Chapter 12

Marik Tower, Montenegro,
Solaris City, Solaris VII,
Freedom Theater, Lyran Alliance,
January 13, 3068

It was the game that Jeremy had been waiting for. Sixteen combatants would fight to grab three wild card places at the heavyweight championship. Colorful battlemechs with unorthodox weapon arrangements galloped in pomp, as if each one of them would be the champion of today's match.

Gruelling days and nights training with Amber prepared Jeremy for this event. Also Amber shared some of Mac's tricks with him. It gave him a considerable sense of security, almost like the feeling that Mac couldn't hurt him. His old photo on the HUD rejuvenated his hope that one day he would win back his lost love. This is it, sweetheart, he whispered alone. I'll win this match for you. I'll bring home the Grand Championship just for you.

"Alright, everything is set," Kilroy gave him the last check up. "This is the biggest game anybody had since Mac. We're very proud of you, kid. Now go get them, tiger! Go get the glory and money! Watch out for Mac's alpha strike. His Black Knight has tremendous firepower, and he's a terrific shooter…"

"But mediocre mover, I remember," Jeremy nodded. "Thanks for your support, Kilroy."

Kilroy gave him a thumbs-up, then sealed the hatch. Jeremy closed his eyes and pondered Kilroy's words for a moment. If winning this match didn't do him any good, at least it would give the Ground Control stable some hope. He had been too engrossed in his own quest to realize everything was not always all about him.

Mac's ties with Bertoli Mafia rooted back to early 60's. He enjoyed quick rise in rank, but never got to benefit from the money he got from the match. Most of them went straight to the mafia's bank account, and although he could afford a fortune just from the kill bonus, he always wondered how nice it was if he could own everything.

But mostly, Mac had forgotten how nice it was to be free. Bertoli Mafia decided who won and who lost a match, and Mac was nothing more than a puppet to them. Now the mafia had given him freedom to do whatever he wanted in the arena, Mac was the king of his own. However, he had just one thing he wanted to do.

"There you are, you little prick!" Mac sneered as Jeremy's Apocalypse popped up on his radar, halfway across the arena. "There's nowhere to hide. I'm gonna kill you this time."

The horn blasted, and Mac took a quick aim at Jeremy, only to get his mech rattled from the left. An Avatar-A picked him as its first prey. Half of the AC20 rounds went wide, but those who connected almost tore Mac's left arm apart. A dozen missiles rushed to hammer his left side, and Mac had only a second to twist and divert the impact to his front armor. Some missiles still raked his left arm, but the bulk of the attack was stopped by his front armor.

"Bastard!" Mac spat. He linked his two lasers and drilled the Avatar's right torso. As the 70-ton omnimech swayed to keep centered, Mac slugged it with his PPC, right where his lasers botched a second ago. Lurching left, the Avatar recentered its crosshair but Mac fired his Gauss rifle at point blank range, slugging its left torso.

The impact sent the Avatar sprawling, but the AC20 belched fire, spraying submunitions in a wide angle. Some caught Mac in the shoulder, and although they were not strong enough to do damage, they were powerful enough to push Mac's Black Knight behind. Mac grunted as he watched his armor tracker turned yellow.

Mac knew that he had to dispose the Avatar quickly before he took too much damage. His left-arm armor couldn't take anymore AC20 hit. So he linked all weapons and fired his alpha strike at the Avatar's midst. One laser bolt carved a hole in the Avatar's center torso, but the PPC and the other laser cored a deeper crater on the Avatar's left torso. Sparks bled from the wound. The Avatar tried one more desperate maneuver, but Mac was ready. As soon as his Gauss rifle blinked green on the screen, Mac let loose his slug. His nickel-ferrous ball hammered the Avatar's left torso. The weakened armor caved in and torched the stacked up missile. A furious fireball ripped half of the Avatar's body. Jagged splinters rained down on Mac's Black Knight, but Mac backed his mech up, away from the raging fire that ate the remaining body of the omnimech.

At the other part of the arena, Jeremy had his own problem. A Cataphract and a JaggerMech tried to sandwich him in a crossfire. Ballistic rounds zipped left and right, and his entire effort had been evasive maneuvers. Ferro-fibrous splinters flew to every direction, reducing his armor into shredded layers.

Desperate for release, Jeremy pumped his engines, bringing his Apocalypse sprinting between the two collaborating mechs. The JaggerMech quickly followed his move, while the Cataphract chose to swing around and ambush Jeremy at the end of the arc. But Jeremy was not to be outdone. He showered the Cataphract with his UAC-10, stopping the 70-ton mech on its track. As he made a pass, he gunned his missiles, pressing his attack on the Cataphract.

The JaggerMech sneaked behind his back uncontested, and sacked a deadly salvo of autocannons. Jeremy's console wailed in protest as the Apocalypse staggered. Jeremy knew the JaggerMech was far away from his firing arc. The only possible solution was to use the Cataphract as a screen.

The Cataphract regained balance and fired its autocannon, but Jeremy swung right, putting the Cataphract between the JaggerMech and himself. As the JaggerMech stopped firing, he unloaded all weapons on the Cataphract's kneecap. A burst of flame enveloped the Cataphract's leg, followed by a sickening groan. The reversed-jointed leg locked in its place, rendering the Cataphract immobilized. The mech twisted and writhed furiously, trying to get Jeremy on its firing arc. But Jeremy nested snugly behind, away from its firing arc, while sinking lasers, missiles, and autocannon rounds into the Cataphract's back at will.

The JaggerMech took a wide swing to flush Jeremy into the open, but Jeremy expected that move. He turned backward, bringing his mech moving in reverse behind a concrete wall. The JaggerMech's bullets blasted the wall but the concrete was thick enough to withstand the punishment. Jeremy continued his course to the other side of the wall, slugging the Cataphract as soon as he had a clear shot.

A nearby Penetrator had just ousted its opponent, then saw the immobilized Cataphract. Wasting no time it unloaded its lasers at the Cataphract's back, wiping out the remaining armor. The JaggerMech saw the Penetrator as the bigger threat than Jeremy. It left him alone and turned to engage the larger mech. Jeremy used this opportunity to slip behind the walls and escaped.

Within 5 minutes of intense action, the number of combatants had been reduced to half the original number. Once again Mac locked on Jeremy, but it was not time yet. A crippled Shootist blocked his path, confident in its own mind that it could take on Mac's pristine Black Knight. Its lasers stabbed Mac's torso, washing away another ton of armor. Its autocannon barked, sending murderous shell at Mac's Black Knight, but went almost a meter off its intended mark.

Mac had a taste of an AC20 shell five minutes ago and didn't intend to get it the second time. He put his crosshair at the Shootist's left arm and blasted away. All his energy bolts seared off the AC20 clean. A burst of sparks and smoke filled the void where the cannon was a second ago. Losing a lot of mass, the Shootist careened to the left, and Mac found the perfect time to slug it with his Gauss rifle. The metallic ball blasted the Shootist in the midst, and the 70-ton mech toppled behind.

Mac didn't want to over-beating the Shootist, but he had to make sure it was dead. He didn't want anybody decked him from behind when he was fighting Jeremy. So he brought his Black Knight closer to the downed Shootist and stepped on its head. Metal, glasses and blood sprayed from under his feet. Assured that the Shootist was not a threat anymore, Mac set his eyes on Jeremy and gunned his engine.

Jeremy's strategy was to stay away from major engagement, a strategy he performed with great success in the blood pits. He had to save armor and ammunition for a showdown with Mac. But when he saw a Falconer and a Nova Cat pounding each other, he couldn't resist taking a pot shot, hoping to get two easy kills. The extra money for killing opponents in the arena was quite lucrative.

The Falconer and Nova Cat were equally matched and no one wanted to back off. Each time the Falconer scored a crippling hit, the Nova Cat returned fire with its own. Smoke, sparks, and tongues of fire covered almost all parts of the two mechs. But the pilots showed incredible spirit and continued circling each other while firing their remaining guns, hoping vainly that their enemy would fall or concede first.

Jeremy waited patiently for an opening, then saw a small window in the Nova Cat's defense. He pumped his UAC-10. The long stream of ballistics cored the Nova Cat's torso, slicing internal structures like butter and cracked the reactor shield. Three consecutive explosions staggered the Clan mech, followed by blue plasma. A second later the Nova Cat exploded in brilliant colors.

The Falconer, standing too close to the Nova Cat, took a severe pounding when its Clan-made opponent exploded. Both arms breached and fire raged uncontrollably. Somehow the pilot managed to stay inside the blazing cockpit, but the Falconer had nothing left to offer. Jeremy hit his trigger, sending a long stream of ballistics straight into the Falconer's midst. It didn't take long for the 75-tonner to explode.

As the second explosion subsided, Jeremy inspected the arena. There were only 4 mechs left. On his right he spotted a crippled Lao Hu, limping away from the center of the arena. Not far from it was a relic Flashman with only its left leg remained attached. They wouldn't cause him any problem. The third one was Mac in his Black Knight. As Jeremy expected, it had some battle scars but was overall in good condition.

Jeremy knew what was coming, and he tightened his grip on his joystick.

Mac didn't expect to see Jeremy in the same condition as the Lao Hu or the Flashman, but he was surprised how good Jeremy looked. Before the match Omar told him that the mafia bribed two mechwarriors to gang-up on Jeremy. The fact that Jeremy was still standing in battle-worthy condition told him that the periphery kid was not to be underestimated. Amber must've taught him well, he thought. The thought of Amber brought back his bitter imagination. Well, it would end today, because Mac would not let Jeremy leave Marik Tower alive.

Mac fired the first round. His lasers formed twin red javelins that stabbed Jeremy on the left shoulder. As Jeremy careened, Mac sent his PPC across the arena, hoping to chop Jeremy's head in a single hit. His PPC sailed harmlessly over Jeremy's head, due to the fact Jeremy crunched at the right moment. Mac readied his Gauss rifle, but Jeremy beat him, moving away from his crosshair.

Mac knew Jeremy had skills, but he didn't expect Jeremy to beat him moving. Amber was the only one in the stable that could do that, and the thought of Amber spilling his secret to Jeremy made him madder. He quickly backpedalled while realigning his crosshair, but Jeremy's UAC-10 strafed every inch of his front armor. It was not a fatal attack, but Mac's front armor had been weakened from previous engagement. Twisting groan of cavitated metal filled his ears, and his armor tracker dipped down to orange.

He knows my flaws, Mac cursed. That bitch Amber must've leaked my trademarks to him. I'm gonna kill them both! His blood boiling, Mac dug deep into his memory to find any maneuver that he hadn't revealed to Amber. Any move that Jeremy couldn't possibly know and anticipate. Jeremy's UAC-10 kept on pressing him, firing in short burst, while continuously moving away from Mac's firing arc. Mac could wait until Jeremy ran out of ammo, but his Black Knight didn't have enough armor to withstand Jeremy's punishment.

As his armor tracker turned dangerously red, Mac prepared to gamble with death. He let Jeremy sank another good salvo which rattled his cockpit. Then he fired his PPC. Jeremy flinched and slid further left, but Mac cut him off with a mad right twist. His gyro screamed in protest, and the entire cockpit trembled, but Mac kept his maneuver. His gamble paid off. Amidst blaring sign of gyro damage, his crosshair lined up perfectly with Jeremy's torso. With a quick flick on the trigger, he unleashed hell.

Jeremy didn't remember if Amber ever taught him that move. It was something completely out of the blue, something only a great fighter could muster in a hard-pressed situation. Mac, like it or not, was a great fighter, and Jeremy started having some respect toward him, but it would have to wait. He twitched his joystick to the left, seconds before Mac's Gauss slug blasted his right torso. Before he recovered, Mac's twin lasers drilled that spot, melting armor and structures, blowing a massive hole on his right torso.

Yanking his joystick to regain balance, Jeremy fired his UAC-10 wildly, trying to keep him off target. But his shots went astray, and Mac dodged most of them. He took a half squat and fired his PPC. Jeremy yanked his joystick hard but he was too late. The azure beam incised his right torso. The explosion afterward almost threw him off his seat. The entire right arm spun in the air before hitting a wall.

Jeremy knew he had lost the match. He needed some extra seconds to compensate his loss of mass, and unfortunately, it was the same seconds Mac needed to prepare his alpha strike. The only option was to fire every weapons and hope one of them pull a miracle. Mac's front armor was damaged, and maybe one fortunate hit would disable or destroy the Black Knight. It was a long shot but doable.

As the Apocalypse twitched and turned, Jeremy fired his missiles in desperation. But the missiles sailed harmlessly past Mac's head, who already took a steady stance. The Black Knight raised all weapons and blasted its guns. The massive jolt and screeching signals told Jeremy that there was nothing more he could do to save his mech. Jeremy just covered his head as the Apocalypse careened backward, ending in a loud crash.

How exactly his mech didn't explode under Mac's onslaught, Jeremy didn't know for sure. But as he opened his eyes, terror greeted him: Mac's Black Knight made a dash at him. Jeremy looked in horror, knowing that Mac was disregarding all warrior decency and trying to stomp on him. He had only a split second to exit his mech before Mac's feet buried him inside the cockpit. He reached the lever under his seat and yanked it hard. A stream of steam covered his face, and the next thing he knew, he was outside rolling on the ground.

He's mad! He's trying to kill me! Jeremy quickly got up and ran as fast as he could. His heart beating twice the normal rate, and his lungs burnt with acrid smoke. But Jeremy couldn't stop. He stripped his cooling vest for swifter move, and sprinted toward some debris. He heard Mac's foot thundering behind him, and he threw himself to the right, seconds before the Black Knight's foot blasted the ground. A cloud of dust and debris covered the area, and Jeremy used it as a screen to slip beneath the remains of a battlemech, praying that Mac didn't see him.

"Where are you, filthy worm?" Mac grunted, painfully waiting for the cloud of dust to subside. He had Jeremy on his sight, but he was too impatient to wait until Jeremy reached an open field. He missed stomping on him, and now the dust cloud provided a cover for him. Mac switched to his IR mode, but the burning debris all over the arena hampered his IR vision. Mac just had to acknowledge that he had missed Jeremy.

"Well, I hope you choke on ferro-fibrous vapor," Mac turned his Black Knight to deal with the Lao Hu and the Flashman. The two didn't stand a chance against Mac's fury. When the horn sounded the end of the fight, Mac took another look at the arena, wondering if Jeremy was still there. He didn't feel that he had avenged his loss until he killed Jeremy, but for now, he had to settle with that.

Then, he still had a score to settle with Amber.