Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-One: Work
Kentares IV, August 10th, 3033
"Happy Birthday!" The small assembled group cheered as they celebrated David's birthday.
"Don't feel any older, do you?" I asked my son as everyone dispersed to different areas of the Ducal Estate.
"Nope, I still feel like a full grown man sometimes. "David responded with a smile on his face. "But then I look at you old man, and I still feel like a little kid all over again."
"This "Old Man" can still throw you around in either hand to hand or 'mech to 'mech anytime he feels like it." I retorted. "Just name the place. I'll even use one of my old Warhammers… And I'll leave it stock too for good measure."
"You're on!" David replied with confidence in his voice. "In fact, let's make it You and mom versus me and Elsa!" The Steiner blond, hearing her name came over.
"What am I being volunteered for?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You and I are going to take on Mom and Dad in a 'mech battle." David replied with a cocky grin.
"You want me to go against Aunty Nat the Dragonslayer?" Elsa pointed at herself while considering it before finally nodding her acceptance. "Whatever, I'm ready to lose."
"Lose?" David asked, "We're going to win, we're younger, and able to handle more advanced maneuvers than they can."
I just walked forward and bent over by his ear. "Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance." I said quietly into his ear. "Don't get cocky."
I then walked over to where Natasha was sitting in a recliner enjoying a glass of wine. "You heard that?"
"I did indeed." She smiled at me. "It is good to see that he has faith in his own abilities." Her smile turned sickly sweet. "Even if said faith is somewhat misplaced."
"Eh, he'll grow out of it." I shrugged. "Most kids his age think they're invincible, especially after their first successful campaign. We'll break him of it soon enough."
"Yes, I suppose we shall." Natasha replied while swirling her glass of wine."Enough of this, I want something real to drink." Natasha tossed back the wine and had me follow her over to the liqueur storage. "Where did you store the good stuff?"
"Right here." I pulled a hundred year old bottle of whiskey out from the storage container. "I wasn't planning on opening this anytime soon, but I guess we can." I shrugged. "It's not like we can't afford another."
August 15th, 3033
"You ready to take the youngsters out?" I asked Natasha as we made sure that our old 'mechs were powered up and ready to go.
"Aff." Natasha replied as she readied her modified Marauder. "It has been some time since I have used this machine, it will be a fun change of pace."
"Remember that both Elsa and John are using Assault 'mechs, so we're going to be at a disadvantage insofar as firepower goes." I reminded her as I kicked the first Warhammer that I had ever owned into gear.
"I believe that they have a slight range advantage as well." Natasha responded. "Seeing as I am limited to my LB-5X for the ranged punch."
We stopped communicating for a little while as we moved into the "Bowl" as it was called. An artificial crater filled with debris and the skeletons of a couple of buildings that we had moved here. There was enough metal and cover here to make for an excellent training field, and that's what the Marksman Military Academy used it for. Today though, we would be using it as a personal challenge arena.
As soon as we entered the bowl, we moved forward, pushing our heavy 'mechs into cover and getting ready to combat the two assault 'mechs that we would be facing today. David was piloting his Crockett, and Elsa would be piloting the Banshee variant that had been put together for her. They outmassed Natasha and I, and they had more armor than both of us did as well. But that wasn't going to stop us from winning this fight.
Clicking my mic twice, I signaled to Natasha that I was moving forwards. My PPCs at the ready along with my medium lasers. Shifting around a wrecked building, I saw Elsa's Banshee moving directly at me followed closely behind by David's Crockett.
Triggering my PPCs, I tagged the Bansheebefore ducking back behind the building in order to avoid her return fire, backing up, Natasha moved forward to take my place, waiting just in optimum range of all of her weapons systems for the young woman to come around the corner.
"David's jumping." I warned Natasha. "I'll keep him busy while you take care of Elsa's Banshee."
I then moved backwards, making sure that I kept David in my line of sight as I alternated my PPCs, trusting the seventeen double Heat sinks to do their job properly and diffuse my heat. I melted chunks of his armor off before he landed on top of one of the buildings just out of my ability to hit him. The building swayed from the weight of the eighty-five ton 'mech but remained standing.
Natasha had been dodging fire from Elsa this entire time, while there were pockets of melted armor on her Marauder, Elsa's mech was worse for the wear. Natasha had enough sinks that she could continuously fire as soon as her lasers cycled, and remain as cool as she wanted to. So she had shamelessly taken advantage of that fact to start taking apart Elsa's armor piece by piece. At least that's what our battlecomputers were telling us, seeing as they were set to training mode so that our machines didn't need full rebuilds after this fight.
David then poked his Crockett's ER Large Lasers over the roof of his building and began taking various shots at me, missing a good portion of them, but beginning to cause enough armor damage that I needed to refocus on him before he ended up coring my Warhammer.
Triggering my PPCs, I caused him to duck back down before I began to walk my mech backwards to a slightly elevated part of the arena around us. Reaching the highest point should allow me at least a decent vantage point. Getting a good sight picture of David's side torso, I decided to take it. Causing two tons of armor to melt off and for him to stagger slightly as his electronics malfunctioned slightly. Waling my 'mech forward, I sighted in again, and used the automatic zoom feature of my neurohelmet to focus on the area that I had already weakened, and began to bombard it with more long ranged shots. Thus causing a critical failure in the left half of his Crockett, and taking one SRM, an ER Large Laser, and his LB-10X out of the fight.
"Natasha, move!" I commanded, as David fell from the sky, firing his SRMs and Lasers at his mother's Marauder.
Natasha deftly moved out of the way and finished off David's Crockett as it landed, causing his computer to shut his 'mech down signaling that he was out of the fight. But, in doing so Natasha had exposed part of her Marauder, and so she lost a Large Pulse laser and a medium as well before she managed to get out of Elsa's lane of fire.
Seeing that My wife was in trouble, I moved forward at flank speed, using my PPCs to drive Elsa into a lane of fire that favored both Natasha and myself. And, finding herself pinned between the two of us, Elsa powered down and signaled her surrender.
"That was good." Natasha said with cheer in her voice as David brought his Crockettback online. "You would have had me if your father had not warned me." She waved her Marauder's gun arm at the two younger soldiers.
"Indeed." I agreed as I neared the trio. "And, I lied." I grinned as I flagged them with the true identification of my 'mech. "My original "Stock" Warhammer was still a Royal variant."
"You suck." David said with a laugh.
"I did warn you." I said as we began to leave the bowl. "Age and treachery, age and treachery."
September 15th, 3033
"We ready to head out?" I asked Mathis as we began to leave the Ducal Estate. "We've got quite a tour on our hands to conduct after all."
"We're bringing the entire Ducal Guard with us." Mathis stated firmly. "Considering that the three of you and Ms. Steiner is going to be going on this tour. I think we should be prepared for anything."
"Whatever you and Yvonne think is acceptable." I replied. "There's a reason the two of you are in charge of security after all."
"We're heading to the closest worlds first." I told him, "And we'll work our way back towards Steiner space from there."
"I know the itinerary," Mathis sighed. " And I still think that some of the worlds seized from the Combine are too new for us to be conducting a visit like this."
"If not now, then when?" I asked him. "I'm new at this, but I understand that it is necessary for the new ruler to make an appearance, for more than just the PR stunt, but because I need to be seen interacting with the new Davion citizens as they are, not simply as conquered enemies."
"I know." Mathis replied as he sighed heavily again. "And I understand the logic behind your reasoning. I just don't like it from a security standpoint."
"I get it." I patted the bodyguard on the shoulder. "Executive protection details suck, but we've got to suck it up and wave the flag, otherwise we'll fail before we ever get the old Terran Hegemony worlds rebuilt back to the Star Leagues old standards."
"Let's just go ahead and get this over with." Mathis said as he walked towards the vehicles on standby. "This tour of yours is going to take years after all."
Author's note: I can put Elsa's Banshee in the informational if you need it. But I'll only do that if enough people ask for it.