Ep28

**This page contains major spoilers for the story. You have been warned!**

## Summary

In the great final confrontation The Benefactor is revealed, friends are lost, and a new chapter begins for the Marauders.

## Play by Play

Valravn and Jackal make their way on foot across the battlefield in search of new mechs.  Jackal meets up with Laurent and finally gets to pilot his new Thunderbolt, albeit with two left legs.  Valravn in the meantime, makes her way to the base of Lord Mulligan’s operations and attempts to coerce the guards there to allow her to take the Atlas.  They resist at first until she reminds them of her noble status and they are then all too happy to assist her.  Newly outfitted with working mechs, Valravn and Jackal make their ways back to the battlefield to rejoin their team.  Back on the Yojimbo, LaVale spots a strange group of humanoids moving towards the base and the Lord Commander, Coryphee, and the rest of the Marauder’s infantry.  Talon radios a warning to the Lord Commander, letting him know that he needs to expect company.  On the base, Coryphee and the Lord Commander take stock of their injuries and the wounded.  Hamid is severely burned and the Lord Commander knows that they cannot evacuate him nor can he continue on with them.  He gives Hamid a shot of Morphine and a handgun.  As the group moves on down the hall a single shot rings out behind them…Hamid is gone.  At this moment the elevator doors open revealing Red Mariah and several members of her Legion.  She has come to help them complete their plans, which will happen after the Lord Commander is done “bantering” with her.

Talon and the Yojimbo have made a landing and will not be taking off again.  The ship is badly damaged and most of the crew is sent to take shelter in the base while the fight continues.  More of the The Benefactor’s forces roll in and engage with the Marauders, lead by a man called Captain Waters.  The Marauders take a good amount of damage but Valravn destroys a Catapult with a single shot and several of the other enemy mechs take heavy damage.  It is at this moment that the King Crab steps forward and The Benefactor is revealed to be none other than Irina, the spy that Valravn and Coryphee worked with all those months ago.  She admonishes the Marauders for fighting wars that don’t need fighting, fighting for themselves and not for a higher purpose.  She and ROM intend to save humanity from themselves…whatever the cost.  She joins the battle with her King Crab and several Urban mechs.  Jackal is knocked down but eventually regains his footing.  However, Valravn begins to take heavy damage in her Atlas as the King Crab opens fire.  The planet itself seems to join the battle and several tectonic shifts occur, wreaking havoc on the battlefield.  In the base, the team hurries forward and manages to take control of the above ground turrets using something called The Beta Virus, after fighting off a large group of armed individuals.  Red Mariah takes a grenade to the side but is able to continue on.

Above them Talon’s Dragon, which has been powered up and standing by in case of emergencies, suddenly springs to life and begins attacking the Yojimbo.  Captain Waters, who had previously ejected from his destroyed mech, has managed to break into the mech and is intent on ripping Talon’s body out of the Yojimbo.  Talon responds by springing onto the Dragon’s arm and climbing up towards the cockpit.  He scales the giant mech and opens the cockpit door.  With the words “I believe you’re sitting in my chair”, Talon stabs and kills Captain Waters taking control of his mech and taking to the battlefield once again.  Down below, Coryphee and the Lord Commander finally reach the hangar where the dropship is stored.  Coryphee attempts to open the doors and finds them jammed.  While she stays in place, the Lord Commander reaches into the mechanism of the door to find the jam.  His arm is suddenly locked into place and a recording comes on to reveal that The Benefactor has ordered the door trapped and several thousand volts of electricity will shortly be coursing through his body.  Acting quickly, Coryphee and Red Mariah cut off the Lord Commander’s arm moments before it is electrocuted into a puff of smoke.  The doors now open and the trio make their way towards the fortress level dropship.  The battle of the mechs rages on with Valravn coming close to destruction.  Florian and her tank also take heavy damage and she is ordered to engage the King Crab and then bail out by Talon.  She does so and deals so much damage to the King Crab that the mech shuts down, causing The Benefactor to bail out.  However, she is unable to escape the tank before it is crushed by the single remaining mech of The Benefactor’s forces.  The Marauders destroy the murderer of their friend and Valravn is able to track the position of the fleeing Benefactor.  She and Jackal attempt to crush her with their mechs but it is Getta aka Whiz Kid, Florian’s friend and tank gunner, who manages to stop her escape with several bullets to the leg.  Valravn leaps from her mech, sword drawn, and in a flash executes the woman who has caused so much pain and suffering for so many.  The dropship emerges and the Marauders prepare for a new journey…in the words of the Lord Commander, they prepare to “wage peace”.