Chapter Fifty-One: Conversations
Kentares IV Draconis March, Federated Suns September 17th, 3011
"I need to head to New Avalon." I told the assembled people with me. "I need to bring some important intelligence to the First Prince, and I'll be trying to find some more personnel to hire for the factories."
"Alright." Sheppard and Peterson responded. "We'll hold down the fort and keep things on task while you're gone."
"You'll be a little busy." I said. "We've got five to six more Sting Gunships being shipped here and I want Commodore's Jewel and Fry training up more crew."
"We've got immigrants moving in, but it'll take a while for the population to grow." Mary, my secretary told us. "Last census had a little over six and a half million people on the planet, and immigration is just now starting to pick up again." She showed us the figures. "Expect that to pick up when the factories are up and running and we start making more of a profit here. But for now, there's too many bad memories of the Massacre for a lot of Davions to move here. Most of our immigrants currently, are people from the Concordat who also want to join the Marksman eventually."
"Stay sharp, people," I reminded them. "Us not quite verifying identities is what led to the bombing in the first place."
"Dunham, I take it you're triple checking backgrounds again?" I asked.
"Yes sir, MIIO even attached a Liaison for us to coordinate with." He responded.
"I'm taking the Messenger, and Lieutenant Rook with me." I said. "I need him to show how he pulled the information off of the dropships that tried to hit us."
The assembled people just nodded at that. "The Argo is to continue supporting the factory repairs for now, I want and need those Grasshoppers and Von Luckners in service soon. The AFFS has already indicated they'll buy half of our production when they're back in service. They tried for buying all of the production, but I'm reserving half for the Kentares Guards and the militia."
"What about the Toro production?" Sheppard asked.
"That goes entirely to us for now." I said. "They're a great deal better armored and armed than even some medium mechs. They'll end up working with close combat fireteams as fire support elements for now."
Talitha, Free Worlds League October 10th, 3011
"Bargained well and done." Natasha and the Dragoons had finished bidding for her Trial of Refusal. She would be going alone against both Joshua and Jaime Wolf in their personal battlemechs in her "Borrowed" Warhammer from Hull.
So, she went to the mech bay, making sure to go over the Warhammer herself so that she could make sure everything was running the way it was supposed to after the Escape from Carver V.
While she was checking on the electronics, Joshua Wolf knocked on the entrance to the cockpit. "Mind if I talk while you work?" He asked.
"No, just keep it a little low." Natasha responded as she did a systems check. "I am trying to work here after all."
"It's strange to see you do this." Joshua observed. "Has four years really changed you in such a short amount of time?"
"It's…" Natasha paused her work to consider how to word her next sentence. "An entirely different environment from any I have ever been in." She continued to the next system on her list. "I wouldn't even know how to describe it to you barring you experiencing it yourself."
"Okay, try anyway." Joshua shrugged.
"Johnny, the elemental that joined up when I did." Natasha started. "Has gotten married, he goes by the name of Johnny Lawrence now, and he's married" She smiled at the thought of him. "He has two children, and he and his wife operate a martials arts dojo when he isn't on deployment offworld."
"What does that have to do with explaining the environment?" Joshua asked.
"Everything." Natasha replied. "Would the Wolf's Dragoons, or the Clans have allowed him to open the Martial arts dojo? Would they have allowed him to be who he has chosen to be?" She moved onto the next system. "Or would they have battered him down for not only being a "Freebirth", but also for deciding that he doesn't want to be an elemental anymore." She sighed. "He's a part of the cooking and cleaning areas of the Marksman, and he's damn good at it too."
"I do not get it." Joshua Wolf replied. "Maybe I will never get it, but we will establish what happens tomorrow in the Trial of Refusal, have a good night Natasha."
October 11th, 3011
Natasha sat in Hull's Warhammer, triple checking everything, and unknowingly echoing what Hull did every time he climbed in, checked to make sure that the straps weren't frayed. She wasn't nervous about the Trial of Refusal ahead of her, but she knew that unless she was very good, skilled and hopefully lucky as well, that the Wolf brothers would be a hard fight to win.
Moving to the ERPPC's maximum range, she marveled at having an extremely fast heavy mech with ER weapons again. She was going to have to take out Jaime's Archer first, before Joshua got in close and tried using his laser array on the up-armored Warhammer.
After the signal to start the Trial had been sent, Natasha immediately saw that Joshua had advanced, hoping to close with her in time to use his large lasers to take her down before he overheated. (They had chosen a desert to conduct the Trial in.)
Not wanting him to get closer, Natasha backed up, squeezing the triggers for her PPC's and aiming for the right knee actuator. She knew that if he got in range with his lasers that she would take some pretty heavy damage. Thanks to the freezers Hull had crammed in, she could continue to fire the PPC's all day long, it wouldn't be taxing on her heat systems unless she started firing alpha on top of alpha strike.
Continuing to stay out of range of his lasers, Natasha kept worrying at Joshua's mech while keeping an eye out for Jaime's Archer. Being hit by a series of LRM's wouldn't be in her best interests.
"Where did she get this Warhammer?" Joshua commed his brother. "It is fast, and Natasha is hammering me from outside of my range."
"No clue," Jaime responded. "Keep her busy, I am swinging around in an attempt to flank now.
"Fucking Bullshit." Joshua said as another bracket of PPC's stripped another ton off of his Black Knight. "She has to be running Lostech in that thing in order for her to keep doing this."
"Jaime," Joshua said. "I'm about to have to punch out. I don't have any armor covering my torso."
"Just a little longer Joshua." Jaime said. "I'm acquiring a lock on her now."
But it was too late. Natasha had hit Joshua's gyro, and it had experienced critical failure. So when Joshua's mech toppled over, it buried itself into the sand.
"Jaime, I just took out Joshua." Natasha taunted. "Where are you at?"
Jaime appeared on her sensors on top of a dune behind her, sitting right at his maximum range. "I am right here." And a flurry of missiles were launched at her Warhammer. Spinning in place, she kicked up her speed to the full 86 km/h, moving out of the way of the majority of LRM's and allowing the rest to spread out instead of concentrating the damage. Seeing that she was still in ERPPC range, she fired at Jaime's archer. Moving to close in as rapidly as she could.
Natasha moved in close enough that Jaime's LRM's couldn't arm, allowing them to somewhat harmlessly crumple against her armor as she moved in and lashed out with medium lasers and SRM's.
Jaime just moved in closer, lashing out with his fists in an attempt to hit her in a melee, but she dodged around him, nearly skating on the sand and worrying at his rear armor. Jaime's medium lasers scored some hits, and caused one of her Freezers to fail, causing a little bit of heat to eminante from her feet, but Natasha kept hitting Jaime with everything that Hull's Warhammer had to offer. Sliding in and out of fire, and raking armor off with lasers, SRM's and her ERPPC's. Finally, she scored a hit on his Fusion engine, causing it to go into automatic shutdown and allowing her to claim the victory.
October 12th, 3011.
"I am so dead." Natasha looked at Hull's Warhammer. "He's going to kill me."
She had basically destroyed the Myomer muscles due to the desert and the missiles and lasers from Jaime's Archer. It would need a complete rebuild before it could be put back into combat.
"Kerensky," Jaime and Joshua appeared, taking in the sight of the blackened and partially destroyed Warhammer. "It was a good fight." Joshua said, and Jaime nodded. "We will honor the results of the Trial, and will notify Khan Ward that you are no longer a part of the mission."
"Thank you." Natasha inclined her head to the two Wolf brothers. "I hope that your next contract is favorable." And she turned and walked into the dropship that she was renting the bay out of. "See you around boys."
New Avalon, Federated Suns October 29th, 3011
"Do you have an appointment with Prince Ian?" The secretary I was on the phone with asked. "Because he's booked until July of three thousand and twelve." She chimed in.
"No, I need to speak to him anyway." I had been trying to explain to this woman for thirty minutes that I was the Duke of Kentares and needed to speak to Ian immediately. "Ma'am, if you do not let me at least talk to him, I'm going to come to the Avalon Palace complex, and I'll speak to him that way, whether I have an appointment or not." I was still talking when a sharp "Click" sound hit my ear. "She hung up on me!" I said more than a little upset. "Rook, Mathis, find us a vehicle. We're going to the palace complex.