Counting the Days Pt. 2
By Kat Wylder
Note: Many thanks for Kat Wylder for the submissions. I really enjoy this fanfic, and I believe many others do too. All reviews and credits are yours. For others that wish to participate in this compilation, you are welcome to do so.
Vert Plains, O'Dellia
The Periphery
Day 57 of Bondservice
The sinking sun caught the metallic edge of a Daishi as the fearsome machine trudged up a sharp, snow-capped peak. The mighty chassis stopped once it crested the thin ridge and torso-twisted back and forth to survey the plain below. A trio of various 'Mechs soon joined it and crouched down, perched like steel vultures waiting for carrion.
The smallest chassis in the lance, a scuffed up Jenner, suddenly rose to its feet and began turning back and forth as if looking for something.
"Problems, Clanner?"
Randi muttered a curse and slammed her fist down on the console. The Jenner's HUD went staticy for a moment and then returned to normal. "I thought I saw something."
"First of all," said Captain Jamar with a rather bored and irritable tone, "that's 'sir' to you. Now, about this 'thing', Clanner. You care to be a little more specific?"
"I would like to be sir," Randi replied. It took some effort to keep the disgust from her voice, but she managed. "Some sort of intermittent radar signature. If this Jenner's sensor array was operating correctly, perhaps I--"
Jamar cut her off with a sigh. "Everyone, our objective is Nav Gamma. Bravo Two, hit that Comm tower. Bravo Three, you have the turret control tower. Clanner, you're with me. I don't trust you to go running off by yourself."
"Roger," Randi replied unhappily, as she fell in behind Jamar's Daishi.
The Masakari and Gladiator trotted off down the slope towards their target buildings, while Randi followed Capt. Jamar down towards a nest of tanks. She checked her targets and frowned.
'A few Bulldogs and some SRM carriers. A couple of light 'Mechs could easily deal with the tanks and both of the buildings. I cannot believe how wasteful this units is,' she thought to herself. 'I grow sick of this.'
After nearly two months of bondservice, her situation had not improved, despite her good performance. She had dutifully defended her captor and obeyed all his orders, no matter her personal feelings. Randi thought back to the Flea and its pilot and sighed. Her diligence had thus far been rewarded with more derision and humiliation from Jamar. Each time she accompanied the lance on a mission, she had to wait in the MechHangar beneath her Mad Cat. It was crushing to look up at the machine she had once piloted while it hung on the racks like a trophy.
Her only consolation was the opportunity to get back in the command couch of a BattleMech on occasion. Though the HUD was different and its neuro-helmet felt strange, the Jenner performed decently considering its age. There were some glitches in the sensors, but its weapons still functioned. That was the important thing.
She and Jamar soon reached the foot of the hill and the tanks took notice of them. The war vehicles boldly drove up to meet them like little wind-up toys and began to fire. Jamar stepped on one, likely just because he could, and then fired his autocannon point-blank at another. Randi was a bit more conservative in picking off the nuisances treads and kept out of range of the SRM carriers.
There was a loud, metallic bang as one of the bulldogs punched her in the back with its guns. She turned swiftly and clicked the trigger, boring a hole through the vehicle with her laser. It ground to a halt as liquid metal spilled down its side onto the grass. Just as Randi turned to find a new target, a curt beep sounded in the cockpit. She glanced down to her radar just in time to see a small red dot disappear from the fringe of her sensors.
"Sir, intermittent radar contact-- 1100 meters."
"Let's clean up these tanks first, Clanner," said Jamar. "I'm sure whatever it is, it can wait."
"Roger, sir," she said with a sigh, as she trotted along behind the Daishi. She could not understand why he would not listen to her. Randi attacked another tank, but kept a careful watch on her radar. While her bondholder was arrogant enough to believe he could easily gun down any threat, she did not share his confidence.
The lance had been caught in several surprise attacks by a group of unknown bandits which had appeared in the region last month. What they wanted, who their leaders were, and where they were coming from was unknown. Strangely, the bandits only appeared to Capt. Jamar's lance when Randi was with them. She shrugged it off as an uncanny coincidence. He called her bad karma.
"Lead, this is Bravo Three! We're taking heavy fire!"
Jamar turned a hard right and plodded across the field to assist his subordinates. "Clanner, go on and assist Bravo Two and Three, ASAP!" he barked, knowing Randi could reach them first.
"Roger," she replied, as she hit the throttle of her Jenner and sped off towards the others.
The Gladiator was plainly visible, towering over the field as it was rocked back and forth by a volley of missile fire. A lance of medium and heavy 'Mechs was devouring the O'Dellian's armor with a viciousness Randi had never seen in the InnerSphere. The Masakari was limping a little as it tried to fight off the attackers. From the damage the assault chassis had taken and the shrapnel strewn across the field, it looked as though the bandits had forced Bravo Two into a cluster of fuel tanks.
A medium chassis that Randi had never seen before broke away from the group to pursue her. The humanoid biped opened fire upon her just as she lowered her crosshairs over its flat torso and fired. The angle and suddenness of the weapons fire knocked her Jenner down, sending her SRMs into the atmosphere. She shook her head clear and forced her steed to its feet. Gunfire grazed the side of her 'Mech as she turned to face the enemy and opened fire again. The spray of missiles distracted the pilot long enough for her to get close to it. In no mood to play games while the rest of the lance was eaten up, Randi carefully positioned her targeting reticule over the BattleMech's cockpit and fired her lasers. A plume of smoke spilled out of the hole she had created, as the bandit 'Mech crashed to the ground.
By this time, Jamar's Daishi had closed in on the fight. He fired his autocannons into the hip of a Phoenix Hawk and then turned on a Bushwhacker. The bandits at first attempted to stand and fight. After a moment of exchanging fire, the Phoenix Hawk went down and the two remaining 'Mechs retreated.
"Thanks for the save, Captain," said Bravo Two.
"Just glad I made it in time," Jamar said with a tone of arrogance coloring the otherwise modest words. "Let's head back to base."
"Roger, sir," chorused Bravo Two and Three.
Randi fell in behind Jamar again. 'If he had just listened to me,' she thought to herself.
"By the way," said Capt. Jamar disdainfully, "I hope you're happy, Clanner. It looks like you were right after all." He gave a grunt and pushed his 'Mech ahead. "But I still say you're our bad karma."