Because We (Trash) Can 05
Because We (Trash) Can 05
-.
MechWarriors were always trying to tout themselves as the best, but deciding on the actual best MechWarrior in the Inner Sphere was a tricky prospect. What actually qualified someone for being the best amongs the hundreds of thousands of pilots out there, plying their trade in inummberable battlefields? The quality of opponents defeated? The number of victories? The ability to do and survive the impossible? To change the flow of battle just by their presence?
Some considered Morgan Kell and Yorinaga Kurita for their weird phantom mech bullshit in their duel on Mallory's World. When piloting goes beyond human limits and into the confines of the supernatural, surely that has to mean something? That historical duel ended with both of them exiling themselves into monasteries and the latter making a yearly request to be allowed to die. Some argued that shifty rumors and being so shaken by the event that they ceased to be MechWarriors at all didn't count.
Some argued that Gray Noton, Grand Champion of the Solaris Games was the better example of being the best duelist in the Inner Sphere. He faced many challengers in some of the most intense close combat fights possible in the arenas, outfighting and outsmarting all comers, Grand Champion for an unprecedented seven years. He won seven straight years on a Rifleman, a BattleMech not all suited for the close-quarter slugmatches of a mech arena; a 65 ton Heavy beating assault Mechs like Battlemasters and Stalkers in grossly unfair mismatches. However, others argued it was hard to know if dueling skills in cramped and predictable confines really translated to the real world. Gray Noton was not known to have faced other elite MechWarriors in life or death battles inside all-out war.
Some spoke of the Bounty Hunter, that mysterious MechWarrior piloting a lostech Marauder, hunting down the worst and deadliest scum in the Inner Sphere. Doing this alone merited a lot of respect. He had faced a company of Mechs alone and won, bringing in their literal bloody heads for a bounty. However, the mystery also worked against the Bounty Hunter, since being active since the 2920s implied that the Bounty Hunter was less than a person than a mantle that was passed down.
Therefore when one removed strange space magic or limited encounters, others could argue that the best MechWarrior in the Inner Sphere by virtue of all the known fights against other elite opponents, participating in some of the biggest battles ever, and being able to train a crew to the same level of skill - Natasha Kerensky had a convincing basis to be the best MechWarrior the Inner Sphere had ever seen. The Bounty Hunter already failed to bring down Natasha Kerensky.
The Bounty Hunter-Kerensky feud was well known, because it appears that the Marauder that the Bounty Hunter was piloting was previously hers. It was not however claimed in battle but as salvage. The Bounty Hunter and Wolf's Dragoons were working with each other in the Marik Civil war of 3014. The Bounty Hunter had signaled Kerensky's lance that a ravine that they had inspected was safe. When Kerensky entered, her lance was ambushed and destroyed by enemy forces, leading to a lifelong personal feud.
In the decade since then, Kerensky had gone from battle to battle - often wounded, often outnumbered, often killing whatever got between her crosshairs, sometimes showing mercy, sometimes withdrawing knowing when she was outmatched - but never beaten. Only in battle could she feel alive again.
If one were to look at Kerensky, the word 'punk chic' immediately comes to mind. Her hair was cut short and often dyed in a shifting variety of colors, she wore a cut-off tank top that exposed her sculpted abs, tight leather pants that showed off her legs, and was never to be found without a weapon strapped to her hip. Like most MechWarriors, the heat inside a cockpit meant that to get rid of sweat she wore little more than a bikini in combat.
She fought all the best soldiers from all Houses as Wolf's Dragoons passed from employer to employer. She met all the other elite mercenary commands - McCarron's Armored Cavalry, Northwind Highlanders, 12th Star Guards, Blue Star Irregulars, the Eridani Light Horse, and more - first as allies, then later as enemies.
Natasha Kerensky's Black Widow company was made of misfits and insubordinate troops that Kerensky through intensely directed violence and sheer bloody-minded charisma forged into an elite crew that could fight on the same level as herself.
Kerensky cared for her crew more than she did herself. The only real way to earn the Black Widows enduring hate was to murder her people. Dying in battle was fine, but an unworthy death was an insult she could not forgive.
-.
50 kilometers NNE of Firthhaven
New Aberdeen
08 January 3025
When conducting a proper ambush, always open up first with the largest and most casualty-producing weapon you have. While Stedman was focused on chasing Kerensky with all of his 11-mech company, the Black Widows company were split into four forces. As Stedman finally caught up with Kerensky, the night-black Warhammer turning around to bring Kerensky's pair of PPCs to bear, suddenly a Crusader and an Archer emerged from behind a levee. They opened up from the side, LRMs being an excellent answer to fast-moving mechs at range. The 65-ton Crusader contributed a pair of LRM-15s while the 70-ton Archer brought two LRM-20s into play. A 20-ton Stinger was just there for scout and support.
With two mechs in front and three to the side, the numbers matched but the weight of enfilade fire was a lesson that the Eridani Light Horse had taught the Dragoons many times before on Hoff.
A total of 70 incoming LRMs was too much for Anton Stedman's battered 55-ton Griffin to handle. Panic and disbelief was almost fatal, but the ELH captain ejected just as the LRMs and PPC bolts shattered the core of his Mech. What he might personally call cowardice, the ELH would only praise as good sense.
The Stinger in Stedman's command lance was also shot clear through in that moment of surprise, its already worn-down armor nowhere near enough to withstand a PPC hit.
With Anton Stedman out of the picture, that left things to Jake Redmond, second-in-command. But with Kerensky moving her guns, he only had a brief moment to consider his own imminent death.
Then Barbara Mosley's message came out of the radio and that distracted Kerensky long enough to turn the hit on his 55-ton Shadow Hawk from coring his Fusion Engine into merely blowing out the entire right half of his Mech. Jake Redmond had time to eject. He recalled later that his last view from the cockpit was Kerensky's smile through her cockpit, magnified on his scanners.
Now there was no one effectively in command to direct the company.
-.
Moran's Lance, following behind Stedman's lance, did not fare much better. Kerensky's Force Three consisted of a 75-ton Marauder, a 70-ton Archer, and a 20-ton Wasp. Moran's lance consisted of two 45-ton Phoenix Hawks, and a 20-ton Stinger and a Wasp respectively. A Phoenix Hawk shattered in the opening salvo, its pilot killed outright, and the lance scattered.
-.
Kerensky's Force Four was all the rest of Recon Lance, who had not yet committed themselves into the battle but only waiting for the enemy to turn. They stood in a prim and proper line ready to swoop in to maximize havoc. The third lance of Stedman's Company was a trio of twenty-tonners, a Stinger and two Wasps, which were now rushing forward to support lead elements to keep the retreat from turning into a rout.
John "the Gentleman" Clavell, considered a brilliant tactician even by the standards of the Dragoons, ran his recon lance like a fast strike force. He did this despite leading the lance with a comparatively slow 60-ton Rifleman. Piet Nichols, inside a Phoenix Hawk, was sent to Kerensky's Black Widow company for disobeying orders and leading a glory raid that failed and got his troops cut off and surrounded. Simon Fraser inside a Stinger actually volunteered for the Black Widows because he thought his old outfit was too tame. Lastly, Mohammar Jahan was assigned to the Black Widows because a major was incensed by his impertinence about wanting to marry the Major's daughter. The officer didn't conceal that he hoped the transfer would prove fata, but Jahan still believed that this was a test to demonstrate his skill and courage to his prospective father-in-law.
Three streaks arrived from the south, and there was bang and what even looked like blooming fireworks.
Clavell's lance was effectively out of the fight.
-.
Natasha Kerensky's instincts had never left her wrong, and immediately she shouted into the company channel "Disperse!".
She only had time to see another three streaks of light arrive, towards Force Two. The Archer was piloted by Takiro Ikeda who led the Widows' Fire Lance and the Crusader was normally fire support in her command lance piloted by Lynn Sheridan.
To their credit, the two obeyed her orders instantly. Unfortunately, both mechs were not all that fast. The Arrow-IV Cluster Artillery missiles arrived in an overlapping pattern that gave a 90-meter kill radius.
Sufficiently well-armored, both mechs survived but were now badly mauled with exposed missile racks. Belatedly one of the Crusader's arms blew off as the LRMs inside cooked off. Sheridan had a reputation for always getting her mech wrecked by bad luck or her recklessness.
-.
It was at this time that Force Three, led by Colin Maclaren, Kerensky's second-in-command, reported "Enemy contacts bearing one-five-zero. Arriving at speed. They seem to be…" his voice took on a doubtful note "... Urbanmechs?"
The Black Widows spread out to minimize the effects of artillery but were still engaged in combat with the Eridani Light Horse in front of them. The light mechs were not quite in a rout, but attempting to disengage at all their best speed.
Maclaren let Milklos Delius in the Archer and Nikolai Koniev in the Wasp, normally a part of Ikeda's Fire Lance, to deal with the ELH while he turned his Marauder to face the newcomers.
With a pair of PPCs and AC/5, an aggressively sloped profile, and excellent communications systems, the Marauder had long been the quintessential Heavy Mech all others were measured around. The Star League manufactured vast numbers of them, and in fact preferred the Marauder for front-line command units. More than anything, it was the Marauder that symbolized the martial superiority of the SLDF.
With punishing firepower all capable of hitting at long range, Colin Maclaren as the last surviving member of Kerensky's original lance, was not about to disappoint "The Lady" now. He sent his 75-ton Mech into an ambling walk to receive the enemy. Due to the Marauder's low and sharp profile, it actually exposed the least to enemy fire when pointed straight at the enemy, favoring very aggressive tactics.
The lance of Super Urbanmechs also slowed down at mutual sight range, down to around 64 kph. This was normally a heavy mech's fastest run speed. As one the lance began to turn in a circle around the inbound Heavy Mech to keep the range open.
It was at this point that Barbara Mosley ordered "Switch Variable Range Targeting to Long Range!".
A Super Royal Urbanmech's battle computer had the quirk of being able to adjust for greater accuracy across a range with a corresponding penalty to the opposite - long and short range, for example. Medium range targeting remained unaffected. In their sensors, the battle computers marked a pip leading the enemy's movement.
Maclaren was a pilot just as good as Kerensky. Whether it was luck or a desire to remain a faithful soldier, he just didn't shine out as much. But his gunnery skills made him deadly as anything.
Four PPCs bolts lashed out. Two missed entirely, while the third slapped against the upper-right side of the Marauder for minimal damage even if it stripped half a ton of armor across that edge.
But Maclaren couldn't shoot back with his own PPCs. His reticule remained an inactive green for 'out of range' tracking the object under his sights.
"Captain!" he hurriedly shouted into comms "These Mechs are carrying Extended Range PPCs!" He pushed his Marauder into maximum speed charging straight at the enemy.
Their walking speed was just as fast as his running speed. The Marauder was a 'chicken walker' BattleMech, and his stride length made it possible to confuse targeting at range by unpredictably shifting from side to to side even on a full run. The short stubby legs an Urbanmech made their movements predictable. His weapon-arms were already aiming ahead of the little metal cans.
Four PPC bolts streaked towards him. Maclaren took the shot at the enemy, not caring if it hit, then shifted his mech's facing to minimize exposure. Armor crackled and splintered off, and he turned back to resume his assault.
The four Super Urbanmechs split into two groups, pincering him from left and right. Maclaren grit grit his teeth and prepared to degrade their weapons fire by taking out the ones in front of him first. As the nearest Super Urbanmech went under his crosshairs, his pair of PPCs fired. More blue streaks and shrieks of lightning lit up the night.
Both were clean hits, and the dumpy mech flinched. His top-mounted then AC/5 struck at the mech, hoping to crack open the mech now that the armor had been breached.
It was unfortunately not enough to kill the Light Mech. Something in there blew, but it was probably a heatsink getting in the way. PPC bolts lashed out again, and his own computer was giving him 'low armor' warning.
But aggression and utter disdain for their own health was what made Kerensky's Black Widow Company so feared. The first to fear for their own life was the first to die; this was what they had always proved on the battlefield. Those who disregarded their own lives were the ones to survive. There was nothing like the pure clarity of combat.
The other two oddly fast and potent Urbanmechs shot at his side for one volley and then moved on to strike at the Archer in the back line. He mused he would show them the price of this arrogance after he removed the problem in his sight.
Someone screamed through comms "Why are these things so fucking faaassttt?!"
More shrieks of PPC fire erupted from behind him, and loose lasers cut flaming grooves through the soil.
His HUD began to fuzz up and red targeting boxes began to appear from all over. "ECM?" he whispered. But he trusted his eyes and his instincts. There were no other mechs than these four.
LRM fire was much more susceptible to ghost targeting as missiles prior to launch could accidentally lock-on to a false target.
The other Super Urbanmech moved in front of the damaged one, then fired at him again. His central torso armor was half gone, and his right side torso completely stripped while the left almost gone. An honorable effort, if futile, he mused. They were both in medium PPC range now. Four mechs sounded better than two mechs if it comes to mere number PPCs, but weight of fire from one mech also mattered. His AC/5 was stripping away armor in preparation for blow-through with his main guns.
He fired again, and due to the height different stepping in front of another Urbanmech really didn't matter. The rear Urbanmech's side blew and it fell down face-first like a barrel tipping over.
Then a sound that he only dimly remembered rang through his cockpit.
An orange light on his console and a box on his HUD said the same thing.
Warning: TAG.
"Captain! I am sorry, I have failed you!" Maclaren shouted into comms. Something bright and fast arrived and slammed into the side of his mech.
Behind him the Archer likewise brewed up, but worse, as all its LRM stocks cooked off all at once from the direct missile artillery hit.
-.
-.
Force Two consolidated around Kerensky, and now it was five mechs versus five plus three. Kerensky's own light mechs lacked the armor or speed to deal with PPC-carrying Urbanmechs and were cut down. PPC bolts lashed out, and removed another bugmech. Just like that. Five Dragoons versus four plus three of light ELH mechs now. Plus missile artillery.
"You honorless su… rats!" Kerensky shouted into comms.
"This is war!" Barbara shouted back. "Stand down, Kerensky! No one else needs to die today! Not for something as stupid as House Kurita!"
"Cyka blyat! Not like this! Fight me with all your power, prancing ponies! You need to prove you have more than just one trick!"
"Sure. Lyttle lance. Go."
Another Super Urbanmech lance arrived from behind, PPCs blazing.
Stedman's Company fell back as the Black Widow Company went into a fighting retreat. This was a fight they didn't have the tons or guns for. Seven versus five.
Running at full speed, it was harder for the Super Urbanmechs to score a clean hit. At the same time, only Kerensky could readily score those hits in return.
Another Super Urbanmech fell down. The XL engines intruding so far into the side torsos meant that it was easy to send them into critical shut down mode on a breach.
Once inside Large Laser range, Super Urbanmechs began lighting things up with TAG.
"Kerensky! You know what this means!" Barbara shouted again. "One last time! Stand down!"
"THIS IS THE SAME DAMN TRICK, CYKA!"
"Being captured isn't the end of the world, you know we treat prisoners with respect! There's always another fight after a prisoner exchange!"
Kerensky let out a gutteral sound of frustration. "... do you give your word that my men will be treated well? If they surrender to you, then only to you - the Eridani Light Horse, not House Davion. You will speak with Wolf's Dragoons directly for any prisoner exchange. Not Davion or Kurita in any way. There will be no trading them away. We would rather die as warriors than live as cattle."
"My word is my bond," replied Barbara.
"Well bargained, and done," replied Natasha Kerensky. "Black Widow Company - stand down."
"... As you say, Captain," said Ikeda. "Powering down. I surrender."
One by one, the Dragoons' mech lowered their guns and began shutting down. They opened their hatches to show surrender.
But Natasha Kerensky's Warhammer remained active.
"What about you?" asked Barbara.
Kerensky closed her eyes. This was not the first time someone had tried to capture her to force the Dragoons into a disadvantage. She had fought for so long and lost so many. This was unfair, but… better the Eridani Light Horse than any of the perfidious House Lords. Sometimes she wondered if the Inner Sphere was worth saving at all. Sometimes she wondered if it was only inertia that kept her waking up every day, every fight wondering if this would be a worthy death.
She chuckled. "Good. This is good enough. But you need more - to *be* more. You - your name?"
"Barbara Mosley, Eridani 151st regiment, 9th Company."
"Mosley, I need to hear you say this. I claim the Black Widows Company as my bondsmen."
"Uh…"
"Say it!"
"Okay, okay, fine. I claim the Black Widows Company as my bondsmen."
"Good. Now claim your prize." Kerensky's Warhammer raised its PPC arms again. "I can accept this, but I will not be able to forgive this. You will have to kill me. The Dragoons' can't be made vulnerable by me. Not again. Marik already learned we will accept no hostages. House Davion having me would make things difficult for the Wolf's Dragoons under House Kurita. Let Wolf know, I carry my secrets to my grave!"
Kerensky's Warhammer stepped out into the open. Kerensky had longed for death since the murder of Joshua Wolf by the Mariks in 3014. Never had she been known for any romantic dialliances, and no one knew that maybe the reason she accepted the moniker of the Black Widow was not from the sheer lethality represented by the creature. "I am Natasha Kerensky. I refuse your bond. Who challenges me in this circle of equals?! Who wants the glory of slaying the Black Widow!"
"... I kind of knew you'd say that," Barbara Mosley said in a small voice.
The plume of Arrow IV artillery arriving bathed the clearing. Snarling, Kerensky triggered all her weapons in an alpha strike towards Barbara Mosley, who jumped to the side to avoid most of it.
Urbanmechs were small.
Standing perfectly level, their TAG were aimed right at a Warhammer's knees.
Kerensky's enraged scream rang as her weapons fire arced up and into the air as her Warhammer's knees exploded from under her and her mech collapsed gormless into the soil.
"You… you didn't beat me…" Kerensky hissed through blood-spattered lips.
"I didn't. The *system* beat you. System against system, ethos against ethos, method against method," replied Barbara. "Because that's the way the SLDF fights."
In the darkness of her cockpit, Natasha Kerensky let out a bitter laugh.
From contact to conclusion, this battle lasted little more than eight minutes.
-.
-.
Colchester
Kestrel Combat Region
Federated Suns
11 January 3025
Nathan Armstrong covered his face in his palms and groaned. "So according to the holos, the chances of capturing Natasha Kerensky alive is even less probable than capturing Jaime Wolf or even Maximilian Liao."
"Are we going to give her to House Davion?" asked Wendell TeCarr.
"No. We can't. Not just because Mosley promised something well above her rank, we have a Bloodnamed Clan Warrior and she would bite her own tongue off to kill herself before anyone could get information about Wolf's Dragoons out of her. And we have to risk friction with the AFFS by being so stubborn about giving her up."
"With all we have given, Hanse Davion should have our back."
"Yes, but he can't exactly explain why to the AFFS."
TeCarr shrugged. "So if we must be resented for being so independent, then we might as well play the role to the hilt."
Armstrong looked up. "We're not *actually the SLDF* you know?"
"Not yet, anyway."