CHAPTER 2
Review Corner:
The Colonel: Got it.
Ulquiorra9000: Yes it is. More of him in this chapter.
Shigata, Ashio,
Ashio Prefecture, Dieron Military District,
Draconis Combine,
January 11, 3074
Like gamecocks in a cock pit, the two lances went at each other's throats and completely ignored Noloty. The mercenaries rallied behind the Longbow's and Catapult's missiles, while the newly arrived lance fired their Gauss slugs to the greatest effect. Laser and particle bolts zipped back and forth, filling the void between missiles and Gauss slugs. Armor shards scattered with every hit, and molten smelter dripped to the ground, creating fuming piles of goop on the asphalt.
But despite the promise of carnage the assault battlemechs offered, the battle ended up in anticlimax. The mercenaries did not contest the newly-arrived lance. They retreated methodically, taking cover behind the missile showers from the Longbow and Catapult, and occasional Gauss shots from the Highlander. The two Banshees gave chase for a good while, but decided – or were ordered – to let the mercenaries go. The Pillager, possibly the leader of the pack, stood firing until the mercenaries fell out of range, then faced the Sagittaire, guns trained at the cockpit. The Blood Asp mirrored the Pillager, holding the Sagittaire in a standoff.
Noloty didn't expect to survive these two bruisers, but instead of Gauss slugs on the face, she got an invitation to establish comlink. Her hands trembled slightly as she pressed the connect button.
"This is Tai-sa Tsagoi Sandokan, 13th Legion of Vega," the guy on the other side, presumably the Pillager mechwarrior, crackled. "State your name and unit."
"Sandokan?" Noloty cringed.
"I take it you've talked to Oblivia. She is my sister."
"Oh… Heishi Noloty Malche, 2nd Sword of Light."
"Second Sword of Light? This is far away from Luthien, don't you think? What are you doing here?"
"I uh…" Noloty stuttered, trying not to sound like a deserter. "I was going to Luthien, but my jumpship was attacked and I crash-landed here."
"The rest of your group?"
"They didn't make it, Sir."
"These mercenary bastards are attacking unarmed people," the Pillager dropped its arms. "But they are working for the Word of Blake, so no surprise. Anyway it's good you crash-landed here, because you'd be able to assist my sister and her humanitarian crews. And for that, you have my gratitude."
"It's an honor to help another DCMS soldier, Sir," Noloty downplayed her effort. "And you saved me from those mercenaries. So we're even."
"Good to know. Now follow me. We'll get you up to speed."
The Pillager marched toward the city and Noloty followed the big mech. The Blood Asp followed suit with guns still aimed at the Sagittaire's back. The two Banshees walked behind the Blood Asp through the burning district. The Inferno-laden missiles from the mercenaries set the turned the western part of Shigata into a scorching neighborhood. Buildings were set ablaze. A few of them crumbled, blocking the street, prompting the assault mech to detour. The heat level shot up half the scale just by walking through the streets. Smoke hampered their vision, so much they had to rely on overhead map and night vision to navigate the district.
Soon they reached downtown which, while still torn by the war, was mostly intact. Noloty parked next to the Pillager then climbed down. A few foot soldiers waited for her on the ground, watching her every move until the mechwarrior of the Pillager dismissed them. He was built like his Pillager: large, with over pronounced musculature, jet black curly hair that reached his neck, and a pair of biceps that rivaled her thighs in size. He stood almost a head taller than Noloty, so when he stripped his cooling vest, she got front-seat access to his steel-hard chest and abs, marred with multiple scars.
And she caught him looking at her, marveling at her sweaty curves, paying close attention to what her skimpy outfit couldn't cover. And she caught that obvious bulge under his tight shorts. She felt her face burn with shame, but every attempt to look away from his midsection failed miserably. Her mind started playing tricks on her, posting lewd image at the back of her head about how big the swell would grow in proportion to the rest of his body.
"Tsagoi!" a woman called him. He turned around and bear-hugged a girl with short red hair. She was everything he was not: curvy, and exotic, even though she was draped in military fatigue with a large red cross sign on her arm. Noloty's chest twinged with jealousy, watching him getting cozy with another woman.
"This is Oblivia, my sister," Tsagoi put on a t-shirt she brought for him. "Oblivia, this is Heishi Noloty."
"Oh…" Noloty stood dumbfounded. She felt horrible, being jealous to Tsagoi's own sister. She bowed to hide her face, which had turned beet red. "It's an honor to meet you in person, Ma'am,"
"The honor is mine, Heishi Noloty. Your work clears up some safe passage to escape the mercenaries."
"Just doing my job, Ma'am."
"You have met the rest of my lance," Tsagoi said, referring to the other three mechwarriors who had dismounted their mechs. "Gregoro from FRR Drakons, and Ping from CCAF. They both ride the Banshee. 'Mister Personality' here is Jax, a Smoke Jaguar expatriate. He's on the Blood Asp. Gentlemen, this is Heishi Noloty, 2nd Sword of Light. She is the one holding the Markham's Marauders until we arrived."
"Nice to meet you," Noloty gave a courtesy nod.
"Alright, there's time for socializing," Tsagoi put on a t-shirt Oblivia brought for him. "Right now we have to plan for evacuation." He dismissed his lance mates and motioned Noloty to follow him. "Let's brief."
As his lance mates dispersed, Tsagoi went to a semi secluded place. His legs were so long Noloty had to jog to keep up with him. He turned on a holo-projector to show a map of Ashio. "The Word of Blake sent a manifest to the world of Ashio to join Word of Blake Protectorate, which Ashio refused. So the Blakes sent Markham's Marauders to Ashio as a punitive force. They made landfall a few days ago. Planetary Militia and Sun Zhang Cadre, the only defense on Ashio, were no match for the battle-hardened mercenaries. So now the planet is defenseless and the mercenary bastards are going after civilians, hoping to fold the planetary government."
"I've heard of the Markham's Marauders," Noloty squinted. "I read about them during training."
"They made a name for themselves during Aurigan War," Tsagoi let out a long puff. "Aurigan Reach is a small periphery nation bordering Taurian Concordat and Capellan Confederation. House Espinosa, backed up by the Concordat, usurped the House Arano as the ruling family of Aurigan in a bloody coup. In retaliation, House Arano hired the Markham's Marauders to get their throne back. The civil war that followed was unparalleled atrocity. Both sides disregarded Ares Convention and conducted massacre after massacre. In the end the Markham's Marauders defeated the Taurian Concordat's elements, then slaughtered House Espinosa to the last man."
"Why can't we call MRBC to stop the carnage?" Noloty asked.
"All MRBC will do is to blacklist Markham's Marauders and revoke their license. They won't stop Word of Blake from hiring the Marauders, or help Ashio's civilians. We are all Ashio have."
"13th Legion of Vega is a regiment, is it not? Where are the rest of your troops?"
"We are spreading thin protecting civilians all over Ashio. My command lance is all I have on Shigata. We were lucky to get rid of the mercenaries, but they will return, stronger than ever. Shigata will fall, and so will Ashio. We have to evacuate whatever is left on Ashio." He looked at Noloty, gauging her reaction. "You came to the right place, Heishi Noloty, if you're looking for this kind of action. Or not."
"I've been looking forward to go to Jihad front line, Sir," Noloty stated firmly. "This is everything I want. I'm wondering…" she paused briefly, collecting her composure, "… is there a spot in your unit? I would like to serve with the 13th Legion of Vega."
"Is that so?" Tsagoi gave Noloty a funny look. "Don't like the 2nd Sword of Light anymore?"
"I kinda… uhm, don't want to…" Noloty stammered, "… be with the Black Dragon Society anymore."
A sinister chuckle escaped Tsagoi's lips. "Sucks to work with traitors, doesn't it?"
"You have no idea, Sir," Noloty found the courage to smile. "So, it's that a yes?"
"No," Tsagoi shook his head. "I don't have a spot in my unit. But I know somebody who does. Coordinator Hohiro Kurita is assembling a task force to defend Ashio from the Word of Blake. This unit, Ryuken-go, will relieve the 13th and kick Markham's Marauders' asses, or whosever asses the Word of Blake put in Ashio by the time they arrive. The CO, Sho-sa Scarlett, is a friend of mine, and last time I checked she was still interviewing. I'll reference you to her. Your experience with the Markham's Marauders will be critical to the Ryuken-go. But until then, you can join my lance. I can use an extra battlemech."
Noloty pursed her lips in disappointment. She wanted to join the 13th Legion of Vega because of him. She couldn't explain the sudden attraction, whether it was just an impulse of catching an eye candy after years of looking at the 'ugliness' of humanity (both literally and figuratively), or her raging hormone. Whatever it was, she bit it hard.
But she knew how military worked. It was not fair, but there was nothing she could do to change that. "Thank you, Sir," she nodded sullenly. "What do you want me to do now?"
"Our dropships will dustoff in 48 hours," Tsagoi switched the hologram to the overhead map of Shigata. "Oblivia's team will round up the survivors and we are going to escort them to the landing strip. The southern part was still in gridlock, but thanks to you the northern part was open so we're going from the north. Granted, the Markham's Marauders will return to make sure this evacuation does not happen. I need you to protect this contingent at all cost. We only have 5 battlemechs including yours, with a company of Galleon and Hunter light tanks. It's going to be tough, and we will lose civilians. But if I can take 50-percent of the civilians making it off world, I'll declare victory."
"Understood," Noloty nodded. "But my mech is running out of ammunition. Do you have some extra ammo for UAC10?"
"No, Heishi, we can't give you ammo. We barely have enough for our own. I'm afraid you have to make do with whatever you have left."
"I have an ERPPC and 5 medium lasers, Sir," Noloty stated. "I will do what I can."
"Good," Tsagoi turned off the holo-projector. "Dismiss and try to get some rest. We'll regroup tomorrow, 6 hours before departure." Tsagoi walked away, then turned around to face Noloty the last time. "Glad to have you on board, Heishi Noloty."
"Me too, Sir," Noloty replied. She stood idle, watching Tsagoi walking away to marvel at his taut behind, then walked dejectedly back to her mech.
Markham's Marauders' Base Camp,
Ashio, Ashio Prefecture,
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine,
January 11, 3074
Dultom Markham propped his boots up as he watched the battleROM of the mission at Shigata. The hologram showed the action from the perspective of Dekker, the mechwarrior of the Longbow, targeting a Sagittaire fidgeting under pressure from Medusa, the mechwarrior of the Catapult. The crosshair burnt yellow, and Dekker was moments away from firing his missile when something hit him hard. The hologram burst into static, and when it returned to picture mode, it showed a massive Pillager with both arms extended, one aimed at the Longbow, the other one at the Catapult.
"Yeah, that's him," Dultom spat. "That's 'Gypsy'. That bitch of a battlemech."
"The contract didn't say Gypsy was going to be in the vicinity," Glitch, the mechwarrior of the Rifleman, chimed in. "This could pass for hazardous oversight. Get the fanatic freaks to give us more money."
"If I don't know you better, Glitch, I would've thought you're scared of Gypsy," Behemoth, the mechwarrior of the Highlander, downed a few gulps of beer.
"Last time I checked you were right beside me, running away from Gypsy like a little girl," Glitch lit up a cigarette.
"I have a reason. You don't," Behemoth sneered. "You just did what everybody else did."
"None of you should've run from Gypsy," Darius tuned in. "A mech is just as good as the mechwarrior, and as far as I can remember, Tsagoi Sandokan is not that good. I could've beaten his ass."
"I don't remember you fighting Gypsy, Darius," Medusa said curtly. "It's easy to look down on other mechwarrior if you don't do it yourself."
"I'll handle Gypsy," Dultom stood up. "Focus on the other stuffs, and keep the other mechs off my back." He rewound the battleROM to the scene where Dekker was about to shoot the Sagittaire. "Who's this guy?"
Darius hooked up another battleROM to the holo-projector, showing the Sagittaire, Bombardier, and Crab busting the artillery tanks. "Yang retrieved this from one of the Rommels. Those three cost us most of our air assets and half of the Thor SPA's."
"Are they part of the 13th Legion of Vega?" Dultom's brows cocked.
"Unlikely. The Bombardier wore Hexare Grenadier's cammo. The Crab had Fighting Urukhai's insignia. The Sagittaire… there's no cammo or insignia. It's like just rolled out of the factory."
"Covert op?" Dultom mused.
"I don't know. We killed the Bombardier and the Crab, so we don't have to worry about them. The Sagittaire is still out there, but looking at how it fought, any of us would kill it without breaking a sweat."
"I should've gotten the kill, if Gypsy didn't ruin my shot," Dekker growled.
"Whoever he is, most likely he's aligning with Tsagoi," Dultom said. "Next time you see him, make sure he's dead. I'll get Tsagoi and Gypsy, so I don't wanna hear sore excuses about somebody else ruining your life. You're professionals, for Christ sake. Act like one!"
"Yes Sir!" the mechwarriors replied in unison.
"Alright, get ready to move. I need to talk to Yang." Dultom left the command center and drew his comset. "Yang. How's Jormungandr?"
"Ready to roll!" Yang replied from the other side.
"Forget the incendiary. I'm taking on Gypsy. I need HEAP. Lots of them."
"Sure thing, Boss. Bring in some souvernirs for me. Plasma Rifle is perfection, but anything will do."
