“You can’t possibly go into this battle without me!” Katarina protested: “You will need every advantage you can get against whatever O’donnell is bringing this time!”

The Avengers had returned to Madeline III, and apparently just in time. A week after they had arrived in system, before they had even reached the planet, they received a radio communique from their Jumpship that another Invader Class Jumpship had entered the system, and not one but two Dropships were on their way towards Madeline III. Commander Nordstrom had confirmed contact as soon as they had landed.

“They are too far off for IFF to get a reading, but we have little doubt that it is in fact O’donnell and whatever forces he has recruited returning to try to take over again. You weren’t able to stop him last time: what more do you think you can do against him now?”

Allen spoke calmly, trying to soothe the rattled Commander. “Please understand that we will be engaging with all possible forces this time. I will personally lead the attack, and we will make it our number one priority to take out O’donnell himself.

“Trust me: we will do everything in our power to protect this planet and your leadership here.”

Nordstrom frowned, still apparently ill at ease as he watched Katarina pacing impatiently nearby, waiting to continue her conversation with Allen. “What’s this I hear about your best pilot being out of commission? Do you really think you stand a chance against O’donnell when you don’t have your best guns available?”

Allen shook his head. “Like I said: I will be leading the force personally. Missing one pilot will not prevent us from accomplishing our mission.

“This is more than a simple battle for us: this is a matter of honor. We failed you once: we will not fail you again.”

Nordstrom clearly was not satisfied. “This may be a matter of honor for you, but for us it is our lives. If O’donnell wins, there is no telling who he will have thrown in jail and who he will have shot outright. And it is not only his enemies but the population as a whole who will suffer at his hands. Believe me, this is much more than just a battle for honor.”

The Commander turned and left, and Katarina approached again.

“Can’t you find some way to get me into the fight? Surely there is some resource we have untapped that I can use?”

“What would you have me do?” Allen ticked off the list on his fingers. “Would you take the Warhammer? It’s slow, it doesn’t jump, and you are unskilled with its ancient controls for both piloting and gunnery. The same is true of Justin’s Grasshopper. You wouldn’t touch Jessica’s Crusader missile boat with a ten foot pole, you haven’t tried out the Phoenix Hawks, Kenny has and Armando’s is down for repairs. Wanda is the only one qualified on the Viper, and it will be three months before Ajax Engines can receive a new engine for the Dementor. What have I missed?”

Rarely was Katarina speechless, but at this moment that seemed to be the case. For a long minute she just stared at him, then shook her head and walked away.

Allen sighed, but then he, too, shook his head and headed towards the mech bay.

* * * * * * * *

“Damn! They spotted the Pegasus on its surveillance run, and now they have holed up on Blarney Hill.”

Allen fumed. One slip-up had just made this whole battle far more difficult. Had they been able to strike against O’donnell while his forces were moving across open terrain, it would have been so much easier than with his forces entrenched on a hillside. So far they still did not know exactly what O’donnell was bringing, but the Pegasus’ scan suggested two complete Lances.

“It looks like we have no choice. We have to confront O’donnell now, before any additional forces join him. Everybody, fall out. Time to go hunting.”

And so the trek began towards Blarney Hill. The Schrek PPC Carrier tank started first, as it was the slowest and would be the easiest to catch up with, and the Manticore traveled by its side. Next came Allen in his Warhammer, Justin in his Grasshopper and Jessica in her Crusader, all traveling at their top speeds of 64 kph. And finally came Wanda in her Viper and Kenny in his new Phoenix Hawk. While the Phoenix Hawk did not have the speed of his Spider it had much more armor and heavier weapons, which would be getting their baptism of fire on this outing.

Now the Pegasus reported back. “We are reading an Archer, a Blackjack, a Wolverine, a Locust, an Atlas, a Devastator, a Hunchback and a Wolverine. Given our reports that O’donnell is a very poor shot, and that the Atlas is an older model with low weaponry, we have great confidence that he is in the Atlas.”

“Remember,” Allen intoned over the Company comm: “we only need to kill one man: Captain O’donnell. With him out of the way these mercs won’t have a contract, and the invasion will end.

“Rush for O’donnell. Pour everything you have into that Atlas: ignore everyone else unless absolutely necessary. Run as fast as you can, jump as far as you can: try to avoid becoming targets. Speed is life.”

Blarney Hill was tall enough to be visible from almost a full click out. Fortunately the enemy had no weapons that could reach that far. But before they could close further than 600 meters, shots rang out from the top of the hill. The sizzling flash of two PPCs and the crack of two Gauss Rifle rounds striking the ground near Allen’s Warhammer showed they were coming into the enemy’s range.

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However, this also meant the enemy was coming into their range as well. Jessica lined up shots from both LRMs on the Atlas, which was lower in front of the hill and partially concealed in a copse of light woods. She fired, but the shots went wide. So did Allen’s PPCs, and nothing else was close enough to even bother firing.

“All units, march in double time!” Allen issued the order, driving forward at maximum speed. This time he paid the price, though, as the Devastator took aim and struck him three times. Amazingly, he still remained standing. “Don’t lose focus!” he warned: “That Devastator is too well armored for shots to do any good until too late. Keep gunning for that Atlas!”

The Avengers all followed suit as Allen opened up with PPCs at the Atlas. Jessica fired LRMs, the Manticore fired its PPC and LRMs, and the Viper, Grasshopper, Phoenix Hawk and Schrek all pressed forward as quickly as possible to close the range.

“Be careful of that Hunchback!” Allen warned: “That’s the one that took down Katarina! It’s twice as fast as you think. Don’t let it close!”

“Right, boss!” replied Kenny. Even though their instructions were to concentrate all fire on the Atlas, Kenny figured that as long as he wasn’t in range yet to attack the main target, he might as well have a go at a secondary one that happened to be close by. So he opened up on the Hunchback with Large and medium lasers, and Wanda joined him.

The Warhammer continued to take a pounding from enemy Mechs, but kept pressing on to set an example for the rest of the team. Slowly but surely, the Atlas’ armor was beginning to wear down.

Then the Schrek scored a triple hit, knocking the Atlas over and trimming two tons off its armor in one volley. A cheer went up from the crew.

But the focus on the Atlas was starting to take its toll. The Hunchback did manage to close distance to the Manticore, and opened up with an LB-X20 cluster round. Besides peppering the side, one shot struck the turret and ignited the loaded ammunition inside. The turret blew off, silencing the crew inside for good.

The Atlas stood again and opened fire, peppering the Schrek with LRM20 missiles, but fortunately was out of range to use its AC20.

Now the opposition seemed to focus on the Schrek. Probably this was because of the triple hit it had scored just seconds ago: the enemy finally realized just how dangerous that tank could be. Missiles, PPC blasts, Gauss Rifle shots and autocannon rounds smashed into the armor, and finally the turret on the Schrek was blown away as well with a thunderous crash as the PPCs’ capacitors exploded. With that much voltage flying around, at least the crews’ deaths would be quick.

Now was not the time to dwell on such a battlefield casualty, but even as he pressed his attack Allen felt a sense of loss for the courageous men who had crewed the two tanks. He determined even more strongly that the Avengers would take down the one man most responsible for their deaths.

Now he was at perfect range for his PPCs and opened fire once more, striking twice in the Atlas’ torso. He watched LRMs and other weapons score their marks on the huge Mech even as he fired his short range missiles and medium lasers.

With the Schrek down, the Devastator returned its focus to firing on him. As the Gauss Rifle rounds and PPC blasts struck him, he saw the heat on his Mech spiking: obviously he had taken an engine hit. Then he felt the wrenching sensation of the Mech’s left arm being blown away. And then came another shot that nearly knocked him off his feet: clearly a gyro hit.

The schematic of his Mech was now flashing in more than half a dozen different places, and suddenly the Atlas closed the distance between them. Not good: the enemy was 30 tons heavier than him, and within the minimum range of his PPCs. It would be much harder to land a shot now, and he was likely to get pummeled or kicked within the next few seconds.

“Hang on, boss!” Kenny voice came through the comm as he jumped behind the Atlas and opened fire. His shots struck, but only on the leg and the arm of the Mech. Wanda followed suit, and her shots did more damage: enough to pierce through the back armor and strike the ammunition stored in the torso. As the Mech blew up, an ejection pod with a chute flew out the back of the head, landing right in front of Wanda. She wasted no time stomping on the pod.

“That’s it!” she hollered over the open channel: “Your employer is dead! You no longer have a contract!”

Allen breathed a sigh of relief, and turned his comm mike over to the open frequency as well. “Without your Captain O’donnell, you have no one to lead this criminal revolt. You also have no one to pay you. You have two choices: keep fighting and all face the gallows even if you ‘win,’ or retreat now, and you will be allowed to go without pursuit. Make your choice quickly: we will not be patient.”

The Devastator powered down its PPCs, and the other Mechs stepped back. Silently they turned and walked down the hill in the direction they had come from. Allen sighed in relief.

Kenny stood next to Wanda, having taken a severe beating both in front and from behind, but his Mech was still standing. There was no question the more fragile Spider would never have made it. Allen nodded in approval, waving his Mech’s arm in Kenny’s direction.

“It looks like we made a good choice, putting you in that thing. I saw you score some serious hits: you made your mark today, for sure.”

“Thanks, boss. I was glad to do it.” Kenny’s voice was filled with a quiet pride.

As Allen tried to turn his Mech around a sharp whine came from under his feet, and the Mech tottered on the verge of collapse. He sighed as he looked over the schematic: damage in almost every area of the Mech, mostly severe. His left arm was gone, along with most of his left torso. Smoke was venting from the rents in what remained of the torso, both front and back, and when he tried to take a step he almost fell again. This had been his father’s Mech, and his father’s before him, and before him. If this was its final battle, at least it had perished for a good cause.

He carefully knelt down, then set the remaining right arm down on the ground and went to the prone position. He opened the hatch and stepped out, waving the Pegasus down. As he did so, he spoke over the comm.

“This is Joker, requesting a Mech pickup. Please treat her gently: she’s a very old girl with some broken bones.”

He stepped off of the back of his mech onto the deck of the Pegasus and soon was seated inside, floating along swiftly towards the Purple Onion and the lady who was waiting for him to get home.