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Chapter 1 - Against the Innersphere -
- Burning Huntress -[]
Huntress, Kerensky Cluster
Clan Space
3061
Star Captain Liliana Fürste wiped blood from her eyes with a steady hand, the crimson streak staining her pale skin. Her Smoke Jaguar uniform, once immaculate and a symbol of her power, was now nothing more than a shroud, drenched in ash and the filth of a dying world. The viewport of her Dire Wolf was fractured, a web of destruction mirroring her fractured pride. Beyond it, the world of Huntress writhed in flames. Lootera, the capital—once the heart of Smoke Jaguar's might—was a smoldering corpse, its bones jutting from the blackened earth like the remains of a great beast long dead.
The rumble of Spheroid artillery echoed, the distant thunder of their weapons pounding the last breaths out of her Clan's defenses. Her Dire Wolf lay twisted among the rubble of a toppled building, its once-gleaming armor scorched and torn. It had been a machine of terror, a symbol of her strength, and now, like everything around her, it was reduced to ruin.
Liliana tasted the bitterness of bile, the acrid tang of defeat mingling with the blood on her lips. She scanned the horizon, her eyes searching for the shadows of her Binary—her warriors, her pride. But there was nothing. They had either perished like dogs or fled like cowards. It was unforgivable. They were Smoke Jaguars, the apex of warriors, honed through generations of blood and fire. And yet here they were—shattered, scattered like prey before the onslaught of lesser creatures.
She slammed her fist against the cracked glass of her viewport, her nails cutting into her palm as she sneered. "Is this how we end?" she hissed. "Hunted like vermin by these pathetic, puling freebirths?" The word dripped with venom. "After all we have sacrificed?"
Rage flared, sharp and hot, before the crushing weight of her situation snuffed it out like a flame deprived of air. What was left to fight for? Her commanders were dead, her comrades dust, the Jaguars' fleet scattered like ashes on the wind. And the Wolves… Her lip curled, and she spat. "Treacherous cowards." The Wolves had done nothing, stood by and watched as the Spheroids tore the heart out of her Clan. She swore an oath then—a curse that would follow them through the stars.
The scene outside was no longer enough to stoke her anger. It was only despair that filled her now—bitter and all-consuming. The truth was undeniable: the Jaguars had not been bested by warriors of equal strength. They had been hunted down by vermin, by the relentless and cowardly tactics of the Inner Sphere. She had seen it in their eyes, the soldiers who stormed Lootera. This was not war; it was a purge, an extermination.
Her hand tightened on the controls as sparks flickered from the mangled systems. The Dire Wolf was beyond salvaging. Her weapons had been expended, her ammunition exhausted. Her machine, her legacy, lay crippled—a beast with its legs broken, waiting for the killing blow. The Spheroids would find her. They would come. That was inevitable.
But surrender? Surrender was not.
Liliana straightened, her fingers brushing the hilt of her laser pistol—a weapon she had carried since her Trial of Position. "Death, yes," she whispered, "but not defeat. Not dishonor." Even in this moment, even with her death upon her, she would not yield. She would die as she had lived: a Jaguar, vicious and unbroken.
The comm-link sputtered, a hiss of static followed by the muffled voices of the Spheroid soldiers. They were closing in, hunting her—the last of her Binary, the last of her Star. She listened to their chatter, her lips curling into a cruel smile. "Let them come," she muttered. "Let them see what it means to face a Jaguar."
She closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of smoke and blood. The world would end soon. She felt a grim satisfaction settle over her like a shroud. The fire in her chest was small, but it burned. The Jaguars might fall today, but she would make these freebirths remember her. Her death would be a curse upon their bloodlines, a reminder that the Jaguars did not die easily.
The Spheroids were close now, their voices a low murmur beneath the rumble of the ruined city. Liliana tightened her grip on the pistol and braced herself. She did not fear death; she welcomed it. She would show them that even at the end, she was still their superior.
"Come, freebirths," she whispered, her voice cold. "Face me, and let me show you the price of your arrogance."
She lifted the pistol, her eyes sharp and unyielding. There would be no trial, no exile. She was Smoke Jaguar—a warrior who knew only victory or death.
The static in the comms spiked, a garbled mess of noise. For a heartbeat, she imagined hearing a familiar voice, but it was only silence. She was alone. Her Clan was dead, or soon would be. Huntress would be scoured clean, every Jaguar hunted and killed. Her grip on the pistol was iron. "Kerensky's blood runs in my veins, and I will take as many of them as I can. If I am to die, I will do so in a blaze that sears their souls."
The world grew colder, her vision dimming as her body began to fail. Smoke and blood choked the air, her strength ebbing away. She could see Lootera as it once was—a beacon of her Clan's might. Now, it was nothing but a memory, distant and fading.
A thin, cruel smile played on her lips. "We may have fallen," she whispered, "but the spirit of the Jaguar endures. Even in death, we are a terror."
The sound of boots on rubble was close, their shadows stretching over her. She could see them now—Spheroid soldiers, picking their way through the debris. Her hand steadied, her pulse cold and slow.
The door to her cockpit wrenched open, and she fired. The flash of light was the last thing she saw, and she welcomed the darkness.
- Note from the Author
- So some detail I will be real this book is the result of several hundred hours I spend on Sarna.net for the detail for the clan ritual trial and every painful thing I have to read. While there is a lot of detail for the Jade Falcon and the Wolf for the Jaguar. Though there is not alot so while Mech Warrior Clan is a great game thus a lot of lore will come from there a lot would be adapted from other clan. But please do correct me if I get it wrong some, because I am not perfect I'm not some lore master I just enjoy the setting enough to try to write a book about our favorite war criminals. Second I am abusing Grammarly and chat GTP to fix my shitty grammar and my inability to use pathetic correct grammar so some will sound like AI written. Please don't be discouraged I am still writing it just my shitty grammar sometime need a paraphrase. Also I'm using white as the color so if it hurt your eyes please tell me and I properly change it.