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[Bill Bullet]

[[OoC: Hey all, so after the Clans won the Battle of Tukayyid event I posted a small piece about my character and his event struggles, namely getting blown up A LOT. Read it here because I have a fragile ego and my writing requires constant affirmation from strangers on the internet. Anyway, being a fan of alternate history I decided to start a little character piece with some collaboration from Faith McCarron who helped me get into my new unit the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers]]

June 4th, 3050 Terra Calendar
Fifteen days after the Battle of Tukayyid
Somewhere in Capellan Confederation Space
CCAF JumpShip Lóng Chǐ
Interrogation cell 13

"State your name." The woman sitting across the table was tall, thin, and kept her hair in a tight bun. She would have been pretty if not for her eyes. Her eyes looked at me and were filled with contempt and a murderous intent held back by the loosest of controls. "Sun Tzu Liao, though my friends call me Sunny...or Tzusan if you want to be clever, which I know would be a novelty for you Maskirovka types." Without hesitation the guard behind me jabbed a stun stick into my back. Fortunately for me, the restraints shackling my wrists to the chair kept me from falling out of it. When he was finished, I unclenched my jaw with a bit of effort and was quietly happy to realize my tongue was still in one piece. "You know the worst part about those little jabbers is they make your whole body seize up, can't even get a decent scream out." shrugging my shoulders, I twisted my head to look at the guard who jabbed me and winked. "Probably a good thing though since it's the only thing that gets you off huh sluggerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr." This time he was decent enough to keep zapping me till I passed out.

I woke up with a groan and a headache usually reserved for a hangover. "Your name is William Chamber. Known as Bill or Bullet to your compatriots." It was the same woman except this time she was accompanied by a another figure hidden from my view in the shadows of the room. She was reading from a manila folder in a bored voice. "Born 3025, only grandson of the late Duke Heinrich Chamber, eldest child of his son Matthias Chamber the current Duke of Senftenberg."

I remember the face of my grandfather, all smiles and wrinkles as he spun me around in his arms while I shrieked with laughter. I remembered the day my father took me to see his Mech for the first time. I wondered if I would ever see my home again.

Oblivious to my memories, the Maskirovka agent continued "Graduated 13th in your class from the Bolan II Martial Academy in 3043 with honors. Spent four years in the FedCom military before resigning your commission. Given command of the WhiteBriar Irregulars in 3047 when it was at demi-company strength."

I remembered the smiles of my classmates as we threw our caps in the air, the smile on my father's face when he handed me my commander's baton the day I received my command. Less than five years ago, yet it felt like a different lifetime. Hardly any smiles to be seen these days.

The woman across the table wasn't smiling as she continued reading my life story. "Engaged in several raiding actions against Free Worlds League planets under a letter of marque awarded to your family several centuries ago. Expanded the Irregulars to regiment strength in 3049. Commissioned by ComStar you took your regiment to Tukayyid where you faced Clans Jade Falcon and Wolf. Your regiment was shattered and fled after only seven days of combat"

I gripped the cold metal of the chair's armrests. One sentence in an intelligence dossier to sum up the deaths of nearly 100 good men and women. Twelve words to chronicle the sacrifices of those under my command as we tried to hold back the tide of the Clan Invasion. I can still hear the voice of my XO Mack Grimm when I ordered him to retreat with the wounded "Ah can still fight the buggers!" he had sworn in his thick brogue as he was wheeled away on a gurney. I remember watching my Battalion CO Marc Campbell as he waved his Mech's arm goodbye before leading the survivors of his unit away towards the DropShips. I had stayed behind to fight a rear guard action with the scattered elements of other units and had been captured when my Mech had been shot out from under me.

"Now here you are having survived the battle when many good Capellan MechWarriors did not. Included in the group of prisoners ransomed back from the Clans because you were wearing a stolen CCAF officer's jacket." My interrogator leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers in front of her. "So tell me why I shouldn't just throw you out an airlock for being a coward or worse a spy?" she said. After all the hell I'd been through, that last accusation was the straw that broke the camel's back. "First off, you can't very well steal from the dead. The poor sod wearing this died of his wounds hours before I found him and I didn't feel like freezing to death in a Jade Falcon prison camp. They saw us IS MechWarriors as so inferior that we weren't worth becoming bondsmen or even members of their labor caste, so food and shelter were kinda scarce. Secondly I fought those tube-born monsters for seven days of non-stop hell on Tukayyid while you were snug as a bug up here in this JumpShip. And finally, I turned myself in as a Lyran citizen as soon as we were released, hardly a good first step to a successful spy career innit?!?"

During my entire rant the Maskirovka agent stayed perfectly still as if my words were merely static from a broken tri-vid set. Turning to the person behind her, she said "You are here on special permission from the Chancellor himself, so get your little interview over with so I can dispose of this filth."

Edited by Bill Bullet, 19 May 2015 - 10:39 PM.

[Faith McCarron]

Dropship Yong Huo, Attached to the CCAF JumpShip Long Chi
Unknown system
Capellan Confederation
4 June, 3050


"Someone remind me never to detox again. Ever" Faith sat on the deck floor of the bathroom, her eyes closed, back pressed against the cold metal of the wall waiting for the nausea and cold sweat to pass. She had just emptied the entirety of her breakfast back into the toilet for the third day in a row. There was too much going on in her body after the recently concluded battle of Tukayyid. It was about the worst time she could think of to detox cold turkey, but she had little choice. She had other, more pressing things to think of now.

"You alive in there?" Ace called from outside, his rapping on the door reverberating in her head as if someone was using it as a drum.

"I'm fine. But come in here right now and you might not be alive for long." She waited a few more minutes for the disorientation to pass, before pouring a glass of water and heading out into the main room of her cabin.

"You look about as pale as a ComStar adepts robes. You sure you're okay?" Ace leaned against the wall with a folder of some kind in his hand.

She nodded. "I'm fine. Well enough to kick your ass if you keep asking. This is just as much your fault, you know. Now what's up?"

He handed her the folder. "The authorization you wanted. I had to pull a few strings, but you're all set. You sure you want to stick your neck out for this guy?"

She sighed. "I don't know all that much about him. But he helped us out back in that barfight in the FRR. And he got pretty beat up on Tukayyid. At the very least he doesn't deserve to get shoved out an airlock. And you know me, I'm always up for tweaking the Maskirovka any chance I get."

Interrogation Cell 13

Faith leaned against the wall as the female Maskirovka agent grilled Bill about his recent activity. Truthfully, Faith wasn't listening much. She had read the file, but files told very little about a person's actual character. She spent half the time trying to hold off minor waves of nausea. Dry heaving on the floor would not be good for her image at this moment.

"You are here on special permission from the Chancellor himself, so get your little interview over with so I can dispose of this filth." The woman said as she stood up. She was like every other Mask agent. In fact, Faith wouldn't have been surprised if you had told her that there was a cloning facility somewhere where they cooked these types up by the hundreds.

As Faith walked past the woman, she put her arm out to stop her gently. "We'll be getting back to Sian soon. A word of advice sister, hit the shopping district and buy yourself one of those little bullet jobs. Trust me, they work wonders. Way better than a guy, you can take them anywhere, they're reliable, they perform on command, and a big selling point for you, you don't have to trust them or even pretend to have a personality. Might help you let your hair down a bit. You seem like you could use it."

Faith ignore the death stare that the woman gave her, and sat down at the chair she had just vacated. She looked Bill in the eye. "The good news, this might just be your lucky day. I remembered you from our little fracas at the bar, and figured you might use a little reprive from your scheduled dance with an airlock. The bad news....I can be a hard girl to convince. I might be able to get you out of here, but that requires sticking my neck out for you. Personally, I kind of like my neck. So, sell me on your case, Bill."

[Bill Bullet]

When the hidden figure stepped forward and began lecturing the Mask agent on the benefits of mechanically-assisted stress relief, I glanced over at the guard behind me. Fellows like him have exactly two speeds; inflicting pain and waiting to inflict pain. The fact that he had no idea how to react was actually kind of comforting. Then the figure sat down in the chair across from me and came into the light. "Well damn it's a small universe after all innit?!" I thought to myself. Though if anyone on this ship had the balls to step on the toes of the dread Maskirovka, it would ironically be Faith "Lady Death" McCarron of the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers.

I knew I had to think fast and talk faster if I wanted to keep on living. "Well Faith McCarron as I live and breathe! It's been what, two years? I hardly recognized you under all those bandages!" Ok not a good start, but in my defense I had only recently regained consciousness. "As for my case, well I suppose I could point out the fact that the Clans have kicked the collective butts of every Inner Sphere House and ComStar is now rolling out the red carpet to Terra itself. Now I may not be all that politically minded, but I'm pretty sure all the Houses are gonna have to work together to throw those canister grown psychos out. Tossing the only son of a Lyran noble out an airlock might cause a bit of tension around the ol' meeting table." We'll keep the fact that the family name isn't all that welcome around the court of Tharkad to ourselves. "Now practically speaking, every unit that touched down on that hell hole got shot to pieces, and that means they all need to rebuild and rebuild fast. That means you need every experienced MechWarrior you can get your hands on, especially ones who've tangled with the Clans and survived."

Taking a deep breath, Bill braced himself for what he was about to suggest. The old man is gonna be pissed..."I hereby volunteer my services as a MechWarrior to House Liao, specifically the Tau Ceti Rangers."

Edited by Bill Bullet, 20 May 2015 - 02:34 AM.

[Faith McCarron]

"Well, my duties only include being a bad-ass, so I can't technically accept you as a recruit into the Rangers. But I can put you in touch with our CO, Orkdung, who can."

She pushed a piece of paper over in Bill's direction.

"What I do have is an authorization for your release so you can come on over to our dropship. Seems that someone may have mentioned something about you helping out a ranger or two in a barfight once, and that peaked the Colonel's interest."

She glanced up at the burly guard with a frown, before turning her gaze back to Bill. "Now, it might take some time to get you all official on the TO&E. If you're dead set on volunteering for the Confederation immediately, I'm sure your lady friend over there could arrange to have you serve in a penal battalion somewhere," She turned her head and spoke over her shoulder to the female Maskirovka agent. "That's penal battalion, get your head out of the gutter."

She turned back to Bill. "Personally, I'd recommend against that option. We have better benefits, better dress code, longer life expectancy, and oh, did I mention, I'm building a castle? Your call though."

[Bill Bullet]

"I think we're gonna get along famously miss McCarron." Looking over my shoulder at the guard I wiggled my fingers. "If you'd be ever so kind?" While it is impossible to reduce a man to ash with glares alone, this fella was giving it the college try as he unhooked the cuffs around my wrists. Standing up and rubbing some circulation back into my hands, I bowed sarcastically towards my tormentor. "Someday sunshine we'll have to meet up when it's just you, me, and no shackles between us." Turning towards the female Mask agent I saw nothing but barely contained fury in her eyes. "Till we meet again William Chambers." she said through clenched teeth. "Remember that the Maskirovka, and more specifically I, Daiyu Yagoda will always be watching you." An involuntary shudder ran down my spine and thanking my lucky stars I followed Faith out into the hallway.

Once we were out of earshot, I let out the breath I had been holding since Faith had put the release papers in front of me. "Thanks for the save back there." I said. "This Colonel of yours must be hot stuff if you can pluck an enemy of the State right out of the clutches of the secret police." While simultaneously insulting said police every chance you got. I muttered to myself. Passing through the JumpShip, we left the area provided with gravity and were soon floating rather than walking. As we approached the airlock that attached the DropShip to the JumpShip I saw two guards armed to the teeth barring the way. Before I could get worried, they parted and allowed us to pass, clearly recognizing Faith. "Staying on your good side may be the smartest thing I do with my life." I said.

As we entered the DropShip I saw the symbol of the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers painted onto the wall underneath the upraised gauntlet and Dao sword of the Capellan Confederation. A pair of sigils that just a few years ago marked the enemy. "Here's hoping this was a smart thing too." I muttered. A little louder I asked Faith's retreating back "So when do I meet this Colonel of yours?"

Edited by Bill Bullet, 20 May 2015 - 02:36 AM.

[Faith McCarron]

"Thanks for the save back there." He said. "This Colonel of yours must be hot stuff if you can pluck an enemy of the State right out of the clutches of the secret police."

They headed on their way to the dropship. "Not really. You want the honest truth, it's more a question of leverage than anything else. The Confederation is hard up for troops. We win a lot more than we lose, so unless you piss in the Chancellors pot noodle, they're really not going to do more than look at you sternly. Of course, if you give them a reason..."

A few moments later and they were on the Yong Huo. she felt a little more comfortable being back on "home" turf. She heard Bill calling from behind her. "So when do I meet this Colonel of yours?"

She paused at a junction in the corridor, less to let Bill catch up and more to try to fight off another wave of nausea. This is getting old, fast, and I still have god knows how long of this? Going from zero-G to gravity and back was not helping her stomach settle. When Bill had caught up with her, she replied. "Ork is one jump ahead of us on the way to Sian already. I think the Maskirovka wanted a little more time to weed out you unsavory types, so we're behind. But Ace Kaller, our XO is on board, I can take you to him if you like"

[Bill Bullet]

Geez, her wounds must be bothering her something fierce. I had been lucky on Tukayyid, the auto-ejection system had worked like a charm and blasted me clear of the Mech's wreckage. The thought of Matilda burning up below me as I drifted down on my parachute made my stomach turn. "Uuuuh, Faith...quick question, uummmm..." Every MechWarrior alive dreaded being Dispossessed, especially fellas like me who's Mech had been passed down for generations. I figured the damage to Matilda had been severe, but repairable. Sadly, the odds of me gettingher back from the Jade Falcon's was somewhere in the negative numbers. But actually say it out loud was harder than I thought. "I understand the CapCons-err...the Confederation needs all the MechWarriors they can get, but what about those of us who are Dispossessed?"

As soon as I asked, I realized that if the XO of the Tau Ceti Rangers could get me a new Mech, I'd follow him to hell and back out of gratitude. The realization gave me pause. My father and grandfather had fought in the 4th Succession War and were both violently anti-Capellan. I myself had never fired a shot in anger towards a CCAF Mech and saved the majority of my ill will for members of the Free Worlds League Militia. Still, I had grown up with tales of the evil Maximilian Liao and his mad daughter Romano. "Good thing I'm not the heir-apparent anymore..." I muttered to myself. "The old man must be spinning in his grave."

[Faith McCarron]

"Dispossessed? Hell, enough people bought it on Tukayyid that I'm sure with the factories running full throttle back home, we'll find something for you. We're probably a little short on Atlases though."

The thought of being dispossessed was a terrible fear for almost any mechwarrior. In earlier days, machines had been passed down from generation to generation. Times were changing though. The factories of the Inner Sphere were starting to pump out new designs, and at a volume never before seen since the days of the Star League. The clan invasion has changed that for sure, and there was no going back now.

"What do you normally pilot? We can head down to the mech bay. We won't have anything on board, but the techs are usually pretty good at keeping up with what we're getting in our inventories."

[Bill Bullet]

I felt the weight of a thousand woes being lifted off my shoulders. The destruction of my old Hunchback Matilda still hurt, like losing a close friend or relative, but knowing I'd still be a MechWarrior went a long way towards soothing some of that pain. Deep down I was also glad my time with the 4th wouldn't be spent as some kind of kitchen wretch, or worse...infantry. Shuddering at that unpleasant thought, I didn't see the bulkhead coming till I nearly smacked my head against it. Slapping my hand against the wall, I went into an undignified tumble in the zero-g of the corridor. Righting myself, I straightened the uniform jacket I was wearing in a feeble attempt to regain some composure.

"Erhm! Yes! Well, I'm a damn good medium Mech jock, and I've used my fair share of lights as well. Hell, push comes to shove, I'm even qualified on a few assault class Mechs as well." Pointing a thumb over my shoulder towards the closed airlock I continued. "Though I doubt our friend Ms Yagoda would be pleased to hear I was handed the keys to a King Crab my first day on the job!" I had decided that laughing at my predicament was going to be the only thing that kept me from curling up into a useless ball of nerves. Truth be told, being held and tortured by the Maskirovka scared the living crap out of me. Getting plucked out of their claws had left me in some pretty deep debt towards the 4th, and by god William Chamber pays his debts in full!

I followed Faith towards the mech bay and tried to keep my eyes forward, avoiding the curious and sometimes baleful stares being directed my way. "Sheesh, tough crowd."

[Bill Bullet]

"Say again Bullet?" came a voice over the comms. "I said these Falcons are a tough crowd Major!" I spun my Enforcer, affectionately referred to by my lancemates as DavRat, towards another target and waited till the crosshairs burned gold with a target lock. I peppered the Clanner with AC/10 fire before coring it with a punishing blast from my large pulse laser. Pushing down on my foot pedals I launched DavRat into the air on jets of hot plasma back towards our lines. My commander, Major Elijah Temujin, laughed wickedly as he dispatched his own opponent with alternating volleys from his Cataphract-OXP's large and medium pulse lasers, the blue and green bolts reducing a luckless Ice Ferret to molten slag. "Yeeha!" he crowed over the company comms. "They're running boys, concentrate fire on target Kilo, that WarHawk is too ugly to live!"

After the battle, I stood on a repair gantry trying to explain in broken Mandarin how DavRat's AC/10 ammo feed tended to reload slower when switching ammo canisters to a skeptical but patient Tech. Lately teaching me the common languages of the Confederation had become the unit's pet project, replacing common expressions with much, much filthier ones more often than not. For at least a week I had been inadvertently asking to be inappropriately tickled instead of finding out where the mission briefing room was.

"You know Dmitri speaks English right?" a voice called up to me. Ignoring the Tech as he doubled over with laughter, I looked down at Lt. Colonel Vandril. "Good!" I shouted back, "Then maybe we can get this reload module installed properly so I can save your life at a much faster pace!" Chuckling, Vandril waved as he walked off to continue his inspection of the unit. Turning back towards Dmitri, I glared at him jokingly. "How long were you planning to keep that up?" Wiping his hands on a rag, Dmitri smiled impishly. "Until you were fluent in either Mandarin or Russian...so probably forever yes?" We both laughed and turned our attention back to the installation of the reload module. The Capellan Confederation expects victory in all its endeavors and every member of the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers always aims to please!

-END-

Edited by Bill Bullet, 03 June 2015 - 02:18 AM.