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[Stormwolf]

Here's a story I wrote some time ago for classicbattletech.com, it's got some spelling mistakes and a lot of dialogue could be redone, but here's the original version.

Anyway here's my poorly written story.


Wolf in the Snow

1. The burning barracks

Strana Mechty
Clan Wolf training grounds
5 December 3040
7:30 hours

My name is Johnathan, my rank is Star Commander, I have essentially served in the clan Wolf military since my birth. I have always only been an average warrior, never have I been considered to be a ristar or candidate for a bloodname. This was to change one faithful day.

I signed up to train new cadets in a region that is commonly shared by multiple Clans. Together with Star Commander Sergei Vickers I set up trials for the cadets to fight in environments that are to their disadvantage. We directly report to Star Colonel Jason Radick, he supervises all the training facilities in the area.

Our training camp is located in a forest area of Cameron. The trees are enormous they they tower over any mech. The winters are very harsh, an ideal survival exercise for young warriors. The camp itself has mostly had second line mechs and old Star League refits.

I went to survey a location with my Ice Ferret to train our cadets in a live fire exercise, after several hours I reported my findings over the radio. My communication never got a response, so I hurried back to the camp. It started to snow while I was en route, this slowed me down.

After many hours of travel I finally reached our camp. The barracks were burning, the communications array was destroyed, I was no longer capable of contacting the other Wolf forces in the area. Star Commander Vickers' Gargoyle A lay heavily damaged in the snow a short distance away from the camp. I climbed out of my mech and opened the Gargoyle's cockpit. Inside I found Vicker's burned remains. An energy weapon was fired directly into his cockpit, he never had a chance to survive.

Fortunately, the battleroms in the Gargoyle had survived the ordeal, so I reviewed them; it turned out that a Ice Hellion binary had challenged our camp. Vickers challenged the Star Commander of the unit to a trial of possession; he only bid himself as the attack force. His terms were that the Hellions would become his bondsmen if he won. The Hellion commander agreed to this, but demanded that he would get all the cadets and equipment in the camp if he won.

All the mechs in the first star opened fire on Vickers. The outnumbered Star commander managed to take down a Incubus before being overwhelmed by enemy firepower. He was finally finished off by the Ice Hellion Star Commander in a vintage Ice ferret, also called a Wolf Hunter by the Ice Hellions. The other mechs were light and medium second line mechs, the only heavy mech was a Thresher.

The recording also showed that the Hellions took our tracked vehicles along with our two salvage trucks. The tracked vehicles were filled with technicians and cadets. The salvage trucks carried a Locust IIC and Griffin IIC. The remaining mechs in our camp were shot apart by the Ice Hellion mechs.

After this I went looking for the downed Incubus, I managed to retrieve navigational data from its computer. It depicted a route that went around the neighboring Ghost Bear domain. The route led back to a Ice Hellion camp. The data also showed the location of other camps and routes into the Ghost Bear domain. The Ice Hellions were sure to avoid wandering into Ghost Bear territory since the vehicles carrying the bondsmen and mechs would slow them down.

By analyzing the collected data I roughly calculated their current locations and how long it would take me to intercept them. I would be forced to travel through Ghost Bear territory if I wanted to catch up with them. Even then it would take around a full day for me to reach them. My only hope would be to challenge the enemy commander to a trial of possession if I was going to get the cadets, technicians and equipment back.

I scrounged up any remaining rations and stored them into every available compartment my mech had. Before leaving I removed the codex from Vickers' arm and stashed it beneath my seat. It started to snow again when I left, it slowly covered Star Commander Vickers' Gargoyle like a death shroud. I regretted not having the time to bury him.


2. Domain of the Ghost Bear

Strana Mechty
Ghost Bear territory
5 December 3040
22:10 hours

I had traveled through the Ghost Bear territory for several hours when my active probe suddenly detected a number of contacts up ahead. One of the contacts started heading my way, it was a Fire Moth. The Fire Moth closed in and scanned my mech then it headed back towards the other contacts.

One of the mechs up ahead opened a channel and transmitted the following message;

"Warrior of Clan Wolf, what business do you have in the domain of the Ghost Bear?"

I responded that I was trying to catch up with a group of Ice Hellion warriors who dishonorably killed my fellow Clansman.

The Ghost Bear Warrior identified himself as Bjorn Gurdel a Star Colonel in charge of a cluster specifically deployed to hunt down the Ice Hellion units that have been harassing the area for weeks.

I approached their position and saw that the Star Colonel was in a massive Executioner. I came to a full halt and dismounted my mech, the Star Colonel did the same. Star Colonel Gurdel looked somewhat similar to a Elemental due to his muscular build.

The Fire Moth pilot also dismounted her mech. Her name was Jen, she was the Star Colonel's freeborn daughter.

We discussed the situation, I told him about the information I extracted from the Incubus. This interested the Star Colonel; he immediately challenged me to a trial of possession. I agreed under the condition that I would be allowed safe passage through Ghost Bear territory if I won.

The Ghost Bear Colonel never had any intention of harming me, so he declared that the form of engagement would be an arm wrestling contest. I lost and gave the Star Colonel the information he wanted. After giving him the information he granted me hegira, the right to withdraw honorably. Thus my safe passage was guaranteed.

The Ghost Bear warriors bid me farewell and continued to their original destination. I also went back to tracking down the Ice Hellions.

After 3 more hours of travel I powered down my mech and went to sleep for a few hours. Even with a few hours of sleep I would still have been able to catch up with the Ice Hellions. It was of vital importance that I'd be rested enough to challenge the Ice Hellion commander at the interception point.
After having rested I powered my mech again and resumed my route. During my travel I sometimes noticed a blip on my radar trailing after me. I quickly turned my mech around and started to investigate, however the contact was gone.

Puzzled by this I eventually resumed my original heading.

I was now heading into Hellion territory.


3. Challenging the Hellion

Strana Mechty
Ice Hellion territory
6 December 3040
07:40 hours

The Ice Hellion territory had an eerie silence about it. In the distance I noticed smoke, I carefully approached it to investigate. It appeared that the Ghost Bears had attacked various hidden Ice Hellion outposts. The blackened hulls of the Ice Hellion second line mechs were all over the place. There were multiple tracks around to indicate that various Elementals were deployed in conjunction with light and medium mechs.

After seeing this I went to the road where my target would be, after a short travel time I saw them from across a clearing. The Ice Hellions now only counted 4 mechs; there was no sign of the other 5 mechs.

I immediately issued the challenge to the enemy to commander to fight me in a one on one duel using only our mechs. The winner would take all the captured people, mechs and vehicles. The Star Commander stepped forward and identified himself as a Star Commander Gustav, he bid his “Wolf Hunter” in this battle, he said that he would be pleased to recover my mech since it should only belong in the hands of an Ice Hellion warrior. He immediately choose the clearing as the spot where the fight would take place.

I moved forward at full speed and dodged his PPC by making a sharp right turn while twisting my torso to the left. I fired, but it was only a glancing blow to his torso. My opponent then accelerated straight towards me and fired his PPC again, this time he hit me on the leg. The armor on the leg took the damage, luckily internal structure wasn’t damaged. Gustav now being in range of his Streak SRM’s lined up to fire at me, however I alpha striked all my weapons on his left arm, this took out the ER small laser and damaged the PPC. This didn’t prevent him from firing his missiles at my cockpit.

The missiles hit, the shock caused me to misstep and loose my balance for a bit. During this time Gustav lined up his PPC again and prepared to fire, however his PPC was completely depowered, it only did minor damage to my armor.

During this time I regained my mech’s footing, my weapons had reloaded, I once again fired at his torso, and the damage had caused an engine hit. This caused Gustav’s mech to run hot. Gustav fired his SRM’s once again and missed. He didn’t wait for them to lock. This gave me the chance to fire my PPC again, this time I hit him in the joint that the connected the right arm. It caused the SRM ammo feed to be jammed. Realizing this he fired his PPC again; the PPC overloaded and exploded, the resulting PPC blast took off my mech’s right arm. I was now left without my SRM’s, but it didn’t matter, I had completely disarmed Gustav’s mech.

Gustav realized this and tried a Kamikaze run against my mech, but I fired my remaining weapons and directly hit his cockpit, he died instantly. His mech crashed to the ground, it was still running hot since steam was forming from the snow around his mech.

Nevertheless I dismounted my mech and checked on him. Pieces of shrapnel from his cockpit console had pierced through his face killing him instantly. He was a fairly young man; he must have been in his early 20’s. I removed his codex as proof of my kill; subsequently I shut down his mech. I then noticed a picture taped to the cockpit glass, it showed a man, a woman and two boys. The man in the picture wasn’t Gustav, but he had a certain resemblance. Gustav was a freeborn warrior; the people in the picture were his family.

I then got back into my mech and approached the Ice Hellions; they backed off and left into the woods. The cadets and technicians were happy to see me; I had rescued 9 cadets and 13 technicians. I ordered two cadets to mount the Locust IIC and Griffin IIC and stand guard around the vehicles. We salvaged Gustav’s mech using one of the salvage trucks. The technicians then used some of Gustav’s parts to patch up my mech. It was however not possible to restore the right arm since too many of it was destroyed. This left me without any missiles.

The cadets then asked me what to do with Gustav’s body, I decided to bury him.
I normally would have left him out in the open to be picked apart by scavengers, but not today. I stuck the picture of his parents and brother into the loose earth where we buried him.

We decided to head back to Clan Wolf territory; we chose to avoid Ghost Bear territory to avoid the risk of them issuing a trial of possession.


4. The circle of Vengeance

Strana Mechty
Clan Wolf territory
6 December 3040
14:15 hours


We were now leaving Ice Hellion territory and were heading to the border with our own territory. Our destination would be a Fortress housing two trinaries; it would still take many hours of travel for us to reach it.

On our way we noticed smoke and fire in the distance, this was in the Ghost Bear territory. Suddenly a large number of contacts appeared on my radar, 13 fast moving mechs were heading our way.

The Ice Hellions surrounded us; some of them were mechs from Gustav’s unit.
Now surround by a trinary a Thresher with red tribal markings stepped forward and identified himself as Star Captain Anton. He asked who the warrior was that took his sons life and mech. He paused for a moment and challenged me to a trial of grievance. I as the defender got to choose the location; luckily we weren’t far away from the location I surveyed the day before. I gave him the coordinates and we both proceeded to the location. The Cadets and technicians were to stay behind with the Ice Hellion warriors

The Star Captain had me at a disadvantage; my mech was damaged while his mech was in excellent condition. He also had an advantage in firepower, armor and mobility. I didn’t want to risk the lives of the cadets and technicians, so I agreed to these unfair terms. Little did he know that I was leading him to terrain that was to my advantage.

We arrived at the spot I designated as the trial site, there were many trees to provide cover. I immediately got out of his line of sight and maneuvered around the trees. This immediately caused Anton to fire his Ultra AC/10 to try and hit me; this destroyed the trees I was trying to use for cover. He however immediately stopped doing this to save his ammunition, this man was no fool

Instead he switched to his medium pulse lasers to fire at me, these only landed a few glancing blows on my mech’s back. I was leading Anton away from the forest and into an area with many frozen lakes. I had surveyed this area earlier and had a detailed map of the frozen lakes. These weren’t visible since a thick blanket of snow covered them. Now out in the open I ran around a small lake to face Anton again.

He was annoyed by my running away and switched back to his Ultra AC; he fired away and hit me. The blast damaged my gyro causing me to fall down. Star Captain Anton moved in hoping for a quick kill, he however was standing on the frozen lake. The ice started to crack and break away, causing Anton to fall through the ice and into the lake.

I got my mech up again and walked back to the forest and waited among the trees.
Anton slowly crawled out of the lake. Once he was standing again I fired my PPC at him causing a direct hit on his center torso. This unfortunately didn’t do any critical damage. He immediately spotted me among the trees and started moving toward me with his MASC engaged. I dumped the SRM ammo from my mech and started moving deeper into the forest. Anton saw me do this and walked around the ammo in a large circle. Despite this I fired at the ammo with my PPC, this set the surrounding trees on fire and generated a lot of smoke.

I used my superior speed and knowledge of the terrain to avoid Anton’s fire once again. After some back and forth I came back to the trees I previously set on fire. I went through the smoke hoping Anton would follow. Anton didn’t have a line of sight to me, but I could follow his every move thanks to my Active Probe. Anton came storming towards me but slowed down a bit. I started firing my weapons into the smoke where Anton would be, but my radar showed that he was still moving towards me at the same speed. It was only then that I realized that he used his jumpjets to jump over the smoke, my shots never hit him. He now came flying toward me while firing all his weapons. They narrowly missed me since the smoke still largely hid me. The explosions from his SRM’s did still manage to damage me, I lost a lot of armor from my legs and took damage to the left hip.

I immediately fired all my weapons again, this time I hit him in his right leg. The jumpjet in the right leg malfunctioned and caused him to plummet into the fire. His mech smashed into a burning tree heavily damaging the right half of his mech. Anton had now lost more then half his weapons. I however was in no better position, my mech had taken a lot of damage and my speed was drastically reduced.

Anton’s Thresher emerged from the flaming inferno and walked back towards the lake to cool off. I immediately fired upon him; I had now damaged the protective casing of his reactor, the mech exploded. The explosion smashed my mech into a nearby tree causing me to lose my remaining weapons. Star Captain Anton was now dead.

5. Wrapping up

Strana Mechty
Clan Wolf territory
6 December 3040
16:50 hours


I slowly limped back in my Ice Ferret to the location where the Hellion warriors were waiting. Once I arrived I found most of the Hellion mechs destroyed. All surviving warriors were taken as bondsmen by the Ghost Bears. Star Colonel Bjorn Gurdel was waiting amongst the victorious Ghost Bears.

He explained that he had Jen follow me in her Fire Moth since I would probably attract the attention of at least one trinary that had been harassing the area for weeks. The Ghost Bear cluster had already hit all the Ice Hellion outposts in the area; Star Captain Gustav’s unit was the last in the area.

The Ghost Bears had now removed the Ice Hellions from the area.

We once again said our goodbyes as the Ghost Bears left for their own territory.

On our way back to the Fortress we passed by our old camp. I went back to find Star Captain Vicker’s Gargoyle. Its distinctive shape could be seen beneath a blanket of snow. We removed his corpse from the mech and put it into a body bag from the medical station. We would bring his body along for a proper burial.

The mech duels had been very tiring. For the rest of the trip to the Fortress I let a cadet pilot my damaged mech while I slept in one of the tracked vehicles.

We arrived the next day at the fortress and told the Star Colonel what had transpired. He couldn’t believe it till he reviewed all the battleroms. I was taken of duty as an instructor and was instead sent to the Clan Wolf HQ.

Once I arrived I was requested to meet with the head of the Vickers bloodhouse. During the conversation it was pointed out that I could legally apply for the Vickers bloodname since Sergei’s spot was open and I was of the same lineage. I participated in the trials and won. At a later point I was deemed worthy of a trial of position due to Star Colonel Radick’s recommendation, I defeated enough opponents to become a Star Captain.

This streak of glory would eventually allow me to participate in operation Revival to fight at the front of my glorious Clan. But that is a entirely different story altogether.