For the third time, the screen of her simulator went blank with the exception of a sixty second reset timer. Three times she had dueled the AI Dire Wolf, and three times it had felled her mech before she could destroy the infuriating opponent. It didn't matter that she surrendered thirty tons to the other mech, she was furious that she could not come up with a way to defeat it. She had mobility, and she had a more advanced mech than she had ever piloted in her life, there had to be a way to defeat the armored giant that Abigail had programmed to fight her.

        When the timer had reached zero, the simulator reset, the 100 ton enemy mech at one and a half kilometers out, her own mech fresh and re-armed. She had tried rushing in. She had tried standing off. She had tried using her maneuverability to exploit the plodding nature of the enemy. But each time, she came up just a little bit short. A volley or two more and she would have it, but she could not buy the survivability to get those shots off.

        She brought her mech up into a run, closing to firing range with the enemy mech. She loosed a volley from her LRM rack, and a shot from her PPC, both of which were on target and cored armor from the plodding AI mech. She hit her jump jets to launch her mech into the air, and several laser and autocannon blasts flew below her.

    As she landed, she broke her mech to the right. Just then, she noticed another blip on her tactical display. It showed as neutral on her readout, and was moving at an incredible speed. From it's speed, she assumed it must be a hovercraft or some other fast vehicle. The enemy mech froze, trying to determine which foe to face. She called up the neutral on her display. It read as a battlemech, twenty tons, but it was moving faster than even a locust.

        "Intruding battlemech, identify yourself," there was no response. "Intruder, who are you? I do not require assistance." Again there was no response. It occurred to her that she did not even know if it was a real person or an AI programmed to assist her. Either way, it was not responding, but she was not about to let the opportunity pass her by.

        She kicked her mech into a run, loosing another volley of PPC and missile fire at the plodding enemy assault mech. The enemy was trying to deal with the small mech running in and around it. She was close enough now that she could see the tiny mech running circles around the bulbous Dire Wolf, peppering it with laser fire and dodging return fire in the process. She was close enough now that her autocannon was in range, and she pulled the trigger into a long burst of fire. The shells streamed into it's torso, rending more armor from the beast. She added her PPC to the fray, and it melted away a scar that exposed some of the inner structure of the mech.

        It was then that she realized how much damage the tiny little humanoid mech, which her targeting computer tagged FRMTH-01, had done to the large mech. The pilot, human or AI, moved the tiny little mech like an acrobat, dodging fire and punching back with deadly streams of laser fire. She switched her autocannon to cluster fire and loosed a cloud of submunitions that searched out the rents in the assault mechs armor, shredding internal components like soft tissue. She added her PPC once again, and its deadly lightning punched through an opening and thrashed the armored beast's gyro to pieces, sending fragments of metal flying in all directions, and a few seconds later, the bulbous nose of the giant plowed into the ground.

        With her victory over the enemy, the simulator shut down and the seal on the hatch popped, letting cool air flood in from the bay outside. She took a moment to relax, although she was amazed at how cool the clan cooling suit had kept her throughout her simulated fights. She pulled off her neurohelmet and climbed out of the pod.

        Leaning against the pod next to hers was a man wearing a jumpsuit with the rank of Star Commander on it over his cooling suit. She guessed he was in his mid-to-late thirties, with dark blonde hair and the stubble of a beard. His uniform also indicated he was freeborn.

        "I did not need your help in there, Star Commander."

        He chuckled under his breath. "That's not what the simulator said, bondsman. I watched you go down twice trying to take out that Dire Wolf, and that's just since I arrived. Figured I would save you some time."

        "You could have announced yourself rather than wait around to mock my failures."

        He held his hands up, palms out defensively. "Relax, kid, I wasn't trying to wound anyone's pride, just came down here for some sim time, saw someone was running in one of the pods and I decided to watch for a bit. I see you are a bondsman. Word of friendly advice for a freeborn bondsman in Clan Jade Falcon, don't pick fights you don't have to, kid, you'll get plenty enough as it is."

        She took a deep breath. "I am sorry. I did not mean to snap at you like that. You simply surprised me." she paused. "Ok, well maybe slightly embarrassed. But I am sorry all the same."

        He stood up straight, away from the pod. "No harm, no foul, kid. You try to talk like a trueborn, why is that?"

        She set her hand on her hip. "I am simply trying to adapt to my new Clan, that is all."

        He tilted his head slightly. "A freeborn talking like a trueborn, and a bondsman to Clan Jade Falcon heading to the homeworlds. You must be from one of the more conservative Clans, though I admit, I didn't think they got much more conservative than old Jade Falcon. What is your former clan?"

        She thought about it for a moment. "Clan Davion, I suppose. I am from the Inner Sphere, the Federated Suns. I was taken in battle during the early stages of the invasion."

        "An Inner Sphere bondsman at that, trying to gain warrior status in the Falcons? Well, your story keeps getting more interesting. What say you join me in the mess hall for dinner, you can share some more of that story?"

        She cocked her head. "Why would you want to dine with me? Pretty much all of the warriors I have come across have been either hostile or indifferent to me as a bondsman."

        He laughed. "I'd wager most of those warriors aren't aging over-the-hill freeborn castoffs heading to the homeworlds for retirement to the scrap heap either, so there's that."

        She smiled in response. "Very well. I have the rest of the evening free from training, so I suppose I can join you. You never gave me your name."

        "Star Commander Abner. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

        They made their way to  the mess hall and acquired trays of food. They easily found seats in the nearly deserted dining area, and ate as they talked.

           "So, you plan to fight in a Trial of Position. Most of what I've heard says you Spheroids don't take too kindly to the whole bondsman notion. Most choose to be repatriated by ComStar or fill out the lower castes feeling like prisoners. What makes you different, kid?"

        She finished a bite of what was supposed to be some form of meat. "I have nothing really holding me down in terms of ties. I was trying to find myself as it was before the fighting started. Then this happened. It seemed like a chance to make something of myself for myself. I do not know if that makes sense."

        He chewed on a piece of bread. "Inner Sphere ways are still strange to me, to us, so I don't know if it makes much sense. We all have to find ourselves, but in the Clans, that's usually laid out for you. Doubly so if you're a trueborn, but even for us freeborns. Even as a kid, I knew I wanted to be a warrior. I wasn't going to settle for making trinkets or fixing trucks when there was a chance for the invasion and rebirth of the Star League going on. I will say this, you could have picked an easier road, that's for sure."

        "Thanks for the encouragement," she joked. "You talk like your career is over. I know the clans have an age bias, but surely you're not that old?"

        He sighed. "I am thirty-eight years old, kid. I've had a good career, made Star Commander, which is no mean feat for a freeborn. I even got to see the Inner Sphere, managed to fight my way to slot in a unit fighting in the invasion through sheer determination and persistence. But I'm heading back to the homeworlds now, and I will likely never make the journey to the Inner Sphere again. I'm assigned to garrison duty, which will be bland and probably have little to no hope of seeing combat. Then I'll probably get shuffled off to be cannon fodder against warriors in training, or guarding some useless shipments of trinkets. Nope, my shot at glory has come and gone, kid."

        She shook her head. "That is crazy. Most of my high level officers in my Inner Sphere unit were your age or older, and they had plenty of career ahead of them. And I saw the way you piloted that little mech in the simulation. You have plenty left to contribute to the fight."

        They finished their food, disposed of their trays, and walked slowly through the corridor. "You still have lots to learn, kid. You can fight the Way of the Clans only so far. You can test it's boundaries and push all you want, but there's also reality."

        She shook her head. "You should not talk in such a defeated tone. You have no idea what the future holds for you in the homeworlds. I mean, I would never have imagined this life for myself, yet here I am, on the verge of leaping into a grand, crazy new life."

        He smiled. "You talk with the craziness of youth. I speak with the dull tone of experience. The two are very different languages."

        She turned and walked backwards so she could face him as she spoke. "You are not on the trash heap of history yet, Star Commander Abner. I hope I am not being too forward here....couple with me tonight, quiaff? I think I can make you feel younger again, at least for a time." she gave him a coy look.

        He raised an eyebrow. "Normally it would be a breach of protocol for a bondsman to initiate coupling, but I can't say as I'm not amenable, and rules are often relax among freeborns. My billet is on the next level."

        Hours later, she found herself tracing the myriad of scars on his chest and abdomen lightly with her finger. "You must have seen a lot of action."

        He sighed softly. "I've seen my share. Though along with the stubbornness and tenacity of being a Jade Falcon freeborn comes a lot of scars too." He seemed to look off into the distance for a few minutes, then he tucked a few stray strands of her hair behind her ear. "It won't be as easy as you think, you know."

        She let her hand come to rest on his chest. "What, the Trial of Position? I know it will be hard, but I will succeed. I must."

        "No, I'm not talking about the trial. I watched you in the simulator, you're good. You'll pass the trial as long as you don't do anything stupid or get terribly unlucky. No, I'm talking about life as a freeborn warrior. It will be harder than you think. You're mostly insulated now, not out and about with the warriors, especially the trueborns. You have to be twice as good, all the time, and even then you'll catch shit."

        She nodded. "I understand. I will deal with it as it comes. There is no other choice."

        He shook his head. "No, you don't understand. You can't until you live it. I see you try to fit in, but the trues will never appreciate that. It has been hard enough on me, and I grew up in Clan society. I do not pretend to know your origins, but I cannot imagine your upbringing could have prepared you for this. I look at your body, and it is flawless. You didn't have to fight your way up the food chain. I'd wager you were born into high society, perhaps nobility, quiaff?"

        She threw the sheets off and leapt out of bed, storming several angry steps away before turning to face him. "Yes, I grew up well off. My father is a minor noble. I'm sorry I'm not rough and tumble enough for you, but I'm doing the best I can in a strange new world"

        He sat up and smiled annoyingly. "It figures, it would take a princess to take a compliment and find offense in it and storm off in a huff. Listen, princess, I'm calling things how I see them. I'm only trying to be your friend here. You need to learn to trust the few hands that are going to reach out to help you, kid. Now, much as it pleases me to see you standing there naked, come back to the bed and cool off."

        She fumed for several seconds before her anger cracked and fell away. She strode back to the bed and climbed in, letting Abner pull her to him as they both lay down again. "I am sorry, I am just in defensive mode, that's all."

        "I understand, kid. I'm not trying to knock down your sand castle or piss in your cereal, I'm just trying to prepare you for what you're going to face. You seem like a decent enough kid, I'd like for you to succeed."

        She punched him softly in the chest. "You should not be referring to someone that you just coupled with as 'kid'. I'm a big girl, and you are not that old."

        He ran his fingers through her hair. "Just how old are you, princess?"

        She smacked him playfully. "I am twenty one, and you are not allowed to call me princess."

        He laughed. "You are the bondsman and I am the Star Commander. I believe I have found your callsign, princess. And as for calling you kid, yeah, I am that old, kid. Would it surprise you to know I have a freeborn daughter not that much younger than you?"

        She considered her answer for a moment. "Surprise me, yes, but not because of your age. I suppose with the whole trueborn/freeborn thing, I assumed that children were rare among clan warriors. I figured freeborn procreation would be for the lower castes."

        "You are not wrong.. My daughter was born shortly after I passed my warrior trial. Her mother and I were both freeborn warrior candidates, and it was becoming clear that she was going to wash out of training. She had a mind for the merchant caste, and that is ultimately where she was assigned. I learned of my daughter's birth after my trial, and was able to spend a little bit of time with her before I was assigned to bandit hunting duty. I have seen my daughter periodically over the years. She is foolish and treats me like some wondrous figure, so much so that when last I heard, she was attempting to try out as a warrior herself. I doubt she will succeed. Hell, I hope she does not. But yes, there is the story which earns me the right to call you kid."

        Just then, the jump warning signal sounded. "I am told this is the final jump. A few days in system and we will be on the ground at Ironhold. Your trial awaits, kid."