Part 815: Let's Read: D.R.T. - Part 7
Lets Read: D.R.T. Part 7: Here Comes Santa ClausJeremiah Rose, 710 tall. Dwarfed by Tai-Sa Santa Claus.
Chapter 11
Mercenary Garrison District
Wolcott, Draconis Combine
28 February 3057
Its been another eight days and Rose is finally checking in with House Kurita. Yknow, the people who are signing his paychecks. Were first introduced to Chu-i Reiza Myoto, whom Im certain wont be a recurring character or anything. She then introduces Rose to Tai-sa Adrian Zimmer, which causes Jeremiah to shit a proverbial brick since Zimmer was his former commanding officer in the Com Guards is responsible for commanding all of the mercenaries on Wolcott.
So. Zimmer, an ex-member of the Com Guards, just happens to now be in a position of authority on one of the most strategically significant worlds in Kurita space. HMMA Blakist says what?
Zimmer immediately wins me over by calling Jeremiah Rose by a nickname he hates (Rosie) and giving him the bear hug you see in the picture that started the chapter. And by bear hug I keep hoping hes going to pull a Zangief and throw Rose into the pavement. But he doesnt.
Rose then gets a jab in by asking Zimmer about his eye, which is prosthetic. Now, for those of you not in the know? Cybernetic eyes are something the Inner Sphere does not have. Only the Clans have medical technology capable of regrowing lost eyes. So, I guess what Im saying is that theres no possible way Zimmer could be an extremely early Manei Domini prototype or anything. No way. Thatd be crazy, its only 3057! Cough cough.
Anyway, Jeremiah Rose is a complete asshole.
D.R.T. posted:
Zimmer touched the side of his face. Gods(sic)! Its terrible. The damn thing is never in proper focus, and I get some massive headaches. And until the medics can get that problem solved, they cant even cover up the artificial cheekbone with synthetic skin.
Good!
Pardon, said Zimmer with a suddenly intense stare.
I see youve brought food, said Rose with a half-smile. Will this be a long meeting?
Asshole.
That wasnt even smooth. That was just an awkward recovery. Rose then gets very petulant about all the people who died on Tukayyid (as a reminder, Rose was sleeping with one of the soldiers under his command because goddamn is he a creepy bastard). He offends Zimmer because Zimmer lost friends too, but Rose is a sociopath and cant resist throwing lemon juice into a mans cybernetic eye or something. Im too tired for good metaphors, sue me.
The bitchfest is interrupted by the most beautiful woman Rose has ever seen (I really wish Id thought to make a beautiful woman counter for this book. Except its not necessary since every female character is described as beautiful). Shes a Tai-i but Ive already forgotten her name. Since she never appears again, Im really not sure why she was even introduced. Rose immediately pretends to the reader hes not imagining her naked, but he fails pretty spectacularly. By which I mean he is a sleazy asshole and I will always think the worst of him, especially since he considers what happened the night before (8 days ago?) with McCloud to be a revelation.
I call it domestic abuse, but hey, tomato. Tomato.
Anyway, Zimmer then asks for the most lucrative contract on the list. Operation White Knight, rescuing someone from an entire galaxy of the Smoke Jaguars. The pay is so high its pretty much a name your price and well pay it if you can pull this off you crazy bastards, and apparently Zimmer has another dozen missions just like it.
So yeah, Wolcott is pretty much a series of suicide missions. Rose thinks this is awesome, and hes in. Please, please send him on a suicide mission. PLEASE.
Please?
Anyway, Zimmer then turns around and treats Rose like the contemptible piece of shit he is. Were supposed to hate him for this, but he really is Santa Claus! He brought me the best Christmas Gift of all!
D.R.T. posted:
Take your time selecting, Rose. Maintenance is getting cheaper by the week. Zimmer was still laughing when Jamshid closed the door.
Chapter 12
Mercenary Garrison District
Wolcott, Draconis Combine
1 March 3057
So yeah. Rose has spent three days (probably not sleeping) pouring over missions. Clan counter-espionage is so godawful that House Kurita knows where every single Clan unit is, down to the names of each individual Star. So yes, that officially makes the Clan Watch even less effective than House Mariks SAFE, who are pretty good at counter-espionage even if theyre absolute shit at intelligence gathering.
We then learn that Chu-i Myoto has been assigned to Rose as a liaison officer. Which is hardly a surprise, since Rose knew theyd have one, but spends the better part of a page bitching about it anyway. Myoto is competent but clumsy, which is code for shes a shit pilot. She also pilots a Grand Dragon.
Rose then storms into the command post, tells one of the officers hes selected a mission and then demands to know who Chu-i Myoto really is. Fucking hell, shes a special snowflake noble isnt she? I thought the advantage of Kurita space was that they didnt have any of those. Fuck.
Anyway, Rose knows somethings up (which means somethings up), so yeah. I hope youre ready to get assaulted by pointless backstory for an incidental non-recurring character at some point rather than getting backstory for one of the incidental recurring characters who are awesome (like Badicus OShea, Ajax, Badicus OShea, Badicus OShea, or maybe even Jamshid if you squint at him and pretend hes Badicus OShea).
The Kurita officer then asks about Tukayyid and Im already zoning out so Im just going to skip to the next scene rather than put up with Roses whining. Anyway, Rose is just about to finalize a contract when he notices the Draconis Combine is providing the transport so he tries to back out only to learn that, after threatening to shoot ISF operatives, Captain McCloud has been blacklisted and cant transport troops to and slash or from Wolcott anymore.
Hahahahahahaha this is the best Christmas ever. I mean, oh no! Thats a shame.