Debauchery Worlds 43 (Patreon)

Commissioned by Southmonk

Debauchery Worlds

Chapter 43

-VB-

Alan Marris

David II, Federated Suns

2981.12.24

I was ready. 

I stood in front of three mixed battalions of soldiers, most of whom were not my clones but instead recruited soldiers and officers from David II and other refugees. The army in front of me was thus composed mostly with humans but there were a few elves, dwarves, volralden (the wolf people), and even a few warrior bunnies from Falmart. Behind them was the bulk of the dropships that would transport these soldiers. 

4 Militarized Crawdad dropships.

10 Militarized Crawdad dropships, mech transport and support variant. 

6 Stomata Patrol Ships refitted with Quantum Drive installed. 

4 Irotryoshka Carrier Corvettes with Quantum Drive installed. 

It was seventy percent of our naval assets, and made up of eighty percent of the mass in our total fleet. 

On top of the dropships and corvettes, we also had one hundred and five mechs loaded up. 

30 Dropper-class ultralight mechs (our own design).

20 Locust-class light mechs (heavily modified).

20 Wasp-class light mechs (heavily modified). 

30 Squire-class medium mechs (melee). 

5 Knight-class heavy mechs (melee). 

There were no long range heavies or assaults among our mechs, because any firepower that required heavies or assaults would be provided by the militarized Crawdads and Stomatas. 

To round this out, we loaded up the carriers with eighty-eight aerospace fighters, which came from a design we reverse engineered and improved for local compatibility. 

80 modified Bucaneer-class Frontier Fighter (Star Citizen/UEE). 

What was Drake Interplanetary going to do when I was making these Bucaneers in a different universe? 

I looked upon the soldiers.

They were ready, but being ready wasn’t enough. They were here because they were getting paid as professional soldiers, but they needed something more than that. Something to give them unity and see beyond the immediate profits. 

I rested my hands on the podium in front of me and leaned forward toward the megaphone. 

“Today,” I began out loud, allowing my voice to propagate through the megaphone. “We rise up from this world to strike back at the people who would enslave you. People who would look at you and pull out their guns just because you do not look like them. Do not think like them. Do not believe like them.” 

The ex-slaves among my soldiers grew stiff and taut as I triggered their past. Even the few locals of David II who I’ve recruited as common soldiers and mechwarriors gritted their teeth.

Getting nuked made people very upset, you know? 

“Today, we strike back at a legacy of violence that has shaped the Inner Sphere against our will!” I roared. “A legacy of domination and death that wants us all dead!” I banged my fist on the podium, making the sound boom out. “What you will do in the coming days is not merely for pay or glory! What you will do in the coming days is breaking the foundation of that accursed legacy. What you will do is to break its shell wide open and gorge upon the spoils of war they have robbed from our families and kin!” 

And that was one of the clauses for those who I recruited. I didn’t offer only pay. I offered to share in the bounty of conquest. All soldiers would get a share of land on worlds I conquered. That if they died, their families or their designees would gain their share of the bounty. 

Bigger the role, bigger the reward. 

“And when the Draconis Combine sees you coming, what will you be in their eyes?!” 

“Soldiers of Marris!” 

“Who will strike fear into their hearts?!” 

“Soldiers of Marris!” their shouts grew louder. 

“Who will break the Combine?!” 

“SOLDIERS OF MARRIS!” my soldiers roared back. 

I allowed the brief silence ot permeate the prep site. “Good. Let’s make our words our reality. 1st Marris Brigade, move out.”

---

Leftenant Colonel Yeslie of AFFS

David II, Federated Suns

2981.12.24

Joan Yeslie watched fourteen dropships take off from Marris Compound to join the ten ships in orbit. 

In the current era of small raids, those twenty-four ships represented one of the the biggest force of arms. It … unnerved her. She was supposed to be the defender of David II, which was a Federated Suns world. Yet she had the smaller of the two militaries on the planet, and a smaller military compared to a mercenary band on top of that. 

But the order from not the High Command but the First Prince himself was clear: Marris Mercenary Company was not to be antagonized under any circumstances. 

It helped that the mercs didn’t strut around and provided a lot of policing actions in the countryside where her army found it harder to reach. 

“I still can’t believe that the First Prince is willing to allow this new mercenary company to hold this much power,” she lamented before turning to look at the mercenary liaison who wasn’t under her command structure. In factm, he resided wholly outside of it and when it came to dealing with the only mercenary company on David II held higher authority. If he deemed that she was creating problems with the mercenary company, then he could have her replaced.

She was wholly aware of what she and her militia were in this situation: a figurehead. Oh, it made her job easy. She just had to train the militia and AFFS battalion currently on David II to her standard and that was it. Yes, David II was a border world right next to the Draconis Combine. No, the mercs took care of the planetary defense, too, because apparently, their hatred of the Combine was greater than their greed. 

“This is not the first time you have pointed that out, colonel,” Major Anderson hummed from her right as he continued to work as if an independent regiment taking off to go God knows where wasn’t alarming. “If it is about Commander Marris, then they told us already that they intended to hit the Draconis Combine.”

“... I guess you got used to them, huh?”

The major nodded. “In my head, I call it Marris Shenanigans or Marris Bullshit.”

Yeslie snorted. “Bullshit is the word for it. Bullshit tech, bullshit growth, bullshit treatment, bullshit weirdoes, bullshit bullshit bullshit,” she grumbled. 

“At least that bullshit is on our side and sticking it to the snakes, no?” the major asked.

“... That’s the only reason I tolerate them.”

---

John Kageruwa 

David II, Federated Suns

2981.12.24

He sat on his porch with his friend, Tomura, sitting next to him again. 

Ever since the mercenaries took out the bandits that came to rob him, things have been quiet around his area and town. Feddie or mercenary, they helped and that was enough for John to not bad mouth them. 

“I heard one of your grandkids started working for the mercs.”

He glanced at his friend before putting a cigarette to his lips and breathing in deep. 

It was the only thing that kept his anxiety and muscle twitches at bay these days. 

He blew out a stream of smoke before clearing his throat. “Yes,” he replied. “He lived pretty close to where they nuked the mercs, and the mercs offered to provide him and his family rad treatment if he worked for them.”

“Damn, mercs. Your grandkid got nuked because of them. They should be doing it for free,” Tomura spat. 

“I’m just happy that he can get treatment. You know we wouldn’t be able to out here.” He tapped his cigarette on the ash tray’s rim, making the burnt bit break off and drop down to the empty tray. John watched the broken and burnt ash smoulder with just a bit of ember before it went out. 

It felt like he was staring at his own life. He was an old man on a world with little to no medical care outside of what the mercenaries controlled. The little sunshine told him about how wonderful the mercenaries were and how wondrous their tech was. Almost as if he was living back in time among the glorious of the Star League. 

John wasn’t so sure about that, but he was old now, and indebted to the mercenaries for keeping alive from the roving bandits. 

His opinions … just didn’t matter. 

And didn’t that sting? 

“What about your grandchildren?” he asked Tomura. 

“Bah,” the older man grunted. “Useless lot. One’s a politician, another’s a janitor, the most filial granddaughter’s a fiction writer, and the most asshole of them all is a low level bank manager.”

“... I don’t see anything wrong?”

“That’s why I stick with you. You’ve always been the good guy. I’m the asshole.”

“I don’t know. An asshole doesn’t take a bullet for a stranger.”

“Oh, you gave me food when I was starving. That’s enough to get something in return.”

John chuckled before he took another hit and looked back up toward the sky. 

He wondered how the future would unfold. 

-VB-

The Marris Mercenary Company’s attack on Draconis Combime would be the start of a long campaign that the most militant Successor State would suffer an near constant loss from. They would lose world after world while the mercenary company would unveil lostech after lostech that they would use to crush the Combine’s attacks and deflect WMDs. 

And the day the mercenary band’s soldiers - the soldiers of a future new state - would land on Cyelene to start this campaign…

Would be called the Christmas Invasion.