Solaris VII, the Game World, is probably one of the best known worlds in the whole of the Successor States. Right: The Solaris Games. Critics have called them a mind boggling and inexpressibly stupid waste of precious technological resources. Somehow, the Games retain their popularity. With the notable exception of places where they are banned, BattleMech brawl broadcasts from Solaris are in great demand. With a guaranteed audience, advertisers pay handsomely to buy time on these shows. BattleMech fights are big business, and some people even see the futures of the Successor States reflected in how well contingents from each of the Houses do in combat. Because of the money involved in the Solaris games, and the supposed prophetical nature of the battles, a recent shift in the fortunes of battle have alarmed many. In this in-depth look at the Game World, we'll go behind the scenes in the big leagues to take a look at what has been happening. We'll acquaint you with the characters and scandals that have rocked Solaris, and we'll even see if history truly does ape the battles on Solaris. THE SOLARIS SYSTEM Solaris VII is a temperate, water-rich world that was first colonized with an eye toward industrialization. Because the virtually constant drizzling showers washed acids from factory exhaust back down on the populace, Solaris became known as a depressing world. In an attempt io maintain order, the first corporations on Solaris organized BattleMech games and encouraged whole factories to back corporate teams. The games became very popular, and with their popularity came promoters and MechWarriors who saw a way to make a quick fortune by defeating local champions. Soon freelance teams roved the planet like ancient barnstormers and bare-knuckled fighters. They would fight anyone, anywhere, for salvage rights plus whatever purse the town or factory could put up. The usurpation of Earth, and the subsequent battles, created a strong draw for the best of Solaris'f ighters. Suddenly bereft of talent, having lost corporate sponsors who had quickly tired of these freelancers kicking their champions around, and in fear of watching their golden-egg-laying goose die, the promoters got together and formulated a plan to save Solaris. This system, which started over 250 years ago, still rules Solaris' games today. The promoters worked up a feeder system that allowed MechWarrior hopefuls to train up slowly. Small towns merely had to provide an old barn or quarry where combatants could battle in exoskeletons to be included in Class 1, the network's lowest level. Each town doing this was given a share of the network's income proportional to the number of recruits they passed on up the line. The town continued to receive a portion of that fighter's income as long as he continued to fight on Solaris.  Solaris City-where BattleMechs fight one another to the death. Millions of fans watch these matches, betting fortunes on the outcome. In the Steiner Arena (above), tens of thousands of spectators can witness 'Mech combat in person. Class Mech Weight 1 Exoskeleton 2 Light 3 Medium 4 Heavy 5 Assault As towns become cities, the arenas become more complex and the battles more dangerous. While some suggest the feeder system is a simple five-tier set-up in which the lowest rank deals with exoskeleton fights, and the top, Solaris City, handles assault 'Mech battles, the network is actually more complex. While the five tiers do establish (with few exceptions) the upper category of 'Mech licensed to fight in each class of arena, the battles themselves vary wildly. In a Class 3 facility, for example, it is permitted for one heavy 'Mech to be pitted against a medium 'Mech. In theory, before this match takes place, permission must come from the nearest Class 4 facility (which could elect to stage the fight itself, since it involves a heavy 'Mech), but rarely has such permission been requested and never has it been refused. Fighters and 'Mechs working their way down the ranking system (most often half of an "overmatch" battle) are generally considered burn-outs, or fodder for some up-and-comers, so no one cares what happens to them. If a fighter survives the 5- to 10-year journey it will take him to rise from a Class 1 fighter to a fighter on the Solaris City circuit, he will have beaten considerable odds. He will also have made a large amount of money for the town that first sponsored him. For this reason many of the smaller towns actually go out to Galatea (the famed Mercenary's Star) and recruit hard-luck mercenaries. A number of Class 1 towns, like Sofia, Nowhere, Avondale, and Fort Defiance, have used the monies earned by their winning tradition to build training facilities that promise more of the same fine performers the towns have become famous for. The Solaris City circuit is, by far, the most lucrative. All the biggest fights, no matter what the weights are of the 'Mechs involved, are fought in Solaris City. MechWarriors are all ranked by a pyramid system of 8 levels, and may only challenge fighters on their level, or one above them, to a battle. All fights are considered "restricted" meaning the 'Mechs must be of matched weight, unless the fighters waive that restriction. Restriction waivers are seldom requested, generally only when an owner/ operator is involved in making the request. Some fighters on the Solaris circuit fight in what has become known as the "Open" class of fights. In the Open class, a phantom entity developed just over a century ago, the purses for the fights are much bigger, and the media distribution much wider. A fighter with 12 or more kills rises into this class and may, at his discretion, decline challenges from fighters who are not yet in the Open class. When the Open class was created, many pointed to it as the death of the fight system, but the influx of cash it attracted has quieted most opposition to it. Because corporate sponsors pulled out when the network was created, the promoters decided to allow nobles-both on and off world-to own "stables" of 'Mechs in much the same way that strings of race horses are owned on other worlds. Challenges, except in the case of grudge matches, are actually made between machines, not pilots. This has created some confusion in battles where a last-minute pilot substitution was made, butthisisrarely done. Still, a grudge match is the only way to ensure that one particular pilot will be fighting another in any given battle. OTHER FACTORS Victories are decided neither by 'Mech nor by MechWarrior on anything approaching a consistent basis. If they were, Solaris would have become bankrupt ages ago because every gambler in the universe would have long since won a fortune at the games. What are the other factors involved, and how do they affect the games? One important consideration is the location of the match. The Big Five arenas in Solaris City are the settings for the most important matches in the network. Virtually all the Open fights occur in these forums, and all of the battles for championship are held within their confines. Plans for the construction of a massive facility combining all of the different features in these separates facilities were torpedoed by the arena owners' cartel. Since then no one has doubted that these five arenas are, and will continue to be, the hub of gladiatorial 'Mech combat in the Successor States. THE FACTORY Located in the heart of the Montenegro district of Solaris City, the Factory can be either the most boring or the most exciting of the arenas. Right: "Twisted steel, rusting metal, and shattered ferrocrete rubble have turned the Factory into a nightmare ruin." Here a Pifleman hunts for its foe within the devastated ruins of the Marik arena known as the Factory, one of the Big Five in Solaris City. A syndicate of Free World League industrialists acquired the old manufacturing facility when they took over a multi-system corporation. Instead of scrapping the utterly outmoded factory, they rewired it for holovid cameras and turned it into an arena. The Factory was constructed on a 'Mech-sized scale. Through the corridors and up the ramps where industrial 'Mechs used to carry parts for the sub-assembly of shuttlecraft now stalk those 'Mechs' more lethal cousins. Twisted steel, rusting metal, and shattered ferrocrete rubble have turned the Factory into a nightmare ruin. 'Mechs slated for a battle in the devastated maze generally start on different levels and hunt for each other to delight the crowds who watch on closed circuit holovision from another nearby building. A huge holographic viewscreen gives fans a perfect view of a Liao Rifleman emerging victorious from the Factory. As can be expected, Free Worlds League natives seem to adapt to battle here very well. In 3026 Marik fighters battling in the Factory won an impressive 30% of their fights, followed by Kurita and Steiner, tied at 23%. In 3027 that percentage dropped to 27%, with Kurita and Steiner at 24% and 20% respectively. The fluctuation would have been considered minor except for one little thing--a jump of 14 percentage points by Liao forces in just one season. The Factory has long been considered a location that favors the thinking fighter. Because scrap metal is strewn everywhere, magscanners are useless and there's plenty of cover for small agile 'Mechs. The need for tactics is stressed when one notes that in small 2-on-1 battles featuring light 'Mechs against mediums or heavies, the larger 'Mechs take a disproportionate amount of damage and even lose some battles. Liao fighters, who favor traditional Liao 'Mechs like Vindicators and Centurions, have not generally been classed as tactically- minded. While game fighters, their general lack of discipline and solid grounding in tactics has left them at a disadvantage compared to the fighters trained by their more bellicose neighbors. Liao fighters did especially abysmally in the Factory because Marik warriors did their best to maintain their honor in their home arena. Most shocking of all in this Liao rise was that 9 of those 14 percentage points gained by Liao came at the expense of Davion fights. While Davion fighters tend to exmilitary that some people classify as renegades, the quality of their training is seldom doubted. For Davion fighters to have suffered such nasty losses, and even deaths, to Liao fighters in the Factory came as a big shock to many. THE JUNGLE The Liao home arena has been described as a massive terrarium, but this analogy really does not do justice to the magnificence of the facility. Right: "The atmospheric controls make this arena just like a slice from the Spica jungles." A Liao Archer claims victory in a match on his home ground-the Big Five arena known as the Jungle. The building encloses a little over two square kilometers of jungle in the heart of the Cathay slums in Solaris City. It first started as a Buddhist sanctuary and peace garden, but the project failed when a large corporation decided to relocate to Tikonov. Geraldo, Ling, an industrialist, adopted the garden and added enough in the way of terrain design to make the place suitable for 'Mech combat. The atmospheric controls make this arena just like a slice from the Spica jungles. When 'Mechs are not battling within the garden, a horde of gardeners and attendants repair the damage and visitors are allowed to tour the grounds. It can be safely said that the Jungle is an attraction either with or without fights raging in it. All battles are recorded on holovideo and sent via a closed circuit system to a nearby building for viewing. The Lings have a multitude of different viewing theaters-most with their own entrances-and the crowds tend to segregate into national groups to watch the fights. The Lings, it is reported and widely believed, make more money off concessions than they do off the wagering that goes on in their facility. As would be expected, Liao fighters fare well in this environment. In 3026, they won 20% of the battles fought here, but that only tied them with Kurita and placed them behind Davion (35%) and Steiner (21%). While Liao fighters regularly bested Marik combatants, they suffered loss after loss to Davion forces. As one-time champion Philip Capiet remarked, "We trashed them on the real Spica, so why should it be different here?" As with the Factory, 3027 brought new life to the Liao contingent on Solaris VII. Capellan fighters won a record- breaking 44% of their fights, forcing Davion, Steiner, and Kurita to drop way back in the Jungle rankings. Most embarrassing of all, Marik fighters won only 1% of their fights in the Jungle-a miserable showing that left them behind even the ragtag fighters who claim allegiance to the various Periphery lords. The Jungle has generally been considered an arena in which a tactician will do well. Liao fighters had an edge in their battles there just because of the amount of time they spent training in and studying the layout. Even with this greater familiarity with the Jungle, they still finished well behind the tactically adept Davion and Steiner fighters. Kurita fighters, it has long been imagined, could do better in the Jungle except that the ducking and hiding common there offends their sense of what is right and honorable in a combat. The only other time Liao fighters gained anything close to that much ground in a season came back in 2973 when the Jungle was totally redesigned and landscaped for the season. Once the other fighters got used to the new layout, the Liao edge dulled. THE ARENA Located on the outskirts of the Silesia district of Solaris City, the Steiner Arena stands as a relic of the past glories of mankind. A coalition of industrialists, with money pumped in from entertainment circles, built the Steiner Arena to be a 'Mech-sized replica of the Coliseum on Terra. Using a mixture of reflective ballistic glass and missile detonation systems, this Arena allows patrons to actually sit in stands and watch the 'Mechs battling below. Luxury boxes ring the Arena for the rich, and general admission seating is provided at a price reasonable enough even for a Class 4 facility. Kurita fighters dominated the Arena in 3026 with an impressive 40% of the victories. Davion, Steiner and Marik ran about even, and Liao's 7% victory total kept it 2 points above the Periphery contingent. In 3027 Liao came back to take third placewith 15% of the victories, behind Kurita with 37% and Steiner with 16%. Marik remained even, but Davion lost ground to Liao and Periphery forces. The Steiner Arena is a crucible in which a fighter's nerves are tested. There is no cover, no need for tactics. In this open expanse, fighters are expected to slug it out, and the majority of battles in this location pit teams of multiple 'Mechs against each other. While sorting out victories by nationality is difficult in those settings, the improvement by Liao forces could not be denied. The improvement was originally put down to a rumored influx of new 'Mechs, but this explanation proved false. Many commentators finally had to concede the Liao forces were responding to the example their new champion offered them, and this bolstered their spirit and their desire to fight. ISHIYAMA Ishiyama is the Kurita arena. It dominates the Kobe district and looks very much like the "stone mountain" indicated by its name. Within the confines of this beautifully crafted ferrocrete mountain is a labyrinth of tunnels and gorges that rival the natural caverns of the world. Ishiyama is a place of haunting beauty, and the baffles here proceed as if choreographed. Ishiyama was designed by one individual, Anjin Ito, but he broke the plans down into several parts before the building started. It was not uncommon during its construction to have one work crew cutting into or modifying something another crew had created two years before. Rumors of secret passages and hidden chambers abound, but the original plans were destroyed so this has not been confirmed by anyone. It has been suggested in public and in private that not even the arena master knows all the secrets of Ishiyama. As would be expected, fighters from the Draconis Combine win a plurality of the battles in Ishiyama. In 3026 they won 37% of thefights, butthis share slipped to30% in 3027. (it is rumored the Coordinator will commit seppuku if his people lose any more ground, so the Kurita battlers have stepped up training for the 3028 season.) Once again Liao MechWarriors gained impressively from 3026 to 3027. Davion loyalists have complained about how the Justin Xiang/Philip Capet fight was scored, but precedent backed up the arena master's ruling. The Davion supporters might have more correctly blamed the number of Vindicators used by Liao fighters as the source of their trouble. Ishiyama, with its gorges, certainly favors jump-capable 'Mechs. BOREAL REACH Not to be outdone by anyone, the Federated Suns has the largest, most complex facility on Solaris VII. Boreal Reach is a four- square-kilometer arena located between the Black Hills district of Solaris City and the Cathay slums. Above: Mechs might require an hour to hunt for each other in this frozen killzone, but when contact is made the fighting runs fast and furious." Hot action in a cold climate in the Davion arena known as the Boreal Reach. The site lies half-buried in the earth and required the construction of two geothermal generating centers just to service its power needs. Boreal Reach is an icy wilderness. The whole facility is refrigerated and the battlefield is cycled through a weather program that is unpredictable at best. Not only do fighters oppose other MechWarriors in Boreal Reach they fight the arena itself. This danger is offset by the extremely low temperature of the arena which makes overheating much less of a problem. 'Mechs might require an hour to hunt for each other in this frozen kilizone, but when contact is made the fighting runs fast and furious. In 3026, to no one's surprise, Davion fighters finished first in this facility by winning 40% of their battles. Liao came in a dismal last with only 2% of the victories. Boreal Reach seemed especially kind to the Periphery pilots, letting them win 7% of their battles. As one commented after a nasty fight, "Hell, we're used to having everything against us. Boreal Reach is nicer than the planet I came from. If I win here, maybe they'll let me stay for a while." Davion did not surrender its ownership of the Boreal Reach title in 3027, but Liao's forces really came on strong. They picked up 17 percentage points over their 3026 finish, slicing it in almost equal portions from Davion, Steiner, Kurita, and Periphery fighters. Marik fans were overjoyed that they lost no ground, but they did not brag about it as their fighters did not engage any Liao f ighters; within the confines of Boreal Reach in that season. Boreal Reach has long been considered the most demanding of the battle arenas. In it a fighter must be a tactician if he wants to make the best of the ice caves, floating icebergs, and transient blizzards offered by the arena. In addition, a MechWarrior must have good aim and the nerve to handle battles at very close quarters. 'Mechs that have done well tend to have medium lasers, autocannons and SRMsall weapons that favor shorter range battles. Opinions vary as to why the Liao fighters picked up those 17 points, but we do know it was not from being picky about who they would fight inside Boreal Reach. Promoters found Liao fighters ready and willing to take on any competition in Boreal Reach, and if the opponent was a Federated Suns expatriate, so much the better. This aggressive attitude bled over into the other statistics we will analyze. In addition to the analysis of how well a pilot performs in a given arena, handicappers have often looked at the pilot matchups to determine what they believe the outcome will be. As noted above, no serious bettor looks to the pilot to determine a winner, but the pilot might determine bets on the length of the fight, what weapons will be used first, and so on. Obviously, on Solaris, you can bet on virtually anything. One percentage often touted as being valuable is what many refer to as the "virgin" percentage. This is, despite the name, not concerned with the number of fights the combatant has had. Instead, it is the percentage of first-time fights he has won. In 3026 House Kurita and House Davion led the league with 32% and 30% victories in this class. Analysts agreed that the high sense of honor felt by the Draconian fighters, and the excellent training of the Davion ex-military, made them formidable opponents when a fighter had not faced them before. In 3027 the percentage shifted quite a bit. Davion and Kurita fighters tied with a Virgin percentage of 27. While Steiner edged into third with a 19% victory rate, House Liao came in a very respectable fourth. Liao had won only 12% of its virgin matches in 3026 but a year later took 18% of them. It is true that many Davion fans maintain this was skewed by the inclusion of Justin Xiang's fights in the computations a controversy we will cover shortly. Similar to, but considered even more useful than, the virgin percentage is the percentage of grudge matches won by a particular House contingent. As would be expected, House Kurita excels in this category. In 3026 they won an impressive 48% of their rematches, leaving Davion a distant second with only 28% victories the second time around. While Davion backers note this percentage is lower than the Kurita figure, they like to point out that very few invitations for rematches were issued to them in 3026, and none came from defeated Kurita fighters. 3027 saw another upheaval in the percentages. Kurita lost 11 percentage points. Whilethis did notdropthem from first place, it did trim 6 points from their lead over House Davion. House Liao, on the other hand, won 20% of their grudge battles-a 15 point improvement over 3026. To the aggravation of Davion backers, Justin Xiang only fought one repeat match, so this increase could not be blamed on him. The last statistic for us to look at really tells the tale of the shift between 3026 and 3027. Presented in the table above, it is a chart of the percentage of victories of one House over another. The first percentage listed in each column is for 3026 and the second for 3027. Looking across the top line of the chart, it is clear that House Davion beat House Liao in 70% of their meetings during 3026. While this was not the best percentage of victories logged against House Liao, it did contain some of the most important battles. Through fighting and defeating a long line of Liao opponents, Philip Capet ascended to the Champion's Throne and was said to preside over the exclusive area of the club known as Thor's Shieldhall in the Silesia district of Solaris City. This gathering place, known as Valhalla, is the place where MechWarriors come to be seen and to enjoy the company of their peers. In addition to his own impressive string of victories, Capet put his training as a drill instructor to good use and developed a cadre of young MechWarriors who were equally rough on Capellan fighters. Billy Wolfson and Peter Armstrong led this pack of warriors who seemed destined to dominate the Solaris battlefields for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately for all of them, the destiny they felt wrapped up in was not their own. Enter Justin Xiang Allard. WHY THEY CRY FOUL! Justin Xiang Allard arrived on Solaris unheralded, but he did not stay unknown for long. Certainly the holovids of his treason trial had made it as far as Solaris, but on this world, newscasts are fillers for sports programming, not the other way around. When he first showed up in February of 3027, virtually no one recognized him; and because he no longer answered to Allard, no one recognized his name. Xiang won his first battle by coldcocking a Vindicator's pilot and taking his place in a fight at the Steiner Arena. He faced Billy Wolfson in a Hermes II from Lord Brighton's stable. Certain people suggested the fight had been fixed because of the abnormally low odds against Wolfson, but others pointed out that Fuh Teng, the Vindicator's pilot, was coming off a serious injury and had not fought for over a month. Xiang skillfully dealt with Wolfson, forcing the younger pilot to punch out of a burning 'Mech. The two pilots exchanged hot words, and Wolfson later vowed to avenge himself on Xiang. (One of Wolfson's friends said he was reluctant to fight Xiang again, but Capet and Lord Brighton--who wanted the ejection bond repaid--convinced him to demand a rematch.) Xiang, it appeared, had bet heavily on himself to win. In addition to the purse, the bets and the 100,000 Cb ejection bond Lord Brighton surrendered to him, Xiang became a very rich man in his first night at work. Davion nobles moved to have Xiang barred from fighting and to have the loss overturned, but the Fighting Commission rejected their claim. They had correctly pointed out that Xiang was not certified to fight at the fifth level and that new certificates could not be issued until the next season, but their greed came back to haunt them. The Commission agreed with a spokesman for Fuh Teng who noted his brother had been killed only a month previously, right at the start of the season. In accord with a little used precedent established a dozen years before, Fuh Teng--as the executor of his brother's estate--gave Sze Teng's certificate to Xiang. The Commission let the victory stand. Wolfson's defeat was the first loss suffered by one of Capet's cadre in the new season ' and it seemed that many fighters took it as an omen that Capet's people were no longer invulnerable. Like a single crack in a dam, that loss started the House Davion edge crumbling. A shift in the bookmakers' attitudesand the odds on the fights-started when they learned the Legend-Killer Gray Noton had befriended Xiang. Noton was the first Champion in conscious memory to retire while at the top of the heap. Even though he'd not fought publicly in five years, he was still accorded a place of honor in Valhalla and his advice was sought by many. His open encouragement of Xiang told many folks Xiang was a fighter to watch. A real uproar exploded when the Commission made the decision to log Xiang's victories as Liao wins. Nobles from the Federated Suns hated the pilot for what he had done to the AFFS, but they could not stand to have his victories tallied in the Liao column. They point out that Justin Allard had graduated from Sakhara Academy and had served with the AFFS. How could his victories be considered as belonging to Liao? The Commission ruled that because of his mixed blood and because he was fighting under a certificate issued to a Capellan fighter, he would be considered a member of House Liao. Xiang himself said, "Those nobles will get their wish. They will see my victories tallied up for House Davion, only they'll be in the loss column." WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Even though Xiang left Solaris in midseason 3027, the Liao contingent continued their strong drive. Xiang, it is reported, invested a large portion of his personal wealth with Fuh Teng. As a result, Teng Stables has expanded and purchased a controlling interest in a fourth circuit training facility. Liao fighters associated with Teng Stables get training and excellent equipment. Unless these fighters leave Solaris, Liao should be a force for the next few seasons. The Davion contingent remains weakened. Xiang's meteoric rise to the Solaris Championship savaged the Davion ranks. In addition to the deaths resulting from Justin Xiang's crusade, a number of fighters with Davion loyalties have been lured back to the Federated Suns by the attraction of the Galahad exercises. There are rumors, probably spurious, that Prince Hanse Davion has offered these fighters commissions in the AFFS. This is doubtful because the pit fighters of Solaris seldom take well to the discipline and coordination needed in a military operation, but recruiters can always hope for another Gray Noton among the fighters on Solaris. Future? It has often been suggested that the battles on Solaris are a window into the future of warfare in the Successor States. Parallels have been drawn between the 3012 season on Solaris and the death of Prince Ian Davion on Mallory's World a year later. Examples like this extend back to the earliest battles on Solaris. As with all predictive arts, like astrology or phrenology, it is much easier to retrofit the connections that it is to tell what is coming in the future. Still, the general rise in Liao skill and pride may reflect a resurgent nationalism in the Capellan Confederation. Indeed, the winning season of 3027 and the heady start of the 3028 season (Liao fighters are 10-5-2 against Davion opponents) could become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy if they help dispel the idea of Davion invincibility that the Galahad operations seem to engender. If nothing else, House Liao will dominate the Solaris Games in the short term and might even start a dynasty that others will have to work hard to destroy. Why Bet on Machines Instead of Men? Debate has raged back and forth over the subject of setting matches between machines instead of their pilots. Originally this was allowed because the nobles were scrambling desperately to put pilots inside their machines. Handicappers soon noticed that the expertise of a pilot might decide a battle between two evenly matched 'Mechs, but even a marksman in a Locust could not defeat a Warhammer. In addition, bookmakers found it much easier to keep track of the repair status of a 'Mech than to find out the condition of the pilot. While most people have come to accept this way of doing business, there are those who point out that a pilot can make a big difference. Most recently, the 3027 champion, Justin Xiang, got his start when he replaced Fuh Teng in a match that pitted a Vindicator against a Hermes. Xiang won in the Vindicator, starting a number of protests, but officials noted the Vindicator should have won--it was heavier and better armed than the Hermes They concluded that those who had placed bets on the basis of pilot name had just made bad choices. Legend-Killer Gray Noton came to Solaris VII as a youngster. He maintained he'd stowed away on a ship inbound from the Periphery and had come to see what all the excitement was about on Solaris. Though often repeated during his lifetime and to him, Noton neither denied the story, nor offered to expand upon it. His vagueness about his past and his occasional absences from Solaris VII led to many guesses about his background, but no one ever heard the definitive story. Or, at least, no one ever told. Whereas Noton might have been deceptive concerning himself, there was no doubt about his abilities in a 'Mech. As a boy of 14, he indentured himself to the master of a Class 1 arena. Inside a year Noton had defeated all comers in his weight class, and a few above him. Scouts marked him as a pilot with a natural talent for 'Mech piloting. Offers flooded in. Noton chose shrewdly and worked his way up through the fighting system. In doing this he avoided the mistake made by many young fighters. Nicknamed "Mayflies," these fighters jump straight into the rough-andtumble baffles of the larger circuits without the seasoning the system can give a fighter. They burn out in a season, and another shining star is forgotten. By 3010 Noton was 25 years old and easily capable of breaking into the Solaris City circuit. Joking with a reporter that "the competition isn't good enough," he left Solaris and put in a five-year stint with a mercenary company assigned by the Free Worlds League to clean up the Periphery Bandits out in the Rim Commonality. As if he were a holovid personality sent to war as part of a patriotic effort, dispatches and holovid clips of Noton in action were hot sellers; and two "documentaries," it was discovered later, were staged and filmed without Noton's knowledge in the Lyran Commonwealth by a couple of disreputable distributors. Noton returned with a nearly mint-condition Rifleman and agreed to fight on the Solaris Circuit. Although he'd never fought in the fifth circuit before, the people backed him by betting on him. Noton avoided the flamboyance and theatrics of most other fights, yet showed all of their skill and then some. After a series of fights against a number of "champions," fans christened Noton "Legend- Killer." Noton designed and had emblazoned on his Rifleman a crest with a cartoon ghost in the center of a circular sight. That symbol marked the Solaris Champion for the next seven years. Noton surprised many when he stepped down at the end of the 3022 season. Noton, who went into the import/export business upon retirement, died unexpectedly in 3027. Even in death he supported Justin Xiang and willed him his business and his Rifleman for his final baftle with Philip Capet. Back to BattleTechnology 5 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing. 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