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Chapter 28 - A Long Journey[]
12 November 2785
Bamburgh (Federated Suns)
The Battered Brood had gotten the call from their Jumpship about the warship now in systems and knew they had no escape left to them. The sensors on their Dropships picked up the new arrival at the Zenith Jump Point, but they did not know exactly what it was, except that it was not any help for them. They performed a sub orbital move and landed again on the continent of Huntsham, which was totally uninhabited but also lacked for fresh water on the desert continent. Colonel Hansen Waiters had commanded the 11th Hussars from 2764 and still led the Battered Brood to this very day. He had heard the calls from SLS Second Chance, and knew he faced desertion charges and possibly treason charges if captured by the SLDF, but it was also the same for all of his people.
Onboard the four Dictator Dropships carrying the 322nd Battlemech Regiment, Colonel Harold Tanaka was ready for some action, the last five years of non-combat operations was the longest he had had in his military career. Even the last six months running exercises to meld the troops into a cohesive command had not been enough to deaden the thirst for action. But now, they had a pirate command basically trapped that was refusing to surrender, which meant a fight. A fight he was looking forward to, maybe a little too much.
15 November 2785
Colonel Tanaka could not remember the last time there had been a real almost equal fight, but this could sure wind up that way, he thought as he looked at the opposing Battlemechs across the desert flats arrayed to oppose his own troops. He would be a little more worried if Lieutenant General Mitchell had refused to let his troops use some of the Royal Battlemechs to replace the worst of what they scrounged up on Terra. But only for operations where the Federated Suns would not have troops or in defense of Mackolla proper. But he had also made it very clear that it was high on his agenda to keep the Royal's tucked away and refit the Battlemech Regiment into something that would not attract as much attention as deploying Royal Battlemechs.
Not horribly equipped, he thought as he studied the Battlemechs from a distance. Pretty damned decent if someone were to ask me for an opinion, almost how his 306th Hussar Regiment had been setup. Two Battalions of medium and a Battalion of heavies. He flipped onto an open channel and keyed his mic.
"My name is Colonel Harold Tanaka commander of the 322nd Battlemech Regiment. There is no escape from here for any of you. Even if you win this fight, there is no escape and all of you know it."
<<"We are the Battered Brood. There is no surrender for us. We are all under a death sentence and if we must die, it will be in battle not by firing squad.">>
"You are deployed as though you expect an even fight, if so, you will be disappointed. Even if you defeat my command, the warship in orbit has orders to obliterate your force. You do not have artillery support or air support, I have both and will use them. Surrender and face a court of law."
<<"And be turned over to the SLDF, that we will not risk.">>
"There is no SLDF anymore. General Kerensky and most of the all of the SLDF have left the Inner Sphere. The Star League is no more."
This announcement seemed to strike home as the once rock steady pirate Battlemechs started to move around slightly amongst themselves. Over the open comm channel everyone could hear some discontent among the pirate force. Colonel Tanaka could not help but wonder nor make out clearly what all the fuss was about suddenly.
<<"Your warship still has an active SLDF IFF code transmitting, we picked it up. Same as your Dropships. Your lying.">>
"I have no need to lie. If we were still in the SLDF, and if they did have a death sentence on all of you, we would not be having this discussion, you would all already be dead. All of my troops were once in the SLDF, from many units devastated in the fighting on Terra and during the Liberation of the Terran Hegemony. We have not yet had the need to change our IFF codes."
<<"Who do you serve now?">>
"We are serving with the Federated Suns, not officially in the AFFS but more of a militia along the border region. It is complicated to say the least."
<<"You can promise that we will get a fair trial?">>
"Before we go there, what crimes have you committed?"
<<"We have raided and stolen water purification equipment, we have fought some small engagements during those raids against militias and once AFFS troops over the years. We avoid population areas or inflicting casualties when we can. We have stolen parts, equipment, seed stock, farming implements. Even the water purification equipment we try for equipment not in active use if possible. If your asking if we rape and take slaves, never. We do have some honor left to us.">>
"Why would the SLDF have a death sentence on you?"
<<"We declared for the rebels during the Uprising, though that was how the SLDF called it, we just refused to fight against the rebels and managed to avoid fighting the SLDF. Treason. Death Sentence. We hid out for a few years until the SLDF pulled out and then the rebels came after us, so we packed up and ran. Formerly, we were the 11th Hussar Regiment. If you can promise that we will get a fair trial, we will surrender.">>
"I will speak to my commander Lieutenant General Mitchell, he is a fair man. I am sure that he will recommend a fair trial and some leniency in punishment."
<<"Most of us have families on Morgan's Holdfast, a small community of about 20,000 people that we look after.">>
"I will advise General Mitchell of that and see what we can do."
<<"Then we will await your return.">>