Wanted to try a "lore" style story set in the BT universe, where instead of a single, continuous narrative the story is presented in bits and pieces: a conversation, an item description, a letter, or whatever. Then it is up to the reader to piece the story together.
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Neurohelmet for Sale
This one? Sir has a discerning eye. One of the most valuable items in our stock, I’m proud to say. MechWarrior’s neurohelmet, House Kurita bucket style, early 31st century. Minor cracking along the right side where it has been grazed by a bullet, but still rates as ‘good.’ Internal padding in ‘very good’ condition. The faceplate hinge has been replaced. The original manufacturer’s marks still visible on the bottom rim of the helmet bowl, here you see, a katakana “Sa” plus the characters for “two thousand seven hundred,” telling us this came from the New Samarkhand arsenal, produced sometime in the 28th century.
The exterior decoration is what interests you though, is it not? As I suspected. Our analysis has revealed this is not the original design. The previous pattern has been scoured off, leaving only the current one. Traces of red paint. Might once have belonged to somebody in a Sword of Light regiment, who knows?
The monochromatic scheme suggests this was last used by a member of one of the Ghost regiments. A criminal, perhaps, one of the yakuza. A white tiger on either side, possibly a gang symbol or totem. The patterns of stripes on the tigers appear random at first, but if you look closely, here you see, these are a number of star-like shapes. A map of the night sky seen from a Draconis Combine world, perhaps. Intriguingly, this one star, right here at the crown, has been done in red. I'd wager the pattern is a map, leading to some yakuza treasure, waiting for us to decode!
Here, above the faceplate, you see these characters? Most people assume it’s the pilot’s name, but it’s more a slogan or motto. You know, the way marines might jokingly write “aim here” on their own helmets? Well, House Kurita MechWarriors’ slogans tend to be a bit less humorous. It reads: Sen-teh wa man-teh. It means, “The first hand is ten thousand hands,” or in other words, there is an advantage to being a pioneer, being the first to do something, to seizing the initiative.
In plain English: Get in the first shot.
I could not let this go for less than 600,000 C-Bills. A bargain at the price. What do you say?
