Starkindler (MechaVerse Series Book 1)

by Jeremy Cunkle

  The reply was an angry half growl that he ignored. Mikkhael kept the data feed open, relaying Starkindler’s redacted sensor information to the squadron leader, showing the quickly approaching PDF forces. As they both watched, one of the incoming Chimera transports dropped a full six Mech Armor squadron of Stalker-class scouts 20 miles away from the Rebel position. It was now painfully clear to all that the PDF had not appeared as a fluke, although it seemed they remained unaware of the meetings exact location.

  Stalkers were the smallest of the PDF frontline units; equipped only with light armor and capable of full flight, a rarity for Mech armor. They were equipped with fairly competent sensor arrays including powerful infrared systems, serving as the scouts of the PDF Mech Armor forces. Armed with a pair of medium laser cannons and other short range weaponry as well as four long-range fire and forget class missiles, they were built to guide a fight, not directly participate. Once the Stalkers either discovered the meetings location, or flushed out the Rebels, the main body of the PDF force would then be dropped closer to the frontlines of the battle as the other types of Mech armor traveled much slower than their kin.

  The Rebel MARS unit captain replied after a long moment of silence, "Again, why should I trust you?"

  Mikkhael hesitated, realizing this was not the first time the Rebel had spoken. "You don't have a choice, if you want to live. I am sending the route you need to travel; hurry, they're closing fast."

  He cut off the transmission, focusing on the rolling sets of data Aurora showed on the HUD. He watched as the Chimera transports disgorged the rest of the PDF assault force barely fifteen miles away, interpreting their action as confirmation that the Stalker’s spotted the Rebel factions; unconsciously gasping as he watched another 36 signatures bloom into existence on the radar overlay. Suddenly, the local area seemed very crowded out in the middle of exactly nowhere. There were now just over sixty different markers filling his HUD, none of which was currently marked as friendly. If he moved out now, they could all instantly turn hostile. He continued cursing to himself in a quiet litany; frustrated at being forced to wait while others acted gnawing at him.

  Aurora automatically populated details for each unit on the map, overlaying them with identifying tags such as class, weapon layout, and the presence of active shields onto the HUD. In order to minimize the impact of so many units in close proximity rendering the HUD useless with their identifying information, each classification was denoted by a symbol, such as if energy shields were engaged with transparent arrows moving in front of the unit showing each one’s trajectory. As the map updated in real time, he did not necessarily need to see specific data such as the units speed, because he continuously monitored the HUD. If he so chose, he could select a unit or a group of units, and then expand the detailed information that had been collected such as individual speed, energy shield levels, and reactor temperatures as well as a wide variety of other information.

  As he read, Mikkhael watched the PDF Mech armor fan out in a wide formation, sweeping the territory ahead of them as they headed directly towards the meeting that had now abruptly adjourned into a shouting match. He kept the data feed open to passive communication from the StormCrow Brigade Captain, hoping the man would see the futility of not heeding his advice. As he watched, the StormCrows turned as one, breaking from the other Laughing Skull faction; and as anticipated, headed for the pass between the mountains that he had positioned himself in the over-watch position to provide covering fire.

  Aurora had stayed silent for some time, trusting in his judgment, and then almost whispered, "Will we fight?"

  He watched silently as a pair of Stalkers headed directly towards the pass the StormCrows retreated into, leading the heavier PDF assault forces behind them, the Laughing Skull faction now all but forgotten as they turned and fled in the opposition direction unpursued. With his suspicions all but confirmed that the traitor had been amongst the Laughing Skulls, Mikkhael knew that he had chosen the StormCrow brigade as the faction that he would link up to continue his mission, whether they accepted him or not.

  That of course depended upon whether or not he could help extricate them from the near certain annihilation that awaited them should the PDF catch up to them. The assault formation split into two groups behind the scouts; the larger battle group headed into the pass, following the StormCrows. A smaller pursuit force comprised of lighter armored and faster Mech Armor followed the rest of the Stalkers wide around the small set of mountains in a flanking maneuver. They would ambush the Rebels on the other side of the pass, easily overpowering them through sheer numbers.

  "Aurora, which one’s the damn traitor, are you getting any strange useless signals, anything giving them away at all?" Self-doubt crept into his thoughts, forcing him to second-guess his decision.

  For her part, Aurora replied curtly, showing her frustration at her inability to more directly affect the next few moments that would have an outsized impact on their destiny, her entire reason for being given artificial consciousness in the first place. "However they are communicating, it is not a continuous signal such as a transponder or radio link; they have to be using a line of site laser for me not to pick up their communications. Either that or, everything was decided upon before the meeting even took place and the full details including the location were leaked ahead of time. There is no way for us to tell at this time; the PDF are approaching the kill zone in two minutes. Have you made your decisions yet?"

  His palms were sweaty and he suddenly had a massive urge to loosen his bowels; it took him a moment to realize that his reaction was not one of cowardice. He was no longer the young boy who had frozen in the park, too terrified to move. Now, he was ready, feeling the effect of his fight-or-flight response activate within him on a molecular level, his body was preparing to fight, waiting for his mind to get out of the way and allow instincts as old as humanity itself to take over. His heart rate, blood pressure, adrenaline levels, and brain activity were all elevated. The drug cocktail combined with massive amounts of natural chemicals; the rush of adrenaline his body was producing made his hands start to shake. It was his turn now; he was ready.

  "We’ll cover the retreating StormCrows. First, we kill the Stalkers and attempt to block the pass; we’ll then catch up to the Rebels, but maintain our distance. Just before the flanking formation attacks the Rebels, be ready to surprise them from behind, hopefully disrupting the attack. You’ll pilot, I will man the weapons, any questions?" Mikkhael said, proud that his voice remained steady as he spoke. It took a tremendous amount of willpower to avoid proving the axiom “scared shitless” a reality.

  While he talked, Aurora plotted an overlay of the route she would follow on a map she drew up on an side monitor for his approval. He verbally confirmed it with her, and then reached down next to his armrests and placed his wrists into a custom-built rig for firing Starkindler’s weapons. The tight enclosures housed half of his forearm. Inside the gel-filled compartment that melded around his wrists to hold them in place, each hand wrapped around a grip that had a separate button for each finger mapped to a different weapon. The housing had some separation from the armrests; able to stretch a small amount, giving his body leeway to shift without ripping his hands off when taking fire. The enclosures would hold his wrists in place no matter what, allowing him to always access Starkindler’s weapons and flight controls if he so chose.

  It was a simple capability, but one which the outdated and mass-produced PDF Mech armor did not possess. He knew that factors such as the simple innovations of the wrist controls would make all the difference in a close battle. Nevertheless, his true advantage over the enemy was Aurora, and specifically her skill as a pilot that he could call upon as needed

  He watched as individual PDF markers on the overlay entered the pass, a countdown above them showing their approximate distance and the time it would take them to close the distance to the kill zone. He waited impatiently until the counter above the markers reached less than 30 sec
onds remaining until they entered into the desired range for the maximum effect of Starkindler’s weapons.

  At thirty seconds remaining, he focused through the external cameras that showed him the world outside of his Mech, encased as he was behind several feet of solid armor. Software automatically combined the feeds of all the external cameras into one image that was presented to him on the HUD. Aurora instantly auto-enhanced wherever he looked, filtering out the dust and haze clouding the view before zooming in further on the approaching enemy Mech armor, bringing them into a view so clear that he could identify the dents on each one of their mechanical frames. They continued advancing into the narrowing canyon; unaware of his presence even though they were was blasting the area with active radar beams, infrared detectors, and other sensors, the timer countdown winding down in the corner of his vision.

  He pushed down on his control sticks, each hand mapped to each arm of Starkindler, letting Aurora correct his aim and assist in targeting. The colossal machine automatically hunched into a squatting position, bracing itself before firing, appearing as if it was about to leap down into the canyon pass and take the fight to the enemy directly. Instead, steadied properly, the targeting alignments held true even in the winds buffeting the canyon pass. “Release all movement controls!” He said to Aurora as the timer passed the five second mark.

  Second-guessing himself again, Mikkhael chose in the next few seconds to sight the barrels of the main cannons manually. In the end, he wanted to take full responsibility for what he was about to do and the ramifications that would then incur. From this moment on, he vowed to create his own destiny.

  Just over a third of the main assault force passed inside of the kill zone before he squeezed the triggers. Underslung underneath the left arm was a projectile based rail cannon. Electricity stored in magnets along the arm fired slugs comprised of a carbon fiber shell interwoven with a tungsten core. Without the need for the slugs to contain any explosive or fuel, the form allowed the slug to attain the maximum kinetic damage capabilities, one of the most fearsome weapon types in modern weaponry. Any strike against an enemy Mech armor had the potential to turn a pilot’s vital organs into jelly from the force of a full impact kinetic strike. Alternate shells could be substituted for the kinetic kill slugs such as high explosive for light armored vehicles that the slugs would simply pass through, or a guided type that deployed small fins in mid-flight and could be guided up to fifty degrees in either direction.

  Starkindler rocked back on its heels as the rail cannon fired a slug projectile that tore out the entire torso of the Stalker it was trained on. Metal limbs flew in all directions. The right arm’s cannon was set inside the arm itself, ending where the wrist would be; a focused energy plasma weapon that drew power directly from the reactor. The plasma weapon focused massive amounts of raw energy into a concentrated beam, currently aimed low at the hip of the second Stalker. At that moment, Aurora began playing the lyrics to Reach out and Touch Somebody over the cockpits internal speakers as he fired, sensing the need to distract him from the brutal act of calculated murder. The wave of condensed plasma struck instantaneously, bifurcating the Stalker's leg where it struck; the lower portion of the hull flash-burned away, molten metal dripping from the ragged wound as the Stalker heeled over heavily, falling onto what remained of its side.

  Instead of being satisfied, Mikkhael mouthed a silent curse as he shifted the main cannons up the pass to the group immediately behind the Stalkers. The slug had been a little high, and instead of damming up the pass with an injured Stalker, he had overdone the damage, there was almost nothing left of the first kill. He sprayed a long burst from each of the 50 caliber sub cannons that encircled the wrist section of each arm similar to a chain gain. Behind the Stalkers were their big brothers, over a dozen Slayers, the main combat unit of the PDF army. The hail of bullets filled the narrow canyon, peppering their armor with fist-sized holes as they attempted to spread out in the narrow confines and find cover while simultaneously returning fire.

  Mikkhael continued firing until the main cannons registered as reloaded; he fired both again in combination with four small rockets that struck randomly down the pass. The dust and chaos of falling rocks embroiled the pass, temporarily masking the PDF as Aurora ignited Starkindler’s engines, sending them flying down the small mountain at breakneck speed in pursuit of the StormCrows. Enemy fire was sporadic and random, striking all around them A few near misses sent reverberations through the giant Mech, but the gods smiled and he avoided any chance hits.

  Mikkhael avoided berating himself for the partial failures, instead focusing on the terrain layout relative to their position in relation to the different groups of Mech Armor in the local vicinity. Aurora deftly maneuvered through the pass, hurtling towards the flanking party. She populated the main display with an updated 3D map, zoomed out to show all relevant threats, which at the current moment was approximately 20 square kilometers, automatically adjusting the center on the two groups they were chasing. The main body of the PDF remained caught up in the pass, appearing as a series of numbers on a peripheral display.

  They caught up quickly to the fleeing StormCrow squad. Starkindler was performing far beyond even what Mikkhael had expected, and Aurora was not even pushing the limits yet. The StormCrows exited the pass; they were attempting to hurry down one of the wide shallow valleys that dotted most of the surface, using the sides as cover. Mikkhael assumed control of piloting again as they closed the distance to within five miles of the PDF forces that had advanced rapidly on course to surprise the Rebels with a lethal ambush.

  “Aurora, status report, will they see us coming?” Mikkhael asked.

  “IFR signature is barely registering, even with full reactor output, weapons charged, and active shields. The active camouflage appears to work as intended. We should be completely dark,” she said.

  He loosed a pleased half-growl at her confirmation, concentrating on throttling back reactor output without compromising their momentum as he weaved through some rock formations on the valley floor that would normally reflect any heat, providing a flare signature and giving away their position. The rock formations would make one of the last places the PDF would think to look for an approaching enemy. Using their blind spot against them to approach even closer, he continued to throttle down as he did so to avoid detection.

  Aurora placed a large marker at a spot just in front of the retreating StormCrows. The highlighted area was where the PDF would finally close within weapons range of the retreating Rebels, and he raced to reach it first. He keyed the mic that was still open to the squadron leader’s frequency, “Get ready to fight. Here they come. Continue your retreat but watch your backs, I am about to engage.”

  He ignored the reply, already focusing on what was about to happen. Aurora fed him a second full dose of the accelerant narcotics and adrenaline; time dramatically slowing as he hyper-focused on the next few steps. He slipped behind a small hill, once again releasing flight control to Aurora. As their thruster output dropped off entirely, the full reactor output then directed to the guns, quickly overcharging the electro-magnets.

  The PDF were seconds from passing in front of his location, completely unaware of his presence for the moment. Starkindler’s active camouflage and thermal masking abilities hid them completely. With a sudden stroke of inspiration, Mikkhael fired a small decoy rocket that traveled at the same speed as a Rebel MARS unit. The decoys were intended to confuse incoming missiles, remotely re-broadcasting actual signals from Starkindler. This time, however, he had a more blatant trick in mind.

  Aurora intuitively caught onto what he had in mind, controlling the rocket as it flew the long way around the incoming enemies, approaching from behind the PDF formation. Half of the formation halted in confusion as the rocket attempted to imitate the heat signature and radar profile of a small Mech armor approaching from behind them as best as possible. The other half of the formation did not stop for the obvious decoy, instead continuing as
they were, splitting their forces.

  After the first pair of Stalkers flew past at full speed, Mikkhael yelled, “Go!” into his mic. Starkindler erupted from the protective shelter of the hill as the rest of the PDF Slayers passed his position in a confused jumble, their formation ruined; blasting away with every cannon, gun, sub-cannon, rocket and missile Starkindler had in a furious onslaught of death.

  A cannon slug tore an enemy Slayer apart at the torso, completely obliterating the majority of the unlucky Mech Armor who had the misfortune of being the closest unit at that moment, while simultaneously the plasma cannon destroyed a second Slayer in the center of the squadron that had been on a direct approach. Mikkhael swept his arms to the side, acquiring new targets, and simultaneously sprayed his 50mm sub cannons into the enemy, depleting their shields and punching fist-sized holes in their weak back armor. Half of a dozen four-inch rockets from the racks on Starkindler’s shoulders fired into the far flank of the formation. He watched as two succeeded in crippling their targets.

  The reactions of the PDF pilots at the sudden onslaught varied. Some simply panicked once the tables were turned on them, attempting to flee without checking to see how many enemies were attacking. Other’s died where they stood from continuous waves of incoming fire. Only a few reacted in time, deploying decoy measures to counter the barrages of rocket and missile fire while attempting to move into flanking positions.

  Seeing their poor reactions, Mikkhael took advantage of the situation by cycling a pair of eight inch missiles that Aurora would guide in pursuit of the remaining Stalkers racing away from the fight as fast as possible. They would be overkill for the size of the small units as the large missiles were primarily an anti-tank weapon, but they would likely need the extra fuel of the larger rockets to catch up to the fast and now routing enemy.

  The firefight was done almost as soon as it started. He fired his main cannons again, each taking out another target, and then brought down another pair of Mech armor with sustained fire from the sub cannons. Rockets continued pouring forth in a vapid torrent of death, inflicting massive damage throughout the now decimated PDF armored column. Aurora took Starkindler to full reactor output and punched directly through the center of what was left of the enemy formation while simultaneously dropping a small rocket drone into the middle of the ragged survivors.