5 October 3057
Loren's warning had come in the nick of time. From directly behind the roaring wall of water more than eighty long-range missiles streaked for the 'Mechs of Case Blue. The falls themselves had gaps, and from within those gaps and behind their armored breastworks, the attacking 'Mechs had fired out their deadly salvo. The missiles streaked at three of Loren's 'Mechs which, like him, had begun to run. That couldn't prevent them from taking damage, but their sudden movements had caused about half of the incoming missiles to explode. The explosions ripped up the sand and water all around Loren's task force as they raced forward.
"I show two Archers, a Grand Titan, and a BattleMaster up there," one of the other pilots transmitted. Loren bit his lower lip. Finding 'Mechs already deployed in The Castle had caught him off guard. Now he had to correct that error with a tactical solution. Just as before, his mind seemed to gear up to a level faster and more instinctive than thought.
"Keep moving, Case Blue. Rush the enemy in front of you. Engage them as close as possible. Once we mix it up with them it will be hard for their fire support to sort out the good guys from the bad guys!" Loren said. He took three steps and punched his left foot pedal to move the Gallowglas into the shallows of the water. Behind him a torrent of explosions rang out as two enemy Archers moved into their narrow firing positions behind the waterfall again. Then their deadly missile racks opened fire. Several missiles were lost to the falls, but most cleared the gaps in the falling water and reached out like the hand of death for Jaffray and his men.
One of his 'Mechs, a Vulcan, took the brunt of the missile salvo as well as a Gauss rifle slug in its lower right leg. Loren watched out of the side of his viewport as the Highlander Vulcan turned almost in a pantomime of agony and the pilot ejected. Her seat blasted clear across the river onto the other bank, where its chute deployed. As the pilot drifted downward Loren watched the shattered and charred remains of the Vulcan drop lifelessly into the water and disappear from sight.
Then the Davions began to converge on Loren's forces. The 'Mechs that had been at the rear hastily pulled back and began the long process of wading along the shore of the river while the harassing hovercraft swept about, turning to face Case Blue squarely. As the Davions turned away from Huff and toward Loren, he saw that his force would now face one that was significantly larger and growing by the minute.
"Sir? What are they doing?" a Captain Sullivan signaled from the First Strike Company. His Crusader was 50 meters ahead of Loren's 'Mech and blasting away with both its long and short-range missiles. "They're digging in here rather than plowing through us."
It was another trap, Loren knew. But where was it coming from? Loren scanned the surrounding forests and the waters of the river. "Check your sensors, everyone. Look for mines or hidden 'Mechs. Something strange is going on," he said while starting to target a Davion Caesar. The paint scheme showed it to be the same 'Mech from Mulvaney's ambush, though now burned and battered. But the battle-scarred 'Mech moved as if undamaged, even possibly repaired. Memories of that ambush were all too fresh, and Loren didn't want a replay of his failure. Huff's earlier words also hung in his ears. He could have ended the fight once and for all back there, but didn't. This time would be different.
As The Castle 'Mechs let loose another deadly salvo Loren was even more puzzled. The rising cloud of smoke from downriver told him that Huff and MacLeod were closing in tightly, but his eyes and sensors showed him that Mulvaney and the Davions were packing themselves almost on top of each other on his side of the river. He and the other Case Blue 'Mechs still pressed on, much slower than before, wary now of the situation that had changed before their eyes.
As Loren locked his weapons for another shot at the Caesar, his target came to a complete stop and fired its Gauss rifle at Sullivan's Crusader. Moving so fast it looked like a burst of light energy, the silvery slug slammed into the Crusader's hip and the 'Mech staggered back, armor spraying into the river. Loren fired his PPC, sending a burst of charged particles deep into the right elbow of the Caesar, hoping to draw some of his fire. The Caesar's forearm, with its own deadly PPC, fell limp at its side as the elbow joint sparked wildly from the damage.
Jake Fuller came on again. "They're all boxed in down the shore, just sitting and waiting for us, Major. What's your call?"
Of all the reasons Loren could imagine why a group of Mech Warriors would behave as his opponents had, the likeliest seemed that they wanted to bait an enemy into an ambush. But in scanning the river bottom and forest he was unable to detect any forces in wait to spring such a trap. By the enemy's falling back Loren knew Case Blue wasn't rushing into a minefield, and had gained enough distance from The Castle attackers to reduce their effectiveness. They're either trying to lure us into the open or trying to make it easy for someone to distinguish our forces. If they want us kept separate, I should respond by making that impossible. I don't know what they have planned, but our best defense is to try and foil their attempt.
"Case Blue, this is Major Jaffray. All units, charge! Rush them. Engage in close quarters combat. Mix it up, and mix it good!"
"Sir?" came the voice of Lieutenant Fuller.
Loren rushed the Gallowglas forward as a wave of six short-range missiles narrowly missed his left arm. "You heard me, Jake! Charge! They're trying to keep away from us and I'm not in the mood to play along." As his entire force reached flank speed Loren noticed that the Davion/Highlanders pulled back, still trying to maintain their distance. Then three ranks of them turned and opened up on the rest of Loren's nonjumping 'Mechs and those of Major Huff.
"Huff to Jaffray," Loren heard as the Gallowglas took two medium pulse laser hits to the chest. The heat alarms rang out loudly, but Loren shut them off, concentrating on his fellow officer's words. "Go, Huff," he responded, firing his pulse lasers at the Caesar as it waded backwards into the river bank.
"Long-range sensor contact. Break for the forests or river," Huff said, the edge of fear in his voice coming through even over the commline.
"Where ..."
"Fighters!"
Just then Loren saw the ground near him explode as a rain of LRMs poured down from the blue Northwind sky and struck one of his Stingers, which instantly vanished in a flash of bright red and black explosions. The pilot couldn't possibly have survived.
Still running more on instinct than any sort of logic Loren opened his channel to the Case Blue team. "Davion aerospace fighters! Rush their BattleMechs now! All 'Mechs, charge!" Our only hope is to get into the middle of their formation so we can't be strafed or bombed.
The Case Blue 'Mechs slammed into their opponents like a wave of water rushing to meet a dike. Loren charged the Gallowglas squarely into a renegade Highlander Wolverine at the same instant his target leveled a punch at him. The giant metal fist buried itself deep into the Gallowglas's shoulder, just missing the shoulder actuator. The impact of Loren's charge was so strong that his 'Mech's shoulder actually became lodged in the upper chest of his attacker. More important, the Wolverine pilot lost his balance and fell backward into another renegade Highlander Valkyrie on its way down.
Loren opened a tight-beam transmission to the Wolverine's pilot. "Surrender or I'll leave your 'Mech crippled forever," he said. The heat from the close quarters combat was almost unbearable, and Loren's cooling vest only marginally protected him from searing warmth of the air. In the distance he saw Huff's and MacLeod's forces taking a beating in the aerofighter assault. Several thundering bomb blasts from down the river shook his 'Mech and filled the sky with billowing black and gray smoke.
"Aye, sir, I submit myself to yer justice," the Wolverine pilot answered, powering down her fusion reactor in a gesture of surrender. Jaffray didn't waste another moment, but turned towards his nearest friendly, Captain Sullivan in his battered Crusader. The older Captain was pulling back his 'Mech's right arm for a solid punch against the Davion Caesar that Loren had struck earlier, but the punch was never completed. Leaning his 'Mech forwar
d so that the tip of its Gauss rifle was just under the lip of Sullivan's cockpit, the Caesar pilot fired.
The blast ripped off the head of the Crusader like a man beheaded by a broadsword. The point-blank range also destroyed the Gauss rifle, but Loren doubted whether that bothered the Davion pilot at all. MacLeod and Mulvaney's rules of engagement apparently had little meaning for the Consul Guards. To them all that mattered was the kill. But Loren knew that if they didn't understand honor, they would never be able to master the Northwind Highlanders.
How different they are, Loren thought. One fights for a cause, the other fights for power. Barbarians! Best to kill the beast than let it commit the same crime again. Letting it live would be a crime! He quickly locked onto the Caesar as it turned towards him, its right arm hanging uselessly. Jaffray triggered all his target interlock circuits at once. The PPC, twin large lasers, pair of medium pulse lasers, and even the small head-mounted laser opened up at once against the ungainly Caesar. At almost point blank range the PPC only arced a brilliant blue blast of energy that scoured the entire surface of the 'Mech. The lasers dug into the torso just under what was left of the Gauss rifle assembly, burning past the myomer and remains of armor and digging into the engine insulation. One shot ruptured the magnetic field that held back the reactor core.
In a brilliant ball of fire, the Caesar exploded into a million pieces over the remains of the fallen Crusader. Flying fragments of the 'Mech slammed into a Consul Guard Hatchetman and sent a renegade Highlander Warhammer sprawling. Loren was so intent on watching the Caesar die that he didn't see the volley of LRMs streaking at him. They slammed into both sides of his torso with such force that he lost control of the 'Mech. The Gallowglas dropped near the fallen Warhammer, throwing him hard about the cockpit despite his restraints.
In all the battles Loren had fought across the Inner Sphere, he had never felt death as close as it seemed to hover over his actions on Northwind. He didn't so much fear it as he feared facing it. But perhaps there would be peace in passing. Death would also put an end to his mission. No longer would he live under the shadow of dishonoring his grandfather's memory. Only the jarring of the Gallowglas under another weapons hit seemed to shock Loren back to reality.
He knew that firing all his weapons at once had overloaded the Mech's heat capacity. The Gallowglas toppled, then hit the ground. The sand softened the impact, but the fall still tossed him about in the command seat like a rag doll. Loren didn't move for several long seconds before attempting to activate his 'Mech. The switches and controls all seemed lifeless, and he feared the worst as none of the systems came on-line. Finally, after he gave the keypad a frustrated punch, the DI computer ran its start-up routine, casting a series of dim lights on the readouts. It isn't much, but it's a start. For now, death will just have to wait.
It took a full two minutes for his battle computer to come back on line, and they seemed like the longest two minutes of Loren's life. All around him was the dim roar of combat, but he wasn't part of it. I reacted out of anger and look where it got me, crippled and missing the fight. As his 'Mech ran a diagnostic Loren saw the extent of the damage. His frontal armor was peppered from the blast as if he'd been hit at point-blank range with a giant shotgun. The gyro had been knocked out of alignment and wouldn't even be operational enough for Loren to get the 'Mech to a standing position. It could be repaired in the field, but he had the sinking sensation that he was out of the fight for now. Not a feeling he liked at all, one of loneliness and regret.
I've failed, he thought. Grandfather always warned me about fighting from emotion, and I did just that. Now I'm out of the action. It's the same emotionality that I saw as a weakness in the Highlanders. The only difference is that for them, it will spell the end of the Northwind Highlanders—at my hands. The only good news was that their side must have taken the field, otherwise the Davions would have been blasting Loren's remains to ashes. In disappointment tinged with shame, Loren set the fusion reactor to run at a low power level and locked out the security system of his fallen machine.
He surveyed the cockpit's interior with a sense of loss. If the 'Mech couldn't be repaired he'd have to resign himself to acting as a mere advisor to MacLeod's Highlanders. But the damage looked like something the field techs could handle, or so he hoped. If not, he'd lost his place in the war.
He looked up at the bright blue Northwind sky, dimmed only by the tinting of the viewport's polarized glass, and saw several streams of thick smoke drifting into view. Loren unbuckled his seat restraints and began to consider the prospect of a long crawl out of his fallen and crippled Battle-Mech. Pulling himself to the hatch, he hit the control stud to open it. The hatch cracked slightly, letting in a sharp rush of cool river air. Loren tried to push open the hatch, but it was tightly wedged.
Then a pair of hands appeared from the other side, pulling at the hatch. Loren couldn't see their owner but wasted no time in sitting back and pushing with his feet at the hatch. I don't really care who's prying that thing open, as long as it isn't that worm Catelli. As the hatch slowly opened, Loren had enough room to crawl out.
The bright sky and cool air were almost too much to bear. He saw that the fight was mostly over, with most of the remaining 'Mechs not firing but moving towards the treeline. Just how long was I lying there? Minutes? Hours? Loren looked over at the female Mech Warrior who had helped pry open his cockpit. She was sweaty and bruised in several places, worn and weary from the fight. I'm probably in the same shape, but it hasn't caught up with me yet. He pulled off his neurohelmet.
"You're Major Jaffray, the Capellan, aren't you?" she asked, her voice sounding oddly familiar. Loren mentally searched for where he'd heard it before, but couldn't associate her face with the accent.
"Yes, I am. One of us is the other's prisoner, I assume," he said, looking over the battlefield and trying to see if he could make out which side had won.
"I'd be the lassie that's the prisoner. You bested me in combat," she said, pointing to the Wolverine. The 'Mech was badly mauled but probably repairable. Otherwise, this warrior had just joined the sad ranks of the Dispossessed.
"You're the pilot?"
"Aye. MechWarrior First Class Kathleen McKinley at yer service."
"Who won?"
"This battle? That would be Colonel MacLeod, fer now. But one battle a war does not make." She pointed at a series of eight small burning lights moving across the brilliant blue Northwind sky. To the untrained eye they looked like a cluster of slow-moving meteors streaking towards the planet. But to Loren Jaffray's experienced eye they were much more.
"DropShips. Damnation, it's DropShips. The Third Royals RCT," he muttered, shading his face and watching them as they passed overhead.
"You knew about the Third Royals?" She sounded very surprised.
Loren nodded, not taking his eyes off the ships.
"Then you must know that this fight is far from over, except maybe for the two of us," Kathleen McKinley said, walking towards Huff and MacLeod's position. Loren followed her, knowing that matters had suddenly just gotten much worse.
28
SLDF Fortress N001, "The Castle"
Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
6 October 3057
The regimental movers were still hauling and towing the remains of the downed BattleMechs back out of range of The Castle's defenders as Loren slowly walked over to the makeshift command post that Colonel MacLeod had established on the river bank. He'd made sure during the afternoon and evening of the day before that the field techs treated his Gallowglas carefully as they dragged it out of the riverbed. The crews had begun work, but still couldn't give him a status by the time he eventually drifted off to sleep.
Major Huff had taken the remains of both their task forces and seized control of the high ground bluffs and tunnel entrances to The Castle. The operation had continued on into the night, and with the first rays of the new day Loren was summoned to meet with the regimental c
ommand staff. There was only one reason for a such meeting: to plan the next phase of the operation. I hope MacLeod and Huff have some sort of field assignment or a replacement 'Mech for me. Riding shotgun into this fight is not how I pictured spending this war. Loren also knew that a combat assignment was his only hope of encountering Mulvaney again.
MacLeod's field HQ was little more than a rocky outcropping flanked by several 'Mechs, including the Colonel's Huron Warrior. As Loren walked towards the ad hoc headquarters he saw the short, weary form of Major Huff and several other offices gathered around the CO of the Highlanders like monks around a temple priest.
Seeing the look of frustration on MacLeod's face, Loren thought back suddenly to how proud and confident the Colonel had looked on that first day at the spaceport. How long ago it seemed. Things had seemed so much clearer then. Had Loren failed in his mission? Had he let the Chancellor down?
Loren saluted when he entered the tarp-covered, makeshift tent. "Major Jaffray reporting as ordered, Colonel." MacLeod snapped a quick return salute as Loren joined them around the portable electronic map.
When MacLeod began to speak, his voice was deep and somehow reassuring, despite what they'd just been through. "You've all done remarkably well under some tricky conditions. We've taken losses, but we hit them pretty hard in the process.
"And now I'm faced with a difficult decision. I'll let Captain Dumfries provide us with the intelligence we've garnered thus far." He gestured to the stocky red-haired and bearded Captain dressed in the field kilt some Highlander 'Mech pilots wore in lieu of the traditional shorts.
As Dumfries activated the map controls, the dim lights of the display showed the region surrounding The Castle. "Thanks to the efforts of Major Huff we've been able to secure the tunnel entrances to the west, but we've also found some of them recently sealed with explosives or protected by 'Mech and infantry. We can confirm that Mulvaney and Catelli hold The Castle, but we have no idea how many of them are there.
Highlander Gambit Page 24
