HOME | DD

Description
Stone City, Clauisa
Oliver, Prefecture VIII
Republic of the Sphere
7 August, 3132

“Yeah! Take him out!”

The scarred and tattooed woman sitting at the bar yelled again in excitement as she watched the tri-vid and the battle unfolding on it, her drink in one hand, all but ignored for the moment. Instead, she was intensely focusing on the holographic projection, eagerly becoming a part of the event. She wasn’t the only one; around her, the other patrons were similarly excited by what they were watching. A tiny part of her appreciated the fact that, for once, she was blending into the crowd. And the rest was too excited by what was going on.

Up on the display a black and green Axeman reeled back, the armour over its left flank being torn into by a swarm of ruby-red darts. Wounded, the machine chose to fall back, vanishing behind a concrete wall rather then return fire on its attacker. Seconds later, a Gallant, its armour a mixture of flat red and factory primer ran after it, the MechWarrior twisting its torso to try and follow its foe.

“Hey, can you turn it up?” Someone yelled, desperately trying to be heard over the shouting crowd. With the slightest of grunting nods, the bartender hit a button on his remote, increasing the volume all the way up. The tiny part of the woman that was paying attention thanked him, the rest was focused on the battle.

“-joining us across Solaris or anywhere in the Inner Sphere, I’m Raoul Esposito , coming to you from New Hartford Gardens where we are witnessing a spectacular battle between Dark Empire’s Cedric Lock and up-comer Max Ngomo for a spot in the top twenty. So far, this one has been a nail-biter, these two men desperately looking for any edge over the other.”

The Axeman burst from cover, unleashing its lasers and autocannon against the Gallant, sending a spray of fragmentation shells and lasers at the other machine. In response, Ngomo yanked his ‘Mech hard to the right, avoiding the worst of it, with only a few stray rounds peppering the Gallant’s hull, mainly serving to scrape away what little paint it had.

In response, his ‘Mech fired its jump jets, leaping up and away from its opponent. The twin large pulse lasers in its arm spate fire, while the large missile launcher on its side erupted in a shower of rounds. While the missiles largely went wide, tearing into the trees and wall where the Axeman had been, the two lasers proved to be a little more accurate, slicing armour from its limbs. Stumbling a little, the ‘Mech managed to keep going regardless.

“And a good pair of hits there by Max, showing the sort of marksmanship that has seen him come from nowhere to top twenty contender in such an incredibly short time!” Raoul called out as the Axeman barreled forwards, regardless of the damage it had taken. “He’s doing his best to keep away from that deadly axe, something that must be giving Cedric the Executor no end of frustration.”

“Cedric’s just a goon” Somebody grunted out. “Dark Empire shoulda traded him long ago.”

She gave the slightest nod of acknowledgement as she took a sip from her drink, still focused on the battle unfolding. The Axeman continued the pressure, charging forward, only to see the Gallant leap away from it. “Now some might question Max’s tactics of jumping and firing his notoriously inaccurate MRMs at the same time.” Raoul offered as another flight of missiles churned up the landscape. “However, none could question this young man’s luck and skill.”

“Appearing out of nowhere with his ‘Mech, Ngomo’s first victory at Spatula City over Katie Beck was seen as a fluke by many.” He continued unabated as the two ‘Mechs traded fire, the distance and their fast movement meaning their shots were largely tearing up the landscape. “However, several more victories saw him rocketing up the ranks in spite of the odds being offered by even the most experienced bookmakers.”

She nodded at the last comment, thinking about the money she had riding on Ngomo to make it into the top twenty- and how much she’d win if he took this battle.

“Yeah, right.” Somebody angrily called out. “And Pedro Baer just happens to drop off the face of Solaris just before they were scheduled to fight. That’s a load of crap!”

His reply was a round of calls to keep quiet as others focused on the screen as the two ‘Mechs both dropped behind cover, each out of sight of the other. “I spoke to Cedric just before the battle.” Raoul continued, his tone clearly working with the flow of the battle, filling in what would be a quiet moment. “And he stated, emphatically, that Max Ngomo’s rise would end here tonight. The question then on everyone’s lips is if he can live up to that promise; can Cedric the Executor kill his rise, or will Max pull off a fairy-tale victory?”

The Gallant broke first, again leaping forwards towards the wall where the Axeman had taken cover. As it did, the black and green ‘Mech stepped out from the other end of the wall, facing into the Gallant’s flank. With almost agonising slowness, Ngomo’s ‘Mech tried to turn to face it as the Axeman opened fire.

The results were devastating; its autocannon slamming into the Gallant’s side, ripping through its armour and structure. The force of the blow sent the ‘Mech staggering, its landing turning more into a barely controlled crash. A pair of lasers arced out, slicing into its leg as it came down, only further aggravating the situation, sending the heavy Mech staggering forward.

However, as it fell, it’s MechWarrior returned fire, the missiles leaping out and hammering into the Axeman’s chest, driving it back, while the Pulse Lasers capitalised on the damage. The huge machine swayed drunkenly, then stumbled backwards.

She clutched her glass, watching as the two machines fell. “Get up, you bastard!” She called out, almost demanding. “Don’t you dare die on me now!”

“They’re both down!” Raoul shouted excitedly. “And yet it’s not over by a long shot! Max is beginning to rise already, his ‘Mech struggling to its feet. This is amazing, folks! This meteoric rise, an unknown contestant in a poorly-regarded machine, coming out of nowhere to challenge the big players in the game. I haven’t seen or heard of something like this, man and machine against the odds, since Dave Davids-”

And then the screen dissolved into a field of static.

“What?” She shouted, spinning around to glare angrily at the bartender, her scarred face twisted into an almost feral visage of rage. “Get the damn picture back!” Behind her, others were shouting the same thing, all but screaming at him in frustration and anger.

“It’s not me!” He frantically replied as he hammered the remote. “I didn’t do a thing!”

As if to underscore the point, the display blanked, then cut to the local sports studio with a flustered looking announcer looking around. “I’m sorry about that. Looks like we just lost our feed from the HPG. We’ll try to have it back as soon as we can and-”

“Change the damn station! One of the other sports networks has to have it!” Another annoyed patron called out.

Nodding frantically and complying to avoid a potential riot, the bartender began to franticly change channels, a litany of faces and sounds going past, but all with the same massage. “-lost our feed-” “-trying to restore-” “-temporary interruption-” “-HPG service will resume-” “-as soon as possible-”

“They all lost their feed?” Somebody asked, anger giving way to sudden apprehension. “Is the HPG down?”

“Are they all down?” Was all she could think to say in reply, her mind reeling at the enormity of the idea.

Description
Stone City, Clauisa
Oliver, Prefecture VIII
Republic of the Sphere
7 August, 3132

“Yeah! Take him out!”

The scarred and tattooed woman sitting at the bar yelled again in excitement as she watched the tri-vid and the battle unfolding on it, her drink in one hand, all but ignored for the moment. Instead, she was intensely focusing on the holographic projection, eagerly becoming a part of the event. She wasn’t the only one; around her, the other patrons were similarly excited by what they were watching. A tiny part of her appreciated the fact that, for once, she was blending into the crowd. And the rest was too excited by what was going on.

Up on the display a black and green Axeman reeled back, the armour over its left flank being torn into by a swarm of ruby-red darts. Wounded, the machine chose to fall back, vanishing behind a concrete wall rather then return fire on its attacker. Seconds later, a Gallant, its armour a mixture of flat red and factory primer ran after it, the MechWarrior twisting its torso to try and follow its foe.

“Hey, can you turn it up?” Someone yelled, desperately trying to be heard over the shouting crowd. With the slightest of grunting nods, the bartender hit a button on his remote, increasing the volume all the way up. The tiny part of the woman that was paying attention thanked him, the rest was focused on the battle.

“-joining us across Solaris or anywhere in the Inner Sphere, I’m Raoul Esposito , coming to you from New Hartford Gardens where we are witnessing a spectacular battle between Dark Empire’s Cedric Lock and up-comer Max Ngomo for a spot in the top twenty. So far, this one has been a nail-biter, these two men desperately looking for any edge over the other.”

The Axeman burst from cover, unleashing its lasers and autocannon against the Gallant, sending a spray of fragmentation shells and lasers at the other machine. In response, Ngomo yanked his ‘Mech hard to the right, avoiding the worst of it, with only a few stray rounds peppering the Gallant’s hull, mainly serving to scrape away what little paint it had.

In response, his ‘Mech fired its jump jets, leaping up and away from its opponent. The twin large pulse lasers in its arm spate fire, while the large missile launcher on its side erupted in a shower of rounds. While the missiles largely went wide, tearing into the trees and wall where the Axeman had been, the two lasers proved to be a little more accurate, slicing armour from its limbs. Stumbling a little, the ‘Mech managed to keep going regardless.

“And a good pair of hits there by Max, showing the sort of marksmanship that has seen him come from nowhere to top twenty contender in such an incredibly short time!” Raoul called out as the Axeman barreled forwards, regardless of the damage it had taken. “He’s doing his best to keep away from that deadly axe, something that must be giving Cedric the Executor no end of frustration.”

“Cedric’s just a goon” Somebody grunted out. “Dark Empire shoulda traded him long ago.”

She gave the slightest nod of acknowledgement as she took a sip from her drink, still focused on the battle unfolding. The Axeman continued the pressure, charging forward, only to see the Gallant leap away from it. “Now some might question Max’s tactics of jumping and firing his notoriously inaccurate MRMs at the same time.” Raoul offered as another flight of missiles churned up the landscape. “However, none could question this young man’s luck and skill.”

“Appearing out of nowhere with his ‘Mech, Ngomo’s first victory at Spatula City over Katie Beck was seen as a fluke by many.” He continued unabated as the two ‘Mechs traded fire, the distance and their fast movement meaning their shots were largely tearing up the landscape. “However, several more victories saw him rocketing up the ranks in spite of the odds being offered by even the most experienced bookmakers.”

She nodded at the last comment, thinking about the money she had riding on Ngomo to make it into the top twenty- and how much she’d win if he took this battle.

“Yeah, right.” Somebody angrily called out. “And Pedro Baer just happens to drop off the face of Solaris just before they were scheduled to fight. That’s a load of crap!”

His reply was a round of calls to keep quiet as others focused on the screen as the two ‘Mechs both dropped behind cover, each out of sight of the other. “I spoke to Cedric just before the battle.” Raoul continued, his tone clearly working with the flow of the battle, filling in what would be a quiet moment. “And he stated, emphatically, that Max Ngomo’s rise would end here tonight. The question then on everyone’s lips is if he can live up to that promise; can Cedric the Executor kill his rise, or will Max pull off a fairy-tale victory?”

The Gallant broke first, again leaping forwards towards the wall where the Axeman had taken cover. As it did, the black and green ‘Mech stepped out from the other end of the wall, facing into the Gallant’s flank. With almost agonising slowness, Ngomo’s ‘Mech tried to turn to face it as the Axeman opened fire.

The results were devastating; its autocannon slamming into the Gallant’s side, ripping through its armour and structure. The force of the blow sent the ‘Mech staggering, its landing turning more into a barely controlled crash. A pair of lasers arced out, slicing into its leg as it came down, only further aggravating the situation, sending the heavy Mech staggering forward.

However, as it fell, it’s MechWarrior returned fire, the missiles leaping out and hammering into the Axeman’s chest, driving it back, while the Pulse Lasers capitalised on the damage. The huge machine swayed drunkenly, then stumbled backwards.

She clutched her glass, watching as the two machines fell. “Get up, you bastard!” She called out, almost demanding. “Don’t you dare die on me now!”

“They’re both down!” Raoul shouted excitedly. “And yet it’s not over by a long shot! Max is beginning to rise already, his ‘Mech struggling to its feet. This is amazing, folks! This meteoric rise, an unknown contestant in a poorly-regarded machine, coming out of nowhere to challenge the big players in the game. I haven’t seen or heard of something like this, man and machine against the odds, since Dave Davids-”

And then the screen dissolved into a field of static.

“What?” She shouted, spinning around to glare angrily at the bartender, her scarred face twisted into an almost feral visage of rage. “Get the damn picture back!” Behind her, others were shouting the same thing, all but screaming at him in frustration and anger.

“It’s not me!” He frantically replied as he hammered the remote. “I didn’t do a thing!”

As if to underscore the point, the display blanked, then cut to the local sports studio with a flustered looking announcer looking around. “I’m sorry about that. Looks like we just lost our feed from the HPG. We’ll try to have it back as soon as we can and-”

“Change the damn station! One of the other sports networks has to have it!” Another annoyed patron called out.

Nodding frantically and complying to avoid a potential riot, the bartender began to franticly change channels, a litany of faces and sounds going past, but all with the same massage. “-lost our feed-” “-trying to restore-” “-temporary interruption-” “-HPG service will resume-” “-as soon as possible-”

“They all lost their feed?” Somebody asked, anger giving way to sudden apprehension. “Is the HPG down?”

“Are they all down?” Was all she could think to say in reply, her mind reeling at the enormity of the idea.