Chapter 6
Max lent his Thunderbolt round the street corner and opened fire at the Centurion at the far end of the street, scoring hits with the large laser but the LRMs scattered over the building behind it. He hoped this area was as deserted as it looked, even with just three mechs engaged they were racking up the collateral damage. The Centurion returned fire as Max unsuccessfully tried to drag his mech back into cover, autocannon shells and LRMs impacted the Thunderbolt ripping chunks out of his armour.
'Time not to be here.' He said to himself. With Gibson extracted and William safely aboard the Fed Com dropship the 'mission' was complete and there was nothing more to be gained by continuing to fight. Besides, while he was confident he could defeat the two mechs in front of him, intelligence said there was a lance on this world. The Wasp wasn't a great concern, but the Hunchback was, especially in the close confines of a city fight.
Slowly backing up, Max tried to guess where his enemies were going so he could slip through the gaps. Fighting like this was claustrophobic as he tried to keep moving. Turning a corner, he came face to face with the Wyvern again, they exchanged fire, the Wyvern taking the worst of it before, much to Max's frustration, it again it jumped clear. He picked a different route, trying to throw his pursers off his trail. 600 meters to the Space Port's boundary fence now, nearly there. His mech's warning siren sounded a lock on warning as two SRMs impacted his rear armour. He turned in time to see the Wasp jump away out of sight.
"Oh for a set of jump jets right now." Max growled as he randomly took another turn and swore as he found himself face to face with the Hunchback, its black, yellow and white tiger stripe paintjob only slightly less intimidating that the massive autocannon on its right shoulder. Max's Thunderbolt rocked backwards as the Hunchback's first volley ripped out great chunks of armour from his chest plate. Desperately Max returned fire as he backpedalled, lasers and SRMs scored his enemy armour in vain as the Hunchback slowly advanced, its next shot tearing up the armour on Max's right leg, causing armour breach warnings to fill his heads up display.
"Oh to hell with this."
Max bulldozed his way through the warehouse to his right, smashing aside brickwork and girders as he strove to put something solid between his badly damaged mech and the advancing Hunchback. He hoped the warehouse was as deserted as it looked, but he had little time to dwell on it as his mech's passage sent packing crates flying through the air. Lowing his mech's shoulder he drove his way through the far wall and into the street beyond. 'Got to move, got to move.' He thought frantically as he turned towards the spaceport, only to find his way blocked by another mech. The Battlemaster, sinister in its all black livery raised its PPC as the Hunchback burst through the warehouse behind the Thunderbolt. Max's eye widened in surprise as he desperately swung his weapons up to defend himself. The Battlemaster fired, man-made lightning leapt from the barrel of its PPC, past the Thunderbolt, striking the Hunchback in the chest. Astonished to the point of inaction, Max watched as the Battlemaster broke into a run. Releasing its PPC to free up its battle fists, it charged passed Max and straight into the Hunchback. The Hunchback's pilot reacted quickly, backing up, she fired into the charging Battlemaster as it fired at her, missiles, lasers and autocannon shells criss-crossed the rapidly shrinking divide between the mechs, both tearing great holes in each other's armour. Pushing through the fire, the Battlemaster swung its great fists, pummelling the Hunchback's upper body, seeking its head and a quick end to the duel. The Hunchback's pilot moved well, dodging back and landing quick kicks to try and knock the heavier mech off its feet. In the end mass won out, the Battlemaster forced the Hunchback back against the side of a building and punched out, its battle fist smashing through the already weakened head armour to crush the cockpit behind. The Battlemaster turned to face the Thunderbolt, the smashed armour plating only adding to its intimidating presence.
"Max you alright?" Gibson's voice was distorted by his mech's loudhailer but Max, understood it. "I don't have your radio frequencies."
"Mostly, bit banged up. Let's get out of here while they're on the back foot." Max replied using his own loudhailer.
Gibson considered it. Max was out of the fight, his mech had numerous armour breaches, several over ammo storage bins, he would need to withdraw. His own mech had also taken more than a few hits, you didn't get into brawls with Hunchbacks and come out without a few bruises, but nowhere was breached and the weaken spot over his right torso wasn't a concern, no ammo there.
"No I've still got a score to settle. Get back to the dropships, I'll take it from here."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Max shouted, but the Battlemaster was already in motion. Collecting its discarded PPC it set off, hunting down the rest of the Black Warrior's lance.
He found the Wasp first. Jumping on buildings, trying to get a visual on what was happening, the pilot lingered a little too long in Gibson's sights. A PPC blast, tore into its right arm, crippling numerous actuators. Not a killing shot, but enough to convince the pilot to make himself scarce as the Wasp pilot jumped away and into the cover of the streets. Gibson found the Centurion next, it had been running to the assistance of the Hunchback when it turned a corner and ran straight into Gibson's Battlemaster. Panic fire scattered autocannon shells across the surrounding warehouses and factories as the Battlemaster fired point blank laser and SRM salvos into the Centurion's armour. The Centurion tried to get clear, tried to fight back, but a SRM found a hole in its armour, biting deep it set off a catastrophic explosion in the mech's LRM ammo. The pilot ejected as his mech disintegrated around him.
His comms smashed in the fight with Max, the Wyvern pilot wasn't aware of the fate of his lance mates. It didn't take him long to realise that things had gone badly wrong when the black liveried Battlemaster turn the corner and raised its PPC towards him. Activating his jump jets he though himself safe as he put two streets between him and his attacker. His jaw fell open as the Battlemaster followed him, powerful jets launching its 85ton bulk through the air. 'Battlemaster's don't jump' wasn't a useful thought as Gibson's weapons locked on. The next thought was more useful. The Wyvern threw its arms up in the air.
"I surrender."
His blood up, Gibson still nearly pulled the trigger but restrained himself. There were limits and there were rules, there had to be or it was just mindless slaughter.
"Power down your mech." He replied, keeping his PPC trained on the Wyvern's head. "Tell me what I need to know and you can keep your mech."
"Sure thing boss." The Wyvern's pilot replied jittery. "What do you want to know?"
"Let start with who you are, and why you kidnapped the Ambassador's son."