CHAPTER 9
Grand Port, Ingress,
Duchy of Small, Chaos March,
April 5, 3062
The Locust's feet hammered the pavement with rhythmical thrums but all Trystan could hear was his own heartbeat. He nervously switched his radar between active and passive mode, unsure of what mode was best for this mission. It wouldn't matter anyway since Caelia might have run her radar active all the time, and the enemy already knew of their presence. But he flicked his toggles back and forth as it calmed his nerve.
The night was quiet and the city seemed to be largely abandoned. Only a handful of armed thugs left on the street, and even though they took potshots at the Locust and Stinger, they didn't do any harm. Their bullets bounced off the mechs' armor, which up to this point was still pristine, save for a few pockmarks from the encounter with the thugs two days ago.
But it wasn't the missiles Trystan was worried about. Those thugs could have alerted their friends, including the target. They could've evacuated the building and set up an ambush. And even though Ingress Legions confirmed that no hostile battlemechs had been spotted, Trystan felt it was hard to believe. Whoever was behind this insurrection should be aware of the presence of the Blazing Aces by now. If he wanted to keep his control over Ingress, he had to come up with a battlemech solution.
Soon the Vandenberg twins arrived at the designated target. It was a short 5-story building with a large FedCom logo on the front wall. Multiple APCs and armed parked in a defensive formation to protect a command van. Activities on the ground was high, confirming Trystan's wariness that the thugs knew he was coming. As soon as the two battlemechs cleared the buildings, bullets and missiles leapt from every part of the building, creating a hailstorm that engulfed the Locust and Stinger.
"Bring it down!" Caelia cried out as she fired off everything she had. "Trystan, bring it down!"
Bullets ricocheted all over the cockpit but Trystan ignored it. He fired his lasers at every window. His small lasers recycled quickly and he fired as soon as they were ready, giving little time for his mech to cool down. Heat spiked up to feverish pitch and soon he was gasping for air. Rivers of sweat streamed down his body. But he kept on firing, torching the windows one by one until half of the building was set ablaze, illuminating the dark neighborhood.
Driven out by the fire, the remaining thugs poured out to the street and tried to run toward their vehicles. Caelia blasted her machine guns at the mass. The trucks exploded in bright fireballs, burning the thugs in and around them. The command van tried to move, but the burning trucks blocked it. Caelia unloaded everything she had left at the command van. Her bullets went through the thin armor of the command van, killing everybody onboard. Her laser incinerated the LRM magazine. A massive explosion tore the command van apart.
Even after the command van evaporated, Trystan kept on firing. The fire weakened the building structure, and he placed some strategic salvoes on the base of the building. The building groaned and crumbled, kicking up dust and debris, and buried the surviving vehicles and armed thugs in the vicinity.
As smoke and dust filled the air, Trystan cleared the area and ran his long-range radar to scan for hostiles. Aside from conventional vehicles, there was nothing within 2 kilometer radius that he could consider as threats. He took a deep breath and slouched on his command couch, letting the air conditioner pump cold air into the steaming-hot cockpit. He popped up the hatch to let some hot air escape his mech.
Caelia's Stinger appeared from the dust cloud and took a place next to Trystan's Locust.
"You good?" Caelia chimed over the comlink.
"Yeah," Trystan replied. "You?"
"Good," Caelia sighed. "All vehicles in the vicinity are destroyed. The building is history. All hostiles in the vicinity are dead. We can't confirm our kill. So that's it. We're going home."
"Sure," Trystan said. Just as he was about to throttle up, his radar bleeped. Two battlemech heat signatures came up on his radar. "Wait, we've got company…" He pressed the identification button and his heart jumped to his throat as the image of an Assassin-30 and Cicada 3F leapt from his screen.
"Hostile mechs! Assassin and Cicada!" he proclaimed. "Run, Caelia! Run!"
"I thought the Ingress Legions said there were no hostile mechs?" Caelia bemoaned. "Who are those?"
"No time for that now! Pump up your mech and run!"
Trystan's Locust could outrun the hostiles, but at only 95 kph, Caelia's Stinger would quickly fall into the hands of the Assassin and the Cicada. The Cicada 3F carried an ERPPC and the Assassin-30 had LB 5X and LRM5 that could chew up rear armor from long distance. And Trystan couldn't leave his sister behind. He had to stay with her, which made both of them vulnerable to the long-range firepower of the medium mechs.
"Dropship command, we have Assassin and Cicada on our tails!" Trystan yelled in panic. "We need cover fast!"
"You have what?" Chip's voice crackled. "Confirm visual contact, Trystan!"
"Visuals confirmed, Sir! Hostile Assassin-30 and Cicada 3F version! They will get into their firing range soon! We need support immediately!"
"Make your best speed back to the bridge! Tim, Archie, suppressing fire for the Twins! I will hammer the Legions for overlooking hostile battlemechs!"
"Bridge, copied!" Trystan replied. His heart beat faster watching the Assassin coming into 1 kilometer range, with the Cicada following not too far behind. "Back to the bridge, Caelia!" he called his sister as he slowed down, letting his sister go in front of him.
"What are you doing?!" Caelia cried out as she realized that Trystan deliberately slowed down.
"Don't stop, dammit! Run!" Trystan barked, just as his proximity alarm screamed bloody murder. The Assassin had a hard lock on him, and missiles raced in the air, charging his Locust with murderous intention. Trystan slammed his foot on the pedal and made a hard left turn in front of a building. The missiles slammed into the building, inches away from his mech. The explosions staggered the Locust but no damage was done.
"Trytan! Trystan!" Caelia called in panic.
"My mech is faster than yours! I'll draw fire! You go to the bridge!"
Caelia's reply was buried under heavy whizzing sound. The Assassin cleared the building and fired off its LB-5X. Trystan bobbed and weaved between buildings under intense bombardment. His heartbeat drummed in his ears, interspersed with exploding shells left and right. The Assassin fired its missiles again. Trystan yanked his joystick hard, bringing his Locust to list far to the right. It cut a corner smoothly and the missiles razed the corner a mere milliseconds away.
Trystan saw the bridge and Caelia's Stinger galloping up the ramp. She was in a very vulnerable position. The Assassin could easily get a hard lock and stab her from behind. He had to keep the Assassin and Cicada busy until Caelia cleared the bridge. So he turned right, away from the bridge, straight toward the Cicada.
The Cicada eagerly fired its PPC but the rushed shot flew a few inches above Trystan's cockpit. Trystan kept his mech low as he crisscrossed his way between buildings, always putting a building or two between him and his assailants. The Assassin and Cicada had a hard time getting a lock on him. Cannon shells and PPC blasts exploded every which way, but none of them made any impact on the Locust.
Trystan looked for his sister and took a deep breath seeing her on the other side of the bridge. He connected all power to the myomer and ran as fast as he could. He climbed up the ramp of the bridge just as his radar blared. The Assassin got a lock on him and fired its missiles. Trystan turned as far left as possible without dropping speed, and let his AMS picked up the missiles in the air. Three warheads exploded midair, one swooshed over his head, and one slammed right into his left torso. Trystan winced as his Locust lurched. He tugged his joystick to compensate the impact, and resume his course to cross the bridge.
The Assassin powered up its jumpjets but Tim and Archie had been waiting on the other end of the bridge. Dozens of missiles leapt into the air and gutted the Assassin while it was still flying. The Assassin crashed to the bridge, knocking out a large section of the gutter, then fell down to the street below. An explosion followed suit.
The Cicada started to climb the ramp, but decided not to contest the power of the Crusader and the Thunderbolt. It wisely turned around and disappeared into the city.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Trystan spoke breathlessly as he walked past the Crusader and the Thunderbolt.
"No sweat kid," Tim's reply came in loud and clear. "Good work out there. Ingress Legions confirmed that the target had been eliminated. We should see some changes in the momentum, and we will be on the offensive pretty soon."
"Offensive?" Trystan squinted. "Without accurate intell, we can't go into the offensive yet! They got battlemechs out there! Who knows what other things they have!"
"It's not your concern," Archie tuned in. "Go back and get some rest. We'll take it from here."
Trystan wouldn't argue with that. He needed water, and he needed sleep. The offensive would have to wait.