BattleTech, page 1
BattleTech: Crimson Night
The Rogue Academy Trilogy, Book Three
Jennifer Brozek
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
In Memoriam
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Battletech Glossary
BattleTech Eras
The BattleTech Fiction Series
Dedicated to John A. Pitts, BattleTech fan and one of my biggest supporters.
I miss you, my friend.
1
OKINAWA-CLASS DROPSHIP ENDEAVOR’S RUN
LOW ORBIT, EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
17 APRIL 3150
1800 HOURS
Nadine worked hard to keep her voice even. “I need you to—”
Major Anthea Hanover interrupted, glaring at her from a computer screen. “Cadet Roux, I am not one of your peers that you can order around. I’m only listening to you because Captain Morse requested it.” She gestured to the man next to Nadine. “Now, if you will, start from the top.”
Nadine clenched her teeth, lifted her chin, and willed herself not to get overly upset in a way that would make her skin flush—blushing was the bane of every redhead. Why could no adult ever just shut up and listen? “There isn’t time, Major.” She wished she could make herself understood, but the major wasn’t even in the room with her. She was on the JumpShip Golden Sail while they were on the DropShip Endeavor’s Run. So much of the urgency of the situation was lost in the digital communication.
“There is time, and you will take the time to explain yourself so I fully understand the situation before I make any decision—especially as to whether there is time.”
Nadine took a breath, gazed at the screen before her, noted dark circles under the older woman’s determined blue eyes, and began again. “The situation is this, ma’am. About two weeks ago, we were attacked by House Kurita troops, the Seventh Ghost Regiment of the Draconis Combine. They captured all of our MechWarriors and half the BattleMechs on the planet without a shot fired. Me, my brother, and several other cadets rescued the ’Mechs and the pilots with a nighttime attack on the New Exeter spaceport—”
Major Hanover lifted a hand and shook her head. “You expect me to believe that—”
It was Nadine’s turn to interrupt. “Yes, ma’am, I do. I was born on Hoff. At nine, I lived through the invasion where the Draconis Combine executed thousands of people. I kept my brother alive while we competed to get into the Emporia military program, and we both fought to get into the Ritza Academy. For six years, we’ve trained to become the best soldiers we could be. Me in infantry, Jasper as a MechWarrior. Most of us at the academy are children of war, and we were not about to let our adopted home fall to the enemy—again—without a fight. I’m not some kid with delusions of grandeur. So, yes. I do expect you to listen and believe what I say.” Nadine straightened up and modulated her voice. “With all due respect, ma’am.”
The major crossed her arms. She stared out of the screen for a long moment before asking, “Captain, have you verified anything Cadet Roux has told you?”
Captain Morse stroked his trim goatee before he answered. “Yes, ma’am. It’s why I asked you to listen to her. We’ve been monitoring the situation since we got here. The cadets managed to stow away in an escaping civilian DropShip in an effort to get off-planet and let someone within the Federated Suns know what was happening. That was the DropShip accident they escaped. Afterward, the Draconis Combine bombed the planet a second time. A member of the planet’s nobility contacted us on a shortwave radio frequency Cadet Roux had set up.” He waved his hand at the obvious question on his superior’s face. “It’s complicated. I’ll explain it in more detail later. The short version is that I believe her, and I heard the call for help from the Dowager Countess Ritza myself. She spoke to Nadine as if she knew her.”
Major Hanover took a visible breath and nodded, but did not uncross her arms. “All right Cadet Roux. You may start over. This time with as many specific facts and figures as you can manage.” She gestured offscreen to her left. “My assistant will be taking notes.”
Nadine relaxed and threw a grateful glance at Captain Morse. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.” She gathered herself to start again, trying to put herself into the mindset of a verbal after-action report. There was a moment of panic when she wasn’t certain what today’s date was. Her eyes darted around the screen until she found it: 17 April. It hadn’t even been a full two weeks, yet it felt like forever.
“On the evening of the fifth or early morning of the sixth of April, the Seventh Ghost Regiment captured the New Exeter spaceport. They sent out an alarm that brought all MechWarriors to the spaceport, who were then captured. By the morning of the seventh, Lord Zachary and Lady Shannon Vogel, who were pretending to be in charge of Emporia to protect Count Ritza and his family, gave a statement over the worldwide emergency broadcast system. On the surface, they appeared to be surrendering the planet to the Draconis Combine and Tai-sa Yoshizawa, but the Blooded cadets—the academy’s noble-born cadets—understood there was more to the message, and pointed out the secret hand language the Vogels used, telling everyone to fight…”
Nadine bent her head, looking at her hands as she searched for the facts. She couldn’t come up with dates. That didn’t matter. “Within a couple of days, using the information from the intelligence network I created—Lord Zachary encouraged my, ah, hobby—we formed a plan to rescue the nobles and recover the ’Mechs at the spaceport. The plan succeeded, but we lost four cadets, one ’Mech—a Griffin—a Vedette, and one professor in the fight…and Baroness Shannon Vogel succumbed to her injuries on the way back to the academy.”
She paused for thought, trying to remain as stoic as possible. “But we rescued more than thirty nobles and eight ’Mechs. At the same time, Sergeant Major Vale Auger retook the communications building and sent out a message to the planet over that same emergency broadcast system—to tell the people of Emporia what the cadets were doing and encouraging them to do the same: to rebel, fight, resist. To do what needed to be done. At the same time, one of my informants had a contact, a merchant DropShip captain, get off-planet to get word to the Federated Suns about our situation. We don’t know if he succeeded. You are the first people from the Federated Suns to get here.”
Looking back at the communications screen and focusing on the firm line of Major Hanover’s mouth, rather than the disbelieving look in her cool blue eyes, Nadine continued. “After we got back to the academy, the Draconis Combine retaliated, attacking the academy and the surrounding lands with a couple lances of ’Mechs. Then we went into a period of several days of fighting around Emporia, with Count Ritza recapturing New Exeter and the spaceport.”
She stopped, considered whether to mention the debacle at the Vengalil estate, then rejected the idea. She knew she’d made a mistake there. Pointing that out wouldn’t do any good now. “After Count Ritza retook New Exeter, Tai-sa Yoshizawa bombed New Exeter and the Ritza Academy. New Exeter is pretty much destroyed. Dame Emma Meier partially deflected the cruise missile aimed at the academy, keeping the whole thing from being destroyed at the cost of her life…but there was a lot of damage and death done to the academy and its people.”
Nadine furrowed her brow. “That was when we decided that we needed to get some of the cadets off-planet to get a message out. The previous contact, the merchant DropShip captain, wasn’t exactly trustworthy. Jasper—I mean, Cadet Roux, took a ’Mech lance to attack an enemy holding while four infantry cadets—” she flicked a glance at Captain Morse, “—stowed away on a civilian DropShip. We were caught—one cadet, Henry Cobb, was killed—and the rest of us ejected from the DropShip in escape pods. Then the Endeavor’s Run picked us up.”
She fought to control her face in another wave of grief at the people she’d so recently lost. “The rest Captain Morse has witnessed firsthand. The subsequent bombing of the planet and the release of some kind of airborne…something. No one actually knows what, yet.”
Major Hanover glanced downward then back at the screen. “We’ve been in brief, sporadic contact with a couple surviving military enclaves. I’ll admit it doesn’t look good down there.”
Nadine nodded. “Which is why we really, really need to get Lady Ritza and the House Ritza heir apparent off the planet.”
“And that is where your brother and his ’Mech lance come in?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Nadine tilted her head. “Unless we could use the Endeavor’s Run to get down to the planet and evac the surviving Ritz
Major Hanover shook her head. “Two problems with that. Even if we took precautions, we could possibly be infected by whatever airborne virus the Draconis Combine dropped…and we need at least a kilometer of uninhabited, flat ground to land on. It isn’t a matter of dropping down, picking up, and leaving. The noise and exhaust from a DropShip landing in an unprepared civilian location could be devastating to the inhabitants. And the evacuees need to be able to get from their hiding place to the drop point without the enemy capturing them.”
Nadine thought for a moment. “What about aerospace fighters? You could send a couple down, then do an airlock…” She stopped at Captain Morse’s shaking head.
He glanced at the screen, where Major Hanover’s face frowned back at him. “We don’t have any fighters. We were on our way from the end of one mission to some R&R—” He paused again.
“Just tell her, Captain,” Major Hanover said with a sigh.
“Your merchant DropShip captain from the Whatever It Takes, Elijah Bolton? He’s an old friend of the major. He got hold of us and…here we are.”
Nadine blinked. “Elijah actually did what he said he was going to do?”
Major Hanover shrugged. “Told me he owed a woman named Silver. In any case, we don’t have any fighters to send planetside. We’d have to use the Endeavor’s Run—once we figure out how not to be infected—but in the meantime, we’ll need to keep the Ritza family safe.”
“They’re currently as safe as they can be in their family’s siege compound…which you can bet isn’t anywhere near flat ground.”
“Well then, Cadet Roux, they will need to be escorted from the compound to the pickup point. You are currently our planetary expert. Your plan?”
“I guess we’re back to my brother, Jasper, and his ’Mech lance.” Nadine’s mind ran in many directions. “But he said Mason’s name in the clear. Mason Ritza, Emporia’s heir apparent. He’s the current head of House Ritza. He’s fourteen. That means there’s a chance that the enemy knows, too.”
Captain Morse leaned forward. “And right now, we have nothing to keep them from launching their own aerospace fighters and taking us out. Yes, we’re armed and could fight back but, basically, we’re sitting ducks.”
Nadine glanced between the captain and the major. “Then there’s no time to be subtle about it, is there?”
Major Hanover shook her head. “No, Cadet Roux. I guess you’re right—there isn’t much time. While we figure out how not to be infected, you will head up a plan to get the Ritza family from their siege compound to a pickup point.”
“Yes, ma’am.” This was exactly what Nadine wanted in the first place. Unfortunately, there were a few obstacles in her way: she didn’t know where the Ritza family was, or how she was going to get Jasper in the right place at the right time, or how to keep Tai-sa Yoshizawa from finding out what they were doing, or how to enact her forthcoming plan before the Seventh Ghost Regiment targeted the Endeavor’s Run for revenge.
But, of course, she already had a nascent plan in mind. One that involved false intel to the enemy, troop movements, ’Mech patrols, and a daring rescue of Mason Ritza. If she could get all the moving parts going in the right direction. That was a big “if.” Then again, the last few weeks had been nothing but “if” and some hard-won successes…
2
RITZA ACADEMY
LIEGEDEN, EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
17 APRIL 3150
1800 HOURS
Jasper hunkered at the base of his ’Mech, the looming 25-ton Commando giving him much-needed shelter. For the last five minutes, no one had wanted anything from him or Delany Menard, who stood over by the 60-ton Rifleman. He looked at the backpack with the shortwave radio in it and still couldn’t believe Nadine was alive—that she and her crew had pulled off the impossible.
Of course, that means she’s a war criminal now. She used a civilian DropShip to attack a military one, one part of his mind said. Then Yoshizawa used the biological weapon on the planet as part of the next bomb onslaught. So many people died and are still dying.
Jasper glanced around the destruction that once was the Ritza Academy. Half of the buildings were nothing but piles of rubble. Manicured grounds were now broken holes filled with shattered sidewalks and destroyed vehicles. Most of the buildings still standing were extreme hazards and wouldn’t survive the next big storm. Assuming anyone is still alive to prosecute her.
Would you? Would you prosecute her? he asked himself in Vale’s voice. Remembering that voice made him miss Sergeant Major Vale Auger all the more. The old ’Mech bay soldier had been father figure and mentor for years. There was no telling where he was or if he was even alive.
Still, Vale’s question lingered. After a long moment, he shook his head. No.
Well then, worry about other things. Like getting the survivors to the Vengalil estate before dark. Deal with the living while you have the chance. Not to mention—since you aren’t going to prosecute your sister for succeeding—figure out how to find and get to Mason Ritza before the Draconis Combine does.
He grimaced at the reminder that he’d said the heir’s name on the open channel. Sometimes he felt like he didn’t have two brain cells to rub together. Probably wouldn’t have survived long enough on Hoff to qualify for Emporia’s refugee program if it hadn’t been for Nadine.
Jasper shoved the embarrassment away as he decided the more pragmatic part of himself was right. This wasn’t a time to go looking for more trouble. They already had plenty as it was. He stood and slung the backpack over his shoulder, watching as a surviving private, one of their few mechanics from the ’Mech bay, clambered out of the Rifleman and reported to Delany. She looked tired and dirty, but as professional as one could be right now. She’d even taken the time to put her long, dark hair into a functional braid.
It was unusual for enlisted personnel to report to cadets. However, Delany was one of the few surviving senior cadets, and all the other academy instructors were dead, missing, or otherwise occupied. Somehow, she was in charge because she had a plan. That’s what people responded to in a crisis. All of the senior cadets were stepping up. None of them had a choice. Also, she’d been piloting the Rifleman for the last bit. It was her responsibility.
While he watched Delany give orders, Jasper knew they had to get everyone to the Vengalil estate first. Then they needed to spend some time thinking about how to rescue Emporia’s heir apparent without the enemy listening in and intercepting him. Some of the planning could be done planetside, over the encrypted shortwave radio, but some of it had to be in coordination with the DropShip in orbit above them. And that communication was in the clear.
It was possible the Draconis Combine hadn’t discovered the shortwave comms yet. But it was better to assume they had access and would be listening. Though there was still the encryption to get through. There had to be a way to use the comms against the enemy. He knew the answer was in front of his face, but he couldn’t see it. Not right now. It was too close and too obvious.
Jasper straightened as the private left at double time. Delany sighed, squared her shoulders, then turned to him. She offered a small, brief smile when she saw him watching.
“What’s the word?” he asked, walking to her.
“The Rifleman’s no worse for wear. I mean, it’s not in tip-top shape, but it’s better than the Catapult and way better than the Valkyrie. But at least they’re all mobile. I’ve sent Private Cotesworth to get Hugh Salter in the Valkyrie and walk it to the estate. We’ll probably have to use its fusion engine for power there.” Delany frowned at the ground. “Also, he said Lang isn’t looking too good.”
