Initiation to War

by Robert N. Charrette

  "The meeting sounded pressing," she observed.

  "Everything is these days." And he was tired of it. "But, you know, what I fail to fathom is why, if everything is so pressing, is so very little actually happening?"

  "This war is no little thing."

  "I didn't mean to say it was. I meant how the war is going. Last week Duvic forces attacked at several places along our border, focusing on Severagol. This week Duvic forces are sitting still, though they are still attacking in Severagol. Oh yes, and we are counterattacking. But you know, Colonel Bua's maps look little different than they did last week."

  "That doesn't sound right. I was told that the Volunteer Battalion had been sent to the front. Surely, with nearly half the Duvic 'Mechs chasing me around Lake Arous, the estimable Major Ling-Marabie has achieved something with her locally superior forces."

  Gabriel sighed. "I expected as much myself when I dispatched the major's BattleMech force after the first reports of hostile action, but so far the Major has declined to commit her troops decisively. Something about strategic imperatives that I don't quite grasp when she explains it. To tell the truth, I think she has lost her nerve and become overly cautious, especially since the Old Guard was rebuffed nearly as soon as she sent them in. We are fortunate that the Duvic forces are showing no real aggressive tendencies. On the whole, it appears that we are settling into a protracted siege situation. Which, I might add, is how I feel about council meetings lately."

  "I can imagine. You are planning on getting me back up to speed, aren't you?"

  "If you don't have something better to occupy your time."

  She shrugged. "Nails. Facial. Hair. A real, long, hot bath and a massage. The usual affairs of state."

  He laughed along with her. It was indeed good to have her back.

  "Before you get down to the big business, my brother, let us start with some more trivial honesty. You were holding back something when you told Kelly about Sub-commander Liu. Are her injuries, perhaps, worse than you let on?"

  "It's not that at all."

  "If not that, then what?"

  "I'm afraid it is what you might call 'big business.' The Duvic Palatine is holding Liu, not the Arousian authorities. They allege she is a criminal, having killed a Duvic soldier prior to the commencement of hostilities. They refuse to turn her over to neutral authorities until they are assured that she will be tried. We, of course, have been insisting that she is a prisoner of war and not subject to criminal trial."

  "And this has all gone before our dear, sweet president?"

  Romano's flat, angry tone made her question a statement, but he answered it anyway. "It has. Benton is temporizing, giving Colonel Bua and Major Ling-Marabie something to agree upon. They both say that Benton will stay sitting on the fence, not wanting to be on the bad side of whoever comes out on top in our struggle with Duvic."

  "Picking no side might be worse for him than picking the loser," she said in the chilling tone of a threat.

  "Nevertheless, he is trying to avoid playing favorites. For example, the remains of Liu's Commando and Trahn's Raven are to be returned to us at Benton's insistence and against the claims of Palatine Price. At the same time, the dead mercenary's Jenner goes back to Duvic, as the employer of record. Neither side is being allowed to claim salvage rights on its kills."

  "That would seem to legitimate Price's claim that the skirmish was not part of the war and to open Liu to the criminal charges. Kelly won't be happy when he hears."

  Again she referred to the MechWarrior without his rank. Gabriel recalled the handsome face and tall, lean body. "Subcommander Kelly was rather solicitous of you. He was the person Veck left in charge when he spirited you from Dori, was he not?"

  "Yes."

  The brevity of her answer surprised him. She was rarely so laconic unless—"Now you seem concerned over his concerns. Another conquest?"

  "Not exactly."

  "What does that mean?"

  "I don't know," she replied, gazing off into the distance.

  "I think I understand," he said.

  She turned and gave him the smile that said he didn't have a clue as to what was going on in her head.

  27

  Shu-Duvic Border

  Epsilon Eridani

  Chaos March

  27 February 3062

  Veck's Vigilantes—what was left of them—moved out almost immediately to join the rest of the County Shu Volunteer Battalion at its new forward base, but not before JJ managed to scrounge up the skinny on why Sam hadn't been returned to County Shu. It left Kelly with a serious mad on, and he took it out on any Duvic soldier who came under his guns when the unit headed out for a sweep of the surrounding countryside. The ground-pounders of the 17th Duvic Militia were no exception.

  Men scattered as the Commando stalked into the dell that had been their camp site. Ferro-fibrous armored feet ripped through shelters, kicked over sand-bagged revetments, and trampled emplaced weapons—and their crews. Articulated battlefists snatched communication arrays and, with the immense strength of myomer pseudomuscles, shoved vehicles over on their sides or backs, leaving them as helpless as stranded fish. SRM launchers spat their deadly flights. The Defiance B3M swept ravening beams of ruby fire across anything that crossed Kelly's path.

  The Duvic infantry were Lilliputians to his maddened Gulliver. The groundpounders were armed with little that could harm a 'Mech. And, barring a lucky shot, what they had would do little more than flake off a few armor plates.

  Kelly knew that well. He'd been a groundpounder once.

  When he saw the SRM teams scrambling to set up their launchers, he recognized one of the few threats the infantry had to offer. He didn't give them a chance. His own launchers spewed death, and the infantry teams disappeared in explosions, fireballs, and rising clouds of acrid smoke.

  "Mr. Chill," JJ called. He was commo relay, needed because the lance was strung out in the disruptive hills. "Veck says we got 'Mechs incoming."

  "How many?"

  "Two. Both of them lights."

  "Let them come. We'll serve them the same as we dished out here."

  "Veck wants us to close up."

  Kelly surveyed the smoke-shrouded hell he'd made of the camp. It was quiet now. Nothing moved, save a few wounded gropos crawling for cover.

  "Sure. Why not? I'm done here anyway."

  Veck's reports guided them in toward his position. He identified the hostiles as a Panther and a Firefly, probably the Kuritans, and in short order reported exchanging fire with them. Nothing serious, though. The Kuritans were being cautious, quite reasonable for two light 'Mechs taking on a medium. As soon as they picked up the weapons fire on their external microphones, Kelly suggested JJ jump his Javelin to a vantage point and try for a visual.

  "We want to get the drop on them if we can," he added.

  The Panther was nearest. JJ gave Kelly a vector, but before Kelly could close, something spooked the Kuritan. The Panther backpedaled and Kelly barely caught a glimpse of it disappearing behind a hillock. The Vigilantes mounted a pursuit, but couldn't manage to close with either of the Kuritan mercenaries.

  Veck called off the chase, but when he set the lance back toward their patrol route, the Kuritans reversed again and closed. The Vigilantes turned to give battle, but the hostiles gave way again, refusing to be engaged.

  Three times the farce played out before Veck called a halt to all attempts to fight the mercenaries. Kelly protested, but Veck shut him down.

  "We are not going to give them any more satisfaction." There was a hint of grudging admiration in Veck's voice as he added, "Bastards. We chase them, they run. We go back to our mission, they follow and we can't cover much ground because if we separate, they'll pounce. And if we get involved in anything halfway serious, they'll be sitting there on our butts."

  "Well, they're not accomplishing anything either," JJ said.

  "Aren't they? They're tying down three 'Mechs with two."

  "What about spli
tting and suckering them into a trap?" Kelly suggested.

  Veck thought it worth trying, which they did, but the Kuritans didn't bite.

  "Doesn't really surprise me," Veck admitted. "Namihito's not stupid."

  The Vigilantes went back to their sweep. They covered ground, but not as much as they could have, saddled as they were with maintaining a tight formation. The Kuritans shadowed them all day, always close, but never close enough to put under the gun. Eventually it was time to head back to the barn. The Kuritans departed at some point—Kelly wasn't sure when—and the Vigilantes marched into the CSVB base camp.

  There was mail waiting. Now that they were at war, the Phantom Major's training camp censorship had been replaced by general censorship. They were allowed to see the news, and some letters got through, though from his sister's messages, it was clear that not all his letters made it home, and those that did probably didn't include everything he'd written. But today, all Kelly had waiting was a note under the county seal.

  "Count Shu seeking your advice again?" quipped JJ.

  "No. It's from Lady Shu. She's apologizing for not being able to get Sam released."

  Kelly wasn't sure what to make of the contents or even the fact of the letter. He was sure that he felt a little queasy about his night with Ro—Lady Shu. Sure, he'd believed Sam dead at the time, but Sam wasn't dead. Lady Shu had done the proper thing, the noble thing, and pretended that what had happened between her and Kelly had never happened. But she hadn't seemed happy about doing so. Honestly, Kelly wasn't happy about it either, but he wasn't clear on why he wasn't happy. Romano had been so—well, maybe it wasn't good to think about that. Now Lady Shu seemed to be in charge of the negotiations to free Sam. Could the lady be facing her own conflict of interests?

  "I wish I knew what was really going on in the Palatine."

  "So do we all, Mr. Chill. I'll see what I can do."

  What JJ could do was scrounge up a broadcast receiver and, with a little judicious tuning, rig the command hut's commo unit to dump Duvic public airwaves into it.

  Kelly soon found himself remembering the old saw about being careful of what one wished for.

  Most of what they picked up was Duvic propaganda, which brought derisive jeers from the Mech Warriors and techs that gathered around the receiver. That was fine. In fact Kelly was quite enjoying it until they hit on a speech by Palatine Price. Playing split-screen with the politician's harangue was footage of the Vigilantes' attack on the Kuritan bivouac in Dori. Price went on about how it was a criminal act and how it had taken place before any Duvic troops had violated the county border, and the date-time stamp on the footage backed her up.

  "The true criminal in this matter is the Shu officer who ordered the massacre," said Price as though she were speaking directly to the comital soldiers. "That is his BattleMech you see firing first on the recording. We have learned through sources, which cannot now be revealed for fear of reprisals, that the criminal officer is one Tybalt Kelly. This criminal is still serving in the County Shu military. He has actually received a medal from Count Shu for his actions in this crime. Instead of punishment this killer is receiving acclamation. Indeed, he is about to be—"

  "Shut that thing off!"

  Like mice before a pouncing cat, the soldiers scattered as Veck stomped in and executed his own command. Only Kelly and JJ stood their ground. JJ tried to laugh off the Duvic accusation. Kelly looked to Veck.

  "What do you think, Commander?"

  Dour faced, Veck shrugged. He snatched up the receiver and tucked it under his arm. "What do I think? I think that we don't need to be listening to this crap. We know who the real bad guys are. We'll fight. We'll win. And none of this will matter."

  "The Whipmaster seems pretty sure we're coming out on top in this one," JJ whispered as the commander departed.

  "If he's not worried, I don't see why I should be," said Kelly, willing himself to believe it.

  28

  Shu-Duvic Border

  Epsilon Eridani

  Chaos March

  14 March 3062

  Kelly sat in the cockpit of his Commando, waiting. Over two weeks of patrolling and very little actual combat were wearing on him. Count Shu was willing to confine the fighting to military objectives, but the Duvic 'Mechs were rarely seen. It had turned into a frustrating game of hide and seek.

  The morning sun was creeping above the distant mountains, beginning its daily effort to heat everything to uncomfortable levels, but for the moment the day was cool. Not that Kelly could feel it, cocooned inside his cockpit. The live fusion engine beneath him spread its heat through the 'Mech like the morning's coffee had done for Kelly himself, and like the sun, the reactor was only getting started for the day. There would come a time when he would crave a bit of cool air, but for now he could sit comfortably, his cooling vest inactive. Once Kelly would have thought such a moment was one to be savored, or to use for a warrior's meditation. Today, he sat beneath his racked neurohelmet, wishing to be about the day's business. He chafed at the constrictive snugness of his restraining harness, reminding him as it did of the restrictions placed around everything in his life. He wanted to be out and moving. Doing something. Sitting still gave him too much time to think and thinking led him down dark and disturbing paths. Action was what he needed. When the Vigilantes went into action, he didn't have time to fret.

  He considered running a systems check, but the last three hadn't differed save for a minuscule rise in overall temperature. There seemed little point in getting another report on another tiny and inconsequential change. He did it anyway. The button pushing offered the barest of welcome distractions.

  He was contemplating another check when JJ's voice came over the lance circuit.

  "Any idea what's holding up the Whipmaster?"

  "Haven't a clue," he grumped. "Captain Lazlo pulled him aside as we were leaving the briefing hut."

  "Yeah, I saw that. Must be some serious war news to hold up the commander for so long."

  Wasn't it all serious news? "We shouldn't be doing this."

  "Doing what, exactly?" JJ asked, confused.

  "Fighting Duvic."

  "And why not? We're the soldiers, remember? We fight the wars."

  JJ's tone was unsuitably jaunty and irritated Kelly. "We shouldn't be at war. Duvic is a state of Epsilon Eridani just like County Shu. We're part of the same nation. We shouldn't be fighting each other."

  "And we've got some divine exemption from civil war just because we're all from Epsilon E? The politicos are in charge, my friend, and when they disagree, it's fighting for me and thee."

  "Civil war isn't right."

  "Hey, the Great Houses of Steiner and Davion are headed by siblings, and they do it. Well, maybe that's not such a good example. Their fracas is more of a family squabble, than a real war."

  "What makes it not a real war? Aren't people dying? You bet they are. That makes it just as real as our war," Kelly complained. "We're all Eridani. We're supposed to be under one government, aren't we? Aren't we supposed to be one, big, happy political family?"

  JJ snorted a laugh. "Ah, the naivete of the dedicated soldier. So, tell me. You never wanted to kill your brother?"

  "I don't have a brother."

  "Your sister, then."

  "Not for real," said Kelly, despite having made numerous threats of mayhem up to and including murder. "I'm serious."

  "You're serious, all right," JJ agreed, shifting to a serious tone himself. "But we're not arguing about what's worrying you."

  "What do you know about what's worrying me?" snapped Kelly.

  "You're afraid Sam won't be coming back."

  And wondering what it will be like if she does. "Yeah."

  "Listen, Mr. Ch—Listen, Kelly, we're all afraid for Sam. Best we can do is what Veck says. We win this thing and everything will turn out okay. You'll see. Too bad we don't have one of their MechJocks so we could do a trade. At least it would give us a better hand to play in the negotia
tions."

  It might at that, but Kelly had been made very aware lately that wanting what you didn't have wasn't a way to sleep well at night. "Hard to win a war when the enemy won't stand and fight and your own commanders won't let you go pry them out."

  "Opportunities may soon present themselves," JJ said in his best fortune cookie voice. "Look."

  Veck was crossing the field towards his Vindicator.

  The commander was in no hurry to get underway. Neither was he receptive to questions about the delay. Kelly sat. He rechecked his systems yet again. The Commando was every bit as ready for action as it had been all morning. If anything, Kelly was more ready.

  The lances of CSVB's Second Company moved out. Even First Company's other lance, Lazlo's Old Guard, usually the last to be sent on patrol, marched into the wilderness, but Veck's Vigilantes remained sitting in base camp. They had companions in idleness, of course; Third Company had once again been assigned as strategic reserve, which in practical reality meant they had drawn sentry duty. Although seeing Blowhard Sten's one-armed Caesar sitting idle sparked a small bit of cheer, it wasn't enough to dispel Kelly's growing gloom. Being able to see the Caesar collecting dust meant Kelly was sitting on his butt, too. Which he didn't like at all. He wanted to be out there, hunting the enemy, where he didn't have to think about anything but running his 'Mech and doing his job.

  Finally Veck gave the order and they started their sweep. They were supposed to check the canyons west of the Green Banks bend of the Barr River, looking for Duvic troops. Intel said there was a mechanized infantry company operating in the area, and the gropos were the Vigilantes' target. If they could find them, and if the Duvic 'Mech forces didn't intervene.

  Kelly hoped they would. After all, BattleMechs were the rightful opponents of BattleMechs. So far, the kings of the battlefield had yet to meet in serious combat. The Palatine's own small regular force of 'Mechs had seen as little action as CSVB's Third Company. When the Duvics committed 'Mechs, they sent in their mercenaries instead, and those hirelings seemed to have little interest in the sort of 'Mech versus 'Mech combat that Kelly had dreamed of, trained for, and now wanted.