FRS Chpt 18

==Falcon Rising - Chapter 18 -==
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===Meeting with old Enemy===
"What do you think, Horse? Should I have gone in and razed Vreeport the moment the people Rebelled?"
 
"That is what I would have done, but that is all in the past. Why do you still think of it now?"
 
"I am wondering about Khan Chistu's representative. Why send someone here? Does it have to do with some policy of mine for which I am to be reprimanded? It is a long trip to take for a simple bureaucratic censure, after all."
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Several hours later…
 
"The Shuttle from the dropships has landed," Horse informed Aidan. "I would have come for you sooner, but they gave us no advance warning. The Khan's representative is on his way here in a VTOL."
 
 Aidan immediately stood up from his desk and made his way to the parade ground where he watched the tilt-rotor craft appear in the west above a small cluster of trees before settling down onto the landing platform.
 
There, an aide assisted the Khan's representative in disembarking the VTOL, for he seemed to be in barely one piece. He limped and one of his arms was held stiffly at his side, as though it was useless. A half-mask covered one side of his face.
 
Aidan did not recognize the Khan's representative until he was but a few steps away. He might have noticed something familiar in the man's posture or bearing, but that would have been all.
 
Now that he was before him, though, he was easily recognized. No matter how disfigured, this was obviously Kael Pershaw, a man that Aidan could never forget.
 
He and Kael had hated each other almost on sight when they were on Glory. And if the steady glare was any indication, then the other man's sentiments had not changed much.
 
Looking at Kael, remembering him, Aidan discovered that his own sentiments were equally unchanged after all these years. From the moment he recognized his former commander, Aidan despised him all over again.
 
"May I offer you a drink?" Aidan asked after he and Kael were settled into his office.
 
"You can offer, but there is no point in my accepting. My stomach, is well, reconstructed, and my sens of taste is useless now. I am completely sustained by pill and injection. When I have thirst, I merely suck on a wet cloth, and it does all I need. But go ahead and serve yourself."
 
"No," Aidan replied. "I have only occasional use for spirits. Now, seeing you again, I prefer to remain cold sober. I notice that you are a Star Colonel."
 
"A mere Star Colonel," Pershaw's remaining eyebrow rose. "Do you mean? Yes, if I were still in command of a fighting unit I would have a higher rank. But age, as well as—" He made a gesture that seemed to take in all of him. "-- Injuries have made me unfit for command. Officers of an advisory capacity may not outrank commanding officers still in the field. Thus, I am demoted to Star Colonel, the rank, I believe, I held when we last encountered each other."
 
The two continued to reacquaint themselves for a few moments more before Pershaw finally got to the point.
 
"I can do nothing to remove this taint, Aidan Pryde, and I am here to convey a decision that will no doubt add to it. As you know, the Falcon Guards Cluster was nearly demolished by the action in the Great Gash on Twycross. This is the only major defeat that Clan Jade Falcon has suffered in this invasion, and it has tainted the Falcon Guards, just as you are tainted. Dezgra.
 
"Yes, but were the guards not the victims of secretly planted demolition charges and–"
 
Pershaw nearly rose out of his seat in anger. "You do not make excuses for yourself, nor do you make excuses for the Falcon Guards! Adlet Malthus was too arrogant. He should have scouted the pass properly before leading so many 'Mechs into a confined area. He should not have accepted an honor duel with an Inner Sphere Freebirth, not stopped his command in the middle of the Great Gash."
 
"Kael Pershaw," Aidan continued. "Who knows what command decision another commander. Myself included, might have made in the same circumstances, with the same intelligence data."
 
Pershaw's visible eye blazed with fury. "Good! Good! Then perhaps, in your own arrogance, you are the proper choice to command the new Falcon Guards!"
 
Now, Pershaw did attempt to rise out of his chair, but as he was unable to achieve the proper balance, he fell right back into it.
 
"I am to command the new Falcon Guards, Kael Pershaw?"
 
Pershaw laughed. "That was the gist of the message for which I am the messenger. All survivors of the former Falcon Guards will be transferred out and a completely new contingent will be formed, with you at its head. Do you see, Aidan Pryde, what I meant about taint? You are the only available officer who would not be insulted by such a command, and I can see in your eyes that you are not."
 
"The assignment means front line duty, does it not?"
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"But how you handle this new duty is your responsibility. My task is merely to inform you that you are detached from your present duty to meet with your new, uh, warriors. They will be assembling on Orkney's southern hemisphere, at a training field called Mudd Station. You will not have much time to form up your Falcon Guards and whip them into any kind of shape. You will soon go into battle."
 
"How soon?" Aidan asked.
 
"That has not yet been decided. The Khan has authorized me to brief you, but until all announcements are official, you must regard our conversation as secret. I have your rede, quiaff?"
 
"Aff."
 
"Comstar is no longer neutral. The ilKhan informed them that our objective is Terra, and they refuse to allow us to occupy their home planet."
 
"Then we must be concerned about the Comstar Administrators on our planets rising up against us," Aidan protested.
 
"No. The Comstar Percentor Martial has issued a batchall to ilKhan Kerensky, which has been accepted. Comstar has arranged with ilKhan Kerensky for a single battle between the Clans and the Comstar military forces on a planet named Tukayyid. A Clan victory will mean the prize of Terra is ours. But if we lose, the ilKhan has agreed that our forces will not advance for a period of fifteen years."
 
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===New Duty Assignment===
Location: Mudd Station - Orkney, Jade Falcon/Steel Viper Occupied Planet
The rain fell around us all as I stepped off of the dropship, my uniform instantly transforming from pristine to muddy and wet as I walked toward the base.
 
Gray's coat dripped water as we entered the base, and her shake slung water over the walls before I pulled a towel out of my bag and wiped it up. Then, I shifted and began to pat her dry for a moment.
 
"There," I stroked her head. "Now I get to deal with my own clothes."
 
"Star Commander," I glanced at the voice that greeted me as I wiped mud off of my boots.
 
"Star Colonel," I snapped to attention as I noticed the ranking pins.
 
"Come with me." the man instructed, his face still as if it had been carved from stone.
 
"Take a seat," the Star Colonel ordered, gesturing as we entered an office, he himself taking a seat across from me while his shadow stood leaned up against the wall. "Now tell me. How did you manage to convince anyone to allow you onto the Falcon Guards? A unit that is known for only rarely allowing freebirths."
 
"I pointed out that you lacked people willing to serve," I shrugged. "I am old, but I am not incapable. And I lack the dezgra of many of my compatriots. I have fought with the 2nd Jaegers with distinction and I have challenged and won against those who would attempt to stop me."
 
I then went silent as the other man first considered me, and then glanced at the Octo-Wolf sitting patiently next to me.
 
"Report to your Trinary, Star Commander," he finally said. "I believe that you are next upon the training block that Star Commander Joanna has set. See to it that you remain fit for duty. And ensure that your… Pet, as it were, does not interfere with your duties."
 
"Yes, sir." I stood up and left the office where someone showed me the direction of the Trinary's barracks.
 
The two warriors that had chosen to travel with me originally had not been assigned to the Falcon Guards. Instead, they had been shifted to replace warriors that had been lost against the Steel Vipers in the last year, which left me alone in a new unit, and no back up to speak of.
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===Thoughts of the new situation===
While I didn't agree with everything that our two Falconers (Read: Drill Instructors) said during our training, there was one thing that they got damned right. And it was that it wasn't enough to fight as an individual when you were a part of a military force. No, you were a part of a unit, and it was high time that these people acted like it.
 
It was with this in mind, that I helped make sure that everyone in my Star performed up to the tasks that were required. We were on time to drill, and our uniforms were immaculate before we participated in whatever it was that the Drill Instructors had called for.
 
It was miraculous what could happen over a period of two short weeks, but it seems that even in a military as broken as a Clans, that all that was needed to bring a force back into fighting shape was to remind them of their roots. Provided they were willing to learn once again, that is.
 
But I could feel something, a tension in the air. There was something brewing on the horizon, and while I didn't know what it was yet, I had a feeling that everything would come to a head soon. And that it would end with either me alive and well among the Jade Falcons, or dead and my concerns over and done with. Regardless, something was coming, and I would be ready for it.
 
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==Chapter Notes==
*; Author's Chapter Notes : I do not own the Jade Phoenix trilogy that portions of this chapter are lifted nearly directly out of. I have tweaked passages to somewhat reflect the changes, but the real change hasn't happened yet…
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