Disclaimers: I do not own Battletech.
A/N: Alright, I'm back with this story after dealing with some personal issues and such. This chapter will close out the First Arc of this story and the Second Arc will begin in the next chapter with it being more combat-oriented and such along with showcasing one of my favorite parts of the game: the events that would happen while the Argo was in transit. Sometimes if I had enough money and such, I would just go from system to system just to have an event pop-up.
Please enjoy.
Tensions.
On the planet of Canopus IV within the royal palace of House Centrella, Lady Ana Maria Centrella of the Magistracy of Canopus sat in her own personal briefing room with a single lamp being the only source of illumination for her. She was nearly alone with only one other figure in the room, though this person was mostly hidden in the shadows across the way with only the bare minimum of their outline being seen.
"So what do you have to tell me Agent….?", the Lady spoke.
"Agent is such an overused and outdated term for people of my profession. It has gain notoriety due to secret spy holo-vid and such", a masculine voice answers, "For the sake of this briefing you may simply call me... Bob, my lady."
Ana Maria raises an eyebrow at this and suppresses the grin that threatens to appear on her lips before speaking.
"Okay...Bob. Forgive me for saying this but it is extremely rare to see a man in such a position within the Magistracy Intelligence Ministry."
If Bob was offended by such a statement, Ana Maria couldn't see it through the darkness.
"MIM is in the midst of adopting a new policy of promoting people base on merits, not on gender", he replies.
"A rare thing here in the Magistracy", Lady Ana Maria points out.
"That it is. Now if it pleases my Lady, I believe I have a briefing to give you", Bob says.
"Ah yes, of course. Tell me, what have you gather on our friends in the Reach since the war ended?", Ana Maria asks as she leans back into her chair.
Bob nods at this and pushes a button on the wall next to him, bringing up a holo-map of the Aurigan Reach in the center of the room and presents a data-pad out from behind his back.
"As you already undoubtedly know, the Reach is in a resurrection phase after their civil war, seeking to rebuild the devastation brought forth by it", Bob began, "This includes restarting the economy, dealing with the massive refugees' crisis, re-establishing trade routes, and dealing with the famine in the Panzyr system, one of its key systems. Lady Kamea has shown surprisingly adaptability in dealing with all of these issues at once as well as consolidating her power base to bring the other Founding Houses in line."
Lady Ana Maria fakes a yawn and waves a dismissive hand, "Yes, yes, I am aware of all that dribble. Your division's main assignment, as I recall, was gathering intel on the Coalition's military potential."
Bob is quiet for a moment before pushing a button on his data-pad which brought up the image of a Wolverine battlemech on the holo-map
"The Aurigan military is in a state of disarray at a time where the Reach is at its most vulnerable to its more powerful neighbors. Standing military strength is around forty percent of what it was before the war and it will take a considerable amount of time to bring it back to full readiness. The only saving grace is that now they possess a remarkable number of salvageable battlemechs now thanks to the Concordat leaving a great deal of them behind in their retreat", Bob details.
"Marvelous", Lady Ana Maria says as she leans forward, latches her fingers together in front of her face, "Now let us get down to the real juicy details of your mission. Tell me about Kamea's little dragon, Nico Strong."
Bob found himself unable to speak for a brief moment before letting out a sigh and pressing another button on his data-pad that brought up an image of the famous mechwarrior.
"That is the problem, my lady, the man is a ghost, an enigma", he tells her.
"I beg your pardon", Ana Maria says, unsure of what she just heard.
"Despite having our best people in the field turning over every rock they could find, no information regarding the former mercenary's past has been found; though we have our suspicions that Nico Strong is not even his real name. We have check records of every known house in the Deep Periphery and have not even found a dead house with the Strong surname in any of them", Bob explains.
"So you mean to tell me that one of the most prominent intelligence agencies in the Periphery, capable of sometimes rivaling those of the Inner Sphere, cannot find a single thread of information on a mere mercenary?", Lady Ana Maria asks, clearly annoyed by this act of incompetence.
"That former mercenary killed Commodore Samuel Ostergaard, a man who was at the top of a potential military threat list for quite some time, in a one-on-one duel despite being in a smaller mech", Bob points out.
"Regardless of that, I should have you and all of your subordinates remove and replace with more capable people", Ana Maria threatens.
"And perhaps I should remind the good lady that MIM only answers to the Magestrix herself and the only reason that you are even being relayed this information is due to the fact that you have been placed in charge of keeping an eye on the situation in the Reach and the Magestrix has order us to brief you. Also, you should be aware that such a privilege can be taken away if it is deemed that you are unfit for the task", Bob counters, catching Ana Maria off-guard.
"You dare!", she growls as she stands up.
"Or perhaps you want the rendezvouses between you and a certain Sir Raju "Mastiff" Montgomery that took place in your youth to be brought to light? I am sure your rivals would love to get their hands on such information", Bob then throws out.
After a moment of silence, Ana Maria calmly sits back down, her face now in a neutral expression.
"I was wondering when that was going to be used against me. I am actually surprised it took this long", she says.
"MIM always like to keep leverage over all those who are not the Magestrix herself, even if they are within House Centrella. While we are no doubt loyal to the Magistracy, we have taken precautions to ensure its existence", Bob states, "Now if we may get back to the briefing; I am sure you have other business to attend to."
Ana Maria stare into the darkness at what she thought was Bob's eyes for a while as if she was trying to stare into his very soul.
"You may continue", she finally spoke.
"Anyway, Nico Strong and his forces are without a doubt the most powerful in the Reach for their size and have shown in the past the ability to take on enemy units far larger than themselves and succeed", Bob continues.
"Will they be problematic to us in the future?", Ana Maria asks.
"While the Magistracy could easily defeat the Coalition in an open war, we calculate that it would tie up too many of our forces and resources and produces a large number of casualties in the process", Bob states, "We believe that if we maintain a positive relationship with High Lady Kamea then not only will we not have to worried about such a situation occurring, but we could possibly get her to lend us Nico Strong and his men to help us in our own future military endeavors."
"I have my doubts about that little girl loaning us her pet dragon", Ana Maria laughs.
"I fail to see why not. She owns her crown to us", Bob says.
"We merely gave her the money to do so. We did not give her a single solider to help her fight", Ana Maria counter, "In deals like this, you give money to repay money. Even now she is trying to open up trade routes between us and making sure we get a better share of the profit. I doubt she sees any reason to provide us with military aid should we ask for it."
"Perhaps you are right, Lady Ana Maria. But still, my superiors feel that it is an avenue we should keep open just in case, for we have run a number of simulations and scenarios base on the data we have gathered on Mr. Strong and his crew in regards to mech combat", Bob states.
"And?"
"If we were to pit our top mech pilot against him, the "Dragon of the Reach" would triumph eight out ten times. If he was pitted against the top Taurian mech pilot, it would be six out of ten times", Bob informs her, "Though I feel that I should state that Commodore Ostergaard was one of the top three mechpilots aces within the Concordat."
"And what if our top mech-pilot was to face the Taurian's ace?", Ana Maria wonder.
"Two out of ten times, mostly because the Magistracy's top ace has not seen combat in over three years and her last combat duty was against pirates.", Bob answers without hesitation, "It is probably best that I do not inform you of the scenarios involving Nico Strong leading a lance against one of ours."
Lady Ana Maria lets out a breath in annoyance, "And here I thought he was just another dirty mercenary that Kamea was recruiting until she gathered more forces. I cannot believe I let such a gold mine slip through the Magistracy's fingers."
"If it makes you feel any better, my lady, MIM is currently forming contingency plans to bring Nico Strong to our side should High Lady Kamea and the Aurigan Coalition prove not to be worth the Magistracy's time and resources", Bob states.
"Hmm, that is actually quite comforting to hear. Let us hope that should the time come that such plans prove themselves successful", Lady Ana Maria simply replies as she continues staring at the hologram of the Dragon, her attention focus on his tattoo that adorns his eye.
"Just who are you, Nico Strong? Where are you from and what do you have to hide?"
Back On The Argo
"You boys know where I can find Yang?", Farah asks a group of Mech Techs who were working on a Warhammer's left foot.
The group turns around to see who was talking to them and instantly snap to attention, saluting Farah.
It takes a moment for Farah to recover from this and to realize that these guys weren't on the Argo during the war and were in fact some of the new additions to the crew straight from the Aurigan Coalition military forces.
"Ah, crap", she tells herself and she returns the salute as best she could before repeating her question, this time in a more formal manner, "Have any of you seen Lieutenant Commander...Virtanen?"
The men drop their salute and then point over to where Dragon's Highlander was currently docked at. On the right shoulder, she was able to make out Yang working, his unique physique easily standing out to her.
"He has been over there since he got back, ma'am", one of the Mech Tech said, "Told everyone who was working on it to clear out and go get the other mechs ready for launch"
Farah shakes her head, "Thanks", she says as she began working toward the mech. She really wishes that she could have been here sooner but the second she walked out of Dragon's quarter she got a call from her top assistant about some weird readings they were getting from the new engines and she had to make her way down there to see what was going on. Luckily it turned out to be an easy fix which only required replacing a couple of parts and tuning a few instruments.
Anyway, once she got to the top level and was across from Yang she took a moment to marvel at the warmachine in front of her. It was amazing how one man such as Dragon could turn this such a fine example of human engineering into a weapon that has ended the lives of hundreds of men and women.
Farah may have been a ship engineer at heart but she had a couple of opportunities to become a mech tech throughout her life, though her ex-husband, the famous Ronald Heiner of Uncle Heiner's Experiment World science program, usually persuade her from doing such a thing.
"Only those who cannot contribute to a peaceful society belong on the battlefield", he used to say to her.
The Chief Engineer couldn't help but simile at the memory. She sometimes wonders how he would react to seeing that not only did she serve on the Argo with a mercenary company, but that she was now in an official military and holding the rank of Lieutenant-Commander.
She'll probably never find out though, the last she saw of him was over four years ago when he was sitting down at the dinner table with a shocked expression on his face as she walked out the front door; the divorce papers laid out in front of him right next to his morning coffee as she made her way to the shuttle that would take her to the moon of Axylus to retrieve this wonderful dropship she was now standing in.
"It was for the best though. We stop loving each other years before that day and there was no point in keeping the facade up any longer. Besides, a chain-smoking nihilist for a husband wasn't exactly one of the better choices I have made in my life", she told herself as she focuses her attention back at Yang and smiles warmly, "Those this is definitely one of the best ones I have made ."
Saving such thoughts for another time, Farah clears her throat before shouting, "Yo, Yang!"
The Chief Mech Tech kept on working on the wiring in the right shoulder, showing no signs that he heard her.
"Oh, come on", she murmurs to herself before looking around.
"Ah, there we go!", as she spots a small wrench nearby. Picking it up, she takes careful aim and hurls it at Yang's right arm.
The vibration caused by this catches Yang's attention and he stops his work to turn around and scream at whoever did it.
The first words never left his mouth as he found himself looking at Farah, who was standing there with her hands on her hips and a wide smile on her face.
"We need to talk", she says.
Five minutes later, the two Chief of their respective departments on the Argo found themselves talking alone in one of the Mechbays many break rooms, two cups of coffee in front of them.
"I will never understand how you manage to run this place", Farah says as she looks out the glass into the bay where a dozen and a half mechs of various classes were being maintenance and repair.
"There's a method to all this madness, one just has to find it", Yang replies, "Besides, this is nothing compared to that clusterfuck you call an engine room. Don't know how you manage to keep this ship afloat."
"As you said, there's a method to the madness", Farah repeats, "Speaking of madness, you want to tell me what all that was about back in Dragon's office?"
Yang looks over at the engineer for a moment before sighing and shaking his head.
"I don't want to talk about it", he finally says.
"Oh, no, no, no, no", Farah shakes her while waving a finger, "You don't get to cause a scene like that and then just say you don't want to talk about it. That kind of thing is for kids, not us."
Yang reaches for his cup of coffee and downs a bit of it before looking back at Farah, "You're not going to drop this, are you?"
The look the engineer gave him was better than any verbal answer.
"Fine then", Yang groans as he puts down his cup and stares into the contents, "It was back on St. Loris, back when I was with the First Battalion of the Second St. Ives Lancers, under Major Ling. On that day, I lost my arm."
"Yeah, you mention that one night when we were in your room", Farah states as she notices that Yang's right arm was starting to shake as he spoke, "But unlike your leg which you lost as a kid you never went into detail on how you lost your arm."
"That's because I didn't want to remember. But anyway, don't let anyone tell you otherwise, the Confederation does promote people based on what family they come from and how much they got in their pockets; it's just not as bad as everyone else", Yang continues, "It was the only way that idiot could have ever got the rank of major at such a young age!"
"How young was he?", Farah ask as she took a drink.
"I was twenty-two at the time and he was only three years older than me at best. Seriously, who gives someone that young command of an entire battalion?!", Yang shouts as he bangs his metal arm on the table, putting a small dent in it, "Some general's stupid decisions cause a lot of good men their lives, including two of the best assistants I ever had!"
Farah places a hand over Yang's left hand and he seems to calm down due to the gesture.
"Look, I get it", Farah tells him, "You feel that Dekker and the others won't be as good as commanders as they are mech pilots. But you at least have to have some faith in them. I mean, Dragon is in charge, and yet he's the youngest out of all of us."
"Yeah, but he seems to be the exception. He either just has a knack for this type of thing or something else is allowing him to do what he does", Yang admits, "But I feel that isn't going be the case with those four."
Farah takes another sip, "Well, you're just going to have to trust them now, aren't you? We all are."
Letting out a sigh in frustration as he got up, Yang shook his head, "I suppose you're right."
He then moves to put his coffee mug in the lounge dishwasher, only stop upon feeling his left hand getting grab. He looks back down to see Farah looking up at him with a bright smile on her face.
"Come on, sit with me for a bit and talk", she says, "We haven't had much time to ourselves since the war ended since when have been dealing with all the repairs and upgrades."
Yang takes a look out the window and watches his tech crews operating pretty smoothly in their effort to keep on schedule. They were running so efficiently that he probably could take a few minutes to have a break. Besides, he would just stay up an extra hour or two to work on the Highlander to make up for loss time.
"Alright, I got a second or two to chat", he concedes, "But let's not take too long, or else Dragon will have our hides."
"Excellent!", Farah rejoices, "Now while you're up, think you can refill my mug?"
Nico, Kamea, and Alexander exit the room into the hallway making their way to the mech bay, the High Lady at the front while the other two walk behind her.
"Was it right to leave after making such a statement?", Kamea asks, "Perhaps we should have given a better explanation as to the circumstances of the situation you are in."
The Dragon merely shrugs while still looking forward, not even making eye contact with his superior, "In my experience, sometimes it's best to keep it short and simple; the fewer details the better."
"Sounds exactly like the mindset of a mercenary", Alexander comments.
"I rarely asked my clients questions about the nature of the contract. I simply pointed my gun and fired", Nico replies, "You two didn't seem to mind that policy when you came to me."
"That was then, this is now, Nico", Kamea states, "The role you now find yourself in is going to require you to be more detail when you answer questions and give explanations."
"I'll cross that bridge when I'll get there", Nico says as they approach the elevator and enter it with Kamea in the front while Nico and Alexander were behind her. The small space then descended into silence as the elevator with down as the three people within it merely look forward, making no eye contact whatsoever with one another.
Finally though…
"Four years is not long enough", Nico spoke.
"I take it that this is your way of saying that you disagree with my plans", Kamea replies while still looking ahead for she was half-expecting this response from the ace mechpilot since he didn't voice that he supported it.
"I am not exactly for them", Nico responds, "The Reach is still recovering and it's going to take more than four years it to be brought back to what it was before the war."
"I think you are underestimating the spirit of the Aurigan Coalition and its people", Kamea states.
"Spirit can only take you so far", Nico counters.
"I am not going to launch a full-blown invasion tomorrow, Nico. As I have stated before, every diplomatic means will be utilized to bring planets under the Coalition's control", the High Lady assures the former mercenary, "I refuse to become like my Uncle."
"No, but you just might become worse", Nico bluntly told her.
Kamea turns around so fast to glare at Nico that Alexander found himself startle by the action and he was, even more, frightened by the look in his closest friend's eye. It was a look that he has seen her dawn whenever she was about to tear into an advisor or a noble who had stepped out of line. He only hopes that she would hold her tongue and not do anything that could come back to bite her.
"Forgive me, but it seems that I did not fully hear what you just said, Nico. Please, repeat yourself...colonel.", Kamea calmly suggests all while Nico kept a neutral expression and Alexander silently pray that the colonel would take the hint that was blatantly out there instead of being shrouded in clever words and minuscule gestures.
"I'm saying that while your Uncle started a conflict which led to the deaths of a lot people, during the entire time he was in charge he only consolidated the Reach's territory but never once did he even try to expand it", Nico points out in a low voice, never breaking eye contact with Kamea, "Now, of course, this could be seen as mostly because the Taurians told him not to or perhaps the Magistracy deter him from doing so, but in the end, not a single planet was added to the Coalition during his reign."
"So I am the antagonist for trying to get the Reach the resources it requires to fully recover? Am I suppose to let the Coalition fade away out of existence?", Kamea questions, her irk rising with every passing moment.
"I'm just saying that you're going about it too quickly. War is my business after all so I'm not against it, but then again not everyone's like me.", Nico answers as the elevator door open up, revealing a lone mech engineer who took one good look into the elevator and decided best to take the long way to his workstation as he turns and briskly walks away.
"By your leave, High Lady", Nico says as he sidesteps Kamea, looking straight ahead while ignoring the stare she was throwing him.
And with that, the Dragon was gone as the door close behind him.
The minute they did Kamea exhales a breath in annoyance and taking a deep breath soon afterward.
"I was not expecting Nico to fully endorse my decisions but I was hoping that he would not doubt them either", Kamea says while still looking at the doors, shaking Alexander out of his thought process which had him wondering why Nico got off at least four levels before the Mechbay.
"Perhaps he decided to leave a situation before it got out of hand", the noble thought before speaking, "Remember why you hired him, Kamea."
"Because he is the top mech pilot in this region of space, a surprisingly skilled tactician, and has a powerful and loyal crew underneath him; all of which is exactly what I need in these turbulent times?", she replies.
"True, those are all good reasons. But you also need to recall that you specifically wanted someone who would tell you the cold hard truth, whether you wanted to hear it or not", Alexander reminded her, "You did not need another yes man."
Kamea slaps the sides of her face, "I realize that but sometimes it can be so infuriating sometimes. Sometimes I think Nico knows that I need him more than he needs me and thus he knows he can get away with most things that would get anyone else in serious trouble."
"He is actually more respectful toward you than you realize", Alexander points out, "Far more than the other high nobles are."
Kamea straightens up at this, "I suppose you have a point there."
"That I do", Alexander states as the elevator comes to a stop and the doors open up to reveal the mech bay which was alive with activity as the mech techs were in a frenzy trying to make the mechs prep for launch as well as the new vehicles that had recently arrive. At the opposite end of the bay, not far from the entrance was Kamea's own personal mech, the colossal King Crab KGC-0000 whose imposing figure made it nearly impossible to miss even in a mechbay that was filled to full capacity and then some. It was still in the midst of extensive repairs but the High Lady brought her own personal crew to see to that so as to not to take away from Yang's.
"Since you are no doubt going to be piloting the King Crab once it is completely repaired, what's going to happen your the Kintaro?", Kamea hears Alexander asks her as the two of them exit into the bay.
"Actually I plan on building a memorial to commemorate the Restoration and everyone who fought and died in it. I will be having the Kintaro place at the entrance of it once it is done", Kamea explains as she nods to a group of techs who saluted her.
"A war memorial?", Alexander questions, "Is that not a little much for a conflict that just ended not even half a year ago?"
"It was the most devastating conflict the Aurigan Coalition has ever seen and I wish for the people not to forget all the sacrifices that were made to bring it to an end", Kamea explains, "Plus I plan on adding a segment to honor the heroes of the conflict, including Nico and his crew."
"Hmm, some of the other nobles might not take too kindly to you honoring a mercenary even if he is now an official military officer. They will no doubt think it will make their "contributions" to the war seem meager compare to him", Alexander is quick to point out.
"I am positive they will get over it. Plus I plan on using this to highlight the Argo's crew's victory and kill count for all to see", Kamea presses on.
"No doubt to show the nobility that is not fully behind you just how powerful of a force you have under your direct command, correct?", the Head of House Madiera theorizes.
"Correct as always, Alexander", Kamea says as she looks to her left and finds herself coming to a complete stop at the sight before her.
Through the window into a nearby break room, she spots both Yang and Farah chatting away without a care in the world but the engineer's hand was on top of the mechanic's good hand, and their faces with extremely close to each other with radiating smiles plaster on them. They seem to be deep in conversation, so much that neither one seem to notice the two new occupants that have stopped in front of the window despite being well within sight of them.
"Alexander...", she manages after a moment, "Are those two…?"
"Together? Why yes they are", Alexander quickly answers, "I believe they have been going on for two years now."
"Really?", Kamea asks, "I never notice."
"They have been doing a commendable job keeping it professional and behind close doors to a great extent; you would not even notice unless you were on the ship the whole time during the war", Alexander explains, "Plus, it is one of the many "open secrets" here on the Argo as in everybody knows about it but no one sees anything wrong with it and thus they keep their mouth shut about it."
"Is that so?", Kamea wonders aloud.
"To be honest, what we are witnessing is no doubt the most public display of affection that I have ever seen them do to each other; which I have to say is a lot more effort than the majority of the couples on the Argo has put into keeping their relationship professional.", Alexander explain only to become curious at the look Kamea was now throwing him, "What?"
"You have become quite the gossip in your time on this ship", Kamea laughs to which her friend only shrugs.
"Things got boring around here sometimes in-between transits", he answers as the two of them came to the elevator platform that took them railing that led up to the cockpit of the King Crab.
"I highly advise that you do not take long in there, Kamea. There are some documents that you need to go over", Alexander told her.
Kamea merely nods as the hatch opens up and she enters it, "I will see to it at the meeting later on today."
Alexander merely returns the nod as the hatch closes and walks away once it was shut tight.
Kamea instantly relaxes the moment her body fell into the pilot seat, all the worries of today vanishing if only for a moment. She sometimes wonders what the nobles would say if it ever got out that she felt the most comfortable and relax inside of the cockpit of a mech. She supposes she had inherited such a thing from her father seeing how he used to do the same, something that her mother dislike to a high degree, especially when he made the absurd suggestion that perhaps he should move his official office to the cockpit of family's Kintaro. On that day, the leader of the Coalition found himself sleeping in a guest room, exile there by his wife until he starting acting like a sensible adult.
Kamea smiles at this memory and as her mind started to wander back to days gone by, her eyes caught something on the center camera.
Nico's infamous Highlander.
The very same mech she gifted to him after his show of bravery during the, for lack of a better word, shitshow on Artu; though that is something Kamea would never tell him. He was under the impression that she gave it to him to help makes his forces stronger in the war, but the reality was that she got in over her head and only survive because the former mercenary made the call to drop into the battlefield and distract the Taurian forces while she was evac out and she just couldn't let such a feat go unrewarded, despite what her advisors at the time said.
But while these memories began to swirl around her head, another thought pops up in the midst of them.
If she was piloting her King Crab and Nico was piloting his Highlander, could she defeat him in a duel?
Granted it would be a non-fatal duel like the ones in the Royal Arena, but could she come out on top despite him undoubtedly being the better pilot?
True, Nico had defeated Commodore Ostergaard in a duel while he was piloting an Atlas, but that was mainly because the Taurian commander underestimated him, a mistake that she would surely not make herself.
Plus, could she use such a duel to boost morale among the populace and the military? Perhaps she should host a grand battlemech tournament that could be broadcast to all corners of the Reach showing the top mechpilots going head to head.
"Hmm, that would definitely win me more support among the people", she told herself before shaking her head, "But first I have to deal with these pirates."
But even as she tried to focus on the upcoming campaign against the pirates, her eyes still linger on the immobile Highlander and her thoughts were now on its pilot that came barreling into her life all those years ago, though to be fair she did invite him in.
Meanwhile, the CO and XO of the Argo were making their way to the ship's bridge while an air of uneasiness seems to follow them.
"We….have to startup checks before we launch", Sumire struggles to get out.
"Of course", Darius quickly agree, "We always have to do that before we leave."
The seconds tick by in silence as the two of them walked side by side to their destination with neither one even glancing at the other.
Finally, after what seems like an eternity, the two of them enter the room and made their way to the star map. As Sumire began doing a final inspection on the course that she had plotted out, she spoke.
"Do you think Dragon can take on the Bounty Hunter?" If it ever came to a one-on-one?", as she was studying the map while Darius was looking out at the planet. The Aurigan native put a hand over his face and ran it down his face.
"If you would have asked me this question when we first brought his unconscious ass aboard the day of the coup, I would have laughed at you and call you crazy", he admits, "But after seeing him in action for the past seven years…..", he spoke before going quiet.
….
"What? Don't just stop in the middle of something like that! This is serious!", Sumire shouts, drawing some attention from the rest of the bridge staff over to them. Seeing this, Darius herds Sumire to an empty corner of the room.
"Please keep your voice down. We don't need the rest of the crew finding out about this right at this moment", he whispers to her, "Who knows how they will take it?"
Sumire lets out a growl but regains her composure.
"Look", Darius starts, "Dragon is a great mechpilot, probably the best I have ever seen out here and I have seen a lot of pilots come and go. But the Inner Sphere is a whole other ball game compared to us out in the Periphery. His kill count is nothing compared to their aces and the Bounty Hunter is one of the best there is. To be honest, if Nico is smart, he would avoid facing the guy alone."
"That's not the only problem he has to worry about", Sumire said in a quiet voice.
"What are you talking about?", Darius wonders.
"It's not just the Bounty Hunter that will be coming after Dragon. Don't you know the old saying, Darius", Sumire asks as she looks him straight in the eyes, "Where the Bounty goes the Black Widow follows."
Meanwhile, Nico quietly enters the Hydroponic Gardens, taking a quick glance around, and was mentally relieved that there were only three other people in them, all galley staff. They were picking fresh herbs and vegetables for the upcoming meals, no doubt more than they have done in the past seeing how the crew size has triple. It was a good thing that Sumire brought up the idea to add a biometric scan to limit the accessibility of the space to only them and members of the crew that had personal plants, including Behemoth of all people.
Nico found himself chuckling back at the day when the mechpilot came to his office while in transit and nervously ask permission to gain access to the garden to plant some flowers of her own that she picked up in the last port call, even getting violent with him once his ability to contain his laughter at the sight of the speculate became too much and he fell out of his chair laughing his ass off. One black eye and busted lip later, one of those which belong to Behemoth, along with a trip to see Qartio and the tallest, strongest woman on the Argo had her own personal garden; though she preferred if that piece of information didn't get spread around the ship.
Anyway, the Dragon of the Reach found himself heading to a secluded corner of the garden, giving a brief head nod to the sole crewman that notices his presence as he came up to a door and gets check by the bio-metric scan. Once the door opens, he immediately walks in and sits down on the bench in there while letting out a breath in exhaustion. This was his own little private room away from the struggles and troubles of life. Sometimes even his personal quarters felt like a prison.
"This is getting out of control", he told himself, "That woman doesn't know when to reel it in. It's like she was born to fight instead of rule."
Nico takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
"First things first, I have to win a pirate campaign", he told himself, "Easy enough if it wasn't for the fact that it has to be done decisively and swiftly."
Weary and in need of a good rest, Nico stay in that solidarity room for well over two hours before getting up and proceeding to make his way to his quarters where he would at least begin to draw up a plan for the training regiment to get his four lance commanders familiar with the CAL system.
"Sure hope Darius and Sumire still aren't there", he tells himself as he left the gardens and made his way toward his quarters. But as he rounds the hallway to which his quarters were located, he found himself coming to a stop as he spots a certain High Lady outside of his door, knocking on it. After a moment, she looks to her left and spots the man she was looking for and levels him with a neutral expression.
"Ah Nico, there you are. You and I much to discuss concerning the pirates and the CAL system", she says and the ace pilot could only shake his head as he walks over to her.
For a moment, the two simply stare at one another, either one breaking eye contact with the other. Would this be a repeat of earlier, ending in one of them leaving the room? Or would they actually be able to turn this into a productive meeting?
"That we do, Kamea. That we do", Nico finally spoke after a moment and the two leaders step into his quarters.
A few hours later, the ACS Argo launch from the planet Coromodir VI and begin making its long journey toward the Fjaldr system. Only its Commanding Officer and Executive Officer were present on the bridge when this happened.
The majority of the crew were in high spirits as they were anxious to get underway with their first official mission as part of the Aurigan Coalition military; but for the two most important people on the ship, Kamea and Nico were preparing for the long and difficult road ahead of them.
Little did they know that not only would their leadership and military capabilities be tested in the coming months but the two's professional and personal relationship would as well to legendary proportions. Over a hundred years from that day and even in well into the thirty-second century and beyond, common folks and nobles alike would gather around and retell the epic sage that would become known as...
"The High Lady and The Dragon".
A/N: Alright, now they are in space. First stop: Itrom.