Hap led his lance back to the Compact's FOB just as Kate's Stuka was landing. The Compact had sent a lance of tanks to secure the fortress and relieve them. As they were leaving Hap grabbed the broken remains of Mag's Jenner's arm. The limb itself had been severed by laser fire, so Hap wasn't sure how easy it would be to re-attach, but the medium lasers on the arm could at least be reused. Hap also suspected the conversation over salvage would be contentious so if he brought in "their equipment" it would be one less thing to argue over.
As they walked down the hill toward the road the McFinnigan and Sons tech car pulled into view. The radio immediately began flashing. "Hap, what the hell happened to your 'mech?" Brant asked. "It looks like you let someone take a wrecking ball to it."
"Yeah I got hit by a Charger going full throttle."
"How did you not notice an 80 ton mech running full tilt at you?"
"Don't start with me Brant, there was a lot of going on, and-"
"Yeah, the Professor was down, Mags and I were tangling with heavies and Hap was trying to remember how to call in strafing runs." Joker said.
"Run that by me again." Brant said.
"The plan was for Coyote 2 to call in the air support, so I didn't have my tactical display setup for calling in CAS. Like I said, a lot was going on." Hap said lamely.
"Alright so you need to review some basic Lance leadership skills, but that doesn't explain how a Charger just snuck up on you."
"Wait." Masja said, "Anastasia went down? What happened? Are you okay, Coyote 2?"
"Yes. I'm fine. My 'mech sustained moderate damage from a Charger and a Cataphract, but I'm fine. I never considered a Charger to be a credible threat, at least not compared to other assault 'mechs." Anastasia said. "And then it manhandled my Valkyrie."
"Would you say you got 'mechhandled?" Joker asked.
"Yes. I would say that. I should add, I generally I find your sense of humor to be a spectrum of annoying to offensive, however I do appreciate a good pun." Anatasia's tone was emotionless.
"Really?" Joker asked, "You like puns? Did your mech land on the cockpit when you went down?"
"No. Puns require a certain intellectual finesse, a large vocabulary, and an understanding of languages. When you indulge in puns I actually suspect you might be smarter than you normally act."
"Thanks. I think. Are you sure you didn't take a hit to the meat?"
"As I stated, no. When the Charger engaged me I jumped away and I was struck by the Cataphract's PPC and autocannon. I found myself falling backwards over the side of a ravine. Thankfully I landed on some trees which managed to soften my fall, and ruin only my rear armor.
"I found myself with my 'mech in the prone thinking the Charger would descend on me at any moment. As I got to my feet Mags reported she had destroyed the generator, so I decided to reset my tracking and targeting system so I could contribute to the fight with accurate weapon fire."
"We do appreciate when you 'contribute to the fight with accurate weapon fire'." Joker said.
"Yes. It is the most basic of courtesies one can give her lance mates." Anastasia replied dryly. "So as I waited for the system to restart I found myself considering how this could be my last battle."
"Yeah you get the slop beaten out of your 'mech you start to think that," Joker said. "but I find sometimes I do better after my 'mech's taken a few good hits."
"I was more considering that soon I will be at a research lab and not being 'mech-handled', although I was also considering that I should have followed my mother's strong suggestion that I work in an embassy or other 'cushy' political postings with significantly less life-threatening incident."
"You don't want to be a mechwarrior anymore?" Mags asked.
"No. I find being a mechwarrior quite rewarding." Anastasia said, "I think it's more just the realization that I will not be part of a military operation for quite some time. I suppose I should just be content that we achieved our objective and we all still have our lives."
"And most importantly our 'mechs." Joker added.
"I wouldn't want to be disposed, but I'm with Anastasia, life and operational success are more important than not losing our 'mechs." Hap said. "As long as we control the field at the end of the day, there's a good chance we can repair or replace our 'mechs."
"I've been thinking I'd like to replace my Valkyrie. It's too slow to keep up with the majority light 'mechs, and can't outrun many medium and some heavy 'mechs, and today I was confronted with the fact a Charger can easily keep up with it. The Valkyrie's armor is good, but it doesn't last long against the armaments most medium or heavy 'mechs will employ against it."
"And a Charger will simply knock the armor off of it." Joker said, "Kinda like how Hap gets you out of your clothes."
"Charger will beat the armor off of any mech it catches." Mags said. "Did you see what happened when he slammed into Hefe?"
Hap glanced down at his armor diagnostic monitor. His Griffin's armor was significantly compromised, and he wondered what it looked like on the outside.
"Mags, what happened after I fell into the ravine and you destroyed the generator?" Anastasia asked.
"Hefe, told me to get after the Cataphract. My old man told me that the Jenner can take down just about any 'mech if you run at it full throttle, jump over their head, and alpha strike them in the back. That's what I tried to do."
"I sprinted at that big Bastardo, even ran a zig-zag so he couldn't touch me with his PPC or autocannon. I got up close, jumped over him, spun around and fired everything, but two lasers hit his right shoulder, two hit his left and only three missiles landed. Then he tried to shoot me with his rear mounted medium lasers. The first time he missed, but we started to turn-"
"I like to call that the Firestarter Foxtrot." Joker said.
"It was more of a pequena hilado Paso doble, because I was staying close, and spinning at a double time. I was there in his rear arc trying to give him hell, but then his laser cut my Jenner's arm off, and I was starting to overheat. It helped that William kept the Marauder overheating, but the Cataphract pilot was tearing me apart, and just with two lasers."
"Yeah, that Marauder pilot was a real boot. He was panic-firing the whole time, both when he was trying to hit the girls, and even when I started to tangle with him. I thought he'd either try to back up and use his big guns or take a swing at me, but he couldn't figure out which one he wanted to do."
"I just kept hitting him with flamers and trying to get behind him, but his buddy in the Cataphract was making it real hard for me. At least until Mags started messing with him."
"Then Banshee 1 came down and saved your asses before you completely ruined your 'mechs?" Mike asked as he parked the car between the broken Cataphract and burned out Marauder.
"Yeah, that's when she came in all 'nose down and tail up', but we could have finished them ourselves without her." Joker said.
"I'm sorry, when I rejoined the battle the Charger's foot looked like it was about to have an altercation with Hap's cockpit. Mags had just lost 40% percent of her weapon systems, and her armor integrity was less than that. Somehow you had avoided any significant damage-"
"Because I'm an ace pilot" Joker interrupted.
"More likely it was because no one takes a Firestarter seriously when there is a Griffin and a Jenner on the field." Mike said.
"Hey!" Joker yelled.
"More likely because he didn't receive unwanted attention from an 80 ton pugilist. Be that as it may, Joker, you're insane if you thought our tactical situation was anything other than precarious trending toward disaster."
"I thought you were going to nicer to me." Joker said with mock hurt.
"That was idle thought that was apparently caused by head trauma, thankfully the effects were temporary." Anastasia said.
"Alright well we're on site now to start salvage ops, and I want to get a look at this Cataphract thing before the Compact techs show up and we start arguing over who gets what. Why don't you four try to get back to the base without any more damage to your mechs?" Mike said.
"That sounds like a good plan, Mike." Hap said.
"Yeah, and maybe you can start fixing your mech's when you get there." Mike added.
"We'll see what we can do." Hap said.