Bckstone SystemOperations RoomBck Lion Css Battlecruiser Arctic Wolf

  "Long in the tooth we may be, the Guards of Bckstone, a Sohma unit of the Oberon Confederation, will defend our pnet from the pups that have barely stopped sucking on the teat. We decre that we have a mixed Star of mechs from light to a single assault, all as beat up and ancient as our warriors, weighing in at a total of three hundred tons, and one VTOL that is more a troop transport than a weapon of war. We grant Safcon (safe conduct to the site of battle) to the pups who choose to invade our home and will meet you at the following coordinates in the Wizards Mountains, to commence battle in the Circle of Equals, at noon in two days' time. Be wary, young pups, there be eyes watching you in those hills. Grow too greedy, and the nd itself will turn against you."

  "Finally! A response, and one worthy of a modicum of respect at that! Here I thought these Freebirths would have no honour!" saKahn Garth Radick excimed, then turned to the assembled Star Captains of Beta Gaxy. "Technician! Bring up the location of the Circle of Equals. Star Captains of Beta Gaxy, bidding commences once the Batchall is closed."

  He then picked up the radio handset, gncing briefly at the holomap dispyed for everyone. It was indeed in the mountains, with several valleys and what appeared to be cave systems. He had fought in caves many times, and if these Freebirths thought that would give him pause, they would be disappointed.

  He activated the microphone. "Bckstone guard! You speak well for a Freeborn, and I grant you full rights in this Trial of Possession*. I saKahn Garth Radick, look forward to meeting you on the field of battle and will allow your warriors to die in glorious combat if that is what they desire. We accept your terms. Bargained Well and Done!"

  A few minutes ter, their response came back. "Bargained Well and Done! We will see you in two days, saKahn Garth Radick. Captain James Kearney, Out."

  He turned back to the assembled Captains. "May the bidding commence. I will open up the bids with the entire Silver Keshik." He started, opening the traditional way of bidding far too much above his men, so they could work down from there. He loved this part of the process, seeing how his commanders would bid away assets to see who believed they could accomplish the objective with the fewest forces.

  He gnced at the map again, already having assessed what the minimum force should be to deal with these aging warriors. If his Star Captains didn't bid that low, he would move in and take the glory from them, showing them how it should be done.

  Pnet BckstoneStarport

  "Alright, now that the immediate emergency is over with, you are both coming with me and are going to give me and the rest of the Guards a full debriefing on who you are and what the hell I just committed us to," James said to John and Mia.

  "Yes, Sir" "Yes, Captain James Kearney."

  "The rest of you, start making the calls. I am going to need every able-bodied person we can get a hold of to start prepping the battlefield, and I need it done yesterday. Get the other Leopard crew moving as well; they have equipment to pick up." The old man barked at the techs in the room.

  They followed him outside and drove back to the Guard's facility, where the rest of the company was waiting for him. He stopped John from joining him in the briefing room. "Go start moving containers D7 through E3 to the starport, then join us for the pnning portion. We don't have time to waste, and this first bit is just learning who these cns are and how they fight. I assume you managed to learn that much already."

  "Most of it."

  "Good. You'll be our overwatch anyway. I am commandeering that Charger of yours." He said, then pced a hand on John's shoulder, "Don't worry, I know she is a little vulnerable right now. We won't bite her head off, that would be like getting angry at someone from the Free Worlds League because someone from the Capaln Confederation decided to attack us."

  "I'll hold you to that."

  Mia nodded to him, a small smile on her face "No need to be concerned about it, John Wayne. This is a military environment, which is something I am familiar with. It is... everything else I have issues with."

  "Okay. I'll have those over to the starport in about an hour, then I'll be back for the pnning." John said, nodding at them both and leaving.

  It didn't take John very long before he was cornered again, this time by a very concerned Maggie. She was wondering what the hell was going on, so John told her they were about to come under attack again. She just sighed at that.

  "Suzy Q, the Hunchback, Quickdraw, Marauder, and Charger are all pretty much ready. We are just finishing repcing the pting on the Hunchback and Quickdraw. I... it won't be possible to get anything more finished in time."

  "Don't worry, that will be enough," John said, patting the woman on the shoulder, amazed again at how muscur she was underneath.

  "Freddy is going out too, isn't he?" She said, with an expression in her eyes he had never seen before. Softness and worry.

  "Yeah, he is."

  "Damn fool. Probably already pnning on going out in a bze of glory." She cursed, then looked over at the Marauder. "When you see him, tell him to come find me over on the Marauder when he is done. That is the only long-range mech left, which is his forte. I want to go over a few things with him in the cockpit. It has a few bugs he needs to know about."

  "Sure thing, Maggie, though it will be some time before he is done in the meeting," John said as she walked away.

  "That's fine, I need to work on a few components in there anyway." She said, almost sounding like she was about to cry.

  God damnit, Freddy. I think she really loves you, man.

  With a shake of his head, John moved outside, grabbed an IndyMech, and started shuffling the cargo containers over to the nearby starport.

  Time flew past that day, the rush of pnning the defence, gathering people and supplies and starting to build their defences went long into the night.

  John and Mia stopped by his apartment before leaving to have a quick dinner with Lucy and Rei, and to wish them a good night before they headed to the SLDF cache. He made sure to hug them both and promised to be back for them in a couple of days. He managed to sneak Lucy aside for a moment, then gave her a warning.

  "Listen, be ready to leave in two days. I don't pn on losing, but based on what Mia has told us about these cns, we might have no choice but to withdraw from the field of battle. My magic can only do so much, and if they make a concerted effort, even I will get overwhelmed. So make sure you are waiting here at the Bckcat for me, okay?"

  "I will, my Danna. I just wish I could come with you."

  "Yeah, no. I am not bringing Rei anywhere near a battlefield if I can help it." He said, then embraced her again. "Don't worry, my Tsuma. I will come back to you."

  "I know you will, my Danna." She replied. They kissed for some time before Rei came and broke them up, wanting another hug, which he freely gave.

  With that, they departed Bckstone in the Pelican, John's brow furrowing slightly, wondering if he made the right choice to leave them behind. Unbidden, two thoughts went through his mind yet again.

  Winning is not an option, not at this time.

  Your goal here is to survive.

  How you do that is up to you.

  And the old faithful from that damn gameshow host."In the end, war is the one constant across the omni-verse.""Death is inevitable."

  God damn it, Alec. Get out of my damn head!

  Former Pirate BaseGrottenburg

  "God Damn it, I am exhausted," John said to himself while stripping off his leathers in the bathroom. He was in the room he had used before, though this time he brought a bnket and a pillow from home. He quickly rinsed off in the shower, then went and y down on his bed.

  They had worked until after midnight, starting to y the traps they had discussed during the meeting. Mia had been instrumental with that, not for her ideas, but for knowing which might break the rules of their battle and which they could bend. Everyone thought it was odd that they had such weird rules for combat, but she assured them that if they wanted at least a somewhat fair fight, they needed to try to follow them. A saKahn would have at least a Gaxy under his command, which was roughly equivalent to a whole regiment. Their Lance wouldn't stand a chance if he brought to bear his entire force.

  Not to mention, the Cns had no issue with conducting a naval bombardment from orbit if it came down to it. That was something that was illegal in the Innersphere, banned by the Ares Conventions, which were like this world's version of the Geneva Conventions.

  Fuck, should I have taken them somewhere else? If we become too much of a pain in the ass, will they just say to hell with them and bomb us?

  He sighed. Thinking like that wasn't helping anything. He closed his eye and tried to fall asleep.

  *Knock, Knock*

  "Come in, Mia." He said, already guessing it was her. He had his bnket around his waist this time, unlike when Lucy had come in before.

  "John Wayne. I... I cannot sleep. That dezgra... she is in my head still." Mia said, stepping into his room. She was wearing one of his bck hoodies and a pair of grey combat fatigues they had grabbed for her to wear when they went swimsuit shopping earlier. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail now, nearly reaching her knees. She always had it braided before, so he didn't realise she had that much hair.

  "Come lie down then." He said, trying not to yawn again. "I am here if you need to talk."

  "Thank you, John Wayne." She said, crawling under the covers beside him. "Wait, are you naked?"

  "Sorry, I usually sleep naked. Until Rei started sleeping with me anyway. That would be more than a little awkward." He chuckled. He might actually have to get used to sleeping in boxers at the very least, if not full pyjamas. That was the one thing he didn't miss about having kids around. "Did you want me to put my pants on?"

  "No, that is okay. I will get used to it." She y her head on his chest and ran her fingers through his chest hair. He wrapped his arm around her and got comfortable. After a few minutes of this, she spoke again, "May I ask you for another kiss?"

  "Of course." She shifted her body, bringing her lips closer to his. He leaned his head over and kissed her. Just some light lip touching at first, then he tentatively probed her mouth with his tongue. He caught a fair amount of her teeth at first, but she began to understand what he wanted and let the probing appendage inside. He didn't try to wrestle her tongue vigorously, but just gently entwined their tongues together, passionately kissing the less experienced woman.

  He cracked his eye open and noticed something that almost made him ugh. She was staring at him wide-eyed, appearing unsure of what they were doing. She did moan slightly, so at least she seemed to be feeling good about it.

  He broke the kiss shortly afterwards and stared into her blue-and-green eyes, both orbs full of wonder and life.

  "You have such beautiful eyes, Mia. I could get lost in them for hours."

  She gasped, then started to cry. "Kiss me again, John Wayne. Please, kiss me."

  And he did.

  * - What the cns call fighting over something. ex: A tech facility, a city, or in this case, Pnet Bckstone. The full rights were actually suspended by the ilKahn for the Periphery, but James' response was exactly what a Batchall should sound like from a bunch of old warriors.