The sound of the alarms was what the Asps had been waiting and they charged out of the water, lasers smashing into guard posts and the communcations buildings. Within moments, fires raged on both sides of the river as the lethally fast predators spread out across the compounds and destruction followed in their wake.
Point Commander Stuart had elected to become a ProtoMech pilot after a crash ended his career as an aerospace fighter pilot. Now he cackled maniaclly as he led five Asps through a vehicle park, systematically disabling the tracks on one tank after another. By the time that their crews arrived at the run, what had once been a battalion of armour was reduced to so many pillboxes and the Asps turned to sweep the shocked soldiers with their lasers, raking through them with brutal force.
Pockets of resistence emerged, as brave soldiers fought back with whatever they had. The Infantry Training Centre's armoury was well equipped with rocket launchers and two overly bold Apes were blasted apart by volleys of short range missiles fired by an entire platoon of infantry into the front lobbey as the suits entered. The port held out, the Star Adders were not foolish enough dare the armament of military dropships in their light gear, but by the time that the base commander could establish a replacement for his command post, it was clear that the Academy was essentially lost and he ordered the remaining cadets and elements of the Lyran Guards still holding out on the campus to withdraw across the river.
And then he called Hauptmann General Kaulkas and gave a more detailed report than the hasty one transmitted from a tank's radio rather than a proper long range array.
Kaulkas sounded tense on the radio. "Understood, Leftenant General. We've broken contact and pulled back to the dropships and they'll be launching almost immediately with our more damaged Mechs and tanks. It'll take us most of the day to get through the mountains so we can't reach the Fort before midnight at best. Can you hold until then?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. We haven't seen anything heavier than an Alfar so far but if they get past you then we could be in trouble - we've got essentially no perimeter except the river between us and the college. I have techs unlocking the security on Mechs whose pilots are dead for the mechwarriors who had their rides damaged, but that's going to take hours."
"Alright, change of plans then. Once you've got a force together, hit the Academy and destroy anything left of military value, then do the same in the Fort and get out. Send Dropships to pick us up at Drominton." Drominton was a good-sized town in the eastern foothills, on the largest road and rail route through the mountains. "We've done what we can here on Buena. It was good ground for fighting on, but I don't want any more of our people buying farms on it."
The twists and turns of the mountains had pluses and minuses, Kelly Danvers found as she fired her Marauder's large laser past Erika Ferem's Archer at a Mad Cat coming over one of the low hills in the pass. A moment later her PPCs cycled and she added one of them to the volley, sparing herself the heat that would be generated by firing both. Even the extra heatsinks provided on the Davion-variant did not make up for the heavy Mech's sometimes brutal heat profile.
The General's fire missed, but the Mad Cat was at optimal range for Erika's Archer and forty long ranged missiles arced across two hundred metres to rain down on the fast moving Mech. Eight simply missed entirely and nine more were swatted out of the sky by the machinegun-like turret below the cockpit, but the rest hammered armour away, particularly on the left arm which lost almost a ton of protection. The Mad Cat had a configuration closer to that of a classic Marauder: an autocannon over the shoulder, large and medium lasers in each boxy forearm. Only the large lasers were on target, slashing into Erika's armoured chest and below her right arm but not penetrating the thick armour on either location.
The Mad Cat dropped out of sight and Kelly started backing up, covering Erika as she ran for cover further back along the pass. She paused to fire both particle cannon as the Star Adder mech came back into view, and Erika paused and turned but presumably could not draw a bead. The manmade lightning bolt carved into the Mad Cat's chest but its return fire smashed into her left arm and that side of her own Mech's torso, lasers and armour piercing shells shaking away almost a ton and a half of armour. Unable to compensate in time, Kelly let the Mech fall, trying to minimise the damage taken.
Bringing the Marauder back to its feet she moved further back until she was almost under Erika's position, the Archer having scaled one of the low cliffs. The other mechwarrior was still trying to provide covering fire but a hillock blocked line of sight. Kelly could still see the target however and stabbed out again with a PPC and the large laser. The latter missed, but the PPC carved another scar into the chest of the Mad Cat, crossing the previous damage done. In return, the Mad Cat hit back with everything, pulverising the last armour on her left arm and chest with lasers. Another laser cut into the armour around the General's cockpit and the autocannon was just barely too high, ripping into the upper armour of the bird-like Mech's pointed chest.
Then the Mad Cat was out of her sight and Kelly gasped for air in the boiler-like cockpit, letting the coolant in her vest suck away heat. "I see him!" Erika shouted and fired off another salvo of missiles at something Kelly couldn't see. Lasers lashed back and the Archer rocked with the characteristic effects of a damaged gryo, crashing to the floor. The Mad Cat charded into view, heading for Kelly's fallen subordinate and the General rushed to meet him. Behind her, she saw the Archer struggling to rise. It fell, tried again and took two steps fowards before toppling. There was an explosion as it crashed to the floor for the third time in half a minute. Something must have pierced one of the missile bins and the result tore the seventy-ton machine apart as easily as if it was made of papier-mache rather than advanced alloys.
The ejection seat fired Erika clear but Kelly was too busy to track the course of it. She dashed almost past the Mad Cat and spun, firing large and medium lasers into its right side at point blank range, then kicking ineffecutally at it as the surprised Clan mechwarrior missed cleanly with every laser he fired. Despite the close quarters, she fired an alpha strike and saw more armour fall away.
Then the Mad Cat fired and a dazed Mechwarrior Erika Ferem watched from the ground as lasers tore into the Marauder's right arm and chest the autocannon chewed through what was left of the cockpit's armour and then through the woman inside.
Louis Stewart grimaced as the incoming Cauldron-born dropped behind a ridge just as it entered extreme range for his autocannon. Exchanging the superheavy Tomodzuru for an imported Federated model had let him catch several unwary Mechwarriors off-guard by firing at them from well out of what they thought that a Hunchback's range was. He continued to cover the approach as Henri Van Der Koot jumped his Whitworth forwards to engage with his long range missiles from the crest of the ridge.
Beside Louis, his cousin Maria-Katrina Stewart's S-model Whitworth was genuinely unable to reach out to hit at the Clanners, carrying only SRMs rather than the base model's LRMs. They could both see a laser biting into the leg of Henri's Mech and the characteristic firecracker explosions of missiles exploding against the light Mech's armour, without being able to tell what (if anything) the daring Leftenant's own missiles were accomplishing.
From the way that Henri moved back behind cover it wasn't enough and Louis growled in frustration as Maria-Katrina jumped her Mech forwards to assist him, leaving Louis unable to quickly follow as he had no jumpjets. They were supposed to be retreating, not playing gloryhound and admiring damsel.
The enemy Cauldron-born came into view again and Louis brought his crosshairs up to cover it then fired the cannon. Depleted uranium whistled around the heavy mech with no more effect that Henri's badly aimed missiles but Maria-Katrina was more effective, scoring one leg with a laser and then plastering it with a full six short range missiles from the spread that she fired. In return, the Cauldron-born fired two volleys of missiles at Louis and it's own autocannon savaged his Hunchback's left arm. The missiles hit the Mech's chest squarely and a laser raked at his left leg, causing him to topple sideways, throwing out his right arm to prevent the cockpit from impacting on the ground.
Disgustedly, Louis brought the Mech upright and moved back through the rocks. They were retreating, so he would retreat. He could offer covering fire from the next ridge, he justified to himself. Clearly this was not good ground for him to fight from. His display showed a swarm of missiles descend upon the two Whitworths, first blasting into Maria-Katrina's and then the misses continuing into Henri's Mech. He could not tell what damage, if any, they did in return but their pained comments made it clear at they had both had close calls, losing armour over their cockpits.
For a moment, rock blocked his view of the entire battle and then he circled a crag and moved up behind the cover of the next ridge to look down on them. Henri's Mech had fallen and lay still on the ground in a hollow pocket. Maria-Katrina had stepped forwards, positioning her Whitworth defiantly to block fire from their much heavier opponent upon the fallen Leftenant. She fired everything and Louis could see the heated air rippling around the Whitworth. "Shit," he cursed and fired his own autocannon, missing widely.
The Cauldron-born seemed to stagger under the missile from Maria-Katrina's volley, but fired back. The upright Whitworth stumbled but held it's ground. To his horror, Louis could see missiles that overshot Maria were actually turning slightly to track in upon Henri and armour flew away from the prone Whitworth.
None of them moved and Maria-Katrina fired a second full volley. Her cockpit must be a pressure cooker, Louis thought, his autocannon finally striking true on the already ruptured left torso of the Cauldron-born but seemed to strike nothing vital. More missiles savaged both of the Whitworths and then the autocannon spoke, the tracers leading directly into the head of Maria-Katrina's Mech, blotting her out effortlessly.
Louis screamed incoherently and stepped forward, unable to close enough to bring his lasers into play and his cannon firing wildly and ineffecutally. The Cauldron-born's shots smashed the Hunchback from its feet and his head snapped back against the headrest, protected from concussion only by the sturdy neurohelmet he wore. More missiles rained down on him as he stood, trading furious gunfire that ripped away the last protection on his opponent's right leg in exchange for the Clanner's own deadly firepower. His heat rose as lasers opened up his chest and brutalised the reactor shielding and gyro, bringing the Hunchback down once again. This time the landing knocked him senseless and he felt nothing as the damaged reactor failed and superheated air exploded out from it, consuming the Mech in an instant.
Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
30 August 3050
Candace Liao tensed as the screen in the briefing room lit up, although her composure was such that in the darkened room only Justin, who had placed his hand over hers in reassurance, was aware of his wife's reaction.
The screen showed the same view that had been displayed by the cockpit of Yen-lo-Wang a month before, compressed in the manner readily understandable by the mechwarriors among the audience. Candace, although her military days were long done with, understood them instinctively. Justin, for whom the Centurion had first been customised on Solaris more than two decades ago, was even more familiar with them and she felt his approval at the smooth gait of the Mech and the way that their son handled the fifty ton warmachine as if it were an extension of his own body.
Around Yen-lo-Wang were the buildings of the Buena War College - classrooms, hangers and workshops where future leaders of the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth were schooled in their duties. However, rather than bustling with the daily activies of the campus, the only movements that could be seen were those of the predators who had arrived to make Buena their own.
There were five of them - fleet and quick moving, but not one of them more than waist high to the Centurion. The half-scale battlemechs that had been dubbed with a great many epithets before the soldiers who faced them had settled upon 'Alfar', the ancient german mythical elves - a fair identification of the nimble creatures and a selection that had led naturally to their smaller still brethern who served the 'Star Adders' as infantry as 'Duergar'. The group worked as a team, harrying a Hunchback without straying into range of its mighty autocannon.
The arrival of Yen-lo-Wang changed the tactical situation markedly. Although the modified Centurion had no greater range to work with than the Hunchback, the two worked as a team and swiftly pincered one of the Alfar between them with no choice but to dare the range of one's guns if it was to escape. Selecting the Hunchback it darted for the blocky-shouldered Mech. Deliberately, the mechwarrior fired both lasers first, as the Alfar closed, saving the autocannon for when the range was at its very shortest. The shot was not to be however as two more of the deadly machines swept in suddenly, their own lasers digging into the rear of the Hunchback.
They had known precisely where to strike and in an instant the medium mech was torn apart as the shells inside its chest were triggered, propellant and explosives alike tearing through the interior. The ejection seat exploded out of the cockpit, automatic systems saving the pilot. It was all for nothing however as a lance of light from the chest of the charging Alfar smashed the mechwarrior brutally out of the air.
Candace felt Justin's fingers, those of his flesh and bone hand not the prothesis that replaced a long ago war wound, tighten at their son's scream of horror. The Hunchback's pilot was called Harry Wilson, they knew from Kai's letters. A career soldier with twelve years in the Lyran Guards and a wife and child back in the Isle of Skye, he had been senior mechwarrior in the lance and taken the traditional fatherly role of a seasoned NCO towards the young Leftenant fresh from the New Avalon Military Academy.
Yen-lo-Wang bounded forwards after the killer, heat gauges rising as Kai pushed the Mech past its limitations and drew a bead with the autocannon at the range of three hundred metres. He triggered the weapon three six metre strides later and Candace heard someone whistle as the deleted uranium rounds ate into the rear of the Alfar. It was a magnificent shot, delivered at the run against a fast-moving target, and it dropped the tiny battlemech to its hands and knees in front of the charging giant.
With a snarl, Kai drove the three almost ornamental talons built into Yen-lo-Wang's left hand through the rents torn in the Alfar's armour and clenched his fist, wrenching entire panels away. His front laser fired, not at the fallen Alfar but at one of its compatriots as they tried to close. The shot hit but the victim seemed unfazed, returning fire with a shot that stripped almost half a ton of armour from the centre of the Centurion's chest.
Then a second autocannon snarled and a shape that towered over even Yen-lo-Wang crashed onto the field, landing roughly as its jumpjets carried it over a block of classrooms. It took Candace a moment to recognise the battered, smoking Mech as a Crockett, traces of the green and blue pattern painted around it's waist in imitation of Buena's 'school rag' were still visible. The autocannon rounds bowled over the audacious Alfar, prompting a retreat, but Candace's eyes - like everyone else's in the room - were locked onto the broken torso of the Alfar that Kai had almost literally disembowelled.
The lower torso had cracked open, disgorging a flood of yellowish fluid and a fetal lump of flesh, in sickening mimicry of a human miscarriage. The flesh was alive, it moved... but as innocent of self-control as a newborn baby, eyes staring dully up at the Mech standing over it in utter incomprehension. It was... inhuman, Candace judged guilitily. Stunted and feeble of frame, with a head larger in proportion and perhaps absolute terms also than that of an adult. She saw no hair on its head or elsewhere, but black lines that at first resembled tattoos cut across its skin in patterns that resembled circuitry. Blindly it coughed up the slime, scrabbling senselessly at the sodden ground, and then finally it lay still.
The picture cut out at that point and the lights in the briefing room slowly lit up, to spare their eyes. "General Kaulkas sent us this imagery via ComStar as soon as he reached Valloire," Ardan Sortek advised them. "Leftenant Allard-Liao was prudent enough to carry the... contents of the Alfar with him as he and Cadet MacDonald in the Crockett retreated to the dropship and insisted it be deep frozen for transport, so we also have a sample, although for obvious reasons it will be some time before the cadaver reaches the laboratories on Tharkad."
"While the 10th Lyran Guards were pushed off Buena, they were able to retreat in an organised fashion, which makes them essentially unique among the forces that have faced these Star Adders so far. As this footage shows, they are clearly similar to the Jade Falcon and Wolf groups invading the Tamar March. However, for every similarity there is also a difference."
"Are they human?" a voice asked nervously from near the back of the room.
Justin stood. "Reports from conquered worlds in the Tamar March make it clear that the Wolf and Jade Falcons are human or so close to it that there is no difference. The NAIS College of Biology and Medicine assure me that there is no possibility that any sort of 'parallel evolution' so they are either human or deliberately presenting a human face. The latter seems extremely improbable at this stage but has not been definitvely ruled out. The Star Adders, as Marshal Sortek so clear put it, are different. No reports, even from worlds taken months ago can confirm even one sighting of their soldiers. A few of their follow up echelons - administators and ship crews do appear to be human but there appears to be a remarkable degree of segregation between their soldiers and their civilians, so much so that one theory that has been put forward that the Star Adder army might be a distinct racial group, even if they are not a distinct species."
Hanse shook his head. "It doesn’t matter if they are human or not," he said. "We know that they can be killed and if they can be killed then they can also be defeated."
"This is not the last information that the 10th Guards have given us, of course," Ardan continued, not batting an eyebrow at the interruption. "There is also a wealth of battle ROMs that gives us our first look at how the Star Adders wage war. Like the other Clans they have and use superior mobility and range to their advantage, however they do not have the same reluctance that the Sudeten Conference noticed to combine their fire on single targets. They are still more prone to the duellist mentality shown by the Jade Falcons than our own troops, but no more so than some of the more old fashioned regiments among the DCMS."
"The conventional tanks and helicopters sighted are clearly designed for highly mobile battles. And unfortunately they are also testament to the Star Adder's fondness for incendiary warheads. One of their helicopters designs appears to be essentially a suicide ride loaded with enough short range missile launchers to saturate a lance and when they're using Infernos that means that we take four to one losses at best. Their tanks also carry quite a number of missiles, but their primary weapon is the same that their other helicopters carry: an extended range laser that is effective at seven hundred and fifty meters. These weapons are among the most efficient laser systems that we have ever seen and they are experts at using hit and run raids to soften our troops up at long range before closing in for the kill."
"One of the most valuable pieces of information that was provided was this," the Prince's Champion stated, bringing up a somewhat grainy shot of a man-sized armoured figure seen firing a laser mounted on one oversized arm in the direction of the camera. "This is an example of what we are now sure is a form of battle armour. The suit resembles in some respects, armoured suits used by some elements of the Star League Defense Forces that incorporated powered exosteletons to carry some of the load. The Grey Death Legion have developed copies of a stealth suit on this principle and we are now confident that these ‘Kobold’ are such suits, which strongly suggests that both the ‘Duergar’ seen previously and the ‘Toad’ used by the other Clans are also suits of battle armour. The ‘Kobold’ does not appear to be as well protected as the other suits, which strongly implies that it is intended for garrison work as it would still be very effective against infantry."
"NAIS are working on their own equivalents of the Toad, having had longer to examine the model and are confident that they can come up with something operational within a year. It won't be quite the equal of what the Clans use, but it will narrow the gap significantly. They have also been working on reproducing the Clan's weapons, many of which have precedents in the equipment used by the Star League. Cluster ammuniton for heavy autocannon and a high speed medium autocannon are in pre-production and the first units should be ready for deployment by early next year. In addition to new construction, upgrade packages for existing Mechs are being prepared and priority will go to units expected to fight the Clans. It will probably be early 3052 before we can deploy more than a few regiments of this hardware unfortunately, but the rate of production will rise rapidly after that."
"Do we know how they're cramming all this technology into their Mechs?" asked Hanse.
Ardan nodded. "NAIS are confident that the Clans are making widespread use of lightweight reactor shielding that was only available on a limited basis during the Star League era," he said. "It leaves the engine a little more vulnerable, but it cuts the mass essentially in half. In addition to this they seem to have entirely abandoned our current heatsink technology for 'freezers' that are twice as effective for the same mass. Granted, our freezers are three times as bulky, but they seem to have got that under control to a degree and it's making a huge difference."
"Doctor Pardoe has been working reverse engineering the Mad Cat and he's confident that the reactor would weigh only twenty tons or so - about the same as that in a Marauder. Add in heatsinks twice as effective and the fact that the arm weapons are lasers, not particle cannon and you can see how it fires all four lasers at once without overheating: it would actually dissipate heat faster than an Awesome can. The only snag so far is their missile systems, but he's working on that. In fact, he's confident that we can manufacture something comparable, if not quite the equal of it, within the next four years."
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Point Commander Stuart had elected to become a ProtoMech pilot after a crash ended his career as an aerospace fighter pilot. Now he cackled maniaclly as he led five Asps through a vehicle park, systematically disabling the tracks on one tank after another. By the time that their crews arrived at the run, what had once been a battalion of armour was reduced to so many pillboxes and the Asps turned to sweep the shocked soldiers with their lasers, raking through them with brutal force.
Pockets of resistence emerged, as brave soldiers fought back with whatever they had. The Infantry Training Centre's armoury was well equipped with rocket launchers and two overly bold Apes were blasted apart by volleys of short range missiles fired by an entire platoon of infantry into the front lobbey as the suits entered. The port held out, the Star Adders were not foolish enough dare the armament of military dropships in their light gear, but by the time that the base commander could establish a replacement for his command post, it was clear that the Academy was essentially lost and he ordered the remaining cadets and elements of the Lyran Guards still holding out on the campus to withdraw across the river.
And then he called Hauptmann General Kaulkas and gave a more detailed report than the hasty one transmitted from a tank's radio rather than a proper long range array.
Kaulkas sounded tense on the radio. "Understood, Leftenant General. We've broken contact and pulled back to the dropships and they'll be launching almost immediately with our more damaged Mechs and tanks. It'll take us most of the day to get through the mountains so we can't reach the Fort before midnight at best. Can you hold until then?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. We haven't seen anything heavier than an Alfar so far but if they get past you then we could be in trouble - we've got essentially no perimeter except the river between us and the college. I have techs unlocking the security on Mechs whose pilots are dead for the mechwarriors who had their rides damaged, but that's going to take hours."
"Alright, change of plans then. Once you've got a force together, hit the Academy and destroy anything left of military value, then do the same in the Fort and get out. Send Dropships to pick us up at Drominton." Drominton was a good-sized town in the eastern foothills, on the largest road and rail route through the mountains. "We've done what we can here on Buena. It was good ground for fighting on, but I don't want any more of our people buying farms on it."
The twists and turns of the mountains had pluses and minuses, Kelly Danvers found as she fired her Marauder's large laser past Erika Ferem's Archer at a Mad Cat coming over one of the low hills in the pass. A moment later her PPCs cycled and she added one of them to the volley, sparing herself the heat that would be generated by firing both. Even the extra heatsinks provided on the Davion-variant did not make up for the heavy Mech's sometimes brutal heat profile.
The General's fire missed, but the Mad Cat was at optimal range for Erika's Archer and forty long ranged missiles arced across two hundred metres to rain down on the fast moving Mech. Eight simply missed entirely and nine more were swatted out of the sky by the machinegun-like turret below the cockpit, but the rest hammered armour away, particularly on the left arm which lost almost a ton of protection. The Mad Cat had a configuration closer to that of a classic Marauder: an autocannon over the shoulder, large and medium lasers in each boxy forearm. Only the large lasers were on target, slashing into Erika's armoured chest and below her right arm but not penetrating the thick armour on either location.
The Mad Cat dropped out of sight and Kelly started backing up, covering Erika as she ran for cover further back along the pass. She paused to fire both particle cannon as the Star Adder mech came back into view, and Erika paused and turned but presumably could not draw a bead. The manmade lightning bolt carved into the Mad Cat's chest but its return fire smashed into her left arm and that side of her own Mech's torso, lasers and armour piercing shells shaking away almost a ton and a half of armour. Unable to compensate in time, Kelly let the Mech fall, trying to minimise the damage taken.
Bringing the Marauder back to its feet she moved further back until she was almost under Erika's position, the Archer having scaled one of the low cliffs. The other mechwarrior was still trying to provide covering fire but a hillock blocked line of sight. Kelly could still see the target however and stabbed out again with a PPC and the large laser. The latter missed, but the PPC carved another scar into the chest of the Mad Cat, crossing the previous damage done. In return, the Mad Cat hit back with everything, pulverising the last armour on her left arm and chest with lasers. Another laser cut into the armour around the General's cockpit and the autocannon was just barely too high, ripping into the upper armour of the bird-like Mech's pointed chest.
Then the Mad Cat was out of her sight and Kelly gasped for air in the boiler-like cockpit, letting the coolant in her vest suck away heat. "I see him!" Erika shouted and fired off another salvo of missiles at something Kelly couldn't see. Lasers lashed back and the Archer rocked with the characteristic effects of a damaged gryo, crashing to the floor. The Mad Cat charded into view, heading for Kelly's fallen subordinate and the General rushed to meet him. Behind her, she saw the Archer struggling to rise. It fell, tried again and took two steps fowards before toppling. There was an explosion as it crashed to the floor for the third time in half a minute. Something must have pierced one of the missile bins and the result tore the seventy-ton machine apart as easily as if it was made of papier-mache rather than advanced alloys.
The ejection seat fired Erika clear but Kelly was too busy to track the course of it. She dashed almost past the Mad Cat and spun, firing large and medium lasers into its right side at point blank range, then kicking ineffecutally at it as the surprised Clan mechwarrior missed cleanly with every laser he fired. Despite the close quarters, she fired an alpha strike and saw more armour fall away.
Then the Mad Cat fired and a dazed Mechwarrior Erika Ferem watched from the ground as lasers tore into the Marauder's right arm and chest the autocannon chewed through what was left of the cockpit's armour and then through the woman inside.
Louis Stewart grimaced as the incoming Cauldron-born dropped behind a ridge just as it entered extreme range for his autocannon. Exchanging the superheavy Tomodzuru for an imported Federated model had let him catch several unwary Mechwarriors off-guard by firing at them from well out of what they thought that a Hunchback's range was. He continued to cover the approach as Henri Van Der Koot jumped his Whitworth forwards to engage with his long range missiles from the crest of the ridge.
Beside Louis, his cousin Maria-Katrina Stewart's S-model Whitworth was genuinely unable to reach out to hit at the Clanners, carrying only SRMs rather than the base model's LRMs. They could both see a laser biting into the leg of Henri's Mech and the characteristic firecracker explosions of missiles exploding against the light Mech's armour, without being able to tell what (if anything) the daring Leftenant's own missiles were accomplishing.
From the way that Henri moved back behind cover it wasn't enough and Louis growled in frustration as Maria-Katrina jumped her Mech forwards to assist him, leaving Louis unable to quickly follow as he had no jumpjets. They were supposed to be retreating, not playing gloryhound and admiring damsel.
The enemy Cauldron-born came into view again and Louis brought his crosshairs up to cover it then fired the cannon. Depleted uranium whistled around the heavy mech with no more effect that Henri's badly aimed missiles but Maria-Katrina was more effective, scoring one leg with a laser and then plastering it with a full six short range missiles from the spread that she fired. In return, the Cauldron-born fired two volleys of missiles at Louis and it's own autocannon savaged his Hunchback's left arm. The missiles hit the Mech's chest squarely and a laser raked at his left leg, causing him to topple sideways, throwing out his right arm to prevent the cockpit from impacting on the ground.
Disgustedly, Louis brought the Mech upright and moved back through the rocks. They were retreating, so he would retreat. He could offer covering fire from the next ridge, he justified to himself. Clearly this was not good ground for him to fight from. His display showed a swarm of missiles descend upon the two Whitworths, first blasting into Maria-Katrina's and then the misses continuing into Henri's Mech. He could not tell what damage, if any, they did in return but their pained comments made it clear at they had both had close calls, losing armour over their cockpits.
For a moment, rock blocked his view of the entire battle and then he circled a crag and moved up behind the cover of the next ridge to look down on them. Henri's Mech had fallen and lay still on the ground in a hollow pocket. Maria-Katrina had stepped forwards, positioning her Whitworth defiantly to block fire from their much heavier opponent upon the fallen Leftenant. She fired everything and Louis could see the heated air rippling around the Whitworth. "Shit," he cursed and fired his own autocannon, missing widely.
The Cauldron-born seemed to stagger under the missile from Maria-Katrina's volley, but fired back. The upright Whitworth stumbled but held it's ground. To his horror, Louis could see missiles that overshot Maria were actually turning slightly to track in upon Henri and armour flew away from the prone Whitworth.
None of them moved and Maria-Katrina fired a second full volley. Her cockpit must be a pressure cooker, Louis thought, his autocannon finally striking true on the already ruptured left torso of the Cauldron-born but seemed to strike nothing vital. More missiles savaged both of the Whitworths and then the autocannon spoke, the tracers leading directly into the head of Maria-Katrina's Mech, blotting her out effortlessly.
Louis screamed incoherently and stepped forward, unable to close enough to bring his lasers into play and his cannon firing wildly and ineffecutally. The Cauldron-born's shots smashed the Hunchback from its feet and his head snapped back against the headrest, protected from concussion only by the sturdy neurohelmet he wore. More missiles rained down on him as he stood, trading furious gunfire that ripped away the last protection on his opponent's right leg in exchange for the Clanner's own deadly firepower. His heat rose as lasers opened up his chest and brutalised the reactor shielding and gyro, bringing the Hunchback down once again. This time the landing knocked him senseless and he felt nothing as the damaged reactor failed and superheated air exploded out from it, consuming the Mech in an instant.
Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
30 August 3050
Candace Liao tensed as the screen in the briefing room lit up, although her composure was such that in the darkened room only Justin, who had placed his hand over hers in reassurance, was aware of his wife's reaction.
The screen showed the same view that had been displayed by the cockpit of Yen-lo-Wang a month before, compressed in the manner readily understandable by the mechwarriors among the audience. Candace, although her military days were long done with, understood them instinctively. Justin, for whom the Centurion had first been customised on Solaris more than two decades ago, was even more familiar with them and she felt his approval at the smooth gait of the Mech and the way that their son handled the fifty ton warmachine as if it were an extension of his own body.
Around Yen-lo-Wang were the buildings of the Buena War College - classrooms, hangers and workshops where future leaders of the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth were schooled in their duties. However, rather than bustling with the daily activies of the campus, the only movements that could be seen were those of the predators who had arrived to make Buena their own.
There were five of them - fleet and quick moving, but not one of them more than waist high to the Centurion. The half-scale battlemechs that had been dubbed with a great many epithets before the soldiers who faced them had settled upon 'Alfar', the ancient german mythical elves - a fair identification of the nimble creatures and a selection that had led naturally to their smaller still brethern who served the 'Star Adders' as infantry as 'Duergar'. The group worked as a team, harrying a Hunchback without straying into range of its mighty autocannon.
The arrival of Yen-lo-Wang changed the tactical situation markedly. Although the modified Centurion had no greater range to work with than the Hunchback, the two worked as a team and swiftly pincered one of the Alfar between them with no choice but to dare the range of one's guns if it was to escape. Selecting the Hunchback it darted for the blocky-shouldered Mech. Deliberately, the mechwarrior fired both lasers first, as the Alfar closed, saving the autocannon for when the range was at its very shortest. The shot was not to be however as two more of the deadly machines swept in suddenly, their own lasers digging into the rear of the Hunchback.
They had known precisely where to strike and in an instant the medium mech was torn apart as the shells inside its chest were triggered, propellant and explosives alike tearing through the interior. The ejection seat exploded out of the cockpit, automatic systems saving the pilot. It was all for nothing however as a lance of light from the chest of the charging Alfar smashed the mechwarrior brutally out of the air.
Candace felt Justin's fingers, those of his flesh and bone hand not the prothesis that replaced a long ago war wound, tighten at their son's scream of horror. The Hunchback's pilot was called Harry Wilson, they knew from Kai's letters. A career soldier with twelve years in the Lyran Guards and a wife and child back in the Isle of Skye, he had been senior mechwarrior in the lance and taken the traditional fatherly role of a seasoned NCO towards the young Leftenant fresh from the New Avalon Military Academy.
Yen-lo-Wang bounded forwards after the killer, heat gauges rising as Kai pushed the Mech past its limitations and drew a bead with the autocannon at the range of three hundred metres. He triggered the weapon three six metre strides later and Candace heard someone whistle as the deleted uranium rounds ate into the rear of the Alfar. It was a magnificent shot, delivered at the run against a fast-moving target, and it dropped the tiny battlemech to its hands and knees in front of the charging giant.
With a snarl, Kai drove the three almost ornamental talons built into Yen-lo-Wang's left hand through the rents torn in the Alfar's armour and clenched his fist, wrenching entire panels away. His front laser fired, not at the fallen Alfar but at one of its compatriots as they tried to close. The shot hit but the victim seemed unfazed, returning fire with a shot that stripped almost half a ton of armour from the centre of the Centurion's chest.
Then a second autocannon snarled and a shape that towered over even Yen-lo-Wang crashed onto the field, landing roughly as its jumpjets carried it over a block of classrooms. It took Candace a moment to recognise the battered, smoking Mech as a Crockett, traces of the green and blue pattern painted around it's waist in imitation of Buena's 'school rag' were still visible. The autocannon rounds bowled over the audacious Alfar, prompting a retreat, but Candace's eyes - like everyone else's in the room - were locked onto the broken torso of the Alfar that Kai had almost literally disembowelled.
The lower torso had cracked open, disgorging a flood of yellowish fluid and a fetal lump of flesh, in sickening mimicry of a human miscarriage. The flesh was alive, it moved... but as innocent of self-control as a newborn baby, eyes staring dully up at the Mech standing over it in utter incomprehension. It was... inhuman, Candace judged guilitily. Stunted and feeble of frame, with a head larger in proportion and perhaps absolute terms also than that of an adult. She saw no hair on its head or elsewhere, but black lines that at first resembled tattoos cut across its skin in patterns that resembled circuitry. Blindly it coughed up the slime, scrabbling senselessly at the sodden ground, and then finally it lay still.
The picture cut out at that point and the lights in the briefing room slowly lit up, to spare their eyes. "General Kaulkas sent us this imagery via ComStar as soon as he reached Valloire," Ardan Sortek advised them. "Leftenant Allard-Liao was prudent enough to carry the... contents of the Alfar with him as he and Cadet MacDonald in the Crockett retreated to the dropship and insisted it be deep frozen for transport, so we also have a sample, although for obvious reasons it will be some time before the cadaver reaches the laboratories on Tharkad."
"While the 10th Lyran Guards were pushed off Buena, they were able to retreat in an organised fashion, which makes them essentially unique among the forces that have faced these Star Adders so far. As this footage shows, they are clearly similar to the Jade Falcon and Wolf groups invading the Tamar March. However, for every similarity there is also a difference."
"Are they human?" a voice asked nervously from near the back of the room.
Justin stood. "Reports from conquered worlds in the Tamar March make it clear that the Wolf and Jade Falcons are human or so close to it that there is no difference. The NAIS College of Biology and Medicine assure me that there is no possibility that any sort of 'parallel evolution' so they are either human or deliberately presenting a human face. The latter seems extremely improbable at this stage but has not been definitvely ruled out. The Star Adders, as Marshal Sortek so clear put it, are different. No reports, even from worlds taken months ago can confirm even one sighting of their soldiers. A few of their follow up echelons - administators and ship crews do appear to be human but there appears to be a remarkable degree of segregation between their soldiers and their civilians, so much so that one theory that has been put forward that the Star Adder army might be a distinct racial group, even if they are not a distinct species."
Hanse shook his head. "It doesn’t matter if they are human or not," he said. "We know that they can be killed and if they can be killed then they can also be defeated."
"This is not the last information that the 10th Guards have given us, of course," Ardan continued, not batting an eyebrow at the interruption. "There is also a wealth of battle ROMs that gives us our first look at how the Star Adders wage war. Like the other Clans they have and use superior mobility and range to their advantage, however they do not have the same reluctance that the Sudeten Conference noticed to combine their fire on single targets. They are still more prone to the duellist mentality shown by the Jade Falcons than our own troops, but no more so than some of the more old fashioned regiments among the DCMS."
"The conventional tanks and helicopters sighted are clearly designed for highly mobile battles. And unfortunately they are also testament to the Star Adder's fondness for incendiary warheads. One of their helicopters designs appears to be essentially a suicide ride loaded with enough short range missile launchers to saturate a lance and when they're using Infernos that means that we take four to one losses at best. Their tanks also carry quite a number of missiles, but their primary weapon is the same that their other helicopters carry: an extended range laser that is effective at seven hundred and fifty meters. These weapons are among the most efficient laser systems that we have ever seen and they are experts at using hit and run raids to soften our troops up at long range before closing in for the kill."
"One of the most valuable pieces of information that was provided was this," the Prince's Champion stated, bringing up a somewhat grainy shot of a man-sized armoured figure seen firing a laser mounted on one oversized arm in the direction of the camera. "This is an example of what we are now sure is a form of battle armour. The suit resembles in some respects, armoured suits used by some elements of the Star League Defense Forces that incorporated powered exosteletons to carry some of the load. The Grey Death Legion have developed copies of a stealth suit on this principle and we are now confident that these ‘Kobold’ are such suits, which strongly suggests that both the ‘Duergar’ seen previously and the ‘Toad’ used by the other Clans are also suits of battle armour. The ‘Kobold’ does not appear to be as well protected as the other suits, which strongly implies that it is intended for garrison work as it would still be very effective against infantry."
"NAIS are working on their own equivalents of the Toad, having had longer to examine the model and are confident that they can come up with something operational within a year. It won't be quite the equal of what the Clans use, but it will narrow the gap significantly. They have also been working on reproducing the Clan's weapons, many of which have precedents in the equipment used by the Star League. Cluster ammuniton for heavy autocannon and a high speed medium autocannon are in pre-production and the first units should be ready for deployment by early next year. In addition to new construction, upgrade packages for existing Mechs are being prepared and priority will go to units expected to fight the Clans. It will probably be early 3052 before we can deploy more than a few regiments of this hardware unfortunately, but the rate of production will rise rapidly after that."
"Do we know how they're cramming all this technology into their Mechs?" asked Hanse.
Ardan nodded. "NAIS are confident that the Clans are making widespread use of lightweight reactor shielding that was only available on a limited basis during the Star League era," he said. "It leaves the engine a little more vulnerable, but it cuts the mass essentially in half. In addition to this they seem to have entirely abandoned our current heatsink technology for 'freezers' that are twice as effective for the same mass. Granted, our freezers are three times as bulky, but they seem to have got that under control to a degree and it's making a huge difference."
"Doctor Pardoe has been working reverse engineering the Mad Cat and he's confident that the reactor would weigh only twenty tons or so - about the same as that in a Marauder. Add in heatsinks twice as effective and the fact that the arm weapons are lasers, not particle cannon and you can see how it fires all four lasers at once without overheating: it would actually dissipate heat faster than an Awesome can. The only snag so far is their missile systems, but he's working on that. In fact, he's confident that we can manufacture something comparable, if not quite the equal of it, within the next four years."
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.