Rodiach Forest,

Sirdar, Sirdar PDZ,

Capellan March, Federated Suns,

27^th May 3063

 

Frank Meronac was tired, dead tired. The field hospital he was presently working in was crammed with the dead and dying. A steady stream of bodies was still coming in from the front, where the fighting had been especially brutal. The doctors in the hospital have been pushed to beyond their limits of endurance, yet the wounded and dying kept on coming, pleading with the overworked doctors to try to save their lives.

In many cases, there was nothing the doctors could do. The stench of rotting flesh was already threatening to overwhelm the present occupants of the hospital, doctors, nurses and patients alike. The piteous cries of the dying and wounded were not helping matters any either. Frank had been one of those advocating the burial of the dead, but right now with all available troops off fighting the overwhelming Loyalist forces, there weren’t even enough men for a burial detail.

Crouching outside one of the makeshift hospital’s tents, Frank took in a deep breath of clean, fresh forest air. Noting the dark clouds in the sky, he realized another storm, a big one was coming soon. Good, maybe this will break off the fighting. This will give us a chance to collect our wounded and the hospital a breather. However, he also knew that it was the terrible weather that was the cause of the severe reversals they had suffered in the last few days.

Suddenly a soldier appeared, an officer by the insignia on his combat vest, beside the tent. He shouted out over the hospital. “Anyone here is a mech pilot? We need volunteers for a mission! I don’t care if all you have jockeyed before is a loggermech or agromech. As long as you know how to move a mech, please step up! This is for an extremely important mission!”

“What is going on?” Frank asked him. “A big storm is coming, the fighting should be dying down.”

“If only that were true.” The officer replied. It was then Frank noticed the officer’s left arm was soaked in blood. “The bad weather means our arty and aerospace wouldn’t be able to support our ground troops, and we have been taking horrendous losses for the entire afternoon. The loyalists aren’t much better off, but they still have more mechs, and if we don’t draw part of their force off, they are going to break through our lines soon. One of the MASH units near the front has already been overrun, and it seems the wounded there have all been killed. Even the medical personnel were not spared. Damn bastards! We cannot let them through our lines, or they will slaughter everyone here. This call for volunteers is for a group of mechs to act as a decoy, to draw off enemy forces, while we move everybody back further into our territory.”

“Don’t you have trained pilots?” Frank was getting anxious at the thought of mechs attacking non-combatants.

“Nope. We are clean out of spare pilots. All the trained pilots are holding the line, so that leaves us with only those foolish enough to climb into our repaired mechs to act as target practice.” The officer laughed bitterly.

It was clear to Frank that this was a last throw of the dice, a last all or nothing effort to gain a stalemate. He had not climbed into a mech cockpit for the past ten years, and he still shuddered at the memory of the overheating, tottering agromech they had used on the farm. He did not want to be a mechwarrior, yet if he did not volunteer, the hospital could be wiped out. There was simply no other choice.

“Sign me up.” Frank told the officer.

“Excuse me, doctor, what did you say?” The disbelieving officer asked, incredulous at the response.

“I said, sign me up for the mission! I was an agromech pilot in my youth. Well, you wanted mech pilots, didn’t you? I’m what you asked for, so let’s not waste any more time, and get moving! Every minute we spend here dawdling means the bloody bastards are getting closer!”

As they were talking, there had been no other response from the other hospital staff.

The officer sighed. “Alright, I guess you are all I’m gonna get from this place. Come on, follow me.” He walked towards a jeep, with Frank close behind.

Travelling in the jeep, they reached a mech depot after ten minutes of hard road. The depot was next to a dilapidated and abandoned village, fronting a vast farmland. There were, to Frank’s untrained eye, four battered mechs being worked on by the techs. As they left the jeep and approached the mechs, they could see three people waiting near the mechs, all dressed in mechwarrior cooling vests. One of the three saluted the officer upon their arrival at the foot of the mechs.

“Captain, we have got two volunteers from the infantry. They say they have piloted mechs before.”

The officer returned the salute, and told the soldier, “Corporal Greene, this is Doctor Frank Meronac. He’s to be your fourth pilot. Doc, this is Corporal Greene. He’s in charge of the decoy mission and the only trained mech pilot we could spare. Whatever you do, follow his lead. I’ve spent too much time here, I have to get back to HQ.” Nodding to the two infantry volunteers, the officer wished them luck. “You’ll need it.”

Corporal Greene did not waste any time. He quickly got Frank to put on a cooling vest, and led the trio of volunteers to the mechs. Gesturing them to get into the mechs, he climbed into his own mech, a Stealth that had seen far better days. Frank was guided by the techs to the cockpit of his mech, which they told him was a extremely fast Dart. The former pilot of the Dart had been killed when he got hit by a PPC shot to the cockpit. The techs had just finished patching up the cockpit from the remains of the cockpits of other mechs. This mech was to be Frank’s ride. As Frank had not been trained for this, he was being guided every step of the way by the anxious chief tech.

“Put on the neurohelmet behind the seat. I’ll help you attach the connections to your head. Here, the cooling feeds go this way. Okay, we’re now starting up the mech, you’ll feel a bit of vertigo due to feedback from the mech’s gyroscope. Don’t worry, it’s normal for a new pilot. We’ll calibrate the settings to your brainwave patterns, so you won’t feel a thing after that.” As the tech spoke, Frank did feel a sense of nausea and vertigo wash over him when the mech systems came online.

“I really hope you know how to use one of these beasts, because you’re our last hope. There won’t be any security protocols, so just start moving once all the lights on your board, this side,” the tech gestured to a panel, “are green. Good hunting, sir.”

With that, the tech closed the cockpit door, leaving Frank to deal with the controls. Quickly recalling the memories of piloting the agromech back home, Frank grasped the movement stick. He watched as the lights on the panel the tech gestured to turned green.

“Alright, people, this is Corporal Greene.” A voice sounded over into his ears from the neurohelmet. “I’m going to call you guys one by one. Answer if you are ready to move out. Doc?”

“Ready.” Frank was too nervous to say more.

“Dennings?”

“I’m, uh, I’m ready.” To Frank, Dennings seemed even more nervous than he was.

“Lieutenant Fiore?”

“I’m ready to move out.” Unlike her two fellow volunteers, the lieutenant’s voice was strong and confident.

“Alright, move your mechs out of the bays slowly. Keep a light hand on the stick, and you’ll be fine. Wrath Lead, this is Forlorn One. We’re moving out of the mech bays.”

“Forlorn One, this is Wrath Lead.” A tired voice sounded over the comm. The sound of multiple explosions could be heard in the background. "Go according to the plan. Don’t stop for any enemies. Just get to their flanks and get their attention. And, finally, good luck.” He sounded like a death knell for the decoy lance.

Meanwhile, the mechs of the decoy unit had moved out of the bays surprisingly without any problems. Frank was surprised to find that the Dart’s controls are extremely responsive, unlike the sluggish manner of the agromech. Looking at his identification program, Frank found out that Dennings was piloting a Fireball, while Lieutenant Fiore had a Cicada. All fast, but lightly armored mechs. Speed was going to be essential if they are going to survive this mission, which was looking more and more like a suicide run.

Corporal Greene came over the comm again. “We are going to skirt the flanks of the battlefield, and try to get some of their mechs’ attention. We drag them outta position, then we try to lead ‘em back to some of our own tanks who are waiting in ambush. Push your throttle up to about 100 clicks per hour, and stay close behind me. I’m going to teach you rookies some basics of shooting, sensors and the like as we head for the front, so listen carefully. We won’t have time for practice, so you had better get it right straight from the get-go.”

For the next ten minutes, the makeshift lance made their way over the farmlands, with Corporal Greene quickly giving them instructions on the basics of targeting, shooting and torso-twisting. Frank tried to remember as much of them as he could, but without any practice, and trying to remember while guiding a mech at 100 kph, it was an impossible task.

As they approached the edges of the battlefield, where another dense forest was located, Frank could see flashes of light off into the distance. Apparently, that was where most of the action was.

“We are moving nearer their main force now, for their mechs to pick us up. Once I pick up mechs in pursuit, I will turn away and head back to our lines, where we have friendlies in wait. Don’t stop to fight, just run with me. With luck, you won’t have to fire a single shot.”

As the Corporal was speaking, the decoy lance had entered the forest, and were turning towards the direction of the flashes of light. As they inched towards the main battleground, Frank noticed on his radar several red blips, and they seem to be approaching his position fast.

“Damn, they have picked us up.” Greene had noticed as well. “Start moving back, people!”

Suddenly, there appeared four more red blips on Frank’s radar screen, directly beside their position. Before anyone could react to the appearance of the new threat, Dennings’ Fireball was rocked by a series of autocannon hits, the kinetic rounds shattering armour in a series of pock-mark explosions. As he struggled to bring his mech under control, a volley of laser and PPC blasts erupted from a position deeper in the forest, the first few shots tearing into the light mech’s armour, which barely held up for more than a second before the rest of the volley went into the innards of the Fireball. There was a panicked cry over the comm as Dennings screamed for help.

“The board’s red all over! Engine’s going critical! Arrggghhh!”

There was a terrific explosion as the Fireball’s engine, unable to shut down in time, lost control of its containment field, resulting in a uncontrolled fusion reaction, tearing the light mech apart in a orange ball of nuclear flame.

Frank’s blood ran cold at how quickly Dennings died. It was a trap, pure and simple, and it was going to turn into a slaughter if somebody did not do something soon.

“Everybody break and move! Its a trap!” Corporal Greene tried to get his lance moving before the ambushing mechs got off another shot.

As the mechs of the decoy lance scattered, Frank tried to get a reading on the enemy mech lance that had surprised them. A Jagermech III, two Enforcer IIIs, and a Blackjack. Terrible odds for the decoy lance, and even so now as they were down to three mechs, one trained, and two untrained pilots.

The enemy mech lance was stepping out from the forest, ready to pummel the rest of Frank’s lance. Looking at his map, Frank realized the enemy lance was right in the middle of their retreat path. Any attempt by the decoy lance to escape back to their lines would probably end up in their destruction by the heavier mechs. Evidently, Greene knew it too.

“Everyone, cut off to the side, and fire as you move. You’re going to flank them, then get round them. Once past their lines, just dash straight back to the depot. I’ll try to keep their attention on me. Doc, keep an eye on the approaching mechs. Tell me when they get within five hundred meters.”

Frank stared incredulously at the Stealth. Easier said than done. It really is not easy piloting a mech and keeping an eye on our ‘friends’ at the same time. How do these mechwarriors do it? Dammit! The Enforcers are shooting at me!

Frank wrenched hard on his control stick, trying desperately to evade the deadly medium-heavy autocannon rounds being spewed out by the Enforcers. He mostly succeeded, with only a few stray shots hitting the torso of his Dart. Pushing the mech to its maximum speed of 140 kilometers per hour, he followed Greene’s orders in heading out to the flanks of the enemy lance. At this stage in time, he was too rattled to even consider twisting his mech’s torso around to use his medium lasers on the enemy mechs.

Meanwhile, Greene had jumped his Stealth right into the midst of the enemy formation, unleashing his medium lasers and short-range missiles into the enemy Jagermech. The weapons had little effect on the heavy mech, but managed to throw off its aim on Fiore’s Cicada. The Jagermech’s PPC shots and autocannon rounds flew off into the night.

Firing her autocannon in a raking pattern at the Jagermech, Fiore managed to score a solid series of hits. Moving behind Frank, she tried to push the Cicada up to running speed before the other enemy mechs could react.

The Blackjack had also been drawing a bead on the Cicada, and chose this moment to fire its weapons before the Cicada could move further to the side of the battle.  One of its two PPCs slammed into the Cicada’s left side, tearing away the armour and leaving the internals of the mech bare. The other PPC shot missed high. Its two medium lasers flensed away more armour from the Cicada’s center torso and left arm.

The Cicada staggered under the ruinous assault, and barely kept its balance as it raced through the forest behind Frank’s Dart. It was clear even to Frank’s novice eye that the Cicada could not withstand another concerted attack, with any shot hitting the torso likely to damage or destroy the engine.

Greene’s Stealth continued its attack on the Jagermech at point blank range, taking advantage of the enemy mech’s poor close combat abilities. The Stealth’s lasers stabbed into the Jagermech, followed by a furious volley of missiles as Greene sought to take the enemy lance’s heaviest mech out of the action by firing every weapon at his disposal.

Returning fire with only its medium lasers, as they were the only weapons it has for close combat, the Jagermech was having the worst of the exchange, if not for one of the Enforcers that had turned its guns away from Frank to fire on the Stealth.

Greene’s Stealth shuddered as it was attacked by the Enforcer’s ultra autocannon and extended range large laser, the shots hitting its right arm and center torso.

Frank, who had been keeping one eye glued to his radar screen while trying to weave the Dart through the forest without hitting any trees, was too busy to notice the Stealth’s distress. Running the ID program once the red blips approaching their position were within seven hundred meters, Frank got even more bad news. The mechs approaching consists of a Rakshasa, another Jagermech, a Falconer, and a Charger. According to the Warbook program, all fast heavies, each with ample firepower to take down the battered decoy lance by itself. He quickly communicated the news to Corporal Greene.

“That’s good news!” Corporal Greene was panting heavily now, as he had been pushing the heat curve of his mech to its limit. “Each heavy drawn off to deal with us small fry means one less heavy at the front. Keep moving, and try to avoid getting hit.”

The Blackjack and the Enforcer that had not turned its attention to the Stealth jumped in pursuit of the Cicada, intent on bringing it down. Firing all their weapons, they tried to finish off the Cicada. The Enforcer hit with its large laser, melting armour on the Cicada’s right leg. The Blackjack missed with every weapon except its PPC, the PPC hitting the most vulnerable location on the Cicada.

Its left torso.

The extra light engine of the Cicada was its most vulnerable feature, and many pilots hated the mech for this reason alone, as any destruction of the torsos would result in an engine shutdown. This instance was no exception, and Fiore’s mech crashed to the ground as the mech lost power to its limbs, unable to continue its ill-fated flight when the engine shut down due to excessive damage.

Frank began to panic. Glancing at his navigation screen, he could not make out where he was supposed to go next or even what direction his own lines are. Gulping down his fear, he pushed his mech deeper into the forest, trying to shake off his pursuers with the Dart’s sheer speed.

He did not notice the Stealth, valiantly engaging the Jagermech, succumb to the overwhelming firepower arrayed against him when the heavy lance arrived, or that Corporal Jonas Greene intentionally brought his doomed mech close to the Jagermech as the Stealth’s ammunition stores exploded, taking one last enemy with him to the grave.