Chapter 20: Panzyr
December 12, 3025
Aurigan Directorate
Panzyr II
Lord Decimis watched coldly from the mountaintops as men and women fought and died in the snow far below. Kamea was fully committed now. They were driving the Directorate garrison steadily backwards into the foothills. It was time.
"Signal Captain Espinosa," he said flatly to this most trusted assistant, who also happened to be his favorite nephew.
"Yes, sir."
…
Lady Kamea Arano stood watch in her Kintaro, well out of LRM range, as the Directorate forces continued to stubbornly give ground. They were well up into the mountains now in the bitter cold. Why don't they surrender? She wondered yet again. They couldn't all be from House Espinosa. She once would have blamed them for not recognizing her as their rightful ruler. However, since Weldry she had begun to appreciate just how far removed she had been from her subjects' daily reality. But surely her family had not been so hated that her people saw her as nothing more than another petty noble out to take what they could… surely…
"Priority tight-beam signal, my Lady, directly from Lord Decimis' palace."
Kamea tensed at the report, then forced herself to relax. "Put it through."
Her 'Mech's comms system received the tight-beam signal which included access instructions to House Decimis' encrypted communications systems. She waited a moment to make sure the system was connected, then spoke.
"This is Lady Arano. I am receiving you, Lord Decimis."
"Lady Arano," replied the ruler of the planet in his signature gravelly voice. "Directorate forces are advancing from both sides of the mountain range. They are bypassing your position and moving on the spaceport now."
Kamea managed not to gasp at the sudden betrayal. She glanced at her sensors, but the Directorate forces were too far out of range to pick up… and now the stubborn retreat of the forces in front of her made sudden, horrifying sense. They were pulling me away from the spaceport – we'll be trapped!
Her mind raced, trying to process this and her options. What was Decimis' angle? "No forces can reach the planet without your knowledge and consent, Lord Decimis. Why are you doing this? And if you intend to betray me, why tell me now, before the spaceport is secure?"
"You are not fit to rule, Lady Kamea, not yet," replied Decimis with a voice like iron. "The Reach will not survive your rule unless you understand, completely, that the Houses are loyal first and foremost to themselves. If I supported you now, and if you won, it would bring ruin to me and mine – you would be a pawn in the Madeira's hands, and they would come to finish us off. As to why I am telling you now, the Espinosas are also leading us to disaster. Their oppression is unsustainable, and there are two, and possibly more, factions vying for control within their House. And so I am doing what is best for my House, which I always will, like the Madeiras, like the Espinosas, and like every other House. I am ensuring that we survive, while giving you the opportunity to prove your worthiness to the throne. Prove yourself, Lady Arano. Escape this Directorate trap I had no choice but to agree to, and it will be in my best interests to support your bid for the throne."
"Your premise is flawed," she argued back. "What makes you think House Madeira will destroy you? Or that I would accede to their wishes?"
"Because you are already dancing to their tune!" growled back Decimis. "You took the Madeira boy with you, trust him with your life!"
"He has earned that trust!" she insisted.
"Has he?" replied Decimis coldly. "Who put you in contact with the Magistracy… and has access to all your communications? Who else do you think warned the Directorate you were going to Weldry?"
"I trust his analysis! And there is no evidence he was the leak!"
Decimis snorted. "Consider, Lady Arano. You rescued the families of many nobles that day, people who would no doubt be grateful to you and would share anything they knew, or found out, about your traitor. They could not allow that, and killed any nobles they could not control. Who were the dead, Lady Arano?"
The doubt from those terrible hours in the icy prison saying goodbye to Sir Raju and wondering what it was she had missed returned in an instant, but she fought the uncertainty. "A Madeira was killed, too," she pointed out.
"To mask their treachery," he replied dismissively.
"Lord Decimis," she replied flatly, struggling to keep her frustration and, yes, fear out of her voice. "Even assuming you were correct, what would you have me do? Kill him out of hand?"
The planetary ruler sighed over the line. "Still you do not see. Despite what the Madeiras might have you believe, I am not interested in the slaughter of their House and killing him accomplishes nothing. If you lose ground, the Madeiras will betray him and you to the Directorate to prove their 'loyalty.' You must defend yourself from that vulnerability, but killing him now will merely tip your hand and the Maderias will have no choice but to be fully committed to the Directorate's cause, believing you an enemy forever. Killing him now will only turn potential allies into enemies. No, Lady Arano, you must use him. Convince the Madeiras you still trust him, but keep your own council. Use him to control House Madeira, just as you must use me to control my House. If you cannot control the Houses then we will have no choice but to fight over who will control you. Now is the time – prove you are capable of ruling the Aurigan Reach."
The connection died, and Kamea forced herself to set aside her political analysis and calculations. They were still on a battlefield, potentially being encircled. Did she turn and race back to the spaceport?
She thought furiously, then made a decision and activated her comms, signaling Commander Landris. "Commander, I have reason to believe additional Directorate forces are circling behind us."
"What!? Are they encircling us? How many are there?"
"I don't know their numbers, Commander, but I believe they are moving on the spaceport, not maneuvering to attack. If they can take the spaceport we'll be trapped here unless we can retake it."
"I see." If the man had doubts about their suddenly precarious position, he kept them to himself. "What are your orders?"
"Continue with the attack. We must finish off this portion of the Directorate forces before they can regroup. I will order the DropShips to withdraw beyond the debris field while we still control the navigation support systems. And have the Second Decimis Fusiliers fall back and regroup."
"And the spaceport, my lady?"
"It's not going anywhere, Commander. And I'm hoping the situation will change in the near future."
"As you command, my lady."
December 14, 3025
Aurigan Directorate
Panzyr II
The Argo finally reached high orbit over Panzyr II and reliable communications range through the debris field. Two entire weeks they had sat waiting to jump while their JumpShip repaired an unexpected fault. Donavan was frustrated, but he held back his criticism after Sumire described to him what exactly a misjump would do to them. But at least they'd finally arrived.
Almost immediately they received a communication from the Cormorant and Alexander Madeira, still in orbit themselves. "Welcome to Panzyr, Commander Melodan. Lady Arano and the Restoration Army are already fighting on the planet's surface, and have been for weeks. With the aid of House Decimis' ground support facilities, Ms. Meyer will carry your lance through Panzyr's orbital debris field and drop you on the surface. Lady Arano wants your lance behind enemy lines – while she leads from the front, you will harass the Directorate's supply train and target valuable military hardware. She already has a target list drawn up for you."
"Hold that thought," interrupted Sumire, leaning over the comms panel in the briefing room. "I'm getting a tight-beam communication from the planet's surface. It's Lady Arano, and it looks urgent. I'm putting her on-screen now."
The image split in two and Lady Kamea appeared, her eyes baggy and hair unkempt, from the cockpit of her Kintaro.
"Wolf, you're here. Our forces on the surface desperately need your help."
Wolf noticed Alexander's small twitch of surprise curiously, then focused on Kamea's words.
"We're finishing off the rest of the Directorate's garrison forces, but the Directorate guessed we were coming. An additional force waited until we were fully committed, then moved on the spaceport. They've held it for a few hours now, and with it they'll be able to call down additional reinforcements and deny us evacuation."
Donavan winced. The Directorate had suckered them again. And this time, the entirety of the Restoration forces, including Lady Arano herself, were caught in the trap. All they had to do was secure the spaceport and Kamea's choices would be to surrender, starve, or make a desperate all-or-nothing assault on fortified positions with exhausted, worn-down troops.
"I need you to take the spaceport's control center away from them before they can fortify it and land reinforcements. That means that Ms. Meyer will need to carry you through the debris field unassisted. I hope her skills are up to the task."
All eyes turned to the pilot, who shrugged. "Well, this day just got more interesting."
"Once you're down," continued Lady Arano, "you'll link up with the Second Decimis Fusiliers who are already in position. They'll help you take the outer command structure and, with luck, take control of the spaceport's defense turrets. From there, you'll have to move directly on the spaceport itself and gain control of the communications facility. Take it intact if you can, if you can't, destroy it. Good luck."
"There's no time to lose," said Donavan, nodding to Behemoth who started the 'MechWarriors moving towards the 'Mech Bays. "We're on our way Lady Arano."
"Good, Wolf. And… thank you."
Both signals cut out, the Argo briefing room exploded into movement and voices, and Donavan and Sumire looked into each other's eyes.
…
"You're sure you can do this?" asked Donavan fifteen minutes later as he and Sumire walked towards the Leopard, him in running shorts and cooling jacket, and she in her flight suit. Sumire glanced sideways at him, irritated. "Are you questioning my abilities?"
"No," he answered quickly. "I'm just… worried. If something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do."
She shook her head, though her irritation faded and she wore a wry smile. "I believe that makes it my turn to say 'no guts, no galaxy,' right?"
Donavan groaned, but she continued. "Now you know what that feels like." She paused as they reached the ship and they turned to face each other. "Donavan, I don't know what we are, or where this might go. But if it's going to work, you're going to have to trust me and that I can do what I need to do, the same way I have to trust that you'll come back every time you climb into those walking death traps. And besides," she added, clasping his hand. "If I crash on this one, we're all going to die."
Donavan gave her hand a squeeze. "Very reassuring." He inhaled deeply, then nodded, back in Commander mode. "Alright, you get us down in one piece, and I'll see about keeping the Restoration, and the money, going." With one last look they parted ways, he to the 'Mech Bay, and her to the cockpit, and in short order the Leopard detached from the Argo.
…
Wolf was securely strapped into the cockpit of the Catapult and trying very hard not to worry about the fact that they might die at any moment. He forced himself to trust in Sumire, and instead turned his attention to the lance.
They were dropping heavy, with him commanding from the Catapult, Sunshine in the Centurion, Glitch in the Vindicator, and Dekker in the Phoenix Hawk. He already missed Behemoth's steady presence, but he wanted at least one 'Mech that was fast and maneuverable. The Phoenix Hawk was that, plus its twin machine guns could be very helpful against entrenched infantry which, in an industrial environment, were a real threat.
…
Lieutenant Karen Andris of the Second Decimis Fusiliers was frustrated and cold. She lay bedded down in the snow in a white parka and gloves, rifle at her side, while she looked over the spaceport with a pair of binoculars. It wouldn't be quite so bad if she were out in the sun, but back in the shade of the tree line…
Focus Karen.
Her helmet-mounted comms buzzed and she listened grimly to the report she'd been dreading for nearly three days. At least it was brief. She switched channels to the private line to Lady Arano, which access still boggled her mind. "Sunbird to Command."
"Command here," replied Lady Arano a moment later.
"We've intercepted a transmission from the spaceport, my Lady. The ADV Coronach is on approach to the planet and requesting navigational aid. It sounds like they'll be on their way down soon." She hesitated a moment, then spoke again. "My lady, if we're going to take the spaceport, this is our last chance."
"I am aware. My forces will begin making diversionary raids. Donavan's Wolves will be making planetfall near the spaceport shortly. When they do, that is your signal to initiate the assault as we discussed."
"Acknowledged, my Lady."
The line went dead and Karen settled herself deeper into the snow. So that's what she's been waiting for. The Wolves' reputation from Weldry was that they were solid. But one way or another, she'd be finding out for herself just how good they were soon. Very soon.
…
Wolf let out a relieved breath of air as the Leopard's ramp dropped and the lance marched out onto a snowy hilltop dotted with evergreens overlooking the spaceport. The place was surprisingly big, but most of it was closed down and crumbling.
Sumire roared off into the sky and Wolf took in their surroundings. It was a cold, blustering morning hovering around freezing. Long range scanners from the Leopard while it was still in range showed small-scale fighting in the surrounding area, but most of the Directorate's forces were sitting directly on the spaceport, and there were a lot of them concentrated in two spots. A reinforced lance was stationed in the spaceport itself nestled in a small valley to offer it some protection from the frequent high winds.
It was an eclectic bunch. The heaviest was a Dragon 1N that by some long, tortuous history had found its way to the opposite end of the galaxy from its home in Kuritan space. The 60-ton heavy 'Mech was fast for its weight, but paid for it with relatively light armament with only an LRM-10, an AC/5, and two medium lasers. It was accompanied by a Centurion AL and a Hunchback 4G. The Centurion was a periphery special, stripping out the AC/10 and replacing it with a large laser, a small laser, heatsinks, and armor. It didn't have quite the same punch, but it also didn't run out of ammo, either. And it didn't explode, which made it a lot tougher to take down.
The Hunchback was a medium 'Mech built around a massive AC/20 normally wielded by assault 'Mechs twice its weight, and enough frontal armor to get it in range to use it… sometimes. The 'Mech was rightly feared and could never be ignored, but to achieve its terrifying power it was slow and had virtually no armor on its back.
Providing fire support was a Trebuchet 5N, a 50-ton dedicated fire support 'Mech sporting two LRM-15's, along with a light Panther 9R with its PPC, and a Jenner 7D with medium lasers for reconnaissance.
Of more immediate concern was the other concentration of forces atop a hill just outside the spaceport perimeter where a bunker complex controlling the spaceport's fixed defenses was located. Assembled around the bunker was a reinforced lance of armor.
The heavy hitters were two SRM Carriers. The treaded, 60-ton combat vehicles were of limited offensive utility given their relatively low speed, especially in rough terrain, but they packed one hell of a punch with ten SRM-6's. That made even a single volley dangerous to any 'Mech, and anything more than one volley could knock even a heavy 'Mech out of action. That made them high priority targets. But that outrageous firepower came at a cost, and SRM Carriers were powered by old InterComBust 180 internal combustion engines, not fusion engines, which limited their range, and a voracious appetite for ammunition which limited it even more, all under very limited armor.
Which meant their three-man crews had to be crazy enough to sit in a lightly armored box with four tons of high explosives in it, with every nearby enemy gunning for them. They were effective, but they had to be mass manufactured for a reason. And they were expensive, too, costing more than a Locust (though they were far easier to make).
Guarding the glass cannons of the SRM Carriers were two Bulldog tanks and a Striker combat vehicle. The Bulldogs were an evolution of the old main battle tanks updated to the age of the BattleMech. The 60-ton tracked vehicles each had a crew of four and replaced the main gun with a 'Mech-grade large laser. To follow up on punctured 'Mech armor, they carried two SRM-4's, and a heavy machine gun. Their 6.5 tons of armor were a little light to be tangling with BattleMechs, but otherwise they were solid.
The Striker, on the other hand, was a 35-ton poor man's SRM Carrier. The light fighting vehicle's off road mobility was even more limited than the carrier thanks to being wheeled, not tracked, and it was armed with an LRM-10 and an SRM-6.
And behind all of that was a battalion of light infantry. Their rifles were a limited threat, but they had to have support weapons in there somewhere, and those were another story.
All told, it matched Lady Arano's description exactly. And against that much firepower, he would have given almost anything to bring in the second lance like they'd planned, but they only had one Leopard… and one Sumire.
"Lance, Wolf. Sunshine and Glitch, take the carrier on the left. Dekker, you and I have the carrier on the right. Once they're down, move in fast and secure the bunker. And watch our step - there are friendly infantry on the ground. Let's go, people!"
…
Lieutenant Karen Andris watched from an uncomfortably close range as the Wolves quickly cleared the DropShip, formed up, and moved out aggressively. The ground shook and snow flew as the enormous weapons of war stormed forward. Their weapons thundered and Karen winced as the impact of bubbles of overpressure hit her like a punch to the gut. Return fire flashed back, including what felt like a hurricane of SRM's, then an enormous explosion rocked the mountainside. The explosion seemed to echo in a deep rumble as a distant avalanche touched off. Then the skies roared as the Phoenix Hawk leaped clear over the defending tanks and began laying into the defending infantry. She could hear the screams over the thunder of weapons fire.
She hit the comms built into her headset. "Alright everyone, these people just kicked in the door – up and in, people!" Andris followed her own orders and climbed to her feet, shedding a flurry of snow, snatched up her old but still deadly Federated Long Rifle, and took off running after the 'Mechs.
She quickly swerved into the tracks of one of the bigger 'Mechs and started making much better progress through the compressed snow, with the added benefit of blocking at least some of the incoming fire.
Weapons were still firing up ahead, including the nightmare-inducing buzz-saw of 'Mech heavy machine guns. After a few minutes that felt like an eternity, her squad went to ground near the entrance to the bunker. "This is it!" she shouted into her comms over the deafening thunder of heavy weapons fire, "everybody in!" She waited for two heartbeats, then climbed to her feet, struggling in the deeper snow, and charged the bunker entrance.
…
Wolf eased the Catapult to a standstill as the foot soldiers switched their attention from lobbing shoulder-fired rockets and crew-served SRMs at him to firing on the infantry storming the bunker. It was up to the Fusiliers now, and he turned his attention to the spaceport itself.
This could get ugly. The Directorate planned their ambush well, and this was meant as a knockout blow. His people were in good shape thus far, but they had to move fast and directly into the teeth of some of the Directorate's heaviest 'Mechs because if the Directorate reinforcements arrived, they were all doomed. Of course it's already come to a do-or-die assault. Sumire was going to give him the biggest I-told-you-so. The thought brought a hint of a smile to his face, but it faded quickly as he considered approach vectors.
…
Lieutenant Andris stood in the bunker's small command center, blood running down the side of her face from a graze. If that had been a laser instead of a bullet… She set the thought aside as her comms specialist gave a thumbs up from the swivel chair in front of the primary control panel. She nodded back and engaged her headset comms. "Wolves, this is Lieutenant Andris. We have control of the turrets. Just tell me when, and we'll flip the IFF."
"Copy Andris."
Karen leaned heavily against the wall. It was all up to the Wolves now.
…
"Alright people, as Behemoth would say, there's no time for anything fancy. Sunshine, you're on point. Glitch and I will back you up, and we'll head straight in. Dekker, hang back behind us. If we get bogged down, I'll give you the signal to break out and go straight for the control center. Ideally we want to take it in one piece, but if we can't, take it out and we'll repair it later. All copy."
"Sunshine, copy," replied the Aurigan grimly.
"Glitch, copy."
"Dekker, copy."
"Alright, let's move. We've got the long-range advantage and height, so we'll advance at a walk and use it while we can. Once we hit the flat, we'll accelerate to top speed until we hit the buildings. I'll call targets as we go. Sunshine, take us out."
The lance lumbered into motion, steam rising from cooling weapon systems soon to go hot once more.
It didn't take long for the Directorate forces to find them. Unfortunately, while Wolf could see them repositioning in the distance, they weren't coming out to meet them, unwilling to be sucked away from the objective.
LRMs started raining down from the Trebuchet hiding behind a decrepit landing pad. The Jenner and Panther shifted rapidly between buildings, peeking out to spot for the Trebuchet, and the Catapult shuddered as some of those LRMs hit home.
"Eyes open for the Hunchback and Dragon. They're in the buildings with the big guns."
The range was dropping steadily as they marched towards the spaceport and more fire was coming out now, mostly inaccurately in this weather. They reached the bottom of the hillside about two hundred meters from the spaceport proper.
"Lieutenant Andris, get me those turrets!"
The 'Mechs picked up speed, leaping forward as their fusion engines roared at full power. For a moment nothing happened, then the elevated turrets across the spaceport spun around and erupted in fire.
Wolf could feel the moment of shock and confusion from the Directorate 'Mechs as enemy fire slackened as they crossed the critical final stretch of open ground into the spaceport.
Then they were amongst the buildings, and the organization of battle frayed into the chaos of a street fight, BattleMech style. At least this time most of the spaceport was unused.
Sunshine burst through an intersection, old asphalt cracking beneath her feet, and almost ran into a Bulldog tank. The treads squealed as it hit reverse and opened up with everything. Sunshine jerked to the side which, combined with the abrupt movement, threw off the large laser's aim, sending the searing blue large laser to blast a hole into an empty warehouse's wall, but she wasn't as fortunate with the twin SRM-4's which erupted across her 'Mech. Armor cracked and crumbled, but the sturdy 'Mech held. Sunshine took a single stride forward and kicked the tank. Her foot connected with the turret, crumpling the laser and shredding the SRM feeds. The crew scrambled out of the ruined tank and fled as the 'Mechs moved on.
They rushed into the next intersection and into a wicked crossfire between the other Bulldog and the Dragon. The Bulldog's full complement smashed into Sunshine's left arm, tearing deep into the components.
The Dragon turned to complete the ambush but the tall heavy 'Mech had a harder time hiding between the buildings and one of the turrets up above fired on it the instant before it shot at Sunshine. Several autocannon shells crunched into the thinner rear armor of its torso, pitching the 'Mech forward slightly. Its AC/5's armor-piercing, explosive shell buried itself in the street a dozen meters short of Sunshine and exploded in a spray of powdered concrete.
Sunshine turned to face the Dragon and charged, firing her medium lasers that liquified more armor across the Dragon's torso. Glitch and Wolf both entered the intersection, Glitch turning left to go after the tank, and wolf to the right to help with the Dragon. Wolf didn't dare fire his medium lasers for fear of hitting Sunshine, but he launched an entire flight of thirty LRMs over her head. A dozen of them veered into the surrounding buildings, but almost twenty exploded across the Dragon's upper body.
Sunshine crashed into the Dragon with a left hook that screeched into agonized metal. The Dragon might be under gunned, but all that extra tonnage had gone into armor, and the heavy 'Mech absorbed the blow and swung its right arm back, catching the Centurion squarely on the side and throwing it bodily into a building.
Wolf squeezed the trigger and fired everything, shooting his heat levels up dangerously despite the cold, but it was worth it. His four medium lasers finally cut through the Dragon's outer armor, and the rolling thunder of LRM's erupted in the more fragile interior of the 'Mech. Its hip actuator locked up and at least one of the LRMs hit the cockpit, because the Dragon staggered a step backwards and swayed. But the tough 'Mech started to recover before Wolf's heat came back down, until another volley of autocannon fire from the turret erupted in its rear and armor and sent it tipping forward to crash to the concrete.
An explosion behind Wolf marked the end of the Bulldog. "Sunshine, status?"
The Centurion slowly extricated itself from the rubble, and it was in a bad way. Its armor was ragged, and completely cracked where the Dragon's armor had crunched into it. The paint job was almost entirely covered by powdered gray concrete.
"Piece of shit autocannon jammed again," snarled Sunshine through gritted teeth. She waved the suddenly worthless weapon in frustration.
"Stay here. If the Dragon starts to get up, step on it. I'll take point and—"
"Contact rear!" shouted Dekker, and Wolf jerked his eyes back to the sensors. The Jenner had snuck around behind them. The light guerilla fighter unleashed a ferocious salvo into the Phoenix Hawk, its SRM-4 and four medium lasers breached the medium 'Mech's armor in at least one spot. Dekker's return fire scorched in, lasers burning deep into the light 'Mech, which immediately disengaged to cool down for its next ambush.
"Keep moving," grated Wolf. "I have point. Dekker, stay in tight, that Jenner's going to dog us, but we can't afford to chase it." He moved forward, but instead of charging out into the next intersection, he hit the jump jets and leaped up to the next landing pad. It exposed him, but it also gave him a better line of fire, and a lot of the Directorate's firepower was already committed.
From this vantage he saw that many of the turrets had been destroyed, sending up a pall of smoke across the spaceport, but at least a few were still in action, thundering in the distance.
He caught sight of the Panther up near the control tower and launched a flight of LRMs, but the 'Mech leaped back down amongst the buildings and the missiles detonated across the urban landscape.
His comms hummed with an incoming intercepted message from Lieutenant Andris. "Ground control, this is the ADV Coranach, we are on final approach."
Out of time. Wolf leaped back to the street level, and the entire 60-ton 'Mech trembled at the impact, then he started running ahead with reckless disregard for the remaining enemy forces. They had to get in there now.
They made it several blocks, tearing deep gashes into the road, then reached the approach to the control center. They raced forward and the loading dock doors of a warehouse exploded outwards to reveal the Hunchback not thirty meters away between Wolf and Glitch.
The stupendous AC/20 bellowed and the shell crunched deeply into the Vindicator's chest, cracking its armor and punching deep into the internals in a single shot. The 'Mech staggered back two steps from the raw kinetic impact.
Wolf cursed and stomped on both pedals, firing the jumpjets, and hauled on the controls to spin the heavy Mech in the air rather than try to turn around in the cramped confines. He fired all four lasers into the Hunchback, but the 'Mech was in its element and the tough, reinforced frontal armor held. The Hunchback fired again, this time adding its pair of medium lasers and single small laser.
At such short range it was almost impossible to miss, and the barrage erupted into the Vindicator. The fusion engine shattered and the 'Mech toppled over backwards, dead.
Wolf fired his lasers again, shooting his heat into the critical. More armor melted off the Hunchback, but it stayed on its feed and turned the mammoth gun in his direction. Wolf pushed forward on the controls as sweat poured down his face, lurching his overheating 'Mech forward. He raised a massive leg and kicked at the Hunchback.
He connected with the Hunchback's leg, and as sturdy as the medium 'Mech was, its armor was torn up from the close range fire, and the heavier Catapult's attack snapped the Hunchback's leg at the knee. The Hunchback topped over to the side, crashing through a thin interior wall of the warehouse.
Wolf staggered backwards, his own sense of balance working through the neurohelmet in tandem with the Catapult's gyro to keep the fundamentally awkward, armless 'Mech on its feet.
He just managed to stabilize when the Jenner appeared again and more lasers and SRMs detonated on his thinner rear armor. He tried to face the illusive light 'Mech when Dekker's lasers stabbed into it, shearing through its thin armor and setting off the SRM ammo. The torso blew out, but the legs kept carrying its fiery burning 'Mech full tilt into the warehouse wall where it slammed to a halt.
"Dekker, go!" snapped Wolf, and the medium 'Mech took off at a sprint. Wolf watched him go, then turned his attention back to his immediate situation. "Glitch, do you copy? Glitch?"
"W-wolf," came a weak reply.
Wolf breathed a sigh of relief. "Talk to me, are you hurt?"
"Yeah," she replied softly. "Arm's… broken. Hurts… to breath. Wolf I'm… bleeding bad."
Motion blinked on his sensors. The Panther and the centurion, the Directorate's last two 'Mechs, were costing in on him that meant they had a good shot of finishing the mission, but it also meant he was in trouble… and he couldn't do anything to help Glitch.
"Glitch, Jessica, hang in there." Wolf turned to face the incoming signals and readied himself. The Centurion appeared first, and Wolf hit the jumpjets to leap onto one of the nearby landing pads, both to get height and to get away from Glitch to give her a chance to avoid fire. He launched a salvo of LRMs, peppering the Centurion's armor.
The Panther anticipated his move and leaped up behind him, launching an alpha strike. He half-turned to meet it when the salvo blew up. The PPC impacted directly on his right side LRM-15, blowing it off the 'Mech. It landed next to him with an impact that shook the landing pad, then the remaining missiles inside detonated. The landing pad itself cracked, sending Wolf tumbling over the side to land in a heap.
Wolf's crash harness held, dampening the impact, but Wolf was still stunned. The Panther cautiously moved to the edge of the platform for the kill shot, but in his eagerness forgot that not all the turrets had been accounted for. Long-range AC/2 shells thundered into the light 'Mech, blowing large chunks off it. The 'Mech staggered, off balance, then Wolf's eyes widened in horror as it began to fall in his direction.
He pulled at the controls, desperately trying to get back to his feet, but the armless, fundamentally awkward Catapult slipped back down, and the Panther crunched directly on top of him.
Wolf blinked back into awareness and tried to get his bearings. The Panther seemed to be out of action, but it had landed squarely on top of him. 'Mechs were strong, but they were also designed with certain tolerances in mind. The Catapult struggled at his command, but it simply couldn't stand up with an extra 35 tons on top of it, and without arms, he couldn't hope to extricate himself.
His cockpit systems sputtered as the Catapult strained beneath the weight, and he eased off. He was well and truly stuck.
And that Centurion was still out there, and it wouldn't take long for it to find him.
…
Dekker raced through the spaceport as quickly as he dared. He was into the still-operational portion now, and he lengthened his stride to avoid crushing a civilian guard vehicle. Thankfully most of the civilians had had the good sense to get off the street when the fighting started, so traffic wasn't too bad, but he was agonizingly aware of the risk of accidentally crushing a civilian or ten despite his best efforts.
He bounded up the main road towards the control center, then cleared the outer walls with a leap on the wings of his jumpjets, torching a civilian restaurant in the backblast.
The Phoenix Hawk landed nimbly, and he brought his machine guns to bear on the shocked civilians inside. Many fell over or clapped their hands to their ears at the overwhelming noise, and a few simply broke and fled in panic.
No immediate threats, but no time, no time.
On top of the command center was an enormous communications array. They'd need this place working again if they were going to leave any time soon. He triggered a command sequence and the 'Mech's right hand opened, disengaging and dropping the large laser which hit the ground in a flurry of snow. Then he reached out with both arms and grasped the pole, and snapped it clean off, severing the connection, before laying the dish in a snow drift as gently as he could.
"Ground control, this is the Coronach – we're in the middle of the field and we've lost you! Nav support is offline – where are you? Disengage, disengage!"
Dekker let out a relieved sigh. The mission was accomplished. Now he could only wonder just how high a price they'd paid to do it.
…
Subaltern Grunnings of House Espinosa marched his Centurion on the downed Catapult. "Damned mercenaries!" he hissed. How many of his comrades had died over the last few weeks to draw the traitor Arano into the trap? And then those vulture mercenaries swooped in, greedily taking cash even though their efforts would doom the entire Aurigan Reach, more than a billion people! If the Directorate couldn't hold, trade would collapse and tens of millions would die, and the survivors would be swallowed up and subjugated by the Taurians or the Capellans. Couldn't they see that? Did they not care at all?
The Centurion eased to a halt, weapons trained on the pinned Catapult. He made his thumbs move away from the firing studs through force of will and instead activated his comms, broadcasting short-range in the clear. "Arano scum, surrender or die."
The reply was quick. "I think you have it backwards. I'll accept your surrender any time now."
Grunnings trembled with fury. "You crazy bastard. You're pinned, I could kill you in an instant."
"You could," came the reply in a steely voice, "but think it through. Your sensors should tell you the communication system in the spaceport is down. That means no guidance for the Coronach, which means no reinforcements. You've lost this battle and this planet. No more people need to die today."
His sensors pinged as two 'Mech signals approached. Without the spaceport's sensors he was left to his Centurion's own abilities, and they told him frustratingly little in this tangled urban environment.
The merc is right. He struggled against the thought, but couldn't deny it. Panzyr was lost to the Directorate. But that doesn't mean it's over. He nodded to himself, turned, and sent the Centurion running back into the fire and smoke.
The battle may be over and Lord Espinosa's trap failed. Lady Espinosa was right after all, and that meant he had a new, urgent mission, and as much as he'd love to kill that prick, no merc was worth risking failing his assignment.
…
Wolf breathed a sigh of relief as the Directorate 'Mech left, then staggered out of his restraints and hit the emergency canopy release on his cockpit.
The icy cold started him shivering immediately, but he grabbed the medical kit off the wall and pushed himself out to slide down the 'Mechs side and into the snow. He gave a brief glare back at the unholy mess of the brutalized 'Mechs hopelessly tangled in each other, then took off slipping and sliding through the snow.
It didn't take long to reach the shattered Vindicator. He clambered up the side, hands burning on freezing metal, and hit the emergency medical override. The Vindicator's cockpit opened halfway before wheezing to a halt. He forced himself inside and grimaced as he caught sight of Jessica. She was a bloody mess, taking shallow breaths, but she was still breathing… for now, at least.
He popped open the medical kit to do what he could.
A/N: It's been a while, and I just realized that my notifications were turned off, so I didn't see that people are still reading and reviewing this. Sorry! I should respond to reviews and answer questions now.