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[Vulpesveritas]

The proving grounds
International Zone
outskirts of Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 16th, 14:11 hours.

Sighing, Frederick looked around. Setting off at a run, he started doing agility exercises between the media crew and alex. Sighing in boredom, he called over the com. "So Bertie, heading to the match tomorrow? " he asked, yawning slightly and keeping tabs on the media crew, whis luckily now had their lenses on him. Not that he was showing anything anyhow, at least beyond his experiance. Hopefully the match tomorrow would net him a decent lump of cash and relieve his boredom.

[Thom Frankfurt]

The proving grounds
International Zone
outskirts of Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, 14:11 hours.

Stomp, stomp, stomp One Eye ate up the ground in long five meter strides that sent bits of gravel flying out behind the mech. DeMarkus grined and slammed the throttle foward, 'flooring it.' The Commando responded by accelerating up to max speed, a breakneck pace just over 92 KPH. Onward he charged, thundering off across the stoney landscape towards the dreaded burm. The place where his gyro nearly gave out on him the last time he tried running up the slope.

Piled gravel and stone gaveway under the 25 tons with the pace cut down to half as the light mech struggled to accend the slope. Nearing the apex of the burm Demarkus dropped One-Eye down to one knee and stabbed out the Commando's arm. Instantly he mashed down on the trigger shooting out a brillant scarlet beam that skeward the burnout hulk of some derilict tank chasis. The laser's fury zapped deep into the skeletal frame cutting struts. He surveyed the damage done and cracked a grim smile.

This thing is handlilng great... Whatever Rick was doing earlier sure worked.

When he arrived earlier at the mechspace to retrieve Kaylee's tools, he had found Rick dangling halfway out of One-Eye's chest. His bulbous butt sticking out like some sort of technical tumor. The bigman still wasn't talking to him since he let Kaylee and him in on his plan to fight Merciless Min. But ofcourse it could have been from the fractured jaw that Kaylee gave him.

Satisfiled that his Commando was operating at 110%, well, minus the missile launchers anyways he turned the mech about and began to head onward back to the Mechspace, and from there, Rainbow Stables. He really had to thank Kaylee for letting him go to the mechspace, he wasn't too good at packing.

As he made his final approach to the mechspace he deliberatly made his mech's leg arm dangle as lifeless and useless as possible. There was still a filmcrew shooting footage of mechs out on the proving ground. It seemed that there was a string of attacks by some unknown force upon unexpecting mechwarriors out on the grounds. There they were, a small newscrew shooting footage of the same few mechs that they had been for the last couple of days, an Enforcer, Panther, and Clint. (yeah you guys. lol)

He debated on asking them how the news story was going but desided not to at the last moment and kept on heading for the huge hanger complex.

[Sparks Murphey]

The Proving Grounds
International Zone
Outskirts of Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 16th, 14:11 hours

“Uh...” Bertie paused, mind whirring. Tomorrow’s match was a medium free-for-all, so if Frederick was competing, he’d end up being one of Bertie’s opponents.

Though that only had to be at the end.

“...sure. What about you, you taking that antique out to see what it can do? Don’t suppose you’d be interested in a gentlemen’s agreement not to shoot each other til we’re the last ones left?”

It was a long shot, and he’d be putting his success in the hands of a man he’d only just met. But a chance of an ally was better than nothing.

[Vulpesveritas]

The Proving Grounds
International Zone
Outskirts of Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 16th, 14:12 hours

Frederick laughed at Bertie's reaction. "Well, I have no problem helping you out. As it is, I don't even know if there might be a threat out there, that we might want to take down together, but even without that this "antique" has probably been through more firefights than you've seen. She's proved herself enough times." Chuckled Frederick "Of course, I have no clue how many people here can get me in a bind, so we'll just hope for a first and second win, eh?" he added, looking over at Bertie's Enforcer. Might be a fun fight in the end, depending on the competition and if Bertie even lasted that long. Or if he did for that matter, he had yet to see how skilled the other pilots here were. And there was always the odd stroke of luck some people had.

[Sparks Murphey]

The Proving Grounds
International Zone
Outskirts of Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 16th, 14:12 hours

[ooc: In the spirit of moving things along so that Thom doesn’t explode... ]

They practiced for another half hour, putting their mechs through their paces without showing off too much of what they could do. The ever-present eye of the media watched them throughout, finally growing bored as they left the field to return to the mech space and make minor adjustments.


The Grotto Hotel
Black Hills
Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 16th, 17:30 hours

“Hey kiddo, how’re you doing?” Bertie said, closing the hotel door behind him.

“I saw you on the vid!” came his daughter’s excited reply. He winced.

“That’s great, can you show me?”

Heather jumped over to the vid player and selected a clip from earlier in the day. Bertie watched amazed; surely she hadn’t been this capable with electronics a year ago?

The clip came up, and it was much as he’d feared: footage of his Enforcer, along with Alex and Frederick’s ‘Mechs, training at the proving grounds. The announcer was making light of Alex’s temperamental PPC. They played footage of the Panther firing at the old bus, then again in slow motion.

Bertie’s eyes weren’t so much on that, though. They were watching his ‘Mech, in agonising slowness, spinning in mid air on its jumpjets, its red, blue and gold paint scheme painfully obvious to him.

“Have you been watching ‘Mech fights all day, missy?” he asked, mock anger covering his worry.

Heather mumbled something along the lines of no.

“Don’t forget, you’ve got homework to do. I got you that data slate so you could study, not just watch BattleMechs.” He kissed her on the top of the head. “When I get back, I want to see some progress, okay?”

“Where are you going? You said we’d watch Captain Zed Versus the Snakes!”

“I just forgot to do something to my ‘Mech.”

Her eyes lit up. “Can I come too?”

He sighed and scruffled her hair. “Okay, but you have to do your homework there.” Hopefully watching the paint dry on his Enforcer would convince her that BattleMechs weren’t all that exciting. She was going to get herself stepped on one of these days trying to get a look at the behemoths.

[RogueSpear]

Rainbow Stables Offices
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, 10:22 hours

"Kirov here yet?" Jack barked as he limped into the office.
"I'm afraid not Mr. Churchill. He remains unavailable at this time...that is a very interesting walking staff." Erin eyed the length of the leather sheath, taller than she was by about an inch, not counting the weapon's hilt.
Jack grunted. "It isn't. S'a damn claymore."
"Yes, I'm aware. I've seen a few of them before." Jack noticed she couldn't stop flicking her eyes along the length of it. She showed no other evidence of intimidation or fright. Trained then, but nae warrior. Hard to shock, but not impossible to put her off her edge. Doesn't expect that anyone would try tae hurt her, or she'd be looking at me tae check the balance. "Why do you ha-"
"Cos there's been a bunch o' minor muggings and the like. Thae murders the other week. Mah legs not healed right yet. A lame mechwarrior? Easy target they'd think. A lame mechwarrior crazy enough tae use a claymore as a crutch? No worth the trouble. Can we sit down or wha'?"
"Of course. Please." The tart gestured to the chair across from her desk, which Jack unceremoniously dropped into, grimacing as he straightened his leg. "Interesting choice of a deterrent. Most people just carry a sidearm."
Jack propped the claymore against the armrest. "Stop fishing and get to the point wumman."
Erin's eyes flashed. "Fine. You're happy to join this stable if Kirov is around, but you're not when he isn't. I'm tired of it. I'm in charge now and you can like it or stop wasting my time."
Jack glared at her balefully. "Ah don't like you. Ye're arrogant and not half as smart as Kirov, nor a quart as much as y'think y'are. If ye weren't, ye'd have worked out on yer own that anyone who takes so much delight in tellin' a'body Kirov is gone is no one ah'd trust."
Erin stood up and leaned over the desk, hissing. "Trust Churchill? You have ethics now? Morals? Strange. See, I did my research. I looked you up...pirate."
Jack felt the beast surge in his mind, shackled it as his face twisted in stony silence.
"What's wrong? Don't like it when your true colours come into the light? Trying to play the big hero now? Become some champion of good? Forget it. You'll fight for this stable Pirate. If you don't I will personally report you to the authorities. Don't think for a second I won't."
Jack's knuckles were bonewhite, clenched around the sheath of the claymore's sheath as his mind raced. "So what?" He ground out the words between hard clenched teeth. "You want me to be some kind of slave fighter? Yer little pet?"
Erin suddenly became aware of a slight twanging noise. Oh hell, it's that sword. The hilt was juddering slightly as Jack's arm shook very slightly, but very quickly. She stood up straight, positioning one hand behind her back as she adopted an imperious pose. Her fingers silently sought out her holdout pistol. "Not quite. You will be paid, the same amount as every other warrior. Wouldn't want to show favouritism."
Weapon, small, left back pocket. By the time the claymore is out it's sheath I'd be dead. "Fine. Have it your way."
"Move your mechs into our hangars by this afternoon. When can you fight?"
"Any time. Richt now even." Jack pulled himself to his feet and forcing himself to stand straight on his injured leg.
Erin smiled tightly. "Oh you can? Then head out to the training grounds. There's been a media crew there for nearly a week now watching some unaligned mechs go through their paces. Go and redirect their attention while I announce our newest recruit will be going through his paces as he recovers. Our newest pair actually...I believe Mr. Frankfurt is there in his commando. Perhaps you two could put on a show."
Jack glowered at her. If looks could kill...Ah need to p*ss, but I still wouldnae put out the flames on you. "I will do as you ask. But bear this in mind wumman. Ah liked Kirov. He had bawls. If he's oot...One o' us will be too."
With that, he turned on the heel of his good leg and limped from his room. Erin didn't relax until the clack-pause-clack of his claymore tapping off the ground faded into silence and Von Bremen stepped into the room. She let out a long breath as she flopped into her chair as he sat.
"I don't understand." He said as he folded his legs. "You don't like him and he doesn't like you. He's clearly a timebomb with a faulty trigger. Why do you want him so much?"
She looked resignedly at him. "Have you seen the two bit fools who've been applying here? Even some of the ones I've sent you after are barely able to get a mech to walk in a straight line. That...corsair may be periphery scum, but he is good. Insanely good. The one fight we've got on him? He took on four times his weight in that trashcan and won. He's a timebomb, but he's ours now. So he'll blow up where we put him."
Von Breman tapped his chin. "I just hope it works out for you Erin...I really do."


The proving grounds
International Zone
outskirts of Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, 14:11 hours.

Taysider lumbered onto the training grounds as Jack sucked down the painkillers the docs had given him. His wounded leg was causing an annoying pull to the right as each step caused his whole body to twinge. Where are these damn reporters? He stabbed his small laser into a tin shed in front of him, burning clear through it. Aim's off. He fired again, missing the small door once more. FRAG IT. The beast roared as his AC-10's HESH round blew the shack apart. I'll have that b*tches head on a spike. See if I don't. He fired his jump jets, clearing the small rise in front of him easily. Into his view came four mechs, three clustered together running drills and a battered commando wandering back the way he'd just come from, towards the entrance...and an aerial, just in front of him. Friiiiiiiig!
The Urbie's left leg caught the top of the aerial and tore it apart, rocking the media van with the force of the top-weighted collision as Jack struggled for control of his newly rebuilt ride. It landed with a jarring thump, his leg shooting with pain and throwing his reactions off. The Urbie crashed right through the media encampment, landing roughly and bouncing just over the recording crew's heads. Jack cursed softly as he tried to regain his footing. His anger sparked as he saw all four other mechs turning to stare at him, and then slowly began to laugh. Oh you can have me fer your stable, you arrogant *****. And a' that entails.
He spun the Urbie's turret at the newscrew and blared his external speakers loudly. "The Rainbow Stables! Best f*cking warriors on Solaris!" His mad laughter rang out around the grounds as he turned out towards the gathered mechs.

EDIT: Added italics where I'd had the writing in notepad and uncensored a naughty word.

Edited by RogueSpear, 10 June 2012 - 10:06 PM.

[Sparks Murphey]

Solaris Mech Space
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 16th, 19:00 hours

It was a little bit heartbreaking, watching the Enforcer’s New Ivaarsen Chasseurs paint scheme vanish under a coat of dark red. It had worn that paint, or a variant thereof, for almost nine years, time that had included the some of the best points of his life.

As he’d predicted, Heather wasn’t really that interested in watching him repaint the BattleMech, but that didn’t mean she was getting any homework done either. It was early evening, and plenty of traffic was going through the Mech Space; ‘Mechs going out to evening matches, or coming in smoking from late afternoon games, supply trucks scuttling armour, ammunition and spare parts through the hangers to their new owners, a lunch truck peddling greasy burgers to techs starting another all-nighter. Heather absorbed it all through wide eyes, her data slate offering pictures of fluffy bunnies in reward for correctly spelling words neglected by her side as she stared enraptured from the lower gantry.

Bertie shook his head and slotted another canister of paint into the sprayer. As he sprayed, he thought about the match tomorrow. The match was scheduled to take place in the Jungle, one of the arenas better suited to his style of fighting. Its forests and undulating terrain offered restricted line of sight that he could jump the Enforcer to and from, without completely restricting his field of fire to a tunnel, as an arena like Ishiyama would. He’d spent an hour going over maps of the area, though he’d prefer to know exactly which areas would be marked out of bounds for the match. Of course, there’d be no substitute for actually moving over the terrain itself, something most of his opponents would have over him, but he’d fought most of his career with that disadvantage.

His opponents, of course, were another matter. In a way, he was heavily outnumbered - almost every ‘Mech out there wanted to destroy him. At the same time, each of his opponents would be likewise heavily outnumbered. It was a...

Thwap. The sound of flesh hitting concrete sounded weakly through the hanger.

Bertie glanced to the gantry, his breath catching as he saw Heather missing from her perch. He hit the ground hard, unconscious of having cut through his harness, and ran toward her eerily silent form. A part of him desperately longed to hear her wail in pain; then he could comfort her, tell her it would be alright, and things could be better. This silence was terrifying.

He reached her, went to pick her up, stopped as his basic first aid training screamed at him to leave her where she was in case she’d broken her neck or back. His vision tunneled, the sounds of the Mech Space fading to distant rumbles.


Denice McDermott Memorial Hospital
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 17th, 02:13 hours

Bertie dozed fitfully in the waiting room, a blanket draped around his shoulders, a half drunk and entirely cold cup of coffee in one hand. Time seemed to pass in a blur; he was never quite completely asleep, but never quite completely awake either.

A hand gently touched him on the shoulder and he glanced up. The doctor. Never did catch his name.

“Yes?” he hazarded. The last two times he’d wanted new of how she was, but they’d only come to ask about any previous medical conditions and to get him to fill out forms. ‘Yes’ seemed an easier response for now.

“It looks like she should be fine,” the doctor said. Bertie immediately felt the stress drain from him, along with the energy that had kept him mostly awake.

“She’ll have some heavy bruising on her face and left arm, but there doesn’t seem to be any serious damage to the brain or spine, and no bone broken. She does seem to have a mild concussion, so we’d like to keep her here overnight.”

Most of the words washed over Bertie, but he got the jist of it; Heather would be okay.

“We’re moving her to a room now. There’s a recliner you can rest in there if you’d like.”

Bertie nodded. Sleep seemed good. The match would have to wait for another day.

Edited by Sparks Murphey, 11 June 2012 - 11:40 PM.

[ChaosGrinder]

Solaris Mech Space
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
Somewhen after dusk


It was somewhen after dusk, when Elisabeth OConor arrived at the Solaris Mech Space. Her Mechs had been parked in two seperate bays adjactend to each other and a big pile of Cargo infront of it. The faint sound of Hardrock could be heard across the almost empty hangar, als Liz sorted her Stuff. It where mostly parts for her broken down Stalker, a crate with her personal stuff, clothing and cosmetics and a crate of finest Ale, she ordered after her last mission.

She had somehow lost her sense of time, because as she looked up and out of the front doors of the Hangar, the last light of the sun had faded and the stars where blinking down from the Sky. She sat down at one of the military issue crates and rubbed her hurting Legs. Since 6 in the morning she was up and walking around Offices and military buildings to get her Mechbays rented, managed to get herself a decent hotelroom, even organized her targets to calibrate her new guns on her Cicada, but the day grew later and so she decided to stay up and in the hangar, doing what needed to be done, like sorting her Stuff, getting some minor coding work on her Ccada done, cleaning the Cockpit and working on the left foot sensor, that was somehow sending her wrong data about soil conditions.

But beside that, she thought about coming back here. She was from the Isle of Skye and the City of Solaris was a big part of her Childhood she wished she never had. She wondered why she´d come back. She could have stayed someplace else, she had the money to do so, but she came back to this place. But her childhood was gone, she was grown up, she had her first scars earned, she was not that young girl anymore she used to be, when she left the Planet.

She looked up from the back of her Cicada, working on the comm-unit, as she heard sounds from across the Hangar, but she couldn´t see someone. Maybe her senses betrayed her, so she focussed on repairs again.

[Sparks Murphey]

The Proving Grounds
International Zone
Outskirts of Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, 14:10

Bertie had spent most of the 17th asleep, but the Enforcer’s unfinished paint job still called to him. So on the chill morning of the 18th, he’d headed down to the Mech Space to finish what he’d started.

It wasn’t all he’d hoped for.

Several letters were stuffed in the ankle joint of his ‘Mech. The first was from the hospital, stating that he now had a hefty medical bill to pay, along with ambulance fees. The second was from the owners of the Mech Space, informing him that they were considering legal action for exposing them to financial and legal liability, which was rich considering he’d be the one suing them. The third was his official ‘results’ from yesterday’s match; being a no-show, he’d placed last and had claimed no kills, so had earned nothing. His entrance fee could be paid by cheque or direct bank transfer; no cash, please.

Bertie had scrunched them into a ball and thrown them into the far corner of the Mech Space, where hopefully they’d get sucked into a DropShip engine and kill all the lawyers and bankers, ever.

Now, he was back on the proving grounds, taking out his frustration on burnt out wrecks. The media crew were back again, watching him from the hill, and he had to resist the urge to unload a PPC bolt into their precious van. He did his best to ignore them and watch the wrecks of ancient vehicles burn.

He almost didn’t see the UrbanMech make its spectacular arrival. Its radar and magnetometer readings blended into those of the media camp and their varied equipment. It was only as it flared its jump jets and crashed through the media van that he noticed it, turning quickly to face the newcomer.

He watched the Urbie stumble awkwardly through the camp, the transmitter aerial behind it a twisted ruin. He felt the laughter bubbling up from inside, unstoppable. This, without a doubt, was the funniest thing that had happened in days.

[Vulpesveritas]

The Jungle
Cathay
Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 17th, 16:48 hours

The crowd was cheering, it had been a tough match. His 'mech's left arm had it's armor torn up fairly badly, and the hand actuator was completely busted. It would need to be completely replaced. Bits of armor here and there were also somewhat scarred, however for the most part the mech was undamaged. He had played it safe today, staying out of fights where he could, only firing when necessary. He had gotten two kills, then let the match boil down while he hid where he could until the final three were announced. The first 'mech he had found, a dervish, was fairly banged up when he started pelting the mech with AC/5 rounds. The pilot ejected, and Frederick started looking for the last opponent. He had found a Pheonix Hawk, and in the fight he had jumped and punched the 'mech in the chest, knocking the mech out with that punch due to it's already weakened armor, although his left arm had also taken a blast from the enemy 'mech's large laser.
Leaving his 'mech the last one standing... Sighing with how close things could have been, and shaking off his general battle demeanor, Frederick rested his head back against his seat. He had been lucky to a good extent... but where had Bertie been?...

'Mech hanger
International Zone

Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 17th, 18:23 hours

After the media buzz was over, he had taken his 'mech back to his hanger, looking up what parts he could quickly get ordered that he could use. Calling over one of the hanger's techs, he started looking for parts he could use. Ordering some armor to put on, he found a claw he could buy, which he could replace his hand actuator with. Buying it, he sighed and looked around the room. "So, how bout we get some of this armor replaced, and then party you guys!" Frederick said with a laugh. Ordering pizza and drinks for everyone, he set to work for repainting and rearmoring, and the claw would be there in the morning. Once it arrived, he would get to putting it on, then set to trying to get used to it. He figured a claw might give him a bit more of an edge, or so he hoped. It was at the very least a better option to hold onto something with with a firm grip. If nothing else, it would give him one more tool for the fights to come, which he hoped and feared woudl be greater challenges.


The Proving Grounds
International Zone
Outskirts of Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, 14:15

Seeing a red enforcer on the proving grounds, Frederick started to practice with his claw, trying to get used to the slightly different weight it had, and it's new grasping actions. Picking up a car here or there, seeing how well he could manipulate items, he started taking it through it's paces, while doing agility exercises in between to get used to the slight difference in balance completely. Noticing some chaos near the media area, Frederick blinked. An urbanmech appeared to have fallen... ***** pilot running around in a walking trashcan, he thought.

Edited by Vulpesveritas, 15 June 2012 - 08:08 PM.

[Vodkavaiator]

Samuel's Tea House
Slums, International Zone
April 18th 3031, 14:30 Hours

Voss and Sameul sat quietly watching a news feed on a small portable screen, which cycled through the most important events of the day. It had quickly become something of a daily routine for the two men to enjoy a short half hour of respite from their work in the beginning of the afternoon. Often they would talk reflecting on topics of interest or concerns they held but sometimes they would instead simply let the constant of drone of the media break the silence. Unsurprisingly as it was Solaris, most of the daily programming was concerned with BattleMech matches and the channel they were currently viewing was no exception. A pretty enough newscaster was summarizing recent matches, mentioning an innumerable amount of pilots and stables; pointing out any specific information which she thought might particularly interest the audience.

Voss watched or rather listened only with a half-hearted disinterest as he stared philosophically at the empty tea cup which he held in his hands. He didn't care much about the matches and instead simply humored his erstwhile employer who appeared to be at least slightly more interested in the main sport of the planet. He looked up at the screen however as the women began to discuss in an excited voice, something she considered to be "Breaking News!"

"An unfortunate incident has occurred just now between what has been identified as an UrbanMech belonging to the relatively unknown Rainbow Stables and an SBC media van at the Proving Grounds..." Voss promptly stopped listening and instead concentrated on the grainy footage that was now being show, purportedly from a personal recording device. Though of sub par quality it was easy enough to see an UrbanMech come barreling straight at a group of media personnel before eventually catching the aerial transmitter of one of the vehicles and crashing to the ground. Leaving the offending vehicle in ruins. No one appeared to be hurt however and the UrbanMech quickly rose to its feet as the voice of the pilot boomed from the external speakers of the small mech,"The Rainbow Stables! Best f*cking warriors on Solaris!""

"HAHA Vos!" Samuel began bursting into a fit of laughter as he once again mispronounced the name of his new employee, "It has been long since I have seen such excellent comedy, perhaps there is hope for these "Rainbows", whoever they are, if they can find men like that to pilot their mechs."

In contrast his employer, the mercenary sat quietly with a look of contempt on his face as his mouth twisted in a deep frown. "What fool, would pilot his mech with such utter disregard and incompetence? It disgusts me to think these people call themselves MechWarriors..." Voss bitterly muttered.

"Oh?" Samuel asked, slapping Voss good naturally on the shoulder, "My friend, I think you take this to seriously, it is a means of entertainment, nothing more. There are always some theatrics when a new stable tries to make a name for itself. It should be most fun to watch..."

Voss shrugged his shoulders, "I am sorry, but I don't find these charades to be of any interest, old man. I have seen enough of bloodshed, of death and of battle. I don't need to satisfy my curiosity with flawed imitations."

Samuel nodded sagely, but rose from the table and returned with two glasses of a strong smelling liquor with a large smile on his face,"A toast is in order my friend, for once you have called me something other than Samuel!"

The hired gun smiled ruefully and appeared to consider the breach of etiquette quite seriously before taking one of the glasses. "I suppose it would be even more impolite of me to decline," he joked as the two men brought the two small glasses together before downing the unnamed drink, which Voss reflected tasted not unlike that of what he expected drinking paint thinner would taste like.

[Thom Frankfurt]

The proving grounds
International Zone
outskirts of Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, 14:11 hours.

The Urbanmech roared over the ridgeline on a plume of bluish ionized flames and was tripped up by the antenne mounted atop of the SBC van. A screech of tortured metal rang out across the proving grounds as the van crumpled under the weight of Urbie's bulk. DeMarkus stopped One-Eye dead in it's tracks and quickly twisted the mechs torso to face the scene of the accident. Paniced journalist darted about hysterically like chickens who just had their heads cut off. He couldn't help but notice that some of the filmcrew was still filming, either with small hand held cameras or cameras on their noteputers.

Scoffing Markus turned the Commando about and went forth to lend aid if necessary, the Commando once again stopped dead in it's tracks as the external mics on the Urbanmech hissed and popped. Then the external speakers blared. "The Rainbow Stables! Best f*cking warriors on Solaris!" Mad laughter rang out around the grounds as the Urbanmech turned out towards the gathered mechs.

Oh s**t. Markus thought bitterly.

DeMarkus facepalmed himself. He was going to be in the same stable as this clumsy lunatic. Reluctanly he dialed in a tightbeam message with the Urbanmech then keyed his own mic.

"Yo. You's okay's man? Dat sure wus a's nasty fall." Being sure not to move the Commado's left arm, he moved One-Eye closer and keyed his own external mic. He was gonna try to save some lives and who knows, maybe even some of his stable's face.

"Yo! Is everyone's okay's? Anyone's hurt?!" The voice was grainy with a slighty inhuman tone as it rang out over the speakers. He immediately dialed in on some civilian frequencies often monitored by emergancy response teams. He began walking his mech on up to the scene, mindful of the squishy humans running about.

"Hey's dis is da Hangman about two's kilks out on da proving grounds. We need's help pronto! Got a SBC news van smish-smashed and possible civies hurt. Unknown number. Please send help fast."

[RogueSpear]

The Proving Grounds
International Zone
Outskirts of Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, 14:12 hours

Jack coughed his laughter short and cut the external speakers as the other mechwarrior's voice filled the cockpit. "Uh aye, fine fine. Didn't see them there." If I want to ruin this b*tches day, I'd better get the rest of her warriors in on it too. "Sorry aboot the speach. Argument with the bosswumman, meant to colour her poorly and no' yerself. Lang story. Should we help clean this lot up or are we best tae bail?"

EDIT:

Solaris Mech Space
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
Sometime after dusk

"Excuse me! Ma'am?" Dan called out to the figure inside the sparking cockpit. Boy am I going to be embarassed if this is actually a dude..."Ma'am?"
The figure poked her head out the Cicada's cockpit. "What?" She barked.
"Uh, I need to ask you to move this gear from in front of your bays? I need to get a trailer in here to load a Champion and some gear up, move 'em out." Dan called back. "I don't think we can get the trailer in without clipping some of this."

Edited by RogueSpear, 14 June 2012 - 08:31 PM.

[ChaosGrinder]

Solaris Mech Space
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
Sometime after dusk


" Second, lemme fix this first ... aww screw that, ganna get up here later" , she said and climbed down to that dude, who called her, because of her baggage infront of the bay.
" You need that stuff out of the way, i guess you´ll have to help. Mostly parts for my precious wreck over there " , she laughed as she pointed toward the broken down Stalker.

She grabbed a Box and pulled it under her Cicada. " Let´s move them over here, need them close by. "

Most of the Boxes carried cables or electronic parts, but a few were loaded with heavier stuff, Parts for a heat sink, a com-unit and one rolling crate filled with HEAT-Missiles and a cooled box full of beer. Most of the Stuff was for her broken Stalker wich needed repair pretty badly.

" Moving out ? Seems like i´m the only one left here. I like it more quiet anyway."

Liz looked around, the Hangar was almost empty, only a few bays were taken. For her, that was a good thing. She didn´t really like company.

Edited by ChaosGrinder, 15 June 2012 - 07:52 AM.

[RogueSpear]

Solaris Mech Space
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, Sometime after dusk

"Yeah sure," Dan muttered. Only fair I suppose. Plus, gets it done faster. He hefted one of the heavier looking crates, hid a wheeze. "What? Oh, yeah, sorry. Yeah, the boss finally came to some sort of arrangement with the Rainbow Stables, part of the contract says we need to use their hangars. Free storage, and I think free parts for repairs. Definitely cheaper anyway. Jack didn't really tell me a whole lot before he stormed out onto the grounds and caused that mess. I think you still have a few left around, that's Rick's Archer in the back there, he's been slowly putting it back together for a while now. Tech gone pro, props to him. Well, as soon as he gets his 'mech running. There's a few others around, uhhh...a Panther, Clint and an Enforcer for sure, used to be a Commando...Don't worry, the place is pretty good. They'll give you credit for a month or two if you fall behind, but after that they'll come down on you like a tonne of rocks, but hey, who can blame them? Anyone who can't make their bay payments from their fights probably just isn't what it takes on Solaris after all...Sorry, I'm tired and rambling, what was your name? I'm Dan Abnett." He thumped down the crate and held out his hand.

[ChaosGrinder]

Solaris Mech Space
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, night


" Elisabeth OConnor. Call me Spitfire. That´s what the most do", she said shaking hands with him.
" C´mon, take a seat", she offered him, while she was opening the fridge-box.
" Yeahaha. That´s what i need. Wanna beer ? "
She didn´t wait for an answer and tossed him a bottle. " That´s for helping me."
Sitting down in silence, she capped her beer and drank in greedy gulps.
"I´m in no worry, i just like it more quiet."

She thought about her next steps. She would need to buy a lot of material for her Stalker, more Ammo and maybe some smaller pieces for the Cicada. But for tomorrow she hat organized test targets to recalibrate her lasers. Hopefully she could participate in some matches, not for the money, rather for training. Maybe she would be finished with her Cicada before tomorrow morning so she could catch some sleep before heading out.

Edited by ChaosGrinder, 15 June 2012 - 08:43 AM.

[RogueSpear]

Solaris Mech Space
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, Night

"Thanks, I could use one. Been hauling crates all day." Dan took a long pull on the bottle. "Ahhhh...not bad. What's the brand? I know what you mean about liking it quiet. Boss is the same. 'Course with him, could be that he likes his space, or people just annoy him." He chuckled.

[ChaosGrinder]

Solaris Mech Space
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, Night

"I´m just not a fan of big words. Doin´ or leavin´ it. That´s how i work. Thats Bock beer. Black, stout, full in taste. Local brew from home. Best stuff i know, that´s for shure. "
She took another pull, eyeballing Dan. " So who´s your boss ? Big around here i guess. Anyway, i need to get out on the field again. Wanna burn some stuff down."

[RogueSpear]

Solaris Mech Space
International Zone
Solaris City, Solaris VII
April 18th, Night

"No no, he's not big around here. Yet anyway. Just a bit of a force of personality. Thanks for the beer, it's good! I'll catch you around sometime maybe. I'm gonna go get that trailer in here." Dan smiled and walked out into the yard.

[guardian wolf]

Local Hospital
International Zone
April 16th, 14:00 hours

Dylan awoke in a hospital bed with a startle, and immediately cringed as his stomach, arm, and head seemed to be on fire. He looked for his pistol, but couldn't find it. He then had a flash of memory as last night entered his head.
*memory flash*
Dylan was looking out over the mech bay, his Flea, was in good shape, and the techs, they had done their job of getting it back into working condition after his last fight to get into these stables. He'd done a double check on the database that was being updated, and he figured that at some point he was going to have to delete the info that might compromise him. He looked down from the catwalk, and was troubled, alot of the members of Rainbow Stable, had been mysteriously murdered, and he had recieved no word from Wolfnet that they were from the Kommando. That meant that it was someone else. Dylan decided to take a walk to clear his head. It began to rain again. Dylan walked down the street, and pulled his hood over his head. The rain patted onto Dylan softly, he continued to walk down the street. He was outside Cherry's Ladies, and saw a lady have her purse snatched by what seemed to be a small boy. Dylan watched the boy run towards him, and then stuck out his foot to trip the boy. He never saw it coming. The boy practically faceplanted on the spot, and Dylan stepped over, and lifted him up to his face so he could look him in the eye. The boy had a bloody nose, and Dylan watched the lady approach. He took the lady's purse from the boy, looked over to the lady, and held out the purse. The lady made to take the purse, and then drew a knife. Dylan instinctively threw the boy aside, and drew his laser pistol. By now the lady had closed the the gap, and swung at him with the knife. She missed him the first time, and Dylan fired a shot that went wild. She then stabbed into Dylan's left arm, and grabbed the pistol, disarming him. Dylan swung a punch at her, it connected into her jaw. She took a couple steps back, and Dylan took the knife out of his arm, and stumbled into Cherry's Ladies. The bouncer was about to stop him, when a shot from Dylan's pistol caught him in the head. Dylan ran into the bar, and gunfire continued to be exchanged between the other bouncer, and the crazy lady. He walked towards the bar, concealing the knife, and ordered a drink. He saw her enter, and ordered a bottled drink. She entered and he could tell that she was searching for him. She was making a pass next to the bar, when Dylan decided to strike. He downed the beer, spun in the stool, beer bottle flying through the air like a mace wielded by a battlemech and connected with the back of her head, shattering the glass. She turned and drew the pistol, but Dylan already had a following through with his injured left arm, and managed to knock the pistol from her grip. She raised her hands and returned with a kick to Dylan's rib cage, and he could feel the crack of bone as it connected. Staggering back, he stood in the combat ready stance that the Kommando had taught him, and waited for her next attack. It wasn't long. She rushed forward with a right hook which Dylan caught, but she decked him with a punch from the other fist. Dylan once again staggered back, but this time returned with a move the Kommando had taught him. He threw his left arm wide in a back hand motion, and knocked away the agent's arms. Using the remaining momentum, plus all of the strength he had in that arm, he threw into the side of her face. She fell back onto the floor, but jumped up to her feet. Dylan grabbed the stool that was once a seat a broke it smacking it against her. She caught herself with a table, and then threw a knife at him. As Dylan dodged it, all he could think was.
This crazy woman will kill me if I don't get help soon!!
She rushed toward him in blur, they both traded blows, and tossed each other over several tables, when finally a shot rang out. Dylan remembered hoping like hell the cavalry arrived, and watched as she disappeared into the crowd. He then lost consciousness as a figure approached, he had hoped that it was the cavalry, or at least someone friendly.
*end memory flash*
He looked back over to his left arm, and it was bandaged, and he heard a knocking on the door. A tall male entered.
"You are Dylan Wolf correct?"
"Aff,"
"You look pretty beat up,"
"I have had worse, what do you want?"
"Tell me about last night, and your attacker,"
"Female, medium height, ISF by the looks of her, definitely a professional,"
"You seem informed,"
"You asked, I answered. Are we done with your interrogation?"
"Not what I'd call an interrogation, but, yes,"
"Good, I need my sleep,"
Dylan watched him leave, and could definitely tell that he was up to something.
"I never caught your name sir,"
"It's Von Bremman, and consider yourself warned Dragoon, next time she won't be so lenient when you hack our databases,"
"Who's she?"
He did not answer. He was by the book, and he definitely needed to alert Wolfnet that he had been attacked, and the fact that he was being watched by not only a professional, but several, and all of them had connections. He lay back down into the pillow, wondering, what did he have planned for him, and the rest of these prospects? He began to type in buttons on the nearby phone, and heard David answer.
"You feeling okay,"
"Could be worse, hey I need a favor,"
"What would that be?"
"Check in with Hanse on who is now running the show at Rainbow,"
"Right, when you are out, I will have the report waiting,"
Hanse was the current callsign of command, aka the Kommando, and the greater Wolfnet. Dylan was up to his eyeballs in ****, and he knew that he would have to be watching everyone if he was to make it out of this one alive.

Edited by guardian wolf, 15 June 2012 - 04:48 PM.