An entry with a Bang! - A BT roundrobin II

[walkir]

Originally Posted by Raneko

And also the fact that when the same mechwarriors are issued GMs I bet a few are going to make thier GMs look like certin Greek warriors.

Unfortunately, we're the ones blotting out the sun at Antallos.

[bluepencil]

More Comstar dickery.

Yeah, that won't happen as long as GDI is around.


Regarding other trades with the Outworld Alliance; they of course would see little need for BattleMechs, though willing to sell us as many Fusion Engines as we need to build them. However, them using the workhorse GDI would also help tie them further to the CSN and smoothen out cooperative military efforts.

Who is writing the OWA interactions, again? I request a scene about a wargame between two squadrons of OWA ASFs against a lance of GMs and VF-1s. Ordinarily, the GMs and to a lesser extent the VF-1s would not stand a chance against elite pilots who know their Hellcat's performance inside and out, however they were also used to the integrated Beagle Active Probe allowing their Large Lasers to fire accurately at ranges longer than most.

The initial shock of being plinked from well outside normal range, and the radar lock-on of MRMs from inbound VF-1s split their attention and the formation into two, and the GMs and VF-1s simply converged on one squadron.

The GM-1's VAC/5 may not have the range of CEarth missiles, but the prodigous range and refire rate, if a lance should link their targeting computers together to fire at one target, becomes a threat to air assets. The VF-1's wings, like its Macross counterpart, could pull even further back for greater agility and a narrower profile. Alone, only land-limited Mechs or the comparatively mediocre performance of LAMs would not have sufficed. Together, the defenders have the advantage. This is essentially schooling the OWA's AMC in combined arms.

We LIKE the Outworlds Alliance, right? It's great to have pacifists for neighbors. We might end up selling them the BearCat and other CEarth ASFs, but their squadrons are already more than fit for the task.

For irony's sake, perhaps we should pull something like what the Kuritan's did; lease factories in their space and then place our own forces there to guard the locations. While the stronger IS powers are going 'wow' or 'grrr' and 'we must have that capability', the OWA locals would be more like "I Think GDI is a prety cool guy. Eh kills pirates and don't afraid of anything."

[JonBerry]

Originally Posted by Tyrchon

Why Athens? I can understand Paris and Berlin but not Athens.

I was thinking of European airports that would get priority upgrade. I should elaborate on that point. Would Rome or Kiev be a suitable substitute?

Originally Posted by Norgarth

Of course they're taking the same route, there is only 1 route. And the Burons would likely know about the Combine group, because the next transit cycle to CEarth won't be for 2 weeks and the Dracs aren't likely to want to wait that long. Plus, since the Combine team has their own dropship complete with DC coloration, it stands out somewhat.

Typo corrections in red, along with an alternate wording suggestion or two in brackets.

It was my attempt to state that both groups moved on the same set of jumpships along the circuit. I will work to clarify that in the next revision.

Originally Posted by The Unicorn

I know what you meant but this line seems odd, more fitting to a monarch than a general. Other then that this first portion seems just fine.

Fair enough. I'll change it to make it so that Davis' adjunct/secretary lets them in.

Originally Posted by evilauthor

Why is Davis telling Swift this? Isn't Swift Intel?

Or do you mean the folks back home on Earth? In this case, you need to make distinction here.

Otherwise okay.

Originally Posted by Robo Jesus

When exactly did the GDI take Combine prisoners? Or are some of these 'prisoners' the Pirates who took part in the second raid on Earth?

Bed is good! But yes, it was my intent that the Combine use the issue of the prisoners taken to sent a group to Motherlode to 'help' their citizens, as well as snoop.

Originally Posted by Barricade

Some of the pirates were deserters. So the CSN decided to use a bit of a political move, and rather then arbitrarily execute them/put them on trial, they went to the DCMS and told them "we have your boys that were being bad". So it kind of forces the DCMS to, shamefaced, acknowledge that some of their troops went bad, and do so somewhat publically. It also gives us a bit of a political lever in that we allow them into part of the judicial process to merit out their OWN punishment(s) upon the pirates/deserters, instead of just ignoring the DCMS.

That and seeing the prisoners with their own eyes, along with documentation, neatly snips in the bud any ideas someone might have in claiming we're lying about the pirates, and instead claiming (in an outright lie) that we captured & killed 'good, honest, honorable Combine citizens' - giving a few of the hardliners (Samsonov.......) a flimsy, if reasonable, excuse to come after us in a few years.

Oh, did I forget to mention that the Combine prisoners are gonna scream nuclear murder to their legal help? And this will give the Coordinator pause for thought. Who throws around nukes like that? And what about the Federated Suns? Will the CSN make the same offer to them, concerning their citizens?

[consequences]

Legal help? Wasn't the main reason Kuritans latched on to seppuku to avoid the dishonor of associating with lawyers?

[Rabe]

Originally Posted by Magni

One major problem for that would be that Black Boxes are extremely power hungry. As in, you need a small mech-scale fusion reactor just to power one.

No system is perfect. I just happen to think that real time FTL communications are some thing that C-Earth would want desperately. Calling it an internet was just my way of describing exactly how much infrastructure such a system would look to require.

[Tyrchon]

Originally Posted by Barricade

*manages to hide all but the smallest of smirks*
And that is why I didn't say anything this time. It'd already been set in stone.

Aerospace Force gets all dropships that can land on a planet's surface with only two exceptions:

First, the Navy gets an allowance for bulk/liquid cargo & personnel transport dropships. If it can move out anything larger then a jeep, its not their's to use.

Second, the Marine Corp gets specialized dropships that are heavy assault landers. What other IS nations consider Q-ships, they consider daily living, and manage to pack in LAMs, 'Mechs, Vehicles, and infantry. All into one really really fscking cramped space (They're Marines - anything less then cramped as hell, and they'll complain they're being allowed to slack off). And also as a somewhat 'OUCH' slap to the navy....the Marine Corps is now in charge of all ocean locked large vessels. Which means if the GDI builds an aircraft carrier...it belongs to the GDI Marine Corp.

The Navy owns/controls all jumpships, any dropships that CAN'T land, stations, and warships.

Any ASFs that aren't based off a Navy flagged vessel, the Aerospace Force controls. This includes ASFs stationed off orbital bases that the NAVY controls. A orbital 'station' isn't a 'vessel'.

Army...well, as usual, they get to ride in the Aerospace Force's dropships before going off and raising hell. Same old, same old.

And the thing is, while the Navy gets the big battleships (eventually) and the FTL ships...they're NOT going to be the 'true' top branch anymore. Not even close. That honor falls to the Aerospace Force, considering that for every one warship or jumpship built, there is likely going to be 20 to 30 dropships built.

I took nearly three days to balance out that whole plan, so that everyone got at least some of what they wanted, but by no means all of it. And also just enough to make it so that anyone stupid enough to raise their voice in complaint would find themselves with VERY few assets they could trade away, in sacrifices to the resulting political growling. Therefore, everyone shut up, and tried to act smug about the bits they did get, and just ignored what they didn't (or at least their superiors did a lot of 'sitting on' any loudmouths that might end up costing them part of the pie).

Since this was originally posted onto the story thread before I even though about coming on I guess I can't really complain at all. It is actually pretty well laid out except for one thing. The idea that ASFs that are launched from a naval orbital station not being considered part of the navy command structure but rather the aerospace command structure seems to be a boondoggle waiting to happen.

I can see it being that way if say a group of ASF or Dropships from the aerospace command need to stop for supplies or something or are waiting for a jumpship to arrive in order to transfer somewhere, however, I can't see it being the case for the ASFs and Dropships that are assigned to that station specifically. Such ships and fighters would have to fall under the command structure of the station. Having two separate command structures there would be a major boondoggle should the station commander order one thing and the assigned unit's commander say something order something else.

You could try having joint command but the boondoggle could still occur. The station commander needs to be the authority over the units assigned to the station should there not be someone higher up the chain of command present.

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

I vaguely remember there being some arguments about that when it was first posted, and being annoyed that it ended up in the story-only thread without any real consensus being reached (though I might be remembering wrong).

It being canon doesn't prevent the 'naval tradition causes the loss of a jumpship/Warship' idea, though. Of course, if there's no plausible way for naval traditions to cause the loss of a jumpship or Warship, that won't make it into the story.

I don't see there ever being a naval tradition that causes a catastrophic accident in space aboard a manned vessel, at least not to the level that some have described it. Naval ships in modern militaries are run incredibly efficiently because of the dangers that are present when they are out at sea. All members of the crew know and learn their jobs as well as secondary jobs such as fighting fires, which are a major danger to any ship at sea. The traditions and history that breed this level of efficiency and safety are what will be carried over for the most part to any 'black water' or space navy. It will give the crew a sense of pride and a history that they can relate back to as the other vessels that they encounter throughout the Inner Sphere and even with the Clans, to an extent, will have similar traditions.

[JonBerry]

You still need permission / order to honourably commit seppuku. Hence the lawyers.

[Tyrchon]

Originally Posted by JonBerry

You still need permission / order to honourably commit seppuku. Hence the lawyers.

Everything is about law nowadays and proper legal procedures. Heck, you won't be able to walk down the street or even go outside to retrieve your mail without first making sure with an attorney that everything is properly in order before you take that first step out your door. Even then you'll probably have to sign a waiver of some sort first.

What a terrible world the overprotective mothers, the lawsuit happy maniacs, and the unscrupulous lawyers have made for us all to live in.

[jpdt19]

Originally Posted by JonBerry

I was thinking of European airports that would get priority upgrade. I should elaborate on that point. Would Rome or Kiev be a suitable substitute?

Just my 50p's worth, but if (and i'm unsure if the CSN are still promoting this angle) the CSN are actively try to hide CE Earth's true identity, then it would seems to me a rather foolish idea to bring foreign visitors into spaceports located in towns with very iconic historic remains known and identically famous to Terra. Even in 3000 whatever, it would seem very unlikely that places like the Colloseum or the Parthenon in Athens etc would not still be known to anyone with a remotely comprehensive education in the past. Assuming of course that neither citizen wasn't destroyed/atomised either in BT Terra's past or in the Amaris War.

Now i realise that in this snippet GDI brought the Draconis envoys into Berlin, which (and i hope any germans here will forgive me) is a good thing because any Lyrans aside, the 21st C architecture and buildings of the old capital of Germany are probably not as well known or recognisable as for instance the buildings in the former capitals of the Roman and Athenian Empires.

I also realise that the judgement about places to upgraded will also likely be determined on their suitability and practicaility for development (resources/access/space/existing infrastructure/ proximity to manufacturing sites etc), but i thought on the grounds of preserving CE earth's true identity from the IS, then a certain amount of caution will obviously be necessary (as the story suggests and portrays).

It is perhaps a rather mute point since i presume that the CSN will be allowing as few IS citizens (GDI employed aside) back to Earth as possible for a while, but... i just thought it was something to be aware of in the background when considering the future when there 'MAY' be more travel to earth from the IS, regardless of the campaign to protect CE Earth's true identity.


Jp

[Vianca]

Originally Posted by Rabe

Today at work I had a stupid idea, and well it sounded too good to be true so I thought.

"Hey those guys like tearing my stuff to pieces, why not ask them, why my bs sense is attacking my common sense?"

Okay do black box appear to allow for a in system internet? yes/no

if yes Would putting a repeater black box at just inside the light lag free transmission radius of Black box 1 effectively double the real time coverage area ? Yes/no

If yes could we not just chain link hundreds or millions if necessary of black boxes to create a real time FTL internet for the CSN held star systems?

Thought we already had talked about this a couple (a dozen?) pages back.

If I remember right, every site needs two boxes.
One transmitting and one receiving(?).
Also, what I got from those post back then, several BB's inside each others broadcast phere is possible.

Besides, BB's are FTL transmitters.
So, I would say it would be a Yes and a Yes.


You could better ask you're self how long it would take to copy it from the one recovered from Antallos or one off the Datacores.
Another quistion you could ask you're self, is if C-Earth will expand any such netwerk towards Antallos.

[walkir]

Originally Posted by jpdt19

Now i realise that in this snippet GDI brought the Draconis envoys into Berlin, which (and i hope any germans here will forgive me) is a good thing because any Lyrans aside, the 21st C architecture and buildings of the old capital of Germany are probably not as well known or recognisable as for instance the buildings in the former capitals of the Roman and Athenian Empires.

No offense taken. Berlin isn't that interesting anyway as "Germany" was federal for centuries until someone decided to found a German state. (edit: So our capital could have been Aachen or even Vienna...)
France on the other hand has been oriented to Paris since... forever.

Athens, Rome and perhaps London and Moscow are right out.

Berlin might be okay (and frankly, the city needs the influx of money a spaceport would bring), as would be... Madrid and Prague?

[Warringer]

Why not Vienna?

The IS meeting 'Wiener Schmäh'...

[Magni]

Wasn't the whole motive of the Combine behind those "legal concerns" that they would get a glimpse of Motherload? As far as I can imagine, those deserters/pirates would rather spend the rest of their lives in the Hague rather than being repatriated anyway, given what the Combine is likely to do with them.

Seriously, I can see them plead guilty with almost indecent haste the moment they just hear about this.

[evilauthor]

Originally Posted by walkir

No offense taken. Berlin isn't that interesting anyway as "Germany" was federal for centuries until someone decided to found a German state. (edit: So our capital could have been Aachen or even Vienna...)
France on the other hand has been oriented to Paris since... forever.

Athens, Rome and perhaps London and Moscow are right out.

Berlin might be okay (and frankly, the city needs the influx of money a spaceport would bring), as would be... Madrid and Prague?

What about Los Angeles? Not as many distinctive buildings, but it would be huge, spread out, and relatively close to the holding facility at Fort Irwin.

[walkir]

Originally Posted by evilauthor

What about Los Angeles? Not as many distinctive buildings, but it would be huge, spread out, and relatively close to the holding facility at Fort Irwin.

I was looking for places in Europe. LA might be good in the US, but Washington D.C would be right out for the same reason as Rome or Athens.

[Warringer]

Paris.

We'll always have Paris...

[evilauthor]

Okay... then why Europe? These people are officially coming to make sure their nationals get a fair trial. Ergo, they should be landing at spaceport near to said nationals who last I heard were being held in the US. That's true even for the "innocent civilians" like Kearny and Tasha who got swept along with Vorax's Army just because they happened to be on the Jumpships being used to transport the said Army.

[Warringer]

In the same way...

Why the US? Or any other part of the world?

[Tyrchon]

Originally Posted by walkir

No offense taken. Berlin isn't that interesting anyway as "Germany" was federal for centuries until someone decided to found a German state. (edit: So our capital could have been Aachen or even Vienna...)
France on the other hand has been oriented to Paris since... forever.

Athens, Rome and perhaps London and Moscow are right out.

Berlin might be okay (and frankly, the city needs the influx of money a spaceport would bring), as would be... Madrid and Prague?

Hey, I have family living in Berlin. My cousin has been teaching English and English literature there for the past 4 years. I just visited him last spring and found Berlin to be a lovely city in week I spent there wandering. Very nice and green looking as opposed to London which was rather dirty feeling since there were few trees other than at the parks. Berliners were rather friendly too, though one of them freaked out a friend of mine who was traveling with me and my brother but that was only because this friend has no language skills whatsoever. I spent 20 minutes in the bar that night trying to explain to him that the German man, who was a bit tipsy, was just surprised to see such a big guy walk in, my friend is about 6'6 and weighs probably close to 235-245lbs and the German guy was maybe 5'5. The guy came over and just stared at my friend for a few moments before jabbering away at him about how he was so big and that he had never seen someone so big fit through the door of the bar and that my friend must be able to drink a lot if he was so large and how my friend must be some kind of wrestler. Needless to say my friend was rather freaked since he stood there like a dear caught in headlights before I came over to see why he hadn't walked up to the bar to order a drink. Also, as we walked to the Reichstag the one day these two completely naked women crossed the street just as we were going across. The funniest thing was that you could easily pick out the tourists in the area because they all stopped when they saw them. All the Germans just seemed to ignore it and continue on as if nothing odd was happening.

[walkir]

Originally Posted by evilauthor

Okay... then why Europe?

Because this was about European spaceports. There will be enough traffic for a few spaceports on every single inhabited continent with the big one in New zealand.
It makes no sense whatsoever to give it all to the US.

These people are officially coming to make sure their nationals get a fair trial. Ergo, they should be landing at spaceport near to said nationals who last I heard were being held in the US. That's true even for the "innocent civilians" like Kearny and Tasha who got swept along with Vorax's Army just because they happened to be on the Jumpships being used to transport the said Army.

The International Court of Justice with a big library on Terran law is placed in the hague, so going there for legal treatment is just natural.
And the US is just a flight away.

[evilauthor]

Originally Posted by Warringer

In the same way...

Why the US? Or any other part of the world?

The US because it purposely fits with the Combine party's official reason for visiting. If the Combine prisoners are being held in the US, the legal team should land in the US. If they were being held in Antarctica, same deal.

What's the point of making the legal team land on the other side of the planet from where the prisoners are?

[Tyrchon]

Okay, so this is a piece I've done regarding the Buron Cavalry as they look over potential recruits on Antallos. There is a second part to it but I haven't quite finished it yet. I want to see what the reaction is before delving in too far. I especially want feedback from Magni and JonBerry as they seem to write the Cav the most often and I believe Magni it their creator. I will warn you right now that there is a charcter with an accent and I tried to write that accent in to his dialogue as I've had success doing so in the past with other works. Let me know what you think all think.

---------------------------------------------------------

GDI Training Grounds, Outskirts of Port Krin
Antallos, Periphery
January 5, 2007/3022

Standing under the shade of a canopy that someone had fortunately erected to try and ward off the blazing sun that shown upon Antallos, Major Andreas Staedele of the Buron Cavalry raised his field glasses up to his eyes. Looking out onto the training ground he saw a number of fresh volunteers from Port Krin and the other city-states on Antallos going through a basic fitness evaluation. This was the second round of testing for this batch as the GDI Foreign Legion had already chosen the best recruits from the initial batch since GDI command had given the Legion first pick. Right now it was the turn of the Buron Cavalry to see if they wanted to pick up any fresh faces. Truth be told, Andreas already had his eye on a few new people that the Legion had not picked up, two of them even had their own Mechs. The biggest problem though was the loyalty he felt to the Cav.

After getting shoved through the meat grinder that had been the battle with the 21st Galedon Regulars it had taken every last C-Bill to the Cav’s name to get the unit back into a fighting condition and after that the contracts had dried up causing the monetary crisis that had forced the Buron Cavalry out into the Periphery. Unable to pay some of his troops and facing a long stay in the Periphery, Andreas had been forced to let a good number of men and women buy out of their contracts. He hadn’t been surprised that some wanted out, especially considering that the Peripehry was often the place merc units down on their luck went off to die either slowly due to a lack of supplies and money or quickly by fighting pirates or becoming pirates themselves. No, what had surprised him was that a number of old friends, men and women he had considered to be family, had decided to leave and take their chances solo back on Galatea rather than out in the Periphery.

However, since the ill-fated attempt at invasion of Earth and the hiring of the Buron Cavalry by President Jack Ryan things had finally started looking up for the Cav. Money was no longer as great of an issue and getting parts and supplies for the Mechs and vehicles as well as for his people had turned out to be far easier than he had imagined. What was even more surprising was the fact that the United States of American, who held the Buron’s contract even if it was currently on loan to the GDI, had not tried to ‘Company Store’ them like a number of people and groups back in the Successor states would’ve. Sure the Cav wasn’t close to the level it was before tangling with the 21st, but it was getting better everyday and gaining strength far faster than Staedele had ever hoped. Things were going so good that he had even sent messages to Galatea to see if any of the former Cav members wanted to hire back on. Of course he had needed to get permission from his employers for this first, but he had understood why. Earth was a sorely tempting target for anyone who thought they had what it took to come in and grab it. Security was paramount to protect the world unspoiled by the fires of the Succession wars and that meant keeping any potential troublemakers and spies away as long as possible.

“Not the prettiest looking bunch I’ve ever seen,” Captain Celic Nedeljko commented from where he stood next to Staedele. “But then we aren’t lining ‘em up for a beauty pageant now are we.”

Andreas nodded in agreement. Most of the men and the few women out there were rather sloppy and unfit, not having had to do basic training in years or ever. Their looks weren’t that great either.

“Bah,” Captain Marc Johnson growled form the other side of Staedele. “Give me a few weeks with them or even time with some of the drill instructors back home and they’ll be in shape enough to at least not accidentally shoot one another.”

“Or us,” Celic offered with a smirk. “I’d hate to have come all this way, survived a nuclear death trap, and finally get to see the Cav start growing again only to wind up KIA because of friendly fire. Just think of how that would play out in the news back home…'Tragedy struck today when the heroic and handsome Celic ‘Ned’ Nedeljko was accidentally shot by a hick the Buron Cavalry had hired on at Antallos. Loved by his friends and comrades, Nedeljko was…’.”

Staedele tried his best to tune out humorous obituary that ‘Ned’ was composing for himself, he tried even hard not to laugh when he heard a few of the ‘choice’ words Marc quietly spoke at how Celic was describing himself. However, at the same time Andreas Staedele was also slightly troubled by what both men had inadvertently said. Both had referred to Earth not as Earth but rather as home. Staedele had been discussing similar slips of the tongue with his wife over the last few days as Marie had also noticed many of the Cav’s members referring to the wayward planet in a more familiar and loving tone then what should’ve been expected.

Would he one day start referring to Earth as home? Would he even notice if he did? And what about his daughter Esther and the other children of the Cav who were currently back on Earth? Were they going to start thinking of it as home? Did they already think of it as such for that matter? He had heard of merc groups turning local and/or becoming House units, but….

Giving a quick shake of his head to try and clear away the somewhat confusing thoughts Staedale turned his attention back to the potential recruits he was supposed to be evaluating. If someday a choice needed to be made then he would make it then and not before. Whatever happened, the Buron Cavalry would stick together, that he promised himself.

“Ah there’s my boy.”

Pulling his binoculars down Andreas turned slightly to look towards Nedeljko who had spoken. The man was currently following a group of volunteers who were running through the makeshift obstacle course that the GDI had setup. Though the GDI Foreign Legion had gotten first pick Staedele had still sent his XO to check out the first round to see if the Legion might pass over a few diamonds in the rough. Apparently they had.

“Which one is he,” Marc Johnson asked, turning his own binoculars towards where Celic was indicating.

“He’s the kid with the unkempt brown hair currently coming up to the first wall,” the XO of the Buron Cavalry stated, “the skinny looking one.”

“They’re all kind of…,” Johnson began to say but paused before speaking in slight surprise, “Wow, look at ‘im climb. Kid’s got to be part squirrel or something.”

Turning his own binoculars towards the object of his two subordinates interest Staedele was a bit surprised to see the young man in question. Moving rapidly the brown haired boy was making short work of the walls and other obstacles placed before him. How’d this kid not get picked up by the Legion?

“Do we have a name for him?” Staedele asked, the first time he had spoke since he begun observing the potential recruits.

“Yeah, got it right here…,” ‘Ned’ spoke as he picked up a clipboard from a nearby table. “Name’s Cody…John J. Cody. Age 19 years Terran standard, height 1.7 meters, weight 68.3 kilograms. Small little guy, ain’t he? Applying to be a Mechwarrior, but has experience as a tech working in his famly’s salvage business. Doesn’t have his own Mech but isn’t listed as being dispossessed either. Says here that he passed the written exam with an 83% correct and passed the physical fitness course with a…94% rating. His sims scores are average, but then if he hasn’t been able to pilot all that much then he will probably get better with more experience.”

Staedele frowned as he listened to the stats being read off. This…Cody was pretty darn good, far better than many of the other applicants. So why hadn’t the GDI picked him up for the Legion?

“What’s his background say?” the leader of the Buron Cavalry asked.

Flipping a page Celic grunted, “Huh, that’s odd. The kid only listed the Federated Suns as his origin, left nearly most of the other entries blank. Didn’t write down a whole lot else except for a few details regarding his experience working as a tech…. Oh….”

“Oh, what?” Andreas asked, already having a good guess in his mind but waiting for Celic to confirm it or not.

“There’s a note here from the GDI intel boys,” the XO of the Cav said calmly. “Says the reason he wasn’t picked up by the Legion was because of his lack of background info and the suspicion that he lied on his application. They say think he might be a potential ‘plant’ sent from one of the Successor States.”

“Can’t be,” Marc Johnson remarked with a scowl, “Spooks know better than to try and stick out this much. If anything this kid would’ve filled in every entry perfectly and have an airtight story behind him.”

Staedele silently nodded his head in agreement. The few spooks he had encountered back in the Sphere had always tried to be as slick as possible when dealing with him and people not directly in their chain of command. There was the possibility that this kid was a spy and simply using the reverse tactic of trying to provide as little information as possible in the hopes of tricking his way in but…. No, if he was to make a bet it would be that this John Cody was most likely hiding something personal out of the fear it would get him turned away. Still….

“Anything on there from Dansel or Hale?” Andreas asked, knowing that either officer, most likely both, had probably interviewed the kid.

“Not really,” Celic remarked as he flip through a few more pages to see if he had missed anything. “Just says that they met with him. There’s nothing about why they didn’t pick him up.”

Moving his left hand up to his chin to rub it as he thought, Andreas Staedele used his right hand to place his binoculars back into the small pouch he wore on his belt. If neither Hale and Dansel had listed anything for this guy, what did that mean? The two usually left at least some inkling as to why a candidate had been rejected…or at least that was the impression he had got when he skimmed through some of the paperwork on the ride out to the testing grounds.

“What do you want to do?” Marc asked, looking only slightly away from the group he had been watching.

“‘Ned’, have him come in for a ‘meet and greet’,” the leader of the Buron Cavalry said, deciding he’d talk with this John J. Cody before making a full decision. “I’ll be in the tent waiting. Marc….”

“I’ll keep my eyes open out here,” the leader of the Cav’s infantry stated, turning his binoculars back to watch the groups of potential recruits as his boss walked towards large tent set up nearby.

Walking briskly in order to avoid being out of the shade and in the burning Antallos sun for too long. Major Andreas Staedele was never happier then when he was when he got to the portal of the large, sandy colored tent. Feeling the coolness of air-conditioning hit him as he opened the actual door that had been installed into the tent the CO of the Buron Cavalry let out a contented sigh.

Honestly, the folks from Earth really did have some of the best toys. Forget for a moment all of the fancy electronics and computers that they had in abundance, forget the multitude of vehicles he had seen on the streets back on Earth, and forget the fact that they could not only replicate technology he had grown up with, and yet still barely understood at times, but also improve upon. No, right now the thing he found most marvelous was this tent.

The Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter or DRASH for short had been invented by the Americans, Staedele had found out, after they had fought a number of engagements in the deserts of Earth and had found that their old tents were simply too heavy, bulky, and hot to be carted out around and set up easily. The DRASH was easily divided up between a team of 6 or even 4 soldiers and then could be rapidly assembled almost anywhere it was taken. Even more impressive Staedele found was the fact that the tents could be linked together to form larger command centers and that electrical generators could easily be incorporated with the tents. But then such a thing would be necessary the man recognized, seeing as how lights, computers, and, best of all, air-conditioning had been thought to be things that that would be beneficial and necessary for a tent that could serve as a full command post. Oh the Inner Sphere had its share of command tents and mobile command posts Staedele knew, seeing as how he had been in many of them before, but none of them were as easily made, assembled, transported, or modified as the DRASH was.

“I’ve got to look into seeing if they’ll let us buy a few,” the Major noted to himself as he found the foldout armchair near a folding table that a GDI soldier had set up for hi upon his arrival earlier in the day.

Nodding to the GDI soldier that handed him a cold canteen of water from the fairly good-sized refrigerator that hummed on one side of the tent, something else that Staedele greatly appreciated seeing as they were on a hot and dry desert world, Staedele watched the GDI personnel go about their business checking over the paperwork generated by the numerous applicants who toiled outside in the hot sun. Sipping the water in the canteen slowly the CO of the Buron Cavalry didn’t have to wait long before the door to the tent opened and in walked Celic Nedeljko followed by a rather hot, tired, and amazed looking John J. Cody. Watching the young man follow the older Mechwarrior, Staedele noted that Cody was much smaller than he initially thought he was, not just shorter but thinner as well.

“Mr. Cody, please, sit,” the leader of the Buron Cavalry stated as he indicated the foldout chair across form him that was empty. “It’s pretty hot out there. Care for some water?”

The young man stood uneasy for a moment before taking a seat and then nodded his head in the affirmative. Only a moment later Captain Celic Nedeljko handed the red faced ‘recruit’ a fresh canteen, the brown haired young man nearly dropping it as he flinched at the sudden cold touching his hot skin.

“Thank ya’ kindly, Ser,” the tired and terribly anxious Cody drawled before taking a sip from the canteen.

Watching the young man drink the water down steadily Staedele leaned back slightly in his chair. ‘Ned’ had gotten a canteen for himself as well and was now standing just behind young John Cody. They weren’t anticipating any trouble from the brown haired ‘recruit’, but then it never hurt to be cautious.

“I saw you out there on the obstacle course, Cody. You were moving through it pretty well, managed to even impress Marc Johnson my infantry commander. That’s not an easy thing to do,” Andreas stated calmly as he looked into the brown eyes of the young man in front of him.

“I’s just was doing what came natural, Ser,” John Cody stated, his slow accent bleeding through heavily. “Twas nuthin to it really.”

“Hmm,” the Major hummed before saying, “I’ll get straight to the point. Your test scores are better than to be expected for Port Krin and Antallos, your listed and demonstrated skills are impressive, and you seem to be a fairly confident Mechpilot. However, the GDI didn’t want you in the Legion. Why should I want you in the Buron Cavalry?”

Swallowing the water in his mouth Cody took a moment before answering, “As you sayed it Ser, I’s got skills ya’ll are looking for. Can’t right tell you why the….”

“Cut the crap!” Andreas growled forcefully as he stared into the eyes of the young man across from him. “You know what I’m asking you. No one with your skills and potential gets passed over without a damn good reason. By all rights you should probably already be in a merc unit or pirate group, but you aren’t. Instead you come looking to join the GDI’s Foreign Legion and when that doesn’t work you look to their mercenaries, mercenaries like me. Now this gets me curious. Why would someone like you come here looking to get in with us when you could easily get into somewhere else?”

Shaking slightly underneath the gaze of the Major, John Cody tried to reply, “Is ‘cause I don’t got no Mech of my o-….”

“Bullshit!” Celic Nedeljko stated forcefully, joining in on the conversation as he knew what Andreas was trying to do. “Mech or no, any number of the groups out in the Periphery would’ve picked you up…even if it was only for your abilities and experience as a tech. You know what we think? We think you’re some kind of spy…an agent sent here to gather intel on the GDI. The GDI think that too. So are you? Are you a spy?!”

“I ain’t no spy, Ser!” the brown haired recruit responded quickly and heatedly.

“Then what are you?” Major Staedele asked, leaning forward in his seat ever so slightly, all the while looking for the hint of a lie. “Your file says you’re from the FedSuns, but your accent isn’t from the Draconis March or even the closer provinces of the Crucis March. You could be from the Capellan March or the lower part of the Crucis March, but that still leaves the question of how you got all the way out here to Antallos.”

“I…I…,” the young man stuttered, the look on his face a mixture of anger, embarrassment, and…reticence?

“Tell us the truth kid,” ‘Ned’ said, as he crossed his arms and stood firmly behind the seated recruit. “If you do we promise that we’ll make certain tha-….”

“I can’t!” John Cody nearly shouted, interrupting the older Mechwarrior. “If…if I tells…. If I tells ya the truth then ya’ll send me away! Jus’ like dem Legion guys did!”

“Not necessarily,” Andreas calmly replied, deciding that the young man needed only one more ‘push’ to tell them everything. “However, if you don’t tell us the truth then you most assuredly will get rejected…and most likely taken in for questioning by the GDI as to whether or not you are a spy. The GDI are a cruel bunch, but they also aren’t ones to take chances with their security.”

Sitting there in the chair under the close scrutiny of the two Buron Cavalry officers, John J. Cody felt himself fidget as his emotions and thoughts warred with one another over what he should do. Looking around the tent the brown haired young man noticed that many of the GDI personnel and soldiers present were looking over at him either openly or somewhat discreetly. Feeling the eyes of nearly everyone present burning into him the young man’s thought flashed to the all the stories that he had heard of spies and interrogations as well as thinking about the possible consequences to him if they should decide he was a spy.

“Ah-…alright. I’sa tells you the truth,” the young man with the unkempt brown hair said quietly.

“Good,” Staedele commented, his plan having worked. “Why don’t you tell us where you’re from exactly?”

Swallowing the lump in his throat John J. Cody replied nervously, “Ridgebrook…down yonder in the Capellan March.”

Hearing the name of the planet ‘Ned’ let out a low whistle, “That’s near the border with the Concordat. You’re a long way from home.”

Seeing the nervous young man nod slowly in agreement Andreas spoke, “That’s a prefecture capitol. What did you do their and why would you come all the way out here to Antallos?”

“Mah…mah family runs a salvage business back on Ridgebrook. We’s pretty well off, what with salvaging Mechs Duke Hasek-Davion wants, but Gran-dad likes to keep us all somewhat grounded so we’s know where we’s come from,” Cody stated, the explanation giving a hint as to why his accent was so thick seeing as how he had been born and raised on a prefecture capital. “Mah-Ma just took over when Gran-dad retired not more than two years past.”

“So I guess that explains why you know so much about Mechs and can be called a tech,” Celic noted as he crossed his arms back over his chest.

Giving a swift nod John replied, “Yessuah, mah Ma had me with her nearly every day when she was working in ‘The Shop’. Same fer my older sis, ‘Lizabeth.”

“Alright, so answers where you’re from, what you did, some of who your family is, and such,” Staedele said as he made notes to have GDI intel look into later. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re out here on Antallos. If you were looking to pilot a mech and see combat I’d suspect you wouldn’t have had much trouble joining the Capellan March Militia unit stationed on Ridgebrook or maybe even gotten into a spot with one of the more prestigious March units. If you were looking to become a mercenary…well Galatea and the other reputable hiring halls are nowhere near Antallos. Hell, even if you wanted to be a pirate, there are far closer places for you to go.”

Celic ‘Ned’ Nedeljko nodded in agreement with his commander. If the kid wanted to join up with a pirate band then the Pirates’ Haven cluster was far closer. Heck, even the Tortuga Dominions would have been a shorter trip than getting all the way out to Antallos and Port Krin. Something wasn’t adding up, heck a few things weren’t adding up.

“So I’ll ask you again,” Major Staedele sternly said, “Why are you out here on Antallos?”

“I…I…,” the young man stuttered, his nervousness having increased again. “I…. Is ‘cause o’ mah Da. I’ma looking for my Da.”

Hearing this, both Andreas and Celic saw Cody’s shoulders slump in defeat. The young man was either the best actor they had ever seen or he was the honestly telling them the truth now. It was time to find out which it was.

“Your father?” Celic asked, looking for any sign of deceit. “Why would you be all the way out here looking for your father? Wouldn’t he be back home working in the company salvage business?”

“No Ser.” John Cody stated confidently. “Mah Da was a Mechwarrior. Deh best the Ridgebrook CMM ever done saw. He could make his Centurion dance to a fiddle if someone got to the mind of play’en. He disappeared though…during a pirate raid.”

“But why would you come out here looking for him?” Andreas asked, legitimately confused. “If he was in the Ridgebrook CMM and was lost in a pirate attack he’d more likely be in the Confederation, the Concordat, the Pirates’ Haven, or even in someplace like the Magistracy of Canopus or the Tortuga Dominions. Raiders down in that neck of the woods don’t come all the way out here to sell off spoils or slaves.”

“Dat’s ‘causin he wasn’t lost back on Ridgebrook,” the young John Cody replied firmly. “He got lost fight’n out on Kesai IV.”

“Kesai IV?!” Captain ‘Ned’ Nedeljko stated, slightly dumfounded by the name of the planet that had just been mentioned. “That’s all the way up in the Draconis March! Hell, it sits right on the border with the fucking Combine! What in the Sam-Hell was he doing all the way out there if he was in the Capellan March Militia?!”

Major Andreas Staedele also wanted to know the answer to that. Sure, there had been scuttlebutt back when the Buron Cavalry had been in the Federated Suns that there was an idea floating about regarding trying to pull off massive interstellar war games…, but still? How did a Mechwarrior in the Ridgebrook CMM find his way up to the Draconis March? Sure Davion did like to shift troops around, but those with regional loyalties usually stayed in their home Marches. The only ones who ever had the potential to actually be shifted over to a different March were some of the elite combat units, not a March Militia unit. This just didn’t make any sense.

“I think you better start at the beginning, son,” Andreas Staedele stated coolly, his calmness a mask hiding the confusion he felt.

“Well ‘twas like this see,” John Cody began to explain. “Duke Hasek-Davion had to send his 8th Syrtis Fusiliers up to the Drac border about three years ago on account of the First Prince re-questing it, seeing as how the Draconis March Militia wasn’t doing too good and the Prince was getting pressured by them Sandovals.”

Celic and Andreas both nodded in understanding 3 years ago was roughly 3019/3020 and the Dracs had been running a number of raids over the border giving the Draconis March fits. The Sandovals hated the Combine with a passion as it was and Duke Aaron Sandoval, the current head of the March, had been incensed at that time over the raids. Sandoval had called for more troops on the border in order to launch his own raids back into the Combine’s territory. The Buron Cavalry had answered that call and made good money from it up until they had tangled with the 21st Galedon Regulars as their contract was coming up for renewal. He remembered the report around that time telling how a few Capellan March units and a few Crucis March units were being sent up to help out as well, but he couldn’t recall the names of the specific units being sent. However, that didn’t explain why a member of the CMM was out on the border when the Fusiliers had been sent.

“You said that the Duke had to send the 8th Syrtis Fusiliers,” Andreas voiced the question that was suddenly bothering him. “How did your father, a member of the Ridgebrook CMM, get sent along with them?”

“Well…,” the brown haired young man hesitated slightly. “Y’all know how there’s supposing to be some bad blood between the Duke and the Prince? Well, the Duke apparently didn’t wanna send the Fusiliers t’all, but then that there would’ve looked a might bit peculiar and disloyal, him refusin’ a re-quest from the Prince backed by them Sandovals.”

Once again both Andreas Staedele and Celic Nedeljko nodded in understanding and agreement. While neither man had ever met Hanse Davion or Michael Hasek-Davion it was not really a big secret that there was tension between the two. Supposedly it had started when First Prince Ian Davion had been killed by Yorinaga Kurita. Hanse, Ian’s younger brother, had been named as heir to the throne in the event of Ian’s demise should he not have a child and proper heir born of wedlock. Hanse’s right to succession had been challenged only by Michael Hasek-Davion, the Duke of New Syrtis, head of the Capellan March, and husband of Hanse and Ian’s half sister, Marie Davion-St. Claire. No one but a few people high up in the FedSuns’ government knew the exact details of what had occurred, but in the end it was plain as day that whatever had happened had left the two as less than friendly rivals. Oh sure, both men acted civilly with one another of the vids, but what was seen by the public was not what was always happening in private and it always seemed that when one man did something grand the other had to do something just a bit more spectacular.

“So how does you father fit into all of this?” ‘Ned’ asked, voicing the question that Andreas also wanted answered.

“Well…Duke Hasek-Davion did as he was re-quested…well, sorta anyway,” Cody stated, his tone lowering slightly as if he was revealing a big secret. “Ya see Duke Hasek-Davion sent out‘ta call to all of the March Militias sayin’ that they needed to send a company of the best Mechwarriors, pilots, and infantry. Ya see he was….”

“He was creating a dummy unit to send in place of the 8th Syrtis Fusiliers,” Andreas Staedele interrupted, reaching the conclusion without Cody having to actually say it. “A bunch of smaller units form the militias, not enough to weaken the garrison on his worlds, but enough to constitute an under-strength RCT. Let me guess, he put a few officers in charge of the unit and called it the 8th Syrtis Fusiliers Auxiliaries or something like that.”

“Yessuah,” John Cody nodded, looking a bit relieved that he didn’t have to say it. “Or at least that ‘twas what we’s was told. From things mah Gran-dad and Ma talked ‘bout the March Milita had done been told that a new unit was being formed to protect the March from the Cappies.”

“But instead Hasek-Davion gets to keep his Fusiliers where they are while sending a Fusiliers unit just like the First Prince asked,” Celic interjected with a look of disgust at the underhanded tactic. “I bet the officers he sent from the actual 8th were those he didn’t consider to be loyal enough to himself.”

“Maybe,” the leader of the Buron Cavalry commented. “But if he did this then how come we’re just hearing about it now. I can’t think that Hanse Davion of the Sandovals wouldn’t have noticed, but it is possible. If the unit was already en route or arriving on station when the deception was noticed there probably wasn’t a whole lot that could do about it at the time. The Draconis March needed reinforcing and these were fresh troops they were getting, just not the exact ones they had asked for and been promised. Still….”

“It was probably some political backroom dealing that kept it from coming out and making them all look stupid,” Nedeljko offered with a frown considering the same type of dealing had put the Buron Cavalry on the chopping block and into such tight monetary straits. “Michael probably got a slap on the wrist and a stern, ‘don’t do it again’, while Hanse and the Sandovals got some sort of concession or other in return.”

“Hmmm,” Andreas hummed in agreement. “So I take it from what you’ve told us so far that your father made it to Kesai IV and then things went bad.”

Giving a sharp nod the brown haired young man replied, “Yessuah, though I don’t right know the details of what happened mah Ma and Gran-dad got a message from the AFFC saying that mah Da was Missing-in-Action after Kesai got raided. Said that ‘twas pirates who’d done it, that they’d come looking to take advantage of the chaos and confusion the Dracs caused. It tore mah Ma up sumthing fierce getting that news.”

Major Andreas Staedele nodded in understanding. In the course of this career he had written and recorded a number of messages to inform the families of fallen Buron Cavalry members that their loved one had died or was missing and presumed dead. It was hard enough just thinking of what to say one of those messages, he couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to actually get one even if he had seen friends get them in the past. God, what would it be like for Marie or Esther if they got a letter from the GDI saying he was KIA or MIA? Marie would probably already know before any formal message since she was the Chief Tech and traveled with the Cav everywhere, but still….

Shaking his head slightly to try and get rid of the troubling thought, the leader of the Buron Cavalry asked, “What makes you think your father got carted off by the pirates? Or that he is even still alive?”

“Mah Da was a great Mechwarrior! He wouldn’t let no dirty ol’ pirate lick’em unless he’s was outnumbered or sumthing!” John J. Cody fired back quickly and with a bit of anger crawling into his voice. “They did’n find his body nowhere or any trace of his Mech! He had to have been taken by the pirates ‘cause he’d never just run from a fight! Mah Da is a great man! I know he’s alive! I’s just knows it!”

“Okay, okay, calm down there son,” Celic intervened as the young man started getting hysterical. “We didn’t mean to imply that your father is dead. It’s just that….”

“People who come out into the Periphery looking for miracles usually only find disappointment and death,” Andreas finished what Celic had not been able to say. “What makes you think that your father would have come to Antalllos anyways? If he got captured by the pirates that raided Kesai IV then he could be on any number of worlds on this side of the Periphery.”

Cody nodded, his brown hair falling down into his eyes, “I left home, a year an’ a half ago this May. I hopped a freighter head’n out to the Draconis March and landed on Mayetta two months later. It took me three months to find a ship heading for Kesai IV, but they wouldn’t take me on and I couldn’t sneak aboard so I had to wait another three to find one that ‘twas heading out that way and take me on as a tech. It took me two weeks to get to Kesai IV and I then spent the next week and three months talking to every person who’d seen the fight. All I got was that mah Da went out and didn’t come back. Then I heard a rumor in the spaceport that the pirates who’d raided Kesai had been spotted eleven months earlier headin’ to Antallos and sumthing about ‘a big score’.”

Andreas frowned at that little tid bit of info. That was almost the time period when the planning for the invasion of Earth had started and the pirates had started to gather for it. Had the group that Cody was looking for gone to Earth?

“Cody, the name of the pirate group you were trying to track, what was it?” the Major asked, hoping that he may be wrong.

“They’s was callin’ themselves ‘The Black Lightning Raiders’, Ser,” John answered quickly. “Why?”

“Just checking to see if the Cav or the GDI may have bumped into them,” ‘Ned’ interjected before Andreas could. “I don’t recall hearing them mentioned amongst the pirates we and the GDI have tangled with so far.”

“You wouldn’t Ser,” Cody offered punctually. “It took me a month to find a ship and then two months of hopping ‘round the Outworlds Alliance before arriving on Antallos ‘bout three months ago. I’s spent everyday asking ‘bout them and everyone I talked to’s done told me that ‘The Black Lightning Raiders’ were on Antallos ‘til January last year, they’s got here the end of August jus’ before that and did some minor raiding out on the Combine, but now they’ve just up and disappeared again. I figure that with this GDI and such in control of Antallos they ain’t coming back seeing’s how them GDI folks don’t take too kindly to pirates and criminals.”

“They don’t at that,” Nedeljko chuckled darkly as he recalled the nuclear greeting the pirate fleet had received upon arrival at Earth.

“Yeah,” the brown haired young man nodded, “So’s I figures that they probably moved to one of the systems nearby maybe and since them GDI folks are cleaning up the Periphery my best chance of finding them is by signing on with the GDI or one of their mercs.”

Major Andreas Staedele sat back in his chair and let out a puff of air as he began to think the story over. The kid had heart, he’d give him that, and a good dose of courage for coming so far on his own. He even felt sorry for the kid slightly. He knew what it was like to lose the father you looked up to. The only problem was what would the kid do if they actually came across these ‘Black Lightning Raiders’? People hired for the Buron Cavalry had to be dependable and trustworthy, the reputation of the unit depended upon it. If the kid went off on a vengeance kick….

“Alright Cody I need to ask you a question and before you answer you have to know this,” Andreas stated clearly and sternly. “The Buron Cavalry are mercenaries and we may fight for money, but we have our pride and reputation to consider and those are dependent upon our trustworthiness and reliability. Without those we aren’t worth anything and for the member of the Cav our word is our bond. Now, knowing that I want you to be completely honest with me. If we do run into these pirates you’re looking for what are you going to do? I know you want to find your father, but I can’t have you putting this unit or its employer in danger because you suddenly go irrational on us. I need to know that I can trust you.”

“You can count on me Ser,” the young John J. Cody spoke solemnly. “Mah Da told me before he left after my thirteenth birthday that, ‘a man is only as good as his word and that a man is judged by the actions that he does and does not take’. If I went and betrayed them principles then how could I look mah Da in the eye when I find’em?”

Staedele smiled slightly as he heard the young man with the unkempt brown hair give him his answer. Looking up at ‘Ned’ he saw that the other man also had a small smile at those words. However, before he spoke to tell John J. Cody that the Buron Cavalry would be hiring him on Andreas caught the sight of Celic Nedeljko’s smile turning straight into a frown.

“Wait a minute,” the XO of the Buron Cavalry stated suddenly. “On your application you listed your age as being 19 years-old according to the Terran standard, but you just said that your father left after your 13th birthday. If you were….”

“Did I’s say thirteenth?” Cody suddenly said, a nervous little smile curling up the edges of his mouth. “Sorry ‘bout that. I meant to say sixteenth on the account of the diff-….”

Andreas Staedele recognized a lie when he heard it and immediately cut the ‘boy’ off with, “Don’t lie to me kid, I thought we already established that. How old are you really?”

Worrying his lip slightly as he felt the stares of the two men bearing down on him John Cody finally answered, “I…I…. Sixteen Ser. But’s I’s be turning seventeen middle o’ next month and that’s the Lord’s honest truth Ser! Major Dansel and Major Hale said that they couldn’t sign me up ‘cause my age, but they said that the Buron Cavalry wouldn’t have the same restriction. I can pilot and shoot as well as any man grown can. Please Ser! I’m sorry I’s lied to ya’ll but you folks are mah best hope right now finding mah Da!”

Leaning forward slightly Andreas suddenly realized from the boy’s words why exactly Dansel and Hale hadn’t written anything on John Cody, those cheeky bastards! GDI regulations stated that official GDI units couldn’t recruit anyone under the age of 17 Terran Standard years, but that 18 years was the preferred minimum age requirement because at 17 years the applicant needed the expressed written consent of a legal parent or a legal guardian or a special dispensation from a recognized Court of Law. With the only real Court of Law on Antallos being the one set up by the CSN and GDI to handle the numerous criminal trials of pirates and the criminals that they couldn’t tolerate it would’ve been difficult for the boy to get a Court order to allow entry into the Legion sinc ehte Court was currently backed up just from handling the affairs from after the takeover. Besides, there was no way they’d allow a kid who was still legally sixteen and on a quest to find his father to join a combat unit that was being staffed with types to be found on Antallos, even if those recruits were the better ones both morally and skill wise. However, even if the Buron Cavalry could technically recruit someone that didn’t meet the age requirements of the GDI it didn’t mean that Staedele would. There was still the reputation of the Cav to consider and the fact that the kid had lied twice rather than simply tell him the truth from the start.

“You say you’re telling us the truth, but how do we know that? You already lied to us at least twice by my count. How do we know that this isn’t another lie?” Celic questioned sternly, the usually mirthful man showing no signs of joking around. “What about what your father said about a man being only as good as his word and about how he is known and judged by the actions he does and does not take? Hmmm, well?”

“I…I…I’m sorry Ser honest I am, but I didn’t know if I’s could trust the Majors. I swear to you that ain’t no lie!” young John Cody blurted out defensively.

“Oh yeah?!” Celic stated disbelievingly. “What about your family back home, huh? What about them? Did you even tell them that you were leaving on this mad journey of yours?”

“I…I,” the sixteen year-old stuttered slightly, “I…. No Ser, I…. They don’t know. Ma and Gran-dad would’da never ‘llowed me to leave if I told them.”

“Jesus,” the XO of the Buron Cavlary swore. “Have you even thought about what they must be feeling knowing he’s missing you’re God knows where?! You’ve been concentrating so much on your father you’ve forgotten what family you do have.”

“I…I guess so…. But I gotta find’em, at least know if he’s live or dead…sumthing!” the boy said before getting out of the chair and actually getting on his knees. “Please Ser! I know I done ya’ll wrong by lying, but please…. Please, don’t…. Even if it is only as a tech, even if its only as a laborer or servant…. Please Ser, don’t not give me a chance to find mah Da or at least make restitution to ya’ll!”

Staedele felt his face flush with embarrassment as the kid begged him on his knees. Around the tent he knew that work had come to a halt and everyone was staring at the scene taking place. Worse of all was that no matter his decision word would spread through the ranks of the GDI and probably reach General Davis and Colonel Kurita. He didn’t relish the idea of being questioned about why he had turned the boy away or why he had hired him on. No matter what stories would be told and rumors would circulate. Worse of all Marie would know by the end of the…no, forget the end of the day, she’d probably know within the next hour and be down here questioning him shortly afterwards. He hated this. It was like the damn ‘La Mancha’ scenario that the various Mechwarrior Academies through out the Sphere used to train cadets. No matter what he did he’d still lose somehow, the only question remaining was how badly he would lose.

“Kid…,” the leader of the Buron Cavalry began before seeing that the young recruit was still on his knees blabbering away apologies. Frustrated by it all Andreas growled, “Damn it Cody, pull yourself together for Christ’s sake!”

Those harsh words cut into the boy and stopped his blabbering almost immediately. Rising up swiftly the boy came to a perfect position of attention before responding, “Ser! Sorry Ser! I’s forgot myself and have shamed ya’ll and the Buron Cavalry! With your permission Ser….”

Andreas recognized what was being left unsaid. John J. Cody was giving him a perfect way out if he wanted to dismiss the boy. The question was if he should take it or not. Gaining a tech who knew what they were doing was essential for a unit like the Cav. And out here in the Periphery, well…the earth boys and girls were good and learned quickly, he’d give them that, but the Cav needed their own people and needed those people to know exactly what to do, how to do it, and to do it when it was needed most.

Looking over to his XO, the leader of the Buron Cavalry saw Celic Nedeljko give a subtle nod. God, the conversations later with Marc, Marie, and the GDI command were going to be bothersome.

“Recruit Cody,” Major Andreas Staedele stated in a perfect command tone. “After much consideration I, as the CO of the Buron Cavalry, have decided that you will be offered a probationary contract with the Buron Cavalry as a junior technician.”

Blinking in surprise John Cody was silent for a moment before bursting out and exclaiming, “Ser! Thank you Ser! Ya’ll shan’t regret it! I’s promise I-….”

“The Major did not give you permission to speak Recruit Cody!” Celic thundered as he interrupted the jubilant boy. “The Buron Cavalry may be mercenaries but we still respect and observe the chain of command. Do you understand that Recruit Cody!”

“Yes Ser!” Cody returned immediately, his eyes staring straight ahead as he stood at full attention.

Hiding the small smile that threatened to crack his stern visage, Andreas spoke, “Recruit Cody, as part of your probationary contract you will be expected to fulfill all duties assigned to you just as if you were a full member of the Buron Cavalry. You will do exactly as you are told by your immediate superiors and those they designate. You will perform to the standards of Chief Tech Staedele or you will not be here when your probationary period is over with. You will report to Captain Johnson every morning to train with his infantry unit. You must perform to his standards if you wish to remain with the Cav after your probationary period ends. Am I understood?!”

“Yes Ser!” john Cody enunciated clearly.

“And finally, in regards to your family…,” Andreas Staedele began to say, knowing that family was important. “You will send them a message telling them that you are on Antallos. You will tell them the entire truth of what you have done. I will have the Cav pay for the message to be sent seeing as how I will be sending along my own message regarding the situation. In this message I will explicitly tell your family that if they want you returned home then I will personally strap you into the first Dropship heading towards the FedSuns and the Capellan March. Is that understood?”

“Yes Ser!” the sixteen year-old answered clearly.

“Hale’s from down that way, I think,” Celic interjected. “Maybe part of the Crucis March nearby, I’m not sure. He may know a few of the jumpers and droppers that work down there.”

“Check with him and find out,” Andreas stated before turning to the table that was next to him.

Grabbing a few of the forms necessary the leader of the Buron Cavalry quickly scribbled several things down before turning and presenting them to the young man standing before him.

“John J. Cody, if you take and sign these forms you will be officially accepting the terms of the contract I have laid out before you and be recognized as legally binding,” the Major remarked firmly. “You will be subject to all rules and laws established by the Buron Cavalry and its employer. If you are found in violation of any of the terms laid out here in or of any rules or laws that have been established and recognized, I and your immediate superiors will have the right to punish you as deemed fit or to decide to turn you over to our employer for proper legal proceedings as established under the rules and authority of the Mercenary Review Board and the GDI and CSN regulations regarding Private Military Contractors.”

Cody nodded his head and reached for the papers. However, Andreas Staedele did not release them; he was not quite finished just yet.

“Furthermore, by accepting these papers you give me your word that you will not seek to deceive or act against the Buron Cavalry in any way or seek to tarnish its reputation by doing so to its employer,” Andreas finished laying out the conditions necessitated by the rules that bound him and his unit. “Do you accept these conditions and terms as I have explained them to you and do you give me your word that you shall carry them out as I have described them to you?”

“Yes Ser,” John Cody replied firmly. “Thank’ya Ser, I’s won’t lets ya’ll down.”

“Very well then, read through these, fill them all out in full with the truth and then sign them and return them to me,” the CO of the Buron Cavalry stated as he indicated a cleared off table to the other side of the tent. “If you have any questions as you go through them you may ask me, Captain Nedeljko, or one of the GDI personnel present in this tent for clarification. After you have finished with those I will write up the necessary paperwork to have you transferred over to where the Cav’s personnel are stationed near the Distant Home and have you get a properly outfitted kit from the GDI quartermaster’s office.”

“Yes Ser. Thank ya, Ser,” the sixteen year-old recruit said as he accepted the papers before turning towards the table he had been pointed towards.

“Captain Nedeljko and I will be outside if you need us,” Staedele remarked as he rose from his seat, ‘Ned’ giving him a dirty look over the fact that they had to go back outside and leave the confines of the air-conditioned tent. “C’mon ‘Ned’, marc is probably wondering what the hell is going on.”

Stepping towards the door Celic spoke in a low-voice to his boss, “You know that this is either going to could turn out to be the worst decision we’ve ever made or the best.”

“Heh,” Andreas stifled a short laugh before replying quietly. “Given all that has happened in the last year…. Who knows?”

Giving a shrug as he stepped out into the hot sun of Antallos the XO of the Buron Cavalry remarked, “Either way you’re going to be getting earfuls later on and that means that I’m going to be getting earfuls too. Man, it never seemed this rough when someone else was in charge.”

Stepping out of the tent behind his friend Andreas Staedele just shook his head. He wasn’t too worried what the GDI and General Davis would have to say about this. No, what really worried him was what his wife Marie and his aunt Hanna were going to say. Shuddering as the worst came to mind the CO of the Buron Cavalry turned towards the canopy only to pull up short.

Shit…he had forgotten about what Marc would say about all of it.

--------------------------------------------

So? What did you all think? Be honest now. I want to know if I should work on the second part as well or just leave this all alone.

[JonBerry]

Originally Posted by evilauthor

Okay... then why Europe? These people are officially coming to make sure their nationals get a fair trial. Ergo, they should be landing at spaceport near to said nationals who last I heard were being held in the US. That's true even for the "innocent civilians" like Kearny and Tasha who got swept along with Vorax's Army just because they happened to be on the Jumpships being used to transport the said Army.

Because the Hague is located in the Netherlands. It handles international law, so with the Pirates attacking everywere, it seemed like a good idea to put together a single trial system for dealing with them, rather than every nation for themselves.

[Alamo]

Another reason is, as pointed out, no major landmarks. The inner sphere seems to based mainly on European culture with the exception of China and Japan. There is no US proxy or expats in the sphere so it seems that any recognition of, say, Washington DC would be less so then Paris or Rome.

[Cpl_Facehugger]

"The GDI are a cruel bunch"

I think you mean "aren't" there.

Beyond that, it's pretty good. Do you have plans for this vanishing pirate company in the future?