CHAPTER 6
Shigata, Ashio,
Ashio Prefecture, Dieron Military District,
Draconis Combine,
September 28, 3074
The aerospace never returned, but the assault on Shigata continued. Whistles of artillery shells replaced the roars of jets, taking down buildings and setting up fire on every corner of the city, as if Shigata was not wrecked enough. The shells was not too densed to warrant urgent counter-offensive, but enough to keep the Ryuken-go warry and on their toes for quite a long time.
"Those are Thumper shells," Kayoko pointed out as she observed the outskirt of Shigata in her Argus. "I can tell the difference between Thumper and Long Tom shells by the sound of their projectiles."
"I know what they are," Noloty switched back and forth from long to short range radar, trying to pick up the source of the barrages. "I've been here before. Shigata is a concrete jungle, perfect for ambush. The Word of Blake and their mercenaries do not want to walk into a trap, so this is what they do. They flush the defenders out into the open with artillery."
Kayoko scoffed. "For infantries it does. Why do they think it'll work on battlemechs and tanks?"
"I don't know. Maybe they're getting restless."
"They should be. We kicked their asses."
"We sure did," Noloty leaned back on her command couch. "But those were just aircrafts."
"It won't make any difference."
"I wouldn't be that cocky if I were you."
"Yeah, yeah, you've seen them before." Kayoko moved her Argus in front of Noloty's Sagittaire. "Mind that you were unprepared, fighting a fully-equipped mercenaries alongside an ammo-deprived humanitarian unit which were just as unprepared as you. Any merc will look like Kell Hounds if you're fighting in that state."
"I guess you're right," Noloty sighed uncomfortably. "Still…"
"All units, this is Yankee Tornado," Scarlet's voice interrupted the two chatters. "Ruby Prophet is down for repair. I need two volunteers to run scout and find those bastards that have been shelling Shigata."
"Yankee Tornado, Shaolin Spirit," Kayoko answered Scarlet's call. "The Fire Lance can run well past 90's with jump jets, and I can push it to100 if I need to. We'll take that run."
"Very well," Scarlet said. "Scout the perimeter and find their battery units. Report position and direct Renegade Falcon for counter offensive. We have Thumpers of our own, we just need eyes. Take targets of opportunity, but don't walk into ambush. Call for backup or return to base. I don't want to lose more assets."
"Acknowledged," Kayoko replied.
"Yankee Tornado, Tango Sakura," Noloty chimed in. "I can add more firepower. Let me go with them."
"Negative. Stay where you are, Tango Sakura," Scarlet huffed.
"Yes, Ma'am," Noloty snorted, dejected.
"You'd better stay here, Slowpoke. You'll slow me down," Kayoko jested on private channel.
"Showoff!" Noloty blurted. "Be careful out there."
"I will. Catch you on the flip side," Kayoko turned her mech around and rallied her lance. "Fire Lance, Shaolin Spirit. Rendezvous at 6GW. We're going on a field trip."
The two Phoenix Hawks and the Uziel formed up on the Argus at the designated place, then followed the lead mech, pacing 100 meters in between. They skimmed the outskirt of Shigata, switching to all radar frequencies in vain hopes to find the Word of Blake artillery units. Yet the Word of Blake units remained invisible. The shells seemingly fell from the sky, turning Shigata into a smoldering metropolis.
The day went by without progress, and the Fire Lance was in the brink of mental breakdown, but Kayoko was determined not to return empty handed. "Return to base," she sent her lance mates home. "I'm going to make one last spin." She ventured farther out, taking routes she missed on her previous runs. The Word of Blake used electronics extensively, so she knew her radar was unreliable. She had to use other means, 'primitive' means, and a bit of luck, to find the elusive artillery units.
And sure enough, she spotted smoke trails just outside the city limit.
"Well well well," Kayoko snickered as she inched closer to the source. "Where there is smoke, there's fire." She zoomed in her screen to get some visibility readings of the suspicious activity over the horizon. The figures were blurry at first, but as she inched closer, the pixelated shape morphed into battlemechs, revealing six Grand Titans with massive Thumper Artillery Piece on their shoulders, lobbing shells after shells toward Shigata. Two Level-II units, comprised of medium and heavy mechs, stood in vigil, protecting the 100-ton giants from possible flanking maneuver.
"Renegade Falcon, Shaolin Spirit," Kayoko called Kiyomi. "Visual contact with Level II of Grand Titan Vengeance, with 2 Level-II's, mixed weight, in the open. Sector 5, grid E2, 654, zero-niner-niner."
"Vengeance?" Kiyomi blurted. "They're bringing in nuke?"
"Can't verify, but we'd better beat them to it in case they are."
"Roger that. Confirm Sector 5, E2, 654, 099. HEAP in effect, 3 rounds. Stand by."
A couple minutes passed, then the ground rocked with murderous explosions. Geysers of soil and rock burst hundreds of meters into the air as Thumper shells blasted in and around the Word of Blake formation. The Word of Blake, expecting none of such counterstrike, immediately fell out of order.
"Renegade Falcon, Shaolin Spirit. Adjust, add 100, left 150," Kayoko directed the artillery fire.
"One hundred high, 150 left, shot!"
The next wave dropped right in the middle of the Word of Blake formation. One Grand Titan Vengeance jolted as 105-mm Thumper shell smashed into its right shoulder. Its harden armor blunted most of the impact, but the lightly-armored Thumper barrel was crushed, rendering the artillery cannon useless.
"Splash! Fire for effect! Fire for effect!" Kayoko screamed in ecstasy. "Send them all to hell!"
"Battle station! Vengeance spotted, possible nuclear warhead imminent!" Scarlet scrambled all comm channel in dire urgency. "Renegade Falcon, keep up the pressure! Brutus Diablo, take Fire Lance and Strike Lance to support Shaolin Spirit! I want those Vengeance dead! Phantom Zulu, Tango Sakura, hold position!"
"With all due respect, Yankee Tornado, I can add more punch to the assault task force!" Noloty begged to join Kayoko in the front line. "Please let me go!"
"Out of the question, Tango Sakura! Hold position with me and Phantom Zulu!"
"Ma'am…"
"I said hold position! Quit the comlink or I'll put a round in your cockpit!"
"Yes Ma'am," Noloty cut off the comlink dejectedly. Her mech was itching for a brawl, and she was anxious to share the battlefield with the rest of the Ryuken-go. But there was nothing she could do. Her order was to hold position, so hold position she must. Perhaps Scarlet saw something she didn't.
The bombardment on the Word of Blake position intensified, and the Grand Titans scrambled to different positions but the barrages followed them. Three rounds landed on a Grand Titan, viciously mutilated the hundred-ton beast. Its right arm whizzed a dozen meter away from the body, followed by the Thumper cannon. Two more landed a few meters behind, creating splash damage to the already staggering mech.
"We catch them off guard!" Kayoko sniggered animatedly. "I wish you could see them squirm under the heat, like worms writhing under a magnifying glass. Adjust, add 75, right 10, fire for effect."
"Seventy-five long, 10 wide, confirm. Shot!"
The next three waves wreaked havoc in the midst of the smaller mechs. An Excalibur caught two rounds on its midfiff. Smoke and jagged-edged splinters wafted as the front armor breached. The 70-ton mech backpedalled to compensate the enormous momentum from the Thumper shells, but crashed into an ammunition truck. The following ammo explosion stipped the limbs from armor, leaving the legs mere titanium beams with shredded myomers around it.
But the Word of Blake knew that, to be that accurate, the enemy's artillery must have a spotter. And soon they spotted Kayoko. A Grim Reaper and an Exterminator were dispatch to deal with the Argus, and immediately charged her with full speed.
"I've been made," Kayoko turned her mech around to run away. "Yankee Tornado, Shaolin Spirit. Can't hold position; bandits on my six."
"Shalin Spirit, Brutus Diablo," Seether replied. "Set the course to G3. Keep them in tow; we'll clear the field for you."
"Roger that, Brutus Diablo," Kayoko corrected the course of her mech, now heading south west. The Exterminator crept closer, but Kayoko hit her MASC, expanding the gap between them, just enough to get it out of range. The Grim Reaper fell back farther and farther, and at one point it just gave up, leaving the Exterminator to deal with the unexptectedly speedy Argus alone.
It was not long until Seether's task force appeared on the horizon. The two Phoenix Hawks immediately broke formation and charged the Exterminator. Kayoko slowed down and turned to join the fray. The Exterminator quickly quickly reversed direction but the Phoenix Hawks kept it from running away. The Exterminator fought valiantly, but never had a chance. Twin cerulean beams leapt from the Warhammer IIC, vaporizing a ton of armor on the Exterminator's shoulder. The Uziel and Black Knight capitalized on it, exploiting the fissures on the Exterminator the Warhammer IIC opened up with unequaled finesse. Kayoko added insult to injury with her own Heavy PPC, a powerful shot that paralyzed the Exterminator waist down. The Phoenix Hawks finished up the job with their lasers. The Exterminator collapsed into a heap of scorching metal.
"This is Brutus Diablo, form up on me, echelon right," Seether rallied his troops. "Concentrate fire on the Vengeance, one at a time! Finish them quickly, then we'll deal with the rest! Move move move!"
Seether set a collision course with the Word of Blake formation while the Ryuken mechs lined up on his right in diagonal formation. Coming into weapon contact, the Word of Blake locked their weapons on the Clan assault mech and let loose a torrent of projectiles. Seether banked hard left, throwing the ballistics off but still caught half of the missiles. A stray particle bolt hit the Warhammer IIC on the knee and partially locked the joint, reducing the Clan relic into a limping colossus.
"Break left! Open fire on the Vengeance on the far left!" Seether roared, seemingly unshaken by the Word of Blake assault. "Shaolin Spirit, redirect artillery on top of the escort mechs!"
"Renegade Falcon, adjust, sub 230, left 3, fire for effect!"
The ground lit up with fireballs and smoke. The Word of Blake mechs held their ground, but Ryuken-go artillery forced them to break formation, giving Seether's task force valuable seconds to mount an unwavering assault on the Grand Titan Vengeance. Now in line abreast formation with 90-degree twist, the Ryuken-go unleashed a lethal assault on one Vengeance. The hundred-ton mech went alive in a kaleidoscope of explosions. The hardened armor quickly failed under intense pressure, and the Grand Titan disappeared into an earth-shattering fireball.
With the lead Grand Titan smoldering on the ground, the Word of Blake formation fell into total chaos.
"Splash one!" Seether declared victory. "Break formation, fire at will! All Grand Titan must die!"
Inside Shigata, Noloty occupied herself with radio broadcast from the front line, wordlessly cheering and pumping her fist everytime somebody exclaimed 'Splash'. She felt useless, constrained to garrison duty while her teammates hung their lives in a balance, dealing a debilitating blow to the Word of Blake occupation force. The very thing she had been waiting for since she joined Draconis Combine military. She tried to stay positive, finding consolation in the fact that she was the newest member of the Ryuken-go. There would be plenty of time for her to prove herself.
That time came sooner that she anticipated.
"Heads up, Ryuken-go, this is Ivory Hunter," Vash's voice interrupted the front line radio feed. "One Level II spotted at N12, bearing 355. Scratch that, two Level II's bearing 355, speed 35 kph. Watch your head, people! They're bringing in Ragnarok! I repeat, the Word of Blake is sending Ragnarok to reclaim the Reeducation Camp!"
"Oh shit! Noloty!" Kayoko sorted through battlecries and screams of victory over the comlink. "Brutus Diablo, we've gotta RTB! I can take my lance to support Yankee Tornado and Tango Sakura…"
"Negative! Stay on your objective!" Scarlet overrode the conversation. "I knew those cowards would sneak behind our back the moment we hit their artillery units! I knew they're gonna come for my head! Well, I'm here! Let them come and get it!"
"Yankee, are you sure?" Seether tuned in. "You're outnumbered 4-to-1, with Ragnarok in sight!"
"You intentionally counted me out, Brutus Diablo?" Kiyomi chimed in. "I take it as an insult!"
"I'm still in the game!" Vash added. "You just care about your job, Brutus. We got this!"
"Continue assault on the artillery units and murder the Grand Titan Vengeance!" Scarlet barked commands. "Renegade Falcon, I want your Glory's in box formation! Ivory Hunter, you got the vibromines set up?"
"Yours to command, Yankee!"
"Then let's get this done, people! By the numbers!" Scarlet turned off the general broadcast, then hailed Noloty through private channel. "You want war, Tango Sakura? You want the heads of the Word of Blake?"
"Yes Ma'am!" Noloty blurted as she ran through her weapon status. "Looking forward to it!"
"Then stay on my flank!" Scarlet's four-legged Xanthos moved out to meet the Word of Blake force. "Cut down anything that attempts to put a shank on my back! I'm going after the Ragnarok!"
