Tanas Dilemma

Strider's Strikers Headquarters
Yama Continent, Miranda
Labrea System, Irece Prefecture
Draconis Combine
Second Quarter, 3066

"Hey lady, not so fast." Marc Lucas called out to the woman in the faded shirt and mudded overcoat. Marc was looking rather tired and unaware until he suddenly grabbed the woman's shoulder as she passed by him. "Nobody is in that big of a hurry to see Strider." he said, shaking his head as he pinned her against the wall. "What's this about."

Tana Rishar was having a terrible day. Her mind was almost non-existent after what had happened this last week. Just days after uncovering a great lostech ship amongst the asteroids in the Novel sector off the uninhabited planet of Delst, she was now being forced to explain her situation to this, this mercenary idiot! He had no right to do what he was now doing, pulling her from the office door and demanding reasons for her behavior. If he didn't appear to have some grain of intelligence about his blond balding head, she would have already cracked him across the face with her plasteel elbow-pad. Now she would have to tell him something. But what? He wouldn't possibly take her statements seriously. How could she explain that she had been forced to abandon her brother Dwaine back in Delst? This buffoon wouldn't know she had been separated from Dwaine after alarming a pirate patrol. Jetting across space as fast as she could in her lightly armed Sparrowhawk to her brother's location was the only real thing she could do to save him. She had watched his Corsair go down, spiraling through Delst's atmosphere but appearing to right itself as it disappeared in a brief gaseous fireball. Was Dwaine on-planet, or had his already injured ship been destroyed in its descent? Tana was forced to face the worst, knowing that Delst held little for her brother if he'd been lucky enough to land safely. His Corsair was his only hope if he had survived, because Delst's thin atmosphere and fiery surface would not provide him supplies or even the necessary oxygen outside his cockpit to escape. She could only pray...and bring help! And now the idiot before her was keeping her from bringing that help.

"Get out of my way merc brat." Tana's words came from under her breath, quietly but sternly giving Marc some indication that she meant business. Raising an eyebrow, the Mechwarrior lifted his hand from her shoulder, "Go," he said, nodding in the direction of the office door behind her.

That went better than I ever expected. She measured Marc's strength with a deep stare into his eyes, then realized he wasn't playing her staring game. His eyes betrayed a feeling of attraction to Tana, but his emotion was lost when his eyes broke hers and looked up questioningly. His face screamed suspicion, and he was probably wondering if whoever was behind Tana had seen Marc admiring her. Tana decided to face the unknown behind her. Turning swiftly on her left heel, she nearly stumbled into Strider.

"Excuse me, sorry. Are you Strider? Is there a Strider? Where's the commander?" Tana questioned.