It’s a Peaceful Life (Battletech AU/SI)

[Kenji Kage]

So just found this and it's awesome so watched now


Mh it would be really interesting if our mc found a star league datacore backup site under his barn


Also the best place to relax, get sun , stay active and be out of sight would be a farm wouldn't it. it's the best place to recover

 

[MarkWarrior]

The thing about grief, is that there are times when it bubbles back up to the surface. I've been here on New Avalon and in this universe for four years now. But sometimes, that sense of loss still rises. Like dead leaves blowing into a crystal clear lake. It disrupts the calm surface and sends ripples through the rest of the day.

Today was one of those days. I woke up just feeling so very tired. The returning wave of grief settled like a heavy weight across my back as I sat up and swung my legs around and off of the bed.

Despite how I felt, I knew that I still had to finish working on things around the farm. But after I finished the chores, I was going to head into town. Even if being around people wouldn't feel great right now. It would still help. Humans aren't meant to be alone. We thrive on community, family, and being around others.

The Twins and other animals helped lift my spirits as I tended to them. Unfortunately, for all that they had personalities and brought joy to my life. They weren't people. I could talk to them, but they would never be able to respond in kind. Or really understand what I was going through.

And no, I knew that no one else had likely been ripped from their time and dropped into a place where they had scarce knowledge and nothing to rely on. But I knew people that had once been ripped away from families. I could sympathize and understand them. And the somewhat shared experiences would help.

With that in mind, I climbed into my truck and started the engine. I was heading to the city, and I might as well do a few errands while I was there.

–
–

The farm may have been my main project and restoring it my focus. But I did still have one hobby that I had started when they let out of whatever facility I had been kept in for the first year. Sure, they'd turned me loose and given me citizenship and a sum of money to keep me alive and quiet, but they didn't leave me anything to go off of after that.

So, outside of finding an entry level job in the first year to supplement the sum they were giving me, I'd found a hobby. It had started with something modern. I'd picked up a variant of the Federated Suns standard sidearm and current issue rifle. Then, I gradually began working my way back through the centuries. At first, just because I found the evolution of the technology interesting. Then, as I began going further and further back in time it became something more.

It was enabling me to reach for something familiar, something that I could connect to my old life, even if it were just for a moment. Something tangible that I could put my hands on and hold that would at least let me relive some of my past.

Until today, the furthest back I had found anything was from the early 2300s. But today, one of the gun shops and antique stores I frequented had multiple items that caught my interest.

"I picked up a bunch of stuff at an estate sale," William smiled at me as he placed a couple of large cases on the counter. "I held onto them because I knew you'd want to take a look."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow and stepped up to the counter and gestured for him to open one of the cases. "William, whatever you found it must be worth a fortune, why would you be holding onto them for me?"

"You're my friend," the man shrugged. "And I don't think that the people running the estate knew what they had on their hands. They were too busy trying to milk money out of the 'Mechs, paintings, and other shit like that. Besides, even if you buy one or two of these, I'll still make good money off of the rest of them."

William opened the case, revealing two rifles. One that I was intimately familiar with, one that I recognized out of a history book, and a pistol that was an antique in the time I originally came from.

"How much do you want for them?" I asked.

"Same as you paid for the Mauser," William replied. "I'll make way more off of the rest of the collection."

"No," I shook my head. "I know that this is worth way more than that."

"Mark," William shook his head, grinning wryly. "You know that I'd have never been able to stay open if you hadn't pointed out that I was getting swindled on some of the older stuff I've got here. I know you won't let me just give them to you. But I won't accept more than what you paid for the 960. I know the bakery's been closed for six months or so and that you're just selling meat and products from the farm."

"Fine," I sighed and reached for my wallet. "I'll take it."

"I'll throw in a few boxes of ammunition too," William accepted the money. "I know you don't have any Safe Queens."

"Damn straight," I chuckled. "Clean 'em, take care of your tools, and your animals, and they'll take care of you."

---

"I thought I'd find you here," Hanse looked at Katherine as she sat in the gardens, the sun beaming down on her. "If not for the amount of work that I had to do following my own ordeal, I'd have done the same."

"It's so warm," Katherine replied, her eyes closed as she relaxed into the grass. "I didn't think it would be warm again."
"The cells were cold," Hanse said, his body present, but his mind absent and far away as his own experiences were brought to the forefront of his mind. "And the people and tables were colder."

"I couldn't count the days," Katherine opened her eyes after a few moments of silence and glanced at her father..

"I know," Hanse replied, sitting down beside his daughter and laying down in the grass. "The blank spots in your mind from the drugs and interrogations eventually fill themselves in. But you'll wish that they didn't at times."

"I don't like being inside the mountain," she continued. "It's too cold. It feels like I'm trapped again."

"Recovery doesn't happen overnight," Hanse looked into the sky. "It's going to take years for you to work through it. But you can do it. Now, let's get you inside. We've got to discuss what's happening in the Federated Commonwealth and what our plans for the future need to be."

"The Combine or FWL did something, didn't they?" Katherine raised an eyebrow as she pushed herself up to her feet.

"Ha!" Hanse laughed, easing himself up more slowly. "I wish. No, there's something else going on. But it needs to be discussed somewhere more secure."

"Can we find somewhere outside?" Katherine asked. "I don't want to go inside," She glanced up at the sun. "Not yet, anyway."

"I think we can find a secure enough location for it," Hanse said, his hand going to his chin as he considered something. "In fact, I think I know just the place. He should probably be brought up to date on some things given he's the reason we knew enough to have extra HUMINT along the Periphery borders."

Author's Note: Having Surgery tomorrow morning and won't be able to look at any screens for a week.