the-outer-topic

[the-outer-topic]

Playing Mechwarrior again, I am surprised at how many war crimes my mercenary company is doing.

I suppose it comes with the territory, but the tone of the writing is sort of all over the place. One day we are raiding civilians on behalf of space pirates, and the next we are defending democracy. After that, we participate in an unprovoked invasion of a peaceful planet. We destroy their generators in hopes of blacking out a mega-city and forcing their surrender. Now we have joined a rebellion in the name of national self-determination.

Pretty much every faction is some form of oligarchy. I recognize Space Japan and Space China, but I don't know enough about the Lore to get a fix on the other factions. Canopus is lesbians though so they're cool.

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 17-5

The Ghost Shark project: Artificial intelligence across uncharted space Local Time: 21:23:59

ALINA I do. Thanks for the lecture, Herr Professor, very instructive and entertaining! How does the Ghost Shark fit into this? It’s neither fish nor fowl, right?

VIKTOR Correct, my bright student! The Ghost Shark was an attempt by the Rim Worlds Republic to cheat that system, to send an AI-driven ship off the beaten path without a crew. It was supposed to be a revolution in transport, to bring war materiel secretly from the Periphery to the Terran Hegemony for Amaris coup.

But interstellar travel is just too damn dangerous to go off-road, Alina. Jumping into uncharted space, or with outdated charts... that's where you hit the really weird stuff. Unpredictable gravitational phenomena, solar flares you never saw coming. (Viktor leans forward, his voice dropping) And that's exactly what happened.

ALINA (leaning forward, eyes sharp) So the ship got into something like a storm and got lost? Viktor, you said the Ghost Shark was circling for centuries. Why didn’t it stop? What kept it running in loops?

VIKTOR (sets down his glass, voice steady, like a teacher)

Good question, Alina. The Ghost Shark wasn’t just some smuggling ship ferrying guns for the Rim Worlds Republic coup. It was a prototype. An experiment. Its computer—Amelia—wasn’t just navigation software. She was artificial intelligence. AI for short, built to be a logistics assistant and pilot as the Rim navy was short of trained crews.

Towards the end of the Star League, they were working on true artificial intelligence. Not robots that just do a job, like those in automated factories—those are just automated machine tools. More sophisticated even than Agrobots for harvesting, or security bots. They had achieved what was the stuff of dreams through the centuries: making computers actually capable of thinking and making decisions, and fitting them into a single computer instead of being distributed on a planetary network.

The Star League Navy actually built drones, or robot warships, the Caspars. They weren’t true artificial intelligence; they could make decisions but couldn’t learn new things. They were built to do one thing—defend Terra—and they did it very well. Because they had no crews, they could be packed with more armor and weapons, and as the ships were not hindered by human limitations, they could outmaneuver the crewed ships they fought.

They acted on the tactics, the instructions programmed by human admirals. Think of them as well-trained hunting dogs. They made Terra impregnable, but again, if you recall Aristobulus’s quote, Terra fell to Amaris by treachery. And those drones were used against the Star League navy when they liberated Terra. But I digress.

The point is that Amelia was different. She was not to fight. She was meant to work with a human crew, to show them routes and options, and even to take over if there was no one qualified to operate the ship.

Her programmer, some joker who must've been stuck with a nagging wife, gave her a female personality—sharp, stubborn, like a woman who’d call you out for a bad plan.

KATYA (smirking) Bet she’d lecture you on your jump paths. Why are you stopping at Kooken’s Pleasure Pit?

(chuckles around the table)

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 17-4

The Chess Game of Interstellar War

Local Time: 21:18:07

VIKTOR That's why military mobility is so reduced in these Succession Wars, with only two thousand military JumpShips. It's like the First Global Terran War, the trench war, where the defender could rush troops by rail to a rupture in the front faster than the attacker could advance on foot. The invader has a limited number of military Jumpships to concentrate forces for an offensive and seize a planet, or planets.

The defender can move forces through civilian trade lanes from quiet sectors to the attacked planets faster than an attacker can feed its offensive.

That's why planetary conquest is a game of chess. You not only have to attack the planet, like a chess piece, you also have to attack other planets within one jump whose forces can reinforce the attacked planet, like trying to take a chess piece that is supported by other pieces. But at the same time in space there's not a continuous front like on land. Sometimes pieces can get through the gaps and strike deep into planets that are beyond the front. Think like the bishop in chess, that strikes diagonally in between the gaps. Raids are like the way a horse moves in chess. They can hop over the enemy pieces, strike a planet deep behind the front and jump back.

And that's why no world is truly safe and our House Lords always keep a couple regiments of their best troops on the capital world. It's not because of concerns over rebellions, that too, it's because a deep raid into the capital can take place.

A famous example took part about a hundred years ago. You, Alina, probably know the story. When a Coordinator abducted his niece that had become a ComStar nun—I mean, an acolyte.

ALINA Correct. Hugai Kurita, and it was his sister. The year... 2930?

VIKTOR When negotiations failed, ComStar sent a mercenary regiment piggyback riding on ComStar line freighters, Bulkships, and appeared in orbit at Luthien, at the same time the ComStar Precentor delivered an ultimatum: either he would release his sister or the mercs would drop on Unity City and lay waste to the palace. Faced with such a persuading argument, the Coordinator graciously allowed her sister to join ComStar if she wished so. All smiles and bows while burning inside.

ALINA That was extraordinary. A one-off. Like that story you told me—about the woman with a face that could launch a thousand Dropships. And the straw horse hiding soldiers… The War of Troy Gold.

VIKTOR Correct, but sometimes these deep raids take place. Like the raid on the 'Mech factory of Coventry, a couple jumps away from Tharkad, coreward. I got a Distinguished Service Award for that.

KATYA bored Things that never happened. Volume twenty-fifth.

(chuckles, a few laughs)

VIKTOR (gives a sigh of exasperation) Very well. Another example, more recent. Not even the capitals are safe. The mercenary regiment Smithson’s Chinese Bandits raided Sian a couple years ago, giving Chancellor Liao a fright. That's karma for not giving me a medal.  Wait, I am mixing up cause and consequence. I went on McCarron's Cavalry assault on Marlette because of the Sian raid. Anyway, I was proposed for the Liao Cluster of Conspicuous Heroism but I didn't get it because the Maskirovka vetoed it, they haven't forgiven me for giving them the slip at Tikonov. I have to write that in my memoirs.

KATYA bored Author: Starkov, Viktor Ivanovich. Category: Historical fiction. See also: Memoirs of Lyran Generals.

(roaring laughter, thumping table and foot stomping)

VIKTOR (throws up hands and looks at the ceiling exasperated. Composes then carries on) Planetary conquest. It's complicated, and that's why campaigns on a planet last for months or even years. That’s why we have the stagnation, the balance of terror, remember the plaque with the quote from Aristobulus I showed you?

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 17-3

Space trade for dummies

Local Time: 21:13:22

(CAMERA: WIDE SHOT of the long mahogany table, officers and MechWarriors leaning in, engaged in Viktor’s explanation, glasses and plates scattered around.)

(AUDIO PICKUP: The room is lively with murmurs, clinking glasses, and occasional laughter as Viktor continues his tale. Alina listens intently, her expression a mix of curiosity and amusement.)

ALINA And what about the ship? It’s not a legend, but how could it travel without a crew? Don’t tell me it’s like The Flying Dutchman from Wagner's opera, but real. Draconian laborers might truly believe in ghosts, but I don’t.

(Viktor’s expression grows more serious.)

VIKTOR Now, here is where it gets interesting. The ship itself? Real enough. An ancient JumpShip of the Rim Worlds Republic, running on some artificial intelligence automated programming. Like a ghost from old wars, still following orders from dead masters. It would jump, recharge, jump again—always the same route, always broadcasting the same request for new orders to a Republic that has been dust for centuries.

ALINA That’s eerie. Truly sounds like a ghost story.

VIKTOR Now allow me to explain how interstellar travel and commerce work, and why the Ghost Ship is special.

KATYA (groaning) Another of Viktor’s boring stories. Pour me another drink, please!

(Mazen laughs and tops off her glass. The others chuckle.)

VIKTOR (unfazed, carries on) You see, most JumpShips fall into two main categories. There are the military JumpShips—those are the ones you usually hear about and seen in pictures. They've got full crews, solar sails for recharging, and docking collars for DropShips. They're like trucks; they can calculate and execute jumps to known planets. Why trucks? Because a truck stays on roads.

They use quantum computers and continuously updated star charts to safely plot jumps to those precise zenith and nadir points around a star. That up-to-date data is real lostech these days. There are about two thousand Jumpships of them along the borders of all the Successor States, deployed as if they were pieces of chess. Those are the ones that move the armies, that do the raiding and the planetary invasions, the planets are like a checkerboard, and the Jumpships like chess pieces move across the squares. Like in chess there are key squares, like those border worlds that get fought over and over again, because they are the entry gates.

ALINA (nodding) So that’s what those Inner Sphere maps mean—the jump-path lines between planets.

ATANAS I thought those were just some kind of maze. I always got lost trying to trace them.

(Laughter. Viktor rolls his eyes, sips his drink, and continues.)

VIKTOR But then there are the merchant or bulker JumpShips, those are like freight trains. There are ten times more, about twenty thousand of them, all automated. They're just a K-F drive and a fusion engine, no crew, no solar sail. If military Jumpships are trucks on roads, these Bulkships are like locomotives on fixed rails, programmed to follow specific, predetermined commercial routes, moving massive bulk cargo in containers. Now, docking collars aren't actually needed for the jump itself; the K-F jump field is a sphere, and whatever is inside that sphere jumps. The collars are mostly for moving crews, passengers, and cargo from one Dropship to another using the hull of a Jumpship as a kind of bridge while docked to it.

While am at it, the bulkers as their name implies, move bulk cargo. They don’t need Dropships. You know what a cargo container is, right?

ALINA Of course, those big colored boxes I have seen in train stations and spaceports. The cargo goes inside. I have seen a reality holoshow where they auction those abandoned containers and hopefully find more valuable things inside than the amount they paid for. One was a scandal because on live camera they opened one container and found it full of weapons for the Skye separatists.

VISCONTI I remember! I watched that program too!

ARTHUR That was when they caught me red handed! It was my container. I forgot to pay the spaceport storage fees.

(Everybody looks at Arthur, shocked.)

ALINA (eyes wide) Arthur! But that’s a serious crime! How did you get away with it? Did you have a really good lawyer?

ARTHUR (shrugs, takes a long swig of his drink) Lawyers can only do so much. My uncle is the chief of the Planetary Supreme Court in Summer, he managed to "misplace" the arrest warrant for a few critical days. Just long enough for me to slip off-world. And that’s why I ended up here.

(Roaring laughter, thumping of table, Atanas pours Arthur another drink.)

ALINA So you were somebody back then? Before all this?

ARTHUR I was a Captain in the Black Watch, the 10th Skye Rangers.

VIKTOR (wryly) And he got that commission by buying it, like most social generals. That's why he doesn't have command here.

We've got the cream of Lyran society in this outfit, Alina. We have Schlosser, who served under Katrina Steiner; Arthur, a former Black Watch Captain; Ishani, who is from a rich family from the Tamar Pact; and Visconti from Donegal whose family lineage goes back to the Duchy of Milan in Renaissance Italy.

KATYA (mocking) If these are the cream of Lyran society, what are the dregs?

ALINA (grinning, raising her glass) Why, look at the Estates General in session!

(Laughter, Visconti and Schlosser clink glasses across the table, Ishani pours Alina a fresh drink, and Arthur pounds the table in approval, roaring with laughter.)

VIKTOR (shaking head, suppressing laughter) Well, I was saying, all trade, well most is done in bulk. You fill those boxes, the containers with whatever you want to ship. Bulk cargo like coal, iron ore, grain… or general cargo like clothes, furniture or electric appliances. Like that Lyran hair dryer the maids used on you to do your hair. Then those containers are lifted by shuttles, a type of dropship that just goes up and down, a Liftship to the orbit, and stacked in orbit in an enormous mass until there are enough for a trip to the jump point, then a Tugship pulls or rather pushes the whole assembled mass to the jump point and the BulkShip then extends the jump field and the stack of containers is moved to another system and the process is done in reverse, and eventually that hair dryer made in a Lyran factory ends here in Kirchbach, courtesy of smugglers, I mean, independent traders.

Outside the main routes, think of them as the main railway lines, trade is done by Jumpships that carry Dropships loaded with goods inside the holds. So that’s how trade is carried out across the stars.

ALINA Wunderbar! Der Kommandant ist Der Herr Professor!

(Katya starts clapping, everybody joins in the applause.)

VIKTOR (stands up and makes mock bow)

ALINA Continue with the lecture, Herr Professor, you have my undivided attention. Tell us more!

(Murmurs of approval, as they shift to follow Viktor’s lesson.)

VIKTOR Like I was saying the bulker ship lines are like railways. So yes, for routine strategic movements on established routes, military DropShips can certainly piggyback on these bulkers. You, for instance, probably got to Kirchbach that way, sailing on a shuttle that hitched a ride on one of those automated "trains."

ALINA I did, it was short, because I was in a hurry. But it was uncomfortable to spend two weeks in zero gravity on a liquid diet, so… well you know why. I was glad when I got into the Dropship for the final trip in system, and finally stop floating like a child’s balloon.

VIKTOR As I was saying. It's like loading troops or tanks onto a train back on Terra, and indeed in our planetary campaigns, is always easier and faster to move war material by rail, when it exists. The same with space travel, loading the Dropships onto those civilian “railway” Jumpships is often done for moving forces through interior lines of communication, that is through the shorter, faster route and then forces can be quickly moved from one front to the other.

KATYA Sounds good. But there’s a catch. There’s always a catch.

VIKTOR Correct, The real bottleneck is the navigation computer. These civilian bulkers simply don't have the advanced quantum computers. Or the continuously updated astronomical libraries to plot jumps into an unfamiliar or hostile system.

ALINA But why not?

VIKTOR Elementary dear Alina. Because it’s cheaper. Trade, shipping, is a business. The Bulkship is just a locomotive, a K-F drive and a fusion engine. The bare minimum. No solar sail, not needed, cheaper to build. No crew, they save on salaries. No computer, it’s the most expensive part, the computers are in the planets. Maximum profit with minimum cost.

ALINA Aah, I understand now. Please continue!

VIKTOR They can only follow their pre-set "railway" lines. So, you can't use them for an invasion force, beyond maybe one jump across a very well-charted border. And even if you could, if you withdrew all those transports from their routes to support an offensive, interstellar trade and the entire economy would simply collapse. It's been tried, and the consequences were dire.

ALINA I know about that, worlds that starved to death in the First Succession War because food imports stopped coming. Or that died of thirst when the water purification systems failed and no spares came. Sad.

(The mood comes somber, as the ‘Mechwarriors nod in agreement, they all know similar tales.)

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 17-2

The search of the One Star Faith

Local Time: 21:10:15

VIKTOR Yes. And now, you want to know about the actual mission? About chasing ghosts through the void and fighting mystery 'MechWarriors who kept trying to steal our prize?

ALINA (leaning forward eagerly) Yes! Tell me about the Ghost Shark itself.

VIKTOR (taking another sip) Good. The mission...we had to go into the middle of nowhere. "Intercept ghost ship," they said. "Capture Star League era 'Mechs." Yes, sure, and maybe we will find the Exodus fleet while we are at it?

But the money... the money was real enough. And we needed work. So off we go, chasing legends in the deep Periphery.

(Viktor's expression grows more serious) Now, here is where it gets interesting. We were not the only ones hunting this "Ghost Shark”. Some religious fanatics, the One Star Faith, had been tracking this thing for years.

ALINA The One Star Faith? I have heard about them. Aren’t they a cult to scam fools? What do they have to do with this story?

(He takes a sip)

VIKTOR You are not wrong, Alina. Like every cult, there are three types of people in the One Star Faith. First, true believers—they believe some merchant at the time of the First Succession War had a vision of a blue star and a paradise world with Kerensky's ships orbiting it. These fools, they scan the skies with telescopes for the star and donate money for the journey and every thirty years the cult elders declare the One Star must be on some sector of space and they sell everything, follow leaders around the Sphere and the Periphery like lemmings, looking for this paradise. Needless to say planetary governments don’t like these mass exodus of pilgrims, some worlds lose taxpayers and workers, and others get sudden waves of immigrants, who need work and housing, and on top of that are religious fanatics. The second type are smart criminals who use believers to make money—they organize pilgrimages, collect donations, live well while the faithful suffer. Third type...

(grins) ...third type are like us. They do not believe this nonsense, but they use the cult for other purposes.

ALINA What kind of other purposes?

VIKTOR Well, it turns out some of these One Star people, they are not stupid. They have observatories, they study stars, they keep records. For two hundred years, they’ve been tracking strange signals, mapping jump routes, looking for their paradise star. And you know what? They found a pattern. Every thirty-eight, thirty-nine years, the same ship appears, the same route through Lyran space and into the Periphery.

ALEKSEY Yes, and they think this ghost ship will lead them to Kerensky's promised land.

VIKTOR Exactly! So we have a deal. True believers, they put up money for the expedition because they think we help them find paradise. Smart ones who did the research, they get a cut of the profits. And we get guides who know exactly where to find this Ghost Shark.

ALINA So everyone gets what they want?

VIKTOR: Yes. Believers would get their holy pilgrimage once we followed the Ghost Shark to the One Star, or that’s we wanted them to believe. The treasure hunters that did the astronomical and historical research shared their data and got rich. The Dragon gets a Jumpship, Dropships and Amaris 'Mechs and we got paid and salvage rights on everything else. Perfect partnership, yes? Even if we all think each other are crazy.

KATYA (deadpan) Speak for yourself, Vitya. I still think you're crazy.

(Laughter.)

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun 17 - The legend of the Ghost Shark

17- 1 Marco Manzio legal, paralegal and illegal, and the fine print LocalTime: 21:05:39  VIKTOR Very well. Since dinner will be late, I will tell you a quick summary, Alina. Listen my child, of the legend of the Ghost Shark…

(Leaning back, swirling his drink) Ah, where to begin with this tale? We were barely out of that Sacred Mountain mess, still licking our wounds and wondering what the Dragon had in store for us. Kurita’s contracts always come buried with fine print like landmines. I expected trickery, double-crossing, sudden requisition of our DropShips—at the very least, a clause that conscripted our techs into permanent "advisory service." So when that snake slithered into my office—no, not a Draconis liaison, I meant that reptile we keep for a lawyer—I braced for the worst. Instead, I was stunned with the most ridiculous contract proposal I had ever heard. The best lawyers come from the Free Worlds League, and the finest of those from Andurien. Marco Manzio was one of them—until he lost his license. Don’t ask how. Or why. He holds a law degree from every major university in every Successor State. All of them fake, of course. After being disbarred,  that's like being Dispossessed, but for lawyers, he emigrated to the Lyran Commonwealth, following the money and fleeing creditors. He got a business degree, surprisingly legitimate, and became an investment manager in a Tharkad firm that went bankrupt. It was all his fault. A leopard can’t change his spots. Then he became a con man, same thing, got caught, spent some years in prison, then hit a new low when he became a legal representative for mercenaries, which is basically the same as being a pimp. And now he runs our affairs: the financial, the legal, and the not-so-legal. ALINA (grinning, with polite curiosity) Sounds like a slimy white-collar, white-gloved thief. Why would you hire such a criminal? ALEKSEY Ancient Oriente proverb: “The best game wardens are poachers.” VIKTOR You’ve been paying attention, learned them from memory, Lesha. ALEKSEY So I’ll save you breath and you get on with the story, Vitya. VIKTOR I hired Marco Manzio because we are all soldiers, not businessmen, not lawyers. Most lawyers? They're like prostitutes. You get exactly what you pay for, nothing more. But Marco… he's different. He's like us. ALINA Has nowhere else to go? VIKTOR That’s true, too. I mean, he is in it for the game. He loves his work: negotiating contracts, running side hustles, finding ways to make money. He’s more expensive than a normal lawyer or finance manager, but I tolerate it because what’s good for the company is good for him. He’s also very good at making deals. (Beat) He could sell the Pyramids of New Egypt on Vega to Lord Kurita. (Laughter around the table, a few clinks of glasses.) VIKTOR Case in point. Mazen, tell us how you signed on with the Black Riders. MAZEN (laughing with embarrassment, toying with a throwing knife) I was in Galatea looking for work, but no mercenary unit would take me. Some units said my background check had bounced, and with others I didn’t pass the psych tests. (Slams knife point into the table, angry, eyes blazing) What shit is that? I mean, do I look like I need a fracking psychiatric evaluation? CHORUS Nooooooooo! (More laughter.) KATYA (deadpan) None. Not at all. Perfect picture of mental health and sanity. (Mazen elbows her playfully. She composes herself and goes on.) MAZEN Frustrated and drunk… KATYA (deadpan) As usual. (Mazen glares, then elbows Katya again, continues) MAZEN I was drunk, and one night at the hotel bar, I plopped down next to the Black Riders' recruitment table. This Marco handed me a document to sign, telling me it was just the hotel registry. The next morning, nursing a brutal hangover in my room, a messenger jolted me awake, saying my 'Mech was already loaded onto the DropShip and I’d better hurry my ass to the spaceport or get left behind. Before the haze of alcohol fully cleared, I was on my way to the Periphery with a bunch of other recruits, stuck with a five-year contract. (Roaring laughter from the table, someone slaps the table.)

ALINA (grinning, amused) I get it. Your lawyer is really that good. So he got you a contract with House Kurita? What was it about? VISCONTI Technically not with House Kurita, with a private businessman that had found out about the Ghost Shark. The Combine High Command said it was a fool's errand but they provided transport. It was a private venture. For the rest we were on our own. SCHLOSSER The conditions were very good: if the expedition was successful, we would be entitled to fifty percent ownership of the Jumpship and we could keep one of the Dropship,a  Unionclass. VIKTOR That's a military transport, Alina. The standard one, carries a dozen 'Mechs. The businessman was not interested in those and gave us half of everything. The Combine was good with that as they thought we would not find anything. SCHLOSSER Right. Our employer got full rights of the third one, a civilian cargo Dropship, a Mule class, because that can be used for trading, and its cargo, and the Combine claimed the lostech 'Mechs, just in case. MAZEN Wait, wait. You didn't tell her the best part of the contract negotiation. VIKTOR Marco, this snake, he reads the fine print and finds a clause about "salvage rights." Standard boilerplate, you know? But he starts asking questions. "What exactly is the definition of salvage in this contract?" "What happens if we find more than expected?" The Dragon representatives, they think we are stupid mercs who cannot read, so they wave a hand and say, "Yes, yes, whatever you find is yours, just get us the 'Mechs." KATYA (grinning) Big mistake. VIKTOR A very big mistake. Because Marco, had them put in writing that any "incidental discoveries" during the mission become the property of the Black Riders, minus an agreed-upon finder's fee to the Dragon. VISCONTI And thanks to Marco, we kept salvage rights on any 'Mechs we fought, so those 'Mechs you saw there? Half of them were taken as spoils from the pirates and the mysterious 'Mechwarriors. We also claimed as salvage another Union ship we took in the Periphery, a prison hulk, that's where the  liberated slaves traveled in. It's a rust bucket without weapons and leaks air, we need to repair it, but works, more or less. ISHANI The Great Houses always claim 'Mechs and ships and pay compensation in money. That's why we have gone in size from less than two dozen to forty. And got two Union in the bargain. ALINA Clever. And lucky for you. So when you found this Ghost Shark... SCHLOSSER (precisely) According to the contract, all contents except the Star League 'Mechs—which turned out to be Rim Worlds Republic designs—mentioned in the original brief became our property. As I said, we got half of the JumpShip itself. And the Ghost Shark Dropships were not just carrying 'Mechs. They had spare parts, ammunition, though that was rotten and unusable, even some old Star League electronics that still worked. The cargo holds were full of treasures. YOSHIDA (chuckling) You should have seen the Dragon representatives' faces when Marco presented them with an itemized list of what they owed us versus what we were keeping. They tried to argue, but... VIKTOR But a contract is a contract. And the Dragon, they value honor and keeping their word, even when it costs them. They paid. Not happily, but they paid. Rumors say the Combine representative had to atone for his careless drafting of the contract by committing seppuku. (The former Combine warriors, Yoshida, Katya, and Aman laugh, the rest grimace.) ALINA So this Marco Manzio, he's not just a con man. He's a con man who actually delivers. ALEKSEY He knows every trick because he has used every trick.

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 16

The Black Riders' Dinner - The Seating of Loyalties

Draconis Combine, Rasalhague district, Kirchbach, New Samos East, Gerlitzen castle, Starkov Manor

Local Time: 21:00h

(CAMERA: WIDE ESTABLISHING SHOT of officers and MechWarriors taking their seats around the long mahogany table.)

(AUDIO PICKUP: Officers and MechWarriors, in dress whites, begin to gather around the table. VIKTOR takes his place at the head. He gestures for ALINA to his immediate right, the place of honor. Next to her, VISCONTI sits, then YOSHIDA, then AMAN, ARTHUR and at the far end of that side, ATANAS. On Viktor's left, ISHANI settles in. Then SCHLOSSER, followed by ALEKSEY (across from Yoshida), and finally MAZEN and KATYA at the opposite end.)

(A blond maid dressed in Austrian festive peasant garb comes in, she’s the one that danced with Alina in the courtyard before, she smiles warmly at Alina who smiles back recognizing her, and comes to Viktor and whispers in his ear. Viktor nods and dismisses her, then he address the room.)

VIKTOR Gretchen told me there’s a delay and the food will take some time to be served. Please sit down and have another drink while we wait. It will not take long.

ARTHUR Like we need encouragement!

(They take their seats, Alina pauses, a flicker of surprise as Viktor courteously pulls the chair for ISHANI first, who smiles graciously thanking the commander, before doing the same with Alina.)

ALINA (soft, to Viktor) You're quite cordial now. After the... roasting you gave her earlier.

VIKTOR (warm, humorous smile) Always keep your friends close, fräulein. And your enemies closer.

(ISHANI, whose sharp ears caught Alina's comment, leans slightly forward.)

ISHANI (smooth, precise) Oh, we get along just fine, Alina. It's quite simple, really. I'm a career officer; Kommandant Starkov needs my administrative and planning skills. And I, in turn, have thrown in my lot with these particular mercenaries because we became... mutually entangled, shall we say, in the cover-up of the mutiny against General Müller. I assure you, I'm not really plotting to betray him. Not anytime soon, at least.

(Alina's expression remains unreadable, a new layer of understanding settling over her.)

ALINA (low, confrontational) Are you and Viktor colleagues, then? Or something else?

ISHANI (coolly, with a small, dismissive gesture) No worries about that. Viktor is not a man you can seduce.

VIKTOR (grin) That saddens me. I wouldn’t have minded being seduced!

(Alina opens her mouth in surprise and outrage at Viktor’s cheek)

ISHANI I set my sights at Visconti, I noticed how he looked at my cleavage under the cooling vest.

(VISCONTI shifts uncomfortably in his seat.)

ISHANI (continued) Figured that I could seduce him and since Viktor has an unexplainable fondness for Frederik, I could get him to speak on my behalf. But in the end, Aleksey solved the problem by shooting Müller's second-in-command, the one that could accuse us, and that left me as the only surviving witness.

ALEKSEY (gruff) As one of those Spanish proverbs from Oriente Viktor is fond of, it says: "Great problems require great remedies."

VIKTOR I didn’t see it coming. Shooting a superior officer in cold blood. Twice. I hadn’t thought of that, but I was under the shakes I get post combat and couldn’t think clearly.

ALEKSEY That’s why you have me, Vitya, to do the dirty work.

VIKTOR In hindsight it was the obvious solution, we were going to face the firing squad anyway for mutiny, might add murder as well to the charges, with dereliction of duty and drunkenness during service for full measure.

ARTHUR (from the other end of the table, slurring) I take offense at that, Commander! Yes, I know half of us are alcoholics and that’s why we are all seated here at this end of the table.

VIKTOR (even) We are seated by rank, and ‘Mech weight, with Alina as guest as honor, taking Mazhar seat. That’s why you have been shifted one place down. If I placed all drunks at one end of the table I would have Schlosser trade places with Aman to your right. But drunkard or not, Schlosser is the battalion sergeant major, so he stays. Proper etiquette and respect to your rank and ‘Mech has been observed.

(to Aman) Aman, I am sorry for you having to breathe the fumes of the drunkards around you. I know you Azami are Muslims and don’t drink.

AMAN (smiling) Oh, I am not really much of a believer and I actually do enjoy a drink, just a little wine at meals. No worries Viktor, I appreciate the dinner invitation and Katya and Mazen are fun to talk to. Or at least to watch. I really don’t mind

ARTHUR (offended, bellicose) Who are you calling drunkard, Viktor! I am offended at what you imply and demand you take it back. Yes, I drink, but never on duty hours! I have never piloted my ‘Mech under the influence. Well, almost never. And you can’t prove anything!

VIKTOR (coolly) Perhaps we should install breath analyzers in the ‘Mech cockpits, then

ARTHUR (retorts triumphant) Then you wouldn’t be able to ride your ‘Mech! We all know you take a drink of vodka from a hip flask every time you mount ‘Mech. No wonder your ‘Mech staggers like a drunken man. Because you are!

VIKTOR (calm) That’s for medicinal purposes, my inner ear is affected and I get sometimes nausea from the neurohelmet feedback. Works better than the medication.

ATANAS (ironic) Hah. We all know that excuse. For medical reasons. Like Schlosser and his drinking cough syrup with antifreezer.

SCHLOSSER (bureaucratic solemnity) Actually Lyran field service regulations, which we adopted for convenience and are still in force until we figure out the new Draconis charter, explicitly allow the issue of alcohol for medicinal purposes in cases such as Viktor or victims of frostbite. I was drinking antifreezer just as a preemptive measure!

VIKTOR Right. Arthur, I may be clumsy piloting my ‘Mech, and I can’t help it, but perhaps you aren’t aware that I was a ‘Mech test pilot at the Tikonov factory and later at Kalidasa, believe it or not, and I knew how to put them through their paces better than most ‘Mechwarriors. Before my injury I could literally waltz them. That’s why I can still pilot a Battlemech, even with damaged balance that would disable most ‘Mechwarriors.

Besides, comrades, you all have had plenty of opportunities these last couple of years to witness my shooting. Do you believe a drunkard can have as steady aim as mine?

(looks around everybody in the eye, they shift uncomfortably under the reveal of Viktor injuries and his gaze)

As Schlosser said, regulations allow it, matter closed. Now, Ishani, please continue your tale to our guest Alina on how we got out of the Sacred Mountain mess and you became my esteemed, respected staff officer, who I half-trust.

ISHANI (grinning at the back handed compliment) As I was saying, when after the fight we were arguing with our prisoner, Kommandant Lindholz, General Müller’s surviving second in command, trying to figure how we could go back to Lyran space and report this, or else if we would have to go renegade and become bandits in the Periphery, because we could not see a way out of this. Aleksey found the solution, kill the Kommandant and we removed both the man that could prosecute us, and the only prosecution witness. There’s the truth, and the truth that gets written down in the unit war journal. As the ringleader of the mutiny Hauptmann Herz…

VIKTOR (wry) and your lover, though you pulled his strings, Ishani

ISHANI (cutting) You can’t prove anything. Don’t interrupt. With Hauptmann Herz dead, that left me, a mere Oberleutnant, as the senior surviving officer of the Lyran Twelfth Donegal Guards company and the Black Riders were under my command.

What can I say promotion is fast in wartime!

(laughter) Whatever version I wrote was the official version, as long as nobody contradicted me, so I sold my soul to the Devil, bargaining with the Black Riders to get us all out of the mess.

Fortunately the lostech booty, the Amaris Republic ‘Mechs the general wanted to keep for himself and build a Periphery empire with, provided a generous incentive for the top command to look the other way and hide the whole mess under the carpet.

As for the Battlemechs lost in the mutiny and whose pilots had been killed, both those of Müller command lance and our side, the mutineers, reported lost and secretly taken as salvage by the Black Riders, including the Atlas of the General.

ALINA Wait. It wasn’t destroyed? You have its head here as a trophy

(gestures towards the Atlas faceplate at the far end of the hall)

SCHLOSSER That’s just the outer shell of armor. Yes the Atlas cockpit was destroyed, the neurohelmet too and graces our trophy shelf. But the ‘Mech was badly damaged but repairable. We have it in storage.

VISCONTI It was written off as lost and we loaded it on our Dropship with the rest of the salvage. Obviously we couldn’t ask the Lyrans for spare parts for repairing an officially lost ‘Mech, else they would confiscate it.

ALEKSEY As the Russian saying, it’s like a suitcase without a handle You can’t use it but it’s a pity to throw it away.

YOSHIDA Now that we are in service of the Dragon, and the Combine also has an Atlas production line. So we sent a request for the purchase of spare parts to repair it. I would love to see the face of the Procurement Department officer when he gets an urgent request for spares for an Atlas, from some just hired unknown mercenaries that have just came to the Periphery, payable in cash. He will think it’s some sort of prank. Priceless!

(Katya and Aman laugh heartily at the idea.)

VIKTOR Now picture his face when he asks about the request and gets an approval letter from the high command informing him that the Coordinator is pleased with our services and has approved our request. Top priority. The Coordinator provides.

(Yoshida laughs, Katya and Aman bend over in laughter, pounding the table)

ALINA This is the Ghost Shark affair, I mean, campaign. Forgive me if I am indiscreet, what exactly did you do to gain the Coordinator’s favor? Why would Lord Kurita take notice of, pardon me, a bunch of lowly mercs?

(awkward silence as the ‘Mechwarriors look at each other and cast unsure glances to Viktor)

ALEKSEY (muttering) ComStar spy, she is

MAZEN Come on, the girl is dying to know. She’s one of us.

YOSHIDA Commander, I know you all people that are not from the Combine are a bit paranoid about the Internal Security reporting, but there’s no breach of operational security if you tell her the outline of our last campaign.

KATYA Da, Vitya, it sounds like one of your fantasy tales, so no spy would believe a word of it. Come on, tell her. Tell a tale about us for once.

(murmurs of agreement)

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 15-1

Victory or death

YOSHIRO One thing I always wondered, commander. Why you did it? Why did you stay? The battle was lost. Those of our ‘Mechs that were still standing were fleeing, overheated or out of ammunition. There’s no dishonor in fleeing when all’s lost. You’re no Kurita samurai. Why stay behind and face Müller’s Atlas? It was to buy time for the survivors to escape? You don’t owe us anything. Maybe to Soloviev and Visconti, your friends, but the rest?

MAZEN Yeah, the Drac is right. I know you can’t stand some, most, nobody of us. Hell, you can’t stand yourself in the mirror! Why?

ISHANI Now that you mention it, since it’s all your fault for not dying when you should, that I had to trade my commission in the Commonwealth army and a stable career for the dubious adventure of mercenary life, I also wish to know.

ATANAS Commander, I am grateful for having been invited to dinner but—

ARTHUR (interrupts, drunk) I am grateful for the free drinks!

ATANAS … but the women ask a good question. We had been together for less than a year. You didn’t owe us anything. Why get yourself killed for nothing?

(silence)

VIKTOR Like Aleksey said, my ‘Mech was melting. I was overheated and couldn’t flee

YOSHIRO But if may insist, Commander. Even if overheated the Trebuchet is faster than the Atlas. As soon as you turned away and started running it would cool down and you could have saved yourself. You could replace us with new recruits. Again, why?

VIKTOR (looks into his glass. Then raises face, eyes glinting) Ever since I got back what was mine by right, a Battlemech, I have given much thought to that.

(beat) Better dead than Dispossessed.

(Silence.Raises glass in toast) A toast comrades! Victory or Death!

CHORUS Victory or Death!

(they drink)

ALINA (Staring at them, the faceplate, then the baton, its skull-like knob matching the armor.) That baton… it’s from the Atlas too? You really did this. I thought…

(She glances at the ‘Mechwarriors—Aleksey’s scars, Visconti’s youth, Schlosser’s age and gravitas, yet deferring to him.) You’re not just a garrison commander. These people… they’d follow you anywhere.

KATYA Only out of morbid curiosity. Da.

(laughter) I thought you were bragging at the restaurant. But they all… they respect you.

(the ‘Mechwarriors nod in silence)

(Her voice softens, realization dawning.) You weren’t telling tales. You’re the real thing.

VIKTOR (Meets her gaze, his grin softening to something genuine.) We’re all real, Alina. Me, Aleksey, Visconti, Schlosser—this crew’s my family, even the bastard children. We bleed together, win together.

(He gestures to the table.) Applaud friends, because the comedy is over. Dinner’s coming.

(The ‘Mechwarriors drift to the table, their laughter mixing with the clink of cutlery and the distant revelry at the courtyard. Alina lingers by the throne, her fingers brushing the Atlas faceplate, its skull-like grin a testament to Viktor’s truth. The bonfire outside flares, casting the throne’s shadow across the hall, as the Black Riders prepare to feast.)

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 15

The Throne of the Phantom

(He gestures to the dais, shrouded in a heavy sheet.)

And now, the main event.

(He strides to the dais, the ‘Mechwarriors falling silent, and pulls the sheet with a flourish, revealing a BattleMech cockpit seat before a massive Atlas faceplate—two meters tall and wide, its viewports and cooling vents forming a grinning skull. A platinum baton, its knob echoing the Atlas’s skull motif, rests on the chair—Viktor’s scepter, taken from Müller.)

ALINA (Gasps, stepping back, her voice trembling) That’s… the Atlas? From the general you…?

(She stares, the scale hitting her. She’d walked under Viktor’s Crusader at the manor gate, its bulk overwhelming, but this skull-like faceplate, so close, feels like facing a giant’s death mask.)

It’s huge. You weren’t joking. Death on two legs…

VIKTOR (Picks up the baton, twirling it like a drum major on parade.) Told you. This is Müller’s Atlas—or its face, anyway. We call it the Phantom’s Throne, after an old legend of Terra. I sit here for ceremonies, scare the locals a bit.

(He grins as the ’Mechwarriors snicker, one calling:) All hail Baron Starkov!

CHORUS Hail!

ALINA (Her voice small, staring at the faceplate.) It’s… Kolossal. How do you even aim at a mech’s head to do that?

(She looks at Viktor, then the crew, her civilian naivety clear.) I mean, you said it was the biggest mech. How do you hit something like that right in the face?

VISCONTI (Steps forward, chuckling, his youthful energy cutting through.) You don’t, Alina. Not on purpose. Mech targeting’s a mess—fusion reactors have so much electrical power that jammers screw everything. Radars, laser finders, all useless.

SCHLOSSER Lad is right. We aim by eye, through optoelectronic visors, like a digital camera with zoom. It’s like a video game—reticle shows where your guns or missiles will hit. The computer adjusts the barrels, sets missile paths. You point, you shoot, you pray.

(Shakes his head.) Problem is, mechs move—yours, theirs. Crosswinds, smoke, trees mess it up. Precision’s maybe two square meters at a thousand meters, so you aim for the torso, Try for the head or legs, you’ll miss every time. Rookie mistake. You aim at the torso, just like you aim at the center of a darts target, because your shots will disperse all over, and if you miss the torso, you will hit a leg or an arm. And hitting the mech is not the problem, most of the time even if you hit the shots will be absorbed by the armor. It takes a lot of pounding at a Mech armor until you punch a hole or strike a weak spot and cause internal critical damage to a vital point in the reactor, the gyroscope, the ammunition… or the cockpit

ALINA (Frowning, glancing at the Atlas faceplate.) But… Viktor hit the head. You said so. How?

VISCONTI (Shrugs, glancing at Viktor with a mix of awe and disbelief.) We don’t know. His Trebuchet was overheating, radiators glowing red, while we were pulling back from the Sacred Mountain. He just… stood there, loosed a missile volley, and every damn one slammed the Atlas’s head. Like throwing a fistful of darts and hitting the bullseye blind.

(laughs.) Ask him how he did it.

VIKTOR (Leans on the throne, baton in hand, his voice calm but proud.) Practice, Alina. Back in the infantry, I fired rockets at mechs for years. It’s like Aleksey with his arrows—line it up, feel the moment, let it fly.

YOSHIRO Just like a zen archer. You become the arrow.

(He nods to Aleksey, who grins, miming a bow pull.) Doesn’t hurt to have a good eye and a stubborn streak.

ALEKSEY (Snorts, crossing his arms.) Stubborn’s right. You stood there like an idiot, Vitya, mech half-melted. Lucky you didn’t cook yourself.

AMAN It’s the will of Allah. It was written. Commander Starkov has baraka. The grace of Allah works in mysterious ways.

MAZEN I too have read the Quran, aren’t madmen touched by the grace of Allah as well?

(laughter)

SCHLOSSER (His weathered voice cuts in, firm) Madness or Providence, he got Müller. I saw that Atlas drop. The man has coolant in his veins and titanium balls.

(The ‘Mechwarriors nod, their respect palpable, even as they smirk at Viktor’s theatrics.)

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 14-5

ALINA I hope that’s another of your jokes. You are digressing Viktor. Tell me, why the helmet? Why not a knight in armor like the McCarron shield you showed me? And the orange color?

VIKTOR As I was saying. We didn’t bother much. We looked into an historical database and by chance found this one. It’s actually the insignia of the 1st Polish Armoured Division of the Second Global Terran war. For those among us that are not a ComStar historian, that’s the one that ended with atomic weapons. Not the next one that started with nukes and ended with orbital bombardment by Admiral McKenna.

ALINA Polish? But I thought the Poles and Russians were... well, eternal enemies? Why pick that?

VIKTOR You are right. Maybe that’s why we don’t have any Polish guys. Perhaps among the new hires. Schlosser liked it, I too liked it because it reminded me of my cavalier ancestors and Aleksey and Visconti said that whatever, that will do.

(beat) Schlosser wanted a picklehaube! For the uneducated among us, that is, most of you, that is the Prussian helmet with spike on top.

(laughter, Alina chuckles too)

SCHLOSSER (fuming) That at least has dignity. Visconti wanted a Roman centurion helmet, like those Marian Hegemony pirates!

VIKTOR (ignoring him) So we took this one but trimmed the original wing leaving just the helmet. The Polish hussars went into battle with feathers on a frame, like a wing.

ALINA You mean, like the banner samurais wear on the back on Kurita Sengoku holovids?

VIKTOR (pleased, gesturing grandly) Exactly! See, people? She’s not just a pretty face—she notices things, and she’s clever

(a wave of murmured approval)

ALEKSEY (grumbling in low voice) ComStar spy, she is.

ALINA And the orange color? It’s pretty and original. Your idea?

VIKTOR (shrugs) Was like that in the historical insignia. I guess they took anti corrosion paint, red lead primer and yellow zinc chromate and came up with orange. That’s how we paint it on our ‘Mechs, too.

ALINA How utilitarian. I thought it had something to do with the orange cuffs in your tunics. White is elegant but you need more color and flair. A sash, like Steiner officers wear. Orange sash.

ISHANI I approve the idea. This fraülein has a proper sense of elegance and fashion even if she dresses in a ComStar shroud.

SCHLOSSER I also like the idea, Thirty Years Wars cavalry wore sashes. Some in orange, yes.

YOSHIRO And samurais wore their katanas in a sash too, the obi.

VIKTOR (raising his hands) All right, all right. I also like it. But it will come out of your uniform allowance. Next you will want lobster tail helmets and swords and thigh boots with spurs.

MAZEN Thigh boots are sexy. And why we can’t have spurs like the Davion ‘Mechwarriors? I had those. And I want a riding crop too!

SCHLOSSER I have been thinking about that. I am envious of the Dracs and their katanas. We need proper swords, not chrome plated vibro machetes.

VIKTOR Swords are only for show. Unless you have to fight a boarding action in zero-G like I did on Solaris once...

KATYA (rolling her eyes) Not one of your fake stories again!

SCHLOSSER And I have been talking to the chief blacksmith of the Periphery followers. Said he can do the helmets for us. In titanium.

VIKTOR (holding his head with hands in mock horror) Alina! This is your fault! See what military fashion monster you have created!

ALINA (laughs) Come on, it’s not a bad thing at all. You need to have your own style, even if you don’t have your own uniforms. I think they are all good ideas and you will look very handsome.

KATYA (flat) He will look like a damn Christmas tree.

VISCONTI Come on boss. You love dressing the part and parades. We are just following your lead!

VIKTOR (pleased) Initiative from the ranks. Finally you all agree on something, for a change. Very well comrades, you will get your cuirassier uniform. While we are at it maybe horses too. Matter closed. On with the show.

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 14-4

The Black Riders inception

Her eyes drift to a large flag—white, with an orange disk and on it the black profile of a lobster tail helmet, scrolls listing Jolly Roger 3023, Sacred Mountain 3023, Ghost Shark 3024.

ALINA Your unit’s flag? I saw it flying over the castle. Is that… a samurai helmet?

VIKTOR The Black Riders’ standard. And you’re not the first to ask. The Drac garrison commander thought the same.

(He gestures toward it, warming up.) It’s a cuirassier helmet from the Thirty Years War time. My Trevanion ancestors in the English Civil War probably also wore one. Or maybe if they had worn one of those helmets instead of fancy hats with plumes they would still be alive. It was Schlosser idea. To name us the Schwarze Reiters, after the cuirassiers of the time and their blackened armor. You have seen our ‘Mechs, they are painted in the same way, with the edges polished. The reiters were known for their ferocity in combat and in pillaging. Black as a Reiter heart was the saying. That’s German humor, you should know. And no before you say it, we don’t go around pillaging, raping and burning.

(beat) Remember, burning always comes last. (laughter)

ALINA (chuckles) I believe you. Now. I was thinking about that general name, Boromir, he’s a character from Tolkien I think, and the Black Riders were the evil guys in that book. I thought you had taken it from there,

VIKTOR (exasperated) Not again! Schlosser! This is all your fault!

(frustrated, gesturing vaguely) Yes, there’s a mercenary regiment that has named itself the Uruk Hai after those evil creatures, the trolls.

(dismissive wave) But I haven’t read the Lord of the Five Rings or whatever was the name of the book. I will read it after I finish War and Peace

KATYA That means never. He ain’t started it yet. Never will.

VIKTOR Some day… Every scroll’s a campaign we survived. Jolly Roger was Bolat’s end. Sacred Mountain was Müller’s. Ghost Shark? That’s still under official secrecy and why we’re here—fresh off a Combine contract, now garrisoning Kirchbach.

ALINA (tilting her head) Why is the disk orange? That’s not a heraldic color.

VIKTOR (pleased) And you say you are not true nobility… Very observant. Honestly, we didn’t bother much with the crest—or the name. We didn’t think we’d last long. If I’d known we’d grow from a lance to a full battalion in three years, I’d have chosen something… catchier.

KATYA (teasing) What about Viktor’s Vampires?

(Viktor shoots her a sour look. Snickers ripple around the room.)

VIKTOR …And I couldn’t use the Starkov name. Starkov Sturmoviks would’ve made sense…

KATYA (snickering) More like Starkov Strippers!

(Laughter erupts. Viktor sighs in long-suffering exasperation.)

VIKTOR Shut up Katya!... because my family name back at Mira was associated with textiles, I told you they changed the name: "Starkov Silks, clothiers to the galaxy". It’s hard to have a reputation as a tough fearsome mercenary unit when the first result prospective employers find when checking your name in a business almanac is a firm famed for its luxury lingerie.

KATYA Your family sells silk panties? Can I get a discount?

VIKTOR Not anymore. After my father died in Tikonov, there was a servitor revolt and they burned down the factory. Should have kept those Davion dogs chained to the workbench…

(nervous laughter)

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 14-3

Sacred Mountain and "It's all fun and games..."

VIKTOR (Softens, his tone earnest.) Dangerous, yeah. But out here, it’s us or them. This last one…

(He pulls the cover off the third helmet, scorched, visor cracked, blood-stained, with a Steiner fist sticker.) Generalmajor Boromir Herman Müller. 3023, Sacred Mountain campaign. Lyran traitor, led us on a lostech chase, he planned to keep the Star League ‘Mechs all for himself. Well, they were actually Amaris republic ‘Mechs. His own officers mutinied when they realized he wasn’t going to share the booty. Ishani Kurunkar led them…

ISHANI It was Hauptmann Herz who led the mutiny, not me!

VIKTOR (sarcastic) Sure, Lady Macbeth said the same thing

(A low ripple of laughter. The room shifts—respect, intrigue, a hush.) Anyway, when the battle was won and lost, I killed the General with a missile salvo to his Atlas’s head.

(He pauses, meeting her eyes.) Biggest mech there is, Alina. Death on two metal legs, like I told you at the restaurant.

ALINA (Her breath catches, remembering his words.) That Atlas? You really… you shot it down? For real?

SCHLOSSER (Steps forward, his weathered voice cutting through.) He did, mädchen. Saw it myself. Missiles lit up that Atlas head like New Year’s fireworks. Viktor’s mad, but he’s a true coin.

(The ‘Mechwarriors murmur agreement. No more teasing now. Just respect.)

VIKTOR Now enough of killing, we have bored the poor girl with our war stories

ALINA You didn’t. Fascinating! History came alive. Or legend…

VIKTOR (pleased, smiling) Allow me to continue, Alina, I show you what we do for fun

(He yanks a bedsheet from an improvised billiard table, revealing its felt and small titanium balls, painted red with Kurita dragons, blue with Steiner fists, a ComStar cue ball, and a black eight-ball with a pirate skull.)

Scavenged from mech arm joints—titanium bearings, lighter than steel. Smaller, trickier to play. Keeps us sharp. We also play darts… or thrown knives, but we don’t have the dartboard here. Drinking and darts don’t mix. There was a chilling accident…

ALINA (Picks up a blue ball, marvelling at its weight and admiring the laser etched Steiner fist.) You made a game out of BattleMech parts? That’s… clever.

VIKTOR Don’t think we are here all day inside playing and smoking and drinking. Only in rainy days. Gambling ist verboten. We like going outdoors too. Kirchbach is beautiful and there is another kind of game in the woods.

(pointing to a taxidermied boar head on the wall, its cover already removed.)

More than games. That’s Aleksey’s doing—bow and arrow, Kirchbach style. No gunpowder here, so we hunt old-school. I’m no good with a bow, busted shoulder, but we’re rigging crossbow like this one

(shows one strange looking contraption) From assault rifle stocks, truck springs, and mech myomer. They are so powerful you have to tense it with a crank. Want to try hunting with us?

ALINA (Smiling, a bit dazed.) I’ve been on fox hunts, but that’s just an excuse for horse riding and drinking whisky. Maybe I’d try hunting with you—but all this… it’s a lot to take in.

ALINA One thing you said earlier, Viktor—gambling’s really forbidden? I thought it was every soldier’s vice.

VIKTOR Indeed, and that’s precisely why I forbid it. I allow drinking and fornicating, but not blaspheming or gambling.

KATYA You’re so strict, Viktor, sometimes you make me miss the lax discipline of the Combine’s army…

AMAN Speak for yourself, infidel. Drunkard!

YOSHIRO (Disdainfully) Yes, you Rasalhague Regulars are soft compared to us the Dieron chosen ones.

KATYA Don’t play honorable samurai with me. If you’re here, it’s because you didn’t have the balls to slit your bell when ordered.

VIKTOR (claps his hands once, ironically) Oh, what a fine example of harmony and purity you show! Some Draconians you are. You’re embarrassing me in front of my guest.

(They fall silent, chastened.)

ALINA (softly, with a teasing smile) Please, don’t fight. You’re so strange, Viktor, a soldier who neither gambles nor blasphemes. A monk-soldier.

ALEKSEY Yes, he’s a Crusader!

(Everyone laughs.)

ALINA (chuckling, shaking head) Another ‘Mech joke. They’re pretty clever, I’ll admit.

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 14-2

Jolly Roger campaign

The crew’s banter fades as Viktor raises a hand, his voice warm but commanding, like a museum curator unveiling treasures.

VIKTOR (Moving to the second helmet with a carnival barker’s swagger, pointing to one stripped bare save for a skull-and-crossed-swords sticker.)

Oh, it gets better. Meet Serkan Bolat, self-proclaimed Pirate Lord of the Periphery, leader of the Crimson Swords—a nasty gang of cutthroats if there ever was one. This was the "Jolly Roger Summer" of 3023, under General Müller of the Twelve Donegal Guards—Ishani’s boss, right there.

His plan? Strike pirate bases, grab loot, free slaves, and strut back to Main Street a hero. The catch? All the fighting fell to us, the Black Riders, while his 2nd Company covered us—meaning they sat back and watched. Ishani, you did that very well, sitting on that pretty ass of yours the whole campaign. You sure know how to follow orders!

(laughter)

ALEKSEY The General insisted on a risky orbital drop with the Riders’ ‘Mechs to seize the spaceport.

VIKTOR (interrupts) Generals always take risks with the troops that aren’t their own.

ALEKSEY (to Alina) Orbital drops are like paratrooper jumps, but with ‘Mechs. And from space. Like a meteor going down in atmosphere.

VIKTOR I hate jumps. If you want to fly, become an Aerospace pilot. The fact that the first air force was founded on Terra on Fool’s Day tells you all you need to know about them airheads. Jump jets are a waste. I’d rather have more weapons or armor.

SCHLOSSER You don’t need more weapons, you need more radiators, you trigger happy maniac! Half our budget goes to pay for your ammo consumption!

ARTHUR And the other half to your vodka consumption!

(laughter)

VIKTOR Spoke the sober one. You drink even the antifreezer of the ‘Mech coolant!

ATANAS Wait, the antifreezer is drinkable? Why I wasn’t informed?

SCHLOSSER If you did like a proper Lyran and read the instruction manual like I do, you would know. Horrible taste. Not bad mixed with cough syrup, though

VIKTOR I’ll admit, Müller had some good ideas, despite my hatred of jumps…

VISCONTI Speak for yourself boss! I love jumping!

SCHLOSSER Jawohl, we’ve seen you bouncing like a happy bunny!

MAZEN He messes around like one too!

(laughter)

VIKTOR A little respect for our blue-blood friend Visconti, did I mention he’s a count?

VISCONTI Just the heir to the county. They haven’t disowned me. Yet.

VIKTOR So when we dropped on Nyasa spaceport like hailstones, we caught the horde of the Crimson Swords totally surprised.

(He claps Visconti on the shoulder, making the younger man flush.) And our boy Fritz here? He's the one who ended that particular nightmare. Go on, tell her about your lucky shot.

VISCONTI (His voice carries the light precision of a scalpel, boyish face animated with remembered adrenaline.) Lucky doesn't begin to cover it. Bolat was piloting an Ymir—eighty tons of Steiner engineering, built like a bunker with legs. I was in my Phoenix Hawk, dancing around the edges, trying not to get stepped on.

(He gestures with his hands, sketching the battle.) My heavy laser caught him right in the head—pure accident, I swear. But here's the weird part—Bolat wasn't even in the cockpit when it burned.

ALINA What do you mean he wasn't in the cockpit?

VISCONTI (Grinning like a guilty child.) Our drop was a complete surprise and he had been caught with his pants down, I mean, out of his ‘Mech and rounded up with the rest of the prisoners and put in jail, but we didn’t know. So his gang came in for a prison break rescue. And they gave us a trashing and got through to the prison, and scooped him up, Bolat was riding in the mech's hand—literally holding on to the fist like some kind of demented surfer. When the head was zapped and the Ymir went down, he got pancaked under eighty tons of falling metal. We didn't even know he was the boss until we went through the wreckage. Had to resort to dental records to get a positive identification.

The ‘Mechwarriors erupt in laughter, one calling out, Lucky bastard! while another adds, Still can't believe that worked!

AMAN (quietly) Allah’s will. It was written

ALINA (Blinking rapidly, trying to process the casual violence.) You people drop BattleMechs with headshots like it's some kind of game. Is that... I mean, how hard is it to actually hit something like that?

SCHLOSSER (Steps forward, his weathered voice carrying the authority of someone who's seen too many battles.) Hard as hitting a sparrow with a rock while riding a bucking horse, lass. Most BattleMechs keep their cockpits in the head—makes sense, gives the pilot the best view. But that head's maybe three percent of the total target, and it's armored like a bank vault.

(He gestures to the helmets with professional respect.) Even if you manage to hit it—and that's one hell of an if—most mech heads can shrug off anything short of a heavy autocannon or a PPC. Even then, it's a coin flip whether you punch through or just scratch the paint.

(His bionic leg whirs softly as he shifts weight.) What these lads pulled off? That's miracle territory. Most ‘Mechwarriors go their whole careers without seeing a confirmed headshot, let alone making one.

ALINA (Frowning, a new respect creeping into her voice.) So when you say rare...

SCHLOSSER (The scar on his face twists with his grin.) Rarer than an honest politician, more precious than Star League lostech. When you're in a firefight, you aim for the center of mass of the ‘Mech and pray to whatever gods you fancy. Headshots are the stuff of legends, stories you tell your grandkids.

(He nods toward Viktor.) And our glorious leader here? He's got the biggest trophy of all mounted on his wall.

ALINA (Overwhelmed) I understand, So you were very lucky These were dangerous men in dangerous ‘Mechs.. You’re all so… calm about this.

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 14-1

The Inauguration of the Black Riders’ Mess Hall

The crew’s banter fades as Viktor raises a hand, his voice warm but commanding, like a museum curator unveiling treasures.

VIKTOR “Alina, welcome to the heart of the Black Riders. This hall is ours—for now. Our mess, our sanctuary. Tonight’s its inauguration, so you’re in for a treat.” (He winks, guiding her toward a linen-draped shelf along the wall.)

“Let’s start with the good stuff. Ready for the first?”

(He grips the dust cover on the shelf and yanks it free, revealing three battered neurohelmets, their bronze plaques gleaming.)

“Our hall of fame.”

ALINA (Looks curiously, stepping closer, her gaze fixed on the blackened, shrapnel-pocked helmet with a skull-and-crossbones sticker) “These are neurohelmets… they’re from BattleMechs? Like the ones outside?”

VIKTOR “Exactly. Neurohelmets—the crown of a Mechwarrior and the cockpit chair his throne. Link a pilot’s brain to their mech. These belonged to our enemies, taken as spoils, they make a better display than their skulls.”

(He taps the first plaque.)

This was our first score, when it was just me, Visconti, and Aleksey. Belonged to Vladimir Kostov, a pirate so cunning he hit fifty—ancient for his profession. A legend, he learned another pirate hid a fortune on Shendi. A smash-and-grab could make him king, but his BattleMaster—a real beast—wasn’t enough. What he needed was a handful of reckless idiots. And he found them. Us.

(Frederik Visconti raises a glass, smirking.)

VISCONTI We were in the planet Main Street, stuck in a rotten contract with the Lone Wolves—two years, no escape without bankrupting ourselves.

VIKTOR So when Kostov pitched his heist—we listened. If we succeeded, we’d have the money to start our own unit. If we failed, well... we were doomed anyway. I don’t know if anybody has tried before a Battlemech bank heist.

ALINA (Frowning, skeptical) What, you robbed a bank?

VIKTOR Pirates don’t bury their loot on a desert planet and draw a treasure map where the X marks the spot. They put it into armored vaults in respectable banking institutions. Fear not. We only robbed the pirate’s safe boxes not those of law-abiding citizens.

ALEKSEY Those were not worth robbing.

VIKTOR …. As the saying goes, he who robs a robber, earns a hundred years of pardon. Anyway, as we raced back to the waiting Leopard DropShip, with our ‘Mechs riddled like a sieve, and half the planetary militia chasing us like debt collectors.

(He glances back at Aleksey, who leans against a pillar, arms crossed, smirking.)

VIKTOR Tell her, Aleksey Dimitrievich. How you dropped his BattleMaster like a sack of potatoes and saved our lives.

ALEKSEY (Voice rough as gravel) You gave me life, Viktor Ivanovich. It was nothing. I aimed carefully and got one cannon shot, clean through the cockpit faceplate. Kostov never knew what hit him. Probably his ghost is still wandering around looking for his head

(The ‘Mechwarriors chuckle like wolves sharing a kill, Sebastian nodding approval from his position by the windows.)

ALINA (Eyes wide, glancing at Aleksey’s imposing frame) You took down a mech… with a single shot? That's... that's not possible, is it?

VIKTOR Stranger things have happened under the stars…

ALINA (suspicious) There’s a catch. I am not a little girl. You are telling me tall tales. I’ve seen the BattleMasters in Kurita posters, like the Griffins by the Archon’s throne. That fishbowl canopy? Glass. Easy to shatter. You got lucky.

(The table murmurs in approval. Viktor grins—finally, a real audience. )

VIKTOR Bright as a PPC, Alina! You’re half-right. Those fishbowls let pilots see the field directly, not just through cameras. But ‘Mechs also have armored screens—blinds,—that cover the glass. The BattleMaster’s canopy is like a convertible automobile. When things get dangerous, the pilot closes the hatch. Like in a tank

(He gestures broadly.) Aleksey’s shot was damned lucky. Our ‘Mechs were wrecked. Visconti and I were already down. Kostov was performing an autopsy on Aleksey’s ‘Mech with PPC and laser scalpels. But fate guided Aleksey’s aim. The screen wasn’t down. It didn’t save him. We were destined for greater things.

KATYA I can’t imagine what. Still waiting.

(Laughter rolls around the room. Glasses clink. Someone lights a cigar.)

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 13-3

The Wolves Close In

AMAN ZEKRI (cold stare ): Pleasure. Viktor says you’re ComStar.

(Spits the word like a curse.)

ALINA And you’re a mercenary. We all have our problems.

(Aman smiles. A rare thing. They understand each other now.)

ATANAS (swirling vodka, voice low): You smell good, too clean for this table. You are quiet…

(Stares) But the quiet ones? Always the meanest.

ALINA (without blinking): To kill is easy. Hiding bodies is harder.

(Atanas lifts his glass. Respect.)

KATYA (dry): I’ve seen Viktor take in a lot of whores. But a ComStar nun? That’s a first.

MAZEN (grins): She’s beautiful. I’ll allow it—if she drinks with us.

(Shot glasses appear like magic. Alina takes one)

ARTHUR (raising a glass): Another pretty face at the table. Don’t mind me, darling—I’m only loyal to paychecks and Scotch. You’ll get used to it.

ALINA I’m already used to Scotch. But your ugly face might take some time.

ARTHUR (chuckles) Lass, if you survive this dinner, you’ve got steel. And if you need whisky—I can smell it from ten light years away.

ALINA Can you bring some Glendalough Single Pot Still, Bismarck distillery? Ten years preferred—but I’m not picky here at the edge of the Periphery.

YOSHIRO (soft, formal, bows): Welcome. A warrior must know who they protect. You have the eyes of one who’s survived many winters.

ALINA (smiling): Do I look that old? I hope not.

(Yoshiro nods, smiles faintly. That was a test too. She passed.)

ISHANI (stands to attention, clicking heels, bows): A pleasure, meine Dame. Any friend of Viktor’s… is suspicious by default.

ALINA (grinning): You can’t prove anything.

ISHANI (smiles) I said the same at my court martial. Didn’t work, that’s why I am here with this horrid lot.

MAZEN We love you too, bitch!

(laughter)

The Closing Blow

(Katya slides an arm around Alina’s waist. Close. Smirking. Mazen leans in with a leer.)

MAZEN You’re too beautiful for Viktor. Come with us. We’ll show you what’s good.

(Everyone watches. Waiting for the squeak. The flinch. The gasp.)

ALINA (deadpan, smooth): Thanks. But I’ve had my fill of alternative sexuality tonight. I enjoyed it. But that’s enough. Lovely ladies. Maybe another night.

(Long pause. A few stares. Then—)

MAZEN …Huh.

(Katya lets go. Alina sits down like a queen among wolves.)

VIKTOR (returning, hands behind his back, mild grin): I didn’t hear any screaming, so I trust everything went well and you are getting along.

(Nervous laughter from the table. Someone coughs. Someone snorts.)

VISCONTI (under breath): Oh shit, this was another one of his tests…

ARTHUR Glad you’re back, boss. We were running out of safe topics.

VIKTOR (grinning): Then let’s show Alina our trophies. Before the wolves get bored.

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 13-2

The Introductions Begin

VIKTOR: Captain Frederik Visconti, founding member. Well, it was just me and Soloviev recruiting, and Visconti was the only fool who showed for the job interview. We started as contractors for the Lone Wolves cartel. Just promoted to company command, he’s from Donegal, like you.

VISCONTI (Grinning sheepishly) I was headed to another merc unit’s interview, same building, and walked through the wrong door. Best mistake I ever made.

ALINA (stiffens subtly, a touch cool): Oh, the Frederik Visconti from that scandal? The one who… left his cousin pregnant and ran from the altar?

A deathly silence falls. Visconti pales, his glass frozen mid-sip. Then Mazen cackles, Katya snorts, and the room explodes in laughter.

MAZEN (Pointing) Yeah, that’s the guy who can’t keep his dick in his pants!

SCHLOSSER (Chuckling) Lad’s got charm, but not brains

VISCONTI (Recovering, red-faced) Oh, don’t believe what the tabloids say, I was made a scapegoat.

(He leans forward, curious)

You don’t look Irish, but German. From the noble House Albrecht or von Zell? Donegal’s full of Fritzes, like me.

ALINA (smiling politely): Oh, neither. I was born in a monastery.

(Beat. Uneasy glances. Katya smirks. Aleksey stares.)

VIKTOR This big man —Captain Aleksey Soloviev. My other founder and partner in crime. Capellan. Ex-Maskirovka… and worse things. Doesn’t talk much. But he asks all the questions.

ALINA (smiling coolly): Ah. Good cop, bad cop?

VIKTOR Alexei is the good cop.

ALEKSEY (very quietly): I’ll run a background check.

(Alina’s smile flickers. For a second—just a second—she looks like a nervous teenager. Then—straightens.)

ALINA (Softly) That’s… comforting.

VIKTOR (Patting her shoulder) I know he’s scary. Scares me sometimes, too. But he’s loyal.

(He moves to Schlosser, who raises his glass.)

VIKTOR Sebastian Schlosser, our grizzled sergeant major. He was somebody once—15th Lyran Guard with Katrina Steiner. We fought on the same side on Hesperus II against the Dragoons in ’19. I found him in the gutter. He joined for glory, spare parts for his Warhammer, and to pay his ex-wife’s pension. Hasn’t left since. Has nowhere else to go. Just like the rest of us.

SCHLOSSER (gravelly, leg creaking): Jawohl, mädchen. Viktor’s mad, but he pays well. Stick around, you’ll see.

(He winks, paternal, easing Alina’s tension.)

VIKTOR (Pointing to Katya and Mazen, grinning)

Ekaterina Chekanova, ice-queen sniper from Rasalhague. Mazen Al-Sayed, firebrand from the Hindu Collective in the Federated Suns. Don’t let the pretty faces fool you—the female is the deadlier of the species.

KATYA (Dryly, sipping vodka) Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Viktor Ivanovich.

MAZEN (Twirling her knife, smirking) Speak for yourself, Katya. I like the compliments.

(She winks at Alina, who blushes.)

ALINA (Curious) You two… work together often?

MAZEN (Leaning close, teasing) Oh, we do more than work, sweetheart.

(Katya elbows her, but her smirk betrays amusement.)

VIKTOR I’ve to talk to the household staff. Alina, I leave you with these scoundrels for drinks and small talk. I’ll be back shortly.

ALINA (Anxious) Why do I feel like you’re leaving me alone with a pack of wolves?

VIKTOR (grinning): Not wolves. Just jackals and hyenas.

(The girls cackle like hyenas. Loud, shrill, ridiculous.)

VIKTOR (last words): And if someone gropes your ass—before you slap anyone, check Katya or Mazen. Likeliest culprits.

[the-outer-topic]

The mercenary 'Mechwarrior and the ComStar nun - Scene 13-1

Dinner with wolves

Scene: The Officer’s Mess – Gerlitzen Manor, Night

Setting: Warm golden light spills from polished bronze chandeliers. The mess has been transformed—not lavish, but martial elegance. White linen over real wood table holds mismatched porcelain. Wooden chairs with cushions chairs aligned in military precision. No vases but a champagne bucket, ice crusted at the rim, holds Alina’s roses like a trophy won and bottles of Skye whisky, Capellan rice wine, and Rasalhague vodka. Open windows reveal a courtyard bonfire, where the household servants revel in a biergarten. The Black Riders’ founding ‘Mechwarriors—Aleksey Soloviev, Frederik Visconti, Sebastian Schlosser, and the rest of the survivors of the original company—wear Combine dress uniforms: white tunics edged in orange, black breeches with red stripes, red boots, no medals. The atmosphere is rowdy yet disciplined, like a British regiment mess crossed with a pirate feast.

A Black Riders flag hangs above the hearth, the black lobster tail cuirassier helmet on an orange disk the only note of color with the red roses, and a billiard table with red and blue balls. Both ends of the hall are hidden by linen covers. Everybody dressed in white tunics against the white covers give a surreal ghostly atmosphere.

Present:

(some are called by name, others by surname, shown in bold)

Officers (all captain rank):

Aleksey Soloviev: Age 30, undercut hair long on top, brown hair and eyes, boxer nose, trim beard, broad shouldered

Frederik Visconti: Early twenties, dark hair and blue eyes, clean shaven, handsome as a Lyran recruiting poster

and former Lyran Guard Ishani Kurunkar: early 20s, Euro Indian mixed race, green eyes, sexy, moves with feline elegance.

Other ranks:

Sergeant Major Sebastian Schlosser: Past 50, Grey white undercut, trim beard, wrinkled, muscled, distinguished. Bionic leg

Ekaterina Katya Chekanova

early 20s Blonde, icy stare, beautiful but inexpressive

Mazen Al Sayed

mid 20s Indian race, athletic

Arthur Mac Horner

Early 30s but looking older, widow peak, shabby beard, ice eyes but bloodshot.

Yoshiro Kishida

Early 30s, Japanese, clean shaven, square jawed and straight nose, slanted eyes, missing couple fingertips on left hand. Somber.

Aminah Aman Zekri

Early 20s, Arabic, black hair, brown eyes and brown skin, henna tattoos on face, large earrings. Intense.

Atanas Atanasov

Late 30s, shaven head and clean shaven, muscled, granite face with wrinkles, prison tattoos visible on hands and exposed neck above collar. Outside in the hallway:

VIKTOR and ALINA arm in arm stop before the closed door.

VIKTOR (hands Alina an earpiece and a remote control) Here, darling, put this one on. Not everybody speaks German or English, so it is confusing at times.

ALINA (puts it on) Automated translation earpieces? But how? There’s no network since the Steiner raid.

VIKTOR The garrison military servers work. Perks of belonging to the warrior caste. Ready?

ALINA I have a bad feeling about this…

VIKTOR (encouraging smile) Too late to have cold feet. (offers his arm again)

(camera switches to the inside of the hall)

The Officer’s Mess - Entrance

Enter VIKTOR STARKOV, in Steiner blue tunic, white pants, McKennsy medal at the neck.

At his side: ALINA, radiant in makeup and white ComStar robes. Subtle, poised, alert behind her stillness.

As they cross the threshold, the banter begins immediately.

FREDERIK VISCONTI (mock outrage): Boss! Whaddaya doing dressed in Steiner blue? Are we switching sides again?

ALEKSEY SOLOVIEV (deadpan): You in Steiner blue and she in ComStar white… careful, Commander. Internal Security gonna think we’re planning a coup.

ATANAS (snorts): They're used to Starkov by now. If he started sacrificing virgins to the Dark Gods during full moons, they’d just file it as a routine incident.

KATYA (dry as sand): This is confusing. First we dress like Dracs, now you show up like a Lyran wedding cake.

VIKTOR (completely straight-faced): Got a stain on the dress whites. Had to wear the old uniform.

MAZEN (flat): Pig.

ARTHUR (raising a glass): And he hasn’t even started drinking yet!

SCHLOSSER (dry) You couldn’t get a stain even if you tried. The uniform is made from a synthetic fiber called trichloropolyester, which is flame-, tear-, and water resistant, and prevents spills from marring the uniform's shine

(Everyone stares, confused.)

ATANAS: How the hell do you know that?

SCHLOSSER (smug) The same way we learn everything in the Lyran army. I read the instructions manual!

VIKTOR (cool) That would be correct, Schlosser. Except that the Procurement Department doesn’t issue dress uniforms. I had these made from local wool. So you better watch for stains—and grab napkins. Dry cleaning comes out of your pay.

(Suddenly everyone looks self-conscious, checking tunics for stains.)

VIKTOR (whispers to Alina) He’s right, but they don’t know, so that will make them behave.

VIKTOR (in normal voice) Alina, I welcome you to the inauguration of our mess, our Valhalla

ALINA The hall of dead heroes? They don’t look dead.

VIKTOR You are right. They don’t look like heroes, either.

CHORUS (laughter)

VIKTOR (loud, mock-grand): Ladies and gentlemen—

CHORUS (laughter):

ISHANI KURUNKAR Ladies and gentlemen, he says. He’s funny.

VIKTOR (mock exasperated): For once, can you behave like decent people, not the bastards and whores you are?

CHORUS (immediate, trained): Nooooooooo!

ARTHUR (grinning): Now tell us, Commander. Who’s the girl? Human sacrifice for the night?

VIKTOR (mock solemn): This is Adept Alina, my guest. She’s not a sacrifice. She’s dessert.

(Beat. Then laughter.)

(Faces Alina, gesturing with arm towards the assembly) This is my family of cretins. Damaged children, every one—but survivors. I don’t know if that’s Darwin at work or just dumb luck.

У нас есть то, что есть. We have what we have.

(walks with Alina on tow)  You have already meet Queequeg.. I mean, Mazhar. These people don’t look as savage as him but appearances are deceiving.