West of Zurin, Engadin, Engadin System, Free Rasalhague Republic, September 20th, 3050
Kelly grinned as the display in her cockpit lit up with the projected range of the Babylon’s two Arrow IV launchers. Yes, that would do nicely - they were almost close enough to reach the starport and base that was the Irregulars’ main objective.
“Gamma-13, swing around the hill in front of us - we need eyes on the slope behind it. Gamma-14, cover her.” They couldn’t risk the remaining aerospace fighters for a low-altitude flyover - not with unknown numbers of anti-aircraft artillery set up at the base. And high-altitude recon was useless in this forested area. So, the surviving Shilones not in immediate need of repairs were doing high-altitude recon flights to cover the plains and rolling hills to the east and north.
“Copy.”
“Copy!”
As the two Phoenix Hawks sped up and moved to the right, Kelly kept going straight at the hill, Karen covering her left flank. If the Clanners were competent they would have sent a screening force towards the dropship, to fix their location so they could bring the heavier ‘Mechs to bear. And that meant light ‘Mechs piloted by ageing veterans wanting to die in a blaze of glory or young Mechwarriors eager to prove themselves so they’d get promoted into a line unit. That was how the Horde had run things, at least.
And the hill was directly in the path from the base to the landing zone. So, some over-eager Clan pilot in a light ‘Mech should appear any moment now.
And indeed - her sensors caught an approaching runner. Mongoose, her computer identified it. Probably the royal variant - the Horde had used those extensively for their second line forces.
And there it was - the Mongoose crested the hill near a small ravine - not enough to hide from Kelly’s active probe. “Mongoose in the centre,” she informed the others as her computer shared the data.
The Clanner had spotted her as well despite her ECM and moved forward, large laser blazing.
Kelly pulled to the right as the ground near her was scorched. Large laser, as expected.
Karen returned fire with her ER PPC, missing as well - but at that range, the odds of hitting a fast-moving ‘Mech were not very good.
But the range was closing rapidly. Kelly opened a channel to the Babylon. “Alternate fire on these coordinates, one missile each.”
“Copy!”
The notice that the first missile was in the air arrived as she weaved, evading another shot from the laser. Grinning, she started to close the range.
Karen shot at the Mongoose again but missed - the enemy pilot was good.
But not good enough - her Raven got in range of her lasers and SRMs just as the first missile arrived. Which meant it was almost close range for her TAG. She grinned as the first homing missile struck it directly into the torso, blowing a hole through it - and through the XL engine housed there. The ‘Mech froze and toppled over.
“Gamma-11! There’s a lance of ‘Mechs coming towards you! Engaging!”
The rest of the formation - two Falcons and two Crabs. Kelly kept running her Raven up the hillside - the next missile was about to arrive in the area. She reached the top just as her computer informed her of its arrival. With the enemies engaged with half her lance and her Raven’s ECM fooling their sensors, the Clanners hadn’t noticed her approach, and so she could TAG the closest Falcon just before it could react. The missile struck its torso, blowing off its right arm.
Kelly resisted the urge to stand and add her own lasers and SRM to the damage and threw her ‘Mech around, darting back down the slope before the rest could return fire. One laser still hit her - her Raven’s left arm showed up damaged.
But with all the attention on her, the rest of her lance had an easier time focusing on the enemies. Karen crested the hill a bit further away and fired both her PPC and laser, and Kelly saw that the Falcon she had damaged fell down, its torso blown through.
But now O’Finnegan had the entire battery set up. Kelly grinned and ordered a fire mission - One lance, staggering two missiles per volley.
As Michael reeled, almost falling down, under the fire from both crabs, Kelly peeked over the ridge again, firing both lasers and the SRMs at the closer crab. The sudden heat spike in the cockpit was discomforting, but nothing that would really hinder her. “Gamma-1, focus on the other Falcon!” she snapped.
Once more, she darted back down the slope - and as expected, the Falcon came after her while the Crabs were shooting at Anna and Michael. But with three Phoenix Hawks firing their PPCs at it, it was a battered Falcon that arrived on the hilltop, and Kelly sent both lasers and all SRMs at it.
It wasn’t enough to destroy it - most SRMs missed when the Falcon jerked to the side - but then two missiles arrived, and Kelly’s TAG guided both into the staggering light ‘Mech, which fell down, missing a leg and most of its torso.
Kelly’s Raven had lost some more armour, and the heat in the cockpit made sweat run down her front and back, but that was to be expected. More importantly, all systems were still perfectly functional - and two more homing missiles were about to arrive.
She guided her ‘Mech up the slope again to send them into the closest Crab.
Only one of the missiles picked up her targeting data, though - the other missile struck an empty field far behind the enemy. But the missile that did hit struck the Crab’s right leg, which had been damaged before. The leg crumbled, and the Crab fell down.
Kelly kept running, two lasers barely missing her and another melting armour on her right arm, as her lance finished off the downed Crab.
And before the Clanners’ lasers recycled, the next two missiles arrived overhead. Kelly tagged the Crab as she circled it, and the enemy ‘Mech turned right into the missiles, catching them with its left arm and torso, which vaporised under the impact. Kelly quickly fired her own lasers and missiles, but the Clanner pilot threw their ‘Mech to the side to avoid falling, and her volley went wide.
Karen and Anna finished it off with a barrage of lasers though, melting its exposed insides before it managed to return fire.
“Status report!” Kelly snapped on the lance command channel, then switched to battalion command. “Gamma-11, five enemy ‘Mechs down - enemy recon foiled.” She glanced at the feeds from her lance. Karen and Anna were good - armour was a little thin in some spots, but nothing had been breached. Michael, however, had lost a leg actuator and was limping. And his armour was now thinner than Kelly’s.
“Good,” Alex replied on the battalion command channel.
“Sending one ‘Mech back for repairs,” she went on. Michael was the most inexperienced of her lance, and slowed down, he would be an easy target.
“Gamma-14, return to base for repairs.”
“But I can still fight!”
“Gamma-14, return to base for repairs,” she repeated herself - a little more sharply than before.
After a moment, she heard a sigh, followed by: “Copy.”
That left her with three ‘Mechs in her lance, all with armour damage. Not enough, not even with artillery support, to safely tangle with another enemy lance. But the rest of the battalion was advancing and relied on her to find the enemy.
So she ordered them to follow her and started to run towards the enemy base again. At least neither the Shilones nor the recon ‘Mechs she had dispatched to screen the landing zone had encountered any enemy forces.
*****
Cat frowned when she saw the markers appear on the battle map in her cockpit. Not because of the number of enemy ‘Mechs - they had expected to face a garrison cluster, after all. In fact, there were only twenty-five ‘Mechs advancing towards them - two of the Clanners’ reinforced companies, short one of their reinforced recon lances. Or ‘Trinaries’ and ‘Stars’, if you wanted to use the Horde terminology.
And she certainly appreciated the details about the enemy’s force composition. Mostly second-line and Star League ‘Mechs, and mediums at that.
But she didn’t like that Kelly had gotten so close to the enemy formation to get that information. One of the enemy’s lances was already chasing her and her lance - and they were out of the artillery’s range until O’Finnegan finished taking up forward firing positions, so all Kelly could do was keep running and using the terrain to deny the Clanners a clear line of fire.
Cat clenched her teeth when that didn’t quite work, and one of the pursuers - a Vixen - managed to get into a firing position. Kelly’s Raven kept running, though, so she wasn’t hit, or not hit in anything critical, and the two Phoenix Hawks with her returned fire, causing the lighter ‘Mech to fall back and let its lance mates - two Peregrines, a Hellhound and a Goshawk - catch up.
Cat wanted to race ahead to help Kelly, but she had her orders. And the whole plan wouldn’t work if she broke formation - and it would mean she would have to leave Jane and Ursula in their slower assault ‘Mechs behind. If anything happened to Kelly…
“Delta-1 ready for a fire mission!”
Finally! O’Finnegan’s first lance had set up! And just in time - that bloody Vixen had just started to overtake Kelly’s lance, probably to cut them off and stall them long enough for the rest of the Star to catch up.
“Delta-1, firing!”
Kelly must have called for fire support immediately. Things must be worse than Cat had feared, then. Damn!
But as things were, the Vixen tried to stop Kelly’s lance just as the homing missiles appeared overhead, and was blown apart as three of them struck it.
And in a minute or two, Kelly would be in range of Beta Company’s extended range PPCs.
Cat bared her teeth as she guided her Victor around the next hill. The rest of the Clanners were falling back again. Smart. Smarter than Cat liked them - they didn’t want to fight in range of the Irregulars’ artillery.
But the Clanners had no choice - the artillery was advancing behind Cat and Alex’s companies. So, given those were Clanners, and a second-line unit at that, Cat expected them to charge any moment.
Half a minute later, that happened - twenty-four Clanners were charging straight at the Irregulars. Cat opened a channel to Allen. “Beta-31, advance and attack the lance chasing our scouts.” Allen’s mediums would be able to handle those ‘Mechs at least until the rest of the company arrived. And Cat really didn’t want those fast ‘Mechs flanking her - or hunting down Kelly. Which was what she would do in the Clanners’ place: Take out the enemy’s ECM ‘Mech.
“Copy!” Allen replied, and the Shadow Hawks and Griffins took off.
But the main force of the Clanners was now in sensor range. And they were led by a Star of OmniMechs. Some heavies, too - a Timber Wolf, a Mad Dog, and a Summoner, supported by an Ice Ferret and an Adder.
“Beta-11, hit the enemy in the right flank,” Alex’s voice sounded over the command channel. “We’ll be hitting them straight ahead. Gamma-11, direct artillery support to our left flank.”
“Copy,” Cat replied. That would leave their left flank exposed - Alex must be counting on holding the line with just one lance there and the artillery while Cat rolled up the Clanner’s flank. Risky, but she didn’t see a better option right now.
But it also meant that Kelly couldn’t stay and help Allen with the lance bearing down on Cat’s flank. “Beta-21, spread out and support Beta-3!” she told Meier.
That would crush the recon star’s remnants, if they stayed and fought, but it would mean Cat’s command lance would be facing up to ten ‘Mechs at the start. Mostly mediums, but still… Cat hoped that the enemy commander would focus more on Alex’s company than hers.
She turned around a forested ridge, and a particle beam flashed past her - five enemy ‘Mechs were charging down a slope. Cat stepped to the side, into a denser patch of the woods, as LRMs peppered her armour, and checked her display. A forty-ton Clanner Griffin, Sentinel, Goshawk, the forty-five-ton Shadow Hawk the Clans used, and a Royal Champion. “Beta-1, focus on the Champion!” she snapped and hit her jump jets - she didn’t want that ‘Mech to be able to use its gauss rifle and PPC for long.
Cat rose above the trees a moment before pulse lasers and more LRMs ripped through the woods and landed behind a low ridge. A moment later, her Victor reeled as a gauss rifle struck its left torso.
But the rest of her lance had come into range as well, and the Champion, which had exposed itself to fire at her, was struck by two gauss rifles and two PPCs. Both gauss rifles hit the useless arm stumps of the Champion, though, which left the Clanner ‘Mech reeling but still fighting.
Cat charged ahead, another gauss rifle smashing her left arm, a PPC hitting her torso, and jumped once more, avoiding more LRMs - the Griffin pilot wasn’t a good gunner. She touched down in the middle of another patch of trees, with the enemy finally in range of her weapons. Her Pontiac ripped into the leg of the Champion, wrecking its hip, though her SRMs went wide.
This time the ‘Mech fell down, crushing its left arm in the process, and Cat charged on, shrugging off some lasers and SRMs from the Shadow Hawk while returning fire with her autocannon and SRMs of her own. The Shadow Hawk stumbled back, its torso laid open, but didn’t fall or show any sign of internal damage.
But before it could react, a gauss rifle struck it smack into the centre of its body, and it went down trailing plasma and wrecked parts. “Good shot, Beta-12,” she complimented Rick and opened up on the Griffin. Again, her shells opened the ‘Mech’s torso, followed by her lasers and SRMs, but she failed to damage anything critical.
And the enemy was now focusing on her - the Griffin sent more LRMs at her supported by the Sentinel. She frowned while her armour took a few more hits. Why weren’t they retreating? They were outgunned and had already lost two ‘Mechs. The display was clear, but… “Beta-14, cover the ridge!”
“Copy!”
“Beta-21, join us as soon as possible!”
“Copy!”
Meier’s lance was close but not in range - and still engaged with more ‘Mechs than she had expected. It seemed that the Clanners had tried to flank her.
She tried to charge into melee range with the Griffin, but it jumped out of the way, and she missed with her autocannon as well. Jane and Rick finished the Sentinel, though, which left…
“Incoming!” Ursula yelled, and three PPC bolts flashed past Cat, two missing and one striking the Royal Phoenix Hawk that had just crested the ridge - and that ‘Mech’s ECM explained while Cat’s sensors hadn’t detected the approaching lance or star.
The Phoenix Hawk fired back with PPC and laser, striking Ursula’s Awesome. Well, the assault ‘Mech could take it.
Cat raced to the side, blocking the Griffin’s closest route to link up with the reinforcements. That meant it would jump… right now!
This time, her autocannon caught the jumping ‘Mech and blew it out of the sky - her lasers were just overkill, and her heatsinks strained to bring down the heat in her cockpit. Wiping some sweat from her face, she turned. The Goshawk had been reduced to a wreck by Rick and Jane, and…
The Victor reeled, alerts blaring in her cockpit. Her left leg shook, and her left torso was breached - a Royal Galahad had joined the Phoenix Hawk on the ridge. Cat managed not to fall and moved behind a low ridge, causing the Royal Lancelot that popped up above her to miss her.
She returned fire at the Galahad, but the enemy dodged her shells, and the SRMs struck undamaged armour. Should have fired the lasers as well, she thought. “Focus on the Galahad!” she snapped, jumping again. They were focusing on her, so she had to present a hard target.
Lasers and two more gauss rifles missed her before she landed at the foot of the ridge, shielded from all but the Lancelot. And once more, it ducked right when her auctocannon and SRM launcher fired. Cursing, she hit her jets once more - and flew over the ridge, landing next to the Clanner ‘Mech.
This time, her cannon hit it, tearing off one of its arms, and her SRMs peppered its torso to no effect. But before the Lancelot could recover, she lashed out with her Victor’s foot, crushing most of the Clanner’s leg.
It remained standing, though, and she was exposed now - and there was a Crab firing at her as well. The Mech’s lasers mostly missed, but those who hit cut her left arm off at the shoulder.
The Galahad turned to fire at her, but it caught a gauss rifle and two PPCs in the torso that spoilt its aim, and Cat managed to avoid most of the rest of the fire as she jumped back over the ridge.
She landed with not quite the grace she usually managed, the shock jarring her as she clenched her teeth, and started running at once. Her lance fired everything at the ridge, one lucky shot ripping off the Galahad’s sensor dish and throwing it back, but the Clanners didn’t back off - and charged after her.
While she weaved, more lasers struck her rear torso, melting armour. She fired back but missed, her Pontiac’s shells ploughing through the ground near the Lancelot.
But she saw the blue markers ahead of her - Meier’s and Allen’s lances, missing a Griffin, were entering the range of their PPCs.
Another volley hit her battered Victor’s rear - she lost a jump jet as a result and a heatsink - and then a volley of PPC fire blew the Lancelot apart. The Phoenix Hawk jumped back, but Ursula landed three hits with her PPCs, and the ‘Mech crashed into the slope and didn’t move any more.
The Galahad returned fire, missing with both gauss rifles.
Cat whirled around and charged in, catching it with her autocannon - and blew part of its torso away. The ‘Mech collapsed.
Finally! And according to her battle map, there were no enemy forces left covering the Clanners’ flank. She switched to the company channel. “Beta, follow me - we’re hitting the enemy in the flank!”
*****
Nastajia would kill Alex. Kelly was certain of that. Her friend had deliberately revealed himself as their commander, which had caused the Clan leader to come after him with pretty much everything he had. And while Alex was the best ‘Mechwarrior Kelly knew and piloted an Atlas, that could only help so much. Alex’s armour looked more melted than whole as he fought the enemy commander’s Timber Wolf.
Her Raven didn’t look any better, of course - worse, actually. She had lost her lasers and was limping, and pretty much any hit would breach what armour remained. It was almost fortunate that her SRM had run dry, as had her Narc pod.
And the enemy was after her - they must have realised that she was guiding the Arrow IV missiles, and so Kelly hadn’t been able to direct any fire for minutes now, having to run and dodge instead to avoid getting hunted down by the enemy.
Her lance wasn’t doing much better. Anna had had to eject when her gyro was shot up, and Karen was holding on by a thread - if the Clanners weren’t so focused on Kelly, they could’ve finished her before the two managed to join Alex’s company.
And while they were winning - the Clanners had maybe half a dozen effective ‘Mechs left - that didn’t matter should something happen to Alex. She knew that he just wanted to keep the enemy’s attention on himself so they wouldn’t lose more people, but he was the First Lord of the Star League, not some minor Davion hothead!
She checked her display as she weaved through denser trees, dodging fire from a Hellhound after her. Alex was still holding on, but his armour was now almost gone, and the Timber Wolf was running circles around him. What was the rest of Alex’s lance doing? Even with their gauss rifle ammo spent, they should do better than this!
She ordered another missile and darted left, then right, luring the enemy ‘Mech both in front of Karen’s guns and into the target area of the artillery. She just had to last a little longer.
The tree next to her blew up, struck by a pulse laser. Damn! But there! A ravine! She almost stumbled, but managed to rush down the slippery slope, then run in the ravine. Without falling down. “Gamma-12, incoming!” she announced on the lance channel, then rushed out of the ravine.
The Hellhound, faster than her limping ‘Mech, followed, and Karen hit it with everything she could still fire, almost redlining her Phoenix Hawk.
The Clanner stumbled, and before it could recover, the homing missile arrived. Kelly skidded to the side, twisted her Raven’s torso and tagged the Clanner. The missile blew its leg off, and she quickly rushed forward, stomping it twice before the enemy ‘Mech stopped moving.
“Anyone else around?” Karen asked as if Kelly’s Active Probe wasn’t transmitting its data to everyone in the network.
“No. Let’s rejoin the others!” Kelly replied.
They hurried to the frontlines, passing Garribaldi’s headless Crusader, towards the hill where Alex was barely holding on - almost all his armour was gone now, and while the Timber Wolf was damaged as well, this couldn’t go on for much longer. She hissed with frustration and urged her damaged ‘Mech on, calling in a full strike from the next available artillery lance. With a bit of luck, that would down the Timber Wolf.
But as she neared Alex’s position, she noticed Cat’s company approaching. They must have dealt with the enemies on their flank! The remaining Clanners - half a dozen - adjusted their formation, but they were now outnumbered almost three to one.
The Timber Wolf suddenly jerked and changed course - had it detected the incoming missiles? It didn’t matter; the missiles would find it anywhere.
But before the missiles arrived overhead, Alex charged forward, finally catching the enemy with a kick that shattered the Timber Wolf’s leg. He lost an arm in exchange, but the fight was over.
But the Clanners didn’t admit it - they fought on, trying to take more Irregulars with them. Kelly blew up a damaged Black Knight with three of the four missiles that arrived, but not even that stopped the fanatics.
*****