Crusader One: We are rolling out - scout elements just cleared Kallon's outer marker. Let's get this convoy moving.
Squire one: Crusader, we are moving down Shu Motorway now.
Crusader one: Nice and easy, boys. No need to rush it.
Squire two: Keep up, slowpokes!
Castle: Crusader! Private channel - go to Present 2.
Crusader one: Ok, we're on private. What's up Roxanne?
Castle: Boss... security just found Assistant Director Chee dead in his room. Looks like a professional job - two rounds to the head, one in the chest. Krystal also looked at his workstation, she reckons someone worked it over and tried to wipe their trace clean.
Crusader: Shit! Did security see anything at all? The timing is feeling a little too bloody convenient.
Castle: the cameras in that section were all running on a loop for most of the morning. We're going into lockdown.
Squire one: Bandits! Bandits! I mark four MAD readings at grid reference 2345-six-niner.
Crusader: Dammit! Rex, Kyle - ping them with your probes. All Saracen elements, drop back but be ready to move. This smells most bad.
Squire two: Captain, they're not reading as Cappies and they're sure as hell not Kallon. Son of a bitch! That's-
Static
Crusader: squire two come in! Squire two-
Squire one: Barrett! Aerospace fighters! They just buzzed Kyle, he's down. And those MAD scans are moving our way.
- recording: January 30, 3080
Cavalli's Cavaliers
BattleAxe BKX-8D Taige Barrett
Dervish DV-1S Electra Reva-Singh
Firestarter FSF9-0F Rex Manahi + attached Purifier squad
Strider SR1-O Kyle Manahi + attached Longinus squad
Zhukov (WoB)
Zhukov (standard)
x12 Partisan Air Defence Tanks (no ammo)
So, that's it. Goodbye cushy corporate gig. We did everything right and it still went wrong.
As soon as we got outside of the Kallon defence cordon, Rex and Kyle ran into a lance of Mechs - all running no IFF and painted in primer grey. Fresh primer grey.
Next, two fighters come pouring from the sky's and drop a load on Kyle, downing his Owens. Somehow his BA squad survived and managed to pull him from the ruined cockpit.
We found ourself harassed by the fighters as the Mechs sniped from the adjacent block.
I quickly pulled our surviving Mechs into a laager around the convoy and waited for the next fighter pass - one Eagle was badly holed, leaking smoke and they broke off.
By this point, our mystery raiders threw a fast hover lance at the convoy, trying to grab the Partisans but they ran into the crossfire of our dug in BA and my lance.
At that point, Saladin's tanks arrived off their left flank and we gave it to the Mechs.
They lost a Vindi and had to drag a Jagermech home because I'd shot off one leg at the hip and torn off an arm.
We let them go and pushed into the drop port where the merchant was waiting.
Two hours later Kallon informs us that it wasn't a merchant - it was pirates. The whole thing was a sham and they're trying to pin it on us: piracy, theft, murder and beach of contract.
My first contract as CO and I'm looking at jail time.
Taige Barrett
Kallon has paid up. Barely. And we are in the clear. Sort of.
The corporate suits are obviously both terrified and pissed there's some sort of industrial espionage up the wazoo going on.
Good news: They recognise we were taken for a ride by rogue elements in their company.
Bad news: They've paid us out the balance of our contract (sans combat pay, salvage and bounties) and politely told us to vacate by the end of the month.
We'll barely beak even, but at least we're not branded pirates.
The captain, however is bent on revenge - or at least finding out what's going on.
- Roxanne Kramer
The image is fuzzy and poor quality. A red REC legend flashes in the top right, alongside JAN30-3080-0139
It shows a street scene, it's dark and the road is slick with rain, reflecting rainbow patterns at the camera.
A man and a woman emerge from a doorway and start to cross the street. They're entwined and the woman has her head on his shoulder, her dark hair falling over the lapel of his leather jacket. As the woman pulls ahead, glancing back coyly at the man, a hover car suddenly surges forward.
The woman is well clear but the man is struck full on and sent rolling across the hood before hitting the pavement. Two men quickly emerge from the vehicle, one rushing towards the crumpled figure - a pistol drawn.
As he tries to manhandle the injured man up, the figure lashes out - a leg scissors out and brings him down, followed by a fist to the face.
The second man raises his own pistol at the man who took down his companion - there a cough and the man crumbles to the street.
The image is sharper. It shows a dim room. The legend INGTION ROOM#2 glows in the bottom screen. 0301 flashes up under It.
In the middle of the tiled room a naked man is seated in an office chair. His hands are zip tied to the chair's arms, while other ties secure his legs to brackets set into the floor.
His right arm is a garish colour explosion of tattoo from shoulder to elbow, while his left shoulder is a maze of old scars.
Right now, his face is a bloody mess - dark liquid has streamed from his nose and coated his moustache, while his mashed lips drop blood onto his chest.
A nasty bruise is already forming across his right hip and thigh.
VOICE ONE: Speak up, Mr Larsen. I'm afraid we didn't catch that.
LARSEN: I said, you planted the girl at the bar, right? Had me all staked out.
VOICE ONE: Indeed, and this time there will be no theatre, no waving around of your giant gun. Just you answering me.
Larsen spits a glob of blood out.
VOICE ONE: Now, back to it. What do you know about the stolen Kallon shipment?
LARSEN. Only what I read in the Kallontown Express. Why don't you tell me, Mr Spy?
VOICE ONE: Enough games, Larsen. Agent Taofang
A hulking figure enters the frame. He's gigantic, with arms the size of rice bags and a shaven, bullet head seated atop huge shoulders.
VOICE ONE: You will tell us what you know, Mr Larsen. Taofang's talent lie in his prestigious strength, acquired as a result of extensive and expensive augmentation.
The huge man wraps meaty hands around Larsen's ribs and squeezes.
Larsen is quickly screaming.
VOICE ONE: With just a few pounds of pressure, his specially crafted muscles can break bone and even steel.
The screaming tails off. Larsen is panting, he's visibly pained and shaking.
VOICE ONE: Pull his left arm out of its socket.
The giant moves with uncanny speed and with one deft move, tugs Larsen's wrist, tearing off the zip tie and shattering the chair arm.
The Mechwarrior throws his head back and screams.
VOICE ONE: the other one.
LARSEN: Enough! Ok! Ok! Rumour has it, Washington and his men were working with Kallon to snatch the gear. But that's all I know!
VOICE ONE: Very good. So, Stone's Coalition is engaged in gunrunning on a House Liao world. Interesting You will infiltrate Washington's people and verify this.
LARSEN: You want me to what?
VOICE ONE: This hearsay must be verified. Now, from the top