Training Day (CC)

==Description==
Bases on the event prior to the main story of Cat and Crescent mainstory.
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===Story===
Deva City, Bingham Prefecture
Lyreton, Rimward Periphery
Tuesday, October 1st, 3016 
"All righ', Teacup, are ye ready?" Stephen Wallace hung off the side of the Stinger's head, peering down at the girl inside. She wouldn't be the first mechwarrior Stephen had trained, and she likely wouldn't be the last - but for certain she'd be the most important.
 
"Aye, I'm ready, Daddy." his daughter said. At fifteen years of age, she fit snugly in the Stinger's cockpit - though judging by her gangly legs and elbows, she likely wouldn't for much longer.
 
"Now remember wha' I taught ye," Stephen said, and lowered the neurohelmet down over his daughter's head. "Jus' like we practiced the sims, Teacup. Trainin' mode on, jist want ye tae run her 'round the circuit twice an' come back tae the stand."
 
"Yes, Daddy," his daughter replied. Her voice came out muffled underneath the neurohelmet.
"Now ye let me get clear a'fore you start off," Stephen said, stepping off the Stinger's shoulder and back onto the scissors lift. He lowered it and moved away, getting clear of the mech.
 
Truth be told, he'd never expected this particular life challenge. He'd grown up on Davion-occupied Northwind, dreaming of the chance to join the legendary Highlanders. That dream died hard, but it still died - he wasn't good enough, the recruiter said. And so he'd wandered across half the Inner Sphere with a band of - well, they weren't exactly angels, were they? - doing all manner of odd jobs for an interesting variety of people. He obtained the Stinger in the Duchy of Oriente, at a time he didn't expect to reach the ancient age of thirty - let alone someday be teaching a daughter how to pilot a mech she'd someday inherit.
 
But Stephen Wallace always appreciated a new challenge…
 
He slipped a comm headset on. "Yer good tae go now, lassie," he said. "Haste ye back now, aye?"
 
She didn't reply, but the Stinger lurched forward. The first step wasn't usually the hardest, Stephen knew - it was the fourth, which seemed to be when most of his trainees took a tumble. To his immense pride, his daughter stayed upright, wobbling back and forth around the training field. "Weel dune, lassie," he said, and a smile split his face.
 
"Um," she said over the comm. "Um, Daddy…"
 
"Yer fine, Teacup," he encouraged her. And she was. Mostly. Maybe a bit off-balance… well, moving with all the artistic grace of a Highlander on his twelfth whiskey. "A wee more to th' left… yer other left… lassie, that's a tree..."
 
At perhaps the lowest speed possible, she collided with a palm tree. It bent with the impact, and she rebounded. The mech went down slowly and landed on its back. A frightened shriek carried over the comm, then his daughter hastily informed him "I'm okay!"
 
Stephen Wallace grinned. "First time I walked a mech, lassie, I stepped on a car. Yer doin' fine. But now ye got tae learn a new lesson: how tae stand back up again…"
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THE END
Category:Short Stories
Category:Works by brockpaine