Kurt spent much of his free time organizing guerilla-style raids against the Vipers' supply stores. They had no interest in stealing food, but missile and autocannon rounds meant less ammunition for the mercs to use. It also helped that Rebbie used the same autocannon rounds as the Wolverine.

The mercenaries suspected that the Davion resistance had a stockpile of stolen weapons somewhere in the wilderness, and they were right. Firearms, mech parts, vehicles. Anything Kurt's men could get their hands on.

At first, the storehouses were lightly defended. Taking what they needed was child's play. After a week, the Crusader was placed on guard duty. Major Raanan must have thought starport patrol included too much decision-making, but killing raiders was just fine. Of course, the 65-ton war machine could hardly stay on patrol all day long. Kurt's men managed to succeed in the off-hours.

After two weeks and five successful raids, the mercenaries finally posted an appropriate defense. Heavy infantry and a BattleMech on standby. Kurt did not even attempt a sixth raid.

At the same time, the locals hardly welcomed the proxies for the Draconis Combine with open arms. Without any prompting from Kurt and his men, they did simpler things to cause mischief for the Coral Vipers. Like provide spoiled food for rations when they could get away with it, and cause as much traffic as possible when the mercs wanted to use the streets.

Roughly two weeks remained until the Night Paladins arrived. The Paladins were a mercenary unit slated to replace the Coral Vipers and bolster the AFFS garrison. They were already in-system, and probably knew the Vipers controlled the planet.

Secretly contacting them and coordinating an offensive was going to be a difficult task for Kurt. Assuming he could count on their loyalty; the man who had signed the mercenary unit's contract was now dead.

In the meantime, his platoon commanders were coming up with creative ways to harass the Vipers. It was up to him to approve their excursions, and he did allow a few of them. Most risked casualties. There would be time for them to die later, better to play it safe for now.

Kurt, Eli, and the two platoon commanders sat around the campfire that served as their command center. "I'm telling you sir, we can free most of the 1st, and maybe the 2nd, too," Captain O'Reilly was saying.

"And end up killing the 5th in the process," Captain Marcus countered. "Not to mention giving away our trump card, that Marauder." Kurt followed Marcus's finger as he pointed to the blue/red beauty parked nearby. There was something that had gone perfectly. She was a fully-functional, fully-armed MAD-3A Marauder. He had even taken her out for a test drive.

Eli caught the glint in Kurt's eye when the Marauder was mentioned. "Be careful what you say, O'Reilly. Leftenant Beckett may take up any offer that lets him pilot Rebbie." The platoon commanders both laughed.

"I can never thank you enough for getting her fixed," Kurt said.

"Thank Wadsworth. I didn't think we'd get the electrical systems up for another month."

Wadsworth. The more he was around her, the more he saw himself falling in love with her. He looked into the campfire flame. In the dancing light, he saw a vision of the future. Himself about to run into battle against the Vipers, telling Dana that he wanted her to know that he loved her – just in case he didn't make it. That was the direction things were headed.

It was inevitable, Kurt realized. Just as he knew she would learn his identity when they first met, he knew he was going to fall in love with her. If he hadn't already. The question was, how would he tell her?

"I think I will." Kurt upped and left campfire.

Xxxxx

Dana was sitting near the astechs. While she was never particularly comfortable in large groups, she was not wholly antisocial. She sat near the astechs. Kurt approached from behind, unseen. Her body tensed in surprise when he gave into the irresistible urge to run his fingers through her hair.

"I thought this was 'inappropriate behavior,'" Dana snapped.

"That's a farce." He sat down on the ground next to her, and she turned her head to face him. Dana relaxed at the expression on his face. Kurt suspected she saw affection and desire. "In training, I've always been the one to charge the hill, put my life on the line to save others. Nobody ever called me a coward. Even when I acted like one."

"You're not a coward," she protested. "You're trying to save everyone on this planet. You're brave, and smart about it, too."

"Maybe. But I've been falling in love since I met you, and I ran from it." Shocked could not describe how Dana felt. She was dumbfounded. "I didn't want to tell you right before I ran off to die. You deserve to know, even if you don't want to help find out what that means." When she did not respond, he added, "Or if you don't feel the same way."

By this point, all the astechs were staring at the two of them. Kurt was totally oblivious. "I ... you deserve someone better." She shook her head. "I'm not good enough for you."

It was Kurt's turn to be dumbfounded. "So I haven't seen you smiling at me, secretly looking? Dana, don't make up excuses. If you're really not interested, say so. You owe me the truth. You owe yourself the truth."

His words struck home. Dana tried to get up and Kurt grabbed her arm. He needed to give her time, but was not prepared to wait. He did not want to die two weeks down the road with this unresolved. "I don't care if you think you deserve it. I'm falling in love with you, and I'm not going to let you walk away without knowing why."

Dana looked around at the astechs surrounding them. "What are you waiting for?" a female astech asked. Dana blinked at her. "Kiss him." She had to admit, part of her wanted to. A rather large part.

"I." A tear found its way to Dana's cheek. All she could think about was the lawyer who had deserted her after their first night together. The hand on her arm released its grip. Then arms wrapped around her and Dana was pulled into an embrace. "I'm scared you'll leave me." There. She said it.

"Death first." Never mind that it was a real possibility, in fact was the fear that had kept him at bay.

They stayed motionless for more than five minutes before they finally broke apart. "I love you, too," she said. "I'm tired. Let's finish this talk tomorrow." Kurt agreed, and left her for the evening after bidding her a good night's sleep.