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Story By JA Baker[]
| Mad Jack | |
| Facts | |
| Author | JA Baker |
| Series Name | Tall Tales |
| Alternate Universe Name | |
| Year Written | August 7th, 2020 |
| Story Era | Star League Era |
There's an old saying: legends never die.
And it's true. After all, you can kill an individual, but it's almost impossible to kill the memory of the. Too be sure, plenty of people have tried throughout history, through one means or another. But, try as you might, there's always someone who remembers. Perhaps the most infamous example was the attempt by Stefan Amaris to completely erase House Cameron from the face of the galaxy. It is widely believed that he failed, that some unknown relatives of the First Lord were taken off-world by loyal forces, their eventual fates unknown.
But one... one refused to leave Terra. Refused to run and hide like a hunted animal. Refused to cower before the assembled might of the self-proclaimed Amaris Empire.
One, instead, chose to fight back.
John 'Jack' Aloysius McKenzie-Cameron was not your typical member of the Cameron Dynasty. The youngest of three sons, he was born to a minor cadet branch of the Royal Family in the Highlands of Ross-shire, Scotland. His father had been a Civil Engineer, his mother a School Inspector, and distant family connections aside, there was little to distinguish him from his peers. Excelling at sports, Jack would spend much of his free time hiking and fishing in the mountains and glens near his home. Many expected that he would seek the life of a Park Ranger or Gamekeeper, but instead, two days after his eighteenth birthday, Jack enlisted in the Hegemony Armed Forces.
Unlike most young recruits, Jack had no interest in becoming a MechWarrior, instead joining the infantry. While he attempted to his his lineage, it was soon uncovered, and he was sent to Sandhurst Royal Military College. More than a little annoyed at what he saw as unwanted and unwarranted preferential treatment, Jack attempted to have himself expelled on a number of occasions. However, once it became clear that this would not be allowed, he dedicated himself to proving that he was more than capable of earning his place through hard work and dedication. He would go on to graduate second in his class. Something that even the only person to surpass him believed to be a calculated act on Jack's part, as her was certainly more than capable of taking the top spot.
First Lord Simon Cameron himself gave the commencement speech for the graduation, and shock Jack's hand, the only time that the two distant relatives are known to have met in person.
Several attempts were made to assign Jack to various staff or diplomatic postings, where his family name would be considered, useful. However, each of there had to be abandoned after a series of carefully planed and meticulously carried out 'incidents' on his part. These include, but are not limited to, the theft of John Davion's BattleMech during a brief stint as assistant military attaché on New Avalon. Eventually, HAF High Command relented, and gave Jack the posting he wanted: joining a front line jump-infantry regiment assigned to the Fifty-sixth Royal Jump Infantry Division.
As soon as he was eligible, Jack applied for the little known infantry course that made up part of the prestigious Gunslinger Program at the Military Academy of Aphros on Venus. This time, Jack did not hold back, and set several records that would stand until the fall of the Star League. Graduating top of his class by a wide margin. Jack applied to join the elite Special Armed Services, the legendary Blackhearts, the SLDF's elite anti-terrorism organization. When asked why, he said it sounded 'dangerous', and therefore, 'fun'.
Despite passing the selection, impressing his instructors with his willingness to never ask another to do something he was unwilling to do himself. Once again his connection to the distant First Lord, by this time, Simon's son, Richard, came back to haunt him. Offered a teaching position with the SAS, Jack was told that he would never see active deployment. With the death of Simon Cameron, High Command had issued a directive that no member of House Cameron, no matter how distant, would be allowed to see active service until Richard came of age. This edict had been intended to protect the core of the Royal Family, but had been worded such that even Jack was caught up in it.
Jack requested, and was granted, a leave of service while he contemplated what to do with his life.
It was by this twist of fate that he avoided the strike that killed the rest of the McKenzie-Cameron line when the family landhold was overrun by forces loyal to Stefan Amaris. In the confusion and resulting fire, it was erroneously reported that Jack was among the dead, and the Usurper thought nothing more of it. But Jack was very much alive. After seeing the chard remains of his family where they had been left, he became very, very angry. Drawing a knife, he cut the palm of his left hand and swore a blood oath over the remains of his family that he would have vengeance upon Stefan Amaris. That is where the official history ends: John Aloysius McKenzie-Cameron was declared dead, little more than another name to add to all the other victim of the insatiable greed of the Usurper.
But, where one story ends, another begins...
That said, I do hope you'll indulge me if I inject a history lesson here. Trust me, it will all make sense in due time.
London, 1837. A world so removed from our own that it would appear almost alien to us, over a thousand years later. Terra was just reaching the end of the first Industrial Revolution, reliant on steam, water and when all else failed, raw muscle power to drive the engine of progress. It would be almost seventy years before the first powered flight by a heavier than air craft, more than a century before humanity made its first timid steps into the wider universe. It was a very different time, with the mysticism of the past giving way to the dawning of the age of technology. But old superstitions die hard, so when people encounter something outside of their understanding, well, they fall back on what they know.
So, when stories started to circulate of a mysterious figure appearing out of the night to attack seemingly random victims across the city, it wasn't long before they were proclaimed to be a demon. More attacks followed, including one that saw an armed soldier standing sentry attacked by a grotesque figure with sharp claws and glowing red eyes, who was reportedly capable of inhuman feats of agility. Thus was born the legend of Spring-Heeled Jack, the Terror of London. Sightings would continue for almost seventy years, stretching the length and breath of the British Isles, with far too many witnesses to be discredited as simply mass hysteria.
But what, I hear you ask, has this got to do with a lone SLDF infantryman?
Well, six months into the new regime, the police chief for the city of Edinburgh was found dead, shot through the neck by an arrow. Upon examination, it was discovered that the name Bethany McKenzie-Cameron had been etched into the shaft. A search of local records showed only one match: the six year old daughter of Robert and Meredith McKenzie-Cameron, and the youngest niece of of Jack McKenzie-Cameron. It is important to note that the victim had been a vocal supporter of Amaris, eagerly using the emergency powers handed to him to rule his city in an iron grip.
More bodies followed, and at each scene, the name of a member of the McKenzie-Cameron family was found etched into an arrow, a knife or a bullet. Perhaps the most gruesome was the trou de loup, or wolf pit. That was dug on a stretch of forest trail often used by members of a Rim Worlds Army garrison. That trap was expertly set. Designed only to trigger when a significant weight was placed upon it, allowing it to ensnare no less than six MechWarriors. Not only was the bottom of the pit lined with sharpened wooden spikes, but they had smeared with human excrement, meaning that those who survived being impaled found themselves facing the increased risk of infection. Inscribed on each spike were the remaining names of the McKenzie-Cameron family.
The attacks contained. All seemingly at random, with the names of other dead members of the Cameron dynasty found near every body. However, by this point, the placing of names had become public knowledge. It is very likely that at least some of the killings were the work of copycats, inspired by the original. Indeed, a number of people were arrested and executed for the killings, even when there was overwhelming proof that they could not have been responsible for all of them.
But, if that was all there was to it, why did I bring up some story from a thousand years ago?
Because it wasn't long before a new terror started to stalk the cites and towns of Europe.
Most of Terra was still under curfew, with security patrols, made up of RWA paramilitaries and local recruits. Enforcing harsh penalties on those who they caught out without a pass. The city of Copenhagen had become notorious for the harshness of its local police under the new regime, but all this would change when a mysterious assailant began to attack patrols. At first, it was assumed to be little more than local criminal elements testing the waters, or random citizens striking back against their oppressors.
That was until the night of December 26th, 2767, the first anniversary of the coup.
Several members of the local garrison had been out drinking, celebrating Amaris' rise to power, when a dark figure appeared in the street before them. The lone survivor described a tall, slender form, dressed in what looked to be some kind of customized battle dress. Their face was hidden behind a featureless mask that left only two glowing red eyes to be seen. It was upon them before they had a chance to react. A massive sword cutting though uniforms and flesh with equal ease. Some tried to run, others fight back, but all fell to the strange attacker. The only thing stopping the unknown attacker from finishing the job was the sudden appearance of a police VTOL, its powerful searchlight illuminating the bloody scene.
The masked figure looked up, then vanished into the night.
More attacks followed. Leaving more dead troops and security forces in their wake. The unknown attacker always described the same by the few survivors, seemed to be able to move abut Europe at will striking seemingly random targets. Attempts to track or trap the mysterious attacker failed, but an investigation into their possible identity did bear some fruit.
A study of the few images of the attacker showed that they seemed to be using a customized variant of the type of sneak suite favored by SLDF special forces. The mask, with its distinctive red eyes, was identified as a prototype multi-spectrum visor, believed to have been destroyed in a fire that gutted the Marconi Electronics factory not long after the coup. It also became clear that the individual was equipped with a MELCO 'Black Kite' jump pack, an extremely rare and expensive piece of equipment development exclusively for the SAS, due to its unique and still unmatched 'whisper' mode, that made it almost silent during operation.
The biggest clue, however, came from the sword they carried: a traditional Scottish claymore style, with an intricate pommel, into which was set a crest made up of a blue shield with a golden stag in its center. This was quickly identified as being a crest associated with Clan McKenzie, and a search was made of surviving records to try and identify anyone linked with both the Clan and the SAS.
A single name came up: Captain John Aloysius McKenzie-Cameron, DECEASED.
Despite the best efforts of the security forces this fact soon became public knowledge, and interest in the case exploded. By then it was almost three years since the destruction of the McKenzie-Cameron landhold, making it impossible to confirm if Jack had been among those killed there. A hurried inventory of supply depots and caches found vast amounts of weaponry and equipment missing. With no way of knowing just how much he may have gotten hold of. An examination of Jacks service record made it clear that he was a nightmare for security forces: more than capable of living off the land, on top of his existing skills and expertise, he had been trained in multiple forms of asymmetrical warfare. His time at Aphros had left him an expert in several forms of armed and unarmed combat, while his time training was the SAS meant he knew every strategy and tactic that might be used against him. He knew all their moves and counters ahead of time, was fluent in six languages and had a face and body that was, to be blunt, perfectly average.
Jack was a true worst case scenario for any security force. Trained to the highest standards, fanatically motivated and, with his family and comrades all dead, with no apparent weakness to exploit. In utter desperation, they released his name to the public trying to paint him as a dangerous lunatic driven mad by the 'unfortunate and completely accidentally' death of his family. They tried their best to portray him as a rabid dog that needed to be put down for the good of everyone. They even went so far as to name him Mad Jack, in a bid to drum up public support for their hunt for him. It goes without saying that, by this point, they'd already burned through whatever goodwill they may have had with the general public. Years of living under an oppressive military dictatorship that insisted that every waking moment, every drop of sweat and every breath be dedicated to the cause of elevating and protecting the greater glory of Stefan Amaris. The authorities were trying to sell a bill of goods that no one was interested in. Instead, with every attack, every murdered Rim Worlder, and every failure to catch him, the legend of Mad Jack grew.
Especially after someone with a knowledge of history drew the comparison between him and the historic Spring-Heeled Jack.
Now he was more than a man out for revenge. More than perhaps the last member of the family that had for generations defined what the Hegemony, what the Star League, had stood for. No, now he was far, far more than that. He was now Mad Jack, an unstoppable, unkillable force of terror. A nemesis brought forth by the worst excesses of the oppressive, occupying Rim Worlds Army and their mercenary thugs. People would talk, in hushed voices, of the latest crackdown, that latest atrocity, and then call upon Mad Jack to see justice done. He may never have become as well-known as the Ghosts of the Black Watch or as wide ranging as the Four Horseman, but for those assigned to subjugate Europe, it was the seemingly omnipresent threat of Mad Jack that kept them awake at night.
But, the best as they say, is yet to come, with the Last Stand of Mad Jack.
In a desperate bid to end Mad Jack's campaign of terror, and under direct orders from Amaris himself, the leader of the task force assigned to hunt him down decided to create a trap, and bait it with something even Jack couldn't ignore. He had his troops roll up to Castle Leod, for almost two thousand years the seat of Clan McKenzie, distant kin of the McKenzie-Camerons. There they assembled every member of the Clan they could lay their hands on, totaling some 250 men, women and children. Then, they threatened to shoot them all if Jack didn't surrender himself.
It was a desperate move, and it was one Jack had seen coming. It was right out of the RWA playbook on counter-insurgency operations. So he sent them an invitation; he told them exactly where he was, and told them to come get him, if they 'thought they were hard enough'. The location he gave them was Nuclear Command Bunker No. K553/44FS, an ancient military complex outside the long abandoned town of Auchnacluchnie on the East Coast of Scotland. Originally built during the decades of tension between the Western and Eastern power-blocks of the twentieth and early twenty first century, it had been expanded, rebuilt and renovated several times before finally being mothballed by the Terran Hegemony in the twenty sixth century. It was, however, exactly the kind of isolated, fortified position that someone with Jack's upbringing and training would look for.
The security forces took no chances: they brought in a battalion sized force of specialists in counterinsurgency operations, including several members of the RWA's elite clandestine warfare division. There battle hardened and highly skilled troops were backed up by a full battalion of armored vehicles and a company of light and medium BattleMechs especially chosen for their counter infantry capabilities. Every civilian within 100km was forcibly removed and a warship tasked to provide overwatch for the operation. The bunker complex was hardened against anything short of a direct, high-yield nuclear strike, but the authorities wanted Jack taken alive. They wanted him to stand trial and be found guilty of his crimes. They wanted the public to see that nobody could stand up to the unmatched might of the Amaris Empire.
Most of all, they wanted to be sure that he really was dead this time, and that meant putting their hands on the body.
Jack, it goes with saying, had other ideas.
Despite his undeniable flair for the dramatic, Jack was detail orientated. Always planning his attacks out in great detail, leaving no variable to chance. He had chosen the Auchnacluchnie bunker complex carefully, having weighed up all of the pros and cons. He knew the layout like the back of his hand, knew every possible entry point and avenue of approach. He had always planed for the day that Amaris' forces would track him home would come looking for him.
The first clue that he wasn't going to go gentle into the good night was when a treeline vanished in a flash of light, and several hundred tons of wood came crashing down on the scouting BattleMechs. Those that weren't crushed immediately found themselves knocked over or otherwise incapacitated, just as the infantry stumbled into a minefield. Armor was brought up to cut a safe path through the mines, forcing them closer even as the surviving 'Mechs struggled to free themselves. Improvised defenses made up of tripwires and motion activated sentry guns caused even more damage, but onwards the assault team pushed, determined that this time, there would be no escape for Mad Jack.
Reaching the main entrance to the bunker complex, they checked their gear and prepared to breach.
The resulting explosion was visible from orbit. It lit up the night sky and rattled windows as far away as Inverness. By the time the dust settled and a recon flight was able to get through the smoke, Auchnacluchnie had become a small bay, the shattered remains of the bunker complex having collapsed in upon themselves. Turns out, when you give someone with the training, creativity and access to military grade explosives Jack had time and motivation, they can build a really, really big bomb. It goes without saying that the RWA losses were total, seriously harming their counterinsurgency operations across a dozen worlds for years to come.
As for the hostages at Castle Leod? Turns out someone snuck into the castle through a secret passage, incapacitated the guards and rescued them all.
In an uncharacteristically intelligent move, the local garrison commander declared the operation successfully, claiming that Mad Jack had set off the bunkers self destruct to avoid capture, taking the Brave men and women of the assault force with him. No further reprisals against Clan McKenzie were made, and the file on Mad Jack was closed?
But, what really happened to him?
No body was ever recovered, but at the same time, no further attacks attributed to Mad Jack were reported for the remainder of the occupation. No surviving records indicate that he rejoined the SLDF during or after the liberation. Certainly, General Kerensky would have used a living member of the Cameron dynasty, no matter how distant, as a point to rally the rest of the Star League around. Even the surviving copies of his journals taken from Clan archives make no reference to any surviving members of the Royal Family.
There is however some evidence that an Aloysius McKenzie booked passage on a ship heading away from Terra, never to be seen or heard from ever again...
The End
- Notes from the Author
- Let's see what happens when I mix history and urban legends.