The lumbering behemoth came to a stop as it reached the edge of the designated area. The Circle of Equals, as it was called, was an area determined by the participants within which ant given battle was to take place, and leaving it in any way during combat was seen as greatly cowardly and dishonorable. Depending on the nature of the Trial, a Circle of Equal could be relatively small, or large enough to encompass an entire planet. In this case, it was of only 5 kilometers of diameter, which meant that there was room for manoeuvering, but that any new challenger could reach the center relatively quickly, especially with long-range weapons.
"I claim this Trial of Possession against the MechWarriors of Clan Jade Falcon, who stands in opposition to this claim?" The formal statement, almost as ritualized as the rest, was made on an open channel that reached enough to cover the entire battlefield. Hannah's Fafnir rotated slowly as she did, scanning the area visually, but there was nothing to see yet. The foes were too far away among the pyres and smoke.
"I, Gérald Desmar, bid this Summoner in defiance of your claim." The first response came from not too far away, but it was impossible to confirm its position from the transmission alone.
"I, Sophia Kalsee, bid this Mad Dog in defiance of your claim." As the second response ringed on the comms, Faust began to take inventory of the Mechs she would need to face. So far, it was two fast Heavyweights.
"I, Torin Brak, bid Hellbringer in defiance of your claim." A third fast Mech of Heavy Class. Those were all typical parts of the Falcon Touman so far, and while she outgunned them, they would no doubt try to outmanoeuver her.
"I, Joan Malthus, bid this Night Gyr in defiance of your claim." This time, the more rare model was unfamiliar to Faust. She knew it was recently designed by Clan Jade Falcon to test new technologies, but was not aware of its specifics fully. She would need to be particularly careful with this one.
"I, Adel Helmer, bid this Turkina in defiance of your claim." As the last transmission came in, Faust couldn't help but think that despite this solid choice of Assault Mech, Helmer never truly expected to have to fight himself. His tone hinted it by being colored with thinly-veiled dismissiveness. "Gérald Desmer, begin." He declared, and the Trial finally began with the first duel.
Zellbrigen was in essence a simple and straight-forward ordeal. The ritualized custom of honor duels was generally done in one on one and only traditionally applies to Mech, Aerospace and Elemental pilots, with conventional infantry and vehicles not being included. The rules themselves were also relatively simple. As it all boiled down to a contest of piloting and gunnery skills between two warriors with direct or indirect weapon systems, so simply being mindful of that was a good general guideline. It was forbidden to use systems that required a second unit to function, as those relied on the skill of another, as well as large Artillery weapons, which voided gunnery skills. It was also seen as dishonorable to purposefully and continuously stay out of weapon range or line of sight of an opponent.
Without delay, Faust restarted her Mech's walk cycle. Its slower top seed was not too much of a bother here as she preferred to navigate a bit more cautiously amid the hostile environment. The flows of lava streamed lazily across the plains, their colorful hues breaking down the monotony of the all-gray terrain. From above in the cockpit of a Mech, they didn't seem all that threatening, but most of them were still several meters wide. Hannah followed alongside a particularly strong flow as she proceeded towards the center of the Circle of Equals, using it to shield her right flank and keep foes from stepping into the minimum range of her Heavy Gauss Rifles with a surprise attack.
The lava was not the only danger to MechWarriors on the Fractured Plains. The ashen fog that made visibility difficult was prone to getting into heat dispersion systems, potentially lowering their efficiency or even jamming them in extreme circumstances. Right now, however, the ash clouds were relatively thin, which meant that risk was lower, but also that spotting ranges were farther. At its thickest, the ashes could make it impossible to see past 200-300 meters, but right now, it was probably possible to catch glimpses of armor or muzzle flashes as far as 700 or so meters. With good eyes and a little bit of luck, both sides could try to engage at somewhat long range.
Slowly but steadily, the Fafnir entered within only one kilometer of the center of center of the improvised arena, and she redoubled her vigilance. The Summoner she faced against now was faster, and even though its pilot was probably not familiar with the terrain, she thought it reasonable to assume he had already reached the middle point, and possibly even crossed it, which meant they were likely separated by less than 900 meters. She skirted around to the right, avoiding to move in a straight path, and flanked herself - on the left this time- with another lava stream.
Thus the game of cat and mouse escalated in earnest and Faust slowed her Mech slightly further , torso cycling back and forth looking for prey. She almost fired when a sudden geyser erupted just a handful meters away from her, baiting her with a sudden heat spike, but she kept discipline and restrained herself. This kind of carelessness would have cost her dearly. With the comms dead silent and everything outside tuned out, the only noises were those of the machine itself; the whine of its hydraulics, the heavy thuds of its footsteps, and the low grumble of its engine. It could almost have felt like she was alone and the others had left her to wander for eternity, but she knew better.
At last, the hints of color presented themselves through the ashen fog. It was faint, and only her experience with this kind of terrain allowed Faust to be sure of what she was seeing. She halted her Fafnir and traversed to present the front of her Mech. The target was roughly 450 meters away and moved towards the South-west, in the direct opposite direction as she was. A little bit further apart, and they would have missed one another. The Summoner was going at roughly 60km/h, roughly 70% of what its engine was capable of, which told her this foe was relatively impatient. Too fast.
Hannah traversed once again and straightened the throttle. With her slower Mech, her prey could escape if she didn't act quickly, as he didn't seem to have spotted her yet; a 'predicament' she intended to solve immediately. With her Mech setting course due South-West, in parallel, she aligned Thor's Hammers and took the shot. A deafening sound rose as ghastly blue light tore through the grey ashes and impacted. It wasn't a torso hit. While the mammoth paired Gauss had managed to chop clean off the Summoner's left arm, they had failed to punch through its most important sections and to disable it in one shot.
Now alerted to his foe's presence, but without knowing its precise location, the Summoner's pilot first had to struggle to keep his balance. The impact of paired Heavy Gauss Rifles carried such great momentum that it was capable of knocking a Mech off its feet in a single hit. As a testament to Clan pilots' skill, however, he recovered and quickly, traversing his own torso and sending immediately a salvo of unguided missiles slightly ahead of where the shot had seemed to come from. He could figure out her more precise location while they reloaded. Gérald was using the Alt-E configuration of the Summoner, which meant that with his PPC arm gone, he was still armed with an ATM12 and an ATM6.
The snapshot had been accurate, but not accurate enough. A score of the missiles passed behind the Fafnir, while a few others were shot down by its LAMS. A handful of missiles did connect with Faust's Mech's right arm, but they were not enough to cause significant damage to a behemoth with 19 tons and a half of armor. Hannah prepared herself for another shot, but the Summoner surprised her by veering to the right, away from her and further into the fog. Had he managed to get a lock this quickly? Was he planning to unload salvos from maximum range despite the conduct being dishonorable? She had no way to know.
Hannah slowed down her Fafnir and reversed gears, turning as well to keep the Summoner in her line of sight. It seemed like he had pushed his own engine to max speed and was circling back around, likely having intended to try to hit her in the lighter back armor of her Mech. It was a valid strategy, considering the difference in armor thickness and the futility of trying to engage the Fafnir head on... but she wouldn't be fooled so easily. Hannah had fought for nearly two decades now, first in the LCAF, then as a mercenary, and she knew Heavy Mechs well.
As if by a stroke of bad luck, however, another geyser stirred up from the lava, and she lost sight of the Summoner for a short moment. Faust looked everywhere frantically to find her target again, but it seemed gone in an instant. She pondered on it for a few seconds, then it finally clicked, and she pulled the throttle to maximum abruptly to reposition herself: That hadn't been another geyser, it had been jump jets! The Summoner crossed the lava stream with a high jump to surprise her.
As if on cue with the realization, another salvo of missiles screamed in-bound and her LAMS activated again. More shaved off armor from the Fafnir's right arm, while a few others impacted on the torso. As the explosion receded, she could see her target once again, barely 300 meters away and circling around at full speed, intent on getting in her dead angle.
The opportunity, however, never came. When the roar of the Heavy Gauss rose once again, this time it was a deadeye shot and the Summoner had been hit squarely in the chest. The cockpit had been spared, but the reactor had certainly been badly damaged and the smaller Mech stumbled backwards, falling. There was no forgiveness from a direct hit at this distance.
"Gérald Desmar has fallen, Sophia Kalsee, begin." Helmer's voice suddenly broke the relative silence as the IFF indicator of the Summoner shorted out. If he had felt anything for the potential death of his comrade, he showed nothing.
"Bringing such a slow Mech to a duel is like asking to be outmanoeuvered, what is it even anyway, a Steiner recon unit?" The new opponent, Kalsee, opened with some banter and seemed rather dismissive despite the results of the first round. It was to be expected, as mobility and speed were part of the core battle philosophy of the Clans, and during the 50-51 Invasion they greatly outperformed their Inner Sphere counterparts. Moreso, the Fafnir hadn't even seen widespread presence on the market yet, so it was not yet a well known Mech.
"Oh, it's still fast enough to pick off a pack of Hellions if they try to pick the wrong fight." Hannah responded in a composed manner. If Sophia's line had been tainted with venom, Faust's, in contrast was good-natured jest that harbored no particular hostility. Jaded as she was, the usual disdain for Freeborn was something that she had grown used to and which simply did not affect her anymore. In a way, she almost found it cute. Sure, Trueborns were in general performing much better than their counterparts, but arrogance was a common pitfall, and she was no hapless rookie pilot.
More importantly, now that the second match had begun, she did not know where her next opponent would come from. The remaining 4 MechWarriors were waiting at various points around the edge of the Circle of Equals, but she did not know which was were, so Sophia could have come from any direction. She needed to be careful, especially so because the Mad Do carried large amounts of missiles - even more than the Summoner E - and if it could get a lock on her before she found it, it would have a chance to bombard her with impunity from afar.
With that in mind, Faust set her Fafnir back in forward gear and began to perform an outwards, spiral sweep. Ideally, it would have been better to use some sort of bait, but she had none. She could have moved back towards the edge and waited for the Mad Dog to reach the center itself, but that would make the fight last for a very long time, and she couldn't help but to find the idea cowardly herself. No doubt, they would see it the same. Or perhaps was it rather that it was their influence which brought her to think in such a way in the first place? It was likely. Zellbrigen brokered no retreat, especially not from inferior foes.
Luck was not on her side this time, as the first indication of the enemy's presence was the firing flash of a salvo of missiles. Kalsee's Mad Dog had prowled more slowly than her predecessor and managed to avoid detection long enough to line up a shot, ironic after her taunt about speed. Faust veered as quickly as she could when the first flames lit up the dark fog to protect her Fafnir's center torso from damage, but this time the salvo was much more painful, showing the skill of a dedicated missile gunner. The LAMS was overwhelmed and while some LRMs missed their mark and others were shot down, many did hit and even though their payload was weaker than ATMs, their sheer number made up for it, spreading damage across the Fafnir's left arm and left torso.
The biggest surprise of all, however, was when a lone Arrow IV missile, concealed at the back of the LRMs, also hit her left arm, setting some of its components on fire and rocking the mammoth Mech slightly. Arrow IVs were such large and powerful missiles that they were considered Artillery weapons by official classification. This would normally make it a prohibited weapon that was not allowed in Zellbrigen, but a few factors played in Kalsee's favor to not cause the act to brand her as Dezgra. Firstly, unlike, for example, a Long Tom, Arrow IV missiles could be shot down by AMS and thus required more skill to land. The fact that there was a 40 tons difference between their Mechs also played a part in making the act more acceptable.
The truth was that Kalsee had correctly predicted Faust's rough choice of Mech. In a battle of attrition against several other Mechs, there was only two ways to survive. One was to have a Mech nimble enough to avoid most attacks, but that was usually only possible with lighter Mechs which lacked in firepower. The other was to bring as much armor to the fight as possible to try to weather the storm. Sophia had thus guessed Hannah would bring an heavily armored Mech, and armed her own Mad Dog in consequence with as heavy-hitting, as damage-spreading a configuration as possible, with two LRM-20s and an Arrow IV. It was a true threat.
Recovering from the impact, Faust brought her Mech as fast as its engine would go, and slightly regretted not having thought of installing a supercharger for this kind of situations. The Fafnir traversed back to retaliate and close the distance, using the sight of the launch flames to approximate the position of the Mad Dog. Faust knew that her opponent had to have started to move again after firing, and it had been a smart move for the Falcon to stop first, because it made it harder to predict in which direction she would go afterwards, once the flames stopped.
Hannah glanced down to the indicators for a brief second. The left arm of the Fafnir had taken severe damage and had very little armor left, with its structure damage. While she only had an auxiliary flamer mounted there for weapon, she did have Gauss Ammo, and the minor fires greatly increased the hazard that the ammunition could cook off, especially in the searing heat of the Fractured Plains. The Trial had grown tricky, and it was only the second round yet. Hannah could not afford another hit from this Mad Dog, and she knew it.
Unfortunately, it was easier said than done, and it was still difficult to spot where the lighter Mech had gone. Precious seconds passed with little result, and the challenger knew that by now the launchers were ready again. Unrelentingly, this was confirmed as the flash of the missiles broke through the fog once more, but this time, Hannah was ready. With honed reflexes, she unleashed the Thor's Hammers with two quick successive snapshots towards the source of the light.
The first missed with a graze, but the second hit the side Torso of the Mad Dog and made it rock to the side, causing its launchers to suddenly twist to the side and to interrupt part of the launch sequence, with missiles going in wild arcs and many of them, including the dreadful Arrow IV, to be steered off course and to hit meters behind the Fafnir. Of course, several of them still had enough time to launch before she fired, but not nearly as much as a full broadside. Many were intercepted by the LAMS and only a few peppered its torso.
This time, she finally had the target in her sight, and Hannah kept a straight course, the smoking mammoth charging the Heavy Mech like an angered elephant. The battlefield was more open in this area, and no lava flow separated the two opponents. The Mad Dog tried to circle around after recovering, much like the Summoner had done before, but once again the effort was futile. The Fafnir's torso traversed and kept the Mad Dog in its sights and fired as soon as its weapon systems became available again, managing to hit the central section of the Mech in a fine display of gunnery and interrupting another early salvo.
If it had the advantage of range on a clear field, the Mad Dog could have hounded the Fafnir from a safe distance, using its superior speed to remain out of harm's way, but the environmental conditions forced a closer-ranged confrontation, which was to the latter's advantage. Not to mention, purposefully staying out of weapons range of one's opponent for extended amounts of time during Zellbrigen was generally Dezgra...
"Sophia Kalsee has fallen, Torin Brak, begin." Helmer's voice broke the uneasy silence once more, and Faust took a moment to recover from the encounter, taking a deep breath. So far, things had been within expectations for Helmer. Gérald and Sophia, while good pilots, had not earned Bloodnames yet, and as such their worth was seen as lesser by the Star Colonel. Torin and Joan, however, the next opponents, did, and as such he expected the match to come to its overdue conclusion now.
Once more, Hannah needed to mind every direction, but this time, she was not the only one who had to deal with some issues. Torin's Hellbringer was in the Prime configuration, which meant his main armament was an all-Energy load-out with two PPCs backed by three Medium Lasers. This meant that he had to be particularly mindful of the heat levels as they would build up quickly, but have great difficulty dispersing between the heat of the terrain and the ash deposits hindering both of their heat sinks by now.
"It's surprising you were able to make it this far, but your luck will run out soon." Torin hailed Hannah regardless and meant his words fully. Despite the great challenges he was facing at the moment, the Falcon pilot had genuinely not expected her to survive the first two rounds. He could not see the Fafnir yet, and had no true idea of its current status, but he imagined the entire Mech to be in the same state as its left arm.
This time, the enduring game of cat and mouse brought the two participants into an area of the battlefield which was more hilly and provided some amount of cover, as if it was not difficult enough to spot one another in visual. To complicate matters further, both of them were running passive to take advantage of the sensor interferences fully. It was as a surprise to both when each's sensors lit up at roughly the same time, as they found one another to each be on the other side of a small ridge.
This was a fortunate position for Faust, so she tried to take advantage of it. In normal battlefield conditions, crossing a ridge with contacts on the other side was a dangerous move as it exposed a lone pilot to the fire of potentially up to a full Lance or Star of hostiles, but in a one-on-one duel, this was not a concern. With foresight, Torin opted for the opposite action and moved away. While he did not expect the Heavy Gauss specifically, he did suspect his enemy might be using heavy-hitting close-range weaponry such as LBX or Ultra autocannons of the 10 or 20 calibers.
The Hellbringer backed off as much as it could and readied its weapons. When the Fafnir manifested itself above the ridge, Torin fired a single PPC shot to get her attention, and so he did as it struck squarely on the beast central torso. The second shot came a second later, held back both to mitigate heat build up and to throw off its aim. The manoeuver was successful as it knocked the Fafnir slightly, and one of Faust's shots missed completely while the other only hit the leg.
The hit was still severe due to the comparatively light armor of the Hellbringer, but it had not been enough to break its internal structure and to cause it to limp so easily, which would have made it an easy target. Hannah clicked her tongue with displeasure and kept her sights trained as the Hellbringer made a dash for the ridge she was descending, to her left, more highly damaged side. Although she had been able to keep in check the previous two foes who used a similar tactic, the addition of the hilly terrain made it more difficult to keep track of a foe mobile.
Once more Faust steered off an reversed gears to traverse towards the foe while simultaneously backing away from the ridge she had just crossed. If she tried to follow him in a merry-go-round around the rocky formation, she would absolutely be out-manoeuvred and lose aim. With that in mind, putting distance between it and herself was the only option, but she still had to be mindful of accidentally backing into a lava flow, so she checked her auxiliary camera as well for a second. The split second of inattention was poorly timed, as it prevented her from taking additional evasive action as the Hellbringer suddenly slowed and aimed down its first PPC, now recharged.
A lone PPC was not a danger for the behemoth in normal circumstances... but this one was aimed to the crippled left arm. The bright beam of energy hit its target dead on, aiming specifically for the part where some small flames were still coming from, and the ammunition inside detonated catastrophically. The only thing that prevented the explosion from starting a chain reaction and engulfing the entire Mech was the use of CASE in both the arms and side torsos, which ventilated the massive blast outwards. While the arm itself had effectively been obliterated, damage to the side torso was kept minimal. A second shot followed, aimed to throw off Hannah's riposte, which also hit, but this time she had learned her lesson and waited.
Trading off another hit to the torso for a stable firing position, she showed a boldness that surprised the Falcon. Even a single shot would be troublesome in this battle of attrition, so Torin had expected her to traverse away to protect herself with her remaining arm or to fire early to try to prevent him from getting a second shot off, which would have granted him the time he needed to relocate and fire again. However the thundering weapon system rose up with delay and punched a hole through the comparatively flimsy side torso of the Hellbringer, damaging the bulky XL engine it housed and causing it to shut down.
"T-torin Brak has fallen, Joan Malthus, begin." A small tinge of hesitation and apprehension could be heard in Helmer's voice. The outcome of the first two rounds were within his expectations, but this was not. With the thick ashen fog as it were, he was not able to watch the battles himself and was left to wonder what was going on. How was this impudent Spheroid mercenary with over-ambitious ideas still alive? Was she using some sort of foul play? Was the cover of the dark mist to conceal dirty methods that would otherwise breach honor? Previous behavior and conduct, would suggest otherwise, but he was starting to grow nervous as a third IFF signal powered down, and the fourth initiated. There was only one left.
"It's time to end this farce, come, Freebirth." Like Torin before her, Joan was also convinced that Hannah's Mech was barely holding together, but while it was true it had suffered significant damage, it was not down for the count just yet. Another thing that played in the favor of Joan was the Night Gyr itself. Indeed, the Night Gyr carried 8 additional heat sinks, which were drastically improving its heat dispersion as it was, but it was also used as a testbed for the new Laser Heat Sinks, and while those had been phased out of production, those that were equipped with them still retained them.
Hannah had heard of the Laser Heat Sinks before when she discussed with a Diamond Shark merchant, years ago. They boasted the same performance as Double Heat Sinks while not being affected by outside weather. While this meant they could not benefit from cooling off in water, it also meant the Night Gyr she now faced was still working at 100% heat dispersion efficiency. Back then, she had not considered them useful due to how that ability came at the price of them being much more visible - Laser Heat Sinks produced bright lights when dispersing heat - but now her opinion had changed. In the distant past, she put too great emphasis on stealth to ever consider it, but now, everything was different.
"I couldn't agree more, would you mind sending your coordinates so that I may disable your Mech more quickly? This has been going on for a while..." Hannah responded to the insult with a taunt. While it was true the heat was starting to be troublesome, she was used to it, and could remain there for a while longer. She hoped to cause the Falcon to act more rashly and to take advantage of that for a cleaner kill.
"If you're so eager to meet your maker I'll humor you. I was waiting straight West from the center of the Circle of Equals, and I'm coming for you." Joan responded sharply with a smirk, which caused Hannah to blink twice in genuine surprise. Never would she have expected to actually get an answer to the provocation, but then again it was understandable. This Falcon didn't want to play around, so she was setting up as straight a confrontation as possible. This was fine, though.
Faust set course towards the Western edge of the arena and glanced down to her indicators. The left arm was gone and the left and center torso had both taken worrying amounts of damage. Neither of them was fully stripped of armor yet, but there wasn't that much left. The right torso and arms were faring better, and the legs were practically untouched.
This time, the game of cat and mouse could be skipped, but she still had to be wary. She couldn't afford to take any more damage if she wanted to have a shot at facing Helmer, who had also picked a powerful Assault Mech and who would both take and deal more punishment than the Heavy Mechs so far. This time, what would play in her favor the most, ironically, would be neither the terrain or tech. Malthus did not take Faust seriously and simply advanced straight at full speed, with sensors on maximum setting. Her Night Gyr had more than enough firepower to finish off a crippled Assault Mech.
While Hannah prowled more cautiously among the smoke and pyres, she noticed something familiar in the edge of her vision, to the left. Flames rose, but like before, they were slightly different than the gouts of magma produced by the geysers that sporadically spurred around them. It did not take her long to connect the dots and recall the first round: Joan's Night Gyr was another of those Heavy Mechs equipped with Jump Jets, and likely they had just been used to cross a lava stream more quickly.
With that clue on hand, she steered to the left and approached with care. It was difficult to make out at this distance, but with effort she could just barely discern the shape of the Mech in the distance. This time, it was further out and just barely in range, so it would likely remain a proper gunnery duel instead of escalating into a brawl. Faust took a few seconds to line up her shots, but she held and approached a bit further. At this range, the Gauss would lose most of its kinetic energy and while she had the ammunition to spare, she preferred not to expose herself to return fire until she was close enough to deal real damage. The foe's PPCs outranged her after all.
Despite the precaution, when the shots tore through the ashen fog, she clicked her tongue with displeasure. The slugs had spread between the right arm and torso, but had failed to cripple either. They had taken off most of the armor, but inflicted no real structural damage. Unsurprisingly, after recovering its balance, the Falcon Mech turned and riposted, wary of approaching closer after such a shot and rightfully so. The particle beams arced through the fog as well, but did not hit. While she knew the general direction of the shots, she could not see the Fafnir just yet. The thermal beams however, sundered through the gray ash and helped her pinpoint Faust's Mech, exposing it for the next salvo. An additional shot of Autocannon rounds were fired, but at this distance it was not as accurate as the PPCs and only grazed the Fafnir.
The exchange lasted for a longer time than the previous ones, as it was difficult for both MechWarrior to hit mobile targets while moving at full speed, at this distance and through a fog that had thickened a bit more since the beginning of the trial. Three rounds yielded no result on either side, until finally two Gauss slugs lodged themselves into the Night Gyr's left leg, breaking its articulations and causing the Mech to limp. In the end, the light from the Laser Heat Sinks, while they had allowed Joan to fire her PPCs repeatedly in the extremely hot environment, were what helped Hannah keep a closer bead on her location through the ashes and to fire more accurately in the end.
With that limp preventing the crippled Falcon from dodging accurately, the final strike of the Thor's Hammers battered its torso and caused the reactor to grow unstable, prompting its pilot to eject, but from this distance, Hannah could only see the even brighter lights coming from the plasma discharges of the reactor pouring out menacingly.