Outer Colonies' Embassy,
Westminster, Britannia,
Britannic Coalition, The Periphery,
1st October 3068

"Madam Ambassador, I must ask you to step away from the window!" Captain Joseph Chapman of the SAS was dressed in full combat kit as he walked into the ambassador's residence, followed closely by the rest of his squad. "Someone out there might be packing something nastier than a brick and I really don't want to have to file the mountain of paperwork a dead Ambassador generates".

"Now really, Captain". Mary Rolland, official representative of the Outer Colonies, looked round, "I'm sure this matter will be sorted out soon enough..."

"Not my department, ma'am. I'm just the head of your protection detail and a bloody small one at that. Two platoons of troops, two armoured cars and a pair of VTOLs aren't going to be much help. I've already ordered the implementation of the Cole Protocol. All our navigation and communication equipment has been destroyed and the data erased".

"That may be a little premature..." said Rolland, sounding slightly flustered.

Chapman held back a sigh of frustration. "Madam Ambassador, our nation has been framed for an unprovoked attack on a supposed ally. It's only a matter of time before the Regent has to act to placate the people, or they'll take matters into their own hands. Now I don't pretend to know what's going on - that's well above my pay grade, but if the shit hits the fan, your diplomatic status isn't going to be worth the paper it's written on!"

"Very well…what do you suggest?"

"There is a Crimson class covert operations Corvette at the system's Zenith jump point. If we can get there, we have a chance to get out of here in one piece. There's a Hark Corporation DropShip at the spaceport and they've agreed to take us if we can get them out of the Coalition".

"May I ask you a professional question, Captain?" Ambassador Rolland looked at Chapman.

"Ma'am?" the young captain replied, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know ma'am…I just don't know. We've had no word from home for almost a month. If I were a betting man, I'd say that someone's trying to start a war. Neither the Royalist Alliance or Britannic Coalition pose a serious military threat to us. They can, however, cut us off from the Inner Sphere".

"We have been that way before and if need be, we can survive alone again. History teaches us that wars come and go…it is the natural order of such things. All that matters is that we survive, that what we represent survives..."

A whistling sound filled the air and Chapman's eyes went wide with terror.

"DOWN, DOWN, DOWN!" he yelled, as he tackled the Ambassador, knocking her to the ground just moments before the office windows were blown in by a large explosion in the Embassy grounds.

The sound of sporadic gunfire came from outside, which was soon answered by sniper fire from the troops on the roof.

"Madam Ambassador…" Chapman stood, dragging the shocked Rolland to her feet. "We are leaving…NOW!"

The hover limo raced down the highway towards the spaceport, the escorting Saxon armoured cars and VTOLs bristling with weapons. Nervous eyes scanned the horizon and a myriad of monitors for any sign of further trouble.

The attack on the embassy had been easily beaten back with the minimal of force, but it had become clear that their position was untenable and Ambassador Rolland had reluctantly agreed to Captain Chapman's plan. Loading the embassy's sensitive material and equipment into every available vehicle, the impromptu convoy had headed out of the gates just as the planetary militia arrived.

Not even slowing down, the lead armoured car smashed through the flimsy police roadblock, clearing the way for the others. The two LMP-1A Lamprey transport helicopters had dropped smoke charges behind them, discouraging what remained of the crowd from trying anything.

The highway was thankfully almost deserted, allowing the convoy to make good time to the spaceport. They were held up only by the relatively low top speed of the armoured cars. The metal barrier barring entrance to the spaceport snapped when hit by the first armoured car and the collection of hover and wheeled vehicles sped out onto the tarmac road that led to the huge, bowl-shaped ferrocrete launch pads.

"The dropship's two clicks away!" Chapman yelled to be heard over the engine. "The pilot has the engines fired up and is ready to launch as soon as we're aboard".

"That may not be enough!"

Ambassador Rolland pointed across the landing field. Following her arm, Chapman saw a pair of light mechs, from the spaceport garrison, moving to intercept the limo. The two Jenners looked as though they'd seen more than their fair share of action, but they were moving quickly enough and he had no doubt their weapons worked just fine.

Using their mech's external broadcast system, one of the pilots ordered them to halt. "Attention convoy! The spaceport is currently off limits to all traffic. Reverse course immediately or you will be arrested and detained for questioning".

The mechwarrior added an edge to his tone for his final sentence. "We have orders to open fire on anyone resisting arrest".

"Shit!" Chapman grabbed the radio, "Helo 1 and 2, I want those Jenners kept busy. Don't destroy them unless you have to, but keep them away from the civilians and the dropship".

"Roger!" the lead pilot responded. The two Lampreys peeled off from their station above the convoy and sped towards the approaching battlemechs.

Short-range missiles leapt from the VTOLs' launch rails and flew towards the Jenners, detonating just before reaching their targets, producing a bright flash and loud concussive bang. The missiles where designed as a defensive measure, and were of limited effectiveness against 'mechs.

Still, one Jenner staggered and fell, its pilot disorientated. It hit the ground with an earth-shaking thud. Its companion ignored the missiles and continued, firing its medium laser at the VTOLs, almost hitting one of them. Reloading their racks with offensive missiles, the Lampreys opened up with their chain-guns, the heavy bullets picking away at the armour protecting the light mech's legs and torso.

The second flight of missiles struck the Jenner on the chest and arms, blasting jagged holes in its armour. Smoke began to billow from a damaged heat sink as its pilot tried to return fire.

The hover limo rounded the last obstacle and began its run towards the waiting dropship, quickly passing into the protection of the transport's guns. Chapman was surprised to see that it was a Newcastle class military transport, the same type used by the OCDF. He had no time to ponder the implications as the limo roared up the ramp and into the cavernous cargo bay, followed closely by the other vehicles.

Breaking off from their attack on the remaining Jenner, the two Lampreys landed as close as they could to the dropship, their crews abandoning their rides as they ran for the safety of the transport.

As soon as the last soldiers were aboard, the dropship's pilot throttled up the engines to lift-off power and it slowly rose from the launch pad, the wash from its engines lifting the abandoned VTOLs and tossing them across the field like toys. Burning hard and rapidly gathering speed, the dropship headed skyward and the supposed safety of the awaiting Corvette.

They were still in the dropship's cargo bay and had not even had time to exit the vehicle when a knock on the limo's blacked-out window startled Chapman. However, it was nothing compared to the shock he got when he opened the door.

"Hello Anna", he managed, with difficulty swallowing down the lump in his throat.

"It's good to see you again, Joseph". Anna Hark, CEO of the Hark Corporation, smiled warmly at him. Shifting her gaze slightly to look behind him, she added, "Welcome abroad the Green Dragon, Madam Ambassador".

DropShip Green Dragon,
Outbound, Britannia,
Britannic Coalition,
The Periphery

"You never told me you know Anna Hark". Ambassador Rolland gazed incredulously at Chapman. "Most people would brag about having such a powerful and influential…friend?" she hazarded, finishing off the sentence as a question.

"It's personal". Chapman sat his coffee down on the mess table. "It's not something I like to talk about".

"That may be, but you are head of my protective detail and I feel it is something I should know".

"It's, complicated..."

"The best stories often are".

"We served together, in the 22nd Rifles. Most people tend to forget that, despite her more than privileged upbringing, Anna decided to put herself through collage on a military scholarship. She's smart and rich enough to get in, but she wanted to make her own way, to prove something to herself as much as anything else. And by smart, I mean genius…she got a double first in law and business in half the time it would take most people, then spent four years as a 2nd Lieutenant. Again, she could have gone for a desk job, maybe JAG, but she wanted to get her hands dirty in the field. And she never begged off an assignment, no matter how menial".

"So how did you meet?"

"She was in Third battalion, I was in Second. We met in the Officers' Mess one night…got talking about an exercise we had coming up and ended up hitting it off. We were friends at first, but things got more intense after a while, and we started dating".

"A lot of men would envy you".

"A lot did. I used to get a lot of stick, people saying that I was only after her money. But I never saw Anna like that…she's got this, presence that makes her stand out, no matter what crowd she's in. You get close to her and you get swept up in it all, like nothing else matters".

"Sounds to me like you were in love with her".

"Oh, I loved her alright…probably still do".

"Then what happened?"

"She reached the end of her kick and her father's health was starting to fail, so she needed to go and take care of the business…being the only child and heiress etc. She asked me to leave with her, but I was going up for selection. I'm third generation SAS…there's nothing else I've ever wanted to do".

"So you turned her down?"

"Hardest decision I've ever made".

"Do you regret it?"

"Every day. I almost asked her to marry me at one point..."

"Would it have made a difference if I'd said yes?"

The new voice made Chapman jump out of his seat, banging his knees against the metal table. He looked round in surprise to see Anna Hark standing there, dressed in an emerald green suit with golden dragons running along the sleeves.

"Anna..." Chapman blinked, "I didn't know you were there..."

"I know". Hark nodded, her head tilted slightly to the side. "People very rarely speak their minds when they know you are listening".

"I'm sorry if I said anything to embarrass you..."

"Ask me…" Hark looked him directly in the eye. Hers glistened with tears.

"Ask you what?" Joseph looked confused.

"Ask me now what you wanted to ask me then".

Joseph could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Will you marry me?" he managed, feeling like he was going to choke on his own words.

"Yes…yes I will", Hark nodded, tears starting to run down her cheeks.