CHS-2

==Chapter 2 – Chappy's Howling Siegers==
<<Previous Chapter - Chapter Index - Next Chapter>>
----
DropShip Lounge
Metro Star Port
Dallas, Terra
January 1st, 2785
----
Matthew just disconnected the COMSTAR link with his wife in the private booth at the drinking hole when his three best friends in the universe popped in with shots of tequila and beers as chasers.
“Hey boss, time to drink now that all the kissy mushy is done with your Diana” Captain Haleigh Pople said. “Heck, once we get home, I will kiss your wife too, and u can only watch.” she continued.“Ha-ha, I think you had too much to drink already, Captain” Matthew replied.
She sat down with bottom lip out and mumbled “Party pooper.” Matthew just shook his head and said, “Anyway, I have filed all the documents with all the recommended government and non-government agencies. We are now officially a Merc unit with the name that you guys picked out Chappy’s Howling Siegers. My wife was not happy about it, but understood. It is in my blood, and luckily she has a family friend with office space right near the Capital on New Earth that he will let us use for recruitment, contracts, and as a main office. We already had an inquiry for our services and Diana told them I am here; a rep will be here shortly.”
As the drinking settle down so that the other guys in Matthew’s command group looked sober, he stayed vigilant looking for this unknown representative. Matthew thought that he had to get used to this unknown, something he never had to do in the SLDF. This not knowing where the next paycheck was coming from was already doing a number to his stomach when he spotted the one person that he did not want to see, the one person that he hoped was not the representative, and that was their old commander General Hayes in civilian gear making a bee line right to their table.
“Chapman” Hayes said as she slides her way into the booth. “I must say I am still disappointed in you...” then she glanced at everyone, “all of you, for leaving the 151st.”
“Well, I was not ready to be COMSTAR, Ma’am.” Matthew said, and she saw that everyone was shaking their heads in agreement.
“Chapman, that has not happened yet, I am here under orders by the Terran Hegemony and COMSTAR. There is a very sensitive matter that we need your group to take care of, up until now we had no way of dealing with it, since we could not go officially, and we had no merc unit that we could trust.” She paused to let that sink in. “With the collapse of the SLDF and the eventual demise of the Terran Hegemony we at COMSTAR need to gather as much information and tech as possible without others knowing it, this is where you come in. On the planet, Helm there was a SLDF weapons depot under the Castle Brian complex. We need you to get there find the Castle Brain and clean all the weapons and research material then leave. Word is that several factions are gearing up to look for it.” As she was saying this a look of shock fell between all the MechWarriors she then slid an old paper topography map over to Matthew. “This is the area that we believe the site is, it is still about a 75 kilometer area but at least you won’t have to search the whole planet like everyone else will when they get there you have three months, you can keep what salvage you want from any battles, we will let you have 20 percent of the mothballed 'mechs in the depot, and your payment will be around 800 thousand a month.”
Matthew sat back and tried to look cool, this was his first negotiating for a job ever and he felt like his cherry was about to pop. “Wait, why are you here for us? I mean we just became official. It’s interesting, but I think we need more, considering we are starting from scratch I have yet got all my support units and personnel bought.”
The General looked at Matthew and rapped her fingers on the table over and over. “Ok, fine I have two lances at the HPG site they are not running colors nor are they wearing any patches, I will send orders to for them to help you guys out when needed and I will give you an extra month of payment as a bonus, and we will take you there free of charge.”
Matthew thought about it for a minute, for a three-month mission, they will earn almost 3 million C-bills plus all the salvage and free travel, but something was not sitting right with him. Matthew thought about it and looked at his people they all nodded yes so, he said, “Ok, something is bothering me the way you said your pitch, is there a double cross going on here between the hegemony and COMSTAR?”
“No.” the general said, “A certain amount of items will be going to the Hegemony, but COMSTAR will be taking position of the more…sensitive items.”“Ok,” Matthew said, “we are in. Give me the contract to sign.”
-----
DropShip Skulker
Inbound Helm
Free Worlds League
March 3rd, 2785
Sitting in a 'Mech while not in battle is boring but sitting in the cockpit while waiting to do a hot drop was pure torture. The plan was simple, while the dropship was entering the atmosphere they would drop, the ship would declare an emergency and land with the “cargo” missing burnt up over the ocean. The unit will then move west toward the mountain ranges that lay about 50 kilometers away, and 100 kilometers from the city of Freeport. Somewhere in that area the items that the Siegers were charged to find which have been hidden by Major Keeler, the commander of the militia. Why he had hidden everything was beyond the comprehension of Matthew, if this were the future tech that the SLDF stored here wouldn’t it made more since for Keeler to hand the items over to his Marik bosses? He was still thinking on this when the light went from red to green, Matthew turned on the command link and said, “Ok Howling Siegers it’s time to drop let’s get to the ground, be safe, group up and let’s find treasure. The support teams will land at Freeport then make their way to the city of Drango.”
----
Shores of the township Lewisville, Helm
A man and his boy were fishing on the dock when the bubbles started to form on the surface of the water. The man directed his son back off the dock. Then a sight that the boy will never forget, 12 mechs popping up out of the water all painted gray, red and black with a half man half wolf symbol on the shoulders of every 'mech. “Dad, who are they?” “I have no idea son, but whoever they are, it can’t be good, hurry up back to the house.”
As soon as his mech cleared the water his radar got a hit on six targets. “Siegers contact at one-one-two-three we must eliminate all enemy forces we cannot allow them to know we are here yet. Split up into your lance and take out all targets.” Five more enemy targets show up on the radar, so Matthew put in a call for support help from the unknowns, the name he gave the two unmarked COMSTAR lances.
-----
Alpha lance
Rushed into the city looking for targets but careful to not destroy the city both sides had ECM coverage and was jamming each other. An enemy tank made first contact by removing half the armor on sergeant Mackherdhuj's Rifleman. Captain Pople targeted a JagerMech when she moved around the building with her AC/5 and large lasers all hitting the left leg and causing the enemy to fall to his side. The same tank that had ripped the armor off the sergeant’s Rifleman was crippled with a PPC to the rear when a Griffin showed up from behind, he identified himself as Star 07. Unfortunately, an enemy Crusader turned all its weapons on Star 07 causing the mech to fall and the pilot to be knocked out. The captain directed fire at another crusader destroying it the kill went to sergeant Liu piloting a JagerMech. 
“Good job team two down four more to go.” Star 07 woke up, stood up, and destroyed the crusader that had hit him before but then forgot him. “Got you.” he said. An enemy Phoenix Hawk came out of hiding hitting sergeant Mackherdhuj in the head. “Are you ok, Mack?” the captain asked, “Yeah, but my canopy is hit and some of the glass is in my left arm. With that she shook her head and saw that an Icarus was coming straight for her. She took aim with all her weapons that were in the green and fired, at the same time the other pilot did the same. After the dust settle, she looked at all her systems all the weapons on her arms were gone but there was still little damage to her torso, the enemy Icarus though was destroyed, report shows that Mack’s lasers destroyed the head the AC/5 ripped off the last of the armor in the chest so when the mech fell the boulders hit the engine causing the mech to explode. With the Captain taking care of the tanks the battle was over with all enemies dispatched with extreme prejudiced.
-----
MeanwhileCharlie Lance
The Major ordered Charlie lance to move up on the hills behind the coastal town and take out the enemy that was there. Captain Dalton took his medium lance consisted of his Starslayer, two Lynx, and a Shadow Hawk up and over the hills. Immediately, engaged two tanks destroying them with SRMs and LRMs. Charlie Lance circled around and engaged more tanks, two Icarus showed up blasting away at the captain’s mech ripping most of the back armor off, the captain turned around along with Corporal Gallegos in the Shadow Hawk and fired on the first Icarus taking his legs out. The captain called out “Good Shooting!! now target the other one before it runs away.” “Roger, Sir” the volleys of missiles and the laser vomit between the two were devastating in the end, several Siegers were moderately damage, but all the enemy was destroyed.
-----
Down on the beach 
Command Lance 
thumb|Longbow Assault Fire Support 'Mech
Was engaged in a battle that featured mud, lots of mud and very wet sand. Luckily, the Longbow in the Major’s lance was a pretty good shot, firing 50 LRMs at a time was just too much after the second round of missiles, the enemy Orion went down in a heap of metal. Major Chapman fired his two Gauss Rifles hitting the head of a Wolverine killing the pilot. “Boss two Gauss to the head overkill much?” asked Master Sergeant Filomena Dionsio “Well, I am bored so target practice on small heads is good for my eyes.” The major replied. With the Longbow releasing its missiles and the dead shot of the Major this battle was more like an afterthought and only lasted for a few minutes.
Later that day, the Siegers loaded all the salvage they could on the flatbeds they liberated and started the long march toward the mountains scanning the underground as they went hoping to find the depot sooner rather than later. They first went due south out of the coastal town then about 40 miles down the way, took a right and headed due west hoping that if the local militia ask local town folk what direction the Siegers went the militia will continue south missing them completely. With ECM coverage and only moving at 35 km the hope was to only engage the enemy on the Major’s terms and only when necessary. As they were marching the Major’s XO called him on a private channel.
“Hey boss”
“Yeah, what’s up, Haleigh?” Matthew said
“Why does COMSTAR want the weapons depot so badly? I mean I already don’t trust them, nor have I ever trusted, General Hayes. Maybe we should not find it, or if we do find it re-hide it. There must be a reason for the local commander to hide the crap in the first place, you know?”
As usual his XO hit the nail on the head Matthew thought, it was exactly what he had been struggling with since lifting off from Terra.“I don’t know, Haleigh, we have a mission to do so let’s do it if we find the weapons depot, then we find it, and deal with it then.”
-----
<<Previous Chapter - Chapter Index - Next Chapter>>
02