Sandy Reich's Legacy[]
Gibson was a dying world from the Jihad. Having been absolutely decimated by forces seeking to kill The Master and two Word of Blake Shadow Divisions stationed there, it had been off the charts for decades.
Treasure hunters found the world very intriguing. Massive cities remained as ruins, weather patterns had been altered into chaos, and very few people in very few regions could hope to live for extended periods. Some of the more radioactive locations created creatures that would haunt people’s minds for the rest of their lives.
While looking for a place to land on the outskirts of a city, a group of treasure hunters in the Grabgo – a Leopard – found a pleasant location that seemed to have some mountains shielding them, should a storm whip through. One reason they wanted to visit this area was because, while they were near a ruined dropship landing port, the nearby mountains had massive blast scarring. This gave Reed Nakano an idea, there could be more out there, even though the world had been searched over since the Jihad ended.
While the environment was volatile, the oxygen was still clean to breathe and even though the storms were severe, it looked like plant and animal life continued on. Many of the ruined buildings he could see showed a green appearance as plants took over. It was interesting to see the results of a world successfully terraformed decades ago.
There were multiple teams that were going to go on the search. Team Alpha, which was composed of himself, his wife, and a couple others were to search the mountains nearby and had enough gear to build shelter for the night. Bravo team was to search the old spaceport to see if they could find something others missed. Charlie team was to head toward the old Battlemech factory, a bit of a drive but, for now, it looked like a couple days on the ground wouldn’t be too risky. Images they could capture on their way in showed nearby storms staying away from this area.
Timing the landing well, the three teams set off in early morning. Shandra Advanced Scout Vehicles were their go to vehicles, two per team. They removed the rear mounted machine guns for space to store cargo.
Fast and agile, the small, wheeled vehicles tore through terrain. Dalia, Reed's wife, pointed out where to go as they followed scans on the flight in. While he often gave her a hard time about passenger seat drivers while joking with her – to which she quickly socked him in the arm – she was able to give solid directions that he knew were always reliable. Of course, she had to start blurting out where to go because he wasn’t asking….
The two Shandras of Alpha Team crested a hill and they could see a valley below, there were gigantic craters and burned out buildings. Some craters seemed to be the start of ponds or lakes, like an oasis, while others were entirely empty.
Searching would begin now, with the sun over the mountains, illuminating the whole valley. Both vehicles with two team members split up to map out the valley. Devices they had could quickly scan the layout as they passed by. In parallel, the two cars maintained the highest ground they could find as they crossed the valley.
One detail Reed enjoyed was the wildlife they spotted. Large, Elephant like creatures that appeared to be twice as big as normal roamed among the craters, vibrantly colored birds flocked in and out of mountain passes, and it was just nice to enjoy the peace. Nearly through to the other end of the valley, both cars flew through a wide, shallow river where small streams branched out into some of the lakes. Lining the river were massive trees, dozens of meters tall, it seemed as though the scaling of plants and wildlife were far greater here than what they were used to from Terra or other similar worlds.
Stopping a couple meters up the slope of one mountain the teams found they had successfully collected the data and the computer would need some time to process it. Rather than waiting for the processing they set a Nav Point to meet in a couple hours and began travelling the circumference of the valley to explore.
While all four of the team members found numerous buildings to search and took many photographs, they were happy to see that it appeared to be an undisturbed area. A number of valuable finds were had while they searched, even a couple locked safes small enough to be hauled to the Shandras. The hardest part were seeing skeletons all over from those that died here – likely Blakists – so good riddance they all thought but, they couldn’t help but wonder if there were civilians mixed in….
As the sun began to fall behind a mountain both teams regrouped at the Nav Point to set up camp. Finding an empty crater, they made camp. Latrine duty fell on the men, Reed and Cooper. Cooper had been with the group since Reed and Dalia started hunting for treasure, the three were great friends. Sally was the final member of the team, she stuck with Dalia, the pair making the final preparations on the tents and getting the chow ready to go.
As they dug in the ground, Reed and Cooper discussed their findings. There were some good electronics that could easily be fixed up, some personal belongings of value, and in the morning, they would crack open those safes. Luckily, the crater was easy to dig in. Some of the dirt even seemed to fall into the hole as it got deeper.
Finished with that task the four of them assembled for supper and a good night’s rest.
-----
Always the first to wake on their excursions, the ladies began looking over the fully processed data on their holopanels. They had over a dozen Nav Points marked within 15 minutes, it was incredibly exciting. Reed woke up from the hushed laughing of excitement. He looked over before the girls noticed him and saw his wife and Sally were pointing all over the scan, eyes wide, with huge smiles. He grinned, it was a good way to start the day.
Dropping from his hammock to his feet, Cooper awoke as well. However, Cooper asked everyone if they heard the “whistling” sound he did. They all paused. Looking around, the tent wasn’t flapping from any wind, all of their faces showed puzzlement. At first the other three didn’t notice but, then Dalia heard it as well. It started to get louder as all four began rummaging around the tent, searching.
Then a sensor started beeping – a seismic sensor. “Bloody hell!” Reed shouted as he leapt out the front flap to look about and see if something outside was wrong from what he could see. He squinted, the sun had not yet come over the mountaintop. “The latrine pit?” he asked out loud.
“What?” asked the other three in shock as they all emerged from the shelter. All of them watched in curiosity as a dozen meters away the dirt was falling away. Minutes later a hole started to form in the ground. It continued to grow in size. They all got dressed, with one remaining outside to see if the ground near them would begin to falter.
As the hole in the slope of the crater continued to grow, what looked like concrete, damaged concrete, began to appear. Dirt falling began to accelerate as it got higher and higher up the slope, then a final large pile fell into the hole, a loud thump a few meters down.
They felt all the emotions from fear to excitement. Being able to explore the potential underground structure was giving them a thrill they hadn’t felt in a long time. One by one, they approached the edge of the hole with their powerful flashlights, looking in, they could see they were four or five meters from the bottom, a steep slope of dirt to the bottom of the tunnel.
Looking to the other three Reed, with a huge smile on his face yelled, “Gear up!” with his index finger in the air, waving his hand in a circle. It only took a few minutes and they brought the Shandras around. Using the winches they lowered themselves into the tunnel, rappelling down the steep slope.
It was clearly the Blakist facility the Orbital Bombardment was intended for. The bottom of the crater they slept on must have been above a collapsed section. Following the tunnel for a few meters, they found a sign displaying which way was what part of the facility. Where they came from was the motor pool for vehicles direction. They saw an arrow pointing down another corridor showing the command center.
As they walked, all four lights scanning the floor and walls, they came upon corpses. These ones had bullet holes in the walls above them and large holes in the slowly decaying bodies. A smell hovered in the air since they entered, that must have been it.
Finding a door ajar, they entered to see the Command Center, more of the same, bullet holes, corpses, and now computer stations that had been ransacked and destroyed. Nothing seemed to be immediately worthwhile to look over. Cooper found another door open, although this one showed restricted access. Securing the door open with various objects, like they did the one they emerged through, the team continued deeper into the facility.
One thing they noticed was that there were turrets that seemed to have emerged from the walls and been melted or destroyed. Continuing to be cautious, it was relieving to see booby traps triggered and destroyed long ago.
A few dozen meters later, they began to hear an echoing rustling sound. Continuing to be cautious they found what appeared to be a waiting room or check in room of some sort. On the wall opposite of the desk on the side of the room was a large glass pane, behind it, running water. It must have been from the river? Each door on the other side was open but, the signs were illegible. They appeared to be small rooms. But, one room had a wall blown out, a hidden door that had been destroyed.
Looking to their right, they could see the river running next to them as they followed the hidden concrete path downward. Another door was blown out leading to another room that appeared to be somewhat like the last. However, this one had computer panels all over the desk and the walls.
They realized they were standing on a floor of glass, the water running below them. Rather than doors, the room was surrounded by corridors. Each looked down a different corridor, there were a series of pods emerging from the walls, continuing far beyond the flashlight’s light. Sally noticed her corridor had a pungent stench, causing her to recoil.
All four of them looked at each other nervously. Ahead of them lay a corpse, it was not nearly as decayed as the previous corpses. A backpack lay near, as if the person had camped out there. They noticed that there was blood stains on the sleeping bag. A notebook lay near the corpse, Reed picked it up.
“They held me here for years. For years! The fool Regulans were not even close to preparing us. They are all dead, Blackhorse, Ironhorse, Darkhorse…..the Wild Geese. Why wouldn’t the Regulans that did succeed listen to me?! All of us prisoners were treated like we were insane, then abandoned here on a dying world to die! I was able to hide Reich in the mountains before they captured me. I found him again though. A remaining salvo of SRMs provided me the explosives to get here.”
Pausing his reading aloud, they looked at each other. Some short discussion ensued about how chaotic the Jihad must have been, what this person must have been through as it sounded like their entire unit was wiped out, and who was Reich? SRMs made it sound like a Battlemech. Definitely a big thing to look for if it was a Battlemech.
“He was faithful to me until the end. I was hoping to get him working again, perhaps rebuild the Wild Geese, go back to the FedSuns but, damn booby traps… Anyone that finds this facility and finds this hell spawn - Each corridor contains HUNDREDS of Manei Domini. They figured out a form of cryo sleep. Each of these creatures is partially cybernetic. With the explosives I had, I took out the computer core supporting them. Thankfully they built these pods strong because I could hear scratching and screaming in a handful of pods – for hours - before they went silent. No way could I have fought one of them off with these bullet wounds. The rest of the facility was dark before I came in so I have no idea what is going on with the rest of it. I came here to kill these monsters for what they did to my people, my Reich, me…. Now I will rest well.” -Major Sandy Reich, CO, Ironhorse Squadron, Wild Geese.
Reed choked up finishing the final entry of the journal. They all looked on down this corridor at the pods. They moved to investigate, shining a light into one to see a corpse that had barely decayed, being in a sealed pod. The person’s skull and skin were scarred, merging metal to bone, one eye replaced with an electronic device.
They took their time to look through the panes of glass to see the dead monsters, each barely even human. A haunting chain of events this person when through, she was tough as nails until the end. Doing their best, they sealed her body in the sleeping bag and brought her outside to give her a proper burial, she was a hero. Cooper and Sally gathered Bravo and Charlie teams, then brought the Leopard to the valley where there could be a dozen adventurers exploring the facility with their whole team present.
-----
Days later, after scouring Sandy Reich’s notes, they found a hint where in the mountains to look for the entity she referred to as “Reich”. Having to travel on foot, they found their first hint, a massive footprint, all but eroded away. Excited to see a Battlemech from the Jihad, they came over a small ridge and before them a Thug Battlemech leaning against a rock wall, with an overhang that would shield it from satellite and aerial view. As Reed and Dalia made it to the massive machine’s feet, there was a peaceful creek flowing before it. Reich had certainly been through the ringer though. Myomer bundles were exposed, massive plates of armor were missing, the cockpit Ferroglass had a crack up the left side, and more damage was all about.
As they looked around, they saw a decaying campsite a couple meters away that was probably what Sandy had used before being captured. Climbing up to the machine, they hit the hatch release and the machine opened up. Reed took a seat and began looking it over. There were various personal effects strewn about, including a picture of a handsome fellow with a ring on a chain wrapped around it. Reed had taken some simulation training of Battlemechs in the past so he was elated to power this machine up.
Pressing the correct sequence brought the fusion reactor humming to life. The HUD showed critical damage in some locations, a readout of names and Battlemechs with the term “destroyed” next to them, and a still functional BattleROM. Reed and Dalia watched the footage of what happened on one of the darkest days of the Jihad.
-----
“Form up on me now!” a blue flash fired from the Thug caught a Celestial Preta on the torso, punching through armor and causing an explosion.
The screen violently shook as the Thug stumbled to the right, once it regained its balance, it torso twisted to the left. It appeared to show the battle line, and far to the left, the image of a dropship the battle line was shielding. Missiles, lasers, and autocannons were blasting across the line. Celestial mechs were closing fast. A Seraph charged up, stabbing a Demolisher tank with its retractable blade, the machine dying.
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Seraph Assault OmniMech
Horrifying Demon Battle Armor were moving like something from a horror film, ripping and tearing the conventional infantry apart. One trooper saw a Se’irim charging toward him and put his barrel in his mouth, blood flying up in a cloud.
While this was unfolding her Thug fired a PPC and both missile racks at a nearby Deva, clearly a savage target as it fired an Ultra Autocannon 20 that tore a Wild Geese Cyclops in half.
In absolute awe they continued watching, in the skies fighters were tearing each other to shreds, fireballs igniting from successful fire, falling to the planet below. Waves of fire were pouring from the dropships behind the battle line.
“This is Zehnder, my squadron is hitting the right flank!” The Thug quickly turned to the right. All three of her Command lance were in front of her, shielding her from fire, 4 dead Celestials already at their feet. Chaos could be seen as dozens of Battlemechs and armor collided in the distance, a couple hundred meters off on the right flank. Like ghosts in the night, 6 black aerospace fighters flew directly toward, above, and behind the Thug, taking it's attention from the flank attack.
“All Regulan forces! Move away from dropship Ber…..” another violent shake of the camera with a bright light illuminating the area happened behind the Thug. One of her Command lance was sent face first into the ground, no longer moving, a large, jagged piece of armor had slammed into the Battlemech’s rear armor, clearly piercing all the way through.
Her mech turned to see an Overlord Dropship erupted into flames like a volcano, radiating heat, light, and fire up and away from it. A handful of burning Battlemechs stumbled from a blown bay door, most collapsing. Two other dropships were up and away, one of those was trailing flames, losing speed.
“Darkhorse Squadron, advance to Ironhorse’ battle line!” shouted the Zehnder voice. The Thug fired both PPCs at an Archangel battling an Awesome in her Command lance. Zehnder’s forces had dramatically decreased in size, it appeared they had been routed.
A number of explosions, getting louder by the second could be heard as her Thug turned further right. It appeared to be 4 of the 6 fighters that blew up the Overlord, they were strafing her battle line. Tanks were exploding in flames and Battlemechs were losing limbs and falling to the ground. There was no discretion, even Celestials and Demon series Battle Armor in her line were being massacred. Both the Archangel and Awesome were torn apart before her Thug.
A one armed Templar, the final member of her Command lance, turned to her on a leg that had clearly seized from actuator damage. The cockpit Ferroglass was missing. His head was shaking, face red with blood, he spoke on the Command channel. “Go Sandy….. go.”
The Thug’s left hand could be seen reaching for him. He turned the Templar and slammed into a Grigori, firing what weapons he had left, both mechs toppling to the ground. Looking left and right, the battle line was in flames. The camera could not even see any allied forces.
Turning around, the camera began to move forward, away from the battle line and into the dropship LZ, the dropship trailing flames had slammed into the ground at some point. Massive chunks of ferrocrete protruding and cracks had formed across the tarmac. She called out, “Brigadier Faulkner!”, nothing. “XO Stutenroth!”, nothing. “Bowman! Zehnder!”, nothing.
“There was another front two Kilometers Southeast of my location, if we were ECM jammed between”…. A bright flash blinded the camera for a second, stopping her from continuing the line of thought out loud. An image Reed and Dalia only heard tales of…. Flames and smoke were climbing high into the sky as a mushroom cloud. Coming to a dead stop her voice could be heard, choking up in sadness, “That’s where they were, they are all dead….”
She turned Southwest, the only direction she knew no one was fighting. At a full sprint, the Thug ran at 80 KPH toward the mountain range….
-----
After watching her reach this spot and power down the mech both Reed and Dalia sat there stunned. She sat in his lap and he embraced her. She was crying and he was stunned in horror. “Damn them all to hell” Reed whispered aloud.
After a while sitting in the cockpit they decided to march the Battlemech back to the Leopard. Upon arrival everyone was ecstatic for the haul. Reed did not allow anyone to watch the BattleROM until they were airborne, taking everything they could of value from the facility. Good thing too because the group was very somber for the few days to the jumpship after viewing it.
-----
After meeting with a Federated Suns liason, Reed and Dalia met with a descendant of Sandy Reich’s brother. For a good price, the Thug was handed over to the family. One of them was a Mechwarrior for the Federated Suns. He had experienced combat a number of times so far in his career piloting a Clint.
Soren Reich took control of the Thug and footage. He was inspired to take on the mantle of the Wild Geese and petitioned for an independent command. With so many shattered Federated Suns units, once he was granted permission, Mechwarriors jumped onboard. His unit would act in the same manner as the original Wild Geese. He chose to use a basic scheme of Teal and Orange for the unit colors. He would also be using the original tactic of altering the color schemes to mimic other commands in the future.
Soren’s early deployments to test his unit were a glaring success. There was great confusion in the Draconis March as it appeared various Brigade of Guards units were on multiple planets at once.
