Test of Faith - Chapter Seven

Test of Faith - Chapter Seven

Cargo DropShip Big Sally

Pleione System

Word of Blake Protectorate

20 May, 3075

     "Feels like they just flipped for final descent." Acadia McCarron laid back on the rickety cot that had served as her bed for the last few weeks of the trip to Pleione. After much wrangling, she and Cat had managed to surreptitiously book passage on a cargo hauler bringing supplies into the system. From the feel of the ride, the spheroid dropship had just flipped it's orientation to begin the final descent to the planet. "I feel naked going in there without a mech."

     She glanced over at Cat, who was using one of the pipes that ran through their makeshift quarters to do pull ups. The older woman continued with her set to completion, before dropping down and grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat from her face. "Why do you think I have been working so hard?"

     Acadia twirled a lock of her black and sapphire hair through her fingers. "You always work that hard, Aunt Cat."

     "Yeah, well I am not as young as some people." While not technically related at all, Acadia had know Cat as Aunt Cat for all of her life. She had befriended her mother way back around the time of the Clan invasion, and while she remained an independent mechwarrior and never part of the unit, she had spent more time around the unit and Acadia's family than away from it in the 25 years since. She had been born a Trueborn Clan warrior, and had somehow ended up in the Inner Sphere since even before the Clan invasion, but Acadia never really found out the whole story of how that came about. She wasn't even sure if her mother knew the whole story. But Cat had been as loyal as anyone to their family, regardless.

     "As if. You're in like insane shape, you're what, 50 years old, and you've got a body most girls my age would kill for. I don't think you have to worry about old age any time soon. Being cooked up in a vat did you some good." She laughed playfully.

     Cat shot her a wry smile. "We use the term 'decanted' thank you very much. And good genes are only good if you make use of them." Cat walked over and sat down on the edge of the cot beside Acadia. "And you should feel naked without your mech. You have never killed anyone before, have you?"

     Acadia frowned. "I've been a mechwarrior since I was 16. I've killed plenty of people," she said it almost defensively.

     Cat tilted her head to look at her. "It is nothing to be ashamed of, I might tell you. But that is different. Putting a PPC bolt into someone's cockpit or turning your machine guns on infantry is one thing, but it is another thing entirely to look someone in the eyes and pull the trigger, or plunge a knife into their chest. This is not going to be like any fight you have had before."

     Acadia sat up. "I'll do whatever I have to do to save my mom. Whatever I have to."

     Cat patted her gently on the thigh. "I know you will. Remember who taught you how to pilot a mech. I have seen you grow up from birth, and I can tell you this will be the greatest challenge of your life. You will need everything life has given you. Your mother's fire, your father's patience, and your own love for your mother."

     Nestling herself up close next to Cat, Acadia laid her head on the older woman's shoulder as she sat beside her. "Sounds kind of weird to hear you talk like that."

     "I have been in the Inner Sphere for 30 years, Acadia, longer than you have been alive. Times change a person. I am hardly at all like the person I was when I won my trial to become a warrior. I like to think I am a better person for it. Things like friendship and love mean a great deal more to me than they once did. That is why I am here now."

     "So....how are we going to get my mom back?" That was the big question. She was fine in the determination department, but less so in the planning department. Something like this was out of her league, and she knew it.

     "First, we have to figure out if she is even still alive, and if so, where they are holding her. The best way to figure that out is to try to tap the local resistance cells. If anyone knows if she is alive, they will. But finding them will not be easy. Getting them to tell us will be even harder."

*****

Jezrael City

Pleione

Word of Blake Protectorate

22 June, 3075

     If the way to a man's heart was through his stomach, then the way to his secrets was through his bed. Or at least that's what Acadia was telling herself. She and Cat had split up in the capital city to try to increase their odds of making contact with some form of pro-Capellan faction that might have some information on her mother.

     It had been harder than she had anticipated. With the planet changing hands from Capellan, to Federated Commonwealth, to Chaos March, to Capellan, and then finally to Word of Blake, all within the last 50 years, there was little loyalty to House Liao left to be found. A sizeable portion of the population it seemed were quite pleased with their new Blakist overlords. The bloody hand of the Word of Blake on their world had meant that most citizens of the planet had thus far been spared the turmoil of the Jihad. And naturally, they wanted to keep it that way.

     She had been as discreet as possible in her inquiries, given the time frame they had to work with. She was posing as a University student, which allowed her a great deal of freedom to move across class and geographical boundaries in her search. She had finally gotten some hints about a group of young agitators that was unhappy with Blakist rule, but were remaining out of sight.

     And that, in turn, had led her to Paxton Davis. By day, he ran a small shop that distributed textbook files, readers, and other assorted necessities for students of the capital city's main university. By night, there were rumors that he was part of a group that had been collecting surveillance on Blakist facilities, sabotaged Blakist equipment, and otherwise made a nuissance of themselves. Cat had insisted that they not reveal themselves for who they really were, and so Acadia had to use subterfuge to get close to Davis.

     It had helped that he was young and deliciously attractive, in the roguish sort of way that tickled her fancy. And that was how she found herself that night, in his apartment, in his bed. 

     "What is that noise?" There was a soft hum in the background that she had heard before in his apartment, but it never seemed to be coming from anywhere in particular.

     "You get that on the higher floors here when the winds are high. Something about the sand of the big desert that gives that resonance. I forgot you're not from around here. When you grow up on Pleione, you learn to kind of tune it out."

      She moved slightly to get more comfortable, laying against his chest. "Ugh, I wish I could tune out the hangover that I'm probably going to have in the morning."

     He started to move, "I've got some oxy-pills around somewhere if you want to pop a few to try to ward it off.

     She pushed him back down onto the bed. "Oh no, mister, you're not going anywhere. I'll risk the hangover."

     Suddenly, the door opened and someone hit the light switch. "Hey Pax, sorry if I woke you, there's a storm outside and I figured I'd crash for....." the woman's voice trailed off as she took in the surroundings. Acadia instinctively grabbed a handful of the bedsheets to cover herself as she tried to adjust to the sudden bright light. The woman started again, "Paxton, what is SHE doing in here?"

     Paxton jumped out of bed and fumbled quickly to put on a pair of shorts. "Look, this is not what it seems. I mean....it is what it seems, but it's not a big deal...no Rachel don't give me that look." He ran his hands through his hair furiously in frustration, then turned to Acadia. "Just...just give me 2 minutes, I promise." He turned to the other woman, a brunette who looked as if she were about to spit venom at him. "You, out in the kitchen, now." He closed the door behind him, leaving Acadia sitting there quizzically.

     She could hear shouting outside the bedroom, but couldn't make out the words. She had no idea what to make of the situation. Had she just been discovered by a wife or girlfriend? If so, that would probably blow any chance of getting any information out of Paxton. She punched the mattress. After a few minutes of listening to the muffled arguing, she rolled out of the bed and slipped her underwear back on, and started pacing.

     A few minutes later, the door opened, and Paxton reappeared. "Look, I'm sorry. I...I don't think there could be a worse case of timing, I'm sorry for that. Gimme a chance to explain?"

      "Look, if I'm causing a problem, I can just go, it's ok."

     "No. Please stay. And it's not what you think. Rachel is just a friend."

     Acadia threw him a skeptical glance. "Just friends don't get that mad when they find you in bed with a girl. They laugh it off. Or join in. But they don't get that mad."

     Paxton rubbed his hands over his face. "Uh.....I don't know where to start...." He walked over to a large plush chair that stood in the corner of the room and sat down. "Come over here and sit with me?"

     She hesitated for a moment, then relented, making her way over to him and sitting beside him. He gently pulled her closer. "What do you think of Word of Blake?" Her heart began to race. This was it, he might be opening up. This was her chance, and she didn't want to blow it. She had never remotely trained for anything like this.

     "I think ComStar was a bit crazy. And all the crazies in ComStar left and joined the Word of Blake, and doubled down on the crazy. But they're just the government. Why?"

     He paused before answering her. He was clearly nervous, maybe even more nervous than she was. "Not everyone on this planet just blindly accepts the Blakists as our masters. I know it seems like everything is fine and all, but there's a whole huge war going on there. And the Blakists......I just don't think the Inner Sphere would be a very good place if they win."

     That was possibly the understatement of the century. The Jihad had already killed billions, and turned the clock back on the Inner Sphere for untold decades. "That's true. But what can anybody do about it?"

     "We can stand up to them. I mean, it may not seem like much, but if everyone stood up to them...maybe the Inner Sphere would have a chance. You know? I mean, I'm not saying that life under the Confederation was perfect or anything. But these guys are crazy."

     She nodded. "I still don't get what that has to do with that girl going crazy though."

     He took a deep breath, "Some of us are standing up to them. It's not much, but we do what we can. We try to do our part. Of course if the robes find out you're working against them, well, it tends not to end well. Rachel just....isn't very trusting. She's worried about the operation being exposed, the more people we have hanging around, the riskier it gets, you know, that kind of thing. She just kind of freaked, that's all."

     Acadia did her best to feign ignorance, in spite of the fact that she already knew most of what he was telling her. "Wow. I mean, that's a huge risk, and I can see why anyone would be jumpy."

     He nodded and stood up, walking over to the window and peering out for a moment. "We've had setbecks. The Wobbies are good at turning anyone they capture. Sometimes a whole cell disappears in one night. Hell, we even had one case where they captured someone and brainwashed him into becoming a suicide bomber, took out most of his group at the next meeting when he blew himself up. It's nuts. But it's relaxed a little bit lately, the robes are pretty pleased with themselves at the moment."

     "Why's that? Things going well for them on the outside?"

     He shrugged. "No idea about that, news from the outside is sketchy. All the media channels are carefully watched, so you only get what they want you to hear. But no, there was a CapCon raid a little while back, and the Blakists turned it back pretty hard. We tried to get in touch with the raiding party, but they weren't on planet long enough. Toasters pushed them back quick, even sent in some of their cyborg crazy warriors. Cappies never got close to their objectives. The toasters would have wiped them all out, but one of the Cappie officers made a suicide stand to hold them off while the rest got away"

     Acadia's heart was in her throat. She certainly didn't like the sound of "suicide stand." There was no way that after all their efforts, that it was possible that her mother had never even survived the fight. She collected her thoughts quickly. "Wow. He must have been a pretty brave warrior to die for his friends like that."

     "She, it was a woman. Cute little blonde. And she survived, they pried her out of her mech. We were watching from a couple of klicks away trying to make contact at the time. Probably wishes she had died though, God only knows what they're doing to her up in the Fortress."

     Acadia felt like she had been kicked in the gut. Part of her wanted to jump for joy knowing that indeed, her mom had survived. But the realistic part of her thought about Pax's words. What, indeed, were they doing to her right now, only kilometers away?

     "Hey, you ok? You look like you're about to pass out." He was looking intently at her. She scrambled to regain her composure.

     "What? Oh, um..yeah. Fine. It's just a shame to think about. I mean, I hope she's ok and all."

     Paxton sighed. "Nobody that falls into their hands is ok. Nobody"