Club Cataphract
Tara
Altorra, Sian Commonality
Capellan Confederation
4 March, 3050


     It was an average night at the Cataphract. The club was relatively full with patrons, the upper middle class of Altorran society. ever since the Fourth Tau Ceti Rangers had made their base of operations there, the capital city had undergone something of a rebirth. The influx of money had invigorated the population, and clubs had popped up across all social strata. This, though, was not the kind of place she would have expected to find her quarry.

     The Cataphract was a club for the young crowd. The drinks were relatively cheap, and the music was loud. It was a hot spot for the local single scene, and no doubt there were a few mechwarrior groupies there. Her time on Solaris had let Faith spot the groupies a mile off. Some people liked them. Some just used them. She had never had much use at all for them, and neither, she thought, did her boss. And yet here she was, tracking him down.

     A young man, obviously a server or bartender of some kind, intercepted her as she moved through the room. "And what can I do for you, my dear? A drink, perhaps?"

     She chuckled. "I'm not your dear. But I'll take the drink. And some information."

     "Of course. Over here." He gestured towards the bar, and she followed. She brushed off several opening moves from young hotshots who had no idea what they were aiming for. She supposed that went with the territory. That was part of the reason she was annoyed at having to come down here. If Ace had been hiding at some dive, she could have thrown on any old thing and her trusty Sternsnacht Python and been done with it. But no, he had to go hunting somewhere on the social radar. That meant she had to get all dressed up, and that, in turn, meant beating the boys off with a stick. That was the price you paid when you had to go to a meat market.

     She reached the bar and settled on a spot between a pair of young ladies that she pegged as rich girls out for a good time on the town. The bartender had made his way behind the bar and over to her. "So, what'll you have?"

     "Scotch, single malt, neat."

     "You got it"

     It was a little past midnight. Probably the worst time to be at a place like this. The music was mixing with the energy of the crowd, and the alcohol was just at the peak level that deals were about to be made for the evening. Now was when she needed to make the intercept.

     "There you go. Now what else can I help you with?"

     "I'm looking for a friend of mine that came down here tonight. You probably spotted him as 4TCR and a mechwarrior." She figured he wouldn't be trying to hide either of those two facts on a night out like tonight.

     "Yeah, he headed to the upper level a while back. Shouldn't be too hard to find."

     She thanked the barkeep and took her drink with her, navigating the throng of eager young club goers, and worked her way up the stairs to the upper level. She scanned the room, eyes sliding over the nameless crowd. She found her quarry on the far side of the room. Ace had a drink in his hand, and a pair of what looked to be very eager women flanking him.

     She made her way across the room. "You can be a hard one to track down" She slid her arm between Ace and the girl on his left, coaxing the girl away, sliding her arm around him and giving off her best possessive vibe. "Sorry ladies, this one's taken for tonight. Good hunting."

     The looks she got from the girls were not pleasant, but they knew better than to force the issue. Ace took a sip of his drink, a Scotch if she knew anything. "Marking your territory? Something I should know?"

     Faith chuckled softly. "It's a meat market. Better to let them think I stole their meal than to get into a pissing contest with them".

     He laughed. "I thought I was the one doing the shopping. Apparently I was on the menu?"

     "Whatever suits your ego. But come on, you can score a piece of townie ass any day. I wanted to catch you before we lift-off for Bacum." He pondered her words for a second, then gave her a pat on the shoulder.

     "Ok, but not in here on the 'meat market' as you call it. Let's catch some air."

     The pair made their way out to the club's balcony, which gave a fairly good view of the riverfront that ran through the heart of the city. There was still a fair amount of hustle and bustle, but here from the backside of the club, the view faced away from the more chaotic social district. Ace leaned on the railing.

     "So, what's this talk that the little lady hunted me down for?"

     She smiled and paused, taking in the cool air, a stark contrast from the heat of the club, giving her goosebumps on her bare arms. "Right to the point, eh?"

     "Hey, you're the one that interrupted my pleasure cruise"

     "Don't play the pity card, you know I'm too much of a hard ass for that, Ace. But with us getting ready to ship out for Bacum, I wanted to make sure everything was cool."

     "Yeah. Well, it has to be. Nothing any of us can do but move on to the next gig"

     The sentiment was fine, but the tone in his voice was not. "Look, you know there's nothing you could have done. At the end of the day, we're warriors fighting for money. This kind of stuff is bound to happen."

     "Maybe. But still. It doesn't take the sting away any. I still don't even know how to take it. That's a big chunk of the unit that's gone. I mean it's one thing to lose people in battle. You expect the occasional empty spot in the battle line, new mech in the mech bay. But this time they left on their own, and none of us even saw it coming."

     She rubbed her hand over his back. "And we still don't know the whole story. But I have people looking into that. But if we're heading back to the front, we need you guys at the top to be on your game. No second guessing or doubting."

     He smiled. "Easier said than done. But yeah, we'll be ok."

     She put her arm around him and rested her head against his shoulder. "Hey, this unit is family. And we've all got your back. Elijah splitting off was a big bump in the road, but at the end of the day, 4TCR always comes back together. I went off to Solaris, but come game time, I came back. People come, people go."

     "You got all dolled up to come give me a pep talk?"

     "Hey, I'm not all badass in a battlemech all the time. A girl takes any excuse she can to get 'all dolled up', as you call it. Besides, I'm a Lady now, have to be seen among the commoners sometime, right?"

     He chuckled. "You talk like that's a title of nobility and not a title of ass kicking."

     "Hey, I worked for my title, and it made me more money than fighting the good fight ever will. You should have come, we could have had great times on that town."

     "Well, we have to head off to 'fight the good fight' tomorrow, but the night is still young, we can raise some hell in this town."

     She gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. "Thought you'd never ask, Ace."