Greetings to you all!
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Well, I've finally done it, I have gone from Fanfiction Fanatic Reader, to Fanfiction Fanatic Reader and Novice Writer!!!!
Well, this was a lot harder than I ever thought possible, but I knew the first chapter would be pretty bad.
I'm hoping that now that this chapter is out of the way, things will flow much better and I am hoping to be able to get a chapter out sooner than 1 a year like it was originally looking like for a few months there, =P.
To tell you all the truth this isn't even the real story I had planned on writing first, but for some reason or another it ended up being easier to write than my "main" story so, it gets to go first.
My primary goal for this story is to experiment with my own personal abilities as an author and to get as much feed back from others as possible. I can't get better and evolve as a writer if no one tells me what I suck at and what I kinda don't suck as much at. So please, feel free to review, all kinds of reviews, happy silly funny reviews, logical point by point reviews, just please something that can help me. Improve my mood, help my faults, I'm a huge fan of constructive criticism.
Now that I got that point across, I'd like to say that this chapter is dedicated to my friend Takari Warrior aka DarkLight666. She and I had gotten to be really good friends and she seemed like a really cool person, dark and a little evil like me sometimes, but all in all a good person. I don't really know what happened between us, but we just don't talk anymore. Never the less, this one's for you Becca.
With all that said and done, it brings me great pleasure to present to you my very first fanfic. May the Powers of Hope and Light rule over all!
P.S. I would like to Thank Project Vortex for doing an awesome editing and spelling/grammar check of this chapter...it was really horrific before he got it.
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Digital Mech Warriors
Note: "...."means character speech;
mean scene change
Italics means character thought, in most cases
Legends tell of a warrior capable of uniting the Inner Sphere and the Clans together, not in a war for wealth or territory, but in a war for the sheer right to exist. These legends also tell of another warrior, born of clan, raised by Inner Sphere, with both side's strengths. The legends state that this warrior shall possess "great talent", be a jack-of-all-trades, and be a master of all. It is further said that this warrior shall be the first, and he shall unite an Inner Sphere kingdom with the Clans. He will have the blood of royalty, and a warrior's soul of the purest quality. This is the warrior that will come first, after him shall come his better. Without him, all hope for the future is gone. Thus is the prophecy of the Ancients.
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"Yes, I must agree, we cannot allow them to get a hold of him," said another.
"Do we all agree then?" the apparent leader of the group asked, the one holding the child carefully in his arms. "Very well, I know where we can take this child..."
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"For almost one thousand years, humans have journeyed into the far reaches of space, colonizing thousands of worlds and forming vast star-spanning alliances. From these grew the Great Houses that make up the Inner Sphere. Great Houses such as Davion, Steiner, and Liao have fought each other for power and territory since 2766 AD. Then the Clans arrived, forged from General Aleksandr Kerensky of the former Star League, who left to create a new society based on honor and justice. The Clans made their intentions painfully obvious, they believed that they were the superior race, and the Inner Sphere was only a stepping-stone in their evolutionary path. Being forged on a society of great technological advances, their weapons and battle tactics proved to be more than a match for the Inner Sphere. Even their genetics, being manually enhanced, made them that more dangerous. Stronger, faster, better hand-eye coordination, these are all traits of Clanners; their ability to pilot mechs is virtually impossible to match when compared to an Inner Sphere pilot. And so on, and so on, and so on" Takeru Davion said as he closed the large hardbound textbook labeled Inner Sphere History of the Past Millennium in which he was reading from.
"Master Takeru, please understand, the Inner Sphere's history is a very important thing to know. You will take your father's place as King one day, and if you do not know of the past's goods and evils, you may be subject to repeat many similar mistakes. He who does not learn from the past is doomed to repeat it."
"I understand that Alex, and I understand why both my father and mother want me to know it. But I've been over this time and time again, all I've heard about the clans, is the same thing, time and time again, since I was 5 years old. I know that they are descended from us; I know that they have at least three castes, worker, scientist, and warrior. But how many times must we go over the same material?!"
"I know that it is hard for you Master Takeru, but you are the Prince of the Davion House. You can't just have mech combat training all your life, it will be expected of you to be a well-rounded person by the time you take your father's throne."
"I understand this Alex, but... but what if I don't want to take my father's position? Don't I get a choice in the matter?" Takeru now put his head in his hands.
Noticing where this conversion was heading, and the young prince's frustration, Alex decided it would be best if he tried to turn the subject around. "Well my dear prince, these aren't exactly the questions where answers will come quickly. You should have patience, and the answers shall come to you eventually."
Patience, always with the patience, that is his answer to everything he doesn't want to be straightforward about. Oh well, I suppose that in this case, he may actually be right.
As the young Davion prince was immersed in his own thoughts, Alex decided that there wouldn't be any way he could get the prince to do any more productive studying, so he might as well let him enjoy the rest of the day.
"Well Takeru, I believe we have covered enough for one day. Why don't you go train with the palace guards?"
This jolted Takeru back to reality and the mere suggestion pulled him out of his depression.
Alex must be feeling very forgiving today; he didn't even discipline me for wondering off. Now I can go train with DarkLight and the other palace mechwarriors! Returning his books to their place in the huge bookshelves of the palace library, Takeru quickly uttered a "thank you" to his teacher, and then hurried from the library.
As he walked down the long hallway to the main staircase, Takeru couldn't help but think about all the new and interesting things he might learn from the palace mechwarriors today. I hope I can show DarkLight and the others my new design layout for my Madcat Omnimech. It may only be a "heavy" mech, but Madcats have always been known to be able to go up against much larger opponents, and with my new design, I might even be able to give Blade a run for his money when he is in his Atlas! That would put them all in awe!
Finding that he was at the end of the hall and at the beginning of the magnificent half crest stair case, the ambition to see the mechwarriors began to overwhelm him. He did the only thing that came natural, he found himself briskly running down the staircase. I hope DarkLight can give me some pointers on piloting my Madcat since he pilots one himself!
Jumping off the last 6 steps, he slammed into the Palace front doors, but was somehow quick enough to open them so he didn't hurt himself. Jumping out of the palace as if it were on fire, Takeru bolted towards the palace mech hangar knowing that it would be the best place to find his combat instructors and long time friends.
Takeru ran in through the huge open mech doors and immediately found his instructors/friends sitting on the foot of a giant Atlas. "DarkLight, Blade, Viper I've come for some mech combat training!"
An average-height man with dark brown hair and eyes, sitting closest towards what could only be considered the toe of the Mech, responded in a somewhat humorous tone of voice with a smile. "Ahh young prince, we find you here so often that people might start thinking that you're going to grow up to be a mechwarrior."
"DarkLight, stop calling me young, I'm 17 now, I'm almost as old as Koushiro Izumi. You know, your lance leader?" He put a little extra emphasis into this last part to make the point.
This time the man that was sitting to DarkLight's right stood up. This man was slightly taller than DarkLight, but also heavier-set too; he had brown hair and turquoise eyes and spoke with an almost hurt tone. Despite this, he still wore a bit of a smirk. "You know my prince, anyone of us could have had Mr. Izumi's job. We just prefer to fight rather than giving out orders while trying to fight. After all, we can only concentrate on so many things. It doesn't seem to be that way for a clanner, though. But then again, we aren't clanners, now are we?"
"No, of course you're not clanners, Blade. If you were, I would have to ask you what in the hell you were doing defending an Inner Sphere Royal family. But, you guys ARE starting to get old. With me being a young healthy man you're hardly a challenge to me nowadays." Takeru just stood there smiling after that last comment. I know if I can piss them off enough, then they can really give me a good work out. I may be better than them now, but they still have a lot more combat experience than I do, so there is always something new I can learn from these three.
Suddenly the third man stood up. He was taller than his two companions, with blond hair and green eyes. "As for the part about your age, you just turned 17 not more than a mere month ago. Don't put too much weight behind that portion of your argument, my prince."
"How did I know you would eventually bring that up, Viper?"
Viper just smiled. "I don't know. Maybe you're developing psychic powers?"
"I wish! If I had psychic powers, then I would be able to predict my opponents' movements before they were made, which would kick so much ass!"
"Well... you never know, my prince. Maybe you do have psychic powers and they just haven't come out yet. I have seen stranger things in my day. In fact, I wouldn't be so surprised if those clanners start to develop a gene for that very power and then start implanting it in all of their warrior clone fetuses." This last sentence had a very serious tone to it.
DarkLight said that as if he actually believed it was possible. I know that all of the clan's warriors have their DNA artificially modified with the best genetic material from past warriors, but could they actually give their warriors the ability to see the future? What am I thinking about? Come on, Takeru, the very thought is absurd. Clanner tech isn't THAT advanced... yet.
The others noticed Takeru deep in thought, and there was a bit of a silence until DarkLight decided to break it before it got to be too overwhelming.
"Well my prince, what say we challenge you to a special hand-hand combat exercise?"
Takeru smiled at the suggestion. "Sounds like a great idea to me DarkLight. Just try to be somewhat of a challenge for me this time, okay?"
"Ah, the prince has a sense of humor. Alright, there will be no holding back." DarkLight said this with a grin on his face. The boy is far too skilled nowadays for any one of us to actually beat him, but we can still give him a good work out.
The four men walked into the back of the mech hangar and through a small door. This led them into a fairly large sized room that was completely covered in dense padding on the floor and also on the walls. Ah, the Mechwarrior's hand to hand combat training room. I never get tired of being here; it's almost like a part of me has a thirst to do combat. As Takeru was thinking to himself, the three Mechwarriors decided that Viper would be the first to fight.
DarkLight and Blade stood against the back wall of the room, while Viper and Takeru readied themselves in the middle of the room.
Our taller blond comrade looks like an ogre compared to the shorter prince, but looks can be very deceiving. Blade knew that the prince was much stronger, much quicker, and more agile than his opponent. He laughed at the image of the smaller blond standing over a battered Viper.
Viper made the first move; he lunged at the Takeru with a fury of punches, all aimed at his head with extreme power.
Takeru blocked the first couple and then ducked under the next one, landing a strong uppercut up into Viper's rib cage. Viper felt the wind knocked out of him and fell to his knees, struggling to stay conscious from the pain and shock of the blow.
Well, so much for me actually even hitting him, at least he didn't use his true strength this time. Viper thought as darkness pressed his vision.
As DarkLight stepped out to help his friend sit down against the wall, Blade took his fighting position in the middle of the room.
"Alright Blade, I know you can do better than Viper, so don't hold anything back, okay?"
"Of course my prince," Blade said smirking. "I'll give you everything I've got."
"And stop calling me "prince". While we are in combat please call me by my call-sign, okay?"
Blade's smirk only grew into a big smile. "As you wish... Archangel."
"Anytime you two, it's not like we're all mortal or anything." Darklight called out from where he was leaning.
"Oh, pipe down DarkLight. You will have your turn soon enough."
DarkLight gave a childish "humph" as a response to Blade's comment.
This time Takeru led the attack. He threw a quick jab at Blade's head, which Blade blocked. Countering, Blade threw a hard right hook at Takeru's head. The youngster dodged and aimed an expert spin kick at Blade's head. Blade was barely able to block it with his forearm. Then, deftly dropping to the ground, Takeru executed a leg sweep which dropped Blade, effectively ending the match.
On the sidelines, DarkLight was clapping next to a somewhat recovered Viper. "Very good Archangel, very good. Now... it's my turn." He said this last part with a mischievous, almost evil grin.
As Blade managed to stand up and walk over and sit down next to Viper, DarkLight walked into the center of the room. "Alright Archangel, last round. I promise not to hold anything back."
Without waiting for a response, DarkLight lunged forward and threw his knee into Takeru's stomach, but Takeru was just barely able to catch it with his hands and slow its velocity enough so that it would not cause him any damage. Pushing the kick away, he threw a spin kick towards DarkLight's head while the older man was off balance. DarkLight, able to regain his balance just in time to see the kick, ducked underneath and threw a kick into Takeru's side. Takeru, still off balance from his last attack, wasn't able to block DarkLight's kick. But when the kick hit Takeru with full force, he merely tensed his body and then backhanded DarkLight.
DarkLight, so surprised with the fact that his kick didn't even faze the prince, didn't notice the backhand and was literally thrown across the room from the force of the attack.
Blade cringed when he saw the strike throw DarkLight across the room. I knew that Takeru would grow better and stronger at an amazing rate, but this is crazy. DarkLight is a hand-to-hand combat specialist, and Takeru is just toying with him. Viper on the other hand could only stare in amusement. I told DarkLight that the prince would seriously kick his ass one of these days, but he never listened to me.
As Viper and Blade were thinking to themselves, DarkLight picked himself up off of the floor and moved into a defensive posture. Before anyone could blink, Takeru was upon him, throwing strike after strike. First an elbow to the chest, but DarkLight pushed it away. Then, a strong knee to the gut that DarkLight was unable to stop in time. Dropping to his knees, DarkLight coughed and felt the metallic tang of blood, all while Takeru waited in a defensive stance.
Through clutched teeth and strained voice DarkLight was able to utter a single sentence in a commanding voice. "What are you doing?! Fin... Finish me!!"
"There is no point. You're already defeated and there isn't any point in causing you anymore pain." Takeru stepped out of his stance and looked down at his teacher with a slight smirk on his face. Waiting for his teacher's surrender, he never saw it coming. Before he could blink, Takeru found himself pinned to the ground by DarkLight, whose knife, hidden in his boot, was now at his throat.
"YOU FOOL!! You let down your guard! If I wasn't an honorable warrior, I could have sliced your throat in half" DarkLight was shouting down at the face of his prince who had supposedly fallen to his surprise attack. But Takeru just kept grinning and motioned with his eyes for DarkLight to look down. As DarkLight followed his gaze he saw what the young prince was so proud of; there, mere millimeters from the Mechwarrior's stomach, Takeru's knife was ready to gut him like a fish.
DarkLight fell silent and picked himself up off the prince while Takeru performed a graceful flip and landed back on his feet, hardly appearing worn from the fighting. "Well, I must admit I'm mildly impressed by that one, Takeru, but we would have both ended up dead." DarkLight was about to continue when Takeru suddenly interrupted him. "Actually DarkLight, I had my knife positioned at your abdomen when yours was still inches from my neck. You would have died and I could have evaded with at least half a second to spare." Takeru fell silent as he watched DarkLight's expression go from a blank stare to mock-anger.
"Why you smartass, son of a..." he sighed. "Alright, lived you may have. However, you are still WAY too cocky for you own good BOY! That whole situation could have been stopped if you had merely kept your guard up in the beginning. It's good that you're merciful and all, but not if you're stupid about it." DarkLight paused to let his words sink in to the prince's head, then continued. "Though the clanners may be honorable warriors, even they have a few moments when their blind rage makes them act subconsciously. And then there are the other Inner Sphere houses. Don't expect their warriors to have even an ounce of honor. If they can have reinforcements shoot you in the back when it's just you against eight of them, they will do it."
Takeru's expression became very serious after hearing his teacher's words, but there was a question nagging at the back of his mind that he had to ask. "DarkLight, why is it that we and the clanners still fight with honor if it decreases our chances of winning when fighting the other Houses?"
DarkLight knew this question well. He had heard it many times before. "We fight that way because it is a noble, just, and fair way to do it. In the end we can only hope that fate has a sense of justice." Strangely enough, Takeru seemed to understand and accept this answer, which really surprised DarkLight. I had not expected anyone other than the most combat hardened and experienced warriors to understand, then again, there is the boy's heritage to take into account.
Seeing a gap in the conversation Viper decided to take this opportunity to butt in. "Well gentlemen, I suppose that wraps up today's lesson. Besides, if I remember correctly, your father, the Duke, had some sort of present for you Takeru." The tall man looked at his two comrades in arms, trying to get them to catch on to his train of thought.
"Ah! Yes, now I remember! You should really go see him my prince, to my understanding it is quite a pleasurable present indeed," Blade said this with a bit of a grin touching his lips as he remembered exactly what the Davion Duke had in mind.
Takeru looked at DarkLight, hoping that he would spill the beans on this suspiciously big surprise that his father had planned. The old warrior just shock his head in the negative and turning his head away from the prince, completely obliterating any possibility of new information coming from his lips.
"Alright. If you guys aren't going to tell me what this present is then I suppose I'll just have to go see my father." Takeru was at the door for the training room by the time he finished his sentence. The young prince then turned to his three teachers and bowed in respect. The three returned the bow to finish off the old Earth tradition. Takeru then left the training room and hurried out of the large mech hangar.
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Far away from the Davion palace, past the established borders of the world Centarous 3, the Atlas Mountains make up the unsettled regions of the planet. Hidden away deep within these mountains, unseen by most human eyes, a small encampment lay. Only the most trained eyes were aware of its presence, and most of those eyes were not of the Inner Sphere.
A single weatherworn cloth tent made up the encampment's command operations center. Within it, sat a young man with unruly brown hair and dark brown eyes that bore the stare of a battle-hardened warrior capable of killing without hesitation. This young man of only 19 solar revolutions held the rank of Star Colonel, one of the most elite of the clan's commanding officers. Looking over geological maps and intelligence reports, his eyes suddenly darted to the closed flaps of the tent. "There is no use in waiting out there forever Star Captain; you might as well come in."
The flaps parted to reveal a strikingly beautiful young woman with brown hair and deep brown eyes. Stepping into the command tent, the young woman was anything but inexperienced in the ways of battle. She was a hardened warrior, one of the best Star Captains in the clan. She placed a fist over her heart in salute to her superior. "Forgive me for asking, Star Colonel, but how did you catch me this time?"
The Star Colonel could not help but try to hide his small smirk. "Well, let me see. The last time you accidentally stepped on a twig. The time before that you sneezed, and the time before that you cracked your knuckles. This time it was simply your breathing."
The young woman looked up to her taller superior with a look of confusion. "My breathing, sir? What was wrong with it?"
"Well, you just simply were not breathing soft enough." The Star Colonel's stern look changed into a bright smile as he tried to break the tension with a humorous tone. "Honestly Hikari, any descent clanner could hear you 5 klicks out."
The look on Star Captain Hikari's face rapidly changed from one of seriousness to that of the look of anger girl as her cheeks puffed out and her eyes glared at her superior. "Well forgive me, dear brother Taichi, but I guess that I was not gifted with the same abilities of stealth as you." Her tone belied anything but respect for her superior.
Taichi just smiled. "I swear, Hikari. You may be one of Smoke Jaguar's best warriors but when it comes to things such as stealth and hunting, you really are lacking." Hikari was visibly fuming at these words, when she suddenly adopted a feral smile. "I spoke with Star Captain Sora a little while ago—your bondmate? And well, she I had a VERY interesting chat... about you."
"And umm, what kind of things came up?" Taichi's smile quickly fell and his tone had a nervous quiver.
Hikari just continued to smirk, "Oh, you know, the usual--battle performance, some of your new strategies, your 'performance' in general. All the things a little sister really should not hear, but I heard them just the same." Hikari was practically dancing as she watched her older brother visibly pale.
"Alright, alright, you win. Now, can we get down to business before any more of my personal life becomes more public than I prefer?" Hikari nodded as they both walked over to the table where a large map of the geological surroundings was spread out.
"As you know we are currently stationed in the Atlas Mountains just outside of the Davion Borders of this planet. We are here because our Galaxy Commander received orders to "test" the Davion response to an attack. Out of all of the Inner Sphere Houses, House Davion is the most perplexing. It shows signs of being one of the strongest powers in the Inner Sphere, yet they only seem to defend themselves. Unlike the other Houses who attempt to strike back at us, of course."
Hikari looked down at the map examining their encampment's location, then the surrounding area. "Let me guess. Mother wants us to probe their capital's defenses and see how they respond?" Taichi nodded and traced a path across the map with his finger, "Yes, our Galaxy Commander suggested we try and, 'poke the hornet's nest' and see how they react when threatened. Oh, before I forget--mother said to make sure you were the one in command. I think she is contemplating promoting you, so she wants to see how you handle command before you reach the same rank as I."
At hearing this Hikari's head jerked up and her eyes stared into her brother's. "Are you serious? Mother is really going to make me a Star Colonel?"
Taichi looked into his sister's face. Her child-like qualities always made him feel happier. "Well, it's not official yet, but since you will be 16 soon I guess she just thinks that you are ready. But, of course, only if you do well on this mission."
Hikari's bright mood did not change. If anything it only brightened. She was very happy--and for very good reason. It had been almost two solar cycles since she had been promoted from a Star Commander to a Star Captain. For nearly two years she had commanded three Stars of five warriors apiece, without so much as a single defeat. Her personal command Star had scored victories against Houses Steiner and Liao; they had even placed in the top ten in the triennial Clan tournament against other Stars from all of the clans.
Hikari knew that with this promotion she would gain the command of up to five Star Captains and the Stars under their command. And now, finally, her mother--one of the finest Galaxy Commanders of the Smoke Jaguar Clan-- was going to promote her to that status. She knew that it was a quite a lot of responsibility for a 16-year old, but she felt she could handle it.
Taichi had, meanwhile, all but given up hope in snapping his sister out of her little daydream. He knew how much his little sister has been waiting for her promotion and he was happy for her. Nevertheless... "HIKARI!" he yelled into her ear.
Hikari's dream world shattered as her ears rang from her brother's verbal assault. She turned her head and gave him a death glare. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
Hikari's glare and screaming had no affect on Taichi. Chuckling, "Calm down sister, I know how much the promotion means to you, but you will not get anything if you end up dying on this mission. So, let us go over the plan. Is that fine with you?"
Hikari meekly nodded her head yes. She did not normally lose her temper, especially at her brother, but he could just be so annoying and teasing sometimes.
Taichi pointed back at the map. "The Davion capitol is approximately two days, low emissions speed, from this encampment. According to our intelligence reports, it will be very difficult to get past their borders. Unlike the other Houses, this one does not appear to be stupid; they deploy many recons all across their borders and throughout their territory.
Their scouts are not idiots either; they appear to be very well trained in Light Mech Tactics. Even if we jam their communications, there is a good chance they will be able to live long enough to get out to a range where they can notify their comrades. But, if you can get in close enough to attack their city, you should have no problems getting out. Intelligence reports that every single one of their Heavy- and Assault-class Mechs are designed for armor and fire power. They should not be able to catch up to you once you decide to fall back."
Hikari looked up from the map and to her brother with a very stern look on her face. "I know how to fight Inner Sphere warriors, brother. It is not the first time my Stars and I have fought elite warriors."
At this Taichi looked straight into his sister's eyes and with a very stern voice, "That is just it Hikari. What I have described so far are their 'normal' warriors. We do not know very much about their Palace Guard Lance, but we do know that it is led by a young tactical and strategic genius by the name of Koushiro Izumi. As for his lance, the other three warriors are shrouded in mystery but it is believed that they are VERY good, so take care when you fight them. You never know what kind of cowardly acts those Inner Spherers might pull."
Hikari nodded, "I understand. What of the Royal Family? Does your intelligence suggest what they might do? I suppose they will just try to run like the other Royals, and try and get on their expensive heavily armed shuttle, right?" Hikari was very well-experienced in watching the chief commanders of her enemy run with their tails between their legs while they left their subjects and warriors to die. Royal blood, it appeared, had neither honor nor courage. But Taichi's response completely caught Hikari off guard.
Taichi shook his head. "Surprisingly, it is presumed that the Davion Royals will hold their position. Of course, it is only a prediction, which is the whole reason we want to see how they will actually respond."
Hikari deftly nodded in understanding, even though she found the thought of Inner Sphere rulers who would not flee very hard to believe. Very strange indeed. Next they would be saying that the Davions fought with honor. What a laugh, Hikari thought. She knew all too well that the primary reason the Inner Sphere forces had any effect against the clans was because they would either shoot them in the back or gang up with unimaginable numbers in their favor.
When she was little, Hikari did not want to believe that such despicable things occurred. After all, her family had once been members of the Inner Sphere. Her parents had told her so. They were just in their early twenties when they were captured by the clan with their young son Taichi. They had been forced to compete in the Trial of Position just like the other prisoners. Luckily they had both been top notch warriors so they were able to attain high ranks in the clan instead of being slave labor like the losers of the Trial. She had been born a few months later.
True clanners were born of science and honor, which had been what Hikari was taught by her teachers. All natural clanners were known as "True Born" and they held it with great honor. Not like her and Taichi; they were 'Free Born', just like all of the inferior Inner Sphere. But, eventually, she got over the taunts and both she and her brother proved to be VERY capable warriors.
None of her family considered themselves Inner Sphere anymore; they were Smoke Jaguar but still held the Inner Sphere concept of family despite the ill thoughts of many clanners. They may be clanners now, but they would always be family, even if they could only show it in private.
Hikari snapped out of her thoughts in time to catch up to Taichi's explanation of the attack plan. The plan sounded fairly simple. Hikari would take her three Stars and bypass the Scout Lances by using a newly developed Mass Electronic Counter Measures (MECM) which would allow one unit carrying the device to mask the radar images of a mass of units near it. Once they arrived at the Capital City's walls after two days, they would lay siege to the Palace's defense turrets and fuel storage. Hikari's forces would then engage any Mechwarrior that dared to challenge them and once her forces took considerable damage or they inflicted enough devastation they would retreat full speed back to the Mountains where Taichi would be waiting with another six Stars, just incase the Davions gave chase.
At full speed the retreat would only take half a day at most. If, for some bizarre reason, Hikari's forces ran into more than they could handle, Taichi's forces could back them up in no time.
Hikari bid good night to her brother/commanding officer and headed out of the tent to her Mech. There was much work to be done before she and her stars left in the morning. Hikari knew that the mission should not be any big problem, yet she could not shake the thought that something was very different about this mission, different from any other she had ever done before. Hikari knew that something BIG was going to happen. She just did not know what yet.
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None of the Clanners in the small camp noticed the camouflaged figure watching their every move from atop one of the many peaks surrounding the encampment. The scout, a young woman in her late teens, was shocked by what she saw. Making note of everything she saw in the finest detail, she would wait until she was far away from the encampment before making her report.
Farther inside the unsettled regions of the Atlas Mountains rested an underground bunker that only a small handful of people were aware of. Inside the bunker resided a C&C room that lay in darkness. Only intermittently blinking lights from the electronics scattered throughout the room gave any semblance of illumination to the middle-aged man who sat there. Even though he did not appear to be a warrior, this tall brown- haired man knew all too well of the matters of war, destruction, and bloodshed.
Re-reading the report from the scout, he checked to make sure that he had not missed anything. He had sent this scout out several days ago to gather information. The information she was sending back told of a severe crisis in the making. There had been a confirmed sighting of a small number of Clanners on-planet. These were Smoke Jaguar, according to the markings on the Mechs, and it seemed that they were a part of an assault force. Further, he read on, the force was planning on striking at the Davion Palace. Not known for rashness, the Commander of this small outpost was fully aware of his orders.
And so, he watched and waited until the time was right and he would be needed to save everything that he and the others held dear. Pressing a button on the intercom panel on the desk, he waited until the page he had summoned arrived. A moment later, a young boy of only ten or eleven years entered the room, giving a salute. "Marcus," the older man began, "Please send a tight-beam communication to the home base. Inform my co-commander that we shall continue operations on this planet as well as monitoring the interaction of House Davion and the Smoke Jaguar invaders. Make sure he receives the latest status report of this outpost as well." He had stopped, thinking he was done, when he remembered something else. "Oh, and Marcus? Please make sure that you bounce the signal off of one of OUR satellites this time. We had a hell of a time trying to hack and counter- hack so as to fool the Davions and make them believe that another House was trying to tap into their communications."
The young boy blushed slightly, but gave a salute and a "Yes, sir!", before hurrying on to complete his given tasks; completely unaware of what was developing.
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Glossary
(Here I shall make a listing of any terms or information I think may need better explaining than what I did in the story. If you feel anything should be added, please email me or leave it in your review, or if you just have a question ask me, I would be more than happy to answer it to the very best of my ability.)
Clan Rank used thus far, in order of Lower to Higher Rank: Star Commander( Star Captain( Star Colonel( Galaxy Commander((you don't know yet =) ).
True Born: Any natural clan warrior; genetically enhanced and born in an artificial womb. Free Born: Any naturally born human.
Strength and Honor