Chapter X, by Kat Wylder

Irian, Free Worlds League
April 14, 3068

"I don't like this," Colonel Aari muttered as he trotted along in his mostly-refitted Marauder. Blick followed closely in his Dragon, constantly torso-twisting back and forth to scan the horizon. "Something catch your eye?"

"Not yet, sir," Blick replied in the same stiff, humorless tone that seemed to be his trademark. His records showed three years service in a two-lance mercenary unit , cut short when the contracts dried up. He wasn't academy green and he had never served under a regular unit, but his strict attitude certainly seemed indicative of one.

"Well, we ran all the patrol points twice. May as well head back," said Aari, as he slowed his heavy chassis to a plodding walk. He switched his comm frequency and opened a line to Whit. "Any word yet from the Irian PD on our friends in the Harassers?"

"No, Colonel," the tac officer replied with a frustrated sigh. "But they did try to butter me up in regards to the prisoners."

Aari chuckled. "Aren't you lucky that's not your decision? I want them right where they are for the time being. I think I've got a plan to flush these rogues out of their hole. In the mean time I want to check out that riverbed."

"You got it, sir. Uploading as Nav Epsilon."

The Colonel throttled up to cruising speed again and turned towards the pass. "The Harassers won't leave tracks, but they may have left some other trail. Maybe ruts from a salvage track, or something," he said to Blick.

"Actually, sir, all hovercraft leave a trail of crushed foliage. It looks something like the spots left in a field when a chopper lands," he observed. "I doubt it's still visible, but it might be worth parking our 'Mechs for a minute."

"Good point." Aari scanned the pass warily as they entered, watching for a trap or anything suspicious. Something didn't add up. The Scimitars had been powered down, but it would take a pretty shoddy intel job not to detect them. The scorch marks in the field from the dropship's engines ought to have been a tip that there were a few extra defenders.

The remainder of Cruz's unit wasn't a problem right now, other than the annoying fact that they were costing Aari money. The big problem was finding the group that took Cruz. Logic suggested that if they abducted Cruz, they were either his personal enemies or for some reason supporting the IBMU. The latter didn't make much sense. It wasn't often that unofficial groups took action to protect something like a factory, especially when a competent mercenary unit was babysitting it.

After several more minutes of unexciting travel, the riverbed came into view. Aari pushed his Marauder's throttle and darted forward with Blick in tow. The pair loped down into the dry rut and stopped.

"I guess I'll volunteer," said Blick. He put his 'Mech into a crouch, powered down, and opened the cockpit hatch.

Aari moved back from his subordinate's Dragon and took up a defensive stance. "Looks clear, Blick. Go ahead."

"Roger."

The small humanish figure slipped out of the cockpit, down the ladder, and began wandering around the riverbed. The Colonel kept looking back from Blick's vague form to his sensors, and then to the terrain. Eventually, Blick climbed back up into his 'Mech.

"There are some tread marks around here, but I can tell right now from the direction that it was our patrols. The Harassers probably made off through this dry riverbed to conceal their movements. We'll just have to follow it to find them, sir."

"Whit, how long is this river?" Aari asked, as he hit the comm.

"I think it's uh, lemme see the map… About 15 kilometers, sir. Give or take," the man reported.

A search like this would have to be done on the ground, which meant pulling out patrol forces. Considering that the Irians themselves didn't know about this group, a 'Mech patrol probably wouldn't find them unless the Harassers were active.

"Well, I didn't really want to do this, but I guess it's our best choice… Blick, let's head back."

"Sir?"

"I'll tell you about it when we're back on base."

"Jameson's lance reports no activity on scope," chimed Whit.

"Roger that. Proceeding en route to Nav Alpha."

"Copy that, Wojciechowski," the Colonel said, having finally mastered pronunciation of the man's name. "Aari, out."

"'Woj' will do just fine, sir. Out."

Aari watched as the confiscated Locust started off, then throttled up his own 'Mech to thieving speed and ran laterally across the low, boring landscape. Audren was still out of action, so Blick and Hyper paired up and headed off in the opposite direction.

"Hope this works," he muttered, as he watched the severely battered scout shrink into the distance. It was growing dark and rather cold at this hour, which seemed like the perfect time for an escaped, damaged 'Mech to venture into the open.

"Farthings here, sir. Our Nagereboshi just returned. Still no sign of the rogues."

"Roger that. Keep running your patrol patterns."