Chapter 29
Review Corner:
The Colonel: Kill off Amber? What do you think this is, I,Kerensky? :LOL: No, that part of me is long gone. I'm not that angry, mean writer that kills off good guys just for sport anymore.
Ulquiorra9000: I like to play with human emotion. It's what separate humans from robots.
Iron Skull Arena,
Solaris City, Solaris VII,
Freedom Theater, Lyran Alliance,
April 4, 3070
It pained Jeremy to no end to acknowledge Amber's words, however he had no choice but to agree. Amber was a great mechwarrior but her Vindicator gave up 30 tons to Mac's Black Knight, as much as a full UrbanMech. Mickey wasn't even a factor. His Apocalypse stood the best chance in beating Mac, or at least hurting him, even though it had been stripped from half of its weapons. Unfortunately his biggest asset was his speed. The Apocalypse outran the Black Knight by a margin of 20 kph, but it was just a waste in the cramped arena. He would need a stretch of land to make use of his mech's potential.
"Jeremy, we have to get out of here!" Mickey hollered through the comlink as Jeremy pulled his mech up. "Follow me!" The measly Jenner swerved past the iron skull and raced toward the hangar bay. Kilroy stood by the door waving his light sticks. Jeremy rerouted all his power to the leg myomer and sunk in his command couch as the Apocalypse pounded the arena floor. He knew the Apocalypse was fast but reading stats was different than sitting in a cockpit blazing at 85 kph. Everything was close to a blur.
As soon as Jeremy dashed past Kilroy, Stan hit the door button and metal slabs began to roll toward each other, leaving Amber alone in the arena with Mac. Jeremy slowed down his mech to get one final glimpse of Amber through the closing doors, but he couldn't get a good look of her. For a moment he regretted his decision to leave the arena. Maybe, just maybe, Amber's high-flying style and his firepower – or what was left of it – was enough to overcome Mac's razor-sharp shooting bonanza. He started to turn around, but realized that it was all too late.
But before the doors were completely shut, an explosion raked up the large metal slabs. Smoke billowed out in the hangar, and a humanoid giant emerged from the cloud. A long stream of particle bolt zapped past Jeremy's cockpit. It was wide enough to make Jeremy think that the shot was not intended for him. And he was right. The shot hit Mickey's Jenner at the rear. The small old relic couldn't stand the charge surge of the PPC shot. All electronics were fried, and the Jenner tumbled, leaving a large swath of debris on the ground.
"Even for a farm boy like you, that was low," Mac croaked as his weapons switched to Jeremy. "Using your friends as shields. Leaving them to die in the hands of a wolf. Well, I'm a merciful wolf. I'll kill them last so they can watch you burn in hell!"
That was all Jeremy wanted to hear. Amber must have had foreseen this when she asked him to leave the arena. Mac was so engrossed in killing Jeremy and making a spectacle out of it that everything else was just an afterthought. Mac, by and large, was a showman. Everything he did had to be spectacular. And that was his achilles heel.
"Well then let's do this!" Jeremy punched his trigger and let loose a barrage of missiles right at Mac's torso. "We've fought twice and we've won apiece. This is how we settle things out! Come on, Mac! No more diddle-daddling! Come get my throat, or I'll come get yours first!"
Jeremy's missiles battered Mac's front armor but Mac made no effort to dodge it. The explosions staggered the Black Knight, but Mac just shrugged it off and walked right through it. Jeremy remembered Amber's assessment about Mac's fighting style when they were sparring before his second fight with Mac: Mac is a terrific shooter, not a great mover. And he might just have the perfect weapon to exploit that fact.
Mac raised his arm to retaliate but Jeremy pulled his joystick as hard as he could. The Apocalypse lurched to the left, almost leaning on one feet, and Mac's nickel-ferrous slug went past his cockpit by a mere millimeter. Jeremy slammed the throttle forward and pushed the joystick to the other direction. The Apocalypse pivoted and broke into a sprint. The loss of half of its upper body contributed to its responsive movements, almost like a medium mech.
Mac recalibrated his targeting system but Jeremy quickly changed direction just as Mac's PPC sailed past his shoulder. The heat from the particle bolt carved a burnt mark on the armor but it was as far as the shot went. Jeremy flicked his joystick, bringing his mech back up and slammed his foot on the pedal. Mac's laser strand managed to tag his mech on the waist, turning the armor into red-hot sludge. But he fought back the loss of balance and sped up his mech toward Silesia, the Lyran part of Solaris City.
Jeremy-Mac duel had attracted a large number of observers and, unfortunately, law enforcements. Two Chimeras carrying Silesia PD emblem on their torsos went into high speed to block their course toward Silesia. He crisscrossed his way while frantically waved his remaining arm and twisted his torso, trying to get the police's attention while avoiding Mac's long-range shot.
"This is Silesia Police!" the Chimeras hailed him through external speaker. "Shut down your battlemech immediately!"
"Can't do that, I have a madman on my tail!" Jeremy grimaced. "If I shut down, he'll kill me!"
"This is your last warning, vagabond! Shut down or we'll open fire!"
"I cannot shut down, you idiot! That Black Knight is trying to kill me! As soon as I…"
The argument with the police distracted Jeremy, and he drifted for a second. It was all Mac needed to sink a well-placed salvo on Jeremy's leg. His Gauss slug whistled in the air and bludgeoned the Apocalypse's right thigh. Fragmented armor and myomer bundles scattered in the air as the slug carved a deep gash on the right leg, exposing the titanium structure to open air.
"Bastard!" Jeremy winced, mortified by the loss of dexterity of his mech. It was still able to make 55 kph, but the loss of 50-percent myomer on the right leg turned the Apocalypse into a limping gunboat. "He's killing me! You want me to shut down? Shut the Black Knight down first!"
"Stop firing! Stop firing!" one of the Chimeras broke formation and went straight at Mac with guns aimed squarely at his chest. "Shut down your battlemech at once!"
But Mac was going berserk. His twin lasers flashed, slitting the Chimera's left arm right at the elbow. Spark burst from the incision, and the laser pods dropped, hanging by the butt by a few strands of myomer. As the Chimera lurched, Mac's PPC slammed into the missile pod, torching the missiles on the tube. Three consecutive eruptions ripped the missile launcher from inside, and the Chimera went down hard.
"Officer down! Officer down! We have 245 at 32 and Main! Request immediate backup!" the other Chimera turned its attention to the Black Knight and hurled its missiles. The poorly-aimed warheads flew a few heads above Mac's cockpit. The cop followed up with its lasers but Mac's Gauss slug beat it. The nickel-ferrous ball smashed the Chimera on the right shoulder, causing its laser to go astray. Straggling, the Chimera managed to get a clear aim at Mac's head but Mac kicked its knee, forcing the cop to fall on its butt. Mac stomped on its body, pinning it to the ground as his laser cannon blazed, evaporating the Chimera's cockpit.
The short distraction gave Jeremy enough time to limp his way into Silesia. Urban fighting was not his forte but it was the only way he could match Mac's deadly precision. The buildings provided some coverage to block Mac's firepower. He just had to find a way to score hits of his own. He'd been running from Mac since they broke out of the arena. It was time he fought back.
Finishing off the remaining Chimera, Mac went full speed at the building behind which Jeremy took refuge. Jeremy jumped into the open, armed his long-ranged missiles and fired off without a lock. Only one connected to Mac's torso, and it only aggravated him more. Mac lashed his lasers out but Jeremy expected this shot. He jerked his joystick, abruptly changed direction, missing Mac's twin laser bolts. Jeremy ran as hard as he could toward another building, but just before he slipped behind it he fired his plasma. The purple bolt slammed into Mac's shoulder, and the mighty Black Knight twisted. Molten armor drooped and Mac's advance was halted.
Jeremy waited behind the building until Mac was within 300 meters from him, switched his launcher to short-ranged missiles, then sprang out like a bolt, forcing his mech to sprint with everything it had. Mac quickly trained his guns at the Apocalypse but Jeremy dumb-fired his missiles, again, without a lock. With shorter distance and smaller spread angle, four missiles struck Mac's midsection, enough to throw off his aim. Jeremy fired his medium laser, further exploited the scar on Mac's shoulder. Superheated ferro-fibrous armor dropped like blood.
Mac staggered to find his balance but he quickly shrugged off Jeremy's assault. His entire arsenal blasted, seeking a quick end to their long-standing rivalry. Jeremy broke left to expose his virtually unscathed left side, and braced for impact. Only Mac's PPC connected, but it was enough to take the wind out of his sail. Spark burst from his console, and the feedback signal on his neurohelmet zapped his brain so forcefully blood started flowing freely from his nose.
Jeremy knew that he only had seconds before Mac's weapon recycled and reloaded. Fighting back the headache, he pulled his mech back up and throttled up, going for the closest building. Just as he slipped behind it, Mac's second alpha strike blasted and ravaged the building. Half of the building evaporated and the rest quickly crumbled, creating a thick plumme of smoke and debris. Jeremy used it as a smoke screen, carefully tiptoed toward yet another building, hiding from Mac's fearsome shooting skill as he regrouped.
"Come out and fight, you coward!" Mac hissed. "If not because of that Capellan whore, you would've been dead by now!"
"Don't get envious because I have friends that are willing to lay down their lives for me," Jeremy retorted. "It's how you treated them. Especially Amber."
"Bah! I gave her what she wanted!"
"You gave her what she needed. I give her what she deserves."
"She deserves to die, just like you and every single insect in the Ground Control Stable."
"Yet you spare her and Mickey. You could've killed them but you didn't."
"I want them to watch you die! And after that, I'll rip them apart one by one!"
"As a wage of what? Watching you fall from grace? You're punishing us for something you brought upon yourself? I told you, Mac, you reap what you sow!"
"As a wage of you, you worthless piece of periphery crap!"
"Then let's get this over with!" Jeremy jolted his mech, pushing it out of the building. Mac fired his PPC, but at less than 300 meters the azure bolt zapped past Jeremy's head, blasting a tall building. Glass splinters rained down on the Apocalypse. Jeremy kept his pace as he hurled his plasma bolt. Mac's Gauss-laden arm glowed when the plasma bolt hit it. Mac turned and fired both lasers, but Jeremy was at the edge of his firing arc. Only one bolt hit the Apocalypse, evaporating one ton of torso armor. Not to be outshot, Jeremy fired his missiles. Three flew wide but two slammed into Mac's left arm, dangerously gnawing at the Gauss rifle.
Jeremy saw a chance to cripple Mac's Black Knight so he kept running in circle, positioning himself at the edge of Mac's firing arc. Frustrated, Mac spread his arm wide and tagged Jeremy with his Gauss rifle, but the slug just grazed the Apocalypse's missile launcher, then buried itself in a building several blocks away. Jeremy hit his trigger hard, sending his plasma bolt to Mac's waist, pushing his heat level to shut down state. With Mac's energy weapons incapacitated, Jeremy took a good hard aim at Mac's arm then fired everything he had. Missiles and laser bolt raced toward Mac's Gauss rifle. The gun exploded, taking away the entire arm of the Black Knight, backing up the humanoid mech until it crashed onto a building.
With the Apocalypse teetering on the overheating level, Jeremy guided his mech behind another building, just as Mac regained his footing. Mac's murderous PPC shot zapped inches away from his rear end, torching the building behind him, setting major fire on several floors. Jeremy kept moving forward, slowing down a bit to give his mech to cool down, then sprung forward to clear the building. Mac was waiting, and as soon as the Apocalyplse left the shadow of the building, two laser strands stabbed its lower torso. Bubbling sludge dribbled down the legs, and Jeremy realized that, although he scored more critical hits on the Black Knight, his armor was waning faster than Mac's.
Saving his plasma as a defensive weapon, Jeremy fired the last set of his short-range missiles. The warheads tore the Black Knight's shoulder apart, digging deep into the structure. Mac raised his right arm but Jeremy outdid him. His plasma bolt stabbed the Black Knight right in the chest, raising the heat several notches, delaying Mac's deadly PPC attack. Mac desperately flushed a third of his coolant to drop the temperature, but the momentum was lost. Jeremy had slipped behind another building, and Mac's rushed PPC bolt tore apart the concrete structure, leaving the intended target intact.
Knowing that Mac was in heat trouble, Jeremy slammed his foot on the pedal, bringing his mech swerving fast around the building. He came out right at Mac's left flank. Mac's slow footwork, worsened by the heat, couldn't match Jeremy's speed and precise positioning. By the time he got his guns trained at the Apocalypse, Jeremy had already waiting with a hard lock on his torso. Superheated gas, white smoke, and emerald beam strand drilled the Black Knight's midsection, one after another, until the reactor casing melted. Blue flame spewed from the gutted mech, ripping the Black Knight apart, mutilating it from the inside.
Jeremy drew a big breath of relieve, watched the reactor meltdown consumed the Black Knight, then inched forward to inspect the remaining charred hulks. The head of the Black Knight was still partially intact, although it was hard to tell if Mac survived the meltdown. But Jeremy had seen what kind of creature Mac had become. He was not human anymore. If he let Mac live, Mac wouldn't stop until he fulfilled his promise: to kill the entire crew of Ground Control. As contrite as Jeremy felt about killing a downed opponent, he didn't have any choice.
"See you in hell, Mac," he whispered remorsefully as he mashed the trigger. His plasma bolt evaporated the head of the Black Knight, wiping out the remaining trace of Mac Storm.
Police siren wailed in the distance, and Jeremy knew he had to leave the area before this entire scene turned into something he would regret. So he throttled up and limped away from the Black Knight carcass. Closing in on the outskirt of Silesia with whatever he had left, he contacted his friends, "Ground Control, this is Jeremy. Major Tom? Stan? Kilroy? Anybody hear me?"
"Did you get him?" Amber's weak voice crackled.
"You don't have to worry about him anymore," Jeremy grinned from ear to ear. "How are you holding up, Babe?"
"Amber's hurt but she's fine," Major Tom tuned in. "We're taking her to Indrahar, but don't expect to see bad news. Just bumps and bruises. Mickey is fine barring scratches. How about you? You good?"
"The Apocalypse will need more TLC than me," Jeremy chuckled. "Tell VEST that they can use my battleROM as a proof how the Apocalypse X01 performs in real combat situation. I'm coming home."
"Take the mech straight to VEST," Kilroy chimed in. "The arena is crawling with cops. VEST agents will escort you home. Glad to see you kick that old chump's ass, but most importantly, glad to see you back alive."
"Affirmative, Buddy," Jeremy smiled as he watched several trucks and flatbeds appeared in his radar. "Rendezvous with VEST. See you guys at home."