<div class="floatright">(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y156/jillvader/mw-nmfkmpkarimonero_zps55a1bf27.jpg)</div><strong>Kari Moreno</strong><br/><strong>In her 'Mech, in the desert, in a fight</strong><br/><strong>Tagged: Everyone</strong><br/><hr/><br/><strong>Santa Prisca Desert, Librios<br/>Deneb Algedi, Benjamin District<br/>Draconis Combine<br/>1 January 3145</strong><br/><br/>The ragged<em>Calliope</em>had pulled back, one arm little more than a burned stump while its armour was shredded. The<em>Exhumer</em>had tried to join it, only to be bought down by Bear and Allia’s combined fire, crashing face-first to the desert sand. With the<em>Archer’s</em>rather dramatic demise, that left only two more; the<em>Banshee</em>and<em>Hammerhands,</em>both badly wounded.<br/><br/><em>Come on,</em>Kari considered as  she exchanged fire once more with the<em>H-Hands</em>, lasers and autocannon flying back and forth between the two ‘Mechs.<em>I gave you guys an out, and made it clear that we’re going to let you take it. We’re offering you a shot here. Don’t make this to the death</em>. She’d heard stories that the Combine would often ‘suggest’ to their mercenaries that fighting to the death was their only option, and they had ways to enforce that idea. Now she wanted to see what the Crushers would do.<br/><br/>They had made mistakes, yes, and their situation was entirely their fault. At the same time, she didn’t want to see them killed for the sake of it.<em>Maybe they thought the Snakes would offer more help. Maybe they mis-read out numbers. Either way, they’ve taken their lumps already</em><br/><br/>The<em>Banshee</em>made the first move as it tried to limp backwards. The BattleMech raised both arms, a red flare shooting up from the cockpit. “We surrender!” A voice called out over a loudspeaker. “Let us go and we won’t give you any trouble.”<br/><br/>Kari held on her trigger, the<em>Hammerhands</em>under the reticule.  “Hold fire!” She ordered over the command channel. “But keep a watch on them and the Snakes, and be ready to respond if anyone shoots”<br/><br/><em>We still have a job to do, and the Snakes probably won’t like that,</em>she concluded.<em>But this way we make things a little easier for all of us</em><br/>