The night came fast, despite the relative lack of activity that Alexis and the others in the 'mech lance had to endure for the day. Now, however, Alexis was secured in Tanaka's cockpit, cooling vest and radio headset plugged in, helmet strapped on tight.
They were still waiting, however, as Tanaka and her lance were simply standing by until full night covered the pains, and the nightly jamming and aerofighter flybys would again confound their enemies and obfuscate the 'mechs as they made a speed run for Tanzano in support of Vickers' Vanquishers, who were even now en route to the soon-to-be-embattled Lupar city.
The eerie green of the HUD's light-amplification played over the interior of the cockpit, at times the tone matching the color of Alexis' main fur color. Tanaka had already joked bout the gatón disappearing into the wall earlier to pass the time, and now they just sat in quiet contemplation.
Alexis finally couldn't stand much more silence. "Captain..."
"Hmm?" Tanaka turned to face her passenger.
"If it's not too personal to ask, what are you thinking about right now?" Alexis tried to not sound too imposing.
"Oh? What brought this on?" Tanaka asked in surprise.
Alexis frowned a bit and she rubbed her left arm. "It's just that... This is really only the second time I've ever gone into any real fight. The first time, I was too scared or busy to think about it, but now..." Her voice trailed off as she looked over at the corner of the HUD, where the time was being displayed.
"Ah, I think I understand," Tanaka replied, and then shifting in her seat a bit to have a better view of Alexis. "You're worried, and you want to know if other people share the same thoughts and feelings?"
Alexis nodded and turned her head back to Tanaka. "That, and as well as how you deal with them, keep them from overwhelming you." Alexis looked down at her feet then. "I feel like I might be sick."
Tanaka chuckled softly. "Don't worry about that, Alexis. That's actually a fairly typical reaction."
"Really?" Alexis asked and looked back up at Tanaka, who smiled a bit. "Really. It's from the adrenalin flowing into your body. Even before combat, the sheer nervousness of waiting is enough to trigger your body's natural 'fight or flight mode.'" Tanaka then looked quizzically at Alexis. "I'm sorry, but I don't know if you've heard of that?"
"Yes, I have," Alexis replied with a nod. "My people recognize that sort of behavior too, though we just called it 'getting the shit scared out of you.'" She said this with a smile, and both women laughed at that.
"Oh, mercy. That's exactly like our expression," Tanaka said, trying to catch her breath. "And it's the same idea. Basically, you're so scared before things happen that your body starts thinking it might be time to get ready for some big mumbo jumbo." Tanaka smiled again. "But don't worry. It'll be over soon and we'll all be safe an' sound," she said, and then chuckled again. "'Course, then you'll feel like being sick again."
Alexis smiled back at that. "Well, then it's good that I ate a light dinner then."
Tanaka chuckled at that, and she looked about ready to reply when a beacon flashed on her HUD. She shifted her position back to face dead forward and her face took on a grim disposition. "Get ready, Alexis. The show's about to start."
Van Horn stood in his scout armor, gripping not his typical Heavy Gyrojet gun, but a smaller, easier to aim Combat Shotgun, which would be more appropriate for the tight confines of an ancient stone fortress. He carried a mixed load of slugs, incendiary AP cluster shot, and one pack of emergency, anti-battle armor discarding-sabot rounds, just in case.
I just hope that the place is as clean of heavy stuff as we think. Otherwise, it's going to be bloody. He knew that, as a Scout Armored trooper, he would have to go in first to not only find the lay of the land, so to speak, but also because it would be easier for him and the rest of the scout squad to move quickly inside the narrow passages of the fortress. In a raid, where speed is of the essence, such ability could mean the difference between victory, or crushing defeat.
The Assault Transport he rode in lurched almost violently, its pilot correcting to avoid a mountain as she hurtled the craft at an altitude that usually was the domain of birds and kites. The 185-ton craft bucked again even as van Horn reviewed this thought in his head, and he decided that they must be getting close.
This assumption was borne out when Lieutenant Vickers' voice rang out over the Platoon's frequency. "Alright you apes! I know some of you couldn't listen to a plan while sittin' on your ass, so I'm giving it to ya one more time while I have your undivided attention.
"Our mission is the retrieval of several Blakest Weapons of Mass destruction. I'm sure that y'all know how those cocksuckers tried that shit just the other night, so you oughta know that this mission must succeed!"
Van Horn listened to a few murmurs that rolled through the radio channel as Vickers took a breath. But then the Lieutenant was speaking again. "In addition, there are several hostages held inside the fortress, all natives. We are to rescue them and evac them either into this here boat, or at least into the city. This may be a secondary concern, but the Vanquishers haven't failed a single secondary objective in twenty years, and I'll be damned if you chimp-brained rejects from a clanner's test tube are going to fuck that up!"
"Ooh-RAH!" The platoon replied as one, their voices echoing through the channel, and van Horn easily added his own to the chorus.
"Now that y'all're awake, here's the dirt. We drop over this old stone fortress," inside all of their helmets, their holographic HUDs morphed to show a three-dimensional representation of their target as Vickers temporarily overrode their controls. Symbols popped up whenever he added a new part of the plan "Sierra, Foxtrot, Bravo and Charlie squads are going to land on the roof. All the rest of y'all had better land in the courtyard - that's you, Echo squad, so stay awake back there- Or outside the walls. Alfa squad will take the walls while Delta sweeps the surrounding buildings, while Bravo and Charlie keep a long-ranged lookout, or stand ready to help Sierra and Foxtrot squads. Sierra and Foxtrot, meanwhile, will be lookin' for what we came here for.
"You are to consider all human targets as hostiles. If it's got a tail, though, hold your fire until you confirm intent. I don't want any fuckups resultin' in dead civvies, you get me?"
"Ooh-RAH!"" The chorus again rang out, and Vickers nodded in his command suit as he returned the HUDs to normal. "Good. Any questions?" As usual, no hands nor voices rose, and Vickers nodded again, his helmet aping the movement. "Excellent," he said, and then the channel fell silent.
Van Horn stood hanging onto the specially made holds in the inner wall of the transport, keeping his balance as the craft pitched up again. The timer in his helmet finally approached zero.
Mikula stood with Senmar and three other lupar on top of one of the apartment buildings that sat next to the Laughing Daukner. Mikula and Senmar were there in case the op 'went south' as the humans liked to say, and their perspective would let them call in any surprises that the Blakests might have.
The three with them included Mrs. Reyka, who wanted to see for herself the strange things that she had heard about. The other two were Kayla, and Marner, the former coming because she wanted to see what her brothers had witnessed, and the latter because his uncle still wanted his wife protected.
They all heard the screech of fusion engines, and they looked up to see two streaks of light cross the sky, their rumbling setting the whole area vibrating as they passed. "What makes that noise?" Kayla asked.
Mikula grunted lightly. "Single-man craft that provide cover for the transport. It should begin soon." Then another, lower noise rumbled through the night, and Mikula smiled. "They're here."
Van Horn felt the transport tilt crazily back as the pilot brought it to a stop over the target. The bow ramp fairly flew down, and Vickers' voice screamed in his ear as he called for everyone to go. The first members of Sierra squad leapt out of the hovering craft, and van Horn followed right after.
The view was a chaotic one as he jumped from the Assault Transport. It had come to a stop thirty meters above the top, flat roof of the Citadel so that its VTOL exhaust wouldn't melt stone. Sierra squad fell most of the way down, hitting their jump jets at the last minute, landing hard but quickly. A Blakest pushed open a trapdoor that lead below, apparently trying to see what was going on. That mistake brought two bullets and a laser to his head, and his lifeless body tumbled back down the ladder he had used to climb up from the floor above.
Foxtrot squad followed next, their heavier Salamander armor making audible thuds as the five remaining troopers landed. Then, as worked out before hand, they and Sierra squad met up and broke into groups of three, each with at least one Salamander in attendance.
Van Horn and Castellano, given their medical training and the former's ability to speak the natives' languages, were assigned to head down furthest and into the subterranean dungeons, while the rest of the two squads searched the keep. With simple hand signals, van Horn led the other two to the edge of the roof, jumping off to descend on jump jets to the ground below.
The heavy Gnome armor of Echo squad already held half the interior space between the outer wall and the keep, the bodies of several Blakest troopers lying in awkward poses. A group of them, apparently having just emerged from the door van Horn had targeted as his entry point, had taken position behind what appeared to be a small shed-like protrusion from the main building. Their laser fire lit up the night, and it provided a nice beacon for the descending troopers to home in on.
Van Horn and Castellano fired as they landed, Sellers holding off because of his proximity to the other two. Dan hit first with his dual Rugan SMGs, sending a hail of lead into one of the Blakest troopers, felling him quickly as his insides were shredded like pulled pork.
Van Horn followed it up by firing an AP cluster shot. The large, ball bearing-sized slugs ignited as they left the barrel, leaving fiery trails through the air as they spread out to impact the woman trooper van Horn had targeted. Entering the woman's flesh from behind, they ripped through her spine and fractured, sending thousands of burning metal fragments to eat their way through every major organ.
The noisy deaths of the two soldiers caught the attention of the other Blakests, who spun around, aiming their weapons at the shapes that towered behind them. Laser shots leapt out, reaching for the Republic troopers.
One such beam flensed armor off of van Horn's left arm, and he automatically ducked to avoid another shot, even as he fired another shell, hitting his attacker in the head with the magnesium-coated projectiles, causing the hapless soldier's head to explode messily.
Castellano fire his dual SMGs again, this time on full auto, spraying a hail of lead that cut down the other two soldiers before they could re-aim for a better shot.
Van Horn pushed himself up from his kneeling position and he and Castellano spun about at a shriek that came from behind them. There they saw the clawed left hand of Sellers' suit buried in the chest of another Blakest. Life drained from the soldier even as Sellers took a half step back and cleared the door, pulling the body along with him before he shook his arm to free it. Blood and tissue fragments dripped from the hand claws as the blonde-haired body fell limply to the cobblestone ground. Sellers then waved with his right arm towards the door. "After you."
Van Horn started for the door, but Castellano put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Let me take point. My armor's not damaged," he said as van Horn turned his head to face the other trooper. The latter then nodded, and Castellano took only a second to reload his empty weapons before he moved around the corner and down the hall. Van Horn followed right after, and Sellers came in after them, moving sideways to cover their rear while they moved forward. Van Horn felt a thrill of hope as the passageway angled down, eventually coming to a junction.
"Looks like we're in the right spot," Castellano said over the radio after checking that both of the hallways that lead from the junction were clear. "C'mon, this one goes down," he said and then headed down the left-side passage.
Van Horn followed, though Sellers halted at the junction. "I'll hold here and keep the door open. 'Sides, I don't think I'll fit down there."
"Sounds like a plan," van Horn replied as he followed Castellano. "Just don't flame us when we come back up."
If Sellers replied, van Horn didn't hear it in his rush to catch up with Castellano, who had disappeared down a two-tier stairway that led deeper into the earth. Van Horn vaulted down the first flight, taking the landing easy despite the suit's bulk, before he turned to face down the next flight.
At the bottom stood Castellano, who crouched next to a small, wooden door, both of his SMGs held up and at the ready. His size seemed to mock the native-built door, and van Horn realized that his friend had to crouch just to fit into the now-narrow passage.
Then van Horn pushed the thoughts from his mind as he took the flight two steps at a time - which was actually cautious, since the lupar-sized steps were fairly easy to use at that rate. Reaching the bottom, he opened a channel to Castellano. "Got anything on sensors?"
Castellano shook his head. "No heartbeats, at least none human. Don't mean crap though, with these walls." He then turned his helmeted head to face van Horn. "We go through on three, you first since you got spread shot. Okay?"
Van Horn nodded as he moved forward in a crouch-walk, taking up a position on the other side of the door. "All right, but it's not going to be easy to move if the room's as small as this one."
Castellano shrugged. "If it was easy, the army'd be doing it," he replied almost flippantly. "One, two, THREE!" With that he slammed his right hand into the door, the enhanced-strength of the scout armor breaking it open easily.
At that, van Horn pushed himself forward and through the door, holding his shotgun up even as he landed in the next room in a roll that let him pop up into a crouch.
It was a fortuitous maneuver, as a guard fired several rounds from his conventional pistol at the moving black shape, missing thanks to the speed of van Horn's roll. The soldier-scientist had no qualms about returning the favor, and he fired two shots from his weapon, sending burning projectiles to slam into the hapless guard. The body of the man fell back, slamming against a table as it did so. With that, van Horn scanned the area with his suit-enhanced vision.
The room was a good eight and a half meters long, and its roof was tall enough to admit an unsuited human of average height. Along each long side of the room, which stretched away from the entrance, van Horn easily recognized the barred openings of cells. The far end of the room carried the only illumination, which came from a lamp that sat on a shelf on the far wall. Lying there, strewn across a fallen table, was the body of the guard, whom van Horn now realized had been a lupar.
"Clear," van Horn called as he crouch-walked forward, doing his best to ignore the movement of the people in the cells as they pushed against the back walls. Thanks to his HUD and its compressed projection, he saw Castellano move into the room behind him, SMGs covering both sides of the room.
Van Horn walked up to the lupar, and he felt a brief pang of guilt. That is, before he saw a patch, crudely made from native material, but showing a shape that, to his mind, should never have seen Bowman's Planet; the Word of Blake Militia insignia.
He suppressed a snort as he turned, standing a half-crouch to face Castellano. The latter raised his helmeted head to look at his friend. "How's the guy?"
"Dead," van Horn replied without emotion in his voice. "And it's no loss."
Castellano nodded and he turned to face the door. "Well, let's get these folks outta here," he said as he moved to cover the hallway beyond the entrance.
Van Horn turned and finally paid his full attention to the room's other occupants. Each cell held a mix of Lupar and Gatón, and both kinds of people looked dirty, haggard, and terribly scared. Van Horn's stomach twisted as he saw that all of the cells, apparently made only for two people, had at least four each.
Keep it professional, Earl, he reminded himself as he switched to his external speakers and spoke in Lupari. "Your attention please! Do not fear me or my friend, we're here to rescue you." He then repeated it in Gatonese.
The natives in the cells all grew looks of confusion, but van Horn pressed on. "I will open the cells. When I do, you all will follow my friend there," he paused to point at Castellano, and also to repeat himself in Gatonese. "He will lead you to the surface, where you'll be taken aboard a craft that will lift you to safety." Again, he repeated in the other language before continuing. "Follow all orders we give you; they are for your safety. If any of you need assistance, ask me, and I will help."
After he finished repeating it in Gatonese, van Horn slung his shotgun behind his back, securing it with his smart-strap. Then he reached to the cell door nearest him, and as the natives pulled back against the far wall, he yanked the cell doors from their hinges with a loud snap.
Before the natives in the cell could do or say anything, he moved on to the next cell, and then the next, repeating the same procedure as he took full advantage of his suit's myomer-enabled strength.
Only moments later, all the cells were open, and the natives began to slowly walk out. Van Horn looked over them to see if any needed help, whether they were going to ask him or not. Good, they all seem healthy enough, he thought as he turned towards Castellano and clicked over to the radio. "We're set to go, Dan."
"Good," Castellano replied and then began to walk out. "Keep herd on them."
Alexis held onto her seat for dear life as Tanaka pushed her Guillotine IIC up to and even a bit past its maximum designed speed of 64.8 kilometers per hour. The beginning of the drop on the citadel was the signal for the 'mech lance to move up, hopefully to provide a distraction to the tanks and APCs hidden in the fields just outside of town. Thus, Tanaka drove her 'mech and her lance hard, broadcasting their presence with full active sensors and in the case of the Guillotine, a spotlight blaring out across the plains.
The gatón felt like her teeth were going to fall out, so badly she was being shaken. Why the Hell didn't I stay behind? She wondered naturally. Then another thought interrupted that idea. Because you're no coward, damnit!
"Here we go," Tanaka said quietly, grinning. Then she opened a channel to her fellow mechwarriors. "Alright boys and girls, they've taken the bait. We got three Vedettes, a Bulldog, and a Scorpion. Carmike, take the Scorpion, but keep your eyes out for infantry or APCs; they'll be your priority. Myers, take that bird of yours and get under the Vedettes' guns. Stein, hammer that Bulldog at range with those expensive weapons of yours. I'll go in on the Vedettes with Myers, but you boys holler if'n ya need help. We go with attack pattern Delta-Two-Two-Juliet. Any questions?"
"Just one cap," Carmike's voice came though, and Alexis could hear it thanks to her own headset. "How do you want your Wobbies: Baked, fried, or filleted?"
"Funny, boy." Tanaka replied, trying to sound stern. Alexis, though, could see the grin on her face. "Surprise me." With that, Tanaka cut the transmission and focused on her HUD. "You ready, Alexis?" She asked as the distance rolled down.
Alexis nodded her head. "As I'll ever be."
"Good," Tanaka's face took on a predatory look that made Alexis want to shiver. Such aggression, she thought. Thank the Maker that I fight with them and not against them.
A beeping noise then began, and Tanaka smirked. "Here we go," she said, and then she spared a glance at Alexis. "It's gonna get hot in here."
"Don't worry about me," Alexis replied. "Just do what you'd normally do."
Tanaka continued to smirk as she shifted her 'mech's weight a bit. "You're not gonna like it," she said. Then she brought the Guillotine IIC to a jarring stop, taking only a few steps to accomplish this. Alexis held onto the seat and tensed as she saw the human move the targeting joysticks.
Tanaka took careful aim at the lead Vedette, moving her now-steady crosshairs over the turret of the design. She took in a half-breath and then pulled on the triggers. A wave of heat began to roil up from below as the twin Large Pulse Lasers in the 'mech's right arm sent stuttering streams of coherent light out through the night, their image trails pulsing out an eerie red light.
Both streams of light hit their target, Tanaka's sudden stop having given her enough concentration to aim more effectively. She watched through the magnified image on her HUD as the beams lashed over a ton and a half of armor from the turret, the melted metal composites running down in streams that left the area devoid of protection.
Then the ER PPC in the 'mech's left arm flared to life, its accelerator coils glowing an iridescent blue before they discharged, sending a blindingly-bright azure stream of furious energy outward to slam into the front armor glacis of the 50-ton tank.
Heat flooded into the cockpit as Tanaka sent her 'mech running off again, cutting to the right to present a harder target in case the Blakests had retrofitted their tanks with longer-ranged weaponry than was the norm. Thanks to that, she saw Stein's Grizzly begin its fusillade, lashing out with its own Large Pulse Laser at the Bulldog, and soon following it up with the actinic flash of his Gauss Rifle and a spread of LRMs. The laser melted whole slabs of armor from the tank's front armor, while the LRMs splashed their dirty-orange explosions all over the turret and front. Tanaka winced, though, as the gauss slug passed the tank by mere meters, flying off to bury itself down range in a field.
Tanaka turned her 'mech back towards a second Vedette, intending to cover Myers' Corvus until it could get into range. She kept her machine running, despite the heat buildup that had edged her heat monitor up into the low yellow band. "You okay Alexis?" She asked of her passenger, not being able to spare a look.
"I'm fine," the gatón replied, somewhat strained but sounding strong nonetheless. Tanaka just nodded absentmindedly as she brought her 'mech's arms back up for another salvo. Better leave off the PPC this time. It'll just make me hotter and it won't be that accurate anyway, she thought as she pulled the triggers on her right joystick.
Only one laser hit this time, though it slagged armor off of the front of the targeted tank, causing it to hastily bring its turret around to point at the charging 'mech. Tanaka's movements had brought her close enough, and the Vedette's gunner fired his autocannon, sending shells sailing out at the Republic 'mech.
Tanaka grimaced as the shells skimmed just above the top-mounted searchlight her 'mech mounted. With a quick flick of her wrist, on her command console, she snapped it off.
Off to the lance's right flank, Stein again fired on the Bulldog, though this time he was the one who had stopped his 'mech for a more accurate firing solution, and his Gauss Rifle flashed out a projectile that slammed into and then through the weakened front armor. Then a flight of LRMs sailed into the gap, their fiery blasts eating away at the inside of the medium tank. Suddenly, the explosions grew in intensity, and Tanaka realized that the tank's ammo stores had been set off. The firecracker-like chain of explosions sent the turret flying into the air just as the fuel tank let go, and the hull of the 60-ton tank was warped as the hydrocarbon fuel exploded and burned.
Off to the left, Carmike had finally gotten his first hit of the evening, managing to lay his Extended Range Large Laser straight into the turret of the Scorpion light tank, slagging armor and apparently spooking the gunner, who missed with his autocannon.
Myers, meanwhile, simply ran forward, her 'mech shrugging off a stream of light autocannon shells from one of the Vedettes as if it was a light breeze. Then, light flared from the rear of her 'mech's torso as the jump jets lit up. With a grace that seemed impossible for the stocky, squat 'mech, Myers flew it across one hundred twenty meters of plains, eventually landing in one of the farm fields on the outskirts of Tanzano.
"Hang on!" Tanaka called to Alexis as she shifted her 'mech's center of gravity forward, slamming down on the jump jet pedals at her feet. With a rumbling akin to that of a waterfall in flood, the Guillotine IIC took to the air, flying forward and towards the enemy. Tanaka aimed a bit to the left of center, heading for the Vedettes.
With a skill born of near-constant practice, Tanaka bent her 'mech's legs at the knees just before landing, letting them absorb the shock as seventy tons of armor, weapons, plasma and flesh came back to ground. Moving her joysticks even as she brought the 'mech erect again, Tanaka targeted the second Vedette she had attacked that night and fired.
Two streams of pulsing coherent light lanced from the Guillotine IIC's right arm and into the side armor of the tank, melting it all away and beginning to eat at the internal structure. Seeing this opportunity, Tanaka fired her torso-mounted medium lasers and short-range missile rack. The lasers reached out, one slagging armor from the turret of the Vedette while the other burned soil into sterilized glass just behind the treads of the battered vehicle. Of the SRMs, three hit, one slamming into the turret, blasting more armor off there, while the other two rammed into the breech made into the Vedette's side. The explosive warheads on the missiles blasted through the last of the internal supports and then ate into the middle of the tank. A gout of flame blasted back out from the open wound even as the Vedette shook itself apart.
A stream of autocannon shells then impacted on the Guillotine's right arm, and Tanaka checked her HUD to see the first Vedette that she had attacked racing backwards in reverse, but still managing to chip away at her armor. Before she could even think about countering the attack, Tanaka saw Stein's Grizzly land on its own ion jets off to her right, firing its pulse lasers and gauss rifle as it did so.
The Large and Medium Pulse Lasers sliced through the tank's turret, melting the autocannon and causing the superstructure to fold in on itself. Then the slug from the gauss Rifle slammed into and through the tank's front glacis, tearing the entire inside into goo-covered scrap metal.
Off to the left, Carmike had managed to blast the turret off of the Scorpion, which was now trying to race away even as the Wyvern IIC's LRMs slammed into its rear armor. Myers, though, stole the show, finally able to bring her potent arsenal into play.
With an apparent casualness that seemed out of place on the battlefield, Myers brought the massive autocannon that formed her 'mech's right forearm to bear on the third, untouched Vedette. Even as the tank sent a hail of bullets from its machine gun and a stream of shells from its autocannon to blast armor off of her torso, Myers triggered a double-burst from her ultra autocannon.
The effects were astounding as the stream of shells ate into the front armor of the Vedette, tearing away more than a half ton of composites and sending a shudder throughout the medium tank. Then Myers walked the cannon fire up, and an equal amount of armor was ripped from the turret. She followed the devastating attack up with a flurry of laser blasts from her left arm Medium Pulse Lasers, both eating into the turret armor, melting the last of it and finally blasting the blocky structure from the top of the tank.
The Vedette's driver panicked, and he slammed the vehicle into reverse, trying to get distance between himself and the Corvus. This, though, brought it into the path of Tanaka's Guillotine, and she let loose with her particle cannon and medium lasers, all of which blasted the tank's left side armor, eating into and through it. A stray burst of heat energy superheated the fuel tank of the Vedette, and it exploded, tearing away the rear of the vehicle and sending globs of burning petroleum raining about.
With that, the field was quiet, as Carmike had finally finished off the fleeing Scorpion. Tanaka looked over the status display that was laid out on her primary monitor, and she was pleased to see that her 'mech had only suffer some slight armor loss and overheating.
Overheating... The thought made her realize that her entire body was covered in sweat, a fact that she hadn't recognized during battle. It also reminded her of her passenger, and she turned to look at the gatón. "Alexis, are you okay?"
Alexis nodded from her seat. "I'm fine..." She said in a quiet voice. "I'm just... hot... And a little bit amazed," the last she spoke with a slight smile, or so it seemed to Tanaka, as Alexis was panting as her body struggled to release heat.
Tanaka felt a pang of guilt at that realization, but she forced it down. "Well, glad to hear it," she said and then turned to her console to open a channel to her lance.
She never got the chance, as her computer automatically cut in a transmission labeled with a priority status. "Vanquisher One to Oni One, we need some help now!"
Van Horn followed the last of the native rescuees - who numbered twenty-one total - out of the keep, his head scanning left and right. Behind him, Sellers backed his Salamander suit along the passageway, covering their backs should any Blakest soldier be stupid enough to try and follow the group.
The anthropologist-turned-back-to-soldier waved a hand to get the natives' attention, which they gave with trepid eyes and body language. "Listen up. I want all of you to wait right here. Sit down if you have to, but be prepared to move quickly." He repeated himself in Gatonese, and then he switched to his suit radio. "Sellers, anything pops its head down that corridor, flame it."
"Gotcha Doc," the incendiary trooper replied. "Just keep the ones out here offa my back."
Castellano let out a dark chuckle. "I don't think we'll need to worry. The Lieutenant's got this place locked down tighter than a frog's ass in a watermelon seed fight."
Van Horn smirked at his friend's use of the old joke. "Which reminds me, I need to call the Boss," he said, using the nickname that Vickers had amongst other M.I. "You two keep an ear out, okay?"
Castellano nodded his head, while Sellers simply continued to watch the hallway. With that, van Horn switched his HUD to comm mode and opened a link to Vickers. "Lieutenant, we have the hostages safe and sound."
A moment went by and van Horn wondered if he should jump up and go looking for Vickers. Then the radio cackled to life with the Lieutenant's voice. "Copy that van Horn. How many ya got?"
"Twenty one, sir, mixed Gatón and Lupar. However, none seem too worse for wear, so they shouldn't be any more of a drain than hoped for." Van Horn knew that it was good news, as mild as it was.
Vickers grunted. "Good, stand by." With that, the radio closed, and van Horn switched his HUD back to normal, turning to look over the natives as he did so. He felt a bit pained when he saw some of them cringing in fear whenever his helmet's front passed near them. Damnit, what did those murderous bastards do to them?
Before he could wonder any more, the cackle of a wide-band transmission broke in. "Incoming! APCs and tanks!"
"Confirmed, two wheeled APCs, standard model, moving up from opposite directions along the main road." The second, more cautious voice van Horn recognized as being the corporal in charge of Charlie squad.
"Alfa squad reporting, I have a Galleon Light Tank, model 100, moving up from the south."
"Foxtrot, Sierra," Vickers' sure voice rang out, casting a spell of silence on everyone else speaking on the platoon-wide channel. "Continue with the retrieval and guarding of the primary and secondary objectives. Delta, take up positions to ambush that Galleon, hit and fade. All other squads take to the wall ramparts. I've already called in the mechjocks, so just hold on a few moments and we'll be green."
The group on top of the building had soon been joined with others who lived there, and they could see other such knots on several other buildings within easy sight.
Mikula frowned at the curious. "They shouldn't be out here," he muttered where he and the original group stood huddled together. "It isn't safe."
"Then why are we up here, then?" Kayla asked from beside her brother. "You didn't seem too worried when it was just us."
Mikula frowned as he looked at his elder sister, who was slightly shorter than him. "I worried then, for you and Senmar Mrs. Reyka and even Marner. But I figured that we could get down quickly if we had to. But these people," he glanced over at the knots of lupar residents who apparently hadn't noticed the better-dressed strangers in their midst. "They will make it harder for us to leave, as well as making it impossible for them to do so."
Kayla looked about ready to argue when Senmar reached out with a hand. "Mikula, look!"
Mikula turned his head to follow Senmar's pointing, and he blinked when he saw what was rolling along nearby, rattling the building even as he watched. "Oh, shit," he said and then turned for his pack. Kneeling, he quickly reached into the sack and searched for his radio.
"What? What is it?" Marner asked this, obviously concerned for his charge.
"It's a damned SRM carrier!" Mikula had memorized a few tank silhouettes prior to the mission, having taken it quite seriously. "What the Hell is that?" Marner asked, clearly confused.
"It's something that can kill everyone in Tanzano if it's loaded with Infernos," Mikula replied as he yanked the tactical radio free. He quickly turned it on and set it to find the local common frequency that the Republic was using. Within a few seconds, it connected into the digitally secured battlenet and he hit the 'send' button. "This is Firefly One One to any Command! I have a sighting of an SRM carrier in the southeast. Authenticate Mike Alfa Alfa Foxtrot."
A strong female voice then came over the radio. "This is Oni One, Firefly One One, authenticate India Lima Papa. Please repeat your report."
Mikula ran his free, left hand through his hair as he replied. "Firefly One One has confirmed visual sighting of an SRM Carrier in the Worker's Quarter. That is the southeast quadrant of the city, and it is moving towards the objective."
"Copy that, Firefly. We're inbound, but we'll need a few moments. Can you slow 'em down?"
Mikula blinked and almost rejected the question. Then a thought popped into his head. "Affirmative, Oni One. I'll call you later." He then turned off the radio and looked back to the others.
Only to see that they were all staring at him like he was a madman. "You speak their language?" Marner asked, having recognized the English words as the same as the Blakests' tongue.
Mikula simply frowned as he grabbed his pack and then headed for the corner of the roof, where he knew some rope was always placed so that residents of the building could escape in case of a fire.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Marner called out, and the others soon followed Mikula to the corner. The latter glared at them as they came close. "I'm going to help. I'd suggest you stay here." With that, he turned and tossed the escape rope over the edge of the building. As he began to grab the rope for his descent, however, a hand grabbed his arm, and he looked up.
"Mikula, don't be going off and getting yourself killed," Reyka said sternly and brought her hand away from the other lupar.
Mikula smirked at her. "Don't worry, I won't." With that, he began to slide down the rope. Soon, he was on the ground, listening as the residents above finally began to question the group he had been with. He ignored them, however, and he simply ran along the streets, pausing in his path only to climb a lamppost so that he could grab the oil-fed lantern that hung from it. He put the flame out and then was on his way again, tearing strips of fabric from the sleeve of his coat as he ran and held onto the lantern. He paused in his pursuit of the missile carrier to carefully pour some of the oil onto the rags he had made, and then he stuffed them into the opening he had made by ripping out the wick holder.
Amazing, the effective things you can make when you know how, Mikula thought with a grim smile as he followed the sound and vibrations of the SRM carrier. Knowing where it was headed, he managed to take a shortcut and arrived at an intersection just ahead of the Blakest vehicle.
Mikula pressed himself against the corner of a shop building as the 60-ton vehicle passed by. He was worried about infantry tagging along with the weapons-carrier, but he saw nor smelt none, and so he leapt after the tank after it had passed, racing for it.
With a strength borne of adrenalin, Mikula caught up an then jumped onto the back of the tank, hanging onto the exhaust tube of one of the missile racks to keep from falling off. With a quickness born of being scared out of one's mind, he scrambled around the boxy missile launcher holder, heading forward on the carrier even as it took a turn.
Then he was at the top crew hatch. Lying down, he grabbed onto the side of the circular door with one hand, Mikula wedged the lantern between the hatch's cupola and an armor plate to free his other hand. Working quickly, he reached into the folds of his coat and pulled out his covert laser pistol and then placed its handhold in his mouth, gripping it with his teeth so that he could dial the pulse duration down to its shortest level and flip off the safety. Then he took it out of his mouth with his free hand and aimed it carefully so that it would only hit the oil-soaked rags on his Molotov cocktail, and fired.
The rags burned to incandescent life, and Mikula yanked himself to a sitting position. He then banged on the top of the hatch, and then let it go so that he could use his left hand to pick up the burning Molotov.
As expected, one of the Blakest crewmen pushed the hatch open from the inside. Unlike the cheesy holodramas, though, he came up aiming his pistol for whomever had made the noise.
But Mikula was already moving. Sliding around the side of the hatch even as it opened, he managed to catch the Blakest on his bad side, and a quick shot burned through the man's temple, sending him to fall back into the vehicle. Then Mikula threw the Molotov into the open hatchway as hard as he could, and he smiled savagely when he heard the fragile lantern break open inside.
Yells of alarm came from the tank and it ground to a halt. Mikula stepped back along the hull, pressing himself against the missile racks as smoke poured from the open hatch. Then a figure interrupted the smoke stream as another crewman pulled himself out of the tank, coughing violently. Mikula shot him dead almost as soon as he had crawled from the hatch, and the body limply sprawled across the top of the tank.
Then the entire vehicle shook with a small explosion. Mikula felt a moment of panic, thinking that the ammo had begun to cook off. Then he realized that the noise had come from the front of the vehicle, and he crept along the top until he could get a good look.
He was surprised to see part of the front armor glacis laying on the street, not realizing that the SRM Carrier had an emergency escape hatch built there. The other two crewmembers, having triggered the explosive bolts to make good their escape, had already staggered out, though unlike the last crewman, they already had their pistols out and they were quite aware.
Mikula decided to attack anyway, and he fired at the nearest crewman, who actually turned out to be a woman. The non-luminescent laser bolt burned a hole into the woman's right bicep, and she yelled in pain and anger as she dropped her hold-out pistol. Her crewmate, however, managed to see Mikula, and he brought his own weapon up and fired.
The nine-millimeter bullet flew between the two antagonists in a second, and it slashed into Mikula's left side. The lupar yelped in pain and lost his balance, falling onto the top of the tank. It was a fortunate happenstance, however, as the Blakest tanker fired two more shots, sending their hot lead to fly past Mikula harmlessly.
Mikula ground his teeth together as he mentally pushed back the pain. Duty first, then you can indulge in feeling pain! He mentally chastised himself. Then he heard footsteps coming around the tank on both sides, and he realized that the Wobbies were trying to come for him.
Mikula rolled to his - and the tank's - right, eventually coming to where the hull bent down to meet the treads. A shape was moving along from the front, its right arm hanging limply at its side, while the other arm was held up at waist level. Mikula didn't have to see through the dark shadows of the night and smoke to know that it held a pistol, and he aimed and fired, sending a beam into the left chest of the tank's crewwoman, her yell of pain cutting short as her left lung filled with her own blood.
The yell attracted the attention of the other tanker, who yanked himself on top of the smoking SRM Carrier to face his attacker directly. Mikula saw this out of the corner of his eye, and he tried to roll to his right again to bring his pistol hand around.
Unfortunately, he forgot that he had run out of room, and he rolled over the edge of the tank and fell a meter and a half to the ground below, hitting the cobblestone pavement with a brief yell of pain. His grip went loose for a split second and the pistol flew out to land twenty decimeters away.
The Blakest wasn't far behind, and he scrambled over the tank and hopped off the side to land in front of Mikula in a crouch. He held his pistol aimed straight for Mikula's head, and the latter thought that he was surely about to die. Then the Blakest blinked his eyes for a second. "It's one of the dogs..." He muttered, apparently surprised that a native could have disable his vehicle.
Mikula pushed himself up, and he twisted his face in anger. "I ain't no dog, boy," he spoke in English, deliberately using the bad grammar of the Republic soldiers. "Why don't you drop that pea-shooter and come get some." He snarled and bared his teeth as he spoke.
The Blakest looked incredulous for a moment, but then his face tightened into a mask of rage. "When Hell freezes over, infidel," he said and re-aimed his pistol to point at the spot between Mikula's eyes.
Then a trilling noise came from behind the tanker, and his face erupted in shock. Even as Mikula watched, the life drained from the man's eyes and he fell forward, falling just short of where the wounded lupar lay.
Looking down the street, Mikula saw Senmar and Mrs. Reyka standing at the last street corner, the former just bringing his conventional laser pistol down from a firing position. A look of astonishment was on both of their faces, but Senmar recovered quickly, and he ran to where Mikula was starting to stand. "Are you alright?" The former called as he approached.
Mikula winced in pain as he stood erect, and Senmar's eyes grew wide as he came up next to his brother. "Oh my Gods, you're wounded!" Senmar said upon seeing the bloody hole in Mikula's side.
Mikula did a mental check of the area, and then he slowly probed it with his left hand. He winced in pain as he felt the wound. Shallow, isn't bleeding too terribly bad... "I'm fine, Senmar. It's a flesh wound."
"Ye gods!" Reyka said as she walked up slowly, her short sword pointed at the now-dead tanker that had nearly taken Mikula's life. "I've never seen anything like that!"
"What?" Mikula snapped. "How long were you two there?"
"Long enough," Senmar replied. "Come on, let's get you back to the Laughing Daukner and take care of that wound."
Mikula grunted in reply, and he let Senmar help him along. They passed through the streets quickly, though Mikula brought them to a halt when they came across the intersection where he had encountered the SRM Carrier. "What's wrong, Mikula?" Senmar asked worriedly.
Mikula just half-limped over to where he had dropped his pack. "Need to call someone," he said and he took the radio out from the pack and turned it on. "Firefly One One calling Oni One, please respond."
"Oni One here, Firefly, go ahead." Tanaka replied as she maneuvered her Guillotine IIC as close to the southern gatehouse of Tanzano as possible. She spared a glance to Alexis, whose face showed worry and concern. She can hear the pain in his voice too.
"I took care of that problem for you, after all," Mikula's pained voice came through. "Got a bit of a wound, so I'm going to be out of it for a while. So take care of our friends for me, okay?"
"Copy that Firefly," Tanaka replied, pursing her lips. "How badly are you hurt? I can call in a pickup for you if needed."
"I'm fine, Oni. Just a flesh wound. Hurts like Hell, but I'll be okay." Tanaka could hear a resonating sigh of relief at the news come from her left, and she couldn't help but smile a bit. "I hear that, Firefly. Just stay safe and we'll get back to you. Over an' out."
"Over and out," Mikula replied, and then the carrier wave changed as he turned off his radio. Tanaka turned over to look at Alexis. "I'm sure he's fine."
"I know," Alexis said with a small, though strained, smile. "Mikula's a terrible liar, even over the radio."
Tanaka flashed a smile back. "Glad to hear, now," she turned her radio to another frequency. "Okay, Oni Lance, everyone in position?" She paused and heard a short chorus of affirmatives. "Good, move out!" With that, she cut the radio and hit her jump jets.
The 70-ton 'mech rose on a column of fire and smoke, leaping over the gatehouse to come to a landing on the relatively narrow street on the other side. Tanaka took a moment to make sure that the street was clear of any hostiles or noncombatants, and then she started forward.
Even as the MechWarrior concentrated on her goal, Alexis spent a moment to look over the city. Such a nice city, even when compared to Neo Tokyo. I wish that my first visit here wouldn't have been under such circumstances. She watched the tops of buildings, noting the lupar who gathered there, staring open-mouthed and pointing at the 'mech as it paraded down the street.
Then a threat indicator popped up on Tanaka's HUD, and Alexis shifted her attention back to more morbid thoughts. What sort of death machine is that now?
Tanaka easily recognized the alphanumeric code attached to the indicator, however. "There's our target," she said grimly as she brought her 'mech to a stop. "He's on the next road over. Hang on." The last was addressed to Alexis, as Tanaka turned her 'mech and then hit the jump jets again. She angled the ten-meter war machine up and over a low set of buildings, coming to rest on the next main street over.
And down the way, a Galleon light tank was firing its lasers at a series of shapes that bounded further towards the city center. Tanaka spared only a split second to make sure that the street ahead was clear of natives before she spitted the 30-ton vehicle on her weapons' crosshairs, and then fired.
The ER PPC streamed out first, its hellish energies reaching across the hundred-meter gap to impact the rear armor of the light tank. Spears of molten metal splashed from the tank, covering the area behind it with globs of rapidly cooling slag.
Then Tanaka triggered her ER Medium Lasers, sending one to melt sheets of armor off of the Galleon's turret, the cooling metal leaking into the ring mechanism and freezing it. But that damage paled when the second medium laser sliced through the last few kilograms of armor on the tank's rear, coring into the engine and power amplifiers. With a flash, the vehicle died completely and stopped moving. A split second later, hatches opened and the crew began to bail out, running for a safety that they would not know, for tracers and laser beams reached out from their former prey to kill the Blakests to a man.
Tanaka walked her 'mech forward, careful of the narrower street she strode down. "Oni One calling all Onis, what's goin' on boys?"
"One, this is Three," Myers' voice rolled in first. "Got nothin' here, movin' for the objective."
"Two here, cap." Stein was next. "Splashed that APC, squished some PBIs."
"Same here One," Carmike spoke up. "APC blasted, roast PBIs everywhere."
"Cut the chatter, boys, and keep it professional," Tanaka spoke harshly. Don't you fuckers go trigger-happy on me. She waited for three subdued 'ayes' to come through before she spoke again. "All right, everyone head for the fortress, take up defensive positions."
Tanaka cut off the radio after her lancemates' confirmations, and then she turned to Alexis. "Feel like making a bit of a broadcast?"
Alexis blinked in surprise. "I guess. Why?"
Tanaka spared a hand to wave at the lupar that were beginning to come out into the street. "They need to know that it ain't safe to be runnin' about."
"Oh..." Alexis sounded surprised, apparently not realizing it herself. Then she nodded. "Of course. But how do I do that?"
Tanaka flipped a few controls on her consol. "Your mike's voice activated, and I tied you into the external speakers. Just speak loud and clear."
Alexis nodded, taking a moment to collect her thoughts and a breath. "Attention, citizens of Tanzano," she spoke into her microphone in Lupari. Outside, she saw the many lupar look up at the magnified sound of her voice. "The Invaders are being punished. It is not safe to be outside. Please, return to your homes."
"They should also head to the ground floor or basement of any building," Tanaka whispered to Alexis. The latter nodded in reply and repeated that in Lupari for the natives.
Mikula froze in his tracks, halting the small group just outside the alley that led to the Laughing Daukner. He heard the echoes coming from the southern part of the city. "It can't be..." No! What is she doing here?
"Mikula, what is it?" Senmar asked, obviously worried over getting his brother some medical attention.
"Hang on," Mikula replied as he triggered his radio, which hadn't left his hand since he'd used it last. "Firefly One One calling Oni One."
"Oni One here, Firefly. What's up?"
Mikula gulped nervously. "You don't happen to have a passenger, do you? Specifically, a small lady who's going to drive me insane with worry?"
A moment passed before a different female voice came over the radio, this time in Lupari. "Mikula, don't worry, I'm safe. Just get yourself healed."
"Damnit Alexis, you're supposed to be back at Hercor!" Mikula fairly growled into the radio.
"I'm doing an important job, Mikula." Alexis' voice became nearly pleading. "Please, trust me in this."
Despite his worry and anger, Mikula couldn't help but be touched by her tone. "Alright... Okay... But don't you do anything stupid!"
"Like you did?" Her voice came back with a trace of taunting in it. "Just stay safe yourself, Mikula, and everything will be all right."
Mikula grunted before replying. "I will." He paused for a heartbeat before adding in three more words. "I love you."
"I love you too." And with that, the carrier wave died as Tanaka closed the channel. Mikula frowned and turned to look over at his two companions. "Let's go then."
With that, the group moved the rest of the way, eventually entering the tavern. Inside, three people stood around the bar, and a fourth behind it. They turned as the other group entered the tavern, Mrs. Reyka slamming the door shut behind them.
"Mikula!" Kayla exclaimed from where she stood. "You're hurt!"
"Aye, but not too bad," Mikula replied as he staggered off to a table, sitting down heavily in a chair. Then he turned to his brother. "Senmar, your pack has the medikit, get it." Senmar nodded and then turned to race for the steps to the upstairs rooms.
"Mikula, shouldn't you get to a doctor?" Mrs. Reyka asked as she came over to sit next to him and look at the wound. Mikula, however, frowned and shook his head. "At the moment, a medikit is about as effective as any one of our people's doctors."
"What is this thing you speak of?" Kayla asked as she came over, trailed by Marner, and then by both of Reyka's daughters.
Mikula grunted as Mrs. Reyka touched his side, looking at the wound. "It's a container that holds medicines and bandages devised by our friends in the Republic." He then grunted again. "Mrs. Reyka, I'm glad that you care, but it hurts when you keep touching the part that's bleeding."
Reyka leaned back from where she was checking on Mikula's wound. "Well, there's showing gratitude for you," she said, sounding annoyed.
Mikula just closed his eyes and sighed. Part of him wanted to say something, whether comforting or challenging, but the pain in his side was taking up all of his attention now that his adrenalin was wearing off. His silence infected the others, though Reyka spoke again. "I'm sorry, Mikula, I'm just worried."
"It's fine. It's all right," he said. Then he heard Senmar coming down the stairs, and he opened his eyes to see his brother approaching, his pack in his hands.
Senmar quickly crossed the distance and set the pack on the table. Working quickly, he opened it and pulled out the unmistakable white plastic with a red cross case of a medikit. Then he gave Mikula a helpless kind of look. "I don't know really how to use this."
"That's fine," Mikula said as he reached out with his right arm, the left he kept pressed against his side, and grabbed the kit. In a moment he had opened it and managed to find the disinfectant spray, and he turned to Mrs. Reyka. "Since you want to help, could you spray my wound with this?"
"What is it?" Reyka asked as she gently took the bottle from Mikula.
"It will keep my wound from becoming infected," he replied as he took his hand away from the gash in his side. "I can't spray it too well from this angle. Just point the small opening and press down on the top."
Reyka frowned, but she did as instructed, sending a small spray of the numbing disinfectant. Mikula grunted as she did so, but he had been ready for the sting. "Thank you," he said as he grabbed a MediJel bandage from the kit. He then opened the small cup that the HarJel-related goop came in, sticking his hand into it and then taking the morphic bandage out. Aiming carefully for the center of the wound, he pressed the bandage to it, and the substance automatically began to spread out a bit on its own. Mikula finished spreading it himself, making sure that it reached all the way to the edges.
With a sigh of relief, Mikula leaned back and looked over the shocked faces of those around him. "What the Hell is that?" Marner asked from where he stood.
"It's a morphic bandage. It expands to cover the wound in one go so that it won't leave any gaps." Mikula explained slowly, partially to make sure that they would understand him, but also because the pain was still bothering him. Still, it's not as bad as being shot through the leg.
Before anyone could say anything else, they heard a loud rumble.
"Van Horn!" Vickers' voice came through the radio. "Any change in your status?"
Van Horn turned his head a bit before replying; an autonomic response. "Negative sir. We're still sittin' here. Haven't seen any Wobbies stick their heads up, either."
He then heard a grunt come through the line. "Some good news for a change. Keep it steady there."
"Aye aye, sir." Van Horn replied. "Permission to speak freely sir?"
"Okay, but make it march."
"Yes, sir. I'm wonderin' how 'hot' are those nukes, sir?"
Another grunt. "Worried 'bout your friends, eh? Well, don't bother; there's more WMDs than we'd thought there'd be, so we called in another transport. The first bird's gonna be takin' the nukes, and we'll take the second with the natives."
Van Horn sighed frowned at the bad news. "Thank you, sir."
"No problem boy. Now keep your peepers peeled." With that, the radio channel cut out, and van Horn sighed before he changed frequencies and relayed the information to his two comrades.
Sellers grunted. "Well, good, more waiting to be ambushed."
"I guess so," Castellano added with his own grunt. "Good thing we got them folks to help us," he said and pointed up. Van Horn followed the line of sight until he saw Myers' Corvus standing on the other side of the ramparts.
"Shit, when did that get here?" Van Horn asked, clearly surprised.
Castellano chuckled darkly. "Spendin' too much time yakkin' and not enough time lookin,' eh? I hope you were a better scout when you served your term."
Van Horn frowned as he turned back to his friend. Though of course Castellano couldn't see it, he could hear it. "Actually, I wasn't a Scout trooper. I was certified for Elemental suits."
"Really?" Castellano's voice held a note of surprise. "Why're you in my squad then?"
Van Horn shrugged, causing the suit to ape his movements. "It takes more time to re-qualify on an Ele. So I took scout, since I'd be more needed for translating, anyway."
"Heh. Well, seems you've gotten your own share of fightin' in, anyways." Castellano sounded amused as he turned to scan the area around them again.
"Yeah, don't remind me." Van Horn replied gruffly and then turned to conduct his own scan. He reminded himself to check MAD as well as infrared, since the Lupar hadn't discovered how to build their cities out of iron, yet. He swept the area carefully, until he came to the group of natives that were sitting down in the middle of the triangle formed by the three Republic troopers. Then he saw that two of them, a gatón and a lupar, each had a fairly large magnetic signature.
What's this? He wondered naturally. Van Horn used the suit's controls to overlay the MAD scan on top of normal visilight, and he then began to walk slowly to the nearest of the armed natives; the lupar. As he walked towards the group, they seemed to cringe and draw back. The one that was armed, though, seemed a bit less frightened than the others.
Van Horn's mind automatically catalogued this as he came to a stop in front of the lupar. "You," he said, cutting on the external speakers. "You're armed."
The lupar's eyes went wide at that, but then he seemed to struggle to control his emotions. "I don't know what you mean."
Van Horn cocked his shotgun, causing a shell to load into the firing chamber with an audible clack that even the natives couldn't misunderstand. "Now, I know you're lying, and you know you're lying. So let's just cut to the end where I find out what you have. Hmm?"
The lupar's ears went far back in embarrassment, and some of the other natives near him edged away. After a moment, though, he slowly reached into his shirt and pulled out an elaborate, but still deadly effective, dagger. He then carefully put it on the ground and scootched away from it himself.
Van Horn put his shotgun around on his back, and then he advanced until he got to the dagger. Then he kneeled and picked it up, and looked it over carefully. After a few moments of this, he spoke. "This is a nice weapon."
Another moment stretched before the lupar spoke up. "It has been in my family for generations."
Van Horn tilted his helmeted head up so that his visor could look at the lupar. "Then it would be a shame for me to keep it." With that, he gripped the blade and held it to the lupar handle first.
The native just stared, his face a look of total surprise, before he finally gained enough wits about him to take the dagger. "Th- thank you."
"You're welcome. Just don't use it on me or my friends, okay?" Van Horn waited until the lupar nodded, and then he brought his hand up and lightly placed it on the native's shoulder. "Good man." Then he released the native and stood up. "So how did you get that by the Wobbies, anyway?"
The native blinked. "Who?"
"Those you call the 'Invaders' we call 'Wobbies.' How'd you keep them from finding that blade?"
The lupar looked embarrassed again, though this time from the apparent praise one could hear in van Horn's voice. "They didn't search hard enough."
"Well, be glad we're not them, eh?" Van Horn said, and then he turned his head to look over at the second armed person. Every one of the natives followed his stare to look at the gatón. "And how did you keep your little weapon, hmm?" He spoke then in Gatonese.
The gatón blushed as people then began to part for van Horn, who walked over as soon as it was clear. The native didn't even try to pretend, and he, too, slowly reached into his shirt to reveal a decent, though not particularly spectacular knife. "I can't say that it's an heirloom." He said quietly.
Van Horn kneeled as before, and he looked over the blade after it was offered to him. "Not as nice as the last one. More a utility knife than a real weapon." He then shifted his view at the gatón. "Now, how'd you get this in?"
"I… I didn't." The gatón admitted embarrassedly. "There's… Some people who do not like the Invaders. I helped them and they snuck a weapon to me in case I needed it."
A resistance movement? Van Horn was intrigued. This bears further investigation… Later though. "Well, you can keep it then. Just don't-"
"Use it against you or your friends. I head." The gatón smiled slightly.
"Ah, know a little Lupari, eh?" Van Horn asked, receiving a nod. "Well, that's good. Now maybe I won't have to repeat myself all the time, eh?" He asked and then chuckled, standing as he did so.
The ground then rumbled, and van horn looked up to see Myers' Corvus shifting position as another 'mech came alongside it. The searchlight mounted on top easily identified it as a Guillotine IIC.
His radio cackled to life. "What's up doc?" Tanaka's voice came through, followed soon by a thick chuckle. Van Horn rolled his eyes as he replied. "Very funny, Captain. I hope that this ain't a social call?"
"'Fraid not," Tanaka replied, her voice turning professional. "Checkin' in with you, since my passenger is worried over those folks you're guarding."
Van Horn nodded, though he wondered if Tanaka could even see him doing so. "I see. Well, she can rest assured that they're fine."
"Good. We'll be around. Out." With that, the captain was gone, and van Horn shrugged and went back to his old guard spot.
"What's goin' on?" Castellano asked over the frequency the three troopers were sharing.
"Just Captain Tanaka buggin' me with old jokes," van Horn replied casually. "Oh, and don't worry 'bout any MAD readings you get on the natives." The last he spoke a bit sarcastically. With that, Castellano muttered, "Damnit, forgot."
"Yeah, well, no body, no report," van Horn replied.
"Indeed. So when's that damn transport getting' here, anyway?"
A sudden rumble came from overhead, and the unmistakable light of an Assault Transport's jets flew overhead as it slowed into vertical flight to land in the courtyard just beyond the fortress.
Van Horn and Sellers chuckled, and Castellano made some unhappy sounds. "I swear, someone up there likes to make a fool outta me," he said.
"I wouldn't doubt it," van Horn replied good-naturedly.
Then the platoon frequency lit up. "All right you apes!" Vickers' voice came through clear as the transport descended beyond their visual scope, and the battlemechs nearby turned to move for the landing zone. "Sierra, Alfa and Bravo Squads will carry the WMDs. Charlie, Echo, and Foxtrot squads will provide cover.
"Delta will remain on patrol for any Wobbies still wantin' to tango with us tonight. The mechjocks are gonna stand overwatch, so try not to get spooked and shoot them. I don't want to have to scrape your carcass off of the ground.
"Now, after we load, we gotta wait for the next transport, so stay frosty!"
"Ooh-rah!" The platoon chorused through the channel.
"Good, now everyone, git goin!'"