Prologue
Coromodir VI
Coming to consciousness was a rude awakening, I had been sitting at home enjoying myself with a good game of Battletech when it happened, I still don't even know what it is really. Reaching a hand behind my head I felt plugs along my spinal column and close cropped hair. "He's awake." The voice sounded somewhat familiar, and yet, not at all. Darius Oliviera looked happy. "Wasn't sure you were going to come through."
Whatever was happening to me, I hadn't been left entirely ignorant, the memories of who I was were there in reach. A son of the Far Periphery, noble born whose parents had been betrayed. The memories hurt, as if they'd been grafted onto me, but my name was Kane Giordino, callsign 'Warden'. That word trembled in my consciousness as much as the other memories.
"Hey you ok? We don't know much about your implants." Darius said worried before I waved him off.
"Yeah, i'm ok. Just concussed a little I think." The lie formed easily and quickly, i'd ejected after the attack on Lady Kamea, my mentor was probably dead. "Did you recover my mech?" I said turning to them.
"Yeah, we recovered it but damned if Makran doesn't want to take it for a spin, must be some sort of ancient Star League hardware, but i've never seen anything like it. I can't work out why the Directorate didn't try to salvage it. And we had a hell of a time trying to get it on board i'll tell you. A Mech transporter just isn't rated to move a hundred and forty tons." Yang said as he turned on the screen in his hand and passed it to me.
I noticed a large quantity of other equipment for my machine in the mechbay as well, though Yang didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, whatever had done this had smoothed the wrinkles. I spotted a Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, Thermal, Avenger Bolt Cannons all in pairs, as well as Reaper Chainsword or Thunderstrike Gauntlet with the carapace options stored behind it.
"Only I can pilot it, experimental interface." I tapped the jacks on the back of my neck. "But i'd rather keep it out of prying eyes, but what happened down there?"
Darius came over and sat down on the edge of a table. "To be honest Kane, Lady Kamea is dead, her Uncle is running the show and our welcome is pretty much worn out. We've worked with Arano before and with Raju, and he.. he didn't make it cockpit got hollowed clean out nothing could have survived that."
I knew these things to be untrue, the same way I knew there was a Brian Castle out here, untouched and undisturbed, and that a move on it would cost far too much, but... but if I were to discover it, or capitalise on that discovery later, then just maybe I could claim it... the clocks ticked in my head as I strove to adjust.
Here I was, an Imperial Knight in the bay, a technology that without further intervention from whatever brought me here would either quickly exhaust my spares, ability to replenish, repair or rearm. A gold mine of technology that I would have to treat as gently as a Fabergé egg.
"Look, if you want we can take you with us, drop you off at the nearest safe planet, or maybe we can take you on, your machine looks mighty enough to earn us some luscious contracts." The offer was tempting, and I was going to take it. Though I had to treat my machine like the precious resource it was, I also wanted to be able to claim the Argo.
"I appreciate the offer, and getting gone is probably a good idea before that crazy cousin comes looking for the strange oversized Mech they let get away. I'll earn my keep