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Dragon Quest
A short BattleTech novel by RogueBaron
by Roguebaron |
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Outskirt Aswan,
Caph, Chaos March,
July 31, 3060
Atami perched on top of his Vedette, observing the city of Caph through his binoculars. Smoke billowed up from the tortured city, and occasional explosions boomed in the distance. For almost a decade, Caph had been a contest of power among Denebola SMM (Steiner supporters), Gustafson’s Grenadiers (Davion loyalists), and the Always Faithful and Stealthy Tigers mercenary units under Marik/Liao contract. Now that Word of Blake entered the fray, Caph had become more and more of a wasteland. Aswan was no different.
Atami turned back to rally his platoon. On his right was Heishi Shinoyama, his recon expert, with his fast Skulker tank. On his left wing stood Heishi Yamada, his sniper specialist, in his Chevalier. Closing the formation at the back was Heishi Kikuchi, his artillery whiz, in his twin-LRM-15 Hunter tank. These guys had been fighting with him for more than 3 years, and he knew he could count of them.
“Alright, armor platoon, listen up,” Atami briefed his troops. “We have 48 hours before the dropship pick us up. There’s a full-blown war in front of us, but it’s not our war. Our job is to get this scientist and pull out. We don’t want to attract any attention. Do this quick, so we can go back to Dieron and prepare to face our real enemies, the Ghost Bears! Are you ready?”
A pumped-up chorus answered his query.
“Shinoyama, take point!” Atami ordered, then climbed back into his Vedette. He stepped on the pedal, bringing his 50-ton tank rolling behind Shinoyama’s Skulker. Behind him Yamada brought his Chevalier, and Kikuchi closed the formation. The convoy rolled steadily into the city of Aswan. Entering the city, the smell of gunpowder and burning flesh stung their noses. Battlemechs, tanks, helicopters, and infantries from various factions pounded at each other with large-bored guns. Bullets ricochets left and right while lasers and missiles swooshed about. Lucky for the Kuritans, the combatants were too busy fighting each other to notice their presence. The DCMS tanks slipped away from the heat of the battle with only minor damage from stray fires and some infantries that noticed their presence, who Atami took care of with his 50-caliber machine guns.
After 30 minutes driving in the war-torn city, the Red Brigade platoon arrived at a suburb area that hadn’t been touched by the war too much. They drove for a while through a residential complex, then parked in front of a small hut. Atami ordered Shinoyama and Yamada to stand by in their tanks, just in case, while he and Kikuchi exited their tanks and came to the hut’s door. Atami rapped the door.
“Yes?” an old man came out. “Can I help you?”
“Doctor Haney?” Atami said. “I am Atami-Chu-i, Red Brigade, Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery. I am here to take you to Dieron.”
“What?” the scientist frowned. “I don’t plan to leave this place! Who told you that?”
“I have my order, Haney-sensei, to escort you out of Aswan, away from the Word of Blake.”
“No!” the old man yelled. “I know what you’re up to! You’re into my work! You want to dominate the battlefield with my invention! It is because of guys like you the universe is what it is now! I will not let you abuse my invention! Good day, gentlemen! And don’t come back, you’re not welcomed!”
“Please cooperate, Haney-sensei,” Armus tried to persuade the scientist. “I mean you no harm. We come in peace. But I have my order, and I will do anything to ensure that it’s accomplished.”
“Is that a threat?” Doctor Haney went off. “Are you threatening me, you Kuritan bastard? Well I’m not afraid of you, nor I will go anywhere! Now shove all your righteous act up yourself! Good day!”
The scientist turned back to get into his house. Atami cued Kikuchi, who then grabbed the old man’s shoulder. The scientist jerked behind, and Kikuchi launched his straight punch, right into his face. A loud thud broke, and the scientist sloshed to the ground. A dark hue mushroomed under his eyes.
“Get him on my tank!” Atami ordered while climbing his tank. Kikuchi hoisted the unconscious scientist onto his shoulder and put him into the Vedette. Atami duck-taped him into a chair, then went back to his command seat. “That’s it, people. Let’s get out of here.”
“Atami-Chu-i, I pick up multiple inbounds coming this way,” Shinoyama stated. “Half a company of Longinus battlearmor!”
“Shimatta! Longinus…” Atami knew what it meant. “Alright, everybody go weapons hot! The Blakists are coming our way, and I’m sure they don’t come in peace!”
“Attention Kuritan intruders,” a general transmission sprang on the comlink. “This is Precentor Herman Saweeny, Word of Blake army. The scientist is under the protection of Word of Blake reformation program. Hand me the scientist and I’ll grant you a peaceful withdrawal.”
“This is Atami Chu-i, DCMS,” Atami replied, preparing his autocannon with incendiary ammunition. “I have my order to take Haney-sensei out of Caph. I mean you no harm, but if you don’t grant a pathway for us to go off-planet, we will attack.”
“This is your last warning, Kuritan gooks! By the name of Blake, I swear I’ll crush your tin cans into scrap if you don’t hand me the scientist! Do it now or you’ll suffer the consequences!”
“Jinkokuniike, fanatics!” Atami yelled. “Red Brigade, fire at will!”
The nozzle belched fire as Atami fired his high-explosive round at the Longinus battlearmors. Mushroom-like explosion blasted, flushing four Longinus in a fire hail. Kikuchi and Yamada spread their missiles over a wide area, killing half a dozen more battlearmors in a chain explosion. Chunks of armor and body parts flew in every direction.
“Kuritan scumbags!” Saweeny exploded in wrath. “Word of Blake, mujaheed!”
Ten Longinus leapt into the sky and fired their SRM at their closest target, Shinoyama’s Skulker. The scout tank staggered and quaked as the warheads gouged its armor, dangerously threatened the internal structure.
Shinoyama brought his tank to turn, firing his medium laser wildly, but more and more Longinus scored good hits at his tank. Chunks of armor flew in every direction, and within seconds, the Skulker caught fire.
“Shinoyama, pull back!” Atami noticed his scoutmaster was in trouble. “I’ll deal with them!”
“I am fine, Chu-i,” Shinoyama refused to comply. “I will not give the Blakists the satisfaction by retreating! If I go down, I will take as many of them with me!”
Atami knew that ordering Shinoyama to retreat to safe his life would only insult him. Their Bushido training dictated them to fight until the last drop of blood, and retreating was an act of cowardice. Atami gunned his engine and ordered, “Yamada! Kikuchi! Move forward and assist Shinoyama!”
Kikuchi and Yamada fired more missiles, which whizzed in the air and exploded at the Longinus ranks, sweeping more battlearmors. But Saweeny orchestrated his battlearmor squads to attack only Shinoyama’s dying Skulker. Four of six of its tires were flaming, and the tank spurted oil and coolant like a bleeding beast. Shinoyama made his last fight, grilling a Longinus with his medium laser, before a quartet of missiles slammed into his power generator. A loud explosion ripped half of the Skulker apart, and Shinoyama jumped out seconds before the rest of his tank engulfed in a bonfire.
“Shinoyama! Get in my tank!” Yamada halted his tank near the crash.
As Shinoyama climbed into the Chevalier, Kikuchi covered him with his twin LRM-15 missiles. The missiles exploded on the ground, creating a wall of fire that halted the advance of the Longinus. Knowing that the Hunter tank posed the greatest threat, Saweeny dove for the missile tank with a dozen battlearmors on his tail. Lacking closed-ranged gun, Kikuchi tried to escape, but two missiles breached his right track, rendering his Hunter immobilized.
“Yamada, cover fire for Kikuchi!” Atami ordered and brought his autocannon to bear. Two Longinus went down in flames. Some Longinus were distracted and started to fire at the Vedette, but Atami blasted his gun as soon as it recycled, creating a fiery explosion that burnt three Longinus. Yamada came with his SRMs, mutilating five more Blakist battlearmors.
Losing more and more battlearmors in an alarming rate, Saweeny pulled out his troops. “This is not over, Kuritans! You can keep the scientist today, but you’ll never get off planet with him! This I swear, and the ghost of Jerome Blake is my witness!”
Atami himself was relieved that the Longinus withdrew. His tank was riddled with bullets and missiles, and his armor tracker was blinking red. Yamada’s Chevalier’s was no better, with sparks and smoke spurting from all around its hull. Kikuchi’s Hunter was still pristine, but without the replacement for the breached track, Atami knew that he had to leave the missile tank behind. “Kikuchi, self-destruct your Hunter and ride with me! We need to get out of here before the Blakist come with reinforcement!”
“Hai, Chu-i!” Kikuchi replied with a slight hesitation. He loved his Hunter, as much as Atami loved his Vedette. But he knew that it was unsalvageable, and destroying it was the only way to keep them alive and their mission accomplished.
As the Hunter exploded, Atami and Yamada drove their mangled tank into the suburb area of Aswan to plan their next move. |
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