Arrival

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

After the previous mission, White Chalice's hangar is seeing new arrivals as 5 mechs are moving in, all bearing the following insignia:



The lead mech has already parked, and the pilot has exited the cockpit.

"I am Star Captain Ranna of Clan Wolf's Delta Galaxy. I do apologize for the... inappropriate timing of the Circle of Equals, but it was done under extenuating circumstances. This is my Command Star, and it is with great honor that my warriors and I set foot on Terra."

Comments

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

He stands in the doorway, in that awkward space between meeting someone and being allowed to enter their space. This close she may be able to make out the EI tattoos that peak out from under his hairline (yes, he was vain enough to have his head shaved, have the tattoos put on his scalp, then regrow his hair over them) or out of his jumpsuit's sleeves. "Star Captain. I am glad you figured out where we are. I do not know if the lack of ComGuard tipped you off though...But this is not our Terra."

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

"Aff, the strange machines, the difference in landscapes. That was one of the reasons I challenged Jezebel to a Trial of Possession."

She taps the clipboard once.

"I presume you were supposed to jump to the rendezvous point as well."

Not so much a question, but an observation.

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

"Aff. My unit was jumping to Morges, to support the rest of Alpha Galaxy by making a diversionary attack on Karetah when instead we ended up here. The stress of the jump and attack by unknown fighters destroyed the jumpship. I and the dropship I was in were thrown clear. The dropship was destroyed in attempting to get to the surface. I challenged the Chalice for possession of the wreckage, won, passed out and awoke here. I have been here ever since."

He pauses a few moments.

"If we were both jumping towards the Morges system..." Hooo boy.

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

"That means the rest of our Clan will be arriving as well, including the non-combatants," she concludes for him.

"Furthermore, I expect at least one of the Falcons' frontline Galaxies to come after us. The 4th Falcon Velites were part of their Peregine Galaxy, so the main force should be on their way here."

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

"....So then it is true." His head feels swimmy. All those weeks of wondering if the rumors were true, if he'd heard them correctly, if the Keshik was deliberately keeping him in the dark. Or maybe he was just slow on the uptake.

They were heading into exile.

"...Even if we find a way back to our own universe, we will never be able to return to the homeworlds."

He looks stricken.

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

Uncertain and unsure? Alpha Galaxy? Ranna believes that Resnick here is most likely a Crusader. No matter though, he is still a Wolf warrior.

She eyes him steadily before responding, "It is not clear yet whether we are not in our own universe. For all we know about our Terra, it was when the Great Father left. All these years in the Inner Sphere, we have yet to see Terra nor any footage of planets within a few light years of Terra."

"Comstar's secrets might include this, quiaff?"

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

"Neg. I understand your incredulity. I thought that too when I first arrived here. But noone here has heard of ComStar, or any of the Successor States. So unless they maintained a complete HPG blackout, manipulated public perception to make everyone believe that it is the mid 21st century and faster than light ships never existed and used their own...headquarters world-" He won't say 'homeworld' in regards to Terra for Comstar "-as a testing ground for billions of c-bills worth of exotic weaponry then we are very far from home."

Actually, thinking on that, she could be right. That's exactly the kindof thing pre-schism Comstar would do.

((OOC: Just keeping things vague!))

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

Ranna nods.

"I am simply reluctant to commit to either theory. Regardless, we need to prepare for the arrival of the rest of the Clan."

She gestures at the files laying on her table. Clearly she had been studying their contents.

"Terra. Not our Terra, or not the Terra we know. It is still our responsibility to defend it, quaiff?"

[gotcha!]

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

"...Aff. Especially with the implication that those Invaders might have absorbed clan knowledge from Jezebel Pryde."

He gives a slight shudder at the idea of the Invaders copying clan genetics.

"...I suppose this makes us the IlClan. Not that anyone else is likely to freely acknowledge it."

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

"It is unlikely the Grand Council will acknowledge it. They are the ones who allow those baseless accusations against Ulric."

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

Ulric. He notes that she calls him by his first name. He'd object too, but even the staunchest Crusader can't deny that the charges themselves are a steaming load, meant only to give pretext.

"If they arrive here, we will prove it to them. In the meantime, I am concerned about the possibilities of what the Invaders learned of us from that Falcon commander. I will need to borrow mechs, elementals and aerotechs as needed to investigate, if any such reports come in."

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

"Oh? Are you implying they are somehow able to absorb knowledge?"

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

"Those who fought it before seemed to believe so, based on their sudden jump in intelligence in the past twenty years."

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

"That is troubling to hear. Could it have been a bio-chemical weapon gone wrong?"

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

"It certainly sounds like the kind of thing a Successor State would have come up with, quiaff? I will send you the file with my notations and leave you to settle in."

He turns to leave but remembers two things.

"Oh, and two small warnings. If you see a man with an eyepatch-" No, not Focht. "-do not allow him near your mech. And be sure to warn the unit about the gender segregated facilities."

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

"A hostile?"

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

"A vandal. They are...more lenient with their criminals than we are here."

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

"Was your mech defaced?"

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

"The techs said he was trying to draw a large penis on the hip. So they chased him away. With their grav wrenches."

[wardeninexile.livejournal.com]

"Did he make similar attempts on other mechs?"

[an-alpha-wolf.livejournal.com]

"Aff. That is why he was banned from the hangar. Yet he is stealthy as a Rasalhaque guerilla and fast as an Ice Hellion, so he keeps getting in. I will leave you with all that information to digest then." He turns to leave and melodramatically talks over his shoulder. "I am sure there is much for you to digest, even if you are already familiar with freeborn customs." That sneer might seem familiar, considering who he learned it from by imitation. And off he goes, hopefully before she has a chance to respond.