“Star Commander Jaxun, would you elaborate as to why there is a Mule class dropship still sitting outside of our newly captured facility?”
“Merchants from the Inner Sphere who were dropping off supplies to the Grave Walkers. They had a small detachment of mercenaries as a bodyguard and were engaged in hostilities when we dropped. They were damaged and would have proved no challenge to us. I granted them safcon and cleared them from our path to the Castle Brian.”
“If the dropship is not gone by tomorrow, you will have the honor of capturing it personally.”
“Aff, Star Colonel.”
He grabbed the tray of food and headed back to his own quarters and started digging through a box of his old things…
“Hayden”
Hayden sat straight up in her bunk. She thought she’d heard Jaxun. “Jaxun?”
“Hayden”
“Are you a ghost?”
“Hayden, pick up your communicator. I am not a Ghost.”
“What are you doing?” She picked up the communicator and flipped it on. Jaxun’s face was staring back at her. It was a harder face than she remembered, and then he smiled and the world melted around her.
“You need to get your dropship off the ground tonight.”
“We are supposed to be departing in a couple of hours. I thought you gave us safcon?”
"I can be overruled by a higher ranking officer. I was told a few moments ago that if your ship is still there in the morning i will be leading a boarding action to take it for the Clan. If that happens you will all be taken.”
“So you do still care?” The words hit him like artillery fire.
“Of course i care.”
“What the hell happened to you?”
“Four months of gene therapy, two months of re-education.”
“They made you into one of those things?”
“I am an Elemental, yes.”
“What’s that like?”
“Like being a normal sized person in a world designed for children.”
“Oh...okay i guess.”
“I knew you would make Lance Commander.”
“How would you know that?”
“Because i know that underneath that unsure exterior is a Mechwarrior who understands that lives are precious and fighting to protect them is the most important thing we do.”
“Then why are you helping them invade the Inner Sphere?”
“We have been at war for so long...three hundred years since the Star League was gutted by the Great Houses. The Inner Sphere needs us to save it from itself.”
“That’s insane...Jaxun.”
“It is what it is, Hayden. I know why Mackenzie did what she did, and I am glad you made it back safely.”
“Your sister is an idiot.”
“Well that is probably true.”
“You two did not have to throw your lives away the way you did.”
“I did not throw my life away. I gave it freely so that you and the rest of the Dead Man’s Hand could get off of Erewhon. It was something that i could do for you...all of you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“If i had not, the entire ship would have been captured and none of us would have made it off of Erewhon.”
“At least we would still be together…”
“Do you remember the barbecue we went to the summer before we graduated the academy on Outreach?”
“The one at your uncle’s place?”
“Yes, the one at Ivan’s beachfront place.”
“I remember we got really drunk on that wine your aunt was saving for a special occasion.”
“Amelia was pissed about that for a year until Ivan got her a new batch.”
“What about that night, Jaxun?”
“You remember that picture that Mackenzie grabbed of the two of us sitting under the palm trees staring out at Remus?”
“Yeah, i keep a copy of that picture on the console of my Thunderbolt. Why?”
Jaxun smiled and spun the communicator around to his tiny room somewhere in the Falcon headquarters. Sitting on the desk next to his computer were two pictures. One was a picture of his parents sitting on almost the same spot. The other was the one Mackenzie had taken.
“We may be on different sides of this, but I think about you often, and i think we can find a way.”
“Jaxun, I have Comstar Assassins chasing me. You work for the enemy. How the hell could we find a way?”
“How can we not?”
“How the hell are you even calling me?”
“You remember the comm relays i set up?”
“Yeah?”
“I am piggybacking a signal through the com system on your Thunderbolt to your personal one from the communicator i used to have in my mech.”
“Smart.”
“Resourceful.”
“How are we going to do this?”
“If my parents made it work, we can figure it out.”
“Why does your uncle keep sending me things?”
“He worries about you.”
“It’s creepy.”
“He is an old man who i think is afraid that the universe is spiralling out of control. He wants a lot of things, but he worries about me and my sister.”
“Why?”
“When our parents left, they asked Ivan to watch over us, and he was my surrogate father from about the age of 12 on until i entered the academy. He and his wife took us in and raised us as best they could.”
“He sent me a book of family pictures.”
“See, even he believes we can work out this distance thing.” Jaxun smiled softly at her.
“Comstar is hunting us, Jaxun.”
“My father had some friends who tangled with Comstar several times. If you could find Whisper or Henry that would be great. Failing that, i would see about making contact with the 7th Kommandos from Wolf’s Dragoons. They can probably help you out some.”
“Did you say Whisper?”
“Odd guy, oddly scratchy voice. I can never remember his actual name. He was a friend of the family from the Zathras days.”
“Four months of gene therapy, two months of re-education.”
“They made you into one of those things?”
“I am an Elemental, yes.”
“What’s that like?”
“Like being a normal sized person in a world designed for children.”
“Oh...okay i guess.”
“I knew you would make Lance Commander.”
“How would you know that?”
“Because i know that underneath that unsure exterior is a Mechwarrior who understands that lives are precious and fighting to protect them is the most important thing we do.”
“Then why are you helping them invade the Inner Sphere?”
“We have been at war for so long...three hundred years since the Star League was gutted by the Great Houses. The Inner Sphere needs us to save it from itself.”
“That’s insane...Jaxun.”
“It is what it is, Hayden. I know why Mackenzie did what she did, and I am glad you made it back safely.”
“Your sister is an idiot.”
“Well that is probably true.”
“You two did not have to throw your lives away the way you did.”
“I did not throw my life away. I gave it freely so that you and the rest of the Dead Man’s Hand could get off of Erewhon. It was something that i could do for you...all of you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“If i had not, the entire ship would have been captured and none of us would have made it off of Erewhon.”
“At least we would still be together…”
“Do you remember the barbecue we went to the summer before we graduated the academy on Outreach?”
“The one at your uncle’s place?”
“Yes, the one at Ivan’s beachfront place.”
“I remember we got really drunk on that wine your aunt was saving for a special occasion.”
“Amelia was pissed about that for a year until Ivan got her a new batch.”
“What about that night, Jaxun?”
“You remember that picture that Mackenzie grabbed of the two of us sitting under the palm trees staring out at Remus?”
“Yeah, i keep a copy of that picture on the console of my Thunderbolt. Why?”
Jaxun smiled and spun the communicator around to his tiny room somewhere in the Falcon headquarters. Sitting on the desk next to his computer were two pictures. One was a picture of his parents sitting on almost the same spot. The other was the one Mackenzie had taken.
“We may be on different sides of this, but I think about you often, and i think we can find a way.”
“Jaxun, I have Comstar Assassins chasing me. You work for the enemy. How the hell could we find a way?”
“How can we not?”
“How the hell are you even calling me?”
“You remember the comm relays i set up?”
“Yeah?”
“I am piggybacking a signal through the com system on your Thunderbolt to your personal one from the communicator i used to have in my mech.”
“Smart.”
“Resourceful.”
“How are we going to do this?”
“If my parents made it work, we can figure it out.”
“Why does your uncle keep sending me things?”
“He worries about you.”
“It’s creepy.”
“He is an old man who i think is afraid that the universe is spiralling out of control. He wants a lot of things, but he worries about me and my sister.”
“Why?”
“When our parents left, they asked Ivan to watch over us, and he was my surrogate father from about the age of 12 on until i entered the academy. He and his wife took us in and raised us as best they could.”
“He sent me a book of family pictures.”
“See, even he believes we can work out this distance thing.” Jaxun smiled softly at her.
“Comstar is hunting us, Jaxun.”
“My father had some friends who tangled with Comstar several times. If you could find Whisper or Henry that would be great. Failing that, i would see about making contact with the 7th Kommandos from Wolf’s Dragoons. They can probably help you out some.”
“Did you say Whisper?”
“Odd guy, oddly scratchy voice. I can never remember his actual name. He was a friend of the family from the Zathras days.”
“He is in our cargo bay getting debriefed by a spy.”
“Fortunate.”
“This is crazy.”
“The Universe is a crazy place.”
“How are we going to stay in contact?”
“Ivan knows how to operate an HPG...you might be able to talk him out of the instructions and a kit to put one together.”
“The Comstar stuff is freaking out Carter.”
“The new guy?”
“Yeah, his mom works for Comstar.”
“Everybody’s mom and dad do something.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“I am not sure what kind of help you were expecting.”
“Jaxun,” she scowled at his poor joke.
“You could always walk out of your dropship and come over to my side.”
“You could come home.”
“That is part of the problem. My father was a clansman, to me this is home.”
“Jaxun…”
“It will be good, I promise.”
“Fortunate.”
“This is crazy.”
“The Universe is a crazy place.”
“How are we going to stay in contact?”
“Ivan knows how to operate an HPG...you might be able to talk him out of the instructions and a kit to put one together.”
“The Comstar stuff is freaking out Carter.”
“The new guy?”
“Yeah, his mom works for Comstar.”
“Everybody’s mom and dad do something.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“I am not sure what kind of help you were expecting.”
“Jaxun,” she scowled at his poor joke.
“You could always walk out of your dropship and come over to my side.”
“You could come home.”
“That is part of the problem. My father was a clansman, to me this is home.”
“Jaxun…”
“It will be good, I promise.”
“Don’t make promises.”
“I have a mission to finish here, and you should be lifting off soon.”
“Yeah, we’ll be disappearing soon.”
“Until we meet again, Hayden.”
“I have a mission to finish here, and you should be lifting off soon.”
“Yeah, we’ll be disappearing soon.”
“Until we meet again, Hayden.”
“Until then, Jaxun.”
The lines went dead and Hayden started crying uncontrollably.
The lines went dead and Hayden started crying uncontrollably.
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