Mech Warrior Log - Brody.J - The path of true luck never runs smooth

The Market

It is amazing how lucky you can be on a place like Astrokaszy... Some people like that shit vanZant could fall in camel dung and come up smelling like a rose garden, Sadly for me and the rest of the misfits I run with shit smells just like shit, and we always seem to be neck deep in it no matter what we do... Might well have something to do with the fact that Jakari is a psycho of the highest order! But, I am getting ahead of myself...

The trip across the desert was easy enough, pleasant...if you like endless sand dunes punctuated by the occasional burned out technical and bleached corpse, Astrokaszy seems to cultivate them like weeds.

Thornton, recovered from his wounds, waited a few clicks back from the village site and Jakari and I headed in. I'd been told that the place they finished Shirinov and Conrad was little more than a small collection of ramshackle huts and what we saw when we got there was something else. Now it was the site of a large and colourful market. The headless 'Mech festooned with brightly coloured flags and bunting that stretched from it to the now much larger collection of dwellings, many of which were tents and all filled with smiling faces eager for the festivities to commence.

Even more surprising than the fact that a small tented town had appeared and the huge population explosion and all of the shit and foodstuff that goes with that in a place like this but the fact that four 'Mechs stood at the cardinal points around the damaged Warhammer, all painted individually... A desert cammo Shadowhawk, a light green painted Vidicator, A black Thunderbolt and a dull gold Orion. My Scans told me that although the 'Mechs were powered up there was no activity in offensive or defensive systems... Pilot free!

As we approached a large group of horsemen broke off from the market and raced towards us and with my advanced targeting system it picked out 19 riders, all heavily armed with automatic weapons and light armour piercing rockets. Rather than seeming aggressive though they just wanted to close the distance between us at pace. as the lead rider got within 30 metres of Jakari and I he shouted in excellent English Welcoming us to the bazaar of his mater, Sheik Umar Yar Adua, and promising us safe conduct so long as we respected the neutrality of the bazaar under his master's generous protection.

Of course this is where my luck took a turn for the usual. After dismounting from our 'Mechs Jakari and I were lead into the centre of a makeshift arena Where the crowd of armed men are watching the bidding on the damaged 'Mech. Jakari informed the auctioneer that the 'Mech belongs to the Blackshields to which the bearded man replied with a smile that it now belonged to the Darod clan. Jakari prceeded to then insult the guy who spoke English and then punched him knocking him from his feet. Knowing things were going to get ugly as the crowd surged around Jakari I called Thornton in from his overwatch position, hoping he would arrive in time.

Knowing I needed to calm things down I called out to the crowd appealing for calm and you know what? it worked... briefly! Jakari drew his fucking vibroblade and almost cut the bearded guy's leg off with it. Fuck it! The guy is a nut and these dudes had numbers on their side. I made a break for the horses and headed for the Black Knight.

Thank fuck I left the thing powered up! My PPC made short work of the Thunderbolt pilot as he reached the thing but I couldn't tag any of the others before they could get their 'Mechs running. Jakari stayed around duking it out with armed guards before realising that he would stand a much higher chance of surviving in his 'Mech too.

Mech Warrior Log - Brody.J - A cooling off period

Med Bay

Thornton was being treated for the wounds he had suffered on their Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol, that raised more than a few eyebrows on its own but along with some questions about why the two of them went off in a single 'Mech... Questions that increased in heat and volume when nothing further was heard from Shirinov and Conrad. When she could put it off no longer Ferguson came calling.

She was understandably concerned that the Blackshields were looking at a potential loss of three pilots with the death of Rebollar and Shirinov and Conrad M.I.A. She called on Thornton, Jakari and I all separately... Of course I had the ace in the hole as I had been on base all the while they were away but guilt has a way of spreading out a bit like a kid's first colouring book... boundaries are guidelines rather than actual boundaries.

I am not sure exactly what Jakari said to Ferguson but after she had spoken to him, and given the fact that she had no real evidence to back up her suspicions and after reading Hausa's After Action Report and seeing that he was the catalyst behind all of the Blackshields current woes she calmed the fuck down and just asked if Conrad and Shirinov were going to bring any more of their shit to our door. Jakari's response was almost philosophical... who would have thought he had it in him? he told her that the worst regret you can have in life is not for the things that you have done which are wrong but rather for the things that perhaps you should have done but didn't.

Thornton's response was more considered but along the same lines. He told Branka that he was tired of being ill used in other people's power games and suggested that Rosalina should be returned home along with the evidence that those responsible had been given the ultimate punishment. He also suggested that Jakari and I should go out and attempt to recover the Warhammer and find out what evidence, if any, could be found about Shirinov and Conrad's whereabouts.

I too had a meeting with the Colonel and told her that I had raised my objections several times about the deviations from our intended mission and about how mysteriously Hausa's illness had come and gone. I told her that I suspected Shirinov of being more than just a run of the mill MechWarrior and that I suspected him of being an agent for some other power, the Marian Hegemony perhaps? That I'd spent a lot more time with Kaja and Rosilina and our Canopian pilot shared her wish that Rosilina should be returned home but that our other, perhaps less aware brethren could only see just how many c-bills she might be worth in ransom I agreed with Kaja's assessment... Sending Rosalina back was the right thing to do.

Branka basically agreed that we needed to find a way to get Rosalina back to Thraxa with a minimum of fuss and as much of an apology as we could manage. She also suggested that we could buy some goodwill by trying to find out just who it was that has been raiding their planets and have a crack at them... you never know it might work? She also agreed with Thornton... We should go and see if we could find out just what had happened to our missing comrades...

Mech Warrior Log - Brody.J - Day trippers, Sunday driving yeah!

Shirinov's Warhammer

 

So, things have moved on again... Things got a little heated once we'd returned to Astrokaszy... We wre brought up in front of Ferguson and grilled on the part we played in Shirinov's little escapade. I trust that man about as far as I could throw him! he definitely has his own agenda and is not adverse to using the Blackshields to get exactly what he wants. After speaking to Ferguson we made it clear that the whole situation with the raid seemed to be a pretext for busting Conrad out of jail and capturing and ransoming Lady Rosilina Trussel back to her mother... All at the expense of the Blackshields and their repuatation. For some reason Ferguson and Hausa seemed unprepared or unable to censor Shirinov and were even contemplating giving Conrad Rebollar's 'Mech! I can't work Branka out... what is going on with her?

Within the first week Kaja had taken Trussel into her protection, Lady Rosilina had soon come to realise that she had been played for a fool and that her predicament was precarious to say the least. I arranged for a dinner one evening and She and I discussed her situation, I warned her to stay as far away from Conrad and Shirinov as she could and told her that I would do all that I could to get her safely back to her home with a minimum of fuss.

Using my dubious talents I managed to find out what had happened with Kaja and how she had ended up here with the Blackshields, I told her that I would try to help her find and punish the warlord that took everything from her.

Not long after returning Shirinov managed to convince Ferguson that he should travel to Shervanis City and could deliver the terms for Lady Trussel's release to the Duchess of Thraxa using the HPG station there. He and Conrad set off in his Warhammer much to the dismay of the lady herself, Kaja and the three of us.

What happened next I can only relay as it was relayed to me by Jakari after the fact. He and Thornton headed out in his 'Mech to intercept our two comrades as they made their way across the desert towards Shervanis City. With his extra speed Jakari's Guilotine soon outpaced the Warhammer and they stopped just outside of some backwater flea-bitten town by an oasis and after checking out all likely routes to the local dive bar and flop house, set up an ambush.

Shirinov and Conrad didn't know what had hit them, Thornton blazed away with the laser he has in that mechanical arm of his and Jakari dived in with his vibroblade... I swear, he is far too attached to that damn thing... I wish I'd never aquired it for him! Sadly things didn't go quite as well as they'd hoped and the fight became protracted and Thornton was wounded but both men soon lay dead in the dust. Jakari being Jakari cut off their heads and fried the cockpit of the warhammer, mounting the two heads on its shoulders...

Mech Warrior Log - Brody.J - Things that go bump in the night

Rebollar's Quarters

It is amazing how something can from being a bad situation to being a worse one in just the matter of a few hours. It was bad enough that we had kidnapped a member of the Canopian nobility but then busting some guy out of jail and murdering innocent kids... that is going a step too far, even for the likes of Jakari, Thornton and I.

Back aboard the King Goblin Thornton started to repair the 'Mechs, ours and Shirinov and Rebollar's. It was only then that we learned what had happened at the school and why. Now perhaps we made a mistake... not bringing the information to Hausa straight away but let's face it... what would he have done? Slapped Rebollar and Shirinov's legs and told them they were naughty boys... demoted them? Who knows... all that I do know is that at the time he didn't know which end to hang over the head!

Jakari took it badly... for a pirate he has a really strong protective sense towards kids... While we were resting up in our bunks Jakari took it upon himself to get a little payback for the kids of New Iona. He made his was to Rebollar's quarters, broke in and attacked him with his vibroblade! The fight was bloody and short and Rebollar soon lay dead on the floor of his cabin.

Jakari being Jakari couldn't leave it there... he headed to Pyle's cabin and threw Rebollar's severed head at him warning him to keep away from kids... any of them... unless he wanted the same to happen to him before returning back to his own cabin as if nothing had happened.

Pyle shit himself! but more than that he hit the comm and soon the three of us were being rounded up and brought before Hausa and Hull, neither of whom were overly impressed at Jakari's moment of madness... he is one guy you really don't want to get on the bad side of that much I do know.

Hull was all for spacing Jakari...or at least locking him in the brig but was confined to quarters instead. The journey back was... tense... to say the least.

Mech Warrior Log - Brody.J - School's out forever

Rebollar's riot

Lady Trussel could barely contain her excitement as we made our way back to the LZ at Ellinikon and I had to try hard to block out the chatter as it came over the comms. This world might well be one step away from freezing to death but I couldn't help but wonder if she realised what she had truly let herself in for.

We avoided any more run-ins with Clayborne's Commandos before passing through the perimeter that the Blackshields had set around Ellinikon. We were directed by Shirinov to help load the loot onto the dropship. it didn't take too long and the locals kept their distance knowing that they were outgunned.

With all the gear loaded Shirinov ordered us all back on board and we took off again, I was surprised to See Shirinov and Rebollar still in their 'Mechs as i'd assumed we were headed back to the jump point. I patched into their comms and soon discovered that we had another mission planned. Most of what I am going to set down here now Thornton and I were able to recover from the data recorders on board Shirinov's Warhammer and Rebollar's Enforcer.

We landed just outside of New Iona and Shirinov and Rebollar powered up and headed off towards the city. Jakari, Thornton and I kept a perimeter watch and I monitored the comms of both Shirinov and Rebollar though they both maintained a strict silence and the local stuff, or at least as much of it as I could get. The two of them soon split up once they had entered the city and Rebollar had stopped his 'Mech at a local school. Shirinov headed deeper into the city broadcasting via his PA system that the authoities needed to release a prisoner named Conrad.

Rebollar meanwhile was holding the kids in the school and the instructors hostage to Shirinov's demands. It wasnt long before the local militia turned up and surrounded the school and his 'Mech. From the looks of things the locals were not keen to capitulate to Shirinov's demands and didn't take kindly to having their kids threatened so started shooting at Rebollar's enforcer in an attempt to drive him off. For whatever reason that fuck Rebollar reacted in an extreme manner and kicked and blasted his way through half the school.

From the LZ we could see a large cloud of black smoke and heard a dull whump as something went up in the city. At that time we didn't know the arsehole was killing kids to aid his partner in crime. Needless to say the Thraxan forces backed the fuck down in an attempt to try and preserve the lives of those who remained in the school.

Mech Warrior Log - Brody.J - Me thinks the Lady doth protest too little

Lady Trussel's Estate

OK, So the idea was that this was supposed to be a trouble free pick up of a willing passenger...  LIKE FUCK it was! I knew, just bloody well knew, that it was going to be a fucking disaster as soon as the words came out of that greasy little shit's mouth! She's expecting you he said... How the fuck did she know we were coming was my first thought... Still, I don't know if Shirinov has been sneaking off to Shervanis City to use the HPG station there or if he has had Hull or Melville get in touch with her to let her know we were inbound once we were on our way... Either way things did not go exactly according to plan.

I am in danger here of getting ahead of myself... let me get back to the start. We made our LZ roughly ten clicks from our target on a flat portion of Thraxa's conserved tundra, powered up and headed out in the direction of her apartments. Fortunately my 'Mech was able to integrate with the orbital satelite stations so we weren't headed off in a random tangent, so much easier than navigating on Astrokaszy. Within a few minutes a building came into view, nestled in a picturesque valley, it was a large mansion of steel and glass and it was as we approached that things started to turn to shit.

From behind the building a blast of man made lightning hit Thornton's Battlemaster, boiling off the armour on its left torso as a Warhammer hove into view, fortunately it's second shot went wide. I moved to engage letting loose with a PPC and a couple of large lasers all three of which hit, the PPC and one of the lasers in the left leg and the other in it's left torso. I got lucky! the second hit to the left leg boiled off more armour but must have hit a weak spot as a great plume of green smoked billowed from its upper leg as the laser damaged the 'Mech's hip.

While I was engaging the Warhammer a Crusader rounded the other side of the mansion and opened up on Jakari and Thornton with it's LRM's. The fighting was quick and brutal as was the language over the comms, my Knight's Beagle probe detected that the Warhammer was pretty seriously damaged so I moved in close and let rip with one Large, four Medium and my Small laserscoring two more hits on the Warhammer's left leg and knocking it over, it's hip actuator exploding as the medium laser punched through into it's internal structure. Thoroughly beaten the pilot powered down the 'Mech in surrender.

The Crusader meanwhile was running hot from trying to deal with Jakari and Thornton's combined attacks and once I'd turned my attention to it as well the pilot wisely decided that bugging out was the right course of action even though both Jakari and Thornton's 'Mechs had taken some damage. I checked in with them both to make sure they were ok and as a unit we moved in closer to the mansion.

A single figure emerged from the building as we arrived, carrying a large case of clothing. Thornton extended a hand and the young lady climbed up onto it and was raised to the cockpit level of his 'Mech, the Battlemaster having the most room available. I contacted Hull to let him know we had our passenger aboard and that we were returning at speed after engaging hostiles. I guess Shirinov was honest about one thing Lady Rosalina Trussel had been expecting us.

Mech Warrior Log - Brody.J - Curiouser and curiouser

Thraxan Orbit

The transit to the Jump point took eight days... Eight days of listening to Hausa and Shirinov talking up how easy it was going to be, how valid Shirinov's intel was and how much we, as a unit, could make from this... What a crock of shit! two pompous windbags filling the air with meaningless chatter. People were going to die on Thraxa, maybe not our people but people just the same. People who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I struggle, I freely admit, with the whole idea of piracy... Mind you I guess banditry is not a great deal better... I cant crow too much about it though as I have now added both to my C.V. They sit real nicely next to gambler and thief.

I spent as much of those eight days away from the briefing room as I could manage, not that Hausa or Shirinov seemed to notice, a fact that suited me fine. Once we were securely docked with the Vanishing Point  Captain Melville jumped and we were truly under way. Eight jumps later and we arrived at our destination jump point and the King Goblin detached from Melville's jumpship and  we were departing for Thraxa and our objective raid.

Less than three days is all it takes to get from the Thraxan jump point to the planet itself and for most of those three days I spent my time preparing  my Black Knight, ensuring that all the systems were in good working order and ready for the inevitable action to come. Six hours from planetfall we were all summoned to an emergency briefing in the ready room. Hausa sat at the head of the table, wrapped in a thermal blanket and looking like he'd been eaten by a Thraxan Ice Bear and shat back out again. He struggled to get out that he had fallen ill a little over an hour before and rather than calling off the raid had decided to leave Shirinov in charge as he had that expert knowledge about the layout and disposition of forces planetside. There were grumbles from those not in his camp, a camp that seems to be growing I hasten to add, and one or two smiles from those within it. I watched as Hausa struggled to rise and had to in the end be helped back to the Med-Bay.

Shirinov called Thornton, Jakari and I over at the end of the briefing and told us that he had another mission for us while the raid was being dealt with at the distribution centre. He had ordered the King Goblin to drop us off at a private estate some sixty clicks southwest of the designated target. Our mission was to aid in the extraction of Lady Rosalina Trussel, daughter of Duchess Molly Trussel. He said that Lady Trussel would be ready and waiting for us and it should be a simple matter of just picking her up.

That prick! He'd had all of this planned from the start. I suspect that Hausa was poisoned with some fast acting but short term agent which had rendered him unable to command. Shirinov is a clever bastard, I'll give him that! I registered my disapproval of the plan but as Shirinov had been placed in direct command what more could I do but obey the little Prick's orders.

With the rest of the Blackshields dropped off at the distribution centre we made for our own LZ... What a cluster fuck!