Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Eight: Preparing for Departure
October 25, 3049
"No!" I yelled at the forklift driver that was moving a pallet. "This one goes here!" I pointed at the section of the Mammothwhere I wanted that particular set of supplies stashed. "That one goes there!" I pointed at another set of supplies.
"How goes everything?" David asked me as he walked up to see the sheer amount of work being done. "I know that you filled up the cargo space on the Argo along with the two Mammoths that you're bringing with you."
"Well, we're taking the Argo, the Mammoth, and some extra Stinggunships along on the Leviathan that we salvaged all those years ago," I replied. "Some of these people are going to want to settle down on that old Taurian world, and we'll need the supplies."
"And you're bringing along the 1st Marksman," David sighed. "Carter wasn't too happy about having to rebuild the unit."
"She's only up to half of an RCT," I said as I supervised some more cargo placements. "We're taking her and her people along as both defense and to assist with getting some of her more green troops up to speed."
"Well, let me know if you need anything," David said as he clapped me on the back. "You might die on the trip old man."
"Just try and keep the Inner Sphere in one piece for me while I'm gone," I chuckled. "I spent years putting it together and don't want to have to come back and fix it."
"I'll see what I can do," David laughed. "But I'm not making any promises."
–
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"You sure we're going to need all of these extra munitions?" Carter asked me as she looked over the manifests of what her dropships and jumpships would be carrying.
"No, I just have a feeling that we might end up needing the spare parts," I replied. "And we have the capacity so we're bringing them."
"Fair enough," Carter replied. "I'm glad that you managed to get AMS mounted on all of my dropships this time."
"I'm sorry that I didn't manage to get it done before the War of 35," I said as I took a sip of my water bottle. "I'm glad that you're still willing to come with us on the trip though. The Marksman is your unit now after all."
"It's become almost tradition at this point," Carter said with a smile. "Every CO of the Marksman has to take a contract for the founder of the unit," shrugged. "I've got to set an example for my daughter after all."
"She's coming with?" I asked. "I thought she hadn't graduated yet."
"She'll turn seventeen on the trip, that's early enough to start learning the family trade," Carter replied. "I think she wanted to aim for the Ducal Guard though," She sighed at me. "For some reason, every girl or woman in the Terran March thinks that if they're just good enough to impress Natasha that she'll make them a part of her Marauders."
"Yeah," I chuckled. "That's not how that works, the Marauders will be limited to her group of six, and maybe their children."
–
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"Why does he not notice?" Yvonne Hazen asked Natasha as the two of them watched Major MacIntosh leave the mech bays that were used by the Ducal Guard.
"You have to make it extremely obvious," Natasha stated. "Mark refused to acknowledge that I was even desirable until I force him to take notice."
"And how did you get him to take notice?" Yvonne asked. "I have tried everything short of bluntly asking for him to mate with me."
"That would work in the clans, but the men and women from the Inner Sphere are a different sort of breed sometimes," Natashas said and then grinned and leaned down to whisper in Yvonne's ear.
"I can see how that might work," Yvonne said after a moment of consideration. "I shall try it before our departure, and we will see if your words are proven accurate."
November 25, 3049
"You sure that I can't convince you to let me come with you?" Melissa Steiner pleaded with me and Natasha. "If Adam can get away with disappearing for a little while then I should be able to as well."
"Your mom would have me killed by the end of the week," I replied. "Besides, you'll get to tag along with us for a little bit while we're on our way to Tharkad."
"I guess that'll have to work," Melissa pouted. "But you owe me an adventure, Uncle Mark. Everyone else has gotten at least one and I think it's my turn."
"Sure," I waved Melissa off. "Go bother your nieces and nephews for a little while, I've got to finish up the last of the paperwork before we head out."
"Fine, but you owe me one," Melissa threatened with half a smile in her voice.
"When did I turn into Zuko?" I shook my head. "Did I start taking people on life-changing adventures somewhere in all of the stuff I did?" I leaned back in my chair for a minute and thought back over all of the things that I had done over my career. "Fuck, I did, didn't I?" I sighed. "Well, not much I can change about it now except to accept it and move on."
–
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"We're ready to head out on January 1st," I told Natasha as we ate a late dinner together. "All of the prep-work is done, and all we'll need to do is a final roll-call and lift off when it comes time to leave."
"Good," She said as she dug into the dinner I had made the two of us. "It has been quite some time since we went on an adventure together."
"How's your little matchmaking scheme going?" I asked, shifting the topic of conversation.
"It seems that Major MacIntosh and you are built much from the same cloth," Natasha smirked. "I think we'll see the results of my actions shortly though."
"What did you do?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I didn't physically do anything," Natasha smirked again. "I simply gave her the same advice that worked for me."
"You sent her into his room to wait with lingerie on, didn't you?" I asked bluntly.
"You'll find out in the morning."