Drop Zone Phi,

Einstein, Deep Periphery

10^th March 3068

 

Ian Dorlacen tapped his throttle with his finger nervously as he waited for the arrival of the Falcons. The day had started off typically, with the Falcon commander Daniela Mattlov issuing yet another challenge with all her forces. Ian had replied that he would respond similarly with all of his forces.

He knew it was a bit underhand of him to neglect mentioning that his force had increased by exactly two elemental points, but he figured he needed all the favors he could get. If Star Captain Mattlow did not bother to ask him for his force composition because she thought she already knew it, well, that was her own mistake.

This time, he had set up his remaining infantry in a relatively exposed position, on one of the hilltops surrounding the Star League base. Armed with spare LRM racks originally meant for repairing the mechs, they were to serve as decoys for the enemy toads. Ian had also used the last of his command detonated mines in the area surrounding the infantry. Hopefully the Falcon commander would oblige him by sending only her elementals to deal with his infantry. Foot sloggers were meant for each other, after all.

Just moments earlier, his vehicle company had once again drawn the attention of the Falcons, but this time only three mechs set out in pursuit.

Maybe we hurt them more than we thought. Ian quickly checked with his recon lance commander.

“Hong, how many enemy mechs has your Raven picked up?”

“Only eleven mechs sir. I’m still looking for the other four. They must be out here somewhere.” Hong sounded worried, and Ian did not blame him one bit.

“Keep an eye out for them, but get ready to join in the battle.”

“Roger. Hong out.”

Thanks to the efforts of Pascal and his techs, they were able to receive the Falcons with all eleven of their mechs fully operational. Not for the first time, Ian was glad that he had managed to prize Pascal away from the Dragoons support staff five years ago to serve as his tech chief. The man was worth every C-Bill Ian paid him.

They had not made any headway into how the key machines worked, but they had been informed by Frank Meronac that a real physicist was working on it. This was quite a relief to Pascal, who had been completely stumped by the strange technology. This had also enabled him to put his full attention into getting their mechs repaired.

“Sir, Falcons approaching. Masakari in the lead.” Hong came in again. “Want us to engage?”

“Negative. Pull back and wait for their elementals to fall for the bait first.”

 

Daniela Mattlov moved her Warhawk forward with purpose, the elementals clinging on for their dear lives as the omnimech sprinted at top speed towards the Lancers, with seven other mechs behind it, all laden with elementals.

Not for the first time, she cursed Orden. If the sibbies had not beaten up the techs, she would have been attacking with her full mech strength, not 70% as was the case now. With three mechs detached to run down the enemy vehicles, that left her only eight mechs against the Lancers’ eleven.

Her sensors picked up the Lancer mechs, waiting in the midst of rocky terrain. They also detected infantry movements a kilometer away, standing alongside what seemed to be large boxes, but turned out to be LRM launchers when she magnified the image.

What does their CO intend? She could see two options. One was to send the fastest mech she had to flush out the infantry. With her fastest mechs all chasing the Lancer vehicles, her next fastest mech was a Cougar. With her mech strength already depleted, she could not afford to attack with anything less than eight mechs.

That left only her elementals to engage the infantry. In all fairness, they were actually the best at facing the LRM launchers. The rocky terrain would offer them plenty of cover to get close to the enemy infantry without getting hit too much by the missiles.

She knew she was reacting yet again to some unknown plan of Ian Dorlacen’s, but again she had little choice. If she used the full force of her eight mechs and the two stars of elementals with her in her attack on the mechs of the Arch Lancers, it would be severe breach of honor in the eyes of her commanders, even one as liberal as Lizabet Danforth.

She was getting tired of the stringent rules of engagement laid down by the clan. While it had become acceptable to concentrate fire on a single target, overwhelming firepower against the enemy was still frowned upon throughout the clan.

But it was a real weakness that could be exploited by a canny opponent. And Ian Dorlacen of the Arch Lancers was one such opponent.

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Daniela gave the orders for the elementals to attack the infantry. Sensing another trap, she sent her Elementals in two waves. The second star will trail behind the first in case the approach is mined, ready to attack from another direction.

Elementals would be quite ineffectual against the enemy mechs, especially if combat was being waged at a distance in open ground. Better to tie up the enemy infantry. She did not want the Lancers to draw her mechs into the range of those LRM launchers.

The elementals quickly disembarked from the mechs they were hitching rides on, and scooted off towards the enemy launchers, utilizing their jump packs to quickly cover the ground. It would not be long before they are forced to move among the rocks to avoid the LRM fire.

As her mech advanced forward, she placed her targeting cursor over the nearest enemy mech, which was the brick-shaped Awesome she had tangled with in the previous battle.

“Ready to resume our battle, Major?” She asked before loosing two streams of charged particles at the enemy mech, followed by a salvo of energy darts from one of her large pulse lasers.

“Eagerly.” The answer came as the Awesome adroitly sidestepped the attack, having anticipated her actions. Only the pulse laser hit, causing rivulets of molten armor to flow down the left flank.

The Awesome struck back with a vengeance, four artificial lightning bolts flashing from their barrels at her Warhawk. One missed the legs by several meters splattering the rocks with its energy. Another just whizzed by above her cockpit. The third beam hit her right torso, but she had plenty of armor to spare there, while the last beam struck one of her legs.

Her force was fully engaged with the Arch Lancers, both sides exchanging volleys of PPC, laser, autocannon, and missile fire. Some Lancer mechs ganged up on her mechs, while some of her own troops were also concentrating fire on the mercenaries. It was now simply a question of who could inflict the most damage in the shortest time.

“Star Captain.” It was her elemental commander, Olager. “We have run into stiff opposition. It turns out that the immediate are leading to the enemy infantry is laden with mines. We are trapped here. My men are working to clear a path, but it will take time. They have several anti-elemental snipers hidden among the rocks, picking off my men as they work.” The whining sound of discharging lasers could be heard in the background. “Request permission to bring in Jerdy’s elementals!”

“Granted, Star Commander.” She answered, for once delighted with her initial assessment of the situation. “Make them pay.”

 

Ian would have realized that his infantry was only holding out against one elemental star, but he was too busy fending off the fearsome attacks of the Masakari. Wrenching his control stick to the right, he twisted the Awesome from yet another of the Masakari’s deadly blasts. Two PPC shots sent furrows along his mech’s left arm, while the laser darts peppered his front.

He was worried about the missing enemy mechs, but with every minute that they failed to appear, the more he was convinced that the Falcons had been unable to fully repair the damage wrought days ago.

While this weakened the Falcons, they were still more than a match for the Lancers. But the fact that he had a three mech advantage meant that simple attrition would favor his troops.

Not that he wanted matters to get that far. A battle of attrition was too costly for both victor and vanquished, and he wanted to avoid one at all costs. He only wanted to inflict enough damage to offer hegira to Daniela. A offer which she could not reject.

He blasted with his array of PPCs, scouring armor all over the Masakari. Try as he might, he just wasn’t getting the same easy shots as in the previous battle. The Masakari pilot was weaving her mech left and right, reducing her chances of getting hit by Ian’s marksmanship but lowering her own accuracy as well.

Zellbrigen had been thrown out the airlock, as six Lancer mechs unleashed a storm of laser fire at a clan medium. The Nova twisted as ammunition explosions flung the mech onto the ground, the murderous fire too much for even clan mechs to withstand. There was an ejection, and even Ian hoped the pilot had survived.

The clanners exacted revenge of their own, shearing both arms off the Rifleman before dropping it with a blast straight into the middle of the mech. The Rifleman collapsed as a blast from the head signaled the ejection of the Lancer pilot. Thankfully for Ian, the Falcons did not fire on the exposed pilot.

“Pull back!” Ian shouted as he turned his attention for a moment to a Cougar that had strayed too close to his Awesome while dueling with a Fire Falcon. He grinned as two of his PPCs cored the mech, not putting it down but leaving its internals open to further attack. The infrared image of the clan mech flared, indicating that it had sustained engine damage as well. It would not survive for long.

The rest of the Arch Lancers edged back slowly, past the ruins of the Star League base they had ransacked days ago. The Falcons pursued cautiously, wary of hidden traps.

It ain’t gonna help you much. Ian grinned as he continued walking his Awesome backwards. The Cougar he had mangled a while ago suddenly charged at his Awesome with all guns blazing, followed closely by the Masakari which was firing its full arsenal of PPCs and large pulse lasers at Ian’s mech. Ian was too surprised by the Falcon’s bravado to react immediately.

Chunks of armor flew off and streams of molten alloy flowed down the Awesome as the Falcons unloaded everything they had on the Lancer mech. Ian replied almost immediately with another salvo right into the Cougar, this time destroying its engine completely, but he knew was basically a show of defiance at this point.

Ian’s mech staggered under the ruinous assault, and he did not even bother to fight against gravity. The damage sustained by the Awesome was simply too much.

Having braced himself for the impact, Ian still had his breath knocked out of his lungs when the 80 ton mech hit the ground, sending a minor tremor through the area. Gasping for air, straining against his seat straps, he started trying to get his mech upright again, at the same time checking his status screens.

What he saw was not good. The mech was lit up like a Christmas tree, with only pieces of armor left scattered all over. Some shots had even gone into the mech’s internals, destroying heat sinks but thankfully nothing else. He was going to have to watch his heat from then on.

All around Ian’s fallen Awesome, the Arch Lancers rallied to their fallen commander, trading shot after blistering shot with the Jade Falcons as Ian tried to get his Awesome standing.

Another explosion signaled the loss of his Crusader just as the Awesome got to its feet, the heavy mech falling to the ground with both its legs severed at the knee, victim of the Falcons’ deadly marksmanship. The pilot did not eject.

Once he got the Awesome in a kneeling position, he fired two PPCs at the nearest target, a Thor with paired lasers. Only one arc of lightning hit, leaving the armor there more memory than metal. The Thor staggered, then eased off from its assault, keeping its distance from the Lancers.

The Awesome stumbled to its feet, the rest of the Lancers intentionally throwing their mechs in front of it to prevent shots from hitting it. To Ian, though, this was not part of his plan.

“Damn it! Continue to pull back! We have to drag them nearer the base!” By his estimates, the Falcon mechs were only fifty meters away from the not-so-abandoned base.

 

Despite the damage her forces were inflicting on the Lancers, Daniela was beginning to feel penned in. The armor on her mechs was now mostly scattered on the ground or vaporized, and internal damage was being reported. The mercenaries were in equally bad shape, but they still had nine mechs to her six remaining.

Combat Loss Groupings, or CLG for short, was essential knowledge for any battlemech commander. Mech effectiveness and durability was much related to the condition of the unit as a whole. There had been plenty of stories about outnumbered mech units fighting ferociously for more than an hour without losing a mech. Once it lost a mech, however, damage would be accelerated quickly to the detriment of the outnumbered side, usually leading to a complete rout. This was mostly due to the ability of the side with more mechs to concentrate and draw fire more easily. The destruction of the Smoke Jaguars was one vivid example of the effects of CLG. Even clan mechs, as powerful as they are, were not immune to its effects.

And CLG was beginning to tell on her unit. The accursed Awesome, which had managed to get back on its feet, was leading the Lancers back again, their retreat a few moments back halted when it went down and the mercs rallied to their commander in a show of solidarity that impressed Daniela.

Glancing outside her cockpit at the abandoned Star League base for an instant, Daniela was inexplicably seized by a sense of shame. She had a sudden feeling of wrongness, as if the place was not meant for them to fight over.

Shaking off the strange emotion, she wrenched her attention back to the battle. The Falcons were now all near the base, using the structure for cover. Daniela studied the situation while firing constantly with her pulse lasers, judging the best time for a final charge while the emerald darts peppered an enemy Raven. The Inner Sphere light mech shook off the damage, moving away from the deadly Warhawk.

There was a sudden thump from her mech’s left shoulder. A cry came over the comms.

“Elementals!”

Daniela did not hesitate. Instinctively, she pushed the Warhawk to the ground, then rolled the mech over, using the long barrels of her PPCs as leverage. The elemental obliged her by stopping its attack on her armor, lifting off on its jumpjets to latch onto another mech, an Executioner.

Its compatriots were not idle either, firing their full weaponry of SRMs and lasers at the Executioner that was their main target. Five of them clambered onto the assault mech, one of them daring enough to jump immediately to the cockpit. The others continued to fire their weapons from the Star League base.

Before the other Falcons could react to the sudden appearance of elementals in the battle, the Lancers advanced, taking advantage of the Falcons’ sudden preoccupation with the new enemy in their midst.

40 LRM missiles from the Archer crashed into Star Commander Jedec’s Thor, their accuracy greatly aided by the Artemis fire control system. The Thor staggered, then jumped forward, trying to get within the Archer’s minimum range for its missiles.

Daniela knew immediately what had happened, For reasons best known to himself, Drenner and his troops had thrown in with the Lancers. The most likely reason, judging from his psych report, was his constant urge for action.

“Jump, Werrel!” Daniela shouted. The Executioner would be able to shake off its tormentors by jumping. The mech flailed its arms about, the torso turning this way then that, trying to shake off the elementals, as they clung on tenaciously. The most tenacious of all was the one stuck like an offending pie on the broad face of the Executioner, tearing off pieces of head armor with its claw.

She saw a burst of light near the cockpit of the Executioner before she got the Warhawk fully upright again. She did not need to get closer to confirm that Werrel was dead, killed in his cockpit.

Her headset crakled with an incoming transmission. “Star Captain! This is Olager. We have turned the tables on the surat infantry, and they are pinned down right now.” This was very good news.

Her mechs were in retreat, but with the elemental-infested base in their path, they had nowhere to go. She formed them up into a circle, ready for a last stand. It would not come to that however.

If she guessed correctly, the enemy commander would be contacting her soon for some hard bargaining. She smiled ruefully. Who would have guessed that the two consecutive battles would both result in stalemates?

 

Ian swore bitterly as Lieutenant Wick reported the present dire state of the Lancer infantry. Nobody could have foreseen that the Falcons would detach a force as a reserve to strike from an unsuspected direction. It was an Inner Sphere tactic that everyone assumes the clans would not use.

It was a moot point now. A lull had fallen over the battle, as the elementals hid in the abandoned base, the Falcons formed a tight perimeter around their position, and the Lancers formed up on one line facing the Falcons. The Falcons had only five mechs left against the Lancer’s battered nine. There was no doubt about the outcome if the battle continued.

He opened a channel to the Masakari.

“Well, Star Captain Mattlov, it seems we are at an impasse yet again. It seems we are always getting stuck against each other.”

He heard soft laughter. “Indeed. I have your infantry, about twenty of them, trapped by my elementals, while I am trapped by you here. Care to trade with your infantry?”

“Sorry. My men will kill me if I order them in as foot grunts.” Despite himself, Ian found himself grinning. “Listen, you offered me hegira before. Now’s my turn. Nobody else needs to die today. You let my men, while I let you go.”

“Are you certain? Twenty lives for five clan mechs? Are the lives of your men that important to you?”

“Yes.” Ian closed his eyes, recalling the memory of Captain Sachin dying in the medical bay. He opened his eyess. “I don’t care how people see it. My only objective is to survive. Destroying your unit is only one means to that end. If another could be found, all the better.”

“The salvage?”

“Mine. You can have the LRM launchers, or whatever is left there. After all, I hold the field here, and I’ve given you a large concession by letting you go. I am, in the end, an honorless mercenary. Money is everything to me.”

He heard a snort, then her voice in a respectful tone. “You lie. I will be certain to fight harder for a victory the next time. You would make a fine bondsman to Clan Jade Falcon.”

Ian raised an eyebrow. That statement was one of the highest accolades a clanner could give to an Inner Sphere warrior.

She continued, “Your offer of hegira is accepted. We shall retreat to our dropships now,” she paused, “Oh, and tell Star Commander Drenner that he had better be prepared to face the Galaxy Commander when he returns.”

 

The exhausted Lancers trooped back to their dropship. The loss of Ronnie Fensen and his Crusader had immediately dispersed the euphoria that came when Ian announced the Falcon’s withdrawal.

Their disappointment disappeared as quickly as the euphoria earlier when they spied two dropships beside the Battle’s Bane.

The dropships of Winslet’s Warriors.

 

“So, what brings you over?” Ian asked Captain Karen Winslet in his office room as he poured her a cold beer, taken straight from his personal fridge. “I thought we were supposed to meet up with your unit, not you coming over.”

Supplies were running low, except for beer, which Ian had brought along in excess amounts. It was not Timbiqui Dark or anything expensive though, just simple cheap beer that would not burn too big a hole in the Lancers’ finances. Ian felt the morale boost from having ample beer outweighed the costs, so he had always ensured the Lancers would have enough on a campaign.

The auburn haired mechcommander took a swig from her mug before answering with a shrug, “Details, details. Maybe I just came over for some free alcohol?”

Ian sighed. “Never serious, are you? Like back…”

“Back on Caph when my Warriors tangled with a combined arms merc company for the first time and got our asses whipped?” She laughed. “Of course, we got some payback on Pleione, didn’t we?”

Ian looked at her, waiting for her to get to official business.

It took a while for her to quiet down. She spoke in a somber tone. “Ok Ian, it’s like this. My boys have torn up the clanners pretty good, but we running low on strength. My aerospace squad is down two fighters, and I have only ten mechs left, two of them salvage from the battle. We’ve got a battle scheduled for tomorrow, and I want to hand you the key machine in case we lose.”

“You won’t lose. I should know, our units have fought together and against each other enough times for me to say you have a good chance.”

“That’s not the point. The point is the key machines are the most valuable piece of lostech on this rock right now. We just can’t let the clans get their hands on any more advance tech.” She paused. “I fought on Tukayyid, remember? I saw how terrifying it was to fight against mechs that were tougher, stronger and faster than anything else on the battlefield. The Inner Sphere spent the last 15 years catching up, and now that we’ve gotten ourselves level, we aren’t going to hand them another tech advantage so quickly! No, you take the machine, and go to the coordinates Frank sent you to search out the alien base. The sooner you find it, the better.”

Ian’s ears perked up. “You are going to give it to me just like that?”

“I think we’ve been enemies and friends long enough for me to trust you. I’ve got a feeling we’re all involved in something that’s bigger than ourselves, bigger than this war.” She stood up, walking over to Ian, who was sitting on his bed.

She sat down beside him, and leaned close. “And I was hoping that maybe you’ll indulge me the one thing we haven’t done together yet.” She literally purred, instantly sending Ian’s heart pounding hard in his chest. His face flushed a bright red. She grinned like a predator eying its prey.

Ever since they met on Caph, Karen Winslet had been trying to get into Ian’s pants. It was common knowledge in both their units that the former Com Guard had a thing for the Lancer commander. Interestingly, it never showed when the Warriors faced the Lancers in battle. However, affairs between the two mech units were often as civil as possible, even in the oft-tense Chaos March, becoming more akin to a chess match as the two commanders maneuvered around for a victory. Ian often won, but he always returned salvaged mechs and pilots back to the Warriors for discount prices. The Warriors reciprocated in kind whenever they won. They were often at their best when operating together, as certain astute employers had done. Despite this, however, Ian and Karen had resisted the urge to combine their units, as they both wanted to lead merc units of their own. It was this reason, more than any other, that kept them apart.

Ian leaned away, trying to maintain his distance. “Hey, let’s keep our manners, shall we?”

“Come on, Ian.” She placed her arms around his head, preventing him from withdrawing further. “This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Treat it as something in exchange for the key machine.”

Ian gulped once, then ducked under her arms. “Karen,” he continued patiently, “we’re both commanders. What sort of image will this send to our people?”

“That we’re as human as they are? That we have feelings too? Stop being scared of this. Don’t worry, I’ve taken contraceptives. There won’t be any royal scandal, Ian whose-surname-is-not-Dorlacen.”

Ian gaped for an instance, before replying. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Don’t try to fool me. I know fully well who you are.”

“And who am I exactly? Who else knows?”

“Relax. Only one other person knows, John Fish, and he’s dead.” At Ian’s look of suspicion, she hastened to add. “He was killed by the Falcons.”

“Fish was from the Capellan March world of Warren, where he was part of the CMM. He had a photographic memory, and when he saw your picture in our records, he got curious, and asked me how I came to know you.”

She shrugged. “I told him about the times we’ve met, and how the Warriors would be the best merc unit in the Chaos March if not for you guys. In turn, he told me who you really are, or more accurately, were.”

“Fish told me he liked to watch documentaries, and with his photographic memory, he was able to remember a great deal of stuff. He remembered seeing someone who looks a lot like you in a popular show on his homeworld about missing nobles and the Periphery. Katrina Steiner, the first one I mean, Maurice Avellar, the Calderon heirs, etc.”

Ian opened his mouth to speak, but was hushed by Karen, who held a finger to his lips. “I didn’t want to believe him, so I rang up a few favours from my contacts in Comstar. Turns out he was right.”

“So now you know. That doesn’t change anything. I didn’t want to be placed in a position where people might think I was a power hungry son who had no regard for his parents. I had my own dreams. I followed them, and I’ve achieved them.”

“I’m not blaming you for what you did. After all, if you hadn’t run away, we wouldn’t have met.” She placed her head on his shoulder. “Let’s enjoy what we have, alright? Leave the future, the problems to tomorrow. You’ll set off early in the morning, so let’s not waste time any longer.”

“You sure you’re not doing this just so you can claim to have done it with me on some scandal vid?” He looked straight at her, for the first time allowing himself to drown in her eyes.

“I admit to you I’m scared, Ian.” She hugged herself. Ian put his arms around her, concerned that she was finally showing cracks in her composure. “I’ve got a feeling I’ll die tomorrow. I just don’t want to go out without having spent some quality time with somebody I like. Grant me this much, okay?”

“You won’t die, Karen.” Ian pulled her close. “Let’s give you one good reason not to, ok?

The lights in the office room went out.