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I, Kerensky
by Roguebaron |
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Outside Starport, Engadine,
Melissa Theater, Lyran Alliance,
May 4, 3058
The explosions were still ripping the city apart when I parked my mech behind a hill, 10 kilometers outside Starport. As I climbed up my mech, I could still see the flash of explosions and smoke rising from the center of the city. I wished I could go back to the dropship gantries and hitchhike another dropship, but I could not do that without getting noticed. Besides, the dropships must have shut their door close. One bad example was enough. So I had to find a different way to get us out of Engadine.
I waited until Evee got out of the cockpit, then heaved the bloody mess that was a Bone Devils pirate out of the cockpit. I put the body on the ground, then stripped my blood-soaked cooling vest. That left me with my short and my boots, since I did not wear anything else. I was about to loosen my boots when I caught Evee looking intently at me. Her eyes glistened with confusion.
“So you’re a Clanner,” she muttered. “Do you have a plan to tell me or are you gonna keep playing with my ignorance?”
I look at her. She was tired, she was confused, she was angry at me. “I am sorry you have to know it this way,” I said empathically. “I was as ignorant as you are until yesterday.”
I told her everything. I told her how I first met the mech in the wood, and how Megi forced me to promise not to mention or see it anymore. I told her about the letter which drove me back the wood, against my promise to Megi. I told her about how I prepared to bypass the mech’s security system, but in the end I did not have to because my voice opened up the lock. I told her what Megi told me, and I told her what I thought about myself.
“These past 2 days revealed more than what I have been getting for 2 months,” I told her. “Imagine how you live your entire life believing that you are someone, then suddenly you are someone else. My life started 3 months ago, and I come to believe that I did something hideous in my past. I thought I was a thief, a terrorist, a killer, or someone much worse than that. I came to Engadine carrying my sin. Now I know that I am none of those. My sin has nothing to do with what I did, but with what I was. I did nothing wrong. I was just born on the wrong side of the universe.”
Evee averted her eyes from me, looking at the smoke that rose from Starport. She did not say anything, which made me feel bad. I remembered how she hated Clanners, just like typical Spheroid in Engadine. It must have been traumatic for her knowing that the closest man in this alien world was the one she expected the least. And it was even more traumatic for me knowing that I could do absolutely nothing. Once again, it was nothing to do with what I did. It was all because of what I was.
“I understand your feeling,” I tried to break the ice. “You hate me.”
“Hate you?” she scoffed. “Believe me, I want to hate you, you Clan sonofabitch. But you gave all your heart and soul to save me, to bring me home to New St. Andrews, to keep me out of the pirate’s hold… you made me impossible to hate you!” She turned her face toward me, looking at me with her fatigued eyes. “Why did you come back for me, Parker? What made you, the highest cast in the Clan society, going through all the trouble for a freebirth like me? Isn’t that against your stupid code of honor?”
“You went through all this trouble because of me,” I replied. “I could not let you burden my load. Besides, I gave you my word that I will make sure you go to New St. Andrews. Clanner or no Clanner, I keep my promise.”
She looked at me in a funny way, weighing my response, but the look in her eyes told me she could not make a decision whether to hate me or to like me. She watched the smoke pillar again, and after a long pause, she came back at me and said, “You know, I came from the Periphery, but I am a proud Spheroid. I have been saving up my loathing toward the Clanner, thinking that one day I will meet one and just unleash myself at him. Never once I thought that I would owe my life to a Clanner, so much that the only thing I could think of is a ‘thank you’.”
I nodded my response.
"So what it’s like to live in the Inner Sphere?” she asked. “You like it better than in your touman?”
“I wish I could tell,” I replied in a sigh. “This is the only life I know. I do not remember what is like to be a Clan mechwarrior. I do not remember what happened to me before I crash-landed. I do not remember what made me leave Phelan… if I was ever Phelan’s troop, that is. I do not even remember my name.”
“The pirates were pretty damn sure you’re from Phelan’s Delta Galaxy,” Evee mused.
“I think they just assumed I was.”
“Then how did they figure out your mech? Do you think they were lucky assuming you had it?”
“I do not know, Evee. That is why Megi suggested that I go to Arc Royal. Ask Phelan himself. He is a Khan, a Wolf Khan, leader of my touman. He should know what happened to me.”
“But Starport is not accessible for us anymore,” Evee mused. “Everybody’s looking for us. We have to get rid of the pirates. Hopefully, it clears our names, so the police will let us take off from Starport. But there’s a chance that they still deny our pass for the sake of their fallen comrades.”
It sounded like a good plan, until I realized something. “We? What do you mean ‘we’?”
“We as you and I.”
“You cannot be serious!” I stepped back. “This has nothing to do with you, Evee. My past is mine and mine alone. Besides, I promised you home. You are not going anywhere but New St. Andrews.”
“What if you were an outlaw? What if you came to Engadine to escape Phelan? What if Phelan and his Wolves want your head? Haven’t you thought about that?”
Actually, I have not. I thought about the reason why I left my Clan world. Perhaps I was a crooked Clanner, a dezgra that was banished because I disgraced my unit (and by the way I worked my way out of trouble, it was a solid possibility). Perhaps I was a failure in Wolf’s genetic program, so they threw me away after they erased my memory. Perhaps this and perhaps that. But I never thought a possibility that I came to Engadine to escape Phelan’s wrath. Should it be the case, then I must have done something evil, so repulsive that a warrior of Phelan’s caliber wanted me dead.
I started to realize that maybe – just maybe – living without a memory was the best option for me.
“I’m not saying that you can’t go to Arc Royal,” Evee continued, as if knowing what I was thinking. “I’m saying that you can’t rush. I know it’s painful to live without a past, but your life is more precious than your memory. If you want to meet Phelan, at least you have to be prepared to face anything, including Phelan.”
I saw the gravity of her decision, and I knew she would not back down. She used to be an aristocrat in her own realm, and she would not let this one go, especially since she owed me her life. Well, she thought she owed me her life. I never thought that she did. I was only doing good things.
“If you insist,” I moaned in defeat, switching my sight to my one-armed mech. “Unfortunately, we are stuck with my near-defunct mech. If we can find a way to fix it, I can beat the pirates.”
“Don’t you have a home at Hogye?” Evee muttered.
“It is not my home anymore,” I sighed. “They know I am a Clanner, and they do not want me to be a part of them. They still blame everything that happened to them on the Clan invasion.”
“That’s absurd,” Evee huffed. “Well, that’s so much you can expect from rednecks. How ‘bout this: let’s sneak back to Starport and talk to the chief police. Give him an offer he can’t refuse in exchange of fixing your mech, and full access out of Engadine. If he rejects our proposal, then Starport is not worth our time. We’ll figure out something else.”
I looked at Evee, and for the first time, I admired her brainpower. She matched my aptitude and resourcefulness, and working with someone that was comparable to me felt really good. I nodded, and she knew I liked her idea. “Now let us find some water to wash out this blood, shall we?”
Starport, Engadine,
Melissa Theater, Lyran Alliance,
May 6, 3058
Although Starport was an utter mess, life went on. Only one-third of the buildings survived the battle between Starport Police and the Bone Devils, but it did not disheartened the inhabitants. They kept strolling on the street, working their jobs, living their lives among rubbles and burning cars. I could only guessed that this was not the first time such an attack hit Starport.
Earlier today, Evee and I sneaked back into the city and looted a destroyed building which used to be a huge department store. There was too much blood on our clothes, so we had to find fresh ones. I found a jacket with a hood, a pair of jeans, and undersized sneakers. I never realized that my figure was bigger than normal people, until I tried to find clothes my size. I could comply with the jacket and the pants, but the sneakers really hurt my feet. Worst yet, they were the biggest size available, so I had no choice. Evee found much better luck, basically because she was a Spheroid. It seemed as if the entire items were designed solely for her.
The next couple of hours we waited in front of the police station, watching cops taking control of the situation. There were still 2 UrbanMechs left, but they were mauled badly. One had lost the prized Autocannon-10. Some helicopters loitered above the HQ, and police armored cars dropped fresh cops in the vicinity. But for 2 hours, we waited in vain for the chief to come out. We knew he was inside the building, and we knew he was busy leading his force to maintain order. We had a proposition for him, and we were waiting to deliver it when his mind was not monopolized by his duty. That was, whenever he called it a day and went home.
When we thought he never went home, he emerged from behind his building. This middle-aged, stocky man barked orders to his subordinates, then walked on the street. We waited some more, and when he was just about to disappear from our sight, we followed him. It was starting to get dark, and soon we found out he was not going home. He went to a bar.
“How’re your feet?” Evee asked.
“Fine,” I replied unenthusiastically.
“Once you get used to it, you’ll forget the pain,” Evee coined sincerity.
I scoffed. Through the glass window we watched the chief took a round table in the corner and ordered a bottle of gin. It was obvious that he was waiting for somebody, so we thought we had only a small window to give our proposition. We barged in, and liberally took the seats in front of him. His eyes widened for a moment, but he calmed down faster than I expected. I smelled something suspicious, and when I looked at Evee, I knew she sensed it too.
“Chief, I know you’re busy, but we just need a moment of your time…” Evee quickly seized the moment.
“I’ve been expecting you,” the chief leaned back in his chair. “Help yourself with the drink.”
“Expecting us?” I shot up from my chair, preparing for the worst. “What are you talking about?”
“Relax, Parker. He was expecting us, not you. But we’ve been talking a lot about you.”
I recognized that voice. I never thought I would hear it again. I turned back, and there she was, Mayor Megi, with Fercyn on her side. This was some development I was glad to know, but of course I wanted to know what brought these three together.
Somewhat I knew the answer.
“You left a trail of destruction anywhere you set your feet on, Parker,” the chief smiled. “I heard about you and the CAMR. Pretty impressive stunt for a stranger, I should say. Mayor Megi called me three days ago warning me about your possible arrival at Starport. She was right. Had she not informed me, we could’ve had more casualties.”
“What can I say?” I could only reply in a joke. “I am a Clanner. I excel in destroying things.”
“Before you arrest us,” Evee interjected, “we have a proposition for you.”
“You’re in no position to negotiate, mercenary!” Fercyn hissed. “You’re nothing better than Parker. Money is all you care, so just shut up.”
“And who do you think you are, coward?” Evee snarled back at Fercyn. “You, the pillar of defense for Hogye, ran with your tail between your legs. Parker did more for Hogye in 3 months than you in your entire career as Hogye’s sheriff! You shut up!”
“Everybody calm down!” the chief got up when the tension arose. “We have time, so why don’t we let missy tell her proposition.”
“Call me Evee,” she exhaled sharply. “We both know that the Bone Devil gang occupied the old airfield. We also know that they wield heavy tanks, Manticores and Von Luckners. I don’t know how many of them came to Starport, but I saw at least a company of them, escorted by Harassers and Savannah Masters. They’re pretty much comparable with your force.”
“True,” the chief said. “The battle was a stalemate. They retreated. Had you not killed two lances of my choppers, we could’ve killed at least two more of them.”
“We are sorry for that,” I tuned in. “But we did what we had to do. Now we want to help you rebuild your force by taking possession of their tanks. There should be enough tanks and parts for you to salvage. Evee and I had been working on a strategy to beat the pirates and get as much salvage as possible, but we cannot do it alone. We need your help.”
“Parker and I will lure the heavy tanks out of the airfield. Once most of them left, you take your force to wipe out any pirates lethargic enough to stay at the airfield. Force them to surrender. Claim your prize. If you want a bigger prize, come and help us. Or just leave them to us. It’s a simple plan. You get the easier part, and you get to take all the salvage.”
“The only problem is that our mechs are not in good condition. If they were, we can beat the pirates. So here is our proposition. You repair and reload our mechs, we fight for you, you get the salvage, and you let us go.”
“That’s it?” the chief frowned. “That’s all you want?”
“That’s all we want,” Evee smirked. “You might ask ‘Is it too god to be true? Can you trust a Clanner and an ex mercenary?’ Well think about this: we don’t want to spend the rest of our lives in your jail, or in your crosshairs. We’re not doing you a favor. We’re buying off our own freedom.”
The chief looked at me and Evee interchangeably, then shot a glance at Megi and Fercyn. At last he emptied his glass and said to Megi and Fercyn, “Sounds good to me. Feasible to you?”
“Wait a minute,” Evee quickly interrupted. “We’re making a deal with you. How do these guys come into our deal?”
“Parker told me you met Fercyn,” Megi explained. “So when Parker left Hogye, I searched for him and explained things. I told him that Parker might try to find a way to leave Engadine through Starport. We were here when you blasted into Starport with the Bone Devils in your six.”
“Can’t do anything quietly, can you, Clanner?” Fercyn growled in mockery.
“So we decided to help Starport police. Engadine is not the best place for Parker, and we want him to be with his kin: the Wolves in Arc Royal or Strana Mechty. By helping Starport police, we’re helping Parker to return to his touman as quickly as he can.”
“The sooner he’s out of here, the better,” Fercyn added. “By far my Commando is the fastest mech around. You need me to deal with the Harassers and Savannah Masters. Additionally, the battle armor squad now answers to me. They’re a great addition when you’re making your raid to the airfield. In return, I’ll ask a portion of the salvage, but the good chief doesn’t seem to mind. So yeah, we’re in.”
I looked at Evee, who subsequently flashed a smile at me. We never thought this plan would go this far.
“That settles it then,” the chief drew a deep breath. “Get your mechs into the hangars. I’ll get my techs to repair them, although we might not be able to do much with the Gladiator.”
“Any help is greatly appreciated, Chief,” I said. “Thank you.” |
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