Fiona strode her Summoner forward towards the three targets arrayed on her tactical display. They were tagged numerically, and she noted that they were also sequenced in ascending order of tonnage. Her first opponent read as a Stormcrow, the second as a Hellbringer, and the third as a Warhawk. Having studied the standard weapons loadouts on typical clan mechs over the last several weeks, she was under no illusions that she could come anywhere close to tangling with the 85 ton beast that was her third opponent.

        She focused instead on the Stormcrow, which raised it's arms in a kind of salute to her that she was not sure was meant to be genuine or mocking. She gave it a wide berth at first, keeping it at long range. She waited for her targeting computer to achieve a missile lock then hit the firing stud sending a volley of missiles out towards the ungainly looking clan mech. Over half the warheads struck their mark, biting armor from the hunched over mech.

        Then something went very wrong. The remaining missiles, having passed by the Stormcrow, suddenly lurched to try to get a firing solution on the Hellbringer which stood a few hundred meters off, beside the waiting Warhawk. Some of the missiles rang true, doing minor damage but activating the second opponent, with two warheads veering off and striking the Warhawk as well. The entire field was now live and against her in a matter of seconds.

        Dumbfounded, she looked down at her weapon readout. She punched up the ammo bin and stared at the display. One showed as used, and the other seven read LRM/STD/SWRM. Somehow, her mech had been equipped with swarm munitions, and her first volley ignited a total melee.

        Several kilometers away, Lovvins and Abigail stood in the observation deck for the trial, along with a vocal throng of other spectators, watching the battle unfold on the ultra-realistic holo-display. "Stravag! What is that freebirth doing? If she is not killed in this onslaught, you will have to restrain me from killing her with my bare hands. Of all the foolish, arrogant things to do!"

        Abigail grasped Lovvins massively muscular arm and shook him, "Neg, Star Commander, I do not think that was deliberate. Look, she stands there like an eyas fallen out of the nest on its head. She did not plan this."

        Lovvins shook his arm free. "What do you mean? She fired on all three opponents! She means to get herself some glory in the Rememberance or some such nonsense with this foolishness! But she will not survive it!"

        Abigail argued back. "Neg, Lovvins. I am looking at it as a mechwarrior. I am telling you, she is unsettled. Something has happened to cause this chaos, and it was not of her planning, I am certain of that."

    He forced himself to calm down. "Even if you are correct, she is now hopelessly outgunned. She will be lucky to escape with her life."

        She patted his muscular shoulder. "Remember why you claimed her as a bondsman, and have faith, Star Commander."

        Fiona was shaken back to reality by the onslaught of four PPCs bathing her mech in lighting. She could feel her hairs stand on edge with the discharge of such power. It was all she could do to remain upright. Instinctively, she slammed down on the jump jet pedals, vaulting her mech up over the treeline and clear of several volleys of fire from the combined mechs which now stared up at her, waiting for her to descend.

        All of her pre-planned strategies had gone out the window. Now she had to somehow survive and manage to pick off one of the enemy mechs. As her mech came to ground, the Stormcrow and Hellbringer sped up to meet her, the Warhawk remained stationary, eyeing her with a deadly glare. It was then, locked in a staring contest with the massive eighty-five ton beast, that a plan began to formulate in her head.

        She ran her mech to the left, stringing out the two faster mechs towards her and isolating the larger, but more deadly sniper of a mech. The woods afforded her reasonable cover, and she managed to dodge PPC and laser shots from all of her opponents, while not firing back at them at all. All the while, she kept an eye on her tactical display, watching her three opponents in relation to herself. Careful use of cover and jump jets kept her mech relatively intact, until she found herself in the spot where she wanted to be.

        She suddenly darted her mech to the right and kicked up into a full run, heedless of the trees around her. She charged straight at the Warhawk. Her two other opponents were now behind her in roughly a straight line, meaning that her opponents would have to take special care with their shots to avoid damaging each other. She triggered volleys from her LRM rack as fast as they would cycle at the Warhawk, but other than that, she did not fire, focusing only on dodging and making herself hard to hit as she charged towards the planted behemoth in front of her. 

        Then, at a point in time she could only discern by instinct or luck, she kicked the jump jets into action and vaulted her seventy tons of mech into the air. She would either fail spectacularly, or this would save her from certain defeat. Her arc was bringing her closer and closer to the enemy mech, whose four PPCs were tracking her as best they could. Suddenly the Warhawk fired, all four azure bolts flailing out at her mech. She could feel the impact of so much imparted energy and the armor falling off her mech in waves, but it was still nothing compared to the force of her battlemech in flight. 

        She was almost at the Warhawk now and had to decide on a plan for landing. Again, she let instinct guide her and her mechs feet gouged deeply into the dirt in front of the squat omnimech. At the same moment, the barrel of her autocannon punched dangerously close to the enemy cockpit, and she pulled the trigger.

        She could not keep her mech totally upright through all of the varied crashes and changes in force,  and her mech toppled into the Warhawk and collapsed on top of it. The two mechs embraced in an ear wrenching  bear hug for a few seconds, until she fought with the controls to leverage hr mech up and onto it's feet. The Warhawk did not move. She stood there for a few seconds, victorious, until she realized she was being shot in the back armor, as her other two opponents were finally making their way back to the fray. She looked at the damage readout on her display, and the picture was not good. What little armor she had was hopelessly torn and shredded, her autocannon was out of action, her missile launcher read as inoperative, and she could not get the right arm with it's PPC to move in any direction at all. With all her might, she smashed down on the emergency shutdown control, dampening her fusion ractor and signalling submission.

        She had won. She was now a warrior once again. She let her head droop and waited for the recovery teams.  She had no idea how long she hung there, slumped in the command couch, until she felt the cool hiss of outside air wash over her face. Lovvins half climbed in the cockpit, his considerable bulk making an almost comical effect, but she noted that this was exactly how she had started her journey to become a Jade Falcon, with an Elemental prying his way into her cockpit.

        "Bondsman, if any of what I just witnessed was planned, I will beat you senseless in a circle of equals ten times over. That should not have been so complicated.

        She pulled off her neurohelmet, letting her hair fall and more of the cool air embrace her. The only part I planned was the last bit, and that was all on the fly. So I hope the circle of equals will have to wait a while."

        He nodded, and took her wrist and severed the last bondcord with his blade. Yes. For now, there is an angry mechwarrior looking to tell you all that you did wrong back on the ground. I suggest we not keep her waiting too long."