This was also a short initially done eight years ago. Unlike the engagement I posted earlier this week, I've not rewritten this to accommodate anything as it was already consistent with what I was planning.
(And if anyone's wondering, I'm not going to start re-posting other stuff like Undiscovered Frontier until the Sietch goes public).
Anyway, this is basically how some luck and bad guy arrogance netted Dani and Becca their sweet Clan OmniMech rides. Enjoy!
Beverly, Missouri, United States
North America, Earth
18 April 2039 Local
18 May 3059 Inner Sphere
With disdain in every fiber of his being, Star Captain Tomas Osis spit his crosshairs on the unadorned Locust BattleMech and fired his Timber Wolf's arm-mounted energy weapons. Four beams flayed armor and titanium bone from the unlucky machine; its pilot, brave but wholly unworthy of a trueborn Clan warrior's skill, could only return fire ineffectively from long range.
Would that I find the Dragoon traitors to fight instead, Osis pondered as he triggered another weapon. The stream of ruby darts emitted by his pulse layer acted like a surgeon's scalpel, cutting open the torso of the hapless Inner Sphere machine. The medium laser on the other side of the torso became his weapon of execution, decapitating the hapless BattleMech and killing the pilot within. These 'Americans' are worthless as MechWarriors.
His aide, MechWarrior Alfred, had made short work of another 'Mech, a Commando, with pulse lasers. Neither warrior was interested in wasting missiles, which made up the bulk of their offensive firepower, on such meager targets. Not when a Wolf Dragoon Command Lance was believed to be in the region. Destroying it was Osis' mission and desire; soon, either way, he expected the Jaguar secondline troops he commanded to force them and their meager native allies away, giving the Clan control of the metropolis of Kansas City and depriving the American nation of its major army facilities at Fort Leavenworth.
Denied service in the Inner Sphere for so long, the discovery of the rifts the prior year had been a gift from beyond for Tomas Osis, a chance to win glory and redeem the sullied reputation of his meager Bloodname. Though even having a Bloodname was a prestigious honor, having a sullied one was not the key to greater power and responsibility in the Clan; not unless the current wearer amassed glory and honor in battle to improve his or her standing.
"Have you heard anything?", he barked over the radio. "Those stravag Dragoons must be here somewhere."
"Neg, Star Captain."
Grumbling, Tomas set his Timber Wolf in a brisk run toward the Missouri River. He was drawing close to the defenses arrayed protectively around Fort Leavenworth, but he did not intend to cross the River but draw enemies out.
He was not disappointed.
Nestled in the command cockpit of her JVN-10F Javelin, Corporal Danielle "Dani" Verdes watched the heavy Jaguar BattleMechs stomp toward the river on her magscan sights. "If we wait any longer they might spot us," she spoke into the open radio line to the 'Mech beside her.
Corporal Rebekah "Becca" Shameel answered immediately from her standard Commando. "But can we risk it? Those are heavy Clan Omnis, just one of them would probably take us out."
Yeah, just like they have every other platoon we've thrown at them, Dani thought bitterly. Her entire company of the 1st 'Mech Training Battalion had been wiped out trying to hold Kansas City. She and Rebecca were all that was left of their platoon, and the Captain in charge was in the infirmary in Fort Leavenworth. They had gone out on perimeter patrol and had strict orders; stay submerged and only engage "if necessary or against targets of opportunity". The 1st TB had lost enough 'Mech pilots in the past two weeks, they couldn't afford more losses.
Oh well. I knew the moment I sat in one of these things it was going to get me killed. Sighing to herself, Dani centered the crosshairs for her four medium lasers and braced her feet in the Javelin's Jump Jet pedals. "This could be our one shot, Becca. Let's focus on the Vulture and try to hit the pilot directly."
"I've got your back, Dani."
Technically they should be identifying themselves as Greens 3 and 4, but at the moment Dani didn't particularly care for military protocols. Not when she was about to jumpjet into the faces of a pair of Clan frontline machines, either of which was more than the weight of her machine and Becca's combined.
"Let's give them hell, 'Becca!" Dani pressed down on the pedals and felt her Javelin soar upward. In the space of a second she broke the surface of the water. In mid-air she watched her crosshairs come down over the Mad Cat's back and opened fire.
The 360° view his holotank gave him warned Tomas of the danger a moment before it struck. He had been coming around when two medium laser beams sliced into the weak rear armor of his OmniMech. The Timber Wolf profile on his screens changed to show the loss of his rear armor, but there was no further damage. Beside him, Alfred's Mad Dog took a stronger hit from a Large Laser that sheared armor from his shoulder and arm; sparks indicated that one of his right arm pulse lasers was knocked out. "Clever little freebirths, aren't you?" Inwardly cursing at himself for speaking so foully, Tomas began turning to track the light Inner Sphere 'Mech that had attacked him so audaciously. He initially suspected he'd found some Dragoons... but upon seeing the white star insignia on the 'Mech he realized this was another native pilot. I will make you regret your audacity, primitive.
Alfred took the brunt of their attack. The Javelin fired two ruby beams. One missed and set grass ablaze; the other carved armor from Alfred's leg. SRMs erupted from the launcher on the Commando, four of which impacted and blasted armor away from the Mad Dog's hip and torso.
Alfred returned fire with all three remaining pulse lasers. The lasers found the hip of the Commando, drilling through the armor to burn myomer and melt ferro-titantium below. Honoring zellbrigen - unlike the freebirth stravag - Tomas turned his own 'Mech's arsenal on the Javelin. His pulse laser drilled through armor and into bone on the smaller 'Mech's shoulder. The pilot was fast, though, and only one of his medium lasers hit directly, flaying armor off the torso and destroying one of the medium lasers.
Alfred had a chance to get moving now, and a second laser shot from the Commando only managed to graze his arm, scouring a culvert into the armor but doing no real damage. The young MechWarrior - a fellow Osis with a Mehta genefather, Tomas recalled - twisted himself about and let loose another barrage of his pulse lasers that caught the Commando before it could evade. The large pulse laser did the worst, drilling through the torso and hitting the Commando's engine shielding. The heat on the light 'Mech began to build. The other pulse lasers flayed yet more armor and bone, leaving the right leg perilously close to snapping off; the pilot, rather surprisingly, kept the machine standing.
Tomas, however, had lost his patience, watching his extended range large lasers both miss from the fast maneuvering of the Javelin pilot. If I were in a lesser Clan, I would undoubtedly consider this one good material for a bondsman. "Alfred, I tire of this distraction. Engage with missiles."
Freed from Tomas' order to restrain from ammunition wastage, Alfred fired one of his torso launchers. Twenty long-range missiles erupted from the Mad Dog's body. Unlike the Inner Sphere's models, Clan LRM warheads armed immediately after launch. The Commando twisted around to try and avoid the onslaught, but at this range and with a trueborn Clan warrior at the controls, there was no escape; the LRMs hammered the light 'Mech. Engine hits might have completely doomed it, but such were unnecessary. The missile barrage blasted away armor; two missiles found the gyro and left the Commando almost unpilotable. Another missile found the weakened hip of the right leg and blasted free the remaining bone and myomer. The limb snapped off and the Commando collapsed.
Not to be outdone, Tomas unleashed a full barrage of 40 missiles at his opponent in the Javelin. The Javelin pilot, not to be outdone, had already returned fire; all three beams slashed into his 'Mech, melting away torso armor. One hit just below the cockpit, its ruby light bathing Tomas indirectly as it cut away his armor.
But his attack was worse. Triggering his medium lasers again, the barrage he unleashed doomed the Javelin. The lasers cut away more armor, not managing further hits internally but leaving the Javelin off-balance as over two dozen LRMs slammed into it. Armor and myomer was blasted away in large chunks. Missiles found everything; the 'Mech's sensor system, the gyro, the engine... The eviscerated light 'Mech fell, reduced to a smoking pile before his fury.
"I tire of these freebirth foes, Alfred. Move north into the park, I wish to find real foes to sharpen my claws with." Giving only one slight look at the overwhelmed 'Mechs he had broken, Tomas smirked and set his Timber Wolf off to the north in search of more prey.
I'm still alive.
The thought was shooting through Dani's head as she pulled herself free from her command couch. Sweat was dripping off her arms and face in prodigious quantitie, covering the screen of her neurohelmet in the process. She threw it off in a fit of anger and fear, stripping the medical sensors along with it. Is Becca alive?! She keyed the radio, but found it utterly dead. Securing her survival pack and sidearm - a standard issue Colt M2030 model semi-automatic pistol - was the last thing she did before forcing herself out of the uncooled oven that her dead cockpit had become.
A spring breeze brought goosebumps to her bare legs and arms. She cursed to herself again, this time venting her anger at the Inner Sphere designers who decided to ditch full-body cooling suits and go with just vests. A pair of knee-length green shorts did not make for good heat protection, and the sweat on them now chilled her from the cool air. With her survival pack slung over her shoulder and her sidearm tucked into her holster, Dani went toward Becca's dead Commando about 200 meters away.
She didn't get there before a figure emerged from its head. Becca was dressed like she was - white cooling vest over a green halter top, green "MechWarrior" shorts that went to the knee, high sweat-absorbing socks and combat boots - with her long dark brown hair kept in a bun at the back of her head, unlike the ponytails Dani preferred when she couldn't have her own dark, almost black-colored hair loose. Becca moved up to her at a steady pace, her Star of David necklace prominent now that it was outside her cooling vest, the one concession Becca made to the religion of her parents which she, for the most part, did not partake in.
"That could have gone better," she said as she stepped up to Dani. This close, Dani could see bruising on Becca from where the missile barrage had shaken her up; she expected much the same on her body. The same fatigue she felt was mirrored in Becca's light brown eyes, a more common coloring than the deep green of Dani's own. "Dammit, Dani, those were the last two working 'Mechs in the company. Major Pierce is going to have kittens when he finds out what happened."
"Major Pierce isn't my biggest worry right now," Dani said. "The line's a fair bit away, but the Clanners are everywhere. If we don't get to cover, they're going to catch us." She turned to the north. "Weston Bend State Park is that way. We'll call for pickup there."
Sighing, Becca let her take the lead as they trudged along, trying not to think too much about the distant plumes of flames from the battles raging in the area.
MechWarrior Alfred looked at his ration pack and snarled. He missed the swiftness of Clan-on-Clan warfare, truthfully; here, on this pale imitation of Holy Terra, he had to fight Inner Sphere forces and these native throwbacks constantly. He did not mind eating from his cockpit, but having to leave it in order to do other things was annoying.
He had intended to shut his 'Mech down, but the Star Captain forbade it. Osis believed it unnecessary; who would dare steal their 'Mechs, or could even succeed if they were so foolish to try? One did not just climb into a BattleMech and take it over, even if it was still running and no code checks would be run. Instead Osis wanted to quickly eat, do other things, and get right back into the hunt.
Alfred took a bite off his ration bar and looked to where Osis was returning from the sewer. He assumed a passive face, knowing that he was looking at a genetic dead end for the House of Osis. He might not have tested sufficiently high to win a spot in an elite Clan unit, but Alfred knew that with sharpening he would soon join a frontline Cluster.
Tomas, however? The old fossil had barely survived his first Bloodright Trial in the decade before the invasion, when Alfred himself was but a babe, losing in just the second round to a fellow MechWarrior, and that was after brutally beating an aerospace pilot in an unaugmented fight for the first round (hardly a stellar victory!). And that had been for a moderately-prestigious Osis Bloodname, so he was hardly fighting the best of the Jaguars. He had been old, thirty-seven, when nominated again during the invasion, and that was because younger and better warriors were waiting for superior Bloodheritages to open up. No, this desperate decrepit old fossil had been so focused on getting his Bloodname and letting his inferior genes pollute the Jaguar warrior caste that he had fought for the tarnished Bloodname of Deitr Osis, an abject coward who failed to secure Turtle Bay and had been forced to destroy one of its richest cities to cow the populace, and who had then gone on to be tricked by the Draconis Combine at Wolcott. He won, of course, because even an old fossil outpaced by three generations could defeat older solahma and inferior, impatient cubs fresh out of their sibkos.
Alfred let his hand rest on his gun. Most Clan MechWarriors went unarmed, but one thing he'd learned about fighting on this planet was that the local freebirths had no sense of decorum or honor. A MechWarrior out of his BattleMech was a target to these dezgra, someone to be sniped from afar like a mere animal. Even our allies are little better than bandits.
"Ha! You are as jumpy as a Jade Falcon in a room of Wolves," Tomas bellowed, seeing what his aide was doing. "The towns around us burn and their people are scattered, do not be so worried."
"My apologies, Star Captain," Alfred said very unapologetically. "But these Americans are known to fight like bandits. My sibkin speak of their turning to banditry against our forces and those of our allies. And we are prime targets..."
"Targets of what? Their base is nearby, yes... and their forces there are besieged and ensnared. Victory here is imminent. And then we will press on for their next great city. If they are wise they will submit, otherwise those cities ahead of us will join this 'Kansas City' as a burning monument to the folly of opposing the Smoke Jaguars."
Alfred went to reply, but he heard a snapping twig. He pulled his gun out and whirled around to face the sound. There were only trees, though, and Tomas Osis' roaring laughter at Alfred's "paranoia". "I changed my mind! You are not a Falcon, you are a superstitious Nova Cat rearing up at the slightest noise!"
Alfred, for the briefest moment, lost his concentration and turned to fire a dangerous retort at his commander. But before the words could leave his mouth, he heard footfalls. He turned just in time to see the barrel of the gun that killed him.
Dani had never shot a man before.
Her stomach wrenched with guilt and horror. The gun trembled in her hands, smoke still coming out of the barrel. The Clan warrior fell backward, a hole between his eyes from where the bullet had entered his skull. There was no bloody, gory exit wound; the sidearm lacked the power to send a bullet clear out the other side of the skull. Instead the body just fell lifeless, blood temporarily pooling up from the hole before the force of gravity and the ceasing of the man's heart.
A roar came to her ear and made her turn to face the other Clanner. His face was full of hate as he charged at her. Instinctively she pulled the trigger again, hitting him in the center of his torso. He stumbled, fell to a knee, and then resumed the charge. Another bullet hit him in the torso, but he was too close now; he stumbled into her this time, knocking Dani over and causing her to lose the gun. "I'll kill you, freebirth scum!", he screamed loudly. "I'll kill a hundred of you for that!" His hands wrapped around her throat and she could see the pain and hate and rage in his face as he tried to choke the life out of her.
Instinct took over. Training stretching back to her childhood moved to the forefront of Dani's mind. Her knee snapped up and caught the Jaguar in the stomach. This loosened the death grip on her throat; she followed it up with a chop to his neck that left Osis dazed. This weakened him enough that Dani twisted out from under him and scrambled to her feet. He came at her again, throwing a series of fast and powerful punches that Dani could only absorb into her arms. She endured the onslaught, waiting for the opening that his rage would give her.
It came as he reared back for a powerful punch. Dani's left foot snapped up, connecting with his belly. Grounding herself on the left foot, her right foot came up this time in a powerful arcing kick. It caught him in the jaw and sent the Clanner spinning to the ground, half-conscious. She didn't give him a chance to recover, walking up and planting a powerful punch of her own to his jaw and sending him down for the count.
Dani scooped the gun back up and leaned against the tree, trying to catch her breath again. Her neck and arms felt sore and she figured she might have broken a knuckle or two with the last punch. So fast and powerful... I didn't think these Clanners would be that good at hand-to-hand. Thank God they don't kickbox. Looking back at the unconscious Jaguar and down at herself, she added ruefully, Should've gone for the head again. Forgot these vests are bulletproof.
With her gun re-holstered, Dani walked toward the river and looked up at the two Smoke Jaguar OmniMechs. They were fearsome machines, dealers of death who annihilated entire battalions in the US Army, but without pilots they were harmless. If we're lucky maybe our guys can salvage them.
Suddenly the Vulture moved. Dani let out an involuntarily shriek and fell backward. Just as she imagined the pilot was about to fry her with his lasers, a voice came over the external speaker. "Hey Dani! The morons left their 'Mechs active! Any barely-trained 'Mech pilot could take them!"
Hearing Becca's voice coming from the killing machine made Dani draw in a breath and begin laughing. "Oh God Becca, don't do that to me again! You scared the shit out of me!" She looked over at the Mad Cat and the rope ladder dangling from the cockpit hatch. "Maybe Major Pierce won't have kittens after all."
Major Scott Pierce did, indeed, refrain from having kittens. That was not to say he was very pleased when two Smoke Jaguar OmniMechs trotted over the Missouri River and into Fort Leavenworth transmitting on the 1st Training Battalion's frequency. He met the two young ladies in the 'Mech bay along with Captain Alec Svenson, of the Wolf Dragoons' Delta Regiment, and Demi-Precentor Susan Hallick of the ComGuards, the new liaison for the unit to the Star League Defense Force's Earth Assistance Command. Corporals Shameel and Verdes looked fairly worn, mostly the second and taller woman, who sported bruising on much of her visible body. If not for their natural complexion already being tanned bronze he suspected they'd be sporting such.
"You were ordered on perimeter patrol, and to only report contact with Jaguar forces," he said calmly. He focused his gaze on Corporal Verdes, who had a bit of seniority over Shameel. "What possessed you to engage two heavy Clan OmniMechs?"
"They had drawn too close to our position, Sir," Dani answered plainly. "I believed our discovery was imminent."
"You were in the river. You could have run for it."
"Against machines sporting Clan long-range weapons? Facing our rear armor? We'd have died fast," Dani answered with a hint of sarcasm. "Faster than actually doing them some damage."
"You're lucky to be alive, dammit!", Pierce shouted. "We've lost half the battalion in this fighting. The 3rd's been wiped out over at Phoenix! And now I'm short two more machines, which means I have to shift you two over to another company and force them to share what they've got left!"
"With all due respect, Major, we're not short two machines," Becca spoke up. "We just... upgraded."
That only prompted a sarcastic smirk. "What, you think we're going to put you girls in those things? They're going to R&D for reverse-engineering, or being held for the Outreach-trained 'Mech pilots to use when they get back."
"Sir, those 'Mechs are the best ones in the area, we can't just let them sit out the fighting," Dani protested. "Even the Clanners are mostly using older machines. Put us out there in them where we can do some good!"
Pierce narrowed his eyes at them. Beyond them, the Dragoon Techs and the American ones they were training were gawking in surprise and awe at the Jaguar OmniMechs. Other MechWarriors from different units were gathering to gawk at the sight and he realized that, orders or no, these two young ladies had just handed him a tangible victory of sorts to go with the bitter defeats being handed on the battlefield.
"Captain Svenson, Demi-Precentor Hallick, your thoughts?"
Hallick looked to the two women and showed a hint of the smile. "I'd say that you need all the fighting units you can get your hands on, Major, and that these machines need pilots. And you have no other available pilots to put in them."
"I would also add, Major," Svenson spoke up, "that merely piloting these machines in has caused the 'Mechs' control systems to begin to calibate to the Corporals, so you gain an edge by having them continue to pilot them. And the Dragoons have the parts to restore the machines to working order as it is, so keeping them active should work."
"Very well then." Pierce grinned at Dani and Becca. "Well, young ladies, you took them, now you're stuck with them. The mechanics will fix them up and you will immediately start familiarization practices before I send you back out." Or, more likely, before I send you north with the retreat. "I hope you weren't expecting down-time, because from here on you'll be seeing a lot of action. Now go get showered and report for official debriefing! Dismissed!"
Dani and Becca shot off salutes that weren't quite as sharp as Pierce would have preferred, but which he allowed to pass muster for now. In truth he wasn't very angry at them, but he couldn't let their apparent violation of the RoE go unremarked upon, especially as it had cost them their machines and very nearly their lives. But they more than made up for that...
He let Dani and Becca go, with Svenson and Hallick also leaving to deal with their own business. Pierce turned back to the Jaguar 'Mechs, thinking darkly of the orders he'd been given that morning; Fort Leavenworth was to be evacuated. We're getting beaten all the time it seems, which makes small victories like these seem even sweeter. He drew in a sigh. Small victories, true, but sometimes the small ones can become big ones.
(And if anyone's wondering, I'm not going to start re-posting other stuff like Undiscovered Frontier until the Sietch goes public).
Anyway, this is basically how some luck and bad guy arrogance netted Dani and Becca their sweet Clan OmniMech rides. Enjoy!
Beverly, Missouri, United States
North America, Earth
18 April 2039 Local
18 May 3059 Inner Sphere
With disdain in every fiber of his being, Star Captain Tomas Osis spit his crosshairs on the unadorned Locust BattleMech and fired his Timber Wolf's arm-mounted energy weapons. Four beams flayed armor and titanium bone from the unlucky machine; its pilot, brave but wholly unworthy of a trueborn Clan warrior's skill, could only return fire ineffectively from long range.
Would that I find the Dragoon traitors to fight instead, Osis pondered as he triggered another weapon. The stream of ruby darts emitted by his pulse layer acted like a surgeon's scalpel, cutting open the torso of the hapless Inner Sphere machine. The medium laser on the other side of the torso became his weapon of execution, decapitating the hapless BattleMech and killing the pilot within. These 'Americans' are worthless as MechWarriors.
His aide, MechWarrior Alfred, had made short work of another 'Mech, a Commando, with pulse lasers. Neither warrior was interested in wasting missiles, which made up the bulk of their offensive firepower, on such meager targets. Not when a Wolf Dragoon Command Lance was believed to be in the region. Destroying it was Osis' mission and desire; soon, either way, he expected the Jaguar secondline troops he commanded to force them and their meager native allies away, giving the Clan control of the metropolis of Kansas City and depriving the American nation of its major army facilities at Fort Leavenworth.
Denied service in the Inner Sphere for so long, the discovery of the rifts the prior year had been a gift from beyond for Tomas Osis, a chance to win glory and redeem the sullied reputation of his meager Bloodname. Though even having a Bloodname was a prestigious honor, having a sullied one was not the key to greater power and responsibility in the Clan; not unless the current wearer amassed glory and honor in battle to improve his or her standing.
"Have you heard anything?", he barked over the radio. "Those stravag Dragoons must be here somewhere."
"Neg, Star Captain."
Grumbling, Tomas set his Timber Wolf in a brisk run toward the Missouri River. He was drawing close to the defenses arrayed protectively around Fort Leavenworth, but he did not intend to cross the River but draw enemies out.
He was not disappointed.
Nestled in the command cockpit of her JVN-10F Javelin, Corporal Danielle "Dani" Verdes watched the heavy Jaguar BattleMechs stomp toward the river on her magscan sights. "If we wait any longer they might spot us," she spoke into the open radio line to the 'Mech beside her.
Corporal Rebekah "Becca" Shameel answered immediately from her standard Commando. "But can we risk it? Those are heavy Clan Omnis, just one of them would probably take us out."
Yeah, just like they have every other platoon we've thrown at them, Dani thought bitterly. Her entire company of the 1st 'Mech Training Battalion had been wiped out trying to hold Kansas City. She and Rebecca were all that was left of their platoon, and the Captain in charge was in the infirmary in Fort Leavenworth. They had gone out on perimeter patrol and had strict orders; stay submerged and only engage "if necessary or against targets of opportunity". The 1st TB had lost enough 'Mech pilots in the past two weeks, they couldn't afford more losses.
Oh well. I knew the moment I sat in one of these things it was going to get me killed. Sighing to herself, Dani centered the crosshairs for her four medium lasers and braced her feet in the Javelin's Jump Jet pedals. "This could be our one shot, Becca. Let's focus on the Vulture and try to hit the pilot directly."
"I've got your back, Dani."
Technically they should be identifying themselves as Greens 3 and 4, but at the moment Dani didn't particularly care for military protocols. Not when she was about to jumpjet into the faces of a pair of Clan frontline machines, either of which was more than the weight of her machine and Becca's combined.
"Let's give them hell, 'Becca!" Dani pressed down on the pedals and felt her Javelin soar upward. In the space of a second she broke the surface of the water. In mid-air she watched her crosshairs come down over the Mad Cat's back and opened fire.
The 360° view his holotank gave him warned Tomas of the danger a moment before it struck. He had been coming around when two medium laser beams sliced into the weak rear armor of his OmniMech. The Timber Wolf profile on his screens changed to show the loss of his rear armor, but there was no further damage. Beside him, Alfred's Mad Dog took a stronger hit from a Large Laser that sheared armor from his shoulder and arm; sparks indicated that one of his right arm pulse lasers was knocked out. "Clever little freebirths, aren't you?" Inwardly cursing at himself for speaking so foully, Tomas began turning to track the light Inner Sphere 'Mech that had attacked him so audaciously. He initially suspected he'd found some Dragoons... but upon seeing the white star insignia on the 'Mech he realized this was another native pilot. I will make you regret your audacity, primitive.
Alfred took the brunt of their attack. The Javelin fired two ruby beams. One missed and set grass ablaze; the other carved armor from Alfred's leg. SRMs erupted from the launcher on the Commando, four of which impacted and blasted armor away from the Mad Dog's hip and torso.
Alfred returned fire with all three remaining pulse lasers. The lasers found the hip of the Commando, drilling through the armor to burn myomer and melt ferro-titantium below. Honoring zellbrigen - unlike the freebirth stravag - Tomas turned his own 'Mech's arsenal on the Javelin. His pulse laser drilled through armor and into bone on the smaller 'Mech's shoulder. The pilot was fast, though, and only one of his medium lasers hit directly, flaying armor off the torso and destroying one of the medium lasers.
Alfred had a chance to get moving now, and a second laser shot from the Commando only managed to graze his arm, scouring a culvert into the armor but doing no real damage. The young MechWarrior - a fellow Osis with a Mehta genefather, Tomas recalled - twisted himself about and let loose another barrage of his pulse lasers that caught the Commando before it could evade. The large pulse laser did the worst, drilling through the torso and hitting the Commando's engine shielding. The heat on the light 'Mech began to build. The other pulse lasers flayed yet more armor and bone, leaving the right leg perilously close to snapping off; the pilot, rather surprisingly, kept the machine standing.
Tomas, however, had lost his patience, watching his extended range large lasers both miss from the fast maneuvering of the Javelin pilot. If I were in a lesser Clan, I would undoubtedly consider this one good material for a bondsman. "Alfred, I tire of this distraction. Engage with missiles."
Freed from Tomas' order to restrain from ammunition wastage, Alfred fired one of his torso launchers. Twenty long-range missiles erupted from the Mad Dog's body. Unlike the Inner Sphere's models, Clan LRM warheads armed immediately after launch. The Commando twisted around to try and avoid the onslaught, but at this range and with a trueborn Clan warrior at the controls, there was no escape; the LRMs hammered the light 'Mech. Engine hits might have completely doomed it, but such were unnecessary. The missile barrage blasted away armor; two missiles found the gyro and left the Commando almost unpilotable. Another missile found the weakened hip of the right leg and blasted free the remaining bone and myomer. The limb snapped off and the Commando collapsed.
Not to be outdone, Tomas unleashed a full barrage of 40 missiles at his opponent in the Javelin. The Javelin pilot, not to be outdone, had already returned fire; all three beams slashed into his 'Mech, melting away torso armor. One hit just below the cockpit, its ruby light bathing Tomas indirectly as it cut away his armor.
But his attack was worse. Triggering his medium lasers again, the barrage he unleashed doomed the Javelin. The lasers cut away more armor, not managing further hits internally but leaving the Javelin off-balance as over two dozen LRMs slammed into it. Armor and myomer was blasted away in large chunks. Missiles found everything; the 'Mech's sensor system, the gyro, the engine... The eviscerated light 'Mech fell, reduced to a smoking pile before his fury.
"I tire of these freebirth foes, Alfred. Move north into the park, I wish to find real foes to sharpen my claws with." Giving only one slight look at the overwhelmed 'Mechs he had broken, Tomas smirked and set his Timber Wolf off to the north in search of more prey.
I'm still alive.
The thought was shooting through Dani's head as she pulled herself free from her command couch. Sweat was dripping off her arms and face in prodigious quantitie, covering the screen of her neurohelmet in the process. She threw it off in a fit of anger and fear, stripping the medical sensors along with it. Is Becca alive?! She keyed the radio, but found it utterly dead. Securing her survival pack and sidearm - a standard issue Colt M2030 model semi-automatic pistol - was the last thing she did before forcing herself out of the uncooled oven that her dead cockpit had become.
A spring breeze brought goosebumps to her bare legs and arms. She cursed to herself again, this time venting her anger at the Inner Sphere designers who decided to ditch full-body cooling suits and go with just vests. A pair of knee-length green shorts did not make for good heat protection, and the sweat on them now chilled her from the cool air. With her survival pack slung over her shoulder and her sidearm tucked into her holster, Dani went toward Becca's dead Commando about 200 meters away.
She didn't get there before a figure emerged from its head. Becca was dressed like she was - white cooling vest over a green halter top, green "MechWarrior" shorts that went to the knee, high sweat-absorbing socks and combat boots - with her long dark brown hair kept in a bun at the back of her head, unlike the ponytails Dani preferred when she couldn't have her own dark, almost black-colored hair loose. Becca moved up to her at a steady pace, her Star of David necklace prominent now that it was outside her cooling vest, the one concession Becca made to the religion of her parents which she, for the most part, did not partake in.
"That could have gone better," she said as she stepped up to Dani. This close, Dani could see bruising on Becca from where the missile barrage had shaken her up; she expected much the same on her body. The same fatigue she felt was mirrored in Becca's light brown eyes, a more common coloring than the deep green of Dani's own. "Dammit, Dani, those were the last two working 'Mechs in the company. Major Pierce is going to have kittens when he finds out what happened."
"Major Pierce isn't my biggest worry right now," Dani said. "The line's a fair bit away, but the Clanners are everywhere. If we don't get to cover, they're going to catch us." She turned to the north. "Weston Bend State Park is that way. We'll call for pickup there."
Sighing, Becca let her take the lead as they trudged along, trying not to think too much about the distant plumes of flames from the battles raging in the area.
MechWarrior Alfred looked at his ration pack and snarled. He missed the swiftness of Clan-on-Clan warfare, truthfully; here, on this pale imitation of Holy Terra, he had to fight Inner Sphere forces and these native throwbacks constantly. He did not mind eating from his cockpit, but having to leave it in order to do other things was annoying.
He had intended to shut his 'Mech down, but the Star Captain forbade it. Osis believed it unnecessary; who would dare steal their 'Mechs, or could even succeed if they were so foolish to try? One did not just climb into a BattleMech and take it over, even if it was still running and no code checks would be run. Instead Osis wanted to quickly eat, do other things, and get right back into the hunt.
Alfred took a bite off his ration bar and looked to where Osis was returning from the sewer. He assumed a passive face, knowing that he was looking at a genetic dead end for the House of Osis. He might not have tested sufficiently high to win a spot in an elite Clan unit, but Alfred knew that with sharpening he would soon join a frontline Cluster.
Tomas, however? The old fossil had barely survived his first Bloodright Trial in the decade before the invasion, when Alfred himself was but a babe, losing in just the second round to a fellow MechWarrior, and that was after brutally beating an aerospace pilot in an unaugmented fight for the first round (hardly a stellar victory!). And that had been for a moderately-prestigious Osis Bloodname, so he was hardly fighting the best of the Jaguars. He had been old, thirty-seven, when nominated again during the invasion, and that was because younger and better warriors were waiting for superior Bloodheritages to open up. No, this desperate decrepit old fossil had been so focused on getting his Bloodname and letting his inferior genes pollute the Jaguar warrior caste that he had fought for the tarnished Bloodname of Deitr Osis, an abject coward who failed to secure Turtle Bay and had been forced to destroy one of its richest cities to cow the populace, and who had then gone on to be tricked by the Draconis Combine at Wolcott. He won, of course, because even an old fossil outpaced by three generations could defeat older solahma and inferior, impatient cubs fresh out of their sibkos.
Alfred let his hand rest on his gun. Most Clan MechWarriors went unarmed, but one thing he'd learned about fighting on this planet was that the local freebirths had no sense of decorum or honor. A MechWarrior out of his BattleMech was a target to these dezgra, someone to be sniped from afar like a mere animal. Even our allies are little better than bandits.
"Ha! You are as jumpy as a Jade Falcon in a room of Wolves," Tomas bellowed, seeing what his aide was doing. "The towns around us burn and their people are scattered, do not be so worried."
"My apologies, Star Captain," Alfred said very unapologetically. "But these Americans are known to fight like bandits. My sibkin speak of their turning to banditry against our forces and those of our allies. And we are prime targets..."
"Targets of what? Their base is nearby, yes... and their forces there are besieged and ensnared. Victory here is imminent. And then we will press on for their next great city. If they are wise they will submit, otherwise those cities ahead of us will join this 'Kansas City' as a burning monument to the folly of opposing the Smoke Jaguars."
Alfred went to reply, but he heard a snapping twig. He pulled his gun out and whirled around to face the sound. There were only trees, though, and Tomas Osis' roaring laughter at Alfred's "paranoia". "I changed my mind! You are not a Falcon, you are a superstitious Nova Cat rearing up at the slightest noise!"
Alfred, for the briefest moment, lost his concentration and turned to fire a dangerous retort at his commander. But before the words could leave his mouth, he heard footfalls. He turned just in time to see the barrel of the gun that killed him.
Dani had never shot a man before.
Her stomach wrenched with guilt and horror. The gun trembled in her hands, smoke still coming out of the barrel. The Clan warrior fell backward, a hole between his eyes from where the bullet had entered his skull. There was no bloody, gory exit wound; the sidearm lacked the power to send a bullet clear out the other side of the skull. Instead the body just fell lifeless, blood temporarily pooling up from the hole before the force of gravity and the ceasing of the man's heart.
A roar came to her ear and made her turn to face the other Clanner. His face was full of hate as he charged at her. Instinctively she pulled the trigger again, hitting him in the center of his torso. He stumbled, fell to a knee, and then resumed the charge. Another bullet hit him in the torso, but he was too close now; he stumbled into her this time, knocking Dani over and causing her to lose the gun. "I'll kill you, freebirth scum!", he screamed loudly. "I'll kill a hundred of you for that!" His hands wrapped around her throat and she could see the pain and hate and rage in his face as he tried to choke the life out of her.
Instinct took over. Training stretching back to her childhood moved to the forefront of Dani's mind. Her knee snapped up and caught the Jaguar in the stomach. This loosened the death grip on her throat; she followed it up with a chop to his neck that left Osis dazed. This weakened him enough that Dani twisted out from under him and scrambled to her feet. He came at her again, throwing a series of fast and powerful punches that Dani could only absorb into her arms. She endured the onslaught, waiting for the opening that his rage would give her.
It came as he reared back for a powerful punch. Dani's left foot snapped up, connecting with his belly. Grounding herself on the left foot, her right foot came up this time in a powerful arcing kick. It caught him in the jaw and sent the Clanner spinning to the ground, half-conscious. She didn't give him a chance to recover, walking up and planting a powerful punch of her own to his jaw and sending him down for the count.
Dani scooped the gun back up and leaned against the tree, trying to catch her breath again. Her neck and arms felt sore and she figured she might have broken a knuckle or two with the last punch. So fast and powerful... I didn't think these Clanners would be that good at hand-to-hand. Thank God they don't kickbox. Looking back at the unconscious Jaguar and down at herself, she added ruefully, Should've gone for the head again. Forgot these vests are bulletproof.
With her gun re-holstered, Dani walked toward the river and looked up at the two Smoke Jaguar OmniMechs. They were fearsome machines, dealers of death who annihilated entire battalions in the US Army, but without pilots they were harmless. If we're lucky maybe our guys can salvage them.
Suddenly the Vulture moved. Dani let out an involuntarily shriek and fell backward. Just as she imagined the pilot was about to fry her with his lasers, a voice came over the external speaker. "Hey Dani! The morons left their 'Mechs active! Any barely-trained 'Mech pilot could take them!"
Hearing Becca's voice coming from the killing machine made Dani draw in a breath and begin laughing. "Oh God Becca, don't do that to me again! You scared the shit out of me!" She looked over at the Mad Cat and the rope ladder dangling from the cockpit hatch. "Maybe Major Pierce won't have kittens after all."
Major Scott Pierce did, indeed, refrain from having kittens. That was not to say he was very pleased when two Smoke Jaguar OmniMechs trotted over the Missouri River and into Fort Leavenworth transmitting on the 1st Training Battalion's frequency. He met the two young ladies in the 'Mech bay along with Captain Alec Svenson, of the Wolf Dragoons' Delta Regiment, and Demi-Precentor Susan Hallick of the ComGuards, the new liaison for the unit to the Star League Defense Force's Earth Assistance Command. Corporals Shameel and Verdes looked fairly worn, mostly the second and taller woman, who sported bruising on much of her visible body. If not for their natural complexion already being tanned bronze he suspected they'd be sporting such.
"You were ordered on perimeter patrol, and to only report contact with Jaguar forces," he said calmly. He focused his gaze on Corporal Verdes, who had a bit of seniority over Shameel. "What possessed you to engage two heavy Clan OmniMechs?"
"They had drawn too close to our position, Sir," Dani answered plainly. "I believed our discovery was imminent."
"You were in the river. You could have run for it."
"Against machines sporting Clan long-range weapons? Facing our rear armor? We'd have died fast," Dani answered with a hint of sarcasm. "Faster than actually doing them some damage."
"You're lucky to be alive, dammit!", Pierce shouted. "We've lost half the battalion in this fighting. The 3rd's been wiped out over at Phoenix! And now I'm short two more machines, which means I have to shift you two over to another company and force them to share what they've got left!"
"With all due respect, Major, we're not short two machines," Becca spoke up. "We just... upgraded."
That only prompted a sarcastic smirk. "What, you think we're going to put you girls in those things? They're going to R&D for reverse-engineering, or being held for the Outreach-trained 'Mech pilots to use when they get back."
"Sir, those 'Mechs are the best ones in the area, we can't just let them sit out the fighting," Dani protested. "Even the Clanners are mostly using older machines. Put us out there in them where we can do some good!"
Pierce narrowed his eyes at them. Beyond them, the Dragoon Techs and the American ones they were training were gawking in surprise and awe at the Jaguar OmniMechs. Other MechWarriors from different units were gathering to gawk at the sight and he realized that, orders or no, these two young ladies had just handed him a tangible victory of sorts to go with the bitter defeats being handed on the battlefield.
"Captain Svenson, Demi-Precentor Hallick, your thoughts?"
Hallick looked to the two women and showed a hint of the smile. "I'd say that you need all the fighting units you can get your hands on, Major, and that these machines need pilots. And you have no other available pilots to put in them."
"I would also add, Major," Svenson spoke up, "that merely piloting these machines in has caused the 'Mechs' control systems to begin to calibate to the Corporals, so you gain an edge by having them continue to pilot them. And the Dragoons have the parts to restore the machines to working order as it is, so keeping them active should work."
"Very well then." Pierce grinned at Dani and Becca. "Well, young ladies, you took them, now you're stuck with them. The mechanics will fix them up and you will immediately start familiarization practices before I send you back out." Or, more likely, before I send you north with the retreat. "I hope you weren't expecting down-time, because from here on you'll be seeing a lot of action. Now go get showered and report for official debriefing! Dismissed!"
Dani and Becca shot off salutes that weren't quite as sharp as Pierce would have preferred, but which he allowed to pass muster for now. In truth he wasn't very angry at them, but he couldn't let their apparent violation of the RoE go unremarked upon, especially as it had cost them their machines and very nearly their lives. But they more than made up for that...
He let Dani and Becca go, with Svenson and Hallick also leaving to deal with their own business. Pierce turned back to the Jaguar 'Mechs, thinking darkly of the orders he'd been given that morning; Fort Leavenworth was to be evacuated. We're getting beaten all the time it seems, which makes small victories like these seem even sweeter. He drew in a sigh. Small victories, true, but sometimes the small ones can become big ones.
