Battletech: Fresh Blood
Chapter 1

Isaac surveyed the landscape of the rich green rolling hills from the command couch of his ‘mech. This was his team’s first battle and he, being the eldest and more experienced of the recruits, he was chosen to be the leader of his lance. He scanned the landscape once more and thought about it. “How coincidental” He said to himself, quiet enough so that the rest of his team could not hear him. “I’m leading a bunch of green Mechwarriors on some grassy plain, perhaps even greener than them.” He said to himself. There had been multiple, moderate to small-scale skirmishes between House Davion and House Kuritia, due to both factions lying down on this planet at the same time, finding valuable germanium deposits in the area. Unfortunately, a young House Davion prince, heading the expedition to the planet became greedy, and wanted all of the germanium to help the current FedCom. Civil war between Victor –Steiner Davion and his sister Katherine Steiner-Davion. Thinking he is helping the war effort. ‘No wonder he is only 20th in line for the throne…’ Isaac thought to himself.

“Commander, any sign of Draconis Forces in the area?” A young recruit named Geoffrey asked. “None yet, but keep your eyes peeled and on your scopes. They could be anywhere.” Isaac replied. Isaac always favored Geoffrey, a solid pilot, loyal and skilled. However, he has been known to come under pressure under tense situations. However, another young, upstart recruit named Ben said “I’m starting to grow sick of just patrolling day and night when the worst thing that could happen is we get bored and tired! When are we going to see some action for once?!”  Isaac knew that Ben was one of the more impetuous students, but from what he had seen, he was a pretty good pilot, but he was often headstrong and impetuous. Sometimes he’d think: that if Ben was in a Commando armed with only a pair of machine guns and a small laser, he’d go headfirst into an Atlas, A dreaded 100-ton beast that would send shivers down the spine of even the most seasoned of Mechwarriors. However he knew that no Mechwarrior would be stupid enough to charge headlong against a ‘mech like that. Isaac replied “It’ll be soon Ben, just keep your head in the game and don’t get cocky.”

Another member that completed Isaac’s lance was Jeanette, the only female in the group. She wasn’t the most talkative, but she was a hell of a pilot. She may have made Ben a bit jealous; however, she is still quite a ‘mech pilot, and displayed that out in the field, however, she has gotten scrutiny for being a last minute replacement when they found out that a member of their lance was discovered to be mentally insane and unfit for duty.

So far they made a pretty good team, but for how long?

The ‘mechs that were in Isaac’s were a mix of an Assault and mixed mediums and lights. Isaac himself piloted a Cyclops, One of the faster ‘mechs for its class, while still being well-armed and armored. Being a 90-ton Assault ‘mech, it has a nice roundabout of speed and firepower. However, it isn’t the most heavily armored ‘mech for its class, and the “eye” that is the cockpit of his ‘mech (hence getting its name) was rather vulnerable looking. Geoffrey piloted a Bushwacker: A solid medium-class ‘mech weighing in at 55-tons, being well-balanced between speed and firepower, but lacking in armor. Ben on the other hand, went for a Hunchback: Pretty well armed and armored, especially with its dreaded Autocannon 20 mounted onto its shoulder could easily blast smaller ‘mechs to oblivion without much of a fight and is a good city fighter, but it was slow compared to most medium mechs, and was limited to short-ranged weaponry, but it’s weighty 50 tons and humanoid-shape and articulate hands made it good for physical and short-range combat. However, Isaac probably thought Ben went for it because of the large gun on its shoulder. Isaac, being the more experienced in the group, knew this from paying attention to his handbook titled Armaments of the ‘Mech: A Guide to the 31st Century of Warfare. Jeanette on the other hand, preferred speed; she piloted a light, 35-ton Jenner. A real fast and furious fighter, it had a lot of punch for its class and, like most of the ‘mechs this weight, was speedy, making it a hard target to take down. However, its lack of heat sinks makes it vulnerable to heat problems and its lack of armor added to its relatively small list of cons.

After signaling his team to move forward from the hill, Jeanette moved ahead of the lance to scout for enemy forces. After skidding quickly to a halt partly behind a tree, she saw the vague shape of an Enforcer. She quickly tapped into her lance’s secure channel and said “Contact: 800 meters, enemy forces on sight.” But as she transmitted her warning, she heard the crack of an Autocannon heading towards a tree right beside her. The depleted-uranium slug hit the tree like a gyrojet slug sending splinters and chunks of wood pelting her giant metal steed on which she commanded. But then she realized that the Enforcer pilot missed her intentionally, the tree was falling upon her! Thinking quickly, she throttled her ‘mech into high gear, steering clear of the falling timber. She quickly regrouped with the main body of her lance. Then, an enemy lance came into view.

“Hostile forces moving in at 800 meters! Look sharp people!”