What Really Happened: The Legend-Killer
Gray Noton is One of the Heroes of Solaris—Isn't He?
[Solaris Broadcasting Company] With all the recent embarrassments to the gaming industry here in Solaris City, one is forced to wonder where it all began. After all, the 'Mech games have been an integral part of Lyran—and you could make a case for Sphere-wide—culture almost since the first Mackie stepped on that Merkava all them years ago. The gladiators that fought in the arena were our heroes, and while they weren't always the best people in real life they always gave it their best in the arenas.
How many of us grew up with names like James O'Gordon, Justin Allard, and Gray Noton in our toy 'Mech collections? Aside from all the Kell Hound Wolfhounds and the Dragoon Archers, we kept little Centurions and one deadly Rifleman in our toy 'Mech collections. Our children got the same Centurion, with a different pilot, Justin's son Kai. We cheered when the O'Bannyon sisters fought in twin Marauder IIs. That was probably the zenith of the games.
Now we've got anarchy and fighting in the streets, and people want to know why, want to know how it started, want to know who to blame. Was it Searcy and Vandergriff, fighting it out in the streets? Was it before that, when Ryan Steiner was assassinated? Or even further back? Recent rumors have surfaced coloring Solaris' favorite hero, Gray Noton himself, as nothing better than a spy for the highest bidder. Pundits have tried to paint him as a man who sold his soul—and anything else with a price—to SAFE, to the Maskirovka, even to the FedSuns' MIIO, if the price was right. Some even dare to accuse him of complicity in the infamous "Silver Eagle" affair of the late 3020s. While no hard evidence has been produced, nor a serious investigation launched, we will of course keep you updated on any developments.
З.Ы. Кто не в курсе Грей фигурировал в первой книге Трилогии Воина Стакпола, в остальных не знаю не читкал.