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This is a snippet from my AU timeline - I tend to write it all out and only post the headlines on the Forum but this one I had to
share I really enjoyed this scene.  Hope everyone does too.

Link to my regular timeline
http://ourbattletech.com/forum/parallel-universes/alternate-timeline-with-thanks/

Secret Anchorage
Hyades Cluster, Taurian Concordat
21st January 3070

   As a member of Taurus’ first line of defence Ensign Leo Mathews and his wingman Rebecca Strange were among the most elite pilots in the Taurian Concordat Air Arm.  They were regularly tasked with supporting the Special Asteroid Support Force (SASF), which consisted of five thousand zero-g troopers dedicated to the defence of Taurus and the most secret piece of hardware the Taurians possessed the TCS Vandenberg, a Vincent Mk 39-class Corvette held over from the Reunification War.  The vessel was nowhere near operational and many high ranking Taurian officers called it the TCS Albatross because of the money and resources routed to restore the vessel for little results, but to Leo it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen and it was a pleasure to fly by it and ensure no-one got near it without clearance from the Protector himself.

        For today’s mission Leo and Rebecca had pulled the most unenviable task of all Taurian pilots assigned in close proximity to the Vandenberg.  Both of their sixty-five ton SL-17 Shilone aerospace fighters carried a single weapon slung under their hull’s, the warhead of an Alamo-class Nuclear Missile.  If it appeared their position would be lost to an enemy intruder, along with the Vandenberg, they were under orders to ram their fighters into the corvette and any nearby enemy DropShips intent on destroying their prize or at least delaying them for other Taurian forces to arrive.  For two hundred years two fighters had carried out this duty and nothing had happened so Leo was not too bothered about the job but others, like Rebecca, were not so happy with the task.  “Becca, how you doing over there?”  Leo asked looking over at Rebecca’s fighters as they moved above the Corvette.

   â€œHow do you think?  With this fat ass bomb strapped to my baby’s ass it feels like I’m flying a god-damned elephant.”  She said cursing something in another language, one of the things Leo liked about flying with a linguist, like Rebecca, was he learned how to curse in so many different languages.  So far he had identified six different languages, although he had no idea how many she knew it kept things interesting trying to work out what she was saying.

   â€œDon’t worry another twelve hours and our tour for the month will be over.”  As auxiliary members of the SASF they had to complete this duty but only once every thirty days, another reason Leo didn’t mind the job.  Fly in a kilometre wide circle for twelve hours, piss easy normally… but not today.  Looking down at the Vandenberg he noticed the aft-port thrusters engage for a split second changing the Vandenberg’s slow spin to a more controlled one “what the hell? Becca did you see that?”  He asked trying to verify if what he had seen had happened.

   â€œWhat?”  Rebecca sounded bored.

   â€œThe Vandenberg’s rear thrusters on the port side fired!  Her spin is slowing...”  He said looking at the corvette more closely, it certainly was turning differently now.

   â€œNo way” Rebecca said her voice full of sarcasm “I’ll fly back to base and get them a medal, about time the Albatross moved.”  She said Leo ignored her quip he knew she did not feel for the ship and its symbolism as strongly as he did, normally it didn’t matter but today it made him angry.

   â€œBetter arm your nuke instead.”  Leo said beginning the arming system on his warhead, no-one was moving the Vandenberg without his knowledge.

   â€œYou’re joking right?”  Becca asked Leo noticed her fighter was dropping back and her targeting systems were coming online as was standard procedure but nothing on the nuke yet.

   â€œNot a chance of that ship moving without our knowledge.”  He said seeing the thrusters fire again “let’s get moving before it does.”  He said switching frequencies as he saw Rebecca had begun arming her own warhead.  “Fire Angel One to Crazy Horse Command come in.”

   â€œCrazy Horse Command, Online, go ahead Fire Angel.”  The duty officer said he sounded as bored as Rebecca had moments before.

   â€œSir, the Vandenberg’s moving!  No scheduled tests of her thrusters…”  Leo nearly shouted into the comm. trying to get the man’s attention.  “I need to know if that is authorised or if I have clearance to execute ‘case-zero-zero’?” he said quoting the orders drilled into ever pilot on day one do not allow the Vandenberg to fall into enemy hands - nuke it first.

   â€œWhat the hell?” The Duty Officer asked shocked by the statement checking his own instruments sure enough the corvette was moving under its own power “movement confirmed, Fire Angel, this is not authorized. Clearance given execute case-zero-zero.”  The Duty Officer said as both engines on the Vandenberg lit up and the ancient corvette began to move.  Leo had always known he would die in service but he had never expected it to be like this nuking something he treasured more than life itself.  Turning his fighter towards the corvette he began a spiral dive that would bring him onto the corvette’s mid-ship area perfect placing for maximum damage.

   â€œFire Angel Two, follow me in mop up any stragglers.”  Glancing at his sensors Leo noticed Becca had fallen out of formation and was trailing him by almost two hundred metres.

   â€œYou know kid, it’s a shame you are so dedicated, you were a good stick.”  Rebecca said her voice completely different from what it was normally now with a thick German accent, it didn‘t even sound Taurian, more like Lyran or Terran.

   â€œWhat are you on about?  We have orders to execute case-zero-zero, follow your orders!”  He said at that very moment his threat warning systems activated as Rebecca painted his fighter with active sensors.  Moments later the Vandenberg’s ‘non-operational’ defensive lasers came on line and fired targeting him fed by Rebecca’s data, Rebecca fired at the same time.  With no time to react Leo’s fighter was hit by more than a dozen laser and missile strikes both front and aft, one of the missiles from Rebecca’s fighter stuck the nuclear warhead and the fighter was incinerated in a nuclear fireball ending Leo’s life kilometres from his target.

   Maintaining radio silence and ignoring Crazy Horse Rebecca turned her fighter towards Gamma Station on the perimeter.  The space station had once been an Olympus-class recharge station over the years it been converted into a defensive post to protect the Vandenberg and base aerospace defence fighters.  Now it was in her way.  Brining her fighter to full thrust Rebecca quickly overtook the corvette, which again fired its reaction control thrusters orientating itself towards the station.

        Just then on the other side of the station an Invader-class JumpShip arrived in the Cluster and detached three DropShips and a dozen fighters taking the station’s attention away from her.  Rebecca opened a tight-beam encrypted communication frequency to the corvette “the fires of Blake burn brightly and the gates of Hyades open for the righteous.  Peace of Blake be with you and the rightful master!”  She said in a near emotionless state just as her fighter slammed into the station the nuclear weapon attached to her fighter exploded almost at the same time incinerating the fighter, station, dozens of surrounding fighters, three DropShips and three hundred Taurian guards on the station in an instant.  The Vandenberg cruised through the gap in the defence net firing defence lasers into the wreckage almost like a victory salute before rendezvousing with the JumpShip.

        Both vessels quickly left the Cluster abandoning the DropShips and fighters deployed by the JumpShip to suicide runs into several of the other stations and DropShips defending the Vandenberg’s former position.  The Taurian Concordat’s greatest prize and closest held secret was gone.

A small snippet but something I wanted to share.

Hope you enjoy!!