Battletech: Hero of the Reach

[deathzealotzero]

Battletech: The Hero of the Reach v2.0

A Battletech: Restoration AU Novella with elements from Mobile Suit Gundam F91

Written by,

William R. Woods
aka, “Deathzealot” or
“deathzealotzero”

Foreword

Okay. This version two of my Battletech: Restoration/Gundam F91 merged story, and while there are going to be some differences from the original version that I had posted late last year, it is still going to be quite similar. At least for the two chapters, I did manage to post last year anyways. I never got around to writing anything further for the story after I received little feedback for what I did post. The two most major changes I am making to the original are expanding the Prelude a bit, introducing a bit more of the Ronah Family and their Babylonia Landhold, and streamlining the second chapter's battles a bit. Along with a couple of minor changes I had made over the past month to some of my background material for this story. Including the material that I have been posting over the past few weeks on the Battletech forums. This includes changing the Dropship of Markham's Marauders and some other very minor things.

So! That said. I am still not that much of a Battletech nerd therefore, I may have gotten some things wrong in the story with Battletech lore. I have educated myself a bit more on Battletech lore since I first posted this story last year, but I am still kind of new with it all.  So please let me know if I do something that is not in Battletech lore. That said, I am not going to be all that worried about any of the dedicated rules and such for the Battletech tabletop. For example, I never have been a fan of official crew numbers for Dropships and Jumpships. Therefore I am going to be increasing crew numbers on some of the dropships and such to make it far easier in my mind. This is mostly the lighter side Dropships like the Leopard Class. Shrug.

Alright, I have talked enough it is time to get to the story. Enjoy!

Prelude: Leaving The Nest

Those early days after I left the only home that I had known, were some of the hardest I ever had, but I managed to pull through it and get through my life. Once I arrived at Coromodir and contacted my grandfather’s old friend, Raju Montgomery, I did not have any time really to be homesick as the old warrior put me through my paces both in my mech and out of it. While I did curse and hated the man, he became quite close as he broke me down before rebuilding me into the excellent Mechwarrior that I am today. I owe him for that, and I never told him how much I did appreciate him for being so hard on me. Anyway, things got away from me there for a moment. Still, if my Grandfather had not found that fateful evening, then I would not be here today…

- Taken from The Hero of the Reach: A Mechwarrior's Memoir
Published, March of 3032AD

Ronah’s Family Estate
Babylonia, Zamouth System
November 22, 3021 AD

‘I wonder what is out there on those distant worlds,’ was the thought of the young red-haired woman as she looked up at the twinkling lights of thousands upon thousands of stars that were spread across the night sky above her. Those that could be seen with the large orange and red orb that dominated much of the southern sky, blocking many more of the stars from her view. This was mainly due to Babylonia being a moon orbiting around the large gas giant of Akkadia with several other similar-sized more rocky-looking moons and a modest ring of smaller rocks in a ring around the planet. This gas giant and its satellites, in turn, orbited around the star known as Zamouth, which is a large G-Type star. Still, there was enough sky not blocked by the nearby gas giant for the young woman to appreciate the view of the distant stars as she sat on the small hill right outside of her family's modest-sized estate outside of the distant-sized city of Babylon City.

Shaking her head with a sigh, the young woman raked some bits of hair that escaped the fancy bun that the rest of her hair was gathered into away from her face. Sighing, she looked down at the impressive-looking dress she was currently wearing, something her mother had pretty much forced her to wear for the party she had only recently left. A party she wanted no part in as it gathered dozens of men from around the planet to meet with her. Thanks in part to her mother wanting her to find a nice man to settle down with and continue their family's legacy. Hence, the reason for the party tonight. However, she wanted no part in settling down with a man, for she had plenty of other things on her mind currently like her dreams of going out into space and exploring the stars. Dreams her mother did not want her having for it would take her off the planet where she wouldn't be safe. At that, she looked back at the stars once again, wondering once more what was out there along those many different stars blinking at her almost cheerily. What was on the worlds orbiting those stars and the people on those planets. Oh. Due to her studies, she knew that not all of them had actual worlds around them or were outside of the section of space that humanity had claimed for themselves since the old days of the first human diaspora from Earth. Still, she had always been fascinated by the idea of other people living out there along with those stars.

“Berah?” an aged voice said from behind her, which made her turn to spy the shadowed figure of her grandfather, Meitzer Ronah, the patriarch and founder of the Noble House of Ronah and former High Chief of the Babylonia Landhold. The young woman, one Berah Ronah, looked up at the aged gaze of the older man who only sighed in some bemusement before painfully sitting down next to her on the tiny hill, placing his fancy-looking cane to one side. He briefly massaged his sore leg for a moment before turning his attention back to his young granddaughter at this side.

“I take it you are star-watching again, my dear,” the man mentioned with a chuckle looking over at her with an amused look on his face.

“Yes, Grandfather,” Berah could only say in answer to the man who was far closer to her than her own stepfather, a man who was cold and distant to his wife's children from another man. A man who had helped her immensely in the constant struggle of being a noble-born daughter of a feudal house like her family. Shaking his head with another chuckle, the elderly man looked up at the stars for a few moments with a soft yet saddened smile before looking back over at his granddaughter.

“Do you know Berah why your mother, took over as the Head of the Ronah Family and the High Chief of Babylonia when she was the youngest of my children?” the man mentioned out of the blue, making Berah look over at him in some confusion. She had known that her mother, Nadia Ronah, had been made High Chief when she was very young when her Grandfather had stepped down. She also knew that her mother had siblings but never knew the reason for her mother, the youngest of three children to succeed her Grandfather as High Chief. 

“No. I know that my mother had an older brother that she rarely mentions and of course I know all about my Aunt Monica. I had believed that the brother passed away before I was born like my real father,” she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. Her aunt was the current head of Anaheim Electronics which was a civilian company the provided the Landhold everything from a simple refrigerator to that of a tank. Her grandfather only snorted at the mention of her father, a man he always had disliked, before looking back up at the stars before sighing and shaking his head.

“Your Uncle Hauzeri was a bit like my younger sister Racheal and her granddaughter, your distant cousin Sherindoh, in that they loved the idea of moving in between the stars. He loved the whole idea of being along with the stars and became a crewmember of a freight jumpship which soon disappeared somewhere in the Inner Sphere.” he mentioned in a thoughtful tone before continuing with a short chuckle, “It must be that old pirate soul in our family.”

“I never knew that!” Berah excitedly mentioned with a smile, making Meitzer smile slightly at her in response before continuing on with his story.

“Yes, while Sherin has taken over command of our family’s old jumpship from her father, who would have loved to have your Uncle as part of his crew. No Hauzeri was more curious about the Inner Sphere; therefore, he took a job on a freight jumpship that made regular trips between New Detroit and the Capellan Confederation. From there, we lost track of him, and he disappeared into the mess that is the Inner Sphere,” he finished making Berah nod in some understanding, for her mother would perhaps find it painful to mention anything about her brother. It also explained the distaste her mother had of her dreams of space and wanting to leave home to be out along the various stars.

“Still, Grandfather, while I love the stars and everything, I am more curious about the worlds that orbit those stars,” Berah mentioned after a few moments of silence between the two making the older man looking down at her some surprise before chuckling a bit.

“Well, it looks like you are more like your Great Uncle Engeist after all then,” he mentioned making Berah blink before remembering that her Great Uncle, twin brother to her Grandfather, had started a small mercenary unit after her family and their followers had settled on this nearly abandoned forested moon which become quite notable in the years after it formed. The unit would become a thorn in the side of various pirate groups throughout the Rimward Frontier of the Periphery and into the edges of the Outer Sphere for nearly twenty years before the unit returned home to Babylonia where it would disband. Mainly thanks in part to her Great Uncle's health declining and he wanted to be home before he died.

“Come with me, my dear,” the old man suddenly mentioned, and taking up his cane once more, he managed to use it to bring himself back onto his feet with a pained grunt before looking down at her. Berah, meanwhile, quickly managed to scramble to her feet after a brief moment of confusion. The two then started towards the Ronan Family Estate, or to be more particular, the sizeable half-buried building that served as a hangar for the various Battlemechs owned by their family and those of Babylonia’s Independent Battlemech Companies, the Vanguards. As they walked, they could see the distant lights of the city of Babylon, which served as the capital of Babylonia. Named after the landhold itself, it served as the home of millions of people. The majority of which were descendants of the various scattered groups of roaming primitives, all that remained of the old settlers of this small, terraformed moon. Using their advanced weapons and Battlemechs, the Crossbone Pirates had one-by-one conquered them all till they all sworn themselves to the new High Chief of Babylonia, her Grandfather. From there, her Grandfather managed to bring those people back to a more modern living and had built this city to house them all. Now, a series of smaller farming communities surrounded the larger city, which provided it with the needed food. All told, the Landhold of Babylonia sported over nearly half a billion people split in between the capital, a couple of decent-sized smaller cities, and the various surrounding towns. Not all that much when compared to some worlds found in the Inner Sphere but far more than many of the planets that dominated the Rimward Frontier.

Shaking her head, Berah turned her attention back to her grandfather as she followed behind him as they entered the massive sized space that was the Mech Hangar. Thanks to the earlier party and said party’s aftermath, it is quite empty with all of the Mechwarriors and the Mech Techs recovering from all of their indulgences from the party. All but three warriors playing some sort of card game around a table at the feet of a PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk, done up in the Black Vanguard Company's black and dark gray colors. The three cardplayers looked up at them at their approach before they all stood up to attention. Berah immediately recognized the taller of the three Mechwarriors to be Junior Lieutenant Seabook Arno, an old childhood friend of hers, alongside the slightly shorter figure of his commander Senior Lieutenant Zabine Chareux, whose single-eyed gaze always made her nervous for some reason, with the third warrior an unfamiliar brown-haired woman standing on the other side of the Senior Lieutenant. All three warriors saluted with their right arms over their chests as the two members of House Ronah approached the three of them.

“Lord Meitzer! It is an honor,” Lieutenant Chareux barked out, making the older man smile and wave a hand at the man before he looked over the various Battlemechs safely interned in their bays. Many of which were a mix of STG-3A Stinger, WSP-1A Wasp, and LCT-1V Locust Light Battlemechs with a handful of various Medium Battlemechs including several PXH-1 Phoenix Hawks that serve mainly as command mechs. All done up in the various colors of the different Babylonia Independent Mech Companies and the proud crossbones and sword emblem of the Landhold somewhere on their armor. Sighing at this, he turned his attention back to the still saluting Mechwarriors.

“At ease Lieutenant Chareux and get back to your card game. I am only going to be introducing an old friend to my Granddaughter here,” he mentioned staring at the single remaining eye of the senior Mechwarrior making the man nod in some understanding before waving at his fellows to rejoin him at the table. Mechwarrior Arno looked over at Berah with a confused look before rejoining the other Mechwarriors at the table. Nodding at this, Meitzer turned his attention at Berah before waving further into the large hangar. Berah blinked at this before following behind her Grandfather as he started to walk further into the almost shadowed hangar. As they did so, Berah nearly gasped in surprise as they entered a part of the hangar that she knew to hold the handful of Mechs directly owned by the Ronah Family. The first of which was her stepfather’s old VND-1R Vindicator done up in the dark gray and purple colors of the Ronah Family itself with some of the old colors of the Capellan Confederation peaking from underneath the new colors it now wore. However, the Mech that suddenly drew her eye and where her grandfather had stopped at, an old BJ-1 Blackjack. A Mech she knew that her grandfather and his ancestors had once piloted during their days as Pirates. It was dressed up in the same colors as the Vindicator at its side and the larger mech to its right, along with a rare CN9-AL Centurian variant across from it that she knew was her mother's mech when she was required to pilot a mech.

“I know you had some training in one of our Stinger Trainers over the years, but due to your mother pushing your studies in other matters, it hasn’t been fully completed. Still, I believe it would be best that you go out and spread your wings, sort of speak. With old Blackheart here accompany you in your travels,” her Grandfather mentioned looking up at the old Mech with a wistful look on his face.

“The Mother Vanguard is scheduled to arrive in about a week or so, which will give me plenty of time to convince your mother to go along with this idea and allow you to leave,” he continued turning to look at her and her shocked look on her face.

“You said yourself, Grandfather, I have barely any Battlemech piloting training!” she nearly screeched in some shock before her Grandfather waved it off with a short chuckle.

“I already have an idea about that. You shall first head off to Coromodir VI in the Aurigan Reach, where an old friend of mine, Raju Montgomery, is now the Captain of the Guard for the Aurigan Royal Guard. He has made a career of training top-of-the-line Mechwarriors out of young nobility, therefore the perfect teacher for you to finish your training in becoming a Mechwarrior,” he explained with another soft, dreamy look on his face as he remembered a few things from his past.

“Still, Grandfather, I cannot take your old Mech. What about Dorel? Shouldn’t he inherit it as the heir of the Landhold?” she asked in some confusion mentioning her older brother Dorel making the old man chuckled.

“Not really he has taken a liking to this Shadow Hawk we captured from that last pirate raid on the Landhold,” he replied, waving his cane at the large mech to the right of the smaller Blackjack, which she after a few minutes identified as a fifty-five ton SHD-2H Shadow Hawk Medium Mech. The heaviest mech in the hangar at the moment, she was sure.

A few minutes went by as Berah stood at the foot of the massive warmachine once piloted by her grandfather and her ancestors during their days as pirates. Her grandfather was only silent as she thought over what he had proposed. She did indeed want to get off this moon and out into the rest of human-claimed space. However, it would mean leaving behind her family and the people she cared for throughout the Landhold. Still, she could not pass up this chance her Grandfather was giving her; therefore, she turned to look her Grandfather in his eyes and only nodded once, making the old man smile almost sadly before he too looks up at the large Battlemech with a sigh before starting back the way they came.

“Now I just need to convince your mother, and I am not looking forward to that discussion,” he mentioned with an almost whine in his voice at that idea. Berah only chuckled as she followed behind her grandfather and the first steps in her new journey.

-o-o-o-

Babylonia Dropship Eos Nyx
Burning towards Zamouth Zenith Jump Point
December 5, 3021AD

Blinking away tears, the figure of Berah Ronah stood in the small quarters assigned to her, staring out of the small viewport the room sported. As the moon of Babylonia and the gas giant it orbited started to disappear from her view as the dropship she was now on continued to burn for Zamouth’s Zenith Jump Point where the Ronah Family’s sole owned Jumpship, the Mother Vanguard was waiting for them. The Dropship, the Eos Nyx, was one of two modified Trojan Class Dropships the Vanguard often carried in its journey through the stars. Like the Vanguard herself, both of which had been in use by the old Crossbone Pirates for over a hundred years raiding the various independent worlds of the Rimward Frontier. Now the jumpship and its paired Dropships were used for a more peaceful purpose transporting cargo between the Landhold itself and the rest of the Rimward Frontier.

Now the Eos Nyx was transporting herself and her family’s old Battlemech, the BJ-1 Blackjack known as Blackheart, away from the only home she had ever known in her entire life. Hence, why she was currently in her quarters, silently crying as she watched the moon of Babylonia disappearing from her view as the dropship continued to thrust towards the distant jump point. As she saw her face reflected in the glass of the viewport Berah remembered the angry and devasted look on her mother's face when her Grandfather first proposed the idea of Berah leaving the Landhold for the Aurigan Reach. As well as the glare she leveled at Berah when she agreed with her grandfather. Then the loud yelled as her mother yelled at her own father who calmly countered every point his daughter gave before she finally gave up giving her permission for Berah to leave. Berah had been quite excited which saw her hugging her grandfather before giving her mother another hug make the older woman stiffen in some surprise. It was that night that Berah's mother had arrived at Berah's rooms and the two had a long heart-to-heart conversation the first they had since Berah had been little. During the conversation, Nadia slowly started to reveal more about her brother who had disappeared into the Inner Sphere. It had hurt Nadia that her brother had left and never looked back or even came back home for a visit. That night Berah had learned more about her mother and her own fears than ever before which had Berah promising her Mother she would return. A promise she fully intended to follow through with for Babylonia would always be her true home.

Berah shook of her memories as she noticed only the darkness of interplanetary space with the glow from the distant sun of the system through the viewport, which saw her rubbing her eyes and turning away from the viewport towards the rest of her small personal quarters. She then pulled out an outfit from her carryall and moved towards the quarter’s tiny bathroom to get ready for the dinner the captain of the dropship, the gruff Cosmo Eigesse, invited her to attend. She briefly frowned at this because she did not like the man, but he was a trusted crewmember of her cousin Sherindon Ronah, captain of the Mother Vanguard. Shaking her head, she could not afford to snub her cousin, for she was willing to go an extra pair of jumps away from her usual route to head for the Coromodir System, where she should be able to find this Raju Montgomery that had been friends with her grandfather. Sighing, she took one last brief look at the viewport and the now distant form of her home before turning to enter the bathroom to get ready. She really hope she was ready for all this, but she knew she couldn’t back down as she was now officially leaving the nest that was her childhood home.

-o-End-o-

Chapter Notes

Okay. This is version two of the Prelude Chapter of this story. And there have been several changes done to it from the first version. The first being that I kind of explored the Ronah family a bit more though I did wanted to add a third scene that had the mentioned late-night meeting between mother and daughter which would have explored the family a bit more but I could not get it to work correctly, therefore, dropped it. I also fixed some of the issues I had with some of the paragraphs and added a few things to expand on things as well.

That said. In my original plans for this story it would have followed one of the backstories you can choose for your player character, mostly the: "You Stuck Out On Your Own..." backstory but modified where the main character's grandfather helps her sneak off the planet and onto a Dropship along with the family's ancestral battlemech. I actually liked this version of events a bit better since we really do not really explore those backstories all that much in the game, outside of a few times it comes up. Hence, the reason it is different with this story though you may see some of the elements of the older idea in some areas of this chapter. I also completely did my own thing with creating the Babylonia Landhold and its history which is different from what it is in the game where the player character's family comes to the Periphery from somewhere else. For this story, I again changed things up and the family settling down after being pirates for decades. I found it to be a bit more substance to the backstory of our main character here. Finally, Mastiff doesn't teach our main character for a season but instead is sent off to be trained by Mastiff at Coromodir which is further explored in the next chapter.

Okay. That is about it. I shall see about working on the next chapter soon and get it posted. I am also looking to add a couple more ORBATs for other units in my Aurigan Reach Unit Thread as well. Till then I shall see you all later.   

[deathzealotzero]

Chapter One: The Betrayal

I was there that day on Coromodir VI when Santiago Espinosa launched his coup to take over the Coalition and turned it into the brutal Aurigan Directorate. It was a day that will continue to haunt me for the rest of my life. It saw the loss of my mentor Mastiff and many others that I became close to in the year I had been on Coromodir. Not only did it teach me a few things but it hardened my soul for what was needed for my future. It also allowed me to become the noble-hearted hero known as the Hero of the Reach…
-   Taken from The Hero of the Reach: A Noble’s Memoir
        Published, March of 3029AD

-o-o-o-

Main Mech Bay
Arano Summer Palace
Coromodir VI, Coromodir System
April 10, 3023AD

“Yeah, Mastiff!”

A tall red-haired woman shouted down to the grim-looking figure with a wave waiting for her as the lift lowered her down from the cockpit of the Blackheart to the ground of the mech bay of the Arano Summer Palace. The figure only smiled lightly at her as the lift hit the ground. The woman did not wait for the Mech Tech with her to open the lift’s gate and simply vaulted over the gate to run towards the figure before hugging the slightly taller man making him grunt in some surprise at the hug.

“Rose it is really good to see you,” Raju “Mastiff” Montgomery said a moment later as he ruffled the now shortened hair of Berah Ronah, calling her by her callsign, Rose before she blushed a bit and let the man go from her hug. Looking around to see the amused looks of the various Mech Techs and astechs gathered around her mech along with Mastiff’s Centurion, Bulldog, standing next to her Blackjack. Rolling her eyes without any embarrassment she turned her attention back to her mentor.

“Yes, it has been a few months since I saw you last. Ever since you assigned me to Captain Haust’s Rampart Unit,” Berah mentioned smoothing out her uniform jacket, in the red of the Arano Royal Guard. Mastiff only shook his head with his usual gruff half-smile on his face before turning to look up at the towering Blackjack.

“Looks like the Espinosa Refit Yards did a great job in getting old Blackheart ready for the Coronation. Not to mention fully repairing it after that snafu on Mandalas,” he mentioned in appreciation as he eyed the mech. Berah grumbled under her breath at the mention of the incident on Mandalas which had the newly organized Rampart Unit of the Arano Royal Guard along supporting forces from the Coalition Militia being dropped onto the planet to apprehend a group of pirates that had been raiding outlying Aurigan worlds. However, the Coalition had not been aware that the planet had been settled by religious separatists from the independent world of Herotitus which had brought along a fair number of armored vehicles as part of their defense. The resulting battle between the pirates and the Royal Guard Forces saw the planet's population erupt in social turmoil. Shaking her head to clear her memories of that battle she looked back at her mentor in some confusion.

“Still is there a reason why you called me all the way out here? With the rest of the Royal Guard and other House Guard Units rushing around to prepare for Lady Kamea’s Coronation things are quite hectic after all,” she continued on with a frown eying the taller figure of her mentor as he frowned and looked away from her at the nearby mech techs as they went about their duties in the large mech bay. Shaking his head at her he started to lead her out of the mech bay through the massive-sized door that allowed mechs to enter the bay. Then towards a nearby hill where he kept on moving up the hill and then coming to a stop at the top of the hill. It was only then that he turned to look at her making her once more frown in some concern.

“I need you here to help me escort Lady Kamea on her Coronation March for I really do not trust anyone else right now with this assignment,” he mentioned turned to look out towards the rest of the Keona Arano Memorial Nature Preserve that the Arano Summer Palace was located which look quite amazing with the light from the setting sun. Shocked Berah could only stare at her mentor in the early evening light.

“What about Victoria? Shouldn’t she be the one to help you escort Kamea to Cordia City?” she asked after recovering from her shock at the statement.

“Victoria would be too busy with the inspections of both her family’s Refit Yards and the Orbital Pickerton Docks,” a voice mentioned from behind the two of them. Turning the two Mechwarriors watched as Kamea Arano herself, future High Lady of the Aurigan Coalition ascended the hill towards the two of them. Blinking in some surprise Berah bowed towards the other woman who in effect had accepted her into her Royal Guard and someone who became a friend of hers since she arrived on the planet. 

“You can stop that Berah right now for you are a close friend and another close student of Mastiff here not one of my Guardsmen,” she mentioned with an airy wave of her hand at her before turning to look at her Guard Captain.

“I do think old Mastiff is being a bit paranoid with all of this but still, I do know that something is going on,” Kamea said continuing on staring over at her grim-faced captain of the guard with some concern.

“Yeah, both the Espinosa and Maderia House Guard have nearly doubled their Battlemech units while the Espinosa Refit Yards has increased production of their locally built Stinger variant while also somehow managing to get the ability to construct a short run of Phoenix Hawks. We also somehow managed to get our hands on several further medium mechs along with a few heavy mechs. I know they are not salvaged for a couple of the designs are usually from across the entire Inner Sphere from us, like that so-called Kaga of Victoria’s. Face it Kamea something fishy is going on and I do not like it. I do not like it all,” the man nearly growled out making Berah blink in some surprise at the man's sheer outrage before turning to look at Kamea who looked a bit annoyed at Mastiff’s little rant but also looked like she was partly agreeing with her Captain.

“I understand that Mastiff but I cannot do anything about it for each of the Founding Houses can do what they want with their House Guard. If they want to throw money at their Guard to increase its size then that is their prerogative,” Kamea replied making Mastiff snort and shake his head.

“It is where they are getting that money is what worrying to me Kamea,” the man shot back before sighing and now turning to look over at Berah. This made Kamea look over as well and sigh nodding at the taller figure of her guard captain.

“Sorry about that Berah. This has been an ongoing argument between the two of us for the last week or so,” Kamea mentioned with a sigh.

“Basically, Rose you are the only one I trust besides Victoria to help me escort Kamea to Cordia City for the Coronation. That is the main reason why I had you brought out here to the Summer Palace,” Mastiff took over making Berah nod her understanding of what was going on here.

“I understand and you do not have to worry Mastiff I shall not let anyone try to ruin our dear lady’s coronation,” Berah replied drawing a chuckle out of both of them at the old jibe she once used against Kamea after they first met.

“Good, till then let’s get some rest,” the older mechwarrior mentioned turning towards the palace.

“Yes, it has been quite a long time since we caught up Berah! Let us go and do that!” Kamea mentioned with a dazzling smile on her tanned face and started to drag the other woman towards the palace all the while Berah protesting under her breath at the rough treatment.

“Kids,” Mastiff replied with a chuckle before he turned once more towards the distant Cordia City and hoped once more everything went alright with this coronation. He would feel a lot better when Kamea was back in Cordia City now on the Cormorant Throne with both he and Victoria at her side. Even then he couldn’t shake off this bad feeling that something wrong was going to happen. Sighing once more he shook his and head started towards the palace for he had a bit more work before he turned in for the evening.

-o-o-o-

Old Cordia Road
April 11, 3023AD

The next morning saw the three, future High Lady, her loyal Guard Captain, and the trusted friend, on the road heading towards Cordia City and the coronation of said High Lady. The three battlemechs sending out large crashing like sounds through the early morning air as they marched down the road in single file. All three mechs were done up in excellent-looking parade colors with all of them bearing the crimson and gold accents of the Arano family. The only difference being in personal emblems placed on their individual mechs. Kamea of course sporting the gold Arano Cormorant on the left shoulder of her KTO-18 Kintaro while Mastiff sported the snarling bulldog head on the shield of his Centurion. Berah meanwhile had the golden crossed bones and sword of her family’s crest but changed it with a pair of red roses wrapped around the sword in recognition of her call-sign.

“I am going to miss this Raju,” a wistful sounding Kamea said over their shared communication channel as they continued onwards, “The clarity of purpose that I feel in the cockpit of a Battlemech. The simplicity of it.”

Kamea sighed as she said this before stepping her mech around a patch of trees that grew out of the center of the old road they were following. Up ahead they could now see the intersection where the Old Cordia Road went downhill suddenly to meet up with the newer and larger Cormorant Way that led up right to the main gates of Cordia City.

“With my accession to the throne, I would not have the time really to pilot my Mech like this out in the countryside without any worries. Up ahead is the city gates and my future all laid up in front me like this old country road,” she continued on with an almost nervous twitter in her voice. Berah pretty much snorted at this she followed Kamea in sidestepping the Blackheart around the cluster of trees.

“Nonsense Kamea you will be the High Lady if you want to go out and run your Mech around then there is little anyone can do to stop you,” she mentioned out loud making Kamea blink in some surprise at this comment before snorting a bit at the image.

“Yes I could dear Berah but still I would have extra responsibilities and such therefore I would not have any time to go out running around with my Mech,” the amused sounding Kamea replied to Berah who only rolled her eyes behind the visor of her neurohelmet.

“Like there are much more than what you have right now or in the past as the heir of the Coalition,” she shot back but then sighed as she looked up and saw the skyline of Cordia City in the distance. While she remembered that she was the spare heir of the Babylonia Landhold, therefore, kind of knew what Kamea was going through at this moment.

“That said, I do know where you are going with this Kamea and there is nothing you really can do about the weight of responsibility as a noble-born lady like the two of us. Therefore, I shall mention something my grandfather once told me, the weight of responsibility is like the weight of a mech’s neurohelmet on your shoulders which can be taken off when you are done with it. So just like a neurohelmet your responsibility does not have to be on your shoulders all the time and can be taken off when you need a breather,” Berah mentioned with a bit of nostalgia at the reminder of her grandfather and the rest of her family back at Babylonia. Kamea meanwhile was silent for a few minutes before an almost pensive-sounding sigh sounded from Kamea.

“Thank you Berah you are quite correct and I must say your Grandfather is quite wise for an old pirate,” Kamea mentioned in response with an almost mischievous sounding voice at the end making a snort come from Raju showing that he was listening in to the conversation while Berah narrowed her eyes at the green pip icon that represented Kamea’s Kintaro on her heads up display.

“Oh you little…” Berah started to snarl into the communication line when suddenly she saw the back of Raju’s Centurion seem to stiffen in some surprise.

“Knock it off you two there is smoke ahead of us. Form up and keep your heads on a swivel and be ready for anything!” the man barked out and with that command, the three mechs seemly slid into a forward arrowhead with the Centurion at the tip of the said arrowhead. Before they shifted from a leisure-like stroll to a ground-eating pace as they accelerated. As they did so Berah suddenly spotted what was making the smoke.

“The outpost on the cliff!” Berah reported with a narrowed glance at the mentioned outpost and answering her need the neurohelmet sent a command to the mech’s controls opening a zoom window on her heads up display showing the mentioned outpost. It was completely destroyed with all of the buildings that made up the outpost collapsed with a fire burning in their remains.

“Some sort of accident perhaps?” Kamea asked out loud in some confusion as she too noticed the destroyed outpost.

“This is one of the Militia’s Defensive Outposts for the Capital,” Raju thoughtfully mentioned as he brought up his mech to the cliffside where the outpost was located.

“Still both the Militia and Guard frequencies have been quiet all morning. What in the world is going on here?” he continued on with his thoughts as he looked to be staring down at the destroyed outpost. Berah was doing the same but with her mech’s sensors as she turned her mech slightly to cover the back of the Centurion. As she did so she noticed something in the zoomed-in view of the outpost and narrowed her eyes in some confusion.   

“Mastiff is it just me or does that damage resemble laser and autocannon damage,” she mentioned with a sense of something more was going on here.

“You are quite correct Rose that is indeed damage from lasers and autocannons,” Mastiff nearly snarled in some anger before turning his mech towards Kamea’s Kintaro.

“I don’t know what is going on here Kamea but I will not let it derail your Coronation. Your people need you on the throne,” he said waving his mech’s shield arm towards Cordia City near in the distance.

“Thank you, Raju. I will prove myself worthy of the faith you’ve placed in me,” Kamea nearly whispered into her com making Berah smile a bit sadly at this for she had been quite surprised at the sheer faith and loyalty the older Mechwarrior had for the Arano Family since she had arrived on Coromodir VI.

“Of that, I have no doubt in my mind,” the old mechwarrior mentioned bluntly making Berah chuckle slightly to herself only imagining the blush now on the face of Kemea at those words and the contiuned faith Raju had in her and her family.

“Let us move on and get you to Cordia City,” he then went on turning his mech away from the destroyed outpost towards the base of the hill where the awe-inspiring Cormorant Way an eight-lane highway leading right to Cordia City and its main gates. All reinforced to allow Battlemechs and heavy armored vehicles to use it as well as everyday civilian ground cars. However, what made it so awe-inspiring to many was the central median between the two sides of the highway that sport various artfully done scenes from the short history of the Coalition through both stone statues and garden art. From a crafted stone twin to Kamea’s own Kintaro marching up this very road towards Cordia City piloted by the first High Lady of the Coalition one Keona Arano, great grandmother to Kamea, who was to liberate the city from her crazy older brother Kade Arano to the recently created piece of lawn art showing the Battle of Fique were the Coalition’s elite Rampart Unit went up against the pirate lord known as the Harlequin who had been raiding the border worlds of the Coalition for nearly five years. However, what the three mechwarriors actually noticed was that the entire highway was barren with no civilian ground cars or anything else on the road.

“This is very peculiar,” rumbled Raju twisting his Centurion to look both ways down the highway. Berah could only nod in some agreement for there should have been a crowd of civilians gathered to watch the final bit of Kamea’s Coronation March. There weren’t even any of the Vaygr Armored APCs used by the Militia to patrol this area. However, Berah soon noticed that while there weren’t any people or vehicles on the highway there were three other battlemechs standing near the monument for the Battle of Fique as if waiting for them.

“Look there are some Guard mechs over there,” Kamea said turning her Kintaro towards the three mechs. The lead one mech Berah noticed to be a GRF-1N Griffin done up in the colors of the Arano Royal Guard while the flanking pair of STG-3A Stingers were in the green and gray colors of the Espinosa House Guard. Nodding in some relief Berah knew that this particular mech was piloted by Lieutenant Nathan Madeira a cousin to the current leader of House Madeira. Thanks in part to it being the only Griffin of that variant in the Aurigan Reach as far as they knew it.

“Hail, Mastiff, and Lady Arano,” the Lieutenant said over an open communication channel when the three of them approached his lance.

“What in the world is going on here Lieutenant Madeira?” Raju barked out in some anger at the younger warrior who only sighed at this inquiry.

“I really do not know Captain just we were sent out from the South Gate Garrison to investigate the reason for no contact with the Militia Outposts along the highway since early this morning,” the man answered pointing his mech’s cannon arm towards the nearby towering South Gate of the walls surrounding the capital city. However, Berah narrowed her eyes in some suspicion and eyed the zoomed-in view of the Griffin noticing that it was damaged slightly with blackened areas where weapons had hit the armor.

“Well I can tell you Lieutenant that someone had destroyed the outpost behind us so one mystery is solved for you,” Kamea was saying to the young Lieutenant while Berah turned her attention to the two Stingers noticing one of them had a small warped part of the viewport around the rebuilt larger head of the mech that was most likely a near miss on the cockpit from a laser strike. The other Stinger had one of the medium lasers built into the central torso of the mech sparking slightly as if it was damaged in some way. Both mechs also had other parts of their armor blackened from weapon fire.

“Then can you explain to us why your mechs are damaged?” Berah suddenly said butting into the ongoing discussion between Lieutenant Madeira and Kamea.

“And why you were with the South Gate Garrison when everyone in the Royal Guard was supposed to be on the faire grounds or by the Palace for the Coronation ceremony,” Raju followed her question with one of his own. All three of the mechs twitched slightly as their pilots reacted to those two back-to-back questions. This made Berah frown for something was indeed going on here and it was not good at all.

“Damn it! I told them this wasn’t going to work,” the voice of Lieutenant Maderia suddenly said before snapping up the cannon arm of his mech to point at Raju’s Centurion.

“Kill the Old Man and the Pirateborn Bitch but Lady Kamea is to be taken alive!” he snapped out to his two lancemates shocking Berah for a brief moment before Raju’s steady voice snapped her out of it as he barked out orders.

“Fall back behind us Kamea, Rose take out that guy on the right. I will take on Maderia myself,” Raju ordered making Berah react quickly snapping off the safeties on her mech’s weapons and before the computer could even report on this she pulled the triggers for her medium lasers on the Stinger, the one she noticed had the faulty laser. She almost flinched at the wave of heat that assaulted her but calmly started her mech forward as her laser strike staggered the Stinger backward slightly.

“You did not teach me to cower Raju. You trained me to fight!” Kamea said as she fired her Kintaro’s SRM Launchers at the other Stinger while with a sharp bark Raju’s Autocannon started to open up on the Griffin not even flinching as a blue-white discharge from the Griffin’s PPC flew over his shoulder. Berah meanwhile opened fire with her own ligher autocannons targeting the faulty medium laser and was rewarded with an explosion from the weapon strike that sent the poor mech falling backward. Right into another full-on strike from all four of her medium lasers destroying the mech’s gyro sending it crashing to the ground. Turning her mech’s torso she was just in time to see Raju backhanding the Lieutenant’s Griffin with his shield arm sending the mech to the ground. Another bark of his single heavier autocannon cored right through the central torso of the mech putting it down permanently as the reactor shut down from the damage. A thundering crash drew Berah’s attention to Kamea to see her opponent drop to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut thanks in part to the smoking ruins that once had been the mech’s cockpit making Berah flinch slightly. She never enjoyed seeing someone getting killed like that but like any other time she fought, she pushed it back to the back of her mind to go over later as she scanned around the three of them to find any other threats.

“Well done both of you,” came the almost proud voice of Raju over the com making Berah smirk slightly at the praise coming from her mentor. Praise that was quite rare coming from him especially when he was in this sort of mood.

“Still say status,” he ordered which saw Berah turning her attention to her mech’s readings and was surprised to find that outside of some very light armor damage when her target managed to get a couple of shots from its arm-mounted small lasers to connect with her mech. Other than that everything looked good to her making her smile pleased with herself.

“Armor Status nine point five or so, everything else looks okay,” Berah replied to Raju while Kamea reported just a tad bit after her own report. Eying her mentor’s mech she saw that outside of some scratches and some very minor damages it looked he was also quite alright. It looked like they got off pretty lightly altogether. However, with that thought, Berah suddenly felt a bit cold, and it was not thanks to the coolant being pumped into her cooling vest but the idea of something major going down like this attack by members of her own unit.

“Traitors in the Guard and a mysterious attack on Militia Outposts like this does look good at all,” Raju mentioned in a thoughtful tone of voice as he stared his mech down at the destroyed Griffin at his feet. Berah sighed as she to looked down at the destroyed Stinger at her feet briefly seeing the mech’s pilot scrabbling out of the cockpit making her smile very slightly at not killing anyone right now.

“What in the world is going on here?” Kamea unexpectedly shouted with a loud slam being heard which made Berah wince slightly knowing that her friend had slammed her hand on something in her cockpit, “My own guardsmen are trying to either kill me or capture me for some reason and there is some sort of attack going on my own people.”

Berah could only sadly listen as Kamea pretty much started to break down and could not really say anything to her friend as she ranted. However, luckily someone else was able to break through the young noble’s ranting as Raju stepped his Centurion to the Kintaro’s side and laid the claw hand on the shoulder of the slightly shorter mech.

“I do not know what is going on Kamea but you need to calm down and think rationally right now,” Raju’s sharp rebuke saw Kamea stop her ongoing rant before taking a couple of calming breaths before sighing.

“Thank you Raju for you have always had my back,” she mentioned a moment later with a smile in her words.

“Always, Milady, Always,” Raju replied with a hint of steel in his voice. Kamea could be heard over the com sighing at this before turning her mech towards the city’s gates and nearly gasped in some surprise. The other two hearing her gasp turned their mechs as well towards the gates and Berah could only stare in surprise seeing smoke starting to raise from various parts of the city while explosions started up around the distant Tourney Stadium at the opposite end of the city from the three of them.

“Looks like there is more going on here than just a handful of Royal Guard betraying you Kamea and some mysterious attacks on Militia Outposts. I am going to see about finding out what is going on,” Raju said a bit dryly a few moments later before he seemed to be fiddling with something in his Mech's cockpit.

“I am going to be tunning to some of the more popular Militia and Guard communication channels be back in a bit,” Raju came back on a moment later before a slight whine of static sounded as he started to switch radio channels. The two young women could only wait in silence as they continued to stare at the unfolding disaster that was going on before the two of them in the distant city. Finally, what seemed like forever a whine of static could be heard as Raju switched back to their shared channel.

“Okay, apparently something really is going down. Fighting is sprouting all over the city and even the rest of the planet. No one sounds like they know who or what they are fighting just that several battlemechs some in the colors of the Royal Guard, others in the colors of the Espinosa House Guard, and a couple others in the colors of the Maderia House Guard are fighting against not only other Royal Guard Mechs but mechs of the House Guard Units and vehicles of the Coromodir VI Militia. The fighting is most heavy around the Tourney Stadium and the Palace as that is where the majority of the mechs happen to be right now,” Raju grimly reported making both women gasp in some surprise at this report.

“Then there a couple of peculiar reports that say that many Royal Guard and some House Guard mechs just shutting down for no reason. It is pretty much chaos all over the city right now,” he continued to report with that same almost calm but gruff voice that both women were quite familiar with however that said both knew him very well, therefore, could easily detect some anger hiding behind that calm façade at what is going on.

“What about the people Raju there should be thousands of civilians both along Main Street and around the Stadium for the ceremonies?” Kamea asked after a moment to take all that in. A sigh could be heard over the radio.

“There was one report that a House Espinosa Painted Locust was seen literally running into a crowd of civilians to get a better angle on a Militia vehicle,” Raju sadly reported making Berah gasp in some surprise at this for she could easily imagine the slaughter that happened when that mech ran through a bunch of innocent civilians just to get a better angle to fire on a militia unit.

“Anything else Raju?” Kamea all out demanded a moment later.

“Yes there is apparently a large amount of regular Militia and some Royal Guard units gathering at Rotorua Township to prepare to breach through the East Gate to relieve the Guard units at the Palace before moving on towards the Stadium,” Raju reported with a bit of unease in his voice knowing what exactly was going to happen.

“Very well then we shall move to join them for they will need some solid leadership to allow them to fight through the city to reach the Palace,” Kamea mentioned out loud making Raju sigh for Berah knew that he guessed that is what she was going to say making her smile slightly at that thought.

“No Kamea we need to get you off the planet before something else happens that cuts us off from getting off the planet,” Raju shot back making Berah shake her head with a sad sigh for that was not going to work with Kamea. Raju really should have known better to try that card with Kamea.

“No! I will not let these seditionists or whoever they are stealing my birthright! We need to move to rally what we can and make that push towards the palace to see about ending whatever this happens to be. If need be I will take the throne by force if that is what is needed just like my Great Grandmother did before me,” Kamea passionately said making Berah chuckle briefly at her friend’s fire now showing itself. Though she did frown a bit at Kamae’s wording in some places during her little speech.

“Very well my lady then please let’s do this my way,” Raju replied after a few moments of silence between the three.

“Oh?” Kamea only said with Berah was pretty sure would be a raised eyebrow if the three of them were psychically facing one another.

“We shall go the back way around towards Rotorua through the Old Country Road with your mech in between Rose and I just in case,” he returned waving his shield arm towards the mentioned road that snaked its way through the various canyons and such outside of the city making Berah nod for it was a good idea for it would keep them off the main road and out of range of any operational turrets on the wall guarding said road along with the East Gate.

“Very well my loyal Captain we shall do it your way,” Kamea replied with a sigh making Raju grunt in agreement before the three of them started to march their mechs towards the distant Township. However, as they did so Berah had a slight feeling that it wasn’t going to go the way they hoped but followed behind Kamea’s mech anyways still hoping things did come to a more peaceful close.

[deathzealotzero]

-o-o-o-

Rotorua Township

It was nearly an hour later that saw their mechs stepping around a canyon wall and into a small valley that bordered with that of the eastern wall of the former Turian heavy fortress that is currently known as Cordia City. However, as they did so the three mechwarriors could only stare in outright shock and some sorrow as they looked upon the small hamlet that is Rotorua devasted with various burned-out hulks of both armored vehicles and mechs spread all across the fields of crops that surrounded the township. The various buildings of the township were either damaged or burning merrily from missed weapon fire giving the entire view a hellish cast. The only thing left was a pair of damaged mechs that turned towards them at their appearance.

“No…No! We were too late,” Kamea managed to say in grief while Berah sighed and shook her head in sorrow at what is going on.

“Move it you two those mechs look to be hostile,” barked Raju as he brought up his Centurion’s weapon arm to point towards one of the mechs, a damaged WSP-1A Wasp that brought up its own forearm mounted laser to point at the three of them. Berah blinked before shaking herself slightly the rebuke from her mentor and turned her Blackjack’s torso to target the other active mech, which made her blink further in outright surprise. For it was a PNT-9R Panther a mech not really seen in the Aurigan Reach or the rest of the Rimward Frontier. In fact, it was not often spotted outside of Draconis Combine units other than a small number found in mercenary or Federated Suns units due to combat salvage. However, here in the Periphery it was quite rare, and combined with the matte gray color scheme Berah noticed both mechs sported made her realize that something else was up here than just traitorous elements of the Royal Guard and House Guard units. Frowning at this she wondered why these particular mechs were in this gray scheme when those earlier three mechs that attacked them had been in regular Aurigan colors alongside the other mechs making havoc in the city. Still, she shook her head to clear her thoughts and prepared to attack the enemy Panther when someone else did it for her as a large storm of LRMs came in from on high to pepper both of the remaining enemy mechs much to her shock.

Berah looked up to find the source of the missiles and was just in time to watch as a Leopard Class Dropship in the colors of House Espinosa come roaring from the west towards the devastated township. She then watched as the dropship came into a hover where it quickly finished off both enemy mechs with a few PPC bolts from its turrets only then opening its doors to prepare to drop its carried mechs. She watched as two LCT-1V Locusts, another STG-3A Stinger, and a single PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk dropped from the hovering Dropship towards the ground. All of which were like the Dropship in the colors of House Espinosa. At first, she could only sigh in some relief at this thinking that these mechs were from the real Espinosa House Guard but soon took notice of the threatening nature of the four new mechs.

“It’s over, Kamea. Your ascendancy to the throne and the Arano legacy itself has now come to an end,” a voice suddenly spoke over a direct laser-linked communication channel towards the three of them from the still hovering dropship. Berah could only stare up at the still hovering dropship both in confusion and in some horror for she knew that voice.

“Victoria! What do you mean? What is going on here,” Kamea replied in some confusion on the same channel. An almost crazed laugh came from the channel from what Berah knew to be Victoria Espinosa cousin to Kamea and a close personal friend to herself.

“You know Kamea for years I loved you like an older sister that I never had, but then my father helped see it. Your family’s complacency. What it has done to the Reach. Our nation is dwindling like a dying star, and House Arano is to blame for it all,” Victoria replied after a brief moment making Berah start to feel cold as she started to get what is going on here and a bit hot due to the anger over this betrayal. Betrayal of a close friend and someone that she wished to be more than just simply a friend.

“Victoria what have you done?” Kamea angrily questioned as she too started to get an idea of what Victoria meant.

“My father offered you a path to glory for the Reach, but you turned him away. I would have fought proudly and bravely under your banner being your strong right hand. More so than that pirate-born bitch now at your side. However, you crushed that hope when you denied my father’s ideas for a new better Aurigan Reach,” Victoria continued on making Berah flinch in some hurt at the cruel jab at herself in the speech while Kamea could be heard gritting her teeth in some anger.

“Damn it, Victoria! I taught you better than this!” came the angry voice of their mentor Raju making Victoria stop brutally at this statement before she laughed a bit.   

“No Mastiff you taught me lies!” she snapped back at the man before taking a deep breath and continuing on, “Kamea, for the love I once had for you I’m going to give you a chance to surrender peacefully. I will even spare that old man and your pet pirate-born bitch if you stand down now. I do not want to see you hurt, but you cannot be allowed to rule anymore. For the safety of the Reach please stand down.”

“I will see you hanged for this Victoria. You and your father both! Both of you and those that have followed you in this coupe of yours are now traitors to the Reach. I will fight you to the last,” Kamea angrily replied to the woman that she once had called sister as well making Berah close her eyes in some pain for she knew that Kamea was going to be hurting after this betrayal.

“Then you are truly a fool. I will spare you in spite of yourself, but you have cost your escort their lives for your defiance!” Victoria sadly replied before with a bit of static she signed off from the direct laser link with the three of them.

“Attention! All House Espinosa Forces and any Loyal Aurigan Forces this Lady Victoria Espinosa. Lady Arano is to be apprehended and taken alive, by my command. Fail to follow these instructions and you will have me to deal with,” Victoria’s voice then suddenly boomed on an open communication channel and the Leopard turned roaring away from the ruined township leaving behind the lance of House Espinosa House Guard mechs.

The resulting battle with said lance did not last awfully long as the three Battlemechs of Kamea, Berah, and Raju easily managed to take on the lance of enemy mechs. Kamea brutally and angrily beat down the enemy Stinger using only her mech’s fists with only a few uses of her arm-mounted double medium lasers. Raju meanwhile was taking on the Phoenix Hawk and all-out dominating the other mechwarrior while Berah herself was fighting against the two Locusts. Both of which were piloted by extremely poorly trained mechwarriors allowing Berah easily overpower the two of them that soon saw both mechs sprawled at her mech’s feet with smoking holes in their armor. One Locust even sported a cockpit hit killing its pilot which said a lot of Berah’s current mindset as she usually avoided cockpit hits. They were soon joined by the poor almost unrecognizable shape of the Stinger and then the Phoenix Hawk crashed to the ground with a gaping hole in its chest. They all then took a moment to look over their mechs to see that while those mechs and their pilots had been easily overcome they still managed to get some good hits in.

“Alright both of you calm down and let us think of how to get out of this right now,” Raju suddenly said after a moment of silence between the three of them as he was inspecting the neat hole blown through his mech’s shield with a shake of his mech’s head. Berah sighed at this knowing he was quite correct as usual before she turned towards Kamea and nearly flinched at what she was hearing from her friend.

“My own Uncle betrays me like this! Father trusted him! I am going to kill him,” Kamea was saying as she started to sob and angrily slamming her fist on something. Berah sighed before stepping her Blackjack over towards her Kintaro knowing that she was being put through the emotional wringer thanks to the last couple of hours.

“Kamea listen to me we need to get you out of here. Apparently, the Espinosa planned this thoroughly to allow them to easily take over the Coalition,” Berah said trying to get the attention of Kamea and after a few times saying the same thing over the communication channel to calm her down the sobbing started to die down.

“What? You mean you know what is going on with this coup?” she finally mentioned in some confusion.

“Not really but I am starting to get an idea. Look at those mechs that were here when we first arrived,” she directed with a hard voice turning herself to look down at the destroyed Wasp and the Panther. At the corner of her eye, she noticed that the Kintaro had moved over to her side to look as well.

“First of all, they are not sporting any Aurigan color scheme but just a basic flat gray which is often used by those mercenaries or House units that are trying to hide their affiliation from those they are attacking. It is also used by down on their luck Mechwarriors from the periphery as a sort of banner for themselves. The so-called Lost. There are hundreds of such warriors roaming bars throughout the Periphery trying to find some little bit of work for themselves. A few have managed to keep their mechs while the vast majority are dispossessed. That would explain how a Panther is all the way out in the Reach,” she explained pointing the barrel of her Blackjack’s right autocannon toward the Panther with a frown on her face.

“Keep going Rose,” Raju said almost quietly as he followed along her train of thought.

“So, thanks to this I do think that the Espinosa hired a bunch of Lost Mechwarriors were they equipped them with needed mechs including a few painted the colors of both the Royal Guard and House Guard units to further the confusion. Then unleashed them on the city causing chaos preventing your Coronation Kamea,” Berah continued to explain as she started to narrow her eyes as things started to come together in her mind.

“That would explain the increase in production of Mechs from the Refit Yards,” Raju grimly said as he too started to put things together.

“Yeah. Then when things got bloody enough with a lot of chaos going on the Espinosa, their real House Guard, and their allies came swooping in to save the day. Taking out their hired Lost Mechwarriors as they fight to get everything back to normal. This allows Espinosa to come in and take control of the Coalition while Kamea will just be quietly disappeared during all of the chaos,” Berah finished with a narrow-eye glare at the downed Panther. A growl could be heard from Raju while Kamea was only silent as she took all this in.

“What about Lieutenant Maderia back at the highway? He isn’t a member of the Lost?” Kamea suddenly asked as she tried to find something about Berah’s theory that did not make sense.

“That is easy Kamea they need some real honest to god people to blame for all this therefore salted a few known Aurigan Mechwarriors in with the Lost so those that will be captured will be blamed for this chaos,” Berah replied making Raju grunt in some agreement.

“Not to mention Nathan Maderia had started to go downhill ever since his little sister and his parents were killed during the Great Raid five years ago. This lead him to start becoming hostile against other members of the Guard who publicly praised House Arano and getting drunk during his off-hours. He would be the perfect man to blame for all of this,” Raju further explained with a steely tone in his voice.

“And you let such a man remain in the Guard Raju?” Kamea nearly screeched at this admission which made Raju sigh.

“Yes, for he did not do anything while on duty and ever since the Rampart Unit was spun off from the Guard, we did not have the needed trained and elite status Mechwarriors to fully man the Guard’s Mech Company. That is also why I pretty much threw Rose here into Rampart after I only trained her for five months. To allow me to juggle some Mechwarriors between both Rampart and the Guard. We still were a couple of men short which is why Rampart only sported a reinforced lance than a complete company like the original Rampart Unit during your father’s early time on the Throne,” Raju explained with a short chuckle at the end making Berah nod in understanding at this for it did make sense. For Rampart Unit was a unit of elite Mechwarriors used by the Coalition as a counter to the varied Pirate raids on outlying Coalition planets. After Raju had trained her she had briefly been assigned to Guard’s Mech Company to get her feet wet before being assigned to Rampart.

“Okay, that does make sense,” Kamea mentioned a bit sheepishly for she did know about how her Guard’s Mech Company was hurting for needed trained Mechwarriors. It also did not help that the other House Guard Units were snapping up newly graduated Mechwarriors from the Coalition’s sole military academy. Thanks in part to their vastly expanding Mech Units. The three of them silently took all this in for a few moments before something caught Raju’s attention.

“Well Rose looks like your theory is quite correct,” Raju suddenly said as he pointed up with his mech’s gun arm which had the two women look up as well to see numerous Dropships dropping through the sky towards Cordia City. All of which were in the colors of either House Espinosa or House Maderia with a couple in the colors of a couple of the other Founding Houses of the Coalition. However, before either of them could reply to that a soft alarm from all their radio’s distracted them.

“Attention, citizens of Coromodir VI! This is Lord Santiago Espinosa. With the unanimous support of the Founding Houses, I have assumed direct control of the planet and the rest of the Aurigan Coalition. For your own protection I urge you all to remain calm and stay indoors while my forces deal with these rogue forces. All hostile units stand down now and you have my oath that you will not be harmed when you are taken into custody. Resist further and you will be destroyed,” the voice of Santiago Espinosa said over the emergency public broadcast radio channel.

“Well, shit,” was the only thing Berah could say to that broadcast before turning her mech towards Kamea and was surprised to already find Raju there with the clawed hand of his Centurion once more on the shoulder of the Kintaro.

“We need to get you out of here Kamea before Espinosa throws more forces at us,” he was saying to her making Berah nod in some agreement. 

“You expect me to run Raju!” Kamea was saying in reply to him, “I cannot do that for Coromodir is my home and birthright. I cannot simply run!”

Berah sighed a bit sadly at this since she had left the only home she had known over a year before therefore kind of knew what Kamea was currently was feeling. That said, they really need to get her out of here before anything else happened.

“Kamea I know where you are coming from, but Raju is correct we need to get you out of here before the Espinosa fully gets control of the Coalition. Who knows what they need you alive for, but I doubt it will be good,” Berah said butting into the small ongoing argument going between the other two as Raju tried to convince his lady that she needed to leave the planet. A few moments of silence went between the three of them before Kamea sighed.

“Understood. I hate it but I can see where you are coming from Berah. The only question now is how we are going to get off the planet. Since I am sure both the main Cordia City Spaceport and the smaller military spaceport at Land’s Down are going to be fully locked down. Not to mention we do not know who would remain loyal to my family and myself in all this,” Kamea mentioned making Berah sigh in some relief at this for she half-expected the other woman to keep on arguing with the two of them till Victoria got her act together and sent another stronger force after them.

“I have a couple of ideas right now,” Raju mentioned with a short chuckle turning his mech away from Kamea’s Kintaro. Berah blinked in some surprise at this before watching as Raju’s Centurion started to walk away from the ruined township back towards the winding deep canyons that made up the area known as Shepard’s Pass.   

“However, before I explain them let’s get out of here since we are quite in the open out here after all and I am sure Victoria is already aware we wiped out that Lance,” he half-ordered the two of them making Berah nod in some understanding as she brought her Blackjack up to speed and followed behind the Centurion. A moment later Kamea’s Kintaro followed and the three of them were soon lost in the deep and winding canyons of Shepard’s Pass. The various canyons were deep enough to allow them to easily hide from aerial observation and the winding trail that led through the canyons would help to throw off any pursuers.

[deathzealotzero]

-o-o-o-

Shepard’s Pass
Coromodir VI, Coromodir System

They had been walking through the deep canyons for several minutes when Kamea finally asked the question that was on Berah’s own mind. A question on how they were going to get out of this fiasco and off the planet itself without any further combat with loyal Espinosa Forces who were willing to kill them all. Raju chuckled a bit briefly at the question before another moment went by before he started to explain.

“The first would be a bit easy but would have the three of us abandon our mechs in one of the various caves and gorges that are sprinkled throughout Shepard’s Pass. Then we go to the ground and try to blend in with the population till we can get a chance to book a trip off the planet when everything starts to settle down,” he explained making Berah nod in some understanding and while she would hate to leave the old Blackheart behind she figured it would be a good choice to follow. That said she knew that Kamea would not like that choice since she would hate being dispossessed.

“Yeah, that is not an option. Besides, while we could easily disguise ourselves in different ways, my face is too well known on the planet to fully disguise with what we have available right now,” Kamea mentioned with a short scoff. Berah blinked at this in some surprise that Kamea actually gave that option a thought and was glad that the talks the two of them had in the past had given the other woman a good understanding of disguises. That had mostly been trying to explore Cordia City while incognito since that was a favorite pastime for the Ronah children including herself to do while on Babylonia.

“Did not think that would be viable but still had to put it out there,” Raju said a moment later with a hint of pride in his voice for his lady. 

“The second option we have is making it through these canyons and head towards the Haleiwa Dropship Facility on the other side of Shepard’s Pass. The Dropship Cormorant is currently there undergoing some final checks from her refit at Pickerton. We can use her to get off the planet and make for the Nadir Point were if I remember this morning's security brief correctly a civilian Tramp Class Freighter is currently in the process of recharging its drive there,” Raju mentioned making Berah blink in some surprise at the familiar name of the dropship that had been assigned to transport the Rampart Unit to their missions. It was one of a small handful of Union Class Dropships that the Coalition had in their hands. The rest of their dropship fleet was made up of unarmed Danais Class, its armed variant the Trojan Class, and Leopard Class ships with only a small amount of other dropship classes filling up the rest of the fleet.

‘Wait a minute… Wasn’t Captain Halvorsen replaced by…’ Berah thought to herself in some confusion before she suddenly straightened up in her cockpit seat in some surprise as she remembered one particular thing about that ship.

“Wait Mastiff if I remember the Cormorant got a new captain who is…” she started to say but was cut off by her mentor.

“Yes Captain Alexander Madeira is now the commander of the Cormorant taking over from old Halvorsen,” Raju said butting into her statement which made Berah blink in some shock for that would be very bad since from what she understood House Madeira was backing the Espinosa in this coup as shown by their House Guard dropping with Espinosa Guard units and Lieutenant Nathan Madeira’s earlier fight with the three of them. She was further surprised by the happy-sounding laugh from Kamea making her even further confused.

“Berah, Alexander is a dear friend of mine who would not betray me,” Kamea mentioned pleased making Berah suddenly blink as she suddenly remembered something else and turned her eyes towards her cockpit’s rear display showing Kamea’s Kintaro walking behind her.

“This guy is the one…” she started to say and was once again interrupted this time by Kamea.

“Yes,” she brutally said preventing Berah from finishing her comment making her almost giggle in response remembering a recent discussion with her friend about people who they were crushing on. Her giggles stopped as she remembered who she had been talking about with Kamea and what that person had done so far along with her earlier words in her speech to Kamea making Berah sigh in some sadness.

“Even so I wouldn’t still be confident about Kamea’s loyalty to the man if I had not personally chosen Captain Madeira to command the Cormorant after it was decided to refit the ship into the new House Arano personal dropship. I am quite confident about his loyalty to the Arano Family and Kamea in particular. Besides if we cannot trust him then we are all out of options,” Raju was saying before ending on a grim note. Berah nodded in some understanding at this statement from her mentor.

“From what I understand you put Alexander through a chemical interrogation to make sure he was truly loyal to my family and myself,” Kamea sourly mentioned making Berah’s jaw drop in some surprise at that statement from her friend.

“I needed to know if he was truly loyal especially with the controversy over the crash of your parent’s Dropship,” Raju replied with no shame at all making Berah only sigh and shake her head at her mentor’s sheer loyalty and ruthlessness he often displays to those who went against the ones who held his loyalty.

“Besides once I explained my reasoning for such a move the Captain was all for it which gave him another plus in my book and why I think he would be the best person to be able to help us right now,” he continued on with a short chuckle making Berah kind of groan and shake her head at the stupidity of some people. Chemical Interrogation was quite a painful process and could reveal things that they barely remember along with things that they would normally refuse to talk about for some reason or another.

“Okay. I can say that your future boyfriend is both stupid and foolishly in love with you Kamea if he was willing to undergo that,” Berah dryly mentioned drawing a surprised and embarrassed gasp from Kamea while Raju just let out a short bark of laughter.

“Berah!” Kamea snapped out in some embarrassment at Berah’s dig at her.

“What it’s true,” Berah replied in some amusement at Kamea’s embarrassed outrage.
   
“Alright, that is enough out of the two of you. We are almost out of the canyons and will be in range of the Cormorant to be detected,” Raju mentioned as the three of them were indeed almost out of the deep canyons of Shepard’s Pass as they started to go a bit uphill. Just as they did so an alarm started to sound in their cockpits as numerous weapons started to lock onto them and a transmission soundly blared through their Mech's radios.

“Attention incoming Mech Lance this is the ACS Cormorant we have you locked in with our weapons. Identify yourself now or be fired upon!” a smooth yet angry voice called out to them making Raju once again bark in laughter while Berah only blinked in some surprise at the brutal response.

“Are you really willing to fire on your High Lady and friend Alexander?” Kamea called back through the same channel which saw what sounded to be a yelp of surprise to heard over the radio in response. It was just then that their three mechs exited the canyons and into yet another larger valley with a small spaceport facility taking up the central part of the valley. A single large dropship pad and a pair of smaller pads dominated the small facility alongside a few small buildings. The large pad was taken up by the large form of a Union Class Dropship in the red and gold livery of House Arano while one of the smaller pads was taken up by a similar-looking but a slightly smaller form of an armed Trojan Class Dropship in a dark green and soft blue paint job. A paint job that tugged on Berah's memory, but she quickly shook it off as their Mechs continued to make for the spaceport facility and the towering Dropship at its center.

“My Lady! You are still alive!” the voice managed to say after several moments of silence over the radio. The three mechs were now moving through the outskirts of the spaceport facility dodging around the small buildings and other such machinery a spaceport needs.

“Of course, I have my loyal Captain and a good friend behind me after all,” Kamea replied with a proud voice making Berah nod in agreement with her friend. However, the two of them were literally shocked as Raju broke into the channel.

“This is Captain Montgomery! Sending you our codes now,” Raju hastily said over the channel as if he was rushing things along. A surprise to everyone on the channel currently including both Kamea and Berah.

“Understood. Codes are accepted,” the now once again smooth voice of Captain Madeira replied a moment later.

“Very well, get ready to receive Lady Kamea and prepare to lift for orbit as soon as you can!” Raju brutally ordered making Kamea squawk in some surprise at this statement while Berah after blinking in some surprise at her mentor’s words suddenly sighed knowing what he is planning right now.

“My lady get on board the ship now! Rose and I shall cover you while the Cormorant prepares for lift. Victoria and her forces will not be far behind us,” Raju said turning his mech away from the dropship and bringing up his mech’s gun arm to prepare for any enemy to appear from the Pass or elsewhere. A moment later Berah brought the Blackheart up next to Raju’s Centurion and aimed her weapons out ready for any enemy to appear.

“Copy Captain. Opening primary loading ramp now!” the Dropship’s commander quickly replied and with a loud whine the main loading ramp of the ship started to lower towards the tarmac of the spaceport facility, “ Now starting preparations for lift-off!”

“Raju! I cannot leave you two behind like this,” Kamea said not even moving towards the now opened loading ramp as steam started to bellow out from the bottom of the ship as it started its preparations to lift off from the pad.

“Go Kamea! We will fight through the enemy and ditch our mechs somewhere in Shepard’s Pass before going to ground where we can easily hide along the civilian population,” Raju said forcibly to his lady who sighed at this before starting to move her mech towards the opened loading ramp.

“Raju, Berah do not die please,” whispered Kamea before she disappeared into the cavernous hold of the large dropship. A moment later another loud whine is heard as the ramp started to close.

“Lady Kamea is now onboard and we are now at T-Minus Five Minutes to Launch. Good Luck Mastiff,” Captain Madeira mentioned as more bellowing smoke started to appear from the bottom of the ship along with a lighter colored steam as the ship continued its preparations to lift off before the Captain turned his attention to the other Dropship that shared the facility with it, “Hysteria, this is the Cormorant are you joining us?”

Berah took a moment from her scanning for enemies to raise an eyebrow in some surprise for that name is a bit familiar to her. She had heard stories of the unit that particular Dropship is part of from Raju during her training. That was also most likely the reason for the color scheme on the other Dropship seemed to be so familiar to her earlier.

“This is the Hysteria, negative on that Cormorant we still have people in Cordia City right now, but even then good luck on your flight,” a feminine-sounding voice said in reply. Just as the unknown woman had replied a pair of Leopard Class Dropships came in roaring over the canyons of Shepard’s Pass before coming to a brutal stop at the edge of the spaceport facility slightly out of range of the weapons of the Cormorant.

“Attention ACS Cormorant you are to power down immediately and prepare to be boarded!” a more familiar but not wanted feminine voice suddenly called out through the radio channel towards the larger Dropship from the lead Leopard. 

“Like hell ‘Lady’ Victoria, you traitor!” came the returning voice of Captain Madeira as his ship’s weapon turrets shifted as they prepared to open fire on other dropships if they got into range.

“A traitor am I Captain? What about you traitor to your own family?” scoffed Victoria that saw a growl of anger from the captain.

“Well my family are idiots for following you Espinosa after what happened during the Rebellion,” Captain Madeira shot back in some anger mentioning the time when Kade Arano rose up against his father Governor Wiremu Arano, and the following chaos that followed such a coup. During that time Kade Arano was in control of the planet the Espinosa Family had attacked Madeira holdings on the planet pretty much kicking the family off the planet which had drawn a lot of anger between the two families ever since then.

“You dare say that to me!” nearly screeched out Victoria making a grin appear on Berah’s face as Captain Madeira managed to make her lose her cool right off the bat. Still, that grin did not last on her face as the two Leopards started to drop their battlemechs onto the grounds outside of the spaceport facility. Berah narrowed her eyes in some anger as she spotted the Kaga, Victoria’s sort of FrakenMech, at the head of one lance. A pair of vastly taller JagerMechs, the larger big brother to her own Blackjack, flanked either side of Victoria’s Mech while a regular variant Catapult hung back behind the other three mechs of the lance. This made Berah curse to herself in some fear, only remembering Mastiff's point last night about House Espinosa managing to somehow get some Heavy Mechs, before she shifted her attention to the second lance and nearly sobbed in further betrayal as she noticed the lead mech of that lance. A rare WVR-6K Wolverine in the colors of the Arano Royal Guard which made it's pilot only one person, Captain Duncan Haust former commander of the Coalition’s and Royal Guard's Rampart Unit.

“You too Captain Haust,” she emotionally managed to nearly whispering over a direct laser-linked communication line with the Wolverine. As she noticed the other mechs in the Captain’s lance were a pair of Phoenix Hawks and a single HBK-4P Hunchback. All of which are in the gray and green of House Espinosa making the Captain’s kind of stand out compared to the rest of the unit.

“Yes I am sorry Rose but I have always been a loyal House Espinosa man. You knew that,” an equally emotional voice of the Captain. A man who had been one of the few in the Arano Royal Guard to accept her after it was revealed about her family’s background as pirates. He had even helped Raju in her training when the older man had to go about his duties. It had been the Captain who had given her a callsign.

“I am not going to hold back,” she replied a moment later noticing that the two Leopards had flown off and the eight mechs they left behind had started to advance towards the spaceport facility.

“I do not expect you to Rose. Goodbye,” the Captain replied and then cut off the laser-link between the two of them. A moment later Berah noticed that Raju had in the time she was talking to her former commander had come up alongside her mech ready to defend the dropship behind them with his life if need be.

“All right Rose. I trained you for this moment. We’ll fight side by side, watching each other’s backs. Captain Madeira will support us with his guns when he can so we will not be completely alone against the enemy. Still, that is only till he lifts off then we will truly be alone. Hopefully, we can whittle down the enemy with his support before that happens. That said, above all else, we make sure no one gets close enough to the Dropship to get under its guns. Once it takes off we shall cut through the remaining enemy mechs and make it back into Shepard's Pass,” Raju ordered her as the two watched as the enemy mechs picked up speed as they rapidly approached the spaceport facility. A brief moment later they were range for her autocannons and Berah prepared to unleash the guns onto one of the Jagermechs flanking Victoria when suddenly her Mech went completely dark shutting itself down much to her own shock and surprise.

“Trouble with your Mech there Rose? Shame. That has been happening with a lot of Royal Guard mechs lately,” a voice came over her luckily still functional radio system making Berah grit her teeth in outrage at the sheer glee in her former crush's voice.

‘That ****** bitch!’ she thought in anger as she desperately tried to get poor Blackheart to start up once more.

“You have the greater numbers on us Victoria, and you’ve resorted to sabotage while also gloating about it! You have got no honor at all, you vicious little brat, not you nor your backstabbing father!” she heard Raju’s angry voice over the radio, and then she heard the heavy bark of Raju’s Autocannon as he opened up on the oncoming enemy Mechs along with a few harsh snaps that she knew to be PPC blasts. Most likely from the Dropship.

“You shut your mouth old man! My father is a great man, and I swear to all the gods you will suffer if you insult him again in my presence!” Victoria replied in anger to her former mentor while Rose once again tried to get her Blackjack back online gritting her teeth in anger and some shame that Raju was going to go up against eight enemy mechs by himself with only limited support from an allied Dropship.

“Your father is a coward and so are you Victoria for resorting to means such as sabotage!” Raju shot back at the blond-haired bitch making Berah grin slightly at her mentor’s taunts.

“Okay, Rose I want you to eject now! You are no good to anybody in a broken-down mech, and I will not let you die today! Follow our earlier plan! Eject now! That is an order Mechwarrior!” she then suddenly heard Raju’s voice order over the radio and without any further thought followed on the orders of her mentor just as he had trained her. Her hands drifted over to the handles next to her cockpit seat and pulled them down hard just in time to hear the outraged scream of Victoria and Raju’s final taunt to the woman.

“Now come for me Victoria! Your mentor and teacher is waiting. So come show me what you have learned. I may even end up giving you some extra lessons to you and your men!” was all she heard as with a woosh of jets as first the top of her cockpit flew off then followed by a larger woosh as her cockpit seat flew out of the Mech towards the sky. From there she only saw blackness as fell unconscious from hitting her helmeted head on something as she flew away and the unexpected rush of the ejection.

-o-End-o-

Post Notes

And there we go! The first true chapter of my Battletech story is now finished. I hope I did it some justice for I put a lot of effort into this thing. So I really hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoy writing it for you all. It kind of grew out of what my original plans for the chapter called for which in my opinion was not all that great. That said, I need to go over a few quick different points before I let you all go.

First up. You may have noticed that I have changed a few things about what happened during the second mission of the Battletech Campaign. I also did not really do anything about the first mission which I mentioned last chapter and not all that important. For one some things did not make any sort of sense therefore I kind of changed it to make more sense in my mind. This does include some rewording of some of the characters’ comments during the chapter. Another thing that I changed was the very last part of the chapter which had done away with Captain Haust and his two turrets from trying to prevent Kamea and her escorts from reaching the landed Dropship. Not only that having the ship already down on the ground and waiting for them. If you noticed I also placed the Maradaur’s Dropship at the same location since that was something I never understood about everything that happened around the end of the mission. We never saw another dropship anywhere around the battlespace outside of the Leopard Class that arrived to drop off Victoria and her forces. Hence I never understood how the Marauders were able to pick up the player and their mech while there was a battle going on. In this way, it makes a bit more sense in my mind.

Speaking of which one major change I am making for this story is trading in the Leopard Class the Marauder’s are using with that of a larger Trojan Class. This was mostly thanks to my own annoyance with the Leopard Class and how it could actually support its crew along with its carried mechs. According to the specifications of the class, it barely has any room for its crew and barely any cargo space to support them all. Therefore, I could not understand how it could go between planets and the Jump Points which takes somewhere around a few days to a couple of weeks. Hence the reason for the Hysteria becoming a Trojan Class. That and I have a few ideas about the Marauders that need a bit more room in the ship. I know I could have used a Union Class but I already kept Kamea’s getaway ship as a Union and it did not want to go up all the way to an Overlord Class. I had earlier planned to keep with the Leopard Class and expand it a bit into a ind of super-Leopard Class but I dropped that idea for I did not what hardcore Battletech readers would have thought of that idea.

Anyways. One last thing I kind of changed Alexander Madeira’s role in the story from Kamea’s outright lacky to that of a useful character in that he becomes the captain of one of the Coalition’s handful of Union Class Dropships. I originally was going to include a bit of Alexander’s military career but I could find a proper place to put it. His role of informing of what is going on with the House Espinosa Coup is given over to Raju which made a sort of sense in my mind. Speaking of which I kind of change the Coup around a bit to make it better understood what is going on. I hope you liked this version of it.

Cough.

Okay. That is enough of me talking and getting started on the next chapter. So again I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I shall see you in the next chapter. Though I do not know when it will be up. OH. Almost forgot I mentioned before that I had put together some background info bits that I will post if you all want to read them. Okay. That is enough for now.

[snakespinner]

Interesting shift with Alexander, enjoying the story. :thumbsup:

[Hazard Pay]

Excellent work Zealot. Really hooked me in.

Guessing Iron Mask is going to take over the berah Household thanks to Santiago? And I'm also guessing Seabook, the kids will possibly be part of the marauders?

[DOC_Agren]

Interesting start

[deathzealotzero]

Interesting shift with Alexander, enjoying the story. :thumbsup:

Thanks! I thought a more military-minded Alexander would be better than a simple aide to Kamea.

Excellent work Zealot. Really hooked me in.

Guessing Iron Mask is going to take over the berah Household thanks to Santiago? And I'm also guessing Seabook, the kids will possibly be part of the marauders?

Thank you. Actually no. There is no Iron Mask in this fic. As Berah's father has passed away a few years before the start of the story. Right now I do not know how he does so but all out dead at this moment. Though in all honestly I really do not know what to do with the Landhold right now with this story. My original plan called for Berah to lead the Marauders to the Mother Vanguard and from there back to the Landhold but now on reflection, I am not too sure on doing that. Shrug.

As for Seabook. Right now he only has that cameo in the prelude and that is about it. I am sorry to say. I have no plans on including him at all in anything about the story.

Interesting start

Thank you! I hope to get the next chapter up and running soon.