Lodestone TLR-99

Missing signals

"Lord Viscount, signal intelligence has something to report."

Viscount Matteus Wallin turned in his command chair, at the head of the war room table, to face the messenger who had just entered. "What's this about?"

"The burst transmissions we've been picking up from the South, my lord. They've stopped. Sigint have not picked up anything on that wavelength in an unusually long time."

Wallin attempted to hide his astonishment. Every appearance of the Sunnr Army's deadliest unit had been preceded by a massive wave of burst transmissions. It was almost like the pressure wave before a thunderstorm; even something as large and sudden as an enemy mech could be predicted if only one knew where to watch for the signs. Wallin turned to one of the tacticians at the war table. "When was the last time we detected the White Thorne?"

The tactician in question tapped and swiped a few things on the table in front of them and pulled up some data. "Logs indicate six months, Lord Viscount," she answered.

But the messenger was not done delivering news. "Except, Lord Viscount, the White Thorne was detected last night, attacking a group of bandits near the border. The burst transmissions were nowhere to be found. Neither on a different frequency nor with a different encryption."

Kerlaugar's finest signal analysts had been trying to decode the transmissions for years. The goal was to improve their early warning systems by watching for bursts on the right frequency, if not decrypt them and understand how their systems worked. Kerlaugar's engineers believed the bursts to be a personal area network, a way for the mech to control systems wirelessly on short distances, and they were simply intercepting RF bleed from a drive by wire system. But if the Thorne had arrived with no signals at all... how could it be moving?

A shred of horror reached the Viscount's face as a subtle twitch beneath his eyebrow. The Thorne could attack from anywhere, anytime, their warning system be damned.

Baron Kjell Lennartson's ears had perked up at the mention of the White Thorne. He turned to face the messenger as well. "Do you think they've begun to use stealth technology?"

Wallin's gaze snapped towards his young inferior. "Don't be a fool, boy! The use of stealth technology has been forbidden by the Galactic Royal Family for over a century. The South would not dare displease the Prince Regent if they're striving for the same goal as us."

"My apologies, Lord Viscount. But if the South has identified that their burst transmissions have served us as an early warning and hidden them..."

"The fact remains that the White Thorne was detected at our very border, with no advance warning. Were they truly using the forbidden ways, they'd have hidden themselves better than that." Wallin turned back towards the messenger. "What became of the White Thorne afterwards?"

"We lost contact with the Thorne's power signature half an hour later, Lord Viscount. We have no data that suggests they left the area; the Thorne just vanished. No other Sunnr military units were present and no drop ship arrived or departed. The only movement on record is the retreat of the bandits."

"They did not return to base, then," Kjell observed. "Could they still be at the border?"

"They lie in wait for us," growled Wallin. "This is a slap to the faces of all the border guards we lost back then, and they know it."

Kjell glanced at the map on the war room table, presently showing a color coded relief map of the area around the north-south border. The border itself was filled in a cross-hatched grey color, indicating neither the Sunnr Principality of the South, nor the northern Viscountcy of Kerlaugar, presently held the region. It might as well have been covered in question marks. If no other units were spotted at the border besides the White Thorne, Sunnr were either hiding themselves very well, or they'd pulled back from the border as soon as they'd won it. Or... perhaps this was a challenge. Maybe the Viscount was right.

"Lord Viscount," Kjell addressed. "I think they're waiting for someone in particular. Do we respond?"

Viscount Wallin stood from his chair and leaned closer to Kjell's ear. "The Red Baron's time is not now," he growled under his breath. "Not while so much is up in the air. He does not act rashly and he does not go alone. Do you understand me, boy?"

Kjell shivered. "I understand, Lord Viscount," he whispered back.

Mehr quietly (she'd hoped) slid open Lodestone's chest compartment and made to drop, cat-like, from the cockpit to the concrete floor of the warehouse-hangar. When she landed, there was a presence directly in front of her - a scruffy, blonde, and slightly tear-stained presence.

"I can't believe I never thought to let you do that," whimpered a crying, smiling Kath Niemeyer. "I've been such an idiot not letting you drive." Crying? Laughing? It was hard to tell which, even for as long as they'd known each other.

"I... thought you were still asleep." Mehr blushed a bit. "I would never have taken Lodestone without asking if--" Mehr found herself tightly wrapped in Kath's quivering arms, with her damp face resting on a shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. You were great out there. You were the fucking best."

Mehr couldn't deny how great it felt. She saved the day before anybody even knew it needed saving. But despite Kath clinging to her, something still felt missing. Her heart was still pounding with the adrenaline of the last fight. Even if the bandits never stood a chance against her and barely even scratched the paint - the one tank shell aside - Mehr couldn't calm down.

One of Kath's arms released itself from Mehr's back, and a moment later, she felt it stroking her sweat-drenched head.

"Good girl, Mehr," Kath whispered, as her finger caressed from the nape of Mehr's neck, up to the point of her chin.

All was finished. It was time to go be a person again. It was almost like an off switch.