SIX

Liao Jungle Arena, Cathay,
Solaris City, Solaris VII,
Freedom Theater, Lyran Alliance,
January 28, 3063

The Jungle Arena was home of the light- and heavy- circuit championship. The arena was a giant rectangular bulk that covered a huge landmass covered in exotic vegetations. Most of them would be trampled in mech bashing, but the manager always found a way to put in new plants, giving the arena a beautiful scene of a rainforest. Waterfalls added the hallmark of the scene, and although its purpose was solely aesthetic, mechwarriors often found it convenient to cool off their mechs under the waterfalls.

Since Capellan loyalists monopolized Cathay, Capellan-backed players were always expected to win at Jungle Arena. This tendency was apparent on the composition of fighters: out of 16 finalists, six were Capellans. Two were Davions, three were Mariks, and only 1 representative from House Steiner. The rest were journeymen and wild cards, in which I belonged.

I checked the fighter's list Daniels gave me. Half of the mechs were Clan made, which came as a bit of surprise. Popular belief had it said that Clan technologies were better than those of the Spheroid. They were lighter, faster, more versatile, and had more range. In reality, Clan-made mechs were less armored and less robust than the Inner Sphere counterparts. Clan energy weapons created too much heat. Plus, the scarcity of parts made the Clan technologies really expensive. But despite these shortages, they were highly in demand at Solaris.

I also noticed Kyle Garret, the number one seed in this championship. He was fighting in a WLF-2 Wolfhound. The mech was Davion's answer to Kurita's Jenner, designed as hunter-killer instead of traditional light-mech role as scout. Its armor level was thick enough to withstand punishment from medium mechs, and the quadruple medium lasers were nice back up to its venomous ER large laser. Although I fought Wolfhounds prior to this fight, I had never fought one with an ace in it. From my experience, the good pilots were not always the ones with the best mechs. But today, I would fight the best mechwarrior in the field in one of the best light mechs around. It was going to be a hard fight.

As I led my mech into the arena, my comlink blinked. I pushed the button, and it was the one I expected to see the least. "Congratulation, Parker! You made it to the big game."

"Same to you," I replied. "May the best mechwarrior win."

"May the best mechwarrior win," Kyle stated. "Good luck!"

I stopped at my designated spot and scanned the arena. Kyle was on my left, separated by a Panther and a Raven. A Free-World Jackal perched on my right, then a Kit Fox B, piloted by the number 2 seed Thunder Thorley, a veteran of Liao's Death Commandos. He was the hometown hero, and more than half Cathay population was behind his back. Davion and Liao relation was never smooth, especially after the St. Ives Compact was reintegrated into Capellan territory. So Thorley would be hard-pressed to dispose of Kyle quickly. It was the most anticipated duel in this championship, and it could work best for me. I could wait until they finished bashing each other. Whoever won the grudge match, he would be half-baked, so I would just swoop in and finish what was left.

The announcer went through tedious names of the finalists, then after a long ceremony, the warriors were cued to get ready. Once the horn blasted, Thorley dashed quickly through the field, passing my mech without even taking a glance, and charged Kyle. Exactly my prediction. The Raven held off the Panther while the Dart on my right turned around and attacked me. I would love to stalk Thorley, see how it went with Kyle, but first I had to take care of the Jackal.

I had fought a light mech with a PPC before, and although it had incredible punching power, it was virtually useless in a close-quarter combat. Lucky for me, we started at 300 meters apart, so I quickly dove and let a streak of blue electrical charge swerved above my head. I sent my missiles toward its right torso, but a small cannon on the Jackal's torso belched and ate my missiles before they hit the target. Damn AMS.

I decided to conserve my missiles and work on the Jackal using only my pulse laser. Two strands cored the large-bored cannon on its right shoulder. They left a couple of pockmarks on the hull, but failed to do damage. The Jackal raised its left arm and let loose its own missiles. One of them hooked and rocked the ground inches away from my left feet. I held my joystick tight as my Wasp lurched to the right. The Jackal trailed me and fired his second round of PPC. I fired my jump jets to propel me ahead, and the PPC bolt vaporized a tree. The entire plant vanished into organic mist.

The Jackal would need to cool off, and I had to use it to my greatest advantage. I came back with a vengeance, powering up my pulse laser to the point of overheating. Half a dozen bursts slammed into the Jackal's right torso, turning the armor plating into orange bubbling gooey. Three more bursts cored the center torso. I was aiming at the AMS, but that small nozzle was hard to hit, especially because the pilot was an ace who knew the ups and downs of his mech. So I concentrated on the large PPC hole, hoping I could dismantle it with repeated blows.

My face was soaked by sweat and my vision was almost obscured, but I overrode the automatic shut down and rode on the heat as long as I could. But the heat slowed my mech down, and eventually the Jackal caught me with its missiles. The sound of explosion ripped my eardrums as I clung on to the command seat. The Jackal was surely aiming for a quick victory, firing his missiles at my cockpit. The plexiglass canopies burst, and the cockpit armor went blinking red, but there was no damage. Nevertheless, I could not afford that kind of hit again.

Shrugging off the vertigo, I fought to get on my feet and peppered the Jackal's front armor. The Marik greeted me with a murderous bolt, but it went wide, grilling a pile of rock instead. My heat tracker was already two-third of shut down level, but I kept firing, flushing my coolant once in a while to control the heat. The Jackal's armor on the right torso turned bright red, and a couple more shot made it blinking. Smoke twirled from the maimed gun, and the big gaping hole had partially deformed.

But the Jackal was not ready to concede yet. With me running slower and slower, it fired the missiles at me. One hit me on the hip, the other carved a cavity on my right arm. The armor tracker turned orange, so I needed to protect my right arm more because it held the pulse laser. I switched direction but two more missiles decked me right on the center. Tongues of fire licked from the impact as my mech swayed backward, but I fired my jets before I completely lost balance. The Wasp soared, and the Jackal pushed on its luck by firing its PPC. The bolt almost grazed my leg, but missed nevertheless.

Regaining balance as I landed, I pushed my mech forward, firing everything I got at the PPC hole. The Jackal returned fire with its missiles, but I took the hits, maintaining my course while peppering its right torso. I wanted to end it now. The right torso engulfed in fire, and my last shot finally singed the big cannon. A burst of electrical charge leapt from the torso as a large fireball expanded, tearing the torso apart. The mech bent over, trying to keep standing in the midst of explosion. But the shockwave was too strong, and it twisted before it slumped.

As the Jackal writhed in the ground, I inspected the battlefield. Somehow Kyle and Thorley had broken off their engagement, and now they were fighting separately. Kyle was fighting a Panther while Thorley had just killed an Incubus. I did not know how their initial engagement went, but from the armor level of Thorley, I could tell that they went at it really intense. Thorley's center torso was visibly blackened, and the armor tracker was already blinking red. But he still fought like a madman, and now paced his mech to my direction.

The Jackal regained its footing, but before it could spread its missiles, Thorley executed it from behind. The combined power of Clan lasers and UAC-10 was too much for its rear armor. The Jackal hunched forward before disintegrating into a fireball. The shockwave shoved my mech behind, and the burning titanium chunks rained down on me, setting up minor fire on several parts of my body.

"I hope you're not as cowardly as the Davion captain," I heard Thorley snarled. "I want a tight fight."

"Tight fight? Then what did you call your rear shot at the Jackal?" I fumed.

"That Marik wasn't worth my time," Thorley hissed. "I see you use some Clan maneuvers. Slick moves, but don't expect them to work against me. So let's finish this and see how much of a Clan impostor you are!"

Clan impostor, he said? That comment shot my wrath to the roof. Clan impostor? I was a Clan mechwarrior! Although I did not remember what it was like to be a Clan mechwarrior, everything was in my blood. I would teach this punk what it was like to fight a Clan mechwarrior. "If there is an impostor, it is you Thorley. You are the one who are embalmed in Clan technology."

"Ha, you queef like one too!" Thorley chortled. "Come on trashborn, bring on what you've got!"

I knew he had no idea that I was once a Clansman, but being addressed as trashborn still pushed me to the limit. I hit my jump jets and hurled my missiles at him. Thorley easily sidestepped my attack and replied with his lasers. They drilled my center torso, which instantaneously turned red. He was a good shot, and I was lucky that he did not use his UAC-10. I realized that I was provoked by his trash talk, so I held my advance and slowed down as I returned to the ground. Thorley lunged forward and pumped his UAC-10, and the double-shelled shot hit me on the left torso.

It hurt. Bad.

My vision tunneled down to a grey dot as massive quake rocked the cockpit. Warning signs flashed across the console, and digitized human voice blended with sickening twisted sound, splitting my ears. My left side was virtually untouched, but the UAC-10 shells carved a deep hole straight through the armor, gashing the titanium frame that held myomer and electronics. Acrid smell of burning myomer filled the cockpit. Fire raged out of control, and the left arm was jammed. The Wasp reeled, but I just let it slide.

While bringing up my mech on its feet, I thought about how I could get pass this brute. Of course he had a good standing! He had a light mech that could host almost any weapon; even a medium mech pilots found it to be a beast. But there had to be a drawback, putting such a huge weapon on such a small frame like the Kit Fox. How was it affected by the weight of the UAC-10? The most logical consequence was the weight of the gun would slow down the Kit Fox severely. So could I outmaneuver it? That was the question, concerning my mech had lost a lot of armor and power. But it was the only plausible solution.

I got up and set a course 90 degrees from Thorley's line of fire. He showered me with his lasers, two of which drilled my right hip, but failed to do serious damage. I pushed my mech to run faster and circle Thorley, away from its UAC-10. Thorley fired his monster, but the mammoth cannons zipped past my back, harmlessly splashing into the water. I returned fire with pulse laser. The center torso burst into flame, harassed by Kyle Garret prior to this fight, and sparks began spewing out of the wound. I followed up with my missiles, but Thorley was quick to duck and avoid them.

Thorley fired his lasers, showering me with green strands while waiting for his giant gun to reload. I shot my pulse laser again, shedding more armor from his center torso, until he was ready for another shot. The autocannon thundered out and flung its twin rounds at me, but I was ready for it. I yanked my joystick backward as hard as I could. My Wasp skidded to a halt, and Thorley's autocannon rounds shrilled right in front of my cockpit. A cloud of dust rose as the twin rounds buried itself on the ground, a hundred meters away from where I stood.

I bombarded Thorley's center torso with my laser, then released my missiles before escaping to the left. One of the missiles slammed into Thorley's weakened armor, and a small explosion staggered the Clan mech. The Kit Fox turned into a flaming hulk. Thorley twisted to the left, covering his vulnerable torso with his good arm. I scored some hits on his arm, then moved away when I thought Thorley was ready with his autocannon.

Thorley swiveled to the right, but the smoke must have hindered him from finding me. He spent a couple of minutes adjusting his torso, then fired his UAC-10 but still missed me by half a meter. I wondered if I broke his targeting computer with my last missile strike. Nevertheless, it was my time. I fired my alpha strike, hitting the Kit Fox repeatedly on the center. Thorley retaliated with blind laser blast, and one sucker punch hit me on the left torso. I felt a sharp twist as my torso exploded, discarding my entire left arm. But lucky for me, all my weapons were still active. I manipulated the joystick to make my mech stood for my final onslaught.

The Kit Fox barked its UAC-10 again, but the marksmanship was nowhere near my position. I launched everything I had while waltzing forward, closing in on the Clan mech. Sparks and smoke billowed from the gutted torso, and one final strike burnt the Kit Fox in a brilliant bonfire. The 30-ton omnimech was split into 2 as the reactor breached. Blue flame danced, ripping it up from the inside. Then a big orange fireball blossomed, covering the vicinity with tiny bits of titanium.

I leaned on my command couch, closing my eyes for a moment while the fireball subsided into sparks. I just disposed Thunder Thorley, the hometown hero, and I wondered what it meant to my life. I beat Difalco and the Grey Wolves came to harm me. Now the entire city of Cathay would see me as their number one enemy. I might not be able to set foot on this arena, ever again. Let alone walking in Cathay. I heard Solaris citizens took their games very seriously.

But Cathay could wait. Standing in front of me was a Wolfhound bearing the FedCom insignia on its torso. It was the only mech standing, aside from mine. Almost all of its armor had been wiped out. One of its medium lasers on the torso had been dismantled. But the ER large laser was still functional, and that was all what mattered to me. I had no doubt that Kyle could use it in any range possible.

"We're the only ones left," Kyle spoke through the comlink. "Although you just had to take the worse part by killing Thorley."

"I could not have done it if you did not hurt him so much," I replied. "I would share the kill with you."

"People won't see it that way, not here on Solaris anyway. You'll always be remembered as the one that slay Thunder Thorley."

"So be it, then," I drew a deep breath. "Guard yourself, Kyle Garret. May the best warrior win."

"May the best warrior win," Kyle responded and started running in a circle. He knew very well that he had range advantage, so he kept the distance between us bigger than 500 meters. I was in a serious disadvantage. The only way I could beat a Wolfhound with a Wasp was by shooting it from its blind spot. I knew it was close to impossible, but I did not have any choice.

So I used the terrain and the vegetations as cover, trying to get close to Kyle, but he knew what I was doing. He maintained his range advantage, firing his large lasers once in a while to keep me at bay. He would not let me close the gap, and he would rather drag our duel into an endurance contest rather than take a huge risk being pummeled by a Wasp. This game could last for hours, and I just did not have the patience to do it.

When I hid behind a hill, I decided to climb the hill up to the very top. Then I used my jump jets to fly across the arena, bombarding Kyle's position with my pulse laser. Kyle did not expect me to take such a foolish action, so it took him a while before he fired his large laser. The crimson beam cut through my right arm, dismantling my pulse laser. But it was a worthy sacrifice. I cut the distance to 350 meters, and quickly fired my missiles at his midst. The Wolfhound backpedaled to withstand the assault, and fire covered the lower part of its abdomen. I thought I destroyed another one of its medium lasers.

Now I had to wait before I could launch again. I jerked my mech behind, but Kyle caught me with a sharp thrust to the torso. I smelled this sickening scent of burning armor rising into the cockpit. I ran to another direction, but he hit me again with his large laser. My power bar dropped to 60 percent. I knew I did not have enough time. I had one more chance to hit him, and hopefully it was the one that would dismantle the mech.

I changed direction, now dashing straight at the Wolfhound, my thumb atop the trigger. As soon as I heard the ready sound, I mashed it several times. The twin warheads smacked the Wolfhound on its left torso. The lanky mech twisted to the left, pushed by the momentum of the missiles and the ferocity of the explosions. The entire left torso blew up, taking half of the Wolfhound's upper body in a fiery explosion. It wobbled, and for the moment I thought the battle was over.

However, I underestimated the strength of the Wolfhound. It came back, and its right arm blazed with radiant light. My Wasp was simply not a match against this mech. The large laser cut through the remaining armor of my center torso, and broiled the generator. A series of explosions rocked my mech, and against my will, I was thrown out of the cockpit before my Wasp crumbled, dissolving into a fiery mist.

I floated in the air for a while, listening to the announcer paying homage to Kyle Garret, gliding in a parachute. When I hit the ground, the arena car collected me along with some other survivors. I did not see Thunder Thorley among the survivors. I guessed the explosion took him. In the distance, the Wolfhound limped toward the hangar, blazing and smoking but anyway intact.

The car arrived just as the Wolfhound rested on the mechbay. The techs carried Kyle from the cockpit down to the bottom and raced to congratulate him. It took him a while before he came to me, and with a big grin he offered me his hand.

"Respectable fight, Parker," he clenched my hand. "I'm glad it was you."

"Congratulation," I replied coldly. "You are now the arena champion."

"Excuse me… excuse me… hey Garret!" suddenly Captain Morton cut through the crowd and quickly came to Kyle's presence. The twitch in his face told me he was not there to congratulate Kyle. "The mobs are out of control outside. They want blood. Parker's blood."

"Crap," Kyle's face turned grieved. "This is why I didn't finish off Thorley. Damn you Parker, why did you have to do it?" He punched his personal comlink, "Nat, where are you?"

"The dropship is armed and ready," Natalie's digitized voice sprung from the comlink. "If you can get here in 5 minutes, we'll be airborne before the mobs can get to us."

"My chopper's upstairs on the deck," Morton pointed out. "Get up there and get out of here... fast!"

"My thanks," Kyle tapped Morton's shoulder. "Nat, we're coming. I'm taking Parker."

"What?" I bickered. "I am not going with you!"

Kyle turned around and crunched my arm. "You don't understand. You've just killed Cathay's national hero. These mobs will eat you alive! You can not stay here!"

"I am not going with you!" I slapped Kyle's hand. "I will be fine! Just go and save yourself!"

Unexpectedly, Kyle drew his gun and shoved it under my chin. "Parker, I'd rather you die of my head shots rather than getting minced by Liao loyalists. So for the last time, come with me to the chopper or I'll kill you right here!"

"But where are we going?"

"Tecumseh… my home."

"What am I supposed to do at Tecumseh?"

Kyle dropped his gun, smiling and winking at me in a funny way. "Have you been to a wedding?"