Mechwarrior: "Days of the Jackal"

[shurai]

Jake speaks quietly with Ironsides as they walk away.

"No, that was a small fib. I don't think we've met before; sorry about that, pal, but I thought you looked like maybe you should wander off, get away from that, uh, confrontation. Thought I'd give you an excuse, make it easy for you."

 

[Mike D F]

"Aha."

"Mmph. Apparently she's close to some of the people involved in her 'Mech class's creation. I probably should have walked away, even as stubborn as I am."

He pauses.

"As for why I didn't...I could give you some line about 'Oh, I've been through hell and back...blah, blah, blah...See my own mortality everytime I look in the mirror...etcetera....So I'm not impressed by some noble with a holdout needler' insert machismo crap here."

He leans in and winks conspiritorily with his good eye, "But the plain and simple truth of the matter is I thought she was bluffing.

He grins. "Truth be told, I think she's a might high strung. If I recall correctly, I should have the business card for the anger management support group my shrink gave me."

He pulls a face as that reminds him of something. "Man...He's gonna be pissed."

 

[Urbanmech]

Sometimes, people leaving one of the professional simulators are approached by a Dark Knight and seemingly directed to the big doors in the rear wall, where a pair of security guards open one of the wings for them.

Alex thinks to himself, Either they did really well or are managed to get their mechs slagged without doing any damage to the enemy. Probably the former, hope they wouldn't be pulling the bad seeds into the back room.

Much to Alex's suprise he finds himself next in line for one of the Academy class simulators. It looks like there was some altercation across the room with some of the candidates. Alex shakes his head and wonders about the kinds of egos people develop on Solaris VII as he climbs into the simulator.

 

[shurai]

". . . I probably should have walked away, even as stubborn as I am."

Jake nods earnestly. "It's good to meet a man whose willing to admit his mistakes."

". . . I should have the business card for the anger management support group my shrink gave me."

Jake grins back. "Something tells me that wouldn't be a good idea," he says, chuckling.

 

[Festy_Dog]

Kevin stands in line, still waiting in queue and pondering any number of things. He cranes his neck trying to see how the pilot who's currently in the machine is doing. Kevin gives up after a short moment, realising he doesn't need to see how anyone performs to be able to judge whether they're the kind of material that gets into the back room. You could tell by a pilot's appearance and posture most of the time.

Kevin gives some thought to his own level of ability in a mech. He believes he will get in. Getting into that back room is in truth pretty important to him. His attention strays to the recordings of Dark Knight victories being played on the monitors. It only reinforces his reasoning for not already being a member of the collective. Kevin sighs, and continues to wait.

To pass the time he tries to pick out the people most likely to get through, see if he could draw links between them. It was just something to do. That and twiddle his thumbs. Regardless, right now he was trying to take it easy. As bored as he may be, and as uncomfortable as he may be in this setting, he tries to enjoy this last piece of semi-relaxation.

Kevin knows that things are going to get a whole lot more difficult once he is in that room.

 

[Mike D F]

"It's good to meet a man whose willing to admit his mistakes."

"As, with most things, this gets better with experience.

Practice, practice, practice."

"What'd be really impressive would be to not do so many damn fool things in the first place."

"Something tells me that wouldn't be a good idea,"

"That," he says, as he unwraps another butterscotch, "is why God invented the Solaris City Post Office."

 

[Douane]

Dark Knights Compund, Montenegro

Soon you've made your way to the back of the hall and the real simulators, either by pure chance (though strangely enough you've seen others being turned away) or after being directed there by a friendly Dark Knight once you had done a few rounds in the "mechshooters".

These simulator pods are indeed the real thing, academy class and all. In fact, some of the programs being run there greatly remind you of your own time back at the academy and you are willing to bet that they are not just cobbled together but professional software. How the Dark Knights managed to come by them, however, remains unclear. Any questions to this effect are just shrugged off by the Dark Knights.

True to their flyer, the Dark Knights are indeed able to provide simulator packages for every existing mech in the Inner Sphere. Of course this only extends to real mechs, and so that fantasy "foxhound" you hear a young woman in Steiner fatigues talking about is right out.

Nevertheless, you can't suppress the feeling of something strange going on here when you find the Hatchetman HCT-3F on the list of available mechs. As every mechwarrior worth his salt knows this mystery-shrouded design is exclusive property of the Lyran Commonwealth, and a very recent at that. Appearing in increasing numbers within the ranks of the LCAF for the last few years, the hatchet-equipped mech might very well be the first new design in the Inner Sphere in 200 years.



Besides the purely technical stuff, you realize something else: These simulators are clearly some sort of filter. Most of those who made it to this point are commended on their abilities and invited to come back any other day for a more thorough testing, but a select few (including you) get the suggestion by one of the Dark Knights to "check the back room for a few pointers on the finer points of arena mech to mech combat" . This piece of advice is usually accompanied by a sly wink.

The back room is certainly past that huge set of doors in the rear wall of the hall which seems to be guarded by two tough no-nonsense bouncers, a striking contrast to the ever-smiling, ever-friendly Dark Knights roaming the hall. To their right you see a black-skinned man leaning against the wall, doing his best to keep the whole hall in his sight and occasionally venturing forth to calm down shouted disputes or other quarrels. It is the very same man you saw earlier intervening in that big fracas and despite a distinct lack of any insignia on his leather jacket you somehow can't shake the impression that he's something more than your average friendly neighbourhood mediator.

 

[Festy_Dog]

Kevin smiles as he goes into the back room, having finally remembered the identity of his dark-complexioned acquaintance. He knew him from his academy days.

Everyone in the back room is undoubtedly of great skill, there'd be no other reason for them to be present. Mech piloting isn't Kevin's first love though, he had spent far more time patching people up. His time with the Centauri Lancers taught him a few things, he had gotten plenty of hands-on medical experience. Blood was nothing new.

At the other end of the scale, he also has a love for small arms. Not common in people who spend a lot of time undoing the damage often done by such weapons. When all's said and done, Kevin's mech skills take a back seat to a number of things he considers more important, and thus he relies largely on talent when it comes to piloting.

Kevin finds a place to sit, and can't help but smile again when he sees the Kuritan woman enter. The manner in which she dresses suggests she is part of a skilled family of mechwarriors, so her presence is no big surprise. The young fellow though, his entrance is a surprise. Clearly the lad has vast potential. Kevin starts pondering where the kid could be from, he definitely lacked the appearance of someone who had been through academy training. The Steiner woman was also there. Indeed, fate was conspiring to keep that odd little group together.

Kevin sits back, trying to look friendly and talkable to.

 

[Radiant]

Yuriko

Even though she has no desire at all to know about the finer arts of gladiator fighting Yuriko gets into the backroom then she is invited. The fact that she's fresh out of the academy showed panfully in the simulation, and her longt jouney without proper training even more so she can need any chance for more training she can get. She is genuinly surprised to see that the boy who spoke to her passed but is good enough at hiding her emotions to not let it show. She just nods in respect then she sees him but stays away from the people around her. The last time she let herself be drawn into a conversation just caused trouble. Then she sees the cyborg enter she watches him for a moment but since he never insulted her she doesn't really care. Speaking for a Steiner pilot was nothing she intended to repeat in the near future.

 

[Drakknyte32]

Ryan heads into the back room. He was glad the Dark Knight offered to give some more tips on mech to mech combat. That was the worst match he'd played on the sims in years. It really does make quite a difference when you are up against human opponents. Of course that just makes the hunt all the more interesting.

He walks over to Kevin and sits beside him.
"Hey, I take it you did badly too? I can't believe I only managed to destroy 5 mechs before they got me. It's nice of these guys to give us some advice though."