Chapter V

City of Ayodya,
Carver V, Chaos March,
December 13, 3059

"Allison, I can't understand what you're saying!" Sebastian Knell spoke through the comlink. "Communicate slowly and clearly! What happened out there? Where's Matt?"

"Matt Mamias is gone," Allison sobbed on the comlink. "So is Chris Fulton. Psycho killed them all. It's Psycho, Sir! He's the traitor!"

"That sonofabitch!" Sebastian almost threw his mike. "Return to base immediately!"

"There's a problem, Sir… A company of Zhanzheng deGuang armor is on my tail, more might be on the way. If I return to base, I will lead them straight to your position. Request alternate route, Sir."

"Negative, Allison," suddenly Kyle interfered. "We can take on this armors. Lead them to us."

"What about reinforcement?" Sebastian protested. "Allison said there might be more coming."

"If we can kill these Liao bastards before their reinforcement come, we can escape and hide. Get your men ready, Commander. It's time we stand our ground!"

Under the barking orders of Sebastian Knell, Evee climbed on her Trebuchet which had been armed with pylons of missiles and a trio of medium lasers. She quickly jumped into the cockpit, closed the hatch and started her mech. The 50-ton mech quaked to life, and Evee manipulated her throttle to get into formation with others.

"I want in-line formation!" Sebastian yelled his orders. "Wait until they come within 800 meters, then smoke their asses with your long range weapons! I want every single one of these terrorist scums blow up into smithereens! And if you see a Jenner… Don't touch it! I will deal with Psycho myself!"

About three minutes later, a single Fire Hawk appeared on the radar. It was being chased by multiple red dots, which appeared to be Bulldogs, Vedettes, and LRM carriers. Evee put her targeting reticule on an LRM carrier, and waited until her reticule burnt gold, signaling that she had a hard lock. She put her finger on the trigger, but waited until the carrier was close to 800 meters.

"Target acquired, 800 meters," she informed Sebastian. "Permission to engage!"

"Fire at will!" Sebastian croaked. "Send them all to hell!"

"Eat this, bastard!" Evee growled as she launched her missiles at the carrier. Smoke obscured her vision as 30 missiles leapt from the tubes, leaving trails of white smoke as it sped to the LRM carrier. One second later, her radar screamed proximity alarm. Her enemy had launched its missiles. Their missiles crossed path in the air, some collided and exploded midair, lighting up the dim city like fireworks. Evee brought her mech to crouch, missing the enemy missiles. The missiles exploded harmlessly at an empty building behind her. But the LRM carrier could not dodge Evee's missiles. A dozen missiles slammed into its hull, ripping up armor and internal structure. A fireball blossomed in front of her, taking the enemy apart.

"Yeah! Smoked one!" Evee screamed in delight.

"Nice shooting, kid," Sebastian commented. "Dispatch the other LRM carriers quickly!"

"Affirmative, Sir!" Evee banked right to latch on another LRM carrier, but a Bulldog had come in range. A laser hit on the torso threw her off balance, and a subsequent wave of missiles from the tank turned her armor tracker to solid gold.

"Enemy Bulldogs are mounting pressure on me," Evee called for help. "Request assistance."

"Keep your head down, girl," Eric Anderson from the Shooting Stars pushed his Bushwacker in front of Evee, blocking her from the next wave of attack of the Bulldog. His missiles raced toward the tank, shredding its front hull and setting up major fire on the starboard side. At 500 meters, Eric let loose his 120-mm autocannon, cleaving the Bulldog into halves. Fire belched from the gutted tank, and it exploded in a yellow fireball.

"My thanks," Evee chimed while her console rang, declaring a hard lock. She hit the trigger, and thirty missiles burst from her tubes, racing in the air toward the LRM carrier. The tracked vehicle zigzagged to elude the attack, but seven missiles slammed home on the back hull. Major fire engulfed the carrier, and it turned 180 degree, running away from battle.

"Oh, no you don't!" Evee pushed her mech forward, painting the carrier until her weapons recycled. She hit the trigger one more time, and this time, all missiles slammed home. Tongues of fire licked from the tank as it disintegrated into 3 parts, just before a fireball consumed everything that was left.

Meanwhile, the combined attack of Knell's Cavaliers and Shooting Stars destroyed the majority of the enemy attackers. Knowing that they could not win, the rest of the Zhanzheng deGuang turned back and retreated to the planet. Victorious screams flooded the comlink.

"The Liao terrorist is retreating!" Kyle blurted. "Cavaliers, what's your status?"

"We've destroyed 7 enemy tanks among ourselves, Captain," Sebastian replied. "Two LRM Carriers, two Bulldogs, and three Vedettes. No casualties. My scout told me that the Liao's commander was Sang-Wei Wu Kan. I hope he's among those who fell under our guns."

"Or ours," Kyle added. "I want a search party to investigate Liao's wreckages."

"Hold that thought," Natalie called from her mech. "Bird-Eye just confirmed that Zhanzheng deGuang is coming to Ayodya from three different directions. Strength is still unknown."

"Liao bastards! What do they want?" Sandra grumbled.

"I don't know, but I don't want to hang out here to find out," Sebastian snorted. "What do you think, Captain Garret?"

"Agreed, Commander Knell," Kyle said. "Round up your men. We're leaving Ayodya."

"Are you going to let Ayodya fall to Liao's hand?" Evee asked.

"Our objective is to evacuate civilians, not to fight Liao's terrorists," Kyle explained. "Let Ayodya fall to Liao. There's nothing we can do about it, and it is not our interest. We'll search and rescue as many civilians as we can, then get off planet before we fall victim of Liao's greed in this planet."

Next on Escape from Carver V:

"Losing them is a hard blow to her faith, especially because the one that she relied on was the one that betrayed her and tried to kill her."
"Do you trust your lance mates?"
"No. My previous lance leader left me behind in the hands of the enemy. From that moment on I realize that I can't expect much from mercenaries. There's no sense of solidarity or dedication, only greed."
"Then why are you here, fighting with us?"
"Like everybody else, to make money."
"And you expect me to believe you? There are a lot of safer ways to raise money. You can be a millionaire in weeks. There's no risk of being gutted by your allies. But instead, you chose the way of a mercenary. Why?"