Chapter XII, by Kat Wylder

Irian, Free Worlds League
April 15, 3068

As soon as the rogues were clustered together in a nice little grouping, the Scimitars opened fire. The first missile salvo launched ripped into the canopy of the lead Harasser. The bright glow of missile tails forced Colonel Aari to disengage his light amplification and switch to his spot light. On the fringe of the artificial disk of light, he caught some movement near the flaming hover tank. Once he turned to get at better glimpse, however, it vanished. It was only some figment.

"Power down you vehicles and surrender!" Aari commanded as he trained his guns on one of the mobile Harassers. The brazen vehicle crews ignored his demand and began to fire on the three 'Mechs.

"Hey!" he snapped, as a one of the hovercraft peppered his armor with SRM fire. He had no choice but to remain inside the range of their missiles or the fast craft would take off. There was no way he and the two heavy 'Mechs with him could catch up to fleeing hovers. "Don't make me smoke any more of you! All we want is Cruz!"

A muddled voice barked back over the comm, "You --an't ha-- him! Blo-- mer--! We--"

He cut off the stubborn tirade with a round of laser fire. The pontoon-like sides of the Harasser melted apart from the main body, destabilizing the craft. Its right side dipped sharply and dug itself into the ground. Two of the Savannah Masters skirted past the feet of his thundering BattleMech and down through the dry riverbed. Blick loosed a salvo of LRM-10s, which quickly caught up and then crashed into one of the fleeing hovercraft. Aari kicked the other light tank in its aft side with a PPC and then a sling of pulse laser fire An angry but incomprehensible outburst flooded the comm.

The tankers refused to go silently, which left Aari with one very regretful decision to make. He sighed and punched the lance frequency. "Hyper, Blick… Take 'em out."

The Loki that Hyper piloted seemed for an instant to pause. Once the initial hesitation was over, she tilted her 'Mech's torso downward and cleaved off the back half of a Harasser with her laser. Blick punched several rounds into this own prey, and within minutes, the rogues were no more.

Aari gave a little grunt of dissatisfaction. He had hoped things would go peacefully, but the zealous tankers wouldn't have it. "Whit," he said, "it's clear. You can send in salvage and a the medics."

"Roger that, sir. You think any of them survived?"

"I don't know. I thought I saw some movement down there. It's hard to tell from up here--especially at night," he said as his Marauder stomped through the dried up riverbed. If anyone was out there, they would probably be unwittingly crushed underfoot of one of the 'Mechs. That was unfortunate, but it was a cold reality just like the one that forced him to destroy all of the tanks. He sighed and hit the comm again. "Hey, Woj, you read any activity on scope? I've got nothing on my sensors."

"Nope. It's all clear, Colonel," reported the MechWarrior. "It looks like we got them all."

"Yeah. Nice acting, there."

"Thanks, sir."

"I'm going to stick around and watchdog the salvage team. You, Hyper, and Blick can head back to base."

"That's a relief," Woj sighed. "I like my Hellcat a lot better than this little bugger."

"Hey, you sure you don't want some company, boss? I've got nothing better to do," said Hyper. "Extra pair of eyes."

Aari twisted to face the Loki. "Sure. You can go clockwise, and I'll go counter-clockwise." He throttled up and began tracing the circumference of the salvage area at a cruising speed.

Hyper mirrored his movements, while Blick and Woj moved side-by-side back to the HQ. The lights of the complex were distant and partially obscured by the walls of the pass, cutting down the artificial light and letting the stars shine with little competition but the fires burning on the Harasser carcasses.

He regretted the fight, but at least one thing was clear. This rogue group had been working with Mario Cruz on some level. That didn't quite add up, considering they had threatened to blow him apart at their first meeting, which only brought more questions. Did the groups reconcile their differences, or was he forced by his captors to try and coax the Locust into laying down its arms? Either way, the important thing was that Cruz was probably dead with the rest of them. Whether they were good, bad, or stupid didn't make a gram of difference, and that was fine with the Colonel. He had one less thing to worry about, now.

Two pairs of lights appeared in the pass and the salvage team rolled up to the damage zone. Aari and Hyper widened the perimeter, slowed, and then stopped roughly opposite one another. The Marauder took point on the level land some 100 meters from the bank, while the Loki was backed up a short distance on the slope of the ridge. Once the 'Mechs were in position, the vehicles came to a stop as well and the crews filed out to attend to business.

"Colonel," said one of the medics, "we found a survivor. He's pretty messed up, but I think he'll make it."

"Good. Load him up and start taking care of him. Have the others keep looking."

"Yes, sir."

A little relief washed over him. In addition to easing his conscience a little, this man might be able to provide some answers once the medics fixed him up. The remnants of the Screaming Eagles hadn't been much help, thus far. Their CO was one of those killed in the first engagement, and the others didn't seem to know too much about their assignment. Get in, download some files, and leave. Who their employer was had apparently been left out pf the briefing, or else they were all playing dumb.

"Colonel?" Whit's voice crackled on the comm. "Uh, the IBMU execs want to talk to you about this little incident."

"Tell 'em there's nothing to discuss. They want their precious complex to stay nice and secure, and that's what we're doing. …And you can also tell them that I expect to be reimbursed for this 'little incident'."

"The local PD also wants to talk to you. They want custody of any of the rogues we pick up."

He replied with a tired grunt. "Any chance we can convince them otherwise?"

"Legally, sir? Uh… not that I can think of. They're being pretty insistent."

Suddenly a new voice filtered over the radio. "Listen, Colonel, the other mercs were your problem. These guys are our problem. If you've been enjoying your stay on Irian, I suggest you hand them over without giving us grief about it."

"…Fine. But I want to know what was going on between them and that Cruz fellow."

"Deal."