Chapter 13

"Randi! Fred!" Hank grinned as the two MechWarriors walked through the door, and sat up straighter in the lounge chair. Without a full infirmary on-site, the medics had decided to simply move her to one of the break rooms while they dealt with more injured patients. To her right, Nikolai sat watching the news.

Fred smiled back as he walked up to her. "Hey, it's great to see you up." After a slight pause, he continued. "How are you feeling?"

"Heh, been better," she said, motioning to the dressing on her left arm. "Fortunately, though, there's no major damage. And Nik's been keeping me company." She smiled and picked up a bowl from the small table beside her. The dish seemed to consist of an unidentified meat over top of rice. The look of it seemed to Randi much like some Clan foods, but the smell was decidedly more appealing. Hank took a bite of the meat and nodded to her lancemate. "'You're a pretty good cook."

"Eh, thanks." Nikolai frowned a little, turning off the trivid. "Of course, the only thing I can cook is beef curry..."

Fred chuckled lightly. "Hey, you're a step ahead of me."

Attempting to steer the conversation back to Hank's condition, Randi began, "You were unconscious for quite awhile..."

"Yeah. I hear that I've got you two to thank for savin' my toast," she replied with a smile.

"What have the medics said about your status?"

"Well, they figure I just took a good whack to the head when my 'Mech fell. Knocked me out. Sure, that's not real healthy, or anythin', but there's no permanent damage. They said I'm cleared for duty."

"That's good to hear. How's your arm?" Fred asked.

"Just a flesh wound," she said with a snicker. Hank looked down at her hand and flexed her fingers. "It still hurts a bit, but it's not gonna slow me down."

"A 'bit'?" Nikolai scoffed. "You got, like, two dozen stitches!"

She grinned back at him and reached for the edge of her bandages. "Yeah, wanna see 'em?"

"No!" The younger pilot pulled back in horror.

"Let them heal." Fred smiled and ribbed Nikolai lightly. "Besides, we don't want to scare Kitten too much."

Hank smirked and nodded. "Oh, alright." Her expression grew more serious as she looked back at Fred and Randi. "So... how bad does my Quickdraw look?"

Fred tried to keep a positive expression, but shifted a little as he tried to formulate a response. "It... Ah, it is fixable... I'm afraid, though, that it'll have to wait. Considering the situation, there are other priorities."

"I understand," she replied with a nod.

Fred leaned over to Randi and asked softly. "Should we show her, or let her rest?"

"I want to see it," Hank spoke up, before Randi had a chance to reply.

Fred's eyes widened a little. "Oh, wow, you have good hearing. I guess, if you think you're up for it—"

Hank gave him a resolute, if not somewhat reproachful look, and stood up from the chair. Randi stepped back into the hall, and turned to lead the way as the others followed. Bowie's hangar had become a good deal more crowded with the addition of the Marik units. The surviving Vulcan looked to be little more than skeleton and a few shreds of armor, now. Beowulf, at the far end of the hangar, was still awaiting parts.

The Quickdraw, however, was not even hung in the repair racks yet. The mangled BattleMech still lay on the salvage tract that had retrieved it. Its severed leg had been deposited nearby on the hangar floor.

Clan pilots might get attached to their customary machines, but their connection to a BattleMech was far less permanent, most times. A Clan typically had the resources to replace or repair a severely damaged 'Mech, if the pilot was worthy. An InnerSphere pilot, however, was totally dependent on their BattleMech. Even many House MechWarriors piloted a privately-owned machine. If they lost it, there may never be a replacement.

Unsure how Hank would handle the situation, Fred tried to offer some sympathy. "You know, I know how it is to take a hit like that..."

She didn't seem to hear him, and stepped off the loading dock to the hangar floor, walking ahead to her BattleMech. Hank put a hand on it lightly. "Dammit..."

Fred kept his distance and let her have a moment to gather her thoughts.

Nikolai, on the other hand, followed her up to it. "I'm sure it can be fixed."

"Not soon enough," she said.

Fred pulled Nikolai back. "Give her some space."

"What? It's just a machine," he muttered.

Randi instantly felt taken aback by the blasphemous comment. Her partner was right about their trainee. He still didn't understand precisely what kind of world he had chosen to enter.

"Yeah," Hank said, correcting him before Randi could, "but it's my machine." She stood, staring at it—not visibly angry or saddened, but somewhat blank. "And it was my dad's."

Fred winced lightly. "Sounds like you're very lucky, then," he said.

She nodded. "Real lucky." Hank smiled a little. "Everybody figured my oldest brother would inherit it, but...dad left it to me."

"Don't tell me your brother became an accountant like mine," Fred chuckled.

"Ha, no. He's a mercenary, too. But," she said with a hint of pride, "Dad thought I was the better pilot."

"Sounds like your father's a good judge of skill. You handle that Quickdraw very well."

"Was,actually..."

Randi frowned a little. She had never been good with social things like this, but made a stab at support for her lancemate. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Hank shook her head and tucked some stray hair behind her ear, and forced a bit of a smile. "No, that... It was years ago." As quickly as it had come, thought, her smile faded. She drew her hand back from the 'Mech and sat down on the edge of the loading dock. "Well, what's the plan, now? Seems that Nik and I missed out on somethin' to do with the Mariks. Are they in with us?"

"They sure are. Bowie is setting them up with two new Archers. We're on contract, now, and finally going on the offensive."

"Glad to hear it. Those bastards owe me a new 'Mech," she muttered.

Across the hangar, a door creaked open as Harrison and Ned arrived for their shifts. Fred waved them over to join in the conversation. "Hey, just the man I wanted to see! And Ned, too." He turned again to the others. "While Randi and I are out, Harrison will be in command."

"Oh, boy..." the senior Tech muttered.

"Hank, I want you and Nikolai to stay here to defend the factory along with the Vedettes the militia brought."

"There's only one functional 'Mech, though," the younger pilot protested, edging away as Ned sat down nearby. "What's Hank going to pilot?"

"Oh, you mean you do not—? Oh, that's right. You would not know that." Randi tried to look sympathetic to him, although she was sure that she failed. "Uh... You see, even though we don't have formal ranks...we, er, still have ranks."

Nikolai frowned. "What."

"So, while you two have the same rank—MechWarrior—on paper... she actually outranks you. A lot."

"What? Why? We both started at the same time."

"For the Vigilante Guard, yes. But," Fred pointed out, "Hank is a combat veteran, and you...are a kid who plays video games, and has been in one and a half battles."

"Two and a half..." the teenager corrected.

"You have done well in learning to maneuver," Randi said, "but your ratio of hits to shots fired is, I'm afraid, unacceptably low. Even for a green, InnerSphere MechWarrior."

"H-how low?" Nikolai asked, shocked. "I've hit stuff!"

"Not consistently. I'm afraid that if you were in a sibko or basic training, you would wash out."

"Yeah, well..." he stammered. "I'm getting better!"

"You are still a long way from being able to hold off heavily-armed, combat-seasoned attackers on your own."

He winced faintly, apparently realizing the obvious truth of this. He quickly frowned again, though, determined to be upset about something. "Fine... But that still doesn't explain why Harrison's in charge."

"Because," said the Tech, as he clapped a big hand down on Nikolai's shoulder, "I outrank everybody. Hell, I outrank Fred, too, but it's more fun to watch him embarrass himself." He grinned.

Fred rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, your jobs would be really boring without me."

"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that," Harrison scoffed. Facing Ned, he jerked a thumb back to the Quickdraw. "First impressions?"

The younger tech stared intently at the machine, looking nothing so much as vexed. "We're gonna need more duct tape."

"Don't worry, Nikky here will help you fix it," Fred snickered. "Shouldn't be too hard for you guys to fix anyway, right?"

"Well, I—" Ned stopped short, and cast a quick glance at Hank. "I will fix the hell out of this 'Mech," he said, dumbly.

"Oh, uh, thanks," she replied, giving him a curious look. "Wouldn't want to be pilotin' an unholy BattleMech."

Randi shifted uncomfortably in the command couch, as the anxiousness set in. Crouched in a small depression outside of the city walls, she couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't detect anyone else. Right now, there were four other 'Mechs in the field, outside of Earhardt. A Dervish, she knew, was waiting at the main road as a deterrent to rebellious citizens and Marik adventurism. In about sixty seconds, it had to go.

Nyx's actuators groaned softly as she carefully climbed back to level ground, remaining in passive sensors mode. Watching the 'Mech's chronometer, she carefully picked her way through a cluster of boulders, edging closer. It was almost time.

"What is your business in Earhardt?" A Lyran soldier's voice crackled over an open frequency.

The Lyrans had asked for a tribute, and Brunner was going to give it to them. "The Marik militia has made a mess of Bowie," the convoy's lead diver responded. His tone seemed rather cool, despite the fact that the vehicles were ordinary, unarmed trucks. "They're demanding that hand over the remaining Archers to them. So, as an apology, and to protect our investments, we are delivering them to the Lyran Alliance. We hope that you will accept our gift, and take good care of them."

"Apology or not, I will have to call this in. Official policy, you know. Hold here."

With a quick stomp on the pedals, the Mad Cat's jumpjets sent it soaring into the air. She pulled her crosshairs down over the Dervish swiftly, and mashed down on the alpha strike command. Before the Lyran 'Mech could even turn to face her, the volley of ER weaponry had eviscerated it.

"Clear!" she announced, landing near the still-smoking BattleMech. Not waiting for the others to catch up, she hit her jump jets again, landing on the rammed-earth slope that led up to the wall.

Immediately, the Archers stood up from the backs of the flatbed trucks and started scanning for targets. One of them poured both of its SRM-4s into a Scorpion tank that was speeding to meet the intruders. The missiles careened into the small tank, scraping its turret clean off the body.

A distant Blackjack fired its autocannons desperately at the Archers and Timber Wolf. Slowly backing away from the trio of heavies, it was slammed from behind by a series of LRMs and autocannon fire that wrenched its torso to the side. Fred's Dragon charged at full speed, sprinting from its cover in the rocks, and pressed the attack with a pair of lasers. The beams speared into the battered rear armor, igniting the autocannon rounds, and putting the Blackjack out of commission.

Randi jumped again, this time perching atop a hardened military building. Another Scorpion tank rolled out into the street, swinging its guns around to target the Mad Cat. Randi took a few steps back as ordnance chewed at the edge of the roof, and quickly scanned the area for any greater threats.

She spotted a pair of LRM carriers, one on the opposite side of the city from her position, the other down the main boulevard, in front of the city hall. Both were protected by a Demolisher, and both were raising their launchers to take aim at her position.

With a quickly fired shot of her lasers, Randi jumped down into the street. The Scorpion immediately went into reverse, trying to crawl back over the broken pavement to safety. She dispatched a shot of her PPC into its turret, then another into its tread, and trotted on down the road.

"Black Wolf, what did you see from up there?" Fred asked. Both the Dragon and Archers, lacking jumpjets, were restricted to the streets.

"Got a visual on one of the Demolishers we messed up, earlier. A couple of LRM carries are trying to protect it."

"Good thing those should be useless in a city fight. Storm One and Two, how are you holding up?" he asked Raynes and her lancemate.

"We're just fine," the lieutenant replied as she fired a salvo of LRMs into a Demolisher. "It feels good to see them retreating, for once."

Picking her way through some rubble, Randi reached another section of the city's wall and scaled it for a better vantage point. "Crap," she muttered, watching one of the Demolishers. "Mayhem, there's another Blackjack approaching from the east. It looks like it's moving to reinforce the tanks."

"Roger that. I'll take care of them both." Fred weaved his 'Mech between buildings and down streets, careful not to slip on the smooth pavement. "I've got a visual."

Sprinting from one cover to the next, he fired a autocannon and lasers into the Demolisher in a hit-and-run attack. The approaching Blackjack fired its quad lasers, melting and scarring armor on the Dragon's torso, but not breaching it. Fred made a hard turn to the left, ducking behind a building for cover, only to lose his footing and skid into another building, demolishing the face of it.

"Damn..." Fred muttered over the comm, as he struggled to pull his 'Mech free.

The slower Blackjack carefully followed him around the corner, leveling its guns on Fred's prone BattleMech. There were several bright flashes over the Blackjack as a series of LRMs slammed into it, engulfing it in fire and smoke.

Lieutenant Raynes chuckled. "I can't let your lance take all the kills." Her Archer cautiously continued down the street, checking each intersection.

"That leaves one more 'Mech and a handful of tanks, right, Black Wolf?" Fred asked as he pulled his 'Mech free of the building's rubble.

"It seems so..." She began to take another look around the city. Suddenly, there was an urgent alarm from her sensors, and a new target on radar. "Cold-start, five hundred meters west! Looks like a Griffin," she informed the others. "I'll take care of it."

"Roger that. We'll finish off the Demolisher and see about getting control of the city hall."

Randi waited for a moment before jumping down, trying to get a good look at the new arrival. The computer tagged it as a GRF-1N, which meant that it had a weapons payload favoring range fighting. The pilot would likely do everything he could to keep her from getting too close. As soon as she caught a glimpse of it passing amongst the buildings, she unloaded both PPCs at the Lyran 'Mech

One of the shots scraped an empty office complex, but the other pounded the medium 'Mech in its pauldron-like shoulder. It stumbled a little, and disappeared around the corner of another building. Satisfied that she had startled it, she dropped down to the ground, and put on a burst of speed to reach it. In close quarters, both of its weapons would be ineffective, while she had plenty of firepower to dole out.

More missiles chased after her, as she made a break for better cover. A handful of the LRMs hit, tearing the armor on her side torso, while the rest crashed into the ground behind her. 'I hate city fighting.' Randi frowned as she caught a glimpse of the damage that the buildings around her were taking. She had always been displeased about the idea of fighting near peoples' homes. At least in this case, the city was almost completely deserted.

Safe behind a tall building and several blocks away, now, she trotted down the street ahead of her, and switched off her active radar. As the Griffin disappeared from her sensors, she made a quick U-turn, and crept back towards her earlier position. Maybe the Griffin could be tempted to follow, if the pilot thought that she was fleeing.

It was a stretch, granted. Much in contrast to the popular Social General stereotype, someone in charge knew how to plan an invasion and the soldiers on-planet had been rather effective at acting on those orders. Still, everyone had their pride. There was little that could boost an InnerSphere soldier's ego more than the thought that they had just scared off a Clan OmniMech.

Moving slowly to see if the Griffin had taken the bait, she crept around one of the lower buildings. Instantly, a PPC shot and a stream of LRMs flooded over the roof, grazing the top of her 'Mech. She spat a curse and sprinted forward to new cover. 'It was worth a try...'

The Griffin jumped back to a taller, more secure building before firing again. Eager to keep it from gaining the upper hand, Randi stomped on the Mad Cat's jumpjets and leapt over into the adjacent street. Aiming quickly as she landed, she let loose a bolt of her PPC at the Lyran machine.

"Black Wolf, Storm and I have taken care of thetanks in front of city hall, and we're ordering everyone inside to surrender." Fred reported. "There are still a few small tanks and infantry scattered throughout the city."

"Copy that, Mayhem. I am still tracking the Griffin," she replied. Randi switched frequencies to the open channel. "Attention, Griffin pilot. The rest of your comrades have been disabled or destroyed. "Surrender now, and you will not be harmed."

"Like hell I will!" the pilot answered, jumping from one building to another, as he made his way out of the city.

"Great," Randi sighed aloud, and turned on her radar again. "Mayhem, I am going after the Griffin. Hopefully, this will be short."

"Roger that. Storm's lancemate is moving to assist." Fred responded. "I'll contact Donnagán a report the city is back in Free World hands."

"Copy, over." She quickened her pace, and leaped after the medium 'Mech, trying to catch it before it could get past the wall.

The 55-tonner jumped again, firing its PPC hastily at Randi. The building it landed on could barely hold its weight, and the windows popped and shattered from their frames. Unstable, its shot went wide, leaving Nyx unscathed by the attempt. She slowed a little to better her shot, and took aim at one of the Griffin's legs. Now within closer range, she stabbed at the 'Mech with her medium lasers. A salvo of her SRMs threw it further off balance as it attempted to jump. The 'Mech landed hard and wobbled a little before its shoulder crashed into another building, getting stuck in the wall.

Cautiously, Randi approached it. "Now, do you surrender?"

The Lyran 'Mech struggle to free itself for a moment more, then stopped. There was a long pause before the cockpit hatch opened and the pilot stood with his hands up.

"Power down your 'Mech, and remain where you are. A medical team will pick you up, soon. You will not be harmed," she assured the pilot over the external speaker. Switching back to speak with Fred, she reported, "The last of the Lyran MechWarriors has surrendered."

"Excellent work." Fred replied. "Donnagán reported that the militia forces from Bowie are on their way along with salvage. Speaking of which, how's that Griffin look?"

"Not bad, at the moment. Whether it will be in decent shape after being pried out of this building remains questionable..."

"Alright. I think today went well."

"Yes. We hardly killed anyone at all."