Highlander Gambit

by Blaine Lee Pardoe

  I did as you asked, Chancellor. My honor is now gone.

  The transmission complete, he turned back to the Davion hostages crowded across from him. "Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your hospitality. We should do this again soon. I suggest you exit the rear door as soon as I leave." To emphasize his point he drew a grenade and pulled the firing tape free. Ten seconds after he let go of the blast-stud the communications van would be little more than a memory. From their expressions of horror every one of the Davion troopers knew it too.

  Loren leaped through the doorway of the van, leaving the grenade sitting in the middle of it. Sprinting had put fifty meters between him and the van by the time the device went off. The blast seemed small and muffled at first, confined to the vehicle's interior. Loren turned and watched as white smoke and orange flames lapped from the open door and from the front of the vehicle. He watched for a moment, fearing he might have only crippled the van and not destroyed it. But then came a secondary explosion that engulfed the rest of the vehicle in a perfect sphere of orange fire and debris.

  The blast was so strong it knocked Loren off his feet and onto the soft grass of a small knoll. For more than a full minute he watched as the fireball shot into the sky, burning nearby tree branches as it rose. There was nothing left but the frame of the van, and it was melting under the heat of the fire over it. A small smile drifted over his lips. Payback for what your NAIS power armor did to the Highlander mobile HQ. I only wish Catelli had been inside when it blew.

  Loren rose slightly and turned to run. He wasn't sure which way to head; he hadn't projected that far in his planning. All he knew was that he couldn't remain there. Getting to his feet he saw the stark outline of a Marauder II in front of him, looming less than fifteen meters from where he'd fallen. He recognized the battle-scarred paint scheme all too well, and realized that he'd won the battle but perhaps lost the war.

  Mulvaney. He had faced her 'Mech before, and now it towered over him like a harbinger of death. Loren could only hope that Pluncket had gotten to her.

  The 'Mech's external speakers crackled to life and filled the air around him with her voice. "It appears I have the upper hand, Major Jaffray. Consider yourself my prisoner. Drop your weapons and gear and climb up here immediately." As if to underscore her advantage over him, she leveled her twin PPCs in his direction. It was an empty gesture. Loren had no intention of trying to flee.

  Prisoner? He felt his heart sink. Pluncket must not have made it. She doesn't know what's just been averted, and worse yet she probably won't believe it if I tell her. Loren dropped his gun and bag and raised his hands.

  Falling into the hands of an enemy dedicated to killing him was not the ending he had planned.

  38

  Outskirts of Tara Northwind

  Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth

  20 October 3057

  "Marshal Bradford, we have a problem," Catelli said in his best diplomatic voice.

  "No, my dear Colonel," the Davion Marshal shot back. "You have a problem. I have a situation."

  "Please let me explain," Catelli pleaded as his troops fanned out in the outskirts of the city.

  "There is nothing to explain. You were to keep Colonel Mulvaney and her Highlanders in the dark about our plans for Stirling's Fusiliers and you failed that. Now she could be anywhere in the city. Blast it all, man. MacLeod was driving straight at my HQ all along. I don't have time to be mopping up your messes!"

  "We don't know for sure what Mulvaney'll do, sir. We aren't even sure at this point that she knows about the ambush." For the first time since the two had met, Marshal Bradford sensed fear rather than arrogance from Drew Catelli. Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury to enjoy it.

  "Take your Consul Guards and proceed to the east side of Peace Park. We have to make sure that MacLeod's troops don't try and get onto the tarmac of the spaceport to warn off—" The transmission suddenly died, replaced with the low hiss of static.

  Catelli scanned the command frequencies. The regimental comm network is off-line. What in the name of the Prince is going on? The Marshal said that his HQ was under fire. Is it possible MacLeod actually destroyed it? No! The last intelligence placed his troops either heading for the training camp or dug in at The Castle. This in inconceivable! The Davion Colonel turned his Atlas toward Peace Park, signaling his Guards to follow. I'll find Lepeta. If nothing else he can tell me what's going on.

  * * *

  As Loren climbed the handholds up the massive leg and torso of Mulvaney's Marauder II he could still hear the rumble and roar of combat nearby. But around him he saw only a handful of BattleMechs, all familiar as those of Mulvaney's Highlanders. Reaching the cockpit hatch, he took a moment to glance behind him. The Royals' communications van was still ablaze, but, surprisingly, there were no support troops trying to put out the flames. He was even able to make out the fallen form of his own Gallowglas on a small rise nearby. What he did not see was any sign of the Davion assault 'Mechs or of MacLeod's forces, something that confused and more than slightly worried him.

  The almost smothering crampedness of Mulvaney's cockpit was made even more uncomfortable by the heat the BattleMech generated. Mulvaney in her cooling vest had some respite except for the extremes of heat generated in combat, but Loren had nothing to help him. The air was stifling and the sweat from his brow stung at his eyes with each new bounce of the Marauder's gait. As he climbed in, he found himself staring down the barrel of Mulvaney's laser pistol. Much of her face was hidden by the neurohelmet, but what was visible looked consumed by rage and fury. Had she called him all the way up to her cockpit just to kill him?

  "I assume I won't need this," she said, gesturing with the pistol.

  Jaffray shook his head. "I surrendered to you. I've lost my BattleMech and completed my mission. If I'm going to capitulate to anyone in this fight I'd rather have it be you. At least you might try to get me a fair trial. Catelli and his goons would have me executed as a threat to the security of the state."

  "You warned Colonel Stirling, didn't you? I assume that's why you hit the comm van."

  Loren nodded. "Yes. I sent a warning. I have no way of knowing if she got it, though." She knows about the ambush, she must. Or does she think we're warning the Fusiliers about the Third Royals holding Tara?

  "You seem pretty relaxed for someone who's just become a prisoner of war. How do you know I won't kill you?" Mulvaney said, still not lowering the gun. There was a frigid tone to her voice.

  "Too much is at stake. You've been trained to kill, but you're not a cold-blooded murderer. If I were in a 'Mech facing you one on one, you probably wouldn't hesitate. But we both have too much honor in our bones to see the other die without so much as a fighting chance. You could've killed me when we were at the bottom of the Tilman River, but you didn't then and I don't think you will now." Loren turned around and closed the cockpit hatch behind him, listening as the air seal cycled and locked it shut.

  Chastity stared at him with intense concentration. "Do you know why I'm here?"

  "I can guess." Don't show all your cards yet, he told himself. Let her tell you.

  "I was a little shocked when the Sergeant Major showed up. We were only able to spend a few minutes together before Catelli took him away, but it was enough to get the gist of what's been happening."

  "You know, then?"

  "I don't 'know' anything for sure anymore, Loren. But all the evidence seems to substantiate what you said. You took a hell of a risk in sending Mister Pluncket to me. How did you know that I'd even give him the time of day?"

  Loren settled to a low squat in the narrow space of the cockpit. "I didn't know for sure. Seeing you two at The Pub gave me the strong impression that he was someone you trusted. I'd have come myself, but I figured you'd have too many doubts about me trying to play some kind of trick. Pluncket is an old infantryman. Men like that don't turn traitor easily or lead fellow troops to their death just for the hell of it."

  "Good call,
then. My troops have secured this area and whatever is left of the Third Royals HQ. I contacted MacLeod and he's holding our exit point from Peace Park. MacLeod's Regiment is one and whole again. If I know Marshal Bradford at all, he'll be throwing the entire regimental combat team at us before this is done. I only hope that your message got through."

  With those words Mulvaney throttled the fusion reactor to full power and started moving out. Loren almost fell over as the Marauder II began to lumber forward. He held onto the back of her command couch and stayed low, letting out a sigh of relief that no one but him could hear. There was still a chance to pull off the mission and survive.

  "Do you mind if I tie in to your auxiliary headset?" Loren asked, his hands already reaching for the set. "I might not be piloting my way through this fight, but I sure as hell can lend a hand on the communications front."

  "Go ahead," Mulvaney said absently, all her attention on maneuvering her Marauder through a thick tree line. On their flanks the other formerly-renegade Highlander 'Mechs fell into line. No order was given; they simply followed Mulvaney as though telepathically linked.

  "MacLeod, this is Jaffray," he said even before the headset was fully adjusted on his head.

  "Laddie! Tell me you did it, Loren my boy."

  "Done deal. I sent the message three times. No response, though. Any word from the Fusiliers?"

  "Nothing yet. But they're due down in a matter of minutes. Cat might be waiting to pull off a surprise of her own. Good work, laddie, but too bad about your 'Mech. She was a good piece of machinery and will be missed. I assume that Major Mulvaney is on-line as well."

  "Present, Colonel."

  "Major, I need you to move a wee bit faster. I have some tanks and some of those nasty NAIS troopers here."

  The Marauder lurched forward as Mulvaney skillfully sent it running up the small knoll. "Our ETA is now, Colonel!" she said as the 'Mech reached the top of the hill. Loren looked out the cockpit display and saw the battle that was raging. A massive Demolisher tank was crawling across a mowed field, blazing away with its huge autocannons as it tried to reach a small cluster of light trees. Around it were nearly a dozen NAIS infiltrator suits, popping up into the air in, around, and on top of Frutchey's Warhammer. Carey's Guillotine was so blackened from shell and missile hits that not even a spot of untouched paint was visible. Loren bit his lip and fought back the urge to seize the controls from Mulvaney's hands. This fight is far from over.

  MacLeod's Huron Warrior fired its lasers across the surface of the Demolisher's turret as it tried to make it to the shelter of the trees. Shells from the massive tank tore up the turf in and around the Colonel's 'Mech, but failed to hit their mark. Mulvaney fired her own medium laser at the tank, ripping a string of gashes across the front of the vehicle. Instead of turning on the tank to finish it off with her massive PPCs, she stopped and aimed at three of the power armored troops using one of the many park statues for cover as they battered what was left of Frutchey's 'Mech.

  "O'Leary and Darley, take out that tank. Everybody else go for that power armor now!" she commanded to the 'Mechs still pledged to follow her. Before anyone could react she fired both her PPCs at the statue across the green field. The lightning-like bursts of charged particles lit the air and disintegrated the statue in less than a millisecond. Two of the armor-suited troops were killed instandy while the other half-crawled, half-ran trying to escape from the charred crater where they'd been hiding.

  Mulvaney pivoted slightiy and locked every one of her weapons on the power armored troops that were attempting to maul Frutchey's Warhammer. The 'Mech was pockmarked from their claws attempting to rip off the armor around his actuators and weapons. Locking onto three of the troopers as they prepared to jump away, she fired her Magna Mk II medium pulse lasers. The air around Frutchey's Warhammer seemed charged with bursts of laser light. In less than an instant only a handful of the power armored troops remained. Those that survived the onslaught broke and jumped away, preferring survival over facing the sheer firepower of Mulvaney's Marauder.

  Jaffray turned toward the Demolisher and watched as O'Leary's JagerMech tore into it with wave after wave of autocannon fire. The shells ate away at the massive tank like a spray of acid. As armor flew in every direction, the driver turned tail and tried to flee. But the tank's rear armor was thinner and no match for the firepower that O'Leary had let fly. The huge stores of ammunition went off and destroyed not just the tank, but the entire grove of trees it had entered. All that remained was a rolling cloud of gray smoke that obscured the fighting beyond.

  "Thanks, Major," Frutchey signaled, sounding as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Trying to fight off infiltrators in a 'Mech with PPCs where its arms should be was no easy task. Judging by the damage his Warhammer had taken, the young officer had barely escaped destruction.

  "I've been there myself, Frutchey," Mulvaney returned, rubbing the scar on her arm. Then she leaned over to where Loren was huddled near her controls. "That NAIS power armor was posted with us only a few hours ago."

  Loren realized instantly what she was trying to say. "That must mean that Catelli is ..."

  Mulvaney nodded and opened her commline again. "We've got some problems, Colonel. Colonel Catelli is in the area as well."

  MacLeod responded quickly. "And according to my short-range scans we have about a battalion's worth of troops closing in from the south, north, and west. We're going to have to start moving and quick." Loren checked Mulvaney's secondary monitor and saw the images. This isn't good. They're leaving us only one way to go, to the east, to the spaceport.

  "Colonel, we can't move too far, not yet anyway. They're trying to drive us into the same trap they set for the Fusiliers," Loren returned.

  A voice cut in on a different channel. "This is the end for you, MacLeod. You, that damned Jaffray ... Mulvaney ... all of you." It was that viper Catelli. Loren watched as the Colonel of the Consul Guards broke from cover, his Atlas staring down at them with that evil grin on its skull-like cockpit.

  MacLeod was being goaded into a fight against very bad odds, but his voice dripped contempt. "You bloody demon," he shouted. "Highlanders have at them!" His Huron Warrior let go a volley from its Gauss rifle, hitting Catelli's Atlas squarely in the torso. Had the 'Mech been a man the shot would have struck him in the heart. MacLeod was just lining up another shot when a Royals aerofighter strafed the green in front of him, forcing the Colonel to pull back the shot.

  Then, from the north and south came a wave of light and medium BattleMechs all bearing the golden markings of the Third Royals. Mulvaney turned into the wave, blazing away with every weapon. A Davion Hatchetman took the brunt of her laser fire in its legs, one of which ripped away and went sprawling across the grass as the other 'Mechs moved past.

  "Damn it," Loren muttered under his breath. They were in way over their heads. "Concentrate on the Consul Guards," he said tersely. "They don't have the experience that these Royals do. If we can punch through anyplace it will be there." Mulvaney did not speak, but turned her 'Mech toward Catelli's troops. Loren watched as her heads up display began the locking process on the lead Atlas.

  Three tiny Savannah Master hovercraft cut across the field and swung toward Frutchey and MacLeod. Despite the damage Frutchey had taken he was as ready as ever to fight, firing his missiles and medium lasers. The lightning-fast hovercraft artfully dodged each blast, swinging behind MacLeod's Huron Warrior and riddling its legs and torso from behind.

  Loren had often seen fast-moving hovercraft use such tactics. They were too small to do much damage, but fast enough to keep from getting hit. Commanders liked to use them to force enemy 'Mech pilots to waste time and firepower trying to knock them out. He raised the thin microphone to his mouth. "Don't waste time on those little bastards, Frutchey. Concentrate on the real targets!" Then he was distracted by a hit from a Gauss slug that dug so deeply into the Marauder that the whole 'Mech was set to quaking.

  "Catelli!" Mulvaney hissed, f
ighting the joysticks and other controls, which were bucking under the impact of the round.

  Captain Carey and Lieutenant Darley were concentrating their firepower on a Consul Guard Enforcer, bathing the 'Mech in a spray of laser and missile fire. For the first time since rejoining the battle Loren saw the seemingly charred figure of Jake Fuller's Shadow Hawk emerge from a cluster of thick pines, its autocannon blazing into the side of the Enforcer. When the blasts stopped, the Enforcer toppled over, its reactor riddled with holes. Mulvaney concentrated her laser fire on Catelli in the distance, ignoring two pulse laser hits across her Marauder's lower torso.

  Loren wanted nothing more than to see Catelli's Atlas sent up in flames, but the approach of one of the Royals' new Salamander 'Mechs caught his eye. It was charging unimpeded across the field directly at Colonel MacLeod, who was facing the Consul Guards in the distance. Jaffray nudged Mulvaney and she responded by blasting the Salamander with everything she had.

  Every shot hit the soft rear armor of the 'Mech, turning it into something resembling Swiss cheese. The machine's charge suddenly skidded to a halt as its ammunition stores erupted, blowing the CASE hatches clear. Mulvaney's final PPC shot ate away at the Salamander's gyro housing as the 'Mech suddenly spun on its heels like a mad dancer doing a deadly tango. Its legs twisted and contorted under a stress they'd never been designed to handle, finally shattering at the hip actuators. Loren's eyes were transfixed during the death dance of the 'Mech, marveling at its elegant destruction. "Damn fine shooting," he grunted.

  "Thanks," Mulvaney said coolly.

  Loren studied the short-range sensors and bit his lip. "I only hope it's enough," he said as the short-range sensors painted a gloomy picture. "There's more coming in at us." As two squads of NAIS power armor swarmed a Highlander Whitworth, the 'Mech managed to kill two of the troopers but was unable to shake the others. Jaffray watched in horror as the NAIS troops ripped open the cockpit canopy and fired their lightweight chainguns inside. He never saw the results because the next moment a black cloud of smoke from another fallen 'Mech obscured his view.