A Primer For Solaris Games
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The Circuit
The full Solaris Circuit consists of better than one hundred different arenas scattered over the worlds two continents. They range from Class One - exoskeleton and powered armor matches - through Class Five - assault class BattleMechs. The Class Six “Open” arenas are the exclusive property of Solaris City, each one maintained and operated by the sector corresponding to one of the great Successor Houses. While the betting sheets list fights in every arena on Solaris VII, and to be fair some of the auxiliary arenas draw an impressive amount of betting, it is the Open Class arenas and their headliner battles which truly drive the publicity machine that keeps Solaris VII at the top.
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BattleMech Stables
Along came the nobles and merchant kings, with money to invest and a penchant for owning unique things, including the warriors themselves. That was the end of the old corporate-sponsored fights.
Several dozen official stables now exist on Solaris VII, each one holding contracts over men and women and the machines in which they fight. These stables typically run from ten to forty MechWarriors. The number of ‘Mechs owned can vary, with some warriors sharing and others owning - or leasing from the stable - more than one for the various types of arenas.
Stables take a percentage of all direct revenue brought in by the MechWarrior, usually from 15 to 25 percent. In exchange, the stable agrees to defray training costs, pay the fighter a fair monthly salary (enough to cover reasonable expenses) and to arrange matches. While stable owners guard the income they take from a MechWarrior’s purse jealously, their cut is minute compared to the money they take in from lucrative broadcast rights and merchandising potential. By contract, all such marketing and media rights belong to the stable, though typically a MechWarrior will be given 4 to 10 percent. If the MechWarrior reaches the Top Twenty, they will be able to demand significantly better contracts.
Listed below are the stables that manage at least one of the valuable Top Twenty ranked duelists, the most precious commodity on Solaris VII.
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The Champions
If nothing else, any visitor to Solaris VII should know some history of the Grand Tournament. This single event, held yearly, is the defining moment for the Game World. Starting with one hundred and twenty-eight hotly contested slots, the warriors fight their way through a single-elimination tournament until only one remains - the number-one ranked MechWarrior on Solaris VII: The Champion.
Being Champion confers many privileges, not the least of which is a seat at the Champions Dais of the exclusive Valhalla Club (see Silesia). The purse is immense, guaranteed to be no less than half a million C-bills. At this stage in a MechWarriors career, merchandising and fair percentages of broadcast rights can also mean incredible sums. The Champion will also be challenged to a number of title defensives, guaranteed to be high-profile matches worth almost as much as the championship themselves. If a title defense is lost, the title is suspended until a rematch is arranged or the Grand Tournament is held again, whichever comes first. Losing the rematch transfers the title to the successful challenger. The Grand Tournament traditionally takes place in the latter half of the year, naming the Champion for the next year. The Tournament date is set based on other major events happening in the Inner Sphere, so can be scheduled as late as February of the next year.
Jason Bloch
Having won the Championship in 3050, Jason Bloch was unseated in a title defense by Liz O'Bannon. The Grand Tournament was early that year, and so came about before a rematch could be set. In the tourney, it was Tanya O'Bannon this time who knocked Bloch out of the running. Most aficionados of the games still claim that it could only have been one of the sisters who beat Bloch that year. Bloch stayed in the games, determined to be the first non-consecutive champion since Oliver Two-Horse in 2840. He achieved this dream in 3054, unleashing his vengeance by knocking both sisters out of the Grand Tournament. Bloch fought for three more years, then accepted an offer to become Master-at-Arms for the O'Bannon sisters new Gemini Stables.
Elizabeth and Tanya O’Bannon
Taking the game world by storm in the late 3040's, the sisters have always avoided competing against each other. In 3051, they met in the final bout of the Grand Tournament, and to the shock of the public agreed to a daw without firing a single shot. This would be an event they would repeat for three years, during the frenzied days of the Clan invasion. The two sisters saved up a sizable fortune, always intending to open their own stable. When Jason Bloch unseated them before their plans were finalized, the sisters had no choice but to continue fighting for the smaller purses. Neither of them bothered to challenge Kai Allard-Liao for his title. Then, in the same year he did, they opted out of the Grand Tournament in order to open Gemini Stables. Jason Bloch was brought in as a junior partner. It was Bloch who discovered Samantha Coleman. Colman placed well in the 3059 Grand Tournament and in the last few years has slowly worked her way into the Top Twenty.
Kai Allard-Liao
Kai Allard-Liao's run to the championship in 3054 was reminiscent of his father's terrifying performance twenty-seven years prior. He unseated Jason Bloch in the title defense but refused to take the title in the rematch, waiting instead for the Grand Tournament to win as the 3055 champion. Many thought Kai Allard-Liao would be the next Gray Noton, the only seven-year champion in the history of the games. But in 3057 Allard-Liao opted out of the tournament and left Solaris VII, leaving his Cenotaph Stables in capable management hands. Though he declines to comment on his personal life, his marriage soon after to Deirdre Lear and the temporary assumption of the Free Capella leadership likely had something to do with his decision.
Wynn Goddard
Taking the Grand Tournament at the age of thirty-three, Wynn Goddard was predicted to be a single-year champion. Many denounced his championship as a "gift", since some of the top contenders had opted out that year. Though he had been ranked as the number three warrior on Solaris for several years running, Goddard was considered to be a MechWarrior past his prime in a field dominated by young warriors. He proved his mettle in 3058, when he soundly defeated all comers and took the championship again. In a time when the Capellan Confederation was ascending from its long recovery out of the Fourth Succession War, his victory seemed prophetic. When defeated in 3059, Goddard retired without another fight despite the clamor for one last grudge match. He achieved his desire to go out while still on top.
Theodore Gross
The Coordinator's recognition of the Solaris VII expatriates in 3056 did more than restore the honor of the citizens of Kobe. It also spurred the Kurita-affiliated warriors to new heights. Under the watchful eye of their nation - legally - for the first time ever, most Combine fighters surged in the standings. But when Goddard had been thought past his prime, no one had considered Theorore Gross - at thirty-nine - a contender for the championship. For years, he had been slipping slowly back down the ranks, though his steady advances in '57 and '58 warned that he was on a comeback. In 3059 he became the oldest champion to date, dedicating his first win not to the Coordinator, but to Theodore Kurita's deceased father Takashi. For the honor of his family, Theodore Kurita invited Gross to Luthien as his guest. This invitation was a rare honor given during a busy time, as the resurrected Star League was singularly focused on smashing Clan Smoke Jaguar.
Gross has remained on top of the Game World ever since. As if the visit back to his homeland rekindled a long-banked fire, the champion seemed practically untouchable in his next two years of the title defenses and championship wins. He dedicated his 3060 championship to the Coordinator's son Hohiro. In late '61, winning his fourth title less than a month after Theodore Kurita was elected as the Star League's next First Lord, Gross shocked many die-hard Combine patriots by dedicating the win to Prince-in-exile Victor Steiner-Davion. His dedication for "standing by the convictions that rebuilt the Star League, even in these trying times at home," drew immediate and public appreciation from the ruling Kurita family. A salvaged Clan OmniMech, a Masakari, was sent to Gross under the Coordinator's signature. Gross has fought with it sparingly, though he plans to use it in the next Grand Tournament against those opponents who will accept the challenge. He has even offered to turn off half its weaponry, to ensure an even match.
