Thane heard the pounding on his door and managed to struggle to awareness. Someone’s going to end up in a machine processing unit...he pulled the tunic over his frame and opened the door.
“This better be important.” His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared and one hand was on the heavy wrench he kept by the door.
“Thane, oh my god, i am so glad i found you.” Mackenzie...the bondsman that Luna Hazen had taken was standing in front of him in her usual state of barely dressed rebellion. She had a bottle of something that smelled flammable in her hand.
“Is it my birthday and someone in the Warrior Caste remembered all the nice things i do for them?”
“What?” Her eyebrows rose in confusion.
“So you’re not here for a congratulatory coupling celebration for your victory over those fucking bandits?”
“A What now?” The eyebrows swept even higher.
“Nevermind, why are you here in the middle of the cold night?” Thane pulled her inside, before the cold swept all the way through his sleeping chambers.
“Well i had some questions.”
“Questions about what?”
“Onminechs?”
“How drunk are you?”
“Not at all.”
“If you have questions about Omnimechs, they can wait until tomorrow, i’ve only had about two hours of sleep and it’s going to be a long time before i get to rest again.”
“Please, you’re already awake, so you aren’t getting any rest right now anyway.” She pleaded with him.
He let out of a long slow sigh and finally spoke. “Why are you asking me?”
“Mostly because you don’t expect me to know all of this stuff and don’t talk down to me about it.” Her lips pouted softly and her eyes dropped.
“Oh, all right, what do you want to know about Omnimechs?”
“Is there one that mounts Jump Jets and an Ultimate AC 20?”
“A What now?”
“The one that shoots a lot.”
“An Ultra AC 20?”
“Yeah, that’s the one!”
“There are several variants, why?”
“Because i want one.”
“First of all, you don’t get to own a Battlemech. It’s the property of the Clan, and they are entrusted to your superior officers to parcel out to the people who are best capable of using them.”
“But i want one.”
“Then pass a trial of position and impress Brikai with your astounding feats of Ballistic Sorcery.”
“What’s a Trial of Position? Does that involve ghosts?”
“Good grief, child, how much liquor have you had?”
“More than Farraday, Hah!” If she’d been out with the elemental, he was a little surprised there hadn’t been a fire crew called.
“Your trial of position is how you prove yourself worthy of joining the Jade Falcon Touman, and most likely the ranks of the 8th Falcon Regulars.”
“Oh, i know that word!.”
“Which word?”
“Touman, my Uncle used to say that when he thought my brother and i were not listening.”
“If he is who is reported to be, i do not doubt that.”
“So i need to defeat the ghosts to pass my trial of position and join the Jade Falcons? Then i get my Omnimech?”
“You get an Omnimech, as decided by your commander.”
“But i want a jumpy one with an Ultra AC20.”
“Then see if the techs have the spare parts to reconfigure it.”
“Say What?”
“Omnimechs have a critical advantage over the standard battlemechs used by your heathen barbarian kin. The majority of the systems on an Omnimech can be reconfigured to suit the role of the mission and in some cases, the preference of the Mechwarrior piloting it.”
“Try that again one more time. Little words.”
“You can pick what gear goes on your mech, if you’re a good girl and your commander approves.”
“All i have to do is be good?”
“Yeah, i suspect that’s going to be a problem for you, but if you perform well, they can overlook your behavior issues. But you have to be on the top of your game every time you mount up.”
“And that’s how i get an Omnimech?”
“Correct.”
“And then i can meet my dad again?”
“Whoa, what?”
The rest of the sounds coming out of Mackenzie degraded into soft groans, grumbles and a combination of other sounds Thane hadn’t heard before. He rolled his eyes and put her into the bed. She’d wake up in the morning with a hell of a headache. Well, she’s got to learn sometime. Thane settled into the oversized chair he’d been given by an Elemental years before.
No comments:
Post a Comment