Desperate Measures, Limited, 2nd Generation Main Offices
Pang IV
Taurian Concordat
11 July 3075
"I love what you've done with the place," Jeremiah stated as he walked into his nephew, Daniel's office.
"Thanks, Uncle Seron. I like to think that our ancestor might be pleased at how I've resurrected the company."
"I think so too." The elder looked at the younger's desk and added, "I'm sorry to say that I need a favor."
Nodding, Daniel replied, "I thought as much. Name it."
"I need a few custom pieces of war materiel."
"Sounds doable. What are they and how soon do you need them?"
"Firstly, I believe I will need three squads of a custom design of battlearmor within a year."
"Easy. Next?"
"My unit could use a few new BattleMechs. And I want a fully custom machine."
"As for most of your unit, I can probably reroute some of the production runs for the Taurian Concordat and the Federated Suns. With yours, however, I'll have to know the stats you plan to have, but I can't promise that you'll get it within a year."
"I figured that, so I took the liberty of jotting down the desired equipment," the Colonel replied as he pulled out a hard-copy and handed the sheet to the CEO.
After studying it for a few minutes, Daniel put the paper down and stated, "You know, with a small amount of temporary retooling of our Atlas line, this could work. This Oni."
Location: Classified
11 November 3076
"Everybody in position?"
"Predators ready to pounce."
"Omega Battalion. Ready to hammer these Blakist bastards."
Jeremiah smiled in the cockpit of his custom-built Oni. The 'Mech was one of a kind. Built on the Atlas's Foundation Type 10X chassis, the Colonel's personal BattleMech stood almost 16 meters tall, making it one of the tallest, heaviest 'Mechs in the galaxy. Forming the core of his custom machine was a highly durable, three-hundred-rated, standard fusion engine (He was not using an extra-light engine ever again, if it was at all possible.). Nineteen and a half tons of Valiant Lamellor armor gave the Oni the thickest skin possible for a 'Mech its size (unless you counted the Solaris-born Great Turtle with its even thicker thirty-eight and a half ton hardened armor shell). The defensive equipment did not end there. Three jump jets provided greater mobility than most 'Mechs its size, and an Apple-Churchill Guardian ECM Suite gave it the ability to hide from advanced sensors and kill at least a portion of C3 networks, the improved version of which the Word of Blake used extensively.
However, the Oni's firepower was, in some ways, not matched by 'Mechs its size that were built around the half-weight endo-steel internal structure or mounted extra-light engines. The one-two punch core consisted of a Magna Hellfire Heavy PPC and a Ceres Arms Crusher Plasma Rifle, which had the added benefit of lessening return fire by overheating the target on the receiving end. The secondary weapons consisted of a battery of six small lasers, half of which were extended range, supported by the well-proven paired ten-pack rocket launchers. Also, to enhance the frightening aspect of the massive machine, and further reduce return fire in close-quarters combat, a flamethrower was mounted where the 'Mech's nose would be, were it human. The reason for the varied and undersized support weapons was to provide and keep the "golden zone" for the triple-strength myomers that gave extra strength to the hundred-tonner's limbs.
The only unfortunate fact about the "golden zone" of heat was that that level of heat slightly addled the targeting sensors. However, Jeremiah had balanced out that problem with the installation of a five-ton NAIS targeting computer, which perfectly countered the disruption that twenty-seven thousand Kelvin wrought on the standard targeting sensors.
As the last acknowledgements from his regiment came in, Jeremiah announced, "Execute."
He knew that their dropships' arrival two months earlier had been detected, but, so far, his hope that the regiment's combat drop had not was holding out. The two 'Mech battalions had completely avoided detection and contact with Blakist forces on-planet, while the battlearmor unit and their accompanying VTOL and tanks had stayed on the dropships. When the ships had grounded, hired air support and the armor unit had fought a delaying/defensive action against the entire Word of Blake 47th Shadow Division. It had been a very calculated risk, but that risk was about to pay off and make a devastating running battle.
Recon flights had shown that their specific targets were moving through a nearby city. Thus had the Black Legion, three squads of the custom-built Predator battlearmor, deployed to ambush their Manei Domini counterparts.
Jeremiah could only hope that they could get their job done, as he knew that, even with the dropships' support, Righteous Ascent couldn't hope to hold out in a protracted battle against one of the most ruthless Shadow Divisions. Sure, he had some of the best mechwarriors in the Inner Sphere, hired straight out of the Solaris VII arenas, but the Blakist unit's warriors were enhanced with enough technological gizmo implants that they might have been equals even if they didn't possess their two-to-one numerical advantage.
Righteous Ascent's two 'Mech battalions charged forward at a stately thirty-two kilometers per hour, having crept nearly into range under passive sensors, and unleashed a blistering fusillade of laser, PPC, cannon, gauss, and unguided missile fire. With their backs turned, almost a full company of Blakist machines fell in that first volley.
"Full speed," the Colonel roared as he accelerated the Oni to the fastest it could go, for the moment. He then fired two of the lasers, one of each type, into the ground, as they were far out of range to have a prayer of scoring against any of the Celestial OmniMechs. However, his two volleys of rockets, particle cannon, and plasma rifle had more luck. While they scored a few hits against the Manei Domini warriors, their real roll came into play as he felt the wave of heat wash over him, and his 'Mech sped up.
With one hundred seventy meters separating the two forces, and another dozen Word BattleMechs heavily damaged, Colonel Biddix engaged his last weapon, which had already been proven to be a viable physical combat weapon on the very 'Mechs he was about to use it on. He could hear the gears and pistons actuate as they pushed the five-and-a-half-ton retractable blade out from its sheath along the underside of his 'Mech's right arm. A damaged Grigori was the first enemy to fall to the deadly blade, which, with the TSM warmed up, hit as hard as a Class 20 Autocannon.
The smaller 'Mech was literally lifted into the air by the impact, and then it was unceremoniously dropped with a crushed engine as Jeremiah continued his charge. Right beside him was one of the Solaris warriors, a legend in her own right, Srin Odessa, her customized Daishi (Dire Wolf, as it was called by the Clans) blazing away with its twin heavy medium lasers, Class 20 Ultra Autocannon, and 15-tube LRM rack (which, being Clan-built, armed its missiles within the first meter or so out of the launcher.
Jeremiah did have to admit that the Solaris VII fighters knew how to customize their 'Mechs to deal maximum damage. Several of the hatchet-, mace-, and sword-users were cleaving their way through the WoB lines, while the lighter 'Mechs zipped around the flanks and poured light laser fire into the confusion.
However, he knew that the Blakist's confusion would not last forever, and he did not want to get into a slug-fest with a well-organized enemy. While almost two companies-worth of Celestials lay on the ground smoking and not one Righteous Ascent 'Mech was down, the enemy still outnumbered his forces. "Disengage and withdraw to Nav Point Gamma. Then loop to Nav Beta."
He began walking his 'Mech backwards, keeping up the fusillade of fire and slashing any Manei Domini that came close enough. He could only trust that the rest of the warriors of his command were doing the same. His secondary monitor told him that the lighter, faster 'Mechs of Omega Battalion were disengaging entirely and darting to the rally point before stopping to provide cover fire for the heavier, slower BattleMechs of Alpha Battalion.
It was at this point that some 'Mechs began to fall on his side. He noticed that one of the warriors had failed to disengage: Srin. Her Dire Wolf's leg was heavily brutalized, and she was trying not to put too much weight on it. The 'Mech's heat signature was beginning to turn red, but she was neither slowing down her rate of fire nor allowing the Great Death to shut down. "Sorry, Col…My…over. Good luck."
Static from both heat and damage made the message barely legible, but he got the meaning clearly enough. "Good luck, and give 'em hell, Odessa." And then the Daishi exploded, and eight more Celestials were demolished. There was no sign of an ejection pod from the gladiator's 'Mech, not that it would have been able to escape the explosion.
Another Grigori stepped forward and faced the Colonel's 'Mech. Warning alarms told that the Manei Domini pilot had a target lock for several missile systems, and the Oni did not mount an anti-missile system. Before it could fire, a cerulean lightning bolt shot between the hundred-tonner's arm and torso and burrowed into one of the loaded missile racks, detonating the missiles and tearing the Grigori open like a tin can. As the heavy 'Mech fell, Jeremiah heard Charles say, "Couldn't let that shot go by untaken."
"Cocky as ever, eh, Reaver? I think we need a new nickname for you."
"'Deadeye,' maybe."
"Only if you keep making shots like that."
Pinter chuckled on the other end. "I accept that challenge."
A new communication came in on the radio. "This is Hobart. Objective accomplished. Give us nine-zero seconds for the T.O.O." T.O.O. was the unit's acronym for Target of Opportunity.
"Understood. Good job, Predators. What are your losses?"
"We lost two men, and three are wounded."
"Leave your wounded on guard while you assault the T.O.O."
"Yes, sir."
Switching back to the regimental channel, Jeremiah relayed, "Black Legion has achieved their mission. We need to buy a little more time for them to hit the T.O.O."
"Gonna be hard with us so close to our C.L.G.," one of the Solaran warriors warned. C.L.G. stood for Combat Loss Grouping, the point where the 'Mechs of a certain weight class succumbed to damage at approximately the same time.
"I know. But we have to try."
Fortunately, the Blakists began to waste time by reorganizing their forces for a single massive assault. That gave time for the mercs to regroup and loop around to Nav Point Beta. As the Word of Blake division began to pursue, they made a tactical error, as the faster 'Mechs the Manei Domini owned gave chase so intensely that they left their larger, slower brethren behind. For some reason, they failed to realize that the smaller unit was withdrawing to their dropships.
Then came the reason. "This is Hobart. T.O.O. is destroyed, data is downloaded, and Precentor Azazel is dead. No casualties."
"Excellent work, Legionnaires. Pull back to the dropships, ASAP. Alpha Battalion, Omega Battalion, haul ass to the dropships. We are leaving. Mission accomplished."
The sixty-some remaining functional BattleMechs of Righteous Ascent hurtled toward their dropships at the fifty-four kilometer-per-hour top speed that the unit's slowest 'Mechs could achieve, with the faster 'Mechs occasionally stopping, turning, and taking potshots at the pursuing Manei Domini before resuming their withdrawal. After a few minutes, the enemy formation was in range of the artillery pieces that were all that remained of the two armor companies, and shells began to rain down on the Blakist formation, causing more confusion than damage, and the Word of Blake 'Mechs broke off their pursuit.
Dropship Miranda's Fury
Bound for Zenith Jump Point
System Classified
November 12, 3076
"What's the damage, Charlie?" the Colonel asked as he slumped down onto his bunk.
Taking a seat on the bunk across the cabin from his superior officer and friend, the Major replied, "Your battalion lost nine 'Mechs, their pilots KIA or POW, and the rest are heavily damaged. Mine is out nearly twice that, and one lance's worth is crippled. The armor unit that volunteered to go with us is down to two heavily damaged and three nearly crippled tanks, and seven full crews. Out of twenty-four of each. The air assets we hired took ten percent casualties, and eight more of their pilots are too wounded to continue combat duty. The Black Legion lost two men and their armor, while the others are suffering from varying amount of damage. Those Seeker Nephilims are very dangerous in groups." He looked down between his legs at the floor for a moment, and then looked back up and asked, "I don't know if the two bounties we came for are worth it."
"You're right. No amount of money, or intel, or justice, or even peace is worth the deaths of good men. But no one with any kind of power seems to realize that, and they continue to plunge the Inner Sphere into war after war." Jeremiah gazed out through the viewport as the Overlord-class dropship began to decelerate in order to safely dock with the jumpship that was going to whisk them away back toward Galatea. "I'm not even fifty and I've already lived long enough to see six separate interstellar wars." He shook his head, and then he changed the subject. "What did the Legion manage to acquire from the Forty-Seventh's headquarters?"
"Well, we now know the location of several colonies that exist on worlds deemed 'inhospitable' before the Word took them. The most prominent is an R&D world. They call it 'Casa,' Spanish–"
"For 'home.' I know. What kind of research is being done on that world?"
"I wish I knew, sir."
Cupping his chin and rubbing at the stubble that was there, Colonel Biddix asked, "Any idea of what defenses are stationed there?"
"According to the report that Fred found, their Tenth Division. No listing of aerospace support."
Jeremiah pondered for a moment before gently ordering, "Give the men a six-month period to mourn. Two months will then be spent rebuilding, and we will go after Casa."
"Thank you, sir," Pinter replied as he stood.
"By the way, what is the estimate of the damage we did to the Forty-Seventh?"
"As far as the last recon flyby after we boosted could tell, that Shadow Division is down one Level Three between dead pilots and destroyed 'Mechs. Add in the loss of their HQ vehicle, their commanding officer, and two Level Is of battlearmor, and they did not have a good day." He saluted. "Good night, Jerry."
"Good night, my friend," the Colonel replied as he returned the salute. "Lights out," he ordered the computer as he lay down to get some sleep, and Charles left the room.
