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The Call
Chapter 2 - Aurigan Dreams (BattleTech CYOA)[]
The Meetings on Bromhead[]
The meeting with the lawyers went smoothly. I confirmed my interest in collecting my portion of the inheritance. I had to sign a bunch of papers and other official documentation, but when I walked out of the legal firm, I was the new owner and commanding officer of the Rimward Sentinels mercenary company and a hundred forty million C-Bills richer.
It was when we were leaving the office that Commodore Geary informed me that the new Duchess of Bromhead, my niece Ava Herman-Davion, has requested a visit from me before I leave the planet. I also had a bunch of other messages and requests from people on Bromhead, but I could look through those at my leisure with the request from the Duchess being the only one that Commodore Geary considers worth bringing to my attention.
Arranging that meeting with my niece ends up being as simple as a couple of messages with an informal meeting being arranged for tomorrow afternoon. Personally I would have liked to get it over and done with, but my niece has a busy schedule as the new Duchess of Bromhead and tomorrow afternoon is the soonest free slot in it.
That leaves me with some meetings of my own to arrange. One of those is with Commodore Geary and the rest of my new ship captains to bring me up to speed on the current status of the Rimward Sentinels, but another is speaking with Thomas Nero and Romeo Manteil, the two ex-AFFS MechWarriors that Duke Herman was trying to sign on when he bit it.
“Lieutenant Nero,” I greet the man who can’t be more than a few years older than myself as he enters my office aboard the Durendal,“Apologies about the delay in continuing recruitment talks, but there was an…unfortunate delay on our side.”
“The boss dying tends to do that,” replies Lieutenant Nero,“Are we going to be looking at the same sort of deal as I was looking at with Duke Herman?”
“That was what I was thinking,” I agree, trying to keep just how out of my depths I am under wraps,“Company command and standard pay for a MechWarrior officer of regular experience level and lance command for Sergeant Romeo Manteil, also with pay for a MechWarrior officer of regular experience level.”
While I am very inexperienced when it comes to leading a mercenary company, there are plenty of guides and established norms for me to fall back upon. Not to mention that as disturbing as they are, the memories have given me some basic knowledge of how mercenaries operate and it is depressingly more likely that those memories of another lifetime and universe are accurate.
“That sounds acceptable to me,” says Lieutenant Nero, seeming as if he is trying to hide his own awkwardness.
“You’re new to this as well,” I comment and the older man hesitates before answering.
“Yeah, I am,” agrees Lieutenant Nero,“I know my stuff as a MechWarrior, but this is my first time as a mercenary. I’m betting this is as new to me as it is for you.”
“It is,” I admit even if that is probably an unwise decision,“Before the new year, I was just a ‘mech technician, having trained under my mother and a local technical college. Then I got a call about how I was inheriting from some FedSuns duke just across the border and I seized the opportunity.”
“Taking the initiative,” says Lieutenant Nero approvingly,“That is what they teach us to do in the AFFS.”
“Speaking of the AFFS, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you leave?” I ask, curious about why the man chose to become a mercenary,“I choose to become a mercenary because it was better than being just some unimportant tech, but I can’t tell why you choose this over the AFFS.”
“Politics is the long and short of it,” answers Lieutenant Nero,“I was part of the Sirdar CMM. I come from a MechWarrior family with our own family ‘Mech, a Valkyrie. The AFFS was okay, but I didn’t kiss enough Hasek butt to really fit in and I couldn’t get a transfer to another unit outside of the Capellan March. With the new delays in getting supplies or being sent the wrong ones, I decided to call it quits and try my hand at a mercenary’s life. Romeo joined me and Duke Herman was looking for MechWarriors for his new mercenary company. He had a good reputation so Romeo and I decided to sign up with him.”
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Valkyrie Light 'Mech
“I believe I know what happened after that,” I say,“Thanks for indulging my curiosity.”
“It is good for a leader to know the backgrounds of their men,” replies Lieutenant Nero,“If you don’t mind me asking, Colonel Nora, what are your plans for the Rimward Sentinels?”
“Head back home to the Aurigan Coalition, build up the unit with my countrymen and look for work in the Reach and Frontier.” I answer,“That part of the Periphery is pretty well-off thanks to the Canopian-Taurian trade and there is no shortage of C-Bills or work that needs doing, just a shortage of hardware.”
That isn’t quite true, but I can hardly tell him that I am planning to use my forces to strengthen the Aurigan Coalition to prevent the rise of the Aurigan Directorate in a few years time. Technically speaking, I’m not supposed to know anything about the various LosTech locations and I certainly can’t tell anyone about how much of a poor future the Coalition is in for without sounding crazy. Or slandering the second most powerful House in the Coalition and a close ally of the most powerful House.
“Loyalty to one's home,” comments Lieutenant Nero, sounding satisfied with my answer,“I can respect that.”
Family Affairs[]
My meeting with my niece is supposed to be informal, but she is still a duchess so I try to dress up somewhat for it. With my limited wardrobe, that consists of a fresh pair of black trousers and a nice blue blouse as I didn’t bring any gowns with me. Not that I own any in the first place as I haven’t had a need for formal wear before. I guess I could have brought some new clothes during the morning or the day before, but I procrastinated on that until it was too late.
A limo picks me up from the Durendal at the spaceport and takes me to the Herman Ducal Palace. From there, a middle-aged servant who I think might be a butler leads me to Duchess Herman-Davion. The palace is…well, I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it is rich enough to meet my standards of what a noble’s palace should be like. A lot of decorations ranging from works of art like paintings and statues to important documents relevant to the Herman dynasty or Bromhead. I would probably find it all to be interesting, but I am too tense or nervous to enjoy it and even if I wasn’t, I am on a schedule so I can’t stop to look at anything.
Maybe another day.
I don’t know what to expect from Duchess Herman-Davion. The seventeen year old granddaughter of my old man. I know that she seems nice, that she is smart enough to avoid getting on ComStar’s bad side by trying to seize the military hardware of the Rimward Sentinels by force and that Commodore Geary doesn’t disapprove of her.
The slender girl in the gold-accented white dress sitting on a nice comfy chair was not what I was expecting. If only because her brown eyes, short black hair and a flat figure of shade or two darker skin is significantly different to me. Given that we are related, I expected Duchess Ava Herman-Davion to look a little more like me.
We aren’t the only ones in the room, but the other individuals are staying out of the way to the point that I could miss them if I wasn’t paying attention. They must be servants or bodyguards. Perhaps a mixture of both judging by how some appear to be armed while others appear to be unarmed.
“Greetings, Auntie Elizabeth,” the girl says with a smile as she indicates towards a similar chair on the other side of a coffee table,“Please take a seat and make yourself at home.”
“Thank you,” I reply while I move towards the other chair, hesitating slightly as I don’t want to piss off the local Duchess,“You said this was an informal meeting, Duchess Herman-Davion, but I don't know what is appropriate for that.”
“Just call me Ava,” replies my niece, “We don’t need to bother with titles while we are being informal. As for what is appropriate, just treat me with respect and be polite. It is more than what some people treat me with, including members of our own family.”
“Well, you can call me Liz, Ava.” I say, gently trying out the name of my niece.
“Now the introductions are out of the way, Liz, what drink would you like?” asks Duch-no, Ava.
“Hot chocolate?” I suggest, unsure of myself, but I do enjoy a mug of hot chocolate and so long as you don’t get involved with any fancy flavors. It is hard to go wrong with it.
“Amir, a couple of hot chocolates please,” says Ava to one of the servants in the room before turning back to me,“I see that you have chosen to take up the more active side of your inheritance.”
“If you mean the Rimward Sentinels, then yes.” I answer warily, “That isn’t going to be a problem, is it?”
“Not between you and me,” replies Ava, “No need for you to get your hackles raised though I’ll admit that some of our family won’t be so graceful about the situation. I won't pretend that I am not unhappy about all of that equipment slipping through my fingers, but that is grandpa’s fault not yours. Unlike some others, I won’t be blaming you for making the best choice available to you. Especially since I would make that same choice in your position. I must confess some curiosity about why you made that choice however.”
Well, I can’t tell her the truth, that would just make me sound crazy and insane. I need to save the Aurigan Coalition from collapsing in my lifetime, but talking about having knowledge from another future about how it undergoes a brutal civil war that sees it not worth being put on a map a decade later? That is quite literally crazy talk no matter how true it is.
“Before this year, the closest I was going to get to being a MechWarrior was being a mech tech.” I answer, going with a technical truth for my answer and hoping that the ‘Cult of the MechWarrior’ as it has been called will be enough to make it believable, “I suppose I could have just grabbed a ‘Mech for myself, but why settle for just being a MechWarrior when I can lead a whole bunch of MechWarriors with supporting arms?"
“It does seem like a very big upgrade in prospects for you.” agrees Ava.
“May I ask a question?” I inquire as the servant from before returns with two cups of hot chocolate.
“Of course.” says Ava.
“Where did, ah, Duke Herman find all of this?” I ask, deciding that my old man is too much of a stranger to call him by anything but his title, “A jumpship with dropships and a combined arms regiment worth of factory-fresh hardware doesn’t come out of nowhere.”
“According to the records that Grandpa found aboard the ships, it is a misjumped Lyran supply run,” answers Ava as I take a sip from the hot chocolate, hmm, “Heavy-Assault company with supporting assets from between the First and Second Succession Wars that ended up on the other side of the Inner Sphere with a killed off-crew, most likely directly due to the misjump. Grandpa found it last year and made the decision of forming a mercenary company with it instead of something sensible like adding it to the planetary militia or the ducal guard. Repaired up the ships and found crews for them before the cancer got him and we found out that he left it to some illegitimate child he had with a Lyran woman who lives just across the border in some Periphery state. You know the rest of the story.”
“You really aren’t happy about not getting the ‘Mechs.” I noted.
“I blame Grandpa not you, but I suppose I could be nicer about it to you.” concedes Ava, “Would you mind sharing any plans for the future if you have any?”
“Spend no more than a week here on Bromhead looking at the potential hires that Duke Herman had lined up.” I answer, “After that, heading back to the Aurigan Coalition to finish filling out the ranks before picking up some garrison or anti-piracy jobs. The Coalition lacks access to sufficient military hardware, but is wealthy enough to have no shortage of pirates that prey upon its worlds or C-Bills to pay for the removal of said pirates.”
“Sounds like you have your immediate future lined up.” comments Ava, “Do you have rented a place to stay for the duration of your visit or are you going to stay aboard one of your new DropShips, Liz?”
“I am planning to stay aboard the Durendal,” I admit, “Why?”
“I could let you stay in a guest room here in the palace,” offers Ava, “You’re going to be spending plenty of time in a DropShip cabin so you should enjoy the chance to have a proper room when you can. That is what I’ve always been taught.”
Having recently gotten my first taste of living in a DropShip cabin, that sounds like an excellent offer. On the other hand, there is probably a catch and I have a pretty good idea of what it is.
“That sounds like a good deal, but what about the family members who do blame me?” I ask, “I’m not sure getting a real bedroom instead of a ship cabin is worth having to worry about running into one of them.”
“None of them will do anything.” Ava assures me, “Most of them won’t want to get on my bad side by picking a fight with you while you are my guest and of those that would, only Uncle Basil has enough clout to push back against me. And he is currently banned from the palace for…harsh words that he said to me in public when we openly disagreed about accepting ComStar’s ruling on your right to inherit the Rimward Sentinels.
“I am also not just doing this out of the kindness of my heart. You are family and you seem like a decent enough sort that I would like to get to know you better. Even if you will be leaving Bromhead to play mercenary, there is no benefit in being antagonistic or dismissive towards you and plenty of gain from befriending you and leaving you with a positive impression of me. Then we have the fact that a couple of my cousins want to sign up with you so I’m being nice to you on their behalf.”
“Pardon?” I say, “I mean, please explain that last bit.”
“Okay, so my cousins, your nephew and niece. They were planning to sign up with Grandpa and him dying with you taking over hasn’t changed their plans, Liz,” explains Ava, “Both are Neurohelmet compatible and have passed basic MechWarrior training. Vance has just finished a stint as an infantryman in the planetary militia and chose to retire to sign up with Grandpa while Vanessa was preparing to do bootcamp for the militia this year. While they have MechWarrior training, our family doesn’t have enough ‘mechs for them so they see the Sentinels as their best chance for being MechWarriors, even if it means going mercenary. They’re planning to meet with you tomorrow after I have put in a good word with you on their behalf.”
“I can’t exactly afford to turn up a trained and reliable MechWarrior right now.” I admit, “I’m not going to promise anything without meeting them, but unless they’ve got some real dealbreaker, I can’t see myself turning them down.”
“Vanessa will be pleased to hear that.” says Ava with a grin, “So will you be taking me up on my offer, Liz?”
“I might as well,” I say, making my decision, “A nice spacious room with a proper bed sounds much better than a DropShip cabin.”
Author's Chapter Notes[]
- Word from the Author
- Second chapter is done and I’m spending more time on Bromhead than I originally planned, but that is because I want to flesh out some of the characters and the planet so I can come back to them later in the story. I’m not quite sure what sort of role I want Bromhead to play in the future, but I do know that I want Elizabeth to come back in the future so I can contrast how she is now and how she is then.
Beyond that, Thomas and Romeo are going to be named MechWarriors with basic personalities and backgrounds that I can come back to in the future if I need a tertiary or second character for the story. Likewise with Vance and Vanessa Herman as I don’t know yet how important each of the four will be yet, but they will be available if I need a named character with a personality and background.
Finally, I want both sides of Elizabeth’s family to have some relevance in this story. Not all of them of course, but at least a few on either side will be having plot relevance.