.png){kind=link}
Iron Blooded Commander
- Chapter 5.2 -
In Battletech, first you take Helm[]
<<Next Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
The Key to the Castle[]
Capital City of New Edinburgh
Steward, Free Worlds League
Once we were back at the hotel, I did two things, I checked the memory chip, and it sure looked like what I had been looking for. The thing was heavy duty, with a faded Marik eagle on it, and it just had to be it.
.png){kind=link}
Insignia of the Free Worlds League
I really hoped.
Which is why the first thing I did was scan it. And see what my sensor could notice. The scan showed up in my blueprint log as "Helm Memory Chip, Key." Which had me squealing in happiness as I fell back onto the hotel bed. Chest heaving.
We had done it. We had actually done it. Somehow.
"Well?" Gauge prompted, the whole of Delta Ops were staring at me as well, their faces looking confused, while Carl, and Gauge the only ones that knew what was on this chip were looking at me, begging me to tell them they had succeeded.
"This is what we were looking for. Delta Ops, damn good job." I assured them as I got up and patted backs congratulated them and gave hugs. Gauge and I ended up spending the next hour being inundated with how cool the whole thing was, as each of them told the story from their view. Which we all oohed and awed at the right times.
They were obviously quite excited. It took hours before I pushed them all to bed. I didn't sleep much that night, myself too excited to rest. Helm! I had the key in my hands!
The next day I headed out to charter another dropship. The meeting with the new captain was boring, money got me the dropship chartered for a few days out, nothing happened on those few days. Just a tenseness in the group as we all waited to see if we had done something to get caught. Slowly the days passed, we packed our kits and headed out towards the Leopard dropship I had chartered this time.
We left the planet, with a sense of relief from all of us. Except for me. I was too busy puking.
Entering Sim Hell[]
Red Base
Zaniah III, Lyran Commonwealth
A different perspective
Gertrude was in hell. She huffed as she ran down the long hallways. The other kids in her bootcamp jogging along with her. This had been all they had done for weeks. Run and train. She groaned when they finally slowed. Sergeant Kurtz, slowing his jog that they had to match as he nodded. "Good. Damn good. Break for now. Go get watered up, we will continue after."
The hallway groaned but jumped to do as ordered. The incentives to keep working were real here at Red Base. Doing well meant you got Sim time. Sim time meant that the next time a mech was brought in, you might get to pilot it. Everyone was fully engaged, especially since they weren't frugal with anything you needed.
Want to train your marksmanship? Turn left around that corner, hit the armory, request some ammo and some range time. Done and done.
Want to learn to drive? Norman trucks were everywhere, and an older orphan would always take the time to let you learn. The more orphans that knew how to drive the better.
Want to eat? Food was plenty, and so was water. The food wasn't always good… Some of the chefs they had working to cook were better than others, but filling food was filling food, and you could eat until you were stuffed.
So why was she in hell?
Because she was struggling with fitness. She had never been athletic before, and now where it was important? It was limiting her. So she ran. And ran and ran. And hadn't had the chance in the sims yet. They were too limited to give time to the kids that weren't ready. Or at least that is what Sergeant Kurtz said, and to be fair.
There was a 24/7 reservation on the things. So he wasn't kidding.
"It's weird right?" Chris asked as he settled in beside her drinking his water as well.
"Everything here is weird, Chris."
"No I mean. We only just got here before the Commander left, but.. It's been weird since she disappeared right? Everyone is acting tense. The ones that were here before us I mean. It's like…"
"Now that she is gone they aren't sure if everything will work out."
"Yeah exactly! Sub-Commander Rommel has been running around like crazy. But everyone is still pretty tense."
"It's fine. We don't need to worry about that sort of stuff, we just need to worry about earning some Sim time," Gerty quickly told him as she noticed Sergeant Kurtz coming back from his own water break.
"Yeah, but-"
"Alright! Water break is over!" He called out interrupting Chris and his nonsense before he could get started. Gerty didn't care about that. She just wanted more than what she had started with, and she had already far surpassed that point.
"Alright, kids. You get a special reward today. Your entire class is finally far enough along in boot that we can move onto something special. All of you, follow me." He ordered as he jogged off, and the kids followed this time without any groans. The offer of a reward had them all hooked. Gerty included.
Finally they came to a place none of them had been before. "Alright kids, no one touches anything I don't say. You are getting special permission to enter this hangar this once. Don't enter it again without permission. It will be locked, anyone trying well… Punishment detail will not be pleasant."
He opens the door and everyone gasps.
The mech standing tall was another Centurion! "Alright enough stop gawking, we aren't touching the Commander's new ride, instead. This should be your focus today," And Sergeant Kurtz pointed them towards a row of Mech Sims.
Gerty audibly gasped along with half the kid as they realized they were getting time on the sims!
"Today, we are going to get your brainwave records ready, so in the future you can use the sims when you actually earn the time. This is not a game today so each of you, grab a sim and get ready."
Gerty hurried to grab one of the sims, climbing into the large machine with a happy gleam as she settled into the large chair, quickly strapping herself in as she looked over the controls. "Alright!" Sergeant Kurtz yelled loud to be heard through the sims. "Each of you put on the neurohelmet, DON'T touch anything else. I am going to set it for a brainwave scan. Just sit tight should only take a minute or so. Don't touch anything or you might fry your brain!"
Gerty was practically bouncing in excitement as each of the kids' brain waves were scanned into the system, finally when they were all done, a chip popped out of the system. Once more Sergeant Kurtz voice echoed through the pods hull.
"Okay now that the scans are complete, you should see the pod popped out a small memory chip! That is your brainwave scan, keep it close, if you lose it, no Sim time! You will enter that chip every time you enter a Sim pod, you will not forget your Data chip IN the Sim pod. That chip is your life, you lose it, you lose training access until we think you have sufficiently learned your lesson! You all might have noticed that your dog tags have a slot in them. Guess what fits perfectly inside? Put your chip in your dog tags when you are not in the Sim pods, and you will always have them on hand!"
"Now that the work is done, as a reward all of you are getting two hours of training time starting…. Now. Start your sims, and load up a Stinger. Let's give you all some stick time!"
As the sim began and Gerty got to feel what it was like to really pilot a mech, not like the games in every mall but from a real military level sim pod? Gerty was wrong, This wasn't hell. It was Heaven.
Conflicted feelings on eve storming the Castle[]
Helm, Free Worlds League
3020
Landing on Helm had me practically buzzing in excitement, when I was throwing up. Although only Gauge and Carl shared this feeling with me the rest of the Delta Ops were wondering what we were doing now.
I hadn't revealed it to them yet, and I wasn't planning on it, not because I didn't trust them, but just because there hadn't been a good chance on Stewart, and I wasn't about to risk it on the dropship.
Plus, I kinda wanted it to be a surprise. Like 'Surprise, you are now the most successful Lostech Hunters in the history of the Inner Sphere!' that sort of feeling.
My own anxiety was hiking up insanely high. What if ComStar found out, What if the Memory Chip didn't work. What if it all exploded! Gauge was picking up on it. "Calm down, your jittery. It looks weird."
"I know! I know I'm just.. Freaking out a bit. I'll be fine once we get moving."
Helm was not a comfortable planet I realized as the dropship door opened. About as close to an opposite as you could get from Zaniah, and just as uncomfortable. The moment the door opened all of the heat of the dropship disappeared. Snow, ice, and a sub zero temperature were quite a shock.
Gauge drove our Norman off the ship, through the almost empty streets towards a hotel in Helmsdown, the current capital of the planet and where we were. The far sparser population compared to Stewart was an odd transition. It was much more a rural feel, than Stewart's metropolis.
A constant stream of light snow fluttered down on the empty streets. The buildings looked weird, and I only found out later that most of them have radiation cladding on them to protect them in case any radiation gets kicked up in a storm and hits the city.
Yet the drive was quiet, the Hotel was comfortable enough and after a quick check to verify a lack of bugs we settled Delta Ops in for the night. Gauge and I had other plans. I was going to make sure my preparations were ready. After a few minutes of passing out cold weather gear Gauge and I headed back out. The Norman was thankfully pretty warm in the cab, and Gauge while not the greatest driver on snow got used to it pretty quickly.
As we drove I realized that this was going to be a bit of a pain in the ass. We were in for a cold night. I needed a metal extractor after all.
We drove out into the wastes in silence, the sensor guiding us along the snow and empty roads once we left the "city".
Gauge eventually broke the silence, "What are we going to do once we get in? We can't transport much."
"We aren't transporting anything physically. I'm going to build a 'mech and begin scanning and deconstructing everything. I don't want there to be any chance it could fall into League hands."
"All of it? That… Okay I can accept doing that since you can just build it all later, but Vicky, that's gonna take some time isn't it? Do we want to stay here so long?"
"I don't. But needs must, Gauge. Benny can handle any trouble the Company runs into. He is probably better at it than I am. But this is too important to leave behind."
"Okay. But then what? You'll be able to make… So much more now. What will you do?"
I hesitated, mostly because despite all the time I had to think about options, or what to do next. I just didn't know. "I don't know. I have a few ideas, but nothing solid… It's a tough decision to make. How far do I go, how much do I show?"
"We could go to ComStar. You said this place has a memory core they could use it. Spread the knowledge!"
I still wasn't sure how to break it to him, the truth about ComStar. So I lied. "When I start passing out the Memory Core, or if I do pass it out, I'll pass one to ComStar. I promise."
Gauge nodded at that slowly looking unsatisfied. "So… you aren't going to hand over the Memory Core?"
"I don't know. Part of it for sure. The tech inside is too useful to just ignore, it could really bring back a lot to the Inner Sphere, but it could also be used to restart the wars. I've been hemming and hawing about what to do with it since I decided to go for it."
"We should use it. Give it out to ComStar, and maybe other companies, we can bring back hope to the Inner Sphere." He argued as ardently as always.
"I know. But even something that we want to bring hope, can end up bringing despair. It's… Hard. To make the choice to realize that your decision will affect so much. I could doom the entire Inner Sphere if I handle this wrong."
Gauge was silent for a while as we drove, but he once more broke the silence. "We trust you, you know that right? The Iron Blooded? Not everyone did at first, but you've proven yourself. We trust you. You should stop hesitating. If there is one thing the old man taught me it's that mistakes happen, when repairing a 'mech a lot of stuff is still just guesswork. We don't always have a true replacement part for something, so sometimes you have to just put together what you can and hope it works."
"Just do your best, and hope it's enough huh?" I ask amused. Gauge nodded in the dark of the cab and I rested back. "Well. I suppose that's always a course I can take… Gauge. I want to do something big. Bigger than just bringing back technology… Others could have found this Memory Core. Others could have spread it around, trying to help the Inner Sphere. I don't want that to be the extent of what I do… I think. I know what I'm going to do. I don't know if it's the best option, or even the smart option. But I think it's the right option… Someone once told me, that if you can't do something smart, do something stupid. At least then you're doing."
"Err. Vicky, I don't know if that's really a good life lesson."
"No, It sounds wise, so it must be right." I jested back, earning a rolled pair of eyes.
"Whatever you say, Vicky."
Getting the jitters[]
City of Helmsdown
Helm, Free Worlds League
A Different Perspective
An overnight stay in the middle of the Helm wastes wasn't the most fun we ever had. But the metal extractor was done. We split up then. I stayed back creating a second Norman utility truck just to ensure we would have enough space and warmth for everyone. Gauge drove back into the city the next morning, picking up Delta Ops and meeting me outside the city, where we split up the teams.
Former capital city of Freeport
Then I started planning. First off, I had the maps from the Memory Chip, but Helmsdown was more than 100 miles from the Helm Cache, or at least it wasn't showing up on my sensor, so we were going on a trip without knowing the exact end spot. But we just needed to get close enough.
So once we were loaded up we drove north out of Helmsdown. Disappearing into the snow.
The drive was quiet enough, old roads worked just fine, and my sensor kept us out of any radiation that still lingered from the Kuritan bombardment. Damn snakes.
We switched out drivers multiple times just to keep us going, I wanted to be in the Castle Brian before night fell.
Finally six hours into our drive, my sensor started to show red in the far north. It took me a moment to notice it as I was spending most of my time, guiding us away from radiation, or simply to the best paths north, roads were becoming worse and worse as we traveled.
"Damn." I ended up uttering aloud in shock as the red soon started blocking off the entire section of the sensors map. There were so many 'mechs, and weapons in one area that nothing could be seen except a red glow unless I zoomed in incredibly close.
Gauge, who wasn't driving at the time, looked over my shoulder to see what I had found.
"Blessed Blake!" He uttered his throat closing in a gargle shout which alerted the rest of the team. I was still in shock. The numbers my scanner was showing were an entire factor more than what I was expecting.
"I-I guess when people talk about the Star League and their production they weren't kidding." I muttered, as the kids gathered around me to look at the sensor.
The blaze of red light caused all of them to grow silent. As we continued to trundle along.
"W-what is that." Samantha asked, looking on in shock as the Sensors screen grew more and more red.
"Is that what we are here for!?" Richard suddenly shouted as I had zoomed in enough the sensor was actually legible.
"Yes. That is what we are here for. What we risked our lives on Stewart to get. It's a Lostech Cache. No, it would be more accurate to call it THE Lostech cache."
I let that quiet announcement echo through the cab of the truck for a moment before I couldn't help but add. "Congratulations, every single one of us will now be in the history books even if we do nothing else for the rest of our lives."
"F*** me." Richard whispered aloud.
The Cave of Wonders[]
Driving up the pass towards the entrance to the Helm cache, everyone in the trucks were very quiet, and very serious. Delta Ops especially after I had explained what it was that we were heading towards. This had gone from an exciting special ops mission, to a realization that they were in the middle of history. Doing something important.
I wasn't sure what I had been expecting as we drove around the final bend and watched as the empty riverbed seemed to end at the bottom of a massive cliff. But it really did look like someone had dropped a mountain on a river.
"There." I pointed out to the small pyramid shaped structure that rested in a small field, just off from where the river once flowed. Carl, now driving, pulled up, and I hopped out. Jogging through the snow towards the building.
Inside it was quiet, dead. The structure hadn't had a living soul inside it probably for three centuries. But I knew it still worked. I pulled out the Memory Chip. It felt heavy in my hands as I searched around for the slot, before finding it.
"Here goes nothing."
I pressed the chip in, and nothing happened. Just a quiet moment of utter stillness. The others started to grow concerned, something was wrong? But I simply walked outside, and stared at the massive rockface.
Sand was the first sign something was going on. A small smattering of sand and rocks started falling down the side of the cliff.
Then birds took to the air. As if something startled them all over the top of the mountain.
Then the rockface, a solid cliff. Simply opened. As if split in half by a God. Damn the Star League were so extra.
"O-oh." Samantha uttered as she watched the entrance slowly separate. Opening an entire mountain at our whim. I started walking. Long before it's fully opened. Slipping past the behemoth gates as I entered into a futuristic entry way. It was mech sized obviously, but as I walked I didn't feel small.
No, I had honestly never felt taller.
I walked past the wall that held the 'Star League Field Library Facility, Helm, DE890-2699' Printed out on it's side and stepped into a world of the future. Gauge and the squad followed me in awe at where they were standing at what they were seeing.
Once I had room inside I stepped away from them and pressed a few buttons on my noteputer. Queuing up a Centurion NFX. I had a lot of work to do.
While that was starting I followed the group further into the Castle. I found them in the next room. A massive warehouse full of silent sentinels. Gauge, Carl, Samantha, Richard, and Carter were silently staring. In awe at what they were seeing. Rare mechs, lost mechs, a few that I could tell just by looking at them, were Royals. Some obviously had Ferro Fibrous armor, while others had weapons I could only recognize by guessing.
"Pretty sure that's a Gauss Rifle." I mention pointing to the Atlas near the front.
"Oh Blessed Blake. It is. That's a Gauss Rifle! Vicky!" Gauges voice cracked as he nearly screamed at what he was seeing.
"Alright everyone, look around. See what you can find. Don't touch any electronics, but see if you can't find something interesting. Leave the mechs alone for now too. Search the side rooms and such. Don't worry about hoarding things. We will all be walking out of here with some goodies. Delta Ops! Go explore, that's an order!"
There wasn't a cheer at my pronouncement. Instead it was a mad dash as my squad disappeared into the castle.
Of course once they were all gone, I turned around. There was only one thing I was really here for. I just had to make sure I knew exactly where it was, and warn everyone away, even Gauge. I really didn't want to deal with an exploding Castle Brian if someone pushed the wrong button.
A unpopular decision[]
"So Commander… Can I get one?" Carl asked as we were settling around in Helms cafeteria, each of us having picked a different Star league ration to taste test.
I snorted it was obvious what he was asking for. What every kid in the Inner Sphere asked for. "Eventually yes." I offered, which made him frown. "So I already explained to all of you about my production capability." I offered, and they each nodded. Telling them where their gear came from on Stewart was a necessity but these were meant to be the black ops of the Iron Blooded. If I couldn't trust them now, I might as well just hand over the knowledge to the LIC now.
"So the plan is we scan everything. I'll pass you all a sensor as well, so you can start scanning all of the infantry equipment, and some of the smaller tanks and things. While I go and get scans of all the mechs and tanks, and AFS and ALL the other great stuff in here. Then, well…" I sighed here, this was going to be a harsh conversation.
"Then we set this place to explode a few weeks after we leave."
"WHAT!?" Gauge screamed, splattering me with whatever noodle ration he was eating as he glared at me. "We can't destroy it!" His refusal was so strong, but none of the others seemed to disagree. Carl was actually looking at me like I was a monster just for saying it.
"We have to. For the same reason we can't let anyone know about what we found here. Helm is located in the League, even if we took everything of value out of here, it's still a Castle Brian right on the edge of the border. Helm would become an impenetrable barrier to any wars in the future, a perfect place to send raids back across the border. So when we take everything of value… The rest of it goes up so that no one can use it against us."
"B-But but no! You can't, Vicky, this is a piece of our history, a sign of what we could be! Destroying it is… Evil!"
"Gauge. I know." I sit up and settle next to him, pulling him into a hug. "It's not gonna be gone, not really. Once we take everything out, we can make everything again. But better. It won't just be a storage yard, It'll be a factory. Every mech, every piece of equipment, every scrap of knowledge on the computers. We will spread it across the Inner Sphere, but we can't leave this here. In hands that will just abuse it."
He was gnawing at his lower lip as his hands worried together but finally he sighed deep and heavy as his head hung. "I know. I know! I just… I don't like it. I know you're right, but I hate the idea of seeing this… It's amazing. I've never set foot in something more awe inspiring, Vicky. It just seems wrong to destroy it."
"Yeah."
"Well… Why don't we just recreate it then?" Richard asked, as he chewed on some strange amalgamation of food, "You can create scans of things and then make them using your Lostech right? So just.. Copy it, we can re-make it on Zaniah, that way it'll be us with the Castle, and the League trying and failing to bust the door down."
Gauges head perked up at that, "Can we?"
I hesitated but in the end shrugged. "I wasn't going to re-create the Castle Brian entirely… But yeah that was partly the plan. There are a ton of really crazy defenses here, and the walls are made in a way they are even better than grade 10 ferrocrete. So I was gonna scan all of it."
The light in Gauge's eyes was firm. "We should. We can recreate it on Zaniah, and just… Pretend it was always there right? That would be super useful. That way.. That way we don't lose anything."
It wasn't like I had a reason to say no. "It can't be the exact same. For one, we don't own enough land to hide a Castle Brian in, and for two we don't own a massive cliff. Zaniah is way flatter."
"But you'll do it right? Someday someone is going to attack Red Base wouldn't it be better to make sure we are safe?"
"Okay! Okay. It's not like you need to convince me, Gauge, I mean that is sort of the reason our underground bunkers happened in the first place. I'll figure something out."
"Good!" He pointed his fork at me. "I'll hold you to it." before he dug back in.
How the hell was I supposed to hide constructing a copy of Helms Castle Brian on Zaniah. Damn these kids!? They expect too much!!
Although… Castles are a warriors romance…
Recruitment[]
Steward, Free Worlds League
When my Centurion was completed we had already gone through plenty of store rooms exploring the base.
That doesn't mean we touched even close to all the goodies hidden within. With production on hand. I created enough sensors for everyone to wander around and scan anything interesting, as well as a noteputer attachment that showed what had already been scanned. Just so we didn't waste time.
"Vicky. Look!" Gauge called me over while I was taking a break from exploring, another SLDF MRE halfway into my mouth.
It still shocked me, they were still really good!
"What's up?" I asked as I was suddenly pulled along, Gauge uncaring about the food in my hands.
"I found a secret room! You need to check this out! It's amazing!" He tugged me along until we came across a completely blank wall.
But one thing about having a sensor system, is that you can easily tell when something isn't what it seems. Pulling out my Noteputer as Gauge urged me on I took a look and dropped my food, when my scan narrowed in.
It wasn't just a secret room, that was pretty cool to begin with. I did make a mental note to copy that system, because this thing was seriously well hidden.
No, it was what I was catching on the sensor behind that had me quickly pulling out the Nanoforge. There was no way I would be able to open this thing the normal way. The lock used some sort of really advanced access key which wasn't something I had.
But you know. The wall was still just grade 10 ferrocrete. Sure that was seriously tough shit.
But I had a nanoforge.
The door was opened, once I had made sure there was no sensors or anything that would set off an alarm. The last thing I wanted was for the self destruct to go off.
Then I was in, Gauge following behind as we took in the sight. An intact suit of armor.
"I never actually thought I would find a suit of Nighthawk power armor here." I couldn't help but blurt out.
"Is that what it's called?" Gauge asked and I sputtered for a half a second remembering that these things weren't just secret, but purposefully kept so. At gunpoint.
"Uhhh yeah. I heard about them once."
"Another crazy thing your mom knew about?"
"Uh Yeah," I lied badly. "They were… Well they are stealth armor."
"Jeez. The Star League really had some crazy stuff."
"Let's get it copied!"
"Yep!"
School Happy Nerd[]
"Vicky, what is this?" Gauge asked a few hours later while we were all enjoying a meal together. I was using the time to go over any interesting finds we had all seen. Although, I probably should have waited for him to finish eating before I passed over the special noteputer I had created just for him.
"It's a Noteputer that has some of the scientific texts I pulled off the Memory Core. I noticed there was a lot of correspondence course kinds of stuff, probably to teach SLDF soldiers while they were stuck way out here, but the classes teach crazy advanced stuff. I figured you would like it." I offered giving him a little gift. Gauge was the sort of kid that liked school.
The weirdo.
Gauge went quiet for a while as I continued to stuff my face, everyone was sort of waiting for him to say something, we had all been doing it going around and gushing about the cool stuff we had found. But Gauge…
He didn't say a word. As things started to get a little awkward. I noticed his shoulders were shaking.
Oh.
Fuck.
"So, umm Carl what did you find?" I asked, trying to redirect attention, but that didn't quite pan out. As Gauge had a loud sob a moment later as we all turned to him, tears streaming down his cheeks. Unable to keep his face hidden behind the Noteputer.
"Hey it's okay, Gauge." I tried to comfort him but it was rather pointless. It took a long while for him to calm down, and he simply shook his head refusing to explain what it was that set him off.
From then on though Gauge didn't help with the scanning, he was too focused on his gift, reading through it, trying to learn every course that was on the Memory Core.
World at your finger tips, but no time to enjoy it[]
The days turned to weeks. With everyone's help we started collecting a scan of everything. Delta Ops were fascinated with the mechs, and the view of me disintegrating them down to copy them still seemed to hurt them somewhere in their Inner Sphere souls because every time I destroyed a mech to copy it they would stop and watch, a look of horror on their faces.
Still we found a ton of stuff inside. I was more than happy to find a few working AFS. Which I made sure to grab, because that was one of our weaknesses.
Well. Not after this, when I start sending out Royal birds, everyone else was gonna learn to fear my kids.
Speaking of Royals, I was absolutely delighted to find a Royal Black Knight. The BL-6B-KNT was absolutely one of my favorite mechs, and I already planned on getting an 'upgrade' to one once I could explain it. If I didn't get something bigger. But it was a difficult choice.
Not that it was the only mech I drooled over. Marauders, King Crabs, tons of Atlas variants. That was only in the first 'hangar' full of silent mechs. There were more, and more. If felt like every time we scanned one hangar down, another one was discovered. Hell in one of the hangars I found a Nightstar.
I had stared at it for probably ten minutes just trying to wrap my head around the fact it was even here, how the hell it got here I have no idea. It was damaged so the best I could assume was that someone had to swap out their damaged mech for a new one, and left the Nightstar behind.
_in_the_suburbs_by_ArgonianEngineering.png){kind=link}
Nightstar Assault 'Mech
I scanned the shit out of that one. Those mechs hadn't even been seen since the Amaris Civil War! Or at least if they were seen, they were so rare as to be almost unheard of.
Helm didn't just carry more mechs than most people in the Inner Sphere had ever seen, it carried the best of the best ones. This was a SLDF depot after all, a place to store military equipment for later, when action might erupt in the area, you don't have to worry about supplies when you have a supply cache ready and waiting.
Slowly, we started working through everything. One mech, one piece of infantry equipment, one piece of Lostech and one artillery piece at a time.
Of course some things took more of my attention than others.
"Is that… Is that an HPG?" Gauge asked, his voice wavering as I was checking down a list I had found of everything stored in Helm.
"Yeah it seems so, here we go. Mobile HPG. Block C subsection Red. Yeah, it's an HPG alright."
"Blessed Blake! This.. Vicky, It's an HPG! Look at it! We have an HPG!"
"We are gonna have a lot more than one, once I copy it."
"W-what. No no...It's an HPG, Vicky! We can't destroy this one! We need to scan it, so it doesn't get damaged, we-"
"Gauge, we don't have time to hand scan this thing. It will take forever." I point out even a mobile HPG was fucking huge. "We have already been stuck here longer than I like. It's just an HPG. There is nothing inherently more valuable about an HPG over any other device."
"It feels like there is." He moved closer and pressed a hand against it, and I swear he was having a religious epiphany. I kept quiet for a while letting him have his moment. But it went on and on, and I realized the only way to get on with it, is if I shocked him with something greater.
"So I figure at some point we can just make a factory for them. Just start producing them by the thousand. See what happens."
His squawk at my little joke had him finally coming to himself. "W-we could do that!?"
"Sure. I mean eventually we get to the point where we are strong enough to do whatever we want."
"Yeah… That sounds good."
I left him to stare into the mysteries of the HPG for a while, but I did eventually copy it down. We don't have time to scan it the slow way.
There were other interesting things as well. Some made me smile, some made me laugh. Some made me cackle as I considered the implications.
Some like the massive stockpile of nukes in the depths of the mountain, had me quietly scan them all down and make sure none of my kids ever found out. If no one else knew I had nukes, no one would freak out.
One made me want to pet it, The Royal Locust I found hidden away in a corner made me coo. The LCT-1Vb had every upgrade you can give to a mech, Fero, Endosteel, Double Heatsinks, XL engine. Although I doubted I would ever make one.
I love the little guys, but they were a bit squishy as I had learned. But so cute!
So we ran down the list. Using the Noteputer database, and the sensor we slowly recorded one of everything in the base.
Unfortunately, there was so much crap it took over a month.
Life Changing Experience[]
Red Base
Zaniah III, Lyran Commonwealth
3020
.PNG){kind=link}
Red Base
A different perspective
Malcolm Shulk had lived on Zaniah his whole life. He grew up here, got married here, and got old here. Nothing in his sixty years of life had really taught him that Zaniah would change. And then out of nowhere it started to.
First, the orphan mercs came. Weird kids. They would come selling water during a drought and asked for little more than some food, or other sundries. Malcolm's shop had been open for nearly forty years, so he had seen all sorts of things, but never this. It started with the water. But it was growing. Having access to so much water meant he could help his community, but it was straining his supplies. He ended up having to hire another local to run a truck to restock more often. That was just the start.
More jobs started growing. Water meant life, and the people weren't used to that. When his AC started going out they had offered him a new one for some supplies. More and more often, if something broke. They were there, offering their help.
It was wonderful the first time he had seen the old bus drive down the street. The buses had all been broken for decades, but the orphans had heard about them, and somehow got a new engine in the old wrecks. Now they were moving, people along with them, jobs were growing.
Then it changed even more.
Months ago, not long after the big battle, kids had started traveling through. Over and over again they would hitchhike, or sneak their way onto trucks, all traveling towards the old base out in the desert. The base that had been deserted since long before even Malcolm's grandfather had lived on Zaniah.
But something was weird about the whole situation. Malcolm probably had a better idea than anyone how many kids there were on the base, since he was constantly supplying them. So he knew that little base out in the desert wasn't big enough for all the kids that he was feeding, or all the kids that were streaming in. But Malcolm? Malcolm never said a word about it.
Because they were good kids.
He made sure to help the ones that wandered in. Usually calling up the young boy Freidrich letting them know more kids were looking for the base. A truck would usually come by not long after and pick them up.
Malcolm didn't mind this. He was a firm believer in his community, even as the years had started to grow lean, and the city's edge nearest the desert was abandoned, even as more and more families were ripped apart in the raids.
Too many families worked in the factories, only to have them destroyed in the raids. But not this time.
So when strangers started appearing, Malcolm took notice. He knew everyone in his community after all, he was the one that made sure everyone had food, had water. Men obviously not from around here, wandering around to buy a few snack foods, while asking some pointed questions all earned the same response from old Malcolm.
"Hmm? The kids? Good customers. Good for the community. Something you need there, stranger?"
And they left not long after. Malcolm had warned the kids a few times, but he had simply earned a few mischievous grins in return. Well then it wasn't Malcolms problem, although he kept an eye out regardless. It was the duty of the old timers to watch over the children after all, especially when so many of the kids had been failed so badly.
But it wasn't just old Malcolm. No, the community was rallying around the Iron Blooded Orphans. He got a smile on his face when old Patrice passed out cookies to the kids that picked up their orders in town.
Or Vince, who used to work in the factories, talking to the kids about repairing vehicles. The kids came into town all the time, and not a single one of the old timers turned them away.
Although Malcolm noted. Other than that offworld Sergeant that was overprotective of the kids, or Sasha the old orphanage caretaker, not a single adult was ever invited onto the base.
Malcolm didn't mind. He had heard enough from the chatter of the kids as they gathered supplies to put an idea of what was going on in his mind, but not a single word would ever slip past the old man's lips.
After all, For the first time in his life Zaniah was changing.
For the better.
Final in the Hot Seat[]
Mech Bay Hanger
Zaniah, Lyran Commonwealth
A different perspective
Erica. Just Erica, because she hadn't earned her last name yet. Sure, the Commander always said they should choose one, but everyone knew the truth, you pick your last name once you DO something.
And she was so close.
She had been working on the Commander's Locust for months. No, Erica reminded herself, as she ran check after check.
It was her Locust now.
She shivered as the Fusion Engine started. Actually clicked on and turned over, and power flooded the baby she had been fixing for so long. Others had helped of course, but Erica had been the only one that knew enough to get the fusion engine fixed. So as she continued working on the 'mech over the months it had been a faint acknowledgment at first that grew as she continued to work, solving problems the rest couldn't. In the end, it had been agreed, if the Locust started, if she alone out of the Repair Unit got it running. It would be hers.
So she spent the time, put in the effort. A chance that she had taken with her owns. Obsessed they called her and she had been.
Even when she wasn't working on the Locust, she had been in the Sim pods. Thankfully, repair work was eventually decided by Sub-Commander Benny to earn Sim time. So she had the time to practice for it. Practicing using a Locust in the Sims had only burned the desire into her all the more. This was going to be her path. To earn the rights to be more than just an orphan.
She realized it was time. She flipped a switch as she adjusted the NeuroHelmet. "C-" She realized her voice squeaked and she cleared it a moment later. "Hangar Control, this is… Locust. Requesting a clear p-path for testing."
She couldn't help but stutter. She didn't get a response at first before slowly someone spoke up. <<"This is Control, Locust. I am activating mech clearance mode. Please wait a few minutes.">>
The lights changed in the hangar flashing orange to alert everyone to move to the pedestrian sections as her gantry lifted up.
This was it. She breathed out, breath unsteady as she forced herself forward. The Locust moved, jerkily at first but it took a step. Her next step almost caused her to topple, but she remembered the leg was still damaged just in time. The second leg came jittering forward into another step. Then another. And another. Until she was climbing up the ramp and out into the blazing sun.
She stood outside for a long time just in awe of her new perspective. She had never thought. Never hoped that she would become a mechwarrior.
"Alright good work Erica, let's bring it in." Bennys voice disturbed her from her contemplation as she jerked a hand to hit the transmit button "Y-Yes Sub-Commander!" She stuttered and turned around to end her momentous moment.
But the best thing about moments like this, is she would have one again next time she sat in this seat. And every time from then on.