"Oh ho oh
The echoes of eternity
Oh ho oh
Valhalla calling me
Oh ho oh
To pluck the strings of destiny
Oh ho oh
Valhalla calling me
Valhalla calling me"
— "Valhalla Calling", 21st Century work by artist "Miracle of Sound", Terra
The weeks of deadly battle had long made a ruin of One-Eye's beloved capital. The people of Bolsun were gone, either serving in the militia dying by the droves each day or evacuated into the countryside and some safety from the Terran forces raging against those who defied their will. Even with all the devastation he'd seen in his earlier life, to see Bolsun reduced to this filled him with a quiet, cold rage. He wished to tear the throat out of Director-General Kerensky and her cruel ambition.
But that is not to be my fate. It will fall to one of my peers to deliver the death blow to Kerensky. And Odin's halls will ring with my laughter when the deed is done.The Einherjar moved as swiftly as their machines allowed once on the surface. In the lead, Major Bergman led the company of light 'Mechs and light battle armor serving as scout-killers to disorientate the enemy once contact was confirmed. Tracer and laser fire marked the night sky from the
Partisan tanks raking the skies for any Terran VTOLs or aircraft attempting bombing runs. One such craft braved the fire and delivered a bomb into a half-ruined structure two blocks over. The blast vibrated through One-Eye's 'Mech, leaving behind a whole ruin in its wake.
This is truly our final day. The Terrans would have us surrounded and helpless if we do not strike now. Certainly they know this too, and anticipate it. I will not disappoint them on that count.Distant flashes of PPC fire told him Bergman's light 'Mechs were engaged. Only the new, hardy
Wolf 'Mechs remained from the brutal attrition of the last month of battle, proving themselves once again. Using the imaging on the
Stalker, and incoming feeds, One-Eye observed the lithe humanoid machines jumping and rushing about, their shoulder-mounted heavy PPCs engaging a group of Terran
Stingers and
Javelins. The tonnage difference was not so great an advantage since the Terran machines, using lighter XL engines and superior Terran ferro-fibrous armor, were quite well-armed and equipped for scouts. The latter machines frequently sent SRMs corkscrewing through the air, dealing damage and ruin to Bolsun when they weren't blasting armor from Bergman's machines or damaging the
Churl-equipped armored infantry supporting Bergman with swarm attacks and massed machine gun fire. He felt a surge of pride as one of his pilots, ignoring damage from a massed SRM volley, fired a heavy PPC shot that blew the head off one of the
Javelins.
"
Viking One to Speaker One." Hardy's voice crackled over the radio. "Recon teams through the lines confirm enemy movement. They know we're out in force and they're coming."
"A chance to finish the siege of Bolsun today and meet their deadline to their Director-General," One-Eye thought aloud. He opened the command laser link web connecting him to all the subordinate commands. "All artillery batteries, stand-by!"
Ahead of his position, the 22nd Landgruppe's armored and infantry battalions advanced to meet the enemy first. They were joined by their Einherjar counterparts and the scattered
kampfgruppe that One-Eye's commanders had formed from the detritus of a dozen shattered regiments. These brave tankers and infantry knew their lives were likely to end shortly but, like the MechWarriors, they did not flinch. Joining them were a lance of medium 'Mechs from the 22nd Landgruppe, old designs hastily repaired for this final battle.
The enemy came on, and true to their nature, had no intention of a straight fight. Even as the Terran 'Mechs and vehicles rumbled through the ruins and along the damaged avenues of Bolsun, sensors confirmed the incoming artillery barrage. One-Eye put his
Stalker in motion with the rest of the heavier 'Mechs of the Einherjar. The tactical sensors projected landing points for incoming rounds, the red circles so thick on his holotank he had to carefully maneuver to fit between them. The projections proved off as yellow color splashed over his display, reflecting the outermost layer of armor along the left side of the
Stalker had been stripped by the submunitions of a nearby shell.
The barrage made rubble of half-broken buildings. Clouds of pulverized ferro-crete and other debris mushroomed out from the collapsing structures. None all were empty. Vehicles were being buried, if they'd survived the direct hits, and battle armor infantry likewise left amongst the debris. Their suffering was only surpassed by the non-armored infantry teams caught in the blasts. Artillery was the great killer of infantry here as anywhere else.
The valkyries will have their fill today. He looked skyward as if he might yet see the Choosers of the Slain. He wondered which, if any, would be the one to decide on his worthiness when the end came.
The killing hadn't ended, indeed had only just begun. With their artillery shattering the Rasalhaguan vanguard, the Terran forces moved forward to engage and reap the benefits. One-Eye pulled the right joystick of his controls to move the crosshairs over a
Kintaro in the deep blue, white, and black of the 22nd Royal Brigade. His sensors confirmed the range was too great for a missile lock and that a PPC shot would be unlikely to penetrate the 'Mech's armor even if he hit. He fired one shot anyway and watched it demolish the building beside the advancing
Kintaro. SRMs erupted from its launchers and detonated along the hull of a damaged
Manticore. The armor held against most of the hits, but one of the missiles broke through and blasted apart the tread, crippling the machine.
The crew didn't evacuate. Their PPC flashed to life and scourged armor from the approaching 'Mech, and every weapon aboard kept firing until the Terran pilot speared the turret with a sapphire laser beam. Missile ammunition within cooked under the heat of the laser. The tank blew apart in a fiery explosion. The burning wreckage made for a fitting funeral pyre for the crew entombed within.
His eye focused from the sight towards the holotank's wider tactical projection. The losses in the front ranks were growing. Exhausted Rasalhaguan forces died before the enemy advance. Yet the foe didn't push as hard as they might have.
They suspect something, but not what. But it is too late. He keyed the command links again. "Fire Command, commence fire missions
now."
Behind the lines, the better part of a battalion of Long Tom and Arrow IV-mounted vehicles came out of the battered bunkers and ruined structures they'd been hidden in. The Einherjar artillery gunners swiftly finalized their firing calculations before opening up on the Terran lines. TAG lasers flared to life among the various surviving infantry, drawing the Arrow IV missiles in for direct hits on the largest of the enemy 'Mechs. The
Kintaro One-Eye had fired upon took a direct hit. The explosion that resulted was quickly followed by a second, larger one from the 'Mech's SRM stores, blasting the machine and the pilot into broken ruin. Heavy munitions landed among the Terran lines. Anti-infantry munitions reaped as greatly from their armored infantry as theirs had from the brave Rasalhaguan troops in the vanguard while the heavier munitions flipped tanks and knocked over BattleMechs. Those machines that took direct hits rarely survived the experience and were doomed regardless in their wrecked states.
One-Eye keyed his comms to the open link for all the Rasalhaguan forces. "Forward my Einherjar!
For Rasalhague!" He broke the
Stalker into a run and then pushed it into a sprint, sending status indicators for his machine's myomer bundles to their upper limits. At this speed shooting was impossible and the slightest misstep might tip him over, but it was a risk worth taking. The artillery bombardment wouldn't last forever, but following it through, they could breach the 22nd's front lines and engage their command unit.
Haclev's speed matched his and required the same sprinting posture, but the power of her
Viking's 400-rated XL engine allowed Stralsund to move past at a regular running gait, Minamoto's
Höggspjót running along beside her. The
Viking's speed picked up steadily, going past the usual for its power plant with the aid of the MASC system installed into the machine's musculature. Stralsund's left arm rose and a lance of cerulean lightning erupted from the barrel on it. The shot grazed the leg of one of the Terran 'Mechs ahead. The machine turned and revealed itself to be an
Archer. Its missile launcher covers flipped open a moment before it fired. Stralsund's skill with the
Viking allowed her to evade the incoming fire, causing over half the salvo to miss or hit ineffectually against the armored skin of her charging 'Mech. Though she wasn't in melee range, her right arm raised momentarily to brandish the powerful hatchet clutched in the hand actuator, embodying the spirit of its name.
The
Höggspjót's PPC fired next, at extreme effective range for the heavy weapon. Minamoto's aim was slightly off, but it did force the
Archer pilot to step into cover, buying them precious seconds while another LRM volley, this time from their side, peppered the enemy machine's position.
Another series of ferocious explosions went off in the combat zone. The surviving Einherjar artillery's second barrage was underway, creeping just ahead of their advancing units to keep the Terrans from recovering. One-Eye's focus on his sprinting gait was such that he initially failed to recognize the contrails of Terran artillery missiles flying overhead. It was not until their mid-flight detection was confirmed over his commlinks that he registered their existence. Yet the battle called him forward and he had no spare focus to think on what it meant.
Not until the radio crackled with the cries of his dying soldiers. Major Hendriksson's voice cut through it. "
Fire Command here. Four guns lost. We are resuming fire mission."
Another group of Arrow IV missiles were already streaking overhead. Fewer diverted to specific targets this time, representing the unavoidable loss of the targeting spotters to enemy fire. They hit their pre-programmed saturation targets instead to add to the mayhem of the barrage. Others struck home. Terran war machines suffered and died, furthering the disintegration of their lines.
An icon on his HUD brought One-Eye into a slower, running gait. He tracked a Terran
Thunderbolt bristling with laser emplacements and missiles. It's right arm was gone, torn away by a direct Arrow IV hit that gutted the right side of the machine, but while smoke poured liberally from the damaged engine, the Terran pilot kept the machine upright and turning towards him. One-Eye's fingers tensed on his triggers. Twin spears of cerulean energy shot out and tore into the
Thunderbolt. One scourged armor from the mostly-intact left side, but thanks to his integrated targeting computer, the other found the compromised armor over the engine and shattered it completely. The heat sensors moved up towards orange at the stroke of his other thumb triggers. The Terran pilot turned enough to cover their damaged side, causing the twin emerald beams of the
Stalker's medium lasers to melt down, but not pierce, the solid armor along the left side and hip.
A four-shot missile launcher spat SRMs at him in grim defiance. The chaingun over the cockpit tracked and fired. Given the range, none of the missiles survived the barrage. The enemy pilot followed with the arm-mounted pulse laser. It spat blue sapphire towards the
Stalker, stitching wounds across the assault machine's right side before the final darts of light struck open air, while two torso-mounted lasers struck out and sliced armor from the extended "arm" covering his SRMs. With a calm, steady hand One-Eye settled the crosshairs over the
Thunderbolt. The
Stalker's targeting computer confirmed a hardlock immediately. The moment the tone reached his ears, he triggered one of his Mjolnir PPCs. The bolt struck dead-on, scourging armor in molten, blackened chunks from the enemy machine's hide.
It also had the effect he'd hoped for. The wounded machine's uneven body, the impacts of his weapons, the loss of tons of armor, it was too much. The pilot couldn't keep the
Thunderbolt upright. They desperately tried to roll onto their exposed side but the battered building they tipped over into held them in place. A quick twitch of his joystick brought One-Eye's crosshair onto the blackened metal of the
Thunderbolt's open right flank. He pulled the trigger again, risking the heat buildup of his PPCs and lasers in tandem to ensure he got the engine. Plasma briefly surged from the wound before the Terran 'Mech's power signature vanished from his screens. It was down.
Twenty seconds. That was all it'd taken for what was less a battle and more an execution.
He pushed the
Stalker into another sprint, rushing past where Stralsund was digging her hatchet out of a shattered Terran
Wolverine. A
Black Knight nearby, half-broken with damage, put a single ineffectual laser into Stralsund before Haclev's Gauss Rifles smashed its chest open with two pinpoint shots. He almost slowed to finish the Terran off, but Minamoto got there first. His heavy PPC, every bit as lethal as a Terran extended range model, tore the
Black Knight's entire head module off in a single blast.
A glance at his holotank, with what attention he could spare, told One-Eye the story was repeating across the battlespace. The Terrans hadn't expected an artillery barrage and their forces weren't ready for its brutal power on their lines. Now the Einherjar punished them for that hubris.
The layout of ruins and roadways forced One-Eye to slow to a running gait so he could maneuver through the debris. He looked into the shell of one broken building and noted with quiet fury the detritus of what was once a playground. Now all that was left was a carousel bearing two broken
Churl suits and a Terran
Black Watch-suited soldier sprawled over the splintered pole of a swing set.
The North Bolsun Primary School, he realized upon seeing the broken remains of a sign along the ruined wall nearest him. His mind flashed back just three months ago, a mere week before the HPG network suddenly went dark and heralded the Terran onslaught. He'd visited this school. He'd spoken with the happy young children, basked in their admiration and pride as he encouraged them as his fellow Rasalhaguans.
I knew the Terrans would do something, but I hadn't yet realized the scope of Director-General Kerensky's ambitions. Now my capital is in ruins. My people suffer the deprivations of war and Rasalhague is threatened with oppression once more. If those children are to have a future as something more than Terran thralls, we must win this war. Gods above, I am not a praying mind, but I only ask, let me strike the blow to see my people to safety. I will die content.Another exchange of artillery fire sounded overhead, joined by the familiar thunder of aerospace fighters. Tracer fire lit up the sky at them before explosions flowered in and around the Rasalhaguan forces. One Terran fighter, one of their new
Boyars, appeared on his holotank on a clear attack run. He lifted the
Stalker's nose and fired off his PPCs, knowing they would miss, and for a brief moment he wondered if the Terrans might just kill him now.
Explosions from submunitions flowered over the broad-winged craft. A refitted
Partisan tank coming up from behind, using LB-type autocannons, sprayed the air with cluster rounds. The
Boyar banked away and broke off. A PPC bolt erupted from the ground and struck the craft square in the belly. The armor evidently held but the pilot seemed suitably dissuaded, breaking off.
More cries echoed over the commlink. A new female voice spoke, her voice rough and accented. "
Kapten Zuk here. Major Hendriksson is dead, I am now Fire Command. We've lost two thirds of our guns and all our Arrow IV launchers. Resuming fire mission."
One-Eye nodded to himself at that news.
I will see you in Odin's halls, Major Hendriksson.
Their course brought them up to the Haakon Nystrom Memorial Highway. All but a couple of the overpass spans were broken and collapsed. His
Stalker's feet stomped over and through the shattered concrete that remained of the road. One-Eye remembered the name that honored the broken road, the rebel who'd led Nox's militia to victory over the Draconis Combine during House Kurita's collapse in the 2840s.
Nystrom gave his life for a free Nox and the possibility of a free Rasalhague. Now more of our blood spills to preserve that victory.The Northern Bolsun Community Gardens and Park lay beyond. Some of the trees and other spaces remained alive. Burnt patches marked where war machines had scourged the land with their fury or their deaths. The shattered husk of a
Viper VTOL in Landgruppe colors showed on his magscan spectrum.
The magscan also confirmed the presence of nearby vehicles. Most were an assortment of military transport vehicles, with an extended Field HQ flanked by soldiers in Terran power armor suits. Battle armor troopers surged ahead, with Terran-made
Demolisher and
Manticore tanks in quick-pour ferrocrete positions. An assortment of 'Mechs stood in various points in the park, including a mixed company of heavy and assault 'Mechs. He recognized the Terrans' new, deadly variants to the
Orion,
Thug, and
Highlander.
And looming over them all, standing tall amidst the park, was a new Terran
Atlas II, with the larger upper piece to the head, like a protective helmet and crown, and sharper, more angular lines than the regulars. It was a machine of domination and power marked in the colors of the 22nd Royal Brigade.
Immediately One-Eye recognized that he wasn't the only one doing something unexpected. He felt it in his bones and switched to IR. A handful of heat signatures were present in the Field HQ, true, but not nearly enough.
"
Attention Gothi Sleipson of the Rasalhague Communal Republic." A baritone voice boomed over his speaker, courtesy of a broadband transmission. "
This is General Leo Showers, 22nd Royal BattleMech Brigade. In the name of First Lord Natasha Kerensky of the Star League, I offer you a final chance to save the lives of your surviving soldiers and surrender. You missed your chance to join her as a Council Lord, but you'll get to live."
Potential answers filled One-Eye's mind. He could mock the offer. He could spit out the hate in his heart for the Terrans and their presumption, their arrogance, their attitude that only they mattered and the rest of the Inner Sphere existed to serve their needs. He could scream the defiance burning coldly in his heart.
No, not just defiance,
contempt.
Life ends. One way or another, a man dies, and only his legacy endures. To be remembered as a puppet of Terra would be a fate worse than death. He snorted, dismissing the idea of responding with any of this.
It would be wasted breath.One-Eye settled his crosshairs on the only 'Mech Showers could be in. "You wish my surrender? Allow me to give you an appropriately Terran response." An instant later he pulled his triggers.
Guided by the targeting hardware integrated into his
Stalker, the two PPCs blazed to life. Twin bolts of cerulean lightning converged on the
Atlas II… and struck it directly in the head module. Leo Showers died in an instant as the entire head module blew apart, leaving nothing but a hollow skull of burnt metal as the terrifying machine crumbled to the grass below.
