TEXT: BATTLECORPS
  THE DRAGONS  
  OF DESPAIR
  by Kevin Killiany
  Chapter Six
  
  BATTLECORPS
  Dragons of Despair • Page 2
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  BATTLECORPS
  Dragons of Despair • Page 3
  Chevalier Planetary Evaluation Base 
  Despair, Ender’s Cluster 
  Lyran Alliance 
  20 October 3057
  “The Lyran Alliance is about to take its place in history,” Britto 
  said. His voice was pitched to stay at their table, but Lex suspected 
  his body language transmitted his anger to the entire commissary. 
  “And we are stuck on this stinking world herding dinosaurs.”
  “You should try the lasagna, Ali,” Aldicott said to Lex. “It’s truly 
  extraordinary.”
  “I don’t eat meat and dairy together,” she answered, then indicat-
  ed the eggs and potato hash on her plate. “Besides, by my clock, 
  this is breakfast.”
  This was one of the few times since their arrival on Despair that 
  the entire lance was together. With the perimeter sensor array op-
  erational, Britto had divided the lance into rotating twelve-hour 
  watches, staggered so there was always at least two MechWarriors 
  on duty at all times. 
  The perimeter detectors meant those on duty did not have to 
  spend their entire watch in their ‘Mechs. And, with no tonner ac-
  tivity in the last six hours, Britto and Aldicott had come in, giving 
  them a rare opportunity to have a meal as a group. Though not the 
  same meal. Lex was eating breakfast prior to going on duty, Britto 
  dinner at the end of his shift, and Aldicott lunch in the middle of 
  his. Caradine should have been asleep, this being the middle of 
  her downtime, but she had joined them for a midnight snack. 
  “Don’t eat—? Oh, food allergies. Nasty things.” Aldicott took a 
  sip of coffee. “A cabernet would be better, I think, or a pinot noir 
  in a pinch. Kenny Alden, back at Coventry, was allergic to wheat 
  glutens. Might sound easy enough to avoid bread and pasta, but 
  those glutens are used in just about everything. Thickener or bind-
  er or some such. We were on sophomore maneuvers when an 
  MRE put poor Kenny in the MASH truck for the duration.”
  Aldicott paused with a forkfull of lasagna half way to his mouth, 
  seeming to just notice Britto glaring at him.
  “I’m sorry, Willie,” he said, not quite managing to sound sincere. 
  “You were saying something about your place in history?”
  
  BATTLECORPS
  Dragons of Despair • Page 4
  If Britto noticed the pronoun or the tone he gave no sign. He 
  glanced around the room as though expecting eavesdroppers.
  The commissary itself was an airy, high-ceilinged room, twen-
  ty meters on a side and brightly lit with ersatz daylight. Most of 
  the facility was like that. The dust-filled atmosphere of Despair 
  wrapped the planet like a blindfold, blotting out the stars at night 
  and glowing with a uniform silver grey by day. The psychologists 
  had insisted every possible area of the habitat be flooded with 
  cheery brightness to offset the mood numbing dreariness that 
  had given Despair its name.
  “Prince Victor tried to seize control of the Free Worlds League 
  and lost us a half dozen worlds instead,” Britto said. “It’s going to 
  be up to the Lyran Alliance to keep the war contained. Maybe even 
  bring Victor to justice.”
  “Victor to justice?” Caradine blurted. Then she glanced around 
  the commissary and lowered her voice. “What are you talking 
  about?”
  “His concealing Joshua Marik’s death and putting an agent in his 
  stead is a crime against the Free Worlds League,” Lex answered 
  the obvious before remembering her policy of silence. “But we 
  didn’t lose worlds so much as the Archon let the League have back 
  worlds that were truly theirs.”
  “I meant for his heavy-handed tactics starting an unnecessary 
  war,” Britto said. “But, of course, you would come to the defense 
  of the League.”
  “Oh, for God’s sake, Willie, it’s her friggin’ name.”
  Lex was surprised. Aldicott seemed genuinely angry.
  “Atreus, whether you say –oos like our leftenant here or –us like 
  nine tenths of the galaxy, is a damn common Greek name,” he ges-
  tured toward Lex with his fork. “Or do you suspect the League’s 
  SAFE spy masters cleverly named an agent after their capital plan-
  et before sending her to infiltrate the Florida PMM?”
  “Leftenant Atreus is at the Florida because she was sixty-fourth 
  in her class,” Britto said coldly. “She had no choice in her place-
  ment.”
  “Whereas you bought your way in.”
  
  BATTLECORPS
  Dragons of Despair • Page 5
  Britto glared at Aldicott for a frozen second, then snatched his 
  napkin from his lap and flung it in his plate. Without a glance at 
  the others, he rose and stalked from the commissary.
  Caradine was on her feet before he reached the door, her tray in 
  hand. For an instant she hesitated, considering Britto’s tray on the 
  table, then left it. Dumping hers in the disposer by the door, she 
  followed Britto from the room.
  “He’s too easy,” Aldicott observed conversationally, bringing 
  Lex’s eyes back to the table. “He’ll never make it.”
  “What?”
  “By this time next year he plans on being with the Eleventh Arcturan. 
  It is his intent to be a Guard company commander within the decade,” 
  Aldicott shook his head. “But with that hair-trigger temper and fragile 
  ego, he won’t survive a day away from daddy’s care.”
  “Daddy’s care?”
  “Britto,” Aldicott said, then realized she didn’t understand. “As in 
  Viscount Britto, first secretary to the Marquis of Florida and owner 
  of half the planet.” 
  “Oh.”
  “You never made the connection?”
  “Never thought about it.”
  “That I believe.” 
  Setting his coffee mug on the edge of the table, Aldicott piled 
  his tray on top of Britto’s and shoved the two as far from them as 
  the table allowed. 
  “In my game you always have to be aware of who is related to 
  whom and who has power over what. Forget that at the wrong 
  time and you might find yourself...” He let his voice trail off.
  “Stuck in the Florida for life?”
  “Indeed,” Aldicott said, heaving a tragicomic sigh. 
  Lex glanced at the insignia on the sleeve of the jacket Aldicott 
  had thrown on over his cooling vest. With the formation of the 
  Lyran Alliance she bet there would be a change in the gauntlet-
  and-sun; they were probably all out of uniform. 
  
  BATTLECORPS
  Dragons of Despair • Page 6
  What caught her eye though was the black oval. She’d long ago 
  discovered the symbol in the center was the stylized outline of a 
  Zeus standing knee deep in what appeared to be a burning lake. Its 
  arms were spread wide, as though targeting enemies in two direc-
  tions. She didn’t recognize the unit. No one commented on it, but 
  she couldn’t help wondering what Aldicott had done with them to 
  earn exile to the Florida.
  He caught the eye of a steward and raised his empty mug, point-
  ing at Lex’s as well.
  Lex hurriedly gulped the last of her coffee.
  “I’m surprised Leftenant Britto made the effort to research my 
  record,” Lex commented when the server had left.
  “He was looking for a reason to cut you from the mission,” 
  Aldicott said.
  “Because I’m not the right sort.”
  “Essentially.” Aldicott sipped his hot coffee carefully.
  “For what it’s worth,” he added, “My career at Coventry wasn’t 
  exactly stellar.”
  Lex nodded sympathetically, her mouth full of the last of her 
  eggs. These were real. Some enterprising quartermaster had 
  brought live chickens to Despair.
  Across the commissary she saw one of the local engineers, shoul-
  der high to the others in the serving line. She couldn’t remember 
  his name, but he’d spent their first few encounters making passes. 
  She’d finally made it clear he was unwelcome and he’d contented 
  himself with longing looks from a distance ever since. Something 
  about being nearly two meters tall seemed to attract men under 
  one point five.
  And something about being working class tended to attract the 
  nobility.
  Lex reined in. She’d been beginning to feel too comfortable with 
  Aldicott.
  “What is Leftenant Caradine’s story?” she asked, directing the 
  conversation away from themselves.
  “Maggie?” Aldicott shrugged. “Not being—nor wanting to be-
  come—a LeSat or a Hasseldorf, there wasn’t much future for her 
  
  BATTLECORPS
  Dragons of Despair • Page 7
  on Kaumberg. She got accepted at the Nagerling and took her in-
  heritance in the form of a ‘Mech.
  “She attached herself to Britto their senior year and will no doubt 
  have little difficulty following him to the Eleventh,” he smiled thin-
  ly. “Once among the Guard she may reassess her options.”
  Lex shook her head. The nobility were given everything they’d 
  ever need at birth then spent the rest of their lives playing chess 
  games to get more. No wonder they never seemed quite real.
  “I need to prep,” she said, stacking her dishes and reaching for 
  the other dirty trays. “My watch starts in twenty minutes.”
  “You go ahead, I’ll get these,” Aldicott said. “Gives me an excuse 
  to malinger over coffee.”
  Lex would have ignored the comment, but he placed a protec-
  tive arm between her and the trays. Gathering her own debris, she 
  left Aldicott sipping his coffee.
  
  BATTLECORPS
  Dragons of Despair • Page 8
  [Excerpt: “Illegal Drugs and Your Young Teen; A Parents’ Handbook” dis-
  tributed by Lyran Alliance Ministry of Education; October, 3057]
  Mind-MASC has many superficial 
  similarities to QuickStim or phency-
  clidine (see “PCP”) in that it causes 
  hallucinations and periods of appar-
  ent “superhuman” strength. However, 
  chemically the drugs have nothing in 
  common and their long-term effects 
  are quite different.
  Very little is known about Mind-
  MASC. It is believed to be a natural 
  substance of unknown origin and is 
  apparently available only in solid form. 
  A single “hit”—one milligram, usu-
  ally compounded with 100 milligrams 
  of inert material in a capsule—causes 
  a state of euphoria that has been de-
  scribed as “hyper-clarity.”  One user 
  described being “on a first name ba-
  sis with every atom of the universe 
  and they were all happy to see me.”
  Users also experience a heightened 
  sensitivity to sound and light. A small 
  percentage also report other senses 
  being more sensitive as well. The 
  “peak” effect usually begins an hour 
  or so after Mind-MASC is ingested 
  and lasts from fifteen to twenty-five 
  minutes. However, the general sense 
  of relaxation and well-being can lin-
  ger for up to eight hours.
  What makes Mind-MASC par-
  ticularly dangerous is that it is 
  highly addictive and its after-effects 
  decrease as the user becomes more 
  accustomed. While an occasional 
  user may feel one “hit” a day is suffi-
  cient, they soon need double or even 
  triple that amount to recapture the 
  euphoric state.
  At higher doses the sense of eu-
  phoria increases (unlike PHP, which 
  induces paranoia) as does apparent 
  physical ability. 
  It is at this level—three to seven mil-
  ligrams in a twelve hour period—that 
  the “super human” feats associated 
  with Mind-MASC appear. However, 
  because blood is not circulating 
  properly (see below) the user is in an 
  anaerobic state. This is like a runner 
  who completes the hundred meter 
  dash on a single breath. The brief pe-
  riod of strength is followed by up to 
  several hours of lethargy as the body 
  recovers. 
  Injuries sustained during the “super 
  human” state are usually not appar-
  ent until the drug has left the system, 
  four to eight hours later.
  Mind-MASC dilates small blood 
  vessels, which means in pale-com-
  plected users a faint but distinct 
  flushing is apparent. This dilation 
  reduces blood pressure slightly, trig-
  gering a more rapid pulse as the heart 
  tries to restore normal pressure. 
  However, for reasons not understood, 
  the rapid pulse rate continues after 
  proper pressure is reestablished. An 
  overdose can induce life-threatening 
  tachycardia. 
  More importantly, long-term use, 
  even at the one to two milligram a 
  day level, causes neural tissue to 
  swell in a condition similar to spinal 
  meningitis. This swelling can lead to 
  permanent damage to the nervous 
  system and even death. 
  
  BATTLECORPS
  Dragons of Despair • Page 9
  Chevalier Planetary Evaluation Base 
  Despair, Ender’s Cluster 
  Lyran Alliance 
  23 October 3057
  Heavy metal.
  Lex reread the screen twice—generic BattleMech icon, too distant for 
  solid identification, no transponder friend/foe signal. She ran a quick 
  systems check on her sensor array, ruling out a malfunction. Shadows 
  or sensor ghosts were possible in Despair’s ion-charged air, but the fil-
  ter parameters on her TharHes Aries-series targeting computer were 
  set to screen those out—at least she thought they were. This volcanic 
  atmosphere could be capable of tricks she didn’t know.
  Twelve seconds after the first blip, Lex was forced to conclude 
  there was a strange BattleMech at extreme range. She checked 
  her chronometer. Magda Caradine should be on, Aldicott’s shift 
  having just ended. 
  “Atreus to Caradine,” she said over the lance channel. “I’m reading 
  heavy metal, no TFF. Off the patrol grid, bearing north-northeast from 
  checkpoint three-niner at max range. I’m moving to investigate.”
  A sharp double-click told her Caradine had heard and under-
  stood. Whether that meant the Hatchetman pilot was going to 
  converge or wait to hear what Lex found wasn’t clear. Lex consid-
  ered asking, but left it alone. A competent MechWarrior didn’t ask 
  for reassurance she wasn’t alone in the dark.
  The forest floor was folded, rounded ridges separating hollows 
  that sometimes descended into bogs. The forest itself was not 
  constant; some areas were nearly free of undergrowth, while oth-
  ers were thick with vines and shrubs. Occasionally the trees gave 
  way altogether to glens of high grass or twisting mats of creep-
  ers. None of these was a real obstacle for a BattleMech, but Lex 
  probed constantly with her sensors as she marched steadily to-
  ward the mystery ‘Mech. The targeting array was not the best for 
  parsing organics, but it was more than able to probe for hidden 
  pitfalls beneath the ground cover.
  For its part, the other ‘Mech held its position, either unaware of 
  her approach or waiting for her, Lex could not be sure. Nor could 
  she be sure of exactly what ‘Mech she faced. This was the sort of 
  information her targeting system was designed to discover, yet all 
  
  BATTLECORPS
  Dragons of Despair • Page 10
  it could reliably report was the stranger massed fifty-five to sixty-
  five tons. The bogie had to be equipped with either stealth armor 
  or an ECM suite—neither of which could be working very well if 
  she’d spotted it at range.
  She radioed all of this information back to Caradine—mindful of 
  Showalter’s orders that she not handle every situation like she was 
  alone. Caradine responded to each update with the standard double-
  clicks of acknowledgement. One of the few times Lex would have 
  appreciated advice and the leftenant was going with straight SOP.
  As she approached weapons range, Lex slowed her pace. Not 
  stopping, but giving Caradine an opportunity to catch up. Or at 
  least get close enough to show on her scanners. On the heels 
  of that thought came the realization she’d been thinking in terms 
  of her weapons range. If the bogie had extended range weapons, 
  she’d been under its guns for several minutes.
  “No doubt about it,” she said under her breath, “Better go with 
  my looks because brains aren’t my long suit.”
  Lex double-checked to be sure she’d at least remembered to 
  bring her weapons on-line. She dialed the large pulse laser up 
  to the main trigger, then bent the right elbow actuator. Her large 
  laser wasn’t exactly aimed at the bogie, but it was now angled 
  forward—ready to fire from the hip if a snap shot was—
  Weapons lock alarm. The bogie lit up hot as her computer con-
  firmed its fusion generator had just quadrupled its output.
  Lex didn’t wait to see what sort of weapon needed that much 
  power. From the hip it was a nine degree correction to lock. Her 
  finger tripped the trigger before her brain fully registered the 
  good tone. The pulse laser’s deadly double tap of furious energy 
  flash burned its way through the vegetation, carving a meter-wide 
  tunnel that connected her with—
  EM burst.
  Radio squeal drove double ice picks into her brain. Lex shouted 
  her pain and jammed her hands into her neurohelmet, trying to 
  get her fingertips between the headphones and her tortured ears. 
  She could see her sensor displays flare white with overload, then 
  go dark as safety cut-offs shut the systems down—trying to save 
  them from permanent damage.
  The squeal ended. Her wounded ears reported the reassur-
  ing beeps of the Nightsky’s sensors rebooting to clear the burst 
  
  BATTLECORPS
  Dragons of Despair • Page 11
  damage. They’d be online in seconds, but Lex didn’t have those 
  seconds to spare.
  At last reading she was at extreme range for her large gun. If she 
  was going to defend herself, she had to get closer. Without trying 
  to aim, she fired her medium pulse lasers toward the bogie’s last 
  known position, hoping their energy would fog its sensor read-
  ings long enough to cover her initial move. Vectoring slightly left, 
  keeping her main weapon toward the enemy, she rushed forward. 
  The softwoods and shrubs bent beneath the force of her charg-
  ing BattleMech; the vines clung for a moment before snapping. It 
  would have been faster to jump, but that would have made her a 
  clear target hanging in the sky above an enemy under cover.
  Her sensors came up, booting sequentially. Radar first, then 
  magnetic anomaly imaging—both reporting a metal target twenty 
  degrees right and in range of her mediums. She altered course to 
  run at it dead on. A straight attack made her an easier target but 
  simplified her firing solution. 
  If she got the shot off first.
  No weapons lock alarm as she dialed the large and both me-
  dium pulse lasers under her main trigger. Perhaps the bogie was 
  as blind as she.
  Good tone and she fired.
  Vines and foliage charred to ash as the converging beams bore 
  through them toward their target. 
  The full sensor suite came on line as the beams faded, confirm-
  ing the metal read out. 
  But no heavy metal. No armor. 
  Lex slowed, bringing her Nightsky down to a walk.
  And, except for the thermal residue of the laser hits, no energy.
  “—oos!” Britto’s voice shouted in her headset. “Dammit, re-
  spond! Atreus! What the hell are you doing?”
  Lex didn’t answer.
  Stepping through the last fringe of forest into the clearing, she 
  stopped, surveying the wreckage. Her instruments confirmed 
  what her eyes told her. The outpost’s perimeter sensor array was 
  a complete ruin.
  
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