Dropship Blood Castle

Steelton
Tamar March
Federated Commonwealth
13 April, 3050

         It had been four days since they had made planetfall, and the warriors had gone off to fight the defenders for possession of the planet, and Fiona was close to going stir crazy. She kept up a strict routine of training, but as much as she hated to admit it, she missed being pushed and scolded to better performance by Abigail. More than that, she missed a sense of being part of the Clan. The warriors were off doing the real fighting and she was stuck back at the dropship, incapable of doing anything to help.

     She found herself in one of the mechbays, which currently housed a few damaged mechs that were undergoing repairs. She did not see Abigail's Timber Wolf among the mechs, which she took as a good sign. She was lost in thought when she heard her name being called and she abruptly snapped out of it.

     "Kendrick, wait up!" called the voice of Dirk Masterton.

     She closed her eyes and waited a few seconds until Dirk ran up beside her. "What do you want, Dirk?"

     "I just want to talk, that's all. I haven't seen you around much since...well..we last talked."

     She spun on her heel and faced him. "Sorry, I've been busy...selling out the Federated Commonwealth and all that. It takes up a lot of my time."

     He raised his hands defensively. "Look, I deserve that, I know. I reacted badly. We're all having a hard time getting through this, right? I'm sorry. I just didn't know how to react at the time, that's all." 

     She stood accusingly with her hands on her hips. "That's all I needed too. I just needed some support, to not feel alone in what I'm going through, and all you could do was get self righteous with me."

     He shrugged and lowered his head. "Look, I'm sorry. I just want a chance to start over. We have to stick together here, yeah?"

     She dropped her hands. "It's alright, I found what I needed elsewhere. But thanks for the apology. And yeah, we can try to start over. I don't mean to be harsh or anything. We do all need to help each other out, and I'm willing to do that. But you have to accept what I'm doing as well."

     He nodded. "I got it. What are you up to anyway, with all the warriors gone?"

     She sighed. "A whole lot of nothing. There's not much word coming back, at least not that anyone will share with me. No idea how the fight is going."

     His expression was neutral. "Scuttlebutt from in town has it that the defenders are pretty well getting their asses kicked, but the two different Clan units are tripping over each other, getting in each other's way and what not, so it's not going as smoothly as it could."

     She raised an eyebrow. "How are you getting scuttlebutt from in town?

     He grinned. "With the fighting being so far off, some of the tech units have gone into the town near the LZ, trying to scrounge up parts, goods, girls, whatever. The Jade Falcon warriors might have a stick up their ass, but the tech and merchant caste that we have on board are treating this like a vacation in paradise. From what I gather, shit is pretty regimented on their homeworlds, so opening up whole new worlds of opportunity is like letting kids into the candy store."

     She nodded. "I'm impressed."

     He feigned surprise. "What, that I can distill information down? I'm not just a pretty face, you know."

     She shook her head. "No, that you were in town and didn't try to bolt."

     He laughed. "Where was I going to go? Besides, the Falcons will own this world in a few days anyhow, if I ran, I'd just get caught up in the dragnet again, and probably get my ass beat for it."

     Just then, a call blared over the loudspeaker. Apparently the warriors were returning. Within minutes, the bay was flooded with activity, mechs began returning, techs were swinging into action, and Fiona sat back and soacked  it all up. After a few minutes, she spotted the hulking form of a Timber Wolf lurch into the bay, showing moderate signs of damage, and bearing five dirty little lumps that she eventually discerned were Elemental armor suits once they scurried off of their ride.

     She waited patiently, the Elementals disappeared into a far corner of the bay, and eventually Abigail emerged from the cockpit and made her way down to the lower deck level. She was handing her gear off to a tech when Fiona ran up to her. "How did the battle go?" She tried to contain her enthusiasm so as to not seem like some school girl or Solaris fangirl.

     Abigail grinned broadly, her hair still wet with the sweat from the cockpit. "It was exhilarating, surat. There was confusion between our two clusters, but no rivalry was going to spoil our victory. Some of the enemy managed to escape offworld and are burning outward now, but we defeated them soundly."

     "Did you see much action?" she wanted details.

     Abigail slapped her on the back. "Come, let us go to my quarters, surat. We will drink and revel in our victory and I will tell you every detail."

     And they did. They drank far too much, coupled enthusiastically at various points in the evening, and went over every detail of the battle like children having just witnessed a sporting event. Finally, late in the night, when they were too exhausted to do anything else, Fiona entwined herself with Abigail's body, still bearing faint traces of mech cockpit intermingled with the energy of their evening activity.

     "Funny thing about it all though, you were correct, surat. Carranza was bluffing. Perhaps the Star Commander was right about you after all."

    Hours later, Abigail awoke to a knocking on her door. She blinked away the mild headache and blurriness of the previous night’s drinking and quickly distangled herself from the still sleeping form of Fiona. She hurriedly rummaged around and grabbed a pair of boy shorts and slipped the closest thing she could find to a clean shirt hastily over her head, than quietly scurried over to the door and opened it. 

    She was met first by the blinding light of the corridor, harsh even though it was still on dimmer night time levels. Accompanying the glare and a quick uptick in the level of her headache was the sight of Star Commander Lovvins. “I hope I am not disturbing you, Abigail, I know you intended to celebrate our victory last night, but there was something I wished to discuss, and to do so more privately than once the unit is assembled later this morning. May I come in?”

    She nodded. “Of course. What is it, Star Commander?”

    He ducked his head through the door, then glanced over her shoulder at the sight of the only partially covered bondsman still asleep in her bed. He raised and eyebrow coyly. “Celebrate indeed, Abigail.” He laughed softly.

    Abigail looked briefly alarmed. “Star Commander, I can explain-“

    He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “I am not concerned with your celebratory habits or your coupling partners. As long as you deliver the results I require where she is concerned, I have no quarrel with your methods. Neg, I wish to speak to you of another matter.”

    Relief washed over Abigail’s face. “What is wrong, Star Commander?”

    He kept his voice low. “As you no doubt discerned from the unfolding of the battle, our little freebirth was correct in her assessment of the enemy disposition. You see now the advantage she offers us that I was referring to?”

    Abigail nodded. “Aff, Star Commander. But how is that problematic?”

    He frowned. “Unfortunately, while the fight was a success, it was not as great a success as it could have been. Our two clusters hindered one another more than they helped. The Galaxy Commander was made to look somewhat foolish. And knowledge of the information we brought her beforehand has become something of a common knowledge.”

    Abigail hissed. “The old hag should have listened!”

    Lovvins quieted her by squeezing her shoulder. “Yes, but that ‘old hag’ has played politics for a long time and is skilled enough in it to have retained her command for decades in spite of her age. Fiona, and by extension, I, am a reminder of the Galaxy Commander’s foolishness. I am worried that she will seek to keep us out of sight by not bidding us in combat, or even shuffling us off to another unit.”

    “Savashri! I will pound the old witch’s face in!”

    Lovvins shook his head, but smiled. “You will do no such thing. I am not certain how, or even if she will choose to act. I merely wish you to keep yourself aware. Do you understand? I will not be sidelined, or shipped off to some backwater garrison, or guarding merchant flotsam back to the homeworlds. If an attempt is made, I must be aware of it as soon as possible so I may intervene with my own connections to avert the damage.”

    Abigail gritted her teeth. “I understand, Star Commander. I will be vigilant.”

    He nodded. “Good. Now, it is early still, you still have an hour or so to sleep off your night of debauchery and be ready for duty.” He said with a playful smile.