CHAPTER 15

Review Corner

Ulquiorra9000: the best way to describe the Quasit is a bulldozer dressed up as a tank. It's a really good industrialmech but still not a battlemech.


Pequod Place,
Mesartim, Valexa PDZ,
Capellan March, Federated Suns,

April 12, 3074

The Davions were operating with less than 60-percent capacity, but the success of the last mission boosted the morale of their troops. Thanks to the Ryuken-go Strike Lance, the Davions took the offensive, forcing the Redfield Renegades to fight on their heels.

"The Redfield Renegades have taken over Pequod Place. We are going to get it back!" Major Fernandes boomed on the comlink. "Gamboge Squad, attack Renegades pockets on the northwestern suburbs. Felgrau Squad, flank the Renegades center command at the capitol. Amaranth Squad, to the east! Fallow Squad, with me. We'll knock on the capitol's door! Ryuken-go, you will assist Xanadu Squad. The Renegades barricade the highway to the south. Clear up the highway; we may need it as our exit. Let's go to work, Cavalries! For Davion!"

Noloty switched off the general chat, saving her ear drums from the Davion cacophony that would sure flood the comlink following Major Fernandes' animated call to arms. The giant Ajax omnitank rolled with pomp, and Davion motley squads followed suit. Noloty held her joystick, holding her position, waiting for Kayoko's move. To her delight, the Argus didn't move an inch. The heavy mech stood its ground amidst the flow of Davions, sandwiched by the ever-loyal Uziel and Phoenix Hawk.

"Let them stinkers go," Kayoko crackled on Kuritan channel. "We have our orders, and we'll do it our way."

The Kuritans held position until Davion units left the premises. A lance of Warrior H-9 whooshed above their heads. "Ryuken-go, this is Xanadu. Follow our lead."

"Here we go, Kuritans! Follow the choppers, go weapons hot and get ready to shoot anything that's not Davions!"

Here we go again, Noloty said to herself as the Quasit broke into a sprint, trying to keep up with the rest of the battlemechs. The helicopter squad led them with a relentless pace, slithering between buildings and diving through alleys with the grace of street cats. The Uziel and Phoenix Hawk managed to keep up with the choppers with their jump jets, but Kayoko struggled, even with her MASC. The comlink was drenched with curses every time Kayoko had to slam her breaks to keep her Argus from crashing into a building.

Twenty minutes running inbetween buildings led them to an open field, and a company of mercenaries greeted them, dominated by missile boats with a few knife fighters in the mix. Six LRM carriers blockaded the highway, escorted by two Hunchbacks and two Striders. Clan-made Athena and Mars assault tanks rounded up the barricade.

"Them bastards have Clan tech! Take cover!" Kayoko bellowed and kicked up her MASC just as her proximity alarm screamed bloody murder. The Argus dove behind a skyscraper just in time. A wave of 60 missiles smashed into the front face of the skyscraper. Cascaded explosions robbed the building from ample structure. The skyscraper leaned forward in a sickening creak, then crumbled, kicking up a massive cloud of rubble.

"Kayoko!" Noloty cried out in sheer terror, watching the Argus disappeared in the dust cloud.

"Dammitalltohell! Talk to me, people! Talk to me!" Kayoko hollered in panic. "Noloty! Where are you?"

"I'm still out of range!" Noloty replied.

"I'm OK!" the Uziel tuned in.

"I'm good! I'm good!" the Phoenix Hawk added.

"Stay where you are! They have too much power! We've gotta think a way to get around this!"

The helicopters, with only blue sky behind them, did not have as much cover as the battlemech. They launched their missilesand immobilized two LRM carriers, but the Clan-made tanks unleashed a vendetta with their Gauss rifles. Two Warriors quickly spiraled down in flames, wrecked by the hypersonic nickel-ferrous slugs. The other two split and renewed their attack formation, but the Mars' large laser singed the lead Warrior with a lucky shot to the cockpit. As the Warrior plummet to its fiery tomb, the remaining Warrior decided to return to base.

"The LRM Carriers sports only 3 tons of armor," Noloty pointed out. "One or two good salvos will put one out of commission."

"Alright, Ryuken, flank and snipe the LRM carriers! Watch out for return fire! Use the buildings as cover!" Kayoko directed her teammates. "Noloty! With me!"

Noloty hated being treated as the weakest link. It was humiliating for her to take cover behind her teammates. But the Kuritans were badly outgunned, and her mech was as brittle as a wine glass. Audacity would not get her anywhere, only to her grave. If she wanted to help Kayoko and her teammates, she needed to follow the game plan.

The Uziel and Phoenix Hawk initiated the assault on the Renegades. A long particle bolt from the Uziel grazed the turret of an LRM carrier. Jagged-edged shards sprayed from the impact. The LRM carrier stalled as the particle bolt scrambled its radar, but the Mars quickly covered for it. The Clan-made beast launched a deadly fusillade of missiles and ballistics that completely demolished the tower, forcing the Uziel to jump behind another building.

Kayoko and Noloty sneaked behind a building, harassed by three LRM carriers. Missiles exploded at every corner. Kayoko tried to snipe the closest LRM carrier but was force to recoil by a wave of missiles. The Athena tank turned around and blasted Noloty's cover. Half of the building crumbled, forcing the Quasit to bend lower for cover.

"They're too strong it's not even funny," Kayoko bemoaned. "Alright, I'll fly, you shoot. When they fire, hit the LRM carrier at the center. Hopefully it goes off and slows down the other two."

"You sure about this?" Noloty was a little concern about Kayoko's bold – borderline reckless – maneuver.

"If this goes FUBAR, we go plan B."

"Which is?"

"Don't know yet. Get ready!" Kayoko kicked up her MASC and rushed into the open, screaming as she fired her Heavy PPC. "Tennoheika Banzai!"

The Argus' targeting computer guided Kayoko's shot at the center LRM carrier. The heavy tracked vehicle quaked as if rammed by a Rommel. The missile launchers drooped limp as smoke billowed from its right hull. Static charges sizzled all over its body.

The other two LRM carriers launched a retaliatory salvo at Kayoko. Hundreds of missiles swept the block, creating a fire and dust storm that staggered several buildings in the block. The Athena followed suit, firing its Gauss slugs blindly. Kayoko slithered from building to building to take cover, but her Argus caught a few missiles on the rear torso. The heavy mech wobbled under pressure, but she pushed her Argus beyond limit to slide behind a tall skyscraper.

Noloty got her cue and, steadying the Plasma Rifle with both hands, fired the white-hot bolt at the smoking LRM carrier. The waste heat singed the ammunition bins, and the tank ballooned into a fireball, sending flaming shards to the adjacent LRM carriers. The two carriers were forced to take evasive maneuver to dodge the burning debris, lifting off the pressure on Kayoko.

"Yattaa!" Kayoko cried out, an exclamation of delight and self-esteem, watching her brainchild materialized in spectacular fireworks. She jumped out of her cover and sank a Heavy PPC salvo at another LRM carrier. Half the launchers disintegrated into million pieces, while fire and smoke consumed what what left of them. The LRM carrier veered and skidded to a halt, blocking the Athena from mounting a counterattack.

Across the field, the Phoenix Hawk launched a cascaded laser strikes that dismantled an LRM carrier. But the Mars fired its Gauss rifle, crushing the Phoenix Hawk torso armor. The massive impact threw the Phoenix Hawk onto a building. Its torso split from the collarbone down to the solar plexus. The Phoenix Hawk writhed to get back on its feet but a burst of submunitions pinned it back to the wall. Black smoke wafted from the gash, a sure sign of critical damage.

"I'm hit!" the mechwarrior cried out. "My gyro's damaged!"

"Fusillade! Fusillade!" Kayoko screamed. She fired her Heavy PPC, striking the Mars on the side. The Uziel followed suit, with one strand flying way above the Mars' turret, but the other one hit the big tank dead center. The one-two punch failed to break the armor but managed to disorient the massive tank. The small turret drifted away from the target, even though the hull didn't change course.

Noloty rushed to fire her Plasma Rifle, which missed miserably, yet managed to force an LRM carrier to turn. Now clear from threats, she bolted toward the Phoenix Hawk, slung the Phoenix Hawk's arm over the Quasit's shoulder and dragged the limping mech, just as 2 LRM carriers launched 120 warheads in a single volley. A storm of flame and debris swept the block, but the Quasit heaved the Phoenix Hawk behind a building in time, dodging the missile storm by a mere inch.

"Noloty get back in line!" Kayoko roared. "Enemy mechs are moving in!"

"I'm coming!" Noloty rested the Phoenix Hawk on a building then throttled up to where she holed up a minute ago. The Renegades launched another wave of missiles, but she brought her mech down as low as she could, ducking under flinging concrete blocks and dust cloud. The heavy missile bombardment pinned the Kuritans behind buildings, taking away their chance to return fire. The two Hunchbacks rode the missile wave, hoping to bring their massive mech-killing AC20 to bear.

"Kayoko, bandits on your three!" Noloty stated.

"I see them! I need fusillade on the carriers to stop their missiles!" Kayoko howled. "Get those bastards to stop firing!"

"On it!" Noloty aimed her Plasma Rifle at the LRM carrier on the center of the formation. She mashed the trigger, and superheated plasma leapt from the nozzle, carving glowing crater on its front hull. She grimaced as the fireball she hoped didn't materialize. But the Uziel went forward and picked up where she left off. A long burst of blue energy smashed into the carrier's left side, carving deep gash similar to Noloty's. The second one dug deeper into the structure, down to the engine. The engine exploded, and cooked the ammunition bins. The LRM carrier roared in a deafening explosion, and the fireball tossed burning splinters every which way, forcing the missile boats to disarray.

The small break in pressure was all Kayoko needed. She powered up her MASC and jumped the forward Hunchback, less than 300 meters away. Suddenly without missile cover, the Hunchback fired its mammoth gun but the Argus moved faster than its torso could track. The Argus fired its twin SRM6, and the laser-guidance system led 10 missiles to the Hunchback's torso. The smoke had not even dissipated when Kayoko buried two laser bolts into the Hunchback's midst. Something caught fire and the Hunchback bled sparks and smoke. It staggered hard, backpedaling on buckled knees.

The Argus spun around for the kill but the Athena launched its murderous Gauss slugs. One nicked the Argus on the right shoulder but the other blasted the Heavy PPC barrel. The long cannon came off spinning in the air and lodged itself into a building, creating a shower of glass splinters. The Argus lurched and skidded on pavement, creating a deep trench on asphalt.

"Sonofa…" Kayoko's curse disappeared into a burst of static.

Noloty switched her crosshair to the Mars lest it put on more pressure on Kayoko, but its line of fire was blocked by the Athena. She turned her attention toward the Athena and fired another round of plasma. The white-hot beam sliced the Athena's left Gauss rifle armor, but failed to do critical damage. The Uziel picked up her work. Twin azure beam stabbed the Athena port side, stripping armor down to the structure, but still couldn't breach the gun casing.

The Athena realized what the Kuritans were doing and made a hard left turn, but a burning LRM carrier blocked its way. The Clan-made tank was constrained with its damaged left hull exposed. Noloty took a hard lock on the damaged hull then fired a plasma salvo. The beam melted the capacitor, and the gun exploded. Half of the Athena upper part was seared off. Raging fire devoured the tank, and only a couple of crews made it out of the tank.

The Mars fired everything it had, but Noloty and the Uziel quickly took cover. The Striders moved up, supported by two LRM carriers. Dozens of explosions wiped the block clean, forcing Noloty to scramble for another cover, but the Uziel held its position and started trading fire with the Striders.

"I'll handle the Striders! Go help Kayoko!" the Uziel mechwarrior barked.

"Ryokai!" Noloty was more than happy to oblige. She got up and fired her Plasma Rifle at the LRM carrier closest to the Mars. Her lucky shot gored the carrier deep past the structure, into the engine. Fire belched from every joints, and a couple surviving crews jumped out of the burning carcass. The Mars took evasive maneuver to avoid ammo explosion, leaving the Striders at the mercy of the Uziel unsupported.

Noloty turned her attention to Kayoko, slicing and dicing the Hunchback at will. She lost her Heavy PPC but her deadly accurate Streak SRM6 made up for it. The Hunchback was left a pale shadow of a close-range monster it had been a few minutes ago. The other Hunchback, however, was still alive, aiming for the Argus's unprotected left side.

"Kayoko! Bandit ten o'clock! Break right!" Noloty yelled.

Kayoko turned hard right, exposing the sneaky Hunchback to Noloty's Plasma Rifle. The plasma beam stabbed the Hunchback's left shoulder. The Hunchback leaned back, stunned by the sudden spike of heat. It lined up at Noloty's Quasit, but at 450 meters apart, there was nothing it could do. It charged the Quasit with its mech-killing gun aimed squarely at the Quasit's midsection.

The cockpit of the Quasit had turned into a sauna, and Noloty was swimming in her own sweat, but she had to dispatch the Hunchback, for Kayoko and for herself. She backpedaled and fired her plasma as soon as it recycled. The beam struck the Hunchback at the left torso, a mere inch from the first strike. The Hunchback reeled, staggering on wobbly legs, but kept coming.

The Hunchback inched closer into the AC20 range but the Argus' guided missiles hammered it from behind. The Hunchback's torso arced foreward, then sloshed to the ground, like a beast with broken spine. The Argus loomed on top of it and stabbed its back with twin laser strands. Showers of spark jetted from the lower back of the Hunchback.

Losing 60-percent of assets prompted the Redfield Renegades to take drastic measure. The Mars fired its long-range weapons while the remaining LRM carriers and Strider mech slowly retreated. Noloty lined up her crosshair at an LRM carrier, but with only 2 shots left, she didn't know how long she could keep it up. "Kayoko, the Renegades are retreating," she stated. "Do you want to press forward?"

"Negative, let them go," Kayoko replied. "Our objective is to secure this road. I'm not risking our lives to win a war that's not ours. Let's declare victory and keep everybody alive. Hold position and stand down."

"Ryokai, standing down" Noloty replied with a smile on her face.