New Delos, Spring Past, 3015.
Despair had been at the back of his mind. The main thing that was bothering him was in not knowing and that was what was eating him inside. It wasn't the thought of finding his brother dead but rather the anticipation that was causing him more grief. As if in not knowing was more painful and terrifying than at last knowing what had happened and trying to come to grips with it. If he truly was dead then at least he could finally grieve, but it was the gap of time between realization and speculation that drove him to new heights of depression. And that was the one thing he couldn't take. He needed to know now.
Colonel Jaime Wolf adjusted the controls as his Archer strode along what was once the headquarters of the rebellion against Captain-General Janos Marik. As his 'Mech moved along the smoking ruins, a terrible thought that had been plaguing him since he ordered the assault was becoming painfully clear.
Following a heated argument with Duke Anton Marik, the leader of the rebellion against his brother Janos, Jaime Wolf had stormed out of the conference and ordered all Dragoons to move out into orbit. His brother Joshua stayed behind with a few dozen staff officers and dependents to try to reason with the Duke. After several days of arguments over HPG, the messages suddenly stopped. After Jaime's repeated failed attempts in trying to contact his younger brother, he received a terse statement from Anton declaring that Joshua and all remaining Dragoons on New Delos were executed.
At first Jaime couldn't believe it, he thought it was a bluff but a number of uncomfortable thoughts began to chew at his soul and he ordered the entire Dragoons force to descend into New Delos and bring Duke Anton Marik to heel. He had hoped that Anton was just using the statement as a ploy and he didn't really have Joshua killed. Either way Jaime and Natasha Kerensky needed to know the answer.
Despite heroic efforts, Duke Anton's remaining forces were crushed and Captain Kerenky's Black Widow Company was the first unit to push into Anton's headquarters. The last reply he got from the Widows was that they had breached the palace defenses; that was over twenty minutes ago.
As he eased the Archer over a blackened wall, he could clearly see that the defenders had tried to use fuel trucks as a literal firewall to try to keep the Widows at bay. Based on the gaping holes caused by autocannon shells and laser scorch marks, it was clear that it was a last, desperate move that ultimately failed. About two hundred meters to his right, Jaime could see the outline of "Gentleman" Johnny Clavell's all-black Rifleman, its right arm-mounted autocannons traversing upwards as if in a mock salute to him.
Jaime's Archer kept going and he finally stopped when he saw the back of Natasha Kerensky's Warhammer. The Black Widow's BattleMech was not moving and its cockpit door was clearly open. Jaime punched new coordinates in his sensors as he tried to find where Natasha was. A loud beep on his cockpit's virtual map finally pinpointed where the she was, it seemed that Natasha was just twenty meters to his right.
After quickly disengaging his seat harness and leaving his neurohelmet on his pilot's chair, Jaime Wolf opened the hatch from his 'Mech and climbed down. The commander of the Dragoons drew his laser pistol just in case there were any fanatical loyalists left. With all that was happening, he couldn't take any chances.
After moving along gingerly in the still smoldering ruins, he finally noticed Natasha. She was kneeling down beside a collapsed wall of some sort. It was evident from the debris that this was formerly part of the inner courtyard of the palace. Jaime had seen Natasha and Joshua walking along these once grassy paths to the garden, hands tightly clasped in a gesture of affection.
"Tasha." Jaime called to her as he slowly stepped around some small fires that were still burning and kept making his way to her. The battle had ended just under an hour ago and things were still burning and exploding.
She did not reply as she kept her back to him. It was apparent that she was doing something; but what it was, Jaime had no clue.
Jaime finally walked up behind her. Natasha was kneeling down and held something in her hands. "Tasha, are you alright?" He asked.
She looked up at him with tears streaming down her eyes. What she held in her palm she opened for him to see.
It was a tuft of wolf fur.