Titanium Rose
Sarna News
| Titanium Rose | |
|---|---|
| Product information | |
| Type | Short story |
| Author | Louisa M. Swann |
| Pages | 20 |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | BattleCorps |
| First published | 14 July 2005 |
| Content | |
| Era | Civil War era |
| Timeline | 1 December 3066 |
| Series | Justin Bell stories |
| Preceded by | Old Legends Never Die |
| Followed by | Two 'Mechs, Three Queens and a Pug |
Titanium Rose is a short story by Louisa M. Swann that was published online on BattleCorps on 14 July 2005. It continues the story begun in Old Legends Never Die.
[edit]
| “ | Justin Bell returns. And someone, somewhere, ain't gonna be too happy about that. Author Louisa Swann sets one of our favorite smugglers onto a new adventure. | ” |
Plot summary[edit]
The first-person narrator, Justin Bell, has traveled to Myopia City on Gallis in the Magistracy of Canopus following a strange summons: A token like her late mother used to make at the Lost Tavern was sent to her with a request to meet the mysterious contact in Myopia City, the self-proclaimed "Pleasure Capital of the Stars." In a brothel named Pretty Penny's Justin and her bodyguard Doni Mathers contact the barkeep as instructed, but the barkeep does not seem to recognize the token and claims she never heard of Justin Bell and has no message for her. Greatly alarmed, Justin and Doni incite a barfight when they see evidence someone may attempt to capture them. In the ensuing chaos, they are whisked away behind a curtain and down a secret stairway where they meet a woman who introduces herself as Leila Maddock Bell, her father's sister. Though both women agree that the Bells are not exactly a tight-knit family, she hires Justin to find her eleven-year-old daughter Shana, Justin's cousin, who ran away six months ago and may since have been kidnapped judging by a message on a torn piece of cloth. She hands Justin a leather-bound journal that supposedly contains all information she needs to know, then Justin and Doni are evacuated through a back door.
Upon returning to her DropShip, Justin finds that her entire crew was killed shortly ago and the dead body of her aunt tucked into Justin's cabin, with a Lost Tavern token on each eye.
Justin decides not to inform the authorities, feeling that she would just have to suffer through bureaucracy and then pay them off eventually. She and Doni decide to take off with the Fortress-class DropShip despite the difficulties of operating it with only two people.
The story concludes with Justin's assertion that she doesn't scare easily; she just gets mad.
Featured Characters[edit]
Featured BattleTech[edit]
- Firestarter
- Tarantula
- Vindicator (Justin Bell's 'Mech, named Titanium Rose)
- Fortress-class DropShip