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Flea Bitten Freebirth
A clanner discovers defeat by flea bite
by Mike Forward |
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Bryan Knight felt like his 'Mechs namesake. Moving his 20 ton squat framed Flea though the desert wasteland of some god-forsaken backwater planet, Bryan couldn't shake the feeling of being small. His lance had been walking for a couple of days trying to reach their drop-ship after doing some long range recon for some nameless employer.
The recon went off without a hitch, his lance mates had distracted the two mech guards of the ammo depot while Bryan circled around, grabbing a quick scan of his objective before pulling back. His lance-mates bore the scars of the skirmish, Alice in her Shadow Hawk had lost the 'Mechs arm while pulling back. Mark's Panther contained only a few scars marring the paint of his center torso. The worst off was Eric's 'Mech, his centuries old Rifleman had taken a massive pounding. Being the heaviest 'Mech of Bryan's lance it became a sponge of enemy fire. It now limped along due to massive leg damage and slowed the lance down considerably. Bryan glanced down to the mission timer at on his HUD, by his estimate they would be back in the drop ship in a half hour. Inside the computer of his 'Mech contained the scanned data that would bring his next paycheck. He hadn't been paid in two months but considered himself lucky. Six months ago he had been dispossessed, a Mechwarrior without a 'mech.
He had lost his Grasshopper in a skirmish with the Clans. His former mercenary group had barley survived. They did not have the resources to replace his mech so they let him go, leaving him barely enough money to book passage back to Outreach. There he had managed to sign on with Eric's Elementals. They had salvaged the Flea and decided that having a pilot for it was worth far more then selling it for C-Bills. Bryan didn't care what 'Mech he piloted, as long as it was a 'Mech. One took what came, this was the life of a small time 'Merc.
Eric's voiced crackled over the tac-net, "Bryan, you still with us buddy? Your drifting away from the lance.".
Bryan came out of his daydreaming of past times. "Sorry Eric just doing some reminiscing." He glanced down at the radar a large blue blob began to form on it's edges. "I'm beginning to pick up the drop ship on radar, we are about two clicks away. After we finish climbing this dune we should have a visual."
The climb up the sandy due took only a few minutes but to Bryan it seemed like hours. The time in the desert was taking it's toll on him. They could see the drop-ship but something was wrong, deathly wrong. The drop-ship Shepherd's Wake looked like it had been mauled. Some of the sand surrounding the drop-ship had turned to glass, signs of a stray laser blast no doubt.
Eric's worried voice crackled to life on the tac-net. "Elementals to Shepherd 's wake, come in shepherd's wake do you read?". Endless moments ticked by on the mission clock Bryan was just about to conclude that everyone aboard was dead when a response came.
"This......Captain Joseph...........bandits.........engines disabl.......2 hours..............repair.". The communication cracked on, to messy to comprehend.
Bryan had gotten the jist of it. Some raiders had disabled the engines of the dropship, damaging them just enough to prevent take off. The bandits, knowing that whoever owned the ship would come back to board her. They were walking into an ambush.
Sure enough the voice of Eric's mech came to life, "Warning, enemy power-up detected.". Two red dots appeared on Bryan's radar. In the distance he could see the silhouettes of the bandit 'Mechs approaching from behind a rocky outcropping. Bryan blinked to make sure to confirm what he was seeing. There had been reports of Clanners in the area but he didn't believe it. What approached confirmed the rumors as Mad Cat lumbered towards his lance but what gripped him with fear is what came behind. Like something out of a mechwarrior's nightmare, complete with squat torso was a Dashi. The hundred ton monster that had been known to put down many an Inner Sphere 'Mech.
"Freebirth scum," the transmission originated from the Mad Cat "I, mechwarrior Robert, challenge you to a Trial of Possession for the drop ship. Considering your pitiful machines I will take on all of you at the same time."
Not even waiting for a response the Mad Cat began to fire. Two streaks of blue light streaked out at Eric's mech and both slammed into the Rifleman's Torso stripping a few ton's of armor from the barreled armed 'Mech. As Bryan's lance closed in he could see that the condition of the Mad Cat was less then perfect. The computer brought up the info on the enemy mech, splotches of green yellow and red on a computer generated cut-out showing damage. A mass of red was concentrated on the left torso. The Rifleman was taking a tremendous beating, oily smoke now poured though holes in the armor, Bryan knew his lance-leader couldn't take much more. He forced the 'Mech into a run and confronted the clan 'Mech. It seemed to be ignoring him for now, preoccupied with taking down the Rifleman and the heavier battlemechs.
Normally the targeting system in a Battlemech would lock on to the enemy's fusion reactor, the heart of any 'Mech. Bryan switched his targeting system to manual, he checked the Mad Cat, satisfied that it was still preoccupied with Bryan and began to maneuver his Flea around to the back of the Mad Cat in a wide arc, popping of a few laser shots once in a while. Finally he reached his target.
For some reason the rear armor in a Battlemech is ridiculously weak even in clan 'Mechs. Bryan maneuvered his cross hair over the rear torso of the Mad Cat and fired everything he could.
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Star Captain Frederick waited patiently in his 'Mech. Robert was doing well in handling the free-birth troops. The enemy rifleman was almost out of commission and the other 3 'Mechs seemed to be easy prey. Frederick began tracking the enemy Flea as it circled around his star-mate's Timber Wolf. It did not appear much of a threat until Frederick noticed that the Flea could get a clear shot at the Timber Wolf's rear torso.
"Mechwarrior Robert, beware of the enemy 'Mech encircling you." he cut off. The warning was the only advice he would give, if Robert could not handle it and fell, he did not belong to the clans.
The two clannners had dropped in system with the rest of their star a few weeks back. Their mission was to capture some water in a trail of possession and bring it back to the jump ship. The clan's supplies were running low so they picked this planet to restock. They had hit heavy resistance and 3 points of the star was destroyed.
Frederick and Robert had escaped with some water, their long range radio's destroyed. When they returned to the retrieval site they had found the drop-ship had left, thinking them dead because they were not responding. Stranded on the planet for a week they had detected the mercenary drop ship land. If they won the drop-ship in the trial, Frederick hoped they could reach the jump-ship before she jumped out of system, or at least make contact.
The Timber Wolf fell.
*************
Bryan wasn't sure how he done it. The two medium pulse laser and the flamer had gouged out the rear torso of the Mad Cat. He must had managed to eat a hole though the fusion reactor shielding. The Mat Cat began to tip forward when the pilot punched out. Bryan checked out the rest of the lance. Eric's rifleman was still moving, even slower than before, one leg was frozen its place. The 'Mech now had a comedic limp to it. The other two 'Mechs in the lance were no the worst for wear.
Eric's voice was shaken as he addressed he Dashi "You have lost the trial, power down and come out of your 'Mech. You will be taken as Bondsman.".
Bryan knew what Eric was up to, it was a golden opportunity, the merc group would have two more warriors honor about to them (meaning Eric never had to pay them). Also he would gain two clan 'Mechs, it was a sweet deal. Surprisingly the Dashi pilot gave up without a fight, all he did mumbled something under his breath to the other clan pilot about bidding to low as they were herded into the drop ship, headed back to the Inner Sphere. |
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