Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
25 May 3052
Dr. Adam Jefferson motioned to the pair of seats in his office. He took his own seat behind his desk as Joshua Messer and Lisa MacLeod took the offered seats themselves. Joshua was commander of the 1st Star Swords, newly victorious after driving the Jade Falcon clan from New Belfast. Lisa was his wife and a mechwarrior herself. Although peace had now come upon the worlds of the Inner Sphere, with the Clans having fought and lost a proxy battle for Earth on the Rasalhague system of Tukayyid, Joshua and Lisa had a new battle to fight. One directly related to her experiences as a prisoner of the Jade Falcons.
“Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, has long been an affliction suffered by soldiers.” Began Dr. Jefferson. “It results when the mind is exposed to extreme stress, like that experienced on the battlefield. Infantry soldiers, with their higher mortality rate on the modern battlefield, are its most common victims. But even civilians, those involved in a vehicle accident or as victims of crime, can fall prey to it. And certainly those women who have undergone the experience of rape…”
Lisa nodded. That was, of course, what she had undergone, repeatedly at the hands of her former lover, Robert O’Malley. O’Malley had been taken by the Clans, recruited by them as something of a blunt instrument. They encouraged his darker impulses, transformed him into a bloodthirsty lustful monster. Dozens of other women over countless other worlds had experienced what Lisa had gone through; Many of them were not fortunate enough to survive. Lisa fell into Robert’s hands when she was captured just days before the main landing of the Star Swords on New Belfast. Joshua had first thought her dead, but when he discovered her alive, he came to the Clan camp to bargain or fight to free her. That battle had resulted in severe wounds for the both of them, but also ended O’Malley’s reign of terror once and for all.
Lisa rubbed her shoulder gingerly and nodded for Dr. Jefferson to continue.
“We’ll discuss treatment options later. Our options there are going to be somewhat more limited given your pregnancy.” Lisa shivered at that word. Yes, it was quite possible that the child she carried was fathered by O’Malley, although the possibility existed for it to be her husband’s also. Jefferson continued. “What I would like to do now is give the two of you a sense of what to expect in the weeks and months to come. PTSD is a long term illness. It takes a great deal of time to treat. Let me tell you a bit about the symptoms and the behaviors associated with this disorder. People who have undergone the sort of trauma you’ve undergone tend to be highly agitated. Your ‘fight or flight’ response will be amplified greatly. You can expect flashbacks, nightmares. People with this disorder also suffer from severe depression with all that goes with it: suicidal thoughts and impulses, listlessness, etc. People tend to withdraw because the pain is so great, withdraw from their daily activities and lives, withdraw from family and friends. All this is to be expected.”
“So what can we do about it?” demanded Joshua.
“Let’s get into treatment then. Normally, PTSD is treated with medication, psychotropic drugs and other anti-depressants. Our options there are more limited, since many of these medications can be harmful to a fetus. There is also psychotherapy, an option we will explore quite freely. I’d like to get you set up with a psychiatrist that I trust as soon as possible, Lisa. We all want you to get better and the sooner we get started, the better.”
Lisa again nodded. She looked at Joshua. “This wasn’t exactly how we had planned to spend our first months together on a free New Belfast. I’m sorry, Joshua.”
“Don’t be.” He said affectionately. “We’ve been through tough times before. We’ll find a way through this.”
“Subject to the requirements of the service.” Said Lisa grimly.
“Do what you have to do to get better. Let me worry about the Star Swords.” Said Joshua.
Internal Security Force Headquarters
New Samarkand
Galedon District, Draconis Combine
14 June 3052
The redheaded mechwarrior sat in the cockpit of her Wolf Trap Battlemech, checking all features before taking it out for a trial run. "Thought you were rid of me, weren't you?" said a voice. She looked up to see the disfigured man standing on the edge of her cockpit. He continued. "Two years is a long time."
“It is.” She replied, “but not long enough.”
“Oh, please. You don’t hate me half as much as you pretend you do.”
Gwendolyn Laidir glared at him. The injuries he had received from Joshua Messer’s Trial of Position still showed on Javier Libereux’s face. They did little to generate any sympathy or affection in her for him.
“Things are different now.”
“Now that, I won’t argue.” He replied. “For the longest time, we thought we were alone. The last two Wolverines adrift in a Kurita sea.”
“The Star Swords,” said Gwen quietly. “Joshua.”
“Yes, Joshua,” said Javier, “and probably others. We’re no longer alone.”
“You once had your suspicions.”
“Yes, the warrior I faced during on Dieron operation two years ago. But now we have proof. The news reports from the Federated Commonwealth and their new and glorious Clan-killing unit. Armed with the enemy’s own weapons and led by the boy prodigy. Little do they know that he is Clan himself. As are we.”
“Not anymore. Not as long as we remain pawns of the ISF.”
Javier looked around nervously. “Mind yourself. Others may be listening.”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.” Said Gwen quietly, “Thought about trying to find a way to reach them.”
“I have.” Admitted Javier. “Although seeing as Joshua is their commander, it has less appeal than it might otherwise.”
“The old grudges no longer matter.” Said Gwen grimly. “None of what happened on New Vision matters anymore.”
Javier leaned back against the leg of the Battlemech. “Oh, yes. All was lost on that fateful. All that remains are the handful of us who still live. Not everything has changed. Not everything that happened back then no longer matters. Quiaff, Gwen?”
Gwen said nothing.
“Your silence speaks volumes.” Taunted Javier. “You loved him then. You love him still. That would be the true reason you seek to betray the Combine and join with the Star Swords. It’s irrelevant to you that the woman who stands next to him wears his ring on her finger. He’s forgotten you, Gwen. He’s moved on. But you? You keep the torch alight.”
“And you?” she asked, ignoring his accusation. “You just admitted you’ve considered fleeing to the Federated Commonwealth to find them. What are your reasons?”
“Destiny.” He said boldly. “The Wolverines should stand together against the Clan threat. We’ve done nothing here to play the Director’s little games. Nothing to serve the cause to which we were born. To his credit, Joshua never forgot that. At least, he learned that much from his father.”
Sudeten
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
10 June 3052
“So few are left.” Said Khan Ellias Crichell, khan and leader of the Jade Falcons. “Tukayyid was a death trap.” He looked over reports of his army, reports that came in as each battered unit withdrew from Tukayyid back to their garrisons in the occupation zone. His observation was hyperbole, but not entirely without truth. The Jade Falcons had fought the armies of ComStar, the interstellar communications organization to a draw.
“The Wolves tricked us.” Said Galaxy Commander Marthe Pryde. “Allowed us to deplete our forces in a foolish battle. It was precisely what they wanted.”
“And they will pay.” Said Crichell.
“My Khan, there remains the question of the worlds taken from us in the early months of the year.” Said the man at Marthe’s side. “The Commonwealth’s so-called Operation: Counterstrike.” Dal Pryde expected news of a new campaign to retake those lost worlds and another chance to destroy the Star Swords.
“We might have fought better against the ComGuard had your foolish vendetta not cost us most of Gyrfalcon Galaxy.” Retorted Crichell with anger. “All for what? A planet of grain and rumors of the Not-Named.”
“Can you imagine a worse nightmare than those ancient betrayers at our very doorstep, armed with our own advanced technology and driven by a hope of our destruction?”
“That is your nightmare, Star Colonel. Not mine. We can ill afford further losses against these Star Swords. Our intelligence places them only upon New Belfast and Evcilier. So be it. They can have those worlds for now. You will not engage them. Is that clear?”
Dal Pryde stepped back, his cheeks flushed with rage. It was not the answer he expected.
“You will let our Occupation Zone remain sundered?” asked Marthe. “Split in two by a stretch of Commonwealth space 10 parsecs wide?”
“It is your lips I see moving, Galaxy Commander, but it is the Star Colonel’s voice that I hear.” Insulted Crichell. “You misjudge me. We will retake what worlds we can. The Commonwealth will not hold them long. But neither of you will take part in the glory of recapturing them. That task will be given to others, those whose units are less damaged and more competent. Dismissed.”
Both Prydes stormed from the room in anger. Marthe went on ahead and Dal let her go.
“I take it you did not receive the news you had hoped for.” Said a voice. Star Captain David, Dal Pryde’s aide-de-camp stood up from the chair where he had been patiently awaiting his commander.
“Khan Crichell is a fool.” Snarled Pryde. “He is more concerned with the Wolves and their perceived treachery than he is with the Not-Named. The Star Swords are the greater threat. They have given the Spheroids hope of defeating us and that is a dangerous thing. If we destroy them, destroy the Swords, we shatter that hope. But Crichell will not see it.”
“What orders have we then?”
“We are told to return to Alyina and take up garrison there. We are ordered specifically to take no provocative action against the Star Swords.”
“New Belfast is a long way from Sudeten.” Reminded David. “And I doubt our Khan would punish you when you bring him news of success.”
“I doubt that also. Come, we have much to plan.”
Babeski
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
11 July 3052
“You are not typically a man who draws attention unless you truly want it.” Said the tall African man.
Richard O’Malley looked up at his guest. “It is good to see you too, Antoine. I need your help.”
“I’m sure.” Said Antoine, sitting down. “Not sure what I can do for someone who is officially missing in action.”
“That’s intentional, as you probably already suspect.”
“I also know the alternative. That the Swords want you for aiding and abetting the enemy, but cannot find you and have no knowledge of your whereabouts.”
“Now you understand why I intend to remain ‘missing.’” Replied Richard.
“And why should I not turn you into them?”
“There’s no doubt in my mind that General Messer and his wife will kill me if they get their hands on me.” Replied Richard flatly. “Personal vendetta related to my brother.”
“I had heard the Clans recruited your brother.” Said Antoine. “Used him as something of a blunt instrument to enforce their rule when on New Belfast. Word of atrocities there had even reached my ears.”
“They did. The rumors are true.” Said Richard. He let his mind wander for a second. After the Clans had conquered New Belfast, the Jade Falcons recruited Robert to serve as planetary governor of New Belfast. Star Colonel Dal Pryde and his sniveling aide-de-camp David encouraged his brutality, stripped him of his humanity. They made of him a monster, an animal bent on rape and destruction.
Richard saw that first hand. He was taken prisoner along with Lisa MacLeod and put into his brother’s care. Richard saw what Robert had become, what the Clans had let him degenerate into. He saw what he did to Lisa, been forced to watch as he raped her time and again. Richard knew though, that despite it all, he could save his brother. But that effort ended with a clash of swords. Joshua Messer came to the Clan encampment to reclaim his wife and, in a vicious duel, killed Robert O’Malley.
He hated them for it. He hated them all. He hated the Clans; He hated Pryde and David for what they had turned Robert into. But he also hated Messer and MacLeod, for they took away Robert’s chance at redemption. They cut him down, killed Richard’s brother, his flesh-and-blood, and that was unforgivable.
“And you?”
“I was taken prisoner by the Clans.” answer Richard. “The Falcons gave me to my brother to do with as he pleased, along with Messer’s wife. Most of my time in his keeping was watching as he brutalized her time and time again.”
“And they blame you for what he did?”
“Because I did nothing to stop him, yes. I could do nothing. I was helpless.” That was a lie. Richard had ample opportunity to stop Robert. But it meant killing him, not saving him. “Now they want to kill me as well.”
“A reasonable story. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m bound by the laws of the Lyran Commonwealth and you are a declared fugitive.”
“You and I work above the law.” Reminded Richard. “And if you cherish this nation as you claim, why let one boy and his vendetta abuse those laws to his own purposes? We have worked together before, Antoine. You, me, Juan Miranda back in ’42. Remember?”
“I remember.”
“I’m telling you Messer is only out for blood, not justice. If you believe me, help me.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Passage back to Northwind, for one. I want to put a lot of space between me and these parts. Being even this close to the Star Swords makes me nervous.”
“I can set something up, but you will owe me. A favor to be named later.”
“Very well. Do what you can to get me home.”
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