Birth of a New Legend: Book 3 of the Death Dealer Saga - Death’s Own Daughter.

by Jessie Wolf

  The tension was thick enough to cut with a chain saw. I kept shifting from one foot to the other. The fact that this might not be Victor Light but a double was eating me alive. I had to know. If it was him it was over, if not I don’t even want to think about it.

  The medics slowly left the pilot out of the cockpit on a backboard. At first I can’t see the pilots face because it is faced away from me. When the medics finally get it out in the open and lying flat on the back of the Suit I finally see the pilots face.

  Chapter 10

  All my fears, and those of my family, were put to rest. There on the backboard was none other than Victor Light. He was severely injured; you could see the head wound and broken arm. What was most telling though was the way the medics had him braced on the backboard. From the looks of things he won’t be causing too much trouble. Looking over at the young medical officer who was in charge “Excuse me, lieutenant, but do you think he’ll survive?” I really wanted to know if this asshole that has plagued my family for so long was going to live.

  “We won’t know till we get him to the field hospital for sure, but most likely he’ll live.” I could tell by the way he worked that he was all professional. “Whether or not he’ll walk is up to the surgeons. I’m just an Emergency Medical Technician I don’t have the medical skill or know-how to say otherwise.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant, you’ve been most helpful.” After taking one more look at Victor Light, I head over to where mama and Alice are waiting. “It’s him alright. I would know that pig’s face anywhere. Come on let’s get off this scrap heap, and head back to the rear. I don’t know about you two, but I could use a drink, a strong one at that.”

  Mama gave me a worried look “Are you alright, Maiha? I know that you didn’t want this war.” Here she was surrounded by a field covered in the reams of an army, thousands of dead, dying, or wounded young men and women, and she was worried about me. “I know that you feel that all of this is your fault. Are you going to be alright?”

  I look out across the battle field. From the recesses of my mind I recall all the places I have fought. One more time I have survived when I should have died. Once again I have cheated Death and denied him his due. With a heavy sigh I look at her and Alice “I just need a drink, ok?” I fail to put their concerns to rest. “I’ll be fine, but right now I want to go and get a big bottle of Scotch, get drunk, and forget what took place out here for a little while.” With that I turn and jump down from the Are’s back.

  When I hit the ground I take off running. I push myself to the limit and I’m at the top end of my speed. I weave in, and around all the damaged, or destroyed, vehicles and APS. I know that there are unexploded ordnances out here, but I don’t slow down. I finally stop when I get to the range tower, or what’s left of it. From the looks of things it took a direct hit from more than one weapon. I see scorch marks from lasers, holes from auto cannon and rail gun rounds, and whole areas of metal which was twisted by PPC blasts. Only the observation hut remained. When I walk inside I find the ready room in total disarray. That’s when I see the two holes in the back wall. Looking around I find a rail gun round lying in a corner. I guess the ready room wasn’t as safe as everyone thought.

  Walking over to the bar I find what I was looking for, an intact bottle of Home World Scotch. I also find a pack of Black Jake cigarettes. Just what I need to put the day behind me. I hear mama and Alice calling out my name. I really want to be alone right now. Thirty years ago I swore I would never take part in another war that I was done with being a Death Dealer. Taking the bottle, cigarettes, and some matches I put them in a bag that I found behind the bar. I go over to where the rail gun punched the hole in the wall. I pass the bag through and then lift myself up to its edge. After wiggling through I drop to the ground and head for the far side of the estate.

  “Dee De, full stealth mode.” I order.

  Maiha, are you sure you want to do this? There are people who care about you, who are looking for you. (Dee De)

  “Damn it! I said full stealth mode. Now do it!” I was pissed and I needed to be alone. I know what I did today all too well. Right now I need a break from it all. Dee De did as I asked and I slipped away into the woods that bordered the practice range. Even here I could see the evidence of today’s battle. When I get to the far wall I find a nice little spot that is out of the way where no one will find me. Once there I sit down next to an old tree and take out the cigs’ and bottle. After opening the cigs and lighting one up, I open the Scotch and take a drink. For the next hour I just sat there chain smoking cigarettes and drinking from the bottle. I try not to think of the battle and all the death.

  Her voice caught me off guard. “Can I get one of those?” I turn and see Fuyuko standing next to the tree I’m using as a backrest. There she was still in her armor with a look on her face that I haven’t seen in a long time. The last time I saw that look was on the face of a young man right after the Battle of Higgins Road over thirty years. Back in the day we called it the ‘thousand yard stare’. I know what she’s thinking and what she’s feeling. I hand her the pack along with the matches. After she’s lit one up I hand her the Scotch.

  “Go ahead, it’ll help deaden the pain.” I tell her knowing it’s a lie.

  She looks at the bottle for a few seconds then takes a long pull off it. She starts to cough after she swallows. “God. How can you drink that stuff? It tastes like battery acid.”

  Taking the bottle back from her I smile and take a drink. “You sip it. You don’t chug good Scotch like you just did. Hey wait a minute. How did you find me? When I left I was in full stealth mode.”

  The look of embarrassment tells me she’s not too proud of what she did. “I was hiding behind the ready room when I saw you climb out through the hole in its wall. I waited for a few minutes then followed you. I figured you needed some time to yourself, so I waited until I thought it was safe to come near you before I did. I’m sorry sissy, but I didn’t think you should be all alone right now.”

  “It’s alright, kiddo. I just needed some time to think and put things into prospective.” I smile up at her then pat the ground next to me. “Now tell why you were hiding like you were.”

  “I didn’t know what to do after I was ejected from Monsoon Warrior. When the Hell Hounds picked me up they brought me back here behind the lines. I waited around in the mobile command unit for Nanase and Nanami. When they showed up safe and sound I needed to find someplace that was quiet to think. That’s when I found the spot behind the ready room. I didn’t want to be in the MCU if you or mama got hurt so I decided to wait out the battle there. Nanase and Nanami are still there.”

  “No, we’re not, sis, we followed you and sissy.” We both turn and see the two of them peeking out from behind one of the other trees. It was Nanase who had spoken first.

  “Hey, we figured that if you two were going to sneak off, we could too. So we just decided to follow you, since you were following Maiha.” They may be the youngest of the Storm Dancers but they too had the ‘stare’.

  I wave them over to us and pat the ground for them to sit down. Like I did with Fuyuko I pass them the cigarettes and Scotch. Just like their sister they followed my example. After we all had a smoke and a drink. We just sat there and let the stress of the day go. I know that I have more work to do and there’s mama’s wedding to consider, but right now I need to help them with what they have done today and yesterday. All three of them are too young for this shit. They have had too much violence in their young lives. They should be worrying about school, clothes, and boys. Not piloting multi ton war machines across a battle field.

  “So, I heard that each of you made Ace twice. How do you feel about that?” I really needed to know what was on their minds. I take a drink from the bottle and pass it to Fuyuko.

  After taking a sip Fuyuko gets this faraway look in her eyes. “I know that some of those men died out there, but I can’t say that I’m sorry they did. Those people were going to hurt us i
f they had a chance.” Taking another sip and a draw off her cigarette “I know what the soldiers of House Light would do to us. I would never take the life of an innocent but those pigs are not innocent. They have stolen, killed, and raped their way to power. They have no honor, and therefore undeserving of mercy on my part.” She takes one more sip and passes the battle to Nanase. The bottle has become the token symbol for whoever’s turn it is to talk.

  Nanase reaches over and gets another cigarette and light before she begins to talk. “I know that I should feel upset for killing those men, but I remember what they did to our mother and Fuyuko. When they told us what they planned to do to us. I knew that I might have to kill to protect my new family. That it would be the only way to stop them. So I don’t feel as if I did anything wrong. I’m just upset that I lost Typhoon Harbinger. He ejected me right before his auto-cannon rounds cooked off from the heat buildup.” When she finished she passed the bottle to Nanami. Following her twins’ example Nanami got a fresh cig and a light before talking.

  “I thought that I would be upset by killing those people, even the ones from yesterday; but all I see when I start to get upset is the look on our mother’s face the night she died. I still remember how I felt then. I was powerless to stop those men. I never want to feel that way again. That’s why I wanted to be a soldier so much. To bring those men to justice or to kill them.” I watch as she takes a drink from the bottle. From what I can tell the killing of the soldiers isn’t bothering her too much. In fact it may have done her and Nanase some good. When she hands me the bottle of Scotch I notice that they’re all looking at me.

  Take a drag off my cig and a pull from the bottle as I collect my thoughts. “I know that you’re all a little worried about me. Understand something; I’ve a life time of this. I have fought wars on over thirty different planets and faced death on countless battle fields.” I take another drink from the bottle. “No matter what someone says, no matter what they do, when it comes to fighting a war it’s the young men and women who make up the military that always pay the price. Sure some of those men and women out there deserved to die, but not all. They should be held accountable in a court of law, not the battle field. That’s why I will always try to avoid all-out war. That’s why I needed to get away for a while before dealing with anymore of this mess.”

  A hand reaches down over my shoulder and takes the bottle from my hand. Looking up over my shoulder I see mama standing there with a small smile on her face. “While I don’t normally condone the unlady like behavior going on here I’ll overlook it for now.” With that she tips the bottle up and takes a big drink from it. “That’s some good Scotch. You’ll forgive me if I pass on the smokes, nasty habit in my opinion. Before you ask, Maiha, I simply followed your sisters’ trail. You do realize that you upset quit a few people when you took off like that?”

  “Frankly, I don’t give a damn. Last time I looked I was the one whose tits were on the line. If this all went pear shaped it would have been my ass that would have had to face the Emperor not them.” Yah my temper was up and I didn’t care. “If I want to take some time to be alone then that is what I’m going to do.”

  “Calm down child. I know that you would do something like this sooner or later. I know how much this whole mess bothered you and was prepared for it.” Mama handed the bottle back to me. There was just a swallow left so I tip the bottle up and finished it off. I drank half of that bottle and was just now starting to feel the alcohol. “However, I do believe that you need to return to the house and get cleaned up. I’ll have Gin and the rest waiting for you. I expect to see you clean, dressed, and somewhat sober in time for dinner in my rooms.” With that mama turned and headed back toward the main house.

  Looking over at my sisters I decided that it would be best to head back now, than later. “Come on you three, let’s head home. Sitting around here ain’t going to get anything done, and I have way too much work to do, yet.” I ground out the cigarette I was smoking then stood up. They all followed my example and joined me as I started to walk back towards the house.

  We had gone only a few yards when Alice stepped from behind a tree. “I take it you’re ready to get back to work?”

  “Yah, I guess I am. I just have to figure out how I’m going to explain my disappearing like I did.” I started to scratch the back of my head. All the sweating I did during combat had started to dry.

  Alice gets a silly look on her face, and then starts to laugh. When I don’t join her she just laughs all the harder. I wait for her to get control of herself, and ask what’s so funny. “Kitten, your mama has already handled the matter.”

  “And just how did she do that?”

  “Didn’t you know that you’re out here ‘performing’ a ‘perfection ritual’ and were not to be disturbed?”

  “What the hell are you talking about, Alice?”

  Her giggle lets me know I might not like this. “Well, it seems that as the Head of House Nakatoma you are also the ‘top dog’ for the Temple. As such you can’t reenter the main area of the compound until you purify yourself of the evil of violence.” When she starts to giggle again I get a sneaky feeling I’m not going to like what she says next. “It had to be… (Snigger) in the (snigger)…I’m sorry, but this is funny. You had to do it in the nude.” Yup, I was right; but you know something it was funny. I just start laughing right along with her. We’re joined by my sisters. It was just too funny for words. Mama used the mysticism of the Temple to give me an excuse to be alone. The fact that I would be ‘naked’ and performing a secret, an ancient religious act was more than enough to keep people away while I got my act together.

  There was one thing that was bugging me though. “Um, Alice how did mama explain the absence of the girls?”

  “Oh, that was even better. They’re your wittiness’ and the Temple’s representatives. They’re here to make sure you do it right.”

  When I hear this I can’t help, but to admire mama’s ability to baffle them with bullshit. The woman was a true artist at misdirection and disinformation. If I ever need someone to run a deception operation I’ll ask her. The fact that she came up with such a plausible excuse on such a short notice was amazing.

  “Ok, even I would believe that one. Alright Temple witnesses’ let’s get home, cleaned up, and something to eat. I have a feeling that today ain’t over, yet.” I started walking before I could be talked into spending more time out here. It took us about half an hour to get back to the house. We were greeted by mama at the entrance of the courtyard. The fact that she was still in her armor told me that something was up. “Is something wrong mama?”

  “No, child, everything is being handled those who are in command of the individual units. I just thought it would be best if we all entered the house at the same time. It would lend credence to your purification.” Like I said the woman was a master at bullshit. We all started to laugh at her explanation.

  “Mama, you are a true master of the art of verbal deception.” I place my hands together at my waist and give her a very formal bow. “I bow to your wisdom in this matter.”

  When she returns my bow it is with a simple nod of her head. “You are wise beyond your years, young one.” Oh no, she did not just go there, but then again I was in the presence of a true master of the art! Should I grovel and ask her forgiveness, or perhaps counter with one of my more lethal jabs, or … oh, I know.

  I palmed my hands together and bent deeply at the waist. "I am at your mercy, Madame Vengeance. Can this unworthy girl be found moderately talented enough to study the ancient art of verbal swordplay at your side?" Hopefully I can disarm her by playing the ‘wounded duck ploy’.

  Mama gives me a strange look, then bends down and picks up a pebble off the ground. “If you can snatch the pebble from my hand, young one. Only then will you be found worthy.” Damn I just knew she wouldn’t go for it. Then again she did give me an out. Eyeing the pebble in her hand I pull up my HUD and get the exact distance from my hand to hers
. Even using her Death Dealer boosted reflexes I still have the advantage.

  As fast as I am she still pulls the pebble out of my reach. “Gotcha!”

  “AAAGGGHHH, no fair! You set me up!” I know it couldn’t be that easy. Why damn it, do I always fall for the simple tricks. Our little by play had my sisters and Alice giggling. “Oh well. I guess you can’t win the all.”

  “That, my dear, is an essential truth in life.” Mama was smiling at us all. “Now, girls it’s time, past time really; for us to get cleaned up. Maiha, Allison, your maids are awaiting you in your rooms. The same goes for you three as well.” Mama turns and leads us in to the house. Once inside we all split up and head for our individual rooms.

  As usual Gin, Kina, and Nia were waiting for us. “Hi, ladies, did you miss us?” once again my joke fell on deaf ears, as usual. I just head for the bathroom with Alice in tow. Once there we both deactivate our armor and climb into the shower. We have a few minutes of hot steamy shower sex before getting down to the business of actually cleaning up. After the shower we climbed into the hot bath that our maids had drawn. For the next half hour we just relaxed, and let the stress of the day just melt away. Ah, Calgon take me away! There’s nothing like a nice relaxing bath to put the world into perspective.

  When we finally get out we’re close to being prunes. After drying off, we head for the dressing area. Gin and Kina meet us there to help us get dressed. I notice our kimonos are the Storm Dancers ones we had worn the other day. “Your mother left orders for you and the Lady Allison to be dressed as you were yesterday, my Lady. She said it had something to do with what you must do this afternoon.” Was all the explanation Nia gave. The others only backed her up on this. When I asked what I was supposed to be doing this afternoon they only said they did not know.