FOURTEEN
Starport, Engadine,
Melissa Theater, Lyran Alliance,
May 4, 3058
The quiet morning turned into a total frenzy when I led my mech into Starport. People screamed and yelled as the mech's feet thundered on the pavement, leaving a trail of ruin as they smashed cars, windows, canopies, and building decorations. I tried as much as I could not to squash people. But the tight turns and the narrows streets between buildings did not give me much room to maneuver. I felt sorry for the inhabitants whose cars I crushed, whose buildings I raked, but I did not have much choice.
Despite the difficult environment, my mech seemed to be able to handle tight turns extremely well. I reckoned it should weigh at least 90 tons, but it did not feel like it was an assault. I wondered why I had never heard about a Gladiator before. Nevertheless, this Gladiator recognized me, and I could see why I chose it as my personal mech in the past.
The small roads of Starport led me to the vast dropship gantries, and there were at least four dropships being loaded up. I circled the complex until I came in front of a big Union. Trucks and loaders stampeded out of the dropship, and I noticed sparks started to spurt from its giant engines. The ramps were hauled away from the doors, and I knew this dropship was ready to launch. I throttled up and climbed the ramp and forced my way into the belly of the dropship. I did not even see the insignia on the hull, but I was beyond care.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Evee growled. "We could end up in Chaos March."
"I promise you home," I unbuckled my seat belt. "That is where I am taking you."
As I climbed out of my mech, dropship crews amassed at the feet, shouting and yelling. I knew they were unhappy with my stunt. The door that was almost shut now sprung back open. I did not want to hijack this dropship, but it seemed that it was the only way to get this dropship taking off.
"What the hell are you thinking?" I heard one of the crews yelling. "Get out! You're not going with us!"
"Take us with you, and this mech is yours!" Once again, I have to pimp out my mech.
"No! Now get out! We're not taking off with you!"
"We have to get out of Engadine," I said, half pleading. "Please, let us come with you…"
Suddenly, the entire dropship quaked. A low moan echoed in the bay, followed by a shower of sparks from the ceiling. The crews dismissed themselves and scrambled out of the dropship, but the door rumbled close. Evee and I bartered looks, and we knew that the Bone Devils had found us.
"If this dropship does not take off soon, we are doomed," I stated the obvious.
"Looks like it's going nowhere," Evee replied. "They need at least 5 more minutes before they can return fire, and another 5-minute before they can bring this blimp to space. Those Manticores will singe the engines from long range, waiting for the Von Luckners to close in and deliver the deathblow. We're trapped."
A series of explosions ripped the bay apart, and fire started to blaze in several locations. I knew the dropship had enough armor to withstand punishment from the pirates. It might survive, but I did not want to wait. I did not now how many pirates out there, and that made me nervous. I had to get out of the dropship. Unfortunately, all the bay doors were closed.
I hated the fact that I had to blast my own exit, but it was the only way out.
"Hang on," I said while strapping myself back on the chair. I punched the alpha strike, and my mech trembled as all guns roared in unison. Two emerald beams cored one of the bay doors, spraying molten titanium to some of the crews on the ground. My clustered munitions put a massive dent on the door, pumping out more titanium chunks. Nevertheless, the door still perched.
Another series of explosions ripped the dropship. Light flickered out, and cries of agony sorted through the sound of twisted metals. Almost the entire bay had been engulfed in fire. I felt the heat crept into my cockpit, raising my heat tracker several notches up. I waited until my guns fully recycled, then hit the alpha strike again. The bay door staggered under my assault, but despite losing an enormous amount of part, it lingered on.
"Come on, come one," Evee muttered nervously. "Break, dammit, break!"
I swiped my eyes from sweat. The hull behind me almost gave in, and an azure bolt pushed through the wall, incinerating a coolant system above my head. Flaming goo burst from the pipes, raining down on my mech. Heat spiked up to dangerous level as the entire surface of my Gladiator was swallowed by the fire. One more minute inside this hell and my mech would shut down. I had to get out of here quickly.
As I heard the clang, I pushed my mech forward and blasted my LBX-20. The impact almost brought the door down. Almost, but not quite. The adamant door was still standing, but my blast 25 meter from the door knocked a large crack on the door. I took two steps back, then throttled up to maximum, ramming my right shoulder onto the crack. This time, the door crumbled, and I was free.
Less than 5 seconds after I busted out of the flaming dropship, it exploded. A brilliant flash lit up the city for a moment, followed by a mighty quake. I did not even remember if there was a bang. My mech staggered under the onslaught, swaying left and right to cope with the quake. I jiggled the joystick, fighting to keep my mech standing. It took me half a minute to steady up my mech. Smoke and debris filled the air, hampering my radar and visibility. Anything beyond 300 meters was a complete blur.
But instead, I found refuge inside this cloud of debris. If I could not see my enemies, then they could not see me. This cloud served as a smoke screen. I pushed the throttle to one-third maximum and guided my mech in the smoke. Guns, cannons, and explosions rattled in the distance, so I maneuvered my mech away from the noises. In this milieu, I expected to bump myself into buildings, but so far I only trod on small cars and trucks. As the smoke cleared out, I pushed my throttle to maximum.
But I never thought I would face another kind of trouble.
"This is Starport Police Department. Stand down and exit your mech!" Half a dozen Cavalry helicopters blocked my way. They hovered in pairs, stretched in such a way that I could not shoot them down in quick succession. On my far-left flank, a lance of UM-60UrbanMechs trundled on the street, blocking my other exit.
Had my mech been in good condition, I would have dove into battle and taken out the Cavalries, before using my speed to outflank the UrbanMechs. Those slow coaches should fall quickly under my guns. My blood boiled, thinking how far I could do if I decided to engage them. But my armor was almost stripped to the internal structure. The Cavalries were fast and agile, and the UrbanMechs carried 10-class autocannon. One unlucky shot may render me miserable.
But the police was not a real threat. I knew they would not kill me if I did not initiate hostility. My biggest worry was the Bone Devils. Two Manticores and one Von Luckner had cleared the smokescreen and were racing toward my position. There was a building behind me that blocked their line of fire, but soon they would clear the building. I could not move because the cops were in my way.
"This is your last warning!" The cops bellowed again through their external speakers. "Stand down and surrender, or we will open fire!"
"What the hell are you doing?" Evee yelled. "Smoke those bastards!"
"I will not shoot the cops!" I refuted. "I do not have enough armor to withstand their missiles!"
"Would you rather get shot by the Bone Devils?" Evee roared. "The Cavalries may or may not hurt you, but a PPC or an AC-20 round will certainly turn you into pulp. Take a chance, dammit! Shoot the damn cops!"
Evee had a good point. In fact, I felt the same way. However, I saw another way. Four UrbanMechs and six Cavalries should be a perfect match for the Manticores and the Von Luckners. If I could make the cops and the pirates kill each other, I could get out of here virtually unharmed. Deception and running away from battle were not Clan's epitome, and once again I disgraced my lineage by using this tactic. But I guessed I had been living among the Spheroids for far too long.
"Trust me on this, Evee," I said while I manipulated the joystick. My Gladiator stretched its arms in the air, assuming a surrender stance. I hooked up my external speaker to my microphone then said, "Do not shoot! Do not shoot! I have reached combat loss grouping and Bone Devils pirates are in my back! They want to kill me!"
"Exit your mech and surrender!" the police repeated their demand. "We'll cover your back!"
"There is no time!" I fibbed panic, watching one Manticore swung around the building behind me. "If I get out now, they are going to kill me!"
I amazed myself by my lying skill, so much that I doubted that I was ever a Clan mechwarrior. Four of the Cavalries flew over my head to cut the path of the Manticore. When the tank cleared the building, the cops issued a standard 'stand down' order. But the Manticore had no intention to play it by the rule. An azure bolt leapt from the tank's turret and chomped half of a Cavalry. The chopper sputtered and spun uncontrollably until it hit an apartment building and exploded in a yellow fireball.
"Officer down! Officer down!" I heard the other cops screamed. "All hands, waste the pirates!"
About three dozen missiles swooshed out of the Cavalries and rained upon the Manticore like a hailstorm. Burning chunks of armor flew in every direction as the 60-ton tank writhed to sustain the onslaught. It swung its turret in all direction, trying to hit the Cavalries with its machine gun and missiles. But the Cavalries were too fast for the pirate tank. Another wave of missiles stabbed the Manticore from every direction. The tank staggered like a wounded beast, and started spewing smoke from its turret. The cops hit it one more time, and the turret erupted.
The fire was still licking from the disabled Manticore when a stream of missiles dashed from behind a building and hit another Cavalry. The chopper exploded midair, spreading burning parts everywhere. Another stream of PPC rose up and ravaged yet another Cavalry. The chopper took a plunge on top of an office building, splitting the glass wall as it slid down to the ground, and exploded as it touched the ground. The remaining choppers turned to face the incoming Manticore and Von Luckner, firing their missiles at the pirates.
I watched my radar. Another lance of pirate heavy tanks was closing in, but the police UrbanMechs had almost reached the battle zone. I had no intention to watch the fight, so I throttled up and left the scene, overlooked by both parties, just like I had foreseen. I walked freely through the streets of Starport.
But I was naïve if I thought I could get out of Starport that easy. More Cavalries took off and boxed me from three different directions. Without warning, they sprayed their missiles. I banked hard to the left, missing the missiles by a hair, but some managed to hit my right arm. The entire cockpit rocked as my LBX-20 cannon erupted, taking the entire right arm with it. The sudden loss of mass almost toppled me, but I managed to keep my mech standing. Lucky for me, I lost the non-operational cannon.
I twisted right and fired my laser at a helicopter. Tongues of fire belched from the doomed Cavalry as my laser stab its fuselage, ripping the armored belly as if it was made of jelly. The fiery carcass plunged to the ground and disintegrated in a fireball. The other Cavalries broke formation, but I quickly lined up with another chopper and let loose another laser beam. The emerald beam torched the missile launcher under its nose, and as it exploded, it mutilated the fuselage. The Cavalry burst into flames.
The wave of retaliation soon came forth. The Cavalries regrouped with their guns hot at me. Their missile tubes went alive with sparks and smoke, spitting barrages of explosive warheads. I ducked and squatted, letting the barrages flew over my head to ravage the building behind me. Hundreds of explosions festooned the building like fireworks. Several Cavalries unleashed their missiles, two of which stroke me on the chest. The impact forcefully jerked me behind. I gritted my teeth before I regained control over my mech, but the next wave of assault came inbound. They always attacked in unison, forcing me to be the defender most of the time. Heat spiked to one third of maximum point as I jerked my mech forward. The building behind me started to burn after repeated attacks from the choppers.
I hoisted my left arm and wildly fired my large-bore cannon right between two Cavalries. My cluster round shredded the armor of a Cavalry, and crushed the canopy of another. One of them quickly spitting smoke. The other one banked to its left, but I was not going to let it go. A stream of pure energy darted out from my right torso, breaching the Cavalry's tail. The hapless chopper spun uncontrollably before crashing into a supermarket.
"My mech is on Hangar D-7," Evee stated. "Drop me there and I'll help you fighting these buggers."
"We have to go past the pirates and the UrbanMechs to get back to the hangar," I rebuked her idea. "I cannot risk it."
"But we may never get past these cops," Evee said. "They're just keep coming!"
"I will find a way. Just sit tight and watch my back."
I was fairly lucky because the buildings provided cover from the Cavalries. I could dodge most of their missiles, but I could not play this game forever. Two Cavalries attacked me from my right flank, two more from my left, trying to catch me in a crossfire. I winced as the shockwave pushed me around, making my escape feel harder. Splinters from the buildings ricocheted on my window glass. I returned fire with my laser. Two green lights went straight through the cockpit of a Cavalry, broiling the pilot alive. A burst of fragmented shell flayed another chopper, ending its life in an orange fireball. Burning debris was tossed into dozens of meter radius.
By this time, I was standing in front of two big warehouses, and the choppers were making a turn to regroup and to get a better position. I pushed my mech into one of the warehouses before the choppers showered me with missiles. The warehouse shuddered as the missiles smashed the roof. Concrete bits flew in every direction. I backed up, and before the Cavalries were finished recycling their guns, I put my guns to work. My lasers eviscerated a pair of choppers, while my cannon carved holes on the third. It was not enough to bring it down, but it was enough to make it turn and limp away from the battle.
"You're clear!" Evee exclaimed. "Now's your chance!"
I could not agree more. I put the reactor to maximum, then let my mech sprinted on the street before more choppers coming our way. I brought my mech out of the city, and until then, no one challenged us.