Well, time to check the peripheral motion sensors. So far the mercs haven't found any of them yet, and those sensors are one of the main reasons why we are still alive. They detect the seismic quakes made by the footfalls of the enemy Mechs, and inform us of the impending attack.
"Trisha, hold this point. I'm going for another circuit of our outer markers."
"….Okay…… *yawn*"
I smiled. Trisha was probably going to fall asleep while on guard duty here. But I felt that the peripheral sensors would warn all of us in the event of attack, so Trisha would get up in time to meet the attack anyway.
I disengaged the low power mode of my Orion and set my throttle to 20%, giving time for my engine to warm up. The ancient Mech creaked a bit, but got moving nonetheless. I checked the waypoints on my navigational computer, confirmed the locations of the peripheral sensors and set it on autopilot.
I passed the immobile form of Corporal Jock's Catapult. I knew I could trust Jock to back up Trisha in any attack, being a veteran of plenty of assignments with me for these few years. He was a quiet and contemplative man, so I left him alone and jogged further down the hill. I spied back up on the hill the old Star League-era fortress that has been our defence point for the past 2 attacks, and wondered how much more pounding it could take. Fortunately the Hellhounds do not have artillery support or we would've been routed long ago.
We still have not been able to raise the only other field base, the starport. Assuming the worst, that would mean that we are the only viable military force capable of defending this planet. As it was, we were hard-pressed to defend the strategic hilltop position, which was the only other civilisation on the planet; a "town" with only a population of 50. However these 50 are not the original inhabitants of this planet, who have long left this hell; actually they are a science and research team investigating a possible small Star League-era cache. Small it may be, but initial reports have uncovered a very surprising thing: the cache contains the blueprints for a more advanced Kearny-Fuchida drive engine, capable of conducting jumps over distances unimaginable by the current technologies. It might take years of analysis to understand and to build one, but the ownership of these blueprints, if they truly exist, would certainly bring absolute wealth, and not to mention power. Warships could appear at any time in a certain star system with only one jump, and commerce will become so quick that even HPG transmissions would be slower than sending a crate of beer to another planet hundreds of light years away.
That's the reason why the Hellhounds are here. The current rumour on base is that the Capellans have employed these mercenaries to take the blueprints by force. Normal tactics, using mercs to do dirty work. That's why no artillery, otherwise the plans would be scraps of paper before the attack was finished. But the question that still remains unanswered was how did they know about the blueprints? We just found out about the plans two weeks ago. The mercs then landed and struck at us a few days later. Whatever or whoever their source of information is, they didn't spend much time double-checking their creditability!
My Orion stepped nearer to the first of the 6 peripheral markers, which were arranged in a hexagonal grid around the base of the hill. The sensor registered my presence, so I knew it was working. I moved on to the next sensor. I gave a brief report over the radio for the benefit of my team members.
"Northeast sensor checked."
Initially when the enemy force first started their burn-in, I was notified of the impending attack by the starport. Captain Jenna told me that she had sent out an SOS via Comstar HPG for backup to Gillfillan's Gold, the capital of the nearby Rim Collection, shortly before I lost contact with her. I do not know if the SOS had gone through or not, but all we could do is hold out and hope. I don't even know how big the invading force was, except that the force which dropped almost directly on us was two lances of medium and heavy class Mechs. I had two lances then, too.
"Northwest sensor checked."
I lost David first when he crashed his Jenner into a Bombardier, causing his fusion reactor to go critical and taking the enemy with him. Then Gunner lost his life when an Atlas cut into his Quickdraw's cockpit with its large laser and autocannon. Although Jock and I then managed to blow out the Atlas' gyroscope after that, losing the two affected all of us. Then more had fallen in the brutal fighting. Chuck, Lorna ….
So many had died repulsing the first attack. I could not remember how the rest died.
Didn't want to remember.
"West sensor checked."
Just then another voice cut in on my thoughts, after my last transmission.
"Lieutenant, Dr. Jenkins says that these plans might not be a new Kearny-Fuchida drive after all. He's still arguing with his fellow scientists –"
My tired eyes grew wide.
"Say again, Harry?!! The plans are NOT new?"
"I'm sorry, sir. I thought you might want to know about that first, before it gets finalised and told to the rest of the team. There is still a chance Dr. Jenkins is wrong, sir. I'll get back to you soon with more news. Harry out."
I failed to respond for a few moments.
I refused to believe that my Mechwarriors had paid so dearly for something which was not worthy of their lives. David, Gunner, Chuck, Lorna …..
I sat there, silently weeping for moments.
