BattleTech: Operation: Ice Storm (Part One) by Jason Schmetzer

Author:Jason Schmetzer
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
Published: 2012-02-13T05:00:00+00:00

Nadir Jump Point

Steelton

Clan Hell’s Horses Occupation Zone

19 September 3071

“That is not supposed to be here.”

Star Colonel Tanda Ho Jang didn’t have to ask what Galaxy Commander Damon Hawkins had meant by “that.” The offending object hung in Impaler’s combat information center holotank. Tanda was too far away to read the alphanumerics scrolling alongside the floating image, but she recognized the Clan insignia easily. It was a standard Clan communications satellite. They were often left at a system’s jump point to announce possession of the system to whomever arrived. She’d seen many on Delta Galaxy’s path through the Jade Falcon observation zone. All of them had flown the green, square-bottomed insignia of the Jade Falcons.

Except this one. It showed a horsehead.

Clan Hell’s Horses.

Freebirth.

The technicians running the CIC were carefully—and, Tanda knew, consciously—silent. Damon Hawkins’ temper was legendary. She regarded him now, surreptitiously from the side. He was a small, squat man, with black hair just beginning to show streaks of silver. His shoulders were wide and thickly-muscled, but his posture was that of a lumberer, like a bear. Tanda imagined that was a legacy of his past. In his youth he’d been captured from the Ghost Bears and made a warrior of the Ice Hellions. It was rare—not unheard of, but rare—for an abtakha warrior, as they were called, to rise so high in their new Clan. Hawkins had earned every position.

“It is confirmed, Galaxy Commander,” a technician said. “The satellite is broadcasting a Hell’s Horses IFF.”

Hawkins snorted. “I can see, can I not?” He waved a hand angrily at the holotank. “What else?”

“It is a looped transmission,” the tech said. His voice was a half-octave higher, his tone more hesitant. Tanda glanced at him but didn’t let her gaze linger. “It announces the Horses’ possession of Steelton, and orders anyone not cleared to depart immediately or face attack.” The technician stood at the edge of the holotank’s entryway. “Nothing else.”

“The Watch had this world in Jade Falcon hands, quiaff?” Hawkins asked.

“Aff, Galaxy Commander,” Tanda said. She gestured the technician away while Hawkins was engrossed in staring at the satellite image. “Apparently our information is out of date.”

“Damn.” Hawkins abruptly stood up straighter, slapping his palms against his trousers. His toes were hooked beneath a staple in the floor to hold himself in place; Impaler had not yet begun to accelerate in-system, which meant they stood in microgravity. “I had hoped to continue our streak.”

Tanda understood what he had meant. Aside from Wotan—damned Wotan, the Sargasso of this bloody part of space—Delta Galaxy had proven itself exceptionally well in the invasion. Losses were heavier than they had predicted, to be sure, but losses were always heavier than predicted. One often wondered if whomever made the predictions had ever been in combat. Morale in the Galaxy was high, as the warriors were expecting to crush another Jade Falcon garrison and move on. Steelton was an important world, heavily industrialized. Taking it for the Ice Hellions would have been quite a coup for the Galaxy Commander.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.