CHAPTER 4

New Macao, Liao Commonality,
Capellan Confederation,
May 21, 3073

The destruction of the FedCom HPG Uplink drove the Liao mad. A battalion worth of Liao battlemechs was dropped off to search and destroy the Davion mercenary. The planet was practically crawling with Liao mechs. Many Davion paramilitary bases were overrun, and Davion loyalists killed.

The base at Nav Point Epsilon was no different.

"Strike-Alpha, this is Bravo-Two-Delta, coming in hot!" three Leopard dropships descended upon the Davion paramilitary base, firing all weapons to ward off Liao aerofighters that were nipping on their heels. Anti-aircraft guns lit up the sky with laser beams and ballistics, but the Liao flyers were just too many. South-side emplacements had been wiped out clean, and now the Liaos were targeting the north-side emplacements.

"Everybody on the dropships double time!" Commander Korra screamed through the commlink, trying to beat the roars of explosions. Her PPCs whipped every which way to provide cover fire, but for the most part failed t do anything. "Now! Now! Now!"

Neptune was the first one to get on the dropship. With only one Medium Pulse laser and near absent armor, he wouldn't contribute much to the defense. Might as well save his butt from Liao beating. The Battle Hawk and the Wolfhound followed suit, and the Wolftrap came in last. The Leopard door started to close as the dropship crews scrambled the bay floor to strap the mechs for liftoff.

But the Liao aerofighters concentrated fire on the Leopard, dropping bombs and missiles and surgical laser shots to the dropship's engines. The Leopard fired all weapons to keep the aerofighters at bay, but the engine sustained too much damage. Fire broke out of control, and within seconds, the mechbay was choke-full of black smoke.

"It's gonna blow! Get out! Get out of here!" the lance commander screamed and took his Wolftrap out of the dropship. The Battle Hawk and Wolfhound followed suit, and Neptune, with his Hermes half-secured on the bay, had to pry his mech off the restraints to jump off the burning dropship. He maneuvered his mech through mechs and tanks, taking cover behind another Leopard. The damaged Leopard erupted in earth-shattering blast.

"Pursuit Lance! One me!" the lance commander sneaked his Wolftrap behind the bigger mechs, then inconsiderately jumped into the Leopard in front of him. The Battle Hawk and Wolfhound mindlessly followed him like a couple of lemmings. Neptune directed his Hermes to the Leopard but held his joystick a few steps from the ramp. If his lance took that Leopard, somebody had to stay behind and die in the hands of the Liao. Or worse, get captured and tortured to horrible death.

"That's OK, Kid, go ahead, get inside!" Lance Commander Drew moved his massive Jagermech behind him. "We'll get you covered! Support Lance, attack pattern Delta! Take as many of them down!"

But Neptune still wasn't sure. He wanted to get out of there, but his rectitude didn't allow him to save his own butt while others put theirs on the line. He might not be a true mechwarrior but he knew how to play in a team. He just couldn't let the Support Lance take the fall so he could survive.

"Kid! What yerr doing? Get the hell in the dropship!" the lance commander howled.

"No! I'm staying!" Neptune finally made up his mind.

"What?! Yerr crazy?! Get in the dropship! That's an order!"

"Negative, Sir! I'm staying!" Instead Neptune turned around and joined the Support Lance.

"Don't be stupid, Kid, you're not even part of the Legends," Lance Commander Drew said grievously.

"I am, Sir! I am a Lexington Legends at this moment!" Neptune held his position. "I'm staying with you!"

"Support Lance, there's a spot with the Pursuit Lance! Any taker?"

"We're going when you're going, Sir!" the support lancemates replied without hesitation.

"It's settled then! Korra, take the dropship! We got your six!"

"It's been a privilege working with you, Drew!" the big Awesome climbed up a Leopard. "I'll see you in hell!" She turned around and shot a private message at Neptune. "I wish it didn't end like this, Neptune. I'm glad you decided to join us, even for a short while!"

"The honor is mine, Commander!" Neptune replied. His radar bleeped, signaling a lance of Liao battlemechs just broke through 1-kilometer radius. A Crab, an Assassin, a Thug, and a familiar Stalker sprinted through the snowy mesa, trying to get the mercenaries before they took off. It was the same Stalker that almost killed him a few weeks earlier. "Liao cannibals inbound! Get out of here before they come into weapon range!"

"Legends! Lift off!" Korra screamed, and the two Leopards blasted off the base. Liao aerofighters tried to shoot down the dropships but the Support Lance's air defense smothered the air raid, bringing down one aerofighter after another.

As the Leopards climbed to the stratosphere, Lance Commander Drew turned his guns to the incoming mechs. "Alright, lance, we're going to take everything the Capellans throw at us! We're going down but we'll drag them with us, one Liao at a time! Concentrate fire on the Crab! Neptune, keep the Assassin busy! Buy us time to kill the heavyweights! We'll kill the Assassin last!"

"Yes Sir!" Neptune replied blandly. He didn't know how long the Hermes could stand against the Assassin. But Assassins weren't known for firepower. All he had to do was to stand long enough for the Jagermechs to survive Liao's assault mechs, before they could gang up on the Assassin. It was hard but doable.

So Neptune kicked his Hermes into high gear and charged the Assassin head on. The Assassin fired its Artemis-guided missiles in a straight line. Neptune maintained his course but a few meters before impact he broke hard right. The missiles swerved harmlessly on his left. Neptune stayed out of the Assassin's laser, running in circle while waiting for the opportunity to strike a strand or two.

The Assassin painted the Hermes with radar wave then launched its missiles as soon as it was ready. But Neptune maintained tight turns, weaving left and right. The second missile volley swished above his head. Anxious, the Assassin used its incredible speed to close the gap with the Hermes, but Neptune knew it was coming. His Medium Pulse laser spat, jabbing the Assassin's torso with short, controlled burst. The Assassin's own Medium Pulse laser sparked furiously, but the rushed attack went wide.

The Crab came to the Assassin's aid but the Jagermechs let loose a steady stream of ballistics and lasers. One Jagermech carried twin Gauss rifles, and one slug was all it took to stop the Crab dead in its track. The Crab fired both all lasers to slow down the onslaught, but armor-piercing slugs quickly shredded the Crab's torso. Drew's twin laser bolts dug deep into the machinery, and the Crab blasted, painting the snowy land with scorching debris.

The Thug and Stalker came into firing range and immediately opened fire on Drew's Jagermech. One PPC bolts smashed into the Jagermech's shoulder, and the Stalker's missiles arced in the air before descended upon the Jagermech's top. One missile hit the head, and while it failed to penetrate the armor and lay waste in the cockpit, it completely demolished the windshield. The 70-ton Jagermech careened, swaying left and right like a drunken man.

"Commander's hit! Commander's hit!" panic screams spilled from the commlink, and the Jagermech defense formation started to falter.

Neptune didn't know what to make out of the situation, but he knew that the JM7 Jagermech was the backbone of the mercenary defense. The other Jagermechs would soon be depleted, and the only thing that could balance the fight was the quadruple lasers of the 70-ton Jagermech. He didn't know if he could use it properly. Hell, he never piloted anything larger than his Hermes. But if he wanted to survive, he had to man those laser quartet. There was no other way.

So he changed direction and charged the Assassin head on. His sudden burst took the Assassin by surprise. Its missiles raced to gore the Hermes' gutted torso, but Neptune sidestepped the attack. He fired a quick laser burst then rammed his mech onto the Assassin. The crash rattled the cockpit. Pieces from the interior walls flew in every direction. Half of the LCD monitors burst into tiny bits of shards. But the Assassin fell flat on its back, pinned to the ground by the badly mangled Hermes.

As the Assassin twisted and turned to free itself from the Hermes, Neptune activated the self-destruct sequence then climbed out of the mech. He jumped off and ran as fast as he could. The Assassin managed to push the Hermes away and was clambering up when the Hermes went supernova. The fireball engulfed the Assassin, knocking out half of its sensors and Medium Pulse laser. It went down on broken legs and singed myomers, writhing on the ground once again.

The explosion threw Neptune off his course but the snow dampened his crash. He rolled on the snow for a few dozen meters, then sprawled still, catching his breath. The sting of the cold awoke him, just in time when one of the Jagermechs ran toward his direction. He pulled himself up and rolled over before 65-ton of metal landed on top of him.

Getting a hold of himself, Neptune made his way toward the JM7 Jagermech, which fortunately leaned on the remains of a Long Tom cannon. He climbed the cannon and slid into the cockpit through the busted window. Drew was slumping on the command couch, fighting for control. His neurohelmet was covered in blood, and his bare arms were sliced and diced by broken glasses.

"How did you get here, Kid?" he grunted feebly.

"I'm getting you out of here," Neptune replied as he released the harness. He lied Drew in the tight place behind the command couch, then hooked up his own neurohelmet with the Jagermech's console. "I'm sorry, I have to borrow your mech."

Under Neptune's command the 70-ton mech sprung back to life. Two ER Large Lasers stood up at the ready, sending twin emerald beams across the field to carve holes on the Thug's shoulder. The Thug lurched sideways. It turned around to assess the new threat, but Neptune thumbed the autocannon trigger. The pulse gave him a sense of authority as depleted-uranium rounds chewed up the Thug's thick hide.

"Commander?" somebody called in from the commlink.

"Commander Drew is alive but badly injured. This is Neptune, the new 'Kid'."

"The 'Kid'? What are you doing in Commander's mech?!"

"No time to explain. Take the Thug down quick!"

The other Jagermechs reacted hesitantly, knowing that the order did not come from their lance commander. But they absorbed the urgency of the situation and joined Neptune in attacking the Thug. The assault mech quickly slipped into trouble. The Gauss slugs opened a large crack on its center torso, giving access for the autocannon rounds to wreck a few heat sinks. With its heat dissipation capacity severely reduced, its main weapons become nothing more than a furnace. The 4 Jagermechs poured their HEAP rounds without relent, turning the Thug's front armor to pulp. Internal explosions tore the assault mech from inside, and the 80-ton mech crumbled in a fiery blast.

The Stalker managed to deal a great damage on one of the Jaggermechs. The lasers tore into the armor and the missiles crushed the internal structure. The body caved in on several places, and the Jagermech staggered, shuddering with every salvo. The Stalker's powerful missile strike ripped the arms off its joints. The Jagermech buckled as if its legs turned to mush.

But Neptune slammed home a laser volley on the Stalker's long, phallus-esque fuselage. Molten armor dripped onto the snow. The Stalker turned toward Neptune and unleashed a hailstorm of missiles at the Jagermech's midsection, but Neptune held his ground. Multiple missiles strafed the Jagermech, tearing whatever armor was left on the mech's front side. The impact shoved the Jagermech a few steps back. Neptune held his joystick as hard as he could. His console went berserk, bombarding him with information he didn't need. He knew his front armor was shot. His mech couldn't withstand another well-placed salvo.

Fortunately the other Jagermechs picked up where he left off. The Jagermech -DG buried the last Gauss slugs on the Stalker's left arm, crushing the missile launcher. The other Jagermech exploited the damaged armor from Neptune's strike. Laser-ballistic combo tore up a bad gash on the fuselage. The Stalker turned left to protect the damaged right torso, exposing its right side in the process. The Jagermech -DG hit the damaged missile launcher with lasers, ripping the box apart.

The Stalker still had a lot of fight in it and turned toward the other Jagermechs. Neptune swung right, aiming for the bad gash on the fuselage. At the first chance he mashed the alpha-strike button. Laser bolts and ballistic tracers raced toward the left side of the fuselage. The long structure breached into two parts, throwing the cockpit – and the mechwarrior – to the white snow. The rest of the Stalker waddled mindlessly for a few dozen meters before falling on its side.

The Assassin, breaking free from the charred hulk of the Hermes, decided to return to where it came from.

"Liao threat eliminated," Neptune broadcast his call for help through general frequency. "Lance Commander Drew is still alive but he won't survive without medical attention! Is there a medic around here?"

"Negative, Kid," one of the Jagermech replied somberly. "This is it for us. This is our last stand. Everybody else is gone. We'll just have to fire until we can't fire anymore."

"This is Skyzone 211," an ATV rolled over the Jagermechs. "The Davion paramilitary is going southbound to a hidden dropship pad half an hour from here. An outsource transport company will pick us up. If we can make it in time, we can hitch a hike and get the lance commander some medical attention."

"Can everybody make it?" Neptune asked.

"My mech is done in but I can manage," the mechwarrior of the heavily-damaged Jagermech chimed.

The other 2 Jagermechs didn't look like they would have trouble moving at high speed.

"Alright then, let's go!" Neptune said as he kicked his Jagermech into high gear. "Let's get out of here before Liao returns!"

The Jagermech foursome followed the ATV southbound, leaving the base burning. Half an hour running took them to a secluded area on a mountain range, and Neptune was elated to see not one, but two Union-class dropships waiting for them.

"Skyzone 211, this is Rocketman Bravo," the dropship called. "What's with the extra baggage?"

"Rocketman Bravo, Skyzone 211. They stay behind to make sure everybody escapes. You have extra room?"

"Yes, but we don't agree on battlemechs."

"Make it happen. These guys are heroes. If they don't do what they did, Liaos would have had our heads. Come on, make room for them."

"It'll cost you extra."

"We'll settle it on the run. Let them aboard. And prepare TCCC. One of them is injured."

The main bay of one Union blasted open and the four Jagermechs ran up the ramp. Neptune coordinated the medics to evacuate Lance Commander Drew, then proceeded to the bridge to contact Commander Korra. "Commander Korra, this is Neptune. Support Lance will lift off with Rocketman Bravo. Lance Commander Drew is hurt but I think he'll make it."

"Well well, I don't expect you of all people to make it this far, but damn good work, Kid!" Korra replied. "I'm impressed. Sit tight and enjoy the ride. We'll rendezvous at the jumpship."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Neptune smiled and cut off the comlink.