Well, she's up at ZP so I can finally post it here! ;D
First, the pilot after being primered:
BATTLESTORY:
*****
Loss & GainIt's late noon as the lone Molga comes to a halt at the border of a small forest; One of very few to be found in a landscape dominated by the sands of the desert. With a hiss the metallic pink canopy opens and an exhausted young girl jump from the cockpit. She sits herself against a tree, opens her canteen and starts quelling the thirst she had built up during the hours before.
"Has it really only been so few years years?" she thought, "It felt like forever since I enlisted for the Empire's army. And now the war has been over for nearly a year already.".
At first it had been hard for Scarlet, who responded to the Empire's call for volunteer soldiers to join the battle against the Republic. She came from a small farming community, and looking back the only reason for enlistment was the craving for adventure. For action. For something else than the long boring days at the farm.
"Well, that didn't go all too well." thinking to herself, "But at least I got away with this beauty.". The red-haired girl looks at the large Cannonry Unit that had been mounted on the back of her Molga, and smirks.
During her years of enlistment she found her purpose. The sense of honour and prowess in battle gave her a sense of direction, a sense that life had more to offer. She particulary excelled at piloting and directing the Molga, a Zoid that is most commonly seen as slow and lumbering but in the right hands can become quite a useful weapon. After Prozen and the Death Saurer fell at Guygolos she had the feeling that her purpose was taken away from her. Like so many other soldiers, Scarlet chose the path of the mercenary.
"Their loss, my gain. The plan was sound, but they didn't count on those peacekeepers being present.". She was staring at the sandy horizon while enjoying the shade that the green overhanging leafs high above her provided.
Some days ago she had been hired by Erwaldt, a former ranking officer of the Empire, now a mercenary. After the war he managed to secure a considerable amount of new military hardware for himself. The offer that was made to Scarlet was to mount a Cannonry Unit on her Molga and act as backup heavy firesupport in a small offensive that Erwaldt had planned. The payment would be the actual Cannonry Unit, as well as a thorough maintenance job on her Molga by the mechanic who would install the unit. Naturally she agreed. Her Molga needed an overhaul badly, and the large artillery piece would open up opportunities for future assignments.
"Thank goodness they didn't notice me as they were way too busy dealing with Erwaldt and his men.". she thought, "If they'd spotted me, Molga would most certainly have been outrun by those Command Wolves. Especially with this heavy weapon mounted, making me much slower."
The target was a small town near the Guylos-Helic border. Erwaldt had a small mercenary band, and thus was in constant need of supplies. Food, water and the odd piece of luxury. This town was chosen to supply them with the needed goods. The plan was for Erwaldt and his men to rush in and secure as much of their needs before someone could warn the authorities. Little did he count on the Guardian Force members being present. After all, why would they have been there? A routine patrol was already carried out by them the day before.
Though Erwaldt himself, being an ex-military commander, was a worthy opponent, most of Erwaldt's men were just former enlisted soldiers with no exceptional piloting skills. What followed was an uneven match between the experienced Guardian Force members and the untrained mercenary gang.
Hidden between the rocky peaks to the west of the town, Scarlet witnessed the slaugter on her on-board monitors and faced a difficult dilemma; Were she to intervene by fireing the Cannonry Unit or was it better to turn tails and run for it? She knew her Molga wouldn't stand a chance in combat with even one Command Wolf, let alone five of them. Though in her military days the dicission would have been an easy one; Never would she abandon her comrades, not even in the most dire of circumstances. But now times have changed. A mercenary has to look out for him- or herself. Helping others out at her own cost would not keep her alive, or at least a free person for very long. Thus she decided to run.
"I know it's not fair, but I wouldn't have made a difference anyway." The sun was slowly falling towards the horizon, "Besides, judging Erwaldt's reputation I am certain he would have done the same.".
After setting the proximity-alarm on her Molga, Scarlet pulls her blankets from the rear compartment and makes for a hopefully undisturbed night.
*****
She's currently primered and some parts of putty have to dry some more, so I can paint her tomorrow.