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I, Kerensky
by Roguebaron |
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Outskirt Hogye, Engadine,
Melissa Theater, Lyran Alliance,
April 8, 3058
The day had finally arrived.
As I predicted, the Hunt Lance came in full fury, sandwiched by two lances of tanks on both flanks. The Viper’s JaggerMech took the central stage, leading the entire company. On its left was Wade Avery’s Bushwacker, a good all-around battlemech. On the Viper’s right were a Trebuchet and a Centurion. Cedro warned me about the Trebuchet. With a pair of long-range missile launchers, this mech posed the greatest threat for Hogye’s civilians, especially in the hands of a skilled pilot. The tanks were mostly Vedettes with a pair of missile carriers.
I sat in the command couch of the Commando, jacketed by tons of armor, armed by three lasers and one missile launcher, yet I felt naked. Looking at the big guns these monsters brought, I felt I would not stand more than 3 minutes. I start to question my sanity. Was this worth doing, or was it just a vain attempt?
But deep inside of me, I believed that everything was possible. Two of the greatest weapons in any commander’s arsenal are audacity and surprise. It was time to teach this lesson to my enemies.
As the Hunt Lance rolled into Hogye, all they saw was one solitary mech, and a 25 ton relic at that.
I marched toward the Hunt Lance, and halted just on the brink of wide strip of grass. I waited until they reached 1 kilometer from my position, then opened a communication channel with them. “This is Parker. I understand that we have some unfinished business, and as far as I know it does not include Hogye. So let us find a way to solve our problem without including Hogye.”
A curt chuckle burst on the comlink. “You’re right, bonehead! We don’t have to kill everybody. But the only way you can save them is to jump out of that beer can you call a mech and surrender. Now this is your last chance to be a hero. Surrender yourself or Hogye will suffer from your insolence!”
I put the Commando into a slow backpedal. “I will give myself to you, but in a warrior’s way. I bid myself and my Commando against you and your JaggerMech. I wager Hogye’s independence along with my bid. If I win, you must cease your relationship with Hogye and Kinst and leave in peace. If you win, you have me.”
The mercenaries chortled more. “What are you, a Clanner? A Commando against my mech? Are you nuts? Just cut the crap and get out of that thing, or we’ll torch Hogye to the very last man!”
I put the thruster to maximum. “No, Mister Viveros. I will not surrender.”
Just as my last words flew over the comlink, my radar screamed proximity alarm. The Bushwacker and the Trebuchet launched its missiles. I reversed direction and broke into a sprint toward Hogye, crisscrossing my path as I went. Seconds later the first missile hit my back, followed by half a dozen more in a quick succession. Each explosion shoved me forward. The missile rain continued, and my head got dizzy with the jarring sound. I tried to twist, but one missile hit my leg. I felt the Commando lose its balance and tumble, flat faced, to the ground.
The crash took my consciousness away for a moment. When I opened my eyes, my gauges were busted up. The smell of burning titanium lingered in the cockpit. I tugged my joystick backward to bring my Commando to its feet, but the ground quaked with explosions, making it hard to stand. Smoke and mud hampered my vision, and the noise of the constant explosions were making my head hurt. I looked at the radar and saw the Hunt Lance had fired up their engines, closing quickly on my position. The tanks followed them just several meters behind the mechs.
“Parker!” Megi screamed on the comlink. “Are you alright? Get out of there!”
“No!” I rebuked. “We must follow the plan!”
“No time, you idiot! They’ll munch you out before you can activate it! I’m calling for help!”
“No! Follow…..the….plan!” I screamed, just as my radar rang again. The distance between me and the Hunt Lance was down to 600 meters, so the missiles would need less time to impact. I kept my course for one second, then quickly engaged a hard right turn. Half of the missiles flew pass my back, the other half tried to follow my maneuver, but the majority of them ended up on the dirt. Only a few managed to pepper my back. But the rear armor of my Commando had been severely mauled, so these few busted into the internal structure and dangerously threatened my reactor. Warning sound swarmed my head. I knew that my mech could not survive another attack on the back.
But when I scanned their position, I saw that the mercenaries had almost reached the strip of grass where I had been standing moments before. They trotted confidently forward, sure of victory, until the JaggerMech stepped into the trap.
It was a wide gap, 3 meters deep, covered with a thin grass camo net and filled with gas and tar. The JaggerMech lost its balance and flopped awkwardly into the pit. The tanks saw their leader plunge into the pit and tried to stop, but at their full speed, they needed too much time to come to a complete halt. One by one they plunged into the pool of doom.
The Bushwacker, Trebuchet, and Centurion managed to maneuver clear, but 6 out of the 8 tanks were trapped in the pit, along with Viveros’ JaggerMech. They tried to reverse, but the trench was too deep for them to climb up. I yelled into my microphone, “Now! Light them up!”
The Cutlass battle armors, who had been hiding near the trench, came out of their refuge and quickly put their rifles to work. Strands of lasers zipped toward the trench, and in a second, the pit turned into a bonfire. The flame rose into a large wall, separating the mercenaries from Hogye, while roasting the tanks slowly. The tank’s armor was thick enough to sustain the heat, but the temperature inside the cockpits was hot enough to force the crews to get out. It was a mistake. As soon as they got out of the tanks, they were torched. Some of the exterior of the tanks were hot enough that the crews just molded onto the tank, creating black stains on the armor.
From the broken visor of my cockpit I watched as the mechs and the two remaining tanks were thrown into confusion. They were trapped on the outer side of the firewall. I could imagine their comlink filled with screams and unintelligible orders.
Maintaining the momentum, I gave another order. “Kinst, send them the rest of the way to hell!”
Hogye’s perimeter was covered with light forest, a perfect place for Kinst’s tanks to hide. The mercenaries had not recovered from the shock of the pit, when out of nowhere five Vedettes burst from the wood and fired their autocannons into their midst. Shards of armor flew in every direction as the mechs twisted and twitched, trying to fire back. But the confusion threw every attempt to make a coordinated counter attack, and the Kinst’s tanks happily chewed on their armor from every direction.
“Focus on the Bushwacker!” I cried out. “Take one mech at a time!”
Meanwhile, the JaggerMech was still trapped inside the pit, but the Viper’s valiant effort finally freed it from the blazing ditch. Unfortunately, he climbed up the wrong side of the pit. His lance mates were on the other side of the wall, and he stood with his back against the firewall, facing me. Half of the mech’s body engulfed in fire, and I knew he could only make a couple shot before he shut down.
“My offers stands, Hautpmann Viveros,” I closed on him in an intimidating posture. “You want a warrior’s way to end our quarrel, you can have one. We finish it here and now.”
“Asshole!” the Viper replied and fired all his weapons at me. His rushed attack went wide; however, one shell of his UAC slammed home into my right torso. I felt a dazzling quake when the Commando twisted. My console shrieked, signaling critical hit. The shot cut my power in half. Lucky for me, I did not have weapons stored on the right torso.
But the alpha strike, though hurting me greatly, did more damage to him. His hot JaggerMech was overheating on the verge of shutting down. His movement slowed down, and he tried to cool off by flushing his coolant, but the fire on his mech lit up the coolant, exaggerating the flame.
I did not waste this opportunity. Pushing my thruster to maximum, I torso-twisted to the left and circled the JaggerMech, striking its left leg. The Viper tried to catch me with its autocannon ensemble, but I went quickly out of his firing arc. My lasers and missiles chipped the armor on his left leg, and before long, I was able to dig deep into the myomer. I hit my missile trigger, and warheads came out flying from the tubes, slicing the leg myomer like hot knife through butter. It was amazing, looking at the towering mech staggering under my assault. I triggered my lasers, severing more and more myomer bundles, until the leg was left shattered.
But I was so engrossed in hitting the leg that I failed to notice Kinst’s tanks were in trouble. The tide of the battle had shifted toward the mercenary’s favor. The three mechs had assumed a defense position and started torching the Kinst’s Vedettes. Two tanks had been utterly destroyed, and the third was wobbling under the onslaught of the mercenaries. The Trebuchet launched its missiles, and the tank ended up in a ball of fire.
“Parker, we can’t hold on much longer,” the voice of one of Kinst’s tank crackled. “We need immediate support. We lost…”
A loud boom ended the transmission, and I was thwarted. I was very close to dismember the Viper, but I could not finish the job. But without Kinst’s help, I would have not gone this far. I had to help them. So I swung by and left the Viper who was still trying to catch me with his slowing JaggerMech. I went through the flaming gutter that had stifled a bit, and quickly climbed the pit on the other side. Minor fire adorned my mech, but it only raised the temperature several notches. Knowing that I would be fine, I sprinted toward the battlefield.
I made a half-loop turn to the left while training my guns at the Bushwacker. I knew that I would have trouble doing anything to the 55-ton mech. But I had to relieve the remaining two tanks. So I let loose a barrage of lasers and missiles at the Bushwacker’s most-depleted armor, its right torso. My lasers cored the torso that was weakened by cannon rounds, and my missiles wiped out the remaining armor. It hurt the medium mech, as I could see smoke and sparks burst from the wound. My armor tracker stated that the Bushwacker had less than 15-percent armor on the left torso. I knew that another good salvo would breach its left arm, rendering its missile launchers useless.
Nevertheless, the Bushwacker returned fire. Missiles and ballistics flew above my head by a mere centimeter. I could almost feel the heat of the lasers swooshing close to the cockpit. I tried to fire back, but under such pressure, my marksmanship went wide and landed on a pile of rocks. As the mushroom-like cloud of dust soared into the air, the Bushwacker fired again. My console squealed as the missiles latched on to my overheated engine. I tried to dodge, but three missiles slammed into my right torso. The consecutive explosions ate away the remaining armor. The power generator overloaded, and a large quake ripped my mech from the inside. I hung on to the console as the Commando fidgeted about, sustaining the explosion and sudden loss of mass. My right torso and right arm were gone.
I was busy thinking of a way to beat the Bushwacker when the JaggerMech arose from the fire. I knew I did not have enough firepower to beat the Bushwacker, but I could always borrow them from the Viper. He was not an intelligent mechwarrior. His attack pattern was predictable. The only thing that made him dangerous was the sheer firepower of his JaggerMech.
“This does not have to happen if you consider my bid, Mister Viveros,” I hailed him while putting my Commando between his crosshair and the rest of the Hunt Lance. “For the last time, please consider my bargain.”
“You’re bargaining your own soul to satan, you little prick!” the Viper croaked, half chuckling. “You’re skinned, yet you speak like you’re in an Atlas. Soon your pride will become your death!”
“I will not die today!” I yelled while firing my missiles at his cockpit. “You will feel my wrath!”
“Go to hell, you sonofabitch!” the Viper yelled back. “And take your mech with you!”
That was the sign. He intended to singe my Commando with his entire arsenal, and he proclaimed it out loud.
I pushed my joystick hard, as hard as I could, and let my Commando dive to the ground. Seconds later a torrent of autocannon rounds and laser streaks whizzed through the air, ravaging the void that was me a moment ago. Half of the hot rounds fell onto the right leg of the Trebuchet. Chunks of armor and burnt myomer blasted into the air in a thickening cloud. The lanky mech staggered, taken by surprise by the unexpected attack. I twisted my mech around and, using the flame as a bullseye, hit my alpha-strike button at the burning leg. The leg burst into flame, and the Trebuchet careened to the ground like a log.
I could imagine the look on the Viper’s face.
“Battle armors! Get the pilot! Now!” I got up and covered the Cutlass as they made a move to the fallen Trebuchet. The remaining Kinst tank boldly mimicked my move and took its last stand, firing its autocannon at the Centurion. I focused on the Bushwacker, and although I could not hit its left torso, my marksmanship put some scars on its front armor. I knew that the Bushwacker could destroy me anytime. But I had to buy enough time for the Cutlass to kill, if not capture, the pilot of the Trebuchet. It would be a tremendous blow to the mercenary’s morale.
But I did not have to wait that long. In a methodical fashion, the Hunt Lance decided to retreat, leaving the fallen Trebuchet pilot at our mercy. That was something that would stay in my head for a very long time. I knew that the Viper was not a respectable leader. But leaving his crew behind, consciously, was low. And the Bushwacker and the Centurion did not stand up for their fallen comrade either. They just followed the JaggerMech to retreat to the forest. I could only guess that it was the true nature of mercenaries. When their fight turned bigger than their pay, they just left everything behind and ran.
“I don’t believe this…” I heard Megi chanted repeatedly on the comlink. “I don’t believe this…”
“We still have the Trebuchet pilot,” I replied. “We need him alive. Secure him before the battle armors kill him out of joy.”
I turned off my Commando, and started to climb down. Kinst’s tank helped the battle armors to drag the pilot out of the cockpit into the open. It was a woman; scared, confused, and mad. Her CO damaged her mech, then let her die in the hands of the locals, people that were supposed to kneel in front of her mighty battlemech. It all reflected in her eyes. Megi tried to calm down the battle armors, but two of them had drawn their laser rifles, ready to grill her brain with short burst of lasers.
“No! She is more valuable to us alive than dead!” I pushed them behind.
“If the Viper knows that she’s still alive, he’ll come back for her!” one of the battle armors argued. “We have to show them that we take no prisoners!”
“If the Viper knows you kill her, he will come with a vengeance!” I rebuked. “Being alive, she has a bargaining power. You are right, the Viper will come back for her, but we can use her to slow his advance!”
“My lance mates will come and burn you all!” the mercenary fizzled. “Let me go, and I will see what I can do to reopen negotiation!”
“Girl, you’re dead to them!” Megi smiled arrogantly. “Your only open negotiation is with us! Give us something, and we’ll see what we can do to spare you.” She got up, shot a triumphant smile at the mercenary, then cued the Cutlass battle armors, “Take her to the brig!”
I saw the hesitation in the battle armors’ eyes, thinking that killing the mercenary was still the best way. But they respected their leader. They dragged the female pilot to the jail. Megi looked at me with indescribable stare. “What you did today is the impossible, Parker. You cut off their tank support, and you stole one of their mechs. I don’t know how you did it, but you gave a new meaning to war.”
I looked at the Trebuchet. “I wished I had the Viper hit the Bushwacker instead of this Trebuchet. Wade Avery was the best mechwarrior in the Hunt Lance. If we got him, we certainly can end this struggle quicker.”
“A Trebuchet sounds good enough for me,” Megi walked back to her vehicle. “I’ll have Cedro come and take care of it. I’ll have my hands dirty on the mercenary, see what we can squeeze from her. In the mean time, you need to rest.”
I could not agree more. “I will see you tomorrow, Mayor.”
As the mayor left the battlefield, I threw one last look at the field before I left. Columns of Vedette decorated the pit, still billowing smoke. The stench of burning flesh filled the air. Pieces from Kinst’s tanks scattered on the ground, a memento of how costly dignity was to the people of Hogye and Kinst. The Trebuchet, once a proud war machine, lay helpless on the ground like a beaten warrior. The only mech standing was my Commando, perched proudly with its disemboweled torso.
I spent some time contemplating what I brought to these simple people. Was dignity really worth the war, destruction, and death? I could not answer the question. Yesterday I thought I brought good to these people. I was not so sure anymore. |
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