DMHWPG5

=Chapter 5=
==Dead Man's Hand: What Price Glory==
Froese River Valley
Port Arthur, Clan Smoke Jaguar Occupation Zone
June 2nd, 3059
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"You want to talk about what happened back there?" Joker asked softly.
"Nope." Kelso responded, monotone.
"Bobbie, we've know each other, what, almost ten years now, and I have never seen you like that." Joker felt the need to push deeper, knowing that something was eating her friend up from the inside, "Not even on Tamar..."
"Look, Boss, I get that you're trying to be helpful, but you suck at it." Kelso stopped her Shadow Hawk dead in its tracks, "You really should concentrate on being the crazy, gun-ho, happy-go-lucky lunatic that we all know and love, and leave the touchy-feely stuff to Jay. He's much better a it."
"And you're the sensible one I rely on to keep me from going too far." Joker turned her Loki, so the two could look at each other through their cockpit windows, "Seeing you like that... it scared the crap out of me, truth be told."
"Lt Basu reminded me of a past I thought I'd left far, far behind me." Kelso admitted with a sigh, "Once upon a time, a young woman traveled far from home, to a magical place called the Filtvelt Military Academy, with dreams of becoming a Knight in Shining Armor. She'd been brought up on stories of battles glorious and deeds victorious, her head still swimming with lofty ideas of Honor and Duty. Well, this young and foolish young woman soon discovered that even a knights armor can tarnish, and that not everyone has the same concept of honor and duty as she had been brought up with."
"The young man?" Joker asked, "The one you... can't go home because of?"
"The not-so-Honorable James Ashmore, yes." Kelso nodded, "He was a year ahead of me, at at first glance, seemed every inch the perfect Davion MechWarrior; he was young, handsome, charming, and a damn fine pilot, even I have to admit. We all looked up to him, and her took advantage of that by bedding anyone who took his eye. Unfortunately, he took a liking to my roommate, Vanessa... who was a lesbian. He tried every trick in the book to get her into bed, but she simply wasn't interested..."
"So, he took matters into his own hands?" it was more a statement of fact than a question.
"He knew I was at the library, studying for an exam, so he took the opportunity to... well, I'm sure you can guess. I was the one who found her, hours later: she made it into the bathroom, and slit her own wrists. I don't know if it was shame, despair... or if she'd realized what was coming. The Academy swept the whole thing under the rug, put out a press release stating that Vanessa had been struggling to cope with the pressure, had started falling behind with her grades, and saw now other way out. The Ashmore family donated a new gymnasium and facility dining room."
"I take it you protested?"
"Not that it did any good. I don't have a single drop of noble blood in me, and nobody wanted to sully the good name of the Academy over one dead student. I was quietly told that I had to place my Duty to protect the Honor of the Academy ahead of any personal feelings, that as unfortunate as what happened was, I had to see the bigger picture."
"But you didn't." Joke began to ask
"No, instead I waited until Ashmore let his guard down, got him alone, and used a pair of tinner's snips to cut his balls off, then flushed them down the toilet. That certainly caused a bigger scandal, and the Departments of Military Education and Justice descended upon the Academy from upon high, and a lot of dirty laundry was brought to light. Ashmore was arrested, dishonorable discharged from the AFFS and sent to prison. Several senior members of the faculty were forced to take early retirement with only their basic pensions. And I... I was told that it would be best for all concerned if I sort my future elsewhere. Hence, I became a Mercenary."
"So, what exactly did Basu say or do to set you off?" Joker asked, feeling like she was finally getting to the crux of the issue.
"I walked in on her going on and on about Duty, Honor and all that bullshit. The way she said it... it was like being back at the Academy again, and something inside me just snapped." Kelso admitted, "I'm sorry if I made a difficult situation worse..."
"Oh please. I've done far worse than that and we both know it." Joker turned her Loki round and walked up to the crest of the ridge they'd been making their way along, "Besides, I have just the thing to smooth any rustled feathers."
Intrigued, Kelso followed her, and soon the two mercenaries were looking down upon a group of Smoke Jaguar techs, who were attempting to load a hobbled Puma onto the back of a Prime Mover.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." Joker announced their presence over her PA system, "If you would be so kind to give us your attention, please."
The startled workers looked round in shock, many dropping tools and equipment they'd been carrying.
"Thank you. Now, there are two ways this can go down." Joker continued, "You can finish up what you're doing, follow us back to our base... or we can do it the hard way."
There was a moment of silence, then suddenly a young woman, barely out of her teens, rushed forward with a gun in her hand. Joker dialed up the magnification, and saw that she was dressed in simple coveralls over a cooling vest, implying that she had been the pilot of the damaged OmniMech. She waved the pistol at the two mercenaries, yelling something that failed to carry across the open ground between them... then was struck from behind by a tall man, dressed in the ubiquitous uniform of a technician, all be it tied off around his waist, with an intricate tattoo running from his neck and down his exposed left arm. The stunned MechWarrior crumpled to the ground, her assailant kicking the dropped gun clear, before raising his hands with a smile.
"Okay, you're in charge down there from now on." Joker laughed, "Now, get that 'Mech loaded ASAP! We're burning daylight here."
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Category:Dead Man's Hand: What Price Glory?
Category:Works by JA Baker