Mackenzie was sitting in her hospital bed for the second day
of her recuperation staring at the stack of administrative reports. She knew that Luna expected her to perform
this task to the best of her ability, but she had to admit, pushing paper was
pretty fucking boring. Annabelle was
laying in the bed next to her, listening to something that she wasn’t sharing
beyond the occasional bit of laughter.
Jaxun said he would be by later, once he had finished some other tasks
and Pryce was busy gearing up for his trial of position. It was time.
Mackenzie looked up to see another person she had met once
but barely gotten to know slip into her room.
He was a Comstar warrior that they had picked up on Apollo, but all she
really knew was that he had an extensive form of brain cancer that the Falcons
were treating. His expression brightened
when he saw her and then his features twisted in confusion.
“Sasha, what happened?”
He sat down at the bedside next to her and took hold of her hand
quickly. Annabelle pulled her earbuds
out and turned her attention to the warrior.
“What happened to you?”
“Sasha?” Mackenzie
blinked at him. She looked over at
Annabelle and she gave her a confused shrug in reply.
“Did you hit your head?”
He asked her. His accent was so
thick she had trouble understanding him.
The accent sounded so familiar to her.
“Obviously, I am having some trouble with my memory.” She lied to him. She felt bad, but she didn’t want this to escalate
to a violent situation, like when he had nearly shot an elemental in the face
during a small arms drill. He had gotten
into some steep trouble for that, and Bekker had promised to keep him away from
weapons after that.
“Sasha, my dear sister.
I am your brother Nikolai.”
“Nikolai!” She tried
to wrap her arms around him in a friendly embrace, but the combination of paperwork
and tubing made that trickier. “What are
you doing here?”
“I honestly don’t know.
The last thing I remember was being on
my way to the spaceport to pick
up Anatoly, and then I woke up here.”
“Why were you picking up Anatoly?”
“His flight from Luna was delayed by the snowfall,
sister. He wanted to be home for
Christmas, but the weather forced them to turn back around.”
“What day is it today?”
“December 26th, 2766. It’s Boxing Day.” He answered her.
“Of course, the weather has been terrible here.” She
answered back. Annabelle was watching
the entire conversation with wide eyes.
“Not so bad here in Moscow, but I heard the weather was
terrible at the Court of the Star League.
Just meters of snowfall.”
“What are you doing in Moscow?” She asked him slowly.
“Standing orders, whenever the General is offworld, I am
close to the family.” He smiled at his
sister.
“Of course. It’s been
hectic.”
“You did just finish your Gunslinger certification, that
makes you the last of the three of us to do it.”
“Venus is a harsh environment to study in.” Annabelle added slowly.
“Oh I know, and getting the timing on your jump jets to not
miss those quarters is essential. Have
you been through the School?”
“I hope to someday.” Annabelle
nodded at him.
“You’ll see all three of us there. Anatoly Sokolov, Sasha Sokolov, and Nikolai
Sokolov. Right there on the wall, embossed
in brass.” Mackenzie’s eyes went wide as
he spoke. Annabelle turned her attention
back to Mackenzie and gave her a look of absolute confusion.
“That’s right, all three of us.” She slowly answered him.
“Hang on.” He put one
hand up to silence her for a second and the other pulled up a nonexistent
communicator. “What, wait? The capital?
What about the SDS? I understand,
I will be there immediately.”
“What’s wrong?”
He turned his head slowly, his lip quivering. “Stefan Amaris has betrayed the Star
League. The Black Watch are out of action
and the fighting is breaking out all over the planet. I need to get to Katyusha and the boys.”
“Katyusha?” Mackenzie
asked him quietly, watching the pain in his eyes.
“General Kerensky’s wife, sis. You know that.”
“And that would make the boys Nicholas and Andery?” Annabelle
asked him.
“Exactly, Sis, I have to go.” The warrior started to rise but the Doctor
had administered a trauma patch to the back of his neck. He leaned forward, collapsing against
her. Before the sedatives put him out,
he managed an “I love you sis.” And then
he was snoring into her lap.
“I am so sorry, Star Commander, it was time for his
treatment and he managed to wander off from the chamber. It took us a little while to find him
again. I am terribly sorry if his
hallucination disrupted your recovery.”
Farah said quietly as two of her assistants pulled him out of the room
and took him back down the hall.
“It is all right. He
was not a disturbance.” Mackenzie lied
to the doctor.
“He has some fanciful hallucinations. Yesterday he was telling us his name was
Devlin Stone and he was trying to defeat the Word of Blake.”
“The what?”
“I do not understand, it took Star Commander Bekker nearly
half an hour to bring him out of the episode.”
Farah answered her.
“Well, he certainly livened up my paperwork.” Mackenzie smiled
at the doctor.
“I will make sure we keep a closer eye on him, Star
Commander.”
“I do not doubt that.”
Mackenzie turned her attention back to Annabelle. Farah left the two of them and closed the
door.
“What precisely was that?”
“Pryde has episodes where he relives moments and experiences
from other warriors. They are an
unrelated mental condition not connected to his cancer.”
“Really?”
“Aff, when we found him the first time he believed he was
Nicholas Kerensky.”
“Well, that is not something you see everyday.” Annabelle shook her head and pulled up her
tablet. \
“What are you looking up?”
“SLDF service records for the Sokolovs.”
“What?”
“If his hallucinations are based on the lives of others,
then I am curious what triggered that specific combination of hallucination.”
“You think they are based on something real?”
“I have spent enough time with my perceptions altered to
give a little bit of credence to people who see things that aren’t there and
experience memories they can’t explain.”
Annabelle pulled up the file she was looking for and let out a low
whistle. “Founder’s light, Mackenzie,
look at this.” Annabelle tossed the
picture up on the large screen they shared in the room. It was a dead ringer for her.
“Who is that?” Mackenzie
stared at the image.
“Sasha Sokolov, Captain, Star League Defense Force. Wow…she looks almost identical to you.”
“She is an ancestor of mine then?”
“She served in the SLDF with her brothers Anatoly and
Nikolai. She was killed on Luna during the Liberation of Terra, her brother
Anatoly was killed in the fighting around Moscow in the same campaign. Nikolai survived and was awarded with a half dozen
medals and commendations for his service as a bodyguard for Katyusha Kerensky
and her young sons Nicholas and Andery Kerensky. He joined the family during the Exodus and
would eventually become one of the founders of Clan Wolf.”
“I had no idea…”
“You come from good stock, for a freebirth.”
“You keep saying freebirth like it’s a bad thing, short
stack.”
“Oh, are you and Pryce working on figuring out how to make a
baby with your coupling aid?”
“How did you know about that?”
“I heard it from one of the elementals. Though I do remember enough basic biology to
recall that his particularly splendid anatomy is not designed for that specific
reproductive act.”
“Eh, we can try until it sticks.”
“Aff, you certainly can.”
Later
“Star Captain, can I have an additional moment of your time?”
Mackenzie said quietly. Luna had been visiting
her to see how her exercise in paperwork was going and she had found something…unusual.
“Aff, Mackenzie.”
“Well, I was looking at our supplies, and we seem to be
woefully undersupplied for a mission like ours.”
“Explain?”
We have plenty of fusion batteries for the Elementals, replacement
armor and internal structure, but we have what I would call a near critical
lack of ammunition, especially for our largest weapons. If I read correctly, we are carrying approximately
thirty tons of ammunition for the Gauss Rifles and another twenty five tons of
ammunition for the Ultra AC/20.”
“That sounds correct.”
“If we have to completely reload our entire units ammunition
store, that leaves us with enough ammunition for two sustained fights. That is not nearly enough, ma’am.”
“Why would we expend all of our ammunition?”
“The theoretical situation exists where we could end up in a
situation where our entire magazine is depleted and we don’t have any
additional ammunition to reload our biggest, most dangerous weapons.”
“And what do you propose as a solution?”
“We can either pull back and resupply from our own stores
within the Galaxy, we can try to raid local supply houses or we can take the
bold step of going and raiding for supplies from the Wolves or the Ghost Bears.”
“Interesting choices.”
“Resupplying from our own stores is the safest option, but
it will be a slow process that prevents us from making forward progress. Local supplies are probably not going to be fruitful.”
“Why not?”
“The Inner Sphere military industry does not currently
produce most of the ammunition that we need.
I am not sure there are any factories within five jumps that produce
ammunition for gauss rifles, and as far as I am aware, there aren’t factories
anywhere that produce ammunition compatible with our missile launchers or
autocannons.”
“So that leaves us to take what we need from the Wolves or
the Bears if we wish to advance at the pace we would like to continue?”
“Aff, ma’am. That is
the best conclusion I can make at the current
time.”
“Would you two like to earn some gold stars?”
“Excuse me, Ma’am?”
Mackenzie asked her. Annabelle
was listening to something else on her earbuds and hadn’t heard the question.
“I will forward you the details of several clan Wolf units
in our near area. Study them, pick one
to challenge for a trial of possession for supplies and equipment. I want a full briefing by the time you are
ready to return to combat duty, quiaff.”
“Aff, ma’am.”
“Annabelle, when she pulls the earbuds out of her head, can
provide you additional details and a resource for planning a trial strategy.”
“Aff ma’am.”
Annabelle agreed, though she hadn’t taken the headphones out.
“Thank you for this trust, ma’am.” Mackenzie soluted.
“You are proving to be an exceptional freebirth, Mackenzie. Keep up the work.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Luna nodded and left the two of them alone.
“Are you actually listening to conversations going on with
your earbuds in?” Mackenzie asked her.
“Part of the time, I also read lips.”
“I did not know that.”
“I am full of surprises.”
“Have you planned many trials?”
“Aff, I can give you some insight. Though you neglected a fourth option in your
recommendations.”
“Oh?”
“Aff, you could have reconfigured your equipment for a
strictly energy weapons based engagement profile.”
“Oh fuck that’s right.
I forget we have that capability with the omnimechs.”
“And the fighters too.
You probably have enough ammunition for the elementals to run flamer or
machine guns instead of lasers.”
“that’s something to consider for the next time we have to
do one of these.”
Jaxun appeared, carrying a tray for both of them. Mackenzie set her work aside and smiled at
her brother. “Evening, ladies.”
“Hey Jaxun.” Mackenzie
answered him.
“Surat.” Annabelle
leaned up and kissed him. He set the
trays down for the both of them.
“Dinner should be excitable this evening.”
“I do not think that word means what you think it means.” Annabelle answered him.
“Possibly.” He sat
down between the two of them and opened up the shouldered bag he was
carrying.
“Not eating?”
“Already did. I
thought you would prefer the chicken instead of the vegetarian surprise.”
“What was in the vegetarian surprise?”
“I think it was some sort of a heavy noodle casserole.”
Mackenzie bit into her chicken and had to admit that either she
was getting used to the food or the cook was getting better at this. Annabelle didn’t seem to be as much of a fan
of it as she was.
“Mackenzie, have you ever heard of Sasha and Anatoly
Sokolov?” Jaxun asked her quietly. Mackenzie nearly choked on the piece of
potato she was eating.
“What brought that up?”
She asked him slowly, taking a long drag of water.
“Well, Ivan left us a surprise.” Jaxun pulled a binder out of his bag and set
it on the end of the bed.
“Sasha and Anatoly were gunslingers, both, along with their
brother Nikolai. Sasha died on Luna,
Anatoly died in Moscow during the liberation of Terra.”
“How did you know that?”
Jaxun looked up at her in surprise.
“Pryde was having one of his episodes and slipped away from
his tenders. He thought he was
Nikolai. He mistook me for Sasha.”
“I must admit I did a double take when I saw the pictures.” Jaxun shook his head.
“What pictures?”
Mackenzie asked him. Jaxun was distracted for a moment by Annabelle
trying to hide a small group of peas in her napkin. The exchange of eyebrows, glances and
nonverbal communication ended with her sighing and eating the peas.
“Nikolai was injured in a bombing attack protecting general
Kerensky’s family right before the campaign for Moscow began, and Anatoly was
piloting his mech in that battle. Ivan
and the rest of his people found that Black Knight and Sasha’s Excalibur from
some scavenge yard around Terra. Inside
the cockpit of the Black Knight was a photo album.”
“Who are the pictures of?”
“Take a look for yourself, sis.” He handed her the photo album and she started
to flip through it. Nikolai had taken
pictures of all over Moscow before the war had broken out, and he seemed to be
a chosen photographer for the Kerensky family.
There were dozens of pictures of the family together ranging from the
boys as young children with both parents all the way up to them with the SLDF
forces liberating Moscow. There were
also pictures of the Sokolov family from almost three hundred years back. It was something she wished she had more of
with her family.
“These are neat.”
“I thought so. Like I
said, I have the Black Knight and the Excalibur in the other dropship, mostly.”
“Mostly?”
“The original DI computers for both are intact, but
everything else has been updated with clan technology. I also have their ROM files for every battle
they went through during their service careers.”
“Well that sounds technobabbly.”
“It means they have the original computers that they had
when they came from the factory. They have never been tampered with and retain
all of their battlefield data. There are
some, including your brother who think that certain machines can form bonds
with certain mechwarriors. These connections
allow them to push the performance of those machines to levels beyond what the factory
specs say they should be able to achieve.” Annabelle explained it to her, using
the distraction to hide some more peas in a napkin.
“My hope is that once they are reassembled we can try them
out and see if my theory is correct.
These belonged to our family, they are very much our legacy.”
“What happened to Anatoly’s battlemech?” Mackenzie asked them.
“His Nightstar went into the Exodus Fleet and was destroyed
in the severe fighting in Operation Klondike.” Jaxun said with a smile. He also retrieved Annabelle’s peas from her hiding
spot and returned them to her plate.
“So you think there is some connection between us and these
ancestral mechs?”
“I think it’s worth investigating.”
“I have seen stranger things. There are technical reports of a Battlemaster
that is supposedly haunted.”
“Haunted?”
“It has been known to turn itself on while resting in its
storage cradle. Sensor ghosts light up
its targeting sensors and HUD, the comm system will occasionally play loud
music, and according to the most spurious rumors, the air conditioning system
in the cockpit smells like fresh snow.”
“That certainly qualifies as haunted.” Mackenzie said quietly.
“I wonder where that Battlemaster is now?” Jaxun asked Annabelle.
“allegedly, Ivan Kirov took it to the Inner Sphere with him.”
“He never piloted a Battlemaster to my knowledge.” Jaxun said slowly, shaking his head.
“Cyclops, Locust, a few spins around the block in Rowdy, but
I don’t remember a Battlemaster.”
“Rowdy?” Annabelle’s
eyebrow rose.
“Henry’s King Crab.”
“Oh...the Comstar man.”
“Yes, he and Ivan spent a lot of time together.”
“Lovers?” Annabelle
inquired.
“Maybe? Henry has a
reputation that would fit well with clan cultural thoughts on sex.” Mackenzie answered her.
“He’s also an expert on Star League history.” Jaxun added.
“He sounds fascinating.”
“He and Ivan were bad influences on each other.”
“Bad influences?”
“Henry seemed to enjoy provoking reactions from people, and
he brought that trait out in Ivan.”
Jaxun answered her.
“You remember the time they got arrested for picking a fight
with that company from Wolf’s Dragoons?” Mackenzie smirked at her
brother.
“I remember going to my ethics class the day after and Ivan
coming in with a split lip, a black eye and somebody else’s blood dried onto
his knuckles.” Jaxun answered her.
“Quineg?” Annabelle
let out a chuckle.
“Aff, Henry came to the first three weeks of his class on
Star League era weapon systems wearing his bright orange community service jump
suit.”
“I do not understand.” Annabelle said slowly.
“It’s like the Black Band.
He wore it proudly for the first three weeks of classes until some of
the other instructors had a meeting with the Dragoon leadership to get his
sentence dropped.”
“He wore a mark of shame with pride? That makes no sense.”
“If you’re not pissing someone off…” Jaxun said quietly.
“You probably aren’t living your best life.” Mackenzie answered him.
“He sounds very strange.”
“He’s a singular person.”
Mackenzie chuckled. “Was it true
that he took you to a brothel for your sixteenth birthday?” She asked her brother.
“He threatened to, but Aunt Amelia threatened to release
that video of the time he picked up those girls on Canopus that turned out not
to be girls.”
“He wouldn’t have cared.”
“No, but two of those girls were relations of the Cantrellas
and it would have triggered some sort of armed response that he wouldn’t have
wanted to put Whisper through.”
“Whisper?” Annabelle asked
again.
“Henry’s wife and near constant companion for his life of
mischief.”
They all had a bit of a hearty chuckle and Annabelle finally
shook her head. “Families are very
strange.”
“They can be. We got
very lucky with out family.” Mackenzie
said with a happy sigh.
“Yes we did.”
“I do wonder what happened to that Battlemaster though.”
The Gambler
“So this is the last bit of cargo we took in on Blue Hole.” Percival said with a nod. He was staring at a Battlemech sized shipping
crate. The rest of the Aces were gathered
around him, and Heather was reading down a list of shipping container
codes.
“What is it?” Hayden
asked the two of them.
“According to the records, it’s a Battlemaster.” Percival answered her. The technicians put their ears up to the
walls of the pod and listened for a minute, but shook it off and started
unbolting the front face of the cargo pod.
“Those are handy in a fight.” Sebastian nodded. The crew moved the front of the cargo pod out
of the way and everyone stopped. The
cockpit lights were on and they could see something flickering across the
screens in the reflection. The external
speakers kicked on and they heard a loud scream followed by the words “Welcome
to the land of the Ice and Snow, “ at far too high a volume.
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