BattleTech

by Loren L. Coleman

  He looked around at the rest of the crew and saw some understanding. Many blank faces. Didn’t matter. They’d all know soon enough. And he’d walk away with the ship, stronger loyalty from the crew than Cap could ever dream of, and the biggest haul they’d likely ever get.

  He glanced back at the Cap, but couldn’t tell whether he understood or not. Still that wall of flesh. No problem. He’d hammer it in.

  “Fat-man, we put that ship up to auction and every House in the Inner Sphere will be frothing at the mouth to buy it. Heck, even rich nobles and mega-biz will get in on the action.” He barked a laugh. “Hey, might even get to meet ol’ Rhonda Snord, cause you know how hot-to-trot the Irregulars are about shit like this. Hear she hot too, even if she’s over the hill.” Several chuckles rumbled and he knew the job was done. Just then, security moved onto the bridge.

  With a gesture he’d practiced in his dreams for too long, he waved towards the fat man. “Take him.”

  There were no brigs on this ship.

  Before the man had even been taken off the bridge, Colt forgot him. Turned his attention towards the task of organizing his crew. Got to maximum the information taken from the Liberator without bothering it; too much contact would drop the premium price.

  For a moment, he cocked his head, as though listening for laughter in the void. A pirate actually doing legitimate work? Could those mummies have a clue what would become of them? Did they know after a thousand years since their death in the black cold, he’d make a pile of cash so rich bastards could snap holophotos of their sandpaper faces?

  He shook his head and laughed at his own thoughts. Philosophy from him?

  Why not? He was now the Cap, after all.

  THE LONGEST ROAD

  The Untold Story of Archer Christifori and Archer’s Avengers

  by Blaine Lee Pardoe

  Prologue

  DropShip Colonel Crockett, Landing Approach

  New Avalon, Crucis March

  Federated Suns

  29 December 3066

  The Crockett quaked slightly as it punched through a pocket of clear air turbulence. For a moment, everyone’s heart skipped a beat. If it wasn’t turbulence, it could be an attack. Captain Fuller, an old friend from years past, cast General Archer Christifori an unshaken nod. Archer remembered when Fuller used to react to every bump that the ship took. That was before the war, before he became a seasoned veteran.

  The heavy almost sweaty air seemed to get more stagnant as everyone else wondered if they had been fired upon. Archer didn’t worry. If Fuller wasn’t worried, then he wasn’t. This was not normal landing. This was the big one, the big show, the one that they had all been waiting for. This was New Avalon. This was the end of a tyrant.

  We aren’t going to be shot down, not after all we’ve been through. God wouldn’t let that happen. That’s why we’re here, now… for the end.

  “We’ve got final clearance,” came the voice of the comm officer.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Colonel Chaffee asked from his side. Archer turned to her quickly, absent-mindedly. He had forgotten that she was there. He had been so focused on their approach, he had not paid much attention to his surroundings. When he saw her face he wanted to kick himself. Only an idiot would forget someone like her.

  “Me?” he replied coyly. “Just about a hundred or so thoughts. How secure is the LZ? What about our decoy force on Graceland—how are they doing? What is the current status of operations on New Avalon? Are we too late, if so, is that bad? What if her side has the upper hand? How’s that for starters?”

  “I guess shouldn’t be surprised that you had a few things on your mind,” she said giving him a smile in rebuttal. “Par for the course.”

  He wanted to say more. A wave of emotions came over him, washed with memories of the last few years of his life. It had begun on Thorin. His sister Andrea was killed by an operative of Katherine Steiner-Davion, who in turn pardoned the killer. The fighting on Thorin had been his entry into the Civil War on the side of Prince Victor. Thorin had been home. He had done his duty for the military in fighting the Clan invasion and had hoped to retire to the family business. He had become a businessman. The war had torn him away from all of that. Circumstances had forced him to take on the mantle of a warrior again.

  There had been months of fighting on half a dozen worlds in the Lyran Alliance. Hit and run strikes, constantly keeping the Lyran’s off-balance and forcing them to send countless troops after him. Then he and his rag-tag band of regiments, cobbled together from a dozen different units, had been sent to woo the services of Snord’s Irregulars to Prince Victor’s cause.

  That had proven difficult. The elite mercenaries had nearly been wiped out themselves in political maneuverings that had pitted him against them. It was pure luck that he had been able to sort through the mess and prevent slaughter. Colonel Tasha Snord now commanded the unit and kept them out of the civil war—a blow against Katherine’s cause.

  He had hoped to be on New Avalon months earlier. But that was not to be. The Jade Falcons slammed into the border with the Lyran Alliance. Archer had volunteered to go and try and rally support to stop them. He forged an uneasy alliance with Adam Steiner and caught the Falcons off guard by seizing the initiative and attacking their own occupation zone.

  It was a risky gamble that paid off. For Archer it had been gamble that he had played with the blood of his men. His Avengers, “Archer’s Avengers,” had been decimated in the fighting. He hated that name, but didn’t want to hit their morale by forcing them to rename the unit. A relative peace had come over the Lyran/Falcon border.

  The last few years had taken their toll. He felt older than his years. Roles had been thrust upon him that he never expected. There had been many times that he was in over his head. Prince Victor seemed to have faith in him when he didn’t even have faith in himself. His troops had faith too. In the end it was Katya’s faith that mattered the most. It had helped him get this far. She had always been something more than just an officer. She was his confidant, his friend, the one person that he fully trusted. He was counting on her faith in him to get him to the end.

  Archer had thought about stopping, settling in on a world for a few months and rebuilding. Some of his officers had suggested it. But he couldn’t. There was an appointment that had to be taken care of, a final mission. The death of his sister had compelled him into fighting in the war. Removing Katherine Steiner-Davion from power was the ultimate goal and with the Prince driving to New Avalon, Archer knew where he needed to be—there, at his prince’s side for the endgame.

  Intelligence had said that Katherine’s agents were watching him, so slipping away was not easy. On Graceland he used some of the local militia and some of the personnel to stay behind and create the ruse that the Avengers were still there. They paraded ’Mechs, stirred up dust, caroused in bars, and maintained the illusion of a presence.

  In reality the battered regiment that remained of his hodge-podge force packed up and began the trek across the Inner Sphere. They rebuilt and recouped along the way. At two jump points, they met up with friendly ships, picking up supplies and parts, and even a handful of troops for replacement. Snord’s Irregulars had sent a ship to rendezvous with them at Northwind at the recharge point. Two of their MechWarriors had volunteered to come along, temporarily relieved of duty with the mercenaries. It was a gift from a dear friend and he appreciated it. The sound of the troops cheering for their new comrades in arms brought a smile to his face. It seemed that everyone that had a stake in the Civil War wanted to be there on New Avalon for the resolution.

  Archer sighed and closed his eyes. So many dead. Katherine had an ocean of blood on her hands. The time had come to put an end to the war. She was a tyrant. A bitch. For his sister, for his men and women, for everyone that that suffered under her rule, he was coming to New Avalon.

  “I’m coming for you, Katherine. Going to make you pay,” he muttered under his breath.

  “What
was that sir?” Katya asked.

  He opened his eyes. “Nothing, Katya. Just talking to myself I guess.”

  “Right,” she said slowly. “For what it’s worth, Archer, I was thinking the same thing.” She gave him a smile, warm, beyond friendly. For a moment he allowed himself to think of her before the war and even after it. Perhaps there was going to be some sort of life after all of this. Maybe, just maybe, she would be a part of that life.

  “Sir,” the comm officer called out. “We are approaching the LZ. A private file has been transmitted for you. Orders sir, and one more thing.”

  “What is it?”

  “Sir, we just got these words: ‘Welcome to the party Avengers.’”

  Archer smiled. Yes, indeed. But this was not a party, not a game. This was the last battle of the last war that he would be called to fight in, or so he hoped. “Signal back comm. Tell them that we bring greetings from the Lyran Alliance, the Falcon Occupation Zone, and all points in between.”

  Chapter One

  Daring Flood Plains

  New Avalon, Crucis March

  Federated Suns

  29 December 3066

  “Any word yet?” Victor Steiner-Davion asked as he raised his head from the holotable where he and the other officers surveyed the battle zone. Dust swept through the air as a Cicada kicked up a cloud of dirt, swirling through the interior of the HQ area.

  “He’s on his way,” replied Kai Allard-Liao, walking over to the table. “He wanted to ensure his troops were billeted first.” Kai smirked. They joked privately that Christifori cared more for his men than anything or anyone else. It was an admirable trait, but on more than one occasion he had kept Victor waiting.

  Victor flashed a fast grin. He expected that from the General. “For that, I can wait.”

  Kai nodded and crossed his arms. “Have you given your idea any more thought Victor?”

  “You still worried?”

  “You’re asking quite a bit from him. After all he’s done for us so far, you may be asking too much. The Civil War has cost him a great deal as well—his sister and all.” There was a hint of hesitation in his voice, one that the Prince did his best to ignore.

  “I know, Kai.” I know all too well, this war has cost many of us our families. “I know he wants in the middle of the big fight, but I need him to do this assignment. I know I’m asking him to go into harm’s way one more time. But if he does it, he might just be able to help us bring this fight to an end faster.”

  Another officer, his arm in a sling, stepped forward and snapped to attention. “Your Highness. Major General Archer Christifori, sir,” the Leftenant said. Behind him a man stepped forward and offered Victor a salute.

  The man seemed older than the last time that Victor had seen him two years ago. The Jade Falcons will do that to you. There was a little more white hair in his sideburns and a wrinkle or two more. When they had last met, Archer had assumed command of Operation Audacity, a plan to blunt and drive back a Jade Falcon incursion into the Lyran Alliance. He had performed brilliantly, far better than what Victor or his staff had anticipated. Christifori had punched into the Falcon occupation zone and had forced them to pull back or risk losing their honor. More importantly, he had won over his cousin Adam and had denied Katherine vital political and military support.

  As Victor looked at the faded jumpsuit that the General wore, he could see that the man was weary, almost sagging in his salute. His eyes were sunken, dark, with bags under them and crows-feet marking their ends. He had gotten a tan somewhere, one that was fading and making his face appear almost leathery. The fight along the Lyran border had forced Christifori to forge an alliance with a difficult man, Adam Steiner. In the end Archer had managed to not only blunt the Falcons, but had won over Adam enough to have him back out of either his or his sister’s side in the civil war.

  “General,” Victor said, planting a smile on his face, “I’m glad you were able to join us.” He extended his hand and as Archer took it, Victor reinforced his shake with his other hand as well. “You look good for a man who’s supposed to be on Graceland.”

  Archer allowed himself a brief smile. “I take it that our little decoy still has your sister convinced?”

  “Yes. Our own agents in MI5 say that you are still back there, far from her prying eyes.”

  Archer looked around at the HQ area, then back to Victor. “I never thought I’d be back here again, on New Avalon.”

  That’s right, he was in the Academy and NAIS. “I always knew we’d be here—again,” Victor replied.

  “Yes sir. I’m sure you did.” He glanced over his shoulder at a lance of ’Mechs in the distance. “I’ll be damned. Is that our old unit?”

  The Prince smiled proudly. “Tenth Lyran Guard. Fighting during the Clan invasion seems like a lifetime ago.”

  “Things were easier then,” Christifori added. “With the Clans you had defined enemies. Good versus evil; that’s how it seemed anyway. You knew where you stood. Now with all of this,” he swept his arm out to where a salvage team was working to recover the remains of a destroyed Seventeenth Avalon Hussar’s ’Mech. It had been a victim of the fighting the day before and was now fair game for the technicians salvaging it for parts. The techs struggled with a stubbornly clinging strand of myomer that refused to let go of the actuator at which they were pulling. “You don’t always know who the bad guys are.”

  Victor’s voice changed tone. “I want to congratulate you personally on your operations against the Jade Falcons. You performed brilliantly.”

  Archer allowed himself a grin. “I appreciate the kind words, sir. But I assure you, I wasn’t the driving force.”

  Victor gave him a nod. “I know. If it’s all the same, you still deserve the congratulations. Any man that can work side-by-side with the Wolf Clan, tangle with the Jade Falcons, and soothe the ego of Adam Steiner is a man that deserves congratulations.”

  Archer paused for a moment, drinking in the memories of the last campaign. “There was a price for that victory, Highness. We accomplished our mission, but the cost was steep.”

  “I haven’t gone over your readiness reports,” Victor replied. “What is your current status?”

  “We started operations with three regiments, though realistically these were combined elements of militia, veterans, locals, a real cobbled together group. At this point, on paper, we’re at regimental strength. That’s on paper. Realistically, we’ve lost more personnel than equipment. The gear we do have is patchwork. I’m low on expendables and ammunition. If you want a realistic assessment, I would rate us at two reinforced battalions—tops.” His voice was weary. His words seemed mixed with memories of the campaign, the fighting, the deaths and perhaps even worse.

  Victor understood. He had seen war at its worst and knew how commanders felt the pain of loss. Loss was something that he had struggled with for a long time himself. First his father at the end of the Clan wars, a loss that seemed to hit him harder now that he was on New Avalon. The assassination of his mother, then Omi. Archer was older than he was, but was carrying the weight of the loss of his troops as if it was a physical burden. “General, I need you to get what forces you can ready. We have ammunition, parts, and replacement MechWarriors. We need to get you up to strength.”

  Archer cocked his eyebrow as he looked at the shorter prince. “You’re sending us into the fight so soon?”

  “Not necessarily,” Victor said. Not the way you’re hoping…

  “I’ll need a little more than that, Highness,” Archer replied. “Truth be told, my men are going to need more.”

  Victor understood. That’s what I like about him. He’s a soldier’s soldier. “Archer, I want your men ready for a fight but they aren’t going in right away.”

  Archer crossed his arms and leaned back on his heels. “Details?”

  Victor shifted his stance slightly. “General Christifori, since you joined my cause it has been known that you have wanted my sister to come to justice.
”

  “Her actions led to my sister’s death.” His voice seemed to ring with anger.

  “I know.” There was more that Victor wanted to say. The list of his sister Katherine’s crimes was long. The dead attributed to her arrogance was a list that was a scar across the shattered remains of the Federated Commonwealth, now segregated into its original Lyran and Davion halves. “It is a fact that is also known to Katherine and her people. Our own propaganda people have made sure that your motivations are well known.”

  Archer said nothing. He was obviously drinking in the information that Victor was providing him.

  Victor continued. “We are going to covertly reconstitute your regiment, the First Thorin, the Avengers. Officially we’re going to disguise you as part of the Outland Legion, a ploy of hiding you right under my sister’s nose. You will be seen meeting with a number of other regimental commanders, handing out orders, directing operations.”

  “Disinformation?”

  Victor nodded. “My intention is to create the illusion that you are going to lead the final assault to Avalon Island and the palace. There are spies everywhere here. Your successes in the past, my known pretense for leveraging people such as yourself to render justice—it will all play well with her intelligence corps. MI5 is going to believe that you are going to be leading the final push.”

  Archer uncrossed his arms and rested his hands on his hips. “Permission to speak freely sir?”

  His request caught Victor off guard. “Of course.”