[b][i]NPDRE Forward Operating Base North Nui Awa 0130 Hours 30 March, 3030[/i][/b] [color=Gray]"Get a load of this shit,"[/color] Jester 2 said with a derisive chuckle, beckoning the timid AsTech over to her. In the couple of days she'd had since she and her Mech had avoided the shootout in the mountain pass, she'd taken to tormenting the skinny blonde tech as a way to relieve stress, make herself feel more powerful as events in the war seemed to be totally out of her hands. Whatever the Crimson King had in mind, whatever the Duchess's grand plans were for sending them to this backwater planet in the first place, it wasn't her call to make. All she was here for was to shoot who the King told her to shoot. [color=SteelBlue]"What's wrong, sir?"[/color] the AsTech came rushing over, her eyes heavy with sleeplessness after yet another double-shift, her voice filled with trepidation. [color=SteelBlue]"We've run diagnostics on every system on the [i]Warhammer[/i] and triple-checked, she should be combat-ready once the machine gun ammunition is--"[/color] [color=Gray]"Quit yapping!"[/color] Jester 2 barked from behind the laughing-skull paint job of her helmet. She raised a backhand, and was satisfied to see the AsTech flinch. [color=Gray]"I told you to come watch, not talk. Check it out; the Crimson King just forced the Green Knights' hand."[/color] Pulling up the live feed on her noteputer, the Crimson Fist Mechwarrior displayed a broadcast from a stone-faced man the news identified as Colonel Gaius Wayne. [color=Olive][i]"--reject your accusations outright, and demand the right to defend our honor. Since arriving on Espia, the actions of the Crimson Fists have not been of Mechwarriors worthy of the title, but of bloodthirsty thugs and cowards. Whoever you are, 'Crimson King,' I know that under your mask, you aren't the fearsome mercenary you pretend to be. You're likely a vain, spineless little man, maybe an idle noble too far from succession to have a title, maybe a corporate trust-fund layabout. A spoiled brat of a child, playing at war. And when we started breaking your toys, you decided to throw a tantrum."[/i][/color] [color=Gray]"Oh, King's not gonna like that,"[/color] Jester 2 said with a [i]tssk.[/i] [color=Olive][i]"Still, even though I know I'm talking to a puffed-up parody of a Mechwarrior,"[/i][/color] the Colonel continued, [color=Olive][i]"I can tell that you also can't resist the chance to put on a show. By the tenets of the Lorix Creed, by the honors of war, and by my own merits as a warrior and as a man, I challenge you to single combat. You have my Battlemech, a BLR-1G [u]Battlemaster[/u] identical to the one you pilot, in your possession. Bring that Mech to the coordinates I'm attaching to this message, and the two of us will be on equal grounds to settle this. If you have any shred of integrity, the slightest whiff of a warrior's spirit-- to put it quite bluntly, [b]if you have the balls for it[/b]-- you will fight me at dawn, and maybe, just maybe....whatever parent or authority figure you're currently failing to impress will think better of you when it's done."[/i][/color] The instant the message cut off, Jester 2's comm-link went active. [color=Crimson][i]"Attention, all Crimson Fists!"[/i][/color] came the voice of the Crimson King. [color=Crimson][i]"Mount up, and prepare to move out!"[/i][/color] Jester 2 laughed. [color=Gray]"Oh wow, that [i]really[/i] got under his skin,"[/color] she chuckled, heading towards her tent. [color=Gray]"Help me get the links for my Neurohelmet attached, and I'll get the [i]Warhammer[/i] spun up and ready to roll. Promise not to step on ya on my way out."[/color] [color=SteelBlue]"Right behind you..."[/color] Wrathchild said, her knuckles white as she gripped a heavy actuator wrench in one hand, and stepped into the tent after the enemy Mechwarrior... [hr] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/eLoQcAy.png[/img][/center] [center][color=Gray][b]M I S S I O N S T A R T[/b][/color][/center] [i][b]Outside Fort Tie Shan Before Dawn 30 March, 3030[/b][/i] [color=SkyBlue]"Ah, okay, everyone,"[/color] Lieutenant Lyons called out from the command console of the Mobile HQ, seated back a few kilometers from the Fort. [color=SkyBlue]"We're in position, keeping overwatch. Average response time for aerial defense assets is ten minutes, five if the Espian Guard is on high alert. So we'll need to move quickly once the shooting starts. We'll be scanning the area for enemy contacts and calling them out to you!"[/color] Lyons clearly wasn't comfortable with the Colonel gone, but they had a job to do, and an awful lot of people counting on them. Higgins and Windham were actually behaving themselves for a change, as even they could appreciate the seriousness of what was at stake. [color=Khaki]"Comms chatter is looking light so far,"[/color] Cadet Higgins said, [color=Khaki]"Sounds like the Colonel pissed off the fists enough that the Mech force is all a good ways west of us. A fair amount of regular chat among the personnel. I don't think they know we're coming."[/color] [color=FireBrick]"Seismic sensors show two fifty-ton contacts, and two twenty-fivers,"[/color] Cadet Windham said. [color=FireBrick]"Given their movement profiles, we're likely looking at a garrison force of armor, probably a couple of Scorpion light tanks and a couple of medium hovertanks. On top of the turrets, those might be a problem."[/color] [color=RosyBrown][i]"APCs and evac fleet are in position,"[/i][/color] Sgt. Dalton called in. [color=RosyBrown][i]"Give the word, and me and the Boys will start making some noise."[/i][/color] [color=SkyBlue]"We're all counting on you, Green Knights,"[/color] said Lyons, [color=SkyBlue]"Good hunting!"[/color]