by R. E. Graham
Corre Republic Space
Prefecture: Colonial
Planet: Frost
Location: Winter Haven, downtown
After the Ignis dropped off the two strike teams, its next destination was to deploy the WarMechs into Winter Haven to cause a much larger distraction. This way any government forces that were going to be sent to help Redbeard would now have to be redirected toward the two pikes of mechs.
Instead of landing as with the strike teams, each of the eight deadly machines jumped out of the ships to be hot dropped into the city as the transport moved slowly Southward.
The Major felt the vibrations through her joysticks as her Sentry descended to the planet below. Unlike many of the mechs under her command, hers had to have a temporary jump pack secured to her machine. Daena eyed the digital fuel gauge which continued to steadily decrease as she got closer and closer to the surface.
She imagined that the sight of the eight pirate WarMechs would be quite the visual for the citizens. Even from her height, she could see vehicles and people fleeing in all directions.
It had become very uncommon in the Corre Republic to see mechs hot dropped except in official RAF exercises. This, however, was no training, as far as they were concerned this was an invasion.
Just as the Major’s Sentry touched down on the stonecrete road, her temp jump pack disengaged and broke into several pieces away from the machine.
“Gold team, report!” she barked into her headset.
Each of the pike members signaled that they had landed safely. Silver pike also reported that they were good to go.
So far so good…
As they broke off into the teams of four, the pirate mechs began opening fire on non-critical locations such as parked cars, light poles, anything that appeared like no one was present. The Pirate Lord was very explicit that he wasn’t after mass civilian casualties, just damage to direct the Republic’s watchful eyes onto them.
They encountered more frightened citizens that panicked and dispersed. Skarr and Kat had been assigned to Gold pike
with the Major and Iso, while Teed and Mariah were under the guide and command of Kilo Bright and Justus Karmo. Not being in the same pike as Mariah had made Skarr very happy. Being able to pilot a Goblin made it even better.
He throttled up his hunchbacked mech, and it stomped onto a parked wheeled car. Glass from its windows scattered everywhere as the weight of the titan crushed it in one smooth motion.
“Skarr, we have inbound contacts on the radar. I am reading three Carinas. Probably plenty of mechs onboard” Major Wer said as she fired a burst from her large repeater lasers from her Sentry’s arms.
The young mech jock checked his own radar to confirm the Major's findings, and he too saw the three red triangles heading their way quickly.
Kat had been assigned one of the recovered Sierra’s, and it still had a quirk with the way it walked. Instead of moving about smoothly, it would take several steps then struggle. The mechanics had said it was the right hip joint, but the female pilot still verbally tore into them.
“Fragging techs,” she said over the squad’s channel.
“Hey now, I was one of those guys a few weeks ago,” Skarr said with a toothy smile.
“Sorry about that Skarr, but this really blows.”
“Cut the chatter. Deploy in defensive positions,” Daena said sharply.
The silver colored Carinas rushed toward the city and its attackers. Each of the doors on both sides of the ships began to open as their mechs stepped up and prepared to take the fight to the pirates.
While the battle raged in Winter Haven and at Redbeard’s home, the Fini, Kilroy, Midnight and the other ships that survived the battle on Destiny had hopped into the system. They had been instructed to follow the Ignis by hopping to Frost after a several hour gap. Instead of being deployed to make planetfall, they were to be an additional distraction by attacking the blockade itself.
“Recharge the HOP drive and fire the capital guns!” Deimos shouted as he pointed at the nearest War Carrier.
The pirate ships fired everything they had at extreme distance as to force the Republic to close in to get a better shot at them, but also give them as much time as possible between attacks so that they could stretch out the space battle. Mikhail had told them to not get in close so that they wouldn’t suffer much damage, but it was only a matter of time before the carriers would launch their fighters and the fleet would be annihilated if they didn’t hop back out of system.
Captain Korge laughed maniacally as her ship launched a barrage of missiles forward at the Republic fleet. “Mikhail is a crazy bastard, but damn if he doesn’t throw the best parties!”
Admiral Tolso stepped out onto the bridge of his War Carrier, the C.R.S. Longsword, completely in awe of the battle that was ensuing.
"Warrant officer, report!" he shouted at the young man who operated the comm's station on the massive spacecraft.
“Sir, we have three ships that are engaging us at extreme range.”
“Why haven’t the PLOWs destroyed them?” the Admiral asked as he stared at the holoscreen in awe.
“They can’t confirm targets. Perhaps they are using some kind of jammer.”
“Who are they associated with? Is it the Union?”
The warrant officer was nervous to answer but knew he must. “Negative. Our records indicate they are known transports that operate in the Republic. They have improvised weapons installed to them. These are not military vessels.”
“Pirates!” the Admiral grew agitated and swung his arm at the holoscreen that displayed the attackers. “Launch our fighters. Send the Polomon and the Maximus orders to move in and crush them. Give no quarter!”
“Aye, aye,” the warrant officer said as he transmitted the orders to the fleet.
“Fighters are inbound!” Sandy Uma said excitedly as she confirmed the growing number of enemy forces.
Deimos gripped the arm of his chair tightly. Things were beginning to look dire for the small fleet even though they continued to send wave after wave of shots at the incoming Republic ships.
Suddenly Sandy’s tone changed considerably. “Captain, we have an incoming connection from the Yayo.”
“The Yayo…” the pirate Captain stood up slowly then turned to a screen that he had installed nearby that he could monitor the fleet. Instead of the six friendly icons which included the Midnight, there now was seven, then eight, then ten.
Multiple ships hopped in system behind them.
“This is Captain Taylor of the Yayo. We are here to serve Lord Mikhail in his crazy ploy to conquer Ruby and to collect our huge payout,” the Captain said through the speakers on the Midnight’s bridge.
"It's damned good to have you join us, Taylor," Deimos said as he breathed a little easier.
Several more Onyx ships of varying sizes continued to hop in. As they cleared the immediate vicinity as to not accidentally blast a friendly ship, they began firing at the approaching Republic forces.
Salvos of missiles, lasers and cannon fire seemed to fill the gap of space in between the two fleets.
"Sandy, broadcast me across the Onyx frequencies," Deimos said as he mustered up inner strength. In his best commanding voice, he spoke strongly for the other pirates to banner together.
“Lord Mikhail needs us to buy him enough time to tie up the Republic here. We only have to hold until the Ignis breaks through the atmosphere. Until then, fight like you never have before. Don’t die, for today will earn us a fortune!”
While they weren’t able to send their response simultaneously, each of the ships in the growing pirate fleet cheered as one.
Admiral Landy went through a swirl of emotions. First, he was taken back by the sudden attack only to discover it was some ragtag pirates being stupid. Now their fleet of six had grown to fifteen. They went from a minor inconvenience to a potential threat. He was not at all pleased with that realization.
“Sir, the new ships are not equip
ped with the jammers.”
“Then target them one by one and shatter their morale,” the Admiral said with a devious grin.
The tables had flipped several times, but soon he was going to have the obvious upper hand.
Captain Deimos’ sheer joy was destroyed as he watched the Cashbag freighter explode from a sudden hit to the nose of the ship that traveled out the back of it.
“What happened?”
“Captain, the PLOWs, they are targeting the rest of the fleet!” Sandy said with worry in her voice.
Another one of the ships in the pirate fleet was blasted into smithereens before it could react.
“Order the fleet to disperse. We need to keep on the move. We have to buy them more time!”
Chapter 25
Cycle: 434 Month: 4 Day: 7
Corre Republic Space
Prefecture: Colonial
Planet: Frost
Location: Winter Haven, downtown
What had started out as a relatively straight forward mission now was becoming more of a run for their lives. Major Daena had already ordered their retreat as the Carinas deployed their mech forces. The eight pirate mechs went from no opposition to fighting twenty Republic WarMechs.
Several of the pirate units had already taken severe damage, but none had fallen yet. Kat's Sierra began to limp worse and worse as the fighting continued. It didn't take long before she fell behind the others.
“Gold four, you better get your butt movin’!” the Major ordered.
“Sorry sir, my leg is really screwed up.”
Skarr twisted his Goblin around and ran back to his comrade.
“Where in the ‘verse are you goin’ Gold three?” Daena asked angrily.
“We can’t just leave her behind!” he said losing his temper.
A maroon colored Sierra stepped out in front of him in the intersection up ahead and aimed its cannon. The pirate boosted his WarMech to the right, dodging the attack altogether. He then triggered a burst from both of his plasma slingers. Green globs hit the enemy mech and began to burn into its armor. The melted metal oozed to the ground, leaving exposed internals behind.
Not wanting to take on the Goblin on its own it activated its jumper pack and hopped over a large building, concealing itself from further attacks.
Kat rocked forward in her command seat as her own Sierra took a massive hit to its back. She cried out in pain as her harness dug into her left shoulder.
Before she could even retaliate, a barrage of missiles rained down on her from the already damaged Sierra that Skarr had engaged as it repositioned itself again and a Spade that was stomping its way toward her.
“Kat!” the ex-mechanic screamed into his headset.
On his mech’s HUD he could see the outline of Kat’s Sierra, and then he couldn’t.
“For fragging sake kid, get out of there!” the Major blared through the radio as she provided cover fire from her Sentry.
She wasn’t aiming at any of the advancing mechs in particular, more trying to discourage them from charging her other squamate.
Skarr twisted his mech about-face and put it into a full run. Things weren't falling apart anymore, it had already crumbled entirely into pieces.
While the mechs and fleet were struggling, Mikhail and Hern’s teams were pushing deeper and deeper into the mansion and now were advancing into the garden.
"Hern, how are things on your end?" the pirate lord asked over his earpiece radio.
“There seems to be no end to these guys. I’ve lost count on how many I’ve killed.”
“Any sign of Redbeard?”
“Negative. But I am bettin’ he is in the secondary building.”
Mikhail tossed the spent magazine from his rifle and reloaded it with a fresh one.
“What makes you say that?”
“Nobody’s shootin’ us from there yet.”
An explosion rocked the previously beautiful home and all of its unwanted occupants. Jole ducked into a squat while Mikhail remained standing tall.
“Hern thinks that Redbeard is in the building on the other side of the garden.”
The bodyguard nodded that he was ready.
Piloting a Centurion into combat like this sounded like a good time to Hern when he was still on the Ignis, but now he wasn’t so sure. His body ached from the extensive training he and his team had gone through, and now every step felt labored.
He had switched from relying heavily on his chain gun to using his focus beam more as his ammo was running short.
Ling was fighting valiantly, but Scrub was getting out of hand. He laughed like a madman as he sprayed through the garden’s bushes. Bullets riddled the secondary building’s wall and windows but did little else.
Using the thermal vision in the power armor's helmet, Hern could see more of Redbeard's men taking cover inside. He ran up to an expertly crafted stone wall and did his best to squat down. Several shooters opened fire, bullets pinging off of his armor. That is until there was a bright flash from the upper level and he got shot by something else that scored a severe wound to his left arm's armor.
“They have a laser rifle on the second floor!” he shouted through the radio to strike team one.
Ling broke off to the left and fired his focus beam while Scrub launched himself into the air with his jumper pack. He brought his arms up to shield his head and face as he smashed through the wall and subsequently entered the building in an unconventional way.
“Dammit Scrub, get back here!” Hern demanded.
“Sorry sir, havin’ too much fun,” the pirate said as he laughed hysterically.
The strike team leader stood up and started running for the opening in the garden ahead of him. “Ling, we need to catch up to him.”
“Roger that.”
Hern launched himself up with his own jumper pack. “Woah, woah, woooooah!” he said as he tumbled in the air and burst through the wall further to the right.
He tumbled end over end until he came to a stop against a decorative pillar that had a vase sitting atop it. As he attempted to stand, he bumped the support, and the expensive sculpture crashed on his head.
“Ow.”
Hern looked to his left and saw the pirate with the laser rifle taking aim right at him. Ling joined the rest of his team, but with a bit more finesse. He punched through the window where the Ruby pirate was, shattering his spine under the weight of the heavy Republic armor.
More gunfire broke out down below as Mikhail’s team entered the garden and was attempting to push through to the building strike team one had so gracefully found themselves in.
“Ignis, where in blazes are you?” the Major asked through gritted teeth as her Sentry took a pounding from a pair of Sierra’s that jumped over some buildings.
They fired a second salvo from their cannons with one shot hitting her mech in the right thigh and the other going wide. The missed shot blew out the first floor of a small bank behind her. Smoke and dust puffing out of its now shattered front windows.
“We are heading to the LZ for pickup Major. What’s your status?” Jax asked as the captured ship lifted off from its hiding space and headed back for the battered city.
"We lost Kat, and many of us are pretty beat up."
“Just hold on a little longer. We’re almost there.”
Daena switched over to the general frequency for the pirate mechs. “The Ignis is on its way. We need to get our asses movin', or we aren't gonna make it."
"Roger that," Iso said as he evaded a barrage of micro-missiles from a very angry Spade pilot.
The Major tried to analyze the situation on her radar while also navigating the city’s streets. “Pike two, break off and head down Central.”
“Copy tha…” Silver one started to say before he was cut off.
Kilo's Hunter icon disappeared from Daena's radar, and she felt a twinge of regret. While he wasn't a very chatty person, he had fought alongside her on Destiny among other worlds, and she had grown to care fo
r him. Now all of those words she never spoke to him were gone forever.
She swallowed hard to push aside her emotions. "Silver two, you're in charge of your team now. Head down Central."
There was a momentary pause as Justus acknowledged the loss of his good buddy Kilo and what that meant for him. “Understood.”
His captured Arbalest plodded along leaving behind gouges in the stonecrete ground. By now in the fighting, he had lost one of his drones. He assigned the last one to target the nearest Republic mech, a very brave and stupid Enforcer.
It had closed the distance between it and the Arbalest and was about to have a clean shot at Justus' back. The drone skirted above the buildings then lowered itself as it marked the Republic mech with its TAC laser. Justus' drone system confirmed the target acquisition and the pirate yanked his controls to the side, bringing the colossal Arbalest about face and slammed on the brake. Its clawed feet dug into the stonecrete road as it came to a halt.
“Take this you bastard!” he shouted as he thumbed his joysticks twice.
The Arbalest launched four of its deadly Zephyr strike missiles into the air. They arched up and over the buildings and rained down on the Enforcer as it fired its scattergun and destroyed the drone. The Republic WarMech erupted in the quad explosions and disappeared from existence. Only a crater and raining bits remained.
Justus turned his pirate WarMech back toward the evac route and charged full speed ahead. Mariah and Teed, both of whom hadn't taken significant damage were up ahead and safe from the Republic's attacks for the most part.
“Activate your jammers,” the Silver pike leader said over his team’s channel.
They immediately disappeared from the encroaching enemy’s radar and became like ghosts stomping through the city.
Gold pike wasn’t faring so well. The Major dodged down a two-lane road and barely avoided ramming her Sentry’s shoulder into an overhang. While Skarr and Iso had activated their jammers to conceal themselves, her mech had taken a nasty hit to her back which totally disabled her own improvised equipment. At the moment, she was the only pirate unit visible to any of the Republic pilots, and they were closing in fast.
