The hot sun beat down on the ferrocrete paving the landing zone for the Purple Onion, heat shimmers rising into the morning sky. Allen and Katarina stood together watching the approach of an A model Viper crossing the pavement from another dropship. The Viper was painted a nondescript steel gray as if factory fresh, awaiting the addition of whatever paint schemes or insignias they might wish to add. Allen found the stilted walk of the retrograde legs to look awkward and clumsy, but to Katarina it looked elegant, like a dancer poised on the toes of her feet.
The Viper came to a stop under cover of the shadow from the Onion, just meters away from where they stood. The cockpit slowly rose, and they could see the busty figure of the pilot unbelting from the seat and removing her helmet. For a moment she shook loose her long blonde hair, then dismounted down the side of the mech. Once she reached the ground it was clear that she was fairly short, almost a head shorter than Allen, barely coming up to Katarina’s chest. She approached them and snapped to attention, a broad smile on her face as she saluted.
“Lieutenant Wanda Pettit, at your service!”
Allen and Katarina saluted back, taking stock of the young lieutenant as best they could based on first impressions. Then Allen addressed her.
“Captain Allen McGee, Lieutenant, and this is Commander Katarina Hazen. Welcome to the Andurien Avengers.”
“Thank you, sir!”
She eyed Katarina for a moment. “A Trueborn, Bloodnamed Clan warrior? Jade Falcon, right? You have my respect and admiration, Commander.”
Katarina colored slightly at the compliment. “Thank you, Lieutenant. You are well informed.”
Wanda shrugged. “I did a thesis on Clan Bloodnames as part of my studies at college. Very interesting stuff.”
“Indeed,” said Allen: “There is much about Clan culture that is fascinating. Anything else you may have learned that would be of interest?”
Wanda considered for a moment, then shook her head. “Nothing particularly relevant. I don’t know how the Clanners will feel about you wandering about with Non Clanners, having a Bloodname. Keeps them from having it back. But that’s neither here nor there.”
She eyed Allen directly. “So: what’s your policy on callsigns? I was the new kid in my previous unit, so they assigned me ‘Busty.’ Goes to show how even Mechwarriors who should know better measure a woman by appearance alone. I’d be happy for a change.”
Allen nodded. “Katarina has stuck by her original callsign of Turkina, but the rest of us have taken names from the standard deck of playing cards. I’m Joker, as their leader, and everyone else has chosen royal cards. There has been some talk of non-combatants taking non-royal cards, but they so rarely need to comm, it hasn’t really been an issue.”
Wanda’s broad smile came back as she threw her head back and laughed. “If it’s available, put me down for Queen of Hearts, baby!”
Allen nodded again. “I believe that one is still available. You are welcome to it.”
“Excellent!” she beamed. “So: reporting for duty. Orders, sir?”
“At ease, Lieutenant. Report to your quarters in D bunker, and you’re off duty.” Allen dismissed her with a wave of his hand.
“Yes, sir!” She turned and headed down the walkway towards the bunkers.
Katarina turned to Allen. “It should be interesting to see how she does in combat. She had good reports from her previous Company: they hoped she would re-enlist. Hopefully their loss is our gain.”
Allen nodded. “I am sure we will find out soon enough. I advised the MRB of our increased capacity for combat: they will be reviewing higher profile missions for us.”
Katarina smiled. “Missions I can take part in? Wonderful! I cannot wait!”
“I doubt you’ll have to,” Allen replied: “I’ve already fielded a couple of offers. Give me the chance to look them over, and we’ll see what to go for.”
* * * * * * * *
The opportunity came very soon. After six weeks on board the Purple Onion in transit to the target world of Madeline III, they arrived and set down on the recently terraformed planet.
It had been an interesting six weeks. Wanda proved to be a very gregarious lady, vivacious, positive, optimistic, and generally a fun person to have around. She took an instant liking to Kenny, and the two became a very public item. She also turned out to be quite the card shark, introducing the crew to the Clan card game of Hexar, and running regular game nights to alleviate the boredom of in transit time.
Now they deboarded and contacted the client. A Commander Nordstrom arrived within the hour to hold a briefing.
“Eight weeks ago we had a defection of one Captain O'donnell, who started a civil uprising against the legitimate government of Madeline III. Our hope was that you would arrive on time to assist as reinforcements in putting down the rebellion. As things turned out, we have mostly suppressed the rebellion ourselves but our troops are run down, damaged, and generally unfit to continue fighting.
“We have O’donnell on the run, but don’t have the resources to pursue and capture him. We need him brought to justice; we need you to capture him and bring him back to stand court martial. Our intelligence reports that he will be making a break for the Zardan spaceport tomorrow morning. We would like you to intercept on the way there. We found a chokehold area he and his crew will have to pass through, so you’re certain to have your chance there.
“Please don’t fail us. If O’donnell gets away, he is certain to return with outside forces and resume his rebellion. We aren’t equipped to resist this time.”
Allen nodded. “We will do everything in our power to bring him in. I presume that if capture proves impossible, elimination is appropriate?”
“You are correct. One way or another, O’donnell must be stopped.”
* * * * * * * *
The following morning found them at the chokehold point: a tangled mass of hills and new forests O’donnell and his men would have to traverse to get to the spaceport. Soon the opposition came in sight. Four of the Mechs bore similar markings and the same insignia: the fifth was a Charger, with a different paint scheme and insignia.
“IFF?” Katarina inquired of the onboard Identity Friend or Foe program. “Who are we facing?”
“One Charger bearing insignia of the Madeline III Civil Defense Force. Given mission parameters, this would be Captain O’donnell. Remaining forces all bear insignia of a full sun with a black spot on it. Records indicate this to be the insignia of Sunspot Strategic, a Company generally operating out of Davion space. Leader appears to be a Black Knight, configuration unknown, but bearing a retractable arm blade.”
Katarina’s eyebrow raised inquiringly. “‘Configuration unknown?’ So, a custom version of some sort? Any indications of other changes to this model?”
“None at this time. Will have access to further information as combat progresses.”
Katarina launched herself into the air, covering a jump of over 200 meters before landing. Behind her the rest of the crew followed suit: Jessica in her Crusader CRD-5M, Justin in the Grasshopper GHR-5N, Wanda in the Viper A and Armando in his Spider SDR-8M.
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“I’m not nearly as fast as the rest of you,” Jessica commented, “But then again I don’t need to be. If someone can spot for me, I’ll missile them to death from back here.”
“Neither am I,” commented Justin: “I guess that makes us the backup reserves: stop him if nobody else can.”
“Jack of Spades at your service, Queen of Spades. I’ll spot for you.” Armando’s voice came across the comm.
“Whatever works,” Katarina interjected. “Just focus your fire on that Charger. That’s our target: the rest are superfluous.”
So speaking, she opened fire with her Large Pulse Laser: the only weapon with range enough to reach the Charger. The shot just missed, sizzling across the ground on the other side of the target. Katarina growled in frustration, but kept her cool. The range was still bad, was all.
With Armando spotting for her, Jessica fired both of her LRM15s at the Charger, one salvo hitting, one salvo missing. “Score first blood!” she exclaimed proudly. The new Crusader was not as fast as the Trebuchet had been, but it was better armored and a smoother ride.
An Extended Range PPC blast from the Black Knight sizzled past the Crusader, who had obviously targeted the slower, easier to hit Mech instead of the other faster and more agile jumpers. Then it fired a series of Medium and Medium Pulse lasers into the hillside.
“Black Knight has missed all targets,” the IFF system announced: “Black Knight has overheated significantly. As most targets were out of range, all factors suggest a green pilot. Threat level: minimal.”
Katarina was surprised at that. A Black Knight was an expensive piece of equipment, and if this model was custom, then it was worth a lot more. Having a green pilot in a Mech like that didn’t make sense.
Justin ran forward, trying to get his Medium Lasers in range as quickly as possible and firing his PPC at the Charger. Being at maximum range, he missed.
Wanda fired three of her five Clan ER Medium lasers, holding the others in reserve to prevent heat buildup. Two of the shots struck the Charger, carving gashes in the armor.
Katarina launched herself into the air again, making herself the most difficult target on the battlefield. It generated a load of heat, but she could still fire the Large Pulse and one Medium Pulse Laser without frying her systems. And she had closed distance on the Charger. This time she hit with the Medium Laser but again not with the Large one. This was getting more than irritating.
“Diagnostics! Check LPL01 for accuracy!” she ordered. The response came quickly.
“LPL01 is misaligned, and will require ground service to reset. Recommend shifting to backup systems MPL01 and MPL02.”
“Svashri!” she exclaimed, fuming at the incompetence of whichever technician had failed to adjust the system prior to battle. Now limited to Medium weapons systems she would be forced to close at closer distances with her targets in order to score shots. Fortunately the Charger had not even a single medium range weapon on it, so she could cut things pretty close with that primary target.
Armando’s Spider jumped its maximum distance to evade fire, but was able to keep spotting the Charger while firing its own Medium Pulse Lasers into the Charger from the side.
Jessica took advantage of Armando’s spotting to fire her LRMs once more, and this time scored significant damage spread out over the body of the Mech. The Charger lurched backwards but maintained its balance, and trotted on.
This time, the PPC blast from the Black Knight struck her in the right torso, along with a couple of other Medium Laser hits. She was rocked backwards, but kept her balance. She blinked at the sensors indicating the position of the Black Knight. What the hell? The Black Knight should have a top speed around 64 kilometers per hour, yet had just put on a burst of speed clocking at nearly 90!
“Warning!” the IFF system cautioned: “Revising threat level estimates. Black Knight of unknown type appears to be activating Triple Strength Myomer. This capability raises ground speed by approximately 33%, and doubles shock damage from melee attacks, including the blade mounted on the left arm. Revised threat level: significant.”
Jessica swallowed hard as she realized the Black Knight was barreling right towards her. She jumped back 120 meters, but that was only half the distance the Black Knight had covered in the same time. The math was clear: with no good cover or terrain nearby that she could leap above or hide behind, the Black Knight would be on her in 30 seconds tops.
“Turkina, this is Queen of Spades. Facing urgent threat here: switching targets to slow him down.”
She fired her LRMs at the Black Knight, now close enough she didn’t need a spotter, and both salvos struck home. In spite of the damage the Black Knight kept charging in her direction, firing PPC and Extended Range Medium Lasers at her as he came. Both hit, and she staggered under the onslaught.
Meantime, Armando was not faring so well. A lucky PPC shot had torn out his left torso and arm, nearly knocking him over. Fortunately he still had both Medium Pulse Lasers, as they were located in his center torso, and was able to fire back.
Justin had closed his distance to within range for his Medium Lasers, and opened fire with four of them. Two of them scored minor damage on the Charger, one on a leg, one on an arm.
Katarina’s command board was now lighting up with warning signs. “Avengers, reverse course! We can still stop them, but need a little range. Armando: get out, quick.”
She jumped back the way she had come, firing as she went. Both Medium Pulse Lasers struck armor, carving off nearly half a ton each.
Wanda backpedaled on the ground, saving her heat capacity to fire four Medium Lasers instead of just three, hitting with all but one. The overtaxed Charger struggled to stay on its feet, but succeeded.
Justin came under heavy fire as he backed up: nothing critical, but a lot of armor shots. He fired back with his lasers, but couldn’t make a significant impact.
Armando jumped, no longer trying either to spot or to fire, just getting out as per instructions. It was a well disciplined group, Katarina noted, everyone following directions and following them well.
Jessica also backpedaled on the open ground, holding her fire until the Black Knight stepped right into her sweet spot: the area from 200 to 300 meters away where all her weapons could lock on and fire. She threw it all at him: LRMs, short range Streak missiles and Medium Lasers. Some hit and some did not, but the Black Knight did not fall. Instead, he fired back. The PPC and a shower of laser fire knocked her to the ground, leaving her momentarily dazed but not injured.
“Man down! Cover fire!” Katarina ordered over the comm. And everyone shifted fire from the Charger to the Black Knight.
Wanda had actually managed to get right behind the Knight and opened fire with four lasers and her short range missile pack. It raised her heat slightly, but not enough to interfere with her Mech’s performance. While she hit with all but one laser, only one laser struck the vulnerable back torso armor, the rest hitting arms and legs.
Armando jumped back into range to fire off his lasers, still retreating. His shots scored on the Knight as well.
Katarina opened fire, again limited to the Medium lasers she had, but she also hit her marks.
Jessica made an effort to scramble to her feet, but was only up on one knee when the Black Knight closed. He raised his left arm, the blade extending, and swung down right at the Crusader’s head.
The “Catspaws” Predictive AI system sensed the imminent danger and blasted her free of the cockpit a tenth of a second before the blade smashed through the head, severing it and sending it bouncing across the field like a tennis ball. The decapitated Mech fell backwards and crashed into the ground.
“Avengers, stand down!” Katarina’s voice cut through the open commlink. “We sue for peace. No more attacks: you go your way, we’ll go ours.”
Something in the angle of the Black Knight’s head gave Katarina the impression that he was not issuing the orders, but listening for them.
“Your terms are acceptable. Just don’t interfere with us again.”
The Black Knight unclenched its fist, the blade retracting back into its arm mount. Wanda gave the Knight a wide berth as she came around and picked up Jessica’s ejection pod in one hand. With the other she tried to drag the Mech, but it proved too heavy for her. Then Justin approached and grabbed the mech by the shoulder, and was able to move it.
They stepped aside as the Charger with the rebel Captain O’donnell walked past. The head tilted their way, and the comm crackled again.
“Nice try, Mercs. But my boys are just better.”
Katarina gritted her teeth, holding back a retort that might have started the fight all over again. She waited until the Sunspot Strategic force had passed them by, and turned the comm from public to Company channel.
“I know. We let him get away. Our employers won’t be too happy about that. I’m going to suggest to Allen that we stay to defend Madeline III from whatever forces Captain O’donnell brings back here. I am sure he will agree that we will accept base pay as covering for the defense of the planet as well. If we hadn’t failed, they wouldn’t be needing a defense force right now.”
The rest of the Lance gave a chorus of “ayes,” with Justin being the last to agree. He felt they were just asking for trouble, staying here to ward off a full scale invasion. But he couldn’t argue that it wasn’t the right thing to do.
“And next,” intoned Katarina through gritted teeth, “time to find out which tech failed to calibrate my main gun!”