A Soldier Without Hope
Sarna News
| A Soldier Without Hope | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Steven Mohan, Jr. | |||
| First Publication | |||
| Published | 27 March 2007 | ||
| Publisher | BattleCorps | ||
| Pages | 20 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| Era | Jihad era | ||
| Timeline | 20 March 3068 — 24 March 3068 | ||
| Series | |||
| |||
A Soldier Without Hope is a short story by Steven Mohan, Jr. that was published online on BattleCorps on 27 March 2007.
[edit]
| “ | 20 March 3068, Case White +11 days—Case White has failed. The Word of Blake has suppressed the ComStar invasion. But even though they shattered the ComStar forces, the pieces are still there. Pieces like Adept Kovachev. He's alone, stuck on a hostile Terra, a soldier without an army... a soldier without hope. | ” |
Plot Summary[edit]
On 20 March 3068, Adept Epsilon III Mark Kovachev, a survivor of the Com Guards failt attempt to retake Terra, has been wandering through the West Texan deserts on his own for three days. Dehydrated and near death, he reflects on the dramatic failure of Case White and the subsequent destruction of his unit, the 394th Com Guards Division.
On the next day, he finally reaches a small desert town. Hoping to quietly stock up on water and food, Kovacech comes across the home of Maria Rojas and her young son, Alejandro. While trying to sneak to the house's water supply, he notices a rattlesnake near Alejandro and shoots it as it strikes at the kid. Immediately afterward, Maria knocks him unconscious with a shovel.
Later, Kovachev awakens in a cell, where Maria questions him. She remains hostile but reluctantly acknowledges his role in saving her son's life. Soon after, town elders Lou Garner and Bill Sexton confront him. Lou is sympathetic, but Bill argues they should turn him over to the Word of Blake. The townsfolk reveal that they all work at a nearby Blakist communications backup station, though most deny being true Blakists. The group debates the recent nuclear destruction of Riga, which the townspeople blame on ComStar. Kovachec vehemently denies this and proposes infiltrating the communications backup station to access tactical records to prove them otherwise. In the end, the townsfolk agree, and Maria is chosen to accompany Kovachev, who is the only one with the technical skills to retrieve the data.
Disguised in coveralls, Kovachev enters the facility with Maria's help. He locates transmissions describing a nuclear detonation during the battle, copies them onto a data drive, and prepares to leave. However, Blakist guards confront him in the hallway, accompanied by Maria and a demi-precentor. To protect Maria and her town from any suspicion of collaboration, Kovachev feigns an attack and lungs at her, drawing the guards' fire. Mortally wounded, he can secretly pass the data drive into Maria's hand before collapsing. As he dies, he sees her conceal the drive from the Blakists while standing over him in tears.
Featured Characters[edit]
- Adept Epsilon III Mark Kovachev
- Maria Rojas
- Alejandro Rojas
- Lou Garner
- Bill Sexton
- Jose
- Robert Kovachev (mentioned)
- Precentor Martial Victor Steiner-Davion (mentioned)
- Anastasius Focht (mentioned)
Featured Units[edit]
- 394th Com Guards Division (mentioned)
- Seventy-ninth Com Guards Division (mentioned)
Featured Places[edit]
Featured BattleTech[edit]
DropShips[edit]
- Union-class 'Mech carrier DropShip, Civilisation's Sword (mentioned)