The
First Time (Part 2)
The
War Horses and 3 remaining Troopers held the pass. The pseudo Red
Jack Ryan didn't try to penetrate again that day nor the next
although LP/OP's indicated a build up was being staged. That night,
Com radar cadets reported 3 Leopard class drop ships going due south
and the next day, Briline reported mech movement. The War
Horses had lost three of their 16 mechs, two in combat and one
missile boat so badly damaged it was scrapped for parts. Nine of
their base defense personnel were lost as well. Joe was so
busy assisting with the patches that for two days after the drop ship
sightings, he didn't have a chance to see Pam. Truth was, he wasn't
sure he wanted to. When Joe's shift was over on the third day after
the near breach, he saw Pam in the hallway. She waved and weaved her
way towards him. In a way, he dreaded this. It wasn't that he felt
different about Pam, rather he felt different about himself.
"You know, you are on the verge of becoming a stranger," she said
as she approached him. The pile of papers she carried was almost as
big as she was. Smiling, he retorted, "Your mid shifts make
it hard to have a relationship." "I know," Pam
agreed. "I figured you wouldn't be much fun now anyway. I know I
wouldn't be." Pam's smile disappeared. "I heard about
the other day. We have been ordered to give all GP's ... uh .. you
rock jocks room to focus. That's why ..." "We were told
the same thing. Don't worry. How are things on your end?"
"It's quiet now. I can't help but think about that old saying
about the 'quiet before the storm' bit. We do think that we
caught space traffic this afternoon. Hopefully this is good news. It
maybe reinforcements for one of the garrisons. Maybe for more Red
Jack." "Any news is good news." He scrambled for a
graceful way out. "Look Pam, I've got to get some sleep. I'll
be back on duty soon." "Sure. I've got to run, too.
These reports need to be finished." Pam shifted her papers then
looked intently at him. "Be careful, Joe. Something seems different
about you. I'm here if you need me. Besides, good boyfriends are
hard to find." Joe smiled as he watched her walk away. 'She
just wouldn't understand. I don't think even I do.' He shook his
head. As he headed back to the dorm area, Nat fell into step with
him. "Did you hear?" She walked like a schoolgirl on a
playground. "Hear what, you nut." "OP's
report that all the enemy mechs are pulling back." Joe's
nose furrowed, "Why would they do that?" "No one knows
for sure, but we can sure use the time for repairs and all that."
Nat checked her watch. "I've got to go. My Wasp is getting fitted
with new missile launchers and Cosmo is waiting for me."
"Who's Cosmo," Joe asked. "Goetz, you moron. You'd
figure you'd know your tech's name." Laughing, Nat walked
away. Joe called after her, "I didn't know he had a first
name." If it were anyone other than Nat, he might be offended, but
he knew Nat and her sense of humor. He made his way to his
bunk, set the alarm for second shift and quickly found a dreamless
sleep.
**********
As soon as the sun fell, the Red
Jack forces attacked. Briline was engaged by an equal force and
fought with desperation. Anderson would have sent help, but the pass
was under attack again. Alpha Lance and Troopers formed a kilometer
wide semicircle around the entrance to the pass. The idea was to
blast anything trying to make its way out and was so far successful.
The missile boats, Delta Lance, coordinated fire with the front group
from almost a kilometer back from the mouth of the pass. Anything
over 50 tons was assigned to them. The pass was fairly
narrow allowing no more than three to come out at a time, which were
promptly disabled or destroyed. However, the stream kept coming and
before long, Anderson called in Third Lance for reinforcements.
"Bravo 1, keep back 700 meters from the fur ball and intercept
anything that makes a break for the boats. Delta Lance's tearing
their bigger mechs up. These guys can't afford to let Delta Lance
keep taking pot shot at them." Joe relayed the message and
reposted the lance. He set them up in a hundred-meter line with 25
meters between them. Will was posted to Joe's left nearest to the
shore. To Joe's right was Genn with Nat another 25 meters past
Genn. They watched the fray from their cockpits. "Why did
Third get the call and not us," called Will. Joe noted the
aggression in Will's voice. It seemed that since the last big
fight, Will has almost been eager to get back into action; always
being first into the mech before duty. He had become short with his
mech techs and friends. 'We all deal with fear in different ways,'
Joe thought as he fought back the dry heaves his stomach was giving
him. "Anderson probably thought he didn't need our bigger
size," Genn thought aloud. "Besides, Charlie only has three
mechs. They couldn't protect the boats." Genn, in contrast,
sounded even more cool and in control than usual. This didn't
surprise Joe since Genn seldom let her emotions be known. He briefly
reflected on the one time he had made her mad when they were
sophomores at the college. She politely didn't speak to him for a
semester. "For the baddies to break our trap, they will need to
take out our boats. You cannot do this with big mechs. They are too
slow and Alpha Lance would shred them before they left the kill box.
They need fast mechs to break the kill box and make our boats
concentrate on protecting themselves. Alpha, Charlie, and Troopers
could be in serious trouble without fire support. It makes sense to
position us here protecting Delta 1 and 3." Another salvo
of missiles flew overhead like shooting stars against the night sky.
The heat wasn't too bad, but the humidity caused them to quickly
soak their light shirts under their cooling vests. Behind them, Delta
Lance's two remaining mechs, an Archer and Catapult, hid with the
company's two remaining SRM tanks that were assigned as a guard dog
for these two precious camping commodities. Through the com
link, the lance monitored the battle raging fiercely within view
monitor sight. Things were going well for the War Horses who had lost
no mechs so far. On the ground, flaming carcasses burned making it
hard for the enemy to maneuver through the pass' opening. While
navigating past the burning obstacles and managing their heat, they
were harried by Anderson's well-coordinated heavy weapons fire that
usually causes them to either fall back for another rush or just
fall. Charlie and Delta Lance quickly dispatched those that made it
through the gauntlet. "Any idea who these guys are,"
Nat's uneasy voice broke the silence. She seemed the most unchanged
through out this whole ordeal remaining her usual kid-like self.
"Nope," replied Joe. "I have a thought," Genn
said. "Rumor mill has it that the refineries to our North have been
destroyed. Why? It must be someone who doesn't want the water
factories here. If it had been a water corporation staging this, why
not just kill the management and take over their operation?
"I think it's some kind of activist group," announced Genn.
"That has to be the most dumbest thing I've ever heard,"
said Will. "If you mean to tell me that we are being attacked by
some 22nd century version of Terra's Green Peace, then you must
have totally lost your mind. You're probably one of those who
believe that Hanse Davion's brain is frozen in a computer or that
ComStar is secretly trying to take over the universe. I mean, if
you're really that nae then I want you to know that I want to go
out with you because I'm ONLY interested in your mind."
"OOO Kaay, why don't you .."Genn started to retort.
"Cut it out, you two. We need to focus .." Joe cut in and was cut
off by Nat. "Bravo 1; Bravo 4." Joe knew it was serious
by the tone of Nat's voice and her use of call signs. " We have
movement to our West. Copy?" Joe quickly scanned his HUD,
which showed nothing. "What did you see, Nat?" "It
looked like lights in the mountains north east of base. It was a ways
off. Want me to check it out?" "Negative, Bravo 4. Stand
by." Joe mentally switched frequencies. "Delta 1; Bravo 1."
"Go," replied John Michael Lathem, Delta 1. "Can
you dispatch your guard dogs to the north east? We have reports of
movement." "I'm a little busy right now, Joe. Hold on."
The sound of his Archer's 2 Long-Range Missile 20-packs filled the
air for a moment. "Dispatching now. Please confirm with Control and
don't kill my dogs." "Copy, John. Thanks." Joe
switched to Control's frequency. "Control, Bravo 1."
Pam's voice replied , "Go ahead, Bravo 1." "We have
reports of movement to the north east along the mountains. Copy?
Delta 1 has dispatched guard dogs for immediate visual assessment."
"Copy, Bravo 1. Stand by." After a moment, Pam relayed,
"Alpha 1 Alpha relays that you are site commander. Ground radar has
no contacts. We are confirming with Oscar Papa 7 at this time.
Proceed and keep us advised. Be careful, Joe." Joe
acknowledged and updated the Lance. Radio chatter of the fur
ball had slowed. It seemed that the enemy was regrouping for another
push. Joe could see the lights of the SRM tanks head off in the
direction of Nat's sighting. Will piped in, "Joe, I have
a bad feeling about this. Let's say that Ryan found a way in
through the mountains over there. Those tanks are toast. Also, if the
baddies get in, what would they attack first; the fur ball from
behind, Delta Lance, us, or if Genn's right, the base?"
Pam/Base Control cut in, "Bravo 1, be advised; Base Defense relays
negative contact with Oscar Papa 7. They request that you check in on
their status with the Guard Dogs." "Copy, Control. Will
Comply," Joe responded, then relayed the message. An
unsettling feeling came over him and the hairs on his neck stood up.
Involuntarily, his stomach heaved. Joe suppressed the feeling, and
moved his mech back, then towards the tanks. It was almost like he
was possessed by this intuition. "What's up, buddy,"
Will asked. "Stand by, Bravo 3," Joe responded.
Frequencies switched, "Guard Dog 1, report." "Negative
contact, Bravo 1," the unknown tank commander stated. "En rout to
Oscar Papa 7." "Copy that, Guard Dog 1. Do you have
flares?" "Affirmative." "I want you to
illuminate 500 meters in front of you." "Copy, Bravo 1.
You realize that this will give away Oscar Papa 7's location?"
"Just do it, 1." The tanks were about 3 kilometers
from base and close to 4 kilometers from Bravo Lance before it fired
the flares into the stars. After a few seconds, the eastern horizon
lit up. Scattered along the ground was ground soldiers who
scurried for concealing cover, but it was too late to not be seen.
Behind them followed a 12-part company of light mechs. Joe recognized
Stingers and Wasps; all under 35 tons each, but more than enough for
Joe's lance. A mobile command center was surrounded by the company,
and froze as well. Joe grimaced at the prospects of what was to
come. Everyone was still for a few seconds. "Holy
..," Will broke in. Then everything exploded. The enemy
mechs bounded forward firing on the SRM tanks, which were less than
200 meters away lighting it up. The SRM tanks returned fire as best
as possible before being engulfed by fire and light. Joe's
HUD finally detected and identified the enemy mechs. Pam in
Control broke in, "Bravo 1, we report multiple contacts to the
north east." 'You figure,' Joe mentally asked in sarcasm.
"Affirmative. Advise Alpha 1 Alpha." Switching, "Bravo Lance,
move to intercept." "The lights were the OP going up ..,"
Nat stated. "Why didn't radar catch them ...."Will
spurted. "Guardians. They must have Guardian Electric
Counter Measures." Genn stated. "Negative. We can see
them now. Must be the command vehicle," Joe shot back. How did they
get it over the mountains? The enemy mechs were now within
maximum range of Joe's PPC's. As he tried to sight in, the enemy
mechs started jumping in many different directions. Joe and the enemy
knew that PPC's and 20-ton mechs didn't mix well and were trying
to avoid catching Joe's hot potatoes. "They must have
found a pass using their jump jets. Every one of them are jumpers,"
Nat said. "When you get in range, fire at will," Joe
commanded. He couldn't find a mech who would cooperate and be still
so he opened up on the command vehicle. "Better not,"
Bravo 3 chortled as the Wasp passed up the Uziel. The command
vehicle was fortunate with the first PPC blast falling short, but the
second blast rocked the front of the vehicle's cab smashing it in
like it was struck with a big stick. Suddenly, the air was
charged with many different hues of light as Bravo Lance came into
range of their medium lasers. Mechs from both sizes touched ground
briefly before taking to the night air again. They looked like
flaming catapult shot bouncing around. This reminded him. He checked
his HUD, which confirmed 4 mechs breaking off in the direction of
Delta Lance. "Delta 1, copy 4 baddies headed your way.
Reposition to shore and continue fire. We can't stop them."
"Copy Bravo 1. Will comply. Things just heated up at the pass,
but we'll try to assist if possible. Good luck!" Assist.
That gave Joe an idea. "Bravo 2, run the edges of the fur
ball. Bravo 3 and 4 stay air born. I'm running support."
Radios clicked in acknowledgement as they were engaged. Joe
stopped and started to withdraw. While walking backwards, he started
alternating PPC fire from each cannon. Most missed, but some
connected with devastating effects particularly for the limbs. Joe's
heart leapt with each strike his lance mates suffered, but a pattern
developed. Although jumping mechs are notoriously hard to
hit, they also have a hard time connecting as well. Will and Nat did
their damage, but when Joe or the Wasps crippled one, Genn finished
it off. Within the first moments, three enemy mechs were dead or
dying. The Ryan mech's must have realized this because they
pushed the fur ball towards the base advancing on Joe's
reverse-walking Uziel. Joe saw a Stinger arc through the
air. Instinctively, Joe realized that it was going to land close to
where Genn was heading. "Genn, watch your ..." Joe
started. Mid-arch, the Stinger slightly adjusted its
direction and almost seemed to float on top of the Shadow Cat driving
the mech forward into the sand. The Stinger took to the air again.
The Shadow Cat was still. 'Click,' echoed in his mind as
both PPC's roared out their displeasure to the fleeing Stinger.
Joe's rage was embodied as the PPC blasts ripped through and ripped
off the right torso of the mech. Flaming, it crashed into the ground
in a parody of a belly flop and did not rise. Scanning, Joe
also realized that he could account for only one of the lance's
Wasps although he couldn't figure out which one it was and which
was missing. There were still 6 mechs left to Bravo's 2 although
Joe had yet to be tagged. Joe fought on. The Uziel's PPC's
had found their rotation again and heat was being managed, but Joe
knew he was almost in range of the medium lasers. Barring any bad
luck, he knew he could take what they could dish out for a little
while, but not for long. The question was which would give out first,
his Uziel or their lance plus. His teeth clenched at the odds he gave
himself. The sky was beginning to take on a strange texture.
Joe automatically attributed it to the coming dawn, but realized that
that was several hours away. Joe began to focus on the Wasp
and tried covering for it. "Bravo Lance, report status," Joe
ordered. "Freaking not good," reported Will. "Come on,
hit something!" Several of Joe's shots had gotten away
from him. Reinforcing his concentration, he started to
connect a couple of shots. Now, the fur ball had caught him. His mech
shook from the medium laser and missile fire as his green-lit damage
display began to turn yellow. "What in the ... Behind you,
Joe," Will called out. The sky was still growing brighter.
His radio crackled. "Base Control to all posts and patrols.
By order of Alpha One Alpha, all units pull back to base."
'We must have lost the pass,' Joe thought. Mentally, he tabulated
that they were still over a kilometer from base. 'We'll never make
it.' He glanced back to see the source of the light and saw a
huge egg-shaped drop ship in it's final approach landing north of
the base a short ways. 'Whose side are they on?'
"Joe, we won't take them. Should we disengage and go south."
"Negative. They'll catch us anyway. Try to slow them down."
Joe risked a glance back. The Drop ship had landed and was
extending its ramps. Joe could see the symbol of a drop ship company,
which basically told him nothing. On the northern fringe of his HUD
radar, he could see mechs from both sides closing on the base. At
that moment, the Ryan mechs broke the engagement with Bravo Lance and
sprinted past them for the base. "Bravo 1, my gyros are
dama .. leg's ar ..not keep up," the strain in Will's broken
transmission told the severity of his situation. 'Radio's
going out.' "Copy, 4. If you can read, try to check on 2 and 4."
Joe began chase of the mechs. He realized that missed PPC shots
would land in the base causing damage to the Works. Cursing his
unusually bad aim, he angled his shots low at the mechs legs.
There were 4 remaining Ryan mechs dashing for the perimeter fence
line. The chain link fence would do nothing to stop the mechs and the
base defense units would barely slow them down with their shoulder
SRM 2-packs, turret-mounted medium lasers, and mobile machine gun
arrays. The fast mechs swerved to avoid Joe's PPC fire and legs
proved to be an elusive target. Facing the base, Joe could
see mechs running out of the drop ship's ports. Due to the lights
of the base behind them, they looked like black silhouettes, totally
unidentifiable, as they formed up and sprinted in different
directions. Joe caught up to the slowest mech, a Stinger
with a damaged leg actuator and slowed to match its speed. It was
still fast and twisted to its right to face Joe's Uziel. Joe fired
both PPCs and cursed himself for not leading the target enough as the
shots sailed behind the Stinger. The Stinger didn't make the same
mistake as its lasers slammed Joe's left torso, which turned from
yellow to red on his display. Before Joe could get off another round
of PPC fire, the Stinger recycled and connected again. The HUD told
him that his only working right torso machine gun bought it leaving
Joe's PPCs as the only weapon reliable in these circumstances. He
fired and both PPC shots connected just above where the legs join the
body of the Stinger. 'Finally!' The torso disconnected from the legs
and sailed backwards from wind resistance as the legs continued for a
short ways. Straightening out, Joe could see that they were
within a kilometer of the base perimeter. He struggled to lock on to
another mech, aiming for the legs, and found a target. Just as he
pulled the trigger, it was engulfed by green light and shattered.
"What the .." "Bravo 1, this is Lancer 50. Stand
down on pursuit. I say again, stand down," an unfamiliar female
voice ordered. Another Ryan Wasp exploded in green light in
front of him. The remaining mech veered south retreating for
the cover of darkness. As Joe slowed, he could make out four other
silhouetted light mechs giving pursuit. "Bravo Lance, Base
Control," the very familiar and audibly relieved voice called out.
"Return to base. Implementing ThreatRes Charlie. If you can believe
it, the calvary is here."
**********
Joe sat on his bunk, elbows on his knees and chin resting on his
hands staring at the wall of his dorm room not really sure what he
was thinking about. The fear/rush of the fight had been everything he
had hoped for and more; most of it not good. He ached from the
pounding he withstood inside the jarring mech. His thoughts drifted
for his concern of his lance mates who were still unaccounted for.
Most of all, he felt guilty that he had ordered the suicide attack on
the Ryan company and he had survived. He also felt guilty about
feeling relieved to be alive. Being alive when the others were likely
dead. The room held 2 bunk beds that Joe shared with his
lance. As he looked around the room, he realized how much they had
become a part of his life. The likely prospect of them not being
around disturbed him more than anything else at this moment.
His door chimed and opened. Joe looked up half expecting his comrades
to come in and greet him. Captain Anderson walked in, like
Joe, still in his shorts and T-shirt. The sweat and grime from the
night's battle stuck like a dark cloud. Joe half-heartedly stood to
attention. "Relax, Joe. Save it for later. I just wanted to
check on you and personally give you the good news." Joe
relaxed and looked at the Captain. His face asked the question on his
mind. "Yes, all your lance mates have been accounted for
and are alive. Dominguez was found by the wreckage of Cronovick's
Cat. Apparently, her Wasp was almost done and she bailed. She found
Cronovik in pretty bad shape, but stabilized her. Lancer mobiles are
bringing them in. Word has it Dominguez had to hold back some foot
troops with a rifle she found using the Cat for cover. Rack one up
for the X-chromosome. Crono's going to be down for a while and
maybe permanently reassigned due to injuries. Time will tell.
"Needlemeyer got strafed by the Lancers accidentally, but shutdown
before the engine exploded. Apparently he never identified himself.
He was picked up by a tank, which will bring him back in the
morning. "You lucked out, kid. We all did. We lost three
good mech warriors today and it should have been worse. The fact is
that they weren't very good. Death and fear are just something we
all learn to deal with if we want to do this for a living. You're
going to face it sooner or later." Joe found his tongue.
"Captain, who were those guys?" Anderson smiled and
half-chuckled. He sat down on Will's bunk and motioned for Joe to
sit as well. "Some mercenary outfit combined with some
environmental zealots. I forget their name, but definitely not Red
Jack Ryan. I don't think anyone was fooled." 'Damn, Genn
was right,' Joe thought. Captain Anderson continued, "It
never ceases to amaze me what people will fight over. The Laeteans
believe that the environmental group found out that the companies
were in a bidding war to export the planet's water to terraculture
projects on nearby planets. I guess this would have devastated the
lake's ecosystem or something like that. That's why they were
wiping out the garrisons and plants. You know, ... sending a message.
Briline fell last night and everything else on the planet is gone.
AFWP is the sole water company left. Even if the Lancers can hold the
plant, the radicals still won. I mean, how much water can AFWP take?
Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that AFWP or another
company deliberately leaked out the information hoping to provoke
this fight before it backfired. Anyway, it's the Lancers problem
now." Joe was surprised, "You mean we are not going to
stay?" "God, no! This is no longer our fight. Even with
the Lancers here, the other guys are already reconsolidating for
another go at this place and there are more of them than there are of
us. No, we leave tomorrow on that Overlord drop ship. The Leateans
have back-up coming in a week or so and are well equipped, but 9
badly beaten up mechs aren't going to make much of a difference. We
were lucky that they won out the other contract so quickly."
Joe's blood started to rise, "But Captain, with everything that
happened, .." "Revenge and anger are not good reasons to
die, cadet," Anderson cut him off. "I was placed here to get you
kids some experience. Granted, this is more than any of us bargained
for, but my job is to see you through it. You just learned something
this week and it has changed your lives. Learn from it and use it."
Anderson stood, "We leave tomorrow night after we collect our
spoils, armor, mechs, and equipment. Clean up and report to assist.
Got it?" "Yes, sir," Joe muttered thinking about how
tired he was with everything still to come. "You can rest
on the drop ship. Any questions," Anderson asked. Joe's
thoughts snapped, "Yes, sir. A couple of days ago, you shot that
Atlas in the back. I'm grateful, but isn't that what you
instructors teach as wrong? I mean, with you being a Templers and all
that." Joe could tell that he had caught the captain off
guard by the way Anderson deeply inhaled, then slowly let it out as
he stared at the wall forming his answer. After a moment, the captain
replied. "First of all, you have never heard me talk about
this implied honor code nor will you ever. That, I can promise you.
But, there are certain quirks in this business that you must come to
terms with if you're going to stick it out as a mech warrior.
"There are people in this business who would rather die by some
chosen code than dishonor it. They value it over their own lives. All
you have to do is look at most of the Kuritians and Clans to see
that. By contrast, there are some mech warriors who would stab their
brother in the back if they believed it would benefit them. Then
there are those in between like me. "When I first got
into the business after school at New Avalon, I fully embraced the
ancient codes of chivalry and the learnings the Templers had to
offer. Part of that is based on this code you speak of. I quickly
found out that I wasn't cut out for it and that everyone else was a
better pilot than I was at the time. My inexperience got me in
trouble because I did whatever it took to survive. I basically valued
my life and the lives of my comrades more than this code. In one bad
situation, I got my lance out with everyone alive, but only because I
shot out the legs of a big mech. Although we survived, I got thrown
out. I made a living for years as a mercenary then as an instructor.
But, I got older. My priorities changed and I realized that I had a
code as well. That code is to ensure I live to go home to my family
and get those whose learning I am charged with safely home as well. I
will do everything I can to ensure this. I also expect the enemy to
do the same and expect nothing less. Personally, as a Christian and
mech warrior, I think it's more merciful to shoot out a mechs legs
and let them eject to safety than burn in a metal casket. I really
have no reason to kill, just win and I'll do anything necessary to
do so. There are no second places in this line of work, just the slim
possibility of a second chance." Captain Anderson turned to
leave, then smiling said, "You did good for your first time. Very
good. Granted, we lucked out with the Lancer's arrival, but if you
hadn't figured a way to slow that company, they would have
destroyed the factory and we'd lost our profits from this campaign.
The Laeteans are ticked that we are making them pay for our ride
home, but it's in the contract. We made a lot of C-bills for the
college to fix our stuff and have a good bit left over. It's a
credit to you and your lance. I'll see that the college doesn't
forget it. "Get moving. I'll see you in class."
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