BattleTech: Lion's Roar by Steven Mohan Jr

Author:Steven Mohan Jr.
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
Published: 2012-02-13T05:00:00+00:00

Maximillian Liao Avenue, Cathay

Solaris City, Solaris VII

Freedom Theater, Lyran Alliance

5 April 3064

The storm was doing its best to wash Maximillian Liao clean, but some things were beyond even nature’s ability. The clean, sharp smell of rain covered up the odor of garbage and piss, and the drizzle had chased most of the street’s denizens indoors, or at least sent them scurrying for cover. But in the end it was like dressing a hooker in an elegant, black evening gown; the cleansing only served to highlight what Max Liao really was.

A place that was home to two kinds of people: the desperate and the monstrous.

The low clouds hid the stars, leaving no illumination but the dim, orange glow of sodium streetlamps. In the hellish half-light, the dark tenements that flanked the narrow road looked like immense creatures waiting to snatch up the unwary passerby.

And David was sure the danger wasn’t just in his head.

He struggled down the rain-slick street (no sidewalks on the south end of Max Liao) throwing his left shoulder forward, planting his crutch, and swinging the right side of his body in line with the left.

The crutch was an old thing he’d dug out of a closet, junk from an earlier arena injury. He should’ve thrown it out long ago. The rubber tip on the foot was worn through to bare metal, and the padding on its top was so thin that it dug into his left armpit each time the crutch hit the ground.

But it was all he had.

Twice the crutch slipped on the treacherous pavement. Once he’d caught himself, twisting his body to avoid the fall and subjecting his knee to a wrenching agony that almost brought him down anyway.

The second time he wasn’t so lucky.

Gravity yanked him down, cracking the wounded knee against the hard pavement. David gasped. The world became incandescent white fire. Then it snapped to black.

The cold touch of rain on his face jerked David back to himself. He wasn’t sure how long he’d lain in the middle of the street, but it must’ve been only a few minutes. No one had come by to slit his throat.

Somehow he managed to lever himself to his feet, trying to ignore the throb of his abused knee. He took a creaky step forward. His knee screamed in protest, but he ignored it.

And took another step.

Marcy needed him.

Xu had been true to his word. There had been an address in the envelope: 319 Max. Liao. David was even willing to wager the purse of his next fight—

(Except there would be no next fight.)

—that the address was correct. But the joke was on him. Very few of the run-down buildings in this part of Cathay had numbers, and those that did were almost impossible to see in the dark.

Ahead, David saw a slim form huddled under a narrow awning jutting from a brick building. Woman. He could tell by the soft shape of the body, by the way she held herself.

His heart leapt.

Please let it be Marcy.

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