Warship Blue Aerie, In Orbit,

Einstein, Deep Periphery

9^th March 3068

 

“Well, what did the report from Star Captain Harga say?” Lizabet Danforth asked as she tapped her foot impatiently for the report from her subordinate. Valten Folkner had gone off somewhere with his sensor personnel, undoubtedly to deliver another severe tongue lashing. She suspected he might be angry enough to resort to other kinds of lashing as well, specifically the neural whip kind.

The fighting for the day had been quite successful, with only three defeats, and even the losses suffered were not serious. The Arch Lancers had fought off Daniela Mattlov’s Supernova Trinary, inflicting only Elemental casualties. In  return, they had lost three vehicles and an estimated one platoon of infantry.

Star Captain Daniela had offered Ian Dorlacen hegira, a wise move to preserve her own forces for other battles. Lizabet was aware that the fighting against the Lancers would be difficult and drawn out, and she had selected Daniela as the best suited for such a fight. Her choice was being vindicated by the relative success of the young Star Captain.

Another unit, Winslet’s Warriors, had managed to trap her opposing Falcons in a river by spilling fuel onto the surface and setting the explosive fuel alight. Massed LRM and PPC strikes took down about a star of mechs before they were able to disengage. In return, a lance of the mercenaries was destroyed, which made the defeat a bit more palatable.

What infuriated her the most was the performance of Star Captain Harga’s Trinary. He had bid himself down to a binary, only to be severely damaged by the resurgent Dragoon/Raider force. He had called upon his last bid, a heavy star, to support a final attack which would have crushed the mercenaries if not for the arrival of the insolent Goliath Scorpions. She was now awaiting the full report from Star Captain Harga, as nobody had any idea what conspired below to force Harga‘s withdrawal from the field of battle.

Her aide, Star Captain Dale Icaza, cleared his throat before speaking. “Galaxy Commander, here is the condensed report. Star Captain Harga moved his binary into the woods near the mercenaries’ position before the battle. He had configured his mechs for medium and long range combat, expecting them to stay out of range of his mechs as they tried to lure him into another of their innumerable traps.”

He continued, “The mercenaries did not act as he expected. They charged directly into his mechs, and proceeded to inflict heavy damage. One mech was forced to withdraw, while four were destroyed. Harga managed to pull his mechs out of the melee, and offered the mercenary commander, a certain Frank Meronac, surrender. He further communicated with his heavy star, authorizing them to advance to support his attack.”

Lizabet cut in. “It was about this time that the Goliath Scorpions landed, quiaff?”

“Aff. The star of heavy reinforcements moved forward, while Harga headed towards them to regroup. Alpha Strike Star did not move far before they were challenged to a Trial of Grievance by a Nova Cat and a Stormcrow. The strike Star Commander, Star Commander Trepi Crichell, accepted the challenge from the Goliath Scorpion Star Captain Descartin Winters…”

Lizabet held up a hand to halt the her aide. “Wait! What was the name of the Goliath Scorpion again?”

“Descartin Winters.”

“Interesting. Do you know who he is, Dale?”

“I have never heard of him. I do not care for what goes on outside our clan. The warriors of the home clans are nothing special.”

“You are wrong. This Descartin Winters is worthy of attention. Did you know he was not from Clan Goliath Scorpion originally?”

Dale shook his head in the negative.

“His first clan was the Nova Cats. He has attained a lot of honor for himself and his Bloodright over the years. Amongst the clans, he is called ‘The Wanderer’. He has been a member of at least five clans, and in every clan, he had achieved some task for the clan that made it stronger. Unfortunately, every time that happened, he would invariably fall into the hands of another clan. It was this sole reason that has prevented him from rising any further in the ranks.”

“And what does this got to do with our present situation?”

“Descartin Winters is said to be unbeatable in zellbrigen. He downed three opponents in his first Trial of Position, and was close to a fourth kill. In the report, the warriors who challenged him were defeated, quiaff?”

Dale looked at the report, then replied, “Aff.”

“Continue with the report, then.” She waved, a signal for Dale to finish the report.

“Star Commander Crichell fought with the Nova Cat, but was defeated, as you have surmised. So was her second, Mechwarrior Basier, when he fought with the Stormcrow. Upon arriving at the scene, Harga knew at once that with the loss of two mechs, he lacked enough mech strength to defeat the mercenaries, who were in pursuit. In order to save his mechs and his warriors, he decided that retreat was the best option. Pausing only to retrieve Tepri Crichell and Basier from their mechs, he left the field and headed for his dropship. The Goliath Scorpions did not stop him.”

He stopped, having finished the report. He noticed Galaxy Commander Danforth now looking off into the space in front of her window, obviously deep in thought.

She muttered quietly to herself, “I wonder how Descartin Winters knew about this place…”

 

Drop Zone Alpha,

Einstein, Deep Periphery

 

Sitting around a roaring fire, Frank finally got the chance to sit down and talk business with Descartin Winters.

Upon arriving at the Nile, the first thing Frank did was to get in contact with the other mercs groups, more specifically Ian Dorlacen and Karen Winslet. The importance of the key machines was growing daily in his mind, as Frank had came to the realization that discovery of the hidden base could be a find greater than any other in the history of mankind.

Descartin Winters and Deserk had not been idle either. Descartin had sent a message to his dropship Bleeding Past after reaching the base camp with Frank’s permission, getting it to rendezvous with the Nile.

When Frank asked him why it was so important that they get the dropships together, Descartin had only answered with a cryptic “You will see”.

The mercs had gathered around the campfire, like moths drawn to a flame when Deserk had lighted it up with a plentiful supply of twigs and firewood collected from the forest.

Right now, they were feeling relaxed and happy after their victory over the Falcons. Sitting around chewing on their rations, they discussed the fighting of the day and bragged about their deeds.

“What does this remind you of?” Deserk asked Descartin, as the two sat down on an empty spot with their rations of canned beans.

“Aye, the Chronicle of Battles. Those were good days.” Descartin said wistfully as he dug his spoon into the can and scooped out a heapful of beans.

“What are the two of you talking about? What’s the Chronicle of Battles?” Frank asked as he walked up with his own food, a dried fruit bar.

“The Chronicle of Battles is an event where warriors of a unit gather to regale one another of past deeds and battles. It also provides an opportunity for warriors to prepare for battles ahead.” Deserk replied.

“It has been many years since I have participated in such. I wonder if I will ever have the opportunity again.” Descartin added

“Des, why are you even with the Goliath Scorpions? I had always thought you were destined for higher command in the Nova Cats,” Deserk asked as he looked towards where the other Goliath Scorpion, who Des had introduced as Star Commander Jean Posavatz, sitting alone amidst the laughing mercs. She did not look exactly happy as she tried to concentrate on eating her food and ignoring the gleeful celebrations of the mercenaries around her.

Deserk said, “When I got captured on Luthien, you were doing fine. I was worried when Tukayyid occurred, but we managed to intercept casualty reports, and that’s the last I heard of you. What happened?”

“Long story. The short version goes like this: After Tukayyid, I got transferred back to the homeworld and promoted to Star Colonel. It lasted for about a week before Clan Ghost Bear attacked my garrison with two clusters of mechs. I became bondsman to the Bears, and so my walkabout around the clans started. I would get captured, always when up against outrageous odds, work my way back up to warrior status, then get captured again. When I finally landed with the Goliath Scorpions, the lure of wandering the stars had taken root in me. So I decided to become a Seeker, searching for relics of the lost Star League.”

Frank looked dubious. “How did you find this place? Heck, the Inner Sphere did not have anything concerning this place, or the houses would have been here already. We know from what the Arch Lancers told us that the Falcons got the wind of this place because of a timed message in their databanks, but what’s your story?”

“Would you believe me if I told you my dreams led me to this place?” Des smiled.

Blinking his eyes a few times, Frank asked, “Huh?”

“Listen, I got a vision, a vision telling me to go to the jungles of Eden, where I managed to find a diary of a scientist who managed to escaped the fighting in the cities when the wars broke out. In his journals, he related the events of his life. Near the end of the journal, where it was quite clear he was delirious and dying from a virus native to Eden, he placed down important information that he felt future generations must know.”

“Information about this place?” Frank asked.

“Aff. Coordinates of this world… and more. I assume you have found the Star League bases already?” Des’ face grew serious now.

Frank nodded. “Yes, we have.”

“Tell me, what have you found?” Descartin asked eagerly.

Frank hesitated. How much does he know? And can I trust him that much? What does he intend? Frank thought. Looking around to ensure that there was no one else besides Deserk around, he came to a decision.

His gut feelings told him that Des was trustworthy and was a potentially useful ally. And he had not been let down by his instincts so far. All the way then, he told himself.

“We found several ruined Star League bases, and they seem to have suffered some kind of attack in their last days. Before we could explore them though, we were attacked by advanced drone robots which nobody had ever seen before. We got rid of them, and managed to get plenty of data and lostech.” Frank paused, as the next bit of information was the shocker.

“And we found evidence that there might be uhm…”

“Alien presence here before the first man ever set foot on this planet.” Descartin finished for him, speaking softly.

Frank and Deserk gaped, their mouths hanging open for an instant before snapping shut again.

“You already know about this?” Deserk asked. “Then do the rest of the clans know about this as well?”

Des held up his hand. “No, not even the Khan of the Goliath Scorpions know about this. As a seeker, I am not obliged to release every piece of information to the clan as I find them. I can always choose to inform the clan of my findings after the entire quest is over. As for your first question, the dying scientist stated the findings they had on this world in his journal.”

“How is it possible? I mean, this was obviously a top secret facility…”

Descartin explained, ”The scientist, his name was Robert Pearson, worked here for ten years before he returned to the Star League. However, Amaris commenced his takeover of the Terran Hegemony at the same time. All research data pertaining to the work done here was expunged and destroyed by the personnel before Amaris’ forces could discover them. The scientists who knew were all killed, with the sole exception of this Robert Pearson, who was in transit in the Free Worlds League at the time. He joined up with Jerome Blake’s technical staff, and proceeded to aid in the liberation of Terra. He never divulged the secrets of this world to anyone, however, afraid of the consequences, and also because he was sworn to secrecy. He assumed that research at Area 51 would continue unabated and the scientists, after a certain breakthrough, would join up with the Star League Defense Force when the time is right.”

“What about the SLDF commanders?” Deserk queried, “General Kerensky must have known about this.”

“According to this Robert, he did not. Everyone who knew was either in this system or dead, with Robert the sole exception. He kept the knowledge to himself, even through the entire journey during the exodus, only to find chaos and death in front of him, during the war on the Pentagon worlds. He was unable to seek sanctuary with the second exodus, and escaped to a jungle hideout where he would await the end of the fighting. He caught the virus not soon after, and determined that his knowledge would not die with him, he broke his oath and tried to put down as much of his knowledge down before he died.”

“And you found it after more than two hundred years.” Deserk completed for him.

“Aff. I must confess I was highly skeptical of his claims in the beginning, but after consulting an… expert, he assured me the data was authentic. I proceeded to gather an expedition to get here, and so here I am.”

“The certain breakthrough you mentioned, did it have anything to do with a hidden base on the planet?” Frank was fully engrossed in the discussion now, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

It was Descartin’s turn to look surprised. “You know about that as well? Very good, then we have no secrets to hide from each other. Yes, I was here for the artifacts and lostech data, but more importantly, I want to ascertain the presence of the alien base. I decided to scout out this planet first for my clan, because I was not sure whether anybody would still be alive here after three hundred years without support, and I did not want to get disgraced if I had sent the clan here and nothing of note was found!”

“In the scientist’s journal, was there any indication of where the alien base might be found?” Frank polished off the last of the fruit bar.

“That stumped me too. It was a crucial piece of information he left out, though I suspect he was having difficulty organizing his thoughts by then. He described the base as being a mountain in a deep crater, but nothing else. I find it difficult to imagine such a place.”

Frank was excited now. “There are two such places on this planet! We only have to scout them out to ascertain the location!”

“But what about the door opening mechanism? You know what they are? Do you have them?” Des asked.

“The six machines used to open the door? Yes, we have them, or more accurately, we have some of them. There’s one with us right now, and four others are with the other units scattered around the planet. The Falcons have one as well.”

“Stravag! This is not good.” Des cursed vehemently, tossing his empty can of beans onto the ground in anger.

“But we can’t even figure out how to activate them. Did the journal say anything about that?”

“Unfortunately, no.” At this moment, Descartin shouted at Star Commander Jean, who was sitting uneasily near the mercs, startling her into attention.

“Jean, get the others to stop whatever they are doing on the dropship and come down here!”

“All of them?” She shouted back.

“Aff!”

Descartin turned back towards Frank and Deserk. “But I know someone who can help us. In fact, he was the one who helped verify the information in the first place.”

A Japanese man walked up at that moment. At his sides was a matched pair of swords, making him seem very menacing as he approached them.

Frank and Deserk put themselves on alert when they saw him, relaxing only when Descartin said, “He is with me.”

The man walked up and bowed to Frank and Deserk in Kuritan fashion, surprising them.

“Uh, what is this?” Deserk asked.

“Star Commander Deserk, it has been a long time.” The man spoke as he looked at the former clanner. “I am honored.”

Deserk stared at him for a while before recognition bled into his eyes. “Yoshino Ihara! I remember you! Why aren’t you with the Nova Cats?”

“Hai. As for my situation, let me just say that it was much more interesting to follow Star Captain Winters across the stars. Since then, I have served as a warrior whenever freeborns were allowed to in a clan. Right now, I am a warrior again. As I am indebted to Des for my life all those years ago, I have decided to follow him wherever he goes.” Yoshino replied as he sat down.

“And I cannot get rid of you anyway.” Des laughed. “What about the rest of the troupe?”

“I won’t call them a troupe, Des. They might get offended. As good as you are, are you willing to take on an elemental in hand to hand?”

Descartin looked askance at Yoshino for a moment, before conceding, “Neg.”

“Hah! To think that the mighty Descartin Winters is actually afraid of a lowly Sage!” A booming voice rang out, shocking them out of their sitting positions.

The man, no, giant who spoke walked towards them, a huge grin on his face. His massive frame was hidden by, of all things, a lab coat.

“Lowly? Sorry, but I would not exactly call someone who can break my bones in one blow ‘lowly’. I have better sense than that.”

Frank was shocked. He had heard of the massive clan infantry soldiers called elementals, but this was the first time he met one. And apparently, this elemental was a bit unusual.

“Uhm, forgive me my ignorance, but what is a sage?” Frank asked.

”Yes, what is it? You mentioned being a seeker, but I have not heard of such either. Enlighten us.” Deserk added with a tinge of sarcasm.

“The Seekers of Clan Goliath Scorpion are devoted to recovering the lost relics of the Star League. They, which does not necessarily include me, believe that by doing so, they can rebuild the Star League piece by piece, like a jigsaw puzzle. A Sage is part of a Seeker’s living heraldry, his entourage. Living heraldry consists of the Seeker’s followers. Bondsmen like Yoshino are called Yeomen, laborers are called Footmen, and technicians are called Tinkers. These are the most common members of a living heraldry. Merchant caste Sutlers and scientist caste Sages, like Lorik here, are only involved in lengthy quests outside the homeworlds.”

“Like the one you’re now on?” Frank raised an eyebrow.

“Aff. Having a scientist on your side on something like this is a real advantage. He verified the information in the journal for me.”

“He can say that again. Who was the one begging for me to join his quest in the first place?” Lorik smiled.

Deserk was the first to notice the slight discrepancy. “This elemental is a scientist?” He asked, incredulous.

“Who says elementals cannot be scientists?” The huge man asked. “I am tired of all the usual stereotypes that seem to insist that people born of the elemental genotype are brainless and dumb, fit only to be warriors or laborers.”

Deserk gulped once. “Uh no, I didn’t say that. But you have to admit, it is unusual…”

“Undoubtedly true. I entered the scientist caste with a lot of what you call baggage. It took me a long time to find my niche, and to be accepted for what I can do, not for what I look like.”

“And what is your specialty?” Frank was eager for some help after running into the brick wall of his inadequate knowledge of engineering and physics when dealing with the key machine.

“I am a physicist. My labname is one of the most honored in the caste, Einstein.”

Deserk burst out laughing. “What a coincidence! We called this planet Einstein!”

“Incredible! What are the odds on that happening?” Yoshino exclaimed.

“Even better. He’s a physicist, which means he can help us figure out how to use the machines to get inside the base when we find it.”

“And where is the machine? Can I see it?”

“Sure, follow me.”

“Hey, what about Tina?” Yoshino said just as the whole group got up.

“You stay and tell her to, uh, entertain the mercenaries. That is her job anyway.”

“Who’s Tina?” A curious Deserk asked as they walked through the open bay doors of the Nile.

“An artist who insists on joining my group. Says she wants to be a Harbinger.”

“And a Harbinger is?” Deserk prompted Descartin to continue.

“An artist who acts as a Seeker’s chronicler and artisan.” Descartin sighed. “Harbingers get a lot of prestige and status, so it is little wonder she wants to be one. She practically flung herself at me on my first quest!” His words got the whole group laughing.

It did not take long for Frank to lead them to the cargo bay where all the lostech was stored.

The key machine sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by other pieces of technology and equipment that the mercs were unwilling to activate for fear of blowing themselves up. The room was unlit and even with the lights on, the illumination was poor.

For a moment, Frank felt like a treasure hunter entering a tomb of hidden gold. Shaking it off, he walked up to it. “Here it is. What do you think?”

Almost immediately, Lorik was all over the machine, shining a torchlight into every nook and cranny. “I will tell you in, say, two days time? Now shoo!” He waved them off, enticed by the piece of lostech in front of him.

The others backed off, realizing that there was no way to drag the enthusiastic scientist off the machine.

Not that they could anyway, Frank remarked as they walked back to his office for further planning. Dragging a hundred plus kilograms, two and a half meter tall man is a tough proposition, even for three mechwarriors.

“What do we do next?” Deserk asked as Frank handed him a glass of water from the dispenser in the lab.

“Right now, we’re doing pretty fine in the mech department.” Frank poured Descartin another glass before having one for himself. “With Descartin’s help, we should be able to pull off our next objectives, which is to gather the rest of the key machines and to locate the alien base. Here, Des, look at this.”

Frank spread out the topographic map on the table. Deserk and Descartin crowded around as they looked at the map.

“Here,” Frank pointed with a finger, “and here. These are the two spots which comes closest to the description of the location of the base in the journal.”

“These are quite far away. We will have to use the dropships to get there.”

“Which is why I need you to convince the Jade Falcon Galaxy Commander to allow us to use our dropships. There’s no way we’re gonna go anywhere if they have fighters ready to pounce on us the moment we lift.”

“Do not worry. I will take care of this matter.”

“There is one more thing. Won’t it be a dishonor for you to be seen with Inner Sphere mercenaries?” Deserk asked.

“Why fight and gain nothing when I can cooperate and gain the lostech? I am as eager as any of you to uncover the secrets of this world. By the way, you will share the knowledge with me?”

“I guess so. The others may not like it though.”

“I assure you that I will not take any of the lostech equipment. I will take only the data from the Star League bases, as well as any data we might find in the base, things that we can share and duplicate. The things here are the property of all humanity, and should not be restricted by anyone, from anyone. This knowledge has been withheld for far too long. With it, perhaps we can establish a new golden age.”

“I wouldn’t think that far ahead, considering we still got a galaxy of Falcons on our backs. Any brilliant ideas on how to get rid of them without getting ourselves killed?” Frank looked around at the other two warriors.

The office fell silent.