<strong>Month 2, day 3</strong><br/><br/>Mira bit down on her lip softly as Einenlancer walked out onto the battleground, a pretty straightforward desert canyon with rocky cliffs on either side for cover fire. Almost instantly, Mira began to try and put together some kind of plan that would make the maximum use of her Mech's lowered abilities. Einenlancer was still far from the machine that it was before, but at least it could fight again. Her opponent, an aging man hailing from Japan named Takashi Fujin, stood waiting  at the other side of the canyon in his signature mech,  Muramasa (http://www.mahq.net/mecha/macross/sdfmacross/vf-1j-battroid.jpg). It wasn't the most flashy MW that the world had ever seen, but it was tough, and it had served Takashi well for many, many years. Many didn't understand why he didn't upgrade to a new MW when technology started improving again, but they failed to see what Mira saw. Takashi knew the Muramasa inside and out, he knew every last detail about how his mech would react under developing conditions. To Takashi, controlling Muramasa was as familiar as using his arms, and he wouldn't be able to transition over to a different machine, he wouldn't even want to.<br/><br/>However, Mira could tell already that something wasn't quite right about the Muramasa, something was different about it. Of course, it only took the mechanic a few more moments of analysis to realize that the left arm had been significantly damaged before the battle. Mira instantly clicked on NETCOM, wondering why Takashi would want to battle her in a damaged Mech. "Mr. Fujin, your arm is damaged." It only took a few seconds before the deep, gruff voice of her opponent came back through. "So you noticed, eh? Little Malrain, your mech isn't quite up to snuff either. This was my way of evening out the playing field, if I win because Muramasa was in better condition then your Einenlancer, it robs the entire sense of pride that comes along with it. This is a sport, not war, victory gained through unfair means isn't victory at all."<br/><br/>Mira paused, glancing downward, so the rumors about Takashi's sense of honor and fair play weren't rumors at all. Mira wondered if she could ever be so bold as to sabotage Einenlancer in order to give the opponent a fighting chance, she doubted she had that kind of conviction to her ideals though. "I... I see. Thank you."<br/><br/>Muramasa rose it's blaster and aimed it down to Einenlancer from across the canyon, more to be a visual symbol then an actual attempt to attack. At the current range, attacking with anything short of a sniper rifle would be a source of comedy.<br/>"Mira Malrain, show me that you deserve to be in this league."<br/><br/>Mira nodded, she rose her head up to glance at her main cameras and tightened her grip on the controls of her Mech.<br/>"Right."<br/><br/>the red numbers started to count down over their heads. 3... 2... 1...<br/><br/>And the battle was on.