Once Proud Men
Chapter 1:
The first thing you learn after 10 years as a Mechwarrior pilot is that it will always get worse. The second thing you learn, is that it probably will.
Cyrus Prime is the leader of his squad or lance as they call it in this part of the galaxy, he pilots a lumbering Madcat Mark II, which stands 60 feet tall, with large gun mounts for arms and two large missile racks on its back, it can carry 65 tons of weapons and ammunition and carries an additional 30 tons of armor. This Madcat is no easy foe, and yet Cyrus Prime sat in its cockpit staring in awe at the status screen of his beloved 'Mech. A heat sync had been damage in the rear of this behemoth, this is no big problem by itself, the reason Cyrus Prime was horrified, was that this particular heat sync, had melted into the volatile reactor that powers his 'Mech, and the combination would soon detonate, leveling anything in an 85 foot radius. Again, this wouldn't be too hazardous; he can easily eject and buy a new one. The problem lies in the battalion of heavy tanks, and their air support that he was currently engaged with. He was fighting Clan members, and clan members are renowned for chasing down 'Mech pilots and killing them, this is considered "dirty" in a galaxy of honor.
Tanks and aircraft are easy targets to a 'Mech pilot, the rest of his lance could dispatch the battalion with ease, but they are 35 miles to the north of this engagement assisting the contract holder.
"Cyrus lance this is Cyrus Prime, I'm forced to eject, uploading GPS to Emergency Pod and jettisoning," Cyrus announced to his squad and Breaker. Breaker watched over missions via satellite, she sends backup, updates mission data, sets navigation points, and acts like an all-around secretary.
"Roger that Cyrus Prime, sending a rescue team to retrieve your pod, good luck sir," Breaker responded in her smooth voice, and with that Cyrus deployed the safety shield and ripped the eject cord. His pod shot out of his Madcat and soared 200 feet into the air. The secondary thrusters kicked in and shot Cyrus towards his team.
"Cyrus lance this is Cyrus Prime, I am currently flying toward the rest of the lance, I'm going to need pickup immediately," Cyrus announced during this relatively smooth flight, the hills on this planet were swarming with marauders who would love nothing more than to take an ace 'Mech pilot hostage and turn him or her over to the highest bidder, and Cyrus was renowned in these parts for stomping marauder plans, they would kill him as revenge.
"Cyrus Prime this is Watchmen, in transit, rest of Cyrus lance is preoccupied with a medium lance. Eta: Five minutes," Cyrus heard back through his radio. Watchmen was the rookie of the group, he had only seen three other missions before, none of which held more combat than a handful of tanks and a squad of helicopters, he was probably glad to disengage. But Watchmen always knew where his alliances lay, this was his first job as a team, and he liked the feel of it.
Cyrus' pod lurched upwards as the last of his fuel depleted, he plummeted toward a hillside close to the forests where the brigands were watching from. He landed with a loud crash and a dazed Cyrus Prime left his pod. He grabbed his pistol and short wave radio and switched the radio on. A mile away he could see Watchmen's Orion 'Mech appear over a nearby hill. Cyrus grabbed his binoculars and watched the action.
The Orion is a large Assault-Class humanoid shaped 'Mech, it is heavier than Cyrus' Madcat, but not as maneuverable, it carries Long Range Missiles that fire in salvos of 15, or LRM15's as its long range weapon in addition to Heavy lasers and an Autocannon.
"Cyrus Prime this is Watchmen, I'm picking up three Nightshade attack planes, must of followed you here, moving to engage," Cyrus radio cackled as he took cover in the ruins of his pod. The pod would be the target but it could absorb a volley of the Long Range Missiles that the Nightshades carried. Cyrus looked out as the Orion fired it's impressive LRM15's and hit two of the three Nightshades. The third Nightshade targeted the Orion and flew overhead and dropped a large blinking beacon on the Orion.
"Get out of there Watchmen, you've been tagged!" Cyrus yelled into his radio, the beacon was a marker for every Assault-Class 'Mech, the 450mm Long Toms. A single well placed shot can destroy a 'Mech's reactor and the pilot with it. But before Watchmen could eject, three loud and earthshaking hits rumbled the earth. All three shots hit the Orion's right side, destroying the right arm, severely damaging the right leg, and leaving a large, gaping hole where the arm connected to the torso.
"Holy shit! Watchmen! Are you alive?" Cyrus yelled into the radio. Watchmen was young, too young to fall victim to such a dirty tactic.
"Y-yes sir… Orion's pretty beat up though," Watchmen replied slowly.
"Are you injured?" Cyrus quickly asked.
"Just a bit shaken up sir, what was that?" Watchmen asked regaining himself.
"Long Toms, there's probably a 'Mech or two loaded up with 'em, we'll find the bastards and give back what they did to Orion," Cyrus said with anger. All the 'Mechs on the field were bought by Cyrus. Cyrus worked for nearly a year to buy all the 'Mechs on the field, each one was special to him, each one unique. They were not stock, each was heavily customized to the pilots' liking and fine tuned through days and days of the pilot crawling though every nook and cranny of the 'Mech adjusting it to turn and move the way that becomes one with the pilot. Cyrus grinded his teeth at the thought of his prize 'Mech destroyed miles away, but regained himself again and picked up the radio.
"You need to come pick me up Watchmen, these hills are crawling with brigands and marauders, I can't wait for rescue," Cyrus said calmly.
"Sir, I'm carrying supplies for Lokdrad on board, I'm packed," Watchmen said nervously, not knowing what to do.
"That bombed out city to the East?" Cyrus said getting frustrated.
"Yes sir, the contractor told me to carry these, made me jettison a PPC for it," Watchmen said back shakily. He could tell his boss was becoming more and more angry at the current situation. The cockpit couldn't carry more than one person, and the cargo bays were full to the brim with crates of supplies.
Cyrus sighed heavily and looked down shaking his head, "Great, well I need to get off the ground and moving, any suggestions?"
"Well you could hang onto the service ladder sir," Watchmen said without thinking.
"A service ladder… a ladder suspended 50 feet in the air… in a combat zone," Cyrus said with his hand over his eyes in disbelief at the way things were looking, "Fine… Fine… I'll do it, just temporary 'till rescue shows up right?" Cyrus said defeated, "Power down your 'Mech so I don't burn myself on the heat syncs would'ja?"
Watchmen powered down and Cyrus climbed the service ladder to the remaining shoulder of the Orion, and found a maintenance hatch, the fit was small but it had to do, the marauders would snipe him from the forest for sure if he remained in the open, "Watchmen, patch me through with base," Cyrus said through his radio, "And why is it so hot in the maintenance bay?"
"Sorry sir, I guess the Long Toms destroyed the cooling unit for that sector of Orion, and I'll patch you through now," Watchmen said through the intercom of the 'Mech. After a few moments Watchmen announced "You're patched through on Frequency 76.8 sir,"
"Thank you Watchmen," and with that he turned the radio to 76.8 and called out, "Cyrus Prime to base, come in Breaker,"
"Breaker here, can you give me a sitrep?" Breaker's calming voice chimed through the radio.
"Situation is as follows: My Madcat is destroyed, Orion is heavily damaged, no word yet from the rest of lance, I'm down to shortwave patched through Orion's communication system, you'll have to contact the rest of Cyrus Lance to see how they're doing," Cyrus said as he popped the hatch open for a breather.
"Cyrus Lance has completed the mission but has been unable to contact or locate the Orion, is the locator damaged on Orion?" Breaker asked after a few moments.
"It's possible, but how can we talk to you and not the rest of our lance?" Cyrus asked irritated.
"No clue sir, perhaps because this is a satellite feed and not radio, rescue teams are delayed due to a problem we're having with the launch bays. Expect support in three to four hours," Breaker always had a way of making bad news sound so pleasing with her calming voice, but no amount of her voice could calm Cyrus at this point, but the moment passed and Cyrus regained himself once again.
"And let me guess… I'm to wait here because the locator is out?" Cyrus asked through gritted teeth.
"Unfortunately so sir, good luck, Breaker out," and with that, all communications were stopped with base, and Cyrus' stomach growled with hunger.
With no food, no air, and no rescue, this was going to be a long day for Cyrus Prime.