Posted 04 October 2014 - 10:46 PM
Meanwhile, at DIM's MI4 headquarters, in a undisclosed location...
The Director perused the priority three e-mail with some amount of interest. Another life given in the line of duty for a better tomorrow for the Federated Commonwealth, and more importantly, for those loyal to Davion...
"Hm. I was hoping I'd seen the last of Captain Arcainite, but it seems that he's regained what favor he had lost with their high command. A colonel now. Really? Of a single expanded company of mechs with access to artillery and aerospace support? ..Well, damn, I guess I'm going to finally have to learn about this guy. He's just graduated from a thorn-in-the-side to full-on Groot-in-the-ass. Computer, access all DIM files on Tai-sa callsign: Arcainite."
"Accessing."
Subject: Arcainite, Tai-sa, 3rd Benjamin Irregulars, Draconis Combine Benjamin Military District, planet Irurzun
Rating: Elite and Fanatical Loyalty, with exploitable weaknesses
Birthdate: July 11, 3006 on planet New Wessex
Known Relatives: distant cousin in Kell Hounds, not exploitable, due to their non-involvement and indifference with one another; parents both deceased, no wife but the military, has a girlfriend in New Gotham city (potential to compromise?), no children; one brother in service to FWL military (potential to compromise loyalty of Arcainite is considered NIL)
Background: As a child on New Wessex, Arcainite was just another happy child to blue collar parents and a member of the Inner Sphere-wide Kid Scouts. He and his brother's world would be torn asunder when the Wolf's Dragoons Black Widow Company attacked his parents' factory in late 3020, a footnote to some spectacular mech-to-mech combat as Wolf's Dragoons battled the 2rd Sword of Light and Waco Rangers. Both parents were killed in the explosions as incidental civilian casaulties of "Nasty" Natasha Kerensky. The 14 year old Arcainite swore to gain his vengeance and his 12 year old brother was sent to live with a distant relation in the Free Worlds League, while Arcainite remained in the capital of Hallanan as a ward of the state, which really meant he was out on the streets but had some help making it from other factory workers and the criminal element which gave him a bad reputation on New Wessex which no longer applies due to his service afterwards.
As soon as he was of-age, he enlisted, being shipped off to the planet Shionoha's Dieron District Gymnasium (DDG). While there, he excelled and was seperated from his peers to be sent off again for officer-candidate school (OCS) at the conclusion of his year of training. So it came to pass that at the prestigious Wisdom of the Dragon on planet Kagoshima, an almost 18 year-old Arcainite received his katana and wakizashi from Coordinator Takashi Kurita with the provision that he must live by the code of bushido.
Assigned a PNT-9R Panther light mech and the rank of Sho-ko, he was assigned to Sho-sho Jakodo Naguchido's 3rd Benjamin Regulars "The Pride of Benjamin" as part of Quinn's Company, Ismail's Battalion on the planet Irurzun. After a year of training exercises and waiting, a 19 year-old Arcainite would see combat in one of the final battles of the Third Succession War in late 3025. On Galtor III, he cut his teeth against the 782nd Guard Auxilliary and the 22nd Special Air Squadron. Intoxicated by their success and the loss of some of their comrades mostly to their airstrikes, Arcainite killed the final resistance hiding in a tunnel at the false Star League Depot. He would then participate in the successful cavalry charge at New Wuhan Pass which broke the back of the brave 12th Vegan and Dahar DMM Battalions caught by surprise. It is thought that in the aftermath of so many salvageable Federated Suns mechs, data was recovered by Arcainite that led them to a very small cache of LosTech intended for use by the defenders. The Coordinator, disappointed by the 3rd Benjamin Regulars damages but happy with their results, had them rotated out to defend the planet Tripoli, bringing in two regiments of the Amphigean Light Assault Group to take their place. It is possible that Arcainite may still be well-equipped from this discovery or at least from the commission on the find.
Uneventful garrison duty followed on Tripoli until the rebuilt unit would be brought to bear again against planet Deshler amidst our Operation Galahad in the Fourth Succesion War. In a TBT-7K Trebuchet this time, he showed great gallantry in joint operation with the 6th Benjamin Regulars again as they battled against the outnumbered 1st Chisholm Raiders as they attacked and took the planet for the Combine with the 1st Chisholm effectively destroyed for missing their last window to abandon planet, by the brave but foolhardy decision of their CO to keep fighting in hopes of rescue and to inflict maximum damage to the enemy. With this great success, the brave Sho-ko Arcainite was promoted to Chu-i and then to Tai-i of his own company in a TDR-5S Thunderbolt within a year during the rebuilding process.
This would be the apex of his career in the 3rd Benjamin Regulars, however, as he used his new rank and privelages to request a leave of absence for personal honor commitments. The Wolf's Dragoons had issued an invite to all war orphans in early 3032 to meet with them at their newly gifted planet Outreach for complimentary training and education. This was the moment Arcainite had waited for since he was 14. With the Wolf's Dragoons once again a priority enemy of the Combine but the Fourth Succession War over, his leave of absence was granted and he shipped out to Outreach with his mech and dreams of avenging his parents' death and a life interrupted. These dreams would prove to be ill-conceived however..
The Black Widow Company, recently expanded with strange new formations of 5-mech lances instead of 4, WAS there, but Arcainite would not be able to get close to Natasha Kerensky because of the wisdom of one of the Widow's most trusted comrades. Captain Takiro Ikeda, a lieutenant at the time of the attack on New Wessex in 3020, immediately deduced that this 26 year-old war orphan was not here like most of his younger counterparts to learn and create a new family. He regretted the deaths of Arcainite's parents and sympathized with him, but there was no way he was letting him go up againt the "Black Widow" Kerensky. He was not only a danger to Natasha but to himself and he did the only thing that a sensible honorable mechwarrior would. He confronted Arcainite and they agreed to duel. If Arcainite won, he could then challenge the Black Widow with his mech fully repaired. If Ikeda won, Arcainite must leave Outreach, never to return again.
With Arcainite in his Thunderbolt and Ikeda in his Shogun they met in the battle arena, supervised only by recording equipment and a few arena techs, for Captain Ikeda wanted this kept quiet. Unbeknownst even to Captain Ikeda, his CO, Natasha Kerensky, had found out about what was going on and was watching with interest. The two mechs bowed and at the buzzer, the Black Widow and those few techs were treated to a mech battle like few they had ever seen before with the possible exception of Yorinaga vs Kell. The two mechs fired energy and missiles and the Shogun dove through the air twisting and turning, while the Thunderbolt was actually pulling off cartwheels and side-rolls. In the end, with both mechs battered and beaten, Captain Ikeda managed to jump over the Thunderbolt and mid-air let loose with his deadly short-range missile salvo to the head of the Thunderbolt, disabling most of Arcainite's critical systems. Beaten, frustrated, and even injured from the blast, Arcainite had no choice but to admit defeat and called to his opponent to end it. "I have lost to the better man..."
"Perhaps," said Takiro. "Or perhaps only the better mech. Take what's left of your mech and honor the deal. You fought well. I have never been so tested in a one-on-one combat. You may not realize what high praise that is, but go now and never come back."
Honor from one of the Black Widows? Defeat and shame at not being able to carry out his vengeance, Arcainite left Outreach saying nothing to the other war orphans who were curious why he was leaving. Arcainite suffered more than a head wound in this great duel, his invincibility and warrior spirit had both suffered a crushing blow. Since this fight, Arcainite was known to suffer from hallucinations of his family and of other less-than-loving things and began taking anti-hallucinogens. (EXPLOIT?)
With his Thunderbolt laid out of action for a long time, the Coordinator saw that his need of this warrior was not yet at an end and he needed to be used and not disused. He was assigned an AWS-8Q Awesome in a unit with known anti-mercenary tendencies, the 1st Genyosha "Legacy of Yorinaga" under the command of Tai-sa Narimasa Asano, who had made an enemy of the Coordinator when he had pledged his personal loyalty to the Coordinator's son, Theodore. Arcainite's transfer by the Coordinator was without a doubt a political move as much as a sign of respect, for Arcainite was still loyal to the code of bushido he had sworn to uphold at his graduation ceremony so long ago. The Genyosha were undergoing rebuilds and refits from their epic battles against the Kell Hounds and the honorable seppuku of their great leader Yorinaga Kurita, who had won the fight against Morgan Kell but lost the honor from not being able to bow his mech at the end. Morgan's apology was accepted and all honors accorded to Yorinaga, who may have failed to win the duel, but won the hearts of not only the Genyosha, but the Kell Hounds as well.
Ironically, this decision would prove to be paradoxical as the Rasalhague Military District declared its independence with some support from both elements in the Combine and Federated Commonwealth seeking a buffer state, including some planets that had been taken by Lyran military forces previously. However, this did not sit well with all of the Draconis Combine and a rebellion against those wanting to form a Free Rasalhague Republic was fomented by rogue elements led by two military district warlords going against the Combine's official accedence. Somewhat predictably, Takashi Kurita, the Coordinator, did not seem as distressed about this as his son, Theodore. With Theodore's pressure to help the nascent nation exist, as well as some help from our Federated Commonwealth, the Ronin War was begun. The 1st Genyosha did not see a great deal of combat, but Arcainite proved he "still had it" against elements of the ronin 1st Proserpina Hussars. His recklessness and showboating and refusal to follow non-honorable attack plans perfectly did not endear him to Tai-sa Asano, however and it became apparent that Arcainite had developed an addiction to his anti-hallucinogens.
At age 30, in 3036, he was finally quietly transferred out to join the new 11th Ghost "Bringers of Light and Life" back in the Benjamin Military District with no official reprimand other than his addiction listed in his medical records. To the 11th Ghost's CO, Tomi Ourho, Oyabun of the Rekara Yakuza, this seemed like a great coup in his favor, and he eagerly committed him into combat against rebels in his region, but their mechs were up against unconventional warfare and in one such bombing, Arcainite's Awesome sustained a head shot that caused a feedback leaving the mechwarrior's left hand with permanent nerve damage. After having successfully put down the rebellions, the 11th Ghost was to see real battle on the planet Matar and Arcainite fought a hard-won battle with undisciplined teammates against the 1st Kestrel Grenadiers as the 12th Ghost did likewise against the 1st Kathil Uhlans. The planet was secured when the Feds harmed some civilians protesting the occupation by FedCom forces and they quickly joined the invaders in attacking the defenders. Fed defenders had to "get out of Dodge" swiftly after that and abandoned planet to save what remained of their lives and equipment. Further injury from the 1st Kestrel Grenadiers led to spreading nerve damage to the mechwarrior's left arm. (It is a shame that this "Snake" is right-handed, or we might sleep easier at night.) Another tour of duty of uneventful garrison duty on Matar as the unit waited for a counterattack that was not to come, was a welcome change for the man.
As we all know, peace never lasts long in the Inner Sphere, and the 11th Ghost was soon recalled to defend the world of Hongor from pirates known as The Band of the Damned. With local defenses having already fallen and the pirates loading their booty, the 11th Ghost attacked. Tai-i Arcainite in his Awesome lived up to the mech's name and the pirates were lucky to get away at all with what they had already loaded and left much the worse for wear, those that were not killed or felled in the fighting. Pleased with his performance and, perhaps more to the point, his loyalty to the Combine and the example it was for the divided loyalties of a yakuza-led Ghost unit, the DCMS promoted him to the rank of Sho-sa, replacing one of the Yakuza Battalion commanders. Tai-sa Ourho was no longer singing Arcainite's praises and it was becoming obvious that this was the Combine's way of reminding the yakuza who was really in charge. As if.
Sho-sa Arcainite, battalion commander, was assigned a BLR-1G Battlemaster but it was apparent that Tai-sa Ourho was not using him or his battalion except for the dangerous work. Such dangerous work would backfire on the CO, however, as, while on one of his search-and-destroy misions for the Band of the Damned in a region of the Periphery known as the Draconis Rift, they came across a pirate's datapad with a map to buried treasure. Arcainite was able to decipher the map due to extensive knowledge of air and land navigation and they found very valuable ill-gotten gains, which his honor compelled him to return to their owners where possible, reaping only the finders' rewards for their return. This was the final straw for the yakuza oyabun in charge of the unit. "You did what?! Returned the items?!"
This led to another "honorable" transfer to the infamous/famous Sorenson's Sabres of the elite 5th Sword of Light "The Gold Dragon," who were also hunting the Band of the Damned, until that job was handed off to the 7th Pesht Regulars. Technically a demotion, since he was forced to accept a posting as Daniel Sorenson's second-in-command in an expanded command lance, he nevertheless held his former rank and Battlemaster mech and would continue to show he deserved a Sword of Light posting with conspicuous gallantry on the planet Brundage against the 3rd Lyran Regulars where they extracted a spy who revealed the location of Benet III and his famous former allies from the Ronin War, the Fox's Teeth, who they would battle to detente before withdrawing in the Battle of the Aurora Badlands.
Feeling well-pleased with himself, the Coordinator, who has a habit of copying successful units, promoted Arcainite up and out of the Sabres to head a similar unit amongst the friendly contacts he still had with the 3rd Benjamin Regulars. Tai-sa Arcainite leads an enhanced company called the 3rd Benjamin Irregulars and has access to the 3rd Benjamin Regulars air support and artillery elements.
"Oh damn. This guy's the real deal. I'm going to have to inform MI2, MI3, and possibly MI6."
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