BattleTech: Rock of the Republic: A BattleTech Novella by Blaine Lee Pardoe

Author:Blaine Lee Pardoe [Pardoe, Blaine Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
Published: 2023-02-08T00:00:00+00:00

Crystal Livingston Synd was tall, almost as tall as Lady Lakewood. She had a rugged look about her, as if her beauty had been nicked and dinged so often that all that remained was a patina of what it had once been. Stone knew her age from her file, thirty-seven, but she easily looked ten years older.

She saluted when she came in, and he raised a hand to wave it away. “That’s not necessary, Lady Synd.”

He gestured to a chair, and she sat down, not rigid like most visitors, but almost relaxed.

“I understand you have a good relationship with Sir Redburn,” Stone said.

Lady Synd’s light eyebrows rose at the mention of the former Exarch. “I served under him, out there, beyond the Wall.”

“Do you think he trusts you?”

She shrugged. “I can never vouch for another’s trust, so I am not sure. We met a few times, and he sent me on missions to harass our enemies. We were on good terms. I got badly injured on my last operation three years ago, and when I woke up, my associates had evaced me here to Terra. I haven’t seen him in at least five years.”

Janella stepped forward. “We have a problem. Redburn’s not responding to his recall orders. He’s tapping resources we were counting on for the defense here, like Stone’s Shadows. He’s operating independently, and that needs to come to an end. We need to bring him back.”

“And you think I might be able to persuade him?”

“That’s the hope,” Stone replied.

“Am I going in solo, or with some troops?”

“We will be sending a small contingent with you, more of an honor guard, strictly precautionary. Redburn has been cut off from the chain of command for some time, so we need to be respectful but exercise caution.”

“If he has any Fidelis siding with him, it had better be a heavily armed task force,” she said. “I worked with them on that operation on Ryde. They are tough SOBs.”

“That they are,” Stone said. “He is a dear friend, and we need him here, helping with the defense. He’s out there alone…and he doesn’t have to be.”

“You haven’t been out there, have you, sir?” Synd asked.

Stone shook his head.

“I was. After a while, you start to develop resentment toward the people on Terra. You’re scrounging to get by every day, no replacement troops, your BattleMech is falling apart with no spares, you’ve got nothing but empty munitions bins and cobbled-together ’Mechs and tanks. It does things to you—it did to me. It made me a different person, and he’s been out there far longer than I was. It’s bound to have messed up his mind.”

Janella nodded. “Indeed.”

“I’ll go. I can’t make any promises. If he listens, he listens. If not, well, I will have done my duty, and will return to let you know.”

Stone found something reassuring about her matter-of-fact tone. “Good. You will have new orders and message packets ready in the next week. We will arrange for your passage through the Fortress Wall to Redburn’s base of operations on Callison.

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