" came the reply and soon enough everyone else in the battalion was going back home to the Sphere field base established by the Republic only three weeks ago.
When Leon got word from Intel that the Raiders or what was left of them were burning at full speed away from Towne, he sighed from both relief and exhaustion. "Finally, some rest…" He didn't finish his sentence and dozed off on his couch, exhausted and snoring the night away.
Leon was dreaming, dreaming he was back in Fomalhaut with his family when he was only fourteen. He had been born in an upper to middle-class family living in Oanhu. He had a good home and food and other necessities were never a problem, not until his dad had taken a mistress and the finnancial situation had turned around in a matter of months.
Everyday, the rift between his father and mother had grown larger and their fights, ever more frequent. Now, he was in his room, hearing his parents fighting about money again. He was sick of it, he didn't ask to be born in this world, and he was just born, Wow that was a gift from God.... Now he was shutting his ears as the screams got louder and louder.
He woke up with beads of sweat on his forehead in the early morning, vaguely remembering the screams of his parents. Then he started to remember more of his life before the Knights...
...He had entered into one of the best universities in the planet and along with studying, had taken up formal training of Arnis, one of the Filipino's ancient combat arts. He became proficient at it and it became his pastime from the horrors of his home. Finally, after all the abuse and shouting, his father had divorced his mom and he had given them both the house. She had worked hard for his education and finally, during the last few days of her life, she had given him an approval form from NAIS to study there.
He left a few days later with a glint in his eye, vowing to return to her with diplomas, certificates and a good job to his mom. He would know five days later that his mom would die in bed, alone in their house. He was half-expecting her to die while he was gone but he forced it all the way down and he never expected her to die so soon. Now, he was truly alone in the world.
During the following years of his life, he met Katherine Desoto at NAIS where they had studied for four years. Both had become fast friends and quite surprisingly, lovers, as the days went by. Their relationship went on until their last year at NAIS where he had decided to join the recruitment for the Sphere army. Katherine had wished him well in his choice but it was plainly obvious that she was sad because of his decision.
He didn't want to remember anymore, it just hurt too much; he went back to his bed, more exhausted with the dream than the last battle.
The night that followed, his XO knocked at the door. Leon was craning his neck, fresh from sleep, "Come in."
In came his new XO, a puzzled and confused look on his face, and said, "Knight-Errant Leon, Paladin Jonah Levin has just landed at the spaceport and is requesting to see you immediately, it concerns something very important, or so he says."
"Alright, I'll come." His XO left and he silently wondered why the great Paladin Jonah Levin would be doing looking for a knight-errant such as him. He set those thoughts aside and got into the jeep with his XO at the wheel and proceeded to the spaceport.
"Welcome Paladin Jonah Levin, to Towne." The lieutenant said in monotone, as the 35-year-old paladin walked through the hatch of his dropship, the Freedom. He was lead into the main lobby of the spaceport where Leon was waiting.
"Good evening Paladin Jonah Levin, what has brought you here to Towne? As you can see, accommodations aren't the best right now because of the latest Raider assault and we are still in the middle of rebuilding what was destroyed in the fighting." Leon said. "Knight-Errant Leon Diaz; I've heard of your defense of Towne from Sphere Intel, good job. But, I'm not here to reinforce its defense." The last line being said under his breath, he didn't want anyone hearing to know, yet. Leon let his XO take care of refueling and supplying the Freedom as he drove the elder paladin to the field base, the Sphere battalion had erected.
On the way, Jonah continued the conversation, "As I was saying, my purpose here is not what you think it is, I will not disillusion you, the Republic has shattered under the weight of so many petty ideas and ambitions, I and the rest of the sixteen other paladins will not let that which we have strived so hard to create, be destroyed by man's base passions. I am on my way to Ingress and then to Deneb Kaitos to establish a base and link up with the current Sphere forces stationed on those two planets as a beachhead for Sphere troops. I need your battalion because they, so far, have been the only military unit which has engaged in combat in this region." Leon's brows crossed, so finally, the Republic was going to wage war. He had hoped against such an event but seeing it stare right at him in the face, he couldn't run away from it, he had to make a choice.
Jonah felt Leon's anxiety over the recent developments and guessed correctly, "Leon, there is no other way. The Republic has to fight or else we lose everything we hold dear, everything we've worked for will be for naught." Leon thought hard for a moment, thought about the consequences that lay ahead, should he choose to join the already bloody conflict. He would have to kill more people, people just like him, social stature didn't matter anymore, all of them were the same; all of them were human. But, he also thought of the lives that would be lost, a number far greater than the ones he would save if he stayed on Towne to defend it, he thought of all the needless sacrifices that would be made if he refused to fight.
There was only one choice he could make, although years later, he wouldn't have hesitated to make it, he felt his stomach knot as he gave his answer to Jonah, "I will go with you and help rebuild the Republic of the Sphere."
"Very well Leon, you are under my command now. Although I have a reputation for working alone, you'll be in charge of your battalion but overall command rests within my hands. We leave at 0500 hours the day after next, prepare you troops for the journey, no returning here once we leave, not for a very long time." Leon understood what that meant and upon reaching the base, took Jonah to his temporary room and he himself headed to his own room to get some sleep.
The next day, Leon gathered all of his troops at the grounds just in front of the base and with Jonah by his side, announced his battalion's fate. "All of us here, under orders from Paladin Jonah Levin are to leave Towne and link up with Sphere forces on Ingress and fortify the base there, which will be our HQ from now on, any questions?" Not a single hand was raised, then, one hand flew up into the air. "Yes, Corporal?"
"Sir, what about Towne? Who will defend it from Bannson and his red-necked hooligans?"
This time, it was Jonah who replied, "The Highlanders have volunteered to station an adequate garrison of troops here. There should be no cause for concern gentleman, I have their word that they will only guard Towne, not use it as a staging platform for strikes against other factions." Jonah's words seemed to appease some of the soldiers but others began grumbling about the Highlanders.
Leon stepped in saying, "I will allow people to transfer to the garrison but on the condition that there will be enough personnel and equipment to remain at full battalion strength." He continued, "If there are no other questions, a reminder; say your good-byes today because we leave by tomorrow at exactly 0500. Dismissed!"
The troops dispersed and Leon escorted Jonah back to the base to prepare for departure. For the rest of the day, techs ran up and down the grounds, checking and rechecking part lists, mechwarriors, aerospace fighter pilots, tank jockeys and the infantry were either preparing their own equipment, saying good bye to their loved ones or taking a last drink of the local stuff at Towne's bars.
Leon pored over the list of assignments and noticed most of the volunteer Towne personnel were remaining here, only a few chose to stay. The rest of the battalion was intact, aside from the losses sustained from the Raider's assaults, losses that were replaced by Towne volunteers willing to go along with the rest of the battalion, the most remarkable items was almost half a company's worth of techs and maintenance equipment donated from Towne's own Engineering Corp, a thank you gift from the world.
Jonah was not present because he was also busy preparing his own dropship for launch. The jumpship that would be taking them there was a new Sphere model and Leon saw no problems there. Everything else was going according to plan except he didn't know how the planet's governor and all the red tape would respond to a whole battalion of Republic forces landing upon his shores. Leon wasn't inclined to deal with politicos right now, even politicos of an agricultural planet. He picked up the phone and called an old friend who could help him in that aspect.
In a beach house, near Towne's capital of Port Edward, the phone of Katherine Desoto rang. It was half-past one in the morning, she couldn't think of anyone who would be calling her at this ungodly hour. "Hello? Who is this?" came her groggy assent.
"Its me, Leon. Listen Kath I need you help in your particular field of expertise."
Kath's voice, clearer this time, replied, "Why would Mr. Paladin need my help all of a sudden? Doesn't Mr. Paladin go at everything by himself?"
"Kath, please, its important. I need you in my battalion as a political analyst." Leon's voice came over, maintaining its calmness in spite of her sarcasm.
"Oh well, you might just get up and leave once whatever you're planning is over, won't you..." She left it hanging, seeing whether he was still the old Leon she knew.
"I also need you for your capabilities as a military strategist, there, I said it." She was known in NAIS for being one of the best chess players and even then, when chess pieces were switched for battlemechs and vehicles, she quickly learned about the capabilities of each.
"Alright, o-mighty paladin, I'll be there before you leave. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get some more sleep before I turn into a walking disaster tomorrow, bye." Both of them put the phone down. Leon went back to his papers and Katherine, back to her bed.
MacBeth, Titania continent
Tybalt, Prefecture IV
Republic of the Sphere
June 29, 3133
"Damn the Sphere military! Damn them for being good!" cried Jacob Bannson as he read the report from one of his lieutenants, William "Pyro" Peterson. The report indicated that Peterson's battalion had sustained thirty-five percent losses and no gain whatsoever from the venture into the world of Towne. "Peterson, this is what you have to show for after all the money I spent for the equipment and personnel?!" Jacob bellowed, his brow, now twitching uncontrollably in anger. "Sir, I don't mean any disrespect but the Sphere battalion stationed there was fanatical in its defense of Towne! It wasn't completely my fault that I lost to them, sir." He instantly regretted saying that at his boss but Pyro tried to keep his composure as Jacob's eyes widened with rage.
"You fool! That was your responsibility in the first place!"
"Yessir…" Pyro lowered his head in dejection and accepted the fact that his skills as a commander were minimal at the most and people like Dagger "Di" Jones, even though she lost a battle, had made the Spirit Cats pay for every mile gained. He, on the other hand, screwed up so badly that he didn't even make the Sphere military pay for much.
"Your fate will be decided later, Peterson, get back to your quarters." Peterson left quietly and dragged himself back to his room.
Jacob let a tinge of anger surface for a moment, and then quickly squelched it. He had to concentrate on his goals, his dream of conquering the whole Republic would come true, or at least to take revenge on those nobles that have earned his ire. His spies in Towne had reported that the Paladin Jonah Levin was on-planet and the Sphere battalion was mobilizing for some reason his spies hadn't figured out yet. Well, they were cheap operatives and not as skilled as the O5P of the Dragon's Fury. He continued to scheme, and finally decided that maybe a closer staging area would maybe be safer.
"Dropship Wiseman, Freedom and Lachlan are en route to Jumpship Highwind. ETA is five minutes until docking." The comm. officer from the Lachlan radioed to Towne ground control, which was monitoring the maneuver. The three orbs were coming in from the surface to a Lagrange point where the jumpship had been stationed. "I hope your boys have practiced their procedures with docking." Katherine commented as she stared into the open space above Towne.
To her left was Leon, equally apprehensive, but over an entirely different thing. His absent-minded replied, "I'm sure they have, the Sphere military does that every month when I was still training."
"Okay then, whatever you say, o-mighty Knight-Errant..." She retorted, a bit of sarcasm in her voice.
Paladin Levin, who was seated opposite them finally decided to end the hostilities. "Ms. Desoto, although I will not pretend to know what has happened between you and Knight-Errant Leon, I ask the both of you to stop squabbling because the Republic needs you both, okay."
Leon was puzzled, "Paladin, why me? I'm sure that Ms. Desoto here was the one who started it."
The paladin replied, a bit of humor in his voice, "That may be Knight-Errant but you were acting apathetic to the situation." Jonah left just as the dropships docked with the jumpship.
Katherine stood as well and left, "I'll leave you to the lesson the paladin just gave you." With that, she disappeared from view. Leon decided it was time to go as well and unbuckled himself from the seat and swam to the jumpship's hatchway that connected the dropship and jumpship.
Leon entered the Highwind's airlock and after gravity had settled in, made is way to the bridge. On the way, a lieutenant gave him a list of where's what and all checked out, all that was left to do was give the order to jump and they would be on their way to Ingress. A turbolift and several doors later, he entered the bridge.
A short lean man said, "Greetings Knight-Errant Leon Diaz, welcome aboard the Highwind." He extended his hand to Leon and he shook it, "I am Captain Aurelius of the Highwind, we have been tasked by Paladin Levin to deliver you to Ingress and then to Deneb Kaitos."
"Well met Captain." Leon replied.
Jonah said, still staring at a starmap of Prefecture III and IV, "Since he entered the Sphere navy, Aurelius here has served as my personal jumpship captain, if he isn't on any other military business." He tore his eyes away from the map and faced Leon; "We should get to Ingress in two days, at most. I suggest we all prepare for a long month ahead of us, gentlemen."
Base Alpha, Ingress capital city
Ingress, Prefecture IV
Republic of the Sphere
July 1, 3133
"Paladin Levin, everyone and everything in the dropships have been deployed. Base Alpha of the Sphere military is ready and awaiting your orders." A major reported more paper in hand with all the technicalities. "The governor's car is also on its way to inspect the base, he would be honored if you would be present during the said event."
Jonah, in an even tone replied, "Very well, if that is what it takes for the governor to let me use this planet as a staging area for the Sphere then a little red tape won't matter, dismissed."
The major exited and Jonah was left alone with his thoughts. "God, why has it come to this? We've worked so hard for how many years and this happens. It can't go on like this; the Sphere has to be strong in times of peril." With that, he left his office and walked to the concrete parade ground where the rest of the battalion was in dress uniform. He spied Leon among the senior officers, not a very difficult task since the boy was the only one without wrinkles or a mustache.
He approached Leon, "Where is your friend? Ms. Desoto?"
Leon moved out of the line of officers and replied, "I don't know, I hope she'll be here soon." "The trumpet was sounded, signaling the arrival of the governor and the red tape entourage. "Too late…I trusted her and she does this…"
"Don't lose faith yet, see who drove our governor here." Katherine was in her own uniform, welcoming the entourage to the base, and with the smile on the governor's face, Leon knew that she had once again worked her political magic or her bodily magic on him.
"Well, fine, I guess she is dependable enough." Leon admitted. He proceeded, along with Jonah to meet the governor.
"Quite impressive Ms. Desoto, the battalion apparently has enough grace to welcome the planetary governor." The governor, Ted James, was a balding, lean man of fifty-two. He shook both hands of Leon and Jonah, and then continued on into the base's main building. The conference room wherein the meeting was to be held was filled within minutes and without much preamble.
Katherine started the meeting, "Ladies and gentlemen, our purpose here on Ingress is to protect its people and the rest of the Prefecture from the conflict that has already started on some worlds. All we ask is to use your planet as the H.Q. of the Sphere forces in Prefecture IV."
All at once the politicos began arguing in raised voices and only when James shouted loud enough to be heard above the din did it stop. "Paladin Levin, Ms. Desoto, our planet has suffered enough from the Blakist Jihad, we don't want our own citizens to die in another war."
Leon took his turn, "We only ask of your planet and some soldiers from your elite and veteran battle-armor corp."
"That is even worse! You will want to implicate our citizens in a war we do not intend to fight without reason! They have not attacked us, we shall do the same." Leon sighed inwardly, the politicos didn't understand, all they wanted was a beachhead, not a staging area for uncalled-for attacks upon neighboring worlds.
"Governor, I am a Paladin that swears upon the Republic that we will not attack, but just defend your planet, we will remind Prefecture IV that the Republic is still alive. If you do not grant my men what little they have asked for, I will be forced to order you to do so." The governor and the rest of his associates grudgingly agreed and by the end of the day, were back in their cars heading back to the capital.
By night, Leon received word that the additional company of battle armor infantry had arrived. He decided to welcome the men personally since they hadn't been told much about their new assignment.
The company assembled outside the barracks and Leon, along with his XO stood before them. "Your company, now designated Charlie Company will be assigned to the Sphere military presence here on Ingress and will be under the command of Paladin Jonah Levin and wherever we go, you guys go to as well. If there aren't any questions, proceed to your barracks." The rest of the company filed out, but the company CO remained and approached Leon.
"Knight-Errant, as CO of the company, I am holding you responsible to whatever casualties my men might suffer and I swear, I will beat your sorry ass if anyone of my boys gets killed."
Leon, dead serious and looking right into the man's eye said, "I wouldn't have it any other way." The CO saluted then went on to follow his men into the barracks.
Leon silently prayed he or the paladin wouldn't have to send these men out to die, but he knew it wasn't possible, not if the Republic was to be reunited. "Damn it all…isn't there any other way?" He walked, alone, back to his quarters. His mind filled with questions he knew not the answers to.
Btw, here are some notes on Mech Warrior: Dark Age:
· The Word of Blake is dead because they were annihilated by Devlin Stone and his followers.
· The Free Worlds League has disbanded into smaller star states.
· Clan Ghost Bear and The Free Rasalhague Republic are now one and have a new name, "Rasalhague Dominion".
· The Outworlds Alliance and the Clan Snow Raven have also united to form the "Raven Alliance".
· The Swordsworn faction is made up of former Davion worlds ceded to Devlin Stone when he formed the RotS. They are lead by Duke Aaron Sandoval. The people of this faction believe that it is time to return to House Davion and the Duke Sandoval is trying to take as many worlds back into the Davion banner.
· The Dragon's Fury faction is mostly made up of former Kurita worlds also ceded by the Draconis Combine to RotS. They are lead by Duchess Katana Tormark. House Kurita is allied with this faction but has made no move to help the aggressive samurai and her "new" House Kurita.
· The Steel Wolves faction is made up of clanners from the Delta Galaxy of Clan Wolf when they joined Devlin Stone's crusade against the Blakists. They are lead by Khan Kal Radick. The Steel Wolves seem determined to subjugate the RotS but their movement has seemed aimless until now.
· The Spirit Cats faction is made up of clanners from the Delta Galaxy of Clan Nova Cat when they joined Devlin Stone's coalition forces. They are lead by Galaxy Commander Kev Rosse. They are very spiritual, just like their mother clan, the Nova Cats and have the same will to survive and adapt.
· Bannson's Raiders is a faction made of supposed modern-day "Robin Hoods" that are lead by Jacob Bannson. They are called power hungry and greedy by the nobility but it is still left to be proven.
· The Highlanders are a former mercenary unit that went by the name Kearny Highlanders of North Wind. Their illustrious career landed them as one of the most respected and feared units in the Inner Sphere. They saw action in Devlin Stone's campaign against the Word of Blake and have since decommissioned all but the First Kearny when swords turned to plowshares.
· The O5P is the Dragon's Fury's own version of the Internal Security Force used by the Draconis Combine; it is relatively smaller but functions in the same way.
Author's note: Hello, people. I see that you've read my story. Please read and review. I Hope you enjoyed it.