AWF Chpt 49

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=Chapter 49=
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==A Warrior's Family==
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===Recon Lance review by MRB===
Monhegan
Federated Suns
December 3029
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Hap leaned heavily on Anastasia as they returned to the barracks. He had drank too much at the Company's formal meal, and now just wanted to sleep. He was surprised that Anastasia wasn't as drunk as he was, he was also glad because she was the only thing keeping him upright.
"You're a lot stronger than you look." He told her as they walked down the drop ship ramp.
"You saw how well I got along with Major Braun, now imagine that with every TAC officer at NAIS for three years." Anastasia sighed, "I did a lot of push-ups. Some days it seemed push-ups were all I did."
"Yeah, I noticed you rubbed him the wrong way." Hap said, "Also why am I more drunk than you?"
"I mostly drank wine." Anastasia said, "It's something Elinor recommended. When Commander McFinnigan came around with scotch or whiskey, I made sure I was in the middle of a glass of wine. I grew up in a French home, my love, I can drink wine all night and let its warm kiss gently put me to sleep and wake up feeling rested and ready for another day."
Hap half slipped on a patch of ice, but Anastasia's kept him from falling. "Didn't we do this once before, but you were falling down drunk."
"Yes, Harold, and had you carried me back to your bed that night-"
"You would have gotten sick all over my bed." Hap smiled at her, "Think you could carry me?"
"What do you think I'm doing?" Anastasia groaned as they came to the barracks stairs. She half-pulled him up the stairs. "Are going to be sick?"
Hap shook his head, he was dizzy and would probably have fallen a few times if not for her help, but he wasn't sick. "I just want to collapse into bed." Hap kept one arm on Anastasia's shoulder and used his free hand to pull himself up the railing. He thought of getting into his bed, and remembered his room, and that Anastasia had moved in, "We need to talk to about how you moved into my room."
"You want to do that while you're falling down drunk?" Anastasia asked as got to the top of the stairs.
"No, but we should do it first thing tomorrow morning." Hap said as he opened the door, "What happened with you and Mags anyway?"
Anastasia nodded down the hall, and led Hap to her and Mag's old room. They stopped in the doorway. The moon showed through the window onto the two beds that Joker and Mags had pushed together. In the pale moonlight it was easy to see they were tangled up in the blankets. Joker was snoring loudly and Mags elbowed him in the side. Joker turned and pulled the blankets revealing they were both naked. Mags covered them both and promptly fell back asleep.
Hap looked confused, "Alright, I'm really drunk." He whispered, "but are they, or when, how?"
Anastasia pulled him into his room and covered the door with a privacy screen. She turned on the bedside lamp as she quietly explained, "Shortly after you left Kelly threw a party to celebrate the founding of the company and to have a memorial for all the deceased members. Mags and Joker were pretty drunk by the end of it, and when I woke up the next day I found them…similar to how they are now."
"So you moved into my room?" Hap was still looking around trying to figure out how angry he should be.
"Not at first." Anastasia said as she unbuttoned her vest and tunic. "On the third night-"
"Third night? So they've been doing this a while. Good to know they didn't start hating each other after hooking up." Hap started taking off his vest.
Anastasia nodded as she hung up her dress clothes, "Yes. That has proven good, I suppose. Once they started sleeping together I put the privacy screen between our beds in the hopes of encouraging a little discretion or just modesty on their part."
Hap opened his wall locker, "How'd that work out for you?"
"Not well." Anastasia said as she moved behind her privacy screen that she had put in the corner. "As I was going to say, on the third night they were vigorously…not hating each other, and Joker knocked over the screen onto me. I yelled at him, and he suggested I join them. This upset Mags, and subsequently their intimate congress ended. I left to sleep in here while they argued. The next day we all talked. I suggested they move into Joker's room since David was with you. They pointed out David would return. They countered that I should move into your room, because I sleep here occasionally."
"So the three of you rearranged room assignments without talking to me." Hap asked watching Anastasia pile her clothes onto the privacy screen.
"You were gone, and as assistant lance leader I assumed it fell under my purview." Anastasia answered
Hap hung up his jacket as he admired the organization of his closet. Anastasia had hung up his jackets, sweaters and dress shirts, and she had folded his other clothes. Anastasia had a habit of raising his quality of life, but she often did it without asking him. Hap generally liked what she did, he just wished she would ask.
Anastasia emerged from behind the screen. She was wearing a burgundy silk nightgown "You okay?"
Hap was feeling worse and just wanted to sleep. "I'll be alright. I just need to sleep. Tomorrow we'll talk."
Anastasia could sense he was annoyed. She decided not to press the issue, and instead nodded and went to the bathroom. Hap changed into a clean pair of pajama pants, and sat down on his bed. The mattress felt soft and the sheets smelled clean and slightly perfumed. He laid down for a moment as he waited for Anastasia to finish.
Hap woke up several hours later. The dizziness was now a dull headache. There was a glass of water and the tube for his vitamin tabs on the nightstand. He put a tab in the water and let it dissolve. He looked around, but couldn't see Anastasia. He drank the vitamin water and went to the bathroom.
As he walked back to his bed he found Anastasia asleep on the futon under a quilt. He thought about waking her, seeing if she wanted to sleep together, but he just wanted to get back to sleep, and the thought of getting situated with her was unappealing to him. He went to his bed alone and slid under the sheets, blankets, and quilt on his bed. The bed was soft and the blankets were heavy. Hap could faintly smell the scent of Anastasia's shampoo on his pillow. He fell asleep thinking that he hadn't slept in a proper bed like this in a long time.
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A few hours later Anastasia shook Hap awake, "Harold, we have an inspection in 0900."
Hap opened his eyes. The sun had risen recently and his room was filled with the gray light of morning. Anastasia was sitting on the edge of his bed in her black coveralls. As she leaned over Hap noticed her name tag was new. The leather patch had a silver silhouette of a Valkyrie, and "Anastasia Valois" in silver letters. Below her name was her rank "Subaltern" in silver, and "the Professor" in pink.
Hap sat up in bed, "Alright two questions. 'The Professor'? Did we decide that was your call sign?"
"I asked Joker and Mags to get a new name tag made for me. I gave them the old name tag, as a reference. I specified that the new would be like it, except it should have my rank, and it should not have 'Princess'."
"So Joker had it replaced with, 'Professor'. That's the quality work I'd expect from him." Hap said. He slid over next to Anastasia and put his arm around her to pull her close, "What's this about an inspection?"
Anastasia laid her head on his shoulder, "It's for the ComStar and AFFS visit. They want to see the complete 'mech stable and roster of personnel. We need to have our lance in formation in a few hours."
"Damn, I was hoping we wouldn't have to deal with the MRB agent again, he was one creepy bastard."
Hap could feel Anastasia shudder, "Yes. He kept looking at me like I was a petit four that he was going to devour. After this inspection we shouldn't see him or anyone else from the MRB again for at least a year." She snuggled with him for a moment before saying, "If you want breakfast, we should get up."
Hap reluctantly got up. He still had a slight headache but he knew it would go away once he had some breakfast and coffee. By the time he was dressed Anastasia had ensured the rest of the floor was up and moving. Hap made a note to try and pull Joker aside and make sure he knew that he had better play things straight with Mags. Hap considered that Joker had never had a girlfriend longer than a four day pass, so if he and Mags were together for a couple weeks that was at least promising.
Breakfast was set up in the 'mech bay with folding tables. The 'mech bay was the only place large enough to seat everyone at once, and everyone needed to eat before the inspection. Before getting in line at breakfast Hap pulled Joker aside, "What's going on with you and Mags?"
"Yeah, about that" Joker looked sheepish, "We got really drunk one night, and you know how I'm always kidding with her about getting together, and whatever. So we'd been drinking half the night away, and I asked her if she was 'drunk enough' to sleep with me. She nodded and said 'sure'. We went back to her room, and the next morning we had a long talk."
"Really." Hap glanced over to see Mags and Anastasia talking while they stood in the line, "I've never had a long talk with Mags, she either gives you a lot of shrugs and non-committal answers, or she tells you exactly what she thinks." Hap could see Anastasia was talking and Mags responded with shrugs and nods.
"Oh, she was pretty direct and committal. She told me if I cheated on her, left her, or if I was messing with her, she'd cut me. I guess the moral of the story is be careful what you wish for."
"So you're committed to her?" Hap asked.
"I guess. Mom told me if you find a girl you like, and she lets you touch her, do what she says."
"Joker, there were a lot of girls before Mags." Hap said. "Please tell me she is different then the others."
"She is. Those other girls were just dumb bitches I wanted to sleep with, I actually, I dunno, I guess, I like Mags. I could see us sticking together."
"Promise me you're not going to get bored and screw everything up, because I'll cut you too." Hap said.
"I'll try boss, but really I'm just following your lead." Joker said.
"Following my lead? What do you mean? Is Mag's mad that Anastasia got us back in AFFS or that we're leaving in a year?"
"Naw, she was mad at first, but she and Anastasia talked it out. When Mag's dad wanted to retire he went and talked to Kelly about letting Mag's pilot his 'mech and stay on with the company. The old man didn't think it was a good idea. Kelly thought she needed more time to grow and mature. He wanted to bring up one of his other young warriors, but somehow Macho Camacho talked Kelly into it. Anastasia convinced Mag's that's what her mother did, only it was with some AFFS generals. Mag's respects a good hustle."
"It's not a-" Hap realized it wasn't worth it, "So what do you mean you're 'following my lead'?"
"You and Anastasia are together. Why shouldn't Mags and I be together?" Joker asked.
"Because Anastasia and I are probably going to be together for a long time, but you usually hook up with a woman, and after one night you intentionally never see her again." Hap said.
"Well maybe this time will be different, for both of us. Did you think about that?" Joker said
"I doubt that." Hap replied
"What do you think of what Anastasia did to your room?" Before Hap could answer Joker saw the change on his face, "Ah! I knew it would piss you off. I know you don't like having your stuff messed with, and I also know you don't like it when other people make decisions for you."
"I do need to set some ground rules with her, but that doesn't mean we're destined to fight with each other all the time, or that I'm going to lover her and leave her, I'm just not that guy."
Joker shrugged, "We'll see."
"Just get in line." Hap snapped, "We need to eat before they tear everything down." As the two men got in the queue Hap added, "you don't really think Anastasia and I aren't going to work?"
Joker shook his head, "No. You're right, you're the committed relationship type. I just know you, and I see how Anastasia pushes all your buttons, good and bad. I was also giving you shit, because you're giving me a hard time about Mags. I mean it though, things are different with Mags. She has her hooks in me. It's crazy."
They were soon at the front of the line. Breakfast was porridge, eggs, and blood pudding. They had to eat quickly and put everything away, so they could move their 'mechs to the designated marshalling area, an unused section of the air strip near the Ops Center.
The company put their lances into squares along the air strip. The MechWarriors stood between the front two 'mechs in the formation. There was also a formation for the Tech's, and another for the support personnel next to the line of 'mechs.
The Coyotes were in a neat two-by-two formation between Hap's Griffin and Anastasia's Valkyrie. Hap reflected he hadn't stood in a formation like this since before Klathandu. Hap glanced to his left. Anastasia looked like a mix of professionalism, feminine charm, and military chic. Hap glanced over his shoulder. Joker was already starting to look more like a mercenary. He had traded some of his AFFS issue for what looked like an LCAF load carrying kit, and he was wearing woodland camo coveralls like Mags. Somehow Mags and Joker looked like they were in one unit and Hap and Anastasia in another.
Mags and Joker both had their sleeves rolled up and Hap could see they each sported new looking tattoos of a stylized coyote howling to a full moon that contained a celtic knot. Hap mentally noted, they now had matching tattoos, maybe Joker was serious about his relationship.
Hap leaned slightly toward Anastasia, "I see Joker and Mags now have matching tattoos.
Anastasia, continued to look forward, staying at the position of attention, but replied with a slight nod.
"Is this a lance thing? Did you get one? Should I?" Hap asked.
Anastasia leaned slightly toward Hap and, still looking forward, "God made me perfect. You don't allow another artist to add to a completed piece of fine art." She whispered. "and no you shouldn't either."
Hap smiled, "We should probably get Mag's design on all 'mechs though. It looks good."
Anastasia gave a subtle nod, "Yes, certainly. It is a good design."
The Comstar representative, Major Braun, Kelly, and Roweyna were walking down the line of 'mechs and mercenaries. Hap was relieved to see ComStar had sent a different member of their order. This man was wearing bright yellow robes, and carrying a clipboard. Hap could hear the ComStar representative talking to Patrick. Hap could detect a slight German accent as the adept spoke.
The adept was asking Patrick technical questions about his lance. Then he had several questions about the company's use of mission specific tailored response lances. Finally the adept seemed satisfied, and the leadership group proceeded to the Coyotes. The Adept stood in front of Hap. The adept flipped through several pages on his clipboard before looking down at Hap.
"Captain Harold Frederick Calahad. Ja?" The adept asked. "You are the lance leader for this Recon Lance?"
"Yes." Hap felt like he was a cadet again, being drilled, to see if he was technically proficient. Hap glanced at Kelly to see if he would give him a sign, but Kelly just gave him a wry grin while he smoked his pipe. Hap glanced over to Major Braun. He was wearing an AFFS military utility uniform with the right sleeve cut off. He had a very bulky metal prosthetic arm. Hap wondered why he wasn't wearing it last night.
"Very good, What is the drop weight of your lance?" The Adept asked.
Without thinking Hap replied "155 tons." He reminded himself he needed to focus.
"What is the maximum speed of your slowest 'mech?"
"86 kilometers per hour." Hap said. He almost gave more information, but he had learned at Albion to just answer the question you're asked.
The adept looked over his pages, then looked up at the 'mechs. "The VLK-QA has a similar weapons configuration to your GRF-1N, but both mech's are significantly slower than the JR7-D. How does this inform your tactics?"
"I generally keep the Valkyrie and Griffin back and use their LRMs to fix an enemy while the Jenner and Firestarter close. Also the Valkyrie's medium laser fills in for the Griffin's lack of short range." Hap said.
The Adept nodded, "Very good. So you keep the VLK-QA near you. This is a good strategy." He flipped his page to the top. "This company performs daily patrols of the area. When is your next patrol?"
Hap glanced sideways at Anastasia and saw a subtle shake of her head. Patrol schedules were usually posted in Ops, but they hadn't had a chance to go by Ops today. "This afternoon." Hap guessed.
"Very good." The Adept replied, "I have seen enough, Commander, let us see your support staff."
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