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[Philipe von Rohrs]

Prologue
Readstone, Remura Province capital, Ugland

Outworlds Alliance
4^th March 2899

Wide eyed and staring in wonder, the young boy looks out onto the parade flowing past the gathered crowds, clutching the little plastic Bulldog tank in one hand, his other firmly in the grip of his mothers standing next to him. Nestled in the crook of her other arm, his younger brother gazes in innocent incomprehension and chews on the head of a model Centurion ‘mech.
The crowd lines both sides of the main street leading from the spaceport to the centre of the town. Cheers ripple up and down the mass of people; flags and banners wave, the names of loved ones, welcome and congratulations flooding the senses and meaning little to young Jake as he continues to suck on the toy with gusto.
The parade of returning soldiers and militia men had been going on for some minutes now, command staff and high ranking officers at the head with regimental banners and brass band, now a distant clamouring as the walking infantry file past. The occasional glance or hurriedly restrained smile to break their precision marching, the occasional sharp glance from an NCO keeping things in check.
Then the squeaking, rumbling thunder of the tanks approaches and Tobens mother tightens the grip on his hand drawing him in font of her, right up to the barrier at the kerbside. His eyes widen as the armoured cars and support weapons trundle past, vibrating the air with guttural growling from their internal combustion engines. Then the combat vehicles, the tanks he has waited for hours in this hot, sweaty, jostling mass of people for.
A deeper rumbling, felt rather than heard approaches and the tanks come into view. Different tanks of different sizes and shapes. But there is one in particular he is looking for. A sudden tension from his mother behind him, and the grip on his hand drops away as she starts to wave. Then all of a sudden she swoops down arm around his waist and under his shoulders he is lifted with a grunt into the air; held opposite his bewildered baby brother. He turns his head to look at the war machines parading past and a huge grin of joy splits his face; his father is there, head and shoulders poking out the hatch on the Bulldogs squat turret. Toben waves his arm frantically towards his father, now just passing a level point with them in the crowd. His father waves both arms over his head and his mouth opens, the words carried away and lost in the cheering voices and throaty engine roar.
All too soon the Bulldog passes out of sight, followed by more vehicles of war, crews waving and grinning at the crowd, or to friends and loved ones spotted among the sea of faces.
Toben turns to his mother and concern flashes over his face for an instant, her cheeks are wet with tears, but he is re-assured by the smile and the look of joy in her eyes. Looking back at the crowd behind them, the boys’ mother thinks better of trying to shoulder her way out with the two youngsters. Toben curls his head into the curve of her neck just as another sound makes itself known.
A rhythmic, creaking, hiss-thump, echoing off the walls of the buildings, the sounds reverberating around the tall buildings; multiple echoes of thrumming the air. The mood of the crowd changes, a wave of expectancy passes along the multitude, the jostling stops, the cheers slightly subdued as the source of the noises come swaying into sight.
Four Battlemechs, the Alliance Borderers combat lance parade into view, walking in perfect lock step, the ‘mechs power and presence affects all those that they pass. The crowd is charged, a sense of oneness and neighbourly bonding flowing from person to person. A chant is heard, in time with the stepping of the ‘mechs, picked up and passed on, gathering strength and fervour.
“Ugland. Ugland. Ugland! Ugland! UGLAND!”
Jake and Toben, held tight in their mothers arms, hear nothing, see nothing, fell nothing but awe at the towering machines passing them by, no toys, no games, no soldiers or tanks could ever match what they see now. Toys in hand and mouth forgotten, the two brothers, once squabbling siblings, were now of one mind.
Destiny.

[IAN WAGNER]

Without knowing what this is planned to be the prologue for, feedback will be fairly general.

THAT said, beautifully written. And the order of forces in the parade are as they should be, a build-up to the big finale of Ugland military strength, their mech assets.

[Philipe von Rohrs]

Thanks for the feedback. It's really just a prologue to a book hat I've had stuck in my head for a cupla years now. I know that there are no BT novels being published, or have been for a while, but just thought it needs to get down on paper for some catharsis.

Having just re-read it as it stands here, I can stil see some glaring grammatic and spelling mistakes. (Thanks Office!)

I'll keep writing it down, then probly stick it in a drawer somewhere.