Radisson Hotels, Room 502, 4th Floor,
Silesias, Solaris VII
"Oh Christ Kyle cheer up!" Alex said to a lump in the corner. "You placed second and you beat every damned assault mech that fired a shot your way! Including an Atlas piloted by Peter Vargas!"
The lump on the sofa grunted. "I still didn't win." It said
Alex slapped his hand on his forehead and dragged it down over his eyes.
"Hopeless. Utterly, hopeless. Listen that last mech was a Daishi, or basically an Atlas on chicken legs and it had received barely any damage compared to what you had sustained."
"I still didn't win." The lump said.
"You don't have to win at every thing you do the first time you do it! What were you expecting when you saw your opponents, eh? I'll wager that you didn't think you would just blow them away the first time. In fact, I think that you thought that it would be a very tough competition, and that you probably would lose. Didn't you?"
Kyle changed the subject. "I was thinking that we should enter the light or medium circuit. You know…instead of jumping the gun."
Alex rolled his eyes but played along. "And where do you think we'll get a light mech, hmm? Why now, your Masakari is too busted up to be any use to sell. We would have to sell…my…"
Alex paused his sentence short of the end and turned his head to the lump on the couch, which now had a evil grin spread across its face."
"Oh-ho no you don't! No way Kyle, you'll have to kill me first!"
The next day Alex was seen clutching a handhold on his Fafnir while many techs, security officers, and Kyle tried to drag him off of it.
"I'll never forget this you bastard!" He called to Kyle over his shoulder.
Kyle winced when he heard this. That Fafnir had probably been Alex's only pride and joy, he had defeated many tough odds piloting it and it had almost become somewhat of a gargantuan brother to him. To a pilot, a mech can sometimes be the only friend that you have, and that's certainly true in many merc situations. Kyle didn't like taking his best friend's possession away; however, they had to sell it for some good light mechs to use. And his Masakari wouldn't be ready to sell for at least a couple weeks.
The day after his conscience got the best of him and Kyle struck an amazing deal with the dealership owner to save his Fafnir from any interested customers. In exchange he would donate a large percentage of the prize money that he would win in the circuits.
They both decided that they would share two mechs and participate in the light and medium circuits, to keep both popularity and their budget up. They chose on a slightly modified Cougar and a Hellhound with a lot of Omni variability for configuration perfection. They also bought a bunch of weapons they thought were necessary for the up-coming matches.
The Cougar that they bought was a product of the clan invasion and had passed from owner to owner ever since. Nonetheless, even though Alex was used to piloting his extremely slow Fafnir, he had previously been a top-notch racer as well, and he knew the value of clan technology, whether it built up heat or not.
The Cougar was loaded with two ER Large Lasers, and dual Streak SRM 6's. They toned down the top speed of the Cougar to its bare minimum, to compensate for the five years that Alex had been using his Fafnir, and they were able to keep the armor tonnage at a decent level.
The Hellhound that they purchased had come with its original configuration but Kyle had insisted on buying extra weapons with their extra money. Kyle liked variety in his mech, and though he was pilot and not a tech, he knew which weapons to use, where to put them, how many heat sinks he needed, and so on. He was an excellent variant designer and his configurations had often saved both of their asses.
Kyle's favorite configuration for the Hellhound was two ER Large Lasers, two LRM10's, and a Clan Ultra AC 2. He decided to keep the original LBX-10 Scattershot and the SRM launcher in his arsenal for when he really needed the close quarters fire support. The rest of the weapons were sold off for newer, better ones and for money to keep the technicians happy.
They minimized the speed on the Hellhound as well, because neither Kyle nor Alex had piloted anything under the heavy class for a very long time. He also ordered the techs to install Clan Ferro-Fibborus armor that he had bought with the prize money from his previous match.
Kyle and Alex also had never really trusted Inner Sphere weapons and technology. They had from the beginning been clan tech hunters, always looking for the best way to beat the enemy. They knew the value of clan tech, and how it could be invaluable on the field. Of course, it never came cheap, and much clan tech traded power for heat efficiency, something many Inner Sphere pilots couldn't do without. Kyle and Alex were two men that could always take the heat…literally.
Kyle was born in the middle of a desert on Terra; his family had been refugees hiding in the Mojave Desert of California. Shortly after Kyle turned thirteen years old, his family escaped the oppressing Word of Blake forces by the skin of their teeth and ran around the stars of the Chaos March guised as Freelancers working for whomever needed them.
He broke away from his family when he was eighteen and traveled to Outreach to learn some basic piloting skills. There he met Alex, a graduate of the academies and a very well known racer. The two banded up and had been working for various mercenary factions ever since.
Alex was the son of a Steiner war hero that died in a dramatic battle of the Clan Wars. The details of his father's death remained confidential, and they only reported that they shared his grievances and the rest of him was already cremated. After hearing of his father's death Alex enrolled himself into the Wolf Dragoon's Academy on Outreach. There he became a promising student and was granted a Cougar by his instructor, Sgt. Chuck Masters.
When he graduated he kept the Cougar and participated in many Mech Races including the Ishiyama Black Mountain Cup. He became a local favorite and later on decided that merc business was the business for him. There he met Kyle still working his way up though the Academy ranks and joined up with him.
They joined a group of mercs
called the Silent Reapers, funded by the Dragoons. Shortly after, they were
called to New Exford where Jade Falcon activity was getting on the nerves of
many Lyran Alliance Border Officials. There they learned the value and power of
Clan Technology and Clan Omni Mechs.
They were forced to retreat from the planet and let a stronger merc faction
pull in after their commander was killed in the fighting. After the defeat the
two mercs pulled what was left of their faction and created a new one, bigger,
better, and stronger than before. Unfortunately that too was also eradicated
due to W.O.B. presence on one of their contracts, save for Kyle and Alex's
company that were still in transit to the system.
So it is then that they decided that they needed to think wiser about the choices they were given. The choices that they had made had cost them the lives of many of their friends, and they didn't want to bring any more harm to the people that they met.
They turned to Sgt. Masters once again for help. With his aid and good word, they were able to be approved by an elite group of mercs who needed some fresh and highly skilled men for their current assignment.
The luck turned in their favor from there on out, and the two were able to work up through the ranks and become the noble pilots that they dreamed of being. But neither man thought of it as enough.
After five years of fighting countless battles and becoming officers, they still hadn't made their names appear in the Comstar headlines. So one day their faction pulled into Solaris VII for some good old rest and relaxation, when lo-and-behold, they discovered the mech fights. After breaking with their faction, they immediately signed up for the next season and they now where we started from.
Factory Fighting Arena, Open Season,
Light Circuit, 5th match of Season,
Montenegro, Solaris VII
Alex gaped at the massive arena. It was so big that it housed normal office buildings, giant machinery, and even a lake. He also saw a river of lava running around the arena near the wall...This place was awesome! Yet it still seemed so very small and close together, he guessed that the continuous high-walls and obstacles were to blame. Plus, for an indoor factory, it also seemed pretty hilly and rough. This was going to be a great fight.
He got a signal from the overseer. "Alright people, the match is about to start. You have two minutes to run your systems checks and startup. Luck."
Alex grinned, and pressed the startup button… He heard the AI voice of the mech speak softly, dubbed Alora.
This is Alora; tell me your name and Call sign.
"My name is Alex Delever, but just call me Maxim ok?"
All right then Maxim, tell me your password and we'll get this party started."That's my girl!"
Password accepted. Now hang on, you're in for a ride!Alex grinned again; he loved these custom AI systems that you could get for no extra fee, the AI on his Fafnir happened to be one called Goliath, and he had that for a long time, but for the most part, all other mechs he had piloted had the regular artificial female voice in them.
Reactor…Online.Sensors…Online.
Weapons…Online.
All Systems…Nominal.
The Cougar lifted up from its hunch-backed position. He immediately swept the area with his torso and scanned for his opponents. There were walls 300 meters in front of him so all he could do was scan for active enemies, but he spotted an Osiris waiting patiently some 600 meters to his left, and an Uller that was still shut down maybe 500 meters to his right.
He looked at the surrounding terrain. He was in a somewhat open lot where the abandoned office buildings were. A massive generator and walls beyond it blocked his view of the arena beyond. He looked up at the lights and spotted a large network of metal beams that spread across the entire factory.
Maybe if I could get up there…
"Welcome Solaris Fans!" The sound of Duncan's voice rocked him from his thought.
"It's a beautiful day today here in Montenegro. To bad that these pilots can't enjoy it though, they'll be locked in the biggest junk pile on Solaris fighting it out until one comes victorious. Let's all wish them luck!"
The starting horn blared, and Alex slammed his throttle to full and began to work his pedals furiously.
Leg coordination….that's the key...come on…you can do this! Alex tried to encourage himself. He sped towards the Uller, who immediately broke into a run as well, and they began to circle each other.
He immediately came under a hail of laser and machine gun fire. Pulse lasers fired from the Uller began to pepper small amounts of damage all over his mech.
He let the crosshairs fall over the Uller. As soon as he saw them turn red, he unleashed his ER Large lasers upon the tiny mech. One beam passed the Uller just wide of the torso, and the second struck home on the left shoulder of the tiny mech. Instantly large globs of molten armor splashed off the mech's shoulder and onto the ground creating hissing potholes wherever they landed.
The Uller retaliated with a salvo of CSTRK 6's and a hell fire of machine guns. The lead bullets bounced harmlessly off his thick chassis but he winced when the missiles struck all over his mech. He blinked and suddenly his damage indicator turned his right torso from green to yellow.
He fired back at the Uller with full fury. Twelve Streak SRM's blew armor off the now stumbling Uller, unable to take such a beating and keep balanced at the same time. Bits of armor flew off the mech and littered the surrounding ground. A second after the blow the Uller was able to regain its footing, but not before Alex fired both of his large lasers directly at its legs.
One laser hit the leg squarely and scored a deep gash across the Uller's left leg. Molten armor trickled down the leg and dripped onto the ground scoring battle scars in the hard Ferro-Crete. The other laser blew a hole in the ground right before the Uller's feet. The tiny mech tripped and fell to the ground. The view-port of the tiny mech shattered upon impact, and a second later an ejection pod burst from the fallen mech. The kill horn sounded, and Alex scored his first kill in the Solaris Games.
Alex slowed to a halt to let his heat levels go down and so he could get a hold of his surroundings again. After spinning in circles at 82 k.p.h, he had gotten a little dizzy and light-headed. Still, after years of piloting that awfully slow Fafnir, he was glad that he was finally back in the cockpit of a light, tiny, and speed demon of a mech. He scanned for more enemies and found a group of three other lights battling it out in the lake. He thrust the throttle to full again, and hoped he could get there in time before there wasn't anything left for him to kill.
He maneuvered around the high-walls and the many obstacles that came his way. There were pieces of equipment everywhere, he spotted the upper torso of a Templar sticking out of the ground and he nearly tripped on several arms of mechs that were to rusty and destroyed to identify. Navigating through here was tough; more time on the simulators would probably clear that up.
Another kill horn sounded, and Duncan's voice echoed over the open frequency. "There's something I like about these light circuit fights, and that's that they are long, and give the viewer one of the best senses of action. Think about it, they're hurling around at awesome speeds fighting each other with all they've got. And sometimes all they have is a couple of Machine Guns, but that doesn't matter, sometimes that's all it takes. Another thing I love is the ferocity of the pilots on the field, and how they have the courage and endurance to keep battling out until the very end."
He entered the area where the lake was, and he found a red Raven, the Osiris that he saw earlier and a Cougar with a green paint job.
As soon as he entered the lake a stray missile nearly hit his cockpit, the three fighters were in one of the fiercest melees Alex had ever seen. Each one was jumping over another, firing weapons as if heat and damage weren't factors, and running around at their very top speed. Alex began to feel slightly nauseated just watching them. He shook off the feeling and entered the fray.
He charged the Cougar with the green paint job, and just as he was about to pull the trigger, the green Cougar shot two lasers at the Osiris and hit it directly in its center torso. The lasers melted away the rest of the armor and hit the engine. An ejection pod immediately burst from the still standing Osirus and its engine went critical. The blast enveloped the Raven, who was knocked off its feet from the force of the blast. The fire engulfed the Raven and a burning ejection pod shot out of the flames trailing fire and smoke.
The kill horn blared loudly, and Duncan was ecstatic. "Woah! That can't be good, lets hope that Raven pilot is all right. But better yet lets take a look at that Cougar! That was amazing! One of the most action filled fights I've ever seen, that pilot defiantly knows what he is doing."
The green Cougar turned around to face Alex's mech. They sat for a brief moment looking at one another before Alex started to run in a circle. Something told him this wasn't going to be easy…
"Do you wish to fight me Freebirth?" The Cougar's pilot echoed over his frequency.
What in god's name? A CLANNER?! Here?!? He gulped and thought about his answer before replying."Aff, Clan warrior. Give me all that you've got and don't take me lightly. You wouldn't want to be beaten by a filthy freebirth like me? Quineg?" He said in a mocking tone.
The clanner laughed, "Neg, but I doubt that you will be able to get very far with me. Let us fight!"
He broke into the circle as well and immediately started throwing his entire arsenal at Alex's mech. Alex noted with a slight tinge of anger the insignia on the clanner's mech.
The Jade Falcon's.
They broke the circle and charged head long at each other, Alex fired both his CSTRK 6's at the Clanner, all of the missiles hit home but the clanner didn't even blink and returned fire with one ER large laser and a hell fire of Pulse Lasers. Alex winced as the Large Laser hit his other shoulder and rocked his mechs torso to the right. He fired his jump jets right before the two were about to collide and narrowly avoided a disastrous crash.
The clanner, predicting the move, immediately spun his mech around while Alex did the same in the air. He feathered his fall, and quickly jumped to the side again, this time dogging a deadly attack from some LRM's.
He couldn't help but feel that he was back in the races, running around at top speed, moving his mech as if it were his own agile body. Jumping, spinning, and hurling through the air. Shooting, dogging, and running for two things…your life and 1st place. Right now, whatever skill and strength Alex had gained from the races had been called back out of retirement. This is where he belonged.
The Clanner kept a steady flow of pulse lasers trained on his mech, and now Alex was becoming worried about his left torso, which was now orange. He didn't have any CASE systems installed and if he had an ammo explosion…
Alex fired one of his large lasers at the clanner while backpedaling, the laser hit the right arm of the Falcon's Cougar splashing armor into the lake where it boiled and then cooled.
The clanner responded with his Large Pulse Laser and his Large Laser. The Large Laser scored his center torso, however there was armor there to spare. The pulse laser kept a steady flow of energy concentrated on his mech while he tried to duck away.
Alex instantly tried forming a strategy to try to put the damned clanner out of his misery, and one that, if not suicidal, just might work. He spotted a plot in the terrain where the ground rose up sharply and turned to it, revealing his back to the clanner.
"Ha! Running already? You Freebirths are all the same!" The clanner said in a victorious tone.
He let the clanner close in on his mech a little bit then ran at full speed towards the slope, all the time keeping an eye on his rear-view camera. As soon as his mech's foot reached the edge of the slope, he fired his jump jets, and flew off like jumping off a ramp. Immediately he rocketed upwards with sheer speed as a combined result of the ramp, speed, and his Clan Jump Jets.
The clanner, not anticipating the move, shot his torso up and tried to do the same, however he tripped on the steep slope and slammed his mech's nose into the bank.
Alex kept pressure on his pedals, he was doing this on a long shot and if he let up now he was history. He eyed the rafters and passed over them easily. He then used his maneuvering jets to position him self so that he could actually land on one. It was tricky and the beam was very thin, however he managed to pull it off. He couldn't turn to the side unless he used his jump jets again, and he had barely any fuel left to lift his mech up an inch.
The clanner got his mech up from the ground and immediately began sweeping the area for his target.
"Where are you? Come and fight me Freebirth!" He yelled.
Alex laughed to himself, not knowing he was still on the private frequency but he didn't say anything that might reveal his position. He slowly, and carefully aimed his mechs arm down at the Falcon, and as he brought his displays up, he moved his targeting reticle very carefully towards the Cougar's cockpit.
One less Clanner, and a better Inner Sphere. He thought to himself.
Alex closed his hands around the trigger slowly, savoring the moment. He was ready to pull when all of a sudden Duncan's voice roared over the open frequency.
"Oh ho wow! I don't know how he did it, but he did! That Cougar pilot deployed an excellent strategy and rocketed up to the rafters right before…"
"Damn you Ficher!" Alex yelled, for as soon as Duncan gave away his position, the clanner backed away from his spot at its top speed, and turned to the rafters to find his target.
Alex immediately fired his jump jets again, which had fully recharged during that time, and brought his mech over the clanner's before he could spot him. However, Alex miss timed and was not able to land on the Cougar as he had planned, but instead landed directly in front of the Falcon, with only inches to spare in between their noses.
Alex's Cougar landed with a startling thud, and managed to surprise even the battle-hardened clanner. His face was tight and stony, not moving the slightest bit. His eyes radiated a dark fire as he stared directly into the clanner's face. The Jade Falcon had the same expression glued into his visage. Alex took time to note his appearance, though he didn't know why he did so…perhaps he would kill the bastard later.
"What in the Founder's name was that?" The Clanner asked. "You fight well freebirth, but you continue to prove to me that you are no less capable than performing dezgra tactics to defeat your enemy."
"Oh? We'll see about that!' Alex said, and fired all his Streak SRM's at point-blank range. His mech was caught in the explosions and damaged as well, however, it still didn't do enough damage to bring him into the Orange Zone and he stayed safely yellow.
"Freebirth!" The clanner yelled in surprise. The SRM's did severe damage and Alex jumped his mech away before the Falcon could retaliate. As soon as he landed however hundreds of darts of emerald green energy began to strike dangerously close to his cockpit. Several shots got so close, that when several lasers hit, it splashed molten armor on the viewport and nearly melted through!
Alex saw that the Clanner had been holding out on him, so he chose to do the same. He charged his mech forward and suddenly veered to the right of the still stationary mech, and twisted his torso to the left and began a tight circle around the clanner.
He squeezed the trigger for his Lasers and hoped that one would hit. The laser that shot out from his left arm passed through the Flacon's legs and flung dirt everywhere when it connected with the ground. The latter scored the clanner's right arm, and dragged it down into the red zone.
The Clanner jumped backwards suddenly and left Alex on the ground just as he was completing his circle. He let Alex move right into his crosshairs and triggered an Alpha Strike. The Large laser struck his arm and severed it at the elbow. Alex winced from the shock delivered in his neuro-helmet, armor splashed and sizzled where ever it landed. The Pulse lasers continued to have little effect, but kept drilling holes into Alex's mech. The LRM's came last and blasted away more armor on his center torso. His mech rocked slightly, and Alex fought to keep it under control. His center torso was now orange and he had to get out of the clanner's reticles, or out of the way completely if he was planning a D.F.A. attack. He drove hard to the right and reversed his circle, the clanner touched down on the opposite side and Alex fired his SRM's at him while the Falcon tried to speed up. Almost all of them hit the clanner's right side, and obliterated the LRM Launcher in the Right Torso. The blast ignited the LRM's there and the Falcon's Cougar disappeared in a plume of orange and yellow fire. Alex smiled with satisfaction as the explosion blew the clanner to the ground at a near 60 k.p.h.
"Stravag!" The clanner yelled once, and then was silent after impact.
Alex slowed his mech down once more to reanalyze the situation. He was down to 48% of his original armor strength, and one of his large lasers was gone, he was at about 17 more salvos for each of his CSTRK 6's though.
However even though the luck was against him, nothing could dampen his spirits after beating a lost, yet battle-hardened Clanner. He spurred his mech into action and saw a PPC blast flash past him, barely scraping the paint off his mech. He kept in motion and glanced at his scanners to find a badly damaged Puma racing towards him. He immediately turned and fired off his large laser, which hit the top of the mech's 'turtle shell.' Molten armor instantly melted and sprayed off in every direction, and left a long half-pipe all the way through the top of the shell.
The Puma pitched its torso down and stumbled a little, but was somehow able to keep running towards Alex and his mech.
Alex swerved his mech towards the Puma and fired his CSTRK's at it. One salvo splashed damage all over the right torso of the mech. The other passed high of the Puma and spiraled around behind it, futilely trying to compensate for their miss.
The blasts seemed stop the mech's advance as if it had run into a brick wall, but the illusion passed as the battered Puma charged out of the smoke and fired its PPC's at Alex's cougar once again. Both shots carved massive amounts of armor away from Alex's mech's right leg, damaging several actuators in the ankle. Alex winced from the feedback the Neuro-Helmet gave him, but staggered along nonetheless and returned the favor with his ER Large Laser. The emerald lance shot out and struck the mech directly in the center torso melting away the last bit of armor it had there and destroyed the engine.
Immediately an ejection pod shot out from the cockpit and left the mech to die at Alex's feet. The Puma ran two more clumsy steps after the ejection and then fell haphazardly in front of Alex's crippled Cougar.
Alex fired his jump jets to clear the area before the fallen Puma's reactor could go critical. He landed 100 meters away and fell upon his landing due to his mech's nearly destroyed ankle. He got up a little groggily, but found himself facing the lake again where a Wolf Hound and a Flea were aimlessly dancing around each other. By reading his scanners, only the Flea had working weapons. The Wolf Hound had both its arms blown off and apparently its center torso was nearly cored, the weapons there also destroyed. The Flea was out of ammo for its weak Machine Guns and only had one Small Pulse Laser operational. The two danced around each other, though both were near critical damage, a fight with a single small pulse laser was a long one.
Alex brought his Cougar to a halt safely out of range of the two in their prolonged dance of death, and fired his Large Laser at the Flea. The emerald lance shot out towards the weakened mech and severed its leg as such that it passed right through it and struck the ground behind it. The pilot ejected immediately and his mech crumbled to the ground. The Kill Horn sounded and the Wolf Hound brought itself to a dead halt. It turned towards Alex and opened a channel to him.
"I'd like to surrender." The pilot said in a grudging voice, "Busted up as it is I'd rather give up rather than you trash my mech."
Alex smiled. "Granted."
The last pilot resigned his mech to a shutdown and Alex was awarded the first place in the lightweight circuit.
Ok, I know that dragged on a little bit. And I'm also aware that the ending wasn't very glamorous, but I wanted to get this chapter up and out before anything else. ::sighs:: I don't think I'll ever get this mech action right, and you may hate it but I think I'm going to keep trying. Oh yea, and I have two mech warrior novels now. Not the original BT stuff I don't think, but it's the Mech Warrior Series nonetheless…and I finally got the difference between Clan and IS names for mechs (sorry about that Wobbly Guy). Yes I believe I will be employing a strategy my English teacher informed me of, and that is the Willing Suspension of Disbelief. It will apply to anything from physics in the story to stats on mechs. I know it's not the best thing to do but I'm going to beg that of you until I can learn more about the BT universe. Ok now those reviews…
Yeth: Thanks, which one do you mean though? Good or bad, or so bad its good (and vice versa?) lol
Duo: I must admit, I was only operating off of a bad multiplayer configuration my friend gave me, he likes the range advantage the light gauss gives him, though it wouldn't be needed in the stadium, I just put it down because I like the Lt. Gauss too. Were all snipers lol.
Cauldron Born ROCKS!!!: Yes true. I kept in mind the fact that there maybe some gamers who own the game and nothing else…like myself.
The Wobbly Guy: I have no doubt you're right. Honestly I have no idea what those are though. In multiplayer it's easy to conquer an Atlas with a Daishi, Haputman, or even a Gladiator. However the game makes the Atlas look to be the almighty conqueror, and so I just put it in the story. Indeed the Atlas is over-rated, but in the story of the game I guess its still one to be "feared."