Mara-d By War

[Mara Blake]

FSArchive
Character Memoirs => Prologues => Topic started by: Mara Blake on 06 March 2015, 22:51:31

Mortars whizzed into the air and crashed into the earth spewing dirt and grit in all directions. Mara shook her hair, sending more dirt flying. She brushed brown dust from her brown coat like they were facing nothing worse than a light snow. Her platoon had fallen back to be just out of range from enemy fire and now it was time to regroup and fight back.

"Okay my darlings," she called out to what was left of her platoon. "We've got three minutes until they reposition those mortars but we ain't gonna be here when that happens. We are going to flank those qing wa cao de liu mang before they know what hit them. This is our chance!"

Mara quickly doled out assignments with confident efficiency. She was excited, eager even. She cocked her rifle with relish only to realise that the majority of her troops weren't sharing her level of enthusiasm.

"I know it seems pretty grim right now. We're outgunned, we're outmanned, we're pinned down. Pai an jiao jue! That just makes our eventual victory so much sweeter. Alliance said they were going to walk through Serenity Valley. Does it look like they're walking? When this war started did any of them think we could bring them to their knees? We've done that. Us! All we need is to push a little more. We are going to make it across this ridge. We are going to take that position. And then, we are going to win this war."

There wasn't a hint of doubt in Mara's voice because there wasn't a hint of doubt in herself. She believed absolutely that the Independents were going to win.

"So right now I need each and every one of you to take a deep breath, pick up your rifle and kill some gorram Purple-Bellies! Let's go!"

With a roar of determination, Mara and her platoon moved forward. It was a sound plan; it would have worked, if it hadn't been for the sniper.



"Come on Sarge! Stay with me! Don't you dare quit on us!"

Mara was lost. She knew she was alive. There was pain. Noise. Panic. But she was lost. The world was a blur. She had to breathe, and keep breathing. That was all she knew. She let go of everything else.

"I hope you're having sweet dreams wherever you are Sarge, 'cause it's getting real bad out here. We sure could use you with us. I know you're fighting hard. Keep fighting. I need you to come back to us, okay?"

Something was happening. She was still lost in limbo. She had to get back! She had to move! She had to fight!

"Hush now. Easy. You're safe. I got you. Take it easy."

Mara was waking.

It was a slow process, like swimming through air. She had to pull her mind, up, into consciousness. Up, up, until she broke through.

"Sarge? Are you coming back?"

Mara was awake, at least, her mind was. Her body felt heavy. She couldn't move. She lay in darkness, listening. There were voices. One voice in particular. The voice that had pulled her through. The voice of -

"Blake?" she wheezed. She was trying to sit up but her muscles were paralysed. She tried her eyes; they opened. She searched out her medic, the young corporal Jerry Blake. She didn't take in her surroundings. She didn't register that she was in a hospital bed.

"Sit-rep?" she asked.

Blake smiled, albeit grimly. He hung his head. He looked back at his Sergeant with pursed lips.

"War's over. We lost."



Days passed into weeks in near silence for Mara. She had nothing to say.

Blake was at her side every day. He didn't say much. He didn't need to. His presence was enough. He showed up every day at the beginning for visiting hours and sat by Mara's bed until visiting hours were over, until one day he arrived to find Mara standing at the window.

"Is it really over?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so, Sarge," her replied. That was the last time he called her by her former rank to her face.

"So what are we supposed to do now?"

"I don't know. Whatever we want, I guess. Go home. Get jobs. Live."

Mara turned to look at the weedy private who had grown into a man in such a short time.

"I'm not sure how," she said with a shrug.

Blake smiled. He moved to Mara's side at the window and looked out at the world with optimism. His spirit exuded positivity that Mara wasn't sure if she admired or couldn't stand.

"We'll figure it out. Together."



Mara shrugged into the new, tan, leather jacket. It was short, and that felt strange after the years of long dusters. It felt strange being a civilian again. War was over. That was an idea it would take a long time to get used to. She tugged at the jacket, yanking the hem line uncomfortably.

"How's it going Mara?" Blake asked a little shyly from the other side of the privacy screen. Her name didn't quite roll off his tongue as easy as 'sarge' always had.

Mara stepped out from the screen and held up her arms in an open gesture, part shrug and part look-for-yourself.

"They look good," Blake said earnestly.

"Thank you," Mara replied, meaning for buying them for her, not the compliment though whether he could tell the difference was anyone's guess.

Blake gave Mara a warm smile, which Mara returned. "So you ready to go?" he asked cheerfully. "First round's on me."

Mara raised her eyebrows in disbelief, teasing the kid for his generosity. Rather than answer, she took a long last look around her soon-to-be ex-hospital-room. She was nervous. She wasn't sure how she was going to face this new 'verse.

"By the way," Blake continued in his ever-effervescent tone, "We have double celebrations tonight. My big brother's been released; he'll be joining us too."



"So, are you in love with my little brother or what?"

Daniel Blake was to the point. Mara had already realised that about him. Beside his looks it was his most attractive quality.

"No," Mara replied easily. Blake had saved her life, and not just by keeping her alive through Serenity Valley. Blake had nursed her very soul back to life when she felt like slipping away. He had stayed by her side, coaxing her slowly back to the land of the living with his tender voice. The smile dropped into a concerned frown.

"He's not in love with me, is he?"

Daniel made a face - part grin and part grimace - and looked over Mara's shoulder.

"I don't think so."

Mara turned around to see Jerry Blake with a pretty blonde thing on his lap, heavily making out. Mara was just the tiniest bit embarrassed by the physical show they were putting on for the entire bar.

"That's a relief."

"Hm. Unless that's to make you jealous."



MJ was sitting in her usual corner seat, heel on the lip of her chair, elbow resting on her up-pointed knee. She looked serious and deep in thought as she watched and listened. The conversations buzzing around her hadn't changed much from last night to tonight: hopeful plans for the future, casual expressions of hatred for the Purple-bellies, and great stories of glory and honour from the battlefield. So many Browncoats with nowhere yet to go...

Daniel Blake threw himself onto a chair beside Mara and placed a beer in front of her. He had a light glisten of sweat on his face from flailing himself about on the dance-floor for the past half-hour. He wasn't as supremely cheerful as his little brother Jerry, but he seemed to have more energy.

"You should join us. I bet you'd look good on the dancefloor," Daniel flirted easily. Mara assumed he flirted with all the women. He was the confident type. Mara ignored it. She liked talking to Daniel; it was easy. She wasn't interested in trying to impress him with dance moves she didn't have.

"I think I get more enjoyment out of watching you," she tossed back. There was an acerbic quality to her tone but her smirk softened its harshness.

He grinned. There was a moment of silence as they just looked at each other. "I can't tell. Are you complimenting me or making fun of me?"

Mara was surprised by the directness of the question. She hadn't really thought about the comment before she said it.

"Neither," she answered after a moment's thought. "I'm just stating a fact, a preference."

Daniel pursed his lips in consideration. "Okay," he accepted her answer, though he didn't seem convinced. "Alright then, tell me what else you enjoy more than dancing with a crowd of sweaty men in a crappy bar."

And so they chatted for much of the night, and the next, and another after that; until it became a pattern that - after exerting himself on the dancefloor, or at the pool-table, or the dart-board, or whatever - Daniel would find his way to Mara and they would talk. Sometimes it was just the two of them, sometimes Jerry and others joined them. But no matter how the night went or how many other people there were, at the end of the night Daniel and Mara ended up together.



Daniel gave Mara a long look. There was a grin in the corner of his mouth waiting to fully form but it was uncertainty holding him back. His eyes were searching hers. She didn't know what was holding him back.

She was about to ask, when a barmaid appeared. Mara leaned back to let the woman reach to the table to clear the empty bottles. The large group of ex-Browncoats had moved on for the night. Mara and Daniel had been deep in serious conversation and so stayed behind. Jerry and his blonde chick were over at the pinball table.

"The war is not over," she said firmly with a hint of bitterness when the barmaid was out of earshot again. Mara was relaunching her 'sales pitch' to try and alleviate whatever uncertainty was in Daniel. "Not as long as I'm breathing and the Alliance are in control."

Daniel smiled and shook his head. "You don't need to convince me, MJ," he said, almost chuckling. "I'm with you."

Mara was confused. If he agreed, what was that look in his eye?

"I'm with you," he repeated.

There was something to that statement. Mara felt a sensation akin to a shot of adrenaline.

"My brother and I finally had that chat last night. He's really not in love with you."

Mara rolled her eyes. "I could have told you that," she said quickly.

Daniel smiled again.

"The thing is... I am."

[Mara Blake]

Nine months later, MJ became Mara Blake.

The wedding was simple. There was no money and little ceremony. Some words were spoken in front of a judge at the smalltown courthouse and some drinks were shared at the local tavern. The guest list was scant: their biological families and their military families, those few that had survived. It felt like a small spark of hope and life in a 'verse torn asunder by war and death.

The honeymoon was a 5-day camping trip in the outback of Ezra. Completely alone, just the two of them, Mara had never felt so safe and secure in her entire life.

"This is where it should be," Daniel mused one night as Mara sat in his arms in front of the campfire. "Our base. Right here. This is where we build it."

Mara twisted her neck so she could look up at Daniel's face. Watching the firelight dance across his features she completely forgot whatever it was he had just said. After a long, long moment she realised she'd missed something. She laughed.

"I'm sorry. What?"

"This should be where we make our base of operations. Out here in the middle of rutting nowhere. We can be entirely self-sufficient. Pump our own water, use wind for power, all that stuff. Entirely off the grid. The Alliance would never be able to track us."

"Wait, when did you start agreeing with me that we should leave the Dust Devils?"

"Oh, you convinced me on that the first time you suggested we break off and start our own group, I just felt like I should argue with you to help you solidify your reasoning and flesh out your mission statement."

Mara was aghast. They had been fighting about whether or not to splinter from the Dust Devils for months. She had been so angry at him for not seeing things her way; she had been so filled with doubt about whether she could marry a man who didn't share her vision for the total destruction of the Alliance. Now it seemed so obvious! She knew he was telling the truth. The annoying thing was, he was right. Arguing with her had indeed helped her clarify her vision.

"Also," he continued. "I wanted to make sure you would still marry me even if I didn't want to follow your plan."

"You bastard," she insulted him with a deadpan tone. Daniel shifted so that he could see her face - he couldn't tell if she was really angry or not.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked directly.

"Yes," Mara answered, but her smile betrayed her. "Okay, I should be mad at you," she corrected. They kissed.

"There's no should about it," Daniel replied when their kiss was complete. "You feel how you feel. It's okay to be mad; it's okay not to be mad."

God, she loved this fool.

"Okay, so, we build our base here," she stated, anything to shut him up if he was about to start talking about feelings.

"Yup," Daniel agreed, grinning from ear to ear. "We get to be the first couple ever to stay on their honeymoon indefinitely."

[Mara Blake]

"I guess that means the honeymoon's finally over."

Daniel tossed the joke at Mara as she tossed him his pack. They both a had a knapsack filled with essentials - everyone did. It was a rule Mara and Daniel had enforced since Day 1. Everyone was ready to leave at a moment's notice.

Mara was suddenly filled with a wave of anger towards Daniel. How could he be joking at a time like this? They were under attack, who knew how many of their people were already dead? Somehow the Alliance had found them and had sent a platoon to wipe them out. And here was Daniel, joking. And that particular joke? Gorramit, it hurt her feelings. The 'we are still on honeymoon even after six years of marriage' was a running joke with Daniel and it made her feel special and loved and happy every time the buhn dahn said it. And whose fault was it that she was having all these feelings all the time? HIS! The bastard.

Of course there was no time to say any of this, so Mara just gave him a loathsome scowl as she shouldered her pack.

An explosion blasted through the side of the wall, throwing Mara off her feet.

Daniel was killed.