INTERLUDE 1

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Port Moseby, Freedom Theater,
Lyran Alliance,
June 6, 3073

Kayoko once said that she was stuck with garrison militia for a long time, and only a miracle would take her out of Buckminster. Well, miracle found her. Early April a high-ranking officer from the 2nd Sword of Light met with the CO of Buckminster Militia about a potential raid to nearby Lyran planet Port Moseby. There was a stash of Lyran war resources left by the Third Lyran Guards RCT when they were deployed to Tharkad. Port Moseby's planetary militia was the only one guarding this 'treasure'. Since Buckminster was one jump away from Port Moseby, the 2nd Sword of Light thought it was a good idea to send Buckminster Militia to loot the 'treasure'.

Of course, there was that 'should you be captured or killed, the 2nd Sword of Light will disavow any knowledge of your actions' nonsense at the end of the briefing, but everybody was too excited to care. Looting Lyran stash was the highest priority for every member of Buckminster Militia, including Kayoko.

Now Kayoko sat nervously inside a Pegasus as the militia's 2nd Armor Company advanced toward a huge military depot. Various missile and laser turrets barricaded the complex, reinforced by combat vehicles and a lance of light to medium battlemechs. The Lyrans had superior range as those missiles and laser bolts could reached up to 600 meters, but the Buckminster militia- mostly Pegasuses, Scimitars, and Saracens, with a few Condors in the mix – had the numbers.

"Big Bird Actual, this is Grover Six-Six in position, ready to engage," 1st Armor Company reported.

"Oscar Two Zero, in position," the CO of 2nd Armor Company followed suit.

"This is Count Delta Ground, target in sight," a message from 3rd Armor Company crackled on the comlink. "Permission to engage."

"All hands, fire at will!" the order from the battalion commander came loud and clear.

"Telly-One, take out the power generator at quadrant 1! Telly-Two, Telly-Three, I want quadrant 4 free of Lyran tanks!" The CO of 2nd Company led the charge in his Condor. "Let's go to work, soldiers! Go! Go! Go!"

"You heard the man! Maximum speed at the power generator!" the Pegasus tank commander roared. As the gunner of the Pegasus, Kayoko armed the hovertank's twin SRM6 launchers, ready to fire at a moment's notice. Her closest target, a laser turret, was still 500 meters away, but with the speed of the Pegasus, she would come into range within 10 seconds.

The turret, however, drew first blood. A burst of emerald bolt hammered the right hull of the tank. The Pegasus veered left, and the driver compensated the course when a cross fire from a Sentinel slammed into the right side, just north of the red-hot blotch from the laser attack a second ago. The armor dulled the attacks, but the unmistakable shrill of alarm warned Kayoko that the right hull of the tank had been compromised.

"Stay on course! Stay on course!" the tank commander barked. "We have to bust the power generator to knock the turrets out! Maximum speed to grid…"

His voice disappeared into a deafening roar. Something hit the tank. It was a hard, murderous strike that went through the damaged armor , all the way through the hull. Kayoko yelped as the Pegasus interior turned into a blurry mess. Her ears rang, her eyes dowsed, and her stomach turned upside down by the smell of gunpowder, molten rubber, and burning flesh. She didn't know why she was still alive, with no scratch whatsoever.

The Pegasus lost power and veered right, but the engine was still running. Kayoko fought her way to the front of the tank through some jagged-edged struts and bulkheads. The driver was still strapped to the seat, but he was barely alive. His arms were almost ripped off his body. The tank commander was gone save for whatever was left of him on the left wall. Kayoko looked out of the window and saw that the tank was coasting toward a missile turret. At 300 meters and closing, the turret started to turn toward her.

Kayoko pushed the driver off the seat and turned the tank around. It sputtered and coughed, but sluggishly followed Kayoko's direction. The turret launched a missile salvo at her, and Kayoko slammed her foot on the pedal, firing all available cylinders. The tank missed the salvo by a mere millimeter, but Kayoko's wild maneuver put the tank into a spin. Kayoko tried everything she could to gain control, but the tank was damaged beyond help. It bounced and skid on the ground before mercifully crashed onto a large building. Her world turned dark.

It took several minutes before Kayoko regained contact with the real world. She didn't know how, despite the multiple critical hits the tank suffered, it was still intact. Slowly, painfully, she dragged her body out of the tank, and proceeded to the battlefield. But she retracted her steps upon realizing a massive firefight between Buckminster Militia and Lyran defenders were still taking place. Buckminster's hovertanks traded blows with Lyran tanks and battlemechs. There was nothing she could do at the moment. So she turned around to go inside the large building. And then she saw the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

She was at the door of a mechbay, and standing in front of her was an Argus, a 60-ton battlemech with a RAC5 and machine gun as its right arm and a missile launcher as its left. Only this time, where the ballistic weapons usually sat now stood a monstrous tube thicker than its legs. Kayoko didn't know if it was a new variant or a custom. She didn't care. All she cared was it looked beautiful.

Her delirium ended when a few technicians arrived and started yelling. Armed troops poured into the mechbay. Instinctively she ran to find the safest place: the mech cockpit. She climbed the platform as fast as she could, then grabbed a neurohelmet that was carelessly left at the platform near the cockpit. She didn't even bother to change to cooling vest. She slipped into the cockpit and slammed the canopy shut, just as armed soldiers started shooting at her.

Save inside the cockpit but not for long, Kayoko pressed the start button. A smooth whine tickled her ears, and her eyes opened in pure bliss, watching the consoles came to life. It had been months since she watched this colorful display danced before her eyes. The weapon screen lit up, and her lips curled when the letters 'HVPPC' leapt into her eyes. She put her thumb on the main trigger and savored the ultimate bliss, knowing that she had the most powerful weapon on the battlefield under her control. Below that, there was another icon that said 'MASC'. A perfect combination of speed and firepower. She loved it.

"Yeah Baby!" she chimed. "Now let's see what you can do!"

She pushed the throttle and the Argus wrested itself from its moorings. The platform crumbled, taking with it the armed soldiers trying to shoot her down earlier. The mech galloped out of the building, and the scene of carnage greeted her. The Lyrans lost some tanks but the turrets made it up by taking down a number of Bukminster's hovertanks. The Lyran mechs were little more than just distractions, running around the complex without clear purpose, shooting at Buckminster hovertanks but failed to take down any.

Kayoko led her new Argus toward her objective: the power generator, a gigantic half-tubed nuclear powerplant at the center of the complex. It was surrounded by turrets. Kayako braved the incoming lasers and missiles as she trained her weapons at the big structure. She mashed her trigger, and a blinding particle beam lashed out, pumping out sparks and concrete shards at the other end. Her missiles followed suit, guided by microwave targeting laser to stay on the target without hard lock. The warheads punched holes on the outer wall. Heat spiked up, and without cooling vest, it was painful even to breathe.

Nevertheless the generator still stood, and now the Lyrans were aware of the threat. All battlemechs turned and made their best speed toward Kayoko. She circled the generator, waiting for the Heavy PPC to recycle, then fired again as soon as it was available. The particle beam drilled through the thick concrete, and this time the reactor casing collapsed. Kayoko kicked her MASC to push the Argus into a 100-kph sprint, away from the building before the spilled plasma consumed almost everything within 200-meter radius.

Convinced that she was out of the blast range, Kayoko put her mech into a jog. She was soaked; she would be fine if she had a cooling vest on, but even the slightest increase in cockpit temperature proved to be debilitating without something to cool her down. She opened the hatch to let some outside air regulate the temperature, and inspected her radar. All turret signatures had disappeared.

Then her com system blinked. Someone tried to establish contact with her.

She pushed the receive button. "This is Tai-I Kiyomi, Armor Company, Ryuken-go Battalion. Hand me the Argus."

Kayoko smiled. Another Kuritan unit was trying to steal the mech, and she was lucky she got it first. "This is Heishi Kayoko, 2nd Armor Company, Buckminster Militia," she said cockily. "I'm taking this mech to the 2nd Sword of Light."

"That is not a request, Heishi Kayoko," the woman called Tai-I Kiyomi spoke firmly. "That is an order. Hand me the Argus."

"I don't take orders from you," Kayoko became cocky. "My orders come from the 2nd Sword of Light. If you want the mech, take it up to the CO."

"We don't negotiate with traitors," Kiyomi said. "Hand me the Argus. This is your last chance."

Traitors, Kayoko sneered. She was aware of the Black Dragon's opposition to Draconis Combine legitimate rulers. She knew that the 2nd Sword of Light liaised with the Black Dragon Society. She just never went as far as calling them 'traitors'. However, she kind of agreed with Kiyomi. Black Dragon Society was, in essence, a traitorous organization, a thorn in Draconis Combine's flesh. But she had no idea what Ryuken-go was. Kuritan Secret-Op? New unit? Mercenary?

Kayoko pondered her choices. She could deliver the Argus to the 2nd Sword of Light, and return to Buckminster Militia as a tank crew. Safe choice. She could deliver it to Ryuken-go, but she didn't know what would become of her. Very risky choice. Or, she could keep it for herself and go mercenary, but first she had to find a dropship to get out of Port Moseby. The only dropships available were Buckminster Militia's and Ryuken-go's.

For all it was worth, Kayoko went with the risk. "I got this battlemech first," she said. "If you want it, you have to take me with it."

"What are you saying, Heishi? Are you deserting your current unit?"

"You said it yourself. They are traitors."

There was a long pause before Kiyomi finally answered, "Ryuken-go always looks for talents with unconditional loyalty to the Draconis Combine under the leadership of Coordinator Hohiro Kurita. Our dropship is 4 clicks from your position, bearing 040. Take the Argus to our dropship. You will be subject to scrutiny. If we deem you worthy, you can join our rank. That is all I can offer."

"Beats driving around in hovertank," Kayoko throttled up. "I'm a mechwarrior, dammit! This battlemech is MINE!"