Ask most people and they will tell you that a morning run of five miles every day would not be ideal during a vacation. Natasha Kerensky on the other hand, shouldn't be considered a typical person. Natasha was a clone of the original Black Widow, created by the Bounty Hunter to serve as part of his genetically engineered army with which to raise war against both the Inner-Sphere and the Clans of Kerensky. She had spent the early part of her life training to become the ultimate killing machine. After having killed hundreds of slave fighters in the hidden bases of the Bounty Hunter, Natasha was set free only to be tested once again. By then she was literally hunted by the forces of her creator, using her skills just to survive. But after making friends and allies among various mercenaries, Natasha was able to break free of the Bounty Hunter's control and with the help of her new friends, destroyed his cloning vats. It was a setback that her creator would not take lightly and Natasha dreaded the day when they would meet for one final battle.

  But all that was at the back of Natasha's mind as she experienced her runner's high, the feeling that some long distance runners get when they get past the threshold of pain and enter into a state of wanton bliss. As the salty wind from the beach whipped at her fiery red hair, Natasha sprinted on her way back to the tent that she and her wards had set up along the beach. It was the second week of their vacation; she had specifically chosen the distant Periphery world of Erebor because of its sparse population and its far proximity from any war that was constantly engulfing the Inner-Sphere. Having just dealt with the Beast of Ishiyama a few months back, the Black Widow felt that she needed the rest.

  As Natasha rounded a corner of the beach she was running on, she could see from a distance that Duncan had already woken up and was making sandcastles on the seashore. Natasha smiled because she knew that the eight-year old blond-haired Duncan was a growing boy and he would be demanding a hearty breakfast quite soon. She needed to break out the portable burners and get it going. Duncan's older brother Kieran McGavin had taken the jeep to go exploring the surrounding forest and would probably be back by midday.

  The McGavin brothers had been orphans in the gaming world of Solaris VII when Natasha found them after the Beast that had inhabited Ishiyama Arena in Solaris City killed their older sister. Kieran and Duncan were also the grandsons of the legendary Lloyd McGavin, the founder of the Draconis Combine's elite Nightstalker regiments. As the months passed, they became almost like a surrogate family, Kieran helped Natasha's career in the Solaris mech pits as a battlemech technician while little Duncan remained both a thorn and blessing in Natasha's side, always annoying even as the Black Widow began to grow fond of him.

  As Natasha got to within several meters of the boy, Duncan quickly saw her and waved. "Nasty! I'm hungry!"

  "Breakfast is coming up, Duncan." Natasha cheerfully replied as she grabbed a towel from the tent to wipe the sweat from her forehead. It was hard work taking care of the little blond tyke but she was so fond of him now that she didn't care.

  As they both finished up breakfast and washed the plastic plates, Kieran's jeep pulled up on top of the sand dune behind their tent. Duncan quickly ran up and hugged Kieran as he got out of the jeep. Natasha came up alongside and was surprised to see a weather-beaten old man snoring on the vehicle's front seat.

  "Who is this?" Natasha asked.

  "Oh that's Ethan Lafitte. He's a prospector wandering in these parts. I brought him over because he saved my life." Kieran shrugged.

  Natasha's left eyebrow raised a fraction. "Saved your life? How?"

  "Well, I was taking the jeep for a leisurely drive and then I came upon a ruined metropolis. You wouldn't believe it Nasty, a whole ancient city just standing there! It looked like it was abandoned centuries ago. I drove the jeep forward so that I could enter it through the main road but Ethan just leaped out of nowhere, startling me!" Kieran explained.

  "Go on."

  "You see; he saved my life because he quickly told me that the ruined city was actually planted full of vibramines and if I drove the jeep down there I probably would have been blown sky high!" Kieran exclaimed.

  "Is this guy dead?" Duncan pinched the old man's nose shut so that his mouth opened up with a loud snore in order to keep breathing.

  "Duncan! Stop that." Natasha scolded the boy.

  The noises the three made apparently woke the old man. "Whu?"

  "Ethan, meet my good friend Nasty Kerensky." Kieran said to the waking old man.

  "Well now, I'll be darned! You look just like the Black Widow! A much younger version anyway." Ethan exclaimed as he fiddled with his gray beard while looking intensely at Natasha.

  The Black Widow couldn't suppress a smile. "Quite a number of people said that. Nice to meet you Ethan; I would like to thank you for saving my friend's life."

  "And I'm Duncan, Kieran's brother." Duncan offered his little hand for a shake in which the old man gladly reciprocated.

  "Don't think I wasn't aware of what you were doing, young feller." Ethan winked at the little boy.

  Duncan yelped and ran back to the beach.

  As Kieran grabbed some scuba-gear to do some spear fishing in order to catch lunch, Natasha brewed a cup of coffee for the old man that was eagerly accepted. Duncan grabbed his little diving mask with snorkel and quickly dove into the water to catch up with Kieran as the two remaining people on the beach began a conversation in order to get to know each other.

  Natasha learned that Ethan Lafitte was a former soldier of the AFFC, having been in numerous campaigns and only retired seven years ago. Starting out as a lowly mechwarrior, Ethan served with distinction during the Clan invasion that he was ultimately promoted to company commander. Injuries permanently sidelined his career as a mechwarrior but Ethan would not retire, he felt that he could still contribute even on an indirect basis. So he hit the books and became a master technician, helping to service battlemechs and learning all he could about Clan technology. Ethan's dual skills and experience catapulted him to become one of the senior techs of the rebuilt Star League Defense Forces and participated in their campaign to destroy the Smoke Jaguar Clan during Operation Bulldog. After the success of that operation, Ethan Lafitte finally decided to retire; he had had enough of war. At that juncture in time, Ethan could have lived a life of comfort; his service to the Star League had earned him a title as well as a country estate. But the call of adventure still beckoned him and he therefore decided to sell his landholdings and live the rest of his life as a prospector, looking for lost riches out in the frontier worlds of the Periphery.

  "And so there you have it. I came to this planet a few years ago because it was quiet, serene and I have also heard rumors about some treasure out here." The old man chuckled over a plate of roasted fish. Kieran had caught several and all were enjoying a hearty lunch as well as listening to Ethan's stories.

  "What kind of treasure?" Duncan's bottle-green eyes quickly became alive at the sound of lost riches.

  "Well laddie, I had heard that religious fanatics a long, long time ago buried some priceless relic out here. If anyone finds it, it could be worth hundreds of millions in C-Bills." Ethan winked at the little boy.

  "Ethan, what about that ruined metropolis that you were looking at? What's the history behind it?" Natasha queried.

  "Well lady, I can tell you that the city you are referring to was once known as Moria, the capital city of Erebor. During the time of the Rim Worlds Republic she was a thriving center of trade and commerce. Had a wonderful park of ancient trees imported from Terra herself they said." Ethan explained.

  "What happened? How did it become so barren and lifeless?" Kieran asked.

  "Alas, as with all other reasons in this accursed Inner-Sphere, it was because of war. When Stefan Amaris murdered the young emperor of the first Star League, all hell broke loose. Erebor was a planet that had belonged to the Rim Worlds Republic. When the SLDF heard of the atrocities committed by the forces of House Amaris, they attacked and occupied all the worlds of the Republic. Erebor was a special prize because of its germanium mines and heavy industry." Ethan continued.

  Both Natasha and Kieran listened in rapt silence. Duncan began to fidget in the sand because history didn't interest him too much; like all kids he wanted to go and play along the beach.

  The old man went on. "But the population of Erebor was staunchly defiant. Amaris had tolerated their extreme religious views and so therefore had earned the loyalty of the planet's citizens. Guerilla groups began to get organized and the SLDF forces stationed on the planet began to take massive casualties from the increasingly fanatical attacks made against them. In 2772, the entire planet rose up in revolt, mauling the SLDF garrison units stationed here at that time. Finally, SLDF high command ordered an entire battlemech regiment stationed on the planet with orders to quell the uprising at all costs."

  It was all too complicated for Duncan, so he got up and ran off towards the seashore to play.

  Ethan didn't seem to notice he had one less listener. "Well I'm sure you both know that mechs aren't very good in quelling riots or facing urban guerillas. That's what the local resistance did; they fortified key cities like Moria and every available man was equipped with everything from Inferno missiles to Molotov cocktails. The resistance had a good plan, they hid out among the civilian population and fought using guerilla tactics, if they were faced with a less determined enemy, they would have succeeded in repelling the SLDF."

  "But what happened?" Asked Natasha.

  "The SLDF quickly branded the entire planetary population as terrorists and gave them no mercy. It took almost a year but the rebellion was crushed, the citizens took massive casualties and the survivors were exiled to other worlds. But the SLDF wasn't finished, they saw that the resistance had tortured SLDF prisoners before they killed them and so the vengeful soldiers of the Star League exacted a brutal revenge on the cities of Erebor. Like that of the Ancient Romans, who after the victory over Carthage sowed that city with salt to make it uninhabitable; the SLDF exiled all the survivors and sowed cities like Moria with booby-traps like vibramines as well as sprayed chemical weapons on its streets to prevent plants and animals from ever growing there again." Ethan explained.

  "Gosh. I never read about this in the history books." Kieran observed.

  "That's cause history is written by the victors, boy. But lemme tells you, atrocities happen on both sides in every war men have ever fought. Some tragedies like Kentares get written into the history books; others like Moria do not. It's just the way the galaxy is I guess. God knows I've seen enough death and destruction in my time." Ethan sighed.

  "But it does seem that civilization is coming back, more and more tourists come here now as the years pass. There's a bustling town with a small starport called Rivendell about a hundred kilometers south. That's how we got here." Natasha added.

  "Yes you're right. Looks like life is beginning to return to normal here. Will take some time though. In the meanwhile, you youngsters best avoid the cities of the dead like Moria." The old man answered.

  At that very moment, a shrill yelp was heard along the beach. All three heads turned in unison.

  "That was Duncan!" Natasha exclaimed as she got up.

  All three quickly ran to the edge of a copse of trees to where the sound came from. Because of her natural swiftness and excellent conditioning, Natasha got there first. What she saw was that Duncan seemed to be staring at a form that had apparently washed up along the seashore and got tangled up in the roots of a tree. The boy was scared and shaking uncontrollably. Natasha quickly got the boy over to her side and hugged him for comfort as Kieran and Ethan got to the scene.

  "It's a dead body." Duncan whimpered as Kieran led him away.

  Natasha quickly knelt down to get a closer look. It was a body of a woman, her black hair covered her face like a slimy veil; she seemed to have been dressed in a black robe which by now was partly torn and caked with salt from the ocean. As Natasha checked for any external signs of death, she did notice a gaping whole on the shoulder of the corpse. The cauterized wound suggested an energy weapon; probably a laser did it. Clear, salty liquid still oozed from the corpse's mouth and seemed to indicate that she met her fate while drowning. But what was strange was as Natasha looked at the dead woman's hands, she could see that the corpse was still grasping something in her left hand. When Natasha pried open the corpse's pale white fingers, a metallic scarab fell out onto the sand.

  It was as if even though the deceased knew she was going to die, she still held onto the scarab with her last ounce of strength. As if it meant more to her than life itself.