Tales of the Cobalt Coil: Part 1 Tales of the Cobalt Coil: Part 2 I sat in Apshai's cockpit and marveled at the twists of fate. I honestly believe the unifying force behind the cosmos, that single thing that binds all matter, energy, and events into a single whole is a perverse sense of humor. Who ever and what ever god may be, he/she/it is laughing up a storm at the way events warp lives. I'm a perfect example. In my time, I've been well-born aristocracy, dilettante warrior, a brilliant military strategist, an incompetent traitor, and outcast drifter. I had thought to end my years in obscurity, tending bar at a small tavern in Solaris City on Gameworld, that odd, almost apolitical world. I was wrong. Suddenly, I was a character in a bad holo, the lone MechWarrior who has to clean up the town overrun by barbarians. However, this was real, and I'm far too old for the role of the hero; I might look fifty, but my eightieth birthday was several years past. There wasn't any way out. I fought for my life and everything I held dear. It started in blood, as such things often do. Kio Tonner, a member of the local Yakuza clan, and a friend of mine, was murdered outside my bar. I stumbled onto the knowledge that he'd been killed by his boss, Toma Sakuro, as part of a scam to skim money from the Yakuza to pay for Toma's extravagant lifestyle. Toma knew I knew he was guilty and that I had no proof. He used that to force me into a 'Mech duel with his pet lance, expecting a slaughter. At stake, beside my life, was the Cobalt Coil, the bar I worked at. You might wonder why I was willing to fight for something that wasn't mine. If you've never been in the Coil, you can't understand. The Coil's a sanctuary where warriors can unburden themselves of their pain and their pasts. I don't own the bar, but I'm part of it. And to me, it was worth fighting for. All my friends pitched in when they got word of the duel, though they didn't know why it was happening. With their help, my old Marauder Apshai was restored to fighting trim, and even re-equipped with some of the NewTech that was just hitting the market. I'd need it all. Four 'Mechs stood against me, a Wyvern, a Dervish, a Griffin, and Toma's Grand Dragon. Win or lose, this was going to be nasty. I had a hole card, one that carried an unknown price tag. It was a map of the Marik factory, the arena the duel would be fought in. Long ago, before the Succession Wars devastated the Inner Sphere, the factory-built orbital space craft. Now the ruined shell was battleground for staged 'Mech combat, remote feeds broadcasting blood sport for the enjoyment of the masses. All the map cost me was a promise of a 'return favor' to be paid sometime to ComStar, I wasn't looking forward to that debt coming due. That was the future; the present was far more pressing. I sat in my cockpit, the neural helmet linking my brain to my 'Mech. Apshai moved as I moved. We'd fight together, and if fate so decreed, die together. Over the com link, the master of ceremonies droned on, explaining the rules of engagement and giving details of the participants' careers in the Solaris arenas. There wasn't a lot to say about me. This was my first gaming commission-sanctioned fight, and no one thought to look at old Lyran Commonwealth war records. I'd fought before, but not for exhibition. Sweat slicked my palms as I watched the heavy blast doors that separated me from the factory. Memories of past battles played through my mind. I ignored them and glanced over my instrument panel. My gaze fastened on an old photo taken in the Coll six year ago after one of our 'Bad Joke Nights', when we give out awards for the worst joke or pun of the evening. Shadack won that night, and he stood in the center of a crowd of friends, that tattered old Davion Home Guard jacket slung over his shoulder. A lot of the others were there: Lenth, Donovan and his damned saber getting in the way, even MacCormack. But my attention kept drifting to Shadack. I missed him. Cancer took him three years ago. I was sorry Sarah never got a chance to meet him. The tick of the chronometer counting second down to zero- time drew me out of the bitter-sweet memories. Fights in the Factory could be a grueling contest of nerve and endurance. The longest record in the factory is two days, three hours. The shortest is twenty-five minutes. Every 'Mech came in at a separate, randomly-chosen entrance. It all depended on how close we all were when we entered, and how quickly we found each other. The chronometer hit zero, flashed, and began to count up. The announcer finished his spiel, ending with the required, "And let the games begin!" The blast doors ground open. Beyond lay the killing ground. The factory was a landscape of industrial desolation. When they had built it centuries ago, the Factory was constructed to accommodate industrial 'Mechs. twenty meter tall corridors linked cavernous spaces. Water dripped from the ceiling, pooling on the floor. Laser burns traced across the walls between craters from missile and shell hits. Dime light filtered from hidden sources, providing enough illumination for the cameras to record the battles. After all, this wasn't war; it was spectacle. I lumbered through the doorway and the massive steel doors slid shut. Quickly, I went through my sensor array to see what would work best in this setting. Magnetics were erratic; the steel in the walls provided too much interference. On the infrared, everything was a cool blue with thin yellow tracings marking active power lines. A moving 'Mech would show up as a splash of scarlet, but if it were obstructed, the rubble would mask its heat signature. I settled on visible light, trusting my eyes to pick out the shape of Toma's 'Mechs. Unlike me, they weren't using a camo pattern paint. I set an automatic motion detector to register any moving object over four meters in size than started forward, formulating strategy as Apshai picked her way over the rubble. I had to find them before they linked up. The key was to think like Toma. In this setting, he couldn't use radios to locate his men, too much metal in the walls. So they would all head for a pre- set rendezvous. I called up the map which Raythan, the Solaris ComStar Precentor, had provided, and superimposed the telemetry data from the bootlegged system Donovan had rigged. A gold spark marked my location in what was labeled as the Arielon Assembly Area. I looked for likely rallying points. You see, maps of the Factory are available to any one who wants to buy one. They are all compilations of data from MechWarriors who survived bouts in the factory. None of the maps are particularly accurate, but they're enough to get you around. My map was special. If Raythan was to be believed, then it was a copy of the original floor plan. I saw no reason to doubt her. The logical place to find them was at the center of the whole complex, the Thruster Testing Pit. It was roughly equidistant from all the random start points. I wagered they'd head for it. So did I. Walking through the ruined Factory was an eerie, nervetaking experience. Shadows loomed from corners, forming 'Mech-like silhouettes in the uncertain light. In places, the floors were buckled and broken. Collapsed corridors blocked my route, forcing me to retrace my steps. I forged on, winding my way towards the center. Forty minutes later, I found the engine test facility. A huge, corrosion-eaten gantry extended over yawning darkness. The pit was a hundred meters across and twice as deep. Completed shuttles had been locked into the gantry, and their engines test-f ired into the pit. Technicians would have monitored the engines output and performance, making sure each craft was ready to lift humans or cargo. Now, only wreckage remained. All the electronics were long ago stripped away, and the pit bottom was clogged with refuse. Rain water pooled in the pit, bright with an oily, chemical tinge. Above, the vast domed ceiling was mazed with cracks. Tangles knots of steel girders, cables, and broken cranes that had once moved shuttles dotted the roof. The place was desolate, a dead reminder of what mankind once produced, reduced to a battlefield for the enjoyment of the masses. Sadness pressed in on me, and I wondered if humanity was already on the long, irreversible slide into barbarism. For a while, I stood staring, overwhelmed by the desolation and sheer scale of this engineering marvel. I might have stood there stunned while Toma crept up on me if it hadn't been for the sudden trickle of sulfur-tainted air that swirled through the cockpit. "Damn, must not have battened down the main hatch." I quickly unstrapped and checked the egress behind the couch. It seemed tight, but I cinched the the handle just to make sure. Someone might be using infernos and I didn't want to risk an unsealed cabin. By the time I strapped back in, the Factory was again just broken stone and steel, not a symbol of human decay. I was ready to fight. I looked at the maze of branching passageways that splayed out from the huge chamber. There were dozens of approaches and I still had no guarantees that this was the right place. For all I knew, Toma and his three lieutenants had already joined up and were on my trail. I shoved that thought aside. This was the logical place for them to head for, and Toma had never struck me as overly creative. I'd beaten them here, thanks to Raythan's map. Now I just had to figure out how to use my slight advantage. The chronometer clicked on while I considered the problem. Then an idea lit the darkness in my mind. I cranked up the external audio and listened. Sounds echoed through the chamber. I isolated dripping water and edited it out with the computer then did the same with Apshai's engine vibrations. One by one, I isolated and removed all the background sounds. Everything got quiet, except for an occasional clatter of failing rubble. I moved to the nearest tunnel and listened. Only silence. I went to the next and tried again. Again, nothing. On the eighteenth try, I picked up the sound of grinding stone and steel. Something was coming. I listened, using the computer to analyze the echoing sounds. As best I could tell, it was a single 'Mech-sized machine about a quarter-klick away. I quickly surveyed the area, looking for an ambush site. Less than fifty meters from the tunnel entrance lay a heap of broken metal where one of the overhead cranes had fallen. I moved behind it, trusting the metal to mask my image and crouched Apshai down on her huge, back-bending legs. With a mental command, I brought up the two weapons pods and set all the cross hairs on the shadowed mouth of the tunnel. Another command ordered the engine to shutdown, cutting the flow of heat and power from the fusion plant to a trickle. In about an hour, the sensors would drain the batteries. I waited. Sweat trickled down my body, pooling inside the folds of my gortex cooling vest. My hands cramped from squeezing the arm rests so I force my muscles to relax. The chronometer advanced, the only movement I saw. From the speakers came the sound of the advancing 'Mech, blending with the dry rasp of my breathing. Then, just when I felt sure I'd imagined the whole thing, something moved in the shadows. I cut out the audio and stared at the tunnel, willing my opponent to appear. The hidden 'Mech hesitated and I was sure he probed the cavernous space with his sensors. A sudden surge of fear that residual heat would show my position made my heart race. I fought down the panic and held back for him to make his move. At last he did. The crimson and gold Wyvern paced forward. Instantly, I brought Apshai's engine back on-lin. Before the indicators even registered that power was restored, I fired. In the semi-darkness, it was as if someone touched off a star. Brilliant blue lances of artificial lightning blasted from the arm- mounted PPCs, tracked by the surging red beams of the pulse lasers. The heavy laser's light cored through the afterglow of the particle beams. The Wyvern stumbled and collapsed; molten, burning armor spraying back. Concrete chips flew from at least one missed shot. Heat washed through Apshai's cabin, baking the sweat from my skin. An alarm howled. I cursed and slapped at the override, narrowly avoiding and engine shut-down. Then, the freezers did their job, slamming cold over the heat. The monitors dropped back into the yellow, but I ignored them. Apshai was up, moving towards the fallen 'Mech. I cut through the edge of the ruined crane, trading subtlety for speed, kicking aside the heap of rusty metal. The Wyvern was moving, levering itself up on one arm. I triggered both pulse lasers and they stitched lines across the floor. Then the Wyvern retaliated. Its right arm came up and two stabs of laser light hit Apshai in the torso, carving armor. Both sets of missile tubes in the Wyvern's torso opened and a flock of missiles erupted. The long range ones didn't have enough time to arm. The ones that hit shattered off Apshai's armor and the rest exploded against the far wall. The short range missiles were more effective. Most of them hammered into Apshai's torso. One hit square in the cockpit, jolting me in my harness. I triggered more pulse laser fire as I closed. A sudden burst of smoke poured from the Wyvern's left arm. The arm dangled useless. "Damn!" I swore, "Why couldn't it have been the right?" Wyverns carry their primary weaponry in their right arm, a heavy and two small lasers. We swapped missile and laser fire as I closed. Apshai took a few more glancing hits, nothing that penetrated her armor, and the battered Wyvern staggered to its feet. I figured it was getting ready to jump clear before I pounded it to scrap. I had to do something. Even though the distance was too close, I dropped the cross hairs for the PPCs and the heavy laser and triggered off a savage barrage. Again, the cockpit temperature spiked and the warnings came on. But my shots went true. All three beams hammered the Wyvern's legs as it lifted up on a column of superheated exhaust. I don't know if I actually shot it away or if a jump jet got blocked and the back pressure blew off the leg. In either case, the Wyvern tumbled out of control. It smacked into a wall and fell hard onto a pile of rubble. More smoke poured from joints in its body. I waited, all cross hairs centered on the seemingly dead 'Mech while Apshai cooled. I knew what I should do, close and kick in the cockpit to make sure the yak killer was dead. I hesitated. That was something Toma would do and take pleasure in. But I wasn't a murderer, just a soldier. In my mind I saw the audience clustered around their vids and wondered how many held their thumbs down. It wasn't their decision. It was mine. And I turned from him to wait for the others. Yes, I know it was foolish. The Wyvern pilot could have been faking it, or simply knocked out by the fall. In minutes or hours, I might have him back on me. But it felt right to leave him, so ?did. Under my direction, Apshai checked all systems. Sensors showed the armor over my torso and right leg were getting thin but nothing had been breached. I was ready for the next foe. This time, I couldn't use my audio sensors to track incoming 'Mechs. Either the external pick-ups had been damaged, or the smoldering hulk of the Wyvern produced too much interference. A steady crackling hiss emerged from the speakers. I looked around for a good ambush position but nothing appealed to me. With no idea where they'd come from, any good defensive position could easily become a trap. So I kept moving, rotating around the chamber, checking each passage as I passed. If you've never tried to sneak in a seventy-five ton BattleMech, let me tell you that it's a nerve racking experience. Each movement seemed to disturb another pile of rubble, sending fragments skittering off into the darkness. Tension constricted my chest. I kept seeing 'Mechs loom out of the darkness only to realize they were shadows. As each circuit brought me around, I paused to check the Wyvern's hulk. It didn't move, just lay there smoking like a charred body. I was beside it when the Dervish and the Griffin stepped from a corridor across the pit. They must have started near each other and linked up before heading towards the rendezvous. Just a bit of bad luck on my part. Instantly, I saw my tactical disadvantage. They had no need to get near me, both the Dervish and the Griffin were equipped with long range weapons and jump jets. Separated by the blast pit, they could just pick shots at me. There was no way I could close with them; all they had to do was rotate away from me. If I turned and ran, they'd wait for Toma and then it'd be three on one. While I considered and discarded strategies, they started firing. Each of the 'Mechs carried LRMs, and they combined fire. Explosions peppered Apshai's armor while I dodged and moved right. As expected, the Dervish and the Griffin rotated away, firing missiles. I swore and wished I still had the autocannon. I snapped off a few PPC shots and managed to score a hit on the Griffin's right leg. The Griffin returned the fire, and I realized it was packing one of the new extended range PPCs. The bolt caught me square in the torso, ripping through the already weakened armor. Warnings shrilled; Apshai's skin was breached. Cold sweat soaked my face. At the rate things were going, they wouldn't need Toma to finish me off. I scored another hit on the Griffin, a glancing shot that peeled gray armor from its right arm. LRM explosions rocked me as I moved, chipping armor. Another particle beam hit, this time boring into Apshai's right arm. The indicator light marking the right laser flashed, then went dark. Apshai was slowly dying. Realizing I had to out-think them I started looking for a way to turn the arena to may advantage. Suddenly, I saw an ally, the ruined cranes in the ceiling. It would be a long shot, but if I could just maneuver one or both of them beneath a crane, then knock the crane free... A fresh set of explosions hammered Apshai. Blue light washed through the cockpit. Apshai staggered and fell, warning sirens howling. I cursed and hunted for signs of damage. A P PC shot had caught me and part of the charge had bled in through the armor. My targeting computer was down. With a flash of inspiration, I ripped open the set pouch and pulled out the worn circuit board Sarah had given me for luck. Supposedly, it came from a regular's old 'Mech. Frenziedly, I pulled open the access panel to the main controls. Smoke led me to the burnt board. More missiles hit as the Dervish and the Griffin fired again, trying to make sure I stayed down. I yanked out the destroyed board and slammed the replacement in. For a moment, my breath caught as I waited for my computer to access the new circuitry. I was sure it wouldn't work. Then it did. The gold and red targeting cross-hairs appeared in the HUD. I swung them towards the ceiling. It was an impossible shot. The distance was three times the normal effective range of a particle projection cannon and I was firing prone while missiles rained around me. I fired three times, barely giving the charging coils time to cycle. Two shots hit the mass of twisted steel hanging from the ceiling. Fragments rained down and I saw the Griffin and Dervish look up. Then, with a rending scream that shuddered through the chamber, the entire mass ripped free. Trailing broken cables and chunks of stone, it plummeted. The Griffin reacted in time and leaped free, the glare of its jump jets shining like twin flares. The Dervish vanished under tons of scrap metal. For a few moments, fragments pelted down but nothing came up through the ruin. I knew the Dervish was dead. But the Griffin was still fighting. I staggered upright as the Griffin landed. We fired in the same instant. Alanceof artificial lightning tore into Apshai's left leg, staggering the huge war machine. My shot caught the Griffin in the cockpit, decapitating it in a fan of cobalt blue sparks. For a moment the Griffin tottered on its feet. Then it fell backwards across a heap of shattered concrete. "No!" The scream erupted from my corn link. Toma had arrived in time to see his last man fall. As luck would have it, he came in behind me. A blast of charged particles ripped through Apshai's rear armor. Pain blasted me through the neurohelmet as circuits overloaded. A rank of indicators flashed then darkened. Through the view port, I saw Apshai's right arm spin free, sparks and broken cables spewing from the stump. Toma charge into view. The bright floral pattern painted on his Grand Dragon made a splash of brilliant color in the dim gray of the Factory. Wisps of ionized vapor curled up from the stubby muzzle of the Lord's Light PPC that formed the 'Mech's right arm. As he moved in, his left arm snapped up and a stab of crimson laser light hit me in the leg. A steady stream of Japanese epithets boiled from the com. In a sudden burst of irrational humor, I wondered if the live broadcast included our radio chatter. If so we'd just lost the family audience. Then another PPC bolt hit and all levity was erased. Apshai fell with a crash. I bounced in my harness, and tasted blood. Reflexively, I brought down the laser targeting and fired. One pulsing beam shot out, stitching a line across Toma's right leg. I suddenly realized the heavy laser hadn't fired. A quick check confirmed that it was off-line, probably taken out when I fell. Apshai was down to two usable weapons, her armor was breached in a dozen places and the on-board computer flickered with erratic power surges. Toma was essentially untouched. In the back of my mind, a little voice whispered I was going to die. The yawning muzzle of Toma's PPC swung into my view screen. With a burst of adrenalin, I twisted in my harness and kicked out with both legs. Miraculously, Apshai somersaulted. Ablaze of artificial lightning slagged the floor where moments ago my head had rested. Before Toma reacted, I was up and staggering at him. His laser shot went wide as I smashed into him. Apshai screamed in protest, her voice torn from shearing metal. Toma stumbled back. Massive dents and broken armor plates showed where Apshai hit. I triggered another laser shot and carved armor from his torso. "Maybe I can pull this off," I muttered. Blood stained my lips as I hit him again with the laser. Then his PPC fired and Apshai went down. This time her engine cut out. Toma advanced and his voice hissed from the corn link. "Now I will kill you." His words were flat and cold, the rage replaced by an icy, homicidal calm. "it is always thus. The servants of the Dragon are above mere mortals, the blood of ancient warriors strengthens us, drives us on to victory over any foe!" His voice rose in pitch and I saw a blue glow form inside the muzzle of his PPC. This is how my story ends, I thought. From behind my head, I thought I heard a sigh of disappointment. Instinctively, I turned to look and Apshai responded to my thoughts and movement. Driven by battery power, she rolled over just as Toma fired. The bolt hit stone, blasting a crater in the floor. Toma kept coming, spouting Japanese curses and Kurita propaganda. I saw the play of vapor around the muzzle of the PPC and on some level of my mind the pieces clicked. Cambeal's story about how a charged particle beam left an ion trail through moist air. Like the inside of a dam ... or a leaking Factory! "Cambeal, bless your heart," I muttered, hope banishing the crushing fatigue that dragged at me. I slapped the engine start and held my breath as the fusion pile tried to rekindle the star-hot core. Toma paced closer. Power surged back through Apshai's wounded systems. The targeting cross-hairs materialized but I ignored them. I wasn't going to win this fight with firepower. A mental command brought up Raythan's map and exploded the Blast Test Chamber graphic, then had the computer fix my location within it. I was so absorbed in my plan, I almost lost track of Toma. He was less than five meters away when he fired. Apshai's sudden movement threw off his shot. The bolt grazed my leg, blasting away a pair of freezers but leaving the leg actuators intact. I crawled Apshai backward, playing the part of the cringing victim while I looked for the key to my escape within the plans. I saw it, about thirty five meters from my position, a four meter thick pillar labeled primary bus- connection. It was the power feed forthe entire chamber. The only question was ... was the feed still hot? I had to assume it was; if I turned to check it with infrareds, Toma might suspect. I had to draw him in. I hauled Apshai across the floor like a crippled insect. Toma followed, a relentless executioner. He still cursed me over the com link, swearing how knowledge of his crimes would die with me. I led him back to the massive cement pillar and crashed into it as if I didn't know it was there. Apshai slumped. I lay unmoving, trying to make Toma think I had given up and was ready for the killing stroke. Toma stalked in. "Thus will perish all my foes." I heard the gloatin chuckle behind his words. The muzzle of his PPC loomed in my view screen. I stared into its black depths, thinking of the lethal energy it heal and waiting for the flow that heralded a shot. My eyes burned with the strain, but I couldn't blink. I'd have a fraction of a second to react before it fired. The blue nimbus formed. I threw everything I had into a side roll. Apshai flipped right. Toma fired. I didn't see what happened until later, on a video replay. I was too busy trying to get clear of the fireworks. Toma's shot cracked open the cement casing over the power bus. I suppose the PPC's ion trail didn't really matter. What mattered was that all that electrical current went looking for a ground. Toma's Grand Dragon was right there. The electricity arced and the Dragon came apart at the seams. In slow motion, you can see the play of the huge sparks across the legs. They carve through the armor like laser scalpels through flesh. Almost instantly, explosions start within the body of the 'Mech as myomer bundles burst. The explosive charges in the cockpit escape go next. The head blows free and arcs into the blast pit. Then, all those unfired LRM's detonate, and the CASE packing doesn't help much. Finally a golden star blossoms in the ruined 'Mech's chest as the fusion chamber splits. Toma's crest vanished in a burst of light and plasma. At the time, all I knew was that my trap worked. Arc light washed through the cockpit as I rolled. I kept moving, ignoring the grating and clanging that echoed through Apshai. Then the fusion- spawned glow filled the chamber and I knew Toma's engine had gone. The fight was over. I'd won. It took me nearly five minutes to get Apshai upon her legs. Then I started out. As I moved, I pulled up complete damage reports and calculating how long it would take to get the old girl back in fighting shape. Somehow, I felt this wasn't destined to be our last battle. At the Coil that night, happy bedlam reigned. It was a victory celebration as well as a validation of spirit. It wasn't my victory, it was ours. We'd come together under adversity and each gave all we could. The Tech crew swore they'd stick together to rebuild Apshai and already they were talking about more improvements. I let them. Now, I could afford it. The final accounting wasn't in yet, but preliminary counts of salvage rights and additional distribution of the fight tapes were promising. It looked like I'd be able to pay off all those who'd advanced me money, fix Apshai, and still have change left over. Already, offers for more fights were coming in, it seemed I'd put on quilte a show. I planned to refuse them all. Solaris may live and die by the games, but I don't. Three men died in that arena, the Griffin and Dervish pilots and, presumably, Toma. The Wyvern pilot survived, but it was doubtful he'd ever walk again. Yes, I did what I had to, but still, the thought of those men soured the taste of victory. No one else shared my touch of melancholy and, truth to tell, I didn't dwell too long on it. The key-note was celebration and we did a lot. I still insisted on pouring. At the Coil, I'd feel uncomfortable if I wasn't behind the bar. My back got slapped and everyone wanted to buy me a drink. All the table top 'vids were running the fight, though without the audio feed. In all, it was the best victory party I ever attended. And you know, something interesting came out of it. I kept overhearing fragments of conversations and eventually I put the pieces together. A lot of people in that bar bet heavily on the fight, wagering I'd win despite the odds. Now, the odds were paying off and the winners discussed how they were going to spend their new-won riches. Interestingly, there was a common theme. Most of them wanted to reclaim their status as MechWarriors. Men and women who hadn't fought in years, many who'd run from their pasts, were suddenly talking about saddling up again. As the hours trickled by, over a dozen loose partnerships formed up of people dedicated to recapturing their past. Most of them didn't want to fight in the arenas, but to find real work, warrior's work, maybe even take a slap at the Clans. I smiled and felt satisfied. The Coil's magic was at work again. About ten that night, Lenth called me over to the com link behind the bar. It was Raythan, looking faintly smug. The sight of the austere, lined face and pointed widow's peak nearly drove the party atmosphere from my lungs. I managed a sick smile and formal bow. "Precentor," I said, my voice amazingly composed. She dipped her head slightly, her hard brown eyes glittering. "You fought remarkable," she said. "I've never seen anyone perform gymnastics in a Marauder. Was my offering useful?" I nodded. "Then I shall be back in touch ... later." This time her smile was genuine. As the image faded, I wondered how long it'd be before she called in her marker. "What was that about?" I heard the concern in Sarah's voice and decided to tell her all about Raythan's offer. A commotion at the door interrupted me. When I saw who'd come in, I felt as if someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water down my shorts. It was Kito Hasia, Toma's Oyabun in the Neon Orchids, escorted by four of his body guards. No one else in the place recognized him. To them, Kito was just another middle-aged asian gentleman in a conservative suit with a few assistants who might have happened into the Coil. I knew better. The last time I'd seen Kito, he was walking across the rain slick pavement outside the Factory, Toma at his side. His words echoed back in my mind; "I am most interested in the outcome of this duel." I stood frozen by indecision while he moved through the crowd. Sounds seemed oddly muffled and everything moved in slow motion. I expected guns to emerge and death to rip through the Coil. Instead he stopped at the bar and bowed. By now,. some of the regulars had noticed what was going on. Kito and I were the center of attention. "Jansfield-san," he said, his voice soft yet powerful. "I come to offer my congratulations on a well won victory. Truly you are a warrior of rare skill and honor." I managed a thank you. Kito bowed again. "It is I who must thank you. Your actions took care of a very complex problem, the one that brought me to Solaris." For a moment, cold fury lit his eyes. "Kio Tonera was a relative of mine. He was sent to assess how Toma was running the organization on Solaris. I was readying myself to move against Toma when he unknowingly killed my wife's youngest brother. Had I acted with greater speed, the young man might still live. In any case, you have decapitated Toma's organization and now, I can reform it without having to explain to my superiors exactly why it was truly needed. All they need know is that Toma died as a failed warrior. For this service, I am indebted to you." With that, he turned and left. It took me a few moments to regain my composure. It's not every day an interstellar ganglord tells you he's in your debt. It looked like Raythan wasn't the only one who wound up with a marker. In any case, the party kept up until I decided it was time to close. At four, I served up the last round, then booted everyone out. I left the mess for Lenth to clean, served him right for sort of causing the whole problem to start with. Sarah was waiting for me outside. "I've been meaning to ask you, which of the regulars gave you that old circuit board?" The key clicked in my hand as I locked the door. Above, the neon sign was dead for the night. Sarah shrugged. "I'd never seen him before or since. He met me near the warehouse two days before the fight and said he was a friend. I trusted him. Anyone who wins a Davion Home Guard posting has to have a streak of honesty." A shudder traced my back. I remembered how Shadak looked that day years ago when we laid him out in his cheap plastic coffin. His most prized possession, his old Home Guard jacket, was laid across his shoulders, the jacket I'd never seen him without. I looked around into the fog, expecting to see...but Sarah and I were the only two on the street. The universe is vast and unknowable. Sometimes mysteries have mundane roots. Sometimes they don't. "I'm hungry." I announced, trying to banish the lingering chill. "Let's head to Yang's Flapjack House. He fixes a breakfast big enough to feed a regiment." Sarah grinned and offered me her hand. I took it. Solaris Match Schedule Location: Ishiyama Arena Date of Event: 7/13/53 Type: Team match, two-on-two Stables: (independent Teams) 'Mechs: Marauder and Wasp vs Caesar and Spider Conditions: One side wins when both enemy 'Mechs are destroyed or leave the arena. All hazards are in place. This match is a non-championship match and will have no bearing on the current rankings. Locations: Steiner Stadium Date of Event: 7/15/53 Type: Standard one-on-one duel Stables: Independent vs Silver Dragon 'Mechs: Highlander vs Hatamoto-Chi Conditions: All obstacles permanently in place until end of match. Match ends when one side's 'Mech can no longer fight. Grudge Match - will have no bearing on the current rankings. Location: The Jungle Date of Event: 7/20/53 Type: Duel Stables: Blackstar vs Starlight 'Mechs: Mad Cat vs Marauder II Conditions: Match ends when one 'Mech can no longer fight or has left the arena. The purpose of this match is uncertain, but it will not affect current rankings. Location: Xolara BattleMech Range Date of Event: 7/30/53 Type: Duel Stables: Xolara vs Nowhere 'Mechs: Assassin vs Stinger Conditions: Match ends when one 'Mech can no longer fight or has left the arena This match will determine if one of the Mech Warriors is Class 2 champion. Both are expected to become Class 3 contenders. These are the matches for which tickets are available as of 71091 53. Check your local ticket outlet for prices. Matches subject to cancellation at any time. Back to BattleTechnology 20 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com