Torrance, Fall Present, 3067.
It was a world that seemed to be immune to the ravages of war. Considered to be one of the lynchpins to the economy of the Federated Sun's Crucis March, Torrance was nevertheless curiously untouched as the FedCom Civil War raged just under a year before. It was perhaps the fact that the planet's hereditary rulers, the Palatines, were consummate politicians who played off the warring sides against each other so that when it finally came to show their true loyalties, the Palatines quickly sided with Victor Steiner-Davion only when it was clear that he would be the ultimate winner.
Another factor that worked on the side of peace was that there were no battlemech units of any significance that existed on the planet. Torrance was protected by nothing more than a small police force. Being located a short distance from the Davion capital world of New Avalon gave it a nearby source of powerful reinforcements should any foreign power dare attempt an invasion. Not that the planet would ever need that because no one ever thought it important enough to be considered as a strategic target.
But what most did not realize was that Torrance was an extremely important world to the Davion economy. Although there were no factories that produced military parts for the Federated Suns war machine, Torrance was critically important because the planet had a high-tech pharmaceutical industry that supplied over 80% of all medical drugs to the entire Federated Suns. Massive conglomerates such as Vinson Pharmaceuticals were well known across Davion space as purveyors of high-quality medical drugs. During the Civil War, prices of much needed medicinal drugs skyrocketed, propelling the industry to unprecedented levels of profit. The seeming military unimportance of this world escaped the eyes of opposing strategists during the FedCom Civil War and Torrance became one of the few worlds that escaped unscathed. A flood of refugees came in from across the Crucis March during the conflict but was quickly repatriated back to their homeworlds once the war had ended. There was a time that the planetary government toyed with the idea of a socialist constitution but with the political alliance of the most prominent families of the planet that enabled the population to avoid conflict, Torrance had decided to maintain its feudalistic traditions.
It was a rather hot afternoon in the planetary capital of Kiverson City, so much so that the Killing Man had decided to take a shower in his hotel room. As the small rivers of water cascaded down his muscular body and onto the tiled floor of the shower stall, he began to mentally prepare himself for the task ahead. He would be alone on this mission, his support team was in use elsewhere in the Inner-Sphere and he would not be able to depend on them for backup. Not that he really needed it. He just needed to kill one person on this particular job.
As he toweled off his chiseled frame, he stared into the contents of the noteputer lying on the nightstand beside the bed. When it came to black ops, units were very hard to pin down due to their secretive deployments. Both the intelligence bureaus of the Federated Suns and the Lyran Alliance had been exhausted in their efforts against one another during the FedCom Civil War and so were not of much use to him. His own intel reports had gotten very lucky however; because the Word of Blake had so thoroughly infiltrated SAFE, the intelligence bureau of the Free Worlds League, he was able to gain access to possible troop deployments of Star League special ops units in case the Mariks would ever have need of them. By knowing the general region as to where they were deployed and using a bit of guesswork, he had finally tracked down the elusive black ops unit to where their latest assignment was.
It was right here in Torrance. Due to the fact that the Federated Suns counter-intelligence bureau was completely ravaged during the Civil War, it was easy for him to kill a low level MI5 agent and assume his identity through the supersedure program. He now had an effective cover as well as a means of infiltrating the Star League intelligence apparatus in order to get to within striking range of his target. Of course, the whole operation looked easy on paper but the reality of the situation would be much more complicated. There was always the danger of bad luck as well as unexpected developments; he needed to be ready for any contingencies. This was his most crucial assignment so far and he would do his utmost to succeed.
The new Black Widow Company was every bit as deadly as its predecessor. Looking at the organizational structure provided by his contacts, he could tell that this was a unit that had recently proven itself during an incident that occurred in the Dark Nebula. Details were sketchy but it had resulted in the destruction of an old naval base there. He was one man and his mission was to destroy an entire company of elite killers. It seemed that he had his work cut out for him.
But as with every problem, there was always a solution. One of the keys to successfully completing the operation lay in finding that solution. After weeks of contemplation and analysis, he had finally decided on his course of action. Like everything, even the most deadly of units had a weakness. All he needed to do was to find it and exploit it. In the case of the Black Widows, the weakness it had lain in its commanding officer, Captain Natasha Kerensky- the Black Widow herself. The Widows were too dependent on her cult of personality, she was the heart and soul of the unit, without her, the Widows would be powerless. If Kerensky were eliminated, then the rest would fall as well.
And he had the perfect means to get at the Black Widow. He had been thoroughly briefed on the phenomenon called the Doppelganger Effect. If used properly, he could render Natasha helpless against his killing stroke. One moment of weakness was all that he needed. But he had to be careful as well; due to the fact that he too was a clone, he could also fall prey to the effects of the phenomenon. It was important that he maintain his conditioning lest he succumb to his inner desires and end up failing his mission. That was the one thing that was important to him; he had been given a second lease on his existence and he could not fail his leader now, he needed to show them all what a superb creation he was. With the completion of this assignment, his immortality was assured.
After carefully putting on his clothes, he ventured out onto the streets of Kiverson City. The boulevards were thronged with busy pedestrians going to and fro in their everyday lives. The capital city was experiencing a boom in its economy and everyone was in a relaxed and happy mood. The war was over and the good times were coming back again. Although some people might have noticed him walking down the street, anyone too curious would all of a sudden lose sight of him as he weaved through the foot traffic along the sidewalks of the downtown area. If anyone would try to take note of his features they would be confused as to the actual details of his appearance; some would say his eyes were of a light blue color, others would say green and even more would say perhaps gray; if anyone was to take note of his facial features, all would have said that they were nondescript, almost generic; if his hair color was observed witnesses would have sworn it was somewhere between light brown or sandy-haired; the conclusion that anyone would have gotten from all that was that he was practically invisible. In a sense, his formidable skills allowed him to blend immediately with his surroundings so as to seem like he was indeed a ghost.
But beyond his chameleon-like features there was a certain stance in his walk, a lethal confidence that emanated out from his body warning all potential troublemakers to turn and go the other way. Even though he was not armed, his entire body had been honed by training and experience into a lethal weapon. It was almost as if he did not need to be armed.
The Killing Man continued his relentless walk towards the target.
After squinting into the telescopic lens for almost fifteen minutes, Dominic Durant pulled his eyes back when he heard the side door open. His right eye was hurting for being focused too long and his left eye was hurting from being forced closed at the same length of time. After adjusting his tired eyes back into standard focus he noticed Captain Natasha Kerensky smile at him as she placed a cup of coffee on a nearby table. Although a lot of people said she was cold and distant, Dominic thought that she was amiable enough; then again, he had earned her respect in previous operations because of his superb intelligence gathering and analytical skills.
"Thanks a million, Captain. It's just what I needed." Dominic grinned as he stood up from the chair and strode over to take the steaming cup of java.
"You're welcome, Major." Natasha said as she took his place and began squinting into the telescopic lens. "Any new developments?"
"Not much." Dominic said as he sat down on an adjoining bed and began taking small sips in order not to scald his tongue. "We have determined that the arms dealer Sergei Von Schnook has been traced to that office that we are observing but so far, nothing has happened as far as confirmation that the missing mechs are here."
"Do we really need any confirmations as to this point? Don't we have all the information we need to take action?" Natasha asked as she continued to scan the street down below. The intel team had rented a nondescript hotel room six stories up across the street from the target office and had set up a observation post with electronic eavesdropping equipment. Most of the data was already evaluated, but no concrete evidence was found so far, just rumors and suppositions.
"As intel liaison for the SLDF, it's my duty to let you know that there may be some friction between us and the Federated Suns if we act without confirming the source. If we're wrong and we kill the wrong people, heads could roll." Dominic said.
"And if we don't act it could also mean disaster for us all and we'd still get blamed for it." Natasha said without taking her eyes off the scope.
"True. Well, as commander of operations, it's your call. I'll support you either way, you know that." Dominic smiled.
"Thanks, Major. You've proven your worth to me in the past. Your analysis was invaluable when we had that strike in the Dark-" Natasha's words were cut off as she noticed a figure down the street that had walked into her line of sight. It seemed to be no more than an innocent pedestrian that was walking and minding his own business but it was the way he was walking that startled her.
"What is it?" Dominic said as he instantly stood up from the bed.
"Shh." Natasha ordered as she squinted to get a closer look at his face. As if by magic the man turned and looked up as though he was checking the weather and his facial features were then revealed to her.
Within a few scant seconds Natasha immediately took her eyes off the scope as she steadied herself when she nearly toppled over from the chair. The moment she saw his face there was an immediate sense of déjà vu, it was as if she had seen him before despite the fact that her mind was telling her that it was the first time that she did. Almost immediately, a flood of memories about her and the man she just saw inundated her senses; it was as if they knew each other most intimately, as if he was the one person who knew her, more than she knew herself. The recollections continued to overwhelm her as she recalled nights being spent in his embrace, the warmth of his body and the moistness of his lips. The memories were followed by a flood of emotions: love, affection, hope, fear, anger, loss and sadness; the feelings made her want to both laugh with joy and wail with sorrow all at the same time. The cascade of thoughts was too much for her and the room began to whirl as she lost her sense of balance and direction and then she finally fell off her chair onto the carpeted floor.
The next few minutes were a test of her poise and control as she struggled to regain her senses back as she was helped onto her feet. As she returned back to normalcy, she noticed Dominic giving her a worrying look as he propped her up.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine." Natasha said as she shoved him away and squinted back into the telescope to get a fix on the man below but he was gone.
With a sigh, Natasha took her eyes away from the scope and sat down beside the bed. She was in full form just fifteen minutes ago, now it looked like she hadn't slept in ages. She felt awfully tired.
"Captain, what happened?" Dominic asked after a few minutes had passed. "What did you see?"
"Nothing. If you don't mind, Major, I'll tell the team to go on standby." Natasha said wearily as she got up and walked towards the door. Dominic said nothing as he saw her leave the room and closed the door behind her.
Down on the street below, Joshua smiled as walked on by. The first phase of his plan was completed.