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[Catalina Steiner]

<o Greetings to all regarded Freelancer Steiner Mechwarriors, Lone Wolves and Mercenary Corps.


Stationed on the planet of Arluna since 3048. Running anti-pirate missions beyond the borderline of the Periphery; re-enforcing task-forces on the borderline of the Draconis Combine. You are about to be a part of the line that will define how the Commonwealth will stand against the Clan Invasion.

We stand with open gates to those who would wish to do private contracting for as long or as short as they'd like. Without any obligation of when joining in to the community or leaving it without a moment's notice. We are those where you can join in, or leave at a moment's notice.

This unit is for those with time constraints, with personal lives draining a lot of their time; but still wanting to be a part of the fight without obligation. No obligation for C3/TS communications. We re-enforce that those who can be more dedicated time-wise should seek a proper unit from hub.housesteiner.com or from these forums.

Visit our new TS3-Channel at the hubsteiner-TS3 server.
(No need to apply nickname/password, just click connect and TS3 will start with your name and your settings)

Address: ts1.housesteiner.com / no password



Requirements

We request back from you that you throw your ego out of your cockpit before starting your machine, and any sense of vulgarity towards other pilots (especially beginners), even be they your enemies and taunt you.

*Communication in English*



History

You can read our story in the upcoming post.



How To Join

Join us in the battle or contact us.

If you wish to be among the list of “Regular Mechwarrior”; or to enlist yourself as a “Freelancer Mechwarrior”, you can contact Hellzero. Invoices to be a Lance Leader are taken in as well, if requested.

This is all intended to be hassle free, even after CW launches; so no reason to hold back. The player base age of MWO is above the average of +30 years; no reason to be a stranger.



What We Believe

We believe in a special synergy between a good team. It's not about rigid tactics or discipline alone.

Only the greatest pilots respect their opponents; for there is much to learn from every fight. You will be among them, if you learn from your adversaries. Beat them in combat, and they will be angry; beat them on a mental level, and you will be better than anyone.

Yet what better way to learn, than see your lance-mates do what you didn't think possible?



Further Information

More information will be posted soon in this thread. You will learn about our favorite game modes, our mechs, our battles and much more. Stay tuned...

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 30 August 2016 - 02:59 PM.

[Hellzero]

The Origins (RP Heavy content)

*Personal introduction folder*

Spoiler

Name: Catalina Steiner
Born: 3026

Lived the life of nobility since birth, but was remarked for being highly analytically. Combined with determination ever since birth, the necessary traits for a Mechwarrior and a leader. The required capability to adjust in to surprising situations.

She learned early to avoid using her family name, and left it out in order to gain an unbiased view of those who were around her. This gave a degree of leverage to know the true nature of those around her, who did not know her by her appearance.

In 3048 at her prime she was a promising candidate in Nagelring Academy, earning her respect from her fellow classmates, and teachers alike: She was to follow the Steiner tradition of becoming a fully fledged Mechwarrior, surrounding herself with friends who were not afraid to tell her when she was wrong.

She was adaptable which is required in the versatile roles as a pilot, making her a promising candidate for any unit. As her classmates in Nagelring were shifted to the "Tamar Jägers" her personal requests were dimmed by her overprotective family. Feeling that she should not be where she would face odds that could get herself killed.

She was instead placed on the border-edge of of south-western Lyran space to join the 6th Lyran Guards in Althastan(www.sarna.net/Althastan).
However, after arriving due to personal reasons, she forfeit temporarily her standing and disappeared to another location to fight off a "distress message received from the space near Circinus Federation" (www.sarna.net/Circinus_Federation).

***

*NOT OPEN INFORMATION*

Catalina was disobeying an order from the commanding CEO to stand down, and not to leave her post. She commandeered a JumpShip which had almost prepared its K-F Drive, flying to the coordinates supplied by an escaping civilian craft.

• She had two lances underneath her, which was to be enough to deal with the pirates in her opinion. After the drop to an emergency beacon being broadcasted from a forest covered planet, the JumpShip was attacked by pirates. This forced her lance to make planetfall barely reaching high orbit.

Spoiler

The pirates were to disable and capture the civilian cargo JumpShip but with the Battlemechs in their sight without a visible insignia, the nameless pirate Battlemechs descended after the survivors, crippling the dropship critically before it landed. They had prepared an ambush for any kind of civilians/goods/ships trying to evacuate on the planet's surface.

• Surviving Battlemechs were mostly in the form of Lightmechs and Catalina piloted one of them. She was driving her Jenner away from the coming pursuers but adamant on getting her lance-mates out alive.

The Guards were more than a match for the pirates. However, they were slow, which proved to be a liability in a lush and overgrown environment which turned against their favor. The planet was also uninhabited. The guards were picked off one-by-one, being more and more isolated, while facing overwhelming odds.

• The distress beacon was a bait in the end and part of pirate attacks that have been regular from Circinius Federation for the past hundreds of years, hence the stationing of near-by Mercenary Corps & 6th Lyran Guards

Spoiler

The blue in this map is Lyran Commonwealth/Alliance (www.sarna.net/6th_Lyran_Guards), the Circinus Federation is on the southwest border of the Lyran Space (folk.uio/btech/3030.pdf).

***

*The Flawless Trap*

This was a deathtrap sprung by pirates hoping to get a good-faith rescue workers coming in. The pirate presence was enough to flee quickly if the rescuers would come in too high numbers. However, as one by one her lance-mates fell in the nightmare forests, she was unable to form them up. The air outside was toxic to inhale, and she was packing rations with her for three weeks.

Spoiler

The extended stay in the neural helmet plus other forms of physical strain were starting to cause strain on her. Nevertheless, she was able to push it aside until she was able to shake off her assailants and, rest after forty hours of constant evading and hard-lined piloting to cover her tracks...

• Caught in an internal debate of politics, and possible scanding rising against the active colonel, small unit of the 6th Lyran Guards were formed behind closed doors, taking support from the 9th Lyran Regulars stationed in Cavanaugh II. The 9th being already familiar on their assignments of pirate hunting activities, selected a few to escort the elite of the 6th Lyran Guards.

A naval task force was sent in to probe the Periphery surroundings quickly; to prevent the public disgrace of the 6th Lyran Guards. The 6th Lyran Guards were quickly tracking down the planet where the alleged attack was located in.

• However, a small detachment of the 9th Lyran Regulars were able to find the planet in question, finding the overtaken civilian vessel with elements from the pirate main fleet, identified deep within the Periphery, far outside of the Circinus Federation's borders. Battle ensued, and the pirates fearing of a larger fleet coming to rescue the ship, the pirates fled at the sight of the Commonwealth Corvettes, barely taking a handful of their ground personnel with them.

Spoiler

Rescue efforts were made from the sky, as the 9th dropped down in small units across the main continent, looking up where possible targets and friendlies were located in. Resistance was met, but the 9th had been over twenty years in pirate hunting activities, enforcing tactics that were solid and field-proven in most environments against Periphery assailants.

***

*The End*

From the high skies, in a cave within a mountain range, Catalina watched as comets started to fall from the sky, and she powered up her mech after three weeks of evading the pirates. Running out of supplies and options, she opened her comm frequencies to hear on an open, secure channel a feed that was on repeat.

The broadcast was for all surviving Lyran, and local civilians to meet upon the closing in dropships. The arrogance of the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces showing how they kept the pirates as a no form of threat, that were to be greeting them upon planet-fall.

Spoiler

The 9th had split up in small units across where the high-orbit ships could pick up traces of energy/life signs, in order to comb the area more quickly of enemies and friendlies alike.

One of the dropships was coming in close to her, and Catalina made a dash for it, hoping for rescue but she was quick to realize that the remaining pirates had done the same, instead of hiding from the dropship.

• A clash ensued between Catalina's Jenner and the group of rag-tag mechwarriors. Her superior speed keeping an edge over the heavier pirate mechs but her armor was coming off, and she knew she was running out of armor, patience, and nerves at a pace she did not want to admit to herself.

The support was not far from her though, and she could hear the secure feed coming to her mech across the open feed comms of the pirates taunting and dismissing her: "Stay alive, let none of their words hurt you, and none of their weapons will either".
Routing her will anew, she steeled herself, and even if her radar wasn't picking anything, she knew she wasn't far away from the comm feed.

• Through the air, the leaves and branches leaped a Victor in an understating paintjob close to her, and she was able to get a first view of the coming under-appreciated unit, that wasn't noted in any of the past hundred years worth of news feeds in any form.

Spoiler

The Victor had a name written on its right shoulder, that said "Vicky", right under the 9th Lyran Regulars icon, written in a poorly painted improvisation of a paintjob. It looked crude, just as the mech that it was on, but from the grace of the movements Catalina could see in an eye-flash that he moved with grace. Grace in an 80 ton battlemech meant he wasn't a greenhorn; that he could be trusted in his fighting skills, and re-instigating herself from this sight; Catalina turned around to open the comms feed:

"This is Catalina Steiner of 6th Lyran Guards, I am being followed by an unknown amount of pursuers, any help would be appreciated".

Her voice getting a low-tone, deep reply:

"This Hellzero, 9th Lyran Regulars; copy that, request for evac sent in, my lance will be here in 15 seconds, let's give them some back what they took from us..."

• Catalina judged from these words that her presumption that her supporters had died, could be true, but she pushed these thoughts from her mind instantly. She had no space or time for grievance, she had to survive; and even if her battlemech would be tattered and in bad shape; she knew should could pay the debt of her died brethren.

Spoiler

For weeks she had listened to the comms of every possible profanity; especially after the pirates heard that the last one alive was a female member of the 6th. She was so sick of it that she had turned the comms off, and held on to a forlorn hope that she could be one day rescued from the claws of her assailants.

• Catalina braced herself, exhausting her senses as she psyched herself to whole new levels, and at the end... eleven pirates died in their cruder battlemechs in front of the remorseless vengeance that stirred in her and her rescuers.

***

*EPILOGUE*

Catalina did not speak of all the things she had endured during the three weeks. The only thing she did after getting back to the 6th, was writing herself discharge papers, and getting away with this all, without her record being stained.

Spoiler

However, from here was a beginning of a long-time friendship that was just the beginning. For finding her new unit; she used her family's power to exert the non-noble second-in-command Lance Leader as her aide.
The two had formed a special friendship in the field of Battlemechs; mostly because of their innate ability to read-another's tactical thinking on the battlefield, without words.
This is a very rare trait, and an obvious tactical advantage, but Catalina knows the weight of such an shuffle.

Hellzero was not of noble origins, but no one could question her decision; for his skill with for his skill with his Victor, "Vicky", was rare. This trait had saved her, and him on numerous occasions. She started to look up and find people with similar traits for her lance. A hand-picked unit of specialists in certain fields...

...to be continued.

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 11 April 2014 - 10:36 AM.

[Hellzero]

Those who skimmed down on the texts above; to summarize:
- Everyone is welcome; even those who might be with shaky feet in terms of Piloting a Battlemech. So are those gladly received who have been for a long time in some form involved with the BT/Mechwarrior world, yet don't have the time to join in on the extent they'd wish due to their personal lives.

• Will gladly support and teach the prerequisite skills needed for a Battlemech; or to get to the loop of things. For the AC5/PPC or LRMs(present "meta" at the time of writing) don't dominate the fields. It's the Mechwarriors with the right mechs that do.

Hop aboard, and enjoy the ride among us, here, in the Steiner Forums.


For I've heard that team-play is overpowered... *corner smile*

Edited by Hellzero, 11 April 2014 - 11:00 AM.

[Catalina Steiner]

Die Entstehungsgeschichte (rollenspiellastig)
(deutsche Version, übersetzt von Catalina Steiner, Original von Hellzero - siehe oben/
german version, translated by Catalina Steiner, original version by Hellzero, see above)


*Personalakte*

Spoiler

Catalina Steiner:
Geboren: 3026-3050

Catalina ist die jüngste Tochter des Hauses Steiner, ihre Mutter ist der Archon selbst. Den grössten Teil ihres Lebens verbrachte sie also bisher als Teil einer adeligen Grossfamilie. Ihre Entschlossenheit, gepaart mit ihren kognitiven Fähigkeiten führten dazu, dass sie schnell als Führungskraft und Mechkriegerin in Betracht gezogen wurde.
Mit der Zeit vermied sie es, ihren Namen zu gebrauchen, sie verleugnete ihn sogar, aber sie lernte trotzdem ihren Einfluss geltend zu machen.
Im Jahr 3048, in der Blüte ihres Lebens, war sie eine erfolgreiche Anwärterin der Nagelring Akademie, die sich den Respekt ihrer Kameraden und Lehrer gleichermaßen verdienen konnte. Der alten Steiner-Tradition folgend wurde sie vollständig zur einer Mechkriegerin ausgebildet und war dabei dankenswerterweise von wohlwollenden Freunden umgeben, die sich nicht scheuten, ihr auch zu sagen, wenn sie einen Fehler machte.

Die Fähigkeit, verschiedenartigste Rollen als Pilotin einzunehmen, machten sie zu einer vielversprechenden Kandidatin für jede Einheit. Ihre Jahrgangskameraden wurden überraschend schnell zu den Tamar-Jägern versetzt, als diese Verstärkung brauchten. Sie selbst wurde dabei nicht berücksichtigt, ihre Anfragen verhallten unbeantwortet dank ihrer Familie, die schützend ihre Hand über Catalina hielt und natürlich kein Interesse daran hatte, dass sie sich Gefahr aussetzte und ihr Leben riskierte.
Stattdessen wurde sie an die südwestliche Grenze des Lyranischen Raumes versetzt, um sich den Sechsten Lyran Guards in Althastan anzuschliessen.
Sie kam dort zwar an, doch aufgrund persönlicher Gründe verlor sie vorübergehend ihre Stellung und verliess den Stützpunkt, um einem Notruf der „Circinus Federation“ zu folgen.

***

*STRENG VERTRAULICHE INFORMATIONEN*

Catalina missachtete einen direkten Befehl ihres Vorgesetzten, sich aus dieser Sache herauszuhalten und ihre Stellung nicht zu verlassen. Stattdessen kommandierte sie ein Sprungschiff und flog zu den Koordinaten des Notsignals und wurde dabei von einem entkommenen, zivilen Schiff unterstützt.

• Sie befehligte zwei Lanzen, was ihrer Einschätzung nach mehr als genug war, um den Piraten die Stirn zu bieten. Nach dem Abwurf ihrer Lanzen auf den Punkt des Notfallsignals, inmitten eines von endlosen Wäldern bedeckten Planeten, wurde ihr Sprungschiff von den Piraten angegriffen und zur Landung gezwungen, bevor der rettende Orbit erreicht werden konnte.

Spoiler

Die Piraten hatten eigentlich vor, das zivile Schiff manövrierunfähig zu machen und es zu kapern, aber als sie die Battlemechs ohne sichtbare Einheitenzeichen entdeckten, stützten sich die namenlosen Battlemechs der Piraten auf die Angegriffenen, beschädigten den Truppentransporter stark, bevor er landen konnte und bereiteten einen Hinterhalt für die Überlebenden, um sich ihrer und der reichen Beute zu bemächtigen, die gerade mit einer Notlandung beschäftigt war.

• Bei den noch intakten Battlemechs, die bei der Notlandung nicht beschädigt worden waren, handelte es sich vorwiegend um leichte Mechs. Catalina entschied sich für einen Jenner und versuchte unbeirrbar,ihre Lanze lebend aus diesem Hinterhalt zu führen und hängte ihrer Verfolger ab.

Die Guards lieferten den Piraten einen denkwürdigen Kampf; jedoch kamen sie nur langsam voran, was von der üppigen und wuchernden Umgebung erschwert wurde, die den unbewohnten Planeten in ihrem Griff hielt. Und so wurden die Guards überwältigt, einer nach dem anderen, immer mehr abgeschnitten und verzweifelt gegen eine Übermacht kämpfend.

• Das Notsignal stellte sich so letztendlich als der Köder einer Falle heraus, den die Piraten ausgelegt hatten. So etwas war in der Circinius Federation üblich während der Stationierung der Söldereinheiten und der Sechsten Lyran Guards.

***


*Eine makellose Falle*

Es war also eine Todesfalle, die die Piraten der ahnungslosen Besatzung gestellt hatte und die dafür sorgen sollte, dass sich immer wieder gutgläubige Retter auf den Weg machen würden. Jedoch waren die Piraten auch stets bereit zu fliehen, sollten zu viele Retter nahen, die man nicht überwältigen können würde.
In Catalinas Falle jedoch erledigten die Piraten einen nach dem anderen und eliminierten ihre Lanzen in den furchteinflössenden Wäldern. Catalina gelang es nicht, die Isolierung und Vernichtung der Truppenteile zu verhindern. Die Luft war giftig und nicht zum Atmen geeignet. Catalina hatte Reserven für drei Wochen an Bord.

Spoiler

Das andauernde und länger als übliche Tragen des Neural-Helms und die körperliche Belastung verursachten eine grosse Anspannung bei Catalina, aber sie wuchs über sich selbst hinaus, zwang sich zu Ruhe und Disziplin, bis sie schliesslich ihre Angreifer abschütteln konnte. Vierzig Stunden voller Furcht und Entbehrungen lagen hinter ihr, in denen sie gehetzt wurde und in denen sie ihren Mech und sich bis an die Grenzen belastete und versucht hatte, ihre Spuren zu verwischen.

• Während dieser Vorfall eine interne politische Diskussion auslöste und ein Skandal um den befehlshabenden Colonel immer wahrscheinlicher wurde, wurde hinter verschlossenen Türen gleichtzeitig ein neuer Trupp zusammengestellt. Dabei handelte es sich um kleinere Teile der Sechsten Lyran Guards, die von den Neunten Lyran Regulars verstärkt wurden, die in Cavanaugh II stationiert waren. Diesen war das Aufgabengebiet der Piratenjagd bereits vertraut, weshalb sie die Teile der Sechsten Lyran Guards verstärken und begleiten sollten.

Dieses neue Einsatzkommando wurde umgehend in die Peripherie entsandt, um Nachforschungen anzustellen und um die Schmach der Sechsten Lyran Guards zu tilgen. Dank ihrer Erfahrungen mit den Piraten war es ihnen möglich, sehr schnell den Planeten auszuspüren, auf dem der Angriff angeblich stattgefunden hatte.

• Ein kleiner Stosstrupp der Neuten Lyran Regulars fand den betreffenden Planeten, später das überwältigte, zivile Schiff und Spuren der Piraten. Nach der Schlacht waren die Piraten wohl geflüchtet, weil sie eine weitere und grössere Welle von Rettungstruppen befürchteten.

Spoiler

Es folgen Rettungsversuche aus der Luft, als die Neunte in kleinen Einheiten auf dem Hauptkontinent des Planeten landete und nach Überlebenden und Zielen Ausschau hielt. Zwanzig Jahre Erfahrung in der Piratenjagd brachte die Neunte mit und auch ein Kampf in dieser Umgebung fürchteten sie nicht.

***


*Das Ende*

Aus grosser Höhe beobachtete Catalina dies und fuhr ihren Mech hoch. Drei lange Wochen lagen hinter ihr, in denen sich ihre Vorräte und demzufolge auch ihre Möglichkeiten stetig verringert hatten. Sie suchte einen offenen Kommunikationskanal, der sicher genug war, dass die Piraten ihren Hilferuf nicht auffangen können würden.

Spoiler

Währendessen kümmerte sich die Neunte um die Überlebenden und versuchte nicht mal, ihre Bemühungen zu verdecken, zu gross war ihre Arroganz gegenüber den Piraten, die man nicht für eine echte Bedrohung hielt.

Einer der Truppentransporter kam ihr sehr nahe und Catalina stürmte aus ihrem Versteck hervor, die Rettung vor Augen. Aber nicht nur sie, auch die Piraten hatten wohl auf diesen Moment gewartet, anstatt sich nur vor den neuen Truppen zu verstecken.

• Es folgte ein Zusammenstoss zwischen Catalinas Jenner und einer Meute von Piraten. Dank ihrer überlegenen Geschwindigkeit konnte sie sich gegen die schweren Mechs der Piraten behaupten, doch ihre Panzerung litt trotzdem unter dem Ansturm. Sowohl ihre Panzerung, als auch ihre Geduld und ihre Nerven würden dem Angriff der Piraten nicht mehr lange standhalten können, das wusste sie.

Doch die Verstärkung war nicht weit von ihr entfernt, sie kam ihr immer näher. Auf dem offenen Kanal verspotteten sie die Piraten, die sich ihrer Beute schon sicher waren. Doch sie war fest entschlossen, sich weder von ihren Worten, noch ihren Waffen einschüchtern zu lassen.


Sie atmete durch, fasste den Mut der Verzweiflung und obwohl ihr Radar keine Rettung mehr anzeigte, spürte sie, dass sie nicht weit sein konnte.

• Plötzlich brach ein Victor durch das beinahe undurchdringliche Dickicht aus Blättern und Ästen, seine Bemalung und Insignien waren beinahe unidentifizierbar. Catalina konnte einen ersten Blick auf diese nahende und unterschätzte Einheit werfen, die in den letzten hundert Jahren nirgendwo erwähnt worden war.

Spoiler

Auf der Schulter des Victors prangte der Name des Mechs: „Vicky“, genau unter dem kaum zu erkennenden Zeichen der Neunten Lyran Regulars. Es sah primitiv aus, genau wie der Mech, der es trug; jedoch erkannte Catalina innerhalb eines Augenblickes, wie sich dieser Mech beinahe anmutig fortbewegte. Achtzig Tonnen Stahl, die sich anmutig bewegten konnten nur davon zeugen, dass kein Anfänger am Steuer dieses Mechs sass. Sie würde ihm trauen können. Sie öffnete den Kommunikationskanal…

„Hier spricht Catalina Steiner, von den Sechsten Lyran Guards. Ich werde von einer unbekannten Anzahl von Angreifern verfolgt, ich bitte um Hilfe.“

Ihre Stimme klang gedämpft. Eine tiefe Stimme antwortete:

„Hier spricht Hellzero, Neunte Lyran Regulars, ich habe verstanden. Bitte um Evakuierung wird entsprochen, meine Lanze wird in 15 Sekunden hier am Ort einsatzbereit sein. Machen wir uns bereit, ihnen ebenfalls einzuheizen…“

• Aus diesen Wort schloss Catalina, dass ihre Annahme richtig gewesen war: die Verstärkung war wohl ebenfalls aufgerieben worden, aber die schob ihre Befürchtungen beiseite, es blieb keine Zeit, um dies zu bedauern. Sie musste überleben, um jeden Preis und auch, wenn ihr Mech fast ruiniert und in schlechter Verfassung war, hatte sie jetzt die Gelegenheit, den Tod ihrer Lanzenkameraden zu rächen.

Spoiler

Wochenlang hatte sie ausgeharrt, jedem noch so kleinen Knacken und jedem Rauschen des Kommunikationskanals gelauscht. Sie hörte, dass die Piraten von ihr wussten; dass sie die letzte Überlebende war. Es machte sie krank, dem zuzuhören und so schaltete sie bald die Kanäle immer öfters aus, hielt aber trotzdem an dieser verzweifelten Hoffnung fest, eines Tages aus den Klauen ihrer Häscher befreit zu werden.

• Sie sammelte ihre letzten Kräfte, wohlwissend dass es jetzt um Alles ging. Elf Piraten starben kurze Zeit später in ihren schwerfälligen Mechs, als sie die erbarmungslose Rache von Catalina, Hellzero und seinen Männern traf.

***


*EPILOG*

Über das meiste, was sie während dieser Wochen erduldet hatte, sprach Catalina nicht. Aber als sie zu der Sechsten zurückkehrte, bat sie um ihre Entlassung. Dieser wurde entsprochen und Catalina wurde ehrenhaft entlassen.

Spoiler

Dies war der Anfang einer langen Freundschaft und nur der Beginn einer neuen Karriere in einer neuen Einheit. Sie nutze die Beziehungen ihrer Familie, um als nichtadelige Stellvertreterin des Kommandanten zu fungieren.
Die beiden verband eine tiefe und besondere Freundschaft, auch und besonders auf dem Schlachtfeld, vor allem wegen ihrer instinktiven Fähigkeiten, die Taktik des jeweils Anderen zu erkennen, zu erahnen, ohne dass dafür Worte nötig waren.
Das ist eine sehr seltene Gabe und ein grosser taktischer Vorteil, doch Catalina war sich auch der Kehrseite der Medaille bewusst.

Hellzero war nicht von adeliger Abstammung; aber niemand stellte ihre Entscheidung infrage. Das einzige, was sie interessierte, vor allem nach der Erfahrung auf diesem verfluchten Planeten, war die Tatsache, dass sie jemandem trauen konnte. Was Hellzero mit Vicky anstellen konnte, war eine seltene Kunst und eine Eigenschaft, die Catalina nicht mehr missen wollte und es hatte sie beide bereits gerettet. Und so entledigte sie sich der letzten Zweifel und sah nur nach vorn, um Gleichgesinnte zu finden, die über eine ähnliche Gabe verfügten und die ihre kleine Einheit verstärken sollten. Eine sorgfältig ausgewählte Einheit von exzellenten Mechkriegern...

...Fortsetzung folgt

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 09 June 2014 - 11:07 AM.

[Catalina Steiner]

We are proud to introduce our two new members: Redhook and Dettmam.

It's a pleasure to extend a warm welcome to both of you. I cannot wait to repeat our sucessful and uncompromising premade sessions.

[LiGhtningFF13]

Well congrats for your new recruits. Good luck for your further recruitement!

[Catalina Steiner]

We proudly present our new Youtube-Channel. We will upload matches here.
You can find several matches from "Twitch", recorded from other MWO players (i.a. NGNG).
We downloaded them, edited them and uploaded them on our channel. Therefore it's rare until now to see one of us the whole match but we are working on it to stream our own matches in the future.
Watch the description in the channel for content.

*Vanguard of Arluna* - Youtube Channel

Edited by Catalina Steiner, 19 August 2014 - 11:58 AM.

[Hellzero]

We've set up our home in the coming wake of the Community Warfare over at http://hub.housesteiner.com, and we've established our Team Speak channel there as well.

• The place provides a non-pressure surrounding for anyone just wishing to join in on a random run at the local units that are established there. Join in on one of the Lance Channels and you're bound to get company sooner or later.
  
• This is the same place that has been pinned at the Steiner Forums; and I'd warmly welcome anyone there.

We are online irregularly during the weekends, more during the weeks; but if you'd wish to join in on us:

• Feel free to contact me or Catalina, and we'll more than gladly tag along; and at times even with other units in larger pre-made teams!

ts1.housesteiner.com:9987 or ts1.housesteiner.com
***

- Hope to see you all in the field!

Edited by Hellzero, 19 August 2014 - 12:23 PM.

[Dettmam]

It is an honor to serve under your command ma´am and sir!

o7

Edited by Dettmam, 26 August 2014 - 01:18 AM.

[LiGhtningFF13]

A recruit form Brazil, I see you go international!

[Dettmam]

The only problem is the time diference!!! :-(
But we deal with it!

[Catalina Steiner]

We have two new recruits in our ranks...
Welcome Marcio Roberto and Lamblaska.

And I want to welcome two new free mercenaries, Vertimore and Josef Kafka.

Feel at home and have fun with our drop sessions.

[Catalina Steiner]

1) Update: *Vanguard of Arluna* - Youtube Channel

You can find three new uploads:

Match 17: Match with Hellzero, Catalina Steiner and NGNG on the new map!
Match 18: Match with Dettmam, Catalina Steiner and NGNG
Match 19: Match with Dettmam (excellent scout documentary)


2) Feel free to post some of your most effective builds here: Share effective builds for striking back the Clan Invasion
You can also see our unit colors there. We chose a "Steiner" blue color in combination with red that shows our aggression and our will to be the first in line to defend the Inner Sphere.

[Catalina Steiner]

1) Update: *Vanguard of Arluna* - Youtube Channel

You can find a lot of new uploads:



I've uploaded some matches with the Devil Dogs lately. Thanks for the drops, I really enjoyed it.


2) Community Warfare
I want to write down our goals in community warfare, so possible new members know about it.
We fight for Steiner and for Steiner only. Certainly we can only attack border planets and we are definitely prefering Clan planets. The Clans are our enemies, we need to stop the Clan Invasion. If we need to defend a planet, we are prefering Steiner planets. Only if this isn't possible at this moment, we are fighting for other IS planets. There isn't one single House that needs us more than Steiner. That's what we believe and that's what we are fighting for.

Ingame we don't reach for the most "loot" of mechbays and such. Our goal is a high Steiner loyalty point score.

[Catalina Steiner]

Update

1) We have a new recruit in our ranks... Welcome Spiderkiss!
Spiderkiss is a very good reinforcement for our unit. She don't die and she fills in the gap of the sniper role. We are glad to have you onboard.

2) We reached a very good second place in the first ORMC tournament, our first tournament ever.
Thanks to Hellzero, JosefKafka, Dettmam, Totem1 and also Paulo from INEX who wanted to reinforce in this case of a missing member.
ORMC hosted casual tournament

3) New YouTube videos online

• New drops with the Devil Dogs
  
• First CW match at Hellebore Springs with Steiner units vs the Clans
  
• lots of King Crab matches

[JosefKafka]

How did I manage to miss this? I must follow this topic with a close eye. Also, I find the phrase "proper unit" hilarious in context and I think it's a surefire way to attract newbloods. It sounds almost like something I'd say.

Anyway. Long live rock!

[Ascaloth]

Hand on his face, heavy breathing, another nightmare.
The last weeks were difficult for the battered mechwarrior. So many missions failed, so many times his beloved Battlemech was torn apart and rebuild, so many scars and wounds across his body that he can barely recognize himself.

"Attention all Inferno Express mechwarriors, present yourselves at the bridge immediately!" - says a woman's voice coming from the bedroom intercom.

"Sigh...here we go again"

Ascaloth arrives at the bridge, his team mates already waiting for him, but no compliments, not even a single greeting. Their eyes are fixed on the mission files over the holoprojector.

"The Devil's Caldera on that Caustic planet? Again? That place is a wasteland, why the heck does they want us to clean that sh*t from a bunch of Capellan mercenaries?" finally spoken one of them.
"I dont know" - Ascaloth aswered - "But the payment is good and we are almost running out of credits."
"Let's do it, then!" - exclaimed Pyrodancer - "Our mechs are repaired and ready for the job."

Some minutes later the three Dropship, with four 'Mechs each, took flight with the pilots already inside their 'Mechs.

"Gentlemen, get ready! Dropping in ten...nine..."
"Hey Pyro..."
...eight...
"What, Ascaloth?"
...seven...
...six...
"Better this Banshee or yours..."
...five...
"...leave some for..."
...four...
"...my goddamn Dragon!"
...three...
Alarms sounding.
"Good luck for you too!"
...two...
Sound of the big door unlocking.
...one...
Doors open, launching the 'Mechs in a few meters fall. The three lances separated by half a mile.
The hot, acid, green atmosphere immediately started to warm up the 'Mechs, but not enough to overcome their modern heat sinks.

"Okay girls, move to the border of the caldera then let's see if we spot them."
"Roger that."
"Shouldn't we form up first?"
"Negative Ascaloth, we will form when...wait...enemy Mad Dog spotted 2 o'clock. Get him!"
"We are already engaging!"
"Wait for us!"
Ascaloth's eyes quickly scan the radar below the HUD, his lance was being separated from the other two. Then, in the corner of his eye, he sees at least five fast 'Mechs coming at full speed right behind Pyro's Banshee. Some lasers already being shoot right into his rear armor.
"TAKING FIRE!"
"Team we have at least five 'Mechs on our six, need support!"
"TAKING FIRE!! GODDAMN!!!"
The intercom channel become noisy with the taunts, the Mad Dog is surrounded and starts to being mowed.
"CAN'T YOU HEAR ME? We need support! NOW!!"
No response, only grunts and taunts.
"Form up on Charlie Three, let's make a stand!"
"I'm with you, Ascaloth!"
"Ryon!!! Thank god! Pyro, turn and engage, let's do what we can!"
"Right-o! Where the hell are the others?
"We are all we have now."
The first 'mech to turn the corner and enter line of sight, a Centurion, is received with a hail of lasers and bullets and turns away. For a single second, Ascaloth smile - "We did it..."
The second after, 10 'mechs in formation shows up right in front of Pyro, smashing the 95 tons 'mech like a tomato hit by a shotgun.
"Pyro!!!"
"EJECTING!!"
"Ascaloth!! Your nine!!"
Without thinking twice, the Dragon turned right and quickly threw itself behind the border of the caldera. A Direwolf was at his nine, his autocannons already spinning for a fireworks show.
But the show wasn't for him.
Ryon's Wolverine takes the volley right on his torso, a big, light flash followed by a mute sound. His engine exploded, right after he ejected.
Before turning to engage the Dragon, the Direwolf left side is completely removed by the Dragon's dual autocannons class 5. Ascaloth is in trance, his fingers pressing the triggers as deep as they could.
Then it's over.

Light, bright light. Ascaloth cover his eyes and scream.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!! NOT THIS WAY!! NOT NOW!! NO!!! NOOO!!!"
"Hey, hey, calm down, calm down, you are safe now." said a sweet voice.
Now he can see clearly. A bright room with people dressed in white. Medical equipments all around. The Mercenary's Ship infirmary. Fourteen hours passed after the battle. A young nurse is right beside him, checking his blood pressure.
"What happened?"
"Ammo explosion, you are lucky to survive, the rescue team said the explosion was so big it opened a crater on the ground."
He pushes his body up, trying to get on his feet and then take trembling a step.
"Hey! What are you doing! You need to rest!"
"Rest? No...there is no rest for the wicked."

The old door of the Ship's bar opened slowly. Inside the bar, the team is having a party. They won the battle, even after losing three 'mechs.
"Ascaloth! You are looking great! Come join us!"
His mind is so full of miserable thoughts that he decides to not answer. He walks through them, silently, joining Pyro and Ryon at the counter.
"We almost died there." - said Ryon - "What the hell were they thinking?"
The other two remains silent.
"HEY! YOU! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?"
"Ryon, calm down, you are drunk and overreacting." says one them.
"NO! Calm down my a**!!! You don't know how to fight in a team! You left us to die there!!!"
"What? Who are you telling 'don't know how to fight'? You are pushing yourself, boy."
"Both of you! Stop it!" yelled a friend mechwarrior in the corner of the bar.

But it's too late, both are already on the ground, fighting.

"I quit."

The fight stops.

"What? What are you saying, Ascaloth?" asked the pilot, on the ground, sitting on Ryon's waist.

"I quit. I'm done. I'm tired of all'o this. I am f*ck*ng tired. Three of us could have died today, we lost our mechs, our money, and what do you do? Celebrate? Drink? Then brawl between ourselves? This is sick. I'm out."
"Me too." says Pyro.
Ascaloth look at him, surprised.
"You don't leave a friend behind. Neither I."
The battered mechwarrior smiled.

Both walk to the exit when the friend mechwarrior, who asked the fight to stop, walks in front of them.
"We have to talk."
His callsign is Lamblaska, former member of the Vanguard of Arluna. His leader and friend, Catalina, is also a big friend of Ascaloth and Pyro. The last few weeks, she was in contact with Ascaloth and knew what he was passing through.

They took a jumpship to Tharkad, to meet Catalina.

First, she met Pyrodancer in Asgard, at the LCAF Command Center. After a talk, he decided to join her ranks. Ascaloth took a very long walk around Tharkad, going in a trip to the Tatyana Islands to think and rest.

Days passes by.

It was a hot day on the beach. The calm breeze and ocean waves sound acting like medicine to Ascaloth's thoughts. Sun about to touch the red ocean in the horizon, time to go. He turns away, only to face the beautiful, silent face of a red haired girl in noble, royal dressings. She looks deep into his eyes.

"I want to join you." says Ascaloth, with relief.

She smiles.

Edited by Ascaloth, 13 August 2015 - 09:38 AM.

[Dettmam]

Dettmam and The Commissar:

April 24th, 3037

Hey dad, how are you doing? Happy birthday, by the way! I would like to be home now but duty calls.
Goddamned guard duty. Forgot in this shithole of a planet with this museum piece of metal. This Orion must be centuries old. No long ranged weaponry, slow like hell and with this crazy name, “The Commissar”. What is that? Some kind of police chief or secretary? I must have done something terrible in the academy to be so hated! The jackasses in the high command dare to classify this mission like vital importance! It MUST to be a joke… mobilize a 'mech lance and an entire company to stay here for two months now, guarding a jungle. If heat doesn´t kill you, this dagger size mosquito like insects will do it. Hope they realize the waste in it soon!
---------------------



April 26th, 3037

How are you doing boy? Thanks for remembering… I believe you are having a lot of free time around!
You are been too hard with the high command. They have their reasons. They can be using your unit like a decoy or something (hope not like a bait). But you keep sharp, danger is always around. It is a cruel universe.
About your mech’ name, I was sure I have heard it before and no, it is not a secretary or a policeman! In ancient Terra, during the 2nd World War, there was this huge country called Soviet Union been attacked by a smaller but much more prepared and well equipped one, Germany.
They were been defeated hard and they decided their soldiers (mostly farmers and peasants) should fear the state more than they fear enemy. To do so, they introduced the party commissar. A political soldier that was above the military command chain and was authorized to shoot cowards and traitors in sight. This brutal policy forced the soviet soldiers over the enemy even when unarmed.
I'm sending you a picture of one of them in annex. Creepy ones!

Maybe it explain the short ranged weaponry in your 'mech!;-)

PS: You mother told me if you start to shoot cowards around she will make moqueca and quindim when you return home. (Goddamn mechwarriors!)



----------------------------------------



May 03rd, 3037

First of all dad, I would like to say I love you and I'm glad I can, once more, send you a message. Yesterday, we had enough action to cover all the months we wasted idle here.
The high command increased their reputation with a few points. The day before yesterday we receive orders to conceal all our gear in the hide outs and prepare for action. In the next morning, three pirate dropships made planet fall 5 klicks away. The troop were terrified, most of us were roockies and it didn't help the morale at all. We outnumbered the enemy 2x1 but they were seasoned criminals and pirates has bad reputation in making prisoners... The fight started in a sinkhole of a swamp, close to a huge insect like shell. They say they use the internal organs of those insect to make drugs. The enemy used two tall rocks to position 3 'mechs (an Hunchback, a Firestarter and a Jagermech, a double gauss b*stard) in one and 3 Partisan tanks in the other and plenty of battle armor infantry among the two rocks, covered by the huge shell.
I was designated to open the way to our infantry by destroying the 3 `mechs in the right rock, we had my Orion, a Raven (giving us ECM cover), a Centurion and a Catapult, giving LRM support. The half of our infantry were running alongside with us and waiting for us to open the way in their hover transports.
When we make contact with the enemy, we started to receive erratic mortar fire, due our ECM cover. It didn't cause any real damage but it was enough to make Ermig (the Raven pilot, god keep his soul) to get too exited and put his head out too soon... A double gauss hit exploded his engine in a ball of white fire. At that point, our ECM was gone and LRM fire rained over us! Edmar and Gobbs (Centurion and Catapult) charged in fast like hell letting me far behind and opening a big gap covered by our infantry. They engaged their Hunchback and the Jagermech in a awfull fight... I could see when Edmar use his shield arm to avoid the gauss rounds.
All of a sudden, the infantry officer, screamed in the radio a order to fall back and take cover. The firestarter were over them attacking the gap. On that point, there was a huge rock in front of me just in between the infantry position and myself. I could see half of our men running like hell because a single `mech. Ok, a firestarter. No one want to became barbecue. but a single light 'mech anyway. They were goddamned professional soldiers!
I really don't know what happen with me, but I fire my medium laser just in front of them. The water of the swamp became a huge curtain of steam and they stop! "Fall back in formation you cowards, or I shoot you sorry asses myself!" I think it was what I said. Hard to ignore an Orion-VA with 4xSRM6, an AC20 and 2xML.
It happen same time the firestarter made the turn on the rock with flamers spiting fire. I almost feel sorry about him... It was obliterated in a single Alpha... The troops roared in cheers and charged back, but than, their LRMs had a new primary target.
On that moment I was sure I was dead. The missiles screwed my 'mech hard... It was a mess of fire and smoke and I lost the ground... The mech fell hard in a tree (goddamn tree must be done of ferro fibrous and endosteel, it held a 75 tonner from fall in its face). I took some seconds to recover and stand the `mech up, just time enough to see the jagermech destroy the second leg of Gobbs and aimed for the coup de grace... I was sure the Jager was using an XL engine to be able to equip that weaponry, so I aimed his left arm with everything... It exploded in a Chain reaction that destroyed the engine and engulfed the 'mech in a ball of fire.
Than the second LRM salvo hit me and, after that, it is all dark...
I waked up a few hours later in the cockpit with a rescue crew over me... They said two kills in the first mission is not bad at all. Say mom she can be proud and I want that quindim!
They will be able to salvage the Commissar (yea, I think he deserves some respect now), I really hope I can pilot it again;
Major said we will be back home in June... I can't wait. Tell Pedro I have some souvenirs!

I love you all.

Still Alive,
Davidson Dettmam

o7

Edited by Dettmam, 30 August 2015 - 02:09 PM.

[Ascaloth]

A Tale of Two Hearts



They say the greatest MechWarriors are born in the high families of the Great Houses but, in truth, the fiercest MechWarriors are the ones who make their way into glory, fueled by vengeance, passion, love.

This is the story of a poor boy, born in the far borders of the Periphery. His birth date and even his name given at birth were long, long forgotten.
His life was nothing special, a mere street urchin for most of his childhood he spent most of his days scavenging and figuring out the harsh realities of the world by experiencing them firsthand. When he wasn't trying to avoid the ridicule of the rich, or the constant patrols of security wanting to lock him up, he would stow away on starships, wandering from planet to planet, always an avid explorer.
On one fateful day when he decided to avoid a security patrol by stowing away on a dark ship, something happened. The ship took off, not entirely unusual, but the ship itself belonged to a group of pirates who didn't take very long on the long space voyage to find the boy. Taking pity on him, they offered him a new way of life.... the life of that of a pirate. It didn't take long for the boy to make up his mind, he could continue to wander from place to place and never get anywhere in life, or he could become a pirate and make a name for himself. Agreeing to follow the pirates way of life, he was quickly accepted into their ranks. As he didn't know much about the way that they handled situations, or how they up kept their few aging battlemechs they used for raids he was always asking many questions. Due to this curiosity, and the fact that he never really had a name that he knew the pirates nicknamed him "Ask A lot."

Following the strict and hard life of being a pirate, he grew up into a strong and determined man, showing great ability piloting the few scavenged Battlemechs the group had, Often being a decisive factor when things didn't go to plan, a very good asset to the pirates quickly gaining their respect.
Eventually, one day the pirates decided that he should be awarded for his loyalty and willingness to achieve anything. So they blindfolded him and took him to their mech hanger on the aging ship. When they took the blindfold off there in front of him stood an old Centurion. Rusted around the edges and battle scarred it had definitely seen better days, but the pirates had put a lot of work into it to refit and repair it to bring it into working condition. Completely speechless AskALot stood there stunned, nobody had ever given him such a gift in his life. Noticing his expression the captain of the pirate group smiled.
"So I take it you like it....? Now you can finally stop using that old pile of spare parts when you join us on raids" AskALot felt fantastic.
One of his ship mates mates wanted to paint his call sign onto the new helmet in the atmosphere suit he would have to mark it as his own, but unfortunately none of them being very educated, they misspelled "AskALot," on his helmet to read "Ascaloth." So forever on he was known as Ascaloth.

With Ascaloth's abilities, as well as his new mech, the number of successful plunders for the pirates increased exponentially, not only allowing them to repair and update many of the old and aging systems on their ship, and even occasionally crack a bottle of fine liquor, but it also allowed the pirates to expand their personnel, they could finally start doing things on a larger scale. Around two years later they "recruited," three new mech pilots among other support staff. The first being an aging man, he was a little slow and had a limp, but on the battlefield he always knew how to intimidate the enemy best, sometimes allowing the pirates to take their haul while avoiding a costly fight. The second came on board a few months later. A mercenary down on his luck, they met him drinking his life away late at night in one of the pubs the pirates regularly visited. He wasn't anything special, but good mech pilots that knew how to use mechs were hard to come by, he joined only if he was paid in advance and the pirates agreed. The third joined a while after that. The pirates were reluctant to take her aboard, having already taken on two new recruits, and decided to leave her behind, but in the end something in her eyes convinced Ascaloth that she might be a worthwhile addition to the crew after all. Maybe it was because she reminded himself of him a while back, or maybe it was something about her mysteriousness.... but they agreed to take her on.

She was known only as "Angel" no last name, and they weren't even sure if that was her real name. She was an incredibly shy girl always staying in the shadows or at the back of the room. She wasn't very good at repairing mechs, or in hand to hand combat either, Chuck, the old man who was crippled in one leg and could only pilot the shuttle could still end up besting her in their regular training spars. But she had an eagle eye, and given a rifle could hit targets far more efficiently than anyone else could at long ranges. Even in a mech with aging and rusted out gyroscopes and stabilizers, she could still coax a round into her target at ranges beyond anyone else thought was possible, sometimes even beyond the recommended max ranges of the weapons on the mechs that she piloted. She kept to herself, and for the most part the pirates didn't bother her other than to chat about the next big heist, but everyone would agree she was a useful addition to the crew if not a little antisocial and quiet.

Eventually after another successful heist by the pirates, Ascaloth worked up the courage to talk to her as they divided up their pay. She was reluctant at first, but the two of them had a conversation going in the mess hall, and to the rest of the crew's surprise she even laughed. Turns out that Angel was born into a relatively wealthy family and she was coddled from birth, but that life wasn't for her and much to her parents disapproval she became a calibration technician at a small repair shop for Agromechs. She never learned how to perform general repairs, but she learned how to perform the incredibly precise calibrations to make sure any unit operated at peak efficiency. Eventually due to the pay being not all that great, and coupled with her desire to pilot battle mechs instead of just calibrate Agromechs she left her job and was wandering on what little money she had hoping to find a job anywhere until the pirates met her.

Over the next few years Ascaloth and Angel grew to be increasingly close friends, and Ascaloth could convince her to come to the bars, pubs, and other such places when the pirates were having off duty time. They were a great team, She would hang back in formation behind Ascaloth and when a fight broke out provide long range fire support over his back. She never liked being shot at in a mech, and would panic sometimes if incoming fire started to jostle her around in her harness, but Ascaloth figured that was her own problem as she never wore an atmosphere pressure suit in her mech, so the jostling would knock her around more, but she said the suits "Blocked her senses," so they let it go most of the time. She was valuable even if she didn't like to take damage for anyone else.

The pirates grew to be far more successful partaking in far more dangerous and valuable heists with their great team. This allowed them to even buy new mechs sometimes to update their aging ones, and at one point they moved into a bigger carrier ship to accommodate everyone better. They decided to take their "business," from the edges of the far reaching colonies to the inner sphere to prey on richer and bigger targets. It didn't take long for them to realize however that they had the power to become a mercenary group, and thus became one, dropping the pirate life and becoming professional mercenaries. They made far more money participating in the battles between the large houses, and they gained large amounts of fame, becoming a very expensive and prestigious mercenary group to hire.


Year 3050

Distress call incoming.
"Attention all merc groups nearby, the Free Rasalhague Republic is in danger, being attacked by an unknown enemy. We need assistance immediately and we are willing to pay in advance for all mercenaries who join our defenses."

The message was looping. The pirates decided to attend the call and see just how big the reward was, after all a massive payout is always nice, and it was big indeed.... Dozens of millions in advance for any mercenary groups, even more for prestigious ones such as their own, and even more after the mission was declared successful.

They accepted. This could be the large payday they had all been waiting for. When they received their advance pay and divided it amongst themselves, everyone was in high spirits. They were practically rich. They decided to go to the black market roaming Trondheim, and bought a great deal of supplies, including brand new mechs that had custom load outs as well as many new tools to repair them. Ascaloth eventually decided to purchase a new atlas, and Angel decided on a Jagermech with long range weapons and a state of the art targeting system. Both were very impressed and overjoyed with their new mechs, itching at the opportunity to break them in on their first mission.

"MechWarriors, present yourselves fully suited at the mechbay here for mission debriefing."

The transmission came in on the encoded channel and was followed by a set of coordinates. Guess it was time to meet up with their new employers and see just what was in store for them. By the time they arrived, quite a few mercenary factions had already taken their seats in the large hall. After a few minutes of waiting and looking around through the crowd a man appeared center stage.

"Hello pilots, the mission is simple... you go to this planet named...named...damn Nordic name, how they spell this crazy sh*t? Wherever. You go to this planet, the coordinates and designation of which will be uploaded to you momentarily, join some other mechs and shoot down any 'unknown enemy' sad enough to come in front of your mechs. Got it? Go."
The pilots looked at each other a bit confused. They never received a debriefing with such poor information, and this worried them. But the payment was too good to decline, anyway, so they set off.

They arrived at the planet and prepared to deploy without any incident. Scanning the planet all they saw was friendly icons near the drop area. Looked like it was going to be an easy payout. They got ready to deploy making the final preparations and they went to their respective mechs. Angel was in her new Jagermech, looking around the cockpit poking and prodding things to inspect it for the first time after the new systems she ordered had been installed. She spat a piece of bubblegum that she was chewing onto the dash panel and glued a small bubblehead cat there with it. she ran her hands over the startup dials, making sure everything was in order, when she thought she heard something behind her. Startled she turned around to see what it was.
"Ascaloth!"
She relaxed.
"Aren't you supposed to be looking over your Atlas?"
He smiled.
"That beast isn't going anywhere if I'm not at the helm, so why worry?"
She smiled, nodded, and rose from her chair.
"Fair enough, but why are you here?" Ascaloth hesitantly put a hand on one of his jacket pockets.
"I'm upset about this mission, I...I have a bad feeling about it."
She nodded.
"Seems like a steal I agree... too easy, but we are here, and we signed up for it after all.... At any rate, we can handle whatever comes our way, we're the best mercenary group out there after all."
Ascaloth put his hand into his pocket "Please, take this..." he showed her a silver necklace with a locket shaped as a heart. He fiddled with it for a moment then heart split into two pieces and he handed one side to her. "This locket is unique... the two halves fit perfectly together.... I.... I was going to give it to you after, but I just have a bad feeling. With this, we will always be close to each other. No matter what happens."
Surprised, and a little speechless she put it around her neck blushing slightly. Ascaloth laced the other half around his right wrist.
"I don't know what to say...I..."
He stepped forward suddenly and then leaned down, kissing her. Her eyes widened for a second, then closed. For the first time in their lives they felt love.
"I love you, Angel."
"I...I...love you t-"
"ALERT ALL MECHWARRIORS. FIVE MINUTES TO LAUNCH, GO TO YOUR MECH IMMEDIATELY!"
He touched her chin with the point of his forefinger and she smiled, then turned away blushing more, he looked back once before leaving her cockpit. He went back to his own mech afraid. For the first time he had something to lose on the battlefield.

Within minutes they were ready, and the drop ship departed with the Atlas, the Jagermech, a Raven and a Kintaro. Their usual lance with the only difference being their new mechs. After a short while of flight inside their cockpits and the usual pre mission banter, they dropped onto the surface.
It was a dark, sludgy place. The mech's feet digging in a couple of feet into the mud. It was night time. the horizon blinking black and red, and the sounds of explosions, showing a big battle not so far away.

Ascaloth turned on his mech's searchlights and promptly threw out orders.
"Raven, go ahead and scout. Kintaro, I want you covering the right flank, at least three hundred meters away from me. Keep my pace. Angel, you got our backs. I want you at least for hundred meter behind me for fire support. Copy?"
"Copy that!" Answered the three MechWarriors.
"Bravo lance reaching Nav Point Alpha. What is the situation?"
It sounded like a younger far less experienced mech pilot in reply.
"WE ARE UND-" static sounds cuts the communication "-FIRE, WE ARE BEING OVERRUN. NEED AS-...-IMMEDIAT-...-HOLY SH-...-WHERE THE HE-...-REINFORCEMENTS!?"
"Damn. Raven, Kintaro, you are faster, go ahead and see if you can do something to help!"
"Roger leader."
"Right-o."
A city in ruins appeared in front of them. Sounds of battle nearby, inside the city, suffocated by the smoking skyscrapers. The two faster mechs stepped forward and ran into the streets.
"Ascaloth, are you sure it's a good idea to split the lance?" asked Angel.
"We have no choice, things seems to be real bad for our 'allies'. We dropped too far from the battle. We need them to go ahead and at least give us some tactical data."
The two slow mechs took a few steps inside the city.
"Guys, the city is overrun! Our guys are dead! We have to retre...AAAAAAAHHH!"screamed the Raven's pilot.
"DAMMIT! Re...Retreat! RETREAT! NOW!" Ascaloth screamed over the com network.
"FUUUUUUC-....GAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed the Kintaro's pilot.
"ASCALOTH! BEHIND US!" yelled Angel.
The Atlas only had time to twist his torso to show a fearsome looking Warhawk firing all his weapons nearly point-blank on the Jagermech, which stood there for a moment as lasers and ballistic rounds tore right through the center of the mech, and out the backside. Amazingly it stayed balanced for a moment, incredible considering its main reactor and nearly all of its gyroscopes had just been destroyed before Angel fired off whatever weapons had rounds loaded into them, and the last of her mechs energy supply into a weak barrage of lead and lasers against the Warhawk. Angel yelled into the mic:
"Ascaloth!! I----"
It then began to fall backwards as a fireball enveloped it.
"...Angel..."



Ascaloth threw the atlas into a full sprint, throwing itself with a titanic punch that hit dead on the Warhawk's cockpit, piercing through it and removing almost all the entire right torso of the mech, that fell down immediately sparks flying from it.
Ascaloth then turned back to see his lover's mech fallen, burning, completely destroyed. He took a glance at his wrist, at the necklace. Tears running down his face and a hatred burning inside his heart.
After a moment his com lit up with an incoming transmission.
"Atlas, you are the only one alive there. Fall back. Reinforcements are coming." said a voice.
"Angel is dead. Angel is dead. My love is dead. Someone will pay for it, I swear. I SWEAR!" Tears streaming down his face he turned the Atlas to retreat noticing that five enemy mechs had surrounded him, opening fire on the 100 ton beast he was piloting. It was small arms fire, and the Atlas had incredibly thick armor, so his systems weren't destroyed instantly, but the sound was deafening and he knew the armor would fail soon. He fought fiercely back, firing at all of the enemy mechs and delivering heavy blows before many lasers cut into the internal critical systems of his mech and he fell over in a smoldering heap.



He choked back a sob before he passed out from his injuries, knowing he was finished. The last thing he saw through his cracked cockpit glass before he passed out being the faction symbol from one of the enemy mechs as they moved further into the city. A moment later the automatic AI in his mech ejected him as the atlas went critical and erupted into a large mushroom cloud of heat and fire. It was a couple hours later when a rescue drop ship picked him up and medics attended to his wounds, Ascaloth still unconscious.

Around a day later Ascaloth was released from the hospital and back to his own ship. Afraid to have to refund FRR for the failed mission, the mercenaries ship snuck away from the territory, retreating to the periphery. FRR later sent a rescue drop ship to the surface after the area was deemed safe to look for survivors, but Angel was nowhere to be found. Ascaloth had lost everything. His love, his friends, his possessions. He went through the next few months in a daze, But eventually he recovered enough to start to move on and INEX Merc Corps took him as a member, a former MechWarrior, and between the money he had left from the last mission and his signing bonus, he was able to buy a Spider mech and start over. He dedicated himself to hunt down and destroy these new enemies, knows as The Clans, and discovered the enemy he faced that fateful day called themselves Clan Wolf.
His reputation grew fast for his insane aggressiveness and lack of ethic against anything clan. He picked up an odd battlefield trait over his missions in which he would disable a clan mech, then break open their cockpit and watch as the enemy pilot died mercilessly. Many people shied away from him, but he didn't care. The clans had to pay for what they did, and he would force them to. Sometimes this lead into some arguing with his superiors, but they let it slide as he was one of their best clan killers.

Year 3052

Ascaloth was on a routine mission with the Vanguard of Arluna, for the pride of the Lyran Commonwealth. The mission was simple, drop onto a clan planet, neutralize it's anti-starships defenses and return to drink cold beer until he faints away, while the Steiner's do the heavy lifting and take over the planet. Most MechWarriors would fear such missions, but Ascaloth and the Vanguard were so used to fighting the Clanners that they knew every tactic and every weakness they have to exploit. Plus the pay was good. But this mission, in particular, was special: It was against Clan Wolf, not the Jade Falcon Clan they fought all of the time. It took him a bit to convince his superiors that he should go, he wanted the revenge. Stakes were high. Eventually they let him go, and they dropped onto the battlefield without much trouble.
"You look agitated, is everything okay Ascaloth?" asked Lady Princess Catalina Steiner over the coms. She had noticed that Ascaloth's Dragon was really acting weird, looking in all directions, desperately searching for enemies to destroy.
"Don't...don't worry my lady. I'm...just...I'm just okay...okay?"
Slightly worried, she let it go a moment later. She trusted him enough to let this weird behavior go.
"Okay people, on my mark. Let's do this!" Yelled Hellzero.
As always, Ascaloth laced his half part of the silver heart necklace around his right wrist. Some of his lance mates jostled him a bit about it, saying that he needed to move on, but he never could even if she wasn't by his side she could still watch over him.
"Here we go again, Angel, the first one is for you."

They moved into position around the enemy fortress, taking out the gate and the first defenders. It was an easy fight, until a Clan Star calling themselves Star Wolves approached from the center of the fort.
"Damn free birth scum, you meddle in affairs that are beyond you understanding. Be ready to face your destruction! Ready yourselves to face the legendary Star Wolves and their leader Angelic Evil!" said a female voice on the open comms.
Ascaloth froze for a moment. That voice sounded somehow strangely familiar.... but maybe not. He shook his head and renewed his resolve, gripping at the mech controls tightly. The clan star was moving into position and it was time to battle. It was a quick battle.

The eight veteran pilots of the Vanguard had a tough fight, they were used to fighting clanners, and they had the advantage of numbers. The clans were simply outnumbered and outgunned. One of them, an Ebon Jaguar, was the hardest to take down, expertly avoiding volleys of fire, and keeping the mech functional even after it had sustained serious damage.
"It must be the leader" Ascaloth thought to himself.
Even after the rest of the star had been rendered disabled or destroyed whoever was piloting the Ebon Jaguar continued to exchange blows, though heavily damaged with one of its legs nearly torn off sparking wildly.
"Damn of a good pilot, but you will cause no more trouble." thought Ascaloth, as he moved his Dragon towards the fallen Ebon Jaguar lining up to rip open the cockpit like he always did to the last mech standing in his path.
"Time to DIE, dirty clanner!!"
The Dragon punched the Ebon Jaguar cockpit with his claws open, driving them deep into the glass and ripping them out removing the glass with them, a clean cut. The female pilot inside was very injured, but managed to reach a pistol at her belt and unloaded the magazine into the Dragon's cockpit glass in defiance before the pilot fell unconscious dropping the pistol. The rounds smashed like flies on a windshield, but the Dragon was paralyzed, just as was Ascaloth. Something was reflecting a beam of light on his face. Something from the clanner's neck. A pendant. A silver pendant in the shape of a split half heart.
"What are you waiting for? Finish it" Lamblaska said into the mic a few seconds later breaking Ascaloth's trance.
"This pilot, I want her arrested, and I want to interrogate her."
"Why? You've never called for anything like that before. Just finish it and we can go home."
"She has something that belongs to me, and I want to know where she got it."
They made the call for a rescue craft, and recovered the clanner pilot in conjunction with their own mechs...

Her head was hurting. She could hear voices far, far away, but was not able to understand a single word. The image of the pendant came into her mind, making her awake in a jump. Oh... yes her head hurt more now, still alive at least. She wondered what had brought her to the brink of death, trying to remember the fight. She squinted against the pain in her forehead, oh.... it's a large bright lamp pointed at her.
"Good, you are finally awake." said a long haired man in front of her. Her arms, torso and legs were firmly secured to the chair she was sitting on, painfully so no way she was escaping. The room was dark, other than the light in her face. The man approached and showed her a necklace, she couldn't really make it out still in a daze.
"TELL ME WHERE YOU FOUND THE NECKLACE!!! TELL ME NOW!!!" he yelled. He was yelling so loud and closely that he spat on her face. She winced and replied weakly:
"What are you talking about?" The man then proceeded to give her a left hook right in the jaw, she spat out some blood.
"THIS!" He shoved a small silver locket in her face, it looked like the one that she had always worn since childbirth. "THIS LOCKET! NOW TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!"
She laughed weakly, then looked up at the man "You're interrogating me .... because of my necklace?" she laughed again. "Either get on with the REAL interrogation or kill me, I don't have time for this."
The man proceeded to punch her in the stomach hard, forcing her to lose her breath in an "OOMPH!".
"This IS the damn interrogation, and you will have all the time that I SAY you have for it!! Now. Answer me. WHERE. DID. YOU. GET. THIS. LOCKET."
"I won't tell you ANYTHING, free birth scum! It's an old memento from my childhood! It's my old necklace. It's not even anything special! Now give it back, let me go, and I will fight you one on one for those keys!"
"Your necklace? YOUR NECKLACE? Can't you see it fits mine? This necklace belongs to my...DOESN'T MATTER. TELL. ME. NOW, THIEF!" she laughed again.
"Belongs to someone you know? Impossible. You scum are even more stupid than I thought. My trueborn family gave me this on my birth. It's a trinket. nothing more."
"Liar. LIAR. Last chance...tell me, or I'll leave you to rot for a year in a prison to think about telling me while they torture you until you faint, dozens of time, every day! Then we can meet again and you will tell...or die, then. Your choice."
She laughed in response. "All for some locket? HAHAHAAHA!"
"Whatever. Guards, I'm done, take her to a prison and make sure she has a 'wonderful stay' there. Just don't kill her."
They took her to a hover truck, along with some criminals and other captured Clanners. The guards however underestimated the trueborns genetically modified warriors and just how strong they were. They managed, along Angelic Evil, to break the handcuffs and kill the guards, taking control of the transport without alerting the rest of the Lyrans. A map inside the truck showed a star port nearby, so they quickly changed route and, before anyone noticed, managed to steal a ship and fly back to the Clan Wolf territory.
Angelic Evil was defeated, humiliated and had her necklace stolen. She wanted to get redemption from the clan on vengeance on the mercenary who defeated her, but her Khan didn't wanted to give her redemption as she expected. He choose her and four other prisoners to a Trial to fight for their glory, as well as their former titles. The Khan's bidding was to have a star of Solahma mechs assault a reinforced position on a planet deep within Steiner territory, to destroy an important ammunition storage there. The chances of succeeding were nearly nonexistent and he knew that, so he used it as a Trial for the five dishonored warriors...

The mission was different for the Vanguard of Arluna. The Steiner High Command on Tharkaad designated a unit for a defense mission on a storage plant, deep into the Steiner territory. The planet was well guarded, so nothing more than a small attack could happen there. Anyway there was payment involved, so they accepted and sent two lances to perform the job. The warning alert came up just as they landed: A Clan drop ship just dropped a Star of battlemechs near the plant, outside the defensive perimeter. Since the plant was fragile and any direct blow could detonate the stored ammo and destroy the plant, the MechWarriors rushed into the enemy direction.
Ascaloth knew how Clanners loved challenges and tried to use it as distraction from his thoughts of the interrogation earlier. He spoke over open com network.
"This is MechWarrior Ascaloth, pilot of the Battlemech Stalker 4N, along my companions I challenge you, dirty Clanners, to a direct fight."
Angelic Evil recognized the voice. It was him, the freebirth that humiliated her. Her head burned.... No way she would ever let some scum get away with the outrage of making her lose her honor instead of dying in glorious battle! He would pay.
"This is Angelic Evil, remember me, scum? You stole my necklace and humiliated me, and now I will regain my honor by defeating you! You will fall like countless others before me!"
"You..." whispered Ascaloth, stunned. How was it possible? Quickly thinking and keeping a cool head he replied:
"I know your rules and codes, so I hereby challenge you, Angelic Evil, for a ritual of Zellanything, that thing you fight one on one. No one is to interfere. If you win, I will give you back your amulet and you are free to go or kill me as you please, but, if you lose, you and your Battlemech are coming with me."
Angelic Evil stopped to think for a second. That Timber Wolf she was driving was Solahma, quite old and poorly calibrated, it could be risky to face a Stalker by herself, but she had no choice. She couldn't go back with another failure, as it would mean her death anyway. Better to face them one at a time versus however many more mechs they had on this damned world. It was all or nothing.
"I accept your challenge scum, Face me in battle!"

The two titans of steel clashed. The Timber Wolf's missiles firing furiously, backed up by a few laser shots, while the Stalker's six Large Lasers were melting down his enemies' armor very fast. Angelic Evil charged, bashing the Stalker with the Timber Wolf left shoulder and making it step back, but becoming unprotect against the upcoming kick the eighty five ton mech threw against it, smashing the clan mech's left leg. Angelic Evil's hands ran over the controls, but she didn't have quite the balance needed to stay upright, the right leg was a little wobbly on the older Timber Wolf. The Timber Wolf fell, and the Stalker precisely shoot two salvos, destroying both of its arms. It was over. Ascaloth had won. While the two had fought, the Vanguard made short work of the other four warriors, since Dettmam had his massive Orion "Commissar" on the front, taking three mechs almost all by himself, while Spider's Kiss took the remaining one with a perfect shot on its gyroscope, making it fall while locking it for a salvo of forty missiles launched by Kafka's "Gumbert" Timber Wolf.

"Bring her as a prisoner. This time make sure the handcuffs are tight enough, she won't escape again. Make sure the others are going to stay down."

They took her to the Vanguard's headquarters, but not to the prison as she expected, they took her to the mess hall. An enormous hall with four immense white stone pillars, banners of House Steiner covering the walls and a big emblem of the Vanguard of Arluna on the maple floor. At the end of the great hall was a throne, where Princess Catalina was sitting, watching carefully as the clanner woman approached, and noting her behavior, since it looked a little too calm.
All the MechWarriors gathered around, murmuring of the news. An actual clanner in the great halls of Steiner! She didn't look like much.... just who was she? Why is she so important? Angelic Evil listened to the passing whispers as she was forced to walk down the great hallway with indifference. She could take any of them on, let them try. It was right as she was having the idea to smash some particularly well off snobby kid in the nose as she was walking by when Ascaloth came closer and whispered:
"Do not try anything stupid. You will only end up hurting yourself.... " she sighed and deciding against it continued walking, then after a while they approached the end of the hall where Catalina Steiner sat.
"So...why have you brought this.... this... clanner into my halls Ascaloth?" asked the woman.
Ascaloth was a bit confused - he just noticed that he hadn't come up with any sort of plan. He needed her to look for answers for what happened to Angel's body. He needs to know if she is still alive...but...how? How could he make an enemy help him?
"I have beaten this clanner in battle! She can be helpful." he leaned over and whispered into Angelic Evil's ears: "Don't make me regret this..." Then he slid the key through her cuffs and stepped back.
"Well, you defeated me, and the terms were you would bring me as your bondswoman. So, what? What are my orders, "sir"? Oh, and just to make things clear, I'm not taking orders from anyone else, I don't care if it's your superior or the Archon itself. You are the only one who has the right." she sneered rubbing her wrists where the cuffs had been. "And don't think for a second I won't turn on anyone else here if they try."
He smiled and murmured to himself "That's it, that is what I need!" He looked over towards Catalina again. "Princess, I humbly ask you to allow this Clanner woman to follow me, in battle or not. I assume responsibility for her and her actions."

Catalina was a bit worried, but trusted him "If she is going to join us in battle, we will have to accept her as a member of the Vanguard! I don't think she will like that..." The room grew silent for a moment. A few whispers from the ever growing crowd broke through Angelic Evil's thoughts:
"Can he really do that?"
"Why are the damn cuffs off, she will try to kill us!"
"Why is she even allowed to be so close to Catalina?"
Eventually she answered, speaking just above a whisper looking down at her feet. "I will... I will join you." she said to everyone's surprise "If you don't accept me then I will have nowhere to go. I have dishonored my Khan twice over he will not accept me back." She looked up her eyes burning. "So yes..... I will accept"
Ascaloth stepped in front of her and looked her close in the eyes. His heart felt a warmth that was long forgotten. There was something very familiar there. Maybe behind all those implants and genetic modification there was someone capable of touching him, somehow. He stepped back and smiled.
"Welcome home, Angelic Evil."

Edited by Ascaloth, 21 September 2015 - 03:49 AM.

[JosefKafka]

”Wait a minute. You're not.... uh.... Ca.. wait, I have it written down here somewhere... uh sir?” started the young First Leutnant Strauss while trying to find something from the hopeless mess that was his desk.

The young First Leutnant was adressing a man full foot taller than him, dressed in the uniform of Lyran Commonwealth regulars. The taller of the men raised an eybrow and, despite some irritation, calmly stated

”Yes, I'm here with her blessing. Besides, his potential recruitment would be up to me and I have the proper authorisation to see the prisoner. Check with your superiors, please.”
”Ah, yes, I... uh..., I will. Unc... I mean General Strauss will know about this.”

The young man quickly scarpered off in a slightly indignified manner, relieved that he could pass this matter to a superior. It didn't take take long until a distinctly noble, that is to say rotund and quite soft looking, man in an extravagant uniform appeared. Looking at the tall man, he scowled and said

”Oh yes. You. I must admit, I find this manner of subterfuge unsatisfactory. The beast should be court marshalled and executed, not given a job. Certainly, he's not even worth letting into your.... mercenary.... ranks.”

”Well, that is, unfortunately, not for you to decide. Besides, you might get lucky and have your execution. I have yet to see the prisoner so, who knows, maybe he won't be coming with us” answered the taller man.

”But how could they even contemplate letting such a worthless specimen live? They have killed so many of us already. To let one live when we went to all the trouble in capturing him...”

”Trouble? Intelligence reports say he walked up to the door of a secret military base, in a battered Mad Cat I might add, and transmitted over that radio 'I surrended'.”

”Those reports are waiting for correction! I will not let you slander the work of young First Leutnant Strauss!” the round man yelled sending both of his chins flapping wildly.

”Moving on... What can you tell me about him?” the tall one didn't clearly want to anger the general any further even if it might've been enjoyable. Now was time for business.

”Very little. Our top people have been.... questioning him for a few days, but he has said little” said the general, regaining some of his composure. The round noble continued

”He said that we can 'call him Josef Kafka' and he's here to defect, enjoy our wine and women and to fight on our side against the 'Clans'. In return, he has promised to tell us all he can about the Clans and what drives them.”

”I see, this is old news” said the warrior, frowning.

”No real soldiers of house Steiner would ever allow such an abomination into their ranks, but those higher than me have decided to take him up on his offer, for now. Provided we can find a trusted, a contradiction of terms if I've ever seen one, mercenary group that would take him. Failing that, he will make a nice show when we string him up.”

”If you string him up.”

”You'll see. He's as unworthy a man as even you have ever seen.”

Without much further exchange, First Leutnant Strauss led the tall warrior in to the improvised cell that had been made for the prisoner. Technically this base wasn't supposed to excist so the designers hadn't built any rooms for that express purpose, but human ingenuity had compensated. The two men walked up to a small storage room that had two nervous and heavily armed guards outside of it.

”You can leave now, First Leutnant” said the warrior.

”Certainly. Just... try not to kill him just yet. He is so annoying it's hard to help oneself! He called me a 'tiny pencilpusher that is too pathetic to even joke about'. How rude is that?!”

The doors to the storage room slid open as the man of the Lyran Regulars entered it. There were no lights on inside, but the hallway lights lit up the room. Inside the room there was a desk and one chair on each side of it. The other chair was empty, on the other sit a bound man. He looked like he had been beaten a lot, some of the wounds still bleeding as he looked up. Slightly squinting, the unkempt man with shoulderlength dark brown hair peeked at the newcomer with his dull green eyes.

”Would you kindly stop exaggerating with the dramatics and put the room lights on? Or are you here to beat me up some more, because I can assure you that the morning excercises of my late, beloved sibko were worse than what I have had so far?”

As the doors closed behind him the tall warrior said lighting the internal lighs at the same time

”I'm not here to beat you up. You can call me Hellzero and I just might save your life if you give me the answers I need to hear.”

”Is that so?” asked the bound man, raising an eyebrow in an amused manner and then he continued without waiting for reply

”Look, you seem like a respectable sort so I tell you this for free. I am not telling you about the Clans until you give me a chance to fight.”

”Why did you defect?” Hellzero asked with a stern voice, not wasting any time on ceremony.

”Freedom. The Clan life is restricting and I just want... more. Also, honor. The Clan Wolf is a distasteful joke and Clan Jade Falcon, my Clan, lost their jonor when they allowed those mongrel pups to keep their primacy. The last thing I cared about were my sibko and they are dead now.”

”Can you fight?”

”No. It makes it difficult to fight when I am bound like this. If you come close enough, I could try to bite your face, but that would probably make my lifeline that much thinner.”

Irritated, Hellzero asked again, this time more specifically

”Can you fight in a battlemech?”

”That Timber Wolf, called Gumbert if you must know, I came in with? I earned that. I fought hard my entire life, with battlemechs, rifles and bare hands. War is what I am for. I earned my bloodname and my deeds have made it so that my genetic legacy will fuel the future of Clan Jade Falcon” said the bound man with elation in his words.

”So that's a yes then?”

”Oh, my yes. But a simple yes would not have been as interesting, do you not agree?” he said and laughed casually, warmly even.

”We have no need for jackasses and cowboys in our unit. Can you follow orders, fight in a unit and keep your mouth shut?” said Hellzero, fixing a piercing stare to Josef Kafka's eyes.

”I have never, ever herded bovine creatures, that much I can promise. As for being a jackass.... I am pure. Built to walk among the best, tested and tried, forged in the crucible of battle. I was born into a unit. We trained to fight as one, to crush our foes together. I understand how war is waged. I am purebred Jade Falcon, I am built for war and you should be in awe! .... so that would be a yes. In a way” and having said that Kafka smiled again.

”I wonder...” said Hellzero in deep thought.

Kafka thought for a moment as well before saying

”Listen, you seem to be of relatively not horrible intellect, certainly the smartest person in this forsaken base. I know as a defector my word weighs little, but the manner I came to be here should suggest that I am genuine. Jade Falcon would never stoop as low as to send spies and I am a fighter. One of the best you will ever come across. Also I am loyal in my own way, even if it might not seem like it today. No to mention that you would not have come here today if my potential abilities did not intrigue you.”

Then a silence fell in to the room. Hellzero thought for a few moments and finally said

”Very well. I will take you with me. This is more of a stay of execution than a full pardon. Fail us and I can assure you that you wish you had stayed here today if the unit is not pleased with you.”

”That is all I need, just some time.”

It took about an hour to set everything up, including cleaning up the man called Josef Kafka. He looked surprisingly young after the blood had been cleaned off his face and he had shaved. His smile, as he joined Hellzero in front of the elvevator leading to the hangars, was almost boyish.

”One more thing, Kafka. I am not the only one you need to convince. Our unit is called the Vanguard of Arluna and the structure doesn't exactly copy normal military structures. Because of that, there is one other that needs to accept you if you are to stay for long. And she is not a fan of the Clans.”

”Oh, there is no need to worry, Hellzero. I can handle the ladies” replied Kafka with a playful smirk on his face as the elevator doors opened.

”You are a jackass, aren't you?” said Hellzero sighing as they entered the elevator.

As the doors were closing, Josef Kafka winked playfully at Hellzero and said

”The worst kind.”

Edited by JosefKafka, 03 October 2015 - 10:41 AM.