The Silver Eagles

[snakespinner]

Just remember the old saying.
To much of a good thing is never enough. [watch] [cheers]

[David CGB]

Just remember the old saying.
To much of a good thing is never enough. [watch] [cheers]

Never ever enough, must have more

[McKenna]

Aye. Ill get more up soon. I'm looking for the rest of a previous post I put up. It was woefully short. I still have  LOT of archived posts to go through.  ;)

[McKenna]

Ooops backwards! moving to the end  :-[

[McKenna]

removed

[McKenna]

Removed.

[Taron Storm]

Me thinks you doubled on a couple of posts...

[McKenna]

which ones?

[McKenna]

at any rate. I"m going to wrap up the  Pandora angle today. I'm still looking for the rest of that one piece. Lots of back posts to sift through. Fallguy was prolific. 8)

--------------------------

Ok... that was fun. I had to rewrite the last two weeks 'cuz I'm an idiot and accidentally deleted the update instead of copying it. >:( So here it is... 10 pages of fix for all you Silver Eagles Fans! Enjoy...

When Major Silver entered McKenna’s office on the Comstock, Captain McKenna and Lt. Vahzenov were already there. “Captain, I want your opinion. Can we trust the Hauptman?”

Captain McKenna thought for a moment before speaking. “Well, I believe he can be trusted to do his job. But then his job is to ensure that the FedCom gets what it wants out of our contract here, not do what’s best for the Silver Eagles.”

Major Silver looked at Lt. Vahzenov. “Lieutenant, I want you to get Lieutenant Collins access to the Pandora Collage computers. I don’t care how you do it, but I want to know what they know. I think they’re hiding something and I want to know what it is.”


Lt. Vahzenov shrugged. “Da. I believe I can get him vat you vant. It von’t be cheap, but I can arrange it.”

Major Silver nodded. “Do it. Do whatever it takes. Pay whatever price. Just get me that info. I need to know who I can trust and who I can’t.” He turned back to McKenna. “I want roaming patrols between here and Needgate every day. Enough to make our presence felt here, but try and keep things in order. I don’t want another incident like the one at the bridge. Just keep things running until we get more answers. We’ll figure out what to do from there.”

McKenna nodded. “Aye Major.”

Two days later, Lt. Vahzenov and Lt. Collins waited outside the compound fence surrounding the Pandora Collage of Military Sciences. Lt. Collins kept looking to his watch.

“He’s late.” Morander commented.

Vahzenov shrugged. “He vill be here.”

Not a moment later, a noise was heard from inside the fence. Ducking back into the bushes, the two waited. The unused access gate’s lock opened up and a man wearing an AFFC field jacket came through the gate. He looked around nervously, obviously looking for someone.

“Vas!” He whispered. “You out here?”

Lt. Vahzenov stood up. “Da. Here.”

The man gestured quickly toward the gate. “Well, if you want in you better hurry your butt up! Security patrol will be around in two minutes!”

The two lieutenants quickly ran toward the now open gate and through it. As they entered the collage grounds, the man turned to Lt. Vahzenov. “Who’s this?”

“A friend, comrade.” Vahzenov smiled. “And here is yours.” He handed the unnamed man a bundle of kroner. “I zink you dropped it out beyond ze fence. Most fortunate zat I happened along and found it, da?”

“Yeah, thanks Vas.” He smiled back as he took the bundle and handed Lt. Vahzenov a key card. “Remember, one hour. That’s it. If you aren’t here, you’ll just have to hole-up in whatever lady’s dorm room you... ehem... end up in and find your own way out.” He smiled and winked at Lt. Vahzenov.

Lt. Vahzenov slapped the man on the back. “Da! I vill remember.” At that the two made their way to the nearest building and entered using the key card Lt. Vahzenov had gotten.

Ten minutes later the two members of the Silver Eagles were in a computer lab. Once Lt. Collins brought the computer up, he began looking over the network protocols that connected the computers together. After only ten minutes of study, he isolated a weakness in the security log system. Entering the user name “JFett” and the password he’d cracked from the system, the computer brought up the system administrator’s access screen.

Lt. Collins laughed out loud. “I’ve got complete access to everything on their network. I’ll see if I can find anything about guerrilla activity in recent history.”

After searching the entire network, the only data files found were encrypted intelligence briefings. Lt. Collins inserted a data disk into the computer and copied them, making sure to alter the logs to erase the event from the system. Making a similar search for any data on the Silver Eagles turned up archived data from their last visit to Pandora in 3053 as well as a few current files relating to the recent attack. Copying all the data to the disk, he kept searching for any other information he thought might shed some light.

Lt. Vahzenov looked at his watch as he waited. “Ve are out of time. Ve have to go, now!”

Lt. Collins ejected the data disk and logged out. “Right. Let’s move.”

As the two made their way back to the access gate, they stopped as a patrol guard walked past the gate. Once he was gone, the two ran out to the gate and looked for their contact.

Lt. Vahzenov looked again at his watch. “Ve are too late. Ve missed him.”

Lt. Collins kept looking around. “Great. Now what?” He looked up the fence at the razor wire top. “I’m not trying to get through that.”

Lt. Vahzenov pulled out a large pistol and screwed a silencer onto it. “Stand back.” He said as he took aim at the lock. A muffled shot sliced through the air as the lock exploded. “Hurry, ze next guard vill notice zis.” The two men ran through the gate and into the blackness of the night.

Within minutes, alarms could be heard behind them as they quickly ran from the compound toward Lt. Vahzenov’s truck. Trying hard to avoid being spotted, they managed to avoid any pursuit and reached the safety of the main road.

Once they were free and clear, headed back to the Silver Eagles compound, Lt. Vahzenov turned to Lt. Collins. “Some fun, da?”

Lt. Collins chuckled lightly. “No... but it definitely lets you know you’re alive!”

When the 0700 meeting convened, everyone was present except Lt. Faller who was still missing. Major Silver could see that Lt. Collins and Lt. Vahzenov were nearly exhausted.

As the briefing was nearly over, Lt. Faller came in looking like he hadn’t slept in days and had just crawled out of a grease pit. “Sorry to interrupt, Major. Lieutenant Faller reporting in.”

The assembled officers all turned as he took his normal seat next to Captain McKenna. Major Silver nodded to Lt. Faller. “Welcome back, Lieutenant. Do you have anything to report?”

Lt. Faller could barely keep his eyes open, but he managed to stand and deliver his report just the same. “Well, I took jobs posing as a maintenance crewman on both shuttles. I can definitely tell that the Buccaneer is not space worthy. Her transit drive is indeed burned out and looks like it’s been that way for some time. I don’t think it’s a cover-up. If it is, not even their technicians know about it.”

Major Silver nodded. “What about the Triumph?”

Lt. Faller looked down in thought before proceeding. “Well, I examined her logs and talked to her crew. If they brought in anyone on their last trip in, they aren’t talking and they hid it well. Fuel logs indicate that they only bought replacement fuel for an unloaded flight in. If they had come in fully loaded, they would have burned a lot more than they replaced.” He shrugged. “But then, they could have brought extra with them to hide it. They have spare fuel bladders, but that’s not unusual, a lot of Dropships do.”

Major Silver looked at his disheveled Intelligence officer. “Very well. Go get some rest Lieutenant. A full report can wait.” He turned back to the assembled staff. “Seeing as how the situation has calmed down some, the evening briefing is hereby canceled. We’ll reinstate it if it becomes necessary again. If there is nothing else?” He looked around the room and saw no responses. “Very well, dismissed.”

When 1900 hours rolled around, the senior staff were all collected in the Comstock’s briefing room as usual. Captain Thorpe was teleconferenced in from his bed in the MASH tents. Major Silver walked in and looked at the monitor display. “Evening Captain Thorpe. Goodbye.” As he reached up and killed the connection. Everyone went dead silent.

Captain McKenna spoke up first. “Sir, if I may. I know you told us that this would be a secret meeting, but Randall is a part owner and third in command. He has a right to know what’s going on.”

Major Silver turned to his XO. “I know, Major but we have a security leak and right now I need this contained.” He turned to Lt. Collins. “Report what you told me, lieutenant.”

Lt. Collins stood up. “Well, it took Chi Lin and I the better part of today to even crack part of the cipher the collage uses for secured documents, but we cracked enough to know that they obtained a full copy of our battle ROMs covertly.”

Lt. Faller spoke up. “If I may sir, I set up the private link to Major Thorpe’s bedside myself. There is no way it could be tampered with or monitored and me not know it.”

Captain McKenna turned to her Commanding Officer. “With all due respect sir, I think that Major Thorpe needs to be a part of this.”

Major Silver sighed. “Lieutenant Faller. Can you guarantee to me that there is no way that someone could eavesdrop on the feed going to Major Thorpe?”

Lt. Faller stiffened. “No sir, I cannot guarantee it, however I’d stake my reputation on it.”

“Fine.” Major Silver capitulated. “Bring him back up.”

Lt. Faller reconnected the vid-link and entered the security scramble code. A moment later Captain Thorpe was back on the conference screen after securing his end of the link. “Am I invited in?” He snidely asked.

“The Major was concerned about security because we have a leak, Randall.” Captain McKenna retorted. “Cycle your coolant.”

“Lieutenant Collins.” Major Silver began again. “What else did you learn?”

“Well,” He continued, “we figured out that whoever they are that attacked us, the PCTB doesn’t know who they are. The way what we can see of how the report reads, they’re as anxious as we are to find out who they are.”

Lt. Faller spoke up. “How much of the report have you deciphered?”

Lt. Collins shrugged. “About 80%. There are still a lot of code words that we don’t know what they mean. It’s all a matter of context. They use code words to refer to places and people that we don’t know what they refer to. Piecing it together is like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle when you don’t know how the pieces fit or what the final picture is.”

Major Silver nodded. “Keep on it. You and Sergeant Chi Lin have duty off until you figure out everything you can.” He turned to Lt. Faller. “Joe, give them a hand if you can.”

Lt. Faller nodded. “Will do.”

Major Silver looked worried. “Ok, who could have gained access to our battle ROMs?”

Captain McKenna spoke up. “Well, after the battle they were pulled for analysis. The data was loaded onto the Comstock’s computer.”

Lt. Faller interrupted. “That means any of the Dropship crew could have copied the data before it was purged. On top of that, there are the techs and astechs themselves. Any one of whom could have gotten the data as they worked on our machines.”

Major Silver shook his head. “We have a spy in our midst. Discussion of important information is to be kept to Staff Officers only for now. That includes repair operations and patrol schedules. I know it’ll be a pain, but until we figure out were the leak is, we need to contain the potential damage. Dismissed.”

As the officers filed out, Major Silver stopped Lt. Faller on the way out. “Joe, I need you to do something for me.”

Lt. Faller closed the door to the briefing room. “What do you need?”

Major Silver looked like he was about to commit treason. “I need you to dig up everything you can about Jan. I need to know if there is any way she could be connected to all this.”

Joe furrowed his brow. “You know I’ll do what needs to be done. I may find out things you won’t like.”

Major Silver nodded. “I know, Joe. I can take it. I just need to know that I haven’t left myself blind. Whatever you find out, tell me.”

Joe nodded. “Will do, sire.” At that he saluted and left Major Silver alone.

When the staff officers met again the following evening, Lt. Faller met Major Silver in the hallway as he was about to enter.

“Sir, that matter you asked me to look into?”

Major Silver felt his skin grow cold and could feel his heart begin to race. “Go ahead.”

Lt. Faller sighed. “Well to start with, I can rule her out as being the spy. I have numerous eyewitnesses that can account for her whereabouts during the time we had the data on the Dropship. She also never had unrestricted access to all of our ROMs. That means she can’t possibly have gotten copies of them all.”

Major Silver breathed a sigh of relief at those words, yet he could tell that his long-time friend had more. “There’s something else though, isn’t there?”

Lt. Faller nodded. “Unfortunately yes, sir. I did some digging around in the files I picked up from AFFC records. Some of those files were commercial Dropship records through FedCom space. I ran a search on Lt. Hernandez prior to her having joined up. It seems that while we were on Irian, that’s where she was headed. When we got off Irian and headed for Outreach, she transferred her ticket for Outreach as well.”

Major Silver felt a knot building up in his throat, but something bothered him about the idea. “You mean that you think she was deliberately seeking us out? That long ago when we were a lowly Merc Lance?”

Lt. Faller shook his head. “No, I mean I think she was deliberately seeking you out.”

Major Silver wasn’t yet convinced. “Yes, but couldn’t it just be coincidence? I mean, that was right as Outreach was declared the new Merc hiring hall.”

Lt. Faller shook his head. “She had a prepaid ticket from New Syrtis to Irian, no further. I checked financial records and she put herself in severe debt to get the trip paid for. When she cashed her ticket in to get a new one to Outreach, it set her back even further. The timing is what is telling. She changed tickets at Axton only two hours after the Axton HPG received a regularly scheduled transmission block. Back-tracking the HPG routes and schedules, I figured out that if someone spotted you at the nadir station after we jumped into Van Diemen from Irian, the message would have reached her on that transmission cycle.”

Major Silver still looked puzzled. “But why me?”

Lt. Faller sighed. “It wouldn’t have taken too much to find out that an heir to the Duchy of Negushevo was heading home from a doomed fight on the Clan Front. Your little mission did draw some press as I recall, especially among the scandal-vids that eat the whole ‘noble warrior-knight’ line up like candy.”

Major Silver sighed in exasperation. He couldn’t help but wonder if his new wife had sought him out simply because of his title and he never suspected it. She had always seemed so clueless when it came to social matters. She was no fool, but it was almost common knowledge that his wife just simply ‘didn’t get it’ when it came to social situations. He just couldn’t picture Jan as the ‘gold digger’ type. Am I just letting my feelings cloud my judgement? Could she be that good at hiding her true self?

He nodded to Lt. Faller. “Thanks Joe. I’ll think about it and try to figure out what to do. Let me handle it from here.” Joe nodded as they entered the briefing room where everyone waited.

“We managed to decipher about all we can from the documents we copied.” Lt. Collins began. “The only other relevant piece of information we were able to obtain was that the information came from an informant code named ‘Raptor’. The informant is referred to in a tense that suggests that it is not someone planted in the unit, but someone who they were able to ‘do business with’.”

Major Silver nodded. “So, what we have is not a spy, but a sell-out.”

Lt. Faller shrugged. “To be honest sir, I think I can shed some light here.” He stopped and lit a cigarette. “Look at it from the Garrison’s point of view. We get here on contract to guard the factory movement. On the first day of our contract, there’s a major incident that makes them look bad. We say that there was an entire Infantry Regiment on that bridge, but the news footage shows only civvies. There are two ways you can look at things from their viewpoint; one, that we’re telling the truth and there is indeed a rogue unit operating on Pandora that they know nothing about, or two that we’re making up the whole thing to mask our own mistakes.”

Captain McKenna continued the thought. “Or three, that we are actually a part of some conspiracy to discredit the FedCom.”

Major Silver thought for a moment. “I think you may be right there, Joe. In fact, if I were in their shoes I just might do the same thing.”

Lt. Chekov spoke up next. “But why not just ask us for copies of our ROMs? Why the cloak-and-dagger bit?”

Lt. Faller turned to the Armor commander. “Because ROMs can be faked. They wanted a source they thought they could trust to get them a copy of unaltered data. That way they could know with greater assurance that we weren’t lying.”

Major Silver added. “Or setting them up. Good point. What of ‘Raptor’? I still don’t like that someone in the unit sold us out for a bribe.”

Captain Thorpe spoke up first. “Well if I may sir, it’s the nature of mercenaries. Every single person in our ranks is here for a paycheck, not for national pride.”

Major Silver looked to the vid-screen. “True, but I’d like to think of the Silver Eagles as more of a family than a simple mercenary business. Yes, we have to make ends meet, but I’d rather know that the guys backing me up aren’t going to sell out for a quick C-bill.”

They were interrupted when the intercom toned. Being an unofficial and secret meeting, it had to be Captain Friedrich as he was the only one who knew the meeting was even taking place that wasn’t in the room. Major Silver reached down and touched the com panel, but didn’t speak.

“Major.” Began Captain Friedrich. “You there?”

Major Silver replied lightly. “I’m here, Darious. What’s up?”

Darious’s tone was ominous. “You’d better get up here.”

“Oh hell, now what?” Major Silver cried. “Be right there.” He clicked the coms off. “Dismissed. Captain McKenna, you’re with me.”

As the two entered the bridge, Captain Friedrich gestured to them from the tracking console. “Over here Majors.”

The two approached slowly, unsure of what to expect. Captain Friedrich stood up. “Space track just picked up a Dropship on an escape course from Needgate starport. Her readings match up with a Triumph class under heavy load.”

Major Silver turned to Petty Officer Ramirez. “Comtech, get me the Collage, or Needgate Starport, or the Forth Guards... whoever you can get on a moment’s notice.”

A moment later, PO Ramirez replied, “I have Needgate Space Control sir.”

Major Silver did his best to hide his anger. “Needgate Control, this is Major Kevin Silver of the Silver Eagles aboard the Comstock. We’re tracking a Triumph Class Dropship that just took off from your Starport. Can you identify them?”

Static hissed across the room as the reply came back. “Comstock, this is Needgate Control. The Dropship took off three minutes ago without a flight plan and after we warned her from taking off without clearance. She was unresponsive. Can you intercept?”

Major Silver scowled. “Is there anything we can do, Captain?”

Darious Friedrich looked over at his navigator’s console. “I don’t think so, Major. They’re on an outbound vector at 3 G’s. Given the distance they’re at, even if we scrambled fighters now, they’d get one pass and then be dead in space. It would be a one-way trip.”

Major Silver thought for a moment, calculating the navigation permutations. If they’re burning 3 G’s on an escape course, our fighters could catch them by burning 4 G’s... but then by the time our fighters caught up with the Dropship, they’d get one pass and fly past them. They’d also be nearly out of fuel and not have enough to even slow down. They’d also be on an escape trajectory out of the system... we’d have to lift the Comstock off and chase them down, hopefully catching them before they ran out of air or hit something. Those kinds of rendezvous in deep space are tricky even for two Dropships with fuel to burn, let alone combat fighters adrift at high speed.

“No.” He finally said. “We’ll have to let them go. See if the Jim Bridger can track them to their Jumpship.” Looking over at Ramirez, he nodded to open the comline. “Needgate Control, this is Major Silver. We cannot effectively intercept. If the other planetary forces cannot intercept, I recommend that the Dropship be tagged for criminal charges on next sighting. Major Silver out.”

Major Silver looked at the navigation plot. “If I read this right, they’re making s-turns to disguise their eventual stop point, somewhere about 40-50° above the local plane of the ecliptic, on an azimuth between 260-270° right?” Captain Friedrich nodded as Major Silver continued. “They likely have a Jumpship out there, or due to jump out there, somewhere well outside the minimum safe distance. We wouldn’t even have a clue how far out until they turn around. For all intents and purposes, they’re already uncatchable.”

Captain Friedrich sat up straight. “Pretty much Major. Unfortunately, it’s the nature of the beast. It’s a tactic well understood from the days when Jumpships were fair game for combat. No one bothers anymore because Jumpships and to a certain extent even Dropships are non-combatants. For some reason, these guys feel the need to revive the practice. Maybe they think we’d do the unthinkable and attack their transport.”

Captain McKenna turned and left the bridge without a word.

Major Silver looked off at nothing for a moment in thought. “Either that or they just don’t want us to know who’s picking them up. A jump signature from a couple dozen AUs is pretty generic. They don’t want to be IDed.”

Major Silver slammed his fist against the bulkhead. “Who the hell are these people?” Collecting himself, he turned to PO Ramirez. “Comtech, I want an emergency meeting in the briefing room immediately, all Staff officers and Intelligence personnel.” At that, he turned and left the bridge.

When Major Silver walked into the briefing room at 2100 hours, he looked around to see who was present. Captain McKenna, Lt. Faller, Lt. Vahzenov, and Staff Sgt. Chi Lin were seated on one side of the table with Lt. Chekov, Lt. Windsor, Lt. Jones, and Lt. Collins on the other. Taking his place at the head of the table, Major Silver nodded to Lt. Faller who walked over and opened up their secure line to Captain Thorpe’s bedside com interface.

Lt. Faller nodded to the Major. “We’re secure here.”

Major Silver sighed. “All right people, it looks like our quarry made good their escape. Lieutenant Windsor, what’s the legal situation for taking our security personnel into the Starport to look for signs of our missing people?”

Lt. Windsor shrugged. “It’s a jurisdictional problem. We have no civil jurisdiction to run an operation that has no bearing on our contract.”

Major Silver looked exasperated. “What about the Starport’s security cameras? Can’t we make claim for the footage based on our contract’s stipulation of Independent Command authority? We might find evidence concerning our missing people in that footage.”

Lt. Faller spoke up. “If I may sir, based on the total lack of footage of their grounding, I’d be willing to bet that there was similarly no coverage of anyone boarding that ship. I mean, it can’t hurt to look, but I’ll bet they were conducting another maintenance cycle when the troops boarded her. Either that or they would have taken steps to see to it that the security system was disabled. That’s what I’d do in their shoes.”

Major Silver looked ready to explode. “Well, what can we do? Just hire new pilots and be done with it?” He tried to regain his composure as the day’s events began to weigh down on him. Finally he let out a long breath and continued. “As of this moment, I want Intelligence to devote to finding any sign of what may have happened to our Mechwarriors. The rest of the unit will proceed on with normal operations.” He turned to Lt. Vahzenov. “Lieutenant, do you know where I might be able to get a bottle of Regulan Vodka before tomorrow?”

Lt. Vahzenov smiled. “Da. I jus happened to haf gotten a few bottles before ve left League space.”

Captain McKenna turned to Major Silver. “Getting drunk won’t fix anything, sir.”

Major Silver turned to Captain McKenna. “It’s not for me. Major, I want you to arrange a meeting with Kommandant Hubbard and myself before he leaves tomorrow. Beyond that, the meeting is yours.” He then turned and left the briefing room.

Taking Major Silver’s place at the head of the table, Captain McKenna began. “Alright, does anyone have anything to add here?”

Captain Thorpe cleared his throat. “Well, it occurs to me that they might have left because one or more of our missing Mechwarriors got free and was heading here to let us know where they were hiding out. It would explain why they seemed to have left in such a hurry.”

Lt. Faller shook his head in disagreement. “I think this wasn’t done in haste. I think it was likely just the next step in their plans, whatever they were. If the engagement was the sole reason they were here, there was no point in them sticking around any longer than they had to. We were beginning to close in on them, running daily Recon and even set to put up our satellite.”

Lt. Collins continued the thought. “That means that the Triumph was just sitting around waiting for them to need their ticket off-planet. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense if they were the ones that brought them here in the first place. It would have just been a matter of time before someone came up with proof and nailed them to the wall with it.”

Joe Faller nodded. “With all likelihood, that ship will never be seen again. Well, not and still be recognizable as the same ship. It’s not easy, but doable.”

Captain McKenna jotted something down. “Very well, your opinions have been noted. Anything else?”

The group fell silent as they looked around to see if anyone had any ideas. Their silence was deafening.

“Alright.” McKenna finished. “Dismissed.”

The next day, Major Silver found himself waiting at the Starport for Kommandant Hubbard to arrive. With him was Corporal Mark "Ace" Layard of Second Marine Squad. Sgt. Major Spanner had insisted that the Major not go unescorted. No fewer than seven times, they had been stopped and searched by Starport security. The extra precautions no doubt due to the arrival of Hauptmann-General Steven Merriam and departure of Kommandant Hubbard.

As the two waited, Major Silver turned to the Corporal. “If anyone asks again, just tell them I’m Baron Silver here to see off Kommandant Hubbard. I hate using nobility as a wedge, but maybe they’ll leave us alone then!”

Corporal Layard nodded. “Aye, sir.” He felt marginally exposed without even his sidearm, but his hand-to-hand training made him feel confident to take down anyone threatening his Commanding Officer.

When Kommandant Hubbard finally arrived, he walked up to Major Silver and shook his hand. “It is very good of you to see me off, Major.”

Major Silver smiled and handed the Kommandant the bottle of vodka. “The pleasure is mine, though I’m sorry to see you leave. Hopefully, when you return we can work on those joint exercises we talked about.”

Taking the bottle and scrutinizing it, he turned back to Major Silver. “I look forward to that. I’ll keep this until I can share it with you, Major. It has been a pleasure, in spite of the circumstances.” Once again he shook Major Silver’s hand, bowed slightly and proceeded on to board his flight out of the system.

Major Silver turned to his Marine escort. “Let’s get back to business.” At that they both returned to the VTOL where Sgt. Titus waited to take them back to the Silver Eagles’ compound.

Days passed uneventfully. Security patrols and search parties turned up nothing, no trace of where their missing Mechwarriors had gone. The only sign of where the Triumph had gone was a weak jump signature of an Invader class Jumpship that had jumped into a point over 1,100 AUs distant. Even if they could jump out to intercept them, the ship would just jump away rather than face capture. By the time her signature had reached the Deep Space tracking stations, over 152 hours had passed; enough time for the Jumpship to have recharged safely off her fusion drive allowing instant escape. Even if it meant abandoning their passengers on the Triumph on their 60+ day transit, it would ensure that no one would ever learn who was responsible.

It was the perfect escape plan.

After two full weeks with no sign of further disruption, a memorial service was held for the five missing Mechwarriors. Their names were added to the Silver Eagle’s “Last Full Measure” wall aboard the Comstock. They were only listed as Missing in Action. After that, things settled down to a more or less routine. A meeting had been scheduled with Hauptmann-General Merriam on the first of April to discuss training with the Pandora Collage Training Battalion.

The Silver Eagles were offered the use of the training facilities of the Pandora Collage of Military Sciences. They took the opportunity to train their Infantry Company in anti-BattleMech tactics. Though this move would increase costs and upkeep for the Infantry, it was felt that the versatility would make the Battalion more desirable as a whole, allowing more lucrative contract offerings. By early July, the Infantry were deemed fully capable of anti-BattleMech action.

In the mean time, Major Silver, Captain McKenna, and Captain Thorpe set up an Officer Candidacy Program, allowing members of the Silver Eagles with appropriate skills to earn a commission and become Aerospace pilots and Mechwarriors. While there were no end of applicants, the program managed to weed the candidates down to only a few skilled personnel in a few weeks. This would eventually allow the Silver Eagles a measure of independence should they be caught with injured or killed Mechwarriors in the future.

In late April, word of the Red Corsair attacks on Pasig reached Pandora. The Fourth Davion Guards were placed on heightened alert along with most units along the Clan Boarder. When word reached Pandora of the attack on Zhongshan in late May, tensions were running high all along the border. As reports of Jade Falcon troop movements were reported with over three Galaxies of Front-line troops moving up to the border worlds, moral began to suffer as the continual high alert status ran the Silver Eagles ragged.


When word reached Pandora of the assassination of Melissa Steiner-Davion, along with word of the Red Corsair’s attack on Deia, near-riots and prolonged protests broke out in Needgate. The Silver Eagles offered to help secure the city, but the local police and security forces declined the offer, citing the incident on the causeway as reason. It was felt that such a move would only make the local population resent their presence even more. In the end, the Silver Eagles sat out the ordeal and kept to their defensive operations guarding the factory complex.

That’s where we ended this week. Next week we’ll finish up the contract on Pandora and see where they want to go from there.

We’re picking up the pace and will start covering a great deal of time in very short updates. This will accelerate us up toward the current timeline a lot faster than we’ve been going. As it is, we’ve been playing things out at a snail’s pace, taking five Real Life™ years to cover three in-game years. (3052-3055) We’ll slow down for real role-play when it’s called for, but hopefully we won’t be languishing in the past for too much longer. ;)

Comments welcome as always.

[Taron Storm]

post 56 is same as post 64
post 57 is same as post 65

[McKenna]

So they are. Thank you. I should never post when I've been up all night.  correcting now.  :-[

[Taron Storm]

You are welcome.  Enjoying the story very much.

[McKenna]

OK, on to the next arc. Posted as it appeared.

---------------------------------

Ok, I know you have all been patient, but this took quite a bit of doing to get’er done. Enjoy!

Edit 10-7-05: Sorry about the vague intro. Hope this is better.
Edit 31-8-05: Further cleanup correcting a few minor errors.

The Contract on Pandora ended when the Quikscell factory completed shipping to an undisclosed location. The only outcome of the whole event was a minor report that issued that Quikscell Corporation was no longer satisfied that a Factory anywhere in the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth was safe. Red Devil Industries agreed to purchase the Factory complex from Quikscell in exchange for 500 billion Kroner in stocks and with the financial support of Pandora Nobility. It was not known where the Factory was moved to, but wherever it was, it was now the property of Red Devil Industries. Quikscell was satisfied with the 500 billion Kroner and intended to use the capital to improve their factory complex in the Sarna March. No sign of their missing pilots ever turned up, nor any solid explanation for why they were taken in the first place. Even more important was that the whole reason for the attack remained a total mystery.

Once free of their contract, the Silver Eagles took a contract agreement in the Draconis Combine out of the world of Wolcott: a Diversionary Raid on the world of Outer Volta. The contract had no pay, no support, and no compensation of any kind. What it did have was 100% salvage rights and an opportunity for a small unit like the Silver Eagles to make a name for themselves. They spent from September 1st through December 8th in transit to Wolcott to take the contract. While en-route, Jan Hernandez-Silver gave birth to Joseph Alecsander Silver on October 15th, 3055. Once they reached Wolcott, they stayed until December 26th, preparing for their mission. Baron Silver's son remained on Wolcott while they launched their mission.

Outer Volta, Smoke Jaguar Occupation Zone
January 3rd, 3056

The Jim Bridger materialized over the occupied world of Outer Volta. Having jumped into a pirate point in the L1 zone over the planet, they were glad to still be in one piece between the planet and its type G8 star. Having jumped in from Wolcott where they got briefed on the particulars of their mission, the Silver Eagles prepared for the worst. They were to jump to Outer Volta, engage the ground forces there, and make them cry for help from one of the neighboring systems. All this to draw the 3rd Jaguar Cavaliers away from Hyner while a strike force was ready to hit there.

Captain Marta Kaufmann turned to her XO. “Lieutenant Wingate, secure from jump and order engineering to begin charging the drive, maximum safe rate.”

Lt. Wingate nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” She reached over her console and called up the intercom for the engineering section of the Scout class Jumpship. “Lieutenant Callaway, begin fusion charge. 141 hour timeframe.” Lt. Wingate was glad that the Scout class Jumpship could charge safely much more quickly than most other Jumpships, even if it was only by a day and a half.

Captain Kaufmann turned to the other person on the bridge. “Mister Demos, do we have any contacts yet?”

Petty Officer Tyrone Demos continued to stare at the ‘waterfall’ display showing passive sensor readings. As he watched the fading effects of their jump in, several sections of the display began to resolve into recognizable indicators. “Affirmative, ma’am. Contact, designating Sierra-Juliet One, bearing one-eight-zero mark eight-zero-four-seven-eight, distance approximately 761 million kilometers. Zenith point. Reads large, length triangulates at 839 meters, mass near 850,000 tons.”

Captain Kaufmann swallowed hard. That’s much bigger than any Jumpship... that’s a Warship! Collecting herself, she continued. “What does the Warbook say?”

Lt. Wingate had already taken the data and started running it through the ship’s database of known ships. It quickly hit on the design. Her voice took on an ominous tone as she replied, “She’s a Cameron Class Battlecruiser Captain.”

Captain Kaufmann exhaled heavily. “What’s her best speed?”

The XO breathed a sigh of relief. “Warbook says she can only make 1.5 Gs, Captain. That puts her a minimum of 126 hours out!” Her smile evaporated into a frown. “Unless of course the Clans improved her engines.”

“If they have,” Captain Kaufmann concluded after running a few numbers through the navigation computer, “we’ll know in about 85 minutes. If they have improved them to say 2.5 Gs, then best arrival time puts her about 98 hours out. We can push that, but it’ll be a little risky. No matter, either way, we’re jumping before she gets here.”

“Contact! Sierra-Juliet Two and Three.” Petty Officer Demos interrupted. “Bearing one-eight-zero-five mark eight-zero-five-three-zero-three, distance approximately 491 million kilometers and increasing at a rate of 2,300 km per second. Faint drive signs. Mass of each near 11-12 thousand tons.”

As Captain Kaufmann turned to her XO, she replied quickly after searching the computer. “Dropships. Warbook has two Clan designs near that weight, the Titan Fighter Carrier and the Overlord-C. The former can push 4 Gs, the latter only 2.5. At that distance they should be well past turn-around and into reverse thrust, almost 4 days out and moving in the wrong direction for an intercept.”

Captain Kaufmann nodded and punched a few numbers into the ship’s Navigational Computer. “Navcomp plots a minimum intercept time of 83 hours if either one is a Titan and they pull a 4-G continuous burn intercept. Even if they pull a 4-G quick stop in 16 hours and then a 2.5-G intercept, that can get them here in 100 hours. Best time for a 2.5-G continuous burn intercept would take 113 hours. Inform Engineering to rig for a 100 hour charge, we’ll have to push it a little.” She turned back to the engineer. “Mister Demos, any other contacts?”

“Negative.” He responded. “No other passive indications. If there’s anything else out there, it’s too small to see while not moving.”

“Very well.” She finished. “Open a channel to the Comstock.”

Captain Friedrich cleared his throat. “This is Comstock Actual, go ahead.”

Captain Kaufmann was very curt in reply. “Captain, we are stable and ready to drop you. Sensors show possible intercept within 100 hours. You’ll have 87 hours ground-time after transit. We have begun quick-charge, ETC 01:00 Tuesday January 8, 3056. If you aren’t here by then, we might not be here to take you out.”

“Roger that, Bridger Actual.” Replied Darious. “Ready to disembark. Release clamps in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Mark!”

The Dropship shuttered and floated free. After a few small maneuvers, the main engines fired up and the Comstock began its six hour flight to the planet below.

“Fire Leader! Move to grid 2187 and begin saturation fire of grid 1774!” Captain McKenna fought to control her Grasshopper and keep her feet under her. The whole ‘Mech Company had dropped practically on top of the Smoke Jaguar formation. Within seconds, honor duels had been tossed aside and a melee had begun. The Silver Eagles lost one ‘Mech and pilot in the first few seconds of battle; one of their Phoenix Hawks took fire from a Jaguar Hunchback IIC, coring out the center of the ‘Mech with a single shot from one of its massive autocannons and decapitating it with the other. After that, the Silver Eagles flew into a fury, smashing into the Jaguars with everything they had.

As she analyzed the tactical situation, Captain McKenna’s blood ran cold at a fearsome sight. From over the rise, a Dire Wolf strode onto the battlefield.

“Attention lucre-warriors. I am Star Colonel Aaron Wimmer, commander of the Seventh PGC. Who leads this mob of Freebirths who have the honor to die this day?”

Captain McKenna keyed open a reply frequency. “Star Colonel Aaron Wimmer, I am Captain Erin McKenna of the Silver Eagles. I lead my warriors this day. I would challenge you to honorable combat, if your dezgra underlings would stop their dishonorable mass attacks. Do you accept my challenge?”

Laughter filled the open frequency. “You talk too much like a Clansman for a worthless barbarian. Who was your teacher? Some worthless Falcon or Wolf? We are not so blind as they. You will have no honorable combat here today, you are undeserving of it. But if you prefer, I will kill you myself so that your pitiful little band can be put to death quickly.” The Dire Wolf stopped and raised its arms to fire. Four bright green flashes leapt from them, arcing across the landscape and carving gaping rents in McKenna’s already damaged ‘Mech. With the fury of the lasers still boiling armor off her legs and torso, 60mm autocannon shells began exploding all over her ‘Mech, deepening the wounds. The attack was nearly flawless, and almost made her lose her footing again, but she managed to stay up and return fire with her five-tube LRM and Heavy Laser of her own. The damage looked pitiful on the Assault ‘Mech compared to the savage beating she’d just taken. Very well, I’ll introduce him to the true meaning of ‘barbarian’...

Surging forward, McKenna brought Dreoilin to a full run, closing to only 180 meters so fast that the Clan machine seemed to actually looked surprised. Triggering a full spread from her fearsome arsenal of eight Diplan M3 Medium Lasers. With amazing efficiency she carved dozens of rents into the thick torso of the 100-ton Clan war machine. The audacity of her attack left the Jaguar commander stunned a moment, but his retribution was fierce. Unleashing four Medium Pulse lasers, both autocannons, an LRM spread and one of his Large Lasers, the lasers tore into her right leg, melting the support bones and almost collapsing the leg from the weight of the ‘Mech. As the lasers did so, the Autocannon shells and missiles ripped holes on the arms, nearly ripping the axe in her left hand free and crushing one of her Diplan lasers. She managed to keep hold of the weapon and continued her headlong charge, knowing that it had to end now.

Backing up by 90 meters, Star Colonel Wimmer tried to keep his distance. But her rate of speed let her close to within reach of her axe. Triggering a full laser strike with her remaining weapons, the heat blasted her cockpit like a furnace and nearly setting off the Magna Fusion Engine’s safety shutdown. Carving more chunks out of the Assault machine, she raised her weapon high. The Star Colonel saw the barbaric weapon and fired a devastating array of weapons, trying to stop her deadly charge. Lasers, missiles, and autocannon shredded her ‘Mech’s remaining armor and dug deep into the sensitive interior. Weapon systems blinked offline one by one as the Dire Wolf’s arsenal gutted her machine. Even more heat blasted Captain McKenna as an autocannon burst shredded engine shielding. But nothing, not even the screaming warning of her computer that her heat levels were critical would stop the inevitable.

She brought the Axe down perfectly, crushing the Head assembly with the force of a Gauss Rifle. Driving the Head down into the torso, the force of her blow smashed the ‘Mech’s feet down into the soil a good meter before inertia and mass took over, toppling the massive war machine onto its back.

With the rush of cool air, Captain McKenna realized she was rocketing out of her ‘Mech. Below her, LRM missiles still in their bin exploded out the CASE panels, saving the ‘Mech from utter destruction, but it was for naught. As it fell forward, the force of its fall shattered the remains of the central support structure. Her beloved Dreoilin came apart like a house of cards.

As the battle raged around her while she tried to escape the field, she saw that Lt. Faller had taken command of the company. Lt. Vahzenov’s Quickdraw was being pulled off the field by the Orion and Anvil of Command Lance. As she watched, Lt. JG Morander Collins in the heavily hammered Executioner drew fire off the recovery effort. Blasting away with both PPCs and his Large Pulse Laser, a distant Summoner was cut in half. Barely noticed was the fast moving Hankyu. It blazed up to point blank range and flanked the Executioner, letting loose with a quartet of extended range medium lasers and a pair of pulse lasers. The lasers dug into the already savaged right side of the Assault OmniMech, striking the engine shielding and adding to the damage done to the engine shielding on the left side from earlier. The ‘Mech shuttered and fell backward, crashing to the ground with a roar.

As the next minutes passed, Captain McKenna made her way to the prearranged rendezvous point. As the Jaguars pressed the attack, the Silver Eagles fell back, trading shots at range. However, time was on the side of the Silver Eagles. The Comstock had landed and artillery shells began to rain down on the Jaguar’s positions. Unable to push onward, the remaining Jaguar forces fell back to their defensive formation of support vehicles. Though neither side could claim a victory, the simple fact that the Jaguars had lost their commanding officer was a moral victory that the Silver Eagles would use to push themselves onward.

Six hours later, the Silver Eagles had assembled their full Battalion, or rather, what was left of it after the initial losses. With two ‘Mechs missing from Assault and Strike lance, they were not exactly up to the task of an assault. Sven and his tech teams managed a minor miracle though. They had managed to retrieve the Executioner from the field and repaired the engine shielding and patched the armor enough to get it marginally operational.

Captain McKenna entered the quickly assembled HQ tent to meet with Major Silver. As she approached, she heard static coming over the communication system’s speakers, interspersed with the voice of acting Air Wing Leader, Lt. SG Danielle Tucker and a smattering of other members of their air wing.

“Flash! Get............uy off of my six!”

“Rogue! Break right! Break right! Break right! Damnit! Where the hell is that ADA!”

“Recon Air Wing! Zero coming up on you, 9 o’clock low! Locking up that ‘Hawk............ns, guns, guns!”

“Silver Control! Now in position! Clear to fire!”

Lt. SG Jan Hernandez-Silver calmly keyed the mic at the console. “Roger. Commencing fire.” She turned and nodded to the Corporal next to her who dashed out of the tent. A moment later, a deafening roar filled the camp as four Imperator Code Red LB 10-X Autocannons and four Imperator Smoothie Light Autocannons lit up the early morning sky in saturation fire. Added to that were timed flak shells from the three massive Long Tom cannons in the nose of the Comstock.

“Splash one! Correction, Splash three!” Came the jubilant voice of Lt. Tucker. “They’re pulling back! You are a go!”

The tent erupted in cheers and then a flurry of activity as Mechwarriors ran for their ‘Mechs. Finally turning to Captain McKenna, Major Silver frowned. “Sorry you’ll have to sit this one out, Captain. You have the Base. I’m mounting up.”

Erin stood impassively. “With all due respect sir, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to lead this assault. We’re down three ‘Mechs and the Jags still have enough Toads to rip us up one side and down the other. If anyone has to eject out there, They are going to get cut to ribbons.”

Major Silver shook his head as he donned his coolant vest. “If we weren’t down three ‘Mechs already, I would. As it is, the four ‘Mechs of Command Lance will do more good out there than resting comfortably here. We’ve cleared the sky overhead for the moment, so we’re mobilizing the entire Battalion. ‘Mechs, Armor, and Infantry. If we hit them now, we might be able to take out a good chunk of their Elemental forces here. We might not get a chance this good.”

McKenna shook her head. “You honestly think one more ‘Mech out there will make the difference? Or is it that you can’t stand the idea of commanding from the rear? Damn it Kevin, you have a family!”

“Damn right I do, Erin.” He snapped back. “They’re called ‘The Silver Eagles’. I belong out there Erin, not here sitting on my cushion. I have to do what I can to safeguard this Battalion, just the same as if it were my own blood out there.” He looked out of the tent to his Marauder. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a job to do, and so do you. Carry on.”

Filled with frustration, Erin slammed her hand down on the map table, nearly cracking the surface.

“Armor Two! Armor Four! They’re on you! Move! Move! Move!” Major Silver screamed into his com system. But it was too late. He watched in horror as a mass of dozens of Jaguar Elementals almost tore the two M-21 tanks to pieces in seconds. One was on top of Tank Two, drilling into the hatch with the laser that formed the end of its right arm. With a sick feeling welling up inside as he tried to close to weapon range, all he could do is watch as the hatch caved in. The clawed hand ripped the hatch aside and another Elemental next to him stuffed his arm into the hole. Gouts of flame billowed out of the hatch and out tiny breaches in the hull as superheated flames saturated the interior of the tank.

Tank Two’s com line went dead the same moment. A moment later, Tank Four’s did the same. Glancing over at the other tank, he was horrified to see that an Elemental had pulled Staff Sergeant Allie Handel out of her tank. Without remorse, it crushed her skull with its clawed hand even as Sgt. Handel fired her Magnum Auto-Pistol at its visor slit.

As he finally reached to within firing range, he aimed for the Elemental that was now reaching once again into the tank. Triggering his left arm Clan-made PPC, it struck the Elemental dead center, exploding the suit in an instant. A moment later, a hail of fire followed his own as the rest of the ‘Mechs following him added their own form of vengeance. Within 30 seconds, the Elemental binary was decimated. None ran. None surrendered. And Major Silver wasn’t sure he would have cared if they had.

“So what’s the butcher’s bill, doc?” Captain McKenna asked as Lt. SG Benson came out of the White Whale MASH unit.

Dr. Benson stopped and leaned against a support pole and shook his head. “The members of Fourth Foot Squad never had a chance. They were DOA. Same goes for what was left of the poor bastards from First and Second Armor. We did manage to save the eight injured from First Jump Squad, though I have to admit if it weren’t for Corporal Diarte, several of them wouldn’t have lived.”

He took a long breath before continuing. “I do have some bad news there though. Staff Sergeant Lorra Vadnais lost both of her arms and Corporal Winters is totally paralyzed. When his PPC pack exploded, it severed his spine and took out a good 8 inches of spinal cord right below his shoulder blades. He won’t let us even mention the ‘C’ word... apparently he’d rather be a quadriplegic than submit to mechanical replacement therapy. Same goes for Sergeant Vadnais.”

Erin balked. “What is it with Leaguers and their hatred of cybernetics?”

Dr. Benson shook his head. “I don’t know. They think it makes them inhuman. It’s a cultural effect of their own choosing.” He let out a long breath. “Still, I’ll obey their wishes. I’m afraid you’ll have to find someone else to command Third Platoon, Captain.”

Erin nodded reluctantly. “I’ll inform Lieutenant O'Hare. You’ve had a bad enough day. Thanks doc.” She turned to leave.

Dr. Benson called after her. “Was it worth it, Captain?”

Erin stopped. She turned her head and spoke over her shoulder. “Yes, doctor. It was worth it.” And I’ll keep telling myself that until I believe it.

Ok, it’s not done yet. There are still several battles left for me to write up. (6 more in fact, plus the wrap up) But I figured if I didn’t post up something soon, you all would be going to detox. As always, enjoy!

[McKenna]

and more

Ok, sorry about the confusion there. My first paragraph should have been a little better of a descriptive than it turned out to be. Please re-read the new introduction paragraph above.

Anyway, here’s the second installment of the Outer Volta campaign. Going from bad to worse.

The Silver Eagles had been fighting the 7th Jaguar PGC for nearly 12 hours now. After the near tactical disaster against the Elemental Trinary guarding the Jaguar’s forward command base, the Silver Eagles pulled back to regroup and reorganize. The Jaguars still showed no signs of calling for help. In fact, the two Dropships that had been picked up on entry to the system, as well as the Cameron Class Battlecruiser, were showing no signs of trying to intercept. If the 7th was really hurting, they certainly weren’t telling anyone or calling for reinforcements.

This was not a part of the plan.

Major Silver rounded a low hill with the rest of Command Lance flanking him. With the destruction of three M-21s and two out for necessary repairs, the Armor Company had been reorganized into two platoons, one of which only had three tanks. As such, they were pulled back to support duty to safeguard the Infantry. The ‘Mech Company would take the brunt of attacks. The two remaining ‘Mechs of Strike Lance had taken point in following a convoy of Jaguar support tanks, hoping to catch them off guard and cut them apart one at a time. Unfortunately, the convoy had completely disappeared when they had reached a ferrocrete road.

Major Silver keyed up the command frequency for the Vulcan “Strike Support, any signs of contact?”

“Negative, Silver Actual.” Replied Lt. JG Barwick. “No signs. Looks like they must have gone south down this road, not north.”

Major Silver cursed. It makes no sense for them to have gone south! They must know that the Armor and Infantry are north. Why pass up the opportunity to hit them when they look vulnerable? His mind raced for an answer. “Strike Support, make best time to meet up with Armor and Infantry. We’ll cover your six and be there in five minutes. Silver Actual out.”

Two minutes later, he knew why.

“Incoming!” Screamed Staff Sergeant Marian Volk. As the foot soldiers scattered out of their prepared defenses, four Arrow IV missiles slammed into their position. Earthworks exploded into a shower of debris and fire. Picking herself up, she found the world totally silent, though she saw battle raging all around her. Grabbing her Intek Laser Rifle, she limped off toward one of the M-22 Infantry Fighting Vehicles. As she started toward it, she saw who she thought was Private Gates, the sole survivor of fourth squad from the second battle, pulling himself along the ground with his hands, his legs skewed off at an odd angle. Staggering toward him to help him reach the IFV, she watched as his legs stopped moving along the ground but the rest of him from mid-abdomen on had continued to crawl through the dirt. She reached him as he finally stopped crawling. Reaching around him, she flipped him over to discover that he was still alive.

She pulled out her field kit and reached inside, retrieving a dose of morphine. Jabbing it into his shoulder, she pulled her pack off and retrieved a set of magnesium tabs. Striking one against a rock, she mashed the igniting tab into the area of heaviest bleeding at the end of the stump that used to be where his hips were. Even through her heavily insulated gloves, she could feel the burning of her hand, but she pressed until she was sure she had cauterized the wound. Looking down, she saw that the most massive bleeding had stopped.

Slinging her pack and grabbing his hands, she started pulling him off toward the waiting IFV where she could see other members of her platoon were gathering. Corporal Layhe, he platoon’s medic and two other members of her squad were racing towards her, but she felt that they kept getting farther and farther away. The world began to dim as she continued to drag the body onward. She wasn’t sure just when she had fallen, but as she rolled her head around to try to figure out where Private Gates had gone, she managed to stay conscious just long enough to see Gates’ lifeless eyes.

Major Silver was racing into the battle zone just in time to see two Anhur take off after dropping several platoons of unarmored Clan Infantry into his own defenses. Laser rifles and assorted machine gun fire started peppering his Marauder from the new landlords of his trap. “All units! Close on the support vehicles! Gamma, cover me!” At that he ran forward toward the earthworks occupied by the Infantry Star, firing his Clan PPCs at the infantry, trying to make them keep their heads down.

As he approached the defenses, he switched over to his alternate target interlock. Once inside 60 meters, he let loose a withering array of five Olympian Flamers, running fire up along 180 meters of trenchworks. Dozens of Clan Infantry came running out of the trench, their entire bodies consumed in fire. A few that managed to avoid the deadly touch of flame started to rush his position, but were cut to ribbons when Lt. Josepho fired his Kali Yama LB 10-X Autocannon into their hopelessly exposed bodies. Those that managed to survive the cloud of cluster explosives were vaporized by the touch of one of the two Intek Medium Pulse Lasers he fired. In only twenty seconds, the two had managed to wipe out an entire Infantry Star with hardly a scratch.

As Lt. JG Alisha Calame raced her Phoenix Hawk toward the two Huitzilopochtli Tanks, she kicked in her MASC system to reach a speed of 130 kph. She fired all three of her lasers once in range at the Tank on the left, scoring armor off the front and shredding one of the two Artillery launchers there. Hoping to swing around behind them, she risked a second burst from her MASC system. She was horrified to hear the actuators seize as her ‘Mech slowed from a run to a dead stop in seconds. As she watched, the two tanks pivoted in place to bring their 60mm autocannons to bear on her now immobile ‘Mech. She triggered another burst from her lasers on the same tank, but only managed to damage turret armor with her TharHes Thunderbolt-12 Large Pulse Laser.

Seeing her doom she saw the two vehicles open up with their own pulse lasers and a stream of autocannon shells. Reaching down she pulled the ejection handle just in the nick of time as the massive weapons fire obliterated the center of her ‘Mech. Rupturing the hydrogen storage tank as well as the fusion engine casing, the superheated hydrogen blew out of the reactor, igniting a hydrogen fireball that consumed her ‘Mech in flames. When the flames reached the ammunition stores for the Machine gun and AMS, they began cooking off, blasting the entire left side of the ‘Mech into shards.

Lt. JG Kurt Barwick shoved his feet down on the pedals controlling the Vulcan’s Jump Jets. Feathering them evenly, he sailed over the two Artillery Tanks, coming down just behind them, ready to unleash his weapons into their weaker rear armor. His lasers and machine guns cut into the armor and even dug into the support frame of the tank, but it seemed that he failed to kill it with one blow.

Even as he triggered his own weapons, he was shoved into his command couch with a force so powerful he thought he had not been touching the ground when he cut off his jump jets. The only problem was that his damage indicator was now showing the fact that his left arm was now missing and the armor covering his rear center frame was gone. Then he felt a dozen or so small explosions blast into him as nearly every armor indicator along his rear arc started showing damage like it was being pealed off. Explosions started going off in the delicate interior of his Vulcan, just as his threat sensors registered the fact that two Oro Heavy Tanks were only 120 meters behind him. As his ‘Mech’s gyro tore itself apart, the autoeject system rocketed him skyward, sending him forward as his ‘Mech fell face first into the dirt.

As Lt. JG Joseph Titus screamed over the battlefield in the F-92e Stingray, he took aim at one of the Oro Tanks that could so threaten the rest of his Wing. Lining up perfectly, he unleashed his entire load of cluster bombs onto the target, pulling into a hard left bank to avoid return ground fire. The bombs detonated above the tank, spreading their hundreds of bomblets all over the area, detonating on contact with anything. Smoke streamed up from the tank, moments before the fire started lapping out of the ammo compartment. The Tank’s ammo stores detonated, venting their fury but leaving the Tank helpless.

As he swung back around over the battlefield, he saw a Ku Wheeled Assault Tank open fire on one of the M-21s of third platoon. The combination of the high-speed stream of 90mm autocannon shells and terrawatt-scale laser tore the right half of the tank to shreds, igniting the SRM missiles and blowing out the rear of the tank to add insult to injury. Finishing his sweep, he lined up on the Ku and triggered the quintet of pulse lasers and pair of extended range lasers along the ground. The lasers blasted the turret off the tank and scored armor off the front and side. Without its turret though, the Ku would be considerably less dangerous.

He opened a frequency to Major Silver after moving out of retaliation range. “Silver Actual, this is Air Support. Bombing run complete and we are bingo fuel. We’re heading home.”

Major Silver collapsed into his bunk. In the 17 hours since the Silver Eagles had landed, they had already racked up a significant number of casualties and damage. 21 dead, 47 wounded and ten of those are missing enough of their body that their career is over, 7 damaged or destroyed tanks, 3 destroyed ‘Mechs, 3 more damaged or out of action, and all we’ve managed to do is hit their ‘Mech stars kinda hard, take out some second-line vehicles, and injure or kill some of their infantry and Elementals. He felt the weight of the casualty reports most now, when he had time to think about it. These are good soldiers. I hope this is worth the price we’re paying.

He rolled over as Jan came into the room. “How we looking?”

Jan shrugged. “Alright. Everyone is antsy to get this one over with and get the hell off this rock though. Can’t blame them either. This mission stinks on ice. These Jags are nothing like the Falcons. With the Falcons you expected them to fight well, but they didn’t bombard us with artillery.” She continued to talk as she got undressed. “I thought Clans always fought honor duels?”

Kevin shook his head. “It depends. Some Clans have revoked their honor system when fighting Inner Sphere units, especially Mercenaries. They see us as disgraceful sell-swords that only want to use it to trick them and then turn it against them.” He sighed heavily in an effort to push past the feelings of loss of the past day.

Jan climbed into bed. “Well, lets hope they can’t take much more and call for help soon. The sooner they do and we get out of here, the better I’ll sleep.” She reached over and flicked the light off.

Captain McKenna had already gone to bed when Lt. Faller came into their shared room. He undressed in the dark without a sound and was nearly asleep when McKenna spoke.

“What time is it?”

Joe groaned out, “A little after twenty-hundred hours. Best intel has the Jags back at their base licking their wounds so everyone is catching some sack-time.”

McKenna rolled over. “Any new reports?”

Joe shook his head. “Nope. Their remaining air forces won’t get close to us after the loss of half their Star and their ground forces are too badly injured to likely risk a ground assault. Spanner is covering the watch along with Ian. Wish I had his stamina, I don’t know how he can stay awake after the prison-job we got today.”

McKenna slipped her arm around Joe. “You’re no slouch in that department.”

Joe chuckled. “You’re incorrigible.”

“No, but I am encouragable.” She retorted slyly.

Ten minutes later, the Comstock’s boarding alarms sounded.

“Hold your ground!” Sgt. Major Spanner yelled across the lower bay. “Here they come!”

The first sign of Jaguar Elementals had been a chance sighting by a 2nd Platoon’s Fourth Motor Squad Support Laser Gunner. He’d noticed movement out of the corner of his eye while sitting atop his R-11 Light Combat Vehicle. Shouting the alarm nearly cost him his life, but the warning saved the Silver Eagles from a surprise raid. Now all that stood between the Silver Eagles command staff, still trapped in the Comstock, and death by an entire Binary of Jag Battlearmor was 20 Marines.

As the first Jag Battlearmor swarmed into the bay, the Marine squads in their prepared positions cut it to ribbons. Still more Battlearmor swarmed into the bay, returning fire at whatever targets they could make out. As fast as they stormed in, Spanner and his men cut them down. Yet still more came, shoving aside the shattered remains of their dead comrades to try and force their way in by sheer numbers. As minutes passed, it seemed that they would never stop coming. Already ten Battlearmored Marines had had to pull back due to excessive suit damage, but still more came.

Then just as suddenly as the attack had begun, it was over. The lower bay looked like a war zone, with parts of Elemental suits strewn around the entrance. The walls of the bay were pockmarked with weapon discharges and ruined equipment. Of the twenty Marines that stood against the onslaught, 17 were so badly damaged that they would likely have to be scrapped. Luckily, none of the Marines themselves were severely injured, a testament to their training and ability.

But the damage was done. Before attempting to board, the Elementals had done severe damage to the Silver Eagles. One Partisan tank was so badly damaged that it would have to be torn down and rebuilt. The only two ‘Mechs on patrol were a pair of Longbows. One was swarmed and an Elemental managed to dig through the back armor and totally gut the interior. When it was finished, there was nothing left of the gyro, engine, or support structure; all blasted to scrap. Lt. JG Grace Bibbs, the Mechwarrior of the gutted ‘Mech even tried escape, but she was shredded by Machine Gun fire from one of the Elemental’s point-mates. The other Longbow was only marginally damaged, but enough to take it out of service for quite some time.

Lt. JG Ian Amdecker, the ranking duty officer, ordered all forces to hold the line while he boarded his Land-Air ‘Mech and launched from the Comstock’s number 3 Fighter bay. As he circled around to get into a good position to attack the Elementals as they attempted to board, his LAM was smashed by weapons fire from apparently nowhere. As he scanned his diagnostic display, his worst fear was confirmed. His LAM had been struck from the rear by a Gauss Rifle round that had lodged in his left torso. His AirMech began to sideslip as the left side Jumpjets died, sending him into a flat spin. Desperately trying to pull out of the spin with only one jet and no left wing, he saw the ground racing toward him.

At the last moment, Ian shouted, “Eject! Eject! Eject!” to which the computer detonated the explosive bolts that kept the canopy from flying off. A fraction of a second later, the rocket under his seat ignited, throwing the Kuritan free before the LAM hit the ground. As it plowed into the countryside, the near total destruction of the left side structural supports caved in under the stress of impact, crushing it into oblivion. As Lt. Amdecker’s parachute opened, his priceless AirMech was cartwheeling through the trees, finally coming to rest over 200 meters from where it impacted.

As Major Silver reached the exit ramp, he surveyed the destruction. “Damnit, I should have expected this. We should have kept more people on duty.”

Captain McKenna stood next to him. “Kevin, the men need sleep sometime. I mean they’re not machines. You did what you could. It was the right decision to make at the time.”

Major Silver stiffened. “Well right now, my instincts are telling me that this is the time to counterblow. They think we’re hurt, lets prove otherwise.” He turned into the bay. “Mount up! We’re going hunting!”

Ok, almost halfway done! (pant) I will try to get the rest banged out by tomorrow at the latest. I Promise! As always...

[McKenna]

and last one for today.

Ok, sorry for the delay in the third installment. I needed sleep and didn’t finish before we got together for tonight’s game. But here it is... enjoy!

A half-hour later, ten ‘Mechs and five M-21s were approaching the Jag’s forward base. Sven and his tech teams had managed to bring Lt. Vahzenov’s Quickdraw back online, but the other three members of Strike Lance were damaged or destroyed. So Lt. Vahzenov had joined with the two remaining ‘Mechs of Fire Lance, the Archer and remaining Longbow.

Lt. Faller slowly plodded forward in his Zeus. With Lt. Collins in his Executioner on his left and Lt. Windsor in his Gallowglas on his right, the trio constituted the bulk of the Silver Eagles firepower. That means we’ll be prime targets once we’re seen. Joe thought. Sure hope the CO knows what he’s doing. He could barely make out the Major’s ‘Mech only 60 meters ahead of him without sensor aid.

Major Silver pushed his Marauder through the tree line that was all that stood between his command and the enemy forward base. As he did so, Lt. Scott’s Wolverine lit off its jump jets and sailed over the trees blocking his approach. Lt. Jones’ Anvil likewise ignited his jump jets to clear the obstacle, landing just to the right of Major Silver. In his typical manor of dealing with obstacles, Lt. Josepho fired the four Lasers on his Orion at the trees, blasting the majority of them to splinters. He then easily strolled through the now much thinner tree line. It was actually fortuitous, as the M-21s would have had a difficult time getting through the thick tree line.

As the Command Lance cleared the trees, alarms sounded throughout the forward base. Star Captain Marc ran from his tent. The Elemental attack on the dezgra Mercenaries should have kept them busy for hours, if not broken them entirely once they captured their Dropship. Yet here were four enemy ‘Mechs.

“To your positions!” He shouted to his infantry trinary. Turning to a technician he bellowed, “Call the air base. I want our remaining fighters here immediately, quiaff?” The technician nodded as he turned to his console. Looking around quickly, Star Captain Marc spotted Star Captain Rhonda, head of their vehicle Binary. Jogging toward her, he shouted out, “Star Captain! I have called for air support, but they will be some time in coming. We must hold until they arrive.”

The Vehicle commander turned to the Star Captain and spat him a look that would freeze hydrogen. “Cowardly Surrat! Can your entire trinary not handle four pitiful Inner Sphere BattleMechs? Our Strike team will no doubt return shortly with word of the capture of their Dropship. These four are nothing more than what is left of these so called ‘Silver Eagles’.”

The arrogance of presumption grated on Star Captain Marc. “We have not had word on the success or failure of that operation, quineg? These four could be followed by the rest of their unit!”

Star Captain Rhonda narrowed her eyes. “You dare question the might of the Jaguar? Very well Star Captain. I will mobilize the remainder of my binary, but we will settle this in a Circle of Equals after our victory.” She turned and stalked off toward a nearby hangar.

Star Captain Marc looked over the open field where the four ‘Mechs stood motionless. These barbarians are waiting for something. This will not end well.

“Armor Lead, are you in position?” Major Silver queried.

“Affirmative Silver Actual.” Lt. Chekov replied. “Awaiting your go-ahead.”

Major Silver looked at his tactical display. His force of ‘Mechs and armor were now arrayed right along the tree line and ready to attack. He cleared his throat before activating his external speakers and general broadcast frequency. “This is Major Kevin Silver of the Silver Eagles. I challenge the Smoke Jaguars for possession of this base. With what forces do you defend?”

An interminable time passed waiting for a reply. Finally a female voice replied over his open com line. “This is Star Captain Rhonda of the Smoke Jaguars. Your audacity at playing at Clan Trials is a mockery of our ways. We will not honor any challenge from your unit of freebirth surrats! The Jaguar will have your blood this night!” At that the line terminated.

Major Silver switched to his tactical frequency. “They didn’t go for a trial. ‘Magic high’.”

With the issuing of that order, Lt. Faller and Lt. Jones activated their ECM systems. Static briefly filled Major Silver’s com systems before the computer began frequency shifting through a preset pattern that would avoid the jamming. He opened the Battalion command channel. “Attention all units. We will hold position here another sixty seconds from my mark, then all units will move out. No one is to rush the camp. We will proceed with formation Alpha. Ready? Mark!” He touched a timer on his console that began counting down from 60. Now we see if they buy the fact that we’re only a lance.

Star Captain Marc was furious. He had monitored the exchange between Star Captain Rhonda and Major Silver. The challenge was issued properly and was in keeping with the traditions of the Clans. Barbarian or not, this Major Silver was at least trying to behave like a warrior. When com systems registered local jamming, he knew that Star Captain Rhonda had tossed away their only chance at victory.

He turned to his second in command. “We will hold our ground. If Star Captain Rhonda wants to charge ahead, we will let her die in disgrace. Those are my orders. See to it they are carried out.” He turned back to look at the enemy ‘Mechs through his binoculars. Any moment now...

4... 3... 2... 1... now! Major Silver’s Marauder started walking forward with the rest of his Command Lance. On the ground ahead had assembled eight vehicles, the warbook identified five as Indra Infantry Transports and two were Hachiman Fire Support Tanks. The last was an Ishtar Heavy Fire Support Tank. Three Donar Assault Helicopters hovered over the camp like moths attracted to the lights. He glanced at his range indicator. 780 meters and closing Just then the rest of the Battalion emerged from the forest and ran to form up on the Major’s line. The five M-21s rolled out through the still burning ruins of trees Lt. Josepho had cleared and accelerated to full flank speed, coming up right behind the 300-meter-wide formation of ‘Mechs.

As the mass of ‘Mechs and vehicles came out of the trees, Star Captain Rhonda’s eyes grew wide. “This is impossible!” she raged. She pulled her mic down and opened a channel to all her units. “These freebirth have violated the very concept of dueling by bringing such a huge force. All units, move forward at flank speed converge fire on the Marauder. Now!”

Major Silver wasn’t sure what had happened. As the range closed, he had locked his weapons on the Ishtar, the vehicle he’d designated as his dueling opponent, followed by the Hachiman next to it. Every Silver Eagle had picked out two vehicles that would be their opponent with the understanding that Clan dueling code would be strictly followed. As the range closed to only 660 meters, the vehicles leapt forward and all began blasting away, but they had focused fire exclusively on him. All around him, the scent of burned out electronics filled the air and everything was as dark as Negushevan midnight. All his indicators were dead and he could see nothing out the front.

He released the straps holding him in his command couch and slid onto the front view port. Well that explains it. He thought. I’m face down. Feeling around, he found his storage locker. Opening it by feel, he pulled out his pack and fished around for his emergency light. Flicking it on, he redressed in combat gear before opening the emergency hatch. As he poked his head out of his destroyed machine he looked around. Spotting his Battalion, they had continued with the formation and were now almost at the outskirts of the base, except for a lone M-21 tank that apparently was sitting back next to his machine.

Hopping out of the fallen ‘Mech, Major Silver ran toward the tank. Climbing up the side, he reached the hatch as it opened up. “Master Sergeant Thiemann, thanks for the lift.” He said as he climbed into the vehicle. Though crowded with a fifth person, it felt better than being outside once the hatch was closed and secure.

Sgt. Melissa Thiemann extended her hand toward the Commander’s seat. “Sir, would you care to take command?”

“No.” Major Silver replied. “Just give me a headset so I can monitor what’s going on out there.”

She handed Major Silver a headset and took her seat. “Alright driver, move out! Lets catch up with the rest of the pack!”

Lt. Chekov hated being in charge. When the Jaguars concentrated fire on Major Silver’s ‘Mech, destroying it in just a few seconds, he was left in command of the Battalion. He countermanded the order to separate attacks and issued orders to concentrate fire by Lance, assigning the Ishtar and two Hachimans to Assault Lance, Fire Lance, and Command Lance respectively. His own M-21s he ordered to focus fire on the closest Indra, ordering Sergeant Thiemann to stay with Major Silver in case he survived, supporting from the rear.

The exchange of fire dropped the four vehicles within 10 seconds, but not before one of the Longbows of Fire Lance fell to concentrated fire as well. A shot from the Ishtar’s rapid-fire 90mm autocannon struck an LRM ammo bin in the ‘Mech’s Left torso, blowing out the CASE panels, but shutting down the Edasich Motors fusion engine, moments before the Executioner’s Clan PPCs obliterated the vehicle. Fire Lance felled their Hachiman when one of Lt. Sanderson’s Diverse Optics Type 18 Medium Lasers cored a clean hole through the front armor, striking the crew compartment and vaporizing them instantly. The other Hachiman was torn to pieces by Lt. Josepho’s 90mm smoothbore autocannon. Lt. Chekov’s M-21 platoon hit the first Indra in the main body with all four Tronel III Heavy Large Lasers, quickly turning the light vehicle into a slag of useless junk.

As the remaining four Indra were targeted, they all focused fire on Lt. Ryan Windsor’s Gallowglas, hitting with three hugely powerful Clan PPCs directly in the center of the ‘Mech. The first two vaporized nearly two tons of armor and left the core of the ‘Mech exposed. When the third hit, it vaporized structural supports and shattered the ‘Mech’s gyro. With nothing to keep the 70 ton ‘Mech balanced, it crashed onto its back. Refocusing fire on the four Infantry transports, the remaining eight ‘Mechs and four vehicles destroyed each in turn, leaving nothing but ruined and twisted metal in their wake as they pressed on to the main base.

Star Captain Marc steeled himself for the coming onslaught. In less than half a minute, Star Captain Rhonda was dead, along with the remains of her vehicle binary. The two Anhur and three Donar VTOLs were all that was left that hadn’t gone out on the raid. Pulling out his personal radio, he cursed the static that filled the frequencies. He turned and shouted down the line, “Wait until the enemy units are within 30 meters, then first Star will lay down suppression fire while second Star attempts to seize or destroy those tanks! Third Star! You are to load into the Anhurs and have the Donars escort you back to our base and report in! Go! Now!” Star Captain Marc glanced at his wrist chronometer. We only need hold them for two more minutes. May the Great Father protect us!

As the Silver Eagles closed on the forward base, there was an eerie silence from its defenders. Lt. Faller squirmed in the command couch of his Zeus. I don’t like this. It’s too easy. They’re up to something. Switching to infrared display, he spotted almost a hundred infantry queuing up to load into the two Anhur VTOLs. Keying his mic onto the Battalion frequency, he reported. “Armor Leader, this is Assault Leader. I’ve got a hundred-plus Jag PBIs loading up in their transports. Looks like some of them are bugging out. I think we toasted the rides for about another 125 PBI, but I don’t see them.”

Major Silver replied. “This is Silver Actual. Roger that, Assault Leader. All units keep a watch out for traps. They may be bugging out, but I don’t want any surprises. Move in.”

Star Captain Marc clutched his Pulse Laser Rifle close to his chest, listening to the approach of the enemy ‘Mechs. Suddenly, a large leg slammed into the dirt only a few meters away. Waiting a moment more, he peeked his head around the corner of the large cargo container he was hiding behind. Seeing an enemy tank only a short distance away, he drew a deep breath and shouted. “Now! Jaguars attack!” He rounded the corner and leveled his weapon at the nearest tank. Depressing the trigger switch, a stream of coherent light pulses connected his weapon with the enemy tank.

It was joined with a dozen others, then several dozen. He dropped to prone as he heard the whine of an anti-personnel machine gun, barely missing being caught in the hail of fire that now saturated his former hiding place. Rolling out of the position and taking a kneeling stance, he resumed fire on his target. As he pressed the trigger, his shot joined with another from his Star, piercing a small hole in the tank they had targeted. A moment later, smoke started pouring out of the opening hatch. As the tank crewman pulled himself from the stricken vehicle, Star Captain Marc took careful aim and depressed the trigger again. The exiting tanker slumped over dead. He grinned, just a moment before the entire world exploded around him.

It was bedlam. From nearly every corner of the camp, small arms fire had erupted at the same time. Within seconds, one M-21 was out of action and another was swarming with infantry, all trying to force their way in. Lt. Josepho sneered at the thought. We offered them honorable and worthy combat, but they dishonor themselves with their disgraceful conduct. How so like Jaguars. All muscle, no brains. He leveled his KYWI LB 10-X Autocannon at the M-21 that was being swarmed. Triggering a burst of cluster shells, he saw the tank was saturated in small explosions. It effectively cleared the infantry swarming it, but the side effects were not good. A muffled explosion could be heard all across the base as the ammunition stores ignited. The CASE panels blew out, killing even more infantry attempting to continue their assault, but sparing the vehicle’s crew.

Lt. Josepho took careful aim and triggered another cluster burst, adding his Intek Medium Pulse Lasers to the mix, carving a swath of infantry away from the tank and keeping it safe for the moment.

The infantry continued to press their attacks, but after a minute all lay dead or dying at the hands of the Silver Eagles. The two Anhur VTOLs and their escorts vacated the area, just as the scream of aerospace fighters roared over the base. Rather than let the Silver Eagles take the base, the Jaguars bombed it. Within minutes, there was nothing left of value to salvage for the Eagles, who then headed back to their own base.

Major Silver looked back at the burning base as the M-21 headed home. These Jaguars are like no Clanner I’ve ever known. he mused. Breaking them might take make than we’ve got.

Ok, I still have three more battles to do, but they all take place in a very short span of time, so I’ll write them up together as the fourth of five installments of the Outer Volta campaign. The last will deal with the aftermath.

Comments welcome as always! ;)

[McKenna]

Ok, here’s the fourth installment. I decided to only do the 6th and 7th battles in this one, saving the 8th and wrap-up for the fifth.

Taking the war to the Enemy.
As Major Silver strode into the briefing room at 0400 hours, it felt good to see his warriors looking a little less bleary eyed than how they looked 6 hours before in the middle of their attempt to take the Jaguar forward base. He sat at the head of the table and looked over the assembled officers. “Good morning. This briefing is to plan out the specifics needed to assault the Jaguar base of operations on Outer Volta.” He let a moment pass as the import of what he was saying sank in to the assembled officers.

He typed a short command into the computer controls for the briefing room’s large display screen. “Here you see the layout of their space port and defensive base. Our first attack will be a direct attack on the defensive systems located at the main entrance here.” He indicated a series of buildings on the overhead map. “Once their defensive turrets are offline, our ‘Mechs will press inward while Recon Lance and the M-21s cover the approach of the M-22s carrying Infantry Company. The ADA platoon will deploy here,” indicating a waypoint on the map, “just outside the perimeter and provide air cover and artillery as needed.”

Lt. JG Eugene Bazemore interrupted. “Pardon me for saying Major, but how are we supposed to get that close without drawing fire before we even get there? We’re not exactly fast you know. We try creeping up on their positions like that and we’ll probably get a load of Elementals dropped on our heads.”

Major Silver looked up at the head of Air Defense Artillery Platoon. “Simple. You will deploy off the Comstock after it lands here.” He indicated another waypoint, right next to the waypoint designated for the ADA platoon.

Murmured voices swept across the room. Committing the Comstock to the battle was extremely risky. If it took too much damage, the Silver Eagles would have to abandon nearly all their equipment and flee in the Danube, their K-1 Dropshuttle. Failure meant the death of the Silver Eagles, even if they survived.

“I’ve discussed the matter with Captain Friedrich,” Major Silver continued “and he has OK’d the plan. By our best estimates, the Comstock’s worst threat will come from artillery attack. That’s why the two Jaguar artillery tanks will be our top priority.”

Ben spoke up. “Any word on what they have for remaining forces defending the base?”

Joe pulled out a cigarette and lit it before starting his briefing. “Well, best intel says that the Jags only have one ‘Mech Binary in the 7th PGC, the one we dropped on. We know for a fact that we downed seven of them, three of which had been damaged so bad not even Sven could piece them back together. That leaves them three to seven ‘Mechs. We’ve accounted for about a trinary of Infantry, and two binaries of Elementals, so that should leave another binary of Toads and maybe a Star or so of PBIs, the Star the escaped us last night. Other than that, they should still have half a Star of fighters which we match, plus a pair of Mars Assault Vehicles. That is, in addition to the two artillery tanks and their VTOLs. All total, about 6 stars worth of defenders plus static defenses.”

Ben crossed his arms. “And we have what? Nine ‘Mechs, five fighters, two VTOL scouts, three MBTs, some IFVs and about half a company of Infantry?”

Captain McKenna looked over at Lt. Scott. “You’ll also have the ADA and the Comstock there to support you, Ben. With the loss of all three Longbows, we’re assigning Lieutenant Sanderson to lead Assault Lance. You’ll head up Command Lance’s three remaining ‘Mechs and have tactical control over the Battalion until the Comstock lands. Lieutenant Vahzenov’s Strike Lance will be assigned the two Venoms of Recon and follow you down. Recon Lance will only have the Ferrets, so they are eyes, not firepower. Major Thorpe will head up the Aerospace force. Once grounded, Major Silver and I will coordinate attacks on all fronts with special emphasis on taking out their remaining ‘Mechs and vehicles.”

He looked incredulous. “Pardon me for sounding pessimistic Major, but is the ADA and the ComStock going to make that much of a difference? I mean, we’re still facing down prepared defenders. Classic battle theory says three-to-one is what you strive for in situations like this. By my count, they outnumber us.”

Major Silver spoke up. “True Lieutenant Scott, ideally we would want a better position. But we don’t have that luxury. We need more then to make them call for help at this point. We need to beat them.”

As he said it, realization spread across the room. The Silver Eagles had only been trying to make the Jaguar PGC call for help, but they had negotiated for no cash compensation on this contract with the DCMS, only salvage rights. Thus far, the Eagles had yet to salvage a single thing of real value from the Jaguars. The Jaguars never gave them a chance to, fighting to the bitter end. If the PGC were actually defeated, they could claim the PGC’s supplies as isorla, allowing the Silver Eagles to rebuild after the mission was complete.

Lt. Windsor spoke up first. “You mean, we’re going to risk the Comstock and all we own... so we can get paid?”

Major Silver looked down. “It’s not just that. Sure, that’s part of it, but more importantly we still haven’t even completed our objective, make the PGC call for help.” He looked up at the officers. “Right now, the PGC is holed up in their base, waiting for us and thinking we don’t have what it takes to kick them out. If we sit here and wait, they won’t come out until they can fully repair, re-equip, and heal up. Then, they can hit us with a force much greater than we have. Time is on their side, not ours.”

Major Silver shook his head as he continued. “We need to make them admit they don’t have what it takes to drive us off, that they need to call for help. For crying out loud, they have a Cameron here in system and it’s just sitting there, probably waiting to pick up those two Dropships that are still burning toward it to leave. We need to make them call in the cavalry. We need to make them admit we are too much for them to swallow. The only way we’re going to do that is if we hit them now, while they think they are impenetrable.”

Captain McKenna added to the point. “There is also another thing to consider. Pride. They have bloodied us and we have gotten nothing from them but arrogance. We need to beat them, not just to complete our objectives or get enough salvage to pay for this mission, but because if we fail, then the last day of fighting was for nothing. 26 dead and 54 injured... and for what? What do we have to show for our blood? If we cut and run now, than we might as well disband and go home.”

As the Comstock hovered over the drop zone, her drop doors opened and the first six Silver Eagle ‘Mechs fell toward their fate. Major Silver and Captain McKenna sat in the CiC, monitoring the drop.

“Command and Assault Lances away!” Lt. Scott reported. “Contact in 30.”

“Roger that, Command Leader.” Captain McKenna replied. “Fighters will launch in 10 and we are set for touchdown in 120.”

The Comstock rocked hard to one side. Gripping the console, Captain McKenna looked to Major Silver. “That was major weapons fire!” She exclaimed.

Major Silver punched the intercom. “Silver Actual to Bridge. Damage report.”

Captain Friedrich responded quickly. “We’re taking fire from the ground, it’s those damn artillery tanks! Armor is holding, but we may have a breach on deck eight. Get your men off so I can set down, Major!”

Major Silver nodded to Captain McKenna. “Roger that bridge. Dropping second element and launching first fighter flight now.”

With a shudder, two fighters and four more ‘Mechs dropped from the Comstock. As they plummeted toward the ground below, one pulled out away from the others and began to slowly reshape into an Air-Mech. Ten seconds later, it lit off its engines as an Aerospace fighter, just as the second set of fighters launched from the bay doors of the now descending Comstock. Pulling up and around the descending Dropship, Captain Thorpe joined up with the four standard Aerospace fighters and escorted the Comstock to the ground.

As his Wolverine’s feet touched the ground, Lt. Scott opened his command channel. “Command Lance! Concentrate all fire on the western weapons platform. Assault Lance, take out the eastern platform! Move out!”

Kicking his 55-ton war machine up to a full run, he triggered a blistering array of weapons at the static target. The heat levels in his machine rose considerably, but as they did the special myomers started gaining in strength. As he readied another attack on the turret, his speed had increased to over 97 kph. Zigzagging to avoid the return fire from the platform, he was pleased to see that he had managed to draw the attention of the turret operator. As his own weapons discharged, they were joined with the weapons fire of the other two members of Command Lance, blasting armor plates and ferrocrete understructure to shards. After the third volley of fire, the turret crumbled to dust under the focused fire.

Keying his mic to Assault Lance, he queried. “Command Leader to Assault Leader. What’s your situation?”

Lt. Sanderson was slow to reply. “Fire... I mean, Assault Leader here. Our turret went out on the first volley. Ready for orders.”

Ben sighed. “Then move on to your next target, Scrawler! You’ve got three more turrets to kill before the Comstock lands! Get it done!” He exhaled slowly. They should have given command to Fallguy. She can’t hack it. Turning off several heat sinks to keep his ‘Mech running hot, he switched back to his Lance frequency. “Command Lance, form up on me and proceed to waypoint Beta.”

As the Comstock settled into place, Major Silver breathed a sigh of relief. Looking over at McKenna, he nodded as he monitored the battalion command channel.

Erin punched up the intercom for the lower bay. “Armor Company! ADA! You are a go! Move out!” Major Silver was still monitoring the Battalion when Erin turned back around. “Any word from Six Guns?”

Major Silver shook his head. “Nothing. They touched down on target, but were jammed almost the moment they hit the ground. Lost track of them as we descended.”

The Comstock rocked hard again, but this time they didn’t move much thanks to being grounded. Major Silver touched a button on the intercom. “Bridge, damage report.”

Captain Friedrich was slow to respond this time. “Bridge here! That one smacked us hard! Port-aft weapons are off-line. I hope your men silence those guns soon or we won’t be going anywhere!”

Lt. Vahzenov cut hard to the left to avoid the return fire of the Mars that was covering the flank of the Huitzilopochtli artillery tank. He had hit his target once already, ignoring the Mars, but the 100-ton assault tank seemed intent on not letting it happen again. A Gauss Rifle slug whizzed past his Quickdraw as he cut right again, closing the gap while trying not to get killed. “Damnable Jaguars! Vhy cannot you simply die! You alvays make it so complicated!”

He triggered another blast from his twin Diverse Optics Sunbeam ER Large Lasers. This time both struck the side of the Artillery tank, vaporizing the remaining armor and cutting deep scars into the chassis.

Just then, a pair of bright beams struck the Mars in its rear from the two Venoms that had circled around. The tank rocked slightly, and fell silent. Taking the opportunity, Lt. Vahzenov rushed forward and fired his Omicron 4000 Medium Lasers at the artillery tank. Though one missed, the other struck the open side. The tank heaved to the right as the superstructure collapsed under its own weight. As it did, a secondary explosion erupted, shattering the tank into a thousand pieces. The Mars just sat there, still and silent.

Lt. Vahzenov raised his Quickdraw’s hand and pointed further west, indicating where the other Huitzilopochtli had set up to bombard the Comstock. The two Venom pilots recognized the ‘move out’ hand signal and took off at high speed. “Vone down, vone to go.”

As Captain Thorpe brought his Phoenix Hawk around at only 25 meters above the ground, his weapons locked on the old Star League Zero that had been hounding him. “Weapons lock. Firing.”

Three beams spat out energy toward the aft of the Jaguar fighter, but as he fired the Zero pulled hard right to its own detriment. The three beams raked across the wing of the fighter, carving it to pieces and finally chopping the wing off at the root. Spiraling out of control, the Zero angled down toward the ground below. A moment later, the canopy exploded outward as the pilot ejected to safety, just before the fighter impacted into the hillside.

He switched his com frequency over to the Air Wing. “Recon Air Leader to Air Lead. Splash One. Report.”

Lt. Tucker replied. “Air Lead here. CAP is in formation with no targets. You are free and clear.”

Captain Thorpe smiled. “Roger that Air Lead. You have command. I’m taking her downtown to kick some tires. Recon Air Leader out.”

As he approached the Jaguar base, Captain Thorpe slowed his airspeed to just over 180 kph, near stall speed for the stubby wings of his Phoenix Hawk LAM. “Computer, rig for Air-Mech configuration.”

The SLAIR Voice Assist system attached to his LAM’s Hartford J25 A com system replied in its oddly feminine voice, “Affirmative. Beginning conversion sequence.” The advanced Star League-era system automated many of the mundane tasks a normal LAM pilot would have to do himself. Among them was handling the complex aerodynamic shifts and monitoring of complex conversion equipment as the fighter shifted parts of itself around to form a hybrid that was part BattleMech, part Aerospace fighter. As the main thrust engines died, the vectored thrust jets ignited, supporting the bulk of the Air-Mech’s weight with raw thrust. His control stick began responding sluggishly as the aerodynamic surfaces lost ability to control the attitude of the machine, but the computer compensated by aiding with slight changes to the trust vents. Finally, the automated system replied, “Conversion complete.”

As his LAM was converting, Randall had been watching his threat warning indicator and area map. He was now only half a kilometer from the Jaguar base and approaching at only 15 meters off the ground at over 160 kph. As he flew rapidly over the defense towers, dozens of long-range missiles leapt into the air, trying to track him as he screamed overhead. Feathering his jets and vectoring full forward, his airspeed cut to almost nothing in seconds, straining the straps holding him in his cockpit seat. His sudden drop to the ground caused the missiles to overshoot their mark and they slammed into the ferrocrete in front of him.

“Computer! Rig for ‘Mech configuration!” He quickly shouted as he began pushing the awkward form of his Air-Mech forward on the half-legs that his ‘Mech had in this form.

Once again, the computer calmly replied. “Affirmative. Beginning conversion sequence.” A short time later, his Phoenix Hawk gained the agility of a normal Medium ‘Mech. Kicking into a full run, he raced forward to meet up with Lt. Vahzenov as planned.

Lt. Vahzenov could hardly breath. The blast of heat from his continuing weapons fire scorched his lungs and threatened to make him pass out. Only the cool feeling of his coolant vest kept him awake as he tried once more to shoot around the Behemoth Assault ‘Mech to strike at the Huitzilopochtli artillery tank it was guarding and silence its guns. But once again, the damage to his ‘Mech caused his shots to fly wide, wasting their energy on nothing but ferrocrete.

The Venoms had spotted the monster first, one taking a Gauss Rifle round to the center of its torso section while the other took a pair of Pulse Laser blasts to either side. While nothing lethal, it was enough to leave both ‘Mechs vulnerable to total destruction if they took another hit in those locations, so Lt. Vahzenov had ordered them to fall back to the Comstock. That left him to face the demon alone.

But not for long. Vahzenov thought. I just need to keep his attention anozer few seconds... Risking another full strike, this time he hit true with his remaining Sunbeam Large Laser. The Huitzilopochtli shuddered as his laser’s energy cut through the damaged rear of the tank and into the heart of it, the fusion reactor. Though it didn’t destroy the tank, it did render it totally immobile, meaning it was now a sitting duck awaiting the slaughter. But it was not meant to be.

He never saw the Gauss Rifle slug that buried itself into his back, nor the Mars that fired it. It didn’t matter though. Its impact energy splintered the weak armor shell covering his ‘Mech’s fusion reactor and shattered the engine housing. His instruments all died as his ‘Mech came crashing to the ground. Pulling the ejection handle, he rocketed skyward and away from the two assailants towards his salvation. Running in at over 85 kph, Randall stopped just long enough to pick up Lt. Vahzenov, fire a parting shot from his heavy laser at the Behemoth, and run away again.

“Say again, Recon Ground Leader?” Captain McKenna queried.

 Repeating his last statement, Lt. JG James Mirabito replied, “I say again, confirmed sighting of one Dire Wolf up and running. Saw it on our way out of the base. It was forming up with four other ‘Mechs, a Hunchback IIC, a Grendel, a Hankyu, and an Adder.”

Major Silver looked over at his XO. “That gives them at least six of the seven possible ‘Mechs they could have. Not good.”

Erin nodded. “No, not good at all.” She keyed up the frequency for Air Defense Artillery. “ADA Leader, are you deployed?”

A short burst of static was followed by the voice of Lt. Bazemore. “Roger that. We are deployed and awaiting orders.”

Erin looked up at Major Silver. “So who gets to play TAG?”

Kevin furrowed his brow. “Recon Ground Wing. Leader has tissue paper protecting that engine and one Gauss or PPC hit there and the whole ‘Mech is a write-off. Wing can lose a flank and be rebuilt.”

McKenna didn’t even blink. “Armor and Infantry?”

He sighed. “Send them all in.”

Erin looked back at her CO. “We’re a pair of bastards now, eh Kevin?” Keying the channel open she ordered, “Recon Ground Leader. Pull back into the Comstock for repairs. Recon Ground Wing, you are to hold position and target for ADA. Targeting at your discretion. Command and Assault Lance, I want you to be in support positions in three minutes. Armor Leader, move out to waypoint Zulu-three and deploy in support. McKenna out.”

Oops! Limit of 32,768 characters per post. See the next one for the rest!

[McKenna]

Here’s part two.

At least they only have four ‘Mechs left. Erin thought as she sat back in her chair in the Control Center aboard the Comstock. The battle at waypoint Zulu-three had gone quite well for the Silver Eagles. As the remaining Jaguar ‘Mechs moved on their position, they had begun to fire on Joe’s Zeus en-mass, trying to knock out the ECM system he was using. In retaliation, The remaining Venom had closed in and targeted the Dire Wolf with its Alloran Target Acquisition Gear while third squad of Motor 1 sighted for the Comstock’s Long Toms. The resulting devastation left only a crater where the massive Clan OmniMech had stood. The only downside of the events was the damage to third squad when their position was given away. The added armor on their R-11s and R-12s kept them from being killed outright, but their equipment was a shambles and the entire squad was in intensive care.

The really embarrassing part was when the Anhur went unnoticed until it had already dropped the Elemental Star over the Partisan. The Anhur was blown from the sky, and the Elementals eventually killed, but not before they had ruined the Partisan’s air tracking system and trashed the engine. Now both anti-air tanks were out of action, leaving the Silver Eagles’ four fighters and the weapons of the Comstock herself as the only defense against an air strike. The Jaguar’s Grendel and Hunchback IIC were destroyed by combined fire from the ‘Mechs of command and Assault Lance respectively, though. So in all, it was a fair trade.

Erin was tired, and it was only 0650. The Comstock was damaged, but repairs were underway and the area around her LZ was secure. Still, there was no sign that the Jaguars had yet given up hopes of defeating the Silver Eagles as the Dropships that were in-system were still burning toward the distant warship. Just what will it take to make them call for help? she mused.

As she went through the battle reports, Major Silver came into the Command Center. “Major, if you’ve got a moment, I still want to run our 0700 morning meeting.” Gathering up her files and data disks, she followed Major Silver to the briefing room.

As 0700 rolled around, Major Silver took his seat. “Alright people, what are we looking at here?” He turned to Joe. “Lieutenant Faller, what’s the intel on our Jag forces now?”

Lt. Faller sifted through some files. “Well, best estimate leaves them with four ‘Mechs, three of which have been damaged, but one of those is a Behemoth, so that’s nothing to sneeze at. That’s compared to our own list of now only eight ‘Mechs, one of which is heavily damaged and two others are only scouts.”

Sven Iverson interjected. “Actually, you can count on nine ‘Mechs. My teams got the Gallowglas up and running ten minutes ago. It’s not in the greatest shape, but it will fight.”

Joe nodded. Ok, ten ‘Mechs. Discounting the two scouts, that leaves us at a near parity with their ‘Mech forces, with them having the advantage of being the defenders. Then there is the armor. Best estimates are that they have two Mars assault tanks, and may have one of their Oro tanks back up, maybe even their Ku or a Hachiman. We know they still have one Anhur and their three Donars too, but don’t let the fact that they’re VTOLs fool you. They’re VTOLs with a really long range bite and enough speed that only our fighters could catch them.”

Randall spoke up. “And with our Partisans out of action, that leaves us looking pretty vulnerable.”

Joe nodded. “Right. That compared to our own armor, which there are now only three M-21s left operational, the lead tanks of all three platoons. All the others are out for damage or destroyed entirely. Together with our M-22 IFVs, Formal Artillery Tank, Alacorn, and the two Ferrets, we don’t look so good if they have one or more damaged tanks back up. Once again, we have scouts where they have Main Battle units.”

Lt. JG Eugene Bazemore, commander of the Formal spoke up. “Yeah, while we’re on that issue, I’d like to note that we only have ten unguided Arrow IV missiles left, and only 15 guided ones, so hopefully we can nab some ‘spares’ from the Jags. Otherwise, we’re in hot water.”

Major Silver nodded. “We’ll make it a priority. Also, the Comstock only has 50 shells left for her Long Toms, so saturation bombardment is pretty much out.” He looked over at his Intelligence Officer. “Sorry, Continue Joe.”

Lt. Faller let out a deep breath. “Last there is the matter of ground forces. Best intel says they have a minimum of a Binary of mixed armored and unarmored infantry left, giving them a rough strength of nearly 400 men. In contrast, we can field the two Motor Platoons, but both are down a squad, Foot Platoon is completely out of action, and only one squad of Jump remains. Even if we count our Marines, we’re outnumbered by over 3-to-1 in effectiveness, and 2-to-1 in actual numbers.”

Major Silver closed his noteputer. “That leaves us as a rough parity, with them having the advantage of being the defenders. What I want now are ideas to reduce the odds of getting smashed before we can...”

Alarms sounded throughout the Comstock. “General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands to battle stations! This is not a drill! General Quarters!”

Major Silver punched the intercom as the room cleared in a rush. “Bridge. SitRep.”

Petty Officer Brian Ramirez responded. “Major, we detected four Aerospace fighters launching from their airfield. We are tracking. Simultaneously, radar picked up a ground force moving on our position at 54 kph. ETA, two minutes ten seconds.”

Captain McKenna looked over at Major Silver. “When it rains...”

Lt. JG Joseph Titus pulled his Stingray into a 9-G turn. The crushing weight of his own body nearly blacked him out, but he managed to come around and onto the rear of the Clan Bashkir that was firing on his wingman, Lt. SG Christine Deal’s F-700a Riever.

“Air Support Wing! Break left-high! Locking him up!”

As the Riever banked over and began to climb, the Bashkir followed, right into Lt. Titus’ sights. A stream of missiles spat out the front of the Clan fighter, smashing into the rear armor of the 100-ton air superiority fighter as a series of laser pulses followed them. The damage wasn’t too bad, but the light Clan fighter could easily outmaneuver such a slow and ponderous target. As Lt. Titus triggered his array of lasers, the Bashkir was vaporized in a fireball of superheated gas.

“Splash one!” He shouted. Immediately scanning his radar, he saw that the other two Clan fighters had been picking Air Leader and her wingman apart. “Air Leader. Come around to 187. Will intercept.”

Lt. SG Danielle Tucker was getting frustrated. Five times now the enemy Batu and Sulla had drawn her into a turning fight that she kept losing. With most of the armor covering her right wing and fuselage gone, she was certain that she couldn’t make a sixth pass.

“Roger that Air Support.” She replied. “Coming around to 187. I can’t shake these guys! They’ve got me locked up!”

As Lt. Titus kicked into full overthrust, he rapidly closed the distance. Ten more seconds...

As the Batu opened fire, Lt. Tucker’s right wing collapsed. “I’ve had it!” She shouted as her fighter began spinning out of control. “Eject! Eject! Eject!” Pulling the emergency handle, she rocketed away from her doomed fighter. Moments later, an explosion only a few hundred meters away from her caught her attention.

“Splash one!” Shouted Lt. Titus as he sailed through the debris field. His long range lasers had struck the Sulla solidly, igniting the fuel reserves and obliterating the fighter. “That’s it! The last one is bugging out! Air Support to Comstock Control. I have a pilot down. Pickup requested.”

Lt. Hernandez-Silver’s voice came back clear and even. “Roger that Air Support. Hold there and begin CAP until the Ferret arrives. Comstock Control out.”

“Damnable Clanner! Why won’t you die already?” Lt. Faller shouted as his heavy laser yet again failed to penetrate the Behemoth’s thick armor. Readying a spread of missiles, he triggered a salvo as soon as he heard the lock tone. A dozen SRMs leapt from his Zeus’s right arm, scattering themselves all over the enemy ‘Mech. Small explosions wreathed the monster, but as soon as they dissipated, it looked as though they had never happened.

Joe cursed his luck and activated his supercharger. Surging forward to a speed of over 86 kph, he braced himself for the charge. The Behemoth’s two Pulse Lasers scythed their way up his Zeus’s arms as two nickel-ferrous slugs each slammed into his ‘Mech’s shoulders. The blow was nearly enough to stop him dead, but he kept his footing and followed through with his plan. Hitting the Assault ‘Mech as fast as his ‘Mech could go, he plowed through tons of armor and structure in a fraction of a second. The mighty Clan war machine that had stood up to a hail of fire, flew apart like a house of cards with the battering ram of Lt. Faller’s attack. His own footing fouled by the wreckage of the Clan machine, Lt. Faller went spinning to the ground.

As he finally came to rest, his power systems blinked out. “Damn! I’m dead meat out here!” reaching over, he desperately tried to reactivate the machine’s reactor core. After a moment of panic, the fusion reactions in the center of his ‘Mech roared back to life. He felt the deep rumble as systems reactivated and his ‘Mech’s limbs began to respond again. Slowly righting himself, he turned and looked over the battle zone.

The Jaguars were obviously desperate. The Behemoth had tried to tie up the ‘Mechs of the Silver Eagles while the Adder and Hankyu tried to end-run around them, carrying Elementals on toward the Comstock. All that stood in their way were the three M-21 tanks left to the Eagles.

Lt. SG Nicoli Chekov saw the oncoming duo and prepared to meet them. “Driver! Back 30 meters, I don’t want them getting around us. Gunners! Prepare to fire!”

As the ‘Mechs ran up to the tanks, their load of Elementals jumped off the two OmniMechs and began rushing toward them. Streams of short-range missiles were exchanged between the two sides, blasting armor and ferrocrete to shards. As the tanks brought their main guns to bear, three Elementals were vaporized at their touch. Anti-missile fire chewed through most of the missiles fired at the tanks, but still some got through. Machine guns roared to life, joining with the flurry of weapons fire as another Elemental fell from damage. It looked as though the tanks would carry the day.

Then the two OmiMechs fired. The Adder’s  60mm autocannon chewed through the front armor of Lt. Chekov’s tank, sending a cloud of shrapnel through the crew compartment. Nicoli didn’t even feel injured, he just felt suddenly cold as the tank went dark.

Major Silver, Captain McKenna, Captain Thorpe, and Lt. Faller stood outside the MASH unit, waiting to hear the casualty report. A somber attitude hung over the entire camp. Jobs got done, repairs continued, but everyone went about their tasks like automatons, numb to the world around them.

Finally, Dr. Benson emerged from the tent. He looked at Major Silver and shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do. He lost most of his digestive system and two-thirds of his liver. We’ve stabilized him for a while, but he won’t last the night. I’m sorry, Kevin.”

Major Silver stood up straight. “What about the rest of the crews?”

Dr. Benson looked at the ground. “The other three members of his tank crew were DOA. The other crews are all right, minor injuries only. Lt. Owens has a broken arm and some lacerations, but he’ll be fine.” He looked back into the operating theater. “You can go see him if you like, sir. He’s asked to see Lt. Owens. I was going to go get him.”

Captain Thorpe spoke up. “I’ll do it doc. You look like you need the rest.” He turned and jogged off to the post-op ward.

As the three entered the operating theater, the smell of dried blood permeated everything. On the bed lay Lt. Chekov, his lungs being inflated by a micro-respirator.

Major Silver approached his bedside. “Lieutenant Chekov. You and your men did the Silver Eagles proud today. You saved the Comstock. You saved us all. The Jags finally cried ‘uncle’. They called for help. We did it.”

Lt. Chekov rolled his eyes over to look at his commanding officer. A smile crept to his lips. He began to try to say something, but no noise came from his mouth. Closing his eyes a moment, he strained to whisper. “Good. My. Men.”

Major Silver nodded. “We only lost your crew, everyone else is fine.” He looked back at the other two owners of the Silver Eagles as Captain Thorpe entered the tent with Lt. Owens. Thorpe and McKenna both nodded.

Turning back to Lt. Chekov, he said firmly. “Attention to orders. The Silver Eagles hereby grant Lieutenant Senior Grade Nicoli Chekov the rank of Captain, with all the duties and privileges commensurate. Congratulations Captain.” He gently took Captain Chekov’s hand and shook it.

Chekov coughed a moment, then forced out a whisper. “Takes killing... yourself... for promotion... ‘round here.” He cracked a smile.

Lt. Owens approached the opposite bedside and saluted with his good arm. “You wanted to see me, Captain?”

Chekov rolled his head around. “You... in charge. Take... care... of them... Zane. Tell... Emily... it was... right... to go. Did... some good... here.” He began gasping for breath a moment. He continued once he had caught it. “Tell... her... ‘Love... you... always.’ ” His eyes closed and his breathed slowed.

Three hours later, he was gone.

That wraps up this installment. Last one should be out tomorrow sometime. Enjoy!

[McKenna]

Ok, this is it... almost the last update for the Outer Volta Campaign! Sorry it didn’t get out by Friday like I planned, but with my son’s 4th birthday, followed immediately by a mild case of heat stroke, (yes, even us native Nevadan’s suffer a bad day every now and again when it’s this hot and dry) plus prep for Monday’s game, I just managed to get this out. Enjoy the conclusion!

Lt. Scott was stunned. “We’re going to do what?”

Major Silver breathed a heavy sigh as he repeated his last statement. “We’re going to press the attack and force the Jaguars to surrender.”

The briefing room was deadly silent. Already the Silver Eagles had lost 99 personnel, 30 of who were going home in a body bag. The White Whale was treating 69 injured and it was fully expected that 12 of those would never see combat duty again. Of the other 57 injured, 31 would be back up within a month’s time and were resting aboard the Comstock, but the other 26 would need long-term care, leaving the White Whale running at 93% of capacity for some time to come.

The damage to the Battalion’s equipment was even more severe. All 12 of the Armor Company’s M-21 Main Battle Tanks were destroyed or out of commission, leaving only the M-22 IFVs functional. Third and Fourth Infantry Platoons were either dead or in the White Whale, and three of the eight squads of First and Second Platoons were similarly out of action. The Partisan Air Defense Tanks were out of action, but the Alacorn and Formal were still up and running, despite low ammo stores remaining. Recon Lance had lost one Venom, the grounding of Lt. Amdecker’s Phoenix Hawk LAM, and the loss of Lt. Tucker’s Stingray, leaving Recon severely limited. Of the Battalion’s 16 BattleMechs, only six were operational and two of those were barely so. Only Lt. Faller’s Zeus, Lt. Sanderson’s Archer, Lt. Josepho’s Orion, and Lt. Jones’ Anvil had been fully repaired. Lt. Windsor’s Gallowglas was still running hot from engine damage and missing half of its armor while Lt. Collins’ Executioner was nearly completely armor bare.

Lt. Josepho stood and faced Major Silver. “Give me command and we will crush their remaining forces and take their planet, my Khan.”

Major Silver looked over at the former Jade Falcon. “I am afraid that the honor of leading the Silver Eagles to victory will not fall to you this time, Josepho.” He looked to Lt. Faller and Sanderson. “You two are the only Senior Grade Lieutenants with operational machines. Since Lieutenant Sanderson’s Fire Lance is completely out of action save for her own ‘Mech and Lieutenant Faller’s Assault Lance is still 75% intact, it will be he that leads the attack.” He looked back to Josepho. “You will temporarily be assigned as Lieutenant Sanderson’s wingman. Lieutenant Jones, you will provide backup for Lieutenant Faller and keep him clear of enemy Elementals and Infantry.”

Lt. Jones spoke up next. “Sir, what exactly are we looking at for the remaining forces defending the Jaguar base?”

With a glance from Major Silver, Lt. Faller cleared his throat. “Last recon sweep by Captain Thorpe showed that we managed to take out the last of their defense turrets with the Comstock’s Long Toms. It’s good to know that, but unfortunately, the ‘Toms only have 5 more shells left, so we’re saving those for an emergency.” Glancing over at the head of Recon Lance, he nodded. “Captain?”

Captain Randall Thorpe stood up and waited for the map to be displayed on the wall screen before beginning. “After doing several recon sweeps, we spotted the remaining forces. They’re buttoned up in a hardened building at what is shown as Waypoint Omega. It looks to be a reinforced repair facility, so likely they have pulled their wrecks in there and are trying to get some of them back on line. A close sweep showed both Mars tanks and several points of Infantry and Elementals guarding it.”

Lt. Faller continued. “After the last battle, the Jags managed to pull three of their damaged ‘Mechs off the field, the Hankyu, the Adder, and the Horned Owl. Likely their technicians are working on them as we speak. If they get them up and running again, along with a few of their tanks that we know have survived, they’ll be able to throw a force up that will stop us cold if we try and take the base. We also know that one Batu fighter is still in flying shape, but for all intents and purposes, we control the skies three-to-one.”

Captain Friedrich interrupted. “Repairs are underway to seal the breaches on decks three and five, but if they manage another bombing run on us, we’re dead where we sit. We won’t be able to hold atmosphere for the trip back to Wolcott, let alone lift salvage and supplies.”

Major Silver nodded. “That’s why we’re going to hit them now, before they can recoup and strand us here.”

Lt. Scott looked unsure. “But why stay anymore? They’ve called for help, so we did our job. Lets bug out while we still have something left to bug out with!”

Major Silver shook his head. “We need to make the Jags commit to coming after us. That means we sit tight long enough for those ships near the Zenith Point to rendezvous with the Cruiser and plot a pirate jump. If we bug out before they commit, they can call it off and let what’s left of the 7th continue garrison while they call in a new Garrison to secure the planet more thoroughly. Or worse, just let the 7th rebuild and recoup so that they only need some fresh faces and equipment. If that’s the case, we’ll have failed our mission to make the Jags think they have a weakness here.”

Lt. Vahzenov added to the Major’s line. “Vorse yet, from a purely economic point of view, ve haven’t pulled in enough salvage to even come close to breaking even on zis mission. Ve’re looking at a near total loss of over half ze Battalion if ve leave now.”

Captain McKenna nodded in agreement. “Unfortunately, the Lieutenant is right. If we leave now, we’ll have to sell off most of our good units and equipment remaining and ship the bulk of the troops back to Negushevo for lack of ability of keep up the payroll. That, just to rebuild a Company at best. It will devastate our standing in the Hiring Halls. While we technically succeeded, it would be looked at as a failure of the unit to operate as an independent Battalion. We’ll be ruined.”

Major Silver knocked on the briefing room table. “We’re getting off the subject.” He looked toward Ben. “This is not a debate about if we should attack. The Majors and myself have already settled that decision.” Motioning to Captain Thorpe and Captain McKenna. “This is a briefing on what we are going to do, not if we should do it. Understood?” As the room grew quiet, Major Silver turned back to Lt. Faller. “Continue, Joe.”

“Right.” He began. “Anyway, on top of the two tanks, we believe that they have about another Star of unarmored Infantry and maybe three Points of Battlearmor. That and their three Donar attack VTOLs and one more Anhur transport.” He turned to the head of their Infantry Company. “Lieutenant O’Hare has agreed to lead the remaining squads of Infantry as a heavily reinforced Platoon to try and overpower the hangar where the VTOLs are stationed. Once secure, he’ll need the support of the M-22s to keep the Jags from retaking it. That means the ‘Mechs, Recon, and the Alacorn have to try and secure the two Mars tanks and Infantry without anti-Infantry support.”

Chief Tech Iverson spoke up when Joe looked his way. The technician looked barely awake after 30 hours of non-stop repair duty. “Well, we’ve finished reconfiguring the Executioner with a heavy anti-infantry load out. Don’t know if twill stand up to any ‘mount of pounding though, tis barely holdin’ t’gether in the bay, let ‘lone in combat.”

Lt. Collins beamed. “She will hold... she’s a tough old girl!”

Major Silver nodded. “That’s what I like to hear.” Turning back to Lt. Faller. “We’ll monitor from the CiC and provide tactical alerts as needed, but you’ll be in command on-site Lieutenant. Make us proud.” Glancing at his chronometer, he turned off the map display. “Ok, you have 30 minutes prep. I want you moving out by 1200 Terran Standard Time. Dismissed, and good luck.”

Lt. O’Hare let a smile creep onto his lips as he strode across the hangar toward the towering genetically enhanced Clan soldier. He stood easily over 2.4 meters high, a full half-meter taller than himself, even though he wasn’t short by any means. The muscular Clansman was clad only in shorts as he stood surrounded by an entire squad of first platoon’s infantry, his dark skin a sharp contrast to the cream colored garb he wore.

Stopping barely half a meter away from the towering Elemental, Lt. O’Hare looked up as he spoke. “I hereby claim this facility and all it’s contents in the name of the Silver Eagles. You and all your men are...” he nearly stumbled over the word. “...abtakha, property of the Silver Eagles. You will submit to the bondcord or die.”

The Elemental glared down at the tiny man threatening his life. “Your speech is abhorrent, freebirth! You expect me to take your claim seriously?” He bellowed out laughter that filled the hangar. “I single-handedly smashed aside an entire element of your attack force. Had you not caught us in the very act of preparing to drive you from existence, your blood would now stain...”

Lt. O’Hare lifted his hand as though to strike the huge man. “Silence! Your boasts are meaningless! You have lost! Submit or I will kill you myself!”

The shock of this small man’s boast nearly startled the living giant. The absurd idea that such a small man could defeat him seemed too ridiculous to contemplate. He arrives with seven times our number in his ramshackle little toy-trucks, catching us in the middle of donning our armor and presumes to think we are so easily cowed?

Lt. O’Hare knew that the elemental was planning to attack him. He could almost feel the hatred the man spewed from his eyes. Relaxing into a defensive posture, he waited for the lunge. Sure enough, two massive hands came hurtling toward his throat. Bad move... he thought. Snapping his lithe body to his right, he was almost surprised by the speed of the Elemental’s reaction, nearly catching him as he slid around the side of the giant. Racing his own hands up the man’s arm with the speed of years of training, his hand caught the massive wrist and continued to swivel his body around, hooking his leg around the massive trunk of bone and muscle the Elemental called a leg. Using his whole body as a lever, he pressed against his massive bulk and released the wrist.

The elemental was caught totally unaware as the tiny form nearly vanished from in front of him. Suddenly he found his legs cut out from under him and was sent sprawling across the ferrocrete floor. Skin abraded and tore along his side as his massive weight slid along the floor of the hangar. Quickly rolling with the impact, he tumbled out of the slide and came to rest on his knees several meters from the barbarian that had tossed him like a doll.

The shock of his own lack of discipline and the ability of the Inner Sphere infantry commander to use it against him hurt worse than the torn flesh and bleeding. Realization spread across his face as his stood up, only to fall again to his knees. “I just let you defeat me... I might just as well have handed you a sword to fight me with, quineg. You use my own hatred of you as a weapon. I have already failed... both myself and my Clan.” He spread his arms wide and closed his eyes. “I ask for bonsref.”

Lt. O’Hare relaxed from his defensive stance. “If I understand Clan ways, you’re asking me to kill you.” He shook his head. “No. You are mine... and you do not deserve death.” He ripped at the hem of his sleeve, yanking a stretch of cloth free as he walked up to the giant man. Slapping the cloth around the man’s right wrist, tying the lose ends in a knot. “These are the colors of the Silver Eagles. You are now bondsman to us, bound by custom. Your old life is gone... you will now know service in our Unit.” He let the words sink in. “Once again... you are mine.” Turning to his corpsman he said, “Clean him up... make sure he doesn’t die.”

“Artillery Support! Watch your flank!” Lt. Faller screamed into his helmet mic, but it was no use. His warning was never heard over the broad-band jamming that had plagued the Assault force ever since they had lost their Ferret. Gunned down in a flash by a flash of laser light from out of nowhere, the Assault team lost contact with half their force in seconds, overwhelmed in advanced Clan electromagnetic scattering systems.

The Mars emerged from around the building. Firing a 125-kilogram slug of nickel-ferris metal at over Mach 5, it smashed into the side of the 95-ton tank shattering nearly a ton of armor in a fraction of a second. A moment later, the air snapped with the discharge of several gigajoules of focused light, arcing into the buckled armor on the right side of the Alacorn Mk VI. As the armor flashed into a gas, it exploded outward, carving a gaping rent into the side of the tank. Next the 90mm smoothbore autocannon began spewing out a cloud of shells that scattered all over the tank, exploding against everything they touched. The ragged shards of armor exploded outward as less than a fifth of the protective armor remained from what had been there only a few seconds before.

As the Alacorn’s turret swiveled around and unleashed a trio of Mach-5 slugs of its own, the shower of 45 guided missiles came smashing into the tank. Though a full two fifths of them lost tracking lock only halfway to the tank and exploded harmlessly, over 20 missiles still found their way to the tank. A few impacted the well-protected front and turret, but fifteen dug into the already ravaged side of the tank. As the three Gauss shells smashed into the nose of the Mars, the LRMs dug their way into the superstructure of the Alacorn.

With a sickening crunch, the right tread came apart in a spray of flying metal as the entire right side of the tank collapsed under the stress of the tank’s pivot as the driver had tried to bring the stronger armor of the front to face the Jaguar assault tank. Too late, it only added to the destruction of the tank. Unspent Gauss shells came spilling out of the innards of the tank like a gutted animal. Screeching to a halt in seconds, the Alacorn would never move again.

Twisting his torso around to face the tank that had destroyed his support tank on less than 10 seconds, Lt. Faller triggered his trio of Defiance P5M Medium Pulse Lasers along with the Tronel PPL-20 Large Pulse Laser mounted in his ‘Mech’s left arm. The medium laser mounted below his engine missed due to the haste of his shot while the heavy laser harmlessly shaved armor off the tank’s turret, but the two pulse lasers mounted in the left side of his torso struck true into the shattered remains of the tank’s front armor. Both lasers cored into the tank. The first failed to strike anything of importance, but the second cored into the crew compartment, spending its energy on the Clan crewmen that had so efficiently worked a moment before.

Smoke poured out of the front of the Mars and it rumbled to a stop as Lt. Faller keyed in the Comstock’s command frequency that was now clearing. “Assault Lead to Silver Actual, scratch one Mars. Artillery Support is dead. Counter-jamming is cutting through the remaining ECM. One moment.” He quickly activated the Active Probe located right over his cockpit and began scanning the area. Quickly switching to the Battalion Command frequency he shouted, “Contact! I have a pair of VTOLs bearing 170 at 25 meters AGL... distance 150 meters! They’re right over the damn hangar!”

Major Silver marked two locations on the map overlay. Keying the Command frequency, he ordered. “Fire Wing, maneuver to waypoint Yankee-three and switch to flack fire toward waypoint Yankee-four.”

Static clouded the frequency a moment before the clanner’s curt reply came over the frequency. “Aff. En-route to Yankee-three, 10 seconds.”

Lt. Josepho sailed over a 15-meter concrete barricade, coming to stop right on Yankee-three. Quickly thrusting into a slight spin before landing, he came to a stop facing the Hangar. Triggering his Kali Yama LB 10-X Smoothbore Autocannon, a hail of fire saturated the air meters above the hangar. Though he could not see the VTOLs, he knew they were either taking heavy fire, or had been forced to flee.

He was rewarded when Lt. Faller called out over the command frequency, “Splash one! Donar two is breaking high and away.”

Bringing her Archer around the barrier, Lt. Sanderson saw the second VTOL go streaking off to the west. Lining up on the fleeing attack helicopter, she waited a moment for the lock tone. As she pulled the trigger she shouted, “Fire Leader, 40 away!”

Missiles arced up into the sky, sailing toward the aircraft that was now diving toward the ground. As it did so, the missiles tried to follow, but the swift speed of its decent broke their lock. Detonating harmlessly or smashing into ferrocrete, Lt. Sanderson cursed over the command frequency before reporting. “He got away! He’s headed toward the VTOL hangar!”

“Watch it Fire Leader.” came the irritated voice of Major Silver. “Concentrate on your job. Find that Mars, immediately!” Switching to Recon frequency he ordered, “Captain Thorpe, VTOL heading toward Motor One and Armor Four. Intercept.”

“Roger, Silver Actual. En-route now.” Captain Thorpe replied evenly. As his LAM jumped into the air, he saw the Donar dash around a building. Kicking his Air-Mech into high speed, he followed the course of the attack helicopter. As he came around the building, he was surprised to see the Donar had executed a 180° turn. Yanking hard on the control stick, Captain Thorpe was struck directly in the center of his Air-Mech with the gigajoule Clan laser. A moment later his threat warning indicator went off, a fraction of a second before two missiles impacted along his left wing.

Vectoring his thrusters hard over, he swung into a 60° turn that brought his heavy laser into line with his attacker. “Weapons Locked” came the cool voice of his computer assistant. At the confirmation of his targeting lock, he mashed down of the firing stud sending 1.3 gigajoules of energy surging from his reactor to the firing coil of the laser mounted in the right side of his airframe. A microsecond later, the beam sliced into the Donar’s rotor assembly, cleanly severing the root of the third rotor. Two seconds later, the rotor disintegrated itself due to the imbalance. As the craft lost lift, it tilted hard to the left and smashed into the side of the building, smashing the cockpit and sliding down the building as the hydrogen fuel lines ruptured. Superheated hydrogen came spilling out of the reactor’s fuel lines, igniting the moment the fuel reached oxygen. Turning the leak into a blowtorch, it blasted the SRM ammo stores, exploding in a fireball of detonating warheads and fuel.

“Splash one!” Captain Thorpe called out over the battalion frequency. “That leaves one Donar left. Anyone have a fix on it?”

Lt. O’Hare responded a moment later. “Motor One Actual here. We have secured the VTOL hangar with the Anhur and one Donar still parked.”

Major Silver keyed his mic. “Roger that Motor One. Recon Air Leader, stay with Motor One and provide support. Assault Leader, proceed to waypoint Omega and take out any remaining forces.”

Captain McKenna stood up. “I’ll be back.” At that she turned and left the CiC.

Lt. Faller slowly walked his ‘Mech forward. “Assault Wing, Assault Support, move up in flanking positions. Assault Support Wing, file in behind us. Let’s keep it tight people. Fire Leader, report position.”

Lt. Sanderson was slow to reply and her response was filled with static. “Assaul.......der, Now c....... up on waypoint .......-two. Can....... read you, over.”

Lt. Faller looked at his sensor readout. No sign of them, and with that kind of breakup that means that they’re within 180 meters of that last Mars. Better pick up the pace. “All units, form up and make to waypoint Omega at best speed.”

As Lt. Sanderson rounded the corner of the building, she could see the Zeus and three other ‘Mechs of Assault Lance closing at a dead run. “Say again Assault Lead, I can’t read you. I have you by eyesight; laser ranging shows you at 780 meters. Sensors completely clouded, I can’t even get...”

She was caught mid-sentence as something shoved her forward. At first she thought it was weapons fire, but soon realized it was too gentle to have been a weapon. As she swung her Archer’s torso around, she spotted the Mars. Behind her, Lt. Josepho’s Orion was wreathed in LRM and autocannon explosions. He pushed me out of the way! she thought. Seizing the opportunity, she swung her arms up and fired every weapon on her ‘Mech at the tank. One laser missed as did an LRM salvo, striking the overhang that the Mars had been hiding under. The other missiles and laser piled into the front and turret of the shrouded tank, destroying 885 of the 2,600 kilograms of advanced ferro-fibrous compound protecting the tank and scattering it across the ferrocrete.

Lt. Josepho recovered from the daze of explosions. He knew the cockpit had been struck by one of the small submunitions from the autocannon, but the damage to the ‘Mech was minimal. Focusing on the threat, he smiled. So, the solahma Jaguars think they still have teeth? Typically blind, the Jaguar leaps, but seldom looks. Flicking a thumb switch, he saw the Narc launcher switch ammo bins.

Lining up on the tank, he triggered a full burst of all his weapons, sending a warm wave of heat into his cockpit which the Orion’s heat exchangers quickly dissipated, returning the temperature to normal. His Kali Yama autocannon spat out a similar cloud of explosive submunitions that had assaulted him, with his Narc launcher firing a heavy missile straight at the tank. The twin Intek Medium Pulse Lasers each carved a line across the front of the tank, further diminishing the protection there, but his twin Irian Weapons Works Medium Lasers only spilled their energy into the ferrocrete. As the autocannon’s submunitions began exploding all over the tank, the heavy missile exploded on the front of the tank, shredding over a fifth of a ton of armor, leaving only a third of the armor remaining there. As the submunitions detonated, one blasted the entry hatch off the tank. The combination of shock waves and shrapnel turned the interior of the Mars into a chamber of death. Within seconds, the tank was silent.

As the tank died, the cloud of electronic jamming lifted. Keying his mic, Lt. Faller signaled. “Fire Lance, report!”

Lt. Sanderson wasn’t sure what to say. After a moment, she responded. “Assault Leader, the second Mars appears to be dead. No sign of the Infantry or Battlearmor.”

Damn! thought Lt. Faller. They’re probably waiting inside the building where we’ll have to take them the hard way. Switching over to the Comstock’s frequency, he reported in. “Silver Actual, this is Assault Leader. The enemy units have been neutralized. No sign of further armored resistance. Ten Battlearmor and the Infantry Star are still missing. Awaiting orders.”

Major Silver pumped his fist. “Yes!” Opening the Command Frequency, he ordered. “Silver Actual to all units. The base is secure. Armor One, I want you to take whatever you have left and secure the repair hangar. Recon Air Leader, you are to remain at the hangar with the rest of Recon and keep it secure.” Keying in Captain McKenna’s personal com frequency, he queried. “Orchid, what is your location?”

Erin was startled when her communicator went off. She had just gotten into her ground car and was about to set out toward the base facility. Reaching over, she keyed the radio open. “Orchid here. I’m in the lower bay ready to disembark and take charge of the capture of the facility.”

Major Silver wasn’t surprised. “Roger that. Take a squad of Marines and proceed to waypoint Omega. Take charge of the capture. Silver Actual out.” Letting out a long breath, he smiled. Might as well point her at the enemy.

As McKenna drove up to the Jaguar’s repair building, she was greeted with the sight of Motor One firing on the front of the building. Small laser flashes flew from the wide-open doors of the facility, but the armor of the R-11 combat vehicles kept Motor One safe. As she pulled to a stop beside the building, five Marines dived out of the vehicle. Grabbing her M-111 Laser Rifle from under her seat, she stepped out of the car. “Master Sergeant Rhode! Take your men up around the corner and support Motor One!”

With a quick nod, the five unarmored Marines sneaked along the edge of the building. Rounding the corner, They took up firing positions along the corner. Lasers flashed as the Marines added their marksmanship to Motor One’s heavy laser fire.

Captain McKenna dashed across the ferrocrete toward one of Motor One’s R-11 assault vehicles. Snapping a quick shot into the building, she used the distraction of the Marine squad to safely reach the vehicle. Ducking behind the assault car as a series of laser flashes exploded behind her, she recovered quickly and took up a firing position around the vehicle. Sighting quickly, she saw a laser flash out from a catwalk toward the Marines. Letting her eyes adjust to the darkness within, she saw several forms almost materialize out of the darkness. Sighting on one, she triggered her laser rifle three times in rapid succession. She was rewarded with the barely visible sight of a body falling from the catwalk. As she ducked back behind the vehicle, a hail of laser fire saturated the area around her.

As the hail of fire stopped, she peaked around the vehicle. The catwalk was lit up in a hail of laser fire from the Marine squad for a few moments, letting her watch as the squad cut down the fire team in moments. Catching a glimpse of movement on the floor of the repair bay, she quickly grabbed her personal coms and keyed it. “Motor One! Marine Two! Toads in the bay! All units open fire on them, NOW!”

Rolling out from behind the assault car, she leveled her laser rifle on one of the Elementals as a hail of laser fire filled the bay. She took steady aim and triggered her own weapon, and then again, and again, and again. The sound of weapons fire filled her ears with a deafening roar and brilliant flashes of light blinded her.

Then there was silence.

Ok, this one is longer than I thought it would be! The last fight and wrap-up will be up soon. Enjoy!

[McKenna]

Happy Independence Day from the Silver Eagles

[McKenna]

And on with the show....

Ok, got this hammered out to add to the fun. ;)

As Lt. O’Hare strode into the repair bay, both the Marine squad and his own first squad flanked him. Waiting in the middle of the bay was a contingent of ten Smoke Jaguar infantrymen, stiff and unrelenting. Even unarmed they were an intimidating sight, despite the fact that he and his escorts were armed. Stopping just short of the waiting Jaguar warriors, he examined them as if he could see through them. Seeming satisfied, he nodded and stepped aside.

“In the name of the Silver Eagles,” Erin began “I, Captain McKenna hereby claim this facility and all its contents as isorla. That includes you and your wounded worth saving.”

Stepping forward, a woman who could only be an elemental glared down at McKenna, but her face resolved into a look of defeat. “Aff. You have defeated us and we stand ready to take our place within your Clan as laborers. This is our way, and the way of the Clans.” Looking back a moment, she returned to look at her new master. “Star Captain, several of your bondsmen have asked for bonsref. Will you allow them the right to die like warriors, quiaff?”

McKenna shook her head. “Neg. You are the property of the Silver Eagles and our property you will stay. Destroying Silver Eagle property is a needless waste and will not be permitted. You have been defeated. We defeated you and claim you. You all must learn to accept that fact. That is our way, and it is now yours, quiaff?”

The ex-Jaguar elemental nodded. “Aff. I will see to it my fellow bondsmen adapt. Who is our caste leader?”

Erin stood at ease. “What is your name?”

The elemental stiffened with pride. “I am Cora, former Point Commander in the Seventh Jaguar PGC’s third Infantry Star.”

McKenna stood impassively. “Very well, for the moment Cora, you are the caste leader. That may change later, but for now I want you to gather your wounded and escort them to the infirmary. After that, report to Lieutenant O’Hare who will give you instructions on what to do next.” She glanced around the room. “How many of your ex-warriors remain?”

Looking at the floor, Cora replied, “Only twenty-six are unwounded. The rest are dead or dying.”

“And where is the commanding officer of the Seventh Jaguar PGC?”

Cora balked at the question and looked into McKenna’s eyes. “That is no longer my concern.”

Captain McKenna nodded. “Very well. I will root him out and take him soon enough. Carry out your duties, Cora.” As the elemental walked off to organize the remaining Jaguar infantry into first aid teams, McKenna turned to Lt. O’Hair. “Did any get away, Lieutenant?”

“Not that I saw, Captain.” He replied. “Those that didn’t surrender were slaughtered when Lieutenant Collins opened up with all those pulse lasers. It was a deathtrap in there. I’m amazed that even these guys survived.”

McKenna looked around the repair bay. “Certainly took me by surprise, though a welcome one at that. Lieutenant, I want you to organize your men into fire teams and cover the interior of the building.” Turning to Master Sergeant Rhode, she continued. “Sergeant, I want your men to guard that ammunition stockpile over there. If any Clanner gets too close to it, you have authorization to use whatever means necessary to prevent sabotage. These Jaguars are too hidebound for someone to not try something. Let’s not be caught unawares.”

As she finished speaking, her personal coms went off. “McKenna here.”

“Captain, you better get out here quick.” Came the voice of Lt. Collins. “We have a situation.”

As McKenna ran out the main doors of the repair bay, she immediately spotted several squads of Motor One training their weapons on a group of people standing next to the building. Their mode of dress suggested Jaguar warriors, but not Elementals. Striding toward the assembled Jaguars, she stopped just short of the one in the lead. “I am Captain McKenna of the Silver Eagles. Who are you?”

The Clansman sneered at her. “I am Star Captain Paul, Commander of the BattleMech Binary assigned to the Seventh Jaguar Provisional Garrison Cluster and temporary commander of the Cluster.”

McKenna crossed her arms. “Very well Star Captain, with what forces do you defend the possession of this world?”

He stiffened at her batchall. “I stand ready to defend this world with all of my remaining forces.” He motioned to the group of six men and three women behind him. “However, you now have possession of all of our ‘Mechs and vehicles, so we stand ready to face you as warriors of the Jaguar just as you see us.”

Glancing at the assembled warriors, she chuckled. “You are defeated already, Star Captain. I have claimed this planet and all on it as property of the Silver Eagles. I would grant you hegira and allow you to withdraw, if you had anything left to withdraw with.”

Furry creased his face. “Very well, Captain! I challenge you to a trial of possession of this planet!”

Nodding, McKenna relented. “Aff. However, seeing as you lack even one operational BattleMech, I will fight you un-augmented.”

A skinny Aerospace pilot stepped forward. “I am Star Commander Aaron, leader of the Seventh Jaguar PGC’s Aerospace Star. I still have my Omnifighter. If you dare, face me for the trial!” Turning to Star Captain Paul, he spoke through gritted teeth. “Please, Star Captain! Permit me the honor of facing this freebirth to crush her!”

“Silence!” Star Captain Paul bellowed. “I am in charge of this Garrison Cluster! And only I have the right to defend it!”

Captain McKenna spoke up. “If Star Commander Aaron is inclined to be destroyed to prove his lack of worthiness to contribute to the gene pool, we will accept his challenge. He may face one of our Fighter Pilots in a circle of equals if he so wishes.”

Star Captain Paul was visibly impressed with McKenna’s attitude. “Very well, Captain.” Turning to the pilot, he nodded. In a flash, the small pilot ran from the group toward his Batu. Turning back to Captain McKenna, he nodded in acknowledgement. “You know our ways well, Captain. Now, let us see how well you know the ways of combat. From where will you defend?”

McKenna nodded toward the repair bay. “As that is where we defeated you, we will await you there. Bargained well and done, Star Captain Paul.”

“Bargained well and done, Captain McKenna. May you meet a glorious death!”

 Dang but this guy is good! thought Lt. Titus. When the challenge was relayed to the Comstock, Lt. Tucker was still in the infirmary. Given the choice between facing the Batu with one of their F-700a Rievers and Lt. Titus’s remaining F-92e Stingray, Space Operations Officer Hernandez-Silver asked him to face the Clansman. He remembered the only thing she had said to him.

“Please don’t get shot down. It’s my fighter you’re in you know!”

“Don’t get shot down.” She says... someone tell him that! he thought as he banked around again to avoid exiting the circle of equals. A 113 square kilometer area of airspace just north of the Jaguar base had been selected at the site of the trial, with the ceiling set at 6,500 meters and the hard deck set at 500 meters.

As he came around, he spotted the enemy fighter coming straight at him. Pulling into a tighter turn, he hoped the Clan pilot would try and slip in behind him. That’s it... take the bait. At the last second, the Batu shot past his position, letting loose a barrage of short-range missiles and trying to attach a Narc beacon to his fighter again. The beacon missed, but twelve missiles struck his fighter, weakening its armor all over.

Seeing him shoot by again, Lt. Titus started to climb up toward the ceiling of the engagement. Pressed back in his seat by the g-forces of his fighter’s engine and the gravity of the planet, he leveled off at 6,400 meters. Slowing to barely 200 knots, he brought his fighter around in a tight turn. The Clan fighter had skirted the edge of the circle of equals and was now coming straight at him, climbing from 4,000 meters and closing rapidly. Lt. Titus heard the threat warning indicator as he locked his own weapons on the Batu. Waiting for the range to close, he weathered yet another assault of short-range missiles. This time, he heard an audible thump as the heavy Narc projectile attached to his fighter’s nose. A moment later, his right wing took a beating as the Clan PPC tore a gash along the entire length of it.

Slewing hard to the right, he corrected his aim as he descended on the enemy fighter. Seeing the range drop to only a kilometer, he pressed the firing stud triggering all eight of his fighter’s lasers. Heat washed through his fighter, threatening to make him veer off course, but his aim was true; five Magna 400P Medium Pulse Lasers tore into the nose of the Clan fighter along with one of his two Hellion-a III ER Large Lasers. Armor stripped away and the fighter’s Fire control system was completely destroyed, leaving the Clan Fighter with no way to exploit the homing beacon now attached to Lt. Titus’s Stingray.

Seeming to accept his fate, the Clan pilot opened a communications channel. “I am powless. My weapons control is destroyed and I cannot fight any longer. Destroy me.”

The shock of the sudden admission of defeat caught Lt. Titus by surprise. Not being fully familiar with the ways of the Clans, he responded unsure of how it would come across. “You’re dead anyway. Shooting you down in cold blood wouldn’t be sporting. Go home.”

Banking to return to the Comstock, Lt. Titus was almost out of the engagement zone when he saw the Batu descending on him at high speed. Darting quickly into a barrel roll, he cut his thrust and pulled back on the stick, cutting his airspeed to almost nothing in seconds. As the Clan fighter shot past him and nearly collided with his Stingray, he recovered from the maneuver and lined up his sights. Triggering another full burst of weapons fire, the lasers sliced into the engine housing. As the two heavy beams cored into the reactor assembly, the remaining hydrogen fuel exploded in a fireball of destruction. Wreckage flew out of the expanding cloud of vapor, hurtling toward the ground that would become the Clan Aerospace Pilot’s grave.

Last installment will be done tomorrow... assuming I don’t suffer more catastrophe! :P

[McKenna]

Ok, here it is... the wrap-up of the Outer Volta Campaign! Enjoy!

McKenna stood next to Master Sergeant Rhode, waiting for any sign of the remaining nine Jaguar Warriors. She turned to Sgt. Rhodes. “Any word from Lieutenant Titus yet?”

Master Sergeant Mark Rhode was listening intently to his radio. “Yes ma’am. He’s engaging the Jaguar fighter now.”

Captain McKenna nodded. “I’m sure he’ll do fine.” As she spoke, her personal coms went off. “McKenna.”

“Captain.” Reported Lt. O'Hare. “Five of the Jaguars are approaching your position. Just walking up like they’re on their way to work or something! They’ve asked for something called ‘safe con’. I presume they mean to be asking to be let in to the hangar. Should we just let them through?”

McKenna smiled. “Yes Lieutenant. Let them through.” Clicking off her coms, she removed her field jacket and began stretching her muscles and loosening up her joints for what she knew was to come.

As the five Jaguars entered the hangar, several fire teams all covered them with laser rifles. With a gesture, McKenna had them lower their weapons. Striding across the hangar, she stopped in front of their leader. “Star Captain Paul, I granted you safcon because I consider you an honorable warrior deserving of a warrior’s fate.” Looking over the five assembled warriors, she queried, “Is this your bid?”

Star Captain Paul nodded. “It is. These are the last five Mechwarriors of the Seventh PGC. The other four warriors are but lowly VTOL pilots and gunners. We will not insult you with their lack of skill. If we are defeated, they will surrender.”

McKenna motioned to the Marine squad behind her. “These are the five warriors of second Marine Squad. I will bid them in defense along with myself.”

Star Captain Paul furrowed his brow and crossed his arms. “You bid five Elementals and yourself in a fight against five powless Mechwarriors? Hardly an honorable bid, Captain.”

McKenna stood impassively, resting her hands on her hips. “It is my right to. You have but ten warriors, while I possess the might of a full trinary’s worth of troops. You challenge our possession of this world with such a small force that it is within my rights to bid down to only six warriors. However...” McKenna turned and let a smile form on her face as the Star Captain waited for her to finish. “However, I think we can agree that the others are but ancillary combatants here.” She turned and faced the Jaguar warrior again. “The real battle here is between you and myself.” She waved her hand. “The others here are meaningless. You command the Jaguars, I command the Eagles. I bid only myself to defend our possession of this world. You will meet me in a circle of equals, quiaff?”

The Jaguar Star Commander smiled. “Aff. I will.” He stripped out of his heavy gray leather jacket as he turned to his fellow Jaguar warriors. “This will be settled here and now. Let no one interfere! All are bound by the outcome of this combat.” He turned back to Captain McKenna. “Is that not correct, Captain?”

McKenna nodded and she laced her combat boots tighter. “Aff. If you defeat me, the Silver Eagles are defeated and we will depart. If I defeat you, then this world belongs to us until such time as someone else challenges us for it. But that is a matter for strategists and politicians, not we warriors quiaff?”

Readying himself for combat, Star Captain Paul nodded. “Aff.” He pointed to an area in the center of the repair bay. “There. Form the circle.” As he spoke, the other four members walked to the middle of the bay, forming an arc that would make a circle 15 meters across. The five Marines followed suit and completed half the ring, with the fire teams of Motor One finishing out the circle.

Master Sergeant Rhode looked to his left at the Clan Mechwarrior standing next to him. She looked back at him with a scathing look of disdain. “What is it, freebirth?”

Mark smiled. “Nothing. I’m just wondering what you’ll be doing once you’re a bondsman to the Silver Eagles.” He pointed at McKenna. “Because she’s going to kick his rear.”

The Mechwarrior chuckled slightly. “You think so, lucre warrior?” She nodded toward the Star Captain. “Star Captain Paul once fought for the Kotare bloodname. He defeated an Elemental in the first round of fighting unaugmented before losing in the second round to another Mechwarrior. There is no chance your Captain McKenna can defeat him.”

Master Sergeant Rhode just continued to smile. “Care to place a wager on that?”

Furry swept across the woman’s face as her head snapped around at the comment. “Do not insult me by comparing me to some Merchant casteman! This is a circle of equals, not your blood sports of Solaris!”

Mark shrugged. “No insult intended. It’s an old custom dating back to ancient Terra for warriors to place side-bets on the outcome of honorable combats. I just thought you might be interested in exercising that ancient custom. I guess not.”

His comments succeeded brilliantly in manipulating the Jaguar warrior. Her furry melted away into a look of curiosity. “An ancient Terran custom?”

Sergeant Rhode pretended not to hear her as Captain McKenna and Star Captain Paul readied themselves for the trial. “What? Oh, yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Ancient Terran Alliance armies would sometimes stage trials called ‘boxing matches’ between different units of their militaries. To fight in one was considered an act of great honor as you were defending the reputation of your unit. Almost everyone in the units would make wagers against the opposing side, betting something or other that their fighter would defeat the opposing fighter. They would bet anything... money, duty hours, leave time, meals, whatever they happened to have of value. The more you thought your fighter was the better fighter, the more they would be willing to bet. It’s an ancient Terran tradition though, you probably have no place for it. Looks like they’re ready to start.”

The Clan warrior looked skeptically at the Marine as she faced back into the circle. Star Captain Paul entered the circle through the warriors of his command. Stopping near the middle of the circle, he waited as Captain McKenna entered from the opposite side. Raising his voice, he shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. “This trial is conducted in the manor and customs of the Clans of Kerensky! Despite the fact that we face dezgra Inner Sphere Mercenaries, all will be bound by the outcome of this trial! Let no one interfere!” The four Clan warriors gently echoed in unison, “Seyla.” He turned and looked at Captain McKenna.

She nodded slightly to Star Captain Paul before speaking. “As Executive officer of the Silver Eagles, I hereby order all present to stand down and depart this world if I am defeated. You will not interfere with this fight in any way! Understood?” The hangar echoed with a chorus of “Yes sir!” from the assembled Silver Eagles. She turned and faced Star Captain Paul, bowing ever so slightly before assuming a defensive stance.

Leaning slightly toward Master Sergeant Rhode as the two began circling, the Clan Mechwarrior spoke in low tones. “Very well, I will honor this ancient Terran tradition. Seeing as if your McKenna wins I will become bondsman to the Silver Eagles, I will wager the first month of my non-service time to you. What say you?”

Mark smiled. “A serious wager.” Thinking a moment, he replied. “If your Star Captain wins, I will be departing. However, I’ll surrender my prized collection of ancient Terran musidisks before I leave. Sound fair?”

She nodded. “Aff. Bargained well and done.”

He glanced over at her as she turned back to watch Star Captain Paul lunge forward toward Captain McKenna, who deftly avoided his leg-sweep. “By the way, who should I say they belong to if I cannot find you again before I leave and have to leave them with someone else?”

As McKenna brought her left leg around to try and kick the Clansman in the back of the head, the female Mechwarrior replied, “Mechwarrior Lacy.”

Sergeant Rhode nodded and turned his attention to the fight. McKenna’s leg had wept through the air as the Clansman rolled forward to avoid the blow. Regaining his feet, he cautiously circled inward along McKenna’s right side. In a flash, he moved in and let his left fist smash into McKenna’s ribs, visibly lifting her off the floor and sending her into the air. She tumbled as she landed, regaining her feet in one swift movement.

As she staggered to her right, she was in obvious pain but pushed past it. She regained her composure just as the Clan Mechwarrior closed again on the same side. Determined not to get caught like that again, she feigned a dodge to the left before dropping into a leg-sweep of her own. The Clansman’s quick reactions almost left her exposed, but she brought her other leg up and into the small of his back. Not expecting the second blow, he dropped to the floor on his back where McKenna slammed her elbow down, smashing into his breastbone and knocking the wind out of him.

Rolling away from her, he staggered to his feet as McKenna kicked her legs back and righted herself, tumbling back over her head to a standing position. The two circled each other; both not fully prepared for what the other might do. As they circled, Star Captain Paul made another attempt to close on her right side. As he approached, she prepared to swing past him and get behind him where she could do some real damage. As she swept along his left side, twisting her body like a top, he caught her right wrist and dropped to the floor, her hand protruding from his own as he pointed it toward the ground.

The sound of breaking bones and McKenna’s shout as his weight all smashed down on her wrist made the assembled warriors cringe, but her retribution was swift. Reaching behind her, she hooked her left arm around the Clansman’s neck and levered her whole body to bring the Mechwarrior up and over her shoulder. As she did so she stood up, flipping Star Captain Paul into the air and sending him smashing facedown onto the ferrocrete.

As she moved off cradling her right arm, Star Captain Paul slowly stood, blood pouring down his face. His eyes were slightly swollen and his nose flattened out. Looking around, he spotted Captain McKenna and slowly staggered toward her. “Nice try, Captain.” He said through ragged breath. “But it is not over yet.” He moved in with lightning speed, catching McKenna in a body slam that carried her to the ground near the side of the circle of equals. With the weight of his body pinning her in place, he smashed his left fist into her wounded right side over and over again.

McKenna brought her left leg up and scythed the heel of her boot down on the inside of his right knee. Howling in pain as he sat up, she smashed his face with her left fist, connecting with his right eye and sending blood flying across the floor. He rolled off of her and tried to right himself, but his right leg collapsed under his own weight. Dropping to his left knee, he turned just in time to see McKenna’s left boot smash into the side of his face. He dropped to the floor as McKenna continued to swing her body around. Looking down at his still form, she ached to catch her breath. After a moment, she reached down and pulled on his left arm, flipping him onto his back. His eyes were closed as blood still trickled out of one eye and his nose.

She looked to the four Clan Warriors at the edge of the circle. “It is finished.” She said through rapid breaths. “The Silver Eagles claim you and this planet as isorla.” At that, she limped out of the circle toward the corpsman of Motor One. As he pulled out his medical gear, she pointed to the defeated Star Captain. “Treat him first. I’ll live. I want to make sure he does too.” She nearly collapsed into the seat of the R-11 assault vehicle, cradling her right arm and cursing in Chinese.

Master Sergeant Rhode turned to the ex-Clan Mechwarrior. “Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, Lacy.” Emphasizing the lack of calling her a Mechwarrior. Her stunned silence was the only response he got for quite some time to come.

Nineteen hours later, the Silver Eagle command staff was assembled in the headquarters tent. As Major Silver walked in, Lt. Scott called out. “Attention on deck!” causing everyone in the tent to stand at attention.

Major Silver took his seat at the head of the table. “At ease.” As the assembled officers took their seats again, he looked at the empty seat normally reserved for Captain McKenna. Looking toward Dr. Benson, he asked, “How is she doing?”

Dr. Benson shrugged. “She’ll pull through. Re-breaking her right wrist wasn’t very healthy, but with therapy, she’ll recover. Her right lung was punctured and she has four broken ribs, but she’s recovering nicely. A month off wouldn’t hurt.”

Major Silver grimaced at the thought of losing his XO for that long. “Can she do light administrative duty?”

“Well so long as she doesn’t have to do anything physically taxing, paperwork is fine.” He replied. “Physical therapy will take up a lot of her time though, so it should be kept very light.”

Major Silver nodded. “Alright.” Looking to Lt. Faller, he ordered, “See to it she doesn’t try to take on too much too soon Joe.”

Lt. Faller nodded. “Right, like I can stop her! About all I can do is drug her, which I’m sure the doc here wouldn’t appreciate!”

Light laughter filled the briefing room a moment before Major Silver continued. “Ok, so what are we looking at here?” Turning to Lt. Vahzenov, he asked, “What’s the take so far?”

Lt. Vahzenov stood before beginning. “Vell, ze inventory of ze Jaguar base is almost complete, but ve’re going to have to be selective about vhat ve take. As ve discussed yesterday, ze Comstock lifted off to transfer cargo onto ze Jim Bridger, freeing up a total of 240 tons of cargo space to carry weapons and equipment off. Zey are already halfway done unloading wit anozer nine hours to go and should be back before 2300 hours tonight. After shuffling some zings around, ve vill have a total of 390 tons of space to carry off anyzing ve vant.”

Major Silver nodded. “What about whole units? What did we find?”

Lt. Vahzenov smiled. “Vell, in ze repair bay, ze technicians vere in ze middle of repairing three BattleMechs, vone Adder, vone Hankyu, and vone Horned Owl. Zey should fetch a handsome price! Also in ze bay vere three vehicles, an Oro, a Ku, and a Hachiman. Ve also have ze two VTOLs, a Donar and an Anhur. All should sell very vell! But ze best part is ze two Mars tanks, both vere only damaged and are still in vorking condition!”

Major Silver nodded. “What about lift capability? By my count, that haul is well over the 390 tons we have on the Comstock.”

Lt. Vahzenov shrugged. “But ve have a number of empty ‘Mech and vehicle bays, as unfortunate as zat may be. Ze technicians are stripping usable parts off ze ‘Mechs and vehicles as ve speak, zo in ze end, ve can still carry all three ‘Mechs and all seven vehicles in addition to the 390 tons of ozzer equipment!”

Major Silver looked at his S4. “Vahzenov, sometimes you amaze me. Very well, use your best judgement to gather up the parts and equipment you think will make the most of our limited space.” Glancing down at his noteputer, he looked over at Lt. Owens, promoted to the position of S1 after Lt. Chekov died. “Lieutenant, how are things in personnel? I assume you’re up to speed on the number of bondsmen we’re looking at here.”

Lt. SG Zane Owens stood up uneasily. Not used to the position of Personnel Officer, he was still very unsure of his abilities, but was determined to live up to the expectations of the Unit. “Well, not in the infirmary we have four former Mechwarriors, five former Elementals, twenty-six former Infantry, four former VTOL crewmen, and about fifty members of their technician caste. Oh, and ten members of their Merchant caste. On top of that are about two hundred infantry and Elementals and another twenty or so vehicle crewmen in the local hospital, along with one Mechwarrior, former Star Captain Paul. In total, about 320 personnel that aren’t Outer Volta natives.”

Major Silver balked at the number. “That’s all that’s left out of over eight hundred Smoke Jaguars?”

Lt. Owens nodded. “Yes sir. Eight hundred and ten to be exact. Apparently when word reached the infirmary that the 7th was defeated, two wounded Mechwarriors, twenty wounded Elementals, about fifteen vehicle crewmen, and twenty three infantrymen all took their own lives. Many of them would have fully recovered too. Most of those who didn’t kill themselves weren’t able to because of their severe injuries.” He finished, shaking his head as he sat back down.

Collecting himself, Major Silver continued. “Very well. Make plans to take the unwounded combat personnel with us, along with as many of the technicians as we can fit. The wounded we’ll leave here.” He turned to Lt. Hernandez-Silver, his wife and Space Operations Officer. “Lieutenant. What word do we have on those Jaguar ships in-system?”

Lt. Hernandez-Silver stood. “Well, the Jag Dropships seemed to have cut their engines for a while to get them to their Warship sooner, then kicked up into a 2.5-G burn that had them rendezvous at about 0200 this morning, about 9 hours early. The Jim Bridger detected a hyperpulse signal from the Cameron at 1550 yesterday, almost an hour after the Comstock lifted off, so it was possible that they didn’t know if they should just jump to where they were supposed to go in the first place, secure Outer Volta, or intercept the JB. But shortly after their Dropships docked, they jumped to the L5 point and began a 1.5-G maximum burn toward the planet.”

Major Silver nodded in agreement. “Thank you.” He entered some numbers into the noteputer in front of him. “Looking at the gravitational plots, they likely chose the L5 point because it was safer and still cut their travel time to only a little more than two days. Since they chose the L5 point, they could do it any time they liked, but they’ll be facing a 52-hour burn for the Cameron. Looks like we’re free and clear no matter what.”

Lt. Scott spoke up. “Wait. Why did they have to plot for the L5 zone? Couldn’t they just jump on top of the Jim Bridger any time they like?”

Major Silver smiled. “You’re forgetting that the L1 zone is never fully stable, Ben. They have to be extra careful when plotting a jump there and the tolerances are very tight. Luckily Outer Volta is well plotted and we had the data to make it safe enough to risk it. But with the Jim Bridger sitting there, it makes it more dangerous because they have to plot a point off-center, and the L2 point is not even a consideration. Gravity isn’t canceled out there; it’s just overcome by centrifugal force. This just means we caught a break because the Jag commander thinks we’re here to stay. So he jumps to the L5 point thinking he will get us soon enough. In the mean time, we can load up, burn for the Jim Bridger, and be docked, charged, and gone by the time they can make an intercept.”

Major Silver looked again at his gravitational plots. “Yes. If they’re on a 1.5-G burn, they’ll be almost 14 hours past the turnaround point by the time we lift off and well inside the gravity well of Outer Volta. They’ll still be almost 12 hours from the planet when we lift and unable to reach L1 before we get there six hours later. That makes them a moot point now because the soonest they can get to L1 is 0700 on the 8th with a course correction. They can’t touch us.” Major Silver cleared his display and brought his briefing notes back up. “Is there any other business?” Seeing no one comment, he stood up. “Very well then, next meeting will be 0700 tomorrow, with a second meeting at 1700 hours to cover any last minute changes before liftoff at 1740 Terran Standard Time tomorrow. Dismissed.”

Part two of the update will be up soon! (just finalizing it now)

[McKenna]

Part two of three! (yes, I can’t fit it all in two posts... darn character limits! :P ) Part three and the TO&E of the unit as they lift off and head to Wolcott to follow soon.

The next morning, Major Silver was surprised to see Captain McKenna in her seat in the briefing room of the Comstock that had returned the night before. “Major, shouldn’t you be resting?”

Captain McKenna smiled weakly. “Doctor Benson said I could attend, so long as I wear a vitals monitor.” She raised her left arm and displayed the electronic band around her upper arm that monitored her vital signs. “Don’t worry Kevin, I’ll behave.” She smiled.

Taking his seat, he began. “Ok, so how goes loading and repairs?” He looked at Captain Friedrich.

Captain Darious Friedrich stood. “All goes well. All the hull breaches are sealed and we’re topping off the hydrogen tanks with the reserves the Jags had. We transferred 60 tons of hydrogen to the Jim Bridger yesterday while we were there, so she’s topped off too. Lieutenant Vahzenov has been directing the loading of salvage since early this morning along with Supply Sergeants Diarte and Bywaters.” He looked to Lt. Vahzenov.

“Vell, zings are going vell.” Vahzenov began. “Ve have all of ze ‘Mechs and vehicles loaded already. Ze choice of loose equipment has mostly consisted of podded veapons for ze OmniMechs, vit a few choice systems zat ve pulled off of some wrecked vehicles and ze Cluster’s stores. If ve sell off all ze whole units, ve’re looking at almost 100 million C-Bills. Ze equipment is vorth at least 40 million as vell, if not more. Ve also captured ten Elemental suits intact or close enough zat zey are in better shape zen some of our more damaged ones. Lastly, zere is about 800,000 C-bills vorth of smaller equipment and veapons.”

Major Silver was surprised at the estimate. “Are you sure about that?” With a nod from Lt. Vahzenov, he continued. “I had no idea it would come to so much. Didn’t think we could lift that much. Well done everyone! Looks like we get paid after all!”

A small cheer went up throughout the room before Major Silver continued. “Alright, so what’s the damage total? Let’s start with total write-offs.” He looked to Chief Tech Iverson.

“Well of the seven destroyed ‘Mechs,” he began, “the two Phoenix Hawks are a loss, but there is some decent salvage we’re picking off one of them. Same with the Longbow, the Quickdraw, and the Venom. Major Silver’s Marauder is pretty messed up as well, there wasn’t much we could salvage off of it, but there was some. Major McKenna’s Grasshopper and the other Phoenix Hawk are total write-offs; nothing worth picking of either of them.”

Sven took a long breath before continuing. “The other five ‘Mechs that were knocked out and still are down should take upwards of a month to get operational except for Lt. Amdecker’s Phoenix Hawk LAM. The two that we managed to get running again, the Executioner and the Gallowglas, should take another couple weeks, while the last four that just took light damage should only take another couple weeks in total. All together, we’re looking at no less than 8-12 weeks of down-time for repairs.”

Major Silver shook his head. “Twelve weeks is a blink of an eye compared to our wounded. Speaking of which,” He turned to Dr. Benson. “Do we have a better projection on our wounded, Doctor?”

Letting out a long breath, Dr. Benson nodded. “If you’re looking out twelve weeks, the vast majority of the wounded that can return to duty will be back by then, except for the most severely wounded. Figure somewhere between 35 and 40 personnel back to duty after twelve weeks with about 20 more in long-term rehab, some of who will still be in rehab a year from now. That’s not counting the dozen that are so wounded they’ll be shipping home.”

Major Silver turned to Captain McKenna. “What’s the breakdown of the replacements we’ll need?”

McKenna shifted slightly in her seat as she glanced at her notes. “Lieutenant O’Hare and Lt. Owens have some promotions they’d like to give out, basically promoting up the Privates and PFCs to Sergeants and Staff Sergeants. That leaves holes in our lower ranks mostly. We’ll need 16 new gunners for the armor, all at starting pay and Private ranks, plus 4 PFCs to replace four of the five drivers we lost.”

She shook her head as she continued. “In the Infantry ranks we’re going to have to totally rebuild a platoon. Sergeant Tyrone Bevan and seven others, Sergeant Erika Coady, two SWS Corporals, two PFC riflemen, and two Privates are all that’s left there and their equipment is being used to build up the other platoons. Their corpsman, Corporal Shane Westcoat, is among the forced retirees. In total we’re going to need twenty new recruits to fill out the platoon.” She looked to Lt. O’Hare. “Lieutenant?”

He stood slowly. “After due consideration, I’m recommending that third and fourth Platoon be moved up to second and third respectively. As for the remains of Motor Two, I recommend they be reformed into a new foot platoon using some of the Infantry weapons we salvaged from the fight in the repair bay. They will form the core of a new fourth platoon to be kept in mobile reserve with third platoon.”

Major Silver shook his head. “I don’t like losing one of our two Motor platoons. That extra firepower and armor saved lives over the last few days.”

Lt. O’Hare nodded. “I know sir, but we’re that bad off. Unless we get all new equipment, there’s no way to reform the platoon.”

Major Silver looked down. “Fine. I’ll take your recommendation under advisement.” He looked back to Captain McKenna. “Continue Major.”

McKenna looked back at her notes. “Well, if we take the Lieutenant’s recommendation, after some deserved promotions, we’ll need fifteen new riflemen, four new Support Weapon Specialists, and a new corpsman.” She paused a moment before continuing. “Then we have the loss of the two Mechwarriors and the scout and worst of all, Lieutenant Amdecker and the severe damage to his LAM.”

Major Silver looked up. “What about the LAM? Can’t we get it running again?” He looked to Chief Tech Iverson.

Sven only shook his head. “The entire left side of the airframe is crushed. Broken actuators? Severed limbs? These I can fix. The airframe of a Phoenix Hawk? I haven’t seen or heard of parts that can completely rebuild a Phoenix Hawk LAM’s airframe in my lifetime. A Stinger LAM? Yeah, the factory was only captured by the Clans back in ’51 so there’s still lots of parts left for them hanging aground in depots. Allied Aerospace was bombed into oblivion back in the early Succession Wars, finding parts to rebuild Lieutenant Amdecker’s LAM?” He just shook his head in defeat.

Major Silver furrowed his brow before turning to Lt. Vahzenov. “Lieutenant, any chance of you finding anything?”

Vahzenov thought for a moment. “Mister Iverson is quite correct. Ze parts availability of ze Phoenix Hawk has been dvindling for decades. Honestly, ve ver lucky to have gotten ze replacement arm last year, and even zat took Andurien AeroTech digging into ze supply depots of ze entire Free Worlds League. Zat one part cost us a million Eagles, even zough it is only 25,000 C-Bills vorth of materials. If we can find ze parts, I should expect an asking price in excess of 1.5 million C-Bills. Zat is simply what ze market vill demand.”

Major Silver rested his head in his hands. “Ok, so what are our options?”

McKenna added to the difficulties. “Few if none, sir. Lieutenant Amdecker has a contract with the Silver Eagles stating we will repair his unit to original condition due to any damages he suffers while in the employ of the Silver Eagles, unless we can prove reckless misconduct in an MRBC hearing. I don’t think that would fly too well on Outreach. He didn’t do anything wrong, other than get hit from a hidden tank. Hardly reckless misconduct.”

Major Silver turned to his XO. “ I know we are required to fix it, Erin. My question is not if, but how.”

Lt. Faller joined the discussion. “As much as I hate to bring this up,” he pointed to Captain Thorpe. “but Major Thorpe has no contract with the Silver Eagles save for his ownership agreement. In essence, you three are the ones responsible for restoring Lieutenant Amdecker’s LAM to operational status.” He paused a moment before stating the obvious. “And Major Thorpe has the parts necessary to do so.”

Captain Thorpe looked puzzled for a moment. “Huh? I don’t have access to those kind of...” he stopped mid-sentence. “Now wait a minute! You don’t mean...” he saw both Major Silver and Captain McKenna looking at him with looks of resolve. “You can’t! That LAM is priceless! It has technology in it that was state of the art even for the Star League! Even more than Lieutenant Amdecker’s Air-Mech! The SLAIR system alone is...”

Major Silver interrupted. “Randall, we have no choice. As director of The Silver Eagles Mercenary Company, I ask for an open vote of the owners. Those in favor of dismantling Major Thorpe’s Phoenix Hawk to fulfill our contractual obligation to Lieutenant Amdecker, say ‘Aye’.”

McKenna bowed her head. “Aye.”

Major Silver continued the vote. “Aye.”

Captain Thorpe’s mind raced for an alternative, but after a moment he resigned in defeat at the hopeless situation. “Aye.”

Major Silver made a notation in his noteputer. “The vote is unanimous.” He nodded to Sven.

Sven nodded in accent. “Aye, I can do it. It will take about a month, but we appear to have the time.” He looked back at Captain Thorpe. “Don’t worry, I can get the parts I need without destroying it or leaving permanent damage. If we find the parts later, I can rebuild her.”

Captain Thorpe shook his head. “I don’t like this, but I don’t see any other way out of this.” He looked over at Sven. “Thanks.”

Major Silver continued. “That having been said, the LAMs, despite their versatility, are becoming a liability we can no longer afford.” He turned to Lt. Amdecker. “Lieutenant, if given the choice of retirement from the Silver Eagles or replacement of your LAM with a ‘Mech or Fighter of your choice, which do you choose?”

Lt. Amdecker closed his eyes and thought a long moment, the silence stretching out for what seemed like a trip through hyperspace. Finally he opened his eyes again and turned to Major Silver. “I chose to stay, Kevin-sama. I will contact my family living on Luthian and inform them that Hououtaka will be returning home. As to a replacement, I will have to investigate my options.” He stood and bowed to Captain Thorpe. “You uphold the Silver Eagles’ honor well, Randall-kun.” Turning back to Major Silver, he nodded slightly.

Major Silver nodded. “Thank you for deciding to stay Ian.”

Ian nodded. “I could not imagine leaving such honorable warriors when they need me most.” At that, he bowed his head to the assembled officers and resumed his seat.

Captain McKenna continued with her briefing. “That out of the way, there is another unfortunate issue that needs to be addressed in personnel.” She turned to Lt. Sanderson. “Lieutenant, while I have nothing but respect for the difficulties you have overcome, your last three review cycles have been below acceptable limits for a Lance Leader. Technically, by the regulations of the Silver Eagles, you should have been removed from the position after only two consecutive decreasing reviews. I gave you a pass last time and told you to do the best you could, but the Silver Eagles cannot ignore it this time.”

Lt. Sanderson nodded. “I know. I tried, and I thought I was doing better, but I guess I knew this was coming.”

Captain McKenna finished in somber tones. “In light of the need for reorganization, and your continuing poor performance in Leadership reviews, it has been decided that you will be reduced in rank to Lieutenant Junior Grade and reassigned to the position of Fire Wing. I’m sorry, Lieutenant. If you wish to tender a resignation before we do so, it won’t appear in your service record with us.”

Lt. Sanderson wiped away a tear. “No, I want to stay too. The Silver Eagles gave me a shot when no one else would even look at me, when I couldn’t even read. I wanted to be all you wanted, but I guess I’m just not good enough to lead a Lance on my own.” She stopped and wiped her face again. “I’ll accept the demotion.”

Major Silver picked it up from there. “Rather than hire a new Lance Leader, it was decided to promote from within the unit. I asked Lieutenant Faller if he would accept promotion to Lance Leader as he is already a Lieutenant Senior Grade, but he declined.” He glanced at Captain McKenna who had a shocked look on her face. “I know Major, I tried to take away your wingman without talking to you first. In this case, I wanted to know Lieutenant Faller’s position before talking to you. It turns out he doesn’t want to command Fire Lance, so it’s a moot point.”

Lt. Faller shrugged. “Hey, I like my job.” He smiled and winked at Captain McKenna, who seemed to be relaxing again.

“That being the case, I want suggestions for promotion.” Major Silver concluded.

McKenna pulled out her stack of performance reviews. “Well, to start with, Lieutenant Scott has the most seniority and has an exemplary service record.”

Major Silver stopped her there. “No. Lieutenant Scott is under my supervision and de facto head of Command Lance if I cannot. He has an exemplary record and is already a Lieutenant Senior Grade, but he is too important to Command Lance for transfer to Fire Lance, even at it’s head.”

McKenna flipped to another folder. “My next choice would be Lieutenant Josepho, however his talent would be wasted in a Fire Support Lance. That and I’m certain the Lieutenant would see the change as a demotion, not a promotion, quiaff Lieutenant?”


Josepho nodded with a curt, “Aff.”

Captain McKenna continued. “Next would be Lieutenant Amdecker.” She glanced at the Lt. before continuing. “Unfortunately, his qualifications in a support role are below minimum standards. He’s just not suited to the role, though he deserves a Lance Leadership of his own when a suitable one becomes available.” She turned to Lt. Amdecker. “I mean no offense, Ian-sama. However it would be a disservice both to the Silver Eagles and to you to you place you in a role that is not where you can serve best.”

Ian nodded his head. “No disrespect is taken, Erin-sama. It would indeed be a bad choice to place me in a support role, even if it a command position. In point of fact, I have decided that if I am to lose Hououtaka, it would be best if I left Recon Lance and entered the ‘Mech company. I would take whatever position the Silver Eagles require of me, be it Assault or Strike.”

Erin bowed slightly toward Ian. “I will find you a place.” She continued, flipping to the next folder. “Next in seniority is Lieutenant Windsor. His service record is impeccable and his reviews in support positions is adequate to meet the minimums of Fire Lance command.” She turned and looked at Lt. Windsor.

As eyes turned to him, he smiled. “Well! I figured you had to be League or Clan to get a good position in this unit! Guess I was wrong!” A chuckle spread across the room at the FedCom native’s observation that the most senior members of the Battalion were all from the Free Worlds League and the heavy influence of Clan traditions within the unit. As the laughter died, he continued. “However, while I appreciate the offer of a Lance command, I chose to remain in Assault Lance.”

Captain McKenna thumped the cast covering her right wrist on the table. “Well, my next recommendation would be Lieutenant Jones, but his ‘Mech is a very poor choice for head of Fire Lance.” She looked at Lt. Jones. “Unless you’d be willing to give it up for a ‘Mech better suited to the task, Lieutenant.”

Lt. JG Richard Jones, never one to say much at all. “Nope. I like my ride and my position. Maybe if a Strike Lance opens up.” He said smiling.

“Right.” Captain McKenna drew out. “Then my recommendation would fall to Lieutenant Collins. He lacks seniority, having only been with the Battalion for less than a year, but his reviews are flawless and he more than makes the grade in support positions. Honestly, if it weren’t for his lack of seniority, he would have been much higher on my list. I already have a recommendation for promotion sitting in your file, there was just nowhere to promote you to.”

Lt. Collins was surprised. “Command? Of Fire Lance?” He stopped and pondered the offer. “I have to admit, the offer is tempting, though fire support isn’t what I really love doing, it’s what I end up doing most of the time anyway.” He stopped a moment before speaking. “I’ll take the duty.”

Major Silver stood and looked to Ben. As he saw the look, Lt. Scott called out, “Attention to orders!”

As the entire room stood, Major Silver barked out, “Lieutenant Collins! Front and center!”

Moving crisply to the front of the room, Lt. Collins turned sharply to face Major Silver. As the Major picked up the pair of Lt. SG ranks taken from Lt. Sanderson, he read Captain McKenna’s promotion recommendation. “For service to the Silver Eagles above and beyond the call of duty, for dedication in the face of the enemy, for exemplary service, and for demonstration of unwavering Leadership skills, the Silver Eagles hereby grant you the rank of Lieutenant Senior Grade, with all the duties and privileges commensurate.” He continued as he pinned the rank insignia on his uniform. “Further, we grant Lieutenant Senior Grade Morander Collins command of Fire Lance, with all the duties and privileges commensurate.” Stepping back, Major Silver snapped him a salute. “Congratulations Lieutenant.”

Returning the salute, Lt. Collins smiled. “Thank you, Major.” He turned and faced the other officers who saluted in unison. Returning the gesture, he walked back toward his seat, getting a pat on the back from Ben as he went.

Major Silver resumed his seat. “Now with that done, what do we do about his ‘Mech? Do we replace it and give him a new ‘Mech for Fire Lance and keep the Executioner in Assault, or do we just reconfigure it for a support load out and get a new ‘Mech for Assault?”

McKenna shrugged. “I recommend the latter. It adds a little more flexibility to Fire Lance with the Omni configuration, and besides we’ll be hard pressed to find an Assault ‘Mech other than just another Longbow that will fit the profile.”

Major Silver nodded and made another notation. “Very well, the Executioner will now be a part of Fire Lance. That leaves a hole in your Assault Lance. You’ll have to fill it.”

McKenna smiled. “I know.” She turned to Lt. Amdecker. “Ian-sama. I would be honored if you would join my Assault Lance.”

Lt. Amdecker nodded in a seated bow. “Indeed it would be an honor to become a part of your Command, McKenna-sama.” A smile crept across his face. “Assuming you can find me an appropriate ‘Mech to command.”

McKenna nodded a bow in return. “I will indeed.”

Major Silver looked at the two and cracked a smile. “Would you two like to be alone? We are trying to conduct a meeting here!”

Erin looked back at Major Silver. “Your sense of humor is still a little off, sir. Keep trying.” She flashed him a wink that spoke volumes of past memories.

Major Silver cleared his throat. “Right. Anyway, where does that leave us? McKenna? What are your plans? We can’t have the head of ‘Mech Company dispossessed.” He smiled in mock of his own status.

McKenna gave a witty smile. “Can I put in for a transfer?”

Major Silver frowned. “No. Next item...” He continued without batting an eye. “I see we have two positions to fill in Recon and one in Strike Lance. In addition, Strike Lance is all but destroyed. Add to that my own replacement ‘Mech and we’ve covered most of our losses.”

Captain Thorpe finally spoke up. “I think at this point, we ought to consider moving the Vulcan and Lieutenant Barwick to Recon to replace Lieutenant Amdecker. That leaves us needing a Scout for Recon plus their vehicle, and Lieutenant Stetler and myself will need new ‘Mechs. Of course if we do that, we’ll need all new units and two new Mechwarriors for Strike Lance.”

Major Silver turned to Lt. Vahzenov. “That gives you a pretty free hand to build an all new Lance. What do you think?”

Lt. Vahzenov smiled. “I zink I could organize a very good Lance vit zat kind of freedom. Da, I like it.”

“Glad to oblige.” Major Silver smiled. “Next on the agenda is Air Defense Artillery. We have the crew, but we need a new tank. Any suggestions, Lieutenant Bazemore?”

Lt. JG Eugene Bazemore, head of Air Defense Artillery Platoon spoke up immediately. “Absolutely. We need more anti-air guns and better coordination between the two Partisans we have already. Ground defense isn’t really necessary. I recommend another Partisan tank.”

Major Silver nodded in agreement. “Added flack would have come in handy in that second battle against the Jags, as well as the seventh where we lost Lieutenant Tucker’s Stingray. How do you intend to improve coordination?”

Lt. Bazemore smiled. “Have you heard of the Kuritan C³ system? Kallon Industries of Nanking is working on a prototype that uses the Kuritan C³ system to better coordinate anti-air fire. It uses the same autocannons and engines that our current Partisans use, so compatibility is good. All we need are the control computers.”

Major Silver was curious. “I thought Kuritan C³ systems worked in quartets. Where do we put the large main coordination computer?”

Sven interrupted with a snap. “The Formal’s 5-ton infantry bay!”

“Exactly!” Said Lt. Bazemore. “That bay does us almost no good, but the integrated Target Acquisition Gear and fire link will make the Formal even more deadly. Arranged in a defensive array, the Formal with three Partisans slaved to it will be able to provide their own ground cover fire.”

“Good thinking, Lieutenant.” Replied Major Silver. “Let’s plan on that. Speaking of Lieutenant Tucker, what are we going to do about the loss of the Stingray?”

Lt. SG Danielle Tucker added her own opinion. “Well sir, If I could have my way, I’d like to get into something with a bit thicker of a skin. Those Stingrays are nice, but a little too flimsy for my taste.”

Lt. Hernandez-Silver leaned over the table. “Well, what would you like?”

Lt. Tucker, without batting an eye said, “A Lucifer. Preferably an R20 model.”

Jan threw her hands up in the air. “Good Lord, why don’t you just fly a Dropship? Those things are bricks of armor with a few laser ports! Can’t you even dogfight?”

Danielle spat a look back at Jan. “Excuse me, ma’am, but I don’t get paid to die. If that flimsy fighter you assigned me had even a glimmer of armor on it, I sure as heck didn’t notice it! You may like living on the edge, but I prefer to live to fight another day! With all those pulse lasers, it makes me wonder if you could actually hit anything without the help and having to be so close to them you can smell their BO!”

Jan rocketed out of her chair. “Listen here you reject from the pirate realms! I could shoot you down a hundred times in that brick before you even...”

Major Silver stood and shouted across the table. “Enough!” He shot both women a glare. “Both of you! At ease and grab chair!” As the two settled back into their chairs, he turned to his wife. “Lieutenant Hernandez, would you care to enlighten the staff officers about the problems you have with Lieutenant Tucker’s choice?” He resumed his seat before Jan answered.

“Well sir,” She began. “The R-20 Lucifer can barely push 2.5 Gs in full Overthrust. In fact, it only rates the same performance envelope as the two F-700a Rievers we have. It totally defeats the purpose of even having wingmen with better performance in a dogfight.”

Major Silver nodded. “A very good point.” He turned to Lt. Tucker. “Lieutenant, is there any reason why you cannot acquit your duties as Senior Flight Officer in a fighter with a better performance envelope?”

Lt. Tucker crossed her arms. “No sir. It’s not the performance envelope that is my trouble, it’s the feeling of being naked in a gunfight that bothers me. If I had a fighter with a respectable amount of armor on it, I wouldn’t have been shot down. That Stingray model we’re using is a deathtrap with lots of guns that are useless after the enemy has blasted holes in you with their frigging medium lasers big enough to drive a McKenna through.”

Major Silver sat back. “Just cool it, Lieutenant.” He looked at them both. “Do you two think you can pool your intelligence and improve on the Stingray model we’re using? If so, just do it! Submit your request to Senior Aerospace Technician Gerard, and see what we can do. Understand?”

Both responded meekly. “Yes sir.”

“Now, where were we?” Major Silver looked back to his notes. “Looks like we’ve covered everything except Armor Company.” He turned to Lt. Owens. “Lieutenant, do you have any recommendations for rebuilding Armor Company?”

Lt. SG Zane Owens stood up. “I believe I do sir, but I’m not sure what you’ll think of the idea. Are you familiar with the FedSuns tank, the Goblin?”

Major Silver closed his eyes and thought a moment. “Middle heavy-weight light tracked tank. Internal combustion, 65kph best speed, heavy turret laser, anti-infantry gun, and it can carry a foot squad. Main weakness is the side armor. Three PPC hits to either side and she’s done for.”

Lt. Owens smiled. “Ah, but that’s the old model! Johnston Industries has been pumping out a newer model. Fusion engine, heavy pulse laser, six short-range missile tubes, twin anti-personnel guns, plus it can carry an entire foot platoon, not just a squad! On top of that, the side armor can take three PPCs hits and still have plate leftover. Even triple PPC fire from the rear won’t kill it outright unless it hits something vital. And if that weren’t enough, an anti-missile gun to keep the tank even safer.”

Major Silver frowned. “Sounds like you’re trying to replace the M-22s, not the M-21s. Where you going with this, Lieutenant?”

Lt. Owens punched up a display graphic for the back wall. “I call it the Silver Goblin. No doubt you’ll recognize the twin-laser configuration of our M-21s, over-under Tronel III Heavy Laser and Tronel II Medium Laser? The weight shift down into the body allows the normally front-mounted AMS to be pulled up into the turret, increasing arc of coverage. Sound familiar, sir?”

Major Silver looked impatient. “Yeah, it’s just like the turret of the M-21. I don’t follow you Lieutenant.”

Zane felt like a kid in a candy store. “Ah! But our M-21s only have four front-facing short-range missile tubes with a load of 100 missiles. The Silver Goblin has six tubes on the turret and carries 162 missiles.”

Major Silver paused. “Continue...”

Lt. Owens ran to the wall display. “Look here. The beauty of this design is that the Infantry bay is mounted on the front of the tank. If you charge a fixed position and breach the wall or just drive up to an entrance, you can open the bay and let the infantry storm in without risk from outside fire.”

“What about protection?” Major Silver asked.

“Rated at nine-and-a-half tons of Durallex Light Ferro-Fibrous armor, a full ton more than the M-21s.” He answered. “Now, the ammo stores aren’t normally protected by Cellular Storage, but with a little bit of reinforcing on the crew compartment here,” He motioned to a section of the tank’s display. “and the loss of a few rounds of ammo, we can install CASE panels here, here, and here.” He indicated three places on the sides and top of the tank’s body. “While we’re doing that, we can move the anti-personnel guns out just a little further, give them full swivel turrets, and get 360° coverage against Infantry attack, just like our M-tanks enjoy.”

Major Silver looked intrigued. “So what’s the downside?”

Lt. Owens shrugged. “To get the extra ammo in there, We have to move the back wall of the Infantry bay up about one-third the way. That means she’ll only carry two-thirds of the Infantry she used to. The only other downside over our current model tanks is that the front and turret aren’t as thickly plated and she can only make 65 kph, not 86 kph.”

Major Silver thought for a moment. “Ok, it looks good, but two tons and that little space won’t carry our Motor platoons or Jump platoon. Heck, it won’t even carry our Foot platoon!”

Lt. Owens turned off the display. “It will if we have sixteen of them.”

Major Silver was about to say something, but he stopped before the words came out of his mouth. That space is still big enough to carry a squad of Motor or Jump, and half a platoon of foot. “With all four platoons carrying a squad in each tank, we could mobilize both companies at once, limit the impact of the loss of a single tank, carry more firepower forward, and still have space for picking up stranded crews and Mechwarriors. We even have enough excess that we could lose three tanks and still mobilize all the Infantry at once.”

Lt. Owens smiled. “Exactly! These tanks can do the job that both our M-21s and M-22s do now, and do both more effectively. Sixteen pairs lasers out there instead of just twelve. 96 missile tubes that can hit any direction and carry multiple payload types instead of only 64 that can only shoot forward and carry a single missile type. All we lose in the exchange is 25% of over-land speed and twelve anti-personnel flamers. But we can load up on Frag Missiles if we’re expecting heavy infantry entrenchment, or Infernos if we’re expecting lots of Armor units, or Narc missiles if we’re supporting anti-‘Mech duty, or...”

Major Silver held up his hands. “Ok, ok Zane. You’ve convinced me.” He dreaded asking his next question. “How much is all this going to cost us?”

Lt. Owens beamed. “A little more than 16.5 million C-bills after selling off the M-tanks and Sutel Pulse Lasers we won’t need. That actually only works out to just a little more than 2 million per tank if we bought the eight replacement tanks with the same money. M-21s are 2.2 million each, so we actually save money by doing this, while reducing supply lines. The Goblin is a common tank and we’re only changing it superficially. We’ll still be able to get parts from depots around the Inner Sphere. The M-tanks, as good as they are, are only available in the Rim Commonality. If we have them shipped to us, they’ll cost even more. If we go get them, we spend months just getting there.”

Major Silver looked at his new Armor Commander. “You’ve covered all the bases here, haven’t you?” With a smile, Major Silver relented. “Alright, we’ll take your recommendation under advisement.” Major Silver looked down at his notes one more time. “Have we forgotten anything?” As the assembled staff all shook their heads, Major Silver concluded. “Alright, dismissed. All except Lt. Hernandez-Silver and Lt. Tucker. You two stay. The rest of you get to your jobs. Lets get this mother over with and go home.”

Man, I just can’t shut up here! There’s just too much to get in and not enough room in each post to fit it all in. Though I’m very close to done now. Next part should wrap it up! (I know, I keep saying that, but this time, there’s too little left to stretch out! :P ) Enjoy!

[McKenna]

I'll post the TO&E and the Next mission Tomorrow.. >:D


All right... this is it! The last and final update! (yeah!) Enjoy!

As McKenna left the briefing room, she caught sight of Lt. Amdecker. Trying not to strain herself or run to catch him, she stopped just short of him as he stopped for the lift. As she approached, he turned to face her. “Ogenki desu ka, Erin?”

She bowed slightly and replied in what little Japanese she could. “Genki desu, Ian. May we talk privately?” She gestured toward the lift.

A minute later they were in his quarters aboard the Comstock. Ian gestured to the soft cushion on the floor. “Please, be seated Erin.” As she slowly lowered her wounded body to the floor, Ian poured two cups of tea. Returning to his guest, Ian handed her the cup and retrieved his own. Sitting in one smooth movement, he nodded to Erin. “I have not yet had the chance to tell you how impressed I was at your defeat of such a worthy opponent. You bring great honor upon the family we call the Silver Eagles, and me in particular when you chose to add me to your Lance. Sumimasen.”

Erin nodded. “The honor is mine, sensei. My only regret is that my education in Iaijutsu will have to be put off for some time.” She took in the mild aroma of the confection. “Most excellent, Ian.”

“Do not be troubled by it, Erin. Wounds heal, flesh mends, in time you will return. Arigatou.”

Erin shifted uneasily, trying not to aggravate her wounds, nor spill her tea. “Ian, I have come to discuss the matter of your replacement for Hououtaka. I have not forgotten my debt to you.”

Ian bowed ever so slightly. “Your debt is only one of currency, not a debt of honor. Though this does seem an appropriate time to settle it.”

Erin nodded after taking a gentle sip. “Hai, it does. Have you given further thought to what kind of ‘Mech would suit your position within Assault Lance?”

Ian smiled. “Indeed nakama, I have. Are you familiar with the new OmniMechs being produced by Luthien Armor Works?” He drank from his own cup as he watched for Erin’s response.

Erin blinked. “I’ve heard of them, to be sure. Though I thought that they were still untried.”

Ian remained as impassive as stone. “They have seen several engagements, both in testing and against the Clans. According to a tomodachi of my family who pilots one, they are very well made and reliable. He honored my family name once by praising the craftsmanship of my family, many of whom went to work for Luthien Armor Works after losing our home on Alshain.”

“I stand corrected.” Erin nodded. “Gomen nasai. So, what are you thinking of? One of the new Blackjacks? A Strider perhaps?” She took another sip from her cup.

He shook his head. “Iie. An Avatar.”

Erin had to contain her reaction, fairly choking on the tea as he shocked her. “Ian! How can we get an Avatar? Those are still new and very rare!”

Ian remained impassive as he sipped from his cup again. “Erin, we have done the Dragon a great service here on Outer Volta. What’s more, we did it without pay. Do not take that feat lightly, gakkousai. The Combine remembers such deeds, as not many Mercenaries will commit to so risky a mission. Why do you think the mission was not taken by one of the larger units?”

Erin considered the thought as she cleared her throat with another sip of tea. “It was simply not profitable to them. The Seventh PGC did not have enough assets to make a payless mission workable in a unit much larger than our own. As it is, we’ll have a hard time justifying the costs here, and not only the financial ones. A smaller unit would have been destroyed or at least unsuccessful, while a larger one wouldn’t have been able to avoid the attention of the Cameron. A single Scout class Jumpship and an Overlord class Dropship didn’t seem enough of a threat to warrant their attention until it was too late.”

“Hai, Erin.” He said after taking another slow drink. “This mission was one that no one wanted. It was not very easy to be profitable, nor was their any security should disaster strike. However, the Silver Eagles took the mission. Despite the fact that we are Mercenaries, we acted here not for mere profit, but to improve ourselves and assist the Combine in their continued war against the Clans.” He sipped once more from his cup before continuing. “Never underestimate the value of what we have done here.”

Erin was taking a drink from her own cup when she stopped in the middle of her drink. Lowering the cup, she looked intently at the Asian-Scandinavian. “Ian, do you know something about this mission that we do not?”

He shook his head. “Only that I see it as the Combine would see it, an act of valor without asking for reward.”

Erin felt a little more at ease. From the way he was talking, it sounded for a moment like he knew more than he was letting on, but I see the truth of what he says. Sipping once more from her cup, she looked down at the floor. “Sumimasen, Ian. I should not have doubted your sincerity. You simply see things we who are not of the Combine would overlook. In point of fact, that very fact is likely a part of what made this mission seem less appealing to others; they fail to see that the Dragon can show gratitude.”

Ian smiled. “Exactly, gakkousai.” He raised his cup toward her before taking his last drink.

Erin finished her tea along with Ian. He stood, took her cup and retreated to his alcove while Erin slowly made her way back to her feet. When he returned, she bowed as well as her broken ribs would allow. “Konnichiwa, sensei. I will take your wisdom to heart.”

“Konnichiwa, Erin. Just remember that the Dragon’s memory is long, his reach is endless, and his gratitude is awesome to behold.”

The Comstock lifted off Outer Volta on schedule, 1740 hours precisely. They rendezvoused with the Jim Bridger just after midnight Terran Standard Time, January 8th, 3056. An hour later, the Jim Bridger and the Silver Eagles vanished from the system.

TO&E to follow... 8)

[McKenna]

Monday's session was not a role-play session, but a bookkeeping session. (yeah... ::) ) Anyway, they did manage to reach a number of important decisions.

They took 41 bondsmen from Outer Volta; 26 were Infantry, 5 were Elementals, 5 were Mechwarriors, and 5 are Technicians. All the wounded Jaguars except for Star Captain Paul were left behind, as well as the 10 Merchant caste and 45 of the technicians. (they could only lift with 41 extra people, and that’s what they chose)

They’re selling off most of their Clan stuff. The sole exception is the Hankyu and some of the equipment. They got a little more than 119 million out of the sales.

After promoting up from their lower ranks, they filled the missing upper positions. The lost Ferret will be replaced with a new Pegasus Hoverscout with her crew drawn from the Cycle Scouts in Motor Infantry. The two Mechwarriors killed are being replaced by Infantry that had qualified in their Officers Training Program. They are keeping the Hankyu to replace their lost Venom. Captain Thorpe will be getting a CLN-7Z Chameleon, though he might have Sven modify it to have better electronics. (Active Probe likely) That rebuilds Recon Lance. (cost: 11.5 million)

The Silver Goblin will replace the M21s and M22s. (stats can be seen here) The major difference there is that the Goblin only has a crew of 3 as opposed to the M21s and M22s that had a crew of 4. That reduces their crew requirements by 16 personnel. That rebuilds Armor Company. (cost: 16.5 million)

The Alacorn will be replaced with another Partisan, which requires 1 less crew as well. (Corporal Rhett "Overkill" Strauss is transferring to 1^st Platoon, Tank #1) That reduces overall personnel requirements by 17. Plus they are getting C³ for all their ADA units. That rebuilds ADA Platoon. (cost 7 million)

They will use the 10 BA suits they salvaged to replace the 7 severely damaged ones from their Marine Platoon. That leaves them 3 suits as spares and restores the Marine Platoon.

Major Silver intends to stay in his MAD-5E Marauder. That means getting a new MAD-5D to start with and then modifying it. (cost: 16 million)

The F-92e Stingray will be sold to finance two CSR-V12M Corsairs and two CSR-V14 engines with DHS. The Aerospace techs will then install the V14 engines after removing the standard engines and heat exchange system. A standard 5-ton fuel tank will take the place of the 6-ton tank. Lastly, the Small Lasers will be replaced with an ER Large Laser, upgrading the other LL to an ER as well. The gear removed will be sold off to cover most of the costs. That satisfies both Lt. Hernandez-Silver and Lt. Tucker and rebuilds Air Wing. (cost: 601,430)

After scavenging the remains of the decimated Motor Two to rebuild everyone else, there are three men left, Squad Leader Sgt. Tyrone Bevan and two riflemen. For the time being, it will remain a disbanded unit. Major Silver wants to form a Clan Infantry Platoon from the Infantry bondsmen, but I don’t think he understands the problems involved. They’re all Smoke Jaguars and bondsmen. Getting more than a handful them to fight for the SE will be like pulling teeth. Still, he has placed Lt. Josepho in charge over the bondsmen, weeding out the hard-liners who will never come around from the people who can see the honor if fighting for the SE. Only time will tell.

McKenna has come up with a plan to repay her debt to Ian. Since the Silver Eagles have to pay to replace her lost Grasshopper, they will buy Ian’s Avatar and she will buy her own replacement ‘Mech. This will leave her owing the Company about 5 million C-bills, which she can pay back later.

Strike Lance is torn apart. Lt. Vahzenov is in the process of deciding what ‘Mechs he wants to rebuild the Lance. (see the thread on that here) After accounting for all the various other costs to rebuild the Battalion, he has a maximum budget of 50 million C-bills to rebuild. Anything more and the company will be in debt within 6 months.

Helaman: Corporal Travis "Helaman" Diarte was lightly injured when First Jump Squad was attacked in the 2^nd Battle of Outer Volta. He’s been released to light duty and should be back to 100% within a few weeks. He’s currently assisting in the aid recovery of the most severely injured personnel. He was commended for his actions in the 2^nd Battle where he saved the life of his Platoon Leader, though she will not be returning to combat because she lost both her arms. Your new Platoon Leader is Mst. Sgt. Hugh Kobel who is recovering from his severe injuries. He’s expected to return to duty in six weeks.

That brings us to current. Next week we’ll finish up getting the replacements and figuring out what mission they will take next. Six months of repair and refit time are the minimum they’re looking at, but that gives them time to take another contract this year.

[McKenna]

Pilot (Skill)                 Unit                          Status             .
Command Lance
Major Silver (V)              {none}                        NA
Lt. JG Josepho (CR)           ON1-M Orion                   Light Damage
Lt. SG Scott (R)              WVR-7E Wolverine†             Heavy Damage; Non-operational
Lt. JG Jones (R)              ANV-3E Anvil†                 Light Damage
.
Assault Lance
Captain McKenna (V-WIA)       {none}                        NA
Lt. SG Faller (R)             ZEU-9C Zeus†                  Light Damage
Lt. JG Amdecker (R)           AV1-O Avatar†                 {to be acquired}
Lt. JG Windsor (R)            GAL-1GLS Gallowglass          Heavy Damage; Operational
.
Strike Lance
Lt. SG Vahzenov (V)           {none}                        NA
Lt. JG Calame (R)             {none}                        NA
{to be hired}                 {none}                        NA
{to be hired}                 {none}                        NA
.
Fire Lance
Lt. SG Collins (R)            Executioner                   Heavy Damage; Operational
Lt. SG Sanderson (V)          ARC-4M Archer†                Light Damage
Lt. JG Chism (G)              LGB-7QE Longbow               Heavy Damage; Non-operational
Lt. JG Arnold (G)             LGB-7QE Longbow               Heavy Damage; Non-operational
.
Recon Lance
Captain Thorpe (V)            {none}                        NA
Lt. JG Barwick (R)            VL-5M Vulcan                  Heavy Damage; Non-operational
Lt. JG Stetler (R)            {none}                        NA
Lt. JG Mirabito (R)           SDR-9EG Venom                 Operational
Staff Sgt. Chi Lin (R)        Ferret Light Scout VTOL†      Operational
{to be hired}                 {none}                        NA
.
Aerospace Lance
Lt. SG Tucker (V-WIA)         {none}                        NA
Lt. SG Seibert (V)            F-700a Riever                 Light Damage
Lt. JG Titus (R)              F-92e Stingray†               Light Damage
Lt. SG Deal (V)               F-700a Riever                 Light Damage
.
Transport Unit
Captain Friedrich (R)         Overlord DS "Comstock"†       Light Damage
Captain Donnell (R)           Scout JS "Jim Bridger"        Operational
Commander Hunter (R)          K-1 Dropshuttle "Danube"      Operational
.
1st Armor Platoon
Lt. SG Owens (R)              Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Staff Sgt. Avery (R)          Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Sergeant Thornberry (R)       Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Sergeant Feldmann (R)         Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
.
2nd Armor Platoon
Lt. JG Thiemann (R)           Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Staff Sgt. Williams (R)       Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Sergeant Steinfeld (R)        Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Sergeant Finck (R)            Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
.
3rd Armor Platoon
Mst. Sgt. Green (R)           Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Staff Sgt. Valenzuela (R)     Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Sergeant Sandusky (R)         Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Sergeant Wisener (R)          Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
.
Infantry Support Platoon
Mst. Sgt. Whyler (R)          Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Staff Sgt. Nunez (R)          Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Sergeant Cram (R)             Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
Sergeant Kephart (R)          Silver Goblin ISV             {to be acquired}
.
Air Defense Artillery Platoon
Lt. JG Bazemore (V)           Formal Heavy Support Tank     Operational
St. Sgt. Chafin (R)           Partisan Air Defense Tank     {to be acquired}
Sergeant Holland (R)          Partisan Air Defense Tank     Heavy Damage; Non-operational
Sergeant Rains(R)             Partisan Air Defense Tank     Heavy Damage; Non-operational
.
Infantry Company
Lt. JG O'Hare (G)             Armored Support Motor (x28)   14 Mild Injuries
Mst. Sgt. Kobel (R)           Armored Support Motor (x28)   13 Mild/1 Severe Injuries
Staff Sgt. Vadnais (R-WIA)    Reinforced Jump (x24)         18 Mild/6 Severe Injuries
Staff Sgt. Volk (R-WIA)       Reinforced Foot (x32)         19 Mild/5 Severe Injuries/8 Dead
.
Marine Armor Squads
Mst. Sgt. Spanner (R)         Clan Battle Armor (x5)        Light Damage
Sergeant Rhode (R)            Clan Battle Armor (x5)        Heavy Damage
Sergeant McCleary (G)         Clan Battle Armor (x5)        Heavy Damage
Sergeant Lusk (G)             Clan Battle Armor (x5)        Heavy Damage
.
Battalion Support Unit
Lt. SG Benson MD (R)          S1 White Whale MASH           Operational
Staff Sgt. Bywaters (R)       S19 Battalion Support Truck   Operational
Sergeant Diarte (R)           S19 Battalion Support Truck   Operational
Sergeant Majors (R)           S21 Mobile Field Kitchen      Operational
Sergeant Strohl (R)           S21 Mobile Field Kitchen      Operational
.
Other
Lt. JG Bibbs (V-KIA)          LGB-7QE Longbow               Destroyed; Salvaged
Lt. JG Everman (R-KIA)        PXH-3S Phoenix Hawk           Destroyed; No Salvage
{decommissioning}             MAD-5D Marauder               Destroyed; Salvaged
{decommissioning}             GHR-5E Grasshopper†           Destroyed; No Salvage
{decommissioning}             PXH-3S Phoenix Hawk           Destroyed; Salvaged
{decommissioning}             QKD-5E Quickdraw†             Destroyed; Salvaged
{decommissioning}             PHX-HK3 Phoenix Hawk LAM†     Light Damage; Parted out to spares
{decommissioning}             PHX-HK2 Phoenix Hawk LAM†     Heavy Damage; Non-operational
{decommissioning}             SDR-9EH Venom                 Destroyed; Salvaged
.
{decommissioning}             F-92e Stingray                Destroyed; No Salvage
.
Sgt. Urley (G-KIA)            Ferret Light Scout VTOL       Destroyed; No Salvage
Lt. SG Chekov (R-KIA)         M-21 Alvarez MBT              Destroyed; Salvaged
Staff Sgt. Dobson (R-KIA)     M-21 Alvarez MBT              Destroyed; Salvaged
Sergeant Carleson (R-KIA)     M-21 Alvarez MBT              Destroyed; Salvaged
Sergeant Lancaster (R-KIA)    M-21 Alvarez MBT              Destroyed; Salvaged
Staff Sgt. Crowder (R-KIA)    M-21 Alvarez MBT              Destroyed; Salvaged
Staff Sgt. Sing (R-KIA)       M-21 Alvarez MBT              Destroyed; Salvaged
Sergeant Marshal (R-KIA)      M-21 Alvarez MBT              Destroyed; Salvaged
{decommissioning}             M-21 Alvarez MBT              Heavy Damage; Non-operational
{decommissioning}             M-21 Alvarez MBT              Heavy Damage; Non-operational
{decommissioning}             M-21 Alvarez MBT              Heavy Damage; Non-operational
{decommissioning}             M-21 Alvarez MBT              Heavy Damage; Non-operational
{decommissioning}             M-21 Alvarez MBT              Heavy Damage; Parted out to spares
{decommissioning}             M-22 Banford IFV              Operational; Retiring
{decommissioning}             M-22 Banford IFV              Operational; Retiring
{decommissioning}             M-22 Banford IFV              Operational; Retiring
{decommissioning}             M-22 Banford IFV              Operational; Retiring
{decommissioning}             Alacorn Mk VI Heavy Tank      Destroyed; Salvaged

V: Veteran
R: Regular
CR: Clan Regular
G: Green
†: Privately Owned

WIA: Wounded in Action
KIA: Killed in Action

--

[McKenna]

Ok, I'm going to try and ease up on the uber-long posts. Try breaking them into bite-sized chunks! :P Anyway, I don't have much time to do the write up, so I'll give a synopsis with only the pertinent section in story form.

After returning to Wolcott, the SE informed the DCMS that their mission was successful. The Jaguars had called for help and were now re-garrisoning Outer Volta. The DCMS, based on changes in troop movements, switched their attack to Avon. (the attack on Avon is canon, only the SE's cursory involvement in the reasoning for the attack isn't)

The SE landed on Wolcott and began selling off everything they took from the Jaguars except a few choice items. They're keeping the Hankyu and putting it in Recon Lance, as well as some of the podded weapons and 1 or 2 non-podded ones. Everything else was sold to pay for repairs and rearming. Strike Lance settled on assignments for their new arrangement. In trying to keep costs down, three of the four 'Mechs will be old Succession Wars 'Mechs modified with newer technology. The Lance Leader's replacement 'Mech will be a new model, if they can get it. Here's the new Strike Lance arrangement:

Lt. SG Piotr Vahzenov - FLC-8Re Falconer - 3 MLs and ER PPC removed; C³ Slave, Clan LPL, 2x Clan MGs (100 shots), AMS (12 shots), and CASE installed
Lt. JG Alisha Calame - TBT-5Je Trebuchet - Engine, LRM 15, ammo, and 5 LT SHS removed; PPC, ML, Magna 250 DHS, and C³ Master installed
Lt. JG Kurt Wilmeth (recruited from lower ranks) - OTL-4De Ostsol - Engine, 2 rear MLs, and 4 Leg SHS removed; Vlar 300 DHS, C³ Slave, and Jump Jets to Legs and CT installed
Lt. JG Sofia Gordillo (recruited from lower ranks) - GRF-1Ne Griffin - Engine, 1 SHS, PPC, LRM, ammo, and CT JJ removed; CoreTek 275 DHS, C³ Slave, ERPPC, 3x SRM 4, ammo, Clan ERML, and 8 CT armor installed

The Griffin was right there on Wolcott, so they just traded like-value parts and equipment for it. For those following the Build a Better Strike Lance thread, this was dart_omega's C³ Lance suggestion. It's cheap, effective, and doable. It was my recommendation to the players, but in the end it was their decision. They figured the added benefit of a second C³ Lance in Strike couldn't hurt, especially if they later add a Master Lance to connect Strike to Air Defense Artillery Platoon. }:) Once they finished business on Wolcott, they burned out and readied to leave Clan occupied space.

From there they headed to Luthian to drop of Lt. Amdecker's LAM and see about a replacement 'Mech... a new Avatar OmniMech. Upon reaching Luthian, they had many days travel down to the planet to consider how to proceed. After much debate, it was decided that Major Silver would best be the choice to make the request of the DCMS to allow the Eagles the right to buy an Avatar, but that the other two owners, Captains McKenna and Thorpe, should be there as well as Lt. Amdecker. Here is where I'll begin...

Feb. 22nd, 3056

Captain Darious Friedrich looked down on the planet's surface as the Comstock was on final approach vector to land at Imperial City. Black Luthian the Lyran mused. Never thought I'd see the day I'd be landing here!

He turned to the ship’s pilot. "Looks good, Commander. Continue on course and..."

Petty Officer Brian Ramirez interrupted. “Sir, we’re receiving a priority transmission from the Jim Bridger. Time delay: one hour, thirteen minutes.” Captain Friedrich took the headset and nodded to the communications officer.

Captain Marta Kaufmann sounded frazzled. “Comstock, this is the Jim Bridger. Priority message follows. We have suffered a fuel tank failure. 7 tons fuel remaining. Fuel pumps are ruined. We are adrift and requesting aid from other Zenith Point ships. The Jump sail is providing power for the moment. We’ll need to put in for repairs. Please advise Major Silver. Jim Bridger out.”

Captain Friedrich exhaled as he handed the headset to Major Silver. “Major, you’re going to want to hear this.”

Kevin took the headset and listened. After hearing the message and handing the headset back to Petty Officer Ramirez, he looked at Darious. “When it rains.”

The Comstock had been given permission to land at Imperial City’s main spaceport. An hour later, the command staff had assembled in the briefing room.

Major Silver entered last and took his seat. “This is to notify everyone that the Jim Bridger has suffered a major failure of her fuel tankage system. We’re going to be here a while.” He turned to Lt. Vahzenov who he’d already talked to. “Lieutenant, any luck?”

Lt. Vahzenov stood. “Vell, I contacted a few people I know. Ze replacement parts should be delivered in four veeks.”

Major Silver nodded and turned to Sven Iverson. “Any idea how long it will take them to repair it?”

Chief Technician Iverson shrugged. “From what we’ve gotten from them, it shouldn’t take too long. A day at the outside. Good thing they don’t have to replace the whole tank or we’d be looking at a couple months easily.”

Major Silver nodded. “That gives us twenty days on Luthian. Lieutenant Vahzenov, make use of this time to secure as many replacements as you can. In the mean time the Battalion is on leave, other than necessary technical teams and necessary staff officers. I want everyone to conduct themselves with the utmost dignity while here.” He looked at Ben.

Lt. Scott looked around. “What?”

Laughter went around the room before Major Silver brought everything back to business. “Lieutenant Josepho, how are our ‘guests’?”

Lt. Josepho stood stiffly. “Most are acclimating well. There have only been fourteen Circle of Equals’ and two attempts to overpower their guards. As a result, three are now in the infirmary. The rest are falling into line and making themselves useful. Technician Iverson can brief you on their progress in the technical areas; that is not my concern.”

Sven nodded. “They are indeed well trained and take orders well. I sense a lot of resentment and hostility though. Just the other day I had to stop a fight between Astech Jenner Gustav and bondsman Brock. It almost came to blows, which no disrespect to Astech Gustav, would have put him in the infirmary. Apparently it was an issue over Astech Gustav using contractions.” He rolled his eyes.

Major Silver nodded. “Keep Lieutenant Josepho apprised of any disciplinary problems.” Turning back to the former Jade Falcon, he asked, “Lieutenant, do any of them hold out hope of regaining their warrior status?”

Lt. Josepho nodded. “Several. However, I think many of them hope to do so in order to secure their freedom to return to the Jaguars. Even though they would be dezgra once returned, they prefer to be dezgra Clansmen than honored Mercenaries.”

Major Silver shook his head. “Make a list of who can be trusted. The rest we may have to relegate to the Technician Caste in perpetuity. Once you get me a list of trustworthy candidates, I’ll consider opening up Trial of Positions to allow them to enter the Warrior Caste. They will still have to prove themselves by the usual means. Integrity, Fidelity, and Prowess.” He unconsciously rubbed his own right wrist in remembrance of his own Ghost Bear bondcord. “At any rate, Keep me apprised.” Looking around the room, he concluded. “You’re all dismissed. Enjoy your leave.”

More coming... enjoy the shortness!

[McKenna]

I must apologize for the lack of updates. Life has kept me very busy as of late and I’m now 3 weeks behind in posting up the events of the Silver Eagles. Here is the continuation, kept short so I actually have time to get it written!

March 1st, 3056

It had been a busy week. Already the Silver Eagles had visited Ian Amdecker’s family living on Luthien, returning his Land-AirMech to his family. His younger brother Kane, who had become dispossessed during the Battle for Luthien, took possession and had offered his service to the DCMS once again as a Mechwarrior. The Silver Eagles had been honored by the Amdecker family and treated with great respect for outsiders.

Major Silver, Captain McKenna, Captain Thorpe, Lt. Amdecker, and Lt. Vahzenov stood outside the main office of Luthien Armor Works. They had been told to come here today to discuss the matter with both a Luthien Armor Works representative and a DCMS representative.

They waited patiently outside the meeting room for their hosts to invite them in. Lt. Amdecker had already told them that they should not show any signs of impatience, but Captain Thorpe was having a hard time trying not to get bored.

Randall leaned over to Erin. “Are they intentionally making us wait?”

Erin nodded. “Likely. They’re probably seeing how we take to being made to wait.”

Captain Thorpe nodded and sat back in his chair. A few minutes later, the door to the room opened and a small framed Asian man appeared, backing out of the room with a bow.

“You may enter.” He said, turning to the four.

Everyone but Lt. Vahzenov stood. He would wait outside while they asked for permission to buy the new OmniMech. If they were granted permission, Lt. Vahzenov would conclude the negotiations and make the payment. Until then, he would wait here.

As the four entered the room, there were four seats waiting for them. Two men sat on the other side of a thick oak desk. The four approached them, Major Silver lead the way with Lt. Amdecker and Captain Thorpe to either side and behind him, with Captain McKenna behind them all. Stopping just short of the desk, Major Silver never made eye contact with the two men. As he stopped, he executed a modest bow with the precision of years of royal training. Raising his gaze upward, he looked at the two men seated behind the desk.

On the left was the CEO of Luthien Armor Works, which hardly surprised Major Silver. What did surprise him was who was on the right; Tai-sa Hohiro Kurita, the Coordinator’s son and heir.

Holding his bow for much longer than he had planned, he stood upright and gestured for Lt. Amdecker. Upon seeing the heir to the Combine, Ian fell to one knee. Looking at the floor, he gestured to his commanding officer. “Honorable Tai-sa, this is my Commanding Officer, Baron Kevin Silver of Negushevo.”

The CEO spoke. “Thank you, Amdecker-sama.” He gestured to the seats and waited for the assembled officers to take their seats before continuing. “Tai-sa Hohiro-dono is here as the new head of the First Genyosha. As it is his unit that would be made to wait for a replacement Avatar, he has final say over the sale of one to your unit.”

Major Silver nodded as he continued to go over the request that Ian had helped him write, trying to make sure he said it properly. After a moment, he began. “The Silver Eagles are honored at this opportunity to represent the Dragon with their finest war machine to date. We are humbled that we are even worthy of the time you have taken to consider our request. The addition of a new Kuritan OmniMech to our ‘Mech Company would give the Silver Eagles the needed strength to recover from the operation on Outer Volta. We were honored to have to opportunity to serve the interests of the Dragon and without asking for money. The damage to our machinery is incidental to the loss of over thirty of our warriors, but such is the price of war.”

He paused a moment before continuing. “As a result of their rarity, we can no longer afford to maintain the two Phoenix Hawk Land Air-Mechs we had been using, one of which as you know was the family heirloom of Lieutenant Amdecker-kun.” He’d hoped he had addressed him appropriately as he continued. “We are honored that he has decided to stay with us, despite that we can no longer afford to maintain such a rare machine. We are also pleased to know that his brother will be using Hououtaka to serve the Dragon once again as a Mechwarrior.”

Major Silver finished his request as eloquently as possible. “In conclusion, the Silver Eagles would be pleased to grant Lieutenant Amdecker-kun the honor of piloting one of the Dragon’s finest war machines, if you would grant our request to purchase one for him. His representation of the Dragon throughout the Inner Sphere has been impeccable, and I’m sure with your generosity, it will be even greater in the future.”

Hohiro spoke for the only time in the meeting. “Amdecker-kun. You willingly gave up your grandfather’s Air-Mech for this?”

Ian nodded. “I did, Kurita-dono”

After an interminable silence, Hohiro simply nodded to the CEO. Major Silver knew this was ascent to their request and their cue to leave. He stood and bowed, as did the other Silver Eagles, then backed out of the room.

As the four left the room, they breathed a sigh of relief. Lt. Vahzenov stood as they came out. “Vell?”

Major Silver just shook his head quickly and darted his eyes toward the room then bowed his head. As Lt. Vahzenov looked up, he saw Hohiro Kurita come out. Bowing quickly, they waited for Hohiro to leave. Once he was gone, Major Silver nodded to Lt. Vahzenov. Sweeping into the room, he completed the purchase over the next few minutes. Once done, the five left.

More to follow quickly. (I’m writing it up at this moment) Be prepared for a large leap forward in time.

[McKenna]

As promised, more!

Tharkad, Federated Commonwealth
July 2nd, 3056

“Copy that, Tharkad Control.” Replied Petty Officer Brian Ramirez. “Holding position in parking orbit for 5 minutes. Will contact at 03:50 Terran Standard Time. Comstock out.”

Captain Friedrich floated next to the communications console as he monitored the instructions from Tharkad Space Control. In five more minutes, their four-month journey to the co-capital of the Federated Commonwealth would be over as they began their de-orbit burn. He turned to the pilot of the Overlord. “Commander Du Bragalon. How busy are we out there?”

Taking a moment to glance at the radar plot, the Comstock’s Executive Officer shrugged. “Not that bad, actually. The vector they have us on is fairly clear of other orbiting ships and satellites. Should be a cake-walk.”

Captain Friedrich nodded and turned to the Staff Weather Officer. “Commander Hunter, what’s the weather like on our entry vector?”

Commander Byron Hunter sighed. He hated being separated from his K-1, but they would have no need of it’s services on Tharkad and it was his only chance to see home again for the first time in over 2 years. “Weather in the LZ is good. We might have some chop coming in through the ionosphere, though.”

Captain Friedrich nodded. “Thank you, Commander.” He reached over and pressed a button on the communications console. “Major Silver. We should be landed in about 20 minutes.”

“Thanks Darious.” Major Silver replied.

He’s the only one who still calls me by first name. Darious thought. Sometimes I miss having a small crew!

The Comstock settled into the landing pad as the six massive engines cut their thrust. A few minutes later, a small ground car approached the Overlord class Dropship.

Petty Officer Ramirez turned to Captain Friedrich. “Sir, that vehicle claims to be a courier. They say they have a message to deliver to Lieutenant Amdecker.”

“In person?” replied Captain Friedrich. “Very well. Lower the main ramp and get me Lieutenant Amdecker.”

As Ian stood next to the ramp, Lt. Vahzenov approached. He had been waiting for permission to leave the Dropship to negotiate for the purchase of his new Falconer and wondered what the delay was. “Vat are you vaiting for? Do you know vhy I vas told to vait?”

Ian nodded towards the door. “I was informed that there is a courier here with a message for me. Your delay is likely due to it. I apologize.”

As he spoke, a man dressed as a Comstar Acolyte came walking up the ramp. “Lieutenant Ian Amdecker?”

Ian walked up to the courier. “Yes?”

Handing Ian an envelope, the Acolyte had him sign for delivery. Once signed, the Acolyte turned and walked out of the ship. Opening the envelope, Ian removed a letter and a Tharkad Customs claim card. He read the message silently. An ever-so slight smile drifted across his face before his face became an implacable mask again.

Ian walked to a com panel and depressed the call button. “Please connect me with Major Thorpe.”

Lt. Vahzenov looked puzzled. “Vat is it?”

Ian barely acknowledged the question with a short shake of his head as the com came to life. “This is Major Thorpe.”

Ian replied with strict Japanese formality. “Randall-san. I need to see you immediately.”

A minute later, Randall was approaching the two Officers who had been joined by Lt. Collins. “Ok, so what’s the story here?”

Without a word, Ian handed the former LAM pilot the letter he’d received. Reading it, his look of shock was immediate. “Ian, is this some sort of joke?”

Ian shook his head. “No Randall-san, it is not. This letter was delivered by special courier just a few minutes ago along with this.” He held out the Customs claim card. “Do you accept it, Randall-san?”

Not too familiar with Japanese custom over gift-giving, Randall got a puzzled look on his face. “Shouldn’t I? What’s the custom here?”

Ian smiled. “You should, even if you decide not to keep it. It is a gift, after all. To refuse it might be seen as cold and unappreciative toward the Dragon.”

Randall thought a moment before reaching out and taking the card. “I need to talk to the Major about this one, Major McKenna too. He turned and headed toward one of the personnel lifts at the center of the bay.

Lt. Vahzenov looked fit to be tied. “Vat? Is it some sort of secret or somzing?”

Ian shook his head. “It is no secret, just a private matter for Major Thorpe. If he wishes you to know, ask him.” At that Ian turned toward the other personnel lift.

Lt. Vahzenov turned to Lt. Collins. “Come on. Zis ought to be good!” They ran after Captain Thorpe and caught up with him just as he entered the lift.

After a few minutes, they had tracked down Captain McKenna to her quarters as well as Major Silver in his. He had asked not to be disturbed unless it was an emergency while he spent time with his family.

The knock on his door left him a little irritated, but he answered it anyway. “What is it Randall?” He said as he opened the door.

“Sorry to disturb you sir,” Randall began. “but I need to see you and Major McKenna immediately. It’s about the Outer Volta campaign.”

Major Silver let out a sigh. “Fine. I’ll be in the briefing room in a minute.”

A minute later, Captain Thorpe, Captain McKenna, Lt. Vahzenov, and Lt. Collins were in the briefing room waiting for the Major when Lt. Faller came in. “What’s the story here?” he asked. “Not time for any meeting I know of.”

Randall shook his head. “No Joe, just a quick meeting about a new turn of events. You might as well stay too.”

Just then, Major Silver walked in. “Ok Randall, so what’s all this about?”

Randall produced the letter and Customs claim card. “Ian just got this after we landed.” He handed the letter to Major Silver. “Go ahead and read it out loud.”

Snatching the paper up, Major Silver read.

To: Lt. Ian Amdecker - Silver Eagles Mercenary Battalion

From: Luthien Armor Works - Luthien, Draconis Combine

RE: Service to the Dragon

Konnichi-wa Amdecker-kun:

It has come to our attention the Lt. Randall Thorpe has sacrificed his Phoenix Hawk Land Air 'Mech in order to keep your honorable Grandfather's Land Air 'Mech Hououtaka from becoming battlefield salvage. In recognition of his honorable sacrifice, I have been instructed to have sent to him this BJ2-O Blackjack as a replacement. With the Blackjack's newly designed Omni technology, he will be able to field any number of configurations to suit his task. Should he choose to pilot this admirable design, he will do so with the Dragon's blessing.

Regards,
Luthien Armor Works

Next update: The final outfitting of the Silver Eagles and their next contract offer. (again, I’m writing it immediately after posting this up... using the time while I’ve got it!)

[McKenna]

And here it is! The last update before their next campaign. (which is already over with IRL!)

Tharkad, Federated Commonwealth
July 4th, 3056

Major Silver walked into the briefing room at 0700 exactly. Taking his seat at the head of the table as usual, he looked up at Captain McKenna. “Ok, what do we have this morning, Major?”

Erin looked at her notes. “Well, to begin with, Lieutenant Vahzenov has a report to make on final acquisitions.”

Standing up, Lt. Vahzenov smiled. “Vell, I finally got ze paperwork sorted out vit ze AFFC to authorize ze purchase from TharHes Industries. It cost us a bit zough... namely ze exchange of ze Chameleon ve had purchased for Major Thorpe zat he no longer needs. It vill be sent off for training use in exchange for ze OK to purchase ze Falconer. Ve have also been granted permission to purchase any Infantry equipment ve need to rebuild our fourth platoon directly from AFFC stockpiles. Zat should let us return to 100 percent effectiveness.”

“Good.” Major Silver replied. “The lack of an Infantry Platoon could have hurt our position in the hiring halls.” He turned back to Captain McKenna. “Speaking of which, what’s the word on that front?”

“Well, there are a couple of good contracts to chose from here on Tharkad. One of which we’ve been cleared for by MIIO personally, though they haven’t sent us the particulars on it yet. Could be a good one.”

Major Silver nodded. “Good. If we don’t have to spend a few months heading back to Outreach to get a new contract, so much the better. Which brings us to what kind of contract we should get. Thoughts?”

Lt. SG Zane Owens spoke up first. “Well, speaking as the Personnel Officer, We could really use a good moral-booster. So I recommend against any Garrison contracts. They’re easy money, but we need a good ‘win’ after Outer Volta.”

Major Silver nodded. “Agreed. No Garrison contracts, or Security or Cadre duty either. That leaves us looking at raids. What’s the situation in that direction, Major McKenna?”

She sighed as she tossed three of the contract offers aside. “Well, we have one Objective Raid and one Diversionary Raid. The OR is the one from MIIO and we don’t have the particulars yet. The DR is against Morrison's Extractors. Apparently they’ve been raiding along the border again and the AFFC wants someone to hit their base on Pain to draw them back home so they can get breathing time to muster an offensive. Unfortunately, they just don’t have the transports to pull one off themselves right now.”

Lt. Faller spoke up. “The Extractors are no one to trifle with. All together they have an estimated Regiment of forces and about a Battalion of that is Star League vintage. If they met us in force, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Major Silver nodded. “If they met us in force. The contract information says that they’re raiding along the border, so they can’t have all their forces at home. What’s more, they have two worlds to garrison, so the likelihood of getting all of them at once is small. Still, it’s risky. Making an enemy of the Extractors isn’t a great idea.” He turned to Captain McKenna. “See if you can get some information on the other contract, Major. What’s next?”

“Lieutenant Josepho has a report on the Bondsmen.” She answered. “Lieutenant?”

The former Clansman stood. “Since we took them as abtakha on Outer Volta, five former Infantrymen and one former Elemental have been released of their bonds and set free. Of the 29 remaining, I believe eight of them will never fight for our Clan; six former Infantrymen, one elemental, and one Mechwarrior. Of the 21 remaining, many have proven themselves adaptable enough to warrant inclusion in our ranks.” He turned to Major Silver. “My Khan, I would like to request a series of Trial of Positions to allow them to return to the Warrior Caste.”

Major Silver nodded. “Aff. See to it. However, I want it understood that these trials will all be fought un-augmented. We have no positions for Mechwarriors right now, so the best position we can offer is that of Tank Gunner or Infantryman. We have no ‘Mechs to spare. In time, if they prove themselves of value to the Clan, we may offer them the a position in the higher ranks. Until then they will hold the rank of ‘Warrior’, no matter what their trial outcome. The best may get Squad Leader positions, no more.”

Josepho nodded. “Aff, my Khan. I will conduct the trials immediately.”

Major Silver turned to Lt. O’Hare. “Lieutenant, you’ll have to integrate them in with the other platoons. With the increase in manpower, I want to reform Forth Platoon and equip them with Jump Gear.”

Lt. O’Hare stood. “If so Major, I’d like permission to reform the Infantry into all 8-man squads. It’ll be easier on keeping things organized.”

Major Silver turned to Lt. Vahzenov. “Make arrangements to buy whatever equipment we’ll need to do it. Get Lieutenant O’Hare whatever he needs.” He turned again to Captain McKenna. “Anything else?”

She shook her head. “That’s it for now.”

Major Silver stood. “Then get to it people. Dismissed.”

Two days later, the Command staff met in the briefing room to discuss their contract offers. Lt. Faller read the mission briefing for the second contract while the other Officers listened.

“The Objective is Intelligence. MIIO believes that the Black Warriors are once again raiding the border worlds near the Circinus Federation and they want proof one way or the other.” Lt. Faller pressed a few keys on the terminal in front of him, which showed the region of space along the border of the two Nations. “As you can see here, six months ago the worlds of Rajkot, Stantsiya, and Son Hoa were raided within a few weeks of each other, in that order. Now, a raiding party headed out of the Federated Commonwealth could have done it easily, but MIIO suspects that the Black Warriors were staging out of a system about 10 light years rim-ward of Khon Kaen, within a jump of all three systems. The official word is that the Black Warriors were on Circinus at the time, but MIIO wants...” Joe paused a moment and smiled. “...independent confirmation.”

Major Silver shook his head. “So far, the Silver Eagles have never had to take a contract against a Nation. This could curtail our options in the future.”

Randall turned to Major Silver. “It’s bound to happen sooner or later. The Clans won’t be the biggest threat forever, and eventually we’ll have to take a contract that commits us against a Nation of the Inner Sphere or Periphery.”

Major Silver scowled. “I just don’t care for the precedent. We’ve managed to avoid it for four years and I’d like it if we never had to.”

Captain Thorpe shrugged. “Well, we could always go back to Outreach and try for a new contract there, but I think it would be a waste of a good opportunity. Circinus makes for a good opportunity and I think we should take it.”

Major Silver looked over at Captain McKenna. “And what do you say Major?”

Erin thought a moment. “I think Circinus is the better mission. For one thing, the pay is better, and for another it’s available right now.”

Joe added to McKenna’s thoughts. “There’s also the fact that we have been trusted with the intel on this mission. Just the fact that they let us in on their operation is a major sign of trust on the part of the Commonwealth. Turning it down, while it wouldn’t be overly insulting, might make them think twice about offering us another.”

Lt. Vahzenov decided to add his opinion to the mix. “Vell, personally I zink zat ze raid against ze pirates would be a better opportunity. Ze salvage rights are very lucrative and zere is always good press for pirate hunting.”

Lt. Collins shook his head. “Circinus is not a nation, they’re little more than organized pirates.” He looked at Major Silver and smiled. “Any Free Worlds League Militiaman could tell you that.”

Major Silver shook his head. “Despite past aggressions, the Federation is a Nation recognized as such by others.” He turned to Joe. “Just what are the Federation’s relations with her neighbors?”

Joe shrugged. “Bitter-sweet. The Commonwealth and Free Worlds League have very poor relations due to raids in the past and suspicion of continued raiding, thought the League is extending economic assistance to poorer Federation worlds trying to improve things. No movement on that yet though. Rim Collection traders deal with them on and off, but Illyrian Merchants are forbidden from any trade deals since the Federation’s attempted invasion back in the 30’s. The biggest surprise is the recent peace overture toward the Marian Hegemony. Ever since their conquest of the Lothian League...”

Lt. Collins stopped Joe. “Whoa, hold on! The Hegemony conquered the Lothians?”

Lt. Faller nodded. “Sometime late last year. The invasion began in ’54 and by late ’55 the League was conquered. While we were traveling to Wolcott, the Lothians were being conquered.”

Captain Thorpe asked, “What about Comstar?”

Joe smiled. “When the Order split, Word of Blake took control of the Federation’s HPGs. Comstar has no official presence on Circinus worlds and no formal relations despite good history.”

Randall banged the table. “I’m sold. I vote for Circinus.”

Major Silver looked to Captain McKenna. “Major?”

Erin shrugged. “You already know my opinion. Their relations with others are beside the point for me. I vote for Circinus as well.”

Major Silver sighed. “For the record, I’m going to vote for the mission against Morrison's Extractors. However, I’ll concede the majority vote and we’ll take the mission with MIIO.” He turned to Captain McKenna. “What kind of pay are we looking at?”

Erin looked at her notes. “Including the signing bonus, 21,307,563 Kroner after subtracting the MRBC handling fee. They’ll hold the contract payment in escrow while we’re on mission.”

Major Silver nodded. “Very well, make the arrangements. Let’s get this one over with quickly so we can relax for a while.”

Continued updates and the mission to be covered soon! Thanks for the patience everyone!

[McKenna]

Ok, here’s the write up for the mission in the Circinus Federation. I apologize for the lateness of the update, but we’re getting ready to get into a major story arc that’s taken up all my time. Enjoy!

Son Hoa, Federated Commonwealth
October 19^th, 3056

As the Jim Bridger finished charging its Jump Drive, Major Silver had convened a meeting in the briefing room. As he floated into the room, he strapped himself into the seat at the head of the table aboard the Comstock. Assembled in the room were all the senior staff, along with their Liaison Officer from the Covert Operations Division of MIIO, Agent Eschmann.

“Alright people,” began Major Silver. “As soon as we execute the next jump, we can brief you what our plan is. Get ready for it...”

Warning klaxons sounded around the Comstock and Jim Bridger as the Scout prepared to jump into Circinus space. As the Drive Controller initiated the Jump sequence, nearly five terrajoules of energy surged into the Drive Coil. Space itself seemed to shrink into an infinitesimal point as the ships transitioned into hyperspace. The 15-second journey seemed to stretch out for eternity to the Silver Eagles. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the Jim Bridger materialized 200 billion kilometers from the type B3 star designated only as Jump Point Zulu-265; an uninhabited star system halfway between Son Hoa and their destination.

After giving the assembled officers a moment to recover, Major Silver continued. “Now, our destination is the planet Thadora's Land, one of the minor worlds of the Federation. Agent Eschmann informs us that the defenders there are 2 companies in strength, The Fighting Shamrocks and Davidson’s Dirt Devils of the Black Warriors themselves.” Major Silver turned to McKenna and nodded.

Captain McKenna stood slowly in the microgravity aboard the Comstock as she brought up a map of Thadora's Land. “We’ll be dropping down here,” she said as she designated a point on the map. “That should put us right outside of the Dirt Devil’s base of operations. The ‘Mechs will create a perimeter defense while the Comstock descends under fighter escort. While she’s coming down, we’ll have no air cover, so be ready for strafing and bombing runs if they decide to ignore her. Intelligence says that the Devils have only four outdated Aerospace fighters, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Major Silver interrupted. “That having been said, I don’t want anyone taking any chances. Formations will be loose and open, so even if they do get a bombing run on us, I don’t want to see two or three ‘Mechs taking fire, understood?” He nodded at McKenna to continue.

“Right.” She resumed. “Anyway, once the Comstock is down, we’ll unload the armor and Infantry to establish a base camp. We’re only looking at being there a few days at most while Lieutenant Collins and Sergeant Chi Lin search their databases, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take these guys seriously. Yes, we have the technology edge, but they have two ‘Mech Companies versus our one, and they’ll be waiting for us when we hit dirt.”

Lt. Scott interjected a question. “Ma’am, aren’t we coming in on a pirate point?”

Erin shook her head. “No Ben, we’re not. We don’t have accurate enough data on the system to risk it. It’s a five-day burn down, so they’ll know we’re coming.”

Lt. Vahzenov spoke up next. “Zat means ven ve hit ze ground, ve may vell be outnumbered 2-to-1 and vit zem defending. Zat gives zem a big edge until ze Armor is available.”

Major Silver nodded. “Yes, it does. However, I think we can hold them well enough. We have the edge in that we have most of two Companies of ‘Mechs with a lot better technology than they do. At best, they may outnumber us 1.2-to-1, not 2-to-1. When you consider the technology edge, we outmatch them... unless of course they’re sporting newer technology than the intel says they are.” He looked at Agent Eschmann.

The MIIO representative shook his head. “Our intel on the Devils and Shamrocks is considered top-rated. We have independent confirmation that neither unit has received any updated ‘Mechs or armor.”

Major Silver nodded. “That’s why we’re going in hard and fast; we’re trusting that the ‘Mechs will be able to hold based on that data. If we are facing better equipped units, it’s going to get ugly down there fast.”

Thadora's Land, Circinus Federation
October 30, 3056

Major Silver feathered his Jump Jets as he came in, braking his rate of descent until he was slowly approaching the ground. His Marauder slammed into the dirt hard, but not hard enough to damage it. As he looked out across the valley, he saw the rest of the Silver Eagles had already engaged the Dirt Devils. Keying his mic, he called out over the Battalion Command frequency.

“Silver Actual to all units, Command Lance is down.” He glanced at the situational awareness indicator before continuing. “Command Support, you and Grizzly head for grid 4485 and fill that gap. Gamma, you’re with me.” At that he throttled Mercury II up and ran toward the fight.

McKenna fired another full spread from her ten SRM tubes at the ancient Archer opposing her. Fully half of them missed, but the rest peppered the Heavy ‘Mech with damage, one missile striking into the exposed right shoulder of the beast. As the charge detonated, the entire upper shoulder assembly came apart and the arm fell harmlessly to the ground below. In retaliation, the Archer spat out a load of forty LRMs back at her. As one salvo struck her, she barely felt the reverberation of the impacts as the exploded harmlessly against her armor, their warheads still not armed.

As she swung around to prevent a flanking maneuver, she locked her Targeting Computer onto the ‘Mech’s wounded right flank. Unleashing her trio of Clan ER Small Lasers as well as her Diverse Optics Sunbeam ER Large Laser and trio of Tronel I Small Lasers, the wounded ‘Mech’s armor vanished in a flash of laser light. As the Sunbeam Heavy laser blasted the armor away, the darts of smaller lasers dug into the delicate interior. One of them struck a fully loaded ammo bin, igniting the rocket fuel and engulfing the enemy ‘Mech in a fireball of detonating missiles, eating their way out of the machine.

Just as the Archer vanished from sight, her Thunderbolt was rocked hard to the right. That wasn’t weapons fire! she thought as she struggled to keep her feet. Snapping her head around, she spotted the Phoenix Hawk that had charged into her. As she struggled to keep her feet to face her new threat, two blue arcs smashed into its left flank. In a flash, the entire right half of the ‘Mech came apart in an explosion of superheated metal. The damage was so powerful, the 45-ton ‘Mech was instantly blasted off its feet.

“Thought you could use a hand, Captain.” Major Silver said as he and Lt. Josepho ran up to assist Assault Lance.

Erin just frowned. “Thanks Kevin, but I think things are well in hand.”

As she spoke, Major Silver looked at his displays. They’re in full retreat. he thought, pausing a moment. And that’s why. He tuned Mercury in place and looked up to see the Comstock descending toward its landing coordinates.

“Comstock to Silver Actual.” Came Captain Friedrich’s voice over the Battalion frequency. “On final approach now and will be secure in 30 seconds.”

Major Silver keyed his mic is reply. “Nice timing Captain. Where’s your escorts?”

The reply was clipped and filled with irritation. “They’re still in orbit, Major. Air Leader and Air Support Wing took a severe pounding from those two Chippewas they had. They’re stuck in orbit for the moment, too damaged to risk atmospheric entry. Air Wing and Air Support are flying cover for them just in case these guys have more to throw, but after we unload we’re going to have to lift off again and go get ‘em, Major.”

Major Silver just nodded. “Roger that, Comstock. You’re authorized to begin recovery operations just as soon as we’re unloaded and secure. Silver Actual out.”

As Major Silver entered the HQ tent 4 hours later, the Comstock lifted off to recover the Eagles’ fighters. He walked up to Captain McKenna who was standing by the communications table.

“Any word, Erin?” he asked.

She remained mute and shook her head. It had been two hours since Lieutenants Collins, Vahzenov, and Faller, Captain Thorpe, and Sgt. Chi Lin had left to infiltrate the Black Warrior’s compound. Major Silver could see the worry streaking his XO’s face.

“Don’t worry Erin.” Major Silver began. “Joe’s not going to die out here.”

Erin whipped her head around at the comment. “Out here?” she quipped.

Kevin grinned slightly. “Yeah. I mean, he isn’t working for the League out here. There’s no way that man is going to die if it’s not for the League! He wouldn’t stand for it.”

Erin rolled her eyes and quipped back, “You’re right, he’s a die-hard Leaguer.”

Kevin groaned. “Humor as a defense mechanism, Erin? You really are worried, aren’t you?”

Erin sighed. “A little, aye. It’s just that on the way out here, things have been a little strained between us.” She strolled away from the communications table for a little more privacy. “Joe and I had a bit of a fight before we made planet-fall. He offered to move out of our quarters.”

Kevin placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but Erin just pulled away. Seeing that there was nothing he could do to put her at ease, he just walked back out of the tent.

Spotting Lt. Owens, he walked over. “Lieutenant, how’s Sergeant Anhalt?”

Lt. Owens turned. “He’s doing fine sir, as are the rest of his squad.”

“Good.” He replied. “And how go repairs with the Armor?”

Lt. Owens sighed. When the Silver Eagles had landed, the Fighting Shamrocks launched their attack, just as Air Defense Artillery was being unloaded. Their brand new Partisan Air Defense Tank had been damaged in the attack, as well as Chi Lin’s Ferret and Third Squad of Third Infantry Platoon. Luckily, the fight against the Dirt Devils had gone better for the ‘Mech company. Only Lt. Jones’ Anvil was damaged badly enough that it was pulled from combat duty.

In the counterattack against the Shamrocks, the Armor company put their new Silver Goblins to the test. Sgt. Ingalls’ Tank in Third Platoon took concentrated fire and was destroyed when the side armor was breached and the structure collapsed. Warrior Barret, who had been assigned to the Tank as a Gunner, saved both Sgt. Ingalls and Cpl. Lozier when he pulled them from the burning tank before the hydrogen fuel tank ruptured. At the same time, St. Sgt. Scanlon’s Tank in First Platoon took damage to its treads, making it totally immobile until Chief Mechanic Pitre could repair the damage. In retaliation, the four Platoons of Armor Company tore the Shamrocks apart, damaging six ‘Mechs and destroying four others before they withdrew.

“Things are going well enough.” He answered. “Sergeant Ingalls’ Tank is a near write-off, he was pounded so heavily. That combined with the fuel explosion, we’re lucky we didn’t lose the crew. Other than that, we’re doing pretty well.”

Major Silver nodded. “Good. I’m glad to hear that we’re not in it so deep this time. Carry on, Lieutenant.” At that Major Silver headed off toward his tent.

Thadora's Land, Circinus Federation
November 4^th, 3056

“Watch your six!” Joe whispered as he ducked behind a desk. “He’s coming around the other way!”

Lt. Vahzenov swung around and pointed his ancient revolvers toward the opposite side of the computer room. The five had made their way into the Dirt Devil’s compound unnoticed and were in the process of trying to break into the computer system when Joe had shouted the warning that someone was coming. Now the five waited to see if their operation was going to be compromised.

A tense minute passed as they waited. Finally, the door to the computer room began to open. Randall took careful aim with his Mauser 960 and prepared to fire at the intruder. As the figure entered the darkened room, Randall could barely make out the silhouette of the robe. Anger boiled inside of him as his finger came down on the firing stud. The snap of 5 megajoules of coherent light slicing across the room surprised everyone almost as much as the fact that he had missed.

“Damnit Randall!” Joe shouted, angry both that the ex-ComGuard had fired and that he’d missed. Leaping over the desk he’d been hiding behind, Joe ran up to where the intruder had dropped prone, covering the apparent Adept with his Blazer Rifle. Seeing the man reaching for his pocket, Joe shoved the barrel against the small of the man’s back. “Don’t do it, dirtball... you’ll never even get close before I cut you in half.”

Vahzenov came running up and closed the door after checking the hallway. “No vone appears to have heard ze shot, zank goodness.”

Randall walked up slowly and chambered a grenade. “Let him up, Joe.” He ordered.

Joe looked over his shoulder. “Randall, you wouldn’t...”

With searing hatred burning across his face, Randall slammed the grenade chamber shut. “Oh, but I would.”

Finally, the cloaked figure spoke. “Damn it all! I’m ROM!”

Randall pointed his pulse laser rifle at the figure. “All the more reason to kill you, traitor.”

“No you idiot!” he continued. “I’m with Comstar! Not Blake! I’m here to get info on WoB’s activities in Circinus.”

Joe began to relax and pulled the weapon out of the man’s back. “Alright, get up... slowly... or I’ll let my friend here turn you into chunky salsa.”

As the man slowly stood, his hands raised, he turned to face the men. “Who are you guys?”

Joe lowered his huge double-barreled laser rifle. “We’re the Silver Eagles. We’re a merc unit here to gather intel on the Black Warriors for ‘interested parties.’ Now, why were you snooping around here instead of at the HPG?”

The agent jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I shadowed a Blakist from there to here. I lost him when he got inside, but when I saw activity here I thought it might have been him.”

Joe extended his hand to the ROM agent. “Sorry to have fouled your op. Tell you what, if you can help us gain access to their systems, we’ll share whatever we find. Deal?”

He nodded. “Deal. Now we’d better hurry before a patrol comes around.”

It had been four days with no word from the infiltration team. Secure in their compound, most of the Silver Eagles were asleep when the explosion went off at 0200 local time.

Major Silver raced out of his tent as Infantrymen raced toward the burning Longbow. Cpl. Winters raced up with his fatigues.

“Corporal, what’s going on?” Major Silver barked.

“I’ll try to find out sir.” He replied, and raced off to the Comstock.

Major Silver ran toward the burning BattleMech of Fire Lance and began helping put out the fires.

Half an hour later, the Command Staff was assembled in the HQ tent. Major Silver turned to Lt. O’Hare as he came in with Chief Technician Iverson. “Report.”

Sven shrugged. “She’s a wreck sir. The central gyro housing and support structures are gutted. We’ll have to replace her.”

Major Silver dropped his head. “Fine. We’ll deal with that later.” He looked to Lt. O’Hare. “Lieutenant?”

Daniel O’Hare looked exhausted. “Well, near as we can tell someone got through our security patrols with a sabotage charge.”

Major Silver scowled. “How did he plant the charge in the central core?”

Sven spoke up. “Technician Fulke had the access plates open on the Longbow so he could repair a problem with the redesigned heat exchangers. You know we’ve had problems with them ever since we re-build them. Rinaldo thought he had the problem fixed, but it ended up just making things worse, so he was putting things back the way they were. He and Tech Team #6 were only away from the machine for five minutes while they reset the flow valves.”

Major Silver looked over at Sven. “Tech team six? That’s one of the Clan teams. Any chance it was one of them?”

Lt. O’Hare shrugged. “You’d have to ask Sergeant Major Spanner about that, sir. The Comstock had to have seen something on her sensors, even if no one noticed it at the time.”

Major Silver shook his head. “Fine, I’ll have Spanner look into it in the morning. I’m going back to bed. Dismissed.”

“Captain Thorpe,” Major Silver began, “You were ordered to check in every day. Explain yourself.”

Randall let out a long breath. “I am sorry, Major, but the Warriors had electronic listening posts. If we had tried to check in, we’d have been giving ourselves away.”

Agent Eschmann leaned over the conference room table. “What do you mean ‘electronic listening posts’? There’s nothing in our intel that says they have that kind of security here.”

 “I can verify it, Mr. Eschmann.” Lt. Faller interjected. “Electronic listening posts every kilometer along their outer perimeter.” He produced a data storage module similar to a BattleROM and slid it across the table to the Agent. “However, I believe this is what you wanted.”

Picking up the module, Agent Eschmann examined it. “What’s on it?”

Joe leaned back in his seat and lit a cigarette. “It’s about a week of security camera footage of this compound, namely the week that the Black Warriors were suspected of attacking along the Commonwealth border. The Dirt Devils are on it. Also there are several communiqués on there from Captain Davidson to Major Donner on Circinus and a few from Captain Sarono on Maximillian, all dated for the same time.” He leaned forward and looked the agent in the eye. “It would appear that the Black Warriors were indeed stationed here in the Federation during the time in question. Either that or they faked the data in their own computer systems.”

Lt. Scott interrupted. “Well, is there anything to keep them from doing that?”

Joe shrugged. “No, there isn’t. But why would they unless they knew we were coming? And if they knew, why let us get away with mauling two of their companies? The rest of the Warriors and the House Guards could have been waiting here for us and we wouldn’t be going home.”

Major Silver nodded. “In either event, this data satisfies our contract. We did what we came to do, so let’s get out of here while the getting is good.” He turned to Captain Friedrich. “Captain, make ready to launch.” Turning to the Officers, he ordered “Alright, I want everyone and everything loaded up in one hour. Take what we can as salvage but be quick about it. Dismissed.”

An hour later, the Comstock lifted off, headed back to the Jim Bridger and the safety of FedCom space.

Well, that’s it. After they left Thadora's Land, they went back to Son Hoa and dropped off Agent Eschmann. Concluding their contract, they headed for the nearby world of Loburg, landing on January 3^rd, 3057. After picking up a replacement Longbow and Goblin, they lifted again and headed for Timbiqui, only three jumps away. They spent two weeks there on R&R, celebrating the success of their mission. Lt. Vahzenov took the opportunity to pick up 75 cases of Timbiqui Dark for trade. (that’s 1,125 750-ml bottles :o )

After their vacation on Timbiqui, they noticed that they were only 11 jumps from Negushevo, so they decided to extend their vacation for a trip home. They landed on May 5^th, 3057 and stayed for 2 ½ weeks. While there, they started looking for a nice, long, easy garrison contract to let them enjoy their success for a while. They also began talks to grow the unit into a full ‘Mech Battalion with armor and Infantry support. Unfortunately, that means they would need to sell the Jim Bridger and get a bigger Jumpship and other Dropships.

Right now they’re looking at an Invader with a Leopard CV and a Seeker. The Armor and Infantry could move out of the cramped lower bay of the Comstock and into the Seeker. The CV would let them carry an additional 6 fighters, giving them two full Squadrons of Fighters. (that’s a DCMS Aerospace Company or a Capellan Aerospace Flight) The extra space would let them reconvert the Comstock back to a normal Overlord-One and carry a full Battalion of 36 ‘Mechs.

Anyway, that’s it for now. They’ve actually taken a contract already and have begun the mission, but I’ll get into that later. For now, enjoy!