Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Two: Life Lessons

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Two: Life Lessons

Hy-Brasil, Former Terran Hegemony Black-site, April 15th, 3035

"Hull, may we speak for a moment?" Black Watch Major Ian MacIntosh asked me while I was supervising excavation and salvage operations.

"Of course," I replied, "Lieutenant, I need you to take over the supervision temporarily." 

"Yessir," the junior officer replied. "Anything specific I should know about?" 

"Be mindful of those sections over there," I replied, pointing over to a cluster of partially destroyed pillars. "DoME might have made some impressive stuff, but even their stuff isn't immune to water, and there's some water drainage over there." 

"Copy that sir, I'll make sure that we steer clear of that until you get back," The Lieutenant replied. 

"That works," I replied with a shrug before turning to Major MacIntosh. "Where to?" 

The other man just gestured with his head for me to follow and then led me on a walk towards the storage facilities of the bunker complex. 

"The Black Watch has come to a final decision Duke Hull," the other man said after a minute of silence. "We agree with your analysis of the Inner Sphere." The man let out a heavy sigh. "There is currently no place for the Camerons or the Terran Hegemony in the Inner Sphere." 

"We could try to carve you out a small state," I said tiredly, "But it wouldn't be something that I see being successful unless you do it in the far periphery somewhere." 

"Not an option," MacIntosh shook his head. "Carving out a state would just put a target on the children's heads, and moving to the far periphery has risks of its own as well." 

"I already told you what Natasha and I would like to do," I told him with a shrug. "Us adopting the children might be the best option for now." 

MacIntosh just sighed again. "Our last mission was to see to the wellbeing of the Cameron Twins, and although we still have some reservations and questions we happen to agree." The man stopped and stared me in the eyes with a hardness that I had only seen a few times before. 

"What reservations and questions?" I asked, "If I can help clear anything up then I'll do what I can to assist." 

"There's one serious issue that we have," MacIntosh continued taking my measure. "Who are you, Mark Hull? You don't show up on any of our SLIC records searches for the Manassas nor for any of the divisions that were in existence at the time of the Amaris Coup." His glare intensified. "We have access above and beyond that which even the highest ranked Intelligence agent of the Terran Hegemony might have, and you have never existed aside from some newly created records outside of the year 3004." 

"Before I answer that question, I have one of my own," I held up my hands to stall any further interrogation. "How did you manage to acquire any of that information?" 

"You brought a Pueblo class SLIC ship within range of a Terran Hegemony AI," MacIntosh raised an eyebrow. "Said AI was linked to the HPG network before the virus, and as soon as you accessed the facility and restored the local communications it downloaded copies of all of the records that had been made since the HPG went offline." 

"You want the truth?" I asked. "Quite frankly, I don't think you can handle the truth, but I'll give it a shot anyway." 

I left my body language open and returned the other man's glare with one of my own. "I was born on Terra a very long time ago in the Terran Nation the United States of America, one day I woke up on the Manassas with no clue where I was and no idea of what to do next." I clenched and unclenched my fists. "I had to learn how to repair a K-F drive, refuel and restart a fusion reactor and make my way back to civilization." I calmed myself down. "I spent nearly three years by myself, with no one to even have a conversation with and nothing to do but spend time honing my body, mind, and combat skills. I racked up over a full year of simulator time simply because that was the closest thing I had to a human voice." My voice started to crack a bit. "I nearly went insane, and the only thing that prevented me from just ending it all was that I now had an opportunity that few other men or women will ever have." I took a deep breath. "I had an opportunity to change the path of the future, to help bring civilization back from the brink of destruction. And by God did I seize the opportunity with both hands and find the right people to push us away from disaster." I let the rage pooling in my gut flow away before I spoke again. "And I've done my damned best to do what's right, regardless of what stood in my way." I then turned and began to walk away. "Now it's left in your hands what to do with this information Major," 

April 20th, 3035

"Do we have a list of the salvage here Mathis?" I asked, "I want everything we can possibly fit loaded up into the Manassas' cargo bays." 

"I'm sending the manifest to your slate now Hull," Mathis replied while opening up his own tablet and sending over a batch of text files. "Shouldn't take us more than a few more days to get everything loaded up." 

"That is good news," Natasha said as she walked up behind me. "Did our Black Watch friends give us a full response yet?" 

"Not yet," I shook my head. "Sorry Nat, but I'm not sure that they're going to go with what we suggested, especially not after me unloading on Major MacIntosh a few days ago." 

"If he cannot see what is right before him then it is no fault of our own," Natasha replied while wrapping her arms around me from behind. "We are shutting down the AI?" She asked while looking at the slate in my hands. 

"We're going to be relocating the AI and the SDS systems over to Kentares," I confirmed. "We're taking some of the crew members from the Manassas and placing them on the M-3 Drones to jump the drones out of the system." 

"You are not concerned the AI might turn on us?" Natasha asked with a touch of worry in her voice. 

"No, Rook and I are confident that we can reprogram it once we're back on Kentares, but it'll take some time," I replied with confidence in my voice. "Hence why we're going to keep the AI shut down until we're done the reprogramming." 

"I do approve of us ensuring that our world is defended, but I think we should be cautious with the SDS systems," She turned me around so I could see her face and eyes. "The SDS system can be used against us if we are not careful, and I would rather not have to fight off a small Warship fleet to return home should it malfunction." 

"I'll do what I can," I replied. "We may be able to modify the M-3s to have systems similar to the Manassas, which would mean that they would just need less of a crew to function." 

Natasha and I continued discussing the potential plans for the future before we were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. 

"Major," I greeted the Black Watch officer curtly. "Is there something I can do for you?" 

"We're going to be following your plan," the man simply said. "But there are some things that we want as well." 

"And what might those things be?" Natasha asked with crossed arms, not impressed by the Black Watch lance anymore.

"We want at least one member of the lance to remain as a bodyguard for the Cameron Twins at all times," MacIntosh began, "And we want assistance in tracking down any of our descendants that might be around. Getting closure is important to my people, and if we want to be effective then we're going to need some of it." 

"I can maintain the bodyguard detail," I said after a moment's thought. "But I can't make any promises on finding your relatives." 

"We're not expecting miracles, just an effort put into it," MacIntosh replied. 

"We'll do what we can Major," I replied. "But that's all anyone can ever promise." 

Author's note: So, on the topic of the early chapters of BOTH that are referenced here. I almost wrote out Hull going insane and just making landfall on a planet Robinson Crusoe style, it would have ended with the Clans showing up (It's a habitable planet along the invasion corridor) and Hull being taken as a bondsman after putting up a fierce fight all by himself. That didn't get written, but should I dive back into BT after this I may do something similar.