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Bug Hunt, The
Exploring has its mysteries and dangers
by Jeffrey Smith |
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"...how we selected this world as our base of operations."
There was a slight pause, then the crack of a projectile weapon came once again through the speakers. The sound of footsteps filled the chamber, walking away from the pen in the dead MechWarrior's pocket.
Inside each of the Disintegrator's 'Mechs was a relay system and a few devices with sophisticated listening devices hidden inside, the remnants of some 'help' they had been given during a job for SAFE three years ago. The 'pen' would write like a normal one, but the omnidirectional mike built into the top was able to pick up a whisper at 200 meters. Davidson, Edward Carr, pilot of the unit's Quickdraw, and Dr. Henry Rodriquez, head of the survey team all listened as the scientists spilled their guts to Gilman. Within fifteen minutes the pirates knew everything about the scientific team and (even worse) the mercenary forces on the planet. Gilman's voice was jolly when he thanked them for their cooperation - then the sound of automatic weapons fire rang out.
***
Gilman looked with slight distaste at the mess decorating the walls of the cavern. "It's gonna be hell getting those stains out.
You," he said pointing at an infantryman, "get a detachment together and clean up this mess." He turned to his XO. "Ok, as far as we can tell the late lamented Spider pilot was due back with the brain trust here in three hours. We won't have time to assemble everyone, just the 'Mechs that can go at least 80 KPH. I want you to assign one of our Dispossessed to the Spider, and let's see if we can mousetrap them. You," snapping his fingers at a tech, "get a team over to that 'Mech and get the codes changed."
He returned his attention to Landin. "If we can take out their 'Mechs before the DropShips can intervene, our heavies should be able to either capture them or pound them to scrap from long range. We could always use another pair of Dropships, especially a Union, since Tepes is falling apart. However, we can use another JumpShip even more, so it is imperative we flatten them before they have a chance to alert it. The location of their base camp has taken them out of line of sight of their JumpShip, since it is currently at a pirate point near Planet VI. Make damn sure they understand that I will kill each and every one of them if one of those ships gets off and is able to warn them."
***
Jessie Rubens waved his comrades to a stop and set his radio's power to the lowest setting. The signal would only reach two hundred meters, and they were still a thousand from the Davion camp site. "Ok, I'm going to go in and pretend to have a 'radio malfunction'. I'll see if I can lure one of them into the trees so we can swarm him before they have a chance to link up. According to our information they have a Quickdraw and a Battlemaster here, with their XO out guarding another group of eggheads." All the pirates chuckled, remembering the pleasure of gunning down their colleagues. Rubens was pretty sure he had been able to hit at least three of them, and smiled with the memory. "All right, let's do it people."
The Spider walked into the clearing and waved at the colossal assault 'Mech standing near the DropShips. He tapped the side of his cockpit with his hand, and made his external speakers send out a static-filled whine. Let's see if he falls for it.
Apparently he did. The 'Mech began to stroll toward him, and the voice of the pilot came through loud and clear from the Battlemaster's speakers.
"Problems with the com system again? We need to scrap that piece of garbage next time we get the chance. Where is the survey team?"
Rubens waved toward the treeline.
"Stuck APC? We'll, let's go get it loose."
Rubens turned toward the path, chortling at the gullibility of the mercenary CO. He was still laughing when the pair of medium lasers cored into the rear of his purloined 'Mech. Alarms shrilled as both the engine and the gyro took severe damage, and the heat level in the cockpit spiked as the shielding on his fusion engine was worn away. As the ground raced to meet him, he heard a final sentence from the Battlemaster. "We also bug our 'Mechs, asshole."
Blackness.
***
Davidson looked up as a horde of light 'Mechs poured of the trees. He knew from the satellite (which the pirates had bafflingly failed to notice) that he faced an even dozen Mechs, now that the Spider was eliminated. None of his attackers massed more than 40 tons, but the combined weight of the 'Mechs was more than two one in the enemy's favor.
However, the Disintegrators had a few advantages of their own, and the first of them roared over the treeline directly behind the incoming 'Mechs. The Sparrowhawk was capable of mounting up to six tons worth of external ordinance, but the mercenaries had brought only a trio of cluster bombs, not expecting to face 'Mechs. They gracefully arced from the fighter, detonating directly over a charging Wasp.
One arm was blown completely off the light 'Mech, with more bomblets tearing into the armor of the cockpit and rendering the pilot unconscious. The Assassin pacing the downed 'Mech lost most of the armor over the medium laser mounted in it's right arm, and also had the protection on it's left torso stripped completely away. The Valkyrie leading the charge a few feet ahead of the Wasp had the armor on it's rear torso shredded. Bereft of protection, a pair of submunitions landed directly on the magazine for the Long Range Missiles. A newer 'Mech would have been able to vent the detonation, but this was an older model, in use since far before the Clan Invasion. The resulting explosion gutted the 'Mech, leaving little but scrap.
Then it was the attacker's turn. Davidson's Battlemaster rocked from the dozens of weapons firing at him.. Although The Destruction Society had previously boasted a reputation as expert marksman, their skills had atrophied with lack of use - a stationary hover truck didn't provide much of a challenge. Still, seven medium lasers and three SRM volleys struck. It was a tribute to the designers that the armor held, yet it was seriously reduced over the left side of the torso, and the 'Mech's right leg, with weakened areas scattered all over the assault 'Mech.
Davidson's return fire was joined by Carr's Quickdraw. Both 'Mechs concentrated on one of the Commando's facing the unit. Davidson selected his Extended Range PPC and three of his medium lasers, holding fire on his other weapons to keep his heat levels low, and tossing in his machine gun for good measure. Two of the lasers missed the charging light 'Mech, with the third stripping away much of the protection over the right leg. The PPC vaporised the right arm, completely destroying both the armor and internal structure, and removing the SRM-4 pack mounted there from play, while the machine gun peppered the torso, the weak weapon removing a quarter of the protection on such a lightly protected mech. The Quickdraw, at ideal range for it's LRMs, loosed a volley, following them with the medium lasers mounted in each arm. The lasers, traveling at the speed of light, arrived first. Although the first missed, the second stripped armor from the 'Mech's remaining arm. Then the missiles arrived.
Although only six actually struck the target, five slammed into the already weakened right leg, stripping it bare of armor and causing the satisfying puff of smoke that indicated an actuator had been fried. The final missile struck the cockpit, the shock of which, added to the leg damage, causing the 'Mech to fall flat on it's face.
Bizzarely, the attackers split their fire in the face of the second threat, instead of concentrating it to finish off the more dangerous foe. A Stinger, a pair of Jenners, the second Commando and a Wasp concentrated on the Battlemaster, while a Valkyrie, the damaged Assassin and a Vulcan opened up on the Quickdraw.
Davidson took damage to both his arms, and armor was abraded from all over his 'Mech, including a teeth-rattling SRM volley that stripped almost all the armor from his head assembly. Perversely, the Quickdraw, while faced with fewer opponents and at longer range, took more severe damage. Two LRM volleys and an autocannon shot were joined by two medium lasers, and all managed to tear into the right arm. The limb was laid bare, and the few scarred pieces of structure remaining were rendered almost useless as the actuator controlling the upper arm exploded in a shower of sparks.
Davidson aimed at the slowly rising Commando and fired all his weapons. His lasers ripped the torso armor to shreds, and his missiles pockmarked the vital equipment laid bare. His PPC rendered all that irrelevant when it surrounded the head with a crackling beam of charged particles. When the weapon ceased firing, there was nothing left.
Carr chose to retain his range advantage and tossed a volley of missiles at the Wasp facing Davidson. They stripped most of the armor away from both sides of the 'Mech's chest, and the single laser he fired ripped right through the protection of the right arm, striking the laser mounted there and rendering it useless.
Bob Minyard, zooming back into the fray, caught one of the Jenners in the rear. The nose mounted pulse lasers ripped the right arm completely off the 'Mech, sending it spinning away, and the smaller lasers mounted on each wing cored right thought the rear armor, shredding some shielding from the fusion engine.
The pirates concentrated their fire again, but not at the 'Mechs. Ten laser beams, fifteen LRMs, and an autocannon shot converged on the swiftly moving fighter. Most of the ordinance missed - but not all. Armor flew as the beams tore and missiles exploded, gouging the fragile skin of the AeroSpace craft. Almost lazily, the fighter tilted on it's side and gently pointed it's nose toward the ground. The explosion lit the sky, sending a fireball toward the heavens. Minyard never ejected.
Davidson gritted his teeth as he targeted yet another 'Mech.
Time for grief later. He chose the Jenner that Minyard had weakened before his death. Firing his PPC and SRMs, he removed the 'Mech's other arm and eliminated all of the armor remaining over the 'Mech's heart. The Quickdraw added a volley of LRMs and a medium laser for good measure, erasing most of the remaining armor covering the front of the Jenner. The coup de gras was delivered by the Disintegrator's infantry detachment, who chose this moment to enter the fray. Missiles streaked from behind piles of carefully stacked crates to pound the crippled 'Mech. Armor flew, breaching what remained of the armor covering the torso. One of the incoming projectiles slammed into the ammunition for the 'Mech's SRMs, setting off the 88 missiles that remained. The resulting fireball consumed the 'Mech. "That one's for you, Bob," Davidson heard Carr mutter over his comlink.
While the Stinger and the Vulcan strove to remove this new threat, both 'Mechs using machine guns to puncture the barricades, the Stinger stomping on the debris and the flamer from the Vulcan ignite whatever remained, the Commando, Wasp, Valkyrie, and Assassin engaged Carr's Quickdraw. A missile volley completed the damage to the right arm, severing the limb, with the rest of the incoming fire stripping armor from across the 'Mech's broad chest. The remaining pirate Jenner sped past the defending 'Mechs, racing for the open door of the Quest.
If the pilot hoped to board the ship before the DropShips could activate their weaponry, he was sadly mistaken, as he was met with a blizzard of beams, missiles, and autocannon volleys from both grounded ships. Within seconds the pristine armor was scoured from the 'Mech, with both arms and one leg brutally ripped from the torso, also eliminating most of the armor covering the head. The final volley of PPC shots cored straight into the fusion engine of the tumbling 'Mech. Failsafes had never been designed to deal with so much damage in such a short amount of time, and for an instant the power of a star was loosed. A globe of fire spread from the 'Mech, and was so powerful that it rocked even the 3,000 ton DropShip a few tens of meters away. When the light faded, there was nothing but a blackened crater where the 'Mech had fallen.
Davidson made a snap decision. Activating his radio, he yelled "Assassin!" Heeding his words, the Quickdraw's pilot fired at one of the two medium 'Mechs facing the defenders. His LRMs exploited the damage done by the bombing run that had proceeded the attack and severed the right arm, vaporizing the medium laser the limb contained.
The medium laser mounted on his remaining arm missed, but the one-shot missile pack mounted in the 'Mech's chest poured fire into the pirate's left leg. Davidson's lasers all missed, but his PPC stripped the Assassin's left arm down to a smoking skeleton. A few missiles from the infantry plinked at the 'Mech as well, one of them sneaking into the breach in the 'Mech's left torso and destroying one of it's jump jets.
The six remaining attackers concentrated on the Quickdraw once again. The Wasp fired the SRM pack that was it's only remaining weapon, ripping almost half of the armor off of Carr's cockpit. The Valkyrie joined the ravaged Assassin in a volley of LRMs that breached the tough hide covering the Quickdraw's center torso. The Vulcan missed with most of it's weapons, only managing to connect with the machine gun that made up it's left arm. The bullets bounced off the tough composite covering the 'Mech's head, ripping still more protection from it. The two remaining 'Mechs, while lightly armed, did the most damage. Circling around the heavy 'Mech, they poured fire into the rear armor. The weaker protection held up to the Commando's heavier fire, but a burst from the Stinger's machine guns burst through the paper thin layer that was left. Sparks flew as electronics died, and the 'Mech fell as it's gyro was obliterated.
I'm all alone, Davidson though as he methodically targeted the damaged Assassin. He stood rock steady to aid his aim, knowing that he had to get under the protection of the DropShip's weapons but knowing he had to cut the odds first. He fired every weapon he had, ignoring the heat levels that were steadily climbing into the red. A particle beam, three lasers and a third of his missiles impacted on the ravaged 'Mech, while his two rear facing lasers targeted the Wasp sneaking into his blind spot. The lasers stripped armor off the torso and left leg of the 'Mech, while the missiles exploited the breached armor to destroy the 'Mech's LRM launcher. The PPC beam tore through what remained of the torso armor to tear into the skeleton of the BattleMech, ripping more than half of the shielding from the fusion engine contained within. Only one of the lasers he fired at the Wasp connected, but it stripped all of the armor off the 'Mech's head and began to eat at the flimsy protection over the cockpit.
As he began to backpedal the attackers surrounded him. With the three smaller 'Mechs tearing into his rear armor, the Valkyrie, Assassin, and Vulcan concentrated on the front of the Battlemaster. By what must have been mutual agreement all three 'Mechs froze as they targeted his main weapon. Although most of the incoming fire missed, two lasers and a SRM volley tore into the right arm of his 'Mech. Almost a ton of the armor covering his PPC was shredded, but the protection over the weapon held - for now. The other attackers started wearing away at the armor covering his rear, always the most vulnerable part of a BattleMech. Although no holes were torn in it's protection, it would only be a matter of time until critical systems were affected.
With the most dangerous weapons on the Assassin destroyed, Davidson shifted his fire to Valkyrie, hoping to burn through the lighter 'Mech's armor with a concentrated burst of fire. The Battlemaster's PPC removed more than 70% of the armor over the 'Mech's chest, while the two lasers that impacted stripped sheets of armor off the 'Mech's left arm and leg. The SRMs he fired wizzed by the Valkyrie to detonate in the jungle, as did the other two torso-mounted lasers. Davidson was about to trigger his rear mounted lasers as well, but prudence caused him to hold his fire. If my 'Mech overheats, I'm a dead man.
The pirates were about to return fire once again when the Vulcan and Valkyrie began to shudder as if both 'Mechs were suffering seizures. In unison the pair of 'Mechs froze, then toppled forward, revealing gaping holes in their rear armor. The cause of this baffling turn of events strode out of the woodline flanked by a pair of APCs. Smoke rose from the muzzles of the two autocannons mounted on the right side of Sarah Conquest's Cataphract as the Assassin whirled to face her, presenting Davidson with a beautiful shot at it's rear armor - one he was unable to take as the light 'Mechs in his rear finally managed to breach his armor. A SRM detonation caused severe damage to his gyro, sending the 'Mech careening out of control. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to keep the Battlemaster upright, and the 85-ton 'Mech crashed to the ground.
The Assassin spotted this, and apparently decided to go for broke. It rose into the air on streams of fire as it fired it's remaining jumpjets. The intention of the pilot was clear from the way he maneuvered - launch a Death from Above attack on the prone Battlemaster and crush the cockpit. Conquest opened fire with every weapon she had, but the Ultra AC that made up her right arm jammed, while the volley from the LB-X streaked neatly between the legs of the climbing 'Mech. Only one of her two lasers struck, and it was unable to breach the armor of the Assassin's right leg.
As the BattleMech arced through the air, a man in a white lab coat strolled from behind a barricade. He raised a SRM launcher to his shoulder, and calmly tracked the Assassin until it had reached the ideal location. The missile zipped through the breached torso armor and impacted squarely on the fusion engine. The abused equipment, stress beyond tolerance, shut itself off with this latest indignity.
The Assassin was abruptly changed from a self propelled weapon of war into a 40-ton piece of scrap metal, subject once again to the Law of Gravity. It slammed to the ground only meters away from the Battlemaster it has tried to crush. The three remaining pirate 'Mechs chose the better part of valour and fled the battlefield, chased by a volley of shells from the Cataphract's autocannon.
"Well, that was a nice change of pace," Conquest stated over the radio as she scanned the battlefield. A recovery team had managed to pry Carr out of his 'Mech, and the stretcher carrying him was already walking up the ramp of the Harpoon.
"You missed all the fun. We don't have much time - see if you can drag some of these 'Mechs into our bay - we might as well get a little salvage out of this debacle."
Noticing the empty runway where the Sparrowhawk had been based, Conquest ask "Where's Bob?"
"He... didn't make it."
The Cataphract froze for a moment, then continued to drag the damaged Quickdraw into the waiting Mech Bay. She didn't say a word.
As Davidson laboriously dragged his 'Mech upright, he waved at the scientist smugly holding the empty SRM launcher on his shoulder. He recognized him as Michael Penney, one of the botanists attached to the survey team. "Nice shot."
Penney shrugged. "Self preservation. I have an overwhelming desire not to become a thin, red paste on the sole of a BattleMech's foot."
Davidson laughed. "I can understand why. I think we all feel that way. Let's get the hell out of here."
As Davidson carefully walked towards the inviting cavern of the Mech Bay, he heard Penney shout behind him. Before he could turn a hammer blow struck his 'Mech from behind, shattering the damaged gyro.
As the 'Mech fell to the ground once again, he saw that the Spider once piloted by Robert Cynaris had risen from what should have been crippling damage. The voice of the pirate came over the external speakers, mocking him. "A backshot for a backshot - I think that's fair, don't you? Now, I'll fry your cockpit before your little bitch of an XO can intervene, and I might just live through this experience. So long, Davvy lover. I hope you enjoy it in hell."
As the Spider carefully aligned it's lasers on the Battlemaster's cockpit, there was a rustling behind it in the trees. Rubens ignored this, since he knew the location of the sole remaining mercenary 'Mech. He aimed carefully, softly caressing his triggers, slowly pulling them back to enjoy the anticipation...
***
Scent near. Painmaker close. Hurt. Cause Hurt. Revenge. There! Run! Attack! Kill!
***
.. and a bellow of animal rage caused Rubens to whirl around. There, rushing out of the treeline, was a horribly scarred... thing. Pure shock rooted him in place until it was far too late to react. The beast rammed into the Spider, forcing it to the ground. The last thing Ruben saw was a set of jaws clamping down on his cockpit. His scream was indistinguishable from the moan of warping metal, but both sounds were over in a manner of seconds.
The DinoApe, having vanquished it's foe, raised it head and bellowed its triumph to the sky. It began to scan the clearing for any fresh opponents, and immediately locked it's gaze on the neat stacks of cages holding the specimens that had not been crammed into the DropShips. It shuffled over and prodded the stack with it's nose, causing the stack to collapse. One pseudoliberal managed to free itself from the smashed wiring, but was snapped up by the predator before it could flee.
Hepp Grimm, one of the exobiologists, ran up to Davidson as he freed himself from the wreckage of his 'Mech. "You have to stop that thing! I have samples over there that are unlike anything else in the Inner Sphere! There," he cried, pointing as the beast tore into a glass cage, "those insects are unique! You must retrieve them!"
Davidson grabbed Grimm by the collar of his shirt and literally threw him toward the hatch of the DropShip. "Damn you, this isn't a bug hunt any longer - this is war! Now get your rear onto that ship, unless you want to stay here and try to get your samples back from Tiny over there."
"Sir, we have a serious problem," one of the Techs yelled from the Quest. He pointed to the cargo bay door. "The door was warped when that Jenner blew. We won't be able to take off until it's made airtight."
"How long will repairs take?" Conquest shouted from the hatch of the Harpoon.
"Two hours, maybe three."
"We don't HAVE two hours! There is a company of heavy and assault 'Mechs thirty minutes away!"
Davidson waved away the medic, wincing from his injuries. "I can't afford to be foggy brained right now." He stared at the damaged ship, chewing the inside of his cheek as he though. "Ok, get everyone off that ship and into the Harpoon. Tell them to leave everything but what they have on hand. We lift in twenty five minutes."
"I won't have time to scuttle the ship sir."
"I don't want you to."
"We're leaving an Intruder-class DropShip behind?!" Conquest yelped. "Once the pirates fix it, they'll have more weapons and more speed than us."
"I know. Send Thorton over here. I have a rush job for him."
***
"They're lifting sir," the crewmember at the sensor station stated.
Davidson walked over. "What are we facing?"
"Well, they have a Leopord-class DropShip and six AeroSpace fighters, along with the Quest," glancing at Davidson out of the corner of his eye on the mention of the last.
"Jamming?"
"Steady from the planet, and another source from the Leopard. It's nearly as powerful as the ones on the surface"
Davidson swore. If the pirates had waited another few hours, he would have been able to punch a message through the jamming warn the JumpShip. As it was, he probably would not be able to get clear of the planetary jamming before the closing DropShip added it's electronic noise to the arena.
"How many G's are they pulling?" Jeremy Rockheimer, the Harpoon's captain asked.
"Looks like about two. Should we accelerate?"
"Don't bother. We can only pull 2.5 max, and they can go up to three. Keep us at 1.5 for the moment."
"Looks like their repair teams aren't that swift," Davidson said. The three hours it would have taken the FC Techs to repair the DropShip had taken the pirates ten.
"Don't forget they have to scare up a crew as well,"
Rockheimer pointed out. "When do you want to do it?"
"When will they be in weapons range?"
"If they keep at their current accel? Depends. If their goal is to capture the Jumpship, they'll make turnover in about twenty hours. We'll be in range three hours after that. If they don't turn over, we'll be in range in slightly under two."
"Let's wait to see if they make turnover. Maybe we can suck them into weapon's range."
"If it fails, and they get the range, we're screwed," the captain warned.
"If it fails we're screwed no matter what," Davidson returned.
Rockheimer smirked. "True."
***
Slowly the ships closed. Even with the pirates closing fast, the Harpoon made turnover on schedule. It increased the speed with which the hostiles closed, but they had no choice if they wanted to dock with the JumpShip placidly waiting unaware at the Jump point. As the hostiles reached the midway point they turned over as well, slowing their crafts at the same speed they had accelerated them at. It was obvious they intended to take the Jumpship unaware once they had destroyed the Harpoon.
"They will be in weapons range in ten minutes," a nervous crewmember said. Everyone on the ship knew the plan, but with so much at stake they weren't happy to be leaving their fate to someone else.
Davidson radiated calm, even though he was even more nervous that the crew. "Send the signal at the five minute mark."
Rockheimer's head whipped around. "Cutting it a little close, aren't we?"
"The longer we wait, the better the chance we have to take them out."
The DropShip captain nodded unwillingly. "Send the signal at the five minute mark."
***
Davidson and Rockheimer were only partially correct. Part of the delay in the pursuit was indeed taken in repairs to the Quest, and another fraction was used to locate a command crew. The majority, however, was taken up in sweeps for booby traps. Faced with such a windfall, the pirates were of course suspicious. Indeed, a few charges had been triggered by some of the first boarders, their caution overridden by their greed. their search for quick loot did not give them the results they had hoped for. In addition, wires had been ripped out of most of the controls on the bridge and in the engine room and some circuits smashed. However, the conclusion the Society had reached was that the evacuating Davions had not had the chance to set something nasty.
This was exactly the conclusion it was hoped that they would reach.
Like most safety systems, the protective devices on the airlocks were designed to prevent someone from doing something stupid accidentally. Both the inner and outer doors of the airlocks were held shut by air pressure, and the difference between one atmosphere and hard vacuum was more than enough to hold them shut against the strongest motors on the ship. The same type of seal held the drop bay doors closed, and prevented a foolish (or malicious) individual from opening them in deep space.
However, the signal the computer had received told it to open a file that had been hastily hidden in a secondary system by the frantic FedCom Techs. According to the file, someone was exiting the ship through each of the three airlocks. Normally this would have sent an alarm to the bridge, but this had been overridden. There was nothing preventing the ship from depressurising the airlock chamber, and once it had, nothing preventing the computer from opening the outer doors. Still, tons of pressure held the inner doors in their place, and there was no way to force them out.
The explosives placed in the lining of the doorway by Gerald Thorton were designed with that problem in mind.
Several things happened nearly simultaneously. Every single computer controlled door on the ship opened, and a signal from the master computer disabled their safety overrides. Another instruction from the computer scrammed the fusion plant. Normally secondary power sources would have compensated, but the computer had been told not to engage them. Within seconds. the Quest was transformed from a heavily armed spacecraft into a 3,000 ton iron mass following Newton's laws of motion
Then all three airlock doors were blown out of their hinges. Depressurization was much slower than it would have been had one of the cargo bay doors been breached, but time constraints and the amount of explosives on hand had prevented that. Several pirates were able to slam the doors to their compartments, which saved them - temporarily. The doors on the bridge, however, were locked open, and one of the airlock doors was less than 100 meters away. Blinded, with no gravity, a dead computer and a dying ship, they panicked, but even had they been one of the best trained crews in space it is unlikely they would have had time to rectify the problems. Within a few minutes every person who could save the ship, including Gabriel Landin were dead, and the few left alive in compartments now sealed by air pressure were helpless as their ship slowly drifted into range of the Harpoon.
***
"Well, that takes care of that problem," Davidson said, watching the spreading debris that had been the captured DropShip. The pirate Leopard and most of the AeroSpace fighters had broken off once it became clear they would have no help from the heavily armed DropShip, and the few fighters that had waited too long to flee had been eliminated before the Harpoon targeted the hulk that had been the Quest.
"Davion command isn't going to be happy that you slagged their DropShip," Conquest gently childed him.
"They'd be even less happy if I lost their scientists and let the JumpShip get captured. If they had been smart enough to anticipate this, they never would have agreed to sign that damaged indemnity - so they owe us a 'Mech and a fighter, plus a load of spare parts. We, on the other hand, get to keep the scrap you dragged in."
"What do you think they'll do?" she asked, changing the subject. The memory of their losses was still fresh and painful. The equipment was nothing - the Feddies could never compensate them for THAT.
"I'm sure a RCT or two will be assigned to settle accounts with our friends."
Something in his voice made her blink. "And?"
He turned to face her. "And, if I have anything to say about it, we'll be coming back as well. We lost some good friends down there - the FedComs aren't the only people with a score to settle. According to our loudmouthed friend in the cave, their ship won't be back for another month. We'll be back before then."
She shared his expression. Revenge would be sweet. |
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