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BATTLECORPS
BLACK MIST
RISING
Chapter Four
By Randall N. Bills

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 2
Focht War College, Memoria, Tukayyid
Free Rasalhague Republic
10 September 3067
Hohiro walked briskly.
Tukayyid’s two moons hung in a crystal clear azure sky like
sphere-shaped chandeliers, bright and large and enticing, look-
ing down over Memoria. The sun, already dipped beyond line of sight, turned
the city’s skyline into a pleasant smear of mauve.
The visual effect made the skyscrapers (still hard to believe the city’s
growth in a dozen years) into ethereal constructs of various shades from
purple, to lavender and even amethyst; indistinct fin-
gerpaint strokes against the sky’s canvas.
That beautiful, distant view, along with the closer Greek-styled, outrider
buildings of the campus, abruptly cut off as a giant metal leg hove into view.
Without missing a step along the ferrocrete sidewalk, Hohiro followed the
pristine-white-clad leg up, up and up, until he could take in the
entire BattleMech. Even without the Star League logo on the left chest, or
the Royal Black Watch
Regiment crest molded into the right shoulder armor, he knew the
Black Watch
BattleMech instantly. After all, not any other ’Mech produced since the
Mackie first walked off the assembly line a half millennia before actually
bore armor crafted into the form of a tartan kilt, complete with sporran.
While he didn’t hold with such flamboyance of design—even he’d frowned upon
the bakemono
-styled masks of the
Akuma and
No-Dachi fear
(
me
, not some mask!
)—the
Black Watch was a fine machine, regardless.
Out of the corner of his left eye, a large speckled wall seemed to rise out of
the middle of the walkway; Hohiro jerked his head back in time to avoid
walking directly into the flag rock. He quickly glanced around to find
only a few cadets too far off to have seen anything; sighed in relief, mixed

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with anger over even caring. He glanced up past the giant gold plaque mounted
onto the rock announcing the Focht War College, to the three flag poles,
banners hanging limp and lifeless in the thick, still evening autumn air:
ComStar, Star League and Free Rasalhague
Republic.

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 3
A shiver worked its way up his spine, tingling his scalp.
Has this
Star League been as lifeless? Our supposed unity a shameless plug for a good
vid-shoot?

He glanced down to find the ever present graffiti: the sword of the Word of
Blake, along with the words
6.6.52 Never Forget

scratched by a sharp implement into the façade of the rock. He remembered the
outrage and clenched fists upon first viewing the shameful stain and demanding
to know why it had not been erased immediately. And the calm words of Focht as
he explained it was a reminder that regardless of how much they must focus on
the Clans, they could never forget their enemy brothers. Despite the almost
superstitious spine tingle, Hohiro noticed how worn and faded the graffiti was
after a half decade.
And will the years grind you down as well, Word of Blake? Will you stand the
test of time? Or like the Terran Hegemony and Clan
Smoke Jaguar and so others, will decades slowly wash away your existence,
until you’re but a footnote in a dusty textbook
?
He snorted.
Baka! Only a fool would believe that. More likely you’ll be like the
Kokuryu-kai
. Cockroaches. No matter how often you’re stepped on, you’ll find a dark
corner to scurry into, to breed and emerge in an infestation when least
expected.
Hohiro walked on towards the white dome of the central complex of the college
and one of its basement facilities, trying to leave such thoughts swirling in
his wake as he increased his pace. The giant sentinels in the verdant lawns to
either side of the sidewalk not only kept him company, but managed to lift his
spirits, albeit with a sarcastic bent.
The
Black Watch already passed; a
Cerberus from the Eridani
Light Horse’s Seventy-first Regiment; a
Supernova from the
Nova Cats’ Lachesis Keshik Supernova Trinary; a
Viking from the
KungsArmé’s Third Drakøns Regiment: a BattleMech unity garden on the central
lawns of the college.
Bad enough a politician with enough clout to make it happen thought this
gimmick good press back in ’61. But to still have them standing here years
later? Forcing good units to leave them behind for window dressing! What a
waste.

He cursed. Glad—despite his lame duck sentiments towards
Månsdotter—the man tended to shield his Commanding General from too much
political interaction.

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BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 4
Then again, perhaps he knows my bluntness might overcome my
Combine upbringing’s politeness.

He smiled as he passed through the large, circular main door-
way, accepting the salutes of various cadets and soldiers without really
seeing them. Quickly made his way down two elevators and twice as many
staircases. Marching down the long, gloomy hallway, echoes cascading down the
Spartan walls and ferrocrete floors, Hohiro’s nose itched at the whiff of
mildew and thick air.
How can such a new building already have such a stench?
He wondered if perhaps the janitors were drafted from the ranks of
the Unproductives. Shook his head at the erroneous idea.
No
Unproductives outside of the Combine.

Glanced at a stain on the wall and the low-level of light, and sniffed again,
amended.
Well, they refuse to call them that. But a weed is a weed, regard-
less of how much you may say that your garden only has flowers.
Putting all of that behind him, Hohiro finally found the right door, rapped
twice and then entered. A small office, a lone desk, pic-
ture on the wall and a single throw rug on the bare floor greeted him, but no
one present. He passed to the second door, rapped twice again, waited. Eyes
slid to the empty desk, wondering if the secretary ever worked late or not.
Then wondered if a secretary occupied the desk at all, as he found no
personalization of small belongings, or even a family picture.
Before he could contemplate longer, the door opened and a large hand thrust
out, causing Hohiro to blink several times. “Hohiro.
Glad to see you.” The voice almost boomed in the small space.
Hohiro took in the fortyish-looking man, bald pate, thick goatee, large nose
and eyes and mouth filled with glad lines. Hohiro re-
sponded to the open greeting with a smile of his own. “
So ka
. And it is good to see you, Caradoc.”
General Caradoc “Doc” Trevena, acting director of the Star
League Intelligence Command, waved his hand casually, beckon-
ing as he began making his way back down the corridor. “Doc, Hohiro. Alone
like this, I’m not going to call you anything but
Hohiro. We’ve known each other long enough, you should call me
Doc. How many times do I have to tell you that?”
The mock outrage made Hohiro smile more.
So much like
Redburn. Yet so different as well.

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 5
“Of course, Caradoc,” Hohiro responded. They both laughed.
After passing several doors, Caradoc chose one on the left, well before a bend
in the corner turned the hallway left, and ushered them both into the room.
While still as generally Spartan as the outside corridor—once again lacking
the bric-a-brac that makes a room into a personal office—Hohiro sidled up to
the holotable and its already laser-generated project that dominated the room.
“You should at least have a picture of your family,” Hohiro spoke softly, mind
already taking in the displayed information.
“I’ve told you, Hohiro. I’m not going to be in this post long enough to make
it worth while.” They both ignored the pleading quality in his voice.
“Besides, I’m hoping they find out about our clandestine meetings and fire

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me.” That brought laughs from both men.
“You know full well Månsdotter is aware of these meetings,”
Hohiro responded.
“Of course he is. But that doesn’t stop me from hoping he’ll fi-
nally realize I’m handing away state secrets to the enemy.”
Enjoying the easy banter—something he almost never found within his
own society—Hohiro pulled into an imperious pose, hands tugging his
uniform into a good imitation of too much starch. “
Iie
. I am the Commanding General of the Star League. I
am no one’s enemy.”
Caradoc exploded into laughter, slapping the edge of the table.
“You’re kidding, right. Gods. I could fall out of bed in the morning and stand
up with a list half the length of my arm of people who consider you the enemy.
And that’s just the important ones.”
The truthfulness of the statement bled enjoyment from the easy talk, both men
cooled with that realization. Hohiro’s shiver from the flag rock tried to
reassert itself, but he shoved it ruthlessly aside. Took in Caradoc’s open
face, a mirror for his own trust the two had forged over the last few years; a
mirror, in its own way, to
Redburn.
As long as we can trust each other, we have to be able to make a difference.
He tried to ignore the pleading quality of such a thought. Forged on.
“So what do you have for me?”
Caradoc nodded solemnly, as though silently answering Hohiro’s sentiment, then
shrugged heavily, as though readjusting his think-
ing and responded, hand pointing.

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 6
“What do you think?”
Hohiro glanced at the floating list of sparse descriptions, both technical
and conjecture, and read through it twice before re-
sponding. “New weapon system.”
“It would appear so.”
Glanced at the handful of “known” specs and its projected capa-
bilities. “Confederation.”
Felt more than saw Caradoc nod approval. “Astute. Just got this in from one of
our better placed agents involved with Shengli
Arms. Why’d you pick ‘em?”
“The projected weapon capabilities bear a striking resemblance to the
Man-Portable Plasma Rifle they’re fielding on their new
Trinity armor.”
“’Mech-sized version?”
“
Hai
.”
“Scary.”
“
So ka.
”
“Would finally explain the
Jinggau
, though.”
Hohiro looked over, slightly confused. Raised an eyebrow.
“We’ve had good intel for years that Shengli Arms mass pro-
duced the variant of the
Jinggau before its primary configuration.
If they’ve had this cannon under development for that long, would explain it.”

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Hohiro slowly nodded at the logic. “The man-portable might be an offshoot of
this plasma cannon development?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“
Hai
.”
“Another Blakist connection.”
Hohiro slowly nodded again. “Makes the most sense.”
“Hope it bites them in the ass,” Doc groused.
Hohiro nodded, unable to disagree.

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 7
“What else.”
“New BattleMech on the verge of deployment with the Nova
Cats.” He tapped the controls lightly, shifting the graphics to a spinning
representation of a BattleMech. “Not that I need to tell you this.”
They both smiled at the obviousness of the statement.
“Nova Cats are currently field testing what they’re calling the
Ocelot
.”
The revolving image displayed a very humanoid-looking design, in the vein of
the
Phoenix Hawk, boasting a hand-held weapon in the right hand and a large weapon
sprouting from the left chest.
With its jutting torso, rounded canopy cockpit set back and the wing-like
constructs housing the ’Mech’s jump jets, it looked fast and powerful.
“Thirty-five tons. Maneuverable. Hard hitting with that heavy large laser,”
Hohiro responded.
Caradoc yanked at his goatee, shook his head. “You could prob-
ably fill in some of the holes I’m missing.”
“But then I’d be doing your job. Mine’s difficult enough.”
“Of course, great Commanding General.”
“Deployed yet?” Hohiro headed off that line of sarcasm, looking to find the
depth of their information.
“Not that we can determine. However, from what we’ve got here, I’d say two
years. Maybe even next year and the Cats should start to put a few of these
into the field.”
Hohiro nodded at the assessment. “What else?”
“You know, Hohiro, they really should fire me for having these meetings.”
Taken off guard at the return to the older topic, Hohiro settled hands onto
the warm table top, fingers sliding across the smooth surface, surprised at
how little friction his tips encountered. Eyes unfocused momentarily, as
memories surfaced and his own actions across the last few years paraded in
front of him like a holovid set in fast forward, but playing backwards. He
breathed deeply (
no mil-
dew here
), reached up to scratch at his nose, before responding.

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 8
“There were times, Doc, when I thought the same. Asked myself why it does not
happen. But I came to my answer long ago.”
“And that is?”
“You.” Hohiro leaned against the holotable in earnest, smile sprouting
at the shocked look on Caradoc’s face.
“What? Because I was willing to share my information?”

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“No. At least, not completely.”
“Uh.”
“Because you formed the Star League.”
“What?!” The other man jerked to attention as though the First
Lord just walked into the room.
“The history books will place Victor, or even Katherine, or the other House
leaders as the ones who formed this new Star League.
Or they might even credit the Jade Falcons with inadvertently set-
ting the stone in motion.”
“Yea.”
Hohiro raised his hands to forestall any other sarcastic outburst.
“Caradoc.
You were the impetus. All those players hold an impor-
tant place, even my father. But it was a low level commander, on a backwater
world who managed start the ball rolling. You managed to gain the attention of
the Great House leaders and made them see a different path. Regardless of what
political machinations the
Star League has been turned to, or its current rudderlessness, no one can take
that event from you. That is why I trust you. That is why I attend these
not-so-secret meetings to try and foster addi-
tional trust between our realms. And why I trust the information you tell me.
And why, to what degree I can, I return that trust and openness.”
Silence descended beyond the hum of the holoprojector as
Caradoc stood, mouth agape, face plainly showing his struggle to find
something, anything, to say.
“Next.” Hohiro broke in gently, embarrassed himself over the bloated pause and
the open emotions flood Caradoc’s face.
The other man snapped his jaw shut, stilling his features but for a fi-
nal nod of thanks one friend to another, before tapping the controls.

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 9
“Would seem the Confederation isn’t the only one developing new weapon
systems.”
“
Hai
. Isn’t every House.”
“Of course. Of course. But in this case, like Liao’s plasma cannon, it would
seem the Draconis Combine is on the verge of debuting a new light PPC.”
Hohiro cringed inwardly, before consciously unlimbering his un-
easy feeling.
No wonder Doc hesitated
. “
Hai
.” He glanced through the information the Star League held, and breathed a
sigh at the lack of any hard evidence; just enough anecdotal evidence
to prove the weapon’s existence. On the verge of leaving it at that, Hohiro
once more scratched at his nose to hide his unease, then dredged up a
different response.
After all, can’t make such a grand declaration towards Caradoc and then ignore
it.
“Several types are being worked on.” He knew some within the ISF
would have almost certainly drawn swords at such an admission, regardless of
his status, but you had to meet your allies halfway. He smiled inwardly and
with great sarcasm at being so “open.”
You admit something they already know (check Doc’s nod), and provide no
details. Then again, Doc provides no details, unlike the
Confederation, of where they obtained the information. We both still play that
game.

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He sighed, then nodded slowly again.
Small steps. We’ve come so far, in so short a time. Patience.
“Next.”
Caradoc used both hands this time to tap furiously at the key-
board, bringing up a string of dates, numbers, long paragraphs of text, and so
on. “Okay, this one is just…well…strange.”
“Does it have anything to do with the Word of Blake?”
“Yes.”
“Then nothing you can tell me will be strange.”
Caradoc smiled, pointing at the list of notes slowly scrolling
through the air. “Don’t be too sure of that.”
Hohiro began reading, but the fragmentary nature of the various reports had
his head reeling within minutes. “Um, you mind mak-
ing this a little more coherent.”

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 10
“That’s the problem.”
“
Hai
. Of course. Still, you wouldn’t be showing me this if you didn’t think it was
important.”
“Well, apparently ComStar has begun tracking a strange mining ship in the Deep
Periphery, coreward.”
“Okay. And why should we, or ComStar for that matter, care?”
“That’s the point. Once we tracked the information ourselves, we couldn’t
figure it out. Now don’t get me wrong, this is one whacked ship. You’re aware
of ComStar’s
Faslane yard-ships?”
“
Hai
. Rare. Exceptionally specialized.”
“Yup.” Doc tapped again for a moment, opening up a secondary viewing pane, the
long, cigar-shaped ship exploding into view and beginning a slow revolution
through the air above the projection table. “Well ComStar managed to keep
control of all theirs during the schism back in ’52 and as far as we can tell,
they’ve not lost any during any of the various defections over the years. So
my initial read was this was a
Faslane
.”
Hohiro nodded slowly, fingers tips once more caressing the too-
smooth table top. “A defection?”
“Not as we can tell?”
“Then they built one. They have the Titan yards, after all.”
“That’s what I thought initially as well. However, from what little reports
ComStar’s ROM has been able to gather and from the even smaller amount they
handed over or we’ve gleaned from them, it’s a lot larger than that. But it
appears to be a mining ship. The last report, half a year out of date now,
placed it in a system near Wolf
82. And it appeared to be in the midst of that system’s extensive asteroid
belts, well, mining.”
“Okay,” Hohiro said, drawing it out. “What are you saying? That the Word of
Blake have poured a pile of money into developing an oversized, mobile mining
facility? Everyone needs resources, and the Word of Blake has precious few
planets to call its own.” He gummed his teeth, with another scratch at his
nose (
the mildew?
)
and continued. “I’m sorry, Caradoc, but I’m not understanding what you’re

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trying to say.”

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 11
Doc waved his hand angrily, voice brimming with frustration.
“Don’t worry. I don’t understand it either. But there are two other reports I
wanted to show you that sparked my interest.”
Fingers played their dance on the table controls, as a fragment of a report
appeared. “This is something one of our agents pulled from a destroyed file in
a Blakist ROM raid we orchestrated some time ago.”
Hohiro’s eyebrows rose, as he was unaware of any such use of a Fury Team, but
refrained from asking.
Before me. I do not want to know.
“There’s a mention here of a solicitation for technical specifica-
tions on a mining ship. Dated 3043.”
“Okay.” Hohiro curbed his impatience; knew the man well enough to know he was
not delaying on purpose, but simply composing his thoughts on the fly to make
his best case.
“That’s not significant, of course. Except the name attached to the
solicitation. Kernoff.”
Hohiro straightened slightly. “Alexander Kernoff? What could
Blake’s head of ROM want with a mining ship?”
“Exactly. Course this would be well before the schisms, or even before he was
head of ROM. In fact, to be honest, there’s no other name on here but Kernoff.
So it might not be him at all.”
Hohiro nodded at the safe statement, running a hand through his hair, as his
mind tried to find a fit. “Right. And how many Kernoffs are likely to be
asking after mining ships, on solicitation reports that appear on a destroyed
data disc.”
“Exactly.”
He ran around that for several minutes, but came up blank.
“Doesn’t make any sense.”
“Yup. And then the final tidbit. Another piece of information
Wolfnet passed on. A partial decoded transcript from an inter-
cepted message from the Chaos March, good year and a half gone, now.” Fingers
once more danced, then he pointed out three high-
lighted words. “Most of it’s nonsensical and I’m confident they broke the
first encryption, but they don’t have the keycode, so it might as well be a
recipe for baking cookies.”
“
Hai
.”

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 12
“And while the first word here popped, based on previous intelli-
gence,” he said, finger indicating the first floating word,” it wasn’t until I
did a global search of my data files upon getting the strange tip about the
mining ship that I got another hit here, and here,” he ended, fingers pointing
out the words. Innocuous by themselves, but with this new information…
Gabriel. Miningship. Relocate.
“The Ruins of Gabriel,” Hohiro breathed, ramrod straight now, mind racing. A
stripped yet secret complex of space stations and ship-
yards the Word of Blake had supposedly stumbled across. Location unknown. As
far back as 3058 with the launch of the Free Worlds
League
Impavido
-class WarShip, various intelligence agencies wondered how House Marik

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could have obtained its intersystem maneuvering drive, as they were banned
from such purchases from
Terra, the sole location known to construct such drives. Upon un-
covering the information concerning Gabriel, it wasn’t long before analysts
put two and two together and the “stripped” part sounded less and less likely.
Needless to say, both Wolfnet and ComStar’s
ROM were desperate to find its location, almost paralyzed to think what
secrets it might be divulging to the Blakists.
But with so much happening in the universe—the FedCom Civil
War, various Clan incursions, Ghost Bear/Combine War—it was hard to stay
focused on a phantom…but this. This was very, very interesting.
“The Ruins of Gabriel,” Caradoc repeated, as though a religious mantra.
Hohiro’s mind began racing. “A WarShip? Hiding as a mining-
ship?”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“So they salvaged something from Gabriel, moved it for un-
known reasons, and now have it out in the open.” He shook his head. “But why?
And why spend so much effort disguising it, if you’re just going to
practically light it up on everyone’s radar?”
“Exactly. Oh, almost forgot. If this weren’t all strange enough, MIIO informed
us they’re aware of this situation as well.”
“So?”
“Their exact words were, ‘we obtained it through curiously non-
HPG chatter.’”

BATTLECORPS
Black Mist Rising - Chapter 4 • Page 13
“What does that mean?”
Caradoc shrugged. “You tell me. That’s about as open as they get.”
Hohiro nodded. “So what have your people come up with?”
“We’ve not had this latest bit for very long. So far, about as much as what we
just discussed.”
They both fell silent, contemplating the information. After sev-
eral long heartbeats, Hohiro glanced at his chronometer, and groaned,
surprised at how much time had lapsed.
“Am I boring you?” Caradoc said, the visible effort to lighten the mood plain.
“No. But my ship is lifting off in less than four hours and I’ve still too
many things to do.”
“Ah, the Star League conference.”
“
Hai
.”
“Good luck.” Though his tone and smile jested, a heartfelt emo-
tion rode behind it. The two men exchanged a strong handshake.
Hohiro nodded towards the floating secrets. “I’ll keep thinking on that. But
not sure how much time I can spend on it. First to
Orestes to meet up with the First Lord and then I’m sure he’ll try and keep me
occupied for the long trip to Tharkad.”
Caradoc laughed warmly. “I didn’t bring you here to enlist you as an analyst.
Always appreciate your insight. But, no. Just keep-
ing you in the loop.”
They both nodded again, Hohiro’s a slightly deeper bow of re-
spect for such ongoing courtesies, then departed back through the small
hallway and out into the damp corridors. Rubbed his nose furiously (
had to be the mildew
) as he put each foot down hard to eat up the distance back to his office.
He’d put off leaving long enough. Despite his distaste…it wouldn’t do to be
late.
No, that wouldn’t do at all.

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