New
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
12 June 3050
Joshua and Daisaku burst into the waiting area of the infirmary. A blond man in his early thirties was waiting there with a worried look on his face.
“Where is she?” demanded urgently Joshua of the nurse.
“My sister is inside, being cared for.” Interrupted Chris.
“And you are?”
“Christopher MacLeod. I’m Lisa’s older brother. We were told at the castle that something had happened to her.”
“Yeah.” Said Joshua flatly. “I’m Joshua Messer. This is my colleague Daisaku Hayakusora. We’re friends of Lisa.”
“You were the one that found her?”
“I was.”
The MacLeod’s family doctor emerged from the examination room.
"Dr. Jefferson, how is she?" asked Chris.
“She’ll live. She was pretty badly beaten. And…” he paused looking for the right words. “…well, I think you already know what else he did to her.”
Neither Chris nor Daisaku had heard anything about that and were both taken aback. Joshua stood there stoically, letting his rage boil within.
“That monster!” snarled Chris.
“Can we see her?” asked Joshua flatly.
"She's inside." said the doctor.
The room to which he led them was empty. The window swung open in the wind.
“Son of a bitch. Where did she go?” exclaimed Daisaku.
“She went after O’Malley.” Said Joshua.
“He’ll kill her.” Said Chris. “We have to stop her.”
“Where would she go? Where would she look for him?”
“The
stables. Come with me.”
The three men burst into the stables, but neither Lisa nor O’Malley were there. O’Malley’s horse was missing as well as another.
“He’s on horseback and she followed.” Said Joshua, stating the obvious. “Where would he go?”
“I don’t know.” Said Chris. “He always used to go riding near the ocean cliffs. But surely, he won’t follow a predictable pattern. Not with have the law enforcement on the planet after him.”
“He will if he wants her to find him.” Said Daisaku.
Joshua turned and headed back to the jeep. “Show us where he would go,” he barked at Chris.
“This way.” Chris pointed. Daisaku jumped in the back of the jeep and Joshua hit the gas.
Chris led Joshua and Daisaku to the cliffs by the ocean north of the castle, towards the O'Brian manor house. The waves were crashing onto the rocks several dozen meters below. Off in the distance, they could see a figure in white.
“That’s a hospital gown.” Said Chris. “That’s her!”
Joshua slammed on the brakes a few dozen meters from where Lisa was standing. She was dangerously close to the edge.
“What is she doing?”
“NO!” cried Joshua. He jumped from the jeep and ran to her side. Just as Lisa was about to take a lethal step forward, he grabbed her and pulled her back. "NO!" he repeated, his voice tinged with desperation. "God, no. I won't lose you like this."
"Let me go. Let me die." She wailed. He held her tightly and her struggles ceased. She clung to him as rain began to fall.
“No, you’re stronger than this. We’re stronger than this. Pull yourself together, Lisa.”
“Hold me.” She wailed. Joshua did so as she erupted in tears.
“Ah, there you all are.” Said a voice. Daisaku spun to see O'Malley standing there.
Chris gritted his teeth. “You’ll not touch her again.”
"Try to stop me, Boy-prince."
Chris charged O'Malley. Robert pulled out a broadsword and scabbard. He swung the still-sheathed sword and struck Chris across the side of his face. The heir-apparent went flying. Daisaku prepared to move next.
"No!" snapped Joshua. Daisaku moved to Lisa’s side as Joshua stood up. "He’s mine."
Anduril flashed into Joshua's hand, it's endo steel blade shined in the dim light. "You'll not find me as easy as Christopher."
"So much the better." said O'Malley with an evil grin. O’Malley drew his blade and tossed the scabbard aside.
Joshua charged. Robert cleanly parried Joshua's first thrust. Joshua darted backwards, keeping his anger in check, but only barely.
O'Malley slashed, and Joshua parried. Joshua shoved forward, as did O'Malley so their faces were put inches from one another.
"I'll send you over that cliff, boy. Seeing your brains dashed upon those rocks will give me more pleasure than taking from Lisa what was rightfully mine."
Joshua pushed and knocked Robert off-balance. Before Robert could recover, Joshua lifted his sword and slashed downward. His blow connected, slicing a deep cut across Robert's face from his hairline to the edge of his lip. He cried out and grabbed his face.
“You’re a monster. And now you look like one.”
Robert stepped back in pain and surprise, trying to wipe the blood from his face. Joshua took up a defensive posture, pulling his sword hilt in line with his hip.
"You'll pay dearly for that, you little runt." said O'Malley.
Joshua stepped back and lowered his sword. He looked at Lisa, who did nothing but look at the ground and cling to Daisaku. O'Malley charged just as Joshua was turning back to face him. Two strikes came as rapid as lightning, which Joshua barely parried. Joshua nearly lost his grip on his sword and O'Malley attacked again. Joshua's sword went flying off to one side and Joshua fell on his back, defenseless.
“You’ll never have her again.” O’Malley snarled, raising his sword to deliver the final blow. There was a crack and O'Malley jerked as a bullet flew past his head. He spun towards the shooter. Both he and Joshua saw that Lisa had drawn Daisaku's gun and was pointing the smoking weapon at Robert.
“You will not touch him.” Said Lisa with a fierceness Joshua had never heard in her voice. O'Malley backed away. He glared balefully at Lisa.
“Do it.” He taunted. “Shoot me.”
No one moved. The only motion was the Lisa’s shaky grip on the pistol. Off in the distance, sirens could be heard.
“You lose, O’Malley” said Joshua. “That’s the police. It’s over.”
“It’s not over yet, boy.” He raised his sword again to strike. Lisa fired again, the round whizzed past his face.
He turned back to Lisa. “If you’re going to kill me, kill me already!” He roared. “You lack the courage.” He said with an evil smile.
At that moment, the police jeep slid to a stop next to Joshua’s. They jumped out of the jeep and quickly surrounded O’Malley.
“Stand down, Hauptmann.” Ordered the MP Commander to Lisa. “Stand down. We’ve got him.”
Lisa dropped the pistol and ran over to Joshua. Joshua regained his feet and she threw herself into his arms.
"Are you alright?" she muttered, burying her face in his chest.
"Yeah,” he said, “Yeah, I'm fine. I owe you one."
“I’m sorry about this. Sorry about everything.”
“Don’t worry about that now. Let’s get you back to the infirmary.”
Militia Headquarters
New
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
13 June 3050
Marshall Steiner was present in the command center when Daisaku and Joshua arrived.
“Well, this was an unexpected development. O’Malley in jail on charges of rape and assault.”
“The New Belfast police have impeccable timing.” Complained Joshua. “A few seconds later and we’d be having a funeral, not an arraignment.”
“For who? Him or you?” interjected Daisaku.
“Either…both. It was a bit of a close one.”
“Well, with O’Malley in jail and his aide-de-camp in the hospital, we are in need of a seasoned battle commander for the militia. Congratulations, Messer. You’ve just been brevetted to Kommandant.”
“Thanks…I think.”
"Now to the business at hand. We've received reports that Waldorff and
“That’s not nearly enough time. And with the militia under a new unfamiliar commander.” Said Joshua.
“We’ll have to make do. I’ve looked over your strategies and I think I’ve found one that may work.” She shuffled through the papers to find the document she wanted. “This one here. As we all remember, the Clans demanded to know our force strength when they arrived in system. We didn’t give them an answer then, but you’re suggesting that we do answer them…dishonestly.”
“If they’re got a halfway means to gather intelligence, they’ll already know the militia is here, but the same intelligence might not be aware of the 10th’s arrival. We might be able to use that to our advantage. We tell them that all we have is the militia and they may attack accordingly.”
"Good.
Get to it. We don’t have much time to get this together."
Joshua and Daisaku poured over their reports and their plans for the next several hours.
“If anything about our history is correct,” said Daisaku. “We know several things about how the Falcons are going to fight. We know they have a strict honor code that forbids them from massing fire against a single opponent, taking advantage unfairly of a weakness, or attacking from deceit.”
“All of which they ignored when they attacked New Vision.”
“Yeah, but we’re the hated Wolverines. So far, we’ve seen them treat the FedCom defenders with a bit more humanity.”
“Fair enough. But what’s your concern?” asked Joshua.
“We don’t yet know how they’ll react to being deceived.”
“I think we can guess.”
“Is it worth the risk?” asked Daisaku. “This is Lisa’s home planet. The stakes are higher for us…personally anyway.”
“We’ll never beat them in a stand-up fight and you know that. Let’s just hope by the time they realize our ruse, they’re so badly damaged that they can’t do much harm in their rage.”
New
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
15 June 3050
"So this is your real room?" asked Joshua as the stepped inside.
"Yes, I grew up here." Said Lisa, moving somewhat gingerly. “It’s good to be out of that hospital room.”
“I’m just glad you weren’t more badly hurt.”
“Yeah,” said Lisa quietly. She turned back to giving her guest the tour. "It was a lot of space for a young girl. This room is the study. There’s a bedroom and a bath in the back."
“It’s a nice place.”
Lisa sat down, again somewhat gingerly onto the sofa in the study. “The last few days are a blur. Never in a million years would I have thought him capable of all that he did. He just changed, like that.” She snapped her fingers to demonstrate her point. “I know I never told you that I had found someone else. I knew where you were. I could have sent a message.”
“None of that matters now. I’m not angry with you. I just want you to get well again…physically, mentally, emotionally. What he did to you is unthinkable.”
“I have you. That helps.” She paused. “I won’t try to jump off a cliff again. I completely lost it out there, mad with pain and shame. Your voice brought me back.” She paused again. “You know the worst part about the whole damn thing. I have never been more afraid. I’m afraid now. Afraid of everything. It’s like I’ve lost all my courage. That’s why I couldn’t shoot him. I wanted to. I want him dead, but I couldn’t do it.”
“You’ll find that in yourself again.” He sat down next to her. “Right now, you’re still recovering. Trying to make sense of what’s happened.”
“Yeah, I guess.” She leaned up against him. “But I’m still afraid.”
“You’re trembling right now.”
“It’s because you’re next to me and I know what I want you to do. But I’m afraid of what will happen if you try.” She looked at him. “To have someone touch me there again, I’m not sure I can handle that.”
“You don’t need to apologize for that.”
“I love you, Joshua. Even after all that’s happened, I still do. I just wish I could show it like I used to.”
“You have nothing to prove to me.”
“Yeah, I do. I acted as though all our promises to one another meant nothing. And now here you are, as nice and strong and supportive as ever, reminding me of all the reasons I made those promises to begin with. Making me feel all the more guilty for betraying you.”
“You carry enough burdens for now.” Said Joshua. “Don’t add to them. I don’t fault you for anything. Right now, I’m simply content to be here, by your side.”
Lisa closed her eyes and let out her breath in discontent. “I would give anything to have a peaceful night of sleep again.”
“Then sleep. And when you wake, I will still be here.”
New
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
16 June 3050
Daisaku yawned as he walked into the mech bay. On Galileo, the cockpit opened and Joshua stepped out.
"You're up early this morning." said Daisaku.
"Had some repairs to take care of."
"That’s the techs’ job. How's Lisa?"
“Traumatized. Sore. Tired. Fearful. That’s about it in summary.”
“I know this is going to sound cold, but it needs to be asked. Can she fight?”
“I don’t know.” Said Joshua. “I know we need every trained mechwarrior we have, but I’m not sure she’s mentally able to do it.”
“That’s unfortunate. Now what exactly are you doing?”
“Just fine tuning some things. After the fight in the canyon, they miscalibrated every instrument I had when they patched her up." he stood up and climbed down to the floor.
"Galileo seems like a misplaced name for a BattleMech. You never did tell me why you chose it?"
"I assume you remember your history: Ancient astronomer on ancient Terra who discovered that the Earth orbited the sun rather than the reverse. For that radical idea, he was mocked and put on trial, nearly killed for heresy. His plight reminds me of our people. He was also always looking to the stars, and there’s enough of a romantic in me that I like that thought."
“Now, if memory serves, Lisa named her Phoenix Hawk Gil-Galad after the warrior in the old Lord of the Rings stories. I would have thought you’d follow suit, given how you have a sword named for those books.”
“Oh, there’s a connection. Gil-Galad in the language of the elves in those stories means ‘starlight.’”
“Ah, subtle. I like it.” Daisaku paused. “You know, back to the other topic, there’s really only one way to find out how Lisa’s going to handle combat. But we can get started by seeing how she handles a trial run.”
“I was thinking that. Maybe get some small wargames going to get her back into practice and to see how she reacts. Maybe we can get her to put Gil-galad through some paces."
“Not a bad idea. I need to give my mech a post-repair shake-down too."
"Leftenant Messer, please report to the command center." said the PA system.
"The witch must want you for something." said Daisaku. Daisaku was referring to Marshall Steiner.
Joshua hit the switch on his mech radio. "This is Leftenant Messer. Acknowledged." He turned to Daisaku. "I have to go."
"See you later."
New
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
16 June 3050
"Look, you're going to have to offer more this time, Colonel." Said the short unkempt man. "The last time you called in a favor of me, you got one of my best assassins killed. Whoever this pest of yours is, he’s more trouble than he's worth."
"I'll pay your price, Sebastian. I want him dead."
"No, I changed my mind. This isn’t worth it, no matter how much you offer." Said Sebastian with finality. "I'm not going to waste any more of my goons on your petty little vendetta. Murder's not my style anyway. I run prostitutes, a few drugs, a lot of luxuries smuggling, but not murder."
"Since when have you cared?" snarled Robert.
"I care, because I have a business to run. Hell, why would I whack this boy for you when he might even have been a customer someday, perhaps a loyal one. How much more money might I make that way than by taking your offer?"
"You'll regret this, Sebastian." Robert's voice had lost all politeness.
“You’re no longer in any position to make threats, O’Malley. You fuckin’ raped the Duke’s daughter. I’m amazed they’re going to give you a fair trial. You’re nothing.”
Had there not been protective glass between O’Malley and his visitor, he might have lunged at him. “I’ll get out of here and once I’m through with Messer, you’re next.”
“Keep dreaming. What are you going to do? Come after me? Others have tried before. Baron O'Brian was particularly fond of doing it. But I'm still in business. Those I can’t buy off I do bury. Messy business, but sometimes even I have to get my hands dirty.” Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “Frankly, O’Malley, you’re one of the few I would want to kill for the hell of it.”
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
17 June 3050
Lisa shivered under the blanket. Beside her, Joshua drew her close to keep her warm. “Cold or fear?” he asked.
Lisa proved more easy to persuade to get back into a mech cockpit than Joshua had thought. She readily agreed to take Gil-Galad out for some exercises with Joshua and Daisaku, including some combat practice. Daisaku had left them some hours ago. And much to Joshua’s surprise, Lisa apparently had decided to conclude their day with a cliff-side tryst.
“Cold actually. I'm not usually outside in New Belfast weather buck naked.”
“This was a real surprise after our conversation the other day.”
“I may nothing to prove to you, Joshua, but I had to prove to myself that I could do this. That I could stand to feel your touch. Just like I had to prove to myself I could climb into that cockpit again. I won’t let O’Malley destroy everything that you and I have built together.”
“That’s the Lisa I remember.” Said Joshua proudly.
She kissed him briefly. “I’m still cold.”
"You've a blanket over you and me beside you. What more do you need?"
"Umm, not much." Purred Lisa, kissing him again. "Another blanket maybe?"
“Alright,” he relented. “I’ll see what I can do.” Joshua stood up and walked over to the foot of Galileo. The loss of his body heat made Lisa shiver more.
"Looks like the weather is changing." Said Joshua. “It’s getting colder.”
“It won’t be a spectre. Too late in the year.”
“No, but there is a storm over the waters. Too bad it’s not a spectre. The weather gods might be smiling upon us if the Falcons had to fight us in one of those.”
Spectre storms were hurricane-like snow storms that came off of New Belfast’s poles in early spring and late autumn. They’d gained their spectral nickname because of the intensity of the snowfall and their known lethality.
"You
know, as much as I’d like to spend more time out here, I’m not liking the looks
of that. We'd better get dressed and return to base before that storm makes
landfall."
“Alright,”
said Lisa reluctantly. “You win.”
Lisa parked Gil-galad in its alcove and powered it down. Her mech was in good condition, more than ready to face what was coming. She was pleased about that. She stepped out of the cockpit and looked down at the personal emblem she had chosen for it. It was of a knight in plate mail armor, brandishing a shiny spear. Christopher had designed the emblem for her soon after she arrived and an artistically inclined tech had painted it on. It was meant to illustrate the fictional elven king from the novels and films that Joshua had introduced her to at NAMA.
“I like your emblem.” Said Joshua.
“Do you? I thought you might. It’s all your fault, you know. You keep introducing me to all this weird stuff.”
“It’s not weird, just lost for generations.”
Suddenly a klaxon blared, rousing the base to alert.
"That can only mean one thing....." said Lisa.
"The Jade Falcons." Said Joshua. “They’re here.”
Next Chapter
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