Veni, Vidi, (Re)aedificavi "I Came, I saw, I (Re)built" (A Commissioned Battletech Isekei)

[Uncle_Yuri]

Spy's are the worst, especially in the inner sphere. They kinda sign their own death warrants really easily. Nice update, can't wait to see what happens next.

 

[Ignacio Antonio]

Good for all the effort that Sman has put onto theirs factories, a good anti intruder system makes the more sweet

 

[Centergg]

Skobek really out their weight there are they? Called their ComStar buddies

 

[Baldrick the Wise]

Spy vs. Spy 3K - SAFE chalks a win for a change

 

[Nikoli]

Ahhh, you love to see it. A pity it doesn't happen more often.

Click to shrink...

Pretty sure that was either
1) ROM
2) Wolverines
3) SAFE
4) the actual competent security doing their job in Battletech (guy who suggested this one was thrown out the window for being crazy).

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 46

Surprisingly, Mac didn't wake up blindfolded or restrained. Fortunately, he woke up. Usually, an enemy agent was killed during an infiltration. Mostly because when you were an LIC agent like Mac was, you bit the poison capsul hidden in your teeth to ensure that being taken captive didn't happen.

Unfortunately, Mac used his tongue to probe at his teeth before wincing at the lone spot that was now bare, raw, and seeping tiny amounts of blood from the section where teeth had been violently removed.

Using his fingers, Mac prodded the section where his emergency lockpick and some other tools were located beneath the surface of the skin on his shoulder only to realize that whoever this was, they'd found that as well.

The cell he was in was painted white, and bright white lights shone from an armored glass ceiling. There was an obvious doorway, but not other signs of entry or visibility into the room. Which meant that if Mac were going to try to escape, he was going to have to rely on the human element of his captors. Something that he couldn't work on until he knew exactly who it was that had captured him in the first place.

While Mac sat there in his own thoughts, time seemed to stretch into an eternity and take no time at all. The only sound that existed outside of his own breath and heartbeat was the constant blowing of cold air through the vents that Mac couldn't see.

So. Mac counted his heartbeats, using that and his breath to try and keep a sense of time, to try and figure out how long he was waiting, one, two, three, he blinked and he'd reached two hundred and sixty five.

Eventually, the door slid open, and a pair of men stepped in and moved to grab Mac's arms. The LIC agent didn't fight back. Not yet at least. He needed to gain as much information about this facility as possible to escape.

But, when he tried to gain and attempt to glimpse outside of his cell, a black bag was thrown over his head, and instead of walking him to allow him to get an idea of where they were going, they cuffed his legs and hands together and carried him to the next location.

The bag on his head muffled the sounds that the men made along with blocking out any and all light entry. Which, if Mac were honest, actually felt good compared to the harshness of the white lights of his cell.

Then, he was thrown into what felt like a chair, his arms and legs secured completely, and the bag removed from his head. Blinking rapidly, Mac tried to get his eyes to adjust to the light to see a lone female in the new room with him. The men who had been present before had vanished, leaving him alone with the calm brunette with gray streaks in her hair.

"My name is Doctor Hartford," the woman's eyes didn't show any emotion. "You are going to tell us everything you know. Whether you desire to or not."

Fuck, she was probably one of the people experienced in narcointerrogations. Truth serums didn't really exist, but since the beginning of Humanity's entry into space, various chemical concoctions had been developed and discovered by the various interstellar nations. No two of them were the exact same, but almost all of them had similar results.

Interrogations weren't like what you'd had in the past. After all, torture was unreliable at best, and downright lies at the worst. People would say almost anything to make pain stop. The drug coctails on the other hand. Well, they didn't rely on torture, they instead relied on the basic principles that the human brain worked off of.

Odds were that whoever had captured him had already done a brief profile on him, they'd start with his cover identity, and make sure that everything he said lined up with that, and then they'd slowly move onto the various secrets and his contacts.

Thankfully, the LIC kept things compartmentalized. They wouldn't get everything. But any operations on Kalidasa that were related to the various manufacturers were going to b e compromised.

"You will try to claim that you will not tell me anything," Doctor Hartford was still speaking, and Mac realized he'd screwed up by tuning her out. The enemy often gave information to people they believed were helpless. "But everyone has a point in which they surrender everything that makes them who they are. It is only a matter of time."

She stepped around a table full of syringes and various medical implements, nothing sharp barring the syringes, and the two men who Mac couldn't see were probably still present, just in hiding.

"I would prefer to skip all of the unpleasantness that comes with the implementation of the chemicals," Hartford gave a small smile. "However, if you desire to attempt to withstand what is coming, I will gladly take the opportunity to refine my craft."

"I think we both know how this is going to go down, doc," Mac replied, trying to affect a cocky grin he imagined Snow Fire probably had when she managed to kill a Coordinator. "Let's see just how long it takes to break me, eh?"

"I wish I could claim it is only the male species that partakes in this foolishnes," Hartford sighed, her gray eyes wandering to people who Mac couldn't see with his neck restrained as it was. "But I have encountered just as many women who have acted the same. Oh, well, it matters not. Hold him still, he will need to be unconscious while we administer the IV.

The two men who had vanished stepped back into the light and gripped his shoulders, driving him down to the reclined chair/table, one of them clamped his hand on Mac's neck, immobilizing it as Hartford stabbed a needle into the obvious vein on his neck, a sharp prick and bit of pressure, and Mac knew no more.'

---

I was supposed to be at a tournament with my fiance and business partner watching Duncan and our other two fighting in the heavyweight championships. Sure, they could be coming with me to the local FWL embassy, but I'd waved them on ahead. I wasn't going to mess up my fiance's vacation with my work. Or at least I was trying not to bring a lot of it with me.

So, instead of going to watch the tournament, I was sitting in the waiting room at the embassy. If this got wrapped up soon enough, I could still get there in time to watch the match. Or at least that was my hope.

"Mister Blaze," a suited man with the FWL symbol pinned to the collar greeted me with a firm handshake. "I'm Michael Reece, the SAFE Liaison here at the Embassy, and I was hoping both you and Sylvie Siler would be here for this meeting."

"Sylvie and my Fiance are at the tournament, one of us needed to be there to showcase our faith in the people and 'mechs we're putting into the Solaris games," I replied, releasing the hand and following the man as he gestured me into his office.

"Fair enough," Reece shrugged. "Please, take a seat."

"What is all of this about?" I asked as soon as I sat down.

"Two weeks ago, someone attempted to sabotage a part of your facility," Michael reached into his desk and brought out a folder that was fairly thick. "It ended in a failure due to SAFE having stationed operatives to prevent espionage once you began working on the Liberator under the direction of the Captain-General."

I opened the folder and began looking through it.

"I recognize this guy, we hired him because he came highly recommended and had passed all of the screenings for both us, SAFE, and the other manufacturers on Kalidasa. I think he worked as a sanitation specialist."

"Well, in the two weeks since we took custody of our saboteur and began interrogating him, he's revealed he had a hand in the original failure of the Liberator, as well as a handful of other minor failures of components or manufacturing lines. With his intelligence, we were able to identify, round up, and eliminate at least one cell of the LIC on Kalidasa," MIchale continued.

"Why am I being told this?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Because if one agent was able to get in, then you need to strengthen your security policies. As such, SAFE is going to be more… Overt in our work on ensuring that your facilities are less susceptible to infiltration. We're also assigning both you and Miss Siler some people who will act as your liaisons with us directly. You'll receive them while you're here on Solaris, and then they'll accompany you and Miss Wright on your trip. She should be familiar with the process as she used to have one that accompanied her until she had finished speaking at the trial of her previous employers."

"Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?" I asked, this was concerning, but it wasn't something I could really work on remotely. I'd have to talk to Sylvie, Rebecca, Eddie, and everyone else to make sure that we all ended up on the same page on future steps.

"Not as such, no," Michael shrugged. "That said, there is one thing that you should know. The Captain-General is taking a particular interest in Siler's Salvage and Assembly now that you've revived his failed project. Your company may see what appears to be a windfall in the near-future if what I hear on the grapevine is true. But be careful of what strings come attached to such things…"

"I'll keep that in mind and relay that information to my business partner," my mouth felt really dry all of a sudden and I needed to swallow. "We'll be careful."

"Take care, mister Blaze," Michael stood and shook my hand again. "Be safe out there, the 'verse doesn't take kindly to people that change up the usual order of things… 'Specially when ripples can affect the entirety of the 'sphere."

 

[LordAxel20]

"Not as such, no," Michael shrugged. "That said, there is one thing that you should know. The Captain-General is taking a particular interest in Siler's Salvage and Assembly now that you've revived his failed project. Your company may see what appears to be a windfall in the near-future if what I hear on the grapevine is true. But be careful of what strings come attached to such things…"

Click to shrink...

The attention of the head of the Great House on your burgeoning mech company tends to be a pretty good indicator that he's about to get some massive funding sent his way. Maybe they'll waive some paperwork and expedite some legal processes to let him expand his factory more.

Right now he currently has two SecurityMechs (Medium with Phoenix and Assault with Mackie) and two Battlemechs (Light with Mercury, and Medium with Liberator) factory lines up and running, which for a company that was founded less than a decade ago, that's a pretty solid lineup. Right now I think he should pivot back to his two SecurityMech Lines and upgrade them into functional Battlemechs, or look into getting a License for a Battlemech that'll fulfill a role that none of the current mechs can fulfill.

Considering the Federated Commonwealth is going to be a thing really soon, if he could snag a blueprint from them before they start declaring war on the Kapetyn Accord Allies (lol, allies, lmao) that'd be for the best. Like a Dervish (Medium - Missile Boat) from the FedSuns or the Chameleon which is an excellent training mech (Main clients would probably by various military academies)

 

[abominable]

It ended in a failure

Click to shrink...

The 'a' is unnecessary.

'It ended in failure' is enough.

So the head honcho finds out his pet project wasnt a failure due to incompetence but due to sabotage. Unveiling this discovery alongside a working Liberator design is guaranteed to undo most, if not all, the damage the initial failure caused.

And if the company does succeed and deliver a quality product, they can expect a fully booked decade of orders for Liberator mechs for several premier League units.

 

[Radek]

Happy days for the FWL, rather less so for the LC. Such is the Game of Thrones.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 47

While Edmund, Sylvie, and Eddie were on Solaris, preparing to unveil the revamped Liberator and having discussions with the local SAFE Agent in Charge. Billy was dealing directly with the problems at the factory.

"Look, we're already locked down with no one able to leave the facilities unless you've already checked them for everything," Billy glared at the Agent in Charge that had taken over the entire production plant. "The least you can do is allow us to keep working on the lines so that we don't fall behind on production quotas. We have contracts that if we don't fulfil, that we're going to lose a lot of money on. Among them is the FWLM."

"Rule are rules, William Moore," the SAFE Agent replied stoically. We caught the beginnings of espionage, and we have to conduct a full investigation now that the immediate threat has passed. So, no one leaves, goes back to work, or does anything without our permission until we're satisfied that no one else is going to attempt to conduct more sabotage."

"Bullshit," Billy pulled a cigarette from his front pocket and lit it with a sharp flick of his wrist to open up his lighter. "Our employee was verified by your teams three fucking times. Not once did you give us any information that might tell us he was a potential enemy or a threat. I also know, Agent Andrew Rich, that the one time an enemy agent was caught at Quikscell and then at Kali Yama, that you didn't do the same things to them. So, here's what's going to happen. You're going to let us go about our business as usual. I'm going to burn C-Bills calling Edmund and Sylvie, in order to see what exactly they want us to do to increase security, and some of your people will be here to make sure it's all within your perfect little world where things go perfectly. But what's not going to happen is me allowing you to step on us because we don't have as much money as Kali Yama or similar. I don't care how big of a check the big boys are paying you, I'll fight you on this and I'll win."

"You seem awfully self-assured about that," Agent Rich raised an eyebrow. "What makes you so confident in winning this 'fight' as it were?"
"The fact that I've been in this business longer'n you've been alive," Billy blew cigarette smoke in the agent's face. "There's an awful lotta attention on us right now. A lot of investments, too. If we were still just selling to bumfuck nowhere militia groups, you'd probably have gotten away with this kinda bullshit. But we're not, We've got federal attention now. So, you can take your Kali Yama paycheck, or whoever's trying to bribe you into doing this and fuck off, and you can come back later if you need something. Now, get out of my factory before I have security escort you off the premises."

"We'll be reviewing your hiring process later," Rich attempted to save face.

"You mean the hiring process and people that SAFE approved?" Billy chuckled. "Yeah, good luck with that. We're modifying our time clock system to prevent someone from trying to bypass it like that guy did. And we'll fund more direct internal security. Now, get out of here."

The agent collected his briefcase and straightened his suit before leaving, a glare tossed over his shoulder at the man on his way out.

"Should you have been that antagonistic to him?" Susannah asked, stepping forward with documents from where she'd been hiding in another office. "That could come back to bite us in the ass."

"It'll be on me if it does," Billy lit another cigarette. "Rich isn't the chief agent here, he probably forced his way onto this detail. When I worked for Kali Yama, and then for Quikscell, I interacted with him. Rich is buddy buddy with some of the Kali Yama execs. Now, I doubt they're in on this, but our Agent here was hoping that by forcing us to sacrifice money that they'd toss a little extra cash his way. If he'd been paying attention like he's supposed to, then he'd know that if we succeed here, Kali Yama stands to rake in money hand over fist. After all, we took the initial risk in taking on the project in exchange for some of the tooling and not having to pay licensing fees. But they get to reap the full benefits of their failed project now working properly. So, we'll be fine, and the next time we see SAFE, it'll probably be someone specifically assigned to help us prevent other espionage attacks like this one."

Billy put out his cancer stick into the ash tray of the conference room before holding his hand out. "I assume that's the new protocol for clocking in and out?"

"Yessir," Sussannah nodded.

"Let's go through it along with Hammer and his XO. Better to have extra eyes and make sure that no one can do this kinda thing again than to get caught with our pants down."

---

"So, these aren't hand-built prototypes?" Sylvie walked around the base of the newly rebuilt Liberators that we'd brought for the new debut here on Solaris.

"No, they aren't," I replied. "We didn't want to have the same issues that Kali Yama had when they moved from prototypes to factory built. Now, they are hand assembled, but all of the parts were built by the factory lines before we moved them back into storage pending the complexes for the Mercury and Liberator finishing their construction."

"How many did we rush through?" Sylvie asked.

"We've got the two here, and spare parts to rebuild both of them," I shrugged. "Given we're supposed to have the production facilities set up in the next eighteen months, I figured it was enough to get you through for demonstration purposes. You also have the design specs and can manufacture more parts, or swap things out if need be."

"How many M-Blazers did you bring?" Eddy stepped from around the backside of the medium 'mech. "I imagine we'll have to replace and repair that more than we will have to repair other things. I can find and replace the missile launchers whenever I need to, it's the blazer that would be near-impossible to replace. Or at leas to the spec of what we make back on Kalidasa."

"The manifest we brought contains everything we brought with us," I explained. "If you need it, the Container we brought with us probably has a spare. We brought replacement engines, cockpits, etc. We don't want the first debut of the Liberator since the failed showcase to be a disaster. We're trying to build a reputation for quality here, we can't do that if they look like they're cobbled together from spare parts that we found in the junkyard."

"Fair enough," Sylvie agreed.

"I'm not going to pretend to know how to bring it into the spotlight," I moved closer and leaned against the leg of the 40-ton war machine. "You, Eddie, and Duncan have all spent enough time here on Solaris that I expect you to have your finger on the pules of what's going on. If we need to wait for another season, then we'll wait. Regardless, the ball's in your court now."

"We'll probably have to hire another Mechwarrior for the stable," Eddie grunted. "Our current trio is used to driving heavy 'mechs, and the skillset between the custom rides they've been using and something standardized like this won't necessarily translate very well. We'll track down someone who'll do the ride justice, and have them put it through its paces in an exhibition match."

"There won't be a match like that for another three months," Sylvie sighed. "Sorry, Edmund, you won't be here to see it."

"That's fine," I waved her off. "Rebecca and I are going to have to head on to Atreus to see what we can make of the political scene. That, and she managed to get us a really nice beachhouse booked."

"Celebrating the honeymoon before the wedding?" Jasmine walked into the garage from the open doors. "How scandalous."

"Well, we went ahead and had a judge sign off on the marriage," I shrugged. "I'm not much for the religion stuff, but Rebecca and her family insisted on it before this trip. So, we'll have a ceremony when we get back and that'll be the end of it."

"Speaking of Rebecca," Sylvie's face held a look of confusion. "Where is she?"
"She's meeting with a small-arms manufacturer here to secure some sort of prototype samples. Apparently what we'd settled on for FireFlight was only the beginning."

"How is that going?" Sylvie continued the conversation.

"Well, we've got the contracts secured that gave us the initial influx of cashflow beyond what Rebecca and I invested into this, and we've prototyped and tested the self-contained armories and weapons lockers. Our sales rep reported that a lot of the worlds bordering the periphery seemed interested in the systems. They won't be buying them until we've entered full production, but once we do…" I trailed off. "Well, Rebecca's confident that we're going to be more than flush enough to expand to every border of the FWL."
"The hope is that we make as many population centers as possible harder for pirates to hit," I continued. "We figured out exactly where we can make a profit while also selling them as cheaply as possible for planets with smaller economies to be able to afford them. Hopefully, thate's enough to help most of them out."

---

Date: September 15, 3030
Location: Dalian, Free Worlds League, Duchy of Andurien

"Lady Zou, I am pleased that you and your world were willing to bear the brunt of this experiment on your shoulders," Catherine Humphreys glanced at the planetary ruler. "If this is successful, then I will begin funneling further funds to your world to ensure that our borders are entirely secured."

"Duchess," Zou was young, but her face might as well have been carved from stone for all the emotion she showed at this point. "You are aware as well as I that these new 'hybrid' militiamechs have shown themselves quite capable in combat. Otherwise Andurien would not have purchased so many of them that we are left on backorder."

"That is not what I speak of," Catherine frowned. "Siler's Salvage has a proven track record so far. Your factories and the shift you have made, have not. There is much that needs to be confirmed before we are certain that yours are as capable."

"The Hector might not be the best 'mech to have brought into the modern era," Lady Zou admitted. "However, it will be a threat in being to anyone who attempts to raid our worlds. You can be certain of that."

"Your trials indicate so," Humpreys looked at the squat hybridmech. "But I have further tests I wish them to undergo," the Duchess's frown turned into a wicked smirk. "If you desire the Ducy's favor and funding in this endeavor, then they will be tested by my forces, and I will give you the reports on their use and the actions thereof."

"I cannot do that if you withhold funding," Zou replied. "My family has spent vast sums of our fortune investing into this, I will not bankrupt them for your favor, Duchess. You look to the Duchy, I look to my world."

"I will pay for the cost of manufacture, and will give you your asking price on top of that if they perform as you predict, if they do not, then you will only have to find another purchaser."

"I have two lances available for testing," Lady Zou's icy stare continued. "That is all that I can spare, and I cannot promise spare parts for whatever it is that you are planning."

"Two lances will be enough," Humphreys agreed. "I will accept delivery to my dropship before I depart, Lady Zou. The Duchy of Andurien thanks you for your service…"

 

[Radek]

Business look to be going nicely, which of course attracts its own trouble.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Hector HOR-1D
Mass: 70 tons
Chassis: Standard Biped
Power Plant: 280 Fusion
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Jump Booster: 0 meters
Armor: Standard
Armament:
2 Small Laser
2 SRM 4
2 Large Laser
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 3030
Tech Rating/Availability: D/X-E-D-D
Cost: 5,739,823 C-bills
Type: Hector
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Experimental)
Tonnage: 70
Battle Value: 1,237

Equipment		Mass
Internal Structure	​	12​
Engine	280 Fusion​	16​
Walking MP:	4​
Running MP:	6​
Jumping MP:	0​
Heat Sink:	17​	7​
Gyro:		3​
Cockpit:		3​
Armor Factor:	192	12​

	Internal Structure	Armor Value
Head	3​	9​
Center Torso	22​	30​
Center Torso (rear)		9​
R/L Torso	15​	21​
R/L Torso (rear)		6​
R/L Arm	11​	19​
R/L Leg	15​	26​

Weapons and Ammo​	Location	Critical	Tonnage
Small Laser	LL​	1​	0.5​
2 Heat Sink	CT​	2​	2​
2 Heat Sink	RT​	2​	2​
SRM 4	RT​	1​	2​
SRM 4 Ammo (25)	RT​	1​	1​
Large Laser	LA​	2​	5​
2 Heat Sink	LT​	2​	2​
SRM 4	LT​	1​	2​
SRM 4 Ammo (25)	LT​	1​	1​
Small Laser	RL​	1​	0.5​
Large Laser	RA​	2​	5​

 

[LordAxel20]

Oh, the Duchess is going to take those Hectors with her in her invasion of the Capellan Confederation border huh. Poor Zou, her Hybridmech is about to either get an immediate great or horrible reputation on its first campaign with the amount of combat it'll face

 

[Nikoli]

Why do I get the distinct impression Humphrey is going to something more stupid than usual?

 

[NajZero]

Ah, the leg mounted small lasers. I miss mechwarrior 2 where I could spam those. Overall an ok mech, which works for militiamech, my only purely personal critique is the ammo in both side torso's, but that is more my fear from the shadowhawk's perpetual explosion layout.
It does lack jump jets, which is good for militia as it is easier to pilot, but loses that versatility.
Speed is ok. Enough to keep up with battle line, but not pull repositions.
It's main weakness seems to be it's lack of truly long range weaponry.
Main competitor is the Warhammer with it's ppc's, but that is a little over a million more c-bills, and this mech has more close in punch ability (more srm's plus no min range on large lasers). And it can alpha strike something without shutting down, though you will be slow next turn, with one toasty pilot.