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	Fighting in the foothills of the Alamance Mountains, Candy and the other VTOL pilots act as observers for the Armor Guard artillery, guiding in strikes as best they can against the advancing Renegades 'Mechs. The Armor Guard manage to damage or disable some Renegade units, but steadily take casualties; tracking a [[Catapult#Variants|siege variant ''Catapult'']], Candy discovers that it's managed to secure itself in a position which the Armor Guard's artillery can't target it. The ''Catapult'' dismisses her Ferret as a threat, but Candy instinctively decides to use her Ferret to inflict damage the only way she can - by making a ramming attack, targeting the ''Catapult's'' canopy.		Fighting in the foothills of the Alamance Mountains, Candy and the other VTOL pilots act as observers for the Armor Guard artillery, guiding in strikes as best they can against the advancing Renegades 'Mechs. The Armor Guard manage to damage or disable some Renegade units, but steadily take casualties; tracking a [[Catapult#Variants|siege variant ''Catapult'']], Candy discovers that it's managed to secure itself in a position which the Armor Guard's artillery can't target it. The ''Catapult'' dismisses her Ferret as a threat, but Candy instinctively decides to use her Ferret to inflict damage the only way she can - by making a ramming attack, targeting the ''Catapult's'' canopy.
−	A day later, aboard the [[DropShip]] ''[[Honey Bee]]'', [[Captain]] [[John Smith (KB)|John Smith]] of the Killer Bees comes to brief Phredi on the situation on Andarmax. The Second Armor Guards had taken heavy damage and fallen back to their holdout position, and there's no word of the Armor Guards having any VTOLs still active. Worse still, there will be no reinforcements for them; the Second Canopian Cuirassiers have been driven off Drozan by an assault launched by [[Kincade's Rangers]] and [[House Dai Da Chi]]. Phredi bitterly declares that they abandoned people who counted on them, but Smith rebuffs that argument by saying that they didn't abandon the Armor Guard - they failed them. The Killer Bees' responsibility was to do everything they could to ensure the safety of their employers, a duty they failed when they didn't teach the Armor Guard how to choose their battles.	+	A day later, aboard the [[DropShip]] ''[[Honey Bee]]'', [[Captain]] [[Tom Smith]] of the Killer Bees comes to brief Phredi on the situation on Andarmax. The Second Armor Guards had taken heavy damage and fallen back to their holdout position, and there's no word of the Armor Guards having any VTOLs still active. Worse still, there will be no reinforcements for them; the Second Canopian Cuirassiers have been driven off Drozan by an assault launched by [[Kincade's Rangers]] and [[House Dai Da Chi]]. Phredi bitterly declares that they abandoned people who counted on them, but Smith rebuffs that argument by saying that they didn't abandon the Armor Guard - they failed them. The Killer Bees' responsibility was to do everything they could to ensure the safety of their employers, a duty they failed when they didn't teach the Armor Guard how to choose their battles.
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{{InfoBoxProduct | image = | name = | type = Short story | author = [[Kevin Killiany]] | development = | primarywriting = | pages = 14 | cover = | interiorart = | illustrations = | publisher = [[BattleCorps]] | productioncode = | year = 14 September 2007 | ISBN10 = | ISBN13 = | MSRP = | content = | era = [[Succession Wars era]] | timeline = 11&mdash;13 August [[3034]] | series = | precededby = | followedby = }} '''''Commitment''''' is a short story by [[Kevin Killiany]] that was published online on [[BattleCorps]] on 14 September 2007. ==Teaser text== {{quote|''It's never easy being a [[mercenary]]; they don't think the same way as regular soldiers, and when a relationship is added to the mix, things are more than complicated.''}} ==Plot summary== Lance Corporal Candace Lynn is a [[VTOL]] pilot with the [[2nd Magistracy Armed Forces Militia Armor Guard|Second Magistracy Armed Forces Militia Armor Guard]], stationed on [[Andarmax]], a [[Capellan Confederation]] world conquered by the [[Magistracy of Canopus]], implicitly in [[3033]], and is in a relationship with [[Lieutenant]] Alphedra McGowan, one of the members of the [[Killer Bees]] mercenary unit hired by the Magistracy to act as a cadre unit. The [[Second Canopian Cuirassiers]] had easily conquered Andarmax, and had moved on to [[Drozan]], leaving Andarmax to be guarded by the Armor Guard - a MAF militia unit consisting of two [[platoon]]s of VTOLs and a mix of tanks and mobile artillery - and MacGraw's Marauders, a mercenary unit. Candy is a recon pilot, flying a modified [[Ferret]] which has had the machine gun and ammunition of the standard model stripped out and replaced with armor; half of the Armor Guard's VTOLs are unarmed variants like her own. In August 3034 the Capellans deployed the mercenary unit [[5th McCarron's Armored Cavalry|Rob's Renegades]], also known as the [[Fifth McCarron's Armored Cavalry]] regiment, to recapture Andarmax; while MacGraw's Marauders are fighting against half the Renegades around the planetary capital, Candy and the Armor Guard are half a continent away, fortifying in the Alamance Wastes and deploying remote sensors. Faced with certain defeat, the Killer Bees have cited a clause in their cadre duty contract and announced their intention to withdraw, making the prospect of the Magistracy forces holding out for reinforcements tenuous at best, particularly when deprived of the Bees' aerospace forces. Phredi and Candy argue about the Killer Bees plans to withdraw, with Phredi repeatedly emphasizing that the Magistracy forces are looking at certain death if they stop; she repeatedly asks Candy to come with her, arguing that a single Ferret can't make a difference, but Candy is determined to stay and fight for her home and her country - despite Phredi pointing out that she's throwing her life away trying to hold onto someone else's home. The two part ways after arguing, with Phredi and the Killer Bees withdrawing through the Alamance DropPort while the Armor Guard prepare to fight in the wastes. Fighting in the foothills of the Alamance Mountains, Candy and the other VTOL pilots act as observers for the Armor Guard artillery, guiding in strikes as best they can against the advancing Renegades 'Mechs. The Armor Guard manage to damage or disable some Renegade units, but steadily take casualties; tracking a [[Catapult#Variants|siege variant ''Catapult'']], Candy discovers that it's managed to secure itself in a position which the Armor Guard's artillery can't target it. The ''Catapult'' dismisses her Ferret as a threat, but Candy instinctively decides to use her Ferret to inflict damage the only way she can - by making a ramming attack, targeting the ''Catapult's'' canopy. A day later, aboard the [[DropShip]] ''[[Honey Bee]]'', [[Captain]] [[Tom Smith]] of the Killer Bees comes to brief Phredi on the situation on Andarmax. The Second Armor Guards had taken heavy damage and fallen back to their holdout position, and there's no word of the Armor Guards having any VTOLs still active. Worse still, there will be no reinforcements for them; the Second Canopian Cuirassiers have been driven off Drozan by an assault launched by [[Kincade's Rangers]] and [[House Dai Da Chi]]. Phredi bitterly declares that they abandoned people who counted on them, but Smith rebuffs that argument by saying that they didn't abandon the Armor Guard - they failed them. The Killer Bees' responsibility was to do everything they could to ensure the safety of their employers, a duty they failed when they didn't teach the Armor Guard how to choose their battles. == Featured BattleTech == === BattleMechs === * ''[[Hussar]]'' * ''[[JagerMech]]'' * ''[[Catapult]]'' * ''[[Vindicator]]'' === Combat Vehicles === * [[Ferret]] * [[Manticore]] * [[SRM Carrier]] * [[Vedette]] === DropShips === * ''[[Leopard]]''-class ''[[Honey Bee]]'' === JumpShips === * ''[[Invader]]''-class ''[[Queen Bee]]'' == Notes == * In this short story the Killer Bees are operating a ''Leopard''-class DropShip named the ''Honey Bee''. ''[[Field Manual: Mercenaries Revised]]'' and ''[[Mercenaries Supplemental Update]]'' both show two ''Leopards'' operated by the Killer Bees, named the ''[[Gall Wasp]]'' and ''[[Hornet's Nest (Individual Leopard-class DropShip)|Hornet's Nest]]''. It may be that the ''Honey Bee'' was renamed into one of these two ships, or it may be that it was no longer in service with the Bees in the 3060s.<ref name="FMMRp82">''Field Manual: Mercenaries (Revised)'', p. 82, "Killer Bees; Death by Paper Cuts"</ref><ref name="MSUp77">''Mercenaries Supplemental Update'', p. 77, "Killer Bees"</ref> * This short story has the Killer Bees operating an ''Invader''-class JumpShip, the ''Queen Bee''. According to ''Field Manual: Mercenaries Revised'' and ''[[Historical: War of 3039]]'' the Killer Bees captured an ''Invader'' during the [[War of 3039]].<ref name="FMMRp82"/><ref name="H:WO3039p58">''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 58, "Lyran Operations"</ref> Operating and maintaining this JumpShip reportedly nearly bankrupted the Killer Bees,<ref name="FMMRp82"/> raising the question of how the Killer Bees could be operating an ''Invader'' five years before. Either the presence of the ''Queen Bee'' is a narrative contradiction, or the Killer Bees were operating two JumpShips after the capture of the Combine ''Invader'' in the War of 3039, and subsequently lost or sold the second. ''Commitment'' postdates ''Historical: Brush Wars'' by a year, making ''Commitment'' the most recent canon source. * The reference to Andarmax being conquered in 3033 is unclear; the text refers to needing to deploy remote sensors that weren't needed a year ago, and that Colonel Centrella and the Second Canopian Cuirassiers had rolled over the Andarmax Planetary Militia. ''[[Historical: Brush Wars]]'' states that Andarmax was conquered in December [[3030]] by the Killer Bees and the Magistracy Militia, and that the campaign was intended to give the inexperienced Militia a chance to test their skills. The Killer Bees reportedly guided the Militia into a week-long and relatively bloodless campaign, creating a swift victory.<ref name="H:BWp57">''Historical: Brush Wars'', p. 57, "Andarmax (December)"</ref> This contradicts the reference to the Second Canopian Cuirassiers being involved. ''Historical: Brush Wars'' has the Second Canopian Cuirassiers on Repulse in 3030 and 3031, Drozan in 3032, and New Roland in 3033/3034.<ref name="H:BWp87">''Historical: Brush Wars'', p. 87, "The Andurien Wars"</ref> == References == <references/> == Bibliography == * ''[[Field Manual: Mercenaries Revised]]'' * ''[[Historical: Brush Wars]]'' * ''[[Historical: War of 3039]]'' * ''[[Mercenaries Supplemental Update]]'' [[Category:BattleCorps publications]] [[Category:Short Stories]] [[Category:Works by Kevin Killiany]]

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