Act 2 - Bargaining[]
With A Bared Sword[]
Chapter 36[]
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Rio, Johnsondale
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
4 July 3057
Kate had been promoted to Hauptmann before she left New Avalon. She didn’t feel that she particularly deserved it; it wasn’t as if she’d been doing anything especially challenging.
On the other hand, she hadn’t been given command of a battalion as soon as she’d graduated from NAIS, so she was still not being thrown into the deep end as much as Victor had been. She didn’t even have a company to command, since she was on detached duty for the summer and probably for the rest of her tour of duty.
Her ‘mech had been transported as cargo and ferried to the hangar so the first time she laid eyes on it was when she arrived there herself for the training exercise. If it wasn’t for the fact her Guillotine was the only ‘mech there - not just the only Guillotine but the only 'mech in the entire hangar! - she would have assumed that she had been misdirected.
“...what happened?” she asked, staring at it in disbelief. The center torso and the inside of the legs were a bright red, the arms and shoulders royal blue. White filled the gap between the two, which made this parade colors…
“The lads were very keen to welcome you,” the sergeant on guard said cheerfully. “A much better use of their time than sitting around and gossiping about a lady.”
Kate gave him a sidelong look. “Those are First Davion Guards colors,” she pointed out. Now that she looked, she could see the RCT’s badge on the shoulder.
“Very proper,” the older man said, salt-and-pepper mustache twitching. “I hear that you will be joining our ranks, Hauptmann.”
“When we get back to New Avalon,” she allowed. It was mostly administrative, and to give the impression that she had improved herself somehow. Much like the promotion. She would be shadowing Marshal Bishop Sortek for six months, between her viceregal duties. “Isn’t this a bit… presumptuous for me?”
“Ma’am,” the NCO reminded her. “You are the heir. Most heirs serve with the Brigade of Guards at some point.”
Her brother had not. Neither of her brothers, although she supposed Arthur might get such a posting when he graduated next year.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with the Tenth Lyran Guards,” the man continued. “It’s very respectable for the Archon-Prince to have commanded the same regiment his grandmother did. But I’m sure he would have been sent to us for a little polish if events hadn’t got ahead of him.”
Kate was not at all sure of that, although perhaps she was wrong. Her parents hadn’t confided their career plans for her siblings at any point, and as far as she knew, Victor had never been consulted about hers. “If you don’t think it’s improper then,” she allowed. “I’ll go mount up.”
There was no convenient gantry, which left Kate climbing the rope ladder that hung down from the cockpit of her Guillotine. It had never been her favorite part of being a mechwarrior, but there was no getting around it. Not every ‘mechbay was fully equipped and even if they were, it was often necessary to get in and out of one’s ‘mech in the field. That was probably why the Goshen War College’s Training Battalion didn’t provide a gantry.
Remembering how her arms had ached climbing up into the Wasps and Chameleons used at NAIS, Kate had to admit that the practise had paid off. Her mother had done this, when she qualified as a mechwarrior, and her grandmother had gone through the Nagelring and served for years in the LCAF before becoming Archon. There was no excuse for her to be unable to even get into a ‘mech unassisted.
Opening the canopy, she climbed inside it and peeled off the jumpsuit she’d worn. Her neurohelmet was waiting for her in a small locker, which left enough room for her to tuck the jumpsuit away. The Guillotine’s cockpit was buried between the high shoulders which didn’t leave a huge amount of room, so Kate waited until she’d pulled on the cooling vest and secured it before closing up the panels of armor glass in front of her. Settling into the seat, she began plugging in the medical sensors, coolant lines and then linking the neurohelmet to the computers that interlinked her brainwaves to the gyro and other systems.
Satisfied that she’d completed her preparations and shivering slightly as turgid coolant began to move within the vest, Kate turned on the fusion reactor. The familiar rumble of the Vox 280 reactor beneath her was a reassurance - whatever paint had been added, this was still the ‘mech that she and her friends had assembled under Anna Banzai’s supervision. That warmed her almost as much as the gentle heat that radiated into the cockpit as the reactor idled.
{{“If you know yourself,”}} her father’s voice spoke from the console. {{“Then identify yourself, mechwarrior.”}} The pride in that last word leaked through: he had recorded it for her the day after she completed basic battlemech maneuvering at NAIS - the absolute minimum training required to call yourself a mechwarrior.
“Look behind,” she reminded herself. “Remember thou art mortal. Remember you must die!”
The security lock-outs recognized her voice and the fusion reactor began to spin up, power routing to the rest of the ‘mech, bringing it alive around her.
After the reactor lit up she could activate the other systems, the multi-function displays confirming what the standard ‘betty’ voice reported. Sensors and communications were up, life support was active… and finally she fed power to the weapons and all five lasers reported ready. The missile launcher cycled, feeding four SRMs into the chest-mounted tubes that she and her friends had used to address the recorded problems in loading the original six-tube SRM launcher. The systems worked just as smoothly as they had back on New Avalon.
Kate checked that the munitions in the ammo bin were reporting in as training loads, then verified that the lasers had all been dialed down to a level where they would be detectable by targets while still being far too low powered to harm an unarmored human, much less the multi-layered protective plating of a battlemech.
“Range Control,” she reported, “this is Golf-Lima-Tango-One, in Hangar 3. I request clearance to transit to the training range.”
<(“Golf-Lima-Tango-One,”)> the range control officer responded, evidently having been waiting for her. <(“You are number one in the queue for the range today. Your temporary designation is Tigress One. Please confirm.”)>
“Tigress One confirms designation.” She was never, ever going to live down that day she ran her greasy fingers through her hair, leaving black stripes across it and didn’t notice until she got back to her dorm.
<(“You are clear to leave the hangar,”)> Kate was informed. <(“Waypoint markers should be visible on your HUD.”)>
“Roger that.” The holographic display in front of her gave a far wider field of view than the canopy’s confines would allow, and Kate could see a caret to the right marking the next turn after leaving the hangar.
The seventy-ton Battlemech leant forwards and then took its first step since arriving on Johnsondale. Then the next. Kate adjusted the throttle, resisting the urge to push towards the ‘mech’s limits. The kinetic energy of a heavy Battlemech was formidable just at the walk - one mistake on her part or by the range control directing her could cause immense damage even at relatively low speed.
Following the markers patiently, Kate navigated across the base, which looked far smaller from the elevated height of a Battlemech cockpit. She had chosen her security code specifically as a warning against the arrogance often attributed in Mechwarriors. After all, every ‘mech had key weaknesses - the designer who believed in the perfection of their work, and the Mechwarrior who accepted the hype. As one of her Guillotine’s designers, Kate was aware that this made her both of the Guillotine’s vulnerabilities. It was best to be on guard.
After only a few moments she reached the end of an artificial canyon formed by stacked debris and damaged buildings. There was enough room for two or three ‘mechs to march side by side down it, and she knew from similar arrangements that moveable panels would allow the veritable maze within to be altered into a variety of routes, while literally hundreds of holographic emitters would deceive her sensors to present an almost endless variety of targets.
“This is Tigress One,” she reported in. “I am at the entrance to the training range. All systems green, I am ready to begin my run.”
The huge red light at one side of the gap leading inside switched to amber. <(“Confirmed, Tigress One, you are… hold one.”)>
Kate blinked and then watched the light go to red again. Was she being recalled for some reason? They couldn’t be under attack here, could they? She mentally rehearsed the steps to switch the lasers back to combat power and eject the training missiles. The last thing she’d need in a fight was a ton of missiles that she couldn’t use.
<(“Tigress One, this is Range Control. There is a schedule amendment, we’re amending your run to a two 'mech element.”)>
“Please repeat that?” she asked.
<(“Your training run is being amended to a two person exercise,”)> Range Control confirmed. <(“Please wait as we reconfigure the range. Your partner will be with you shortly.”)>
Was she being hazed somehow? Kate wondered. She’d prefer to do this alone - she really wasn’t a fan of letting people see how little practice she had in her Battlemech. But it really wasn’t that big a deal. Maybe one of the cadets was challenging her? That would be a little flattering.
Was this how Kai Allard-Liao felt when he was challenged on Solaris VII?
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JagerMech Heavy Mech
She heard the ‘mech arriving before she saw it, magscan and other sensors warning her of its presence before it entered view. A JagerMech in dusty gray marched crisply towards her - the ‘mech was in the same camouflage colors Kate had seen the rest of the Goshen War College Training Battalion use.
“Good day,” Kate greeted them politely, opening up the local comms net. “This is Tigress One. I understand we’ll be training together today?”
<<“That’s right, Tigress One,”>> a slightly familiar voice confirmed and one of her screens lit up with the video link. The face was one she’d seen the previous night and a helpful identity tag confirmed it for her. <<“I’m designated as Papa-Bear,”>> Leftenant General Archibald Enoch, Goshen War College’s Commandant of Cadets, introduced himself. <<“I look forward to seeing what you can do.”>>
Oh, she’d been wrong. This was what Kai’s opponents felt like.