CHAPTER 4

Pummelo, Outworlds Alliance,
April 2, 3074

The Union dropship rattled violently, then came to a dead stop. The captain announced, with a steady and monotone voice, that they had touched down at Pummelo, at the southern continent. He sent the overhead map to the mechs. At the switching of the light on the hangar, mech technicians scrambled the mechs to prepare them to get out of the dropship.

"Everybody go weapons hot!" Commander Korra spoke through the comlink. "I want perimeter defense 3 minutes after the door open. Pursuit Lance: 4 o'clock, Support Lance: 2 o'clock, Command Lance: 9 o'clock. Go active radar and paint the vicinity. Watch your fire. Intel said this planet is crawling with Kuritans, but we may have friendlies waiting for us."

Neptune switched to his lance frequency. "I want echelon right on me. Energy weapons only. Save your ballistics until we're absolutely sure what we're shooting at."

"Aye, Sir," Ian replied.

"Affirmative, Boss," Joezen added.

"Roger that," Alec followed suit.

Everything stayed stationary for another 10 minutes, then the bay door rumbled open. The speedy pursuit lance took the ramp first, immediately forming a firing line at the south east position of the dropship. Neptune kicked out his Jagermech and turned his radar active. He scanned the area but as far as he could see only vegetation existed on the snow-covered ground. He switched to infra-red scanner, and the result remained the same.

"Support Lance. Area secured," he reported. "No contact with hostiles."

"This is Pursuit Lance, area is secured," the other report came in a second late.

"Hold position," Commander Korra said as her massive Awesome -9Q trudged down the ramp. "Dropship Command, establish contact with local Davion units. They should be guiding us through this sewer."

"Stand by." The comlink turned into static for a full minute, then a garble transmission of what sounded like a woman's voice crackled on the speaker.

"This is Commander Korra, Lexington Legends mercenary unit," Korra said. "Identify yourself."

"This is Sergeant Mogami, Langmore Planetary Defense. We have been overrun by Kuritan loyalist. We are pinned on the eastern valley. A fast Kuritan force is moving toward our off-shore refinery on grid 31-168. Davion defenders are light; only turrets and a few armored vehicles. They will fall under Kuritan pressure. My lance is escorting Langmore family member to get off world. A chartered dropship is waiting for us on grid 28-092. But the Kuritans are setting up barricades on the mountain pass. We need help."

"Acknowledged. Pursuit lance, make your best speed to the refinery and hold the line. I'm right behind you. Support lance, rendezvous with the Sergeant Mogami and provide cover."

"Roger that!" Neptune throttled up his mech and sync his navigation system with Korra's mech. The navigation points popped up on his HUD, and he adjusted his course to Nav Point Delta, supposedly where Mogami's force was escorting the convoy through the mountain pass. Alec's and Joezen's mechs followed him some 50 meters behind, and Ian's Gauss-laden Jagermech anchored the formation.

Twenty minutes of running full speed, the foursome arrived at a mountain range. The temperature dropped halfway down to freezing point, which nicely compensated the heat waste from the overworking myomers. He circled around until he saw a small opening on the outcropping. He slowed down his advance, allowing his lance mates to catch up, then hailed the local force.

"Sergeant Mogami, this is Lance Commander Neptune, Lexington Legends. What is your sitrep?"

"One medium lance escorting three APCs carrying the surviving Langmore family to the dustoff site. We are 1.5 clicks from the pass entrance. Forward scout reported at least 3 Kuritan road blocks barricaded the pass, with patrols coming from all direction."

"Hang tight, Sergeant. We're coming through." Neptune switched to private channel to address his lance mates. "Keep your eyes open and fingers on your triggers. This could be a trap."

Another ten minutes of climbing the pass and the Jagermechs arrived at a series of rolling hills. A small convoy waited in the middle of the pass. The APCs and the Clint were in good condition, but the Sentinel, Cicada, and Assassin were past its combat effectiveness. Their armor was stripped bare, and their internal structures were bent against each other, as if the only thing holding them together was the mechwarriors' willpower. Those mechs would need to be completely rebuilt.

"Lexington Legends at your service," Neptune said as his lance moved up to the convoy.

"Thank you for the assist, Lance Commander," Mogami noted. "As you can see, we are exhausted and running low on ammunition. We can't possibly go through Kuritan blockades. We can risk going through the open field, but if the Kuritans spot us, they'll send their air support to hit us. We can't defend the convoy in our current condition."

"Thank Federated Suns for sending us, Ma'am," Neptune replied. "Now guard the APCs on the center. We'll take point and anchor." He switched to unit channel again. "Joezen, move up to the front with me. Alec, Ian, guard the rear. Let Mogami's men guard the center. They can't take any more hits. We'll be their shield."

Neptune's lance mates crackled through the commlink. Joezen's Jagermech followed Neptune to the front of the convoy, while Ian's and Alec's mechs fell back to the end. Neptune waited until his lance mates took positions, then started rolling.

It didn't take long until something popped up in Neptune's radar. A lone Owens dashed madly from the opposite direction, seemingly had no regards of the overwhelming number of the Davion. It boldly charged the convoy, firing its long-range missiles with reckless abandon.

"Contact!" Joezen stated dryly. "Looks like he's on a 'Banzai' charge. Sometimes I don't understand them Kuritans."

"Don't underestimate it," Neptune raised all guns. "It carries TAG. The sonofabitch wants to stick one up our asses and call artillery. We have to take it out before it does." He calibrated his targeting system and lied his reticule on the Owens until it turned gold. "Hard lock, make sure everything connects. Fire on my mark." He waited until the Owens fell under 500 meters, then fired his lasers. "Hit it!"

Neptune's twin large laser bolts turned the front armor of the Owens into superheated jelly, giving way to Joezen's armor-piercing ballistics. Burning ferro-fibrous shards sprayed as the cannon rounds tore the Owens torso with little resistance. The gyro took the brunt of the assault, and the Owens skidded, trashing its legs to get back up. Neptune let his UAC5 go, staggering the mech as it tried to get back up. Coming into 350 meters, he fired his lasers, which burnt the remaining slab of armor. Joezen followed suit, and the Owens disappeared in a rousing ball of fire.

As the plume of smoke rose to the sky, another Owens appeared at the rear.

"Bogey on six!" Ian reported. "Another Owens!"

"Don't let it slap you with its TAG!" Neptune barked. "Take it out quick!"

"Sarge, let me help them!" Alex held her Clint back. "I'm still 70-percent combat effective."

"Acknowledged," Mogami replied. "Bust it!"

Ian broke formation and fired his Gauss rifles in quick succession. The first one only hit a pile of rock but the second one busted the Owens' left hip. The Owens shuddered under pressure. Alec kept up the onslaught, spitting murderous shells that carved jagged-edged canals all along its hull. The Clint slipped past the two Jagermechs and buried a plasma bolt into the right hip. Half a ton of armor vaporized, and the Owens dropped to one knee. Alec's lasers punished the light mech to submission, and the Clint's laser finally put it out of commission.

"Good work, Team!" Alec exclaimed. "Looks like we do well together, our lances!"

As Alec and Ian teamed up with Alex to clear the rear end of the convoy, Neptune and Joezen had made contact with the first Kuritan roadblock. A lance of Vedette tanks, backed up by 2 BJ-3 Blackjacks, provided a steady stream of ballistics and particle bolts. Neptune cockpit rattled under the volume of fire. His screens blinked in protest; a direct hit of the PPC turned his electronics haywire. One more hit of that and the radar would go dark. Neptune tried to send his answer but the ballistic shots offset his crosshair every time he was ready to shoot.

"We need support!" Joezen lamented. His shots went miserably off the mark.

"I have one more Gauss shot," Mogami volunteered. "Sam, target the closest Vedette. And… fire!"

The Sentinel's nickel-ferrous slug smashed the turret of the Vedette. The dome-like structure came right off the hull, spinning free in the air for several second before slamming to the ground a few dozen meters behind. The Cicada's Heavy PPC busted what was left, and the reserve ammo bins overheated. The Vedette hull exploded in such a force the other three lost their markings.

"Appreciated, Sergeant," Neptune didn't waste the opportunity. "Joezen, target the center Vedette!"

Because of the narrow passage, the Vedettes had to arrange themselves in staggered-grid formation. The Jagermechs' lasers and ballistics clobbered the Vedette in the center. It went off, and the debris damaged the two other Vedettes stacked close, setting multiple fire on their hulls. The tanks kept firing, but their marksmanship lost their bites, debilitated by burning debris scourging their bodies.

"I get the Vedettes!" Sam yelled out loud. "You guys get the Blackjacks!"

A welcomed change of pace, Neptune quickly shift his target toward a Blackjack. An azure particle bolt busted the arm guard of his Jagermech. He grimaced, holding the joystick tight as the mech shook. He realigned his crosshair then fired a long burst of autocannon. Half of the depleted-uranium munitions flogged the Blackjack's torso. The Blackjack wobbled. It came back, but Neptune twin laser salvo scorched the serrated torso armor. Molten armor sagged, exposing the internal structure.

Yet the Blackjack was resilient, and the subzero temperature helped it dissipating the waste heat. Another PPC barrage hammered Neptune's Jagermech. Sparks burst from fried circuits. Neptune gritted his teeth as half of his control panels flashed in erratic fashion. A quick check on the armor level forced him to cuss; that last strike left only a thin sheen or armor shielding his internal structure. He couldn't afford to sustain another one.

Neptune cut loose a string of pulse lasers. The Blackjack, hindered in lateral movement by the narrow passage, tried to bob and weave in between strands, but it didn't help much. Growling, Neptune unleashed a one-two punch with his large laser. Only one connected, but it was enough to turn the torso glowing. The Blackjack rose both arms, but Neptune fired all available weapons. Sweat streamed down his face like rivers, despite the cold outside temperature. His autocannons flashed, and the slugs finally penetrated the front carapace of the Blackjack. A mixture of black smoke and vaporized coolant wafted from the abs. The Blackjack's knee buckled, but still had the fight in it. Neptune didn't allow it to regain momentum. As soon as his weapons recycled, he thumbed the red button, a shot he did only in desperation. All weapons roared, and the Blackjack vanished in an earth-shattering explosion.

The shot put the Jagermech heat at critical level so Neptune backed off, letting the waste heat dissipate into the cold air while checking the battlefield. Joezen was still trading blows with the other Blackjack, and got the best of it. The Blackjack had lost one arm and most of the front armor, and looking at the smoke and flames enveloping the mech, its life was numbered. The Cicada easily overpowered the two Vedettes with its monstrous Heavy PPC, but caught some critical hits in the process. Its gait was uneven, a sure sign of gyro damage. But it managed to keep up with the convoy without straining too much. The Sentinel didn't do much in the fight after busting one Vedette, and sort of hung back with the APCs.

"Do you need help, Joezen?" Neptune asked cautiously. A mechwarrior's ego was as big as his mech, and an offer of help could be translated into a derogatory remark about his fighting skill.

"No, Sir! I got this!" Joezen blurted matter-of-factly, just as Neptune suspected.

Neptune lined up his crosshair with the Blackjack, but refrained from firing and let Joezen finished what he started. The Blackjack's remaining PPC carved a deep trench on the Jagermech's shoulder, and Joezen's litany of Tagalog curses filled the comlink. But he came back quick and punished the Blackjack with well-placed ballistics to the torso. The shot tore its gyro to pieces, and the Blackjack tumbled in a plume of smoke.

"Target destroyed!" Joezen was elated and relieved.

"What took you so long?" Alec quipped from the rear.

"Sorry, I fell asleep," Ian added, faking a yawn. "Is it over yet?"

"Shut up! All you do is watch!" Joezen bit back.

"Alright, cut it out," Neptune interjected, but with a smile on his face. "One roadblock down, two or three more to go. Keep it tight, guys. Now the Kuritans know we're coming, and they'll throw everything they have."

Neptune led the convoy through the pass. It slithered between cliffs and trenches until it widened up in a small clearing. Unfortunately the Kuritans had raised another blockade, two Hunchbacks and two Chimeras with some makeshift laser turrets. The turret control vehicle stood at the top of the cliff, almost inaccessible from the pass, but still exposed from some certain spots.

"Watch out! AC/20's at large!" Clover, the mechwarrior of the Assassin, crackled.

"Back up! Stay away from the Hunchbacks!" Neptune tried to devise a strategy to survive the Hunchbacks' lethal weapons. "Alec! Ian! Form up on me! Target of opportunity: hit the turret control truck on the ledge! That'll shut down the turrets!"

"I'm on it, Sir! Switching to Precision Ammo!" Alec replied. He swung by the convoy to take a shot at the turret control vehicle. The turrets zeroed in on Alec's Jagermech and rained down fire. The Jagermech's almost pristine armor turned glowing red. But Alec kept his mech steady, took his aim, then fired a barrage of Precision munitions at the vehicle on the ledge. The armored vehicle rocked as the munitions hit it broadside, but it shrugged off the attack. The turrets were still firing.

"Ian, Joezen, target the closest Hunchback!" Neptune yelled, watching the 50-ton bruisers coming forward. "Fire on my mark, center mass! Now!" His lasers found their marks on the Hunchback's center torso, softening up the armor. His ballistics, coupled with Joezen's, whittled the torso armor, pulling deep gashes that ran ajar from neck to waist. Ian's Gauss slug dug into the torso almost unopposed. The Hunchback fell over and jolted on its back as explosions wracked its internal structures. Half a dozen flares tore the mech from within.

The turrets launched another salvo at Alec's Jagermech, turning its armor into bubbly molten mass. Alec held his joystick hard, stabilizing his mech, then let his AC/2 roar. Fire belched from the nozzles as special munitions raced toward the turret control vehicle. The cannon rounds ripped the hull open and busted the electronics inside. The armored truck exploded, and the turrets stopped firing.

"Good work Alec!" Neptune exclaimed. "Now keep the Chimeras at bay while we deal with the Hunchback!"

"Roger roger!" Alec replied. He turned his mech toward the Chimeras, who started harassing the other Jagermechs, and rained down his firepower on them. The Chimeras turned around to deal with the new threat, firing the mighty but unreliable MRM20. Alec was forced to use all the space to sidestep the missile attack, but a few missiles smashed into his Jagermech's lower body. The Jagermech swayed erratically, but managed to stay upright.

Free from the Chimeras, Neptune locked his weapons on the other Hunchback, who had come dangerously close to its firing range. Ian's Gauss shells bludgeoned the Hunchback from an oblique angle. One merely grazed the chest, but the other smashed into its hip. The Hunchback veered left. Joezen strafed the Hunchback's right torso, chipping several layers of armor. Neptune shifted his targeting reticule to the right torso and fired his lasers. One bolt hit the boxy AC/20 housing sitting atop the right shoulder, melting half a ton of armor. He saw an opening in on the Hunchback's torso armor, and went at it guns blazing. His armor piercing munitions pierced armor. The Hunchback turned to bring its AC/20 to bear, but Neptune's volleys hit the cannon's capacitors. An internal explosion rattled the Hunchback, and the thick smoke that followed told Neptune that the Kuritan's biggest threat had been neutralized.

"Ian, disengage and help Alec! Joezen and I will finish this Hunchback!" he cried out.

"Aye aye Sir!" Ian complied. From where he stood he fired his Gauss rifles at a Chimera across the field. One barely missed the Chimera but the other one stabbed the Chimera on the shoulder blade. The flimsy arm of the Chimera breached, and the 40-ton mech tottered, trying to compensate the loss of its laser-laden arm.

The Hunchback, undaunted by the loss of its main gun, found its composure and charged forward, firing its laser at the Jagermechs. One strand vaporized a slab of armor on Neptune's leg. Neptune shifted position and fired his pulse lasers, stabbing the Hunchback with short bursts of energy. Joezen followed suit with his own lasers. Molten armor streamed down the Hunchback's legs like blood. Joezen blasted his autocannons, followed by Neptune less than a second later. The Hunchback keeled over, seconds before its torso split open and bled fire.

Neptune wasted no time to give Alec and Ian support. He slipped behind a Chimera and fired his pulse lasers at the paper-thin rear armor of the Kuritan mech. The laser bolts quickly breached the armor and gored the engine housing. The Chimera twisted to get bring its MRM20 to bear, but Alec buried his depleted-uranium rounds deep into its engine. Tongues of fire burst from the Chimera's torso. The decrepit mech fell forward, and half a dozen explosions tore the mech apart.

From the corner of his eyes Neptune captured the image of the other Chimera crashing and burning under volume fire from his Jagermech lance mates.

"Support lance, fall in!" he barked.

"Alec's forming up. Lost a lot of armor on that one, 35-percent remaining. About half a ton of ammo left."

"This is Joezen. Five rounds worth of shots on the UAC5."

"Ian. Eight Gauss shots. Fifty-five percent armor. I'm good for another round, Sir."

"Alright, Alec, Joezen, guard the rear. Ian, you're on point with me."

"You're not on your prime either, Sir," Alec stated. "Perhaps you should guard the rear."

"I'll be fine. Let's get this thing over with."

The convoy moved again, and before long they reached the end of the pass. A small base greeted them at the end, with a Leopard dropship waiting on the landing pad. Half a dozen turrets scattered throughout the base, and a small repair facility drew a sigh of relief from Neptune's mouth.

"Dropship Command, this is Sergeant Mogami. We're bringing the package safe and sound, courtesy of the Lexington Legends mercenary unit."

"Good work, Sergeant," the dropship captain replied. "But don't let go off your trigger yet. Comm station detected movement bearing 288. The Kuritans know you're here, and looks like they will make sure you are not leaving. We have turrets but they won't hold the Kuritans."

"Legends! I want a firing line east of the dropship!" Neptune choreographed a defensive formation. "This is what we Jagermech mechwarriors do best! To lay down suppressing fire until we can't fire anymore, and to hold the line until none of us left standing!"

"We will fight with you," Sergeant Mogami set her Sentinel right next to Neptune. "I don't have a lot to contribute, but at least I still have lasers."

"I still have 7 shots of plasma," Alex chimed in.

"My Heavy PPC will make a dent in their ranks," Sam added.

"I can be a distraction," Clover said vivaciously. "Although I don't know for how long."

"This is Dropship Command, our weapons are online," the dropship captain joined in. "We'll fight with you, Sir!"

"Alright, fusillade on my mark," Neptune growled. His radar beeped, showing a group of mechs arriving coming in hot. He toggled his infra red radar for identification, and the card for Dragon -5N leapt into his eyes. The totem mech of the Draconis Combine, the -5N variant carried an UAC5, LRM10, and one medium laser. Four of them engaged a mad dash to quickly get into their firing range, while their Panther escorts followed them a few steps behind.

"They're bringing in their bruisers!" Neptune put his crosshair on one of the Dragons. "Whatever they throw at us, throw at them back! Hit them hard, hit them fast! Fire at will!"

Missiles, energy bolts, and ballistic tracers went both ways, filling much of the void between the two forces with murderous shots. Whittled armor sprayed every which way. At 600 meters, the laser turrets lit up, tipping the scale toward the defenders. But the Dragons took the shots without flinching. They concentrated their firepower at the Leopard, knowing that if the dropship fell, it was only a matter of time for the mechs to follow.

The standoff took place for roughly 2 minutes, then the momentum began to shift toward the Davions. Heavy blows from the dropship, coupled with sneaky shots from the turrets, staggered the Kuritan formation. The mechs filled in the gaps, sniping the Kuritans whenever the dropship and turrets recharged. The Panthers were forced to back off from mounting pressure, leaving the Dragons to take the brunt of the Davion firepower.

"I'm out!" Joezen yelled in the comlink.

"Repair and reload!" Neptune replied. "Alec! Ian! Fill in the gap!"

"My cannons are almost empty as well, Boss!" Alec bemoaned. "I got three more shots and that's it!"

"Shoot them then go with Joezen! Ian and I will hold the line! Looks like the Kuritans are breaking off!"

One Dragon came dangerously close to a turret, then let it go on the structure. The turret disintegrated into a mix of concrete and metal debris. But the Kuritan ignored Neptune and Ian in the process, and the two mercenary punished the Dragon for picking the wrong fight. Ian's double Gauss strike breached the torso armor, and Neptune's laser bolts sliced the ammo housing like butter. The Dragon blasted like a volcano. Limbs and body parts flew in every direction.

The other Dragons met the same fate not long after. The Panthers decided it was a day they could not save. They turned their back and returned to where they came from.

"We did it!" Mogami exclaimed. "The Kuritans are retreating! Dropship Command, thank you for your support!" She twisted to face the Jagermech and snapped a salute with the Sentinel's arm. "And you, Lexington Legends. We wouldn't be here without you."

"Just doing my job, Ma'am," Neptune replied coyly.