CHAPTER 35

Review Corner:

Ulquiorra9000: sometimes the worst enemy a unit must overcome is itself
The Colonel: I drew inspiration for Chip from various sources but GoT is not one of them.

New Aragon, Capellan March,
Federated Commonwealth,
May 8, 3063

It was still dark, but Trystan could see through his infrared heat tracker that the Davion war machines started populating the valley, some 2 kilometers away from the Steiner's base. As many as 10 heavy, 15 medium and several light mechs scattered around the marsh. The area was surprisingly open, very much different from the jungle they came from 50 kilometers behind. No trees, no waters, just Steiner and Davion loyalists.

"Head count, Vandenberg," Chip's voice came in loud and clear.

"Roughly a battalion of mixed forces, Sir," Trystan replied coldly. "A few Clan mechs in the mixture."

"The 3rd FedCom Guards have half a battalion of operational mechs," Chip said, "probably another company of worthless, badly damaged pieces of crap. I'm not gonna lie to you all, this battle is going to get ugly. Some of you may not see the end. But that doesn't mean you just hand your asses to the Davions. This is the battle that defines the Blazing Aces as a household name. We pull this off, we'll be rich for the rest of our lives!"

"So what's the plan, Boss-man?" Linc croaked halfheartedly. "Do you even have a plan against the overwhelming Davion force?"

"You cowards!" Chip growled. "See that MadCat by the left wing? That's gotta be a commander, or an ace, or someone important but stupid enough to put a bullseye in his own forehead. Kill him, and Davion's formation will stagger. Blitzie, smoke that MadCat. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT engage anything else! Trystan, Caelia, cover fire for Blitzie. The rest of you, we'll clear the way for Blitzie. I want that MadCat out in five minutes!"

Trystan saw Chip and Tim swung to the left while Latoya, Humberto, and Linc covered Blitzie's right flank. Blitzie's Victor, the only assault mech in the Blazing Aces, marched pompously toward the marsh. Trystan positioned his mech right behind Chip's, protecting Blitzie's left flank. Caelia did the same in the right flank.

"I know you hold a grudge against Chip but he is our leader," Caelia chimed from a private frequency. "We need him to get us out of this hellhole. The team needs him to survive. Our lives depend on each other. Can I trust you to be a good soldier and a team member?"

Trystan had pondered long and hard about this situation. There was no doubt that the Davions would crush the Steiners in this world, if not in this battle, then the next. Chip was spreading false hope. In Trystan's mind the only way to save the Blazing Aces was to defect to the Davion's side, and this was the perfect time to do it. When the shooting started, the Steiners would be too busy to care about the Blazing Aces. He could just take the mercenary unit to a safe place and surrender to the Davions.

But apparently that way was blocked, and the only available path was through Davion's gauntlet. Trystan might be a coward, but he was no traitor. He would not leave his friends, let alone his twin sister, fighting for their lives without him.

"I'll watch your back, Sis," he confirmed his decision to fight to the bitter end. "I always do."

"Sucker," Caelia scoffed. "Watch Blitzie's back. He's our ticket to get out of here."

The Davions made the first move. Two companies of heavy and medium mechs advanced to attack the Steiner's left flank. The Steiners committed equal forces to blunt the Davion's attack. Lasers, cannon tracers, missiles and explosions illuminated the dawn like fireworks. The com link was full with mechwarriors chanting, yelling, and screaming around. Trystan inspected his radar, three Wolfhounds and two Enforcers were making their ways towards the Blazing Aces in the unoccupied field in the middle. They came within a kilometer away and closing in fast. The Wolfhounds reached 600 meters from Trystan and started firing their lasers. Two beams struck his center torso. His Thunderbolt staggered lightly.

Four consecutive laser blasts melted the torso armor away. Warning sign glared through the cockpit, the armor tracker went red. Another laser blast hit him in the shoulder, sending his targeting reticule off focus. Trystan groaned, but quickly refocused and took an aim. The Enforcers would soon bring their autocannons to bear, and it would be difficult to aim under ballistic rain.

Trystan held his breath, and as the Wolfhounds broke into 500 meters, he fired his autocannon. The depleted-uranium slugs screamed through the air and slammed into a Wolfhound's kneecap. It burst apart, the joint was displaced and the Wolfhound was thrown off its feet. It tried to regain balance, but Trystan followed up with everything he had. His pulse laser tore the Wolfhound armor apart, pushing it off balance. The Wolfhound twisted and the knee buckled. It reeled to the ground.

Caelia saw this opportunity and jetted her Griffin into the thick of the battle. Her PPC blasted the leg of an Enforcer, tearing armor and myomer bundles. He presses the trigger and sprayed the Enforcer with missiles, most of which slammed into the Enforcer on its torso. The Enforcer jerked behind, bubbling molten armor dripped like blood. It regained its footing and retaliated with two blue laser streaks, burning a ton of armor in Caelia's torso. Caelia answered with another missile volley, attacking the Enforcer's arm joint. The Enforcer fired its autocannon, wrecking the heat sink on Caelia's right leg. Caelia cried out and hit the trigger once again, and the pure energy blast struck deep into the Enforcer's structures, incinerating the engines. The Enforcer burst into flame in a fiery explosion.

Trystan set his reticule to a JaggerMech locked in a pitched battle with Humberto. The Phoenix Hawk had lost one arm and the other one was about to burst apart. Trystan raised both arms and sent lasers to the JaggerMech. The JaggerMech rocked sideways, its left twin-cannon arm caught fire by Trystan's laser bolts. It shifted target to the new threat, but Humberto stabbed its torso with his large laser. Again it jerked sideways, burning molten metals sagged. Trystan let loose two more laser bolts to its right torso, taking away the last remaining armor, then fired his autocannon. Blue flame burst from the impact, signaling critical hit.

"Vete al Infierno!" Humberto yelled as he fired his remaining lasers.

The JaggerMech took several more hits. Its armor reached critical condition. Trystan aimed at its torso and fires. His autocannon slugs tore its chest open and buried themselves in the structure right above the fusion reactor. The JaggerMech took two steps behind to regain control, then fired its lasers towards the Thunderbolt. The blue streams of energy struck the Thunderbolt on the upper left leg, wiping armor off and exposing myomer and titanium structures. Trystan staggered, but managed to retaliate with his medium lasers. Two beams struck the torso, extending the gap and exposing the engine more. Trystan risked shut down and pounded the JaggerMech's wrecked chest with his pulse laser. The JaggerMech engulfed in a huge fireball.

The Steiners fought defensively, trying with all their might to keep the Davions at arm's length while conserving energy. Chip and Tim hurled their missiles at a Marauder. Some 30 missiles slammed into its torso, chewing up armor and stabbing myomers. Two missiles struck the left engine, causing it to spit tongues of flame. It rotated its legs and fired its lasers in defiance. Tim sidestepped it and let lose another salvo of missiles. The missiles thrust deep into the main engine, triggering chain reaction. Flaming body parts filled the air. Tim grinned but quickly winced as the Marauder fired a particle bolt. Half of the Crusader's left torso is gone. The Marauder was about to fire again when a stream of autocannon slugs ripped its shoulder apart. Chip continued to punish the Marauder with its missiles. All but one landed on the torso, dangerously ate up the last remaining armor of the mech. The Marauder staggered violently, twisted its torso and let lose twin blue bolts at the Orion. As the Orion backpedaled, Tim returned fire with his missiles. A third of them went wild, but the remaining struck home . The Marauder blasted in an inferno.

Trystan took an aim at a Grasshopper locked in a battle with two Steiner Clints. He fired his autocannon and buried half a dozen slugs deep into the Grasshopper's left torso. The slug cut off power lines to its left arm, making the left arm completely useless. It swung around to fire at Trystan with its remaining laser cannons, but Trystan was ready. A few pulse laser bolts cored the Grasshopper in the torso, throwing it off balance. The Clints used this opportunity to hurl well-placed salvos all along its body, tearing it up until it is nothing but a walking mechanized structure. One laser blast consumed its engine in flames, and the behemoth engulfed in a fireball.

The ferocity of the Blazing Aces cleared up a path toward the Mad Cat. Blitzie, who had been waiting impatiently to get some action, jumped at the first opportunity to take a shot at the Mad Cat. With his signature battlecry flooding the comlink, he fired his Gauss rifle, sending the nickel-ferrous slug across the field.