CHAPTER 18
STRONGER
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The Colonel: Read along my friend
Solaris City, Solaris VII,
Freedom Theater, Lyran Alliance,
March 2, 3065
Trystan and Saskia perched at the bay door, watching the dropship's crews running the preflight check throughout the entire dropship. Mobile APU's charged the power supplies and tank trucks filled the fuel tanks to the brim, making sure the egg-shaped dropship had enough juice to dock with the jumpship for its next journey. Inside, the crews secured the battlemechs and the zoid to the bays, with Lei Fong's help.
In their 2-day stay at Solaris City, Lei Fong and the new recruits raked up a substantial amount of money, utilizing Lei Fong's unorthodox (but effective) logic and Ronan's inside knowledge of mechjock's standing. While Valen, Dee Dee, and Ronan were temporarily satiated, Lei Fong used half of his winning to repair and reload the Gilvader to nominal condition. Saskia lost count how much she owed Lei Fong, but he told her time and again that she was the one doing him a favor by allowing him to work on the Gilvader.
The dropship captain announced 30 minutes to lift off. Trystan looked at his watch and let out an exasperated sigh.
"Vicky and punctuality are of distant relations," Saskia said, correctly predicted that Trystan was waiting for Vicky. "You entreated to be the instrument of her career, yet she only does so by spreading legs."
Trystan sniggered. "You don't like Vicky that much, do you?"
"You extended hands toward thin air. It staggers mind to see it returned absent result."
"Probably for the best. I've seen her behind the cockpit. She was a fine pilot. She could be a good fire support for the ground force. But I'm afraid she would create tension with my sister, considering their history. I didn't think of it when I invited her to join. I only thought of the future of the Blazing Aces."
"One deserving years absent her inferior qualities. She would not come, so let us not become mired in shadows, and turn eyes toward solid matter."
"Well said," Trystan nodded. "I believe all mechas had been secured."
"To the point of completion. Gilvy gave voice to contempt, but gentle words set heart in calmer state."
"Well isn't it the wild one?" Trystan went back into the dropship, watching the Gilvader secured with straps and chains. "Sounds like a fascinating community, your place. Remind me to visit it one day. But now let's get ourselves strapped. We lift off in 20 minutes."
"I fear you will never broach the subject again," Saskia huffed, then followed Trystan.
Alas, the conversation and the hum of the engine buried the noise from outside, so much that Trystan and Saskia failed to notice the rattling gunfire and screams of agony. Next time they knew, two jeeps full of men with guns roared into the dropship. The thugs jumped off the jeeps and, without warning, hurled their bullets at the dropship crews. Taken by surprised, the dropship crews could only jolt and writhe and scream as hot tins tore their bodies apart. Blood sprayed in geysers, quickly drenching the dropship's wall and grated floor.
One thug slid out of the jeep and aimed his Imperator submachine gun at Trystan and Saskia. The invasion was so swift and violent Saskia froze as she stood, while Trystan covered his head with his arms. But the Gilvader quickly moved to protect Saskia, raising its claws and squashed the thug underfoot before he could fire his gun. A jet of blood and gristle sprayed between its claws, splattering on several thugs that just jumped out of the other jeep.
Not expecting a counter attack by an unmanned mecha, the thugs fell into confusion. Some fired their weapons at the Gilvader as if it would make a difference. The Gilvader took it as a trigger to go on a rampage. It blasted an ear-splitting battlecry and pulled itself off the restraints. Straps and chains whizzed and whipped inside the dropship. A metal tourniquet lashed a thug, foolishly standing in front of the Gilvader, and sliced his torso in half. The lifeless body fell forward and sloshed into two parts upon crashing onto the grated floor.
The thugs regained their senses and rained down their bullets on the Gilvader. But the zoid roared and kicked one of the jeeps as if it was a ball of yarn. The jeep tumbled and rolled over half a dozen men before crashing onto the dropship wall. It exploded, setting off major fire inside the dropship.
Saskia, well entrenched behind the Gilvader's foot, could only watch in horror as the dropship – and her chance to get out of Solaris – went up in flame within just 2 minutes. White haze from fire extinguisher and blinking red light turned the dropship interior into total anarchy. Shouts of order from the thugs were convoluted by sirens and the Gilvader's roars. Everything was absolutely out of control.
Saskia's instinct would be to get into the Gilvader's cockpit, but she couldn't find Trystan. Her eyes hurt and her lungs felt like burning under the choking white mist from the extinguisher. She moved forward but a few more jeeps rolled into the dropship and fired wildly at the Gilvader. The Gilvader shifted position, and inadvertently bumped Saskia with its claw. She yelped as she was thrown backward.
More armed men jumped off the jeeps, carrying shoulder-mounted missiles, but the Gilvader chomped on a jeep, still occupied by a few men. It flung its head and threw the jeep out of the dropship like a rag. As it was still flying in the air, the Gilvader kicked another jeep out of the bay door. The jeep ran over half a dozen armed men before crashing on the tarmac. The thugs fired their missiles on the Gilvader but the zoid grabbed yet another jeep with its mouth and used it as a cudgel, swinging its head every which way to mow down the armed men with the jeep. Blood splattered upon impact, thudding sound interspersed with mortal screams, and the dropship was suddenly littered with limbs and body parts.
The sudden carnage attracted Valen, Dee Dee, Ronan, and Osiris who had been waiting on the passenger's quarter. The bloodshed repulsed Valen and Ronan, who had never seen the horror of war, but Osiris quickly spotted Trystan cowering on the floor, protecting his head from bullets, blood, and body parts as the Gilvader continued to bludgeon armed thugs.
"Return to the quarter!" he yelled at Valen, Ronan, and Dee Dee. "I will retrieve Vandenberg!"
Trystan realized what Osiris was doing. "No, Osiris! Get back! Do not come for me!" he tried to wave Osiris off.
Osiris, however, ignored Trystan's plea and slid down the stairs. A couple thugs spotted him and fired their machine guns, but Osiris recoiled and blasted his Goncz pistol, three times at each thug, center mass. The armed men let out a muffled scream as the bullets tore their organs.
Osiris continued to slide down the stairs but unfortunately the Gilvader swung the jeep an inch too wide. The front side of the jeep battered the stairs. Osiris lost his footing and sprawled down the stairs. His Goncz pistol slid on the floor, slick with blood, all the way out of the dropship. He drew his kukri and struggled to get up but two armed men kicked the kukri off his hand and shoved their guns at him, ready to rip his torso with bullets.
In an act of defiance, Trystan lunged forward and hurled himself at the armed thug. The three of them tumbled and slid on the floor. Trystan pulled himself up, but one of the thugs correctly predicted that Trystan was the leader of the group. He grabbed Osiris' kukri and grappled Trystan in a headlock. Trystan writhed and bucked as hard as he could, but when the thug pressed the kukri upon his neck, he knew everything was lost.
"Make it stop!" the thug shouted. "Stop it, or he dies!"
Saskia clambered up behind the Gilvader's feet, trying to find Trystan in all the carnage, only to see the boy incapacitated in the hands of an armed thug. The uneasy grimace in the thug's face was a sure sign that Trystan was seconds away from decapitation. Worse yet, the Gilvader uttered an exuberant growl, looking forward to wipe out the marauders, never mind the casualties.
"NO! Gilvy, stop!" Saskia screamed from the top of her lungs. She burst into the open and stood in front of Trystan, blocking the Gilvader's path. The Gilvader, still holding the jeep in its mouth, shot an angry growl and shook its head, coaxing Saskia to get out of its way. But Saskia stood fast. She couldn't let her zoid kill Trystan.
"Please… stop," she looked straight at her zoid. "Just stop."
The Gilvader hurled an angry roar. It spat the jeep out, which crashed into the floor a mere foot away from Saskia. The horns glowed in purple glory, and the mad dragon lowered its head, letting Saskia feel the intense heat. Yet Saskia stood still. She knew she had to bear the frustration of her zoid, being reined in at the verge of wiping out its enemies. And she would let it, if Trystan was not the cost she had to pay.
"Don't," she shook her head. "Please… stop."
The Gilvader let out a spiteful growl, but deactivated the horn nonetheless. It retreated as far back as it could in the dropship, then stood still, as if waiting for more instruction from Saskia.
"I have disallowed my zoid from taking your heads," Saskia turned and spoke sternly at the thug holding Trystan. "Take leave, or see path reversed!"
But two armed men grabbed Saskia from behind, forcing her to kneel and routed her arms behind her back. The Gilvader hurled an angry roar, but the man that had been holding Trystan at knife point quickly switched target and pressed the kukri on Saskia's neck.
"Back off you filth!" the thug shouted. "Back up or I swear I'll kill her!"
The Gilvader let out a despairing roar, but didn't make a move.
The remaining thugs routed the rest of Trystan's gang and forced them to kneel side by side. The thug, supposedly the leader of the armed men, held the kukri fast on Saskia's neck and took his comset out. "Situation under control."
"What the hell is going on in there?" somebody on the other end blurted.
"I think you'd better take a look at it yourself," the man replied before turning off the comset.
A few minutes past, then a few men went into the dropship on foot. Trystan's eyes bugged out to see a familiar figure, a robust man with jet-black mullet wearing a sleeveless vest that flaunted his rippled abs. The long scar on his cheek reminded him of his sister.
"You!" Trystan snarled.
"What do you think, little piece of crap?" the man replied in a mocking tone. "Two years I have been searching for you all over Solaris. Yet when I am ready to give up, you present yourself right in my crosshair!"
"Two years? Do you know this creep, Vandenberg?" Lei Fong hissed.
"Mac Storm, a local mechjock," Trystan sighed. "My sister and I had an unpleasant encounter with him two years ago."
"And I have been looking forward to returning the favor," Mac drew a small blade from his pocket and walked toward Saskia. But when he realized she was not the woman he was looking for, he grabbed Saskia's hair with disdain. "Who is this?"
"Get your hands off her!" Trystan tried to get up but the thug behind him pushed him down. "Your grievance is with me, Mac. You have me, so let everybody else go."
"I own your life," Mac sniggered. "The rest are up to the Bertolis."
"You're not from here, are you?" an old man standing next to Mac spoke up. "You probably never heard about Bertoli family. The Bertolis are good people who own legal business around Solaris City. Our main business is Solaris games, but we also had interests in entertainment, battlemech trading, and shipment of various merchandise. As the paterfamilias of Bertoli family, I welcome you to Solaris City."
"Mafias!" Lei Fong spat. "We're being mugged by the goddamn mafias!"
"If you are good people, please, let us go," Trystan pleaded. "We have nothing against you."
"Now wait a minute, we are good people but we also take care of our family," the old man smiled insidiously. "The Bertolis like Mac Storm. Mac is like family. Mac provides good games and money for the Bertolis. You made Mac angry, so you made the Bertolis angry."
"I am responsible for that," Trystan said. "The rest do not cross you in any way. Please let them go."
"But Mac also provide for Bertoli family," the old man ignored Trystan. "Mac told us about fortunes at the landing pad, a brand new Hellspawn, a few clunkers, and this… this…" He stood in front of the Gilvader and observed the zoid for a long time, looking for words to describe it, but in the end he turned to Mac with confusion in his eyes, "What is this thing?"
"I don't know but it's going to sell good," Mac replied halfheartedly. "VEST may want to pay high for it."
"We Bertolis never reject presents from family. Mac gave us presents. Mac is good family. The Bertoli will take the mechs and the funny thing. We will let you go because we, the Bertolis, are good people. We appreciate your business, so as a kind gesture we give you life."
"Except for this preening little shit," Mac grabbed Trystan's head.
"Except the preening little shit, because he made Mac angry. We Bertolis do not like 'angry'."
"Go to hell you mafia bastards!" Lei Fong raised his voice.
"Do not make me angry!" the old man barked. "We Bertoli do not like ungrateful people! We are kind to give you life. Take it and do not negotiate!"
"Yet we, too, are people of games and wagers," Saskia tuned in. "You grant life that is not yours to give, and left naught for hands to defend position. Where is the honor in such thing?"
"It seems you want to take your honor to your grave!" the old man grabbed a machine gun and shoved the muzzle at Saskia's head. "Ungrateful people do not deserve kindness from Bertoli family!"
"You twist intent," Saskia boldly stared at the old man. "We do not want charity. We shed blood for what we deserve."
"You want to fight for your life?" the old man crouched in front of Saskia. "You spurn our gifts? Be careful with your tongue, woman!"
"Our lives are not yours. You but wrest them from our hands. Settle grievance in a battlemech game, to prove our worth in the regaining of lives, and to gauge your merit in the procuring of them."
"Saskia what the hell are you doing?" Trystan hissed, utterly blindsided by Saskia's maneuver.
"She's talking nonsense!" Mac grabbed another pistol and cocked the hammer. "Just smoke her ass…"
"And what do you brand yourself with?" Saskia turned to Mac. "Good Mac Storm, far removing himself from fair competition. A reputation built upon scraping dregs from shackled hands."
"Is that a challenge, bitch?" Mac grabbed Saskia's hair and twisted her head to face his. "You have the guts to mock Mac Storm?" He turned to the old man. "Maybe she's right. Maybe she doesn't deserve your kindness. Let her step into her battlemech and duel me. I'll make a firework out of her, in honor of the Bertoli family!"
"You mistake intent," Saskia growled. "I am not one who causes you grievance."
Mac looked at Saskia with utter confusion, then threw his glance at Trystan. Finally understood what Saskia's implying, he burst into a sinister guffaw. "Oh, this is gonna be fun!"
"What? Me?! Saskia are you crazy?!" Trystan blurted. "I haven't piloted a battlemech in more than a year! Why the hell do you think I can take Mac in a duel?"
"It is but inevitable," Saskia replied. She returned to the old man, "A balanced match with promises of blood, yet I would not see it matured absent wager."
"Wager?" the old man chuckled. "We have your lives on our gun point. What more do you have left worth of wagering?"
"Wrest our lives from chest, and see yours ended!" Saskia rose to her feet. "Do not forget that you yet stand because I stayed my zoid from raining lead upon you. See it forgotten, and all lives expired."
The old man looked at Saskia, then at the Gilvader, then at her again. "Very well. What do you propose?"
"If Trystan stands victor, then we walk with everything. If he falls, you keep battlemechs."
"And the thing," the old man interjected.
"My zoid has little worth in your business," Saskia tried to weasel out the Gilvader from the wager. "Creature of savagery, with lack of respect for humans."
"Let me be the judge of that," the old man beamed. "All battlemechs and zoid, or nothing at all."
Saskia let out a desperate sigh. "Very well. My zoid and the battlemechs if Trystan falls."
"Who are you, woman?" the old man shot a quizzical stare at Saskia. "I am not familiar with your accent, and you are one hell of a negotiator. Come with me, we can discuss your future with the Bertoli family."
"Intention well nudged, yet I stand among Trystan's posse," Saskia replied firmly.
"Give it a thought for a few hours," the old man said. "And as a guarantee that you are not playing tricks on me, I will take the rest of your posse with me. We will wait at the Laserclasm arena. Be there at midnight, or your friends will pay for your tardiness. Slowly," the old man grabbed Saskia's head, "and painfully."
The armed men routed Valen, Dee Dee, Ronan, Lei Fong, and Osiris and ushered them out of the dropship. Mac grabbed Trystan's shirt and pulled the skinny guy toward him. He smiled and let out a sinister chuckle before letting him go.
"Saskia, you overstepped!" Trystan sneered as the armed men left the dropship. "They are not your crews! They are mine! How dare you put their lives in peril!"
"You brand yourself leader of a mercenary unit, yet at every turn remind me your lack of proper breeding," Saskia turned and looked at Trystan in the earnest. "This maneuver should have born from your head, not mine! Responsibility and respect of lives for those who stand at your side!"
"But I can't take it that way!" Trystan yelled. "Mac is a seasoned mechjock who fights on weekly basis! I haven't fought in more than a year! He'll skin me in minutes! You condemned us all to die!"
"I merely forged path. You condemn us all to die!" Saskia yelled back. "You stand their leader! Stop acting like a shadow of the same, and pay respect to deserving hands! Warriors of good standing who tread in your wake absent reward!"
"But how?" Trystan bemoaned. He understood Saskia's chastising about his lack of leadership, but there was no way he could get around Mac in a duel. Not in his current condition. "How?"
"You have 18 hours to figure it out. See moaning ceased and able hands put to work!"