WP3025 Chpt 30

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==Chapter 30 - Winged Praxis (Battletech 3015 CYOA)==
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===Taking Good Advice or Else===
Landynski Compound
City of Crimson, Continent of Salonika
Canopus IV, Magistracy of Canopus
4th May, 3015
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It really shouldn't have surprised me how soft the sheets I awoke on were, but it did. I was used to thinking of guest rooms as having lower quality furnishings.
 
The Landynskis, for all that they were a Girin House, didn't go in for that. The room Vixen and I had been shown to had a bed I was pretty sure was larger than the foot print of an Atlas, which was hilarious overkill for the two of us. Even if they had put Terri in the same room as us, it would have been too big. It seemed that even guests were expected to be able to engage in Canopus's many pleasures.
 
Well, even if it was missing the presence of my lover, it was a sinfully comfortable bed. I had thought I knew what luxury was, sleeping in high-end hotels, and sleeping on first-class Dropship beds. They didn't even compare. House Landynski, for all that they catered to pleasure for their customers on Bankhead Lines, kept the best of the best for their selves and their guests.
 
I probably would have slept better if I wasn't worried about what shenanigans would be visited upon us next. I was pretty sure that we weren't about to have assassins jump us, not after Sahar declaring us guests, at least.
 
Still, Diane and I had kept our weapon belts within easy reach.
 
"How did a good Jewish son from Cerillos ever end up here?" I muttered.
 
"The way I heard T-bone tell it, you slugged a noble brat in the jaw." mumbled Diane from the pillow next to me, red hair spread in a chaotic fan about her.
 
"Broke my damn finger doing it, too." I mused.
 
"Bet he…ahhhh…deserved it." she said with a stretch.
 
"I sure as hell thought so." I scratched at my beard. "But that didn't get me here. That just let me out of my FWLM commission."
 
Diane cracked an eye and looked over at me. "Don't think about it too hard. All life is a bunch of improbable coincidences strung together one after another. We just make it through the best way we know how. Who knows what would've happened if I'd never talked to you on Aitutaki Station? There's no percentage in thinking too much about what-could-have-beens."
 
You would have expanded Crossbones to a double squadron of Cheetahs and Sabres and become a famous mercenary, I thought. I wonder what would have happened to Gideon without me. Would he have made it to the Marik Guards? Would he have been shot down, dying in obscurity over some random world in some random battle?
 
Diane smacked my chest. "Uh uh. You are not listening to your wife's good advice. You're thinking too much. I'm going to call T-bone, and we're going to put a stop to this." She groped for her comm unit.
 
"Sorry dear," I said with a chastised smile.
 
"Nope," she said, typing on the keys of her comm. "You're not getting out of this. You're just going to start with that thinking thing again and get all frowny. Ah!" She tossed the comm to the side. "Message sent. Now, I've got something much more important for you to do than brood." She flashed a vulpine smile at me.
 
I shook my head and smiled. "Happy wife, happy life."
 
"And don't you forget it. Now quit the G-strain and let that blood flow lower. T-bone's going to be here soon, and you'd better be ready."
 
The three of us were very late for breakfast.
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===Organizing the New Arrivals===
Adelman Prospecting
Salonika (Continent), Canopus IV
Magistracy of Canopus
5th May, 3015
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"How have they been treating you, Cliffhanger?" I asked as we closed the door to her new office behind us.
 
"Well enough, Colonel." She gestured to the office about us. "I'm not sure they know quite what to make of us, but they are cooperating. I suppose it helps that you do own forty percent of the company."
 
"What's left of it, anyway," I said. "That ploy to incentivize retirement really gutted the company. I saw more empty desks than full ones out there."
 
"It's convenient for us," she said. "But you're right. It's odd that they would do so much damage to a profitable business for their house."
 
"Probably a power play against me," I said, sitting down in a guest chair, leaving Cliffhanger's desk chair to her. "I just don't know why Joseph and Esther would go along with it. This is the core of their inheritance."
 
"You weren't able to get a better read on them?" asked Kumari as she powered up the deskscreen.
 
I shook my head. "No. They're definitely Jewish, and seem friendly enough, but I haven't been able to get close to them much. They don't like Terri much at all."
 
"I heard she made a declaration that House Tomlinson was allied to you?"
 
"After Sahar had extended protection and hospitality to me, yes," I confirmed. "It drew heat from me, I think."
 
"It also established a foothold for her and her house," said Kumari. "They can't move too openly against her without moving against you."
 
"I think that might be enticement for some of them," I joked.
 
"Probably," she replied, dead serious. "We're still in very vulnerable ground, sir."
 
I nodded, expression sobering. "We are. How many experienced prospectors are left on the payroll here?"
 
She frowned. "Enough, I think." She brought up personnel files on the desk and turned an angled mirror arrangement to me so that I could see as well. "But we don't have room to exclude questionable prospectors from what we have. If we might have to do decon on the cache, we'll need all we have access to."
 
"And there's no time to hire new professionals," I said, rubbing my chin. "We could ask for crew from the Barzanis, but we've got more than enough of their people already on the Hida as it is."
 
"I don't see a way to exclude their people from the recovery op, no sir. It's likely that many of the remaining prospectors might have sympathies to the various players in House Landynski."
 
I grunted. "I still don't see why my half-siblings aren't more annoyed about the situation. Sure, they're a couple of rich young dilettantes, but that's the sort of person who gets angry when you mess with their money."
 
"It may be that they simply feel secure in what they have, and don't want to get involved. This is the homeland of the New Hedonists." pointed out Kumari.
 
I shook my head. "Doesn't ring true to me, Captain. They're Hedonists, no doubt, but I just don't believe they'd just take this lying down."
 
"I'm afraid I'm not your expert on this, sir," she said with a shrug.
 
"Fair enough." I nodded to the desk. "How's the training command shaping up?"
 
"We've been lucky. Adelman had ten APCs that we're using as training vehicles for the armor branch. The split is pretty even for hover, wheeled, and tracked. We're getting a steady trickle of armor crew candidates from the people who served in the local militia. Lieutenant Datta also sourced a pair of reasonably intact LTV-4s that she wants to pick up for the company."
 
I raised an eyebrow. "That's a solid old chunk of machinery. Sure. What about aero?"
 
Her face twisted in disgust. "The prices for fighters here are incredibly inflated. We can get conair (Conventional Fighter) at reasonable prices, but aerospace is likely to be a case of catch as catch can."
 
I swore under my breath. "What sort of conair are we talking about?"
 
"I have lines on Inseki IIs, Cranes, Defenders, and Angels."
 
"Do you think it's worth using them as trainers?"
 
"The Inseki IIs and Angels are at least fusion-powered. It's something."
 
I sighed. "Well, if nothing else we can use them for DACT and local defense. Get what you think is reasonable of the fusion birds. What about pilots?"
 
"That's going more slowly. It seems like our offer is viewed as too good to be true. But Candy is getting the word out to the local pilot watering holes. I think we'll be fine."
 
I nodded. "Good to hear. The Contessa is interested in learning how to fly. She'll be making a visit out here for neurohelmet testing, eventually."
 
Kumari bit her lip, then nodded. "She's probably too young to really learn the ropes, but it would be good advertising for us."
 
"Yeah," I said. "Keep her safe, though. I can only imagine just how far sideways things would go if she ended up injured or worse."
 
"Ground school can last for a long time," said my old instructor. "Perhaps until we can source a simulator, for example."
 
"That seems like a prudent curriculum," I said with a grin. "What about infantry school?"
 
"Lieutenant Saidu has been very busy, keeping your people and some locals occupied. Luckily, he's been able to find a couple of other former officers and NCOs, so he's not completely swamped. But he has the best chance to be the first to field a meaningful unit of soldiers."
 
I tapped my finger on my knee. "How badly do you think it would disrupt training here if I decided to have Jai and some of his most promising candidates come for some zero-g training?"
 
"Quite badly," said Kumari. "We might have other leader candidates, but they aren't necessarily teacher material. Saidu's good at it, honestly. What are you thinking?"
 
"I'm thinking," I said, "I want to stuff that JumpShip and our droppers with loyal marines to discourage any funny business from our rivals in the house. And if that means stuffing them with Southwestern marine trainees…well, exuberance counts."
 
Kumari's eye went wide. "I see. Well, that could certainly work. Shall I pass that on to Saidu?"
 
"Please." I pursed my lips. "What about mechs? Did we get lucky?"
 
"We did. A couple of Southwesterners with a Stinger and a Wasp showed up, and apparently, there's at least one medium driver on planet who's not dispossessed. They haven't shown up yet though." She paused. "We also have a Mechwarrior with a heavy who is interested."
 
I smiled. "That's fantastic news! Get them in here, and let's see about getting them onboard. Where are they from?"
 
"They're from the League," said Kumari, in a tone that seemed completely out of keeping with the news she was giving me. "Duster…you're not going to like them."
 
"Why not?" I asked with a scoff. "It's not Liszt, is it?"
 
"No," said Kumari. "His name is Daniel Zelko. He's late of the Eighteenth."
 
My face fell. "A Rose?"
 
"He drives a Rifleman."
 
I swore.
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===Meeting man from the other side===
City of Crimson
Salonika (Continent), Canopus IV
Magistracy of Canopus
3rd May, 3015
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I put off the interview as long as I could, bringing Willard Payson and Isabella Martina Luciana Martinez on board with CMC along with their bugmechs. Talking with a pair of Cerillos natives after so long was an incredible balm to the soul. 
 
Willard might have been one of the least Cowboy Cowboys I had ever met, to the point where I might have suspected him of being from Puerto Cortes, had I not known that the Payson ranch was up on the other side of the Alamagordo Highlands from Kibbutz Machseh, but he was Southwesterner through and through. I hadn't really grokked just how much I missed my homeworld's people, but talking with Payson was like unclenching something inside.
 
If Willard was a refutation of his stereotype, Isabella was purely playing to type of a good haciendera. Elegant, beautiful, and a dedicated horse girl, Isabella knew exactly how to run a ranch, birth a calf, and ride a stallion down a canyon path at full gallop. And like so many hacienderas, she felt the call of 'boys stuff', and had gotten her hands on a family Stinger to follow the life she really wanted. She had been serving with a gringo unit, but jumped ship as soon as she heard a proper Southwestern unit was hiring. It was lovely to hold an entire conversation in Spanish, something my old self never would have been able to do before waking up in Gideon's skin.
 
But at the end of the day, there was no putting it off. Taking a deep breath, I forced my hand away from my pistol. "Come in."
 
Zelko stepped through the office door. A big man with a chiseled jawline, he wore his reddish hair cut short on top, and shaved away from the sides of his head. A scar cut across his upper lip, and I could see another couple of small burn scars just below his cheekbone. He wore FWLM BDUs, either surplus or ones he had taken when he left the Eighteenth. "Colonel," he said, standing at attention in front of my desk.
 
I was momentarily struck by how this man, who couldn't have been less than thirty, was showing me deference like this. Me, who in my old life, couldn't even drink legally. That was the military for you. And money. "I see you're new to the mercenary business," I said.
 
"Yes, sir," he said. "I was Marik Militia for most of my career."
 
I looked at the file. It seemed safer for the moment. He was coming looking for a job. And he had a valuable heavy mech. I really couldn't afford to chase him away by staring daggers at him. "Lately of the Eighteenth, it says here."
 
"And the Sixth before that, yes, Sir."
 
"Why'd you leave?" I asked.
 
"Honestly, sir, it was the Battle of New Olympia."
 
My eyes snapped up from the file to where he stood, staring straight ahead at the wall behind my desk. "Why don't you explain that? Your file says you left the Rose after Druisbacken."
 
"Druisbacken was a walkover, Sir. It was good for morale, but we had been mauled at New Olympia, and it was getting real clear that Anton was the losing side." He paused. "Or at least it seemed that way. Anyway, with Janos promising to take everything from Anton's forces once he won, it seemed like the right call to get out of there. And I was tired, sir."
 
"Tired." I said flatly.
 
"Tired," he repeated. "Pardon me for saying, Sir, but I still think Janos is a tyrant, and he needs to go. But I wasn't fighting Janos. I was fighting cadets on New Olympia. I'm proud of my performance there. I don't think we would have taken the airfield if I hadn't coordinated the air defense. But that fight was dirty from the start."
 
"You realize," I said slowly, "that I flew in the Battle of New Olympia."
 
"I do, yes, sir," he said. "As I recall from the videos of your airshow over Fanardir, you flew a Sabre there. You might have been the pilot that cracked my cockpit and gave me these burns."
 
"Carajo," I swore. "High altitude rocket attack?"
"Yes, sir."
 
I looked at him for a long moment, then shook my head. It was my nemesis in the flesh. Perhaps the man most responsible for the collapse of our defense, for being chased by that damn Vulcan. A month ago I would have shot him cheerfully. Part of me still called out to do so. "That was my work," I admitted. "At ease, and take a seat."
 
Zelko did. "Thank you, sir." 
 
"So why do you want to join up with CMC, given you and I personally tried to kill each other in the past?"
 
"Well," he said, the hint of a grin creeping onto his face. "I know you're good and you know I'm good. I figure that's worth something."
 
"It's not nothing," I said, and crossed my arms. "Why are you here in the Magistracy? Why not Liao space? Or Steiner?"
 
His face twisted at the name Steiner. "I still care about the League sir. The Lyrans can burn, as far as I'm concerned. And it's not like there isn't risk for me going to Capellan space. I did desert from Anton's forces. Besides, everyone knows the Magistracy is where you go if you screwed up and need a second start on life."
 
I raised an eyebrow. I didn't think that was a crack, but he had hit a bit close to home there. "How'd you get transferred from the Sixth to the Eighteenth? That's quite a loss in prestige."
 
"Colonel Ames didn't like me," he said. "The feeling was mutual. The Sixth is a fine unit, but I wasn't a good fit. Not under his command."
 
"You killed some of my friends," I pointed out. "I doubt I'll ever like you."
 
"That's war," he said simply. "I'd bet you did some of the same to me. But you have a reason, sir. He had it in for me for personal reasons." When I didn't say anything, just stared, he sighed. "He was courting a lady I had a previous dalliance with. He took every opportunity to make my life miserable. By the end of it, I was happy to go to the Rose." He spread his hands. "I know you'll probably never like me. But I'm taking the chance that you'll at least be fair."
 
"That's quite the risk," I said. "You could almost certainly find employment with other mercenary companies."
 
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," he said. "And any merc company worth a damn is going to be heading up across the border, which could be hazardous to my health in the short term. Anyone who's remaining local isn't worth looking at, or is in the Centrellas' pockets, and isn't going to be hiring Leaguers sight unseen. Meanwhile, you're starting up. I can get in on the ground floor, and I know a pilot like you appreciates just how important air defense is."
"And I know how good you are at it," I said. "It tracks. What are you bringing to the table?"
 
"Me and Briarpatch," he said. "I can keep her in functional shape, but I don't have a full tech team, sorry and she's in…odd shape."
 
"What do you mean by that?"
 
"Well, I lost her right arm in some of the final fighting on New Olympia," he said. "Damn Pixie carved a hole in it with his big beam and filled the inside with MG fire. Shoulder joint popped. I ended up replacing it with one of those Steiner Stingrays' nose and a laser off a wrecked Stinger. Shifted the torso beams over to balance it out too. Filled the extra tonnage with more ammo, armor, and another heatsink."
I blinked, picturing what he was describing. "I've heard of expedient repairs, but I can't say I ever heard of using a wrecked ASF to repair a mech before. So, one eight centimeter, three five-centimeters, one Imperator-A, and one of the variable rates the Steiner birds carry?"
 
"And four times the ammo, yes, sir."
 
"The D2j still functioning?"
 
"It's a little confused by trying to coordinate the Imperator and the VRAC on a single target, but it tracks just fine."
 
"Right," I said. "I'm hiring you on a provisional basis. Talk to Captain Kumari. I want you teaching our armor crews how to function as part of an air defense network, and our flyers drilling to know how to bust through the same." 
 
"Can do." he said.
 
I gave him a level stare. "And I don't mean get them passable," I said. "Turn them into your own nightmare. Teach them to beat you."
 
He nodded. "Yes, sir."
 
"Alright, Warrant Officer. Get out of my sight."
 
He did, and I blew out a breath. That had gone better than I'd feared, but Lord did I want a drink.
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===Discussion of Business and Half-Siblings===
Mindstar Entertainment District
City of Crimson, Salonika (Continent)
Canopus IV, Magistracy of Canopus
5th May, 3015
 
"I can't believe you hired him," said Terri as we waited for Marc to show up in a rather sedate bar by Canopian standards. Apparently the Dropship captain had decided to ease us into the local culture. The burlesque performance was positively tame. The décor, less so.
 
"Well, what was I supposed to do?" I asked. "Leave him on the merc market for another unit to snap up? That'd be a fun experience to be on the other side of one of his IADNs again. Besides, he was saying the right things at least, and a heavy mech is a heavy mech, even one as goofy looking as his."
 
Terri shuddered. "It looks like he's showing off a fighter corpse as a trophy. Honestly, I wish you just shot him."
 
"A murder investigation is something I don't need right now. Or ever, really. Can you imagine how the vultures would jump on that?"
 
"I know," she said. "I'm just irritable. You'd think that a bunch of Canopians wouldn't be precious about putting your lover in the same room as you."
 
"A bit hypocritical, yeah," I chuckled. "But you did tweak their noses by bringing up your house."
 
She rolled her eyes. "Forgive me for being honest."
 
"Nothing to forgive," I said. "But speaking of, help me figure out something?"
 
"Sure, what?"
 
"Why the hell did my half-sibilings let Adelman Prospecting get gutted like it is?" I asked, exasperatedly. "That's their damn inheritance too!"
 
Terri considered it for a moment. "Well, they're both plenty comfortable. You might have gotten more c-bills than both of them combined, but they don't have to work a day for the rest of their lives to live in luxury."
 
"So, they're both lazy?" I shook my head. "Doesn't track to me."
 
"It's possible," she said. "And as much as I'd love to believe it, no, I don't think that's it. That's a better case scenario."
 
"How is that better case?" I asked. 
 
"Well, they wouldn't be political actors in that case. We could pretty much ignore them." Terri shook her head. "Worst case, they're working with the entirety of House Landynski, or maybe all the players other than Sahar to cut you out. Bleed your resources, make you indebted to them, that sort of thing."
 
"In which case, they're enemies," I said with a sinking feeling. "How likely do you think it is?"
 
"Again, possible, but I don't think it's happening. Sahar is too open and too young for me to think she's running a game with her entire house against us, and I think Phillipa is on the level that the Barzanis are divided against each other." She shrugged. "I'm just basing that off what I saw of the reactions in the compound. I could be wrong."
 
"You're more likely to be right than me," I said. "What do you think is happening?"
 
"I think they're opportunists," she said.
 
"What do you mean?" I asked.
 
"Well," she said. "Remember how Rezan and Birwa stacked the Hida crew with people loyal to them?"
 
"And Rebin did a favor for the new captain, yeah," I said. "So?"
 
"I think that they were trying to turn Adleman Prospecting into a organization loyal to them, rather than your father's wishes. So if they could bribe someone into giving up jump coordinates to the cache, they might be able to retrieve it before you could get out here."
 
"That fast?" I asked.
 
"Gid," she said, "we still had a year at LMS, and then FWLM deployment. When were you going to be able to get out here?"
 
The feather dropped. "And they did this in a matter of months. In the time it took Phillipa to get out to me, then to get back. Okay, that tracks. So, they were planning to snatch the cache."
 
"The Barzani siblings, definitely," said Terri with a nod. "And I think they're each trying, or were trying, to get as much of it as possible for themselves. I think Esther and Joeseph figured that they didn't want to get into it with the Barzanis, and allowed their inheritance to be a battleground, in return for a cut of the cache's value from whoever won, and favors from all three for the damage they did to what was theirs. Win-win."
"And probably more valuable than an intact Adelman Prospecting, especially with me having the largest chunk," I said.
 
"Yeah. But with you showing up early, they can play nice with you for favors, and they figure you're likely to rebuild the company, which helps out them. If it's integrated into CMC, they get buy-in there. Or if you malf up entirely, they can back whichever of the Barzanis come out on top in the struggle over the wreckage, and they get a chunk of the value again."
 
I gave her a bleak look. "You make it sound like they're the ultimate winners, no matter what."
 
"Well, they profit, pretty much any way things go. They don't come out with authority, but if they don't care about that, and just want to line their pockets, they're in a really good position, yeah."
 
"Puta madre," I swore. "I really hate this noble shit."
 
"It's not nice," admitted Terri. "And I could be wrong."
 
"No," I said. "It makes sense. I just don't like thinking that they're willing to throw me under the blower like that." I tossed off the whiskey I had been nursing and signaled to the bartender for a refill.
 
She swam over to refill the glass with a flirty display of her flukes. "Anything I can get for you, Ma'am?" she asked Terri with an enticing, sharp-toothed grin. 
 
"Another G&T," said Terri, polishing off her drink as well.
 
"Coming right up," said the mermaid, shooting off through the artificial lagoon that comprised the back of the bar.
 
"God," said Terri. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to all these cybernetics. It's creepy."
 
"You know," rumbled a voice from behind us. "There's rumors that there's genemodded mermaids on a rimward world."
 
We turned. "Hello Marc," I said, taking in the weary look on his face. "It looks like I might need to buy you the drink."
 
"I would appreciate that," he said with a sigh, taking the stool we had saved for him. "The Norns have been cruel lately."
 
"What happened?" asked Terri as the bartender delivered her gin and tonic along with a bottle of beer she pulled out of her cleavage for Marc.
 
"I missed some provisions in the contract," he said, cracking the beer and taking a grateful pull. "Between the penalties, being billed for emergency services by Bankhead, and the higher prices for jump berthing to keep the convoy together, I barely broke even on that run."
 
I winced. "Ouch."
 
"And that was before death benefits and the repair bill for Hrothgar." He sighed. "It's looking like I'm going to have to sell her, rather than repairing. Too much of the cargo was contaminated with rads to sell much at all at Dalton."
 
"No insurance?" asked Terri.
 
"Margins are too small," he said with a shake of his head. "For an operation of my size, anyway. Insurance would wipe us out. Pirates were a risk, but those bloodsuckers were certain." He looked over to me. "I know you bailed out your wife's squadron. I'm not as good looking as her, but you wouldn't happen to have anything up your sleeve for me, would you?"
I grimaced. "I mean, I bought Crossbones's Leopard, then absorbed the squadron. I had meant to feel you out about if you might be interested in signing on with CMC, or at least if you could point me in the direction of some trustworthy independents who I could form Dropship and Jumpship crews out of. But I'll be honest, I've always felt a bit scummy about grabbing Crossbones like that."
 
"It seems to have worked out fine," he said with a grin.
 
"It did," I said. "But I'm still in the same sort of position here. And I'm not sure just how much I can count on my lawyer for this one."
 
"What do you mean?" he asked.
 
"She warned me that 'poaching' might be looked at unfavorably by my new relations." I said.
 
"Well, that explains why the loans I need to get a worthwhile cargo have been so ridiculous," he said with a grunt.
 
"Would you be interested in mercenary work?" I asked. "You've done right by me so far, and I'm impressed by how well your crews managed a bad situation."
 
"It's been a while since the DCA and I went separate ways," he said. "My military skills are more rust than metal at this point. But I'm ready to do just about anything to keep Wiglaf at this point. If what you're saying is correct, Rezan Landynski is trying to snatch her from out under me, and I'd much rather be working with you than the bitch who put me in this situation. And you're right. I do have some connections with the independents that could help you." He took a long pull of his beer. "If you're okay with a dropship captain who hasn't commanded a military engagement in years, and want to stick a thumb in Rezan's eye, buy me another beer, and I give you my word of honor, if you offer a fair deal, Wiglaf and I will work for you, and the lawyers can sit and swivel."
 
I signaled for the mermaid.
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===Ambush among Mermaids===
"Well, that worked out," said Terri as we left the bar. I had given Marc a budget for scaring up some independent spacer crews for me, and promised him I'd make sure he kept Wiglaf if nothing else, which had put some pep back in his step.
 
"Sure did," I said. "We might be able to get going by the end of the week if we're lucky."
"So," she said. "Do you want to go somewhere to celebrate?" She gestured to the bacchanalian buffet on offer around us. "I want to take advantage of our alone time."
 
I opened my mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by a shout of "ORALE CABRON!"
 
I spun to face the voice. Too slow, and a man tackled me to the ground.
 
I could hear Terri shouting, and a pistol clearing leather…
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*;Notes from the Author : Welp. Lots of unit development. Shame about getting jumped in the street. Anyway, we have a couple of legacy characters that have shown up, or rather what would be the parents of a couple of Caballeros, and one of their rides. We'll see if they survive long enough to have their canon children. We also have a returning character from the flashbacks. Danny Zelko is inspired and modeled on the two sides of a post-Cold War aviation incident. I'm curious if anyone will figure out what it is. And yeah, apparently Gideon did get a hit with those rockets way back before his head got more crowded, just not a good enough one. Though someone else got a bigger piece of him, resulting in our first foray into Frankenmech territory, The Rifleman Briarpatch custom variant. It is a fan-made Variable-Rate Autocannon, this is a design quirk rule allow reduce amount rounds of ammo from AC/5 autocannon to do damage of a smaller AC/2. This based on theory of ammunition used by all standard autocannons are not 1 shell does all damage, but number shots fire equals the damage. VRAC/5 star league circuitry/fire control that allows the main weapon to do this. 
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