Of Unknown Origin
YAMAGUCHI: Well, Commander [PLAYER], here we are. Standing astride the ragged edge of civilization, where the star maps meet their end.
Thank you for joining me in this cheerless place. Most reputable mercenary companies won’t venture this far outside the Inner Sphere.
SUMIRE: That’s what gives us our edge, Bob. Throw enough money at us and we’ll go wherever you want.
YAMAGUCHI: A sentiment worth drinking to—but alas, my reserves have run dry, and I cannot replenish them here. The swill that they peddle on Tarragona is an insult to the very concept of wine.
All of this brings me to the reason I called you here: I have a job for you, and I need it done quickly. My situation is rather desperate, you understand.
PLAYER: We get it, Shugo Yamaguchi. Tell us who we’re here to rescue, and from whom.
YAMAGUCHI: Captain Gaku Magorian of Tsubaki Salvageworks. He’s fallen into the clutches of a Frontier crime syndicate, and I need you to get him back.
SUMIRE: And you’ve come all the way out here in person to coordinate his rescue.
This captain of yours must be quite a guy.
YAMAGUCHI: Oh, no, Ms. Meyer. By all accounts, he’s horrid—a rancid turnip that walks as a man. But this particular turnip found something of great value on one of his forays into the Deep Periphery, and House Kurita wants it.
PLAYER: What kind of “something” are we talking about?
YAMAGUCHI: A ship. I don’t know what kind. The ISF dossier that I received refers to it only as “a derelict spacecraft of unknown origin.”
The vagueness of the language is intentional, of course. The Kuritan intelligence community is quite adept at gathering information, but almost farcically bad at sharing it.
FARAH: We know the type. I assume that your government sent you to recover this mysterious spacecraft?
YAMAGUCHI: You overestimate my position, Doctor. My superiors don’t want me anywhere near their precious derelict.
PLAYER: That probably stings, huh?
YAMAGUCHI: On the contrary. The less involvement my superiors require of me, the better.
I don’t belong out here, Commander. I feel the need to spiritually cleanse myself of this place. And so, the moment your assignment is complete, I will travel to Herotitus, where I will submerge myself in an ocean of vice. All I need is Captain Magorian, and that is where you come in.
DARIUS: Understood, Shugo Yamaguchi. We’ll get you your man.
Now, have you got a name for this syndicate we’re going up against?
YAMAGUCHI: Does it matter? They’re petty criminals. If they hadn’t kidnapped a person of importance to the Combine, they wouldn’t even be worth discussing.
FARAH: You don’t know, do you?
YAMAGUCHI: No. Oh, I’m sure it was mentioned in one of the interminable briefings I was subjected to back when I was saddled with this assignment… but that was two months and several dozen bottles of cholobara ago.
Don’t look at me like that—I had to drink it quickly. It doesn’t keep, you see.
PLAYER: Yeah, I get it. Do you have any intel on our OpFor at all? Numbers, tactics, armament?
YAMAGUCHI: Oh, you don’t need any of that! This should be a simple job for mercenaries of your caliber. Just march on in with your BattleMechs, shoot them until they stop moving, and get Captain Magorian back.
What could be easier than that?
SUMIRE: Nothing, I guess. We’ll get right on it.
YAMAGUCHI: Music to my ears, Ms. Meyer. Contact me again when you have Captain Magorian in hand.
Yamaguchi out.
GM VOICE: [Shugo Yamaguchi’s image cuts out as he terminates the call.]
YANG: Y’know, I’ve always had a suspicion that every one of our Great House liaisons is wildly incompetent on some level or another. It’s refreshing talking to one who just wears it right out on the surface.
SUMIRE: That’s our Bob.
I guess we’re going into this one blind, huh, XO? Should make for an exciting day on the job.
DARIUS: That’s one way of putting it.
May as well get our MechWarriors ready to drop, [PLAYER]. The sooner we get down there, the sooner we’ll see what we’re dealing with.
—”Of Unknown Origin,” BATTLETECH
