AWF Chpt 38

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=Chapter 38=
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==A Warrior's Family==
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===To the Bar and Trouble===
Monhegan
October 3029
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Hap woke up as someone opened the blinds in the recovery room. He sat up and had to uncomfortably move around and make sure he didn't tangle up any of the cables for the monitoring equipment and the IV tube that was in his elbow. Dr. Morgan was talking quietly to David Lee who seemed a little groggy but able to answer her questions. From what Hap could tell there wasn't anything serious with David.
Dr. Morgan walked up to Hap. She had a tablet computer. Before Hap could speak she held up one finger, as she finished a few notes, and then changed files. "How are you this morning, Mr. Calahad?"
"Good. Actually great. I feel well rested, and my headache is gone. No blurry vision. Think I'm ready to go back on duty." Hap told her.
"Nice try." Dr. Morgan replied as she made a note on the tablet. She looked at him closely then pulled out a small flashlight and shined it in his eyes. She had him follow the light, then asked him a series of questions as she made notes. "Alright Mr. Calahad, you are looking better, but you still have two more days of observation, and probably another week before I let you back in a 'mech."
"And more if I cause trouble?" Hap said with a boyish grin.
Dr. Morgan shook her head, but gave him a wry smile, "You're not going to get off early with good behavior, but I'm noting here you're at least smarter than your peers." Dr. Morgan finished her notes, and mentioned she'd send up some breakfast as she left the room.
Hap looked over at David. "How are you doing? I heard you're 'mech got shot out from under you."
"Yeah." David said quietly, "I was calling down fire on the Archer, but either I was doing it wrong, or the militia kept missing the grid I was calling."
"Yeah it sounds like there was something wrong with how they were calculating the firing solution. Anastasia tried to hit the tanks that took me down and I think her call for fire was off too."
"If Anastasia's call missed then it was definitely them." David said, "That makes me feel better."
"Well it's normal to have to adjust fire on a target, but Anastasia tends to do everything perfect, and she has that advanced sensor package. It definitely had to be the militia with the problem."
"Someone told me Anastasia had really good sensors in her Valkyrie. I think it was Joker. Has she ever mentioned to you where she got them?"
"It is something her dad's company made, or is going to make. She had a name for it." Hap had to think for a moment, "It was triple 'a' sensors, Agile Adaptive something. You'll have to ask her. I can tell you her 'mech can detect things no one else's mech can. I think her whole sensor comms and tracking suite is something her Dad designed."
"She's beautiful, smart, and her dad owns a business making 'mech parts. You're so lucky. How do I find a girl like that?" David asked.
"I don't know, brother. I just know I'm lucky, and Anastasia is unique in a lot of ways, but I'm the last guy you want to give you advice on how to find women." Hap had sensed David was infatuated with Anastasia, and figured it would be best to change subjects, "So you were adjusting fire on the Archer, then what happened?"
"Oh yeah. I couldn't get the artillery to really hit the Archer, and he kept moving. I thought Grizzly and Mags had the Banshee boxed in. Joker was trying to make the Banshee overheat but periodically he'd go at the Archer or Trebuchet. I heard Grizzly say he'd lost his autocannon and next thing I know my 'mech shook and I was falling. I also think I heard every alarm the computer had. After that I can't remember."
"Yeah that's sort of what happened to me." Hap said. "My armor had been peppered with missiles from the first phase of the operation, so I'm not sure how badly it was when I was shot by a tank with an AC/20 and the Schrek's PPCs gave me all three barrels. I took one in the cockpit, one in the leg and I think I heard every alarm too before falling down."
"Whoa, what happened next?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but I think Anastasia and Tatyana finished off the other hover tank, and when I came to the Schrek was pretty badly damaged. Maybe the artillery did hit it. I don't know. There was black smoke pouring out the back. I took it out and then had to hop back home with jump jets."
"That sounds like a long trip home. After my 'mech fell over I don't remember much. I think the techs pulled me out my 'mech. I vaguely remember Doctor Jack talking to me, but it's all blurry."
Dillon, Joker, Mags, and Anastasia entered the room. Anastasia and Dillon both had trays of food. Anastasia smiled warmly as she saw Hap was awake and looking lucid. Hap couldn't help but smile as well. She set the tray on a table with wheels and rolled it over to Hap. "How are you feeling?" She asked.
"I'm good, and it's good to see you." Hap looked over the plate of scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit. He didn't realize how hungry he was until he saw and smelled the food.
"I'm good too." David said
Dillon followed Anastasia's lead and put food on a rolling table and rolled it over to David. "Good. I'll tell everyone. We had sausages, but Doc Leslie said you have to have mild food. So you don't get sausage."
"Thanks, big D." David said. Hap could sense David was hoping to catch some of Anastasia's attention. Anastasia moved aside Hap's blankets and sat on the side of his bed so she could take off her sandals.
Hap looked over at Mags and Joker. Mag's hand and wrist had a large bandage, and Joker had a cut on his forehead. "How did the fight go for you guys?"
"Our 'mechs need some repairs, but nothing as bad as you." Mags said.
"Is your arm okay?" Hap asked
Mags looked confused and then looked at her arm, "Oh yeah, this is from a bar fight last night."
Hap's eyes got wide and he put his fork down, "Damn it! Am I about to get a lecture from Fletch or Tomax, about how I need to keep my lance from destroying the town they're supposed to protect?"
"Probably not." Anastasia moved wires to get closer to Hap, "They were part of the fight too. One of the locals slipped Joker a drink laced with some type of sedative. When he passed out Mags jumped out of our booth and broke her glass on the back of the head of the man that had brought us the drink."
"That's not what happened." Joker started to protest.
Mags nodded and smiled widely, "Oh yes! When his amigos tried to break for the door Tomax and one of those Rangers grabbed them."
"They didn't give me-" Joker tried to explain.
"When she says, 'grabbed them', she means Tomax punched one of them so skillfully he was instantly unconscious, and the member of the rangers put the other man in a hold that nearly dislocated his arm from his shoulder. Meanwhile Fletch had to pull Mag's off the first man."
"So we didn't destroy a bar, we just put three locals in the hospital. That doesn't sound so bad, or did the local cops also show up?"
"Alright, first of all-" Joker was getting louder, but Anastasia ignored him.
"No. Commander McFinnigan had a long talk with those 'gentlemen' and basically told them if he saw them around again they'd better be on their best behavior or he'd personally deal with them in a fashion he assured them would be life altering." Anastasia said.
"I'm surprised how the Commander takes a personal concern for all of us, even Joker." Hap said.
"The drink wasn't for me, it was for Anastasia." Joker yelled.
"Why'd you drink it then?" Dillon asked, "you shouldn't drink other people's drinks."
"I was trying to show Anastasia that she was overreacting." Joker yelled, then took a deep breath, "Sorry Dillon, I shouldn't yell at you, you have manners." He looked accusingly at Anastasia.
Anastasia gave Joker a smug look as she got more comfortable next to Hap. "You tried to prove me wrong and found yourself unconscious. Let that be a lesson to you."
"You thought there was some ComStar assassin going to jump out from under a table and murder you, that was what I was trying to prove you were wrong about. Let that be a lesson to you."
"There could well have been, but you made such a scene, and then Mags and I had to nearly drag you back to the barracks and it likely scared them off"
"Then you're welcome." Joker snapped.
Hap looked at Anastasia, "Some locals tried to give you a laced drink?"
"Commander McFinnigan spoke to the bar owner. It seemed he was suspicious of them, but could never prove they were actually drugging women. He said he had confronted them but it was no good, and local law enforcement wasn't helpful. The Commander has at least scared them off." Anastasia said.
There was a moment of silence and Dillon showed a holo disk carrier to David "Rolph gave me his Immortal Warrior holos to lend you."
David nodded, "Yeah I could go for some Immortal Warrior. The doc won't let us go anywhere anyways."
As Dillon started to set up the holoscreen for watching the movies. Joker said, "Mags and I are going to go. We don't have a patrol today, but we need to help the techs get our 'mechs fully mission capable."
Anastasia snuggled up to Hap, and got comfortable next to him under the blankets, "Since my 'mech is FMC, I'm on patrol at 1400 today, but I think I'll just stay here until it's time for me to get ready."
Dillon pulled a seat over to sit between Hap and David and the holo started. Hap hadn't seen an Immortal Warrior movie in a long time. He knew that a new one was made every year or so. There were dozens, and he wasn't sure if he had seen this one. He thought back to the arguments about Brock Armstrong and John Stallion and realized the Immortal Warrior was somehow in its own category. He glanced over at Anastasia to see if she was enjoying the movie, but she was napping.
When the teenage nurse came with lunch, Hap woke up Anastasia and she excused herself to go and get ready for her patrol. Anastasia came back near dinner and brought Fletch, Tatyana, and Sophie with her. The Fletchers brought flowers for David, and a small stuffed dog for Hap. Sophie told him it was a "koy-votay" and tried to teach him to properly howl, but Hap could never quite do it to Sophie's satisfaction. After everyone left Anastasia attempted to stay the night but Dr. Morgan chased her off.
This set the precedence for their hospital stay. David and Hap would get visitors in the morning. The afternoons were spent watching holos or napping. After dinner they'd get more visitors, and Anastasia was there as much as she was permitted. The time dragged, but it wasn't unbearable, and most of the company visited them at least once.
David and Hap were released the morning of the fourth day. They were told to report to mechbay, and help out, but not push themselves. Dr. Morgan made it clear if they felt strange, light headed or any of their symptoms returned to immediately come back to the medical bay.
Hap spent the next few days replacing armor plates on his Griffin, performing some of the second level maintenance on his weapon systems, repainting, and staying out of Mike's way as he rebuilt the Griffin's leg. Hap mentioned to Mike that Anastasia had told him about what he said at the bar. Mike then replied that he was drunk and didn't remember any of that, but it sounded like bullshit.
Hap noted that Anastasia was starting to become paranoid and stir crazy. She generally didn't want to leave the company area because she feared a ComStar hit team would strike, but she was also bored of being cooped up. She would go on patrols in her 'mech, but the rest of her time was spent in the secure area of the star port. Hap found himself under the same self-imposed house arrest with her. He tried to remind her that she preferred to stay home and read, but she replied, "Sometimes you don't know what you want till you can't have it."
The next Monday, Anastasia came to find Hap working in the mechbay. Mike, Hap, and a team of assistant techs were reattaching the Griffin's leg to the 'mech's main body and connecting all the various control struts, myomer bundles, circuits, and other parts of the 'mech's internal anatomy. She called out to Hap and after he finished bolting a balance struts into place he descended to the main deck.
"Yes, My Dear?" Hap said as he adjusted the climbing harness, he noticed she looked like she was dressed to go out on the town.
"Harold, I got a message that ComStar has received an HPG response from my Mother. We need to go to the ComStar office to view it." Anastasia said excitedly.
"How do you suggest we do that?" Hap asked, wondering if Anastasia had finally driven herself insane.
"We'll take a taxi, but first, you go and get cleaned up, put on something nice, and we'll make a day of it. I talked to Rolph and he agreed to fill in for my patrol today. This seems relatively simple to me."
"You're convinced a ComStar assassins will strike the moment you leave the company area, but you're going to just drop in to their head office because they claim to have something they know you want."
"Cody told us they won't do anything that can be even remotely traced back to them. I'm really the most safe in their offices. Now let's go, you need to change." Anastasia pulled Hap toward the entrance.
Hap stopped her, unhooked the cables, and undid the climbing harness. "Mike, I need to run an errand with Anastasia. Is it alright if I take a long and early lunch?"
Mike flipped up his welding mask, "Take all the time you want. We'll get more done without having to go back over your work." Before Hap could answer Mike put his mask back down and resumed welding.
Hap shook his head as he put the tools and harness away. "Well it looks like I'm free."
Anastasia pulled on Hap's arm, "Good! Let's go."
Hap quickly found himself jogging as Anastasia pulled him from the mechbay to the barracks. In record time she had "helped" him get cleaned up and changed and then nearly dragged him to the taxi. Hap had never seen her this excited about anything before. He wondered how much of it was her desire to hear from her mother, and how much was the reprieve from her self-imposed house arrest.
The taxi dropped them at the foot of the stone steps leading up to the ComStar office. Hap had a feeling of dread as he looked up the stairs and at the large and oppressive buildings. Last time the architecture made him feel intimidated, this time it was the people inside that troubled him.
"You know, now that we're here. I'm thinking this might have been a mistake." Anastasia said
"You want to go back to the barracks?" Hap asked.
"No. I want to hear and see my mother." Anastasia sighed, then looked determined, "There's no other way, let's go." She grabbed Hap's hand and together they marched up the stairs.
They found the long line as before and got in the back, after a few minutes one of the yellow robed acolytes approached them. "Lady Vallois, there is no need for you to wait in this line, by Blake's good will, if you'll follow me, we have a viewing room prepared for you."
Hap looked concerned as they left the line and followed the tech. Anastasia leaned her head and whispered, "This is normal, when you use a diplomatic account you sometimes get special treatment."
"Do they always recognize you on sight within minutes of showing up on premises?" Hap asked as the acolyte directed them to one of suites located along the wall of the great room.
"Well, no." Anastasia said then added, "but we did make a big impression last time, and they did contact our Ops center, so I was expected."
"I just hope this isn't a trap." Hap said as the Acolyte opened the door and motioned for them to enter.
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