Correl Peninsular
Kentares IV
3rd October 3063
Lightning flashed across the sky as Radcliffe paced his Catapult around Striker lance's encampment. The following grumble of thunder sent slight tremors passing through his Mech. The dull pattering of the rain against his forward viewscreen was about to drive him out of his mind, but he had no choice but to stay on watch duty until it was Eric's turn. He busied himself by constantly toggling his radar active and passive. In passive mode, his radar was pretty useless, with all the rain and lightning. In active mode, he was receiving quite a number of fake signatures too, thanks to the lightning, so he had to switch his radar to another mode temporarily to reset it.
Then, for a moment he picked up a strong signal on his active sensors on a hill overlooking the encampment. Before the computer could identify it, or discount it if it was a fake signature, lightning flashed nearby and scrambled his sensors. After resetting the radar, Radcliffe had lost the signal. He shook his head. It was already 3063, more than 30 centuries of human progress, and yet he had radar which was useless in bad weather! He shrugged and ignored the signal, carrying on with his patrol.
"Sir, we got hit by an active sensor just now. Must be from that Catapult. Shall we pull back now?"
Second Lieutenant Paul Logans put away his binoculars and climbed back into his vehicle to sit next to his driver. Private Rebecca Furwood was very concerned. Their Swiftwind was unarmed and therefore seldom targeted by any armed forces, but they weren't sure of the moral alignment of the mercenaries. Better to pull back. Paul nodded and Rebecca quickly floored the accelerator to get their vehicle out of the area. He sat back and plotted the location of the mercenaries' base on a map. Rebecca glanced over for a while, still wrestling with the controls of the bucking Swiftwind. Even a native of Kentares had problems navigating the rough terrain in such weather.
"Lieutenant, are we going to attack their base or maybe reveal their location to the Dresaris?"
"Neither, my dear. Yet. If Sonntag was here, perhaps I would know which course of action to take. However this is a good bargaining tool, since you mentioned it. The Dresaris would be happy to receive information on the Legion's base, and we could bargain for Sonntag's release." He rubbed his chin, thinking about it a while more. Ever since Karl Sonntag had been `arrested' by Dresari, he had been leading this sub-faction of the KFA, based in an abandoned village. It was the remaining KFA leaders' ideas that they separate their forces to avoid being overwhelmed and captured in one fell swoop. He wondered if the leaders would agree to sacrifice these mercenaries for Karl. Then he thought about the glory of being the one to rescue Karl, all without firing a shot. He grinned. He might as well carry it out quietly first.
"I think I will attempt to contact Dresari and see if they are game to this offer."
Correl Peninsular
Kentares IV
4th October 3063
Eric frowned angrily at the tech sergeant. The man was almost intimidated by Eric's scowl, but tried his best to stand stock still while reporting to the lance leader.
"All Mech stores are fine, but we lost a lot of our food supplies when the rain flooded our supply tent. We managed to salvage quite a number of food crates but most of our liquid stores have been destroyed." Which was another way of saying that they were out of water.
Standing behind him, Mandrill laid a hand on Eric's shoulder. "Take it easy on Kevin, Eric. We prepared for all eventualities but not a flash-flood."
Eric felt the tension rush out of his body upon hearing her voice and feeling her reassuring hand on his shoulder. Damn, and he had so wanted to let out his frustration on the sergeant. Looks like Mandrill saved Kevin's butt this time around. He turned on the chair he was sitting on to look back at Mandrill.
"All right, then where do we find our supplies?"
"I'll speak to one of my contacts around here. Maybe that arms dealer can throw in some water for us, for a few C-Bills. Maybe not, but I can try to locate supplies from other sources."
Eric shrugged. He dismissed the sergeant, leaving him and Mandrill alone in the tent.
"About this contact of yours. Couldn't you have got some autocannon reloads from him previously? I could have used a pristine Axeman you know." He felt an edge creep into his voice. The tension of this guerrilla war was getting to him. Mandrill must have noticed it too, for she replied with an air of formality, as if he was telling her off as a superior. Worse still, he was sitting down while she was still standing up.
"I'm sorry sir, but I felt it wasn't within our operational parameters to promote unnecessary contact with non-Legion personnel who could be, or subverted to, the enemy."
Eric sighed and shook his head. He tried to soften his tone, though his pride kept him from apologising over his tone.
"Come on, Mandrill. I'm sure you know these arm dealers enough to know whether or not they would turn to the Dresaris or the Fed Comm. rebels."
"Sir, as far as the Legion tells me, they are Lyrans who have sworn allegiance to Princess Katrina. But this information was obtained from our Lyran employers, and hence not possibly authenticated by our intelligence personnel. Not with the short time frame which we have been given for initiating this contract."
Mandrill remained aloof. Looks like she felt pretty miffed at being told off on the Axeman. Eric felt a ripple of anger pass through him for her childish way of reacting this way to his comments.
"All right, then this is an order. Contact that arms dealer. Request water supplies and autocannon reloads, whatever reloads which we do not have!"
"And ignore all security concerns?" Mandrill's retort had a tinge of disbelief in it.
"Okay, fine! Set the meeting place at the destroyed air base. I'll take out two Mechs to be a security detail for the Prime Movers which will take the supplies. Enough?" He inadvertently raised his voice while replying.
Mandrill eyed him with the flames of anger burning in it. Suddenly he felt so miserable. When she replied, it cut through him.
"Affirmative, sir."
Then she left him sitting alone in the tent.
Correl Peninsular
Kentares IV
4th October 3063
Apparently Mandrill proved her efficiency again by arranging for the rendezvous with the black market arms dealer within the same day itself. Or it could have been that she wanted to spite Eric by quickly finishing his orders and then ignoring him for the rest of the time. It didn't sound logical, but Eric still felt that way.
Three Prime Movers, almost all they got, a Swiftwind scout and two Bulldogs plus his Mech and Isabel's Bushwhacker were sent on this supply run. Mandrill refused to go along, dictating the need for a higher ranking officer to remain on site to supervise any actions. What actions she didn't want to specify, but Eric knew better than to bother to persuade her to go along. He couldn't order her to do it, not without raising her ire even further. And he still couldn't apologise to her. He just wasn't used to dealing with her type yet.
"Ready to move on your mark, sir."
Isabel's voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He quickly activated his transmitter, mumbling a quick apology.
"Sorry. Let's move, people!"
Isabel jogged her Mech along at a leisurely pace of 30 km/h. The Swiftwind rode in just ahead of her, using its sensors to seek out enemy contacts. Behind him the 3 Prime Movers moved in a column and the two Bulldogs guarded on their left and right flanks, while Eric brought up the rear. He gave one last look at the base, thinking about Mandrill, and sighed deeply.
Correl Peninsular
Kentares IV
4th October 3063
"Thank you for your business, friend. You got a good deal out of me, yes?"
Eric felt a headache coming on from dealing with this Lyran with a heavy accent. What accent he wasn't sure, but the man definitely needed to work on his spoken English. But the man was nice, a far cry from the suspicions Eric harboured against Lyran merchants. After Eric had procured quite a lot of ammunition supplies, the arms dealer just offered the water supplies for free. They almost filled a whole Prime Mover with the water supplies and were preparing to leave the site of the destroyed Dresari air base.
"Yeah, thanks a lot …. friend. Especially for the water."
The large man gave a heavy pat on Eric's back, almost hurting him, but Eric smiled back.
"No problem! Remember Gustaf's good help next time, yes? The good Gustaf, helping his customers whenever he can!" The man gave a loud, uproarious laugh. Eric barely joined in, his mind still on how to apologise to Mandrill.
Eric watched as the Prime Mover crews prepared their vehicles for moving out. From his Mech about 10 metres up in the air, the men seemed much smaller. Insignificant, he almost felt like saying. But he knew he couldn't survive without them. Without their help, he might not have his Ryoken in such good condition now.
The arms dealer had left with his own men much earlier, and now his men were almost done. Isabel was checking the area for any possible hostile contacts, along with the Swiftwind scout vehicle. So far there hadn't been any surveillance systems found. Maybe the Dresaris didn't expect them to return to this spot again. In whichever case, that sat well with Eric. He didn't really have the stomach for a fight today.
Too bad he wouldn't have a choice.
The Swiftwind scout crew leader radioed in. "Striker One, we're picking up a distress call two klicks southwest of the airfield. It appears to be rebel forces engaged with Dresari Mechs in what should be an abandoned village. Forwarding."
Moments later, a static-filled transmission came in. "Any receiving station, Logans is down, repeat, Logans is down! Dresari ambush at Calypso station! Request all units reinforce Calypso!"
Eric rolled his eyes upwards. Just his luck.
The Swiftwind continued. "I'm uploading transmission origin as nav Gamma. It's your call, sir."
Isabel suddenly retorted with "What are we, a charitable relief institution all the sudden? Are we going in, sir?"
He hesitated, unsure whether this was a diversionary attack for his forces. If a Mech force were to descend on the air base now, the remaining Bulldogs would be overwhelmed in seconds.
"Sir, if you don't mind me saying, I think that it's not our fight, but perhaps we shouldn't pass the opportunity to weaken Dresari further in the region," the Swiftwind officer cut in.
Then Eric had an idea, albeit a simple one. "Number of hostile forces attacking the rebels?" he asked the officer.
"Shouldn't be a lot, sir. Otherwise the rebels would've been routed by now. I received the signal from a Bushwhacker. My sensors paint two enemy Mechs. But we can't be sure; there could be ECM-equipped Mechs."
Eric switched channels to Isabel. "Striker Two, remain here until the convoy has finished loading and have moved out of this area. Then join me. I'm going in first."
"Are you sure, sir? It could be a trap."
"It's okay. I can handle myself. Watch out for yourself. This could be a diversion."
"Roger."
Eric pushed his throttle to the maximum and ran towards nav Gamma.
He ran down a canyon just south of the base, almost tripping his Mech. He cursed himself for forgetting that he was using a chicken-legged Mech, which weren't really adept at climbing or descending hills. He took his time climbing the slightly inclined walls on the opposite side of the canyon, all the time checking his sensors for enemies. Behind him, Isabel reported leaving the area with the convoy, and would join him as soon as she could.
Then his sensors blared a warning at him. It painted a contact in front of him, amongst several ruined buildings and scorched tarmac. 'That must be the village', Eric thought. His radar also detected two neutral contacts on his IFF, a Bushwhacker and a Chimera. The enemy he picked up was an Uziel, with his back to him. He saw its twin PPC beams flash out at one of the two neutrals, hidden from his view. Then the Mech ignited its jump jets just in time to avoid some counter fire, at the same time moving out of his view as well.
Eric's sensors showed that the two neutral Mechs were sticking to each other, probably due to some bad damage. However it made them prone to sniping attacks by the agile Uziel, which could snipe at them with its PPCs and pull out before being hit. Not exactly a good tactic on the rebel's side. He still couldn't see the last Mech, but he couldn't be bothered by it for now. The two rebel Mechs needed some help. He spotted the smoking wreck of an Enforcer lying near the other end of the village, but wasn't sure if it was a rebel or a Dresari Mech.
Eric immediately started to pursue the Uziel. His LRM advantage would be negated in such close quarters but his lasers could do some telling damage anyway. He caught the Uziel with his back turned to him, probably trying to try for a quick run to the other side of the building and snipe at the neutrals again. He was so tempted to burn through the weak rear armour, but instead decided on the spur of the moment to target the equally weak legs. Aiming carefully at the left leg joint, he triggered all his lasers. The intense beams of two large lasers instantly welded the leg joint into an unmovable mass. His two medium lasers missed, however, but the barrage was enough to cause the Uziel to topple face-down to the ground, scraping off a few chunks of armour as it grated along the rough tarmac. The enemy pilot was quite adept, though, and managed to quickly bring his Mech up. Apparently the impact of the fall hadn't banged up the pilot's head too much yet, as he attempted to fire one PPC in an awkward shot at Eric, which Eric easily evaded. But the real purpose of the Uziel's pilot was to distract Eric long enough to jump out of harm's way into a side alley. At other times, Eric might have let the Uziel go, since there could have been another enemy Mech hiding nearby the Uziel.
This time, he was out for blood.
He charged after the Uziel, finding it facing him but desperately trying to stand properly with its fused leg joint. Unprepared for Eric's sudden appearance, the enemy pilot fired off a hasty full salvo which only smashed more of the ruins around it. SRMs from the Mech peppered Eric's ride a little, but hardly enough hit to even knock him around. Or knock off Eric's targeting, for the matter. Four laser beams fried off more armour on the Uziel's chest, but the resultant wave of heat made Eric choke a little. He didn't pull back, however. He carried on charging at the Uziel and delivered a strong kick at its legs.
Already imbalanced by a bad leg actuator and hit by a barrage of lasers in the chest, the Mech just couldn't stay up. It crashed with its back down. This time the enemy pilot must have almost lost consciousness, but he still tried to place a badly-aimed PPC shot at Eric's torso. It hit his left torso instead, ruining Eric's aim. But Eric didn't have to aim his weapons any further. He angrily placed a foot over the cockpit of the enemy Mech. Already damaged during its initial fall; it wouldn't have been able to stand the weight of the Ryoken's foot.
Just then, Eric felt his whole Mech shudder from the pounding it took from behind. Without both his feet to balance his Mech, he toppled over the prone Uziel but managed to fall sideways, scraping chunks of armour from his left arm, to rest with his back against a ruined wall.
"Goddamnit!!" Eric cursed vehemently. He checked his sensors and found an enemy Bushwhacker standing behind him, recycling its weapons as it prepared to loose off another alpha strike on him. It stood just a few metres away from the two Mechs lying almost side by side, and it could hardly miss Eric's cockpit at all. Eric felt a pang of panic as he quickly pushed his Mech upright, but the Mech controls seemed sluggish after the fall. The heat in the cockpit caused him to gasp for breath. His eyes swiftly looked at his damage schematics. He had lost two internal heat sinks and an unhealthy part of his fusion shielding. Drat! Furthermore, his HUD was flickering, betraying signs that the last barrage damaged his computer too. His Mech would be too slow to rise. Even if he got up in time, the savaging he would take would probably knock him down again.
Instead, Eric's legs managed to grab a foothold against the wall his Mech laid against and he kicked with all his might (or the Mech's might). He propelled himself a short distance from the wall just as the Bushwhacker fired its salvo. The Bushwhacker's salvo was mostly off-target but succeeded in blasting off armour on his legs. Eric's computer whined about internal damage to his leg struts. Apparently, the Ryoken was really in trouble. But at least he had most of his weapons.
Eric grasped the chance to fire a full salvo of his LRMs at the virtually stationary Bushwhacker. Explosions blossomed all over the Mech, tossing the enemy pilot around. The Uziel near Eric showed signs of stirring, obviously not out of the fight yet. Wasting no time, Eric quickly pushed his Mech upright. The heat was slowing down his myomers but he managed to get one foot beneath him as he toggled for an ammunition dump, not willing to risk his missiles exploding in his Mech.
Laser fire splashed more armour off his front torso as the Bushwhacker had regained its composure. It was backing away from Eric, knowing that a concentrated blast of his lasers could breach its armour. The Ryoken seemed to let out a soft moan when the armour plates buckled and fell off due to the medium laser barrage. 'Won't be long before another hit takes out the torso,' Eric thought glumly. He got his Mech up and blasted back at the Bushwhacker with his medium lasers, missing with both. His HUD couldn't display his targeting reticule well anymore.
The Bushwhacker pulled out of the alley, leaving Eric and the Uziel alone. The Uziel barely managed to get a hand on the ground before Eric contemptuously kicked it and mangled its hand. Another swift kick and the Uziel was left armless, and almost weaponless. Then Eric went looking for the Bushwhacker. Sounds of weapon fire could be heard. Apparently, the rebel Mechs were engaging the Bushwhacker. Eric left the small clump of ruined buildings and came upon the fight.
The enemy Bushwhacker was squaring off against both rebel Mechs in an open area. Eric noted that the rebel Mechs were so worn for wear that even a medium laser, in the right spot, could penetrate into the Mech.
Just as he thought of that, he witnessed the Bushwhacker firing spot-on into the Chimera. The rebel Mech's innards appeared to glow for a while before flames poured out of the crack. Eric squinted his eyes shut, knowing what would happen next. There was a brief flash and a thunderclap, and when Eric opened his eyes again, there was only two barely discernible legs of the Chimera left. The other rebel Mech was lying prone on the ground, unable to withstand the heavy blast from the destruction of his friend. It showed no sign of stirring, though the Mech didn't seem to be dead yet. The Dresari Bushwhacker, however, was still standing and fully capable of ensuring that the rebel Mech would die.
Not willing to witness the death of another potential ally again, Eric quickly brought his reticule on the enemy Bushwhacker, which had spotted his entry and was attempting to pull away. His HUD buzzed with static but Eric's aim was better this time. Twin large lasers lanced through the Mech's torso, possibly even passing through the Mech, but somehow not unleashing the fiery hell inside it. Black smoke poured out of the Mech as it fired its autocannon, achieving only a glancing hit on Eric's arms. The computer warned of excessive heat, and Eric had to flush some coolant through his engines to keep his Mech going. But instead of pulling back towards cover, he charged forward at the Bushwhacker.
The enemy pilot appeared unfazed and managed to trigger off his medium lasers, scouring a little armour off the Ryoken's centre torso. He was ready for a body tackle from Eric, planting both feet firmly on the tarmac.
Eric decided to disappoint him.
A final barrage of lasers eviscerated the Bushwhacker just as his Ryoken lurched to the side, barely missing the Dresari Mech. Eric ran on as the Bushwhacker slowly crumpled to the ground. Eric had gone in close enough to plant laser shots directly on the enemy's cockpit. He thought he might have missed, but when he returned to the Mech he saw that only his medium lasers failed to hit the target. Eric muttered a silent prayer for the deceased pilot. He held no grudge against them, but he had no choice. It was either kill or be killed.
The rebel Bushwhacker had finally stirred and got up. Eric made no move to help. He wondered how the rebels got so badly banged up by the Dresari Mechs.
'Must be some wanna-be pilots,' Eric thought. Still, he'd need their help in taking out Dresari.
Before he could toggle his comm. unit to speak, the Bushwhacker pilot radioed over.
"This is Lance Leader Squire of the Kentares Free Army. Identify yourself."
Eric felt a touch of anger at being ordered by such a pilot, probably a lower-ranking one, but the feeling was short-lived. 'Awfully bossy for a charity case,' he thought.
He replied enigmatically, "Just passing through. Thought you could use a hand."
"Uhh …thanks." The pilot hesitated. "What unit are you in? I don't recognize the insignia."
Eric twisted his Mech about and prepared to leave. "Just as I said, just passing through. Maybe you'll return the favour some day. Striker One, out."
The other pilot decided not to ask any further. "Have it your way. Squire out."
Isabel appeared on his scope just as he left the village area. She waited for him to approach before running along beside him.
"Are you all right, Striker One? That was fast. I thought I'd get a crack at those Dresari chums!"
Eric grinned, though Isabel couldn't see it. "Sorry, I forgot to leave some for you. If you want to, you could wait for Dresari reinforcements to arrive though."
"Yeah, and after kicking all their butts, get promoted over you!"
Eric laughed heartily, something he hadn't been able to do since this morning's quarrel with Mandrill.
"Dream on, Striker Two. Escort me back to base. I've got breaches in my rear armour and I'd never last a fight, even against groundpounders, now."
Eric was prepared to sit back in silence and have a leisurely run back to the base, but Isabel didn't let the conversation stop there.
"Eric, sir, did you … well, Radcliffe mentioned that you had quarrelled with Mandrill this morning. Over this supply run."
She didn't continue. Eric sighed. Radcliffe seemed to know a lot of the going-ons between him and Mandrill. Either that or the grapevine in the base extended greater than he thought. He knew Isabel was just waiting for his response, so he said, "Yeah, so?"
Isabel cleared her throat nervously before continuing. "I won't comment on that argument, but I'd like to let you know, Eric, that Mandrill has her reasons for always trying to play by the book. It irritates, but I heard from some of our senior techs that one or two years ago, Mandrill wasn't like this. She directed operations by her heart, not her mind. Many a time, based on her intuition, she sent whole lances of Mechs to scout out just a normal farmhouse or to blast open a civilian house. Things like that." Isabel stopped for a while, presumably to think about what to say next.
"Do you remember our operations on Calderon IV? The one where we lost a whole lance of heavy Mechs? Including Lieutenant Archer?" (A/N: A brief line in Prologue mentions Archer.)
Eric mumbled a yes, beginning to see where Isabel was going with this revelation.
"Mandrill was the one who directed the operation. She didn't expect the then Striker Lance to be ambushed by the rebels, and certainly not by assault Mechs aided by armour units. She was so eager to send Striker lance to give relief to that military outpost that she didn't figure on it being a trap. In the end, we lost the whole lance, and the military outpost transmission proved to be a turncoat's."
Eric felt a huge pang of guilt. He mumbled out, "And as a result of the botched operation, we had to pull back or attain more losses."
"Yes, Eric. The loss of that heavy lance proved too much for even us Legionnaires. They said you even led an impromptu rearguard attempt which saved the lives of a few higher-ranking Legionnaires, after your own lance leader was killed by an attack."
Eric saw a few flashes of his past sweep by in his mind before he pushed them out. A bent-over Centurion, encased in flames. Missiles impacting on his Valkyrie. He hadn't remembered the carnage for a long time already. Why did Isabel have to bring it up?
"What I wanted to say was, Eric, that Mandrill still is haunted by the fact that she inadvertently caused the lives of so many Legionnaires. Colonel Lawhorn gave her an extended leave and had to persuade her to return when the leave was over. The re-creation of Striker Lance did nothing to help her. The tech sergeant says that although nobody really blames her, but she has not forgiven herself yet. And she would never want to repeat the same mistake again."
Eric sighed. He didn't reply, and this time Isabel took it as a sign to keep quiet. She did wish to add more, but it would be better to let Eric think more about it. The main reason Isabel wanted Eric to know what she had heard was simply to maintain the necessary cohesion between her lance leader and their main intel officer. She felt a little envious of Mandrill, attracting the attention of her lance leader – but then Eric wasn't such a handsome hunk anyway, she thought playfully.
A/N : I've taken out the physical impossibilities of the Ryoken and the Uziel. Might as well make an effort to keep the story as believable as possible. Sorry that I've been really slow in updating. It's my final year in university and I've got other priorities. Many thanks to those who've given me links for finding Battlemechs. Thanks to TNG for the list of Fed Suns Mechs, it eased the job. Now I'm mostly referring to Chaos March for Mech stats, so thanks a lot everyone!
UnarmedBystander: I don't know how to play the Mechwar game. Hehe, sorry, too used to FPS style of Mechwarrior.
