Chapter XIV
City of Kangka,
Carver V, Chaos March,
January 5, 3060
Meanwhile, the integrated attack from the Shooting Stars and the dropships had wiped out half of the attacking force. Two Demolishers, three Bulldogs, and five LRM carriers fired lied destroyed on the outskirt of Kangka. The remaining force kept on moving forward, although some of them had already spurting smoke.
To help with the force, the Long Tom shifted their targets, now blasting the two Davion dropships. Fire and smoke adorned the dropships, and two direct hits ripped a dropship apart. Tongues of fire licked from the hull, and five seconds later, the dropship exploded like a giant sun, lighting up the battlefield with its orange light for a full 20 seconds.
"Allison, silence the Long Toms… now!" Kyle yelled. "Dropship command, what's your status?"
"This is dropship command, we have heavy damage! We're going down! We're… Argh!"
The second dropship blasted, sending myriads of splinters into the air. The Shooting Stars were forced to break formation to elude splash damage. Without the dropships, they had no choice but to fight the Zhanzheng deGuang head on.
"This is it, guys!" Kyle yelled as he brought his Mad Cat running full speed. "Hit them where it hurts!"
Bullets, beam streaks, missiles and explosions painted the dark cold night as Kyle's Mad Cat mowed down two Bulldogs in quick succession. He cartwheeled left and right to dodge missiles and artilleries, then lined up with a Demolisher tank. He ignored missiles blasts from 2 LRM carriers and launched his missiles at the 100-ton tank. The slow tank staggered under the assault, but it shrugged the attack and fired its twin autocannon. Kyle flinched, but one of the shells hit his left missile launcher. The box erupted like a volcano, almost toppling the Mad Cat.
"Die, Liao freak!" Eric came and fired his autocannon at the Demolisher. The shells pumped up splinters of armor and internal structures, and the tank caught fire. It swung its torso to hit Eric's Bushwacker, but Miguel and Natalie came from the opposite direction, unloading their ammunition at the tank's broad side. The armor caved in, and the Demolisher blasted in brilliant flares.
On the other side, Allison sprinted blindly on the darkness, trying to find the Long Tom artillery units. She heard about the dropships, and she was hard-pressed to find the Liao artillery before it was too late. She put her radar to maximum and opened her eyes, trying to locate the muzzle flash of the mighty guns. She climbed up a hill for a better view, and there, she spotted them. Five units of Long Tom hiding behind a hill, firing rounds after rounds of shells at the city of Kangka.
"Captain Garret, I got them! Five Long Toms at coordinate…"
"Silence them, Allison!" Kyle responded. "They shouldn't be too hard to knock down."
"On my way!" Allison throttled up, pushing her Fire Hawk into a sprint. She cleared the hill and ran straight to the artillery compound. Crews and troops started running in panic as soon as they realized that their position had been found. Allison put the crosshair on an ammunition truck when he spotted another mech standing close to the Long Toms. Her blood surged with vengeance when she realized it was a Jenner. Psycho's Jenner.
"You should've taken my advice when you got a chance, Allison. You're a great kid with a bright future. Too bad you made the wrong choice." Psycho's voice reverberated on the comlink.
"I made the right choice," Allison hissed. "Better die with these warriors than live with a filth like you, Psycho!"
"Then go to hell!" Psycho yelled and fired his missiles. Allison ducked, missing some of the missiles above her head. One second later the hill behind her exploded. Allison stepped back, aiming at the hull of a Long Tom, then fired her medium pulse lasers. Ruby streaks stabbed a Long Tom at the ammunition feeder. The long-barreled cannon exploded, killing half of its crews as they tried to escape. The shockwave knocked some ammunition trucks, incinerating the cargo. A chain explosion ensued, taking down two Long Tom cannons in one quick succession. Burning debris rained down on the complex, and the crews quickly abandoned the remaining Long Tom cannons.
Psycho poured down his missiles at Allison. Allison dodged the rushed shot easily, then punched her trigger, spearing Psycho's Jenner with her medium lasers. The ruby streaks cut a gash on the Jenner's left arm. Psycho returned fire, and an emerald bolt fried several myomer strings on the Fire Hawk's leg. Allison could smell burning myomer in the cockpit. She backpedaled; taking refuge behind a wrecked building.
Psycho fired his laser again and scored a good snipe at Allison's left torso. The Fire Hawk's torso blazed like hell, and the fire spread close to the reactor, but Allison was too stubborn to eject. She twisted back and fired her SRM-6 at the Jenner's face. The 35-ton mech swayed from the sudden loss of balance. Psycho blasted his jump jets and flew some 100 meters. He fired his missiles, and two of them mauled Allison's left arm. Allison winced as her Fire Hawk's left arm breached. She grasped her joystick hard to keep her mech standing.
"Stupid fool!" Psycho roared while lining up his cannons at Allison's midst. "You are a good soldier, Allison, but you just don't know how to survive in a war."
"You will not get away with this, traitor!" Allison hissed. "The Shooting Stars will get you!"
"Yeah? If you think the Davions care about you, you're sadly mistaken!" Psycho grazed his trigger. "You, me, we are all expendables in their eyes. Now die!"
The beams lanced the Fire Hawk in a murderous streak but Allison dropped her mech before firing all her guns at the Jenner. Three streaks busted deep into the cockpit, evaporating Psycho instantly.
"Tell Matt and Chris you're sorry!" Allison bellowed. "Then go to hell, you treacherous scum!"
Meanwhile, losing their artillery support, the Zhanzheng deGuang lost their confidence. Their formation broke and half of the remaining tanks turned their backs and started to run for their lives. The tanks that were bold enough to continue the battle were quickly dispatched by the Shooting Stars. Kyle lost one arm and one missile launcher. Eric's Bushwacker was limping badly after his left leg was blasted by a Bulldog. Natalie's Loki lost both arms, and Miguel's Bushwacker was burning. But they emerged victorious after Kyle stomped on the last LRM carrier that continued to fight, despite the inevitable outcome.
"Si, vete al infierno, anos!" Miguel chimed. "Permission to pursue the enemies, Capitan!"
"Negative, Miguel, stand down!" Kyle held him back. "Let the little ones go. We have more things to take care of. Cavaliers, how are you holding up?"
"This is Allison, Liao's Long Toms had been neutralized. They left three cannons intact!"
"This is Kangpae, Evee is subdued but otherwise alive."
"Good job, guys. Miguel, help Allison to bring the Long Tom cannons to the city and give them to the Marik supporters. Natalie, Kangpae, search the area and salvage everything you can. Eric, stay with the civilians. Next time the Zhanzheng deGuang comes back to this city, we'll strike them with their own weapons!"
"Yes Sir!" everybody replied in unison, relieved that the nightmare was finally over.
Next on Escape from Carver V:
"With all due respect, Sir, from now on the Ridinghood Cavaliers is not affiliated to Hanson Roughriders anymore."
"What? You want to go segregate from us? You are bound under contract with Hanson Roughriders! You cannot separate from us, unless you buy off the contract! But looking at your condition, there's no way in hell you can do that!"
"My contract is with Knell's Cavaliers, Sir, not Hanson Roughriders. Since the Knell's Cavaliers is currently defunct, I am free to go wherever I want to go. And for the record, I'm keeping the money. If you want to challenge my decision, we can settle this matter at MRBC."
"Fine! But watch your back, Evee Ridinghood! We may cross path someday, and when we do, I'll make sure the Hanson Roughriders crush you to the last man!"
"I'll be waiting."