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COntinent Xanthi
October 20th 3048
The evening breeze blows across the freshly cut alfalfa fields as the Harasser cruised easily across the rutted dirt road. The crew had the hatches open and their passenger, Staff Sergeant Lindsey Cuffner felt cramped inside the compartment normally used for two crewman.
The Harasser had long ago been modified by some infantry Major as his personal transport after it recieved irepairable battle damage to the electrical system for the weapons. The crew had been talking to her since they had left the starport over six hours ago. The jumpseat she sat in was too high off the floor for the cramped quarters meaning she could not sit straight up. The boxxed lunch they had given her, had not sat well with the gentle bouncing motion of the hovertank.
The vehicles engine changed pitch as the driver redirected the airflow to bring it slowly to a stop. "We are here Staff Sergeant, this is the GPS location you gave us." Lindsey unstrapped and half crawled, half clamored out the hatch and looked around using her field glasses. All around her were alfalfa fields with the normal two track dirt roads cutting through them. The fields were fenced in and there were a couple horses in one and several cows in the others. An old worktruck sat near a rundown barn at the end of the only gravel road. The small beige house had no yard around it, but did have a glass enclosure attatched to it.
The crew by this time had finished shutting the vehicle down. They came out of the hatches and sat on the vehicle letting her know it was now safe to dismount. She nodded to them, then hopped easily down. The crewman found comfortable places to stretch out atop the tank and relaxxed easily.
Enjoying the fact that her stomache was settling now that she was again on her own feet and standing upright, she began to walk up the driveway. The quietness of the area was not lost upon her, nor was the view of the mountain range she judged to be less then 2km to the north. As far as she could see there were mountains surrounding this high altitude valley.
The driveway was longer then she had first thought. Looking behind her the Harasser was a mere dot as she neared the house. She heard the sounds of chickens and a tom turkeyin a coop attached to the barn. The barn itself was much larger then it had looked, at least 25 meters in length and 4 meters tall. A rider was approaching from the southeast on a very large chestnut colored horse. She hoped it was the man she had been sent to retrieve.
As the man rode up Linsey was sure it was the man she had been sent for. Although he was around 10-15 years older then the picture she had been given it was definately him. As the distance closed the man was looking straight at her in her uniform. His face was tanned as were the forearms and neck she could see. Close cut hair and a rough short beard were visible from under the cowboy hat he wore. His denim jacket and grey buttoned shirt had seen some use.
When he pulled up beside her and tipped his hat, she noticed the stock of a rifle in the scabbard of his saddle and a gunbelt upon his hip. As she looked up at him the golden ID badge above his breast pocket glistened slightly. In what seemed common to her for the locals his words came out of his mouth in what was not quite a drawl, "Can I help ya Staff Sergeant?", the depth of his voice more then what she normally heard.
"Yes sir, I hope so, I am looking for a man named Paladyne," Her voice sounded out of place with her precise clipped English.
"Well, seems ya found him," the man says as he reaches into his pocket and retrieves a pouch. As he opens the pouch and begins handrolling a cigarette he looks at her from under the brim of his hat, "How can I be of service to ya?"
Her head tilts to the side as she tries to avoid the glint off of the badge from the setting sun. "Well, I was sent out here to tell you your duty as a game warden is no longer needed."
He dismounted his horse as she spoke. A puzzled expression crossed his features as their eyes met. Lighting his cigarette before speaking a slow thin trail of smoke coming from his mouth, "Why send a military noncom out here to fire me, is there somethin you are hidin miss?"
Lindsey shifted slightly, the mans eyes peering at her had hardened somewhat. She knew those eyes, those were the eyes of someone who had seen things most would never understand. The eyes of someone who had witnessed and dealt in death. They seemed to stare right through her in that "thousand yard stare".
"Well yes sir, there is more", she reached down and retireved the disk she was carrying in the cargo pocket of her uniform trousers,"I am here to deliver the news that you are being reactivated as a replacement for the 3rd Free Worlds Legionnaires. They saw some heavy action on Gienah last month. They are refitting and repairing now on Leyda."
"Ratspit!", Paladyne cut her off, "What kinda joke is this? What would the military want with a 40 year old game warden? I am sure they have some hotshot young buck more then willin to do the biddin of the higherups."
"I assure you Sir, this is not a joke." she looked up into the man's face. He must be almost 2 meters tall and around 80kg she summed up. Not solidly built, but far from flabby or out of shape. His hazel brown eyes had narrowed and she knew that this man would intimidate most normal people just by his presance.
He takes the disk from her then chuckles. "Well miss, if you expect me to read this you are gonna have to lend me something to read it with." He raises his arms making sure to point out he is not wearing any sort of wristcomp. His eyes soften as they look at the one upon her own arm. Her own giggle shows she caught his joke and she quickly unstraps the device and offers it to him after unlocking it with her thumbprint.
He examines the device for a quick moment and pushes the disk into the slot. A slow smile forms as he reads the document. "Well hell, seems this is not some joke after all."
"No sir, according to my orders I am to retrieve you." She snaps to and salutes. "Lieutenant Paladyne Damashkin I have orders to treat you in accordance with your former rank pending further updates and have been assigned to assist you with your transition back into the ranks."
Paladyne returns the salute with a half hearted one, quickly following it with, "Relax miss... say wait I do not recall your givin your name."
"Staff Sergeant Lindsey Cuffner, Lieutenant"
"Well Staff Sergeant Cuffner you can just call me Pala, I have a feelin we are gonna be workin together for a while. And well, I never was one much for formality when unecessary." His hand outstretched and she took it in hers shaking it.
"As you wish lieute....err....Pala, you can call me Lindsey"
"Must have been a decently long ride to get out here, would you like some coffee and somethin to eat? Also you can tell that crew they can park that thing in the barn and join us."
"I am sure they would appreciate that and so would I." She refastens the comp and calls back on it to the crew relaying his suggestion. They quickly agree and as they are nearing the barn's bay door they hear the whine of the engine nearing. Pala throws the latch and swings the doors open. Lindsey lets out a soft whistle as the lights in the barn come on illuminating the bottoms of a pair of mech feet.
Pala guides the hovertank to a stop just outside the the barn doors. Retrieving a hose from inside the barn he calls to the occupants of the tank, "You guys are likely gonna need to refuel that thing. Plug her in and we can go get somethin to eat." The crew agrees and they all retire into the house. The smell of freshly brewed coffee greets them as they enter. Pala cooks up a simple meal of pancakes and gravy with eggs as they all make small talk. Bowwing his head after serving everyone Pala stands silently for a moment then joins his company. As they begin to eat Lindsey turns to Pala,"Was that a pair of feet from a mech I saw in the barn?"
"Yeah, that is my toy, as I am nominally a part of the planetary militia, being a game warden, it was sent here with me "just in case". I have always figured it was sent here for the same reason I was. It "saw" too much they do not want seein the light of day."
Lindsey pauses eating as his last sentence came out. "Not to pry but I am curious, as I read the basic dossier on you I noticed you were transferred pretty quickly to the Civillian Protection Corps after coming off of the front lines back in '27. How does a man that graduated in the top 5 percent of his class from Humphreys Tranining Academy, and sprinted through the ranks from Private to Senior Lieutenant in 3 years, end up being "retired" at the age of 20?"
"Well Lindsey it is pretty simple, our battalion commander got word his eldest son had been killed in a battle with the Capellans. In his grief he ordered my lance to execute the prisoners we had just brought in. An arguement ensued on how it was against the Ares Conventions, I told him to go...." Pala looks at the lady and smiles,"find a knothole and work out whatever problems he had because he was being stupid. He had me taken into custody when i got into his face, and I broke free and punched him in front of everyone." he shrugs and smiles proudly, like a child who just accomplished some big thing.
"Well he was breaking the law. He deserved to be corrected and you were right for not following his orders."
Pala nods as he finishes chewwing before speaking, "Yes I was, but for me to defend myself would have required a courts-martial. Evidence would have been presented and I am fairly sure they did not want the recording from my mech of him turning the weapons from a Galleon against a bunch of unarmed Liao priosoners becoming public. So I was told that I would not face trial, would recieve the same pay, and would be furnished a place to live to take this job. The alternative was much less appealing, and I did not want to put a blemish on the military's honor."
"Well Pala, we have 5 days until we are scheduled to load at the starport, I assume you can have everything ready before then?"
"Might have trouble getting the old girl to fire over by then." waving his fork momentarily as he speaks before taking a bite and swallowing before continuing, "Raucous has not been awake in quite a while."
"Raucous? What is Raucous?" the driver asked.
"That is the name I gave my mech out there, She is a BJ-1 Blackjack. I named her Raucous because of all the noise when those ac/2s are going full tilt. Others said it was because I was rather.... shall we say adamant at mixxing it up in close with the medium lasers and causing quite a raucous."
"I was not informed about you having your own mech Pala. I must contact command and clear your using it, along with securing transport for it."
"If I am going to go into active service there is no other mech I want under me. She and I have been all over the Inner Sphere together."
Lindsey types into her comp for a couple minutes before an alert signal eminates from it. "Seems command was aware of your situation and they have already made arrangements. There will be a tech detail out here tomorrow to check it out and assist you in preparing it."
"Well then it seems you folks are gonna need somewhere to sleep for the night." Jerking his thumb in the direction of a door behind him,"There is but one bedroom here, Lindsey you can have that, you boys are gonna have to crash in the barn. I will take the couch."
To Be Continued......
Edited by Paladyne, 07 November 2011 - 04:27 AM.
