Inbredmartian
Member
Oh hey….i get that reference 😅
Let Us Unite: A Battletech AU
- Thread starter MarkWarrior
- Start date
deathzealotzero
Mecha Guru
Laughs. So did I! And I didn't even watch the show!
Prologue: Part VIII
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Prologue: Part VIII
Date: December 30, 0800 Pacific Standard Time,
Location: Mare Island Navy Shipyard Museum, Vallejo California, Terra, Terran Hegemony (AKA MINSY)
"A bit closer please," Hanni Schmitt whispered, her ribs still causing pain when she breathed too deeply. "It needs my biometrics."
Nodding, her son and Charles moved her closer to a panel set into the side of a display case of the museum, her hand resting long enough for the panel to accept it before she lifted her head to focus her eye on the scanner, her voice barely picked up by the microphones as she gave the proper authorization codes.
Then, a display with a Submarine shifted, the water it had been resting in draining away into a storage area far away, revealing a set of stairs that led underneath the Battlemech-grade glass.
"I got you," Mitchell picked up his mother and allowed her to rest as he set her on the stretcher they had brought.
"Let's move it, people!" Hazen took charge. "We've got a job to do, and a very limited time to do it in. Amaris probably knows by now that he didn't get all of us, and he's going to be tracking us down. That leaves us with a very small window of opportunity to get off of Terra."
"I've got to stay with the wounded," Yanez looked at the Colonel and Hinks, a frown on his face as he sighed. "Southorn, Schmitt, Jewels, you're going to help me get them down there."
"Right," Mitchell grabbed one end of the stretcher while Jewels grabbed the other end and they began carefully walking down the staircase, Black Watch members with weapons raised covering the rear and the way down in case they had been compromised.
"Clear!" Jack and Capell echoed as they cleared the first room.
"We've got a metric fuck ton of dust down here," Capell coughed. "I think the base is empty."
"Language," Alexandra glared as she covered Colleen's ears.
"Right," Capell smiled sheepishly. "Sorry ma'am."
The group made their way inside, the concrete foundations having been hollowed out and reinforced by DOME years if not decades ago, there was computer equipment, replacement 'Mechs, and even a spare Pueblo class dropship stashed away here for a rainy day.
"I'll start putting together our identities," McFadden stated. "Capell, you and some of the others can start putting together whatever we'll need to make our disguise work."
"I'll need some extra hands with me," Yanez wheeled the Colonel towards the medical section. "We've got some treatments that should get them on their feet long enough to get us off-world if I remember these large-scale facilities."
"What do you need?" Jewels asked.
"Someone to help me keep them still," the medic sighed. "Some of these treatments are going to hurt like hell. And if we're not careful they'll be hurt worse than before."
"I'll help put together the identities," Hazen joined Capell. "I take it someone's going to try and get access to the accounts?"
"Yup," Southorn headed towards a nearby terminal. "No idea how much cash we'll need, so I'll pull the account numbers for each of the nations we've stashed away for rainy days."
"We'll also have to figure out how to take that with us," Suarez jerked a thumb over at the mobile HPG that was mounted on a nearby trailer. "I don't want us to end up in the dark insofar as the location of the Camerons is concerned."
"That shouldn't be too hard," Hazen glanced at the 12-ton device. "Claim it's specialized scientific equipment for charting planetary movements or some shit. If that doesn't work, we bribe the dropship captains until we get to a jumpship."
"I'll start pulling a truck around," Suarez gestured for her husband to come help. "I figure we'll try to leave in three hours."
"We'll leave whenever Yanez is finished," McFadden shook her head. "I don't want to rush any medical procedures."
"Then it's back to hurry up and wait," Southorn chuckled. "Always seems to come back to that."
Date: January 2, 2767
Location: Star System 10.14526 Classified system known as Hotel
"Why are we here?" Austin Little, the Captain of the Spicer asked as he walked onto the bridge. "This system isn't on any of my charts."
"For good reason," MacIntosh replied. "In case of a situation like what happened a few days ago, the Camerons secured what we call 'Boltholes'. Places known only to the Black Watch to secure the Cameron Dynasty if anything were to happen. As it is, this isn't the Bolthole we'll be permanently using, this is just a stopover while we effect repairs to your ship and the Blue Quest."
"Then where are we going?" Captain Little crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Because we just abandoned Terra to a bunch of Periphery Scum."
"We've got two jumps," MacIntosh sighed. "I'm not willing to give more details than that because of potential leaks, but suffice it to say that your orders are pretty much to ensure that the Camerons are secured as well as possible. The Hegemony has to be secured by the SLDF or any local militia troops. Our job is to ensure that there's still hope for the Hegemony to be reborn."
"Fine," Little uncrossed his arms. "Tell me about these 'Boltholes'. Will there be repair facilities of any sort?"
"There should be enough for us to get the Warships we have in decent shape, yes," MacIntosh replied. "But most of the systems will be automated. When we constructed these, we had to ensure that no one was able to talk about what they'd done."
"No, they weren't killed to ensure secrecy," he waved off their concerns. "We stashed them away on a secure world and let them live out their days in luxury."
"Right," Daksha, the captain of the SLS Tripitz finally spoke up. "We need to get some work crews over to the Blue Quest, otherwise she'll end up stranded here, they managed to repair her enough to jump once, but aside from that…" he trailed off.
"We picked up enough survivors from the other ships that we should be able to have rotating crews until she's up and running," Little leaned back against the nearby bulkhead. "Terra's fallen, hasn't it?" he finally asked after a moment of silence.
"If it hasn't yet, it's going to," MacIntosh replied. "We were outnumbered by a significant margin down there. And I wouldn't count on anything beyond insurgency forces surviving for much longer than into January."
"Then we better get to work," Daksha turned and began giving orders. "We've got a lot to do."
Date: December 31, 1100 Pacific Standard Time
Location: San Francisco Spaceport, California, Terra, Terran Hegemony
"Mr. Jackson, please enjoy your trip," the spaceport was eerily quiet for how many people there were in and around it as Jack moved through the line, his bag passing through the scanners without sending any warnings.
"Thank you," Jack smiled and shook the attendant's hand. "I hope that the rings of Saturn are as beautiful as they say."
His small talk done, he moved through the spaceport, locking eyes with several of the other Black Watch members as they all moved through different areas before boarding the same dropship at different times, with Suarez and her family masquerading as scientists with the HPG as cargo. Then, as they all boarded and were ready to leave, the ship began boosting off, the fusion torches creating a second sun as the passenger aerodyne began moving down the runway, eventually breaching orbit and heading towards Titan at 1g.
"And now we wait," Jack muttered to himself as he leaned his head back to try and get some sleep on the trip.
–
–
Unfortunately, the dropship was stopped halfway through the journey to Titan, as a Rim Worlds Navy Vessel pulled up beside them.
"Civilian vessel Pony Express, please match course so we may perform an inspection, failure to do so will result in immediate weapons fire," the Rim Worlds Warship broadcast as it matched speed with the much smaller dropship.
"This is the Pony Express, we're lining up our approach now," the civilian pilot replied as a docking collar extended to the ship, docking with it as an airlock cycled and a handful of soldiers boarded and began searching the ship and its cargo.
"Is there anything specific you're looking for?" a flight attendant asked, hoping to speed the soldiers up so they could get moving again.
"Just making sure that there are no stragglers hiding among you lot," the soldier replied, a couple of the boarders began checking the passports and IDs of the passengers, a few of the nobles from First class were pulled out and brought onto the Warship before the squad leader was told to come back to the RWR ship.
"That's everything that we needed," the soldier smiled at the attendant. "Thanks for asking though, dollface."
The soldiers then left the way they came, although first class was a good deal emptier as the Pony Express was allowed to go back to her route.
"Nobles?" Alexandra asked her husband as the ship began to move again.
"The ones most capable of resisting Amaris," Mitchell explained. "They likely have 'Mechs and some small amount of hired troops or Mercs. But won't act if family is being held hostage. It's one of the oldest methods for keeping people in line, but it works. Unless the family is fanatical enough to not care, anyway," he trailed off.
"I just hope that there's a jumpship willing to let us board," Alexandra whispered. "I'm worried about Colleen, I don't want her to grow up in this hell."
"No one does, but we'll have to endure for a little while," Mitchell kissed her on the cheek. "Now try to get some rest, Titan isn't as closely monitored, and we're going to be really busy when we land."
–
–
After days aboard the dropship, the Pony Express finally came in for a landing at one of the domed cities of Titan, the runway running into a depressurized bay where it waited for the doors to close and the area to be pressurized before allowing the passengers to disembark.
As the Black Watch members filtered into the spaceport, they stopped and joined the crowd around a tri-vid screen, a video with a news anchor showing smoke behind her and tears dripping down her face.
Lost for words, she simply sat there, gesturing at the words on the banner as she openly wept.
Behind the woman were piles of bodies surrounded by the 'Mechs and tanks bearing the shark of the Rim Worlds Republic, a Firestarter prominently on display as it moved to the next stack of bodies and its flamers ignited the pile, then a few seconds later, turned and began setting the town behind it on fire as well, the screams of people inside of the buildings could be faintly heard before someone shut the Tri-Vid off, waving for people to disperse.
"Some of those bodies," Hazen leaned in to whisper in McFadden's ear. "They were wearing SLDF uniforms."
"It gets worse," McFadden replied. "Some of them were wearing RWR uniforms."
"Seems like not everyone was happy to follow unlawful orders," Capell agreed. "This is only the beginning of this sort of shit. I really hope that General Kerensky manages to get here quickly, otherwise this is going to end in progressively more death and bloodshed."
Prologue: Part IX
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Prologue: Part IX
Date: January 3, 2767
Location: Redacted, Titan, Terra
"Majors, are we sure that we're not going to be found out?" Mitchell asked. "Because I'm pretty sure an unregistered dropship that takes off from Titan is something that'll be pretty noticeable."
"We don't leave the dropships we've got stashed fall off the registry or out of sight and mind," McFadden shook her head. "Some of us come often enough and make it look like it's a merchant vessel that is on an off season."
"If we do get stopped, we just act like it's our usual yearly route," Capell shrugged. "Merchants that only operate during specific times isn't unusual, especially in the Inner Sphere. So we should be able to get away with it."
"What about Jumpships?" Hazen asked from where she was powering up the Pueblo class ship. "We're going to need to secure passage out before Amaris locks down the system entirely."
"We're only a few days out from the Zenith point," Mitchell pointed out. "I'm sure that there'll be one we can commandeer or pay off."
"Regardless, we don't have the time to stand around talking about it," Jewels dragged a case of foodstuffs into the nearby galley. "Suarez has already secured the second HPG and gotten it onboard. So all that's left is the 'Mechs and we can leave."
"Right," McFadden nodded. "They're not our usual rides, but they're what we have stashed here, so we'll load them up and make sure that they're maintained while we're en route to the Jump point."
"I just wish we had some ASF escorts," Capell sighed. "Having some as a surprise should shit hit the fan is something that would be nice to have."
"We'll make do," Hazen shrugged. "But let's get moving, we leave in two hours."
–
–
"Titan Control, this is Messenger, we are transmitting our flight plan," Hazen broadcast to the local air traffic control.
"Messenger, back to your usual run?" ATC asked. "It's been a few months since you landed."
"Had to visit the family on Terra, make sure that the money was all distributed to the cousins, you know how it is," Hazen laughed. "You got a course for us?"
"Affirmative, Messenger, taxi to dome two seven zero and wait for confirmation of door clearance."
"Copy that, moving to dome two seven zero," the dropship began wheeling through the tunnels set aside for Aerodynes.
"Be advised, there have been some… Surprise inspections in the last few days. Make sure that you've got any contraband secured and locked away. We've heard they're looking for booze!"
"Wilco," Hazen responded, glancing back at some of the others, a question in her eyes. "We'll be sure to lock up the whiskey and tequila."
"Just make sure you bring some back for us," ATC chuckled. "We'll get in touch when you reach two seven zero, ATC, out."
"The 'mechs and HPG are hidden, right?" Hazen asked.
"It's taken care of," Capell replied. "We've got a few Haulermechs strapped down, but that's the only thing they'll find aside from the usual small arms that are onboard a Dropship."
Date: January 5, 2767
Location: Star System 10.14526 Classified system known as Hotel
"The Spicer and Blue Quest have been repaired and crews shuffled around to fill holes," Dashka briefed the other two captains and Major MacIntosh. "We're not at a skeleton crew, but we're not at our full coverage either until our wounded are out of the medbays."
"I'll contact each of you with the coordinates for the next jump after our K-F drives are all fully charged," MacIntosh stated. "Once we've reached Bolthole, we'll go Comms silent aside from a single repeating HPG broadcast to any surviving Black Watch members."
"And what about our families?" Captain Little asked, Captain Kathryn Jones nodding in agreement. "They're still on Terra or in the rest of the Hegemony."
"Alright," MacIntosh exchanged glances with Captain Daksha before sighing. "The Tripitz was specifically staffed with crew members who didn't have family to leave behind. All of the Warships that are on standby for evacuation efforts such as what we accomplished were staffed as such."
"So what do we do?" Jones looked around the table.
"We find those who want to return to the Hegemony and we load them up on the Tripitz," MacIntosh explained. "It's the most intact ship, and the one that Amaris and those who fought in and around Terra will recognize once they've had time to go over the intelligence logs. You then try to get to General Kerensky, explain what's happening, and return to Liberate Terra as soon as possible."
"And those who remain with us will go on to Bolthole," Daksha finished. "We'll need the extra manpower to secure and hold the system. So, while we wait for everyone's drives to finish recharging, we'll begin sorting out personnel and loading the gear everyone will need onto the different dropships and Warships."
"You sure you want to give up your ship, Daksha?" Little asked. "Surely you'd rather take the fight to the enemy?"
"I'm serving the task that I was assigned," Daksha shook his head. "I will gladly give up my ship if it accomplishes the survival of the Star League and the Hegemony."
"We'll sort all of that out later," MacIntosh replied. "Right now, we need to establish what repairs still need to be finished and how we're going to split and sort personnel. The Titan dropships and their ASF are coming with me, so we'll start with designating dropships to go…"
Date: January 7, 2767
"C'mon now," Sergeant McLeod helped the Wet Nurse gather up the Cameron Twins before moving over to the next room and gently shaking both Elizabeth and Helena Cameron awake. I hate to wake you, lasses, but we're transferring ships."
"Will we be safe there?" Helena asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Aye," McLeod smiled, the girls warming to the old noncom. "As safe as we can be. We're transferring over to the Spicer, she'll keep us safe until we reach Bolthole, and then we'll get to be on solid ground again."
The girls nodded and began to change out of their nightgowns and into the clothing that had been provided, the SLDF fatigues looking slightly large on their frames.
"Now, can you help me with your niece and nephew?" the Sergeant asked. "They've been a bit fussy all day."
Elizabeth nodded, shifting positions to accept the bundled up Ian Cameron.
"He's so small," Ian smiled up at her and reached for her hair. "No, you can't have that," she pried away the fist, not wanting her hair to be tugged on.
"They always are," McLeod led them to a small craft, the girls boarding as the Black watch ensured the seals were good before launch. "Then they grow up to be taller than you."
"When do we get to go home?" Helena asked, her voice cracking as she began to cry. "I just want to go home."
"Shh," The sergeant pulled her into a grandfatherly hug. "We might not be able to return to Terra for a little while, but we can make a home out of wherever we are," he gently stroked her hair and let her hold him until she stopped weeping.
"Better?" He asked.
Helena nodded, not willing to speak as she stared at the wet and snot stained part of the Sergeant's uniform.
"A good cry is necessary sometimes," the old man smiled. "Why, I remember when my daughter was a bit older than you…"
Date: January 5, 2767
Location: Zenith Point, Terra
"Jumpship Euphrates, you got space for one more?" Hazen asked as she ran the Jumpship through their intelligence documents.
"You caught us at just the right time, Messenger," the Tramp class Jumpship responded. "We were about to bring the sails back in and leave."
"Well, if you'll let us talk things over when we dock, we've got a proposal for you," Elizabeth replied. "And we've got the funds to make it happen."
"As long as it gets us out of here, I'm fine with anything," the nervous voice replied. "You're clear to dock at collar three. Just make it quick."
"They're going to take us if we have to commandeer the ship," A voice said, shocking the members who were up on the bridge.
"Colonel," they snapped to attention as she limped forward and sat in a chair. "I wasn't aware you were awake, Ma'am," Major Capell said what they were all thinking.
"If we're going to have to pay them off, someone's got to sign off on the expenditure of those funds," their CO snarked before coughing a bit. "Besides, the SLIC has people embedded in many Jumpships, we just need the right confirmation codes to verify and utilize them as assets. Codes that most of you were not given access to."
"Well, we've got an hour before docking," Elizabeth sat back down. "So whatever we need to transmit, we need to do it now."
Last edited:
Bolthole
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Bolthole
2767
2767
X:Y Coordinates 13.796 :0.895
Spectral Class: G2V
Recharge time: 150 Hours
Recharge Stations: Redacted
Planets: 5 (See Redacted)
Bolthole was originally settled by the Camerons as a hideaway in the event of a potential crisis that would see the ruling family of the Terran Hegemony destroyed. It was originally settled and terraformed in the year 2695.
The System was wiped out from all data logs and star charts, simply another number among the millions of stars that had been observed to everyone aside from the most critical of personnel among the SLDF and Terran Hegemony.
While the World was originally intended to be guarded by secrecy only, Jonathan Cameron ensured that it was secured by a small force of five M-5 Caspars, as well as three M-9 Pavise stations located at both the Zenith and Nadir points during his reign.
Bolthole IV (Bolthole)
System Position: Second
Jump Point Distance: Seven days
Moons: 2
Surface Gravity: .99
Highest Native Life: None
Landmasses: 1
Population: (Redacted)
Capital: Hideaway
Other Notes:
It is of note that Bolthole, while intended as a getaway and hiding place for the Camerons in the event of an emergency, was not intended for the mass production of an army or fleet.
While there were repair yards and machine shops (First prototyped on the Federated Boeing's Argo, much of the industrial capacity went to maintaining the required facilities for ensuring clean water and growing the food that was required.
There was, of course a small amount of war material stashed at Bolthole, but given the resources that would be needed to retake Terra or any other world, it is clear that this was intended for a defense force more than anything else.
(Please see Professor Anders for any further questions regarding Bolthole, as all other data has been marked Classified Eyes only or has simply been redacted pending further review.)
Prologue: Part X
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Prologue: Part X
Date: January 5, 2767
Location: Zenith Point, Sol
"Look, we've mainly got civilians fleeing from the Rim Worlds armies on the other two dropships," Joanna Savage, the captain of the Euphrates explained. "And I'm ex-SLDF myself, so if you've got a place to get to, then please. By all means give me the coordinates and I'll head there myself."
"We head towards Bryant," Colonel Schmitt spoke softly. "It is one jump from here, and if we need to, we are within one jump from several locations that I have the coordinates to."
"Let me discuss it with the dropship captains," Savage replied. "If they want different passage, I'm going to let them go now."
"Just make it quick," Hazen cautioned. "I don't think any of us want to stick around for much longer."
The call disconnected as Capell began to go over the personnel records that they still had access to for now, the other major eventually pulling up a service record for one Joanna Savage.
"Well, She's not SLIC, but she served with distinction for twenty years, retired and bought a jumpship with her husband," Capell summarized. "She's solid, and her entire family is on the Jumpship, I think we can trust her, for now."
Shortly after he was done reviewing her profile, Savage had reconnected via comms.
"The Euphrates and the dropships attached to her are yours to command, Colonel," Savage stated. "What are your orders?"
"We go to Bryant," Hazen said bluntly as the Colonel slowly drifted back into a restful sleep. "Then, if everything goes well, we have to transmit a message. If things do not go well, we will instead give you emergency coordinates to jump to."
"Understood," Savage nodded. "Our L-F battery is at full charge, and we're bringing in the sails now."
"Then whenever you're ready, captain," Hazen replied.
The comms cut out as Savage began to bark orders to the family members that were manning the various stations on the Euphrates, her son beginning to lay in the coordinates for the Bryant nadir point.
"Coordinates are programed in, permission to execute jump?"
"Execute," Savage ordered, the young man hitting the switches that would initiate the jump.
Then space and time began to fold as the miracle of the Kearny-Fuchida drives began to bend the laws of physics to their will, the gap between systems shrinking as the Euphrates disappeared from the Sol system, the empty space filling with dust as a rough outline of the jumpship and her dropships appeared in Bryant, the ship sending out a burst of radiation as it appeared at the nadir points.
But no one had possession of sensors that moved beyond light speed, and it took time to adjust their sensors for new developments even with the advanced technology of the modern era.
And so they waited, first fifteen minutes went by, then thirty, and finally at forty-five minutes, their sensors finally pieced together what the system of Bryant looked like.
"We have Warships in system!" Joanna's husband reported. "Sending standard Star League handshake protocols, wait one."
The comms signal went out, and and returned another fifteen minutes later, a Rim Worlds Republic warship demanding the Euphrates surrender or be destroyed.
"We've got Rim Worlds Naval vessels here," Joanna's husband Adam finally stated. "We need to leave."
"Get me a channel to the Messenger, they've got the coordinates for us to jump into."
"On it!" the man's hands flew over the controls. "Contacting now."
"Messenger is not responding to hails for vocal comms," he reported, we've got coordinates and instructions to hold for another fifteen minutes before jumping..."
"Fuck," Joanna muttered underneath her breath. "How far out is that warship?"
"Rim World's Corvette is closing in, estimated arrival is thirty mikes if they're moving at 1g."
"And sustained burn of 1.5 will put them arriving in twenty," Captan Savage sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing, Messenger."
–
–
"HPG pulse will last for another fifteen minutes!" Capell reported. "If we want Bolthole to know that we're still here we can't jump yet."
"Euphrates has the Jump coords," Hazen reported. "They're holding for now."
"As soon as the Pulse is finished I want you to give them the go ahead," Schmitt ordered. "We cannot be captured."
"Prepping nuke just in case," McFadden reported as she opened a small suitcase with a tactical nuclear warhead embedded. "I'll need a second code to arm once we're ready."
After McFadden said that, the bridge fell silent as the minutes crawled by, the HPG pulse continuing while the Euphrates entered the coordinates for the next jump and held their breath, the Lithium Fusion battery dumping its contents into the K-F drive to prime it for the jump.
"Oh God have mercy," Adam wept as he finally tuned into the radio waves and Tri-Vid broadcasts showcasing the horrors occurring on the world below. The few satellites had recorded the Rim Worlds Republic bombarding the Castle Brians from orbit, their troops landing and beginning to do the same things that they had seen on the Terran broadcasts before they had left Titan.
The Euphrates recorded all the of the transmissions as they waited, the Corvette drawing closer until simple text was transmitted.
"Jump!" it read.
"Coordinates are entered, we're clear to jump!" the navigator reported.
"They're in weapons range!" the sensors officer yelled.
"Jump now!" Savage barked as a naval autocannon round traveled towards the Euphrates.
The jumpship flickered, and then vanished from Bryant as the massive slug traveled through where the Euphrates had just been.
"That, was way too close," Joanna exhaled as she held her chest right over her heart. "Get the Messenger on the horn, I've got some yelling to do."
Date: January 14, 2767
Location: Hotel
"Godspeed Tripitz," Daksha said as the Black Lion class battlecruiser finished loading up the last of the supplies that she would need for the journey to the periphery.
"Sorry about the state the Spicer's in," Captain Little gave a sad smile. "Hopefully she treats you better than she treated me."
"We'll make sure the old girls get fixed up," Daksha smiled. "Find Kerensky and get him back to Terra, I don't want to have to wait forever to be able to go home."
"Copy that. Spicer, Blue Quest, we'll see you around."
The SLS Tripitz vanished as she jumped, the remaining crew members who remained with the Spicer and Blue Quest saluting as she left."
"You think they'll succeed?" Daksha asked MacIntosh.
"I'm praying that they do," the man crossed himself. "But I'm prepared for them to die in the process. Now, are we ready to jump?"
"The Blue Quest still has several compartments that they can't access because they're exposed to vacuum, but she's jump capable," Daksha shrugged. "So we're as ready as we can be."
MacIntosh nodded as he wrote down long memorized coordinates on a small sheet of paper.
"Enter these, then burn them," MacIntosh instructed. "And after we've arrived, you're to purge the data from the astrogation computers."
"Understood," Daksha carried the paper over to his navigator, where he personally entered the coordinates in and then burned the paper in front of him. "Slave the Blue Quest to us," Daksha ordered. "We jump in thirty minutes."
–
–
"Jumping in three, two, one. Jump is successful, wait one, local SDS system is asking for identification."
Macintosh sat at the nearby station and transmitted six ten character strings to the M-9's that were stationed there, some of the codes authorizing both the Spicer and Blue Quest to remain in the system, while the others designated the Spicer as a priority protection given the Camerons were onboard.
"ID is sent," MacIntosh relayed. "Move to the second planet in the system, That's where we need to be.
"Trio of Caspars are moving into escort formation," the sensors officer reported.
"Welcome to Bolthole," MacIntosh stated. "It might not look like much, but it'll be home for a little while."
Date: January 22, 2767
Location: Bolthole, Terran Hegemony
"Captain Jones, the Blue Quest has priority in the repair bays," Daksha said as they had dropships and small craft begin ferrying any SLDF Army and nonessential personnel down to the city below. "The Spicer's hurt, but we've still got more armor than you do."
"Copy that," Jones replied. "We'll get the old girl reskinned after we've offloaded the extra supplies."
"And Kathryn," Daksha noted the dark bags underneath the other captain's eyes. "Get some rest, I expect there'll still be plenty of work for us to do."
"I'll do my best, sir," Kathryn smiled sadly. "But there's so much here, and she's my ship. I'm gonna stick with her until she's full repaired before I take some leave."
"Just don't burn yourself out," Daksha warned. "We'll be relying on you."
"Understood," Kathryn replied. "Blue Quest, out."
"Just because we have SDS systems doesn't mean that we get to slack off," Daksha looked at his bridge crew. "They failed over Terra, and we're not going to allow a repeat of that here. Do I make myself clear?"
"Aye sir!" the bridge roared.
"After the Blue Quest is done with her repairs, we'll rotate out," he looked around, meeting the eyes of every single officer and noncom. "That will be when we get our R&R, until then, we stay vigilant. Not a single Rim World or House Lord ship gets to the planet while I still draw breath."
–
–
"It's not much," Sergeant McLeod said as the SLS Abyss slowly settled onto the pad below. "But Bolthole has enough for us to survive, and maybe even thrive."
As the Camerons moved off of the dropship, they were greeted by what appeared to be a basic military base, everything was clearly laid out according to the Star League manuals, and the Entrance to the Castle Brian underneath was carefully concealed. Surrounding the walled complex, was ground ripe for growing crops as far as the eye could see, with a few rivers flowing between the obviously marked fields.
"Get them to the HQ," MacIntosh ordered. "We'll start up the generators and begin checking on the local inventory. And Sergeant," He paused.
"Yes, sir?" McLeod replied.
"Don't let the Camerons out of your sight. The last thing we need is for DoME to have accidentally released a predator here that has a taste for a new meat product."
"Understood sir," McLeod returned to his post. "I'll ensure that they survive."
The Twins and Cameron sisters were then surrounded by the remnants of the Black Watch Marines as the SLDF regulars that were on board the Abyss began offloading 'Mechs, Vehicles, and personnel.
The Engineers immediately were loaded up into trucks and headed for the generator complex, the massive Fusion reactors having been loaded and prepared for decades of lying dormant.
"I want those generators up and running within the hour," MacIntosh ordered. "And someone get to the HPG complex and make sure that it gets started, I don't want to miss any emergency transmissions from Kerensky or the SLDF."
"Do they even know where Bolthole is, sir?" one of the engineers asked.
"Kerensky was briefed on its existence," MacIntosh replied. "But the coordinates were never made known to him."
"Then how will they know that the Camerons are alive and well?" Someone asked.
"There are systems set up to report to HPGs that are in other hidden systems that the fat bastard shouldn't be able to get intel on," MacIntosh replied. "Unless everything goes wrong and the HPG network is completely shattered, we should have confirmation of receipt within a month or so."
"Either way, we've got a job to do!" another officer barked. "Stop woolgathering and get your asses in gear, these 'Mechs and vics won't move themselves!"
Twelve hours later…
Location: Bolthole HPG complex
"Sir, we've got a transmission that was waiting for us when we reactivated the main generators," a technician informed the major.
"Well, let's hear it," MacIntosh crossed his arms.
"This is Major Elizabeth Hazen, Black Watch survivors have escaped Terra and are shifting to escape protocols. Our coordinates will be sent via text to follow this transmission. Please confirm that Bolthole is secured and we'll arrive with due haste."
"Are we able to transmit yet?" MacIntosh asked.
"Negative, we're only able to receive while we finish up the update procedures," the Tech shook his head. "This system has ten years of updates to complete. We'll have to complete those before we can move forwards with any transmissions."
"How long will that take?" MacIntosh asked.
"Five, maybe six hours," the tech shrugged. "We're talking about updates that improve data transmission rates as well as reception quality."
"Get it done and then let me know when we're ready to transmit," MacIntosh replied. "I don't want to leave any survivors out there that might be able to make it to Bolthole."
"Understood, we'll get it done."
"You've done good work here, make sure you're rotating and getting enough rest. There's plenty of work to go around. No need to burn yourselves out."
"Once the updates are started we'll rotate keeping a watch on it and checking on the physical components," the lead tech replied. "Make sure you get some rest as well, Major. You're the ranking officer down here, after all."
"I'm Black Watch, Lieutenant. I'll sleep when I'm dead, and so far, it looks like we're all too angry for that to happen."
Last edited:
Can I get a Hallelujah?
Tall Tales from Terra
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Tall Tales from Terra
Date: January 1st, 2767
Location: Unity City, Terra, Terran Hegemony
“Colonel, we finally managed to wipe out the Black Watch members still in the Castle Brian underneath Fort Cameron,” A hastily promoted Major reported.
“Well?” Colonel Duket asked. “Spit it out, young man.”
“We didn’t manage to bomb all the entrances closed in the initial attack,” he sagged. “We only faced a short Battalion. And we don’t have an exact count on just how many of them there were given there aren’t published numbers on the Black watch.”
“Fuck!” Duket swore, driving his fist into a nearby ferrocrete wall. “Which entrance did we miss? Maybe we can still track them down.”
“This one, here,” the major indicated a point on the map. “It wasn’t one we could have known about, even with the Emperor’s information.”
“Get out of my office,” Duket sagged in his chair. “Get me a medic, and don’t come back unless you’ve got their heads on a silver platter.”
“Yessir,” the major dipped his head before leaving the office, his feet shifting from a walking pace to a hasty run.
“There goes my career,” Duket sighed as he palmed his face with his unbroken hand. “Now I just need to tell the Emperor.”
“Major Reeves, what about the aerospace fighters still in the hanger?” the ASF wing leader asked.
“We’re going to have to leave them behind,” Reeves sighed. “The ground vehicles and ‘Mechs were easier to conceal in the brush and surrounding landscape, but it’ll be near impossible to hide nearly forty-plus fighters streaking out into the stratosphere.”
“Then what do you need us to do?” Lieutenant Colonel Richardson asked. “We’re trained in some small unit tactics, but most of us are only rated for our carbines at most.”
“We’re smuggling you off of Terra,” Reeves said as he continued leading the convoy. “The rest of the Black Watch is going to make life hell for Amaris here. Besides,” the man turned around to look at the man in his ‘Mech’s Jump seat. “We don’t know if the Camerons managed to make it out alive or not. So some of us will need to check and see if they made it to Bolthole or not. And while we could use air support, you’d be shot down in a heartbeat while the Fat Bastard controls the skies.”
“No,” Richardson replied. “We stay and fight. Just because we have a chance of being shot down doesn’t mean that you won’t need us.”
“Richardson,” Reeves stopped his ‘Mech. “I’ve got nearly seven hundred infantry, support staff, and Mechwarriors that are going to be scattered throughout Terra. What can your people offer that they can’t?”
“The ability to stop them from dropping a nuke on you whenever they feel like it,” Richardson said smugly. “You and I both know where our hidden bases are. Put a few Squadrons of us within easy strike distance and we’ll be on task for intercept whenever you need it. Besides, there’s no way that the royal family made it out alive. So we might as well spend our lives fighting and dying alongside our brothers and sisters.”
“Fine,” Reeves resumed movement. “But I still think this is a bad idea.”
“You can think it’s a bad idea all you want,” Richardson smirked. “As long as you go along with it.”
Date: January 7, 2767
“What do you mean the Black Watch still lives?!” Amaris roared.
“Sir, the SLS Abyss managed to escape during the beginning of your reign, and they, along with the SLS Tripitz managed to make it out of the system. We’re tracking the Tripitz now, it’s made a few appearances in nearby systems. We believe they’re making a run for the periphery,” The head of Rim Worlds Intelligence stated. “We did manage to eliminate all of the SLDF regular forces on Terra. And also have managed to take control of most of the Hegemony with only a few short holdouts.”
“And what of this?” Amaris asked as he pointed to a specific place in the report. “Why, is there a report that the Black Watch is present on Terra?!”
“They may have managed to unseal an entrance to the Castle Brian underneath Fort Cameron before we went in to kill the lot” the officer stammered. “We haven’t managed to track them down, but I have members of the 4th Dragoons and other counterinsurgency teams on it now.”
“I wanted them dead,” Amaris whispered. “Let us hope that your replacement does a better job.”
“What do you mean, replacement?” The other man asked as a laser carved through his head, leaving nothing behind as Amaris waved for them to take the corpse away.
“Find me his second,” Amaris instructed. “And hunt down the Goddamned Black Watch already. They’re men and women just like anyone else. They can be killed as easily as them as well.”
Date: January 1st, 2767
Location: Unity City, Terra, Terran Hegemony
“Colonel, we finally managed to wipe out the Black Watch members still in the Castle Brian underneath Fort Cameron,” A hastily promoted Major reported.
“Well?” Colonel Duket asked. “Spit it out, young man.”
“We didn’t manage to bomb all the entrances closed in the initial attack,” he sagged. “We only faced a short Battalion. And we don’t have an exact count on just how many of them there were given there aren’t published numbers on the Black watch.”
“Fuck!” Duket swore, driving his fist into a nearby ferrocrete wall. “Which entrance did we miss? Maybe we can still track them down.”
“This one, here,” the major indicated a point on the map. “It wasn’t one we could have known about, even with the Emperor’s information.”
“Get out of my office,” Duket sagged in his chair. “Get me a medic, and don’t come back unless you’ve got their heads on a silver platter.”
“Yessir,” the major dipped his head before leaving the office, his feet shifting from a walking pace to a hasty run.
“There goes my career,” Duket sighed as he palmed his face with his unbroken hand. “Now I just need to tell the Emperor.”
“Major Reeves, what about the aerospace fighters still in the hanger?” the ASF wing leader asked.
“We’re going to have to leave them behind,” Reeves sighed. “The ground vehicles and ‘Mechs were easier to conceal in the brush and surrounding landscape, but it’ll be near impossible to hide nearly forty-plus fighters streaking out into the stratosphere.”
“Then what do you need us to do?” Lieutenant Colonel Richardson asked. “We’re trained in some small unit tactics, but most of us are only rated for our carbines at most.”
“We’re smuggling you off of Terra,” Reeves said as he continued leading the convoy. “The rest of the Black Watch is going to make life hell for Amaris here. Besides,” the man turned around to look at the man in his ‘Mech’s Jump seat. “We don’t know if the Camerons managed to make it out alive or not. So some of us will need to check and see if they made it to Bolthole or not. And while we could use air support, you’d be shot down in a heartbeat while the Fat Bastard controls the skies.”
“No,” Richardson replied. “We stay and fight. Just because we have a chance of being shot down doesn’t mean that you won’t need us.”
“Richardson,” Reeves stopped his ‘Mech. “I’ve got nearly seven hundred infantry, support staff, and Mechwarriors that are going to be scattered throughout Terra. What can your people offer that they can’t?”
“The ability to stop them from dropping a nuke on you whenever they feel like it,” Richardson said smugly. “You and I both know where our hidden bases are. Put a few Squadrons of us within easy strike distance and we’ll be on task for intercept whenever you need it. Besides, there’s no way that the royal family made it out alive. So we might as well spend our lives fighting and dying alongside our brothers and sisters.”
“Fine,” Reeves resumed movement. “But I still think this is a bad idea.”
“You can think it’s a bad idea all you want,” Richardson smirked. “As long as you go along with it.”
Date: January 7, 2767
“What do you mean the Black Watch still lives?!” Amaris roared.
“Sir, the SLS Abyss managed to escape during the beginning of your reign, and they, along with the SLS Tripitz managed to make it out of the system. We’re tracking the Tripitz now, it’s made a few appearances in nearby systems. We believe they’re making a run for the periphery,” The head of Rim Worlds Intelligence stated. “We did manage to eliminate all of the SLDF regular forces on Terra. And also have managed to take control of most of the Hegemony with only a few short holdouts.”
“And what of this?” Amaris asked as he pointed to a specific place in the report. “Why, is there a report that the Black Watch is present on Terra?!”
“They may have managed to unseal an entrance to the Castle Brian underneath Fort Cameron before we went in to kill the lot” the officer stammered. “We haven’t managed to track them down, but I have members of the 4th Dragoons and other counterinsurgency teams on it now.”
“I wanted them dead,” Amaris whispered. “Let us hope that your replacement does a better job.”
“What do you mean, replacement?” The other man asked as a laser carved through his head, leaving nothing behind as Amaris waved for them to take the corpse away.
“Find me his second,” Amaris instructed. “And hunt down the Goddamned Black Watch already. They’re men and women just like anyone else. They can be killed as easily as them as well.”
Blasterbot
Well-known member
You have Failed me for the last time. Amaris is such a Villain. I love to hate him.
deathzealotzero
Mecha Guru
I wonder if Amaris is still hearing those bagpipes. Laughs.
Prologue Part XI
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Prologue: Part XI
Date: January 6, 2767Location: Star System 12.17686 Classified system known as Echo
"System scans show some debris, but other than that, it seems we're in the clear," Savage briefed the now somewhat capable Colonel Schmitt and the rest of the Black Watch officers. "Now, what's the plan? I've got scared civilians on the other two dropships, and they've been hailing me with questions since we jumped out of Bryant."
"We have to wait," Schmitt said softly, her body still recovering from the injuries. "There are multiple locations that they could have gone to, and if we spent time looking through each one we would be moving around for the greater part of a year."
"So, how long do we wait before you decide to just be done?" the captain of the Euphrates sighed.
"Give us until the end of the month," Hazen glanced at the Colonel, receiving a nod. "Then we'll give you coordinates and begin going through each of the systems that we have documented."
"I… Should be able to talk them into that," Joanna sagged. "But if there's nothing, I'm going to have to drop them off somewhere safe before I'd be able to carry you to wherever it is that you need to go."
"Just give us a month," Hazen replied. "That should be all we need."
"I hope that you're right," Savage crossed her arms. "Because if you're not, then we're about to potentially waste our lives on a wild goose chase."
"We sent out transmissions to all of the Bolthole locations within range," Capell stated. "We'll get a response."
"So what do I tell the other captains?" Savage asked. "They've trusted me this far, but they don't know what's actually going on."
"The truth," Schmitt's voice cut through the noise. "You tell them that we're waiting for the right message that where we're going is safe."
"Alright," Savage raised a bulb of whiskey and drained the entire thing. "I'll get it done."
The Tri-Vid winked out as the Black Watch members turned and looked at eachother.
"There's more than one Bolthole?" Southorn asked. "I only knew that they existed, not where they were or that there was more than one."
"And if not for the emergency situation, you would never have known any more than what you already did," Capell replied. "Each of the senior officers is given information on one location. Barring Major Hazen and Colonel Schmitt, who likely have more information than the rest of us."
"And that's all that you're going to speak on this subject," Elizabeth glared at the other officer. "It's kept compartmentalized for a goddamned reason."
"Yes, ma'am," Bryn jerked back into proper bearing.
"And everyone else who just heard that, I want this moment forgotten. Am I clear?" Hazen's eyes met every single officer barring the Colonel's.
"Yes, Ma'am!"
Date: January 21, 2767
Location: Liberty zenith point.
"Captain, sensors just finished recognition, we have Rim Worlds Naval vessels moving into range," the sensors officer reported, her face a mask of calm.
"Dump the L-F battery!" Captain Little ordered. "Get us out of here!"
"Dumping battery and spinning up K-F drive, Aye sir!" the Astonavigator's hands flew across the controls. "Where do you want us?"
"Closer to the Periphery," Little stated. "And get to ready stations, I want the gun crews ready to go when we reach the next system."
A klaxon sounded as people began sealing their suits and preparing for combat, the SLS Tripitz winking out of existence in the Liberty system, only to reappear 'Above' Hall.
"Two enemy Corvettes in system," The sensors officer highlighted the position. "They'll be within firing range in twenty mikes."
"Get us in range," Little ordered. "And have the engineers start hot-loading. We'll need every chance we can get if we're going to make it to Kerensky in time."
–
–
The Tripitz guns were soundless in space, but the recoil was felt all the same as a pair of Pinto-class corvettes began attempting to flank the Battlecruiser.
"Enemy's long range armaments are firing, minor hits,"
We don't have the ammo to burn in a prolonged engagement," Little stroked his chin. "Gun crews are to wait until they're certain of a hit before firing."
"Wait until we see the whites of their eyes, eye sir."
"Show the projected course," Little looked at the screen that showed the current data and projected courses for the enemy corvettes.
Looking at the data, he grabbed a noteputer and began running some quick calculations.
"Change course to this heading, and prepare the port maneuvering thrusters," Little sent the information over.
"But sir, we'll be exposing our flank!" the navigation officer protested.
"I'm aware of that , Ensign. Follow the order," Little glared from the captain's chair.
"Aye sir," the ensign begrudgingly acknowledged the order. "Shifting to your course now."
The Tripitz seemed to rotate as if to run away from the twin corvettes, the Rim Worlds vessels higher speed giving them the ability to overcome the larger battlecruiser's speed as well as dodge and shots that were fired from the rear of the vessel.
"Sir, they're chipping away, that shot was close to our engines."
"Just hold for one more minute," Little ordered as he watched the screen.
"Signal to both broadsides to prepare to fire. Engage the thrusters now!"
The ship spun around suddenly while still maintaining its momentum, the broadside guns gutting the corvettes as the battlecruiser's main guns and missiles were now in a solid range, the hghly capable Star League crew members and gun crews capable of executing both commands nigh simultaneously.
One corvette took a massive autocannon round that carved away what little armor it had before a nuclear tipped missile impacted on the guts within, the Pinto cracking open and spilling both atmosphere and personnel into the void of space.
The other Corvette was more lucky, but not by much, it took a nuclear tipped missile and seemed to stop entirely, the only thing carrying the vessel forward being the sheer momentum it had maintained.
"Enemy corvettes are down, armor status is still in the green for the most part, even if we are missing a bit on the flanks."
"Get the K-F drive and the L-F battery charged. We need to get out of here before someone decides to come check and make sure that everything's on the up and up here," Little ordered. "And reload our magazines. This is only the first fight of many."
Date: January 23, 2767
Location: Bolthole, Terren Hegemony
"Major!" a voice called out from where the officer was assisting in unloading and cataloging various supplies. "HPG is ready for transmit!"
"I'll be right there," MacIntosh finished setting down the crate before dusting off his working uniform, passing his clipboard over to the other man, and following the technician to the HPG.
"We've got it set to transmit to the system that was reported in the message," the Tech briefed the Black Watch member. "And have now shifted to ensuring the rest of the surrounding infrastructure was maintained properly."
"Good work," Ian nodded. "Start working with the generators. We've already got some people on them, but I want everyone checking them over just in case of power failures."
"Yessir," the tech shifted his direction to a different portion of the HPG complex. "If you'll follow Nick, he'll take you right to the room where you need to go.
"Major," a grease and dirt covered man with a faded 'Nick' scrawled on his jumpsuit greeted Ian. "Sorry for the mess, follow me."
Leading the man further in, they came to a room setup with a recording device and Nick began to give instructions.
"Hit this button here to start recording the message, and after you're done, hit this one. Then let me know when you're ready and we'll begin transmitting."
–
–
"Transmitting message in the next fifteen," Nick said as he plugged the 'Noteputer with the message into the HPG's computer. "If we're expecting them to jump in, then you might want to let our friends in the void know."
"Already taken care of," Ian replied. "Thank you for your help. Let Max know that I'm assisting with inventory if he needs me."
"Wilco," Nick yawned. "I'll keep manning the HPG, and I'll send a messenger if we get any responses or messages."
Date: January 24, 2767
Location: Echo
"HPG is active," Capell reported, the device buried deep within the Messenger receiving a burst of data through the folds of reality for a brief moment.
"It's MacIntosh," he grinned. "That magnificent bastard did it! They've sent the coordinates for their location."
"Transmit the location to the Euphrates," Schmitt ordered, her voice sounding better now that she'd had a month of recovery. "I'll need to be on the bridge before we jump, or we'll end up shot out of the sky."
"Yes, ma'am," Hazen grabbed the datapad and began to transmit the coordinates to the Jumpship. "Capell, McFadden, compose and send a response. We're leaving."
–
–
The Euphrates appeared in Bolthole, a Caspar Duo and the SDS systems targeting the jumpship and dropships for a brief moment before the authorization codes were transmitted by the Messenger.
"SLS Messenger, It's damned good to see that more people made it out!" Captain Daksha's voice echoed through the bridge. "We've cleared a path for you and the other two dropships to follow down to the surface. For both your safety, and the safety of everyone else, do not deviate from that course or you will be destroyed."
"Copy that, Spicer," Elizabeth replied. "We'll follow it on down."
The trio of aerodynes detached from the Euphrates, even as a Titan class Dropship began heading for the Invader class Jumpship.
"Tecumseh, Timepiece, follow the course we transmit," Hazen relayed. "We're safe here, just stick to it and we'll see you down on the ground."
–
–
"Colonel Schmitt, Major Hazen," MacIntosh stood at attention along with the remnants of his lance and the Marines with him, barring the group still guarding the twins and Richard's sisters. "Welcome to Bolthole. She might not look like much at the moment, but she's home."
"Major," Hanni hobbled down the ramp. "Bolthole stands secure. Now, where are the Camerons? I need to see them."
"You did good work," Hazen whispered to MacIntosh as Sergeant McLeod began leading them to the compound where the Camerons were kept secured. "
"The girls are traumatized," McLeod explained. "The twins on the other hand, are too young to understand what is going on, and shouldn't have as many issues. At least not any that are evident at the moment."
"We managed to rescue their wet nurse," MacIntosh continued. "But we're going to have to ask Richard's sisters how they want the children raised. They're technically the ones who would be stepping in as Regent."
"That's problems for later, Major," Hanni said as she entered the building. "Right now, our job is to ensure that they're alive to return to Terra. We can sort out the rest after the SLDF has dealt with the Fat bastard."
–
–
"Can I help you?" Joanna asked as a lone SLDF soldier entered her bridge.
"We want you to go back to collect intelligence," a man bearing the rank pins of a Lieutenant said as he ran his hands through his close cropped hair. "We can't guarantee that Kerensky will get the intel from the Tripitz."
"Let me talk it over with my family," Joanna replied. "I'm willing to lay my life down for the Hegemony and the Star League, but I'm not willing to sacrifice my entire family for it."
"I understand," the Lieutenant replied. "We'll give you a week or two to decide while we make offers to the dropship captains and their crews."
"I'll have an answer by then," Joanna glanced at her husband, who nodded in agreement. "I can't promise anything sooner, though."
"We've still got work to do if we were going to refit the dropships and you ship for the intel runs," the Lieutenant replied. "Take your time."
–
–
Author's Note: The next chapter will be the last of the prologue.(I hope) And there will be two time skips involved. Just giving you fair warning.
Prologue: Finale
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Prologue: Finale
Date: May 26, 2767
Location: One jump away from Flintoft, Taurian Concordat
"Captain, we're in the Concordat, but I'm afraid I've got some bad news," the Tripitz shook as the impacts of naval autocannon detonated against the armor.
"I can see the Monsoon and the Avatar," Little coughed. "Bring us about and get our broadsides focused on the battleship, we've got to take it out of the fight first if we want to stand a chance."
The Tripitz rotated, her autocannon's tracer fire bright against the dark of the void as the missiles arced to flow at the Monsoon that attempted to challenge her.
"Sir, batteries A through E are offline, crews are gone as well," the damage control officer reported. "I've got teams moving to render aid as we speak."
"Get them on the guns," the ship shook again, the red glow of the lights dimming for a brief moment. "We can recover the dead and wounded later, but if we don't take these two out, there won't be any dead or wounded to recover, because we'll all be dead."
"Enemy batteries on this side are dead!" a sensors officer reported, we've hit something critical!"
"Push that offensive now!" another rumble and a shake caused the navigation officer to hit his head on a console, knocking him clear out.
"Get him off of the bridge and into a life boat!" Little unbuckled and ran over to the console, strapping himself in and refamiliarizing himself with the the controls for a couple of seconds before setting his hands back on the sticks.
"Sir, Monsoon is dark," an explosion erupted into the void, nearly as bright as a new star for a brief moment before reality set in and the wreckage of the old Terran Battleship floated away.
"Brace, I'm using the chemical thrusters!"
The ship suddenly spun around, the intense G-forces causing some bouts of near unconsciousness for a minute or so before they regained their posts.
The Avatar heavy cruiser was all that remained, but her escorting fighters outnumbered the Tripitz's, and the fighter screen that the Black Lion relied on dwindled away as the two Warships hammered away at eachother, the Tripitz eventually floating away from the wreckage of the other two as its power conduits were damaged.
The Battlecruiser was leaking atmosphere, and what limited power it had left the Captain diverted to the sensors and comms, his hope that someone would pick it up and be able to respond. But there was nothing, the dropships had been destroyed, and all that was left was dust and echoes, a few surviving Aerospace fighters ignited their fusion torches in the hope that the nearby planet might have some hope of sustaining life, But after a few days, the crews surrendered to the lifeless void.
They never accomplished their mission. Aleksander Kerensky was never made aware of the fact that Camerons were able to survive, and instead of a rapid and immediate push back into the Terran Hegemony, he went about conquering the Rim Worlds Republic and securing said state before launching an invasion to liberate the Hegemony.
Date: January 5, 2772
Location: Bolthole, Terran Hegemony
"Look, I hate to say it, but it doesn't seem like General Kerensky is going to move on the Hegemony at any sort of timescale that will help. And the only reason our Jumpship made it back with our intel is because if it's lithium Fusion battery. It might be time to go on ice," Elizabeth sighed. "The twins have been raised here for pretty much their entire lives at this point."
"She's right," Capell agreed, a troubled look on his face. "If Kerensky takes another decade to take the Hegemony, we're going to have issues. Might as well go on ice, and make sure that we rotate shifts out of cryo."
"But ultimately, the decision is yours, ma'am," McFadden looked at Colonel Hanni Schmitt. "We can weigh in all we want to, but you're in charge here."
"We haven't gotten any communiques back from the Tripitz. And I'm afraid that we're out of range of Kerensky's mobile HPGs. I'd use the jumpship, but Every system within one or two jumps is either dangerous due to not being well charted, or The fat Bastard has locked down with the SDS," Schmitt tapped her fingers along the table. "I think it is time to go on ice. As long as we rotate properly, we can attempt to at least make sure that we keep the gear in working order."
"I'll start drawing up the rotation schedule," Hazen stood up from the table. "Capell, start getting things mothballed. McFadden, I want the Warship crews and captains briefed and instructed on what the protocols are. And I'll have some of the others begin briefing the civvies, I don't want them to panic."
They all dispersed and began to get to work, Sergeant McLeod ensured that the Camerons were both briefed and ready for the cryo chambers, while the rest of them accomplished their duties, and a month later, the cryo pods sealed shut over the Black Watch and the other remnants of the SLDF in Exile. Once again, Bolthole went silent aside from the steady maintenance of the farming machines and the hum of the generators that maintained the cryo chambers.
In the void, the Drones continued their patrols, taking into account the two Warships that remained in a preprogrammed geosynchronous orbit around Bolthole.
Unfortunately, by the time General Kerensky decided to invade, it was too late. Most of the Black Watch members that were aware of Bolthole's existence had been killed in the brutal guerilla warfare that they waged against the Amaris regime, and those who were aware, had no intelligence on whether any of the Camerons made it out alive or not. So they operated as if the Camerons had not survived the Coup, and so a dynasty fell as many have before.
The Star League had fallen, and General Kerensky led most of what was left of the SLDF into the Coreward Periphery, leaving only a few scattered commands behind that either fell in line with Comstar or became Mercenaries, even while stubbornly clinging to their roots as SLDF Regular units.
First, two decades passed, then have a century. And finally, the year 2856AD arrived, ninety years to the day of the Amaris coup, the cryo pods hissed open for the first time.
–
–
A programming error, a single one carried over instead of a zero ensured that the Black Watch and their charges slept for far longer than intended. A Galaxy in war and chaos awaited them. But there's always the chance to induce change.
This, is the story of the Inner Sphere, and how things changed.
Whether it was for the better or the worse, only history will tell….
Bolthole Force Composition
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Bolthole Force Composition (Void/Aerospace Assets)
– Five M-5 Capital Drones.
– Fifty M-3 Drones
– Innumerable Aerospace drones
– One Aegis Class Heavy Cruiser
– Seven Titan Class Aerospace carriers with full compliments
– One Pueblo Class Dropship
– One Colossus Class Dropship
– Two Union Class Dropships
– Two Civilian Aerodynes
– Automated Mining Depot, placed in the asteroid belt between Bolthole III and IV respectively
– Assorting Orbital support facilities that can be repurposed for either Ferro Fibrous or Endo Steel should it be required.
Bolthole Force Composition (Ground Assets)
Note: Other assets available to the Camerons will be shown later. But for now, they are stuck with whatever is in system when we pick up in 2856.
- Bolthole System Defenses
– Five M-5 Capital Drones.
– Fifty M-3 Drones
– Innumerable Aerospace drones
- Fleet Assets outside of SDS
– One Aegis Class Heavy Cruiser
– Seven Titan Class Aerospace carriers with full compliments
– One Pueblo Class Dropship
– One Colossus Class Dropship
– Two Union Class Dropships
– Two Civilian Aerodynes
- Other System Assets
– Automated Mining Depot, placed in the asteroid belt between Bolthole III and IV respectively
– Assorting Orbital support facilities that can be repurposed for either Ferro Fibrous or Endo Steel should it be required.
Bolthole Force Composition (Ground Assets)
- SDS Ground-based defenses.
- One Understrength (Read: ½ of a full force) Regimental Combat Team
- Ground-based repair facilities and machine shops based on those prototyped on the Argo.
- Castle Brian with usual defenses and ‘Mechs stored away.
Note: Other assets available to the Camerons will be shown later. But for now, they are stuck with whatever is in system when we pick up in 2856.
Chapter I
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Chapter I
Date: January 1, 2856
Location: Bolthole, Terran Hegemony
The facility was quiet aside from the buzzing of the power plants attached to each of the cryo pods, and as the program finally reached the end of its internal clock, the pods began to hiss open according to the algorithm that had been programmed nearly a century before.
The first to awaken and stumble out of the pods were the technicians, medics, and doctors. Those people first ran checks and scans on each other. There was a known risk of ice crystals forming in important organs, and they wanted to ensure that there was no danger of that before assisting in waking the others.
After two hours, the techs and medics began to awaken the others, section by section, until the facility was alive with the groans and complaints of soldiers, sailors, and everyone else.
“So you’re telling me that we’ve been asleep for nearly a century?” Colonel Schmitt raised an eyebrow, her nude form not changing how intimidating she was.
“Yes, ma’am,” the tech wrung his hands. “There was a glitch in the software, and it wasn’t something that we would have caught unless we’d spent a year going over it before going under.”
“Fine,” the Colonel began to put on her uniform. “Start waking up the crews, I want intel and I want it yesterday.”
“We’re already in the process, Colonel. We’ve woken up Elizabeth and Helena as well.”
“Good, I’m going to need them present when we start making decisions.”
“We are going to need to have everyone checked out by the medtechs,” a medic chimed in from where he was finishing up with Elizabeth Hazen’s immediate check. “And we’re going to have to work through some muscle atrophy. Luckily we weren’t in cryo for so long that we resemble coma patients. But, three months is still a lot of muscle mass to regain.”
–
–
Bolthole was brimming with life again as the SLDF remnants began to go over everything again, ensuring their inventory remained the same and that proper maintenance was done.
The Warship and jumpship crews began to reacclimate themselves back to their ships, with the Jumpship eventually leaving a few months later to go collect intel on the state of affairs in the Inner Sphere.
Meanwhile, those still on Bolthole were clearing out the land, conducting maintenance, and beginning to train themselves for war again. One thing was for certain. The Camerons may have survived for now, but there would be enemies, and there was a lot to prepare for.
Date: June 7, 2856
Location: Carver, Capellan Confederation
“Jumpship Euphrates, you are clear to remain in the system and begin trading,” a heavily Russian-tinted voice informed Lieutenant Jorge.
“Major,” The temporary captain glanced at Major Bryn Capell. “How do you want to approach this? Every transmission we have indicates Carver is now occupied by the Capellan Confederation.”
“Keep collecting data,” Bryn said. “Don’t make any overt moves, after we’ve done a bit of investigating here, we’ll head towards the Fedsuns, maybe see if there’s anything more we can pick up there.”
“If you want, we can see about laying in a course to move full circle,” the Astrogation specialist spoke up. “Hit all of the Star League members to see what intel each one has.”
“We’ll do that,” Capell agreed. “But one thing at a time. I’ll take the Messenger down along with some of the foodstuffs that we brought with us. Even if they don’t buy a lot, we can still collect data.”
“Sir, do you want us to leave some agents behind?” one of the Hegemony Intelligence agents asked.
“No, I’m going to need you to see about the HPG though. I’m not sure what this ‘Comstar’ is up to, but I want whatever information they have.”
“If they’re using Terran systems, I’ll be able to get in,” the expert promised. “But it might take some time to ensure we get everything they have.”
“We’ll drag out the data collection as needed. We can’t act like we’re in a rush, we’re simply traders plying a new route after all.”
–
–
“Your ship is to be inspected,” a group of armed men and women met the Messenger when it landed. “You will prepare your ship and we will see if there is any contraband to be found.”
“We’re just here to exchange foodstuffs,” Bryn smiled calmly. “We’ve got nothing to hide from the law.”
The Capellan security team went through the ship with a fine-toothed comb, not finding anything out of the ordinary, even the star charts reflected the story that the crew had been giving.
“Sir, everything checks out,” the security team leader whispered into the official's ear. “What do you want us to do?”
“See if the local Maskirovka will keep an eye on them. I do not like foreigners on my world.”
“Welcome to Carver V,” the official then smiled at Major Capell. “Please, ply your trade here, we are always welcome to new merchants.”
“We’re just looking to see if there’s any new routes that we can try,” Bryn continued his smile. “Do you happen to have a hotel recommendation? The Messenger’s got a nice set of quarters, but nothing beats a nice bed.”
“There are quite a few places to stay for merchants such as yourself. Any of them would be welcoming of you.”
“Thank you. Now, I’ll need to help offload my cargo, it was a pleasure meeting you, sir.”
–
–
“There’s a lot of bugs here,” the THIC agents were gathered in the hotel room with Major Capell. “We’ve got them rigged on our prerecorded conversations. But we’re definitely being watched.”
“Team one will head to the HPG,” Capell ordered. “While Team Two and I will act as regular traders. Make some sales, get price gouged a bit, the entire works.”
“We’ll need several hours to acquire data from the HPG,” a tech stated. “So we’re going to have to do this right the first time.”
“We plan tonight, and execute it in the morning,” Bryn looked around. “I believe we still had the plans for the Carver HPG?”
“Maybe the actual building,” one of them shrugged. “But they’ve created an entire complex. So we’re going to have to operate off of guesswork after we’re inside of the complex.”
“We need that intel,” Bryn sighed. “Unless someone’s got another plan?”
“We’re not going to be able to pull whatever Comstar has on Terra without being found out for now,” the first tech shrugged. “But if we have Team One ‘Regularly’ visit the HPG on every world we go to, we can at least somewhat have a cover story.”
“So, based on the local maps we bought, the entrance to the compound is here…”
Date: June 17, 2856
Location: Bolthole, Terran Hegemony
“And you’re certain that I’m the Director-General?” Elizabeth Cameron asked timidly.
“Yes, ma’am,” Hanni Schmitt looked the young woman directly in her eyes. “I understand that it’s not something you expected, but we’re going to have to give you a crash course in both politics and military leadership.”
“And if I don’t want to?” Elizabeth asked a bit defiantly.
“Then we have to see if Helena’s up to it. And given that she has taken over the guardianship of your niece and nephew.”
“Right,” Elizabeth shuddered. “I’m not ready to be a mother yet.”
She set her shoulders firmly and met Hanni’s eyes.
“So, what do I need to learn? And how do I avoid becoming like Richard?”
“First things first. I’m putting you through Boot Camp. Politics and the military are to be kept separate, but you’ll need the discipline. And, it’ll help you understand why your military advisors make our decisions.”
“Alright,” Elizabeth sighed. “And avoiding becoming like Richard?”
“Listen, learn, and know to admit when you’re wrong,” The Colonel replied. “Do those three things and you’ll start out better than Richard and you can only go up from there.”
“And boot camp?”
“Some of the civilians that made it out of Terra with us are going to be joining in. You and Colleen should get along well. As for the rest… You’ll learn it when you go through the process. The Politics will come later and I’ll have to dig out some of my old lessons before I can teach you that. I’ll also grab the few nobles that are with us, they’ll probably know a thing or two that we can utilize.”
“When does Boot Camp start?”
“Two weeks,” Hanni smiled softly. “You have time to prepare.”
“Good,” Elizabeth set her stance. “Then let’s do this.”
“Good attitude,” Hanni’s smile broadened. “Keep that, and it’ll take you far. Provided you don’t get broken in the process. Now get some rest, you’ve got a busy year ahead of you.”
The woman turned and left the office as Elizabeth Hazen stepped out of the shadows.
“You sure this is a good idea, Colonel?”
“The Hegemony needs a Director-General,” Hanni sighed. “It’s not like we have any other options.”
“What do we want to put her in?” Hazen asked.
“We can sort that out later,” Hanni shrugged. “For now, we prepare and wait for Capell to return with intelligence. Because without it, we’re here in the dark.”
“Not for long,” Hazen reminded her. “After all, as long as there’s hope, there’s a light ahead.”
“Hope, and God-willing, a lot of firepower brought to bear against those who’d try anything.”
“Prepare the nukes and pass the ammunition,” Hazen smirked. “There’s always a war to fight. And I play to win.”
“Amen.”
Last edited:
Chapter II
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Chapter II
Date: June 17, 2856
Location: Carver V, Carver, Capellan Confederation (former Terran Hegemony world)
Lieutenant Michael Brown pointedly refused to look at the rest of Team One while they slowly walked into the HPG compound. He didn't want to give away the objectives or that they were agents before they even started. Meanwhile, a sleepy Comstar Guard looked at the group before stopping them.
"Name, and business in the HPG complex," the bored and overweight man pulled out a battered clipboard.
"Mickey," Brown offered with a broad smile. "And this is a part of our trading crew. Gotta send a message back to the family, let them know that we made it to the next stop on our route. That sort of thing."
"Yeah, whatever," the Guard shrugged. "Just don't cause any trouble. You don't want to see what happens to troublemakers."
Brown exchanged incredulous glances with several of his team members before replying.
"Of course, don't want any problems with Comstar. Would you happen to have a map of the compound? Or perhaps someone who can show us where we need to go?"
"Yeah," a paw of a hand reached for a radio on his belt. "Acolyte Jackson, we've got another group who needs to be shown to the message transmission section."
The radio crackled in response before a harried young man appeared, adjusting a pair of glasses as his robes flowed around him.
"Welcome to the Carver V Hyper-Pulse-Generator Complex," the man waved for them to follow him. "Now, I'll cover some of the new construction as we head towards the message composition center," the man sneezed into a tissue. "Sorry, I've got allergies. Now, while there are still several portions of the complex under construction, such as the school and hospital, you'll find that…"
Brown and his chosen partner waited for an opportune moment to slip away as the Acolyte continued to speak, eventually breaking contact with the group in a place where there was a blind spot on the internal cameras.
"Keep him occupied," Brown whispered to his teammate before he vanished, a note left in the woman's hand detailing where they would meet up once the mission had been completed.
"I'm surprised they didn't search our bags," Brown's partner for this mission, Victor Goldstein commented. "Especially when their scans weren't penetrating it."
"You saw the guard," Brown replied. "They're complacent. Or at least they are here. Regardless, we can't assume they'll all be like this."
The two pulled off their clothes, revealing the sneak suits underneath.
"Masks on, we can't be identified if things go wrong."
–
–
"I'm glad they didn't change anything about the actual HPG Stations," Brown muttered as he climbed a ladder that led into the station from the electrical grid maintenance hallways. "Victor, are you still tapped into the security systems?"
"Yes, I'm causing disruptions on your entry point now," Victor replied. "You'll have about two minutes to get into the server room."
"Let me know when you're ready."
"Go!"
Brown slipped down the hallway, his suit's adaptive camouflage blending in with the walls as he neared a door panel.
Pulling out a small 'Noteputer, Brown connected to the panel and began cycling through authorization codes that he'd been given for this mission until the panel cycled and flashed green, the door sliding open as if it were welcoming him home.
"We're in," Brown pulled a data core out of his backpack and began loading it with data from the system, the system decrypting the data in the process.
"Stop moving," Victor's voice whispered in Brown's ears. "You've got a couple of robes headed in your direction."
Brown carefully slipped into the darkness of the room, his suit blending in as a pair of acolytes glanced around before sliding the door open.
"You're sure we won't be found in here?" One of the pair asked.
"I'm sure," the man grinned. "No one comes down here except for the routine maintenance. There's not going to be anyone coming here for a while."
"Good," the woman shirked off her robe, revealing an ill-maintained figure underneath. "That means we can finish what we started earlier in the Precentor's office."
–
–
"And this is the message composition section," Acolyte Jackson finished, his eyes traveling over the group. "When you're done with your messages, simply hit 'send' and we'll collect them so that they can go out with the day's message cycle."
"Everything go well?" the woman whispered to Brown.
Brown simply gave a small nod, a pained look on his face.
The group then acted like the usual HPG customers, they recorded their messages, and detailed who they were to send it to. The SLIC tech they used to connect to said computers meant that the messages were never actually sent, but to the Comstar Acolytes rendering assistance, nothing was wrong or off.
The Terran Hegemony Agents disappeared as they had left, leaving no signs that they were ever there aside from the memories of the people who had seen them. And memories? They were unreliable, at best. At the worst? They wouldn't be able to identify anything more than the features that were commonly shared among the people of Carver V.
"You get the data?" Major Capell asked once they had all returned to the Messenger.
"Yeah," Brown shuddered. "We got the data. But it'll take time to go through it and understand it. Even if we did manage to get it decrypted.
"We'll have the analysts that we brought with us begin going over it. We need to know the state of things in the Inner Sphere."
Date: July 1, 2856
Location: Bolthole, Terran Hegemony
"My name is Staff Sergeant Matthews! But you will call me Drill instructor, or Sergeant," a man paced in front of the motley group of nobles and civilians. "Let me be the first to welcome you into the reborn Terran Hegemony Armed Forces!" he yelled at the group of civilians who were now dedicating their lives to the military. "Now, I will be perfectly clear. I do not care which noble family you are from, I don't care about what your home life was like, and I do not care, about your Goddamned feelings!
"I will be offensive, I will be fucking vulgar, and I will not give a lone solitary fuck how you feel about it. My job is to transform you from sacks of shit, and into soldiers. I will tell you to do things that you don't understand, I will break you physically, and maybe mentally. But the end result will be the best group of soldiers that the Inner Sphere has ever seen. Am I understood?"
"Yes sir!"
"Instructors Rodriguez and Ortega will be instructing you on the proper stance of attention. You will treat my words as if they were from God himself, and their words as if from his Prophets."
–
–
"I thought Matthews was dead," Hazen glanced at Colonel Schmitt. "He'd retired and everything."
"Nah," Hanni grinned. "He retired and then got bored. So transferred to the Marines, and was stationed aboard the Tripitz when the Fat Bastard started everything up."
"And now he's back in his element," Elizabeth Hazen looked at the group doing push-ups. "You know that he'll break them, right?"
"I want him to break them," Colonel Schmitt replied. "The difference is, that I don't just want him to break them. I want him to rebuild them into something that will withstand the future. Elizabeth," Hanni turned to face the young woman. "Regardless of what's happening in the Inner Sphere, what we do here in Bolthole, will make the difference for our people. And we need the Camerons with their heads on straight. We cannot afford another Richard Cameron. So we need Elizabeth to be smart, experienced, and above all else, centered. We're putting her through Boot Camp so that she develops the discipline that Richard lacked. We're tutoring her in politics because Richard was a Dick, and refused to listen to advice or wisdom. The Cameron's very legacy and survival rely on us getting this right the first time. We are not going to get another chance here. The stakes are too high for us to fuck it up."
"What do you need me to do, Colonel?" Hazen snapped to attention.
"Start running preparedness drills. Both for attack and defense. We're going to need our people ready to do either at a moment's notice."
"And what will you be doing?"
"Me?" Hanni turned. "The Black Watch is the Opfor for those exercises. Once you've gotten them started, you need to mount up. We're going to have some fun."
This... I *like* this.
One of the fic ideas I've had circling around my brain is having an SI into Richard as a child and said SI makes the quite logical decision that if Kerensky is supposed to be his guardian, they he should stay with Kerensky when he is off doing SLDF things and winds up effectively growing up as a military brat and eventually going through boot then the Nagelring before taking the throne
One of the fic ideas I've had circling around my brain is having an SI into Richard as a child and said SI makes the quite logical decision that if Kerensky is supposed to be his guardian, they he should stay with Kerensky when he is off doing SLDF things and winds up effectively growing up as a military brat and eventually going through boot then the Nagelring before taking the throne
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
This... I *like* this.
One of the fic ideas I've had circling around my brain is having an SI into Richard as a child and said SI makes the quite logical decision that if Kerensky is supposed to be his guardian, they he should stay with Kerensky when he is off doing SLDF things and winds up effectively growing up as a military brat and eventually going through boot then the Nagelring before taking the throne
Colonel Schmitt was one of the people involved in trying to persuade Richard to not trust Amaris. I figure she's got a personal stake in ensuring that the 'Dick's' sisters don't turn out that way.
Chapter III
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Chapter III
Date: August 10, 2856
Location: Caph Jump point
“Capellans managed to take a lot more clay than I expected,” Major Capell sighed as he looked through the reports of what Caph looked like now. “There’s no point in stopping here. Caph isn’t much more than a piece of dirt right now, the factories, the people, everything is just… destroyed. The planet is a ruin, and we’re going to have to rebuild it eventually. But for now, we’re going to have to bypass it.”
“So where do we go next then?” Lieutenant Brown asked.
“We’ll head on over to Northwind,” Bryn replied. “There are a few things that we need to check on there. And, it’s controlled by the Federated Suns at the moment. So while you and the analysts finish going over the data we pulled from that HPG complex, I’ll be doing some ‘tourism’ while Team Two hits this HPG complex. I want to see if we can compare and contrast the data sets. See if things are compartmentalized or shared along the HPG network.”
“Understood, Major. Am I cleared to know what it is that we’re going to be looking for down on Northwind? Or is it need to know?”
“Need to know for now, Lieutenant. Just know that it’s something that will help us out in restoring the Hegemony.”
Bryn locked eyes with Michael, a serious look in his eyes.
“Lieutenant, if what we’ve found out so far is true, we’re outnumbered, outgunned, and are now weaker than the Outworlds Alliance. We have neither the size nor the numbers to wage a conventional war if it is needed. And we definitely don’t have the power to force any of the Star League member states to do anything. What we do have, is the element of surprise, and a little bit of time. So, we’re going to find all of the dirty little secrets, we’re going to check every last hole in the ground that DoME dug and filled with military gear. And even a few that DoME wasn’t responsible for. Jonathon Cameron was a paranoid bastard. But now, I’m starting to wonder if maybe he was right to be paranoid. I doubt that we have all of the intel on the sites that were hidden akin to Bolthole.”
“So there’s something useful on Northwind,” Michael nodded. “That’s all I needed to know, sir. I’ll finish crunching this data and summarize things into a report.”
“We jump in two days, if you manage to finish it by the time we make landfall on Northwind, you can accompany me to the location where I’m going to be inspecting. If it’s even there at all.”
“We’ll get it done.”
Date: August 15, 2856
Location: Bolthole
“What are your orders, Colonel?” Captain Daksha asked the woman who had boarded the SLS Spicer and was standing on the other side of his desk. “At this point, we’re basically sitting here in the system doing nothing but running drills to keep sharp.”
“I want you to go take a peek at a couple of off-the-books systems,” Colonel Schmitt’s eyes glinted with mirth. “There are a couple of secrets that were hidden away not just for the Camerons to be hidden away. But for a… Resurgence if you will. So, I’m going to give you a list of several locations that I want you to head to, if there’s anyone there not loyal to the Hegemony…. Well, you’ll be in command, but it would be best if they were not allowed to leave the systems. For their safety, as well as for ours.”
“I’ll take the Blue Quest and secure one system at a time,” Daksha replied. “I assume that I’ll need some ground forces though.”
“I can spare a mixed battalion,” Hanni responded. “We currently don’t have enough to do more than that and remain secure here in Bolthole. Once Major Capell returns with intel, we’ll be able to piece together more on what forces might be loyal to the Hegemony and the SLDF.”
“I understand,” Daksha nodded. “Give me the coordinates and I’ll see to it that it is done.”
“Major Hazen will accompany you. She possesses the coordinates and HPG frequencies that are able to reach Bolthole. Without them, you will not be able to return.”
“One day, you will have to allow us to possess the astrogation data,” Daksha shook his head as he smiled a bit. “I understand OpSec, but this is a bit much.”
“I disagree,” Schmitt replied. “After all, it’s the reason that we are alive today. Anyway, let us discuss the system of Luyten 68-28…”
“Sir, the Marines are reporting they’ve captured a Yardship and the facilities that were in the process of repairing said yardship. All hands have surrendered, there was minimal resistance.”
“Good,” Captain Daksha looked at the command display. “Have the Blue Quest move in and prepare to drop ground forces on the facilities on Luyten. I don’t want a single message getting out that we are here.”
“Understood,” Major Hazen replied. “We’ll make sure it gets done.”
“Oh, and Major,” Daksha turned. “If they react anything like the people up here did, we might have some new recruits to add to our forces.”
“We’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?” Elizabeth asked as she left the bridge and headed for a shuttle.
After transferring to the Blue Quest, the Major made her way to the dropships that were attached to the vessel. Bolthole was an old project, so it didn’t have a bunch of new hardware, but it did have a small fleet of dropships that had been parked and mothballed for use. Restoring a Union and a Triumph had been light work for the technicians.
“You ready?” Elizabeth asked Jack, the reactivated Black Watch member acting as her XO for this operation.
“It’s been a while,” the man grinned. “But I think I’m still good enough.”
“Good,” Hazen replied. “I’m trusting you to watch my back out there.”
“I’m a deft hand in an Phoenix Hawk,” Jack laughed. “I’ve got you covered, Major.”
“You know, one day I’ll get the story of why you passed up being the CO out of you.”
“You can try,” Jack replied as he headed for the gantries. “But I’m not sure you’ll be able to find any answers.”
–
–
“You ever wonder why we got stationed here?” Acolyte James Durante asked his partner as they walked the halls of this dead-end post. “I mean, we just sit here and monitor the aging ships that are floating up there. Even the few people that are trying to repair and salvage some of them don’t do much.”
“Look,” Jane Agnis sighed. “I know why I’m here. And I think I just figured out why you ended up here too. I got shipped here because I’m too honest for my own good and I don’t brownnose well enough to get promoted. You, you’re here because you don’t know how to keep your mouth shut.”
“I can keep secrets!” James protested.
“Yeah, but you never stop fucking talking,” Jane turned around and glared at the man. “You’re always chattering about stuff. And that would be fine If you could read the room and know when to shut up. But no, instead, you take silence as us accepting it and you, keep talking instead!”
“Ouch,” James tried to play off the pain that he felt at her accusations. “I thought we were friends.”
“We are,” Jane sighed as she calmed down. “I’m just frustrated and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
As the two began heading back into the main complex from their checks on the automated greenhouses the red flash of lights cut through the twilight as the air raid sirens began to sound off as a group of dropships began landing.
“Are we under attack?!” James asked.
“Looks like,” Jane’s voice turned to ice. “But if we are, it looks like it’s Zombie Kerensky. Because that’s a ship painted in SLDF colors and with the Cameron Star painted on it.”
“Well, shit.”
Bolthole Mothballed equipment (Mechs)
MarkWarrior
Well-known member
Bolthole Mothballed Equipment
Jonathon Cameron's Paranoia led to the creation of the SDS system, and of several systems and caches hidden away from all but those authorized to know where the locations were. What follows is a note from the lead technicians to Colonel Schmitt of the Royal Black Watch.
Colonel Schmitt,
You've left me with a goddamn mess on my hands here. Jonathon Cameron might have been a paranoid genius, but he didn't take into account the sheer amount of technology advances that we'd have by the time we had to actually use something like Bolthole. And Given I've gotten to look at the notes made when they updated the place, it's clear that they didn't think about much other than putting the repair yards and SDS system in orbit. The facilities down here were a mere afterthought. I'm going to have to do massive shift rotations if I want to get any of this in working condition (Not that we have the numbers to actually use that equipment yet.) But regardless, here's the list that you asked for.
The following is an approximate list of the mothballed equipment that was stored at Bolthole in its inception. This does not include later additions made during system updates and overhauls made by other techs later on. For example, somehow a full company of Royal Pixies ended up here. And I've no fucking idea how we got a lance of Highlanders and Black Knights here. There's no documentation on when they were stored, so I'll just attribute it to God himself granting them to us.
I reiterate, this is not a comprehensive list of what 'Mechs were stored on Bolthole, this is simply a list of the primitive 'Mechs that we're going to have to modernize before combat use. And don't even get me started on the vehicles and dropships we're going to have to rework. The Black Eagle's are older than my great grandparents. And the Merkavas?! They're older than the Age of War. So don't expect us to work miracles anytime soon.
Thanks,
Lieutenant Reynold Storm
PS. On reflection, the dropships will be easier to refit given the automated yards in orbit. But the rest of my objections remain. We're going to be refitting 'Mechs for months, if not years at this point. I just don't have the staff to do everything I need in a timely manner. We're going to lose on something, so just let me know what you want to focus on, and we'll do that first before working on everything else.
Jonathon Cameron's Paranoia led to the creation of the SDS system, and of several systems and caches hidden away from all but those authorized to know where the locations were. What follows is a note from the lead technicians to Colonel Schmitt of the Royal Black Watch.
Colonel Schmitt,
You've left me with a goddamn mess on my hands here. Jonathon Cameron might have been a paranoid genius, but he didn't take into account the sheer amount of technology advances that we'd have by the time we had to actually use something like Bolthole. And Given I've gotten to look at the notes made when they updated the place, it's clear that they didn't think about much other than putting the repair yards and SDS system in orbit. The facilities down here were a mere afterthought. I'm going to have to do massive shift rotations if I want to get any of this in working condition (Not that we have the numbers to actually use that equipment yet.) But regardless, here's the list that you asked for.
The following is an approximate list of the mothballed equipment that was stored at Bolthole in its inception. This does not include later additions made during system updates and overhauls made by other techs later on. For example, somehow a full company of Royal Pixies ended up here. And I've no fucking idea how we got a lance of Highlanders and Black Knights here. There's no documentation on when they were stored, so I'll just attribute it to God himself granting them to us.
- Archer ARC-1A, 2 Battalions
- Ostwar, OWR-2M, 1 Company
- Wasp WSP-1, 3 Battalions
- Kyudo KY2-D-01 2 Lances
- Mackie MSK-5S 1 Battalion
- Orion ON1-C, 2 Companies
- Thunderbolt TDR-1C, 1 Company
- Battleaxe BKX-1X, 1 Lance
- Rifleman RFL-1N, 2 Lances
- Shadow Hawk SHD-1R, 1 Battalion
- Dervish DV-1S, 2 Companies
- Griffin GRF-1A, 3 Lances
I reiterate, this is not a comprehensive list of what 'Mechs were stored on Bolthole, this is simply a list of the primitive 'Mechs that we're going to have to modernize before combat use. And don't even get me started on the vehicles and dropships we're going to have to rework. The Black Eagle's are older than my great grandparents. And the Merkavas?! They're older than the Age of War. So don't expect us to work miracles anytime soon.
Thanks,
Lieutenant Reynold Storm
PS. On reflection, the dropships will be easier to refit given the automated yards in orbit. But the rest of my objections remain. We're going to be refitting 'Mechs for months, if not years at this point. I just don't have the staff to do everything I need in a timely manner. We're going to lose on something, so just let me know what you want to focus on, and we'll do that first before working on everything else.
Last edited: