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[Tyene]

Started as a goal to provide myself some backstory and fluff for my pilot and crew. Now intend to visit many different points of view from 3028 to present (MWO 3049), with the possibility of including other player personalities. A comrade's fictional father made a cameo in the prologue already. First, the character list, which will be ever expanding and changing to deal with continuity errors and lore gaffes. Spoilers and planned plot points are either removed, or replaced. (somebody) (Blah blah)

Edited by Tyene, 20 April 2013 - 09:40 PM.

[dal10]

nice to see more Liao members over here.

[Tyene]

Prologue

August 20th, 3028. Planet Liao, Anderis, Vincent’s Commando’s outpost. 0400

Benlin rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, the steaming cup of coffee on the long table in front of him ignored. He was seated at one of many tables filled with pilots, soldiers, mechanics, and the people in between. Clean white walls with scarce windows surrounded them, and the soft yellow lights above gave the room a warm .

“And you’re certain everything has been checked and double checked?” asked the portly Chief Mechanic seated across from Benlin in a practiced but still rough Mandarin. “These Prefectorate rookies are gonna have a tough enough time keeping up as it is. A nervous recruit behind a malfunctioning machine is a terrible force indeed.” Darehn Vendser laughed, but shook his head solemly.

Benlin sighed and nodded. He had worked under the Chief’s supervision for over seven years now, and the dark, stout mechanic Darehn had reached the position of Chief Mechanic by being a relentless, obsessive, meticulous machine, and was only balanced out by his loud sense of humor. Darehn had already badgered Benlin twice since he and the rest of the current shift had finished cleaning, inspecting, and preparing numerous vehicles and battlemechs for the coming morning’s live fire drills. A unit of Prefectorate Guard trainees would be participating with the Vincent Commando’s stationed here at one of the numerous outposts on the island of Anderis, and everything had to be perfect. No gaffes would be allowed by Darehn today. “You have my word Chief. Everything is in order. I had Song diagnose every mech’s operating system twice, and I’d be surprised if there was a rusty joint within 500 miles.”

Chief Vendser must have been tired, because he relented after only twenty minutes of questions with a quiet huff and a furrowing of his brow. “Fine damn it, fine.” His expression softened a bit. “How’s the family back home? Your daughter is what, almost three now?”

Benlin couldn’t help but smile. “Almost three and already making more noise and trouble than Merie thought possible. I’ll be able to take my leave on her birthday this year as well, thank the gods. I don’t think Merie would tolerate me missing three birthdays in a row.”

Darehn nodded and smiled. “That’s great Ben, I’m sure she will appreciate the help at home too. I remember my son’s early years, and it’s no picnic I can tell you that much.” He stood up slowly, stretching out his arms and trying to shake the exhaustion that permeated the air. “I’m going back out to do one final sweep. The drilling starts in less than an hour and..”

Ben cut him off “..and we can’t afford to have any mishaps out there, I’ve heard.”

The portly man’s brow furrowed even further and snorted. “You’re lucky I don’t have you come out and check for me. Eat some food, drink that **** they call coffee, and be back out no later than quarter to five, alright?” Without waiting for an answer he was away from the table and headed out the nearest door, to the northern quarter of the outpost.

With only twenty minutes of free time left, Benlin decided to stop at the outpost’s communication room to send a quick message out to his wife. He drank his coffee, stashed the mug into one of the dishwashers, and left the common room and walked down the west hall. To his right he could see the mass of VTOLs, tanks, garages, and mechbays that was dubbed the “Concrete Courtyard”. There was an unusual amount of people moving about the courtyard considering what time it was. A majority of them were Prefectorate recruits and sergeants preparing for the coming hours, but spread among them were mechanics and hot shot pilots going over their mechs one last time. The sun wasn’t even peaking above the horizon yet, and harsh, bright floodlights surrounded the courtyard. Ben was about to round the corner when a shrill, piercing explosion of sound blew through the hallway accompanied by millions of shards of glass and an intense wave of heat.

Benlin had no recollection of being thrown against the wall, nor how long he was out for. When he finally started to gain consciousness, his world was a sickly, grey blur. The right side of his face felt like it was on fire, and when Ben brought his hands up they were red and sticky with blood. Benlin twisted and sat with his back against the wall that was still intact. In front of him beyond the sad fragments that were left of the wall was a cacophony of explosions, screams, and fire. VTOL’s and dropships emblazoned with blue shields and stars circled and strafed the skies, raining down hellfire . He saw Captain Chenglei stumble about, shoulders on fire, until a stream of gunfire knocked him down in a splash of blood. Darehn Vendser was lifted into the air by a brutal explosion and fell back to the ground without a majority of his limbs attached. Even in his disoriented state, Ben could see that less than a fourth of the pilots had made it to their mechs, and the infantry and light armor were hopelessly outnumbered.

Things started to blink in and out of existence for Ben. He could see a damaged J-37 Ordinance Transport parked next to a charred blast wall, just outside one of the mech bays. A lone pilot and two mechanics were loading two wounded trainees into the back, and climbed in themselves when they were done. Then suddenly, Benlin was submerged back into darkness. The next time his eyes opened, the transport vehicle was gone, and the noise had settled to a dull roar. Infantry stalked the courtyard and someone stepped over Benlin, but didn’t notice that he was alive, or didn’t care. It didn’t matter either way. The pain Ben felt had begun to leave him, and a sleepy sense of calm was all that remained. His last vision was a barely lit sky, clustered with hundreds of lights, and none of them stars.



Below I shall be posting the beginning/excerpt of the 1st chapter

Edited by Tyene, 23 November 2012 - 02:05 PM.

[Tyene]

Chapter 1

August 24^th 3028, Planet Liao, *(Southwest portion of Mountain Range)

Lance Corporal Jeral Bentura, 1^st Confederation Calvary Reserve, 1^st Battalion, Bravo Company

Fallen branches snapped and gravel was spit back as two Vedette tanks tore across a sparsely wooded cliff side. Grey foreboding mountains loomed overhead to the right, and south, to the left, was a sheer drop to the valley pass named Jun below. Dark rain clouds held at bay at the far end of the mountain range threatened to spill over at any moment, and the sun was tucked away under the horizon. Jeral Bentura maneuvered his tank around a crop of rocks jutting out from the ground, and the tank behind followed suit, with an almost lazy grace. Sarn Volkev, the accompanying Vedette pilot, made a dry comment about the durability of a tank falling at peak velocity in his thick Russian accent, but Jeral ignored him. Barely fifty mile west and north along the mountain range was the small city of Kyun, nestled into the grey guardians that protected the Forbidden City to the north east. It was in Kyun that his wife Jeye and seven year old son Kai lived, and he had never dreamed that war would come so perilously close to his home.

Four days ago, Prince Hanse Davion of the Federated Suns and Melissa Steiner of the Lyran Commonwealth respectively, were married in an extravagant display, with dignitaries and leaders from across the Inner Sphere. With no expenses spared, Hanse claimed that his greatest gift to his newly wed was yet to come. To the shock and outrage of the Capellan officials present, Prince Davion declared that her true gift would be the Capellan Confederation in its entirety. No doubt every Capellan dignitary storming out of the procession were expecting bullets in the back of their heads, but they managed to leave without being accosted. True to his word however, a massive invasion force had landed on the capital planet of Liao the night before, and the southern regions of the planet folded with little resistance.

Two days ago the 2^nd battalion of the 1^st Confederation Reserve Calvary was forced to retreat after suffering a defeat at the hands of the Blue Star Irregulars, and were nearly decimated until a timely ambush by the Prefectorate Guard sent them packing. The prestigious Warrior House LuSann also lost a battalion worth of battlemechs, and suffered numerous other causalities, being forced to fall back to the north. The Irregulars, alongside Davion’s 33rd Avalon Hussars continued on towards the mountain range with the intent of taking the Forbidden City. It was midway up (the northern continent)* that the combined forces of The 1^st Confederation Calvary and Warrior House LuSann began to stave off the brutal advance of the newly formed Federated Commonwealth. Tonight the planet was awash in conflict as both sides augmented forces clashed from east to west, and the 1^st Confederation Calvary Reserve had sent the first battalion’s Bravo Company out to engage and disrupt an enemy supply line.

And now not more than two hours ago at a makeshift garage assembled by the 1^st Calvary, Captain Wu Mei gathered the Force Leaders of the three lances under Bravo Company. One of the few remaining satellites in orbit above Liao had caught munitions trucks and numerous armored divisions coming through Jun, and command had made stopping them a priority. The three lances were to enter the valley at three different locations, setting up midway up the cliff side in with heavy artillery and perfect bombardment positions. Each lance was made up of one Raven for electronic interference, three Vindicator mechs, 3 Harasser missile platforms, and two Vedette tanks. The only exception was Jorei Shang, the Force Leader of Jeral’s lance, who piloted a Catapult instead of a Vindicator. Force Leader Shang was assigned to take his unit to the western most position of the north side of the valley and had sent his two Vedettes ahead to keep an eye out for trouble while they tailed them far behind.

Jeral swiveled his viewpoint to his left, keeping an eye out for his particular path leading into the valley below. Occasionally a house or two would whir by, either along the top of the valley or buried somewhere below, but none had their lights on, and Jeral suspected they had been fled from or otherwise cleared out for the past day. As they tore through the rocky terrain Sarn let out an indication that they were nearing the inroad to the valley. About six hundred yards ahead a dark wooden home with sat alongside a turn in that seemed to pour down into the valley. Strong wooden fencing surrounded the house and both tank pilots slowed to half speed and approached the building as cautiously as a fifty ton war machine can.

“Ah ****” came in Sarn’s voice, with an uncharacteristic urgency replacing the usual sarcasm and attempted wit. “What the hell is that?” Jeral saw it as he did. Placed on the left side of the in road was a large concrete barrier, and to its right was another, dragged half way on and then seemingly abandoned. Alarm bells went off in his brain seconds before a burning projectile slammed in the left side of Jeral’s Vedette. The impact of the blast snapped Jeral around, and for a moment his vision blurred. Cursing, Jeral spun his twin Kajuka Type 2 “medium” laser turrets toward the house and pulled the firing triggers, dragging the green beams across the second floor of the house. Wood seared and caught alight while windows shattered as Sarn added his fire, piercing through the right side of the first floor. Jeral saw what appeared to be the outline of a man stagger, burst into flame, and crumple to the ground amidst the shattered glass. Jeral used the few seconds of respite to hail Force Leader Shang, and notified him that contact had been made at the inroad.

Before any answer came, the front door of the house burst open as two figures dashed out of the house and around the corner. The third man to exit the building was cut from a braver cloth, or was emboldened by the high powered portable SRM launcher he had hoisted over his shoulder. He spun around and took a knee, aiming the tube like device straight at Sarn’s tank. Jeral keyed his comm and shouted a warning to get clear, but too late. The launcher belched a gout of flame, and the shrieking projectile slammed into the treads of Sarn’s Vedette as he began to accelerate down the road and out of the targets line of sight. Metal twisted and shattered as Sarn came to a grinding stop, and Jeral heard his curse frantically over the comms.

Jorei Shang’s gruff voice echoed over Sarn through Jeral’s tank, but he didn’t hear what he said. Time seemed to slow as the enemy on the front porch adjusted his aim and prepared to fire at the crippled tank. Jeral eased the targeting reticule down towards the front door. The hubris of the lone infantryman, eager for the kill, proved to be his downfall. Instead of repositioning for better cover and an easy shot, the invader was rewarded with a burning lance of focused energy that turned his chest into a smoldering ruin. As he collapsed, the smoking house groaned and listed suddenly with a load crack. The house folded on itself, consumed by the rapidly spreading fire, effectively dealing with anybody that may have remained in the structure. Behind the ruined building, the two remaining soldiers were visible again, one scrambling towards an industrial power suit while the other dropped to his knees.

From where he sat, debris and smoldering chunks of wood blocked any chance of a clear shot Jeral had, but farther to his right was a different story. Jeral watched as Sarn bathed the ground around the soldiers in green fire. Both men were instantly obliterated, and the industrial exoskeleton charred and fell over backwards before it even had the chance to open. If it weren’t for the rubble and charred corpses around the house, the fire against the backdrop of the valley painted an eerily beautiful picture. Black smoke drifted up towards the looming rain clouds, as Jeral waited a whole 15 seconds before he eased his grip on the controls, and let out a heavy sigh.

Jeral could feel the ground rumbling just moments before his a burst of static popped through his earpiece, followed by the low tones of Jorei Shang.
“Be advised forward team, friendlies coming from your six.” Farther back down the road, the rest of Jerals lance slowly came into view. First came the elongated, birdlike raven, flanked on each side by the Harraser platforms. Behind them, two Vindicators stomped down the road, panning left to right and left again, checking each nook for danger. Stricking the most impressive figure however, was the battlemech farthest in the rear. Sporting multiple heavy lasers and some terribly mean looking missile launchers, Jorei Shang’s Catapult inspired envy in more than a few pilots..

Added a bit more.

Edited by Tyene, 09 December 2012 - 09:55 PM.