Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen: This Chaotic Mess We Call Life
July 14th, 3026
"How many people did we lose?" Hanse asked after they had jumped out of Sian.
"Sir, we managed to get almost everyone out, but the Defender stayed in the rear in order to make sure that we made it out." The captain of the Black Lion class Battlecruiser reported. "Both Colonel Peterson and Captain Bruce were onboard along with two Sting Gunships."
"They didn't jump with us did they?" Hanse asked.
"No sir." The communications officer said. "We've got most of the Marksman RCT, but anyone who was on those three ships didn't make it out."
"Do we have a ship with a LF battery." Hanse asked. "We need to go see if we can rescue any survivors."
"Hanse," Marshal Jackson Davion said. "There were over thirty nuclear missiles heading directly for them, there aren't going to be any survivors."
"We should at least see what we can recover." Hanse said firmly. "We're not going to leave them as unsung and unknown heroes."
"We can send one of the Destroyers over to double check." The captain responded. "But they wouldn't be able to assist with any major recovery efforts."
"Well, we can wait out the week it takes to charge in order to make sure that we at least see if anyone is alive." Hanse said with finality. "We're not leaving them out there to die if there's anyone left alive."
"We have one Aegis class Cruiser with an LF battery that could do the recovery." One of the crew members brought up. "They should have the extra space for it as well."
"Send them over, I want them to make sure that we get anyone who is alive back home if possible."
Sian, July 14th, 3026
"Anyone get the number of the bus that hit us?" Bruce asked as he held his head.
"Yes sir," Bruce's XO said. "The Defenderis gone, Peterson threw you and a few of us into the escape pods before it was hit."
"Did he make it out?" Bruce asked.
"No sir," the XO shook his head. "The bridge was directly impacted by a nuke, us and three other lifeboats are the only ones that made it out."
"There's six of us here." Bruce said. "And each of those escape pods or Lifeboats hold at least six of us."
"Eighteen of us made it out of the Defender." Bruce said shakily. "Did the two Stings make it out?"
"No sir, they were struck by two nukes that were on course to intercept Hanse Davion's battlecruiser." The XO replied. "We may as well get comfortable though, because we're not going anywhere for a little while."
St. Ives, May 20th, 3026
"We found out where the two lances of 'mechs came from." Mathis said. "There's a hidden base that one of the enemy pilots had access to, and we're fairly sure that they're a part of the Duchess' own forces instead of Mad Max's people."
"Hmm," I looked up. "What makes you think that?" I asked.
"Aside from the fact that one of them was sleeping with Candace before her departure to hit Northwind?" Mathis asked.
"Nope, I don't need to know." I raised my hands in surrender. "I have no desire to know what he told you underneath the Narco interrogation about his sex life with Candace Liao."
"You sure?" Mathis asked with a smirk. "Because I figured you'd be wanting to increase the size of your harem."
"Mathis," I said, "for the last time, there is no harem."
Grand Base, March 31st, 3026
"I really hate this sometimes." Zarantha Calderon confided in her grandson. "I wanted to push on through but instead we're going to be stuck with integration duties for the foreseeable future."
"And what exactly would you be doing if you weren't here?" Edward Calderon asked.
"I'd be enjoying my Villa on Kentares IV." Zarantha said dreamily. "The beaches there beat anything else I've ever seen." She smiled, "And the security is top notch as well."
"You know that your reputation took a lot of flak after you stepped down for dad to take over?" Edward brought up.
"Yes." Zarantha responded. "But when you get to be my age, you stop caring about your reputation as much." She snorted. "I imagine Thomas will step down to parent the rest of your siblings soon and leave the role to you."
"Why would he do that?" Edward asked. "He still has plenty of good years left."
"He does," Zarantha agreed. "But that chair ages you, and he knows that he's not a great fit for it." She met her grandson's eyes. "But you have the makings of greatness, you don't have the prejudice that Thomas and I have against the Davions, and you're still full of that youthful enthusiasm that drives people to do things beyond themselves."
"But you're not prejudiced, are you?" Edward asked in shock.
"If you had asked me that nearly two decades ago I would have told you that I was indeed." Zarantha responded. "While Ian and Hanse probably don't remember it very well, I remember meeting them and their father once." She sighed. "Andrew Davion was a man who would have done anything necessary to prevent the collapse of his nation, and that terrified me as a young Protector. It led me to funding the Far-Lookers movement and beginning to withdraw us from the issues of the Inner Sphere."
"Haven't we always been isolationist and more geared towards defense though?" Edward asked.
"Indeed we have, and there is nothing wrong with that if you are in a position of strength." Zarantha responded. "But we were not in a position of Strength, and it is now only through the bonds that we forged with the Lyran Commonwealth and Federated Suns that we have been able to begin recovering some of our previous strength."
"That and Hull's influence and help." Edward pointed out.
"We're not talking about personal connections yet." Zarantha said with a smug grin. "Or should I bring up a certain Centrella girl that I saw you eyeing around six months back?"
"I'll leave my love life out of it if you do the same." Edward negotiated with a grin.
"There's nothing to talk about in my love life." Zarantha said in a faux surprised tone of voice. "Why, I've outlived my husband by nearly thirty years."
"Yeah, I don't really want to talk about this anymore." Edward blushed bright red. "I have a feeling that I might just lose."
"You have no idea Grandson, no idea." Zarantha laughed.
Liao, April 15th, 3026
"Breaching!" Mendoza called over the secure comms channel.
"First!" The point man said as he burst through the door of the MASK safe house. Going left, he cleared the corner before checking the other areas that someone might try to hide in.
"Banging the next room." The pointman said as they stacked up against the wall leading down the stairs.
"Copy, polarizing." Came the response as the fireteams polarized their visors before kicking down the doors and swarming the MASK team.
"Fucking psycho." The pointman said. "This guy just released something inside of the safe house."
"Seal the doors, and administer the antidotes." Mendoza ordered after a second. "We need to make sure that they survive for intelligence purposes later on."
"Copy that sir, administering the antidotes." Their Corpsman said as she got her medical kit together and began with a general antidote for Nerve agents before moving on to the chemical weapons treatments.
"We'll wait a good thirty minutes before moving out." Mendoza said. "The last thing we want is for civilians to get killed in any of this."