FREEBIRTH FALCON SURATS! Scott thought. We are going to lose our chance at renewing our invasion against the Inner Sphere all because of that Falcon Khan, Marthe Pryde.
He stepped his Cauldron-Born back, weathering another shot from a Shadowcat and returning fire with his Gauss Rifle. The nickel-iron sphere ricocheted off the smaller mech, crushing over a ton of armor. Scott followed through with his 5-caliber autocannon, digging into the Shadowcat's innards. When he followed through with his Streak SRM2 and ER Medium Laser, the Shadowcat collapsed.
It was then that he received the order from their Khan Perigard Zalmon to retreat to the dropships and lift off planet. As one of the two survivors of his Star, Scott made his way back to the dropship, along with Natalie, his only remaining Starmate. He continued fighting his pursuers until he made it under the protection of his dropship's guns. The Vipers had been granted Hegira by Marthe Pryde. As a result, no honor was lost in their withdraw, but he still felt the terrible burden of defeat.
Only one cluster of warriors made it off planet, a mixed cluster of mechs and elementals. It would take a long time to rebuild from the destruction the Jade Falcons had wreaked, but it would be done.
After his performance in the battles against Jade Falcons and the loss of so many blood-named warriors, Scott was qualified to enter into a Trial of Bloodright to earn his blood-name. Scott was unable to find a sponser for his entry and therefore entered into the Grand Melee, his last chance at a blood-name. The Grand Melee was a free-for-all battle involving a dozen or more warriors. The last warrior standing would be entered into the competition to earn his blood-name.
Scott was entering the competition for the Blood-name Masters, and soon after would be entering in a Trial of Possession for the rank of Star Commander and command of a Star of mechs.
Chapter 1
First off was the Grand Melee. Scott and the other eleven mechs set up in the arena. In the middle of the dome was a crater. When the fighting began most of the mechs made their way toward the crater and commenced combat with their foes there. Scott and a few others stayed on the perimeter and fought there. Scott's first opponent was a Nova. Weighing in at 50 tons, the other mech was somewhat smaller than Scott's, but was still a very potent design.
Scott opened the fight with his ER Medium Laser, his gauss rifle, and LRMs, hoping that his long-range weapons would some significant damage. They did, but not as much as the six ER Medium Lasers from the Nova did, followed by the other six that that mech mounted. Scott had managed to close range and now hit with everything he had, LBX, Gauss Rifle, Medium Laser, Streak SRMs, and LRMs all hitting at once to savage the other mech.
The Nova took to the air on its jump jets after the devastating attack from Scott. As the 50-ton mech flew backward, Scott hit it with his extended-range medium laser and his ten LRMs. Then, as the mech hit the ground, Scott wrecked it with another gauss slug. The momentum of the backward jump combined with the kinetic force of the gauss rifle had the Nova on its back and out of the fight.
Scott turned and saw all the other mechs on the field still locked in battle. He spotted a Timberwolf about to drop a Summoner. As the Timberwolf finished its fight and turned to battle Scott, Scott pulled the trigger, and a well-aimed salvo of weapons crashed into to Timberwolf, crushing, melting, and destroying armor. The 75-ton enemy mech returned fire with its paired large lasers, paired medium lasers, and its two LRM20s. The lasers dug into the sides of Scott's torso, dealing significant damage. LRMs exploded over every section of his mech. Despite all the damage, Scott kept his mech upright and hit back at the Timberwolf. His gauss rifle punched through the torso armor on Timberwolf, impacting and destroying its gyro. The dead shell of the mech fell to the ground and Scott moved on.
His next target found him, when the two ER PPCs from an Adder found his center torso by the way of its advanced targeting computer. Scott fired back at the 35-ton mech with everything he had, and the brute force of the assault sent the Adder tumbling down into the crater. Seconds late, Scott heard a chain of explosions. Out of the smoke and dust came the only other surviving mech, a 60-ton Maddog. Scott was not fast enough on the trigger, and the Maddog fired first, sending a pair of gauss rifles into Scott's torso, breaking through his armor and crushing supports. Luckily the Maddog was severely damaged from the explosion and Scott's return volley dropped it.
The battle was over. Scott was now going to move on to face his first opponent in single combat on the way to earning his blood-name.
Chapter 2
Scott was half way to his starting point for the first fight on his way to his blood-name. His opponent was a competent mechwarrior from Zeta Galaxy, but Scott knew he could beat him. It was an even match tonnage wise, his 65-ton Cauldron-Born against his enemy's 65-ton Hellbringer. At range, Scott was outgunned, but at point blank, Scott's Cauldron-Born could blow the Hellbringer out of the water.
Once both mechs reached their starting points, the match began. The Hellbringer's pilot found a perch on a nearby hill and stood there daring Scott to come. Not wanting to disappoint, Scott moved in. Under fire from a pair of ER PPCs, Scott made his advance, reaching out with his gauss rifle and his LRM10 pack. His opponent got the better out of that exchanged and looked to finish the battle by closing in and unleashing his medium lasers and SRMs. Scott gladly took the move, and as the Hellbringer approached, Scott unleashed his deadly LB-5X autocannon, shredding armor all over the enemy mech.
Scott held the trigger down and allowed four more shells to burst free and savage the Hellbringer. After taking such heavy damage from the constant stream of autocannon fire, Scott quickly finished the battle with a well-placed gauss rifle slug.
With his first battle over, Scott returned to the mechbay and ordered his tech to repair his Cauldron Born. He also ordered his tech to change his Cauldron Born to its Alternate A configuration. He wanted an extra punch for his battle with his next opponent, and it would not hurt in the final round either. The Summoner he would have to face in his next battle would present somewhat of a challenge. The 70-ton mech was faster, more maneuverable, and mounted jump jets. Scott needed the advantages he could get, which were armor and firepower. The Cauldron Born was a mech with as much tolerance for damage as any mech he had ever seen, and in the Alternate A configuration, it boasted more firepower than many assault class mechs.
It was time, two days had passed since his duel with the Hellbringer, and it was time for the next battle. His mech was ready; the tech had done his job well. Now it was time for the Summoner to get a taste of what a Cauldron Born could do in the right hands. Both mechs headed out for their starting points. Scott knew this warrior as well, a warrior from Delta Galaxy. Scott knew that with his newly modified Cauldron-Born A, he would have a major advantage in firepower over his much more maneuverable 70-ton adversary.
As the sign was given to begin the fight, Scott pushed his throttle to full, hoping to close the gap and bring his heavy autocannon to bear. While he was still at range, Scott lashed out with his paired ER Large Lasers, searing a pair of holes into the enemy mech. In turn, the other warrior hit back with his ER PPC and LRM 15 pack. The damage was fairly even, but that would all change as Scott drew closer and fired his three ER Medium Lasers along with the Medium Pulse Laser his mech mounted. His opponent answered with a few shells from its deadly LB 10X Autocannon. But that was no match for the deadly shelling the Summoner was about to suffer.
The gap closed more, and Scott unleashed a full alpha strike, consisting of two ER Large Lasers, three ER Medium Lasers, one Medium Pulse Laser, a Flamer, and the most deadly of all, his Ultra AC20. Scott's heat went through the roof, but it was worth it. The Summoner flew backward spinning ten meters and skidded along the ground another five meters. Scott thought it was over, and it pretty much was. It took two minutes for the Summoner to regain its feet. By then, Scott's heat level had dropped back down. One burst from his autocannon put the enemy mech down for good. It has been a rather lopsided battle. I think I am going to keep my Cauldron Born in this configuration for good, Scott thought.
Chapter 3Scott's second battle was over and he was already planning for the final battle for his blood-name. He decided to stay with his present configuration on his Cauldron Born. He had seen its power and knew he would need it against his next opponent, who piloted an assault class mech. The warrior he was to face was a member of Alpha Galaxy and an exceptional fighter in his Gargoyle. The 80-ton mech mounted two Ultra AC5s, a pair of SRM6 launchers, and a single ER Medium Laser. Scott had him outgunned, thanks to the advanced technology his new Cauldron Born mounted. Scott's was one of the newest mech designs the clans had and it showed.
The only advantage the Gargoyle had was its armor, but not even that could bridge the gap. But Scott knew he could not underestimate this warrior. After all, he had made it to the finals same as Scott had, and he would likely be more prepared for Scott's weapons than the Summoner had been.
Two days later, the fight was about to begin. As before, Scott was on his way to his starting position. His tech had done well with the minor repairs that had been needed. He slowed his mech as he neared the starting point, and felt the smooth transition from fast to slow that his mech's gyro allowed, using Scott's own sense of balance to balance the mech.
As the battle began, Scott pushed his speed as fast as it went and slowed as he came into sensor range of the enemy mech. Scott's two ER Large Lasers gave him a gross range advantage over his adversary and he was not about to let the opportunity slip by. He sniped until the Gargoyle got close enough bring its own weapons to bear. At that point, Scott made an all out charge. As the Gargoyle fired its first salvo from its autocannons, Scott sidestepped his mech at running speed and continued charging. The evasive move dodged the autocannons, but the seeking SRMs that followed struck dead center, shaking Scott up.
Scott continued moving forward, unleashing everything he had at the enemy mech with the same devastating effect they had against the Summoner except for the fact that the pilot held his mech in balance and stayed standing. Better lucky than skilled, Scott thought. Scott kept on charging and stopped only meters from the assault mech, a bad move as it turned out. The large mech swung its arm using the whole momentum of 80-tons, combined with the mechs leg to knock and then trip Scott's Cauldron Born to the ground. As the assault mech brought its weapons to bear on his downed mech, Scott swung his autocannon arm into place and mashed down on the trigger so hard his hand began to bleed.
He held the trigger down, sending a stream of at least six autocannon shells into the huge mech. The second shell was enough for the big mech, but the other four kept it standing until the stream ended. The massive 80-ton assault mech collapsed to the ground. As Scott maneuvered his mech to its feet again, he managed a, "Well fought," over the open comm channel.
Chapter 4The newly blood-named Scott Masters now needed to engage a Star Commander in single combat and defeat him in order to win his rank of Star Commander. Scott has no doubt he could win this fight. The other warrior was old and past his prime. Although he was only 36 years old, in the clans, that was old. If they were going to renew their invasion against the Inner Sphere, they had no room for older warriors. Scott was going to get his rank and his command. He was not going to let an old veteran has-been keep him from his destiny.
It had been two weeks since his battle with the Gargoyle, and his mech was in top shape. Scott had had it repainted and he liked the new look. The preparations had been made, and his Trial of Possession would take place the following day. The Star Commander piloted a Rifleman IIC, an old mech to fit an old pilot. The 65-ton mech was a clan remake of an Inner Sphere design and it mounted four Large Pulse Lasers. Not a bad mech at range, but even at range, it could not compare with Scott's extended range lasers. Scott knew that even if he did not get the rank, the Steel Vipers would renew their invasion, and he knew that they would be better off with him in command of a star. Scott was not about to let his clan down.
Two days later, the two mechs were facing off. Scott has stayed with the Cauldron Born configuration that had won the blood-name for him. The battle began, and Scott pushed his throttle to its top speed, knowing that if he could close the gap, the Rifleman IIC would not have a chance against his superior firepower.
His opponent hit Scott at range, and Scott hit back with his Extended Range Lasers. As he closed, Scott unleashed his deadly autocannon, but he was too late as the Star Commander took to the air with his jump jets, avoiding the mech-killing weapon. Scott followed through with all his lasers, hitting the mech in mid-air. The Rifleman IIC rocked under the attack, and fell back to the ground, landing on its feet and firing its quad-pulse lasers.
Scott again fired, this time holding back only his flamer. The other numerous weapons struck the 65-ton adversary dead center, and finished the job that the previous laser attack had started, as the gutted heavy mech fell lifeless to the ground. Scott had won, and was now a Star Commander in command of a full Star of mechs. This also meant that he was now a member of Beta Galaxy. The invasion was going to begin soon and Scott was going to be a part of it.
Ever since their loss to the Jade Falcons, the Steel Vipers had been planning to renew their invasion when the treaty of Tukkayid expired. Until now, they had not decided how. The plan was to take Clan Wolf's invasion corridor away from them as the Steel Viper's was taken from them. Ever since the great Refusal War between the Wolves and Jade Falcons, the Wolves had had it coming to them, and Scott was happy that the Vipers would be the ones to finish them off.
The plan was simple; the Vipers would invade Clan Wolf's corridor and sweep across it, destroying any and every Wolf in their path. They would leave no room for escape, and would crush the Wolves once and for all. Scott and his Star would be a part of the first wave of the attack. The resistance would be fairly light, but it would still be some action. He had also heard that any units in the first wave that did not take heavy losses would also be fighting in the second wave.
The invasion was to begin in three weeks while all of the forces got into position.
Chapter 5Scott was finally there; he and his lance had landed and were en route to meet an enemy Star in combat. When the Stars met, Scott opened a channel with the enemy commander. "I propose a batchall. You and I shall fight in single combat to decide the victor of this battle. The winner claims the losers battlemechs as Isorla."
The response from the enemy commander to the challenge was, "Hahaha! You are a fool. I accept your challenge. You will not survive the day Freebirth!"
With that, the commanders of each star were about to engage in a one on one battle, not unlike the battles Scott had just fought for his blood-name and rank. Scott knew they were in a hurry to reach Tukkayid on time for the expiration of the treaty, and therefore had chosen to speed up this battle by only having two warriors fight. He felt he had an advantage because of his recent experiences in single combat.
His opponent, in a Crossbow, came at Scott at top speed, unleashing every weapon at its disposal. Scott weathered the damage, and returned fire with his own alpha strike. The damage was tremendous, but not enough to put the enemy mech down. Scott held the trigger down and let his Medium Pulse Laser and Autocannon fire numerous more times until the enemy mech fell.
Scott's Cauldron Born was a ruthless mech, and an unstoppable one it seemed, as the battle was over as quickly as it had begun. "No one crosses the path of the viper without tasting its venom," Scott called over the open comm-line for the other warriors to hear. My star will be fighting in the second wave now, Scott thought. We have not taken a single loss, and only one mech has been damaged.
The planet was under the Steel Vipers' control after only five hours on planet, and plans for the next wave were already beginning. At this pace, the Vipers would sweep through Wolf Clan space and be at Tukkayid on time. Scott received word that his Star would be in the upcoming wave, and that any unit from here to Tukkayid that was not completely destroyed in combat would move on, taking any needed replacements from crippled stars.
There was no time for organization. There was a tight deadline to be followed. In three months, the Tukkayid treaty would be up, and the Steel Vipers did not want to be left behind when the invasion began.
Chapter 6Two weeks passed, and the second wave had just taken all of its objectives. Resistance from Wolf forces was picking up as the neared the front lines. At this pace, not only would the Steel Vipers take the invasion corridor and make it to Tukkayid on time, but they would also absorb Clan Wolf into their own clan the same as four other clans had been absorbed in the past. This was not just about getting a part of the corridor for themselves; the Steel Vipers were going to take away the whole Wolf corridor, and with it, all the forces the Wolves had.
Scott's Star had already seen significant combat and even more significant success, having taken one Star in the first wave, and annihilated another two Stars completely in the second wave. Scott himself had claimed a total of five kills in the affair, including the commander of the star in the first wave.
Scott had received word that his Star would also be present in the third wave, and that Scott was up for another Trial of Possession. He would be testing for the rank of Star Captain and command of a Trinary of mechs.
The third wave had struck, and Scott again found himself locked into another single combat battle to decide the outcome of the battle. Although, this time, he was not the one that had proposed it. It had been proposed by an enemy Star Colonel. He apparently was confident of himself and his mech, because he put his whole Cluster on the line against Scott's Star in just one one on one battle.
Scott could understand the Star Colonel's confidence however. The Star Colonel piloted a Supernova, a deadly 90-ton assault mech that boasted six ER Large Lasers as its only armament. His Cauldron Born was about an even match in a point blank firefight, but the Supernova's long-range, jump jets, and heavy assault mech armor gave it a gross advantage. Fortunately, the battle was going to begin at point blank, eliminating one of the enemy mech's advantages.
The fight began and cut into Scott's thoughts. Scott weathered a blow from all six of his opponent's lasers, returning fire with only his Autocannon. Scott quickly emptied his entire ammo bin, having unleashed all twenty of the shells. The damage was tremendous, but if it had not been for the Supernova's attack on him, Scott would not have downed the assault mech.
The barrage of laser fire he thrown off Scott's aim, and the autocannon shells had dug into the leg of the other mech. They had worked their way up the leg of the mech until the last two shells dug into the vulnerable hip actuator, freezing the join and leaving it useless. The weight was too much for the dead limb and the mech collapsed to the ground. Within hours, the rest of the planet had been secured. The third wave had been a success. Already, Scott was having his star's mechs repaired and planning for the forth wave.
Chapter 7"We need help, the Vipers are coming in too fast, too determined, and too strong. My people cannot stop them."
"Calm down Khan Ward. I can't help you. All my forces are tied up fighting my wretched brother, and even if I could help you, I wouldn't." Katrina Steiner-Davion was not about to expose her ties with the Khan of Clan Wolf to the public. Not with Victor breathing down her neck. That would only serve to ruin her position even more.
"You have to help us. We had an agreement. We are going to be completely destroyed soon without reinforcements."
"To my knowledge, our agreement didn't involve me supplying you with reinforcements to fight another clan. And even if it did, you know as well as I do that I do not have the troops available to help you."
"But Archon, we need reinforcements. We are losing this battle and I do not see it turning around in the future."
"Well Vlad," Katrina said, moving to a first name basis to emphasize her position of power over him. "That would be your problem to deal with as much as my brother is my problem to deal with." And such a large problem he is, she thought to herself.
"I understand your position, and I am sure I would do the same thing if our places were reversed. Fortunately for you, they are not. You have seven regiments to guard the planet you are sitting on right now, while all my forces are being eaten away rapidly by the Vipers. I fear defeat is imminent. Remember this opportunity you had when the treaty of Tukkayid expires and the Vipers attack."
"Do you honestly believe they will attack? My brother defeated them at Strana Mechty and there they signed a treaty to end the fighting permanently."
"Do you honestly believe they will honor that treaty, a treaty signed by a group of spheroids. I was also going to attack when the treaty expired, but I was going to leave your territory out of my invasion route. I doubt the Vipers will go out of their way to get around you." Those were Khan Vlad Ward's parting words as he severed the same-time connection between their two worlds.
Chapter 8Scott found himself battling a point of Elementals, the five armored men were coming at him again with their armor piercing claws, lasers, machine guns, and SRMs. Scott unleashed a trio of shots from his autocannon. One of the shells tore into an Elemental, instantly crushing the fragile body inside. Scott unleashed his Machine Guns and medium pulse laser on the other Elementals, shredding the thin armor on each of them, but downing none of them.
Scott stopped firing the pulse laser and continued firing the paired machine guns. In a few more seconds, they had tore into and mutilated the bodies or two more Elementals. The other two Elementals had made it close enough to Scott and took to the air in an attempt to cling to Scott's mech and dig their claws into its armored hide.
Scott swung his mechs arm, and caught one of the Elementals on its side, sending it flying and instantly killing the Elemental. The other Elemental landed on Scott's cockpit. The enemy troop raised its deadly claw and prepared the strike directly through the thin cockpit armor.
Scott jostled his control stick sending a massive shudder through the mech and throwing the elemental off balance. It delayed its strike in order to hang on, but Scott popped the cockpit hatch open throwing the Elemental off. Without closing the hatch, Scott placed his foot over the Elemental, which was already getting up and stepped down. With his fight over, Scott took the time to close his cockpit before observing the rest of the battle waiting for one of the other battles to end.
The Wolves had come at his Star with a full binary of elementals, fifty of the armored men. Another point of Elementals came at Scott almost immediately. Not wanting to risk another close call like the last time, Scott hit them with a full alpha strike while they were still in their tight formation. When the smoke cleared, all that remained were ashes and twisted bodies.
Scott saw that the rest of his Star was not faring as well against the Elementals, but they were surviving. All that remained of the two stars of Elementals was two points. In a desperation move, all ten of the Elementals charged on of Scott's starmates and attacked. It was at that moment that the code of Zellbriggen had been broken by the Wolves, and the Vipers were now free to gang up on the two points without any loss of honor. The five mechs demolished the ten Elementals in seconds. The Wolves were doomed and they knew it. Their breaking the law of Zellbriggen told everyone in Scott's lance that the Wolves were desperate.
Chapter 9The Steel Vipers were preparing to launch their second to last wave. It could be thought of as the last wave, because the final wave only had one target, Khan Vlad Ward's planet. Before the wave was launched though, in the stages of preparation, Scott's Trial of Possession was to take place.
Scott had been lined up to face a Star Captain in the present invasion, and if he won, he and his trinary would be guaranteed a spot when the invasion of the Inner Sphere, and ultimately, Terra, began. The Star Captain would not be an easy adversary though, for he piloted a Timberwolf, one of the more deadly clan mechs.
Scott ordered his tech to outfit his Cauldron Born with its Alternate B configuration. Although the heat would be greater, Scott would get much more longevity on the battlefield. He would not have to worry about running out of ammo with the two ER PPCs, the two Large Pulse Lasers, and the paired Medium Pulse Lasers that the Cauldron Born mounted in that layout. The use of that configuration would also lend to Scott's long-range firepower, which he would need against the Timberwolf.
The time of the Trial finally arrived, and Scott's mech was ready as usual. As Scott walked into the mechbay, his tech gave the mech on last look and then told Scott it was ready to go. Scott climbed the ladder into his cockpit, then pulled up the ladder and secured it in its storage case. He then sat down in his command couch, strapping himself in, and plugging in his coolant vest. He closed the cockpit and then began the power up sequence.
The computer's mildly feminine voice then demanded voice identification. "Star Commander Scott Masters." Scott said.
"Voice authorization accepted."
The Computer then demanded a code phrase. Since the voice could be simulated, all mechs required a code phrase known only to the pilot, in this case, Scott. "Honor above all else."
At that moment, Scott felt his mech come to life under him. The reactor powered up and his weapons and radar came online. Scott pushed up his throttle to 20 KPH and moved out of the mechbay. When he had cleared the doors, Scott pushed his Cauldron Born up to full speed and lumbered out to the field of battle.
Ten minutes later, Scott was in position and the battle began. The two mechs were much closer than his previous trials, and Scott immediately triggered both his ER PPCs, digging a pair of deep holes into the torso of the Timberwolf. Scott pushed his throttle up to full speed, avoiding the enemy mech's attack. All four of the extended range lasers scorched the air behind Scott as he closed with the other pilot.
Before Scott could get within range of his pulse lasers, the Timberwolf unleashed a full salvo of forty LRMs at him. Scott quickly switched his AMS on and the system automatically shot down as many missiles as it could. Still, thirty of the missiles got through, but only half of them hit. The damage was tremendous nonetheless, and Scott was barely able to keep his mech upright. In an effort to keep his mech upright, he had pushed his mech forward to counter the backward momentum of the missile impacts.
He had also put himself in range of his pulse lasers. At that moment, Scott fired his paired Large Pulse Lasers and Medium Pulse Lasers, digging deeper into the enemy mech. The melting armor bubbled and boiled off of the mech. Steam rose off the damage clan mechs. Before the pilot could get his Timberwolf under control, Scott unleashed his ER PPCs for a second time, again savaging the Timberwolf's torso. But this time, Scott's weapon fire went deeper, digging into the mech's vulnerable internal structure. Scott fired the pulse lasers again, sending his heat levels into the red.
The only thing keeping him conscious now was his coolant vest, but the heat was worth it. The pulse lasers crushed numerous supports and destroyed the gyro on their path to the reactor. The reactor shielding was damaged, but not destroyed. Nevertheless, the gyroscope was gone and the Timberwolf was on its back for good. Scott had passed yet another test on his way up through the ranks.
Chapter 10The fighting had been brutal. Instead of moving on the Clan Wolf defenses, the Star Colonel commanding Scott's trinary had dropped Scott's men and another trinary directly on top of the defenders, creating a distraction allowing the other three trinaries to move in. Scott had never seen so much death and destruction in one place.
After all the battling, two Steel Viper trinaries remained against a single binary of Wolf warriors. Scott was still locked in battle. His bruised and battered Cauldron Born was in the worst shape he had ever seen it in, but it was still operational. It still had weapons and he intended to use them to defend himself against this final attacker. The other mech had also suffered a great amount of battle damage, but not to the same extent as Scott.
Scott's Cauldron Born had lost an arm, a leg actuator, hip actuator, and his torso had been breached on the left side. Scott's mech still mounted a single ER PPC, along with one of his Large Pulse lasers and one of his medium pulse lasers.
The other mech, a Stormcrow, was in almost as bad a shape. It has lost both arms, and sustained slight damage to the torso, leaving it with three ER Medium Lasers. But the smaller mech's legs and hips were undamaged, and therefore, the 55-ton Stormcrow was still very mobile. The enemy pilot fired first, with all of its weapons. The lasers mangled what was left of Scott's torso armor, but did nothing more.
Scott returned fire with everything he had. The pulse lasers stitched a long scar across the torso of the mech. The ER PPC found a hole in the torso armor and flew in. A second later, a thick liquid began to ooze from the Stormcrow. The ER PPC had found a heatsink. No doubt the enemy mech pilot was feeling the results of the damage in his heat levels. The Stormcrow began to overheat, and as a result, Scott got the next shot as well. The pulse lasers dug into the hole in the enemy mech's torso, mangling myomer muscles. The ER PPC followed the path of the lasers, but struck the fusion reactor, breaching the armor and sending the mech up in a ball of flames. That's the end of that pilot, and the end of the battle for this planet, Scott thought.
Chapter 11The sweep through Wolf occupied territory had been successful. Now, nearly all the Galaxies of the Steel Vipers were converging on one last target, Khan Vlad Ward. Scott and his trinary had arrived in system before most of the other Steel Viper units, but now they had all arrived, and the attack was to begin.
The travel toward the planet took the better part of four days aboard the dropship. The dropship made its landing on the planets surface, and Scott's trinary walked down the ramp and met up with the rest of Theta Galaxy. The galaxy was to join up with the Khan's personal trinary and it was their job to eliminate the Wolf Keshik. The first to engage the wolves was a Star Commander who had decided he wanted to fight Khan Vlad first. The Star Commander in his Warhawk did have a tonnage advantage over the Khan's Timberwolf, but the Star Commander himself could not dream of matching a Khans skill in the cockpit.
The Star Commander hit first with all four of his ER PPCs, following up with his paired LRM10 racks. In his futile effort to down the Khan of the Wolves, the Star Commander fired all four ER PPCs again. The reckless warrior payed the price for his carelessness as his mech overheated. The shielding of his reactor gave out, and the backup shields fell into place, leaving the mech powered down and useless.
The Khan had not even fired a shot and had won that fight. Scott was in no hurry to fight the Khan of the Wolves, and engaged another member of the Wolf Keshik, a Summoner. Scott hit it wit his pulse lasers, digging deep into the mechs right arm. He followed up with his twin ER PPCs. One of the streaks of blue lightning also hit the right arm, tearing it off, and with it, the Summoner's ER PPC. The other ER PPC impacted the hip of the 70-ton foe, freezing the joint, and leaving the mech motionless.
Another round of pulse lasers tore into the mech's torso before the enemy pilot got off his first shot. The Summoner hit with its remaining firepower, its LB-10X Autocannon and its LRM15 rack. The autocannon stitched a long line of damage all the way up Scott's torso, while the LRMs were chewed up by Scott's AMS system.
Scott returned fire with another pair of charged particle bursts. The first ER PPC struck the enemy mech's torso, ripping up armor. But the final blow came with the second ER PPC, which impacted the cockpit of the Summoner. The space that had used to contain a pilot and his controls was now just an empty gap in the top of the mech. The omni-mech fell lifeless to the ground.
Before Scott could find another target, his next opponent found him. Khan Vlad open up on Scott with his ER Large Lasers and all forty of his LRMs. Scott switched on his AMS, which ate up fifteen of the warheads before they could reach his Cauldron Born, but the other twenty-five all hit, as did the large lasers. Scott heard numerous beeping sounds demanding attention, and watched as just about every warning light in existence began to blink. Scott had lost over four tons of armor in the attack, and one of the missiles had cracked his gyro casing.
Scott found his mech on its back, but maneuvered it back to its feet. Scott fired his ER PPCs into the center of the Timberwolf, devouring armor. Scott followed up with his pulse lasers. One of Scott's pulse lasers found a flaw in the armor of the 75-ton enemy mech, and dug a deep hole into it. Still, the damage was nothing compared to Vlad Ward's attack. As his pulse lasers recycled, Scott fired again, pounding his way through the last of the heavy mech's torso armor.
But brute force was not going to work, as Khan Ward reached out with his ER Medium Lasers, medium pulse laser, and ER Large Lasers. Already brutalized after the Khan's first attack, the Cauldron Born's internal structure took the brunt of this attack, but Scott kept going. He fired his ER PPCs again, finding one of the Timberwolf's heatsinks, and spilling coolant all over the ground.
That should limit his firepower, Scott thought. He was right, but the Cauldron Born had already taken an extreme amount of damage, and when Khan Ward unleashed another salvo of forty long-range missiles, Scott knew his mech would not leave this battlefield under its own power. Still, Scott kept fighting, switching on his AMS in a useless attempt to remain in the battle. Knowing the LRMs would put him down for good, Scott entertained his last option, firing every weapon at his disposal.
The pulse lasers struck first, eating up what little armor there was left across the entire Timberwolf's body, and digging deeper through the torso. One of the Large Pulse Lasers also tore off the Timberwolf's left arm, leaving the mech without an ER Large and Medium Laser. The ER PPC's struck next. One of the weapons unleashed its charged particles on the gyroscope with devastating effects.
The second ER PPC struck at one of the box-shaped missile launchers over the Timberwolf's right torso. The particle cannon dug straight through the armor, and found the ammo bin. One by one, the missile rounds began to cook off. The only thing that saved the mech from complete destruction was its CASE. The piece of equipment diverted the explosions out of the mech instead of into it. Still, the Timberwolf's gyro was destroyed, and the mech fell back onto the ground.
Then Vlad Ward's missiles hit' finding anything and everything they could and destroying it. Scott knew that his tech would have a lot to do after this battle. That was Scott's last thought before two of the missiles impacted his cockpit, the first cracking the armor, and the second punching halfway through.
Chapter 12Scott woke up a week later with his Commanding officer, a Star Colonel Ryan Breen standing over him along with a pair of doctors. Scott tried to sit up and face his commanding officer, but he could not gather the strength. Despite his weakness, he could still talk. "What happened?"
"You won." The Star Colonel told him.
"My Cauldron Born?" Scott asked, concerned for the only mech he had ever known.
"Mostly repaired."
"How bad is it?" Scott asked, realizing that he could not feel his right arm.
"Better than could be expected." One of the doctors said, stepping forward. "You suffered minor burns and cuts across most of your body, as well as a severe concussion."
"If that is all, then why can I not feel my arm!" Scott demanded.
"That is not all." The doctor replied. "Your right arm was severely wounded in the explosion, and many of your muscles were torn to the point that they could not be used again, but we have replaced them with artificial muscles."
Scott was overcome with a mild joy at those words. His arm would now be twice as strong as before, if not stronger. But what really made him happy was the fact that he would be able to pilot a mech again. Because Scott was blood-named and with much honor earned, his arm had been repaired. The artificial muscles were of the same design as those used in mechs and elemental suits, only in much smaller quantity. He knew if he was critically injured in this way again, he would not be given the same treatment.
Depending on the warrior's codex, his history, the first critical injury was treated. But if after that, the warrior was wounded again, if was viewed by the clan as a bad omen, and the warrior was not given the same reconstructive treatment. The Star Colonel had remained, which meant that he was not finished yet.
"Is there something else, Star Colonel?"
"Yes. Khan Zalmon has received word of you battle with Khan Ward, and your performance. He has decreed that you are to participate in a trial of possession for the rank of Star Colonel after our attack on Tukkayid is finished." Scott's heard jumped at the opportunity to earn even more honor. He would not fail. He could not fail. He had just bested the Khan of the Wolves.
Chapter 13Scott had ordered his tech to have his Cauldron Born changed back into its Alternate A configuration. Scott may not get the same kind of longevity, but when he was out of ammo, he would still have a large and deadly array of lasers. Plus, he could use the devastating power of his Ultra AC20 in a tight jam. The mech was ready by the time they arrived at Tukkayid, and Scott again found himself on the field of battle. This time though, it was against the Spheroids.
Com Star had defended this world from the clans once before, but Scott was not about to let that happen again. It was time to strike at the Inner Sphere and take Terra once and for all.
Scott found himself in the middle of a fight with an Inner Sphere Crab. The other mech was hitting Scott with a moderate array of large, medium, and small lasers. Scott was hitting back much harder, with his pair of ER Large Lasers, trio of ER Medium Lasers, and his Medium Pulse Laser. The Crab did not last long against the onslaught from the superior clan mech's superior clan weaponry.
Only seconds later, Scott found himself against an Inner Sphere assault clan Devastator. The 100-ton assault mech attacked with its paired PPCs and two gauss rifles. Half the shots missed, and the ones that hit did minimal damage. Scott knew that even if it were an Inner Sphere mech, with weapons like that, it would not take long to do some significant damage. In light of that fact, Scott unleashed a deadly alpha strike on the larger adversary.
The array of extended range lasers seared their way through three tons of armor. The flamer did a minimal amount of damage, but drove the Devastator's heat even higher. The pulse laser followed the path of the other lasers, and penetrated the armor of the giant. The Autocannon took the same road of destruction right through the mechs gut, and came out the other side of the assault mech.
Scott looked around and saw that the rest of his trinary had finished off the remaining Inner Sphere mechs are this Area of Operations. His primary objective was complete. Now it was time to move to his secondary Target. The Inner Sphere mech factory.
Angel of Death {CSV}