Vass' Chindits: Second Chances

[Sir Chaos]

It's always tough when characters you've grown to love die.
As you say, it will be interesting - I could see Sue Chang leading the Chindits in a series of retaliation attacks against the Cappies - even post St Ives war.

... and perhaps kill Jason´s dad, this Jones fellow, in the process?

[Nav_Alpha]

I'm really excited for the next chapter of this saga.

[gleamingterrier]

The aide opened the door to the conference room and saluted the General. I felt a slight pang at the crispness of the salute; if the Valexa CMM had been this squared away my first time here, I might never have ended up a Chindit.

"Major Sung-Hee Chang, of Vass' Chindits, General," the aide announced. The woman at the table stood up, returned the salute and dismissed the Captain, who took two steps back, pivoted sharply on his heel and left the room.

"Major Chang, a pleasure to finally meet you," said Leftenant General Sarah Delittle, commanding officer of the Valexa CMM.

"The pleasure is mine, General." I returned the handshake, and when it finished, I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "I do feel I owe you an apology."

Delittle's brows narrowed in honest confusion. "Whatever for, Major?"

"When you extended your invitation for me to rejoin the unit in '58, I now feel that I wasn't properly appreciative of the offer. I do hope..."

Delittle smiled and waved me off. "No apologies necessary, truly. When I was getting this unit whipped into shape, Mac Bolan said you'd had the right idea years earlier and had gotten a raw deal. Said I'd be an idiot if I didn't try to get you back, not just to get back a quality officer, but to show the rest of the unit that it's not just from the top down. But you've clearly found a family in the Chindits; far be it from me to deny anyone the chance to find the place they truly fit in."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I was worried that Delittle was going to be confrontational over my brusque communique five years earlier. I didn't recall the exact wording of the message, but I remember being very proud of using the phrase "now that the pigs have been slaughtered, the survivors want the sheepdog back before it turns feral." I had a lot of unresolved issues at the time.

"General Bolan was one of the officers I found truly supportive during my time here, ma'am. I'm glad you kept him during the reorg."

Delittle sat down, motioning for me to sit down next to her. "His men certainly aren't, not after the five-day "Crucible" training exercises he subjects them to every six months or so." She poured coffee into a mug from a carafe sitting on the conference room table, then poured me one without asking.

We sat for a few moments in companiable silence as I sipped the coffee politely. "I was very sorry to hear about Major Vass. I never knew her personally, but I know she had more than a few friends still scattered through the old generals brigade here in the AFFS."

I nodded my thanks, making silent note of the 'S', rather than 'C', in her mention of the military she served in. "She was truly incredible. She devoted her life to the Chindits, to just such a..." I broke off, trying to find the words. "Did you know that I didn't even know her homeworld until she died? I mean, she was proud of her FedSuns heritage, but she was, as much as it's possible to be, a citizen of her unit. When we went to Ogilvie for her service, her son Jason had never even been there, and suddenly he's seeing streets with his last name in the capital city." I shook my head. "I know there's now way I can replace her."

"Don't try," Delittle said. "Just do the best you can, and honor her in that way."

After some more small talk about the Chindits, Valexa's turnaround and other things, she broached the subject of my arrival on Valexa.

"So, after Ogilvie, you headed to Novaya Zemlya?"

"Right," I replied. "we were outbound from Ogilvie when Prince Victor made his announcement, so we were going to head to Northwind to get on some neutral ground and see how things started to play out."

"Why not Outreach?" Delittle asked.

"We have a 75-year-old Lieutenant who's persona non grata with the Dragoons."

She raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like quite a story."

"You'd better believe it. Anyways, our admin pulled a few strings and we stopped at the NovZel Reclamation Facility to pick up a bit of decommissioned AFFC salvage and get back up to 100% capacity for our Dispossessed pilots. While we're there, one of my other officers, who was born in the LC, gets approached by this mystery employer. The Chindits would get a hell of a lot of cash to start causing problems for the various FedCom units on NovZel, and he also kind of suggested a change in leadership that put a Lyran national such as Lieutenant Chacic in command would also be highly rewarded."

Delittle nodded, steepling her fingers together. "And he came to you with this, your Lieutenant Chacic? You still trust him?"

"Of course I do," I snapped. "He's a Chindit." I took a breath. "Sorry."

"Don't worry. So, he informed you?"

"Yes, and he swears up and down that the guy smelled like LIC. We've had our share of clashes with intelligence agents over the last few years, and I'm inclined to believe him on that. So, we boosted first chance we got. Maybe that puts us on the Archon-Princesses shit list, but I'm not going to string it out and see how badly I can screw up the Chindits in my first contract as CO. So, Valexa is on our path to Northwind, I let General Bolan know what happened, as a heads-up to an old friend, he contacts you, and here we are."

"And here we are," sighed Delittle. She turned the chair to face the window; looking out onto the parade ground, we could see two lances of Mechs practicing synchronized movements, a parade function that could actually be applied to combat. Far below, infantry squads swarmed between the Mechs, practicing combined arms coordination.

"Major, I'm not sure if you realize it, but this unit is at war. A single shot hasn't been fired, but war has already come to this planet. I don't suppress what I let my troops say, which it makes it ironic that it lets them espouse support for a ruler that would suppress them."

"Is it that bad?" I asked.

"Not as bad as many, I suppose. None of the officers, not that I know of, but up to a fifth of the enlisted men, including a few higher-ranking non-coms, are hoping we throw in with the Archon-Princess."

"And your take?"

Delittle turned and looked me in the eyes. "I'll be damned before I take another order from that traitorous bitch. She screwed over the entire Sarna March, its people and its defenders, just to gobble up power for herself. And when my rightful lord Prince Victor issues a command for the Valexa CMM to fight, we're going to show the so-called 'Archon-Princess' what true loyalty means."

As she finished, I couldn't help myself. The hair on my neck stood up. "Fei chang hao," I muttered, loosely translated as 'Excellent' or 'Outstanding.' I owed Katherine Steiner-Davion a fight. There was no way in hell I was going to support a ruler who had allowed her unit to be used so casually to crush her own ally, my homeland, and get my commander killed, just to support her own power play.

She grinned at my tone. "I would like to offer the Chindits a contract, open-ended, directly with the CMM. You'd stay independent, you wouldn't be broken up to fill in my other units. We'd pay you out of our operational fund, so it might not be as much as you're used to, but you'd have direct access to our supply lines and logistical network. No company store BS. You'll be an independent command, no liason, reporting directly to me. Missions will vary, but will be suited to your skills and equipment. We'll hammer out the details later, but what do you think?"

"I think Katherine Steiner-Davion shouldn't get too comfortable on New Avalon, General." I held out my hand.

The General shook it firmly. "Welcome back to the Valexa CMM, Major Chang."

-Major Sung-Hee Chang, personal memoirs, 3063

[gleamingterrier]

It's funny how characters you write become your favorites. I like everyone in the unit, but I freaking love Sue Chang. More than Vass, even.

Out of idle curiosity, would anyone here actually read a Chindits short story on the FanFic board here, or if I submitted it to BattleCorps? Is there enough interest in small merc unit stories? I'd hate for anyone to ever compare the Chindits to the Black Thorns. :)

[Kojak]

Out of idle curiosity, would anyone here actually read a Chindits short story on the FanFic board here, or if I submitted it to BattleCorps? Is there enough interest in small merc unit stories? I'd hate for anyone to ever compare the Chindits to the Black Thorns. :)

Hell yes, I would. And I'd honestly try for a BattleCorps submission, this stuff is definitely at that level of quality. Although if you do a submission, I'd probably start with something non-Chindits-related first, to test the waters.

[Nav_Alpha]

As discussed in my reply earlier, gleamingterrier - go for it. I think your stuff is certainly worthy of BC.

[Orion]

Small merc units define Battletetch for me, so I hope you do write more stuff.  I'd much rather read about a small merc unit that yet another multi-battalion or regiment command, regardless of faction.

I have always felt about half or so of the Chindit stuff should have gone on the Fan Fiction board to start with.  No idea what the official difference is, but it seems to me this board is more for TO&E listings and discussions on how to tweak the unit into whatever you want it to be, while the Fan Fiction board is for all the history, battles, and character interaction.  Descriptions of people could be in either, depending on how they are written out.  I'll read it either place, however.  Highly unlikely to see it on BattleCorp though, as I have never subscribed to it, and don't see me doing so any time soon.  I wish you luck though.

[snakespinner]

Small merc units i enjoy reading.
I would like to see more stories on BC about them. O0

[gleamingterrier]

Christ, but I hate Tikonov.

-Major Sung-Hee Chang, personal memoirs, 3064

Been extremely busy, writing my first novel, new job, et cetera, et cetera. But the Chindits are alive and kicking! Keep your eyes peeled for an update soon!

[Nav_Alpha]

Christ, but I hate Tikonov.

-Major Sung-Hee Chang, personal memoirs, 3064

Been extremely busy, writing my first novel, new job, et cetera, et cetera. But the Chindits are alive and kicking! Keep your eyes peeled for an update soon!

About damn time! Just joking - glad you're back. And it sounds like your personal life is going well - but sometimes they do get in the way

[gleamingterrier]

From: Leftenant General MacKenzie Bolan, interim CO, Valexa CMM
To: Major Sung-Hee Chang, CO, Vass’ Chindits

I’m starting to think that you’re my albatross, Suzie. It’s bad enough to wade through the ocean of crap that Tikonov left behind, but I just spent six hours arguing with DMJ lawyers why you shouldn’t be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act.

It’s all horseshit, of course. Some junior prosecutor saw an opportunity, and didn’t count on someone like me sticking up for you. Don’t worry; his boss was so embarrassed, he’s in for an epic ass-chewing once they get back to the Kathil regional offices.

Here’s the long and short of it: although the bulk of the CMM was destroyed at Tikograd, your stunt in the industrial section of the city kept enough of the brigade alive that DMI wanted to know how you worked your magic. Hector told them that the battleROMs from the 4th Succession War, in particular the 7th Crucis Lancers failed drop into Tikograd, had formed a large part of the Chindit’s doctrine on defensive city-fighting during the unit’s early days.

(DMI Analyst note: This much is true. The Chindits, at the time operating as an independent company of the 3rd battalion Valexa CMM, found themselves occupying almost the exact same position as Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Lancers did on October 11, 3028. Though some changes had been made over the years, the terrain was still easily recognizable to the Chindits, who had been fighting in sims of that same factory for nearly 30 years.)

Basically, you mirrored the best parts of Colonel Ridzik’s escape from Tikonov, and DMI didn’t want to admit that you’d learned more from history than they had. So, they tried to get you under a technicality. (DMI Analyst note: We had nothing to do with the DMJ investigation.)

What it boils down to is, Hector, Vass and other members of the Crucis Lancers during Operation Rat took their battleROMs with them when they became mercenaries. At the time, this wasn’t considered out of the ordinary. All their Mechs were privately owned, so the data was, in general, considered part of their property. Of course, with the massive expansion of the industrial base following the war, and Mechs becoming more commonly issued within the armed forces, rules were changed, and starting in 3034, the battleROM footage taken during AFFS operations was subject to approval before dissemination or use by non-AFFS contractors.

What I pointed out was that, by the time it actually came into play, you were operating as AFFS personnel. Also, besides Matthias Hector, all the Chindits who had served in the Crucis Lancers during the war were either dead or retired, and Hector is an adjunct professor of economics at Sayer College on Belladonna, who has had dinner at the home of Mel Aleixandre on multiple occasions. (DMI Analyst note: There is no proof of a friendship between Field Marshal Melvin Israel Aleixandre, head of the Department of the Quartermaster, and Matthias Hector; the use of Hector’s theories on supply chain management and faster-than-light communication are common within both the AFFS and LAAF, and are not in themselves necessarily proof of a personal relationship.)

In the end, I think they’re just going to chalk it up to chance, presuming you don’t pull another one in a million shot like that again. Then again, I don’t know if I’d put it past you, Suzie.

[Daryk]

Welcome back!  And that's a fairly accurate portrayal of bureaucratic warfare there...  ^-^

[Nav_Alpha]

Good to see you back! Here was me thinking we’d never see the ending to this. Welcome back!

[gleamingterrier]

The following audio file was found on a WoB hard drive following the liberation of Achernar in the Free World League in 3078. It appears to have been gathered by a sound-activated bug; metadata places it as having been generated at several times throughout August of 3067.

[Voice 1 (Identified as Roland Chacic, Vass’ Chindits)] I don’t know how you can eat that, it’s just salt.
[Voice 2 (identified as Ambrosious Dell, Vass’ Chindits)] Why must you be so intransigent about it? I enjoy the spice.
[Chacic] It’s spicy, but there’s no flavor. It’s just salt and heat.
[There is a loud thunk, several beeps, and a thrum: a microwave being opened and operated.]
[Chacic] You should try it with some Sriracha.
[Dell] If one more of you freebirths suggest Sriracha, I am replacing the gel in your cooling vest with it during our next field op.
[There is a beep, the sound of the microwave door opening, and the sound of noodles being slurped. The recording goes silent for several moments; presumably, the bug went dormant, and the next sounds were days, perhaps weeks, later.]
[Voice 3 (identified as Jason Vass, Vass’ Chindits), subvocalizing off-key singing] Lisa from Tharkad, Rachael from New Avalon, we had all the time in the world. I should have known we’d never go dancing.
[Several cabinets open and close.]
[Vass, now mumbling; he clearly has food in his mouth] The summer of ’49 [unintelligible] This can’t just be summer love, you’ll see [unintelligible]
[The recording goes silent; another passage of time. When the recording begins again, there’s a murmur of multiple voices. In addition to those notated below, analysis identifies Chindits Matthias Hector, Randall Maclaw, Roland Chacic, Ria Tannon and Marcus Galindo as present]
[Voice 4 (identified as Sue Chang, Vass’ Chindits)] I don’t like our options right now. There’s no shortage of jobs, but I’ve got a bad feeling about them.
[Vass, no longer eating or singing] Because they’re Word of Blake? No offense.
[Voice 5 (identified as Joyce Kohara, Vass’ Chindits)] None taken. The Word isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
[Chang] We have a few other offers, but we’re not a good fit. The Blakists are trying really hard to hire us for one job or another, and it’s not feeling right to me. Jason?
[Vass] It’s not my decision to make, but all things being equal, no, I’d rather not work for the Word.
[Vass] Anyone disagree? [silence] Suggestions?
[Dell] The Mac?
[Chang] They’d take us, but… it might not…
[Vass clears his throat] I… uh… don’t think it would…
[Dell] Ah. [silence] I apologize. After all this time, I still forget…
[Vass] It’s different from the Clans, Dell.
[Dell] Perhaps not as much as you may think. One need only look at me to see how long hurt feelings may last.
[Chang] Look at you…
[Dell] Pardon?
[Chang] Something you said. Dell, Major Vass never asked you to try to reconcile with the Dragoons.
[Dell] No, she did not.
[Chang] Would you have? If she’d asked?
[Silence stretches out for almost 30 seconds. The only reason the bug doesn’t shut off is because it picks up the murmur of Hector explaining Dell’s situation to one of the more recent recruits]
[Dell] I think I would have, yes.
[Vass] Well, then…
[Chang] Jason, shhh. [silence] Dell, you know we haven’t been offered any AMC contracts. Partially because they tend to go through Outreach rather than Galatea, but also… [She trails off]
[Dell] I am aware.
[Chang, after another long silence] I think she didn’t ask you, because it wasn’t her business. It was about you, and the Dragoons. Not the Chindits. Not her place.
[Dell] I believe that to be true.
[Chang] I’m not… I’m not the friend she was to you, I know that.
[Dell] Major, I respect you…
[Chang] But she was your friend. I think I could be, one day, but we’re not at that place yet. Our friendship isn’t what’s preventing me from asking you.
[Vass] What is?
[Dell] Nothing is, Jason. Nothing is stopping the Major from ordering me to…
[Chang] Except that’s what it would be. An order. I wouldn’t ask, I don’t have the right. But if I ordered…
[Dell] You could.
[Chang] But could I? Would you want to be here after I gave that order? Who would? Everyone has a past. Maybe not quite as colorful, but still. Major Vass never ordered me to reach out to the Valexa CMM. This whole conversation started because I wouldn’t reach out to McCarron. [silence] No, it’s not fair, not to anyone.
[Kohara] Maybe one of the short term contracts with the Word. Three months of cadre duty, and we could see how everything looks then.
[Chang] We might have to do that. Let me take one last pass through the MRBC contracts first.
[Dell] I’ll do it.
[Kohara] If not, let me come with. Maybe I can help with the Word.
[Dell] I will do it.
[Chang] No, Dell, I’m not going to order it.
[Dell] I know. I will do it anyway.
[Chang] Are you sure? It’s been a long grudge, on both sides.
[Dell] They will not gainsay me a Trial of Grievance.
[Chang] No, I wasn’t thinking clearly. Look at the economics. We’d have to jump all the way to Outreach, and if we can’t use the hiring hall there, we can’t afford to go all the way back to Galatea or Northwind.
[Dell] You will be able to use the Outreach hiring hall.
[Chang] I appreciate the vote of confidence.. in yourself, I guess? But honestly, I have to consider what happens if you lose.
[Dell] If I lose, you will still be able to use Outreach as a base of operations.
[Chang] Oh.
[Vass] What?
[Dell] Either I win my Trial of Grievance, and we can be evaluated without prejudice by the Dragoons. Or I lose…
[Chang] And his presence in the unit is no longer a sore point.
[Vass] Oh.
[Chang] Yeah.
[Vass, after a moment of silence] Well, shit. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.

[Nav_Alpha]

There’s a couple references to MAC that I think are meant to be AMC.
But, otherwise - interesting to see Dell willing to heal that hurt with the Dragoons.

[gleamingterrier]

The MAC is actually meant to be Mac, lowercase: McCarron's Armored Cavalry. Jason's father still serves there, but there are lots of complicated feelings since Major Vass was KIA against them.

[Nav_Alpha]

The MAC is actually meant to be Mac, lowercase: McCarron's Armored Cavalry. Jason's father still serves there, but there are lots of complicated feelings since Major Vass was KIA against them.

Ah, fair enough.
Glad these guys are back