FaRtaL Chpt 22

==From a Ristar to a Lady - Chapter 22 -==
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===Attending a Funeral===
Fort Lambourne, Altoona
Milligan PDZ, Woodbine Operational Area
25th March, 3061
1000 hrs
The mood of the gathered crowd was solemn as a priest led the small procession down the central boulevard of Lambourne. Many of the mourners were still weeping as they paid their last respects to their loved ones, the people slain by the bandits at the Twin Mountains.
The wake had taken place the night before in a large tent; Anastasia had made a point of attending and talked to the families of the dead soldiers and civilians. She still did not know what exactly to do, since offering comfort was not something the clans were ever concerned with, but it seemed a listening ear was enough for many of the bereaved. Luisa had to drag her away near midnight to get her to sleep so she would have enough energy for the requiem mass.
Soldiers and colleagues of the dead carried their caskets to the assembly area in front of a small makeshift altar. Anastasia stood stiffly with Finn and other ranking members of the landhold to one side. Even Sir Matthew was there in a wheelchair to pay his respects and condolences.
Although Matthew insisted it was his fault, Anastasia and Finn both exonerated him. The verigraph had been too convincing, and Finn suspected the previous agent Simon had just sold them out. Without a HPG on hand, they simply had no way to check. It was likely Simon had already disappeared with whatever the bandits had paid him.
All they could do was to deal with the aftermath.
To maintain public order, Anastasia and Finn kept silent about Spencer and Renard’s involvement. Besides, there was no definite proof, other than what Spencer had admitted, and he could easily deny it all again. Such matters would be left to Count Haynes to decide, though Anastasia already had an inkling that it would just be a metaphorical slap on the wrist for Renard.
Since the people were all members of the New Avalon Catholic Church, it was only natural to get the local priesthood to administer the rites, and to do it together in a single Mass as a show of unity.
The rest of the funeral mass passed by in a blur. Anastasia cursed inwardly for not paying just a bit more attention when Erlin talked about the differences in funeral rites between the various religions. As a member of the Dharmo cloister, he was of course familiar with Buddhist customs, but probably had some idea of the others. Which was a lot better than what she currently knew, which was practically zero.
So she stood when the others stood, knelt when the others knelt, pretended to sing when they sang, and generally tried to mimic their actions as closely as possible.
When it came to something they called ‘Communion’, Luisa guided Anastasia to the priest. Being the ranking local noble, of course she had to go first. Having been briefed specifically for this segment of the Mass, Anastasia bowed to the priest first. He held up a piece of bread, and intoned, “The Body of Christ.”
“Amen.” Even as she said that, opened her mouth and extended her tongue, Anastasia wondered how a piece of bread could symbolize a person’s body. Oh well, it was just one of the weird religious customs of the Inner Sphere.
The priest placed the bread on her tongue, and she quickly swallowed it, then stepped aside to allow the next person to receive communion.
“Well done, my lady.” Luisa said afterwards.
Anastasia rolled her eyes. It was times like these that she felt conflicted over her cover of amnesia. She did feel a pang of guilt though for receiving the communion. Even if the original Anastasia was able to receive Communion, she had been raised with the knowledge of the church’s rites from a young age, while Avryl was obviously a non-Catholic.
If one subscribed to the concept of a soul, and she had no reason to doubt that the soul and the body are separate, since she was living proof of it, then strictly speaking, she should not receive Communion because the current Anastasia was not a Catholic.
She had tried to wriggle out of it, but Luisa had insisted, since it would have seemed weird to the people of demesne if she had not participated, and the diminutive maid argued that she had only lost her amnesia, that she was still the same person and hence eligible for Communion. In the end, unable to refute, Anastasia had given in.
After the Mass was over, the caskets were delivered to a nearby crematorium, according to local tradition. The ashes would be stored in urns and kept by the families of the dead. It was, she heard, a difference from the usual custom of burial in a grave.
She did not need to attend that part of the ceremony. Finn walked up to her.
“My lady.”
“My lord.”
He looked at her face, as though searching for something. “I’ll be leaving now for the inspection of the other demesnes. I’ll do my best to see you one last time before we lift for the jump point.”
Not knowing how to react, Anastasia just nodded.
“I’ll take my leave now. Remember to take care of yourself.” He gestured with a tilt of his head to the people of her demesne. “Because you’ll need to take care of them too.”
The Kalinski demesne had a population of about one million people. For the first time in both her lives, she felt the crushing weight of responsibility. It had been easy enough to command a binary of warriors and their attached transport and support staff. But one million people? She was no military governor, she had not been trained for this.
But she would put her best foot forward. “I will do my best.”
Finn nodded at her respectfully. “I expect you will.”
===Journey back Home to angry father===
28th March, 30612000 hrs
Anastasia knew her sense of fashion was non-existent. There were even some teasing remarks from Camille on the rare occasions they ventured out to the shops and malls in the Smoke Jaguar Occupation Zone. At the time, she thought nothing of it. As a Smoke Jaguar warrior, she had no need for dresses.
Even after wearing almost nothing but dresses since waking up in Anastasia’s body, she still thought they all looked more or less the same. The placement of the ribbons, the frill design, it all went over her head. She did not like admitting to being an idiot, but when it came to fashion, she really was one. It took her a while before she could even distinguish between a western dress and a kimono!
So she just trusted the advice of her maids when it came to picking out a suitable dress to wear for Viscount Rason’s departure from Altoona, one of the new dresses he had bought for her from the boutiques of Altuni City, Altoona’s capital. All she could see of the dress was a pink floral design with lots of frills and lacing, and it did not seem anything special. But the maids insisted, so she just acquiesced to them.
They were supposed to have dinner together, but delays here and there meant that he would just drop by Fort Lambourne to pick up Pence, then leave for his Leopard dropship Jurano, which was already loaded with the mechs and salvage from the bandits.
Finn arrived on the Jetta Coruna aircraft reserved for his use on Altoona, the plane landing at the small landing strip near Fort Lambourne. The plane actually belonged to the ruler of Altoona, Viscount Alan Strong, but as Finn was there in his capacity as commander of Trivet military forces, it was loaned to him so that he could carry out his duties effectively.
Pence was there too, flanked by members of her household troops. He was clad in the uniform of the Haynes household guards, but that only got him glares from her soldiers. Even if she had not told them of what Pence did, they had their suspicions, and some of them would have loved to get some measure of revenge on him for the deaths of their comrades and fellow folk.
As it was a flash drill and impromptu inspection of Altoona’s defenses, Finn actually did not have a lot of leeway in terms of the time he had to spend off Inman, not having specifically sought the Count’s authorization beforehand. Hence, he had to return as quickly as possible.
A HPG message also arrived two days ago, with the Count demanding Spencer Larouche to be brought back as soon as possible so that he could be questioned on his involvement. It seemed that even without the information of what happened on Altoona, Count Haynes had somehow already ferreted out something.
With the Jumpship at the Lagrange One pirate point, it would still take the DropShip several hours to get there. While there was no real rush, Anastasia sensed from the tone of his HPG message that the Count was angry, and wanted both Finn and Pence back on Inman to explain the situation.
In addition, her father had also sent a message authorizing the release of a small amount of emergency funds to bolster their military defenses. It was too little and too late, but still, it was better than nothing. He also said he would be traveling to Altoona as soon as possible, probably on the Yolander when it returned to Inman.
The Yolander traveled the Trivet worlds in two directions, alternating every time. When she traveled from Inman to Altoona, the Yolander would go on to Delacambre, then back to Inman. From Inman, it would then travel to Delacambre, then to Altoona, then back to Inman. This ensured that all three worlds were able to transport necessary goods to one another. Each round of the circuit would take about twenty-four standard days.
Anastasia calculated her father would be arriving on Altoona in about thirteen more days. The Yolander was probably at Inman charging from the Attica station now, and would be jumping for Delacambre soon after Finn arrived back at Inman.
Like ships passing in the night.
Finn stepped down from the plane quickly, and stared at her wordlessly. His eyes were wide, and he seemed as though he wanted to say something, but could not trust his mouth to do so. Instead, he quickly looked at Pence, and ordered, “In the plane, Larouche.”
Pence smirked, and walked up beside Finn, where two of Finn’s own soldiers escorted him into the plane.
Finn looked at Anastasia, looked as though he wanted to say something, but nothing came out of his mouth.
Before she could talk, he just smiled gently at her, turned around, and boarded the plane.
As the plane flew off, Anastasia ranted mentally. What? I am wearing one of the dresses he bought for me, so why did he leave without a word? Did I wear the wrong dress? Or did the maids suggest the wrong one? Arrrgh, this is so frustrating! Why do I even care about that stupid freebirth Finn thinks anyway!
===Arguament over Clan Honor===
Leopard Class Dropship Jurano
29th March, 30610200 hrs
Finn glared at Pence Lamongue. The two of them were both seated in the small cabin reserved for officers and nobles. Finn realized it was probably the first time the two of them were in the same compartment for an extended period of time.
They were already outbound from Altoona for the Blocky Road at the pirate point. Finn still felt too keyed up to want to sleep, while Pence looked unreasonably well rested.
Finn had wanted to catch up on the latest news from Inman, and he had the bad luck to run into Pence, who was also using the cabin.
“Buying all those dresses from Altuni City was a surprise, Viscount Rason.” Pence smirked at him. “You seem to cherish Lady Kalinska a lot.”
“She’s my fiancee. Of course I cherish her.”
“Even though it’s actually a political arrangement, due to your father’s will?” Pence just knew which buttons to press.
“You dare to insult my fiancee?”, Finn accused.
“On the contrary, I’m impressed with what she did.” Pence admitted. “Patching me up, driving that Harvester to a victory over a real BattleMech, those are unusual feats for a noblewoman who has probably never even held a gun before.”
“And a backstabbing bastard like you would know?” Finn let his anger over Avryl’s death leak out in his tone.
Pence feigned surprise. “You are still not over that, quiaff?”
Finn noted he had reverted to clan speech patterns. “I thought you clanners were all about honor.”
“Oh please, there is no honor in dying for stupid causes, especially for doomed and stupid causes. We were outnumbered by massive margins, what did you expect us to do?”
“Maybe surrender? Trial of Possession like what happened to the Sixth Jaguar Dragoons, then become bondsmen and abtakha? Still a lot better than outright betrayal.”
“You think Avryl Showers would ever surrender? She would have died fighting.”
“From what I knew, she probably would have,” admitted Finn. “But I also believe she would not have condemned her soldiers and support staff to death, and it would have been with honour. Far better than being shot in the back!”
Pence flinched a bit, and Finn knew his point had struck home. Avryl cared for her warriors, something he noticed from the BattleROMs when she was often the last one covering the rear or the retreat while the rest of her unit escaped during their raids. Finn appreciated that, not least because his middle name was for the man who died doing exactly that, enabling his father and the rest of the Fourth Davion Guards to escape Yorinaga Kurita and his Second Sword of Light.
And if she was a typical clan gloryhound obsessed with dying in battle regardless of circumstances, she would never have accepted his offer of hegira, or to work together that one time against the pirate Helmar Valasek.
“Well, dead is dead, despite whatever led to that end,” said Pence dismissively. “We are alive, and that is all that matters.”
“Tsk, selfish bastard.”
“Take some free advice from me, Viscount Rason. We clanners are all selfish bastards, and do not be fooled by those who claim otherwise.” Pence sneered, “If it ended up benefitting the clan, it is a nice outcome, but at the end of the day, might makes right, and my might makes mine right is what it really is.”
Finn huffed, but held his tongue, knowing that any more verbal sparring was useless. Instead, his thoughts ran to Anastasia and her dress when she sent him off. She was wearing the dress he thought suited her best. The sight of her in the dress was so breath-taking that he literally couldn’t say anything, so he didn’t. Why didn’t I say anything to her? And why am I thinking of that right now?
An insistent beeping drew both their attention to the comm system. “My lords, this is Captain Grike,” Petyr Grike was the captain of the Jurano, “A priority HPG transmission, video format, came from Inman just now, and it’s something I think you should see.”
Finn exchanged glances with Pence, who shrugged, indicating that he had no idea what it was about either. “Put it up, Captain.”
The small viewscreen started playing the video.
Victor Steiner-Davion and the rest of the Inner Sphere forces that had gone to the Clan Homeworlds had returned to Luthien to a heroes’ welcome.
The clan invasion was over.
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===Shaking It Off and Carrying On===
Fort Lambourne, Altoona
29th March, 30610800 hrs
The video was nostalgic for the Combine architecture in the background, and the confirmation hurt, but Anastasia had not expected anything else after learning of the Annihilation of the Smoke Jaguars. She was only surprised that their return took so long.
She had no time to dwell on her losses, and she felt she had finally managed to somewhat move past the destruction of her clan. She simply had too much on her plate right now!
*Music Start: Taylor Swift - Shake It Off*
I stay out too lateGot nothin' in my brain
Wake up at six hundred hours by her maids. Quick clean up, get dressed for PT in thirty minutes. Train for about an hour until half past seven. Keep one eye on the household garrison and ensure they were keeping up with their training regimen.
That's what people say, mm-mmThat's what people say, mm-mm
Breakfast in her exercise attire while cooling down, catch up on latest developments on the viewscreen while eating, plus a few reminders on her schedule by the butler.
I go on too many datesBut I can't make 'em stay
Washup and get dressed, be prepared for her administrative work by nine sharp. Anastasia now had a real office, and she despaired of ever completely clearing the mountain of paperwork on the desk. Then meeting after meeting with this or that local representative or member of her small governing bureaucracy, all looking just as overworked as she felt. Maintaining the infrastructure of the demesne was no easy task. The maintenance costs for the solar panels alone were staggering, and they needed those desperately given the relative lack of fossil fuels on Altoona and not having fusion engines around.
She had a growing checklist on her noteputer, including asking Finn for discounts on solar panel parts from Delacambre. She hated having to ask for such favours for him, but since it was on behalf of her people, she just told herself to swallow her pride and do it.
But I keep cruisin'Can't stop, won't stop movin' 
Another quick lunch at about twelve. To save money and time, she had ordered the cooks to just stick to a few simple dishes she liked, which usually revolved around grains, chicken or duck, and cheese, with a side of salad and fruit. While eating, more catching up on developments, discussion with her advisors.
It's like I got this music
In my mind sayin', "It's gonna be alright"
A short nap after lunch on the insistence of the servants who were worried she was working too hard, and Anastasia knew she had to be careful with making sure she got enough rest.
Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
The best part of every day came after the nap - working with the mechs!
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (ooh-ooh-ooh)
She started off carrying out detailed diagnostics on both mechs. The Valkyrie was surprisingly intact in its internal ‘bone’ structure, with the notable exception of its head, while the Harvester obviously needed new limb replacements.
Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake
She was surprised to find out that the Harvester used a fuel cell engine. It gave her the shivers when she realized that if the Hatchetman had hit the engine, it would likely have exploded, probably killing her in the process.
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (ooh-ooh-ooh)
She focused on the Valkyrie first, since it was a real battlemech and had less damage compared to the Harvester. The mech bay had the full suite of repair tools, from lifters to pulleys to cherry pickers to mechanical arms that can lift or insert any component into place, and despite years of disuse, it did not take long to get them back into working condition.
I never miss a beat
I'm lightnin' on my feet
Despite having to do everything on her own, Anastasia made steady progress. She was glad that in preparation for their raids into the Draconis Combine, her Binary had undergone rigorous training to ensure that they would be able to adapt to any circumstances that arose, including repairing their own mechs in the absence of their support staff.
And that's what they don't see, mm-mm
That's what they don't see, mm-mm
She looked on keenly while she manipulated the mechanical arms to twist the myomer bundle into the specific configuration required for the Valkyrie’s arms.
I'm dancin' on my own (dancin' on my own)
I'll make the moves up as I go (moves up as I go)
She ran the scanner over the Valkyrie’s armour plates, replacing them wherever she detected damage.
And that's what they don't know, mm-mm
That's what they don't know, mm-mm
The cockpit required the most work. Figuring what needed replacing and connecting the new components to the older parts took a lot of time. Thankfully, the parts were all compatible.
But I keep cruisin' 
Can't stop, won't stop groovin' 
She tested out the fixed cockpit repeatedly, and soon tuned the neurohelmet to her brainwaves and set up the security system. She made a few microchip copies of her neural patterns too, just in case the chance ever came to hijack another mech, though she sincerely doubted it.
It's like I got this music
In my mind sayin', "It's gonna be alright"
She stared up at the repaired Valkyrie, wondering why it felt weird. Then she realised it was missing a proper paint job.
'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
The heraldry of House Kalinski was a must, of course. She thought about painting a black lotus as well, but decided not to. Ditto for a Smoke Jaguar, or anything to do with her past life as Avryl Showers. Since she did not belong to any unit at the moment, she decided to paint the rest of the Valkyrie in the colors of her house, beige with stripes of sapphire blue. It seemed the Trivet forces did not have a standardised paint scheme either. The name ‘Surefire Strike’, was also painted in sapphire blue on the right torso.
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (ooh-ooh-ooh)
Just in case, she loaded the Valkyrie’s missile racks with fresh missiles taken from the bandits, meant for the Thorn. She felt a strong sense of satisfaction at the completion of the Valkyrie’s repairs.
Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (ooh-ooh-ooh)
Shake it off, I shake it off
I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off (ooh-ooh-ooh)
The Harvester was both more and less challenging. It needed an entire left leg, and thankfully there was a small depot on Altoona selling Harvester mech parts to the few operators on Altoona, and they had spare limbs available. Her requests to Finn’s secretary Eric bore fruit, the leg was delivered after just a few days, along with the industrial grade armour from the bandits’ stores.
Hey, hey, hey
Just think, while you've been gettin' down and out
About the liars and the dirty, dirty cheats of the world
You could've been gettin' down to this sick beat
My ex-man brought his new girlfriend
She's like, "Oh my God, " but I'm just gonna shake
And to the fella over there with the hella good hair
Won't you come on over, baby? We can shake, shake, shake
It took a while, but she figured out why the ammunition for the Harvester’s autocannon was only partially loaded. A full load would have jammed the autocannon, due to faulty parts in the feed mechanism. Figuring it out took some work, but she finally managed to fix the problem.
Yeah, oh
Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate (haters gonna hate)
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (ooh-ooh-ooh)
She also finally decided on a name for the Harvester. Since it was such a flimsy design, it was named ‘Mr Mook’, as a warning to any pilots using it. The name was painted in red using an urban scrawl style on a shoulder.
Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break, break, break (mm-mm)
And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake (and fake, and fake, and fake)
Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
I shake it off, I shake it off (ooh-ooh-ooh)
Shake it off, I shake it off
I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off
I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off (ooh-ooh-ooh)
Shake it off, I shake it off
I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off
(You got to) shake it off, I shake it off
I, I, I shake it off, I shake it off
After days of work, she smiled at the two mechs side by side in the mech bays in front of her, fully fixed up and painted in the colours of House Kalinski, along with full loads of ammunition and ready for action. They would not look like much to the average clan warrior, just a couple of thirty ton light mechs, but one had a storied past, while the other saved her life.
One day, you will face battle again. This I swear! Her eyes gleamed with determination.
She was sorely tempted to take the Valkyrie out for a spin, and probably give Captain Wurtz and his men the fright of their lives, but she held back. Hiding her skills as a mechwarrior rankled, but she had a feeling that it would be a very useful advantage when others did not expect it. What was that idiom? Ace up the sleeve?
So Anastasia kept quiet about her skills, and blatantly lied that she only fixed up the mech exteriors and prettified them, admitting she did not know how to actually repair a mech. Nobody would know better anyway, thinking she was just another foolish girl with pretensions of grandeur, and she hoped matters would stay that way.
The next standard day, Baron Kalinski finally arrived at Fort Lambourne.
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==Chapter Notes==
*; Chapter Note from the Author : One problem with some of these otome isekai works is that sometimes when people die, they are largely tossed to one side and just forgotten, and the original web novel was especially egregious with this. There were several instances of people dying and then just promptly forgotten.So part of this chapter was dealing with the aftermath for the slain soldiers and civilians. Even in a feudal system, perhaps especially in a ‘modern feudal’ system, the ties between lord and his ‘serfs’, for lack of a better word, are critical. Given the fact they can always just pack up and leave for another demesne, each lord has to be careful in ensuring he holds onto his pool of skilled workers.Honestly, there weren’t many honourable ways out for the Smoke Jaguars caught up in Bulldog. Withdrawing only delays the inevitable end on Huntress, and the fighting there was beyond brutal for the Task Force Serpent units and the Smoke Jaguar remnants. Fighting to the death was also one possibility, and her troops would have followed Avryl to such an end if she had allowed it.It’s possible she would have chosen Logan Moon’s option to duel in zellbrigen until her mech fell, in order to spare her troops, particularly if she felt the opponents were honorable foes. Note that it wasn’t just the Wolves who honoured their opponents’ requests to duel - Shin Yodama and his Izanagi Warriors did the same to Galaxy Commander Mikhail Ward on Outer Volta.Finn’s middle name is Ian, named for Ian Davion. His father was a member of the 4th Davion Guards and managed to escape with his Rifleman only because of Ian Davion’s rearguard action on Mallory’s World. Of course, the more serious Btech fans know that Yorinaga Kurita then killed Ian Davion in a climatic duel.For the mech repair section, think of it as a video montage with Swift singing in the background.
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Chapter 22