Scenario for Bloodshed

Jaxun let out a soft sigh as the dropship docked.  It had been two weeks, but they had finally caught back up with Luna’s task force in transit.  It would be good to see everyone again.  They hadn’t been gone for very long, but it had felt like months.  He smiled as he thought about his aunt, but that would have to be in the past.  The near future was going to present its own struggles..

“How was your expedition, Star Commander?”  Luna Hazen’s voice buzzed in his ear.

“Very Good, Star Captain.  When we arrive at a planet, I have two large pieces of cargo that I would like to transfer over to your dropship.”

“Anything dangerous?”

“They are Battlemechs of the star league that I will be using for my Seeker candidacy.”

“Very well, the next planet we arrive on, you can bring your projects home.”

“Thank You, Star Captain.  My men will be transferring several smaller crates between the ships.  I will have them moved aboard the Seeker’s shuttle at her earliest convenience.”

“I will let her know. Glad you had a safe trip.”

“Thank you, Star Captain.”

The line went dead and he supervised his warriors transferring the dozen crates from the narrow corridors of the Broadsword through the halls of the Jumpship and up into the docking bay of the larger Dropship.  Once they had gotten that far a detachment of Falcon laborers moved the boxes over to the shuttle he had shared with Annabelle since their departure from Apollo. He thought wistfully about that reunion but he caught sight of his sister first.  That conversation needed to happen first.  He walked calmly across the docking bay where she was having a conversation with Pryce and grabbed her firmly by the shoulder.  Before she had a chance to react, he spun her through the doors of her small quarters. 

“What did you do?”

“Jaxun, how was your trip?”

“What did you do, Mackenzie?”

“With what?”

“What did you tell Ivan?”

“Jaxun…”

“What did you do, sister?”

“I asked him if he thought that Necrosia could bring you out of this conditioning the Falcons have rewritten your personality with…”

“Mackenzie, why would you do that?”

“You know what you were like right after we found each other.  You may look and sound like my brother, but that thing the Falcons put into your brain was not you.  I had to do something…”

“And Ivan sent Annabelle to test me for the Seekers…to get me the dose of Necrosia….” The realization dawned on him.

“Not personally, but he contacted his Khans, and she was dispatched.  If I had known you were going to fall this hard for her, I would never have done this.”

“Ivan is in a medically induced coma because of an overdose of Necrosia he took the same night I took my first dose of Necrosia.  He is currently suffering from a Necrosiac storm, which I am told is a spectacularly painful way to die.” 

“I didn’t know Jaxun, but I couldn’t sit on the sidelines and let you be that thing, not after every god damn thing we went through to find each other again.  We lost everything…everything to get here, together, and I wasn’t going to let them take you away from me after all of that.”  The tears were running in waterfalls down her cheeks.

His hard glare softened and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.  “It’s okay…I know you did what you thought was right.  I am not angry at you.”

“Who are you angry at?”

“Myself, for the conversation I am about to have with Annabelle.” 

“What are you going to tell her?”

“Everything.  She deserves the truth.”

“Jaxun, you gave your rede to Ivan.  You know what that means to break it.”

“I know, and if I someday get a chance to stand in front of him, then I will answer for that breach of his trust in a circle of equals if I must.”    He smiled softly at his sister.  “I saw aunt Amelia.” 

“What?”

“She was waiting for me, at the coordinates Harlan sent.  I ran into some other seekers I remember from home.”

“How was she?”

“Tired, scared, still mom.”

“How is Vara?”

“Good.  She told me I needed to talk to you.  I assume she meant about this.  The Seekers also sent a present.  When we get dirtside again, we’ll take them out of the box and take a closer look.”

“What is it?”

“A Legacy for the both of us.”

“What?”

“I’ll show it to you later, assuming I make it through the next half 

an hour.”

“What?”

“I have to go break Annabelle’s soul, and I do not know how she will react.”

“She wouldn’t hurt you, she loves you.”

“I love her too, but that doesn’t change what’s about to happen.”

“Jaxun…”

“It’s okay.  I can do this.” 

“Be safe.”

“Always.  I will see you later sister.” 

“All right Jaxun.”  Jaxun exited her quarters quickly and Pryce stepped inside. 

“What’s wrong?”  The larger warrior looked down at her, the concern etched into her face.

“Just…hold me.”  She sobbed.  The larger warrior obliged and wrapped his arms around her waist while she cried.

Shuttle

“Jaxun, I have heard your expedition was successful.”  Annabelle called to him from the other room.

“Indeed, and I have many things for you, Annabelle.” 

“Like what?”  She smiled as she stepped into the small chamber that served as their dining room.

“The truth.”  He fell to his knees, and rested his head against her stomach.

“The truth about what, Jaxun?”  She looked down at him with kind eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. 

“There are a dozen crates outside, for you.”

“What are they?”

“The collected works of the Seekers who walked the Lonesome Road in the Inner Sphere.”

“Quineg?”  She looked at him with a light shining in her eyes.

“Aff.” He whispered hoarsely.

“How?”

“I need to tell you some things, and I have to break a rede to do so.  I have lied to you on many occasions, and I have to admit that we have both been manipulated.”

“Jaxun, you are scaring me.”

“My soul is bleeding right now for this revelation, but I can not bear to lie to you one more time.” 

“About what?”

“This…”  He slid the small case out of the picture frame and pulled it up.  He showed her the photograph.  She studied it, her eyes not comprehending what she was seeing.  “This picture was taken when I was eight years old, it was my birthday party and my uncle had just gotten me a very complicated battlemech kit.  That’s me, as a child, sitting on his knee.”  The words gushed from his mouth like blood from an opened vein.

“That’s not possible…”

“It is possible, and it is true.”

“He died.” Her voice shook him.  “He died a hero on Misery.”

“He would have died on Misery if my father hadn’t retrieved him from a frozen battlefield.  He was surrounded by the bodies of his point mates, a dozen dead enemies and his own severed arm in his hand.  They thought he had frozen to death.  Something kept that man alive.”

“They said he was dead, Jaxun.”  He watched the rush of emotions flash through her eyes.

“His injury was so severe that he would never suit up again.  He thought it was more important to the mission that he keep running the operations for the Khans from here in the Inner Sphere.” 

“Is he alive right now?”

“Yes, he is.”  He felt her entire body shake against him. 

“And you knew this whole time?”

“Yes, and I offer my life as surkai for this betrayal.” 

“Jaxun…I am dezgra.”

“What?  Neg!”

“I have laid a claim to a blood heritage that is not available.  It’s carrier is still alive…  I am dishonored.” 

“You are not Dezgra.” 

“Your words mean nothing, Jaxun.”

“Annabelle, please.” 

“You should leave now.” 

“I will not leave you.”

“Then I will kill you.”

“Bargained Well, and Done.”  He tilted his head back, exposing his throat to her.  “I never wanted to hurt you like this.”

“You idiot.”

“What?”

“My khans allowed this deception to occur.  I feel an incandescent rage in my heart right now.  I do not like being manipulated like this…”  Her small hands wrapped around his throat.  “The pain you have caused me is more personal, more intimate than anything I have ever felt.  What is the fucking point of it all?”  She squeezed tighter.

“You…are…the…point.” 

“What are you babbling about?”

“Since the first time I saw you, I knew I wanted to be with you.  You are the most captivating woman I have ever known, and I have wanted to give myself to you.  I am yours, Annabelle, now and always.”  He collapsed against her, wrapping his arms softly around her hips. 

“You are such an idiot.”  She released the deathgrip on his neck and wrapped her arms around his broad back.

“Aff…”

“If you ever lie to me again about anything, I will kill you without hesitation or remorse.  It will tear my heart apart to do so, but I will not let you hurt me this way ever again, quiaff?”

“Aff…” he said quietly between sobs.  She felt his tears against her stomach.  She patted the back of his head.

“I will send the laborers to bring the cases in.  You and I have more to discuss, Jaxun.”

“About what?”

“About what comes next for both of us.” 

Later

Jaxun opened the case with trepidation.  Annabelle was standing right behind him, the palms of her hands resting on his shoulders.  She squeezed gently.  “Come on, Surat, I doubt it is full of star adders.”  He nodded and opened up the case.  It was a small thing, a half a meter cube on all sides.  The lock clicked open and Jaxun pulled the top out and set it aside. 

He started to pull the objects out slowly, setting them on the table so that Annabelle could see them.  No more secrets, no more lies they had promised each other.  He heard the sharp intake of air from her as he set the book on the table.  “It survived…”

“He carried it with him everywhere, used to keep it in a secure briefcase when he was traveling.  When he taught on Outreach, it sat on his desk.”

“He taught?”

“Aff, many things.” 

The Zulkri came out next, the paired knives that every Seeker carried.  Annabelle stared at them.  “Why are these not with him?”

“When he lost his arm, he stopped carrying them.  I’ve never seen him with them on in all the time I knew him.  They used to sit in a case in his office at the house.”

“Why would he give up being a warrior?”

“I don’t think he ever gave up being a warrior, but he accepted the practical limitations of his impairment and found a way to continue serving the clan.”

“By lying to us?”

“What would you have done if he had returned to the clans right after Misery?  I have heard the stories of how he was.  Broken, bitter, despondent and without a purpose in life.” 

“We would have healed him.”

“But what would he have done?”

“With his record, he could easily have been Loremaster, possibly even the Khan.” 

“I do not think he would have liked that.”

“He would have served with honor and distinction.”

“He has.  He just did it here, in the Inner Sphere where the Khans wanted him to stay.”

“Why?”

“Because, I think he knew that after thirty years living here with us, he would seem very strange to the rest of you.”

“What?”

“He learned a lot living amongst us.  He is still a clansman and cleaves to the honor road, but he also has taken a wife, sired a freeborn child, and set aside his weapons.  He is more teacher than warrior now.”

“Sired a freeborn?”  She stared at him incredulously.

“A little girl, he and his wife named her Vara, after his sib.  He loves that child with every bit of himself..”

“That makes no sense.  He is Trueborn.”

“And proud of where he came from, but he found something here that was worth staying for.  I think that is why he made the choices he did.”

She glared at him for a moment and he resumed pulling things out of the crate.  A dress uniform for the Goliath Scorpions, dozens of data storage devices, and finally, at the very bottom, a picture 

album and a hard copy of a report. 

“What do you suppose is on these?”  She asked him, staring at the Data devices.

“The green ones are his Necrosia visions, the red ones are his official administrative paperwork for Delta Galaxy, the blue ones are his oversight on the Seekers under him, the pink one is probably his files on Aunt Amelia, the black ones are his personal notes on the Inner Sphere, and if I had to guess the silver coded ones are his media files.” She stared at him.  “He started color coding them after we started accessing his computer system.” 

“Why pink?”

“That was mostly for our benefit, we accidentally stumbled into some files that we should not have been accessing at our age involving our aunt and uncle.”

“Like what?”

“They used to record themselves coupling, a trait they shared with my parents.”

“did they share each other?”

“Not to my knowledge, no, but that wouldn’t have been a thing they discussed with us.”

“I still have not decided what to do about all of this.” She said firmly.

“I know…and I cannot imagine how you feel.”

“It is all right, I do not blame you.”  She leant down over his shoulder and kissed him softly on the neck.  He smiled and ran his fingers through her hair.  “It is late, and I would like to sleep.”  He nodded and grabbed one of the storage devices.  The two of them laid down in the bed and he slipped the earbud into her ear.

“What are you doing?”

“Introducing you to your mother, now just relax and listen.”  He slipped the other bud into his own ear and hit play. 

“Good morning everyone, now today we are going to talk about the Star League.  I see by your expressions that some of you have heard that before.  Let us talk about that some more, all right?”  Jaxun smiled as he heard his uncle’s voice.  Annabelle stared at him, her mouth shaking.

“What is this?”

“When he was on New Avalon, one of their educational institutions requested he record several datafiles for their outback educational program.  He ended up recording thousands of hours of lectures and lessons for children of all education levels over the years.  This is one of his introductions to Star League history.”

She frowned and nodded, laying her head on his chest.  “He could have been doing this for his own people.”

“That may be precisely why he sent these recordings.  He wanted to give back to his Clan, and enrich his people.  From the youngest child to the most capable warrior, each has something that they can learn.”  She nodded and relaxed against him.  They fell asleep like that, listening to a ghost.

The next morning…

Mackenzie was sitting at breakfast with Pryce and the rest of her unit when Annabelle appeared off of her ship.  She smiled at the Goliath Scorpion and invited her over to their table.  Annabelle nodded and grabbed a tray as she walked.  Mackenzie turned her head to talk to Bekker and didn’t see the tray swinging.  Annabelle hit her in the face with the flat bottom of the tray and knocked her off the back of the bench she was sitting on. 

“Yes, I think she knows…” Bekker said quietly to Ayat.  Ayat nodded slowly.

“Trial of Grievance, now.”  Annabelle’s eyes were burning with anger and Mackenzie was slowly regaining her feet. 

“Annabelle, I do not want to fight you.”  Mackenzie said.

“Well then you have chosen a poor society to join, stravag.”  Annabelle answered her. 

“Before this degenerates further, Annabelle Kirov, are you officially challenging Mackenzie to a Trial of Grievance?”  Ayat said quickly.  She nodded and a point of Elementals put themselves between the two mechwarriors. 

“Aff.”

Mackenzie, do you accept this challenge?  Have you wronged this warrior and offer a trial of combat to settle the issue between the two of you?”

Mackenzie let out a low sigh and nodded.  “Aff, I have wronged this warrior.  I accept her challenge.”

“Given our current location, and the relatively short temper of the Aggrieved, I would suggest you not choose mech combat.”  Ayat said quickly.

“Here is fine, we can settle this in the Mechbay.”  Mackenzie nodded.

“Bargained Well, and Done.” Ayat nodded.  “Technicians, prepare the bay for a Circle of Equals.” 

“Aff.”  Annabelle nodded.  Mackenzie nodded her agreement.  The technicians quickly cleared a space and drew the circle in the middle of the bay.  The Jade Falcon warriors gathered around the exterior of the circle and gave the warriors space.  Pryce reappeared with Jaxun in tow. 

“What is going on?” Jaxun asked, trying to get closer to the Circle. 

“Let this play out, Star Commander.”  Luna Hazen’s voice was in his ear.  “It is our way.  Honor that.”  Luna was standing on an elevated gantry, watching the two warriors. Annabelle stepped into the circle and Mackenzie did likewise. 

“Remember where you are, remember who you are.  Fight with honor, win or lose.”  Ayat said to the both of them.  She nodded and the two warriors began their fight.