New Belfast
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
11 March 3053
An ugly thunderstorm had descended upon the New Belfast plain, making aerial searches now pointless. But Erik had managed to discern the most probable location of Lisa and her mech, that being the nearby DeTerre collective farm, located some 500 kilometers from MacLeod City.
“It’s a hike, but not too tough for a fast mech like Lisa’s.” critiqued Erik as the car rolled to a stop at the front gate of the collective. “At top speed, it would only take five hours for her to get out here.”
The private security guard waved them through, having been informed of their arrival before hand. The car drove in and parked in front of the impressive manor house, located on the far eastern edge of the million square kilometer complex.
Baron Francois DeTerre, Lisa’s uncle, met Erik at the door. “I have heard of your plight. Yes, your guess about Lisa was correct, she was here. She seemed in her right mind when I saw her. Although I did note the absence of her infant child. I thought that odd.”
“Daniel is fine. He is in the care of Lady Marian as we speak.” said Erik. “Where is she now?”
“Early this morning, just before the storm came, she left the manor and drove her mech northward.”
“What’s up there?”
“Grain fields, obviously. Several collection points are also along that path, large granaries for storage of the harvested product and the means to transport them off the collective.”
“Transport?” queried Erik. “What kind?”
“Rail mostly, some have airstrips. The Orleans base has a ferrocrete pad for dropships, but no other facilities for those craft, so we don’t count as a true spaceport.”
“How far is Orleans?”
“Maybe 200 kilometers from here.”
“Any dropship launches from there this morning?”
“You don’t think....”
“I don’t know what Lisa’s up to,” said Erik frankly. “But I’m not ruling out anything.”
---
Surrounding each of the massive storage facilities was a fairly large town. These towns sprang up to house the workers of the collective that were assigned a given section of the fields. As time went on, service industries became a necessity in these towns and the collective allowed development companies to come in. Malls, banks, and other such places sprang up and the towns took life of their own, sometimes employing as many people in these support industries as they did on the fields.
Orleans was no different. With a population of 10,000, it was one of the larger of these towns. The large airstrip and dropship pad had made this town the center point of the eastern half of the collective. Erik and the Baron arrived soon after the storm broke, driving onto the tarmac of an airstrip still wet with the hard rain.
The Baron stepped out first, not taking the time to breathe in the fresh moist air. Erik did so, and regretted it, as while the rain gave the land about a new freshness, it enhanced the subtle and not-so-pleasant odor of the fertilizer on the nearby grain fields. He coughed.
“I forget you are not a native, General Iolair.” Said the Baron. “We go accustomed to the odors of agriculture.”
“Let’s find Lisa.”
Gil-Galad was parked not far away, standing unattended near a large pipeline. Erik scaled the ladder to the cockpit and looked inside, knowing full well that Lisa would not be here. He looked down at the Baron and confirmed with a nod her absence.
The Baron slipped away to speak to a nearby aircraft mechanic. He returned quickly. “Yes, there was a launch this morning.” he said mournfully.
“Let’s confirm that she was on that ship.” said Erik, clinging to one last hope. He knew better, but it was wise to be thorough.
The Palace
Dieron
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
15 March 3053
As Victor had predicted, the Conspiracy forces quit the field of battle once they confirmed they could not reach the delegation without risking becoming trapped on world. They took to their dropships and left within hours of Joshua and Victor’s arrival in Seow.
The battle fought by the security forces did not go unrecognized. Takashi Kurita and Victor Davion both consented as their first joint decision to create a new medal for those who fought valiantly in the defense of the new Star Alliance. This new medal, the Defender of Dieron, was awarded to all the security battalion. Those who did not survive received the medal posthumously. Joshua placed the new award next to his Silver Sunburst, an award he’d earned after the battle of Donegal.
After the awards ceremony, Victor pulled Joshua aside with distressing news. “It seems Ryan’s allies are better organized than we feared. Already, mech regiments loyal to Duke Ryan have occupied Skye March worlds, have declared independence, and have declared war on the Combine.”
“And Tamar?”
“They are quiet, thankfully. Perhaps they fear the Clans more now than Kurita, but I don’t know.”
“What do you want us to do?”
“At present, nothing more than what you have already shown yourself committed to doing. Keep the Clans from taking advantage of this. I’ve already negotiated a new contract with the Dark Rangers, and have awarded them a small portion of land on the Tamar world of Babeski. I hope to use them to harass the Jade Falcons and keep them too busy to worry us right now.”
“What then you are calling this? A rebellion? A civil war?”
“I’m reluctant to give in to hyperbole. Ryan’s Conspiracy intends to choke the Lyran half off from the Federated Suns. To do that. he’ll need to occupy certain key worlds in the Terran Corridor. Already, some of my best regiments from both Lyran and Davion space are converging on those worlds. We’ll hold him.”
“And the damage he might cause to our new ally?”
“He’s going to have a lot more to worry about that the Kuritans in a few short weeks.” Said Victor sternly.
“Careful, my friend. Your father paid a lot of political capital for being heavy handed with the last Skye rebellion.”
“This is different. These aren’t disgruntled students waving banners. These are warriors who swore an oath to serve the Archon and have now broken that oath. They have committed treason and they will be punished accordingly.”
---
Logan had come away with more reward than he’d ever hoped. In addition to the medals, Kurita had awarded all three Commonwealth military units with machines to replace their fallen numbers. For the Star Swords, it had meant a few of their own captured Omnimechs, including a vicious Smoke Jaguar design known as the Cauldron Born. That was a great prize indeed. For the Dark Rangers, it meant two mechs of a distinctly Kurita flavor: a new light mech known as SDK-9K Venom and a KTO-20 Kintaro missile platform. Doc took the Kintaro and Rohan claimed the Venom for his own.
The Cauldron Born was a fusion of the sleek squat construction of such mechs as the Uller and Black Hawk with the heavier firepower of the Loki. At 65 tons, it was a formidable opponent, having nearly half of its overall weight in armaments, greater than the feared Mad Cat.
The Venom was fast scout, capable of speeds of nearly 130 kph. Armed with pulse lasers, it was a vicious in-fighter. Already, Rohan was considering modifying the machine to make use of a hatchet weapon to amplify its infighting capabilities.
The Kintaro was a retrofit of a popular Star League machine. It mounted a single five-rack LRM and two six-rack SRM systems. The Star League version carried a Narc beacon system to help guide the missiles, but the Kurita machine carried instead a heavy laser. It was an effective, if uninspired, machine.
“Are you impressed?” asked Gwen as she peaked over the edge of the canopy of the Cauldron Born.
“Aye. I’d never thought I’d see the day when I’d want to give up on Galileo III.”
“Given that it is the third mech to bear that name, I’d say you’ve been forced to give it up quite a few times now.” Gwen teased.
“Touché.”
“You always preferred mediums over heavies anyway.” critiqued Gwen. “You’ll stick with Galileo. You’ve seen too much together to give up on her now.”
“Funny you say that.” Mused Joshua.
“What do you mean?” asked Gwen.
“Am I truly so pathetic as to have more loyalty to my machine than to my wife?”
“Don’t start this again.” Said Gwen exasperated.
Joshua looked at her sternly. “The moment of decision has come. You and Javier had every intention of going back with the rest of us to New Belfast.”
“Yes, we did.”
“But Yuri will need you. The Combine will need you for the days ahead. The Dragon needs agents he can trust, he can count on.”
“You’re tell us to stay. I don’t believe it. You’re lying. That’s not the real reason you’re telling me this.”
“No, it’s not. But it’s still true nonetheless. The Combine will need people like you. But, yes, there is another reason and it is that I need you to be as far away from me as possible. I need to put right what I’ve done here, what I’ve done with you.”
“Don’t lie to yourself, Joshua. You don’t want to go back to her.”
“I made a promise, a promise that I’ve now broken. That’s a sin for which I’ll have to make atonement. And I can’t do that if you’re with me.”
“You will regret this decision.”
“No more so than what I regret now.”
“Don’t let your guilt destroy what we have.”
“No, Gwen, what I’ve done may have destroyed what I already had.”
“O’Malley did that. Not you.”
“I’m not going to argue with you. My mind is made up and decision is final. You will remain with the Combine. It is your Khan’s order.”
“And will you leave us scattered forever, my Khan? Whatever personal reasons you and I may have to be together, there is still the simple fact that our Clan should be united as one. If you leave Javier and I here, then we remain sundered.”
“The Clan will be united…someday. But it is not now. Perhaps, once this crisis is over. Until then, it is good-bye.”
Gwen grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close. Her face was a mix of anger and grief. “I love you, Joshua. I always have. And I’m not giving you up now that I have you back. You may put light-years between us, but you will not change this.” She kissed him forcefully and then slid down the ladder to the ground.
Outbound
Dieron
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
16 March 3053
“Well, we’re finally leaving the Combine.” said Logan.
“Again.” reminded Rohan.
“Under better circumstances, fortunately.”
“Much better. Between the Commonwealth and the Combine, we’ve got enough reward money to expand the unit.”
“Plus a lucrative mercenary contract with the Federated Commonwealth. What more could you ask.”
“Success with your recruitment drive.” offered Joshua.
“True.”
“Once we get to Babeski, hopefully, Cowboy will have gotten us some mercs.” Logan was referring to Cowboy’s trip to Outreach, the mercenary planet, to find new recruits.
“Well, we’ve already gotten a few.” reminded Rohan.
“One company is what I hope to put us at. A few raids into Clan space ought to net us enough Clan weaponry to outfit most of our forces.”
“A little overconfident, Logan?” said a voice. It was Ryan.
“Maybe. But I have some good allies.” He gave Joshua a nudge. “Allies with friends in high places.”
“It’s not just me,” said Joshua humbly. “To rise in this world you must do the difficult. That’s a quote from one of my favorite films, but it’s appropriate here. You did the difficult; You helped saved the Star Alliance conference.”
“Speaking of that, you guys want to hit Alyina first?” queried Logan of his troops.
“Alyina? That’s Pryde’s post.”
“To rise in this world you must do the difficult.” Repeated Logan.
“You’re nuts.”
“But we’re also good.”
New Belfast
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
5 April 3053
Joshua looked out the window at the brightly lit dropship pad. It was dusk on New Belfast, and the lights made the area as bright as day.
“Finally home.” said Ryan. Joshua remained silent.
“Longing or guilt?” he queried.
“Both.” Said Joshua honestly. “I miss her terribly.”
“Which ‘her?’”
“That’s just it.” Said Joshua regretfully. “I don’t know.”
“I’ve spend the last month trying to figure you out, Joshua. Trying to get inside your head and I can’t. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to discover Gwen alive after all these years. In one sense, I don’t blame you for doing what you did. At the same time, Lisa needs you, as does Daniel. It seems to me, the choice is simple. You live in the now or in the past.”
“And which is which, Ryan? Lisa relives the past every night when her nightmares take her back to that camp, back to him. She feels him every time I touch her. She can’t escape her past. Apparently, neither can I.”
Joshua got up to disembark.
The gangplank lowered and Joshua stepped once more into the air of his adopted homeworld. As he looked out over MacLeod City spaceport, he suddenly realized how far away everything seemed to him. Gwen and the events of his stay on Dieron now seemed a distant memory. But being back here, back on this world, even with its evil memories, brought with it a certainty that had eluded Joshua until now. It was if in that single instant, breathing the air of his home that Joshua’s confusion faded.
“It is good to be home.” He said after letting out his breath.
Ryan walked up behind him. “Yes, it is. For one thing, I’m tired of Japanese food.”
Joshua laughed. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed an honor guard approach to welcome them. At its head was Erik Iolair.
“Welcoming us home a bit formally.” Said Ryan. “But then again, I guess we are heroes of the realm now.”
“Guess so.”
Erik Iolair marched forward to greet them as they came off the gangplank. Despite the formality of the honor guard, it was apparent that Erik was bottling some intense emotion. Something was amiss.
“Erik?” asked Joshua. “What’s wrong?”
In response, Erik threw a quick right-handed punch that flattened Joshua. Stunned and surprised, he made no attempt to retaliate, but merely sat on his haunches and rubbed his chin.
“What the hell was that about?”
“Hey, Erik,” intervened Ryan. “Remember Lisa reminded us to be brothers?”
“She did,” said Erik to Joshua. “and, as your brother, it is my solemn duty to kick your ass.”
Ryan moved to restrain Erik. “Wait a minute, Erik. What’s going on?”
Erik paid him no heed save to struggle against him in an effort to get to Joshua, who was still sitting on the tarmac in surprise. “How could you be so stupid?” Erik spat at Joshua.
“Ryan, they know. Somehow they know. And that means…”
“Yeah,” said Erik. “She knew too.”
“Knew?” Fear crossed Joshua’s face. "Knew", not" know." Past tense. “What do you mean ‘knew?’”
“She’s gone, Joshua.”
Joshua came to his feet with lightning speed. He dashed past Erik and ran to a nearby jeep. He jumped in and roared off to the castle.
“We’d best follow him.” Said Ryan.
---
Joshua reached the castle in record time. He ignored the angry glares he got from the castle staff as he ran up to his suite. The room was as he remembered it, but no Lisa.
“She’s not here.” Said Erik. He and Ryan had chased Joshua all the way from the spaceport.
“Daniel?”
“Safe and sound.” Said Erik. “He’s with your sister-in-law right now.”
“What the hell happened?”
“We found two vidchips. They should explain all.” said Erik, walking over to the vidchip player. He put in the first. Lisa appeared on screen in a well furnished bedroom. It was not their room at Castle MacLeod, however.
“It appears to be filmed in a guest room at Manor DeTerre.” said Erik, answering Joshua’s first question.
“This message is for my husband, Joshua. Word has reached me of some of your actions on Dieron. As angry as I should be for your infidelity, I cannot be. I don’t blame you. I have been anything but a model wife to you. You are a human being with desires and needs just like the rest of us. I cannot fill them. You had always been hopeful that I could someday, but we all know now that your patience did indeed have a limit. I’m sorry I failed you.
“I have then, made the decision to leave New Belfast for a time. Perhaps I will find fortune or a new love of my own. I wish you the best. We fought as hard as two people could to win our dream, but O’Malley’s legacy proved too strong. Much like Garrison, it was a battle we could not win no matter how hard we fought. Farewell, dear Joshua.”
Joshua slumped into his sofa. “How…?”
Erik quickly switched chips and showed Joshua the other chip. “That one we found in her mech, abandoned at the dropship launch pad in Orleans. This next one we found in this room, delivered as I understand it by ComStar courier. This should answer your question.”
The second chip was, of course, O’Malley’s initial message and recording of Joshua’s tryst with Gwen. All Joshua could do as he watched his infidelity unfold on screen was shake his head.
Erik turned to Ryan, now satisfied that Joshua was fully aware of the damage he had done. “There is also another matter, one pertinent to the Star Swords as a whole.”
“Juan.” Said Ryan.
“You heard then?”
“Joshua told me he had abandoned Evcilier for Port Moseby.”
“Without orders from me or presumably Joshua, yes. Daisaku’s been trying to garrison Evcilier with his battalion, but he’s stretched thin and if the Falcons find out, we’ll not hold either world.”
“We’d best convene a command staff meeting at once. With what’s left of us.”
---
It took Joshua an hour or so to gather up his things. As he was finishing gathering his effects, Christopher and Marian came in with Daniel. Joshua noticed their arrival, but made no effort to look them in the eye.
“We had heard you had returned.” Said Christopher.
“Yeah, dropship touched down about an hour or so ago. I was just gathering some things.” He paused. “I have forfeited my privileges to call this my home.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” said Christopher angrily.
“You knew Lisa was not herself. You knew what she had undergone, what it had done to her.” Retorted Joshua.
“And that excuses what you did? What of your promise to her, Joshua?”
Joshua tossed Anduril in its scabbard at Christopher’s feet. “If you want justice for her, then run me through and be done with it. I might even thank you for it.” Joshua stared at the floor, still refusing to meet his eyes. “Otherwise, give me my son and let me go.”
Marian approached and gave Daniel over to Joshua. Like her brother, her face was twisted in anger, but unlike him, she said nothing.
Christopher bent down and picked up Anduril. “You still have your duties to the Commonwealth and to this world. You will need this, General.” He said Joshua’s title with a coldness that made Joshua’s hair stand on end. Joshua took the proffered sword without a word and the pair departed.
Joshua moved to the mantelpiece, where he and Lisa had kept their photos of old and present friends. Here normally sat photos of Daisaku, Erik, Ryan, but also of Gwen and Daniel O’Brian. Joshua noted that Lisa’s contribution to that collage were now absent. Only Joshua’s remained. Joshua set Daniel down on the couch and made to gather up the pictures in their frames. The first he set his hand upon was the old photo of Gwen.
Joshua recoiled from the photograph as if bitten. He stepped back and in a burst of anger and shame, he slashed Anduril across the mantelpiece, smashing all the pictures in one mighty blow. He brought the sword around again and smashed it straight down against the stone mantelpiece. The blade caught on the lip of the stone and snapped in two.
Aroused by the noise and the sound of Daniel’s crying, Christopher and Marian dashed back to the room. But they found only the smashed photographs and a broken sword. Joshua and Daniel had already left.
Star Swords Command
New Belfast
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
12 April 3053
“The staff meeting is in five minutes, sir.” Reminded Mechlanthon.
“Thanks for the reminder.” Said Joshua. “Oh, and I did not thank you for preparing quarters for me here on base.”
“I am sure they are a bit more Spartan that what you are accustomed to at the palace, but I hope they serve your purposes.” Said the Clansman. “I must confess, I am a bit confused about this whole affair. Had I been in your shoes and been reunited with an old and dear friend as you were, coupling with her would have been a perfectly appropriate way to celebrate the reunion. But that is not so among the people of the Inner Sphere, quineg?”
“Nor among the Wolverines. I suppose when you grow your children in iron wombs as trueborn clanners are, the idea of family and all that goes into it is a bit alien. The Wolverines, and certainly the Inner Sphere, never developed such technologies and cultural realities that came with them. Family still matters, and loyalty thereto is very important.”
“But I do not see how you violated that. Perhaps I will not. As you say, there many differences between my people and yours.”
“Your way is simpler.” Said Joshua quietly.
Mechlanthon took that as a hint to change the subject. “It is time.” He said.
Joshua stood up and made his way down the hallway to the briefing room, with Mechlanthon following. He walked into the briefing room to see Daisaku already sitting at the table. “You’re early.” Said Joshua.
“I thought it appropriate, given what I had heard happened. Lisa?”
“Is gone.” Said Joshua flatly. “If you want to lecture me, hit me, or otherwise make me feel bad about it, get in line.”
“It was my idea, Joshua. I should never have put it in your head.”
“It was already there, let me assure you.” Confessed Joshua. “I guess it just needed the right person to come along.”
“As to that rumor, is it true?”
“That it was Gwen? Yes, she and Javier both survived New Vision also. They’ve been serving in the Combine much as we have here in the Commonwealth.”
Daisaku shook his head. “She might have forgiven you if it had been anyone but her.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“A one-night stand, a roll in the hay with a total stranger, with someone who meant nothing to you. Lisa might have forgiven you for that. Hell, when I made the suggestion that was what I had in mind also. But not this. Not with her, not with Gwen, of all people.” Daisaku looked at Joshua, who clearly wasn’t following Daisaku’s train of thought. “Don’t you understand? Gwen doesn’t mean nothing to you. There was a time when she meant everything to you and Lisa knows that. You would have come back to Lisa from a nobody.”
“I came back to Lisa from Gwen. I knew what I did with Gwen was wrong, that it was a mistake. I knew it when it started.”
“But it didn’t stop you.” Said Daisaku. “Gwen was everything you ever wanted. How could you say no to that?”
“Are you implying that is why Lisa left?”
“Why else?” said Daisaku. “Joshua, you did more than break a promise. You abandoned her….for the one you really wanted. And now, Lisa is gone. And you are going to have to find a way to live with it.”
Joshua slumped into his seat just as the arrival of the other officers brought Daisaku’s stern comments to a close.
End of Part One
Part Two
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