Darks Shadows Fall Chapter 4
Marsden
The bridge was the single connecting point crossing the river for 30 miles in either direction. Well, the only one around that could support military vehicles to be more precise. From Marsden's position on the south bank, the bridge was beautiful; albeit, probably not in the same sense of the word the engineers who had built it would have intended. The bridge connected to a road that ran through a tight series of hills that only rose higher in the distance until becoming a serious mountain range. Anything without the combination of maneuverability and speed of Mechs would find themselves confined to that road. Thus, the bridge became an Infantryman's definition of something beautiful: killing ground with a natural choke point.
"They might be noisy bastards, LT, but there are some benefits to running around with the big boys". SFC Canters sighed as he slouched down in the small trench next to the lieutenant, his radio operator and two other troopers. The Sergeant had a trench 30 meters west of Lt Marsden's position, and for the last 20 minutes, he had been making his final inspections of the platoon's preparations.
"How so"? Marsden spat out a stream of tobacco juice. A good number of men in the platoon smoked, or dipped, or in Marsden's case, both. Course, the smokers were going to be hurting after night fell and light discipline had to be enforced. Heck, since they were waiting in ambush, the cigarette hounds were already feeling the pain. Chances were, there would be a few more dippers by the end of the day.
"Well, it would have taken us what, two, three hours to dig in us and the boys. And factor in the tanks and the APCs and god knows how long we would have been shifting sand. These big mothers got it done in what-fifteen minutes"?
Marsden smirked a little at the thought. As soon as the combined forces of the infantry, tanks, APC and Mechs had made it to their over watch position, Captain Maersk had assigned his Mechs with hands to help dig in. Using their massive mechanical digits, the 12 meter tall monsters had made short work for the Infantry and their support vehicles. Marsden did have to admit, it made setting up a lot easier. "You're right there brother. And I'll admit, it was kinda funny seeing the Mechwarriors have their billion-credit toys bent over digging in the dirt like preschoolers."
Canters got a conspiratorial look in his eyes and his voice lowered a bit. "Hey LT, speaking of seeing things bend over, how bout that Sergeant Parsons in the Rifleman? She's go- aw shit"
Canters' voice went from playful to serious in under a second. Pointing across the bridge below them, the Sergeant point out what was coming around the bend in the road almost three kilometers north "Play times over."
A 45-ton Blackjack with several other Mechs, and what looked like hover troop transports was approaching the bridge. Like the Shadows, the enemy Mech was rust colored, just like the local flora; however it was a single solid color instead of the mottled cammo pattern the Shadows were using. Reacting quickly, Lt Marsden shifted over to his radio man, grabbing the hand set from the young trooper. "Give me the company freq. Benny". Waiting for the man to confirm he was connected to the rest of the Dark Shadows, Marsden calmly reported in the visual. "All Specters, this is Ghost Actual. Enemy contact sited".
Immediately, all movement ceased as everyone quickly assumed their positions. This was a lot earlier than anyone expected to make contact, but they were as ready as they could get. The platoon was in a good position, as soon as the bridge reached the south bank, the road had to climb a steep hill that gave the Dark Shadows a degree of cover. The bridge ended three hundred yards from their position, just out of range of their SRMs, but still plenty stuck in the middle of the two Hunter light support tanks 20 pack LRM launchers. And then there were the 8 Mechs of Specter and Banshee lance, well pulled away from the edge of the hill and invisible to the enemy.
The commander of Banshee lance, Lt Hatomori spoke with her calm and crisp voice over the encrypted long range comm, "Sundown, Sundown, Sundown." This was it then, thought Marsden. The Captain had decided that they were going to hold their positions and fight it out with the Andurians. With Hatomori's "Sundown" message, everyone, including Reaper Lance 15 kilometers south knew that there was about to be a fight at the bridge. The Blackjack had just reached the northern end of the bridge, and Marsden could see the rest of the enemy force more clearly. This was definitely the rest of the enemy company, they had just moved quicker than the Shadows had expected.
Marsden reported his observations to Captain Maersk since the other man wouldn't be able to see anything that was occurring yet. "Specter Actual, this is Ghost Actual. We count 8 Mechs crossing Observation Area 1. Estimate is three lights, five mediums. Additionally, 6 armored transports, estimating a company of infantry inside. Enemy's main body will be in Target Area 1 in 2 minutes".
The Andurians were moving relatively slowly, not at a pace that suggested they were about to get in a fight, but they certainly weren't rushing either. This made them all the easier to get the drop on as the lead lance was nearing the end of the bridge. Marsden began a slow count from 5. As soon as he hit one, smoke and fire exploded up from 200 meters on either side of him, the Hunter tanks ambushing their pray. The two tanks fired off 40 missiles virtually straight up, all aimed to arc and drop for the center point of the bridge, right where the enemy mechanized infantry were crossing.
Indirect fire was a touchy thing and required a real skill to carry out. Marsden's team had to be skilled spotters and the tank crews had to know how to make just the right adjustments to their weapons. Both teams were very good, but even so, less than half of the fired missiles impacted the desired point. They were still enough to do some significant damage as the missiles that did impact landed right in the midst of three armored personnel carriers. The thin skinned vehicles could take some punishment, mostly from small arms, and even light lasers and machine guns. The explosive blast and shrapnel from missiles dropped right on top of them were something else.
One vehicle simply ceased to exist, its full cells ruptured and ammunition ignited before its crew and passengers even had time to react. The forward most vehicle in the formation actually got off somewhat light, with shrapnel punching through its hull in several places. The passengers inside bore the brunt of the damage, but the vehicle rolled on. The third vehicle was also killed outright, but instead of exploding, it slewed to the side, its treads shredded. Marsden gave a savage grin at the sight. That vehicle's death blocked a good portion of the bridge, making it that much easier to kill its friends. He called for repeat fire.
The lead lance wasn't idle as its wards were killed, the enemy Blackjack that first crossed the bridge immediately stepped to the side and began strafing the hill with light autocannon fire. None of the troops were hit, but the fire would eventually nail someone. Unfortunately, the Blackjack was actually the least of the infantry's problem at the moment. An Assassin and a Spider, two brutally fast and jump capable Mechs leapt over the shoulder of their larger companion. In just a few seconds, they would land at the top of the hill, and by extension, right on top of Marsden's platoon. Even those two weren't the infantry officer's primary concern though, he knew they had a nasty surprise coming.
The last Mech in the lead lance was a Wasp-D variant. The 20-tonner was laughed at by most Mechwarriors for its small size, but the flamer in its leg was all business. The stubby nozzle of the weapon seemed to glare towards the infantry from out of from the red light Mech's leg. Too far away to reach the top of the hill in a single jump, Marsden knew he had seconds to take that beast down before it turned its flames on his men. "Wasp, 200 meters, all primary and secondary shooters!" It was time the Andurians saw the first ace the Dark Shadows were holding up their sleeves.
The entrenched infantry had 6 reloadable, one-shot missile launchers with them. The tubes were lighter and more accurate than the more common double tube variants popular in the Inner Sphere. The weapons were more than sufficient to handle light vehicles and fortifications, but unfortunately, even six of those would be unlikely to take out the Wasp in a single barrage. But each trooper also carried a single use LAAW missile with them, just for this occasion. It was a heavier combat load than what they typically went out with, but both Lt Marsden and Capt Maersk though it was a wise decision for the mission at hand. At the Lieutenant's command, all 6 SRM launchers and 6 of the LAAW launchers fired on the enemy Mech.
Fire wreathed around the light machine's waist and legs and armor scattered across the battlefield like red dust. The Wasp stumbled and dropped to its knees, damaged but not out. By now, the fire fight was truly beginning. Infantry from the APCs began pouring out of their vehicles and swarming around the damaged vehicle blocking the bridge. Another salvo from the Hunter tanks blasted the bridge, sending men flying in tattered shreds of flesh and equipment. The Mechs of the follow on lance were carefully trying to make their way across the bridge without crushing their allies, their long ranges weapons just beginning to return fire.
Marsden flinched instinctively as the Assassin roared overhead. Its short range missile pack sailed over the entrenched men, their detonations sending shrapnel over their heads. Its medium laser was more effective, splashing inside a trench with several men. Marsden could see at least two of his soldiers die as their cloths caught fire and their bodily fluids flash boiled instantly. The lieutenant grimaced and snarled as his dying men gave the briefest of screams before they fell blessedly silenced.
The enemy Spider ignored the infantry and instead focused on one of the tanks sending ballistic death to the bridge below. Two ruby lances of light flashed from the 30 ton Mech, burning armor and paint from the combat vehicle. A grinding, high pitch whine began inside the Hunter, and Marsden could guess that its turret was locked in place, either from melted armor or fried circutry.
It was tempting to turn his fire on the two Mechs, but Marsden kept his focus on the enemy below, firing his rifle at the massed infantry still struggling to cross the bridge. The two enemy Mechs weren't going to be a problem much longer.
As soon as the Assassin landed, alarms flared to life in front of the pilot as four separate targeting computers painted it. The Mech turned to face the new threat only in time to catch the full fury of Specter Lance. Eight medium lasers, a full brace of SRMS from Charlie Rangel's Crusader and even a PPC blast from Capt Maersk cut into the medium sized scout Mech. The pilot had barely acknowledge the death of his Machine before he found himself propelled into the sky, his auto eject saving his life as his ammunition stores erupted. The Spider was being treated with the same courtesy from Banshee lance, the piece de resistance being the full throated roar of Steven Rodrigues's AC/20.
The Andurian army was tough, and determined, but they were also smart. Capellan soldiers may have kept running into the guns of Specter company, but the Andurians knew when they were beat. With two Mechs down, another seriously damaged and almost a full company of troops decimated, whoever was in charge of this unit was ready to cut his losses. The enemy infantry began to withdraw, climbing into their vehicles or simply running. It was almost impossible to move orderly when being shelled by indirect fire, but the Andurians were doing their best. Even so, another vehicle went up in flames and a dozen men were torn apart by the Hunters' missile fire. In less than 2 minutes, more than a company of troops had been decimated.
The Blackjack bravely stood its ground at the foot of the bridge, its light auto cannons strafing the hill the Dark Shadows were crouching behind. It was quickly becoming the sole focus of the Dark Shadows' fury. Over 60 missiles leapt up from behind the hill as the Mech's of Specter and Shadow Lance moved forward. The Long Range Missiles impacted all around the machine as it held the line. The Wasp was just getting to its feet as Captain Maersk and Lt Hatomori crested the hill.
Maersk directed his fire against the 45 ton mech, letting Hatomori cover the infantry and pour her Mech's fire into the lighter scout machine. The Blackjack stumbled backwards, its right arm hanging loosely. The Wasp was simply shredded as the autocannon of Hatomori's Wolverine finished the damage to its left leg started by ghost platoon. Unwilling to leave his comrade behind, the Blackjack move resolutely forward, kneeling in front of the prone Mech and returning fire as much as he could with much reduced weaponry. It lasted only a second before the combined fire of multiple Mechs and tanks converged on it, sending it to the ground one last time.
Marsden looked up from his position, whistling softly at the damage. The bridge was in shambles, useless for anyone wishing to cross. In addition to the tons of destroyed vehicles and butchered bodies, cracks and gaps spread out from the center of the abused structure. It never ceased to amaze the veteran infantryman at the damage mankind could do in such a short time. It had been less than five minutes of battle and millions of C-bills worth of Mechs, vehicles and infrastructure were destroyed, not to mention the dozens killed. Shaking himself mentally, Marsden turned towards the direction of his Platoon Sergeant. "Canters!"
The dogged trooper quickly scooted over to his platoon leader, keeping low to avoid any last minute shots. He knew right away what his boss would ask, and was prepared to deliver the bad news. "Sir, we lost Jones, Cooper, Kent and Bilton. No wounded."
Marsden sighed to himself, Mech size weapons rarely left wounded amongst dismounted troopers, and the four who died had at least died quickly. Still, it was a hell of thing to know that four men he had led into battle didn't make it out. It was only partially mollifying to know that they had given better than they had received. "All right, detail 1st squad to recover enemy wounded and surrenders. Disburse ammo amongst the rest".
Turning towards the east, the lieutenant gazed towards the direction he knew SSgt Warson and the rest of Reaper lance were operating out of. "All right bud, we bought you some time, hope you use it well."