Independence, Fronc Reaches

February 1, 3076

A -10K Panther painted in a bizarre mix of lavender and lime green stripes, that refused to yield their vibrancy to the clouds of swirling dust surrounding the 'Mech, stomped along the volcanic rock, followed by a similarly-painted -1A1 Charger and flanked by a -3F Hatchetman modified to use a sword instead of its trademark axe. Trailing behind the 'Mechs was a battered Heavy 'Mech Recovery Vehicle.

The Panther's pilot shook his head and keyed his radio. "Joanes, pick up the damn pace. We have to wait for you, you don't get paid. And I sure as Hell don't want to go looking for you in this sandstorm."

The reply came fast and harsh. "Maybe if you paid for repair parts for this hunk of junk instead of focusing on your 'pride and joy,' I'd be able to push it beyond 50 kph." There was a pause. "Also, why can't you pronounce my name right? It's–"

"Aw, shaddup, ya lousy tread-head. None of us gon' git paid if you can't get our booty out of this shithole. And if none of us git paid, none of us can get repair parts. So shut yer trap and keep driving." She may have been crass, but Carrol Ford was kept on the payroll due to being one of the most proficient Charger pilots anywhere in the Periphery.

The last member of their band had no words to say, for she could not speak. Instead, the Hatchetman's pilot manipulated her 'Mech's arm to perform an actual facepalm. Her disapproval was quite clear.

"Can it, all of you. We've got a mission to do and–" He was interrupted by his secondary screen bleeping out the news of a hostile radar contact. "Hold up. Looks like we've got some goody-two-shoes wanting to break up our party. Just one Firestarter, though. Should be a piece of cake. Carrol, Neo, flank around and hit this crasher from the sides. Get in their face."

A green acknowledgement light from the mute flashed on his console, and he watched her through his external camera. She swung her 'Mech's arms forward, ignited her jump jets, sending the Hatchetman flying backward, and disappeared into the sandstorm. For the umpteenth time, he wondered how she could do that but knew that he would never get an answer.

The commander shoved the throttle stick of his Panther all the way forward, bringing the old and oft-(and sometimes poorly) repaired war machine to a trundling top speed of fifty nine kilometers per hour. He glanced at the radar display and noted the positions of his lance-mates. "Carrol, you're pushin' too far ahead. Throttle down and wait for Neo."

"Yer being par'noid. It's just a Firestarter. What's the wors' it–" The radio signal cut out in a burst of static.

"Dammit, Carrol. What's going on?" He overrode some of the safeties on his 'Mech's fusion core to coax a little more speed out of it. "Neo? Do you have eyes on Ford?"

A red light flashed on his console. Nope.

"The bogey?"

The light flashed again. Nope.

"Goddammit. Regroup on the truck. We're continuing on to the objective." As the Firestarter had disappeared from his sensors, that seemed like a prudent decision. Besides, with the loss of Carrol and her near-useless Charger, they only had to split the money and spare parts between two good pilots and 'Mechs.

Her green acknowledgement light winked on, and the two 'Mechs reunited near the Recovery Vehicle. They traveled in silence for the next few minutes. Then an orange light on his console blinked twice. We've got company.

His radar showed an intermittent signal about seven hundred meters behind them. It was the Firestarter. "Damn it. Joanes, keep going. We'll catch up after we deal with this cur."

"Are you crazy?! I'm a sitting duck!"

"You want to help us fight a 'Mech?"

"…You son of a–"

The Panther pilot shut off the radio and chuckled. "Neo, hit this bugger from the right. I'll go left."

A green acknowledgement light, and her Hatchetman disappeared into the storm.

He kept his eyes on the readout, tracking the Firestarter as he approached. That set off an alarm bell in his head. If he could find the enemy on his radar, then he was plainly visible to the enemy, and the Firestarter had more than enough speed to leave both the Panther and the Hatchetman in the dust.

At half a kilometer, his radar was able to return that the Firestarter was an FS9-O Omnimech version, matching the weight of Neo's Hatchetman and possibly bearing greater firepower than both 'Mechs combined. The fact that it still just stood there as though its pilot were unaware of his presence set off more alarm bells.

When the range dropped to 350 meters, he stopped and took aim with his PPC, intending to take off the Firestarter's head with the first shot. That was when it started moving. It ducked out of the way of the particle beam and charged his Panther. The distance between them dropped way too fast, and the heavier 'Mech was upon him before his PPC could recharge. Two staccato bursts of machine gun fire bit into the Panther's right arm before the Firestarter ran by, a blade held in its left hand scything through the damaged radiation-treated steel and cubic boron nitride layers of the armor and the endomorphic steel bones of the arm, sending the limb spiraling away.

While he was able to counter the corresponding loss of balance, the loss of more than half of his maximum firepower was a greater blow. Even so, he was not going out without a fight. He turned the Panther around as quickly as he could and, as soon as he had a lock, triggered his Telos-4 SRM rack. As the missiles pock-marked armor on the Firestarter,he was able to get a better look at it.

Most notably, the blade grasped in the enemy's left fist was shaped like a large scythe, complete with a cosmetic "handle" extending down about three or so meters below the hand, and it had enough cables running from the arm to the blade that it had to be a vibroblade. What seemed to be the port of a large laser jutted out from the left side of the 'Mech's chest, while the machine guns he already knew about were both mounted on the right wrist. Then there was the paint job. The cowl was painted bright red, as were several other sections of the front and all that he could see of the back of the 'Mech, while the "face" and hands were painted a pale pink and every other part of the Firestarter was painted black.

Then it moved again, and his last view was that silver vibroblade tearing through the air toward his cockpit.