The second clearing was empty too. In the south eastern wall the wedge shaped head of the Owens slowly poked out. Two convoys of vehicles and mechs had already met in the centre of the clearing. It looked like the two parties were trading mechs. In the clearing there were around 20 different mechs, 14 of which were unoccupied. Six Clantech Shadow Cats were walking aimlessly around the clearing, patrolling the outskirts. At the sight of the guards Westwood took a step back so the Owens' head wasn't poking out of the trees. From a distance he was practically invisible, and with radar and radio off he was undetectable.
The pair of convoys had both brought along several goods including various tanks and vehicles, but the variety of mechs caught Westwood's eye. The mechs belonged to the unidentified convoy on the right. The convoy on the left was the militia convoy, and they were looking to buy big. As Westwood surveyed the mechs he realised some unknown models. Although his IFF wasn't on, the man who knew practically ever mech made in the last 30 years was his only contact.
Westwood spoke into his headset, "Millennium, I've got a visual on both convoys, one Militia convoy as expected, and one unknown convoy, could be Clanners".
"Negative, Clansmen wouldn't arrange something like this, must be standard mech traders. What mechs are they supplying?" If there was one person who could identify mechs from description it was Millennium.
"Ok, we've got 6 Shadow Cats on patrol, but they're sticking to the clearing. I count 4 more Shadow Cats for sale, 2 Cougar scout mechs… and I don't recognise the others. There's 7 Daishi like mechs, only they're much smaller"
"Sound like Ryokens, powerful medium mechs. If militia forces use a large number of those against Transpax Rigs they wouldn't stand a chance. I'll radio the information on to Big Momma, but first tell me what the one other mech is?"
Westwood had indeed only listed 19 of the mechs. The last was vastly different from the others, it was a large assault mech, "I've never seen anything like this one before. Let's start from the bottom up, it has forward folding legs, it looks like it's got a beer belly, the hands are long and thin, and the head swoops out over the beer belly". Millennium knew exactly what it was.
"Sounds like an Annihilator, haven't seen one of those in a while. Top speed of 30kmh if I remember correctly, but it can carry a large number of AC20s, deadly. Ok I'll radio Big Momma the information, you stay there until they're gone". Westwood turned his attention back to the trading. He could see the mechs easily enough, but as they were nearly a kilometre away, but he couldn't pick out human activity. If he powered up he could activate the Owens' magnifying mechanism, but it would mean detection. There were a number of pockets and compartments in his Owens. Westwood opened the compartment directly under his seat, pulling out a telescope. It was one used by an ancestor in 4th Sino-Japanese war between 2414 – 2420. On the side were Cyrillic markings which Westwood didn't understand, but he knew for sure that this was no ordinary telescope.
Westwood raised the telescope to his right eye and closed his left eye. Optical zoom was controlled by twisting the foreward section, just like a 2nd millennium telescope. Unlike a 2nd millennium telescope the zoom options were at intervals of 10 starting at 10 going all the way to 2000 times zoom. The lens was tinted purple to prevent giving away the user's location. There only a few telescopes like these remaining in the Inner Sphere.
Through the purple lens Westwood could see several people standing around the so called Annihilator, admiring it and discussing parts. It certainly was an impressive beast, the body was unlike anything he'd seen before, but according to Millennium it was an older design of mech. Surely it'd be no match for any modern assault mech.
Westwood zoomed further and looked at the main convoys. He saw two people shaking hands. One was wearing military uniform and the other was wearing a different sort of uniform. Using the 1500x zoom he could pick out a badge on the uniform.
"Millennium, the Militia are trading with the 'Burnt Ice Trading Company'. Do we have all the information we need yet?"
"Negative, Big Momma's demanded you find out which mechs get signed. Only then can you leave. Communicate back when and only when they're done"
"Roger". Millennium's coolness around the enemy, especially in covert missions often annoyed Westwood, but there was no one he'd rather have around in this sort of situation. Westwood was about to raise the telescope again but across the clearing something glinted. He wasn't the only one to notice either, as a second later 2 of the patrolling Shadow Cats turned towards where the glint had come from and fired hard. Some laser shots were fired back at the convoys, destroying a pair of Bulldog tanks. The Shadow Cats ran up the plateau's walls and into the forest, and a few seconds later Westwood clouds of smoke and heard a large explosion. The Shadow Cats returned unscathed to the clearing.
"Millennium, someone else was here too, they got nailed. Looks like we'd better get out of here too"
"They haven't seen you yet, stay there until-". There was static in Westwood's headset. Contact with Millennium had been lost. Now was a good time to think about heading back.
Westwood powered up the Owens. Nobody detected the power up, so Westwood began to creep away. When he was behind a few trees he flicked a switch and the Winch detached. He turned the Owens around 180 degrees and began to run, straight into what had destroyed the cable.
Westwood wasn't prepared for such an eventuality and ran straight into a Bulldog tank. Thirty five tons of mech came down fast on the Bulldog. The only possible result was for the tank to explode. As shrapnel flew everywhere the explosion had affected the Owens' well-being. The damage bars in the HUD turned from light green to yellow as the tank exploded. Most importantly however the explosion was loud. Everyone in the plateau heard the bang, and the Militia pack leader signalled for a pair of Shadow Cats to enter pursuit.
In the Bushwacker Millennium was trying to communicate with Westwood, "Westwood come in, Westwood, can you read me? Damn", he switch to radio communications and contacted the Atlases, "Big Momma, I've lost contact with Westwood. Suggest I go look for him… wait one, here he comes".
Over a kilometre away Millennium could just make out an Owens running at top speed through the dense forest. Behind the Owens were a pair of Shadow Cats, travelling faster than the lighter Owens. He heard a familiar voice on the radio.
"This is Westwood. Run"