FaRtaL Chpt 2

==From a Ristar to a Lady - Chapter 2 -==
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Chatham, Kagoshima Prefecture,
Pesht Military District, Draconis Combine
9th April, 3058
The air on Chatham was foul, but Avryl supposed one got used to it after a few hours on the planet. She idly wondered if the stink would ever fade from their equipment though.
“Whoever said the Inner Sphere was a paradise must have missed this place.” Erlin grumbled from his spot, where he was eating a protein bar. The smell from the fruit-flavored bar probably helped with the stench.
Avryl smirked at him, “Some of the homeworlds are worse. At least the air here is only foul, you can get used to it. Shadow’s atmosphere is virtually tainted. Too much time breathing it and you will get sick even if you are vaccinated to your gills. The viral load simply overwhelms your immune system.”
The others shuddered, even as they hunkered down around Avryl, awaiting the signal to get to their 'mechs for the ambush. Aff, the air was terrible, but the chance to stretch their legs outside of their mechs was a rare reprieve.
Gast, ever the peacemaker, spoke up, “I am sure this is the exception. Most of the worlds we passed through had much better air, quiaff?”
A chorus of affs replied almost in unison. Gast continued, “I may be a Warden, but I can still appreciate the wealth we have seen. There is so much potential in the worlds of the Inner Sphere, they should have been much better off.” Another chorus of affs affirmed his sentiment.
Avryl always thought it was ironic that many of the warriors in her command were Wardens, who felt that the role of the clans were to defend humanity against all threats, instead of conquering them and re-establishing the Star League by force. In contrast, Clan Smoke Jaguar was almost wholly Crusader, as was Avryl herself.
The Star League, where all of humanity was united under a single banner, was the peak of humanity’s achievements. It was humanity’s Interstellar Golden Age, with rapid technological advancement and widespread prosperity.
It ended when Stefan Amaris betrayed and assassinated the First Lord Richard Cameron, pitching the Star League into civil war. When the civil war ended, there was no one single remaining lord who could command the majority of the other lords’ allegiances, and so the lords of the five Great Houses, each leading a massive interstellar state, prepared to wage total war on one another.
The remaining members of the Star League Defense Force, who had survived the civil war, foresaw the impending conflict, and knew their presence would only make it worse. Their Commanding General, the Great Father Aleksandr Kerensky, was urged to take up the throne of the First Lord himself, but he refused, knowing that it would not stop the war, only exacerbate it. Instead, he led his followers into an Exodus far away in the deep reaches of space, where they settled five marginal worlds, the Pentagon Worlds, and eked out a new civilization.
Even there, though, peace did not last. Old hatreds and feuds among the diaspora erupted, casting them into the same conflict that engulfed the Inner Sphere. Aleksandr Kerensky’s son, Nicholas Kerensky, led a Second Exodus to the newly colonized world Strana Mechty, where he forged a new society.
The Clans.
Twenty clans, almost all named after a fearsome predator or animal totem, were organized. Each led by the most elite warriors who followed Kerensky, identified after rigorous testing and trial. From Strana Mechty, they subdued the Pentagon Worlds, and for the next two hundred years, the Clans grew and prospered.
At around the start of the 30th century, the clans split into two camps, the Crusaders and the Wardens, along the ideological question: should they return to the Inner Sphere and conquer it to reform the Star League?
The Crusaders felt it was the whole reason for their existence, to reform the Star League under their rule. The Wardens disagreed, feeling their role was to remain aloof from the Inner Sphere’s corrupting influence while standing ready to intervene should the Inner Sphere require saving from an existential threat.
After decades of political maneuvering and deadlock, the Crusaders finally succeeded in getting the clans to invade the Inner Sphere. After a spate of initial successes, their advance bogged down in hard fighting and the invasion finally ended when the clans lost to the Com Guards at Tukayyid.
Since then, the border between the clans’ conquered holdings and the Great Houses was often punctured by frequent raids between the different factions, in search of information, supplies to destroy, or simply just testing the defences.
Avryl’s unit, the Jaguar’s Mists, was currently on such a raid. Their 'mechs were hidden in the forest surrounding them, covered by tarps which would obscure visual scans, while the ECM on one of the mechs did the rest.
Erlin added, “Then we can prove the Houses wrong without a fight, quiaff? Just by making sure our worlds are better than theirs. Full bellies, and all that.” He swallowed the last of the protein bar with a look of satisfaction.
Avryl scowled at him. “Are you trying to provoke me? You know our clan does not have the best record for development. We are not Diamond Sharks.” She nodded to Camille. “No offence.”
Camille, abtakha from Clan Diamond Shark, smiled, “None taken. Star Captain, Erlin has a point. It is easier to attract flies with honey than with vinegar.”
Erlin, Gast, and Camille were Wardens, recruited when Clan Smoke Jaguar conducted Trials of Possession against other clans for various purposes and claimed as isorla after their clans had lost. Rather than allowing them to languish in the touman, saKhan Brandon Howell, second in command of the Smoke Jaguars, and a master strategist, decided to group the Wardens into a specialized raiding unit using lower quality mechs, and he placed Avryl in charge.
Avryl held no illusions about the nature of her unit. It served several purposes, to get the Warden warriors to contribute to the clan without costing too much in resources, with a good chance of getting them killed. Every successful raid also weakened their enemies, the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery (DCMS) of House Kurita. But it was her unit, and she recognised their skills were too valuable to squander in poorly planned battles.
She was surprised to find herself fitting in well with them despite their ideological differences. It helped that they never pushed their personal agendas, and were fairly content about their lot.
Larris grumbled, “Bad point to compare the people of the Inner Sphere with flies, Camille.”
Larris was a Smoke Jaguar freeborn warrior, who managed to test his way into the touman despite the intense prejudices against freeborns prevalent in the clan. His experiences made him taciturn and withdrawn, but he was a valued member of the unit nonetheless.
Camille shrugged in response. “What else am I going to say? But why flies? Why not some other insect or creature that is more appealing?”
Avryl grinned, “We could always get a Goliath Scorpion to find out for us.” Goliath Scorpions were known for their love of history, and finding out the exact origin of this saying would be something they find challenging
They all laughed quietly. A beeping sound from their communicators quickly cut off the laughter. Their expressions turned serious. They were all seasoned warriors, and knew when to flip the mental switch for battle.
“Signal from Star Commander Pence is in. Mount up and move to your designated spots.” Avryl was all business now. “Remember to stay within my ECM umbrella until the DCMS company is in position for our ambush. If this goes as planned, we will be victorious today.”
The reply was enthusiastic. “Seyla!”
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Kalinski Estate, Inman
Milligan PDZ, Woodbine Operational Area
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
7th January, 3061
“I… I’m sorry, my lady!”
“What are you talking about?”
As Avryl regained her senses and some of her strength, she started to learn more about the original owner of the body she was now in. For starters, the servants were very responsive to Anastasia’s requests. Excessively so, in her opinion. Even back in her days as a Bloodnamed mechwarrior officer, she did not remember the lower castes grovelling to her quite so much.
“So a drop of tea….”
Anastasia looked down and saw that a drop had fallen onto the saucer beneath the cup. She did not know much about the art of drinking tea gracefully, so she just drank it directly without any pretence at etiquette. The maid was trying to keep up by refilling it constantly, inevitably leading to the accident.
She wondered why spilling a single drop of tea could cause such a fuss. She was also genuinely curious about how the nobility of the Inner Sphere behaved. She looked at the red drop of tea, and then at the maid, who was trembling and kneeling. Anastasia was bewildered. Was it really necessary to kneel down because of that one drop?
“Why are you kneeling?”
“I’m sorry, my lady, please…”
Anastasia was puzzled. Please? Then what? While she looked at the maid, the maid spoke while meeting her gaze.
“Please don’t beat me. Please!”
“…Beat? What do you mean?”
With such a weak body, how could she have beaten the maid?
“Me?”
“Yes, yes!”
“I beat you with a whip?”
“Yes!”
“Did I only use the whip? Was there anything else?” Like most clan warriors who learned the basics of many weapons, Avryl knew how to use a whip. She had even used a deadly neural whip in a duel while contesting for her Bloodname, although her main melee specialty was in swords. She wondered if muscle memory carried over to her new body.
“I… I also had to walk with your shoes on the back of my hand while putting my hand on the floor.”
The maid was so naive that she was confessing all of Anastasia’s misdeeds. What if she actually told everything she knew because she could not withstand torture?
Anastasia tapped her chin with a finger thoughtfully. “Stop bringing me tea for now.”
“Yes?”
“Please, you can just stop bringing it.”
Anastasia had no idea how the original spoke, so she just tried to go off on what little she knew or had heard about nobles in the Inner Sphere. There was the one holovid series, the Steinhearts, that was part of the isorla collected by her unit after a successful raid, and she remembered viewing sessions where she and her companions had poked fun at the foibles and antics of the characters in the show.
Not so funny now that she was in the actual situation.
The maid looked shocked at the overly kind tone Anastasia was using and then realised it was an expression of forgiveness, and she withdrew quietly.
Anastasia looked out the window. Inman was a cool world orbiting a M-class red dwarf that, if it was slightly heavier, could inch into the slightly hotter K class. Due to the very slight axial tilt of the planet, there was not much seasonal variation, and the temperature was cool throughout the year.
It had only been a few days since she woke up. She was trying to live as Anastasia, but it was not easy. She had no noble manners or elegance, so she just drank the tea as it was served, without any concern for proper etiquette.
She was freeborn now, surrounded by other freeborns. She had to let go of her past prejudices, but learning a whole new way of life was just not possible right away.
The doctor’s diagnosis of memory loss had been a surprisingly useful cover, and she managed to avoid scrutiny. However, she hated the possibility of having to live like a weakling for the rest of her life. She would have to start on some physical exercise soon. Even if this body had never done any real physical exertion, she would try her best to get back to some semblance of combat readiness and activity. She would not feel comfortable otherwise.
At that moment, the door opened, and the Baron walked in. Anastasia hesitated, but put on a formal smile. Even that was enough to make his face light up with joy.
“Ana! You look much better now.”
“Aff, that is right.”
“Hmm?”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing.”
Sometimes she would still slip back to her clan speech patterns, but she found she was able to adjust relatively quickly. The Baron smiled with satisfaction and handed her a gift.
“What is this?”
Despite her slip-ups, the joy of giving a gift to his daughter made the Baron seem unfazed by her unusual speech patterns. He handed her a gift with a ribbon beautifully tied around an elegant paper box. Although she really had not expected anything, she forced herself to look excited. When she opened the box, she found a pair of blue earrings that were shining brightly.
“It’s the finest quality jewellery among the items that came in this time.”
According to what she heard, Baron Kalinski owned several mines in his demesne on the nearby world of Altoona, including a small gem mine. Selling gems and valuable ores for industrial production was his major source of income. Other than the fact that it was a blue gem, she did not know much about it. She just gave an awkward smile and thanked him.
“I don’t know when we’ll be able to attend another banquet, but when we do, our Ana should stand out the most. Of course, even without these earrings, you would still be the most beautiful.”
Anastasia furrowed her brow. She was aware that the body she now inhabited was beautiful. But was it that important? And a banquet? Is it really necessary for me to participate in such things as a noble? Supposedly, Spheroid nobles do this all the time, but the thought of seeing the faces of the decadent feudal lords of the Inner Sphere made her feel terrible.
The Baron did not seem to have noticed her pensive expression. “I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Me too,” she replied automatically.
Upon hearing those words, the Baron seemed to brighten up. Although his face was thin and reedy, he looked somewhat better with a genuine smile on.
“Ugh!” She found herself in a tight embrace. It was awkward and uncomfortable. She wondered if she should hug back, but before she could react, the Baron released her.
“I have more good news. Actually, I wanted to tell you when you woke up, but I couldn’t, until you were better.”
“Good news?” She asked. “What is it?”
“You’re engaged! You have a fiance. Can you guess who it is?”
Fiance. Anastasia almost blanched at the thought. The idea of marriage in the clans, particularly the warriors, was almost taboo. They lived and died for war, for the clan. Sexual fidelity was almost never a consideration. If they felt attracted to another person, even a stranger, they would just approach the person straight up and ask for coupling. There would be no consequences either, thanks to the contraceptive technology implanted in every warrior.
The civilian castes did have marriages, but often required the sanction of the scientists and was mainly for the purpose of reproduction. Avryl knew that many civilians have partners outside of their approved mates and it was never an issue as long as contraceptives were used and did not produce children not permitted by the clan.
But this… to actually have a fiance… Avryl was no stranger to sex, especially back in the sibko as a growing cadet and naturally curious about her maturing body. After she became a warrior, she rarely partook in it, preferring to focus on improving her martial skills, although she did end up coupling with Tiaret quite frequently during their posting on Londerholm.
“Who is it?”
Her question was half-hearted, but the Baron shouted as if it were enough.
“Viscount Rason of Delacambre asked for a marriage!”
Rason? Why does it sound so familiar? I’ve heard this name before. Anastasia furrowed her brow as she tried to recall the name. Rason, Rason, Rason. Delacambre… She felt like smacking herself. How could I forget?
She blurted out, “Finn Rason?”
The Baron looked amazed. “Oh, yes! That’s right. He’s Viscount Finnickerhet Ian Rason now. Ana, you are really smart. I didn’t know you were close enough to him to call him Finn. Unfortunately, Viscount Rason succeeded to the title just after his father passed away.”
Anastasia wanted to smack herself for her slip-up. For somebody with memory loss, she should not know this! Thankfully, the Baron did not notice.
Furthermore… She actually knew Captain Finn Rason of the First Davion Guards, who hailed from Delacambre, some stravag Outback world in the Federated Commonwealth. She had issued batchalls to him, they had faced off on the battlefield, weapons blazing away at each other trying to defeat each other, Avryl Showers in her Spirit Walker, Finn Rason in his Rifleman.
Of all people to get engaged to… It was hard to believe that Finn Rason was now her fiance. It was at this exact moment that the reality of her situation sank into Anastasia, the realization that she was somehow now completely a noble in the Inner Sphere and in the body of a woman named Anastasia Kalinska.
“He said he’ll visit in two days.”
“….”
“Surprised, aren’t you?”
Anastasia could not think of any other reply. “…Yes?”
“Ana? You don’t like it? You still haven’t forgotten about Baron Renard Haynes?”
She was confused, “What do you mean?”
The Baron closed his mouth tightly, as though realizing he had made a mistake and refused to reveal any more information. Could it be that the original Anastasia had something to do with this other noble? Such a troublesome woman.
Anastasia sighed.
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9th January
1000 hrs (1200 hrs on local 28 hr cycle)
Viscount Rason’s visit took place before noon two days later. By right, there was no need to dress up as it was just a courtesy visit, but for some reason, the maids put in great effort to dress her up.
First, she had to bathe in warm water with some fragrant scent mixed in. The scent was too strong, and made her cough so much that her lips slightly turned pale, so they applied light lipstick to make her look less washed out.
Even her long hair, which demanded so much more attention and care than her previous shoulder length hair when she was Avryl Showers. It seemed shiny enough to her, but the maids spread some oil and kept brushing it. She had not even gotten out of bed yet, but if they were doing this much, how much would her head hurt if she participated in a banquet? And how do noblewomen endure such time-consuming grooming?
Anastasia felt distant from what was happening. Her stamina was waning.
If her stamina was going to wear thin anyway, she might have been better off getting some real exercise done. At least she would feel stronger in subsequent days, and actually improve her stamina!
Of course, she knew that it was too much for her right now. Her current body had virtually no muscles. Her recovery rate was terrible, and the aftereffects of her illness from her dip in the lake had not disappeared.
She waited for Viscount Rason on her sick bed with makeup on, and the thought of it made her feel humiliated. If any of her former comrades had seen this, they would not have stopped laughing. Come to think of it, there were several episodes of the Steinhearts where they did exactly that.
She thought of the names of her closest warriors. Erlin, Gast, Camille, Larris. What are they doing now? Did they manage to survive the Annihilation? What about the other warriors she knew? Star Captain Tiaret Nevversan? Star Colonel Pellen Wirth?
Anastasia hugged her knees and buried her head, trying to fend off sorrowful thoughts.
The maid, who had been waiting nervously next to her, said, “My lady, your hair is getting disheveled!”
For some reason, Anastasia felt irritated by this comment. “Why do I have to worry about my hair when I am sick?”
At that moment, they heard a polite knock on the door. The maid next to her had been listening attentively, and gave her a slight nod.
Viscount Rason had arrived, punctual to the scheduled time. Anastasia expected no less of a former regular soldier and officer of an elite unit.
His footsteps echoed to the room as he approached the door, which was opened for him when he was near enough. Their eyes met and they locked their gazes on each other as he continued walking into her room. It was considered a breach of etiquette for a man to enter a noblewoman’s bedroom, but since he was her fiance and she was sick, it was allowed.
The Viscount walked towards her with sure and steady steps, like the soldier she remembered from their occasional communications. With each step came an overpowering sense of intimidation, not helped by the menace he was extruding.
Finn Rason was just slightly taller than average, but that meant he towered over the diminutive Anastasia. His hair was dirty copper, and his eyes were green. With a firm jawline and masculine features, he was definitely handsome, but to Anastasia, he was just the unlucky man to have her as his betrothed.
She frowned. There was a strange sense of deja vu. The last time she had seen Finn Rason was on the small display on her HUD when he granted her hegira on Yamarovka during the failed Smoke Jaguar counterattack. But to now face that same enemy while lying on a comfortable bed?
She felt like punching him right in his oh-so-very punchable face. No matter how handsome or attractive it was.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, the maids quickly bowed their heads and left.
Now, there was only Anastasia and Finn in the room. Instead of exchanging polite but empty pleasantries, they immediately exchanged hostile gazes more suitable for bitter enemies facing each other. Which, in Anastasia’s opinion, was exactly the case.
Finn spoke first, “I apologize for giving you such a late greeting, my lady.”
As an aristocratic man in front of his nobleborn fiancee, he should have shown his respect by kissing her hand, but he did not. Even worse, he just stood there instead of sitting on the prepared chair or kneeling next to the bed, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at him.
Anastasia finally decided to toss out a ceremonial remark. “I am sorry for your loss, my lord.”
Internally, she actually wanted to say something like, “Who cares, Viscount Rason?” but instead some level of tact made her choose the minimum level of courtesy.
Silence reigned for a moment. She raised her head, thinking she might have said something wrong, only to find the Viscount’s stern expression.
She hoped he would leave soon, now that he had seen she was fine. It was already hard enough for her to bear the situation she had been put in, and seeing the face of the enemy who had thwarted her so many times was just too much.
She was already struggling just to keep herself from killing this opponent who was once in her targeting sights.
Then the Viscount growled, “It’s a forced engagement, but it still feels disgusting.”
Anastasia rolled her eyes and tried hard to hold back from saying, “I feel the same way.” She finally looked up at him with hostile eyes.
Despite still feeling a bit weak, Anastasia forced herself off the bed and stood in front of him. Despite the height difference, she refused to give him the satisfaction of having her look up to him, so she kept her head down but moved her eyes up instead.
Finn mock-shuddered at the sight, his eyes staring down at her as though she was a mere insect in front of him. “Wow, you even have makeup on. Were you even sick at all?”
“No more pleasantries? Fine by me.”
The man’s green eyes slightly widened and then curved into a smile at the words that Ana spat out. He looked at her with an expression of interest and then chuckled.
“If it was up to me, I would never have agreed to this engagement. I can forgive your past dalliance with Renard Haynes, but if you can’t let go of him and continue to behave so shamelessly, either by committing suicide or by showing such displeasing behavior in front of me, the future may not be very nice for you. Honestly, I don’t find you particularly likeable either.”
A cold smile formed on Anastasia’s lips. She folded her arms together and sighed. She felt like jumping out the balcony with shame. So the original Anastasia did have a “past” with Baron Haynes. And it seemed like she jumped into some lake because of a failed affair. Figures.
Anastasia found it all too ridiculous. Viscount Rason even seemed to expect her defiance. Even if it was a misunderstanding, why did she have to endure such a scandalous misunderstanding in the first place? Even if it actually was not her, Anastasia felt dirty just by association.
To make matters worse, the fact that the original Anastasia had committed suicide for love made her feel disgusted with her own body.
Finally, if that was not enough, Viscount Rason had mistakenly thought that the reason she could not receive him with a positive attitude was because she had not forgotten Baron Haynes. But if she backed down now, it felt too much like a loss in an opening skirmish.
Anastasia hated to lose.
So she looked at him and said, “If it is so unpleasant to you, can we just maintain this situation without getting married or find a way to divorce immediately after marriage?”
The Viscount smirked at her words, but his eyes showed that he was offended. “Unfortunately, I have a ****** obligation to continue the family line and have heirs.”
“……” Anastasia could not speak for a moment, flabbergasted by the thought of pushing a baby through that… that orifice. While Avryl had been born from an iron womb like all trueborns, the civilian castes still reproduced the old fashioned way. She remembered seeing an instructional holovid in the sibko about childbirth, and the whole thing just seemed insane to her.
And she would have to do this for Finn Rason, of all people? Maybe even several times?
No way. By the Founder, absolutely no way.
Finn continued, “Still, I like the idea of delaying the marriage. When the time is right, we’ll get married and then divorce right away. I don’t want to be with someone like you, my lady.”
He was twisting his lips into a crooked smile.
Anastasia knew very well now that Finn thought very poorly of her, which made sense. If the reason she jumped into the lake was because of Baron Haynes, it was understandable that her fiance would be disgruntled at the fact that his betrothed still loved another man.
It also seemed that Finn never liked Anastasia even without that complication. From what she had gathered, it was only through the orders of the previous Viscount that Finn even had to enter this engagement, and they could not cancel it. But they could postpone it indefinitely if they wanted to.
She had not even adjusted to her new situation yet, and they were already telling her to marry this man and couple with him? Not happening.
She laughed scornfully at his statement that he did not like her. “That is a good thing, thank you.”
She laughed heartily, then felt like biting her own tongue when she realized she sounded just like one of those cackling evil villainesses in the holovids. Finn also smirked as he looked at her face. He lifted his hand and stroked her fallen black hair, then placed his hand on her shoulder just below it. At first glance, it simply seemed like affectionate physical contact between an engaged couple.
Then he whispered into her ear, “If you do another foolish act of jumping into the lake again, you should be prepared for the consequences.”
Anastasia glared at him in response. “Then I guess next time I should just jump off the tallest building in the capital.”
At her confident words, Finn’s eyes gleamed with a dangerous light. Was he going to hit her or something? She was not afraid. She was used to getting hit. It was practically a requirement for getting through sibko training, where their trainers would beat them regularly to toughen them up.
Finn placed his right hand on her shoulder, and she hit his arm with her left arm, trying to knock it off with all her might. However, her meager strength could barely budge his heavy grip. She was amazed to realize that her strength was even worse than she had thought.
She raised her hand again to push his arm away, but to no avail. Even she knew that Finn was not gripping her shoulder tightly on purpose. It was simply because she was inherently weak, and had been sick lately, so she had no strength. Angry and frustrated, she looked up at Finn, who looked at her with a mocking expression on his face. His eyes held clear contempt for her.
Words might work where strength did not. “Take your paws off me.”
Despite clenching her teeth, she knew she had already shown weakness. Finn calmly removed his hand from her shoulder.
“Well, it seems like you’ll have to take a lift up the tallest building, cos you certainly don’t have the strength to climb up on your own two pathetic feet.” His left hand came up, two fingers mimicking a walking figure.
In response to his mockery, she was so enraged that her hair started standing on end. Finn’s smile grew even wider as he looked at her. She wished she could just slap that face. However, it was entirely possible she would only end up hurting her own hand even if the slap connected.
“Get out.” Anastasia spat out.
Finn shrugged, and bowed slightly. “Alright, I’ve done all the formalities I needed to. No need to waste any more time.” He turned his back without even saying goodbye and left the room.
As he left, the maids suddenly emerged from wherever they were hiding and crowded around her, scrutinising her face and anxiously asking about her condition.
Anastasia ignored them and just glared at his back. Bargained poorly and done, Finn Rason.
It was not exactly what she had hoped for, but she had overcome her first crisis.
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*; Note from the Author: I used a number of in-universe references here. Can you spot them?Next, the mechs. I know the Spirit Walker is supposed to be extinct, but hey, it's always possible one still lurked around in a cache, and there are reasons why I wanted it in the fic. Meanwhile, Finn's Rifleman is his family heirloom, but upgraded with post-Helm technology. He's changed to another mech since Bulldog, though the old Rifleman is still around.Lastly, the day-night cycle on Inman is 28 standard hours long, which leads to some required working around by the locals. I had a devil of a time trying to align the standard day/time with the Inman cycles, resorted to an excel spreadsheet to calculate.
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