Mechwarrior: "Days of the Jackal"

[Douane]

Enter Passcode:
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My dear Konrad,

you can’t be serious with your report!


If I remember correctly, I sent you there to recruit warriors. Warriors, Konrad! "Warriors" doesn't even begin with an M like ... Misfits.

Let me name a few examples. Where was that … Ah, here.


A Locust pilot. Great. Last time I checked we still get ammunition 'round here, so why would we need a Locust to hurl at the enemy?

Next one. A FLUM? Konrad, I was at Suk II, don't you remember? I guess I should have built me my own FLUM from the parts it had been raining that day.

And here. A Centurion and a …, a pilot from 21st Centauri. Hmmm, actually not that bad.

But here: An Atlas driver by the name of Rick Atlas? You gotta be kidding me! Is this a holodrama or what?

And we can do even better: A sergeant who quit her tour with Lindon's Company over "disagreements with the command style of her superior". What does she want? Command rights based on the size of her … well, I don't think we need to go there.

This one. Have you checked where he comes from? I'll bet "my special friend John" would really like to have a "chat" with this fellow. I didn’t think they'd do such things. Guess I was wrong.

But I really like this one. A heavy mech and no idea's what he's doing. I wonder why he wants to be a mercenary; he should apply for a position as a General in the LCAF.

And finally this one. This one really takes the cake! Can you believe the audacity? I should really … but these are thoughts best spoken in private.


And, yes, Konrad, I already know what you are going to tell me. No need for another message. In fact, it's the only reason for me to come in person. I don't really appreciate all that travelling and, God knows, I could spend that time with far more constructive tasks.


Expect me on the 15th of July, Konrad.

I hope you have put some order into this chaos by then.


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Repeat Transmission?
no

 

[Douane]

Solaris City, 10th of July 3028 (To be distributed in Black Hills, Cathay, Kobe, Montenegro and Silesia)


The DARK KNIGHTS cooperative (famous for their recent victories against Blackstar, the Silver Dragons and Starlight) is proud to announce an open recruitment drive for able newcomers in possession of their own mechs. No prior arena experience required!



WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ADORED BY FANS WHEREVER YOU GO?

WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR OWN SHOW ON SBC?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE IDOLIZED BY BILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE INNER SPHERE?


WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE THE GREATEST MECHWARRIOR IN THE INNER SPHERE?



Join the DARK KNIGHTS today and your dreams can come true!

Interviews will be held at the DARK KNIGHTS compound from July 10th to July 15th.


We recruit by deed, not by word!

Show us what you can really do!

Simulator runs 24 hours a day! (Every mech available!)


Join the DARK KNIGHTS and be everything you can be!


P.S. Agents of established stables need not apply. We know who you are!

 

[Douane]

Yeah, right.

As if I would be desparate enough to join a cooperative ...


"Every mech available!" ?


It's been some time since I last took the tin can out for a little romp. Guess a bit of simulator practise couldn't hurt right now. Gotta keep in shape!


But joining? Nah!

 

[doghead]

The horde decends upon Hasic's little corner of the park shortly after he finishes his kata. The game starts. With the infantryman who comes to collect the stray ball, there comes and invitation to join them. So Hasic returns with the ball to the game. There is moment, a pause, when Hasic says, "Mechpilot". But given that he is flat on his back in the dirt at the time, the usual "think that you're better than everyone else" accusation doesn't materialise. The game continues. Hasic doesn't have the build of the groundpounders, but he has the reflexes and a good turn of speed for someone his size. He holds his own, although seems to end up in the dirt more than anyone else. The game ends, and notification that they will be "back here same time tomorrow" is given.

Hasic collects his stuff. There is a stray flyer caught in the stap of his bag. "DARK KNIGHTS." Hasic bins it on his way out.

post #1501

 

[shurai]

Face down, like the Jack of Hearts in the old song, does the man finish his eggs. Nobody in the diner really pays any attention to him, but then really except for the couple in the corner, everybody is alone. He pays the waitress, tips his yellow VOX ballcap, tries to ignore the crumbs on the counter, and gets up to leave. A business man is standing up and turning around too quickly, and the coat draped over his arm nearly knocks over the sugar.

"Careful," says the good tipper in the yellow ballcap. The suit pauses, realizes he's about to make a mess, and says "Thanks." They both leave. After they're gone, the waitress wonders how he saw it: He was looking the wrong way, reading some sign about some arena competition or other.

But the cook is getting annoyed. The thought vanishes as she returns to her work.

 

[Shalimar]

McKenzie it seemed, was hated aboard the dropship that carried her on her journey across the Innersphere from Steiner Space to the game world of Solaris. At first she had tried to fit in, tried to play nice with her fellow passengers, the people she would be spending a few months with on the journey, but that desire wore thin as she got to know them. While she was letting on that she was a Lyran officer, she had not let on who she really was, and that was the basis of the problem, a Kurita Merchant on business for his house had made a few rather suggestive remarks about McKenzie's cousin, and she certainly couldn't have that, Melissa was the nicest girl a person could ever hope to meet, and to have a slimy snake make suggestive comments simply got the Mechwarrior's blood boiling after what had happened to her.

While the Captain wasn't very amused when she broke the Businessman's jaw, the mostly Steiner crew was tickled pink, and had actually started betting before the captain broke it up. While the Lyran Officer was not a hand to hand combat specialist by any means, demolishing a somewhat drunk, over-weight merchant was never that hard. From the fight onward, she was known to the passengers as a troublemaker, and those who wished to stay on the good side of the merchant and be able to purchase his luxury wares during the trip stayed well away from her, so she spent most of the trip in the gym to maintain her muscles as well as in the cargobay, doing all she could to familiarize herself with Fox's workings.

Fox was far from a standard mech, and she could only count on herself to maintain her. It was with a sigh of frustration that McKenzie finally left the dropship Star Jewel, and headed into the customs office. While her bags were ransacked by the bored customs officials, she tried to maintain her cool, not used to being at the whim of such petty individuals. When satisfied that her belonings were in order, the official asked her for her papers, correctly assuming from her bearings that she was a mechwarrior. Showing him the papers, with a slight sigh, she left the puzzled customs officer behind, she could still hear him puzzling over what exactly a WLF-1 was.

Her next stop, one of many, unfortunately, was to the Spaceport warehouses, to secure a berth for her mech, she knew the officials tended to make trouble if you just went about strutting in a battlemech, something about private citizens walking around with enough firepower to slag a few city blocks gave them a headache. Once she had secured a berth for Fox, and the promise of no one but her touching, or even really taking a good look at the mech, she walked the Mech from the ship Cargo bay directly into the warehouse and powered her down, making sure that all precautions were taken.

The young woman's next step was to book a hotel room in Silesia, the Steiner area of the famous gaming world, although the Black Hills of Davion, would have been accpetable, Silesia offered more of home. It was while she was checking into the Hotel that she saw the flier for the Dark Knights. She wasn't interested in being an arena duelist, and certainly not freelance, if she were to go the route of a duelist she would sign on with any of the Steiner backed Stables who would be more then glad to sign her, for her name, her connections, or her skills and mech. The only thing keeping her from discarding the notice out of hand was the mention of the Simulators, she knew that her funds were not unlimited and sim time was expensive, and she did need to get practice in lights, even if they probably didn't have a Wolfhound in their sim, it would still be worthwhile, actually, she would even bet that they didn't the design was too new, she had the 3rd one of the line, and not even all of the regular LCAF had access to it for sims.

That is how McKenzie Steiner found herself in front of the Dark Knights headquarters not 5 hours after she had landed on the planet. She entredand looked around for someone who could assist her in getting the sim-time. "Hello, My Name is McKenzie, but you can call me Mac, I just got to Solaris, and I was wondering if you couldn't help me figure out if my piloting skills are still there, what with my mech being stored in a hold for 2 months." she tells the person who looks to be in charge, grinning at them, she is wearing her Steiner Garrision fatigues, and while the patches have been carefully removed, it is easily distinguishable which armed forces the clothing came from, especially as the look to be fairly new.

 

[Festy_Dog]

A well-dressed man in a trenchcoat sits beside the foot of a mech, presumably his own, with a computer on his lap plugged into some partially hidden port on the mech. He starts a diagnostic program, then returns his attention to a telescan he set up on a box nearby.

He's the only person there currently, and the noise coming from the telescan echoes throughout the huge area, bouncing off the mechs of others' which are also kept here.

Footsteps mingle with the noise of the telescan, and a man in a suit is suddenly revealed by its light.

"Vault, thought you'd be here. I was looking for you," he says, and walks over, "You never showed up, I was waiting at that cafe for close to an hour. I was starting to freak out."

The sitting man shrugs, and takes a bottle of pills from one of his trenchcoat pockets and tosses them to the guy in the suit. He catches them and puts them in his own pocket.

"Pleasure doing business," he says.

"S'all good," the sitting man replies.

The suited man turns to leave, then hesitates as he remembers something. He pulls a folded piece of paper from his pocket, walks over to the seated man and hands it to him.

"You paid me beforeha-" the seated man realizes it isn't a checque, "Oh, what's this?"

"Picked it up on the way here. Thought you'd be interested," he says, and smiles before leaving.

The seated man unfolds the piece of paper and reads it for a moment, he'd seen it before.

"Dark Knights, eh?"

 

[Radiant]

Dark Knights
The huge sign is a rather good hint that Yuriko finally reached her destination. The japanese women stands calmly in line, like someone used to waiting but her calm facade is betrayed by her right hand that continues to brush through her hair. She has a hard time concentrating between all the noise around her and the strange behaviour of the people on these streets is not easy to understand. Especially the strange man and his comment.
"Nice costume. Allways good to put on a show too."
She looked down on her clothes for the hundredth time, simple but high quality pants and jacket in soft flowong black with the form of a silver dragon wriggling it's way up the left side of her body. Both her blades where strapped there they belonged out of easy reach as to not look like a provocation. And for the hundredth time she wondered what was wrong about it as she contunued to catch stares. Somehow she felt totaly overdressed but as the paper said this was a place for warriors so appearing without decent clothes and a sword would be a grave insult for the owners.
She sighs and slilently repeats words she heard in the academy about behviour around outsiders.
"Even the lowliest animals have codes of honour, it is below a true warrior to insult them, if they deserve it or not."

She would fight for these people if she had to but dishonouroing Ikazushi by allowing it to be used in a fight for the entertainment of unproductives and workers was still below the things she was ready to do so she is feeling slightly guilty for intending to use their simulators without any intention of working for them.
On the other hand they are only outsiders so it is not that bad.
Thinking of outsiders reminds her of the ships crew that brought her here. These people had been rather nice if a bit strange. They had even helped her with the formalities of getting her mech stored in the end.
But even though misguided they had been had and earned working men and women who deserved some resepct. These "showmen" are another matter entirely.

Her hand brushes through her hair one last time before she enters through the door to see if she can get some training.

 

[Drakknyte32]

Ryan simply stood and stared.

It was his first time in a city of more than 300 people and he was completely overwhelmed. Nothing he had heard could have prepared him for all the sights and actions going on all around him. Endless people scurrying along to do whatever city-dwellers do. Huge buildings that reach to the sky. A complete lack of any open space. He was not frightened, the hunter would never let him be frightened, but he was lost and confused.

The captain of the ship he arrived on hadn't thought much of him after the poker incident but the crew had been helpful. They had told him a lot about Solaris and where he could store his mech and find a place to stay. He had gotten those done as soon as he arrived in the city but now he had no idea what to do.

As he wandered he noticed a sign for the Dark Knights. He didn't know what the Dark Knights were but judging by the sign they were some sort of MechWarrior group. They also had simulaters. Deciding that would be a good place to start he began slowly making his way to there.

No one interrupted him as he travelled. He might have the look of a tourist but the well-worn camo fatigues he wore and the pistol at his hip, as well as the catlike grace he displayed, showed that he could be dangerous.

 

[doghead]

Hasic gathers up his gear and heads home. Well, back to the hotel. Its a fair way. But he has time. And he likes walking. His path take him through the Black Hills and a part of Kobe. Dressed in civilian coveralls tied off at the waist, a plain long sleeved T and with a bag slung over one shoulder, he cuts an ordinary, if somewhat trim figure. Things have pretty peaceful in the IS since the announcement of the Steiner-Davion wedding. Even the Liaos were invited apparently. Quiet at least on the surface. No doubt the military planning rooms of the various other Houses have been filled with anxious commanders eyeing the combined forces of the new alliance nervously and asking "What if ..."

His path takes him past the Dark Knight's facility. From across the street he catches site of a rather striking woman. Kombine it looks like. She's kitted out in black silk with embroided silver dragons. And two swords. Swords! Hasic notices her slightly puzzelled look at the responces of the people around her. Some people people just don't get it. He's actually seen some people wondering around in their House unit fatigues. As his feet carry him away, he occupies his mind trying to recall what he has heard about the Kombine honour codes.

His path takes him back to his hotel where he showers and gets ready for the meeting. Hasic does hold out any great hope for anything coming from it, but its worth spending a couple of hours to see. He has time.