Jumpship Sevoto,

Nadir Jump Point, System GY-7152-TOF

Deep Periphery

26^th February 3068

 

On the bridge of the Sevoto, Forsen Mandela rubbed his hands together nervously. It had taken the fleet of jumpships almost four months, even with the use of recharging stations, to traverse the more than 500 light years into the depths of the periphery. Their destination was now only one jump and ten minutes away, and it seemed to him that the tension throughout the entire fleet increased as they neared their destination.

There had been many fights among the lostech seekers throughout the journey, caused by mercenaries trying to find some release from the stress of being cooped up on the ships for the entire journey. Even the crewmen of the transport fleet were not immune to the tension. He had to assign extra duties to his crew to get their minds off the journey.

He had been extremely leery of travelling to uninhabited star systems, as any malfunction in the jumpship system could prove fatal. But because their destination was about 60 light years from the nearest inhabited system, he had no choice but to recharge at least once at a uninhabited system. They had been lucky, however, in that there had not been any problems with the jumpships during their journey.

Forsen’s mind wandered to his last conversation with Landar, when he asked him how his pirate band had managed to find a habitable world so far away from the nearest populated planet. In a cubic space of 60 light years, there must had been at least 50 star systems. Finding one which contained a planet suitable for human beings would have been quite difficult. Landar had claimed it was only blind luck that they found a world to serve as a hideout. Forsen had accepted his explanation at face value. Thinking back to that conversation with Landar, he began to have doubts about the answer. There was something wrong about the man, but back then he was too interested about his profits to think about anything else.

It was too late to have any more doubts, all he could do was press forward and hope Landar had not lied to him. He shuddered to think of what the mercenaries on board could do to him should the information prove to be false. With luck, he would die quickly.

 

Doctor and Mechwarrior reserve Frank Meronac had just finished patching up a mercenary injured in the latest fracas on board the Overlord class dropship. He had long advocated tougher stances on discipline to cut down on fights which were depleting the medical stores unnecessarily quickly.

As a rookie mechwarrior and the only doctor on board, Frank had been assigned as a doctor on the trip to deal with the increasing numbers of mercs injured one way or another in fights on the ship. Despite his heavy workload, he had managed to keep up with his training in the simulators.

The Raiders had been out of work since he had signed on, and though their financial situation was not dire, no one was doing any hiring recently. The stability of the Star League, along with the quiet clan front, was definitely a big factor causing the recent peace. This was bad news for mercs, however, as they needed conflicts for them to earn money. Garrison contracts were far and few, and all of them had already been offered to the larger and more reputable mercenary groups. Like many other down and out mercs, Captain Vansen had finally decided to go on the journey to the Deep Periphery, on the grounds that there was unlikely to be any legitimate work anytime soon, and he would rather be looking for lostech and strike it rich than rot on Outreach waiting for a contract.

A chime sounded out. “Jump in ten minutes. All hands to their stations.” A female voice droned out, informing crew members of their current status.

“Thanks very much. The arm feels much better,” remarked the merc he had just patched up, Kily Gonzalez. “Well, its almost time to jump. Next stop, lostech paradise! Hey, don’t be so glum, maybe you will find more supplies on planet.”

Frank looked dubious. “I find that hard to believe. I still think this is a wild goose chase.”

“You saw the ‘lightning gun’ demonstration. What else could it be?”

“It could have come from anywhere, maybe even the NAIS. All this may be a ploy by the houses to...”

Kily threw up his hands. “To what? Get rid of a bunch of stupid mercs like us? Come on, don’t tell me you are one of those conspiracy nuts seeing plots in every nook and cranny. Anyway, I am heading to my bunk for some sleep. Its pretty tiring, tussling with those damned Wolf Dragoons. That Deserk is really a piece of work.”

“Huh. You should have known better than to pick on their officer, even if she is a real looker. Her troops seem very protective. And Deserk was probably holding back. He was a former Nova Cat, and from what I have heard about the clans, they are all good at hand to hand combat. You were lucky he only dislocated your shoulder. He could have broken your entire arm.”

Kily rolled his eyes at Frank’s advice. “Yeah, yeah. Gotta run. See you in a few hours!” Kily yelled as he sped away from the sickbay, propelling himself through the corridor at breakneck speed using the handholds on the sides, despite his sore shoulder.

One of these days he is going to get himself killed. I should talk to Deserk again, convince him to go even easier on Kily the next time. A chime was sounded, “Five minutes to jump.”

I’ll do it after the jump. There should be more than enough time to talk some sense into the two of them during the trip in-system.

Finding a seat in the sickbay, he sat down, strapped himself in and waited for the jump, preparing himself mentally for the gut-wrenching effects of a jump.

There was a final chime, then there was a sudden sensation of drowning in a kaleidoscope of colors. It lasted for about two seconds, and he was jerked back to reality just as suddenly.

Frank got up quickly upon hearing the all clear and gathered the drugs used to treat Transit Disorientation Syndrome, or TDS for short. There were quite a number of people who would be feeling very sick from the after effects of the jump, and as a doctor, his job was to make them as comfortable as possible. He would be quite busy over the next few hours.

 

“Status report!” Forsen bellowed to his bridge crew.

“All systems functional!”

“No bogeys detected. Coast is clear at the jump point.”

“All jumpship captains have reported in, no problems on their side.”

“Six planets detected, asteroid field present. The target planet seems capable of supporting life.”

With that piece of information, Forsen released the breath he had been holding throughout the reports. Well, it seems the information may be real, after all. Why else would we be sent to a habitable world?

Turning to his bridge crew, he gave them further orders.

“Prepare to detach all dropships in an hour. I will be going with them on the Nile. Captain Rice, you have command of the Sevoto. Stick to the plan we’ve worked out. We’ll head in-system, get navigational data and send it to you as soon as possible. Get ready to jump into a pirate point in-system once you get the data. Keep an eye out on our friends, will you?”

“Roger, boss,” answered Captain Helene Rice to her employer, as he left the bridge. She gave the orders to unfurl the jump sails for recharging.

 

To an external observer looking at the fleet of dropships speeding towards their destination, they looked like a mass of eggs hurtling through space. The numerous weapon pods and nacelles on the surface of the “eggs” will quickly drive any thoughts of food from the mind of the observer, however. It was clear what these ships were designed for only one purpose, and that deadly purpose is war.

Frank Meronac trudged back to the sickbay, exhausted after seeing to the needs of those afflicted with TDS. The heavy 1.5 G the ship was pulling did not help matters any. His arms and legs felt and weighed like lead. It was one of those times when he wished for microgravity. At least things did not feel so bloody heavy.

Too much of gravity at times, and not enough at others. Back when they were drifting in space recharging their sails, time on the gravdecks was something to look forward to.

Frank could not understand why they needed to accelerate at such speeds. After all, it wasn’t as if the planet was going anywhere. So why the need to pour on the coals?

Frank shook his head. He wasn’t paid to think about such matters. Better to leave it for the higher ups. It’s their problem, after all.

He also had a very bad feeling about it all, and he simply could not shake off the sensation that there was something very wrong. And he was beginning to regret going out so far from the Inner Sphere. After all, the Periphery was a place of mystery, pirates, and hidden dangers best left untouched.

He shook his head to clear it of his extraneous thoughts. Well, get back to work, he told himself.

 

On another part of the ship, former Nova Cat and present Wolf Dragoon mechwarrior Deserk tried to lull himself to sleep for the third time since waking. It was not just the heavy acceleration that was hindering his efforts. Before he gained consciousness he vaguely remembered a terrible dream, of blood, fire and steel.

Although he was now a Wolf Dragoon, sworn to the Dragoon way since his capture on Luthien more than ten years ago, he still held on to his former clan’s belief’s that dreams and vision are signs and keys to the future. He had even participated in several parapsychology experiments organized by the University of Outreach to gauge the accuracy of Nova Cat soothsaying and prophecies, in light of several reports from the Star League of Nova Cat visions which have proven true over time, namely the destruction of the Smoke Jaguars and the Black Dragon assault on Clan Ghost Bear.

Amazingly, or maybe not so amazingly to Deserk, he scored highly on clairvoyance and some other tests. More incredibly, his scores had seemed to improve with time. While he and a few other former Nova Cats scored quite well on the tests, the researchers were unwilling to reveal their findings to the public, refused to believe in the power of the spirit and abandoned the experiment in the end.

To Deserk, it did not matter that the scientists did not believe in visions. Their loss. Logic can only bring so much into one’s life, he had told his lancemates. He also begun to pay more attention to his own visions and dreams, knowing that they point the way to his future.

The dream he just had seemed important. He knew the only way to tell for sure was to sink back into the abyss of sleep, so that the dream will come to him again. But try as he might, he simply could not get back to sleep.

Maybe a vision rite will help. But there is no other Nova Cat  on board to serve as a guide. Stravag! Just my luck that when something really important comes up, I could not remember it. Ah, I might as well check up on my mech. And look for another opportunity to humiliate Kily. Getting his goat is so easy. With that, Deserk left his bunk, and headed for the mech bays.

 

To Forsen, the reports he was getting from the ship sensors were getting more and more encouraging by the minute. Their destination was about the size of Terra, and its orbit was in the zone for the existence of life as dictated by the system’s K class star. Interestingly, tensions among the mercenaries have also largely subsided. The heavier than normal G forces the dropships were pulling was probably one reason, and the fact that they would be on solid ground soon was another.

Another four days. Another four days to waiting treasures and fortune beyond belief.

 

Thanks to the ship sensors, the mercenaries getting ready for the largest treasure hunt in recent history had an abundance of information about the world they are able to set foot on.

Einstein consisted of 60 percent water and 40 percent land surface. The land was divided into 4 major continents. Much of the land surface consisted of plains and forests, with relatively few land elevations. One interesting feature was the complete absence of deserts. The entire world seemed to be a paradise, and some mercs even expressed thoughts, half joking, half serious, of settling down on this garden paradise.

Using neutrino detectors equipped on the ship to track down the residue neutrino signatures of fusion reactors, used to supply Star League bases with power, the fleet had managed to track at least 60 possible sites scattered throughout the entire world. Each group of mercenaries had already picked out their own site on a prospecting map provided by Forsen Mandela. While many mercs were unhappy at their search sites, everybody agreed that this arrangement would be best for avoiding violence. The presence of the Wolf Dragoons would also serve as a warning against possible foul play by any of the parties involved.

Deserk, one of the Dragoons assigned as an observer once they hit the surface, got more and more agitated as they approached the planet, in stark contrast to the mood of the rest of the crew. The dreams, no, nightmares he had been having recently were becoming clearer as they neared Einstein. The last one he had the night before was particularly vivid, such that he could remember the entire scene accurately now.

He remembered seeing a massive shape rise up from an ocean, and disgorging a horde of strange machines from its belly. He saw the machines attack a group of omnimechs painted with bright green falcon crests. The mechs fought bravely, taking down wave after wave of their enemies, but eventually succumbed to sheer numbers, as they died in a storm of missiles and particle beams. Even ejected pilots were mercilessly executed by the strange machines, their red blood flung across the land on which they fought.

He followed the strange machines as they continued their rampage across the land, overwhelming group after group of soldiers as they tried to resist the advance. Suddenly his view was shifted, and then watching from space, he saw the entire planetary surface engulfed in flames, and then the entire planet blew itself apart.

He had woken up at that moment, the sight of the destruction of an entire world too much even for a genetically bred-for-war soldier. He spent long hours pondering over the dream, trying to understand the players involved. The omnimechs were clearly Jade Falcon mechs, and the world was probably the one they were about to land on. It could only mean that the Falcons were due to arrive on the world at some point in the future. He did not know what to make of the strange machines, though, and resolved to look for clues on Einstein.

Since he had the vivid nightmare, he had only confided in his superior, Captain Jadine Sheik, and Frank Meronac. He had his own reservations about telling the two, but he figured it was worth getting it off his chest, if only to talk about it.

Although Captain Sheik did not dismiss his dream out of hand, she also stated that she needed more proof before she was willing to warn the mercenaries. Deserk understood. Heck, he would have been extremely doubtful himself if it was somebody else who came up with such a story.

Surprisingly, Frank was a bit more understanding, and even managed to come up with several highly implausible, as well as some entirely believable scenarios for the nightmare, which to Deserk was quite surprising, considering his medical and scientific training. But due to the events at hand, as well as the lack of proof, they could not take any action and could only resolve to keep their eyes and ears open on Einstein.

Forsen Mandela, after collecting enough navigational information about the system, sent the data to his jumpships just before entering the planetary atmosphere. The jumpships would jump to a pirate point in the system nearer to the planet in case he needed a quick getaway. He was nothing if not a cautious man.

 

Aboard the Fortress class dropship Battle’s Bane, Major Ian Calderon was holding a status review for his troops near the feet of his Awesome 9Q.

“As you all know, we’re landing soon on Einstein. Because we’re basically on our own for the sector we’ve chosen, I want everybody to be on alert. We have no idea what’s waiting for us down there. Some of you might laugh at the thought of the local animals posing any threat to us, but trust me, I’ve seen things that can tear even mechs apart, and they might even be present down there, so watch out.”

“I don’t want any trouble, so we’ll establish a defensive perimeter with the mechs first, while the rest of the unit sets up camp. We should be set to go in the next morning. Captain Sachin will be in charge of the camp, while I’ll be out with the mechs. The recon lance will be sweeping the area to look for any possible hostiles.”

Ian looked around his crew. “Any questions?” Although he had the utmost trust in the abilities of his men, he still felt it necessary at times to let his men express their doubts and opinions. And sometimes, they had useful ideas which he had not thought of, and more than once listening to them had paid off.

There were some murmuring amongst his men, but nobody raised any objections.

“Okay, that’s settled then. Everybody report to your company commanders for your exact tasks. Dismissed!”

Ian could not help but feel as though a storm was coming. He shuddered once, feeling the chill in the mech bay of the dropship.

 

Captain Helene Rice had just finished furling the jump sails of the Sevoto when the information for the pirate point jump came in from the Nile. Passing the data to the other jumpships of Forsen’s transport company, but not to the independent operators, she begun to prepare the ship for jump.

A siren suddenly sounded, just as they were beginning their last systems check.

“Captain, we have a fleet jumping in-system just off our position. ID-ing them right now... Holy shit! There’s two Aegis cruisers in that bunch! They don’t seem too friendly and are heading our way!” Her XO yelled.

Helene thought furiously. Two Aegis class cruisers. If they are hostile, which they probably are, the odds could not be any worse if they had thrown a Texas battleship at the completely defenseless Inner Sphere fleet. Their only chance now was to jump immediately to the pirate point, the coordinates of which were already loaded, which should throw off the attackers should they wish to pursue.

“All hands prepare for immediate jump. Get the other ships to do the same. Bill, check the allegiance of the enemy fleet. Communications, open a channel to the lead cruiser. I will try to buy us some time.”

“Captain, they have the Jade Falcon insignia on their ships. How the hell did the Falcons get here?”

“Captain! The lead ship is not responding to our hail!”

“Detecting energy spikes from the warships! They’re getting ready to fire!” The crew was beginning to panic.

This cannot be happening... We have to jump ASAP. It’s our only chance, Helene thought as the Falcon warships bore down on them.