BOOK IV

CHAPTER 1

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Ulquiorra9000: Thank you always!


Frigate Dieron Star,
Orbit of Halstead Station, Ashio Prefecture,
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine,
August 12, 3074

The Kyushu-Class Dieron Star offered a buffet of facilities to maintain morale during the month-long travel. Its massive grav deck contained a full training center, with three rows of treadmills, half a dozen rooms for iron pumping, yoga, and martial arts. And the simulation pods allowed the mechwarriorrs to have company-sized engagements, perfect to practice large-group maneuvers. The database was reinforced with state-of-the-art war machines from all over Inner Sphere, even Word of Blake's Celestial series.

Unfortunately, since the Dieron Star was big enough to carry two units, the Ryuken-go had to share with a reinforcement battalion for the 1st Ghost Regiment. The frigate was to drop off the Ryuken-go at Ashio then continued to Kuzuu to reinforce the battered Ghost Regiment. The 1st Ghost consisted of outcasts, criminals and gangsters who swore loyalty to the Kuritans. They were the polar opposite of the Ryuken-go. Frictions happened on daily basis, and often times they ended up in a brawl, both inside and outside the grav deck.

Sho-sa Scarlet made use of the situation by setting up simulator scrimmages with the 1st Ghost, but nothing went her way. The Ryuken-go's heavy influence of Wolf Dragoons did not sit well with the more traditional 1st Ghost. They complained more than learned from each other, something that Scarlet hoped to achieve.

"Take no prisoner!" Kayoko screamed in manic fashion as her lethal twin Streak launchers spat missiles and smoke at the 1st Ghost Kintaro. The simulator main screen was smaller than that of her actual Argus, but it didn't stop her from relishing the fireworks as her missiles ate the internal structures of the Kintaro. "Send them all to hell! This is our road!"

The Ryuken-go Phoenix Hawks pounded a 1st Ghost Wolf Trap from 2 different directions, reducing its front armor to scrap. The Wolf Trap desperately fired its LB-10X hoping to catch the Phoenix Hawk with scattered shots, but the dynamic duo took to the air, easily dodging the wild submunitions. A few hundred meters ahead, a 1st Ghost Daimyo tried to relieve the Wolf Trap, but the Ryuken-go Crimson Hawk kept it occupied. The charred carcass of a Quickdraw sprawled on the ground half a kilometer away from the center of action.

The Kintaro fired a long barrage at the Argus' shoulder, hoping to breach the Streak missile launchers that had been the bane of its existence since the beginning of the engagement. But the Argus took the hit gracefully, leaning back to compensate the impact, then sprung forward almost immediately. A sadistic grin on Kayoko's lips accompanied a vicious Heavy PPC bolt drilling the Kintaro's left torso. The ammunition bins caught fire, and the CASE-less torso erupted. The upper torso of the Kintaro twisted far beyond its normal arc, breaking its backbone. The 55-ton mech sloshed to the ground like a heap of flesh without bone structures.

"Alright, Ryuken-go, let's wrap this thing up!" Kayoko turned her attention to the diminutive Crimson Hawk, holding out admirably against an adversary 15-ton heavier. She fired her medium lasers at the Daimyo to get its attention, then launched another deadly Streak SRM6 salvo. The laser-homing system guided 20 missiles to the Daimyo's rear waist, almost like a kidney punch. The Daimyo turned to retaliate, but the Crimson Hawk buried a Large Laser bolt into its right torso. Fire engulfed the Daimyo's right side, turning it into a walking bonfire. The mechwarrior refused to punch out, but it was clear that the Daimyo had nothing more to offer.

Almost immediately, the remaining Wolf Trap crashed and burnt under intense assault from 2 Phoenix Hawks.

"Flawless Victory!" Kayoko popped up the simulator hood and punched the air. She turned off the simulator and climbed up the pod. The mechwarrior of the 1st Ghost Quickdraw had been waiting with venom bleeding from his eyes. The colorful tattoos on his arms and chest gave up his origin.

"You bring shame to the name Kurita!" the 1st Ghost mechwarrior growled. "You utilized mercernary tactics and pirate strategy!"

"All is fair in love and war," Kayoko replied, half taunting. "Suck it up and take it like a man!"

"It's better to die in honor than to live in dishonor!" the 1st Ghost mechwarrior barked. "You mercenary spawns certainly have no concept of honor! You disgraced Bushido with your conduct!"

"My friend used to say 'A win is a win. There is no such thing as honorable win in combat.'" She went straight to the man's face, grinning ear to ear. "That's how we won Wolcott in 3050."

"You did not win anything!" the man sneered, his breath hot on Kayoko's face. "You think you're above me, bitch? You're nothing! You're the lowest of your kind! Soldiers who sell your souls for money!"

"And what do you call yourself?" Kayoko stood her ground. "Criminals who hide behind honor to cover your civic transgressions. You're worse than the Black Dragon Society. At least they have the guts to come out as traitors…"

Kayoko's words were lost when the 1st Ghost mechwarrior swiped his hand across her face. She reeled backward, nurturing her cheek. Her vision came in a blur, and her face was on fire.

"Run your mouth and I will rip it apart!" the 1st Ghost mecwharrior charged her. "You dare to insult…"

Kayoko's boot cut his words short. His arms sprawled in the air and his head snapped back as far as the neck allowed. He staggered backward until he crashed onto a simulator pod. It was not a particularly hard kick, but his forward momentum doubled the impact, and he was not expecting such violence from the physically inferior Kayoko.

"Come, whore!" he sprang up, licking blood from his chaffed lips. "I'll split your cunt in half!"

"I have no problem spreading my legs for a man," Kayoko hissed as she assumed a fighting stance. "But for you… I gladly make exception!"

The 1st Ghost mechwarrior cocked his right arm behind his ear while putting his left far ahead, looking to snap a jab. He pumped a few fakes to throw Kayoko off, then charged with a double jab and a huge haymaker to the head. But Kayoko wasn't fooled. She parried the jabs then sidestepped the haymaker, placing her right on the 1st Ghost's right flank. She wound up her punch and buried a kidney punch in his back. A muffled groaned escaped the 1st Ghost's lips as he tottered forward, dropping his right arm from the pain.

The fight quickly escalated when the 1st Ghost lancemates tried to mug Kayoko, but her lancemates charged forward, keeping the 1st Ghosts away from their lance commanders. Pushing and shoving marred the aftermath of the 'friendly' scrimmage. Other mechwarriors quickly came to aid their friends, but nobody else engaged in a fist fight. They just formed a large octagon around Kayoko and the 1st Ghost mechwarrior, cheering for their teammates and throwing insults at the other group.

Getting the upper hand, Kayoko launched a 3-kick assault at the 1st Ghost mechwarrior. Her calf kick staggered the 1st Ghost mechwarrior. Her roundhouse kick to the body struck his rear torso, almost at the same place as her kidney punch a minute earlier. The contorted face of the 1st Ghost mechwarrior made her cocky, and she became overconfident. She took off and fired a hook kick for the knock out, but the 1st Ghost mechwarrior ducked and shot a chopping left at her inner thigh. Kayoko yelped and lost balance. She lost contact with reality when she crashed to the ground, and when she woke up, she sprawled wide eagle on the floor, with the 1st Ghost mechwarrior coming in hot.

Kayoko flexed all muscles to get out of the way but the 1st Ghost mechwarrior caught her hair and viciously yanked it back. Kayoko sloshed on the ground, and the 1st Ghost mechwarrior wasted no time to drill Kayoko at the solar plexus. Kayoko felt her breakfast jumped to her nose. Everything tunneled down into a dark spot, and her body went limp, like a leaking balloon.

Noloty arrived at the simulation hall wondering what the yelling and screaming was all about. She sorted through mechwarriors, both Ryuken-go and 1st Ghost alike, until she could see the two combatants beating each other up at the center of the hall. Her heart almost stopped beating when she realized it was her best friend getting pummeled by a man covered with colorful tattooes. She impulsively jumped to help Kayoko, but Vash and Kiyomi grabbed her and dragged her back into the crowd.

"What?! Are you going to let this happen?" Noloty struggled to free herself from Vash' and Kiyomi's grip. "Kayoko is in trouble! We've got to help her!"

"Maybe she asked for it," Vash sneered matter-of-factly.

"But she's getting murdered!" Noloty winced.

"She's fine," Kiyomi added. "She can handle it. A few swells and bruises won't kill her."

"No, she's not fine! This is not a fair fight! That man is bigger and stronger than her! We have to stop it!"

"You don't have much respect for your own friend, do you, Heishi?" Kiyomi shot an irritated look. "Kayoko is a warrior. She can handle him without you. Let her find a way to fight back."

"I- I- I…" Noloty stammered. She knew Kayoko was tough, but she just didn't have the heart watching her best friend endured a savage beating. The 1st Ghost brute pinned her to the ground and repeatedly clubbed her face. Blood splattered with every punch, as Kayoko's right side of face was reduced into a bloody pulp. Perhaps Kayoko could take those, but Noloty surely couldn't.

"Please, Tai-I, I beg you," Noloty bowed as deep as she could. "Stop the fight!"

"I'll stop the fight," Vash chuckled lightly, "if you come to my bed."

"You're a pig, Duke," Kiyomi snorted.

"That's not what I remembered you said when you came to my bed," Vash flashed a lewd grin.

"Shut up!" Kiyomi growled. She turned to Noloty. "Give her another minute. Her opponent is strong but dumb. He's using only his right hand to beat up Kayoko. Once she figured that out, she'll break free."

And Kiyomi's assessment was right. The 1st Ghost pinned Kayoko by the neck with his left hand, and used his right hand like a mace, scoring blows after blows at Kayoko's face. But Kayoko still had some fight in her. As he cocked his arm, she jerked, giving just enough room for her knee to find home at the 1st Ghost's crotch. The tattooed mechwarrior immediately stumbled forward with both hands nurturing his balls.

"I'm not much of a fighter," Kayoko clambered up. Her left cheek ballooned to the size of an apple. Her left eye was completely shut. Blood dripped from her mouth. And from her nostrils. And from half a dozen lacerations across her face. But she pulled herself up, slowly, painfully, but surely. "But I fight dirty!"

The 1st Ghost mechwarrior rose, but Kayoko wound up her leg and slammed home a nasty roundhouse kick to the side. Something cracked and the tattooed mechwarrior dropped down to all four. His breaths came in wheezing gasps. Kayoko wound up a second roundhouse, this time to his face, right at the jawline. His head snapped right and his jaw shifted out of place. The 1st Ghost mechwarrior slumped, face flat to the floor.

Kayoko dropped to her knees, panting and whimpering.

The Ryuken-go erupted into a screaming frenzy while the 1st Ghost yelled insults, both at the Ryuken-go and at their knocked-out friend to get up and continue fighting. Suddenly they got quiet when another tattooed mechwarrior, clearly a high-ranked officer, entered the arena with eight mechwarriors in tow. Two of them hauled the knocked-out mechwarrior while the rest went straight at Kayoko.

Vash jumped into the arena and blocked the man before he could get to Kayoko. Kiyomi and Noloty followed suit.

"Step away!" the 1st Ghost officer growled. His eyes were full of impending vengeance.

"The fight is over," Vash growled back. "Take care of your friend. We'll do ours."

"Step away, or I'll bring down hell upon you!" the 1st Ghost officer stripped his jacket, boasting a powerful pack of muscles. His minions followed his example, getting topless almost immediately, showing off impressive colors in their skin.

Six Ryuken-go infantrymen stepped behind Vash. One of them was almost as big as a Clan Elemental.

"You were saying?" Vash grinned. "You know your problem is as mechwarriors? You have been sitting inside your battlemechs for too long, you have forgotten how to look into your opponent's eyes and fight like a man. You mechwarriors are like eggs. From the outside, you're shiny. In the inside, you're… watery."

"I will ask you one last time," the 1st Ghost officer was not discouraged. "Step away, or you will suffer…"

"Stand down!" Sho-sa Scarlet jumped into the arena before things got out of hand. "Vash, Kiyomi, back off!"

"We're just about to see how watery these colorful 'eggs' are in the inside," Vash ignored his superior.

"Back… off!" Scarlet's grim face hovered right in front of his. "And rein in your dogs!"

"Yes Ma'am," Vash shrinked under Scarlet's intense stare. He snapped his fingers and the six infantrymen followed him back into the crowd.

"There is enough violence today," Scarlet turned to face the 1st Ghost officer. "I would not see it swell into anarchy."

"She started the fight," the 1st Ghost officer snarled. "We are not done until justice is honored! Or have you plummetted to mercenary depth that you have forgotten the way of Kurita?"

"We are on the same side," Scarlet pulled out a wakizashi from under her jacket. "But I have no problem using this, especially against somebody who doesn't know when to charge and when to withdraw."

"Forgive my young warriors," the 1st Ghost CO stepped inside. "They are eager to prove themselves. Your reputation precedes you, Sho-sa Scarlet. There is no need to push this small incident past civilized recourse."

"I'm glad we have an understanding," Scarlet produced a measured smile and bowed. She turned toward the Ryuken-go. "Get back to your stations. Noloty, send Kayoko to the infirmary."

Noloty quickly lunged at Kayoko, who was still kneeling, and slung her arms around her own shoulder. "I got you," she whispered. "We'll have you checked. Everything will be alright."

"I beat a man twice my size," Kayoko mumbled, almost incoherently.

"That's good, but what are you trying to prove?" Noloty gently coaxed Kayoko to stand. "Who are you trying to impress?"

"My own self esteem," Kayoko chuckled painfully. "And maybe some hot, high-ranked CO out there…"

"Oh Kayoko, you stupid girl, you're gonna get yourself killed!" Noloty said, anxiety leaked from her voice. "Your legs OK? Can you walk?"

"I'll be fine," Kayoko rested her head in Noloty's shoulder. "Just another day in the military."