A Dream, A Life (Repost)

[Dragon Cat]

I actually wrote this about nine years ago but I've never been happy with it so I decided to go back and redo it.  I'm going to go through the whole thing and post it piece by piece.  Hopefully you all enjoy.

A Dream, A Life

by

Dragon Cat

“Inspired by life, and by BattleTech”

Prologue

[/b]

It was a beautiful summers day in Aberdeen, Scotland, and Mike was trying to enjoy himself after a long day at work, the sun was still high above the three-and-four-story high buildings that lined the length of the street people still were walking along the pavements in shorts and t-shirts making Mike’s formal shirt and trousers feel out of place.  It was not as if it was this warm and bright all the time people should enjoy it, unfortunately Mike had been stuck in his office all day missing out on the sun, the walk home up the steep hill of George St was a short one but for once it was nice.  Aberdeen was known for its unpredictable weather and the old joke that you could see four seasons in one day was sometimes accurate.  Mike was thirty-eight years old and had lived his life in Scotland he was proud of his heritage and what he had accomplished so far, but he like everyone while he lived his life, he dreamed of experiencing more.

Inside his building at the top of the street the climb up the ninety-two steps was no better today than it had been for the last fourteen years he had lived there, nor would it be in the future, but this was home.  Entering the flat his calico cat, Missy, was almost immediately around his legs purring and meowing looking for food stretching her odd ginger and black legs. “Good evening, to you too, yes you’re a beautiful cat” he said bending to scratch the cat’s head which was followed by more purring “of course I’ll feed you” he said reaching over picking up the bag of cat biscuits to pour a handful of the brown chicken flavoured dry biscuits into the cat’s round bowl which sat on the floor.  As the biscuits fell into the bowl the cat immediately leaned into the bowl and began to devour her supper.  “I'm sure you only like me because I feed you” he muttered; the cat predictably did not turn around instead continued to eat.

Hanging his jacket on the door peg he moved into the sitting room activating the television as he sat down on the couch, the flatscreen hummed to life and began to light the room as the light from the sun outside began to fade.  “Light on” he said and the smart device in the corner activated the room’s corner lamp.  In front of him on the coffee table sat a stack of books all related to the same topic 'BattleTech' it was one of Mike's obsessions.  He loved Ice Hockey, reading one of his mountain of novels, listening to music on streaming services, watch film or TV, he had busy working life and a girlfriend but 'BattleTech' was probably the one thing that kept drawing him away from the rest of life into a fictional world where humanity had spread across the stars and where it didn’t matter where people had come from and anyone could be a warrior, hero, villain, rise to become lord, or fall victim to the world they lived in.  It was one of those things that Mike allowed himself to get totally lost in; he could spend hours poring over the books he had read a dozen times sometimes reading over things taking in the information as if it was for the first time again revelling in this fictional look of the future.

Flicking through several channels he found there was nothing on TV, there rarely was, instead he picked up his games console controller and activated the machine it was completely wireless, everything at a touch of a button.  Still in the machine from the night before was a popular futuristic first-person shooter where the player took over a character who fought his battles in a green coloured battle armour suit and fought to save humanity from a group of blood thirsty aliens.  As he began searching of other players to play with using the 'LIVE' system he scanned over one of the BattleTech books, it was an easy way to kill the time between games and it kept Mike's mind working.  At the moment in the book, he was reading about a battle which featured a ninety-ton Highlander Assault BattleMech and the Royal Black Watch Regiment when the games system found him a lobby to play games in.

After only a few games Mike already felt tired, it had been a long day, but instead of going to bed he soldiered on despite his tiredness playing more games it was an easy way to unwind after a long day.  His mind racing with thoughts of BattleTech as he played the game, thinking about a life inside the world, there was little chance of falling asleep...

“GET UP YOU LAZY WASTE OF A HUMAN BEING!”  A voice screamed at Mike jolting him awake as he became aware of someone standing beside him... it was impossible he had locked the front door behind him when he got home, he always did.  “Oh no!” he thought as he jolted awake “what if he didn't someone could have entered” he could be in danger, he could have been robbed, his cat could have gotten out.  Wiping the sleep crusts from his eyes he looked around, he realized was not in his flat any more as he became more awake.  His couch, books, and cat all disappeared instead a hastily arranged bed was arranged on top of some boxes for support and a large man in a green uniform stood over him. “JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING MECHWARRIOR!”  The man continued to scream “there's time to sleep when you are in the ground dead, the war might be over but we are still officers in the Star League Defence Force and I expect a little bit of professionalism from my people.  Do you understand me?”

“Star League... what the hell?”  Mike muttered coming fully awake looking around the room making out details and... the smell the pungent smell of motor oil; if this was not real it was the most vivid dream he had ever experienced.  The Star League Defence Force, or SLDF, was a fictional faction from the BattleTech universe it was not real Mike raised his hand to his cheek and probably hit it a little harder than he meant to but he did not wake up instead the figure continued to look at him bemused.  Looking around though Mike could see could see his flat was gone instead they were in a massive hanger several others were present and behind them... behind them were twelve BattleMechs... BattleMechs... real gods’ honest truth BattleMechs all were over ten metres tall, weighing between twenty and one hundred tons.  They were the kings of BattleTech's battlefields, but they were also very fictional... as was all of this it had to be.  Rubbing his eyes Mike realized the screaming man was still staring at him so he instead looked at him wondering if this was actually life, the best dream he had ever had or the beginning of a nightmare.

[Dragon Cat]

One

Still waking from his sleep state Mike was still searching for signs of how to return to his flat and couch “I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, SON?” the man in green uniform he screamed again Mike had always hated it when people who were not his father called him son but this time, he guessed the figure over him wouldn’t react well to the record being set straight and he remained silent.  He looked at the man he was in his forties and heavily built like a someone who had worked out every day of his life, he dwarfed Mike who worked out… occasionally, he was not fat but he was by no means athletic, at least he wasn’t in his own life, things just didn’t see the same here. “That normally requires a simple but effective two-word answer” he explained sarcastically.

“Yes, sir” Mike replied guessing at the response the man wanted, but really, he did not understand what was happening around him, he could not be in the BattleTech universe it was a fictional universe set hundreds of years in the future and taken from books, computer games and the gaming table this had to be a dream, it could not be life!  His mind screamed at his body to waken up but Mike stood there in the hanger everything felt and looked real, the smells, the sounds it was everything he had expected a Mechbay to sound and look like, all the way down to a pissed off CO.

“Well, I hope so, since I have no-one else to fill your Mech.”  He said glancing over Mike's shoulder, turning following the man's gaze Mike saw a ninety-ton Highlander standing there silently waiting.

“I must be dreaming” Mike whispered to himself looking at the massive green-painted machine was ninety tons in weight and stood about thirteen metres high with its squared off head facing forward, below it on the jutting out torso there was a large missile rack on one side and on the other side there were two laser barrels.  The massive machine’s right arm below the elbow was comprised of a long barrel of large autocannon or gauss rifle from what Mike could make out… what the hell are you on about you are not a ******* MechWarrior!  The mental voice in his head screamed as he looked over the BattleMech dreaming of what it would be like to be in the cockpit.

“WHAT WAS THAT SON!” There was that word again from “Shouting man” immediately gaining Mike's full attention.

“Nothing, sir”

“I did not think so, son.  Now to business since I have everyone's attention.”  Shouting man said turning to the rest, for the first time Mike could see them eleven in total including him made twelve and a full company, the standard mid-sized formation in BattleTech larger than the smallest formation, a four-person lance, but smaller than the three-company standard Battalion and smaller than the Regiment...  Mike snapped out of his inner thoughts and back towards the eight men, three women who stood beside him ranging from a couple in their late forties to two that looked like they were still in their teens.  “As of last night, the war officially ended” a couple of the warriors clapped others cheered while a couple others just looked like they wanted to cry with happiness “Stefan Amaris has been captured alive and will be tried for war crimes against humanity.”  Mike could not react he was in a daze Stefan Amaris had, in the fictional game of BattleTech, overthrown the ruling Cameron Line.  He was a brutal dictator and had taken command of the Cameron family’s realm, the Terran Hegemony, before beginning a campaign to quell resistance from the population.  The SLDF had countered him fighting a long campaign to retake the territory and end Amaris rule with Earth, or Terra, being at the centre of the Hegemony and being Amaris base of operations.  He pinched his arm trying to wake himself up, it didn’t make sense, he couldn’t actually be here!  All he did was feel the nip in his arm as the others continued to react to the news they had just heard.

“Hang the bastard” one of the warriors said he was about Mike’s age, perhaps a little older, with dark hair that was beginning to go grey at the front where the MechWarrior’s helmet had touched his head.  The BattleMech only stood when its senses were in tune with the MechWarriors by way of a neurohelmet, the helmet rested on a MechWarrior’s head and translated their balance to the Mech which kept it standing.  A well-trimmed moustache and goatee distinguished his face as did a scar that ran down the side of his right cheek.

“I'm sure they will, Lieutenant, for now he's under arrest and that decision is out of our hands we still have a job to do.”  Shouting man said in a calmer voice “with the war over the main fights and engagements are over, but there are a few things still needs to be done to secure Terra.  Security and housekeeping mostly making sure commanders are captured and enemy units are stood down until their crimes can be determined, we are NOT judge, jury and executioners’ ladies and gentlemen all of you need to understand that.”  He said looking between them “I don’t want this unit to be dragged through the courts because of their actions” he said looking at them all “Amaris’ people will meet their justice in time for now we get them to stand down and disarm.”  He explained to them “according to reports when Sandhurst fell Amaris troops with possibly a battalion's worth of equipment fled north, they “bumped into and engaged” a striker company on the Yorkshire hills before retreating further north. This unit is currently considered to be armed and dangerous we have been given the green light to engage should they fail to surrender.”

“Sir, one battalion is hardly worry some, with Amaris captured, the war over, we control all the space around Terra, and every continent, even Antarctica, has SLDF boots on them.  A single Battalion is nothing in the grand scheme of things.”  One of them said Mike looked at his uniform and recognized the rank insignia from his SLDF Field Manual as that of a Captain.

“I agree with you Captain.  Unfortunately, command does not think so this Battalion caused quite a bit of damage in London on their way out including smashing the Cameron-Windsor family's palace and they are currently refusing stand down orders which command has been broadcasting.  It is rumoured they are heading north to attack Edinburgh as it is the ancestral home of the Cameron family with intent on causing further damage.” He explained “from all reports we have looked at Edinburgh was ravaged by Amaris thugs just as the rest of Terra and the Hegemony has been, but this lot seem to think they can make a further example of the people before they surrender or are dead.” He said continuing “the SLDF have retaken and now oversee this world, we need to maintain law and order, and we need to send a message.”  Shouting man said far more calmly now.  “It also appears that members of the extended Cameron-Windsor family have been hiding under Amaris nose during the entire occupation of Terra, they have moved around avoiding being caught and are currently at a summer residence Balmoral Castle in the north east near the abandoned city of Aberdeen in Scotland.”  He explained Mike’s head spun around back towards “Shouting man” he had been to Balmoral when he was… in his own time, for lack of a better phrase.  The grounds it sat on were covered in dense forests, but the buildings themselves were ancient and not defensible it was built when the term “Castle” was used loosely and was more like a large country home.  “Since the SLDF arrived back on the Terra the Cameron-Windsors have publicly made it clear they are on Terra with the people.  And according to media reports being broadcast since their re-emergence the family have made it clear that they did not spend the occupation hiding and that they fought with Terra's resistance throughout the war with three of the duke’s sons killed in the fighting across Terra.”  He said continuing “the family are making their play so they remain relevant after this war.”  He said making his feelings clear “now it is our job, we owe the people of Terra to put these remaining Amaris troops in chains or in the ground, and if we can get the Cameron-Windsors on our side even better.  The SLDF needs all the friends it can get now even with the Old Man back in charge.”  He said referring to Commanding-General Aleksandr Kerensky by the nickname favoured by the troops he had led the SLDF to the Periphery and Back again in their campaign to destroy Stefan Amaris.  “Charlie Company’s orders are simple, head north find the Amaris forces still in operation, report their whereabouts so the rest of the Black Prince Division can move in and crush them.  Do not engage them directly unless you must, if they surrender, we accept it and wait for reinforcements, we want this done right.  Understood?”  He said looking over the whole of Charlie Company making sure they all understood him.

A chorus of “yes, sirs” followed including one from Mike who was beginning to get caught up in the dream and seemed to forget this was not a dream, but possibly his life and began to think the other life was perhaps a dream.

“You ready sleepy?”  The shouting man asked looking at Mike directly.

“Yes, Colonel Carter” Mike replied instantly as if he remembered the name of “Shouting Man.”

“Good, get to it ladies and gentlemen, clocks ticking DropShip boosts to Edinburgh spaceport in thirty minutes make sure you are all aboard.”  All nodded turning towards their Mechs, Mike turned and walked slowly towards the company’s green Highlander, no his Highlander, he corrected himself looking up at the tall assault BattleMech.

“Tech Matthews, how is she?”  He said remembering the man’s name as he approached the massive machine.  Now closer he saw that the Mech was not entirely green instead the left leg and arm were more brown than green while small yellow highlights were scattered through the rest of the camouflage in a mismatched pattern almost like a calico cat.

“Missy's all repaired boss, the damaged weapons are replaced and are all loaded.”  He reported Mike smiled looking up at the giant “Missy” he amused himself with the name which was the opposite of its true nature, his cat was a scrawny beast who was more interested in getting under someone’s feet rather than crushing them under its weight. He remembered the Mech and their journey together, the last time he had seen it was after their initial landing on Terra almost all the Armour had been destroyed its internal skeleton exposed and burnt, the left leg buckled, the gauss rifle left arm destroyed, torso and arm mounted missile launchers were both empty after a long battle against the entrenched Amaris defenders as they had claimed a beachhead on the world opening the door for other SLDF units to arrive.

“Good to hear, it's time to go to work, make sure your stuff is on the DropShip and you are ready to boost.”  Mike said moving forward not waiting for a reply he began to climb up the BattleMech's frame.  “Just don't let me wake up yet...” He whispered as he cracked the hatch to the Highlander's cockpit open, as dreams went this was an interesting one all the years he could remember reading the books about being inside a BattleMech, and being in control of one were about to happen.

[Dragon Cat]

Two

Climbing into the BattleMech’s cramped cockpit he turned and pulled the door close activating the lock controls, turning he saw a laser assault rifle attached to the back of the ejector seat he squeezed past the chair he entered the front portion of the cockpit and was staggered by the displays in front of him as he sat down. In front of him there was a large view port through which he could see the company’s Orion BattleMech which stood opposite silent in its bay.

Reaching back, he pulled the harness from the back of the chair and connected them into the five-point harness which was connected between his legs.  He then reached over locked in the two side harnesses into the assembly.  Just beside the locking mechanism he felt the “T” shaped quick-eject handle, one yank of that and he would be sent hurtling into the sky away from his BattleMech.  The then reached down and brought up three tubes which, were attached to the chair, from his right the tubes connected to the coolant vest he was wearing almost immediately he felt the coolant liquid filling the vest bringing his body temperature down.  Across his body he felt the sensation of goosebumps passing over his skin.  As the sensation passed, he reached to the left of the cockpit to pick up the lightweight neurohelmet from its alcove and putting it onto his head.  His mind felt connected to the BattleMech and suddenly he could almost feel the weight of the Highlander on him.

Below where he had got the neurohelmet he reached over to the battle computer input and activated the controls.  Moments later the computer’s female voice “Missy’s voice” asked for his activation code.  “Purified In Soul” he said releasing control over the whole BattleMech.  “We have life” Mike said looking around the cockpit beside the battle computer was a display with the systems of the Highlander.  It read: “LIFE SUPPORT – ONLINE, SENSORS – ONLINE – ENGINE AT 80% POWER AND RISING – JUMP JETS – ONLINE – WEAPONS SYSTEMS – ONLINE.”  On the display below it showed the gauss rifle, two medium lasers, a long-range missile and short-range missile all online.  Now with the computer fully online he felt the BattleMech come alive below him and felt the feedback from the whole Mech.  While the neurohelmet did not give him the sensations from the BattleMech like some systems the Clans had like enhanced imaging… he sat there for a moment thinking “how the hell would I know about the Clans?  They are descendants of the Star League! WAKE UP!”  He almost shouted to himself barely believing he was beginning to think this was real life.  But it felt so real and he had dreamed of the next moment for years.  At the end of both arms of the command couch was a joystick on the left was one for the throttle and for torso twisting while the other controlled the Mech’s direction of travel and the pitch of the torso allowing the Mech to leave backwards to look up and forwards to look down. Mike gripped the two joysticks and clicked the left one forwards once the Highlander took a step forwards followed by a second one, he then turned the right joystick and turned the BattleMech towards the door of the Mechbay Hanger.  The BattleMech continued forwards until it hit the daylight outside the viewport dimmed as the Highlander walked clear and the sunlight hit it.  He glanced down at the centre torso and saw the sensor image of what was around the Highlander the image below condensed the three-hundred-and-sixty-degree image into a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree image.  He twisted the left joystick to the left and then to the right and the Highlander’s torso turned from one side to the net and then back to the centre as it continued to walk forwards as the Mech moved, he turned the right joystick and the Highlander changed its course to the right before he turned it back again to the left.  Finally, he tested the foot pedals on the cockpit floor the pedals helped with the balance of the Mech allowed him to lean the Highlander to the right and left and it allowed Mike to activate the jump jets built into the BattleMech’s back and legs, he forced both pedals down and the Highlander did a short jump no-more than ten metres long just testing the systems. The ninety-ton BattleMech slammed down into the ground and continued its run Mike found it incredible feeling the Mech run under him the Mech’s momentum taking the Highlander safely out of the jump and forwards. “Charlie Company, Command Three to tower…” he said a moment later his voice trailed off as he saw out the window that the modern military base, he was seeing had been replaced by a two-hundred-year-old base with troops running around, and vehicles driving the era of the vehicles made him think he was seeing his “old” life’s time.  He glanced around for a moment and looked at the troops wondering what they would have thought if they had seen the vehicle of death and destruction, he was currently piloting and how it would have changed the universe they lived in.

“Comms check, Tower to Command Three, go ahead MechWarrior, comms check.”  The voice said the Mike snapped out of it and he saw the modern base again along with patrolling BattleMechs and combat vehicles.

“Command Three to Tower, comms check okay, all systems online.  Command Three ready for the fight.”  Mike replied, he didn’t need that during a fight, it could get him killed even if this was a dream, he had no idea what kind of effect that would have.

---

The trip north had been short and uninteresting and if this was a dream then Mike was not too sure what the point of this bit was, everything was normal… well as normal as sitting inside a ninety-ton BattleMech as it was carried inside a several thousand-ton DropShip which was flying through the skies and space.  Due to the fear of Amaris loyalist controlled anti-air weapons the Company's Union-class DropShip had boosted to orbit briefly giving them a few minutes of weightlessness as the ship re-orientated.  While he was in the Highlander’s cockpit restrained to the command chair and did not get to experience the full sensation the feeling of weightlessness was wonderful. He had read in the past that the experience of weightlessness was a unique one that your body took several moments to adjust to and that the human body was not completely prepared for it.  Since he was restrained to the chair, he did not get the full experience but did get to watch a couple of items he had in the cockpit drift around for several moments before gravity returned.  The other unique experience was the sight of Earth from space for the first time.  While Mike’s first viewing of Terra was through an external video feed from the DropShip it was still a beautiful sight and something, he would not forget even if he woke up right now.

The ship quickly re-entered the atmosphere and descended again towards the ground, the buffeting drop as they came back down towards Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The great historical city had gone barely changed for centuries as many refused to change historical landmarks despite the continuing changes across Terra instead the city was complete with its winding streets which covered the valley the city was built over.  The Amaris occupation of Terra had changed the city in little ways the first week of the occupation the so-called Emperor Stefan Amaris himself had visited Edinburgh, as it was the historical home of the Cameron Family and it required his attention and mark.  He ordered all residence of the Cameron family residence crushed by BattleMechs, the Cameron family servants executed publicly, their bodies displayed, and the Historic Scottish Parliament Building smashed to pieces and left in that state as a message to everyone.  He then warned the people of the city if they resisted him, he would crush a building and execute the family for every death that was caused.

Over the course of the occupation there was sporadic violence in the city and there were retributions as Amaris had promised with dozens of buildings destroyed along with the executions which had been promised.  However, unlike other areas of Terra there was little of the wanton slaughter which had been experienced and most of the city had remained relatively intact.  Except for the Amaris’ troops manhunts for resistance fighters, the search for food (as supplies had grown scarce with Amaris troops hoarding it) and the Amaris troops on the street there had been little day to day changes.  Fortunately for the SLDF, none of these changes had caused significant damage to the DropPort allowing for rapid and easy deployments for the SLDF liberators most of the occupiers had surrendered when the SLDF arrived.  Now according to the population, the Amaris forces the SLDF now hunted were not Rim Worlds born troops instead they were from one of the Loyalist forces raised by the Emperor from Terran Hegemony citizens to “protect” Terra from the aggressors in the SLDF.  These troops were now afraid that the SLDF were out to get them and were looking for anything and everything they could use as leverage and the Cameron-Windsor family would make perfect bargaining chips.

For Mike all these details seemed to be excessive for a dream even as he checked his Highlander for the hundredth time he did not know if it was right because he was a trained MechWarrior, and this was his Mech, or if it was because he had read about BattleMechs for the last twenty years. The testing of the Highlander had gone well and he had been able to get the Highlander into the DropShip without tripping it over, he had felt his confidence and control growing so it seemed that he was a MechWarrior trained to pilot and fight for the Star League Defence Force.  Each step Mike wondered if the jolt of the Highlander moving would wake him up from this dream and he would be back in his flat in real life?  Was his flat and the stack of BattleTech books the reality or the fiction?  He could not go on questioning things they would distract him and get him or his lance mates killed… “Who thinks like that?”  He suddenly blurted out quickly double checking his transmitter was shut off, it thankfully was, he did not need the others to be questioning what he was thinking or doing.  Mike sat in silence for a moment instead of questioning things he decided to try and embrace it, if this was a dream, he would enjoy it while it lasted, if it was his life... he would live it, he would survive it.

[Dragon Cat]

Three

Gaining all the information they could from Edinburgh the company began to head north, because there were no functional DropPorts north of the capital and due to the fear of Amaris anti air units they would travel by ground north to search for the Amaris loyal forces.  First, they headed through the city of Edinburgh this was more of a publicity move than anything as it allowed them to see the city and for the people to see the Star League Defence Force on the streets.  The company moved in single formation along the river following the route of reinforced roads which allowed BattleMechs to travel through the city without damaging anything.  As they walked Mike twisted his Highlander’s torso while keeping on the road at a stead thirty kilometres per hour.  On one of the cockpits on the main screen in front of him the external view was replaced briefly by a zoomed image of the ruined Edinburgh Castle.  For a moment the ruins were replaced by an image of the buildings that existed during his old life’s time.  The Castle then was little more than a museum having stopped being relevant in the defence of the city long before.  According to the reports Amaris had seen the Castle as a symbol of power and defiance to his rule and ordered it flattened.  Hundreds of people had gathered to protest in crowds and attempted to counter his actions and the entire crowd had subsequently been slaughtered by Amaris troops.

“Command Three, you alright?”  A voice asked him suddenly the ruin had returned on his viewscreen Mike unzoomed his screen and twisted the Highlander’s torso back straight again he noticed he had wondered slightly off the centre of the road they were walking along but otherwise nothing had changed.

“Affirmative” he replied he needed to get rid of these visions.  Heading along the main road the company made they way clear of Edinburgh and then continued north passing through the largely abandoned city of Dundee without incident.  Dundee was a city that had long ago been abandoned and had been virtually forgotten by the people of Terra as the population searched for an exciting life away from Terra in the newly explored Inner Sphere.  There were some hold outs families who held onto tradition and refused to leave the city forming small self-sustaining communities who lived isolated lives while the rest of the planet lived in the remaining populated mega-cities.  During the Amaris’ occupation of Terra more people had fled to Dundee and other abandoned cities trying to avoid the occupying troops.  Seeing no sign of hostiles in or around the city Charlie Company continued north leaving those who had chosen to return to the city.

Stopping ten kilometres south of the city of Aberdeen at a conventional engine fuel station the SLDF MechWarriors camped for the night instead of potentially forcing a conflict after their long journey. “Why include this in a dream?” Mike continued to wonder the sounds of wilderness beyond them, the light and heat from their camp fire.  Taking four hour shifts a single lance remained on patrol at all time ready to defend the other sleeping warriors Mike had taken his guard duty at the beginning for the night so had the rest of the night to sleep but he did not want to miss anything from this dream… this life and instead wandered.  Mike moved slowly through the other warriors listening to their stories of the war and their conflict against Amaris.  He tried to remain quiet his memories and thoughts were all jumbled up, one moment he was remembering the battles that had taken them through the Terran Hegemony and the next he remembered walking down a peaceful bustling civilian life of twenty-first century on Terra.  It was the strangest feeling, all these people considered him a friend and a battle-hardened warrior, but silently inside Mike questioned whether he was ready for a fight he felt comfortable inside the Highlander like its limbs were an extension of his own but he had not engaged anything yet, he hadn’t fired a shot in anger or fired a shot that he knew would kill his enemy.  His internal voice screamed at him he was not ready for the stress of battle but he himself felt fine, he felt like the athletic warrior he looked like, and these people trusted him to do the job.

The next morning the captain pulled them all around “okay ladies and gentlemen, scans from orbit show there is nothing out of the ordinary going on here on Terra.” He said there was some muffled laughter from the group, if there was no trouble why were they here. “Most people are tired of conflict and have accepted our rule, as a result the Old Man is redeploying refitted units and the fleet around the Hegemony putting out the brushfires Amaris and his goons have left. While Terra is mostly pacified our targets continue to operate and our mission orders stand to track down these loyalists and bring them in to face the courts.”

“At this rate the Hegemony has no chance” Katherine said, she was in her late twenties with long brown hair tied into a ponytail she wore a standard green jumpsuit with a red, white, and blue cloth tired around her left arm Mike could not remember why she wore that but there was a reason and one that the officers allowed.  “The Old Man needs to tell the Succession Lords to back off or we'll do to them what we did to Amaris...”

“And become the next meal on their banquet table” Thomas interrupted “they've already started their encroachments on the Hegemony, the next war will come to us before we take it to them.”

“We can handle them!”  Katherine snapped back “our people are the best equipped, best trained in the entire Inner Sphere, we can handle anything.”  She said proudly Mike remained quiet and remembered something from his back of books back in his old life “The Old Man” Aleksandr Kerensky had removed his forces from the Inner Sphere after securing Terra because he feared exactly what they were all talking about.  Kerensky had known that his forces could take down any of the enemy forces individually but if they all came at the same time then the SLDF, as well equipped and trained as they were, would be overwhelmed and destroyed.  It was moments like this he knew this was a dream, there was no way he could know these items if he lived in this time… the argument between his lance mates brought him back to reality.

“Are you so ready for another war when this one is just done?”  Bruce snapped “We lost plenty of people getting to Terra…”

“All of you quieten down!” the captain snapped cutting off the argument “I don't know what is coming, but we have a mission to complete.” He said “this Loyalist Battalion could be looking for a fight, looking for hostages, or it could be looking to stay hidden until the SLDF has issues with one of our neighbours.  Either way we need to check on Balmoral Castle here” he said pointing to a point in land isolated from everything in the area.  “The residence was maintained before the war as a Winsor-Cameron family residence.  We know that Amaris executed the staff when he took over Terra there but for some reason left the building intact.  It has its own launch pad so the Loyalists may be heading there to a DropShip to try and escape the planet.  If they are airborne, we let them run, we pass them onto Fleet not our problem anymore.”

“If they run its suicide, even a Vincent would blow it to pieces smaller than my fist in a single volley.”  James said quietly raising his arm with a clenched hand before opening his hand to visualize what he meant if they did not understand.  No DropShip would have a chance under a WarShip’s guns if it was caught in their sights.

“Exactly, we head north in thirty minutes.”  The captain said quietly, Mike turned around and walked back towards Missy, a sleeping Highlander BattleMech.

“Mr Quiet, what's up?”  Katherine moved up beside him walking towards their Mechs “you have been quiet since the new orders came in.  I thought you would be happy; you never stop going on about home, we're here.”  She said raising her arms at the wilderness around them.

“It's different from what I remember.”  Mike said quietly forcing a smile there was no way for him to explain exactly how it had changed without sounding completely crazy. “Lots of things have changed. I am different than the last time I was in this area.”  He said thinking not just of the changed Terra since Amaris' occupation but also the changes since his dream, it really was a different world.

“But it's still home” she said nudging his shoulder.  Mike stopped and turned towards her for a moment he was tempted to blurt out his entire story try to put into words what the dream had shown him and how it made him feel but instead he closed his eyes and took a deep, deep breath slowly letting it go again.

“It certainly is.”  He said smiling “and whatever happens it'll always hold a place in my heart.”  He said he could tell by her face she knew he wanted to say more but she did not say anything.

“You have one of those?”  She joked Mike roared with laughter that slowly turned into a more sinister laugh “just what I thought.”  She commented turning walking back towards her own BattleMech a seventy-five-ton Orion.  Mike watched her move slowly her body clad in her coolant suit it did little to obstruct her figure “eyes up soldier” she said glancing over her shoulder catching him out.  Mike shrugged his shoulders but did not move his eyes off her, to her credit Katherine just continued to walk off, she was exactly what he would want in a partner fun to be around and beautiful, exactly what a dream would give him he thought life is not that perfect.  In his twenty-first century life he vaguely remembered a partner who he had been getting serious with… he wondered for a moment what happened to her and what happened to his cat.  He shook his head and turned around away from Katherine and back towards his Highlander “I guess it’s you and me for now Missy.” He said speaking to the sleeping BattleMech.

Nearly an hour later Mike was watching Katherine's back again but this time in far different circumstances “on the left Striker Three!”  Mike called out, as they had passed through the woods elements of the Loyalist Battalion had struck them unannounced, making it clear there would be no surrender, Harry's twenty-ton Wasp had disintegrated under the fire not even giving the warrior time to escape his dying machine as weapons fire tore through the BattleMech and pilot not discerning what it destroyed.  Both Katherine's Orion and Mike's Highlander fired at nearly the same time showering a Loyalist Catapult with missiles and laser fire.  The gauss rifle slug from Mike's Highlander tore the missile pod from the Catapult's left side while Katherine's autocannon tore down the Mech's other side.  Losing so much armour and systems in a single attack the Catapult crashed to the ground on fire as its ammunition stores detonated.  BattleMechs were designed to take a lot of damage but when one BattleMech took damage from two other BattleMechs which weighed in at more than twice the tonnage of the Mech it had little chance. “That's for Harry” Mike said angrily looking at the burning Catapult like the Wasp pilot the Catapult pilot had no chance to escape. Twisting the torso to the right seeing a Loyalist Awesome, by reaction Mike pulled his weapons triggers again missiles flew from the Highlander's torso mounted launcher poured from the assault Mech and the two torso lasers linked the two Mechs for moments as the lasers burned over the Awesome’s thick armour.  Mike moved the Highlander’s feet and turned to face the giant which fired particle cannons in return as missiles exploded over the Awesome throwing off the shot mercifully missing the Highlander with all but one shot which sizzled down the right leg.  Raising the Highlander’s arm he let loose a salvo of short range missiles guided by the Artemis Fire Control Systems his missiles bore down on the Awesome peppering its already damaged armour, Mike added the long range missiles and laser fire to the attack as he launched the Highlander into the air using its Jump Jets.  Twenty-six combined missiles from the two launchers and two laser blasts caused damage all over the Awesome which caused several explosions even as the ninety-ton Highlander took to the air.

Considering this was Mike's first use of the massive Mech's jump jets in anger he found it as natural as he would walking along down the street the ninety-ton Mech flew towards the Awesome on jets of fire.  Mike used the feet pedals to control the burn angling the Highlander’s flight as long as the jets remained active, when they burned out there was an eery silence before the Mech began to fall again as the jets recharged Mike fired them again slowing the fall but the ninety ton BattleMech fell faster and faster.  At the end of the jump the Highlander fell like a brick straight at the Awesome, this move every Highlander pilot was acquainted with was known as the “Highlander Burial” others called it Death from Above but the Highlander pilots preferred their own name for it.  As the Mech came into a landing its feet smashed into the back of the Awesome's head metal twisted, bent, and broke on both machines as the two Mechs impacted. There was a sickening sound of twisting metal as the two BattleMech’s collided. Mike fought to control his BattleMech as his Highlander as it fell onto and literally crushed the other Mech’s cockpit under the ninety-ton weight.  The Highlander continued forwards with its fall crashing into the ground Missy was moments from falling flat onto its face but Mike kept the BattleMech moving bringing it under control keeping it on its feet. He twisted the torso to see the crushed remains of the Awesome sprawled over the ground its head smashed into its torso.

“Two down” he said grimly as sweat poured from his head twisting the torso back to its normal position.  During his testing period of the Highlander, he had not tested the weapons or experienced the heat produced by them, now his ninety-ton BattleMech needed a moment to cool down. A moment he would not get his Highlander was bathed in light as a particle blast from an enemy Loyalist BattleMech struck Missy’s torso burning armour away.  Electrical discharges exploded over the Mech dissipating into the air.  Mike looked up to see a Dragoon type Heavy BattleMech “didn't think those went to Loyalist forces?” Mike muttered as the Dragoon turned and blasted Bruce's Mongoose with one of its autocannons then twisted and blasted the Captain's Warhammer with its second autocannon.  “Son of a...” Mike cursed as the Dragoon hit his Highlander again with its particle cannon before turning away to escape “I don't deserve your full attention?”  He asked angrily blasting the Mech with his Gauss rifle and long-range missiles.  The enemy Mech was peppered with fire but it continued to battle against Charlie Company as it backed out of the battle and into the undergrowth causing damage to all of Charlie's Mechs as it retreated.

“All units do not engage, this was an advanced group, we're not charging after them into another ambush.”  The captain said his Warhammer sending a parting shot at a retreating Amaris Mech.

“Boss, that was a frigging Dragoon!  Loyalist forces do not normally have those.”  Libby said her Guillotine had taken a few hits from the enemy Mech's autocannons.

“Indeed, they do not.  Intel must have been on a holiday, keep your wits about you people.”  The captain said pausing for a moment “there is a clearing three hundred metres to the east, we're moving there and will call the DropShip down to effect some repairs.”  He said their DropShip held all their supplies and techs it would remain in orbit until they needed it only landing when required to avoid being overrun by enemy units or damaged by anti-aircraft fire.  The idea was its random landings would keep any Amaris gunners from being able to get a fix on the vessel's movements, although each time it landed the DropShip would be vulnerable to weapons fire.

“Sir, Harry's Wasp will also need recovered.” Lieutenant Cameron Lewis said quietly, Cameron's Griffin stood over the fallen lighter Mech the pilot's body remained in what remained of the Wasp's shattered cockpit.

“We take care of our own, Lieutenant.”  The captain promised as the company turned towards the clearing. It had been their first battle since the end of the Amaris campaign, all of them were tired of the fighting but after seeing what had been done to Terra it was nice to get a little extra revenge, each of them had fought with that little bit extra vengeance battling the ambush force.  However, Harry's death had reminded them all just how much this fight had cost so far and how much it would continue to driving them on to eradicate Amaris last hold outs.

As they moved through the trees Mike quickly “safed” all his triggers his hands were shaking, it was easy for a warrior to accidentally trigger a weapon after a fight was over with their adrenaline still pumping.  Mike had survived the battle and defeated other warriors in battle doing a lot better than he had expected, he had come through it like it was second nature not like someone who had dreamt it up but someone who had fought and lived through countless battles.  His dream of a small peaceful flat seemed more and more distant, this terrifying wonderful world seemed more and more like his place. But his control over the Highlander and the Highlander Burial he had successfully completed showed he was more than capable of piloting and fighting in a BattleMech maybe Katherine had been right maybe he was home.

[mikecj]

Well written, thanks for sharing this!

[Dragon Cat]

Well written, thanks for sharing this!

Glad you liked it, its old for me but I've never been happy with it so if others enjoy it I'm really glad

Four

Charlie Company's DropShip had been able to land and make repairs to the unit unmolested the nearby Amaris troops were nowhere to be seen. Harry Forsyth's destroyed Wasp was also recovered along with the pilot's broken body, as expected there had been no chance of his survival, once the repairs had been completed and recovery complete the ship blasted off again returning to space.

The remains of the company moved forwards in near silence the war was supposed to be over the suffering and dying at an end but one of their friends and numerous Rim Worlds Loyalists were also dead. They were all sick of conflict most ready to forget their lives as MechWarriors and retire to quite corners of the Hegemony and to live the rest of their lives in peace. Mike tried to remain out of those discussions part of him understood and remembered what they felt but if he was being completely honest another part loved every minute of what was happening. He did not know what was worse the fact that all this could be a dream or that all of this was his life and… he enjoyed the conflict, how could he explain to someone that he enjoyed it when the bullets flew towards him? There was something frightful, almost primal, about it but he had enjoyed the thrill of the life and death struggle when he was battling the other pilots.  He consciously knew that he had killed the Awesome pilot with the 'Burial’ attack in the last fight, there had been no chance of the pilot surviving. He did not know how he felt about the fact in some ways he wondered what that pilot had done with their life up until now and what they wanted to do in the future.  On the other hand, Mike tried to rationalise that it was a kill or be killed as Harry had learned by paying the ultimate price, but there was no real rational way to explain it no way for anyone who had not been in the middle of it to understand.

They travelled through the wilderness in places there was evidence of broken tarmac or frequented dirt tracks but for the most part this was a reclaimed and reborn Terra. Abandoned for centuries as the people of this world spread to the stars Mother Nature had returned to this part of Terra and retaken what man had borrowed during his brief spell of occupation on the world it was the way of a planet like Terra, the world was designed for humanity it had evolved with humans to support the form of life but Terra had existed long before man had set foot on it and now that man had left for the stars the planet was reclaiming the real estate.  Across the Inner Sphere you could see the same thing when man moved out of an area the world tried to recover what had briefly been used and Terra was no different now that humanity had used this land it was slowly being returned to the earth. Mike had always loved the outdoors he knew how to live off the land and had always enjoyed trips into the 'sticks' as his grandfather had called it, now seeing what an unhindered Scotland looked like he loved home even more it was truly beautiful.  The other had survival training for if they were shot out of their Mech but this… this was home regardless of what life he was living.

That night they broke for camp nearly three kilometres south of Balmoral they could have pushed on but the wild had slowed their pace and the captain did not fancy a night fight. Instead, the eleven of them sat around small fires as the wild closed in around them, everywhere they could hear the trees and animals as if they were reacting to the uninvited guests. Katherine sat shivering beside the fire Mike offered her his jacket "funny place to call home. It's creepy, wet, cold..."

"Beautiful, wild and amazing" Mike finished for her looking around them the trees lit by the flicking of the fire.  “There’s nothing really dangerous out there, Scotland reintroduced wolves and bears into the country centuries ago from other countries and through genetic manipulation but they live several kilometres from here.  The most you have to worry about here is a hungry fox or a lost dear.”  He explained the wilds of Scotland with the gamekeepers were wild but this close to the coast they had nothing to worry about, in his own time Mike had heard stories of them wanting to reintroduce wolves to the country his ‘memories’ of this time indicated that the same had happened in the “BattleTech timeline.”  As Scotland became emptier those that remained had reintroduced the animals that had previously been hunted to extinction by man.

"Why thank you. Aren't you the charmer?" She said with a wink as she huddled into his jacket and into Mike's arms, he liked how she felt, in a dream this would definitely happen and probably more. "You really love it, here, don't you?"  She whispered looking up at him, Mike got a sense there had been something between them before but there was not now, he could not remember why his memories were still too muddled between the now and the twenty-first century life he had lived.  As his memories sorted themselves, he was beginning to wonder if his twenty-first century life was the dream, this experience was too detailed not to be real surely?

"It's where I belong doesn't matter what time, just here. Things can change, people can move or die, but this place it's always the same."  He remembered the woods from near his grandparents when he was a child it was exactly like this untamed, dangerous, and exciting.

"What about the SLDF? If we get orders to move on?"  She asked wondering if this return to home was the end of the road for Mike.  Many of the others had already spoken about their end game, their return to their homes in the Hegemony, retiring to somewhere quiet his twenty-first century brain was telling him that a ‘peaceful life’ would not happen but that could have been a dream.  If he lived right now maybe the history, he ‘knew’ about the future was not written, maybe they could see a different future according to the theory of alternate timelines, as he understood it, these sorts of things were infinite.

"I'll follow the Old Man wherever he orders me, I’m not ready for the retirement bash yet.” He joked looking around as she leaned into him, she liked that he was not ready to walk away from this life yet. “I'll always see this place as home." He said admitting he knew he would leave Scotland again but he would also remain here in his mind and heart, he would return here in his dreams.

"Funny place to call home" she repeated as she slowly holding close to him.

"I want to tell you something Kat, it sounds weird, but don't laugh..." He started it was time to be honest with someone, but he noticed she had drifted off to sleep. Mike let her rest tomorrow would be busy enough.

The next day certainly was busy enough the push on Balmoral had taken them only a couple of hours pushing through the undergrowth decades of Earth reclaiming the land were reversed by the course the BattleMechs. At the ancient summer home for the Cameron-Winsors they had found an assault lance supported by automated defences.  Even an assault lance had little chance against Charlie Company's eleven remaining Mechs each lance had combined their fire on the enemy Mechs to take them down in a hail of fire.  Overwhelming firepower was the name of the game, it was the Star League’s mantra use your superior technology and numbers to overwhelm an enemy and if you do not have those use orbital bombardment! Unfortunately, the enemy still fired back and they had enough fight in them to kill Steven Shran's Archer. A freak missile hit had consumed his, many times rebuilt, BattleMech the damage had done enough to cause the ammunition inside the Archer to explode destroying the Mech, Shran's ejection seat had fired taking him to safety but his battle was over.

One of the Loyalist warriors had also survived the battle and he had ejected soon after he had been captured by the Charlie Company and had revealed they had expected to find a DropShip there to take them off Terra.  Behind the castle there was indeed an ancient Manatee type DropShip but its nose had been cored through by a capital missile from some previous attack which had gutted the vessel. The warrior went on to say the remains of the Loyalist number which was no more than a company had headed to the abandoned City of Aberdeen to the east where it was rumoured there was an SLDF supply bunker hidden in the city.

Aberdeen had once been a prosperous city with a thriving oil industry that was until the Soviet Civil War when a rogue commander had fired two high yield missiles at the city.  The attack had devastated the city's airport and industrial sector to the north causing hundreds of deaths and destroying the City’s last hold on prosperity.  Rumours that followed the attack that one of the weapons was nuclear or biological and were spreading sickness through the area, these rumours had been proven false, but they did the rest of the damage with people leaving in droves. By the late twenty-first century after the war on Terra had ended only those working in the failing oil industry remained but technology was quickly outpacing them as space flight and colonisation of the stars became more of a draw to all citizens of Terra.  With the scarred and exploited Terra behind them the opportunities, and adventure, in space killed what remained to keep people on Terra and of the city's appeal. The city became one of Terra's first in the northern hemisphere to be formally classed as abandoned with its population close to zero.  There were some diehards who refused to leave, believing that since many had left riches remained for them and over the years small groups had returned but those that remained in the city were holding onto something from a bygone era.

During the Amaris Occupation of Terra, a still small but bigger population had found refuge in the overgrown ruins hiding from prosecution and living off the land they had formed a pocket of resistance against the Usurper that had expanded around the globe. Now it appeared Amaris own people were trying to use it as a refuge from the SLDF. Charlie Company moved along the broken roads from Balmoral through abandoned towns, occasionally there was signs of occupation or movement of small civilian vehicles but nothing to indicate an armed force or a community mostly just stubborn isolationists unwilling to give up on their little corner of Terra.


They entered the city passing a sign that said:


"A93 North Deeside Road Ballater-Aberdeen. You are now entering Aberdeen, have a nice day"

The sign looked ancient and had rusted badly but was still clearly visible "built them to last" Mike whispered he thought looking at the sign. For a moment he was back in his previous life, or dream whatever it was, he saw cars driving down either side of the dual carriage way.  People going about their lives commuting to the shops and to work, people enjoying their lives in peace, buses taking children on trips, farmers collecting their crops...

"From what we know people the Loyalists think this bunker is inside one of four locations in the city so we will search them one by one as a unit." The captain ordered snapping Mike back to the here and now, how could he daydream in a dream?  While Mike wrestled with his thoughts the remains of the company moved forwards no one complained about the captain’s plan, stick together get the job done two members of the company were down, one was dead, there was no need to lose anyone else in a war that should be over in a dead city.

[Dragon Cat]

Five

Moving into the City Charlie Company first searched through an industrial and storage zone south of the city which included a partially decommissioned oil rig along the coast line.  After several hours of searching the area, they found nothing of interest instead moving towards the city centre.  As they moved along the main road past the harbour front, they approached a retail centre with a large external and multi-storey car park alongside a two to three story shopping mall, as the company turned to search the centre a volley of autocannon blasts slammed into James' Rifleman II coming from the car park.  The company moved evasively into cover as further autocannon rounds and missile blasts landed around them, James having been the target stood his ground returned fire with his own autocannons and lasers cutting into a multi-storey car park where a pair of Autocannon Carriers were situated.  His attacks rocked the structure but did minimal damage to the enemy units which were back from the edge.  More missiles and autocannon blasts landed all around the Rifleman II tearing into armour plate, weapons, and structure.  The Rifleman II's left arm took three successive autocannon blasts which tore through the weapons housed there, one autocannon shell shattering the Rifleman II's own autocannon into two pieces as part of the arm fell to the ground.  With the rest of the company still pinned James marched his Rifleman II forward in a defiant display of bravery firing his weapons constantly into the parking structure even as his Mech began to overheat from the continuous fire.  One of the enemy autocannon carriers was torn to pieces by his fire while the structure they had used as cover was severely weakened.  With the enemy now looking to save themselves Charlie company began to provide James with cover fire as he stood in harm’s way taking all the fire from the enemy units, missiles, and autocannon fire tore through his assault Mech but James ignored it keeping his Mech standing under the fire and returning fire with everything he had.  Even as the Rifleman II began to falter under the damage James continued to fire, causing the parking structure and with it their enemies to fall before them.  As the building collapsed in a heap or broken concrete the Rifleman II finally crumpled to the ground in a heap of twisted and broken metal.

“James respond” the captain ordered quietly but there was no answer “James, do you read?”  He asked still there was only static.  “Mike, Libby check on him.”  He ordered “Charlie Company defence overwatch on the Rifleman.”  He ordered “call out any movement.”

Switching his BattleMech to stand-by mode Mike grabbed the medkit from the right of his chair, his survival clothing and laser rifle from the back of the Highlander's cramped cockpit.  It was standard practice for SLDF MechWarriors to carry their own sidearm in the cockpit, normally a hold-out laser pistol or a small slug thrower pistol, but with the Highlander's marginally larger cockpit there was room for a larger laser rifle to be stored against the cockpit door.  This made Mike the perfect choice to disembark and provide cover fire if a pilot needed checked on after a battle.  Libby was the company medic combining her medkit with Mike's would provide them with anything they would need to stabilize James’s condition, if he was alive.

The ground between the company's position and the fallen Rifleman II was broken the tarmac smashed after years of decay and lack of any maintenance.  Once on the ground he dressed in a jumpsuit and moved slowly the medkit over his back his rifle raised to meet any threat, the rifle would be good against any infantry or lightly armoured vehicles but if they encountered hardened targets, they would not worry about him.  Behind Mike and Libby was what enemy vehicles or Mechs would worry about as the remaining Mechs of Charlie Company watched the roads and buildings around for any movement ready to meet any threat.  Crossing the tarmac Mike heard something off to his right he turned to look and saw only a rat scurrying over an ancient broken car nothing that would threaten them.

As he turned back towards the Rifleman II something changed the ruined BattleMech and abandoned car park were replaced with a bustling scene as people moved around a shopping scene the crumpled multi-storey car park was restored to pristine condition and the glass-frontage of the shopping centre was restored.  In front of Mike was a man dressed in shirt and jeans loading shopping into his vehicle.  As the man turned to look at him Mike saw it was himself, no an older self, in the car there was a female and child waiting.  A life he could have? He wondered in either life he seemed to be living, past and present, Mike was not married and had no children could this be something he would have if he woke up?  What did this mean?  He began to lower the laser rifle.

Suddenly Libbie stepped through the image of an older Mike, which disappeared, and walked up to him.  “You with me MechWarrior?”  She said angrily snapping him back to reality “get with it, you are up front.”

“I’m here” Mike confirmed and the two of them continued to close on the wreck.  Reaching the Rifleman Mike called out James’s name but there was still no response Libby arrived just behind Mike her own laser pistol drawn “no answer” Mike informed her “I'll cover you peak?”  He said lowering his medkit to the ground he did not fancy seeing the scene in the cockpit considering the damage the rest of the Mech had taken.

“Affirmative.”  She confirmed holstering her pistol she slung his kit over her shoulder and climbed the broken leg of the downed BattleMech.  The armour was so badly torn in places Libby was able to move over the Mech quickly reaching the Rifleman's head “head armour penetrated” she commented into her communicator as she moved over the Mech “James? Do you hear me!”  She called out but there was still no answer “entering cockpit” she said moving around the Mech's head opening the rear hatch the keypad access responding to her Company's access code.  “Captain, Command Three is down, repeat Command Three is KIA.”  She said after a few moments being in the cockpit.

“Understood, return to your Mech.”  The captain ordered his voice low, another person lost from their company.

On the ground Mike was looking around searching for the scene he had seen before of a hustling and bustling centre he felt strange as if this place had been visited by millions of people over the years and they all had left parts of them here.  The now crumbling parking structure was massive as was the retail centre, it would have looked very impressive in its prime, a hive of activity, when the city was occupied.  Libby re-joined him on the ground “Ready to move” she said passing his medkit back.

“Affirmative, I have cover” Mike replied within moments Libby was gone running across the ground back towards her Mech.  Two cracks filled the air “Sniper!” Mike called opening fire on the approximate area of where the shots originated, he glanced over at Libby’s fallen form “Command Four is down! Libby! Are you okay?”  He said moving slowly towards her continuing to fire his rifle trying to keep the unseeing sniper down.  He moved slowly towards her and knelt as he reached her fallen form.  Lieutenant Lewis' Griffin and Recon Lance's Falcon moved forward blasting the area where Mike had been firing with their BattleMech scale weapons keeping the sniper down if they still lived.  “I missed that *******!”

“It’s ok my vest and suit took it” she replied breathing heavily, even though her clothing had protected her Mike bet she had a cracked rib or at the least heavy bruising, as she tried to recover from the blast. Mike helped her back onto her feet and back towards the company as the two Mechs continued to pummel the buildings around where the sniper had been smashing the ancient buildings with their weapons fire.  The ruins had not been designed to take sustained weapons fire and there were additional collapses as the damage was caused.

“Cease fire” the captain ordered “John, mark the position for recovery operations.”  He said addressing the Company's communication officer his Osprey carried additional communication and sensor equipment to assist the company at the expense of fire-power and speed.

“Already done sir, I've uplinked to the DropShip they will recover the Rifleman and James' body after we secure the area.”  He replied

“Good, Libby are you okay?”

“Affirmative sir, coolant suit is a little ruined but otherwise I'm fine.”  She said breathing heavily her ribs hurt after being shot but she would be alright.

“Understood, it seems our captured Loyalist pilot neglected to mention the remaining company had armour and infantry support.  Be ready for any further surprises people, we don't want to be sloppy and make mistakes.”  Mike’s cheeks burned in the Highlander’s cockpit he hated that he had missed the sniper, he could have lost a second MechWarrior today, a second friend.

“Sir, permission to take the high ground.”  Mike said volunteering he needed to do something “that retail structure looks solid enough to take my Mech's weight and should offer a nice vantage point.”  He said the parking structure had completely collapsed but the structure itself was still intact and looked like it had a relatively flat roof.

“Not on your own, Thomas detach yourself from Striker you're with Mike, be careful no chances.  We will take the main road into the city.”  The captain answered Thomas' Mech was a Catapult twenty-five tons lighter than Mike's Mech it carried long range missile launchers like the one carried in his Highlander's torso and had jump jets for increased mobility but its armour was distinctly sub-par.

As the seven other Mechs of Charlie Company moved into the city the Highlander and Catapult approached the retail centre slowly “Thomas switch to dedicated channel six” Mike ordered taking the lead neither had rank on their side but it was his idea and he had the bigger Mech.

“Done” Thomas said quietly on their private channel “how do you want to play this?”  He said indicating he would play by Mike's ideas.

“I bait you kill?”  Mike suggested his armour could take more hits than the Catapult and he had better close in weapons.

“Sounds good, I'll stay 120 metres to your back and right.”  He confirmed taking a support position, that way if Mike brought additional fire from any direction Thomas could move and not cause Mike any movement issues.

“Understood, taking high ground now.”  Mike said stepping down on both pedals in the Highlander's cockpit launching the Mech into the air on its jump jets.  He half expected weapons fire to strike his ninety-ton Mech as soon as it left the ground but the air was empty.  Landing on the retail centre he was relieved to find old building was solid enough to take his Highlander's Mech.  Scanning the area, he saw no signs of life or movement “heading out” he sent to Thomas a single click of acknowledgement was all he received in reply.  Walking carefully over the roof of the building the Highlander smashed the air conditioning equipment that had been left there littering the structure’s roof Mike constantly kept one eye on the sensor read out watching for enemy movement there was nothing in the area.

“I got movement” Thomas called out Mike turned his BattleMech around to see the Catapult behind him being struck by a gauss rifle slug.  The projectile travelling faster than the speed of sound impacted with the Catapult's cockpit window.  The impact tore through the armour and windows, through the cockpit and into the Mech's torso, the sixty-five-ton BattleMech fell to the side and then off the building roof.  As it hit the ground the ammunition stores within the BattleMech exploded consuming the wrecked design.

“Jesus...”  Mike exclaimed there was no way Thomas had survived the initial hit let alone the fall, he had not even had the chance to return fire; so much for their bait and kill tactic.  Mike followed the track of the gauss rifle shot finding a Rim Worlds Republic designed Rampage “bad move.”  Running back along the roof Mike cut in his Highlander's jump jets launching the BattleMech into the air, as it lifted into the air, he triggered his own gauss rifle, the torso mounted missile launcher and lasers.  The Rampage was covered in a coat of fire but the eighty-five-ton assault Mech stood its ground returning fire with his own autocannon, pulse laser and missiles tearing into the falling Highlander.  Just before the Mech landed Mike cut in the jump jets softening the blow of landing at the same time blasting the Rampage with the Highlander's arm mounted short range missiles and the recharged lasers coating the Rampage in fire for a second time. The pilot lost his footing firing his Mech's own short-range missiles in defiance striking the Highlander's leg armour as the Rampage fell to the ground.  Angry at Thomas death Mike pushed the Highlander forward approaching the fallen Rampage raising his arm mounted missile launcher firing a tightly packed salvo of six short range missiles into the downed Mech as the pilot tried to stand his Rampage up again.  Stepping closer to point blank range Mike drew back the Highlander's leg kicking out at the Rampage's out-stretched arm knocking the Rampage down to the ground, as the enemy Mech fell again, he blasted it with his torso mounted lasers cutting into the armour covering the Rampage's back.  As the loyalist MechWarrior tried to raise for a second time Mike kicked out knocking the enemy down again the Rampage slammed into the ground again causing yet more damage to the Mech.  He did not feel sorry for the downed warrior he had killed Thomas with a single shot, now stuck in a downed Mech with little hope of survival was the least this warrior deserved, Mike kicked the Rampage again shattering the arm actuator on its outstretched left arm.

“Command Four, need assistance” Katherine's voice cracked through the communication system “we need you and Thomas quickly, the main force has been engaged.”  She said not knowing Thomas was down.  Without a thought Mike raised his Mech's arm and fired a salvo of short-range missiles into the cockpit of the downed Rampage armour plates cracked and gave way.  The Mech went loose its struggle to stand up over as the pilot died, the Mech's brain and will for destruction gone leaving only metal and myomer behind.

“On my way” Mike replied without emotion turning the Highlander onto the main road running towards the city centre where the rest of Charlie Company had headed.  Ahead he could see rising flames and smoke so far, his unit had lost much now it was their enemies turn.

[Dragon Cat]

Six

It did not take long for Mike to reach the Katherine’s position could see her Mech was crouched behind a building sheltering from weapons fire while the Falcon of Recon Lance was down its cockpit a burning wreck; another death for the company to take. Seeing one of the enemy Mechs moving to flank her position Mike aimed his gauss rifle on the move as he jumped down towards the ground and fired the supersonic slug at the twenty-ton Wasp BattleMech.  The slug slammed into the Wasp just moments later and because he had fired in the air the speeding slug travelled down through the Mech's left side torso severing the arm and leg in one strike as the Wasp begun to fall, he followed up quickly with his Mech's medium lasers finish-ing it off the battered light Mech was out of the fight even if the pilot survived.
 
Stepping further into the fight Mike saw a pair of Ignis armoured vehicles moving up on Katherine's as she dealt with one, he targeted the other with his short-range missile launcher coring the rear armour on one of the unit’s moments later the vehicle exploded showering its companion in shrapnel.  Katherine then stepped forward crushing the second Ignis under her Mech's foot.  “Thanks for the support”
 
“Affirmative” he replied turning back to the enemy a Dragoon BattleMech fired its two autocannons into his Mech showering the Highlander with dozens of pellets from the LB-X type weapons.  Instead of doing a sin-gle solid hit the Highlander's armour was subjected to the equivalent of a two shotgun blasts from the auto-cannons cluster munitions.  The Dragoon then turned lighting off its jump jets soaring over a nearby build-ing.
 
“You cheeky...” Mike cursed running his big Highlander after the heavy Mech launching a salvo of long range missiles after the retreating Mech, only a couple of missiles tagged the fleeing Dragoon but it made Mike feel better.
 
“Don't go after it yourself!”  Katherine shouted a warning but it was too late Mike's Highlander had already stepped up onto a low-level building scanning for the enemy Mech he could hear the long-range missile launcher reloading inside the torso of the BattleMech.  When he could not see the Dragoon Mike ran his Highlander up onto the first building which looked like a badly beaten down shopping centre running over it, he approached a second lighting off the Highlander's own jump jets to cross a gap between the two struc-tures.  As Mike's Mech soared into the air on plasma jets of fire, he could imagine what the structure looked like it was between two and three storeys in height with a large dome structure in the middle.  Behind and to the right there were large vehicle multi-storey car parks.
 
As the Highlander landed Mike felt the building grown under his ninety tons, he ran the Highlander forward a few steps on the roof but instead of trusting the structural integrity of the ancient building he triggered the jets again as soon as they were in the green. As the Highlander rose again from within the building a thirty-ton Javelin BattleMech rose on its own jump jets smashing through glass windows which had survived intact for centuries.  As the Mech rose its SRM launchers spat out fire at Mike's Highlander scoring hits all down the assault Mech's legs and back rocking the giant as it flew.
 
“Oh crap!”  Mike exclaimed fighting to turn to face the new opponent and control his Mech as it was impact-ed by damage.  In flight was one of the most vulnerable positions for a MechWarrior they were passengers on board the giant machines which were moving with far more speed and power than they could con-trol.  Taking damage in a flying Mech was a horrible experience a warrior did not know if a critical system was exposed as the Mech took damage
 
“Ignore him, I've got it!”  Katherine shouted seeing the newcomer from the ground her Orion's gauss rifle spitting out a ferro-nickel slug at supersonic speeds targeting the Javelin.  Hating to turn his Mech on an opponent but knowing he needed to land the Highlander and chase down the Dragoon Mike wrestled the ninety-ton Mech back around as it began to fall from the air.  Behind him Katherine’s gauss shot slammed into the Javelin which had been turning for another shot again Mike’s Highlander.  The shot slammed into the lighter Mech’s back tearing through the torso gutting its gyroscope, a follow up flight of long-range missiles consumed the Javelin as it fell ensuring it was no longer a threat its shattered remains remaining in a heap on the ground not moving.  When it came to a face-to-face fight light Mechs with short range weapons simply could not stand up to punishment from heavy weapons they were scouts and harassers but in a stand up fight they had no chance.
 
Moments later Mike slammed into the ground his palms tearing across ground pain shooting into his knee.  “Are you alright?”  A voice asked glancing up he saw Katherine but she was dressed in white t-shirt with I “heart” NYC on the front and a pair of jean shorts a face blossoming on her face as she fought back stopping herself from laughing.  Glancing around he saw a beautiful summer's day with other people walk-ing the street, some were using bank machines while more people were using the food stalls and in nearby shops enjoying the day.  “Are you alright?”  She asked again starting to giggle.  He rolled over into a seating position brushing the sand from his knees, they were on a beach somewhere the sun was glorious on his skin, he realized that he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt like Katherine and there were dozens of people around him.

“I kind of made a mess of that one” he said blinking and suddenly as quickly as she had appeared she, and the beach were gone, his shorts and the heat remained but he was back in his BattleMech the big Highlander was down on one knee after the landing, he saw additional damage had been done to the legs.

“That was quite a landing Command Four can you get up?”  Slowly bringing the Mech back to its feet he noticed his landing had done some minor armour damage, the right knee actuator flashed red for a moment then went back to yellow indicating minor damage as he flexed the limb, nothing too extreme he had gotten lucky.
 
“I'm good” he said glancing at his sensors Katherine's Orion was with him scanning the street ahead other-wise it was quiet.  Residual heat from the Dragoon indicated it had gone down the street.
 
“Sensors say he went that way, the captain has detached us to hunt down and destroy that Mech while the rest take care of the remains of the enemy in the city centre.”  Katherine explained “we were to meet up with you and Thomas before proceeding.”
 
“Thomas didn’t make it; an enemy Rampage took him out.”  Mike explained quickly marking the Coordinates on the map for the recovery of Thomas’ Catapult, the enemy Mechs and armour.  “Add in the armour and the Javelin Intel really dropped us in crap-creek with this one. I wonder if he has any more friends wait-ing?”  Mike muttered his mind was racing he did not understand the flashes into the past he was having they were not making sense especially now that Katherine was appearing in them.  They did not even come from same planet!
 
“We'll soon find out, George Street” she said quietly reading a street sign “I knew a George once, a long time ago.”
 
“I knew a street named George once” he said trying to make his words sound light hearted but looking up the long street his memory of that street mixed with the reality of what he was seeing.  In places he could almost see people moving between shops and crossing lights changing.  Why was he seeing this in com-bat?  This could not be dream he would have woken from it.
 
“I bet it wasn't in as bad a condition as this one” Katherine muttered stepping her Orion over several wrecked ancient road vehicles each rusted beyond recognition.
 
“You should have seen it at the weekend” Mike laughed trying to keep things light as he followed her careful-ly stepping around a long-ago abandoned food stall which looked like it had stood up well under the tests of time.  Silently he wondered what else this street would have in store for him.  As her Orion stepped for-wards the ground crumpled away from her Mech “Katherine lean back!”  Mike shouted out a warning as he instinctively reached out and grabbed the Orion with his Mech’s left arm it was not enough to stop her Mech from falling but it was enough to push her into a nearby building.  A couple of armour plates were a little price to pay instead of a ten-foot fall.  “Nice landing" he joked seeing her Orion rise again.
 
“Thanks, nice reactions there almost like you saw that coming?”  She asked
 
“I’m not sure what I saw" Mike said thinking about his vision he had seen something with her in it then some-thing had happened... could there be a link?
 
“Either that or your thinking of my cute ass, we need to watch our step" she said moving forwards again around the sink hole.  Mike stood still for a moment trying to fix his thoughts were his actions and his vi-sions linked?

The street was roughly two kilometres long which was hardly anything to a BattleMech Mike's own could reach a top speed of fifty-four kilometres an hour in open terrain and even in the cluttered street there was little that could slow a ninety-ton BattleMech. Unfortunately, with a Dragoon and possibly more enemies on the loose they could not take the chance of charging down the broken street especially with the dozen side streets which connected to it, the enemy could be hidden anywhere.  Every step the two Star League BattleMechs were having to make extra carefully due to the unstable ground, they had already come across one sinkhole and on either side of the street below them buildings had collapsed after years of neglect, wrecked vehicles had been left to rot in the street and weeds had far overgrown everything with little human presence nature had taken the area back like much they had seen out of the city.  What few buildings remained standing looked like they had been around for centuries and like they could collapse at any moment most were about four or five stories high putting their roofs just above the BattleMech's cockpits.  As they walked down the street Mike kept scanning these rooftops as he stepped his Highlander forward any of them would make a perfect launching point for brave infantry wanting to make a swarm attack or to use short range missile launchers against them.

“Just shows the power of nature” Katherine said quietly stepping her Orion behind his Highlander “when this city was in its prime, I bet there was barely a tree now you can barely see the buildings for the trees.”  She commented as they both detected movement on the ground both watched the area for enemy units only to see several deer step out from the undergrowth.  The eldest a large male stag with impressive antlers watched them with a wary eye as the others walked past.  “They aren’t afraid of us.”  Katherine said entranced by the sight as the sixth deer a female stepped out of the undergrowth “humanity has given up its claim to this area, “it’s theirs now.”

“Everything comes to an end” Mike whispered watching the animals cross the broken street, he sat silently for several moments looking out his cockpit window in front of him he remembered the George Street he had seen in its prime as a busy road leading into the centre of town with shops running either side under apartment buildings and offices.  Wheeled road vehicles filled the streets with pedestrians moving around those stuck in traffic jams Katherine was right there would have been barely any of this greenery as humanity made as much as they could out of the ground they had taken from nature.

“And this search will never end if you don't move your heavy ass forward” she joked Mike had been lost looking at the busy street of the past and his Highlander had completely blocked the narrow road.  The deer herd had moved on disappearing from sight between the buildings as the day light began to fade.

“I thought I saw something was just having a look” he countered knowing there was not a chance she would believe him regarding the visions, they were distracting and something neither of them needed.  He knew she had deer and they both knew that their sense of hearing would have sent them off running if there had been any sign of a threat.  Before she could answer he moved his Mech forward a bit reaching a crossroads.  Slowly he moved his Mech far enough out to look one way down the right-hand side of the street before turning around and looking down the left side.  “All clear” he said stepping forward “you think he went either way?”  Mike asked glancing down both streets his hands near the weapon controls despite the fading light they could fight as well as they could in the light due to the advanced sensors onboard their weapons of war.

“Neg, down right looks like it turns into a swamp towards the sea, the ground's sunk, anything heavier than a light Mech is going to struggle to move ten metres before getting stuck.”  She said looking down the street “down left all I see is fallen buildings and rubble.”  She said thinking of the animals they had seen; they were finding their way through this area but that was only because of their size and light weight which allowed them to find a safe path between the ancient buildings.

“A Dragoon has jump jets” Mike reminded her.

“Affirmative I know, but we would have seen a jet plume over the buildings, there hasn't been any flames that I've seen nor any heat spikes.  Unless that's what you saw when you stopped?”  She queried him Mike shook his head shaking the image of the past from his thoughts now was not the time.

“Negative” Mike said calmly trying to clear his head “it was nothing, we push on?”  He said stepping his Mech forward he heard the communication channel shared by him and Katherine click in response.  They had not heard anything else from the rest of the company he hoped the two of them were not all that was left.  They moved forwards deliberately slowly scanning as they went finding little of interest other than more wildlife that had taken over from the humans that had left.  As they approached the end of the road where it met a much wider road and a small bridge crossing an ancient railway system.  The railway was made up of two badly rusted ground tracks which had been laid long before humanity even considered the idea of the maglev trains which were now in use across the Inner Sphere.

With the wider street Katherine was able to manoeuvre around Mike's Highlander and gain some distance making it less likely the two of them would be hit by a single shot.  Mike slowly looked around the area watching his sensors and using his own eyes to see if he could spot anything despite the advances in sensors sometimes the good old “mark one eyeball” spotted things the sensors missed.  As he scanned the area, he saw a light on in one of the buildings on the fourth floor the light was exactly level with his cockpit.  “Striker Three, I've possibly got something here.”  He said taking a step closer to the building peering through the surprisingly intact windows.  As he did a young man dressed in a red t-shirt and jeans stepped closer to the window and looked out, on the window sill there appeared to be a small domesticated cat curled up in a ball as it looked out beside the male.  Mike did not need to question who it was, he knew, his voice trembled a bit as he spoke.  “Katherine, do you think there could be people living in these buildings?”

“No-one permanent I don't think but, it's possible maybe nomads who refused to live in the big cities or came out here to get away from Amaris and his thugs.  Or maybe just scavengers who like living it rough.  You got someone?”  She asked twisting her Mech's torso to face his.  Mike glanced at his sensors and then back at the person in the window who waved their arm in his direction could it be real?

“Come take a look” he said stepping his Mech back away from the building seeing the figure step back from the window, as he did Mike turned to see the Dragoon BattleMech, they had been hunting smash its way out of the building adjacent to him hammering Katherine's Orion with a pair of autocannon blasts.  Unlike when his Highlander had been targeted this time the Dragoon used solid shells hitting the Orion hard in the chest and left leg causing massive explosions that ripped across the heavy Mech’s hull.  Immediately afterwards the Dragoon followed up with a particle cannon shot straight into the Orion's head Mike watched in shock as the Orion stumbled and fell under the blasts.  He had called her closer to the building which had put her in the kill zone.  Twisting his own Highlander's torso section Mike extended the Highlander’s arm and opened fire the short-range missiles as the Mech twisted following up with the long-range missile system as well.  The short-range missiles impacted first setting explosions all over the torso section of the enemy Mech while his long-range missiles hampered by the close range exploded across the Mech the ground and buildings it was enough to buy Mike time to move.  Turning as his torso auto-centred he kicked out with Highlander’s leg knocking the Dragoon away from the fallen Orion.  “Katherine respond!”  Mike snapped seeing the Orion was trying to get up.  “Kat, speak up now!”  He demanded he said looking at the shaky Mech firing his lasers at the Dragoon.

As Katherine brought her Mech back partly to its feet another pair of autocannon blast tore into the Mech's side and back knocking the seventy-five-ton Mech back to the ground to the ground.  Mike heard Katherine scream in fear and pain before he saw the head section of the Mech burst open and her cockpit chair launch out of the stricken BattleMech.  Mike opened fire on the Dragoon with more missile and laser strikes he added in his gauss rifle ripping open a massive hole in its left torso armour as the slug almost immediately slammed into the Mech knocking it several feet back.  Looking at the travelling ejection chair he thought it at least looked like Katherine had made a clean ejection from the now dead Orion.  Due to his distraction checking on Katherine he watched as the Dragoon picked itself up and made a short jump down to the railway track before running off at full speed.

“Come back here and fight me you cowardly bastard!”  Mike screamed into the open channel firing his Mech's gauss rifle and long-range missile system at the retreating Mech.  The gauss slug travelled at supersonic speeds but also did so in a straight line in this case slamming straight into the ground near the Dragoon tearing up the earth around the retreating heavy Mech destroying some of the ancient rail tracks.  His missiles were more effective arcing through the air they landed around the Dragoon causing several strikes to the Mech's arm and back armour as well as ripping up more ground from near misses.  “Striker Three, this is Command Four respond on emergency channel” Mike called out ejection seats carried enough power to make short burst transmissions for short periods after a pilot had left their Mech in this case however there was no response.  “Katherine, respond now!”  Mike snapped stepping his Mech carefully forward closer to the edge of the railway line the Dragoon was long gone disappearing into the wilderness.  “Command One, this is Command Four, Striker Three is down I repeat Striker Three is down.  Good ejection, I have tracked her escape path, unless you order otherwise, I am going to find her landing point and recover the pilot, over.”  He transmitted this time trying to reach the Company Commander again there was no response probably caused by all the wrecked buildings and debris between him and the other Mechs.  “This is Command Four continuing with plan, out.”  He said finally after a few minutes closing the channel switching to a secondary general channel “This is the Star League Defence Force MechWarrior to the Dragoon pilot, it's just us left, we've kicked your boss’s ass now I'm hunting you, keep your eyes open because I'm coming.”  He said jumping his Mech off the road onto the railway cutting in the jump jets to cushion the fall Mike then took his Mech into a run along the railway path.  Now there were two objectives, find Katherine alive and kill the Dragoon he did not particularly care in which order these happened as long as they happened exactly like that, no more day dreams no more questioning what was going on just kill the enemy and find his friend.

[Dragon Cat]

This chapter was a little inspired by the film Fury as I've never believed that BattleMechs and combat vehicles were completely clean of external equipment

Seven

On the railway with no answer from his captain or the rest of the company Mike carried on along the old railway line trying to track down his enemy. He knew the MechWarrior was ahead of him but currently out of sight as the last daylight faded away and a light rain started slowly but surely soaking the ninety-ton BattleMech and the surrounding undergrowth. “Traditional bloody Scottish weather” Mike commented as his Highlander charged forwards, he was still receiving a good signal from Katherine’s ejector seat and he had decided he would track that down after he tracked the Mech that had destroyed her Orion.  The Dragoon was twenty tons lighter than Mike’s Highlander, both Mechs were damaged, but the Dragoon pilot had already proven they could out think those that were chasing them.  Running around a corner Mike saw along the track a tunnel which would have been used by the train to go under the ground road way it was too small for the Highlander but Mike would get a little closer to it before using his jump jets to clear the rise.

As he approached however suddenly out of the darkness a functional train began thundering towards him “WHAT!”  Mike shouted out of surprise triggering the Highlander’s jump jets out of instinct taking the Mech up and to the left away from the train, he was too close to the vehicle but he had to hope he had done enough to escape the worse damage.  After a few moments he waited for an impact from the train that did not come he cut his jump jets to dampen the flare from the jets which would mark him on any scope the Highlander began to fall again towards the ground just as a particle cannon flew after his Highlander.  If he had continued his jump or tried to jump over the tunnel, like he had planned, his BattleMech would have risen into the attack instead the man-made lightning bold fizzled away into the atmosphere.  As Mike landed on the ground he turned to see where the train was heading only to see a broken track and a collapsed tunnel, he had imagined it there was no train only an ancient disused track.  “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!  You’re not helping, you’re going to get me the **** killed!”  He screamed angrily standing his Highlander where he’d landed “wake the hell up or leave me alone!  Why is this happening!”  He screamed both angry and scared at the same time as if expecting an answer, these visions didn’t give him answers they just brought trouble and got people killed.

After a minute without an answer Mike turned his Mech back towards the chase of the Dragoon breathing deeply waiting a moment, he stepped forward only one step before stopping his eye seeing something unnatural.  He suddenly realised that on the ground ahead of him at the other side of the collapsed tunnel lay an extensive minefield.  “You son-of-a-bitch!” He swore angrily at the Dragoon pilot, “I’d have landed right in the middle of your damned trap.”  He realized the particle cannon shot would have tagged his Mech mid-air causing heavy damage and then he would have landed in the middle of the mines leaving him vulnerable to further attacks.

Sitting where he was for a moment Mike knew he needed to think.  Instead of moving he dampened his Mech’s reactor signature and remained still the vision had saved him from incurring damage to his Mech and possible death.  He sat there thinking, remembering; the vision had scared the life out of him but had possibly saved his life… it had protected him.  He thought about the previous vision the figure and cat in the building because he’d stopped there, he hadn’t taken another step forwards if he had he’d have been in front of the Dragoon as it broke through the building the Highlander’s back exposed to the Dragoon’s autocannons and particle cannon, he’d have been at a minimum knocked out of the fight, what he’d seen had protected him…

Mike sat stunned for a moment, before that he had fallen only to see Katherine in form fitting civilian clothing which had him thinking of her before she’d encountered the sinkhole.  If her Orion had fallen into that hole he could have, it could have taken them both out.  Then he had been thinking of the shopping mall in its glory days just as the Javelin had leaped out of the building, he’d seen it because he was thinking about the building?  A tenuous link Mike even had to admit to himself.  Then the image in the car park where he had seen an older version of himself and a woman in the car… just before Libby had been shot, had it been his mind warning him of the danger?  He closed his eyes and tried to remember what the figure looked like slightly darker skin, long dark hair, it was straight unlike Libby’s which was normally tied back but it could have been her.  And then his dream of a peaceful life, what he had wanted after the war ended, just before he got sent on a mission which had seen half their company destroyed.

Mike sat in the silent Highlander for a moment and thought, he had heard of a sixth sense before, a feeling that some MechWarriors claimed to feel before they were put in danger.  He had heard of infantry troopers sometimes having an instinct that something was not right before an attack but he’d been a MechWarrior for six years, and a trainee for three before that, he’d never felt it before, he had fought throughout this war and never encountered it.  And why the hell did it have to be so distracting?  He questioned angrily.  Was this a sixth sense?  Was this just a lethal case of daydreaming that would eventually get him killed?  He did not know and he could not answer it now, break time was over, he needed to kill this Dragoon and recover Katherine.  Powering up the Highlander again he waited until the engine was ready and then plotted a course past the mines but still following the Dragoon’s path, worryingly the Dragoon had no capability of laying mine so someone else had before the heavy Mech meaning it probably was not alone.

Looking at the map the railway line curved away from the course and towards the ruined city airport.  The airport was one of the many places the company planned to search for the rumoured SLDF bunker, he had no idea what he would find there but Katherine’s ejector seat had headed in that direction and so was the Dragoon so in the darkness and heavy rain so was he as the Highlander marched on.

For more than thirty minutes Mike marched through the thick undergrowth he had abandoned the railway track which would have been the faster way to travel and instead was making his way between massive trees and collapsed buildings as he cut across country heading for the airport.  As his Mech moved forwards, he could feel the undergrowth becoming soggier as he stepped on it, he was entering a marsh and he did not want to use his jump jets as they’d give away his position.  Instead, Mike raised his Highlander’s gauss rifle across the chest of his Mech and then raised the left hand up beside it.  In all those technical manuals kids read and you saw in museums BattleMechs looked pristine with their paint and perfect camouflage showing through.  In reality they were more of a patchwork result with plates of armour replaced with different colours being applied by techs rushing to get the Mech ready for a fight again.  Most BattleMechs also carried various items on their limbs a BattleMech could carry approximately 5% of their body weight without it causing an issue and sometimes the extra supplies came in useful.  Attached to the Highlander’s hull wrapped around his gauss rifle were several massive tree logs which had been stripped of their branches and tied with heavy cables the logs would only protect the Mech from small arms fire at best with Mech scale weapons shattering them but that was not what he would use them for.  Using his Mech’s left-hand actuator, he snapped the cables on the first set of logs which fell to the ground rolling away from the Highlander the logs feel away from the Mech arm dropping to the ground in front of him several pieces of the logs shattered hitting other logs and the ground.  Mike had little control over where they fell but they would provide him with something to gain some traction on.  Mike then quickly snapped a second cable releasing more logs which like the others fell to the ground, before lowering the gauss rifle back down again.  With the logs on the floor, he then stepped his Highlander forwards carefully forcing down the logs which sunk into the march over the next several minutes he carefully moved between the logs and the marsh lands shattering the logs in the progress but they allowed him to make quick progress.  Almost every BattleMech carried some sort of external equipment, while it was completely vulnerable to weapons fire but every MechWarrior wanted something extra, they could use on a mission.  In the tri-vids and gaming stations BattleMechs were always completely clean as they fought their battles; exactly as they were when they came out of the factory with nothing externally mounted on them but reality was always different.  Some warriors carried frozen food outside their Mech when in winter climates allowing them to eat like kings when in the field, there was a story which he had heard of a BattleMech carrying food on its hull when it was struck by a flamethrower reportedly the lance mates enjoyed the barbecue after the battle.

Across the marsh/bog area Mike was able to accelerate a bit bringing him deeper into the countryside as he approached the airport which strangely was bathed in lights, he immediately shut down his targeting sensors going to passive sensors.  On the abandoned airport saw a Toro and a Firebee BattleMechs patrolling outside the facility.  “Hell” he commented realising the Dragoon didn’t just have armour or infantry as support but also two combat capable BattleMechs.  Neither of the Mechs was heavy enough to counter his Highlander but each of them carried weapons that could cause heavy damage to battered Highlander.  Fortunately, neither MechWarrior was paying much attention as he slipped back into the marsh, if he was going to survive Mike needed to fight smart, that meant getting some information on his opponents.  He backed the Highlander into the marsh, shutting down as much as he could he dampened his reactor and lifted his neural helmet off his head placing it on the shelf above.  Mike then crawled out of the command chair and opened the rear hatch it was cold and wet outside. “Yup, definitely Scotland” He commented as he leaned on the open door while reaching to some external cargo which was attached the side of the Mech’s head.  Inside was a large camo net which Mike spent the next hour arranging over his Highlander attaching it to various hooks that were built into the armour.  He then retrieved the laser rifle and a cold weather jacket from his cockpit, time to pretend to be an infantry trooper.

[Dragon Cat]

Eight

[/b]

Although Mike piloted an assault BattleMech, one of the heaviest in the company, he was also the company’s unofficial infantry trooper, a roll he carried out because he carried the biggest gun in his cockpit.  Regularly over the last few years as they conquered the Rim Worlds Republic and then liberated the Terran Hegemony he had been called on to cover a search and rescue party with the rifle.  He was intimately familiar with the weapon and its maintenance but he was not a special operations trooper or scout he did this duty when he needed to.  It took Mike an hour to creep over the ground between where he had hidden his Highlander to the perimeter of the airport mainly hiding from the patrolling Toro and Firebee when he saw them coming neither pilot had reacted to his movement so he guessed they were not running with night-vision or heat sensitive sensors, most likely due to the light coming from the airport and heat from the local wildlife fouling the sensors, Scotland being reclaimed by nature had worked to his advantage.

Reaching the airport, he slipped through the shattered rusted gates and crept across the broken tarmac as Aberdeen had been mostly abandoned over the years since humanity went into the stars the airport had not been upgraded with modern materials meaning the facility had deteriorated significantly.  He scooted quickly under a broken and rusted ancient conventional aircraft which had been left where the last pilot had parked it and forgotten.  Mike crawled under the aircraft and observed what was going on from under the aircraft from his position he could see a pair of hangers were alongside the control tower and the allies of the Dragoon had rigged up some lights on the buildings to light their operations.

Near the hanger he could see a pair of IndustrialMechs were digging into the ground along with half a dozen men and women with hand tools, nearby the Dragoon stood in one of the hangers and more crewmen were working on it.  “Too many to shoot” Mike whispered to himself counting the troopers by the time he shot three of them he would be outgunned by the people on the ground let alone the two active Mechs.  Fortunately, he did not see any armoured vehicles or visible patrolling troopers “just the dregs” he whispered thinking in his Highlander he could take the two patrolling Mechs, if the Dragoon got active before he took them out, he would be in trouble.  The two IndustrialMechs were not a threat… he thought just as an ancient all-terrain vehicle drove onto the field it parked outside the hanger and out got two more men and then Katherine who was still dressed in her coolant suit but also wore a combat vest, she must have had stored in her seat’s storage container.  She was led into the hanger containing the Dragoon.

Mike was annoyed but not surprised they had picked her up she would ejected towards these people she would have had to be very luck to avoid them in the terrain he had encountered so far.  He peered through the scope attached to his laser rifle looking into the hanger he could see the Dragoon at the front dominated the scene.  Katherine stood in in front of one of the enemies who Mike guessed was either the Dragoon’s pilot or his boss she looked healthy her coolant suit was still intact as well each of her limbs.  The man drew his side arm and pointed it at Katherine’s head but she did not flinch, Mike held his breath for a moment waiting for the shot, he’d heard of worse acts since coming to Terra he readied his laser rifle aiming at the armed man if he shot Katherine Mike would take him out regardless of the risk.  The man did not fire instead he turned and indicated to something that was beside the Dragoon, Mike initially could not make it out and instead watched as Katherine was led through behind the Dragoon, he could not do anything there was no way he could make his way across the open field to the hanger to save her, and even if he could he couldn’t climb up the side of the hanger like some commando and jump off the roof onto the Dragoon to take the fight to them.  He simply was not that capable on the ground without his Mech, he was probably pushing his abilities right now if he was being honest but this was the chance he needed to take.  After a few minutes a Crosscut IndustrialMech stepped out from behind the Dragoon followed by several infantry troopers and the Crosscut was directed to cut down some ruins near the other IndustrialMechs dig site.  He did not know for certain but he guessed that Katherine was in the Crosscut and that she was being put to work which meant these people did not have enough pilots to pilot all three IndustrialMechs they owned, if they did not have enough pilots that meant the Firebee, Toro and Dragoon were all the Mechs they had; and the Dragoon pilot was too proud to pilot an IndustrialMech to the point he was willing to put an enemy into an IndustrialMech. He did not really care about what they were trying to excavate from under the airport his arrival would halt that progress and make it a moot point.  With the Dragoon in the hanger all he would only have to contend with were the two lights in the initial fight he thought but he needed to take them out quickly before the Dragoon pilot could get online, if Katherine was in the Crosscut then the enemy pilot would likely take her out first and she would have no chance against any size of BattleMech.

It took Mike more than an hour to get back to where he had hidden the Highlander, the Firebee and Toro were still patrolling together and that left a gap which allowed him to escape into the night and the rain it was something else he could use against them he did not know how he would get Katherine out of the predicament she was now in but if she was in the Crosscut and he could avoid shooting it then she would have a chance.  He guessed the Dragoon’s allies thought that the depot, if it was here, could give them heavier Mechs heavier Mechs would give them a fighting chance of repelling Mike and any of the rest of the company.  Thinking about the rest of the company Mike wondered where the hell they were other than him and Katherine there were six remaining Mechs in the unit they should be here by now and he could do with their help.  Activating the company comm channel he paused for a moment and made sure it was still encrypted before speaking “Command One, this is Command Three, I have located enemy base of operations at the city’s abandoned airport. Striker Three is confirmed as being a captive at the site.  Single Toro and Firebee BattleMechs supporting a Dragoon.  Multiple IndustrialMechs and ground troops in area I believe Striker Three is currently piloting a Crosscut, assistance required.”  He said cutting the channel if they were still in the area then they would be here soon or at least reply on the communication channel.  After hours in the cockpit, the city battle and now his excursion into the airport Mike was shattered he had been running on adrenaline but it would only take him so far, he needed a break. It would also give the rest of the company time to attend if they had heard his message so he decided to rest setting an alarm in the cockpit for two hours he would try to rest before doing anything else Katherine would have to rely on her training and survive her captivity until he could come up with a plan.

The net on the back of the Highlander carried a few supplies including a survival cover with the undergrowth and the Highlander providing some shelter from the elements he laid down and tried to relax.  He is adrenaline was still pounding knowing that Katherine and the enemy were so close.  He sipped from the water canteen and bit into a meal-ready-to-eat (MRE), it was safe to say it tasted like chicken, as he had no clue how it tasted he stuck with the ancient phrase as he ate and drank.  The simplest solution was he used his ranged weapons, his gauss rifle, and long-range missiles to pound the Firebee and Toro quickly knocking them out.  As he closed, he could use his lasers and short ranged missiles to knock out the two IndustrialMechs and then none of the infantry would matter.  If Katherine was in the Crosscut, he could protect her as the Dragoon moved into play, if it was operational, he could overpower it if not he could take out the BattleMech before it even entered the fight.

He laid there thinking as he heard the rain come down on his Highlander listening to the rain as he drifted into a sleep. Mike was startled awake inside the back of a taxi cab with the driver turning around to face him through the Perspex screen.  “That’ll be six quid-eighty” he said looking at Mike who handed over a ten-pound note.  He would not need the money after today this trip would not need them.

“Keep the rest” he said grabbing his bag jumping out of the taxi.  He then walked towards the entrance of Aberdeen Airport throwing down some change at a homeless man near the entrance, some people fell on hard times and picking them up with loose change sometimes helped.  Inside the complex he almost immediately had to jump out of the way of a group of school children who were making their way to the check-in desk.  Mike checked his watch he only had a short time to get through check in and security before the flight so instead of joining the queue he joined a second “Express queue” handing over a note to pay for the additional charge to get checked through quickly. In the shorter queue he quickly made his way towards security a young man going the other way clipped his shoulder as he passed Mike turned to warn him to be careful and saw the man’s face almost morph as he looked at it instead of a human face he saw the face of a Firebee BattleMech with the two circular filters standing out of the cockpit’s “cheeks”.

A moment of panic filled Mike as he pushed the other man away dropping change as he did the man staggered backwards and Mike looked at him again and saw his normal face.  “Be… be a bit more careful.”  He warned the man ducking down to collect his change when he looked up again the man was gone.  “Weird damned day” he said to himself heading further down the corridor to security.  The big burly security guard dropped a check-in tray in front of him and said for Mike to present everything he had in neat piles.  He almost laughed check-in at security was one of the most irritating processes of air travel and he threw everything he had, including his trainers, into one tray and then the next.  The security guard did not look too pleased at the mess but did not complain further as Mike stepped through the scanner.  Once through the scanner Mike had to open a couple of his items and threw down the items so they could be checked which slowed him down, he was quite certain that a few of the security staff did this intentionally just to wind up travellers.

Once through security Mike gathered his things and began to run towards the door only to collide with someone else as he tried to dodge out of the way, the collision caused him to tumble head over heels and slammed into the wall falling unconscious by the impact.  It took Mike several moments to come to again and he heard the almost rhythmic sound of a warning message in the cockpit of his Highlander.

[mikecj]

Interesting juxtapositions!

[cklammer]

Typical BT ... let a MechWarrior do an infantry man's because ... doh ... he has the biggest rifle in his cockpit .... as his knuckles don't drag on the floor when walking upright ...  ;D

[Dragon Cat]

Interesting juxtapositions!

Yup I wanted to keep that theme throughout

Nine

Inside the cockpit Mike shook his head rattled by the vision, ‘what was going on?’ he wondered glancing around he could taste blood in his mouth from the impact from the fall. Gaining his bearings and ignoring what had happened he got himself together and pulled the Highlander to its feet he saw he had used gauss, SRM and LRM ammo since he last remembered looking at the BattleMech’s systems the night before.  Glancing around the BattleMech and at the sensors he saw that the Firebee and Toro also both lay in ruins… His trip through the airport apparently was a battle… he had taken down two of the enemy BattleMechs and then the Highlander had fallen.  Looking at his sensors and saw that the Dragoon was now active and standing, it had taken more damage too, he needed to get his head in the game as autocannon shots slammed into the Mech like before it was a shotgun type blast which caused damage all over the Highlander but at this range it was not nearly as bad compared to the solid shot.  The Highlander had taken damage in multiple engagements now and solid shots were going to begin to find holes in the armour, he needed to gain control over this fight quickly and end the Dragoon’s fight, Mike gritted his teeth and turned into battle.

Raising his right arm Mike aimed the gauss rifle at the incoming Dragoon and pulled the trigger the coils in the rifle were already charged and the rifle launched another supersonic slug at the enemy Mech.  The gauss rifle did its damage with kinetic energy, it carried no warhead, the speed and weight of the slug cause all the damage. The distance between the two Mech’s was crossed in seconds and the Highlander slammed into the Dragoon’s right torso catching the enemy Mech just below the shoulder tearing open armour which flew open on impact, as Mike began marching towards his enemy the Dragoon pilot instantly returned fire.  Returning along a parallel course to the gauss rifle shot the man-made lightning bolt from the Dragoon’s particle cannon slammed into the Highlander’s right arm.  Mike checked the damage now only minimal armour remained there then his arm and his most potent weapon would be exposed to serious damage. He twisted the Highlander’s turret like torso and returned fire at the Dragoon with long range missile rack which was buried in the Highlander’s torso the smoke trails from the missiles blocked his view for a moment. He saw the missiles impact on the Dragoon and all around it as the missile flew in on the enemy BattleMech explosions covered the Dragoon’s torso and threw up mud and concrete.  More particle cannon fire battered his Highlander as Mike began to walk towards the Dragoon, he saw one of the medium lasers in the torso had been destroyed by the attack.  Falling back on the gauss rifle again he marched forwards, the weapon was low on ammunition now but he needed to kill the Dragoon, he added in the long-range missile rack and fired. The gauss rifle slammed into the Dragoon’s leg while missiles exploded all over the lighter BattleMech. He continued to march towards his enemy he saw the three IndustrialMechs were still moving around and wondered if Katherine was in any of them but for now, he could not think of them this was his final fight against the Dragoon, it had to be one way or another.

Stomping forwards another particle cannon blast ripped through his Highlander’s torso armour and long-range missile launcher savaging the weapon. Mike swore loudly as he flicked the switch off to the right and he toggled the dump of the remaining ammunition for the launcher.  Without the missile launcher he had to rely on the gauss rifle again at this range and he pulled the trigger again launching another slug, he had three shots left for the weapon and this one he saw tear through one of the Dragoons particle cannons ruining part of the Mech’s arm which fell useless to the BattleMech’s side the links to its cockpit dead. The pilot of the BattleMech appeared to have decided that this too was the end of this fight he stood his ground and returned fire with the autocannon as Mike entered short range missile range.  Between the two Mechs autocannon flak shot and short-range missiles flew in opposite directs crossing the gap between the two Mechs simultaneous explosions occurred on the two BattleMechs tearing apart armour on both sides. Neither of the two weapons concentrated fire on the other Mech with explosions and shrapnel flying from both Mechs as armour was destroyed.  Even with the repairs that the Dragoon had received between fights the two BattleMechs were close to failing as they manoeuvred and attempted to avoid the other Mech’s fire.

Another man-made lightning bolt from the Dragoon burned away more of the Highlander’s armour this time on the left leg as Mike closed to point blank range.  Firing the remaining medium laser Mike gave up any pretence of this remaining an honourable duel by swinging the battle fist of the left arm in a punch against the Dragoon he could almost feel armour plate shatter under his punch.  Mike drew back the fist and fired the laser again, most BattleMechs struggled with heat build-up but with only a single laser he could fire it as soon as it recharged the Dragoon staggered backwards from the punch and he added in a laser blast again. He swung again punching again unfortunately the Dragoon was out of his grasp as it fired its particle cannon again the Highlander’s hand actuator was between the blast and the rest of the Mech and the hand actuator disappeared boiled away by the heat from the blast beside the hand, he saw the SRM launcher was also destroyed in the blast.  Recoiling the arm out of the way he brought his gauss rifle back in line and fired a gauss shout into the torso of the Dragoon at point blank range the weapon was not designed to be fired so close. The kinetic energy from the blast caused the Dragoon to vibrate and it almost seemed to jump upwards as the weapon hit the BattleMech so close the blast seemed to cause the Dragoon to stand still, staggered by the blast from the gauss rifle. With a moment of silence Mike fired his last gauss shot along with the medium laser again targeting the stunned BattleMech finally, agonisingly slowly the Dragoon staggered forwards into Mike’s Highlander the two Mechs colliding and bringing both Mechs to the ground the impact knocked Mike out as the two Mechs slammed into the ground in a heap.

Mike awoke in the airport check-out section with bags beside him.  “Not this again!”  He shouted at the top of his head everyone around him looked at him for a moment but left him where he was beside him he saw he’d knocked into someone knocking unconscious and to the ground.  He began to gather his things together, unlike before he remembered what this was the unconscious person probably represented the Dragoon pilot, Mike stood back up and looked at the man he was a little smaller than Mike, well built for his size but also carrying a little bit of a stomach with him. He was not sure what to do the other man just laid there, was he supposed to help him or just move on?  He saw others swarming around, were they the infantry in his real world?  Was this the real world? Or would he just wake up in a psychiatric ward?  These visions were intrusive and causing trouble, his BattleTech was either a dream or reality… but so was this, he could easily be a patient somewhere stuck between dream and reality.

Looking at the fallen figure one more time he decided to move through the airport and continue towards his goal, board a flight, and hopefully wake up. He moved through the airport as quickly as he could he felt like he was on auto-pilot as he reached the queue for boarding the plane.  Ahead of him was a young woman with brown hair tied back in a ponytail, she wore a white shirt and wore black trousers carrying a green bag.  She turned to face him; it was Katherine. “Ready for your flight?”  She asked he nodded too stunned to speak to her “are you sure?  You always said this was home, why would you leave?”

“It is home, I fought a long way to come home, I’ll always return here” he replied looking around seeing the airport but with flickers of light feeding through the roof “what is this?”  He said the scene was blurry around him merging the airport with the inside of his BattleMech’s cockpit.  “Who am I?  I thought I knew what this was but nothings making sense?”  He said pleading with her for answers as he felt pain from an injury.

“This is the dream” Katherine said “Mike, your life is not here, you need to let go of this dream.” She explained looking around “home may be here but your life is not this place, home is not a dream.” She said slowly continuing her voice becoming rapid as she spoke “you need to wake up, you need to live your life.  And remember because you are letting go of this place does not mean you’re letting go of home or of me.”  She said moments passed and Mike’s eyes closed again.

Suddenly he was awake again and in the BattleMech cockpit.  In his ears he heard Katherine’s voice shouting at him.  He realised the Highlander was immobile and that it would not be getting back up again one of its legs had been completely crushed by the falling Dragoon.  He saw a crack in the cockpit armour and realized the head armour had been breached by debris.  “I’m alive!”  He screamed back “but I’m kind of stuck!”  He shouted back.

“The others have arrived!  We won; you can rest!”  Katherine replied it sounded like she was maybe crying

“I want to live my life!  I’ve had enough of dreaming” he whispered to himself “no more dreaming.”  He said sitting in his ruined BattleMech’s cockpit of the Highlander’s remaining online systems he slowly keyed switches putting the reactor into safe mode, then shutting down the power to the remaining weapons and targeting systems he would not be needing them again.

[Dragon Cat]

Finally to finish the story

Epilogue

[/b]

It took more than an hour to drag Mike out of the ruined Highlander, Rim Worlds resistance in the area had been neutralised by the arrival of additional SLDF forces which had supported what was left of Mike’s company. Mike’s call for assistance had been received by the Star League Defence Forces and they had come to help him, his home away from home were now saving him from the disabled Highlander. With troops flooding into the area to end the operation the enemy infantry put down their arms and did not put-up further resistance instead they were corralled together and watched by SLDF guards.  As a loyalist unit which had been born and raised on Terra and not one of the Rim Worlds Republic units which had been called in, they would most likely be cashiered out of the military and released into the population, allowed to return to their lives.  Star League Intelligence would find itself very busy over the next few months watching out for those who were still loyal to Stefan Amaris rule.  Since the end of the battle Mike had remained with his fallen Highlander which was still entangled with the Dragoon he rested against the foot of his Highlander and waited for orders. As part of the relief effort a doctor had arrived with the reinforcements had checked him out and told him to take it easy for the next few days as he could have a concussion after his multiple falls during the combat but otherwise, he was healthy.

Katherine joined him beside the Highlander she now wore the same outfit she had worn in his dream; he knew it could not be a coincidence he stood there his mouth open for a moment.  “I borrowed it from one of the new arrivals, my uniform went up with my Mech, and the locals didn’t want to give me much new clothes.”  She shuddered thinking about the Rim Worlders who had captured her “fortunately they were too distracted with finding their lost treasure to care about doing anything else, they put me to work in that damned Crosscut straight away.”

“I know I saw you” he said showing her a small smile as she looked at him, he wondered if she was aware of what he had gone through.  She looked a little surprised “I put the infantry skills this war has made me learn” he explained as she looked at him “I had to pilot the biggest damned Mech” he said smirking.

“You’ve gotten good at it” she said “you’re just as good with that rifle as you are your Mech” she said tapping the broken BattleMech’s foot.

“Oh thanks” he said, he had always seen the infantry duty as second to his work in a BattleMech, unfortunately the last few years he had been called on to do it more often as they fought battle after battle.  “I came looking for you and after I saw you with them,” he said glancing over at the guarded infantry and techs of the loyalist unit “I knew I couldn’t sit around and wait.”

“So, you took on a short lance of Mechs, infantry and the industrials?”  She asked wondering if he had lost it “I saw your Mech coming out of the night, through the rain, like an avenging angel completely ignoring their infantry, blasting that Firebee to pieces and then you what decided to shoulder barge the Toro to the deck?  She asked recounting the battle that he had fought.  He remembered the airport journey the group of kids were the infantry? Then he had brushed off the Firebee before colliding with the Toro.

“It wasn’t my first choice” he admitted Mike whispered thinking about his dream “but I knew I needed to do it quick, before the Dragoon got active.”

“You were piloting a damned assault Mech blow them to pieces at range! But no, you charged in like a big idiot” She scolded him punching his arm lightly “then that slugging match with the Dragoon, rarely have I seen two Mechs trade blows like that.”  She said looking over the ruined battlefield “you certainly made a statement.”

“It got the job done; it got me where I needed to be.” He said looking at her, she was exactly how she was in the dream like they were waiting for the plane together again, he could glance over the airport and just imagine that one of the planes once would have flown him out of the area.  “Any idea where we go from here?”  He asked quietly she turned to lean on the Highlander’s foot beside him.

“Well, I don’t think we’ll be going very far, very soon.”  She said “the SLDF is still securing Terra and the General needs to sort things with the Succession Lords. He needs to put them in their place” she explained “I can’t see where we go from here.  But look at the bright side you came home.”  She said raising her arms he followed her arms and looked at Scotland beyond the airport.

“It’s a bit different from my memories.”  He said trying to fix everything together what he had seen in his dreams were slowly fading to the background and into memory.

“Plenty of room to make new memories and see new things.”  She pointed out “in the meantime you could show me around a bit?”  She suggested standing up away from his BattleMech’s foot reaching out with her hand “see where it takes us, until things calm down, we’ll both need new Mechs before we can do much else.”

He reached out and took her hand “or just not both getting new ones?” He thought out loud looking over his downed BattleMech “is this a sign I’m at the end of the journey?”  He asked

“I’m sure we can figure that out…” she said grasping his hand in her own “or the Old Man will whisk us off on some other adventure.”  She suggested as she pulled him off the Highlander’s foot the two of them walking away from the Highlander as SLDF crews began to clean up the ancient airport.

The return to Terra had brought dreams and reality together in Mike’s head he did not know how to put what he had experienced on Terra into words.  He had come home to Scotland, and it felt like home, but it was not like what they had remembered instead he needed to think about making a life was he a MechWarrior ready to follow the old General on his next campaign against one of the succession lords or in defence of the Hegemony or was he ready to make a life for himself.  As he held Katherine’s hand, he wondered about their future uncertain but in life ahead of them, but he knew this was life not in a dream and whatever came, whatever adventure they next embarked on he planned on living life not a dream.

[cawest]

i now this is done, but just think about what one person with some remembered facts might do.  like what mech do i want to take when i pull the hole in after me.  where do i want that hole to be?  that would be the first thing i think about.  Also what if i can find friends to take with me.  then how do you survive the 1st SW. 

[Dragon Cat]

i now this is done, but just think about what one person with some remembered facts might do.  like what mech do i want to take when i pull the hole in after me.  where do i want that hole to be?  that would be the first thing i think about.  Also what if i can find friends to take with me.  then how do you survive the 1st SW.

When I first thought about the idea I thought as a "BattleTech fan" living in the universe (depending on what he remembers of his "past" life) he knows there's devastation coming.  And I wondered about where to hole up and hide

So being on Terra at the end of the story after the fall of Amaris and before the Exodus there's a choice:

Stay on Terra (safest place in the Innner Sphere IMO during at least the first two Succession Wars) stay quiet keep your head down and ComStar will let you live your life away quietly as long as you don't rock their boat.

Go merc or join a unit which joins the Succession states - probably die you don't have control over your destiny and during the first two wars devastation is coming

Join the Exodus - you know what's coming for them too but you could live

Of course given that the protagonist decided to embrace his life and try to ignore the visions maybe what he remembers of the "past" goes away who knows, maybe he stays at home (my home) in Scotland or maybe he decides to throw in with Kerensky one more time.

[cklammer]

As the protagonist: go to Taurus if you feeling stubborn ... but being ex-SLDF there will let you make friends easily. But pirate-hunting for the Taurians could always be an option ...

If you decide to go to the Taurian Concordat, bring a battlemech and best a laser boat.