Chapter Six: Head of the Hammer, Part Two
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"What's the plan, Lead?" asked Tommy.

"We'll use the standard battle rules when carrying FAST packs. Hardpoint missiles go first, and then the ones in the packs."

"Hey, Lead, didn't you once go up against the 'Heads?" said Blue 3.

"Once…damn near didn't make it, either. Watch yourselves out there, got it? These guys live for playing dirty."

"Roger that."

They arrived at the location, and were immediately greeted by a dreadful sight. Three Valkyries were completely trashed and floating dead in space. Fortunately, their escape pods were floating near the wreckage, totally intact. The fourth Valkyrie was limping, but still alive.

"Good God…Green Leader, this is Blue 1. Come in, come in!!"

"…This is Green 1. Every one of us except Green 4 had to eject. We're going to need a pickup soon."

"What the hell happened?" said John.

"First, we got a group of contacts coming right at us…unbelievable speed…and then our radar just faded out from a sudden burst of jamming. Then they hit us…"

"What hit you? Did you get an ID on their vehicles?"

"Renegade power armors, and a Glaug pod that was more lethal than any Glaug I've ever seen. I didn't think those things could move that fast…!"

"Take it easy there. Did they have Hammerhead markings?"

"Oh, yeah…it's those punks, no doubt about it. I got a nice, up close look at that shark insignia…!"

"Right. Control, this is Blue 1."

"Go ahead."

"We've got a positive identification. It IS the Hammerheads. We also need a pickup for every member of Green Flight except Green 4."

"Roger that. A rescue craft will be on its way shortly."

"Blue 1 to Green 4. Is your communications system working?"

"Yeah, it's good for now." It was the voice of the new pilot who asked about the Hammerheads. "Man, you were right about those guys…they handed us our butts!! How I made it out is beyond me, sir."

"Don't worry, you're gonna be all right. Can you still fight?"

"I think I'm still in."

"Heh, not gonna let a couple bumps and bruises stop you, eh? Good man. Tommy?"

"Yeah?"

"Tommy, I want you to cover part of this area with Green 4. We're gonna guard this area in case the Hammerheads try to jump us again. Think you can handle it?"

"Sure, there's nothing I love more than guard duty. I live for the challenge of sitting around and waiting to be shot at."

John rolled his eyes. "Right, right. Blue 2, you're with me. Blue 3, stay with the pods themselves. Let's do this, people!"

Meanwhile, somewhere not extraordinarily far from Sweetwater…

"How's the operation going?"

He was a young man, perhaps mid-20's, wearing a black shirt, a leather jacket, and blue jeans. He was also wearing sunglasses. He sat with his feet propped up on a desk. On the other side was a man dressed in similar attire, but standing at attention.

"Some of our armors just jacked up a flight of U.N. Spacy fighters. They're getting ready for another run, before their pals can pull off a rescue."

"Heh, sweet! Is their anything else?"

"Uh…actually, yeah, sir…your…mother is calling on Line 2." Immediately, the man at the desk fell over.

"Aw, man…! I'll take it in here…!"

Back at the pods, Tommy and Green 4 were in GERWALK mode, their radars scanning away. Suddenly, both of their screens went silent.

"Green 4, this is Blue 4," said Tommy. "Is your radar out, too?"

"Sure is. A whole fleet could be headed our way and we wouldn't know it…just like last time."

"I'm calling this in. John, you reading me?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Both Green 4 and I have lost our radars. What's your status?"

"Everything's fine over…wait, picking up some contacts…damn! Our radars are now out, too. Get your butts back here; we're gonna need ya!"

"We're on our way, buddy! Green 4, follow me!"

"Right!" They transformed back to Fighter mode and turned right back around, in the direction of John's group. Once they arrived, the battle was already starting. Five Renegade power armors were attacking them.

"Glad you could join the party," said John. "Let's get 'em!"

Tommy targeted one of the Renegades with his thermal imaging sensors. He got the lock, and fired some of his hardpoint missiles at it. However, the armor was ready for the attack and quickly spun around, taking down every last one of Tommy's missiles with its chest-mounted high-speed laser cluster.

"Oh, no…!" said Tommy with a facefault. "This one's gonna be rough!"

"Don't let 'em scare you, Tommy!" cried John. "Renegades have a weak spot: the head! A quick burst of your gun pod will take it off along with the pilot's head!"

"Yeah, if I hit the damn thing!"

"Just believe!" At that point, John had to evade a few shots from a Renegade's forearm beam cannons. "Heck, even if you can't get the head, they can't shoot down your bullets!"

"Okay, I'm giving it a try!" Tommy closed in on the Renegade he was after. Pulling his craft to lead pursuit, he fired a burst of shells across the flight path of the armor. This time, the pilot of the armor was a bit slow on the evasion, and was hit a couple of times in the leg before pulling away from Tommy's Valkyrie.

"I hit him, but he's still ticking!"

"It'd be easier without that damned jamming," quipped Blue 2.

"Yeah, where is that coming from?" said John.

Tommy switched on his infrared detection system. "I'm gonna try and find out. Green 4, you think you can cover me?"

"I'll do my best."

"Thanks." Arming his medium-range missiles, Tommy scanned around the area. Eventually, he got an IR reflection. It was an old Regult Tactical Scout. "Got it!" He locked onto the Regult, and fired ALL of his medium-range missiles at it. Surprisingly, it managed to avoid all but one of the missiles, taking a shot in the leg.

"And now, the big finish!" Tommy switched back to short-range missiles, and fired a large swarm of them at the Regult. Needless to say, there was no escape this time around. The Regult was totaled instantly.

"Got him!" cried Tommy.

"Great job, man!" said John. "Radar's clear of jamming and back online. That's your first combat kill, Tommy!"

"Yeah…too bad it was just a scout pod."

Suddenly, Green 4 came in over the radio. "Blue 4, look out! That Renegade you hit got through!"

"What? Oh no!!" The Renegade streaked in, firing its forearm particle beams all the way. Tommy instinctively switched to GERWALK mode to dodge, then back to Fighter mode. He came in over the top.

"Die, you sucker, die!" He got a clean lock and fired his remaining hardpoint missiles. Again, the Renegade was able to spin around and get an anti-missile barrage off, but the previous damage lowered its agility and a couple of missiles found their mark, striking the hips and chest of the armor. Still, it was not dead. The armor faced Tommy's Valkyrie, and locked on with its own missiles.

"Oh, boy…!" As it fired, Tommy converted to Soldier mode, and quickly shot down the incoming missiles. "Whew…!" Tommy responded by firing a swarm of mini-missiles from his FAST packs. This time, the Renegade could not shoot down enough of them. It was torn to shreds.

"That's two, Tommy! Great job!" said John.

"Thanks…John, on your six!" A Renegade targeted John's Valkyrie with its chest autocannon.

"Oh, no you don't! John, being out of missiles himself, quickly transformed to Soldier mode, boosted out of the line of fire, spun around, and filled the armor full of 55mm shells. The armor was rocked by the impacts, and then exploded.

"Yeah! Who's the man?!"

"Great shooting, Lead!" said Tommy.

"Now for those other three…hey, where are they?" They all looked at their radar screens. Sure enough, the remaining three power armors were gone.

"Looks like they've bugged out," said Blue 2.

"Guess so. Well, it was a good fight. Tommy?"

"Yes?"

"You did good out here today, man. REAL good. That's two kills. I'll be waiting for the day you get three more, got it?"

Tommy blushed. "Yeah…got it…"

"You know…that Glaug pod never showed up this time," said Green 4. "Weird…"

"Guess we should be grateful, I suppose," said John. "All right, people, let's get back to the pods. And don't you think this is the end of it-the 'Heads don't take kindly to getting their butts kicked…!"