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I, Kerensky
by Roguebaron |
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Hogye, Engadine,
Melissa Theater, Lyran Alliance,
March 21, 3058
So, I was Parker.
It was funny, being called something that I had never heard before. What kind of man had a name like Parker? I hated it. I wish I could remember my real name. But until then, I just had to settle with Parker.
So there I was, standing in front of the mech garage, looking for a man named Trejo. This was Nurse Lin’s idea, to work close to battlemechs. She still believed that I was a mechwarrior, and she thought I would recognize something through the job. I had to disagree, but I was in no position to negotiate. Although I thought this was a bad idea, I had no choice but to go to the mech garage to talk about the job with Mr. Trejo.
Yes. Bad idea.
“No! No! Vete al infierno, anos!” a loud voice echoed from inside the garage, sorting through metal clanging and whirring. Then I heard some other voices, but it became too cacophonic to figure out everything. I was about to return to the hospital when a short, stocky man blasted out from a double door. His face was all flushed with rage, and his moustache seemed to curl up on the tip. His eyes were red, a sure hint of sleep deprivation, and although he was a lot shorter than me, he looked at me like a teacher looking down on a slow student.
“Que qierres?” he asked.
“Mr. Trejo, I presume? Nurse Lin sent me here for a job,” I replied frankly. “Is this a bad time?”
“Oh no, no bad time. It’s just some mech salesmen that won’t take no for an answer.” He glanced back and stuck his head through the double door, shouting, “Pendejos!”
“I can come back anytime, when everything is better,” I suggested.
“No need to worry, Senor,” he tried to smile. “Si, I remember talking to the nurse. You are the stranger guy, no? The one that Skyami loco brought home two months ago? What’s your name?”
“Parker,” I said reluctantly. “It is not my real name. Nurse Lin gave it to me. I cannot remember my real one.”
“Parker, hm?” he grinned. “So tell me, what makes you come here for a job? Were you a mechwarrior? A mechanic? A part salesman?”
“I wish I knew, Mr. Trejo,” I explained. “I do not remember anything about my past. Nurse Lin thought I would remember something if I worked at your garage. She suggested that I try different things and see if I can remember something.”
Mr. Trejo let out a sharp breath, epitomizing his aggravation. “This is not a playground, amigo. I pay my employees by the hour. However,” he paused while catching his breath, “the nurse took a good care of me when I was sick. I will repay her kindness this time. But I expect you to work hard like my other employees. And one more thing… I don’t have money for an extra employee. You are here for your amnesia treatment, no? So consider working here as a product of my good heart.”
I looked at him, thinking of what I was supposed to say. Nurse Lin never mentioned about the money, and honestly, it never came to my mind either. This was utterly disturbing, thinking about all possibilities why I could forget about the payment. Perhaps, in my previous life, I was a spoiled kid who never had to worry about money. I might be a prince, an heir to an emporium that spent days after days sitting on a throne, watching money flow freely into my vault. Or I might be a spawn of a fascist, militaristic society that did everything for the country, for the emperor, the prince, the duke, the coordinator, whatever they called it.
“So,” Mr. Trejo croaked, robbing me from my daydreaming. “Wanna start now?”
“I do,” I said hesitantly. “What do you want me to do, Mr. Trejo?”
“One of my techs quits. I have to put Cedro on double shift. See if he needs help.”
“If I may ask, Sir, which one is Cedro?”
“You have a mouth, Parker! Ask!” Mr. Trejo snapped, then disappeared behind the double door.
I could clearly see that Mr. Trejo was not a nice man. He would suck a man dry for his own benefit, and I was next in the suck line. Although he complained about paying me, he had also let slip that one of his techs had quitted so he should have a little cash surplus. How hard was it to understand that he was simply taking advantage of me? Of my condition, nonetheless?
However, I was powerless. I decided to play by his rules and went through the double door. I walked down a narrow corridor until it ended up at another double door. When I pushed it, an awesome sight greeted me. Behind the doors was a vast hall full of equipment. Large mechanical arms hung from the ceilings, while crates and tools lay scattered on the floor. Trucks with large tanks parked side by side. And four colossuses, each stood about 10 meters high, perched on different sites on the hall, among half a dozen battle tanks.
I had seen the metal giants before, when Nurse Lin tried to revive my memory using pictures. They were battlemechs, the crown jewels of military technology. The biggest of them all stood idle in a corner, with two big guns as its arms. It was a big mech, easily dwarfing the other three on the hall. Two of them were comparable in size, as if they were made as compliments to each other. These two were more humanoid looking than the biggest one. The last mech was the shortest; the shoulders of the humanoid mechs were taller than the cockpit of this mech. Techs swarmed the mechs, checking parts and weapons.
I stood there for about five minutes, frozen by thrill and wonder, marveling at the colossus quartet that monopolized the hall. Looking at the mechs made me tingle. It was similar to the feeling that I had when I looked at the mech pictures at the hospital, only more real. For once, I agreed with Nurse Lin. There had to be a connection between me and battlemechs, one way or the other.
“Hey, you!” I heard a curt voice. “Trejo pays you to work! Get your ass down there!”
I turned around and saw this big brute walking toward me. He was about my height, but his weight easily beat mine by 50 pounds, if not more. He wore a sleeveless shirt, which I quickly noticed why. His arms were all muscles, and his biceps were twice as big as mine. Although his lower body was not as developed as his upper part (excessively large tummy and short legs), his posture was intimidating, especially with long hair, dark complexion, and unkempt moustache.
“What are you looking at, prick?” he roared. “I said get down there and make yourself useful!”
He tried to grab my neck, but I flinched. “My name is Parker, and I am new,” I said while backpedaling. “I am assigned to Cedro…”
The big man looked at me with a sinister stare, then bellowed from the top of his lung, “Is there a Cedro here? You’ve got a greenhorn looking for you!”
“Si, si Senor! Over here!” a faint voice rose up from the clamor. A thin man in his forties came running through the crowd, greeting me and the big man in a rush. Sweat running through his face, and his shirt was totally soaked. I could imagine what Trejo put him into.
“Soy Cedro, como esta,” he said in his raging breath. “Senor Trejo said that he’d find a substitute for Raoul. I’m glad you came! We’re desperately shorthanded down there.”
“Good! Then take this loon with you!” the big man grumbled. “And don’t forget to clean up the leg struts on my JaggerMech. I want it done and I want it done in 2 hours! I’m already late for my routine patrol, because of you lazy sonsofbitches!”
“Si Senor, consider it done Senor!” Cedro bowed and hauled my hand, tugging me away from the big man. He led me to the biggest mech in the hall, and gave me a toolbox. “Here, we need to clean up and oil up the struts. You do the left leg, I’ll take the right.”
I froze, completely froze. There were dozens of tools inside the box, but I had no idea what they were for. If I had a close encounter with a battlemech before, I was sure that it was not at this side. Even when I tried so hard to recognize the tools, none of them gave me the scantest idea of what I should do with them. I was completely lost. I felt like I had never touched any of the tools before.
“What’s the matter, amigo?” Cedro queried.
“I… I do not know what to do,” I said frankly.
“What? Then why are you here?” he rapped. “Why does Senor Trejo employ you if you don’t know how to use tools?”
“My name is Parker, I was brought here unconscious, and I cannot remember my past,” I explained. “I am sorry if you misunderstood, Mr. Cedro, but I am here to find out about my past. Nurse Lin thought I might remember something if I work with battlemechs, and Mr. Trejo employed me to pay homage for Nurse Lin. I am not even paid to work here.”
“Estoy hasta la madre…” Cedro sighed, staring at me with blank eyes, not believing his hard luck. “Senor Trejo knows that I’m working two shifts back to back. Why in the name of God does he assign somebody that doesn’t know squat about mechs to help me?”
“I will try to help you,” I felt guilty for taking part in his misery. “But you have to teach me. Cleaning and oiling struts does not sound complicated. Give me a chance, and I will assist you the best I can.”
Cedro gave me a strange stare, as if he was weighing up my proposal. But I knew he would give me a chance. He was in serious need of help, and at this point, any help would do. He sunk his face into his chest for a while, then rose up and said, “Very well, amigo. You can sit and learn how to do this. I’ll do this one.”
As Cedro deftly took the leg apart, I sat there and watched how he did everything. He was a short thin man, even shorter than Nurse Lin, but he worked fast. His hands danced around the mech parts, and I had a hard time following what he was doing, so fast was his movement. I felt that it was too much to learn in an hour, so I decided to learn something else.
“If I may ask, who was the big man that I talked to before?” I asked.
“That would be Hauptmann ‘Viper’ Viveros, leader of the Hunt Lance of the Combined Arms Mercenary Regiment,” Cedro explained. “He’s a cabron, a real troublemaker. Some rumor says that he was a soldier of Lyran’s 4th Donegal, before he was discharged dishonorably. I suggest that you stay away from him.”
Cedro’s explanation piqued my interest to learn more about the history of this town. “Why do you need mercenaries? Are you in a war with somebody?”
“It all started during the Clan Invasion,” Cedro wiped away the sweat that beaded on his forehead. “Before the Invasion, Engadine was a tourist attraction, because of The Rooting. Each year a lot of rich people came to Engadine to hunt the nolans, the native habitants of Engadine.”
“I know about the nolans and The Rooting,” I interjected.
“Si, Senor, The Rooting. It was a big party around. They hunted the nolans until they were not many of them left, but many enough to avoid extinction and breed, so the next year the riches could come back for another Rooting. Hogye was a tourist camp back than. You see this garage? It was a shop, selling hunting gears and weapons to kill the nolans. We also had haciendas, cantinas, bars, and all sort of entertainments for the tourists.
“When the Clans came, every good warrior was called to fight them. Less and less people came to Engadine for The Rooting, and in 3056 The Rooting was canceled, the first time in 2 centuries. The nolans grew uncontrollably, and we Hogye citizens had been terrorized by the predators. So the ruler of Engadine, Lord President Alistar Daniel, had to hire the Combined Arms Mercenary Regiment to help us. The Hunt Lance and two lances of tanks were assigned to defend Hogye and Kinst, Hogye’s neighboring town. But the Viper is not a nice guy. He helps us fighting the nolans, but he and his caballeros demand a high ransom. We have to pay them money, fix their mechs for free, provide food and entertainment.”
“Can the sheriff train the citizens to defend themselves?” I inquired.
“You don’t understand,” Cedro paused a moment. “We don’t have mechs. We do have several units of Cutlass battle armors that were modified specifically to fight the nolans in The Rooting. But the number of nolans have increased so far that the Cutlass are not sufficient anymore. We need battlemechs to fight them. Hogye has only 1 mech, the sheriff’s Commando, but that Star-League junk is not enough to defend the entire town against the nolans. Kinst only has several old tanks.”
“There has to be a way to control the nolans without external help,” I contemplated. “The root of Hogye’s problems is its inability to defend itself against the forces of nature, so the citizens had to import stronger predators. It is understandable that the Hunt Lance act like princes and princesses of Hogye. They know that Hogye is depending on them. Without them, Hogye is lost. If Hogye can find a way to defend itself against the nolans, the CAMR will lose their bargaining power. They have two choices: leave Hogye, or try to maintain their domination by showing off their mech power. But if Hogye can fight the nolans, Hogye may be able to fight back the Hunt Lance. Combining strength with Kinst, I think even the Viper will think twice to enforce his power over the two cities. We solve two problems with one solution.”
“Ay mierda…” Cedro mumbled, his mouth agape.
His reaction was mostly unexpected. But as a matter of fact, I scared myself too. I could not believe what I just said. What I said was simple logic. But how could I come up with a systematic military analysis just by listening to Cedro’s babbles for ten minutes? I was a stranger in this town. And I was naïve if I thought that I was the first one who came up with this idea. People like Cedro and Trejo that lived here for a long time must have thought about this plan, too. The fact that they still lived under the oppression of the mercenaries told me that maybe – just maybe – this plan was unfeasible.
But still, I was awed – and scared – by the way my brain worked.
Nurse Lin told me that I might find something by talking to different people. I did. I had a very sharp analysis mind, almost felt like a militaristic leader. But now I was too scared to continue. What if I were a ruthless commander? What if I were a fascist that regarded human lives like crap? What if I were a sadistic duke? And what if I were… a Clanner, a human being bred solely to war?
“You want to talk about fighting?” Cedro blurted. “Maybe you should work at the sheriff office instead of here! Otherwise, no chingados mames! I have five kids, man! I do no fighting!”
Maybe I overlooked the fact that Hogye was a peace-loving community, so the citizens preferred being abused by the mercenaries than raising the weapons themselves. Maybe this was their choice. I felt like a complete idiot.
“You are right, Mr. Cedro. It is not my place to discuss such a brusque topic with you. My sincere apologies. Tell me what I can do to help you.”
Cedro looked at me with pity in his eyes. His wrath had long gone, replaced by fatigue. He reached his toolbox to get a rod with a tube on one end. “I’m done with this part. Can you reattach the panel?”
“I watched you dismounted the panel, and I think I can put it back together,” I nodded.
“Then do it. I’ll do another panel, and when I’m done, you reattach it. Comprende?”
“Si, soy comprende,” I replied instinctively, and once again I was surprised at what I just did. But I decided to let it go. From the corner of my eyes I watched Cedro throwing a perplexed look at me, but I pretended that I did not notice him. I took the nuts and bolts that Cedro left scattering on the floor, and started to mount them on the battlemech’s leg. It was hard at first, but after the third bolt, I thought I could survive being a mech technician.
For now, at least. |
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