A Path to Madness

[monbvol]

[Author]Another story based off an old RPG campaign I ran at one point but quite some time ago and to set the stage and make it more of a story I'm going to expand on some prior events.  I'd actually be surprised if Liam's Ghost even remembers this one once it gets far enough along.  [/Author]

Chapter 1: Foundations

Robinson, Federated Suns
Not long after the War of 3039

Alistair Winebread knew he would have to serve his realm with mandatory service but what he had just gone through would stay with him for the rest of his life.  He looked down at the bandage on his left leg and hit neurohelmet in his right hand.

The family Valkyrie was pretty trashed.  Fortunately with the Helm recovery and the return of industry it would be.

Motion out of the corner of his eye alerted him to someone's approach.

"Alistair."  Alistair's eyes came into focus allowing him to recognize his Company Commander, technically peer by noble title but elected by the rest of the peerage to be their liege, Wallace Haverbrand.

"Wallace.  I'm actually glad that you made it after we got separated."  Alistair looked up at the man he'd always had a rivalry with since the two were old enough to know what a rivalry was.

"I did.  And likewise.  So let's continue our truce a bit longer and find someplace to get a drink.  We both could use one."  Wallace offered his hand to help Alistair up.

As much as the two clashed they had odd periods of time like this where they could be professionals and work together but once the common cause was over the rivalry would be back on.

The two walked slowly to the base gate.

Wallace produced two passes, handing one to Alistair, then hailed a cab after the gate guards let them pass.

Neither had actually spent much time on Robinson and thus didn't even know the name of the city they found themselves in but the cab eventually deposited the duo at a bar.

It was quite in the bar despite all the troops there.  A lot of units had gotten pulled back to Robinson after the fighting had stopped so it wasn't terribly surprising that many of them were equally shell shocked and despite needing drinks were not the usual level of noise that troops drinking tended to be.

Round after round was had as soldiers from different units honored each other's losses.

Alistair between the wound on his leg and all the alcohol in his system by night's end was stumbling pretty good.  Wallace of all people showed up at his side to help steady him.

As the two exited the bar Alistair halted for a moment.

"You hear that?"  Alistair asked.

"That a child crying?"  Wallace asked back.

"I think so.  It's coming from over there."  Alistair pointed to a nearby alley.

The two walked over to the alley to investigate.

A small asian child noticed them approach and scurried to try and hide behind a trash can.

"It's okay little one.  My name is Alistair.  What's yours?"  Alistair tried to approach the child slowly.

"Leave her.  She's a Drac street urchin."  Wallace growled.

"You kidding?  Even if she is a Drac she's just a child and can't be much more than 10 years old if that.  It's more likely she's just a refugee.  Either way she won't last long on these streets after what just happened and no child deserves what will happen to her if we turn our backs."  Alistair answered back trying to keep his tone even so as not to agitate the child further.

"Fine it's your mess."  Wallace turned and left hailing a cab and tossing

"Don't mind Wallace.  He gets grumpy when he's drunk.  Come on.  I'll help you find your folks."  Alistair held out his hand.

"Emi... Emi Okamura."  The girl hesitated in her answer as she took Alistair's hand.

"Well I guess we'll start with the local police station."  Alistair hailed another cab.

The rest of the night was spent being turned away by an overloaded system trying to deal with all the refugees from Davion worlds ravaged by the recent conflict or no one willing to help what they saw as a Drac Girl, even if it was a child.

His pass would be up soon so Alistair tried the last resort of returning to base with her.

It did not take long before the base commander brought him, the girl, and Wallace to his office.

"I'm not happy right now Mister Winebread and you Mister Haverbrand, I understand you're not exactly his liege lord but you're still his superior despite having the same title thus why I asked you here."

"Close enough sir.  Short version is our world has 4 nobles of equal title but as one can imagine that can end in deadlock so we elect one noble to be the tie breaker and to be invested with the authority to deal with rulers from other worlds."  Wallace answered.

"Well as that may be it seems we need to determine the fate of this little girl.  I'm not prepared to invest a lot of my time and energy into any possible solutions so what do you two say?"  The Base Commander scowled.

"I'm all for cutting her loose sir.  Survival of the fittest and all that." Wallace answered.

"I'm prepared to exercise my rights as a Noble to take this child as my charge and tutor her until such time as her parents can be found or she comes of age and is able to make her own decisions."  Alistair answered.

"He have that right under your system?"  The base commander looked at Wallace.

"It is a bit rare these days to evoke it but yes."  Wallace visibly slumped.

"And what say you little girl?  If you agree to this and can't tell us where your parents are or where you're from it means you're probably never going to see your home again."  The Base Commander looked at Emi.

"I'll go with Alistair..."  Emi answered meekly.

"Okay then I'll sign off on this but she's your responsibility now Alistair."  The Base Commander dismissed the trio.

"Your father is going to love this Alistair.  I can't wait to hear what he has to say about this.  I wonder if he'll call you a snake lover first or a pedophile.  Or he might just jump straight to both at the same time."  Wallace said as soon as they were away from the Camp Commander's office.

"It'll be fine Emi.  Wallace is just a big old meanie.  He's just trying to scare you.  My father isn't like that at all.  Shit I'll have to convince Felicia to use her pass to do some clothes shopping for me since I doubt I can get another pass right now being on the General's shit list."  Alistair bantered back.

"Now that could be interesting to see what favor she'll ask of you to do it.  And to cut you off I know she will but we both know she'll ask for something."  Wallace smirked.

"Now that I'm not looking forward to."  Alistair lamented.

[monbvol]

[Author]I think this post then one more after to finish off Chapter 1.  Chapter 2 will have a bit of a time jump and likewise I'll probably do the same for Chapter 3 as I got some years to get through before the main storyline even begins.  [/Author]

"You kidding?  I love shopping!  Especially for such a cute little girl."  Felicia smiled as she looked at the trio.

"Okay I'm extricating myself from this before it gets weirder or more infuriating."  Wallace said as he walked off.

"Thanks Felicia."  Alistair inwardly still felt a level of dread that anyone else would call out of place for what just happened.

"Of course I am a bit light on leave money and you wouldn't want me to go broke would you?"  Felecia smiled.

"Here, this is all I have left on me.  I'll have to owe you the rest later."  Alistair knew the trap he just walked into but he knew he had no choice.

"Oh you'll owe me alright.  And not just money."  Felicia's smile went from sweet to wicked.

"Time for breakfast Emi."  Alistair tried his best to be cheerful.

A few days later
Men's Locker Room

"We're finally being allowed to return home.  High Command is convinced the fighting's done for long enough to let units start heading home.  Where's your pity project?"  Wallace said as Alistair was finishing putting his shirt on.

"Felicia is watching her for me."  Alistair answered.

"You know what she's going to demand from you for all this don't you?  Especially with how long you've been stringing the poor girl along."  Wallace leaned against the wall waiting.

"Yeah I do.  As much as she scares me and drives me nuts at times I was wanting to wait until we got back home but I doubt she'll let me wait that long now with all this."  Alistair stood up.

"Well time to pack up.  Our ship leaves in two hours."  Wallace left the locker room.

Alistair grabbed the last of his effects from his locker.  The trip back home would be long with how Wallace seemed to be moving past rival and going into hate territory.  They got separated in combat and that had never happened before.  To be fair there wasn't a lot of combat for them to both be in at the same time for them to get separated in.  Still it was clear it had pushed him over an edge and Emi was now a target too.

As he walked to the embarkation area he saw Emi and Felicia and waved.

"So Felicia tell you we're going somewhere else?"  Alistair smiled.

"Yeah.  I'm a bit scared and afraid I'll never see my parents again."  Emi answered still shy around him.

"Don't worry.  I've made sure that the locals here know how to get a hold of me if your parents show up."  Alistair didn't have the heart to tell her what he had learned.

He had used all his influence to do it but the local police finally identified Emi's parents.  There was still no record of where they were originally from as there was no sign of them on any passenger manifests but with the recent conflict and how troublesome it was to get information from other worlds, especially when they didn't want to help the trail ended with the discovery and confirmation of their bodies.

Alistair had to admit he wasn't surprised.  While most citizens even in this area of space wouldn't murder people just for looking Drac the recent conflict had brought out the worst of the worst and such attacks were becoming common.

"I bet your father is looking forward to being able to go back into retirement.  I'm surprised his health has allowed him to sit Regency for this long."  Felicia broke Alistair's concentration.

"That is thanks to my mother.  She'll also be looking forward to a return to a more quiet life."  Alistair turned to join the line of troops waiting to board the Dropship.

Alistair's father wasn't that much older than him but instead of serving his mandatory service and getting out he stayed in the AFFS long enough to be part of the war against the Cappies where he had been seriously wounded.  Once Alistair was old enough he abdicated in favor of his son but with the mandatory service requirement Alistair had to fulfill himself his father had to sit in as Regent.

Wallace's father had just left home one day with no trace of where he went and his mother never really recovered from that.

This made them the youngest of the four nobles on their world.

"Next stop Lexington." Alistair smiled.

He dug in a pocket and produced a small box and handed it to Felicia.

"Not very romantic or grand but yes and about damn time."  Felicia smiled and slid the ring on her finger.

"Romantic isn't our thing."  Alistair kissed his new fiance'.

Alistair's mood was broken as he saw his Valkyrie being secured in the mechbay.

"It can be fixed.  We'll probably have to completely re-build the thing but it'll see the field again."  Felicia saw what had grabbed Alistair's attention.

"In a way that makes it worse.  It feels like it isn't the family mech anymore.  Grandfather's ax paradox and all that."  Alistair could make out where armor plates were missing or had been cut away to allow the techs to work on the underlying structure and equipment.

"Well at least we'll be home soon enough.  Transit, two jumps, then transit again."  Felicia soothed Alistair.

"Yeah.  It'll be good to get back."  Alistair sighed.

"Winebread move your noble ass."  Wallace shouted.

"Winebread?"  Emi asked.

"Yeah that's my family's name.  It wasn't always Winebread though.  We got that name because we were one of the first families to settle Lexington after it had been terraformed and opened for settling.  We found a nice island and grew grapes that we turned into wine and wheat that we turned into bread.  We actually got kind of famous for it so people started calling us the Wine and Bread family which eventually just became the Winebread family and it's stuck."  Alistair answered as the trio moved along the line.

[monbvol]

[Author]  Okay slight time jump here and something I thought about going into more detail on and doing in the later part of Chapter 1 here but I think it works a bit better the way I'm thinking of doing it to set the later stages and show how Alistair has his own issues to deal with that are compounded by his rivalry with Wallace.[/Author]

Three weeks later
Winebread Estate, Lexington
Federated Suns

It took a lot of creative scheduling and careful evasion to keep contact with Wallace to a minimum during the return trip but it was worth it.

Who ever thought it was a good idea for them to be in the same lance to server their mandatory time, well hindsight is 20/20 they say and that seems particularly apt now.

The flight in he could see a new blue water shipyard being constructed on the main land.  Without it it'd be far too easy for a Combine raiding force to jump the border, land on one of the numerous islands unopposed, strike, then begone before any of the local lords' forces could mount much of a response.

Alistair, Felicia, and Emi walked into the main room of the estate.

"Emi this is my father Carl Winebread and my mother Helana Winebread."  Alistair introduced his parents.

"Come with me Emi and I'll give you a tour.  Felicia you should come too.  You simply must see the garden, especially now that you'll be spending a lot more time here."  Helana smiled.

"Well seeing her in person I certainly understand better now than I did from your messages.  We just got our regular communication update.  A few feathers have been ruffled by what you did but nothing serious from the sounds of it and with the draw downs on both sides HQ seems more than happy to allow you to serve out what little is left on your mandatory service here at home since we are so close to the border anyway.."  Carl Winebread said as soon as the trio of women were out of earshot.

"I think the only person I've truly angered is Wallace Haverbrand.  But I think that was inevitable anyway.  It sucks that his estate is on the neighboring island."  Alistair sighed.

"Well as long as you two can behave when the council of nobles meet no one will care what you do on your own time."  Carl chided.

"Who knows how long we'll be able to manage that even at this point."  Alistair walked pushed his father's wheelchair.

"Try.  Also about time you and Felicia stopped fooling around and got serious.  I was starting to wonder if I'd get any grandkids or not."  Carl's voice was firm but understanding.

"Oh I doubt you have to worry about that.  Felicia's already planning everything."  Alistair answered.

"Tell me."  Carl chuckled.

"You know that cherry tree we have out front?  We're to get married under that just as the season changes and it starts losing it's flower blossoms.  Then the rest is a little risque to get into with your current condition."  Alistair laughed himself.

"Knowing how you and Felicia get along I wouldn't doubt it.  I think your mother has already fallen in love with Emi." 
 Carl answered as he saw the trio of women playing in the garden.

June 5th 3044
Winebread Estate
Lexington, Federated Commonwealth

Emi stood proudly in her new cadet's uniform in front of the mirror in her room.

"I still can't believe I'm getting into the NAIS program."  Emi smiled.

"You've done the work.  No amount of string pulling on my part would be worth a damn if you hadn't and if you hadn't excelled on top of that."  Alistair smiled.

"Still I feel guilty leaving you and Felicia at a time like this."  Emi frowned.

"There was and is nothing to be done.  Our son just wasn't meant to be.  Yeah Felicia and I will be sad for a while but we'll be okay.  In fact don't be surprised if by the time your academy class graduates that you'll be Auntie Emi again."  Alistair hugged Emi.

"I guess."  Emi hugged Alistair back.

"We better get you to your Dropship.  You should get there with plenty of time to spare before your class begins session.  I'm proud of you Emi."  Alistair said as he walked with her to the waiting car out front.

Alistair hated lying to Emi about how much pain he was still in but he knew he had to if she was going to have a real future.

She'd almost certainly have skipped out of the NAIS Military Academy if she knew the truth and dedicated her life to fixing a broken man.

Still he had to admit it might not all be a lie.  He did feel a slight twinge of happiness at seeing Emi growing up and starting her life.  So maybe there was hope for him and Felicia to recover yet.

[monbvol]

[Author]Chapter 2 will be on the shorter side as I'm pretty sure everyone will figure out what I have cooked up next for back story before I get to the main events.  [/Author]

Chapter 2: Cracks Are Visible
July 10, 3048
Winebread Estate
Lexington, Federated Commonwealth

Emi stepped out of the groundcar and walked up to the main entrance of the estate.  The small headstone under the cherry tree was a painful reminder of sadder times.  Fortunately a sign of a return to happier times was waiting for her at the door.

"Felicia.  That must be Lucas.  My you've grown since your parents last sent me a holo."  Emi smiled at the young child.

"It's good to see you again Emi.  Even if it is only for a little bit before you are deployed for your service."  Felicia hugged Emi.

"He still locking himself in his study?"  Emi hugged Lucas.

"He's having more good days than bad now but I swear it is like him and Wallace are obsessed with debating each other on every little thing now.  He's studying Terran History now just to try and one up Wallace."  Felicia sighed.

"Emi.  Sorry I wasn't at the door but I was working on something.  Not what Felicia thinks for once."  Alistair hugged his adopted daughter almost as if summoned.

"Alistair."  Emi smiled.

"So what they qualify you on at the Academy?"  Alistair.

"Unsurprisingly a Valkyrie, what with a plant there for them.  They also said while the one I used there was a loaner they had a line on another for me to use full time once I got to my unit."  Emi answered as they sat on a bench overlooking the vineyard portion of the grounds.

"Which unit they sending you to join and where they going to be stationed?"  Alistair asked as he found a bottle of wine and poured a glass for each of them.

"12th Donegal.  We'll be doing some boring anti-piracy patrols on Trell so there isn't any need to worry."  Emi answered.

"That'll be a hell of a trip getting from here to there having to go around the Combine."  Alistair whistled.

"Almost a year with all the rest stops to let us soft mechjocks and gropos joining the unit don't get our asses kicked too hard by all the microgravity."  Emi answered.

"Well I think it is almost time for dinner.  Let's go in."  Alistair watched a cloud move across the sky.

Emi's Room
Evening July 24, 3048
Winebread estate
Lexington, Federated Commonwealth

Emi stepped back into her room after what would be her final shower of her leave at home.  What she found laid out on her bed waiting for her was a bit of a surprise.

Alistair's Neuro Helmet with her name carefully stenciled in place of his and a rare, even with the post Helm recovery going on, full body cooling suit.

Emi couldn't help herself as she immediately tried it on.

"How's it fit?"  Alistair asked from the doorway.

"Like a glove.  I can't believe it.  Thank you."  Emi ran over and nearly tackle hugged alistair.

"Couldn't have my little girl joining the First Prince's unit without the proper attire."  Alistair held his adopted daughter perhaps longer than he should have.

"Thanks Dad."  Emi tightened her grip.

Both seemed to be thinking the same thing.  Even in this time of relative peace and Trell 1's remoteness that military service still came with peril and all it would take is one pirate band trying their luck to make Emi's run out.

"Now don't let those Leftenant bars or your posting go to your head Emi.  Pirates don't care about such things and I hope that the worst thing you'll see out there is boredom."  Alistair released his grip.

Emi could only smile at her adoptive father as she released her grip.

Alistair stepped out of the room to allow Emi the privacy to change into something more appropriate.

A solemn quiet dinner later and it was time for Emi to catch her Dropship.

Alistair, Felicia, and Lucas waved as Emi put her bag in the groundcar and then sat in the back to be driven off.

"She'll be fine Alistair.  You saw her test scores.  Can't fake or cheat those at that school."  Felicia comforted her husband.

"Yeah but that just makes me worry that some young stud in her unit will just get her in trouble, the family way kind of trouble, if you know what I mean.  It's not like she dated a lot during her time there."  Alistair countered.

"Not that she told you about.  She knows she's daddy's little girl and what would have happened if she had told you.  Did she like her gifts?"  Felicia smirked.

"That little...  But yes she liked the ones I showed her.  She still has no idea about the last one.  That took some doing to get to Trell 1 ahead of her, mostly in finding out that is where I had to send it."  Alistair held his wife and son.

Military Base
July 4, 3049
Trell 1, Federated Commonwealth

"Okamura right?"  A young Corporal met Emi as she got off the Dropship.

"That's right.  How can I help you Corporal?"  Emi answered.

"Sorry Leftenant.  I didn't see your rank insignia.  Colonel ordered me to meet you, show you around the base, and help you get squared away."  The young Corporal answered.

"I understand discipline gets a little lax on long deployments, especially in what can be considered a cushy assignment like this one.  Mech bay first since that is where my ride is supposed to be."  Emi scowled slightly at the young Corporal.

A short jeep ride later and the two were in the mech hangers.

"That one there in bay four is yours Leftenant."  The Corporal pointed at a Valkyrie with slightly mismatched armor plate styles.

Emi recognized it immediately and had to immediately compose herself.

"Something the matter Leftenant?"  The Corporal looked at his passenger confused.

"Nothing at all Corporal."  Emi answered as Felicia's handy work was instantly recognizable on the Winebread family Valkyrie.

[Daryk]

A Valkyrie?  THERE?  THEN??  You are cruel, sir... cruel I say...  ^-^

[monbvol]

[Author]  I had four candidates for the family mech to get beat up and rebuilt into a custom design based off my notes of machines that I generated for the final forces for the last bit of the story/campaign.  Two were designs not introduced until much later and the other option probably would be better from a game play point of view but I don't trust myself not to be extra cruel with that one.    Probably going to move on to Chapter 3 after this entry though.[/Author]

After all hell breaks loose
Trell 1, Federated Commonwealth

Emi kicked off the jump jets and let fly another volley of missiles.  Most exploded harmlessly in the air as the mech she was facing seemed almost uninterested in her.

Her lance was in bits around her.  The kind of firepower these invaders had was incredible.  She didn't know how or why she survived the exchange herself but now it was a fight for her life.

A beam of light finally came from the enemy mech and the las thing Emi remembered before blacking out was getting hit in the head.

Sometime later
on board a Dropship leaving Trell 1

"You're finally awake.  Can you tell me your name, rank, and the last thing you remember?" A nurse shined a light in Emi's eyes.

"Emi Okamura, Leftenant AFFC, and I swore I was dead after my mech was hit."  Emi answered still dazed.

"Fortunately the enemy thought you were but fortunately our forces found you and got you and your mech out.  They almost kept it to help their resistance.  I heard Victor himself put that argument to rest but who knows if that's really true.  Now you want the bad news?"  The nurse continued her examination.

"Better now than later."  Emi answered.

"I'm not the doctor but based off what I saw of your preliminary scans you took a pretty serious blow to your head.  I'm honestly surprised you don't have memory loss or brain damage.  Last time I saw something like this the mechwarrior was cashiered out."  The nurse spoke calmly as she finished recording her readings.

A few days later
Dropship Polaris attached to the Jumpship Straight Arrow
system unknown
somewhere in the Federated Commonwealth

"Sounds like we finally got ahead of those Clan bastards."  Emi's roommate commented.

"Yeah.  Shit my head still feels like it's spinning though.  It's better now that we aren't under thrust but damn this is getting old."  Emi looked at her face in a hand held mirror.

The scar that now adorned her face wasn't too bad all things considered but she knew it would be with her for the rest of her life.

"Coming in ladies."  Doctor Strauss entered the bay.

"Hey Doc.  How bad is it?"  Emi asked.

"We'll have to get you to a real medical facility to be sure but based off what we have onboard your sense of balance is shot.  Worst case scenario you'll need to be medicated and use a cane to walk for the rest of your life.  Even in the best case scenario you're never going to be able to pilot a mech again.  Either way there seems to be no other serious damage or impairment.  Based off your record you'll probably be put into a staff position somewhere rather than be cashiered out though."  Doctor Strauss answered flatly.

"Shit."  Emi still felt lucky she was alive and out of that fresh hell.


September 22, 3051
Winebread Estate, Lexington
Federated Commonwealth

Emi was home again.  It didn't take much to figure out Alistair called in every favor he had, used every last bit of influence, and argue until blue in the face to get her transfered back here for the rest of her service.

Emi was still getting used to walking with a cane but before she could get fully out of the groundcar Lucas ran up to her and hugged her.

She looked up and saw Alistair.  Neither had to say anything.  She knew he had already forgiven her for having to re-build the family Valkyrie again.

"Felicia's in the kitchen putting the final touches on lunch."  Alistair broke the silence.

Emi looked down at Lucas.  He was catching up to her in height quickly.

"Come on.  We better not keep her waiting then."  Emi smiled.

Emi walked slowly to the dinning room, Lucas catching her as she stumbled.

As Felicia came in with the meal Emi noticed immediately.  Felicia was pregnant again.

"We tried to send a message but with the chaos that is the invasion I guess it never got delivered."  Alistair caught Emi's surprise.

"I'm happy for you two.  This house is far too big for how many people live in it."  Emi sat down.

"Oh bloody hell.  Wallace has put a new meeting of the council of lords on the schedule."  Alistair  grumbled as his noteputer made a distinctive beep from the next room.

"It's been getting worse hasn't it?" I can't help but feel a little responsible, especially now."  Emi said as Alistair went into his office.

"Yes but you being even remotely responsible is nonsense.  I think those two were just designed to wind each other up and it's just been waiting for a release."  Felicia answered.

"Boy or girl this time?"  Emi decided to change the subject.

"Girl.  We've even picked out Helena as her name.  With a more conventional spelling than her grandmother."  Felicia filled Lucas's plate with food.

"Good.  Lucas could use a little sister to look after."  Emi watched Lucas squirm at the new topic of conversation.

[Daryk]

Nice... my oldest daughter is named Helena... :)

[David CGB]

Great story idea, love the whole idea behind!!!

[monbvol]

[Author] Glad people are enjoying.  I thought about putting at least part of what comes next in the end of Chapter 2 to stretch it out a bit but this was always going to be a rather short story anyway so I'm okay with putting it in Chapter 3.  And yeah Chapter 3 is probably going to be it.  Considering how old this campaign is and how little I have in the way of notes that have survived I'm surprised it has even gotten this long and I've remembered this much.  Though I'm reasonably certain some names have been changed and I didn't originally choose Lexington as the setting for this but it works for me as Sarna has practically nothing for it.  Also I had this idea long before XTRO 1945 was a thing.  [/Author]

Chapter 3: Showdown

March 25, 3068
Counsel of Nobels Chamber
New Bunker Hill, Lexington
Federated Suns

Alistair looked over at the new Lord Greyson.  He looked young but the way he carried himself gave him an air of experience past his age.  Tall with dark hair and modest of build it wasn't surprising he did his mandatory service time in some staff position somewhere.

"Okay Lords Winebread and Haverbrand we'll build these Carriers you want but we're making some changes so that they are useful for planetary defense.  I must add I'm surprised you two didn't use the Civil War to resolve your differences that way."  Lord Greyson sighed as he looked down at the blueprints labled 'Akagi' and 'Yorktown' in front of him.

"We may often be at odds with one another but we both agreed that neither of us could support either side even if it was just a pre-text to finally settle our score."  Wallace Haverbrand spoke evenly.

"Indeed.  I have hope we can avoid getting that drastic yet."  Alistair added.

"If it were not for your money keeping our shipyard functioning right now there are a lot of things I'd say to you both."  Lord Greyson turned and left the chambers.

Alistair barely even glanced at Wallace before leaving himself.

Hailing his groundcar Alistair began thinking about they had gotten here.  It was a stupid argument over a battle on Terra over a 1,000 years ago and both of them wanted to win it bad enough to sink a large sum of money into something that they didn't really need.  The craft to fly off their decks was actually the easy part compared to getting them made.

"Time to go home.  Lucas is supposed to be introducing us to his fiancee tonight."  Alistair addressed his driver.

The ferry ride would be a few hours but this time of the year air service was often limited due to weather and Alistair had to admit he found the time this granted a good opportunity to stay lost in his thoughts.

That evening
Winebread Estate, Lexington
Federated Suns

Emi, Lucas, Felicia, Helena, and who Alistair could only assume was Nancy, his son's fiancee, were waiting for Alistair.

"Nancy.  Good to finally meet you in person.  Your holos do not do you justice."  Alistair said as he walked toward the group waiting for him.

"Come on, the cooks have dinner waiting for us."  Felicia embraced her husband.

The household had become busier with more servants and staff since Alistair had to build up his household forces.  As much as he and Wallace couldn't stand either side to a point to even use as a pretext he still knew it would have been a golden opportunity for Wallace to strike and despite his hope part of him still felt it was a question of when not if they'd finally come to blows.

"Don't tease me like that."  Nancy broke Alistair's concentration.

"I missed something, someone care to fill me in?"  Alistair spoke up.

"Oh just warning your future daughter in law that you'll probably gift her the family Valkyrie.  Poor thing seems to have earned a bit of a reputation."  Emi chuckled.

"Well with how the damn thing has been rebuilt any curse is certainly long gone by now.  Probably qualifies for the grandfather's ax paradox by now."  Alistair chuckled.

"And since Lucas and Helena never developed any talent as mechwarriors at all and Alistair is too old and my condition mean you're the only family left to give it to who'll put it to use."  Emi smiled.

"How can I say no when you put it like that."  Nancy blushed.

[Author] Next we return it'll be the final show down and 3072.  So bonus content here.  Basic idea behind the campaign was two feuding nobles but to spruce up the old trope a bit and Large Naval Support Vehicle construction rules were new at the time I decided their final straw to come to blows would be a disagreement over the Battle of Midway.  Lord Haverbrand wanted the Yorktown and Lord Winebread just to spite him was more than happy to take the Akagi.  Since neither actually owned the blue water shipyards they had to make compromises to Lord Greyson to get them and their airwings built.  So they are modernized enough to handle full sized ASF operations and are not unreasonable designs overall.  Both decided to tip the balance in their favor once all was ready in 3072 by hiring a lance or so of mercenaries.    One lance was the player force and as an NPC force to oppose them was a lance reinforced with some Infantry assets.

Both sides then had a merc mech lance plus support depending on which got the PCs, a company of mechs, a battalion of vehicles, and a regiment of infantry.  I used a modified form of the Merc Supp Revised force creation rules to work out the house hold forces.  Infantry was by platoon rather than squad and vehicles were rolled by lance rather than individually.  I can't remember if I did swap tables between the two houses but I know I used Field Manual Updates for the RATs and one was for sure FedSuns.

I still have full notes of how Lord Haverbrand's forces worked out and put into a MekHQ campaign file.  Winebread I have around somewhere.

And I've really been falling down on describing what these people look like so I can't pull a page from Cannonshop and pick people's brains about who they'd cast for these roles.  But for fun just to see where people are thinking just from personality I'll go ahead and wait until I finish the story to put up who I'd cast and give the interested an opportunity to give their thoughts.[/Author]

[monbvol]

A completely out of story post this time so no tags.

A little something to keep you all occupied as I try to remember the chain of events that my players took for the campaign.

Full honesty I actually can't remember who they initially sided with but I know they actually managed to do a pretty decent job of working both sides and thus wound up being pretty decisive in determining who won.

[Daryk]

That's a nice Valkyrie... I can only assume once it gets clan electronics, the fifth Medium will be installed...  ^-^

[Cannonshop]

Lord Winebread: Ulrich Thomsen

Lord Haverbrand:  Russ Blackwell

Lord Greyson: Matthew Rauch

[monbvol]

[Author]  Okay I can't find anything beyond the custom designs for what Lord Winebread has at his disposal but I remember some mobile HQs were involved somewhere.  I'd probably write this up as an adventure or a chaos campaign otherwise because this could easily be expanded toward such an end.  But lacking my old notes I'm just going to wing it and the final conflict will probably be short as a result.  Which reminds me I do need to see about posting up the training ASFs I did up to form the air wings of the Akagi and Yorktown that'll be getting tossed into the fighting.  Heck I actually can't even remember who actually won now byeond knowing my players were a large part of why.  [/Author]

Evening
Winebread estate
Lexington, Federated Suns
June 26, 3072

Emi studied the holo table.  On paper Lord Haverbrand had the superior force but she had identified a key weakness.  They had insufficient command and control capabilities to manage a force as large as Lord Haverbrand had assembled.

She also knew as much as they might be death traps for the pilots who flew them she'd have to utilize the small training ASFs that were locally produced.  There was no way Lord Haverbrand would not utilize his.  Fortunately Emi had already figured out how to neutralize that advantage too.

It'd leave the Akagi dangerously exposed.  Which would anger Alistair, especially if it got sunk as a result.  But Emi knew the risk was well worth it and the self defense abilities of the Akagi at least had the potential to break up the strike, especially with mostly trainee pilots at the controls of the strike craft.

The two islands were close enough with shallow enough water between them that they were connected by a bridge.  It couldn't support the weight of the largest units of either side without collapsing but Emi saw it for the trap it was with the superior number of hovercraft at the disposal of Lord Haverbrand.

An ancient meteor strike had caused a gentle slope usable by hovercraft on the southern shore of each island near where the islands met but the rest of the coast was far too rugged for hovercraft to breach.

Her main line would actually be set there.  The mech company and mercenaries would hold the bridge with air support.

"It does just seem to be a matter of time now."  Alistair broke the silence.

"Yes.  Do you disagree with my plan?"  Emi gestured to the holo table.

"I admit I don't like all of it and contact with the enemy has a nasty habit of throwing wrenches in plans but I can't argue with the logic behind it.  Indeed I consider it likely that you are quite correct in the target priorities of our enemy."  Alistair reviewed what he saw.

"Good, because I already sent the orders and a lot of this is thanks to the mercenaries we hired.  Somehow they've convinced Wallace that they're double agents for him."  Emi hugged her adoptive father.

Mobile HQ
the wheat fields of the Winebread estate
June 28, 3072

Emi was surprised that Wallace had waited this long but they were ready for him.

She watched the radar screen fill with Wallace's full fledged ASFs and his training ASFs heading directly for the Akagi.

The first trap was then sprung.  The six ASFs of Alistair's personal forces engaged the six ASFs of Wallace's force.

As she expected the AA defenses of the Akagi started melting the training ASFs and breaking up their strike.

That fight would not be fully decided for several minutes yet but the outcome seemed inevitable at this point.  Besides there was little more Emi could do now.

The sound of gunfire coming from the bridge was audible even inside the Mobile HQ Emi was in.

Who ever Lord Haverbrand had running his forces for him was no slouch.  The opening was subtle but there and the trap behind it concealed well.

"Okay time to trigger their flanking operation."  Emi keyed in the orders to send a token contingent of tanks to the bridge area.

The hovercraft were surprisingly well coordinated as their approach was detected.

Emi began keying the command detonated minefields to break up the attack.

Then it was her turn to be surprised.  The mercenaries hired by Wallace had managed to flank to the north and climb the cliffs.  Head hunting for her obviously.

"Harpie lance break off and intercept hostiles in grid baker 3.  Goliath lance I also want you to break off and set a position for us to move to in grid delta 4.  Training command begin your runs.  You'll be dropping danger close now."  Emi keyed her mic.

The mobile HQ rumbled into motion to avoid the head hunters.

Emi hated being on the move with her condition but it was better than being dead.

A Cobra flagged as belonging to the enemy mercenary unit the Interconcieble moved into firing position on Emi's display.

Bracing for impact Emi was relieved when no impact was forthcoming.

"We've got you Emi."  Nancy's voice broke over the radio.

"Thanks Nancy."  Emi sighed.

Emi began typing up commands for her radio operators to send for her as she studied the updated battle display.

As she had predicted the enemy wasn't able to keep their attacks coordinated and the cracks in the enemy formations were starting to appear as a result.

The only real threat now was the Interconcieble and their determination to hunt Emi down.

That was put to rest by the guns of Goliath Lance though.

Emi's fingers were typing faster than she could possibly talk.  Turning the battle into a blur of moving pieces to exploit the growing advantage that Alistair's forces now had.

The butcher's bill would still be a bitter pill to swallow though.

Outskirts of the Haverbrand estate
June 30, 3072

Emi surveyed the wreckage that was the culmination of the last two days of fighting.  It was hard for her to feel like they had won but the Yorktown was at the bottom of the ocean, Lord Haverbrand had fled in disgrace, and in the end they had lost less than their enemy.

"He'll probably come back someday."  Alistair walked up next to Emi.

"That's a sucker's bet if I ever heard one.  If it were not for what else is going on I suspect New Avalon would make us pay quite a price for this."  Emi wiped the sweat from her brow.

"True that.  We'll probably have to contribute to the AFFS before we can fully recover as it is."  Alistair sighed.

"I've already got people going over everything to figure out what we can send when that order does come."  Emi answered.

[Author] And end.

Now for who I have stuck in my head that I'd cast even if it doesn't make a lot of sense:

Lord Wallace Haverbrand: J.K. Simmons
Lord Alistair Winebread: Edward James Olmos
Felicia Winebread: Sigourny Weaver
Lucas Winebread: Rob Kirkovich

I never really settled on anyone for Lord Greyson, Emi, or Helena.

I did have a daughter for Wallace Haverbrand that I left out of the story ultimately because I couldn't remember what I had her do originally.  For her I toss around either Katie Sakhoff or Emily Wickersham for who I'd cast.
[/Author]