CHAPTER 7

Review Corner:

The Colonel: I read Ares Convention but I can't find the section about POWs. It talks about civilians, when a civilian is civilian and when he is not, how to deal with civilians, that kind of stuffs. Either I miss it or it just doesn't cover POW. I used Geneva Convention just to be save (assuming it still applies in 31st Century).

Ulquiorra9000: Her future looks grim, but there's always hope.


Strantor Military Academy,
Strantor, Lyran Alliance,
November 8, 3073

Noloty didn't know how many days had passed since she fell into the hands of the Lyrans. She was kept in a tight dark room for most of the time, with no bed, no furniture, and only a hole as bathroom. Somebody slipped in a piece of bread and a bowl of water every now and then, enough to keep her going. Occasionally the guards dragged her out of the room and chained her on the torture table where she would be driven to insanity until her mind was separated from her body. Then she would wake up naked, shivering on the floor. And they scarcely ask questions anymore. They tortured her solely for the purpose of sport. Many times she thought of starving herself to death, but it was an undignified way to die.

This was becoming all too familiar. Once Enrique told her that her father was left to die deep behind enemy line, and Noloty wondered if this was the way her father died: alone, tormented, forgotten. She wondered if this was how Black Dragon Society used their assets. Did they actually have an exit strategy before sending her to Lyran space? She doubted there was ever an escape plan for her. Whether they succeeded or failed, this was how they would meet their end.

And to what end? The razing of Strantor Academy, that she could understand. But killing Kommandant Ras Farlow? What would the Black Dragon Society benefit from the death of a Lyran officer? The assassination would trigger a new conflict between Lyran Alliance and Draconis Combine, like the Kuritans didn't have enough enemies. And why would the Black Dragon Society be interested in this matter? All they cared about was to return the Draconis Combine to the traditional old Kuritan way. Unless the Black Dragon had a hidden agenda, the order for Ras Farlow's head made no sense at all.

Noloty strived to stay strong, but when things got too overwhelming, she thought of Enrique. He was always there for her. She knew he loved her, and even though she did not return the feeling, her affection was just as strong. She regretted that she was not insistent enough to change his mind. If he waited until Ras Farlow and the Striking Tigers left Strantor, the result might have been different. He might still be around, and they were on their way back to Kuritan territory. But knowing him, she didn't think he would budge. He was dogged, a quality she both admired and loathed. She blamed him for having himself killed and her dying in Lyran captivity.

Well, it didn't matter anymore. Enrique was dead, and Noloty would soon follow him.

But the situation changed sooner than she thought. Noloty was half asleep when the room shook with unprecedented force. She thought it was an earthquake, until the familiar rattle of sub-machine guns echoed in the distance. Could that be another raid? She brushed her eyes, dragged her body up and staggered to the door on unsteady legs. She could hear people shouting amidst gunshots. The siren went off, followed by stomping of boots across the corridor. More gunfight and screaming ensued, then everything went silent. The siren was the only one still blaring in the hallway.

Noloty inched closer to the steel door, trying to catch more of the ruckus outside. Suddenly the door banged forcefully, as if a car just smashed itself into it. Noloty squealed and fell flat on her back. Her ears rang so hard she thought she lost her eardrums. Smoke seeped into the room, and the unmistakable stench of gunpowder turned her stomach upside down. She crawled to a corner and crouch, burying her head between her legs, waiting for whatever fate would come to get her.

Seconds were eternal, and the door blasted open. Two men burst into the room. One stayed at the door while the other one approached Noloty with his assault rifle aimed at her head. She thought she had reached the end of her life, but the man grabbed her wrist and pulled her up instead. Her heart jumped to her throat when she recognized the man. It was Gryphon, the leader of the Black Dragon cell at Strantor.

"You alright?" Gryphon stripped his bulletproof vest to cover Noloty's naked body.

"Yeah, yeah," she put on the vest and zipped it all the way up. "Thank you for coming for me."

"Is there any other survivor?" Gryphon slammed a new clip into his assault rifle.

"Two more, but I don't know if they are still alive. We have to find them."

"Can you handle this?" Gryphon drew his Hawk Eagle and handed it to Noloty.

Noloty released the magazine to check on the ammunition. She slammed it back and pulled the slide. "Like I was born with it."

"Try to keep up," Gryphon walked toward the door. "We only have 3 minutes."

Noloty's legs and feet felt like jelly after grueling days of torture, but she summoned everything she had to catch up with Gryphon. The man came to the next room and stuck a small vibrabomb on the lock. He turned around and wrapped his arms around Noloty. The bomb exploded, and the other guy kicked the door opened. Gryphon burst inside, followed by Noloty two steps behind.

"Oh Thank Hachiman!" the Kuritan mechwarrior rose from the floor. His body was marred with dried blood from severe beatings, but he shrugged it off. "I can't stay here any longer!"

"Where's the other one?" Gryphon asked impatiently.

"Next door! But I don't know if he's still alive. The Lyrans roughed him up really bad!"

"Stay here!" Gryphon walked outside and repeat the process on the next steel door. As the vibrabomb took out the lock, he busted the door open. Noloty followed him and found the other Kuritan mechwarrior, lying on the floor. He was barely alive; his wounds were infected, causing him to burn in high fever.

"Cover us," Noloty gave the Hawk Eagle to the other mechwarrior, then slung the arm of the sick mechwarrior over her shoulder. She heaved him up. "On your feet, Soldier! We're getting out!"

"Let's move!" Gryphon said and threw a few smoke grenades to cover their retreat. Lyran guards started to pour into the area, but the smoke grenades obscured their vision. Gryphon led the way, followed by Noloty hauling the sick mechwarrior on her shoulder. The other mechwarrior protected Noloty's rear, and Gryphon's friend anchored the group. They moved through a maze of hallways, then climbed a seemingly endless stairway to finally get out of the dungeon.

Outside, Harpy was waiting for them in the truck with a few Black Dragon operatives. "Let's go let's go let's go!" he yelled from behind the steering wheel.

Two Black Dragon operatives on the truck bed helped the Kuritan mechwarriors to board. Noloty lied down the sick mechwarrior on the truck bed while the other crouched next to her, Hawk Eagle at the ready. The men boarded the two jeeps that sandwiched the truck, and Gryphon climbed last, tapping the roof of the truck. "Go go go!" One jeep went ahead of the truck to lead the convoy, the other one stayed behind, protecting the truck's vulnerable rear.

Noloty grabbed Gryphon's arm and pulled him closer. "I owe you my life!"

"Just live to fight another day!" Gryphon gave her a wink. "Somebody needs to give these Lyrans a royal kick in the ass!"

They were barely past the gate when Lyran guards swarmed them. Armed with machine guns, they strafed the convoy. Gryphon and the Black Dragon operatives returned fire while the mechwarriors took cover in the truck bed. The convoys soon went out of the Lyrans' firing range, but the Lyrans went airborne, jumping from building to building to stay with the convoy.

"Jump infantry! Fire on my mark!" Gryphon yelled from the top of his lung. He aimed his assault rifle at the incoming threat but held his fire, holding his hands up. His men mimicked his move, tracking the jumping infantrymen but waited for his signal. As the Lyrans came closer, Gryphon gave a hand signal and howled, "Fusillade!" All men on the truck bed, including the Kuritan mechwarrior, fired their weapons at the same time. Two Lyran infantrymen jerked and twisted midair, then dove in uncontrollable spins. One crashed into a garbage dump, the other slammed into a park vehicle, igniting the fuel. Half of the block went up in flames.

"Reload! Cover fire!" Gryphon orchestrated his men as he put a fresh magazine into his rifle. The men on the back jeep fired their machine guns at the jump infantry. Two more Lyrans went down in a sequence mirrored the one half a minute before.

The jumping Lyrans returned fire, showering the jeep with bullets to keep the Kuritans inside. As the Kuritans returned fire, an RPG-mounted infantry slipped unnoticed and took a good aim at the jeep. The warhead leapt in a burst of smoke and ripped the back of the jeep in a blistering explosion. The jeep soared to the sky then smashed into another car, killing all passengers in both vehicles.

Two more RPG-mounted jump infantry latched onto the exposed truck. Gryphon took a hard aim at one of the RPG-carrier and fired 3 rounds at center mass. Only one hit the target, but it was enough to bring down the jumping soldier. As he hit the pavement, he involuntarily shot his RPG at a nearby building. The blast tore the structure apart, along with the vehicles that were parked in the vicinity. Concrete blocks and glass shards whizzed every which way, forcing the other RPG-carrier to retreat.

"Fusillade!" Gryphon screamed again. Another uniform burst from the Kuritans scattered the jump infantry. They emptied their magazines, then ducked for reload. Some jump infantry fired their machine guns straight at open the truck bed. One Black Dragon agent screamed in his death throes, then fell dead on the truck bed. Another one twisted under the onslaught and fell off the truck.

Noloty grabbed the rifle of the dead Black Dragon and tossed it to the other mechwarrior. He cocked the rifle, put it in semi-automatic, and fired controlled bursts toward the incoming Lyrans. One jump infantry crashed onto a nearby store. Another one spiraled and ground the asphalt in a wild dive.

Meanwhile the lead jeep roared through traffic to clear the way for the truck. It made a left turn to get into an expressway, but two Urbanmechs set up a roadblock. The jeep skidded to a halt, just as one of the Urbanmechs belched fire. The jeep disappeared into a thunderous fireball, taking 4 Black Dragon operatives with it.

"Hang on!" Harpy, who already made a turn to merge with the expressway, threw the truck to the other direction. Its tires screamed in a sickening screech, trying to grip the road in a maddening drift. One Urbanmech flashed, and the depleted-uranium slug whistled in the air. It was a moment of hopelessness as everybody braced for impact, knowing that their lives would be cut short in an instance. But Harpy floored the pedal, and the slug missed the truck by a mere inch. It slammed into a tank trailer, filled to the brim with battlemech coolant. The trailer erupted like a volcano, and tongues of fire devoured a few jump infantrymen who were still going after the Black Dragon truck. The rest of the jump infantry retreated.

Noloty braced the sick mechwarrior, covering him from the punishing hail from the exploded trailer. Those two Urbanmechs would've been easy picking had she had a battlemech. She had never felt so helpless. She was used to see battles from a battlemech perspective, and it was dignified. Here on the infantry level, it was cruel and grim. She felt vulnerable, even though she wore a bulletproof jacket, and was surrounded by armed men.

Harpy made a few more turns within the city, then rolled onto another expressway. The Lyrans were gone, and the truck chugged along the highway toward the outskirt. But nobody believed they got rid of the Lyrans yet. It was merely the calm before the storm, and the worst was yet to come.