"Core powering up. Systems initialization complete. Sensors online. Weapons online." The cool feminine voice came in clear over Michael's headset as the computer system completed powering up his mech. "Computer subsystems online. Good morning, Vortex."
Michael smiled, his eyes moving quickly over the readouts and displays in the large mech. His hands rested on the two control sticks which were used to pilot the mammoth mech. Reception from the neurohelmet he wore gave him a feel for the mech's balance and stability. Just like a symbiont, the pilot was joined to his mech through this helmet. What the mech experienced on the battlefield, as far as balance and stability, he would feel. It was as if he was a part of the machinery.
It had taken the techs two hours to prepare both his and Harbinger's mechs for departure from their field base for this little skirmish. Once all the work had been completed, the two pilots climbed into their mechs to begin the final startup sequences. Now that those were done, the fun could truly begin.
Looking to his right, he gave a thumbs-up to the technician standing in the portable mobile field base gantry, letting the other know that everything had checked out smoothly. To his left he could see Harbinger's Awesome stand from its shut-down crouched position. "Radio check," he heard over the open communications frequency that the company used.
"You sound five-by-five to me," he replied with the jargon he'd grown up with. "I think the outer training field is deserted today. We'll run this duel there." In reality, the field was not a field per se but a forested area that sat on the edge of the Ranger's base. It was here that many mechwarriors would go to hone their skills in forested combat, where an enemy could be lurking around any turn. His Elemental units in particular enjoyed using the field against his Battlemech corps. The number of ambushes that had been sprung upon him and his men in that field by the Elementals was truly staggering.
"Oh, not that again. Don't tell me you've brought some ground-pounders in to keep us "company"," Harbinger's smile was unmistakable over the radio and Michael managed a grin of his own.
"Wouldn't be sporting. If you're ready, let's move out."
The two behemoths lurched forward, taking slow strides out onto the tarmac and towards one of the roads that led away from the base. Once they were clear of the base, Michael throttled the mech into an easy lope, following the road out past open fields that could have easily been the home to sheep or cattle. It was quiet out in this part of the base. The only movements came from his mech and the soft breeze that blew across the fields. Up ahead was a forested area, and Michael slowed his mech.
"Take the far side. Radio when you're in position and we'll begin."
Giving the affirmative, Harbinger's Awesome continued down the road towards the far edge of the woods. Once she had gone down the road a ways, Michael reached up above his head and flipped a series of switches.
"Sensors set to passive. Emissions levels set to low."
Satisfied that he wasn't going to be detected easily, he completed his preparations. He'd grouped his weapons a certain way, and now went back through the groupings, setting their recharge rates and cycling through readiness checks on all of them. Even though he'd just checked his systems before he departed, Michael knew that it was always better to keep an eye on things. A final look at the HUD showed his weapons were set to training mode.
His headset crackled. "Ready when you are, Vortex."
Smiling, he tapped a button on his control to send a generic affirmative to her. He had no desire to distract or be distracted now with things such as communications. Shifting in his seat, he pressed down on the pedal below his right foot. With a soft hum and a gentle lurch the mech came to life, moving slowly through the forest. He sidestepped around several large trees, keeping his speed low as his eyes roamed the terrain in front of him.
He was very familiar with Harbinger and her preferred style of fighting. She had earned her name through the avenging use of energy weapons and the ability to seemingly bring fire and brimstone to her enemies. Her mech mounted a trio of PPCs that could easily eat through armor and fry delicate circuitry. Added to that was a compliment of lasers and Streak-class short range missiles that were enough to make any enemy seriously reconsider coming in too close to take her down. Most of the time it was the PPCs themselves that did the work, easily flooring smaller mechs and, in some cases, destroying them in one volley.
The pilot herself was also a weapon of sorts. With almost as much experience behind a mech as he, Harbinger had racked up an impressive number of kills in her time as a Dark Ranger. The only two in the company who had racked up more kills were Michael and Blackeye, both of whom had been given plenty of time to loft their counts. She'd preferred the Awesome from the first day she'd had one assigned to her, and since that day had demonstrated that she knew the machine better than most pilots.
He brought his mech right, circling around the forest slowly. His eyes were keen for any signs of her and her battlemech, especially since he knew that she would also be running in passive mode. If sensors were jammed or unable to detect an enemy one had to rely simply on what one could see.
No sooner had the thought formed in his mind than he caught a flash of movement to his left through the trees. Training and experience told him that it was at least half a kilometer away, probably closer to a full kilometer. Applying light pressure to a pedal below him, he brought his mech about to face the source of the movement. At the same time, he eased back on the throttle. The mech slowed in response as he cautiously closed on what he hoped was his adversary.
Zooming in with his targeting cursor, he could clearly make out the distinct profile of an Awesome's head and torso coming over a short rise half a kilometer away. Easing back on the throttle even more – to the point where he was idling – he aimed carefully for the mech's cockpit and then depressed a firing stud on his joystick.
A pair of super-accelerated projectiles, easily half the size of a ground car, accelerated rapidly from the pair of Gauss rifles in his mech's arms. Traveling at speeds well over half the speed of sound, the projectiles reached their target less than half a second later. The impacts were enough to stagger the Awesome as armor plating around the mech's torso splintered and flew off from the kinetic force. Before he had time to react, however, a trio of dark blue energy discharges sped towards his mech.
Circuits in the mech crackled and armor plates melted under the electrical discharges from the Awesome's trio of PPCs. In his cockpit, Michael felt the hair on his arms stand on end and his HUD shimmered momentarily as circuit breakers and fuses blew and reset from the electrical discharge. His eyes darted to the damage screen even as he accelerated.
Fortune had been on his side. One of the rounds had missed completely, passing over his shoulder. A second had glanced off his right arm, and the third had detonated square against his left torso. Angling right to present his undamaged arm to his enemy, he brought up the targeting screen for the pair of Clan-made Long Range Missile (LRM)-15s, that were housed in twin pods above his shoulder. Even with his sensors in standby mode, the presence of a heat and metal source relatively close to him was plenty for the missiles to lock onto. As the warbling tone sounded in his headset, he depressed a second firing stud on his joystick and felt the mech lurch as thirty missiles sped away from him towards his target.
With his rangefinder indicating a range of less than 500 meters to his target now, Michael "twisted" his torso towards the enemy and triggered the last weapon that had yet to be fired – the large laser mounted just below the cockpit of the mech. Waves of heat rolled over him as the ruby beam passed the missiles and impacted the Awesome just below its nose.
Armor melted and splattered as the powerful laser did its work, heat and light combined to form a deadly weapon that sent more rivulets of molten ferrofibrous armor to the ground. The Mad Cat's sensors had been given enough of a window now to analyze the damage to the enemy and a new display appeared on the HUD, showing the amounts of damage that had been done to the Awesome. The center of the mech was orange, indicating that moderate amounts of damage had been sustained from his first full volley of weapons fire.
There was no time to relax, even with the damage done. Feet dancing on the pedals to control the mech's movements, Michael zigzagged the mech erratically in an attempt to throw off Julie's aim. A sort of impromptu silence filled the battlefield for a few seemingly long seconds as weapons reloaded and recharged. This, Michael knew, was the downside to having such powerful weapons – the more powerful the weapon, the longer it took to reload.
A soft tone sounded in his headset as a "ka-chunk" sound resonated through the cockpit. This sound was the sound of the auto-loaders for Michael's Gauss rifles, which had completed reloading the massive metallic projectiles into the firing chambers. A half-second later, a similar but quieter sound told him that the LRM launchers had also completed their own reloading cycle. Hands and feet working rapidly, Michael began to heel the mech to his left just as the flashes from Harbinger's PPCs caught his eye.
The first two just missed their target as the Mad Cat exited the space they had been hurtling towards. Unfortunately, the third PPC round did not miss and struck the right arm of the Mad Cat, causing the behemoth to stagger drunkenly as the kinetic force of the impact was felt. The crackling of burned circuitry and melted armor filled the cockpit for a moment even as the temperature in the cockpit climbed rapidly and the mech's heat sinks whirred to life to absorb the errant heat that the blast had generated.
Instinct and training took over as Michael activated the targeting sight and, in one fluid motion, centered it on the incoming mech and depressed the firing stud on his joystick. At less than half a kilometer distant, the twin Gauss rifles were almost guaranteed to hit their target, and hit they did. The pair of massive slugs of nickel-iron impacted solidly against the center of mass of the Awesome, sending it rocking back on its heels. Before it had even fully recovered, Michael triggered off the rest of his weapons and watched as ruby beams and missiles pocked and melted armor off of his adversary.
Only one major downside presented itself to this course of action: heat. The heat generated from firing the Mad Cat's entire arsenal in one go was enough to send the temperature in the cockpit skyrocketing to over 130 F in a matter of seconds. Caution lights flickered and alarms sounded as the mech's reactor approached critical temperatures. The push of a button in the cockpit was enough to momentarily flush coolant into the reactor, providing a respite from the heat.
A quick glance at the MFDs was enough for Michael to get an idea of how badly he'd damaged his opponent. The sensors on board the mech, though nowhere near as advanced as those found on a scouting mech such as a Jenner, were good enough to give a fairly accurate reading of the condition of Harbinger's mech. Her center torso was scored and pocked heavily from the weapons fire he'd inflicted upon it, and the MFD lit this area of her mech in solid red. Another few well-placed hits, or a lucky Gauss shot would start doing internal damage to her mech and likely disable her by breaching the reactor's shields or by destroying gyros or computer gear. On the other hand, he knew that too many more PPC hits on his mech would start causing his own electronics to short out – and could cause the reactor itself to shut down.
This was no time to let down his guard. Times like these were where Harbinger became a force to be reckoned with – it was in these moments where her tactical brilliance and piloting skill combined to form a truly dangerous adversary. Knowing that it would be several seconds before his weapons finished re-loading and re-cycling, Micahel pirouetted his mech on one foot and reversed direction to present his undamaged left side to his opponent. She was already slowing her own mech, undoubtedly waiting for her PPCs to recharge.
The beeping from his computer alerted him to the presence of incoming missiles as the six Streak SRMs shot from the missile pod on the Awesome and directly impacted against his left arm at the shoulder. Half a heartbeat later the ruby beams of her lasers lit up the same spot, melting metal and doing even more damage. Michael cursed to himself, realizing what it was she was doing: She had targeted the joint that connected the arm to the torso at the shoulder. Damaging this joint enough would eventually cause him to lose the ability to use the arm, which would halve his firepower at little cost to her. Although his MFDs were showing only light to moderate damage to the joint, if she got her PPCs online and brought them to bear he'd be in serious trouble.
Quickly he twisted his torso in an effort to reduce her firing angle, making it harder for her to target and fire on the vulnerable joint. His next task was to throw her off and back on the defensive where he could use his firepower to overwhelm her mech. As his lasers recharged he fired them, scoring angry black streaks of melted armor across her mech.
There was no time to congratulate himself as he mentally counted down the seconds since she had last fired her PPCs. Michael knew that the recharge time for PPCs was 14 seconds. As he reached the number fourteen in his mind, he suddenly dropped the mech's shoulder, the entire mech leaning over as the shoulder sagged. He was rewarded as the trio of PPC rounds passed directly above the vulnerable shoulder joint, all three azure beams missing their intended target.
Thanking whatever god or goddess presided over mech battles, Micahel cut his throttle and leveled the mech. He had fourteen seconds until her potent weapons came online again, and was determined to end the fight before then. Weapons indicators flashed green at him as he led her mech with his targeting sights. Then, with a shudder and a wave of palpable heat, his mech spit a lethal combination of energy weapons, ballistic weapons, and missiles directly into the Awesome, less than 200 meters away from him. Caught flat-footed by the combined strike, the mech toppled into the ground, its battle computer simulating multiple hits to the mech's reactor shielding and other vital and critical components.
Michael smiled as he navigated his mech around hers. Then, pointing an arm at her, he switched on the com. "Do you yield?"
A laugh came over the headset as her mech started to get to its feet. The battle computer, having done its job, had disabled her weapons and allowed her to power her mech back up. On Michael's mech, the damage indicators had all gone back to green and the weapons now read empty. "Yes, I yield. It looks like another loss for me, eh?"
"You're a formidable fighter, Harbinger. Another second or two and I would've been toast. Times like this I'm glad you fight on our side."
"Oh, someone has to keep you in line, Michael Davids. Might as well be me, since no one else around here can do so." That elicited a fresh laugh from him as he wheeled his mech around and started back towards the hangars.
An aide was waiting for them when they finally unstrapped from their mechs, sweaty and smelly after the long ordeal. Michael offered her a towel, doing his best not to stare at her since she was only wearing a tanktop and shorts, then turned back to wipe most of the sweat off of him. He was looking forward to the shower in his quarters almost as much as he was the steak dinner that Julie was going to be buying him later. Finally, he turned to the aide, who had been waiting patiently for the two of them. "Yes?"
"Sir, the FRR delegation has sent us contract terms for negotiations." Handing over a datapad, the young aide took little notice of their disheveled state as he stepped back respectively.
Michael scanned the pad's surface carefully, and then looked at it again. Whistling sharply, he handed the pad to Julie and watched her reaction, which was about the same as his own.
"Full salvage rights and the opportunity for multiple extensions of the contract, plus the standard trappings?" She handed the pad back to him and his eyes ran over it one more time, looking for anything that he might have missed. "They must be really pressed for mercs, especially with the Treaty set to run out."
"It could prove useful if the Wolves do decide to resume previous hostilities," Michael mused it over for a second, then punched several figures into the pad and handed it back for Julie's review. "I think if they agree to these conditions we should take them up on it."
Nodding her approval after looking over what he'd put in, she handed the pad back to the aide. "I take it we're going to take our entire operational strength along with us?"
"No sense in leaving anyone behind," he took a seat in the rear of the car, motioning for her to do the same. "I think that Clonemaster can handle the rest of the Cantares assignment with his group, and if the Wolves do come calling we'll need every available mech and mechwarrior. Just another grand adventure, eh?"
Julie giggled as the car started up, making the drive back towards the C&C bunker. "You make it sound as if your life isn't already one big adventure. Name the last time you enjoyed some peace and quiet?"
Mustering up every ounce of mock seriousness he could, Michael tried to keep a straight face. "The last time you took a week's leave?" His comment was rewarded with a punch on the arm, just hard enough to make him wince. "Ow! That'll bruise! My skin's far too delicate for you to be bruising randomly!"