FRS Chpt 9

==Falcon Rising - Chapter 9 -==
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===Will Old age and treachery will overcome youth and exuberance?===
Date: September 3050
Location: Mechbay - Blackjack, Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
"And you are certain that this is the course of action that I need to take?" I asked Jasper, the man had become someone who I confided in over the last year or so.
 
"Aff," he nodded, taking a sip of his drink. "If you truly want to advance, then you must have your cord removed. Winning a challenge against your Bondholder will see to it that it is severed. After that…" he shrugged. "No one knows what the future holds."
 
"I am not certain that I would win in combat while piloting my 'Mech," I said after some thought. And I would need to be certain of my victory if I were to challenge her in hand to hand."
 
"Indeed," Jasper agreed. "It is here that your age betrays you. But what was it that you said to me a few months ago?"
 
"Old age and treachery will overcome youth and exuberance?" I asked.
 
"That one," Jasper nodded. "You need to pick your time and challenge well, but should you succeed, then you may be able to move forward in your pursuit of rising within the Clan."
 
"Has she been challenged of late?" I asked.
 
"She won a Trial of Grievance against a Star Captain a week ago. It may be that she is wounded enough for you to take advantage of it."
 
"So physical combat it is," I sighed. "I've got some work to do then."
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===Challenge Issued===
Location: Star Colonel Pryde's office
"Star Colonel Pryde," I entered her office. "I challenge for the right to remove my Bondcord and join your warriors. I fought with at least as much skill as Warrior Harris when you challenged me on my world."
 
"You seek a further position?" She raised an eyebrow. "You lost your challenge!" She scoffed. "I accept. When you lose I shall grind you back into the place from where you came, Freebirth."
 
"Tomorrow then," I stated. "I will prove myself and show that I have a place among Clan Jade Falcon."
 
"You will try," Pryde mocked. "And you will fail."
 
"I guess we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?" I enunciated each contraction.
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===Trial for Freedom===
Marthe Pryde and I face each other as a group of Clan Warriors surrounded us, their bodies making up the substance of the Circle of Equals.
 
"This Freebirth desires for his Bondcord to be severed and to join the ranks of our warriors," Marthe called out. "Should he win this Trial, he shall join this Cluster in combat."
 
I remained silent, stretching and preparing myself for the fight ahead.
 
Both of us were in what my old life would have called PT gear, with Pryde wearing a crop top and looking like she'd just stepped out of a Mechwarrior recruitment poster.
 
As for me? I looked like the old grizzled and retired noncom with too many years under my belt. My salt and pepper beard was a bit ragged and my clothes still bore the SLDF logo, the SLDF Olive Drab suiting me more than the colors that represented Pryde and the Jade Falcons.
After she was finished explaining the Trial, she stepped forward, her eyes darting back and forth before she shifted forward into a strike.
 
Deflecting her hand, I drove into her, I had more mass, and I had more power to hit her with, so I shifted into a football tackle and pinned her to the ground.
 
I grunted as she drove her elbows and knees into me while I kept her on the ground, eventually locking one of her arms to my side as I decked her with a punch, her nose fracturing as I hit it directly before she shrimped out of my hold.
 
Climbing onto my back, she locked her arms around my neck and pulled tight as I tucked my chin down, preventing a full blockage as I twisted and threw her over my shoulder.
 
Catching her as she fell, I grabbed her arm and shifted to an arm bar.
 
"Yield or I break it." I warned as blood filled up my mouth. One of her hits had knocked a tooth loose, and I spat that out with a mouthful of blood.
 
Pryde grunted and tried to wiggle out but I merely flexed the arm again, forcing the joints to grind together until she yielded.
 
"You are the victor." she finally relented as she glared at me, stubbornly refusing to touch her broken nose or nearly broken arm.
 
"My Bondcord." I demanded, holding out my wrist.
 
"I need a knife," Marthe demanded, one of the many warriors stepping up and handing her a knife from his boot.
 
"Your time as a Bondsman is finished," she muttered. "You are now Jade Falcon."
 
With that done, she turned and left the circle, the Trial was over and we still had to prepare for another invasion.
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===How old are you?===
"You have been assigned to Star Commander Darya Pryde's Star as a replacement for one of her two warriors," Jasper informed me as I finished up some last-minute work on the Bobby B. 
 
"I'll go see what she will have me do then," I wiped my hands off and whistled for Gray to follow. I'd left her behind during the Trial and as such she'd followed me more closely the last few weeks.
 
"Star Commander Pryde," I greeted as I entered her Star's barracks. "I was told to report to you, Quiaff?"
 
"Aff," she stood up. "You have been assigned to my star as two of my MechWarriors were slain by the one who attempted to do the same to you. "Come, I will introduce you to those who you will be serving with."
"Warriors James and Liliana are here," she opened a bunk, revealing the Mechwarriors within. "James pilots a Summoner, Liliana, a Hellbringer. I utilize an Adder, and further down we have a point of Elementals that complete our Star.
 
"The trial was well fought," Liliana grinned. "I look forward to fighting alongside you on the field of battle!"
 
"Likewise," I nodded. "Now, if there are any questions that you may possess, you should ask them now."
 
"How old are you?" James asked. "I have not seen gray among any but the oldest of Solahma warriors, yet you show it freely."
 
"I am approximately seventy-eight," I shrugged. "But given I was in cryo for some of that time and was also a victim of a misjump you could also consider me to be nearly three hundred," I shrugged. "Just call me old and leave it at that, Quiaff?"
 
"Old it is," James grinned. "Regardless, as long as you fight well, I care not for your age."
 
"Well, I need to make sure that my Warhammer is still in fighting shape," I gave a small bow. "I will rejoin once I have completed any maintenance that may be required."
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===Ambush!===
Date: September 11, 3050Location: Leskovik, Federated Commonwealth
"So, I take it they did not respond to the Batchall?" I asked Star Commander Darya Pryde.
 
"Neg," her Adder shifted as it pulled ahead of my 'Hammer. "They have not, and aside from the few that contested our landing, there were none to face us."
 
"Which means that we are to hunt them down and ensure that they are destroyed." one of the Elementals clinging to my 'Hammer laughed. "We will find them and crush them beneath our talons!"
"Just remain cautious," I said as I throttled my 'Mech's speed, keeping pace with the two heavies while the Star Commander moved ahead. "They might be as good as the Battalion on Blackjack."
 
"He is not wrong," Darya pulled backward as Betty began speaking into my ear. "We should watch for ambushes."
 
<{"'Mech powerup detected,"}> Betty informed me, the computer identifying a Commando as it raced ahead, the 'mech dodging the few shots that were fired as it moved away.
"Begin pursuit, but remain at range," Pryde ordered before she swapped channels. "Star Colonel, we have found the enemy. He appears to be heading toward the refinery."
 
"Understood," the Star Colonel replied. "Dispatching a Binary to assist, quiaff?"
 
"Aff," Darya shut her comms off before taking off, her light 'mech taking the lead as the rest of us followed, the Elementals clinging onto our 'mechs.
 
I slowed down as I scanned the area, something felt off about this situation, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
 
"Star Commander, I believe we should slow down, there is the potential for this to be a trap."
 
"Agreed," she fired a PPC bolt, the man-made lightning narrowly missing the Commando as it twisted. "Slow to cruising speed, I will not have my Star vanquished."
As we slowed down and kept the Commando in our sights, a full Binary moved up on our flanks.
 
"This is Star Captain Roshak, I will be taking command from here," an arrogant voice sounded on our channels.
 
"Aff," Pryde's Adder dropped back as a pair of Mist Lynx overtook her, followed by the rest of the binary. "Hull, James, Liliana, remain behind them," she ordered on laser Comms. "A refinery is no place to do battle in, we must ensure every shot counts."
 
As the now trinary moved further into the refinery, my 'mech's sensors screamed at me, twenty-four targets appearing as the light 'mech's active probes fed us intel.
 
"You ready to die?" A grim voice asked over the open channels as a Thunderbolt stepped forward, a pair of lasers burning away armor and forcing the light Mechs to evade directly into prepared lanes of fire.
 
A Clint chipped away at one of the Mist Lynxs as a pair of tanks wheeled into sight.
"Demolishers!" I barked. "They'll core your 'Mech if you're not careful."
 
"Freebirth scum," one of the other warriors scoffed as his Mad Dog took fire, his Omnimech shining under my heat scopes as his lasers carved away at the Thud.
 
I backed up my Warhammer a bit, then took a knee as I began sniping at a few of the 'mechs while maintaining cohesion with the Star I was assigned.
 
Then there was a flash and a thunderclap, and I knew no more.
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I blinked away the black dots that swarmed my vision. "Gray," I pushed the Octo-Wolf away as I shut off the screeching gyro. "Stop that."
 
She was wagging her tail as I allowed her to climb into my lap, the straps on her jumpseat having come loose when my 'Hammer had been thrown.
 
"Someone hit the fucking tanks," I swore as I restarted my gyro, the scream of the machinery continuing for a minute before evening out and allowing me the balance to stand upright again.
 
"Damn," I looked at the dust cloud that had been kicked up. "Anyone else alive out there?" I broadcast.
 
"My 'mech is crippled," Pryde coughed. "But I am here. I have biosigns from the rest of my Star, but no confirmation from the rest of the Trinary."
 
Checking my magscan, I moved to her 'mech, noting that there were still a few Elementals that were attached to the handholds.
 
The Elementals were either unconscious or dead, and without a better readout, or a transmission, I wouldn't be able to tell which of the two it was.
 
"Fuck," I cracked my sore neck as I looked at Pryde's 'Mech.
 
The Adder's legs had been shattered in the explosion, the OmniMech face down in the concrete where it had been thrown.
 
"I see you, Star Commander," I replied. "I'm going to see if the Elementals are able to help get you out while I search for more survivors."
 
There wasn't much left for me to find. James's Summoner was on its back, his cockpit intact, but his armor shattered and an Omnipod radiating heat. As for Liliana's Hellbringer, the cockpit glass was cracked, and the 'Mech itself had been stripped down to the myomer and skeleton in more than a few places.
 
Then the Elementals began to radio in that they were conscious again. So I instructed them to begin search and rescue efforts. If my Star had survived, then it was likely that others had as well.
 
I coordinated the efforts, my sensors granting me an advantage before an Elemental tapped on my hatch, signaling for me to open it.
 
"Star Commander," I greeted the lithe woman as she glanced at Gray before pointing at the jumpseat in my 'mech and allowed the Elemental to leave. "Are you wounded?"
 
"Neg," she detached the cooling lines from Gray's vest and relocated them to her own, strapping herself into the jumpseat as she did so. Then she scratched my companion as she grabbed the headset. "Continue with your efforts, I will contact the Star Colonel and have her dispatch recovery teams."
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