A Champion has room for three medium lasers on each arm, side by side. More often found are two medium lasers or a single large laser. The arms are small, as if included as an afterthought. Their ability to move side to side is limited, but they can flip completely backwards, even all the way around. On the outside of these small arms are short wings, probably designed to help the mech balance at high speeds. These wings are sharp and sturdy, contrary to the popular belief that they snap off it hit.

On some variants, there are missile racks. These usually hold SRMs or a NARC launcher, but on this particular Champion they are removed.

This Champion has a powerful primary weapon, an Ultra Autocannon 20. Suspended inside the body, the cannon will slowly rock back to help cope with the recoil. The firepower of the cannon is so great that the Champion slides back each time it fires, and slows down the mech when running. A skilled pilot is needed to keep the mech steady, one with experience in autocannons.

Filling the torso of the Champion is endosteel, as well as a thick hide of armor protecting it. In the left torso are 150 rounds of 240mm shells and a CASE, loaded into a massive ammunition drum barrel. This allows for 30 shots, or 15 in burst mode.

The engine of this mech is unknown, its company markings blown away by an Autocannon 5. Its former master is also unknown, as Mr. Tonnage bought it from a vampire.

Back to the arms. On this variant, the medium lasers are attached in eight sections in eight places, like an octagon. On the top, lining the laser, are places wear they are attached. A fourth of the way down, there are eight more places. This continues all around the laser.

On this model of the Champion, the secondary armament is four Pinpoint ER Medium Lasers, but not on this mech.

Cracking his neck to the side, Jason finished attaching the last medium laser. Snatching up a fusion torch, he started welding armor plates back on to the left arm.

"Indecently, why are you getting rid of your ER Meds? You're getting rid of perfectly good firepower." Sara said, climbing up the side of his mech.

"The mech ran too hot so I couldn't use any lasers. I'm replacing them with ones that don't make my back open."

Alarm showed on her face. "They haven't healed?"

"Nope, some of them almost reached my spine." He looked at her and held his thumb and his finger two millimeters apart. "You came that close to crippling me."

"Jason, I-"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm piloting mechs, right?" He went back to his work as if nothing had happened.

"Jason I'm so sorry-"

"It's fine." Jason interrupted. He stopped working and looked up. "How's your arm?"

Lifting her left arm up, she revealed a bullet scar. "It's fine."

He nodded. "Good to hear."

"Thanks."

He continued welding the armor plate on as silence took over.

Slowly he began to sing. "It's all the same… only the names will change; Everyday… it seems we're wasting away… Another place… where the faces are so cold… I'd drive all night just get back home… I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride; I'm wanted, dead or alive, wanted, dead or alive…"

Sara sat down, just watching him weld the armor plates back on.

"Sometimes I sleep… Sometimes it's not for days, And the people I meet… always go their separate ways, Sometimes you tell the day… By the bottle that you drink… And times when you're all alone, all you do is think…"

She leaned against the torso of the Champion, gazing at Jason. A powerful build set upon handsome features. His dark eyes seemed radiant, and his brown hair stuck to his forehead. Gods above he was so beautiful.

But what she really loved was his spirit. He genuinely cared for her, and she fondly remembered when they were together.

Now his eyes were no longer bright, and sadness seemed to emanate from him. He was no longer the Jason she knew.

If only…

"Don't bet on that Warhammer pilot, she's gonna die." He got up and climbed into his mech.

What? How did he know that? She climbed into the cockpit after him, and saw Jason underneath the control panel.

"What do you know?"

Jason looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

She stomped her foot. Why couldn't he give her a straight answer for once? "Don't give me that, you know something is going to happen. What is it?"

He looked at her as if giving her a warning. "Don't stomp on my mech."

"Gosh darn it tell me, what-" Jason climbed out, covered her mouth, and closed the mech canopy.

"Don't yell it all over the place, darn it! What are you trying to do, raise suspicion against me? Everyone's gonna think I'm a Ghost or a Gremlin!" He hissed.

Shaking his head he climbed back down. "I've seen her pilot before, she's good, but she takes too many risks. She's gonna die next Assault match."

Sara blinked. "You don't know that."

He looked up at her. "Oh yes I do, and you know it good and well."

"She is one of the best-"

"I've predicted it before, haven't I?"

She sighed. "Yes."

"Have I ever been wrong?"

"There was that one-"

"The match was rigged."

She sighed again. He was right; he could see these things before they happened. It was just a gift.

"Then how come you didn't see what happened to us coming?" Immediately she regretted her words and clapped her hands over her mouth.

Too late. He shot her a look. "You know good and well, Sara Marie Kellings."

"Don't you dare-" She stopped herself, seeing the anger in his eyes.

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"That's what you always say." He pulled the navigation system down from the control panel.

"It's all I can say."

"But you don't care."

Her eyes flashed in anger. "What do you mean, I don't care?"

"You don't." He said simply. "I suspect you never did."

Each word was like a knife through her heart as the meaning dawned on her. "How could you say that?" She said, shocked.

"Whenever you messed up, I cleaned up after you. Whenever you did something wrong, I took the blame. You didn't care enough."

She sat down in the chair, her heart pounding. He was right; he had always been there for her.

"I'm so sorry, Jason."

"Stop saying that, it means nothing."

"I didn't want to hurt you, Jason-"

"But you did!"

"I was horny, he was there, it happened, okay?" She blurted. Slowly she realized what she had said, and covered her face. She had done it again. Damn it!

"I never did anything to you." He said quietly, tears streaming down his face. "But you hurt me so much."

"I'm so-"

"STOP IT!" Jason screamed. He looked at her pleadingly. "Just stop it." He whispered, then buried his face in his hands and curled up into a little ball.

Sara had never seen him look so weak. Just seeing him shake broke her heart. She felt for him more than she ever had before. He had no one to help him now, he never had. She was never there for him.

"What have I done?" She whispered, tears streaming down her own face.

Hours seemed to pass.

Finally, Jason regained control over himself. Smearing the tears on his arm, he glared at her. "Leave."

Sadly, she nodded, opening the canopy. "Will you forgive me?"

He paused before answering. "I don't know."

She nodded, wiping away her own tears. "I understand." Slowly, she climbed out of the mech. "Jason?"

He looked at her, his eyes filled with venom.

"If you ever need me, I'm here." She said, swallowing.

His eyes softened, and he nodded.

She climbed down the mech, feeling worse than she had ever felt before.

"I overheard what you said."

Sara whipped her head towards the speaker. "What?"

Alice seemed to pull back inside her missile tube. "Your conversation with Jason, I heard it."

Sara really hated herself now. "I see." Dang it how was she so quiet?

Alice waited before talking, choosing her words carefully. "I see why Jason feels the way he does about you now."

Sara slowly nodded. Jason had every right. "What do you think?" She tightened an armor plate onto the SRM rack.

Alice pulled herself out of the tube, and sat next to Sara. "Tell me what happened."

Sara shook her head. "Later, tonight." She looked into her friends large eyes. "I promise."

They blinked back at her, and then she nodded before slipping back inside the missile tube.

Sara leaned back against the harness that held her in the air, giving her access to otherwise difficult to reach places on the Warhammer. Guilt and shame flowed over her, and for the moment she wished she had a rewind/erase button for her life.

And a mute button.

How could she have hurt him so? Now she was sure she had lost him forever.

If only she could let him know she was truly sorry, that she wanted to…

…make up for it.

But how?

She would have to think about this for a while.

Shaking her head, she began to reattach armor plates to the SRM Launcher. Focus on the task at hand. Work on rebuilding life later. It can wait.

In battle, there is confusion, not reason.

In battle, there is no how, there is only what.

It is impossible to know everything; it is possible to know only what you see.

There is no catching up, there is only being there.

There is only confusion. There is only the now.

On the battlefield, there is always death.

There is only death.

The King Crab. One big mother of an assault mech with killer firepower, speed, and lots of armor. A relic of the Star League that could blow the stuffing out of any mech in the Inner Sphere. A giant that had no natural predators.

Except Longbows.

Long range rockets screech from the Longbow's racks, pummeling the giant over and over again, hammering the ungainly mech into oblivion as the giant struggles to get away.

Finally the King Crab slips behind cover, only to stumble upon a Daishi. Its giant arms clack open, and unleash a stream of lead into the clan mech.

The thin skinned Daishi is pulverized by two salvos of 240mm shells, gutting the mech completely. Few mechs can withstand a full barrage of five 240mm shells, and none can withstand ten, no mater how well armored. It is just impossible.

The King Crab dashes out of cover, pulverizing an Imp from behind with its massive autocannons. Hitting an ammo bin, the Imp explodes in a blinding light, taking the Stalker it was fighting with it.

With a sickening screech, the King Crab is sliced in half by giant axe, and the Berserker rockets away, sniping at a Zeus. The Zeus returns fire with its autocannon, stitching a horizontal line across the Berserker's torso.

The Zeus explodes, and a small supernova blinds everything in the arena. When the white light fades, a Warhammer IIC is reveled, smoke wafting from its barrels.

The Berserker makes a mad dash for the Warhammer, having been caught out in the open. Two bright blue bolts of lightning rip into the Berserker's hull, disabling the left arm. Topping 80kph, it raises its arm to swing-

-And the Warhammer's missile racks blossom, sending half a dozen super-smart rockets at the Berserker.

The rockets automatically select targets, and three of them head for the axe arm, the most dangerous threat to the Warhammer. The first missiles are shot down by the anti-missile system, blowing them out of the sky. The other three hit, knocking the giant axe off the arm of the Berserker.

The axe flies through the air, sailing towards the Warhammer, and neatly slicing the Warhammer pilot's head off. With a groan, the massive assault mech falls on it's back.

The Berserker glances around, just in time to see an Atlas slug the Longbow into oblivion. Heavy weapons damage is visible, even its AC/20 has been knocked out of commission.

Only the Atlas and the Berserker remain.

Calmly the Berserker retrieves its axe from the Warhammer's head, and the Atlas rips off the long arms of a Masakari.

The Berserker activates its MASC, making for a mad dash towards the lumbering Atlas. The Berserker pilot knows he will win; no one beats him at melee.

Sara watched as the Berserker sliced the Atlas's head in two, and then punched it off its torso. The final horn blared, and the Berserker did a victory lap.

"He was right, again." Sara said, looking at the Warhammer IIC. "Sure glad I played peeker this round."

Alice gave her a questioning glance. "But she didn't do anything reckless."

"I know. But Jason doesn't know how it will happen; only that it will happen." She shrugged. "He just has the gift of foresight."

"What was he like… before…" Alice hesitated to continue.

"He was wonderful. One of the most caring people I have ever known." She looked at her friend. "Even more than you."

Alice leaned back in her seat, thinking. "How did he become so bitter?"

Sara sighed. She really didn't want to open those memories again. "It was my fault."

"But he says it's his fault."

Sara shook his head. "He took the blame for everything. He was the fall guy."

"Why?"

"Because he loved me." Sara slowly bit her lip. Where to begin? Sara wondered for some time. Finally, she just decided to start where it counted. "At one time, we were… closer than anything. We were both pilots in some blood pit, and Jason was moving up through the ranks. We were both happy, and he won. There was a small party, I had too much to drink… and there was this guy there. I lost control, and… did it, right then and there. Jason saw the whole thing, and he couldn't leave either." She forced herself to go on. "But he didn't do anything. Later he questioned me about it, I got defensive, words were exchanged. I hit him with a hairdryer, and hit him on the back several times with a hot curling iron." She took a deep breath. "He still has those scars. See, neither of us have really gotten over it, or over each other."

"Why don't you just let go?"

"I cant, I want to but I can't."

"Do you really want to?"

Sara thought for a moment. "Well… I…" She sighed again. "No, I don't want to let go. I love him more than life."

Alice slowly nodded. "What about Jason?"

Sara closed her eyes. "He's in too much pain to let go."

Alice searched for something to say, but found nothing. What was there to say?

"What do you think?"

Alice sighed. "I'm…"

"Disappointed?"

Alice said nothing, letting he silence answer for her.

"It's okay, I would be disappointed to."

Silence. Alice squeezed Sara's hand.

Wordlessly they got up and left, walking back to the hanger.

The sound of thunder could be heard through the roof as the rain poured down on the giant hanger. Almost directly upside down and on his back with only a small light to work with, his endless toil never ceased. Currently he was working on a targeting glitch deep inside the weapons systems, suspecting a faulty wire.

Aiming the light around, he found what he was looking for; a green wire with a kink in it. Tracing it to its origin, he began to take it off.

Gods above he loved these things. Everything else seemed to melt away; his past, his troubles, all seemed meaningless when working on one of these behemoths.

"Hey Jason." He heard Sara sit in the command couch. Probably here to make amends.

"Hey."

"Great fight last Tuesday." She got a few million out of that round, not including tax.

"Thanks."

"How did you do it?"

"By doing it." He smiled.

"How, numbnuts?" She kicked his leg lightly.

Jason chuckled. "By sneaking."

"How, Tonto?" She kicked him in the other leg.

"With patience, playing the fool, experience, and more patience."

"It certainly went better than the last time you did it."

"That's because a Hunchback has the maneuverability of a brick, especially in water." Jason paused his work, reflecting. The last time he had tried it, he had nearly gotten stuck because of the Hunchback's box shape; the mech was barely able to move in the thick water. However he had managed and the fight had been considered ugly. Because of his immobility, his mech had been thrashed beyond mobility, and his mech had to be lifted out by crane after he had put the Victor out of its misery.

"I'm surprised though." She said, playing with his shoe.

"About what?"

"You didn't get back at the Axman pilot for dissing you."

"She was a knievel, wasn't worth my effort."

"She was?"

"After trying to see where the shots had come from, she stayed in the same place and took on the Bushwhacker, so I nailed them both. She stayed in one place too long."

He knew that Sara would nod and think about her next question. "Why didn't you come in blazing?"

"They expect that from rookies."

"What will you do next time?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out later." His usual answer.

There was silence as she reflected. Judging by the amount of time had passed, he guessed she was going to switch subjects.

He heard her get up, surprising him somewhat.

"Sara?"

There was silence as he lifted himself up by his arms, climbing out. He turned to face her. "I've been doing some thinking… and… well I'm not yet ready…" He looked into her sapphire eyes."But if you ever need me, I'm right here for you."

Her hand went to her mouth, clapping over it. Then she slipped her arms around his neck. Jason returned, sliding his around her waist.

"Thank you Jason. Thank you."

For the longest time in the world, they just held each other. They had been without each other for far too long.

Silently Jason vowed to love her, no mater what she did. Reaching farther around, he pulled her closer.

He would never hurt her again.

She buried her face in his chest, letting herself melt into him. She felt so safe, so secure.

She would never hurt him again. Silently, she swore to always be there for him.

Always.

Watching from the cockpit of the Warhammer, Alice smiled. She could feel their emotions from there, and she leaned back in the chair.

"So their finally making up…" She murmured to herself. Just seeing them pull each other close made her feel warm. She smiled again, realizing this would open yet another amazing chapter in their lives. Everything seemed to be perfect.

Let the healing begin.