Chapter Three: Fog of War
Oh, what men we have become…tyrants and liars in the face of duty. If that Zellbrigen really worked I would almost find it attractive, but you can't win wars by holding back against an enemy who fights dirty. And, funny as it is, the dirtiness is on my side this time. Though I wonder if the clans even know how tyrannical they've become themselves? …If they can even recount why the crusade was started in the first place… Doubts flowed through Karl Garris' mind again and again, reminding him of the complexities of his life. In another life he could've been a professor, or a child psychologist. He loved to help people, which in turn helped himself.
But the world he lives in is constantly filled with war, and his mind is perfect for it. At least that's what his superiors keep telling him. He thought he was just quick on his feet, mentally speaking. Either way, that picture of his family that keeps him company on these long away missions was not keeping his mind clear today, but adding anxiety. He wanted to be able to look at his daughter and tell her the great things he does when she asks, but even he does not like recounting the numerous memories of his life. It is for her that he does what he does, and he keeps that imprint to help him focus once again.
He linked up with Rowinstein and heard yet another string of bad news. Luckily for him, Allen did get the nuke and the location of where Michael and that group of Star Adders are holding up. He has his uses, and I can take advantage of them if I can keep his leash short enough. The problem was that Rowinstein lost his family when the Jade Falcons invaded in 3050. His resourcefulness is usually unmatched, but when confronting any of the clans he turns whatever control factor he has off, becoming hotheaded, vengeful, uncontrollable at times, and worst of all, an inspiration to his men.
This mission was sticky enough if it weren't for that. Karl now had in his service 24 'mechs, two vehicles, a dropship, and one nuclear warhead. He was preparing to retrieve the object of his small conquest and put all this behind him. He knows the Crusaders will never surrender and that Michael will have to be taken by force. He could issue a trial of possession, but any chance of him not winning would scratch the entire mission, and that was an unacceptable risk. So he planned on giving them an ultimatum. At least this way he had his chest cleared for yet another massacre. The only trick was to do this without the Star Adders sending for reinforcements, and hope to get off-planet without that black Jade Falcon unit nailing him to a wall again.
That black unit… Karl insisted thinking about, they fight with the ferocity of all the Falcons I've seen, but don't follow their standard rules of engagement. In fact, I still can't figure out what their strategy was before. Are they always that unpredictable? This makes them dangerous, albeit, as dangerous as any other unit out there capable of destroying eight of my men in half an hour. This, as no one actually knew, was the only thing Karl ever came close to fearing: a clan unit free to wage war with no predictable tendencies. He thought it best to push that anxiety to the back of his head again and only deal with that bridge if it crashes out from under him later.
He keyed the Dropship commander and told him to prep for a hot extraction, just in case. Then he conferred with the driver of the vehicle transporting the nuclear warhead. That was his trump card if he failed, clearing the Lyran Alliance of any blame and possibly igniting a war between the Jade Falcons and the Star Adders. Can we make this any more complicated?
Thao Prentice closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself. The day's events were stressful enough without the intervention of the Star Adder military.
"Identify yourselves," the voice repeated through Thao's headset. He was staring at an Executioner and a whole load of Star Adder front line units, ten total. One star consisted of assault 'mechs and the other was full of heavy 'mechs. Thao had been pushing his unit toward the canyon system when he hit the last section of foliage. The radio transmission came first, then the radar confirmation. Thao thought it best to hang in the woods and ensure his encounter happened there instead of in the open. If they do go at it, he'll need to do maximum damage while losing minimum men. He had none to spare as he was outnumbered by LOKI already. The Star Adder unit commander introduced himself as Star Captain Terrek of the 13th Adder Assault Cluster, Epsilon Galaxy.
"This is Star Captain Thao Prentice of Clan Jade Falcon," he replied. Thao was already running combat scenarios through his head as to how he could bypass this binary without fully engaging it. So far he hadn't come up with any successful ones.
"What are you doing in Star Adder territory?" the same man asked.
"I am here to retrieve a member of my unit who is in danger of attack from enemy forces as we speak."
"You mean our forces."
"No, I mean enemy forces. We are not the only ones here." Thao let his etiquette drop momentarily to show this Star Captain how frustrated he becomes when no one listens to what he has to say, even though he knew it would draw the response he didn't have time for…
"Explain yourself. You have thirty seconds." Star Captain Terrek's voice dropped to a menacing tone, which had no effect on Thao whatsoever.
He knew that earlier in his career he would have acted with the same sense of duty and stubbornness as this Terrek, but it didn't make the situation any easier to deal with. "I do not even have that much time. I demand pass. I will speak with your galaxy commander afterwards."
"There will be no such arrangement. I am here—""I have orders to retrieve one of my men before he dies, and you are in my way," Thao interrupted.
"And I am under orders to secure our border. You are trespassing and have tried my patience enough. How many of your units will defend themselves?"
"You are kidding, right?" Thao thought it best to test Terrek's patience and figure out how his men will react. Much to his regret the Star Adder binary arrayed in front of him arranged itself into a combat formation, its members picking out single targets.
"Star Captain Terrek, hear me now and hear me well. I am going after my man, whether you are in my way or not. The lives of your men rest in your hands now, they make no difference to me. You ask yourself if you want to do this."
"How many units will defend themselves? If you do not answer then I will open fire on all of them until you surrender. Five… four…"
Thao put his head back and sighed. He opened up the comm link and spoke to his troops. "I want us out of here ASAP. Inflict enough damage to scatter them and press on, understand?"
"… Three…"
Each Star Commander in the 32nd replied back to him in the same determined tone of voice showing full well that they knew what they were getting into, "Aff Commander."
"… Two…"
"… One…"
Thao Prentice fired both of his PPCs directly into Star Captain Terrek's Executioner. The resulting impact knocked Terrek's shots wide and Thao pressed the charge. He continued with his own medium lasers and banked right, behind some other troops and into some foliage to draw fire from his men behind him and give them some direction to follow, not to mention cool down from the immense heat buildup his machine was suffering right now. His Hellbringer was modified to his specifications, increasing the armor rating and improving a few weak areas, but heat was not one of them. Almost every unit at once fired at their designated target, erupting the forest into an instant war zone.
His unit knows that fighting head to head is just a competition of armor and heat sinks, so they immediately dispersed into the coverage behind them. The Star Adder troops pursued, but found themselves the object of target practice as the Night Hawks had units retreating under cover while others took aimed shots at their pursuers. The Adders took their cover and the firing slowed a bit.
"I see you Falcons still believe in honorable combat?" Star Captain Terrek instigated over the general commline. While Thao's force technically outnumbered the Star Adder binary, the Adders were still sporting assault 'mechs that were simply devastating at this range, and the Night Hawks knew that this was not the last engagement they would participate in by the day's end.
Thao was paying him no attention as he was getting news from his dropship captain. "We found an entire binary of medium bombers heading for your area from the nearest Star Adder airbase. I sent the 32nd Combat Support binary out to cover you. They are also equipped with smoke barriers."
"Beautiful. ETA?"
"Three minutes for the Adder units, but they will receive contact from our fighters in two and a half. You should be fine for the most part if they start bombing, but plan for the worst."
"Aff. Thao Prentice out." Thao knew this was either going to turn out bad, or devastatingly worse. He punched in the nav point to the best area suitable for a smokescreen between the Night Hawks and the Adder aggressors. It would take a little less than four minutes to get there anyway, so it may all fall together. "Night Hawks! We have incoming! Adder bombers are en route to knock us around, but we have our own air support backing us up. Get over to the new rally point and prepare for a smokescreen. When it hits, I want us moved out and heading toward that canyon location."
His men moved and returned fire while miles away a new confrontation was forming…
Far above the surface of Huntress, twenty aerospace fighters raced against time to intercept a binary of Star Adder bombers en route to their forces on the ground. The Star Adders were not know to break Zellbrigen so quickly and use unbidden aerospace power in an engagement, but today seemed to be an anomaly in itself, and nothing was impossible anymore. It didn't help that the combat below wasn't a trial.
Star Captain Gregors finally got the signal from his communication display that the Star Adder bombers were in range. His cockpit was rather spacious compared to other medium fighter chassis, but the upcoming situation created a certain amount of tension that only made the whole world feel small around him. Luckily he had to look no further than the window to see the vastness around him and help him feel as liberated as any pilot does on such a nice day. He initiated contact while assessing their force strength. It seemed that another binary of fighters was behind them and would reach the area approximately two minutes after the initial engagement. This left Gregors very little time to accomplish what he needed to. This also suggested that the Star Adders scrambled on a moment's notice and might be unprepared to deal with an unplanned air confrontation. If only I were the strategic manipulator… Gregors though. His was always the most practical approach.
"Star Adder bombers, this is Star Captain Gregors of Clan Jade Falcon. Please state the reason for your planned interference of the ground engagement below."
The response came back instantly, suggesting the Adder unit was about to talk to them soon anyway. "Star Captain Gregors, this is Star Captain Nicholas of Clan Star Adder. I have received orders to prevent the Jade Falcon ground units from reaching the canyon system in violation of the border treaty in place by our respective commands. They are to be stopped and interrogated for the recent pillaging of our storehouses to the southeast or destroyed if uncooperative."
Gregors felt a ping of anxiety in the back of his head. He knew this wasn't going to be easy. "Star Captain Nicholas, circumstances have occurred confusing your command of the situation below. The Jade Falcon unit currently engaged is not responsible for the raids on your facilities and is on a mission from our Khan to retrieve a target of interest to all the clans within your border."
Gregors knew this was coming, "So who attacked our facilities several hours ago?"
"A Lyran special forces unit attacked your facilities posing as a Jade Falcon binary. They have commandeered several Star Adder 'mechs and are currently headed toward a destination far from here. Your efforts are only hampering the mission of my unit and hurting any chance you may have at containing this mess."
"That is preposterous! An Inner Sphere unit in disguise?" Star Captain Nicholas laughed as he replied, which irritated Gregors, but really, could he blame him? If the reversed positions, Gregors knew he would be laughing himself.
"Aff. All will be explained afterward, but I need that unit to reach its destination."
"Stand by…" Star Captain Nicholas chuckled again as he responded. Gregors knew this wasn't going to fly. He waited while Nicholas routed the new information to his command and received guidance. "Do you have any proof to back your story up? If not, then we will be forced to commence bombing your units as they have reached the edge of our objective area."
Gregors dipped his head in defeat as he replied. He was already arming his weapons systems and watching the status display of his binary as each of his men did the same. "I have no evidence as of yet. If you commence bombing I will be forced to defend my unit. Your escort will not be here in time to save you."
"It makes no difference to us; we have our orders. I will see you over the battlefield." Gregors cursed inside his head at the news. He knew the bomber unit had some air-to-air capability, and the air escort would definitely tip the odds in the Adder's favor by virtually outnumbering the Falcons two to one. But Gregors' unit was highly trained in scenarios such as this and he had no fear of engagement, only anxiety. He knew that getting Thao Prentice out of there safely was the only acceptable outcome, regardless of how well his unit fares in the air. It was a cruddy feeling, one of honor and a sense of duty, but cruddy nonetheless, because Crusaders fought to win, not to stall an enemy.
The Night Hawks were faring pretty well considering the firepower being concentrated on them. They had successfully provided cover for themselves and made it to the edge of the canyon system. Thao did not want his 'mechs to actually enter the canyons, as that would make easy targets for the incoming bombers, but he needed to get in the area to track Julian down and end this thing once and for all. He effectively got his entire unit there losing only one 'mech and suffering damage to another extensive enough to make it pretty useless in any further engagements. The Star Adder unit suffered three losses and two 'mechs were injured to the point of them having to drop out of combat or slow everyone else down. Thao was able to maneuver his unit to an overlook and trap several Adder 'mechs in a rocky upgrade. Multiple alpha strikes whittled two of the heavy 'mechs and one of the assault 'mechs down to wreckage, causing serious blockage and slowing the ascent of the rest of the Adder binary. Cover fire caught two more Adder units who broke through the overlook entrance but sped too far ahead of their comrades below and got caught without any backup. Thao had Star Commander Bree send two fresh units to hold them off and they did just that. When the Adder units nearly powered down, the two Night Hawks disengaged to rejoin everyone downrange.
He got the word that his fighter detail was inbound and punched coordinates in for the smoke screen. It was a matter of seconds now before his entire trinary booked it hard along the canyon system to their lost member.
The Jade Falcon fighters actually reached the site first, dropping the smoke screen payload and pulling off to engage the Adder bombers. The fighting over the battlefield had grown instantly lethal as two bombers dropped under the weight of enemy fire, and several tons of ordinance descended into the expanding wall of smoke that the Night Hawks were using for cover. The sight was overwhelming and the noise alone shook the ground for what seemed like miles. The explosions lit up from within the smoke wall, causing an eerie reddish-orange overcast down on everything around it. It quite literally looked like the gates of hell, if anyone involved believed in such a thing.
Luckily for the Night Hawks, there were already emerging from the other side and the majority of the ordinance just hit rocks. Enough hit a rear defender and blew enough internal structure out of it that it nearly turned into a noodle, and another 'mech suffered massive damage to its rear armor and was in fear of getting sniped in the back as the unit moved on down the canyon system. The entire unit has pulled countless hours running drills such as this, dispersing erratically through a smoke field to avoid air-to-ground ordinance. Once out of the smoke however, their fighter detail had to keep the bombers from making a return run and dowsing the 'mech unit with a barrage of laser and PPC fire. Today, Gregors did just that.
Thao pressed onward and out of range of the slower Adder assault 'mechs behind him. The further he got from the smoke wall, the more the sun shined through and clear it became. It was very metaphorical to those that could appreciate it, though there was way too much to think about right now for anyone on the ground to notice. By the time he heard news of Star Captain Gregors and his unit's results of the engagement he was away from the action and nearing the final destination of his trip.
Gregors lost twelve units and destroyed near twenty-one Star Adder fighters and bombers. Kael Pershaw picked Gregors because of his experience fighting Inner Sphere dog fighters, and that experience paid off today it seems. The Adder bombers pulled out after severe losses and the fighters broke the engagement on mutual terms with the Jade Falcon force. No side was going to gain anything from an air victory today. The bombers suffered the most as they flew into a wall of laser and PPC fire when dropping their ordinance. They lifted from their strafing runs and attempted to engage the Falcons when the actual dogfight began. The Falcons had the initiative however, and made the Adder bombers pay a dear price before their fighter escort arrived. The Adders' arrival was brilliant, taking nearly four Falcon fighters down in the first volley, but the numbers started to waver and kills alternated after that with Gregors' light fighters drawing fire and outmaneuvering the medium Adder fighters, while the Falcon mediums concentrated on taking the bombers out. It ended in a draw as they both decided it a pyrrhic victory for either side if continued.
Telemetry picked up the tail end of LOKI's support elements: the vehicles. They were out of range for the ECMs employed to protect them and they let Thao know exactly where to set his men up. The ETA was a while out however, and he knew much could happen within the time it took him to reach the end. His unit pressed on in the direction of the LOKI formation and hosted an eerie silence not often experienced by this unit of outgoing warriors. This was a grim day if they had ever had one. It was bad enough fighting Inner Sphere Special Forces units, but now I have to deal with Star Adder regulars. They will send more units now that they know where I am heading. Stravag! My men are slowly disappearing and I need to get to Michael before they extract him to Tharkad. Come on Julian, do your thing and hold out long enough for us…
"Finally!" Gretchen Talasko just connected with Epsilon command through the relay station's transmitter. The signal was routed through several stations and had to be approved for reception at the command post since it wasn't encrypted. "This is Star Colonel Talasko of the 300th Adder Sentinels. I need to speak with Galaxy Commander Carlos Hutchinson immediately."
The return signal was delayed, which made her wonder how delayed her signal was in reaching them, "Ma'am, Galaxy Commander Carlos Hutchinson stepped out, may I hand you to his aide—" instantly Carlos's deep voice filled the small room in the relay station, "This is Carlos Hutchinson. What in Kerensky's name is going on down there?"
"Sir, the 212th Sheet Lightning has been compromised. The Jade Falcon unit—" the signal started muting out as she began the last sentence. The reply was garbled and muted as well, coming in short bursts of fragmented speech, "Wha—Star Colonel? Jad—cons --cked facility at---"
It was all she heard before the explosion outside jarred the entire relay station. The ringing in her ears overrode most of what was going on, but her vision told her that Julian and Miles were up and peering outside to see what the source of the explosion was while Adrian checked the prisonerand Brenton checked the comm system. Her world was nearly soundless for several seconds. When her hearing came to, she saw Julian Buhallin and Miles Van Houten look at her with frustrated looks on their faces. This told her all she needed to know. LOKI was finally here. The footsteps of its 'mechs approaching started reverberating the floor of the small compound.
"Status," she commanded.
"Ma'am, it looks like an LRM hit the main power generators." As she looked around she noticed the communications equipment was all offline. Well, not just offline, as she figured out after a few moments, but off altogether.
"What about the backup generators? Why did they not kick in right away?"
Brenton looked up at her, "I do not know. I will go check on it." With that he grabbed some of his tools and slid out the door to the rear of the facility, using it to hide his presence from the approaching threat in the form of over twenty battlemechs.
Karl Garris noticed his scanner intercepting a signal from a local relay station. This station was the point of reference in his view screen for the last minute or so, so it didn't surprise him any. He listened in and waited for him to close range for his LRMs to lock on to the power generator of the structure. He would shoot out the dish, but he didn't want to risk injuring Michael, who he assumed was in side with the rest of them. A single LRM did the trick, albeit the explosion was larger than he thought it would be.
He approached the structure and stopped two hundred meters away, the remnants of his unit waited behind him in formation. He activated the loudspeakers on his 'mech and addressed the person in charge, "Clan Star Adder, I am Karl Garris of the Lyran Alliance. As you have guessed by now, I am here for Michael, and will not hesitate to kill all of you to prevent him from remaining your prisoner. Let him go unharmed however, and I will leave this planet and spare you your lives. This is a one-time offer. You have one minute to respond."
Gretchen was inside the compound listening. She had no way to communicate back to him since the communications array was out of commission. Mechwarrior Brenton finally checked in over the handheld radio, "Ma'am, it looks like the backup generator is okay, but a large piece of shrapnel severed the ground wiring from it to the inside consol. It did not cook the hardware, so if you give me a few minutes, I can have it up and running again."
"Work like the wind Mechwarrior. Let me know the moment you are finished," was her reply. She then looked at Miles and asked him for any ideas. He said he only had one, but was reluctant to tell her without shaking his head and smiling like it was an amusing joke. Surprisingly enough, Julian added on to it a little and they started preparing.
Karl Garris was growing impatient in the cockpit of his Timber Wolf. The only plan he saw that didn't end in the possible execution of Michael was sending men in on foot, which he did not want to do at this moment. He started his 'mech forward when he saw several bodies leave the station and enter the transport vehicle parked outside. The vehicle started up and drove in his direction until it was about 40 meters from him. He sent two 'mechs up to it along with himself to secure a perimeter and find out what the reply would be to his demands. The rest of LOKI panned out and secured the entire area.
The door of the vehicle slid open and Michael, looking somewhat inebriated stepped out of the vehicle with a satchel charge strapped across his chest. Someone's arm was holding him back from making a run from it. No other body was visible from his 'mech's view port. "Michael, are you okay?" he asked over the loudspeaker.
There was no reply, but he did not want him out there long. Karl gave the order to one of his men to dismount his 'mech and retrieve Michael. The Summoner to his right powered down and Staff Sergeant Halloway scrambled down to comply. The other 'mech was to cover him and make sure the Star Adders didn't try anything fanatical. As the Sergeant approached Michael, Garris' external mic picked up another sound. It sounded like another door opening. The Staff Sergeant reported, "Sir, it looks like they strapped an explosive to his chest. I have to get a closer look to make sure what it is."
Karl contacted his dropship and gave the order for it to proceed to his location for a hot extraction after Michael was secured. Staff Sergeant Halloway started his way over to him when it all went to hell.
Right then several grenades went off around the vehicle including smoke grenades, flash bangs and signal flares. The entire vicinity exploded into chaos while the vehicle skidded off right through the legs of the Mad Dog guarding the Staff Sergeant on the ground. "What happened? Report! Did you see them get in the vehicle!" Karl was first attempting to gather information from the men around him before hunting for answers himself. He knew if it came to that, then there wouldn't be many Star Adder survivors.
"Sir! This is Sergeant Halloway! He still might be here somewhere! I don't think I saw jump back in the vehicle!"
"Are you sure? I will not have them fire on it if there is a chance Michael is still in there."
Karl waited a second for a reply that never came. "Halloway?"
Several things were happening right under Karl's nose that had yet to be illuminated. The first was Adrian pulling Michael back into the vehicle while Julian jumped out the other side under the cover of smoke and flares while it sped off. The second was Julian killing Sergeant Halloway with his favorite assassin's knife. The third was Julian scaling the empty 'mech of the late Sergeant Halloway and powering it up. By the time Karl noticed the Summoner next to him moving, the Mad Dog was already sporting two unusable arms as simultaneous autocannon and PPC fire from Julian's requisitioned Summoner tore them to pieces at such a short distance. Julian then fired his jump jets and soared over Karl to nail a distant Glass Spider in the center torso.
"That's it! It's online!" Brenton exclaimed to his Star Colonel as he finished running some extension cables to reroute the ground current from the backup generator to the communication console inside the station.
Normally Gretchen would have reprimanded such a degradation of a warrior's speech, but now was not the time to bicker about such. She watched as the computer rebooted and went through its system checks.
"Hey, Clanner! I challenge you to a duel." Warrant Officer Dennis Brady's request was heeded by not only Julian, but also everyone else in the unit. Enough return fire hit Julian to make his 'mech far under par for such a duel, but he stopped firing nonetheless to face his opponent. "You killed a recon pilot earlier today. Cooked him in his cockpit, didn't you?"
"Aye." Was the only reply received from the now subdued Summoner.
"Well, to you he might have just been another 'target', but he was my friend. I will see you suffer as much as he did." Brady moved his Matador up to Julian's Summoner, imposing an impressive sight. There are fewer than 24 Matadors outside Clan Steel Viper, and this cocky punk gets a hold of one. Figures. Julian had to see the humor in that.
"Honor among Inner Sphere Stravags is definitely rare this evening. Revenge however, is below my concern. I will battle you to the death. I will take you all on if I have to." And with that, Julian's Summoner opened up with everything it had at Brady. If anyone has gone up against a Summoner before, they would know that its prime variant doesn't run hot often, and Julian was definitely taking advantage of that right now. Brady tried his best to avoid the sudden attack, failing several times to stop the PPC and autocannon fire from nailing his lower torso, near the gyro. He did, however, return fire just as aggressively, forcing his Matador to move with the shots to avoid recoil.
LOKI formed a messy circle around the combat, which was neck and neck. Brady was known among his comrades as a hot head, but has shown an interesting level of concentration when in one on one 'mech battles. This was no exception. Garris however, was concerned again at his scanner lighting up. It seems that the relay station was attempting to transmit again. "I told you to cut it OUT!" he yelled to himself as he opened up with a PPC blast to the dish receiver on the roof of the station, instantly disabling it and causing several small fires and collapsing support structures on the roof. The signal was instantly cut.
Gretchen couldn't believe it. After all that work, the dish was just… gone. The sound was unmistakable and the noise, good God the noise was almost overwhelming again. The computer monitors were still up, but no long-range transmission was possible now. She had again just reached the Star Adder Epsilon Galaxy command post before the dish was shot out. Now she just sat in the corner, pushing the pain in her brain back to keep herself capable of concentrating on another solution when it just hit her, this is it. I may die here at the hands of these Inner Sphere scum and there is nothing I can do about it. No way I can fight back. I am stuck on foot with this crappy rifle and one transport vehicle flailing around outside trying not to get shot to hell. Heh, it does not even have a functioning weapon, all it has is the satellite picture. At least if I were in there I could get a grand view of my death.
She sat there in a muddle when it suddenly hit her. "The satellite receiver! Brenton, can that vehicle out there route a signal from here to Epsilon command!"
His head slowly rose in understanding of her plan. "Aff. In fact, it can even encrypt it and keep the message hidden from that commander out there."
"Do it!" she commanded while keying her radio.
"Miles! I need you!" Miles Van Houten's headset lit up like an annoying mosquito so common in the humid areas of Huntress. "I am kind of busy right now!" was all he could get out of his mouth. He took the vehicle for a stroll toward a rolling hill arena. This area was a little more humid than the canyons, so it had some amount of vegetation he could use for cover. His job was to give several LOKI agents a good chase and keep them off Julian's back. Of course, only three 'mechs followed him, so that still left Julian with some 20 'mechs or so to deal with. It was better than nothing though, he kept thinking.
"Miles, I need you to turn the short range receiver on in the comm station and set the encrypter to the second automatic setting and plug Epsilon's signal in there." A volley of short-range missiles nearly missed Miles by several meters, sending shock waves that rocked his vehicle up on two wheels for a short time. He turned sharply to his right, then waited, then to his left. He had to stay erratic and unpredictable or else these damn Lyrans would turn his ride into a two-ton screen door. "Adrian! Do what she said!" he shouted back into the vehicle. "It may take a while ma'am, Adrian is still wounded and Michael still needs a babysitter."
"This message can stop a war between us and the Jade Falcons. You realize how important that is, quiaff?"
He looked back into the vehicle for a split moment when he hit a short straight away. He saw the computer running and the video feed through the monitor. "Aff. Let me find a hideaway so we can gear it all up for you. It may—" another hit knocked the rear end of his vehicle off the ground and over a few feet, causing him to lose concentration. "It may take a few minutes."
"Time is something we do not have Star Captain. Let me know when it is done. Gretchen Talasko out."
Julian was having a really bad streak. This entire battle was full of little mistakes that he could not avoid. His Summoner took enough damage before this duel started to make some techs cringe, but this Brady was no joke. He missed his share of shots, but was incredibly adept at heat management and maneuvering. Julian had a hard time maintaining a bead on him when moving laterally, and got nailed in the chest repeatedly when rushing in to close the distance. His only advantage is that he hit Brady's gyro a moment ago with a well placed PPC bolt and slowed his progress a bit. His major disadvantage, beside the fact that his left torso armor was all over the ground behind him was that he wasn't fighting to win, but to stall these guys. Gretchen needed to get her message out and Thao needed to get his ass over here pronto. It didn't occur to him that he may actually die today, but, like all true crusaders, he did not fear it. He only welcomed it if he were fighting to the death, which he was not doing at this moment. How the words of my falconer ring so true right now. It was so generic and corny back in the day… He reminisced about how his falconer went on about the honor of dying in combat and how the glory of the clan was shown through the sacrifice of great warriors back in his basic training days. But if he died making time for people that would more than likely die anyway, what honor was to be gained?
He pushed all the doubts aside and concentrated on the lower torso of Brady's Matador, determined to prolong this duel to buy time for the others. Brady let off several Streak SRM volleys at Julian's left torso, tearing up the internal structure there and disabling his left arm. Well, there goes my autocannon, he thought. Another two laser hits nailed his engine shielding. Things are not looking so good right now… he thought as he took careful aim. Brady dashed to his right just as Julian predicted while closing the distance. Julian fired his PPC directly into the Matador's gyro housing, screwing it over and forcing the 'mech to grab onto Julian's Summoner for support. The weight drug Julian's 'mech down in front, and Brady saw him though their cockpit viewing ports. His parting shot was the hand of his 'mech's left arm reaching out and grabbing Julian's cockpit, pulling it under his 'mech's torso as he fell on it. The resounding noise of the two giant machines falling into a heap was the last anyone in LOKI heard save the three 'mechs sent after the vehicle in the distance crashing through some forest in their pursuit. All was silent as the entire LOKI unit watched for signs of life inside either of the great war machines strewn on the ground. They found none.
Miles just managed to roll twice down a hillside while avoiding the latest barrage of laser fire aimed at his vehicle. It surprisingly landed on its wheels, but the disorientation forced him to take a few moments to regain his sense of balance. When he looked around, he noticed that his location was rather inaccessible from battlemechs and that he had a few moments for Adrian to fix up the communications systems. When he moved to assist however, he found that his arm was fractured in the rolls and his ulna was sticking out of his forearm, making a point in the sleeve of his uniform what was soaking in blood. The pain suddenly became enormously distracting as the adrenaline calmed, yet he had a mission to fulfill. After this I am getting some of that Hell's Horses tranquilizer, he thought with a smirk.
He turned enough to keep an eye on Michael while he made a makeshift splint with a loose panel covering and Adrian did his thing at the consol. He was no encrypter, but he did seem to learn a thing or two after hanging out with them.
Adrian turned the short-range receiver on and programmed the encrypter and long-range transmitter to the Epsilon command frequency. After that he got on the horn with Star Colonel Talasko. "Star Colonel, the system is up and running. Speak when ready. I cannot tell you if the thing is received or not since I do not know how to work the long range receiver."
Mechwarrior Brenton's voice came over the link and gave him quick instructions on how to set up a direct feed link through the vehicle's computer. After that Gretchen started her report to Epsilon command. She quickly explained the Lyran insurgents and their mission. She explained the truth behind the storehouse raids, and the real intention of the Jade Falcon unit in the black paint scheme. The Galaxy Commander was rather skeptical, but she gave him an oath of honor that she has verified this information and is telling the truth. He reluctantly accepted and told her that Star Adder reinforcements are en route to get her out of there and a trinary of 'mech hunter aerotech fighters is being dispatched immediately to respond to the Lyran threat. Through all this Miles found that his pursuing 'mechs found the transport and were trying to launch missiles into its area. He sped out of the enclosure and back up the hill into the foliage, forcing them to turn around and give chase again. He patched the satellite feed to the forward monitor this time, and it gave him a complete real-time view of his terrain and opponents, making his job infinitely easier. He also saw something that just made a smile creep across his face and forget about the pain in his arm and the pursuing Lyrans all at once.
Colonel Karl Garris sent several teams out to find Michael and get him into the trailing vehicles. Last he heard from Halloway before his corpse was found near Garris' 'mech's foot was that he didn't jump into the vehicle. At this point he wanted to make sure that the area was covered. Word from the three 'mechs dispatched to take care of the vehicle was that he was brilliantly avoiding all line of site with them through some forest. This situation was getting more frustrating by the moment. That is when he saw them. He looked up through his windshield and viewed a Kit Fox and an Incubus in black crest a hill ahead of him. His blood went cold when he realized that his men were all separated into search teams and easily divisible. He immediately ordered the teams back and considered opening communication with the Jade Falcon leader, as he would surely be listening for one, but decided against it. The time for diplomacy has passed. His dropship would be here soon and he needed this area secured. So he did the only thing that came into his mind with an absolute amount of certainty. He raised the right arm of his mech, and fired.
With that, several of his men rushed past him and gave chase to the two light Falcon 'mechs as they disappeared over the hill again. That is when he heard it. "Lyran commander, this is Star Captain Thao Prentice of Clan Jade Falcon. I challenge you to a trial of possession for one measly relay station and the grounds surrounding it. How many units will defend it?"
"As many as I have," was his reply. All of his men were still regrouping and he turned around to see Thao in his Hellbringer approach with seven 'mechs in tow. "I outnumber you and have the defensive advantage. Surrender now and I will spare the lives of your friends in the station."
"Poorly bargained. I will give you a minute to consider your position." Karl Garris heard Thao's response and wondered how a man with less than half the units of his opposing force can speak so boldly. And that is when his comm link lit up. "Colonel Garris, come in. This is Admiral Grant of the dropship Iron Gauntlet."
"I'm here Admiral. I am kind of busy, so if you could keep this short—"
"We're down. A whole mess of Clan fighters appeared and told us to land while we were heading to your location. We lit up our defenses and took some of them out, but they ruined the main engines and we went down. We've sustained massive damage, oh God I don't know how many survived." Karl let all this settle into his mind. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. The Star Adders have taken matters into their own hands. "Karl, I can't get you home. We're stuck here, if we survive." A long pause followed. "I'm sorry."
"Help out your men Admiral, I will do what I have to over here. Colonel Garris out." Karl just sat there in awe. All these decades, all the successful missions, the duty, the strength of House Steiner… I never expected it to end in such a mess. We were so close. He looked at the picture of his family in his cockpit and touched it gently. A feeling of regret shot through his head as his brain tried to recall the last moments he spent with them.
"No," he said to himself. He would not allow this to overwhelm him. He was stuck, yes, but that dropship still had Jade Falcon markings on it. It was close enough to be wiped out by the blast. He straightened up, inhaled, and gave the order. "Sheridan, detonate it. Do what you have to, we'll cover you from our end." With that he gave the orders to his men. "Men, we have been through a lot. We have seen the horrors that the Clans have bestowed upon our people, and we have done what we can to stop them. Feel good that you have served House Steiner well, that your families will remember you in a good way."
He let that settle in for a moment before he continued, "Our dropship has been disabled. We are stuck here on this God forsaken planet surrounded by the same Clanners that we have come to destroy. Today, we let go of our past and fight for the moment. We go down fighting so that the Clans know just how strong we truly are." He inhaled for this last part, the last thing he would address his people with. "Give 'em hell."
With that Rowinstein led the charge toward Thao and his support group while Sheridan started working on the nuke. The standard time to trigger a nuke in the Lyran Alliance military was 35 seconds. The standard time to hot wire a clan-made nuke under fire was about to be known soon enough.
Miles Van Houten was peeling around another bend in the tree line when his three pursuers suddenly pulled off and left him alone. He stopped, wondering if it was some kind of ruse to get him out of his cover when he looked at the satellite feed and saw mass combat ensuing. He saw the Falcon unit Julian spoke about approach, but he didn't know that they would open with a grand melee. Things were messy enough as it was and he was desperately searching for the one variable that he didn't know Julian's unit knew about… the nuke. There! Miles found the vehicle making slow turns around the battlefield trying not to sit still and become a target of opportunity. The second vehicle with LOKI was a smaller armored car, so it could not have been carrying the warhead. It has to be that one he thought to himself. "Star Colonel, I have identified the vehicle with the nuclear warhead in it. It is the covered truck driving laterally across your station's point of view. You need to take it out somehow. I am driving up there now to assist."
Gretchen sat up and tried to discern what he was telling her, "What? What do you mean by that?"
"I do not know exactly yet, but I will when I get there." Miles jammed on the gas to get his vehicle onto the battlefield as fast as possible.
Gretchen grabbed the rifle and the box of goodies taken from the transport along with the tools Brenton had grabbed earlier. She grabbed him by the arm and said, "Come with me. I need a spotter," then headed for the service ladder that lead to the roof.
Thao had found Colonel Garris' Timber Wolf and managed to single it out. Both commanders knew they were fighting each other and commenced one on one battle amidst the chaos of a grand melee. They just fought their hearts out: one for honor, the other for closure. They could almost feel the power in the eyes of their adversary if they were close enough to see him through his cockpit's glass. This was war at its finest.
Rowinstein found several targets and was alternating between all of them as Thao's troops bowed under the weight of all the firepower being aimed at them. No words were spoken; no courtesies extended. Rowinstein had dispatched one 'mech already as he watched two more Falcon units go down under heavy fire. They already took six of his troops out and were still fighting, though hopelessly outnumbered. Another Falcon went down. They just couldn't stand when being fired at from so many directions. Several LOKI operatives formed a hunting party with him and they wondered the battlefield, finding a target and concentrating their fire on it until it fell. This is only a matter of time, he thought. Aside from the dropship going down and the nuke being set, he was determined to kill every last one of these filthy clanners before the end. It was the only thing on his mind.
Gretchen set up on the roof of the complex under partial cover of the wreckage lain about by Garris' PPC bolt that knocked the dish out. She attached the limited scope she had on the rifle and had Brenton set up with binoculars confirming her target and watching for incoming fire. She found the vehicle under Brenton's directions, but knew that her laser rifle would not penetrate the truck's side armor. It was pretty pointless to her to even be up here, but this is what Miles wanted. If he has a plan, he had better throw it up now, she thought.
Miles finally reached the battlefield as the tore-up vehicle he was driving managed to straighten out after a dangerously sharp turn. He took a second to confirm the truck and circled around to catch it moving away from the relay station. He kept his distance so as to not tip off the other driver of his plan. "Miles, are you ready?" Gretchen's voice fluttered in his ear and only tensed him more as the target vehicle turned away from the station. He knew he would only get one shot at this. The armored transport vehicle that had been through more fire in one day than an entire second line cluster could on the Clan homeworlds in their tenure straightened out on a collision course with the covered truck housing a nuclear warhead. Adrian and Michael filed out of the back and Miles hit the gas. Straight into oblivion, he thought with a smile.
The fighting was hitting its climax. Thao and Garris were still trading shots; several of their weapons had been disabled already. Garris' Timber Wolf's right missile launcher was lying on the ground somewhere and his right arm was a mangled mess of moyomer and ferro-fibrous armor. Thao's Hellbringer's left arm and torso looked like they were fed through a giant garbage disposal. Each held his own and managed his machine like a true master under the tightest conditions.
A Falcon Black Lanner made its way toward the relay station and was shot down from behind by Rowinstein and his cohorts. He caught a glimpse of Gretchen on the roof and fired a few autocannon rounds at her to amuse himself. After sufficiently rearranging that part of the station's roof, he turned once more to another Falcon 'mech and continued hunting.
Gretchen's right leg had a nasty piece of metal lodged in it now as she crawled her way back to the edge of the roof. The area around her was nothing but scrap metal and searing hot shrapnel. "Brenton! I need you back on the edge."
"Aff, Comman-- cough, Commander." Brenton must have caught some debris in the chest, because he was wheezing like some wild Huntress bore as he climbed his way back to the edge. He was counting down the seconds to impact between Miles' armored transport and the covered truck for her as she zeroed in on the back of the target, at the opening in the rear. She needed his field of vision to keep perspective on the whole thing. He was almost down to the single digits when another autocannon round smashed into the roof, sending both of them flying backward into the mangled roof of the relay station.
The demolitions tech was just about done arming the nuke. He had broken through twelve security codes and hacked through the timer program. It took him some time but he finally managed to override the timer with a button trigger, which he figured would be better since the sounds of warfare were only getting louder around him. He only had to attach the control stick and program the driver to accept the external trigger. Done! He stopped for just a few seconds to realize what he was going to do, to comprehend the amount of power he was going to be authorized to unleash across this planet's surface when he made the call. "Colonel Garris, it's ready. On your mark…"
Garris waited only a handful of seconds when he finally spat out the order. Standing his 'mech still like a warrior in a climatic movie scene awaiting his execution, he sentenced everyone in the area to death. "Do it."
SMASH! The nuclear warhead suddenly broke free from its supports as the vehicle lurched with unperceivable force backward, throwing the technician right out the rear opening and forcing the edge of the warhead over the rear tailgate. He stood up instantly and realized his leg was twisted. No matter, he had to reach that panel and hit the button. The screaming in the background and the heat searing up his body would not stay him until the single laser beam pierced his skull and drained all the life out of his hand as it finally wrapped around the control stick. His lifeless body fell and the sounds of war continued all around it like nothing had happened. Just a ripple in the water.
Gretchen took her finger off the trigger and moved the scope's view around until she confirmed Miles' well being. He jumped from his vehicle after accelerating to ramming speed and landed on his bad arm when the vehicles collided, knocking the technician out of the rear of the covered truck, right into view of Gretchen's scope. After watching Miles pass out on the ground, she called out to Brenton to make sure he was okay. There was no answer. Despite the growing roar of battle behind her and the searing pain in her leg, she started rummaging through the rubble of the most recent autocannon barrage. After several minutes, she found Brenton's hand sticking out from under the corner of a structure that had to weigh several tons. It was lifeless and still. The stench of blood and burnt flesh hung in the air around her while the sulfur burned her nostrils, but none of it affected her. All was quiet and serene in her mind. All was soon to be quiet around her.
The sudden roar of a trinary of Star Adder bombers nearly rattled the wreckage right off the roof. Several devastating missile volleys dismantled multiple LOKI 'mechs and knocked the rest off their feet. Of the nine surviving men in Garris' unit, seven got their 'mechs up and took to the canyons for cover, obeying the command of Kommandant Rowinstein, who was determined to regroup and take shots at the incoming bombers on their second run. Rowinstein led them over and turned around, expecting to provide one final surprise for the clanners. Garris' 'mech just laid there on the ground, knocked off its feet by Thao's Hellbringer, which nearly overheated with that last PPC bolt that took Garris' Timber Wolf's leg out from under it when he paused expecting the nuke to go off. He simply raised his mech's left arm toward Thao in one final act of defiance when the Hellbringer fired its PPC one final time into the cockpit of his crippled 'mech. The Hellbringer's auto-shutdown sequence kicked in and Thao pealed himself out of a smoldering cockpit to inhale what was for him a waft of cool air. In reality, the field stunk of fried moyomer and burnt ground. He made his way to the ground avoiding the hot spots on his 'mech and surveyed the land around him. It was littered with the twisted remains of dozens of battlemechs and steaming piles of armor.
There he just stood and watched as the Star Adder bombers made one final run over the still battlefield and destroyed what was left of LOKI. The explosion was fanatical, and the pieces of battlemechs flying out in all directions was a sight to see. The silence afterwards was the most soothing noise Thao had ever heard before. He enjoyed it while standing still to honor the resting place of Colonel Karl Garris. Even after all this, he knew inside that there was a man fighting for his idea of honor. He couldn't tell you how he knew, but he did. All true warriors know when the essence of another burns hot, and finally goes out.
