Epilogue

May 28, 3025

Firebase Yankee

Alshayra Continent

Suk II

Emily met with Martin in a 'mech bay a few days later. "I think I'm going back home to Hesperus II," he said, leaning on mostly-restored Wolverine. Dad's getting older and since he's broke I'd like to go do something a little less violent. I'll be able to take care of him just fine with the money we made here."

She pouted, but after almost six years of close contact around him, he knew he was being distant as of late. "Well…we weren't not expecting you to go, but we really want you to stay all the same. What're you gonna do with the Wolvie?"

He grinned. "Wanna buy it? It'll pay off most of a nearby nudist covenant, not too far from dad's old shop."

"I don't think you can buy a nudist…covenant? Aren't they called colonies? Or communities or whatever?" She blinked in confusion.

"They changed it a long time ago when the shipment to a nudist colony on Tharkad got mislabeled and sent to a nearby jungle moon. To an actual temporary colony called Nude. I mean who goes nude on Tharkad, anyway? It's butt-ass cold most of the time."

"I dunno. Hairy people? Come to think of it, I've never seen a hair on anything but your head." She leaned against the other side of the Wolvie's leg, scanning him appreciatively in jest.

"Yeah. Runs in the family, I guess. Life on the part of Hesperus where I live is generally sweaty, no matter what you're doing."

"Your tongue seems to be doing better."

"Glad that's all I bit into. Still hurts like hell though. Could you imagine me at the surrender talks if I was your XO? These are the reasons I have to go home." He showed the mark a few centimeters from the tip of his tongue with a half-smile.

"Who would you recommend to take your lance? We have two commander spots open." She tilted her head thoughtfully at him, accidentally tapping it against the 'mech's armor and sending a jolt of pain through her skull which she masked gracefully.

"Ifrit's a negative, though Nymph was doing really well helping you out. Hell, we got her Mongoose back up and running and it's got good C&C equipment in there. Kind of a no-brainer."

"How about one of the Fire Jav brothers?" That moniker had stuck with Romeo, Tarzan, and Mowgli since their inception. Between the New Syria and Paphos contracts, they had a trio of jumping Fire Jav's tattooed on their backs like some kind of a biker logo.

"Not really. They said they were headed back to their homes on Hesperus soon enough, anyway. Political grown-up stuff to do, soon. Though Nymph would be a good mother hen to the three of them, and then you'd have two lil' birdies in your flock!"

"I'd have to include a few lessons in Russian diction with whoever we'd put with her, though." And then she realized his pun. "I hate you. I'm gonna hate missing you more, though."

He came in close for a big friendly hug, some slaps on the back. Looking up at the head of the Wolvie, he said, "So you wanna buy her?"

"Yeeaaaahh you know we're gonna need it. I'll leave a clause in the contract, just in case you change your mind and come back."

"Awwwwww…" Another hug, then more leaning on the 'mech. "So where you two headed after this?"

She shook her head. "Just waiting for more contracts to come down the line. Pearl ought to be back any minute with some. Things have dried up here, and the RoughRiders are starting to replace their ranks. We have a standing offer for the next six weeks if we want to join up with them, but we've already bought-in to do our own deployment elsewhere. Who knows. We might end up on garrison duty on Hesperus if we keep getting bigger 'mechs.

"You happy to be done with that Cat?"

"Was always a dog person myself. Like say…A Wolverine?" She raised an eyebrow, reaching up to pat the 'mech's shin.

"Hey hey! Nice to know it's going to the right person. You were more at home in a humanoid anyway."

"Damn right. I ruined three launcher tubes banging that Cat around in Paphos." She blew a stray lock of brown hair out of the way in mock disgust, glad it wasn't matted to her head right now. Time for a haircut anyway.

"By the way, did Romero say where they were goin'? Oh hey, Pearl." She had snuck up behind Emily, poking her in the sides. They kissed. Everyone knows by now and we just got out alive despite it, so who cares.

Emily's companion and XO answered that one for him. "Just got back from some contract scouting. He said he's headed to Dustball to do some cleanup work for Malthus Casinos."

Emily grimaced. "No thanks. Way out of our wheelhouse, and not the people I'd wanna work for. We'll stick with the sneaky stuff. I still can't believe didn't lose anybody in a fight in the open in broad daylight."

"Then how abouuuuut some pirate hunting near Canopus space?"

She paused. "Anything for the space vixens." Emily's eyes practically glazed over, staring off in a trance.

"Ahem. Spoken for?" Pearl gave her a halfhearted slap.

"I'm still missing part of my tongue. It's like part of my soul I can't get back." He showed his grievous battle wound to Pearl again.

"Gross." She pushed it back in with a finger.

"He's selling us the Wolvie." And a short recap brought Pearl up to speed, and more hugs and slaps were exchanged. "Oh, the flasks came in." She waved at the box on the ground behind her. Custom-made hip flasks with over the Coyote logo on the cap, and thirty tiny nameplates on each of them.

They all had three of the nameplates each engraved with a callsign, retired from Coyote ranks.

"Maiden," "Chrome," and "Captain J.J." The six techs lost at Langley had their last names engraved on their own nameplate as well. Heidel, Sakura, Smith, De'picco, Montgomery, and Brown.

She had filled them all with some local whiskey and passed them out to any Coyote she could find in the 'mech bay. The first official shots in their honor would be drank in a 'mech bay of Firebase Yankee on the planet of their first contract.

During downtime, anyone saying any of those callsigns or names asked required to take a shot in their honor. Later, during exceptionally boring downtimes, this would be amended to include anything sounding even marginally close to them.

Emily hoped the two of them would retire long before they ever filled up the nameplates, or ended up on a couple themselves, but for now she also knew that was the life. The mercenary life. The Coyote life.