[Fan Fiction] In the Mist

[Stuckenschmidt]

Richard (Brinton)


"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Arthur, happy birthday to you."

Art took a deep breath and blew out all the candles on the cake. A few Engineers and Mechtechs who had gathered around began to cheer, give him hugs and pats on the shoulder. After the successful fight, the Commander had given the crew shore leave and Arthur and some friends had travelled to the capital to party. Now they were in a small bar in the city center and celebrated. Arthur looked down at the cake, that had a decoration on it reading 24. Then he looked up again and said as loud as possible: "The next round is on me."

The other guests, who had already observed the celebration, now began to cheer and offered congratulations. After a while, a young woman stepped up to Arthur.

"I have not seen you around here yet."

"We just came here recently with the rest of our unit.", Art said. He looked her in the blue eyes, but could not help but notice her lips and blonde hair either.

"Unit?"

"Koch`s Grenadiers. We have our camp over at Deccan."

"THESE Grenadiers? The ones who drove away the pirates?"

"That`s us."

"That was a really great feat out there. You deserve a reward for it.", she said, came closer and gave Arthur a kiss on the cheek. "I am Melanie."

*****​

Later that night he lay on his back. He showed a roguish smile when looking at her, while she sat on his hip, moving slowly back and forth. His hands glided over her skin and in situations like these he wished that he had more than just two hands. His breath accelerated and eventually both had contractions. She leaned over and they kissed each other, before she let herself fall on the bed next to him. Then she let her hand glide through his hair, smiling at him in a very special way. He saw a glance in her eyes he had not seen for a way too long time.

"Are you staying for breakfast?"

"I`d love to."

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Vall de Roncales (Brinton Orbit)


The next morning. The `Roncales` was basically dead afloat in Orbit. With the Leopard, Mechpilots, Technicians and half of the Engineers on the planet`s surface, only a minimum crew was on duty aboard the larger ship, so it maintained course and the systems were working.

Nevertheless a few crewmen plus some additional workers hired at the spaceport had spent a decent amount of time in the depths of the ship to eventually finish a large project the Commander wanted to get done for a long time now.

Koch enjoyed to be in the Mechbay. Usually there were always six Battlemechs standing around, waiting for maintenance or the next combat duty. Right now they were, with most of the Company`s equipment, on the surface. Hence the Bay made an even larger impression than it was the case anyway.

„Welcome, Sir.“, Yang said, when Koch entered the Bay.

„Are we ready, Chief?“

„You`ll like it for sure.“, Yang replied with a broad grin.

The two men walked to the other end of the Bay, where a few other people were already waiting for them. Then one of the hired workers pushed a button. They saw a rotating light and a loud acoustic signal, before the huge bay doors opened and revealed a second large room behind them.

Koch made a few steps forward and smiled. An enlarged Mechbay with enough room to keep a whole Company of Battlemechs ready for duty. Yes, it was expensive and will increase the maintenance cost of the ship, but he was sure, that it was worth it.

He turned around to the other people. „This is splendid work. I have to thank you for it.“

*****​

Richard


Arthur pressed the button and heard the door bell knell inside in the same second. A moment later she opened the door.

„Got the rolls.“, he said and held the small bag from the bakery up.

„Great. Come in. Breakfast is ready either.“

While he had been gone, she had set the kitchen table and he saw that the scrambled eggs were ready too. For a moment, before he sat down, he looked out of the small kitchen window. The appartment was near the center of the city. Fortunately in the fifth floor, so one was able to see over the roofs of the buildings on the other side oft he street, so one got a glimpse of the landscape beyond the city borders on the horizon. With the sun still barely above the horizon and almost no people around, it all looked very peaceful.

„Hey, are you dreaming?“, she said and gave him a kiss.

A minute later they sat at the table. Arthur looked at her while chewing. She had her hair in a ponytail and looked at him with a tricksy expression in her brown eyes.

„You are not a Mechpilot, are you?“

„Nah, I just keep them going.“

„Thought so. I am Technician either and I know my kin.“, she said with a smile. „There are stories about your unit. People say, you gave the Concordat a punch on the nose last year.“

Arthur looked a bit confused at her. Until now it never really occurred to him, that he was working for the people the Grenadiers had been fighting against in the past. Suddenly he felt a bit awkward.

„Don`t worry about that.“, she said. „I don`t care either. Do you have to work today?“

„I have the whole day off.“

„Well, I have to go to the job soon. Do we see us afterward?“

„Sure.“

Half an hour later they were finished eating and prepared to leave the house. Both got dressed, while she also packed a small backpack.

„There is a cafe called `Myer` at Kelly Avenue. Let`s meet there. 6 PM?“

„I`ll be there.“, Art answered.

Eventually she put on her jacket and then he saw it. A small emblem on the left arm. A blue oval shape with two rays of light going down from the center of the shape. He turned his eyes toward hers.

„Problem?“, she asked.

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Richard (Brinton)


That evening Arthur and Melanie were sitting at `Myer` and she had a rather questioning expression in her face.

"So, is it one?", she asked again.

"No, not really."

"Not really?"

"Look, Melanie, you are the first ComStar member I have met in my life. And...ComStar..."

"Does not have the best reputation, because it is a bunch of religious zealots. Right? Do I look like a zealot?"

"No. This is not what I meant."

"Aha."

"Hey, of course ComStar is important. Your network together with the Jumpships are what keeps the interstellar community together. And I am surely not an expert. But it is not, as if we are talking about an innocent telecommunication company minding its own business."

"We are not shy, if we want what we want? No. But how does that make us different from anyone else in the Universe. Would you be more comfortable, if we close the gates and hand the business over to Liao or Kurita?"

She hit a nerve with that. Arthur, just like anyone else, had often small talk about ComStar. It was a strange institution. Not only because of their secretiveness when it came to what they are doing. But also because nobody really knew, in which Team they were playing. Or, to be precise, that they seemed to be in nobody`s Team and were doing their own thing. Which was a bit uncomforting considering the sheer power they held in their hands. If all important messages need to be sent through HPG in order to get something done in time and a third party controls the network, things become complicated.

"Sorry, I did not want to be offensive. Can you tell me, what you are doing?"

"Yes, but then I would have to kill you.", she said with a serious expression in her face. A moment later she smiled. "Look, I am a Technician. I do the same as you do. Maintenance."

"I meant in general."

"That`s difficult.", she said and Arthur saw, that she could not really tell him, even if she wanted to. "Let`s just say, that someone has to take care of all this old technology to preserve it for future generations."

"Talking about the future. I would like to see you more.", he said, while putting his hand on hers.

"Me too."

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Wardha (Girondas / Taurian Concordat)


Cornet Asha Singh looked through her binoculars toward the northeast. Somewhere behind these narrow wooded hills must be the landing site. A few minutes ago they had received message, that an unknown Dropship was descending into the atmosphere. Since then, everything was chaos.

She was standing on top of a roof at the edge of the settlement. A siren echoed through the streets. Usually it was used for fire alarm, but the current signal told the people, that an attack was imminent. Everyone had heard about the recent attacks in the north, so the population took it serious. Nevertheless it would take time to evacuate all four thousand inhabitants. It was her job to buy them time.

She lowered the binos to examine the surroundings. Wardha was lucky. Recently the Militias got mobilized. And this Battalion of the 4th Orissa Homeguard was here for exercises and almost complete. But she was not naive. One Company was not completely mobilized yet, the CO was in the capital and the training of these people, whose basic training was already a few years ago, had just begun. She had a few APC, some of them with SRM Launchers instead of Machine Guns. Plus some support weapons designed to fight other conventional forces. But she knew, that no conventional forces were on the way.

Then she heard it. Or rather felt it. Some still minor tremors. That could only mean one thing. Dozens of tons of metal moving at high speed.

"Contact at 2.", she heard someone report. She looked in the proper direction and indeed the silhouette of a Battlemech appeared. Then a second and third. They slowed down, when their objective came in sight, but advanced through the forest toward the settlement.

"Missiles free.", she ordered via the headset. A moment later the SRM-APC and the few soldiers equipped with SRM Launchers fired a salvo toward the enemy. At this distance it could not be expected to be very effective. But the idea was to make them aware of resistance and thus more careful.

She monitored the situation. Her plan seemed to work. The Mechs spread out and began to move sideways. Then she heard a high-pitched sound and something hit the building next to her. Probably projectiles of Autocannons. Then she saw a salvo of Missiles getting launched in the distance. They came down in the area to the left. Since a Platoon with an APC stood there, she assumed it was an aimed shot and the accuracy told her, that these were LRM.

For a short while it stayed like this and she was pleased. Even more so considering the fact, that it was basically a miracle. They were probably outgunned and tied to a stationary position. They had no defense positions. There were a few small makeshift trenches made in the exercises of the recent days. But a part of her units had to occupy the houses at the outskirt of the settlement.

Then a series of explosions made her turn her head left. She saw how the end of the left flank was under heavy fire. She saw Missiles and Laser Beams and heard the sound of Machine Guns. An APC exploded and she saw, how a Platoon ran backward. At the same time more fire came from the front, when the other Mechs came out of the woods and entered open terrain.

"Fall back!", she shouted into her headset. "I repeat. Fall back! Retreat into the city at once."

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Samantha (Taurus)


A small conference room in the Ministry of Defense. Protector Calderon, Morisol-Chaplin and some high-ranking Officers and Officials of the Armed Forces and the Intelligence Agency listened to the report concerning the attack on Girondas.

"The attack pattern was consistent with what we experienced further to the north.", a Brigadier said. "They landed in a remote landscape and attacked civilian targets. The difference is, that coincidentally a Battalion of the local Militia was present to improvise the defense and support the evacuation."

He pressed a button of the projector and one saw an aerial view of Wardha. "The landing site was here, roughly ten miles outside the settlement. The Militia took position directly at the city limits. At first there was a weak frontal assault, until a second Lance of light Mechs appeared to the left and devastated the flank. At this point the remaining units retreated into the city."

"Casualties?", the Defense Minister asked.

"Sir, the Battalion was almost liquidated in the aftermath. The unit seeped into the nearby streets and tried to engage the enemy with what they had. The attacking Mechs destroyed many buildings in the northern part of the city. We are still assessing the damage."

"What about the civilians?"

"Despite the short warning time, most civilians were able to escape, also thanks to the fact that the Militia made them lose time. Without them, the casualties among the population would have been way higher."

"The Commander did a great job.", Calderon agreed.

"Yes, Sir. The Commanding Officer of the Battalion was in the capital for a meeting with other Officers and the Governor. The Commander of Alpha Company was in charge. Unfortunately she is listed as Missing in Action right now and probably among the casualties."

"Can you tell us something about the attackers?", an Officer of the Intelligence Agency wanted to know.

"We were able to recover some footage recorded by the soldiers` helmets already.", the Brigadier said and started a short video, stopping it every now and then. "Here we see the initial force. We identified them as four Medium Mechs. Among them was a Hatchetman. We are not able to say, whether it is identical with the one from Brinton or not. This means, that they either have more than one or spare parts to repair the one they have.". He started a second video. "Here is the second Lance attacking. The quality of the footage is rather low, but we think that it consisted of Locusts and Wasps."

The Officer of the Agency raised from his seat and started a projection of the Taurian Space. "Sir. All these attacks on our planets follow the same pattern, but we have no hints toward the origin. The targets are far apart and there are numerous possible origin systems from the Federation in the north to the Coalition in the west."

"It is Davion.", Calderon noted.

"Sir?"

"This last attack was only possible from a system in the Coalition. House Arano would not dare something like that if their Canopian and Federal masters would not support them. This is a coordinated aggression against us and it is time that we put pressure on them."

"This will escalate the situation. Even more so, since we don`t have facts to support the notion, that Davion and Arano are to blame.", Morisol-Chaplin said.

"Yes.", Calderon agreed. "But as I see it, we can`t wait for any facts we might stumble over, while our citizens keep dying. We have to escalate the situation in order to solve it."

"This might lead to war.", she added for consideration.

"Aren`t we at war already?"

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Deccan (Brinton)


Melanie had made the way to Deccan on her free day, so she and Arthur were able to meet. They sat together in a cafe for a quick lunch. There was the usual murmur from all the people having small-talk, but it did not disturb them in their own conversation about themselves, what they were doing and how they felt about each other.

But suddenly there was a new noise coming from the bar. Above it was a monitor and one of the waiters was turning it louder. Melanie and Art turned their heads toward the screen and they saw a man sitting at his desk.

"Calderon.", Melanie said.

"The Protector?", Arthur said and she nodded silently.

"Dear Citizens.", Calderon said. "For months, the Territory of the Taurian Concordat is target of an anonymous organization of Terrorists. In numerous cases, these criminals have violated Taurian Law, destroyed the properties of our citizens and deliberately taken the lives of many of our compatriots.

Although we do not want to belief, that the perpetrators are the vanguard of a foreign intervention, circumstances allow no other conclusion than that this organization is funded by other powers. In order to maintain stability, peace and safety for all our citizens, the following measures become effective as of now.

The Concord Navy is authorized to temporarily utilize privately owned Dropships in order to secure Taurian space from further intrusions. The respective owners will get compensated for their expenses.

Arrival and permanent residence of citizens of the Federated Suns and the Aurigan Coalition are subject to more strict visa regulations. All respective individuals have to apply for a new visum at the local authorities within one week or have to leave the Taurian Concordat.

It is with deep regret, that I am forced to adopt these measures, but I rely on the understanding of the Concordat citizens, that they are necessary to maintain a secure society. Thank you."

The picture of the Protector disappeared. Melanie and Arthur looked at each other. "Wow", she said. "So, when do you have to leave?", she added in jest, although her smile did not look as confident as usual.

*****​

The members of "Koch`s Grenadiers" had basically two options during their stay on Brinton. Either they lived aboard the `Roncales` or `Fortune`. Or they took a room in a nearby barracks, that had been cleared for them and other Mercenary Units. It was a bit different with Koch. As Commanding Officer he had received an appartment from the local government and so he and Emily lived there.

Both had watched the broadcast from the capital world, while sitting at the dinner table. Emily looked at him.

"Is this bad?"

"I think so, yes.", he answered and made a short pause. "I think they don`t know what to do. They provocate their neighbors, so they have to react."

"Is he right? I mean, with the foreign support?"

"Possibly. Probably. But I think they have no real evidence, otherwise they would show it."

The next thing he heard was a sound coming from the communication system. He answered the call and Emily heard him talk for a minute, before he returned to the table.

"That was the local Headquarter."

"So?"

"All Commanding Officers are ordered to attend a meeting tomorrow."

She reached over the table and took his hand. "Will there be a war?"

"Hopefully not."

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Richard (Brinton)


Gladstone was not a densely populated continent, hence it was no surprise that the capital, Deccan, had just a bit more than a hundred thousand inhabitants. Everything made the impression of a calm rural city and the buildings of the Administration were not necessarily impressive. The same was true for the local Headquarter, a simple office building with three stories in the center of the city.

Koch sat in the largest meeting room of the building. When he looked around he saw Commanding Officers of Miltia units. The few small units of the Concordat Army were on other continents and thus no Army Commander was present. Then there was a representative of the Constabulary, although he had an informal role here in order to keep the Ministryof the Interior up to date. Eventually there were other Mercenary Commanders. In the aftermath of the attack, the Concordat had sent numerous forces to this world, so its vital production centers were secure. Even Gladstone had now a total of two Mercenary Companies.

To his right was Frederik Whitfield, also called "Spartakus" for whatever reason, who had arrived with a Mech Lance called "Hanover Free Militia". Whether he really hailed from the Combine was anyone`s guess. Opposite to him sat Thaddeus MacEoghan, Commander of the "Poor Fellow Knights", a Company of Light Tanks consisting of Saracen and Scimitar. Eventually, to the left of Thaddeus, was David Scoltock, called "Sassenach". Allegedly of noble birth and now Commander of the Mech Lance "42nd Highlanders".

After a while, Brigadier Natasha Sobolewa, Commander of the local defense forces, entered the room and took seat. She and her Adjudant immediately began to explain a plan to utilize all available Dropships to secure the space above Brinton. It was the duty of Koch to speak for all present Mercenary Units due to the agreed on principle of "seniority", since he was Commander of the first Mercenary Unit to arrive on the planet. Eventually it was time to adress an issue important for all Mercenaries.

"Mam.", Koch began. "We also have to talk about these new visa regulations mentioned by Protector Calderon. I have to point out, that Mercenary Units are generally not homogenous entities. Our crews hail from all places of the Universe. A few of my crew members, and also more in other units, have citizenship of the Federated Suns or the Aurigan Coalition. According to our contract with the Concordat I expect, that due to the special legal relationship between the Concordat and our Units, these crew members are excempt from these regulations and are free to travel whereever they want if they wish or are ordered to do so."

"Hear Hear", the other Commanders said.

He looked toward Brigadier Sobolewa. He could see from the expression in her face, that she did not feel comfortable with this question. And it was the member of the Constabulary, who took the floor.

"The Ministry of the Interior got informed about the special situation here and probably on other planets either. We have no answer yet, so until we receive a contrary statement these new regulations apply to everyone."

Koch looked at the other Mercenary Commanders and saw some nods. "We expect, that these regulations are not valid for our crew members or, if the Taurian Government insists on these regulations, we expect a monetary compensation for these inconveniences. Should the Concordat not grant us one of these two options within a week as of now, we deem our contracts to be null and void."

The Officer of the Constabulary agreed to deliver this message to his superiors. Since all important topics had been discussed, the meeting was over. When Koch arranged his documents, he saw into he faces of the others. The Militia Commanders were not impressed. Not so much with their combat performance, but with, from their point of view, entitled attitude of the Mercenaries, who demanded special treatment. Sobolewa maybe a bit less so, since she understood, that this kind of renegotiation of contracts were rather commonplace, if circumstances changed. When Koch was ready, he stood up and walked toward the door. Outside he heard a voice behind him.

"Commander, may I have a word with you?"

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Deccan (Brinton)


Koch turned around and saw Commander Scoltock approaching him.

"Of course.", Martin said.

"Then let`s get out of here. I invite you to a drink."

A few minutes later they sat in a bar, while Commander Scoltock had ordered a whiskey for each of them. Koch was not someone who would drink before evening or drink a lot in general, but at times he made an exception.

"I liked your stance toward the Taurians when it came to free travel for all of us.", Scoltock told him. "After all, we are Mercenaries. Being free to go where we want is one of the defining issues of our profession. Especially since, according to my opinion, the general suspicions toward the Federation and the Coalition are wrong."

"What makes you think so?"

"Bias, mostly. It is hard to accept, that one`s own people are involved in this kind of attacks."

"So the rumors are true and you are Aurigan."

"My father would agree.", Scoltock said and smiled, while looking at his glass. "See, my family history is not really important here. But it is true, that we held a noble title in the old Coalition for about a century, until we were forced to flee, when House Espinosa made its coup. And, just like you, I was part of the Restoration Campaign. Our unit helped capturing the spaceport of Weldry, when you liberated the Icebox."

"Then it was good, that you did that fast, otherwise I would not sit here."

The two men clinked their glasses.

"Well, the Restoration has won. How come you did not settle down again and claim what is yours?", Koch asked.

"I thought about that. But in the three years in between, I had founded my own Mercenary Company together with other expatriates. And to be frank, I like this new freedom. But that does not mean, that I have no connections to my former home anymore. Although maybe not as tight ties as yours."

"Hm?"

"There are rumors about you and Lady Arano too. I don`t mean that kind of rumors, but allegedly you were more than just employer and employee."

"The people exaggerate a bit.", Koch replied. And that was true. He had not seen Kamea since her coronation day. Every now and then they exchanged a mail, but he would not define that as close friendship.

"Be it as it may.", Scoltock concluded. "We both have fought for her and I am going to assume that we both know that she deserved to win. I don`t know what is going on here exactly, but if things escalate further, it might result in a war. Is the Coalition ready for that? Are we?"

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

`Fortune` (Canteen)


Since the patrol duty for all Dropships was not in effect yet, the `Fortune` was mostly at the spaceport now, and so only one pilot had to be aboard, while the other two were in Orbit to steer the `Roncales`. And right now, Georg Seeler had nothing else to do than enjoy lunch in the canteen. While he ate the Penne al Funghi, he saw a group of three crew members approaching him, led by Arthur. Eventually they sat down.

"Sorry for the disturbance. Do you have a minute?", Art asked.

"Sure. How can I help you?"

"We were talking with some Mech Pilots about the plan to secure the space above Brinton. So we asked ourselves, why we not just patrol the Jump Points. Wouldn`t that be more efficient?"

Georg pointed at a bowl with fruits on the table. "Would you pass me an Orange please?". Another crew member did so.

"Okay. Let`s say, this is a solar system. We have to keep in mind, that the important thing for Jumps is gravity. The star at the center of the system produces a lot of it, but we need the gravity to drop below a specific value in order to initiate a Jump. We call this proximity level. Now think about this Orange as the spherical zone, where gravity is too large and the surface marks the point where gravity drops and Jumps are possible."

"But wouldn`t that mean, that Jumps to any point on the surface are possible?"

"Exactly. But there is a trick. Let`s draw a line on the `equator` of the solar system. This is the ecliptic plane of the system, were also all asteroids and planets orbit the sun, so there is a lot of additional gravity to consider when calculating a Jump. But the more you come closer to the north pole or south pole, the less this becomes a problem. Hence why there are usually these two locations used as Jump Points and they are called Standard Jump Points. But in fact there is an infinite amount of Jump Points at the edge of the proximity level."

"And since we can`t monitor all of space, we fall back to the planet in order to defend it."

"Correct. And that`s difficult enough already. Now imagine the Orange is this planet. We are on this side, the capital on the other. Should something happen above our heads, we can`t expect help from the other parts of the planet fast."

Art looked thoughtful at the fruit. This did not sound good. He had never thought about these things, but as Georg explained it, all advantages seemed to be on the side of the attacker.

*****​

Just a few meters away from the group, Koch sat in the kitchen right next to Emily, while having lunch.

"I`ll have to leave for a while.", he said as casually as possible.

"Are you going to the capital?"

"Nah, I will visit Kamea."

Emily stopped what she was doing and looked at him quizzical. "Why that?"

Martin leaned back and looked at her. "See, I had a conversation with one of the other Commanders and we also talked about the Restoration. He had also fought there, since he is Aurigan nobility. Or was. Does not matter. Anyway, he talked about Kamea a bit and how I am a closer to her than others. I don`t know why he brought up that topic, but maybe he thinks that it would be useful if I would contact her."

At first it seemed as if she wanted to object, but then she thought a bit more about it. "Maybe that`s really a good idea. But isn`t that risky?"

"Maybe. But since I am neither a Federation nor Coalition citizen, I am free to go whereever I want. The ships and Mechs stay here. Kate will be in command while I am gone. She knows what to do in case something happens."

"Nevertheless be careful. And greet her.", Emily said and smiled.

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Cordia City (Coromodir / Aurigan Coalition)


He walked down the street with his hands in the pockets. He loved to do that, although he usually was not able to, since it would be too casual during duty. But now and here, he felt a bit like a Tourist. He strolled through the city and enjoyed the sight. Although it was winter, it was pretty mild and the sun was shining. Coromodir has been and still was a wealthy world. Plus the civil war had not caused a lot of damage to the city, since the struggle had been almost over, when the Restoration dropped its forces.

Standing on a bridge and looking down at the river gently flowing by, he reminded himself that it was time for his meeting. So he left the city center and walked to the southern districts. After a short while the scenery changed, since he came to the places, where the lower middle class lived. These were appartment buildings for clerks or better qualified workers. Not wealthy, but not poor either.

Eventually the buildings became smaller, when he reached the city limits, where the barracks were located. Besides the administrative buildings and the housing for the soldiers, he saw the tall Mech Hangars in the distance. When he reached the gate, he greeted the guard.

"Martin Koch. I have an appointment with Leftenant Maric."

"Another guard checked the list of signed in visitors. "Yes, Sir. Please wait here, someone will guide you."

After a short while, a soldier appeared and Koch joined him across the area. When they came closer to a building, he saw Maric already standing in front of it. The soldier stopped and greeted her. "Private Picard with guest reporting as ordered."

"Thanks, Private. Dismissed."

As the soldier walked away, Maric and Koch shook hands. "It is good to see you again, Sir.", she said.

"I am not your boss anymore, Kori."

"Aye, Martin."

The two went inside to her office. At first they talked about the events of the recent year. How the Company had been doing. Some private events of him and other crew members. Eventually Kori came to the point.

"I take it, you are going to visit Lady Kamea?"

"Tomorrow, yes. Is she the good leader we expected her to be?"

"She is. Maybe even better than that."

"I have to ask you something. What is the situation here?"

Maric made a thoughtful face, while she looked at him. Eventually she stood up. "I`d like to show you something."

Maric and Koch went down the corridor back to the entrance area. While the entrance was to the right, to the left were the stairs to the next two floors. When one ascended the stairs, the wall to the left showed some painted signs with names and dates.

"Our memorial wall.", she said with a serious tone.

Koch studied the signs. There were just five. Not a lot, considering that this building held the personnel of a whole Mech Battalion. But quite a lot considering that the coalition was at peace. When he looked at the death dates he saw, that all of them had died in northern systems.

"I see.", he said.

"The core worlds are as stable as always. But the north is a different story. Three years of rather informal rule of the Directorate and then months of Civil War have bred large amounts of pirates. Plus some rebels, who still think that the Directorate was the better alternative. We are making progress, but it will take time to completely restore order."

"I see.", he repeated, although more thoughtful than before.

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Cordia City Palace (Coromodir)


"...and then we sat on our hands for the next six months."

"Oh my, that did not work as intended, did it?"

Kamea and Martin laughed for a short while. They sat in the winter garden of the palace, surrounded by flowers. Looking through the glass, one was able to see the backyard of the Palace. There was no snow and it was not cold either, but it did look empty and abandoned, although the hedges were properly trimmed.

"How is Emily doing?", Kamea asked.

"Oh, she is fine and sends her regards. She would have loved to come with me, but it was not possible right now."

"You really should have married here. It would have been a pleasure to be the host."

"Thank you. To be frank with you, she is not too happy at the moment. She does not talk about it, but she wants to have a family. In her opinion that would require to settle down. I am not convinced of the latter, although I would not mind to have a family either."

"I am afraid that there will be no compromise. You will have to decide for both or none."

"Indeed. Maybe it was one of the underlying reasons, why I made that contract with the Commonwealth in the first place. But at the end of the day it was probably an unfortunate agreement from the beginning. And so we are back in the south."

"Working for the Concordat."

Martin took a sip of tea and put the cup back on the table. It had been a lucky coincident, that Kamea had been in the capital when he arrived. Even more so that she had time to meet with him just two days later. Of course she had no illusions, that he was here just for smalltalk.

"Perfect transition, Kamea. You are right, we are currently on Brinton with some other Mercenaries and regular units. It is about these attacks."

"Can you tell me something about them?"

„Probably not a lot more than you already know.“, Martin said with a smile, before he leaned back and became serious again. „I have fought versus a decent amount of Pirates, but these are different. Calderon calls them Terrorists. I think he is right. On Brinton I saw them destroy civilian settlements for no good reason.“. He took another sip of tea, for now he had to phrase a question, that was slightly awkward. „And we are asking ourselves, where they come from and how they actually finance themselves.“

There was a moment of silence. They looked at each other. „It is not us.“, Kamea said after a while.

„I know.“, Martin said. „But what is going on in the north? I remember how you once called it the poor half of the Coalition. It also seems to be the chaotic half.“

Now it was Kamea`s turn to take a short drink and think about what to say. Martin knew what was going on. They had fought side by side. But those days are over. She was the Ruler and he just an old acquaintance, who served on the wrong side of the border now. How much would she be able to tell him?

„See, we follow these events for just a short time. But we have come to the same conclusions.“

„What are you going to do about it?“

„We have begun to increase controls of arrivals to and departures from planets as well as the Standard Jumppoints.“

„That`s not enough.“

„What are you suggesting?“

„A survey of all solar bodies in the appropriate systems.“

Kamea took a deep breath before she raised from her chair and walked a few steps toward the glass, looking outside for a moment. „You should have stayed here last year. Not only because of Emily. I would have needed experienced Mechpilots.“

„I thought it would be wrong to do so. The rebuilding of the Coalition is the business of the people of the Coalition. And, to be frank, I did not want to have any rumors about the position of me and my unit in your administration.“

„I thought so. Nevertheless it has been a difficult time. The north is indeed the poor half of the Coalition. And it had to suffer the most from the Civil War, since we started the Restoration there. The Core Worlds are better off, but not everyone is willing to provide resources for the rest of the realm, before the last brick on their own world has been rebuild. My House Forces are weak. Too weak to control everything anytime. Your idea is good, others had the same. But my hands are tied.“

„Then convince the other Houses, that this is a matter of war and peace. I have seen personally, that the Concordat is mobilizing its forces. Besides the Regular Army, there are currently clearly more Mercenary Units under contract than normal. Private Dropships get utilized for patrol duty, but they can also transport units anytime. Whole Regiments of Militia and other internal security forces report for duty throughout the Concordat.“

She turned around and looked in his face. „You mean, that the Concordat increases its garrisons, so they have more spare forces for rather offensive operations.“

„I don`t know what Calderon is planning. But what I see can easily be interpreted that way.“

She walked back and sat down again, looking out of the window with a thoughtful face. She agreed with him, but also saw the difficulties. Her Chief of Staff had already advocated for a large Campaign in the north months ago. During her coronation she had promised, that the war is over. Since then they were fighting a guerilla war in the north versus outlaws and remaining rebels. Maybe it was time to face the fact, that the time was over to do things by halves.

„I am doing my best to convince the Council to mobilize as many forces as possible, Martin. But I can`t promise anything.“

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Space Transit


Did he feel guilty? Well, maybe a little bit. But this was the one time when he was allowing himself something. When he had bought a ticket back to the Concordat, he indeed had booked First Class. The first time in his life. Although he felt a bit bad, since Emily was not with him. But, on the other hand, it was surely a difference when compared to economy class.

He had a large cabin just for himself, with the bathroom probably being of the same size than the smallest cabin aboard. The room service was amazing, although he preferred to take his meals in the restaurant. Despite the fact, that the other passengers in the First Class were probably able to identify him immediately as not belonging to the "normal" upper class. But he did not care. He enjoyed the service for a few days, before he would be back in normal life.

He sat in the lounge and had asked for a selection of latest newspapers. Fortunately the ship had some from different origins, and so he was able to read articles from the Coalition as well as from the Concordat. The difference was staggering.

The Coalition papers were mostly occupied with domestic issues. The too slowly growing economy, the war recovery efforts, the political debates within the Council. Sometimes an article about instability of the north with various opinions concerning the reasons for that. At the end of the day the news revolved around the fact, that the Coalition was coming to rest again, although there were obstacles. The events in the Concordat were depicted as domestic security issue, with a decent amount of lack of understanding, why the Protector was blaming his neighbors without any real evidence.

The Concordat papers, on the other hand, painted a completely different picture. The Taurians were under attack by a ruthless terror organization. And where there are Villains, there also had to be Heroes. The Militia was the new darling of the media, with a deceased Cornet Singh being the paragon of civic duties. She had been Commanding Officer on Girondas and died while defending a city. Allegedly there were the first streets to be named after her. It was not helpful either, that the planet Landmark had been target of another short raid, causing dozens of casualties in orbit, when a small dropship was destroyed.

Koch put the newspaper aside and looked out of the window into the endless darkness of space. Somewhere out there was the answer to all of this, but right now it felt as if he was in a dense fog. He heard a lot of noise, but was not able to say where it came from or who was the source. And he had the nagging feeling, as if time was running out and something bad would happen before the mist dissolved.

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Daniel (Pinard / Taurian Concordate)


Despite all the talk and pride about being independent from the Inner Sphere, the Taurian Concordat was nevertheless connected to the mayor Factions around. A flock of Dropships per day arrived with desperately needed or wanted goods from the other side of the border. And left with surplus commodities to be sold abroad. Whatever one thought about the other realms in the Universe, it was undeniable that one needed one another.

It was not different on Pinard. Although not one of the most important worlds of the Concordat, it had nevertheless a large spaceport, being the hub for travellers and merchants. Although the most business was done by locals, there was a namable amount of foreigners, mostly from the Federation and the Confederation. Most of them worked in trade offices directly in the port building. But a few had small shops in the city. One of them was Mathew Deakins. His wine shop, selling the best types the Federation had to offer, was well-known among the population and had a large number of regular customers.

It was just another day in Daniel. Although the recent months had been a bit less normal due to the things going on along the borders. Deakins had not followed the events too closely. That the tensions between Concordat and Federation got a bit more intense was nothing new. Unusual was, how long it lasted this time. During these periods, the business was always less good, but still profitable. But recently something had changed.

Every now and then there were protests, sometimes calm and sometimes loud, versus the attacks and unfortunately more frequently against the Federation. The more populist part of the media had adopted the narrative of the Concordat nation being threatened by Federal terrorists with death and destruction. And while usually only the values of the Concordat, namely individual freedom, seemed to be the apple of discord, this time the population itself was the target of ruthless murderers. It could have hardly come as a surprise, that this would motivate a small part of the citizens to take things in their own hands.

Yet Mathew was more than surprised, when he suddenly heard the loud noise of cracking glass behind him. A large stone or brick had been thrown through the shop window. In the next moment, a group of individuals with sticks smashed the remnants of the window and entered the shop, breaking most of the bottles in the racks. Mathew tried to escape through the office, but two men blocked his way. They knocked him down barefisted, while the others continued their work of destruction, yelling anti-Federal and nationalist slogans. When there was nothing left to break, the group left the shop and threw an incendiary agent into the room, which immediately caught fire. In the same moment, a siren could be heard in the distance. The group began to run away from the scene, while thick smoke began to funnel out of the shop.

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Holy shmoly. I knew that I forgot something. In my defense: The last months have been pretty busy IRL. If there is still interest in this, I will bring the story to a proper end.

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Okay, let`s get this rebooted. A quick recap. After the Arano Restoration, Koch`s Grenadiers went back to the Commonwealth, but basically wasted half a year without proper duties to do. So they went back to the southern Periphery. At the same time terrorist attacks versus the Taurian Concordat began. The Grenadiers, among other Mercenary units, get hired to reinforce the planet of Brinton. Slowly the situation escalates and the Concordat is preparing for the worst. Koch travels to the Coalition and meets with Kamea to exchange information, while the situation in the Concordat further heats up.

Spoiler: Dramatis personae

Koch`s Grenadiers

Martin Koch - Commander, Callsign "Silence"
Emily Koch - Wife of Martin, Cook
Kate O`Shea - Second in Command
Yang Virtanen - Chief Engineer
Arthur (Art) - Mech Engineer
Sumire Meyer - Chief Pilot
Georg Seeler - Pilot
Jairo "Tengu" Cline - Mechpilot
Sebastian "Dragonfire" Hong - Mechpilot
Amir "Dekker" Kowalski - Mechpilot
Jessica "Glitch" Chernovskaya - Mechpilot
Mohammed "Medusa" Benitez - Mechpilot
Clyde "Pinball" Stoev - Mechpilot
Ruby "Turnaround" Rogers - Mechpilot

Taurian Concordat

Thomas Calderon - Protector of the Concordat
Edward Calderon - Son of Thomas, Governor of Brinton
Elena Morisol-Chaplin - Advisor to Thomas
Jeb Lombardi - CO of all Taurian Forces on Brinton
Natasha Sobolewa - Regional Commander on Brinton

Mercenary Commanders

David "Sassenach" Scoltock - 42nd Highlanders
Thaddeus Mac Eoghan - Poor Fellow Knights
Frederick "Spartacus" Whitfield - Hanover Free Militia

Others

Kamea Arano - High Lady of the Aurigan Coalition
Melanie de Groot - Girlfriend of Arthur, ComStar Technician
Kori Maric - Mechpilot; former Grenadier, now serving in the Aurigan Forces

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Samantha (Taurus / Taurian Concordate)

Morisol-Chaplin observed Calderon as he read the latest reports coming from Pinard. After a wave of Anti-Federation protests, some people had decided to take physical action versus property and citizens of the Federation. Law Enforcement needed some time to bring the situation under control again, since the first incident sparked a series of similar events. When the situation was more or less calm again, there were two fatalities as well as dozens of wounded and arrested individuals.

„Two dead?“, Calderon asked after he finished reading.

„We can count ourselves lucky, that we don`t have similar events unfold on other planets. The ministry of the Interior has already issued a statement, that any illegal action versus foreign citizens will be answered with all sharpness of the law.“

Calderon nodded silently.

„This is slowly getting out of control, Sir. We have to do something to reduce tensions.“, she stated.

Calderon looked her in the eye. And she saw something she had noticed before. An expression that seemed to say, that she was right but he had to disagree. He had to. This was about the Federation and that was an issue that hit one of his nerves. She thought that this was a bit irrational, but she was not in charge. All she was able to do was to analyze the situation and report her conclusions.

„I see where you are coming from.“, he said eventually. „I agree that we have to make sure, that citizens do not take things in their own hands. But we have to keep the pressure up, without threatening individuals. After all, this is an issue between us and the Governments of the Federation and the Coalition. Maybe it is time to raise the stakes on a diplomatic level.“

***​

Avalon City (New Avalon / Federated Suns)


„What the hell is going on down there?“, he asked, after having read the latest message from the Taurian Capital.

„They are desperate and don`t know what to do besides shooting in our direction. Up to a certain point I can`t blame them.“

Hanse Davion looked at the report from his Ambassador on Taurus again. Citizens of the Federation have been harassed and in one case even been killed by angry, nationalist mobs. Of course this was the fault of Calderon and his xenophobic rhetoric. Without any doubt there were attacks on Taurian territory. But there was not a shred of waterproof evidence that would lead toward the Federation.

Yet the Concordat intended to impose trade restrictions on the Federation. The Governors of the border worlds, already stressed by the situation, did fear for the economic situation of their planets. What was Calderon`s plan? Did he really expect this to solve anything? He did not have a high opinion about the Protector and this was not suited to change his mind.

„What do you want me to do?“, Quintus Allard, Head of the Ministry for Information, Intelligence and Operations asked.

„For the time being we will offer negotiations on the basis, that our citizens get compensated by the Concordat for any suffered damage or bodily harm. But I want you to activate as many of your sources down there as possible in the first place. I want to know what is going on on the other side of the border. And I mean everything.“

„It is not just the Concordat.“

Davion thought about that. He had not paid much attention to the Periphery lately. The Aurigan Restoration seemed to have been succcessful, but after House Arano had seized the Throne again, the whole Rimward had fallen under the radar again. Was Kamea up to something?

„You are right. Let`s take all possibilities into account.“

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Aurigan Coalition


He went down a corridor until he came to a door to a large briefing room. He opened the door and saw, that the room was empty and dark.

„Are you here?“, he asked.

„Over here.“, he heard a voice from the other side of the room. He walked toward the window, where his Commander sat on a chair and looked out of the window. Out there was nothing but hostile barren rock and some structures to hold some men and material plus light defensive installations.

„Anything interesting out there?“, he asked, when following the look of his Commander.

„What do you have for me?“

„We have got some news about Brinton.“, he answered and handed over some documents to the Commander, who began to read. After a short time, he saw how the man in the chair raised an eyebrow.

„This may be an opportunity.“, the Commander said. „Send the Little Bird and let them attack the weakest part of the chain.“

„Aye.“

The other man left the room, while the Commander turned toward the window again. So far the whole operation had been a success. They managed to perform some surprise strikes against the Concordat with basically no losses. Of course the Concordat did react. The garrisons got stronger and they tried to protect their assets better. But that had been expected. Nevertheless they had the advantage, since they could strike at will whereever they wanted.

As a result, the Concordat is looking for the responsible factions. Their mobilization of forces is proceeding and would soon reach a point, that war was a possibility. And now this. Brinton. One of the most important Taurian systems. If everything worked as planned, then they would deal serious damage and maybe even sow some dissent behind the enemy lines.

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Brinton Orbit


„Orbit established, Sir.“, the Pilot reported to the Commanding Officer.

„Fine.“, the CO responded and opened a Communication Channel to the „Fortune“.

„Fortune, here Kilkenny. In position for patrol duty. Over.“

„Affirmative, Kilkenny. Don`t fall asleep. Over and out.“

Kwame Benyi, Commanding Officer of the Leopard Class Dropship „Kilkenny“ in the absence of Commander Mac Eoghan, smiled and leaned back in his chair. The „Fortune“ had always the shift before their own and it had become tradition that they teased the Dropship Crew of the "Poor Fellow Knights" when ending their duty.

On a monitor he followed the „Fortune“ descending into the atmosphere and heading back to base. During the next six hours the „Kilkenny“ would stay in a stationary orbit and monitor the situation above this part of the planet. But usually there was not a lot to do. Transport flights on the planet usually did not leave the atmosphere unless the destination was literally on the other side of the world. And cargo ships from other systems were rather heading for the planetary capital. And so there was not a lot of traffic besides the occasional transport of food or spare parts. Benyi stood up and got himself a coffee.

*****​

An hour later one of the Operators addressed him.

„Sir. There is a new contact.“

„Details?“

„Nothing yet. It suddenly appeared. Already close and seems to pass our stern soon.“

„Contact them.“

„Unknown Leopard-Class Dropship. Identify.“

There was no answer even after the second attempt to contact the other ship, while it proceeded on its course. Benyi was unsure what to do. Eventually he ordered to report the new contact to the HQ on the surface.

„New contacts, Sir. Two small craft were launched from Contact One and…“

„What?“

„The signal strength suddenly dropped. I can`t lock on the contacts.“

„Alert! All hands to battle stations.“, Benyi eventually ordered. A second later an alarm echoed through the ship, which began to maneuver. Then the ship was shaking, since the two small vessels were in firing range and the lasers hit the stern.

„Open fire!“, Benyi ordered.

„Still no lock possible, but we return fire manually.“, the Weapons Officer responded, as the crew tried to aim at fast moving objects with basically no help of the ship computer. In the meantime the enemy Dropship had come closer and its arsenal of PPC, LRM and Laser joined the fray. Now the „Kilkenny“ was at a serious disadvantage, since it was not only outnumbered, but also clearly outgunned. To make the ship being able to hold a dozen combat vehicles plus additional crew, the Fighter cubicles and even some standard weaponry had been removed. The uneven fight continued, until there was an explosion at the stern oft he „Kilkenny“.

„Sir, the Engine is destroyed. We are dead afloat.“

„Report to the HQ.“

„We try, but can`t get contact to anyone.“

Another series of hits made the bridge and the people there shake.

„Sir. Hit at the bow, structural…“

A second later the ship`s structure collapsed and the front part including the bridge was ripped off the rest oft he vessel. The bridge crew was hurled into space, where they died less than a minute later. The wreck parts drifted in orbit, as the attacking Fighters boarded the Dropship again, that set course away from the planet at high speed.

 

[Lighthorseman]

More please, those of us that can’t write still love to read.

 

[Stuckenschmidt]

Deccan (Brinton)


Two days later the Passenger ship with Martin aboard returned to Brinton. Right at the spaceport in Richard he noticed already, that there seemed to be more security personnel. Later the same day a shuttle arrived at Deccan, and the mood of the people was rather depressing.

He walked to the Dock, where the „Fortune“ was standing and found the Crew in an equally somewhat agitated state. Eventually he met Kate, who reported about the happenings oft he recent days.

„Have there been any survivors?“, Koch asked.

„Only one.“, Kate replied. „An engineer, who escaped from the engine room in time and immediately ran for the rescue pods without waiting for an order to do so.“

„I see. Is anything known about the attackers?“

„Not really. The Commander sent a message, that they had a sudden contact. After that we had no communication with the Kilkenny, although we tried. We had just returned from our shift and needed some time to get ready for liftoff again. The other ships were not manned at all. When we were in Orbit again, it was already too late.“

„But there is something good about it.“, said Yang, when he entered the room. „The data core of the ship computer is intact and we were able to retrieve it. We are working on evaluating the data and maybe we find something interesting.“

*****​

In the evening, Yang, Martin and Kate stood in the Briefing Room and Yang ran a holographic display of the Kilkenny`s ship data.

„Here we see the enemy ship appearing on the screen.“

„Close already.“, Kate said. „Strange. Now I see why Kwame reported a sudden contact.“

„And that is not the only strange thing.“, Yang explained. „Here we see two Fighters launching and a few seconds later all contacts become a blurry mess. The Kilkenny fired at them, but as it seems without computer support. Considering the agility of the Fighters it is understandable that they did not hit them. A bit later they focused on the enemy Dropship, but did not have enough time to cause any significant damage.“

Martin did rewind the video and watched it from the start. He had no experience with space combat. So far they had been lucky to not having encountered anything like this. Even during the Aurigan Restoration all combat operations had happened on the ground. Yet he had the feeling as if something here was not normal.

A crew member came into the room and gave Koch a piece of paper. It was from Brigadier Sobolewa. She wanted to see him tomorrow.