Star lord

by Donald G. Phillips

  Indeed, even the landing had been executed with classic Steel Viper precision. It was a standard dusting, the Broadsword DropShip sweeping across the lowlands to release the Steel Viper force in a tight drop, then withdrawing to a prearranged pickup point.

  Star Captain Dawn was the leader of the entire operation as well as personally in command of a Boa, the Steel Viper name for a Star of medium to heavy 'Mechs. The Boa was part of Trinary Bravo of the elite Fourth Viper Guards, known to the rest of their Clan as Deadly Venom. The Trinary's two other Stars, another Boa and a Mamba, were deployed in a triangular formation. Checking her tactical display to verify that her warriors were in proper formation, Dawn was pleased to see them positioned precisely as in their three practice runs on Jabuka.

  The mission was a simple one. Star Colonel Brett Andrews, under orders from Khan Perigard Zalman, had ordered a raid on the planet Cumbres, a world about halfway between the Steel Viper Occupation Zone and the Lyran capital of Tharkad. The mission was simple: the three Battle Stars under Dawn's command were to cross the four kilometers separating their LZ from the Guards garrison, crush the defenders, and destroy the headquarters. Then the Trinary would rendezvous with their DropShip and depart the planet.

  To Dawn it was almost a set-piece battle. Hit suddenly, catch their foe off guard, defeat them, and depart victorious. It was the Steel Viper way, strike fast and hard, finishing the kill with one deadly bite.

  Moving her Crossbow forward, Dawn couldn't help but remember the last time she'd met Inner Sphere freebirths in combat. Tukayyid. The largest battle ever fought in the history of mankind, the might of the Clans squaring off against ComStar's Com Guards to determine the fate of the Clan invasion. Her memory of the furious fighting on that world was as vivid as if only a single day, and not six years, had passed. This time would be different, Dawn told herself. This time my honor will be restored.

  Every one of the Clans had met humiliation and defeat at Tukayyid, but perhaps none so great as the Steel Vipers. When it was all over, Khan Natalie Breen had stepped down in shame, Perigard Zalman taking her place. The worst of the fighting had occurred at Devil's Bath, a living hell of boiling mud, steaming pits, and scalding geysers interspersed with towering granite columns. Even the forbidding homeworlds of the Clans had not prepared them for such a hellish place.

  But that only made the challenge greater, and what else did a warrior live for? When their enemy turned tail and headed into Devil's Bath, Dawn and the rest of Gamma Galaxy had gone in after them, without fear, without hesitation. They struck at sunrise, within minutes engaging in some of the bloodiest fighting in the twenty-one days of battle for that planet. Most of it was at point-blank range, with whole Stars lost in erupting geyser fields or disappearing into bottomless pits of boiling mud. Firing as they sank, those warriors fought to the end.

  The Steel Vipers suffered losses of nearly twenty-five percent on Tukayyid, but for Dawn the defeat was doubly intolerable. She'd been the only member of her Binary to survive the grueling combat among the steaming sinkholes, hissing geysers, and fiery mud. Two months in the hospital had healed her physical wounds, but some deeper, secret part of her still festered. Dawn felt shame that she alone had survived while all her comrades had gone to glory dying for the Clan. Had she failed in courage? Had she failed in ferocity? How was it that only she had not fought to the death?

  The only way she would ever answer those questions or live down the shame of Tukayyid was to prove her worth on another field of combat. And Cumbres was her chance. The Twenty-fourth Lyran Guards were defending their regimental HQ with a heavily reinforced company of mixed composition. In the bidding for the right to lead the raid, Dawn had neither overbid nor underbid the forces needed to win the objective. Despite Tukayyid, Dawn was confident of her prowess, confident she could still prove herself as a warrior. She'd borne the shame of Tukayyid, the scorn it had earned her among her mates. No mere battle could be more difficult than that. Neither did Star Colonel Brett Andrews make any secret of his disdain, treating Dawn like a blight, and refusing to trust her with anything worthwhile. But he could not hold her back forever. In the end, she had won the bid to lead the raid on Cumbres. A victory here would restore her honor and her place among the Vipers.

  "Charlie and Bravo Stars, concentrate your scanning on the flanks," Dawn said crisply while checking her sensors. She and the rest of the Trinary were rapidly closing with their target, and soon the fight would begin.

  She caught the first of the Twenty-fourth Guard 'Mechs on her secondary monitor at the same time as Bravo Star. "Enemy BattleMechs at the outer marker, Star Captain," came the voice of Star Captain Bidgood. "Closing rapidly on our left flank. Request permission to engage."

  "Aff, Bravo. Engage. Execute primary battle plan." The plan had been carefully laid out by her three weeks ago.

  Whichever flank engaged the enemy first was to break off and lure away the opposing forces.

  The tiny speakers in her Crossbow came to life with the sounds of Bravo Star charging into combat. One by one each Viper warrior issued his or her challenge of one-on-one combat. By the icons and their firing patterns she knew that the worthless Inner Sphere freebirths were ignoring the challenges. No matter. It was the way of the Clan to offer honorable combat to one's foe. And hers was not just a Clan, they were the Steel Vipers. They alone lay coiled in readiness to preserve the true intentions of Nicholas Kerensky. While the other Clans lost their way in pursuit of power or dreams of glory, the Steel Vipers remained true.

  Dawn was closing to almost visual range of the headquarters when Captain Bidgood signaled her. "Reporting, Star Captain," he said.

  "Proceed."

  "There are at least two companies of 'Mechs here, as well as supporting infantry and ground armor. But that is not all. It looks like the Guards are already engaged with another raiding party. Unable to—"

  Static cut off his voice for a second. Probably a PPC hit or near miss, Dawn thought, but she didn't need to hear anymore. It was time to change the plan. "Alpha and Charlie Stars, divert from primary targets and sweep to the flank to reinforce Bravo Star." As she spoke Dawn swung her Crossbow away from the Guards HQ. It was almost in range. She could have taken it out with one salvo. Remembering that Charlie Star had an Ice Ferret, one of the fastest OmniMechs of its class, she considered sending it on alone to destroy the objective, but then decided against it.

  She wanted to win, but only through true victory. The way of the warrior, a Steel Viper warrior, was to accomplish her mission. First crush the defending forces, then destroy the HQ. Those were her orders. Anything else would not be worthy of the Viper she was.

  Her orders hadn't included being suddenly outnumbered by the presence of some other unknown force, however. Who could it be? Troops of one of the other Clans? Perhaps a unit recently rotated in?

  Captain Bidgood's voice came in again as she and the rest of the Trinary closed on the battle zone.

  "—cut off. Do you read? Unknown force coming in on our rear flank."

  A blast nearby rocked the ground under her Crossbow. Dawn switched to long-range scan and felt a cold shiver run through her body at what she saw. A full company of BattleMechs was closing rapidly on what was now her Trinary's left flank. In front of them was what was left of two companies of the Twenty-fourth Guards. Bravo Star was down to three 'Mechs and fighting a retreat back to where the rest of the Trinary was closing. We must be vastly outgunned to have lost two of our 'Mechs so quickly, Dawn thought. They'd been light 'Mechs, but that didn't make the loss any less significant.

  "We are closing with you, Bravo One," she said, suddenly coming upon the battle site as she crested a small hill. All that was left of Bravo Star was a Stormcrow, a Timber Wolf, and an Executioner, the three 'Mechs steadily moving backward and firing at their targets in the distance. The smoldering remains of the two downed Steel Viper 'Mechs were belching black clouds into the air. Also visible were seven Lyran Guard 'Mechs, either destroyed or so close
to it they were no longer viable targets. One of the fallen Vipers was tangled in a smoldering mass with what looked like a Guard Battle Hawk—a kind of mutual death grip. Though Dawn had not seen the fight that killed those two warriors, the struggle had obviously been fierce. The Viper warrior had met her fate with true honor.

  Now the rest of the enemy Guards were charging forward, throwing up a literal wall of fire at the battered remains of Bravo Star. Lasers sliced the smoke-filled air, some hitting their mark, but many more going wildly off target. Missiles swarmed over Bidgood's Executioner, stinging and tearing at his ruined armor. On the far flank she saw Charlie Star deployed to their rear, engaging the unidentified force that was also closing in on them. The mysterious 'Mechs glimmered in the sun, a hint of red and silver against the deep green of the Cumbres grasses.

  The Bravo Star Timber Wolf halted its flanking movement and triggered a blast of its powerful lasers and LRMs at a Guard Scarabus. Dawn recognized the 'Mech as that of Vasha, the only other one of her sibmates to test out as a Clan warrior. Vasha was digging in to protect her Star, even if it meant sacrificing her own life. The missiles charged out of the launchers on her shoulders, hitting the Scarabus in the legs and lower torso. The damage slowed the 'Mech long enough for Vasha to fire the large lasers in each of her arms. One missed by nearly ten meters, but the other beam seared the Scarabus in mid-chest. The shot dug deep into the heart of the light 'Mech, rapturing its fusion reactor and gyro. As the Scarabus fell, an intense glow spread throughout its chest, then burst out like a new star. Its armor was pushed from the inside out as the 'Mech exploded.

  Dawn was sweeping the area to determine which Vipers were engaging which enemy when an enemy Grand Titan locked onto Vasha's Timber Wolf, firing its LRMs and a deadly pair of large pulse lasers. The lasers hit first, ripping into the Timber Wolfs left side. One beam bored into its elbow joint, which exploded in a ball of sparks that left Vasha's laser assembly hanging limp and lifeless. The LRMs also hit their mark, tearing into the beleaguered left side of the Timber Wolf. Vasha fought to maintain control of the wounded 'Mech, but could not.

  The giant machine spun to the right and fell onto the soft grass, down but not dead. Vasha fought to bring it up, but within a heartbeat another salvo of LRMs ate into her raw left flank. Fires broke out inside the 'Mech, followed by an enormous blast as its remaining laser and missile ammunition exploded from within. The Wolfs CASE panels, blocked because of the 'Mech's felled, contorted position, could not discharge the blast and save the 'Mech as they were designed to. Instead the full force and fury of a ton of long-range missile ammunition went off and gutted the Timber Wolf. Vasha never had a chance to punch out. Seeing that, Dawn felt a cold rage rush through her. Vasha was the last of her sibko, but she would not die unavenged.

  The space between the two sides became a blur as her own Alpha Star leaped fearlessly into the fray, moving in alongside Bidgood and his surviving comrade. Missile trails, thunderous autocannon explosions, and the lightning flashes of PPC fire lit up the heavy smoke of battle. Lasers, some beam and some pulsing, cut through the thick air like overheated knives. It was a storm of death and fire, but Dawn's forces were holding their own—for now.

  Through the thick smoke Dawn spotted the Grand Titan that had destroyed Vasha and her Timber Wolf. Locking onto it with the infrared beam of her Artemis IV targeting system, she prepared to fire her LRMs. This one is for Vasha, she thought. Because the Titan had fired at Bidgood and missed, Dawn considered the 'Mech an honorable target for her wrath. She overrode the Guards' communications channel so he could hear her challenge directly. "I am Star Captain Dawn of the Steel Vipers. Face me like a true warrior and prepare to meet your fate." Without waiting for a response, she triggered a salvo of long-range missiles from each of her 'Mech's arms.

  The Titan paused, as if looking for who dared challenge it In that instant the lasers hit. The 100-ton 'Mech was the largest of the Lyran Guard machines, but still it reeled under the attack. Bearing the brunt of the damage was its right arm, shedding armor like dry dead skin as the 'Mech rotated to return fire. Several missiles strayed into the right torso, devouring the armor there.

  Dawn never saw the 'Mech fire, but the force of the impact told her the Titan's large pulse laser had found its mark in her 'Mech's protruding center torso. Damage lights bled red in the dim half-light of the cockpit, and the Crossbow teetered backward as the multiple beams gouged through her armor. Dawn fought the controls and the whine of the gyro, somehow keeping her footing and preparing another salvo of missiles. The Artemis IV gave a shrill squeal as it achieved a lock onto the goliath Lyran 'Mech, and Dawn fired.

  The Grand Titan pilot triggered another rapid pulse of laser beams. Dawn saw the hit coming and mentally braced for the impact. The laser fire tore into the Crossbow's tubular arm, wrenching the 'Mech so hard that it froze, half-twisted to the right and permanently jammed. Again she struggled with the controls, once more managing to keep the 'Mech upright. The blast had knocked out her Artemis IV system, though she could still operate the launcher manually. Not, of course, with the accuracy of the target control system.

  With grim determination she adjusted the launcher and tried to take aim while moving the Crossbow along the foot of the ridge line, turning slightly to the left to adjust for the wrenching damage to her torso. She carefully homed in as the Grand Titan opened up with its own LRMs, pitting her 'Mech's right leg with deep holes that spilled florescent green coolant and smoke from the internal mechanisms. Dawn triggered her missiles, aiming for the Titan's heavily protected chest, but the worst she managed to do was blacken the giant war machine's paint. Correcting her targeting, she was sure now that it was adjusted as precisely as possible. Then she slowed her pace and fired again.

  She had adjusted the weapons to lock onto the Titan's giant head, and most of the shots did just that. Those that missed slammed solidly into the upper chest, burning and ripping away the armor plating. A blast of smoke obscured her view of the cockpit briefly, then she saw it again as the Titan fell sideways. It had been cored in several places, and a glimmer of light told her a fire raged within. The pilot ejected, blasting up through the inferno of weapons fire as his fearsome 'Mech toppled. It had been a lucky shot, Dawn knew that. But that did not make it any less satisfying.

  Assessing the situation, she felt another cold surge of anger. What chance had her force now? An attack on the Lyran Guards had been a worthy challenge, but the presence of these other raiders made the odds virtually impossible. She watched as Charlie Star positioned itself on a low rise and began to engage the unforeseen enemy one 'Mech at a time. Their new foes responded in typical freebirth fashion, massing firepower against one lone Clansman at time. Their cowardliness drew from her a scream of rage as she ran along the slope of the hill, getting into position to fire from her diminishing supply of missiles.

  No honor with these foes, she thought. Just like Tukayyid, only death and loss. We can stay here and die, never achieving victory. But there will be no glory in those deaths, just the stain of failure. Just like Tukayyid.

  Then another voice inside her answered. No, not this time. Studying the tactical display Dawn saw that the arrival of her Star had slowed the Guard advance, and it was turning into a pitched battle. The unknown force was pressing Charlie Star, but it too was being slowed. The unidentified raiders also seemed to be exchanging fire with the flank of the Twenty-fourth Lyran Guards. Regardless, her Trinary didn't have a chance. Whoever the unknown raiders were, they were no allies.

  Looking out at the woods and the hills she mentally marked out a path for her forces. If they could punch through that unknown force, those who survived could make it to the DropShips.

  "This is Star Captain Dawn to Viper Trinary Bravo. All forces form on me. Fall back by Star to the DropShips." The words were nearly drowned out when the Stormcrow next to Bidgood's Executioner suddenly exploded in a devastating fireball, shaking the ground as what was left of it rained down in small
fragments on Dawn and several other remaining Steel Vipers.

  Dawn cared little whether or not she made it out. Having failed on Tukayyid, a similar failure on Cumbres would spell her end in the Clans. She was just turning the contorted Crossbow when she took a missile hit from a Stealth, further weakening her 'Mech's chest and upper left leg. In reply Dawn charged along the length of the ridge where she had first entered the fray, firing her LRMs at the Stealth as she went. Most of the missiles missed, but those that hit made a spectacular series of impacts, ripping armor and showering the hillside with pieces of the 'Mech.

  Now reduced to half their number, what was left of her command formed a tight wedge behind her as the Lyran Guards turned to pursue their Clan attackers and to face the unidentified raiders. Dawn had counted on them splitting their attack and thus unwittingly providing her with enough support fire to punch through the unknown force. She charged straight at two of the red and silver raiders, firing her LRMs at a Shadow Hawk that had moved to flank her.

  The Hawk's pilot opened up on Dawn as she passed, as did the other 'Mech, a Vulcan. The Vulcan's shots narrowly missed, but the Shadow Hawk's autocannon found its mark on her right side. The already-damaged LRM mount blew off under the exploding artillery shells that raked her side. A wave of dizziness hit her as the neurohelmet feedback sent her brain and stomach into seemingly different directions. The damage display was a blur to her watering eyes, but from what Dawn could see, for her the battle was nearly over. Her 'Mech's right leg had taken several laser and autocannon hits and lost its precious heat sinks. The Crossbow's chest was more open space than protecting armor, and the loss of the weapons pod cut her remaining firepower neatly in half. But Dawn pressed on, her troops following through the hole she'd punched. Beyond were the DropShips and a chance for some of them to survive. But not her.