Solaris VII: Where Legends are Born 11/24/3133
INN - Interstellar News Network
Glamour, fame, money, and a whole lot of violence! What else can one expect from
the worldwide sports arena that is Solaris VII? (Tourists sure don’t come here for the
weather, after all!) Here, the coliseums of Terra’s ancient Rome, where gladiators
fought for sport and survival before the cheering, bloodthirsty masses, meets modern
technology in an explosive combination.
For the uninitiated, the world of Solaris VII, the legendary Game World, has been a
Mecca for MechWarriors and other soldiers of fortune since the time of the Star
League. Originally a weapons testing ground, with several local arms manufacturers
constantly vying for contracts with the larger Great House governments, it wasn’t
long before the regular live fire tests that pit new ’Mech designs against one another
became a planet-wide sport, complete with its own gambling rings and fighting
leagues. Soon after claiming the world, House Steiner made the planetary capital,
Solaris City, into an open city, divided up into districts for all nationalities. Warriors
from across the Inner Sphere could venture to this world to test their mettle against
others in proxy battles where honor, fame, and cash rode on the line, hand-in-hand
with the combatants’ very lives.
Solaris City is, of course, home to the Big Five, the five Class Six Arenas, one for
each Great House. These arenas host battles between BattleMechs of every weight
class and configuration, and draw the biggest crowds of all the dozens of legitimate
battle arenas on the planet. The features of the arenas vary, with each offering unique
venues for MechWarriors to do battle in. Steiner Stadium (the Coliseum), located in
Silesia district, for instance, is an open ferrocrete field, within which are rows of
walls that can either be locked at various levels or which may rise and fall in “chaos
mode”. By comparison, the House Kurita arena (Ishiyama, also called Iron Mountain,
located in Kobe district) is a twisting series of caverns where the crowd must follow
the battle through holovid, and the combatants by sight only, because the iron fouls
most sensors. House Davion’s Boreal Reach arena, located in Solaris City’s Black
Hills district, uses holograms, multi-level platforms, and even special heating and
cooling systems to simulate terrain of all kind, for spectators and combatants alike.
The other arenas, from the Marik-inspired Factory in Montenegro district, to House
Liao’s beautiful jungle battleground (appropriately called The Jungle, located in Cathay
district) offer MechWarriors unique challenges all their own.
Battling in these arenas are MechWarriors of every stripe, though the truly famous are
the warriors who belong to the MechWarrior stables, the ones who often grace the
covers of magazines and appear on holovid ads and T-shirts across the Inner Sphere.
Teams of MechWarriors, owned and managed by corporations or even nobles from a
Great House, and trained not just to win, but to do so with flair, form the core of
Solaris’ stables system. It takes real talent to be a stable MechWarrior, both on and
off the field, and any warrior who earns the right is set, so long as he or she keeps
winning matches.
But while the year-round bouts, grudge matches, exhibitions, and minor-league team
tournaments may be the bread and butter of the Solaris economy, the real meat of the
action, the biggest draw by far is the annual Grand Tournament. A series of single-
elimination, one-on-one duels, the Grand Tournament ranges from five to seven days
of pure, violent spectacle, with over one hundred of Solaris VII’s best stable
MechWarriors competing against opponents chosen by lot in all of the Class Six
Arenas.
Their rankings set with each Grand Tournament, modified over the between-season
matches, and verified in pre-Tournament qualifying rounds, these modern-day
gladiators slug it out throughout the Tournament, knowing that it only takes one lucky
engine hit, one devastating gyro crash, or even one lucky—yet tragic all the same—
cockpit breach to make or break their careers. The battles aren’t to the death, but
with live ammunition and fully charged lasers one never knows what’s going to
happen.
And though most odds makers may disagree, the Tournament matches are balanced,
both for the benefit of the combatants and spectators alike. Opponents are matched
by comparative weight classes and weapons loads by the Tournament committees,
who also choose the best venues for these warriors and judge on the outcome in
event of a tie. Fight fans are encouraged to bet and bet often, but try not to lose your
shirt, because even the longest odds can come through with an unexpected turn of
events.
At the end of this week-long parade of colorful personalities, ’Mechs, and fights is the
grand prize itself: the Solaris VII Championship Cup, catapulting the warrior lucky or
skilled enough to reach it to instant immortality, fame, and wealth beyond dreams—at
least as long as the champion can hold onto it.
Welcome to Solaris VII, the place where legends are made!
INN - Interstellar News Network
Glamour, fame, money, and a whole lot of violence! What else can one expect from
the worldwide sports arena that is Solaris VII? (Tourists sure don’t come here for the
weather, after all!) Here, the coliseums of Terra’s ancient Rome, where gladiators
fought for sport and survival before the cheering, bloodthirsty masses, meets modern
technology in an explosive combination.
For the uninitiated, the world of Solaris VII, the legendary Game World, has been a
Mecca for MechWarriors and other soldiers of fortune since the time of the Star
League. Originally a weapons testing ground, with several local arms manufacturers
constantly vying for contracts with the larger Great House governments, it wasn’t
long before the regular live fire tests that pit new ’Mech designs against one another
became a planet-wide sport, complete with its own gambling rings and fighting
leagues. Soon after claiming the world, House Steiner made the planetary capital,
Solaris City, into an open city, divided up into districts for all nationalities. Warriors
from across the Inner Sphere could venture to this world to test their mettle against
others in proxy battles where honor, fame, and cash rode on the line, hand-in-hand
with the combatants’ very lives.
Solaris City is, of course, home to the Big Five, the five Class Six Arenas, one for
each Great House. These arenas host battles between BattleMechs of every weight
class and configuration, and draw the biggest crowds of all the dozens of legitimate
battle arenas on the planet. The features of the arenas vary, with each offering unique
venues for MechWarriors to do battle in. Steiner Stadium (the Coliseum), located in
Silesia district, for instance, is an open ferrocrete field, within which are rows of
walls that can either be locked at various levels or which may rise and fall in “chaos
mode”. By comparison, the House Kurita arena (Ishiyama, also called Iron Mountain,
located in Kobe district) is a twisting series of caverns where the crowd must follow
the battle through holovid, and the combatants by sight only, because the iron fouls
most sensors. House Davion’s Boreal Reach arena, located in Solaris City’s Black
Hills district, uses holograms, multi-level platforms, and even special heating and
cooling systems to simulate terrain of all kind, for spectators and combatants alike.
The other arenas, from the Marik-inspired Factory in Montenegro district, to House
Liao’s beautiful jungle battleground (appropriately called The Jungle, located in Cathay
district) offer MechWarriors unique challenges all their own.
Battling in these arenas are MechWarriors of every stripe, though the truly famous are
the warriors who belong to the MechWarrior stables, the ones who often grace the
covers of magazines and appear on holovid ads and T-shirts across the Inner Sphere.
Teams of MechWarriors, owned and managed by corporations or even nobles from a
Great House, and trained not just to win, but to do so with flair, form the core of
Solaris’ stables system. It takes real talent to be a stable MechWarrior, both on and
off the field, and any warrior who earns the right is set, so long as he or she keeps
winning matches.
But while the year-round bouts, grudge matches, exhibitions, and minor-league team
tournaments may be the bread and butter of the Solaris economy, the real meat of the
action, the biggest draw by far is the annual Grand Tournament. A series of single-
elimination, one-on-one duels, the Grand Tournament ranges from five to seven days
of pure, violent spectacle, with over one hundred of Solaris VII’s best stable
MechWarriors competing against opponents chosen by lot in all of the Class Six
Arenas.
Their rankings set with each Grand Tournament, modified over the between-season
matches, and verified in pre-Tournament qualifying rounds, these modern-day
gladiators slug it out throughout the Tournament, knowing that it only takes one lucky
engine hit, one devastating gyro crash, or even one lucky—yet tragic all the same—
cockpit breach to make or break their careers. The battles aren’t to the death, but
with live ammunition and fully charged lasers one never knows what’s going to
happen.
And though most odds makers may disagree, the Tournament matches are balanced,
both for the benefit of the combatants and spectators alike. Opponents are matched
by comparative weight classes and weapons loads by the Tournament committees,
who also choose the best venues for these warriors and judge on the outcome in
event of a tie. Fight fans are encouraged to bet and bet often, but try not to lose your
shirt, because even the longest odds can come through with an unexpected turn of
events.
At the end of this week-long parade of colorful personalities, ’Mechs, and fights is the
grand prize itself: the Solaris VII Championship Cup, catapulting the warrior lucky or
skilled enough to reach it to instant immortality, fame, and wealth beyond dreams—at
least as long as the champion can hold onto it.
Welcome to Solaris VII, the place where legends are made!
| November 24, 3133 |
