Chapter Eighteen - Renkesu

Yakuza warehouse
Georgia
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
24 December 3053

Christmas Eve. Tonight, families and friends gathered. But Lisa was involved in something of a cruel mockery of the Christmas tradition of gift giving. Despite the twelve other girls with her and the nearby guards, Lisa was completely alone. There was no sense of family or festivities here. Only despair. The old warehouse was cold, or at least felt that way. After all, she was stripped nude for her "sale."

Renkesu. The word was a title for a Kurita concubine. That was her fate, more elaborate than a typical brothel dweller. She would be instructed in a variety of courtly skills, as well as some finer sexual techniques. Still, her fate was to become someone’s property, the possession of that greasy little man who’d pointed her out from among the others a week earlier.

"Monsters." she thought. "These people are monsters. How does the local government let them get away with this? I'm the oldest one here at 26. Some of these can't be much more that 13 or 14."

The TV was loud and distracting, and kept Lisa from hearing the buyers in the next room. On it was Ryan Steiner, proudly proclaiming the victory of the Conspiracy in a Christmas Eve address to his people. She knew it was bullshit. It had to be. Talk of the Star Swords fleeing before the Conspiracy forces. Of how Duke Ryan’s generals had frightened them from the field of battle.

But the fact that they had come to Oliver still haunted Lisa. “Did he come expecting to find me? Did Joshua come after me after all? God, why didn’t I stay there? It was an ugly world, a desert of iron red sand. But it had none of the dangers that this pristine world here has held.”

The one guard, who was sitting across the room watching the TV, noticed Lisa's disgusted stare. "You'll learn to enjoy this lifestyle, pretty one. A whore for the Baron. To be dressed in fine silks and fed choice foods, and all you have to do is spread your legs every now and then and moan suggestively.” He stood up and towered over her menacingly. “You’ve been given a far better fate than most in Exiletown. Look at me. What do you suppose they give me for guarding your pert little ass?”

“That is enough.” Said a commanding voice. It was Moroshi, the yakuza leader.

The guard backed off. Moroshi gave his a stern glare. “You will not harm that one. She is for the Baron and is to be delivered to him untouched and unspoiled.”

Lisa laughed bitterly at that comment. “If you only knew…”

Exiletown, Georgia
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
10 January 3054

Kyle was washing a set of beer mugs behind the counter, taking a moment during the busy evening to catch back up. Business at his bar had been brisk of late, and it made him nervous. The more customers that came about, the more likely one of them might uncover what went on in the back rooms: Nathan and the two remaining ISF agents and their schemes of rebellion and insurrection.
Kyle certainly had no love for the Conspiracy, even if they did stand against House Kurita. He did not like what he saw when he walked the streets of his home town. He did not like the rumors he heard of what went on after the curfews came up. Those stories had come home to haunt him. For weeks now, he’d heard nothing from his waitress, the young vagrant named Lisa who came to him looking for work and a place to stay. When he wasn’t helping Nathan and the others plan their little revolt, he’d been searching for a clue to her whereabouts. What had become of her? Was she alright?

“Are you Kyle MacDougal?” said the voice of the man behind him.

“I am.” Kyle turned around, drying his hands on a dish towel. He was startled to look into the face of Richard O’Malley, the head of Conspiracy Intelligence. He went nearly white in fright. “They’ve found us.”

“You placed a missing persons report some weeks ago for a young lady who was in your employ, did you not?”

“I did.” Replied Kyle, finding his voice.

“For one Lisa MacLeod. That was her name.”

“That was what she told me when I hired her.” Said Kyle. “Why, if I may ask, is Conspiracy Intelligence interested in my case?”

Richard appeared to ignore the inquiry. “Is this the woman you hired?” He slid a photograph across the bar. It showed a woman who looked remarkably like Lisa in a Steiner military uniform. He recognized the unit patch on her shoulder, two crossed swords behind a white star.

“I believe so.”

“In answer to your query, Mr. MacDougal, she is a dangerous fugitive. An agent provocateur sent here to us by House Davion.”

“Sir, I had no…”

“I am well aware of your ignorance in this matter, Mr. MacDougal. If you had been one in her employ, I doubt you would have had need to uncover her location nor been so overt in your efforts to track her down. But it would serve our investigations if you would direct me to her place of residence.”

“I can give you her address. She lived in an apartment just a few blocks from here.” He reached over and scribbled her address on a cocktail napkin. “Best to look cooperative,” he thought silently to himself. "If Nathan and I can't find her easily, I doubt this creep can either."

O’Malley took the napkin and folded it into his pocket. “Thank you. You have been most helpful. Good day, sir.”

“And to you.” Said Kyle. He watched as O’Malley walked out the door. “If she was a Davion agent, Bum would have known. There’s more going on here than meets the eye.”

O’Malley forced the door to Lisa’s apartment open. It was as she had left it, sparsely furnished, a few piles of unwashed laundry draped over a battered suitcase. Little else.

O’Malley moved about the small apartment, uncertain of what he was looking for. MacDougal’s confirmation of the woman he had been seeking was indeed Lady Lisa MacLeod of New Belfast, wife to Joshua Messer, had thrilled O’Malley to no end. It had been a long shot. Of all the trillions of people living in the Inner Sphere, what were the odds that the “Lisa MacLeod” this barkeep had been searching for was the same as one who had struck down his brother on New Belfast nearly two years earlier? And yet it was. O’Malley could hardly believe that fortune had so smiled upon him as to deliver one of his brother’s murderers into his hands.

But then she wasn’t in his hands, not yet. MacDougal’s missing persons report troubled him. Lisa had vanished and MacDougal clearly had no idea where she had gone. Had she left Northwind entirely? Had she been robbed, murdered by any number of the desperate rogues that now haunted Georgia’s streets at night? Was she in the hands of the Yakuza and their sex slavery rings? Bin Fiacial? Or was it O’Malley that was the hunted and not the hunter? Was she preparing to make a move he hadn’t anticipated, vengeance for his standing idly by as his brother ravaged her time and again? Too many questions still unanswered.

O’Malley kicked aside a blouse to uncover beneath a sword scabbard and pistol. Further confirmation as to the identity of his quarry.

“She’s here all right. But where exactly?”

“Sir, it is getting close to time.” Said one of his bodyguards from the doorway of the apartment.
“There is nothing to be found here. Come. Let us spring our little trap.”

---

Moroshi pulled his jacket tight. The seasonal rains in Georgia gave the air a damp chill. Yakuza soldiers paced nervously nearby. He checked his watch. Five minutes until 10. Soon the “rebellion” would be here to buy their weapons. Soon, O’Malley and ConsInt would spring their trap.

He hated doing this. Napineo held his wife and children hostage in Napineo’s prison castle. Their safety was his first priority, but it meant he had to betray everything he held sacred: his integrity, his honesty, and his loyalty to the Combine. Prostitution was one thing, but the abduction gangs turned his stomach. Napineo controlled his entire life.

“Damn, I wish it was time. I want to get this over with.” He muttered out loud.

A large van drove up and parked some distance away. It was followed by several more. The weapon shipment was supposed to be huge, requiring several trucks to carry it all. So much the better to get more of them at once, reasoned Napineo.

The rebel leader, an odd looking Caucasian with visible burn scars, approached Moroshi. “We’re here for the merchandise.”

“It arrived yesterday by dropship and is now in the trailer parked behind me.” Replied Moroshi.
“Napineo be damned. If I’m to be Judas to these people, then let them have their weapons first. Might give them a fighting chance to get out of this trap.”

The rebels began to load the equipment from the trailer truck to their vans. The ConsInt soldiers lying in wait around them however were not content to wait for Moroshi’s signal. They attacked.

Javier was carrying a box of assault rifles when he heard the loud popping noise of sonic stunner guns. He dropped the box immediately. It burst open and he grabbed a rifle from within. He loaded it and opened fire on the ConsInt soldiers that seemed to come from everywhere.

“Damn! It’s a trap.” He called. To his surprise, the Yakuza soldiers opened fire themselves, but on the rebels.

“We’ve been betrayed!” exclaimed Kyle, just as a ConsInt trooper clubbed him down with a stun baton.

“Enough of this, I’m out of here.” Thought Javier. Two ConsInt soldiers attacked him, their stun batons sparkling in the moist air. They lunged at him. Javier dodged one and slammed the butt of the rifle down on his head. The second struck home with the baton and Javier staggered back. The soldier was about to strike again when a bullet tore through his skull.

“Now we’re even from the other night.” Said Gwen, brandishing her pistol. The two ran for the vans. Javier jumped into the driver’s seat while Gwen held off the ConsInt soldiers with her gun.

“I just hope they don’t have any heavy weapons.” He muttered.

“They look like they’ve been ordered to capture, not kill. I don’t see any lethal weapons on them at all. Just the Yakuza bastards have guns.” Said Gwen. “Nathan will not be happy about this.”

“Who says I am?” said Javier, gunning the engine and tearing down the rain slicked road away from the scene of battle.

“You know, I’m really sick of running away from these bastards.”

“So am I, Gwen.”

Napineo Estate
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
24 January 3054

"What's wrong, Princess?"

Oh, yes, that was the name Lisa had taken, at least to Napineo. Her real name, she kept that deep inside. She turned to look upon the Baron.

"Aren't you happy?" asked the Baron softly. Lisa shook her head.

For three weeks, Lisa spent every hour of her life learning how to be the ideal mistress of Migael Napineo. The programming was extensive, but Lisa was determined not to lose herself in the midst of it. She would survive this, as she had survived so much else.

Being a renkesu concubine did have its perks, however. Napineo was not a hard master; As the yakuza guard had implied would happen, he had bought her many gifts, expensive clothes, jewelry, only the finest. He had bought her anything and everything. She lacked for nothing, save a loving touch. Those were the worst times, when Miguel touched her. It was always so cold, so manipulative. She might have come to like this man, even enjoy his company, if not for the black soul she sensed within him when he drew close.

"It's raining." said Lisa flatly.

"Looking out over a prison camp in the rain can surely get you down.” His voice grew soft and compassionate. “But I sense there is more to it than that. Come here. Tell me what's wrong?"

“It is nothing.” Said Lisa. She was not about to share her intimate thoughts with this man, no matter how sincere his concern seemed to be. She knew better.

"I wish you would be more open with me." He turned her so she would face him. There came that touch again, chilling her.

“You didn’t buy me to be a human being.” She said boldly. “My thoughts are not what you want. This is.” She opened her robe at the waist to make her point.

His hand came sharply across her face. She expected that, but it meant nothing. She would not let him harm her, not where it mattered.

“You still haven’t learned. And after all that I have given you."

Napineo's temper was infamous. She knew he couldn't hold it to save his life. He reminded her of Robert, although there was none of the madness that he had displayed in Napineo. In some ways, that made Napineo worse, proof of the devil beneath his cultured veneer and sweet words.

She knew what was coming. It came every time. She remembered the first time Napineo had beat her. She had fallen down after the sixth or seventh hit. From there, he continued to kick her. After that, he forced himself upon her, raping her.

It might have been the nightmare all over again. But somehow it was different now. Had Robert’s tortures made her immune? Or was it apathy, having lost so much that it no longer mattered what he did to her? She wasn’t sure, but she did know one thing. It gave her pleasure to provoke him. And each time he beat her, each time he forced himself upon her, it only made her all the more defiant.
Napineo’s next blow came a second later. But Lisa refused to cow before him. The blows came harder, and there was more. There was sure to be marks this time.

----

When he had finished with her, there came a sharp knock on the door of his chambers. "Enter!" snapped Napineo as he pulled up his pants.

“Have I come at a bad time?” said Richard O’Malley sardonically.

Abject terror spread through Lisa. From her place on Napineo’s bed, she could not see nor be seen by the man who entered, but she knew that voice. She may not fear Napineo, but O’Malley was another story entirely.

"Subhash Indrahar was killed by one of his own concubines." said O’Malley. “You should take a lesson from that, Miguel." O’Malley sat down on a corner of the bed and gave Lisa’s leg an affectionate rub, as if in mockery. He thankfully still did not realize her identity. "Remember that the next time you lose your temper."

"You didn't come to advise me on master-concubine relations. Why are you here?"

"More prisoners, the bulk of the DMI rebellion.”

“Nathan Bairn?”

O’Malley shook his head. “He slipped out of our grasp. But soon we will have him."

“Rumor has it he has some new help.”

“I have heard the rumor. Two survivors of the ISF attack, but it goes unconfirmed. Planetary Security is trying to track them down.”

“Things are going well for the both of us then.”

“My father grows concerned about Bin Fiacial and the other elders with him.”

“Is that a hint?”

“Don’t be coy with me, Napineo. I know Bin Fiacial is your operation. You have your whores and your name restored. Don’t make me regret suggesting that to Duke Ryan. Scale back your operations. The prisoners I provide will give you enough flesh for your brothels. But I will not tolerate further chaos in the streets. Northwind will have order under Duke Ryan. You can either be a part of that, or I will bring you down myself.”

Rebel Hideout
Exiletown, Georgia, Northwind
Conspiracy Occupied Zone, Federated Commonwealth
27 January 3054

“Son of a bitch, maybe Kyle was right. I shouldn’t have trusted the Yakuza.” Nathan literally shook with rage. “Now O’Malley and his damned Conspiracy Intelligence are scooping up our supporters right and left.”

“We know where they are, Nathan.” Said Javier. “We still have the weapons we escaped with from the Yakuza.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“O’Malley seems to have worked out an alliance with Bin Fiacial, the Yakuza, and ConsInt.” Said Gwen. “We just learned of the death of the previous Yakuza oyabun under mysterious circumstances. It’s likely the new one, this Moroshi, is a puppet of either O’Malley or the leader of Bin Fiacial, hence the betrayal.”

“So?”

“So, Bin Fiacial is run by a disreputable noble named Miguel Napineo.” Said Javier. “His family estate is located east of Georgia in the jungle. It’s remote and well fortified. A perfect spot to put a prison camp. Since the criminals have been doing abduction raids for months now, it’s likely to be the location of their main clearing house, which means it was already prepared for keeping prisoners under wraps.”

“Good analysis, Javier.”

“O’Malley will probably anticipate our figuring all this out.”

“I don’t care if he sends all four Highlander mech regiments after us, I’m tired of running and hiding. We attack. Javier, call up the militia.”

“Yes, sir.” Said Javier with a smile on his face.

Napineo Estate
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
29 January 3054

Lisa woke up to be faced with darkness. Something had awakened her. She slid out of bed and pulled on her robe. She wandered down the dark hallway. The tower to Napineo's castle was empty, or least seemed so. Miguel was nowhere to be found.

Something outside caught her eye. Families were lined up against the wall. Mothers held crying infants. Miguel and his guards stood facing them.

“I will not tolerate disobedience.” He said as a man was dragged out and forced to his knees before the crowd. Lisa recognized him. It was Kyle, her old boss.

"Your escape attempt was admirable, but foolish.” Said Napineo. “Where would you go? Your rebellion will not survive. And now these people will pay for your mistake. Their blood is on your hands."

Lisa could see Kyle sat something is response, but his voice was too hoarse to be heard from her perch high above. There was no mistaking its intent. Even from here, she could sense the hatred in Kyle for Napineo. Napineo walked away from the crowd and stood behind Kyle. He leaned down and forced him to look up. The guards raised their weapons.

"Ready...Aim...Fire."

And they did so. Lisa recoiled in horror as she watched over two dozen women and children get butchered by Napineo’s thugs. When they were finished, none were left standing and she doubted any still lived.

Kyle burst his way free and ran into the pile of bodies. He threw himself next to one and let out a wail of agony. “They killed his wife.” She thought.

“Finish him.” Said Napineo, turning to leave. Kyle continued to weep, oblivious to the guards who now trained their weapons on him.

As the guards prepared to open fire, a high pitched whistle pierced the air. Lisa recognized it as the sound of a launched SRM. The missile struck in the middle of the firing squad, just milliseconds before they pulled their triggers. The blast incinerated the troops. And at that moment all hell broke loose.

Napineo bolted for the tower as gunfire erupted all over the castle. Lisa ran back to her room. Only Kyle remained stationary, apathetic to the signs of a surprise attack.

Lisa grabbed her clothes and quickly dressed. Miguel dove into the room behind her and slammed the door shut. He quickly locked it and fetched his gun. Alarms went off all over the base.

“Fucking rebellion. Fucking O’Malley.” He snarled in rage.

---

It took Javier, Gwen, and their squad of rebel soldiers only about five minutes to secure the courtyard. Attempting to advance from the courtyard into the prison building or into Napineo's tower would prove more difficult.

The three assembled together as Nathan went to comfort the still grieving Kyle. Turning from his friend to the two commandos, he barked a quick order.

"Gwen, you take half the troops and storm that tower. Napineo's known for being a pervert, so he's probably got some of the women prisoners inside."

She responded. "There's only a few in there. It’s too dangerous."

"They're worth it, Gwen.” Said Nathan quickly. “We're not leaving without every last one of them. Now go, we'll cover you as you enter."

"Beta squad, fall in line. We're hitting the tower. Javier, clear that doorway."

"Yokai" said Javier, bringing up the SRM launcher and twisting it to bring the second missile to the ready. "Go!"

Gwen and Beta squad ran towards the door, dodging the heavy fire coming from the tower and the prison. Javier fired the missile and his troops opened up on the guards in both buildings. The SRM screamed over Gwen's head and struck the main doorway of the tower. The explosion blasted the door's handful of defenders to oblivion and opened the way for Gwen to get inside.

"Now, Alpha squad, attack the prison. Go!" ordered Javier, ditching the rocket launcher and bringing up his blazer laser rifle.

Gwen ran up the stairs. A door flew open and she fired. The line of bullets stitched across his chest and the guard fell, falling down the open area in the center of the stairs, screaming as he went.

"Chu-i Laidir, do you copy? This is Beta squad."

"Yeah, I hear you."

"We found the female prisoners. Most of the tower is secure. Alpha squad reports success in the prison."

"Begin moving the prisoners out. Send a couple of guys to flush out the last few guards. There's another level to the tower. I'm going to check it out."

"Be careful, Gwen."

"I have every intention of it." Gwen peeled herself off the wall and headed through the door where the guard had come out.

There was only one door of note on this level: the one that was closed. All the others were empty, but Gwen checked them one by one. "One more to go." she said.

---

Napineo barred the door with a sofa and waited. He raised the gun towards the door.

Behind him, against the outside wall, stood Lisa. With Napineo completely focused on the door, it was her chance. She quietly crept over to the fireplace and palmed the poker.

The door buckled as someone tried to open it. Napineo cried out in fear, and fired off a round. The light pistol round embedded in the heavy wooden door, but did not penetrate. The door buckled again.

Lisa whipped up the poker and with all the skill and training she had gained as a warrior of the Star Swords, she brought it down on Napineo’s head. The first blow was not fatal and Napineo had a look of surprise as Lisa raised the poker for the second strike. That look remained on his face for the third and the fourth and the fifth time as she brought the iron poker down onto his skull.

Satisfied that Napineo was dead, she tossed the poker aside and picked up his pistol. “Don’t shoot! Napineo is dead. I’m opening the door.” She cried to whoever it was still pushing against the barricaded door.

Lisa pulled back the sofa from the door and unlocked it. The door came open and a woman came inside. A woman she recognized: Gwen Laidir.

“You!” said Gwen in surprise. “You’re the waitress from Kyle’s bar. The one that went missing.”

Lisa gave no answer, her face contorted with rage. This was the woman who had caused it all. She was the one to blame.

Gwen was taken aback again at the look of hate. “Your name is Lisa, right?” she said.

“Yes, it is.” She brought the Napineo’s pistol up. “Lisa MacLeod.”

The next thing Gwen felt was the searing pain of a bullet ripping through her. And then another, and another.

---

The telltale sound of helicopter rotors could be heard as the rebels gathered in the courtyard. "Enemy helicopters approaching." said one of the rebels. "We've got to get out of here."

"Are all the prisoners free?"

"Yes. They're already in the woods heading for our vehicles."

"Assemble the squads." He quickly scanned over Beta squad. "Where's Gwen?"

"She went up to check the top level. She never came back."

"Damn. Get out of here. I'm going after her."

"There's not enough time."

"Do as I say." snarled Javier. He started to run towards the tower when the first of the ConsInt choppers cleared the castle wall. It was a Ferret attack helicopter. It fired a burst from its chaingun, spraying the courtyard with machine gun fire.

Javier failed to dodge the shots and took a round in the leg, knocking him down. Nathan turned and ran after him.

"Damn your stubbornness, Javier." he said, picking up his commander. "Now let's get out of here."

"But...Gwen..." said Javier though the agonizing pain in his leg.

"There’s no time. Now let's go."

“You hypocrite. You said no one was to be left behind.” Snarled Javier, struggling. The next chopper, a Karnov transport, had just cleared the walls and was dropping battle armor troops.

“There’ll be another time. I swear it.” With that, Javier passed out and the rebel squads faded back into the woods from which they came.

---

Lisa made her way into the woods, trying to avoid the probing search lights of the Highlander helicopters. She was lost and afraid, but for the first time in months, she felt alive. Napineo, her captor, was dead. Gwen, the woman who had dared to steal her husband from her, was dead. Both by her hand.

A helicopter passed overhead, passing its light over the thick foliage. Lisa stayed low, as the searcher passed on. “Never again.” She said to herself. “I will never again be the victim of someone’s evil intent. I have been used and abused by countless people now. No more I will never be that weak again.”

“Here’s one.” Said a voice, breaking her thoughts from her silent soliloquy. Lisa began to run when she saw the man.

“Lisa, is that you?” said another voice. She recognized this one.

“Kyle!” she cried out, overjoyed to see her old boss.

“It is you.” he said in response. She ran to him and practically leaped into his arms. “It’s alright, lass. You’re safe now.” He held her tight, like a father cradling a frightened child.

“I saw what they did to you. I’m so sorry.” She said.

“The time for grief will come. Right now, we must escape.” He looked at her. “We are alive. It could be worse.”

“But your wife?”

“I know.” He said, tears appearing in his eyes. “But come. The others are waiting.”

---

It was a long trip in the back of a tractor-trailer to Georgia. Lisa sat on the cold floor of the trailer beside Kyle, who had nodded off in exhaustion. Lisa could not sleep. Her fear had passed and her heart burned with passions that she’d not felt in a very long time. She wanted to see her son. She wanted to see Joshua. She wanted to go home.

Only one other was awake at the time, one of the commandos that had liberated them. Underneath the ugly scars, she could see his face was one of worry. Lisa stood up and made her way over to him.

“Can’t sleep?” she asked him.

“Ie.” He said. “You neither?”

“No.” she sat down next to him.

“And your name is?”

Lisa paused. She thought that an interesting question. Her identity had been whatever Napineo had wanted it to be, Princess he called her. Now she could be Lisa MacLeod again, but she knew danger lie with that name. Not with O’Malley still about.

“Call me Justice.”

“An odd name for a Scotswoman.”

“It’s not my real name. But that’s something I’d best not make common knowledge.”

“Trouble with the law?”

“You might say that.”

“We’re all fugitives here. There is no need for such secrets. You’re among friends.” He reassured her.

“My problem is less one of politics or legalities. It’s personal. Someone very powerful in the Conspiracy government is out to get me. If he finds out I’m with you, it’ll only make more trouble for you and me both.”

“I understand.” He said. “I can understand a reason to not reveal a cursed name. Mine is too. But the people who cursed it are long gone, so I have no reason for shame. I am Javier Libereux.”

She recognized the name and now understood his concern. This was Joshua’s old rival from their homeworld, the one who had won over Gwen in the weeks before the destruction of New Vision.
Her remembrance must have shown on her face. “Something bothers you?” asked Javier.

“I was about to level the same question to you. That’s why I came over. I’m just….bothered by something I did back there.”

“And that was?”

“I killed Napineo. I was his concubine. It was revenge for all the times he’d forced himself upon me.”

“A justifiable act.” Commended Javier. “I didn’t think we’d gotten him. I’m glad to know someone did.”

“I’ve never felt that much anger before.” She said.

“And that’s what bothers you?”

“No, I think the fact that it doesn’t bother me is what bothers me. I killed him in cold blood. I beat him to death with a fireplace poker.” She paused. “It was liberating.”

“What he did to you was vile.” Said Javier. “And I know well the thrill of vengeance. Have you ever killed before?”

Lisa nodded. “I was once a mechwarrior.”

“Beating a man to death is a lot different than blowing up a giant armored automaton that contains somewhere inside it a human being. Mechs give us an armored shell in more than one way. Within them, we can be sheltered from the horror of what we do.”

“You are a mechwarrior.” It was not a question, although Lisa had intended it to be so. It simply did not come out right.

“Yes.” Javier did not seem to notice.

“That’s my baggage. What’s yours?” She asked, even though she knew the answer.

“I lost a good friend back there.”

“Did she die?” Lisa asked, not realizing she tipped her hand by using a female pronoun.

“I don’t know. Did you see her?” he asked. “You were in the tower. That’s the last place she went before I lost contact with her.”

“I may have. It was all so confusing. I’m sorry.” lied Lisa.

“It was. And in that confusion lays my hope that somehow she survived.”

“Perhaps.” Said Lisa. She let the conversation drop off.

Lisa admitted some curiosity about how these two had lived. She knew the story, of course, of how they had supposedly died. She knew the tale of the Jade Falcon attack and the events of the weeks prior. She realized that the scars on Javier’s otherwise handsome face were the result of the reactor explosion in Joshua’s Trial. She also realized something else. There was more than concern for a fallen comrade in his voice and face. Javier still loved Gwen, or, despite any claims by the exiles that their relationship was a setup, loved her now.

Kyle’s Bar, Exiletown, Georgia
Northwind
Conspiracy Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
30 January 3054

“No, Javier, I cannot justify expending men and material for just one person.” Retorted Nathan. “Particularly when there’s no evidence that she’s still alive.”

Javier’s infamous temper was flaring up. He was getting nowhere. “You said you’d leave no one behind. I am holding you to that pledge.”

“Javier’s right, Nathan.” Said Kyle.

“You’re not one to take the side of a former Kurita operative, Kyle.”

“This man risked his life to save me and everyone else trapped by Napineo and the Yakuza. I owe him one.”

“I risked life and limb too, Kyle. If you owe him, you owe me.”

“That’s beside the point. We also owe Gwen. Now she came to get us out. It’s only fair that we go to get her out.”

“But we don’t even know if she’s still alive.” Said Nathan. “God knows, I respected and even liked her. But I’m not about to storm ConsInt headquarters without knowing. And there’s no way to find out.”

“O’Malley took a licking.” Said Javier. “Now’s the time to make such a move, when we’ve still got the initiative.”

“So you want to hit ConsInt HQ just to smear egg on Richard O’Malley’s face?”

“No, but it’s an added benefit.”

Nathan shook his head, but smiled. “That’s a tempting offer. But a direct attack on those facilities is futile.”

“So we do it real quiet like.” Quoted Javier, from an ancient film he doubted anyone would recognize, a habit he shared with his rival Joshua.

“Alright, Javier, we’ll do it. You’re the commando here, so you do the planning, but I want to use as little as possible in terms of resources. Let’s not gamble too much with the stakes so high.”

“I understand. I’ll have a plan for you by sunset tonight. If I can, I’d like to do the deed late tonight.”

“Accelerating your time table some?” said Kyle.

“If she’s alive and in O’Malley’s possession, it’s only a matter of time before he tortures her into telling him something we’d rather he not hear.”

“Aren’t you ISF types supposed to commit suicide if caught?” asked Bairn.

“O’Malley is an expert at keeping that fate from happening. You worked in DMI. You know his rep. Besides, Gwen’s not exactly keen on the taking-your-own-life bit. Personal issues.”

“Still no way to know if he actually has her.”

“Only one way to find out.”

---

Javier headed for his basement apartment to begin planning the operation. As he headed for the stairs, he was intercepted by Justice, who was waiting in the bar.

“Gwen’s dead.” She said. Javier stopped short.

“You said you didn’t know. And when’d you learn her name?”

The second question was irrelevant, given that any of a number of rebels could have told her that. Still, it put Lisa on the spot.

“I lied.” Said Lisa. “I did see her.”

“And?”

“She was shot. Lying on the floor. I ran past her and got out of the tower.” Still a lie, but more of the truth than before.

“That confirms nothing. Only that she was hurt.” Said Javier. “Unless you can tell me you paused to check for a pulse and can with complete confidence tell me she was dead.”

Lisa could not do that, even though she had been the one to shoot Gwen. Even with the three shots she had fired, they might have been stopped by body armor or struck non-vital areas. Lisa could offer Javier only an honest shrug.

“Then the operation continues.”

“I want to go along.”

“And why is that?”

“Because there is one other I want to kill and he will be there.”

“Who?”

“Richard O’Malley.”

Javier chuckled in disbelief. “And of what crime is he guilty that he deserves your justice?” He smiled, enjoying the pun with her pseudonym.

“His brother.”

“And is he guilty of his brother’s crimes? I’m not sure I follow your logic here, and I would like to before I am convinced to allow you to assist us.”

“His brother was a rapist and a murderer. And I was one of his victims. Richard let it happen. Richard stood by and watched as it happened. His crime, as you put it, is that he did nothing.”

“And what happened to Richard’s brother?”

“I killed him two years ago.”

“You’re racking up quite a body count, Justice. O’Malley dead would certainly serve our purposes. And you say you were a mechwarrior once. I presume you have some kill outside of a mech.”

“I do. I versed in side arms and in blades.”

“That’s a curious skill for a FedCom soldier to have. I thought only Kurita trained their soldiers in swordcraft.”

“What does it matter where I learned it? I know it.”

“Very well. You’re on the team. Don't make me regret it.”

Kilmory College Convention Center
Skye
Skye March, Federated Commonwealth
1 February 3054

“I was saying to Galen that I feel you must have a great deal of confidence in the AFFC to have called this meeting.” Said Victor to Takashi Kurita. “The war’s not over yet, but still you agreed to meet to discuss the details of how to carry out the tenants of the treaty.”

“I might have been more reluctant had I not received such good news from you, your Highness. Your war goes well as I understand it.” Said Kurita. “Steiner’s small numbers and limited supplies make the possibility of a lengthy campaign a dangerous option. If you continue on your present course, you will swallow up his rebellious worlds by mid-spring.” Takashi paused by a large wall map of the Inner Sphere. “Look, as you reclaim worlds in the Skye March, he drives deeper and deeper into the Terran Corridor. Given the wall of units you have placed across the Tikonov front, he will soon find himself trapped between your assault units and the hefty garrisons that line the Sarna-Draconis border.”

The strategic analysis was flawless, and somewhat unsettling. Victor had not let the Kurita high command be privy to his mobilizations along the so-called Tikonov front, the spinward border of the old Tikonov Free Republic. The ISF was still directing some of its efforts towards his realm.

“The room is ready, sire.” Said a conference center employee as he approached the two state leaders.

“Come, Lord Kurita. Let’s begin our discussions.” Said Victor, ushering the elder statesman into the room.

Posted at the door were two Rabid Foxes, DMI’s crack commando unit. Their heavy laser rifles were slung over the shoulders, but Takashi doubted anyone, save one of his own DEST soldiers, could outdraw them.

Victor sat down on one side of the table with Galen Cox. Takashi and Theodore sat on the other side. “Now, the first agenda item would like to address is the fate of Al Na’ir, still firmly within Conspiracy hands.” Said Theodore. “What do you propose should be done to return this planet to its rightful rulers?”

“I am reluctant to allow Combine military action only against Conspiracy forces within the bounds of the Commonwealth.” Said Victor. “I see no reason you cannot take action against rebellious elements that have taken worlds within the bounds of the Combine.”

“That was to be our proposal.” Said Theodore. “Good. Our operations will begin shortly. And should prove of benefit to you. Without Al Na’ir, Duke Ryan loses one of his primary means of keeping his mercenary army happy.”

The conversations went on for several hours, expanding beyond the current war effort to other matters more pertinent to the details of the treaty. Victor had hoped the discussions would move in that direction, but also found much within those conversations to be of concern. Victor got the sense that the war had shaken the Kurita confidence and they were now far less willing to be trusting over certain points of the treaty.

Tired, Galen stood up. “Excuse me, gentlemen, but I’m going to step out for something to drink and a trip to the restroom. Could I get anything for anyone while I’m out?”

“I could use a fresh cup of coffee.” Said Theodore. The pot the center had provided had long since been emptied.

“I’ll find the kitchen staff and let them know.” Galen got up and moved around the massive oaken table when the room suddenly shook violently.

“What was that?” asked Victor. Plaster from the ceiling sprinkled down onto his head. He looked up and saw as cracks shot across the ceiling.

Without thinking, Galen grabbed the person nearest him, Theodore, and threw him under the table. Victor and Takashi leaped down as the ceiling caved in. Tons of plaster and concrete crashed down around them, crushing the two guards instantly. Galen barely made it under the table in time, but even its mass was not enough to hold up all the weight. It collapsed a few seconds later, burying them all.