Chapter XV, by RogueBaron

Note: I sincerely apologize for my tardiness. I was transferred to another department which was short on personnel, so overtime was mandatory. But now that Ke2ensky is out of the way, I can focus on my other project like this one. Hope everyone likes it.

The soft grass dipped some good inches as the Locust trampled the ground, creating three-pronged craters. Mario throttled up and pushed the Locust into a sprint. He always thought his Phoenix Hawk was fast, but the Locust easily outran his old mech by 30 kph. It was so fast he felt as if he were flying over the terrain.

The plan was fairly simple. Mario, who was more adept in mech piloting, stole the Locust to draw enemy's attention while attempting to download the information from the main factory. Ilsa, who was better in hand-to-hand combat and virtually in a better shape, sneaked into the jail to free Mario's comrades. Mario felt bad to leave Ilsa fighting alone after what happened to her, but he figured he would not be much of a help for her anyway. This way, at least he gave her some room.

The main factory building was closing fast, and Mario mentally ran the operating manual of the special electronics embedded into the Locust. He was to stay within 100 meters from the target to trigger the electronics, and he was to stay there for 20 seconds. If he had to break from his position, the data would be lost and he had to start again.

Soon Mario arrived at the main building, and he put his mech in idle. The electronics kicked in, and a small screen showed the countdown. Some guards climbed to the top of the building and peppered his mech with rifles and hand grenades, but the attack proved futile. Mario watched the screen as it crept slowly to a single-digit number, and he was ready to leave the place when something hit him on the side.

Mario knew he was a sitting duck when downloading the info, but he was busy watching the countdown screen when something placed a good shot at his Locust. The thin armor breached and the warning sign screamed the loss of his left machine gun. Mario quickly scanned his radar and cursed at the sight of a Chimera. Twice the size of the Locust and almost as fast, the new mech was lethal at all range. Just like its namesake.

Two red energy streaks slammed into the Locust's left torso. The Locust's thin armor, scarred and riddled by the previous hit, could not hold such an immense firepower. The devilish bolt ripped the armor, chastised the internal structure, straight into the reactor. Azure light spilled from the torn mech before it breached, spraying tongues of fire, smoke, and splinters of metal.

The countdown screen still showed 5 seconds to go, but Mario didn't want to stick around to be butchered by the Chimera. He fired his jump jets, bringing his mech flying. The electronics beeped in protest, and the fact that Mario had to start the sequence again ticked him off. But it was better than dying.

"Not good… not good…" Mario hissed, both scared and mad.

The Chimera attacked again. Half a dozen missiles leapt from its torso. Lucky for Mario, the missiles were unguided. Concrete bits flew in every direction as the missiles slammed into the building's wall. Mario paced his mech, sprinting left and right, dodging lasers madly. The Chimera was the only mech other than his Locust in the vicinity, but the tight space between buildings made it hard for him to outrun the 40-ton mech. One unfortunate hit burnt half the myomer on his leg. It burnt furiously. Mario knew the Locust was not designed for combat, and any hit on critical part would give him serious trouble. But running didn't seem to be a plausible choice right now.

However, another mech signature popped up in his radar. It was Blitzie's Bushwacker. Ten missiles rose into the sky from extreme distance, and although only one hit the Chimera, it was enough to get its attention. The Chimera turned back and started peppering the Bushwacker with its large laser. Always adamant, Blitzie took every hit and returned fire with his missiles while setting up for his autocannon.

"Blitzie! You made it!" Mario chimed. "Where are others?"

"Gone," Blitzie replied in a bitter voice. "Those damn Mariks killed Chip and other mechwarriors."

"Ilsa?" A bit of twinge hit Mario's mind. "Where's she?"

"She sacrificed herself to get me to my mech. Now get the info again, Mario. I'll hold the Chimera."

Mario swung his Locust and dashed toward the main building again. The guards crowded the roof of the building, some wielding shoulder-mounted SRM. Mario fired his remaining machine gun and laser while lining up with the building. As the guards dispersed to avoid the fire, the electronics once again linked to the mainframe and started downloading the information. Mario kept on pressing the guards while keeping his eyes on Blitzie and the Chimera. As the electronics beeped, sounding the completion, Mario kicked his mech.

"Blitzie, I got the data!" he screamed on the comlink. "Form up on me and let's get the hell out of here!"

Blitzie tried to comply, but yet another mech started up. He looked in horror as his radar gave the specs of the new mech: a Mauler, a 90-ton metal giant crawling out of the hangar.

"Assault mech on the loose!" Mario yelled. "Disengage and run as fast as you can!"

"I'll handle this twerp!" Blitzie instead boldly fired on the Mauler's shoulder.

"No, you nuts!" Mario fired his jets. "Form up and run, Blitzie!"

"Somebody has to keep it busy! Just go and finish the mission! Get out of this rock!"

"Listen to me you…"

"No, you listen to me!" Blitzie's voice was full of bitter realization. "We can't win against the Mauler and the Chimera together! Your mech is faster, so you have more chance to survive. Find a way to get out of here before they get me!"

Mario knew it was the truth. Even by working together, the chance of them beating the Mauler and the Chimera was slim. Mario took one last glance at the Bushwacker as it made its last stand against the much bigger Mauler, then slammed his foot into the pedal. The Locust jerked and broke into a limping sprint. Both the Chimera and the Mauler focused on the Bushwacker and let Mario slip away…

…which Mario found a bit strange, but couldn't complain about.