BattleTech / MechWarrior Fan Fiction ❯ Carlson's Cavaliers ❯ In the beginning... ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Carlson's Cavaliers
A Battle Tech Adventure Series

Chapter One: "You gotta start somewhere..."
Act-1: "With money comes Avarice...and a calling."
Collingswood Keep, Hamilton, FWL
12-June-2901

FWL Commander Benjamin Davies III looked out among the parade grounds as Mechs and Vehicles passed in review. His unit, the 3rd Hamilton Regulars, assigned to Hamilton now 65 long years, looked as spit & polished as ever.
Locals can't recall the last time their world was targeted by either a major House or by raiding mercs, apparently due to Commander Davies' reputation, or maybe just because they didn't have anything worth taking, unless you needed willing bodies. Then they had a lot to offer.

With a relatively large population on such a small world, (Hamilton is 6500mi in diameter) with 1.4 billion souls inhabiting, it really made neighbors rub elbows. But, everytime a call went out for young, glory-hungry youths to join the militia or the Regulars, the recruiting hall always seemed a lot emptier.

"Not many with spines here, Colonel." His Exec, Winston Ford II used to say. But that all changed, one early morning in 2900...

He crawled into the recruiting hall at around 1am, half starved, parched and looking as frail as any geriatric anyone had seen. It must have been through sheer force of will that made this young man literally crawl the last half mile to the hall, collapsing onto it's dusty, pine floors. Major Ford found him first, rolling him over and checking for a pulse. Waking suddenly, his pale blue eyes told Winston all he'd need to know about this young fellow, for what he saw in those eyes changed him forever.
Not a fear of possible death, no fear at all, to be honest. What he saw in this young man's eyes was a force of will, a force of personality only seen in born leaders.
"Water. Please." He croaked at the Major, and Major Ford jumped up as though he were a cadet ordered something by a command general! He was halfway back from the mess hall with a glass of cold water before he even realized what just happened!
Kneeling beside this man, young though he may be, he held the cup to his lips and let him drink his fill. After swallowing half the cup's contents, he gave a smiling gesture with his eyes, and Major Ford sat back. He took stock of the young man, trying to get a read on him.
His clothing was, on a better day, what he would expect to find among the nobility of any of the Great Houses, a combination of silks, cottons and gleaming, golden buttons. The blue jacket had rips and tears here and there, was missing a few of the important buttons, but would be fine again with the care of a good tailor.
His white trousers were soaked from mid thigh to ankle, stained a light green, as though he had slogged through the Macachee Swamp most of the night. He wore no shirt, and the shoes on his feet were barely adequate for a nightly traipse through the woods, let alone the swamp. Black, akin to a dress shoe he wore during celebratory functions, a single gold buckle sat in the center. Both were covered in a dried, green slime. He wore no jewelry, not even a watch, though he did reveal a wallet, though all it contained was an emergency contact card, unfilled out.
Helping him to sit up as it looked as though strength was returning, he asked his first of many questions.
"Who are you? Do you know?"
"Alex."
"Do you have a last name?"
"Doesn't everyone?" This response was delivered with a bit of sarcasm that caused the Major's mood to sour slightly.
"And?" He asked, a bit of impatience entering his normally easy-going demeanor.
"Carlson."
"Of the Lyran Commonwealth Carlson's?" Though Alex merely shook his head.
"My family is from Australia, Terra." He said, sitting up further though still leaning against the wall for support, finishing the cup of water, and looking to the Major for more. His eyes flashed from the cup back to the mess hall, and Ford was again there and back, kneeling again at this young man's side, holding the cup out to him, and then realizing he did it again!
"Why do I keep doing that? What manner of trickery is it that you use on me?!"
"It's called Charisma, and according to my father and the good doctors back on Terra, I have it in spades. A mere look, gesture, or even a few words, and anything I want is mine, more or less. At least, that's how the docs explained it to my parents.""I see. How did you come to be here?"
"And that is the real question, considering I was at a gathering of family and friends, on Terra, one of my uncles had just been promoted to General, and we were celebrating. The next thing I know, I'm in a swamp, looking to this castle type structure in the distance.
"How long did it take you to get here?"
"If I had to guess, 3 weeks."
"3 WEEKS!?"
"Aye. My early survival training taught me what I could and couldn't eat, though finding water worthy of the name and safe enough to drink was much harder."
"Will anyone come for you?"
"Why? They had me kidnapped, dropped onto a world not my own, and left to die."
"Kidnapped! But why?"
"If I had to guess, Major, I'd say a few of my father's friends feared what I could become with the abilities I have. And, I think they rather enjoyed the status quo, and didn't want me upsetting the apple cart, so to speak?"
"I see. What is your age?"
"I'll be 17 this coming April."
"Ever consider Military Service?" He asked and Alex laughed.
"I've been JRoTC since I was 12. I was scheduled to leave for Annapolis this coming summer."
"Can you stand?" Alex nodded, though he did lean on the Major just a bit. He didn't weigh much, maybe 85 kilos, and the Major had little trouble helping him upstairs to the currently empty sleeping area.
"This is the 3rd Hamilton Regulars. We're..." But Alex cut him off.
"Currently a Battalion, been assigned here since the 2800's, under a Colonel Benjamin Davies currently. A mixed arms Batallion, more armor than mech force, if memory serves." He finished for the man. Ford stood astounded!
"To the last detail. What is our current state of readiness?" He challenged, and was nearly blown out of his socks by this young man's answer.
"Readiness? You have no transport, your only dropship, a Union that hasn't flown in 55 years is sitting in ruin at your space port, and other than wax and polish, which your men and few women use to keep their units shiny, I doubt they know what grease and oil are let alone what they're used for. Readiness sir, is a thing of the distant past for this unit. I could take the planet with a Stinger, and your forces would most likely follow me to the gates of hell..." He said, his voice trailing off as fatigue and general exhaustion got the better of him, and he slipped unconscious.
For all of that, Ford nodded with a sigh, as he slipped this young man onto a cot and lay a warm wool blanket across him.
"You speak nothing but truth, young sir. Nothing but truth indeed."
Turning, he doused the light, and made his way back to his quarters. He'd file his report about this in the morning...

Act-2: "A leader rises..."
3rd Hamilton training grounds
12-Aug-2901

Alex watched his monitor as the mechs and tanks in his 'Unit' approached the first simulated waypoint. Using parts of the Swamp and a nearby Forest Primeval for this test, He checked and rechecked everyone's relative position, relative to the advancing Liao mechs.
"Lancer two, come right 15 degrees, slow to 22kph. Lancer three, come left 10 degrees, and stop. Lancer four, form on my six and hold." He called out over the COM. Two, a Phoenixhawk with a wobbly gyro, turned to her right and took a few steps, stopping as her computer chimed, she reaching the waypoint.
Three, meanwhile, was stuck. The more he tried to move it seemed, the more the swamp wanted his SRMC. So, instead of digging out, he simply idled his big diesel, and waited.
And for all of that, Four nearly ran Alex over, turning at the last second, Alex seeing a PPC barrel go past his mech's side cockpit window. The mech, a unit modified Shadowhawk, taking inspiration from the Kurita version, slowed to a halt beside his Stinger. Rolling his eyes, he turned back to the monitors. As he watched, a call came through his headset. Flipping the COM switch brought Major Ford's voice into his neuro helmet.
"You need to know the truth Alex."
"The truth that I scare Colonel Davies, and that his entire unit is more loyal to me than they ever were to him, or that this isn't a 'training mission' and the mechs on my scope are REAL Liao units?"
"Oh my god! Both actually, but how did you know that?"
"Techs, gotta love'em. They know all and will share it for a bag of clean rags or fresh tubes of permalube, or in the case of my tech, Val, a case of her favorite candy, bubblegum." He said, mentioning the tech who befriended him when he first signed onto the unit.

Valerie Helmsford was a rarity in such a backwater unit. Rarity in that she was a bloody genius, could fix anything if only she could lift it. Very small and slight of stature, her parents didn't think their sickly little girl would survive her first year, but survive and flourish she did, and by her 12th year was already fixing things that most Tech cadets were afraid to even undertake. So when Alex made it passed the tests to see if he had the chops to be a mechwarrior, young Valerie offered to be his tech.
Standing at a waifish 4'9" and 45 kilos, her shoulder length blonde hair was always a tangled mess. But her bright blue eyes could see the good in even a totally destroyed actuator or autocannon. Or in a discarded person.
So, despite her status as a tech trainee, she requested to be assigned to Alex's Stinger, a dilapidated and nearly worn our wreck of a mech, and Benjamin approved her request, if only to be rid of the teenaged menace.
Not that Val caused trouble, but her near constant requests for spares and supplies was driving the Colonel crazy.
Still, at only 15 and better with a spanner than techs twice her age, many in their support group thought it was a mistke to send her away to Alpha Lance, and an even bigger mistake to assign her to that new pilot, Alex Carlson.

"Moses, give me a count please!" Alex ordered, and his screen lit up with a dozen targets. Side stepping to his left, he reached down, took ahold of the back of the SRMC, and leaned forward.
"Punch it Ramirez!" And he did, mud slinging all over Alex's Stinger, it looking like it just won first place at Rosie's Mud Wrestling night. But, once the tracks were tilted forward, where solid soil awaited them, the SRMC shot forward onto a firm footing.
"Thanks Skipper!" He quipped, as he got feeds from Moses' nearly infallible sensors.
"Ok folks, I'm not gonna lie to you, but we were dupped. I guess I scare the Colonel, because we got a solid ass-whooping coming in the form of a Liao company. I would guess that in these parts, it's most likely the 4th Confederation Reserve. A company considering the Union that was reported to have landed a day ago. Moses? Any idea the sizes and strength?"
"Wait one Skipper, let me bank around for a better look." He replied, the roar of a turbine nearly drowning out his reply, his VTOL banking sharply to the left, swinging around to get a better look at the mechs currently walking slowly toward the 3rd's command center.
"Ok, mostly a light to medium force. I see a bunch of locusts, a jenner, make that two jenners and a few mediums, looks like a quickdraw and a trio of trench-buckets, and a Griffin holding to a slower pace at the rear. If I had to guess, he's the leader. Oh! A Wasp too, just spotted him come out from under a stand of Douglas Fir. But no vehicles."
"Thanks Lt. Head back to the barn, don't need you becoming a casualty.
"Aye, thanks Skipper."
"Tara, how you feel about a suicide mission, a wobbly one at that?"
"Whatcha need Skipper?" She responded, very professional.

Tara Spinner was a new recruit, much like Alex, and a couple years his senior, but when their eyes met, the lust over-powered both of them, and over the last few months they've been wrapped up in each others arms, well, whenever he could pry himself out of Val's needy arms, or Adele and Amy's, the crew of the SRMC.

"I need you to close, jump, get their attention and lead them here."
"Aye, on it!" As she pressed her mech into an ill advised run, clearing the last rise before contact, and launching herself skyward, LRMs launching skyward to meet her.
"Ahh! Too much damage! Ejecting!" And he watched as her chair ripped skyward, a small mushroom cloud where the mech landed just below her chair. A parachute deployed and the westerlys blew her back behind their lines.
"Damn, they got a lot of reach Alex. Be careful." She said over the wind noise whipping around her.
"Fortune favors the bold, Corporal. All units, advance!" He ordered, as he followed the SRMC, the Shadowhawk right behind him.
"Stop here Maria, I have a plan." He called out to the SHD pilot, she stopping just before her head would clear the last rise. Walking up the short slope, he peaking over and seeing the Liao forces accelerating toward them.
"On my right, Maria." He ordered, she moving up to stand beside him. Upon seeing the Liao forces, she asked her only question.
"Orders sir?
"See if you can get a hit on the lead Jenner."
Dropping her PPC into firing position, he heard the audible tone of a flight of LRM's acquiring lock, as a volley of 5 of them left her launcher, the blue plasma ball leaving the barrel of her PPC a second later, and the right leg of the Jenner exploding in a spray of armor frags and shredded myomer bundles. It crashed to the ground, never to rise again without help of a crane.
"Nice shot Mechwarrior! Fall back. Anton! Come, park between us, and get the racks ready."
"Aye sir!" And the SRMC rolled up and parked in the rut made by two mechs, weighing a combined total of 75 tons. The soft earth compacted under their massive feet, leaving an impression in the soil that the SRMC could park in, obscuring it from view, especially the view of a mech climbing then driving down a hill...
"Fall back with me Maria, once the Liao mechs clear that rise, hold fire until a solid 2/3 of them are clear of Anton's unit."
"Aye skipper!"
They had back-pedaled almost 300 meters when the first of the Liao light units charged over the hill toward them, Maria letting the first Locust she saw have it with her SRM/2 and Medium laser. The mech staggered but kept coming, Alex's medium laser finding the burn mark left by Maria's laser on the mech's chest, and boring a hole through it. It fell this time, and made no motions to rise.
As more and more of the Liao mechs crossed that final hill, and began engaging Alex and Maria's mechs, Anton unleashed Hell on Earth upon a pair of Trebuchets, 5 launchers at each.
"Tally fuckin ho! He yelled over the COM, as Amy got tone followed by Adele, and 10 SRM/6 racks fired, completely obscuring the carrier from view. Missiles hit, missed and generally created havoc all along the Liao flank, the two aforementioned Trebuchets blown to kingdom come, a pair of legs standing where one had been, and a smoking crater where the slower of the pair stood.
"Reload!" He yelled to his crew, as they threw switches and levers to get reloads from the mag into the launchers. Meanwhile, Alex and Maria were in the thick of it for sure.
"Watch those on your right Maria, I believe they aim to flank us." He said, his voice, to her ears at least, eerily calm, as he stood shoulder to shoulder with her, she cycling her weapons, trying to manage all the waste heat that this variant of SHD generated. He shot one Locust with his laser, while burning nearly a quarter ton of machine gun ammo into a Wasp that was closing in for a club attack. The barrage of 12.7mm stripped the light mech of it's left arm, while a swift kick from his Stinger dropped that Locust, it's knee joint in the left leg just gone.
"Nice kick sir!" She grunted across the COM, as her PPC screamed again, slamming into the OTHER Jenner, blowing off it's SRM launcher and creating a cascade of explosions through it's missile mag, dropping it onto the field. Standing up straight, a flight of LRMs streaked away from her mech, slamming all around the Griffin that just landed in front of Anton's tank...
"Loaded!" Yelled Amy.
"Ditto!" Echoed Adele.
"FIRE!" Anton yelled, as tone screeched a lock, and 10 racks of SRMs unloaded into the rear armor of a bewildered Liao pilot, as his ejection seat launched him skyward.
"That was their heaviest unit Alex." He heard Tara say in his ears. Punching the Wasp in the face, burning the left arm off of a Trenchbucket, while Maria threw a wild haymaker into the cockpit of a Quickdraw. Despite the alarms going off in his mech about armor breaches and reactor shutdowns, neither he nor Maria gave any ground. Her mech was in as bad a shape as his, her left arm gone at the elbow, the PPC a tangled mess from a detonation of the barrel from a shot that was just WAY TOO close, and her using the leg from the Jenner at their feet as a club, beating the last Quickdraw literally to death...

Back at the mech hangar, 45 minutes later...

Parading the captured Liao pilots up to the Colonel's office, Alex looked the man square in the eyes.
"This one admits to your duplicity Colonel. You are hereby relieved of duty and ordered held for courts-martial as soon as a flight can be made available to take you to Terra."
The Colonel bristled from the accusation, even though it was true. The Liao pilot, a Captain, held his head low, knowing the money he'd been paid to bring his company here might very well start a war once the FWLM got wind of it.
"Uh, Cadet, we send all prisoners who need to stand trials such as these to Atreus."
Major Ford stated, for the record.
"Atreus it is then. Tara! Anton! Take these prisoners back to the stockade."
"Aye!" They said in unison. Once the Colonel was led away, along with the half dozen Liao pilots, Major Ford turned to Alex, he leaning against the CO's desk.
"Take a seat, Major." And Ford did so, again, Alex flexing that incredible power he had, to simply sway with but a few words or gestures.
"You're the CO now, until High Command can send a replacement for Colonel Davies." He said as Ford looked around the desk, placing a portrait of Davies' family into a side desk drawer. Hearing running feet coming toward them, Alex turned toward the door, and saw Val running at him. She was holding a clipboard.
"Hey! I got the totals you wanted. Oh, Hi Major!" She gasped, trying to catch her breath. Taking the offered clipboard, Alex smiled, passing it to Major Ford.
"What's this?"
"What Val and her techs were able to salvage from the Liao wrecks. Nice bit of salvage too, I might add. Val? How many of these wrecks can we put back together?" Not missing a beat, she answered.
"One Jenner, one Quickdraw, two Locusts, and believe it or not, that Griffin. The computer tracked all the missiles targeted on it, but over-reacted when it ejected the pilot. It's damage is heavy but nothing we can't fix. Looks like you get a new command mech." She said with a grin. He smiled back, turning to Ford.
"Give the word sir, and they'll get started." He said, looking to the Major.
"Make it so Val." He said without hesitation.
"Given your abilities Cadet, your training is over. I'm promoting you to Lieutenant, and giving you command of Alpha Company. Val here will tell you it's strengths and weaknesses."
"They're pretty weak, but now we have some spare parts, so let's see what my merry band can whip together." She said with a broad grin, then darting from the room. Halfway down the corridor, she turned back to Alex.
"Congrats Alex!" And turning a corner, she was gone. He chuckled.
"Guess I should go give everyone the good news. Since this is a garrison posting, how often have you been molested by either Davion forces or Liao, besides today?"
"In all the years I've been here, this is the first time ANYONE has taken an interest in Hamilton. Our only industry is beer, some water purification and myomer bundles. You'd think that that tech alone would make us a target, but since we're two jumps away from Liao space, we're pretty protected here."
"Send a request back to High Command for some Union parts."
"Did the Liao Union bug out? I thought it was still here."
"That's right! It is still here. Permission to go capture a dropship?"
"Get to it LT!"

Walking down to the mechbay, lost in thought, trying to come up with a plan of action, he got kiss-ambushed by Tara. Pulling away after a lengthy oral exam, he looked down into her eyes.
"Hey." She said with her ever ready smile.
"Wanna help me capture a dropship?"
"Uh, ok. What's the plan?"
"I think I'll just ask them to surrender, instead of starting a shooting war with them. Let's see what they say." He said with a smile, a smile that got him kissed again.

A few minutes later, at the unit's COM shack...

"Attention, calling the Liao Union, do you copy?"
"This is Captain Greaves of the 'March Hare', we read you."
"Captain, you are aware that your mech forces have been defeated, and that we know your mech commander was paid to come here and attack our world by our own unit commander. Will you surrender peacefully?"
A moment of silence was heard on the COM.
"To whom am I speaking?"
"This is Lieutenant Alex Carlson, Alpha Company Commander."
"Who's your senior ranking officer?"
"That would be Major Ford."
"I see. To be honest Lieutenant, we can't go home and none of us wish to be in jail or a stockade or what have you. Only 4 of my crew have families back in Liao space and it would be far easier to move them here, than to go home and risk being shot for this stupid stunt."
"So, what are you suggesting?"
"Have any paint?" Alex arced an eyebrow at that request, but Val was simply grinning like a fool.
"Lots Captain!" She said. Alex chuckled this time as did Tara. Flipping the intercom switch, Alex called Major Ford.
"We now have a nice, functional Union, Major."
"Excellent work Lieutenant. Keep me apprised."
Switching back to the other COM, Alex smiled.
"Bring your people here to our compound for re-outfiting and orientation. Welcome to the Free Worlds League, Captain Greaves."
"We have a Scout out at the Zenith. What should we tell them, since they're almost in as much trouble as we are."
"We'll contact them shortly, and give them the good news. I doubt House Liao will miss a Scout."
"Aye, Greaves out." And switching back to the intercom, he called the Major once more.
"Major?"
"Let me guess, captured their jumpship too?" Ford said, just a bit sarcastically.
"Actually, yes. We now have a Scout." Alex said with a grin. Ford dropped his coffee cup.
"Go onto a secure channel and put on headphones." He ordered and Alex did so.
"We are secure Major."
"I'm composing my letter of resignation as we speak. Once it's finalized, along with my after-action report, I'm recommending you be made Unit Commander, elevating you in rank to Force Commander. I've given 30 long years of service to the league, and until you came along, I haven't seen anyone do what you do. Lead them proudly Alex, you have my blessings."

Stunned just a little, 17 year old Alex Carlson would go down as the youngest Force Commander in FWLM history.

Setting down the headphones, he turns to Tara and Val, giving each a sheepish smile.
"What did he say?" Val asked.
"Yeah, really. What's with the goofy grin?" Tara added.
"Force Commander Carlson, reporting for duty." He said with his usual dashing smile. Both Val and Tara's jaws dropped.
"The unit is mine. Major Ford is retiring, effective immediately."

His letter did make it to the FWLM desk of unit affairs, and after reading an astonishing after-action report, Major Ford's recommendation that Alex be promoted and given command of the 3rd would stand. His new uniform would arrive a month and a half later, along with a laundry list of spare parts for all of his mechs, vehicles and other support equipment.
Since it was proven that a Liao force could actually hit a world 2 jumps from the borders only solidified his position and guaranteed any request for parts would be filled. This made Val and her techs very, very happy.
Happiness would fade rapidly, as their garrison force would be made a mobile force not 2 years later.

Act-3: "Garrison no more..."
3rd Hamilton Regulars Base
Hamilton, FWL
10-Mar-2903

Sitting in the chair of the base commander, Alex read a report that would surely ruffle more than a few feathers here in one hand, while bouncing his toddler son, Nathan, on his left knee and holding him with the other. Tara peaked in from her desk as his assistant just to make sure everyone was alright. He had his mother's bouncy blonde curls, but his father's ice blue eyes. 14 months old, and already waddling around wherever Mom or Dad would set him down.
"Is he being good?" She asked. He frowned.
"He is, but the DUA is gonna cause us no end of grief."
"Why?"
"They're sending a green Battalion here to take over as Hamilton's garrison force. "They want us to reform as the 3rd League Fusiliers."
"And do what exactly?"
"Apparently, they want us raiding Liao space, mixing it up with their border forces, seeing how much damage we can do."
"Umm, we're a Reinforced Company with a Union. How do we get anywhere?"
"Seems to me that they're gonna have to give us a bigger ship, or a bigger ship and a bigger jumpship to carry it." He said, reading deeper into the report until he got to transportation.
"Ohhhh. Well, we struck gold here sweetie." He said to her with a smile.
"Ok, I'm listening."
"We get to trade in that Union we got from the Liao force for a brand used Overlord." He replied with one of his dashing smiles.
"I hope they fitted it out to handle our combined arms unit."
"According to these schematics, they did. Decks two and three hold armor, while deck one holds a dozen mechs. Suits me just fine, considering how the unit's structured these days."
"True. Do you want to get rid of some of the armor and replace it with mechs?" But he just shook his head.
"Some vehicles I'd like to swap out, but for now, if we get a few cross border raids under our belts, they'll start giving us more choice assignments, or..."
"Or what?"
"We could just go Merc." He said, as she weighed the pros and cons of turning everyone's lives nearly upside down.
"So, we take the Overlord, and just call it a day then?"
"Works for me. I was happy here, and now they want me to simply up-root and leave everything I love and care about behind? No thanks."
Turning to look at one of the loves of his life, Tara grinned. Coming around the corner into their offices was Val, with what had to be a personal best for her: a crystal clear bubble easily 2 feet across!
"Ow's is?" She said gently into her sphere, it suddenly splitting top to bottom and collapsing in front of her. She pouted, until Alex held up his hand COM, showing her the picture he took of the massive thing just before it died. Smiling, she hugged both of them tightly.
"So, we're going rogue then?" She asked, rolling up the wad of gum and tossing it.
Alex gave her a questioning glance.
"Oh, I have tons of gum, thanks to you Alex, but once you get a bubble THAT big, it gave all it could. Better to just have the memory than try to replicate it."
"What did the doctor's say about you Val?" He asked, and it was all she could do not to tear up.
"I'm broken, and they can't fix me. I so wanted a little one Alex." She said sadly. Holding his arms out to her, he shushed away her soft sobs as Tara joined in on the hug. Val put her arms around both of the most important people in her life, and quietly cried.
"Yeah Val. Pack up everything that isn't nailed down." He whispered into her ear.
"And if I can pry it up?"
"Well then, it's not nailed down, now is it?" He replied with a grin. She kissed his nose, turned and ran back to the mechbay, popping a few more of those awesome gumballs into her mouth, chewing intently.

A day later, in their main mess hall...

"Ok, settle down everyone, I need your undivided." Alex began, and everyone turned to face him.
"We're going Merc." He said, and more than a few people got drug into conversations.
"Where will we go?"
"What will we be doing, and against who?"
"Skipper? It's not my place to question you, but what brought this on?" Maria asked, sipping at a cup of tea.
"FWLM wants us to become a raider force, mostly against Liao space." He said, looking around the room to see how people would take that news. As he predicted, most were shocked.
"We've been a garrison force for decades, why all of the sudden do they want to up-root us?"
"Info about that raid stirred the pot back at HQ, and because we did such a great job against them, the Liao force, they think we're ready to take on everyone."
Laughter
"So, my plan is, when their Jumpship arrives, we'll be waiting at the Jump point for them, and we'll take both their jumpship, along with the Overlord they were coming with. It's set up for our unit, hell, DUA says it's designed for a group like ours, mixed arms." He finished, looking out at the sea of faces looking back at him. As he inwardly predicted, no one so much as flinched when he suggested capturing a jumpship along with a dropship.
"When do we leave?" Anton asked.
"Saddle up people, we leave at 1400." He said, and everyone checked their time pieces, and mostly ran out of the mess hall. Only Val, Tara and Captain Greaves stayed.
"I know, I know, sounds risky, but I'm not waiting for another dropship to hit soil and start disgourging assault mechs to tell me that we're being stabbed in the back again. Sorry, just my read on the FWL 'court'."
"Oh! We're not here to judge Alex, on the contrary, you have us 100%." This from Captain Greaves.
"I'm just curious as to how we get up 'there'." He finished. Alex chuckled a little.
"There's a fully fueled K-2 on the pad, waiting."
"I'll go pick the best 12 shots! Meet you at the spaceport hun!" Tara said before running out. Val looked at him curiously.
"So, time for me to dust off my little black book I see."
"How do you have so many contacts Val?" Alex asked.
"Actually, they're my father's and my uncle's. Time to go and see if I can't get them to pay more attention to me now."
"You keep blowing bubbles that big around me, you'll get lots of attention, Missy!" He said with a smile. She hugged him tightly.
"I love you Alex." She said in a hushed whisper.
"And I love you Val, now get to work. We'll be back in a week, assuming all goes well."
"It better. I'll be practicing." She said with a smile. Kissing her nose, she jogged off. Turning to Captain Greaves, Alex regarded the man.
"Ever drive an Overlord?"

Other then Greaves' Union crew, Alex let Tara hand select the boarding party. He was impressed to say the least. All of the selected were mechwarriors, with notable exception to Anton's tank crew, he himself carrying a pair of well-slung SMG's. Alex grinned.
"Well, hopefully this won't turn into a bloodbath. I really don't want to lose anyone."
"Same." Tara agreed.
During the ride out, they called Val almost on the hour, he checking on the last of her improvement upgrades to the mechs in their unit and she checking up on little Nathan.
Both were going as planned or doing fine.
"Just don't make me an orphan's Mother, Alex." Val had quipped.

As they approached the Zenith, a Merchant class Jumpship appeared not 3000 km from their Scout. Punching the throttles to the stops, Greaves sped them toward the Overlord, getting them lined up to their main crew hatch before their sensors recovered from H-Space blindness.
"Calling Overlord FWLM-11299, this is Force Commander Alex Carlson, stand to and prepare to be boarded!"
"Boarded?! On who's authority?" Was the gruff reponse he received. As Tara and Anton cycled the hatch, Alex kept the banter going.
"Welcome to your new home, Major Tomlinson. I hope you enjoy your stay. Kindly place your hands where they can be seen, and no one will get hurt."
"To hell you say! I have orders to take this world, and bring you to Atreus in chains if I have to!"
"Damn Skipper! You were right! How did you know?" Amy said from her spot adjacent to the main lock, it beginning to cycle. As both doors opened, she tossed in her two stun grenades as Adele tossed in her two. The semi-deafening whoom! stunned stupid the half dozen odd warriors on their side of the lock, as Anton and Adele rushed in, Alex and Tara right behind.
"Again, never under-estimate what you can learn from techs." He said with a grin, popping up from cover and shooting two would be defenders with his paired Sperry-Browning Hi-Power pistols. Both dropped, as he floated to a ceiling cover position. Tara launched up to be with him, shooting an officer in the foot, the man screaming in pain, as she landed beside him.
"Skipper, your plan worked. We have the bridge. Nice call on the diversion." Came the call from MW Fowler, his team (and fellow lancemates) having used their docking maneuver to do an EVA and take the bridge from the emergency lock one deck down. With their crew and MW's focused on Alex, they were unprepared for a multi-pronged assault.
"This is Bridgette here in engineering, we have the drive room. The ship is ours Skipper!"

One by one, small pockets of resistance were given a simple choice: Surrender, or be blown out of the ship through explosive decompression.

After a few terse moments, the remnants surrendered.

"Bridgette, get me a count on their units. I don't want any, but I do want all of their extra missiles, autocannon and MG ammo and all the spares we can carry. Captain Greaves? Have your Union dock aboard the Merchant and commence the transfer.
"Aye-aye Skipper!"

Six days later, back on Hamilton...

"When word gets back to the DUA about what you've done, there won't be a safe haven for you anywhere in the FWL, Carlson!" Force Commander Kelly yelled at him from his side of the stockade cell.
"Lucky for me, I'm not a FWL citizen. Townsfolk will be here in 48 hours to let you out. They've been told it's a training exercise, and if no one launches the orange smoke, to come and free you. Sadly there was a short in the HPG tower before you arrived, and it looks like the resident Acolytes will have to send back to Terra for repair parts, so no interstellar COMs for about 4 weeks I'm afraid."
"Damn you to hell Carlson!"

Their entire stockade was filled, between their pilots, 34 of them, all of the pilots, the dropship crew and a third of their techs. Val didn't have to say much to convince the rest to join up, and with the promise of 50% better pay, with shorter work days, it's was all she could do not to recruit all of Kelly's techs.

When his COM chirped, Alex nodded to all, and left the stockade.
"We loaded and ready Val?"
"Waiting on you Alex. I got a dozen pieces all chewed up and ready for a big bubble, if you'd be willing to give me lots of encouragement."
"Well then, prepare to be licked silly. Out!"

The trip out to the Zenith was almost uneventful, until two things happened: Having never really tried to make a huge bubble in zero-g, Val shattered all records, with a 6 piece, 35" diameter bubble, that sadly she wore. Tara laughed herself nearly hoarse, while helping Val clean up. Alex held up his COM, showing Val the video of her bubble, from beginning to messy end.

The second thing that happened was Tara whispering those two little words that always sends a guy scurrying here and there...
"I'm pregnant." She said as they lay cuddled, semi strapped to their bed.
"Really? Gonna have to put you on something. Well, you know the drill."
"Yeah, I know. Sometimes I think I should just stick to being a mother and give up the whole mechwarrior thing." But Alex just shot her a confused glance.
"You wanted to be a mechwarior since you were 12. Just deal with this new little one, and once he or she is old enough to more or less live without mommy's tit, we'll be fine."
"K."

Taking command of the Merchant, transferring the crew to the Scout, Alex started his grand plan: Build up a unit strong enough to take his family's ancestral home back on Terra.

Act-4: Galatea...
MRB Meeting Hall, Galatea
3-July-2903

Alex waited patiently for his turn to speak to the ComStar rep about setting up a mercenary company. He had Tara with him for company, while Val was running here and there, meeting with friends of her fathers, introducing herself and letting them know what it was she did. Most were happy to see she was not only still alive, but obviously flourishing. A few had gone out of business, a couple had moved, one died, but in all, she had had a very busy day.
15 minutes of quiet conversation with his wife, the Rep called them forward.
"Welcome to Galatea, how may our blessed order assist you this fine day?"
"We're here to register a merc company."
"Oh, that is a most excellent venture, very lucrative and high paying."
"We hope so."
"Excellent, I need this form filled out, and while one of you is doing that, would the other be able to give our inspectors access to your dropship, assuming you have one that is?"
"We do. Tara, wanna stay here and play secretary?" He asked.
"Sure hun, my knees are bugging me anyway."
"Acolyte, if you'll follow me."
"No no, I send a team. There is someone that will meet them at your ship, yes?"
"Oh sure. I'll call our chief tech. She can lead your team around."
"Most excellent. Now, let's get the basics out of the way, while your wife I see, fills out the basic application, ok?"
"Sounds good."
"Excellent. Unit name?"
Alex thought about this for a solid minute before giving his answer. Looking at Tara, she gave nothing away as she dutifully filled out the app. Smiling, he gave his answer.
"Carlson's Cavaliers." He said with a smile that nearly made the acolyte swoon. She grinned to him, and entered the name into her terminal.
"Unit CO/XO?"
"Myself, Alex Carlson, and Unit XO is my wife here, Tara Carlson." He said, Tara looking up, smiling, then going back to filling out the app.
"Excellent. Ok, I need your home base location, if you have one, if not, the world or House where you hold allegiance."
"Terra is where I'm from, though currently I am disassociated from there. Family dispute."
"I see. Ok, well, we can still register your unit. Would you consider opening an office here on Galatea?"
"If it will smooth out the rough application edges, certainly."
"Excellent! Now, you seem quite young, but you speak as though you've been militarily-schooled for a long time. May I ask how old you are?"
"I was born in 2884, which makes me 19 this year. My wife here is 21, and my lead tech has just turned 18."
"My word, but you did get started young. Wait! Terra! Carlson! Robert Austin Carlson is your father?"
"That's right, though I appear to be estranged from the family at present."
"Young Duke, you don't know? Where have you been the last few years?"
"Hamilton, FWL."
"The family has had your likeness posted all throughout Hegemony space. Your family reported you kidnapped almost 2 years ago."
"Funny, I tried calling home on more than one occasion, yet no one who answered seemed interested in letting me speak to anyone who mattered. All the staff I spoke to weren't people I knew."
"Hmm, that is odd. Your father has an account in your name registered with the MRB should you ever turn up here or at a ComStar facility."
"Oh? Anything I should be aware of?"
"35 million C-Bills, actually. It was 20 2 years ago. Interest."
Tara whistled.
"You never said you came from money?" She said, looking at him with eyebrows raised. He laughed.
"That's because until 5 minutes ago, I didn't. I always assumed my family was why I was dumped on Hamilton. Besides, it's not like old Hegemony titles mean much in today's Successor States. Being a Duke from Terra is as important a title as being the local dog catcher." He quipped in his usual sarcastic tone. She hugged him anyway, kissing his cheek.
"You'll always be MY Duke. Let me finish this, while you discuss things with the acolyte."
Turning back to the acolyte, Alex looked at her crossly.
"So, ComStar knew about my kidnapping, but never sent word beyond Hegemony space. Why?"
"Our Order viewed it as a local matter. Your father placed a bounty on the heads of those responsible, placed these funds into escrow for you should you turn up somewhere and needed help getting home, we posted your likeness at the time to all of our HPG stations within a 50Ly radius, and that was that. Your previous assessment of your title was why we never pursued the matter into any ONE House."
"Wait, you're saying he KNEW who did it?" Alex accused, and she nodded.
"A splinter Azami group loyal to House Davion. Our intel never learned what it was they were after by kidnapping you, and since they appear to have abandoned you, it is unclear what their motives were."
"Azami? Aren't they a sect of persecuted Muslims in Davion space? Supposedly super fanatical to Kurita?" He questioned, and she nodded.
"You are well versed in the cultures of your neighbors. Your teachers were nothing but thorough it seems." But Alex waved off the compliment.
"It's unimportant. Back on Terra, Carlson Dynamics is a major player in the defense contractor spectrum for ComStar, correct?"
"Everything from targeting displays, to ladar units, to actuators and endo steel sparring, not to mention weapons, most notably C-D's vibrabombs." Alex nodded as she finished.
"So it strikes me as odd that ComStar wouldn't bend over backwards to try to help someone who is so central to their needs, hmm?"
"To that end I cannot say, young Duke, only that here you are, alive and well. Do you wish word sent back to your home?"
"No, I'll contact them when I'm ready."
"Guess we won't be living hand to mouth after all." She said, handing the app back to the acolyte. She nodded, filing it with the rest of their unit info.
"Here is the access code to the funds. I simply need a sample of your DNA to confirm your identity."
"Cheek swab do, or do you want blood?"
"Our nurse will take a swab. I'll send for her shortly. Ahh, there's the call from my techs." She said, answering her COM.
"Yes, Blessed to you, reinforced company, with air support! Excellent, and dropship AND a jumpship? Most excellent! Tech support? Excellent! Have a blessed day Sergeant." And she disconnected the COM.
"So, we passed?" Alex asked, checking the funds available in his account. As the acolyte said, 36,954,323 C-Bills. He whistled when the display showed the amount.
"Yes, uh... What rank do you hold in your unit?"
"Colonel, I guess. Normal rank of a Company sized unit, right?"
"Correct."
"So, other than the DNA test, is there anything else we have to do?" Tara asked.
"No, we're finished here. Welcome again to Galatea. The boards behind you have all the work that's 2 jumps from here and closer. If you see anything you like, just contact the acolyte on duty. Ahh, here she is, Nurse Heidi! New merc to check. Just DNA checking."
"Aye Acolyte, this way sir."
"Do you need me?" Tara asked, though the acolyte simply shook her head.
"We just need to confirm he is who he says he is, so we can release the funds."

After Alex and Tara departed, happier it seemed, Acolyte Lydia Van Mullen went to their HPG station, and placed a message into the system, for delivery to Terra.
It was a straight forward message, no subterfuge or misleading dialogue, and it impressed upon the reader, the gravity of the situation. It read:

From: Acolyte Van Mullen
To: Precentor Martial, Our Order

Subject: Alexander Thaddeus Carlson

---He has been found. He appears in good health and spirits, having taken a bride in his exile.He arrived 40 hours ago in command of a former FWL reinforced Company now turned Mercenary. Has both D-ship and J-ship capability. Have rated his company regular, but I suspect they are better then that. Notify our patron as to these claims. Attempt to ascertain why he was left for dead on FWL world of Hamilton. Please advise on a course of action.---

Back at the dropship, 45 minutes later...

Alex handed out pay to cover everyone for 6 months, dropship and jumpship crews included. It totaled 450,000 C-Bills, but it covered him from having to worry about payroll for well into next year. Tara spoke to Val, since it was the two of them that kept Alex happy, and they were plotting and planning as usual.
"So, you been good Val?" Tara quipped. Val grinned to her, her wad of bubblegum stuffed into her right cheek.
"Bennie, give me a hand with this actuator please?" She asked of one of the junior techs nearby. He jogged over, helping her carry it to the Jenner. The pilot stood by his mech, watching the work as they replaced a worn out hip actuator. The old one lay at his feet, the main rotational housing just wore out, the scoring from a lack of grease the shiniest part on it.
"I hate these old FWL mechs. The techs basically sat around and polished metal and cleaned windows. Nothing ever got fixed." Lamented the pilot, MW Andrew Hammond. Val scuffed at his assessment of the Hamilton techs however, which caught Alex's attention.
"I'll have you know, we had NOTHING to work with Hammie! That worthless sack of bones Davies never processed a single order for spare parts! Now GET OUT OF MY MECH BAY!" She screamed at him, he turning and nearly running over Alex.
"Problem here, Mechwarrior?" He asked, bringing his charisma to bear.
"N..n..no Colonel. No problem." He stammered, shaking with what Val guessed (correctly) as fear.
"Good, I'm to understand Anton runs a floating crap game out of the back of his SRMC. Why don't you go see if you can join in. Now." And without even saluting or even saying good bye, he was gone. Alex turned to Val, who was just shaking her head at him.
"I'm just glad you don't use that ability of yours on me." She said with a grin, until he turned his gaze upon her.
She looked up into his eyes, and the sheer power of his gaze froze her in her tracks.
"Who says I haven't?" And his voice was eerily serene and hypnotic, all at once, at least, that's how her brain perceived it.
"Come over here, and give me some lovin'." He said, his tone all but a whisper. Dropping the wrench in her hand, she was in his arms in nano-seconds, her hands rubbing his crotch, her mouth locked to his, kissing him as though she had never been touched like this before...

For all of this, Alex's eyebrows shot to the top of his forehead, especially when she started massaging his manhood through his trousers. Sure, he loved sex, and the other head was asking for permission to explore, even though they were in the middle of the mechbay. But instead of embarassing the both of them, he simply wound her down with a soft yet firm rub down the small of her back, a Reiki maneuver aimed at quelling her sexual tension. She stopped kissing him suddenly, as if the moment of passion had suddenly moved to Luthien.
Rubbing her brow just above her eyes, she looked at him.
"Wo...wo...what just happened? I mean, I know I was just kissing you, and I really do love you Alex, but that was just weird."
"I'm sorry Val. I never really tried to use that ability everyone says I have, and believe me, now I believe them!"
"Yeah, I mean, looking back, it was as though you were speaking to my soul. I saw myself basically come unglued in your arms, and damn! I need to go change!" She said suddenly, looking down at her near Navy blue cover alls, and seeing that the spot at her crotch was a lot darker then the rest.
"Damn." He said, looking down there with her.
"Maybe you should save that for when we're in the bedroom. Might liven things up a bit." She replied with a grin as she jogged off to her quarters to change.
"Hey! Wait up!" He yelled to her, jogging to catch up, pulling her into a hug.
"What?" She asked.
"Take the rest of the day off, and spend it with me." He suggested, she grinning.
"Is that a real you order, or that holy fuck I want you yesterday you?" She asked, quirking a silly grin at him. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly, gently rubbing her perky B cups, scooping her small frame up and carrying her all the way to her small cabin.
Giggling as he carried her, she was very happy that despite being married to Tara, they both loved her enough to want her in more than just a business capacity.
Tossing her onto her bed, he closed and locked her door...

Meanwhile, back at the MRB...

The terminal on her desk beeped suddenly, startling Lydia. Lifting the screen which knocked several contracts and such onto the floor, she keyed in her password and opened the message file. It was from the Precentor Martial, was short but to the point.

From: Desk of the Precentor Martial
To: Acolyte Van Mullen

Re: Alexander Carlson

Monitor his movements. Have an agent infiltrate his crew to learn if any of the 'Diablo Project' are with him. My contacts among the Azami haven't heard from their ship. Still searching. Advise if and when he leaves world.

Act-5: "A contract..."
MRB Hall, Galatea
7-July-2903

Alex and Maria studied the various contracts posted all over the hiring wall. The air was thick with humidity today, and both were soaked to the bone as they stood reading this contract and that.
"Here's one! Oh, nevermind, they want us there yesterday." She sighed.
"Heh, how about this one: Lance or stronger, defend a parts factory 2 jumps away, to commence 1-Sept-2903, will provide transport if needed, unit gets 100% of any salvage."
"Sounds tempting, but what's the downside?"
"Still reading. Ahh, pay."
"No pay?"
"No, 25% lower than scale." He said as Val jogged in. She was just as sweat soaked as they were.
"Hey guys, any luck?" She said with her ever-ready smile. Alex noticed she seemed, looser than normal.
"Val, are you wearing a bra?" He asked quietly. She blushed but answered.
"In this heat? Are you kidding? If it weren't for the random sharp edges and grease everywhere, I'd be fixing mechs naked." She said with a big grin. Maria simply rolled her eyes.
"What are you doing here, Val?" Alex asked, concerned for her well being, considering her small stature.
"I'm a big girl now Alex, and besides, I carry this." She said, holding up a 12" crescent wrench. Alex chuckled as Maria was just shocked.
"Any luck massaging your contacts?" He asked, taking a seat. He gave Maria a glance to keep looking, and she turned back to the wall and kept reading.
"Sorta. How much did you want to spend?" She asked, frowning a little.
"Depends on the condition. How bad is it?"
"Well..." She said with a shrill and a shrug of her shoulders.
"Val." He said, looking at her with a stern gaze. She laid her head on the table.
"Why is it so hot here?"
"Umm, summer?" Maria added, then turned around and studied the wall some more. Alex rolled his eyes.
"So, how much Val, and when was it built?" Lifting her head, she sighed.
"It's a complete ship, unless you count it being unarmed. The previous owner stripped out all the guns, and I do mean ALL of them. The hull still has all of it's armor, but she be toothless."
"Ok, no guns I can deal with. How much?" He was beginning to get tired of this little banter, and it showed in his tone. Val picked up on it immediately.
"60." She said finally.
"Too much. Is that their best offer? And you never said how old it was."
"No, that's its age. It's 60 years old."
"Ok, so it's been around. How much are they asking for it?"
"Well, new, they go for almost 160 million." She began, and saw the look in his eyes.
'Yikes! He's so gonna kill me!' She thought to herself.
"Val, out with it."
"Ok, my uncle holds the note. He'll sell it to us on time, if you can make a 15mill down payment. He wants 100 for it, even though it's unarmed." Alex nodded.
"As long as it doesn't strand us somewhere, I can deal with no weapons. How are the engines?"
"Oh, the whole ship just had a complete overhaul. He came up short with the shipyard that did the work, so he sold the weapons to make up for it."
"Good. Make the call, find out where he wants me to send the money, and we'll take it."
"What is 'it', if I may ask?" Maria did indeed ask.
"Union." Alex and Val said simultaneously.
"We need another dropship?"
"An Overlord is expensive to feed. I'm gonna take that contract, the defense one with low pay. Read the fine print. It pays low because the client thinks they have to provide all the transport. It doubles if we can get to the world, and triples if we have our own FTL transport." He said, calling Tara.
"Yeah babe?"
"Get Alpha Company ready. We got a job."
"Oh good, was starting to get antsy. Where we going?"
"Lyons. Ever since 164th left, it's been watched by one merc after another. The Lyrans are stretched pretty thin across the Kurita front, so who knows, maybe we'll see some action, maybe we won't. But it's a year long gig, complete with a warehouse to call our own, right on the edge of Fedkirk, a bigger city."
"Ok, see you when you get home." And she cut the COM. Moving to the acolyte's desk, the same woman who he spoke to before here again. Looking up at him, she shuffled some dispatches around and bade him take a seat.
"Welcome back Duke Carlson. What can our blessed order do for you this fine day?"
"I'm taking the contract to Lyons. They need a lance+ for a year of defender service."
"Ahh, most excellent. They've been sending update messages weekly. Their last merc unit bugged out early."
"Why?"
"Not sure."
"Who was it?"
"The Bandersnatches."
"Oh! I have a cousin with them. Let me track them down, and I'll see if I can't figure out why they left early!" Val said. Alex nodded to her and she left at a run.
"Your lead tech, yes?"
"Valerie Helmsford, and yes." Alex said, almost missing the look that flashed across the acolyte's face.
"Problem?" He asked, as she quickly composed herself.
"No, no problem. You will provide all of your transport needs I assume?"
"Affirmative. Let Lyons know we'll be there by the end of July. Full company with Air support."
Typing all the info into her terminal, she indicated where he needed to sign, and the contract was his.
"Done Duke. Good luck." And she rose and left the room. Quirking an eyebrow at THAT, Alex turned to an equally confused Maria, and led her out.
"Was it me, or was that just weird?"
"Something's going on. Let's hurry, maybe we can catch up to Val." He said, quickening his pace.

Retreating into her inner office, Lydia typed the message quickly into her HPG terminal. It wasn't as short as a previous message, but it did hit on a few highlights with a sense of urgency.

From: Acolyte Van Mullen
To: Precentor Martial, Our Order

Re: Alexander Carlson
Re: Valerie Helmsford

Precentor,
Even though he is no longer lost, he is picking up more of the lost legion, the 'Diablo Project'. He has Valerie Helmsford, assigned as his master mech tech. The knowledge locked inside her head, it cannot become public knowledge. He leaves in 72 hours on a contract with the people of Lyons, for their defense. Please advise on a course of action. His abilities combined with her knowledge could be used to... I dare not say. I await your blessed instructions on this most urgent matter.



24 hours later found Alex, Tara and Val meeting with her Uncle, a stout man in his early 60's, with graying hair at the temples, and soft blue eyes. His ready smile reminded Alex of Val's, he following her into the man's office. Taking seats he offered, Val made the introductions.
"Alex? Tara? This is my Uncle Horatio. Uncle H, this is Alex Carlson and his wife Tara." She said, and when she turned back to her Uncle, he looked absolutely terrified.
"Ca...Ca...Ca...Carlson! From Terra?!" He stammered, clearly idled by fright. To this end, Alex, now fully peaked with curiosity, looked into this man's fright-filled eyes, and let him have it with both barrels, so to speak, of his force of personality.
"What do you know about me, and I want nothing but truth, do you understand?" He said calmly but oh so forcefully. So forcefully in fact, that not only was Tara ready to give up the family secrets, Val looked like she was about to as well. But since his gaze was fixed solidly on Alex, he shook once, dropped his hankerchief, and sat back. The look in his eyes told all in the room everything.
"OH MY GOD! UNCLE!" Val shouted, running over to his side and checking him.
"Alex, what the hell was THAT?!" Tara asked, turning to the man she loved more than life itself.
"It's that ability they kept telling me about. Charisma. Force of personality. I have it so strongly, well, if I suffered from ego, I'd be the next head of a reformed Star League."
"ALEX! He's dead! From the look of him, I'd say he had a heart attack, but a really big one!" She cried to him as Tara moved around and opened his shirt. From the bruising around his heart, Tara knew exactly what happened.
"Alex, his heart exploded! What the hell did you do to him?"
"If I had to guess, I'd say I put the fear of god into him, and he knows, or knew, something about why I was abducted. Let's bug out. Val, grab the keycard to that Union, and let's jet." He said, and though it wasn't a direct order, it did carry a certain weight about it.

Had she not known Alex since his arrival on Hamilton, this entire scene would be pure horror to Val. She now understood that this wasn't just rumor and heresay. Alex spoke nothing but truth to her whenever they were together, and this moment solidified that to her like nothing else could. Turning, she pulled open the desk, and began searching for keycards that would unlock dropship controls.

"Ok, I think he kept it in here." She said, opening the top desk drawer. Rummaging around for a sec, she came up with paydirt: Not one keycard, but three."
"K, it's one of these. Poor Uncle H, what did they get you into?"
As they turned and left the building at a fast walk, Val explained what little she really knew.
"Ok, almost 10 years ago, I overheard my Dad talking to H about a contract with ComStar on a distant Periphery world called Banori. What they were talking about I missed mainly because I was 10, and had the most amazing bubble going. It popped a few seconds later and got all in my hair, so Mom drug me kicking and screaming into the bathroom where she unceremoniously shaved my head." She finished in a huff.
Alex chuckled softly, pulling the small tech/love of his life into a hug. She hugged him back, but pushed back away from him.
"Look, I'm not entirely sure what H was into, but damn Alex, he was family! Why?"
"Val, I'm sorry he died, but you've been with me since the beginning, well, my beginning on Hamilton. Something or someone wants me out of the picture on Terra, and until we're at a strength to go there and turn over every dirty rock on that world, I have to keep piecing the puzzle together the only way I can, with this ability I was born with."
"Well, it can be scary, that's for certain." She said as Tara nodded in agreement.
"I know. It scares me at times, to be perfectly honest, but I use it as a tool, a tool to get the one thing I need more than anything or anyone."
"What thing is that babe?" Tara asked, moving into his arms, hugging him tightly, she in turn getting hugged.
"Answers. Truth. And in some ways, justice." He said firmly, they both nodding with understanding.
"What do those keys fit?" He asked, trying to change the subject. Val pulled them out of her pocket and looked them over.
"Leopard or a variant, Union and DropShuttle."
"Anymore relatives here?" He asked, and she nodded.
"Ok, mail the Leopard and DS keys to them. Let's go check out the Union."
"Ok, I'll mail the keys tomorrow...Wait, why?"
"We don't need them."
"Well, the other relatives I have here are a cousin and a great aunt, neither of whom are related to H back there. Trust me, I know where the papers are, I'll just sell the other two. The lawyers can fight it out in court later."
"Hey, I was just trying to be honest about it."
"Don't worry about it. There's more going on here, and I want to know what it is too."
"Ok, let's get things moved for the trip."

Back at the MRB...

Acolyte Van Mullen read the response she received from the Precentor. It wasn't pretty, and she knew if it failed, they might have trouble with the young Duke.

From: Desk of the Precentor Martial
To: Acolyte Lydia Van Mullen

Re: Alex Carlson & Valerie Helmsford

As they are contracted to defend Lyons, and only a Company, I have a Kuritan Officer who owes the Order. He'll deal with the young Duke so he can't affect our plans. We'll see how well his 'gifts' handle a battle hardened Battalion...

Setting down the dispatch, she pulled open the desk drawer that held a safe. Inside lay her copy, or part in, the 'plan': Eliminate all heirs of nobility on Terra, to prevent the Hegemony from ever rising again, and kill off all of the experimental children bred and born at the medical research facility, out in the far-east Periphery, on the planet Banori...

"How many more of these children are among us? If I only knew."

'Gypsy Moon'
Star-system Lyons
Zenith Jump Point
29-July-2903

Alex looked out at the stars. Somewhere out in that vast sea lay the answers he sought.
'Why? Why was I born with this ability, and to what end do these people who are obviously operating in the shadows, want with it or me?' He thought. Turning, he made his way from the Overlord to their new Union, unarmed though it may be, it would transport his company and a few other surprises down to the world they were tasked to protect. Stopping at a wall COM, he called the mechbay.
"MechBay-2, Kowalski speaking."
"Colonel here. Is everything ready to go?"
"Aye Colonel, we can depart at any time."
"Aye, out." He said, turning and getting hugged by Val.
"Hey kid, what's up?" He said before she kissed him. She tasted great, like grape bubblegum. After, she held up a reader and started a purple bubble. Taking it, he read what it said.
'Unit Funds: 69m C-bills.' Confused by the amount it hit him a second later as her purple sphere continued to grow, she apparently having mastered bubbling in zero-g. As the bubble grew, he set her on his lap, hugging her around her belly tightly.
"I hope we both live a good long time. I would surely miss you and this." He whispered into her ear. She responded by snuggling against him, still huffing and puffing. Unzipping her coveralls, he slipped a hand in and gently rubbed her soft breasts, she puffing harder, much to the detriment of her purple sphere, it bursting suddenly, though not on either of them. Sucking the gum back in, she shed her coverall in nothing flat, let his manhood out to play and they made love there in the observation lounge, which, thankfully, they had to themselves...

"Ok, so, we hold back out here just in case. But, just in case of what?" Leo Greaves asked.
"In case someone shows up that shouldn't be here. A Kurita unit for example." Tara offered. She was warming to the notion of being unit XO, and situations like these were a sure-fire test of that.
"Are you taking any of the aero-force with you?" He asked. She shook her head however.
"We made a few purchases before we left, a few older turbine fighters, along with pilots. I was amazed at just how many dispossessed fighter pilots there were, but we have a dozen Fighting Falcons, and pilots to fly them. As soon as Val gets the catapult systems back online, the Union will make a fine carrier."
"And they're supposed to do what?"
"Provide the mechs with an illusion of air cover, considering a turbine fighter is no match for an Aerospace fighter." This from Reese Campbell, their Stingray pilot. Tara chaffed at that, since her father flew an air-only fighter when she was a child, and he died defending their world, but managed to shoot down 3 Aerospace fighters before they got him.
"Anytime flyboy." Came a new voice in the room, from the doorway. One of the new Falcon pilots was standing there, a lanky redhead with curves a plenty and petite as well. As eyes turned to her, wolf-whistles followed, she responding with fingers.
"Ok, ok, settle down. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Ericka Lifeson, leader of Falcon Squadron."
"Actually ma'am, we re-named the unit." She said, a gleam showing in her bright emerald eyes.
"Oh?"
"Skull Squadron, reporting for duty ma'am." She said proudly. Reese chuckled.
"Time and place of my choosing?" He said to her, still eye stripping her, much to her disgust.
"Time, sure, place, no. Falcon's are limited to atmospheric flight, so that's where we'd have a duel."
"Oh, so now you're setting limitations, and here I thought you had me." He replied cockily. Before Tara could rein in the situation however, Ericka got the last word.
"We'll take off from the ground, and if you can claw your way into space, you win. If not, enjoy the view dangling from your chute." She finished, turning the conversation back over to Tara.
"Ok, knock it off you two. If Alex approves your little stunt, you can clash your egos when we land. Oh! Wait, sorry, nope, can't do it. I totally forgot, Reese, you and your Aero-jocks are stuck here with the Overlord, babysitting. Have fun with that." She replied icily.
"Whatever." He said, turning and walking out, brushing against Ericka, and taking a deep sniff of her. All he smelled was lilacs. Sadly, her return sniff revealed he needed a better brand of deodorant.
"Ugh, go take a shower, sleeze-ball!" She said, pushing away from him. The two other aero-jocks that were with him laughed at her comment.
"Haha! She got you there Thunder. I keep telling you that your stick sucks." Michelle Wu said, their Schologar pilot.
"Yeah really, let me walk in front of you, so I can at least smell the crap Cookie's making tonight!" Waylan replied, pushing past Reese.
"Cheetah pilots, always in a hurry!" Michelle said, stopping as the two men strode away and turning to Ericka.
"I've seen Falcons in action. If you're as good as you claim, I got 50 c-bills on you."
She said as Ericka grinned.
"Someday."
"So, we'll be rotating in Bravo Company for two weeks every 3 months." Tara was saying, when Alex walked in from the other door, behind her.
"Belay that. Everyone's going. Both dropships, and I'm turning the 'Moon' loose to go ply the lanes, make some money while we're here." This made the jumpship crew happy, since any freight they hauled during a contract meant more shares for them.
"Why the change hun?" Tara asked as Michelle turned to look at Ericka, who was just smiling at Alex, he smiling back.
"Oh, remember that old saying about Techs in the Know?"
"Yeah, if you need answers to anything, ask a tech with a 20 c-bill tip attached. Why?"
"Val got us some info, and if I could, I'd chew nails on the ComGuard that has it in for me." That made everyone sit up at attention.
"Ok, listen up people. From the moment feet hit ground, we're on alert. It would seem that a certain ComGuard higher up has an axe to grind with me and my family, so, we're gonna get a visit from a Kurita force, most likely a Battalion if I had to guess, and most likely from the Second Sword of Light, from the planet Dromini VI." This caused all in the room to become silent.
"Oh, I doubt very highly that they'll send elements of the Sword, young Alex, but they do have three lessor mercenary units in their employ: Gordon's Highland Light, Masterson's Mastiffs, and the 3rd Crucible." Came a new voice from behind all at the door Ericka was still standing in. As he stepped into the room, everyone saw who he was.
"DAD!!" Val yelled, leaping to her feet and into his waiting arms. He dwarfed his young daughter in every direction, and was even half a foot taller than Alex. He moved forward to shake the man's hand, but got pulled into a fatherly hug instead. Pushing back out of the hug, Alex regarded the man: Early 40's, brown hair streaked here and there with gray, deep blue eyes and a push-broom moustache. He wore the uniform of a senior tech, sergeant stripes on his sleeves. Unit insignias had long since been rem0ved except for one: The Eridani Light Horse.
"Jacob Helmsford, at your service, young Duke. Is there somewhere we can speak in private, just the 4 of us?"
"4?"
"Myself, Valerie, you and your lovely bride. It is of the utmost importance."
"Aye, this way. Dismissed!" He said then yelled over his shoulder, the rest of the unit shuffling to and fro, only Ericka staying behind.
Removing the recorder from her pocket, she peeled the ComGuard logo off the side of it and dropped it into a waste recycler.
'This can't be good, not at all.' She thought to herself, turning and heading back to her fighter.

Leading his little party to the officer's mess, he offered seats to all, though Val sat with Tara on a bench, against the far wall, a crate of oranges sitting beside her, the latter pulling the former into a sisterly hug. Val looked up at her grinning and chewing. Tara simply rolled her eyes.
She whispered quietly into Val's ear. She made a pouty face but kept chewing all the same.
"So, what brings you here, and how long have you been aboard?"
"I hid out on the Union when it suddenly got a crew and mechs and such. I was unaware what was happening until I saw you with Valerie, then I had an idea. I waited until all the excitement that the departure caused had ceased, then simply blended in with the rest of the 2 dozen techs your unit appears to employ, always working shifts when Val was off duty. I needed to see who and what you were like as a person, before I revealed myself to you." He finished, as Alex studied him, Tara just held onto Val, and she started a bubble. It didn't get but a foot across when Tara poked it with her finger. Pouting, Val sucked it back in and went back to just chewing.
"I could see bits of sugar in it still. It's not ready yet." She again whispered into Val's ear. She looked up at Tara, thanking her with a smile.
"I see. And what conclusions have you drawn?"
"I may know why Precentor Martial Jamison wants you dead. Have you ever heard of the Diablo Project?"
"So that's who's behind all of this! Wait, what? Diablo? No, what is it?"
"It was a genetics experiment conducted out on an older periphery world using an abandoned SLDF Castle Brian. The genetic experiments were intended to create super soldiers. Once the children were born, they were given over to couples who were, through no fault of their own, without a child, and tasked to raise this child as their own. Once the children reached maturity, they were supposed to be turned over to the project leader, PM Jamison, but certain House factions got wind of what they were doing, and put a stop or tried to put a stop to it."
"Damn, like cheap sci fi, but real!" Val said before starting another pink sphere.
"Very real. In fact, there are 4 such children on this vessel." This made Val's new bubble swell to bursting as she gasped into it. Tara giggled and helped her clean the gum from her bangs and nose. Picking out a few pieces of hair, she popped it back into her mouth, and chewed, listening intently.
"Do you know who these kids are?" Alex asked, already knowing one answer.
"Besides you and Valerie, yes." He said, casting a sad smile to his daughter. She nearly gagged on her gum.
"I'm..I'm an experiment?" She asked, not believing the words she just uttered. Looking sadly at Tara, she sat up now.
"But how, I was always so frail as a child, what were they breeding me to be, a sickly germ carrier?!" She all but bawled, both Alex and her father moving to comfort her. In their arms she did come unglued, bawling like a newborn. She only hugged Alex however, feeling betrayed by her own flesh and blood. Sensing her distress, Jacob backed away as a silent tear ran down his cheek.
"Little Valerie, you, my beloved genius, will out-live everyone, even Alex here, but not by much." He said with just a hint of displeasure. Getting ahold of herself just that quickly, she turned to face him, still basically sitting in Alex's lap.
"Genius? What do you mean I'll out-live even Alex? What did they do to us?"
"The 4 of you that are here, were all designed for longevity, tapping into the brain's vast abilities at repair and rebuild. Alex, when you were abducted, didn't you say you woke up in a swamp, but with no evidence that a ship had landed anywhere?" He nodded.
"That's because they dropped you, after stunning you into unconsciouness, as they flew over the swamp, never thinking, to my reckoning I suppose, that the swampy water down there would somehow cushion your fall. They more likely than not, expected the fall to kill you."
"When I woke up, I had what looked like a gunshot here." He said, lifting his shirt to show a scar barely visible to anyone, just below and to the left of his left shoulder.
"Any gunshot to that region would have pierced his lung and he surely would have drowned in his own blood, yet here you sit beside me, the picture of health. How Alex?" Tara asked.
"Well, ask Jacob here. All I remember is, I took off my shirt, which while white had become stained red with blood, and used it to cover a weeping wound. I fell asleep and when I woke next, the wound was scabbed over and I coughed up a metal fragment that now must have been a part of the bullet."
"Amazing!" Jacob said from where he stood, trying to take in everything. Val, still sitting in his lap, squirmed slightly. He looked at her.
"You ok Val?"
"No, there's this cylindrical lump I'm sitting on at an awkward angle." She said with a grin, referencing his erection. He loved her, and constantly breathing in her scent was driving him nuts. Putting his arms around her waif-ish form, he hugged her tightly to him.
He whispered into her ear. She giggled however.
She whispered back, as Jacob ran calculations out loud.
"Alex! You say you have a gift with your voice?"
"No sir, I have a personality issue. More like a force of personality." He said, turning to face the man. Summoning up this ability, which only takes a moment of brief concentration, he turned to Val, kissing her cheek, and then back to Jacob.
"Go to the mess, fetch us all some coffee. Now please." He said in a firm, yet unwavering tone. He had to restrain Val as she tried to get off of his lap, and a quick grab stopped Tara from leaving as well. Jacob however, darted from the room in an instant, launching himself down a corridor as fast as he could fly, considering the micro gravity.
"Oh my god!" Gasped both Tara and Val.
"Ya know, we could probably win some battles with just you on COM duty Alex." Tara said with a grin, after the urge to fulfill that order passed.
"I plan on trying it, especially if these mercs do indeed show up." He replied as Jacob floated back into the room. His hands were empty except for the pistol in his right hand.
"Toss that over here." Alex said and the man did so, Val catching it. Rubbing the ache from behind his eyes, Jacob looked at both of his hands, wondering where his weapon went to. He then saw Val holding it.
"You, you must understand, you can't be allowed to live. If that ability were ever used in a political fashion..." But Alex cut him off.
"I would surely ressurrect the Star League? Be serious, besides, while it's possible I COULD sway a great many minds with my ability, I have no desire, none whatsoever, to be a politician. Dealing with Houses is bad. And before you say it, just getting a fair contract is painful enough."
"You're young. You have no idea where or what you'll be doing 20-30 years from now." But Alex shook his head.
"No, now that I know what was done to me wasn't caused by my 'family', this changes my entire life plan. My new plan, other then to wipe out ComStar, by showing the various House Lords what they involved themselves with, is to raise a large family, with as many women as will have me. Then, use my children as tools in that most thorough and carefully planned destruction." He said, as Tara cast a glance at him and Val pouted.
"I can't have kids Alex, remember?" She said sadly.
"When did you get your cycle last?" He asked, she still pointing the gun at Jacob.
"It never really started. I mean, I got pubs and all, boobs too, but I've never had a cycle, ever. The doctors say it's like my body is still in pre-adolescence."
"It is. In a few short years, your insides will catch up with the outside. When it does, let me know."
"How do you know this?" She asked, as Jacob inched closer to hear his response.
"He told me. You're aging very slowly. Inwardly, your body is still a child, even though you have womanly parts, and can experience orgasms. The reproductive system is taking it's time. My brain has been growing, learning, anything and everything. Like you, I don't forget anything I ever see. Some days, it's a struggle to not shoot myself from all the imagery that I see, but now, now I see clearly, and I now know what we must do." He said, as a laser blast narrowly missed his head.
"And that is what our order fears the most. I'm sorry Alex, you have to die." Came a distinctly feminine voice from above them. Turning, everyone saw Ericka hovering a few meters away and above them.
"Drop the pistol, Val." She ordered, Alex gently squeezing her thigh and she letting it slowly drift to the floor.
"Not a word from you, either of you."
"As if a gun would kill him." Tara said, since she hadn't been ordered to silence.
"You knew he was different, knew he had this ability, yet here you sit, pregnant with his offspring." Ericka chided.
"Lust is a powerful tool. And he's quite good. Besides, maybe you should try it sometime, maybe you wouldn't be such a stone cold bitch." Tara quipped back, sending Ericka into a rage, she almost shooting her, had it not been for one word, shouted by Alex.
"STOP!" And everyone stopped what they were doing. Tara silenced herself, Jacob stood his ground, Ericka stopped trying to aim her pistol and Val stopped rubbing his crotch. He was happy that that stopped, considering where it was leading.
"I told you no talking." She said, rubbing her brow.
"Give up Ericka, you're done here." He said, pushing Tara up at her, as Ericka seemed to not want her pistol anymore, Tara snatching it from her grasp as she floated by. Wasting no time, Val scooped up the pistol that settled ontop of the crate beside her and Alex and shot Jacob who was about to lunge at them, center of mass. The shot propelled him backwards, blood droplets flying in all different directions. Turning herself slowly around as she began her descent, Tara winged Ericka in the left arm with the laser pistol as most of Alpha company ran in, weapons drawn. Two medics tried to stabilize Jacob, but the senior of the two, turned to Alex and shook his head. Pulling Valerie into a tight hug, he taking the shaking gun from her grasp, he shushed away her silent tears.
"He was evil, I killed my father because he was evil. He had no right, NO RIGHT!" She yelled before collapsing into full bawl mode, Alex and then Tara both holding and caressing her, trying to help her get through it. Turning to Ericka, he gave an order he knew he wouldn't like, but it had to be done.
"Do you still willingly serve the Order?" He asked, plain and simple.
"Until the day I die!" She hissed her response, holding her shoulder where Tara shot her.
"Space her!" He ordered, and 4 mech-warriors grabbed the lanky redhead, and drug her, kicking and screaming to the main airlock, and did just that.
"Tech McMannis, clean this mess up. We make planetfall in 3 days. I'll be in my quarters."
"Aye Colonel."
"He never did say who the other two kids were." Tara commented as they both consoled Val. Alex sat up suddenly. Thinking about the unit, who excelled in ways not normally seen at training cadres, his thoughts focused on two crewmen, one a mech pilot, the other a tanker.
"Hammie and Gladstone."
"The Jenner pilot and Anton's gunner?" Tara gasped in shock. Alex nodded.
"I seem to be a magnet for these people. I wish I knew how many more there were."
"147 more." Val said suddenly, rubbing her forehead afterward.
"Really?" And she nodded. Turning her to face him, he looked deep into her eyes.
"Val, you love and trust me right?" She nodded, kissing him softly. Tara's eyebrows shot up at THAT! Unleashing his ability, still looking into her eyes, he performed a miracle.
"Val! Grow up, we need you! We need you to remember EVERYTHING about Diablo, then go to a computer terminal and type it all out!" He practically yelled at her. Her eyes wide as a small trickle of blood ran from her nose, she leapt from their arms and raced from the room, up to the C.I.C. and onto a computer terminal, typing furiously onto a word file. Tara looked at him in wide-eyed horror.
"That ability scares me like nothing else, my husband. Please don't ever use it on me."
"To be honest, I don't 'try' to use it. Let's go check on Val." She nodded, floating beside him up to the bridge, then finding Val in C.I.C.
Looking down at herself, Val noticed two things immediately: Her boobs looked bigger, fuller, and she needed a change of pants, undies too. Tracking a smell he knew all too well, Alex moved to her side, and looked her over.
Her hair, blonde though it had been, was now a lot longer, and a strawberry blonde, her blue eyes had a brighter tone to them, and her breasts were clearly bigger, as big as Tara's actually, full C's. The dark spot at her crotch was the source of the smell Alex had picked up on, as it looked as though she had just gotten her first period.
"Tara, Val needs a change of pants, underwear too, and get her a pad." He said to his loving wife in a near whisper. She nodded and floated off. Looking around the C.I.C., he noted that they had the place to themselves, as she continued to type furiously. Kissing her cheek, she turned her head, still typing, and returned his loving kiss.
"Take me, please?" She all but begged of him.
"Here and now? You very well could end up preggers ya know." He said jokingly, but her eyes told him everything...

Act-6: "Lyons"
Clovis Point, Fedkirk, Lyons, LC
2-Aug-2903

Alex, Tara and Val met with the Military Liaison of Lyons for all of 10 minutes. When the man tried to establish his command and control over their unit, Alex unleashed his charisma on him.
"So, we have not only full military control over our own forces." Tara began.
"We have total control over ALL of theirs as well." Val replied as the three walked back to the warehouse where they were assigned. Alex hugged his ladies tightly as they walked.
"So, according to your cousin, they tried that with the Bandersnatches as well?" Val nodded.
"After 9 months of endless drilling and exercises, the unit commander got fed up, cut the contract and they left. Luckily for these buffoons, the DCMS didn't take an interest. We literally are the only defenders the world has."
"Except for a small militia and a couple dozen aircraft." Tara added, rubbing her belly bump then kissing Alex. He hugged her tighter as they arrived at their warehouse, mechs and vehicles in various stages of repair and maintenance.
"Try to keep at least a lance or two up and ready, should these mercs decide to show up. I need to make a call back to Terra, see if I can't get my pop on the line."
"Ok, I'll stay here, make sure Nathan is being good."
"And I'll stay here and keep the techs busy." Val added. Turning and climbing aboard the motorbike they carried for jaunts around towns, Alex sped off to the HPG station at the center of the city.

Upon arriving, he noticed how busy it was here, with over 6 lines to use the terminals, and about a dozen people in each line. Pulling out his hand COM, he called Val with an idea.

"Val here. Alex?"
"Hey sweetie, I have a question. Could a battlemech reactor power an HPG station?"
"No, not strong enough. The stations on just about every world are powered by a reactor that would keep a McKenna running. Why?"
"Seems silly, but it would be nice to have a portable HPG system."
"Yeah, keep dreaming. That's been ComStar's dream as well. Anything else?"
"Blow a big one for me, I'll see you when I get back."
"Oh, will do, and I'll make sure you do see ALL of me too." She replied with a giggle, cutting the COM.
Smiling, he took his place in line...

On Terra, at ComStar HQ...

"Sir, urgent message from the 7th ComGuards on Lyons!" An aide said to Precentor Martial Jamison.
"The 7th aren't on Lyons. Give me that!" He said, snatching the COM dispatch from the man, opening it and reading the message. As the aide waited, he paled visibly as he read Alex's message. Dropping the letter into a waste recycler, he turned to the aide.
"Order my shuttle made ready. And call ahead to my flag, have them placed on alert."
"Lyons sir?"
"Yes, dammit, Lyons! Dismissed!" And the aide departed hastily.

From: Colonel Alex Carlson, Carlson's Cavaliers
To: Precentor Martial Jamison, ComGuards, Earth

Re: Diablo

I now know EVERYTHING you pompous ass. And when Valerie Helmsford remembers the rest of the Diablo details still locked away in her psyche, I'm coming for you, you insidious fool. Don't bother coming to Lyons, unless you're coming to surrender.


On New Karlsruh, LC
Same time
"Ma'am! General!" An aide said as he ran up to her, she sitting at her outside office desk, as it was a beautiful summer afternoon. Looking up as the aide ran to her desk, sliding to a stop.
"Message from the LC world of Lyons."
"Oh? What's wrong there?"
"I'm not at liberty ma'am." He said, handing the HPG message to her. Opening it, she read it, re-read it and read it a third time, just to make sure she wasn't delirious.

From: Colonel Alex Carlson, Carlson's Cavaliers
To: General Jennifer Dirkson, CO EDL

Re: Contract

Hello Jen,
Been a long time since I saw you back on Terra. Your speech on combined arms tactics has stuck with me all these years, as has the scent of your perfume later that night. I have an urgent request.
I need to contract one of your battalions for the added defense of the world Lyons, on the DC border. Not from the Combine, but from a rogue ComGuard named Jamison. The whispers of secret eugenics programs people heard about from ComStar are whispers no longer. I have the proof they exist! And, unless I can supplement my unit with another, I fear they'll succeed in covering up this dirty little secret as well.
Find attached a promissory note paying your battalion 5 MC-Bills for your timely intervention.
If you chose not to come, keep the money anyway, I'm sure your unit can put it to good use, and no one will blame you for not coming. Secrets and whispers are like rumors: Usually spread by drunks and prostitutes.
Your friend, always,
Alex.

Dropping the letter on her desk, she turned to the aide.
"Get the 21st Striker ready to move out ASAP! We depart at once for Lyons! Move your ass man!" She shouted at the aide, he dropping the other thing he was carrying on her desk, turning and running off. Picking up the flimsy piece of paper he dropped, she dropped into her chair, for this was no loose slip of scrap. It was a copy of the ComStar Promissory note!

ComStar Promissory Note 2-Aug-2903

Pay to the order of General Jennifer Dirkson the amount of 5,ooo,ooo C-bills
Five Million C-B----------------------------------------------5m CBills-oo

Draw n against Bank of Fedkirk, Lyons

Acolyte Jason Essen--Authorizing Agent Defense Contract

His tasks done, Alex hopped aboard his scoot, and rode back to their ad-hoc base...

Industrial District,
Clovis Point, Lyons
16-Aug-2903

Alex looked again through the telescope then down at the radar display.
"Yeah, no joke Alex, it's a Star Lord class. ComStar's 'Crucible of Might', usually attached to the 2nd ComGuards."
"Yep. You forget Val, I'm from Terra." He said with a smile.
"Incoming COM from that Starlord!"
"Put it here, on the main screen." Alex ordered, and Precentor Martial Jamison's face backlit in red showed on the screen. His dark, wavy hair seemed a bit unkempt.
"Ahh, there you are you insignificant worm. When we get through with you, you'll wish you stayed hidden on that swamp infested rock in the League!"
"Whenever you get tired of floating around up there, you know where to find me, ComGuard." And Alex made the 'cut the COM' motion with his left hand. The screen then went blank.
"Sir, seriously, that's the 2nd Guards?! We're soo gonna get smashed."
"Do you see me worrying? I have faith in all of you. Besides, I'm not asking anyone who doesn't want to, to fight my battles."
"We stand with you Alex." Came Anton's voice, he standing along with Amy and Adele just inside the wardroom.
"And I relish the thought of mixing it up with some ComStar losers. Count me and Hammie in too!" Maria said, her standing by the coffee table mixing a cup, Hammie standing beside her drinking from a cup. He nodded also.
"Colonel, the Assault Lance stands with you. Tell that ComTurd to bring it on!" Brock said to cheers from the rest of his lance, as more of the unit filtered in.
"Ok, settle down. I do have one question to ask all of you, and it's a serious one."
As everyone finished filtering in, taking seats and getting coffee, Alex addressed them.
"My question is, why do you follow me? I'm not even old enough to drink on most worlds, so why do you do it?"
There was a long moment of silence as people looked to one another. Finally, Maria answered.
"Because even though you are young, you exude a confidence that inspires us, inspires me, to not just do better, but to BE better. Be better at not just one thing, but everything, and I think I speak for everyone when I say this, it's not your age that makes you who you are, but your confidence in us. Your confidence in us makes us all want to do better, to be better, because you believe in us. I think, that is why we believe in you." She said, taking her seat, as everyone in the room nodded in agreement.
Wiping the single tear that ran down his cheek, he nodded.
"Thanks for that. Ok, let's sit here and brainstorm through this problem. A straight-up fight is out of the question, nor do I want to risk anyone's dependents on a possible suicide mission. And let's not forget, we're not on home turf, so terrorizing a local town or city with mechs clumping through the streets is also out. No, we need to bring him to someplace where neither of us holds an advantage, but where innocents aren't threatened."
"Hey, in the center of this continent are a bunch of active volcanos. That should make things interesting." Hammie suggested.
"Good idea Ham. Let's do that. Ok, everyone, get to your lift stations. Val, let's make tracks for Volcano Alley!"
"On it Skipper!"

45 minutes later, the center of Fedkirk,
'Volcano Alley', as dubbed by the Cavaliers...

"Ok Tara, look sharp! His dropship is heading for this point here, call it Waypoint Bravo. I want to force him into this old canyon, looks like a lava tube that the roof caved in on over the years."
"Ok, looks good. Bravo Company, hold the fort with the Union. It's unarmed, so you'll be it's guardians. Falcon flight?"
"Falcon's aye!" Came the response from the new wing leader, a young man named Justin.
"Lt Case, I need your birds to loiter to our south, about 30 klicks, stay low, say treetop if there were any trees in this part of the world, copy?"
"Falcon flight copies."
"Alpha lead, this is recon two, I got a track on their dropships, 4 of them, all Overlords, heading for the spot you said, +10 klicks to the west."
"I finished the scans of the that tube/canyon Alex, it's gonna be a hot time in the old caldera tonight!" Val said over her COM, the roar of rotor blades in the background.
"Good, with the foothills between us, a lava field to the south and the main range to our north, and nothing but volcanic swamp east of our position, he's really got no choice."
"His force has entered atmosphere, still on track for that plot of land." Moses called out, banking his VTOL to the west.
Switching COM channels, he made a call to the ComGuards.
"This is Alex Carlson. We really don't have to do this."
"Oh young sir, but we do. You have valuable information, and it must never come to light."
"Come to light that the all powerful ComStar has been conducting illegal human experimentation? Good luck sweeping that under the rug."
"Well, thankfully, when you and yours die here today, that information will die here with you!"
"Yeah, good luck with that, Jamison. I'll see you in hell first."
"Oh, I'm sure someone is going to hell, but, I'm also pretty sure it'll be you." He finished, cutting the COM.
Alex finished the pre-checks on his Griffin, did a lance check and then a company check. All was as it should be.
"Val, get ready for some good salvage."
"Oh, I can definitely agree to some of that!" She said over the roar of Moses' VTOL, he banking around and heading for their dropship.

Alex watched the footage he was getting from the Cheetah, set up in recon mode, as the ComGuard's dropships, indeed four Overlords, set down on the plains west of the choke point Alex had picked for them to go through.
He watched as Jamison deployed his units asymetrically, sending his light battalion first. 36 light and a few medium mechs charged toward the choke point, and upon reaching it, Falcon flight was upon them, along with over a 100 fighters from the planetary militia, all of them atmospheric fighters, packing dual SRM/6's and a pair of Sperry-Brownings in the nose.

"Def-1 this is 5, got tone, fox 3!"
"Cav-1 to 4, you getting all of this Waylan? Make sure I look good for my kid!"
"Def-13, I got good tone, flushing!"
"This is 11, he's got me locked up, I can't shake the lock, he's got tone on me, does anyone see the..."

As the air assault against the recon batallion wore on, Alex ordered the LRMC's to the mouth of their side of the canyon, using nets to obscure their hidey holes...
"Patton, Grainger, you guys form on the LRMC's, provide cover fire for them, Recon Lance, follow the tanks!" He ordered, and the light mechs all around him ran to catch up to the armor, winding their way toward the mouth of the canyon.
Over the command lance freq, he heard Tara say,
"Yeah, they should guard the tanks, too light for us anyway." This caused more than a few chuckles.
"Falcon one, you still with us LT?"
"And I was going somewhere?"
"How's it looking?"
"Ugh, sorry, had to dodge, ah, let me get some altitude, call me in a few."
"Roger that. Moses, you still got eyes over there?"
"Roger that Skipper, I see all, I know all."
"How many they got left?"
"Of their recon element, maybe 12 to 15 still moving."
"Aye, keep me posted. Your eyes see the same LT?"
"Make that 11 even, damn, never saw a Locust go up like THAT before."
"Never seen a MG ammo explosion?" Alex quipped.
"If that was MG ammo, he was carrying close to 4 tons of it."
This made Alex's eyebrows shoot way up.
"How many Locusts are still trying to get through?"
"That's all that's here, running two abreast toward the canyon entrance. Getting so tricky to walk down there, I doubt an Atlas would have an easy time plowing through all the wreckage."
"What is he trying to do Alex?"
"If I had a guess, I'd say if one of those mechs got through, and self-destructed inside our dropship, no more dropship."
"Oh. Nathan's aboard, just so you know."
"I know babe, I know."
"I got 5 broke through, we're down to 54 Falcons, between ours and the militia, and the militia is bugging out, claiming low ammo and fuel. I'm fine on both, so I think they're just scared." Case said.
"Keep at it LT. Assault 1, mechs coming your way, take 'em!"
"Aye!"
"I see them, tracking...Firing!" Grainger said from his Von Luckner, his AC/20 the only thing that could be heard.
"Yeah! Smoked me a Locust, next one's on you Patty!"
"Got it, going for a twofer!" And again, all anyone could hear was the roar of a pair of AC/20's...
"YaaaaaHOOooooo!" Came the rebel yell from Hammie in his refitted Jenner, as he flushed both of his new LRM/5 racks, they dropping a Locust with an enormous mushroom cloud from the middle of the canyon. LRMC-2 Rolled up beside him, unleashing hell on the last three Locusts, 2 of them exploding from the damage, but the third was barely touched, it running the rest of the way through the canyon, and just as the Demolisher got a clean shot, the pilot ejected. And this was no ordinary ejection either, as the pilot roared skyward, a second series of motors fired as the primaries fell away, really propelling him upward.
"EVERYONE! Shield your eyes, NOW!" Alex roared over the COM. Everyone complied as that last Locust went off like a pocket nuke...
"Shit!" Hammie yelled, his Jenner knocked cleanly off of his feet, the Demolisher pushed backward close to a 1/4 mile and the Von Luckner flipped onto it's side, as it was closer.
Much closer.
"Grainger! Grainger, you copy!?" Came another voice, from inside LRMC-2, Julius Grainger. Juliet was his kid sister, and the loader onboard the Von L.
"Fall back to our side of the canyon. LT, was that the last Locust?"
"Yeah...yeah, last one. I'm a mess up here Skipper."
"What happened?"
"Shrapnel from the blast, caught me in the lower. Can't feel my butt if you can believe that, and I'm bleeding pretty good. Got an artery I think."
"Keep talking to me Justin! Can you land?"
"Neg, landing gear is all screwed...screwed up. Eject isn't working either. I'm a mess and so's my plane."
"Moses! Do you have a track on him?"
"Skipper, we're setting down, that nuke scrambled all my systems. Val's doing what she can, but I'm almost as bad as Case is."
"Copy. Keep talking to me Case, don't need you nodding off. What's your position?"
"I'm...I'm...Oh wow... Angels... I see angels sir, and...they're...beautiful..." And nothing more was heard from Falcon 2...
"DAMMIT!" Alex screamed, slamming the throttles of his Griffin to their stops (when Val would check it later, he threw them forward so hard, they left new impressions), and charging forward. Maria, saddened by the loss of a good pilot and person, was startled by Alex's sudden launch, but, ever the dutiful wing man, chased after him.
In a blind rage he charged down the ramp, raced across the field to the canyon and stopped suddenly, Maria nearly running him down.
"Sir?" She asked. Ignoring her for the moment, he went back to the ComGuard freq.
"Nukes! You're using Nuclear weapons!? Have you lost your mind Jamison!? Come to me you fucking coward, and bring everything you can, because I'm going to kill you!"
"Hahahahahaha! Good luck!" Jamison replied, as his company of mechs charged down the ramp of his Overlord, and made their way toward the canyon.

Turning to Moses, Val looked down from her spot sitting on top of the VTOL.
"Whew! That was a close one. We need to work on Alex's temper."
"Why?"
"He almost ran into a minefield!"
"That wouldn't be good." Moses added.

As the dozen mechs charged toward the canyon, Alex jumped to the top of a side ridge. From there he could see Jamison's force as he ran for the mouth of the canyon, almost 3 miles away. From his perch, high atop the south ridge wall, he watched as Jamison's force lined up two by two and began entering the canyon.
"Val? Alex here." He called across the COM.
"I'm here Alex, where are they?"
"They just started into the canyon. I'll call ya just as the last mechs enter."
"K!"

"Come on boy, come in and let's dance!" Jamison called out from his Crusader, plodding along at a reduced pace because of all the dead Locusts littering their side of the canyon.
"Sure Jamison, I'm on my way. Mind if I bring a few friends, or would you like to have a personal duel?"
"A duel you say? Outmatched that you are, sure, why not."
"Well then, I'll see you on the other side." Alex replied, leaning forward as they got closer to Val's surprise.

As the ComStar mechs advanced, Alex watched in earnest. A rumbling off to his right brought Maria standing beside him, her a little wobbily at first, getting her footing, then standing up straight.
"Easy there." He said.
"Wow, not much to stand on up here. Makes me feel like a mountain goat. They get into the canyon proper yet?"
"Almost."
"Was I hearing things, or do you plan to duel him?"
"No and yes."
"You do know that most ComStar forces use tech that can trace it's origins to the time of the Star League, right?"
"Good for them."
"Alex, that's a pretty unfair advantage."
"Maria, I'm not worried. Besides, I have a few tricks of my own."
"Ok, I'm just concerned for your safety is all."
"Thanks for that."
"Ya know, we really do care about you. What I said earlier is nothing but truth."
"I know, which is why I'm up here and not leading from the dropship like Tara wants me to."
"I understand."
"Val, NOW!" He yelled into the COM.
Flipping the cover up on the remote detonator she held, smiling, she pushed the red button.

But nothing happened.

"What the...?" She said over the COM.
"The nuke blast! It must have fried the remote trigger. Check the battery!" He yelled, watching as the lead elements of Jamison's force walked past the line where the mines ended. Working quickly, Val stripped the batteries from the detonator, pull fresh cells from her belt pouches, and fed them into the device, not worrying about the cover, and pushing the brightly glowing red button.

All along the canyon floor, vibra-bombs exploded, two dozen in all, catching most of Jamison's force in the overlapping blasts. But the mines themselves weren't intended to destroy the mechs. Stabilizing himself and reaching a hand over to Maria to steady her as well, the groundquake that shook their perch was even worse down on the canyon floor. The ground opened up beneath their feet, several mechs plunging down into a lava river below. The bombs had an unexpected side consequence as well, when the sides of the canyon, the very walls Alex and Maria were standing on, began to shuffle and collapse.
"Let's go, time to leave!" He said, as she nodded and jumped up and away. He however decided to stay, riding the avalanche of his slope down to Jamison.
Maria watched (and her gun cameras recorded) as Alex literally surfed his Griffin down the slope, astride a massive, mostly flat boulder, down to the lava river far below.
"COWABUNGA!" He yelled over the COM, working the controls as he fought to keep his mech not only up but stable.

"Am I seeing things, or is my husband surfing a mountainside?" Tara asked Anton, the only other person in their lance close by. A mighty cheer went up among the unit, as Maria patched her camera view into the COM circuit, EVERYONE now watching as their commander literally surfed an avalanche.
"You go Colonel! Hang ten man!" Roared Hammie, who traced his roots back to the Hawaiian Islands of Terra.
Maria could have sworn he made the Shaka salute surfers of Earth used to symbolize a great ride, as he slid down to the river. Kicking his jump jets near the end, he landed on firm ground just inside their side of the canyon, where his armor was engaging the 4 mechs that made it out before all hell broke loose in the canyon floor.

Turning around, he spotted Jamison's mech, a Crusader, as it unleashed a missile volley against one of the unit's LRMC's. Missiles detonated all around the tank, scrubbing armor, as the turret turned, and unleashed hell back. The other mechs, a Warhammer, Phoenixhawk and an Archer were likewise mixing it up with Maria, the Demolisher, Tara's Quickdraw and Anton's SRMC, which as Alex spotted it, practically rammed the Warhammer, reversing after the collision, and his girls unloading SRM hell onto the 70-tonner.

Getting clear of the over-turned Von Luckner he stumbled upon and was unable to right, he aimed his Large Laser at the Crusader's back, and let him have it.
A solid beam of red laser light slammed into the spine of the Crusader, boiling armor plate, leaving droplets of it on the back of the mech's legs, Alex taking a step to his left, loosing a flight of 15 LRMs from the rack on his shoulder, most missing wide but a small group hitting, exploding all along his foe's right leg. It turned, and he heard a tone loc in his helmet, as bay doors opened, exposing the tips of 30 LRMs.
"Ahh, there you are young Duke. Time for you to meet your maker!" Jamison yelled over the COM, loosing the missiles at Alex.
"TallyHo! Yelled Reese as he flew his Stingray directly into the path of the missiles, most exploding along the wings and fuselage of his slantback, the damage bringing his plane down with a shrieking scream of tearing armor plate and finally a fireball, his ejection seat barely clearing the fireball.
"YOU OWE ME A PLANE KID!" He yelled over the roar of wind and the explosion below him.
As Jamison watched his missile volley get absorbed by the fighter, he stepped forward, locking up the Griffin in front of him with his 4 Streak 2's...

When Maria landed, still in awe of Alex's skills as both a mech pilot and as a surfer, she realized she was out of position to the battle that was happening. Charging her SHD forward, she caught sight of the Warhammer first, as Anton unloaded 60 missiles into it at point blank range. It exploded a moment later, it's own SRM ammo being the culprit, as she moved forward, trying to find her wingman. When she saw the Stingray intercept a flight of LRMs, she ran toward where the launch vehicle must certainly be, and as she cleared the dust and smoke, found herself directly in front of this SLDF Crusader.
Kicking her jumpjets, she leapt backwards, firing her PPC and laser as she withdrew from him...

Collision alarms blared in Alex's helmet as he saw a SHD flying backwards right towards him! Again, kicking the jets, he jumped straight up as Maria landed where he had been standing, altering his flight only slightly so to land beside her, firing his rack of LRMs and the Laser...

Once free of the wreckage of the Stinger that had followed him up to the ridge, Hammie leapt down into the valley below, locking up the Phoenixhawk with his LRMs, and loosing a flight of 10 missiles into it's back, as Tara, having reached a good firing position, unloaded on it from the side, it having turned away from her when the Demolisher removed it's left arm. Mimicing Hammie's attack, and punctating her attack with a following of paired medium lasers, another 10 LRMs slammed into the distracted PHX, it now turning away from the Demolisher, it's engine compartment smoking and people scrambling to get out of the burning tank, before the fire suppression system could activate...

Frances, tired of babysitting, looked one last time at the Union's radar systems, and seeing no other mechs besides the 4 that emerged from the Canyon trap, charged forward in her mech, the grinning death's head gleaming in the late afternoon sun...

Tommy, Carl and Kyoto, the rest of Bravo Company, saw Frances, their lance leader, break ranks and head for the entrance to the canyon, just as an Archer stepped out, and loosed a volley of LRMs into the side of their ride, the Union.
Ontop of the Archer first, Frances unloaded on the poor fellow, both AC/10's blazing and a follow up with a pair of large lasers causing the Archer to fall backwards, most of it's upper torso armor just gone...
When the rest of her lance fired, the pilot ejecting from his crippled mech, Frances continued her forced march into the smoke and dust cloud, her lancemates trying to chase her down...

"So, I see you can't fight your battles on your own, you little snot!" Jamison roared over the COM, as Alex moved in, and landed an off hand haymaker into the Crusader's head, the mech staggering backwards, firing a full spread of LRMs at point blank range, removing a solid two tons of armor from Alex's machine.
Maria kicked skyward, and came down without use of her jets, droping the 90 odd meters right ontop of the staggered Crusader.
"That's because he doesn't have to, you worthless zealot!" She cried out as her mech crashed into his, knocking both to the ground. Pushing herself up with her free left hand, she put the laser barrel on her right arm to the side of his head, and...
"Surrender you pig, or die here!"
"Kill me cunt, go on, do it!" But before she could pull the trigger, a metal hand grabbed her by her PPC, pulling her back and off of Jamison's mech. But before he could rise, he saw the Griffin with it's laser pointed at his faceplate.
"It's over Jamison, you lose." Alex said calmly over the COM. The Crusader laid back down, the head resting on the hard-packed volcanic soil...

Marching their captives into the Union's mech bay, Jamison turned to look at Alex.
"What do you plan to do with me?" He asked with a sneer.
"Me? Nothing. But there are certain members of the Hegemony Council that would like a word or two with you. But, considering I don't know how many of them know about Diablo, I'm having you sent to New Avalon. It seems the Davions want a word with you considering how much they distrust ComStar and all of it's little secrets. Picking your brain about a secret eugenics program should be right up their alley." Alex said, as Jamison at first looked relieved and then horrified.
"Hey Colonel, Medteam says the Von L survived the blast. All hands accounted for, though they'll be on anti-radiation meds for about a month." Anton said with a smile. Alex nodded back with a grin.
"We'll hold a service for those we lost tomorrow. Remind me, but I need to pick up a new Stingray at some point also."
"Hey Skipper, we captured all four of his dropships, but his Starlord bugged out after he surrendered. You have got to see the mechs these guys have!" Came a call over the ship's COM system, the bridge crew piping it down to the mech bay.
"Ok, so we have a ton of stuff, what do we do with it?" Tara asked as most celebrated.
"I'll ask Val later. Right now, you and I have a date. With a soft bed." He said with a grin, she smiling back and he leading her away...

"Oh my god! SLDF mechs and armor. Why have they been hiding this stuff from us? ComStar could single handedly restore the Star League!" Val exclaimed, as she and a half dozen techs examined each of the Overlords that were now theirs.

45 minutes later...

The COM in their cabin chirped, stopping their fun for the moment.
"Yes?" Alex said with a sigh as Tara lay beside him, panting slightly. She caressed her belly bump lovingly, smiling to the man guilty of that bit of pleasure.
"Colonel, we have a call coming in from the 21st Strikers of the Eridani Light Horse, asking if we need assistance?" This woke Alex right up and dashed all future thoughts of playtime.
"Holy! Yeah, have them land nearby. I'll be down by the time they set down."
"Aye sir!"
"Eridani Light Horse? Why are they here?" Tara asked sitting up as he ducked into the shower.
"Back up that's just a tad late, but no worries love. Now get in here!" He ordered, and she appeared next to him as though she had teleported in. Taking up the wash-shammie, they gave each other a shower, he trying very hard not to get worked up again. A few minutes later, they were toweling off, her promising copious amounts of cuddles after his meeting. Smiling, and slapping her backside, he grabbed his hat, and left. Rising, she went to the cabin next door only to find Val entertaining Nathan with bubblegum hi-jinx.

Reaching the mech bay, he was surrounded by activity: New mechs he'd never seen before, most likely ComGuard mechs, prisoners being led away, and turning toward the doors, a redhead with ample curves and beautiful blue eyes walking up the ramp, an entourage of officers and aides trailing some 20 people behind her. Smiling to her, she froze in her tracks upon seeing the Black Knight he was standing next to.
"Alex?"
"In the flesh, General. You're just a little bit late, but not by much. Come, let's take this to the lounge, I want to discuss something with you."
"Uh, ok." She said, dismissing her aides to wander and stay out from under foot, while she and her exec followed Alex.
Upon reaching the lounge, Alex bade her to sit, and made a call to Val.
"Val, I need hard copy of Project Diablo."
"Be right there, had an accident."
Turning back to Jennifer and her exec, a tall, gangily man identified only as Marcus, he took his seat.
"Was I seeing things, or was that an SLDF mech out there?"
"Oh, the BLK? Yeah. We got a few wunderkind mechs after beating Precentor Martial Jamison."
"Yeah, I saw that. So, do you want your money back?" She asked, changing the subject. He waved it off.
"Nope. But I am willing to talk trades. I have a bunch of mechs I no longer need or want, most of the Guard's mechs actually. What I want are some standard mechs that my people can fix. You can take the SLDF stuff back to the Lyrans if you want, and sell it for a profit. But, the real reason for you being here is what Val has." He said as the diminuitive tech walked in. He could still see bits of pink in her hair here and there, but if Jennifer noticed anything she kept quiet.
"Ahh, there you are. Valerie Helmsford, may I introduce Jennifer Dirkson, General, current CO of the ELH, and Marcus...?"
"Dirkson, Colonel. I'm Jennifer's older brother."
"Ahh, ok. I didn't see a ring, but not everyone is traditional so..." He said as Val handed him the data disk.
"You have others yes?" He asked her, she smiling back, sitting next to him on another chair.
Reaching over, he handed the data disk to Jennifer.
"On your way back to your jumpship, have a read, then turn it over to the Court on Tharkad. I have a copy winging it's way to New Avalon, along with all of the upper officers who served under PM Jamison. The rest are being processed by local Lyran forces for exchange for prisoners of theirs held by foreign states and ComStar themselves."
"What's on here?" She asked, and before Alex could answer, Val did.
"All the history, archival data, locations of other labs and the rest of ComStar's dirty eugenics laundry."
"Eugenics!? That was banned by the Ares Accords!"
"Tell that to ComStar, apparently they think they're immune." He added.
"I see. So, back to mechs, since as merc leaders, talk of eugenics programs and secret orders within secret orders would be like techs talking pancakes."
Val giggled, got hugged by Alex, who then sent her out. Rising very seductively, she kissed his cheek and strode from the room.
"[cough!] For a tech, she's quite curvy!" Marcus said after she was gone.
"Oh yeah. Trying to get preggers too." Alex added.
"I see."
"Anyway, whatcha got, since I got about 2 battalions worth of SLDF mechs, the rest being nearly new copies of the crap we all have. The nearly new part is what I like, considering." He offered, and the rest of the afternoon was spent drinking coffee, traveling from one dropship to the next, looking over then tagging mechs, and then joining Alex and his officer core for dinner.

The following day, after the memorial service for the fallen, mechs were moved here and there, a Lyran rep coming out and offering to buy all 4 Overlords. When Val heard the offer, she fell off of her chair, popping the massive bubble she was making. Helping her to comb out the gum a few minutes later, he looked at her.
"Price not right?"
"Not right?! They must need dropships bad! Ok, look, a new Overlord fetchs about 430mill. They're offering almost 500m per ship!"
"Yeah, I know, but I think I know why, and so should you, if you think about it. Those are COMSTAR dropships. Lots of other goodies too."
"Well, duh!" She said, stripping off her coverall, sliding up his front, and sliding onto his lap, rubbing him then pulling him out and mounting him happily...

The lower ranking MW of the guards, all 12 of them, signed Allegiance forms with the Cavaliers and were recruited to pilot some of the new mechs, listed below.

2) Crusaders (S)
2) Riflemen (S)
3) Shadowhawk-D (S)
3) Marauder (S)
2) Warhammer-S (S)

The (S) means standard tech, not SLDF, while the -letter indicates which House variant it is. The addition of these new mechs pushed the Cavaliers fully into Battalion strength, relegating the Union to parts and supplies hauler. Everything else mech related was sold at scrap value to Jennifer and the ELH. In doing so, Alex has made an ally for life, not just from Jennifer, but from the ELH as a whole, and at the same time, placed a price on his head from a small faction within ComStar, though the Primus knows nothing about this...

Yet.

Coming soon, Chapter 2 of Carlson's Cavaliers
"When the cradle will rock!"