XI
Surely those pirates were a slippery bunch.
They used one of the infamous pirate points to jump in-system without being noticed, and then dropped over Krenice, too fast for the Ghost Bear defenders to react and stop them. For the following days they evaded the scouting parties, and even managed to shoot down a pair of Donar attack 'copters. Then, they appeared in force, attacking an industrial complex in the outskirts of Hasnorvan, the biggest city on the planet. The fact that those pirates demonstrated such incredible skill and organization automatically made them highly prized targets, and, as such, the Command Trinary from the 7th Bear Regulars was immediately dispatched to seek and destroy the invaders.
Eventually, the persecution dragged for more than two weeks, and two more trinaries were sent to support the Command. Those pirates, whoever they were, had an incredibly detailed knowledge about the geography of that world, and were using it to keep their opponents occupied while they moved back and forth.
And that didn't make that much sense, in the end, Mechwarrior Talitha thought, as she moved her squat Adder OmniMech over an agglomerate of broken rocks, two full points of heavily armoured infantry following on her trail. The rest of the Trinary was spread all over the mountains, on both sides of the valley, covering the largest area possible, in an effort to finally find and destroy the remaining pirates, once and for all.
Unfortunately, they seemed quite determinate in keeping hidden among the trees and the broken mountains. Almost as if they were gaining time for something…
"Contact." The voice of Star Colonel Yasmine sounded over the comm, calm and professional. "Northern ridge, heavy and assault inbound."
The leader of every Star acknowledged the information, and then Yasmine proceeded with the battle plan. The Command Trinary would move in for the kill, with the remaining units flanking the pirates to thwart any attempt of an escape.
"Let no one get away!" The Star Colonel ordered. From her vantage point, near the top of the one of the hills on the Southern ridge, Talitha could see Yasmine's boxy Dire Wolf in the bottom of the valley, charging between the trees, with the remaining 'Mechs of her Star moving beside her.
The valley made a tight turn up ahead, hiding the pirates. They seemed to have abandoned any hope in escaping at that point, because instead of keeping out of sight, and prepare an ambush, like they had done countless times in the last couple weeks, the heavier units just came out of their hole, throwing themselves right into the attacking Ghost Bear warriors.
The leading pirate unit was a tall and menacing Atlas, considered by many the sturdiest of all BattleMechs, which started trading shots with Yasmine right away. It would be an epic duel, certainly. Both machines were 100-ton giants, heavily armed and armoured, vortexes of devastation on any battlefield. The forest around was shaken by explosions, catching fire while the shooting became increasingly more intense.
"Enough sightseeing!" Star Captain Gunter Kabrinski barked. "We have places to go."
Talitha turned her eyes away from the scorched battlefield, and moved her Adder into a crevice on the opposite side of the hill. From there she could see the plains, covered with sparse trees and fern-like bushes, flowing into a small river, two thousand meters away.
"Star captain!" A voice shouted over the comm. Talitha recognized it as being Aisha's, an elemental from Beta Star. "We intercepted a group of enemy units, but a lance-sized force is escaping, moving in your direction. 'Mechs and skimmers."
"Understood. We will deal with them." Gunter Kabrinski answered. "Talitha. Take point. We will be right behind you."
"Yes, sir."
Without even thinking, the Mechwarrior moved downhill, scanning the surroundings for any hostile presence. It ought to be there. A wave of excitement filled her body and mind, as she noticed that would be her first real engagement against Inner Sphere forces. After all of those frustrating weeks searching for the pirates, she would finally have the chance to shed some blood, and make a name for herself.
A klaxon echoed on her headphones. Someone was nearby. Already carving men-sized footprints on the gentle plain nearby the old rocky hills, Talitha turned northward, zigzagging among the trees. And then she found them.
The Catapult came first into sight, from behind a rocky slope. It was an old Spheroid design, a BattleMech shaped like some headless bird with boxy long range missile launchers mounted were the wings should be. The hovercraft came right afterwith a tail of dust rising on their trail.
Talitha moved slightly to her left and aimed at the enemy 'Mech, which probably hadn't noticed her yet, its sensors jammed by the Adder's ECM suite. An electric-blue ionized particle beam erupted from each of the Clanner Mech's arms, shrieking all their way into the 65-ton hull. Both PPC shots hit their target, making metal explode, and electrified splinters fly in all directions.
"Star Captain Kabrinski! Mechwarrior Talitha reporting! I have made contact with the fleeing lance, two clicks from Delta Star position. One Catapult and four Harassers on spot!"
"Understood."
There was no need for more words. Talitha knew the elementals were coming. She just needed to keep the Spheroids occupied while they moved in.
The incredibly fast Harasser hovercrafts were now sliding around the injured BattleMech, aiming the missile launchers mounted over their flat roofs. From that distance, Talitha could not tell if they had short or long range warheads, although the erring radar warning reminded her to keep moving at full speed, arcing around the enemy units. Weighting 35-tons, her Adder was small and fast, and very nimble too. That should help her avoid most shots, but if the enemy managed to score some hits, the thin armour would provide only a meagre protection, at best.
Both PPCs fired again, one beam vaporizing a tree that got in the way, the other making metal boil on the side of one of the hovercrafts. The fragile machine caught fire immediately, moving a few more meters before coming to a halt, already enveloped in flames. Talitha gave it no more attention. Missiles started flying around her 'Mech, as a couple of Harasser managed to get close enough to fire a badly aimed volley of SRMs. The damage was minimal, but the Clanner warrior had her main weapons in the middle of their recharging cycle. She fired the flamer mounted under the Adder's chin, to force the hovercrafts into defensive positions, and then turned her back to the fray, as she tried to gain some distance.
It was a calculated risk. While her 'Mech had an almost non-existent back armour, she did need to get closer to the river. That would negate the Harassers the use of their missiles, that she now knew to be short ranged, and would also gave her access to that stream of fresh water, to refresh her Adder as the temperature started to get uncomfortable inside her cockpit.
She got close enough, and turned again into the fight. The Catapult seemed to have recovered from the crushing hit it received. The armour over its right flank, over and behind the wide cockpit, had disappeared almost entirely, exposing internal components.
"Great!" Talitha nearly screamed as she charged against it head-on at full speed.
The attacking Catapult swung its strange torso to shatter a tree that was in its way, and then fired a volley of thirty long-range missiles. Leaving a trail of white smoke behind them, the missiles arced over the battlefield, and then flew straight down, their sensors aiming at the charging OmniMech. Talitha saw them homing in, let her heart beat once, and then slid to her right, most missiles slamming at the empty ground where she stood a split-second before. A few missiles managed to hit her, causing only moderate damage. Only then Talitha returned fire
Again, both beams struck home, melting away the armour over the left knee joint of the heavy 'Mech. The machine jerked, and moved out of the line of fire. Still running at full speed, Talitha made a wide arc across the field, crushing some trees under the massive weight and raw inertia of her Adder. She crossed paths with one of the Harassers, and pressed the trigger again. The hovercraft exploded, the giant orange mushroom cloud raising and turning into black smoke. Without time to move away, Talitha just jumped over the smouldering hull, leaving a swirling column of smoke behind her.
The on-board temperature was already reaching severe levels. Even with her cooling vest working hard to keep her fresh, thick drops of sweat rolled over her forehead and cheeks, into her mouth, tasting salty and acid. She didn't even hesitate, walked right into the river, erecting short-lived columns of water with each footstep. Temperature started to descend as heat dumped through the armour and into the river. And then the Adder shook as something hit it hard.
Talitha slowed down, and made a hard turn to her right, searching for the enemy. Red lights on her control panel warned about the cracked armour on her right torso. Something there packed a powerful punch. And then she saw the hovertank. In an ironic twist of fate, those pirates had managed to grab for themselves an Epona hovertank somewhere during the prolonged fighting, a machine that the 7th Bear Regulars, had, on their turn, captured during a fight against Clan Hell's Horses.
"Surats…"
She fired her right PPC, but that machine was quite well crewed, and slid sideways, evading the shrieking beam. The second shot connected with the target, though, and breached the fragile armour of the hovercraft, opening a wide gash on the left side of the hull, which promptly started to spill black smoke into the sky. Undeterred, the Epona fire back its own PPC, this time slicing across the top armour of the OmniMech. More red lights flashed across the control panel, as systems agonized and died. Talitha grunted in fury, and stepped on the speed pedal, hurling the Adder into full speed, straight into the captured hovertank. Its crew hesitated for a moment, and only then did they realized what the Mechwarrior was up to, and started to roll backwards, trying to get out of the way. But it was already too late.
The Adder came close to the Epona, and slammed a foot right into the crew compartment, placed in the front of the squat hull. The whole vehicle jerked forward, crushing the cushion of air underneath it, promptly shattering the front section completely under the massive impact. The hovercraft spun around its axis, before the ultimate death of its engine, and then fell over its belly. Unsatisfied, Talitha fired the flamer, setting the ruined hull ablaze.
The Mechwarrior used the following moment to catch her breath, and then looked around, searching for the remaining opponents.
Surprisingly, the Catapult was already down, its damaged leg had been torn in two by the 'Mechs own weight, and the cockpit cracked open by the ejection of the pilot. The Harassers were also out of commission. She blinked in surprise, and only then she saw the Elemental armoured suits walking around the destroyed war machines, searching for survivors. There should be none. Star Colonel Yasmine was very clear on that point. Since their ambushes started to kill more and more warriors, she decided that there would be no more prisoners. That would teach any future raiders not to ignore the more honourable ways of fighting.
Slowly, Talitha approached the Clanner infantry. They had descended over the pirate units while they were occupied with Talitha, and brought them down quickly and efficiently. It wasn't the most honourable way to fight, but then again, the Star colonel gave strict orders to disregard zellbrigen, and just crush the enemy like the pests they were. It didn't felt right to her, but those pirates had lost any semblance of honour when they decided to strike civilian targets first and then kept avoiding any possibilities of engaging in a fair fight.
In the end, it didn't really matter. It was just pest control anyway…
"Three hovercrafts, quiaff?" Star Captain Gunter Kabrinski's voice scattered through her headphones. Looking down, she saw his battlearmour standing still near her left foot, the V-shaped faceplate looking up to her cockpit.
She admired that man. A proud elemental, he had already gained impressive victories against both the Hell's Horses and the Spheroid pirates, and had recently gained his Bloodright in a Trial, thus deserving the privilege of being called Kabrinski. It was an honour to fight under his command.
"Aff, sir. If I might ask, how is the battle on the valley developing?"
"Well. Star Colonel Yasmine already killed three enemy 'Mechs. The surviving pirates are now cornered in a gash between two mountains. The cliff is too steep on the inside for them to climb out, and the command trinary is controlling the only way out."
"That is good, Star captain. When will we finish them, then?"
"A good question. Maybe after a little repair and refit. It is not like they can go anywhere."
At that moment, a third voice erupted onto their comm. It was Yasmine herself.
"Star Captain Gunter Kabrinski, you are listening, quiaff?"
Down there, the battlearmour turned its back to the Adder, as the elemental focused on the conversation.
"Aff, ma'am. What are your orders?"
"It seems that we are going to receive a few guests. They are coming from Sandleford and were instructed to join your Trinary. I hope you do not mind a little babysitting."
"I am at the service of the Clan."
"Good. Have in mind that the Galaxy commander gave them permission to do whatever they feel necessary while we refit and repair. But if the they, somehow, seem to even try anything against our forces, you shall destroy them on the spot. Understood, Star captain?"
"Understood, ma'am."
"Excelent. Yasmine out."
With the chatter over, Gunter Kabrinsky turned towards the BattleMech.
"Babysitting… And those Freebirth emissaries, no less. Not the best way to finish this operation, quiaff?"
"Aff…" No it wasn't. Still, Talitha was somehow curious about those Davion warriors. She suspected they should be veterans from the war against the Smoke Jaguars, so they ought to have some qualities. But which, she couldn't guess.