CHAPTER 10
Logistic Depot, 2 hrs from Shigata,
Ashio, Ashio Prefecture,
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine,
October 18, 3074
Dawn barely broke when the Ryuken-go Overlord-class dropship touched down in the barren desert. Steam hissed as the landing legs extended and settled the egg-shaped giant on uneven ground. As the engine wound down, the dropship's weapon systems went alive, swiveling every which way to clear the area from attackers. Yet it was barely necessary, for there was nothing to shoot at within 2-kilometer radius, save for desert creatures.
The dropship bay rumbled open and the Ryuken-go strike lance charged the open door as soon as the ramp touched the ground. The two Phoenix Hawks cleared the ramp in a long jump, leaving a plume of white smoke on the ramp. Kayoko's Argus burst through the smoke, followed by the Uziel. The lance quickliy assume defensive formation, boxing the Overlord dropship.
The fire lance came out next. The Black Knight trundled down the ramp first, followed by the Legionnaire and the Hatchetman. They fell to a firing line, filling in the gap in between Kayoko's lancemates. The Crimson Hawk, the smallest but by no means the weakest battlemech of the company, jumped off the ledge and stayed by the ramp, twisting every which way to watch for incoming threats.
Reports rolled in through comlink, reaffirming the fact that the 'area is secure'. Seether led the command lance out of the dropship. Scarlet, piloting the rebuilt Marauder, stepped within the shadow of Seether's towering Warhammer IIC. Noloty moved her Sagittaire out of the dropship, covering the right flank of the Marauder. She was used to cover the enormous Xanthos that doing the same deed for a Marauder felt somehow awkward, criminal, almost sinful. But she shrugged off the thought and focused on the job at hand. Gunjin Mirabel came out last in her Dragon, forming up on Scarlet's left.
"Tacit Ronin, this is Yankee Tornado," Scarlet called the militia. "We're ready for pick up."
"Acknowledged, Yankee Tornado," the militia replied. "Santa's Sleigh is ready to roll. Rendezvous at zero-two-zero."
"Affirmative," Scarlet replied, then mobilized her unit. "All hands, proceed to the designated target, weapons hot. Strike lance, set up perimeter defense 200-meters around the target. Fire lance, move up to the depot, watch out for hostiles. Command lance, form up on me!"
The Strike Lance burst from 0 to 80 kph within 10 seconds, closing the half-kilo gap between the Ryuken-go's Overlord dropship and a small logistic depot in less than a minute. The heavier mechs of the Fire Lance took more time, but converged at the depot half a minute later. Scarlet and Seether raced toward the depot, escorted by Mirabel, and Noloty, in the heaviest mech of the company, mad up her lack of speed by profuse use of jumpjets.
"Ground Units, this is Dropship Command," the dropship called. "Be advised. We intercept encrypted radio transmission from unknown sources. We are unable to decipher the content."
"I knew they were going to sneak behind our back, mercenary bastards!" Scarlet growled impatiently. "Here we go, guys! They're here! Put one eye on your scanner and thumb on your trigger! When in doubt, shoot!"
Noloty turned her active radar on, trying to pick up any radio transmission, but despite the best effort her electronics could muster, the screen remained blank. She toggled the visual enhancer, hoping to spot shut-down hostile units, but her wishful thinking only went so far. No contacts with any other combat units, friends or foe. But somehow she was still not convinced.
The Fire painted the area with radar signal as if not convinced that the area was secure. Once they were satisfied, they converged at a large building, waiting for the logistic convoy to show up. The Black Knight circled the depot one more time, then regrouped with the rest of the lance.
"Tacit Ronin, this is Luna Swift. We are in posit…"
The Black Knight's transmission was cut short by a massive explosion. The large depot warehouse turned into a supernova, a blinding orange fireball that devoured the Crimson Hawk and the Legionnaire in quick succession. The shock blast knocked down the Black Knight and the Hatchetman, and was powerful enough to push the Sagittaire off one foot. The Marauder and Warhammer IIC lurched but quickly recovered. The Dragon reeled backward while swaying its arms to keep it from falling on its butt.
Then suddenly, the depot was crawling with Markham Marauders.
"It's a trap! All units, fire at will!" Scarlet roared. Her Marauder pivoted on one foot to target a Clan-made Ryoken bursting out of a warehouse, then punish it with her twin ERPPC, followed by a vicious Gauss slug to the midsection. The Ryoken doubled over, almost grated the ground with its snout, but managed to pull itself together to avoid catastrophic outcome.
"Combattler Prime, this is Yankee Tornado!" Scarlet yelled as a wave of missiles forced her to disengage the Ryoken. "Mission is a bust! I'm pulling my men out!" Engaging a steady backpedal, she orchestrated a retreat scenario. "Strike Lance, fusillade at 2 o'clock to relieve Fire Lance! Brutus Diablo, pull the Fire lance out of there! The rest of you, back to the dropship! Dropship Command, suppressing fire!"
Noloty followed Scarlet's maneuver, backtracking toward the dropship while laying down firepower for the Fire team. The Legionnaire arose from the dust, smoking, wobbling groggily on shredded legs under the intense heat. A Guillotine moved in for the kill but Noloty launched a one-two punch combo with her PPC and UAC10. Her PPC stabbed the Guillotine on the ribcage, purging a ton of armor. Her depleted-uranium shells pulverized the armor on the center torso. The Guillotine lurched sideways, twisting hard left to stay upright, then unleashed a dazzling laser fire at the Sagittaire. Noloty slammed her joystick to her right thigh, and the Sagittaire took a sidestep, missing the laser by a mere inch.
The Overlord launched a wicked saturated fire with missiles, lasers, and ballistics, forcing the Marauders to take cover behind structures. But the Marauders artillery shells struck the dropship with lethal precision. One lucky (or deadly accurate) artillery shot hit a cannon, and the turret erupted, punching a hole on its thick hide.
"This is Dropship Command, we are taking artillery fire!" the dropship captain announced. "Get the hell in, double time!"
Noloty ground her teeth. She didn't see any spotter for the Marauders' artillery units. There was only one explanation for the artillery's razor-sharp precision. Besides, the fact that the Marauders were hitting the dropship instead of the easier-to-kill battlemechs confirmed her suspicion.
"Kayoko," she called her best friend through private channel. "Watch you radar! He's here!"
"Who?" Kayoko blurted.
"Him. The leader of the Marauders. Dultom Markham. I know this guy; I fought him before! This guy's a pitbull. He'll lock his crosshair on you and won't let go until you're dead!"
"Relax, Sister, we've got things under control," Kayoko replied nonchalantly. "If he shows his face, my team will mug him."
"Kayoko you don't know what you're dealing with…"
"Thanks for the heads up, but he's not showing up yet," Kayoko puffed. "Now excuse me, I have mercenaries to hunt!"
A Marauders Thanatos took advantage of Noloty's momentary lapse of focus and launched a missile-laser combo, swarming the Sagittaire with armor-piercing rounds. Noloty gnashed her teeth, pushing her joystick as far as possible to compensate the blasting force of the missiles. She cursed herself for allowing the Thanatos to get a lock on her. She steadied her legs and brought her ERPPC to bear, but the Thanatos took to the air, dodging Noloty's particle beam by a couple meters.
Fortunately, the dropship found the flying Thanatos appealing. No less than 60 missiles leapt from the tubes, followed by long traces of armor-piercing ballistics. Explosions ravaged the Thanatos. Pieces of armor and body parts came flying off. The Thanatos continued its course like a meteorite, bleeding fire from every pore as it plummeted. Its knees dragged on the ground before cartwheeling. It pulled itself up, but two PPC bolts from the Warhammer IIC buckled its knees, once again knocking it down.
The dropship continued its impressive show of firepower down the range, but the continuous hit from the hidden artillery started taking its toll. Slabs of armor drooped as Thumper shells punished the Overlord without relent. Major fire engulfed various sections of the egg-shape behemoth. Frantic calls to find the Thumper unit flooded the comlink, but nobody could see artillery unit within 3-click radius.
"This is Dropship Command! Hull is breached! Lifting off in 30 seconds!"
"Thirty second?! We need more time!" Scarlet roared. She turned her Marauder around and sprinted toward the Overlord. "Don't you dare lifting off!"
"Sorry Yankee, we can't sustain more hits," the Overlord captain replied morosely. "Armor is depleted, and structures are compromised. Thirty seconds is all you've got. We'll take whoever can make it in 30 seconds."
Scarlet halted her run and made a quick assessment. Her crews were still scattered around the depot; half of them were still engaging the Markham Marauders. There was no chance they could make it back to the dropship in 30 seconds. But one gaze at the dropship and she knew she'd lose it if it stayed longer on the ground. The Markham Marauders did a good number on it. She had to find a way out without the dropship.
"Dropship Command, you're clear for lift off!" Scarlet turned her mech and sprinted back toward the depot. "We'll find another way home!"
"Good luck, Yankee Tornado," the captain replied. The bay doors pulled up and the landing legs were retracted back into the stowages. Smoke and dust ballooned as the rockets propelled the massive dropship back into space.
"What the…" Kayoko blurted, watching the dropship soared in a thick plume of smoke. "What the hell?! Damn dropship! We got ditched!"
"We don't need dropship!" Scarlet dove into the thick of battle, firing her twin ERPPC like a maniac. "All hands, rally on me! We'll punch a hole through their defense and bleed them to death!"
The Ryuken-go shifted positions and congregated around the Marauder. But the Legionnaire was crippled. It was 300 meters away from Scarlet's Marauder when two Bushwackers sneaked behind the straggler like a couple of alligators on the prowl. The Legionnaire turned to access the threat but it was too late. Submunitions from the Bushwackers' massive LB-20X cannons scourged the Legionnaire's armor and tore the engine apart. A superheated plasma ball swelled from the mech's core, pulverizing everything in its path. Blistering body parts rained down on a wide area.
"We lost the Legionnaire!" Seether hollered.
"Tango Sakura, plug the hole!" Scarlet barked.
"Yes Ma'am!" Noloty pushed her mech forward. Laser blasts from the Bushwackers evaporated a ton of armor on the Sagittaire's left leg, but Noloty steadied her stance, then poured her lasers on the closest Bushwacker. The Bushwacker's left torso glowed in orange. It staggered under the sudden loss of mass, but quickly recuperated and launched another laser assault as soon as it recycled. But Noloty tapped her jet trigger, propelling the Sagittaire forward in a quick vault. Her particle cannon blitzed, firing a cerulean javelin to spike the metal carapace of the Bushwacker. A heavy chunk of armor came off flying as the Bushwacker staggered again, lurching forward on unsteady knees.
The other Bushwacker went full speed to get into the LB-20X strike zone quickly. Noloty read this scheme, and fired everything she got – lasers, PPC, and ballistics – to stop the Bushwacker from closing in on her. The Bushwacker thrashed about under assault. Shards and body parts flew in every direction as the Bushwacker's right torso caved in. But despite Noloty's relentless assault, the stubborn mech kept coming, now breaking into 300-meter range. Noloty, already in heat trouble, could only fire her jets to get her out of the LB-20X reach. The Bushwacker pushed its advantage, but unfortunately, engaged in a collision course with Scarlet's Marauder. A vicious Gauss strike seared off the Bushwacker's right torso completely. The Bushwacker twisted and swayed drunkenly. It continued its course for a few meters then succumbed to its wounds, crashing under a huge pillar of black smoke.
The Crimson Hawk, despite its debilitating injuries, dauntlessly charged the other Bushwacker. Its twin large laser eviscerated the Buswacker's left torso, already damaged by Noloty's offensive power. The Bushwacker teetered in the brink of collapse. Its left torso bled fire and smoke. The 55-tonner twisted and pivoted to catch the smaller mech with the LB-20X knockout punch, but the Crimson Hawk circled the Bushwacker, taking potshots from outside the Bushwacker's firing arc. A lucky strike drilled the bad gash on the Bushwacker's left torso, incinerating the ammunition bins. A flare flashed in a blink of an eye, then everything was swallowed in a giant fireball that split the Bushwacker into half a dozen pieces.
But the laser work put the Crimson Hawk in heat trouble. A Catapult painted it with 30-something missiles, and the Crimson Hawk was too late to take evasive maneuver. The missiles horde smashed into the light mech, igniting a hot-red fireball that devoured the Crimson Hawk a whole.
"Bogey's at two!" Noloty lined up her crosshair with the Catapult . She pumped the Catapult full of lead and armor-piercing rounds raked its right torso, threatening to breach the right missile box. The Catapult lurched to the side, leaning on one leg, desperately hanging on to keep standing.
"Bogey's going down!" Kayoko's lance moved up to overwhelm the Catapult with energy beams. But four traces of armor-piercing ballistics stopped the Uziel dead on its track. The Uziel writhed as the left arm breached at the shoulder. Knee trembling, the Uziel pulled itself up and twisted to address the threat, but a deadly-accurate Thumper shell slammed into its torso, turning the torso armor into jagged-edged shards. The explosion doubled the Uziel over. Another wave of HEAP slashed the Uziel's torso, and the 50-ton mech jerked backward, crashing on its back with smoke billowing from the gaped torso.
Noloty's breath stuck in her throat watching her nightmare turned real.
"Bull Shark! Bull Shark at 10, coming inbound!" Noloty cried out. She turned her mech toward the new threat and cringed in horror to see the Clan Wolverine relic started hunting down Kayoko's lance. "Yankee Tornado, this is Tango Sakura! Dultom Markham is coming! Let me have him!"
"Negative, Tango! Stay at my four!" Scarlet growled.
"Ma'am, Dultom Markham will obliterate Striker Lance! We'll lose our fast mechs! Let me take him! I've fought him before, I can deal with him!"
"I said stay on my four, Heishi!"
"I'm on it," the Warhammer IIC disengaged a Bandersnatch and broke into a sprint toward the Bull Shark. "Tango, get that Bandersnatch!"
"Yes Sir!" Noloty moved up her Sagittaire to cover for Seether, but she was afraid that it might be the last deed she would do for him.
