Th3King0fChaos

O R I F L A M M E

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Dogs of War

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Mentions/Interaction: Vali, Twice Born @Wolfieh, Hrothgar the Black, and the warriors under his command @Force and Fury

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The sounds of metal clasping and clattering together, yet it sounded more solid, as the metal hitting each other seemed to be solid yet not letting off a resonating sound. Kol stands tall as on each of his sides people stand holding a piece of black armor that is to be fit to him. Some seem to struggle with each piece as it seemed to weigh much more than expected, yet to Kol it has became a simple weight now. He had trained to fight, run, jump, climb in this armor, and now to him it is nothing more than his armor now. As the armor began to form on Kol, these scales that once covered a great Dragon now covers the man who slayed it. As they attached piece after piece, his thoughts led back to the war council, the heated talks about how they are to go at the beach of Relouse. Yelling could be heard of each side: If they were to go straight on, they'd surely be routed, the beach could not allow them to the beach all the ships they have brought to allow their forces to flood the area, they'd be killed in a choke that the cliffs formed. Others spoke about turning the cliffs into rubles as they sent wave after wave until they could send all of their people through. Yet a third option was tossed into the pool, one that was silently spoken between those closest to Hrothgar.

The cliffs were but a small mountain, any able Eskandr has once in their life climbed a wall, a mountain, or a cliff, and today was going to be nothing different. Like a hidden viper, they will send forces in a pincer, allowing for a feint to occur, then the true force comes and drops the axe. Kol had volunteered to be the one to take the cliffs, few had the similar powers or prowess Kol has. He was to be the one to spearhead, and he hand-picked those lords who are to follow. Those who understood the meaning behind Death's Hand must understand fully what is to happen, no one the Hand of Death points to will be able to run from it.

As the fog began to lighten, Kol knew they were to reach their destination soon, and so it was time for him to make his appearance. As Kol had finally stepped from his chambers, he stood in front of hundreds of men preparing themselves. Many seem to be giving last prayers, others take out herbs, mushrooms, or tinctures as they begin to consume them. As it seemed men change to beasts as they almost become crazed, barely leashed by the shamans that are accompanying these berserkers. Kol began to make his way to the helm of the ship as he looked back to his people, they looked to him as if waiting. Kol took in a breath as he took in the energy from the sea, the energy around him began to feel palpable to even those who are unable to use the Gift, as he let out a roar to the skies. Almost like a war horn was sounded, as the roar of the Eskandr were against the waves almost sounded like the clamoring of beasts trying to be released from their cage.

As the ships closed in on the cliff, Kol stood upon the helm of the ship he looked to his side and saw those who will follow his lead. His Brother of the closest order is to follow behind, Kol then looked to his other side and some of his most trusted Jarls. Of them many had sworn loyalty to him after him taking the crown of Strumreef from his father. They were the ones to know the fate of their land without his hand, and what it bears, and now they followed it. As they looked towards Kol he gave them a head nod as each of them flew off in a soaring leap, as Kol watched his people launch themselves to the sky his mind began to fill of wyverns, as he himself soared.

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Like a boulder hitting the earth, Kol landed with such force that it crushed the ground under him like fresh snow. He pulled in the energy when he would land to make the landing deal no pain to Kol. As he stood at the cliff, the last sliver of Sun finally set upon his back, as soon, Kol felt his body lighten, as he knew it was time. He looked towards Val and said, "Brother, go an take this group and scout ahead. Any hidden mages or groups will need to be dealt with". As he raised his hand, he gestures to a group of hunter-like warriors, strong and slender men and women, armed with bows, slings, and javelins. Many of them seem keen and ready and from a quick glance quite a few seem to have some skill in the gift. They were going to be hunting stragglers and hidden mages they might plan to use from this wilderness, disrupting possibly larger groups before Kol and his group would plow them down.

Kol turned to his men as his hand landed upon one man, then another, then another and multiple as he began barking orders to them. These men who Kol pointed to will be the ones directing groups and splitting them up, as they were going to be splitting into 2 trains, each will be sent to hit different parts of the northwestern wall. The first and the larger of the forces will be heading directly towards the gates, while the other one will be taking a wide berth to clear out and rout the possible hidden rear guard then meet back up with the other half of their force. Kol was going to be heading the 2nd force to clear the possible hidden rear guard, because if they were to be at the wall and then a secondary rear guard pulls up and pincers them against the wall, even the weakest Shamans and Mages the Greenlanders can muster would be ten folds effective.

Kol then looked to the men who are ready to follow and yelled to them, "FORWARD!!!" As the men roared they ran forward to the forest, as Kol looked towards it, he thought about his Blood Brother whom he sent in first. Kol knew he would do fine, he was a hunter of great renown, and all this force was to do was to clear out any stragglers or big groups Vali left behind. Yet as Kol looked towards the woods he and his people were to head towards, he felt as if there was something within that looked like a hidden predator. Like a spider as they enter its web.

Summary

-Kol recalls the many different plans, and his involvement in the feint.
-Lands near The Witch Woods and sends Vali and multiple skilled hunters, warriors, and people skilled in the gift.
-Splits his group into 2, one group to head to the gate immediately while Kol takes a few more people to rout the rest of the possible rear guard within the Woods.

Avalia

Time: Night Time
Location: Inn by the Sea
Interactions/Mentions: Rue/Sairose @Potter, Raven @Tae, Bowyn @Helo, and @Kazemitsu
Armor:
A full suit of Steel Half Plate & a
Steel Targe
Steel Half Plate
Weapon(s):
Steel Longsword

Inventory: A rogue-ish set of clothing, his dog tags, and a set of faux demihuman Wolf ears, a Ring of Disguise, two rations of food, water flask, a bar of soap and a few other portable hygienic products.

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Ismael tossed a nod to Kharne when he spoke about mercenary work pays better, it was very true, and he knew that. The pay for a Small Arms repairman working for the military and with the military is night and day. Even with this light conversation and then the introduction of 2 new party members, Ismael had a bad feeling, like the night was going to get annoying.

Ismael and Kharne had gotten into an argument with Sairose, 'Great, you wanna run off too? Y'all have a few fucking screws loose'. Rue spoke up after her maybe 20th or so check on Sairose asking a slightly strange but valid question, "Do we have wolves? Hmm…". Ismael wanted to play up the idea of mystery, maybe get a little few chuckles out of it as he then said, "…Hmm, we do have wolves, but they are much bigger than the ones I've seen here. They are much bigger, and meaner, they had larger teeth that are the same size of my arm. And they can swallow you whole in one bite".

Ismael continued on this little rant about how dangerous the wolves were as he began to notice each person around him. Kharne, Bowyn, and Rue all have very different physiology, their bodies looked human-like, yet they had features very different to what he knows. As he continued to speak about the big paws that could smash boulders and a nose that can smell fear, he began to take notice of the features on each person. Maybe different reactions can occur based upon what emotions he invokes.

Yet as he spoke, he noticed Kharne almost staring out the window and thought back to the argument they had with Sairose. Thankfully it settled down and she promised to not head off and make them…'and there she goes'. Ismael almost curses out loud as she literally ran off on her own without even telling them. The only reason he noticed before Kharne explicitly stated it was because he caught Kharne's ear twitching while Ismael was taking note of Kharne's features.

Ismael tossed himself back onto the bed and sighed in frustration. Ismael just listened for a moment, as he heard Kharne speak about Sairose and them coming to this world and Ismael spoke up as he laid there, "Yeah it is a bit to take in-", Ismael let another sigh out as he continued, "-yeah she probably has a plan, she seems a little smarter than to just run off to god knows where and get captured". Ismael then turned over onto his side as he looked towards the group more, he looked to both Bowyn and Rue as he said, trying to switch the topic away from Kharne sulking, "So how did you two meet?"

Mechwarrior: Disposable Heroes

Thump.Thump.Thump.

The sound of a heartbeat begins to resound throughout the ears, the only thing that can be heard other than the ever-growing sound of a heartbeat is heavy erratic breathing.

In the dead of night, the sound of feet slamming to the ground, dead vegetation snapping underneath the force of a set of feet sprinting, rocks clattering together and getting thrown up as leaps and jumps are performed, and grunts letting loose anytime a collision with a large object is either done or nearly avoided inbetween quick and sharp breaths. Lights are constantly flashing through a large tree line as whimpering can be heard. Looking down in hands garbed in thick gloves there is a small girl crying, as light flashes over she looks up in fear, her eyes seem to flash over to the side as trees begin to collapse and get sent flying. A quick duck under one that comes flying seem to almost reveal a large and fast mech almost flying over, as in slow motion it looks down and the once white light it has seems to lock on and turn red.

Thump Thump Thump

The roar of machines comes from behind as bullet fire is let loose from all directions. Lights are constantly passing through the trees as they shift between white and red. Trees begin to get crushed, wood splintering, rockets whiz by, and the whimpering grew to outright crying. Vision begins to dart wildly as other great machines seem to constantly burst through the trees and seem to overshoot their intended target. Through the ever-growing heartbeat and sporadic breathing, the crying is starting to become the only thing that can be heard.

ThumpThumpThumpThumpThump

Smoke fills the area as the glow of red and orange light seems to fill the area or follows. The crying becomes something like wailing, yet even that seemed to be fading out as the heartbeat seems to even be ramping up further. Everything seems to blur as the smoke seems to be choking out the erratic breathing, leaving coughs and wheezes as the trees fly by, and light seems to break through the trees.

DumDumDumDumDumDumDum

The world seems to slow to a standstill. The blinding light finally fades away as there stands hundreds of men, in front of them all stands a line of younger teens and adults. From left to right guns slowly lower to the back of each of their heads, each of them try to break from the grips of the men, yet are unable to, they yell and scream, yet nothing can be heard as the heartbeat becomes so loud that even breathing can't be heard. The moment the guns level, a loud bang can be heard.

Thump…Thump…Thump…Thump…buzz~

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Location:
Abandoned Neodymium Mine
Eunsan Mountain Range
250 Kilometers Southwest of Balya Gora
Date/Time:
March 22nd, 3030/ 0400-0730
Interactions: Reya Wyatt @Pilatus
Gear:
His clothing: Boots, long-sleeved shirt, pants, gloves, holstered handgun with 20 rounds

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Tarak awoke in a cold sweat, lurching up at such a speed that it could have been missed in the dark. Tarak is taking in gasping breaths as he begins to look around, everyone around him seems to be asleep. Some more restful than others, yet asleep nonetheless. Tarak swooped his legs off of the boxes that were commandeered for him to make a place to lay on. He grabbed his watering can as he looked to the clock that is set up, 4 hours. Tarak sighed as he looked at the clock that said 4 O'clock, he thought about how it was some of the better sleep he's gotten over this time, at least he didn't wake anyone up this time. Tarak began getting up and grabbing his clothing, as he dressed himself, he quietly walked through the cave, he was going to be heading to his favorite spot he found.

As Tarak free climbed the wall, he began to feel his grip weaken, he realized all of this is finally taking its toll, yet he was not going to let the others see it. As he continued to climb he finally reached a lip as he clambered up and over as it revealed a small alcove large enough for one to two people can fit comfortably. As Tarak finally made it up, he sighed as he looked to the area as he began to lay down. He put his hands behind his head as he took in a breath as he began doing sit ups, he was going to work this out of him, he couldn't do anything else. Leaving would be suicide, Black Phoenix isn't as limited on ammunition as some of the other Mechs here, however that does not mean he can go about galivanting. He needs to think every damaged piece of armor he deals to the enemy can be easily repaired, for him it is permanent until they can find better facilities.

Yet he can't stop thinking about those taken by those a part of the group of the military coup. The NPDRE took many of those who were found with the Green Knights' non-combatant groups. Taking many different people, and split up those he is closest to. The Orphans had seen rough times, they have lost people, yet as long as they were together they could make it through. Yet now, they have split apart, many either lost, taken, or worst, and all they could do is sit here. Tarak gritted his teeth as he began to do sit-ups faster, he then switched to push-ups as he started doing them in very rapid succession. He was getting sick of waiting, he wanted to do something, they have lost so much, and as they wait they lose more. They lost multiple Mech pilots from the Coup, they lost multiple Lances from these Crimson Fists, and Tarak has not even been able to do anything.

Once they lost that last Lance, morale dropped to an all-time low, with Bobby saying what he said on an open channel it made most begin to lose hope. It told them how dire the situation was, and now with them wallowing here, most are about at their end. Tarak threw himself up to his feet as he did a hop into the air before landing back down into a push-up and continuing to do this up and down. Tarak and his Lance had ran recon, they seemed to have been one of the lucky few in this as when they were hit, they were hit by ground armor rather than BattleMechs, yet luck would be far from it, multiple of the Mechs were hit, with Black Phoenix losing a few hundred pounds of armor in that short fight, and without any supplies or materials, they can't repair a single thing. Tarak clenched his fists as he stood up, as he began to Shadow Box, they had to do something, nothing comes to those who sit and wait.

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3 HOURS LATER

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Tarak had finally descended from his little perch and began going about his morning routine. He began going to where the Orphans have cut a little area for themselves, it is a small fort made of some empty boxes, torn tarps, some rope, and some equipment. There Tarak had seen many of the people he literally grew up with withering away, yet when they see Tarak they seem to try and straighten themselves up as much as they can. Trying to make themselves look like they aren't losing hope, putting on smiles, and even trying to do work that they made up. Tarak knew what they were doing, it was something they all figured out in the Scrap Yard. Tarak wore a smile as he walked around and checked on them. When the meager food and light water rations were given out, Tarak made sure that everyone had their fill. They could not bulk up their food, their food was already bulked up as much as they could without having it become more sawdust than food. Water has also begun to run low, as Espia had no natural freshwater holes. They had to desalinize the water and it is difficult to do without being forced into a cave and without any of their ships or larger machinery.

Once finished, Tarak got up, and gave each of his siblings hugs as he then began his work as a Mechwarrior. He began checks on Black Phoenix, first starting her up to make sure she still has life in her, some small checks over the limbs making sure that any severed myomer fibers, worn solenoids, and any nonfunctioning actuators are taken care of. Well, patched, oiled, or covered to make sure that it doesn't become a greater liability later. He let out a sigh as he found a few of his systems weren't running at full efficiency, half efficiency would have been passable yet he sadly was below even that, yet he was happy that the Jump Jets, the hand actuators, and the knee actuators seemed to be working. That at least meant if things got hairy, he had some way to fight some bigger mechs, or survive for another day. Yet next was his main armaments, and he would need some assistance with that.

Tarak headed out to find their resident laser weapon expert, Reya. Tarak spent about 5 minutes until he heard the tell-tale signs Ryea had passed through, some people seemed to have been hiding some of their weapons, and none of the Mechwarriors seem to be around. Tarak talked to a few people around as he finally made it to the area Reya seemed to be, she seemed to be checking over some weapons. Tarak called out to her in a calm tone, "Rey, can I get a bit of your time? I would like you to come to check Phoenix's weapons real quick. I might have a track I'll let you borrow if you do~". Tarak threw a quick smile and gesture over to Black Phoenix as he held up a cassette, it looked worn, yet it had written on it 'Assault Metal'. It is a cassette filled with some of the 'greatest hits' Tarak was able to find throughout his time. He continued as he lightly waved it and said, "All the way from Lyran Commonwealth, even has some of the trademarked music the Solaris Games has". Yet when he said this, he heard a loud and commanding voice resound through the cave. Gawain calls his swords, Tarak thought to himself, 'Took you long enough'.

Mechwarrior: Disposable Heroes

Desperado

Tarak

Desperado

Physical Appearance:
Tarak is a 24 year old man with tanned skin, stands at 6'4, and weighs 265 pounds where it seems every ounce of that weight seems to be dedicated to his muscular physique. His body is much more like a worked machine running at top efficiency, he has low fat on his body and is quite prone to being cold. Tarak has short to medium-length black hair that he lets down more often than not. His eyes are these golden brown eyes that seem to always have a sharpness and almost shininess to them. He has many scars across his body, the most numerous being on his back, his torso, and on his legs, many of which look quite nasty as many were never properly treated but easily hidden by simple clothing, except for the one on his face the he received when he was younger.

Tarak is a simpler man, he has some money, but he spends very little of it on clothing. He has basic clothing at best, a tee shirt, black pants, some shorts, a jacket, and some thick and sturdy boots. Leaving to where Tarak has very little in the way of variety in clothing, to the point people will often think he has multiple sets of the same outfit, but sometimes he just forgets to clean some of his clothing and wears it, but nobody notices.

Character Archetype:
Hotshot with a haunting past

Character’s Guiding Motto:
Face forward and clench your fists, nothing comes to those who sit and wait.

Character’s Fatal Flaw:
Tarak is trying to do the best for those he has with him left. He tries to run from the things he has done, the enemies he's made, and the people he's lost. He tries his best to keep those who he has close from being lost, yet he is slowly noticing and fearing he is losing himself. Almost to the point where all he is his machine and the murder he causes is his existance.

Character’s Expertise:
Combat: Brawling, stealthy takedowns, and some Weapon training- Tarak lives to fight, his existance has always been in combat. May have it been inside the cockpit or out of it, he had always danced the Macabre Waltz with death. While out of a mech, Tarak's skills are exceptional yet improvised. He had never had any formal training, yet was taught to fight by life. He is as much a brawler as a Battle Mech pilot, he uses a variation of wild hits and precise efficent strikes while using stealth to deal with multiple opponents in a small area. Using improvised combinations, weapons, and the enviroment to deal with opponents quickly. Even with his most exceptional combat skills being in the form of brawling, he has been known to use many different weapons, firearms, and even heavier weapons such as machine guns, rockets, and other such things.

Tactics: Combat & Bounty/Pirate Hunting- Tarak's insight and instincts are beyond that of a normal person's. He is able to read deeper into most things as his intuition is that of a seasoned detective. His deductions skills were fostered from his years as a slave, a bounty/pirate hunter, and mercenary and these skills were honed especially when dealing with the many different people while being used by many different factions across the Galaxy. Yet his skills weren't just deduction and reading people to understand what they want and are thinking, it also a supernatural hunting instinct and combat intuition. His thoughts on their movement, how they'd react, and even where they are almost seem like he can read their mind. Yet this comes from years of experience from life or death experiences where a wrong move might mean he misses his mark, or worst, he becomes their prey.

Engineering: Scavenging & Field Repairs- During the years Tarak was a Mercenary and Bounty Hunter for hire, he had to spend much of his time away from base and anywhere to get proper repairs. So he to learn how to do repairs in the field to ensure he had a higher survival chance. After much time Tarak became quite good at doing quick repairs to Battle Mechs. Often spotting faults and make sure they are repaired, often the battle mechs when he first started looked as if they were scrap brawlers, using different pieces of strangely colored metal, rubber, and plastic that could be found to repair Mechs. As Tarak got better the Mechs began to become better looking, his repairs became more solid, to the point where one would never think he was using scraps. These skills came to great use when found in long solo missions, damages need to be repaired after battles and skrimishes, and often it can mean life and death if he is unable to keep his machine working, so he will scavenge what he can from other machines. Rigging broken systems to reroute power, jerry rigging operating systems and armor onto his Mech to complete the mission. This often leads to Tarak preferring Mechs that have hand actuators to take hold of things so he can actually repair things.

Nationality/Allegiance: Solaris 7/No allegiance.

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Background:

Tarak was an orphan born on Solaris 7, he was in a orphanage that abused them and one night after the Caretakers killed one of the orphans in the orphanage, Tarak killed them and burnt the Orphanage down. From there the rest of the Orpahns and him lived on the streets until they were picked up by a 'Stable' that wanted to give them a chance of a better life for working for them. Once there they realized that they were stuck there as now slaves to do the work of Technicians, Mechwarriors, and other such things with no hope of actual escape from the 'Stable'. Once they were trained enough they began to sent the Mechwarriors into underground battles to begin to rig games in their favor. Either having them take fall, or substituting them out with better pilots to always come out as winners.

One night after one of the kids decided to forfeit, he was killed. Making the rest of the Orphans now plan their freedom, as once Tarak was 15, they had planned enough for them to finally make an escape. First Tarak assassinated each of the guards on the base with the planned weapons and hideouts made for this night, and once they scrap yard was cleared, they took everything they could and sold it all. Yet they were given a few hours before the owners knew, so they sold anything they could, and traded their mech for a different one, losing a lot of value on a lot of their gear, yet they had enough. While in the escape Tarak was almost cornered and died, but by the grace of god and luck he was able to get away as another criminal group they made a deal with killed the other group.

Once in Free Worlds League territory, they began taking small jobs until they were finally able to get their first real job as pirate hunters. After teaming up with a few other rag tag groups of mercenaries, many decided to go their separate ways, yet it did give the Orphans a jumping off point. They began to continue their job search, taking jobs as Bounty hunters and Pirate hunters, acting like a scalpel Tarak made a name for himself not only as an exceptional Mechwarrior, but also as an exceptional Bounty Hunter. As after a few years as a small act, the Orphans were found by the Green Knights, with them all being nearly adult age at this point with Tarak being 20 by this point, they began working for the Green Knights, putting their skills to some real use. As the Green Knights gave them a better chance at fortune than what they had before. The next 4 years have been the most profitable they've seen, until they've hit this little snag with Espia, but the Orphans have gotten out of tough situations, this time won't be much different, as long as they have each other.

Extended Background, the reason why I didn't post any sooner

Orphanage

Tarak was born on Solaris 7, a planet known as the 'Game World' and very well known across the Galaxy for their 'Mech fights, Gambling rings, and the fortunes won and lost daily. Yet he was not born in such a luxurious position, he was not born into some amazing line of Mechwarriors, he was not destined to be picked up by a stable to become a famous technician, he was not promised anything. He was dealt a bad hand, he was born to a prostitue mother who died in child birth, and had a father who could have been any countless men. Tarak's hand was a losing one from the start, yet it seemed he had some luck, instead of being thrown to the wind the moment he was born, he was taken into an orphanage. Yet this orphanage was nothing one would considered to be nice, this is a place where most kids were treated like shit. Fed 1/4 rations, normally kids were starved to near death and then forced to work and panhandle just to be allowed to eat. As Tarak grew, he very quickly hated life here, many of these kids came here because they had nothing. Like Tarak they were dealt shit hands in life, so many of them treated each other like siblings, as most here were no older than 5-6 years old by the time he was 8 years old, was like a big brother as he was the one to steal for them, work harder for them, and even bleed for them when one of them was caught stealing.

Yet one night, Tarak was maybe 10 at the time, it seemed that the 'care takers' got carried away, they seemed to have snapped. The night smelt of booze, as when the 'care takers' came to the orphanage at night, they seemed to have been in a sour mood, some yelling about one of the games. As yelling started to occur, a bottle smashed as a scream was heard. Tarak jumped up from the bed and went down, to see something horrifying. One of the children were on the floor with blood and glass everywhere, as Tarak looked up to the 3 adults and all he saw was red.

A Devil Reveals Himself

He dashed up the stairs as they yelled for him, Tarak took a turn and hid away in a small nook near the top of the stairs, as he took hold to a creaky old floor board he waited a moment. As the first adult passed, then the second, Tarak waited but a moment longer for the third to finally come up as he jumped with as much force as he could to rip wood from the floor and tackled the person down the stairs. Tarak Clambered quickly as he drove the wood into the neck of the adult before he threw himself off of them and the rest of the way down the stairs. As the moment he made it down to the ground level his eyes landed on the kitchen, he lunged off towards the kitchen and over the glass as he threw himself into the kitchen. He knew they had no knives, they were told they couldn't afford it, but now Tarak understood, they wanted to make sure something like this could never happen. As his eyes landed on the spoons, he grabbed one and opened a cupboard and hid inside. Almost a moment later the other adults entered the kitchen they quickly moved. Tarak waited about half a minute after he first heard the kitchen door opened before he threw himself out of his hiding space and onto the counter. As he landed he was maybe about a foot away from his next target, as he threw himself at them. When he landed on them he quickly took hold of their shoulders and took the handle of the spoon and swung his hand wide to slam the end of the spoon into their eye and smacked the end of it to put it the rest of the way in and leapt off. Once he was moving the man who he just snuck up on finally fell to the ground and alarmed the other person. Tarak was riding a wave of adrenaline that made him a like a demon. Living in this area of villainy made children grow fast. With fighting other kids, teens, and even some young adults changed Tarak into an efficent fighter and killer, using his abnormal size for his age led to him being able to take on multiple people older than him quite easily. Fight or die was the motto of there orphans, gangs ran these streets and many younger folks either strutted their stuff or were made targets. Tarak dashed away, now going back into the commons area, as when he was about to near the glass, he hopped on to the couch and dove for the stairs. When he caught himself he began running back up to see the first man he killed laying still with the other kids finally up and seeing Tarak. They looked to him and were startled, yet he waved to them as he yelled, "Hide!". They all ran into different rooms as he ran down the hall, and for a moment he saw what he needed, a painting. As he grabbed it, and as he ran he flicked the light in the hallway off. As it was dark enough to make someone miss a small detail, Tarak hid in the door way of a room and lifted the painting to cover himself. As the man ran trying to find him, there was a split second he missed Tarak, and that was all he needed. At the moment he passed, he swung the painting down to hit him on the head. When the painting hit the canvas ripped and tore as Tarak yanked the frame back to bring the man down. Using the man's drunkenness and surprise dropped the man, and when this happened Tarak used the wooden frame as a place to hold as he set his feet on the mans neck and stomped as he pulled the frame up. Snapping the mans neck and crushing his throat in one lethal motion.

After it was done, Tarak was covered in blood, the orphanage was broken, and it was time to leave. As they all surrounded their fallen 'sibling', they had stopped breathing and tears began to well in their eyes, yet they needed to leave. As they wrapped them up, they all gathered what they could and left the orphanage, burning it down as they left for somewhere else. They made it a whole 3 days before they were found by some people that were up to no good.

Roman Gladiator

Tarak and his siblings were found by a group of people who offered them an escape from their lives. They can come work for them to escape their lives of destitution. All they needed to do was work as hard as they can for their Battle Mech Stable. Most saw this as an opprotunity of a life time, yet Tarak was wary. When they were brought into their new home, it was a literal scrap yard. They could see people scrounging through the materials, welding sparks flying, and what seems to be the skeleton of a BattleMech being made. As they were told, they would be clothed, fed, and given a place to sleep if they work for them. All accepted, yet Tarak was worried, he didn't know the aim, which made him uneasy. As They were settled in, they began learning the different jobs they will be passed through to see where they can work. Some had some aptitude in welding, others in management, some in talking skills, yet the one that Tarak showed exceptional skill in was as a Mechwarrior. When he enter the simulation, he seemed to have an almost comfortable feel in it as he did quite well for his first time ever touching the machine. So they assigned Tarak and the others who either showed skill as a Mechwarrior or who showed no other skills to become Mechwarriors. As they worked, the next few years seemed rough, they were yelled at if they failed or messed up, hit if they angered one of their superiors, or even if one of them were in a bad mood. Unlike in the orphanage, instead of some normal care takers, these men seemed to be strangely armed. Each of them carrying some gun and seemed all too eager to check someone, so many worked their hardest out of pure fear of death. At night was one of the few times they get time to themselves, they are all piled into one locked room with blankets and pillows in there for them. Night was when many broke down, crying in fear and wishing to leave, Tarak was always there to comfort them, cared for them, and did his best for them. Often he found moments to steal what he could to possibly to cheer some of them up, with whatever he could.

Finally Tarak had turned 14 his training was considered complete, him and many of the other kids here had been pitted against each other in BattleMechs that were being slowly formed in this 'Stable'. At this point, they were able to create and maintain 4 BattleMechs from the 'scraps' in this large scrap yard. Often times they were able to practice decently often, however in these conditions there have been plenty of accidents that occurred. Hundreds of injuries, some Mechs that were out of commission for some time, and even a few fatalities. Even if the children were mentally unstable the 'Stable' owners did not care, they were to move to their next phase, putting the kids to use. Normally you'd need to be 18 to participate as a Mechwarrior in games, however that only applies to games that were sanctioned by the Solaris Civic Council. The many underground matches that can happen across Solaris 7 however can be ran with any rules, regulations, or lack there of. Tarak's first match as his debut into the Underworld Solaris Games was something akin to what he was used to. The man infront of him was wanting to take whatever he has, his money or his life. Tarak was calm as always, they were being prepped as Tarak was given a quick run down: This will be his debut match, mattering on how he does will determine his career, and if he forfeits then he will be given an extra special punishment. Tarak had a feeling what it could mean, that could mean that they would do some form of horrifying things to him. Tarak just sat back and waited for them to be counted in. As the moment they were signaled to begin, Tarak boosted off like some deranged animal, as rounds flew Tarak shifted his body from side to side to have rounds hit nonessential armor, as the moment he meet his opponent Tarak began letting loose multiple close range shots as he began to use his Mechs body like a battering ram. Swinging his weight as he hits his opponents mech with his arms while he fires multiple shots into the opponent when the gun passes over them. Tarak using his speed and almost forcing his Mech to fall to dodge attacks and shift his position, making hitting him in such a range very difficult.

After a bout that lasted less than 2 minutes, Tarak showed his skills and ferosity in its full glory. His very frenetic and almost suicidal movements make his fighting almost seem like an animal in the ring. His swings were wild but the placement seemed calculated to force the opponent to react as he chose. To the point it almost seemed like he was in control of the fight from the start. After this amazing victory it filled many of his 'Siblings' with hope. As next came their matches, many lost their fights, only a handful at best won their fights. Everyone who were either in the support role, already fought, or were prepping to fight had to witness the reality of what occurs in these arenas. Multiple of their 'siblings' were either heavily, left mutilated from their fight, or even killed. As they had to watch, they felt a foreboding fear fall over them, this was the life they were to live. Many were given the same threat of capitulation, and all but one fought to the end. He was the weakest of will among the kids, and the fear of seeing all this happen and thinking it would happen to him, made him fearful enough to give up when the fight began. When that happened, the owners of the 'stable' promised him the punishment would occur that night. When the children were sent to their room, guards escorted them there and locked the doors. All but that one child was there, when they tried to leave the door was locked. When they called out all they heard was one of the men yell "Quiet!". As when they tried to call out again, they heard a quiet shriek of pain. All of them were startled as the took a moment and realized that was their 'sibling' crying out. As when they tried to yell the man yelled in, "If you don't shut up I'm capping one of you!" As in that moment it solidified the feelings within them, this was not their way out, no matter how hard they tried, this was worst than what they even imagined. There was no way out.

Spartacus

After that day, many felt more fearful, any mess up could lead to something horrifying happening to them. As the fear was compounded when they never saw their 'sibling' again, nothing changed. Tarak knew this, nothing changed, it was time for a plan to form. It was not going to be as easy as before, he needed to deal with armed men, sure Tarak was already 6'2 and was a head or so taller than most of them, yet they all had guns. A plan was going to be made, but they needed to survive during that time, with that, all the 'Mechwarriors, were given directives during their fights, many were set up to be the fall guys, they were to try and make the match look good but then get taken down. For Tarak, he was to learn each of the machines, sync with them, and he was to act as the sub for each of them. He was going to substitute out with each of the others to change the odds when it comes time, using his skills to rake in profits quickly. As over the next year, they did exactly this, many of the others became very good at taking a fall, while Tarak became very good at fighting in all different types of Mechs. Yet no matter how good the others were at taking a fall, accidents happen, often leaving where many are injured, mutilated, or killed while in these Underground arenas. All this time, Tarak was building a plan, a plan to take out their captors, and be free. Over the years, the group had slowly been stealing and hiding everything they needed: makeshift lockpicks, a properly hardened makeshift knife, an oil can made to be a suppressor, a few hiding spots around the scrap yard slowly made for them, and a small map to find it all. The only ting that is right now keeping them from reaching freedom is a 3 inch thick metal door. Yet Tarak had prepared for this moment himself, as he wrapped the small grave on the wall with the sheets, everyone of them took hold of the sheets and began to pull. The metal bent and creaked as it finally sheered and cracked under the strain.

Tarak grabbed the metal bars he looked to the edges that seemed to have been rusting and smirked. They gave them thin and rough blankets and they had to relieve themselves in the bucket in the corner. So they used the blankets to rough up the surface of the metal, and then they used their sweat, spit, and other bodily fluids to make the metal rust and weaken. They continued to do this for an entire year until finally it was time for them to escape, which was now. Tarak grabbed the metal and began to place multiple pieces in different areas of the door frame, as he bent them into the frame he began to shimmy them to where the lock would be, as once they moved it to place, he yanked them to force the lock to get shifted and slowly worked it open. Once he was done, the door was finally open, and it was time for their escape to commence. As Tarak left the room, he began to sneak about, once he left the others mode the metal and closed the door. The rain had became quite heavy at this point, making visibility poor, yet enough for him to see the lights of the guards, and the hunt began. The night was filled with blood, rain, and the silent sounds of bodies dropping. Tarak had thoroughly cleared the guards in the Scrapyard. Once it was clear, Tarak moved to where the kids were being held and opened the door and started getting them out. With clearing out the Scrap yard, they were able to move as they pleased, yet they needed to leave. The kids began grabbing the BattleMechs, tools they could, really anything and everything that could be either useful or used for money. As they left, each of the kids started to work their magic, some had used some of their time they had to set up some deals, other used their little time outside the scrapyard to find passages to be able to get off world. For them, they might at most have 24 hours, so they had to be gone by then.

Over the next 24 hours, they sold almost everything they had, keeping 2 BattleMechs, their Light Spider BattleMech that was one of the first to have gotten up and running and is known to be easily maintained, and a Phoenix Hawk that they were able to trade for one of their other larger and more well maintained Mechs. They traded their Heavy Mech frame for it to lighten their load while still keeping themselves with 2 Mechs, while the other Mech was sold for a criminally low price yet they needed it sold with no questions asked. Once they traded, bartered, and sold whatever they could, it was time to leave. Tarak was to pilot the Phoenix Hawk from one side of the city to the other where a transport ship will be taking them off world. As tarak left to get the Phoenix Hawk he was tipped off by the person who they made the trade with that there are men looking for them. Tarak knew if he was just to run to the ship, they could make it, however they needed the Mech. If they lost this Mech they'd be down to 1 and for them to do any work, it'd be suicide otherwise with such a light mech. The Spider is a really good Recon Mech, yet they needed some pushing power. Tarak took the gamble and took to piloting the Phoenix Hawk, he had to hope he sadly had no time to sync up with the Mech, so it was time to see Tarak's skills put to the test. The Neurohelmet was able to be replaced quite quickly with his own and he would have normally ran a diagnostics, yet Tarak needed to get moving. Tarak gave the man a thumbs up and started his rush to the ship. Yet it was never meant to be easy, as when he made it some of the more open area was when the trap was unleashed. Multiple Mechs began to let loose on Tarak, shooting lasers melting his armor quickly, as when he tried to return fire he realized his weapons were 'dead' and Tarak could not turn them on while in the cockpit. He cursed whatever god had forsaken him, as he had to now bear the punishment. While in this almost full sprint he was trying to intercept these attacks with his arms, using every pound of armor this thing had, as he franticly tried to figure out everything this mech had. As he found a button he was more than used to but never got to use, Jump Jets. The moment he flipped the button he flew, as he now needed to figure out flight, yet the onboard computer did it for him, as he flew his helmet told him his projected landing zone, as it was to be directly on top of one of his assailants. He set his legs to land down onto them as he deactivated the boosters at the end to allow his full weight to land on top of his target. When Tarak landed his Mech smashed straight into the mech and destroyed the cockpit of the other mech and smashed it into the ground.

Tarak was shaken by this landing, it was violent, one he was not fully ready for, but no matter, he had to move. As he ran forward, he felt his back side get slammed with missiles, lasers, and machine gun fire. Yet for Tarak he almost saw the world in slow motion, everything seemed dull, the world was beginning to stir, as he felt himself throw up in the cockpit. His mech became wobbly, it started losing balance as he was starting to lose his own balance, yet he needed to keep going. As maybe a moment after his other jump, he performed another one, sending him farther again, this time he allowed the computer to finish the full decent, not like he could have stopped it anyway. Tarak was not prepared for such an intense impact, which gave him whiplash and a concussion, making it where piloting became much more difficult, to the point where keeping the Mech standing was a miracle. Yet he had covered quite a bit of distance during this haze, as he Jumped as often as he could, yet it heated his BattleMech quite quickly, making it quite difficult to even stay awake. Yet the moment he made it to the a certain point, his pursuers almost seemed to dissappeared. As he made it to the ship, he noticed a few other Mechs there, as at first in his daze he was ready to fight, yet the moment when he was about to he noticed their other mech come out and stop him. Calling to him, but his communications were shot at this point, as they had to coax him out of his Mech where they went and laid him down to explain to him what happened. They made some sort of deal with another criminal group for protection they would pull out the remnants of this group into the open for them to be dealt with. Tarak laughed as he realized he was used to get them safety, this laugh led to him passing out.

Unchained

When he awoke, it had already been sometime and they were about to leave for the Free Worlds League to start a new life there. Once they entered new territory it was time to figure out what they wished to do, and Tarak brought up the idea of starting with bounty hunting, dealing with pirates, simple things to get them notice, and maybe get enough recognition to get better jobs. Once they found a planet to set up shop, they began to figure out what they could do. At first they were unable to find much, the technicians were able to offer their services to some of the BattleMechs on world, yet they were far and few between, many didn't believe in their skill, and many others didn't even need repairs as they haven't seen combat in a while. So they had to start planet hopping, taking up small jobs that they can do, hoping that they could catch a break. It was about another year of this before they were finally able to catch a break, when they caught wind of a bounty on the head of a small pirate band that has been raiding the area. They were small time yet enough of a threat that they needed someone to handle it. Tarak offered to assist and it seemed a few other smaller time groups were willing to hop in if a Mechwarrior was there. Many of them being small time mercenaries. Them having some of their more basic credentials, yet never could get good work. All of them decided to split the reward based upon what some brought, with Tarak bringing not only his mech, another mech, and a small crew on engineers. Using their stronger talkers, the Orphans were able to negotiate a 50% split, which was quite a decent bit of money for starting. As after some quick repairs and maitnence checks on the machines, it was off to hunt down pirates. They were able to track down the pirates to a lone planet, there they landed planet side a few miles out from where they pinpointed the Pirates would be. From there they began to use recon to find that they pirates were well armed with even a Heavy BattleMech of their own, yet they seemed to be very lax at the moment. As once they had their information they began to quickly build a plan, using a multi layered assault, they would have the Mechs lead the charge with multiple layers of fire coming from different angles, they'd barrage the BattleMech and other targets with bombardments. All the while their BattleMechs would be the spear head of the fight, cutting through their vehicles and dealing with the BattleMech.

Yet the Battle was anything than what it was hoped to be, many of these mercenaries were ill experienced and often missed many of their marks. Leaving to where Tarak and his brother piloting the Spider to do much of the work. They had to use their quick movements to deal with the smaller vehicles while dodging the BattleMech submerged in a large body of water. Yet as the mech seemed to 'get going' it began to let loose such vicious barrages of laser weapons and rockets that it tore apart the Spider within a few moments and destroying the legs quickly. The only thing that saved Tarak and his nearly dead brother was that the Mercenaries began to be to hit an unmoving target. As they bombarded the Mech, Tarak took the chance to line up a shot and fired his large laser straight through the cockpit of the Mech, killing the pilot in a single shot. Once all the pirates were dealt with, the groups reconvened and began talking about splitting loot. Tarak and the Orphans laid claim to the Mech, most of the others fought over it, yet Tarak set his foot down that not only did they have to clean up the mess they made, but also had serious damage dealt to them because they were unable to deal with the BattleMech because of all the other little fighters and the random fire that could hit them at any point. After this heated argument someone nearly lost their head actually as they tried going for a weapon. As weapons were drawn, Tarak stared them all down and gave a singular warning, "If you think you can beat us, you would have taken those Pirates on you own. We were confident in doing it". As before any blood could be shed, they calmed down and decided to just get their money and go their separate ways.

With this it started the story of the Orphans and their leader being a gunslinger willing to draw a gun 20 to 1. Tarak and the Orphans began having jobs become more consistent, as they travelled their name slowly moved with them. They began being able to find work with a bit more consistency, yet it was always for some of the hardest things: Bounty Hunting & Pirate Hunting. These normally aren't considered hard until you take into account they don't follow any forms or rules or engagment. What ever they need to do, what ever they can do, even if it is random armaments not normally found, using the enviroment, even local the locals will be used by these criminals. Often leading to Tarak has often needed to learn and adapt quite quickly to a situation, sometimes it can be something simple like their first pirate hunt, but sometimes it can be they made their home somewhere heavily fortified, they have taken part of a planet hostage, or maybe they are even working with the local planetary defense to raid places more easily. Every engagment often required a different set of mind, which often lead to Tarak needing to learn how to adapt to new enviroments, tactics, weapons, and even mindsets. As no one pirate is the same, yet often they can be predicted based upon the enviroment they are in, what they are known for, and even what area they are found in. Tarak fought in many different systems, worlds, and for different people. If they paid him, he would do the work, and good work he did.

Tarak made a name as a one man army, often expected of those from Solaris 7, some of the greatest gladiators had often been contracted as one man shows in comparison to buying out a mercenary group. He was often passed over for the big jobs like taking on bigger targets with larger rewards, after all they only had one true functioning Mechwarrior, their combat effectiveness in full scale war would be laughable at best, yet when dealing with people outside the reach of planets, and too troublesome to handle for a large millitary presence, Desperado is often strolling through town. The Orphans spent a good few years like this, slowly amassing some form of wealth, slowly got some new crew members, mostly people to operate a ship, keep some maitnence, and sometimes people who found themselves aligned someway with the group, they were doing okay for themselves. Yet their big break came when they heard the Green Knights were in the sector.

The group made contact with the Green Knights and offered their proverbial sword, they were a capable crew, a Good Mech pilot, and after their work, they came with their own ship.

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Equipment:

Black Phoenix

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Phoenix_Hawk

Model: PXH-1

Class: Medium (45 tons)

Appearance: Tarak's Mech was given its name based on the burnt exterior that mech had when he escaped the cusps of his captors. The Black Phoenix had however gotten a change in color pallet as of recent as white and grey are the new fashion Espia seems to sport. However, Tarak still keeps a bit of black showing underneath his Green Knight insignia on the shoulders and directly in the center of the torso. The hand actuators of the 'Mech are also a dark almost burnt black like that of its namesake. While the inside and outside of the fingers of the hand actuators seem to be stripped of the paint as if it is under constant use and wear.

Equipment:

Standing at 11 meters tall, the Phoenix Hawk was armed in such a way that it can be used in several different combat roles including command, reconnaissance, and front line duty. The primary weapon on board was a Harmon Large Laser carried in the right arm, giving the 'Mech a weapon which could strike at an enemy at a respectable distance. This was backed up by two Harmon Medium Lasers for close range combat, one in either forearm. Finally, to deter infantry attacks, the 'Mech carried two M100 Heavy Machine Guns, also split between either arm, with one ton of ammunition stored in the center torso.

Eight tons of armoring on the Phoenix Hawk gave it acceptable endurance for short combat actions, though not for any sustained brawling.

Eight tons of armoring on the Phoenix Hawk gave it acceptable endurance for short combat actions, though not for any sustained brawling. Just ten heat sinks meant the 'Mech had a relatively low heat threshold; green pilots were known to lose their 'Mechs by overtaxing this system overusing their heat-intensive weapons and jump jets.

With a 270-rated fusion engine also gave the Phoenix Hawk a solid top speed of 97.75 km/h, and the 'Mech could go from standing still to top speed within the span of 100 meters. Six jump jets split between right and left rear torsos provided a maximum jumping distance of 180 meters. These attributes helped make the 'Mech just as fast and maneuverable as its smaller brethren, the Stinger and Wasp.

It is the Phoenix Hawk's electronics, though, which truly helped it perform best as a command 'Mech for recon lances. Its Tru-Trak targeting computer was particularly accurate, while the heavily-shielded BattleCom system could overcome interfering radiation, whether ambient or man-made, that would've shut down other units. Unfortunately, Tarak was not lucky to have ever found a Tru-Trak targeting computer, so he still sticks with his Octagon Tactrac System C that he had always used.

Personal Equipment

SERE Kit- Tarak keeps a SERE(Survival Evasion Resistnace Escape) kit inside his cockpit incase he needs to eject and survive in the wilderness on his own for some time, he has a black hard polymer pack filled with MREs to last him a few days, a broken down Semi-automatic carbine with one 20 round magazine, a suppressed hand gun with one 20 round magazine, a flash light, a canteen filled with 1L of water, a knife, a trauma kit to stabilize wounds and set up broken bones, and a collapsible spade within it. This kit is attached to his seat to keep it from flying about and possibly causing damage while within the cockpit.

Combat Gear- Anytime Tarak enters his Mech, he is always ready for a combat scenario to occur when he is to leave it. So his normal combat gear includes some form of camo clothing fitting to the enviroment, a cooling vest able to take small arms fire and regulated his body temperature to allow for higher survivability inside and outside the cockpit, a pair of gloves, his boots, and some light armoring across his body to more easily take impacts and dampen blows. While on Espia, the armor is a white and grey with heavier layers to combat the cold. He wears this quite often even with the almost sauna like state inside the Mech.

Personal Cassette Player- Tarak loves to use his Personal cassette player, he uses it mostly to listen to music, especially while he is all alone or when on long recon missions. Tarak has a few favorite songs, yet anything that crosses his path are always a must listen to, especially now that they are stuck on a hostile planet, anything new is a god sent.

The Hourglass Order

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Location: Isla d'Amato near the water

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Interactions: Trypano @A Lowly Wretch, Ingrid @dragonpiece, Onarr @Bork Lazer, Amelea, Penny, and Ismet'ych'lahin'dichora @Force and Fury

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Desmond watched as Ingrid had began to notice the world and compose herself. She seemed like she was mentally pushing everything to the side until it was all over, 'Good, we'll make it out yet'. As she began to dress herself, she tied up his jacket, and that was when Desmond realized how big Ingrid was, he never fully understood until that moment. He almost chuckled at her outfit, it did not suit her, definitely was not a part of her wardrobe. Yet is seemed once she made her clothing do, she readied herself by clearing he mouth out with water, using magic nonetheless. Desmond did chuckle at that as it did show their difference, Desmond saw Magic as a tool, she saw it as an extension of herself. In this moment of thought it seemed Ingrid had fully composed herself and prepared to move forward. Desmond gave her a nod as she handed back his hat, he flipped it onto his head as he said, "Alright let's go".

As they left the alleyway Desmond realized that it was not only her top taken off, Desmond walked a little closer to her and slightly off to the side where the larger group was. He was being nonchalant about his actions, but he was trying to cover her bottom side from those looking. As they walked by Desmond looked to Ismette and Onarr as he called out to them, "Come on we need to talk on the ship. We need to see what's happening with Penny". As they moved past them and near the Princess he looked to her and said, "We will be talking on the ship, when you see the sail raised on the ketch, red will mean we fight and white will mean we are leaving". Desmond left it brief, they could not waste time, they had mages on the way. He let out a sigh as he heard a whistle come from the group of on lookers, Desmond just tilted his hat as they continued, this was not a great look for the crew yet it was what they had to deal with. Yet once they made it to the water Ingrid created a sheet of ice, as she stepped on she shifted herself to make enough room for him. Desmond took a step on and was about to slip, yet he began to focus his magic onto the bottom of his boots and started to make the ice underneath him much more rough and able to create friction between his boots to allow him to stand just fine. This was a trick that Desmond was taught to work on all terrains, to shift and change not only the ground he is on but also his boots to allow him to walk with ease.

As they neared the ship, Desmond prepared to do a kinetic jump, as he pulled in kinetic energy, he waited a moment as the moment he was about to jump, he first jumped off of the ice and then used his stored energy to throw himself into the air. A kinetic jump in the end never needs you to physically jump, all that needs to be done is using the energy to propel yourself. So Desmond decided to use the energy to push up against his legs while drawing in the energy at the moment of impact to allow him to be launched without hurting himself. As he flew up he used the kinetic energy to make sure he made it up and the moment he was about to land on the ships deck he drew in the energy to soften his landing into nothing. Desmond looked back and didn't see Ingrid, as he looked back into the water and saw her trying to climb the side of the ship as she fell again. He began looking for a rope as then he felt a draw of energy as he saw ice beginning to climb up, yet not connected to the boat. And a wave seemed to past that flipped it over and send her into the water. Desmond let out a sigh as he said, "Alright let's get her up".

As he looked to Ingrid, he used the energy he had to launch Ingrid out of the water, yet he didn't realize how light she was, so she went up much faster than expected, to the point where she was right infront of him in a moment, and he had no time to react to her coming up and over as she lands straight onto him. As he fell with Ingrid landing on top of him, as he fell over, he landed on his back and Ingrid had landed on his lap and lower stomach area. He looked up to Ingrid and said through a slight grunt, "You alright?"

Mechwarrior: Disposable Heroes

I'm sorry, I write too much.

Desperado

Tarak

Desperado

Physical Appearance:
Tarak is a 24 year old man with tanned skin, stands at 6'4, and weighs 265 pounds where it seems every ounce of that weight seems to be dedicated to his muscular physique. His body is much more like a worked machine running at top efficiency, he has low fat on his body and is quite prone to being cold. Tarak has short to medium-length black hair that he lets down more often than not. His eyes are these golden brown eyes that seem to always have a sharpness and almost shininess to them. He has many scars across his body, the most numerous being on his back, his torso, and on his legs, many of which look quite nasty as many were never properly treated but easily hidden by simple clothing, except for the one on his face the he received when he was younger.

Tarak is a simpler man, he has some money, but he spends very little of it on clothing. He has basic clothing at best, a tee shirt, black pants, some shorts, a jacket, and some thick and sturdy boots. Leaving to where Tarak has very little in the way of variety in clothing, to the point people will often think he has multiple sets of the same outfit, but sometimes he just forgets to clean some of his clothing and wears it, but nobody notices.

Character Archetype:
Hotshot with a haunting past

Character’s Guiding Motto:
Face forward and clench your fists, nothing comes to those who sit and wait.

Character’s Fatal Flaw:
Tarak is trying to do the best for those he has with him left. He tries to run from the things he has done, the enemies he's made, and the people he's lost. He tries his best to keep those who he has close from being lost, yet he is slowly noticing and fearing he is losing himself. Almost to the point where all he is his machine and the murder he causes is his existance.

Character’s Expertise:
Combat: Brawling, stealthy takedowns, and some Weapon training- Tarak lives to fight, his existance has always been in combat. May have it been inside the cockpit or out of it, he had always danced the Macabre Waltz with death. While out of a mech, Tarak's skills are exceptional yet improvised. He had never had any formal training, yet was taught to fight by life. He is as much a brawler as a Battle Mech pilot, he uses a variation of wild hits and precise efficent strikes while using stealth to deal with multiple opponents in a small area. Using improvised combinations, weapons, and the enviroment to deal with opponents quickly. Even with his most exceptional combat skills being in the form of brawling, he has been known to use many different weapons, firearms, and even heavier weapons such as machine guns, rockets, and other such things.

Tactics: Combat & Bounty/Pirate Hunting- Tarak's insight and instincts are beyond that of a normal person's. He is able to read deeper into most things as his intuition is that of a seasoned detective. His deductions skills were fostered from his years as a slave, a bounty/pirate hunter, and mercenary and these skills were honed especially when dealing with the many different people while being used by many different factions across the Galaxy. Yet his skills weren't just deduction and reading people to understand what they want and are thinking, it also a supernatural hunting instinct and combat intuition. His thoughts on their movement, how they'd react, and even where they are almost seem like he can read their mind. Yet this comes from years of experience from life or death experiences where a wrong move might mean he misses his mark, or worst, he becomes their prey.

Engineering: Scavenging & Field Repairs- During the years Tarak was a Mercenary and Bounty Hunter for hire, he had to spend much of his time away from base and anywhere to get proper repairs. So he to learn how to do repairs in the field to ensure he had a higher survival chance. After much time Tarak became quite good at doing quick repairs to Battle Mechs. Often spotting faults and make sure they are repaired, often the battle mechs when he first started looked as if they were scrap brawlers, using different pieces of strangely colored metal, rubber, and plastic that could be found to repair Mechs. As Tarak got better the Mechs began to become better looking, his repairs became more solid, to the point where one would never think he was using scraps. These skills came to great use when found in long solo missions, damages need to be repaired after battles and skrimishes, and often it can mean life and death if he is unable to keep his machine working, so he will scavenge what he can from other machines. Rigging broken systems to reroute power, jerry rigging operating systems and armor onto his Mech to complete the mission. This often leads to Tarak preferring Mechs that have hand actuators to take hold of things so he can actually repair things.

Nationality/Allegiance: Solaris 7/No allegiance.

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Background:

Tarak was an orphan born on Solaris 7, he was in a orphanage that abused them and one night after the Caretakers killed one of the orphans in the orphanage, Tarak killed them and burnt the Orphanage down. From there the rest of the Orpahns and him lived on the streets until they were picked up by a 'Stable' that wanted to give them a chance of a better life for working for them. Once there they realized that they were stuck there as now slaves to do the work of Technicians, Mechwarriors, and other such things with no hope of actual escape from the 'Stable'. Once they were trained enough they began to sent the Mechwarriors into underground battles to begin to rig games in their favor. Either having them take fall, or substituting them out with better pilots to always come out as winners.

One night after one of the kids decided to forfeit, he was killed. Making the rest of the Orphans now plan their freedom, as once Tarak was 15, they had planned enough for them to finally make an escape. First Tarak assassinated each of the guards on the base with the planned weapons and hideouts made for this night, and once they scrap yard was cleared, they took everything they could and sold it all. Yet they were given a few hours before the owners knew, so they sold anything they could, and traded their mech for a different one, losing a lot of value on a lot of their gear, yet they had enough. While in the escape Tarak was almost cornered and died, but by the grace of god and luck he was able to get away as another criminal group they made a deal with killed the other group.

Once in Free Worlds League territory, they began taking small jobs until they were finally able to get their first real job as pirate hunters. After teaming up with a few other rag tag groups of mercenaries, many decided to go their separate ways, yet it did give the Orphans a jumping off point. They began to continue their job search, taking jobs as Bounty hunters and Pirate hunters, acting like a scalpel Tarak made a name for himself not only as an exceptional Mechwarrior, but also as an exceptional Bounty Hunter. As after a few years as a small act, the Orphans were found by the Green Knights, with them all being nearly adult age at this point with Tarak being 20 by this point, they began working for the Green Knights, putting their skills to some real use. As the Green Knights gave them a better chance at fortune than what they had before. The next 4 years have been the most profitable they've seen, until they've hit this little snag with Espia, but the Orphans have gotten out of tough situations, this time won't be much different, as long as they have each other.

Extended Background, the reason why I didn't post any sooner

Orphanage

Tarak was born on Solaris 7, a planet known as the 'Game World' and very well known across the Galaxy for their 'Mech fights, Gambling rings, and the fortunes won and lost daily. Yet he was not born in such a luxurious position, he was not born into some amazing line of Mechwarriors, he was not destined to be picked up by a stable to become a famous technician, he was not promised anything. He was dealt a bad hand, he was born to a prostitue mother who died in child birth, and had a father who could have been any countless men. Tarak's hand was a losing one from the start, yet it seemed he had some luck, instead of being thrown to the wind the moment he was born, he was taken into an orphanage. Yet this orphanage was nothing one would considered to be nice, this is a place where most kids were treated like shit. Fed 1/4 rations, normally kids were starved to near death and then forced to work and panhandle just to be allowed to eat. As Tarak grew, he very quickly hated life here, many of these kids came here because they had nothing. Like Tarak they were dealt shit hands in life, so many of them treated each other like siblings, as most here were no older than 5-6 years old by the time he was 8 years old, was like a big brother as he was the one to steal for them, work harder for them, and even bleed for them when one of them was caught stealing.

Yet one night, Tarak was maybe 10 at the time, it seemed that the 'care takers' got carried away, they seemed to have snapped. The night smelt of booze, as when the 'care takers' came to the orphanage at night, they seemed to have been in a sour mood, some yelling about one of the games. As yelling started to occur, a bottle smashed as a scream was heard. Tarak jumped up from the bed and went down, to see something horrifying. One of the children were on the floor with blood and glass everywhere, as Tarak looked up to the 3 adults and all he saw was red.

A Devil Reveals Himself

He dashed up the stairs as they yelled for him, Tarak took a turn and hid away in a small nook near the top of the stairs, as he took hold to a creaky old floor board he waited a moment. As the first adult passed, then the second, Tarak waited but a moment longer for the third to finally come up as he jumped with as much force as he could to rip wood from the floor and tackled the person down the stairs. Tarak Clambered quickly as he drove the wood into the neck of the adult before he threw himself off of them and the rest of the way down the stairs. As the moment he made it down to the ground level his eyes landed on the kitchen, he lunged off towards the kitchen and over the glass as he threw himself into the kitchen. He knew they had no knives, they were told they couldn't afford it, but now Tarak understood, they wanted to make sure something like this could never happen. As his eyes landed on the spoons, he grabbed one and opened a cupboard and hid inside. Almost a moment later the other adults entered the kitchen they quickly moved. Tarak waited about half a minute after he first heard the kitchen door opened before he threw himself out of his hiding space and onto the counter. As he landed he was maybe about a foot away from his next target, as he threw himself at them. When he landed on them he quickly took hold of their shoulders and took the handle of the spoon and swung his hand wide to slam the end of the spoon into their eye and smacked the end of it to put it the rest of the way in and leapt off. Once he was moving the man who he just snuck up on finally fell to the ground and alarmed the other person. Tarak was riding a wave of adrenaline that made him a like a demon. Living in this area of villainy made children grow fast. With fighting other kids, teens, and even some young adults changed Tarak into an efficent fighter and killer, using his abnormal size for his age led to him being able to take on multiple people older than him quite easily. Fight or die was the motto of there orphans, gangs ran these streets and many younger folks either strutted their stuff or were made targets. Tarak dashed away, now going back into the commons area, as when he was about to near the glass, he hopped on to the couch and dove for the stairs. When he caught himself he began running back up to see the first man he killed laying still with the other kids finally up and seeing Tarak. They looked to him and were startled, yet he waved to them as he yelled, "Hide!". They all ran into different rooms as he ran down the hall, and for a moment he saw what he needed, a painting. As he grabbed it, and as he ran he flicked the light in the hallway off. As it was dark enough to make someone miss a small detail, Tarak hid in the door way of a room and lifted the painting to cover himself. As the man ran trying to find him, there was a split second he missed Tarak, and that was all he needed. At the moment he passed, he swung the painting down to hit him on the head. When the painting hit the canvas ripped and tore as Tarak yanked the frame back to bring the man down. Using the man's drunkenness and surprise dropped the man, and when this happened Tarak used the wooden frame as a place to hold as he set his feet on the mans neck and stomped as he pulled the frame up. Snapping the mans neck and crushing his throat in one lethal motion.

After it was done, Tarak was covered in blood, the orphanage was broken, and it was time to leave. As they all surrounded their fallen 'sibling', they had stopped breathing and tears began to well in their eyes, yet they needed to leave. As they wrapped them up, they all gathered what they could and left the orphanage, burning it down as they left for somewhere else. They made it a whole 3 days before they were found by some people that were up to no good.

Roman Gladiator

Tarak and his siblings were found by a group of people who offered them an escape from their lives. They can come work for them to escape their lives of destitution. All they needed to do was work as hard as they can for their Battle Mech Stable. Most saw this as an opprotunity of a life time, yet Tarak was wary. When they were brought into their new home, it was a literal scrap yard. They could see people scrounging through the materials, welding sparks flying, and what seems to be the skeleton of a BattleMech being made. As they were told, they would be clothed, fed, and given a place to sleep if they work for them. All accepted, yet Tarak was worried, he didn't know the aim, which made him uneasy. As They were settled in, they began learning the different jobs they will be passed through to see where they can work. Some had some aptitude in welding, others in management, some in talking skills, yet the one that Tarak showed exceptional skill in was as a Mechwarrior. When he enter the simulation, he seemed to have an almost comfortable feel in it as he did quite well for his first time ever touching the machine. So they assigned Tarak and the others who either showed skill as a Mechwarrior or who showed no other skills to become Mechwarriors. As they worked, the next few years seemed rough, they were yelled at if they failed or messed up, hit if they angered one of their superiors, or even if one of them were in a bad mood. Unlike in the orphanage, instead of some normal care takers, these men seemed to be strangely armed. Each of them carrying some gun and seemed all too eager to check someone, so many worked their hardest out of pure fear of death. At night was one of the few times they get time to themselves, they are all piled into one locked room with blankets and pillows in there for them. Night was when many broke down, crying in fear and wishing to leave, Tarak was always there to comfort them, cared for them, and did his best for them. Often he found moments to steal what he could to possibly to cheer some of them up, with whatever he could.

Finally Tarak had turned 14 his training was considered complete, him and many of the other kids here had been pitted against each other in BattleMechs that were being slowly formed in this 'Stable'. At this point, they were able to create and maintain 4 BattleMechs from the 'scraps' in this large scrap yard. Often times they were able to practice decently often, however in these conditions there have been plenty of accidents that occurred. Hundreds of injuries, some Mechs that were out of commission for some time, and even a few fatalities. Even if the children were mentally unstable the 'Stable' owners did not care, they were to move to their next phase, putting the kids to use. Normally you'd need to be 18 to participate as a Mechwarrior in games, however that only applies to games that were sanctioned by the Solaris Civic Council. The many underground matches that can happen across Solaris 7 however can be ran with any rules, regulations, or lack there of. Tarak's first match as his debut into the Underworld Solaris Games was something akin to what he was used to. The man infront of him was wanting to take whatever he has, his money or his life. Tarak was calm as always, they were being prepped as Tarak was given a quick run down: This will be his debut match, mattering on how he does will determine his career, and if he forfeits then he will be given an extra special punishment. Tarak had a feeling what it could mean, that could mean that they would do some form of horrifying things to him. Tarak just sat back and waited for them to be counted in. As the moment they were signaled to begin, Tarak boosted off like some deranged animal, as rounds flew Tarak shifted his body from side to side to have rounds hit nonessential armor, as the moment he meet his opponent Tarak began letting loose multiple close range shots as he began to use his Mechs body like a battering ram. Swinging his weight as he hits his opponents mech with his arms while he fires multiple shots into the opponent when the gun passes over them. Tarak using his speed and almost forcing his Mech to fall to dodge attacks and shift his position, making hitting him in such a range very difficult.

After a bout that lasted less than 2 minutes, Tarak showed his skills and ferosity in its full glory. His very frenetic and almost suicidal movements make his fighting almost seem like an animal in the ring. His swings were wild but the placement seemed calculated to force the opponent to react as he chose. To the point it almost seemed like he was in control of the fight from the start. After this amazing victory it filled many of his 'Siblings' with hope. As next came their matches, many lost their fights, only a handful at best won their fights. Everyone who were either in the support role, already fought, or were prepping to fight had to witness the reality of what occurs in these arenas. Multiple of their 'siblings' were either heavily, left mutilated from their fight, or even killed. As they had to watch, they felt a foreboding fear fall over them, this was the life they were to live. Many were given the same threat of capitulation, and all but one fought to the end. He was the weakest of will among the kids, and the fear of seeing all this happen and thinking it would happen to him, made him fearful enough to give up when the fight began. When that happened, the owners of the 'stable' promised him the punishment would occur that night. When the children were sent to their room, guards escorted them there and locked the doors. All but that one child was there, when they tried to leave the door was locked. When they called out all they heard was one of the men yell "Quiet!". As when they tried to call out again, they heard a quiet shriek of pain. All of them were startled as the took a moment and realized that was their 'sibling' crying out. As when they tried to yell the man yelled in, "If you don't shut up I'm capping one of you!" As in that moment it solidified the feelings within them, this was not their way out, no matter how hard they tried, this was worst than what they even imagined. There was no way out.

Spartacus

After that day, many felt more fearful, any mess up could lead to something horrifying happening to them. As the fear was compounded when they never saw their 'sibling' again, nothing changed. Tarak knew this, nothing changed, it was time for a plan to form. It was not going to be as easy as before, he needed to deal with armed men, sure Tarak was already 6'2 and was a head or so taller than most of them, yet they all had guns. A plan was going to be made, but they needed to survive during that time, with that, all the 'Mechwarriors, were given directives during their fights, many were set up to be the fall guys, they were to try and make the match look good but then get taken down. For Tarak, he was to learn each of the machines, sync with them, and he was to act as the sub for each of them. He was going to substitute out with each of the others to change the odds when it comes time, using his skills to rake in profits quickly. As over the next year, they did exactly this, many of the others became very good at taking a fall, while Tarak became very good at fighting in all different types of Mechs. Yet no matter how good the others were at taking a fall, accidents happen, often leaving where many are injured, mutilated, or killed while in these Underground arenas. All this time, Tarak was building a plan, a plan to take out their captors, and be free. Over the years, the group had slowly been stealing and hiding everything they needed: makeshift lockpicks, a properly hardened makeshift knife, an oil can made to be a suppressor, a few hiding spots around the scrap yard slowly made for them, and a small map to find it all. The only ting that is right now keeping them from reaching freedom is a 3 inch thick metal door. Yet Tarak had prepared for this moment himself, as he wrapped the small grave on the wall with the sheets, everyone of them took hold of the sheets and began to pull. The metal bent and creaked as it finally sheered and cracked under the strain.

Tarak grabbed the metal bars he looked to the edges that seemed to have been rusting and smirked. They gave them thin and rough blankets and they had to relieve themselves in the bucket in the corner. So they used the blankets to rough up the surface of the metal, and then they used their sweat, spit, and other bodily fluids to make the metal rust and weaken. They continued to do this for an entire year until finally it was time for them to escape, which was now. Tarak grabbed the metal and began to place multiple pieces in different areas of the door frame, as he bent them into the frame he began to shimmy them to where the lock would be, as once they moved it to place, he yanked them to force the lock to get shifted and slowly worked it open. Once he was done, the door was finally open, and it was time for their escape to commence. As Tarak left the room, he began to sneak about, once he left the others mode the metal and closed the door. The rain had became quite heavy at this point, making visibility poor, yet enough for him to see the lights of the guards, and the hunt began. The night was filled with blood, rain, and the silent sounds of bodies dropping. Tarak had thoroughly cleared the guards in the Scrapyard. Once it was clear, Tarak moved to where the kids were being held and opened the door and started getting them out. With clearing out the Scrap yard, they were able to move as they pleased, yet they needed to leave. The kids began grabbing the BattleMechs, tools they could, really anything and everything that could be either useful or used for money. As they left, each of the kids started to work their magic, some had used some of their time they had to set up some deals, other used their little time outside the scrapyard to find passages to be able to get off world. For them, they might at most have 24 hours, so they had to be gone by then.

Over the next 24 hours, they sold almost everything they had, keeping 2 BattleMechs, their Light Spider BattleMech that was one of the first to have gotten up and running and is known to be easily maintained, and a Phoenix Hawk that they were able to trade for one of their other larger and more well maintained Mechs. They traded their Heavy Mech frame for it to lighten their load while still keeping themselves with 2 Mechs, while the other Mech was sold for a criminally low price yet they needed it sold with no questions asked. Once they traded, bartered, and sold whatever they could, it was time to leave. Tarak was to pilot the Phoenix Hawk from one side of the city to the other where a transport ship will be taking them off world. As tarak left to get the Phoenix Hawk he was tipped off by the person who they made the trade with that there are men looking for them. Tarak knew if he was just to run to the ship, they could make it, however they needed the Mech. If they lost this Mech they'd be down to 1 and for them to do any work, it'd be suicide otherwise with such a light mech. The Spider is a really good Recon Mech, yet they needed some pushing power. Tarak took the gamble and took to piloting the Phoenix Hawk, he had to hope he sadly had no time to sync up with the Mech, so it was time to see Tarak's skills put to the test. The Neurohelmet was able to be replaced quite quickly with his own and he would have normally ran a diagnostics, yet Tarak needed to get moving. Tarak gave the man a thumbs up and started his rush to the ship. Yet it was never meant to be easy, as when he made it some of the more open area was when the trap was unleashed. Multiple Mechs began to let loose on Tarak, shooting lasers melting his armor quickly, as when he tried to return fire he realized his weapons were 'dead' and Tarak could not turn them on while in the cockpit. He cursed whatever god had forsaken him, as he had to now bear the punishment. While in this almost full sprint he was trying to intercept these attacks with his arms, using every pound of armor this thing had, as he franticly tried to figure out everything this mech had. As he found a button he was more than used to but never got to use, Jump Jets. The moment he flipped the button he flew, as he now needed to figure out flight, yet the onboard computer did it for him, as he flew his helmet told him his projected landing zone, as it was to be directly on top of one of his assailants. He set his legs to land down onto them as he deactivated the boosters at the end to allow his full weight to land on top of his target. When Tarak landed his Mech smashed straight into the mech and destroyed the cockpit of the other mech and smashed it into the ground.

Tarak was shaken by this landing, it was violent, one he was not fully ready for, but no matter, he had to move. As he ran forward, he felt his back side get slammed with missiles, lasers, and machine gun fire. Yet for Tarak he almost saw the world in slow motion, everything seemed dull, the world was beginning to stir, as he felt himself throw up in the cockpit. His mech became wobbly, it started losing balance as he was starting to lose his own balance, yet he needed to keep going. As maybe a moment after his other jump, he performed another one, sending him farther again, this time he allowed the computer to finish the full decent, not like he could have stopped it anyway. Tarak was not prepared for such an intense impact, which gave him whiplash and a concussion, making it where piloting became much more difficult, to the point where keeping the Mech standing was a miracle. Yet he had covered quite a bit of distance during this haze, as he Jumped as often as he could, yet it heated his BattleMech quite quickly, making it quite difficult to even stay awake. Yet the moment he made it to the a certain point, his pursuers almost seemed to dissappeared. As he made it to the ship, he noticed a few other Mechs there, as at first in his daze he was ready to fight, yet the moment when he was about to he noticed their other mech come out and stop him. Calling to him, but his communications were shot at this point, as they had to coax him out of his Mech where they went and laid him down to explain to him what happened. They made some sort of deal with another criminal group for protection they would pull out the remnants of this group into the open for them to be dealt with. Tarak laughed as he realized he was used to get them safety, this laugh led to him passing out.

Unchained

When he awoke, it had already been sometime and they were about to leave for the Free Worlds League to start a new life there. Once they entered new territory it was time to figure out what they wished to do, and Tarak brought up the idea of starting with bounty hunting, dealing with pirates, simple things to get them notice, and maybe get enough recognition to get better jobs. Once they found a planet to set up shop, they began to figure out what they could do. At first they were unable to find much, the technicians were able to offer their services to some of the BattleMechs on world, yet they were far and few between, many didn't believe in their skill, and many others didn't even need repairs as they haven't seen combat in a while. So they had to start planet hopping, taking up small jobs that they can do, hoping that they could catch a break. It was about another year of this before they were finally able to catch a break, when they caught wind of a bounty on the head of a small pirate band that has been raiding the area. They were small time yet enough of a threat that they needed someone to handle it. Tarak offered to assist and it seemed a few other smaller time groups were willing to hop in if a Mechwarrior was there. Many of them being small time mercenaries. Them having some of their more basic credentials, yet never could get good work. All of them decided to split the reward based upon what some brought, with Tarak bringing not only his mech, another mech, and a small crew on engineers. Using their stronger talkers, the Orphans were able to negotiate a 50% split, which was quite a decent bit of money for starting. As after some quick repairs and maitnence checks on the machines, it was off to hunt down pirates. They were able to track down the pirates to a lone planet, there they landed planet side a few miles out from where they pinpointed the Pirates would be. From there they began to use recon to find that they pirates were well armed with even a Heavy BattleMech of their own, yet they seemed to be very lax at the moment. As once they had their information they began to quickly build a plan, using a multi layered assault, they would have the Mechs lead the charge with multiple layers of fire coming from different angles, they'd barrage the BattleMech and other targets with bombardments. All the while their BattleMechs would be the spear head of the fight, cutting through their vehicles and dealing with the BattleMech.

Yet the Battle was anything than what it was hoped to be, many of these mercenaries were ill experienced and often missed many of their marks. Leaving to where Tarak and his brother piloting the Spider to do much of the work. They had to use their quick movements to deal with the smaller vehicles while dodging the BattleMech submerged in a large body of water. Yet as the mech seemed to 'get going' it began to let loose such vicious barrages of laser weapons and rockets that it tore apart the Spider within a few moments and destroying the legs quickly. The only thing that saved Tarak and his nearly dead brother was that the Mercenaries began to be to hit an unmoving target. As they bombarded the Mech, Tarak took the chance to line up a shot and fired his large laser straight through the cockpit of the Mech, killing the pilot in a single shot. Once all the pirates were dealt with, the groups reconvened and began talking about splitting loot. Tarak and the Orphans laid claim to the Mech, most of the others fought over it, yet Tarak set his foot down that not only did they have to clean up the mess they made, but also had serious damage dealt to them because they were unable to deal with the BattleMech because of all the other little fighters and the random fire that could hit them at any point. After this heated argument someone nearly lost their head actually as they tried going for a weapon. As weapons were drawn, Tarak stared them all down and gave a singular warning, "If you think you can beat us, you would have taken those Pirates on you own. We were confident in doing it". As before any blood could be shed, they calmed down and decided to just get their money and go their separate ways.

With this it started the story of the Orphans and their leader being a gunslinger willing to draw a gun 20 to 1. Tarak and the Orphans began having jobs become more consistent, as they travelled their name slowly moved with them. They began being able to find work with a bit more consistency, yet it was always for some of the hardest things: Bounty Hunting & Pirate Hunting. These normally aren't considered hard until you take into account they don't follow any forms or rules or engagment. What ever they need to do, what ever they can do, even if it is random armaments not normally found, using the enviroment, even local the locals will be used by these criminals. Often leading to Tarak has often needed to learn and adapt quite quickly to a situation, sometimes it can be something simple like their first pirate hunt, but sometimes it can be they made their home somewhere heavily fortified, they have taken part of a planet hostage, or maybe they are even working with the local planetary defense to raid places more easily. Every engagment often required a different set of mind, which often lead to Tarak needing to learn how to adapt to new enviroments, tactics, weapons, and even mindsets. As no one pirate is the same, yet often they can be predicted based upon the enviroment they are in, what they are known for, and even what area they are found in. Tarak fought in many different systems, worlds, and for different people. If they paid him, he would do the work, and good work he did.

Tarak made a name as a one man army, often expected of those from Solaris 7, some of the greatest gladiators had often been contracted as one man shows in comparison to buying out a mercenary group. He was often passed over for the big jobs like taking on bigger targets with larger rewards, after all they only had one true functioning Mechwarrior, their combat effectiveness in full scale war would be laughable at best, yet when dealing with people outside the reach of planets, and too troublesome to handle for a large millitary presence, Desperado is often strolling through town. The Orphans spent a good few years like this, slowly amassing some form of wealth, slowly got some new crew members, mostly people to operate a ship, keep some maitnence, and sometimes people who found themselves aligned someway with the group, they were doing okay for themselves. Yet their big break came when they heard the Green Knights were in the sector.

The group made contact with the Green Knights and offered their proverbial sword, they were a capable crew, a Good Mech pilot, and after their work, they came with their own ship.

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Equipment:

Black Phoenix

https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Phoenix_Hawk

Model: PXH-1

Class: Medium (45 tons)

Appearance: Tarak's Mech was given its name based on the burnt exterior that mech had when he escaped the cusps of his captors. The Black Phoenix had however gotten a change in color pallet as of recent as white and grey are the new fashion Espia seems to sport. However, Tarak still keeps a bit of black showing underneath his Green Knight insignia on the shoulders and directly in the center of the torso. The hand actuators of the 'Mech are also a dark almost burnt black like that of its namesake. While the inside and outside of the fingers of the hand actuators seem to be stripped of the paint as if it is under constant use and wear.

Equipment:

Standing at 11 meters tall, the Phoenix Hawk was armed in such a way that it can be used in several different combat roles including command, reconnaissance, and front line duty. The primary weapon on board was a Harmon Large Laser carried in the right arm, giving the 'Mech a weapon which could strike at an enemy at a respectable distance. This was backed up by two Harmon Medium Lasers for close range combat, one in either forearm. Finally, to deter infantry attacks, the 'Mech carried two M100 Heavy Machine Guns, also split between either arm, with one ton of ammunition stored in the center torso.

Eight tons of armoring on the Phoenix Hawk gave it acceptable endurance for short combat actions, though not for any sustained brawling.

Eight tons of armoring on the Phoenix Hawk gave it acceptable endurance for short combat actions, though not for any sustained brawling. Just ten heat sinks meant the 'Mech had a relatively low heat threshold; green pilots were known to lose their 'Mechs by overtaxing this system overusing their heat-intensive weapons and jump jets.

With a 270-rated fusion engine also gave the Phoenix Hawk a solid top speed of 97.75 km/h, and the 'Mech could go from standing still to top speed within the span of 100 meters. Six jump jets split between right and left rear torsos provided a maximum jumping distance of 180 meters. These attributes helped make the 'Mech just as fast and maneuverable as its smaller brethren, the Stinger and Wasp.

It is the Phoenix Hawk's electronics, though, which truly helped it perform best as a command 'Mech for recon lances. Its Tru-Trak targeting computer was particularly accurate, while the heavily-shielded BattleCom system could overcome interfering radiation, whether ambient or man-made, that would've shut down other units. Unfortunately, Tarak was not lucky to have ever found a Tru-Trak targeting computer, so he still sticks with his Octagon Tactrac System C that he had always used.

Personal Equipment

SERE Kit- Tarak keeps a SERE(Survival Evasion Resistnace Escape) kit inside his cockpit incase he needs to eject and survive in the wilderness on his own for some time, he has a black hard polymer pack filled with MREs to last him a few days, a broken down Semi-automatic carbine with one 20 round magazine, a suppressed hand gun with one 20 round magazine, a flash light, a canteen filled with 1L of water, a knife, a trauma kit to stabilize wounds and set up broken bones, and a collapsible spade within it. This kit is attached to his seat to keep it from flying about and possibly causing damage while within the cockpit.

Combat Gear- Anytime Tarak enters his Mech, he is always ready for a combat scenario to occur when he is to leave it. So his normal combat gear includes some form of camo clothing fitting to the enviroment, a cooling vest able to take small arms fire and regulated his body temperature to allow for higher survivability inside and outside the cockpit, a pair of gloves, his boots, and some light armoring across his body to more easily take impacts and dampen blows. While on Espia, the armor is a white and grey with heavier layers to combat the cold. He wears this quite often even with the almost sauna like state inside the Mech.

Personal Cassette Player- Tarak loves to use his Personal cassette player, he uses it mostly to listen to music, especially while he is all alone or when on long recon missions. Tarak has a few favorite songs, yet anything that crosses his path are always a must listen to, especially now that they are stuck on a hostile planet, anything new is a god sent.

The Hourglass Order

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Location: Isla d'Amato near the water

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Interactions/Mentions: Onarr @Bork Lazer, Trypano @A Lowly Wretch, Ingrid @dragonpiece, Amelea, Ismet'ych'lahin'dichora, and the others nearby @Force and Fury

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Desmond listened to the princess as she spoke, and he was honestly dumbfounded. At this point, Desmond had about enough of this whole situation. He is found in the middle of a political struggle, a king trying to secure his thrown through any means, a princess trying to free herself and her people from his grasp. This little shadow game between a nation, the school, and the church, honestly Desmond about had enough. He was not paid enough…'Wait, I'm not even being paid!! I was promised not a damn thing for all of this. No money, no promise of education, hell why would I care what that old man could show me? What can he do for me?

Desmond began to rub the back of his head as he looked down, he seemed like he was beyond irritated, he has had the most annoying night humanly possible. He had to deal with a very annoying situation from the very beginning, a political game that he had no clue about because he had zero clue about any of the political push and pull that was occurring. He is in a pirate's paradise with every corner seeming to have someone either willing to gut you or a pirate. And for some reason, Desmond is always being set up with missions that have no guaranteed reward, and right now he has to either choose between letting the princess go off and cut his own losses or decide to fight to try and ensure her survival. Yet the most annoying thing of this all is that Desmond decided to accept another mission without any guarantee of a reward. As he looked around and listened to the Princess talk he began to watch as many different people seem to almost appear from the crowd that was appearing answering the call she made to them.

As the princess continued she asked for their assistance, with the promise of rewards if they are victorious. There would be quite a bit of reward, some to go to their war and whatever is left is to be given to them. Desmond looked away as he clicked his tongue and almost seemed upset, someone finally promised him something, but now it is to face off against what would be mostly mages, pirates, and mercenaries. He ground his teeth as now they were being compensated, yet they were going to be tasked on a suicide mission. They had no ship, and whatever they could scrounge up would probably be second-rate at best. Yet it seemed like another one of Desmond's excuses were dashed, as a pirate appeared who says they were loyal to Amelea and offered his ship and crew to her war.

Desmond thought for a moment as when he was about to talk about their missing teammate, almost like clockwork he heard cannon fire. He whipped around and looked out to see two ships, one pulling the other as he heard the voice of a very familiar person, "Penny". Desmond felt almost relieved, almost. Desmond stood there and waved nonchalantly to her as it seemed Trypano was done with the conversation as she left in a hurry. Desmond sighed as he realized this might be a fight they need to take. Desmond took a breath in as he was about to say something, that was until he felt a draw of energy that made him almost sick. His head turned to Ingrid as he saw the flying rubble and then her run into an alley, as that was when he knew she found something she shouldn't have. She found the death she caused. He wished if she left it alone, yet she was more than determined to do it, she had a decent heart to her, so having such things happen can easily break someone. Injuring their very being as they now had to deal with the idea of innocent death. Desmond looked to the others as he says, "We'll need to talk with the rest of our crew, so please give me a moment". As once he said that he made his way to Ingrid, he needed to make sure she was okay, having someone going crazy now would be too much for them to handle now.

As he made his way to the alley he saw Ingrid puking up what seemed to mostly be liquids. She must have had been mostly alcohol because of how late they were called to the Forked Tower for the Bastard Magician's game to take these missions. Desmond looked to her and saw she was mostly naked, with only small bits of cloth covering the most important bits, she must have not thought of it through the intensity of the combat and the things following after. Desmond moved over to where she is and took off his coat and tossed it over her as she was hunched over. He leaned against the wall as he took his hat off as well and tossed it onto her head while he took out his water skin and took a swig from it before holding it out to her and saying, "I know it hurts. But if we don't do what we have to now, then we will never be able to atone". Desmond did not look to her with sympathy, he looked as if he had a neutral face, one that seemed to almost never be held on his face, it had no smirk, no grin, but it was also no mask it just seemed like he was getting tired himself and took it off.

O R I F L A M M E

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Prologue I: Calm of the Storm

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Mentions/Interaction: Hrothgar the Black @Force and Fury

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A King's Choice

Kol had spent many moons secluded in his kingdom from his Blood Brother and Sister, each of whom had been met with very different things, yet in the same vein, the same thing. War was on the horizon, not everyone knew but almost everyone could feel it in some way or another, every man, woman, and child could feel tension building between the North and the South. As the Greenlanders sent Eskandr kings and nobles gifts, many began to fall to the dazzling beauty of the art, the flavors of their spices, and the sweetness of their Skáld's words. Many of the Kings and Nobles are there for many reasons: Their blood places them in the position of power or their power and hunger carves a place for them so high. Among the two, from both sides they will fall to temptations of the Greenlanders. They turn to the False gods and live their lives like those from there. They swear off their old gods, for any number of reasons, yet Kol could not understand, why would they do such things. Was it for the gold? The luxuries? Good food? Or was it there was something of their idea of gods? Kol didn't understand what would turn men from their gods. Maybe they never held belief in their gods, maybe they just saw them as a piece of culture…No.

Kol would not think of this any further, he had allowed these Greenlanders into his home. Gave them Salt and Bread, allowed them to partake of the greatest things they can offer, and now, it is time for them to leave. Kol went to his guests, the priests and these 'Missionaries' they call themselves. He asked them to leave his land, they were no longer welcomed within his halls, within his lands, nor were they to be near his people. So Kol first asked them first to leave in peace. Yet when they did not leave, Kol became stern, serious, commanding, as he ordered them to leave. Some left from fear, while those who were determined to stay tried, yet the moment Kol gave the command, his guards round up the rest, bound them up, put them on boats, and sent them out to sea. Kol was a softer man than most of those loyal to their ways, to betray the good faith given when entering anothers home, almost churned his stomach. Many called to question his loyalty when he did such things, calling him a charlatan and this might be a charade of his, a way for him to look like he was with them, just to back stab them.

Kol bit his tongue and bided his time, he knew what was to come next, a summoning from a well respected friend. No well respected was an understatement, the King of Kings is one of the most respected men in Eskandr, Hrothgar the Black, King of Kings called Kol Death's Hand, King of Strumreef. Kol did not know what this meant, was his actions so horrid he would be called to a trial? Kol was called for any number of reasons, yet the most important one was to be seen if he was loyal. When Kol came face to face with Hrothgar, his face stayed as calm, yet his eyes lit up in joy to see a friend again. Yet the face he was looking at was stern, it was the face of a man who was questioning the man in front of him silently. Inspecting him and constructing an idea of who the man in front of him is, as they began talking between each other. Hrothgar and Kol spoke on what should be done about the Greenlanders, Kol wished to speak from his heart, yet he knew his people wanted something more, they wanted war.

Strumreef is isolated in a way where interacting with the Greenlanders is extremely difficult, those of Strumreef struggle quite often, so the love of their community and their gods is very strong. They are the things that will get you through punishing winters, they are the things you call for bountiful times, and they were the gods you kept with you when you faced the enemy in battle. You asked for their guidance in everyday life, when going to the market, when talking with people you care for or wish to be close with, they are the ones you keep at your side when all else is gone, Kol knew how they felt. They hated those who went to these false gods, call them heathens, and turn their brothers against them. Kol knew what his people wanted, and he needed to give it to them, if he was to deny them such things, they'd never rest, they'd never trust him, they'd never reach Grønhalle.

So Kol spoke for the heart of his people, he spoke to Hrothgar of what must be done, a war must come. These Northerners have been trampling on their people's way of life, they must be stopped. Seeming satisficed with that answer, a feast was to be held that night, and there would be many invited. Kol attended what would be the sounding drum of war. Kol saw many other Noble men there, many wearing strange things he's never seen, some in clothing far fancier than he has known, and some hiding it, wearing jewelry that seemed of fine craftsmanship. Then the 25 guests that made Kol's heart sink, 25 priests from the North, this was when Kol knew what was going to occur. He hardened himself, he knew what was to become of these priests, yet he held his tongue. As they were apprehended, he did not move. When they were chained up, he watched on in silence. When he called his men to carve the Blood Eagle upon the priests, Kol rose from his seat and took a blade. When the screams cried out, Kol held his tongue and dealt the execution. He showed a face of resolve, yet inside his body was churning. As he witnessed men who entered the home of another, was shown generosity, and let their guards down, become carved into a Blood Eagle.

Once the Feast was done, and the dust settled, Hrothgar called his banners, and so, Kol answered. Kol left for his home, Strumreef, there he gathered his people. Giving word to his people that the King of Kings has called for war against the Greenlanders. And to no ones surprise, his people cried for war, families have been preparing for this day, men have been physically pushing themselves to fight at the best they can, and boys have been filled with the ideas of grandeur, trying to inspire the next generation to fight.

As Kol looked out to his people, as they scream and shout in excitement, Kol felt something he has not felt in a long time, fear...

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Prologue II: the Dawn of War

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Mentions/Interaction: Hrothgar the Black @Force and Fury, Vali, Twice Born @Wolfieh, Ulfhild Ulven @Salsa Verde, Hildr The Red @jasbraq

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A Brother's Wish

Kol and his army began their voyage to Meldheim, traveling as quickly as they can as from their position, it will take quite a bit of time to make it to the gathering of the great army. Kol knew this, so he dedicated multiple mages and shamans to each boat group. As their ships flew forward, Kol took to the night and used his powers to help the ships move forward. Kol dedicated this time to planning, using the information they had, what would be the best course of action to push forward. As they made great time in their travels, Kol sent some of his people out to deliver word to some of his closest confidents and friends of his presence in this war.

Vali, Twice born was one of the first among his close friends to be delivered word of Kol's participation, with Vali naturally going to be following Hrothgar's crusade, it was quite simple to find him. Kol remembers with great detail his Little Brother's moments of greatness, his skills in the hunt, his bowmanship and his powers over magic to make himself a deadly ghost among the hunt. Val had great reverence and love to the gods, and Kol knew this well. So it made it an easy search and an almost guarantee that Vali would hear the call for a crusade and answer the call. Kol was curious what his Brother has been doing all this time, the years have passed quite quickly, they have met often yet sometimes he feels Vali holds on to things, sometimes out of his own wish, or maybe just his excitement. So it makes Kol wonder, what if his Brother might have found a woman. Maybe he settled down for sometime, maybe he has a little hunter of his own now. Kol scoffed as he thought this and said to himself, 'Better not have, I wasn't even invited to any wedding of his'.

The next to receive word personally is Ulfhild, she was not as close to Kol as Hildr and Vali was, yet he considered her still a good friend. As he sent his people to find her, he thought of the first time they met. It was a funny time actually, Kol and Hildr were searching for Vali as they were in the midst of a hunt, they heard the sounds of battle. There they found their Little Brother nearly wrestled to the ground by a woman who seemed to be trying to go for his throat. Kol remembered how hard Hildr hit him for laughing at Vali as he congratulated him for find such a feisty lover. Ulfhild did not let Kol forget those words, and he enjoyed it. It was almost like having a little sister he never had, someone he could tease about little things. Kol thought about Ulfhild and Val and thought, 'I wonder if they are hunting together right now'

As messages went out, more and more of his close acquaintances and friends heard of his participation in Hrothgar's Crusade. Yet one person did not receive a direct message, and it was sadly someone of great importance to him, Hildr. Kol thought fondly of his many adventures, journeys, and even travels with Hildr. Many had been of great adventure, hunting, yet some were of tranquil times. Many of his most fond memories with Hildr was often found within the calm, and yet he remembered when they first met. The titan of a dragon, a walking volcano of pure destruction, it was a hunt never heard of until then. Led by the young Prince of Skidegaard, Hrothgar, Kol was but a prince at the time as well and wished to show his prowess and joined the hunt, yet the third member of their party was the most strange. Since none others would take the position the hunt was thought dead, until a Drudgunzean wished to stake a claim for the third spot. Most scoffed, yet Kol as more than willing, then soon it was revealed to be a girl no less, most thought she would have been turned away. Yet Kol welcomed her in with warm arms as Hrothgar accepted her into the party all the same. Once the hunt commenced, it was much more of a fight for survival than anything else, During the days they set up traps and laid in wait, as when night came they launched might assaults when Kol was their strongest. Kol remembered the intensity of the heat, the power of the stomps and slashes, and the sheer presence of the beast. And…

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Prologue III: Feast at the Gate

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Mentions/Interaction: Hrothgar the Black @Force and Fury & Ulfhild Ulven @Salsa Verde

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A Man's Duty

Kol stood at the helm of his ship as he saw land, the capital of the Eskandr Kingdom, Meldheim. Kol saw the shore and imagined the shore filled with ships. His vision created hundreds of ships that are to carry thousands of people. With so many people that there could never be a true count of the amount of people who have answered the call, yet Kol felt as if the Visitor knew. Kol shook his head as they made land, and prepared for docking for a short bit of time. Kol had brought additional ships than the ones he needed for his men, out of courtesy of those who have travelled here by land, they would be able to travel on one of the greatest crafted boats in all of Eskandr. Strumreef is an island kingdom, the seas get quite rough and treacherous to ships near, so Strumreef had to adapt to the seas, they made techniques and crafts to handle the dangerous sea, making them some of the best for long voyages.

Once the ships were secured, Kol stepped off and made sure his people were properly bringing supplies off. As they moved to the city, they began seeing the areas be filled in his mind, the many people sitting around campfires, eating, feasting, and regaling stories. Each one a small flickering flame among what is to become a large inferno of war. A band of brothers under their gods who would head off to war to kill the believers in false gods. A war machine that would burn all in it's path, brothers and sisters will celebrate with each other, but when they are to head off to war, many of those flames will burn out, if not all will…

Kol made his way to the hallowed halls of Meldheim, Kol knew who he was to find, as when his presence was know, he asked to speak with Hrothgar, as planning would be extensive, and Kol would like to know what he is putting his people to do. Once he entered the discussion halls, he found he was not among the first to have made their way here, many Jarls, Nobles, and Kings had made their way here before their armies. Their discussions were heated, as they planned in great detail, they seemed to take notice of Kol, some gave honors, others looked only his way, others gave side glances, and others paid no mind to him. Kol knew this feeling, they were gearing for an intense battle. Those who gave honors were some of the lowest on the totem pole, as they were smaller Jarls who had raised to a certain point. The others who gave mere notice were the ones who knew him and had relative power, Jarls of notoriety and lesser kings like himself, yet gave their attention to Hrothgar and their planning. Then those who gave no mind were the ones who were the ones who knew little of him, didn't care for him, or were all too focused on this crusade to care for much more.

Kol made his presence well known as he made his way to the gathering as he looked to Hrothgar directly and gave a gesture and said, "Hrothgar, I, Kol King of Strumreef has answered your summons". Once Kol took a seat, the talks began. Kol dedicated himself to the talks, his focus was wholly on the talks, to the point where he almost didn't notice it was Ulfhild who entered the conversations. Many people came and went, many wishing to hear Hrothgar speak, others wishing to give honors, and some wishing to participate. Yet once Kol noticed her, he stood and went to try and give her a large hug saying, "Ulfhild! It has been too long!" Kol was glad Ulfhild had made it, yet something felt strange, a tinge of fear came to his mind as he looked to her. As he looked to her he saw…

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Chapter 1: Drums of War

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Mentions/Interaction: Hrothgar the Black @Force and Fury, Vali, Twice Born @Wolfieh, Ulfhild Ulven @Salsa Verde, Hildr The Red @jasbraq

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A Call to War

Once the feast finished and the army has went to bed for the night, Kol understood the plan. They were to head through Drudgunzean waters. Kol knew that there would be resistance, and he did not wish to upset his Blood Sister, Hildr. He told his people that they will be taking a wider berth than the others to hopfully get around the blockades that would occur from those who had either decided to remain neutral and defending their waters, or those who have turned and were with the Parrench. On which side did not matter to Kol, what mattered is that he wished to respect his Blood Sister's people. There were a few who had listened to Kol, while others decided to follow the main group more closely. Kol dedicated some of his time even during the night to keep up with the main group through using his magic. With doing this, he had tired himself for the days until they finally caught up to the main force again.

Kol had spent this time either travelling forth, or preparing his parties for the plans made. As they neared the Parrench waters, Kol thinks to his Blood Brother and Blood Sister, his close friends, those he knows close. This first push is going to be a tough one, they are not going to get out unscathed, as they neared their target Kol began to prepare for combat. For him, it was through meditation, clearing the mind and relaxing his body, as he began to fill his mind with beasts and monsters. As within his mind he fought them, killing each of them, recreating fights within his head, against these monsters as he began to almost cage them in his mind, taking control of them before the battle. As after hours of this, Kol came out of his meditative state in a drenched sweat. His mouth was dry, his body felt tired, and he started to feel like he had a head ache. He was ready.

Kol knew that, once they had landed, he would take a moment to prepare for the raid. The main force would be charging into the enemies, as for Kol, he and the other Mooncasters would be spreading across many of the areas where they were needed. As he had many a time, Kol would don and ready his gear. Should the gods grant him time, he would make certain that it was well-maintained, as he had people to assist him in that, making sure he looked the part when he stepped out in front of his people. He was to be in charge of a powerful and very quick force, for their work would be the most important.

As the sun sat upon the horizon and the Moons could be seen, perched like ornaments in the darkening sky, Kol looked to them and understood that it was time. This war was to begin here, in flames. As Kol looked out to the enemy encampment he saw…

Mechwarrior: Disposable Heroes

LET'S GOOO!!!!

Mechwarrior: Disposable Heroes

Working on the last touches for OOC now; it should go up either this weekend or Monday.

@AndyC

Awesome, I'm so excited!