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I, Kerensky
by Roguebaron |
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Hogye, Engadine,
Melissa Theater, Lyran Alliance,
April 10, 3058
“Hola, Amigo! Come, take a look at this machine! I can’t believe I am working on a TBT-5N, one of the most successful medium mechs of all time! It’s got speed, agility, good armor, balanced long and short-range weapons, and electronics to use them! The twin LRM-15 will hurt most heavy mechs in one salvo! I know good mechs, and I’ll say this is a treasure, Senor Parker! We can use this to repel the Hunt Lance once and for all!”
Watching the glee in Cedro’s face brought smile to my lips. He was a technician, and the Trebuchet to him was like a precious toy to a child. He was not the Cedro that I met several weeks ago, when I first came to the hangar looking for a job. He was a infatuated man that just received the battlemech of his life.
But aside from what Cedro told me, the Trebuchet was, indeed, a very fine machine. The successful story behind it hearkened back to the mid 28th century, when the so-called Star League was still in full swing, and the Inner Sphere was still expanding its territory. It was a blend of speed, agility, and firepower. Of course, it was not as fast as the Commando, but it carried enough guns to hurt most heavy mechs. Having a pair of LRM-15 under my command certainly boosted the morale of Hogye, while at the same time severely damaged the Hunt Lance’s.
“When do you think you can finish fixing up the broken leg?” I asked.
“Usually it takes about two or three weeks,” he chimed. “But for you, Amigo, I’ll do it in a week.”
“Are you sure?”
“Santa Maria is my witness!” he said in the earnest. “Give me six more days and I will give you an operational Trebuchet!”
“I greatly appreciate it, Cedro,” I gave him my appreciative nod. “I hope the Viper do not come to Hogye before then.”
“Si. Let’s hope not,” he nodded.
Actually, it was my biggest concern right now. I expected the Viper would try to negotiate the return of his lance mate that we snatched during the battle, or at least make another attack. It had been 40 hours since they left Hogye, and I saw no sign of the Viper trying to retrieve his comrade. I assigned the Cutlass battle armors to scout the perimeter, looking for any sign of the Hunt Lance. But they had vanished into thin air, and the battle armors could not find any trace of where they went. I knew the Viper was not a sophisticated man, so this sudden hiatus of activities made me nervous a bit.
So I went to the jail, thinking that I could get some insight of the Viper’s perspective from the female mercenary. I did not expect that she would give the information easily. I saw how dedicated she was to her lance mates and her CO, even though they treated her badly. I did not want to use force to gather information from her, but I might have to. I just thought that if I could present her unprecedented facts that the Hunt Lance had abandoned her, she might give me what I wanted.
The girl sat alone in the cell, the very place where I was locked up several weeks ago, guarded by two Cutlass battle armors. Her golden hair covered half of her face. Her hands were chained to the chair, and her face emanated fatigue. But I still saw the steel-hard defiance in her eyes. I started to feel sorry for her. She allied with the wrong person, and now she was paying the price.
“I admire your devotion to your unit,” I spoke coldly. “They don’t seem to feel the same way about you. I am sorry for you. You gave your heart and your soul, but your commander is a despot and a coward.”
“Devotion,” she chuckled curtly. “What do you know about devotion, you pathetic redneck! Just drop this bogus sympathy of yours. You will not break me!”
Just as I expected, she raised her guard as soon as I established contact. From the look on her eyes I knew that it would take a lot of beating to break her guard. I did not want to break her that way. So I cued the guards to let me go into the cell and talk to her face to face. “Is that what you think I am here for?”
“You’re not here to socialize,” she scoffed, then realized her mistake. “What do you want?”
“Negotiate,” I spoke frankly. “It has been 40 hours, and I expect to see the Viper anytime soon. But my scouts cannot find any trace of him within 5-kilometer radius from Hogye. I want to believe that he is planning something, but we both know that strategy is not his way.” I paused a moment, letting her digest my words. “I want to know what he is doing. I want to know his escape plan when everything goes bad, and I want know his move in a desperate situation.”
“You said it yourself, the Viper is not a very bright commander,” she looked at me with a derogatory stare. “To admit that you can’t figure out what he’s doing is to admit that you’re retarded.”
“I am giving you a chance to start a new life,” I replied. “I assume you do not want to go back to CAMR, after what happened in the field. If you help me out, I can take you as far as Outreach, so you can start a new life. Or, if you are tired of being paid to fight, I can take you to Tharkad. You can go virtually anywhere from there.”
“And why do you think I want a new life? CAMR is my life! I will not give up my unit!”
“Then what do you offer?”
“What?” she widened her eyes, taken by surprise. She did not see it coming. I saw it in her eyes that she was caught off guard. She expected abuse, torture, severe beating, and I knew she prepared herself for such treatment. I attacked her where she expected the least, and I knew I could break her easiest that way.
“I said I came here to negotiate,” I said, “and negotiation works both ways. I gave you my offer, and you rejected it. Now I expect to hear yours.”
She looked at me in a funny way. I gave her my grave stare, letting her know that I was serious. She bought my play, so she thought for a moment. I knew she hesitated. She was well aware that negotiation was not her forte. But when she looked up, I knew that she would go for it. She decided to use this opportunity to buy her way out.
“Why don’t you let me go?” she asked.
“And why do I want to do that?” I played along.
“If you wanna take a risk getting pounded by my lance mates, be my guest. Just remember this: I’m the only one that can save your butts. If you let me go, I’ll talk my CO into not attacking Hogye. I can be very persuasive sometimes.”
I knew she was trying to bid her way out by giving an impression that she could be an important part in our survival. She was a mercenary, after all. She was using up her resources, selling her advantages, to get out of the jail. But the way she rushed to bid herself out of Hogye told me that she had no experience in negotiation. I could easily trip her and get what I wanted without breaking a sweat.
“We beat you when you were a company,” I maintained my cold tone, setting up my trap. “Now there are just three of you left. Beating the rest of the Hunt Lance will be a lot easier than before, since I have your Trebuchet. You are not offering anything for me.”
“Oh, look at you and your simple, naďve perspective,” she chortled. “Do you really think the rest of the CAMR would just watch this little uprising of yours? The Viper is a jerk, but Commander Rick will never let his comrades behind. Just wait until you see the entire battalion of CAMR swarm Hogye. When you realize that you should’ve considered my offer, it’s all too late. So think wisely, Mister! I’m your only exit from your doom!”
I smiled in response. “You just gave me what I wanted. The Viper is waiting for reinforcement, possibly Commander Rick himself. That is all I need to know.”
I paused briefly, indulging myself in a burst of panic that emanated from the mercenary’s eyes. She realized she made a terrible mistake. She tried to find a way to fix it, but she knew there was no way to undo what she just did. In defiance, she just dipped her head to her chest, hissing, “You set me up, you sonofabitch!”
“Now listen to me carefully,” I talked slowly, triumphantly. “You know that you cannot go back to CAMR. You are a traitor in their eyes. You also know that your lance mates will not come for you, and when they come pummeling us, they might as well pummel you.” I paused briefly. “My offer stays. I want every details about how Commander Rick runs his unit. I want to know how he fights, how he organize his lance mates in battles. I want information about each and every member of CAMR in full dossiers. I also want information about their battlemechs. If there are modifications, I want to know them in detail. In return, I will take you out of Engadine.”
The girl looked into my eyes, drawing every bit of my gravity, trying to convince herself that there was another way to get her to safety. But I made it really clear what I wanted from her, and she knew I would not budge about my demands. She knew that her survival would only lead her to a tarnished, grotesque life of a traitor.
“You’re asking me to betray my unit,” she hissed with venomous tone. “My bonding to the CAMR is purely a matter of money. But I am a professional. Either you make me an offer I can’t refuse, or just kill me. Offering me a free ride out of Engadine is not giving you what you want.”
I waited until her outburst subsided, then spoke gently, “I cannot give you a better offer. But as far as I know, you are unemployed. The Hunt Lance breached the contract the moment they left you behind. You are a mercenary, a soldier and a businesswoman. I think you understand that this is the best deal you can get. Thinking in private might open your mind. When you are ready to make a decision, you can let the guards know.”
I started walking out, but when I reached the door, I heard her calling, “Can you take me to New St. Andrews?”
“The Periphery?” I turned around.
“Home,” she replied. “Swear to me that you’ll take me there, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the CAMR.”
Of course, it was easier to drop her at Tharkad or Outreach than New St. Andrews. The small periphery state was almost unheard of, and only a handful of merchant ships that commuted there. But perhaps it was the price that I had to pay. So I grabbed this opportunity, “New St. Andrews it is. I will guarantee that you will be in the first available flight out of Engadine.”
The flame in the girl’s eyes puffed out. I knew it took a lot for her to willfully commit such treachery. I could see that she was not a typical greedy mercenary like Viper Viveros. She had dignity, although she still fought for money. I had confidence that she would not lie to me.
“Alright then,” she breathed heavily, as if the entire world was in her shoulder. “As you know, Rick is our CO. He’s riding a Cauldron Born, a mech he acquired in a Trial of Possession in Tukayyid. His second-in-command is Captain Ian Reeves, riding a Marauder with three PPC’s. The other command lance mates are Jack Kalliharn in a BattleMaster and Laura Ford in a Catapult. Battle lance consists of a Marauder, an Atlas with 2 PPC’s, an Awesome with 4 PPC’s, and a Mauler. You already know the Hunt Lance. We also have several armor assets for fire support.
“Commander Rick is the best mechwarrior in the unit and a cunning tactician. He was one of the brains behind the Smoke Jaguar’s destruction at Dinju Pass, Tukayyid. He can spot even the scantest hole in the enemy’s defense and ream it. Ian Reeves is a brawler, a perfect right-hand-man for Rick. Ian will dive into battle and wreak havoc in enemy ranks until Rick stops him. So it depends on who leads the reinforcement. If it is Ian, then expect heavy fights. If it’s Rick, then expect the unexpected.”
“Any chance that Ian will respond to negotiation?” I queried.
“No. Ian is not a man of words. The only way to stop him is to kill him, but it’s close to impossible. He is the best dogfighter in CAMR, and you have to be Kai Allard-Liao to beat him.”
“What about Rick? Will he negotiate?”
“Rick is a man of honor. He will respect anything you may offer. But he’s also a proficient negotiator. He’ll chew on your defense and force you accept his terms as much as possible. Don’t negotiate with him if you don’t have enough skill. However,” she hesitated a moment. “I’ve never seen him reject a trial. Clan trial. That might be your only chance.”
“I see. How good is he in a duel?”
“He’s the leader of CAMR. What do you expect?” she scoffed.
“Alright then,” I cued the guards to let me in. I unshackled her hand. “Accept this gesture as my gratitude. I will see if I can make you more comfortable. But I cannot let you out just yet. Not until we finish everything.”
“It doesn’t make any difference, but thanks anyway,” she rubbed her wrists and walked around the cell to stretch her legs. “What should I call you, mechwarrior?”
“Parker,” I replied. “People call me Parker. May I have yours?”
“Evee,” she said. “Evee Ridinghood. Since we’re semi-colleagues now, I think it’s better to call each other by names, don’t you think?”
I smiled and nodded. “Of course, Evee.”
Mayor’s Office,
Hogye, Engadine,
Melissa Theater, Lyran Alliance,
April 11, 3058
“She told you,” Megi shot a cynical stare at me. “Just like that? She told you everything?”
“We had a deal,” I explained. “She gave me information about the CAMR, in exchange for her liberty. She wanted to go home to New St. Andrews, so I guaranteed it.”
She let out a sharp breath. “You soft punk! So what’s your plan now?”
“We have two alternatives. If Commander Rick leads this reinforcement, then we can force him to have a winner-take-all duel. We cannot win another full-scale battle this time, but I am sure I can win a Clan trial with Rick.”
“A Clan Trial,” she huffed. “I should’ve known that you’d come to this.”
“Actually, I offered this to the Viper prior to our last engagement, but he rebuffed it.”
“Of course he wouldn’t take it. He’s a moron in a big gun. All he can do is shoot!”
“The hardest part is to coax Commander Rick to take this path,” I continued. “Evee mentioned that Commander Rick is a master negotiator. We need an exceptional negotiation plan to talk him into this trial. I will try, but I think I will need your help.”
Megi did not react. She kept her eyes focused on whatever she was looking at, as if she did not hear me. I tried to extract what was in her mind, but her expression was too cold to read. I waited several minutes until she decided to give her answer. “Assuming I can persuade him into it, are you up to this fight? Remember, Rick is also a good mechwarrior.”
“Cedro is trying to fix the Trebuchet in a week,” I replied. “It is twice the size and three times the firepower of the Commando. I know I can fight at least a heavy mech using the Trebuchet.”
“What’s the second alternative?”
“A last-stand fight with the best CAMR mechwarrior, Ian Reeves.”
“Well then,” Megi sighed. “Let’s hope that the good commander will give us a visit.”
“Thank you, Mayor,” I nodded one more time, just as her stature left the building. |
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