John stepped up to the Jeep, not breaking eye contact with the brown-eyed Elemental. She was still bleeding from several wounds, not to mention her forehead had an ugly purple and red bruise from the jeep's bumper. She didn't appear hostile, but given how fast she moved before, he didn't want to take any chances.

  "Do you accept your defeat, Star Commander Bryn?" He asked.

  "Aff, Captain."

  With a gnce at Mia, he continued. "By your customs, you are now my Bondsmen. Quiaff?"

  "Aff. I am no longer Star Commander Bryn, just Labourer Bryn until you release me from my bond."

  "You have no issues with that?"

  "No. You somehow managed to defeat me in combat, then you scaled an Executioner without power armour and forced the saKahn to surrender. I may be dumb compared to others in the warrior caste, but it would be stupid to want to fight you, again." She said, ughing hard, then grimacing as she pced her hand over the piece of metal protruding from her abdomen. "You would not happen to have a first aid kit nearby? I am afraid some shrapnel from that autocannon round punctured a kidney, and I am bleeding internally. I estimate I have a few more hours before I pass out from blood loss."

  "If you can hold on a bit longer, I will fix you up." He said, looking behind him at the two Wolf mechs. They were already over half a mile away, but that didn't mean they weren't being watched by cameras right now. He didn't want these Wolves to see him use magic directly if he could help it.

  "Aff. I will do as commanded."

  John sat down beside Mia and directed her to drive up the pass rather than back into the cave. He had to confirm that all the guards had indeed died before they returned to Bckstone. Just as he reached into his pocket to read James letter, a system screen popped up in front of him.

  Congratutions on completing the Bonus WorldBattleTech - The Bastard of Bckstone

  Current Ending - Cn Wolf Prefect You will become the Prefect of Bckstone, with the rank of Star Captain. You will be expected to enforce the new rules on the popuce, earning their ire but keeping them mostly safe.

  The Cns will continue their invasion of the Inner Sphere, wreaking havoc on dozens of worlds before the Inner Sphere has a chance to respond.

  DEN return will activate in 23:59:47

  Prestige Mission Detected

  Opening Captain James Kearney's letter will reveal the Prestige Mission. By accepting this mission, you will have the chance to further improve your rewards. However, you risk losing your current ending. You have until the DEN timer runs out to decide whether to accept the Prestige Mission or not.

  He read through the message several times, making sure he understood what it said. He then closed the window and leaned back in his seat, letting out an exhausted sigh. With the deaths of the rest of the guards, it didn't feel like much of a victory.

  I completed this world? I know it was supposed to be a little different because it is a Bonus World, but I didn't expect to be forcibly ejected from it. Does that mean I can't come back here ter? I mean, I don't really want to. This pnet is little better than a mining camp, though that might change with the Wolves turning it into a staging base. If I had to work every day for food rations and not enjoy my semi-retirement, there wouldn't be much for me here. All those C-Bills are useless in the Cns' economy.

  "Are you okay, John Wayne?" Mia asked, gncing over at him as they drove along the trail. It was actually quite wide when you were in a jeep and not a Mech, offering a scenic view of the valley below. He could see several dozen Mechs from Cn Wolf from here, along with their massive Overlord dropship. Those were literal flying fortresses, with more weapons on them than a company of Battlemechs.

  "Yeah, just a little tired, and really sore. Today took a lot out of me." He replied. He didn't bother mentioning being distraught by the deaths of his comrades. To the Cns, while it was regrettable to lose warriors in battle, it was considered an honourable death. They may shed the odd tear, but they simply did not mourn their losses like normal people.

  Two rge hands cmped down on his shoulders, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin. He probably would have jumped clear out of the jeep if they were not holding him down.

  "Allow me to help with that soreness," Bryn said from behind him, massaging his shoulders. Her big hands were surprisingly gentle, and he could almost feel the tension melting out of his muscles as she kneaded them.

  He quite quickly became putty in her hands as she moved to his neck and the back of his head."Ahhh...this feels amazing- Wait, you're injured! Why are you massaging my neck? Are you not in pain?" He asked, coming to his senses.

  "It is normal for Elementals to rub each other down after a hard-fought battle. It is only right for my bondholder to go first, as you managed to defeat me and then an Assault mech while unarmoured. Usually, I would have you lie down and use oils, but we do not have those things here, so I will make do with what I can. You may choose to massage me ter as well, though I will accept it if you do not."

  "Wha- Mmmm... ahh... I'm not-" He floundered a bit, completely caught off guard by her offer. Her thumbs rubbed his neck, magically drawing the tension out that he wasn't even aware was there.

  "Elementals learn how to do massages from a very young age. Their rapid growth rates cause a significant amount of muscle and bone pain, so they rub each other down after training to help alleviate it. Once they are fully grown and join the warrior caste, they continue to develop their skills. It is said that once you have a massage by an Elemental, you will never want to have one from someone else." Mia added, smiling over at the putty that somewhat resembled John. "Do not worry, it is not a sexual thing, John Wayne."

  "Not usually, anyway," Bryn added, changing her hand position and moving to his upper back.

  Their words were going in one ear and out the other right then, as this giant woman's hands seemed to make him drift in and out of consciousness. He found himself a few minutes ter leaning forward, with his jacket off, as the injured Elemental was massaging his back from the awkward position behind his seat. The Substance X still in his system from before lunch was not helping things as Little John was poking his head out from below, wanting his turn under the magical ministrations of this woman.

  Oh boy! I know I like strong women, but this isn't quite what I mean by that.

  Thankfully, he didn't think either of them noticed, so he tucked himself back in his pants. He called it then, not because he wanted to stop, but because they had arrived at the tunnel. Mia flicked the headlights on as they moved into the darkness; the only sound was the jeep's little diesel motor echoing off the tunnel's walls.

  The scene of the battle came up shortly afterwards, and the sheer damage to the Mechs was insane. The cn Gargoyle had its head literally beaten in, presumably by James' Charger, its massive arm autocannon sheared off beside it as the Mech's side torso had been destroyed.

  Suzy Q was nothing more than a skeleton; literally every ounce of armour and most of its structure had been damaged. Oddly, its reactor still seemed to be humming happily away, though there was literally nothing left for it to power. The Vulture had its reactor gutted, the pilot having ejected and had been crushed against the ceiling.

  There were Elemental corpses everywhere, and if Bryn was bothered by that, she didn't show it. She walked over to a mostly intact-looking suit, reached inside the cockpit, and pulled out something. She walked back and handed him what appeared to be some sort of fsh drive. "This should have all the battle data for what went on in here, along with any radio transmissions."

  "Thank you." He replied, pocketing it for ter. He was hoping to find an intact cockpit to pull the data from as well, since all the Guard Mechs were recording everything.

  Finally, they found his Hunchback, the mech he never actually piloted. It was lying on the ground, a leg blown completely off, part of its torso destroyed and- "Quickly!" He said, running over to it. It was disabled, but its head was still intact with a dim light inside.

  It took a little improvisation, but they managed to get into the cockpit after a few minutes. Red emergency lighting provided just barely enough light to see Trix sitting on the wall-turned-floor. She looked like a ghost, and her leg was bent at an odd angle, but she was very much alive.

  "Trix! You survived!"

  "John? What are you doing here?" She replied in a pained voice. "Don't tell me we somehow won?"

  "Not quite, though we didn't completely lose either. Just hold on a second." He said, activating his armour and funnelling some of his anger through his sword. He was having a hard time building up any at that moment in time, the massage having cleared his head somewhat from the day's trials. At best, he could funnel some annoyance right now, which still gave his magic power a small boost on top of his armour. "Heal! Heal!"

  "Your magic continues to amaze me, John." She said, flexing her now mended leg. She looked much healthier now. After a moment, she looked at him with her grey eyes and spoke. "Did James-"

  "He died smashing his mech into their commanders. It...it was over quickly."

  She sighed, nodding. "Good. He really didn't want to die from his cancer. A few more weeks, and he would have been bedridden and would have needed more drugs for the pain. He was hopped up on so many painkillers and stimunts the st few days, it was surprising he was even able to function."

  John was unaware of that fact, though he had noticed the man had cared little for his own health any longer. Not that he had much of a choice. So he just nodded and helped Trix to her feet. After grabbing the cockpit data, they climbed down with the assistance of Bryn and Mia. From there, he had the Elemental lie on her back, and he began to administer healing magic on her as well.

  The wound to Bryn’s gut healed cleanly, along with the rest of the damage on her body, though it took three casts of heal to do it. She had a lot of damage internally that he could not see, and it would probably benefit her to have a middle heal and a cure as well once he recovered enough mana to cast them. He was running on fumes right now, with only five mana remaining after the small amount of regen he had since he fought her earlier.

  The Elemental herself was in shock, watching her wounds heal nearly instantly, the pain in her joints and muscles practically disappearing. She hadn't felt this good for as long as she could remember, having been in constant pain for nearly twenty-five years.

  With nothing left to do in the tunnel, and his family waiting for him back home, he ordered them to get back in the jeep and drive back towards the cave so he could activate the Pelican. He tried to stand but ended up colpsing into Bryn, the newly healed Elemental catching him accidentally while she was testing out her new painless limbs. She just picked him up and carried him like a princess to the jeep, the other two women giggling at the sight of this massive man being carried by an even more massive woman.

  Much like when Shallia had carried him into the cave so long ago to avoid the volley of crossbow fire, he accepted his position as luggage with dignity and grace.

  "I'm okay, you can put me down now."

  "Sorry, Captain. There is not a lot of room for my legs back here. I will need you to remain on my p. Unless you would rather I sit on yours instead?"

  "... Fine."

  Dignity and Grace. Dignity and Grace.