Chapter Text
Castle Rason, Delacambre,
Milligan PDZ, Woodbine Operational Area,
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
26th January, 3063
1000 hours
“Fancy meeting you here,” Finn looked over at the dark haired man sitting opposite him in his office on Delacambre. “I didn’t think I would see you again after Bulldog.”
The interviewee was dressed exactly like a job applicant, complete with suit and tie. It was a far cry from the ComStar robes Finn was used to seeing him wear, though he had a feeling the other man used his appearance for his own ends, like everything else.
A whole bunch of former soldiers had turned up a few days ago asking to join the Trivet expeditionary force, so Finn was conducting impromptu interviews to assess their suitability, squeezing them into his already packed schedule.
Since the current interviewee seemed to be leading them, he was obviously the first to be assessed. It also helped that Finn knew him from Operation Bulldog.
Finn recalled what he knew of the man before him. An invaluable ally, and a most deadly foe. He has a brain and knows how to use it. I trusted him during Bulldog, and I sure as hell hope he’s still on our side.
“It’s a small Sphere, Hauptmann Rason… or should I address you as Colonel now? Congratulations are in order, you had a lot going on. Getting married, promoted, and your victory in the recent… nastiness here.” Gunthar Voss smiled. “I’m really sorry for the lack of a wedding gift, so here’s a belated one.”
He took a data stick out from a pocket and placed it on the desk in front of Finn.
“All troop movements in the Draconis March as of three weeks ago, with two months projection too. All hotspots occurring within two hundred light years, with information on logistics centers and strategic stockpiles you can access.”
Finn stared at him. “Aren’t you going to get into trouble like this?”
“All obtained through my own sources, my dear colonel. Nothing to do with ComStar or ROM. I quit the Order.”
Scepticism coloured Finn’s reply. “But why side with Victor at all? You didn’t seem all that enthusiastic back during Bulldog when he was running the show.”
“Finn, I keep my emotions under wraps. Besides, Victor SD has been one hell of a lightning rod for events in the past ten years, and I figure that staying on his side is a sure way to see interesting stuff.”
Finn stared at Gunthar. The man was undoubtedly brilliant, being the one analyst who had figured out the Jaguar’s Mists’ movements during Bulldog and pointed the War Pigs straight at them on Yamarovka.
“You could have travelled to Victor…”
“Pffftt… all the way to the other end of the Sphere?” Gunthar laughed. “That would have wasted at least three months of my life on jumpships. No, I can contribute the most here. Besides, I heard what happened to our mutual acquaintance from the Clans. I figured I owe you a little bit.”
Finn scowled. “You should have argued harder against letting Pence off.”
Gunthar held up his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “What could I have done? ComStar was neutral and had no say in what the Lyrans decided. In fact, their plan almost worked, didn’t it?”
Finn glared, “We still stopped him.”
“Only because that bunch of former Smoke Jaguars came over to your side. After our offices on Farnsworth raised the alert, I just had to pop over to come take a look. I’m sure by now you know they were the same clanners we were trying to hunt down in Bulldog.” Voss started stroking his beard. “For them to agree to work for your wife, that’s quite unusual.”
Finn suddenly felt very uneasy. “For various reasons, we all wanted Pence dead. No surprise we cooperated to get that outcome.”
“Yes, and your new wife too, a very impressive woman.” Gunthar’s glasses gleamed. “Tried to kill herself just two years ago, but survived to have a completely different direction in life, even became a mechwarrior, and led the former clanners to an impressive string of victories. What an interesting turn of events.”
Finn’s blood turned ice cold with Gunthar’s words. This man thrives on seeing patterns and solving puzzles. Could he have figured it out?
He forced himself to act nonchalant yet with a tinge of anger. “Gunthar, are you trying to make me angry? My wife had to overcome a lot of challenges to get to where she is today.”
Gunthar held up his hands appeasingly. “Woah, relax! I didn’t come to fight with you. I just wanted to sign up, and point out what I found absolutely fascinating about your forces.”
“Well, you can stop digging, cos not everybody is going to be as forgiving as I am.”
“Sure, I can do that, but others can find out the same, and you’ll need a plan for when that happens. Get ahead of the curve, use it wisely.”
Finn sighed, “And you already have some idea of what to do.”
Gunthar beamed. “Of course! As your newly minted intel head, I’ll also take charge of media relations and propaganda.”
Finn grimaced at the other man’s presumption. “Who said anything about a staff setup?”
“You still need one right?” Gunthar shrugged. “If my estimation is right, you’ll be ending up with a regiment of mixed troops. Tell me you don’t require a more dedicated staff, even if it’s going to be utter barebones for each section.” The former ComStar man feigned a look of horror. “You’re not going to double-hat your officers, are you?”
Finn winced. “I’m not sure if we have enough personnel to justify all that. And even if we do, finding enough qualified staff who can man the shops isn’t exactly easy.”
Technically, some of his staff were already double-hatting, like Seran Chrisholm who was effectively the S3 in charge of operations, and Anastasia, who was in charge of logistics, much to her chagrin, while he himself was serving as a makeshift S1 to conduct these interviews
Gunthar grinned. “Don’t worry about that, Colonel. I’ll have you know a lot of the new applicants might be suited to these roles.”
“You brought them over from ComStar?” asked Finn. One former ComStar man is one thing. A whole bunch of them…
“Actually, they’re not ComStar. Just that… they were with me due to extenuating circumstances. I can only tell you they were sequestered away from the Inner Sphere for several years, through no fault of their own. I’ll let you suss them out. Just promise to give them a fair hearing, ok?”
“Sure.” Finn gave Gunthar a onceover. “By the way, what’s with this getup? I’ve only ever seen you in Precentor robes.”
“I’m not ComStar anymore, so better to look professional.”
Finn winced. “This must have cost you.”
Gunthar laughed. “Not as much as you might think. It’s a rental, I’m not going to waste money on a suit that I’m gonna wear once and probably never again.”
“Eh?” Finn blinked. “I thought ComStar paid its staff very well…”
“Most folks work for ComStar for reasons other than money, or at least they used to. Why do you think the Order had so much trouble recruiting after Tukayyid? I keep telling the pen pukes to raise the base pay or sign-on bonus, but they kept ignoring me.”
Finn asked, “Pen pukes?”
“Oh sorry. P-E-N,” Gunthar pronounced each letter separately, “is our HR. We just call them PEN, since they’re staffed by Psi, Eta, and Nu designated staff. So, PEN for short. Although…” Gunthar stroked his beard speculatively. “there’s no psi division any more after Focht’s reforms, but we kept to calling HR PEN, and their staffers pen pukes.”
Finn tried to dig further, “So they didn’t listen to you. Why?”
Gunthar scowled, “I think there could be some malign conspiracy at work, but there’s a strong chance it’s just your usual MBA types prioritising the short run over the long.”
“They didn’t listen to you even with your record?”
Gunthar shrugged. “Especially with my record. You have no idea what weird stuff I got involved with, Finn, but I wouldn’t give up those experiences for anything. But because I was often involved in these strange situations, the HR and MBA types usually don’t like me around to threaten their nice and safe rice bowls.”
“Is that why you quit?”
Gunthar shook his head, “Nah. Wasn’t a big deal. Slight push factor at most. I was never the corporate P&L type.”
“But I think I remember your family had always been in ComStar. Is it that easy to just walk away?”
Gunthar scoffed. “Of course not! It’s a long list of relatives who won’t ever talk to me again, but I was never close to them. I was too busy doing actual stuff than praying over machinery.” He sneered dismissively. “I was the first in my family to actually make Precentor. Give me a puzzle to figure out any day, that’s what I want.”
“Don’t think we quite have that, Gunthar.” Finn frowned.
“No? Trying to piece together the semblance of an operational plan that can bring an end to this civil war in favour of Victor? That’s something I can really get my teeth into.”
“You’re sure you’re okay with all this?”
“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have resigned from ComStar. Heard I’m not the only one too.”
Finn held out a hand. “All things considered, good to have you on board, Voss.”
Gunthar shook his hand firmly. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“Randall Lewis?” Finn read out the name and looked at his interviewee.
“Yes sir, that’s me.” The big, heavy set man had a jolly demeanour, and unusually for a mechwarrior, he wore a pair of wire-framed glasses.
“Your records don’t say much, even if Gunthar vouched for you.” Finn frowned at the CV on his noteputer, which had a list of Randall’s achievements and combat records, but there was one big problem.
Every name, location, and time had been redacted. Even the man’s homeworld and date of birth.
Lewis smiled sheepishly. “We, uhm, worked for ComStar for a number of years, and then they gave us an extended uhm… vacation. Because everything was classified, and still is, I can’t say anything. Heck, if not for Gunthar, we’d still be held under virtual house arrest.”
Finn raised an eyebrow. “That level of classified? That serious?”
“Yeah, that serious.” The smile disappeared from Randall’s face. “We’re still under a NDA, and while I don’t think ROM is going to start making assassination attempts just because we spilled the beans, I’d rather not take any chances.”
Finn’s curiosity was piqued. “So what can you tell me?”
“Me and the others, we were from the same unit, the Lionhearts.”
“The same name as the famous one from the Amaris Civil War?”
That reply got a wince out of Randall. “Yeah, we were young, thought we were going to be heroes and all that. Our CO got us linked up with ComStar, we survived. That’s all I’m permitted to say.”
Finn nodded. “Your record says you were a lance commander, and XO? So you can command a company?”
Randall nodded vigorously, his smile back. “I’m qualified in theory to lead up to a battalion. Not much experience doing that, mind you. Company level, no problem.”
“Your skills in a mech are very good.” That was no exaggeration. From the trial runs in the simulators, Randall Lewis was clearly an elite mechwarrior. “The rest of your combat jocks are quite good too, and you have a lot of non-combatant staff to fill our gaps, which is convenient. On merit alone, we should accept all of you. Problem is,” Finn leaned forward, “can we trust you?”
Randall shifted uneasily in his seat. “I know what all this looks like, but we’re really not ComStar. And from what I heard of this Victor-Katrina spat, it really sounds like Victor tried his best to avoid conflict.” His gaze darkened. “I’d like to think my bullshit detector’s quite accurate, and whatever’s coming out of New Avalon is really full of it.”
Finn stared at Randall. Other than actually going into the field and facing actual opponents, there was no way to tell if Randall was sincere or a very good actor. Still, Voss had vouched for his crew…
“Alright, we’ll take you in,” the wave of relief from Randall was palpable. “I can’t guarantee a command slot for you or any of your crew though, it has to be earned. That okay with you?”
Randall smiled brightly. “Definitely!”
The addition of the former Lionhearts was an unexpected godsend to the forming Trivet Expeditionary Relief Force. Four mech jockeys including Randall, another three aerospace pilots who could provide aerospace support if they could find the fighters for them.
Furthermore, they had a number of engineers who were well versed in space operations and opted to work for REAPER instead, even a few who were surprisingly knowledgeable about KF drive construction.
There were not many dependents for a former unit of their size, and if not for Gunthar’s assurance, Finn would have pegged them as almost certainly a false flag operation. Most of the dependents were children, born to members of the unit who had partnered up during their time with ComStar.
Hawise agreed to host the dependents at Fort Lambourne, also an implicit threat in case they did prove to be subversives, and those who decided to work for REAPER at Altoona would also make regular trips to check on their dependents.
There was one unusual adult dependent though, their former chief engineering officer, Andrea Sarti, who suffered a serious head injury and caused her to revert to a childlike state. From what Finn could tell, her condition seemed to be a common mark of shame shared by all of the former Lionhearts, and that, more than anything else, seemed to prove the veracity of their claims.
Finn just could not figure out what they were doing that would make ComStar put them under house arrest for several years.
In any case, Gunthar’s information had been very valuable. It helped them draw up a clear strategy for them to progress in the Draconis March, with a list of targets that would best utilise their strengths without taking heavy losses.
Invader Jumpship Barstow’s Bartab,
Zenith Jump Point, Inman,
13th March, 3063
The fleet of jumpships had been assembled, the Silence of Night and two Invaders they had managed to finagle to carry them to Winfield. After that, well, Gunthar swore he would be able to get enough transport collars to get them to Stratford.
In addition to the dropships captured from the Kilbourne DMM and the 3rd Lyran Regulars, they had managed to get more lift capacity, including a Seeker with a pro-Victor crew that was somehow left stranded in the Outback after a supply run to the Periphery.
“We’ve come a long way.” Ana snuggled up to him as they watched the rest of their small flotilla from the viewing area on the grav deck of the Invader class Barstow’s Bartab, the view slowly spinning out as the grav deck rotated around the jumpship.
The other ships were docking into their collars, and then they would jump for Winfield, where the pro-Victor forces there were hard pressed by forces from loyalist DMM elements.
“And many more light years left to go.” Finn replied. “Ana, I’m sorry to drag you along like this.”
She gave him a mock offended glare. “Finn, we all have good reasons to make sure Katrina Steiner-Davion doesn’t win. What sort of wife would I be to let you go into such uncertainty on your own?”
She added with a wry grin, “And I am never going to be the type of lady who stays at home waiting for things to happen.”
“I know. And if I ever tried that… well, your guys already warned what would happen to me!” He hugged her close with one arm. “We still have a few minutes before we need to get to our stations for jump. How are you holding up?”
She hugged him back. “Surprisingly well. Offloading our work on those new recruits made my life a lot easier. I can really focus on my two lances now.” Her words were tinged with awe. “But they really know their stuff. They even have a more advanced spreadsheet software to track their logistics!”
“I always figured you to be a glory hunter, not a bean counter,” chuckled Finn. “You seemed to be having more fun handling a spreadsheet than a mech!”
She mock-slapped his shoulder with one hand. “Hey! No logistics, nothing to fight with. I do all that spreadsheet work so that the fun and glory can happen!”
“And how’s your unit shaping up? I was really surprised to see you added two more clanners when I returned to Altoona.”
“Jeine’s a solid leader, though for some reason she downplays her small unit ability. Wasn’t too difficult for her to adapt from the base-five Star structure to a base-four Lance.”
“And yourself?” He gave her a questioning look.
She smirked. “As part of our training to raid the border, we trained in Inner Sphere tactics too, so I’m familiar with base-four. I have to say the idea of having a dedicated wingman is actually pretty good.”
“There’s no such thing in a Star?” asked Finn out of curiosity.
She shrugged, “We were supposed to go by zellbrigen, so having wingmen hardly matters, quiaff?” Some clan words slipped out of her occasionally ever since he knew of her true identity. “But when we were raiding the Combine, I would usually split my star into a pair and a triad. The triad would have myself and two others, usually Erlin and Camille. They’d cover my front and back while I assessed the battle situation.”
“Think you’ll be able to reform your binary?” He knew one of her fondest hopes was to rebuild the Jaguar’s Mists as a full binary of omnimechs.
“Who knows? We’re almost there. And your man Gunthar was certain he can rustle up at least two more recruits for me, former clan warriors.”
Finn was surprised. “He did?”
“Yes, he said he has at least one available at Woodbine, and tabs on another. Somehow he knew I was collecting stray clan mechwarriors. I just need to find omnimechs for them.”
Finn scowled, “Ana, be wary of Gunthar.”
She blinked. “Why? He doesn’t seem to be a threat.”
“Oh, I trust Gunthar to be on our side. It’s just that he’s one of the smartest people I know, and I believe he’s capable of deducing who you are.”
Ana tilted her head. “If he’s on our side, it shouldn’t matter even if he knew the truth, right?”
He shuddered. “It does matter. He’d be worse than Raymond, constantly pestering you on your condition. You already saw how he was all over Erlin, Jeine, and the others when he got here.”
“That’s true.” She nodded to herself. “Aff, we have enough things to worry over.”
A chime sounded, and the PA system said, “All personnel report to stations for jump. Repeat, all personnel report to your stations for jump.”
Finn sighed, “All right, it’s time to go. See you at Winfield.”
Anastasia used a hand to pull him down to her lips, and they exchanged a short but passionate kiss.
She let go of him, and started drifting away as the grav deck’s power cut out in preparation for jump. “See you at Winfield,” she echoed his words, then gave him a final wave as she pushed off to her own dropship, the Red Cavalcade.
Finn smiled as he headed to his own dropship, the memory of their kiss putting him in a good mood. We have everything squared away, next is to prove that TERF can fight. He just had a strong feeling they could make a real difference in this war.