Part 2
Mason brought the Truck to a halt in the parking lot of the Diplass Factory complex. The automated defenses had been powered down after they pulled Specter out of the place and as far as he knew, the factory was still partially operational. They entered the complex quietly, with Mason in the lead. Thane took about twenty minutes interfacing with the factory computer.
“Oh for the love of…” Thane pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What’s wrong?” Bekker asked him quietly.
“The computer is being difficult.”
“To what degree is the computer being difficult?”
“I can not interface with the schematics, i’ll have to do a visual inspection.”
“Are you saying the computer is beyond your skilis?”
“If i had a friendly Goliath Scorpion seeker nearby, i could poke him or her and they probably have the Star League era access codes for a place like this. Alternatively, i could spend a couple of weeks reprogramming it by hand to comply with my commands.”
“Calm down, Thane, can we get the internal facilities to work well enough for an inspection?”
“As far as i can tell the power is still on, and we can use manual lights for the things that aren’t lit.”
“We had a similar issue when we investigated this place the first time.”
“Did you investigate the factory floor itself?” Thane asked him quietly.
“Only with a cursory glance to see what was going on. I am not an engineer, i have no idea what any of this stuff does beyond a child’s understanding.” Mason answered him. The old tech clapped him on the shoulder.
“It’s okay, we can’t all make the universe work.” Thane said with a smile.
“Very funny, do i need to give you two some free time so you can braid each other’s hair and tell ghost stories?” Bekker said with his usual dose of sarcasm.
“No need to be sassy, Bekker.”
“That does bring up an interesting question, Bekker,” Mason turned to the Ghost Bear turned Falcon. “Everything i have ever been told about the Eugenics Program says that a warrior who earns a blood name is expected to be addressed by their given name and their blood name. Why do you just use your Blood name?”
“Oh it’s quite simple. I use my Blood name because you and the old man need to get your collective heads working on identifying the feasibility of returning this facility to working condition.” Bekker tilted his head gently to the side. “Any other questions?”
“No, Sir.” Mason said with a sigh. He was never going to figure these people out.
They spent the next span of hours looking over the facility, with Mason serving as muscle for the old technician. Thane had a noteputer hanging off of his hip that he was using to scan factory components and take notes while they worked their way through.
“Mason, do you remember if there were any complete battlemechs here the last time?” The technician asked him absentmindedly. He was studying something.
“We were able to take an Orion class battlemech off of the factory floor. I think the only thing it was missing was paint.”
“Do you happen to remember which model it was?”
“Sorry, Thane, but you took it as Isorla i think is the word, when Raven...Mackenzie surrendered.”
The technician nodded and made a note to check that out when they returned to the base. Mason really didn’t like being in this place. It had been off putting when Specter was using it, but now, it felt even more awkward. Something didn’t feel right.
“Half a gold star for remembering your vocabulary lessons, Mason.” Bekker said with a wry chuckle. Then all hell broke loose. Mason heard a groan and a snapping sound and he looked up just in time to see one of the gantry’s coming down hard. The lines that provided the power for the electrical and hydraulic lines popped and crackled as they came down. Fire broke out in their immediate area of the floor. Worst of all, Thane was trapped underneath a chunk of the gantry.
“THANE!” he roared. “We have to get him, Bekker!”
Bekker shook his head sadly. “Thane is an old man who’s lived a good, hard life for the Clan. We have to get out of here before the entire facility comes down on our heads.” Bekker turned, starting to run towards the stairs back up.
“Bekker!” Mason called after him.
“We are leaving now, Mason. Come with me.”
“Not without him!”
“You are jeopardizing your future with the Jade Falcon clan, right now, Bondsman.”
“You know what, To hell with your rules, and your rituals and your rites! That man has been one of the few to show me any kindness since i got here, i am not leaving him to die!” Mason turned back to the gantry, rushing towards the old man.
“Thane, come on old timer, we need to get you out of here.” He smiled at the old man. The gantry had both of his legs pinned and one of his arms was trapped under the twisted metal.
“Oh, good. Here, take my noteputer, the clan will need it to rebuild this facility.”
“Have you lost your damn mind? We can get out of here together.”
“Mason, I can barely feel my legs, and my arm is bleeding. I don’t have the strength to pull myself out of this. You have to go.”
Mason gritted his teeth and wrapped his hands around the gantry. His muscles started to ache as he tried to pull the metal structure up and off of the man. He felt it budge by the barest of fractions, but he didn’t think he was going to move it. He started looking around for a spar or a pipe he could use to lift the metal.
“Mason, look...the fire.” Mason looked up, and felt his heart drop. The fire was rolling closer to the two of them. It would be on them in minutes.
“We have plenty of time.” Mason lied to the old man.
“I know better, you have to go.”
“I am not leaving you here to die!” Mason grabbed a piece of the broken metal from the fallen gantry. He felt the pain in his hand as the metal cut into his skin. “Come on, old man, you need to fight.” He pushed hard and felt the gantry start to lift, but he didn’t think they’d outrun the fire.
“You have your whole life ahead of you, Mason, don’t throw it away here.” The old man said with a finality. He stopped moving, and Mason thought he’d stopped breathing. “Oh for Fuck’s sake old man.” He pushed the bar harder and lifted as hard as he could. He felt the heat on his face and closed his eyes as the fire leapt towards them.
“Hey Mason.” He felt the gantry lighten as he kept trying to push it up. He looked up, staring into the face of one of the Elementals. He tilted his head slowly, taking in the scene around him. A dozen technicians were putting out fires and lights were flickering on. Two of the clan’s scientist caste were standing with emergency medical equipment ready. The point of elementals weren’t in their suits, but were doing their best to lift the gantry up so Thane could be pulled free.
“Star Captain Leo?” he managed to say before the Star Captain nudged him to grab the Technician.
“Good to see you again, kid.” Leo made sure that the old man was clear before they put the gantry down. “Get your hands checked out, and see to Thane. You did well.”
“This was a test?”
“Life is a test, my young friend. A never ending series of challenges to overcome and obstacles to clear. Eventually, we all fail the last challenge, Warrior, Scientist, Technician, Merchant and Laborer alike. How we choose to live our lives, that’s all that can matter to us.” the Star Captain said with a smile.
“How did i do?”
“You chose an interesting path. You could have left with Bekker, and that would not have been a wrong decision. As a potential member of the warrior caste, your life may have more appreciable value than an aged technician. You could have honored your friend’s work and taken the noteputer and departed. That would have shown your devotion to the idea of our collectivist society. The data in that computer was incredibly value to our efforts as a whole. The path you chose, to save your friend is the unlikely one.”
“How so, Sir?”
“Would you have done that for any member of the Clan? Laborer, merchant, scientist, a technician you barely knew? Would you have done that for Bekker, if it had been him trapped underneath the gantry?”
“Of course, sir. Why?”
“Because to a man like me, it shows me the character of a person i would learn to trust.” A third voice added to their conversation.
“Star Colonel.” The Elemental saluted his senior officer.
“Star Captain.” Brikai returned the salute.
“You put the interest of a member of the clan above your own safety, regardless of their caste. That’s a rarer trait than you might think in this universe, and it shows me that you would do anything to protect the body and heart of the Clan. I see our role as the strong hand that keeps the monsters at bay, and i think you see yourself as a like minded person, Mason.”
“How badly injured is Thane?”
“He took a hard bump, but he will be fine with a couple of days rest.”
“So you put him through this to test me?”
“He suggested the scenario, right down to all of the details.”
“Why?”
“Because, he believes in you.”
“I don’t understand any of this…”
“It’s all right, Mason, i do not expect you to understand everything. I do expect you to understand that you have been measured and not found wanting. When you are ready, I will happily oversee your Trial of Position.”
“What does that mean?” Mason’s head was spinning. He needed air.
“It’s the first Test of your life as a member of the Warrior caste of Clan Jade Falcon.”
That was the last thing he remembered hearing before the room went black and he passed out.
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