Chapter 26

Review Corner

The Colonel: It'll get worse (or better, depending which side you're on) from this point. We are getting close to the climax, so stay tuned!

East Dock, International Zone,
Solaris City, Solaris VII,
Freedom Theater, Lyran Alliance,
January 30, 3070

Stan's old Cyclops provided more than Kilroy needed to fix Amber's Vindicator and Mickey's Jenner. The junk money was used to buy armor, parts, and ammunition. Since Kilroy decided to work for free, labor charges were infinitesimal. Major Tom brought his case to VEST, claiming that the Apocalypse was damaged by the Word of Blake on the off match. Since VEST also despised Word of Blake occupation of Solaris VII, they agreed to restore the Apocalypse to factory setting. It was a good deal, especially since the Apocalypse had been tampered before. Returning it to factory setting nullified any possible mishaps that could happen during the mission.

It had been a long time since Jeremy went to real battle, and it made him nervous. He still remembered vividly the last time he led an army. He led a battalion and faced a company-sized army, which he should have been crushed easily. But the MacGregor army was led by a veteran of Tukayyid Campaign and Refusal War. The smaller army deftly outmaneuvered his larger army. He was ultimately beaten in a showdown against his ex fiancée.

Up to that point, Jeremy thought he was an adept field commander. He was never beaten by any force in New St. Andrews. As a result, his confident was high. When he was beaten, his confidence was crushed, and he had been questioning his competence as a leader ever since.

Leading two mechwarriors to battle was different than leading a battalion, but Jeremy still felt uneasy. When he was leading Stewart's battalion, he hardly knew anybody in the army. They were just troops for him, people that were willing to die for him. Now he was leading people that was close to him. Mickey had been idolizing him since they first met, and he shared an intimate moment with Amber.

"Heads up, people," Amber's voice came crisp on his speaker. "Two Gurkhas coming inbound."

There were a lot of buildings and storage warehouse in the dock that made it difficult for Jeremy to see the Gurkhas. But his radar picked up the two heat signatures from the Blakist mechs. Reading their maneuver, Jeremy knew that they were trying to outflank him. They had probably noticed Mickey in his Jenner and intended to kill him first.

Jeremy linked his HUD to satellite and pulled up the overhead map. There was a small open field half a kilometer on his right. It was a perfect site for trapping the Gurkhas, if he could reach it before them. Adrenaline rushed through his blood as he throttled his mech, yelling on the comlink, "Open field, two o'clock! Make it there full speed!"

Amber and Mickey propelled their mechs over buildings and warehouses, while Jeremy snaked between buildings and huge containers. He inspected his map and saw an unobstructed path toward the open field. If he took that path, he would have a small window to hit anything at the open field from 500 meters away. He turned his mech around and took a different road, as if he was leaving Mickey and Amber.

The Gurkhas were confused, but they quickly adjusted their course to intercept Mickey and Amber, and seemed to neglect Jeremy. They were confident that they could kill Mickey and at least hurt Amber. As Mickey and Amber got closer to the open field, the Gurkha lined up in a single formation behind Mickey, ready to singe the old relic as soon as they got a hard lock.

Jeremy reached the passage and bolted toward the open field, linking his large laser and UAC10. He watched Mickey flashed in front of his crosshair, and he put his thumb on the trigger. As soon as the first Gurkha zipped past his crosshair, he mashed the trigger. His laser and UAC10 shells hit the Gurkha on the side. The pilot didn't expect the attack, so the Gurkha fell down.

"Attack the standing Gurkha! Now!" Jeremy ordered.

The second Gurkha arrived but Amber's PPC stopped it cold. As it was still reeling, Mickey's missiles hit its torso. The Gurkha staggered as geyser of ferro-fibrous splinters sprayed on a wide area. Smoke twirled from the torso and coolant leak.

The fallen Gurkha managed to get up and hit Mickey with its PPC. The Jenner almost got knocked down, but Mickey's reflex kept it standing. Its right hip was ripped apart. Half of the myomer was fried, but it could still walk.

"I'm hit! I'm hit!" Mickey yelled in panic.

"Mickey, get behind me," Amber said. "Jeremy, we need that Gurkha down!"

"Coming!" Jeremy exclaimed as he pinched his trigger. His UAC10 barked long and hard, spilling cannon rounds. The Gurkha twisted hard sustaining the impact. Its right torso was lacerated by Jeremy's fire.

The other Gurkha turned its guns at Jeremy and opened fire. The PPC bolt slammed into Jeremy's midst. The HUD jarred for a moment. The HUD turned static, but only for several seconds.

Jeremy returned fire with his laser that hit the Gurkha on the leg, then fired his missiles. Half of the missiles hit the Gurkha with fury. The Gurkha was enveloped by sparks and lurched backward.

The Gurkha desperately fired its PPC but Jeremy dodged it. Then Jeremy fired his medium lasers, which cored the mech on the torso. The Gurkha exploded, smoke and burning debris flew everywhere.

Meanwhile Amber fought hard to pin the other Gurkha down, with occasional pot shots from Mickey. The Gurkha used its speed to outmaneuver Amber but Amber used her jets to keep track of the Gurkha. Two lasers from Amber hit the Gurkha on the right arm and the right arm breached.

The Gurkha returned fire with its PPC and hit Amber on the torso. The Vindicator buckled forward to sustain the impact. The Gurkha proceeded with its lasers that melted half a ton of armor off Amber's arm. The shredded armor became dangerously thin.

Jeremy came from behind and fired his UAC10 at the Gurkha's back. The Gurkha jerked forward and fell down to its knees. Jeremy's attack ripped the rear armor. The Gurkha tried to get up but Jeremy hit it again with his missiles. The missiles destroyed half of the Gurkha's torso, and the mech engulfed in fire.

"That was a cheap shot!" Amber complained. "I had everything under control."

"Just watching over you, Sweetheart," Jeremy quipped as he stepped back."You can finish the job then."

Amber hit his lasers and burnt the rest of the Gurkha. The Gurkha erupted like a volcano, sending debris everywhere.

"More trouble, guys," Mickey called. "Three UrbanMech-69 are blocking our ways to our target."

"Jeremy, the -69's are carrying UAC10," Amber stated. "Mickey doesn't have enough armor to sustain a direct hit, and you're too slow to dodge them. I'm the only one that is fast and strong enough to fight these bruisers. Take Mickey and smoke the dropship. I'll hold these walking trashcans."

"Negative, Amber," Jeremy replied. He didn't doubt Amber's skill, but Amber was taking a great risk against 3 UAC10. He was worried. "You can't fight three of them at the same time. It's too dangerous."

"Jeremy, the Blakist mechs carry C3i. Soon they will swarm this place. We don't have much time. I'll hold them here. You go finish the mission."

Jeremy knew Amber spoke the truth. "Okay, be careful. Mickey, form up on me."

"Roger," Mickey replied enthusiastically.

As the first UrbanMech arrived, Amber hit it with her PPC then slid behind buildings. The UrbanMech fired its UAC10 and blasted the building, but Amber was safe behind buildings.

Jeremy took a different road toward the dropship. Mickey followed him closely. Soon enough they arrived at the landing pad, and the dropship was still unloading its cargo. Several armored vehicles quickly opened fire at Jeremy and Mickey. But lucky for them the dropship was shut down.

"Mickey, concentrate fire on the dropship! Now!" Jeremy yelled as he fired everything he had. The thick armor of the dropship absorbed everything. The small tanks and armed vehicles fired at him relentlessly, but Jeremy circled the dropship.

Sensing danger, the dropship started up. Smoke twirled from its engine.

"Mickey, it's going live!" Jeremy yelled. "Get out of here!"

"No! I'm staying with you!" Mickey replied.

"I don't want a dead hero, Mickey!" Jeremy screamed. "Regroup with Amber! I'll take care of the dropship!"

"I am not going without you!" Mickey said.

Jeremy became worried. He needed Mickey's firepower but he didn't want him to die. He kept firing at the dropship but the dropship had enough armor to withstand his firepower. His mech almost reached shut down temperature and his UAC10 almost ran out of ammo.

"Take this!" Jeremy said as he hit his trigger. The UAC10 blasted long and hard, firing the last rounds toward the dropship. Finally the armor cracked, and Jeremy fired his missiles at the crack. Fire spewed from the crack, and the dropship was torn from the inside.

"Get out!" Jeremy said while putting his mech in full speed. It was hard because his mech was almost shut down, but he managed to reach a safe distance when the dropship exploded. The explosion destroyed some of the vehicles and buildings nearby. The explosion was big and nasty.

"Amber, we did it," Jeremy contacted Amber. "Disengage the enemies and leave the dock."

"Affirmative, Commander," Amber chimed.

Jeremy took his mech through some streets. He was happy that the mission was a success and nobody got hurt.