Max sighed and looked from Thomas to Samuel and finally to James who held a holo tape. He said dejectedly. "Who told you about the tape?" Each man had varying looks of feigned innocence on their faces before James finally spoke up. "Angela told us when we were all helping the techs out in the Mech bay. Thomas had mentioned having a checkered past and something about gambling. Angela told us you had quite the history behind your callsign, and in a twist of fate, there was video proof." They were all standing in the tiny crew lounge aboard the Leopard class Dropship. There were no immediate fires to put out, no tasks that suddenly needed to be done. Max rubbed his temples with his fingers before grunting out "Alright, I guess we're doing this." Max grabbed the holo tape out of James' hand and placed it in the viewer before sitting down in his best "I'm not pouting" position.
The bootleg holo started just as an attractive, blonde, young-ish woman started speaking to the camera. "Next up on Solaris Daily, we have Albert Schmidt bringing you the weekly Solaris Reports segment where he delves into the colorful, dangerous, and riveting history of our beloved Solaris City." The woman finished as the camera focused on Albert Schmidt. He had ruddy white skin and a large nose and he was wearing a somewhat rumpled, dark suit. He cleared his throat and straightened some papers before beginning to speak while looking at the camera.
"Yes, Katarina, I have quite the story for our dear viewers tonight on tonight's Solaris Reports segment. This one was both fun and frustrating to research. Our story features a name a few of our more studied viewers may recall. The Mechwarrior known only as "Max" or 'Max just Max' as he was fond of responding to questions about his name at the time. The earliest records our investigative team could find was a man fitting Max's description arriving on Solaris early in 3017. He brought with him a well used and well maintained Thunderbolt Battlemech and little else. No record of where he came from could be found. In fact, records regarding Max and his mech seem to have suffered a series of losses almost immediately with his whereabouts, activities and associations becoming more and more difficult to follow."
Albert looked up and made apparent his disbelief when he stated the word "losses'' heavily implying some sort of nefariousness had happened before continuing. "Only two mentions were made of Max in the Bush Leagues before he was picked up by Smokin Aces Productions, a now defunct and at that time minor league operator. Concurrent to these events, heavy, behind the scenes movements were going on in the seedy Solaris City underworld with various crime syndicates bankrolling a variety of gambling and Mech fighting businesses. It is likely that Smokin Aces was one of these, but no hard evidence could be found. Max took part in a number of fights in the Aces league, culminating in a grand melee set in the Rolland plains and hills north of Solaris city and the suburbs.
The camera cuts to a feed from an arena camera drone hovering over green hilly fields. A Dragon mech can be seen starting to back away from a small hill it had been taking cover behind while firing lasers and the arm mounted autocannon rapidly at an onrushing Thunderbolt Battlemech. The Thunderbolt returned fire with lasers, machine guns and a pair of short range missiles before cresting the hill between them and hurling itself into a dropkick that would make any high flying professional wrestler proud. The sound was deafening as both mechs fell together in a heap.
Albert spoke once again after the match footage was cut off and the camera returned to him. "Yes, that Max. The cause of all those drop-kicking Thunderbolt knick-knacks that were so popular in late 3018. Max was a star on the rise at that moment. He was signed by Oonthrax Stables and was managed by a man known only as 'The Spaniard.' Max's known associates were a veritable rogues gallery of ne'er-do wells at the time. A suspected hit-man for the Mafia, two other Gladiators with potential ties to organized crime and this 'Spaniard' who was either a crime boss in his own right or a fixer for various criminal enterprises." Albert once again shuffled his papers and looked sternly at the camera before speaking again.
"It is bracing to know how far law and order has come in our dear city since these earlier, darker times." The Anchorwoman could be heard assenting off camera as Albert continued. "As I said before, Max was known to be involved in, or at least influenced by, a variety of crime syndicates while at the same time hunted by others. There are at least two police reports from 3018 detailing incidents where a Triad and later a branch of the Yakuza both made attempts on Max or his associates leading to violence in the streets. Truly, Max led a dangerous life. It was not long after this in June of 3019 that Max made his biggest splash in the big leagues. He challenged a rising contender, Seamus O'Renly, to an unlimited category match. It seemed there was some bad blood between these two leading to a scuffle at the pre-match press conference."
The camera briefly cut to a scene showing a scuffle between Max and Seamus at what appeared to be a press conference with Seamus throwing a wide haymaker punch while yelling "I'm gonna make a song about how I whooped you! I'll show you who's a" which Max swayed out of the way of before leaning in to deliver two quick punches to Seamus's stomach cutting off whatever Seamus was saying.
Albert continued. "As you could probably hear Mr. O'Renly shouting something about a song. Yes, that's right dear viewers. Not content with only being a MechWarrior and probable associate of various crime factions. Max, it seems, was credited in a popular song of the day, "Hard Slappin" by Dirgio for a sound byte taken from a highly publicized court case Max was involved in. While we cannot play the song for you due to its content, we have managed to find a clip from the televised court case."
The camera cuts to footage of Max standing in the witness box of a courtroom saying "Well your honor, I did not set out to destroy their reputations, but I can't help it if they fought like a bunch of little…"
The scene was obviously cut short as Albert looked at the camera, disapproval apparent on his face before speaking. "Colorful indeed. The match between Max and Seamus never took place but Max did offer his services to coach Seamus' next opponent, Mallory Wright. She was a relative newcomer and had been personally selected by Seamus as his next opponent. The mismatch between Mallory's Blackjack mech and Seamus' Banshee was not well received but with the help of Max's coaching, Mallory managed to win the fight. Sadly, Ms. Wright was grievously wounded in the fight and had to retire after this fight. Mr. O'Renly, after losing such a lopsided fight, was never seen in the major leagues again. But what became of Max?"
Again, Albert paused and cleared his throat and shuffled his papers before continuing. "Here the records of Max become even harder to follow. It seems he applied for and was granted a business license for a Mech piloting school and a Lumber business. While Mech training is a popular activity for retired Gladiators, the lumber business stands out as odd. Possibly a front for money laundering for organized crime? Sadly, records do not exist for either business and it was not long after this, the brief invasion of Solaris by the Thirty-Third Marik Militia made accurate record keeping all but non-existent for a period of time. It seems Max was counted among the defenders of the Planet however accounting for a militia Centurion and a number of vehicles. From there, mentions of Max dry up, seeming to support the theory that he took work as a Mercenary and made his way off planet."
Albert shuffled his papers a final time as he looked back at Katarina, the pretty Anchorwoman and at that point the bootleg holo cut off to the sounds of laughter. James and Samuel were both in various states of pained laughter while Thomas sat there, his eyes wide, with a huge grin plastered on his face. He turned to Max and half laughing said "You fragging drop-kicked a Dragon?" Max smiled, somewhat pained, and nodded before speaking. "Yup, and that's why my callsign is Showboat. Man, I hate that callsign." Max sighed as Thomas joined the other two in laughter. He needed a drink, a good stiff drink.