Port Howard
Towne
Federated Suns
30 April, 3077
Azalea awoke to the smell of bacon. She was sure it was bacon,
even though she hadn't opened her eyes. She couldn't recall the last time that
she'd smelled bacon.
"Rise and shine, Corporal."
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up. Will
Tanner was seated at the room's small table, two plates in front of
him.
"Bacon?" She asked.
He nodded. "Being a mechjock has it's perks. We can
occasionally splurge when we're out on the town, and you, miss Azalea, are the
benefactor."
"You were sent from heaven!" She made a quick
dash around the bed to secure her bra and panties, donning them quickly and
taking the seat opposite Will.
"Not exactly. Just from the complimentary breakfast.
Beats the chow back at the base, I'll wager."
She nodded hungrily as she took in her plate. Scrambled
eggs, bacon, and a bagel. She hadn't eaten this well in a long time. "I
knew sinking my claws into a Mechwarrior would have it's benefits"
He chuckled. "Is that what it was? All about the
breakfast?"
She downed a bite of the bagel before responding. "As
if." She paused. "It dawned on me last night, you're with the Fox's
Teeth, aren’t you?"
He nodded as he took a bite of his eggs. "Guilty as
charged. We don't exactly go around advertising it, but yes, you're
right."
“So why were you slumming it with the regulars?”
He shook his head. “We’re no different at the end of the
day. Just a bit crazier.”
“You guys are famous. Everyone has heard of you guys.”
He shrugged. “That’s the only difference. We’re kind of
famous. At the end of the day, what we do is no more or less valuable than the
infantryman slogging it out on the front.”
“Still doesn’t explain what you were doing in a dive bar
looking for pool partners.”
He tilted his head. “I found you, didn’t I? Something
interesting. I never did get your story.”
“Not much to tell. I’m from Belladonna, came from a
decent family. I got a good education, I’ve always been into medicine. I knew I
wanted to heal people. But I just stumbled on the recruiter one day, and that
was the beginning of the story. I never imagined that I would be here, seeing
the things I’ve seen, doing the things I’ve done. It still kind of sweeps me
away.”
“Fair enough. So what are your plans?”
She shrugged. “For today?”
“Yeah. You’ve obviously got down time, what do you plan
on doing with it now that you’ve snared your Mechwarrior?”
She chuckled. “You give me too much credit. I was just
looking for a good time. A release. You obliged. I hadn’t planned anything out
beyond that.”
He nodded. “Ever seen the inside of a ‘Mech?”
She choked up slightly. “Once or twice. Not good
experiences.”
“Well, then let’s change that. My girl is amazing, and I’d
love to show her to you.”
She smiled. “I don’t know why, but that sounds like fun. Can
you just show them off to anybody?”
“You’re not just anybody. You’re enlisted. You’re AFFS.
It’s easy enough to pull off.”
She nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a date. I’ll have
to get back to base and get changed.”
“Meet me back here at 1000 hours. You’ll get to se a beauty.”
A few hours later, having returned to base and changed
into fatigues, she met him back at the hotel and the two made their way to the
makeshift mechbay. He led her to a near pristine WSP-3S Wasp.
“It’s smaller than I would have thought.”
He shook his head. “I’m going to pass on that. But I get
your point, she’s tiny compared to some of the big boys. Only twenty tons. But
she’s fast, and she’s gotten me through many a fight.”
“You’ve seen a lot of action?”
He nodded. “More than I care to admit, but yeah. And she’s
gotten me through it all. Come on, lets climb inside.”
She took a deep breath before following him up the
gantry. The last time she was in a Mech cockpit, she had been fighting
desperately to save the life of a young Mechwarrior. She had failed, and the
boy had died. It was a moment that would haunt her forever.
He climbed in and took her arm to guide her through the
hatch into the cockpit. It had a worn in smell to it, not factory new, but not
what it would be like in the heat of battle.
Will sat down in the cockpit seat. Zee knelt beside him.
“This girl has a full head ejection system, so if I ever
need to bail out, the whole head goes with me. Much safer than ejecting into
the wild..”
She could tell he was proud of the machine, but to her it
was a beast of war. She had so many emotions running through her, memories of
Levi Fennimore bleeding out in his Thunderbolt as she was unable to save
him. She knew it was irrational, but it was the truth.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing. Just ghosts, that’s all. Ghosts
of my own making.”
“I’m sorry. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, we can
leave.”
“No, it’s alright.” She slid up and straddled him in the cockpit
seat. “I need to reclaim this. I need to move past it.”
He looked puzzled. “I don’t know what that means.”
She took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. “Oh.”
He replied.
The cramped quarters of a Battlemech cockpit didn’t leave
them much room, but they didn’t need much. Awkwardly they worked each other
free of their clothes and let instinct take over. She gripped the bar above the
cockpit window, letting him run his hands over her body. She rode him to the
brink of ecstasy and back again, letting her mind run free as her body
responded to his touch.
Finally satisfied, she slumped into his embrace. He held
her tightly. “That was…unexpected.”
She laughed. “Lots of bad energy to work out. I take it
you’ve never done that before?”
He chuckled softly to himself. “I can’t say as I’ve ever
used the cockpit for that particular form of recreation before, but there’s a
first time for everything. Are you sure you’re okay?”
She nodded. “I’m sure. Just a lot of bad memories tied up
in the cockpit of a Mech. A different mech, to be sure. Needed to expunge them.”
He laughed. “You realize I’m never going to be able to
take this cockpit seriously again. It will always have the energy of…that.”
She smiled. “Good or bad?”
“Good. I think. Just different. This has always been a personal
space for me. It means a lot to let someone in. I’m not trying to be all
emotional or anything, just, you know.”
“I know.”
The sound of a tech approaching sent her scurrying for
her clothes, and she dressed quickly.
“You know we’ll probably never see each other again.
Hell, I won’t even know if you live or die.”
He
nodded. “I know. Doesn’t change anything. Just two people, trying to find their
way. I hope that I helped you a little bit.”
She kissed him on the forehead. “You did. I don’t know what
the future holds, but at least I’ve lived a little.”
The two climbed free of the cockpit and down into the
mechbay.
She grabbed his hand. “When will you know when you’re
moving out?”
He looked at the sun high in the sky. “Same time as you,
most likely. No way of knowing where we’ll be headed. Same deal as you. Just
moving on.”
“You think we’ll meet on Terra?”
“It’s my sincere hope, Corporal. No way to know, but hope
is all we have.”