Editing Gambit at Noisiel

{{InfoBoxProduct
| image               = 
| name                = 
| type                = Short story/novella (2 parts)
| author              = [[Kevin Killiany]]
| development         = 
| primarywriting      = 
| pages               = 88
| cover               = 
| interiorart         = 
| illustrations       = 
| publisher           = [[BattleCorps]]
| productioncode      = 
| year                = 31 July 2005 (part 1)<br />31 August 2005 (part 2)
| ISBN10              = 
| ISBN13              = 
| MSRP                = 
| content             = 
| era                 = [[Civil War era]]
| timeline            = 5 July-19 August [[3067]]
| series              = [[Chaos Born|Chaos Irregulars]] stories
| precededby          = [[Encounter at El Giza]]
| followedby          = [[Endgame at Engadine]]
}}
'''''Gambit at Noisiel''''' is a story by [[Kevin Killiany]] that was published online in two parts on [[BattleCorps]], as the fifth and sixth entry in the [[Chaos Born|Chaos Irregulars series]]. Although its word count suggests it to be a novella, all other Chaos Irregulars stories were short stories or novelettes and ''Gambit at Noisiel'', according to the author, just happened to turn out massively above its intended word limit.

==Plot summary==
===Part 1===
{{quote|''Defeated and battered, the [[1st Rim Commonality Guards|Chaos Irregulars]] find themselves on the game world of [[Noisiel]]. Can they rebuild their unity? Or will forces both within and without propel the Irregulars down diverging paths? (First of two parts)''}}
Dead-set on seeking employment as far as possible from the [[Capellan Confederation]] following their encounter with [[Warrior House Kamata]] on [[El Giza]] (who only let them live because of a perceived karmic debt), the Chaos Irregulars have set up shop on Noisiel. However, they have failed to secure a new contract and are running out of money; the death benefits and reimbursements they had to pay for the losses during the last mission have depleted their reserves.

It finally dawns on them that the [[Noisiel 'Mech Games]] double as a presentation to potential employers. With six weeks to prepare, the Chaos Irregulars enter the qualifying competitions while Captains [[Obadiah Jacoam|Obadiah "Jake" Jacoam]] and [[Ariel Peregrine]] prepare to improve their social skills by means of hiring a "social consultant", to get along with potential employers in the [[Lyran Alliance]]. At the Gamesman's Ball, Ariel Peregrine meets (and subsequently spends the night with) [[Giovanni Simson]], a somewhat mysterious potential employer.

On 27 July [[3067]], the Irregulars prevail in a "BattleMech chess" game, qualifying for the Noisiel Games.

===Part 2===
{{quote|''Success at last. Finally the Irregulars' luck appears to be holding up. Will it last?''}}
As it turns out, the Chaos Irregulars chess team is not going to be in the Noisiel Games after all&mdash;Ariel Peregrine has secured a job offer from Giovanni Simson. Offering excellent pay, he wants to hire them for an objective raid against his own family's holdings: [[Simson Metalworks]], a metal refinery on [[Saravan]].

En route to the target planet, Chaos Irregular MechWarrior Lieutenant Grainger Christian informs Captains Jacoam and Peregrine that he has a fair bit of knowledge about Saravan, the [[Simson Interplanetary]] corporation, and the Saravan Simson family—but he has never heard of Giovanni Simson before.

It turns out to be a double-cross. Christian is in league with the [[Word of Blake]], who have been buying the entire output of the refinery for years, and intends to bring Captain Jacoam to work for the Word of Blake. He invites Jacoam to a meeting point at the Piltdown Industries Refinery complex, but Jacoam sees a large explosion or conflagration from a distance and only finds Christian's empty ''[[Spector]]''; the pilot had obviously disembarked from the 'Mech and was presumably killed. Jacoam assumes control of the 'Mech and finds out that Christian's voice identification phrase was "Word of Blake, fund my path".

Meanwhile, the raid on the refinery complex has run afoul of well-coordinated [[Word of Blake Militia]] defenders. [[Reema Chowla]] has her ''[[Mongoose]]'' pulled upwards by a crane during the fighting, dangling some 100 meters above the battlefield. This allows her to get much better sensor readings and coordinate the Chaos Irregulars to avoid the traps set for them.

In the end, Giovanni Simson escapes with the computer core he was after, but Chowla, Peregrine and Jacoam are captured as are the other Chaos Irregulars whose escape DropShip had already been in the hands of local militia. After some sixteen hours of interrogation they are informed that Giovanni Simson is a con man who set them up with just enough accurate information to make his story believable. Piracy charges against the Chaos Irregulars are dropped, and they are given free passage on the [[Simson Interplanetary]] DropShip ''[[Leland]]''.

==Featured characters==
* [[Ariel Peregrine]]
* [[Dora Campbell|Campbell]] (mentioned)
* [[Avery Clint|Clint]] (mentioned)
* [[Chamos Daniels|Daniels]] (mentioned)
* [[Darien Montague]]
* [[Darryl Silverlake]]
* [[Alejandro Fuentes|Fuentes]] (mentioned)
* [[Grainger Christian]]
* [[Dwight Martin|Martin]] (mentioned)
* [[Obadiah Jacoam|Obadiah "Jake" Jacoam]]
* [[Reema Chowla]]
* [[Theodora Yannis]]
* [[Albert Whuang|Whuang]] (mentioned)

==Featured BattleTech==
===BattleMechs===
*''[[Atlas (BattleMech)|Atlas]]'' (mentioned)
*''[[Battle Hawk]]''
*''[[Buccaneer (BattleMech)|Buccaneer]]''
*''[[Centurion (BattleMech)|Centurion]]''
*''[[Cestus]]''
*''[[Crockett]]'' (mentioned)
*''[[Dervish]]''
*''[[Enforcer]]'' (mentioned)
*''[[Falcon]]'' (custom modified to perform acrobatic/gymnastic moves)
*''[[Firestarter]]'' (mentioned)
*''[[Grand Crusader (Star Crusader)|Grand Crusader]]''
*''[[Grasshopper]]'' (mentioned)
*''[[Griffin]]''
*''[[Hatchetman]]''
*''[[Hauptmann]]''
*''[[Hermes II]]''
*''[[Hunchback]]''
*''[[Huron Warrior]]''
*''[[Initiate]]''
*''[[Lynx]]''
*''[[Maelstrom]]''
*''[[Mongoose]]''
*''[[Panther]]''
*''[[Phoenix Hawk]]''
*''[[Quickdraw]]''
*''[[Shootist]]''
*''[[Spector]]''
*''[[Stinger]]'' (mentioned)
*''[[Tarantula]]''
*''[[Toyama (BattleMech)|Toyama]]''
*''[[Valkyrie]]'' (mentioned)
*''[[Vindicator]]''
*''[[Warhammer]]'' (mentioned)
*''[[Wolf Trap]]''
*''[[Wyvern]]''

===Vehicles===
*[[J. Edgar]] hovertank
*[[Packrat]]
===DropShips===
*''[[Hamilcar]]'' (''[[Orchid]]'')
*''[[Mule]]'' (''[[Belleville]]'')
*DropShip ''[[Leland]]'' (unspecified type)

[[Category:BattleCorps publications]]
[[Category:Short Stories]]
[[Category:Works by Kevin Killiany]]