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Patrol Duty
A patrol finds the enemy in the 3025 era
by Martti Suni |
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Patrol duty Groveld III, Davion-Kurita borderline, 3026 Local time: 18:53:07
Heavy sleet was falling from the gray winter sky. Leftenant Haynes peered out of the cockpit to see his lance prod slowly on the icy and treacherously slippery slopes about 50 kilometers north from Ergan's Pass; search lights and light amplification were almost useless in the blizzard. He could barely see the ground in the advancing darkness as his Enforcer made its way uphill towards their final nav point. The last dim light was fading quickly as they reached the top, and Haynes was glad that they were nearing the base.
"Okay, people. Nav point Iota is straight ahead, that's the last for today's round." They hadn't seen any action the whole day, though their patrol route covered most of what little terrain remained unchecked. Perhaps the weather had covered them, Haynes thought, as the soft synthesized voice of the nav computer told him they were now headed back to base. Going over the ridge, Haynes expected to see on the other side of the valley the hastily erected temporary base of operations that they had used for the past week, but the raging blizzard, dropping visibility to perhaps 50-100 meters, covered everything in a white-gray haze. He had to rely on the nav computer.
So far, there had been no sign of enemy activity, although they had received reports of a covert operation planned to disrupt the defending forces before their main task force would arrive. They had to be out there, Haynes knew it. The problem was finding them, because even though they had narrowed the search area down to about 1000 square kilometers - of uninhabited terrain - it was still more than enough for a highly mobile enemy lance to hide in. Because most of the Davion Light Guards Regiment normally defending Groveld III had been called off temporarily, the Davion force currently on-planet wasn't large enough to hold off a full scale assault. And that was exactly what was to be expected, according to the latest intel reports. Haynes and his lance served with the 11th Avalon Hussars based on Kesai IV, so they were given the job of search and destroy any enemy pre-assault forces possibly present. Reinforcements would arrive as soon as possible, though Haynes doubted that was quick enough. They would just have to hold the planet with the remaining Light Guard units at all costs until reinforcements arrived; probably for the better part of a week. If they failed in their mission, they would very likely lose the planet and the Combine would gain an excellent position to strike also at Niles, Bryceland and even Kesai IV. Haynes knew the situation full well, but he didn't want to trouble himself or his men too much by such thoughts. They were here to do a given job.
"Delta one to base command, we're coming back. No sign of enemies the whole day, over." There was no reply. Haynes tried again: "base command, this is Delta one, do you read me?" Nothing. Perhaps their communications are down, it wouldn't be impossible considering the weather. Coming to the base, they saw no lights or defending units, nor could Haynes get contact to the base command. Closer, he noticed a trail of smoke rise from the disfigured shapes of the barracks and a mobile field base unit. Haynes saw two destroyed mechs - Phoenix Haws - in a heap of trash laying near the ruins of the command center. Another, badly damaged and unrecognizable mech lay blown up nearby. The entire base lay in ruins. He couldn't help feeling a bit sick for all that destruction, though he'd seen plenty in his time. He had known most of the staff personally. However, the lance guarding the base had been a mix of light and medium mechs, so there was a chance that the two Jenner pilots had managed to escape, since he couldn't find the remains of their mechs.
The Draconians must've struck when they were out on patrol. "You can all see the base has been hit. Prepare for combat and toggle radar to infrared-mode. Bear and Skater, check the base perimeter, they may be close by.", he barked to the comlink so calmly that it surprised even himself. Yet silently he cursed at the bastards. They acknowledged the orders with a touch of foreboding in their voice and disappeared between the shadows. Haynes and the fourth pilot, McCullough, took the other way around the base. Not a minute after that came Bear's voice, cool but somewhat troubled: "Got contact on enemy units, five confirmed targets on radar, bearing 220 at 15 m/s, range 5000 meters. Not sure of their class, probably heavy or medium mechs." There it was now, the message Haynes had been hoping all day, yet now he wasn't thrilled at all.
He thought about their odds; they would be mauled in an attack against five heavy Draconians, but on the other hand, this would be the last chance of attack they would get on them. They didn't have any chance of resupply before they got back to the main base of the remaining Davion Guards, which was three hundred kilometers away in Hammer Mesa. It would also mean that the Kurita main attack fleet was already in-system, otherwise the covert team wouldn't have struck yet. Haynes made up his mind. Judging from their bearing, he had a good hunch of where they were headed, and he intended to be there first. "Well, this is it. I'll bet they're headed for Ergan's Pass, and that's where we will set up an ambush. The slopes will give us good visual and radar coverage, so that's our best chance to get an edge of surprise. I don't expect them to be on the watch now with our base destroyed. Bear and Skater, you'll make it there full speed and hold them until we get there. Take the same route as in the morning, that should be the fastest. Now move out."
"Roger that, sir."
Bear and Skater both piloted Shadow Hawks, that could make a top speed of 24 m/s. They outsped the DCMS mechs by a good 9 m/s, but the difficult weather was in favor of the enemy. However, their shorter route should allow them to reach the slopes around Ergan's Pass first. Still, it was a gamble. If it turned out that they were all heavy mechs and not too badly damaged, the two Shadow Hawks wouldn't offer much of a challenge. As Bear and Skater disappeared over the ridgeline and into the darkness, Haynes could only hope for the best. He moved top speed after the faster Shadow Hawks. Still, a quick estimation showed that Bear and Skater would have to hold out on their own for approximately 12 minutes. It was a long time in a battle, especially if you were outugunned and outnumbered, Haynes knew that through experience from similar situations before.
About twenty minutes later, still more than 15 kilometers from the pass, Haynes's comlink crackled into life: "This is Skater. Sir, the enemy mechs seem to have stopped about four kilometers east of the pass. We are in position at the pass. Bear says he's pretty sure they are only medium mechs, he's got better sensors than I. Request further instructions, over." That was something Haynes hadn't expected. "If the enemy moves away from the pass, go after them and hold them at all costs. Otherwise proceed as planned. Haynes out."
Out on the plain, Chu-I Shiro Noruki of the 8th Sword of Light was not happy. Although his lance had succesfully wiped out the Davion base, this mission was far from over. The damned patrol kept following them, and had somehow managed to get to the pass before them. He knew he wouldn't be able to find another route over the mountain line, if there even was one. At least they don't know that we've been following them on long-range radar the whole time, Noruki thought. A DCMS commando team had aquired some top-of-the-line radars during a recent raid on a Davion research facility, and belonging to a Sword of Light Regiment, Noruki and his men had received two of them particularily for this mission. If they hadn't had such a bad luck at the base, he would have ordered his warriors to wipe out those two Shadow Hawks at once, but those incompetent fools had almost got themselves killed in a simple strike. Noruki couldn't understand how such pilots had got in the elite regiment in the first place. His Centurion was still in good shape, considering the surprisingly aggressive fight that the Davion pilots had put up. However, Kabuto and Narazaki were less lucky; their mechs were missing an arm or had lost several weapons and Katayama's Enforcer had run out of LRM's. The Griffin of Ito'o was at least in adequate operational condition. They would be evenly matched against the Davions.
The main fleet was still two days from touching down. The plan was to get the dropships down on the southern continent while Noruki and his men caused trouble in the north. He knew well enough that the High Command wouldn't care too much if he became a casualty for the greater glory of the Combine, but he personally wasn't planning on dying. "Chu-I, two more contacts in direction 070. I think that's the rest of the enemy patrol, Sir." That was Narazaki, the one Noruki disliked particularily for his cowardly fighting style. "I am here to do the thinking" he snapped back and added: "Move up to those slopes and find some cover behind the rocks. And prepare to fight, those Davion dogs are coming to kill us." Noruki knew he had no chance of slipping away from them, because his mech was far too slow for that. Some "highly mobile covert force", he thought bitterly. Maybe it had been a mistake to reveal themselves so early, but the base had been so temptingly poorly defended and after all, that was the thing they had been ordered to do, "make trouble". They moved into a defensive formation, ready to take out the enemy, or die trying.
As Haynes made it over the hills and down to the plain, his sensors picked up the enemy force. The blizzard was clearing up; the snowfall was dying out and the night was clear, though the breeze was still cold. He opened the comlink: "This is leftenant Haynes of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns. You are trespassing on Davion territory and have taken action against our troops. Power down your mechs and surrender, or die." Haynes knew that would be out of the question, but he wanted to play by the book. "This is Chu-I Noruki of the 8th Sword of Light regiment speaking; you can try to kill us leftenant, but you will accomplish nothing more than your death. We of the Sword of Light are used to win the battles we fight." Always worth a try, trying to shake up the enemy a little, Noruki thought. With the formalities got over with, both forces prepared for what was to come.
Haynes led the attack, with Bear and Skater on the right and Mac giving fire support from behind. As the distance drew under thousand meters, the Kurita mechs opened fire; Ito'o and Narazaki fired their LRM's and Noruki's heavy autocannon sent its punch with frightening accuracy against Haynes's Enforcer. The mech shook and toppled to the side, and Haynes had to work hard to keep it in balance. The Kurita troops had a clear positional advantage, with the rocks covering them and the slope slowing the Davion mechs down. After the initial shots, the Davions too got their targets under reticule: firing large lasers Bear and Skater managed to cut an arm from a Griffin. Before the Kuritas could target them, they applied jump jets, getting quickly to under than 500 meters range, where they would be able to use their medium lasers effectively. Further back, Mac's autocannon fired a burst of shells through the torso of an enemy Shadow Hawk. It fell down, smoking heavily. Seeing his chance to take the mech out for good, Haynes fired his large laser and hit it in the head. The mech didn't get back on its feet.
Seeing Kabuto's mech cut down, Noruki decided to concentrate his fire on the lance leader's Enforcer. It would be best to take him out first. He fired medium lasers, but didn't hit the quickly moving mech. Meanwhile, Ito'o had got his LRM racks reloaded and fired them from close range. Few of the missiles hit the the Shadow Hawks, but most flew harmlessly past the target. "Spare your missiles, we can't afford to waste them! Everyone, concentrate fire on one mech at a time." Noruki ordered. He was angered by Ito'o's foolishness, though he had to admit that in the heat of the battle such misjudgements were always made. Following the Chu-I's orders, Narazaki and Katayama attacked one of the Shadow Hawks from two directions, firing fiercely at the mech's center torso. Suddenly, something in the internal structure - perhaps it was an ammo explosion - exploded and the mech simply collapsed to a smoking piece of metal in a matter of seconds. Narazaki lost another arm to splash damage, which left his mech almost completely unarmed in front of the enemy. One down, three to go, Noruki thought. "Good work, men", he encouraged them. It started to seem as if the battle was turning in their favor.
Haynes was still a little shocked after seeing Skater fried suddenly like that. His scream still rang in Haynes's ears. "Bear, target that Centurion, that seems to be the lance leader. Mac, put that damaged Griffin permanently out of use! We'll need to take out the most badly damaged ones first." Almost simultaneously, Mac fired his autocannon; the burst ripped apart the Griffin's head, toppling the mech and causing the ground to shake as it landed on its back. No need to bury the pilot, there would be nothing left of him. "Nice shot, Mac. Get after that second Griffin, it's giving Bear a hard time!"
"Roger that" McCullough replied and turned just in time to see the Griffin aim at Bear's Shadow Hawk in order to fire its large laser. A medium laser shot in the hand pushed the mech off balance just enough so that the enemy pilot missed Bear by few meters. The pilot left Bear to battle the lance leader, and turned to face the new threat behind him.
On the other side of the hill, Bear was attacking the Centurion at close range. He was not doing well; his mech had lost an arm and his SRM launcher was destroyed. Still, he'd managed to inflict damage on the enemy as well, though he couldn't hope to get destroy the mech on his own. He decided to pull back and retreated by jumping over the rocky hill top and moved back to join the rest of the lance on the other side. Coming fast from behind the rocks, he almost crashed with the enemy Griffin that had turned to face Mac. Smoke came out of the left side of the mech, and its left arm was almost cut off. Still, the pilot had plenty of weapons left intact and he was pounding Mac's Centurion with laser fire. It seemed to Bear as if Mac wouldn't hold out for long.
Meanwhile, Haynes had gone after the Enforcer that had seemed to be less anxious to join the fight. Perhaps there the mech was more damaged than it seemed on the display, Haynes thought. He decided to try to bring it down, or at least stop it, by shooting off a leg. The pilot's evasive maneuvers between the rocks and accurate laser shots, however, surprised Haynes. He had been sure that the mech was nearly finished already and would be an easy pick, but instead he found himself getting chewed to bits little by little without being able to inflict much damage. Haynes thought about pulling back to the open plain, but it would have given the enemies time to regroup. He pushed on and finally managed a large laser shot that crippled the mech and left it standing helplessly. About time, Haynes thought, relieved. His mech was badly overheated after firing large and medium lasers over and over again; he had already overridden the emergency heat shutdown twice. The air was so hot and humid in the cockpit that he was sweating massively. He would need a while to cool up.
Over the hill, Noruki cursed his bad luck. The Shadow Hawk had been right under his nose, but he hadn't managed to take it out. Just as he was about to deliver the final punch, the Davion scum had retreated cowardly by jumping behind the rocks! He made his way back to the top of the hill and called for status reports. Kabuto and Narazaki were killed, Katayama's mech was crippled, Ito'o was in trouble, between two enemy mechs. He saw the three mechs on the left, halted his mech and carefully aimed at the Shadow Hawk. Now he would deliver his coup de grace. A thundering salvo from his heavy autocannon hit the mech right between the shoulders. The whole robotic body twitched violently and fell crashing down the slope. Noruki smiled, satisfied. "Beautiful shot, Chu-I! And thanks for getting him off my back", Ito'o said on the comlink. "We've still got two of them to take care of. Let's finish off that Centurion now", he replied.
Mac's Centurion was still in mint condition, having suffered only minimal damage from the furious barrage of laser fire - most of it missed him - from the Kurita Griffin. He had already ripped off ifs left arm, and was looking forward to blasting it off duty for good. But then the Centurion had appeared from between the rocks, and blasted Bear's Shadow Hawk to bits. He called for Haynes: "Sir, I'm not gonna survive against these two bastards! I'd appreciate some help." Another large laser shot in the torso rocked his mech. He returned a salvo of LRMs that hit the Griffin in the lower torso and right leg. The mech slowed down, probably overheated. Mac was also starting to feel the heat building up within his machine, and his autocannon was running out of ammo after a few rounds. He definetely needed some help.
Haynes had gone far from rest of the lance while chasing off the damaged Enforcer. Now he was racing back at top speed and hoped to make it in time before his lancemates would get smashed. He moved to the plain to get a better view of the area, and saw Mac being pounded by the two mechs in the distance. "Pull back to the plain Mac, I'm coming this way", he replied to Mac's call for help. To his horror, he couldn't contact Bear and Mac confirmed that he was gone, so it was just him and Mac against those two Kuritas. Haynes gripped the joysticks tighter. The two Kuritas were both engaging Mac, who was retreating towards him, firing all his weapons - what was left of them. At first, the Griffin pilot seemed to hesitate going after Mac, but then he raced forward and the Centurion followed on the right. It would end, one way or another, right here.
Mac moved behind Haynes to get some cover, and to get a chance to use LRMs from a longer range. His autocannon had ran out of ammo and the LRM rack was nearly empty as well. The Kurita mechs were less than 600 meters away, already targeting Haynes's mech. He didn't want to lose the offensive edge he still had, and fired an alpha strike directly at the Griffin. Autocannon sent its punch with a rattle along the right arm, and it made a smoking hole in the lower torso of the enemy mech. Large laser finished the job; an internal ammo explosion shook the mech from the inside, and already badly damaged, it was one hit too many. The Griffin's powerplant exploded, sending mech parts all around in a thundering blast. The charred mech body collapsed into a pile of disfigured metal trash. Losing its balance for a split-second because of the heat and splash damage, the other Kurita pilot missed Haynes. That was enough for Mac to deliver his last salvo of LRMs with devastating accuracy through the Centurion's head. It fell down, its cockpit smashed and the pilot inside dead.
Haynes let his mech come to a stop and looked around the field. Two Kurita mechs lay nearby, and further away were the remains of Bear's Shadow Hawk. The ground was littered with all sorts of mech parts and rubbish. He glanced at the chronometer; it showed that the whole battle had taken no more than 25 minutes. It felt like hours. "Well, Mac. Looks like we made it in the end, though it was pretty close we didn't end up dead, like Bear and Skater. Let's go finish the Kurita mech I disabled and then set course to Hammer Mesa, we'll be needing some repairs after this patrol", Haynes said to the comlink, and added: "we'd better send in a salvage team to take care of all this, as well as the remains of Bear and Skater. They'll probably be wanting to inspect the enemy databanks for any information."
"Roger that, Sir." |
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