Tillerbee Jungle
Marduk
Draconis March
Federated Suns
September 17, 3028
Major Markus Chiraq guided his Wolverine cautiously through the tunnel. The floodlights mounted on the 'Mech allowed him to see adequately, but the tight confines made navigation difficult. The cavern was wide enough for two battlemechs to move abreast, but the low ceiling meant that they had to stoop over.
The angle sent strange sensations through Chiraq's neurohelmet, forcing him to concentrate on keeping the 'Mech upright, instead of allowing the nearly subconscious balance to which Chiraq was accustomed.
Part of an abandoned mining complex, the tunnel had gone unused for decades, if not centuries. Every so often along the corridors Chiraq came across broken machinery, some if it clearly the remnants of MiningMechs that had been stripped for all valuable equipment and left to decay naturally.
Just behind the Wolverine came a long line of hovercraft and other military vehicles, moving slowly through the tunnel. Behind them came the battlemechs of the training battalion, all of them carefully picking their way through the tunnel.
When Marduk had been settled, Norse BattleMechworks had been pleased to discover that the metals caches that they had initially discovered in the jungle floor ran for hundreds of kilometers. Slowly, over the centuries, mining of those materials had been expanded to fill the production needs of the plant outside of New Pontiac. As one vein was finished, another, radiating from the factory complex was tapped. Some time during the Succession Wars, official records delineating most of the mine system had been destroyed, leaving only the then active mines in adequately mapped.
Since that time, mining operations on Marduk had been somewhat more complicated. More than once, engineers had blasted into what they believed to be an untapped vein, only to find themselves in a long-since abandoned shaft.
When Markus had gone to Norse to retrieve the nearly completed Wolverines and Griffins, several of the mining engineers had stopped him, informing him of the mine system. In exchange for getting the engineers and their families safely off planet when the time came, the engineers had agreed to lead the training battalion into the mines. It was a measure that might allow the training battalion forces to hit the combine and fade away, collapsing the caverns behind them, if necessary. Though the mines were connected to Norse' plant, the Chiraq's forces had been forced to flee overland. There would have been no way to not leave signs of their passage through the plant, and if the plan Chiraq had hatched was to have any chance of success, the Combine forces had to remain as ignorant of the breadth of the mines as possible.
The engineers had been as good as their word. They had brought the unit to this abandoned section of the mine, and gotten them inside. It had been no mean feat, considering that the surface entrance had been designed for personnel to exit and leave. Blessedly, the tunnel inside had been big enough for the MiningMechs to operate, and therefore, the battlemechs.
And so it was that Pegasus base had been established while the engineers worked to enlarge the entrance.
Markus shuddered in his cockpit at the thought of just how close his command had been to getting caught in the open with nothing but a mountain at their backs. The recon lance that Leftenant Taylor's unit had dispatched two days ago was sure to have been discovered by now. Which meant that the Second Amphigean would begin to increase its searches in the Tillerbee to the south of New Pontiac, believing his forces to be located there.
Now they were heading Eastwards, moving along the arc of a circle around New Pontiac. One of the engineers had combined his work with an avid love for exploration, and had spent a good portion of his vacation time traveling these old tunnels via skimmer, looking around to see if he might rediscover some of the engineering secrets that had been lost over the centuries of the Succession Wars.
Chiraq smiled behind his neurohelmet. ~Lucky for us, the guy left markers down here. Otherwise, we wouldn't know where we were.~
The Wolverine stumbled slightly as he came around a corner in the mine, but he managed to steady it by resting the battlemech's left hand against the wall.
Reports had come in the day before that Amphigean patrols were being stepped up all around the countryside in an attempt to locate and root out the Federated Suns 'Mechs. Callahan's Crossing, a small city to the East of New Pontiac was reported to be the forward command base for the Eastern quadrant. The spies indicated that the 'Mechs were making their patrols mostly during the daylight, and returning to their base at night.
If they continued at this pace, and if the engineer's markers were correct, and if they could find some way to create a breach in the tunnels near Callahan's Crossing, they should arrive at about noon on the day after tomorrow. If everything went according to plan, they'd be able to strike the base while the patrols were out, hitting it hard. With luck, they'd draw some attention to themselves.
~If this plan is to work, we're going to need to draw them out of New Pontiac,~ Chiraq told himself.
Marduk
Draconis March
Federated Suns
September 17, 3028
Major Markus Chiraq guided his Wolverine cautiously through the tunnel. The floodlights mounted on the 'Mech allowed him to see adequately, but the tight confines made navigation difficult. The cavern was wide enough for two battlemechs to move abreast, but the low ceiling meant that they had to stoop over.
The angle sent strange sensations through Chiraq's neurohelmet, forcing him to concentrate on keeping the 'Mech upright, instead of allowing the nearly subconscious balance to which Chiraq was accustomed.
Part of an abandoned mining complex, the tunnel had gone unused for decades, if not centuries. Every so often along the corridors Chiraq came across broken machinery, some if it clearly the remnants of MiningMechs that had been stripped for all valuable equipment and left to decay naturally.
Just behind the Wolverine came a long line of hovercraft and other military vehicles, moving slowly through the tunnel. Behind them came the battlemechs of the training battalion, all of them carefully picking their way through the tunnel.
When Marduk had been settled, Norse BattleMechworks had been pleased to discover that the metals caches that they had initially discovered in the jungle floor ran for hundreds of kilometers. Slowly, over the centuries, mining of those materials had been expanded to fill the production needs of the plant outside of New Pontiac. As one vein was finished, another, radiating from the factory complex was tapped. Some time during the Succession Wars, official records delineating most of the mine system had been destroyed, leaving only the then active mines in adequately mapped.
Since that time, mining operations on Marduk had been somewhat more complicated. More than once, engineers had blasted into what they believed to be an untapped vein, only to find themselves in a long-since abandoned shaft.
When Markus had gone to Norse to retrieve the nearly completed Wolverines and Griffins, several of the mining engineers had stopped him, informing him of the mine system. In exchange for getting the engineers and their families safely off planet when the time came, the engineers had agreed to lead the training battalion into the mines. It was a measure that might allow the training battalion forces to hit the combine and fade away, collapsing the caverns behind them, if necessary. Though the mines were connected to Norse' plant, the Chiraq's forces had been forced to flee overland. There would have been no way to not leave signs of their passage through the plant, and if the plan Chiraq had hatched was to have any chance of success, the Combine forces had to remain as ignorant of the breadth of the mines as possible.
The engineers had been as good as their word. They had brought the unit to this abandoned section of the mine, and gotten them inside. It had been no mean feat, considering that the surface entrance had been designed for personnel to exit and leave. Blessedly, the tunnel inside had been big enough for the MiningMechs to operate, and therefore, the battlemechs.
And so it was that Pegasus base had been established while the engineers worked to enlarge the entrance.
Markus shuddered in his cockpit at the thought of just how close his command had been to getting caught in the open with nothing but a mountain at their backs. The recon lance that Leftenant Taylor's unit had dispatched two days ago was sure to have been discovered by now. Which meant that the Second Amphigean would begin to increase its searches in the Tillerbee to the south of New Pontiac, believing his forces to be located there.
Now they were heading Eastwards, moving along the arc of a circle around New Pontiac. One of the engineers had combined his work with an avid love for exploration, and had spent a good portion of his vacation time traveling these old tunnels via skimmer, looking around to see if he might rediscover some of the engineering secrets that had been lost over the centuries of the Succession Wars.
Chiraq smiled behind his neurohelmet. ~Lucky for us, the guy left markers down here. Otherwise, we wouldn't know where we were.~
The Wolverine stumbled slightly as he came around a corner in the mine, but he managed to steady it by resting the battlemech's left hand against the wall.
Reports had come in the day before that Amphigean patrols were being stepped up all around the countryside in an attempt to locate and root out the Federated Suns 'Mechs. Callahan's Crossing, a small city to the East of New Pontiac was reported to be the forward command base for the Eastern quadrant. The spies indicated that the 'Mechs were making their patrols mostly during the daylight, and returning to their base at night.
If they continued at this pace, and if the engineer's markers were correct, and if they could find some way to create a breach in the tunnels near Callahan's Crossing, they should arrive at about noon on the day after tomorrow. If everything went according to plan, they'd be able to strike the base while the patrols were out, hitting it hard. With luck, they'd draw some attention to themselves.
~If this plan is to work, we're going to need to draw them out of New Pontiac,~ Chiraq told himself.