Roaring Bear: Chapter 3

3
Pencader, Tamarind March
Federated Commonwealth
30 April 3050

Protected from the chill wind in her fur-lined greatcoat, Baroness Alexandra Grosvenor watched the Fighting Fusilier’s newest BattleMech, a pre-production model Bushwacker, go through its latest test run on the proving grounds. It had been shipped to Pencader directly from the TharHes Industries factory on Tharkad. The Bushwacker was a brand-new design, considered by many ‘Mech industry experts to be an ambitious, if somewhat unorthodox, concept. Its upper torso was long and narrow, low to the ground when compared to standard BattleMechs, so as to give it a minimal target profile.
    The main reason that TharHes Industries had sold the new BattleMech to the Fighting Fusiliers was because of Alexandra’s loyalty to the Lyran Commonwealth. During the War of 3039, an overreaching AFFC naval officer, Commodore Foster, tried to conscript the Grosvenor family JumpShip, Distant Memory, into military service for Hanse Davion’s pointless war with the Draconis Combine. Distant Memory escaped, and the scandal and political fallout from the incident cost Foster his naval career and turned Alexandra into a patriotic hero for Lyran nationalists.
    Since her mercenary unit’s founding twelve years ago, the Fusiliers have grown from a couple of lances of ‘Mechs to two full companies in size; along with a compliment of aerospace pilots and their fighters, eight in all. Alexandra’s warriors were now seasoned professionals, no longer a bunch of relative rookies. The unit’s first contract had been on Kolovraty, a world on the Lyran Commonwealth’s furthest border, protecting its citizens from Periphery raiders. That job had been an outstanding success. The Fusiliers had then contracted with Countess Adele Jansen, from the Magistracy of Canopus, for another garrison assignment on her homeworld of Gambilon. Once again, the Fighting Fusiliers acquitted themselves with distinction. Their stay on Gambilon lasted five years.
    The Fusiliers left the Periphery for the St. Ives Compact planet of Denbar in early 3046 for another garrison job, having earned a solid reputation for professionalism, loyalty, honour, and as a unit with ethics and principles. Stationed just outside the capital city of Barns, this time the Fighting Fusiliers weren’t being contracted to protect local citizens from pirates. They were to defend them from any possible military adventurism on the part of the Capellan Confederation. During the two years they served on Denbar, there was only a single raid from the Capellans, which the Fusiliers trashed.
    Then, just before Alexandra was thinking of extending their contract for another year, she received word that her own homeworld of Pencader had been raided by pirate scum from the Circinus Federation, a Periphery bandit kingdom on the border of Lyran space. With her ancestral home in danger, Alexandra said farewell to the St. Ives Compact and got her Fighting Fusiliers packed up and on the move. The trip from Denbar to Pencader was completed in only seventy-four days. Distant Memory was a Tramp class JumpShip dating back to the Star League, equipped with a lithium-fusion battery system.
    On Alexandra’s orders, Distant Memory cut right across the Capellan Confederation, without the permission or knowledge of the Capellans, by simply stopping to recharge at uninhibited star systems. When the JumpShip crossed into Free Worlds League territory, Alexandra announced their presence in normal legal fashion, since the Fighting Fusiliers were not considered enemies of the vast, interstellar nation. The venerable Tramp jumped from star system to star system across the full breadth of the Free Worlds League until it finally entered Federated Commonwealth territory at Cavanaugh. Two jumps after that, Distant Memory arrived at Pencader.
    After twelve long years, Baroness Alexandra Grosvenor was home again. To say that her Fusiliers were thrilled at the prospect of garrisoning Pencader was putting it mildly. Alexandra had earned the unwavering love and loyalty of her troops; especially those who had been with her from the very beginning.

“So what do you think, Jimmy?” Alexandra asked. Standing with her in the cold was Chief Technician Jimmy Han, who’d been a Fusilier since Day One.
    “It’s okay, my Lady.” The Solaris native gave a shrug. Although Alexandra was now ranked a colonel, the original Fusiliers still called her my Lady.
    Alexandra looked at her old friend. “Just okay?”
    “It’s only a pre-production, limited-run job, so there’s still a lot of bugs to work out,” Jimmy explained. “The interior layout is very complex because of its unusual design. The comm and sensor suites are crowded near the fusion engine, and the engine’s shielding isn’t good enough to prevent its radiation from mucking with the comm and sensors, as well as the targeting system. It’s proving to be a serious problem.”
    Alexandra frowned. “Should I send it back to the factory?”
    “No, my Lady,” he said and gave a quirky smile. “My team and I are working on the problem. Our old Star League ‘Mechs have far more advanced engines, so I’m studying them to see how we can fix the Bushwacker. Don’t worry: I’ll get it sorted out.”
    “Very well, then.” Alexandra’s confidence in her Chief Technician was absolute. If Jimmy said he could do something, then he could do it.
    The Bushwacker tromped across the open terrain quickly and easily, its rear-canted legs making it move like some weird, robotic bird. Weighing in at 55 tons, it had decent speed for a medium class BattleMech. Scattered across the firing range were all sorts of derelict military vehicles, from APCs to heavy tanks. The Bushwacker turned slightly and let loose two volleys of rockets from the LRM-5 racks located in its left arm and torso. The missiles corkscrewed through the air and half of them exploded on the hull of an old Pegasus hovertank. The other half overshot. The ‘Mech came to a halt and opened up on the tank with the medium autocannon in its right arm and extended-range large laser in its centre torso. The autocannon missed but the laser slagged armour off the tank. It fired another burst from the autocannon and this time cut into the Pegasus.
    Jimmy lifted a hand radio to his mouth. “How’s it going, John?”
    “The targeting system keeps going in and out, Chief,” came the reply from John Kasumba, the newest Fighting Fusilier. “Especially when I get this thing over fifty kph.”
    “Copy that. Anything else?”
    “This Bushwacker rides nice, I’ll give it that,” John replied. “Whoever designed this thing’s cockpit finally had a MechWarrior’s comfort in mind. I also like the lower profile.”
    “That’s good to know.” Alexandra smiled and held out her hand.
    “Colonel’s happy to hear it,” Jimmy relayed and passed her the radio.
    “Mr Kasumba, this is Alexandra,” she told him. “I know the Bushwacker has problems, but Chief Han assures me he can solve them. I promised you when you signed on with us that you’d be assigned a ‘Mech. The Bushwacker is yours, if you want it.”
    John laughed. “I’ll gladly take it, Colonel. I’ve never been in a ‘Mech this new and advanced before. It’s an honour, even with the bugs. Thank you, Colonel.”
    “My pleasure, Mr Kasumba,” she said and passed over the radio. “Jimmy, I’ll see you back at base.”
    “Very good, my Lady,” he said and gave her a friendly salute. Alexandra returned the salute and then walked over to the nearby wheeled APC. It was painted chartreuse green with a black stripe down the middle of the front section. The stripe made a T when it hit the base of the turret, splitting into stripes that ran across to either side, where they dropped behind the front wheels, and then back horizontally along either side of the body. Alexandra entered through the lowered rear ramp. Waiting for her was her sister, Elizabeth, her lush golden hair in a long ponytail.
    “So how’s the new ‘Mech?” Elizabeth asked.
    “It has some problems, but Jimmy says he can solve them. We’re keeping it.”
    “Good. I think it’s neat.”
    Elizabeth grinned and sat down while Alexandra sealed the hatch and instructed the driver to get underway. When Elizabeth had first joined the Fighting Fusiliers she’d been an innocent teenager, pretty and coltish. Now she was a beautiful woman of twenty-six years who commanded Second Company’s Battle Lance. Alexandra would be turning thirty-six in a little over two weeks time, and was equally beautiful.
    “The Duchess sent us another invitation to dinner. This Friday,” Elizabeth supplied, making her sister groan. Duchess Vivian Weiss was Pencader’s ruling noblewoman and very much the typical Lyran socialite. She threw at least one big, lavish dinner party every month; and since Alexandra had returned home, the Duchess had been constantly inviting her and Elizabeth to one social function after the other.
    “Can we get out of it?” Alexandra asked, hopefully.
    Elizabeth grinned mischievously. “I’ve got little Eddie as my excuse to bail,” she said, referring to her five-year-old son, Edward Grosvenor. She’d had a Canopian boyfriend while on Gambilon, but they’d broken up after she got pregnant. Edward was now heir to the Grosvenor title and family fortune. Given that his mother, aunt, and surrogate family (the original Fusiliers) were all MechWarriors, it was of no surprise to anyone that the precocious lad wanted to be one, too.
    “I’m not going to one of those parties alone,” said Alexandra. “If I have to go, then you’re coming with me. Ian and Sayuki can look after Edward. They’re his godparents, after all, and their daughter’s his best friend.”
    Edward Ian Davion (whom Elizabeth’s young son was named for) and Sayuki Anzai-Davion were founding members of the Fighting Fusiliers, and had been happily married for more than a decade. Ian was a major and the Fusiliers’ executive officer. Sayuki was now a lieutenant and in the same command lance as her husband and Alexandra. Their beautiful daughter, Miho Davion, was seven years old, and like Edward had grown up with the Fighting Fusiliers as a bunch of aunts and uncles. Miho was also planning to be a MechWarrior, just like her parents.
    “Then tell the Duchess we’ve got a training exercise,” Elizabeth suggested. “She has to accept that pretext. We’re Pencader’s only defence from raiders.”
    “If I say that, then we’ll actually have to have an exercise,” Alexandra countered. “The woman will check to see if there was one, believe you me.”
    “Then tell her you’re sick.”
    “I used that excuse two weeks ago.”
    Elizabeth gave it some thought. “We could ask Isabelle to shoot her. She’d be happy to do it. She can’t stand the woman.”
    “Tempting, but no.”
    “Just a little bit?”
    “No.” Alexandra sighed wearily. “I guess we’ll just have to go.”
    Elizabeth crossed her arms and grumped. “Sometimes I really hate being a noble.”

                                                                          *****

Pencader’s solitary military base, LCAF Newcastle, was located thirty kilometres south of the planetary capital, Newcastle. It had been designed to support a battalion’s worth of troops and BattleMechs, but lacking a garrison for many years, it had fallen into sorry shape. That is until Alexandra and her Fighting Fusiliers returned home. She used every bit of her influence to have the government fund the base’s restoration.
    LCAF Newcastle was now in full running order, in better condition than when it had first been constructed. It had an all-new fenceline, a top-notch security system, and every other modern upgrade that was available. The old barracks had been torn down and all-new housing units built. This included a single-occupancy unit for each MechWarrior and double-occupancy units for support personnel. The base’s command centre had been gutted and renovated, featuring the latest equipment.
    Only the base’s name remained unchanged: LCAF Newcastle. The people of Pencader were, by and large, Lyran nationalists, and this included Baroness Alexandra Grosvenor. The Federated Commonwealth might be a political, military and economic merger that she could do nothing about, but her homeworld’s military base was something else. She spoke to Duchess Weiss about keeping its traditional name and the Duchess agreed. She, too, was deeply proud of her Lyran heritage and wasn’t about to let New Avalon and the AFFC tell her what to do on her own world. And because the Fighting Fusiliers were an independent mercenary unit contracted by the Duchess herself on behalf of Pencader, the AFFC had no say whatsoever about how the planet was defended. Not that the AFFC gave a damn about the problems of a Lyran world on the border of the Periphery.
    Hangar Eins and Hangar Zwei were home to the BattleMechs belonging to First and Second Companies, respectfully, with Hangar Drei (lacking any ‘Mechs) used to perform maintenance. The Fusiliers’ small assortment of ground vehicles were housed in Hangar Vier, which had been built specifically for that purpose. The Fighting Fusiliers knew they were lucky because, with the exception of Denbar, each world they’d garrisoned so far had provided them with brand-new facilities. They’d also been treated very well by local citizens and their employers, who were in strong need of protection from raiders.
    In was late afternoon and Hangar Drei echoed with the sound of routine maintenance. BattleMechs might be the lords of the modern battlefield, but they were still machines that needed looking after to keep in running order. Although the individual ‘Mech bays in each hangar had the space to perform maintenance, techs always preferred to have as much room as possible when doing their jobs. It made things so much easier. Three of the unit’s ‘Mechs were currently undergoing work. The first was the Bushwacker, which stood at one end of the hangar by itself. The BattleMech had been named Kongamoto by its pilot, who’d been told that naming individual ‘Mechs was a time-honoured Fusiliers tradition. John named his after an African monster of legend.
    The second BattleMech was the Cestus known as Piano Black, which belonged to Major Ian Davion, the Fusiliers’ executive officer. Originally built for the legendary Star League, there were only a handful left in the entire Inner Sphere. Ian’s Cestus had been found in the Deep Periphery and was a marvel of advanced prototype lostech. It was rumoured that Blue Shot Weapons was retooling its factory to start producing the Cestus again, but full-scale manufacturing was still a few years away.
    The third in the hangar was Pearl’s Revenge, the Locust owned by Lieutenant Isabelle Pearl, who commanded First Company’s Scout Lance. Although she’d had opportunities to acquire a heavier BattleMech over the years, Isabelle stayed with her beloved Locust. It might be small but it was also ridiculously fast, the fastest ‘Mech the Fusiliers had. Not to mention it was no ordinary Locust. It carried the maximum amount of armour possible for a 20-ton ‘Mech and had a GM 180 extra-light engine, providing a top speed of over 140 kph. Armaments included an extended-range medium laser in the centre torso, and three machine guns in each of its two arm-mounted weapon pods. It was arguably the deadliest Locust in the entire Inner Sphere.
    Sitting at a table in the hangar’s second-story office were Ian and Isabelle, along with three of the other Fusiliers: Jennifer Sung, who was in Isabelle’s lance and owned a new Firestarter called Hot Stuff; William “Billy” Goldwyn from Elizabeth’s lance who piloted a Shadow Hawk named Lightning Jack; and Susanna Hansen from Second Company’s Attack Lance, who piloted an old Hunchback known as Banana Sundae. In time-honoured military tradition, the off-duty MechWarriors were gambling.
    “That’s twenty to you, Susie,” said Billy, who was this round’s dealer.
    Susanna added chips to the pot. “I’m in.”
    “Which leaves you, Major,” said Billy, looking at Ian.
    “Call,” said Ian and tossed in his bet. “Let’s see ‘em, people.”
    Mild groans erupted around the table when Isabelle revealed her winning hand. It was her third in a row. She grinned and raked in her winnings. As Susanna collected the cards and started shuffling them, light footsteps could be heard rapidly coming up the stairs to the office, which overlooked the main hangar floor. There was a single knock at the door before it was flung open and a young girl came running in. Already lovely, she was going to be a heartbreaker when she grew up. She had her mother’s classic Japanese features and silky black hair; her eyes were the same blue as her father’s.
    “Papa!” she cried, hurrying over to Ian. “Uncle Jimmy says you gotta come!”
    Ian laid a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Catch a breath, Miho. That’s it, breathe. Better? Good. Now: what does Jimmy want, exactly?”
    “He says he found a thingy in your Cestus and you gotta see,” Miho replied earnestly. Ian smiled and gave his daughter a squeeze.
    “All right, domo. Tell Jimmy I’ll be there shortly.” Ian looked Miho squarely in the eye. “But you walk down those stairs, you hear me, Hime? And you walk across the hangar, no running, and keep behind the danger lines. You know the rules.”
    “Hai, Papa.” Miho nodded and then gave the assembled MechWarriors a salute before leaving the room. Everyone exchanged affectionate smiles.
    “Gotta be the cutest damn kid I’ve ever seen,” Billy observed.
    “Gets her looks from her mother,” Isabelle added warmly.
    “Thank God for that,” Ian remarked and the others laughed. “Troubling enough she’s growing up a mercenary brat. She doesn’t need her old man’s looks.”
    “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Major,” Susanna told him affably, dealing out cards. “The merc life’s a good one, especially ours. She’s gonna make a hellava Fusilier.”
    “Damn right she is,” Jennifer agreed. “Seven years old and she can already identify every BattleMech by name.”
    Isabelle nodded. “And fluent in two languages.”
    “Deal me out,” said Ian, getting up from the table. “I’ll see what Jimmy’s found, then come back to the game if I can.”
    “Will do, Major,” said Susanna and he strolled out of the office. “You know, I’ve been with the Fusiliers for three years now and I’m still amazed.”
    Jennifer cocked her head curiously. “Amazed at what?”
    “The Major and his family,” Susanna explained. “He’s a Davion, and he’s married to a yakuza woman from Kobe? I mean, who’d believe it?”
    “Anybody who really knows them,” Isabelle replied seriously. “Ian’s never given a damn about any of that stuff. Neither has Sayuki. Ian’s father disowned him when they got married, but he didn’t care. The Fusiliers are his family. Mine, too.”
    “Best mercenary outfit I’ve ever been part of,” Billy stated with a grin and pulled out a cigar. He bit off the end and lit it. “I got no plans to leave.”
    “You will if you blow smoke from that thing in my direction again.” Jennifer waved the smoke out of her face in disgust.
    “Sorry, Jen,” Billy told her contritely. “Forgot you don’t like a good cigar.”
    “A good cigar is a contradiction in terms. Susie, I’ll take two.”