Exile of the Faithful - Chapter One

Exile of the Faithful - Chapter One

Mule-Class Dropship Penny's Pride

Nadir jump point

Purvo System

Capellan Confederation

12 June, 3052

     Faith woke to find herself face down on the cold deck. She had been in and out of consciousness several times in the last...well, she didn't know how long. Her head was splitting with an almost unreal pain, and her stomach was rocked with cramps that seemed as random as they were intense. Then there were the chills. She could not shake the chills and shivers, even though she knew that the room was probably quite reasonable in temperature.

     She tried to stand, but as she pushed herself up off the floor, her arms buckled and she slammed to the deck once again. She contemplated yet another attempt, but heard rapid footsteps making their way over to her.

     "How many times must I tell you, do not try to get up and walk around," Cat said as she helped Faith to her feet. "I know you are as stubborn as a mule, but this is not helping. You have to ride this out." With Cat's assistance, she made her way over to the bed, and curled up in an almost fetal position. Cat pulled a sheet over her and knelt next to the bed. "Remember, you are not simply suffering withdrawal from a single drug, but all of whatever were in your concoctions. Wait until you are recovered. Then we can figure out this mess."

Auxiliary Barracks

Purvo

Capellan Confederation

9 June, 3052

(Three days earlier)

     Faith wanted to slam her fist into the wall of her temporary berth. Incompetence, that's what had nearly cost the day. If it weren't for the efforts of dozens of brave MechWarriors, the FedSuns forces would still be rampaging over the planet. That's what happens when you put some second-line commander with delusions of grandeur in charge of a real operation. 

     "By Kerensky, I'm giving the Strategios a piece of my mind of saddling me with this assignment. After I figure out how to get the hell out of this assignment." She spoke aloud, even though the room was empty.

     She picked up her comm unit and started to dial, then realized that it was not connected. "No signal? Damn, these bumpkins are worse than I thought. Can't even keep comms up in their base."

     At that moment, the door flung open and Cat burst in, carrying a satchel. "Pack your gear, FAST!" As if to emphasize her point, she started grabbing strewn about items and stuffing them into Faith's gear bag.

     "What the hell is going on? Did you know the comms are down?" She stood there, waiting for some kind of reply.

     "Comms are not down. Only yours is down. Now hurry up."

     "What do you mean only mine? What the hell?"

     Cat paused from her hurried packing spree to face Faith. "You fucked up, that is what is going on. You pissed off that pompous fool on his own turf. We all know he fucked up, he always fucks up, but this time you gave him a scapegoat, and he means to use it."

     Faith rested her hands on her hips. "He's a blowhard. So what?"

     "He may be, but he is a blowhard with connections to the local Maskirovka agent. He wanted to pass off the near-debacle onto someone, and he must have had sources. He got the Mask to pull your last blood test, and it came back laced with god knows what. He is going to use that to railroad you."

     Faith started grabbing her gear and packing, even as she tried to wrap her head around what was going on. "So why are we running? I have to defend myself. Sure I was juiced to hell, but I still downed 2 or 3 times as many Rats as his whole little command lance put together."

     "That will not matter. They are out for blood and a scapegoat. If the Mask get their hands on you, we lose any hope we have. We have to get out of here before-"

     She was interrupted as the door opened and two Gatekeeper infantrymen entered, sub-machineguns at their sides. Before Faith, or they, could react, Cat had swung around to face the door, pistols already raised. The autopistols barked rapidly, the rounds catching each of the troopers in the upper torso and spinning them to the ground.

     "Shit! What the hell is going on?" she yelled.

     Cat turned to face her. "You have to get it together, and fast. We have to get out of here, or else your neck is going to be in the noose."

     With that, Faith crammed the last of her essentials into the bag. As an alarm sounded, they bolted out the door, in search of freedom.