Mechwarrior: "Days of the Jackal"

[Shalimar]

McKenzie joins the small gathering of Ryan, Malcom and Kevin, agreeing with Kevin's assessment, "He's right Ryan, with the way they have been setting this up, its almost certainly something a lot bigger then a collective." she tells the young pilot, "With this many pilots with their own battlemechs, you could probably put together a battallion at least, and almost all of us here look pretty experienced, wonder who has the coin to put together a group this large, those simulators aren't cheap, and certainly not in these numbers."

"I'd almost bet that its someone with the backing of one of the houses to get some of this stuff, and looking at the Hatchetman simulator data, I'd guess its Steiner or Davion. Do you boys haave any bets?" she asks of the trio.

 

[Drakknyte32]

Ryan looks kind of confused.
"But if we're not here for pointers why did the guy who told me to come in here say we were? If they wanted to talk to us about something else why didn't they say so?"

 

[Festy_Dog]

"I'd almost bet that its someone with the backing of one of the houses to get some of this stuff, and looking at the Hatchetman simulator data, I'd guess its Steiner or Davion. Do you boys have any bets?" she asks of the trio.

Kevin smiled, impressed by the Steiner woman's intuition.

"Well, I'd think you were on the money with your guess at which house. I'd say we've been lined up for some nicely paying covert op, but they're always balanced out with high risks and all. Makes me wonder who the lucky recipient of our attention is," he said, and chuckled for a moment.

Kevin looked around the room. The amount of skill assembled in it was nothing to scoff at. He wagered their numbers would thin again by the time the job was presented to them, leaving only the cream of those who originally applied.

"But if we're not here for pointers why did the guy who told me to come in here say we were? If they wanted to talk to us about something else why didn't they say so?"

"An element of discretion was required in their actions. Every major house has a presence here, so if they're organising something and they don't want any neighbours to find out this is one way to do it," Kevin summarised.

 

[Maerdwyn]

dp.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Malcolm is pleased that Mackenzie's arrival has provided both information and a graceful way to sidestep Kevin's question about his employment. He bows slightly in greeting to her, and says to both Kevin and Mackenzie, "Your reasoning seems excellent, Tongzhimen," before introducing himself to the woman.

The expectation that he will eventually be "thinned", as Kevin had put it, is actually rather freeing for Malcolm, and he begins to relax. "Now, assuming that you are correct, Mr. Mayne, how many here will be chosen? My wager is seven. They have already selected for piloting skill - they must now be selecting for the presence of other skills, as wells for chracter and psychological suitablity. As an employer, I would not want to beforeced to take more than one in three, based on those criteria. What say the rest of you?"

 

[Festy_Dog]

"Numbers... I wouldn't have an idea unless I knew what the objectives were, but at a guess I'd imagine half of what's here getting through any remaining selection processes," Kevin proposed his idea.

Malcolm hadn't answered Kevin's question about occupation, but then Kevin never saw an opportunity for him to, the Steiner woman had steered the conversation elsewhere. He guessed the matter would come up again later if they both got through.

Again his thoughts wandered to what was ahead if he made it through. If everyone here was accepted, Kevin expected there to be notably less people on the trip back, but if the selection was further refined it would be possible that they intended the mercs to be disposed of after use and found small numbers to be more managable.

Finding this train of thought to be a little pessimistic he breifly reviewed the contents of the latest medical journal he read, there was some things in there he found important to remember; certain drugs found to not react well with each other, new treatments for select chemical burns and exposure, etc. He had to keep up with these things, but it often took far too long for him to get the latest information. That and breakthroughs had become few and far between.

Kevin sighed. Another pessimistic dead end. His attention returned to the conversation, with the slight hope that Ryan would say something undoubtedly naive but maybe a little cheerful.

 

[Drakknyte32]

Ryan tried hard to listen when the others talked about. They were obviously experienced mech pilots talking about important stuff. But it was just too boring to listen too. By the time Malacolm got to "psychological suitablility" Ryan had found a pencil and was doodling pictures on the table.

 

[Douane]

You've been eyeing the "Private" door for some time now and the muffled pieces of conversation suddenly erupting from beyond it at least indicate that not everyone behind just died on you.


"... not in the last 50 years ..."

"... no alternative ..."

"... lacking discipline ..."

"... teamwork much more ..."

"... much time left ..."

"... possession of mechs ..."


Though you strain your ears to their limits, you can't catch anything more coherent.



Then the voices go silent and and the door opens, admitting three men into your midst. The first one is the darkskinned guy who by now seems to be the only one around here who can get anything done, while the second one is a slightly shorter man (about 5'9''), with his fair brown hair cropped into a crewcut and quite obviously not exactly comfortable in the suit he's wearing. The third man catches your eye, especially as he doesn't look anything like a military man or the "typical" Dark Knights you met in the hall. Perhaps you will now finally get some overdue answers. (His fine brown suit [with the customary big golden watch chain], tailor-made to cover a generous paunch, and the light hair make him look more like an accountant than anything else.)

Nevertheless he is the one to address you with a wide smile:


"Welcome, welcome!

I'm sorry for that little bit of waiting, but I trust nobody has suffered too badly in the meantime.


Let me begin with a little bit of appeasement. You can well wipe that demonstrative look of disgust I see on some of your faces away, you are not here to be recruited as combatants for the Games.

Frankly said, most of you wouldn't make good arena warriors, anyway.


You have been called in here for exactly one reason, the very thing most of you came for to Solaris: You are in search of a job, and we offer one.


I think it would be a lot more comfortable for everyone if we move over to the conference room for some more details.

So, ladies and gentlemen, unless anyone has something on his heart that just can't wait to get out, get your drinks and let's move those few meters."

 

[Drakknyte32]

Ryan's keen ears hear the sound of an argument behind one door. He puts down his pencil and listens but isn't able to make sense of what he heard.

Ryan listens to the man talk and actually manages to pay attention this time, especially after the mention of a job. He heads over to the conference room and gives it a quick one over before picking a seat and starting to doodle on the new table.

 

[Radiant]

Yuriko

Lacking better plans Yuriko follows the man. She did indeed need a job and she did not expect to find an employer she would like in any case so that guy would do as long as he had the money she needed.
She supresses a sigh, so therese would not be games but she still couldn't imagine that there was any honour in fighting for the cause of these people.