Epsom Plains,
11km southwest of Westminster,
Britannia

"Ellis to Steele, enemy sighted. They will pass our position within the next five minutes".

"Copy that Ellis. Preparing for cold start now".

His calm acknowledgement reflected the speed with which the operation had been laid on. The planning and deployment, normally done over many hours or even days, had been rushed through in less than sixty minutes. Using the data sent back by the drones, Clearwater had provided continual updates on the enemy's progress, allowing Steele and Jerricho to time their approach and intercept to the minute. They simply hadn't had time to think or worry about what they were doing.

Marcus hadn't initially wanted to include Elementals in the operation, fearing they would only impede their progress in a situation where speed was vital. Star Commander Ellis had argued vehemently against being left behind, asking at one point if Steele wished to debate the matter in a Circle of Equals. In no mood for internal squabbling, Marcus had reluctantly agreed, assigning Ellis and his troops the role of scouts.

He took his thumb off the transmit button of his radio headset and turned to look at Alannah Jerricho, who waited nearby, in the cockpit of her Canis. He gave her the thumbs up and she responded with an identical gesture. The pair relayed the order to go, using wrist communicators, since their neurohelmet radios were currently offline.

Cold starts were risky, as they required the mech or vehicle's reactor to go from zero to full power in under a minute, compared to the normal gradual power up over several minutes. They also bypassed the normal computer boot up process and system checks, instead going straight to a preset configuration. This had been known to cause system glitches and the rapid reactor start could also damage power conduits. Given the situation however, everyone agreed it was a risk worth taking.

Steele gave silent thanks to Kerensky as his warriors called in, one by one, reporting all systems nominal.

"Alpha Actual to all units, advance".

No further orders were necessary. The mission plan was a simple one, requiring only that unit cohesion was maintained, to make the best use of their superior firepower. Another glance to his left confirmed Jerricho and Beta Assault were also moving out.


III-Beta, 66th Shadow Division,
10km South of Westminster,
Britannia

"Gamma Lead to Command, I am reading unidentified contacts to our south west. Range nine hundred and twenty metres. Estimate three Level IIs".

"Blake's Blood!" Demi-Precentor Malthus cursed as the data was relayed to his Cerberus 5M's battle computer.

Alastor's orders had been explicit and deviating for any reason, would not gain him any favour with his commander. Still, he could not afford to ignore a potential…make that probable…hostile force on his flank.

"Beta Command to Omega Prime, we have probable hostile force on our western flank. Deviating from RV to investigate and eliminate".

As expected, Alastor's response was frosty, to say the least.

"I suggest you make your diversion a short one. Our withdrawal will put us at the RV point in under twenty minutes. Failure to make the rendezvous will have severe consequences".

"Understood Precentor".

"Heavy Delta to Alpha Lead, enemy sighted, preparing to engage".

Steele cursed silently. Warrior Fallon was one of the newer additions to the Cavaliers, transferred in during their last rendezvous with their overwatch team. Younger and typically more hot-headed, he had the hardest time trying to keep her aggression on a tight leash.

"Neg, Warrior Fallon. The plan requires us to maintain formation. Pull back and form up on your starmates. Do not engage until I give the order".

Minutes later Marcus' Timber Wolf A crested the low line of hills they had been using as cover. The steep, uneven slope of the hills gave way to an open, grassy plain, dotted with clusters of trees. In plain sight were more than a dozen tan-and-white shapes, which he instantly recognised from the drone footage. His heart sank a little as it became obvious the element of surprise had been lost. No longer were they moving south to link up with their comrades. Instead they were standing still, facing the direction from which the Cavaliers were coming. As visual contact was made, the Blakists began moving towards them.

"Alpha Lead to all units – engage!"

As half a dozen brilliant azure particle beams flashed past him, Steele added his own ERPPCs to the barrage, targeting a large, blocky ugly-looking mech he didn't recognise, but which his Timber Wolf's battle computer identified as an Albatross. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a pair of pale blue flashes as Warrior Fallon's Mad Dog C fired its gauss rifles. A cloud of white smoke and gouts of flame announced Star Commander Nathan's presence, his Timber Wolf Prime weighing in with its LRM launchers. Four mechs in the rearmost ranks all took hits, none seemingly critical.

A second Albatross quickly returned fire, followed seconds later by a pair of Grand Crusaders, filling the air between the two sides with smoke, flame and swarms of long-range missiles. Few of the Cavalier mechs carried either ECM suites or AMS and they were forced to scatter to avoid the incoming firestorm.

However, the Blakists hadn't counted on the Cavaliers' ferocious determination and willingness to stand toe to toe with their enemy. While the Celestial class omnimechs had been designed specifically with the Manei Domini in mind and were also equipped for close-range combat, the remainder of the 66th Shadow Division was equipped with upgraded, older designs, which although superior to the originals, still suffered many of the same drawbacks.

Demi-Precentor Malthus looked on in surprise, his human eye widening and his brow creasing, as he watched the mercenaries' ranks first dissolve in the face of the True Believers' missile barrage, then reform in an almost fluid manner, continuing their advance. He had expected them to retreat when confronted with massed firepower and a headlong charge. However, his "shock and awe" tactics hadn't worked. It appeared he had misread his opponent. Worse, they seemed to have learned from their earlier encounter.

A withering barrage of particle cannon, gauss rifles and missiles answered the Blakists' opening salvoes. Instead of each warrior seeking to target an individual opponent, each Star now targeted a single enemy mech. Even as Malthus tried to gauge the Cavaliers' new tactics, he saw II-Alpha's Battlemaster, Albatross and one of the Grand Crusaders fall under three concentrated attacks. Half his assault mechs destroyed or crippled in the blink of an eye.

There was little time for further assessment, as the Cavaliers continued their headlong charge right in amongst the Blakist ranks. As well as favouring the Clan warriors' preferred face-to-face style of combat, it also greatly reduced the effectiveness of mechs armed with long range weaponry. Many of the Cavalier mechs, however, were armed with ERPPCs, one of the few ranged weapons with no minimum range, which gave them a distinct advantage.

The battle rapidly degenerated into a melee. While the Manei Domini certainly had the physical and mental capacity to be deadly infighters, they were hampered by the limitations of their machinery. In most cases their mechs were slower than those of their opponents and many lacked heavy, close-range firepower.

'They say no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy', thought Malthus, as he took aim at a blue-grey Thor moving rapidly across his field of vision.

He fired his Cerberus' gauss rifle and ERPPC, cursing as the enemy pilot activated his mech's jump jets, just as his finger tightened on the trigger. In mid-flight, the Thor's pilot swung it's left arm outward, firing the LB10-X autocannon mounted there. The Cerberus shuddered as a heavy solid slug impacted on its right torso. Even as he was steadying his mech from this attack, more threat warning lights lit up on his control console. Seconds later his mech reeled as it was hit from behind a volley of missiles and a pair of gauss slugs, obliterating most of his rear torso protection. Activating the rear cameras on a secondary display, he saw a Mad Cat and Vulture standing several hundred metres away, side-by-side. The Mad Cat's missile racks were still smoking.

It took him several seconds to realise he was being singled out.

'Have they identified me as the commander?' he wondered.

He was distracted from his musings by an unfamiliar mech, with a large circular antenna array over its cockpit, straying across his sights, opening fire on one of II-Beta's Marauders with its particle cannon. Momentarily forgetting the threat to his rear, he loosed off a snap-shot from his ERPPC, feeling a fleeting moment of satisfaction as it struck the enemy mech on its left arm, carving an ugly black scar on its already battered blue, grey and white paintwork.

A heavily modified Guillotine touched down barely two hundred metres directly in front of him, the blazing plasma trails of its jump jets scorching the ground beneath. Before its pilot had even steadied the 70-ton mech, they were already unleashing its battery of medium lasers and SRMs, chewing away more of his frontal protection.

As both his gauss and ERPPC were still recycling, he responded with a savage burst from his six medium pulse lasers, feeling the heat spike in his cockpit as he held the trigger down. The Guillotine pilot lit their jumpjets again, but unleashed their own extended range particle cannon before the mech was ten metres off the ground. The blast caught his Cerberus on its left shoulder but only vapourised more armour. Uttering a snarl of frustration, Malthus returned his attention to the Mad Cat and Vulture that had attacked him earlier, cycling through his target list until their locations flashed up on his HUD.

Alannah Jerricho gave a snarl of triumph as the Blakist Orion's left elbow exploded in a shower of sparks and smoke, the lower arm falling to the ground, leaving just the mangled stump of its upper arm attached to the shoulder. The barrels of her Canis' twin UAC-10 autocannon emitted their own thin trails of smoke from residual burning propellant. Her ambush had worked perfectly, jumping behind her opponent and catching them completely off guard. She had to admit that, while there was little honour in this form of combat, the freedom to use all manner of underhanded tactics did bring its own kind of satisfaction.

A glance to her left gave her further reason to smile as she watched Steele savaging a Blakist Black Knight from close range. His Timber Wolf A's twin ERPPCs and SRMs inflicting heavy damage. A heavy blow to the centre torso unbalanced her mech, forcing her to stagger backwards, reminding her that while her opponent was damaged, they were not out of the fight. Checking her weapons had reloaded, she turned back to the Orion, whose remaining arm, carrying a LB10-X autocannon, was still very much functional. She fired both her primary weapons at nearly point-blank range, straight at its damaged centre torso, blasting away its remaining armour and damaging its internal structure.

It toppled slowly backwards with all the grace of a felled tree, smoke billowing from the ragged hole in its torso. Alannah let out a victory howl and immediately began seeking out her next victim.

Marcus Steele flinched involuntarily as stray tendrils from the Black Knight's particle cannon washed over his Timber Wolf's nose and cockpit canopy, causing his HUD to dissolve temporarily into static. When it came back, the chin-mounted small laser on his weapons list was greyed out, indicating it was inoperative. He returned the attack with interest, loosing off a brief flurry from his trio of medium pulse lasers, following up with a salvo from his SRM launcher.

'Nearly half my ammo gone already!', he noted.

His short-range weapons appeared to have little effect on the Blakist but he followed up seconds later with his twin particle cannon and was rewarded with the sight of the Black Knight's left arm exploding, as the particle cannon assembly erupted in an uncontrolled release of energy. The Blakist mech rapidly lost its other arm as Star Commander Landon's Summoner touched down a hundred metres to his left, unleashing a dual blast from his ERPPC and LB10-X. He raised his mech's right arm in salute, but immediately regretted his lapse in concentration when the Black Knight fired its remaining chest-mounted large lasers, vapourising nearly a ton of armour from the Summoner's torso.

Steele rolled his eyes and unleashed an extended volley from his pulse lasers, holding down the trigger until the heat levels in the Timber Wolf's cockpit became decidedly uncomfortable. He selected his SRM launcher and followed up with a flight of short-range missiles. They struck home, punching through what remained of the Blakist's rear armour and smoke began to billow from its back. The 70-ton machine froze in place and the Cavalier pilots moved on, seeking out new targets.

Star Commander Nathan lit his Summoner's jump jets as the unknown Blakist mech fired its autocannon at him, but could not avoid being hit. His finely tuned senses were able to detect the dual impact of twin slug, fired just a fraction of a second apart and he guessed it was armed with an Ultra class autocannon. Not that knowing that helped his situation. He and his Star had found themselves facing six mechs of identical design but differing configurations, he guessed they were Omnimechs of some kind. Whatever they were, his battle computer was unable to identify them, leaving him little idea of what they were facing.

He was given some respite as Warrior Casey's Nova Prime jumped in behind his assailant, unleashing eight of her twelve extended range medium lasers. The unidentified mech made a ninety-degree turn and began backing away to bring them both into the pilot's field of view. Nathan unleashed his mech's "thunder-and-lightning" primary weapons, which had caused the Spheroids to christen it Thor, striking the Blakist squarely in the torso. Casey, meanwhile, began to track back, trying to keep it pinned between herself and Nathan. Sensing the imminent danger, the Blakist tried to turn to face her, but as he did so, her weapons finished recycling and she unleashed another eight-laser volley, which obliterated the remaining rear armour and ate into several critical systems in the mech's rear torso. The mech came to a grinding, shuddering halt with dark grey smoke pouring from its back, as overheating components finally reached combustion point.

Demi-Precentor Malthus ground his teeth in frustration as he saw how the battle had degenerated into a chaotic melee. Instead of organised, structured engagements, everywhere around him he saw one-on-one duels, two-on-one tag-team tactics and other unorthodox fighting styles. He'd expected to be able to keep them at range and pick them off with his unit's long-range weapons. Instead the enemy had charged into their midst for a toe-to-toe brawl. Worse, they seemed to be gaining the upper hand.

His targeting reticule drifted over a limping Thor.

'Damned things seem to be everywhere!' he thought.

The index finger of his human hand tightened on the trigger of its own accord, sending a stream of charged particles and a gauss slug at the struggling enemy mech, taking its damaged leg off at the knee and sending it crashing to the ground.

As he searched for a new target, he saw his remaining Albatross besieged by what appeared to be an obscenely oversized Phoenix Hawk and another mech he didn't recognise. This P-Hawk carried a pair of heavy autocannon, as did the other mech. They quickly tore through its armour, one lucky shot detonating its SRM ammunition. Although it was spared a fiery death thanks to its CASE, it only prolonged the inevitable. Its pilot fought back with the ferocity and determination he expected of all his troops, but as he watched, large ragged holes appeared in its torso. A shower of metal erupted from its chest and it slowly toppled over with thin grey tendrils of smoke rising from its shattered innards.

His main weapons still recycling, Malthus was too far away to avenge his fallen comrade. Instead he turned away and searched for a closer target, finding an odd-looking Mad Cat stalking him on his right flank. This one had different arms and lacked the large long-range missile launchers of its primary configuration. He vented his fury on it, his sextet of medium pulse lasers burning and scarring its torso armour. Its pilot was canny enough to keep moving erratically, denying him a clear shot at its large, vulnerable cockpit.

Steele cursed himself for his stupidity, having forgotten the Cerberus also packed formidable close-range firepower. He unleashed his own trio of pulse lasers and Streak short-range missiles, to give the Blakist something to think about, while he searched for a weakness to exploit with his main weapons.