CHAPTER 24

Review Corner

The Colonel: It's my pleasure. Glad to be of your service

Ulquiorra9000: If this story gets to 3070, I will consider bringing in your characters

Valhalla Club,
Solaris City, Solaris VII,
Freedom Theater, Lyran Alliance,
February 4, 3063

Valhalla Club was the antithesis of Thor Shieldhall. An exclusive high-society club, it hosted the highest echelons of Solaris mechjocks, stable managers, politicians, reporters, gamblers, and occasionally commanding officers of renowned military units across the Inner Sphere. As such, the ambience was far removed from the equally famous Thor Shieldhall. Valhalla Club offered casual yet professional atmosphere. Personal exploits in the arenas were never the center of any conversation. Politics, money, and the ripple effect of one victory throughout Solaris game world were the regular topics in the club.

Being invited to the Valhalla Club gave Trystan a sense of honor and intimidation. Not only he was in the same room where Solaris legends spent some time, he was going to meet representatives from 15th Avalon Hussars, a century-old regiment in service. He tried to represent the Blazing Aces as well as he could, wearing formal suit and tie. Alas his choice of attire displaced him from the crowd, making him more nervous.

Caelia, on the other hand, was giddy all night. The chance to meet and have dinner with her military idol erased all inhibition in her mind. She wore an evening dress with very low cut, revealing much of her bust saved for the nipular region, complementary to Trystan's derpy attire. If their faces weren't alike (and they didn't come with their mother), one could easily mistake him as a mayfly and her a mechbunny.

"Maria Vandenberg, it is nice to meet you in person," Colonel Kristoffer Hasek-Davion greeted the CO of the Blazing Aces in a tight embrace. "Your father spoke very highly of you. I am glad that his assessment was indeed correct."

"Colonel Hasek-Davion, the honor is ours," Maria replied. "Your reputation precedes you. I believe you have met my son Trystan. This is his twin sister Caelia."

"OhmyGodIcan'tbelievethismynameisCaeliait'snicetomeetyouColonelI'mabigfanofyoursI'vebeenwaitingtomeetyoumyentirelife!" Caelia blabbered, spurting unintelligible words in record time. "I mean, wow… I am so waiting for this… this… you know, stuff…"

"She is trying to say she is excited to meet you, Colonel," Trystan added, couldn't pass the rare occasion to poke fun at his sister's speechlessness.

"Indeed," the Colonel replied with a smile. "You told me earlier. It is nice to meet you too, Miss."

"Shut up!" Caelia slapped Trystan's arm. Her face turned red like a ripe tomato. "I can speak for myself, thankyouverymuch!" She went back to Kristoffer. "Did you meet Grandpa Gideon before? What did he look like?"

"He was a gentleman and a scholar. You should be proud to carry his name."

"Oh I am, Sir, I am proud as a peacock to be a Vandenberg!"

"Good for you. Well this is Tyrine McCaig, formerly Star Captain of the Jade Falcon, now second-in-command of the 15th Avalon Hussars," Kristoffer introduced the woman that came along with him. She was about Trystan's height but packed a lot more muscles than the skinny young man. "She joined the 15th in 3054 as part of the Hussars Auxiliary, but now she is fully integrated in the 15th."

"A real Clan man?" Caelia's eyes widened. "I mean… woman… folk… whatever you call it? How do you find it living among freebirths? Have you beat the crap of the annoying Wolf Clan? Tell me tell me tell me!"

"I have not used freebirth in a long time, as it is an offensive term for most of my teammates," Tyrine replied, seemingly unamused by Caelia's overenthusiasm. "And yes, I have fought a Wolf unit before. Three Wolf aerospace squadrons led by Star Captain Benten once challenged me for Antares. I led my binary to crush Benten's squadrons in the batchall, but he disgracefully fled. I looked forward to fight him again, and next time I will make sure I kill him."

"Wow, that is so cool!" Caelia muttered. "I don't like Wolf Clan either. Bunch of arrogant assholes."

"Sneaky bastards."

"Dickless cowards."

"Pardon my daughter, she is very enthusiastic about the 15th Avalon Hussars," Maria interjected before Caelia exploded into childish outburst. "So what is the 15th doing at Solaris?"

"We are assisting the 32nd Lyran Guards after being mauled by the 17th Arcturan Guards and some mercenary hordes," Kristoffer explained while running through the menu. "The Lyrans Guards lost 75-percent of their strength. The 15th will assist the 32nd until they rebuild themselves. In addition, the 15th also partake in the 'Sworn Allegiance' tournament here in Solaris."

"That's so hot! I hope we all get to stay and watch the tournament!" Caelia chimed eagerly.

"We'll leave as soon as our business here is done," Maria snapped. "There are some good contracts up for grab, and the rest of the Aces start feeling anxious about our future."

"We heard of the Blazing Aces exploit in Chaos March," Kristoffer said. "That is an impressive feat, considering House Liao has its hands dirty on that region. I can imagine you were surrounded by Liao's partisans. Winning that conflict is a testament of the hard work of Duke Gideon Vandenberg."

"We had to fight without proper intel, too," Trystan joined in. "First the Ingress Legions failed to notify us about enemy's battlemechs. We were informed that the opposition force was not battlemech strong, and we had to find out the hard way that the intel report was inaccurate."

"Then you have one hell of a team," Tyrine said. "And a commander in chief, too."

"Uhm…" Trystan hesitated to reply. He was still unsure where he stood regarding Chip Taylor. Part of him agreed with Tyrine that Chip did a tremendous job leading the Blazing Aces through a poorly-informed campaign with just one casualty. But the rest of him still believed that Chip didn't induce good interpersonal relationship. Added to that the fact that Chip spent most of his time sitting in the dropship while the rest of the team fought overwhelming forces…

"You don't sound too sure about your own CO," Kristoffer noticed Trystan's change of attitude.

"He's like that all the time," Caelia quipped. "He's not sure about everything."

"Who is your CO?" Tyrine interjected.

"Major Chip Taylor. He was a veteran of Tukayyid. Do you know him?"

"I don't know all Tukayyid vets," Kristoffer reclined in his chair. "What was his unit?"

Trystan could only trade baffled look with Maria and Caelia.

"It slips my mind at the moment," Maria tried to save her face. "I'm sure it was on his dossier."

"It doesn't matter," Kristoffer, noticing the sudden rise of tension among the Vandenbergs. "I'm sure you can ask him later. Let's not burden our night with minute details."

"Yah, yah, yah, tell me more!" Caelia chimed excitedly. "Do you like to work with mercenaries?"

"Depends," Kristoffer sighed. "I'm good with Morgan Kell. I don't like Wolfgang Hansen. I am not looking forward to sharing the battlefield with the Hansen's Roughriders, except when they are in my crosshair."

"There was a snippet about Hansen's Roughriders getting robbed blind by a girl from New St. Andrews," Tyrine added. "The story is unconfirmed, but I can see Wolfgang Hansen falls to a little girl from the periphery. He is arrogant and foolhardy and infatuated with his own image, sometimes with the cost of his own men."

"Arrogant asshole," Caelia grimaced.

"Exactly," Tyrine replied with a small smile.

"What about the Blazing Aces? Would you work with us?"

"I look forward to it," Kristoffer nodded.

The rest of the night went with laughter and stories about each other's experience in the battlefield. But Trystan kept thinking about the little conversation about Chip Taylor. Nobody seemed to know where Chip came from. Maria hired him when Trystan was too young to understand the mercenary business. Chip rarely talked about his past; his so-called 'Tukayyid background' was told by other mechwarriors. He never said he was a Tukayyid veteran. Maria's suggestion gave Trystan an idea to look into Chip's paperwork to see what kind of background – or secrets – Chip had been hiding.

The problem was he didn't know where Maria put those files, if they ever existed.

"Well this is a most entertaining evening," Kristoffer said at the end of the dinner. "I appreciate the company of the Blazing Aces. Like Caelia suggested, perhaps we can work together in the future."

"We would definitely look forward to it," Maria replied. "If you think of outsourcing, I'd greatly appreciate it if you keep us in mind."

"It's an honor, Sir, Ma'am," Trystan offered his hand for a handshake.

"Take care, young Vandenberg," Kristoffer replied. "I'd love to see you in the battlefield."

"Wait a minute, the night is young," Caelia interjected. "Mom, can I stay with them for a little longer? I have something to show him."

"Well alright, you have nothing to do tomorrow anyway."

"Yeah! Nice!" Caelia yelped in ecstasy. "Colonel Hasek Davion, would you follow me to my quarter? I have something that might be of your interest… "

"Your quarter?" Trystan scowled. He turned to Maria. "What on earth is she thinking?"

Maria just shrugged and walked away.