THREE
4-Cross Arena, Solaris VII,
Freedom Theater, Lyran Alliance,
July 25, 3062
The money I received from my first match was used to buy parts to replace bad parts. The most important things were dashboard components like battle scanner and weapon tracker. With new equipments, I went into the next battle better prepared, so I scored another win. The money went to armor platings. This cycle went on, each time the Wasp got better parts. When there was nothing more to repair, I saved the money to hire better technicians, ones that really knew how to handle a mech inside out.
As my mech got better, my rank went up, and I fought better and better mechwarriors in bigger and bigger arenas. Up to this point, I managed to collect more and more c-bills, but I felt increasing difficulties fighting against the opponents as I moved up. They started to use strategy, not just blind shootings. Some of them had good piloting skills that sometimes it took me more than 5 minutes to beat an opponent. But so far I just fought regular mechwarriors.
Today was the first time I fought an ace.
"His name is 'Fist' Difalco," Daniels explained this ace to me. "He had his glory days during the Clan invasion era, and he placed himself at the top 10 overall ranking. He was undefeated for over 5 years in the light and medium circuit. But recently he kinda loses his touch, due to increasing age. His losses became a regular occurrence, and people don't respect him as much as they used to. I guess Difalco has become a timey. However, he's still a good shot. He's in a Cougar with 3 LRM20's, so watch out for the missiles. One swarm can disable your mech. Don't let him get a lock on you, and always put something between you and him."
"Leave the fighting to me," I said as the new techs finalized the Wasp. "What about the other two?"
"Nothing to worry about. Paul Gomez is in a Raptor and 'Wildcat' McGee is in a Commando. Easy pickings."
"Sure," I mounted the Wasp and headed toward the gate. 4-Cross arena was a unique, cross-like arena where only 4 players fought at a time. Each player was placed at the corner of the cross at the end of a long tunnel, and they had to sprint across the hallway to fight other players. By far, Difalco had the most powerful mech against 3 relatively unknowns in smaller mechs. I wondered why he could be in such a lopsided situation.
"Well, well, fresh meat," I heard somebody hailed me through general frequency. "I have been following your games, and I must say I am impressed. But as you might already be aware of our situation, there is no way you can win this fight. My mech is simply faster and better than your pathetic piece of junk. So my advice is…don't try too hard. The harder you try, the harder you'll fall."
"A Mech does not give you victory, Fist Difalco," I replied apathetically. "Skill does."
"Ah, a witty one, just the way I like it," Difalco sneered. "I always have the greatest pleasure killing your kind. So then keep your head high, Parker. It's easier to get your neck that way."
This was the type of warrior that liked to taunt his enemy before killing them, underlining his superiority over his opponents. He reminded me of Jerome Helmer, the Jade Falcon maniac. His thrash talk made me want to oust him quickly, but I could not let my emotions control my actions. His Cougar is a powerful mech, armed by series of weapons capable of taking on a mech twice his size. Exactly how he got access to Clan technology was beyond my imagination, but he could singe me in a flash if I was not careful.
The horn blared, and I throttled up to meet the Raptor who was placed right in front of me. Lucky for me Difalco was on my right, and we could not see each other just yet. The Commando on my left was going to get the full gamut of Difalco's wrath, and I could observe how Difalco used his arsenal.
Halfway through the tunnel, the Raptor got a lock on me and quickly pumped up its missiles. The tunnel was not wide enough to take evasive maneuver, and dodging the missiles would be a real challenge. But there was not enough room for the missiles either, so if I could get the missile to pass me, I was free.
I waited until the missiles were less than 400 meters, then cut off the engine and pushed my joystick as hard as I could. The Wasp came to a screeching halt and ducked low, curving up like a ball, missing more than half of the missiles above its head. Three missiles slammed into the shoulder, rattling the cockpit, but the rest of them flew harmlessly. They looped to hit me from behind, but because the size of the hallway, they just slammed onto the wall. As smoke and concrete filled the void behind me, I jerked my mech up and resume sprinting.
The Raptor was not ready to fire its long-ranged missiles, and its lasers had not reached firing range, but at this time Difalco drew the first blood. Dozens of missiles streaked in front of me, pounding the Commando in such a powerful torrent. The Commando did not seem to know how to dodge the missiles, so it took the shots, doing its best to keep standing while the missiles flogged it to the internal structure. But weathering a hailstorm was not an easy task. The Commando tumbled to its back; limbs and metal gristle flew in the air.
So that was how Difalco worked. He relied on his missiles to deliver the blow from long range, quickly reducing his enemy to scrap before it could even fire back. I suspected he had targeting computer installed on his mech to increase accuracy and active probe to counter ECM. However, he had no back-up weapons. If I could neutralize his missile packs, he would be a sitting duck. But I could care less of it for the moment. My focus was the Raptor, who was ready with its missiles.
I heard the warning that I was being locked, so I triggered my jets. My mech soared past the juncture, overlooking Difalco's Cougar, and over the Raptor. The Raptor fired its missiles and lasers, but I was out of its firing arc, so its missiles hit the ceilings and its lasers peppered the wall on its right.
I landed about 50 meters behind the Raptor and quickly pivoted, trailing my pulse laser at the Raptor's back. This was not exactly the way Clan fought, but I got used to Inner Sphere fighting style. Several bursts of laser grilled the Raptor's rear armor, but it used its excellent speed to pivot and showered me with its lasers. I caught two shots in my left torso, and the loss of a ton of armor made my mech sway. I realigned my crosshair and hurled my missiles, hitting the Raptor in the left torso. The bird-like feet twitched as my missiles gave it a strong shove. Nevertheless, it rushed to fire all guns at me. I could tell that he did not have a hard lock, so a swift twist to the right let the missiles and laser bolts zipped past me. I sunk two laser bolts at its torso, and I could see that the Raptor was mildly overheated by the last alpha strike.
Suddenly my radar screamed. It could not be the Raptor, since it just expended its missiles. It could not be the Commando for it does not have long-range missiles. It must have been Difalco. I turned around and saw the void behind me was entirely covered by missiles. I knew I had only seconds to dodge it, but with my back against the missiles, I did not have many choices. My first solution was to sacrifice my left arm, since it held nothing. So I twisted fully to the left, then braced for impact.
The missiles hit me like a huge tidal wave. I was thrown to my right, hanging on my command couch as the missiles swept my mech. My consoles burst and cables sprouted from the wall. The mammoth quake overtook my senses for seconds I thought I passed out. My head throbbed, and before I knew it, the cockpit tilted to the right and another quake ensued. I hit my head on the wall, and I seemed to lose grip of the situation for some time.
While lying there, the first thing that came to my mind was the Raptor. Difalco needed some time to recycle, and the Commando did not have anything left, if it still existed. The Raptor could take advantage of this situation. I still did not know how extensive my damage was, but I had to assume the worst. I had to deflect the Raptor from me and coerce it to fight Difalco. But how would I do that? I was lying on my side with shaking hands, unable to get my mech up, let alone making evasive maneuvers. Another choice would be to keep my position and play dead. My inner Clan despised this tactic, but I did not have many choices. So I shut down my mech, basking myself in shame and hope, wondering if the Raptor would ever buy my ploy.
It did.
Through my broken canopy I watched the Raptor turned its guns away from me, and faced Difalco. It must have thought that I had been neutralized. It hit alpha strike again, half of which peppered Difalco from the front. Whoever the pilot of the Raptor was, I marveled his courage but loathed his folly. He should have known Difalco had three times the firepower of his mech and the skill to use it. Yet he chose to brawl with Difalco. I suspected he would not last long before he ended up with the same fate as the Commando.
So I had to work quickly. I started up my mech and made it stand. It was not an easy job, since I lost my left arm. But it was unavoidable. It took the Wasp several seconds to adjust to the new weight distribution, and when it stabled, I assessed my damage. My entire left torso was carved up, and one shot to the back would bury my mech under a bonfire. Half of my gauges were dead. But my right side (along with the pulse laser and the missile launcher) was virtually untouched. The reactor had a leak, but I estimated I had 10 minutes before the engine would start losing power.
As I suspected, Difalco showered the Raptor with missiles, which the Raptor boldly answered. Missiles exploded everywhere, and the Raptor's laser shots wore down the Cougar a bit. But the Raptor's armor could not hold Difalco's missiles for too long. By the third strike, the Raptor had no weapons left, and Difalco's missiles ripped it to pieces like a tsunami, leaving nothing but blackened metals and burning debris.
"Two down, another to go," I heard Difalco flaunted over the two easy kills. "You don't have a lot of things to offer, Parker. Might as well yield to save your money, because you will need to buy a new one by the end of this fight."
"You hit me with a cheap shot," I replied, trying to bug him. "You hit me from behind."
"Hah! What did you expect me to do? Wait until you finish jacking off with the Raptor?" Difalco cackled. "Your inability to access the situation shows us that you are not a worthy adversary. For the last time, Parker, I'm offering you a chance to walk out of here. It'll be embarrassing, but at least you'll walk out alive."
As much as he aggravated me, I could not help thinking why he wasted time talking to me. His ferocity dealing with the Commando and the Raptor showed me that he should be able to oust me quickly. Why did he not finish me? What was with the bluffing? He was not hurt, not a bit. His front armor sustained few damages, but he should be able to fight more, especially against half-baked mech like my Wasp.
Unless… he was running low on ammunition.
Then all made sense. He knew I was better than the two warriors he disposed. He knew that he might not be able to finish me using his remaining ammunition. He had lost part of his confidence. This was a hole that I had to exploit to the greatest extent to win against him.
"Try me, Difalco," I contested his masculinity. "Do not tell me that you are afraid of fighting me in combat. Just give me your best shot. Unless you think that I am a threat to you, let us finish it the old-fashion way."
"Thy wish shall be done, creep!" he roared and blasted his missiles. Proximity alarm screeched, and I knew I had to dodge it. I put all my power to the myomer and throttled up, adding jump jets to make the initial jerk. I felt my back was pushed against the command couch as the Wasp dashed forward. When the missiles were inches away from my face, I fired the jump jets and turned it 90-degree, pushing my Wasp sharply to the left. I could almost feel the heat from the missiles as it swooshed past the cockpit. The missiles hooked to pepper my back, but eventually ran out of space and rammed the wall behind me. Once again the ground shook, and concrete flew in the air. However, none of the missiles got me.
"Fancy move, I see!" Difalco commented, "but if you think it'll save you, you're sadly mistaken!"
I caught a glint of panic in Difalco's voice, and I knew I was right about him. He just wasted 60 missiles on a wall, and for a mechwarrior piloting a missile boat, it was a huge waste. Now I had 7 seconds to send my answer, and I had to make every shot count. If I could disable one of the missile launchers, his next attack would be greatly reduced in power.
"My turn!" I replied and fired an alpha strike at his left torso. My laser chipped the armor covering his launcher, and my missiles smacked the bulk of his center torso, creating dents but not crack as I hoped. A good mechwarrior that he was, he knew what I was after. He gunned his jets and used his blistering speed to get away from me. I could chase him, but I had 3 more seconds before his missiles were ready. I decided to let him go and plan my defense instead.
"Eat this!" he shouted and fired up his missiles. The sight of 60 missiles flying at me was incredible, but it was not the time to watch. I jumped to the right, into one of the long hallway, and ran as fast as I could toward the end. The missiles tried to follow me, but their wide arcs were not versatile enough to make a tight 90-degree turn. They ravaged both corners of the hallway, turning it into a mangled concrete. One more time I defied Difalco's attack, and I thought he was really pissed by now.
I quickly reversed direction and pounded Difalco's left torso. My pulse laser repeatedly shed armor, and when the torso started to glow in orange, I fired my missiles. Difalco took a tight turn to dodge, but one missile managed to hit the torso. I saw the crack, but I could not press my attack. Difalco was ready for his next wave.
As I expected, Difalco launched his missiles, but only from his left arm. Ah, he learnt. Cascaded attack would give him absolute protection, putting me at the defense the whole time. Good thinking, but perhaps a little too late. I did not know it as a fact, so I had to keep dodging and forget about the attack until he ran out of missiles. I moved to the other hallway, but Difalco followed suit with his second wave. I ducked hard, but three of them hit me on the leg. My joystick rattled so hard I hurt my thumb trying to steady it. About half a ton of armor was shredded, but the myomer and actuator were not damaged.
As I shook the Wasp left and right, I thought it was not the best way to beat Difalco's cascaded attack. I was always at the disadvantage, because he could hit me repeatedly from long distance. To neutralize his missiles I had to get close. He still could singe me with a lucky strike, but the probability was lower than getting hit by long-range missiles at long range. Plus, I could use my guns more effectively.
So that was what I did. Instead running left and right, I ran straight at the Cougar. Difalco launched his next wave, a swarm from his left torso, but I crisscrossed my path while maintaining my course. About four or five missiles slammed into my center torso and the armor tracker blinked red. I could not endure any more shots from the front. But I knew I did not have to. Closing in to the Cougar, I fired my lasers, and then swung to its left. Difalco fired his missiles, but at close range they were inaccurate against fast-moving target. The missiles spread through a wide area and carved holes on the walls. I kept circling him, sinking burst after burst, driving him insane, while he desperately pivoted and twisted about to get a clear shot at me. His missiles whizzed to every direction and hit everything but the intended target: me.
And then, he stopped firing.
My mech was cored, and only paper-thin armor left to defend me against Difalco's attack. But I knew there would not be any more attack. I throttled down and stood in front of him. It was a glorious feeling, standing in front of a mech almost twice my size, and knowing that it could not harm me in any way. Well, except if Difalco went for physical attack, but I did not think he would go that way. He was a smart fighter, and he should know his Cougar was not designed for melee.
"Yield, Difalco," I said cockily, pointing my pulse laser at him. "Save your mech for your next fight."
It took him some time to realize that he had no choice. In the end, he powered down, but not before spitting his venom, "This is not the end, Parker. You don't know what you're getting yourself into. Next time, I will crush you under my feet!"
"I look forward to it," I smiled as the horn sounded, ending the fight in another victory for me.