Some soldiers will tell you that they joined up due to patriotism, they wanted to either serve their people or their native lands. Others would say they joined due to tradition; their fathers and their grandfathers did it before them and they would want to carry on that great practice. A few would even say that they did it just to improve their lives, whether they came from broken homes or from a world that had no future, these types believed that it would be a step up from their current predicament. Still others would say that they joined up for the money despite the fact that very few ever would get rich; it was more the exception than the rule.
Then there was another reason: the thrill of it. Some people are either born daredevils or they had an incident in their upbringing that addicted them to life on the edge. They were competitors to the extreme in the most deadly game imaginable. War does strange things to people for it brings out the nature of extremes; the thought of being able to feel death, to almost touch it, was a thrill that some were completely addicted to and therefore their very lives revolved around the mastering of that art for without it, their lives would have no meaning.
That was the strange thing about death and war; the ones who so wished to live were usually the ones who ended up getting killed. The ones who looked to get killed usually ended up alive. It was indeed the ultimate paradox.
There were composite reasons as to why Stilicho Jones ended up as a mechwarrior. First of all, his father (who was also called Stilicho) was a mercenary commander of the Stilettos and the boy grew up one day hoping to follow in his father's footsteps. Secondly, Stilicho was an orphan who wanted a better life for himself due to the fact that his father was killed along with most of his unit in the ill-fated expedition to Talos and he had nowhere else to go.
But the overwhelming reason was that Stilicho himself was a lover of extremes. At times of great stress and extreme danger, his body would come alive; every body part, every cell would have a feeling of great excitement. War does that to people; it gives them the feeling of being totally living. Even the smallest and most mundane activities during war would have a great significance as opposed to doing those same tasks during peace. Most of the time he would hate being involved in it, but when the moment he returned to a situation of serenity, his body, his very spirit would compel him in order to return to his deadly game. It was more than a job for him; it was an obsession, a way of life.
Stilicho had been assigned to the Stiletto training Company as a youth but balked when the unit didn't involve itself during the Federated Commonwealth Civil War. Because of his addiction to extremes, Stilicho deserted his father's mercenary unit and signed on with Archer's Avengers, a unit made of determined individuals who would stop at nothing in order to remove Katrina Steiner-Davion from power. While some soldiers in his new unit volunteered for other reasons such as revenge, Stilicho did it because he needed his fix, his body would only come alive upon the heat of battle. In the end, it was what had saved his life for the Stilettos had died almost to the last man on Talos a few years later.
When Archer Christofori stepped down as commander of the Avengers when the civil war was over, Stilicho resigned his commission as well. The young mechwarrior began looking for other opportunities to get back into the fighting. In some ways, Stilicho's feverish attempts to get involved into another conflict distracted him from the loss of his parents, he would drift from unit to unit and treating every team he was currently with as his surrogate kin. The pain never truly went away, but belonging to a temporary family dulled it somewhat.
And so it came to pass that Stilicho Jones bumped into an old grizzled tech named Ethan Lafitte who then introduced the young man to the strangest woman he had ever known, a beautiful young redhead who went by the name of Natasha Kerensky. Just before they met, Stilicho thought that it was a joke that anyone would want to name herself after the legendary Black Widow but all that changed the moment he met her. From the initial interview alone, Stilicho sensed a kindred spirit within Natasha. Like him, she was young and had that thousand-yard stare that was only exhibited by those having already experienced the horrors of war. What was even more important was that she was a first-rate mechwarrior and a very innovative tactician. So when the unit began to form and Natasha let everyone involved know about the unit's name, he knew that he had to be part of it.
The Black Widow Company. Stilicho hoped that Wolf's Dragoons wouldn't sue them over name infringement. After all, the original Black Widow had started out her own company as a unit within the Dragoons. In fact the original Black Widow Company had renamed itself the Spider's Web Battalion after its original commander had left and returned to the Wolf Clan, only to die a few years later at the hands of her bitter rivals, the Jade Falcons. If the Spider's Web Battalion ever found out that a covert, black ops unit of the SLDF had indeed named itself the Black Widows and was led by no less than a woman named Natasha Kerensky, what would they do?
If the Spider's Web Battalion wanted to fight in order to prove who the real Widows were, then Stilicho hoped to be there. Battle would be the ultimate test of character. It would even be cool if they did it just for fun. After all, he wanted to prove to the universe that he was for real, just as everyone else in the unit wanted to do. Once they had finished painting his Pillager mech solid black and added an insignia of a black widow spider on its leg, he knew he just had something to prove.
Stilicho sat on a pile of small crates and watched as the technicians finished installing the magnetic clamps on his battlemech's feet. Looks like it was going to be another intense operation. The extreme danger of it all didn't seem to bother him. He doubted whether the rest of his unit was concerned either. Like him; they were extremists as well.
Since Stilicho joined the Widows six months ago, he and the rest of the unit were subjected to the most extremely hazardous training that he had ever experienced. From HALO- high altitude low opening drops- to jungle warfare commando training, they had it all. Quite a few of the recruits dropped out during that phase despite the fact that everyone who was invited to join was a combat veteran from some of the most elite units in the Inner-Sphere. For two months they had conducted training operations right in the heart of the Clan occupied zones just to keep alert. The rigorous training- in combat conditions- was a godsend to Stilicho as he eagerly and cheerfully executed one training phase after another. Now he heard that they were going to finally have an official mission- their first. Based on the unit's operational readiness and capabilities, Stilicho knew that it would probably be a near-impossible task that they would be given to complete. That suited him just fine.
Precise surgical strikes. Upon the unit's inception, Captain Kerensky laid out their doctrine and capabilities. The Widows would be handling any operation deemed too impossible for standard battlemech regiments. Stilicho and the others felt that Wolf's Dragoons Spider's Web Battalion lost a certain degree of its edge when they expanded from a company-sized unit into a full combat battalion. In special operations, a battalion would be too unwieldy, too obvious and too conventional to be able to do their job properly. Using speed and surprise, Captain Kerensky drilled her new team into a unit that could come out of nowhere, hit fast and fade back into the shadows before anyone knew they would even be there. It would hardly make a difference if they faced overwhelming odds against them. They were a small but lethal team.
Fidgeting with the straps on his mechwarrior combat suit, Stilicho couldn't help but wonder about his teammates. They were definitely an exceptional lot; each and every mechwarrior in the unit was at the top of their profession. Stilicho didn't know them all by name- the intensity of the training phases left little time for small talk- but he felt that since this was his new family, he would learn about each and every one of them sooner or later.
A youth with light brown hair came bouncing over to him. "Hey Stilicho, I was told that the modifications on your Pillager is finished and the tech crew is ready to transfer it onboard the dropship."
"Thanks Kieran. So why are you so sprightly today?" Stilicho asked the teenager.
Kieran smiled. "Just got an HPG message from my kid brother Duncan. He has been in the Dragoons school in Outreach only six months and he totally loves it! He is at the top of his class in mechwarrior training; seems he scored a new record at the simulators for his age class."
Kieran McGavin was the orphaned grandson of Lloyd McGavin, the creator of the Draconis Combine's Nightstalker regiments. After Kieran's sister was killed in the game world of Solaris VII, Natasha Kerensky found him along with his eight-year old brother Duncan. Since then, the Black Widow unofficially adopted the two boys. Kieran went on to become a technician for the unit while Duncan was shipped off to the Wolf's Dragoons training school in Outreach.
"That's great. At least then the Widows should have a replacement for me when I'm ready to retire." Stilicho quipped.
"I doubt if you're ever going to retire." Kieran laughed. "I have this feeling we are gonna be scraping you off that mech of yours."
"You son of a gun." Stilicho began to shadow box with the young tech when he noticed a man walking along the upper platform of the storage bay.
It was Jimmy Clavell. With his slick black hair and pencil-thin mustache, it was very hard not to notice him. Clavell was wearing his usual mixture of a heavy black overcoat, knee-high boots and flashy tunic; it was a compromise between style and functionality. Stilicho knew for a fact that beneath Clavell's overcoat lay twin shoulder holsters that housed the man's dual customized Sternsnacht pistols. Clavell had a reputation as being that of a lady's man, just like his estranged father, "Gentleman" Johnny Clavell. Jimmy was one of "Gentleman" Johnny's many illegitimate sons, having served (and gotten thrown out) in the famed mercernary unit Wolf's Dragoons. After serving a stint with both Zeta Battalion and 7th Kommando and having been cashiered out of both units, Jimmy Clavell began to wander the Inner-Sphere as a freelancer until he happened to meet up with Natasha Kerensky. The rest they say, is history.
Stilicho and Kieran watched as Clavell nearly tripped over an insulated wire situated on the platform before stumbling into the access way of the dropship. The technicians had been working 24-hour days for the past several weeks due to extensive modifications on both the unit's mechs as well as the dropship itself. Consequently, wires, cables and heavy machinery still cluttered the massive hangar bay.
Kieran turned his head back to Stilicho. "Say, you're part of his lance aren't you?"
"Sure am. The Wolf Spiders." Stilicho answered.
The Black Widows were organized as a classic Inner-Sphere battlemech company; three lances of four battlemechs each- an organization that was a holdover from the old Star League Defense Forces. The command lance was led by Captain Natasha Kerensky herself; Stilicho belonged to the second lance that was being commanded by Clavell, they were called the Wolf Spiders and every mech in their lance was jump-capable. The third lance was probably the most mysterious to Stilicho, they were comprised of heavy and assault-class mechs and they were commanded by a mysterious mechwarrior named the Monk. Stilicho never did quite find out the Monk's true identity, the man preferred to be in the shadows. The Monk's head was clean-shaven and he looked young enough at first glance, until you got close to him and saw the network of wrinkles around his weary eyes. Rumors among the tech crew stated that the Monk was an immortal man; that he had been in every battle that human beings had ever been involved in and was reincarnated into another warrior every time he was killed. Stilicho dismissed this as complete folly; nevertheless, he wanted to find out more about this enigmatic man. The sooner the better, of course.
"Say, is it true that Lieutenant Clavell actually tried to kiss Nasty when he was stone drunk a few months ago?" Kieran asked.
"Yep. He did try. I was there after all." Stilicho answered wistfully.
"So, did he succeed?"
"Nope. The Captain kicked him in the nuts and he volunteered for the company choir for a few weeks after his voice changed from baritone to soprano. He never ever tried that again." Stilicho grinned.
"That sure is funny!" Kieran laughed and then all of a sudden went to a more somber mood.
"What's wrong?" Stilicho asked the young tech.
"Its just that, well." Kieran looked down. "I've known Nasty for quite awhile, even before she set up this unit."
"And?"
"She's changed, Stilicho." Kieran's eyes had a certain sadness to it. "When I first met her she was a very caring young woman. Sure, I mean she's always been tough but she could joke around sometimes, especially when my brother was around. But lately, ever since Duncan left for Outreach in fact, she started to become more distant, she became cold."
"I understand." Stilicho observed. "It's a natural progression, after all."
"What do you mean?" It was obvious that Kieran was spilling his guts out to Stilicho. "She doesn't joke around any more. All I get from her now is just orders. Every time I try to ask her if she wants to go out and have some fun all I get is a rebuff. It's almost like she purposely tries to stay clear of me."
"You gotta remember, kid; she's commanding a unit now." Stilicho put his arm on Kieran's shoulder. "She is being aloof because she has to be. Every commander needs to have a certain separation from her subordinates or otherwise she could loose control. Too much fraternization ruins a unit's edge. Believe me, she's doing the right thing. I know it's hard on you because you have been friends with her longer than this unit has existed, but you gotta look at it from her point of view."
"I see that now." Kieran swallowed this bit of information thoroughly. He didn't like it but that was the way it was.
"Don't worry about it, when we finally get some R and R, I'm sure she will take up your offer then." Stilicho smiled. "In the meantime, you can hang out with me."
"Thanks, I'll buy you a beer then." Kieran returned to his happy mood just as they both noticed a group of people entering the cavernous hangar bay.
It was the rest of the Black Widows. Led by Captain Natasha Kerensky herself, they all assembled in a semi-circle facing her.
Jimmy Clavell managed to stumble out of the dropship's cargo bay and just managed to get in with the group as their commander began to speak. He was a spitting image of his father, both in looks and in deeds.
Natasha's fiery red hair was once again tied in a ponytail. "I've just got a message from Lieutenant General Cox." She waited until she had everyone's attention. "The codeword is Irene."
Irene meant that the mission was a go. A loud whoop came from the combined throats of all of the Widows. They would finally get going.
Only the Monk and Jimmy Clavell remained impassive; the Monk showed only the slightest trace of emotion as he smirked while Clavell was too drunk to say anything, otherwise he would have thrown up if he did.
Natasha on the other hand, was cool and collected. "Black Widows, mount up. Prepare for immediate deployment."
As they followed their commander onto the dropship ramp, they all had the sleepy look. Each had killed before, after all.