Is it weird in here, or is it just me? ( Battletech/Marvel crossover)

[lucho]

"Is it wierd in here, or is it just me?"

Steven Wright, 20th century thinker

Primetime with Lori Linn, Interstellar News Network
December 3069

Linn: This is Lori Linn on Primetime and we are joined today by Ross McGee, veteran mechwarrior and security specialist for Interstellar Expeditions. In the pre-interview, you talked about the last 20 years, and how things have gotten... wierd

McGee: That's right. After the previous twenty years, which weren't all that quiet- the AFFC's invasion of Combine space, the Ronin Revolt, and the Andurian rebellion- but conflicts were brief and things were otherwise mostly calm. The last two decades 
however, have seen things that make you wonder if humanity has collectively lost its mind. The number of political assassinations, the breakdown of authority in regions such as aptly named Chaos March, these make you start to wonder if maybe, just maybe 
there's something to a lot of the conspiracy theories floating around. Take the political assassinations, for example: statecraft and politics have always been little more than high class skullduggery, but the 3050s had an unusually high body count. Justin 
Allard, Romano Liao, Tsen Shang, Hanse Davion, Melissa Steiner, Ryan Steiner, and Arthur Steiner-Davion. That's one hell of a shadow war.



Linn: You mentioned Hanse Davion, who passed away in 3052. So you don't believe the offical report that he died of heart failure brought on by overwork?

McGee: Does anybody believe that? Hanse Davion was perfectly fine, and then suddenly he wasn't despite having the best medical technology anywhere in the Inner Sphere outside of Terra? It's just not possible. Besides, the Fox had a long list of enemies,
many of whom were quite sharp. 

Linn: so who do you think did it? 

McGee: (shrugs) most think it was an inside job. His offspring certainly benefitted, especially Katherine. After a decade of whack-a-mole with royalty we get the FedCom Civil War. Draw your own conclusions. 

Linn: (with a smile and a wink) You don't believe those who say it was an alien race looking to conquer humanity? What IS with the increase in sightings of all sorts of unusual phenomena? Interstellar Expeditions studies humanity; is this a symptom of 
something or a sign?

McGee: Well, Lori, I'm a mechwarrior, so I'm not very good at studying things. My job is to blow them up. But I do read the final reports of the projects I've participated in, and there has been an increase in sightings. Some turn out to be mundane; take,
for example, the series of sightings in Capellan space a few years ago; people were in a panic that robots had gained sentience and were going to exterminate humanity. Those turned out to be Capellan special forces with new bionics. I guess they never got 
the message that covert ops, like the name suggests, is meant to be discreet. But there have been a rising number of events and sightings that  defy any rational explanation, even with the advances in bionics and cybernetics.

But I also want to point out that this isn't new. It seems to have started some time ago. Before I joined IE, I served in the Lyran Guard. In my time there, one of the popular ghost stories told by the oldtimers was about the Wolf's Dragoons. During their 
contract with House Steiner in the early 3020s, many Lyran Guardsmen couldn't help but notice that the Dragoons were never the same after the last of their so-called supply runs in 3019-20. I always laughed it off as trash talk until I saw it for myself.
In 3051, I had just mustered out of Lyran service and was on Outreach looking for a job. I was in a Congress on evolving combined arms strategies; my main strategy was to make a few contacts. And lo and behold, I found myself in a meet and greet with Jaime
Wolf himself and a couple of other original Dragoons. They were shaking hands and talking shop with all of us until somebody asked where they went on their supply runs. All the smiles immediately vanished, and I swear the temperature in the room dropped a few 
degrees. Wolf and the others only responded "That's classified" and walked out. For just a brief moment there was a flash of fear in their eyes.  I would bet my battlemech on it. 

Linn: You think the Wolf's Dragoons saw some unidentified phenomenon?

McGee:I don't know, but something clearly spooked them.

Linn: Right. Let's talk about...

====================================================================

I know what they saw

Hilton Head, Terra
December 3069

As the words came out in a low ominous tone the holovid faded to a point of light and then out. Facing the now dark screen were three individuals seated at a small table. All three wore the robes of Comstar, with two of them bearing insignia indicating the highest ranks.
The third bore no insignia, but the extensive cybernetics and clear air of authority made it clear who was in charge. As he spoke the words, the other two visibly shuddered. "Primus, Precentor ROM, your thoughts?" he continued, as the other two hesitated, unsure 
of who should speak first. It was the Primus, Demona Aziz, who began. "As you know, Comstar has always expended considerable effort and resources in the Deep Periphery. From finding the fate of Kerensky and his Exodus, the origin of Wolf's Dragoons, and such. We 
had little to show for it until 3048. That was the year that everything changed." As spoke the words her eyes widened as if she had seen a ghost. As a look of impatience grew on the face of the other, Precentor ROM interjected. Charles Seneca spoke calmly, but a
bit quickly, as if wanting to finish as quickly as possible. "Yes. That was the year that our psychics made two breakthroughs. They have always had difficulty getting any useful information from the Dragoons..." "The Dragoon have their own psychics?" Primus Aziz 
interrupted. "Not that we've been able to ascertian. But they are familiar with the field. They have always deployed effective countermeasures against ours. As I was saying, we were, in 3048, able to place a psychometry specialist onboard a Dragoon ship. We weren't 
able to get coordinates, but enough impressions that they traveled roughly a year using standard KF drives in the Coreward sector. Consequently, we shifted our Explorer Corp to focus on that region. We also deployed additional psychics on the expeditions. And that's
when..." He hesitated at the memories of that time. A sideways glance saw a similar reaction from Primus Aziz, but the third was impassive, awaiting the end of the sentence. The gleam in his human eye was unsettling."And that was when we made contact." 

The third member of the meeting,the one with no visible rank yet had the deference of the other two, simply gave a slight nod. "Yes. Contact that set everything in motion,and have led us to this point. Primus Aziz, you would not be here were it not for Contact. In
spite of agreement, Aziz bristled at the same time "I am here because of Waterly's obsessive hatred of all things Davion. Her refusal to take Contact seriously put us at risk." He replied calmly, almost fatherly "True, her Operation Scorpion was myopic and reckless."
Precentor ROM interjected " Focht was able to identify Precentor Dieron as an ISF plant, but she still managed to get the word out. He is good, very good, but I don't trust him." His eyes narrowed as the words came out. Again, a calm,almost fatherly reply "The 
Precentor Martial is a true believer,  and at his core a soldier. I have spoken with him, his loyalty to Blake's vision is true." 

Precentor ROM continued, " As you both know all too well, the Explorer Corp Ship Outbound Light had explored past the Caliban Nebula. At some point- we still don't know when, much less where- the expedition entered an unknown system. There were no signs of life or 
human inhabitation, but the entire team of psychics were suddenly hit with a massive psychic attack. All we know about what happened after that is the jumpship returned somehow to Columbus, with all but one of the psychics dead of massive cerebral hemorrage and the 
rest of the crew unconscious." " I still don't buy that. How can a jumpship make multiple jumps on its own? Even the Star League coudn't automate jumpships, and neither can we."  said Aziz, with a frown and skeptical tone. "Unknown. The jump computers were empty. 
Apparently they deleted the coordinates after each jump.The unconscious crew? Also unknown." came the Precentor ROM's reply.

The other figure, aptly named "The Master," drew the others back on track." Let us focus the heart of the matter. That sole surviving psychic gave us the most important information since the development of faster than light travel." The other two nodded solemnly.
Primus Aziz then turned to Seneca, " Since then, further attempts at contact have not yielded results. Perhaps we should include the Precentor Martial on this?" The Precentor ROM shook his head "Focht is focused on ComStar's security. I doubt this can be resolved 
with battlemechs. As you pointed out, we have already lost three entire expeditions in the Coreward sector attempting to make contact, and we still do not even have a clear idea where this... entity is located. Beyond that, we have other issues to deal with." A single
uptick of an eyebrow, the only natural one left, was the Master's only response. Primus Aziz took the cue to drive on. "You refer to the increase in paranormal activity?" Precentor ROM Seneca's face became impassive, masking his discomfort at discussing this topic. 
"Yes. I am not comfortable with the term 'paranormal activity', I think 'enhanced individuals' is more precise. In any case, this guest from the INN interview is correct: there has been an increase in what he terms 'wierdness' and we need to get in front of it." "Is
the increase in 'enhanced individuals' tied to the appearance of the entity?" Aziz asked. "Unknown, but unlikely. There have always been a small number of enhanced individuals. We have always been able to keep a lid on it- find them, recruit them when possible, eliminate 
if not- but now the number is growing. And that means we must change tactics." Both listeners immediately understood the implications of Seneca's words. Cautiously, as if wary of the answer, Aziz asked "How dangerous are they?" The Master focused his attention on the 
Precentor ROM, who swallowed hard before answering. "Even with our psychics and all of the exhaustive studiy of them we know so little. We know ways to augment humans but that carries its own risks. We know for certain that these enhanced people have a genetic component, 
but we still don't know why it only activates in a very small number of individuals. Nor has anybody figured out why it manifests so differently for each person. It's like trying to describe the outline of a cloud." "You're avoiding the question." came from Aziz  coupled 
with a look of irritation. "Not avoiding, hedging. My job is information, and I'm telling you that we don't have enough. How Dangerous?" His eyes narrowed, he clearly did not like being put on the spot. "Let me put it this way: it's more likely that this entity is one 
of them."  

The Master put his bionic hand on the table; the sound immediately focused the attention of the other two on him. "We cannot forget the mission the Blessed Blake has laid out for us. We have been charged with the preservation of what is best in humanity. Now we know that
we must assume the role of protector of humanity. This entity apparently destroyed what the Dragoons have referred to as the Clans. Whatever they were, anything powerful enough to  destroy a civilization is a threat to Blake's vision." With a solemn nod from both, 
Primus Aziz turned to Seneca and asked "What about the visions of Primus Adrienne Sims? She saw the Inner Sphere torn asunder by alien hordes." With a dismissive wave of a hand, Precentor ROM replied "Doubtful. Sims was indeed psychic, but nothing we have seen matches 
her visions. What we do know contradicts her visions on multiple points. Not least of which is that we seem to be dealing with a single entity." 

"At this level, it only takes one." came the reply in a measured, almost rueful tone from the Master. He continued, as an unsettling gleam began in his human eye. His two listeners inwardly winced, for they knew what was coming. But that knowledge only made it worse. 
In the voice of a true believer he said "That lone surviving psychic has seen the face of the enemy. Our path has been laid out for us. We must be ready, for it will come here, as a moth is drawn to a flame. The devourer of Worlds is coming for Terra, this GALACTUS!" 
 

[Ice Hellion]

You should edit it so you would get back at the end of each line making it easier to read.