Guest chapter by Zogster
Interlude - The Epic of Gilgamesh
The darkened ‘Mech bay of the DropShip Ur was eerily silent. While the white noise of the ship’s engines droned on in the background, there was no movement to be heard. All was prepared for tomorrow’s drop, and the crew and MechWarriors were getting their much-needed rest before the frantic activity that it promised.
The stillness was broken by Lana Kotovski, making her way along one of the upper catwalks, dressed only in her brief bed wear. She came to a stop alongside her second-in-command Katarina Morrison, looking strangely out of place in the ship’s industrial hold wearing a plush dressing gown and holding a steaming mug.
“Couldn’t sleep either?” Lana asked.
It took a few moments for Katarina to respond. Eventually she nodded and turned to Lana, a wry smile across her face. “Nerves?”
“Eagerness,” Lana replied. “We’ve got a good plan, a solid estimation of their forces and, if all goes well, the element of surprise.” She shook her head and added, “No, this one’s in the bag.”
Katarina gave a brief chuckle and nodded to her commander. “Sometimes I wish I had your confidence.”
Lana leaned back against a railing, rolling her shoulders and groaning with the stretch. “Hey, second guessing keeps us on our toes. Just don’t let it take over.”
Katarina nodded once more, and they stood in silence for a second. She couldn’t help but let her eyes wander over her commander, settling on the jagged pale scar that marked the woman’s thigh.
“It’s not real, you know,” Lana said, as if reading her thoughts.
“Sorry?” Katarina started, briefly startled.
Lana cocked her head up to the looming form of the BattleMaster behind her. Looking up, Katarina couldn’t help but feel that Gilgamesh was gazing down at her. Watching her. Judging her.
“This curse,” Lana pressed on. “Really, it’s statistics. This ‘Mech has been with the unit longer than any other. It’s also the commander’s ‘Mech, and the heaviest one we field.” She turned around to look up at its impassive cockpit. “All that means it’s going to be targeted more than any other ‘Mech, and with its service record, well, of course it will have gone through more pilots.” She turned once more back to Katarina, favouring her with a smile. “So there’s nothing to worry about.”
Katarina shook her head slightly. “I wish I had your confidence.”
“You’re just paranoid because you’re tired,” Lana told her. “Get some sleep already.”
She chuckled in reply. “Sure thing, boss.” She finished up her drink and stepped past Lana. “I’m sure I’ll feel better in the morning.”
-----
Katarina could feel the perspiration dripping down her face under her neurohelmet. It wasn’t enough that they were in a running firefight, but the terrain had to be hot, wet and humid too. Loose stones crunched under Enkidu’s feet as it stomped through ankle-deep water. The shallows were on the edge of a steamy jungle, peppered with BattleMech-sized boulders that provided excellent cover. For the moment, elements of her own lance and the Star’s command lance were paused in amongst the boulders, readying their attack.
“Report in,” Lana’s voice came over the comms.
“Comet One,” Jakub spoke up. “We’ve got their skirmishers contained. You won’t have any interference.”
“Eye Command, this is Eye Two,” her second reported. “We’ve got them dislodged and retreating. Headed your way.”
“On it,” Katarina replied. She briefly glanced aside to see Lana’s BattleMaster waiting with her. The ‘Mech moved almost imperceptibly, as if nodding its agreement. Tension rose between the two as they saw movement in the trees, then sprang into action.
The enemy’s commander burst from the trees, his Hercules twisting as it advanced. Alongside it, an older Battleaxe strode backwards, still firing into the trees as it went. The BattleMaster and Warhammer stepped out as one, a barrage of blazing blue particle fire springing from their ‘Mechs and scoring across the Hercules’ torso. Even as she felt the heat surge in her cockpit, Katarina knew that the Hercules was suffering, seeing the secondary blue shocks coursing across its body. Beside it, the Battleaxe was punctured from behind by a volley of autocannon and missile fire, collapsing forwards even as its torso fell back in on itself. The ‘Mech was not getting up again.
“All points, concentrate fire!” Lana ordered. Not one to give up, the enemy commander returned fire. Katarina stepped forward, absorbing the brunt of its varied weapons. Numerous impacts rocked her ‘Mech, and she struggled to keep it upright. As one, the arrayed units concentrated their return fire on the Hercules. Short and long range missiles, autocannon and laser fire seared and smashed across the ‘Mech before the BattleMaster and Warhammer let loose another concentrated volley of particle fire, slamming into the Hercules’ torso. It teetered briefly, then crashed backwards into the shallow water, utterly lifeless.
“You alright there?” Lana asked.
“Yeah,” Katarina said between panting breaths. “Okay. More hot than anything.”
The BattleMaster stepped forwards and peered down at the Hercules’ inert form. “I know what you-“
“Star Command, we’ve got a squirrel!” Jakub’s voice broke in over the comms.
“Headed your way.”
Before anyone could respond, the runaway ‘Mech was on them. A Hellspawn burst out of nowhere, with Lana’s BattleMaster almost directly in its path. Without hesitating, it disgorged a swarm of missiles at almost point-blank range. Before she could react, Lana was caught head-on, Gilgamesh’s torso vanishing in a cloud of explosions.
Even as the BattleMaster teetered on the spot, the other assembled ‘Mechs were on it. Missiles, cannon and particle fire flew left and right, some tagging the squirrely machine. Wen’s Nightsky appeared out of nowhere, driving a hatchet into its hip and sending the Hellspawn ploughing side-on into the surf.
A second later, Gilgamesh pitched backwards, crashing unceremoniously into the shallows. Katarina turned, desperately calling over her communicator. “Boss, what happened? Are you there?” Without a reply, she desperately yelled out “Lana?”
-----
“Heatstroke.”
“Heatstroke?” Katarina repeated incredulously.
The Star’s diminutive chief medical officer nodded and repeated “Heatstroke.” She stood in the door to the medical bay, somehow blocking the passage despite her small size. Katarina tried to peer around her, but could only catch a glimpse of her commander stretched out on the medical bay.
“How does that even…” Katarina trailed off, bemused.
“Fluke hit,” the doctor said with a shrug. “Apparently one of the missiles knocked out her ‘Mech’s life support. Of course, it was already running hot from sustained PPC fire, and the sweatbox outside didn’t help.”
“Unbelievable.” Katarina shook her head in dismay. “A hit like that –“
“Was damn lucky,” the doctor replied. “A nudge over, and we would have had a breach like last time. And with her already passed out in the cockpit, she could have easily drowned.”
“Can I –“
“No,” came the blunt answer. “She needs rest. And you need something else to occupy your mind.” Katarina looked at the doctor oddly, who pressed on as if she could read the captain’s thoughts. “I know what you people say about that damned ‘Mech. And it’s rubbish. Just find a way to get over it.”
“Right, you’re right.” Katarina nodded. “Rational heads. I know what to do.”
-----
Jakub and Angela leaned over the holographic display, examining the BattleMechs projected on the table. Angela shuffled around to one side to find where Jakub’s Shadow Hawk stood amongst its lance, opposite a quartet of enemy ‘Mechs picked out in red. The MegaMek tactical simulation had loaded up his last battle, and Angela watched as it generated the rocky seashore from his unit’s collected BattleROMs.
Angela looked up to see him poring over the field, uncharacteristically serious. Unnoticed, she leaned up and poked him in the shoulder. He started briefly, then looked over at her, uttering “What?”
“You really like this, don’t you?” Angela asked.
“Well yeah,” he replied, gesturing to a Warhammer at the jungle’s edge. “It’s the only time I get to push mum around.”
“Mum?” Angela asked with a chuckle.
“Uh…” Jakub flushed red, and gritted his teeth in embarrassment. “Uh, I meant Katarina. Captain Morrison.”
“Sure, let’s go with that,” Angela needled him. She scooched over closer to him to look at the fight on the seashore. “So everything looks good here. Staged a solid ambush, took down the command element. Won the day right here.”
“That’s not the problem.” Jakub tapped a few keys and the ‘Mechs on the board rapidly repositioned. Now his lance was spread in a crescent, flanking the units they were previously facing. “I didn’t box them in enough, and we had a runner. That’s how…” They watched as the battle progressed, and a holographic Hellspawn ran straight into the command element.
“Right. So!” Angela all but grabbed the controls away from him. As Jakub watched, the battle rewound to the point where the two medium lances confronted each other. She keyed in more commands, and as the battle progressed, Jakub’s lance leapt into position, fully encircling the enemy unit. “There you go. Got them boxed in, so no runners.”
“Almost,” came a voice from the darkness of the chamber. Lanie King stepped over to the young pair. “Problem is, they have no escape so they have to make one. Concentrate fire on one of your ‘Mechs, and then punch through to the battle.”
“So what do we do?” Jakub asked the seasoned commander.
“Give them an out,” she replied. She repositioned the ‘Mechs on the board into a crescent formation once more, but this time with an opening heading out away from the battle. “But make it the way you want them to go. Best case they retreat, worst case they take time circling around to the main furball, and you can chase them down.”
“But we don’t take them out,” Angela replied.
“But you take them out of the fight. Remember, you’re not here to make kills, you’re here to win the battle.”
Angela nodded her understanding. “Less conflict, less repairs, everyone goes home safe.”
“And this way Auntie doesn’t get hurt,” Jakub said, half to himself. He was broken out of his reverie by Angela’s raucous laughter. Blinking in surprise, he looked between the two of them and asked “What?”
“Word of advice, don’t let your commanding officer hear you call her ‘Auntie,’” Lanie said, grinning ear to ear.
“Especially where the troops can hear you,” Katarina said, striding into the chamber.
Lanie stepped forward and greeted her with a warm hug. “Hey, what brings you here? Checking on the kids?”
“Nah, needed some advice,” she said.
“Alright,” Lanie nodded. “You two keep at it,” she said to Angela and Jakub, before guiding Katarina out of the room. “So what’s got you?”
“It’s a weird one,” Katarina admitted once they were out of earshot. “I wanted to look up the service history of a BattleMech, before it came into our unit’s possession.”
“This is about that BattleMaster, isn’t it?” Lanie said straight out.
“You know?” Katarina asked, puzzled.
Lanie frowned for a moment, as if trying to figure out just what to say. Eventually she sighed and said “Look, whatever helps you sleep at night.”
Unsure how to take that, Katarina instead pressed on ahead. “I’m thinking there must have been some kind of records, but with the Blackout…”
“I suppose the question is, if there’s any backups,” Lanie replied. “You’d need a lot of storage, and someone really fussy to save what’s frankly, some pretty trivial records.”
The pair looked at each other for a moment, before simultaneously realisation dawned on both their faces.
“Oh no,” Katarina said, visibly sagging. “Not –“
-----
“How can ComStar help you today?” Deep Zimmerman said with unchecked enthusiasm. Katarina was almost taken aback by his forceful cheer. The eeriness of the setting didn’t help.
The ComStar station on Galatea was, back in the day, a massive hub of activity to service the mercenary trade. Of course, nearly twenty years after the HPG blackout, the place had gone from a source of planet-wide frustration to a symbol of lost power, before being all but forgotten by the populace. From the looks of the place, it was all but forgotten by ComStar as well. So far, Katarina had not seen a single soul in the cavernous chambers of the station. Except, of course, for the overly cheerful man who had greeted.
“Hey. Deep,” she began uneasily. Everyone seemed to know Deep, and worryingly enough Deep seemed to know everyone. Opinions ranged from ‘harmless’ to ‘one-man-conspiracy,’ but nobody could deny that he was friendly, helpful and eager to please. How much of that was real was the eternal question.
She realised that Deep was still waiting for her answer, and quickly composed herself. “Yeah. I know it’s a long shot, but I was hoping you had kept archives of BattleMech service records –“
“Of course!” came the enthusiastic reply.
“Wait, you have?” Katarina asked. Honestly, she thought this would be much harder.
“Well, for all BattleMechs in service to MRBC-registered mercenary units that operate out of Galatea, that is,” Deep said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the Inner Sphere. “Can’t have everything.”
“No, that’s… good,” she replied, uncertain if she wanted to go further.
“So what was it you needed?”
“Wanted to have a look at the service history of a particular ‘Mech from our command,” Katarina replied. And convince myself I’m imagining things.
“Ah, Gilgamesh,” Deep said with unbridled enthusiasm. “Let me show you to our archives. Normally I wouldn’t want to leave the front desk unattended, but…” He peered past her at the vast empty chamber. “I’m sure it’ll be fine for today.”
The archives turned out to be a long walk down a vast corridor under great, vaulted ceilings. No doubt in the day they were meant to impress upon visitors the great power and vast reach of ComStar; now it only emphasised just how empty the place was.
Soon enough they came to the archives. It was an odd combination of styles; tables with discrete terminals evoking and old-fashioned reading room, but the long rows of books here were instead towering banks of data storage. Deep swept up to the front desk and started tapping merrily away, mirroring his results on a customer-facing screen.
Okay, this is it, Katarina thought to herself. There’s going to be nothing there. It’s just statistics like Lana said. It’s all in my mind.
“Ah yes, Headcase Larry.” Deep said, smiling broadly.
“Sorry, come again?”
“The band your unit took it from called the BattleMech ‘Headcase Larry.’ After its first pilot, presumably named Larry.”
“Who was a headcase?” Katarina asked, confused.
“No, that was from the habit of having its head shot off.” Deep busied himself going through the files. “Looked like it happened quite a bit.” He perked up once more, beaming at Katarina. “That’s how your unit came across it, right?”
“Right,” she said, weakly. “How about before that?”
“Well, that group found it at the bottom of a thirty meter ravine, after the bridge it was crossing gave out. Freak structural failure I gather. Says here that was its first outing for those owners.”
From then, the facts and stories seemed to blend together. On one occasion, the BattleMaster was known as The Coffin because only dead men got in it; another group called it The Widower for distressingly similar reason. A Lyran noble line who had owned the BattleMech eventually called it The Family Curse after it claimed a dozen eligible pilots within three decades.
“And these aren’t just stories?” Katarina asked, somewhat hopefully.
“Oh, no,” Deep replied. “All in the archives. Set in stone.” He beamed at her once more. “Was there something else?”
-----
What else was there to do? Katarina leaned back on the 'Mechbay’s railing, once again staring into Gilgamesh’s impassive domed cockpit. She could sell it, but then would it just go on killing other pilots. Scrap it? No, it was a perfectly good BattleMech, suspicions be damned. The unit’s first commander, Larissa, had retired from injuries sustained piloting this thing, but at least she made it out alive. If there’s a chance –
“I’m still alive,” came Lana’s cheerful voice from her side, drawing her out of her gloom. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Sorry, it’s…” Katarina sighed. “I don’t know what’s been going through my head.”
“Lanie was worried about you,” her commander said. “Said you were obsessing again?”
“It’s…” Katarina paused. She glanced up at the BattleMaster once more, then turned to her friend. “No, you’re right. I’m making way too big a deal about it.”
Lana stepped up and threw an arm around her shoulder, gently guiding her away from the ‘Mech bay. “Nothing’s going to happen. I’m going to retire when I want to, not when some silly curse decides my time is up.” Katarina looked up at her in surprise, and she just smiled.
“Besides. Gilgamesh is immortal.”