CHAPTER 12
Author's Note: This chapter is inspired by the Battle of Gaugamela, October 1 331 BC.
Review Corner:
Ulquiorra9000: I could make revisions for the Director's Cut edition. Like I said the original story was written more than 10 years ago and while I had fixed a lot of things I sometimes left out things like that as a "keepsake". You'll see some more stuffs like that as you go along.
Grand Port, Ingress,
Duchy of Small, Chaos March,
April 6, 3062
The Blazing Aces heavy lance, led the by the indomitable Victor, pushed forward and immediately came face to face with a demi-lance of 2 Quickdraws, one Blackjack-C, 2 Vindicators and one Cataphract. They formed an inverted wedge with the Cataphract took the center point.
"Target confirmed: Salim Abdul Aziz is in the Cataphract!" Sergeant Lantham reported. "All units, destroy the Cataphract!"
"YYEEEEHHHAAAAA!" Blitzie dashed forward and fired his Gauss rifle at the Cataphract, but one of the Quickdraws moved in front of him and took the shot. Its armor blasted open as the nickel-ferrous shell smashed its right torso. The Quickdraw lost balance and dropped to one knee. Blitzie raised both hands and fired all weapons at the hapless Quickdraw. Two laser beams connected to the torso, followed by five missiles to the arm. The laser-laden arm went spinning in the air, and the 60-ton mech reeled.
The other Quickdraw and the Vindicators quickly ganged up on the Victor. Multiple lasers and missiles swarmed the assault mech, stripping armor layer after layer until the torso was nearly bare. Two particle bolts snapped at its left torso. The Victor set afire, and Blitzie's cry for help came in only minutes after his initial battlecry.
Tim and Archie launched 35 missiles at the other Quickdraw, missing only 3. The huge momentum of impact jerked the Quickdraw. Each explosion took off a layer of armor. The Quickdraw's front armor was almost stripped clean, leaving just the myomer and internal structure. Archie followed suit with all lasers. The mediums hit the torso, eat up the last remaining armor. The Quickdraw returned fire with 4 medium lasers, striking the arm of the Crusader. The arm was blown off, and Tim's long string of curses flooded the comlink. Archie came to his friend's rescue with his large laser, and the Quickdraw engulfed in a blaze.
The Blackjack-C came forward to unleash its twin LBX10 cannons on the damaged Victor but Linc hammered the Blackjack's side with his own cluster shells, forcing the omnimech to abandon its original target. As the Blackjack pivoted to bring its twin shotguns to bear, Linc fired his missiles at point blank range. The omnimech jerked forward. Linc stabbed the Blackjack's leg with his lasers. The well-placed salvo ate up the leg armor, threatening to burn the myomer bundles underneath.
Linc's Centurion swiveled to inflict more actuator damage with his LBX but the Blackjack managed to get a hard lock on him. The twin LBX10 cannons barked, and the Centurion lost balance. It staggered back and forth and flailed its arms wildly, trying to compensate the enormous blasts of the twin LBX cannons. His forward armor was blown to bits, leaving only the sheet-metal chassis that wouldn't hold even a 50-caliber gun.
"It's getting hot in here!" Linc said as he desperately steadied up his mech.
"We can make a difference!" Caelia said with a glint of anxiety in her voice. "Come on! What are we waiting for?"
"Hold position, Vandenberg!" Chip replied, half yelling. "The heavy lance will stand!"
For once Trystan was glad Chip didn't send them to help the heavy lance. Blitzie's Victor slowly came back to its fighting stance, and the rich gung-ho should have no problem finishing up one Quickdraw. The other Quickdraw was left a towering inferno. Tim and Archie were locked in a battle with 2 Vindicators. And the Cataphract hadn't even fired a single salvo since the battle commenced. It just stood idly out of bound.
That left Linc trading LBX blows with the Blackjack. The Centurion won the early rounds, but with 2 cannons the Blackjack started to gain ground. With each blows the Centurion's armor flew like snowflakes, and it came to a point where sparks and smoke started to burst. Trystan watched every critical hit with growing anticipation, not exactly sure what to expect. Wishing for Linc's fiery demise was too far, even as he still begrudged over what Linc did to Caelia. But Trystan couldn't help it. He wished for Linc to get a terrible beating for his betrayal.
Alas, his hope didn't materialize. A squadron of Ingress Legions' Warrior H-8 helicopters arrived and rained down missiles on the rebel mechs. It lifted the pressure off the Blazing Aces for a quick moment, and even though the insurgents managed to wipe out the helicopters, the Blazing Aces had enough time to regroup. Blitzie launched an alpha strike that destroyed the Quickdraw. Tim and Archie scored critical hits that severely hurt the Vindicators. And Linc regained the upper hand, hitting the Blackjack from every angle.
Facing inevitable defeat, the Cataphract decided to turn around and left the battlefield. A Capellan variant, it kicked its MASC to reach 86 kph and ran straight into a vibro-mine field, laid out by the Ingress Legions. Two mines chewed up the armor and myomer bundles on the Cataphract's leg. It reeled down, triggering two more vibro-mines, stripping more armor of the leg. But the Cataphract still stood and kept it course, although with a bad limp.
"All units, Salim is breaking off!" Sergeant Lantham cried out. "Stop him!"
"Linc! Disengage your enemy and chase down the Cataphract!" Chip yelled.
"Like hell I'm doing that!" Linc unexpectedly snubbed the order.
"Dammit Linc, do it!"
"No way, Boss-man! My mech is shot! I'm not wasting my life on some Chaos March lowlife!"
"Blitzie! Hunt it down!"
"I would, Chief, but my mech is not fast enough!"
"Coward sonsofbitches!" Chip growled in exasperation. "Humberto! Kill the Cataphract!"
"Cabrones cobardes! Todo el tiempo con su trompa de pato!" Humberto grumbled as he throttled up. "Trystan! Caelia! Move up! Sargento Lantham, we're chasing down the Cataphract! Need a safe passage out of the vibro-mine barricade!"
"Copy that, follow me!" the Warrior H-7 swerved past the battlefield to lead the light lance.
Even when outnumbered 3 to 1, the Cataphract had enough firepower to seriously hurt the light lance. Maybe Salim lost his nerves watching the Blazing Aces tearing his defense apart, but against a light lance he might regain his courage. Trystan gunned his engine, propelling his Locust to maximum speed. The Cataphract noticed the Locust and tried to get away with its MASC, but Trystan still outran it by 40 kph.
Within a few minutes the Cataphract reached an open field where a Leopard-class dropship was unloading an Orion, a Thunderbolt, a Griffin, and a Phoenix Hawk. It tried to make it to the dropship, but soon realized that the Locust would cut it off before it reached the dropship. The Cataphract turned around and blasted its PPC. The azure particle bolt snapped the building right next to the Locust. Debris as big as basketballs pelted the Locust, but dealing no damage. Trystan kept his mech low, taking advantage of the Locust's thin profile. The Cataphract blasted its LBX shotgun, sending hundreds of submunitions to in a wide angle. Some caught the Locust on the left torso, punching through armor and digging deep to the internal structure. Warning sign blared.
"The Cataphract's actuator is damaged," Humberto said. "Concentrate fire on the leg!"
The Cataphract fired its pulse laser in a desperate attempt to slow down the Locust, but Trystan made a sharp turn, taking cover behind a couple building. The Javelin and the Stinger caught up with the Cataphract and fired off a barrage of missiles, laser, and bullets at the Cataphract's legs. Already damaged by the vibro-mines, the legs snapped at the knees, first the right, then the left. The Cataphract wildly twisted and turn to catch one mech with its big guns, but Trystan came out from behind the building and singed the Cataphract left leg. Tongues of fire burst from the joint, and the Cataphract dropped to its remaining knee.
"Got him!" Caelia shouted in pure delight. She closed in and raised her arms, ready to blast the cockpit of the Cataphract. But before she could do anything, the Warrior H-7 swooped in and barked its autocannon. A long tracer of light lit up the Cataphract's cockpit. As if it wasn't enough, the helicopter fired a missile salvo, turning the cockpit into a blazing crater. The Cataphract trembled with every shot, then hunkered down and crashed.
"All units, target is eliminated!" Sergeant Lantham proclaimed. "We have killed Salim Abdul Aziz!"
Trystan took a deep breath but instantly realized that a heavy lance was waiting for them, ready to avenge the fall of their leader. He gripped his joystick hard, ready to haul ass, when the unexpected happened. The Leopard dropship took off, leaving the four battlemechs on the ground. And the battlemechs made no attempt to strike back at the Blazing Aces. They just stood idle while some trucks and transports evacuated the area.
"Sir?" Trystan hailed Humberto. "Should we run?"
"Wait wait wait," Humberto replied. He brought his mech slowly toward the heavy lance, and they didn't do anything.
"What does this mean?" Caelia tuned in. "Are they surrendering?"
"I don't care what they are doing, Chiquita," Humberto replied in utter joy. "We've got ourselves brand new battlemechs!"