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Still waking from his sleep state Mike was still searching for signs of how to return to his flat and couch “I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, SON?” the man in green uniform he screamed again Mike had always hated it when people who were not his father called him son but this time, he guessed the figure over him wouldn’t react well to the record being set straight and he remained silent.  He looked at the man he was in his forties and heavily built like a someone who had worked out every day of his life, he dwarfed Mike who worked out… occasionally, he was not fat but he was by no means athletic, at least he wasn’t in his own life, things just didn’t see the same here. “That normally requires a simple but effective two-word answer” he explained sarcastically.

“Yes, sir” Mike replied guessing at the response the man wanted, but really, he did not understand what was happening around him, he could not be in the BattleTech universe it was a fictional universe set hundreds of years in the future and taken from books, computer games and the gaming table this had to be a dream, it could not be life!  His mind screamed at his body to waken up but Mike stood there in the hanger everything felt and looked real, the smells, the sounds it was everything he had expected a Mechbay to sound and look like, all the way down to a pissed off CO.

“Well, I hope so, since I have no-one else to fill your Mech.”  He said glancing over Mike's shoulder, turning following the man's gaze Mike saw a ninety-ton Highlander standing there silently waiting.

“I must be dreaming” Mike whispered to himself looking at the massive green-painted machine was ninety tons in weight and stood about thirteen metres high with its squared off head facing forward, below it on the jutting out torso there was a large missile rack on one side and on the other side there were two laser barrels.  The massive machine’s right arm below the elbow was comprised of a long barrel of large autocannon or gauss rifle from what Mike could make out… what the hell are you on about you are not a ******* MechWarrior!  The mental voice in his head screamed as he looked over the BattleMech dreaming of what it would be like to be in the cockpit.

“WHAT WAS THAT SON!” There was that word again from “Shouting man” immediately gaining Mike's full attention.

“Nothing, sir”

“I did not think so, son.  Now to business since I have everyone's attention.”  Shouting man said turning to the rest, for the first time Mike could see them eleven in total including him made twelve and a full company, the standard mid-sized formation in BattleTech larger than the smallest formation, a four-person lance, but smaller than the three-company standard Battalion and smaller than the Regiment...  Mike snapped out of his inner thoughts and back towards the eight men, three women who stood beside him ranging from a couple in their late forties to two that looked like they were still in their teens.  “As of last night, the war officially ended” a couple of the warriors clapped others cheered while a couple others just looked like they wanted to cry with happiness “Stefan Amaris has been captured alive and will be tried for war crimes against humanity.”  Mike could not react he was in a daze Stefan Amaris had, in the fictional game of BattleTech, overthrown the ruling Cameron Line.  He was a brutal dictator and had taken command of the Cameron family’s realm, the Terran Hegemony, before beginning a campaign to quell resistance from the population.  The SLDF had countered him fighting a long campaign to retake the territory and end Amaris rule with Earth, or Terra, being at the centre of the Hegemony and being Amaris base of operations.  He pinched his arm trying to wake himself up, it didn’t make sense, he couldn’t actually be here!  All he did was feel the nip in his arm as the others continued to react to the news they had just heard.

“Hang the bastard” one of the warriors said he was about Mike’s age, perhaps a little older, with dark hair that was beginning to go grey at the front where the MechWarrior’s helmet had touched his head.  The BattleMech only stood when its senses were in tune with the MechWarriors by way of a neurohelmet, the helmet rested on a MechWarrior’s head and translated their balance to the Mech which kept it standing.  A well-trimmed moustache and goatee distinguished his face as did a scar that ran down the side of his right cheek.

“I'm sure they will, Lieutenant, for now he's under arrest and that decision is out of our hands we still have a job to do.”  Shouting man said in a calmer voice “with the war over the main fights and engagements are over, but there are a few things still needs to be done to secure Terra.  Security and housekeeping mostly making sure commanders are captured and enemy units are stood down until their crimes can be determined, we are NOT judge, jury and executioners’ ladies and gentlemen all of you need to understand that.”  He said looking between them “I don’t want this unit to be dragged through the courts because of their actions” he said looking at them all “Amaris’ people will meet their justice in time for now we get them to stand down and disarm.”  He explained to them “according to reports when Sandhurst fell Amaris troops with possibly a battalion's worth of equipment fled north, they “bumped into and engaged” a striker company on the Yorkshire hills before retreating further north. This unit is currently considered to be armed and dangerous we have been given the green light to engage should they fail to surrender.”

“Sir, one battalion is hardly worry some, with Amaris captured, the war over, we control all the space around Terra, and every continent, even Antarctica, has SLDF boots on them.  A single Battalion is nothing in the grand scheme of things.”  One of them said Mike looked at his uniform and recognized the rank insignia from his SLDF Field Manual as that of a Captain.

“I agree with you Captain.  Unfortunately, command does not think so this Battalion caused quite a bit of damage in London on their way out including smashing the Cameron-Windsor family's palace and they are currently refusing stand down orders which command has been broadcasting.  It is rumoured they are heading north to attack Edinburgh as it is the ancestral home of the Cameron family with intent on causing further damage.” He explained “from all reports we have looked at Edinburgh was ravaged by Amaris thugs just as the rest of Terra and the Hegemony has been, but this lot seem to think they can make a further example of the people before they surrender or are dead.” He said continuing “the SLDF have retaken and now oversee this world, we need to maintain law and order, and we need to send a message.”  Shouting man said far more calmly now.  “It also appears that members of the extended Cameron-Windsor family have been hiding under Amaris nose during the entire occupation of Terra, they have moved around avoiding being caught and are currently at a summer residence Balmoral Castle in the north east near the abandoned city of Aberdeen in Scotland.”  He explained Mike’s head spun around back towards “Shouting man” he had been to Balmoral when he was… in his own time, for lack of a better phrase.  The grounds it sat on were covered in dense forests, but the buildings themselves were ancient and not defensible it was built when the term “Castle” was used loosely and was more like a large country home.  “Since the SLDF arrived back on the Terra the Cameron-Windsors have publicly made it clear they are on Terra with the people.  And according to media reports being broadcast since their re-emergence the family have made it clear that they did not spend the occupation hiding and that they fought with Terra's resistance throughout the war with three of the duke’s sons killed in the fighting across Terra.”  He said continuing “the family are making their play so they remain relevant after this war.”  He said making his feelings clear “now it is our job, we owe the people of Terra to put these remaining Amaris troops in chains or in the ground, and if we can get the Cameron-Windsors on our side even better.  The SLDF needs all the friends it can get now even with the Old Man back in charge.”  He said referring to Commanding-General Aleksandr Kerensky by the nickname favoured by the troops he had led the SLDF to the Periphery and Back again in their campaign to destroy Stefan Amaris.  “Charlie Company’s orders are simple, head north find the Amaris forces still in operation, report their whereabouts so the rest of the Black Prince Division can move in and crush them.  Do not engage them directly unless you must, if they surrender, we accept it and wait for reinforcements, we want this done right.  Understood?”  He said looking over the whole of Charlie Company making sure they all understood him.

A chorus of “yes, sirs” followed including one from Mike who was beginning to get caught up in the dream and seemed to forget this was not a dream, but possibly his life and began to think the other life was perhaps a dream.

“You ready sleepy?”  The shouting man asked looking at Mike directly.

“Yes, Colonel Carter” Mike replied instantly as if he remembered the name of “Shouting Man.”

“Good, get to it ladies and gentlemen, clocks ticking DropShip boosts to Edinburgh spaceport in thirty minutes make sure you are all aboard.”  All nodded turning towards their Mechs, Mike turned and walked slowly towards the company’s green Highlander, no his Highlander, he corrected himself looking up at the tall assault BattleMech.

“Tech Matthews, how is she?”  He said remembering the man’s name as he approached the massive machine.  Now closer he saw that the Mech was not entirely green instead the left leg and arm were more brown than green while small yellow highlights were scattered through the rest of the camouflage in a mismatched pattern almost like a calico cat.

“Missy's all repaired boss, the damaged weapons are replaced and are all loaded.”  He reported Mike smiled looking up at the giant “Missy” he amused himself with the name which was the opposite of its true nature, his cat was a scrawny beast who was more interested in getting under someone’s feet rather than crushing them under its weight. He remembered the Mech and their journey together, the last time he had seen it was after their initial landing on Terra almost all the Armour had been destroyed its internal skeleton exposed and burnt, the left leg buckled, the gauss rifle left arm destroyed, torso and arm mounted missile launchers were both empty after a long battle against the entrenched Amaris defenders as they had claimed a beachhead on the world opening the door for other SLDF units to arrive.

“Good to hear, it's time to go to work, make sure your stuff is on the DropShip and you are ready to boost.”  Mike said moving forward not waiting for a reply he began to climb up the BattleMech's frame.  “Just don't let me wake up yet...” He whispered as he cracked the hatch to the Highlander's cockpit open, as dreams went this was an interesting one all the years he could remember reading the books about being inside a BattleMech, and being in control of one were about to happen.

Oh, some new reading! 

Oh, some new reading! 

Not a new story per say, its actually really old (roughly 9 years) but I'm adding bits as I'm cleaning it up and extending scenes

Its new to me!

It's old for me but I'm hope you and others enjoy it, I've never been happy with it so I'm going through it all


Charlie Company's DropShip had been able to land and make repairs to the unit unmolested the nearby Amaris troops were nowhere to be seen. Harry Forsyth's destroyed Wasp was also recovered along with the pilot's broken body, as expected there had been no chance of his survival, once the repairs had been completed and recovery complete the ship blasted off again returning to space.

The remains of the company moved forwards in near silence the war was supposed to be over the suffering and dying at an end but one of their friends and numerous Rim Worlds Loyalists were also dead. They were all sick of conflict most ready to forget their lives as MechWarriors and retire to quite corners of the Hegemony and to live the rest of their lives in peace. Mike tried to remain out of those discussions part of him understood and remembered what they felt but if he was being completely honest another part loved every minute of what was happening. He did not know what was worse the fact that all this could be a dream or that all of this was his life and… he enjoyed the conflict, how could he explain to someone that he enjoyed it when the bullets flew towards him? There was something frightful, almost primal, about it but he had enjoyed the thrill of the life and death struggle when he was battling the other pilots.  He consciously knew that he had killed the Awesome pilot with the 'Burial’ attack in the last fight, there had been no chance of the pilot surviving. He did not know how he felt about the fact in some ways he wondered what that pilot had done with their life up until now and what they wanted to do in the future.  On the other hand, Mike tried to rationalise that it was a kill or be killed as Harry had learned by paying the ultimate price, but there was no real rational way to explain it no way for anyone who had not been in the middle of it to understand.

They travelled through the wilderness in places there was evidence of broken tarmac or frequented dirt tracks but for the most part this was a reclaimed and reborn Terra. Abandoned for centuries as the people of this world spread to the stars Mother Nature had returned to this part of Terra and retaken what man had borrowed during his brief spell of occupation on the world it was the way of a planet like Terra, the world was designed for humanity it had evolved with humans to support the form of life but Terra had existed long before man had set foot on it and now that man had left for the stars the planet was reclaiming the real estate.  Across the Inner Sphere you could see the same thing when man moved out of an area the world tried to recover what had briefly been used and Terra was no different now that humanity had used this land it was slowly being returned to the earth. Mike had always loved the outdoors he knew how to live off the land and had always enjoyed trips into the 'sticks' as his grandfather had called it, now seeing what an unhindered Scotland looked like he loved home even more it was truly beautiful.  The other had survival training for if they were shot out of their Mech but this… this was home regardless of what life he was living.

That night they broke for camp nearly three kilometres south of Balmoral they could have pushed on but the wild had slowed their pace and the captain did not fancy a night fight. Instead, the eleven of them sat around small fires as the wild closed in around them, everywhere they could hear the trees and animals as if they were reacting to the uninvited guests. Katherine sat shivering beside the fire Mike offered her his jacket "funny place to call home. It's creepy, wet, cold..."

"Beautiful, wild and amazing" Mike finished for her looking around them the trees lit by the flicking of the fire.  “There’s nothing really dangerous out there, Scotland reintroduced wolves and bears into the country centuries ago from other countries and through genetic manipulation but they live several kilometres from here.  The most you have to worry about here is a hungry fox or a lost dear.”  He explained the wilds of Scotland with the gamekeepers were wild but this close to the coast they had nothing to worry about, in his own time Mike had heard stories of them wanting to reintroduce wolves to the country his ‘memories’ of this time indicated that the same had happened in the “BattleTech timeline.”  As Scotland became emptier those that remained had reintroduced the animals that had previously been hunted to extinction by man.

"Why thank you. Aren't you the charmer?" She said with a wink as she huddled into his jacket and into Mike's arms, he liked how she felt, in a dream this would definitely happen and probably more. "You really love it, here, don't you?"  She whispered looking up at him, Mike got a sense there had been something between them before but there was not now, he could not remember why his memories were still too muddled between the now and the twenty-first century life he had lived.  As his memories sorted themselves, he was beginning to wonder if his twenty-first century life was the dream, this experience was too detailed not to be real surely?

"It's where I belong doesn't matter what time, just here. Things can change, people can move or die, but this place it's always the same."  He remembered the woods from near his grandparents when he was a child it was exactly like this untamed, dangerous, and exciting.

"What about the SLDF? If we get orders to move on?"  She asked wondering if this return to home was the end of the road for Mike.  Many of the others had already spoken about their end game, their return to their homes in the Hegemony, retiring to somewhere quiet his twenty-first century brain was telling him that a ‘peaceful life’ would not happen but that could have been a dream.  If he lived right now maybe the history, he ‘knew’ about the future was not written, maybe they could see a different future according to the theory of alternate timelines, as he understood it, these sorts of things were infinite.

"I'll follow the Old Man wherever he orders me, I’m not ready for the retirement bash yet.” He joked looking around as she leaned into him, she liked that he was not ready to walk away from this life yet. “I'll always see this place as home." He said admitting he knew he would leave Scotland again but he would also remain here in his mind and heart, he would return here in his dreams.

"Funny place to call home" she repeated as she slowly holding close to him.

"I want to tell you something Kat, it sounds weird, but don't laugh..." He started it was time to be honest with someone, but he noticed she had drifted off to sleep. Mike let her rest tomorrow would be busy enough.

The next day certainly was busy enough the push on Balmoral had taken them only a couple of hours pushing through the undergrowth decades of Earth reclaiming the land were reversed by the course the BattleMechs. At the ancient summer home for the Cameron-Winsors they had found an assault lance supported by automated defences.  Even an assault lance had little chance against Charlie Company's eleven remaining Mechs each lance had combined their fire on the enemy Mechs to take them down in a hail of fire.  Overwhelming firepower was the name of the game, it was the Star League’s mantra use your superior technology and numbers to overwhelm an enemy and if you do not have those use orbital bombardment! Unfortunately, the enemy still fired back and they had enough fight in them to kill Steven Shran's Archer. A freak missile hit had consumed his, many times rebuilt, BattleMech the damage had done enough to cause the ammunition inside the Archer to explode destroying the Mech, Shran's ejection seat had fired taking him to safety but his battle was over.

One of the Loyalist warriors had also survived the battle and he had ejected soon after he had been captured by the Charlie Company and had revealed they had expected to find a DropShip there to take them off Terra.  Behind the castle there was indeed an ancient Manatee type DropShip but its nose had been cored through by a capital missile from some previous attack which had gutted the vessel. The warrior went on to say the remains of the Loyalist number which was no more than a company had headed to the abandoned City of Aberdeen to the east where it was rumoured there was an SLDF supply bunker hidden in the city.

Aberdeen had once been a prosperous city with a thriving oil industry that was until the Soviet Civil War when a rogue commander had fired two high yield missiles at the city.  The attack had devastated the city's airport and industrial sector to the north causing hundreds of deaths and destroying the City’s last hold on prosperity.  Rumours that followed the attack that one of the weapons was nuclear or biological and were spreading sickness through the area, these rumours had been proven false, but they did the rest of the damage with people leaving in droves. By the late twenty-first century after the war on Terra had ended only those working in the failing oil industry remained but technology was quickly outpacing them as space flight and colonisation of the stars became more of a draw to all citizens of Terra.  With the scarred and exploited Terra behind them the opportunities, and adventure, in space killed what remained to keep people on Terra and of the city's appeal. The city became one of Terra's first in the northern hemisphere to be formally classed as abandoned with its population close to zero.  There were some diehards who refused to leave, believing that since many had left riches remained for them and over the years small groups had returned but those that remained in the city were holding onto something from a bygone era.

During the Amaris Occupation of Terra, a still small but bigger population had found refuge in the overgrown ruins hiding from prosecution and living off the land they had formed a pocket of resistance against the Usurper that had expanded around the globe. Now it appeared Amaris own people were trying to use it as a refuge from the SLDF. Charlie Company moved along the broken roads from Balmoral through abandoned towns, occasionally there was signs of occupation or movement of small civilian vehicles but nothing to indicate an armed force or a community mostly just stubborn isolationists unwilling to give up on their little corner of Terra.


They entered the city passing a sign that said:


"A93 North Deeside Road Ballater-Aberdeen. You are now entering Aberdeen, have a nice day"

The sign looked ancient and had rusted badly but was still clearly visible "built them to last" Mike whispered he thought looking at the sign. For a moment he was back in his previous life, or dream whatever it was, he saw cars driving down either side of the dual carriage way.  People going about their lives commuting to the shops and to work, people enjoying their lives in peace, buses taking children on trips, farmers collecting their crops...

"From what we know people the Loyalists think this bunker is inside one of four locations in the city so we will search them one by one as a unit." The captain ordered snapping Mike back to the here and now, how could he daydream in a dream?  While Mike wrestled with his thoughts the remains of the company moved forwards no one complained about the captain’s plan, stick together get the job done two members of the company were down, one was dead, there was no need to lose anyone else in a war that should be over in a dead city.

It did not take long for Mike to reach the Katherine’s position could see her Mech was crouched behind a building sheltering from weapons fire while the Falcon of Recon Lance was down its cockpit a burning wreck; another death for the company to take. Seeing one of the enemy Mechs moving to flank her position Mike aimed his gauss rifle on the move as he jumped down towards the ground and fired the supersonic slug at the twenty-ton Wasp BattleMech.  The slug slammed into the Wasp just moments later and because he had fired in the air the speeding slug travelled down through the Mech's left side torso severing the arm and leg in one strike as the Wasp begun to fall, he followed up quickly with his Mech's medium lasers finish-ing it off the battered light Mech was out of the fight even if the pilot survived.
 
Stepping further into the fight Mike saw a pair of Ignis armoured vehicles moving up on Katherine's as she dealt with one, he targeted the other with his short-range missile launcher coring the rear armour on one of the unit’s moments later the vehicle exploded showering its companion in shrapnel.  Katherine then stepped forward crushing the second Ignis under her Mech's foot.  “Thanks for the support”
 
“Affirmative” he replied turning back to the enemy a Dragoon BattleMech fired its two autocannons into his Mech showering the Highlander with dozens of pellets from the LB-X type weapons.  Instead of doing a sin-gle solid hit the Highlander's armour was subjected to the equivalent of a two shotgun blasts from the auto-cannons cluster munitions.  The Dragoon then turned lighting off its jump jets soaring over a nearby build-ing.
 
“You cheeky...” Mike cursed running his big Highlander after the heavy Mech launching a salvo of long range missiles after the retreating Mech, only a couple of missiles tagged the fleeing Dragoon but it made Mike feel better.
 
“Don't go after it yourself!”  Katherine shouted a warning but it was too late Mike's Highlander had already stepped up onto a low-level building scanning for the enemy Mech he could hear the long-range missile launcher reloading inside the torso of the BattleMech.  When he could not see the Dragoon Mike ran his Highlander up onto the first building which looked like a badly beaten down shopping centre running over it, he approached a second lighting off the Highlander's own jump jets to cross a gap between the two struc-tures.  As Mike's Mech soared into the air on plasma jets of fire, he could imagine what the structure looked like it was between two and three storeys in height with a large dome structure in the middle.  Behind and to the right there were large vehicle multi-storey car parks.
 
As the Highlander landed Mike felt the building grown under his ninety tons, he ran the Highlander forward a few steps on the roof but instead of trusting the structural integrity of the ancient building he triggered the jets again as soon as they were in the green. As the Highlander rose again from within the building a thirty-ton Javelin BattleMech rose on its own jump jets smashing through glass windows which had survived intact for centuries.  As the Mech rose its SRM launchers spat out fire at Mike's Highlander scoring hits all down the assault Mech's legs and back rocking the giant as it flew.
 
“Oh crap!”  Mike exclaimed fighting to turn to face the new opponent and control his Mech as it was impact-ed by damage.  In flight was one of the most vulnerable positions for a MechWarrior they were passengers on board the giant machines which were moving with far more speed and power than they could con-trol.  Taking damage in a flying Mech was a horrible experience a warrior did not know if a critical system was exposed as the Mech took damage
 
“Ignore him, I've got it!”  Katherine shouted seeing the newcomer from the ground her Orion's gauss rifle spitting out a ferro-nickel slug at supersonic speeds targeting the Javelin.  Hating to turn his Mech on an opponent but knowing he needed to land the Highlander and chase down the Dragoon Mike wrestled the ninety-ton Mech back around as it began to fall from the air.  Behind him Katherine’s gauss shot slammed into the Javelin which had been turning for another shot again Mike’s Highlander.  The shot slammed into the lighter Mech’s back tearing through the torso gutting its gyroscope, a follow up flight of long-range missiles consumed the Javelin as it fell ensuring it was no longer a threat its shattered remains remaining in a heap on the ground not moving.  When it came to a face-to-face fight light Mechs with short range weapons simply could not stand up to punishment from heavy weapons they were scouts and harassers but in a stand up fight they had no chance.
 
Moments later Mike slammed into the ground his palms tearing across ground pain shooting into his knee.  “Are you alright?”  A voice asked glancing up he saw Katherine but she was dressed in white t-shirt with I “heart” NYC on the front and a pair of jean shorts a face blossoming on her face as she fought back stopping herself from laughing.  Glancing around he saw a beautiful summer's day with other people walk-ing the street, some were using bank machines while more people were using the food stalls and in nearby shops enjoying the day.  “Are you alright?”  She asked again starting to giggle.  He rolled over into a seating position brushing the sand from his knees, they were on a beach somewhere the sun was glorious on his skin, he realized that he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt like Katherine and there were dozens of people around him.

“I kind of made a mess of that one” he said blinking and suddenly as quickly as she had appeared she, and the beach were gone, his shorts and the heat remained but he was back in his BattleMech the big Highlander was down on one knee after the landing, he saw additional damage had been done to the legs.

“That was quite a landing Command Four can you get up?”  Slowly bringing the Mech back to its feet he noticed his landing had done some minor armour damage, the right knee actuator flashed red for a moment then went back to yellow indicating minor damage as he flexed the limb, nothing too extreme he had gotten lucky.
 
“I'm good” he said glancing at his sensors Katherine's Orion was with him scanning the street ahead other-wise it was quiet.  Residual heat from the Dragoon indicated it had gone down the street.
 
“Sensors say he went that way, the captain has detached us to hunt down and destroy that Mech while the rest take care of the remains of the enemy in the city centre.”  Katherine explained “we were to meet up with you and Thomas before proceeding.”
 
“Thomas didn’t make it; an enemy Rampage took him out.”  Mike explained quickly marking the Coordinates on the map for the recovery of Thomas’ Catapult, the enemy Mechs and armour.  “Add in the armour and the Javelin Intel really dropped us in crap-creek with this one. I wonder if he has any more friends wait-ing?”  Mike muttered his mind was racing he did not understand the flashes into the past he was having they were not making sense especially now that Katherine was appearing in them.  They did not even come from same planet!
 
“We'll soon find out, George Street” she said quietly reading a street sign “I knew a George once, a long time ago.”
 
“I knew a street named George once” he said trying to make his words sound light hearted but looking up the long street his memory of that street mixed with the reality of what he was seeing.  In places he could almost see people moving between shops and crossing lights changing.  Why was he seeing this in com-bat?  This could not be dream he would have woken from it.
 
“I bet it wasn't in as bad a condition as this one” Katherine muttered stepping her Orion over several wrecked ancient road vehicles each rusted beyond recognition.
 
“You should have seen it at the weekend” Mike laughed trying to keep things light as he followed her careful-ly stepping around a long-ago abandoned food stall which looked like it had stood up well under the tests of time.  Silently he wondered what else this street would have in store for him.  As her Orion stepped for-wards the ground crumpled away from her Mech “Katherine lean back!”  Mike shouted out a warning as he instinctively reached out and grabbed the Orion with his Mech’s left arm it was not enough to stop her Mech from falling but it was enough to push her into a nearby building.  A couple of armour plates were a little price to pay instead of a ten-foot fall.  “Nice landing" he joked seeing her Orion rise again.
 
“Thanks, nice reactions there almost like you saw that coming?”  She asked
 
“I’m not sure what I saw" Mike said thinking about his vision he had seen something with her in it then some-thing had happened... could there be a link?
 
“Either that or your thinking of my cute ass, we need to watch our step" she said moving forwards again around the sink hole.  Mike stood still for a moment trying to fix his thoughts were his actions and his vi-sions linked?

The street was roughly two kilometres long which was hardly anything to a BattleMech Mike's own could reach a top speed of fifty-four kilometres an hour in open terrain and even in the cluttered street there was little that could slow a ninety-ton BattleMech. Unfortunately, with a Dragoon and possibly more enemies on the loose they could not take the chance of charging down the broken street especially with the dozen side streets which connected to it, the enemy could be hidden anywhere.  Every step the two Star League BattleMechs were having to make extra carefully due to the unstable ground, they had already come across one sinkhole and on either side of the street below them buildings had collapsed after years of neglect, wrecked vehicles had been left to rot in the street and weeds had far overgrown everything with little human presence nature had taken the area back like much they had seen out of the city.  What few buildings remained standing looked like they had been around for centuries and like they could collapse at any moment most were about four or five stories high putting their roofs just above the BattleMech's cockpits.  As they walked down the street Mike kept scanning these rooftops as he stepped his Highlander forward any of them would make a perfect launching point for brave infantry wanting to make a swarm attack or to use short range missile launchers against them.

“Just shows the power of nature” Katherine said quietly stepping her Orion behind his Highlander “when this city was in its prime, I bet there was barely a tree now you can barely see the buildings for the trees.”  She commented as they both detected movement on the ground both watched the area for enemy units only to see several deer step out from the undergrowth.  The eldest a large male stag with impressive antlers watched them with a wary eye as the others walked past.  “They aren’t afraid of us.”  Katherine said entranced by the sight as the sixth deer a female stepped out of the undergrowth “humanity has given up its claim to this area, “it’s theirs now.”

“Everything comes to an end” Mike whispered watching the animals cross the broken street, he sat silently for several moments looking out his cockpit window in front of him he remembered the George Street he had seen in its prime as a busy road leading into the centre of town with shops running either side under apartment buildings and offices.  Wheeled road vehicles filled the streets with pedestrians moving around those stuck in traffic jams Katherine was right there would have been barely any of this greenery as humanity made as much as they could out of the ground they had taken from nature.

“And this search will never end if you don't move your heavy ass forward” she joked Mike had been lost looking at the busy street of the past and his Highlander had completely blocked the narrow road.  The deer herd had moved on disappearing from sight between the buildings as the day light began to fade.

“I thought I saw something was just having a look” he countered knowing there was not a chance she would believe him regarding the visions, they were distracting and something neither of them needed.  He knew she had deer and they both knew that their sense of hearing would have sent them off running if there had been any sign of a threat.  Before she could answer he moved his Mech forward a bit reaching a crossroads.  Slowly he moved his Mech far enough out to look one way down the right-hand side of the street before turning around and looking down the left side.  “All clear” he said stepping forward “you think he went either way?”  Mike asked glancing down both streets his hands near the weapon controls despite the fading light they could fight as well as they could in the light due to the advanced sensors onboard their weapons of war.

“Neg, down right looks like it turns into a swamp towards the sea, the ground's sunk, anything heavier than a light Mech is going to struggle to move ten metres before getting stuck.”  She said looking down the street “down left all I see is fallen buildings and rubble.”  She said thinking of the animals they had seen; they were finding their way through this area but that was only because of their size and light weight which allowed them to find a safe path between the ancient buildings.

“A Dragoon has jump jets” Mike reminded her.

“Affirmative I know, but we would have seen a jet plume over the buildings, there hasn't been any flames that I've seen nor any heat spikes.  Unless that's what you saw when you stopped?”  She queried him Mike shook his head shaking the image of the past from his thoughts now was not the time.

“Negative” Mike said calmly trying to clear his head “it was nothing, we push on?”  He said stepping his Mech forward he heard the communication channel shared by him and Katherine click in response.  They had not heard anything else from the rest of the company he hoped the two of them were not all that was left.  They moved forwards deliberately slowly scanning as they went finding little of interest other than more wildlife that had taken over from the humans that had left.  As they approached the end of the road where it met a much wider road and a small bridge crossing an ancient railway system.  The railway was made up of two badly rusted ground tracks which had been laid long before humanity even considered the idea of the maglev trains which were now in use across the Inner Sphere.

With the wider street Katherine was able to manoeuvre around Mike's Highlander and gain some distance making it less likely the two of them would be hit by a single shot.  Mike slowly looked around the area watching his sensors and using his own eyes to see if he could spot anything despite the advances in sensors sometimes the good old “mark one eyeball” spotted things the sensors missed.  As he scanned the area, he saw a light on in one of the buildings on the fourth floor the light was exactly level with his cockpit.  “Striker Three, I've possibly got something here.”  He said taking a step closer to the building peering through the surprisingly intact windows.  As he did a young man dressed in a red t-shirt and jeans stepped closer to the window and looked out, on the window sill there appeared to be a small domesticated cat curled up in a ball as it looked out beside the male.  Mike did not need to question who it was, he knew, his voice trembled a bit as he spoke.  “Katherine, do you think there could be people living in these buildings?”

“No-one permanent I don't think but, it's possible maybe nomads who refused to live in the big cities or came out here to get away from Amaris and his thugs.  Or maybe just scavengers who like living it rough.  You got someone?”  She asked twisting her Mech's torso to face his.  Mike glanced at his sensors and then back at the person in the window who waved their arm in his direction could it be real?

“Come take a look” he said stepping his Mech back away from the building seeing the figure step back from the window, as he did Mike turned to see the Dragoon BattleMech, they had been hunting smash its way out of the building adjacent to him hammering Katherine's Orion with a pair of autocannon blasts.  Unlike when his Highlander had been targeted this time the Dragoon used solid shells hitting the Orion hard in the chest and left leg causing massive explosions that ripped across the heavy Mech’s hull.  Immediately afterwards the Dragoon followed up with a particle cannon shot straight into the Orion's head Mike watched in shock as the Orion stumbled and fell under the blasts.  He had called her closer to the building which had put her in the kill zone.  Twisting his own Highlander's torso section Mike extended the Highlander’s arm and opened fire the short-range missiles as the Mech twisted following up with the long-range missile system as well.  The short-range missiles impacted first setting explosions all over the torso section of the enemy Mech while his long-range missiles hampered by the close range exploded across the Mech the ground and buildings it was enough to buy Mike time to move.  Turning as his torso auto-centred he kicked out with Highlander’s leg knocking the Dragoon away from the fallen Orion.  “Katherine respond!”  Mike snapped seeing the Orion was trying to get up.  “Kat, speak up now!”  He demanded he said looking at the shaky Mech firing his lasers at the Dragoon.

As Katherine brought her Mech back partly to its feet another pair of autocannon blast tore into the Mech's side and back knocking the seventy-five-ton Mech back to the ground to the ground.  Mike heard Katherine scream in fear and pain before he saw the head section of the Mech burst open and her cockpit chair launch out of the stricken BattleMech.  Mike opened fire on the Dragoon with more missile and laser strikes he added in his gauss rifle ripping open a massive hole in its left torso armour as the slug almost immediately slammed into the Mech knocking it several feet back.  Looking at the travelling ejection chair he thought it at least looked like Katherine had made a clean ejection from the now dead Orion.  Due to his distraction checking on Katherine he watched as the Dragoon picked itself up and made a short jump down to the railway track before running off at full speed.

“Come back here and fight me you cowardly bastard!”  Mike screamed into the open channel firing his Mech's gauss rifle and long-range missile system at the retreating Mech.  The gauss slug travelled at supersonic speeds but also did so in a straight line in this case slamming straight into the ground near the Dragoon tearing up the earth around the retreating heavy Mech destroying some of the ancient rail tracks.  His missiles were more effective arcing through the air they landed around the Dragoon causing several strikes to the Mech's arm and back armour as well as ripping up more ground from near misses.  “Striker Three, this is Command Four respond on emergency channel” Mike called out ejection seats carried enough power to make short burst transmissions for short periods after a pilot had left their Mech in this case however there was no response.  “Katherine, respond now!”  Mike snapped stepping his Mech carefully forward closer to the edge of the railway line the Dragoon was long gone disappearing into the wilderness.  “Command One, this is Command Four, Striker Three is down I repeat Striker Three is down.  Good ejection, I have tracked her escape path, unless you order otherwise, I am going to find her landing point and recover the pilot, over.”  He transmitted this time trying to reach the Company Commander again there was no response probably caused by all the wrecked buildings and debris between him and the other Mechs.  “This is Command Four continuing with plan, out.”  He said finally after a few minutes closing the channel switching to a secondary general channel “This is the Star League Defence Force MechWarrior to the Dragoon pilot, it's just us left, we've kicked your boss’s ass now I'm hunting you, keep your eyes open because I'm coming.”  He said jumping his Mech off the road onto the railway cutting in the jump jets to cushion the fall Mike then took his Mech into a run along the railway path.  Now there were two objectives, find Katherine alive and kill the Dragoon he did not particularly care in which order these happened as long as they happened exactly like that, no more day dreams no more questioning what was going on just kill the enemy and find his friend.

Although Mike piloted an assault BattleMech, one of the heaviest in the company, he was also the company’s unofficial infantry trooper, a roll he carried out because he carried the biggest gun in his cockpit.  Regularly over the last few years as they conquered the Rim Worlds Republic and then liberated the Terran Hegemony he had been called on to cover a search and rescue party with the rifle.  He was intimately familiar with the weapon and its maintenance but he was not a special operations trooper or scout he did this duty when he needed to.  It took Mike an hour to creep over the ground between where he had hidden his Highlander to the perimeter of the airport mainly hiding from the patrolling Toro and Firebee when he saw them coming neither pilot had reacted to his movement so he guessed they were not running with night-vision or heat sensitive sensors, most likely due to the light coming from the airport and heat from the local wildlife fouling the sensors, Scotland being reclaimed by nature had worked to his advantage.

Reaching the airport, he slipped through the shattered rusted gates and crept across the broken tarmac as Aberdeen had been mostly abandoned over the years since humanity went into the stars the airport had not been upgraded with modern materials meaning the facility had deteriorated significantly.  He scooted quickly under a broken and rusted ancient conventional aircraft which had been left where the last pilot had parked it and forgotten.  Mike crawled under the aircraft and observed what was going on from under the aircraft from his position he could see a pair of hangers were alongside the control tower and the allies of the Dragoon had rigged up some lights on the buildings to light their operations.

Near the hanger he could see a pair of IndustrialMechs were digging into the ground along with half a dozen men and women with hand tools, nearby the Dragoon stood in one of the hangers and more crewmen were working on it.  “Too many to shoot” Mike whispered to himself counting the troopers by the time he shot three of them he would be outgunned by the people on the ground let alone the two active Mechs.  Fortunately, he did not see any armoured vehicles or visible patrolling troopers “just the dregs” he whispered thinking in his Highlander he could take the two patrolling Mechs, if the Dragoon got active before he took them out, he would be in trouble.  The two IndustrialMechs were not a threat… he thought just as an ancient all-terrain vehicle drove onto the field it parked outside the hanger and out got two more men and then Katherine who was still dressed in her coolant suit but also wore a combat vest, she must have had stored in her seat’s storage container.  She was led into the hanger containing the Dragoon.

Mike was annoyed but not surprised they had picked her up she would ejected towards these people she would have had to be very luck to avoid them in the terrain he had encountered so far.  He peered through the scope attached to his laser rifle looking into the hanger he could see the Dragoon at the front dominated the scene.  Katherine stood in in front of one of the enemies who Mike guessed was either the Dragoon’s pilot or his boss she looked healthy her coolant suit was still intact as well each of her limbs.  The man drew his side arm and pointed it at Katherine’s head but she did not flinch, Mike held his breath for a moment waiting for the shot, he’d heard of worse acts since coming to Terra he readied his laser rifle aiming at the armed man if he shot Katherine Mike would take him out regardless of the risk.  The man did not fire instead he turned and indicated to something that was beside the Dragoon, Mike initially could not make it out and instead watched as Katherine was led through behind the Dragoon, he could not do anything there was no way he could make his way across the open field to the hanger to save her, and even if he could he couldn’t climb up the side of the hanger like some commando and jump off the roof onto the Dragoon to take the fight to them.  He simply was not that capable on the ground without his Mech, he was probably pushing his abilities right now if he was being honest but this was the chance he needed to take.  After a few minutes a Crosscut IndustrialMech stepped out from behind the Dragoon followed by several infantry troopers and the Crosscut was directed to cut down some ruins near the other IndustrialMechs dig site.  He did not know for certain but he guessed that Katherine was in the Crosscut and that she was being put to work which meant these people did not have enough pilots to pilot all three IndustrialMechs they owned, if they did not have enough pilots that meant the Firebee, Toro and Dragoon were all the Mechs they had; and the Dragoon pilot was too proud to pilot an IndustrialMech to the point he was willing to put an enemy into an IndustrialMech. He did not really care about what they were trying to excavate from under the airport his arrival would halt that progress and make it a moot point.  With the Dragoon in the hanger all he would only have to contend with were the two lights in the initial fight he thought but he needed to take them out quickly before the Dragoon pilot could get online, if Katherine was in the Crosscut then the enemy pilot would likely take her out first and she would have no chance against any size of BattleMech.

It took Mike more than an hour to get back to where he had hidden the Highlander, the Firebee and Toro were still patrolling together and that left a gap which allowed him to escape into the night and the rain it was something else he could use against them he did not know how he would get Katherine out of the predicament she was now in but if she was in the Crosscut and he could avoid shooting it then she would have a chance.  He guessed the Dragoon’s allies thought that the depot, if it was here, could give them heavier Mechs heavier Mechs would give them a fighting chance of repelling Mike and any of the rest of the company.  Thinking about the rest of the company Mike wondered where the hell they were other than him and Katherine there were six remaining Mechs in the unit they should be here by now and he could do with their help.  Activating the company comm channel he paused for a moment and made sure it was still encrypted before speaking “Command One, this is Command Three, I have located enemy base of operations at the city’s abandoned airport. Striker Three is confirmed as being a captive at the site.  Single Toro and Firebee BattleMechs supporting a Dragoon.  Multiple IndustrialMechs and ground troops in area I believe Striker Three is currently piloting a Crosscut, assistance required.”  He said cutting the channel if they were still in the area then they would be here soon or at least reply on the communication channel.  After hours in the cockpit, the city battle and now his excursion into the airport Mike was shattered he had been running on adrenaline but it would only take him so far, he needed a break. It would also give the rest of the company time to attend if they had heard his message so he decided to rest setting an alarm in the cockpit for two hours he would try to rest before doing anything else Katherine would have to rely on her training and survive her captivity until he could come up with a plan.

The net on the back of the Highlander carried a few supplies including a survival cover with the undergrowth and the Highlander providing some shelter from the elements he laid down and tried to relax.  He is adrenaline was still pounding knowing that Katherine and the enemy were so close.  He sipped from the water canteen and bit into a meal-ready-to-eat (MRE), it was safe to say it tasted like chicken, as he had no clue how it tasted he stuck with the ancient phrase as he ate and drank.  The simplest solution was he used his ranged weapons, his gauss rifle, and long-range missiles to pound the Firebee and Toro quickly knocking them out.  As he closed, he could use his lasers and short ranged missiles to knock out the two IndustrialMechs and then none of the infantry would matter.  If Katherine was in the Crosscut, he could protect her as the Dragoon moved into play, if it was operational, he could overpower it if not he could take out the BattleMech before it even entered the fight.

He laid there thinking as he heard the rain come down on his Highlander listening to the rain as he drifted into a sleep. Mike was startled awake inside the back of a taxi cab with the driver turning around to face him through the Perspex screen.  “That’ll be six quid-eighty” he said looking at Mike who handed over a ten-pound note.  He would not need the money after today this trip would not need them.

“Keep the rest” he said grabbing his bag jumping out of the taxi.  He then walked towards the entrance of Aberdeen Airport throwing down some change at a homeless man near the entrance, some people fell on hard times and picking them up with loose change sometimes helped.  Inside the complex he almost immediately had to jump out of the way of a group of school children who were making their way to the check-in desk.  Mike checked his watch he only had a short time to get through check in and security before the flight so instead of joining the queue he joined a second “Express queue” handing over a note to pay for the additional charge to get checked through quickly. In the shorter queue he quickly made his way towards security a young man going the other way clipped his shoulder as he passed Mike turned to warn him to be careful and saw the man’s face almost morph as he looked at it instead of a human face he saw the face of a Firebee BattleMech with the two circular filters standing out of the cockpit’s “cheeks”.

A moment of panic filled Mike as he pushed the other man away dropping change as he did the man staggered backwards and Mike looked at him again and saw his normal face.  “Be… be a bit more careful.”  He warned the man ducking down to collect his change when he looked up again the man was gone.  “Weird damned day” he said to himself heading further down the corridor to security.  The big burly security guard dropped a check-in tray in front of him and said for Mike to present everything he had in neat piles.  He almost laughed check-in at security was one of the most irritating processes of air travel and he threw everything he had, including his trainers, into one tray and then the next.  The security guard did not look too pleased at the mess but did not complain further as Mike stepped through the scanner.  Once through the scanner Mike had to open a couple of his items and threw down the items so they could be checked which slowed him down, he was quite certain that a few of the security staff did this intentionally just to wind up travellers.

Once through security Mike gathered his things and began to run towards the door only to collide with someone else as he tried to dodge out of the way, the collision caused him to tumble head over heels and slammed into the wall falling unconscious by the impact.  It took Mike several moments to come to again and he heard the almost rhythmic sound of a warning message in the cockpit of his Highlander.

Finally to finish the story

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It took more than an hour to drag Mike out of the ruined Highlander, Rim Worlds resistance in the area had been neutralised by the arrival of additional SLDF forces which had supported what was left of Mike’s company. Mike’s call for assistance had been received by the Star League Defence Forces and they had come to help him, his home away from home were now saving him from the disabled Highlander. With troops flooding into the area to end the operation the enemy infantry put down their arms and did not put-up further resistance instead they were corralled together and watched by SLDF guards.  As a loyalist unit which had been born and raised on Terra and not one of the Rim Worlds Republic units which had been called in, they would most likely be cashiered out of the military and released into the population, allowed to return to their lives.  Star League Intelligence would find itself very busy over the next few months watching out for those who were still loyal to Stefan Amaris rule.  Since the end of the battle Mike had remained with his fallen Highlander which was still entangled with the Dragoon he rested against the foot of his Highlander and waited for orders. As part of the relief effort a doctor had arrived with the reinforcements had checked him out and told him to take it easy for the next few days as he could have a concussion after his multiple falls during the combat but otherwise, he was healthy.

Katherine joined him beside the Highlander she now wore the same outfit she had worn in his dream; he knew it could not be a coincidence he stood there his mouth open for a moment.  “I borrowed it from one of the new arrivals, my uniform went up with my Mech, and the locals didn’t want to give me much new clothes.”  She shuddered thinking about the Rim Worlders who had captured her “fortunately they were too distracted with finding their lost treasure to care about doing anything else, they put me to work in that damned Crosscut straight away.”

“I know I saw you” he said showing her a small smile as she looked at him, he wondered if she was aware of what he had gone through.  She looked a little surprised “I put the infantry skills this war has made me learn” he explained as she looked at him “I had to pilot the biggest damned Mech” he said smirking.

“You’ve gotten good at it” she said “you’re just as good with that rifle as you are your Mech” she said tapping the broken BattleMech’s foot.

“Oh thanks” he said, he had always seen the infantry duty as second to his work in a BattleMech, unfortunately the last few years he had been called on to do it more often as they fought battle after battle.  “I came looking for you and after I saw you with them,” he said glancing over at the guarded infantry and techs of the loyalist unit “I knew I couldn’t sit around and wait.”

“So, you took on a short lance of Mechs, infantry and the industrials?”  She asked wondering if he had lost it “I saw your Mech coming out of the night, through the rain, like an avenging angel completely ignoring their infantry, blasting that Firebee to pieces and then you what decided to shoulder barge the Toro to the deck?  She asked recounting the battle that he had fought.  He remembered the airport journey the group of kids were the infantry? Then he had brushed off the Firebee before colliding with the Toro.

“It wasn’t my first choice” he admitted Mike whispered thinking about his dream “but I knew I needed to do it quick, before the Dragoon got active.”

“You were piloting a damned assault Mech blow them to pieces at range! But no, you charged in like a big idiot” She scolded him punching his arm lightly “then that slugging match with the Dragoon, rarely have I seen two Mechs trade blows like that.”  She said looking over the ruined battlefield “you certainly made a statement.”

“It got the job done; it got me where I needed to be.” He said looking at her, she was exactly how she was in the dream like they were waiting for the plane together again, he could glance over the airport and just imagine that one of the planes once would have flown him out of the area.  “Any idea where we go from here?”  He asked quietly she turned to lean on the Highlander’s foot beside him.

“Well, I don’t think we’ll be going very far, very soon.”  She said “the SLDF is still securing Terra and the General needs to sort things with the Succession Lords. He needs to put them in their place” she explained “I can’t see where we go from here.  But look at the bright side you came home.”  She said raising her arms he followed her arms and looked at Scotland beyond the airport.

“It’s a bit different from my memories.”  He said trying to fix everything together what he had seen in his dreams were slowly fading to the background and into memory.

“Plenty of room to make new memories and see new things.”  She pointed out “in the meantime you could show me around a bit?”  She suggested standing up away from his BattleMech’s foot reaching out with her hand “see where it takes us, until things calm down, we’ll both need new Mechs before we can do much else.”

He reached out and took her hand “or just not both getting new ones?” He thought out loud looking over his downed BattleMech “is this a sign I’m at the end of the journey?”  He asked

“I’m sure we can figure that out…” she said grasping his hand in her own “or the Old Man will whisk us off on some other adventure.”  She suggested as she pulled him off the Highlander’s foot the two of them walking away from the Highlander as SLDF crews began to clean up the ancient airport.

The return to Terra had brought dreams and reality together in Mike’s head he did not know how to put what he had experienced on Terra into words.  He had come home to Scotland, and it felt like home, but it was not like what they had remembered instead he needed to think about making a life was he a MechWarrior ready to follow the old General on his next campaign against one of the succession lords or in defence of the Hegemony or was he ready to make a life for himself.  As he held Katherine’s hand, he wondered about their future uncertain but in life ahead of them, but he knew this was life not in a dream and whatever came, whatever adventure they next embarked on he planned on living life not a dream.