CHAPTER 7

Review Corner:

The Colonel: I can see that happening :lol:


Halstead City,
Halstead Station, Ashio Prefecture,
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine,
January 22, 3074

When Noloty arrived at Ryuken-go base camp, she was greeted by Tsagoi, Scarlet, and Fernandes. Scarlet had her trademark enmity bleeding from her eyes, Tsagoi was indifferent, and Fernandes exuded insidious charm in his smile. Noloty didn't know what game they were playing. She just prepared herself and braced for impact.

"Step into the simulator, Heishi Noloty," Scarlet said coldly. Her tone was much mellower than yesterday, but still harsh. She turned around and walked to one of the two simulator pods. She stripped her halter top and put on a cooling vest, then grabbed a neurohelmet. She turned to see Noloty, still stood dumbfounded. "Well? Are you doing this or not?"

"Consider this a royal treatment, Heishi," Fernandes quipped. "She doesn't do this often. Most of the time she just beat you up in a bare-knuckled fight."

"Stay out of this, Fernandes!" Scarlet huffed.

"I retrieved the ROM from your battlemech," Tsagoi waved a small disc in front of him. "You'll be in your Sagittaire. That way Sho-sa Scarlet can evaluate your optimal performance."

"What… what… what do you want me to do?" Noloty stammered like a fool.

"Step into the goddamn simulator, obviously!" Scarlet growled from her simpod. "Or am I wasting my time?"

"No, Ma'am! I'm coming, Ma'am!" Noloty grabbed the remaining neurohelmet and slipped into the simpod. She locked the canopy, strapped herself onto the chair, and hooked up the neurohelmet to the console. The world around her turned into a bright light for a moment, then she was in a soggy marsh, with greenish slush covering most of the area. A few dry islands rose above water level. And 300 meter away from her stood a Xanthos, a hundred-ton 4-legged beast, with all weapons pointing at her direction.

Noloty quickly assessed her situation. Like Tsagoi said, she was in her Sagittaire. Everything was perfect, like it was just rolled out of the factory. All weapon gauges were in the green and ready to fire on her command. Her twin UAC10 were loaded to the brim. Jet fuel was topped off, and so was the coolant. She went to the ID computer and checked the quad mech in front of her, but it failed to get a reading of the monster quad.

"Rule of engagement is simple," Scarlet's voice was cold and sharp. "Be the last woman standing."

"Yes Ma…" Noloty's words barely escaped her lips when multiple PPC blasts rocked her mech. The screen went bright white, and for a moment Noloty did nothing but to cover her face. The simpod shifted the center of gravity to simulate the mech falling on its back. Another quake rattled the cockpit as the Sagittaire supposedly crashed. Her head throbbed and her stomach churned. More than a ton of front armor evaporated, and the armor gauge turned bright red.

"Protect yourself at all time!" Scarlet barked. "Have you ever heard of that?"

"Get up!" Noloty pulled her joystick. "Get up get up get up!" She lined up her crosshair with the big quad mech, and as soon as the crosshair burnt gold, she mashed the alpha strike button. A surge of waste heat swept over the cockpit as all weapons roared, just like in a real battlemech. But Noloty quickly overrode the emergency shutdown. There was no danger of melting down in a simulator. The worst thing could happen was damaged pride.

"Alpha strike for alpha strike, Bitch!" she howled. Azure particle bolt, emerald laser beams, and yellow armor-piercing traces converged in the Xanthos' shoulder. The big quad mech buckled; its legs trembled under the onslaught. Sparks and armor shards flew everywhere. Smoke wafted from a deep crater on its left torso, just above the front leg joint.

The Xanthos quickly regained footing and fired its lasers, but Noloty catapulted her Sagittaire forward, facing the Xanthos' broad side. She fired her lasers as soon as they recycled, carving a bad gash on the Xanthos' ribcage. Lacking torso twist, the Xanthos pivoted on its hind legs, but Noloty jetted forward, keeping her Sagittaire safe inside the Xanthos' enormous blind spot. Her UAC gauges blinked in green, and she unleashed unadulterated streams of armor-piercing ballistics. The Xanthos lurched, compensating the impact. It regained steady legs but Noloty followed up with her PPC. The left side of the Xanthos was set ablaze, spewing embers and smoke and body parts.

Getting outmaneuvered on the ground, the Xanthos took it to the sky. It jumped and turned, lining up its guns with the Sagittaire. Laser beams stabbed the Sagittaire's torso. The PPC's came shortly after, exploiting the weakened armor. Noloty's console went livid with flashes and sparks. Cables whipped every which way. Acrid smoke seeped into the cockpit, turning her eyes as waterlogged as the swamp.

Noloty acknowledged Scarlet's faultless marksmanship, and if this was any reference to Dultom Markham's brutal fighting style, she knew she wouldn't last long. Her only chance to beat Scarlet was through the Xanthos' damaged left torso. She jumped forward to clear Scarlet's line of fire, then everything she had at the Xanthos' burning torso. Half of her shot missed, but the ones that scored crushed the engine shielding and the power train. The Xanthos' left front leg immediately went limp, and the big quad mech slumped.

The heat inside the cockpit was unbearable. Noloty dumped half of the coolant tank to get a quick control of the heat. But the Xanthos, miraculously still in the game, pulled itself up on three legs and fired a quick shot through the Sagittaire's heart. There was nothing to blunt that attack, not even the structure. Scarlet's laser shot, desperate but still incredibly sharp, singed the Sagittaire's engine. The internal explosion staggered the mech, rattling the cockpit like an earthquake. Noloty gritted her teeth, and pushed her joystick left to keep her mech from tumbling. But the Xanthos's cannons flashed in azure glory. The screen went completely white, then turned to static.

"Aw… crap!" Noloty smacked her neurohelmet. She almost got Scarlet, but her gambit didn't pay off. She could argue that Scarlet cheated at the beginning of the fight, but all is fair in love and war. All in all, Scarlet was the better mechwarrior. The question was: how much did she make a dent on Scarlet's decision?

Noloty climbed out of the simpod to see Scarlet already out to talk to Tsagoi and Fernandes. She looked at her and noticed the change in the way Scarlet looked at her. She didn't know what it was; she had never seen it before.

"Heishi Noloty, your fighting skill is mediocre at best," Scarlet said. "You're too slow to react. I don't need a delicate flower in my team. I need a lioness. A killer. A warrior at heart. And you're not… yet."

"Give her up, Scarlet," Fernandes chuckled in his perennial joking mood. "I want her on my team."

"Shut up!" Scarlet threw a nasty look at Fernandes like a dagger. "I'll take her as an intern."

"Intern?" Noloty blurted. "What does that mean?"

"Kneel!" Scarlet approached her. She pulled a wakizashi from behind her back. "Kneel and swear that you will defend the name of Draconis Combine for as long as you live!"

"I swear," Noloty took a knee, "that I will forever be loyal to Draconis Combine."

"Swear that you will uphold the name of Ryuken-go in the battlefield."

"I swear that I will uphold the name of Ryuken-go in the battlefield."

"Swear that if you disappoint the Ryuken-go and the Draconis Combine, you will pay it with your life."

"I swear," Noloty grabbed the wakizashi from Scarlet's hand, "that should I come short of honoring the Draconis Combine and the Ryuken-go, this blade will end my life."

"Rise, Heishi Noloty," Scarlet said and, for the first time, smiled. "I'll send someone to get you." She grabbed her comset and dialed some numbers. "This is Sho-sa Scarlet. I just took an intern. Fetch her by the simpods and bring her up to speed." She put her comset away and went to face Fernandes with fire in her eyes. "You can't get her."

"May she bring good fortune for the Ryuken-go," Fernandes nodded.

"Well then, all is settled," Tsagoi finally opened his mouth. "Your new CO and Major Fernandes have several things to discuss. You'll be alright, someone will get you."

"Thank you, Sir," Noloty beamed.

"Alright, Major, Sho-sa, let's have a conversation," Tsagoi walked away, followed by Scarlet and Fernandes.

Their shadow hadn't even disappeared when a jeep rolled in and stopped in front of Noloty. A busty woman with flowing orange hair jumped out of the jeep, and Noloty couldn't believe her eyes.

"Kayoko?!"