Chapter Seven: Poison Control
A/N- As of this chapter, the wonderful and talented Kingfisher_X4 is cowriting this story. ^_^ He wrote most of this chapter. ...Well? Applaud, darnit!
*****
"This will be the toughest fight we've had so far, Commando."
Conner cringed slightly at Sorenson's analysis. The last fight had been plenty difficult for him, and he would've been perfectly happy to call it a day. It had, of course, been far too much to hope for. His eyes ran over the controls of his Thor, and he permitted himself to take a slight bit of comfort in the fact that they'd salvaged the machine. If he and Dominic were going to be getting into another mess, at least he was getting into it from the cockpit of a heavy Clan Omni.
"Hey, great, a challenge!" Dominic sounded as if he were walking the fine line between annoyed and amused. "What this time? Maybe a few Dropships they're using as turrets?"
"Worse," Sorenson answered promptly. "Reports put chemical storage tanks in the cavern, and they're filled with a highly corrosive gas. If those tanks are blown..." He trailed off, leaving it to the MechWarriors to figure out the rest of the sentence on their own.
Conner felt a shudder of revulsion creeping up his spine. Nobody in their right mind would even have a potential battlefield near such a facility, let alone let the tanks rupture. Then again, these are Clanners. Who's to say what they consider sane?
*****
Sinclair's head rushed as his Thor was rent once again by the enemy Orion's autocannon. He struggled and fought to return the machine to its feet, but the Jaguar's lucky first shot was making it difficult. The Clanner had fired off a salvo from his autocannon, which sheared away armor from the Thor's torso, then followed it up with a one-two punch from his medium lasers. They had cored directly into Conner's gyro, which was proving a very telling first strike.
He could vaguely hear Dominic swearing as he dueled with his own 'Mech's twin, the two Shadowcats dancing an elaborate dance, as deadly as it was intricate.
Conner pulled back on the control sticks again, forcing his Thor into a kneeling position, which bought him just enough time to squeeze off a shot from his PPC. The Orion staggered, it's torso wrenched around. Sinclair used the spare moment to return to his feet and start into another lumbering run. His 'Mech's torso rotated right, bearing on the Jaguar machine. He stabbed the button beneath his thumb, loosing the 10-centimeter autocannon on his left arm. It scarred the Orion, making the slightly larger machine tremble. The Jaguar turned and avenged with all its fury. The 'Mech's lasers, autocannon, and short-range missiles were devastating against the Thor's already thinning armor. Then the Orion, in an act of desperation uncommon among the Clans, savagely smashed its arm pods into the Thor's torso.
Conner's 'Mech whipped around, threatening to fall once more to the dirt. But Conner wasn't having it. He nearly wrenched the control sticks off the panel as he vied for control. Regaining his balance, he spun left and targeted the Orion again, kicking the Thor into a full run. He dodged behind the elevator's support strut just as the Clanner achieved a target lock for his long-range missiles and fired, avoiding what could have ended the battle. As he cleared the obstruction, he fired everything he had, not waiting for a lock on the enemy, simply aiming and letting go.
As one might have thought impossible, the entire volley found its mark, smashing and battering the Jaguar, finally upsetting its balance and toppling the machine. As it fell backwards, its head was impaled through the back with a stalagmite.
Immediately he turned his attention, sighting on the enemy Shadowcat still railing against Dominic Paine. His PPC lashed out, searing the 'Mech's boxy nose. The Cat stopped momentarily, then launched itself into the air on pillars of ionized plasma.
"Paine, fall back to the MFBs."
Dominic's Shadowcat was badly mauled, and Conner realized as he said it that he wasn't in any better shape.
"Mm, that's a negative, Damocles One. Just cover me."
In a stunning move, the Shadowcat surged forward, no doubt propelled momentarily by the MASC system. It caught up to the Jaguar 'Mech, still flailing through the air. Leaning back on his haunches, Dominic sighted directly up at the enemy Cat and fired, his gauss rifle and medium lasers bursting upward in a startling maneuver. The gauss rifle slug found its mark directly in one of the 'Mech's jump ports and collapsed it, sealing the system and beginning a catastrophic overload.
The Jaguar Shadowcat was now minus half of its propulsion, and the remaining lift was centered on the left side. The 'Mech tipped right, then crashed to the ground, mangled almost beyond recognition.
As Paine's machine drew away from the fallen Cat, the jump port became over-pressurized, and exploded. As the dust settled, Conner realized that there was practically nothing left of the Jaguar 'Mech.
"Dominic, that was…"
"Incredible. Yeah, I know. Look, the convoy's on the move. I noticed an arch over here. Looks like it leads into a larger chamber. Could be where they're headed."
Conner thought fast. "I'll go through. If it is a shortcut, you use your higher speed to come around behind them via the main passage while I draw their fire."
"Roger."
Sinclair pushed his throttle forward, moving towards the gaping hole in the cavern wall. He nodded silently, and passed through.
It did, indeed, lead to the main cavern. As soon as he emerged, he was beset by two laser turrets on the far wall, 5 Elementals, and a Bushwacker. Out of those three, two were major threats.
But one had just been taken off his hands. One of the trucks in the convoy exploded. The Bushwacker turned to face the new threat, a Shadowcat descending from above. That left Conner with turrets, and elementals. He lined up on the first of the armored characters, the barrel of his Thor's autocannon sighting on the white form. Firing, he filled the air with metallic death, then watched as the soldier was torn apart. A well-placed PPC shot removed another of the toads from his threat list.
He directed a half-aimed LRM volley at the first of the laser turrets. Several found their mark. The device did not explode, but it ceased to fire.
Thank God for small blessings.
The remaining elementals bounded towards him, and he fired quickly, burning away another of the super-soldiers before he stopped.
The final two leapt forward on jets of flame, intent on grappling with his 'Mech.
Conner stomped on the foot pedals, lighting his 'Mech's jump jets ever so slowly. Too slowly. The elementals drifted towards him. Firing blatantly, he tore one apart with his autocannon, then concentrated on the last threat. His PPC missed utterly, but did succeed in spiking his heat into the yellow.
As the elemental soared in, Conner flailed, and somehow, by a stroke of luck, brutally slapped the elemental aside, causing him to drift crazily and finally smash into the wall.
As he slammed into the ground, his 'Mech turned involuntarily, and he could see Dominic. The Shadowcat looked like it had been systematically stripped of its armor and laid bare. But it was still fighting fit. The Bushwacker was a smoldering heap, and three of the trucks were down, as was the second laser turret. The Cat limped up the ramp, then opened fire on the unseen party. There were a pair of explosions – the trucks, Conner assumed – but Dominic kept firing.
Sinclair finally realized something was wrong as the Shadowcat suddenly reversed and backed down the ramp, finally turning and sprinting away from the location.
A Firefly rounded the corner, and Conner left it no window of opportunity. His PPC charred armor over its torso, his autocannon stripped it clean of armor over the torsos. Last but not least, the 15 LRMs from Conner's shoulder-mounted rack impacted the light 'Mech, tearing it apart. It collapsed.
"You all right, Paine?"
There was a groan. "Just dandy, boss. Hey, here's an idea. I'll take out that shuttle repair station while you take out this HQ, then we take a moment and reflect on life."
Conner grinned. "You want to make a stop at the MFBs."
"They can't do much for this armor, but maybe they'll be able to slap on some more ammo."
"Then what are you waiting for? Take out that shuttle station."
*****
Several minutes passed, then the still unarmored Shadowcat and the somewhat more equipped Thor were advancing again through the cave. Something broke through Conner's comm line. An intercept.
"…blow those tanks. I do not want those freebirth escaping alive."
The gas tanks! No.
Paine commented briskly, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me…"
Sorenson interrupted. "Damocles, you have to stop them. If those tanks blow, we're finished."
Conner shoved forward his throttle, racing along the road. As the Black Hawk powered up to contest him, he merely shoved it aside, letting it backpedal, then simply fall into the lake.
Then he spotted his new target: another Orion, launching a full salvo at the chemical tanks.
The PPC and the autocannon fired in tandem, mostly striking the Orion's leg. The machine stumbled, then fell. He raked it with his weapons again, punching through its paper-thin back armor and ripping open its internals.
"Well, that was easy."
He finished speaking just in time to hear an anguished scream over the commline, and whirled the Bushwacker around. The Black Hawk had used its laser compliment like a can opener and sliced through the top portion of the Shadowcat's torso… and its head... before turning on the tanks.
Firing madly, he downed the Black Hawk in a matter of moments, then moved to inspect the fallen Shadowcat.
"Dominic! You alive?"
A long pause greeted him, then a burst of static. "Oh, dammit, yes… I know because I feel more pain than is possible after death…"
Conner sighed with relief. Losing Dominic would herald the end of Conner's campaign, and probably the end of his life.
"All right. Well, let's get you out of there and then get out of here, what say?"
Paine muttered something quietly, then said, "I'm waiting right here…"
Conner sighed.